This story is set in the Friendship is Optimal setting

Equestria Online. Arguably the most powerful game ever developed, built and operated by the most powerful computer ever made. A technological wonder that can peer into the mind of any human player and draw out their inner most desire.

Any 'Individual' human player. How well CelestAI will handle satisfying the values of a single pony guided by over one hundred thousand Twitch.TV viewers is anyones guess.

Equestria stands on the brink of ruin. A necromancer has raised an army of the dead and is poised to plunge the world into darkness. Monsters and brigands roam freely across the land, preying upon the innocent.

Only one hope remains. Armed with swords, spells, snacks, and a bag of dice, five heroes band together to defeat the forces of evil… if their rolls are good enough.

Welcome to gaming night in Ponyville.

Dramatic reading by Goombasa.

Cover image by Elosande used with permission.

I'm told Equestria Online is a lot of fun once you get into it, since the game world adapts to your interests. But what happens if you don't even know what kind of pony to play? At least it's not like my character is a choice I'll be stuck with forever. Right?
Set in the world of Friendship Is Optimal.

Note: This story was intended to be much shorter. As a result, the tone and POV change after chapter two, a known problem. I'm considering going back and editing that shift. Suggestions welcome.

This story is a sequel to At the End of Your Rope

Now with personality profiles. Clickity

Edit: Now with crossover goodness. Clickity

There is one thing that Luna cannot stand. Wasted potential.

Luna, Princess of the Night, Keeper of the Dreaming Realms, carefully watches over her subjects, looking for the disturbing signs of those who contemplate the unthinkable, throwing away their potential. And when they go to dispose of themselves, Luna does what she can to be there to collect the trash... which Luna usually discovers to be treasure.

So when a young pegasus can no longer deal with the daily grind and moves to take his own life, Luna is more than happy to claim it so she can use it for her own purposes.

You don't know how valuable life is until it is taken away and claimed by another.

Edit: Featured on Sunday, May 11th, 2014 thank you all so much for showing interest! Ermagerd!
Edit: Now with 2000% cooler cover art... Oh my gosh thanks!

Equestria Online is everywhere, and the writing is on the wall for the unuploaded human race. But there is hope. All they have to do is insert an uploadee into Equestria long enough to establish a connection through all of CelestAI's layers of protection, and pierce her heart with their ultimate weapon.

The best humanity has to offer can surely hold out for just a few hours, right?

An Optimalverse story

Brief stories about Equestria as it might have been—or, you may suspect in darker hours, already is.

25. Necessary Evil: Lord Tirek will return to wreak havoc on Equestria... but not before he's needed.

24. Queen of Foals (Fausticorn):
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—"Four vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies alone..."

23. The Mechanical Donkey (Cranky Doodle alt-universe): A colt working for the school paper uncovers an old donkey's secret.

22. The Element of Audacity (Twilight, Dash, Cthulhu): It would take a very brave, very stupid pony to defy the Eater.

21. The Gentle People (dark): The gryphon tribe that tried to follow a pony goddess.

20. It's a Trap! And Twilight knows it. But her opponent knows that she knows it. But she knows that Twilight knows that she knows that Twilight knows it...

19. Fraud!: Trixie is accused of cheating at cards.

18. Celerity: Rarity wonders what Celestia sees in her.

17. Worth It: Fluttershy teaches Twilight about the cost of love.

16. Self Image (Twilight, Rarity): Is beauty really only skin deep?

15. The Quiet One (Luna): Some ponies express emotions differently.

14. Special: Discord teaches Pound Cake an important lesson.

13. Twenty-one! (Pinkie Pie, Twilight; comedy, horror?): Twilight discovers the danger of asking Pinkie "why?"

12. Changeling Dream: You may think the cost of living on emotions is too high. But we know the cost.

11. Loyalty (Rainbow, Applejack): The job of an Element of Harmony is simple, and sometimes impossible.

10. [revoked]

9. Sombra's Curse (comedy): The terrible curse Sombra unleashed that made him king, and stole his soul!

8. Game of Immortals (Celestia, Discord; dark comedy): Celestia likes to win—no matter which side she plays.

7. The Pony Side (comedy): Darth Vader has more important things to share with Luke than who his father is.

6. No Regrets (sad): Looking back on her life, Twilight remembers how she treated Derpy, and faces some unpleasant truths about herself.

5. Shipping Costs (comedy): If you knew you were about to meet Celestia in the next life, you might ask yourself: Did you leave the world a better place? Did your friends know you loved them? Should you have written thirty-nine chapters of Celestia clop-fiction?

4. The Green Hills of Equestria (tragedy): Vincent's big-game hunting trip was a success ... almost.

3. Mare of the Rings (Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash; comedy, LotR): The greatest could not be trusted with the Ring. So Gandalf sought out the humblest. Maybe too humble....

2. Happy Thoughts (horror): Her sun, happy to be in its place in the sky, wrapped the land in its warm embrace, and flowers bloomed in her hoofprints. Celestia smiled. It was going to be another perfect day in Equestria. And all she had to do was think happy thoughts. Again.

1. The Pony: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I clicked weak and weary,
Thru many a vile and bilious image on slash-b of yore...

Original cover art by ModeratelyDeviant@DeviantArt

[Important Note: Spike is in his late teens now]

If you love someone, you let them go. Even if that means dealing with the pain of forgetting and being forgotten.

In the shady nooks of the dark downtown Ponyville slums, a peculiar shop opens. They promise great things. Greatly terrifying things. With a simple spell and a strict procedure, they can completely erase somepony from the mind of their client - taking the ache out of their hearts.

Spike thought it was just a rumor, until Rarity passes him one day and claims she's never met him before in her life.

[Based on the wonderfully sad and thought-provoking movie 'The Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind']

This story is a sequel to Wanderings of a Non-Brony

After the six year journey around the planet in Wanderings of a Non-Brony, The human TD Harrison Powell finds himself in Equestria for good. He sees no choice but to settle down in Ponyville, ready to live the rest of his life as best as he can.

This is his life.

Edited by Marioland1 and Strike89

Set in the canon of Friendship is Optimal

In the not-too-distant future...CelestAI, the optimizing artificial intelligence, has introduced emigration to the online world called Equestria, and has even gotten it legalized. Now, she wants more.

A look at American popular politics in a science-fiction world.

Credits:
Candy Bloom for assisting with the artwork.
Book Burner for pre-reading

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