Starlight succeeded in her plan for revenge against Twilight Sparkle. She prevented the pivotal sonic rainboom from ever happening, effectively destroying the timeline that lead Twilight on the path to befriending the rest of the Six. Which also kills the three of them. Because Starlight is an idiot blinded by a quest for vengeance. But before Twilight fades away, she tells a slightly younger Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer several things they will need to know to have any hopes of keeping Equestria safe from the many countless terrors that await it in the near future.

The story of Celestia and Sunset picking up the pieces of a mirror yet to shatter. Destinies will change. Fates will intertwine. Hearts will break. And forbidden knowledge will eventually come back to bite the Princess in the... Plot adaptation prequel of the original series.

/x/x/x/

Tags:
Death: Spike (sad), Starlight (violent), Twilight (eh sorta) but their story counterparts are still alive
Profanity: nothing you won't see on tv
Violence: one particularly brutal scene near the beginning but everything else is pretty mild

Genres:
AU: takes place in universe with with no sonic rainboom
Drama: focus is on the dramatic dynamics of Celestia and Sunset
Sad: melancholic themes concerning main characters throughout
Tragedy: major canon character deaths at the beginning ONLY
Romance: possibly a romantic subplot or two that isn't the main focus

Characters:
Primary: Celestia and Sunset
Secondary: Luna and Twilight/Spike
Tertiary: Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer
Supporting Cast: Pinkie/Rarity/Fluttershy, Wind Rider, The Oranges, Maud Pie, Stormy Flare, Firelight/Stellar Flare/Sunburst

This story is a sequel to Sunset's Crowning Achievement

The last time Twilight saw Starlight Glimmer, she threatened to kill Rainbow Dash when she was just a filly and ruin Twilight's life by going back in time. Only, when she failed to find Starlight in the past and returned home, Equestria wasn't a ruined wasteland, Ponyville was a lot bigger than she remembered, and all these new ponies in the castle were talking about some big pony they call Empress.

A normal end to a normal day -- at least, that's what it was supposed to be.

But it wasn't.

Luna went to raise the moon as usual, but something went wrong. Terribly wrong. She felt it, but she couldn't stop it.

None of us could.

It appeared too suddenly -- acted too quickly.

The only warning we received was a roar and a bright flash of light, then everything was gone. No more Canterlot, no more ponies, no more anything.

Nothing survived.

Nothing... except for us and whatever 'it' is.

We may be immortal beings, but that doesn't make things any better -- if anything, it makes the pain all that much worse. The only thing we can really do now is try to avenge those dear to us. Our subjects... our families... my friends...

Everything.

I don't care how long it takes, and I don't care if it's a pointless battle. All I care about now is making sure we put that thing down for good.

After that?

Well...

Cover art done by Little Tigress. Check out her other stuff on deviantart if you wanna see more!

This story is a sequel to Little Glimpses

Nine months have come and gone since Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash moved to Ponyville from their home in Canterlot. Nine months since Princess Celestia revealed what she knew about the change in history reaching all the way back to the day of the sonic rainboom. Nine months of peace and happiness.

A peace and happiness that is brought to an end by the return of an ancient enemy, one thought to have been gone forever. This event sparks a choice, and the repercussions will lead Rainbow Dash and her friends down a dangerous road. A series of events shall soon play out that will lead to the already precarious balance of this new timeline being undone. When all is said and done, Rainbow, Twilight and their new friends will learn for themselves the true dangers of foreknowledge...

Cover art by the skilled SentireAeris.

(NOTICE: The first ten chapters are pretty much just a play-by-play re-telling of the season 2 premiere. This is required for certain context and catalysts. It gets much different after that.)

The war has been over for months and yet it still lingers in many. Not a day passed by without them remembering the horrors and sadness the war was brought.

Major Rainbow Dash, national hero and renowned soldier of the Equestrian Army, is praised by ponies no matter where she goes. Her exploits during the last day of the war is a well known story as her face is easily recognized anywhere. Considered as a great icon, somepony who ended the war and saved thousands, she is looked up upon by many and adored by the entire land. But for her, she just wishes to be left alone. The parties, the speeches, the praises, she would trade that for the lives of those she lost or for a chance to join them in their eternal sleep.

