• Member Since 13th Oct, 2013
  • offline last seen Apr 20th, 2021

Jordan179


I'm a long time science fiction and animation fan who stumbled into My Little Pony fandom and got caught -- I guess I'm a Brony Forever now.

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On the Pony Earth, the minor Cosmic being Wise Dreamer, incarnate in his Aspect as White-Beard the Grey, taught Trixie Lulamoon the art of stage magic, and in the process taught her enough morality and wisdom that she avoided falling into Nightmare. But Wise Dreamer can't be everywhere at once; and there is no current analogue of him in the Humanoid world. When Wise Dreamer learns that the humanoid version of Trixie is in danger of falling into Nightmare, he reaches across the void to recruit an inhabitant of that world to aid her during this crucial phase of her education.

But Trixie has a problem with authority figures. Who can he find whom he can be pretty certain Trixie will love and respect enough to heed?

Shadow Wars loose canon, takes place in part on Equestrian-Earth-Prime or a very close timeline in the same bundle in January YOH 1505 and in part on two Humanoid Earths, one in CE 2016 and one in CE 2010-2015.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 41 )

Wow. A human Trixie fic--not quite Equestria Girls, I'm happy to see, but powerful. I pushed myself through the gore, which is hard for me to read, but it was well worth it!

As you can see, the "human" tag and EG tends to get a bit hammered on at first, but stick with it, because it looks REALLY interesting!

she said breathlessly, Manna-Hattan is burning."

*missing quotation mark

the knowledge of the Great and Powerful Delusion had not extended to an understanding of problem of "fratricide"

*of the problem

Did you say he was Star-Swirl the Bearred?

*Bearded

Forgive me for this ill I do you, and am only somewhat consoled by the great likelihood that you will greatly gain by this path.

* ... "and know that I am only" ? Maybe? This reads weird.

This is the stage magician you are looking for. You can go about your business. Move along, now.

Trixie what have you dooonnne.

Also, Gandalf's back. Yay, Gandalf!
Savin' the world by getting other people to do it. Like a boss.
Exactly like a boss, come to think of it. Delegation is important.

Well, this is certainly intriguing. A notable deviation from all involved baselines, which only intrigues me further. I have no idea what your logic is for the various names in the human timeline. Seems like "just different enough."

In any case, a haunting look at what could've gone wrong in An Extended Performance, made worse by the low-magic environment. Still, I have to wonder how the Shadows even got access to this world. It doesn't seem like it experienced any colossal, continuum-cracking Cosmic cataclysm... but that's assuming it perfectly maps to our own history. Knowing as little as I do about this world, that's a very foolish assumption.

Also, I can't help but wonder what Twilight meant when she mentioned humanity's "repulsive habits."

Eagerly looking forward to more. Alternate timelines are one of my favorite fantasy concepts, to the point that I created an entire group of ponies to manage them in my own work.

4588683

In the cold light of day I wonder if I went too far with my love of destruction and my native New Yorker dislike of Northern New Jersey, though ... also the insane Trixie from the first timeline might perhaps be guilty of overkill regarding her criticism of Cheese's act? Ah well, she wants to kill most of the people on that planet anyway ...

4588801

I have no idea what your logic is for the various names in the human timeline.

I based them all on originals from the actual names in our timeline. The physical geography is identical, since there's been no Cataclysm here.

"Manna-hattan" is closer to the Coastal Algonquin name for the island. "Brooklane" is a greater Anglicization of Dutch "Brooklyn;" "Kings" is the name of the country in comprising the borough of "Queens," "Bronksfarm" is an Anglicization of the derivation of the name of the place known to us as "The Bronx," and "the Half Moon River" is based on the name of Henry Hudson's ship and is, of course, the Hudson.

"New Aemstelredamme" -- original name of New York is New Amsterdam, and I just went with the original medieval spelling of the Dutch city's name. "Friendly" = Miami, "Mesheeko" is phonetic "Mexico," "Angels" is close to a proper translation of "Los Angeles" (the article is obligatory in Romance languages), "Coeverden" is the original name of an officer who in our time line was called "Vancouver" and has a city named after him.

"Terra Nova" means "New World" and is actually what Europeans called the Americas for the brief period before "Amerigo's Land" caught on. The "Republic of Terra Nova" is an alternate USA on steroids, whose Destiny must have been even more Manifest than ours, and at some time gobbled up what in Our Time Line became Canada and Mexico. Apparently they keep bomb wings with tactical H-bombs on high alert. Maybe they have occasional kaiju attacks or something? Didn't help them against Nightmare Delusion ...

Oh, and "Republican" here means "of the Republic" ... it is not a reference to our world's political party. I have no idea how Terra Novan politics works, save that they have some sort of more or less federal constitutional representative system, and hence probably some kind of pollitical parties.

"New Guernsey" is "New Jersey." "Bayonet" is the word after which "Bayonne" was named -- apparently, "Bayonne" is Basque in origin, and the "bayonet" was French for "little Bayonner." Who knew? I guess it said something about the Basque that the French named an implement which converts a musket into a highly-effective half-pike after them!

I apologize to that world's and any other world's Cheese Sandwich for blowing up his whole town. Though it wasn't my fault. A mad evil verision of Trixie did it.

In the Earth-Prime timeline, I'm assuming that Luna has started forming a group of her own Champions based around backup Elements. Some of the lineup is similar to that from the Lunaverse -- Trixie and Ditzy in particular. Others aren't. I haven't finalized them yet.

Needless to say, that world's Trixie doesn't want to destroy any cities. Even small ones. Not even given that a common factor between Good Trixie and Evil Trixie is that neither of them like Cheese Sandwich all that much.

