This story takes place during the Season Five finale, "The Cutie Re-Mark". As such, there are spoilers ahead.

Starlight Glimmer's plan is working. All she has to do is upset Rainbow Dash's rainboom-creating race in the past, and Twilight Sparkle's connection with her friends will be severed. And she's done it. Repeatedly. Sure, Twilight can go back in time to try and stop her, but Starlight will always be brought back as well. No matter what Twilight tries, no matter how many times she returns, she can't stop Starlight. They're evenly-matched, and it's much easier to disrupt events than it is to preserve them.

That means Starlight wins, right?

Discord was thought to have finally come to the side of harmony and light, but it turns out to be quite the opposite. He betrayed the land of Equestria--a land which has forgiven him twice--for a second time. He has now released all of Equestria's greatest foes against his most formidable adversaries, the Elements of Harmony.

The land was flooded with smoke, and great fires that ravage all in its path. The treacherous Chrysalis aims to control the land and oppress the ponies into nothing but mindless servants for her hungry children, while brutes like Tirek aim to gain as much power as possible. In the mean time Discord just sits back and watches with a gleeful, menacing, and malicious smile.

Luckily for Equestria, they just got a new hero.

A clerical error in the Registry of Mortals sends an unwitting human to a strange land. It wouldn't be so bad, if the ponies there weren't out for his blood.

Literally.

A little twist on the myth that unicorns were hunted for their fantastical powers.

Once, I was a simple human. I spent my days living my life and enjoying as the days slowly ticked past. I had a girlfriend who loved me and who I loved in return.

That all changed one day when I went to a costume party dressed up as the character Amaterasu from the game Okami.

Now I don't even know what I am anymore.

I have the powers of a god, but what am I supposed to use them for?

Edited and Proofread by Courage Fire and tytyvm starting from Fourth and Fifth Howl.

Link to TvTropes Page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/EquestrianJoe

Does NOT Contain:
- An overpowered protagonist
- A human-on-pony romance
- Unbelievable characterization
- A contrived plot where everything happens the hero's way

As a brony who prides himself on always knowing where the fine line between fantasy and reality lies, Joseph Ryan Ang was more than skeptical about where exactly he thinks he has landed himself up in when he stumbles and falls through a large hole in the forest while out on a solo hiking trip in the forests of Tennessee. But when he begins to encounter, and subsequently escape from several familiar creatures, each one harassing him and then moving on to nearly killing him on his harrowing journey back to civilisation, the realization that he just might have stumbled into another world altogether begins to take hold.

The realization then batters relentlessly against walls of skepticism, but even as the evidence begins to mount before his eyes, he continues to hold on to the incontrovertible facts that there are no such things as portals, and manticores and wolves made out of wood and bark do not exist.

At least, that's what he thinks until he bursts out of the Everfree, and discovers that he's landed up in Equestria.

All in all, it's just the kind of day that would have had him swearing loudly and at length.

But Joseph's arrival in Equestria isn't just due to fickle chance, or to the myriad ways of destiny. Dark forces of the world stir, their eyes intent upon him. Sinister motives plot and scheme, and upon his arrival in Canterlot he soon finds himself embroiled in a shadowy plot more dire than anything he could possibly imagine, with far-reaching portents beyond his wildest dreams. As he races against time to unravel a conspiracy against the crown despite being surrounded by mistrust and prejudice, Joseph will discover what it means to be a protector and a guardian of what he loves... and more importantly, what it means to be human in a world of ponies.

This isn't just about the machinations of fate, the paths of destiny, or the fickle whimsies of chance. It is about the way a man is capable of forging his own paths by the choices he makes, despite the circumstances foisted upon him. It is about the power of the freedom of choice, to defy what destiny had planned for you and to create your own fate. It is about how even the unlikeliest of individuals can turn out to become even the most unexpected of heroes, and how one man's desire to make a difference can change an entire world.

He came to their world as a man who barely even knew his purpose in life, much less how or why he had arrived there.

He is about to become a man who will forge his own path to the very heights of their nation.

---
Shoutouts to HeirApparent and DigitalCore for helping me proofread, edit, and generate ideas for this baby!

A letter sits upon a table where it had not just a moment before. A golden glow lifts it as it unfurls in front of the reader.

Let us see here, how to begin?

Well, I suppose the best way to do so is with introductions. I am Prometheus and while I was, as one might say, tied up for quite some time I noticed your world. I have to say it's quite interesting, but unfortunately stagnant as well. So Miss Celestia I, being the patron of progress that I am, have sent someone your way. He is not a creature native to your world, a species I personally have a great deal of interest in, they're ambitious little scamps. I am bestowing a gift upon him as I send him, one he will in time learn to master. It is my hopes he brings progress to your world, but as the past has proven on many an occasion the best intentions can at times have the worst effects. We'll just have to see how it goes won't we.

Sincerely,
Prometheus

Ha, not as smart as the bastard thinks he is. I managed to snag the paper from him. So "Miss Celestia" my name is Coal and apparently I'm supposed to stir up some dirt. I'll admit I know just as much as to what is going on as you do, but if he's the Prometheus I'm thinking of, things might be a little more complicated than he'd let us believe. Crap, he's coming back. Ummm... Why did I just waste time writing Ummm?

Winter is coming... I'm disappointed with myself if that's the best I can come up with.

I used to be a human, but then I pissed off a wizard. Now I'm stuck in "Ponyville", in a land called "Equestria", and with no apparent way back home. I'm also pretty sure that I've just replaced somepony. I'd rather not have to answer any tricky questions, so I'm better off trying to be this unicorn whose name has been forced onto me.

My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm not a pony.

[Rated Teen for extensive use of vulgar language and sexual references.]

[Cover art made by richhap on deviant art. Unamused Twilight, go figure.]

[Brybrythesciguy is working on a cool audiobook of this story right HERE. The characters' voices are even simulated with an AI! I definitely recommend giving it a listen!]

Being the only human in Equestria can be a bit daunting at times, but it gets much easier when you have friends there to support you. But, as the days go on, I start to realize that maybe I need something more in my life. I've never been in a situation like this before, but all I know is that I want to see where it goes.

Ripped from home with no explanation to a place that is both incredibly strange and eerily familiar. What world he walks on, what these creatures are, why he's here. There are many things Rajrishi does not understand about Equestria. He hopes to fix that.

But mostly he just wants to go home.

Takes place in an alternate universe where Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony to slay King Sombra.

Celestia and Luna are no more. The sun and moon have collided, and the heavens torn asunder in the aftermath of their final battle. The Elements of Harmony are missing, presumed forever lost. The fiends of Tartarus are on a rampage, and no one can stop them. And to make things perfect, the ruler of the nation of Boardor has decided to invade.
Desperate, Clover the Clever's last living student gathers together 108 virgin mares, in order to perform a ritual that will revive King Sombra. They succeed... kinda.
A human, in King Sombra's body, suddenly finds himself in an Equestria in a downward spiral with a bunch of technicolor ponies begging him to save them. Convinced that he's either dreaming, stoned, or insane, he tries to go along with it as best he can, although the voice in his head, a very angry voice with a hunger for conquest, crystals, slavery, and stairs, isn't doing much to instill confidence in his own sanity...

New Cover Art By Shadow Bolt!