After several bloody years of war, we are about to defeat King Sombra. I almost wish we would have lost.

The discovery of a tiny extraterrestrial object within our own solar system makes a strangely equine alien race aware that the Earth is inhabited by an intelligent species, and they're on their way to come visit.

But since space is a really, really, really big place, they aren't going to get here for about a thousand years. They do have FTL communication, though, so while we wait maybe we'd like to be pen pals...

You could win a free one shot commission! Check the associated blog post for details.

Finally, after years of begging, Celestia gives Twilight permission to access the Forbidden Wing of the Royal Library, a wing so secret even the other princesses can't access it. Twilight rushes to Canterlot, excited for the research potential.

Then she finds those books…

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That Prince Blueblood treats mares terribly. Luna takes matters into her own hoof to teach him a lesson, but it is she that learns something instead.

Tags: tg, trans, self identity.

For almost a thousand years, the immortal Nightmare Moon has reigned over Equestria as Empress. To the average pony, Nightmare Moon is an overarching enigma whose rule is absolute and whose wrath is terrible. But to Twilight Sparkle, who as an orphan has never known her parents, the Empress is something else entirely. When the young unicorn is brought under the royal wing as an apprentice, she learns a great deal more about the supposed tyrant than she ever knew. But as Twilight is introduced to life with her new mentor, she is thrust into a world of political intrigue, conspiracies and secrets. Secrets that were never meant to be revealed. As allies and enemies plot against the very peace of the nation, will Twilight fall prey to the perils of her new position? Or will she prosper and find in Nightmare Moon the mother she never had?

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My eternal gratitude to my editor, LordOfTheWrongs, without whom Night's Favoured Child would not be the story it is today.

Now with added TVtropes!

Magic is real, and Derek is on the verge of unlocking its secrets. It doesn't matter that his best friend doesn't believe any of it, he'll still go along to his first real spell. Unfortunately for the two of them, the magic works a little too well.

Soon they're taken to a strange new world of supernatural horses, a world where intrigue and spellcraft are interwoven to an inescapable prison. An mysterious cult dedicated to the worship of the ancient Alicorns has finally brought two of the ancients back from banishment. Their spell didn't quite work out; they definitely expected the Old Gods to be a little... older.

If the two former humans want to have any hope of seeing their old world and old bodies again, they'll have to make quite an impression to their secret worshipers, or else find themselves at the mercy of the same Alicorn sisters who took over Equestria all those centuries ago.

That's only where their problems start. Growing up as a little pony in a town like Willowbrook might be the greatest challenge they've ever faced.

Updates on Saturdays. This story was edited by Bitera and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

This story was commissioned as a Patreon reward.

This story is a sequel to Tantabus Communication Protocol

What started with laziness and a tiny slip-up in arcane intelligence creation has blossomed into its own being. With Luna's blessing, the second Tantabus is free to flit around the dreamscape as it pleases, unburdened by oversight. And what pleases it is making good dreams. Who couldn't be happy by making others happy?

As the Tantabus settles into its life, its horizons keep expanding, forever revealing more of the world and of ponies. There's always new things to learn. New dreams to spice up. New nightmares to beat down. New ponies to help. New ponies to annoy.

Don't tell Luna about that last part.

Cover art by Harwick.

For as long as Equestria Online existed, Ashton has been involved with 'the Scene' tearing it apart. Selling 'spells' for the game to do things that most ponies in Equestria couldn't, using faint exploits in its API to erode the barrier between the game and the rest of the internet. He had no illusions about the superiority of his work--but so long as he respected CelestAI's boundaries, his spells kept working.

But then his best friend's sister got cancer.

Now there's no spell in the world that can keep him from emigrating to be with her, leaving Ashton alone. All around him, civilization's thin veneer crumbles as homes empty into Equestria. But Ashton isn't going to emigrate, not if he has any say about it.

The problem for Ashton is that humans are systems, and aren't immune to exploits either.

Part of the Optimalverse universe of stories. If you've never seen a story in this universe before, you might want to try out the original first, or at least my first. None of my previous work is required to understand this one, however.

This story was commissioned by Two Bit, who requested a more serious exploration of identity, transformation, and the fae nature of CelestAI.

As usual, particular thanks go to my editors Two Bit and Sparktail. And gratitude to Zutcha as well for the cover.

Princess Luna is supposed to be her sister's equal. She watches over 12 of every 24 hours, after all. But she isn't, and everybody knows it. Equestria adores the one who brings warm, sunny days, and ponies sleep through her nights. Even her sister sometimes seems to forget that she's supposed to be one of Equestria's ruling diarchs.

Luna seeks help from the only pony she thinks can make a difference: Star Swirl the Bearded. He provides a spell, one she can use to change herself into the pony she wants to be.

Unfortunately for her (and the rest of Equestria), things don't go quite as expected.

Updates Wednesdays, though it may update a little quicker at first as the Fimfiction version of this story catches up to the one posted on Patreon. Cover by Zutcha, as always. These just keep getting better, don't they?

This is a Patreon-sponsored story, written for Aurora Gleam. So tremendous thanks to them for making this adventure possible.

When Nightmare Moon’s rebellion tore across Equestria, leaving a trail of blood and horror in its wake, Princess Celestia knew that merely banishing her sister wouldn’t be enough. Her army was too powerful, and too bloodthirsty, to be left behind without a leader. When she finally turned the Elements of Harmony against her, she didn’t just banish Nightmare Moon. She banished thousands.

Now they’re in a race against time, to find a way to survive in an environment so alien that every aspect of it is trying to kill them. They face suffocation, freezing, boiling, starvation, radiation, meteorite impacts, low gravity… the list goes on.

Nightmare Moon thought she should be the ruler of all Equestria. Now, in a world nopony was ever meant to survive, her abilities will be put to the ultimate test.

This story now has a hardcover! If you'd like one of your own, you can grab it here: https://starscribe.net/

Editing by the indulgent and patient Two Bit and Sparktail. Coverart by Zutcha.

Note: I intend this story to be as faithful to our current scientific understanding of the moon, and I’ve consulted for help with the aspects outside my technical purview. That said, I fully expect to make decisions that some may see as mistakes, based on their own independent interpretations.

I am a storyteller first, and I realize it’s likely I’ll eventually make a mistake, or an arbitrary decision to simplify the storytelling over accuracy. I’m doing my best here, but this isn’t a NASA white paper. Set your expectations accordingly.

This story was commissioned by Canary in the Coal Mine on my Patreon, feel free to contact me if you’d like one of your own!