CRISIS: Equestria



CRISIS: Equestria is a fanfic for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

The story starts when Twilight Sparkle and her friends are sucked into a portal and warped to another dimension, where they quickly realize they're not in their own Equestria anymore. The new world is similar to ours at first glance, with a giant city populated by hundreds of thousands of ponies. They make new friends along the way - a police officer, Flathoof; a civilian, Lockwood; and a Chronomancer (an obvious reference to Time Lords), Tick Tock - who are determined to help them get back home once they learn that the fact that they're in this new Equestria means that their own is threatened by Discord, whose seal is weakening due to their absence.

But, they make new enemies as well who will stop at nothing to keep Twilight and company from completing their journey, and the world itself from what they've seen is more dangerous than anything they faced back at home. Poverty, violence, corruption, and death are not rare here, and it is going to take all of their efforts to overcome these challenges to get back at home. Challenges range from just getting through New Pandemonium City's corrupt bureaucracy, to dealing with outright hostile terrain (most of it with rather unfortunate names), to fighting against giant-sized monster insects. And that's just the first dozen chapters!

There are also other ponies that don't exactly want to see them make it home and all go to great lengths to keep the Mane Six from their goal. Their primary opponents? A team of suspiciously similar Evil Counterparts - Starlight Shadow, Grayscale Force, Curaçao, Havocwing, Red Velvet, and Insipid - their father Silvertongue, and his personal assassin Shadowstep.

Currently Incomplete and in its 24th Chapter as of June 2, 2012.

"Pinkie Pie: Nothing in the world would make me happier right now than knowing my friends are safe from you. And that means? Kicking your butt!"
 * Accidental Pervert: Lockwood, in Chapter 14, is busy talking with Fluttershy after she wakes up from what essentially amounts to a coma. Rarity, after hearing that she's woken up, rushes in to be with her immediately... right out of the shower. Since nudity in Equestria-V is treated similarly to how it is in our world (though what constitutes as appropriate clothing is confusing), Lockwood's reaction to a naked, wet Rarity is... understandable. Doesn't stop her from chasing him out of the room, as she has adapted to the new world's social understanding.
 * Achievements in Ignorance: Insipid's lack of understanding of how the powers she steals work allows her to use them in ways that the original user either never thought of or thought impossible. Her use of Rarity's boosting magic is a prime example, as she uses it to boost herself, which Rarity either can't do or at least has yet to try.
 * Attack Animal: Ophanim, Fluttershy's spirit familiar, obeys her every command and can transform into the shape of any one animal (later, any animal period) she chooses. When not following her direct orders, he defaults to one behavior: Defend Fluttershy.
 * Badass Boast: Pinkie delivers one to Red Velvet when explaining why she's so happy despite facing down Red Velvet of all ponies, and why she's isn't afraid of her anymore:

"Tick Tock: "...they look like a spider shagged a mantis...""
 * Bad Boss: Silvertongue pretty much kills his employees without remorse if they fail to live up to his standards. At least he gives them a chance to redeem themselves., however, is not afforded that same treatment, and Jetstream is placed against obviously stacked odds, so he might not be a fair with handing out second chances as he'd like his subordinates to believe.
 * Bad Powers, Bad People: Red Velvet has powers that allow her to manipulate her own blood as a weapon, and to play off of another pony's fears to terrify them into submission. She's easily the most evil of the Mean Six.
 * The Beast Master: Fluttershy's powers, once unlocked, allow her to command animals to aid her in battle. As there are no animals in the north of Equestria-V, she is given a spirit familiar named Ophanim that can transform into an animal. He is able to change into any animal at will after Fluttershy realizes he can, despite being told he couldn't.
 * Berserk Button: Applejack learns the hard way not to call Havocwing a chicken.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Averted and lampshaded in Chapter 24 when Rainbow Dash arrives just in time to accomplish absolutely nothing against Red Velvet. Played straight immediately after when Rainbow's presence inspires Pinkie Pie to new heights of happiness to break them all out of Velvet's fear aura.
 * Big No: Fluttershy gives one when Lockwood is injured in Chapter 20.
 * Big "Shut Up!": Red Velvet delivers a particularly angry one to Pinkie Pie in Chapter 16, annoyed at Pinkie's antics. Starlight Shadow also demands that Red Velvet do the same in Chapter 24 when the latter is using her powers to tap into the former's fears.
 * Black Comedy: Red Velvet's sense of humor is delightfully dark.
 * Bling of War: Shining Armor's dress armor, which Princess Cadence insists he wears, is bright gold and decorated with medals and gems. In other words, Shining Armor is wearing a very fancy suit of... shining armor.
 * Bloody Murder: One half of Red Velvet's powers, allowing her to manipulate her blood as a weapon or as tendrils and even giving her a pretty effective Healing Factor.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Havocwing is the villainous version of this, while Rainbow Dash fills the heroic role pretty well.
