The Days That Came Before: An Outline · 4:32pm Oct 5th, 2015
(The seed of this idea was the challenge of using MLP Generation 1 characters and locations and integrate them into the Friendship is Magic canon.)
Years and Years Ago...
Ponyland is a paradise ruled by the Unicorns, powerful creatures with magical abilities. They rule over the humble Earth Ponies, a subservient race saved from complete slavery because of their uncanny food growing abilities.
The Unicorn King, Iron Hoof, is troubled by rumors of rebellion and orders his barons to start investigating and crushing the threat. A simple farmer, Speed, goes to his village’s mystic for guidance. The mystic proclaims the arrival of a third race and the choosing of two who will rule all three races. Speed is in love with his neighbor’s daughter, Applejack, and the two make plans to marry and leave their home of Dream Valley to forge their own destiny.
Paradise Estate, the home of the Unicorn rulers, plays host to the gathering of the Thirteen; the most powerful magicians in all of Ponyland. Spell Shimmer, the eldest of the Thirteen, has passed away. His pupil, the beautiful Chrystabelle, is chosen as the new leader. This angers Hydia and Catrina*, two powerful witches, and they demand a magical dual. Chrystabelle easily defeats them both. Hydia, to save her own life and the lives of her daughters, Draggle and Reeka, transforms Catrina into a feline-like creature who quickly escapes. The Thirteen agree to choose a new member, and the chosen one is Chrystabelle’s own pupil Twilight.
Stone Heart, the baron of Dream Valley, invades Speed and Applejack’s wedding and demands he be given the bride for her wedding night. Speed fights but is restrained and watches as his new wife is taken. She returns the next day and the pair agree to never speak of what happened.
Stone Heart’s brother, Noble Heart, learns of his brother’s actions and condemns them. Stone Heart laughs off his concerns but is horrified when his castle is attacked in the night. Deciding it was Speed, he orders the pony arrested. Before the order can be carried out, Speed and Applejack are rescued by two Earth Pony rebel fighters named Celeste and Selena**. Speed meets the rebel leader Slugger and, impressed with his dedication, agrees to fight with him.
Stone Heart returns to Paradise Estate and tells of the brewing rebellion. His warnings are laughed off by all except Hydia, Draggle, and Reeka. Hydia and her daughters come to the rebellion in a dream and tell them of a great power, a relic that can aid their cause; the Rainbow of Light. Upon waking, Speed, Applejack, Celeste, and Selena leave to find the treasure. Once they’ve departed, the brash Slugger organizes the rebels and marches on Paradise Estate.
King Iron Hoof learns of the march and requests the Thirteen remain in the Estate for their own safety. Noble Heart suggests reasoning with the peasants but Stone Heart wants them smashed utterly. Iron Hoof is swayed by Stone Heart and dispatches his army. Chrystabelle confides in Hydia that someone in the Thirteen might be aligned with a threat rising from Tambelon, a distant and abandoned kingdom.
The four travelers find the Temple of Many Colors and face challenges to prove their worthiness. Celeste and Selena pass their tests by saving Speed and Applejack and are touched by the magic. They transform into god-like creatures called Alicorns and take the names Celestia and Luna. As Celestia and Luna prepare to transport them to the battlefield, Applejack reveals her pregnancy.
Just before the two forces can strike one another, they are stopped by the arrival of the Alicorns. While all are stunned silent, emissaries from the Pegasi tribe also reveal themselves.
Hydia watches everything with quiet amusement.
King Iron Hoof is intrigued by the new developments and troubled when Speed tells him of Stone Heart’s transgressions. Stone Heart is dismissed from the court and fears that he will lose his barony. Hydia meets with him and offers him a greater purpose.
Noble Heart and Chrystabelle meet in secret and confirm their love for one another. Chrystabelle confides her fears about change to Noble Heart and he assures her that everything will work out in the end. A shadowy entity comes to Chrystabelle in her dreams and tells her of a spell that will make her an Alicorn as well. She is thrilled, but terrified at the idea and does not go through with the spell.
