When an inter-dimensional gate opens between Sweet Apple Acres and rural California, Twilight must act quickly before any creature gets hurt—pony, alicorn, or invader.
Events in this story take place before season 9 episode 1 and announcement of the royal retirement. [Teen] for weapons and some intense scenes. This story will consist of many smaller chapters published daily or every other day, and is an exercise in cliffhangers. It is a long novella, and is completely written. If it catches on, I plan to open-source or invite writing in the universe I created.
Chapters (31)
Ah, Twilight...You underestimate. Starlight does have your range.
This looks promising thus far. Tracking.
Is this perhaps related to the anime also called GATE ?
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Not a crossover, but the series got me thinking about the first contact situation depicted and how Equestrians might react to a botched alien invasion.
Does this mean that the chapters will be really long?
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Only the entire story is long. The chapters are bite-sized. The range so far is 800 to 1300 words.
9874987
I project about 26 chapters, but I may release a few mult-chapter posts.
Ok, trekking.
Now let us see how the stupid Californians botch up first encounter...
Where's A farmer Bruener when you need him?
9875307 Hiding in Kansas. Since this seems to be an Earth to Equestria portal, we may have a language issue.
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Oh yes, it's Earth - Equestria...
Stupid Californians...
Hmm...
I think my biggest issue here is the unknown gun issue. And the shining symbol of that issue is Tank. Even putting aside the "quick as a bullet" line from "May the Best Pet Win," he's named for hos tenacity, and by extension the British codeword for implacable, armored landships that became the standard form of reference for them. I can understand choosing to have the technology be unfamiliar to Equestrians, but it still bothers me. (And even then, that assumes that Twilight's Canterlot High friends never introduced her to the first-person shooter. Sure, most would hesitate to do so, but I could definitely see Rainbow Dash wanting to share that particular flavor of awesomeness with her friend.)
That aside, definitely an intriguing tale of first contact gone wrong. Looking forward to more.
hmm ill give this a shot
I notice you added this to aliens in Equestria. Does that mean there's actual aliens or is the 'humans are technically aliens if they're in Equestria' thing?
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Thanks for the question. I am an SF writer by trade. To me, the category Aliens in Equestria applies to The GATE because it's how the Equestrians are going to react. It is a semantic distinction based on the group name because a little green man from Zeta Reticuli (okay, technically grey) wouldn't be human or fit the group Human in Equestria. If the folder is intended to contain stories only about humans and aliens, my bad. Please forgive me.
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Well speaking as a horror writer by... hobby, I understand that a simple shift in perspective can make all the difference, so you'll get no complaint from me about the choice to stick us in with the aliens, I was just curious is all. This is interesting though. I'd like to see where it goes.
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Yep.
Stay tuned. Incoming! The next episode drops at 4PM PDT (yes, I am a Californian).
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Looks like it dropped a bit late eh? Says 50 mins ago and it’s 6:00 here in good old colorado
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I pressed publish at about 4:10 PDT, or 5:10 MDT. It did take almost 20 minutes to post to the front page, though, and that left me wondering what happened.
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Don't know, don't care... MOAR!!!
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Prepare to duck tomorrow at approximately 4:00pm PDT. Incoming!
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oh I'm always ready for a good *uck...
Ahem.
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Establishing horror is one thing, but I feel like you're overplaying matters to preserve the dramatic tension. Still, this does promise to be interesting.
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*Clears and alters voice to imitate Miyuki from Lucky Star*
Well, Tank has three definitions (that I know of). One yes, refers to battle tanks. Another meaning is a container, usually for liquids, and the third meaning has to do with how much of something someone can handle, usually referring to alcohol consumption (which in and of itself, still is a reference to a container, since it's a PERSON that is containing either alcohol, or else is unable to endure an experience).
"Bullets" are a small (round usually, but not always) projectile ammunition in general, not simply referring to firearm ammunition. For example, a marble, a washer, a small stone, even a medication pill, all are considered 'bullets' when used as ammunition from a slingshot/sling-thrower, potato gun, or even thrown from your hand. Usually though, things thrown from your hand are called "missiles".
A "missile" is likewise not only an explosive self-propelled weapon-type either, though yes, it will almost-always be something intended as a weapon. An arrow, for example, is not a bullet, but a missile. a javelin is also a missile, and even a thrown stick can be called a missile also.
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I thought that maybe that was established somewhere, but I remembered it as Discord. Opera glasses? We all know he comes up with really weird bad ideas nopony pays attention to... My bad.
On a good note, it means I can now watch the early episodes because I’ve forgotten stuff! Serioritis.
If I’m feeling revisionish, I might change it.
UPDATE: I went looking for what I recollected was a tank in Equestria, and found more binoculars, this time Spike’s pair, in The Cutie Remap. I revised the paragraph because it breaks verisimilitude and was a very minor point <sigh> So... Really... Thank you. PM me if you’d like to be a pre-reader. Plenty o’ chapters to go.
