After Planet Aether has been brought to peace and stabilized, Samus Aran doesn't get much rest when she's sent to reconnoiter a nameless planet on the edge of Galactic Federation space. Ostensibly, she was supposed to determine the size of a Space Pirate operation that was mining Phazon on this planet... and mark the place for a quick strike by Federation forces if it came down to it.

But when things become much more complicated beyond what her mission brief had stated, she may find that her fate and those of some unlikely allies may be intertwined. The battle that rages on the ground in a fight for survival and duty may have Samus questioning herself when a new front in an undeclared, nameless war is opened... in her mind.

-This is in no way related to Metroid Equis. No required reading, no relation, nothing. Pretend it does not exist.
-Takes place between Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3. Metroid Timeline can be found here.
-Art by Pridark, sourced to her DA. Full picture is there.
-Story assumes very basic knowledge of Metroid universe, but I'll be doing my damndest to make this as accessible as possible.

The star system Omega Centauri was just another oddity on a map to scientists in the not too distant future. However when they found the star was orbiting an earth-sized, earth-like planet instead of a black hole as its motion had suggested, a mission was scrambled to investigate this most unusual of celestial behaviors.

Hamstrung by politics, and nearly crippled before it began, the 'Lone Ranger' mission was reduced to just one crew member and left to his own devices.

These are the logs of Arrow 18 and its lone commander. This information is classified TOP SECRET by the Global Space Agency.

Do NOT tell the princess.

This story is a sequel to What I Am

Much has changed since that fateful day when the remnants of the old Krin Empire attacked our two worlds.
They crashed so many ships onto Earth, destroyed our cities, killed millions, and collapsed several governments in an instant, all as a diversion from their true objective, which was the blatant mass abduction of the citizens of Equis. Lives lost, families broken, and cities burnt to the ground, all to fuel the Krin war machine and their mad quest for power and vengeance against the snakes that had wronged them.

However, that's not the end of the story, or our involvement in its unfolding. A darkness is growing in the depths of space, and even though the snakes have done their best to assure us that they will take care of it, there are so, so many on both of our planets that choose not to listen to them.

And how could I blame them? After all, every time I look in the mirror, I'm reminded of the horrors of the Krin Empire, and more importantly, the promise I made in that accursed tank that remains unfulfilled. They came for us, they struck first, and I'm not about to let that go unpunished.

Yeah, sure, it's hard for me to do it right now, since I'm just a diplomat to the people of Equis, and we don't exactly have a fleet outside of the few ships we commandeered from the krin, but trust me when I say that both of those are just temporary inconveniences.

After all, it's rather difficult to keep a monster like me behind a desk, especially not when there's a perfectly good war brewing throughout the galaxy, and that's not even counting the other humans and ponies that are all chomping at the bit, ready for some good, old-fashioned payback.

The only problem with that, though, is that, somehow, deep down, I feel like we've already lost. Call it a hunch, or a premonition, but something deep inside is telling me that we messed up when we let the general's ship get away. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but somehow, I don't think so.

After all, I know better than anyone what the krin are capable of. We might be coming for them, but that doesn't mean the reverse isn't also true. They're coming for us, too.

The only question is: Who's going to be ready first?

Given that we've only just obtained (stolen) ships capable of spaceflight, I don't think it's going to be us...

This is the beginning of the next set of books in this series that I'm tentatively calling the Soul of the Milky Way.
The title up for change, as well as suggestion. Not only that, but the title of this story, as well as the set it belongs to is also up for change and suggestion, so feel free to leave them in the comments. If you're just starting with this one, please don't. I mean, you can if you want, but there's a lot here that you won't get if you haven't read the trilogy that predates this new set of books. They are, in order:

What I've Become
What I've Done
What I Am

They're quite good, if the feedback I've gotten is anything to go by, so if you haven't read these by now, please go and do that now. Don't worry, this story will still be here when you get back...

Friar Jacques de Charrette was tired. The Templars, his first Order, were gone, massacred by a treacherous King. His old wars are over, as the Kingdoms of Europe tear each other apart for land and power. Now a Hospitaller priest, and an old man, Friar Jacques expects nothing more than to live out the rest of his days in peace. But Providence has other plans in store for Jacques, and when a distant land has need of his aid, the dutiful warrior priest will answer the call.

He just would have preferred that someone warn him about the magical talking ponies.

Perhaps an odd foray into Human in Equestria writing, but I enjoy being unconventional. We often see modern men flung into the medieval world. What about a medieval man being flung into modern Equestria? A 14th Century Supplement in Celestia's Court is a companion volume, with a list of character descriptions (first chapter), canonical vignettes, and non-canon comedy chapters which will be added as time goes on. It is not required reading, but you may find chapters useful for context or amusing for the lack of context.

