Inspired by the Reflections arc of the comics.
After the Mirror Crisis, Equestria rebuilds. The Royal Pony Sisters, now a force for good, work to redeem themselves and earn the trust of their subjects, bringing law and order to the land. To help them, the The Four Virtues have pledged their aid. Flim and Flam, the Virtue of Fairness, Trixie, the alicorn that is the Virtue of Humility, Chrysalis, the Virtue of Love, and Derpy, the Virtue of Wisdom.
Serving the Virtues are two orders, the Guardians and the Rangers, ponies dedicated to restoring law and order to the land, hunting down and capturing The Malcontent Six, also known as the Erroneous Equines.
Garlic Van der Grease, a Preserver, the lowest rank of Guardian, and Fogwalker Fetlocks, a Scout, the lowest rank of Ranger, have been brought together to meet with Princess Celestia the Redeemed, to perform some task or another.
Little do they know that their task is to guard Princess Celestia's first ever faithful student, Sunrise Surprise as she goes off on a dangerous mission for her teacher.
I'll read this after I read that comic arc.
Well, this is certainly an intriguing beginning. Interesting bits of worldbuilding sprinkled throughout, a complex dynamic between our protagonists, and a cunning mentor figure in Derpy. Definitely looking forward to more.
Also, assuming you want the usual watch for tpyos:
Were. Warnings are plural.
Missing "it."
Interesting! I've been working with the Mirrorverse, too. There aren't nearly enough things on it, I think.
Interesting... I like how you immersed us in drama almost immediately. Excellent work! Let the adventure begin!
I have learned that I should not "read later" your stories, so I'm going to read it now. Well, the "now" I'm reading it is right after the new Chase chapter, but that's understandable.
Edit: I like it already.
hmm, think i need to refresh myself on the comic first.
............ i always had this rather twisted thought though. that the sombra of this world was a dictator, if a rare 'good' one. pious and devoted to his subjects, he was unrelenting in his sought for justice. the 'evil' mane six were a bunch or ponies with minor crimes running for their lives else they be sent to sombra's own private tartarus. the the evil celestia was able to control herself for over a thousand years and harbored and protected them, until that dimension shtuff fed into her darkness till she lost her mind.
his actions made equestria and enemy to many other parts of the world though. that is why discord and chrysalis protected the north and south. because sombra had pissed off the rest of the world so badly they could not leave even for a moment. and that is also why the likes of alicorn trixie were not present.
I think the funniest part of this story having an AU tag is that it's based on an official AU.
Now that I've read the arc, I have to ask, will the Fringe ponies have cameos?
After some thinking, if this was an alternate Chaseverse, it'd be fascinating if this world's Bucky was the son of King Sombra and Princess Celestia.
After Sunset Shimmer left for the EG world, Celestia broke down and went to Sombra's Equestria. A night of passion between the two caused Bucky to be conceived. After he was born, Celestia, not wanting it to become public knowledge of the affair, decides to leave Bucky with Sombra.
I know that scenario wouldn't happen, but it was an interesting thought.
5312479
I dunno, I hadn't planned on it.
5312919
Chase Celestia is sterile.
5313017
Well yeah, that's why I said alternate.
5313021
I wrote this to get out of the Chase verse.
Needed a new verse, new way of thinking, new rules, new world building.
5313026
That's cool.
d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/7058638_700b.jpg
5315216 That...is quite possibly the corniest thing that I've ever seen.
Well done.
Sunrise is annoyingly adorkable. I like her.
And so we have the third member of the party, and I hate her already. That filly's going to get a hard dose of reality, and she could definitely use it. I already have some ideas about her cutie mark, though I've never liked the idea of not understanding the symbol of your purpose in life. Eh, not my story, and you do fascinating worldbuilding.
You're doing a very good job of establishing that this is a darker Equestria. Centuries of Celestia's depredations have made it such, and now she tries her best to atone for it. Sombra's sacrifice is her greatest shame. Of course she's going to look after him.
Looking forward to more.
Thank you for writing the way Sunrise actually talks exactly once and never again.
Also why am I not surprised the protagonists are an EUP trio?
5315352 *Salutes*
5315532 Thank you.
I am starting to think the author's notes are going to be almost as fun to watch as the story is. Liking this so far.
