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Fanfic / A Kingdom Divided

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"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand."

For many years, citizens of Equestria have lived in peace and happiness, protected by the princesses and the bearers of Elements of Harmony; but soon, everything will change. This time there are no villains or unspeakable dangers; there's just war, hate, and ponies giving and taking lives. From the streets of Detrot to the Royal Palace in Canterlot, each pony will rise up against his fellow pony, and one of them will not rise up to see another day.

A Kingdom Divided is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Dark Fic by 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.

Can be read here.

Also has a side-story called The Nest.

This fanfic contains examples of the following tropes:

  • Accidental Aiming Skills: In chapter 3, Vinyl somehow manages to shoot Cloud Kicker while aiming at Star Hunter.
    "Nice shot, my ass," Vinyl muttered to herself, trying to figure out what was worse: her aiming skills or the crosshair of her gun.
  • Actual Pacifist: Firefly believes that by using violence to end violence, she'd become like the people who started the war to begin with.
    "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."
  • Added Alliterative Appeal: At some point, Lightning Dust refers to the airship as "big bucking balloon".
  • Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Vinyl Scratch enlists to Moon Army and becomes a gunner while drunk.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Scootaloo names dangerous things in the forests, she lists "bears, wild boars and drunk lumberjacks".
  • Artistic License – Biology: 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. Word of God states that the author actually did want to use equine blood types, but that it would have made the equipment too large and impractical.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Discussed by Rainbow Dash and Flitter when the former finds out that the latter uses a shotgun in aerial combat.
  • Badass Crew: Rainbow Dash's squadron. Practically everyone in The Nest — justified, since they're all volunteers who fight changelings.
  • Berserk Button: Saying anything bad about Diamond Tiara is Silver Spoon's one.
  • Bittersweet Ending: 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 new Element Bearers and ten years after the war, Equestria is mostly rebuilt.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:
    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.
  • Breather Episode: Chapter 12. The only dark stuff there happens in flashbacks.
  • Buffy Speak: Drunk Rainbow Dash occasionally lapses into this:
    "I’ve... never... like... told her... stuff... you know, that stuff I should’ve told her…"
  • Combat Medic: Fluttershy, Nurse Redheart and Doctors Stable, Atrium, Ventricle and Henry.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Rainbow Dash. She actually paraphrases Sailor Malan's rules of aerial combat, along with Dicta Boelcke.
    "No matter what Twilight and Princess Celestia say, 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 another batch here."
  • Crapsaccharine World: 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.
  • Cyborg: Sweetie Belle after sustaining nearly fatal wounds and being healed by Discord.
  • Dark Messiah: Princess Luna. She claims that her aim is to protect the poorest ponies from being exploited, but her means include bombing of Canterlot.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 11 for Big Macintosh; chapter 12 for Cloudchaser. In the case of Lyra Heartstrings, chapter 11 is A Death in the Limelight
  • Dead Guy Junior: Silver Spoon and Twist's adopted daughter, Diamond.
  • The Dead Have Names: 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 knows each of his soldiers by name.
  • Deadpan Snarker:
    • Twilight, when Rainbow Dash asks her for a hangover cure:
      Twilight: "There's one potion. It's called 'water', and you should drink it instead of alcohol".
    • Nurse Redheart in chapter 8, when she mercilessly mocks the official propaganda.
    • Also from chapter 8, when Rarity attacks Rainbow Dash with her magic:
      Rainbow Dash: "It's okay, we were just talking."
      Cloudchaser: "Quite loudly."
  • Death from Above: Several instances, most notably in chapter 4, when field hospital is bombed with napalm and in chapter 5 when Lightning Dust accidentally drops the bombs on Scootaloo's class.
  • Dodge the Bullet: Rainbow Dash is capable of dodging the bullets, but still one of them deflects off of her armour. Lightning Dust isn't so lucky.
  • Driven to Suicide:
    • Apparently, one of the first victims of the war was Vinyl's neighbour from the hotel.
    • Also, Lyra in chapter 11.
    • And Parasol in Guns of Cloudsdale.
  • Drowning My Sorrows:
    • Rainbow Dash is prone to this. Also Vinyl Scratch when she's locked in a hotel room for four days.
    • Twilight considers this by the end of chapter 1.