General disclaimer: this story is a work of fiction. 'My Little Pony' is the property of Hasbro and its affiliates. References to historical figures are made, but these are subject to creative license, and resemblance between original characters and those of other works are coincidental. I will make an effort to note when a historical reference is made in case people want to check the source material (and to cite my own sources), but these will be relatively few in number.

My Little Pony and its contents are the property of Hasbro, Inc. and its affiliates. Please support the official release.

Cover art is Heor Corbray by Nordheimer - it is the property of Nordheimer and I own nothing of it; thanks to lordelliot for finding the original, since I couldn't remember where I found it.

Twilight's power, along with that of Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, has been claimed by Tirek. Drunk on power, the demon-centaur is unleashing destruction upon Equestria, his reign of terror just beginning.

But there is hope. A crystalline chest, a gift from the Tree of Harmony, able to be opened by six keys. Keys which Twilight has now claimed the last of. All they can do is hope, hope that whatever is contained inside the chest is enough to stop Tirek.

And then something goes wrong ...

Note: This story is in no way connected with my other fanfics. It's very much a one-off in good fun.

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!)

Ganondorf, King of Thieves, Lord of Darkness, Master of Evil and Wielder of the Triforce of Power, had long since grown thoroughly and completely bored with the path the gods had decreed for his destiny.

Time after time it was always the same, try and unite the Triforce, plunge the world into darkness for a time, search out and then kidnap Princess Zelda, watch his minions be defeated one after another and then finally battle Link for supremacy. Rinse and repeat.

All the while knowing that regardless of winning or losing, that no matter what he did or didn’t do, that in the end everything would end up repeating itself in another time and place afterwards, again, and again and again, in an utterly pointless never ending cycle.

Having decided that enough was finally enough, and refusing to continue to be a simple pawn at the hands of the gods, he vowed he would find a way to escape from his cumbersome destiny, a way to start anew far beyond the meddling grasp of the gods, a way to reach a realm upon which he could be the master of his own fate.

And after years of careful planning he had finally succeeded.

Sure, the fact he had to drag the know-it-all Princess and the green obsessed Hero along for the ride for his plan to work was a minor inconvenience, but he knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. And the fact that this new realm apparently decided to turn him and his two unwilling companions into miniature pastel colored ponies upon arrival also wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but he could cope.

After all, that was a negligible price to pay in achieving his deepest wish: freedom.

In this story Ganondorf, having grown sick of following through the motions his destiny placed before him as the eternal bad guy to be defeated time after time, seeks out to escape from his fate by breaking through the void between dimensions and running away from Hyrule to another realm entirely, Equestria, all the while dragging both Link and Zelda along for the ride.

Arriving long before the founding of the country, back before the events of Heart’s Warming Eve and at the highest point of the conflict between the Three Tribes, he and his two new companions will have to deal with a whole new world and it’s wonders and dangers. All the while this new magical world will have to learn to deal with its three new strange inhabitants in kind.

Just a warning: This is NOT a Displaced fic. All three main characters are the actual characters from the Zelda series that have been taken to Equestria due to Ganondorf’s master plan, and not humans turned into them.

Beta Reader: The Amazing Emtu!
Cover Art: The Incredible swagmu!
Proofreader: The relentless TranquilClaws! (From chp I - XXV)

Featured for the first time! 07/06/2018 to 07/11/2018

Now with a TvTropes page!

Edit: Crossposting at Royalroad where I have the same username.

It is the year 2038, and the Earth is slowly being consumed by a space-borne monstrosity dubbed the Black Tide, which is using nanotechnology to remake the planet into something hideously alien.

Erin Olsen works for Project Harmonics, humanity's last-ditch effort to find a new world before the Tide can wipe them out. But when that world is found, and it turns out to be occupied, Erin will need to find the courage to face the unknown in order to save the inhabitants of both worlds.

(Many thanks to Easteu for the fantastic cover image for this story!)

Now with its own TV Tropes page

There is now a follow-up to this story: Sunflower - Side Projects
Sequel: Project Sunflower: Harmony

This story is a sequel to Project: Sunflower

After the events of Project: Sunflower, Erin Olsen has returned to Ponyville, happy to pursue her studies in magic. After everything that happened the year before, she's looking forward to spending her days studying and having fun with her friends.

Meanwhile, on the newly discovered world of Harmony, humans and ponies work together to study this strange new world. However, their arrival causes something ancient to begin stirring. Something that may end up changing everything.

Erin will need all of her courage, all of her cleverness and, of course, all of her friends to see herself through what happens next.

Cover art by Valkyrie-Girl
Editing provided by:
Brilliant Point, Coandco, Ekevoo, Ludicrous Lycan, Merlos the Mad and Razalon the Lizardman.