 * Brick Joke: Invoked by Pinkie, who promises her sword from Chapter 16 will appear again in Chapter 20. It does, and is "ninja'd" by her past self to bring back to Chapter 16 with her.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Pinkie Pie, natch. It's how her superpower works, even. Red Velvet, whose fear-inducing power seems to run on the same idea, takes this to a new level, literally corrupting and breaking the document text in Chapter 24.
 * Buffy-Speak: Tick Tock and Twilight often go into lengthy descriptions of how certain types of work; Gilderoy takes this even further, but does a reasonable job of putting it all in layman's terms. When these are referred to again in the future, Rarity is usually able to recite it word-for-word, often adding her own flair to it; Rainbow Dash and Applejack, on the other hand, fall into this. Insipid fills the role for her group.
 * Butt Monkey: Jetstream's only apparently purpose is as target practice for the Mean Six's first test run, where is made a complete fool of against odds that were all-too obviously stacked against him; afterwards, he gets the honor of being Red Velvet's first kill (which, given what the Blood Mire is, might be a better fate). Within her own group, Havocwing is treated like this, a stark contrast to Fluttershy.
 * The Chessmaster: Silvertongue, despite setbacks, always seems to have an alternate plan ready to go should his current plan get hampered in any way. He doesn't seem too bothered when things don't go his way, unless it's something he apparently had no foresight of.
 * Casual Danger Dialogue: A common occurrence throughout the fic, none more prominent than the one at the beginning of Chapter 12. Floating around in a pool of lava with nothing more than a weakening bubble of magic between you and certain fiery death? Sounds like a perfect time for jokes!
 * Cat Fight: Averted in Chapter 21 with the Rarity/Curaçao duel. Curaçao shows that she is a mean fighter, using tackles, choke holds, and just generally making Rarity's life hell without any dress ripping or hair pulling involved. Rarity, to her credit, fights back by using her magic to throw Curaçao around (though Curaçao is a nimble mare) and eventually resorts to using rocks as weapons.
 * Chain of Corrections: A variant appears when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie argue over what exactly, Tick Tock has just said about something called 'Gargantuans'. Gorgonzola > Gargleblasters > Garbanzos > Gobbledygook.
 * Chase Fight: Both of the fights between Rainbow Dash and Havocwing thus far have been these. The first one was by necessity, as Rainbow only had her speed to rely on and actually did a fairly decent job despite the cramped location. Their second fight ended up much more in her favor, as this time the fight was out in the open.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: Red Velvet enjoys dishing out pain and doesn't mind receiving it in the least. Unless it's her father punishing her, of course.
 * Commander Contrarian: Rainbow Dash gets worse and worse about this as the fic continues, but it isn't too noticeable until after meeting Grayscale Force, who encourages the behavior as part of her method of corrupting Rainbow's Loyalty.
 * Convection, Schmonvection: Magnificently averted with the Redblade Mountains, which are incredibly hot active volcanoes. Twilight must use a great deal of her magic to provide the party with a protective bubble that shields them from the heat, and even then it's still ridiculously hot. Rainbow gets scalded when she ventures out of the bubble for all of a couple of seconds, and when actually traveling through one of the volcanoes, Rarity has to assist Twilight and it is still too hot.
 * Cool Sword: Pinkie's one-time weapon in Chapter 16 is described as incredibly pretty, and it's able to hold against Red Velvet's powerful blood blades, which we'd seen can rip through A.M.P. Troopers with ease.
 * Counterpart Combat Coordination: Played straight and averted. The Mean Six seem to be purposefully trying to match up their members against the Mane Six according to skill and threat level. So far, Pinkie has been unanimously paired against Red Velvet, and Tick Tock has partnered with Rarity against Insipid, and Twilight against Starlight Shadow. Curaçao, Grayscale Force, and Havocwing have yet to face their counterparts, though Grayscale notes at the end of Chapter 21 that she was supposed to, until Havocwing insisted otherwise.
 * Cowardly Lion: Fluttershy wants nothing to do with fighting, but like in the show, will stand her ground to protect her friends.
 * Crapsack World: Well, at least the northern continent is. The south is played up as a much, much more pleasant place, but it's yet to be seen.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Shadowstep knows better than to fall prey to No One Could Survive That, and goes off to check for Tick Tock's body after dropping her from miles above the city. Unfortunately for him, Tick Tock knows the cloud-walking spell from Sonic Rainboom, and uses it to escape through the city's smog layers.
 * Dark Reprise: Red Velvet is the master of this, taking everything from children's tunes to Pinkie's songs and making them sound utterly and deliciously evil.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Tick Tock tends to respond with disdain, annoyance, and sarcasm to almost anything she disagrees with, which considering her Insufferable Genius nature, is a lot. Grayscale Force is a more laid-back, stoic version.
 * Death Is Cheap:  won't let a little thing like death stop him. Of course, that seemed to have all been part of Silvertongue's plan.
 * Deflector Shields: Twilight Sparkle's primary means of combat. She explains it as her family's natural aptitude for barrier magic, what with her brother being able to make a shield big enough to protect all of Canterlot.
