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A crossover between My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and The DCU written by iowaforever. This universe currently has four stories:

  • Mare of Steel: The story that started the universe. After returning home from a meteor shower, Rainbow Dash finds a green rock that makes her violently ill when she touches it. Later, she begins a journey to discover just who she is and what her place in Equestria is, becoming the hero Supermare. Complete, although a rewrite is scheduled.
    • Mare of Steel also has a collection of side stories dealing with smaller adventures and encounters that would otherwise slow the main story down.
  • The Princess of Themyscira: Soarin' washes ashore on a far away island, where he is found by Diana, Princess of Themyscira and Daughter of Hippolyta. Although initially hostile, Diana sees Soarin' as a means to leave Themyscira and explore the mortal realm, and with the manipulations of Ares becoming apparent she may just get her chance. Complete.
  • In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night When a mysterious ring finds it's way into the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor is introduced to a universe far beyond anything he could have imagined. As he works to master new skills and powers, he stumbles upon a threat that could spell doom for him, his home and family, and thousands of other beings across the galaxy. In Progress.
  • A Dark Knight Over Trottingham: Blueblood has lived in the shadow of his parents' murder for some time. But when his life is thrown out of balance once again, he will begin a journey that shall make him a legend. A Dark Knight. In Progress.

An as of yet unnamed Flash story has been announced.


Tropes that span multiple stories:

  • Foreshadowing: In the first chapter of In Brightest Day, Cadence mentions getting a letter from Twilight talking about a research assignment she's gotten to study some artifacts from the Canterlot archives. Flash-forward to a later published chapter of Princess of Themyscira, which reveals that the artifacts in question are the Helmet of Nabu and Amulet of Anubis, which Twilight ends up donning at that story's climax, becoming Doctor Fate.
  • Simultaneous Arcs: Comments within the stories show that Mare of Steel Part 2, Princess of Themyscira, and In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night are all happening at the same time.
    • Rotating Arcs: The author alternates between which story gets updated when.


    open/close all folders 
     Mare of Steel and side stories 
  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Deathstroke's sword can cut even Supermare.
  • Action Mare: Rainbow becomes an even better one once she gets her powers under control.
  • A God Am I: Zod believes that Kryptonians are gods compared to normal ponies. Rainbow disagrees.
  • Alternate Universe:
    • In the sense that Rainbow Dash has superpowers and General Zod has been impersonating Prince Blueblood for years.
    • Since Mare of Steel was first published before Season 3 aired: Rainbow's mother Firefly is head coach of the Wonderbolts, and her father Thunderhead does not match the description of the pony seen in Games Ponies Play.
  • And This Is for...: Rainbow Dash gives Brainiac this treatment during their rematch, after he sends her into an Unstoppable Rage by wounding Firefly.
  • Attractive Bent-Gender: This happens to Rainbow Dash in one side story, as a result of Red Kryptonite. Thunderlane tries very hard not to be turned on by colt!Rainbow.
  • Berserk Button: For Rainbow Dash, it's threatening innocents, especially her mother. Brainiac finds this out the hard way.
  • Beware the Supermare: Steel Wing's main reason for distrusting Supermare is his fear that she'll take over Equestria.
  • Big Bad: General Zod ( who's been posing as Prince Blueblood) in the first arc, Brainiac and Alexander Silversmith share this role in the second arc.
  • Big Bad Wannabe:
    • By the time the second arc starts, Rainbow Dash has had to deal with numerous wannabe villains all claiming to be her Arch-Enemy. She finds it all annoying.
    • Steel Wing is the first antagonist introduced in the second arc, but is quickly reduced to Brainiac's Unwitting Pawn, and is dealt with before him and Silversmith.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Princess Luna pulls an awesome moment in the second arc; she and her guards infiltrate Steel Wing's base and arrest him just after he essentially calls Luna useless.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane at the end of the story.
  • Brainwashing:
    • Brainiac employs this several times. The first time he uses it on a hydra to attack the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the second time he uses it on Derpy to inform Rainbow that he has kidnapped Scootaloo.
    • Zod also uses brainwashing to take control of certain royal guards so he can assassinate Princess Celestia.
    • Zod had also brainwashed Flim and Flam into attacking Ponyville in order to "test the waters" before putting his plan into action.
