[[quoteright:300:[[https://www.deviantart.com/astringe/art/Bad-Future-Crusaders-The-Fic-404040624 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bad_future_crusaders.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[NothingIstheSameAnymore It was a night that changed Equestria forever...]]]]

''Bad Future Crusaders'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic by Tonic Plotter, based on a series of pictures on Deviantart by Astringe that were designed to show the BadFuture trope as distilled through an [=MLP:FiM=] setting.

Official summary: "It was a night that will forever be burned into the memories of everypony. One fateful night in Equestria everything changed. The princesses who had ruled over the world with kindness and heart were gone, and a new ruler had taken their place. Years have passed since that event. Ponies have grown up, aged, and moved on with their lives. Equestria has become a very different place over the span of these years. Our story begins when a face resurfaces in Equestria. When a weathered, scarred, but familiar face steps into the light."

The story can be read [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/135179/bad-future-crusaders here]]. The original series of pictures can be seen [[http://astringe.deviantart.com/gallery/41135018 here]], and there's also a second set of pictures based on scenes from the story, which can be seen [[http://astringe.deviantart.com/gallery/46994393 here]]. Unfortunately seems to have become a DeadFic, with the author's last update being from late 2015.
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!!Tropes present in this story:
* AbusiveParents:
** Lightning Dust states that the only thing she learned from her father was how to take a punch, from how often he hit her. However, she also says she eventually paid him back, beating him so bad he can't fly anymore.
** It's also implied that Silver Spoon's parents skewed between this and ParentalNeglect.
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[http://astringe.deviantart.com/art/Bad-Future-Babs-Seed-343757541 Babs Seed in Astringe's series of images]] compared to her portrayal in the story makes her this. True she's not evil, but she's still actively and willingly working for the bad guys.
* AdaptationExpansion: Of a sort. Astringe had no plot whatsoever in mind when he drew the original pictures; Tonic Plotter had to come up with all of it on his own.
* AffablyEvil: Dinky Doo is pretty amiable for an {{Evil Prince}}ss. All her troops love her.
* AffectionateNickname:
** Even before becoming her deputy, Starlight always refers to Babs Seed as 'Boss'.
** Daydream calls Sweetie Belle "Lambkins".
** Just about everyone refers to Dinky as "the Dink". She hates it.
* AlternateUniverse: WordOfGod is that the plot diverges from canon at some point early in Season 3. And judging by Trixie's recounting, Twilight had already had her FaceHeelTurn by the time of "Magic Duel".
* AKA47: Peppercorn's revolver is referred to as a "Lucky-7", but from it's description is clearly a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeMat_Revolver LeMat Revolver]].
* AmbiguousGender: Babs Seed actually has to ask what Bright Eyes' gender is and ultimately settles on using 'he' when the changeling doesn't care enough to answer.
* AntiHero: Apple Bloom is still definitely one of the good guys, but has no problem with killing, and is haunted by actions in her past.
* AntiVillain: Babs Seed is a good Royal Guard and believes in the law, but just so happens to work for the oppressive regime of a tyrant who rose to power in a coup.
** Likewise with Crimson Sky, who's a decent family stallion and AFatherToHisMen, but not only serves Twilight, but also helped enable her coup in the first place.
** Sweetie Belle seems to have become completely amoral, willing to make a deal with the people who killed her family, and not bothering to contact her oldest friends when finding out they're still alive. That being said, she's helped transform the Diamond Dogs from uncivilized brutes to a flourishing society that coexists peacefully with Equestria.
* AnyoneCanDie: The author has gone on record to state that ''no one'' is safe.
* ArchEnemy: Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon became this when fighting against each other in the Sonhos Vale civil war. They are ''not'' pleased to run into each other again in Broncton.
* ArmCannon: Twist gives us an odd example with a bow and arrow, according to the artwork the story is based on: Her bow attaches to her left horseshoe, while her right has a small hook to nock the arrows (which have holes in them).
* AscendedToCarnivorism: The ponies of West Sonhos Vale did this en mass generations ago as a result of lack of vegetation in their desolate homeland.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Silver Spoon takes out Dinky by biting down on her horn, cutting off her magic and giving Silver Spoon a chance to beat her.
* AxCrazy: Merrilay, whose reaction after [[spoiler: stabbing Twist with an arrow for no good reason]] is to give off a chilling EvilLaugh.
* BadassBoast: Daydream, completely seriously, states that she would defy Twilight herself to protect Sweetie Belle.
* BadassInDistress: Both Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom qualify after being captured, but the latter needs to be carried out after being sprung due to being wounded and drugged.
* BadBoss: It's implied Featherweight treats the changelings he commands ''very'' poorly [[spoiler:when Bright Eyes' expression makes it clear Babs Seed doesn't want to know anything about their living conditions under his command.]]
* BadFuture: The entire point of the story's premise -- at some point, Princess Celestia died, followed by Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna engaging in a fight that destroyed Ponyville, killing or scattering its inhabitants; the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony are missing, presumed dead; Twilight, now Queen, has turned Equestria into a totalitarian PoliceState; and formerly sweet and kind characters have grown to be either villains, {{Anti Hero}}es, or have lost everything they care about.
* BandOfBrothers: The R.E.A.F. provides a villainous example. Since a lot of them are misfits or outcasts with nowhere else to go, like with Pinstripe who's parents won't even answer his letters, most of them are fiercely protective of one another.
* BattleButler: Camélia, Daydream's butler, jumps unarmed between Sweetie Belle and ''two'' opponents, one of which is armed with a sword, at the slightest provocation.
* BenevolentBoss: Babs Seed, even though she and everyone else all seem to universally dislike changelings, treats Bright Eyes with the exact same respect she would give to a pony working for her. [[spoiler:She even lets him stay in her home when she learns he's been living in her office.]]
* BerserkButton: Don't badmouth Diamond Tiara around Silver Spoon.
** Dinky gets noticeably angry when Silver Spoon mentions her mother, and loses it when her eyepatch is damaged.
** Speaking of Dinky, the Equestrian military gets ''pissed'' after learning she's been attacked and robbed. Apparently "[[AffectionateNickname the Dink]]" is well loved by her underlings.
** Lightning Dust genuinely cares for all the pegasi under her command. Hurt them, and she will hunt you down. [[spoiler: When Twitch is killed, she dedicates the R.E.A.F. to revenge.]]
*** Another one she has is anything to do with Rainbow Dash, even someone talking about her. [[spoiler: When she learns via Featherweight that Scootaloo has a connection to Dash, she decides to hunt her down.]]
** Although Rumble is usually calm and stoic if one so much as threatens Babs Seed he goes wild and attacks, which [[spoiler:Merrilay learns [[WouldHitAGirl the hard way]] when she decides to pick a fight with Babs.]]
