History Fanfic / TheCatacombsOfZalgo

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: A bit inevitable, considering that this fic was made during the show's Season 2 run, and InUniverse is set right after the premiere's finale.

* SpotTheImposter: To save Rainbow Dash and Rarity, Fluttershy and Jack have to figure out which is the real deal and which is an impostor posing as one of them (the impostors are given thanks to [[GlamourFailure their transparent eyes]]). The latter's especially dramatic, as it is a TimedMission where the one that is left behind ends up dying by a sawmill.

* TimedMission: Rarity's rescue. The passage of the Room of Rage is also this in a way; Jack points out that avoiding the fog is impossible and they have to race to get the key before his illusion appears.
** [[spoiler: The FinalBattle is also this, as Zalgo's mouths open in sequential order and Jack and the ponies have to stall for time for the seventh to open and for him to become vulnerable.]]

* AloofBigBrother: [[spoiler: Jack's brother, Jared, was mostly apathetic to him, yet was the only one close to a benevolent presence in his life by basically raising him. Subverted '''HARD''' when it's revealed Jared's apparent kindness was pragmatic.]]

* FamousLastWords: "P... Please... s-stay... safe... e... e-every... one..." [[spoiler: Jack's first death.]] See PreMortemOneLiner for [[spoiler: his second set of last words.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier & BloodierAndGorier: The major tropes this fic runs on, at least on the MLP: FiM behalf.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler: While the entire fic is extremely grim and dark, especially considering the presence of the ''MLP FiM'' characters in it, the canon ending is surprisingly sunny considering what the heroes had to endure. Sure, it has its shades of bitterness, but Jack gets to live by having a pony body and can coexist with the friends that changed him for the better, unlike in the alternate ending where he's KilledOffForReal.]]

* HeroicSecondWind: [[spoiler: During the FinalBattle, after Celestia's WorldOfCardboardSpeech, the Mane Six gain enough will to fight back against their Zalgo counterparts and eventually win.]]

''The Catacombs Of Zalgo'' is a ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' FanFic that crosses over with the {{Creepypasta}}/Internet meme ''WebOriginal/{{Zalgo}}'' (and some droplets of Cthulhu) by Nintendoboy1000.

After the defeat of Discord, the main six decides to take a pleasant stroll outside of Ponyville. But unexpectedly, they were all knocked out and been seized by ungodly creatures they've never seen before. With Fluttershy now awoken in a dark and terrifying dungeon, she's been unexpectedly saved by a rude yet courageous human who's only purpose is to bring vengeance on his adversary. Now, the two unlikely allies teamed up with each other to confront what lurks deep within these hell's tombs while Fluttershy keeps questioning herself. What has become of her friends? Who is this mysterious human? What place is she in? Only time will tell... when he comes.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, while on the Construction Quarter, withness [[spoiler: a Zalgo-fied cultist ripping out an old man's heart and eating it.]] It is enough to make the former cry and almost vomit, and the latter nearly go LeeroyJenkins on them before Jack stops her.

** [[spoiler: The Pinkie Pie from The Room of Horrors]] is a walking reference to the infamous Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}. The fanfic's story is also a recurring nightmare of Rainbow Dash.

* WeaponOfChoice: [[KatanasAreJustBetter Katanas]] and [[GunFu guns]]. Both which he can [[DualWielding dual wield]].

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Non-romantic example between Fluttershy and Jack Armstrong.

** The story's two endings have shades of this. [[spoiler: In both of them, Zalgo is finally defeated, but Jack has to make a HeroicSacrifice to make it be possible. The canon ending is more on the sweet end of the spectrum, as Jack's soul survives despite his suspicions, but he has to adapt to a new pony body. The alternate ending has him being KilledOffForReal.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Applejack, Rarity and Twilight express varying levels of sympathy for their Zalgo counterparts' miserable states.]]

* DevourTheDragon: [[spoiler: Played with, but Zalgo essentially does this to his Avatar, Jared, to come to the mortal realm. And it's described in great detail.]]

