Twilight Sparkle's dreams are very strange lately, and hers aren't the only ones.  What are these strange creatures she keeps dreaming about?  Does their alien world even exist, or is it solely a product of her imagination?  And if they are real, why is she dreaming of them?

Equestria is a paragon of civilization, a beacon of peace and prosperity.  But there is a world beyond Equestria's borders, a world of harsh realities, where every day is a struggle just to get by.

Survivor's Gorge is a wild mountain valley, far from Equestria.  There is no luxury there.  No leisure.  All these ponies have is each other, and nothing will tear them apart.  Rough living breeds tough ponies, as wild animals, frightening mythical beings, evil demi-gods, and the very planet itself will have to learn the hard way.

Note: I'd like to thank the pony-loving population of the Unifaction forum for allowing me to design ponysonas for them, and for letting me use those ponysonas in this story.  You guys are the greatest.

Special Agent Timothy McGee is a federal agent, an author, and apparently some sort of plaything for the cosmos.  How else could he wind up accidentally skipping work because he's stuck in a cartoon village full of talking ponies?  And how exactly is he going to explain this to his boss?

MLP:FiM meets NCIS.  Rated teen for language and spillover from NCIS.