[[quoteright:286:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rfe_4160.jpg]]

->''[[Music/TheSmiths I am equine and I need to be loved, just like everypony else does...]]''

''Romance and the Fate of Equestria'', or ''RFE'', is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic written by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves. First published on June 2, 2012, and picking up where the second season ended, it has an elaborate continuity which ignores all post-season 2 canon, (though occasionally runs into eerie parallels with later official content) making it something of an AlternateUniverseFic due to its continued progress, much like ''FanFic/TheNuptialverse''.

The story begins with the Mane Six having a sleepover shortly after the events of the Season 2 finale, where Twilight reveals that her experiences at the wedding have gotten her interested in ThePowerOfLove, which she intends to start studying the same way she studies friendship. What follows is a ''massive'' ensemble piece which weaves together many storylines, with all characters receiving a fair bit of the spotlight. While predominantly a RomanticComedy, the flavor of its many plots varies enough to qualify it as a GenFic.

It can be found on fanfiction.net [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8176156/1/Romance-and-the-Fate-of-Equestria here]]. An illustrated version, featuring special features such as fantasy cast lists and song lyrics, is slowly being produced on Website/DeviantArt and can be found [[http://trulymadmoves.deviantart.com/art/Romance-and-the-Fate-of-Equestria-Part-1-420667746 here]].

The series is divided into segments; Part One consists of chapters 1-36, while the much-longer Part Two ran from chapters 37-110. Part Three began on August 3, 2014 and is in progress.

Also has a prequel, ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9784730/1/Legend-of-the-Goddesses Legend of the Goddesses]]'', which serves as an OriginsEpisode for the RFE version of Celestia, Luna, Discord, and several [[OriginalCharacter OCs]].

----
!! ''Romance and the Fate of Equestria'' and ''Legend of the Goddesses'' contain examples of the following tropes:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:General]]
* AcceptableBreaksFromCanon: Most canon from after Season 2 is ignored, save for minor strokes of inspiration and a whole lot of weird coincidences.
** ''WebAnimation/Snowdrop2013'' took place on the one hundredth anniversary of Celestia and Luna's rule. Before ''Snowdrop'' came out, RFE had already stated that the sisters only ruled together for nine years, so in Snowdrop's scenes in ''Legend'', the events of her film are said to have happened on the ''first'' anniversary instead.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade
** Rarity, from the beginning of the story, defaults to being gloomy and depressed; it's eventually revealed that she's been suffering from depression and self-loathing.
** Celestia. It's implied that she's been a StepfordSmiler over the course of seasons 1 and 2 and has only now begun opening up, mostly just to Luna and Twilight.
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** [[OneTruePairing Lyra and Bon Bon.]]
** Celestia, at least in ''Legend''. Though it's a ForegoneConclusion that she'll [[CharacterDevelopment evolve]] into her grounded-in-canon RFE self, she plays TeensAreMonsters and PsychopathicManChild to the hilt. Annihilara's assessment of Nightmare Moon is that Luna has "turned into Celestia".
** Also in ''Legend'', Star Swirl the Bearded is revealed to be responsible for several injustices.
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade,]] to the point where he's said to be too nice to use ThePowerOfHate properly.
* AffectionateNickname: A few characters get nicknames not seen in canon or fanon. Zecora is occasionally called "Z", Apple Bloom calls Silver Spoon "Silv"; Applejack calls Discord "Dis". "Tia", Luna's {{Fanon}} nickname for Celestia, is mentioned, but explicitly stated to have never been used by Luna. Luna herself is called "Lulu" by [[spoiler:Princess Annihilara]], who Luna in turn calls [[spoiler:"Lara"]]. Snicker-Snack calls Twilight "Smiley", even when they're not on the best of terms. Fluttershy and Big Mac call each other "Shy" and "Macky".
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Rarity likes Spike, who likes Sweetie Belle, who likes Featherweight, [[spoiler:who likes Diamond Tiara]].
* AllWomenAreLustful: Played increasingly straight as the story goes on.
* ArtEvolution: The illustrated version is being worked on by two artists, one of them the author. While their art is far from being great, the improvements they make with each successive piece are truly something to behold. [=KnitzyArtista95=] is steadily phasing out her borderline-{{Chibi}} style for more appropriate proportions, while Truly Mad Moves is experimenting with getting more mileage out of his crayon-and-marker technique.
* AuthorAppeal: The fanfiction term for this trope, "pepperjack cheese", is [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall name-dropped by Spike]] when Twilight expresses her fondness for soft pretzels.
* CerebusSyndrome: Subverted, and defied by the author. While Part One ended on an extremely dramatic note, the author reminded us that the story's genre is listed as RomanticComedy and that it would soon be returning to its SliceOfLife roots, [[OriginalFlavour just like the show often does after big story arcs]]. Part Three has similarly gone back to comedy after the DarkestHour that was the end of Part Two.
* CharacterCatchphrase:
** "Hidey-ho. Cocoon am I." Cocoon's MadnessMantra during his imprisonment, and still the thing he opens every conversation with, [[RunningGag no matter how many times he's met the individual before]].
** After mentioning his name, Fork always adds, "I'm a pixie pony."
* CharacterDevelopment: Pretty much every character starts out with a T-rated version of their canon personality, and evolves over the course of the story.
** Princess Luna's adjusting to the modern world can be tracked by her speech; her language becomes more and more modern with successive appearances, until Chapter 78, when she can be seen correcting herself every time she uses an antiquated word, and subsequently speaks normally.
** The Cutie Mark Crusaders start to actually become noncommittal about earning their cutie marks, enjoying life as it is and pursuing projects for the sake of pursuing them. [[spoiler:Apple Bloom gets her cutie mark from a simple moment of self-reflection, and actually has trouble getting used to the idea.]]
** Much of the point of ''Legend of the Goddesses''. It's a ForegoneConclusion for Celestia, who's a massive JerkAss for most of the prequel. Kopé is a good example as well; she goes from being willing to put up with an abusive companion so she doesn't GoMadFromTheIsolation, to embracing the silence that follows her escape from that situation.
* TheChosenOne: Villainous example. [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade is the chosen champion of Sørmur dï Mitgaeard.]]
* CompositeCharacter: Octavia is also Pinkie Pie's sister Inkie Pie, based on a fan theory long since {{Jossed}}.
* DontExplainTheJoke: Oh, Pinkie Pie...
--> '''Fluttershy:''' Hmm. I don't get it.\\
'''Pinkie Pie:''' Well, it's funny 'cause the whole letter talks about Iron Will in the third person, and then it's signed ''[[ThirdPersonPerson Iron Will]]''.\\
'''Fluttershy:''' No, I got ''that''...
