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!)

Two passengers on a train ride toward an uncertain future. One is a pony. The other only pretends to be.

Sex is tame and non-explicit. Don't be afraid to read.

Written expressly for Equestria Daily's Outside Insight Summer Fanfiction Contest.

Now with a dramatic reading by Illya Leonov!

Russian translation courtesy of Arsus.
Chinese translation courtesy of viczhn.
French translation courtesy of BroNie.

Inspired by the artwork of RubleGun and Raddjuret. Musical accompaniment by Patrick Poe.

Featured at Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library.

Reader Testimonials

"Vinyl + Octavia is one of the fandom's most cliché and mismatched pairs, and yet this is a real romance with genuine depth and emotion." - horizon
"Holy shit this is impressive. Like... Holy shit, man." - Skeeter The Lurker
"You have crafted something wonderful here, a true gem. You should be proud." - Illya Leonov
"Note that I hate this ship when I say this is far and away the best ScratchTavia I've ever read." - PresentPerfect
"Fuuuuck it's so good!" - Luminary

A Kamen Rider Crossover

Magic – a mysterious force in this world, capable of bending reality. At the beginning, magic was considered to be a form of science, with as many kinds of magic as there are stars in the night’s sky. As civilization advanced, many forms of magic were forgotten.

As time passed, only a few forms became common place in Equestria.

But when an ancient magic surfaces from the pages of a lost legend, Twilight learns that there's more to magic than what she's learned in her studies. A new world of magic and wonder is revealed...

And remember: Life is Showtime!

This is an Alternate Universe story that starts after the episode - The Ticket Master.

UPDATED: Featured on October 2, 2014!
Featured again: November 13, 2014

TVTropes Page! : Friendship is Showtime

After discovering that Cadence is not who she appears to be, Twilight is sent to another world entirely by the disguised Changeling Queen to avoid her plan being disrupted.
When Twilight lands, she discovers that not only have Spike, Owlowiscious and Peewee followed her, but that they've arrived in a world where the main sentient species is human.
There's still a place where they teach magic, though.
Crossover with Harry Potter. Twilight will be effectively taking the role of Hermione.

I've marked this story as cancelled to reflect the unlikelihood of it continuing. If I do come back to it I'll revert that.