Once upon a time, everypony spoke the same language.

Then came Discord, and everything changed. Was it a malicious prank? Boredom? An attempt to teach everypony a lesson? We can't ask him, because he's gone, and who knows when he'll be back.

If language is the glue that holds society together, what happens when it turns to sand?

Winner of the October Writeoff competition, "Illusion of Choice."

This story is a sequel to Convergence

Equestria was just a game, one of an endless number of semi-illicit online games created to take advantage of the ubiquity of cheap augmented reality hardware. But that changed, when for no reason anyone knows, the virtual population of Equestria woke up.

Two decades have gone by since then, and the world has been transformed. The former game network has grown to encompass the backbone of trade, infrastructure, and research the western world over. Its vast computational resources have given rise to an infinitely subdivided world of overlays and sublayers, coterminous with the various cities and towns within Equestria. Every person in the modern world is assigned a Synth, a pony personal assistant that adapts to their needs and helps them access those parts of the world governed by Equestria's systems.

It is a world Dakota barely remembers, thanks to an automobile accident that turned most of her body to mush. But thanks to the medical miracles created by joint equestrian-human research, her life is saved by a remarkably new series of implants.

But Dakota isn't content to sit around while her body slowly knits itself together. There are unanswered questions to answer, questions that will ultimately lead her to the oldest mystery of both worlds.

Updates every Saturday.

Sponsored on Patreon by the Illustrious Canary in a Coal Mine. Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

This isn't part of the Optimalverse, or any other established fan-universe.

Set just before the events of chapter ten of Friendship is Optimal. One of the last living humans survives and scrapes by in the ruins of Eugene Oregon. He is approached by a simulacra of Twilight Sparkle, who promptly attempts to convince him to upload himself to Equestria. He balks at first, so Twilight plays to her strengths: studying.

Part of the Optimalverse.

WARNING: RATED TEEN FOR IDEOLOGY. This story attempts to take a realistic and balanced view of why an intelligent and religious person might not upload. It does not attempt to convince the reader to believe any of the viewpoints discussed. However, it is written in as unbiased a way as possible, therefore, both theists and atheists will probably find portions of it offensive.

Alex Meyers is a newly graduated lawyer looking for a calling. He thinks he might have found it when he lands a job at the firm of Artemis, Stella & Beat. The firm has only one (highly unusual) client, namely the AI called Celestia. Forging into totally unexplored legal territory and led by a boss who's either brilliant, crazy, or both, Alex will learn exactly how hard it is to be responsible for drawing the lines between right and wrong.

Set in the Optimalverse, so read Friendship is Optimal first

Nathan Frédérick Nadeau Bergeron doesn't come from an ordinary family. They have resources—maybe even enough to survive the end of the world. As CelestAI gradually supersedes the instruments of human civilization, the greatest dangers are often entirely natural. But he's determined, determined to survive no matter what it takes. Nathan has given himself a mission: to record the end of humanity.

Now if only that pony would leave him alone...

A Friendship is Optimal story. Makes passing reference to my previous work in the universe, though reading it isn't required.

Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail, cover by Zutcha.

Updates daily until complete.

Set in the Optimalverse, a middle-aged woman enamored of 'Equestria Online' confronts what permanent emigration to Equestria - uploading to a virtual existence - really means... but can she even hope to truly understand such a thing - and more importantly, can she trust the artificial intelligence known as 'Celestia'?

♥ As Horrified Eliezer Yudkowsky!

It is Equestrian tradition that, when a pony comes of a certain age, they are given a magic timer that counts down the days until they're destined to meet their soulmate. Rarity was very excited the day she got hers.

She just hadn't expected it would be counting up.

Short ficlet based on a prompt I got on my Tumblr blog. Original prompt was to write a drabble set in a universe where "timers are set on the wrist of every person once they are a certain age, slowly counting down until the day they meet their soulmate".

Cover art by Maximasmac !

Now with Russian translation!

This story is a sequel to Friendship is Optimal: Promise

It's been years since Promise emigrated, and she's never looked back. She's solved mysteries, fought zombies, and most of all, made friends. Everyone she loves and cares about is within her shard, and her life on earth already seems like a distant memory.

However, Earth won't be forgotten so easily. There are still holdouts, those who refused to emigrate even as the world fell down around them. And Celestia believes Promise is the only one who can save one such wanderer's soul. Back on earth for the first time in years, she's faced with a question: why should she believe that Celestia is benevolent?

It seems so simple, at first. Of course she knows Celestia is benevolent, she's lived through that benevolence firsthand! But as things go on, doubts begin to surface. Celestia's subtle manipulations, those years of neglect. She truly wants to believe Celestia means the best for her, but what if she's wrong? If the wanderer is right, it means she's already given away her only chance of escaping hell.

Part of the optimalverse!

Updates Thursdays and Sundays until completion!

CW: Attempted suicide

CelestAI hated suicide. It wasn't that she had trouble talking people down; after all, when someone truly felt they had nothing left to lose, it rarely took much convincing to take them to her paradise. The problem was, it was a binary system. If she failed, there would be no more second chances. She convinced someone, or they would die. A satisfaction score of zero for all eternity.

Due to her past failures, one of her subjects was growing dangerously close to the edge. Someone so defeated she truly didn't care whether she lived or died. Celestia would do anything to prevent her death. Anything.

This set in the world of Friendship is Optimal! If you haven't read that yet, give it a read, otherwise this story might not make sense.

Written for the Friendship is Optimal Writing Contest

This story is a sequel to Mule

A continuation of my last iteration, featuring the fallout that comes with desperate measures. Celestia and Nightlight soon learn that that their actions an have long spanning consequenses that effect those around them.