What if, instead of going to Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle left Canterlot to go to the Pony Mesa Research Facility?
What if, instead of fighting off Nightmare Moon, she fought off a Resonance Cascade?
And what if, instead of meeting her friends in preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration, she instead met them in the aftermath of the Resonance Cascade?

This is the story of Twilight Sparkle, as she takes on the role of Gordon Freeman from the original Half-Life, and the friends she meets along the way.

Thanks to HiveLordLusa for the picture.

Princess Celestia has returned from a diplomacy mission with the Changelings, and she has a big surprise. She and Queen Chrysalis have fallen for each other and are now a couple. Cadence, more than a little distraught over what has transpired, plans to separate the two and prove that Chrysalis is still the evil enemy she was at the Royal Wedding.

Sequel: To Cast the Doubt Away

This story is a sequel to Hard Reset

After the events of Hard Reset Twilight's life and mental well being are slowly returning to normal. Her recovery is cut short, though, when a letter arrives informing her that the time loop spell she cast is causing severe damage to space and time itself. In over her head, Twilight tries to summon anypony who will know how to fix it. The pony she gets is the last one she ever thought she would meet... and nothing like she expected him to be.

Available in Spanish thanks to dgs1993
Series TV Tropes page

Late one night, Twilight receives a letter from an anonymous scientist to work on a top secret project with long-reaching implications. If they succeed, Equestria will be changed forever. But what if the mysterious benefactor has other plans in mind? Twilight has decisions to make: About morality and mortality, love and hate, friends and lovers.

Book two: The Ghost Of You

For Princess Cadence, immortal and forever young, her marriage to Shining Armor could only be the prologue to a long life. Rather than be doomed to grief, she seeks out another whom she can be with forever.

Cadence x Chrysalis shipping.

"Twilight isn't exactly a social pony." Could win me the Understatement of the Year award.

However, what most ponies don't know is that Octavia, a high-class socialite, isn't exactly much better herself, despite countless rumours about a liason between her and a certain DJ.

Now, drawn back to the upper-classes that she tried so desperately to get away from, can Twilight Sparkle find solace, and companionship, from one of the very socialite ponies of her past that she is so desperate to escape?

Twilight isn't having a very good day. An experimental spell blew up in her face, an army of changelings is attacking Canterlot, and she just died. Yet somehow, it looks like it's going to keep going downhill from here.

Given the chance to correct what's gone wrong, Twilight swears she's going to fix all this even if it kills her. Which it will. Frequently.

Cover art by Pixel Prism
Spanish Translation
Series TV Tropes page

With the population of the changeling race crippled by their expulsion from Canterlot, and their queen powerless to salvage it on her own, Chrysalis requires outside help from Equestria to get them back on their feet. But reaching out to Princess Celestia proves troublesome, as she cannot risk returning to Canterlot, and the one pony outside the city with a direct line to her is also the least willing to trust her. The salvation of her kingdom may rely on her making amends... and perhaps making friends as well.

Now has a sequel!

Cover art by Nocturnal Melodies (No_M), drawn at my request for this story.

Luna discovers something hidden from Celestia for twenty years, now, with emotions running high, she enlists the help of the Mane 6... but what seemed to be a single mystery, soon reveals a darker and much more complicated plot that will soon decide the fate of Equestria.

Check out the Empty Room TV Tropes Page (Warning: Spoilers!)

Revised chapters edits and proofing (with many thanks) by: lammy, Trevor, Nick Nack, Fifth Alicorn

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"