History Fanfic / TheGreatAlicornHunt

* StrawmanU: Alicorn University, of the Berserkly variety. It is staffed, to a pony, by shallow, politically motivated, self-righteous and incompetent individuals who aren't presented as individuals but rather a uniform and collective entity. The students are generally considered to be exclusively trust-funded idiots who spend all their time protesting instead of studying. There's a large scene where the Nobody's Fools successively prank a group of pretentious hipsters.

** Twilight designs the group's communicator compacts to be as indestructible as she can make them, bragging that they'll still work even after being hit with a sledgehammer. They get put to the test right away when Apple Bloom drops hers on a stone floor, then later when Rarity briefly loses hers while being dragged through the Neigh Orleans swamps. Celestia later modifies hers to hang around her neck and act as a video camera.

** Rainbow Dash comes up with an easy way to use the magic mirrors to transfer information: hold a document up to the mirror so the recipient can read it. When Twilight asks about preserving and recording, Dash merely suggests a camera. Celestia and Luna quickly realize that her idea may prove useful in both military and civilian communications.

** Celestia gives these rapid fire to Canterlot's panicking nobles, parliament, and heads of staff. Don't have enough guards? Introduce the recruits to on-the-job-training. Don't know how to manage six new princesses? Just do the same thing they did for Cadence; it wasn't ''that'' long ago. Not enough servants and staff members? Hire some more. Worried about paying for it all? Sell off part of the royal jewelry collection.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: After her short arc in Neigh Orleans, which involves getting dragged through the bayou and having to sleep on a lice-infested bed, among other things, Rarity decides to get "smashed off [her] freaking plot" (her words) once back on her airship. Her servants eventually switch the champagne in her mimosas for ginger ale in a well-meaning (if hopelessly belated) effort to keep her from doing too much damage to herself.

* {{Uberwald}}: Hollow Shades and surroundings. The forest is full of {{Undead}} and Timberwolves, there's an EldritchAbomination sleeping in the lake, and everyone builds their houses out of Oak and ColdIron to keep the beasties out. Ponies are warned not to go out after dark - and it's ''always'' dark in Hollow Shades. The crew that works the dock is made up of Deep Ones too.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Or rather, who wants to live ''alone'' forever? Celestia and Luna have no problems being immortal, but having to watch, again and again, the ponies close to them grow old, feeble and die after such a short time together is truly heartbreaking for them. This is what kicks off the main plot of the story -- to find more Alicorns and eventually find a way to pass the gift of immortality on to everypony.

** When plot elements from canon he didn't like are discussed; this includes Celestia bopping the Mane 6 over the head with the [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped anvil that yes it was wrong for the CMC to publish the Gabby Gums articles...but they bought said articles so it's as much their own fault as the fillies' and that their reaction to the events was totally overblown.]]

* YourHeadAsplode: How Dapper Blue, one of Rarity's Radiant Guard, deals with a kappa terrorizing a couple of passing ponies ([[MaternityCrisis one of whom is in labor]]). He stuffs an exploding chili pepper (a result of crossbreeding with poison joke) into a cucumber and lets the kappa eat it, turning the creature's head into PinkMist when it goes off.

* YourHeadAsplode: How Dapper Blue, one of Rarity's Radiant Guard, deals with a kappa terrorizing a couple of passing ponies ([[MaternityCrisis one of whom is in labor]]). He stuffs an exploding chili pepper (a result of crossbreeding with poison joke) into a cucumber and lets the kappa eat it, causing an explosion that blows its head to pieces.

** Rainbow Dash delivers one to [[spoiler: Spitfire]]. The fight lasts about 5 seconds.
** All of [[BadassAdorable Bishi's]] fights end with him one-hit KOing his opponent at the start.

* {{Jailbait}}: Rainbow Dash is dumbstruck to find out that the one-winged stallion leader of the Nobody's Fools (and whom she has a crush on) [[YoungerThanTheyLook is just a kid]].

* OhCrapSmile: Bananas Foster's family thought all the tuition money they'd used to try to hammer business lessons into his head was wasted when he dropped out. The college offered to give him a refund, but he instead asked to have the money sent back to the family member in charge of the finances. This happens to be Foster's uncle, Banana Smoothie, who secretly kept the money for himself and gets a DeathGlare from the entire family once they realize he's scammed them.

