Equestria, a land of peace and prosperity. It has been free of any true war for centuries and has prospered for it. However, it has also changed little in that time and its guard isn't what it should be. For several centuries now House Star, a noble house that is the last standing member of the ancient Lunar Court, has tried to get Canterlot's other noble houses, and indeed the royal of the sun, to see this but have never succeeded. Twilight, newest princess of Equestria and heir of House Star, just might know a way to shake things up.

This story is a sequel to Hard Reset

After the events of Hard Reset Twilight's life and mental well being are slowly returning to normal. Her recovery is cut short, though, when a letter arrives informing her that the time loop spell she cast is causing severe damage to space and time itself. In over her head, Twilight tries to summon anypony who will know how to fix it. The pony she gets is the last one she ever thought she would meet... and nothing like she expected him to be.

Available in Spanish thanks to dgs1993
Series TV Tropes page

Twilight isn't having a very good day. An experimental spell blew up in her face, an army of changelings is attacking Canterlot, and she just died. Yet somehow, it looks like it's going to keep going downhill from here.

Given the chance to correct what's gone wrong, Twilight swears she's going to fix all this even if it kills her. Which it will. Frequently.

Cover art by Pixel Prism
Spanish Translation
Series TV Tropes page

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

"It has been the pivotal teaching of the great Fountainhead, personal mentor and Celestia's most esteemed archivist, that the grand unified theory of magic, if discovered, is to be found within the mage's affectivity –that is; of the polarizing impetus of love, for unicorn magic, and hate, for Black Magic. It is claimed, further, that reality itself, too, is subject to this principle; and to deny so was self-contradictory. The dogma, however was not uncontested. Unicorns, Mages and Archmages from all over Equestria of all emotional preconditions would challenge and confute the thesis with ease. It was here that the great Fountainhead replied that the grand unified principle was too profound to be felt and too minute to be perceivable. He posits that, though invisible, this maxim holds together the fabric of the universe: matter with magic; existence with consciousness; dreams with reality; and–most significant of all–ourselves with one another."

-Starswirl the Bearded, "Hermeneutical Phenomenology of Pre-Classical Metaphysics", Royal Canterlot Archives (323 L.B.), p. iii-iv

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EDIT 04/16/13: Remastered version coming soon! Grammatically sound, split into several chapters and improvised.

Twilight Sparkle was presumed to be dead. Destroyed without even a body to bury, the young victim of a deadly magical surge that claimed the lives of many others along side her. More than a decade later, reports of a violent murder by a pony bearing her name are brought to Celestia and Luna's attention. A trail of carnage leading directly towards Canterlot's doorstep, brought by a pony who strikes without mercy. As Twilight approaches, in service to an unknown master, the Alicorn Sisters desperately try to uncover what happened all those years ago.

Edited by Zintegy and The Pink Mugsy

Chapter Heading Art by KirillK
All Sketches and Artworks can be found HERE

Princess Twilight Sparkle is the only daughter of the queen of the night, Nightmare Moon, and the lord of shadows, King Sombra. She is unlike any other normal equine foal, mainly because she was born as an alicorn. Just like her parents, she has the acute ability of harnessing the full power of dark magic to the fullest of its power. Her and her parents rule the Crystal Kingdom with an iron-hoof with a strong and loyal alliance with the Griffon Kingdom. They are planning one of the biggest attacks on Equestria in over a thousand years. The great thing about their plan is, their enemy has no idea about it.

Unfortunately, they are dealing with the princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia and her most loyal of guards, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.

The gore rating is for death and torture in later chapters. The teen rating may change depending on how I write how the death's and torture occur.
I got this idea while listening to the black metal band Dimmu Borgir with heavy rain in the background.
I DO NOT OWN anything My Little Pony. All rights to the characters and the locations of the show are sole property of Hasbro.

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together.” So begins a tale with which we are all familiar; a story about six friends and their adventures, both fantastic and mundane. But what if...

What if Twilight Sparkle didn't earn her royal status by merit, but by revolution? Why would she do it? What could have caused her to turn against her mentor? How would she rule Equestria, now that it is in her hooves? This gives us a brief look into the throne room of the newly-crowned Queen Twilight Sparkle.

We trained her.
We taught her.
We raised her to godhood.
She brought us down to earth.

Sequel can be found here: Memoirs in Ink and Blood

Training Session
We all knew Twilight Sparkle was a powerful sorceress, but none of us had ever realised just how powerful she truly was. It is no underestimation if somepony said that she’d be able to challenge an immortal to a battle and come out as the victor. The possibility was there, of that there was no doubt, the only thing that was needed for her to actually defeat an immortal, such as myself, was for her to realise her full potential, for her to realise just how much power was stored in that small body of hers