A collection of small, self-contained, often single-chapter mini-stories set in the Rites of Ascension universe. See little glimpses into the lives and times of the characters in this compendium of random scenes. Some I wrote for fun, others may be scenes deleted from the main story for editing purposes.

With the exception of chapter three, you do need to have read Rites of Ascension to understand what's going on here. If you skip that part, you'll be severely lost.

Updates will be sporadic. Technically, these are non-canon, as they're not as heavily considered or edited as the canon stories. Most, if not all, of these are going to be Slice of Life, but exceptions may appear from time to time. Cover art by Violet Squiggles, my beloved wife.

My attempt at a more serious 'Luna meets Neil Armstrong' storyline. What would really happen, both on the moon and on Earth? Inspired by 'The Eagle has Landed' by CyanBlackStone.

Princess Luna has found herself on a very different moon after some strange force interfered with her banishment. She doesn't know what the metal objects that keep orbiting and sometimes landing there are, but she wants to find out. Meanwhile, Neil Armstrong believes that being the first man on the moon will be the crowning achievement of his life. Hoo boy, is he ever in for a surprise.

For those who are interested, the most excellent Zanec has provided this link to an interactive Apollo 11 site.

Pinkie doesn't tell ponies about Pinkamena and Surprise. The doctors said that they were bad for her, that they were a disease, but she disagrees. Sure, Pinkamena's a bit of a grumpy-pants, but she's still a great friend! She's often the voice of reason to counter-act some of the other two's crazier ideas, after all. Surprise, on the other hand, is a great prank-player, and always up for some fun. She's more like Pinkie, only more hyper. Both are great fun to be around, and they get on well.

Thing is, she knows that if she told ponies about them, then they would be dragged back to the hospital. And then be 'treated' again. None of them want that. Because of this, not even her best not-in-head friends know about them. The three of them have, for years now, been careful enough to keep the existence of Pinkamena and Surprise secret.

This has, of course, gone out the window now that Twilight is hammering on the door after overhearing one third of a conversation, with no sign of anyone else talking.

Hints of F/F shipping inside. Nothing will actually come of it here, though. Maybe in a future story.

Cover art can be found here: http://killryde.deviantart.com/art/Smile-338206490

This story is a sequel to Gears in the Void

Beyond the Crystal Mountains lies the Frozen North, its original name long forgotten behind a barrier of icy spires and temperatures low enough to flash freeze a pegasus. The last attempt to revisit the birthplace of ponies failed decades ago, and the princesses believe it is time for another attempt.

Two weeks after the events of Gears in the Void, Sterling Gears is still adjusting to what she has lost, but when a hero and the princesses ask her to do what she does best, how can she refuse?

The North awaits. She just has to answer the call.

Part 2 of The Tinker's Journey.

A human wakes up to find that not only has he been altered in species and gender, but that he has also landed halfway across the world from Equestria, in an unfamiliar land.

This is not that story. Not yet, anyway.

A decade in passing and Kaz has gained a reputation as a member of a well-known group of explorers traveling the world. Not once have they set foot on Equestrian soil, and she was content to keep it that way, for her appearance would bring about unwanted attention from a few certain ponies and one certain baby dragon. So what happens when the rest of the group hears of unbelievable tales of Equestria, and decide that it's time they paid a visit?

An impending disaster, that's what.

The year is 1109. Long under the rule of the royal sisters, Equestria is in the midst of an economic boom. New breakthroughs in magic and steam technology give rise to elaborate machinery, resulting in an exodus as adventurers scramble to chart the unknown lands outside the Equestrian Valley. Spearheading the movement are the airships Celestia and Luna, the pride and joy of Equestrian air travel.

After failing the final exam of Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Dash's dreams of serving aboard an airship seem crushed. But when a mysterious stranger offers assistance, she is given a second chance to make those dreams come true. Together with a calculating pilot, a stubborn engineer, an eccentric inventor, a genius record-keeper, a timid strategist and a child cartographer, Rainbow Dash will face down the unknown in a foreign land as she is thrust into an adventure beyond her imagination.

(Inspired by the "Mares of Tomorrow" drawings by LionheartCartoon, who has green-lighted the use of his universe. Featured on Equestria Daily as of 11/2/13)

Cutie Mark Crusaders Time Travelers, yay! ...Wait, what?

When older versions of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Spike appear from the future, Twilight and her friends are in for the time of their lives. The Crusaders have gone back in time on a mission that may decide the fate of time itself! They are fearless, they are resourceful, they... completely messed up right from the start, huh?

Now it's a literal race against time to set things right, as powerful enemies from the future attempt to claim the past for themselves. So join the Elements of Harmony and the Crusaders of tomorrow in an epic story of danger, hope, despair, betrayal, revenge, love and swashbuckling high adventure!

Just remember the golden rule: Time travel doesn't make sense!

(The human tag is just a technicality)
There was a sloth. He was a simple sloth. And then one day he was whisked away to Equestria. What will happen to him when he is slow to react to the imminent change? And what will the ponies who care for him make of this new, strange and oddly compelling creature?

We heard that someone gave sloths a bad reputation 'round here, so we got together and tried to remedy the situation.
The results are...mixed. Please don't hate us.

Directed and produced by 'I'm not drunk' Quicksear in collaboration with 'Yes you are' Listener and 'You both need to go home' Selkowitz
Edited by 'I'm not with them' Candle_Jack

The humans have travelled to Equestria to share their knowledge with the ponies. However, what the human scholars bring with them quickly turns out to be a bit much for the simple-minded locals.

Thrust into the world of her favorite book-series, Rainbow Dash finds herself dragged along for the ride of Daring Do's latest adventure. Mind-boggling as it may be, things are about to get far more complicated. For Rainbow Dash, breaking the fourth wall may very well prove to be a learning experience.

TAGS: Learning curve, Breaking the Fourth Wall for beginners, "Rainbow Sense", Where is Pinkie Pie?

This story was conceived long before the episodes "Daring Don't" and "Power Ponies".
For the sake of this story, Daring Do remains a fictional character, the author remains anonymous, and there is no such thing as a store selling "enchanted" comic-books.

This story is available as an audio-book (text-to-speech synthesized), see individual chapters for links.

Story excerpt:

It still bothered her how she had gotten here, how it was even possible that she was walking side-by-side through some buried underground-structure, with her favourite fictional character become flesh. But as they resumed trotting deeper into the temple, Dash's thoughts kept going back to the event.

"No", Dash told herself, sternly. "That's - that's not it."

She almost would have compared the experience to "Pinkie Sense" of all things!

But she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. It had been... letters. Words. A sentence.

Something along the lines of "... the characteristic noise of a ... spikes closing in right behind ... Rainbow Dash slammed her body into ... ".

And then she had acted, before the trap was even visible. She had known what was going to happen, before it happened.

She ... she had read the next paragraph.

Story-related artwork:
[1] [2]