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!)

(5 stars on EQD, yay!) Frustrated with repeated failures, Rainbow Dash reluctantly calls upon the aid of her friends to help her push the envelope. Hijinks ensue. But making the impossible possible, while neglecting other things, may have unforeseen consequences and sunder her from those for whom she cares the most.

Art commissioned for the story is by the wonderful artists tt-n and FruitBloodMilkaShake. Prereaders: Starfall & Steel Resolve

(Please note: looking back at the earlier chapters now, it's easy to spot countless little editing mistakes I made. Please don't let this deter you too much; I do get a little better somewhere along the line. And hopefully I'll continue improving in that department.)

This follows the events described in the Cutie Mark Chronicles, with one small change: The Sonic Rainboom doesn't happen like it was supposed to. Six destinies fail to start. But when one door closes, another one opens.

Cover Art by Inspired_Light

This is supposed to be close to Canon, but since history is altered and the characters don't experience many of the events that make them who they are in the show I'm listing this as alternate universe (does that make sense?)
For the same reason I'm listing the OC tag, even though the OCs are the mane 6 living different lives.

Nopony dies, nopony suffers permanent psychological scarring, and no irrational whirlwind romances happen.
If I have inadvertently included somepony's OC I apologize.

Warning: contents may contain Existentialism. The facility used also handles peanut based products and wheat gluten.

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to a harsh dose of unreality. She is stranded, without her friends, on an island which matches no known locale on Equestria. Surrounded and harried on all sides by the alien and the dangerous, she will find her mettle sorely tested, and find perhaps that the best friends you will ever have in your life are the ones you make when your back is to the wall...

Thanks to CedricBale and noobie56xx for tracking down the name of the artist so I could give them credit.