There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, and humanity is determined to explore every one. We send probes, probes with the blueprints to reproduce human explorers upon arrival. Uninhabited worlds the galaxy over can be colonized and populated, until after many years they too can join the vast throng of interstellar civilization. But if a probe is very, very lucky, it will land on a populated world instead. Equestria is one such world.

Even so, it's far from perfect for colonization, not with an environment lethal to human life. But each probe is resourceful and armed with the greatest machine intelligence mankind has devised. If placing a human mind into a newly manufactured human body won't work, it will just have to get a little more creative.

This book has a Hardcover! If you want to pick it up, you can grab it here: https://starscribe.net/

This story was written at the behest of Canary In The Coal Mine, who is sponsoring it on my Patreon. As usual, cover by Zutcha. Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail.

Fantastic prereading help from: Chyre, Danger Noodle, Doctor Disco, and Doggyshakespeare (who also did the Esperanto translation). Thank you all for helping to make this story more readable and more consistent for everyone.

Ambre, Sarah, and Laurence do not seem to have that much in common besides living in the same city of southern France, and sharing a birthday on May 1^st. However, the three of them will soon have to come together, as chance and fate force upon them the greatest change they ever experienced – forever altering their bodies, their minds, and their very lives.

How would you react, if suddenly you were cast into a skin not your own, and all you thought you knew about yourself or your place in the world was upended?

Treat it as a blessing, a new beginning, letting go of what once was? Try to hold on to yourself, while adapting to circumstances?

Or fight and reject it all, whatever the cost..?

Though we follow the same characters from start to finish as they learn to deal with their transformed lives, each Part of this tale is its own adventure, focusing on a specific plot and themes:

This is a sidefic set in the 'Five Score, Divided by Four' universe created by TwistedSpectrum. I recommend the original fic, as well as the various subsequent sidefics by other authors, but neither are required for enjoying the present tale, which is conceived as a stand-alone story exploring other corners of this universe. The fic does not currently take into account the 2019 update of Five Score, Divided by Four.

Tracy Maxwell is in a desperate situation: find somewhere to live, or lose the internship he needs to survive. After exhausting every property in the city, one last option appears the day before his deadline. Sure the agent selling the place is a little weird, and more than a little overeager to get the property signed off. At the worst, maybe there's a little mold in the bathroom somewhere, and he has to make do until the lease is up.

But then he steps inside and discovers things can be much worse. The property is in another universe, and while he's there he'll have to play by its rules. He's free to continue working his dream job, so long as he keeps to the contract. Even worse, he's got a roommate who has no intention of leaving him alone.

If he ever wants to escape, he'll have to read the Fine Print.

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

This story is a commission by _Kenzu_!