 * Determinator: Flathoof's power gives him surprising endurance and toughness. In Chapter 24, he joins in the fight and with it he manages to stand up against even Red Velvet's incredible power without being much the worse for wear. Applejack also gets a moment in Chapter 24, taking a major amount of abuse from Havocwing, still standing and asking for more.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Applejack's power. She can not only can turn her skin into any natural earthly material (including metals like gold), but can even control the earth around her to a degree.
 * The Ditz: Insipid is pretty vapid, to absolutely astounding levels sometimes. That she can't remember anypony's name in Twilight's group except for Rarity (justified) is particularly amazing, especially since it actually starts making Fluttershy angry enough to want to shut her up.
 * I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The names of places in the north are all definitely not nice. Besides the Dystopia of New Pandemonium City, the Mane Six travel through the desert Wastelands, attempt the volcanic Redblade Mountains, into the deserted Gryphon Ruins, and most recently through the zombie-infested Blood Mire. Lampshaded by Rainbow and Pinkie who try to guess the next scary place they'll visit, only to have Tick Tock and Lockwood play along by telling them they're right - apparently the ocean they're heading for is the Sea of Endless Sorrow. Only two named places in the north don't have names like this - Goldridge Pass, and Hope's Point (though from what we've seen in Chapter 23, it's a bit of a misnomer).
 * The Dreaded: The other half of Red Velvet's powers is to Mind Rape and otherwise inspire Nightmare Fuel in her victims, and she literally uses it as fuel for her other abilities.
 * Drunk on the Dark Side: Red Velvet goes a little nuts in Chapter 16/17 after feasting on the fears of Pinkie Pie and friends. She does it again in Chapter 24, and cranks it up a notch while singing "Scream", her Dark Reprise of Pinkie's "Smile", becoming so engorged and confident that she stands up to Starlight Shadow. And wins.
 * Dystopia: New Pandemonium City fits this to a 'T'.
 * Emotion Eater: Red Velvet feeds on the fear and terror of others to give her strength, and is actually weakened by it's opposite, joy. Pinkie is implied have shades of it as well, becoming more powerful when she's happy and less powerful when she's sad.
 * Establishing Character Moment: All of the major OCs have had their introductions crafted to show off just the kind of character they are by the end of the scenes:
 * Flathoof: Shows that he is a Reasonable Authority Figure within his first few scenes, helping the Mane Six get established in the city a lot faster than they would have otherwise.
 * Lockwood: Shows that he is a caring individual with a terrible sense of humor, and is extremely polite to everypony, especially ladies.
 * Tick Tock: Shows that she has a bit of an attitude in her first interaction with the Mane Six (a very brief scene in Chapter 1 where she bumps into the "nudists"), and also that she is very, very smart but perhaps a little full of herself.
 * Silvertongue: The classy and sophisticated shadow-ruler of a city built and run specifically to generate chaos and evil in order to feed his goddess, Nihila, who he serves loyally. He also speaks eloquently, but not over-the-top, and apparently really dislikes failure.
 * The Mean Six all get in on this as well:
 * Starlight Shadow: The smuggest of smugs, she talks down to literally everypony in her presence bar Silvertongue himself and wields more than enough power to back it up.
 * Curaçao: A deceptive master of disguise with a calm, professional demeanor.
 * Grayscale Force: Eternally bored because her powers are shown to be rather impressive, with no concern whatsoever for the opinions of others
 * Havocwing: Leeroy Jenkins + Butt Monkey + Hair-Trigger Temper.
 * Insipid: A total ditz with scarily effective powers, and an obsession with Curaçao.
 * Red Velvet: Fear incarnate, capable of taking extreme amounts of pain and using it to her advantage, and enjoying every second of it.
 * Evil Counterpart: The Mean Six to the Mane Six, natch, seeing as.
 * Evil Feels Good: Aside from Red Velvet using the fears of others as food, Silvertongue also relishes in the feeling of actually punishing one of his subordinates directly for the first time in a long while, having forgotten how good it felt.
 * Expy: Flathoof is considered, in-universe at least, to be very similar to Big Macintosh, what with the same color scheme, similar family size and habits and attitude, and honest, hard-working personality. There are also a pair of guards/technicians working at Hope's Point that are very clearly darker, older expies of Snips and Snails.
 * Fantastic Arousal: Wingboners make an appearance as the way pegasi display arousal, but it's implied by Rarity that it's also a sort of mating display like a peacock. Unicorns supposedly do something similar by performing grand displays of magic.
 * Fantasy World Map: Tick Tock's magical, gryphon-made map is a frequent item of importance, and it's not just a simple piece of paper, either. It's actually a matter of plot importance that the first time the party wanders through an area the map has blank,, the Gryphon Ruins, they become utterly lost and confused because they've relied on the map too much. Interesting features of the map include:
 * Self-updating: The map updates itself automatically to reflect natural changes in the environment such as lava flows breaking rock, and the layout of the Gryphon Ruins. That Tick Tock is confused in Chapter 21 that her map not only doesn't show the rock field they pass through and isn't updating to reflect it should be a sign that something is amiss.
