This fanfic takes place in the "Mykan-verse'", yet it doesn't mean that the waterworks won't start.
Fall of Starfleet, Rebirth of Friendship
- The rewritten Chapter 1 goes into more detail about just how horrible the Equestrians' lives' have become since Starfleet took over. They are constantly looked down on as "inferior" and always worry about possible threats.
- Rainbow Dash visits some ponies the FiM fandom will surely recognize and their lives have taken a turn for the worse thanks to Starfleet.
- Raindrops is currently unemployed and her little brother isn't meeting Starfleet's standards in learning.
- Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon are facing prejudice from Starfleet for their romantic relationship.
- Ditzy Doo is deemed by Starfleet to be unfit for caring for her daughter, Dinky.
- Not to mention, Ditzy is Dinky's only parent as her husband is deceased.
- Carrot Top's farm has been repossessed. Furthermore, she has no family or friends to support her; when she later joins up with the Umbra Circle, she's perfectly fine with dying in the line of duty since she has nothing to go home to.
- Almost any time Twilight Sparkle is brought up. Even though it's been years since she's been killed, her death still affects the Mane 5 and Spike tremendously.
- Want an example? In Chapter 4, Pinkie Pie introduces the yet-to-be-named Belle Amie to the others while genuinely thinking it's a resurrected Twilight. Applejack and Rainbow Dash have to gently explain to explain that it isn't Twilight, greatly saddening Pinkie. It's then revealed that Pinkie took Twilight's death pretty hard and didn't leave her house for several weeks, requiring Rainbow and Applejack to break down the door and drag her to a psychiatrist in order for her to function well again. The fact that this is Pinkie Pie makes this all the worse.
- It really can't be overstated how badly Pinkie took Twilight's death. Chapter 4 has Belle trying and failing to do magic, and Pinkie slips up and tells Belle that they'll have Twilight help her out. The mere memory of Twilight reduces Pinkie to tears. Later, there's a small internal comment by Rainbow about Pinkie smiling for real again; once again, the fact that this is Pinkie Pie makes the implications that much more painful.
- Even though Rarity's discovery that she's pregnant in Chapter 6 is pretty lighthearted, it's later brought up in that chapter that, whether United Equestria is or isn't at war, her and Spike's child is going to have a rough time growing up in the xenophobic, fascist Police State that is United Equestria.
- Even before she finds out she's pregnant, we see that things haven't been going well for United Equestria, as Rarity notes that for the past two weeks since the war began she's been having to more often than not been given requests to make mourning and funeral outfits for families whose loved ones have been killed in areas attacked by Dark Conquest's army. She even notes that the carousel boutique at times feels less like a fashion store and more of a funeral parlor.
- The death of Myte in Chapter 8. Both he and Dyno ultimately end up in a fight against Raven, which goes very badly for both of them. Myte ultimately tries to save his brother from Raven, only to for her to incapacitate him and then brutally snaps his neck in front of not just Dyno but their team and the rebels. And the whole reason this was done? Because Raven personally wanted someone alive in order for the suffering to be that much greater.
- Even worse is that, beforehand, Dyno revealed that he and Myte didn't like the hero lifestyle or even enjoy being heroes anymore, and that he and Myte want to work in construction and chemistry, respectively. Unfortunately now, Myte will never get to pursue his dream job.
- There's also Dyno's reaction to it as well. He and Myte were very close and ultimately he has to watch his only brother be brutally murdered in front of him. At Myte's funeral, he ultimately breaks down and gives a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech to his teammates shortly before quitting Starfleet.
- Pinkie Pie's little story about her grandmother's death is most likely this for anypony who lost a parent/grandparent.
- Pinkie Pie's one shot is absolutely heartwrenching. A moment that hits hard in particular is when Pinkie Pie first sees Twilight's dead body and starts begging for her friend to wake up. This is not at all helped by the fact that according to the rest of the Mane Five, Starfleet saw her behavior as immature. Another one is when Pinkie gets a life-size doll of Twilight and deludes herself into thinking she can bring Twilight back. She neglects to eat for quite some time and when Applejack and Rainbow Dash find her, she's a complete wreck.
- The entirety of the "Birth of an Apple" fic. Highlights include the death of Applejack's parents and some of the ways we see her hide her pain and just how bitterly everypony addresses Lightning Dawn, making it very clear the contempt they have towards him, and Starfleet as a whole, for ruining their lives.
- While Chapter 11 ends on a happy note despite the death of Buddy Rose at the hands of Dark Conquest and Raven, Chapter 12 doesn't forget the ramifications of Buddy's death. As it turns out, he was Daphne's only family and because of that, she's being taken away. Thankfully, Applejack prevents this from happening, but it still shows Daphne's pain very well.
