Applejack struggles with overcoming loss and heartache, until Fluttershy shares an important conversation with her.

Applejack claims that she cries on the inside, but Rainbow Dash remembers that wasn't always the case. Believing her friend has an actual need to cry buried away in her even tempered heart she goes to Twilight Sparkle for help in seeing if this is true.

Inspired in part by Tanks for the Memories (which irritated me), and Mother's Day (in a sad-ish kind of way). I don't generally write this type of material so I hope the tags are accurate. Please advise if not.

Family has an unspoken bond. They support each other through thick and thin. Family celebrates with each other, they grieve with one another. It's the silent rule that the Apples know by heart and never violate.

Apple Bloom knows her future may not stay at Sweet Apple Acres, but she has always been willing to help her family. She may be the youngest, but that never stops her from doing whatever she could. Because they love each other.

Sometimes there are moments in life that seem inconsequential, yet hold more significance than some can comprehend.

Big Mac knows this all too well.

This story is a sequel to Stardust

Twilight has finally returned home from the harrowing challenge that Discord set upon her, and the residents of Ponyville and the Elements especially look forward to having their dear friend returned to them.

Twilight, however, has changed. Still suffering from her injuries, almost incapable of using magic and haunted by the memories of her time on Earth, she becomes increasingly withdrawn from those who were closest to her. Will her frustration at her current state and her friends inability to understand her experiences cost her what she valued most before Discord's bet?

(Sequel to Stardust, familiarity with this is recommended!)
(Proofread by Arzoo!)
(Coverart commission drawn by the amazing KairaAnix!)
(Crossover with XCOM: Enemy Within, though the crossover and human elements are minimal)
(Featured 4/28/2014, thanks folks!)

This story is a sequel to Stardust

When Equestria’s newest member of royalty asks for aid to be offered to her friends from abroad, the best and the brightest volunteer to serve. Captain Steel Song of the Dusk Guard are immediately mobilized to help XCOM defend their world from the enemies that besiege them. However, their first joint operation with the humans takes a turn for the worse and they quickly find themselves fighting for their lives against the full force of the monsters that threaten Earth.

(Stardust/Dusk Guard crossover)
(Coverart provided by a friend of Viking ZX!)
(While familiarity with both stories isn’t required, it is recommended)
(Many thanks to Arzoo for pre-reading!)
(All screenshots can be found at XCOM.wikia.com)
(Featured on 3/13/2013. Thanks everyone!)
(Now has it's own section on TVTropes as part of the Stardust series!)

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 Applejack is set upon by a series of unnatural nightmares, she turns to good friend and confidant Pinkie Pie to try to figure out exactly what's causing them. Day after day they struggle to learn the skills that will allow her to make sense of it all, as they discover what is needed to walk the realm of dreams.
And as time goes by, the clearer the picture becomes.

But still it remains - the mystery and the clues that lay scattered across her nighttime episodes where words do not exist, only to be analyzed during the day where conversation is all she has.

Join Applejack and Pinkie as they work it out together and traverse a story where nothing is ever as it seems.

A strange artifact arrives at Twilight's library and turns her into a dragon. From there, everypony she touches suffers a similar fate and the contagion begins to spread! Twilight and her friends struggle to avoid spreading it further in this comedic misadventure of dragons and the fiery spells they weave. Can Twilight find a cure?

When Apple Bloom feels like Applejack wasn't appreciated enough be her friends, she wishes that her sister's friends could better understand how her big sister really feels. Unfortunately, this results in Applejack's friends thinking they were Applejack! The real Applejack has to pull out all the stops to try to get her friends back to normal!