So I'm curious. Still trying to get stuff written even if my job is sucking my soul from me, but two questions pop into my head. I am pretty sure I know the major points and arcs of my story, and possibly even a sequel if I get that far. But two questions remain. One, would it be alright if the focus was more on the humans and their interactions with the ponies then on the ponies or 'mane six'?

Second...who is the bald guy? Does he ever get a name officially or otherwise?

3159819 Bald man never got a name. We are supposed to infer that he is the official/ maybe unofficial speaker for the council/ head of the council.

as for the other question *shrugs* its hard to say really. Not everything has to bea bout the Mane six it cant be 90% human either you know what im saying?

3159872
It isn't going to be totally about the humans. But it starts with XCOM on Earth and then their struggles to adapt and co-exist in Equestria, which won't be easy for a bunch of people who were just fighting a desperate battle against aliens. Timewise I was thinking it would be around the end of Season 2, and it would make an interesting case to have humans who maybe could step in.

The focus of the story is about co-existence in the face of danger. The humans don't want to let the ponies fall into the clutches of the alien horde, they would be to powerful and make said horde unstoppable. The ponies though are peaceful, and Celestia doesn't necessarily want to change that by suddenly having her people train for war on the words of what she believes is a slightly deranged human.

I'm not sure what the final level of focus would be, but it would slant more towards 'Alpha Team' and their interactions with the ponies. I think. This is going to be a rather ambitious a story for me to try.

3160303 sounds pretty good but i can debunk you peace theory with a simple fact that appears but isn't discussed in the show.....why does a peaceful nation keep a standing army? Well?

3164031
Just because there is peace doesn't mean there isn't threats. It could be that the world, for the most part, is content with their boarders. Compare to our world where there are enough leaders of countries willing to actively expand boarders through any means if possible. It could also be that Equestria is more prone, and successful, with diplomacy then violence.

Besides, just because you have an army, doesn't mean they know how to fight. That was evident enough in the changeling attack, where they had little if any noticeable effect on the invaders. That might go a bit differently if XCOM is present at the wedding.

3165661 thank you for that image of bradford curd stomping a changeling into oblivion literally he stomped o hole so deep in the changeling part of its body actually teleported to cyrodil and landed square in a gate to oblivion!

Now to defend my argument one phrase: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

3164031
Actually, we don't know if the Royal Guard is even a military (or if even has the numbers to be a military). It could be no different than the US's Secret Service. So far, we haven't really seen enough evidence to confirm or deny anything about the Royal Guard, other than they are really fing incompetent.

3160303
I'd read it, and it sound similar to the style that Stardust had with the focus more on humans interacting with ponies then on ponies themselves, so it can work. I'm working on my own MLP/X-Com cross (though it's more of MLP crossed with EU/EW crossed with UFO Defense).

Final question, one that popped up when I was making sure I had my abilities and descriptions straight off the Xcom Wiki. But do you think fully genetically augmented soldiers would be to much? I will have one soldier, a sniper, be psi adept due to it also being an explanation for 'squad sight'. I also will have one MEC trooper who will gain new abilities as the story goes on. So I'm questioning having an assault who also has 'muscle fiber density' and 'secondary heart' modifications as well as all members having the 'bioeletric skin' upgrades. Then again, these are soldiers who are supposed to be very front line and as special ops as it gets. I don't see my commander character NOT giving her soldiers the upgrades if they exist. Or at the very least making them openly available (unwilling modification is in the plot, for good reasons).

The original thought was to explore the concept of how inhuman one can be and still be human, especially with the MEC trooper. But I wonder if it might be going to far. What do you all think?

3173409 good idea but vary it from soldier to soldier like give a assult secondary heart while you give the sniper muscle fiber density also maybe take a que from stardust and make it where one of your guys gains low grade magical abilities like maybe your support did a reload just by thinking about it again just my opinion i hope it helps.

3173690
I've actually heard of Stardust, but i've put off reading it since it sounds similar based on the description to what i'm trying to do. But I don't want to unconsciously steal ideas or concepts. But once I finish my story, I hope to enjoy it.

I do like the idea of subtly gaining psychic abilities though, it might work into how magic and psi abilities work as I imagine them in this story. Thanks.