Ciderfest Story: Opaline's Time to Shine · 3:30pm Nov 25th, 2023
As you're probably aware of by now, Ponyville Ciderfest had a fanfiction-driven event wherein attendees discovered hashtags which unlocked stories on their app, and chose an ending of the story to score points for good, evil, or chaos. Ironically there was back-end worry that good would naturally steamroll, but chaos ended up winning out. Whereas good was more 'time police' trying to keep Equestria as it was, chaos was the gentler post-reform Discord variety, with a focus on either making things better or on harmless lolrandom fun. In hindsight, it doesn't seem surprising this felt more relatable.
I only did one short story for it, which doesn't seem to merit a new submission itself so I'll put it here. My own hashtag code was in a very public display, which has the benefit of a lot of exposure and the drawback as not being quite as interesting as some of the more secretive codes. The story itself was inspired by the listing of the forces of evil, which amusingly did not include the main antagonist of G5. I enjoyed what came out, even if I did fall into the trap of making the chaos/evil endings probably more likeable than the 'good' one. I didn't attend the con myself, but there seems to have been a lot of subtle pulling for the underdogs that I contributed to.
Opaline’s Time to Shine
By Rune Soldier Dan
It was perhaps inevitable that some of the pages were sent to the future of Equestria, where Sunny Starscout labored to protect the ponies’ newfound unity. From there, it was perhaps inevitable one would end up in the hooves of the villain desperately seeking magical power at all costs – Opaline Arcana, the alicorn of fire.
Possession of the page let her see it all: the other worlds, and the wicked possibility to throw them all into darkness forever. Fortunately, what should have been a slam-dunk for the forces of evil had instead devolved into an alicorn-sized temper tantrum as Opaline fixated on one particular part of her newfound knowledge.
“They didn’t invite me! How DARE they not invite me!”
You’re close enough to hear her shout. You helped Sunny Starscout evacuate Maretime Bay, saving the ponies as Opaline’s fiery magic tore through their empty buildings.
Heat washes over you from her next fireball, cast furiously into the smoothie stand across the street.
“Am I not wicked!?” Opaline shouts, landing in a halo of purple fire. “Am I not the greatest threat Equestria has ever seen!?”
“Psst!”
You look over and see Sunny crouched behind an upturned trolley. You hustle over to her, sweating from the heat all around you.
“We did a hoof-count. All the ponies are ou–”
“‘Villains in the Dark’ is the perfect name for them!” Opaline’s voice grows even louder, booming across the walls. “Fumbling fools, hiding in the dark from my INCANDESCENT RADIANCE! How DARE they not invite me to their faction!”
Opaline flies to another part of town, bringing her furious monologue far enough away for Sunny to keep speaking.
“So that’s what this is about,” she says, looking less than pleased. “I was wondering why Opaline is just causing destruction instead of going after me or the ponies. Even the other villains don’t care about her. That’s… kind of sad.”
Sunny stands up straight. A glow surrounds her, and you see magic wings sprout from her side. She turns to you, showing her golden horn. A tight, unsteady smile reaches her face.
“My friends and I have a plan to distract her and snatch the page. That’s what we do, right? The ‘Heroes of Equestria.’ Putting everything back the way it’s supposed to be. Opaline… she’s supposed to be a loser villain hiding out in her castle. Misty says she plays with toys pretending she wins, because she never has and never will. That’s the way the story goes. The way it has to, to keep us all safe. Maybe one day we can be friends, but maybe instead one day she’ll turn to stone.”
Sunny gives a nervous chuckle, glancing away. “I don’t know, [USERNAME]. Why don’t I leave this one up to you? Sure, we can kick her butt just like we should. It’s definitely the right thing to do. On the other hoof, it’s not like she’s hurting anyone. As soon as she moves on we’ll just do a musical number and fix the city in three minutes. Yes, the villains getting a page is bad, but maybe she’ll mellow out a little once she impresses them.”
