Some people say that Celestia and Luna are useless. That they lounge in the castle while delegating all their responsibilities to hard working, underappreciated, exceptionally well-read students. That even when faced directly with threats to kingdom and country, they fold like cheap origami and wait to be rescued.

These people are correct. But there's a very good reason for it!

[Rated Teen due to a dark scene early on to set some backstory, and occasional comedic death]

This story is a sequel to That Changeling's a Pony!

Maxilla is an exiled changeling who resides in Baltimare and writes stories for a living. Life’s pretty normal and pony-like for her, until she’s visited by a very unusual fan who just won’t leave her alone.

Like ponies, changelings can get pretty paranoid at times. After all, it's not every day that a changeling gets kicked out of the hive for being a pony.

My name is Twilight Sprinkle, and my passion is donuts—from the delicate morsels I serve at elegant cocktail parties to the hearty pastries enjoyed by hard-working ponies who get up early. I don’t have friends, I don’t have books, and I sure as the sun don’t have any wings. I don’t care whether you’re here for revenge, for romance, or for a favor. My name is Twilight Sprinkle and I’m not who you think I am, so either buy a donut or get the hay out of my store!

(Edited by the mysterious the masked ferret.)

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.

Twilight Sparkle's long journey had been aimless. Formless. A search for something she could not, or would not name. Her living, singing ship had plied the void for so long with no destination in sight.

But everything is different now. This is a mission of mercy.

Thank you to TheMaskedFerret for her help, and for being a friend when I needed one. And for ScarletWeather, who also read this and is also very good.
Cover Art from the animated "Echoes of the Past". Watch.

This story is a sequel to The Assembled Letters of Twilight Sparkle, Protégé of Emperor Discord

After getting a taste of Friendship and questioning her allegiance to Discord, Twilight Sparkle chose instead to accept the will of Chaos and remain a student of the Emperor. Now, she has been charged to return to Ponyville and plant Seeds of Discord around the Tree of Harmony, but there are more things than broken friendships awaiting her arrival in Ponyville.

A note on the [Dark] tag: This fic is not grimdark.

It is however, an adventure story with high stakes, and themes that may touch on more serious matters, such as brainwashing or mental/emotional abuse. There is also some brief moments of violence and intense danger that, while not excessive, may be troubling to some. This tag was actually something recommended by one reader after Discord's psychological games with Twilight in the previous story, and I think it's time to add it. Link to reddit discussion where I made the decision, slight spoilers for Chapter 6.

Please don't let it turn you off from the story, just consider it fair warning that some parts may be slightly disturbing to more sensitive readers.

Some time ago, thousands of unicorns walked out of the amazon rainforest. Fast forward some decades, they live peaceful lives, integrated into the fabric of human society. All would be well right? Well its not all sunshine and rainbows.

David Moon, first and only unicorn to be born on earth, has had a bad day. Falling into the crystal palace of a purple pony princess? Just makes it worse.

Twilight finally gives into Discord's whining, a being of chaos can't use the Elements, right? Especially all five at once!

Turns out he can... who knew?

Flash Sentry's world sucks. Maybe it's high time he left it.

(Indeed)

Cover Art by amalgamzaku aka mix-up