 * Malleable: The paper that the map is on is apparently very, very big, and can be unfolded to great size to display the map like a rug. It can also be rolled into a ball to form a globe, folded neatly into a three-dimensional image, etc.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Tick Tock and Twilight start getting along significantly better together starting around Chapter 20, to the point where they actively work together to fight of a zombie horde and deal with Starlight Shadow, essentially side-by-side. Tick Tock is shown later to be the one giving the most effort to help Twilight recover from her feedback accident.
 * Fish Out of Water: The Mane Six and their complete lack of understanding of how Equestria-V and specifically New Pandemonium City work makes things difficult for them right off the bat. They pretty much need to rely on Flathoof and Lockwood to get them out of trouble during their first two days there.
 * Five-Bad Band/The Psycho Rangers: The Mean Six
 * The Big Bad: Starlight Shadow
 * The Dragon: Grayscale Force
 * The Evil Genius: Curaçao
 * The Brute: Havocwing, Red Velvet
 * The Dark Chick: Insipid
 * Or, if one takes all of Team Evil into account, then the band could be read as:
 * Bigger Bad: Nihila
 * The Big Bad: Silvertongue
 * The Dragon: The Mean Six
 * The Evil Genius:
 * The Brute: Shadowstep
 * The Dark Chick: Shroud
 * Five-Man Band: The Mane Six
 * The Hero: Twilight Sparkle
 * The Lancer: Applejack
 * The Smart Guy: Rarity
 * The Big Guy: Rainbow Dash
 * The Chick: Fluttershy
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Pinkie Pie
 * Flat What: Red Velvet delivers a few choice ones when she witnesses Pinkie's powers.
 * Foreshadowing: Rarity's powers are hinted at very early, and then there's the Blood Mire, which doesn't make another appearance for over ten full chapters after it's first, complete with.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Invoked and subverted by Fluttershy. And it nearly gets her killed.
 * Gallows Humor: Lockwood's sense of humor is rather morbid at times, and he seems to do it out of a sincere attempt to lighten the mood. The Mane Six, who are not from this world and do not share the same social acceptance of murder and violence, are not amused.
 * Ghost City: The Gryphons Ruins are, in a nutshell, a desolate city once inhabited by the advanced gryphon race (though they are woefully behind in their techno-magic compared to present day) that has been deserted for hundred of years after the entire gryphon race (save one) were wiped out in an act of genocide. Without any magic to power it, the city is dark, dirty, and dreary. But apparently everything still works, it all just needs a new power source.
 * Gratuitous French: Curaçao speaks fluent "Romantique" and often inserts words into her normal speech. Considering her deceptive nature, it was assumed she had shades of Fauxreigner... until she got angry and starts speaking in it exclusively and drops her politeness entirely.
 * Gravity Master: Grayscale Force's power, which allows her to adjust the weight of objects within a certain range to be either lighter or heavier at a whim, even air. While other objects require her to use her wings to manipulate, she can adjust her own weight completely on her own.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Both Havocwing and Red Velvet have relatively short fuses compared to everypony else in their group, but it's hard not to notice it when one looks at who the other four are. Rainbow Dash tends to have a short fuse in her own group as well, but keeps it under control phenomenally well compared to the two of them.
 * The Heart: Fluttershy fills the role well as-is fitting of her canonical self. Lockwood also likes to see himself this way, and most of the group agrees with him. Except Rainbow Dash, who doesn't trust him.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Lockwood and Flathoof are best friends and have known each other since childhood, and clearly are a lot closer to one another than even any the best-friend pairs amongst the Mane Six, Pinkie and Rainbow excluded. Turns out,
 * Hybrid Monster: Gargantuans are, in a nutshell, a hybrid combination of various deadly insects and arachnids, all rolled into one horrible package; if you're Entomophobic, these things are easily your worse nightmare. Described as a mix between a tarantula (body-shape and fur) with a scorpion-like exoskeleton, tail, and stinger, with mantis-like claws, it also possesses a deadly venom not unlike a black widow spider. The young ones are easily twice or more the size of a pony. Then, there's the adults, with males being apparently a size large enough to crush a house, and the females even bigger and equipped with thicker armor and more claws.
 * Hybrid Monster: Gargantuans are, in a nutshell, a hybrid combination of various deadly insects and arachnids, all rolled into one horrible package; if you're Entomophobic, these things are easily your worse nightmare. Described as a mix between a tarantula (body-shape and fur) with a scorpion-like exoskeleton, tail, and stinger, with mantis-like claws, it also possesses a deadly venom not unlike a black widow spider. The young ones are easily twice or more the size of a pony. Then, there's the adults, with males being apparently a size large enough to crush a house, and the females even bigger and equipped with thicker armor and more claws.

"Curaçao: Ouah, kung-fu? Where did you learn your technique? A cereal box?"
 * I Know Kung-fu: Pinkie claims to be skilled in CQC and attempts to attack Curaçao using her technique. Curaçao is not impressed.

"Grayscale Force: What planet are you from that that makes any logical sense?"
 * I Shall Taunt You: Tick Tock pulls an absolutely ridiculous one on Starlight Shadow in Chapter 17, goading the hyper-powered unicorn into triggering the conditions for Tick Tock to use her mentor's Time Keeper to freeze time and allow her group to escape. Of course, she underestimates Starlight's anger, but it pops up again in Chapter 21, where Twilight uses it to distract Starlight long enough to save Tick Tock's life.
