Princess Luna still feels alone, nineteen years after her return to Equestria . But when she finds a friend in an online game, everything seems better. She can be herself without worrying about what others think, and she can finally talk to another pony, even if he never knows who she really is.

Celestia is worried about her sister, especially right now. Upcoming peace talks with a powerful new nation mean that all the Princesses need to be completely ready. With her Luna so absorbed in a fantasy world, she wonders how she'll make it through the harrowing weeks to come.

Button Mash feels like a failure. He's still living at home, he still can't find work that can use his degree from the university, and he still feels alone. His friends are getting married, starting families, and thriving in their careers. On the plus side, he plays games regularly, and his best friend is a mare, even if she doesn't know his name. He hopes that his upcoming vacation to Canterlot might help his mindset.

But, unbeknownst to all of them, a sinister web within a dark plot threatens to ensnare Equestria... And Luna may be the only one able to stop it.

She may face it alone, or maybe she'll have some help from her knight in faded armor...

Cover art credit to yamashta. Link here.

Preread by -TGM- and Goldenwing

Edited by m1ntf4n, PheonixStarr, Wing, and the_Doc, and Swan Song, and Orion Caelum.

Follows canon up to about season 4 or so. I'm not sure when everything went off the rails, but it was originally as true as possible when initially written.

Link to the Discord chat HERE!

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!)

This story is a sequel to The Eagle Has Landed

When President Nixon orders, you obey. And now that he wants Luna on the LM and heading home, how is Neil ever going to convince her to follow?
But it doesn't even get that far, as an innocent mistake endangers the mission.
And even as the mission is endangered, tensions are rising back on Earth. While the drama plays out in Mission Control, just what is going on behind the Iron Curtain?
No one knows, but it's certainly not conducive to Apollo 11's welfare.

Sequel here.

Celestia is trapped on Earth.
Not as a human. Not as an alicorn. She's a common horse, an Arabian mare, without her magic, voice, knowledge of the language - not even freedom, forced to work at a riding school.

What can a single Arabian mare do to get back to Equestria from this backwater European country? With only the mind of a princess and a pencil in her teeth, Celestia must find a way home.

[Illustrated] [Alternate Earth] (without Bronies)
Rated Teen for language and some scarce suggestive themes.
Proofreading by AlicornPriest

Polish language version

Long ago, Celestia sealed her sister into the moon. Her subjects, however, began to fear her and the elements she wielded, seeing they could be used on anypony. Heart broken, she fled her kingdom, leaving it to the ponies who inhabited it.

A thousand years later, Equestria is predominantly under the control of Earth Ponies. Industry thrives and magic is considered a thing of fantasy; Big Macintosh always thought this himself. However, his life is soon to turn around, and he will find himself on an adventure like no other.

(The main picture might be subject to change; just trying to paint a portrait of what kind of era the ponies are in in this alternate world)

(REBOOTED FOR GREAT JUSTICE)
(Proof-read by Sage-Wolf)

(Made the feature box. Awww riiight!)
(Well that was certainly short lived!)

A terrible new day rises when a tragedy, foreseen only by Celestia but preventable by none, occurs right in the middle of Canterlot, turning Twilight Sparkle's world upside-down. Now, all of Equestria is looking to her to hold the broken nation together, all while she tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Coverart used with permission from: metalpandora

Old coverart may be found here.

A/N: Yes, the title was based of the Dragonforce song of the same name, you may stop postulating about it now.

Now Featured on Equestria Daily!
TV Tropes and a group of its own.
Audio version
( EPUB / MOBI )
Three Nights in Manehattan, a sequel
Hardcover Print-on-Demand Order Page

As a child, Daphne knew of a world where magic lived, where an immortal princess reigned over a beautiful kingdom, and longed to journey there beside Leit Motif, the filly she'd grown to love in the woods behind her home. But one day, when she needed her most, Leit Motif was gone, and she never came back to show her the way. As she grew, she put aside her childish dreams, and taught herself to believe the lie.
When forces beyond her knowing take her sister Amelia, though, she discovers that her childhood fancies were entirely too real, and is thrust into a journey that will take her back to that land she longed for, back to the childhood friend she'd abandoned, and to worlds she'd only dreamed of.