Go adversarial romance!
lh3.googleusercontent.com/zTbkWiohgkJq-GGyW4-LFEci1AQ9HOx9bKfFNOSdOgU=w207-h289-no
The awkward moment when the kid who just joined the team, got higher level than you......... this end chapter notes remind me for the Fallout: Equestria.
I really like the story so far, especially Garlic with his comments, they are really amusing
'no longer'?
Just like to point out that there are, in fact 6 Virtues in the mirror world. There's also Gilda as Temperance and Sunset Shimmer as... something else I can't remember off the top of my head.
5322591
I don't remember those. Source?
5322591
The only thing I could find was fan works.
Link
5322622 dear lord that good cheer one is a forced one. laughter and good cheer same thing. thing about the alterante world is that it did not have the elements of harmony in it so the virtues that brought harmony were not focused on........ likely the reason why the situation in their land was so unstable that chrysalis and discord could not simply help sombra overpower the corrupt regal ones.
5322622 least that is how i see it in comparison to the equestria outside of the chase. ones within i do not know. with the tree not having a conciousness and it being far more unstable and such.
meaning in the conscioness thing as in being able to create things and capable of taking into consideration non element bearers of their group. attribute the lack of crystal castle directly to the tree being but a power source rather than a some form of tree god.
5322968
Hey, this isn't my work, take it up with the creator. It isn't even in my writing.
5323044 was simply making a conversation.
5323046
Oh... well, I kinda agree with you. Some of the virtues there seem... off.
As in they don't make sense at all.
5323055 laughter can be both altruism and good cheer. that is what pinkie is after all. temperance and honesty likely go hand and hand.
love,h umiliatyr, and wisdom make more sense. especially if the idea is that something happened to the changelings and made them from slightly off-putting fey ponies to outright monsters.
Extraneous "we."
In any case, such is the nature of mirrors. If the Equestria we're used to is sweet and safe with a few patches of horror, then this one must be the exact opposite.
(That said, given that the comics portrayed a magic-and-science reflection, you're kind of deviating from canon. Not a bad thing, of course; just a heads up.)
Good buildup on the tension and making Sunrise less completely detestable. Looking forward to more.
5323109
Yep.
Canterlot. The City of Light and strange magic.
It was the bastion of Sombra's power while the rest of Equestria was left to the mercy of Celestia the Cruel.
5323400
Ah. And now I understand.
5323400 ......... i wonder what was going on in the north and south that made it impossible for crysalis and discord to help there.
5326526
Lots of BAD THINGS.
This is Equestria untamed.
5313026 What does that say for the future of The Catch?
5327027
Nothing.
Certainly an interesting reversal of the trend. And interesting goblins as well. I don't think I've seen any with a layer of mucus before.
Also, poor Sunrise. She's completely out of her depth, and I suspect Celestia is as well when it comes to having a personal student. Sending her out into this mess? It's not exactly "Go supervise the solstice celebration and maybe restore my sister's sanity if you have the time."
Looking forward to more. Really.
Side Quest: Typo Hnut:
Too.
Shaken, since it's passive voice.
This is gold.
Can't wait for more.
depended
Good development here. I like the way you cleared my major objection in the story... it made sense and was completely in character for this universe (not that I had any doubts, but...).
Wait, how come earth ponies can't just use a copy of Fogwalker's sparking horseshoes to light fires?
Great adventurous world overall.
5331029
They could, if they had a kings ransom in coin to spend.
Great twist with the Giant Rat. I love Sunrise the Twisticorn! I definitely like the whole D&D feel of the story, and the stats in the author's notes.
I gotta say, for somepony who initially seemed like a squire in a knightly order, Garlic sure isn't chivalrous. First he mocks Fogwalker over the feelings she confessed to him in a very hurtful manner (twice), then he murders those goblins in cold blood. I get that goblins are usually terrible and those patrolling guards could have alerted their city, but this is an entire city of goblins that has never harmed a pony and is unlikely to be in a position to do so in the future. While invading their home, did Garlic have an opportunity to use non-lethal blows? I hope we get to see how the Virtues respond after reading the after-action report.
Damn it Garlic, quit thinking and just follow your desire.
5331085 Oh, gotcha.