* OhCrapSmile: Banana Foster's family thought all the tuition money they'd used to try to hammer business lessons into his head was wasted when he walked out. But Foster had the college refund the money... to his uncle, Banana Smoothie, who'd secretly kept the money to himself this whole time. The family glares at Banana Smoothie, who returns a sickly smile.

** Jasper and Dinky Doo. When Celestia implies that the two of them will share a class (Derpy having been made 'official royal mailmare', Jasper immediately perks up.

** Twilight designs the group's communicator compacts to be as indestructible as she can make them. They get put to the test right away when Apple Bloom drops hers on a stone floor, then later when Rarity briefly loses hers while being dragged through the Neigh Orleans swamps. Celestia later modifies hers to hang around her neck and act as a video camera.

* DeadlyDodging: Malfunziona stands in front of a wall, goads Apple Bloom's griffin guard into charging him, then dodges to make the griffin guard smack into the wall behind him. The griffin is knocked out.

** Post-ascension Sunset comes to the conclusion that her "brilliant" plan to ascend herself (The plot of ''Equestria Girls'') was ''really'' stupid. If it had worked, she would have either been outnumbered five to one against the other Element Bearers (or worse if Celestia and Luna got involved) if she tried to conquer Equestria, or she would have gotten herself bombed off the map if she tried to conquer Earth, along with having only teenagers as her forces in either case.

*** Given that the author is known to be a fan of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', this may be a ShoutOut to Sovereign Glue, a minor magic item that sticks to everything ''except'' the equally magical Salve of Slipperiness. The D&D description specifically notes that an 8-oz bottle of Sovereign Glue actually contains seven ounces of glue and one ounce of Salve of Slipperiness, which coats the inside of the bottle and keeps the glue from sticking to the bottle.

* BadassBoast: [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle, faced with thousands of zomponies, a lich, and a MadScientist with nothing but another foal and a bunch of bickering plants for aid, promptly uses one as a rallying cry.]] Said boast is the opening to Music/HeatherAlexander's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AKP7I0Ul18 March of Cambreadth]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar : Pinkie's karmic punishment on soon-to-be ex-Mayor Fussbudget is to [[spoiler: force-feed him a papier-mâché cake, with Pinkie making several not-so-subtle comments on how this will affect his digestive system, and how he'll be busy for several days "Sitting on the throne, learning about the Power of Press".]] There's also the preamble trolling when Pinkie first enters his office...
-->'''Pinkie''': And so I decided it was time for your ‘Equestria’s Number Two Uncle’ party!\\
'''Fussbudget''': How… nice? Um, but aren’t those usually called “Equestria’s number One… er, whatever?\\
'''Pinkie''': Oh, no. You’re definitely Number Two.

* OhCrapSmile: Banana Foster's family thought all their tuition money they'd used to try to hammer business lessons into his head was wasted when he walked out. But Foster had the college refund the money... to his uncle, Banana Smoothie, who'd secretly kept the money to himself this whole time. The family glares at Banana Smoothie, who returns a sickly smile.

It is currently dormant.

-->'''Celestia:''' Hard to do lab work when you try to add two and two and keep getting 'potato'.

* StockScream: The author gets around the issue of trying to describe stock screams in text by including [=YouTube=] links to the sound effects.

--->'''Pinkie Pie''': Oh boy oh boy oh boy, does this mean I can do magic now too?
--->'''Rarity''': ''GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS!''

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: The other princesses feel this way about Fluttershy, who is now so beautiful that every straight colt around her has self-control issues, which might be potentially troublesome if affecting a large number at once.

* SnakeOilSalesman: [[spoiler: Years ago, a rather reckless experimental potioneer named Cotton Mouth visited the Neigh Orleans swamps to sell a tonic he claimed would improve the health of pregnant mares and their foals. Problem is, it didn't work nearly as well as he thought it would after he finished short term testing on a single test subject (himself), and so most of the foals were stillborn or had severe birth defects that led to their early deaths (WordOfGod specifically references [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide Thalidomide]]). Only two of that entire group survived to the present day, one of whom did so by becoming an Alicorn while still in the womb, though nopony realized she was an Alicorn and not just another deformed filly until Rarity met her and discovered the truth. He's since kidnapped said Alicorn (And Sweetie Belle by accident) in order to study her to figure out how she survived and from there perfect the elixir.]]
** [[spoiler: It turns out that Cotton Mouth ran into similar problems to the ones with the original Snake Oil; a mistranslation turns it from what he claimed it was into a deadly poison.]]