* BigBad: Queen Twilight Sparkle, though she hasn't [[TheGhost shown up yet]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Snails and Twist rescue Silver Spoon when she's cornered by Crimson Sky in Broncton, with the latter distracting the guards while Snails teleports her to safety.
* BigGood: The Masquerader/Arpeggio... maybe. It's clear that she wants to find and reunite the Elements of Harmony to bring down Queen Twilight, but it's unclear how "good" she is.
* BilingualBonus: Portuguese, the author's native language, is used for the language of West Sonhos Vale.
* BilingualDialogue: When Silver Spoon jumps Apple Bloom in a flashback, she taunts her in Portuguese and Apple Bloom responds in English, clearly having gotten at least the gist of what she said.[[note]]It's along the lines of "This is not your lucky day, red."[[/note]]
* BlatantLies: Dinky tells Babs that Apple Bloom is with the Rainbolts, no doubt to keep them from communicating.
* BodyHorror: Trixie's horn is riddled with crystals, put there by Twilight during their last encounter.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: It's a highly persistent rumor that this is how Twilight controls the Royal Guard.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: A non-romantic variation: [[spoiler:Apple Bloom ultimately chooses to leave Scootaloo behind, because she figures that she'll have a better chance at a safe, happy life without Apple Bloom's presence. When Scootaloo refuses to part ways, Apple Bloom knocks her out and leaves.]]
* BrickJoke: During her meeting with Dinky, Silver Spoon gives the name "John Swaybeck" as the one who hired her (An obvious parody of Creator/JohnSteinbeck). Some ''fifteen'' chapters later Silver Spoon is reading ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', one of Steinbeck's most famous works.
* BountyHunter: What Apple Bloom has done for a living since returning to Equestria.
* BoxedCrook: The Corujas, criminals recruited by the government of West Sonhos Vale as assassins, promised pardons in exchange for meeting a quota of Eastern soldiers killed (though they had no problem killing civilians too). Silver Spoon was one.
* BuffySpeak: Rainbow Dash writes "METAL CIRCLE CLACKY THING playing monkey" after failing to spell cymbal three times in her letter.
* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon both decide it's a good idea to mock and attack Dinky Doo while in prison. As payback she orders their execution at dawn.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Daydream is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} of Pinkie Pie levels, but is very intelligent underneath it all.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Merrilay is Apple Bloom's niece.]]
* TheCameo: Zipporwhill from ''Filli Vanilli'' is the mailcarrier in Hoofington. The unnamed town Apple Bloom visits has a pub run by Lyra and Bon Bon, and the Stormfront soldier who tries to arrest her fits Flash Sentry's description ([[WordOfGod The author]] goes out of her way to [[TeasingCreator neither confirm nor deny it]]). The story also mentions the "two older lankey twins" who designed and maintain vehicles for Environment Equestria, which strongly implies them to be the Flim Flam Brothers. Silver Shill, as it turns out, works in the office where Pinstripe and Silver Spoon fought.
* CharacterCatchphrase: Babs Seed says "It just don't add up" in every one of her chapters.
* CharlesAtlasSuperPower: Captain Rumble allegedly spends his entire life training and it shows: He is strong enough to overwhelm a griffon in combat and throw entire carts through the air.
* ChekhovsGunman: Dorian, the kid Apple Bloom saves from being mugged, shows up later to rescue the Cake twins from the Canterlot dungeons, coincidentally rescuing Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon as well.
* ChildByRape: The story has a ''very'' dark interpretation of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay Hearts And Hooves Day]] where [[AxCrazy Merrilay]] was conceived while Big Macintosh and Cheerilee were under the effects of the [[LovePotion love poison]]. Knowing this has convinced her that emotions are "phony", turning her into a psychotic StrawNihilist.
* ClassyCatBurglar: What Silver Spoon has been reduced to in order to make a living.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Miss Daydream, the mare in charge of Environment Equestria.
* ColdSniper: Unlike her theatrical and talkative partner Snails, Twist is rather stern and turns out to be completely mute. She also has no qualms about harming a young rookie R.E.A.F. flier, something even ''Silver Spoon'' was reluctant to do.
* CombatPragmatist: After being called out for using a pistol against an unarmed opponent, Apple Bloom remarks that she fights to win and makes it very clear she's ''this'' close to shooting him.
** Scootaloo also demonstrates this, being willing to fight dirty, improvise weapons, and even injure herself if it means beating an opponent. [[spoiler: This is how she beats Lightning Dust.]]
* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: Dinky does this during her fight with Silver Spoon, while calmly [[StuffBlowingUp blowing up]] all the places to hide one by one.
--> You asked for a fight, so come out and get one you will never forget for as long as you live! '''*BOOM*''' [[ImpliedDeathThreat However long]] ''[[ImpliedDeathThreat that]]'' [[ImpliedDeathThreat might be, mind you.]]
* ConsummateLiar: The only clues to Snails' motivations are what he claims to be after, and they [[UnreliableNarrator seem to change and contradict one another]]. He also openly admits that he lying is a regular part of his job as an InformationBroker.
* ContrivedCoincidence: All these characters just happening to end up in the right places to run into each other after all this time. Lampshaded by Silver Spoon.
* CouldSayItBut: Crimson Sky "mistakes" Babs as being from Broncton instead of Manehattan, so that he can tip her off that that's where the fugitive they're chasing (Silver Spoon) is heading, in the hopes she can catch her before the R.E.A.F. has to bomb the town to find her.
** Dinky tells Lightning Dust that she can't authorize the R.E.A.F. going on a revenge mission for [[spoiler: Twitch's death]], and that she better not hear about her doing it anyway.
* CountingBullets: Apple Bloom keeps a careful eye on how many bullets she has left, counting them carefully during battles and double-checking her remaining bullets whenever she gets the chance. [[spoiler:She only drops the ball when fighting Captain Rumble, who's raw physical strength and aggression have scared her to the point she can't concentrate any longer.]]
* CoveredInScars: Silver Spoon's body has been so badly abused over the years that she lacks a cutie mark and instead has nothing but "a marbled mess of scarred bald flesh". Even Apple Bloom, her ArchEnemy, takes pity on the state she's in.
* CrapsackWorld: Equestria has become a PoliceState [[TheEmpire Empire]], whose military has no qualms about bombing population centers to drive out fugitives.
** The rest of the world doesn't look too good either -- Sonhos Vale, where Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon grew up after becoming refugees, has been split by civil war for so long no one remembers how it started, and Saddle Arabia's been hit so hard by drought that it's on the verge of collapse.
* CurbStompBattle: The war between West and East Sonhos Vale was a massacre in the East's favor -- they had early 20th century technology, while the West were stuck in MedievalStasis, with they only advantage being superior numbers, which were wasted in ZergRush tactics.
