Ponies Make War: Difference between revisions

 

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]: Does not even ''begin'' to describe Esteem's relationship with Rarity, let alone Titan and Terra's with Celestia and Luna.

** {{spoiler|Or Titan's with Terra, for that matter.}}

** Terra attacking Ponyville ''again'' as [[Revenge By Proxy|punishment]] for the Loyalists {{spoiler|[[Storming the Castle|retaking Canterlot]].}}

* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: Each of the Mane Six has certain traits that make them a monster to face in battle. Twilight's trait? To use ''all'' her friends abilities at once.

** Also Rainbow Dash when she subjected to [[Mind Rape|the Insanity]], and is forced to watch as Wrong tries to help Nihilus kill her friends.

** A flashback shows Titan seemingly subjecting Discord to this after {{spoiler|he causes the death of Titan's son}}. As canon shows, he eventually escaped, with this story implying that Titan's original defeat by Celestia and Luna is what enabled it.

** {{spoiler|Twilight becomes this as well after her [[Split Personality|Split Personalities]] merge back together.}}

* [[Climax Boss]]: {{spoiler|Nihilus. She is the primary threat for roughly the first half of the story, and it is only after her defeat that Luna and the Mane Six can focus on taking the war to Titan.}}

** One could argue that Terra has shades of [[The Dragon]] as well, though she doesn't do much for most of the story. {{spoiler|Though following Esteem's death, she steps down into the role.}}

* [[Cosmic Chess Game]]: The titular Immortal Game referred to by Celestia and Titan at points in the story.

** {{spoiler|Titan tortures Sparkle for personal information he can use against Celestia.}}

* [[Convenient Coma]]: {{spoiler|Twilight ends up in one after Nihilus' defeat, and doesn't wake up until after the [[Time Skip]].}}

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: Twilight crosses it on the eve of the [[Final Battle]], as she deduces that they don't have a chance of winning. Luna gives her hope with the speech that the page quote comes from.

* [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat]]: Part of Nihilus' flaws as a minion is that she's a ''complete'' inversion of Twilight -- up to and including Twi's ability to focus on a goal, meaning she often gets distracted by new ways to torture her targets -- giving them time to escape.

* [[Disc One Final Boss]]: Despite her important role at the beginning of the story, Nihilus is the first major antagonist dispatched, bridging the way to greater battles and war.

* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|Fluttershy.}}

* [[Insistent Terminology]]: Titles are very important to some of the ponies.

* [[Internal Reveal]]: After {{spoiler|Nihilus' defeat}}, Equestria at large believes Twilight to be dead, until she (and the rest of the Mane Six) hook up with the Loyalists.

** {{spoiler|After being stripped of her power, Celestia refuses to answer to her mother's mocking nickname of "Sunshine". When Terra sees that Celestia has regained her power, she's so shocked she can only choke out her name, to which Celestia smugly replies, "Call me Sunshine".}}

** When Terra is {{spoiler|imprisoned by the Mane Six}}, she tells Fluttershy that she performs cruel acts because "It's what I do. It's who I am." When Fluttershy shows her an act of kindness anyway, she replies to Terra's inquiry as to why with the same line.

* [[Jerkass Gods]]: Titan and Terra don't really care much about for their subjects.

* [[Karmic Death]]: {{spoiler|Esteem, who forced the Sliver of Darkness through Twilight's eye as she begged for mercy, is killed by Twilight pushing a (very large) sliver of metal through his eye while his attempts at begging for mercy are cut off by Twilight forcing his mouth shut.}}

* [[Legacy Character]]: Empyrean turns out to be one; he was modeled and named after {{spoiler|Titan's first son, who was also Terra's brother/husband.}}

* [[Les Collaborateurs]]: All the nobles and soldiers who side with the royal family after Titan takes over. Though it should be noted that aside from Esteem and the Cadet, who joined for power (and the former's respect in the Cadet's case), this is presented more realistically than most examples -- many, like Captain Crunch, only sided with Titan out of fear and the belief that they had no other choice.