  • Break the Cutie: Brainiac designs the Sadistic Choice below in order to do this to Supermare, so that she's easier to assimilate into his storage machinery.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Thunderlane does this to Steel Wing when the latter tries to turn him against Supermare, bringing up what a lousy father he always was.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Diamond Tiara stole Cheerilee's notebook sometime before chapter 3 of Mare of Steel. Unfortunately for her, she happens to be passing by just as Rainbow's X-Ray Vision manifests.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • Twilight's note that overloading magic could cause a pony to explode.
    • Deathstroke's sword, which is capable of cutting even Supermare. She breaks it, but Silversmith retrieves the pieces, which have blood samples on them he can experiment on.
  • Christmas Episode: One of the side stories set after the main story's conclusion.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Silversmith. He is an Expy of Lex Luthor, after all.
  • Creepy Monotone: Brainiac; his monotone is mentioned whenever a new pony meets him, and most of them are put off by it.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
    • Rainbow's fight against Flim and Flam's Humongous Mecha; the robot doesn't even ruffle her mane.
    • Rainbow is on the receiving end of one delivered by General Zod, resulting in being crippled by a Kryptonite necklace and tossed into a ravine.
  • Cutting the Knot: Rainbow Dash, with only moments to spare, disarms the bomb in Cloudsdale by hitting it, destroying its firing mechanism. Even she's surprised that it worked.
  • Deceased Parents Are the Best: Rainbow's father Thunderhead died six years before the beginning of the story.
  • Dead Pony Impersonation:
    • Prince Blueblood died in an airship accident five years before the start of the story. General Zod's been posing as him ever since.
    • Subverted when it turns out that Zod just had Blueblood imprisoned in another country and replaced him.
  • Deal with the Devil: Trixie makes one with General Zod in order to take revenge on Rainbow Dash.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: General Zod, who's defeated at the end of the first arc, leaving room for Brainiac and Silversmith in the second (and last) arc.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Firefly is one to the Wonderbolts. Probably where Spitfire learned it from.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
    • Zod does not understand why Rainbow Dash is willing to be a hero rather than a ruler.
    • Brainiac, as a creature of reason, is unable to anticipate Rainbow Dash using emotion to find a way out of his Sadistic Choice.
  • Expy:
    • Scootaloo seems kinda similar to Jimmy Olsen with her friendship with Supermare/Rainbow Dash, asked by RD to do tasks, and extremely excitable in her presence.
    • Thunderlane meanwhile seems a pretty dead ringer for Lois Lane, aside from not really being a reporter.
  • Foreshadowing: Celestia's comment about how Blueblood Used to Be a Sweet Kid turns out to be this when it's revealed that Zod's been impersonating him for years.
  • Freak Out: Rainbow does not take the news that she's really a Kryptonian well. She gets better eventually.
  • General Ripper: Steel Wing is willing to do anything if it will stop Supermare.
  • Gilligan Cut: One is used to highlight how pointless Steel Wing's paranoia over Supermare is; his first scene ends with him ranting how she's probably "in her secret lair, plotting (Celestia's) downfall", at which point the scene switches to Rainbow Dash waking up from a nap in one of Applejack's trees.
  • Harmless Freezing:
    • Rainbow Dash does not really have good control over her freeze-breath when sneezing, and ends up freezing a butterfly when it lands on her nose, and Fluttershy when she brings the butterfly to her. Both are unharmed by the end.
    • She uses this to defeat Clayface in the side story "The Kryptonian and the Bat", drenching him in water before freezing him solid.
  • Happily Adopted: From what we can see, Rainbow was very happy with Firefly and Thunderhead. She still keeps good connections with Firefly even after she learns they lied to her about being an alien.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Happens off-screen for Trixie, being as Act II takes place after the episode "Magic Duel".
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend: Rainbow insists that Thunderlane is not her boyfriend, despite him being cute, a good conversationalist, and cute.
  • High-Altitude Interrogation: How Rainbow Dash gets Trixie to name General Zod as her accomplice.
  • I Have Your Wife: Brainiac kidnaps Scootaloo to use as leverage against Supermare.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Rainbow Dash freaks out and has this reaction when she learns she's really a Kryptonian. She grows out of it eventually.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Rainbow's rationale for why the Kryptonite that poisoned her is evil: Various villains they encountered used green magic. The Kryptonite glows green. Therefore, the Kryptonite is evil. Twilight lampshades this.
  • It's All About Me: Maxima more than demonstrates this during her guest appearance in one side story — she doesn't care that her hoarding of food leaves her subjects starving, and doesn't care if her chosen mate loves her back.
