It had been one year since Twilight Sparkle vanished in the battle against the evil unicorn Xander, and her friends were still trying to overcome the grief of losing her. On the anniversary of her presumed death, her friends gather at her memorial. What was suppose to be a day of remembrance was shattered by a strange metal object that landed right beside them. Their anger quickly turns to shock as a familiar unicorn emerges... and boy does she have a story to tell.

Rated Teen for violence, language, and sexual content. Rating and tags may change in future chapters.

This is not a Halo fic. It IS however loosely inspired by Halo as well as Star Wars, Mass Effect and several other sci-fi movies, books, and games.

Edited by Jack-Pony, HuskSummers, Coldwall, and sadron

Cover art by Sonic Rain

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

==Originally written spring 2011== Equestria Daily Post==
GLaDOS is free of Chell, free to continue testing, when she discovers a portal gun Wheatley tried to repair with duct tape. When the portal gun catastrophically fails, the enrichment center, GLaDOS, and Chell are literally dropped in the middle of Equestria. The mute test subject soon finds the world of ponies far more welcoming than the human world. But GLaDOS sees possibilities. Let the testing begin... for science.

This story is a sequel to Hard Reset

After the events of Hard Reset Twilight's life and mental well being are slowly returning to normal. Her recovery is cut short, though, when a letter arrives informing her that the time loop spell she cast is causing severe damage to space and time itself. In over her head, Twilight tries to summon anypony who will know how to fix it. The pony she gets is the last one she ever thought she would meet... and nothing like she expected him to be.

Available in Spanish thanks to dgs1993
Series TV Tropes page

This story is a sequel to Ascend

Congratulations, Twilight. With Celestia and Luna on their constitutionally mandated vacation, you're in charge of Equestria. The position of Regent is an honored and hallowed one. But maybe it's a bit early to congratulate you. After all, whether it's a nobility jealous of your ascension, or a military unhappy with Celestia's decisions; one thing's certain: your reign will be anything but peaceful.

This story is a sequel to Better Living Through Science and Ponies

THIS STORY IS CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN. PLEASE READ:
I've decided to rewrite this entire story. Considering that I began this project with almost no creative writing experience, I was bound to make some pretty bad mistakes. The story flow is not well organized, and there is an unhealthy amount of redundancy and poor pacing, as well as some pretty important things that I should have included. I intend to address these issues to the best of my ability, but it will be a long and arduous task. This story means a lot to me, so I want it to be more than the mere amateur mediocrity that it resembles. So, give it a read if you want, but keep in mind that it will change. I recommend that you put this on your read later list in the meantime.

This is a Portal 2 crossover. If you haven't played Portal 2, please do that first. Then read the prequel if you haven't done that either.

After Chell finally escaped the confines of Aperture Science, a freak portal mishap down below transported her, along with the entire Enrichment Center, to the land of Equestria. Upon entering this world, she was transformed into a pony. In a strange body and in a strange land, Chell was fortunate enough to be accepted by the ponies of Ponyville, and she lived out a new life contently among the ponies.

But that peace was not to last, for GLaDOS took a particular interest in the ponies of Equestria, and after two weeks of preparation, she launched a surprise attack and kidnapped 300 ponies to serve as test subjects, including Chell's friends and the princesses themselves. Once GLaDOS had them, she subjected them psychological torture. To save her friends, Chell made her way into the one place she hoped never to see again. In doing so, she freed the ponies, defeated GLaDOS in battle, and helped bring about the destruction of the facility. Although this made Chell a hero, she paid a terrible price in that brutal fight.

Beaten, battered, and traumatized, Chell spent months recovering from her wounds. After returning home from the hospital, all she wants is to once again live a normal life in Ponyville, but to do that, she must first heal from her wounds, both physical and psychological.

At the same time, GLaDOS herself has survived Aperture's destruction. With nothing left but herself, she vows to get back to testing. Though she faces an uphill climb, she is determined to see her facility rebuilt and the testing resume, and will stop at nothing to achieve this.

Has a TV Tropes page (will need to be updated after rewrite)

The works that this fanfiction is based on are properties of Hasbro and Valve. I would like to thank Pen Stroke for writing the original story and Flyer for his assistance and advice.

Please note, this is an unofficial sequel. I have received permission from Pen Stroke, but it is not canon to the original. I hope you enjoy it, but keep in mind that this is a fan work (of a fan work), and Pen Stroke holds the rights to the original story.

Luna and Twilight are sunk into a fractured, feudal world, where the knowledge of magic is lost. Penniless and depleted, they're forced into playing by other ponies' rules, all the while trying to discover even where home is.

After being marooned on an icy world in unexplored space, Lumina must now face the perils of this frozen wasteland and search for some way home. But in this dark place, she discovers something that was lost to pony kind ever since the fabled Equestria sank into the ocean over 10,000 years ago. Something that will change her, and possibly the entire galaxy, forever.

Not a cross over, and not an alternate universe. This is the far future, and this has happened before.
Cover art by CSImadmax

Now in the FimFiction Gold Archives!
Now on Equestria Daily!
Now featured in Fort-Book Reviews!

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!)

Three years after she first gained the Element of Magic, Twilight learns that it has a whole lot more in mind for her than being a simple librarian. Twilight falls into a coma to adjust to her new abilities and Celestia follows her to try and help. Unfortunately, while the sun goddess is away, monsters come out to play. An unexpected enemy declares war on Equestria while the princess sleeps. When Twilight awakens to a new world, will she be able to save it with her new powers?

Updates will be highly sporadic. I am going to need a plethora of OCs, so please submit them either as comments or PMs. You will be credited for your suggestions.

The title is a work in progress, as is the description. I may change to mature rating later, depending on the content of future chapters. This is an experimental first pony fic, so we'll see where it goes.