I like Cheese Sandwich, but realistically I don't think Trixie would. Trixie doesn't really like most Ponies. And the Amulet-wielding Trixie notably failed to like Pinkie Pie, even though she was one of the Mane Six against which she had no previous grudge. Maybe she just didn't like how much the other Pies loved Pinkie, back during Trixie's rock-farming days?

"Narrowstrait" is what the Algonquin word from which we get "Quebec" means. "Royalmount" is of course "Montreal."

Wisedreamer himself is very morally-conflicted about what he had to do to recruit Piercing Gaze.

A relevant point here is that Evil Humanoid Trixie is aged 20, and is a possibility for what Trixie might have become had she grown to adulthood without finding a mentor she respected. She's never known either any Wisedreamer nor Piercing Gaze. In the main timeline, though her friendship with Piercing didn't go all that well in YOH 1499, even by 1500 she had concluded from it that she was lovable and that there were exceptions to her general scorn for most Ponies. They meet again in Dunnich, and things go better in my Trixie Arc, and Piercing becomes one of the Ponies who anchors her to sanity.

In the main timeline, Wisedreamer noticed that Trixie's powers were growing and that her sanity was dubious -- he actually briefly considered killing her before rejecting it in revulsion at even having the thought (among other things, the notion horrified him because Trixie loved and trusted him). He can't do it himself, so he's turning to the one other being who demonstrably can teach her stage magic and she demonstrably respects.

In the second Humanoid timeline, Trixie is only 14 and still mostly sane. Well, as sane as Trixie ever gets. She wants to become a stage magician, not a megalomaniacal and genocidal supervillain.

There is an obvious problem with putting Trixie and Piercing together, namely that the first time they met in Earth Prime, Trixie ran off and avoided him for over a year. Wisedreamer figures that this is much less likely here, because this Trixie is only 14 to Piercing's 35, and that is an age difference which makes a big difference at her age. They'll get to know each other for years before anything explicitly sexual is likely to happen between them.

4588801

"Repulsive habits" -- well, constant wearing of utterly-concealing clothing, which Twilight finds a bit dirty, as in her society that would be the equivalent of constantly walking around in erotically-arousing clothing would be from our point of view. Omnivorousness with massive amounts of meat consumption. A history of relatively frequent warfare within the same species.

These kinds of things emotionally bother her, though being a rather cosmopolitan Pony, she knows of equivalent or worse things involving species which she has encountered at home and dealt with more or less courteously. For instance, Griffons are warlike carnivores; the friendly Changelings of Hive Vespid are still creepy, and so on.

She rather liked some of the Humans she met personally (including the Waffle Stealer himself), and certainly doesn't think that whole timelines full of them should suffer horrible death and destruction due to the appearance of Nightmare Delusion. Twilight's not particularly xenophobic, after all.

Aemstelredamme

Thats a mouth full. :-(

4589312

Well yeah, that's why in our world it got shortened to "Amsterdam" :pinkiehappy:

4588894 No worries, hon. We native Neigh Jerseyans feel the same way about you, with lumps on.

I'm still a bit bitter about the NYC anchors coming down to our beautiful beaches, which were closed because medical waste was washing up on them, whooping and hollering it up about "dirty New Jersey," and not walking it back when it turned out that the medical waste was from Long Island.

Trixie's out of her skull in that continuity. If it helps, Cheese ain't that fond of Northern Neigh Jersey, either, although I've given him the "hey, nopony ELSE gets to talk smack about it" attitude many of us have. And I am THRILLED at anyone else adopting my headcanon, of course!

And actually, I'm originally from South Jersey and grew up in Central Jersey, which means absolutely zip to most people.

So this is their version of 9/11?

those of a mysterious winged woman who is said to be spreading hallucinations and madness.



Not Doctor Hand Wave/Doctor Hoof Wave I see.

So they invent an external figure, on whom they can blame these unpleasant emotions and personal reactions."


Hallucinations don't work like that way. Several people don't invent the same delusion spontaneously. Sigh.

The screen filled again with Camera Candy, who looked a bit better, though her lipstick was smudged and there was still a faint glisten of something suspicious on her chin.

Cannibalism? Really?-_- Isn't that over the top dude?

white and red glistening objects in his hands ...

Bloody bones? Sigh.

Essentially, Delusion has noticed over two decades of growing up

So this is AFTER her high school days?

How the hell is Nightmare Delusion THIS powerful?

Nightmare Eclipse GREW in power, Nightmare Whisper got her hooves on an ancient artifact. Her power level here reminds me of Lilith from Neon Genesis!


There was only one, because the knowledge of the Great and Powerful Delusion had not extended to an understanding of the problem of "fratricide"

And that's important why?

So Delusion dropped a freakin' nuke on Cheese Sandwitch's home town?

I wonder how long it will take to load a nuke onto a unmanned drone. Since they're just mindless machines.

"Actually, our Trixie dislikes both of them, so it is to be expected that Delusion would share this sentiment."

Any ACTUAL reason?

So the pool of truth exists in this timeline?

ONe fanfiction writer did point out something interesting,
"Why does Trixie's cutie mark include a crescent moon?"

If she went into Nightmare, she would probably try to stage a magic show and force everypony to watch her, not threaten genocide."

Ironically an idea I had for one of Trixie's Nightmares was Nightmare Solitude, end all existence except herself so there is no one left to judge her.

CHECK OUT THIS BEAUTY!

http://alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/art/Pinkie-Pie-s-Surprise-TotallyOrdinary-Variety-Show-362477820

Shall I get the girls together for a field trip?" Her look was pleading.

"You'll unbalance reality!!!"

Vermicious Knids are dangerous but hardly the doom of a world.

So the human version of Trixie's one-night boyfriend.

Wasn't Trixie going to Canterlot High when we last saw her? Or is this BEFORE THAT in the world line?