** [[spoiler:Captain Rumble's battle against Apple Bloom is ''nasty''. Her pistol can't even dent his armor and he has the strength to [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom punch her across the room]]. She didn't even stand a chance against him.]]
** In this universe's version of "Magic Duel", Trixie never stood a chance against the darker Twilight.
* CuteMute: Bright Eyes when he is in his true form, and potentially all changelings as it's implied they have vastly different social conventions than ponies.
* CutLexLuthorACheck:
** When Sweetie Belle took over the Diamond Dogs, she convinced them to stop mining gems solely for their own collections and instead trading them to the Equestrian government in order to build up their own society.
** Though subtle, it's implied the "two lankey stallions" that design and maintain Environment Equestria's fleet of Magitek vehicles are the Flim Flam brothers who decided at some point to drop the scams and market their technology directly.
* DarkSecret: Whatever Apple Bloom did in the Sonhos Vale civil war that earned her the nickname "Mau-Olhado" (Evil Eye).
* DealWithTheDevil: Despite everything that Twilight's actions cost her, Sweetie Belle still cut a deal with her new government in order to secure her own position as leader of the Diamond Dogs -- gems mined by the Dogs were used to fund the creation of Environment Equestria, who in turn assured that the valley where the Diamond Dogs live always gets the right weather to ensure they can sustain an actual society.
* DirtyCoward: Featherweight relies on his Changelings to fight for him, and his reputation and status to intimidate others into doing his bidding. When neither works, he runs off with his tail between his legs.
* DisappearedDad: Scootaloo's father [[spoiler:(who is implied to be Crimson Sky)]] left before she was born.
* DoomedHometown: Ponyville was destroyed by the battle between Twilight and Luna.
* TheDragon: Princess Dinky seems to automatically outrank even Twilight's highest-ranked minions, and seems to [[MouthOfSauron their go-between]].
* TheDreaded: Rumble, Captain of the Royal Guard, is feared by all. Probably because he once nearly [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat a griffin to death]] with his ''bare hooves''. And on top of that, his looks and general icy attitude incite fear in those who see him, even those who ''don't know who he is''. [[spoiler: Like Apple Bloom, who hasn't been shown to be afraid of anything else.]]
** Dinky Doo is pretty feared as well. And judging by her fight with Silver Spoon, for good reason.
* DrivingQuestion: Who is the Masquerader, and what does she want?
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Twist is stabbed on the kidney by Merrilay. Sweetie Belle gets her to the hospital and she stabilizes, but then suddenly succumbs to her injuries.]]
* EliteMooks: Rumble's Stormfront Unit is described as the creme de la creme of the Equestrian armed forces. [[spoiler:Apple Bloom, a veteran soldier herself, ''immediately'' notices how better trained and more experienced they are, and they actually put up a good fight until their commander shows up to [[CurbStompBattle finish the job]].]]
* TheEmpire: What Equestria became under Twilight's rule. In fact, it conquered an ''actual'' empire (the Crystal Empire, in fact).
* EnemyMine: Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon are forced to team up twice throughout the story.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Twilight raised Dinky and Rumble as her own children.
** Rumble and Babs used to be a couple, and it would seem he still cares about her.
** Crimson Sky is a loving husband and father, and is close friends with the other founders of the R.E.A.F. [[spoiler: Twitch's death devastates him.]]
** Similarly, Lightning Dust genuinely cares about her partners and troops, and is filled with a burning rage when [[spoiler:Twitch is killed.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Silver Spoon doesn't see a problem with killing mares or stallions, but [[WouldntHurtAChild killing foals]] is going too far according to her and ticks her off enough to want to kill whoever does it.
** Rumble, TheDreaded though he is, refuses to kill enemies if they surrender first, even willing to defy Twilight herself on the matter.
** Lightning Dust of all ponies is reluctant to fight Scootaloo after she notices Scootaloo's crippled wing.
--> '''Lightning Dust:''' Look at that ragged wing of yours; it just wouldn’t feel right beating a cripple to death.
* EvilDetectingDog: While not "evil" per say, the Diamond Dogs are able to sense that Bright Eyes is a changeling.
* EvilOverlooker: The story's cover art features an image of Twilight Sparkle's face looming over the three main characters.
* EvilPlan: Princess Dinky seems quite confident that the [[MacGuffin Elements of Harmony]] will ''not'' be an issue, claiming that [[BigBad Queen Twilight]] is preparing something ''big''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Twilight's forces include a group of changelings used as spies, and her Royal Guard includes Babs Seed and other mares. Astringe the artist even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the descriptions of one of the pictures.
-->Also too, I had a thought when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom passed a pair of guards and one was a woman. Twilight's army is unisex? How come the bad guys in these kinds of stories are always the most progressive?
* ExactWords: Lieutenant Merrilay threatens to break Twist's neck unless she gets answers. [[spoiler:When she gets what she wants to hear, she stabs Twist instead.]]
* EyeScream: The night Ponyville was destroyed, Scootaloo's left eye was put out when [[MoeGreeneSpecial one of the lenses of the goggles she was wearing was shattered]].
** Dinky is also minus an eye, though how she lost it hasn't been revealed yet.
* TheFaceless: The Masquerader completely covers herself in rags, hiding her face and everything else that might identify her.
* FaceHeelTurn: Twilight Sparkle's seems to be what kickstarted the plot to begin with.
** Quite a few Ponyvile foals have grown up to be key members of Twilight's regime.
** Featherweight is a more recent example; apparently, he was a member of [[LaResistance the Rainbolts]] before defecting to Twilight's forces.
** According to the [[WrittenByTheWinners official story]] Princess Luna became [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]] once more and rebelled, conveniently "forcing" Twilight Sparkle to rise up, defeat her, and assume complete control of Equestria.
* FallenHero: Either [[BigBad Queen Twilight]] or Princess Luna are this depending on whether or not one believes [[WrittenByTheWinners the official story]]. It's strongly implied the story about Princess Luna's FaceHeelTurn is total BS.
* FantasticRacism: The Changelings employed by Featherweight are seemingly universally despised.
* FantasticSlurs: The citizens of East Sonhos Vale refer to the ponies of West Sonhos Vale as "spooks" due to the emaciated appearance they all share from generations of starvation and meat eating.
** Silver Spoon's father, a unicorn, referred to earth ponies as "mud ponies".
* AFatherToHisMen: Crimson Sky.
** Lightning Dust as well, though she's more brash about it.
* FlashbackNightmare: Scootaloo has one in chapter 9 to the night Ponyville was destroyed and she last saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
* FlashStep: Dinky does this several times during her fight with Silver Spoon.
