Line #125 Fanfic/AKingdomDivided


1	->''"Any [[TitleDrop kingdom divided]] against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand."''
2	-->--'''[[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew 12:25]]''', ''Literature/TheBible''
3
4	''A Kingdom Divided'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' DarkFic by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Samey90 Samey90]]. It tells the story of the civil war between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who, seeing that her sister doesn't care about the poorest of her subjects and becomes increasingly dependent on nobility, decides to lead the rebellion against her.
5
6	Can be read [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/147077/a-kingdom-divided here]].
7
8	Also has a side-story called ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/188136/the-nest The Nest]]''.
9
10	!!This fanfic contains examples of the following tropes:
11
12	* AccidentalAimingSkills: In chapter 3, Vinyl somehow manages to shoot Cloud Kicker while aiming at Star Hunter.
13	-->''"Nice shot, my ass,"'' Vinyl muttered to herself, trying to figure out what was worse: her aiming skills or the crosshair of her gun.
14	%%* AcePilot: Rainbow Dash and many members of her squadron are pegasi variation of this trope.
15	* ActualPacifist: Firefly believes that by using violence to end violence, she'd become like the people who started the war to begin with.
16	-->''"We believe that by using violence to end the war, we’d end up being like the princesses. Violence is not a solution, Rarity, you know about it well."''
17	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: At some point, Lightning Dust refers to the airship as "big bucking balloon".
18	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Vinyl Scratch [[spoiler:enlists to Moon Army and becomes a gunner]] while drunk.
19	%%* TheAllegedCar: Vinyl Scratch's first airship. Justified, since the whole crew are volunteers with little to no training.
20	%%* AntlionMonster: Several of those appear in ''The Nest''.
21	%%* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Diamond Tiara, Cheerilee, Granny Smith and the list going on...]]
22	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Scootaloo names dangerous things in the forests, she lists "''bears, wild boars and drunk lumberjacks''".
23	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In the second chapter, Vinyl Scratch has her bloodtype tested with a "human" [=AB0=] kit. Real life horses have over 30 different bloodtypes, which would require a completely different set of antibodies. WordOfGod states that the author actually ''did'' want to use equine blood types, but that it would have made the equipment too large and impractical.
24	%%* AteHisGun: [[spoiler: Lyra Heartstrings]] in chapter 11.
25	%%* AttackItsWeakPoint: The only way to deal with the airships.
26	* AwesomeButImpractical: Discussed by Rainbow Dash and Flitter when the former finds out that the latter uses a shotgun in aerial combat.
27	%%* BabiesEverAfter: Silver Spoon and Twist. Scrap Yard and Wrench.
28	* BadassCrew: Rainbow Dash's squadron. Practically everyone in ''The Nest'' -- justified, since they're all volunteers who fight changelings.
29	%%* BadassFamily: Cloudchaser, Flitter (sisters) and their cousin, Cloud Kicker. ''The Nest'' shows that Flitter and Cloudchaser's father was pretty badass too.%%How are they badass?
30	* BerserkButton: Saying anything bad about Diamond Tiara is Silver Spoon's one.
31	%%* TheBigGuy: Snowflake. To the point that he needs a custom armour.
32	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Luna, Celestia, and four Element Bearers are dead, and the fate of Twilight and Applejack is left ambiguous. Sweetie Belle is dying of cancer, and Cloudchaser is about to be executed.]] But there are [[spoiler: new Element Bearers and ten years after the war, Equestria is mostly rebuilt]].
33	%%* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Fluttershy]] before her death.
34	* BreadEggsMilkSquick:
35	-->''She [Vinyl] was just thinking about some things, which were important in her current state, like; who’d win the war, when they’d release her from the hotel, which wall would be the best to paint a picture of Octavia on it, and if it was safe to use a chair’s leg to pleasure herself.''
36	* BreatherEpisode: Chapter 12. The only dark stuff there happens in flashbacks.
37	* BuffySpeak: Drunk Rainbow Dash occasionally lapses into this:
38	-->''"I’ve... never... like... told her... stuff... you know, that stuff I should’ve told her…"''
39	%%* CareerEndingInjury: it is implied that [[spoiler: Lightning Dust's]] wound can be one.
40	%%* ClusterFBomb: Dropped by Rainbow Dash in chapter 1 and Lightning Dust in chapter 8.
41	%%* ColonelBadass: Tungsten Heart.
42	* CombatMedic: Fluttershy, Nurse Redheart and Doctors Stable, Atrium, Ventricle and [[AerithAndBob Henry]].