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Point.
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And point.
Nice discussion you two! Armored ponies and large containers both exist in Equestria, so I suspect Tank’s name could plausibly be an allusion to both of those together. Some human had to come up with that usage on Earth. I’d bet it derived from a congruent allusion.
As for conceptualizing firearms in a uniquely Equestrian way, stay tuned.
There is an easy fix to the invader solution, incinarate them with superior magic and be done with it.
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They are Californians... Only roaches are sturdier...
Khaaaaaaan't upvote moar...
Need MOSR!!!!!
Moar!!!!!?
Wait, does this mean Sunset's cutie mark is actually half sun, half doom comet?
At the Canterlot Invasion (the one with changelings):
I am Heavy Weapons Pie, and this is my weapon!
(Yeah, never really got behind this idea, though I can see why you might go with it.)
Intriguing. Hopefully the flying purple unicorn will make these fellows realize they're not dealing with typical horses.
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The keywords here are indeed “unicorn” and “directly.” Reader-friendly magic systems, like physics, should have perceived rules. That said, it is a first person story, so perceived is also a keyword. 
And... Is the Sparkle-cannon in A Canterlot Wedding really a direct use of magic? I’ve never really thought about that, and maybe neither has Twilight! (Probably too embarrassing.)
i.pinimg.com/originals/4c/cc/15/4ccc15b4ec9b61b27b2ac58fc7ebd8f2.jpg
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Um... Please keep reading.
DAMNED TIREK-SPAWNED CLIFFORDHANGERS!!
MOAR PLZ!!!
Oh ho. Seems like this isn't the most official operation in the world...
I'm really not sure what I expected.
Um, isn't this set before the destruction of the Tree of Harmony? Unless you mean the events of "School Raze."
In any case... yeah, not exactly the best and brightest of humanity on display. Though maybe if we got human Applejack as an ambassador...
Moar, Moar reconnaissance, moar interesting pony view points of our world
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Who's still not the best or brightest..
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You want Heavy Weapons Pie?
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who touched mt twilight!
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Echoing Pinkie Pie's early meme moment, you're good. Thank you. My subconscious must have been blocking out painful events. I've removed the "loss" statement in Reconaissance and fixed the "tense" situation in Intruders in the Grove; once again, gloss and not a red herring, or a real plot point either, but still. 
It reminds me of the time an editor asked me what the eye colors of the main characters really were because it had changed multiple times by the end of the novel... <sigh>.
MOAR... I NEED MOAR!!!
I love the way you portray an equestrian seeing... well... equestrian for the first time. I like how twilight is able to pick up on their emotions, Princess if Friendships has its quirks. Regarding that Starlight paragraph, is it your head canon she went to magic school briefly, or was that shown in a comic or something, I’m not up to date on those
As much as I love first contact stories, "Both sides aren't first contact nerds" is a good variation.
I really hope the red hats don't mean what I think they mean.
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Is that a terribly inaccurate take?
Ah yes, that moment of horrific mental dissonance seeing an animal so close to your own species. At least with apes we have some obvious mental distance with the amount of body hair. There are ponies like Troubleshoes who look disturbingly close to real horses, to say nothing of Saddle Arabians. This is a major uncanny valley moment.
Though for now, Twilight's still doing recon. I just hope she doesn't forget about the Apples during her stealth mission. AJ is still trussed up in her own barn, after all, and Mac's patience has its limits.
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It is part of a backstory I created for SG starting with The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers. My characterizations of her are borne out by SG's actions in the Ending of the End.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/87/Starlight_Glimmer_walks_away_in_victory_S9E24.png/revision/latest?cb=20191016233227
I've tried to keep it as a deep background that doesn't contradict canon, and but for SG's father's return*, it does not contradict. What it does do is put a peculiarly competent spin on her actions (and her reformation and insecurities) for those who have read her stories by me. Also, I'm not one to reinvent the wheel, so, yes, she is the Enforcerverse SG.
Btw, if you like a calculated and competent Twilight Sparkle operating at the best of her abilities as in The GATE, you should also like the SG story linked above. Or, for bad-ass Twilight focused stories, try Sisters in All But Blood or The Alicorn, the Lord, and the Katana (A Ninja Twilight story).
*And I have an unwritten story for that.
My sides have left the room, the building, and possibly the planet.
>it's not magically protected, I could probably just tk finagle it open
>or I could SMASH
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Sadly, though Twilight likes puzzle rooms, safe cracking magically isn't something she studied. Frankly, now that you've pointed it out, she's kind of offended it wasn't properly protected. And, with magic, Brute Force often works. Wait... what? I guess what she did really was safe cracking.
Did she just looted some ridiculously expensive antique riffles?
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Plus we have seen plenty of examples of unicorns shooting beams at opponents.