** And again, after she delivers the PreAsskickingOneLiner of "[[ShoutOut Now you take a nap!]]"
---> '''Pinkie Pie:''' You see what I did there?\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' Yes, I do indeed see what you did there.\\
'''Pinkie Pie:''' Right? 'Cause that was the [[WhamLine "wham line"]] from ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles''.\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' I ''said'' I saw what you did there, now [[NeverSayThatAgain never do it again]]. [[NightmareFuel That was terrifying.]]
* {{Doorstopper}}: Both stories equal over 500,000 words.
* FailedAttemptAtDrama
** Twilight triumphantly throws all of her books about romance into a trash can and decides to proceed intuitively... then remembers that the books belong to the library.
** Derpy attempts to dramatically [[spoiler:remove her wedding dress]], only to get stuck inside it and need help getting out.
* FloweryElizabethanEnglish: Luna's is mostly authentic, with an element of YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe for RuleOfCool purposes. She steadily outgrows it as the story progresses.
* FormerFriendOfAlphaBitch: Silver Spoon starts distancing herself from Diamond Tiara from their very first appearance, [[spoiler:and they officially "break up" in Chapter 90.]]
* FourLinesAllWaiting: There's a ''lot'' going on in this fic. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Discord:
--> '''Discord:''' Some days, it feels like you ponies [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall live in a story]] with about three hundred percent too many subplots.
** ''Legend of the Goddesses'' has six distinct stories taking place in different time periods. As of Chapter 31, four of the stories have mostly blended together.
* GadgeteerGenius: The Cutie Mark Crusaders. With only a few months' education on [[{{Magitek}} magic and mechanical engineering,]] they are able to build [[spoiler:machines that can turn anypony into a cyborg alicorn.]]
* GenreBusting: A RomanticComedy on the surface, it has an easy time switching to mystery, drama, action, horror, or high fantasy depending on the situation.
* GodOfOrder: Sørmur dï Mitgaeard is obsessed with order, symmetry and geometric perfection. She finds the chaotic and disordered nature of life and the world loathsome and repellent, and seeks to remake existence into a world of smooth surfaces, metallic reflectiveness and perfect geometric shapes; her end goal involves turning the planet into a perfect, lifeless sphere, thus eliminating all disorder and irregularity from it.
* GoodAllAlong: Both [[spoiler:Venni and Annihilara]], at different times, turn out to be more than what they appear.
* GratuitousSpanish: The language is identified as Epoña, and Spike is fond of using it, whipping out every Gratuitous Spanish trope in the book, such as ElSpanishO and ElNinoIsSpanishForTheNino. For bonus points, the author actually uses the phrase ''español gratuito''.
* GreaterScopeVillain
** Sørmur dï Mitgaeard fills this role, existing only as vague notions of something bigger and worse than Vorpal Blade, until her proper debut in Chapter 74, whereupon she takes the position of BigBad.
** [[spoiler:There are implications the Beast is this.]]
* GreyGoo: Sørmur dï Mitgaeard's original MO. Instead of nanobots, she uses [[LiteralMinded actual gray goo]].
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Inverted with Rainbow Dash, who brings up the fact that she's bisexual as often as possible.
* HeelFaceTurn: Gilda and Silver Spoon both have CharacterDevelopment which leads them to this at a gradual pace. They both voluntarily befriend the Mane Six and the CMC, respectively, starting out as a TokenEvilTeammate before becoming core members of their social groups.
** Discord [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor endlessly zig-zags this trope]]. As of the end of Part Two, [[spoiler:he's allied with Queen Chrysalis but is having a horrible time of it, and who he is loyal to, if it's anyone but himself, is unclear.]]
* HellishPupils: The trope is taken to its logical extreme by the Beast's pupils: they're pentagram-shaped. In addition, Cocoon's pupils are diamond-shaped and ''white''; Queen Soledad's eyes have purple scleras, [[RedEyesTakeWarning red irises]], and yellow pupils; and Iron Throne's SupernaturalGoldEyes include his [[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing pupils]].
* HotterAndSexier: Than ''My Little Pony'', as one might expect. Bawdy jokes and sexy situations abound, though the story seldom pushes the limit of its T rating. This receives a LampshadeHanging in Chapter 117, which ''does'' push the limit quite a bit, when Twilight calls back to the events of Chapter 1:
-->'''Twilight:''' Funny thing, isn't it? Before that night, we'd all known each other for over two years and I feel like we never once discussed sex or dating. But then I brought it up at that party, and ever since then it's practically ''all'' we ever talk about.
* IHaveManyNames: Venni. She's gone by the alias of Gewgaw, the stage name of Loli Pop, and currently calls herself Vengeance Lash. She hasn't yet revealed her birth name.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: A RunningGag, as in most FIM fics. Starts with Applejack in the first chapter, after discovering Big Mac's ChickMagnet status. Played as as a [[RunningGag Running]] FunnyBackgroundEvent in Chapter 87; as more bombshells are dropped about the Rainbow-Fluttershy-Mac LoveTriangle, [[RuleOfThree first Pinkie then Rarity then Applejack]] take big gulps of a drink Pinkie has behind the counter, despite the drink turning out to be salad dressing.
* IncomingHam: Annihilara tends to announce herself with huge musical fanfare and displays of her powers.
* InterspeciesRomance: A DiscussedTrope in Chapter 52, first by the characters and then by the author, who goes into detail about the implications of the trope in all settings where it's possible.
* {{Kaiju}}: Sørmur dï Mitgaeard, Lady Kolassa, and [[SizeShifter occasionally]] Annihilara.
* LivingShadow: Annihilara.
* LoveTriangle: Spike gets over Rarity and starts pursuing Sweetie Belle at the same time Rarity considers accepting Spike's advances. Once the triangle actually becomes an issue, the conflict leads to Rarity becoming ShipperOnDeck for Spike/Sweetie.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Queen Okapiopteryx appears to be a cross between an okapi and a ''Microraptor''. ''Legend'' confirms that that's ''exactly'' what she is.
* MobileCity: The Bazaar, which serves as the centerpiece for a fairly large portion of the story, is a floating city that travels the world as a mobile mercantile hub, returning to Equestria every few years.
* TheNicknamer: Gilda. Twilight is "Bangs", Pinkie is "Party Girl", and Fluttershy is "Peeper" or "Ducky".
* NothingIsScarier: The Beast is only seen in bits and pieces—literally, as he's been chopped up and only some of his parts found. When seen alive in ''Legend of the Goddesses'', he is shrouded in darkness and we see no part of him we haven't seen before. When Discord conjures up an illusion of him, his appearance is ''barely'' described.
