Buggy CYOA is an ongoing adventure involving caring for a changeling; one who you discovered trapped in a dire situation in the Everfree Forest.
Life may be simple now, but many secrets lurk within this world, and things can change at any moment...

This is a story directed by the readers comments and participation, and will be incrementally updated as such.
You have the ability to influence what the next chapter will hold.
What will you say? What will you do? Where will you go?
How will you navigate your way through the challenges you may face?
The answer to that is up to you.

Instructions on how to participate and direct how the story continues can be found in the Author's Notes section of both the first and the latest chapter.
Regarding the story rating: Events that have transpired up until this point are firmly T rated, but due to the nature of this being a reader-driven CYOA story, the rating may change to M in the future if necessary. Please be aware of this.

===NEWS===
02/03/24: Due to a big change in my circumstances, this CYOA is to be considered on hiatus until further notice.

All Twilight Sparkle wanted was a nice teatime with Starswirl, her idol. And then Trixie Lulamoon had to show up, cast a spell, and rip yet another hole in space-time.

This is becoming distressingly common...

Part of the Anarchyverse.

Now has a reading by the Poniverse channel. Super-special thanks for doing me such a kindness!

Now has a Russian translation by GrandCat!

Formal Premise: The inventors of the Mirror wanted to create a device that could channel infinite magic and grant wishes. The hard part was making sure those wishes would never destroy the world. Showing a person their heart's desire is a sensible precaution to put into a wish-granting machine designed NOT to go horribly wrong.

The Atlanteans got close, even managing to imbue some amount of intelligence and morality into the Mirror. But they never finished their work; the Mirror never DID get to the point where it could grant wishes... at least, nobody believes it ever got to that point. But then, nobody has ever been trapped inside the Mirror and returned to tell the tale.

When the Mirror traps someone inside itself and outside of Time, that person and their consequences can no longer affect the world. In that circumstance, with a person fully under its power, the Mirror isn't limited in what it can do. Sometimes, it can even grant seemingly incompatible wishes.

But complex problems require complex solutions. In this case, the Mirror takes a few massive liberties about how, exactly, it satisfies the wishes of both Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Namely, it sends them to a world of ponies.

Informal Premise: This is a crossover between MLP and Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, not just Harry Potter. No matter how accessible I try to make it to those who haven't read HPMoR, those who HAVE read it will undeniably have an easier experience reading this story.

HPMoR is the second most popular fanfiction of Harry Potter, at least according to fanfiction stats. It involves Harry studying & dissecting the wizarding world with science. Not with technology, with actual science. That is, he uses the experimental method, generates and tests hypotheses, and in the words of his Occlumency instructor, "wants to discover the underlying rules of magic to become all-poweful".

THIS fanfic brings THAT version of Harry Potter to Equestria. It also brings that story's version of Voldemort.

If you want the best reading experience, please go read HPMoR first. It can be found on fanfiction dot net, or on its own website, or even on any podcast app, as it has its own fan-made audiobook with 30+ contributing voice actors, production quality, sound effects, music, etc. (which is more than can be said for most PROFESSIONAL audiobooks).

Link to HPMoR on fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Methods-of-Rationality
Link to HPMoR on its own website: http://www.hpmor.com/chapter/1
Link to audiobook (though the website isn't nearly as good as podcast apps): https://hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=56

All forms of HPMoR that I've encountered are high quality, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. You can probably read the first few chapters of HPMoR in thirty minutes or so. If it doesn't appeal to you, this story probably won't appeal to you either.

For those who haven't read Methods and want to read this story anyway, the first two chapters are going to be the most confusing. They're mostly housekeeping and stage-setting, barely touching the MLP universe beyond the new setting.

And I think the same advice Yudkowsky gave for HPMoR applies here. The story starts hitting its strides around Chapter 5, if not sooner. If you don't like it by Chapter 10, best just to give up and read something else.

Trotalgar. That insignificant, weed-infested hilltop where one of History’s most important battles was won, once had an ill-famed square named after it in the old City of Everfree. That’s where Princess Celestia fought an opponent even she couldn’t win.

A potted plant.

------

“History may be written by the victor, but urban legends can never be vanquished.” - Shih Tzu, Diamond Dog General of the Fido Dynasty.

N.B. Any actual fighting involved is going to be of the internal kind.

After the Rogue Shadow is damaged in a fierce firefight with the Rebellion, Galen Marek aka Lord Starkiller makes a hyperspace jump to a seemingly random set of coordinates whispered to him by the Force, only to find himself marooned on an uncharted planet populated with bipedal equine creatures, a great many of whom were powerful Force-sensitives, known to them as magic, none more so than an Alicorn Princess by the name of Twilight Sparkle. With the Elements of Harmony and Maris Brood as his apprentices, Lord Starkiller forms the Espada Order, a group of Force wielders that some might call “Gray Jedi.” However, Starkiller’s absence does not escape the notice of Emperor Palpatine for long, and things only grow worse when Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion get involved. And when faced with a terrible tragedy, Starkiller’s greatest student and Equestria’s greatest hero might just become their greatest threat.

A Star Wars crossover and sister story to Long Live The Rebellion.

After the Rogue Shadow is damaged from a bomb placed aboard the ship by the Empire, the clone of Galen Marek and Jedi Master Rahm Kota make a hyperspace jump to a seemingly random set of coordinates whispered to them by the Force, only to find themselves marooned on an uncharted planet populated with bipedal equine creatures, a great many of whom were powerful Force-sensitives, known to them as magic, none more so than an Alicorn Princess by the name of Twilight Sparkle. With the Elements of Harmony as their apprentices, Starkiller and Kota must help this simple, quaint and peaceful world prepare for the impending arrival of the Galactic Civil War that could threaten to reduce it to cinders.

A Star Wars crossover and sister story to Kneel Before The Dark Lord.

What started out as a simple lunch break for Lyra Heartstrings quickly becomes something far weirder. A strange object appeared out of seemingly nowhere and lands directly into her soup bowl, leaving only bewilderment in its wake. As her best friend Bon Bon searches the town's local library for any information regarding the object, Lyra 'accidentally' activates it, sending her on a trip through the journey of this alien device, and the wielders that have used it...

My name is Rainbow Dash and today I learned something new. I learned I'm actually a changeling. You'd think that would be something you would already know. I just learned it now when I saw my true self for the first time. How did I come to replace the real Rainbow Dash, and when? And why can't I remember it?

Changelings are mighty hunters, capable of imitating anything they choose to perfection. Naturally stealthy, soft on their hooves, and cunning to a fault, there is no doubt that they sit on top of the food chain. Incognito is a proud changeling and looks down on his friends prey from his lofty spot above them all, confident that his spot at the pinnacle of the food chain is secure. After all, his race is without equal, their strength unquestionable ...

With the exception of a small, little nerve cluster at the tip of their snouts. It doesn't help that everypony in Ponyville knows about it, too.

'Nito really wishes they didn't.

Preread by Timaeus and Cynewulf. Thanks, guys.
Cover art by the one and only Rossby Waves.

On the night before her sixteenth birthday and official coronation as Imperial Princess, Flurry Heart is kidnapped by changelings. Alone, the daughter of Cadance and Shining Armor confronts her destiny.

Featured? Oh my.