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Fanfic: The Thessalonica Legacy

A My Little Pony/BattleTech crossover fanfic by Dashukta (complete; 18 chapters long plus notes). Can be found at the following links:

Note that no prior familiarity with either universe is required to read and enjoy the story.

In the 31st Century, humankind has spread to thousands of planets in the Inner Sphere. Once united under the glorious banner of the Star League, the Successor States and their noble houses now fight bitter wars over the scraps of empire. When a JumpShip carrying a special task force from the Federated Suns suffers a catastrophic misjump, the occupants find themselves stranded above a strange, beautiful world at once alien and eerily familiar.

Meanwhile, in the peaceful realm of Equestria, Ponyville�s resident bookworm , Twilight Sparkle, has stumbled upon hints of a secret buried for centuries. A secret that may lay bare long-forgotten aspects of Pony history and culture.

Our story begins on the planet Valexa, where the beleaguered Militia has launched a last-ditch effort to call for help against overwhelming odds.

Compare and contrast Falling Stars.

This Fan Fic contains examples of:

Another Dimension: Equestria rests on a parallel universe version of Earth.
Backseat Driver: Pinkie Pie in Ramirez's Valkyrie, although he did ask her to help spot a target.
Berserk Button: Twilight almost had one of hers pushed with Ramirez's initial skepticism of magic's existence, as magic is very Serious Business to her. Another was smashed down to the point that she almost kills Ackermann for kidnapping Fluttershy!
Chase Scene: The climax of the story. Ramirez in the Valkyrie and two jeeps chase down Ackermann in another jeep.
Covers Always Lie: No Vulture/Mad Dog OmniMechs appear in the story, and even the Clans in general are only mentioned once in passing.
Cruel Mercy: When Ackermann is captured, the crew spare his life at Twilight's urging. Then dump him in the possibly very hostile wilderness without any equipment whatsoever. Tartaglia actually notes that shooting him on the spot could be considered a Mercy Kill.
The Cutie: Fluttershy has the same effect on the human characters that she tends to have on bronies.
Damsel in Distress: Fluttershy gets taken hostage by Ackermann near the end. She tries to use the Stare on him, but since he simply doesn't look her in the eye, it fails to work.
Darker and Edgier: When compared to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
- Lighter and Softer: When compared to Battle Tech.
Dirty Business: How the human protagonists regard war; they only fight to protect those who can't defend themselves, not out of blood-thirst. This actually helps placate the peaceful ponies who were a little freaked out by the idea of such large-scale violence.
Drop Ship: Duh, it's BattleTech. Of course there is one.
E.T. Gave Us Wi-Fi: Inverted. The Thessalonica, a Terran Hegemony merchant ship reached Equestria by misjump. The ponies adopted some of the technology the crew brought with them, such as architecture, leading to a sudden jump from little huts to fairly modern houses among other advances. And the human protagonists end up accidentally leaving a jeep behind, leading to the introduction of internal combustion engines and radios to Equestria, as seen in the epilogue.
Got Me Doing It: A few cases, to wit;
- Twilight utters "Damnit" and "Bastard" in two different instances.
- Spike is heard singing the Militia's song in the chapter before the epilogue, which includes curse words of course. Twilight scolds him for the language.
Hot Scientist / Hospital Hottie: Dr. Langley, chief medical officer of the Silvertongue.
Humans Are Flawed: This is essentially Celestia's view of humanity as a whole, based on the previous visitors and her insight into human history through them. However, she does acknowledge that individual humans can run the full spectrum of good and evil. The flipside of this trope is also mentioned: the ponies may be peaceful, but that very peace also led to technological stagnation.
I Call It Vera: Ramirez notes that this is a fairly common practice among MechWarriors, but he hasn't found a good name for his 'Mech yet. Pinkie Pie offers "Big Stompy", "Thunderfeet", and "Brown-eyed Susan". In the end, Ramirez ends up naming it "Pinkie Pie".
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Well, maybe not quite gold... Lt. Dieter Ling has a few dickish moments early on, but turns out to be decent by the end.
Magic from Technology: Postulated as a possible explanation by the humans when faced with magic.
Mama Bear: Celestia towards all ponies. She was not amused when the previous human visitors tried to abduct some of them, and makes it very clear to the human protagonists that violence and exploitation are not welcome in Equestria. She also makes it very clear that she wants them out of Equestria as soon as possible.
Medieval Stasis: Equestria had this, but it ended rather abruptly five hundred years in the past. Twilight's discovery of this kickstarts the Mane Six's end of the story.
The Mole: Ackermann. He tries to frame Liz Virat, and at first it looks like the crew falls for it, but eventually it turns out to be a ruse to lure him out.
Mythology Gag: For Battle Tech fans, the very inclusion of the Valkyrie, which is, according to Sarna.net, one of the Unseen.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Ramirez's Valkyrie is a Light 'Mech, bottom of the totem pole, and not even the best of that bottom-dweller pack. Without any other 'Mechs to compete with, though, much less heavier ones, it appears a lot more capable.
Obvious Judas: Ackermann's vitriolic rant about conquering and enslaving the ponies pretty much cements his villainy.
Pimped Out 'Mech: Ramirez claims to have pimped out his Valkyrie with a mini-fridge. He's joking, of course.
Porn Stash: Pinkie Pie finds one under a mattress within minutes of being brought aboard the Drop Ship. Fluttershy notes, with much embarrassment, that the reproductive biology is similar.
Fluttershy: Oh! Oh dear. Um� I'd say that still works the same way.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Edgar Tartaglia and Princess Celestia.
Sacrificial Lamb: Din Geremek. His Osiris takes an autocannon round to the cockpit at the end of the first chapter.
Shoot the Dog: Literally. Ramirez shoots a Diamond Dog that was about to attack Applejack.
Shout Out:
- In Chapter 2, while discussing what aliens could possibly look like, Spike and Rainbow Dash describe a Xenomorph and a Wookie, respectively.
Snark-to-Snark Combat: Ramirez and Liz, frequently.
Straw Atheist: Subverted. Ackermann seems to be a strawman evil, angry atheist at first, getting pissed off at the mention of spirituality. Turns out, he's actually a fanatical Blakist agent, and mostly well-adjusted Ramirez is actually the atheist.
Take Me to Your Leader / I Come in Peace: Said by Ramirez upon first contact. Liz Virat calls him out on using the oldest clich�s ever.
Translator Microbes: Twilight quickly overcomes the linguistic barrier with a spell once she meets the humans (but not before an adorable scene of Fluttershy and Liz Virat trying to communicate without such assistance).
Unstoppable Rage: An enraged Twilight telekinetically tears the front off a building to get at Ackermann, who's holding Fluttershy hostage, and effortlessly swaps the cable binding her over to wrap him up instead. She then comes very close to slitting his throat with his own combat knife.
You Monster!: Twilight to Ramirez when he shoots the aforementioned Diamond Dog. She calms down when the humans explain why they fight and kill, and that they do not enjoy it.