History FandomSpecificPlot / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic

* There are several fics revolving around Celestia and Rainbow Dash having a mother-daughter relationship. These fics generally either have Rainbow Dash be taken in as Celestia's apprentice instead of (or in addition to) Twilight, sometimes rewriting her as a Unicorn in the process, have Celestia straight-up adopt Rainbow as a child, or in some cases even have Rainbow be Celestia's [[LostOrphanedRoyalty long-lost biological daughter or descendant]] (While Rainbow has canonical parents, the last one isn't ''too'' absurd, since RD and Celestia both have similar eye and mane colors).

* Sunset Shimmer, similar to the rest of the villains, being given a FreudianExcuse for her actions; though unlike other villains, she is usually shown to [[HeelFaceTurn redeem herself]] by the end of these. After Sunset really ''did'' redeem herself in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'', half of these plots shifted to focus less on her redemption and more on her being TheWoobie for being ReformedButRejected.
** As an extension of the most popular excuse, most fanfic writers utilize the fanon that Sunset is Celestia's adopted or biological daughter, with her desire for power and becoming an alicorn stemming from a belief that she needed to accomplish such [[WellDoneSonGuy in order to gain or be worthy of her mother's love]].
** There's a bevy of fics where both Sunset and Celestia display a lot of remorse for how things ended between them, with Sunset being terrified of talking to her old mentor out of guilt and Celestia just wanting to see her student again and let her know she's loved. Such a thing would become AscendedFanon in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship Forgotten Friendship]]'', where Sunset returns to Equestria and apologizes for being a SpoiledBrat to Celestia (even though that wasn't the primary purpose of Sunset's visit).

* Rainbow Dash having an accident and, irreparably or not, injuring her wings, requiring another character to care for her (may or may not involve shipping). At one point these were ''so'' ubiquitous that Equestria Daily outright ''banned'' them. Then there was the ''actual episode'' where Rainbow broke her wing and was confined to a bed... [[MadeOfIron for three days]], [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome in a hospital]].

** As an extension of the most popular excuse, most fanfic writers utilize the fanon that Sunset is Celestia's adopted or biological daughter, with her desire for power and becoming an alicorn stemming from a belief that she needed to accomplish such [[WellDonSonGuy in order to gain or be worthy of her mother's love]].

* Sunset Shimmer received attention similar to the rest of the villains, where she's given a FreudianExcuse for her actions, though usually Sunset is shown to [[HeelFaceTurn redeem herself]] by the end of these. After Sunset really ''did'' redeem herself in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'', half of these plots shifted to focus less on her redemption and more on her being TheWoobie for being ReformedButRejected.
** Going off of the Freudian excuse angle, most fanfic writers operate under the assumption that Sunset was orphaned as a filly and raised by Celestia, with whom she developed a close daughter/mother relationship or at least wanted such (hence why she desired so much to become an alicorn herself). Of course, there are also fanfics where she just plain is Celestia's biological daughter.

* There are a ''ton'' of {{Accusation Fic}}s and {{Betrayal Fic}}s based on the Anon-A-Miss incident from the ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWHolidays2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special]]''. The darker ones tend to go the extra mile in TheWoobie department, with it being popular to either have Sunset get beaten down physically and/or make her suicidally depressed, in order to pile on the guilt for both the CMC (for starting everything) and the Humane Five (for abandoning her). Even a good chunk of the lighter ones shift into BetrayalFic territory and have Sunset break ties with the others, before finding new friends at CHS (usually a popular background character like Derpy) and/or transferring to Crystal Prep (where she's likely to re-encounter and befriend the Dazzlings), if she doesn't decide to return to Equestria.

* There are several fics revolving around Celestia and Rainbow Dash having a mother-daughter relationship. These fics generally either have Rainbow Dash be taken in as Celestia's apprentice instead of (or in addition to) Twilight, sometimes rewriting her as a Unicorn in the process, have Celestia straight-up adopt Rainbow as a child, or in some cases even have Rainbow be Celestia's [[LostOrphanedRoyalty long-lost biological daughter or descendant]]. While Rainbow has canonical parents, the last one isn't ''too'' absurd, since RD and Celestia both have similar eye and mane colors).

** Going off of the Freudian excuse angle, most fanfic writers operate under the assumption that Sunset was orphaned as a filly and raised by Celestia, with whom she developed a close daughter/mother relationship (hence why she desired so much to become an alicorn herself). Of course, there are also fanfics where she just plain is Celestia's biological daughter.