* ForeverWar: Played with. East and West Sonhos Vale have ''hated'' each other for so long that neither side can even remember who or what started the conflict but when the West actually started fighting, they with [[MedievalStasis swords and bows]] got the [[CurbStompBattle living crap kicked out of them]] by the East who had guns, tanks, and even fighter aircraft.
* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: Princess Dinky prefers to speak on "equal footing" when in private with one of her subjects, mostly because it allows them to get right to the point without "all the formalities", but also too because she [[AffablyEvil actually is quite friendly]].
* FunnyForeigner: Pavel. He hardly speaks English and loves telling jokes that make no sense. Unless you understand Russian slang, that is.
* FutureBadass: The younger generation have all grown up pretty tough.
* GeniusSweetTooth: Ms. Daydream puts ''20'' cubes of sugar in one cup of coffee while rambling about weather theories.
* TheGhost: Though the driving force behind the entire plot and the story's BigBad, as of yet Twilight Sparkle has only been mentioned and has yet to appear personally.
* GhostTown: What was left standing of Ponyville after Luna and Twilight's battle was abandoned and left to decay, with no one being willing to enter even to scavenge or steal everything that was left behind.
* GlamourFailure: Changelings disguised as ponies look indistinguishable, but are easy to recognize when you touch them. Their bodies feel 'lifeless' and cool to the touch. Diamond dogs are able to detect them, likely by smell, and Crimson Sky become suspicious of one in disguise as an earth pony because, as a trained combatant, he's able to notice it moves like it's used to having wings.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Twilight appointed herself Queen after taking over.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: At least in the pictures the story is based on. Characters with a full red-black-gray color scheme were irredeemably villains, while characters with only one or two of these colors were anti-heroes/villains or neutral, and characters with brown clothing were the heroes. However with characters like [[TokenGoodTeammate Crimson Sky and Babs Seed's investigation team]], this doesn't seem to be the case in the story itself.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon both picked up smoking in Sonhos Vale, where it's implied to be quite common as opposed to Equestria where tobacco cannot be found.
* GreatDetective: Babs, having long since been put in charge on the Criminal Investigation Department of the Royal Guard, is the only who doesn't connect the arrest of the Cake twins with Silver Spoon's theft of the Princess's crown on the same night -- everyone else sees the twins as a diversion for the theft, but Babs sees it as the coincidence it is. Later, she's also the one who figures out Silver Spoon's civilian identity, from very disparate clues.
* GreatEscape: In Chapters 38 and 39, Dorian breaks Apple Bloom, Silver Spoon, and the Cake twins out of the dungeons, followed by them escaping the city in a {{Magitek}} powered truck.
* TheGunslinger: Apple Bloom is quite good with a hoofgun, having grown up in a foreign country where technology has advanced quicker due to a lack of magic and fighting in a civil war where their use was widespread.
* HandicappedBadass: Apple Bloom has a notable limp in one of her forelegs, but can still fight as good as anyone.
** Scootaloo is half-blind and has a broken wing, but can give Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon a run for their money.
** Dinky is also half-blind, but is also one of the most powerful unicorns alive.
** Babs was removed from active duty in the Royal Guard after a permanent lung injury. She doesn't let it slow her down.
* HappilyAdopted: Apple Bloom was adopted by a zebra couple in East Sonhos Vale after Ponyville was destroyed.
** Twilight adopted Dinky Doo after Ponyville's destruction. It's also stated that she raised Rumble like a son, but it doesn't seem he was officially adopted too.
* HealingFactor: A doctor in one chapter mentions that earth ponies naturally heal much faster than pegasi or unicorns, and that certain earth ponies will be particularly gifted in this ability.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Sweetie Belle has one when it occurs to her that friendship really is important to her, after her friend Twist has already died.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Scootaloo, after seeing Twitch and recognizing him from the night Ponyville was destroyed, freaks out and then goes practically catatonic.
* HeyYouHaymaker: How Babs expresses to Featherweight her disgust over the bombing of Broncton, which was based on his intel.
* HiddenDepths: Daydream seems to have a ''lot'' more to her than simply being a CloudCuckooLander. It's strongly implied she was instantly able to see through Bright Eyes' disguise and recognize him to be a changeling, and she didn't even seem to mind in the least. She is also able to take a punch directly to the face from Babs Seed, who is strong enough to crack stone with her bare hooves, and didn't even ''flinch'' despite being caught completely unready.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Silver Spoon went from being one of the richest foals in Ponyville to being a common thief. Dinky subtly mocks this when they run into each other.
* IconicOutfit: Twitch's battered old flight cap. [[spoiler:After he's blown up, it's the only means to identify the body.]]
* ImplacableMan: Captain Rumble doesn't even seem to feel pain when he's focused on hunting someone down.
* InterserviceRivalry: There's seems to be a bit between the Royal Guard and the Royal Equestrian Air Force. And ''no one'' seems to like Featherweight and his Changeling spies.
* InterspeciesFriendship:
** Apple Bloom was friends with a griffon and a number of zebras when she lived in Sonhos Vale. It's also implied she was [[InterspeciesRomance romantically involved]] with the zebra Peppercorn.
** Though he's still pretty aloof about it, Bright Eyes seems to genuinely trust and care about Babs.
* InSeriesNickname: Since the Changeling she's loaned doesn't offer its own name, Babs takes to calling it Bright Eyes.
* IronicNickname: Silver Spoon still refers to Apple Bloom as "Blank Flank", even though her own body is so badly scarred she no longer has a cutie mark for herself.
* ItsAllMyFault: Scootaloo blames herself for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's apparent deaths, believing that since she couldn't fly, she slowed them down enough to get killed.
** Crimson Sky blames himself for Twitch becoming such a psycho [[spoiler: (and his death)]], viewing himself and Lightning Dust as bad influences on a kid with an already bad outlook on life.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Potentially Twitch, at least if Crimson Sky is right.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Half the fun of this story is how well this has been done. While most of the focus is put on the now adult Cutie Mark Crusaders each trying to either just live or rekindle old friendships, there is also Babs Seed who is an inspector just trying to uphold the law and do the right thing, an entire plot dedicated to Lightning Dust and [[QuirkyMinibossSquad her R.E.A.F.]], and Silver Spoon who's plot alone could be it's own story, all held together with some shady characters who seem to know a ''lot'' more than what they let on with some flashbacks and WorldBuilding for good measure.
* JurisdictionFriction: Between Babs' Criminal Investigation Department, Rumble's Stormfront Unit, the regular Royal Guard, and the R.E.A.F., there tends to be plenty of arguing over who handles what. And then there's Dinky, who technically outranks all of them and can stick her nose into anything she wants.