* OhCrap
** Twilight has a huge one early on in Part Two, when Celestia mentions that the previous story arc's use of VaguenessIsComing did ''not'' refer to the heist of the castle that served as Part One's climax, but to something even bigger.
** In ''Legend'', Discord's "Ohhhhh no" when [[spoiler:his {{Kaiju}} of a mother]] unexpectedly attacks him; and, in an extremely similar vein, Celestia's [[PrecisionFStrike "Holy shit"]] when being chased down by Lady Kolassa.
* OhMyGods: Variants on the common "oh my Celestia" are used. Celestia herself, meanwhile, has responded to a shock by saying "[[BreakingTheFourthWall Oh my]] {{Creator/Hasbro}}!"
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Fluttershy's agitation at wanting to ask out Big Mac expresses itself as highly un-Fluttershy-like ranting and cursing. The author cites the use of this trope in Chapter 2 as one of his biggest failings, as the readers took it as a simple OutOfCharacterMoment, having not learned yet whether he could write the characters properly.
** Used again by Fluttershy and lampshaded here:
---> '''Fluttershy:''' So, this was all some kind of petty tit-for-tat? Damn it, Rainbow, I don't DO that!\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' Not to nitpick, but you don't normally yell at me or swear, either.
** After the first battle against Sørmur dï Mitgaeard, Discord seems to go into mild shock, and is remarkably subdued.
** Cheerilee goes into UnstoppableRage [[BerserkButton at the sight of a schoolyard brawl]], a moment OOC enough to prompt Sweetie Belle into having a HeelRealization for participating in the brawl in the first place.
* OrderVersusChaos: Mitgaeard serves as a representative of "evil order", being the AnthropomorphicPersonification of logic. She makes two attempts at a GreyGoo scenario; after those failures, she switches tactics to creating worldwide, regimented tyranny. Discord points out that her introduction shakes up the ponies' worldview quite a bit, especially since the Elements of Harmony would be [[AttackBackfire worse than useless]] against her.
* PerkyGoth: Apple Bloom of all ponies becomes this. Though it's her angst and depression that lead to the decision to become goth, the makeover itself seems to lead directly to regaining her original, perky personality.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Skippmud is [[FantasticRacism racist against griffons]] and has called Rainbow Dash a dyke. WordOfGod calls her "just plain hateful".
* PoweredArmor: [[AlienAmongUs Empress Song Li.]]
* ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade's magic runs on this; his whole purpose in getting to know Twilight was to betray her and get her to hate him, and he continues to make contact with her to kindle her hate even further.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: As the title indicates, Twilight starts studying this as a supplement to learning about ThePowerOfFriendship.
* PrecisionFStrike: Cursing in the story is frequent but fairly mild; serious words are reserved for serious moments:
** Twilight experiences a severe frightful moment and remarks, "Oh, shit."
** Discord drops the F-word during a rant about [[spoiler:his mother]].
** The author has one when "Twilight's Kingdom" promises to be yet another episode with eerie parallels to the events of the fic.
** Anytime Fluttershy curses is this. Though she was the ''first'' character in the story to technically use bad language, it's definitely only under [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness serious duress]] that she does so.
* ProphetEyes: Snicker-Snack, [[spoiler:aka Vorpal Blade]], has blank white eyes.
* PsychicLink: [[spoiler:Discord and Celestia have been mentally linked for a thousand years.]]
* TheRant: Both versions contain some pretty lengthy ones, with those on Website/DeviantArt serving as something of a look back.
** Averted in ''Legend of the Goddesses''. While RFE contains many rants, ''Legend'' has only one, at the end of the prologue, which explains that there will be no further rants in order to provide the readers with complete immersion.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The goddesses. [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade reveals that he and his friends are also immortal, he being this trope and Skippmud and Crazyface merely being OlderThanTheyLook.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech
** Twilight gives one to Vorpal Blade at the climax of Part One, all while pelting him with magic spells.
** Rainbow Dash really digs into Big Macintosh after [[spoiler:they spent the first few minutes of their date in total silence, and she demands to know why he ever broke up with Fluttershy]].
** ''Legend'' examples: Jolly gives one to Soledad via [[BadNewsInAGoodWay a doo-wop harmony sung by her three young daughters]], and it's one of only many that Soledad gets. Ragnarok gives one to Celestia and Luna about their constant fighting.
* RecursiveFanfiction: To ''WebVideo/Snowdrop2013''. Luna spends much of Part Two attempting to make a BioPic of Snowdrop's life. Also to ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'', in an AlternateContinuity sort of way; in RFE, ''Cupcakes'' is a book series which has recently been adapted to film.
* RedBaron: Kolassa is "Titaness of the Whispering Desert", and Okapiopteryx is "the Four-Winged Queen". ''Legend of the Goddesses'' also features repeated use of "vampire queen of the seaponies" and "lords of flames and terror", though these titles aren't capitalized. Sørmur dï Mitgaeard is also called "Serpent of the Matrix", though this is said to be a translation of her name rather than a title. The trope is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Annihilara.
--> '''Annihilara:''' I'm Annihilara. No title, no "of" anything, just Annihilara.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler:Crazyface]] seems to avert this at first—red eyes aren't unheard of in ponies—but it's quickly revealed that he came to deserve those eyes by being one of the most savage and unforgivable characters in the story. Annihilara fits the "dangerous" aspect of the trope, [[spoiler:but not the evil part.]]
* TheReveal: Many:
** A couple of bombshells are dropped at the climax of Part One, first that [[spoiler:Twilight's boyfriend is a master criminal at large and is even now on his way to steal the crown jewels of Equestria—with more and more Reveals about his true nature coming as the story continues.]] Part One's denouement gives us another: [[spoiler:Gilda has a bloodthirsty changeling imprisoned in her basement, and it's he who produces Golden Thread.]]
** Part Two's biggest ones are [[spoiler:the unveiling of the real BigBad, Sørmur dï Mitgaeard, Discord being returned to life to protect the Elements of Harmony from her, and the exact relationship that exists between the two.]]
* RevealShot: The literary equivalent is pulled a couple of times.
** In Chapter 17, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh have a conversation which is eventually revealed to be taking place [[spoiler:in bed, just before they were about to have sex for the first time]].
** Done again to a lesser extent in Chapter 37, which appears to be a private FreudianCouch scene between Twilight and Rarity, until Rarity casually asks why [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash is there as well]].
* RhymesOnADime: Queen Okapiopteryx speaks entirely in limericks as an example to her followers, including Zecora.
* RunningGag: Several, most notably the one in which Rainbow Dash baits Applejack with a comment about the latter being a hillbilly—usually but not always related to inbreeding—to which Applejack responds with a PieInTheFace.