* [[Mama Bear]]/[[Papa Wolf]]: Don't mess with Twilight, or you'll have her parents coming after you. Especially her mother Starlight, who, before Rarity hooks up with the Loyalists, is the only pony able to match Esteem in a sword fight.

* [[Master Swordsman|Master Bladecaster]]: Esteem. As he notes that Rarity is the strongest bladecaster he's ever met other than himself, Rarity may fit this trope as well.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: Out of the Mane Six, the first two to {{spoiler|use another race's abilities are Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who use pegasus and earthpony magic respectively. This hearkens back to their original G4 designs which in turn were based off of two G1 characters.}} And as a cherry on top, immediately afterwards we get:

{{quote| '''Pinkie''': {{spoiler|[[Shout Out|Surprise.]]}}}}

** Terra's assault on Ponyville, which serves no strategic goal and is only to hurt her enemies emotionally, ends {{spoiler|with her losing her godhood and the Elements of Harmony re-ignited}}.

* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: Terra would appear to qualify, as she believes that the only purpose in life is to survive, and that any other goal is meaningless.

* [[Never My Fault]]: Titan blames ponykind for {{spoiler|the deaths of his wife and first son}}, even though Discord was responsible for the latter, and ''he himself'' was responsible for the former.

* [[No Holds Barred Beatdown]]: Since there is a ''war'' going on and all, naturally no one's holding any punches. Still, that being said, the key fights always seem to be a bit harsher than most of the others.

* [[No Sell]]: Applejack is able to do this due to a combination of her strength, her [[Healing Factor]], and her armor (especially after Twilight enhances the latter).

** And both Titan and Terra have a spell that neutralizes other ponies' magic {{spoiler|including the Elements of Harmony.}}

* [[Psychic Link]]: It turns out that the Elements of Harmony grant one to their bearers, and the Mane Six end up using this to their advantage during battle.

* [[Rage Against the Mentor]]: {{spoiler|When they're reunited, Twilight ''really'' tears Celestia a new one, calling her out for all her manipulations. Celestia tries to mend things between them, but Twilight points out that the way she's doing it is just another manipulation.}}

{{quote| "Ah know knights and generals. You're just a jackass."}}

** Esteem himself gives one to Twilight when he thinks the villains have won, telling her that she was foolish to think she could win, and that all she'll be remembered for is failing. {{spoiler|When Twilight kills him, she gives a similar speech about how all ''he'll'' be remembered for is his treachery.}}

** And then there's ''everyone'' when {{spoiler|they manage to reignite the neutralized Elements of Harmony to use against Terra.}}

* [[Shoo Out the Clowns]]: Well, [[Cloudcuckoolander|Pinkie's]] still involved, so this trope isn't in full effect. However, the CMC are quickly removed from the story after a quick mention as they're shipped off to safety, thus allowing the story to focus on the more serious characters.

{{quote| '''Terra''': What could ''possibly'' be more important to you ponies than survival.<br />

'''Fluttershy''': Friendship. }}

{{quote| '''Terra''': I have more power than all of you combined. Against me you have ''nothing''. ''No'' weapons. ''No'' magic.<br />

(''Attempts to kill Twilight, {{spoiler|but the Elements reignite, blocking and then immobilizing her}}'')<br />

'''Twilight''': Hadn't you heard? Friendship ''is'' magic. }}

* [[Split Personality]]: {{spoiler|The minds of Sparkle and Twilight.}}

* [[War Is Hell]]: You better believe it!

* [[We Can Rule Together]]: Esteem tries this with Rarity. She refuses and proceeds to [[Calling the Old Man Out|call him out]].

** Empyrean has shades of this as well.

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: {{spoiler|Celestia}} gives a brief one after regaining her power, in the same vein as the [[Trope Namer]].