* JustFollowingOrders: Lightning Dust provides a variation to the usual trope: She admits she willingly went after Rainbow Dash and enjoyed the act, but still tries to brush the responsibility off by pointing out that she ''was'' following orders and if she hadn't, someone else would have.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Twitch, who gleefully partook in the bombing of Broncton, is killed when a shot from Apple Bloom's gun sets off one of the bombs on his belt, catching him in the blast.]]
* KickedUpstairs: Babs was part of Rumble's personal squad, until an injury during the conquest of the Crystal Empire took her off active duty. She was then reassigned to run the Criminal Investigation Department.
* KnowledgeBroker: In addition to being a criminal, Snails is apparently this as well. Or at least, he gathers information for his own ends.
* LaResistance: There's a group called the Rainbolts that apparently serves as the main opposition to Twilight's forces, seemingly founded by Ponyville refugees and led by Fluttershy, of all people. They don't appear to have gotten much done, however.
* TheLeader: Silver Spoon tends to take this role when she teams up with other characters.
* LeaveHimToMe: Lightning Dust's orders to Crimson Sky and Twitch when encountering Rainbow Dash in Ponyville.
* LetMeGetThisStraight: When Starlight tries to sum up Babs Seed's poorly-worded theory about Silver Spoon's [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter double life]]. It's particularly funny because his summation is worded even ''worse''.
-->'''Babs Seed:''' What if it was her real self, that is her undisguised 'Not Silver Spoon' that came to the city all legitimate-like, then mugged Ms. Coffee Cream there for a disguise to protect her identity?
-->'''Starlight:''' Let me get this straight. You think 'Not Silver Spoon' came into the city, disguised herself as not 'Not Silver Spoon' to move around, then disguised herself as Silver Spoon to sneak into the palace.
-->'''Babs Seed:''' (Flatly) Yes. That's what I think.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: The Masquerader sends Apple Bloom after Scootaloo with orders to capture her, and as such, Scootaloo fights back during the ensuing encounter. It takes making direct eye contact for them to recognize each other, which is what ends the fight.
* LukeIMightBeYourFather: It's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Crimson Sky is Scootaloo's father]]; if so, this would be both a straight and inverted example, as it doesn't appear that either party is aware of the connection.
* MadeOfIron: Said almost word-for-word of [[TheDreaded Captain Rumble]], who is up and about within a couple of hours of ''being run over by a speeding vehicle'' with nothing more to show of it but a slight limp and a ''very'' bad mood.
* MookLieutenant: Crimson Sky and Twitch are Lightning Dust's co-commanders in the Royal Equestrian Air Force.
* MookPromotion: Merrilay becomes one of Lightning Dust's wingponies [[spoiler:after Twitch is killed.]]
* MosesInTheBulrushes: The night Ponyville was destroyed, Apple Bloom was put on the first available ferry and sent to safety, being told her brother and sister would follow shortly. She was adopted by a zebra couple and raised because Applejack and Big Macintosh never came back.
* MuggingTheMonster: In chapter 2, a couple of drunk thugs try to mug Apple Bloom. One takes a bullet to the chest, and the other to the shoulder.
* MuggleBornOfMages: With the context that both of Silver Spoons' Parents are Unicorns.
* MysteriousBacker: The Masquerader. She sets Apple Bloom after Scootaloo, and hired Silver Spoon to steal the Element of Magic crown from Dinky Doo, and gave both parties instructions to meet her in Broncton, implying that she intended for them to meet up even without instructions to do so. And this is all without anyone knowing who she is or what she wants.
** It turns out that she wants to find the Elements of Harmony so that she can overthrow Twilight, though her motives are still quite unclear.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: The official explanation for why the Royal Guard pledged loyalty to Twilight when she took over -- loyalty to the throne, not whoever sits in it.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: A neutral example when Cloudy Cradle is thinking about Trixie's students, all of which are unicorns except for one. She describes them as "a room full of rambunctious unicorns, and Clear Rivers".
* MythologyGag: Sonhos Vale, the name of the country Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon grew up in, means "Valley of Dreams". In other words, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends Dream Valley]].
** Similarly, Pavel claims to be from a country or town called "Grogary Gorki", which is Russian for "[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony Grogar's Mountain.]]"
** The young unicorn being enrolled at G&P shares a color scheme and interest in being an environmentalist with a character from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'', as well as a father who works for the paper. [[spoiler:Since it's Bright Eyes in disguise, he also shares the same name.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Apple Bloom's reaction when she realizes that the fugitive she's been sent to collect, who she almost seriously wounded or killed, is Scootaloo.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: There's no spoken swearing other than 'ass', but characters often curse quietly under their breaths and in one instance Silver Spoon throws up a 'vulgar gesture' of some kind.
* NecessarilyEvil: Dinky claims this about herself and the rest of Twilight's government to Apple Bloom, saying that they're [[NotSoDifferentRemark not that different]] in that they do terrible things because they have no choice, just like Apple Bloom in the war.
* NeckLift: Dinky does this telekinetically to Silver Spoon in their fight, and Spoon barely gets out of it.
* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight: Apple Bloom says this almost word for word after using her gun to take out the two thugs who attempt to mug her in chapter 2.
* NobleDemon: Despite how merciless and unstoppable [[TheDreaded Captain Rumble]] is in battle, he refuses to harm enemy forces once they have surrendered. [[spoiler:Even changelings.]]
* NonFatalExplosions: Averted. When [[spoiler:Rarity is killed]] she's sent flying by the concussion of an explosion, which is enough to give her fatal internal injuries. Babs Seed was similarly injured by an explosion and survived, but was left permanently crippled with a bad lung that she takes medication for.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Captain Rumble, unlike every other villain in the series, doesn't even ''speak'' to [[spoiler:Apple Bloom. Instead he runs right in and [[CurbStompBattle kicks the living crap out of her]].]]
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Scootaloo encountered what she thought were the dead bodies of Snips and Snails the night Ponyville was destroyed. Meeting the very much alive Snails years later bothers her to no end because she simply can't accept that he had survived it.
-->'''Scootaloo:''' Look, I was young and I was scared, but I know what I saw. That night, I mean. I can't believe he survived that. It's rubbing me the wrong way, and I trust my gut.
* NoodleIncident:
** Apparently, the last time Daydream asked Sweetie Belle for advice for things at Environment Equestria, it ended up snowing in summer.
** Rainbow Dash's farewell letter to Scootaloo, despite otherwise being [[TearJerker quite heartbreaking]], reminds her that she swore never to tell anyone about "the toilet story".
* NoSell: When Babs punches Daydream in the face as a spur of the moment act during an argument, the latter not only doesn't budge, she doesn't even seem to ''feel'' it.
