To escape from Tartarus is nearly impossible, even for one of great magical power. When you've lost your powers and are little more than a withered old centaur, it's even harder. But Tirek has a plan, one that will draw in a creature from a world where life is cheap, hats are plentiful, and gravel is king. Will the Spy take the opportunity to enjoy a well-earned vacation in this new world, or will he see the population of friendly, innocent ponies as just a fresh selection of backs to stab? It could be both!

(Takes place before the beginning of Season 9.)

Nightmare Moon won. She defeated Celestia, broke the Elements, banished the sun. This all happened a very long time ago. So long ago, that she has had plenty of time to change her mind.

Of course, fixing our mistakes is never so simple, and never without consequences. Even with particularly potent help.

"If you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day. / But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away."
— "No Control" by Bad Religion

A big thanks to Craine, Sorren, and Idylia for prereading and editing. If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to check out their pages.

Equestria Daily
Royal Canterlot Library (FIMfic version)
Russian translation by Doof
Chinese translation by Dreams Set Free

Kitsune Heart has done a dramatic reading of this story! Find it over here.
ObabScribbler has done a dramatic reading of this story! It includes a full cast of voice actors. Find it over here.

Comments contain spoilers.

A mistake with an ancient book of dark magic results in Twilight being 'living-impaired'. What follows is a series of (mis)adventures involving tax evasion and constant decapitation.

The chapters are short. I know. I like small bite-sized scenes, and it burns me out less.

Though this story is a comedy, please take note of the Gore and Dark tags. If that kind of stuff and dark comedy is unpleasant for you, I'd recommend reading something else.

Art is AI generated using Stable Diffusion 1.4

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to a harsh dose of unreality. She is stranded, without her friends, on an island which matches no known locale on Equestria. Surrounded and harried on all sides by the alien and the dangerous, she will find her mettle sorely tested, and find perhaps that the best friends you will ever have in your life are the ones you make when your back is to the wall...

Thanks to CedricBale and noobie56xx for tracking down the name of the artist so I could give them credit.

Shortly after Queen Chrysalis' defeat at Canterlot, her army is demoralised and hungry, and the Queen herself is at her wits end - having locked herself in her bedroom, presumably to spare her subjects from her upcoming mental break in a short moment of compassion.

The Queen that leaves the room is far different from the one that entered it.

Queen Chrysalis, seemingly revitalised in her entirety, declares a change in course for her and her subjects. She promises to lead them to a new battlefield... and she swears victory in her name.

Celestia, the Lightbringer.
Luna, Mistress of the Night.
Twilight Sparkle, Master of Magic.
Cadance, Princess of Love.

Of the Four Princesses, Cadance is the one that ponies think they understand the most. After all, what could be so hard about being Princess of Love?

A lot of things, actually.

The first story in the Four Princesses, Four Demons series. Sequels are Celestia the Indomitable, Twilight the Triumphant, and Luna the Faithful.

Featured from 1-26-21 to 1-29-21, all thanks to the kind folks of this site, who even pushed it to the #2 spot.

This story is a sequel to Phoenix-born rising - the ascension of Sunset Shimmer [1st ed.]

The rite of the phoenix is one of the most celebrated moments among the sun-gazers of Solaria. For with the hatching of a new phoenix, comes the ascension of a new phoenix-born: a mortal chosen by the phoenix to be its new life partner and guardian. Only those with both strength and purity of their inner fire can draw the attention of a hatchling phoenix, so only the best of the best can ever hope to be chosen.

To one young orphan girl named Sunset Shimmer, she could only dream of witnessing the ascent of one of Celestia's chosen. As the day approaches, she learns that she will be able to, as she has been selected by the crown as one of the girls to serve at the event.

Little did she know that this would be the seminal event of her life, and change her fate forever.

Book One - The Choosing
Book Two - The Trials

Original abridged version was my entry into FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns II contest. This is the expanded, full version.

Cover art by me.

Grammar and editing provided by ArgonMatrix (Up to Ch 7 of the Trials) and Incandesca (The Trials Ch 16 and on)

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.

Twilight Sparkle has been abandoned.

After an expedition into the badlands is torn to tatters by an unprecedented monster attack, Twilight finds herself stranded in a hostile environment with no safe way back home. With no supplies and no survival training, It all seems hopeless for the scholarly unicorn until she is discovered by a type of creature she has never seen before. A changeling named Thorax, a native of the badlands.

With Thorax's knowledge of the environment, he is Twilight's best chance of getting home safely. And by that same token, perhaps Twilight is the best chance the timid, pacifistic drone has of discovering something he has lived his entire life without.

Set well before the Season 2 Finale.

Cover art was drawn by me.

This is a spiritual successor to The Bug in The Herd, and The Bug in The Basement.

Edited by Mister Hypothetical.

Cadance, Princess of Love.
Celestia, the Lightbringer.
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.
Luna, Mistress of the Night.

Of the Four Princesses, Luna is the one that the Four Demons know the least about. Sure, there was that business about being Nightmare Moon and being banished for a thousand years, but how threatening can the Princess of the Night - a princess that plays second fiddle to her elder sister - really be?

Luna isn't insulted. She prefers her enemies stupid anyway.

The fourth and final story in the Four Princesses, Four Demons series, following up Cadance the Unbroken, Celestia the Indomitable, and Twilight the Triumphant.

Reading the other stories is encouraged, but not required.

Featured from 02-17-21 to 02-21-21, peaking at #1. Thanks again, everypony!

Featured on Equestria Daily's 2021 list "25 of the Best Fanfics for Luna Day"