Most fanon has human-Trixie be friends with the human incarnation of Derpy. But I'm guessing since this reality is an off-shoot of the pony pov verse, that friendship doesn't exist here.

4589491

Heh ... didn't know you were actually from that part of the country. If it makes you feel any better, I lived three years in South Jersey near the Shore, over by Tuckerton. Know the area? It's in Ocean County, just south of Manahawkin along Route 9.

Trixie's out of her skull in that continuity.

Oh yes. Her latent sociopathic tendencies developed apace, without White-Beard or Piercing to keep her connected to other beings, and then she welcomed the Night Shadows from that world's version of the Manehattan Coven when they showed up. Killed most of them, of course, but the Night Shadows would much rather possess the Aspect of an Angel than that of an ordinary Human. Lacking much connection to or sympathy for Humanity, she has little desire to resist the evil urgings of the Night Shadows.

4588988 Yeah, I don't think Trixie and Cheese would get along all THAT well, although I don't know. They do have the showponyship and itinerant lifestyle in common. I could potentially see Cheese hooking up with Trixie and bitterly regretting that decision--quickly. In mine, he's kind of cranky about the way she got him blown up, even if it was an accident. In my EG fic, he was capable of getting along with her ok, at least at first. I can't help but think that on some level, Trixie is hungry for friendship, and with Cheese, she had a semi-friendly person who didn't have a bad history with her. Pinkie, though-- something about Pinkie grates on Trixie's nerves, and vice versa, and I think anypony who couldn't get along with PINKIE, of all ponies, wouldn't last long with Cheese.

4589516

So they invent an external figure, on whom they can blame these unpleasant emotions and personal reactions."

Hallucinations don't work like that way. Several people don't invent the same delusion spontaneously. Sigh.

I know. My favorite sister-in-law went through a period of full audio hallucinations of voices verging on true Multiple Personality Disorder (the "voices" had their own personalities and histories, but never took control of the shared body, unlike in true MPD). This was cured by medication -- the reason she's a "mild" schizophrenic is because of modern pharmacology, in past ages she'd be utterly mad.

The Republic of Terra Nova knows more than they are telling -- notice how fast they scrambled bombers and were willing to detonate a tactical nuclear weapon in the downtown of one of their own largest cities? Their equivalent of the Night Watch is well aware that, basically, a mad goddess has surfaced in their midst. Principal Celestia and her Sister are probably very frantically busy right now.

The "mass hallucinations" idea is only very thinly based in reality, and is often used in real life to deny some phenomenon which doesn't fit currently convenient scientific theories -- it was used, back around 1800. for instance, to explain away meteorites as an atmospheric event that had nothing to do with odd stones crashing into the ground. It was used to explain spontaneous combustion, before we figured out the underlying physics and chemistry (now there's a creepy thought -- under the right circumstances your body can catch fire from the inside out!). It's used now to explain away UFO's (I think that the ones that aren't simply airplanes or astronomical bodies are probably some sort of very strange manifestation of electromagnetism, sort of like a complex version of ball lightning, but interesting nevetheless).

Was I laying it on a bit too thick by naming the fellow "Dr. Saneish Feelgood?"

The screen filled again with Camera Candy, who looked a bit better, though her lipstick was smudged and there was still a faint glisten of something suspicious on her chin.

Cannibalism? Really?-_- Isn't that over the top dude?

No, no ... she just threw up and didn't clean herself thoroughly. Though you've given me ideas if I want to get really gross ...

white and red glistening objects in his hands ...

Bloody bones? Sigh.

Think Oedipus Rex or Event Horizon. But it's gory either way.

Essentially, Delusion has noticed over two decades of growing up

So this is AFTER her high school days?

How the hell is Nightmare Delusion THIS powerful?

She drew multiple Nightmares to her. And Illusion was also very powerful -- she was just more careful about how she used her power.

Trixie didn't blow up the chemical works and cause the initial disaster. That was the Shadow Coven. When she fought them, she called instead of repelled the Shadows, and absorbed them. At which point an insane, Shadow-ridden Trixie became Nightmare Delusion. She hasn't gained the insight that might someday permit the Pony-Trixie to Ascend, just raw power at the price of her sanity and self-control.

There was only one, because the knowledge of the Great and Powerful Delusion had not extended to an understanding of the problem of "fratricide"

And that's important why?

Oh, only that otherwise the two armed tactical nuclear weapons would have both gone off. Purely a detail -- one's more than enough to flatten Bayonet, New Guernsey.

Princess Celestia Princess and Luna noticed this particular detail, I'm sure. But then, they know how to design and build nuclear weapons -- Sundreamer and Moondreamer did precisely that during one phase of their career. Or trigger them by magic alone.

So Delusion dropped a freakin' nuke on Cheese Sandwich's home town?

(*nods*) Yes. And, though Cheese doesn't like the town, he's probably not happy about his family possibly being killed (I don't know yet if they were home at the time). Speaking of which, my line ...

Oh well! No harm done. Delusion can always take care of him later!"

I thought that was one of the most chilling things I had her say, because it's both insanely ruthless and hauntingly reminiscent of Trixie's normal personality -- the sane Trixie would say something like that, but not about the commission of mass murder!

"Actually, our Trixie dislikes both of them, so it is to be expected that Delusion would share this sentiment."

Any ACTUAL reason?

Well, the Good and SaneTrixie dislikes Cheese and Pinkie because she is rather pompous and doesn't anypony making fun of her, unless it's gentle fun, and even then she mostly only tolerates that sort of thing from family and loved ones. But this dislike takes the form of not wanting to hang out with them, rather than wanting to murder them.

My Trixie spent a while working on the Pie Rock Farm and actually liked some of the Pies, though she felt offended that somepony of her skills and talents should have to waste her time and magic literally moving and breaking rocks for crass material gain. She probably felt jealous of Pinkie (whom Goldie and the Pie Sisters adore), which helped trigger her cruelty when -- under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet -- she actually met her.