- Krysta's reaction to Lightning Dawn's death at the hands of Dark Conquest. Keep in mind, he's her only friend at this point. Thankfully, Lightning Dawn reveals that he faked his death with the help of the Umbra Circle and a golem.
- The deaths of Mysterious, Dementia, And Rep-stallion in their previous lives (and the circumstances) are quite heartbreaking.
- In contrast, it's hard to not shed a tear when the trio reunites with their loved ones, especially Starla and Dimentia.
- In chapter 17, Trixie and Pinkie figure out that Spark and Belle are each other's missing halves, and Pinkie is initially excited at the news that they can combine the two and prevent them from fading away. However, Trixie reminds her that fusing the two may very well destroy one or both of them, and may or may not bring back Twilight Sparkle as they hope. For the remainder of their incomplete friends' lifespans, they try so hard to find another way to keep them alive - to do what they've done against all odds for the entire story and find an outcome where everyone wins, and all their friends walk away alive - but in the end, there's simply no third option, and they have to let go.
- With the Elements' lives on the line, Spark seeks out Belle, revealing that she retained Twilight's identity, and asks Belle to join with her so that she can become whole and save her friends. However, doing so would destroy Belle's identity, and Belle takes this about as well as you'd expect, having devoted her existence to finding her memories only to learn that she had none and was merely a fragment of Twilight's being. Ultimately, she agrees to undertake the fusion; while this means that the Twilight everyone knows and loves is back for good, Belle Amie - the new friend that the rest of the Mane Six and the reader grew attached to over the course of the story - is now gone, and even with the World-Healing Wave, there's no going back.
- The author's note at the end of the chapter is depressing as well. Legendbringer notes that, while Belle started out as a throwaway character, he eventually grew attached to her and knew that the characters in-story would as well. He really wanted to give Belle the ending her story deserves, where she gets to live happily with her friends, but ultimately, they need Twilight Sparkle, which means Belle has to go.
- Despite nearly all of the characters getting their happy ending, Celesto did not. The brief moment he gets in the epilogue shows us that what the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to teach him as a colt didn't stick; he just could not accept the reality of his failure and now spends his days in a mental institution loudly proclaiming that he will one day rule Equestria again, all while wearing a cardboard horn strapped to his forehead. Of course, whether Celesto deserved a happy ending after all the misery he inflicted is heavily debatable, but it's a pitiful scene nonetheless.
Fall of Starfleet, Evolution of Friendship
- The story opens with Sunset telling the reader that the events of Evolution of Friendship are her final experiences in the human world before having to leave and say goodbye to the friends she made there.
- The voices trying to drive Sunset's group apart. And that are driving Sci-Twi insane.
- Starla Shine's backstory. Her mother was a soldier, Starla admired her and hoped to be a hero like her... Then her mother died in battle during the 1998 alien invasion, she was adopted by Celesto to be raised as a fighter, and no matter what she's overshadowed by the Rainbooms in general and Sunset and Rarity in particular.
- Her mutually hostile relationship with Sunset Shimmer is this, as they were friends once... And then, Celesto needed enemies for his chosen heroes to fight, so he had Starla make Sunset her enemy, and she just cannot make amends now.
- The sheer amount of people that thought Pinkie was crazy or stupid, or both... And the fact her uncle is still convinced she's a witch, and apparently tried to kill her. The only silver lining to the latter is that she was sent to live with Maude, and thus she enrolled at Canterlot High, to keep her safe from the uncle.
- Sunset's Heroic BSoD when she found out Imperious managed to get Dyno, Myte and other students to kill themselves before being defeated.
- Why Sunset broke the Humane Five up in this universe: she was trying to break the human counterparts of Starfleet up to protect everyone from them, but somehow she got a different group. And then, Rhymey and someone else forced Rainbow Dash to break up with Fluttershy to isolate her and get at her ancestors' dragon slayer legacy.
- Beast Boy's whereabouts are this and Nightmare Fuel: Gallant's master is "helping" him find his perfect world... By making him dream of many alternate worlds until he finds the right one. He's currently experiencing a variant of the one where he becomes a count and "he is this monster, warrior, and more".
- Alternate!Kimberly Hart's backstory is both this and Nightmare Fuel, with even Unos being horrified: her world's Lord Zedd had her tortured and raped to death, then she was revived as a cyborg and cut loose on her former friends, and after killing them she's traveling through the multiverse to scour it of every trace of them.
- Sunset leaving the HuMane 6 behind.
"I... was a good friend, right?"
"You were beautiful."
"Goodbye, everyone. Take care..."
"You were beautiful."
"Goodbye, everyone. Take care..."
