The worlds are changed.

Where Equestria was set to follow a familiar path of harmony and friendship, the path is waylaid by the appearance of a creature out of myth, bearing grave tidings.

On Earth at the dawn of the third millennium, a war that should have never been rages between humanity and the ones who would seek to perfect it.

For down the road less travelled, Equestria is Empire, a dark mirror of what it once was and should be.

Lyra Heartstrings, musician and dreamer, previously content to spend her life in the shadow of Princesses or their faithful students, must now decide the role she’ll play in this new reality. But within the threads that connect us all, just as even Princess Celestia can have the humblest desires, the smallest person may change the future.

Authored by Team Spectrum, currently consisting of Sledge115, VoxAdam, and RoyalPsycho.

Cover by skysayl.

Our TV Tropes Page.

Our Group
Equestria Timeline
Dramatis Personae/Character Sheet
Story Outline

Side Stories

Equestria
The First Second of Eternity, by Sledge115.
A Sun in Winter, by Sledge115 and VoxAdam.
In Night's Garden, by Sledge115.
Celestia Regina, by Sledge115.
The Rose of Florentina, by Sledge115.
Wallflower of Canterlot, by Sledge115.
Sogno di Volare, by Sledge115.
Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies, by Sledge115
Joy to the Worlds, by VoxAdam, TB3 and Sledge115.

Earth
Story of the Asian Front, by Kizuna Tallis.
Snowbound, by DoctorFluffy.
The Slow Mutants, by DoctorFluffy.
The Light Despondent, Remixed, by DoctorFluffy.
Dissonance, by RanOutOfIdeas.
Starvation, by DoctorFluffy.

Two decades after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, her shadow still lingers. Princess Celestia has been left to tend the Twin Thrones alone and protect us all from those who would see Equestria crumble. Our enemies take many forms: some would tear the world down with their claws, others with their smiles. They are monsters all the same.

I have had many names, and I have been many things. Today I am Swift Sweep, and I work for the Equestrian Bureau for State Security.

Special thanks:
NCMares (DeviantArt) for the gorgeous cover art.
Octavia Harmony: primary beta reader and editor throughout the many months of production.
PaulAsaran: for great help with and feedback on plot development and initial story drafting.
Kleora, Cerulean Voice, Nonagon: for further help with editing and story development.

Yes, there is a crossover tag, but read down to see why it's there.

Alexander Laythem is a master engineer who lives in isolation with his AI assistant, Rose. Unforeseen events result in these scientists and engineers traversing the boundaries of reality to a world that was supposed to be fictional, forever losing their place in the human world. With the help of some of the friendlier of the native inhabitants, Alex and Rose plan to rebuild and pick up their research where it left off. But as more knowledge is gained and technologies are developed, an ancient power with an insatiable hunger for control awakens, hell bent on bending reality to its whims with the single goal of creating and maintaining the perfect society. Takes place largely during season 2.

Rated teen because of the occasional use of "strong language." Also, if you're going to favorite it, please go ahead and leave a like as well! I truly appreciate each and every one!

I've added the dark and gore tags as of chapter 39: Full Force Forward. Should be worth noting that I will downplay the gore as much as humanly possible. It's not the focus of anything, but it's there. Most of the technological aspects are referenced from the Unreal franchise, hence the crossover tag. Keep in mind, however, that crossed-over elements from the games largely take a back seat and only serve as inspiration and setting. I'm focusing on the plot itself to make it as good as I possibly can, and I'm always going over it to fix little things here and there.

Special thanks to amazing Rocinante for pre-reading and editing!

*First featured on 7/29/14!*

Equestria finds itself caught in the cold war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Can friendship prevail, or will this cold war turn hot, despite their best efforts?

This is a crossover with Star Trek, taking place in late 2269 of the Prime timeline, during the fourth year of the five-year mission of the original television series. It's not a crossover with the movies made by J.J. Abrams. It is mid-season five or so for Friendship is Magic. it is my humble offering for the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek, which debuted September 8, 1966.

Thanks to FoalsHalf for being essentially my co-writer/sounding board, and to all those who have helped with proofreading and editing.

Space Battles thread.

Trope page... some day?

My attempt at a more serious 'Luna meets Neil Armstrong' storyline. What would really happen, both on the moon and on Earth? Inspired by 'The Eagle has Landed' by CyanBlackStone.

Princess Luna has found herself on a very different moon after some strange force interfered with her banishment. She doesn't know what the metal objects that keep orbiting and sometimes landing there are, but she wants to find out. Meanwhile, Neil Armstrong believes that being the first man on the moon will be the crowning achievement of his life. Hoo boy, is he ever in for a surprise.

For those who are interested, the most excellent Zanec has provided this link to an interactive Apollo 11 site.

Changelings and ponies had always been natural enemies of each other, especially with the crystal ponies when they were around. Why wouldn't they be? Changelings were like parasites, feeding off the love that ponies gave off and driving them to illness.

However, Changelings had begun to decline. What started out with as seven hives have diminished down into three, all of which had gone into hiding so well that most ponies didn't know what changelings even were. Even Celestia had not seen one for quite a while, a long feat for an immortal pony.

Until she found a nymph. A new Changeling Queen.

Unable to find it within herself to abandon the changeling, Celestia ends up taking the nymph back to Canterlot under guise as Twilight Sparkle. The plan was simple; find the hive that Twilight belonged to and return her back to be raised with her race.

Of course, despite everything she learned through her long life, she had forgotten that things were never that simple.

For starters, she did not anticipate herself to grow fond of Twilight as time began to pass, or to beam in happiness when Twilight began to refer to her as mom.

Many Many Thanks to my Pre-Readers: Rewrite and Doctor Disco (Welcome to the Team Doctor!)

Twilight calls for help. Unfortunately, it comes.

Note that this story deals heavily with depression and suicide. There's no shame in deciding not to read.
Thanks to Quill Scratch for prereading.

The Accursed Alicorn Amulet. An item of great power, capable of giving any pony wearing it the power reserved only for alicorns. The power of a god among mortals. All of that, only at one price; your sanity.

Not an easy decision, isn't it? Sure, a mind is something precious and all that, but the temptation of having such a power can be too much for certain ponies. It was too much for Trixie, and she fell for it. It's a good thing that Twilight Sparkle managed to save her from a life of insanity.

But, what would happen if Trixie's sanity wasn't the only price to pay? What else could the Amulet take from Trixie?

Co-written with nightwalker

TV Tropes page (Oh my God, it has a TV Tropes page!)
Reviews and Editorials
Chapter 1's Live Reading

This story is a sequel to Celestia's Twilight

We all know the story. One thousand years ago Princess Celestia was forced to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon to save all of Equestria, but what if Luna had been hiding something from her sister, scared of how she would react? When Luna had no other choice, she cried out for Celestia and Celestia came. For one thousand years, Luna wondered what happened when Celestia left; now she's finding out...

But is it already too late, or will Luna be able to take the role she had so long dreamed of? The dream of being a mother?

editor Don't Look At My Name Bro! and RK I am lost without you!

When a story touches you deeply, sometimes the only appropriate reaction is to respond in kind.

This is an open anthology of minifics which continue or revisit other authors' fanfics — embracing and extending, and reflecting on questions raised by the work. Due to the nature of the collection, this contains spoilers for other authors' stories, though each chapter contains a link to let you read the source first (and a spoilered summary, if you want to jump right in).

Sept. 2017 note: This anthology is closed, but the project continues with Never The Final Word, Vol. 2 — now curated by FanOfMostEverything.

Many of the included chapters are reviewed by Present Perfect here. Several are Highly Recommended by Titanium Dragon!