Rainbow Dash has an unusual way of learning, and Twilight’s determined to take advantage of it. Before she knows it, Rainbow’s worst fears become reality and her life unravels before her eyes as she becomes the smartest pony alive.

The dark tag is for the implications of the story.

An entry for the April 2015 write-off event, with the prompt “Great Expectations.”

After a tragic accident, a human ends up in Lord Tirek's body, as part of an attempt to reform the villain after his recent escapades. While the hero of our tale is trying to make sense of his new surroundings, the rest of Equestria thinks that the most terrible threat that their world has ever seen is back...
And the powers that be are definitely not happy about it.
New Cover Art By Shadow Bolt

Isolated from her friends and taken prisoner in the middle of a war, Twilight must deal with the very real dangers of being percieved as an enemy as well as the nightmares of her arrival on 'Earth'. Can she overcome her own fears and the fears of her captors? Will the wayward unicorn's assistance be a boon or a curse to the 'humans?' Most importantly, will she ever find her way home?

"In short, it's a story of friendship and plasma rifles, with the emphasis on the friendship. The characters are well written, the XCOM setting is fleshed out very well, and the story is compelling. If you love XCOM, you'll love the story, but even if you've never heard of it, it's more than worth giving the first 3 chapters a read.

There's excellent action later on, but the real strength lies in the collision between the friendly and naive world of Twilight Sparkle and the desperate world of humans fighting a losing war for survival and willing to do anything to turn the tide."

--Arzoo

(XCOM/FiM crossover)
(Cover art commissioned by a friend and created by the magnificent FoxInShadow!)
(Original cover art by the amazing Carnelian can be viewed here!)
(Gore tag for blood and some violence)
(Many thanks to the studius OminousTen, Arzoo, xXFluttershyForeverXx and finally Setokaiva for giving my rambles a once-over)
(Now with it's own TV Tropes page! Get to tropin' folks!)

More popular than the "Celestia's Homecare" omnibus, better selling than "Fifty-Three More Things to do When Trapped on the Moon", and more controversial than the infamous "Cupcakes", how does the story of this remarkable book differ in a universe full of... pony?

After escaping the destruction of Equestria at the hands of some big ol' meanies, Pinkie Pie leads her friends on a series of baffling, mind boggling and downright nonsensical adventures through a galaxy where harmony is in short supply, but aliens, monsters and chaos are most definitely not.

Gasp! As they meet strange alien creatures!
Cry! As emotional torment assails our characters!
Groan! As the Author includes yet another 4th wall break!

And most importantly, DON'T PANIC

*** Special shout-out and thanks to my editor, Schadenponi! ***

*Important!*Patch 1.89 Notes*
-Overwatch is awesome!
-Still planning the contents for the next chapter.
-The Slice of Life tag has been removed and replaced with the Adventure tag because I say so.
-Added the Alternate Universe tag because, without it, this story might confuse people.
-Once the upcoming chapter, 'One Small Step For Man' is published, this story will officially be considered a HiE (Human in Equestria).
-Description has been changed and updated.
-Bacon is awesome

The hero of this story, Creme Fraiche, had just finished moving his stuff into his new apartment --- after being told that he was to be transferred. Everything in his apartment seemed to be in working order at first, until he discovered the broken bathroom mirror.

During his search for a replacement, an old lady from a mystical-looking Chinese antique shop gave Creme exactly what he needed: a mirror. But the hero soon discovers that not only does the mirror doesn't show his reflection, it shows something else entirely: a cerulean-coloured pony with a rainbow-coloured mane --- with wings, too.

And it can talk.

*Author Notes*
-Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn in this alternate universe, however she has never been to the human world, nor has she met any humans before. To put it in more simpler terms: the events of all MLP: EqG movies never took place in this AU. Deal with it.

-As of the chapter 'Beyond Earth'. I quickly realized that the direction that my story is heading for will no longer be considered as a Slice of Life. Therefore, (since the two tags are counted as 'conflicting categories') I had it removed, and replaced (Adventure) to avoid any further complications, confusion and complaining.

-Bacon is awesome.

-This adorable cover art is done by the amazing DShou from deviantart! Do check out the dude's other works!

A flip of a coin. A twist of fate.

Twilight Sparkle, younger sister of Princess Celestia's personal student, Shining Armor, grew up listening to her brother's bygone dreams of joining the elite of the elite: The Royal Guard.

Now, fresh out of the Academy, this young mare is ready to prove herself equal to the deeds of the great soldiers she read about as a filly. Too bad the princess she ends up protecting isn't Celestia.

What if pony princesses were actually highly social carnivores?

What if a National Geographic team began following them around to film a documentary?

What if nopony saw anything unusual about this?

A metaphor about growing up. Or possibly a metaphor about living in a surveillance society. Or maybe just a very, very weird idea that needed to become a story.