The School of Friendship has new Teacher Assistants!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders have been welcomed into staff on a probationary basis in order to assist their sisters (and Rainbow Dash) with their classes. Today just happens to be the day for the School Trip to Canterlot Castle for a certain group.

When things go wrong and our characters are flung into the Void and come out in one of many worlds at war, what kind of challenges will they have to face? And if they survive... what will they bring back with them to Equestria?

Many thanks to Petrichord and GapJaxie for their feedback and assistance.

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 magic goes wrong, it can have disastrous results. For example, you might end up with two fillies when you only expected one.

An episodic tale about motherhood, two diverging lives, and reckless use of incredibly powerful magic by everypony involved.

Cover art by AmpDragoness

Teen rating for more blood in one or two later chapters than they'd allow on the show. Better safe than sorry.

A week ago, Appleoosa Station suffered a critical reactor failure that resulted in the station's complete destruction. By absolute miracle, a single tramp freighter piloted by a brave young pegasus escaped the destruction - and carried two hundred of the station's residents to safety in its hold.

Young Scootaloo has been widely celebrated for her bravery, ingenuity and talent in saving so many lives.

Problem is, the version of the story she insists on isn't the same as the official accounts.

Written for the Science Fiction contest.

Proper credit for the inspiration/original form/etc to the legendary Leslie Fish and her work on the nearly-lost filk album Carmen Miranda's Ghost. In particular the song which inspired this fic, Some Kind Of Hero.

Featured 11/30/2021 - 12/3/2021!

Featured in 25 of the Best Fanfics to Read for Cutie Mark Crusader Day on 11/20/2022!

Be Awed and Amazed by the tale of Sweetie Belle as she traverses the multiverse in search of her lost mentor and friend, Twilight Sparkle! Will she find her in post-apocalyptic Equestria? Or maybe in a strange world where everypony is the wrong gender? Or even where a Pony claims to be a human? Read as she journeys through very familiar worlds you might have read about... if you dare!

At this point in time all the main worlds to be visited have already been chosen. Thank you all for the suggestions, and I hope you enjoy the surprises!

Here's the official TSC:F Music Intro: The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments

WDTP: S2/3-CE
You can also visit the TV Tropes Page which has spoilers!

Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.

Today, it's all crashing down around her.

Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?

Hope is the faith of the young. Losing everything she holds dear, Puppysmiles embarks on the adventure of her life to find her mother, her hopes of meeting her again driving her through the horrors of a world not of her making. Too bad the Wastelands doesn't care about hope.

There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, and humanity is determined to explore every one. We send probes, probes with the blueprints to reproduce human explorers upon arrival. Uninhabited worlds the galaxy over can be colonized and populated, until after many years they too can join the vast throng of interstellar civilization. But if a probe is very, very lucky, it will land on a populated world instead. Equestria is one such world.

Even so, it's far from perfect for colonization, not with an environment lethal to human life. But each probe is resourceful and armed with the greatest machine intelligence mankind has devised. If placing a human mind into a newly manufactured human body won't work, it will just have to get a little more creative.

This book has a Hardcover! If you want to pick it up, you can grab it here: https://starscribe.net/

This story was written at the behest of Canary In The Coal Mine, who is sponsoring it on my Patreon. As usual, cover by Zutcha. Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail.

Fantastic prereading help from: Chyre, Danger Noodle, Doctor Disco, and Doggyshakespeare (who also did the Esperanto translation). Thank you all for helping to make this story more readable and more consistent for everyone.