43	* CombatPragmatist: Rainbow Dash. She actually paraphrases Sailor Malan's rules of aerial combat, along with Dicta Boelcke.
44	-->''"No matter what Twilight and Princess Celestia say, [[SnipingTheCockpit aim at the crew]] -- if they come back to Manehattan with the dead gunners, and pilots spitting their guts out, they'll think twice before sending [[WeHaveReserves another batch]] here."''
45	%%* CoolAirship: Used mostly by Moon Army, since they were produced and stored in Manehattan.
46	%%* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Averted with [[spoiler: Rainbow Dash]] in chapter 13.
47	* CrapsaccharineWorld: In chapter 1 it's stated that Ponyville is one of the few happy islands in the sea of industrial towns struck by economic crisis.
48	%%* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: Griffons vs. the eponymous artillery]] in ''Guns of Cloudsdale''.
49	* {{Cyborg}}: [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle]] after sustaining nearly fatal wounds and [[spoiler: being healed by Discord.]]
50	* DarkMessiah: Princess Luna. She claims that her aim is to protect the poorest ponies from being exploited, but her means include [[spoiler: bombing of Canterlot]].
51	* ADayInTheLimelight: Chapter 11 for Big Macintosh; chapter 12 for Cloudchaser. In the case of [[spoiler: Lyra Heartstrings]], chapter 11 is [[spoiler: ADeathInTheLimelight]]
52	* DeadGuyJunior: Silver Spoon and Twist's adopted daughter, [[spoiler: Diamond]].
53	* TheDeadHaveNames: Played with. In chapter 11, whenever a crystal pony's name is mentioned, expect him to die in a couple of minutes (the only exceptions are Colonels Tungsten Heart and Lanthanum). Also played straight when it is mentioned that Tungsten Heart [[AFatherToHisMen knows each of his soldiers by name]].
54	* DeadpanSnarker:
55	** Twilight, when Rainbow Dash asks her for a hangover cure:
56	--->'''Twilight:''' ''"There's one potion. It's called 'water', and you should drink it ''instead'' of alcohol"''.
57	** Nurse Redheart in chapter 8, when she mercilessly mocks the official propaganda.
58	** Also from chapter 8, when [[spoiler: Rarity attacks Rainbow Dash with her magic:]]
59	--->'''Rainbow Dash:''' ''"It's okay, we were just talking."''\
60	'''Cloudchaser:''' ''"Quite loudly."''
61	%%* DealWithTheDevil: Apple Bloom makes one with Discord in chapter 7.
62	* DeathFromAbove: Several instances, most notably in chapter 4, [[spoiler: when field hospital is bombed with napalm]] and in chapter 5 when [[spoiler: Lightning Dust accidentally drops the bombs on Scootaloo's class.]]
63	%%* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: Lightning Dust]] in chapter 8.
64	%%* DemBones: [[spoiler: Fluttershy]] in Rainbow Dash's mandrake booze-induced hallucinations.
65	* DodgeTheBullet: Rainbow Dash is capable of dodging the bullets, but still one of them deflects off of her armour. [[spoiler: Lightning Dust isn't so lucky]].
66	* DrivenToSuicide:
67	** Apparently, one of the first victims of the war was Vinyl's neighbour from the hotel.
68	** Also, [[spoiler: Lyra]] in chapter 11.
69	** And [[spoiler: Parasol]] in ''Guns of Cloudsdale''.
70	* DrowningMySorrows:
71	** Rainbow Dash is prone to this. Also Vinyl Scratch when she's locked in a hotel room for four days.
72	** Twilight considers this by the end of chapter 1.
73	* DrivenToMadness: [[spoiler: Twilight Sparkle. ''And how'']].
74	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Twilight in chapter 8. Complete with quill in her mane.
75	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Second part of chapter 3, the whole chapter 4 and the first half of chapter 5 all take place during the same day, depicted from few different points of view.
76	* FaceHeelTurn: Rarity attempts this when she contacts Firefly in chapter 8.
77	* FantasticDrug: Mandrake booze in chapter 6. Rainbow Dash downs the first glass saying "''Goodbye, brain cells.''"
78	* FantasticRacism: Bat ponies are depicted in Celestia's propaganda as mindless, bloodthirsty creatures. There's also prejudice against mules, donkeys, and earth ponies among some unicorns.
79	* FantasticSlurs: "Mud ponies" and "featherbrain". Both actually used by [[WhatTheHellHero Scootaloo]].
80	* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] -- the soldier who points out that showing family photos to each other brings bad luck gets killed soon afterwards. In ''The Nest'', it's averted in case of Hard Mint. Played straight with [[spoiler: Storm Chaser]].