* NotMeThisTime: Babs becomes convinced that the Rainbolts are responsible for the attempted rounding up of the Elements of Harmony, completely unaware that it's actually Arpeggio, who is independent of the group.
* NotSoDifferentRemark:
** Arpeggio compares herself to Scootaloo with a classic "we have a lot in common you and I".
** Dinky tries to win over Apple Bloom by saying that Twilight's regime, while harsh, only does what's necessary for peace, just like the actions she took during the war in Sonhos Vale.
* OffscreenTeleportation: Pumpkin Cake has apparently weaponized this and uses it at one point to jump a guard while the rest of the group are trying to figure out how to sneak up on said guard given the complete lack of cover. No surprise there, since the Cakes were raised by Pinkie Pie.
--> '''Pound Cake:''' She does that. Don't ask how.
* OhCrap: Silver Spoon's reaction to realizing she's facing down the Princess, and later when [[spoiler:she's confronted by Babs Seed in her civilian guise.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The being who hires Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon for their respective jobs is initially referred to only as "The Masquerader". Later, when she teams up with Snails, she gives him the name "Arpeggio", though this is clearly an alias.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Apple Bloom, who has been nothing but serious calm and jaded throughout the entire story quickly becomes terrified of Captain Rumble during their fight, and for [[ImplacableMan very]] [[MadeOfIron good]] [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower reason]].
* PaintItBlack: At some point, Twilight had her Royal Guards swap out their gold armor for black and silver which is apparently much more durable. Meanwhile, red-gray-black became the color scheme of the new royal family.
* ParentalAbandonment: Crimson Sky apparently abandoned a pregnant lover in Ponyville before the foal was even born. [[spoiler:It's implied this was Scootaloo's mother.]]
** Merrilay is apparently the result of a one night stand on [[spoiler: Big Macintosh]]'s part. She has issues over this.
* ParentalNeglect: Silver Spoon's parents, both unicorns, allegedly didn't care in the slightest about her because she was [[FantasticRacism born an earth pony]]. [[spoiler:This is actually the reason for one of her few ''good'' qualities: she is fond of children and even protective of foals like Clear Rivers, who's mother is too sick to properly care for him.]]
* ParentalSubstitute: Pinkie apparently raised the Cake twins after their parents were killed the night of Ponyville's destruction, to the point that Pound sees her as their real mother.
* PetTheDog: Not only did Dinky seek out Babs Seed to chew her out for attacking Featherweight, but she was also very suspicious of how Babs got intel on a classified mission. Before anything else, though, she was genuinely concerned about Babs' wound and took the time to treat it first.
** Silver Spoon has a soft spot for children [[spoiler:especially in her civilian persona. She even just up and gives the valuable gemstone she found beneath Canterlot to a kid because his mother was sick and couldn't afford medicine.]]
** Apple Bloom herself finally gets one when she protects a teenager from being mugged.
** When Crimson Sky finds Scootaloo after [[spoiler: Apple Bloom knocks her out and leaves her]], he checks her for wounds, offers to take her to a nearby hospital, gives her some life advice, and lets her have his jacket.
* PhotographicMemory: Dinky apparently has one.
* PleaseWakeUp: Sweetie Belle did this with [[spoiler:Rarity]], who was mortally wounded the night Ponyville was destroyed and didn't wake up the next morning.
* PrincessesRule: Discussed, when Twitch wonders why Celestia went by Princess instead of Queen.
* PunchClockVillain: Most of the R.E.A.F., particularly the rookies, seem to count as this, but the changeling Bright Eyes ''definitely'' counts. He obediently does what he's told, but isn't even interested enough in what's going on to offer his name or ''[[AmbiguousGender gender]]''.
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Captain Rumble knocks [[spoiler:Apple Bloom]] around like a ragdoll during their fight. His first hit sends her hurtling across the room and almost kills her.
* TheMole: Princess Dinky and Babs Seed both suspect that there may be a traitor within their ranks feeding information to enemy groups.
* TheQuietOne:
** Twist doesn't talk much because she is mute.
** Captain Rumble is also a stallion of very few words, not speaking at all to his enemies and speaking in short, curt sentences to his allies.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Lightning Dust, Rumble, and Featherweight are Twilight's top lieutenants, but rather than being CoDragons, they're outranked by Dinky, through whom they communicate with Twilight.
** Lightning Dust and her two wingponies are this as well [[spoiler:until it's subverted with Twitch's death after he appears only once.]]
* RaisedByNatives:
** Apple Bloom grew up in Eastern Sonhos Vale, a DieselPunk country populated by zebras and gryphons and was [[HappilyAdopted adopted]] by a zebra couple on a farm, leaving her with an affinity for machinery and technology over magic.
** Silver Spoon on the other hand grew up in the West, a [[CrapSackWorld Crapsack(er)]] version of Equestria populated by meat-eating ponies referred to as "spooks". It's implied her upbringing wasn't ''nearly'' as pretty as Apple Bloom's.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Averted. Apple Bloom uses a 'repeater', in other words a semi-automatic.
** Played straight with Peppercorn, her lover from the East. He uses a "Lucky-7" which is likely meant to be a [=LeMat=] Revolver.
* RockBeatsLaser: Averted in the civil war between West and East Sonhos Vale. The West had vastly superior numbers but were armed with bows, spears, and medieval armor. The East had guns, vehicles (including ''tanks'') and even airplanes. According to Apple Bloom the West got [[CurbStompBattle slaughtered quite messily]].
* RookieRedRanger: Dorian. His heart is in the right place, but he is young, inexperienced, can't fight to save his life, and only manages to survive his rescue mission, let alone actually pull it off, due to sheer luck.
* RuleOfCool: The entire high speed chase in Chapter 39 ran on this, with the author blatantly admitting she included it for this reason in the author's notes:
-->I don't care how out of place it might have been, I love car chases and I'd be damned before I'd not have a car chase in this story.
* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Twist, who is presented in the series of images the story is based on as a major character, is killed rather unceremoniously only a few chapters after her introduction.]]
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Babs Seed is able to get away with much more than other members of the guard simply because she is [[CoDragons Captain Rumble's]] ex and a lot of characters are afraid to mess with her [[TheDreaded purely out of fear of what he'll do to them if they do]]. Also at one point Dinky makes it perfectly clear Babs would have been punished severely for attacking Featherweight, but is lenient because of [[VillainousFriendship her own friendship]] with Rumble.
* ScarsAreForever: Apple Bloom has a scar under her right eye. [[spoiler:It turns out she got it when Silver Spoon tried to kill her.]]
** Silver Spoon has a scar on her leg, leftover from when Apple Bloom shot at her in a previous encounter. She also has a few more on her body which she shows off while describing what being slashed and stabbed feels like to intimidate an R.E.A.F. rookie and it's later revealed her body is so badly scarred she no longer has a cutie mark and even [[ArchNemesis Apple Bloom]] takes pity on her.