  • It's All My Fault: A side story set after the conclusion of the main story shows that Rainbow Dash blames herself for her mother almost getting killed by Brainiac, at least until Firefly convinces her it isn't.
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Rainbow Dash tries to use this on Thunderlane after Brainiac threatens those close to her, but he refuses to let her go.
  • It's Personal: Somehow both Zod and Brainiac manage to achieve this by their own designs. Brainiac gets especially personal when he injures Firefly.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Silversmith gets off scott free from his involvement with Steel Wing and Brainiac.
    • Deathstroke escapes justice as well.
  • Kneel Before Zod: The Trope Namer is the main villain of the first arc, so of course the actual quote is used.
  • Kirk Summation: When Rainbow Dash first runs into Trixie in Seaddle, Trixie tries to say they're not so different by pointing out that they're both braggarts. Rainbow shoots her down by pointing out that at least she knows to stop before someone gets hurt, and then when Trixie tries to challenge her to prove who's superior, Rainbow just walks away, saying she's not worth it. Trixie has a brief Villainous Breakdown at this.
  • Last-Second Chance: Rainbow Dash offers Zod a chance to surrender and become The Atoner, but he refuses.
  • Mama Bear: Just because Rainbow Dash is an adult and a superhero won't stop Firefly from coming to her defense when she's in danger. Even if it's Brainiac she's fighting.
  • My Greatest Failure:
    • Jor-El considers his inability to help his wife with her lung condition to be his.
    • Rainbow Dash feels the same about having been unable to help her adopted father Thunderhead when he got sick.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Rainbow Dash's Kryptonian name is initially Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl's real name, though this was eventually retconned to better fit Kryptonian naming styles as shown in the comics.
    • Brainiac is based on the Coluan scientist Vril Dox version.
    • When Rainbow Dash reveals her Secret Identity to her friends, she uses her heat vision to convince a skeptical Applejack and Rarity, then asks if that's enough for them, or if she has to "fly around the world backwards and tell you all this yesterday".
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Rainbow takes a bad whack to the Berserk Button when Brainiac seemingly kills Firefly. She proceeds to launch into an Unstoppable Rage, glowing red eyes and all, and is just about to kill him before Thunderlane arrives and talks her down.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • A month before the start of the story, Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack went camping, and Pinkie ended up accidentally burning one of Twilight's books, causing her to have a Freak Out that outshined the one she had in "Lesson Zero". AJ and Pinkie calmed her down, but both swore they'd never go camping with her again.
    • Celestia and Luna both refer to earlier encounters with Kryptonians, with Luna saying that she owes them a "great debt".
  • Older Than They Look: Technically Rainbow Dash, as her birth and Krypton's destruction occurred a thousand years ago. However, due to Time Travel in Kryptonian Magitek, she arrived only a few decades before present, meaning she biologically is as old as she looks.
  • Pals with Jesus: Jor-El was a friend of the Princesses.
  • Planet Looters: Brainiac retains this part of his characterization from the comics.
  • Power Incontinence: When Rainbow Dash's powers first emerge, she has little to no control over them. Her training in the Fortress of Solitude handles that.
  • Psycho for Hire: Deathstroke is hired by Silversmith to capture Supermare.
  • Punctuated Pounding:
    • Zod during the final fight:
      Zod: You will kneel before me, daughter of Jor-El. Even if it takes my entire life and all my strength, you. Will. KNEEL!
    • Rainbow Dash get a moment like this when trying to break through Brainiac's Force Field in Chapter 23, after Brainiac says that she must comply with his plan:
      Rainbow Dash: No... I... won't! (breaks through to save Scootaloo)
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Dash and Blue Dash; one is based off of Rainbow's physical and emotional prowess, while the other is based off her intelligence and logic. Rainbow gives each of them a "The Reason You Suck" Speech before beating them.
  • Retcon:
    • Originally, Soarin' was supposed to be Rainbow's love interest, but this was changed to Thunderlane and Soarin' was made Diana's love interest.
    • It underwent another, changing Rainbow's Kryptonian name from Kara Zor-El to Kara Jor-El (to better match with Kryptonian naming styles)
  • The Reveal: General Zod has been posing as Prince Blueblood for the last five years.
