Would you risk your life to save a stranger?

What if you could only save her for twenty minutes?

A Fallout: Equestria side-story.
On EQD May 30, 2014.
Reading by Illya Leonov (YouTube, mp3).
Russian translation by Psychoshy@ficbook.net and others.

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to a harsh dose of unreality. She is stranded, without her friends, on an island which matches no known locale on Equestria. Surrounded and harried on all sides by the alien and the dangerous, she will find her mettle sorely tested, and find perhaps that the best friends you will ever have in your life are the ones you make when your back is to the wall...

Thanks to CedricBale and noobie56xx for tracking down the name of the artist so I could give them credit.

Sometimes, you really can go out into the desert and find yourself with the help of a bag of mushrooms and some ponies. Sometimes, you're better off not knowing.

Recommended by Seattle's Angels, The Royal Guard, Titanium Dragon, & Paul Asaran. Includes drug use and cussing.

If you came to hear a story, I’m sorry to disappoint. I suspect this’ll just end up as one big confession, really. When you’re the first Teutscher to set hoof into Equestria, I suppose that’s to be expected. And when you’re the universe’s favorite chew toy, doubly so. Still, with enough wit, some Prussian ingenuity, a droll sense of humor, and wanton murder, I might just survive this. Then again, when you’re going up against an unending list of things like government conspiracies, that guardian angel who keeps telling you to kill ponies, psycho Equestrian girls with allophilia, a lunatic princess, the legions of the Inferno, the Equestrian culture itself, swashbuckling sword fights, and laissez-faire economists, you begin to realize why there’s a big “if” in the middle of your life.

Your thoughts/critiques/deathreats are welcome in the comments. Spoilers are also encouraged. If you don’t have anything to complain about, do please tell me what you liked so I know what worked.

Now on TV Tropes. Posted on the Equestria Daily 5/28/13. Now in ePub format for your convenience.

Monster attacks. Crime. Illegal hallucinogens made from electric fruit.

They say things didn't use to be like this. They say things were different, before Luna came back 60 years ago, but Detective Hard "Hardy" Boiled of the Detrot Police Department has never known any world other than that demarcated by the seedy streets of his beloved decaying metropolis; a world in which the coroners sing and dance, surveillance bugs have personality disorders, and the Chief of Police is a scarier entity than most of the eldritch things the city attracts.

The grey unicorn who turned up dead outside the posh High Step Hotel seemed like just another case, but her missing horn is the pointy tip of a very large and nasty iceberg. It's up to Hardy and his friends - a rejected monster hunter, a psychic cab driver, and an underground antiques heir - to find out what’s going on in an investigation that promises to stick more than a cupcake into the very eye of Detrot.

Especially if Hardy has anything to say about it.

By Popular Demand, there is now a Patreon

Additional editing by coandco Sig_Awesome, Hinds, Clint, and Raccoon!
Featured on EQD - 5 Stars!
Cover art by MisterMech (http://mistermech.deviantart.com/)
Now with TVTropes page here!

"You know something about radiation, don't you?"
It was perhaps the last thing that Celestia, protégé of Queen Harmony, was expecting her mentor to ask. Having a cutie mark related to the sun didn't prepare her for an expedition to the ocean floor to investigate a strange signal and then decide if the source should be salvaged. In the depths, Celestia makes a discovery that could change ponykind forever and she struggles with the implications as the full weight of responsibility begins to press down. Equestria's future will depend on her decision.

Now with reading!
And another reading!

==== Originally Written: Fall 2011 ==== EDQ Link ====
After a party to welcome the season of Nightmare Night, the library becomes the target of strange activity. Minor annoyances prelude greater events, and soon Twilight and Spike each take action to handle the situation in their own way. All the while, questions hang in the air. What lingers amongst the shelves? What watches from the corners? What stands just behind you only to disappear when you turn to look?

What is in the library, and what does it want?

Personal Pros Of Poor Ponies Possessing Possible Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Brought On By Discord The Deity of Chaos' Mind Games Forcing Them To See the Flip Side Of Their Element Or Appealing To Their Worse Nature Or Outright Cheating With One.

First up, is being the most honest pony in Ponyville worth it if it costs you your friends?

Second up, you're a clown and you know it and parties are where you shine. But why should the joke be on you? Why should you suffer just for their amusement?

Third up, and yep it's Rarity! Being generous to others is good and all, but what about me? But I worked for what I have!

Forth in the Discord Pony Series. Fluttershy. You don't surrender to your demons, you know you're not perfect, you know your friends are there for you . . . so why do you have to lose anyway?

And now we've come to the fifth. Rainbow Dash. As loyal as pony could be. Her loyalties are impossible to break! But fun science fact! Nothing is unbreakable when struck against itself.

We are the sixth and it's . . . TRIXIE?! You've had something precious your whole life. But you never noticed it, appreciated, or even realized how much it was a part of you until it was gone.

And now we've to Twilight Sparkle. Nothing more to say now. Read for yourself.

And we've come to the epilogue. Tell me what you think and what you feel, because I feel this piece is meant to speak for itself.

The Dramatic Reading version for the entire first season with original fan-music is found here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClMeWbsJ7wQ&list=PLB51B70AAB7E85A69&feature=plcp

Recursive fan-works found here. http://alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/journal/MLP-FiM-Pony-POV-Series-Fanworks-audio-adaption-274110361

THIS IS NOT THE END! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Scootaloo's final thoughts as she plummets to her demise.

Ponyville has a problem: Twilight's friends all switched Cutie Marks, and the musical numbers are flying thick and fast.
Lyra has a problem: She can't handle the way musical numbers get into your head and take you over.
Bon Bon has a problem with that.

(Pony Fiction Vaulted • Featured on EqD)

Reviews and other word-of-mouth:
"I just can't find words for how much I enjoy the ideas on display here. … I didn't expect to be rating something this highly, this quickly." –Bradel
"The Lotus Eaters was the story that made me realize horizon wasn't just good, he was really good. Then Fugue State showed me he was really good repeatedly." –Bad Horse
"a strange but intriguing story ... [horizon's] so good at this ponyfic lark that it's still a highly satisfying read. ★★★★" - Louder Yay
"This story is weird, and I mean that in a good way. … [Horizon] thought about how ponies might react if [musical numbers] were a constant in Equestrian life." –Chris

Fugue State now has a sequel!