The Evil and Insane Trixie is even more that way, since even before she went Nightmare she had developed a very hostile and sour view of her fellow Humans, because in her teens she became completely alienated from them. She doesn't have friends, she doesn't love anyone, and has even less of a sense of humor. She's an asocial sociopath who has become functionally psychopathic.

Why doesn't she like Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich? Well, they're in similar fields (entertainment), but the difference is that people like them -- nobody really likes (the Evil and Insane) Trixie. It's likely that Pinkie and Cheese at some point mocked or pranked her -- they do most everyone at one point or another, but in such a good-natured way that people rarely take offense. But the Evil and Insane Trixie did take offense.

At which point she would have noticed another very big difference between herself and Pinkie and Cheese. They have each other. She has nobody. And, though the Evil and Insane Trixie is probably even more prudish than is the Good and Sane Trixie, that doesn't mean that she's actually happy about being romantically unloved.

Is this a good reason to nuke the analogue of Bayonne, New Hersey? Heck no! But then, even the Good and Sane Trixie is fond of Disproportionate Retribution. The Evil and Insane Trixie is like this as well, and she is utterly unrestrained by any Code Against Killing.

The Evil and Insane Trixie is exactly what White-Beard feared his Trixie might become if her power developed without any moral principles to guide it.

So the pool of truth exists in this timeline?

Oh yes, it's far too cool a concept not to have exist! :twilightsmile:

One fanfiction writer did point out something interesting,

"Why does Trixie's cutie mark include a crescent moon?"

Oh, in my fanon this is an inheritance from her most prominent female ancestor, from whom she inherited a lot of her innate magical talent. A very distant ancestor (over two thousand years ago) but due to some fortuitous cousin-marriages, she's close to an atavism -- she actually looks a lot like her.

Common ancestor of the Bloods, the Belles, the Lulamoons and the Twilights, actually.

If she went into Nightmare, she would probably try to stage a magic show and force everypony to watch her, not threaten genocide."

Ironically an idea I had for one of Trixie's Nightmares was Nightmare Solitude, end all existence except herself so there is no one left to judge her

Yow!

Wouldn't it be easier to just crawl into a pocket dimension or something?

Of course, Celestia's talking about the Trixie she taught for a short while at the School for Gifted Unicorns, who was an innocent filly; and the Trixie she got to know later on after the incident of the Alicorn Amulet, who was a fundamentally good mare who had a basic moral code and knew she was loved. The one who becomes Nightmare Delusion was much nastier and more alienated even before going crazy.

So the human version of Trixie's one-night boyfriend.

Yes. Though before that happened, he'd rapidly become a very good friend of hers and exerted a positive influence on her. By this time in the Earth-Prime timeline, he and Trixie have reunited and fallen more deeply in love. Wisedreamer knows this, and knows that Piercing is one of the very few people whom Trixie might actually like and respect enough to learn from. He also (correctly) surmises that a 34-year-old Piercing is very unlikely to wind up having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Their ages were 39 and 19 when their Pony versions met in YOH 1499 -- five years which make a big difference in terms of most male perceptions.

Wasn't Trixie going to Canterlot High when we last saw her? Or is this BEFORE THAT in the world line?

This Trixie went to the Hooverton Prepatory Academy between ages 13-16, and Canterlot High between 16-18. She changed schools. She then decided to pursue a career as a (self-taught) stage magician rather than go to college. She encountered the Manna-Hattan Coven at 20 and became Nightmare Delusion.

4589556

The Trixie who attacks Manna-Hattan and blows up Bayonet is also a particularly dark and nasty version of Trixie, even before she becomes Nightmare Delusion. She's a Trixie who has completely given up on any thoughts of love and friendship, and finds the rest of humanity disgusting because they fall in love and make friends.

Trixie -- even the dark and nasty one -- does actually want love and friendship. The difference is that the dark and nasty one responds to this desire by lashing out at those who have lovers or friends ("If I can't have it nobody should!") while the nicer versions of Trixie awkwardly reach out for acceptance through their magic shows.

Pinkie, though-- something about Pinkie grates on Trixie's nerves, and vice versa, and I think anypony who couldn't get along with PINKIE, of all ponies, wouldn't last long with Cheese.

I think it's because pretty much everyone likes Pinkie Pie, either on first meeting or soon afterward, and she manages to achieve this in a manner which to Trixie looks effortless (actually, being friendly and spreading joy is Pinkie's main business in life, and she puts a lot of work into it, something Cheese fully grasps). And Trixie is very much obsessed with her own Art and tries very hard to be the best she can -- and still, most people usually just like her performance, and don't like her personally.

Trixie (even the Good and Sane version) rationalizes this as "Pinkie does silly things to please stupid mundane ponies, while I do high and great things, and ponies are so stupid and mundane that they like Pinkie's nonsense better than my greatness." So she kind of resents Pinkie's success. She likes Cheese a bit better because Cheese is just normal enough that he knows how to socially "stroke" her and avoid offending her.

Plus -- while she doesn't have any big crush on him -- the fact that Cheese is a handsome young stallion, who treats her nicely, doesn't exactly hurt in Trixie's eyes. But of course, that would just make her more jealous of Pinkie Pie -- if Trixie didn't already love somepony else, that is.

The Evil and Insane Trixie doesn't love anyone. But she can still be lonely. And jealous of those who aren't. Like Pinkie and Cheese.

somehow very confused of the concept in this story. Please elaborate? :derpytongue2:

4589970

The story takes place in three separate alternate worlds.

