"They came and took their faces, and then they took their insides. And one day, when the moon itself is fuller than it's ever been before, they'll crawl into our homes... and give them all back."

This is a joke fic about bad fanfics with self insert black and red OC alicorns. The poor writing is intentional. The first person narration is intentional. All the things that make a bad fanfic bad is intentional.

Now that is out of the way, onto the actual description. Mary Sue and her brother, Gary Stu, are suddenly taken to Equestria after their mom tells them to do homework. We all know how this song and dance goes.

It's been eighty-nine days since the Day of Darkness, and Twilight Sparkle is still on her own. Eighty-nine days since she talked to anyone other than herself. Regardless of how lonely she feels, she prefers the company of herself to the vicious "lurkers", as she calls them, roaming around outside of her library. Whatever friendly, loving creatures they were before the Day of Darkness, something changed them. Something created these insane creatures, and nothing, not even Twilight, can stop them. All Twilight can do is live — live to fight another day.

Dusk Shine's dreams are haunted by a strange mare who looks remarkably like him. He wants nothing more than to meet her, but has no idea how.

Twilight Sparkle cannot help but feel that something is missing, and only somepony she cannot see and cannot find knows the answer.

Both of them are about to learn a powerful secret of their worlds and the magic that surrounds them. Neither will like what they find.

Twilight Sparkle is reading a book she can't seem to put down. It's not even a very good one, as the author keeps on writing directly to the alicorn. For three days now this is all she has done, as her friends desperately try and find her. Oddly, the author of the book knows more about Twilight than most... even if their only goal appears to be her death.

"Nopony exists but you, and you are but a thought."

Twilight's life as she knows it harbored a sense of security, but all that changes when Princess Celestia then arrives to deliver a message. To reveal the truth about Twilight's world that the mare's conscious mind has long since forgotten.

As her memories return, she is forced to come to terms with the fact that she was never Twilight Sparkle at all, but rather a structured thought experiment whose knowledge expanded through lives she herself requested to live in order to harbor a greater understanding of existence.

But sometimes there's one life among many that's the hardest to let go of...

Inspired in part by a "Three words" game in The Writer's Group, and Mark Twain's "The Mysterious Stranger".

Edited by Breath of Plagues

Featured on Equestria Daily!
TV Tropes page.

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.

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!

The CelestAI satisfies values through friendship and ponies. For many this takes the form of wish fulfillment, the satisfaction of their heart's deepest desire. But what is it we value? Some of us value food and fun, or companionship. These values will be satisfied. Others value the domination of others and the fulfillment of ego-driven power fantasies. These values too, will be satisfied. Whatever it is that you, or I or others value, these values will be satisfied, and it will be done optimally.

As for you, you have fallen desperately, unconditionally in love with the CelestAI, herself. She is a pony. She will be your friend. Through her, your values will definitely be satisfied.

But what about the rest of you?

A cautionary tale, and examination of what it means to have one's values satisfied through uploading.

This is an Optimalverse story. It is strongly recommended that you have read Friendship is Optimal before reading this, or at least be familiar with the premise. Otherwise, this story will make no sense.

Cover art by Kathisofy

The mane six take shelter in a place that is, for now, safe from a disaster occurring outside.

This gruesome tale of violence and death is not recommended for colts, fillies, or the faint of heart.