This story is a sequel to Sweetie Belle and the Tablet of Knowledge

Sweetie Belle struggles to find a place between her ordinary life and the extraordinary one she just lived. At first, her friends and family are willing to "humor" her magic and science research she begins as a hobby, but they are forced to act when it starts to consume her social life and affect her mental health.

Lyra—a bit of a conspiracy theorist with an attraction to the occult—was otherwise a completely ordinary pony. With a recent discovery of ancient "precursor" technology and possible government cover up, however, she finds life has becoming far more interesting as she searches for the truth.

Book II of III

Cover art by me! See more of my art on my DeviantArt Page!

Thanks to Malefactory for editing.

For two weeks—following the banishment of her sister—Celestia is inconsolable. When she emerges from her self-imposed isolation, however, she finds that the country is not the same as it once was. In order to placate the nobles—who fear her following her sister’s path—Celestia forms a Legislative Assembly, with herself given sole executive power. Over the next few centuries, she agrees to further concessions, more than willing to give her little ponies the freedom to decide what they want for themselves.

It has been almost one thousand years since then and she has regretted her agreement to self-determination greatly. Her role now purely symbolic—with her power solely over the Sun, Moon and her school—she finds herself on the sidelines of a highly corrupt bicameral parliamentary system. Foreign relations are tense, resources are squandered, military interventionist policies are rampant, wealth disparity is at an all-time high, and her former subjects are miserable.

Now—with Nightmare Moon soon to return—she is running out of time to get her nation in a state able to defeat her once again. Without the resources of the state capable of finding the Bearers of Harmony, and with only a select few even willing to listen to her at all, it might already be too late.

Reminder - This story uses two systems of dating:
A.D. - After Discord - The years of Luna and Celestia’s rule following the petrification of Discord
C.E. - Celestial Era - The years following Celestia’s banishment of Luna

The sequel to this story: Sweetie Belle and the Quest for Knowledge is now available!

When Sweetie Belle finds a mysterious artifact of a now lost civilization, how will she come to terms with the wealth of knowledge it provides? It says it can be ignored, it says it will never try to influence her, but can an artifact of such power really be so harmless?

Book I of III

Prologue and Chapter 1: Thanks to TheOtherSideOfFluttershy for pre-reading and editing.
The whole story: Thanks to RaylanKrios for editing.
Chapter 4: Thanks to AuthorGenesis for editing.
Epilogue:
Thanks to Malefactory for editing.