Philadelphia, June 1979

Princess Celestia feels trapped underneath her own crown - her subjects see an immortal goddess, not a pony trapped in a gilded cage.

In a moment of boredom, she strikes out on her own in search of adventure - and New York pizza.

Come along with the pony Princess as she rides the rails of the Northeast Corridor - rolling ever closer to her final cheesy destination on board a Night Train to New York.

Warning - this work has been rated PG by the Literature Association of Equestria for the following:

• Mild Profanity
• Excessive Railway Knowledge

Featured December 16-20 2020!

As she suddenly woke up as a tiny pony staring at two very familiar pairs of eyes, Ganondorf couldn’t really say she was surprised. Disgruntled and mildly annoyed, yes, but not surprised. She really should’ve remembered to put something to break the cycle of reincarnation when she made that ritual to escape from Hyrule all those years ago. So being reborn after the end of her last life was by no means a surprise.

Sure, being female this time around was odd. But at least it seemed that there wasn’t some destiny bullshit railroading her path in this life, so that was something. Not to mention that Link and Zelda were also here. That was another plus.

No curse, no meddling gods, no stupid destiny. Yes, things could definitely have been far worse. So she and her fellow Triforce Wielders just had to have an average childhood for a change. How hard could that be?

This is a non-canon sequel to my story The Power of Freedom, following the idea that after their first life in ancient Equestria the Triforce Trio gets reincarnated as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. (Yay!)

Reading TPoF is not necessary to read this, though it would make it more enjoyable in my opinion, all that is needed is to know that the Trio broke free from their original fate of endless reincarnation imposed on them by the gods of Hyrule, escaped to the pony-world and lived a full life as ponies in the early years of Equestria.

Also, since this is a non-canonical AU sequel, there will be no spoilers in regards to the end of TPoF here, so no worries in that regard.

Timeline-wise this story starts about two months before the return of Nightmare Moon.

Beta Reader: The Amazing Emtu!

Featured for the first time! From 01/17/2021; to 01/20/2021

This story is a sequel to What Have You Done?

Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, has taken her prize, unhindered by Equestria's precious heroes. Celestia is little more than another prisoner of war now. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony are lost, and the Elements themselves have turned away from Equestria's plight. As the world they once knew begins to crumble, a single question is asked among the people as they look up at their fallen heroes.

There is no such thing as "miserably ever after," for someone will always be fighting for things to change. Hope doesn't die just because someone's turned off the lights. Truth doesn't vanish when deceit begins its reign, and Harmony can only shine brighter among chaos.
Even as this world falls, we'll work to build it up again.
Even as you lose yourself, you can find greater things within you.
Even as fear rises up like a tidal wave, we'll forge a sanctuary to stand against it.
Even as you break, someone will always be standing there next to you to carry you through it.

Cover art is by Odin-odin.
Story theme (Equestria in Grey) is by Omnipony.
Main Characters are Twilight, Velvet, Discord, Nightlight, Luna, and Chrysalis, in that order.
See you in the comments, my dear readers.

In wake of the second Changeling Takeover, Discord is infuriated with his magic being useless when he truly needed it. To reclaim his pride, Discord does the one thing he never needed before: Train.

Now he shall remind the world just who he really is: The most powerful entity in this world. Possibly any world. And he will start with the Pony of Shadows. But is Equestria ready to see the unknown and untapped limits of Discord's might?

You never know when evil will strike, but you can always be prepared for it. Seeing your heroes become the villains can be a disaster, but like wounds, disasters can heal. However, when heroes became villains once again, they won't fall for the same trick twice.

The Mane 6 once fallen to the dark side after exposing themselves to some water filled with dark magic and almost destroy Ponyville in their madness. They eventually were cured and return to their senses and cleanse the evil waters from its impurity.

However, a small bit of that dark water was saved and was given again to our heroes. With the Mane 6 fallen again to madness, it is up for other heroes must save them once again.

Assuming if they can this time...

Shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, an angry Celestia has a troublesome guest for dinner.

As Twilight Sparkle awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, she found she had been turned into a changeling.

How has she become a changeling? How will she adapt? How will her friends respond? And what new terrors will her metamorphosis bring?

Cover image by the fantastic Carnifex... or Siansaar... I can't tell which. You can find more wonderful works here: http://siansaar.deviantart.com/

EDIT: Featured... nearing 1000 Favorites... multiple pages of comments (swoons)

Thanks for everything guys. I never expected this thing to get so popular. I need to rework the second chapter, but it looks like there's going to be a blue moon every Friday for a while yet. Thanks again for your support and please keep reading and reviewing!

EDIT2: I've updated the character list again, a little preview of the second story arc...

EDIT 3: Just doing a quick character update to account for changes made to the next Arc...

Words and actions can sometimes hurt more than we know, sowing betrayal and hatred where friendship and innocence lies. A single thoughtless action can be a tipping point, one fallen domino setting off hundreds. Look back, and answer me.

(Brand-spanken new) TvTropes page here
Story theme is Chronophobia