Pony Psychology Series

As its name implies, Saddlesoap Opera's Pony Psychology series delves into the minds and personal problems of the main cast of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, with their own interpretation of their more... unstable moments. In order, the series goes:


 * Fluttershy: Origins: After the Grand Galloping Gala, Fluttershy reflects upon her actions and how much it reminds her of her childhood.
 * Pinkie Pie: Schism: Rainbow Dash accidentally catches Pinkie Pie in an unguarded moment, discovering an uncomfortable secret -- and as we all know, spilling a secret is the fastest way to lose a friend FOREVER!
 * Rainbow Dash: Dependence: Dash turns to Fluttershy for help relaxing, but the cure may be worse than the original problem...
 * Applejack: Exposure: Applejack takes a lot of pride in being honest, but when that honesty extends to sharing all her feelings, complications quickly ensue.
 * Rarity: Loss: Rarity may be generous, but all her giving has a hidden cost -- and that's becoming too much to bear.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Spellbound: As her friends' struggles with their personal problems reaches the breaking point, Twilight learns an Awful Truth from her mentor, one she must come to terms with if she's to have any hope of helping anyone.

In addition, the series has several side stories:


 * Alicorns: Blame: The truth behind the thousand year-schism between the Princesses comes to light, and is considerably more complex than the old fable of "The Mare in the Moon".
 * Ditzy Doo: Muffins: What is it with Ponyville's walleyed mailmare? Why does she have a unicorn foal? What does her Cutie Mark mean? And why is she so fixated on muffins? Is she an amnesiac CIA agent or something?
 * Trixie: Treasure: The once Great and Powerful Trixie comes into possession of the means to get back at the residents of Ponyville - but is she ready to pay the price for that vengeance?

The author has just now started to write a sequel called "Secrets and Lies" set after the end of Season Two. It leads off with a bang when Twilight is forced to kill Topsy Turvy/Screwball in self-defense. Having to hide that from the others leads to problems.


 * Amnesiac Dissonance: When Ditzy starts to recover her memories, she becomes horribly depressed when she thinks
 * Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: At one point, Rarity assumes that mean something entirely different. When she realizes the truth, all her horror and shock at her assumption being proven wrong is directed inward.
 * Granted,.
 * The Atoner:
 * Awful Truth: In Spellbound, the various reveals about.
 * Black Magic:
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: In Treasure,.
 * Cerebus Retcon: The reason Twilight survived all those Amusing Injuries throughout the series?
 * The Conspiracy: According to.
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Darker and Edgier
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Once Trixie admitted that she'd acted like a world-class jerk because her feelings were hurt, she apologized to Celestia and went back home to learn a new act.
 * Empathic Weapon: The Regalia of the Daymare, which is linked to the Elements of Harmony.
 * Epiphany Therapy:
 * How Celestia and her royal guard show Twilight she's a living avatar of magic. "Kill her." (Cue horrified Twilight face and cliffhanger ending.)
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In Treasure, Trixie is mystified upon sensing that.
 * The Evils of Free Will: In Treasure, Twilight Sparkle is struck by the thought that . It's a sobering thought, and one that makes her.
 * Eyes of Gold: Ditzy's become a plot point, as recognizes them.
 * They also emerge as a plot point in Secrets and Lies; Twilight's inadvertent admission of her self-defense equicide jolts Ditzy/Bright Eyes into remembering her training as an undercover operative.
 * Foreshadowing: Each installment foreshadows future events in small ways.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Twilight telekinetically slaps Rarity in Loss.
 * Glamour: In Blame, Nightmare Moon's striking appearance and natural intimidation is explained as the effects of a mantle Luna wore, which originally belonged to the princesses' mother.
 * Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Stalliongrad might be the most prominent example, that with a royal visit from tsarevna in Spellbound (and with perfect Russian to boot). Then there are mentionings of Xiao Ma, San Caballo and Puledria.
 * Gone Horribly Right:
 * Hoist By Her Own Petard: In Treasure, Trixie eventually learns that.
 * Innocent Innuendo:, when wanting some farrier work done on her hooves, tells Big Mac point-blank "I want you to nail me." Big Mac's first response is a Jaw Drop.
 * Ironic Echo: A dramatic version in Origins:
 * It Runs in The Family: Fluttershy's deepest fear is that she'll turn out
 * Kissing Under the Influence:.
 * Love Triangle:
 * The Magnificent: Parodied in Treasure, where Trixie is frequently described not just as The Great and Powerful, but in terms suited to her current state, such as The Typical and Commonplace or The Shaky and Anxious.
 * Malfunction Malady: Trixie's use of the Regalia of the Daymare to punish Ponyville for the end of her career almost killed her.
 * Mafia Princess: Muffins reveals as one.
 * Mama Bear: Ditzy Doo.
 * Middle Child Syndrome:.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: It's revealed that
 * Obfuscating Stupidity:
 * Pony Puppets: Trixie inflicts this punishment upon for humiliating her in the past.
 * Power At a Price:
 * Precision F-Strike: Treasure has a variant when
 * Rage Against the Reflection: Pinkie's story has her staring into a mirror. Fortunately, Rainbow is able to hear what's going on ...
 * Revised Ending: Originally, by the end of Spellbound. After readers expressed their concern about the circumstances behind this, however, Saddlesoap Opera went back and tweaked the story so that.
 * Revenge Before Reason: Trixie's need to get payback for "Boast Busters" leads her to steal from Celestia and halfway kill herself using an Empathic Weapon that backfires on her with nearly lethal results.
 * Revenge by Proxy: Unable to direct her full anger at her sister, Luna instead gleefully steps up to break the Awful Truth to her perceived replacement Twilight.
 * Secret Keeper: Rainbow Dash becomes one for Pinkie Pie, and Twilight for Rarity, both against their will.
 * Muffins reveals that Rarity knows about Ditzy, and.
 * Speech Impediment: Muffins introduces a griffon with a cracked beak, giving him a permanent lisp.
 * Stepford Smiler: Pinkie Pie.
 * Tall Poppy Syndrome: According to Loss, Rarity lives in constant fear of this, which is why
 * Tarot Motifs: Celestia uses one combined with a Themed Tarot Deck to give Twilight greater insight into her friends.
 * There Are No Therapists: According to Spellbound, it seems.
 * Written by the Winners: In Alicorns: Blame, it's revealed that Luna wasn't banished for trying to make the night last forever... Instead, it was because.
 * Voodoo Shark: The idea that
 * One could argue otherwise.
 * The more you think about, the less sense it makes.