Interview with Pre-Reader Amacita
PresentPerfect's Review

Applejack is chosen as The Nightmare's new host.

It really isn't that big of a deal. Until it is.

Diplomacy has failed. Six years have passed Equestria's crowning of the princess of friendship, ushering in a supposed unprecedented age of peace and harmony. The concept of warfare is, to most ponies, nothing more than an unfathomable legend. They have let their guard down.

An unknown enemy has seized the opportunity to attack Equestria with terrifying new weapons of war, bent on taking the fertile land and restoring an ancient order. The valiant efforts of the Royal Guard have given Princess Twilight and her arcane scientists time to research and develop a response to their attackers, and the time has come for that response to be implemented. Utilizing weapons and tactics borrowed from another world, five squads under the command of Princess Luna will infiltrate the forests of the Equestrian Northwest to destroy a revolutionary magical matrix that Twilight refers to as the "radio" - a tool that allows enemy ponies to communicate across vast distances instantly.

Nightmare Two is comprised of three foalhood friends who, rather than be separated from each other in the draft, volunteer to become one of the five Nightmare squads. With their bodies forever altered to suit the needs of their mission, the three young mares join legions of ponies armed with powerful weapons to partake in a horrifying new breed of warfare - Equestria's first in over one thousand years.

--

Heads up, folks. If you wouldn't mind leaving a comment alongside the thumbs-down, I'd appreciate it. This is my first foray into fan fiction and although it's a hobby I nonetheless wish to get better. :)

Got some FAQ's for you guys as well!

- Alternate universe in which the events of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" did not occur. (As much as I loved it! :D)

- Numerical age tends to vary with headcanon, but the CMC here were just getting started with their adult lives when the draft went into effect.

- The war is pony v. pony, utilizing firearms and the Equestrian equivalent of a tank. The underlying headcanon is that ponies used firearms similar to muskets and tracked armored vehicles akin to our tanks in times of old, and what the enemy currently employs is essentially the natural progression of these technologies.

- There are no real-world weapons or equipment i.e. "Panzer IV," or "M16 assault rifle." Particularly acute details such as the caliber of weapons are also absent.

- Technology is based on that of WWI with some WWII elements. Firearms are primarily bolt-action.

- The "radio" spell matrix functions as what we know to be a radio, but is not identical.

- All four of a Night Mare's legs are permanently replaced by the augments.

- Night Mares are female. Stallions proved unable to properly animate the limbs.

--

Hold up, now - fanart? You guys rock. Like, for real. Thanks a lot!

1. A great YouTube video coming from The_Pegasus_Box. Thanks, bud!
Check it out!

2. Click here for the collection on DArt.

3. https://derpibooru.org/740375?scope=scpeac921b191f688d04521575f31608785cbc3bbaa1
[img]https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/10/740375__safe_anthro_apple+bloom_gun_artist-colon-pusspuss_night+mares.png[/img]

This story is a sequel to What I've Become

It is highly recommended that you read What I've Become before you read this story, since this is the second story in The Humanity Within Trilogy, and you will be lost if you just plunge into this without any preparation.

Also, this story already has a sequel: What I Am!

Things have been turning up roses for me lately. I'm no longer fighting to survive, I have people that I can turn to, and I have my face back, all because of the kindness shown to me by strangers.
But will they continue to help me once they find out what dark secrets haunt my past? Will they shun me for the evil deeds that my abductors forced me to do while I was in their service? Will they continue to protect me from the monsters that destroyed my life, once they realize what kind of monster I really am?
How does one forgive a murderer?
WOOT! Feature the day it came out! (how did that happen?) 12/1/2014
Edited by Malefactory. He is fantastic at this kind of thing!
Proofread by Cantankerous. He's freaking amazing.
Also proofread by PhiliChez.
Cover Image done by the very talented PaintSplotch! You can find his FimFic account here.
And here is his DeviantArt Account!