** And of course, there's the scar permanently sealing shut Scootaloo's lost eye.
** Babs Seed has a "messy" scar on her belly from a Cesarian Section. [[spoiler:Since she has yet to mention a child it's strongly implied she suffered a stillbirth.]]
** Twist has numerous scars over her body, including a large one on her throat from the wound that rendered her mute.
** Dinky has numerous scars from the battle that saw the remaining changelings subjugated.
* ShownTheirWork: The author has apparently done a ''lot'' of research for this story. Rainbow Dash's method of training is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_training#Live-high.2C_train-low very real thing]], Stormfront operating in two-man fireteams is exactly how the Canadian Armed Forces behaves during attacks, Apple Bloom's weapon lacking the punch to shoot out a lock, Silver Spoon laying in an "inequine" shape is a real camouflaging technique, and even the train-jumping technique are all very realistically portrayed.
* SiblingYinYang: Pound and Pumpkin Cake: The former is overly childish, ditzy, and flirts with any female on four legs, while the latter is quite somber, a mare of few words, and can pull off Pinkie's OffscreenTeleportation.
* ShadowArchetype: Silver Spoon is this to Apple Bloom, with the former basically being the latter but more callous and uncaring. Apple Bloom could have easily [[ForWantOfANail ended up exactly the same]] as Spoon had she been raised in the West, or vice versa.
* ShootOutTheLock: Attempted by Apple Bloom, but her firearm doesn't have the power to actually bust the door open.
* ShoutOut: Silver Spoon references numerous real-life novels and authors. She mockingly gives the names "[[Creator/MarkTwain Mark Mane]]" and "[[Creator/JohnSteinbeck John Swaybeck]]" as the people who hired her along with mentioning ''Literature/TheMysteriousStranger'', is reading ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'' in a later chapter, and refers to Dinky as "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch]]".
** "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz How about a little fire, Scarecrow?]]"
* ShutUpHannibal: When Dinky is trying to convince a captured Apple Bloom to join Twilight's forces, Apple Bloom responds by slamming her into her cell bars, calling her a psychopath, and saying that her mother would be ashamed of what she's become.
* SlouchOfVillainy: When [[TheDragon Dinky]] meets with Babs Seed in private, she sprawls out sloppily on the couch. Ironically it's done to show how laid-back and AffablyEvil she actually is.
* SmokingIsNotCool: Done mildly when Scootaloo sees Apple Bloom smoke for the first time and remarks that it can't be good for you, with Apple Bloom replying that it isn't and Peppercorn always wanted her to quit. [[IgnoredEpiphany She keeps smoking regardless.]]
* SocialDarwinist: Merrilay makes a few comments that suggest she has this mindset.
* TheSociopath: Lieutenant Merrilay is a complete sadist who gets off on violence and seems to care very little for even her own comrades -- she even claims that if the government hadn't killed her family, she would have. [[spoiler:She also has it out for Apple Bloom (her aunt), and literally drops everything to go after her after stabbing Twist.]]
* TheSpeechless: Changelings don't appear capable of speech in their normal form.
** Twist was rendered mute by some sort of accident.
* TheSpymaster: Featherweight is described as "the Queen's ears", due to the Changeling spies that he deploys across Equestria.
* SmugSnake: Silver Spoon is this to the point that Snails points it out as her weakness. She always has a sarcastic retort for an opponent:
-->'''The Princess:''' (After showing she's ''clearly'' not to be trifled with) And yet, that thought gives me pause.
-->'''Silver Spoon:''' Ah. I had that once. There’s a special cream for it; fixes it up in less than a week. You might want to try washing down there more often.
* SquishyWizard: For as [[TheDreaded feared as she is]], [[TheDragon Princess Dinky]] is taken down easily if she can't use her magic and openly admits this at one point.
* StealthHiBye: The Masquerader does this ''all the time''. It borders on OffscreenTeleportation at times.
** Snails does this a few times as well.
* StepfordSmiler: Sweetie Belle has worked hard to bury all her old feelings under an icy demeanor as a defense mechanism. [[spoiler:Twist's death seems to break this facade.]]
* StrawNihilist: Merrilay believes that nothing anyone does matters, that there's no such thing as right or wrong because there's no set standard, and that things like love, compassion, or destiny don't exist.
* SwitchingPOV: The story uses a SwitchingPOV to tell what could probably suffice as [[JigsawPuzzlePlot three or four different plots]] as one.
* SympatheticPOV: Several chapters are from the villains' perspective and actually depict them as fairly reasonable ponies. The only two villains in the entire story to ''not'' be portrayed as the least bit sympathetic are Merrilay, a complete psychopath, and [[BigBad Twilight Sparkle herself]] who [[TheGhost hasn't made an appearance yet]].
* TearsOfJoy: Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's reaction when they recognize each other, thus dispelling the belief each had that the other was dead.
* TheTease: First chance he gets, Pound Cake flirts with both Babs Seed and Silver Spoon, and is both hilariously and painfully bad at it.
* ThatManIsDead: Snails says this about his foalhood self, saying he "died" the night Ponyville was destroyed.
** Sweetie Belle has likewise buried her past, having no problem with cutting a deal with the same people who caused the deaths of her whole family, saying that "the past is the past. Period."
* TheGlassesComeOff: Inverted with Silver Spoon during her escape from prison. The guards took her glasses along with all her personal effects which she didn't manage to recover, and after the ''second'' time she tries to kill a guard with a knife but only manages to knock him out, she remarks that her aim is terrible without her glasses.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: Due to being short-staffed, the guards leave the holding cells unattended for a brief period which allows Dorian to sneak in and free the prisoners. [[spoiler:Likely justified, as an earlier chapter implies TheMole within Equestria's forces was looking out for the kid while he tried to rescue them and may have messed up the schedule to do it.]]
* TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou: Lightning Dust claims she never liked Rainbow Dash and thought of her as a pompous idiot, but admits she respected her for her flying ability.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Crimson Sky gives a brutal one to Lightning Dust, having found her beaten to within an inch of her life after she opted to go it alone against her opponent rather than take an entire squadron or, at the very least, he and her other wingpony along for the ride.
* TheWatson: Starlight is this to Babs Seed, basically giving her someone to talk to while she theorizes.
* ThouShallNotKill: Scootaloo refuses to let Apple Bloom shoot Silver Spoon even after the latter threatened to kill ''both'' of them one after the other, and can't even bring herself to kill Lightning Dust and instead leaves her unconscious and badly injured.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Crimson Sky has been one of Twilight's lieutenants since the start, and is loyal, but is uncomfortable with some of the more extreme things that are done in her name.
