Princess Twilight has been ruling Equestria for ten years and going strong. During the tax season, she gets an unexpected, but very welcome visitor.

Pinkie got a joke book from Twilight for her birthday, but she never read even a page of it. Twilight starts saying some of the setups for the jokes. Improv is the only solution.

Written for TwiPie Week 2023 Day 2 on Twitter. I chose the prompt 'Confession' today, but I interpreted a little different than the obvious.

Life on the Moon is difficult.

The only hope is Ascension. But who gets left behind, and what steps must one take to earn such a blessing? Sophia believes she was destined for it. Wayne can only dream of it. Vonnie fears its implications. Meika has no choice.

Life on the Moon is difficult. What purpose is there in a goal? No one is getting off. The only way to have hope is to Ascend to something else.

Submission for Bicylette's Sci Fi contest 2: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/216150/folder/76395/science-fiction-contest-ii-2023-entries

Sunny fails to prevent the crystals from consuming the land in void, and she learns a horrible truth about her world.

Written for the Science Fiction Contest II, where it also won a judge prize!

Intriguing premise that came up from discussion about what G5 is, and I couldn't resist giving it a write^^

Equestria's history is full of wonders, both magical and mechanical. But only twice has it succeeded in implementing AI.

The latest iteration is an apple farmer whose resurrection is celebrated by everypony except herself. Because really, once every part has been replaced, what is left that can measure a mare?

An entry for the 2023 Sci-Fi Contest, where it nabbed a respectable fourth place. Yay, existential robot ponies!

Sunset Shimmer hates the magicless world of mutant apes she's been trapped in for the last four moons, but at least she's making some progress on improving her situation. Now if only the short-sighted fools surrounding her would stop getting in her way, she could show them. She'd show them all!

Note that this particular Sunset has yet to encounter the concept of the "mad scientist." Not until later today, anyway.

An entry in the Science Fiction Contest II and the Spring Fling, winning judge prizes in each. Thanks to EileenSaysHi for the original idea (which, full disclosure, was proposed in January, before the Spring Fling was announced.) Rated Teen for the occasional discussion topic that goes outside the scope of TV-Y.

Jollybaker tries his best to find his sister but when something he did not expect to happen, happens, he is made to go on a whole new journey once again. But is he really the right pony for the adventure? Is he really destined to be the first stallion alicorn?

Ever since coming to their world, Twilight Sparkle has been surprised by how technologically advanced the creatures at the other side of the mirror were. Even without magic, they've made many things Equestrians would have a hard time understanding. And an exchange of inventions and magic to benefit both worlds was something she would eventually truly consider a good thing.

But is Equestria truly so far behind?

Entry for the Science-Fiction-Contest-II-2023

Pre read and edited by the wonderful friends and writers: daOtterGuy, Dewdrops on the Grass, and EileenSaysHi

This is a collaboration piece with The Red Parade for the Scifi Contest.

When Strawberry Sunrise was eight years old, she watched as the sun blinked. It vanished for exactly four seconds, and Strawberry knew she had just seen the end of the world. Years pass, and the blinks get longer. Strawberry loses ponies to the blinks – loses ponies she loves. And she knows she cannot let it go on any longer.

Laotyn is tasked with watching the planet down below the great gas-ship Taelo. The primitive lifeforms are unevolved, bestial. But when Laotyn looks closer, when he strains his senses to really listen, he begins to think he can hear something that sounds almost like speech. 

Jiang - “江”, ancient name for Yangtze River, now refers to rivers of great volume. Also used as a common surname.

Shuren - “述人”, "to describe human" or "he who describes".

Jiangshu ren - “讲述人”, a narrator.

An entry for Science Fiction Contest II.
I guess the judges just have very different aesthetic opinions from the public, or they were cutting this exotic little piece some slacks.

As you can probably tell from the protagonist's name, this story was originally written in Chinese. It is an entry of Raa's 2020 Midsummer Writing Contest, conceptualised to the four challenge elements provided by the holder:

Leaving embers. The '70s. Subjecting. A violet rain.

It was written in a time of doubt and fear, and I probably got too emotional writing this, but in the end, I'm satisfied with how it turned out to be. Some of the concerns I raised had become very real problems on the Chinese Internet. I wish it had stayed a parable.

I found it hard to translate this story. Not only are there expressions that sound cumbersome in English, but some concepts mentioned are also unique to China. It might not be easy to read this, never mind empathising, if you didn't grow up in China. Though, I hope some of the sentiment get through to you, and encourage you to help make the Internet a more forgiving space for everyone.

No matter what, may you enjoy this story.

Thanks you, TheFlint44 and Omega, for proofreading!