81	* FinalSolution: Flitter and her friends prepare that for Luna's followers in Cloudsdale.
82	* FixedForwardFacingWeapon: The Sun Army pegasi's armours are fitted with detachable [[MoreDakka 20 mm automatic cannon]] to fight airships. WordOfGod states that it was modelled after [[http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/images/mgff_cannon-2.jpg Oerlikon FF]].
83	* GallowsHumor: A rather bitter example in chapter 8:
84	-->'''Rarity:''' ''"Can't you cooperate? Say something optimistic…"''\
85	'''Nurse Redheart:''' ''"What? 'Thanks to our efforts, only one pegasus will probably be disabled for life, and only half of the crew take sleeping pills, antidepressants or stimulants'?"''
86	* GondorCallsForAid: Celestia sends a letter to Shining Armor when she learns that Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Detrot [[spoiler:rebelled against her]], and that Luna has an army of bat ponies.
87	* {{Gorn}}: The view of [[spoiler: Scootaloo's class after being hit by a bomb]], especially [[spoiler: Diamond Tiara's]] death.
88	* GoryDiscretionShot: Vinyl can't see [[spoiler: Black Cat's body]], because it's obscured by steam. Yet, she realises quickly that [[spoiler: she has his brain in her mane]].
89	%%* GratuitousGerman: Some bat ponies speak in it.
90	%%* GreyAndGrayMorality
91	%%* GunNut: Flitter.
92	%%* GunPorn: Several instances.
93	* {{Hallucinations}}: Rainbow Dash has a rather bad trip after drinking mandrake booze.
94	* HeroicBSOD: Rainbow Dash gets one after [[spoiler: Lightning Dust and her created a tornado to destroy a damaged airship]], complete with nightmares.
95	** Lightning Dust actually faints [[spoiler: when she finds out that she dropped a bomb on a group of foals]].
96	* {{Hypocrite}}: Luna yelling treason when she found out that Twilight had the elements just in case she was corrupted again. Right, [[SarcasmMode the princess that betrayed her sister and was going to start a war that would undoubtly kill thousands has every right to call Twilight a traitor.]]
97	* ImmortalityHurts: Discussed by Discord in chapter 7:
98	-->''"This is entropy,"'' he said, poking [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle]], ''"Harmony of a living thing slowly turning into a chaos… Maybe I should left it that way… During my long life I learned many things about loss. You should also get used to it…"''
99	%%* InterruptedSuicide: Cloudchaser enters [[spoiler: Rainbow Dash's]] room just in time.
100	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The latter, however, is a JerkassWoobie.
101	* KickTheDog: Silver Spoon calling Twist "retard".
102	* LargeHam: Luna has her moments.
103	-->''TREASON!''
104	* LiteralMinded: [[spoiler: Cyborg!Sweetie Belle]]:
105	-->'''Apple Bloom:''' ''"With yer fancy logic, Ah'm gonna starve to death halfway through…"''\
106	[[spoiler: '''Sweetie Belle:''']] ''"Impossible. An average pony can survive up to two weeks without eating if there's a fresh water source"''.
107	%%* LittleNo: Twilight's reaction to [[spoiler: Fluttershy's]] death.
108	%%* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: Fluttershy]] talking about priorities to Doctor Stable.
109	* MadeOfExplodium: Averted in case of the airships. Even being shot in the balloon repeatedly doesn't stop them.
110	* MadeOfIndestructium: Radios from Crystal Empire, which can stop the bullet and still work. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Lyra:
111	-->''"Much better than my old radio… After the war, I'm gonna go to the Crystal Empire and thank the guy who made it…"''
112	* MeatgrinderSurgery: PlayedForDrama in chapter 4 when first [[spoiler: Lightning Dust's wing is sewn in provisory manner]] and then [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle's hind legs are cut off.]]
113	* MillionMookMarch: Luna's army of bat ponies.
114	* MoodWhiplash: Chapter 2, which follows Vinyl's misadventures in Manehattan is almost comedic in tone, especially when compared with the next two chapters.
115	%%* NeverGetsDrunk: Snowflake is type 3. Not surprising, taking [[TheBigGuy his size]] into consideration.
116	* NewMeat: New recruits arrive in chapter 12.
117	* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted. At some point Scootaloo mentions that [[spoiler: Silver Spoon smells of Diamond Tiara's urine]].
118	%%* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Twist.
119	* NoodleIncident:
120	** Whatever Vinyl was doing during her imprisonment in the hotel. The state of the room gives rather disturbing clues.
121	** Also, the riots in Cloudsdale are referenced several times, but it is unknown what exactly happened there. [[spoiler: It is explained in chapter 12]].
