This story is a sequel to Journey to the First Flame

Fluttershy and Smolder's journey hasn't been off to an easy start, especially after they fell off the beaten path. Now, the professor and her pupil find themselves stuck in the middle of a civil war between two Diamond Dog clans whose shared history might not be what it seems. But even if they manage to escape the escalating conflict with their lives, they will surely have to confront many more dangers if they wish to see Smolder through her Dragon Lord-ordained task: rekindling the fires of the legendary First Flame.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is a continuation of Darth Link 22's fanfic Journey to the First Flame that I was helping with. Sadly, DarthLink22 passed away before he could complete his story and I am here to post his remaining chapters that he finished but never published and finish the story's remaining parts myself. This is in his honor.

Thanks to TheAncientPolitzanian for editing.

Every 500 years, the dragons pick one of their own to take a journey to the First Flame, the origin of the dragon's fire breathing ability, and rekindle the sacred fires. When the time comes again, Dragon Lord Ember has decided that, for political reasons, Smolder should be the one to go. And in order to help her, she's allowed to pick one companion to go with her. So, she decides to pick the absolute best professor to go with her, one that has taken on several large creatures and escaped without a scratch.

Professor Fluttershy.

It can only end so well...

Inspired by Rated Ponystar.

Rainbow Dash's morning was pretty much ruined.
She tripped getting out of bed and landed flat on her face, giving herself an aching muzzle.
She forgot to buy her favorite brand of hay flakes at the store yesterday and had to eat plain toast for breakfast.
She found out she had to pull double-duty today and tomorrow on the weather patrol.
Oh, and she found a nearly-dead foal, broken and bleeding at the edge of Ponyville.

The rest of her day became a whirlpool of stress and worry but the colt woke up, thank Celestia.
Something's not right, though. Nopony can find his parents, he's not in the registers, and there's an unsettling look in his eye...

-
YouTube reading by Fire Hearth

Chinese Translation by forgivenlove

Russian Translation by Likantrop

TV Tropes page, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Gallus doesn't want to go home for summer. With a little gentle persuasion, he gets his friends on board to keep him out of Griffonstone, though none of them are quite sure how to do it; that is, until Silverstream hatches a scheme.

All he has to do is join the Hippogriff Navy. It's not the relaxing summer away from school that he hoped for, but hey, it promises to be interesting! Who knows what three months as a sailor could bring?

Adventure? Certainly.

Self-discovery? For sure.

A sea battle with a band of renegade pirates? Anything's possible.

Romance?

Pssh. Yeah, right.

Edited by a crew of scallywags who mean the world to me. In no particular order: MissyTheAngle, Freglz, Muggonny, Semillon, FamousLastWords

Special thanks to Pascoite for his assistance.

Cover art commissioned from the incomparable Marenlicious!

Curious about how the next chapter is coming along? Check my user page for regularly updated progress reports!

This story is a sequel to Strange Day at the Recruitment Office

There was one thing Gallus always wanted to be growing up in Griffonstone, a military officer. There was one slight problem though, he made several friends at a school in Ponyville, all of whom he values greatly but they also plan to stay in Equestria. So now sets his sights on being an officer in the E.U.P. Guard, by making his way into and through Canterlot's Royal Guard Academy.

Problem solved... except he'll be training at one of the toughest academies in Equestria, trying to keep in touch with his friends in Ponyville, while trying to make new friends in Canterlot, and oh yeah, he's a griffon amongst an institution full of ponies.

Cover art by Mix-Up.
Editing (starting from Winter in Ponyville) by Javarod.

Buggy CYOA is an ongoing adventure involving caring for a changeling; one who you discovered trapped in a dire situation in the Everfree Forest.
Life may be simple now, but many secrets lurk within this world, and things can change at any moment...

This is a story directed by the readers comments and participation, and will be incrementally updated as such.
You have the ability to influence what the next chapter will hold.
What will you say? What will you do? Where will you go?
How will you navigate your way through the challenges you may face?
The answer to that is up to you.

Instructions on how to participate and direct how the story continues can be found in the Author's Notes section of both the first and the latest chapter.
Regarding the story rating: Events that have transpired up until this point are firmly T rated, but due to the nature of this being a reader-driven CYOA story, the rating may change to M in the future if necessary. Please be aware of this.

===NEWS===
02/03/24: Due to a big change in my circumstances, this CYOA is to be considered on hiatus until further notice.

Glenda is Stygian's biggest fan in Griffonstone. (Not that there was much competition.)

Set a year or two after Twilight's Coronation and many years before the finale episode. Contains no S9 spoilers.

Note: M-rated sequel, "Beaks and Talons," available here.

Glenda is from the wonderful comic "The Convocation of the Creatures."

Winner of "Most well-written story" in the May Pairings Contest 2021.

Every single sentence this author wrote made the story come to life in a BIG way! I didn't once feel like I was reading a story. I felt like I was experiencing it, like I was right there, in the characters' shoes, feeling what they were feeling, seeing what they were seeing. It also helped me to get a better understanding of each character and love them on a deeper level. For example, let's take one paragraph from the story:
...
This kind of vivid imagery is found throughout the entire story, and the characters' voices help bring out their personality in meaningful ways that help you bond with them, to learn to love them beyond what the comics or cartoon give you. This was a no-brainer as the most well-written story in the contest.

Big thanks to Aragón for help with story structure, Wolfjack for trout en papillote, and  Steel Quill, Krack-Fic Kai, Sledge115, and Nitro Indigo for prereading.

Cover art via commission with Harwick. I love it and it is far better than I ever envisioned or deserved. 

After an existential journey goes wrong, a man finds himself in Equestria. With no way to return home he has no choice but to find a path in a new body. Will he discover a place to belong once again in this new land, or be forced to carve one out?

Currently rewriting first eight chapters and editing the rest of the story. Plot will be fundamentally the same, just the quality will significantly increase. There will be some story and character changes.

As of right now the story ramps in quality with some bumps due to edits.

Hearth's Warming is never an easy time for Gallus, being the only one without a real family to go home to.

But this year, he just might discover a new friend to spend it with.

Spanish Translation

Oblivion Shadow is a master Witcher of the Wolf School. A contract on a Leshens head brings him to the edge of the Northern Realms to answer a call for help. The fight starts off as normal. A second Leshen attack leaves him fighting on two fronts. The Witcher is able to escape, or so he thought when a sharp pain in his back leaves him waking up in Equestria. He is taken in by the Apple family, who treat him as one of their own. He is welcomed by the ponies of this world and he must learn how to accept that or risk upsetting a balance that he did not realize he was a part of. The question he has to ask himself is how does he get back to his world? Or does he even want to go back to a world that is fraught with war and drowning in hate and rage? His senses tell him that monsters from his world are in this new one but he can't seem to track them down. Could his world be bleeding into this one, and how bad will the damage be? He follows the Mane 6 and learns through them what it means to be a friend and a brother.

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