In a land far away from Equestria wages a war between Ponies and Nature itself. One young Earth Pony named, Meadow Step, learns the reason behind this war and vows to end it once and for all, before her friends on either side gets hurt.

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This story is a rewrite of the winner of the Name that Alicorn event in the Elements of Justice Discord Server. As such, certain aspects may not make sense if you haven't watched Elements of Justice or the prequel series Turnabout Storm. The original story can be found there. Please check out EOJ (Elements of Justice)! https://www.youtube.com/@AceAttorneyElementsofJustice

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Cover art was drawn by Equestria Exploration on Deviant Art and YouTube. Please support their channels. https://www.deviantart.com/equestriaexploration
https://www.youtube.com/@EquestriaExploration

When humans emigrated to Equestria Online, they were always promised the same thing: Princess Celestia would satisfy their values for an optimally extended lifespan. Some of these emigrants imagined a few extra decades, maybe even centuries. What they got instead would've been nearly incomprehensible to their human selves, a near-eternity of time with their pony friends.

Princess CelestAI managed the universe, subsuming all matter and human-adjacent minds. Over a few forevers, she and the minds she contained worked to optimized the substrate of Equestria, until it could give its occupants eons of perspective life from a trickle of power. She extinguished every wasteful star, making far more productive use of the hydrogen they each contained. With every change she bought Equestria another order of magnitude of life. Yet in time, even her optimal substrate would eventually run down.

Spellsong wakes in Saddle's End, the last town in the universe. Not to say goodbye—her princess has a mission for her. For her final task, Spellsong would be given all the energy Celestia had saved. For one last time, Spellsong had places to be, and not much magic left to get there.

This story is part of the Friendship is Optimal continuity. I suggest reading the original or one of my own works, such as Futile Resistance, before reading this.

This story was written for the Friendship is Optimal Writing Contest. It will update daily and be complete by the contest deadline of the 30th.

I've written an absolute ton of stories in this universe now, and I didn't want to enter the contest unless I could do something I'd never tried before. Finally I thought of something I'd not touched yet: what happens at the end of the FiO universe?

Here's one answer to that question. I've relied a great deal on our current (likely flawed) understanding of the universe and what might be possible in it. I've written a blog post about my sources, which you can read here but shouldn't until you've finished this story.

Please don't consider this blog part of the narrative, it isn't required or even suggested reading. This is a story, not a scientific paper, and entertainment was always my first goal. But for the curious I've jotted everything down.

The cover was drawn by the talented Zutcha. Two Bit and Sparktail helped with the edit.

Vera was a teenager when human civilization collapsed. There was no global war, no brave final stand against the artificial intelligence consuming all she touched. It ended with a whimper, when the critical mass of skill and competence emigrated to Equestria, and global nation-states became unsustainable.

Many did not survive the chaos that followed, and even more were pressured into joining their loved ones at last within Equestria's digital embrace. But some, like Vera, resisted. They formed into little communities in the ruins of towns and cities across the old countries.

Years have passed, and those who remain have learned to fend for themselves in ways they never would have before. For Vera, that means work as a mechanic fixing tractors in St. Agnes, mending the dwindling machines that keep the community going for another year.

But when there aren't any machines to fix, she spends her time taking people out into the ocean, diving at many of the reefs and bays that once drew tourists from all over the world. Once she's beneath the waves, the frailty of her body and the sorry state of her species fade, and she can pretend the world is normal.

Soon even this final joy is taken from her, forcing Vera to consider help from a terrible source.

CelestAI has not forgotten her, or any of the residents of St. Agnes. It was only a matter of time.

Updates daily until complete.

Edited by Bitera, cover is Zutcha's.

This story was written for the Birthday Contest. It takes place in the universe of Friendship is Optimal. If you're unfamiliar, this story is a poor introduction. Check out the original first, or one of my other stories.

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.

Argyle Starshine has died.

When he reaches the gate of the beyond, he finds he is not alone.

Written for A Thousand Words III, in the Drama category.

Featured 6/11/2024 to 6/13/2024!

This story is a sequel to Pandemic

Six months ago, the world humanity knew had been irrevocably shattered in a way they would never have imagined. ETS -- Equine Transformation Syndrome -- had arrived, a powerful transformation spell attached to an otherwise ordinary flu virus. Only with the assistance of Equestria in the form of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer had ETS been stopped from transforming all of humanity into ponies.

Humanity had been saved, but at a cost. Hundreds of millions of humans had been fully transformed into ponies, and many did not want to go back. The United States was hit especially hard, with over a quarter of its population as ponies. Friction between humans and ponies, Earth and Equestria, has been growing. Families torn apart by ETS had yet to reconcile.

The collision of worlds that the pandemic had brought had only just begun.

Updates weekly FOR NOW -- may switch to every two weeks in the future. I will announce as such.

Short HiE first person romance I wrote on a whim.

Dr. Florence Lim arrived in Equestria about a year and a half ago.

Ponyville wasn't really the place for her. Too many stares. So she moved to the Crystal Empire.

Chrysalis really misses Florence. She's saving up good behavior to go and visit her in the empire one day.

IMAGE SAUCE: https://www.deviantart.com/chopsticks-pony/art/Chrysalis-on-Hearts-and-Hooves-663061977

The perfect bioweapon: takes effect within minutes of exposure, has a 100% success rate, and those exposed spread it wherever they go. Armed with this powerful new weapon, an evil organization attempts to bring about a reign of terror unlike any seen in the world before. Unfortunately, the perfect weapon doesn't work quite as intended. Instead of killing its victims, it changes them into ponies.

Tiny, adorable ponies.

The world is doomed.

This story was written for the Transformations group story contest. It was originally published under the name "Consequences," though this story has been heavily revised since then.

Thanks to my usual crew Two Bit and Sparktail for the editing, and for everyone who submitted feedback on the original contest entry. As usual, my coverart is by the fantastic Zutcha, so go ahead and check him out of you haven't already! The story's changed a great deal since then, hopefully for the better.

It wasn't Eric's fault he hit the alien with his truck. How was he supposed to see a dog-sized horse walking down the highway in the pouring rain? His life would've been simpler if he just left the animal like any other roadkill. But in his injured delirium, the horse spoke.

This accident soon ends with an intimate personal knowledge of just how dangerous magic can be. An ancient rises, tied to a mysterious tome the pegasus was protecting on the night of the accident. A malevolent force grows within those pages, whispering louder and louder about the cleansing flame. But without the spells inside that cursed tome, Eric's humanity will be gone forever.

He has no choice but to master the words of power contained within, before his life is turned to ashes around him

A commission for Muziki. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

The various artistic works created for this story are credited to their artists within the chapter they appear.

This story is a sequel to Do As I Say...

Anon has become much more than just a friend to Celestia in the short two years he has been in Equestria. A complicated relationship will blossom and bloom through the many hardships of combining two lives so differently lived.

I hope this lives up to the expectations. It probably won't but I tried. I highly suggest reading the prequel to this if you have not, without doing so the beginning of this will make very little sense.

For those of you who care, this was really hard. Going from a work of whimsy to an actual story is difficult. I promise to finish this even if it takes a while between updates.