* SaidBookism: Brought up by the author:
--> Like any young writer, I've been told a couple of times that I overuse the word "said", and should try replacing it with more colorful alternatives. As I write this story, I'm starting to realize that I'm finally running into the opposite problem: using the "colorful alternatives" too often to the point that it's [[PurpleProse douchey and pretentious]]. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Pretty cool, huh?]] I've never been douchey and pretentious before. That's what they call growth as a writer.
* SecondLove: Joe.
* SelfDeprecation: Scootaloo frequently makes jokes that disparage her own intelligence. PlayedForDrama, meanwhile, with Rarity, whose depression makes her unable to see the good in herself.
** Then there's the author, whose [[TheRant rants]] are sometimes light-hearted and sometimes outright suicidal but almost always self-deprecating in some way.
* ShamelessSelfPromoter: The author has proved himself willing to try some pretty extreme, desperate, and pathetic things to get people talking about the story. [[SelfDeprecation Including creating this page.]]
* ShoutOut: The [[http://trulymadmoves.deviantart.com/art/RFE-Chapter-6-Illustration-request-438447597 cover art]] for Chapter 6 is a reference to the cover art to the famous fic ''Fanfic/TheVinylScratchTapes''.
** The [[http://trulymadmoves.deviantart.com/art/Concept-Art-Crown-Jewels-of-Equestria-420443259 crown jewels of Equestria]] are a shout out to the six main characters of ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick''.
*** ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is referenced again later:
----> '''Rarity:''' If you have time for new reading material, I would instead recommend the stick-figure comics she mentioned. Once you get past the slew of obscure gaming references, the characterization really does capture your heart. High art.
** Rainbow and Fluttershy briefly discuss a superhero team called [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Adventurers]]. That team's equivalent to Hawkeye is named [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Mustang]].
** Chapter 40 introduces Rainbow Dash's cloak, which resembles [[Series/GameOfThrones Jon Snow's]]. To drive the point home, she makes a veritable hurricane of ''Game of Thrones'' references.
---> '''Rainbow Dash:''' Don't tell anypony, keep it under your hats, but my sources tell me that… you know. [[ArcWords Winter is coming.]]\\
'''Twilight:''' Of course.\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' So, as always, beware of white walkers from the north, and the last dragon leading in her army from across the eastern sea, all that jazz.
** When announcing the Running of the Leaves, Spike [[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway introduces himself as Chesterfield Snapdragon McFisticuffs and then launches into an Irish Drinking Song.]]
** The author of this story's version of ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'' is named Sprinkles York, a reference to the real author, Sergeant Sprinkles, and to either ''Film/SergeantYork'' or [[Series/{{Bewitched}} Dick York and Dick Sargent]].
** One of Discord's first lines is, "Well, [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} don't just sit there slack-jawed and buggy-eyed]]."
** Discord is [[Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG not allowed to pave]] ''[[Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG anything]]''.
** The original actress from ''Cupcakes'' is named [[Film/{{Serenity}} Syrenity]] [[Creator/JossWhedon Joss]][[Series/{{Firefly}} fly]], calling to mind a few things.
** Rainbow Dash mentions a song which goes "''hi hi hi"'' and another that goes "''papaya pa pa payapa"'', referencing the first two [[AnimeThemeSong theme songs]] of the Japanese dub of ''FIM''.
** The place names in Song Li's story in ''Legend of the Goddesses'' have [[PunnyName Punny Names]] in the style of the horse puns of the series, being deer puns derived from places in HBO shows: her country is [[Series/GameOfThrones Westeroceros]], and her hometown [[Series/TrueBlood Fawn Temps]]. Celestia and Luna's hometown Ribbondale is clearly named after [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Rivendell]].
** Discord's response to the SickeninglySweethearts effect of the love potion is to [[FascinatingEyebrow raise an eyebrow]] and remark, [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries "Fascinating."]]
** ReferencedBy/NorseMythology: Sørmur dï Mitgaeard's name, and a very small portion of her behavior, are a corruption of that of the Midgardsormr, or World Serpent.
** The ''rest'' of Mitgaeard's behavior is based on Matrix from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''. Unlike Matrix, Mitgaeard's change of goal doesn't include a HeelFaceTurn. WordOfGod also states that her appearance is based on Phalanx from ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus''.
* TheSnarkKnight: Skippmud.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Princess Luna, as she adapts to modern language.
--> Unsurprising, sister. 'Tis well-known that thou canst not see in the dark worth crap.\\
[[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Well met by moonlight]], home-slice.
** Annihilara as well, who concludes an ominous farewell with "Lates, yo" and enters the Gathering of the Goddesses with "What up, my immortal bitches?" Crosses over with TotallyRadical.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: A few characters fall victim to common misspellings of their names: Big Macintosh instead of Big [=McIntosh=], Fancypants instead of Fancy Pants, Owloysius instead of Owlowiscious. At least Princess Cadance was spared.
* SssssnakeTalk: Sørmur dï Mitgaeard.
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Such a thing is a genuine force in the story, dubbed "name science", and is a frequent topic of discussion.
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: Cocoon. His sentences are constructed backwards, one word at a time, and even reading them backwards produces a few strange quirks.
* SuddenNameChange: Alicorns are identified as "immortals" in the story. The term "alicorn" had not yet become canon when the story started using "immortal", but it had always been {{Fanon}}, making this a somewhat odd decision. WordOfGod admits a few times that it wasn't the best idea, and ''Legend of the Goddesses'' uses "alicorn" on occasion.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Iron Throne and Soledad both have yellow ''pupils''.
* TerribleTrio: [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade, Skippmud, and Crazyface]] are both the story's most prominent villains and an inseparable trio of TrueCompanions.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Sort of. In a few situations where a therapist would be called for, Twilight is used. Otherwise, therapy doesn't seem to be needed, since characters are able to simply talk out their feelings with [[ThePowerOfFriendship whatever friends are available]].
* ThoseTwoGuys: DJ P0n-3 and Octavia in RFE, Ragnarok and Xanadu in ''Legend''.
* VaguenessIsComing: Celestia spends much of the story plagued by ominous predictions, but has trouble getting any more specific than AStormIsComing, much to her frustration.
