For the past ten centuries, Princess Celestia ruled alone with a gentle touch, waiting for her sister to return from exile. Twilight Sparkle reunited her with Luna and banished Nightmare Moon away.

For the past ten centuries, Queen Solar Flare ruled alone with an iron hoof, accepting that she would never again see her sister after Nightmare's mysterious disappearance. Until one fateful day when she too was reunited with her sister, thought long dead.

But years later, when Luna discovers a tether of Nightmare Moon's magic in her mind, the veil is breached once more. What strange interactions will occur when the symmetry between these two worlds is broken?

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For antiquity, featured 10/29/14, 11/22/14, 12/18/14

A lonely tree, a windswept hill, and a glowing night's sky.

All her life, Fluttershy has had this one reoccurring dream, and now it's up to Princess Luna to help her find out why.

Special Thanks to nerevars

Anypony would have laughed if you'd told them that Discord was flirting with Twilight Sparkle a few weeks ago. She'd never give him a chance, right?
Well, once his spectacularly obvious advances on her commence, Equestria is shocked; she isn't out right rejecting him. In fact, she may even be interested.
The HORROR!

WARNING: The dark tag is for a reason. Ye be warned.
[Other] tag is to accommodate additional characters.

EDIT: Featured 10/22/14! Thank you so much! I didn't expect this to happen at all.

The wonderful people who edit and proofread my story ^^

Princess. Alicorn. The pillar of all ponykind, against which so many ponies often judged themselves. Celestia hates having to constantly be these things, and it's past time for a break. Luna will watch over Equestria while her sister is gone, but taking a break from your duties and taking a break from how the world sees you are two very different matters. Enter Prominence, a quiet pony who nopony really pays much mind to. Perhaps because she doesn't exist.

Aided by this disguise, Celestia will find her peace and relaxation in the home of one of the few ponies who know Prominence's true identity: Princess Twilight Sparkle. But when Twilight begins to see Celestia as a pony, and not a princess, can she deal with the feelings that arise? And are the feelings for Celestia, or for a pony she knows is not actually real?

EDIT: I've been featured, July 19th, 2014. I have no words to express how terrified and humbled and terrified and proud and happy and terrified this makes me.

Have you ever seen a pony that just seemed out of place? Perhaps some mannerism, some behaviour that just struck you as odd? Some piece of clothing that didn't seem quite right? perhaps a coat or mane whose colour just seemed flat-out weird. A strange build, a strange voice, or maybe they were perfectly normal, except that you swear you just saw the exact same pony not five seconds ago somewhere completely different?

Of course you have. Everypony has encountered an Outsider at some point. But never up close, it's always at a distance, and they're always gone before you have the chance to challenge them.

But sometimes the rules get broken. Sometimes fate gets distracted for a moment, and a lone unicorn mare gets to see something that she was never meant to see.

Twilight Sparkle's day is about to get very weird.

FAQ and Supplemental Materials (Potential Spoilers for new readers)

Featured! Twice!
...I really don't know what to say!

Special Thanks go to Horizon for initial proof-reading, editing, and signal-boosting, provided as a prize for spotting an Easter egg in his story Hard Reset II. Seriously, it's an awesome, brain-warping story and you should go read it right now.

Thanks also go to my editors for putting up with my atrocious grammar and spelling errors - Ganelon, Ephraim Blue, BronyWhooves, Commonancestry, Princess Autumn Forest, and Morning Sun

Cover art credit goes to EMedina13 and tamalesyatole. I am looking for more appropriate art, so If you think you can do better, let me know.

Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Years have past since the changelings were driven away from Equestria, giving room for peace and love. Suddenly, Twilight is captured in the middle of the night, and is brought to the hooves of Queen Chrysalis. Seeing that she has captured the element of magic, she is determined to gain her revenge against both Twilight and anyone that has ever wronged her.

Using her dark magic, the queen transforms the unicorn into a horrifying creature. Will Twilight hold on to her sanity, and more importantly, her devotion to friends?

Or will she slip into the darkness, and lose all hope.

Props to chaos2012 for bringing me this idea. The story is mine though

Evilpresident is also onboard as a Pre-reader.

Okay, new cover art! This time it was actually made for the fic, so credit goes to BronyInvestigator
I cannot thank him enough.

With Twilight away in Canterlot, Spike is left to his own devices. But Ponyville isn't the busiest of towns and before long, boredom begins to creep.

So to cheer himself up he decides to go spend time with his friends. Five stalwart companions whom he has known through thick and thin.

But Spike soon begins to realise that really, those are Twilight's friends. Not his.

In fact he starts to wonder whether, since he moved to Ponyville, he's actually made any friends at all...

(*2nd edition. Based on feedback, the final chapter and epilogue have been added-to to better reflect the contributions of the CMC.)

Discord is up to his old tricks again...But he's noticed something. Something that he can't explain: Love.

And once finding out about it, he comes to the logical conclusion that he needs it...And unfortunately for Ponyville's local farm-mare, he's set his sights on her.

With Cadance's help, will he succeed? Or will Applejack buck him all the way to Tartarus?
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And now with a TV Tropes page.
Please feel free to contribute.

For as long as any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders can remember, Diamond Tiara had always been the biggest bully they knew. But when that said bully dies in an accident, each of them starts to go through their own emotional experience from this sudden change in their lives. Each will learn more about themselves and about the pony who they all thought they knew before she is laid to rest.

***Takes place just after season 3 but before season 4. This story is completed.***

Now with TV Tropes page