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!)

The Firework Lotus Celebration, a grand festival which celebrates the dawn of a new year, is a tradition held near and dear to Spike's heart. But when the winds of change threaten to take this special time away from him, Spike is forced to make a difficult decision. Which is more important: what he knows to be right, or what he feels to be right?

And as Spike soon discovers, it's a choice best made with the help of some friends.

Inspired in part by (believe it or not) this comic.
Cover art by Sophie-Y.

"All my life, I've wanted to fly
But I don't have the wings, and I wonder why
I can't break away..."
Most pegasi figure out flying easily enough. Heck, most of them figure out how to do it before they even get their cutie marks.

But not me. I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even hover. Not for more than a few seconds, anyway. And not even Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in Equestria, could seem to help me. We tried everything, and I failed every time. Day after day, I tried – and day after day, I failed, until finally I was ready to just give up. I’d never be able to do it. Nopony would ever be able to help me to fly...

...until one day, somepony did.

Twilight Sparkle's exam at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns is coming up, and she is bound and determined to ace it. Spike is, as always, willing to help.

Twilight refuses to fail. Spike won't give up on her.

Can they pull it off?

Spike does not like hugs. And he definitely does not like sleeping next to Twilight. At all.

A story of compromising and growing up.

Written for Everfree Northwest Scribblefest 2017

20-year-old Ryan Burbank is living with his girlfriend in their woodland home when he is struck by a mysterious infection seemingly out of nowhere. To everyone's horror, his sickness spreads quickly throughout his body, shutting him down one piece at a time. The doctors are at a loss of what to do about this new form of bacteria. Ryan and his loved ones choose to keep fighting until either a cure can be discovered...or the pain becomes too much.
At the height of his suffering, he discovers a happy little show while watching television in his hospital room. The bright colors and happy attitudes of the cartoon equines provide him with a much-needed escape from the daily pain of being killed from the inside.
Eventually, the pain becomes too much and he decides it would be better to go out surrounded by his family, in the embrace of those who kept him company throughout his short life. Just as he starts to fade, his eyes wander to the screen of the hospital room television and the cartoon ponies who adorn it. Something strange begins to occur...almost like the screen is pulling him in. Tunnel vision, maybe?
No, that can't be it...why can he hear his name being called by a very familiar voice? And why is she...crying? Who is this crying, familiar voice and why does she seem to know him?

[img]https://orig10.deviantart.net/bf87/f/2014/010/3/0/recup_pinkie_sphear_1_2__by_xdrawdex-d71pigr.gif[/img]

SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS

Rated "Teen" for language and the "Sex" tag is for all of the sexual humor and suggestive situations. If I decide to up the suggestive stuff in the future, I'll change the tags and rating to fit that change.

Cover by enamis.

Ever since Chrysalis' failed invasion of Canterlot, Celestia has been under tremendous strain. Plagued by nightmares of her inability to defend the country, her ability to rule is slowly becoming comprised.

After finally revealing the truth to a still recovering Luna, the two sisters take some advice from their friendly neighborhood draconequus on how to handle the problem.

If there's one sure thing in life, it's that advice from Discord rarely goes according to plan...

My name is Harold Storm. The last few years haven't been all that great. I've got a crappy job, no time for a social life and I'm barely making ends meet. I'm making just enough to pay to go to college part time and work towards an engineering degree. That, at least, should help in the job department if I don't run out of money before I graduate. That was, until an unforeseen death in the family had me driving across country to collect some things that were left to me. The trip there went fine, but on the way home something unexpected happened. I ended up in another world.

A twist of fate, or maybe one that was intended, lead me to Equestria and all the magic that comes with it. With no way of getting back home on my own, I've got a long journey to Canterlot, even with the aid of some new friends. However, magic has a funny way of changing the way one looks at the world...

02-07-17 Woah! Somehow made it to the feature box

Alternate universe. Princess Luna is still in her younger form from the end of "Friendship is Magic." Takes place after the events of Magical Mystery Cure and the first Equestria Girls but before Season 4 starts. Doesn't follow show's timeline after that but may draw from some events.

I'd like to give a huge shout-out to fellow author, KorenCZ11, for helping me with pre-reading and editing. Then, after all that hard work he went and made me some awesome cover art!

Kinda slice of life with a bit of adventure thrown in. Some other tags may be added as the story progresses.

The vast majority of the story is 1st person, told from Harold's POV.

Part 1 of a 2 part story.

Rated T for some violence, occasional swearing and innuendo.

Note the lack of a crossover tag
This is not a HL2 crossover, I just happen to like the quote.

If Equestria was real, would it be anything like the cartoon? When a creature resembling Twilight Sparkle appears in the middle of the Big Apple, one man gets the chance to learn the truth behind the fiction - and to help change the world.

But even though many people would welcome the magic and knowledge that this powerful being offers, others fear it. Dramatic change can bring massive upheaval to society, upsetting the balance of power, and many of the 'powers that be' would prefer to maintain their comfortable status quo at any cost.

How much does this visitor, and her home, have in common with the imaginary characters and world we've seen on the television screen? Can she and her new friend survive in the Big Apple, avoid those who would silence them, and convince those who might help them? How will the Big Apple, and the world as we know it, be changed by her arrival?

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This is my first 'published' fan-fiction, so please do rate and comment. I'd love to know what I'm doing well and what I could stand to work on.

This story grew out of a single scene that sprang to mind while I was struggling with another story, one which I intend to complete with as much polish as I can before submitting. I was having a bit of writer's block on an important scene and took a break to write the ideas down, and ended up expanding on them more than I'd expected. So now I'm working on this as well. This one isn't my highest priority, though, so updates to it may be rather infrequent.

Regarding the 'sex' tag: One chapter contains non-graphic descriptions of nudity and reactions to it. It's primarily situation-based humor. This isn't really a romance/shipping story, but it seems my muse missed that left turn at Albuquerque and is trying to slip in some such elements for humor purposes.
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Cover image from Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 3.0 license: original photo by Jean-Christophe BENOIST
I'm open to suggestions for a replacement, this was hastily chosen to avoid lack of cover art. Artless stories are sad stories. Don't let your stories be sad.

You know that feeling? You know, the feeling that you get when you realize you've forgotten something that is very, very important? It is 10:32 p.m. on Hearth's Warming Eve, and Twilight Sparkle has just gotten that feeling...

A scientist wants to take Spike and study him in hopes of understanding dragons; however, her questionable methods make Spike refuse. The scientist counter-argues that Spike is not a pony and the same rights given to a pony, do not apply to him. A trial is commenced with Twilight as Spike’s defense attorney and Cadence as the unwilling prosecutor; Twilight must prove that Spike does indeed deserve the same rights as any pony. Or else, Spike is a lab rat that she will never see again.

This is a fanfic inspired by a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Measure of a Man, directed by Robert Scheerer. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
I want to thank the person who brought me into the fandom for helping me truly refine this idea and truly give it life. You know who you are!
I will say right now, updates for this fanfic may be highly irregular until I take care of certain obligations, but I promise not to abandon it until it's done.