All That Glimmers Is Not Good
is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic grimdark fanfiction written by Wonderspark Of Hope
Now a mare and nearing her college graduation, Sweetie Belle has passed the comprehension portion of the mandatory magic exam, saving her from whatever fates befall the failing 70%, or Fail 70s, along with her two best friends; Wonderspark and Mysty. But things take a tragic turn when they fail their kinesthetics exam along with two others, condemning them as Pass 30s, as opposed to Pass Completes. Nopony knows exactly what happens to either the Fail 70s or the Pass 30s, but the five of them are about to find out.
The fanfic takes strong inspiration from Rainbow Factory by Aurora Dawn. It contains canon character reinterpretation, as well as death and body horror.
This Fic Contains Examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy: And a heartbreaking one, as Sweetie Belle discovers that it's not just Twilight Sparkle running such a twisted factory, but also her own big sister Rarity.
- Angry Guard Dog: The beast in Chapter 4 that lunges at Sweetie Belle in her cell.
- Author Avatar: Wonderspark Hopeful quasi-shares her name with the author Wonderspark Of Hope. She is one of primary protagonists.
- Black Sheep: Ophiuchus Starfall. All of his other siblings are named after or share names close to the zodiac signs and the majority of them treat him like absolute garbage just like their parents do, save for a couple exceptions. Him being the family outcast reflects the real-life rejection of the constellation Ophiuchus from the astrological signs.
- Blue Screen Of Death: Mysty during her twin sister's operation, completely dissociating from it. She's noted as being like a statue, with not even a muscle twitching.
- Body to Jewel: Both Poppy's eyes and horn are deemed to be made into jewelry after they are extracted. Most of the Fail 70s lose their horns so that they can be made into the company's signature product.
- Break the Cutie:
- After discovering that her sibling and the princess of friendship are essentially running an organ-trafficking facility, one can imagine how Sweetie Belle is doing right now. It's not well.
- And after seeing her twin sister be brutally murdered before her very eyes, Mysty is stuck in a state of dissociation.
- Broken Pedestal: Rarity and Twilight become this for Sweetie after they reveal what becomes of the Fail 70s.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Poppy Starlight's entire operation. First they shave off her mane and then her coat, exposing her muscles and tendons. Then her eyes are removed from their sockets, but the worst is saved for last. Her horn is ripped clean from her head. The worst part of it all? Mysty has to watch her older twin go through all of this.
- Death by Despair: Poppy Starlight at the end of the operation. The shock of her horn being torn from her head induces a fatal seizure.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Subverted to an extent and to his reluctance. When one of the primary protagonists, Scarlet Strange, gives another primary protagonist, Ophiuchus Starfall, the answer to one of the runes, the kinesthetics instructor berates her until Wonderspark points out that disabled unicorns must be given their accommodations on the exams or else it's a violation of their rights. He reluctantly admits his mistake after checking the manual, allowing the unicorn stallion time-and-a-half, as per his accommodations. Ophiuchus refuses and says he'll take the fail. However he doesn't give this exception to Sweetie Belle when she fails by technicality, despite a Pass Complete arguing for her passing.
- Family Name Theming: The Starfall family. All 14 are named and/or have names based after each of the zodiac signs, Capricorn being the eldest and Ophiuchus being the youngest. The only exceptions to the naming are Gem and Gemma Starfall, both representing the Gemini sign, which Ophiuchus remarks is the only mistake their parents were okay with.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Poppy Starlight's. And how.
- Fantastic Racism: Slightly subverted, but make it ableism. Just like in "Rainbow Factory," there's a sense of ableism, as the test is, essentially, a way to weed out disability from the unicorns, or as Twilight says "a solution to what to do with those who couldn't contribute to their fullest potential."
- Wonderspark Hopeful actually has doubts about her passing the first part due to her being neurodivergent, worried that they may have a bias against her because of it. She ends up in the top spot.