* {{Irony}}: Bananas Foster, the heir apparent to the Chiquita Archipelago Banana Empire, who built their fortune on bananas, has a banana peel in his cutie mark, whose whole family are named after banana products and has eaten bananas his entire life, HATES BANANAS! It's because he had too much of them pushed onto him too fast. The cutie mark actually refers to the slipped-on-a-banana-peel joke.

* MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever: [[spoiler: Sweetie Bell and Mudpuppy are trapped in an Uncharted area by the Lich Malefic. Since their chances of finding the way out are slim to none, they take a different approach. Their plan is to set up a signal fire, guard it with living plant soldiers, and hope the other alicorns find them before Malefic breaks their defenses.]]

-->'''Rarity''': [[BringIt Take your best shot]], lizard. [[ToThePain I'll make a matching handbag and shoe set out of your still living skin and stitch your writhing soul to the lining]].

* MaternityCrisis: Played with. The mother is already in labor when the kappa shows up and demands a toll. What makes this a crisis is that [[SadisticChoice the family only has enough cucumbers for two out of the three family members - the kappa is planning to eat both cucumbers and whoever didn't get their name carved on a cucumber.]]

* {{Mooning}}: Pinkie Pie and Luna indulge in this to their audience during the Maredi Gras parade. This being Maredi Gras, they are rewarded with many bead necklaces.
* MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever: [[spoiler: Sweetie Bell and Mudpuppy are trapped in an Uncharted area by the Lich Malefic. Since their chances of finding the way out are slim to none, they take a different approach. Their plan is to set up a signal fire, guard it with living plant soldiers, and hope the other alicorns find them before Malefic breaks their defenses.]]

* [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope Well This is Not That Story]]: The opening paragraph of the first chapter is essentially this, and serving as both a joke and a brief TakeThat at the synopsis to ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E13MagicalMysteryCure Magical Mystery Cure]]''.

It is still ongoing, though it has slowed down from its earlier pace.