The first one shown is an alternate near-future Equestria Girls timeline in which a sociopathic 20-year-old Trixie Lulamoon experiences an analogue of the events in An Extended Performance but -- instead of heroically saving the day --- welcomes the Night Shadows and becomes a powerful Nightmare, Delusion (the evil version of the Alicorn Illusion). She then begins to wreak havoc with her pyschic powers.

The second one is essentially a version of my main Shadow Wars timeline, in which Celestia, Luna and Twilight watch in horror through the Pool of Truth as Nightmare Delusion causes death and destruction. They try to figure out what, if anything, they can do about this menace. Celestia decides that the main problem is that the Trixies on all the other Humanoid timelines may go mad the same way, and contacts Pony!Trixie's old mentor White-Beard the Grey, who is the minor Cosmic entity Wisedreamer, and ask him for help in preventing this from happening.

Wisedreamer can only spare limited time to solve this problem, so he devises a plan. He reaches out across the Multiverse to the Humanoid timelines' analogues of Piercing Gaze, who in the Pony timelines are loved by Trixie Lulamoon, to induce him to become her mentor in their own timelines. We focus on a timeline in which Trixie is 14, and as yet still in the Hooverton Preperatory Academy (the analogy to the Hoofington Magical Academy from the Pony timelines).

4590007 Wow... very good concept and can actually be a total mind****. I shall continue reading this story! :flutterrage:

If these attacks on Manna Hattan is not nuclear, then to create the equivalent of 15 kt of TNT would require 10-to-20 thousand tons of conventional explosives. The NRA must be very strong in this world:

National Rifle Association:
“We stand between you and a world where mentally ill people cannot go walking into a gunshop babbling about shooting up the local grammar school, buying rifles with 100-round magazines, and walking down the street to local grammar school, and shooting up the local grammar school.”

Helicopters can fly upside down, but it is not recommended.

> “The man reminded him of pretty much every cliche wizard he’d ever seen described in fantasy novels.”

¡Blam!

4589764

> “ … (now there’s a creepy thought -- under the right circumstances your body can catch fire from the inside out!) ”

No evidence exists for animals spontaneously combusting. The most probable explanations, demonstrated with dead animals and cadavers, is that these people die or become incapacitated and caught smoldering fire (almost always, one can find a source of ignition, and most victims are smokers).

4590863

If these attacks on Manna Hattan is not nuclear, then to create the equivalent of 15 kt of TNT would require 10-to-20 thousand tons of conventional explosives. The NRA must be very strong in this world:

The Shadow Coven blew up a fertilizer factory. And its associated warehouses, and a couple of ships at the docks. Just as they were trying to do on the Pony-Earth in An Extended Performance.

Actually, Wisedreamer is the wizard from which those cliches originated. J. R. R. Tolkien saw him in his dreams.

4590932

The "right circumstances" are as follows:

(1) Be overweight, so that your tissues are very fatty.

(2) Drink a lot, so that your gastric passages and other internal cavity have plenty of alcohol in them in a nice fuel-air mixture.

(3) Either smoke or dance (static electricity), so that there is the possibility of a spark in said passages.

FOOMF!

(4) Cook well, serve when done.

And lest you cringe in terror, it doesn't usually happen. The fuel-air mix has to be just right, and the fire has to catch in the fatty tissues. This is very very very rare.

4590958

I believe that we speak at cross-purposes:

I mean Pyrophoricly, like Trimethylaluminium which spontaneously ignites on contact with air. People so not just burst into flame, as far as I know. I have never heard about people burning without an ignition-source.

4590939

Evidently, Manna Hattan has terrible zoning laws for placing a fertilizer-plant in a populated area.

4590939
I wonder how Wisedreamer reacted when he realized he'd inspired a book character.
4590007
I hope SOMEONE in the timeline Delusion is wrecking can stop her before she causes too much damage (relatively speaking, since she's already done a lot of damage).

4591028

The ignition source is the flame from a cigarette or lighter, or the spark from static electricity. The key element is for the alcohol vapor in their body spaces to be present in the right fuel-air mixture to allow for a flash fire. Once that happens, enough heat is retained to set fire to the fatty tissues, and at that point about the only way to save the victim would be an immediate and drastic attempt to cool the affected body tissues, as the oxygen to fuel the fire is present in the body itself.

This sort of "spontaneous" (it's not really "spontaneous") combustion is extremely rare. The required preconditions are not often fulfilled. I think there's something like 1-2 cases of this reported a year, out of a population of billions.

Evidently, Manna Hattan has terrible zoning laws for placing a fertilizer-plant in a populated area.

Rule of Drama, and this isn't even our world. Though you'd be surprised what's been placed in populated areas -- my fictional disaster is based on an actual incident at Texas City TX in 1947. The yield of that explosion was over a kiloton, the toll was over 500 dead and over 5000 wounded, and the light damage radius of the blast was something like TEN MILES.

And this was neither the first nor the last time something like that would happen at a Western port.

4591673

Well, he likes that author. Either that or he liked the original sources. In An Extended Performance, it's obvious that he'd told (Good Sane Pony) Trixie parts of both The Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings, as Trixie has incorporated part of the Beren and Luthien into her act (Braveheart and The Nightingale are what "Beren" and "Luthien" mean) and is immediately reminded of the Nazgul when she sees the Shadow Coven. This was part of Wisedreamer's (successful) attempt to get Trixie to see herself as an honorable heroine and hence restrain the use of her own great power to moral ends.

Yeah, they're trying to. Though, now that they are gaining some idea of Delusion's power, they are not going to try to stop her again with a single very powerful weapon directly controlled by a human operator. That's just asking for more devastation.

