Twilight Sparkle is dying. The pony body was never meant to handle her level of magic and now even the smallest spell causes her body to degrade. The only cure is to stop all magic use and hope that her body slowly heals itself, but things are rarely that simple. Celestia has fallen ill and her only hope lies in Yggdrasil, hidden deep in the Crystal Desert.

For most foals, a magical surge results in a couple hours of frantic searching. For Twilight Sparkle, a magical surge vaporised an entire Canterlot block and killed hundreds. Having spent the last ten years as a fugitive running from the law, she is tired of her life and all she desires is for the nightmare to end. With one last night before she turns herself in, she spends it with her one and only friend - Trixie.

Proof-read and editted by Sabre and Some Person (Thanks!)

Trixie steals the deed to the Golden Oaks Library. She quickly finds out this doesn't mean what she thinks it means.

Inspired by this blog post by MythrilMoth.

Trixie vector create by Silentmatten

Pinkie Pie is bringing her big sister Maud around on a tour of Ponyville. While looking around Sweet Apple Acres, Maud loses her pet rock, Boulder. She receives help from Big Macintosh, and the two have a nice, deep conversation.

Thanks to RainbowBob for the idea for this ship.

Now with TWO YouTube Readings! One by Arwhale and one by DRWolf!

Now with a Spanish translation!

It's been a couple of weeks and way more than a couple of games since Pinkie Pie introduced the Mane Six to the joys of playing the classic real-time strategy title, Age of Empires II. Unanswered questions surround this mysterious game: where did it come from? Who made it? Why is there so much killing?

Never mind all that - Twilight Sparkle and her friends have a game to play!

NOTE: Though I've tried to make the story more about the relationships between the four gamers (no Rarity or Fluttershy, sorry!) than about the game itself, some rudimentary knowledge about Age of Empires II is required if you want to understand what is going on. I wrote this as a short-ish story so I'm not really going to go into technical details much.

=====INFO AFTER BREAK=====
References consulted while writing story:
ZeroEmpires (Commentary on Competitive AoE II matches)
wikiHow (5 Ways to Make Your Economy Boom in Age of Empires II)
Wikipedia (for info on Byzantines, Moon & Vikings)
Luttwak, E. "The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire" (Harvard University Press, USA), 2009 (Byzantine military strategy)

Youtube links:
Prologue - PakAttack95 (Youtube Channel)
Main Menu and Victory Music - mikec1000 Civilization Themes

Cover Image:
Wikipedia
Age of Empires II
Cutie Mark Vectors by Hawk9mm (deviantART page)

This story is a sequel to Stardust

Times are changing for Equestria as Twilight’s return brings with it news of people and cultures from beyond the peaceful world everypony knows. Aid and volunteers are freely offered to help the besieged humans of Earth because every Equestrian knows that’s what good friends do. Unfortunately, making friends can also have the unintended consequence of making enemies.

When the monsters besieging the humans strike at Equestria with a level of brutality not seen in over a thousand years, the cry for help is sent to all the kingdoms of the world. Honored allies step forth to fulfill ancient treaties and oaths. Enemies, old and new, bury their grievances. An alliance never before seen in Equestria will be created to combat the monsters from the void.

And because of these events, a grim but welcome sibling to the XCOM project is born.

(XCOM/FiM Crossover)
(Sequel to Stardust, which I recommend reading before starting this. Fortitude Amicitia and Broken aren't required reading but are supplemental to the storyline)
(Gore tag for blood and violence)
(Alternate Universe tag because of the divergence from canon that Stardust has caused)
(Uses elements of Season 4)
(Coverart produced by the amazing Carnelian!)
(Many thanks to Arzoo, BradTheBrony, Vandenbz and Setokaiva for prereading!)
(As of 03/07/2016, the prereading team consists of Arzoo, BradTheBrony, Noble Cause and Metallusionsismagic!)
(Complete with it's own TVTropes page as part of the Stardust continuity. Could use some updating!)
(Character tags will be added as chapters are added!)
(Featured 5/12/2014! Thanks folks!)
(Possible spoilers in the comments! BEWARE!)

After Twilight Sparkle discovers a new book of pick-up-lines, she wants to bring her friends closer by complimenting them with cheesy lines.

And it does more than bring them closer...

Days after Tirek's near-takeover of Equestria, The Great And Powerful Trixie travels to Ponyville, intent on settling her rivalry with Twilight Sparkle once and for all. No trinkets to fudge her abilities, no megalomania to apologize for -- just pure and simple magician's honor!

Upon her arrival, however, she quickly learns that the information she has on Ponyville -- and Twilight -- is more than a little dated.

Edits (as well as a bit of scene inspiration) courtesy of nanashi_jones.

WHY HULK HERE? WHY PUNY PONIES ANNOY HULK? ALL HULK WANTS IS TO BE LEFT ALONE!

After an massive space battle, Banner finds himself in a colorful land. A land where he doesn't need to be angry. Will he finally find a world where he has no need for rage? Or is the Hulk's wrath absolute?

Hulk will be Hulk, but Banner will be a lot more relaxed and in control of his rage. For a while.
I OWN NOTHING!

Three hundred and forty-seven years, two months, fourteen days. That’s how long it’s been since the day Spike was hatched. She could count down to even the hours, minutes and seconds but it didn’t matter at this point.
One day. That’s how long it had been since he passed away. She could count down to even the hours, minutes and seconds but it didn’t matter at this point…

Inspired by Bones Season 9, Episode 11