 * I Was Just Joking: Rainbow Dash makes use of this quite a few times.
 * I'm A Ponytarian: Red Velvet's main quirk that she uses to frighten her victims is to remind them that she eats pony meat and blood like they were candy. Thus far, Jetstream has been her only kill and the only pony she's ever eaten, so this is not just her trying to be creepy.
 * Imagination-Based Superpower: Pinkie Pie's power basically allows her to do whatever she wants to do in a given situation, so long as it bring her or her perceived audience joy and laughter.
 * Insane Troll Logic: At the end of Chapter 21, Havoc attempts to usurp the (temporary) void of leadership after Starlight is injured by the feedback accident with Twilight. Her argument essentially amounts to: "I had a stupid idea, and you all listened to me, therefore, none of you would make good leaders, but I would because I wouldn't listen to a stupid idea." Grayscale calls her on this:

"Starlight Shadow: Aforesaid frivolous ignominies emanating from a nugatory dotard congruent with yourself are infinitesimally picayune, analogous to an iota of terra firma malingering amidst the amaranthine macrocosm."
 * Insistent Terminology: Doctor Whooves does not go by Whooves except, apparently, to Tick Tock. Everypony else is supposed to be calling him 'Dcotor', and he often has to correct them.
 * Instant Costume Change: Pinkie Pie changes the kind of powers she wants to use in the given situation by changing her outfit to match her perceived Genre Shift. Nopony even sees her do it.
 * Insufferable Genius: Tick Tock knows everything and doesn't like to be argued with. This gets on Twilight's and Rainbow Dash's nerves very fast and does little to endear her to the others either.
 * Insult Backfire: Rarity's attempt to insult Starlight Shadow's Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness by calling her a walking thesaurus fails miserably, as Starlight goes ahead and embraces it:

"Curaçao: I... ouah. Zat... zat was terrible. Pinkie Pie: Your face is terrible."
 * It's All My Fault: Fluttershy blames herself for Lockwood's injury from Chapter 20, as he got hurt trying keep her from harm.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tick Tock is a total jerk, but she is trying her best to help the Mane Six get back home and lately has been regretting her sour attitude towards them, especially seeing as they've saved her life multiple times now.
 * Lady of War/Minored in Asskicking: Curaçao is initially regarded by the Mane Six's group as a non-combatant, nothing more than a traveling companion of Starlight Shadow's that serves as her lieutenant and navigator and is much too fancy to participate in any real fighting. In Chapter 21, she proves to Rarity that she is not only very nimble, but reveals only the weakest manifestation of her powers in order to keep Rarity distracted. In Chapter 24, she fights against Pinkie and apparently is highly-skilled in martial arts, which in combination with her ability to turn invisible, makes her extremely effective.
 * Lame Comeback: Pinkie's attempts to insult Curaçao fall horribly flat, and Curaçao of course brings this to her attention. Pinkie's follow-up is even worse.

"Rainbow Dash: "Oh Celestia, what have I done?""
 * Lampshade Hanging: The entire cast gets in on this quite often, Pinkie and Rainbow most of all.
 * Large Ham: Starlight Shadow loves to make an entrance, and loves to hear herself talk. Her monologue while displaying her incredible magical powers to Twilight's group is particularly hammy, complete with declaring herself "a goddess amongst mares".
 * Last-Name Basis: Starlight Shadow never, ever refers to Twilight Sparkle by her first name, always calling her 'Sparkle', which given her personality comes off as rather condescending. Tick Tock does the same thing for multiple chapters, but after realizing how much of a Jerkass she's been, she starts calling her Twilight, like Twilight's other friends do. This is most apparent when the two of them are doing battle against Starlight together in Chapter 21.
 * Laughably Evil:
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Havocwing's general solution to every problem is a combination of Kill It with Fire and More Dakka. While usually her strategy seems effective, it doesn't work very well on Rainbow Dash. Which is fitting, as Rainbow tends to be a bit of a Leeroy Jenkins herself.
 * Left the Background Music On: Pinkie likes to play music while she's fighting, fully embracing the idea of Theme Music Power-Up is in play. Every time, the other characters can hear it, as can the reader.
 * Living Lie Detector: Insipid is a variation as she's complete worthless in this regard, but can tell almost instantly when somepony is really Curaçao in disguise. So really she's more of a Living Curaçao Detector.
 * The Load: Fluttershy fears she's this for her friends, but proves otherwise.
 * Loophole Abuse: A majority of the problems with New Pandemonium City's corrupt bureaucracy can be solved with a little knowledge of how the system works. Lockwood has thoroughly proven he's not above a little 'unscrupulous activity' to get around the system for the benefit of others. Snapshot seems to be quite well-versed in the practice as well. The fact that Flathoof is friends with both of them is a major boon for the Mane Six. Unfortunately, this practice inadvertently gets Snapshot killed and kicks off the plot, as it alerts Silvertongue to the Mane Six's existence far sooner than it would have had they gone through the paces like everypony else.