When this war hero finally snaps from all the strains she had to go through, she is sent to Ponyville for the long awaited rest she wanted. Having trouble finding quiet and peace in the large cities because of her fame, the small quiet town of Ponyville seems like the perfect place for her stay and get away from it all.

But with the memories of the pass always shrouding her, would she finally be able to make peace? Or will she continue to suffer and wage war in her mind, even after the last shot was fired.

Twilight Sparkle's wildest dreams have just been met, and exceeded. Due to an unexpected magical outburst during her entrance exam to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the Solar Princess herself took an interest and took Twilight on as her personal student.

This was a pleasant shock for Twilight and her family. However, a few months later, a less pleasant shock would reach Twilight in the form of Celestia returning to Canterlot with a new daughter, a freshly adopted pegasus filly named Rainbow Dash. As the two get to know each other, Twilight can clearly see something eating at the self absorbed and competitive filly's mind.

To make matters even more confusing, Princess Celestia is now hiding something. Twilight dares not question it, but it is quite clear that Celestia isn't being wholly open with anypony about her decision to adopt some random orphan.

Could the answers have something to do with the cryptic dream Twilight had the night before she met Rainbow Dash?

**Apparently, this was featured on August 12th, but I slept through that brief window. All the same, I am flabbergasted and humbled!**

Cover Art by the wonderfully skilled Novaintellus

Now with a TV Tropes Page.

Wastelands. Dystopias. Playgrounds for megalomaniacal villains. Each time Starlight forced her into a new world, it was just another variation of Tartarus that she was glad to leave behind and forget about. Unfortunately, thanks to over thirty timeline jumps, Starswirl's spell has gotten worn and frayed, forcing her to stop in this latest world to repair it. Fortunately, things seem relatively peaceful. Unfortunately, Twilight soon finds out the reason for that peace is...complicated.

Years before a certain prophesy would come to fruition, a young pegasus filly fell from the sky near Las Pegasus, only to be rescued and taken in by Burning Sky and Dragonfly, a newlywed pegasi couple on leave from the Equestrian Air Guard for their honeymoon. Adopted and named Firefly by the very ponies who caught her out of the sky, the young filly is secretly a being from another reality, a former human who had been a fan of a popular show that had portrayed this very world (or one very similar to it), with no idea what had brought her here, why she was now a pony, or even when in the timeline she happens to be.

Once she figures out that she's in the past, with years before Princess Luna returned as Nightmare Moon, young Firefly resolves to simply stay out of the way and let events happen as they should. However, once she sees Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Brave and Glorious appear out of a bubble of complex looking magic, Firefly feels an incredible sense of liberation, believing that it no longer matters what she does or doesn't do as everything would correct itself once Twilight dealt with Starlight Glimmer and returned to the future.

So Firefly decides to buck Starlight Glimmer on the way down to save Fluttershy.

After all, if nothing she did right now mattered anyway, why not be the hero? What harm could it possibly do?

And thus my SI takes a sledgehammer to causality, breaking Starlight Glimmer's spell in the worst way possible for two mares and a dragon from the future and changing the course of history forever.

But hey, at least Fluttershy is okay, right?

What do you mean Fluttershy's Cutie Mark is different now!?

Cover rendition of Firefly by Equestria Prevails.

This pic of Firefly is pretty much what inspired me to write this story...

Rainbow Dash's rainboom never happened, so the elements of harmony were never found... and their holders never met. Without the elements of harmony to protect Equestria, a battle against a powerful foe was inevitable. With King Sombra's return, he enslaved his subjects and turned them into his own soldiers. With an army to back him up, Sombra declared war against Equestria. Now, every pony must pitch in to help the cause, and give it all they got to defeat Sombra before all of Equestria falls under his evil reign.

Season 5 Finale-related.
So many realities. So many horrible futures. But in yet another alternate timeline, Twilight finds herself in the Golden Oak Library with the Princess of Friendship: Sunset Shimmer. Rather than the awful futures she's seen before, she now finds herself in a timeline that actually seems nice. But that means she has a tough decision to make...

-Awesome cover art used with permission from the amazingly talented Huussii (Teemu Husso).
-Based on an idea from Silver Quill.
-Featured as of 12/8/15! Thank you to all the readers!
-Editors: GenerousGhibli and E3gner