The Enforcerverse · 12:49am Jul 25th, 2019
Updated 3/23/2021 This is a name coined by fan DoContra for a interrelated series of stories written by ScifiPony. It comes from the title of the first story written in the Enforcerverse, The Enforcer and her Blackmailers. The story sets the tone for the series by depicting a gritty Starlight Glimmer né Aurora Midnight in a stark world darker and more realistic than that depicted by the TV series.
In the first story, and in the series, characters learn friendship in a less-safe more unforgiving milieu. This allows the author to discuss harsh topics like homelessness, unlimited aristocratic privilege, the fallout of gang violence, dealing with bad things in your past that seem unforgivable, and the compromised reality one faces being an actual hero. It's a world where persistence and working hard in daily life and upon oneself pays off with learning the true meaning friendship, even if that friendship can't last.
The stories all take place as a deep background to show-canon without being considered an alternate universe. (The Parent Map where viewers meet Starlight's father and Equestria Girls Mirror Magic where neither Starlight Glimmer nor Sunset Shimmer acknowledge any past history together seems to render the cycle AU, but there are stories in planning to handle that.) The intent was to provide the missing history, for characters not often focused upon, such that a reader viewing an episode might find a deeper understanding of the character or feel irony listening to certain dialogue or seeing odd events. Characters include Double Diamond, Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Songbird Serenade, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, and Sunset Shimmer.
Stories in the Enforcerverse also include references to Equestria Girls and My Little Pony The Movie. A deep background for Princess Celestia can be found in two stories that star her. Another cycle of stories stars Songbird Serenade, a totally undeveloped throwaway character from the movie, under the moniker Knight of Equestria. If brought to fruition, the cycle will include the Friendship Festival and the help of Starlight Glimmer, former enforcer.
Below are the Enforcerverse stories in world-chronological order. Stories with an asterisk are tangential to the main stories but share the same history. Other stories in the ScifiPony stable could be considered in-universe, but are not referenced (yet).
- To Bring Light to Eternal Darkness - Prior to the events that inspired the Hearthswarming Eve holiday, before she earned her wings, Celestia earns her name and discovers what her special talent is useful for. This story earned a spotlight from The Royal Canterlot Library.
Celestia and the Battle for Sunset - With the fate of Equestria in the balance, Celestia fights to win over her first protégé and simultaneously against the compromises of her past.
Sunset Shimmer Goes to Hell - Haughty foal Sunset Shimmer ends up intervening in Twilight Sparkle's initiation test at Celestia's school and ends up following her first crush to Tartarus. At the same time, a pony from Starlight's future deals with imprisonment and finds redemption. As their paths cross, the both learn that friendship is the way forward despite the world trying to prove otherwise.
- The Runaway Bodyguard - Starlight Glimmer judges that she looks grown enough to pass as an adult and runs away from blood money wealth to the streets of Baltimare. She wants control of her life, rather than to be Princess Celestia’s tool. All she asks is to study her magic and be left alone, but the world won't cooperate. She becomes an athlete, a prizefighter, and eventually becomes naively entangled with the eastern Equestrian mob. She’s unwittingly controlled by the mare who pulls all the strings, forced to be the Queen Pin’s tool. As Starlight works to become the highest level unicorn, the roots of principled evil grow that will set the stage for her encounters with Princess Twilight at Our Town and beyond. Some events in the story overlap with Sunset Shimmer Goes to Hell, and the novel ends immediately before the next story in this cycle.
- The Enforcer and her Blackmailers - A teenage Starlight Glimmer is trying to start a new life at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but ponies from her questionable past and Celestia's arrogant first protégé Sunset Shimmer won't let her, even as Celestia watches from afar. The solution is making friends even as neither of the ponies involved understand that.
- *Sisters in All but Blood - This early ScifiPony story is AU to the Enforcerverse, but it tries out many of the elements of the world, including Celestia's curse and interesting locations in Canterlot. On the eve of the 1000th Sun Celebration, Twilight Sparkle's friends convince her to attend Moondancer's party, where the group of university students discuss Twilight's Elements of Harmony findings. Princess Celestia changes her plans and appoints Twilight as her crown representative. When Nightmare Moon shows up and powerful ponies realize Twilight is next in-line for the throne, Twilight, Shining Armor, and her friends learn lessons in friendship and what it means to be a princess.