  • Sadistic Choice: Brainiac offers Rainbow one: if she saves Scootaloo, a bomb planted in Cloudsdale will detonate and kill everyone, but if she goes and saves Cloudsdale, a power surge will kill Scootaloo. Rainbow Takes a Third Option and decides to save them both.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: At the end of the story, Brainiac is petrified by the Elements of Harmony, and Rainbow Dash puts him in storage in the Fortress of Solitude for safe keeping.
  • Secret-Keeper:
    • Celestia, the Mane Six, and Firefly become this for Rainbow Dash.
    • Thunderlane figures out who she is during her fight with Brainiac.
    • She and Batpony become this for each other in one of the side stories, when he deduces her identity, and she uses her X-Ray Vision to see that he's really the real Prince Blueblood.
  • Sequel Hook: It ends with two. First, there's the fact that Silversmith is still free, and has samples of Supermare's DNA to experiment on. More importantly, the last scene shows Darkseid opening a boomtube to Equestria, setting the stage for the main Justice League of Equestria story.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The spells on Rainbow Dash's suit (and Diana's disguise during the tournament) are described as magical Perception Filters.
    • Brainiac's Villainous Breakdown shares a line with Harbinger
    • The first side story is one long shout out to Calvin and Hobbes, with Rainbow pretending to be a superhero and trying to vanquish her enemy "Mom Lady".
    • One of Honeysuckle's comics is Captain Equestria.
    • The side story where Maxima shows up is partly based on her first appearance in the DCAU, complete with Lobo crashing her throne room at the end.
    • "Welcome to Equestria, Braniac."
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!:
    • During Rainbow Dash's rematch with Zod, he rants on how she'll kneel before him, complete with Punctuated Pounding. Her response?
      (blocks blow) "I’ll only kneel to two ponies. And you’re not one of them!" (throws Zod through a wall)
    • In the second arc, there's her refusal to submit to Brainiac's Sadistic Choice and letting him break her, instead saving Scootaloo and rushing off to stop the bomb in Cloudsdale.
      "Welcome to Equestria, Brainiac."
  • Smug Smiler: Silversmith. Rainbow Dash is disturbed by it.
  • Sneeze of Doom: In one of the side stories, Rainbow Dash's super-breath causes her to freeze a butterfly that had refused to shift from her nose, and then Fluttershy after she takes the butterfly to her. Both are unharmed by the end. The first sneeze also strips several apple trees of apples and leaves.
  • So Proud of You: Firefly feels this way about Rainbow being a superhero.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Batpony (the local Batman expy) does this several times to Rainbow Dash in their multipart side story crossover.
  • Strawman Has a Point: In-universe; during her interrogation, Rainbow admits that she would be a big threat if she ever went rogue, and even admits that some things that Silversmith was saying seemed true enough (on the surface)
  • Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: In this continuity, Krypton was advanced enough in magic that Jor-El taught his Perception Filter spell to Athena, a frickin' goddess.
  • Superdickery: Discussed; After becoming Supermare, Rainbow begins to contemplate if performing pranks while dressed up as Supermare is a bad thing. Trixie returns and threatens to destroy Ponyville with an Ursa Major before Rainbow can make up her mind.
  • Take That!: The entire Red and Blue clone side story is one to the Superman: Red & Blue storyline.
  • Taking You with Me: In the final battle of the first arc, Zod overloads his magic in an attempt to blow up both Rainbow Dash and Canterlot. Rainbow flies him into the upper atmosphere before that happens, but she is badly injured in the blast.
  • Thou Shall Not Kill: Rainbow Dash, just like canonical Superman. She get very close to breaking that rule when Brainiac seemingly kills Firefly.
  • Time Skip:
    • The narrative completely skips over Rainbow Dash training her powers at the Fortress of Solitude. The second side story does, however show her practicing using her freeze-breath during this period.
    • The second arc skips ahead an unspecified amount of time after the end of the first.
    • The epilogue takes place a week after the climax of the second arc.
  • Time Travel: Jor-El looked throughout time and space in search of a proper place to send Rainbow Dash, and chose modern-day Equestria, sending her there despite living a thousand years earlier.
  • Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Rainbow Dash suffering from Kyptonite poisoning is what unlocks her superpowers.
  • Unwitting Pawn:
    • Flim and Flam to Zod.
    • Steel Wing to Brainiac, who actually refers to him as a pawn at one point.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Rainbow Dash after Brainiac nearly kills Firefly. She delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and is just about to kill him before Thunderlane can talk her down.
  • Villainous Breakdown:
    • Trixie suffers a minor one after Rainbow declares she's "not worth it".