* FamousLastWords: "P... Please... s-stay... safe... e... e-every... one..." [[spoiler: Jack's first death.]]

** By the time of the finale, [[spoiler: his own prediction comes true, as he shortly succumbs to his dead body's injuries after sealing Zalgo. In the alternate ending, it's played straight as he's KilledOffForReal, and in the canon ending, it's {{Subverted}} as he did survive, but had his soul be moved to a new pony body.]]

* AntagonistTitle: Also doubles as ThePlace, since its the name of the set of dungeons that Fluttershy and co. must escape from.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: As the Mane Six are reunited, Jack slowly learns about their values, breaking the cynical, jerk shell his DarkAndTroubledPast brought him; Fluttershy shows kindness to him despite his behavior, Rainbow Dash stays to face the horrors for her friend's sake, Rarity prioritizes Fluttershy's bandaging over hers, Applejack shows sincerity in her belief that Jack is NotEvilJustMisunderstood, Pinkie finds a situation to laugh about among the horror she and the others had to endure, and finally Twilight's return brings the Friendship and Magic to a unision.

** By the time of the finale, [[spoiler: his own prediction comes true, as he shortly succumbs to his injuries after sealing Zalgo. In the alternate ending, it's played straight as he's KilledOffForReal, and in the canon ending, it's {{Subverted}} as he did survive, but had his soul be moved to a new pony body.]]

* SkewedPriorities: [[DramaQueen Rarity]] gets saved from imminent death? Her biggest worry? Her coat being ruined by the blood. It especially gets on Jack's nerves.

* LateToTheTragedy: Subtle, but gradually the Mane Six's members arrive ''really'' the nick of time and barely manage to rescue each other, eventually culminating [[spoiler: on Twilight dying and the rest having to retrieve her soul to bring her back.]]

* TheMole: Discussed in Chapter 8; Applejack suspects that Jack might be working for Zalgo's goons.

** [[spoiler: In his backstory, Jack saw the Sonic Rainboom that reunited the Mane Six.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: At first, he only tells Fluttershy how he was a forced member of the Cthulu-focused ReligionOfEvil that lived in R'lyeh before Zalgo personally came and transformed it into his Catacombs, while sparing Jack from [[KilledOffScreen the fates he inflicted]] [[TheAssimilator on the other cultists]]. [[spoiler: It goes way deeper than that, though, complete with AbusiveParents, having his role being misunderstood by birth, which caused his entire hometown to hate him, and a CainAndAbel situation he only grew aware of really close to the finale.]]

* HiddenDisdainReveal: Minor, but when Applejack calls him out, Jack screams to the ponies that he never wanted to save them before describing how he was never loved.

** During the group's exploration of the tombs, parts of the Zalgo Invocation's lyrics are cited by a mysterious whisper. It even gets commented by Jack.

** In "Chapter 9 - Battling Against Insanity", [[spoiler: The Room of Rage manifests the priest of Jack's hometown, who proceeds to sacrifice the ponies' manifestations on the Room of Rage to summon Jack's AbusiveParents, who begin to torture his mind with cruel words.]] From the same chapter, [[everyone must run from part of the previous room's manifestations.]]

* BerserkButton: The Room of Rage, one of the PsychologicalTormentZone's of the Catacombs, presses the berserk buttons of the unfortunate ones that come across it. In particular, the manifestation of Jack's one, [[spoiler: his AbusiveParents]], is dangerous enough that he has to warn the ponies of it beforehand.

** The Room of Rage manifestation of Jack's most hated thing, [[spoiler: [[AbusiveParents his parents]]]], is dangerous enough that he has to warn it to the ponies, pointing that it'll kill them all if they take too long to escape the Illusion Quarter.

* ThePowerOfHate: The Room of Rage is especially driven by this. It's also hinted to share its energy with the two previous Illusion Quarter room.

* PsychoLesbian: The Spitfire from the Room of Desires once Rainbow Dash rejects her.