Shortly after her lyre is desecrated by magically altered parasprites, an irritated Lyra receives a package from a pony she hasn't heard from in years. And if the contents are anything to judge by, that pony misses her very much...

Today, King Sombra is reviled as one of the darkest and most evil beings to ever blight the face of the world. When the Crystal Empire was freed from his grasp, the people of Equestria were more than happy to forget him.

But Sombra was not slain, and he has not forgotten. He alone knows the truth behind his tyranny, the reason for his fall.

And he will be remembered.

Featured by Equestria Daily on Saturday, April 12th, 2014.

Runner-up for the Everfree Northwest 2014 Fanfiction Contest.

[img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/a257ad5165644b1f79354634dfdee284/tumblr_mqo61uYbwk1rj6vd5o1_400.png[/img]

After conquering yet another ancient evil, Twilight returns to her library. There, she encounters the ghost of King Sombra, who delivers a terrible warning about the dangers of helping emopones.

A touching, heartfelt tragedy, except it was written by Fiddlebottoms, so it is not.

It is the responsibility of a king to care for his people and maintain order in his kingdom. That shouldn't be much trouble for a ruler as powerful as Discord, right? With his faithful and insecure advisor at his side, the draconequus sets out to explore his new world and personally see to it that peace reigns in Equestria.

However, the ponies want nothing to do with their frightening new ruler, and the unamused Spirits of Equestria aim to drag the Spirit of Chaos away before he can cause any more harm. Can Discord be the ruler Equestria needs? Or is he truly doomed to become the monster he is seen to be?

There is a village where everypony can be the same.

You may have read some nasty things about it. Rumors of stolen cutie marks and power-mad unicorns. Tall tales about forced smiles and frightened glances.

It's all lies. All except the part about us wanting to escape. That's true.

It's why we came here in the first place.

Winner of the May Writeoff Event.

Twilight does some research into her tried and true teleportation spell.

It is the summer of 2020. The popular TV show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" has finished its eighth, and what appears to be final, season. In the wake of increasingly violent attacks by an extremist Internet-based terrorist group, the founders of the popular pony site, Equestria Daily, decide enough is enough. Bronies from all over the world have gathered in a small, abandoned industrial park in the run-down outskirts of Chicago to find the culmination of their dreams: Equestria. Through the wonders of science, they flee Earth for a land of magic, mystery and secrets. They will be weighed, they will be measured... will they be found wanting or will their dreams come true?

Story Idea inspired by a chapter in Shipping and Handling by PegasusRescueBrigade.

Cover image is a composite of the original Stargate movie poster and 'Canterlot At Night' by Cosmicunicorn, Source

The Sequel: Magical Wizard Brony Detectives

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!)

When Twilight visits Celestia's private hall of stained-glass windows, each bearing the image of a long-gone friend, one in particular catches her eye.

Who was this pony?

Why was she so important to Celestia?

And why does she look so familiar?

There is now a Spanish translation of this story, courtesy of Spaniard Kiwi

PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE: DEAD AT 18

TELEPORTATION INVARIABLY FATAL, WARNS LEADING SCHOLAR

One look at the headline of the Canterlot Times and Twilight knew that she should have slept in today. But at least none of her friends would be silly enough to believe she was killing herself every time she teleported, right?

There is now a Spanish translation of this story, courtesy of Spaniard Kiwi