    • Steel Wing has a more pronounced one when he is arrested by Princess Luna.
    • Zod loses it when Rainbow Dash starts to beat him in their rematch, leading to him deciding to blow them both, and Canterlot, to kingdom come.
    • It's much less noticeable, but after Rainbow Dash finds a way to defeat his Sadistic Choice, Brainiac gets angry, and decides that instead of preserving her in his collection, he'll just kill her.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After Rainbow Dash manages to break his sword (the one thing giving him an edge on her), Deathstroke hides from view with a smoke bomb and flees.
  • Villainous Rescue: A variation: Luna's rescue of Rainbow Dash/Supermare was orchestrated by Brainiac to get Supermare out into the open again and get rid of Steel Wing.
  • Villain Team-Up: Silversmith and Brainiac in the second arc. Also technically Steel Wing, but he's quickly reduced to Unwitting Pawn.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Silversmith, who's gone to great lengths to ensure that this image is maintained.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Silversmith and Steel Wing style themselves as this. The latter is a paranoid Knight Templar, the former is a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: After defeating her in their first fight, Zod lets Rainbow Dash live (albeit slowly being killed by a Kryptonite necklace) so that she can watch his Evil Plan to assassinate Celestia succeed. After she escapes and prevents this, he admits it was a mistake and decides to kill her.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • During their first fight, General Zod curbstomps Rainbow Dash. During their rematch, she admits she was holding back, and starts matching him punch for punch.
    • She doesn't do to well in her first match with Brainiac, either.
  • "World of Cardboard" Speech: Rainbow Dash gives one during her final battle with Zod, just before he explodes.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Zod sends the Flim-Flam brothers to attack Ponyville in order to "test the waters" — if they succeeded, he would have had an unstoppable weapon at his disposal, and if they failed, he'd get a look at what he's up against.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Brainiac is constantly updating and modifying his plan, especially when he deems Steel Wing more trouble than he's worth and choosing to ally with Silversmith instead.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Brainiac wipes Steel Wing's memory after the general is arrested by Luna's guards for treason.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: Twice; when dealing with Silversmith's mooks in Manehattan, one of them says that Rainbow is too short to be Supermare, and that the colors on her costume are wrong. Later, in the crossover side story with Batpony, another thug says that she's too thin and her mane is the wrong color.

     The Princess of Themyscira 
  • Affectionate Nickname: Hippolyta has one for Diana, her "little Sun and Stars".
  • And the Adventure Continues: After defeating Ares, Diana chooses to stay in Equestria and continue to act as its defender.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Alicorn Amulet can, in addition to being an Amplifier Artifact, also open a portal to Tartarus and summon the creatures there.
  • A Storm Is Coming: As part of one of the sequel hooks, Athena warns Hippolyta that Ares' plan may have given Apokolips the opportunity to restart the War in Heaven.
  • Badass Adorable: Filly Diana attacking Nightmare Moon.
  • Badass Boast:
    • Diana's statement when facing down Ares' demonic army:
      "Come, you spawns of hell! Come and face me, and I swear by Athena and the gods of Olympus that I shall send you back to the pit from whence you came!"
    • Ares himself gets a villainous one during the climatic fight between him and Diana:
      "Did you honestly think you could challenge me?! I am the God of War! I killed thousands during the War in Heaven! I drove Nightmare Moon from the steps of Olympus, and I broke the walls of Tartarus! Why do you not see that anything you do is pointless, Amazon?!"
  • Badass Normal: Soarin' isn't a demigoddess, and he doesn't have magic at his disposal. But he fights Ares' demons alongside Diana and Twilight all the same.
  • Big Applesauce: Soarin's side of the story starts in Manehattan, it's the first place that he visits with Diana, and it ends up being where Ares decides to unleash the demons of Tartarus.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Soarin' gets two moments. First, he saves Diana when Ares is about to kill her in their first fight, carrying her to safety. Then, at the climax, he manages to save her from being sucked into Tartarus with Ares, with her own lasso, no less.
  • Boring, but Practical: Diana takes a coil of rope into the first test during the tournament (at Athena's suggestion).
  • Butt-Monkey: Soarin' is at the mercy of an island's worth of Amazons that might kill him at the slightest provocation, not to mention Athena messing around in his head.
  • Calling The Old Mare Out: Diana does a less severe version to Hippolyta, calling her out for putting her own personal preferences before the will of the gods.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin': In chapter 2, Diana is participating in a dare to steal eggs from a phoenix nest. She hesitates, and the phoenixes chase her away and she gets several "I told you so"s from the other Amazons.