 * Magitek: The main source of technology in New Pandemonium City is called techno-magic, originally developed by the gryphons. It rests in pony hands entirely thanks to, and according to Gilderoy, they've improved upon it immensely, even making weapons with it while the gryphons were pacifists.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Events in Chapter 19 reveal that  is responsible for everything related to the world's current state, and he did so by manipulating the gryphons in fighting against evil and bringing balance to the world, then committing genocide against them.
 * Really, all of the Mean Six are Manipulative Bitches. To varying degrees. The whole first phase of their plan was to Starlight, Curaçao, and Grayscale are probably the most effective in this regard, and Havoc, surprisingly, doesn't do too badly either.
 * If anyone was taking bets,
 * Master Actor: Curaçao uses this in combination with her shapeshifting magic to perfectly imitate anypony, and has at the very least mimicked both Rarity and Applejack perfectly, from their manner of speaking to their accents on down.
 * The Matchmaker: Rarity actively tries to get Fluttershy and Lockwood together, despite Fluttershy not wanting her help and Lockwood not even aware of it (as far as we know). Fluttershy tells her off for it after Rarity apparently changes her mind in Chapter 22, afraid that Fluttershy will be devastated if Lockwood dies due to his injury.
 * Mecha Mook: The A.M.P. Troopers are pony-shaped robots equipped with flechete rounds and electro-shock weaponry.
 * Mister Exposition: Gilderoy invokes and lampshades this when he gives the Mane Six a rather long-winded run-down of gryphon history, their powers, and . Tick Tock and Flathoof do this quite often as well when explaining how their world works, though Tick Tock is probably the most talkative of the two.
 * The Multiverse: The fic takes place in Equestria-V, one of many Equestrias in the multiverse. Presumably the Mane Six come from Equestria-IV
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Rainbow Dash gives one of these in Chapter 23 after realizing that she's been an Unwitting Pawn in Grayscale Force's plan to turn her against her friends.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Rainbow Dash gives one of these in Chapter 23 after realizing that she's been an Unwitting Pawn in Grayscale Force's plan to turn her against her friends.

"Tick Tock: "Got it! I think I got it!" *alarms sound and Gate starts closing* "Um... I don't got it. Oh bugger.""
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Insipid's lack of understanding of the powers she steals often leads to her helping the Mane Six with their fights. First, when using Rarity's boosts, she accidentally boosts everyone involved in the battle, friend and foe alike. But the particularly big moment comes when she uses Ophanim's shapeshifting powers to change into multiple animals, revealing to Fluttershy that Ophanim can do it to.
 * Not the Fall That Kills You: Tick Tock falls prey to this technique twice, first by Shadowstep early on in the story, and again much later by Starlight Shadow. That Tick Tock doesn't have a fear of heights by now is astounding.
 * Oh Crap: A few moments here and there, typically courtesy of Rainbow Dash or Tick Tock. Red Velvet gets a non-verbal one in Chapter 21 when Pinkie delivers a Pinkie Punch.
 * Opposites Attract: Curaçao and Insipid work very well together and are extremely close, right down to Insipid's crush on Curaçao. The two are also about as opposite as possible: Curaçao is extremely intelligent and a subtle manipulator, and is regarded as very fancy and pretty by both groups; Insipid is The Ditz, and is describred as dirty and unkempt
 * Our Zombies Are Different: The Blood Mire (or Red Death, take your pick) is a cursed region in the Wastelands, used apparently as a dumping ground for deceased ponies of New Pandemonium City for centuries, even before the city was built. The land itself is poisoned with evil magic that animates the dead, causing them to hunger for flesh. These zombie ponies are not very resilient, but they're still fast and strong, with sharpened teeth and hooves for weapons. And if Silvertongue's words and  are accurate, the ponies inside are 100% aware of what they're doing and are horrified by their mere existence, unable to control their bodies. Oh, and to make matters worse?   This could be Nihila's and Silvertongue's method of amassing an army and conquering Equestria-V via Zombie Apocalypse.
 * Parental Abandonment:  backstory shows that his father left his mother before he was even born, and that his mother died while he was young because she neglected her own health over his (though don't let that fool you into thinking she was a decent mother - he insists she wasn't, because she was obsessed with using him to replace his father in her life). This followed with him put into a foster care system that's just as corrupt as the rest of Pandemonium City is. Despite all this, he didn't fall into a Dark and Troubled Past, and actively seeks to better the city so that more ponies don't end up in the same situations as he did.
 * Personality Powers: When the Mane Six first realize their powers, they are told in no uncertain terms by Gilderoy that their powers are connected to their Elements of Harmony:
 * Twilight Sparkle - Magic: Her magic is fueled by her friendship, so the more she relies on her friends and believes in them the more powerful she is.
 * Applejack - Honesty: Applejack's control over earth magic is explained, verbatim, that the earth itself is the most honest thing there is.
 * Rainbow Dash - Loyalty: Rainbow's control over weather is explained, verbatim, that loyalty is like wind: When you have it at your back, you move forward; when you don't, you stagnate.
