The Griffonian Empire groans…

It is March of 1007, and Grover V, emperor of all* griffons, has breathed his last. His empire is broken after secessions and a devastating revolution, his power stolen by schemers in his court, and his only son underage. A regency council, made up of the nobles and clergy of the empire, is being assembled to rule in the stead of four-year-old Grover VI.

Ferdinand Dawnclaw, like many others within the empire, remembers how the last regency went down. Unlike many others, he doesn’t intend to let history repeat itself.

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
- Winston Churchill

The worldbuilding, and several persons in the story (including Dawnclaw) are credited to the dev team of Equestria at War, the MLP Hearts of Iron 4 mod.
This story generally adheres to the “canon”, but I have tweaked certain events, added original characters, and maybe slightly tweaked Dawnclaw’s character. This is all done to create a good story, not because the source material is terrible.
Equestria at War Wiki
Griffonian Empire lore

Twilight wakes up in a Dark, wet, room. She's lost, alone, and no idea how to get home.

Her body has been changed. She retains some features, but she is what can be described as a monster.

She's been down there for days, surviving on the water that reaches the underground she's in. She's hoping for something to happen, because right now, she's trapped...

Rarity is good at making dresses. In fact, she's the best. But even she didn't know that her latest dress would be more than the fashion sensation of the season.

Now she was going to have to add wing-holes to all her outfits, and everypony seems worried about her latest creation.

One night, Twilight notices something odd as she's nestled in bed with Rarity: her hair smells different, just slightly. The next morning, her tea tastes a little bit less sweet, and the flowers outside smell somewhat less fragrant. Out at a cafe together, the music doesn't sound as sharp and clear, and Rarity's new dress feels marginally less smooth against her coat.

Twilight just wants to know what's happening, so she can fix it. It has to be temporary, after all.

Written for the Quills and Sofa Speedwriting group contest with the prompt "How will I break the news to you?"

Cover art by Koviry.

When Rarity accidentally nicks Twilight during a fitting, she discovers just what alicorn blood can do, properly applied.

Winner of the 11th Quills and Sofas Speedwriting contest. The prompt was "Spurred to action."

The Great and Powerful Trixie, in an attempt to enact revenge against Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony for disgracing her and ruining her reputation tries to summon a demon from beyond the veil. What she gets instead is Greed, and he's ready to take this new world he's found himself in by storm.

Raven Inkwell has been the royal aid to Celestia for all her life. Now that Twilight has taken the throne, she too will learn to harness the gift that Raven has to offer. But what exactly is Raven? And why has nobody bothered to ask this before?

A commission for Snow Quill, who also did the art!

A thousand years ago in Equestria, Luna's frustration and desperation has been building for years and years as her social and political isolation grows, but just before Luna's jealousy and resentment can turn into murderous hatred against her sister, a new event triggars Luna's mental collapse and pushes her over the edge. When Luna by circumstance finds herself alone in Celestia's room she reads her sister's diary out of curiosity and discovers all of the disparaging criticism that Celestia has leveled at her over the years about how much of a nuisance Luna has been to her, but has been too polite to say directly to Luna's face.

Luna and Celestia had always supported and stuck with each other all their lives. Even when the common-ponies critisism and shunning of her was at its worst, the knowledge that her sister loved her kept Luna going. The realization that nopony, not even her own sister valued her or thought she was fit for the throne completely shattered whatever remained of her fragile psyche.

And so Luna just gave up...

She gave in...

If no one wanted her there...

Then she wouldn't stay there...

She would leave.

Nightmare Moon is deathly sick, fallen ill by only the hooves of her banished sister. Twilight knows that her mentor is running out of time, however much she tries to convince herself otherwise. But how far is she willing to go?

Idea by Rated Ponystar

Preread by Curious Quill

Edited by Swan Song

A spell gone wrong teleports Twilight and Rarity outside the borders of the world. Here, amidst a wasteland of barren soil and neverending rain, there is neither food nor shelter to be found.

In the absence of former responsibilities, and with the looming prospect of death being closer than ever before, they begin to open up towards each other. There is no place for dignity or restraint when you have nothing left to lose.

But in the end, none of it matters. Their only hope for survival is to get back to the world before they starve.