* VerbalTic: DJ P0n-3, ahhh yeah. Also Celestia whenever she's addressing Twilight; her statements are peppered with various pet names, "darling" and "dearest" being the most common.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's immensely hard to talk about Snicker-Snack without mentioning [[spoiler:that he's a villain whose name is actually]] Vorpal Blade. Even a single mention of the latter's name gives away the connection for anyone who's familiar with ''Literature/{{Jabberwocky}}''.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Skippmud has a very deep resentment for her special talent of catching fish, regarding it as useless. Silver Spoon is similarly insecure about her own cutie mark: [[spoiler:it symbolizes that she's meant to be a servant or sidekick to a friend]]. Annihilara, though she has impressive CastingAShadow powers, is definitely in the same boat as the first two as far as her cutie mark talent, [[spoiler:suicide]].
* TheWorfEffect:
** [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade]] effortlessly takes out three royal guards, Luna, Shining Armor, and Celestia, in that order, before being ''almost'' defeated by Twilight.
** In Annihilara's first appearance, she appears to be sent packing by Trixie and her adventuring team, then proves that she's been JustToyingWithThem when she runs into an Ursa Major on her way out and kills it instantly.
* WorldBuilding: Begins near the end of Part One, with a few veiled references to the world's history. Starts hitting its stride in Part Two, with the exploration of the past and the numerous countries and cultures outside of Equestria. ''Legend of the Goddesses'' is almost entirely about this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Part One]]
* BadassBoast:

** Near the climax of Part One:
---> '''Rainbow Dash:''' Running away, are you? That's cute, that you think you can get away from me. Even with my bad wing and your fancy magic horseshoes—which, by the way, I designed—you can't outpace me. [[SlasherSmile Nopony can.]] [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch I'm Rainbow Dash, bitch.]]
** And further along:
---> '''Vorpal Blade:''' You're not gonna be so arrogant as to compare yourself to Celestia, are you?\\
'''Twilight:''' Not at all. Except in the sense that I'm the one she calls when everything goes to hell.
* ChewingTheScenery
--> '''Vorpal Blade:''' [[EvilLaugh Heh… heh heh… eh heh heh heh heh… aaaah ha ha ha ha… AAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis THIS—IS—WHAT WAS ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! THIS—IS WHAT WAS PROMISED—TO MEEEEEEE!]] [[LargeHam HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!]]\\
'''[[TheSnarkKnight Skippmud]]:''' Hey, pal. [[LampshadeHanging Leave a bit of scenery for somepony else to chew, would you?]]
** Also:
---> '''Scootaloo:''' So much potential, WASTED!\\
'''Apple Bloom:''' Ooh, chew that scenery, Scoots!\\
'''Scootaloo:''' Did somepony order a [[LargeHam LARGE HAM]]?
* CrypticBackgroundReference: It is said of Celestia that "all the other goddesses call her a sissy". It is a ''very'' long time before there's any clarification.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:Skippmud and Crazyface have this awed reaction when Vorpal Blade takes out Celestia.]] The thrill of it leads to the ChewingTheScenery moment above.
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The first chapter sets up the premise of Twilight beginning her studies on ThePowerOfLove, and displays the character dynamics, humor, and sexy but not smutty atmosphere which would permeate the rest of the story. In particular, Applejack's outburst of [[INeedAFreakingDrink "Twilight, where do you keep the liquor?"]] is considered the definitive moment of establishing the story's tone.
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Snicker-Snack, aka Vorpal Blade, and his friends.]]
* EvilLaugh: See ChewingTheScenery above. Apple Bloom turns out to have one as well when Crusaders Mecha is first unveiled.
* EvilLawyerJoke: Skippmud doesn't care for them.
--> '''Skippmud:''' [[SarcasmMode Wow, that's amazing.]] [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore I don't think I've ever heard that joke before.]] Not once. In my [[SuddenlyShouting ENTIRE LIFE!]]
* {{Hammerspace}}: Among the many items Venni can produce from her pockets without hesitation are a wrecking ball and a hang-glider.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Big Macintosh is the pony equivalent of OneHeadTaller to average mares, and Fluttershy isn't particularly small, but is definitely meek and delicate. Before the two of them sleep together, Big Mac expresses a fear that he might [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex break Fluttershy's pelvis]] when they do.
* TheILoveYouStigma: Fluttershy tells Big Mac she loves him; when he fails to respond in kind, [[spoiler:she kicks him out of bed.]] The next morning, he says it in writing, and finally manages it out loud [[spoiler:when they're ready to give that [[TheirFirstTime first time]] another try.]]
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Granny Smith]].
* MadeOfIndestructium: One of Shining Armor's wedding gifts is a shield which is ''[[ShoutOut actually]]'' made of indestructium.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Fluttershy's Stare, while genuinely awesome, becomes this trope when Fluttershy describes it as her "awesome veterinary superpowers". Sweetie Belle's tireless study of magic enables her to... kill the lights.
* NotActuallyTheUltimateQuestion
--> '''Twilight:''' So, you're back. Does this mean I can help you?\\
'''Venni:''' Probably not. I mean, I'm waaaay far gone. Completely dead inside. My life is a complete mess. All my potential has been crushed, just like my horribly damaged psyche. Nopony can help me now.\\
[''{{beat}}'']\\
'''Venni:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Or did you mean you wanted to help me in your capacity as a librarian?]]
* OverlyNarrowSuperlative:
--> '''DJ P0n-3:''' You're listening to ''The DJ P0n-3 Hour'', Ponyville's most popular early morning radio show with me in it.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Peewee. Foreshadowed when Spike worries about him being malnourished; later, it's revealed that he was simply renewing himself and has come back as an adult.
* RedHerring: A few pieces of evidence stack up to give a false impression of who the BigBad is.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Of the "decided he'd make it happen" variety. [[spoiler:Vorpal Blade has a prophecy that whenever he decides to steal the crown jewels, he will succeed. He doesn't take any chances; when he goes for it, he's extremely well-prepared and well-equipped. Pure fate clearly has ''some'' sway, as a ceiling randomly collapses to his benefit (he mentions that odd stuff like that happens often), and when he faces Celestia and Luna again in Part Three, he's significantly less powerful.]]
* StupidestThingIveEverHeard: Twilight's [[SophisticatedAsHell professional opinion]] of the Rarity/Spike/Sweetie LoveTriangle.
* SueDonym: [[spoiler:Somepony named Vorpal Blade comes up with the alias Snicker-Snack. Apparently the ''Literature/{{Jabberwocky}}'' reference exists InUniverse.]]
* TheirFirstTime: Occurs between Twilight and Snicker-Snack, and Fluttershy and Big Mac. The two relationships contrast each other, as Fluttershy points out.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: In Chapter 1, Rarity reveals she's considering accepting Spike's love someday. In Chapter 2, Spike reveals that he's over her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Part Two]]
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Averted. [[spoiler:Twilight implements a plan to destroy the changeling hive, which will kill what she estimates to be three thousand changelings, and all of the Mane Six are disturbed by the notion, but agree to do what they must. When Twilight is revealed to have underestimated the population of the hive by about ''twenty-two thousand'', the Mane Six [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone have a joint]] HeroicBSOD.]]