 * Fluttershy - Kindness: Fluttershy's kindness towards all living things makes her a beacon of light for the animal spirits of the north, and her familiar Ophanim is able to serve as a link
 * Rarity - Generosity: Doesn't get more simple than it being generous to give one's own magic to benefit others.
 * Pinkie Pie - Laughter: If it's funny, Pinkie can do basically anything she wants.
 * The Mean Six, however, have their powers innately activated from the moment they're created, with opposing elements to the Mane Six granting them power.
 * Starlight Shadow - Magic: Like Twilight, she has amazing magical ability. Unlike Twilight, however, Starlight's magic is chaotic in origin.
 * Curaçao - Deception: Curaçao is a master of deceit and manipulation, capable of using illusions to disguise herself as anyone, from appearance to voice and behavior.
 * Grayscale Force - Betrayal: Having zero interest in anything that does not directly benefit herself, Grayscale Force likes to end battles quickly and decisively by manipulating gravity against her opponents with cold efficiency. So, since gravity is what keeps planets in orbit, GF is literally forcing other ponies to revolve around her.
 * Havocwing - Hatred: Havocwing hates everyone, with a blistering hot fury. Not one to beat around the bush, she channels this burning hatred into literal fire, and uses it to solve the problem of people being alive.
 * Insipid - Selfishness: Vapid, yet scarily possessive, Rarity's counterpart has the ability to take other people's powers and temporarily claim them as her own.
 * Red Velvet - Fear: Not only can Red Velvet turn her own blood into a deadly weapon, but she can also feed on the Fear of others and exacerbate it. Also,
 * Playing with Fire: Havocwing's power lets her control and create fire. At first she requires an outside aid from her horseshoes, but lately she's been able to do it entirely naturally.
 * Pocket Dimension: Chronomancers like Tick Tock and Doctor Whooves seem to have these as a base of operations; Tick Tock's is hidden inside her grandfather clock. The gryphons learned to make the same kind of magic and used it to create their Sanctuary of Knowledge.
 * Prepare to Die: Starlight Shadow seems fond of this trope, as she's used it twice against Tick Tock so far. Shadowstep seems to have a bad habit of letting it get in the way of killing her too.
 * Power Copying: Insipid's power is to steal and use the power of anypony else, and unfortunately for them it doesn't take her long to figure it out. Usually in her attempts though, she helps the heroes as much as the villains.
 * Power of the Storm: Rainbow Dash's power allows her to control and create weather by flying in a certain way. Spinning creates tornadoes, using static electricity creates lightning, and so on. We've yet to see anything besides though two, though.
 * Power of the Void: The portals that Chronomancers work with and protect their worlds from are fueled with this kind of magic.
 * Purple Prose: Silvertongue's sections tend to be a little more flowery than other parts of the story, which considering who he is, is oddly fitting.
 * Running Gag: Lockwood's attempt to lighten the mood in any given situation is, quite simply, "It could be worse. It could be raining." It has yet to rain, averting expectations.
 * Save Both Worlds: The basic gist of the plot.
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Silvertongue has some shades to this (though his is more Spock Speak), but nopony takes the cake more than Starlight Shadow. The latter, of course, breaks form when she's angry, while the former does not in the slightest.
 * Shipper on Deck: Rarity has been trying her best to hook Fluttershy and Lockwood up since they left the city and seems to be doing a fair job at it. Insipid, as her Evil Counterpart, seems to have this quality too, and ships Fluttershy/Rarity, which they both deny. Makes sense, since Insipd is
 * Shout-Out: Quite a lot, actually.
 * During the escape from the city, Tick Tock attempts to hack the giant Gate in a fashion similar to Han Solo in Episode VI. She even quotes direct from the film when she messes up:
 * During the escape from the city, Tick Tock attempts to hack the giant Gate in a fashion similar to Han Solo in Episode VI. She even quotes direct from the film when she messes up:


 * Pinkie Pie uses pop-culture game and movie references often, but most blatantly when in combat.
 * Chapter 16 sees her whip out a sword and fight with Final Fantasy battle music in the background.
 * In Chapter 20, she dresses up as Jill Valentine, as it's appropriate attire for the Survival Horror sequence.
 * In Chapter 21, she dresses up as Captain Falcon and uses all sorts of fighting game tropes, from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 to Dissidia Final Fantasy.
 * In Chapter 24, her costume evokes bits of both Metal Gear and Splinter Cell. She even claims to know kung-fu.
 * The Snails Expy engages in a back-and-forth password guessing game with Rainbow Dash in Chapter 23, and the exchange is pretty much lifted straight from a similar situation by the Red vs. Blue crew in Halo 3.
 * The main Foodstuff in New Pandemonium is from the Dolor Corporation. It's entirely artificial food, due to a massive food shortage, and it comes In various colours, which dictate it's quality and taste. Yes, there is a Dolor Green, and yes, there is a 'Dolor Green is ponies!' comment. It's just a rumour though. Probably...
 * Smug Super: Starlight Shadow is incredibly arrogant, and with good reason - she is easily the most powerful unicorn amongst the cast, though she likes to claim Twilight Sparkle is almost (not quite, but almost) her equal.