4589531 And actually, if it is some kind of offshoot of the EG universe, that relationship doesn't exist there, either (that I can see.) Trixie in EG is always depicted as alone. She's always sitting at a table by herself with no other students near. And that's kinda sad. Muffin Girl only appeared in the credits of the first one, but she did make an appearance in the short, so I think she'll probably have some other background stuff happening (but not with Trixie.)
4589823

Trixie (even the Good and Sane version) rationalizes this as "Pinkie does silly things to please stupid mundane ponies, while I do high and great things, and ponies are so stupid and mundane that they like Pinkie's nonsense better than my greatness." So she kind of resents Pinkie's success.

This is giving me flashbacks to some "analysts" earlier this year. As someone who just finished teaching a grad class in comedy, something that is near and dear to my heart, if you do an act and it bombed, it BOMBED. QED. If they didn't laugh, then they didn't. An unsuccessful entertainer or writer goes to the local bar and stays there and bitches about it to everyone who will listen and then some, and concludes that there is something wrong with the audience. A successful one goes to the local bar, bitches a little bit to his friends, but carefully, so it does not come back to haunt him, because the world is very, very small, and then tries to figure out a way to make it work better next time. Maybe he needs to change the act. Maybe he needs to find a better venue, with a different audience. But dismissing audience reaction is really not smart.

Plus -- while she doesn't have any big crush on him -- the fact that Cheese is a handsome young stallion, who treats her nicely, doesn't exactly hurt in Trixie's eyes. But of course, that would just make her more jealous of Pinkie Pie -- if Trixie didn't already love somepony else, that is.

You have no idea how hard I worked to avoid suggesting a stereotypical high school love triangle in Looking Glass World! I think Dash overestimated Cheese's dorkasaurus quotient. There are girls who like that, though I wouldn't think Trixie would be one of them. But she never got along with Pinkie, possibly because Pinkie kept trying to be friends--and trying, and trying, which got on Trixie's nerves. And someone with Pinkie's upbeat, "oh, hey, watcha doin'? Oo, card games! Lemme play, too!" is not going to go over well with a girl who is trying to show off her mad Tarot-reading skillz.

The person who is really responsible for Trixie's social downfall at CHS is, of course, Sunset Shimmer. Sunset is the only one who could possibly do a thoroughly Penn and Telleresque expose of Trixie's "real" magic when she claimed to have any. But it would be madness to challenge Sunset Shimmer, even now, and even though Sunset isn't that much of a social threat anymore, Trixie's prestige never recovered. It's far easier to scapegoat Pinkie. And Pinkie, or at least my EG Pinkie, doesn't like being made to feel or look stupid, and it happens a lot more at Canterlot High than in Ponyville, as it would. High school is when your social environment is filled with people prophesying doom for your entire life, should you not get that math test score or take this or that class. A friendly girl who isn't especially ambitious and who doesn't show any particular aptitude for anything other than baking or throwing parties or (maybe) babysitting, and who doesn't like concentrating in class, might well be in for a hard time, and even if people LIKE her, they might make her feel stupid on a regular basis.

So, yeah, at least in my world, bad blood between Pinkie and Trixie, and some of the other circumstances don't help, but Trixie doesn't want a boyfriend.

She wants a minion.

And it is NOT FAIR that Pinkie has a minion now and she doesn't anymore, especially when Snips and Snails have tried to steal her act.

4591673

Hopefully there's six friends willing to put their collage classes on hold to save the world and come back together and the Elements can heal things as much as they can in Equestria (or at least undo SOME of the damage).

4592461

Trixie in EG is always depicted as alone. She's always sitting at a table by herself with no other students near. And that's kinda sad.

I've always felt a bit sorry for Trixie -- which of course if she knew would make her hate my guts, because Trixie is very much a Don't You Dare Pity Me sort of girl. Part of the reason why my Pony Trixie avoids Piercing Gaze long after she's come to realize that what happened between them was as much her fault as his is because she's not succeeding on her own, and she'd die rather than admit to Piercing that she could use a helping hoof. This despite the fact that Piercing wanted her to play his theatre, because he thinks her act is really really good.

Piercing, incidentally, has figured this out about Trixie, and knows better than to phrase an offer of help to her as pure charity. Piercing actually understands most of how Trixie thinks, both the brilliance and the stupidity, and generally knows how to reach her rational side without setting off any of the mines in the field that is her personality. That's why Pony Piercing is good for Trixie, and why Human Piercing would make a good mentor for Human Trixie. The more so because (at least at the start) she's so young that she purely arouses his protective, instead of his erotic instincts. (There's a strong strain of protectiveness in Pony Piercing's attitude toward Trixie too, though he's careful about revealing it to her for fear of offending her).

Pony!Piercing Gaze is so captivated by Trixie's brilliance and dedication to her art that he is willing to make the effort to navigate her mine field in order to know her. This is very rare, and makes him one of the very few Ponies capable of tolerating ANY kind of long-term relationship with her -- professional, friendly or romantic. Lots of Ponies find Trixie attractive -- and promptly find her unattractive the moment she starts ranting at them or becomes offended by some minor statement on their part.

Human!Piercing Gaze hasn't met Trixie yet. Wisedreamer, however, knows that their personalities are fundamentally similar to their Pony selves, and that Piercing is liable to be captivated by the very same brilliance and dedication that his Pony analogue was -- perhaps the more so, because she's only fourteen (making him wonder just how incredible a performer she'll be as an adult). First, though, he has to give Piercing the necessary push to bring him into contact with her. Which is against Wisedreamer's normal principles (hence the apology) -- but the need is great and he knows Piercing will be glad he met Trixie.

But, yeah -- Trixie's signature social situation is that she goes through life facing far more hostility and loneliness than she needs to suffer, mostly because she quickly alienates everyone who might otherwise help her. And she doesn't get this -- she knows, of course, that she's lonely and alone, but she assumes that it's because she's just so ineffably superior that others can't appreciate her properly. When she meets someone who she both admires (rare) and who seems to be appreciating her properly, she is capable of extreme emotional attachment.