  • The Cameo: Rainbow Dash as Supermare makes a brief appearance during Diana's flight in Chapter 6.
  • Culture Clash: Diana's upbrining as an Amazon does not mix well with Equestria's more open social norms.
  • Cutting the Knot: Diana does this literally during the second test of the tournament. This also ends up being how Diana defeats Ares' master plan — rather than trying to remove the Alicorn Amulet from its position or figure out how to use it, she simply destroys it with her tiara.
  • Deliberate Values Dissonance:
    • In-Universe, Amazons wear clothes, so Diana's as disturbed at the possibility of Soarin' seeing her naked as most people in the real world would be.
    • Diana brings this trope up when taking her vow to uphold the laws of mortals when in their realm, bringing up how she might run into laws and customs that she feels are unjust.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: During the Nightmare Moon Incident, Diana pounces on Nightmare Moon when she tries to kill Hippolyta. At the time, Diana is less than one year old.
  • Does Not Like Colts: Most Amazons, but especially Phillipus; she tries to kill Soarin' on sight when Diana brings him into Themyscira, and tends to act more aggressive when there is even the slightest mention of the mortal realm.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: When in Ponyville, Soarin' and Diana meet Lyra, who Word of God says will be The Flash in the future.
  • Everybody Hates Hades: Subverted. Hades shows up, but outright refuses to aid Ares in his plans, not even when offered a way to ensure he gets plenty of souls for his domain (stating that everyone ends up there eventually anyway). In fact, the only way Ares gets any support from Tartarus is that Persephone tells him about the Alicorn Amulet's abilities, because she somehow thinks she's helping her husband out. As it turns out, she was helping — she was counting on Ares failing and ending up sealed in Tartarus at Hades will, something he's been trying to get done for a long time.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Ares seems honestly confused that Diana will fight for the mortal realm after being raised in a culture that hates it.
  • Forever War: Ares hopes to start one of these. He is a War God, after all.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: When the portal Ares opens to Tartarus is sealed, he ends up sucked inside. And due to the rules of the Alicorn Amulet's magic, he's now bound to Hades' will, and the latter is keeping him prisoner.
  • How We Got Here: The story opens with Soarin' waking up on Themyscira and being confronted by Diana, with the next couple of chapters being spent showing her backstory and how he ended up there.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Diana's backstory is the old "made of clay" backstory, with the Elements of Harmony rather than the gods bringing her to life.
    • Much of the story is based on the 2009 animated Wonder Woman movie. Or rather, the tvtropes page for it, as the author admits to not having seen it yet.
  • My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Diana has a moment like this during her final battle with Ares.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Hades insists Ares pay the toll for crossing the River Styx even if its not necessary for gods, because Charon works too hard to be ignored.
  • Noodle Incident: The War in Heaven and Athena's encounter with the forces of Apokolips.
    • Diana lists a few from hers and Cadence's childhood, such as when they accidentally set the armory on fire, and another time when Cadence intentionally set it on fire.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Both of Diana's fights with Ares are brutal.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Ares plays this during his discussion with Athena, saying that she manipulates the mortal realm just as he does.
  • Pals with Jesus: Hippolyta is very good friends with Athena, Celestia and Luna, and Cadence grew up alongside Diana.
  • Really 700 Years Old:
    • Diana was born/made one year before Nightmare Moon's attack, making her almost a thousand years old, yet she is physically the same age as the Mane Six.
    • For that matter, Cadence was born shortly before Diana, meaning she's just as old, but again, doesn't look that much older than the Mane Six either.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hippolyta and Phillipus; the former is much calmer and willing to listen to reason (to some extent), while the latter is more impulsive and willing to resort to violence.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Officer Golden Star initially helps defend Manehattan from Ares' demonic army, but around the time Twilight shows up empowered by the Helmet of Nabu, she decides she's out of her depth and leaves the area.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Ares' master plan is to unleash the army of demons created during the Olympians' war with the Titans, which were sealed away in Tartarus. He succeeds, but Twilight/Nabu sends them back, and Ares himself ends up sealed with them when he's sucked into the closing portal, and is let stuck as Hades' prisoner.