  • Driven to Madness: Twilight Sparkle. And how.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: Twilight in chapter 8. Complete with quill in her mane.
  • Extremely Short Timespan: 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.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Rarity attempts this when she contacts Firefly in chapter 8.
  • Fantastic Drug: Mandrake booze in chapter 6. Rainbow Dash downs the first glass saying "Goodbye, brain cells."
  • Fantastic Racism: 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.
  • Fantastic Slurs: "Mud ponies" and "featherbrain". Both actually used by Scootaloo.
  • Fatal Family Photo: 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 Storm Chaser.
  • Final Solution: Flitter and her friends prepare that for Luna's followers in Cloudsdale.
  • Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: The Sun Army pegasi's armours are fitted with detachable 20 mm automatic cannon to fight airships. Word of God states that it was modelled after Oerlikon FF.
  • Gallows Humor: A rather bitter example in chapter 8:
    Rarity: "Can't you cooperate? Say something optimistic…"
    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'?"
  • Gondor Calls for Aid: Celestia sends a letter to Shining Armor when she learns that Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Detrot rebelled against her, and that Luna has an army of bat ponies.
  • Gorn: The view of Scootaloo's class after being hit by a bomb, especially Diamond Tiara's death.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Vinyl can't see Black Cat's body, because it's obscured by steam. Yet, she realises quickly that she has his brain in her mane.
  • Kick the Dog: Silver Spoon calling Twist "retard".
  • Large Ham: Luna has her moments.
    TREASON!
  • Literal-Minded: Cyborg!Sweetie Belle:
    Apple Bloom: "With yer fancy logic, Ah'm gonna starve to death halfway through…"
    Sweetie Belle: "Impossible. An average pony can survive up to two weeks without eating if there's a fresh water source".
  • Made of Explodium: Averted in case of the airships. Even being shot in the balloon repeatedly doesn't stop them.
  • Made of Indestructium: Radios from Crystal Empire, which can stop the bullet and still work. Lampshaded by Lyra:
    "Much better than my old radio… After the war, I'm gonna go to the Crystal Empire and thank the guy who made it…"
  • Meatgrinder Surgery: Played for Drama in chapter 4 when first Lightning Dust's wing is sewn in provisory manner and then Sweetie Belle's hind legs are cut off.
  • Million Mook March: Luna's army of bat ponies.
  • Mood Whiplash: Chapter 2, which follows Vinyl's misadventures in Manehattan is almost comedic in tone, especially when compared with the next two chapters.
  • New Meat: New recruits arrive in chapter 12.
  • No Dead Body Poops: Averted. At some point Scootaloo mentions that Silver Spoon smells of Diamond Tiara's urine.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • Whatever Vinyl was doing during her imprisonment in the hotel. The state of the room gives rather disturbing clues.
    • Also, the riots in Cloudsdale are referenced several times, but it is unknown what exactly happened there. It is explained in chapter 12.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Vinyl's reaction when she realises that she just became a soldier.
    • It's also Rainbow Dash's reaction to the anti-aircraft artillery.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Cloudchaser doesn't like swearing. When she starts swearing herself, we know that the situation is serious.
  • Technology Porn: The pegasi's armours and Moon Army's airship get lengthy descriptions, including technical details of the engines or armament.
  • Thousand-Yard Stare Lyra sports one after the battle in chapter 11. It gets worse after the massacre later.
  • Too Much Information: Vinyl frequently describes rather Squicky details of her physiology.
  • Unreliable Narrator: In-universe example. Rainbow Dash doesn't believe a word, when Flitter tells her what happened in Cloudsdale.
  • Vomit Discretion Shot: In chapter 6, when Cloudchaser is said to help Rainbow Dash "remove the undigested alcohol from her system".
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Happens to Vinyl after Black Cat dies.
  • The Watson: Spike in chapter 1, when he asks Twilight to explain him the causes of the crisis.
  • We Can Rule Together: Luna in Apple Bloom's dream:
    If you trust me, we can always change the future together...
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Lightning Dust, of all the ponies, criticizes Rainbow's ruthlessness in combat, calling her "Rainbow 'aim at the crew' Dash".
  • Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: While ponies usually have rather unusual names, "Scrap Yard" and "Wicked Wrench" invoke that reaction in Sweetie Belle.
  • Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": From chapter 12:
    "Are you crazy?" Cloudchaser exclaimed. "That's genocide!" "I'd rather call it 'carefulness'..." Stormfeather replied.
  • You Are Too Late: 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.

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