** Babs is similar to Crimson Sky, in that she doesn't approve of the wholesale violence the rest of the Royal Guard and the R.E.A.F. perform, but holds to the oath she took to serve Twilight as a member of the Guard.
* TokenMinority: Babs' investigation team gains one in Bright Eyes, the Changeling loaned to her by Featherweight.
* TooKinkyToTorture: When the Cake twins are captured by the Royal Guard, Pumpkin apparently responds to threats of enhanced interrogation by giving rather graphic advice on how to do it.
* TragicKeepsake: Apple Bloom still has her sister's hat.
** Scootaloo has three -- her old CMC bandana (now used as an eyepatch), her mother's scarf, and Rainbow Dash's flight goggles. [[spoiler:She later looses the goggles and CMC bandana but gets ahold of Rainbow Dash's old dog tags by taking them off Lightning Dust (who had them as a trophy) after beating her in a fight.]]
* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: Babs becomes convinced that Silver Spoon operates this way. [[spoiler:She's right.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Twilight's inner circle, and her armed forces in general, are this to her.
* TheUnfavorite: Silver Spoon was this as a foal, since she was the only earth pony out of an entire family of unicorns.
* UnfortunateNames: Twitch's actual name is ''Honeysuckle'', which he [[UnmanlySecret hated so much he wouldn't even wear his dog tags.]]
* UnusualEuphemism: Apple Bloom says things like "everyone" and "anybody" instead of "everypony" and "anypony", which serves as your [[{{Foreshadowing}} first hint]] that she wasn't raised by ponies.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Twitch, according to Crimson Sky.
** For that matter, most of the characters count as well, compared to their canon selves.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: This one comment by Princess Dinky says it all:
-->"We'll be there every step of the way to help her drag this mess of a nation, kicking and screaming if necessary, into a golden age."
* VillainEpisode: There are a few chapters that focus on members of the R.E.A.F., and of course there are chapters starring Babs Seed ([[AntiVillain Who's hardly evil but still on the villain's side]]) and Silver Spoon (Who's a villain, but on [[WildCard nobody's side]])
* VillainOfAnotherStory: Silver Spoon seems to be this. Most of the [[OffscreenVillainy allegedly evil things]] she has done happened prior to the story or are only mentioned in passing.
* VillainousFriendship:
** Crimson Sky and Lightning Dust share a close friendship, despite butting heads due to their vastly different personalities.
** [[TheDreaded Captain Rumble]] and [[TheDragon Princess Dinky]] have a similar relationship, since they were raised together by [[BigBad Queen Twilight]].
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Queen Twilight is a tyrant, but is still seen as a hero by most of her subjects.
* WalkingTheEarth: Scootaloo has lived on the road ever since her foalhood, only bedding down in towns during the winter when it's too cold to travel. She's been doing it for so long she has come to enjoy it, and even finds that by the end of winter she is getting antsy wanting to hit the road again.
* WarIsHell: Apple Bloom certainly seems haunted by her experience in the Sonhos Vale civil war.
* WellIntentionedExtremist:
** Lightning Dust's comments during her confrontation with Scootaloo suggest that Twilight started out this way (or at least viewed herself as such).
** [[TheDragon Princess Dinky]] seems motivated by such an interest as well.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's reunion with Sweetie Belle does ''not'' turn out the way they thought it would. And the latter also reveals later on that she no longer considers Babs a friend either.
** Dinky says this word for word to Apple Bloom when offering her a chance to join Twilight's regime.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Played with. The SwitchingPOV is often used in one chapter to portray some guards or airponies as faceless {{Mooks}}, only for them to pop up as named characters with personalities in another character's chapter. Apple Bloom is also very clearly haunted by [[WarIsHell killing enemy soldiers in a civil war]], and feels ''particularly'' guilty for [[spoiler:killing the one random {{Mook}} who happened to "get lucky" and kill her two friends.]]
* WhereItAllBegan: The Masquerader/Arpeggio has Scootaloo meet her where Rainbow Dash was murdered (which was where the entire BadFuture began), to manipulate her into helping by convincing her they both have something to gain by teaming up.
-->'''Arpeggio:''' I wanted you to hate. I wanted you to remember the one who hurt you, the one who is my enemy, and hate her with all of your heart. So you would understand we have a common interest in this.
* WhiteAndGreyMorality: No outright evil characters. Even malicious characters like Lightning Dust and The Princess having reasonable and even benevolent (if a bit extreme) intents behind their actions, and tons of {{Mook}}s being shown to be entirely decent folk who are JustFollowingOrders. [[spoiler:The only two undoubtedly evil characters are Merrilay, a psychotic nihilist, and Twilight Sparkle, the BigBad herself, and even ''they'' are examples of a TragicVillain and a FallenHero respectively.]]
* WorldBuilding: The story has Sonhos Vale, the country where Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon grew up after fleeing Equestria, which despite only appearing in [[{{Flashback}} flashbacks]] is fleshed out with the east being an early 20th century-like country with southwestern American values and populated by zebras and griffons, while the east being an early Victorian Era country that speaks [[BilingualBonus Portuguese]] rather than English and is populated by strange ponies who lack cutie marks complete with their own mythology that explains why and, if Silver Spoon's mention of "going to Hell" is any clue, follow a religion of some kind. There is also Grogari Gorki, a Russian-like region where a minor character, Pavel, mentions he and his kind were "driven out" by some unknown group or force.
* WouldntHurtAChild: Silver Spoon seems to have a soft spot for kids. She's reluctant (though willing when he pushes his luck) to harm Pinstripe because he's just a young rookie, and in a flashback expresses her disgust over a comrade who killed his wife and child.
-->'''Silver Spoon:''' Maybe he had a reason for doing the old ball and chain, but there’s no excuse for killing foals. I was going to put a knife in his back after the job was done anyways.
* TheWorfEffect: The first time we see Rumble in action, he beats [[spoiler:Apple Bloom]] unconscious with no apparent effort on his part.
* WreckedWeapon: [[TheDreaded Captain Rumble]] smashes [[spoiler:Apple Bloom's repeater pistol]] under his hoof during their fight.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Officially, after Celestia's death, Luna tried to usurp total control of Equestria for herself, which is why Twilight had to fight and stop her. It's rather strongly implied this is total BS.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: [[spoiler: Trixie tells Silver Spoon that it's not too late for her to become a better person.]]
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After Ponyville was destroyed, the survivors all scattered across Equestria (and in some cases, sought refuge outside Equestria itself).
* YourMom: Silver Spoon gives a basic "Your mother" in response to Dinky's questions on how she found the secret passage into the caverns under the royal palace.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Rainbolts, the resistance to Twilight's rule, are generally viewed as terrorists.