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 a young Rainbow Dash spotted a mysterious alicorn and unicorn from the future, history was changed. Events and lives both big and small have been irrevocably altered, for better and for worse.

This story is an anthology of side stories set in the Little Flashes series, which started with Little Glimpses. None of the material in this story is considered mandatory reading to enjoy the series itself and exists mostly to provide some additional context and detail on characters and events that are too small or too far removed to otherwise fit into the main series.

Edited by Chromio!

Beware spoilers in the comments!

Featured on 11th of January, 2019, the morning after first publication.

This story is a sequel to Undead Robot Bug Crusaders

Apple Bloom is an undead ghoul, but that's OK. She's finally come to terms with her condition, and is determined to rise above her curse.

Sweetie Belle is a robot, but that's OK. With manual in hoof, she's prepared to learn everything she can about herself, and whatever the future holds.

Scootaloo is a changeling, but that's OK. Changelings are citizens now, and she's ready to do her part to show the world changelings can be friendly too.

Together, the three of them are getting by, one day at a time. They may never get their cutie marks, but that's not going to stop them from having fun, finding their talents, and maybe even going a week without causing massive amounts of property damage. Maybe.

Meanwhile, Babs Seed is still blissfully unaware of the unusual destiny that awaits her, Diamond Tiara is slowly finding her place in the world, and Ponyville is still the weirdest town in Equestria. But then again, what else is new?

Edited by Bahamuttone

Cover Art by someone close to me IRL who probably doesn't want anyone to know she made pony art.

The Robinsons were an ordinary family that lived up in a small town in the Wyoming Rockies. Their three kids always wanted a puppy to play with, being how young they are, but there weren't any pet stores within their reach. But all that had changed around June 30, 2000, when a new pet store had opened right in their town, and they went bananas for the new puppy.

But the dog wasn't anything in their expectations. Like the lavender fur she has, or the pair of wings resting on her back, or the unicorn horn protruding from her forehead, or the magenta star that is present on both of her flanks. Heck, she's even able to speak, for crying out loud. Follow Twilight as she ventures to the home of her new host "family" in a new body, on a new planet, and goodness gracious knows how far from Equestria is she? Find out here.

Equestria has been saved, all the important ponies have been saved, and through all of that the changelings have been reformed. With the exception of one.

As all the ponies escaped from their cocoon prisons they all see that the battle wasn't over yet once Chrysalis emerges from the rubble of her destroyed throne. They were all getting ready for the final showdown and put an end to evil tyrant's ways, however, once she emerged they all saw that something bad has happened.

Apparently the explosion the love from all the reformed changelings has caused was too much for Chrysalis to handle and in doing so caused the former queen to develop amnesia. Absolutely no memory of anything not even her own name.

Starlight Glimmer, however, sees this as an opportunity to make a new friend and she's willing to take the risk.

There's a lot of things about Cadance and Shining Armor that never quite made sense: their sudden appearance before the Royal Wedding; their suspiciously convenient suitability as rulers of the Crystal Empire; their oddly abbreviated pregnancy; and even their quick change of heart after Spike asked them to forgive Thorax.

Twilight Sparkle knows exactly how deep that conspiracy goes — she was there in the beginning, when her hive's queen created Shining. And she wasn't happy about it.

Finalist in the "Things Left Unsaid" December 2015 Writeoff! Rewritten and greatly expanded to fill in more backstory and to account for Season 6 canon.

Rated 'Worth Reading' by Titanium Dragon! "If [you like] the idea of a story which hints at a greater conspiracy behind the scenes which explains some of the plot holes we see in the series, you’ll likely enjoy this."
Reviewed by Matthewl419!

Cover art by Lo-23, using Twilight from "Deception is Magic" by Heilos.

Following the return of the Crystal Empire, Twilight begins some intensive research into the history of the Empire and its late king. Modern historians know next to nothing about the enigmatic dark mage. Who was he? Did he have family? Loved ones?

The answers to those questions changes everything the Element of Magic knows about herself, and in doing so catches the attention of a shadow that yet clings to the frailty of life...

Cover art made by Skijarama!
Reading can be found here.
Edited by RC2101_Copey.
Featured on 20/10/2018.
Russian Translation: Here

When the Princess refused Sunset Shimmer the reward which was her right as a pony of talent and excellence, Sunset was determined. She would prove her mentor wrong, she would prove her worth, prove her worth as a pony and as a princess in her own right. The Mirror offered promises. It promised Sunset many things.

The Mirror lied.

The land that laid beyond the Mirror was barbaric beyond all her worst expectations. Ape-like beings strode through this world, arrogant, violent, vicious beyond anything in Sunset's experience. Slavers, savages, brutes, carnivores.

They put her in chains like cattle, and told her she was livestock. Then the brutes tried to give her as a gift to those whom even brutes feared, to the eastern savages. To a people who said there were only two things in this world: those that ride, and those that are ridden.

And so if she has any hope of ever proving herself worthy of being a person again, Sunset Shimmer would have to show that she could be one who rides - that she is...

Dothraki.

[Heavily inspired by Never Too Late by Three Days Grace.]
When Luna dreamwalks and discovers just how much hurt and anger Twilight is hiding, along with a few dark secrets, she feels she must intervene, before Twilight heads down the same path she herself did.

WARNING: First chapter has a suicide attempt, the following chapters are dealing with the aftermath of said suicide attempt.

Almost everypony has a soul mate, one they are destined to live with and love for all their days. They give their body, heart, and soul to each other. Rarely do soul mates ever change, but occasionally there is the twist of fate that happens.

During their escape from the crystal caverns, a lose rock manages to almost impale Twilight before Cadence pushes her out of the way and takes the blow. Seeing her foal sitter dying, Twilight uses all her magic to save Princess Cadence with a very dangerous spell. It is not without a consequence as she, unknowingly, gives her own life energy to Cadence, tearing up the soul bond between her brother and her foal sitter. Instead, it makes a new one: one between the two of them.

With Shining Armor’s own bond broken, it attaches itself to the closest being it can: Queen Chrysalis.

A fic I was given permission to write from Rated Ponystar

Featured 28/7/2014. A Booya! Then again 31/3/2015. What?

cover art a combination of pics from here and here.