This story did not explode! What a relief and/or letdown.

Part of OPERATION CRACKFIC STORM 2024 ( group | stories ).

Thanks to Silk Rose for coming up with the idea, writing chapters 22 and 9, and developing the code; thanks also to Meadowsys for general code help.

Thanks to IrradiatedPirateBooty ( tumblr ) for the awesome character art.

And thanks to everyone in the comments who stuck around for the final countdown!

Foreword:

If you have found this book, then I urge you to return it to where you have found it.

When I began writing this journal I thought this information valuable and even as I progressed I thought it necessary for the survival of my tribe. It wasn't until much later that I understood that what I have learned is priceless.

These secrets are not mine to share and they are not yours to learn.

Inside of these pages you will find the musings of a young fool and the language and history of two truly unique ponies. It is not history that I wish to be forgotten, but it must be hidden.

Again, I urge you, return this to its place.

-Starswirl The Bearded

Written in collaboration with my friend Lion

DISCLAIMER: This is an experimental story meant to teach the absolute basics of a constructed language.

A companion piece to Babel and set in my Scorchedquestria universe. Not required reading as this story can stand on its own.

This story is a sequel to Rekindled Embers

Thanks to the efforts of Emberglow, her fellow Elements, and all who stood against tyranny, the twisted heart of the Holy Equestrian Diarchy was exposed and expunged. Some time has passed since then, and all the creatures of the land have settled into a new normal. While there are those who still cling to their old fear and hatred, the seeds of change have been planted in the hearts of many who once blindly followed a bigoted faith. Others have already embraced peaceful coexistence, following Emberglow’s example.

But sudden, unfathomable arrivals trigger a seismic shift, upending what everypony thought they knew and threatening to undo everything Emberglow and company achieved. Can they uncover the real truth once again and protect Equestria? Or will renewed violence and conquest sweep across the entire world under the purview of those who would claim absolute power?

Edited by LysanderasD and the inspiring applezombi
Cover Art by JodTheCod

Come join us on the Rekindled Embers Discord!

Mood Wings - Observations on Pegasus Body Language.

When Twilight Sparkle finds this book, she discovers an entirely new field of research. The secrets of pegasus wings lie before her, and she insists on making her own observations on the matter.

How?

Field research, of course.

Somewhere in the Frozen North, a griffon expedition has gone missing. As the only airship specifically designed for the frigid environment, the Aurora Dawn and her crew's first mission out of the shipyards will be to find and rescue this lost expedition.

If only they knew what the expedition was really out there to find...

Inspired by the collective works of H.P. Lovecraft, though familiarity with Lovecraft's works are not necessary to get this.

I experimented quite a bit with narrative in this story, specifically in using different narrative voices depending upon the perspective. I'll leave it up to the readers if I pulled this off effectively.

My thanks to JawJoe for the exceptionally helpful prereading and suggestions on how to make this story all the better.

Now with a Russian translation, courtesy Steel_Ranger!

On Flurry Heart's twelfth birthday, Cadance tells her daughter she will never die.

Haunted by the loneliness of her young immortality, Flurry Heart finds unexpected solace in the only other pony who could possibly understand her — the filly preserved for eternity within the Gardens of Canterlot.

Flurry could not have forseen that an apparition of that filly would appear before her, and only her.

Something brought them together. Flurry intends to uncover what.

The Fire of Friendship has all but faded. One thousand years ago, Equestria fractured... those who disagreed with Celestia's rule left under the leadership of Princess Luna to found their own nation, their own way of life. Seventy years later, Celestia and Luna both disappeared during the first war, leaving the battered nations leaderless in their absence.

Over the last nine hundred years wars have frequently waged between Equestria and Lunaria, each seeking to unite ponykind under their own ideals. Equestria's mastery of magic often gave it the edge in battle, but never enough for a decisive victory. Peace reigns for now, but recent developments in Lunaria signal a shift in the balance between the two divided nations...

It was supposed to be a simple spell. How did I make it? Just to test a theory. Just to see what was out there, beyond reality. It shouldn't be possible It wasn't able to affect anything. Why did I do this?

My submission to the Thousand Words Contest, Experimental category.

A contest? I was created for a contest?

Note; some formatting doesn't work on mobile. It's not much, but you only get the full intended effect on PC.

What effect? Why are you doing this to me?

I thought it was just a particularly hot summer. When my friends and the rest of the town started acting weird, I thought it was just the heat. After all, we've had heatwaves before, and those always drive ponies a little crazy. That's what I told myself, anyway.

And then I did some digging and realized I was right... and also very, very wrong.

It has been nearly a thousand years since Twilight Sparkle died. Celestia and Luna are gone. The Holy Equestrian Diarchy, ruled by a bigoted and brutal theocracy, has driven ponies apart and divided them along tribal lines. Unicorns are driven from society, feared and hated.

The lessons of friendship, painstakingly written down in the journal of friendship by Princess Twilight and her friends, have been warped and twisted to fit the Diarchy's hateful ideology. But to the average pony, this is the truth and reality of the world they live in, beset on all sides by enemies monstrous and magical.

Emberglow, a young pegasus mare, aspires to join the elite Knights, magically enhanced warriors dedicated to the holy Saints worshiped by the state religion. Can she uncover the lies and deceptions that have led the world to this bitter place?

Thanks to QueenChrysalisForever for prereading Chapters 1-24. Prereader for chapters 29-31 is MrRTS.
Prereading for chapter 34-? by Horsetorian
Additional pre-readers: bananachips/CommissarVulpin, Thought Prism, Chyre
Special thanks to my amazing editor, Cyonix
Cover Art by JodTheCod

Note on timing: I began writing this long before Season 9 aired, so none of those events happened as far as the narrative of this story is concerned.

Come join us on the Rekindled Embers Discord!

Edit: Featured 8/7/20! Yay and Thanks!