* There are a ''ton'' of {{Accusation Fic}}s and {{Betrayal Fic}}s based on the Anon-A-Miss incident from the ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWHolidays2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special]]''. The darker ones tend to go the extra mile in TheWoobie department, with it being popular to either have Sunset get beaten down physically or make her suicidal, in order to pile on the guilt for both the CMC (for starting everything) and the Humane Five (for abandoning her). Even a good chunk of the lighter ones shift into BetrayalFic territory and have Sunset break ties with the others, before finding new friends at CHS (usually a popular background character like Derpy) and/or transferring to Crystal Prep (where she's likely to re-encounter and befriend the Dazzlings), if she doesn't decide to return to Equestria.
* Given the sheer lack of information on Sunset's human counterpart, many fics like to either have them meet or explain how she replaced her alternate self.

* Due to the lack of visible family, "Scootaloo is discovered to be orphaned/abused/etc. and gets adopted" is practically a genre unto itself. Rainbow Dash is popular as someone to adopt Scootaloo, but there are adoption stories with each of the Mane Six, pairings among the Main Six, Ms. Cheerilee (it helps that in G3, Scootaloo is Cheerilee's little sister and their personalities don't change overly much for FIM) Lyra and Bon Bon, OriginalCharacters, ''fellow classmates'' of hers who are aged up for the story, Celestia, Luna, and even '''Discord.''' These fanworks became less common when a book revealed that Scootaloo's parents are around but [[WhenYouComingHomeDad busy]], with Scootaloo being predominantly reared by her two [[{{Nephewism}} aunts]]. An episode in the final season would confirm this information definitively by showing both of Scootaloo's parents, on-screen and very much alive. This episode ended up killing off the "Scootaloo is an orphan" stories for good.

* "Spike gets turned into a pony" (often a pegasus, for some reason) is also pretty common, either [[BalefulPolymorph accidentally]] or deliberately in order to impress Rarity. Presumably because 1: It makes {{Shipping}} easier and 2: It's a good setup for a BeYourself Aesop that wouldn't be out of place in the actual show.

* Ever since the Pinkie Pie-centric DarkFic ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'' became a smash hit, slews of fanfics have followed in its footsteps. They typically involve a character turning evil (or turning out to be evil all along), usually for no good reason, and slaughtering one or more other characters, usually for no good reason either. Almost all Mane Six members have at least one popular fanfic with this premise. Rainbow Dash has ''Rainbow Factory'', Twilight Sparkle has ''The Experiments of Twilight Sparkle'', Rarity has ''Rarity's New Dress''. Fluttershy is a variation -- her ''Pattycakes'' contains no gratuitous violence, but it's often said to be just as traumatizing than the above fics, if not more so. Secondary characters get this too -- Big Macintosh has the infamous ''Sweet Apple Massacre'', Cheerilee has ''Cheerilee's Garden'', and Trixie has ''Trixie's Funhouse''. A popular type of these follows the lines of "Twilight Sparkle is destined to turn evil, or is turned evil by by a malevolent force destined to re-take Equestria." These often feature [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]]/MindRape of the Mane Six and/or the CMC, and an epic quest to defeat her or turn her back to good. King Sombra and his corruption are sometimes involved in this. Another popular type is Twilight [[TheStarscream overthrowing Celestia, possibly even killing her]]. Now that Twilight actually is a Princess herself, the fics have taken a new direction; instead of being like an [[Franchise/StarWars Sith Apprentice killing his master to become the next Sith Lord]], it's more like an assassination.

* Ever since "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and "Party of One", Pinkie's straight-haired emo hairstyle has been something of a fixture of the fandom, with the change of Pinkie's mane and tail from fuzzy to straight indicating some form of emotional trauma. Equally frequently is the tendency of writers to refer to her straight-haired form as "Pinkamena" to distinguish it from the puffy-maned Pinkie. Combine it with the popularity of ''{{Fanfic/Cupcakes}}'' and you have Pinkamena being less depressed and more AxCrazy.

* A seventh Element of Harmony being revealed. If an OC is involved, it usually requires a retcon of what happened when they were first used. When an OC wasn't involved, Trixie was a common candidate. After the Tree of Harmony was introduced, these stories died out for the most part.