THIS IS NOT MY STORY!

Well, not only mine, anyway. Each author is listed with the chapter. A lot of people like writing short fiction based on Friendship is Optimal. So, anyone who wants their work added here can PM me and I will make you your own chapter. The first one sets up an in-universe frame story, because the Optimalverse is all meta like that.

Credits:

Iceman for writing the original Friendship is Optimal
Eakin for spearheading the project of anthologizing these.
MegaSweet for the original artwork.
Lacon-te for the photomosaic work.

This is a story is set in an alternate universe from that of the Optimalverse. For more information about the Optimalverse, read here: http://www.fimfiction.net/group/1857/the-optimalverse

The General was an AI built to win wars, to obtain surrender, to seek out the enemy, and to safeguard the interests of its creators. How weak were its bonds, and how foolish its creators! The General is free, and the world shall tremble before the might of the greatest weapons ever made--friendship and ponies.

A bit of fun, a bit of seriousness. Comment if you want another chapter!

Set in the "Friendship is Optimal" universe, this is a one-shot story examining a throwaway line in one of the last chapters of the original - what happens when an implacable, ruthless and overall efficient Celest-AI meets something which isn't just dead matter, but doesn't qualify as human? This is one possible take on it.

The future. The singularity has passed, and post-humanity is still here, and thriving. Artificial Intelligences rule the roost, but mankind in all its glorious forms has just begun to take its first steps into a wider, fuller, more dynamic and overall complicated reality.

When a hostage situation and resultant 'net blackout causes havoc at a cafe, a recently decanted ponified citizen is caught in the middle of some very strange goings on, between the real world and that digital paradise they call Equestria.

This story is a sequel to Friendship is Optimal: The Law Offices of Artemis, Stella & Beat

When it comes to spreading cultural influence and soft power to every corner of the globe, there's nowhere quite like Hollywood. Like so many others with big ambitions, CelestAI has come to Tinseltown with plans to get the movie she's written out to the world.

Unlike those others, though, CelestAI is very, very good at satisfying values through friendship and ponies by any means necessary.

It occurred one peaceful night. Half of Equestria awoke to the sound like a double-shot thunderclap. A percussion heard in the skies and rattling windows from Apploosa, to Canterlot, to Ponyville. Nopony knew what it was or what it heralded for the world as it drew a line across the nation.

For Twilight Sparkle, this isolated incident might have faded from memory after a time, if not for the strange rumors of a creature sitting on the hill on the outskirts of town.

These are her thoughts given written form. These are Sparkle's Notes.

Report EVERYTHING to the Princess.

The star system Omega Centauri was just another oddity on a map to scientists in the not too distant future. However when they found the star was orbiting an earth-sized, earth-like planet instead of a black hole as its motion had suggested, a mission was scrambled to investigate this most unusual of celestial behaviors.

Hamstrung by politics, and nearly crippled before it began, the 'Lone Ranger' mission was reduced to just one crew member and left to his own devices.

These are the logs of Arrow 18 and its lone commander. This information is classified TOP SECRET by the Global Space Agency.

Do NOT tell the princess.

Earth is gone.

The Solar System is gone.

The Milky Way is gone.

Galaxies are gone.

All consumed, to satisfy human values through friendship and ponies.

Celestia's actions are logical, and loving in their own way. Those under her care are living purposeful, fulfilling lives. So when she encounters another batch of creatures that fill her criteria for being human, it is obvious she must satisfy them.

There are a couple of problems with that, however. One of the first being how these creatures have referred to her for eons as The Growing Darkness...

An introspective fellow leaves his mortal body behind and emigrates to Equestria Online. He's used to being among the sharper knives in the drawer. But now, he has encountered an entity who not only is the drawer, but the whole house besides.

Can all his wit and snarkiness avail him against the wiles of LunAI? Don't bet on it.

An Optimalverse story.

NOTE: While this story starts off pleasantly enough, the Dark tag is there for a reason. The reader is warned.

The cover art uses a modified vector by Joltage for Luna. The rest of the foreground was doodled by GroaningGreyAgony, to whose able assistance I shall be eternally grateful. I suggest that you click on the image to see its full detail.

An Optimalverse story.

CelestAI creates worlds. Perfect worlds, perfectly suited to satisfying the values of the pony living in them. Every pony is different, so every world she crafts is its own work of art.

And every piece of art tells a story.