* BeePeople: The changelings are explicitly compared to social insects, and the full extent of the comparison zig-zags. First, they live in a hive and have three genders -- male, female, and queen -- however, there appear to exist social complexities and hierarchies beyond that. Males are used as slave labor until sexually viable, at which point they mate until they die, but rather than with the queen, this happens with "as many females as possible", so Chrysalis is ''not'' the mother of the entire colony. Finally, Chrysalis being the colony's lone queen is theorized to be a matter of [[KlingonPromotion personal preference]] rather than the race's social structure.
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Changelings, crossing over with BeePeople, have sexual trimorphism. "Queen" isn't merely Queen Chrysalis's title, but also her gender; all the other changelings seen in the show were females, and males are a creation of the author. They are smaller than queens but ''much'' larger than females, have comically oversized wings, bull horns which work magic in the same way as a unicorn horn, and produce magical silk from their nostrils.
* BrokenBird: Twilight after her experience with Vorpal Blade. She refers to the trope by name.
* CardCarryingVillain: Chrysalis admits to as much:
--> '''Rainbow Dash:''' Wait, did you just admit that you're evil?\\
'''Queen Chrysalis:''' Hmm? Oh, yes, I suppose so. It's been said that my ultimate goal of collecting food for my people is, in fact, a righteous and heroic cause for a queen to take, but if I'm being honest with myself, I have to admit that that's not my motivation ''at all''. I just like [[TheSociopath undermining the dignity of every sentient creature I come across]]. I like to see them writhe in pain. [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming I like to hear their screams]]. I like to see the look on a creature's face when they know there's no hope left in the world. If all of that qualifies as evil, then fine, I'm certifiably evil and immensely proud of it.
* CerebusRetcon: Gilda reveals that, in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipisMagicS1E5GriffonTheBrushOff "Griffon the Brush Off"]], she was fleeing her country and came to Rainbow Dash looking for a place to stay. When that episode ended badly, she was left with nowhere to go.
* ClicheStorm: InUniverse.
--> '''Twilight:''' …This may hurt. And not the least bit because it's going to be a huge pack of clichés…\\
'''Joe:''' Um, okay…\\
'''Twilight:''' I'm still a bit of a [[BrokenBird broken bird]] after what happened with Vorpal Blade. I had a great time tonight, but I'm not ready for another relationship. I think we should [[JustFriends just be friends]].\\
'''Joe:''' That wasn't ''too'' many clichés. At least you didn't say you had a fear of intimacy…
* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:The final arc of Part Two has the Mane Six going on a mission to stop the changelings. Cocoon captures them and Discord abandons them to their fate. The following chapter gets even darker, with Discord joining Chrysalis and giving her a plan for taking over Equestria. Even after this plot is over, Chrysalis and Discord are still out there, the six are in a HeroicBSOD from all the death they caused, and on top of that they find out that Celestia and Luna have left Equestria on a dangerous mission. Thus ends Part Two.]]
* EvilTastesGood: Chrysalis savors the smell and taste of Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow—since, unlike the last time they met, [[EmotionEater those three are in love]].
* ExactWords: Discord [[CannotTellALie can't lie]] and must obey all orders from Celestia and Twilight. Being Discord, this trope naturally comes into play.
* {{Flanderization}}: Invoked with Rarity's impersonation of Rainbow Dash:
--> '''Rarity:''' [[MemeticMutation In ten seconds flat this will be twenty percent cooler]] [[RuleOfThree and I'll take forty winks]]... [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitches]].
* FloatingContinent: The Bazaar.
* FunetikAksent: DJ P0n-3 is given a Cockney accent, which is written out phonetically starting in Part Two. Exaggerated with minor character Ryu, whose unspecified British accent is [[TheUnintelligible so thick]] that Funetik Aksent is applied to ''every single word he says''.
* HypocriticalHumor: Cheerilee breaks up the fight between Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara by angrily chewing them out for stooping to name-calling and physical violence, before calling the blockheads and smashing their heads together.
--> '''Cheerilee:''' There will be no name-calling and certainly no physical violence on school grounds, you blockheads! ''[[PutTheirHeadsTogether (smashes their heads together)]]''
** Lampshaded by Scootaloo:
---> '''Scootaloo:''' I never knew hypocrisy could be so awesome.
* KnightOfCerebus
** Sørmur dï Mitgaeard is pure NightmareFuel, [[spoiler: who nearly [[TotalPartyKill TPKs]] the Mane Six ''and Discord'' in her first in-person appearance.]] One GodzillaThreshold after another gets crossed because of her.
** Queen Chrysalis makes her in-story debut during Part Two's climax, and things get ''very'' bleak during that segment.
* MaliciousMisnaming: Sweetie Belle's affectionate FanNickname of "Squeaky Belle" gets put in Diamond Tiara's mouth and suddenly becomes a harsh insult. Gilda calls Discord "Zipcord", though as she had previously been established as having trouble with names this one could just as easily have been AccidentalMisnaming.
* RomanticFalseLead: Pierce.
* RunawayBride: [[spoiler:Derpy runs out on her wedding to be with Rainbow Dash.]]
* SexEqualsLove: Twilight sets the parameters of her relationship with Donut Joe as FriendsWithBenefits; by the time they have to part ways, she's changed her mind, even though it's fairly clear they haven't done much together besides have sex.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Mildly; Scootaloo hits a growth spurt early in Part Two, gaining a physique matching the description of young Fluttershy.
* StalkerShrine: Downplayed. Joe openly displays a bulletin board in his shop depicting memorabilia from times he's spent with Twilight.
* TragicVillain: Vorpal Blade, Skippmud, and Crazyface [[{{Dreamwalker}} visit Twilight in her dreams]] and attempt to paint themselves as this. As sympathetic as their backstories may be, Twilight [[ShutUpHannibal doesn't buy into]] their FreudianExcuse, and ends up simply hating them more, [[ThePowerOfHate which may have been]] [[XanatosGambit their intent all along]].
* TrulySingleParent: Discord says this about his mother, even acknowledging the pun.
* VegetarianCarnivore: Gilda explains that she's made an effort to become such, which had detrimental effects to her health. Fluttershy is accepting of her carnivorism.
** Inverted with Skippmud, who tells of her attempts to [[AscendedToCarnivorism eat fish]], to the same result.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: It is stated in a few early chapters that Twilight has known Donut Joe since childhood.