Iron Hoof negotiates with Firefly, the head Pegasi emissary, about the relocation of her ponies to Ponyland. Firefly hints that her ponies have the power to control the weather. Iron Hoof is intrigued since the unicorns don’t even have that power. Stone Heart summons the darkness Hydia spoke of and pledges himself to it.
Speed and Iron Hoof speak and it’s revealed that knowing Speed has quelled Iron Hoof’s fears about rebellion. Slugger is still wary but agrees to a council with the king the next day. That night, Iron Hoof is murdered by Stone Heart who plants evidence implicating Slugger’s wife, Buttons. Tensions flare between the two camps as Iron Hoof has no heir. The Thirteen agree to a Commune, to tap into the cosmos and know who shall hold the throne next. The Commune reveals Celestia and Luna as the rulers. They ascend, but claim the arrangement will be temporary and demand the title of Princess instead of Queen.
While ponies are distracted by Applejack’s giving birth, a band of hooded ponies (under Stone Heart’s spell) attack and lynch Buttons. Slugger stirs his supporters into a blood frenzy and attacks Paradise Estate. Speed is forced to stand against his friend and tearfully kills him. He proclaims himself the new leader of the Earth Ponies and promises peace between the races.
Tense negotiations begin to grant the Earth Ponies equal rights. Speed finds a friend in Noble Heart and introduces him to his daughter Clover, a unicorn. Chrystabelle convinces the Thirteen to back the Equal Rights movement. Stone Heart again summons the darkness for aid and assumes the shape of his brother. He pressures Chrystabelle to try the spell. She does so and is transformed into a hideous insect-like creature. “Noble Heart” coldly rejects her and she flees. Hydia makes a play for control of the Thirteen but is ousted by Starswirl when she reveals her loyalty to the Darkness of Tambelon. Before she escapes, she shatters and slaughters most members of the Council and stops the rotation of the moon and sun.
Celestia and Luna use their fantastic powers to raise and lower the celestial bodies. Stone Heart preaches that the Equal Rights Movement has shattered the Thirteen. Twilight sees the darkness in Stone Heart and reveals him as the monster he is. Noble Heart has an honor dual with his brother in which Stone Heart fully gives in to the power granted to him; the ancient Rainbow of Darkness. The newly re-christened Dark Heart is defeated by his brother escapes through Starswirl’s new magic mirror.
In her volcano lair, Hydia and her daughters are reunited with Catrina and the four reveal their master; the ram Grogar, lord of Tambelon. He orders them to summon the Smooze, a beast that will consume Ponyland.
Starswirl agrees to take the tot Clover under his teaching. Noble Heart finds a new love in Twilight. Celestia and Luna begin to teach the unicorns how to raise the sun and the moon. Speed is elated as the Equal Rights Movement becomes law. Peace descends upon the land.
Years later, as Celestia and Luna prepare to step down for Noble Heart and his new Queen Twilight, Hydia, Reeka, Draggle, and Catrina unleash the Smooze. It sweeps the land and causes enormous destruction. Those not killed in the first wave begin to die from disease. Applejack is lost in the chaos. Celestia and Luna manage to destroy the Smooze. While they rest, Speed leads a force against Hydia and Catrina. Starswirl and Twilight are almost overwhelmed but are saved by Clover, whose cleverness leads to the witches defeat. Grogar reveals himself and kills his supporters for failing him, hinting that he has stronger followers on the way (Tirek and Scorpan).
Celestia and Luna join the party as they march on Tambelon. The final battle is joined and Grogar kills Speed. With no other choice, Celestia and Luna ring the bells of the city, banishing Grogar and themselves to the Shadow Lands. They promise to return once Grogar is defeated.