But this is a very rare circumstance, because Trixie also lives at least in part in her own fantasy world, where she's the heroine of her very own epic adventure. It's prettier than reality, and she mines it for some of the best parts of her act, but she has to become aware of the fact that she's doing this before she can Ascend to really become Illusion. Otherwise, she can only descend, into Delusion.

But dismissing audience reaction is really not smart.

The thing is that on some level Trixie has to be getting this, or her act would suck big time. She obviously adjusts and refines her routines in response to audience reactions. It's just that sometimes she becomes really fond of something she does in that act for her own emotional motives, and then blames the audience for being too stupid to understand her brilliant routines. Her pride gets in the way of learning from her mistakes.

The reason why Wisedreamer and Piercing both make good mentors for her is that they are people she respects (and hence listens to) who know how to phrase criticism in ways she can accept.

You have no idea how hard I worked to avoid suggesting a stereotypical high school love triangle in Looking Glass World! I think Dash overestimated Cheese's dorkasaurus quotient. There are girls who like that, though I wouldn't think Trixie would be one of them.

It's not really a love triangle, because Trixie isn't really attracted to Cheese and if she was, she wouldn't even really be in the running in his mind compared to Pinkie. What I mean is more that Cheese, by bending over backward to be nice to Trixie, made her look on him somewhat favorably, and it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome and friendly male.

Trixie has only a weak sex drive anyway -- she's the character who got me to understand the concept of "demisexual." And she certainly isn't a big fan of romantic sentimentality (even though she is capable of manifesting that, and in spades, for the right sort of male). What she does have, and plenty of it, is vanity (she knows she's beautiful) and a huge ego which likes the idea that all the males around her are lusting after her (even as her inherent prudishness causes her to regard the notion as disgusting).

I showed this in The Romance of the Open Road in the scene at the diner, where Trixie has this whole fantasy of the workingponies lusting after her and contemplating raping her, then gets miffed when in point of fact they are ignoring her in favor of their food. Not that Trixie would in fact be happy at all if they tried to rape her. Quite the contrary -- though she does think she could easily trick or fight her way out of the situation (and she might be right -- Trixie is smart, magically-powerful, and while Pony!Trixie has never killed anypony for real, she is a "natural killer" -- rare for her species. and one of the sources of Wisedreamer's original concern).

(Her being a "natural killer" doesn't mean that she's evil. Of the Mane Six ponies, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity share this trait, and they are hardly evil. A "natural killer" can kill, but if moral will not kill without a really good reason).

The reason it bothers Trixie is because she is ignored. She would rather -- at least in her fantasy adventure version of her life -- have to fight her way out of a dangerous situation than be treated as nopony. Which sometimes leads her to walk right into trouble.

So, yeah, at least in my world, bad blood between Pinkie and Trixie, and some of the other circumstances don't help, but Trixie doesn't want a boyfriend.

She wants a minion.

And it is NOT FAIR that Pinkie has a minion now and she doesn't anymore, especially when Snips and Snails have tried to steal her act.

You're absolutely right -- Cheese is essentially "minion-teasing" her. He's behaving in a manner which suggests "Wow, I'm impressed by your awesomeness and I could become your follower," while at the same time he has absolutely no intention of doing any such thing. Shameless minion-teaser! I've invented a new phrase! :pinkiehappy:

Also, Trixie by nature would never be romantically-attracted to anyone she did not perceive as in some manner her equal, preferably superior. That's why in my fics she (platonically) loves White-Beard and (romantically) loves Piercing -- they are both older males who are her superiors in her chosen Art, and even as her power and talent grows there are things about them she can continue to deeply respect. For instance, Trixie is in awe of Piercing's ability to control social situations and easily make and keep friends, and his courage and perseverance in dangerous situations without being connected to something Cosmic. That respect persists even after she eventually Ascends.

Because Trixie is demisexual, for her any romantic attraction must ultimately derive from strong admiration or friendship. She has an aesthetic appreciation of male beauty, and prefers it to male ugliness, but beauty alone can never seriously attract her.

4592631

It's not really a love triangle, because Trixie isn't really attracted to Cheese and if she was, she wouldn't even really be in the running in his mind compared to Pinkie. What I mean is more that Cheese, by bending over backward to be nice to Trixie, made her look on him somewhat favorably, and it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome and friendly male.

Oh, no, it's not a love triangle at all, but given the genre (high school rom-com), I expected readers to think it MIGHT be one and to be understandably ticked off at the cliche. That's why I had Rarity, who is very genre-savvy about romance tropes, immediately begin to worry about the possible disastrous complications, while Rainbow Dash and Cheese cracked up about the very idea.

You're absolutely right -- Cheese is essentially "minion-teasing" her. He's behaving in a manner which suggests "Wow, I'm impressed by your awesomeness and I could become your follower," while at the same time he has absolutely no intention of doing any such thing. Shameless minion-teaser! I've invented a new phrase! :pinkiehappy:

It really was somewhat reprehensible of him, given his motives, which were entirely about getting something out of Trixie in order to make Pinkie happy, and for no other reason. although actually the fact that Trixie looks as though she could use cheering up would have been enough.

it's interesting concept, i give, and if the pool can the tree of harmony exist. (With it causing nightmare damage since it's fruits haven't been remove if the nightmare enter it's realm)

If your wondering what i'm talking bout read this.

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/154180/1/the-tree-that-blooms-in-darkness/the-tree-that-blooms-in-darkness

and wow that confrontation went better then expected (Considering Starswirl was pissed she messed with other words other than her own in such ways. then again a long time has occur so he might have forgiven her overtime.)

training her for my own team of Champions

*Thinks back to own fic* Have we met before? I kid, this is dang interesting and if some of the stuff Luna mentioned is stuff from other fics, I think I'll be giving those a read in a bit!