- Unlike in "Rainbow Factory," however, there is some leeway, usually when it's called out. Scarlet calls the instructor out for not giving Ophiuchus time-and-a-half for his kinesthetics' exam. Wonderspark corroborates this accommodation, pointing out that he's always had time-and-a-half for his exams.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Averted at one point. Cancer and Pisces Starfall both offer to take Sweetie's place when she's failed, with the latter calling out the former for having a martyr complex after offering to take Sweetie's place only moments prior.
- Subverted by Mysty. Her older twin sister is revealed to be one of the Fail 70s and so she fails the second portion on purpose in order to see her again. In a twisted irony, Mysty IS able to see her one last time, but the factory workers had damaged her eyes beyond repair so that they can be used as substitute pearls, meaning that her sister can't see her. This also takes place right before she is operated on and then killed.
- Scarlet and Wonderspark also fail on purpose to stay with Ophiuchus and Sweetie Belle respectively.
- Hollywood Autism: Not Hollywood, as Wonderspark is based on the author of the fic, but she is canonically autistic. (and ADHD) She tends to be rather emotional, her anger being part of her downfall in the second part of the exam; hyperfixates on certain aspects of magic, which Sweetie Belle even points out is the reason elite magic circles are looking at Canterlot University; at one point early on, she's shown to misinterpret an idiom Sweetie Belle uses as something literal; during the last part of Poppy's fatal operation, she's shown to have sensory overload due to how loud Poppy is shrieking, repeating the phrase "too loud" several times.
- Killed Offscreen: Pre-canon. Twilight implies this of Starlight Glimmer who was asked to help, but wanted the operation shut down after she heard about what it would involve. The irony is that the company is named after what Twilight says is her "sacrifice".
- Mama Bear:
- Scarlet could be considered one to Ophiuchus, getting defensive when he's asked about his disability, even getting angry at his siblings when they speak ill of him.
- Ophiuchus mentions that his sister Cancer was essentially this to him, with her being one of the only family members who treated him with any kindness, especially as he's the youngest; he deems her as a second mother, or perhaps the mother he should have had. She's also this briefly to Sweetie Belle after she's failed, even running out of the East Wing Waiting area to try to comfort her, in spite of protests.
- Off on a Technicality; Not a criminal, but this is how Sweetie Belle ends up getting failed. The door to the finishing button opens only just after the timer counted in its entirety.
- People Farms: Glimmering Gems is essentially this for the Fail 70s.
- The Secret of Long Pork Pies: The stew and drink Sweetie Belle and the other unicorns are given in the cells they woke up in, which just so happens to be one of the things the factory produces.
- Shout-Out: The author does love her pop culture references.
- During Cancer's protest of Sweetie Belle being failed, her brother Leo exclaims "Oh sweet Celestia on a bike!" as a reference to one of Noel Gruber's lines in Ride the Cyclone .
- Scarlet Strange's name is a reference to both Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange, as the fic was published around the time Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was released.
- Slipping a Mickey: Arguably. The sleeping tea in the rooms they are placed in is made bitter on purpose so that they're forced to drug themselves with the "sugar" they're given. Even worse the rooms are designed so that they can't get to sleep without the tea.
- Villain Has a Point: Arguably. After being called sadistic by one of the Pass 30s, Twilight points out the decrease in disease and how their products are also used for things like manes for ponies going through chemo, coats for skin grafts for victims of burns, organs for those whose are failing, etc,. She also points out that this is also to create new markets to avoid another Great Famine, which she states is something nopony should ever have to experience.
- What If the Baby Is Like Me: One of the reasons Twilight and Rarity helped Sweetie Belle so much was to keep her from ending up in the factory and becoming like them.
- You're Insane!: Aside from the comments of this made to the two who run the factory, another unicorn calls out her curious friend with a similar comment and ends up getting physical with her when she was just curious about what was occurring during Poppy's operation. It also causes other ponies to turn away from her.