As the years pass, the pony tribes begin to distrust one another as they try to rebuild after their destruction. Noble Heart and Twilight have a daughter, Platinum, while leadership of the Earth Ponies falls to the ditzy and unprepared Pastry family. As the distrust grows, dark times fall on Ponyland and the Windigos arrive.
The only hope is that one day, Celestia and Luna will return to save them all.
Not long after the first Hearth’s Warming and the founding of Equestria, Clover finds a bell in the snow that Starswirl identifies as the Bell of Tambelon. He warns that the sisters might not have defeated Grogar yet. Clover says that it’s a chance that must be taken and rings the bell.
Thoughts? Questions?
Seems like this might be more fitting to a trilogy than a single fic, but you know better how it would all flow.
3446385 Either way, it would take forever.
Anything you particularly like or dislike?
Wild comment appears! Looks like this is the first time I commented on your post, I don't really remember...
Anyway! the concept is pretty interesting, I'm digging the history, worldbuilding, and the politics. I hope you will write that well. Not much to say except go for it, except one plotline that really disturb me.
WARNING: BELOW PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SOME TRIGGER WORDS!:
Why the hell did you include freaking rape, man? Did it really matter that much in the plot? Why must Applejack getting raped? Would the story suffers if you do not include it? And not only Applejack would not talk about it, the drama is for the villain except for babies/foal plotlines. I'm so sick of Rape=Drama trope in stories no matter what the justification is. It's sickening, and I wish that trope would die in a fire.
... Sorry for the anger, but I'm not sorry for my dislike of that trope. I do hope that you would exclude it if you think it wouldn't disturb the story. You are a great writer, and I like most of your stuff. Probably you would make a decent justification regarding that, but I'm not taking any chances.
Just my two cents.
3446730 I dunno. It all sounds interesting, if stuffed rather gratuitously full of characters and references. Though maybe that's just intrinsic to telling a good long story- one of the secondhand criticisms brought up when I shared the Continuity TV Tropes page was that it gave the impression of the supposedly common error of trying to cram all of one's ideas into a single story so they don't fall by the wayside. (Pah, compared to, say, The Conquering of Love it's practically light reading.
)
3446841 You know, I have to agree with you.
You've made some excellent points. I don't see the need for the rape story line besides the drama. I see no reason Apple Jack couldn't be pregnant by her husband, still the same pregnant will the baby be OK drama; without the rape drama.
Also with someone taking away the new bride because they feel that they have right to her? I can not be the only one who cringes at such an old, outdated idea that women are strictly possessions and that Apple Jack was unable to defend herself. *shutters* I can't be only one who wants to beat that pony up.
3446841
3455088
Uh... she didn't get raped. Guess I should have specified that. Stone Heart is one of those guys that's all talk. He intends to, but is ultimately unable because he's afraid of Earth Ponies. Applejack is so perturbed that she never speaks with Speed about it. Clover being a unicorn forces the conversation and Applejack reveals that he never touched her. This makes Clover important in that she is a unicorn born to Earth Ponies (probably due to exposure to the Rainbow of Light.
One of those details I really should have elaborated on.
3456576
Ah. YEAH NO RAPE! Thank you Jade.
*Is holding a bat* Still gonna find that pony anyway! No one steals a female like she's property on my watch! *disappears*
3465278 When I initially had the idea, I thought it would be an interesting parallel to have Speed forced to kill Slugger (his brother in arms) and then have Noble Heart forced to kill Stone Heart (his actual brother.) In the end, I decided it was a far more appropriate fate for Stone Heart that he be reduced to being less than pony and flee to another world entirely... becoming notable Care Bears villain Dark Heart.
3465403 I'll still hit him with the bat on his way out. *swings*
Have you started writing this yet? It sounds awesome!
3470603 I don't know if I ever will. I'm trying to finish my major stories right now so I can devote more attention to original works.
3470639 at least you actually have a sense of priority – I come up with an idea and I immediately start writing! That's why I have five plus stories going on all at once at any given time!