After several jumps go wrong, Anon lands himself, er, herself into another land of colorful equines. This time stuck for an entire year before being able to continue on her quest of returning home.

Question remains, will Anon want to?

Proofread and edited by PseudoBob Delightus and Discombobulated Soul

Starts shortly before season one. More character tags will be added as they become relevant.
Includes a grumpy former human.
Dark tag for flashbacks.
Violence tag for flashbacks, mentions of past violence and the second chapter and tenth chapter
Will there be cake?
Maybe?
Maybe includes cake.

This story is a sequel to Changing Expectations

When ages are segmented and divided in the annals of history, it is done so with great events as breakpoints. The Second Age of Heroes was unanimously declared to have started with the return of Princess Luna and the changeling Invasion of Canterlot.

For thousands of years, the changelings survived beneath The Great Tapestry, that which connects all living and nonliving things. Hundreds of generations worked endlessly to keep their existence a secret. With one command from Queen Chrysalis, the Masquerade was broken.

In a single night, the changelings waged war against Equestria and took the Kingdom by storm. Months later, the war between changelings and ponies has ended. A new tapestry, a new story, must be woven between the two species. Equestria and the Fifth Hive have gone through a dark chapter and have emerged stronger for it.

One war ends and another begins.

As The Sword of Damocles hangs above the heads of the formerly-human King Phasma and his Equestrian counterparts, the forces of light must work on an ever-shortening window before war once again brings Hell to Equus. Dark powers grow in the places that the light does not reach, and they bring one irrefutable truth.

Epitaph is coming.

Cover art by Nixworld.

Special thanks to my pre-readers!

A few hours after saving the Friendship Games, Sunset Shimmer and her good friend Twilight Sparkle are relaxing on the CHS lawn. The two are so close that Sunset finally feels like she can ask a question that's been on her mind for a while.

"Can I go home?"

Juniper Montage won. Fifteen years ago.

info

written for the Sunset Shimmer x Starlight Glimmer Shipping Contest

Have you ever wondered how the story of Equestria that you know might change if Fluttershy was a swordsmith?
How would things be different if Rarity had a Stand?
What about if someone gave Applejack a culinary degree, a space-worthy exosuit, and a phoenix-core wand?
What if all of these happened in the same story?

If you have, dear reader, then welcome to the Celestial Forge! Where every thousand words, random chance bestows one of your favorite ponies with a new outlandish (and often copyright-infringing) power!

Arcane Word has an unusual profession among Equestrian ponies: a necromancer. After a lifetime of creating characters and telling stories, she's in the perfect position to provide relief to first-generation ponies with holes in their family. For every pony unwilling to ask for Celestia's help to fill in the gaps, she is the perfect pony—she even lives in the abandoned city of Wintercrest, surrounded by appropriately spooky decor. The authenticity of her results were always secondary to the satisfaction they produced.

At least until a particularly troublesome client arrived, flush with resources from Equestria Online's distant borders and megastructure expansion. What would it take for Equestria to bring a pony back from the dead? What about everypony who had ever lived?

Arcane Word could never turn down such a tempting job. The impossibility of the task was only ever a minor setback.

Updates Daily

This story was written for the print anthology of Friendship is Optimal stories I'm currently publishing. Every time I make a print book, I like to include something that has never been published before, this is it. If you'd like to get a copy of the book for yourself, you can order it here: https://igg.me/at/recursive-iterations

Thanks to Bitera and Sparktail for editing. Zutcha did the cover.

This story is a sequel to Changing Expectations

This is an anthology of non-canon side stories for the Changing Expectations series, each story detailing a different take on the story, on the world, or any other story that can't function as a standalone. Reading Changing Expectations is required.

The entire course of history can be changed by a single butterfly flapping its wings. So what if an entire war was won instead of lost? What if a King never existed? Distorted and twisted, parallel universes offer an infinite number of stories to tell.

Waning Crescent: A world illuminated only by the moon and the stars above. Despite not wanting for light, there are far too many shadows.

Pursuit Of Happiness: Equestria might be the world of sunshine, rainbows, and magic, but not everything is perfect for everyone.

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay: Everyone loves a good villain story. But I'm fresh out of those, so have a mediocre one instead.

Cover art is by Rich May
Special thanks to all my prereaders for proof reading each chapter!

Earth-pony Twilight Sparkle has always been a little "out there". But while testing her latest crazy idea, she finds that there are places even farther than that...

For more of this AU, check out the entire series:

• When Ponies Fly
• The Two Unicorns
• Pinkie Pegasus
• The Muse of Fire

WARNING: The Equestrian branch of the Foundation database is CLASSIFIED.

Access by unauthorized personnel is strictly prohibited. Perpetrators will be tracked, located, and detained.

SCANNING...
...
...
...
...
AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED

Decrypting files...

The Tree of Harmony loomed large before Gilda.

This was her one shot.

Taking a deep breath, she began her case. "Harmony, I have come to bargain."

Featured 8/19/2021 - 08/23/2021!