122	* OhCrap:
123	** Vinyl's reaction when she realises that she [[spoiler: just became a soldier]].
124	** It's also Rainbow Dash's reaction to [[spoiler: the anti-aircraft artillery]].
125	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Cloudchaser doesn't like swearing. When she starts swearing herself, we know that the situation is serious.
126	%%* PhallicWeapon: Cloudchaser thinks this about Flitter's shotgun.
127	%%* PinkMist: The bat pony sniper speaks about it after [[spoiler: shooting Fluttershy]].
128	%%* ThePollyanna: Dinky Hooves, despite [[spoiler: being paralyzed.]]
129	%%* PropagandaMachine: Fancy Pants is a part of Celestia's one.
130	%%* PunnyName: Major Road Ahead.
131	* RedshirtArmy: Vinyl, Roo and other volunteers are supposed to be this for Princess Luna.
132	* RetiredBadass: Roo. His cutie mark is a crocodile in a crosshair.
133	* RoomFullOfCrazy: Vinyl Scratch's hotel room after she spends four days with few bottles of vodka in it.
134	* SchizoTech: The level of military technology resembles [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI first]] and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII second]] world war, but there [[SuspiciouslySpecificTense was]] also a TV in Vinyl's room. The DJ's equipment is also mentioned.
135	* SelfHarm: [[spoiler: Rainbow Dash]] cuts herself at the end of chapter 6.
136	* ShoutOut:
137	** [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Let’s not go to Canterlot, ‘tis a silly place.]]
138	** Cloudchaser reads the book called ''The Story of a Real Pony'' – allusion to a Russian war novel ''The Story of a Real Man'' by Boris Polevoy. Its protagonist is a Soviet pilot who learns to fly again after his legs were amputated.
139	** During the bar scene in chapter 6, a pony resembling Music/TomWaits appears.
140	** [[Fanfic/TheVinylScratchTapes Vinyl's middle name is Agatha.]]
141	** Several shout outs after [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle's transformation to cyborg]]: her first words are "Hello world" – name of the program often used to demonstrate the syntax of programming languages; she also follows [[Creator/IsaacAsimov the Three Laws of Robotics,]] and [[Franchise/StarWars is fluent in over six million forms of communication.]]
142	** Scrap Yard, a character introduced in chapter 7 occasionally lapses into [[Literature/AClockworkOrange nadsat]].
143	%%* SteelEarDrums: Averted in case of [[spoiler: Apple Bloom]], played straight with [[spoiler: Silver Spoon]].%%How?
144	%%* SugarApocalypse: As soon as the war starts.
145	%%* SwearJar: Cloudchaser has one.
146	* TechnologyPorn: The pegasi's armours and Moon Army's airship get lengthy descriptions, including technical details of the engines or armament.
147	* ThousandYardStare Lyra sports one after the battle in chapter 11. [[spoiler: It gets worse after the massacre later.]]
148	* TooMuchInformation: Vinyl frequently describes rather {{Squick}}y details of her physiology.
149	* UnreliableNarrator: In-universe example. Rainbow Dash doesn't believe a word, when Flitter tells her what happened in Cloudsdale.
150	* VomitDiscretionShot: In chapter 6, when Cloudchaser is said to help Rainbow Dash "''remove the undigested alcohol from her system''".
151	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Happens to Vinyl after [[spoiler: Black Cat dies]].
152	%%* WarFic
153	%%* WarIsHell: From chapter 3 onwards.
154	* TheWatson: Spike in chapter 1, when he asks Twilight to explain him the causes of the crisis.
155	* WeCanRuleTogether: Luna in Apple Bloom's dream:
156	--> ''If you trust me, we can always change the future together...''
157	* WhatTheHellHero: Lightning Dust, of all the ponies, criticizes Rainbow's ruthlessness in combat, calling her "Rainbow 'aim at the crew' Dash".
158	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: While ponies usually have rather unusual names, "Scrap Yard" and "Wicked Wrench" invoke that reaction in Sweetie Belle.
159	* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: From chapter 12:
160	-->''"Are you crazy?"'' Cloudchaser exclaimed. ''"That's genocide!"''
161	''"I'd rather call it 'carefulness'..."'' Stormfeather replied.
162	%%* WrenchWench: Wicked Wrench.
163	* YouAreTooLate: In chapter 4 Fluttershy rushes to bring bag of blood for a wounded soldier, only to be told by Doctor Stable that he's already dead.
164	%%* YourHeadAsplode: How [[spoiler: Black Cat]] dies.

Context Fanfic / AKingdomDivided