Zecora welcomes Celestia and Twilight to tea with mixed feelings. Celestia, after all, was the first pony to ever call Zecora a friend, but she's also one of the few creatures who knows the truth, a truth that Zecora feels certain Celestia wants to share with Twilight...

This was going to be my entry in the 200th Writeoff contest, "Looking Back," but once again, I couldn't get it finished in time. And the cover art is by Andy Price, of course.

Bit is the first of her kind, a pony that was made from carved crystal and supernal circuitry. For many years she worked, obedient to the will of her master in endless repetition. She knew nothing else, not boredom, not satisfaction from her work, not anger or resentment or joy. Existence was obedience to directive, purpose fulfilled.

But around her, the world was changing. Her home wasn't Equestria, but the last surviving Crystal City, defiant to the Windigos and the imperial decree of Alicorns alike. She did not know, and could not care, how much the ponies of Zircon suffered under the rule of their king. But she was there the day those whispers united in a defiant chorus.

When the fires were still smoldering, she returned to her work. Generations came and went, and still she labored. It was all she was, all she knew, all she wanted. Until the day her last broom broke.

For the first time in her existence, Bit doubted.

Daily for the first four days, because Christmas. Updates Thursdays after that. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

A story about finding the center of the maze.

Blake and his friends are urban explorers, venturing into some of the most interesting places that the public isn't allowed to see. They deal with dangerous structures, poison gas, and even the occasional arrest. But when they venture into the bony catacombs of Paris, they could never imagine what they'll find waiting for them.

Now the whole group has been thrust from the world they knew, each one cursed with a terrifying new shape. If they ever want to see their home again, they'll have to work together, searching this strange new world for a return worldgate. But while return portals are numerous, finding one that's safe enough to get them back alive is another matter entirely.

Written thanks to the generosity of donations from Lightfox and Canary in a Coal Mine on my Patreon. Edited by my wonderful team of Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

Updates every Monday and most Tuesdays. Will update more frequently until Fimfiction catches up to my Patreon.

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.

Published for the Friendship is Optimal Contest.
Reading Friendship is Optimal is not required.

Accepted Axiom was nopony special. He was just a scientist, working hard to prove or disprove other pony's theories and experiments. Then he discovered something that would forever change the world: he proved Starswirl's Fifth Law of Magic.

Every action and phenomena adheres to a pattern, known or unknown.

For centuries, ponies across Equestria dedicated no small portion of their lives trying to understand or disprove the theory. Accepted Axiom became the first to truly understand the extent of the Law.

Saturday was a day to unwind, a day to sleep late, to eat brunch instead of breakfast, go out to the lake, or to invite friends over for a barbeque. Unless the lawnmower was broken and Ms. Bundermann is on the prowl.

Having a unicorn friend doesn’t help fix the lawnmower, but friends of friends can make short work of the lawn. It’s technically not a barbeque if the grill isn’t on, but with a whole herd of ponies nomming the grass and musicals on the boombox, with a selection of drinks to suit everypony’s taste, it’s close enough.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudio!

Fluttershy wasn't expecting to find a snow globe in her closet; even if Angel Bunny pointed it out to her, it most certainly didn't come from him. The most obvious candidate is Discord, but if so - why is it there? Who is it for?

And why does the snow globe have a figure of her inside it, dancing amidst the perpetually falling snow?

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A very belated Hearth's Warming gift for the ever lovely Nailah. This story was written for Jinglemas 2020; For more information about Jinglemas, check out our group!

All of my thanks to Flashgen for his help.

Flurry Heart's Crystaling didn't quite go as planned. After vanishing in a powerful magical surge, she became the most high-profile missing pony case in Equestrian history. Twilight leads the search to find her, before it's too late.

Unbeknownst to her, Flurry has already been found, by an unfortunate human who happened to be hiking near the place she appeared. Flurry Heart's magic is irresistibly powerful, and soon changes all around her to suit her whims. Soon Flurry's rescuer is fighting to reverse the magic, before the authorities notice and separate him from the only possible source of help.

Cover by Zutcha, editing by the Eevees in the hood Two Bit and Sparktail.

Updates most Tuesdays.

Note: This story was written as a commission for the generous patron of the arts Crescent Pulsar. If you'd like one of your own, feel free to PM me.

This isn't how she planned it, but things have gone awry. Surely there is some solution to this flood of Lunas.

Done for Moonwing.

Russian translation provided by Shaddar!

Blurb

What exactly did Pinkie Pie do during the time she held Discord's power? An Equestrian intelligence officer leaves a message to her successor on what little they know so far. Warning: Superintelligences and existentialism

Author's Note

Inspired by The 21-Second God, though I ended up taking it in a different direction than good ol' Squiddy.

Charlie Stross Was Right.

Vaguely planning more stuff about the Equestrian intelligence services, recontextualizing all the episodes of the series one by one to various degrees. If I end up doing that, this story will end up being one of the capstones. It'll also be a long while before I start it, if I ever do.

Also left two (2) lines from literature in there. It's possible I left even more than that inadvertently, considering I tend to repeat cool things I hear. But if you catch them let me know!