This story is a sequel to Rescue on Diamond Mountain

Story seven of the Savage Skies series. The first months of Dawn's stay in Ponyville have been tumultuous, to say the least. Fortunately, winter is coming, not only offering the colt respite from his enemies, but also giving Dawn the opportunity to enjoy the season with his new friends and family. Little does he know that this is to be a season of many firsts for him.

Meanwhile, a new pony has come to Ponyville in response to Twilight Sparkle's call for research subjects. Unfortunately, this stallion's past experiences have left him bitter and paranoid. It will be up to Rarity, of all ponies, to make this unexpected guest feel welcome in Ponyville and heal the wounds in his heart.

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!)

Octavia has finally been promoted to first chair, unfortunately for her, that chair is in the new (and as of yet unformed) Royal Ponyville Orchestra. Now, the best cellist in Equestria (Her words) is being sent to the cultural gulag of Ponyville (Also her words) to form and lead the Royal Ponyville Orchestra to greatness (Princess Luna's words).

Now has a sequel, Princess Luna's Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

And an online reading.

Credit goes to jlm123hi for arranging the cover art
Vectors used:
The stage
Vinyl
Lyra
Fiddlesticks
Octavia

Bonus: Have some fan art made by GamingMelody I found when I accidentally typed my username into Deviant Art's search tool instead of logging in. It's cool someone liked my words enough to draw them, and I hope anyone who does so in the future will send me a link so I can plug them in whatever way I can.

Twilight is invited to Canterlot to compete with some of the greatest magicians in the world for the Moonstone Cup, a prestigious award for the most powerful and skillful magicians, unicorn and otherwise. Can she win? What sort of competition will she face?

Awesome cover image was taken from NoOneBahtim

The once Great and Powerful Trixie has found herself in in Ponyville being forced to recover from her misery induced alcoholism in response to being shown up by Twilight Sparkle over the Ursa Minor incident. However, as time goes on, and Trixie makes a new friend, her outlook on life begins to change.

A magical accident creates a clone of Lyra that's a little... different, however, when Lyra becomes sick, Bon Bon is left with a difficult choice. The life of Lyra, or the life of her clone.

Vinyl Scratch has travelled with Princess Luna to the far off land of South Island, the homeland of the kangaroos in order to return an ancient artefact to it's resting place. The two ponies quickly find themselves walking across the South Island Outback where they meet an old friend along the way.

Following a series of stressful events that have consumed their lives, Rainbow Dash has become worried that her friends are going to snap under the pressure. Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna come up with a plan that is sure to help.

Zecora lives on her own in the Everfree forest, after finding an injured pegasus pony alone in the forest, she does the right thing and takes her to her home to heal. While initially hesitant to open up to her, the pegasus mare eventually begins to share her past with her. Revealing more than the zebra shaman bargained for.

After discovering a strange object from long ago, Twilight Sparkle and her friends embark on an expedition to a place that time forgot, hoping to discover the secrets it's been hiding for over a thousand years.