* VillainousIncest: [[spoiler:Lyra and Bon Bon]] are revealed to be not only a couple, but [[KissingCousins cousins]] as well. [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis and Cocoon]] are first revealed to be [[BrotherSisterIncest siblings]], then lovers.
* WaxingLyrical:
** Fluttershy and Big Mac have a brief conversation that consists entirely of assorted [[Music/TaylorSwift Swift Tailor]] lyrics. Rainbow Dash calls them out on it (with a pretty thorough TakeThat to Swift's lyrics), but later ends up [[HypocriticalHumor playing it even straighter than they did]] when she starts reciting the lyrics of "Speak Now" to [[spoiler:Derpy]].
** Celestia, [[CanNotSpitItOut unable to spit out]] that Kolassa is her best friend, instead states, [[Music/{{Queen}} "Ooh, you make me live."]]
* WhamLine: Mitgaeard to Discord:
--> '''Sørmur dï Mitgaeard:''' Not even you could ssssssink sssssso low as to [[spoiler:kill your own mother]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Pinkie's relationship with [[spoiler:Fancypants]] goes unmentioned for over thirty chapters. Chapter 108 implies that Pinkie has [[CloudCuckoolander completely forgotten that she's dating him]], and the subject gets changed before she can be reminded.
* WrongNameOutburst: Twilight accidentally addresses Joe as "Snick" during a tender moment. [[spoiler: He's more accepting of it than she is.]]
* YankTheDogsChain: When Rarity encounters Fancypants at the Bazaar, there's an implicit HopeSpot of her getting into a relationship and starting to recover from her depression. [[spoiler:He ends up dating Pinkie Pie instead.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Part Three]]
* DelayedReaction: Fluttershy, to Applejack's UnusualEuphemism.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Scootaloo mentions that boys only like her for having developed wings. When Spike checks them out for himself, she retorts, [[MyEyesAreUpHere "I'm over here."]]
* TheImmodestOrgasm: Rainbow Dash. Earlier in the same chapter, Rarity experiences, at the very least, immodest FantasticArousal.
* InterspeciesAdoption: Twilight has stolen five changeling eggs from their hive and intends to raise them.
* OperationJealousy: Spike and Scootaloo set up this scheme, pretending to date to get Sweetie Belle to like Spike.
* TheOtherDarrin: InUniverse, Pinkie Pie takes over the lead role in the ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'' franchise.
* SexComedy: The early chapters of Part Three take a turn into this genre.
* UnusualEuphemism: Applejack uses "getting your chimney swept" as a euphemism for sex.
* VillainDecay: Vorpal Blade admitted that this would happen when he first escaped at the end of Part One, as he would no longer be affected by the prophecy that guaranteed his success. Sure enough, when he battles Celestia and Luna at the beginning of Part Three, he can hold his own but can no longer [[OneHitKill one-shot]] them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Legend of the Goddesses'']]
* AlphaBitch: Ragnarok at first, but she is quickly [[DemotedToDragon Demoted To]] BetaBitch by Celestia.
* AlternateUniverseFic: Being a prequel of RFE, which uses a Season 2-based continuity, nearly all backstory introduced after Season 2 is ignored. In particular, the Season 4 premiere rendered nearly the entire story obsolete. A lot of {{Fanon}} from early in the show's run is used: in particular, Celestia is uniformly pink and Luna has her de-powered Season 1 appearance.
* AnachronicOrder: Jumps between six different stories, each taking place in a different time period.
* AppropriatedAppellation: [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by Kopé, who refuses to let Bogglesby come up with her name, knowing she'll be stuck with it. Played straight by Kolassa; "Lady Kolassa" and "Titaness of the Whispering Desert" are nicknames she received from her community.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Discord compliments Thunderblast on his impressive name.
* BadBoss: Khan, the king of the serpents, is also a king of this trope. In the space of two paragraphs, he uses two of his closest subordinates as a [[HumanShield shield]] against a BreathWeapon, uses handfuls of smaller serpents as knuckle-dusters, and shoves another handful of his subjects down his opponent's throat.
* BattleAura: Alicorns are surrounded by one of these at all times. This trait of the race, which goes back to when the entire pony species was young, seems to vanish during the generations that pass during Celestia and Luna's story. By the time Celestia and Luna gain the throne of Equestria, they no longer have their auras.
%%* BigBrotherBully: Celestia.
* BigBrotherWorship: Little Luna to teenage Celestia. [[BigBrotherBully It doesn't last long.]]
%%* BlankSlate: Accord.
* BlasphemousBoast: Celestia goads Luna into declaring "We rule the sun and moon." The ''actual'' being in charge of that, Queen Stellaris, immediately appears before them, and [[DisproportionateRetribution punishes them for it]].
* BlindMistake: Mocked by Snowdrop, who reveals that she recognized Celestia from a distance, then pretends to be unaware that she's now talking to Celestia herself.
* BlindSeer: Carto. She has [[EyelessFace scars where her eyes should be]], but is said to have a "dreaming eye", and often analyzes the personalities and the futures of new gods.
* BrokenAce: Celestia. Admitting as much puts her on the path to a HeelFaceTurn.
* TheCaligula: Queen Soledad, mildly. Rather than being insane or violent, the most common statement about her is that she never does ''anything''. Princess Bubbles is a straighter example, spending all of her time staring at the crown jewels and killing anypony who causes her to look away. In RFE, Discord claims that Bubbles' mother and predecessor Princess Platinum was this as well—and then, needless to say, there's Discord himself when he takes Bubbles' throne. With Celestia, it's not made clear if her horrible behavior extends to her governing policies as well, though she seems to have [[VillainWithGoodPublicity good publicity]]. Then there are the [[JerkassGods Old Gods]], who are a bit unhinged and have [[OmniscientMoralityLicense a massive sense of entitlement]]—basically, there are a whole lot of Caligulas in this story.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Spyder trains Kolassa in this practice. As a very young filly, Kolassa is able to shatter incoming weapons with her head, and as an adult can engage an opponent fifty feet tall in GoodOldFisticuffs, all through sheer willpower. Being a demigod might have something to do with it, but Spyder [[BadassNormal appears to be capable of similar feats]].
* ClusterFBomb: Chapter 17 opens with a warning that that lone chapter is rated M. This turns out to be why.
* CompanionCube: Fork regularly talks to the sapphire on his charm bracelet.
* ContinuityNod: Many events and bits of world-building, referenced in RFE, are seen in their entirety here.
* CurseEscapeClause: Mitgaeard curses Discord to lose all of his magical powers until he becomes a king.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Consistently as dark as the absolute darkest parts of RFE.
%%* TheDitz: Xanadu. Self-proclaimed, even.
%%* DivineParentage: Kolassa.
* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Averted; Kane and Boll pulling this trope on Rhea Strait is treated as an appropriately horrible deed. They first change shape to pose as Rhea's husband, and when she doesn't fall for it they outright MindRape her into believing it for long enough to let them impregnate her.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Numerous characters and events from this story were mentioned briefly in RFE before being seen in their entirety in this story.
* EldritchAbomination
** The Old Gods seem to fit this trope more than PhysicalGod. Stellaris is the only one whose appearance can be easily defined, and the twins Hukwurm and Shifter don't even ''have'' a consistent appearance.
** Spectatus, who is an alien being consisting of nothing but [[FacelessEye floating eyeballs]] and [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily a dagger-toothed smile]].
* EldritchLocation: The Sea of Stars, homeworld of Song Li and the changelings, is seen briefly.
* EndOfAnAge: During Celestia and Luna's childhood, they live in a village populated entirely by alicorns, and all alicorns possess a BattleAura which surrounds them at all times. Four hundred years later, for no explained reason, alicorns are nearly extinct and those who do live no longer have auras.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: The Old Gods often vanish in a pillar of rainbow sparkles.
* EvilChancellor: The powerless Discord becomes this to Prince Dragonglass in an effort to [[CurseEscapeClause take the throne]].
* {{Expy}}: Kane and Boll are essentially Discord if he had two heads. Their body implements FashionableAsymmetry (in particular, note their feet: one hoof and one talon, just like Discord), and their MindRape of Kolassa's mother is very similar to what Discord did to Fluttershy in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 "The Return of Harmony Part 1"]], and their overall playful, theatrical, AffablyEvil demeanor matches Discord's to a tee. InUniverse, Discord admits that ''he'' may have made himself an expy of ''them''.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Jolly's children: the [[ThemeTwinNaming triplet daughters]] Siren, Selkie, and Merrow, and son Apkallu, all named for mermaid-like creatures of various mythologies.
* FertileFeet: Celestia and Luna's mother, Gaia, leaves a trail of grass, flowers, and pollen wherever she goes.
* FreudianExcuse: Luna cites their DisappearedDad as the reason for Celestia's AlphaBitch attitude which stays with her [[PsychopathicManChild well into adulthood.]]
* FurryConfusion: Song Li's country is inhabited by deer. This was before Season 4 added deer to the ''FIM'' canon as animals, not people.
* GiantFlyer: Corvid, to borderline-{{Kaiju}} levels. Also a villainous example of the NobleBirdOfPrey.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Celestia and Luna, though the conflict is far from light-hearted.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Soledad.
* GoshDangItToHeck: [[SirSwearsALot Scraggle]] is reduced to this after being hit by the Elements of Harmony.
* HiddenDepths: Ragnarok and Xanadu appear to be your basic AlphaBitch with TheDitz sidekick, but they actually seem to grow more mature as they get older, which is more than can be said for Celestia, Luna, and Annihilara.
* HowWeGotHere: The prologue features snippets of various scenes from the goddesses' [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and Discord's)]] lives, and the rest of the story serves to contextualize those moments, some at the very beginnings of their stories and others much later.
* IgnoredEpiphany: Celestia, repeatedly. She obviously sincerely bonds with Luna—otherwise the Elements of Harmony wouldn't work—but once their mission is over she pretends it was all an act and resumes treating Luna like dirt. Hundreds of years later, Discord's MindRape and BreakingLecture give her a pretty clear and traumatic look at herself, but once he's defeated she acts as if she was entirely unaffected. Discord later lampshades it:
--> '''Discord:''' ''Oh, how moving. Yet another epiphany for you to completely ignore once the moment is gone.''
* KickTheDog: Celestia does this constantly, and the "dog" tends to be Luna.
* KissingCousins: Princess Bubbles and Prince Dragonglass. Understandable, as they're royalty who live a thousand years before the present timeline. Discord's dialogue indicates that such a thing is perfectly normal in their society, but his personal recommendation is [[RoyallyScrewedUp to avoid it]].
* KrakenAndLeviathan: Evade identifies himself as a leviathan, though Soledad insists on calling him a Film/{{Sharktopus}}.
* LastOfHisKind: Evade is the last leviathan. Minister Giorgi is the last Megaloceros, being the only child of the last pair.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: Depending on whether you read RFE or ''Legend'' first, a few surprises from the other story will be spoiled for you.
* MultipleHeadCase: Kane and Boll. Unusually, they get along with each other perfectly.
* OCStandIn: Princess Bubbles and Prince Dragonglass are the couple from the history book in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay "Hearts and Hooves Day"]].
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: [[OverlyLongName Princess Amethyst Abjurer Dweomer]] is better known as Princess Bubbles.
%%* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Soledad.
* ParentalAbandonment: Celestia and Luna's father, Helium, has abandoned the family at some point prior to the beginning of the story.
* RaceLift: The prince in the "Hearts and Hooves Day" book was an earth pony; Prince Dragonglass is a unicorn instead. Similarly, Princess Bubbles is an alicorn, while the princess she's based on was [[OffModel an earth pony in one shot and an alicorn in another]].
* SirSwearsALot: In a story containing almost ''no'' obscene language, Scraggle curses harshly and ''constantly''. Take a look at his EstablishingCharacterMoment:
--> '''Scraggle:''' [[spoiler:Shiiiiit, man. It's been a long-ass fuckin' time since bitches fuckin' dared to challenge my shit. Fuck yeah!]]
* SquareCubeLaw: Actually mentioned by name during Kolassa's story. Indeed, growing her to an enormous size is explicitly used as a method to kill her.
* StopBeingStereotypical: Khan snaps at Mitgaeard about her SssssnakeTalk; indeed, Mitgaeard is the only serpent in the story to talk like that.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Spyder.
* TimeAbyss: The Old Gods. Stellaris states that some of them predate the world itself. It takes them seven million years to notice that Mitgaeard exists, and when Discord mentions he's almost a million years old, they laugh him off as young and stupid.
* TheUnreveal: Bogglesby's cutie mark. Okapiopteryx considers sneaking a peek at it, but decides she doesn't care.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Hukwurm is TheSwarm, but what exactly he's a swarm ''of'' changes wildly with his mood; seemingly, any sort of invertebrate is up for grabs. His sister [[MeaningfulName Shifter]]'s constant shapeshifting is less voluntary.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Nightmare Moon offers this to Annihilara.
* YouAlreadyChangedThePast: Fork quickly realizes that this trope applies to him, and begins to take sadistic glee in [[TheChessmaster manipulating events however he likes]], knowing it's all predetermined.
[[/folder]]

----

--> [[TheStinger I'm Rainbow Dash,]] [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]].