- Knight of Equestria I: Certainty — Songbird Serenade meets Nightmare Moon and discovers the first sacrifice of becoming a hero—one's conception of self.
Knight of Equestria II: Discordant Harmony —Discord is turning Ponyville into the Chaos Capital of the World when Songbird Serenade encounters him while walking home from school. She does her heroic best to help ponies escape, but eventually deals with him in her own lyrical, albeit somewhat evil, way.
- Twilight Sparkle Comes Home — A reporter from The Canterlotter magazine tries to find the true Twilight Sparkle when she comes home to Canterlot after fighting for the return of harmony. This is the resulting article.
Knight of Equestria III: Pizzicato and Changelings (for a Pegasus Heart) —DJ Vinyl Scratch, occupied with the reception for the Royal Canterlot Wedding, gives Songbird Serenade, then only an up-and-coming DJ, the nod to DJ public wedding after party. While over ten thousand dance, the changeling horde descends on Canterlot. She finds herself doing ethically-challenged potentially evil things to prevent a stampede, and to allow ponies to escape what looks like the fall of Equestria. She gets her just reward.
Together Alone —Starlight Glimmer has always distrusted friendship, but, when she is infected by a disease transmitted via magic, she has no choice but to listen to some lessons about friendship from Double Diamond. Whether she learns anything is another question. (A founding of Our Town / Love in a time of “Covid-19” story.)
- Knight of Equestria IV: Unmarked Time —A series of rail outages herds Songbird Serenade and Eohippus Records' Pony-in-Chief Sapphire Shores to Canterlot, where the latter offers her a recording deal. Unfortunately, the circumstances that got Songbird to Canterlot turn out to be Lord Tirek's fault. She learns the fault of her cutie mark as she (repeatedly) throws herself at the giant centaur to stop him from killing and maiming ponies. It looks to be the death of her. Then she encounters Discord...
- Knight of Equestria V: Girls' Night Out —Luna visits her friend on Nightmare Night. They learn much about themselves, and, at least by the end of this story though not necessarily by the end of the night, the Songbird does not have to save anypony.
- *Lesson Learned - Starlight Glimmer, having rethought her mission in life, tries to use her talents to remove cutie marks for good not evil, however other ponies have different plans for her future. A divergent story written before the airing of The Cutie Remark; a first draft of characters, especially Starlight, that appear in The Enforcer and her Blackmailers.
*Pins and Needles - Prior to a job interview, Sassy Saddles reflects with a friend on paths not taken and reasons that all our mistakes make us stronger.
- The Forgiving Lesson - After Princess Flurry Heart's Crystalling, Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer realize that they have different memories of the day Sunburst got his cutie mark. In the streets of the Crystal Empire, they hash out their feelings and talk about how the event caused them to make bad choices.
Redemption Commentaries - Starlight's dark private thoughts as she wrestles with her past and Twilight's having forgiven her her sins—while Twilight attempts to demonstrate a friendship lesson by setting a table.
- The Double-Diamond Affair - (No links allowed for stories tagged Mature) Double Diamond convinces Starlight Glimmer to bare her soul in an intimate interlude. She learns the friendship lesson that there are certain assumptions about friends and partners you should not make.
- *Prance - Sunset's crush from school is a fashion photographer who ends up working with Fluttershy. In helping Fluttershy cope with a shoot she's chosen to do for Rarity, he learns about his long lost friend.
- *Sweetie Belle and the Moonstruck Colt - (Not yet published) Rarity, impressed with how much her sister has grown up, sends Sweetie Belle to help Sassy Saddle's adopted son, Blue, earn his cutie mark. Because of Sweetie Belle's connections with Luna, Blue and Luna discover what's missing in their lives.
oh boy, this is just what I needed :D