Far to the northwest in the ancestral lands of ponies, four master manipulators meet to discuss the upcoming destruction of Equestria.

56th's time's the charm, right?

Written for the Season 9 Bingo Writing Contest.
The prompts: Movie Character, Ancestral Lands, Sugar Belle, Derpy, Grogar

Sunset Shimmer ran through the mirror seeking two things: an escape from Celestia, and a way to get revenge. Meeting up with these strange creatures called "humans," she can say with confidence that she has accomplished the first of her tasks.

Now a student of Mahora Academy, Sunset, or Nichibotsu Hikaru as she's now called, must navigate the overly eccentric life of class 2-A, all the while keeping an eye out for any signs of magic. After all, how is she supposed to take her revenge without...

Wait, what do you mean their teacher is only ten years old!!!

(Familiarity with Mahou Sensei Negima is not required to understand this story, but it will definitely help.)
(Featured since June 26, 2018.)

Princess Celestia. The Unconquered Sun. The Day and Dawn of Equestria. The Commander of Light and Flame.

Currently, terrified out of her wits. A single piece of parchment lies before her, ready to receive the words that she has longed to speak for two years. This letter could change everything, could end her loneliness, could grant her the love she's always hoped to find.

Or it could destroy everything, terrify and alienate her student, and render the relationship they have to so much ash.

Autumn Breeze has a pretty good life for a drifter. She still keeps in contact with her parents, along with the many friends that she has made throughout her travels. Sure she only stays in any one town for a couple of years at a time, but that's okay. After all, she loves to meet new ponies. She'd like to settle down, though, if only ponies wouldn't keep discovering her secret.

Even in Ponyville, it won't be long before somepony suspects her story about her unusual appearance. Not long before somepony notices that she secludes herself in her room once a month. Not long before somepony opens her bedroom door on the night of a full moon to see a feral fox thrashing around, trying to get out of it's bonds.

Well, maybe things will be different this time. Maybe nopony will discover that she's an equi-fox. Maybe when they find out they won't care.

And maybe pigs will sprout wings and start giving flying lessons to young pegasi.

So there I was at my first convention. Awesome costume? Check. Few hundred bucks to waste on merch? Check. Keyblade to complete the costume? No check, couldn't get one cheep. Imagine my surprise when I find perfect replicas of both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. For two hundred bucks! The vendor is as creepy as all get out, but hey, a good deal's a good deal!

Next thing I know, well, you've heard this story before. Whisked off to Equestria, trapped in stone because of a misunderstanding, heartless trying to consume the world...

OK, that one's probably unique to me.

Edit: OH MY GOSH! Featured first day, 7/5/2015! Thank y'all so much!

Edit: currently undergoing massive revisions leading to its resurrection. Thank you for your patience. 3/8/2019

Celestia raises the sun, and carries it across the sky. Luna does the same with the moon. It's a simple cycle, as old as the defeat of Discord.
It's not entirely accurate.
Though the Sister Princesses do rule the day and night, what of the hours between. Who rules the twilight hours of Dusk and Dawn?
Why, their namesakes, of course.
Where are Dusk and Dawn? Why aren't they know to the world? And why does Dusk refuse to speak of Celestia?

Ten years have passed since the sorrowful day when the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony disappeared. The last seven have passed in civil warfare. Discord controls the minds of almost every unicorn in Equestria, and they have formed their own nation: Utopia. Equestria fights to survive, but it's a losing struggle. The Elements of Laughter and Generosity possessed by Equestria can barely stand against the near constant onslaughts by the Element of Magic, and cities are being destroyed as often as they are taken. The Elements of Loyalty, Honesty and Kindness are lost beyond the borders of Equestria. All seems hopeless.
Then, the Bearers return.

Set ten years after the events of Season 2, from which point the story diverges.

I, Show Stopper, have been commissioned by Princess Twilight Sparkle to compile a brief chronicle of this era in history, the era of the birth of Equestria, the rise, reign, and defeat of Discord, and the foalhood of the sister princesses.

Learn of the parents of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Learn why Discord became what he became. Learn what forces ruled the world before the rise of Equestria. Learn the fate of two great races: the Alicorns and the Draconequi.

Learn of the Arcane Era of Equestria.

It's not fun to wake up in a dark cave, and it's even less fun when you wake up as a pony.

Talon Smith and her five friends never thought that this would happen. Heck, they didn't think that it was possible. When they wake up in a cave as candy colored ponies, they don't know what to think. Searching for a way back home, they must learn how to live in this strange world of magic and ponies, and how to deal with the friends and families of the ponies who they now look like.

This would be a lot easier to figure out if it weren't for the nightmares. Everypony in Equestria is running on a lack of sleep, and Princess Luna seems powerless to stop it. Who is this Dreamcatcher? Why are the Princesses so afraid of him? What happened to Twilight Sparkle and the others?

The Dreamcatcher takes place during the events of Season 3, before Discord's reformation.