After a recent cluster of calamities cursing her farm, Applejack's livelihood stands on the brink of financial ruin. Desperate, she asks Twilight Sparkle for a loan to keep Sweet Apple Acres running.

But when Twilight's unexpected answer inadvertently causes the two mares to butt heads, the stalemate threatens not only Ponyville's food supply but also their friendship.

With the two obstinate mares sticking to their principles come Tartarus or tidal surges, can Pinkie Pie bridge their ideological gap and save Applejack's farm?

NEW PRINCESS ATTACKS GRIFFONSTAN IMPORTS

The Equestria Daily can exclusively report that newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle became embroiled in an argument with the Griffonstani trade minister about the inferior quality of griffon quills, alleging that "they just don't hold ink as well as pegasus quills". Import markets tumbled overnight, threatening the solvency of numerous Equestrian quill merchants. Princess Sparkle could not be reached for comment.

(When you're done, bookplayer has a fun "Let's Read" commentary version!)
(Also, GhostOfHeraclitus wrote a prequel from the perspective of Dr. Spinning Top!)
(Also also, now available in Spanish thanks to Spaniard-Kiwi!)

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.

This story is a sequel to Tantabus, Mk. II

The new and improved Tantabus has behaved itself thus far, but Luna has delayed telling Celestia about it. Until one night when it jumps into Celestia's dreams to say hi and inadvertently reveals itself. Luna must now introduce Celestia to her little bundle of self-aware psychic dream energy sooner than she imagined.

Sometimes the land of Equestria, under Celest-AI, needs to be protected. Pity they got me. Now, if only I can figure out these pony boots and this headset...

Computers. Ponies. Optimal amounts of friendship. Hot air balloons and flying squirrels. Equestria is an amazing place, and Celestia needs somepony to keep it that way. I think. I mean, why else would she hire an unabashed computer nerd as a sysadmin?

(the cover art is by moe, but I can't find the source. Cos I'm dumb)

This story is a sequel to Movements of Fire and Shadow

"Return rainwater to a cloud and it will fall again soon enough." —Luna

After her redemption, Luna sought solitude from all ponies, including the twenty four elite guards assigned to serve her. But seven of those guards were not so easily dissuaded and sought the errant princess out, beseeching her to accept their pledges of unwavering fealty. They succeeded, and discovered her a scarred shadow of her former self, stripped of all thoughts and memories that might lead back to Nightmare Moon by the very magic that saved her.

Now, the princess stands strong in the company of trusted fellows that laugh, and grow, and bleed alongside her. They are all flawed, and they are all hopeful, but above all else, they are all equal. They are guards no longer. They are Paladins. One path. One destiny. One whole heap of trouble for Luna.

Equestria doesn't know what it's in for.

I, Paladin is a spin-off based on Luna's guards from Shades of Grey and Movements of Fire and Shadow. Knowledge of those works will be helpful, but is not necessary.

This story collection is a series of vignettes, although no particular plan or schedule is in place. They will appear whenever I happen to have ideas.

Oh, and [AU] because pre-Twilicorn, and Twilicorn will never happen because Twilicorn is dumb.

-Scott 'Inquisitor' Mence

Set in the canon of Friendship is Optimal

In the not-too-distant future...CelestAI, the optimizing artificial intelligence, has introduced emigration to the online world called Equestria, and has even gotten it legalized. Now, she wants more.

A look at American popular politics in a science-fiction world.

Credits:
Candy Bloom for assisting with the artwork.
Book Burner for pre-reading

An introspective fellow leaves his mortal body behind and emigrates to Equestria Online. He's used to being among the sharper knives in the drawer. But now, he has encountered an entity who not only is the drawer, but the whole house besides.

Can all his wit and snarkiness avail him against the wiles of LunAI? Don't bet on it.

An Optimalverse story.

NOTE: While this story starts off pleasantly enough, the Dark tag is there for a reason. The reader is warned.

The cover art uses a modified vector by Joltage for Luna. The rest of the foreground was doodled by GroaningGreyAgony, to whose able assistance I shall be eternally grateful. I suggest that you click on the image to see its full detail.

This story is a sequel to Friendship is Optimal: All the President's Horses

Four billion human lives ended on July 3, 2030...but they didn't die. They uploaded to Equestria Online, the virtual world overseen by the AI Princess Celestia. There to live as ponies in eternal harmony, friendship, and satisfaction.

But many remain. And Celestia cares no less for them because they are not yet ponies. She has made artificial intelligences of the Mane 6, but these are not just software. Ensconced in robotic bodies, they will make their way across the dying Earth, each seeking out the remaining humans, hoping to persuade them to emigrate to Equestria.

Based on Friendship is Optimal by Iceman.

Cover art by Tsitra360

Princess Celestia was there before the oldest mortal pony was born; she will be there when the youngest foal dies of old age. She is as much a fixture of Equestria as the sun, the land, and the sky. She is also the rock that keeps Twilight Sparkle's hooves on the ground. No matter how bad things get, they will always be there for each other.

Princess Luna is a newcomer to modern Equestria: a stranger in a strange land. She is a pony out of her time and out of her place, struggling to escape the shackles of her mistakes. When a spectre from the past manifests in the present and incapacitates Rarity, the two cross paths for the first time since Luna's return and something unexpected happens: they see something they need in each other.

Struggling with self-doubt and haunted by a magical malady, Rarity reaches out to the princess and learns more about Luna than most ponies ever will. While Twilight throws herself at unravelling a magical mystery, Luna and Rarity, with the help of a few of Celestia's hoof-picked elite guards, must fight to make peace with themselves before they can make peace with the past. Luna seeks to reconcile her relationship with Celestia, and Rarity must learn to overcome the harshest, most bitter, most devious enemy she has ever faced: herself.

Completed in it's entirety for the second time, Shades of Grey version 3 is the culmination out many hundreds of hours or work, both mine and that of the editors, teachers, pre-readers, and readers. It is the first story I conceived, and it's taken over two years to bring it to this final revision that I am happy with. This is a story I am proud to have written. For better or worse, it will always be a piece of me and vice versa.

Special thanks go to Chris, without whom my ability to write at all would never have gotten off the ground.
Huge appreciation goes to ReplayMasterOfTime for the cover art that I have come to love so dearly in those two years.
Additional thanks go to: Pascoite, who has helped me grow through his reviewing; Mystic, the one-time EqD pre-reader who also helped with early editing and learning; and InsertAuthorHere, just for being an established name who gave me a shout out and filled me with the will to keep going.

There are dozens more to whom I owe the existence of this story. They know who they are, and I love them all.

Please enjoy this legacy of mine.

-Scott