 * The Social Expert: Lockwood's special talent is, in a nutshell, social networking. His knowledge of the way ponies work both in society itself and in social interaction has allowed him to forge a comfortable life for himself and Flathoof's family, . He admits to having a few contacts here and there in the shady criminal underworld, but assures Twilight that none of them are murderers or anything of that sort, and that all work together to undermine Pandemonium's corrupt and inept bureaucracy for the betterment of others. This understanding of social niceties even gives him an astounding ability to figure out how the Gryphon Ruins layout works, just based on where their entertainment venues are located.
 * The Spock: Grayscale Force's Hidden Depths show that her apathetic nature does not mean she's dumb, applying a fierce logic to everything she does and having the nerve to willingly put her own life at risk to force her opponent into a no-win scenario.
 * Status Buff: Rarity's power allows her to use her own magic to empower her friends', allowing them to bring their powers to new heights or to use their powers when normally they would barely be able to. Once they realize their power's potential, they can use it more regularly and don't require Rarity's aid, but she's still useful for making the powers stronger.
 * The Strategist: Curaçao is apparently responsible for the majority of the Mean Six's attack strategy in Chapter 21, and has learned to tap into Starlight's semi-psychic connection between them in order to direct the battle while Rarity is busy trying to find her. She acknowledges that Grayscale has some part in the plans as well, but Curaçao is definitely the mastermind between the pair.
 * Super Strength: Flathoof's power is pretty standard incredible strength, allowing him to pretty much perform the same tasks as any normal pony, but better.
 * Teleport Spam: Twilight and Starlight's battle in Chapter 21 utilizes this to its fullest, combined with a healthy dose of Doppelganger Attack from Twilight just to take it a step further
 * This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Havocwing decides to drop all pretense of Unusual Euphemism in her second fight against Rainbow Dash, and her first fight against Applejack.
 * Took a Level in Badass: All the Mane Six get superpowers in Chapter 19 to help put them on even footing with the Mean Six, and their powers are easily just as deadly and powerful.
 * Trauma Conga Line: Poor Flathoof. One of his closest friends is murdered, he's framed for it and is now a wanted criminal and likely can never go home again, his best friend  is then seriously injured, he finds out that his dead friend may possibly be a zombie, and the one responsible for her death is a zombie. To make matters worse, the one pony that he felt a connection with amongst the Mane Six, Applejack, has lately been ignoring him for a reason he does not know about.
 * Utopia: The capital city of ponykind on the southern continent. It's even named Utopia.
 * Valley Girl: Insipid is, like, so totally this that it's not even, y'know, funny?
 * Villainous Rescue: Havocwing, Grayscale Force, and Red Velvet show up in the nick of time to save Twilight's party from an adult Gargantuan and a swarm of young ones, with the express purpose of using the rescue to make good with the Mane Six ahead of time in order to earn friendship and corrupt them from within.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Curaçao's power lets her transform into the form of any pony she wishes, and she can apparently use it as a form of Chameleon Camouflage; apparently, Rarity's boost (as it was still in Insipid's possession) upgrades it to full-on Invisibility. Ophanim, Fluttershy's spirit familiar, is also able to use this power to transform into various animals.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Pinkie Pie is explicitly given a critical weakness to her otherwise seemingly limitless power: If somepony claims that what she's doing is impossible, suddenly it is. Gilderoy explains this rule straight-up as the reason Pinkie can't just take them all home right then - the Chronomancers wrote the rules of space/time eons ago, and claimed it impossible to travel between dimensions in such a way. In Chapter 24, Curaçao figures the weakness out and uses it to easily handle Pinkie Pie in combat.
 * Whatevermancy: Just about every single thing you can do has some sort of type of magic related to it, from handling herbs (Biomancy) or animals (Zoolomancy), to even talking (Sociomancy).
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Lockwood's power seems to be the ability to manipulate pain in others, using himself as a focal point. He first demonstrates this by accidentally removing the last stages of Fluttershy's weakness, a side-effect of her treatment after being injured by a Garngantuan. He refuses to use his power to transmit pain away from him and to the others though, even at their asking, which is completely in-character for him.
 * Wicked Cultured: Silvertongue always dresses in style, likes opera sung in a dead language, drinks wine at breakfast, etc.
 * You Fight Like a Cow: Havocwing and Rainbow Dash frequently engage in rapid-fire insults while flying at near-supersonic speeds and firing projectiles at each other. It's mostly relegated to name-calling. Rainbow is unimpressed at being called Rainbow Crash, a name she's endured since fillyhood; Havoc, on the other hand, does not like it when you talk about her dad.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Silvertongue does this to anypony and anything he deems to not be any use to him any longer. He even quotes the line . He isn't worried about applying this on a massive scale, either,
 * Your Little Dismissive Diminutive: Starlight Shadow falls into this extremely often whenever she's talking down to somepony she feels beneath her. Which of course, is just about everypony.
 * Your Universe or Mine?: Seems to be where the Fluttershy/Lockwood relationship is headed.