4592631 What do you mean by "natural killer"? Someone who can kill in the right circumstances, or will lash out and kill if provoked? It seems like a very specific term.

It generally is with you.
That is a compliment!

5085857

A "natural killer" is someone who can intentionally kill another one who they consider a "person," for what they consider adequate reason. Even among Humans they are surprisingly rare -- a minority of the population. They are probably farer among Ponies.

Natural killers are not necessarily evil. As I mentioned, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity are "natural killers" -- they can choose to kill and carry through on it. The issue is one of empathy and morality -- the Ponies I named would not willingly kill unless they considered it very necessary.

Trixie is also close to sociopathic, and if she went insane might well become murderous, as one of the Humanoid Trixies becomes. At fourteen, Trixie has the capacity for great good or great evil, and a lot depends on whether she can learn the lessons of love and friendship.

5085876 What an interesting answer, thank you for taking time to reply!

I must get back to writing. One day I will publish!

4589764 "No, no ... she just threw up and didn't clean herself thoroughly. Though you've given me ideas if I want to get really gross ..."

A better idea would be if Camera Candy was one of her progeny and decided to get a quick snack of blood while off camera.



<<So the pool of truth exists in this timeline?>>

"Oh yes, it's far too cool a concept not to have exist!"

Maybe I'll use that in one of my fics.



"He also (correctly) surmises that a 34-year-old Piercing is very unlikely to wind up having sex with a 14-year-old girl."

I'm 42 and I would. But only if she was willing to. I don't have any interest in girls who are unwilling to bed me just the willing ones are who attract me.

4591673 "I hope SOMEONE in the timeline Delusion is wrecking can stop her before she causes too much damage (relatively speaking, since she's already done a lot of damage)."

Well if they can manage to get their hands on this they should be able to stop her easily.

5895823

He also (correctly) surmises that a 34-year-old Piercing is very unlikely to wind up having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

I'm 42 and I would. But only if she was willing to. I don't have any interest in girls who are unwilling to bed me just the willing ones are who attract me.

There are several reasons why Piercing wouldn't do this.

The first is that he's a bit of a womanizer, and one who manages to be this and yet stay out of trouble. This pretty much requires that he steer clear of high-risk situations such as getting sexually-involved with an innocent and underaged girl, which description most definitely fits the 14-year-old Trixie. He'd basically be handing her (and her family) the tools needed to blackmail him (because in the (Information Age) Humanoid verse I'm assuming an age of consent of 16-18, quite aside from the possible scandals). Later -- as he comes to know her better -- he also comes to love her far too much to want to hurt her by using her.

The second is that Piercing is a Chivalrous Pervert. He's a womanizer, but no misogynist -- he will only have his casual affairs with women who know going into it that he's not deeply in love with them, because he doesn't want to hurt them. (His sexual motivations are complex, but boil down to a belief that he's unworthy of true love). Trixie -- young, virginal, brilliant and someone toward whom he has accepted responsibility for keeping her safe during her trips to his city -- fits perfectly the profile of a female toward whom he would feel greatly protective.

The third is that he is quite idealistic when it comes to the theatre. He makes a point of not running a casting couch, because he knows that it would create all sorts of jealousy and hostility between his performers, and would cloud his own judgement in terms of deciding who to sign on and how many resources to devote to promoting them. He's a businessman, but he also views himself as being an artiste, one whose great talent lies less in performance than in promotion, and he's proud of helping talented performers build their careers. Trixie becomes his Golden Girl -- the greatest talent he has ever discovered, and training her is the achievement of which he is most proud.

The fourth is that Trixie herself would probably not have been all that willing at 14-15, though -- if he'd actively tried to seduce her -- he probably would have succeeded. Pony Piercing didn't actually seduce Pony Trixie -- they kind of seduced one another, and because she'd only known him a month or so, Trixie was so horrified at her own actions that she fled town and didn't see Piercing again for over a year. And Pony Trixie was 19 at the time. Trixie, in her own obnoxious and paranoid fashion, is very much an idealist regarding her own personal conduct, a necessity if one is going to live one's life as a Walter Mitty fantasy. And Trixie sees herself as a heroine.

This doesn't mean that he could never fall for Trixie. It's just that if he did, he wouldn't think of it as casual, and thus he would have to change some of his assumptions about his romantic life path. And of course, after knowing him for a while, Trixie practically worships him as her mentor who also happens to be her romantic masculine ideal. (Which doesn't mean that she's always complaint toward him -- this is still Trixie, just Trixie with a strong crush).

The problem is that by the time Trixie's old enough for him to see her as an adult, Piercing's spent so long actively suppressing any sexual attraction toward her that it may well be Trixie who has to do the seducing ...

5895823

A better idea would be if Camera Candy was one of her progeny and decided to get a quick snack of blood while off camera.

+Isn't that Lori Thurston from "Vampire Cheerleaders"?+

<<So the pool of truth exists in this timeline?>>

"Oh yes, it's far too cool a concept not to have exist!"

Maybe I'll use that in one of my fics.

+I think it's copyrighted to this author.+

"He also (correctly) surmises that a 34-year-old Piercing is very unlikely to wind up having sex with a 14-year-old girl."

I'm 42 and I would. But only if she was willing to. I don't have any interest in girls who are unwilling to bed me just the willing ones are who attract me.

+Yeah, enjoy your time in jail then.+

5895964

Well if they can manage to get their hands on this they should be able to stop her easily.

+That is a very neat Skyrim mod, yes.+

Self-generated Nightmare? This sounds new...

Anyway, I'll save thoughts for when/if I get around to reviewing...but I like how you set Nightmare Delusion's rampage in Manna-Hattan. It's a nice comparison/call back to Trixie's heroics in Manehatten.

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