  • Sequel Hook: Like Mare of Steel, it has two, one for its own personal sequel, and one for the main JLE fic. The former is the penultimate scene showing Ares, trapped in Tartarus, setting up a potential Villain Team-Up with Circe. The latter is the last scene, where Athena informs Hippolyta that Ares' plan has resulted in widening a crack in reality that can't be fully sealed, and that Apokolips can take advantage of.
  • Shrinking Violet: Persephone. Doesn't stop her from playing Ares like a fiddle.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: During the Final Battle, Ares derides the mortal realm and asks why Diana is bothering to defend it. She responds by saying that while she may not have originally thought much of Equestria, she's seen enough good in the ponies there to believe in them, and she'll never stop defending them.
  • The Social Darwinist: As befitting a god of war, Ares believes in rule of the strong over the weak. Which to him means the gods ruling directly over the mortals.
  • Stealth Prequel: Surprising enough, while this happens sideways to Mare of Steel, it turns out to be a secret origin story for this world's version of Doctor Fate.
  • Taking You with Me: When Ares is being sucked into Tartarus, he tries to drag Diana in with him, but Soarin' saves her.
  • Time Skip: The majority of the first chapter takes place one thousand years before Luna's return; it skips to the modern era in chapter 2.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Diana and Soarin'.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Ares loses it when the Alicorn Amulet is destroyed and his plan is ruined.
  • We Can Rule Together: Ares offers Diana the chance to rule by his side as he conquers the world. She naturally refuses.
  • Weirdness Coupon: Soarin' is initially shocked to see Diana, an Earth Pony, fly under her own power, but quickly gets used to it, admitting that with all the weird stuff he's seen in such a short period of time, it's nothing to get worked up over.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • It's close, but Diana ultimately loses her first fight with Ares, and has to be rescued by Soarin'.
    • The effect is still active during their rematch in Manehattan; while still able to fight evenly, Diana slowly gets beaten down by Ares' superior might. Twilight, empowered by the Helmet of Nabu, is able to fight him more evenly.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: While Diana is fighting Ares in Manehattan, Twilight and Soarin' are tasked with keeping his army of demons from reaching the city proper.

     In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night 
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: Cadence doesn't believe Shining when he tells her that he's been recruited by alien Space Police. This is despite Cadance having had tea with an alien superhero and being best friends with a demigoddess - which, oddly, is pointed out by Cadance herself beforehand when Shining says that he doesn't expect her to believe him. It takes actually seeing Shining recharge his ring to make her believe.
  • Art Shift: When the ring is speaking, it's printed in green.
  • Butt-Monkey: The ring's treated Shining like one so far.
  • Composite Character: Shining seems to be taking on aspects of several of the canonical human Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan's origin, John Stewart's military background, Kyle Rayner's self-doubts)
  • Distress Call: Shining first outing as a Green Lantern begins when he responds to one and finds that it's a ship that's been attacked by Manhunters.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Kilowag, as per canon. Shining isn't impressed.
  • Due to the Dead: Shining buries Abin Sur, saying it's the least he can do.
  • Jerkass: Sinestro, as per usual.
  • Mythology Gag: The scene where Shining and Sinestro save a collapsing bridge full of ponies, with Sinestro berating Shining's poor form, is based on a similar scene between Sinestro and Hal Jordan in the first New 52 GL story arc.
  • Noodle Incident: Apparently, Cadence broke each of her legs at various points while being raised by the Amazons. But Diana had it worse.
  • Shout-Out: Shining's first mission after completing basic training is to respond to a Distress Call from a ship designated THX 1138.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Yellow, for the Green Lantern rings. Shining seems to be the only one who's noted how odd this is.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Shining Armor is implied to have developed a fear of Changelings due to his experience with Chrysalis. Since Green Lanterns are explicitly chosen for their ability to "overcome great fear", this will be plot-relevant.

     A Dark Knight Over Trottingham 
  • The Don: The griffon known as the Falcon controls all the crime in Trottingham. Most likely a Shout-Out to Carmine Falcone, the last Don of Gotham before the advent of super villainy.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Commissioner of the Trottingham police is simply referred to as "the Commissioner".
  • Foregone Conclusion: Being as it starts seven years before Mare of Steel, we know it's only a matter of time before Zod kidnaps and replaces Blueblood. In fact, we see what appears to be Zod orchestrating it in chapter 2.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: Blueblood. He knows the type of pony Silversmith is, and refuses to do business with him.
  • The Snack Is More Interesting: Blueblood doesn't take the board meeting very seriously, focusing on solving a Rubik's Cube instead.

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