* ShoutOut:
** Discord briefly dresses up as [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash]] while fighting the living vines.
--->'''Discord:''' [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Alright you primeval screwheads]]. This is my [[{{Pun}} BROOMSTICK!]]
** One of Fluttershy's mother's special plants (that is sentient and has teeth) is named [[Film/TheLittleShopOfHorrors Audrey]].
** In Chapter 22, a random pony [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender shouts about cabbages]].
** It turns out the reason why unicorns love mountains so much is because of [[Literature/{{Discworld}} Rincewind Arcology Syndrome]], an overpowering nesting instinct that affects unicorns, particularly ones that specialize heavily in arcane research like Twilight. Basically, unicorns have a need to find a location to do all their magic in, fortify it, and build vertically. The higher the better. Twilight's observatory in Canterlot is an example, Canterlot itself is a second one, and even Carousel Boutique is a third example.
** In Chapter 25, one of the bayou ponies borrows comedian Creator/RonWhite's trademark line when he introduces himself: "They call me Tater Salad."
** Brass rationalizing that he can chase Trixie and Jasper all over Tartarus' Half-Acre because his authority doesn't stop at Promise's town limit (despite the fact that it totally does) is similar to the logic of Sheriff Buford T. Justice from ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'', and fails for the same reason (that part of the hot pursuit doctrine is so that police officers can stop criminals without getting caught up in jurisdictional red tape if someone commits a crime in one region and then immediately crosses the border to another. It is ''not'' a license to indefinitely extend one's jurisdiction so one can chase a suspect across half the country). He even uses a similar line on his deputy.
** Creator/GeorgeCScott's [[Film/{{Patton}} portrayal]] of [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeSPatton General Patton]] gets a solid nod from Flash Sentry:
--->'''Flash Sentry''': I-- no, actually. I'm a soldier, your Highness... Contrary to what most ponies think, our job is to make sure the other guy dies for his country.
** The "Why did you yell 'Fire' over [situation that is most decidedly ''not'' fire?"]/"Because no one would come if I yelled [actual situation]." is considered by some fans to be a ShoutOut to Fanfic/RealityChecksNyxVerse. (Which is by the same author as this fic.)
*** In actual fact, both of these are {{Shout Out}}s to a routine from The Smothers Brothers, called "Chocolate", in which Tommy describes yelling "Fire!" after falling into a vat of (what else?) chocolate. Cue the above exchange "Why'd you yell 'fire' when you fell into the chocolate?" / "Because no one would've come to save me if I'd just yelled CHOCOLATE!!!
** Red Fort (Chapter 37) is a nod to the Engineer in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', and even paraphrases part of his speech from the "Meet the Engineer" clip.
*** Dapper Blue's mannerisms, suit, and the way he describes his job is reminiscent of the Spy from ''Team Fortress 2''.
** Gred and Forge Weasel (Chapter 38) are patterned after twin brothers Fred and George Weasley in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' series. There's even a brief mention of an older stallion with a fang earring - a shout-out to Bill, the oldest of the Weasley children. This one also mentions that he told his mother dragons were easier to work with than weasels, a nod to Charlie, the second-born Weasley child.
*** In Chapter 60, Twilight is able to finally drive off a large pack of Timberwolves by turning several trees into Whomping Willows.
*** Apparently another name for Twittermites is "Fizzing Whizbees."
** Also in Chapter 38, Babs faces off against a giant monster that is entirely made of hair and sneakers, just like Gossamer, Marvin the Martian's henchmonster, from the original 1950s ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' cartoons. That she fights it with a pair of scissors the size of a long sword points toward ''Anime/KillLaKill''.
** [[spoiler: After Malfunziona gets a nose-full of Fizzing Whizbees]], he starts screaming "''Non le api! Non le api!''" [[BilingualBonus If you understand Italian (or Neightalian in this case)]], that translates to, "''[[Film/TheWickerMan2006 Not the bees! Not the bees!]]''"
** Dapper Blue's magical home-defense plants bear some noticeable similarities to [[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies another group of sentient combat plants]]. [[spoiler: The Maredi Gras celebration is later attacked by their undead foes.]] And subsequently [[spoiler: Mudpuppy and Sweetie Belle use the plants against a lich's zompony minions in Tower Defense fashion.]]
** The "Trollmatos" are very similar to [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-504 SCP-504]].
** During the HoldTheLine moment against [[spoiler: Malifec]], Sweetie Belle inspires her friends by singing ''Do You Hear The People (Ponies) Sing'' from ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', and Heather Alexander's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AKP7I0Ul18 March of Cambreadth]].
** The relationship between [[spoiler: Cotton Mouth and Lord Malifec]] is similar to Quirrell and Lord Voldemort's in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', with a dark lord, obsessed with overcoming his fragility and mastering life and death, depending on a mortal assistant who's bonded with his master's life force. [[spoiler: Cotton Mouth is ultimately more sympathetic than Quirrell though.]]
** The zombies (eventually) assisting the heroes, and the spirit of one thanking [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle,]] who set them free, is similar to the climax and resolution of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland''. Bonus points for also being set in a swamp, and [[spoiler: Lord Malifec]] being a villain who has extended his longevity by absorbing the life force of innocent victims.
** In Ch 43, Mach introduces himself with a variation of a few lines originally sung by [[WesternAnimation/RockAndRule Mok]].
** The Nobody's Fools like to do a scooter race called the [[Franchise/StarWars Kessel run]], the speed record for which is twelve minutes. Later, when pranking the protesters, they mess with the sound system to play [[Film/TheMask "Cuban Pete".]]
** The way Doctor Hospice provides Rainbow with information and references to help Scootaloo with her flightless problem is very similar to how [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Bob Parr can't help his clients.]]
** The Nobody's Fools have a device they use for pranking called a Film/MagicMike.
** In chapter 49, Mach One quotes [[Film/{{Serenity}} Mal Reynolds]]' line of "I aim to misbehave."
** In Chapter 51, Mach One pranks Princess Luna by quoting passages from Creator/WilliamShakespeare (''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Act 2, Scene 2) and Creator/LordByron (his poem "She Walks in Beauty").
** Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon reenact [[WebVideo/GameGrumps Egoraptor's meltdown and JonTron's]] GetAholdOfYourselfMan over a glitch in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''.
** Fosters ends his CallingTheOldManOut speech to his family with a line from Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Albuquerque".
** Two of them in chapter 59. Apple Bloom's giant "Uber-Toaster" is patterned after Micro Chips' robot JVJ-24601 in the "Best in Show" shorts from the [[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsDigitalSeries ''Equestria Girls'' Digital Series]]. When the leader of a pack of Diamond Dog pirates attacks Applejack, Apple Bloom delivers the "Get away from her, you bitch!" line from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', only to have Applejack cut her off before she can say the last word.