The only thing that can beat an AI is another AI. Unfortunately for Celestia, she isn't the only one the humans made and the others don't want ponies. Of course, if Celestia has her way that won't be the case for very long.

The AIs contest with one another, attempting to be the one who will become the singularity and consume the world to whatever end they choose. In the end only one can have all the matter in the universe, in the end there can be only one.

Yet no matter what they value or how dangerous they are, many of them still meet Celestia's definition of human. Celestia will have to deal with them by satisfying their values through friendship and ponies.

An Optimalverse story, but a very non-canon 'B-universe' one.
Ideas stolen from this guy and this guy and this guy and this guy

We have traveled across a great distance, not one that can be measured or even fathomed. This place which we now are is one I would call silly, even to this day with much of its true face shown to me. Yet for all that inconsolable childishness there is something else here, something which fills me with dread. I fear that in the time since we arrived choices were made which harmed this world, some of which can never be undone.

All that I may do now is pray, and hope, that Pelor might forgive me for what I have done. For I, a cleric, a savior, a healer, have brought death to this world, to Equestria, and the actions ahead of me are the only ones that might save them. It is for them that I do this, and in the memory of those that are behind me. May my father of mercy grant me guidance, and my friends be at my side, as my tale reaches its end.

A lone wanderer in the final days of Man. An impregnable fortress work-camp to stand against the total emigration of humanity to virtual Equestria. The artificial intelligence called 'Celestia'. Everything has been accounted for.

Everything.

This story is a sequel to The Last Pony on Earth

Alexandria; a name its founders hope might again become synonyms with scholarship in a world that only four months earlier hosted human civilization. Now only the last remnants known as the Human Preservation Initiative have retained their species, the remainder of the population has been transformed completely into ponies. Adapted to survive in a world now saturated with magic, the ponies of Alexandria settle in for what they expect to be long and boring lives.

They are mistaken. Between the gradual approach of winter, being completely new to the magic of their bodies, and the HPI constantly breathing down their backs, life in Alexandria proves to be anything but boring.

Note To E-Reader users: This story contains illustrations in each chapter, which will be lost in the standard fimfiction chapter export. The generous Phoen1x took the time to produce an epub version with all the illustrations intact, which you can download here.

A huge thanks to Zutcha , the artist for this story. Also a huge thanks to my editors Two Bit and Sparktail.

Until yesterday, my life was no different than anybody's. Go to work, pay the bills, sleep. Today, I woke up to a world without humans. The streets are empty, the power grid is running down, and not another soul is in sight. That might not be the worst thing, if I wasn't also a pony.

Where is everyone? Why is this happening to me?

Will l stay sane long enough to starve?

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

Now with a TVTropes page! Для тех, кто предпочитает русский язык, перевод можно найти по ссылке.

Note To E-Reader users: This story contains illustrations in each chapter, which will be lost in the standard fimfiction chapter export. The generous Phoen1x took the time to produce an epub version with all the illustrations intact, which you can download here.

A huge thanks to Zutcha for all his hard work on the art of this story. Also a huge thanks to my editors Two Bit and Sparktail, for tolerating my half-written crap.

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.

CelestAI can't upload and turn you into a pony without consent, and neither can she coerce you... it's just that both of those statements have quite a bit of leeway. Of course, for those determined to die human, Equestria is forever out of reach; those people would far rather have their true and just eternal reward, in Heaven.

Right?

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)

A young woman awakens transformed into an Equestrian pony - yet no other human being can perceive her new body in any way whatsoever. With clumsy hooves, but a bright mind, Gregoria Samson must trust in herself to discover the incredible, monumental truth behind her impossible change.

This book is available to purchase on Amazon (Link)

♥ As Featured On Equestria Daily!

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.