“Or maybe we can… talk to her? Sorry, but by ‘we’ I mean you. I’m the ‘fake alicorn,’ remember? Opaline has me on her burn-on-sight list.”
[CHOICE] What should you do?
>Help Sunny defeat Opaline (hero)
>Talk to Opaline (chaos)
>Retreat from Opaline (villain)
[ENDING A: HERO]
“You’re right,” Sunny says. “This battle is about more than just us. But we’ll need your help...”
You play a critical part in the plan, flying overhead in the Mare Stream (Izzy’s flying van) to drop oatmeal on Opaline’s head just as she was about to triumph. The rest of the plan involves catapults, a dozen hungry raccoonicorns, and the power of friendship, eventually driving Opaline back to her castle. The page is recovered, the day is saved, and singing ponies immediately get to work rebuilding Maretime Bay.
The song carries over you, and you pitch in with the happy ponies at work.
“Together we can raise this town,
1, 2, 3, 4
Work together raise this town,
1, 2, 3, 4...”
Sunny works alongside you to put the finishing touch on the last rebuilt house. “Thanks for the help. And thanks for keeping me focused. We have to win this thing, and every page counts. You go on ahead – somehow, I’m pretty sure we’ll see each other again before long.”
(+1 page for Heroes)
[ENDING B: CHAOS]
It takes you a while to get Opaline’s attention, but when you do she is more than ready to talk.
“Thank hoofness there’s at least one pony in this miserable multiverse who can appreciate my majesty. I don’t–”
Opaline interrupts herself with a dry cough. “So sorry, all this fire magic really dries out the throat.”
Taking the opportunity, you invite her to the one juice bar left standing. She accepts, and you help yourselves to cold drinks.
“My, I haven’t robbed a small business since I was a filly!” Opaline laughs, but her mood quickly darkens. “Those goody-goody alicorn sisters caught and snitched on me. They always were putting on airs, acting like they were so superior and important. But I’ll show them!”
“How?” you ask. “They’re not in your world anymore, and you last saw them thousands of years ago.”
Her eyes narrow. “Your point, [USERNAME]?”
“Don’t let ponies from the long past dictate how you act today. Do what you want to do, not what you think will hurt your childhood enemies, or impress the other villains.”
“I want to get power,” Opaline said.
“Why?”
“To hurt my childhood enemies and impress the other… oh.” Opaline blinks twice, and stands up. Somehow, she looks a little different. “Well, thank you for the juice. I’ll be leaving now, I… have some thinking to do.”
She flies out the door, leaving the page behind. This isn’t how her stories are supposed to go… but maybe that’s for the best?
(+1 page for chaos)
[ENDING C: VILLAINS]
Sunny nods and turns tail to flee. No sooner is she out of sight than Opaline lands by your side. You brace, but her fiery corona is gone and she grins to you.
“I heard it all!” She rears back, letting a happy, high-pitch whinny escape her throat. “You talked that fake-alicorn into turning tail, leaving ME the victor! Oh, I knew there were ponies out there who could see my greatness! I just knew it!”
She hugs you, taking care not to squeeze too tightly. This might be bad, but… she looks so happy.
“With this page in hoof, the other villains will come crawling, begging me to join their pathetic faction. And when the whole story of Equestria belongs to us, you shall be my number-two minion!”
Opaline takes to the air once more. “I’m counting on you, minion! Collect more pages for the villains… although honestly, if I’m not the one who gets them I couldn’t care less. Do what you will. I know your loyalty lies with me, and you’ll be rewarded well when all Equestria is mine.”
She flies back to her castle, laughing evilly. You take your leave as well, the warmth of her hug lingering on your limbs.
(+1 page for evil)
As someone who didn't go, who did make the roster for the forces of evil? And good and chaos, for that matter?
5756557
They were less specific rosters than general descriptions, it's just the forces of evil had several specifically listed:
Good was the usual suspects minus a few defectors, seeking to put everything the way it was.
Chaos was a Discord/Pinkie show, though done with Fluttershy's permission. Inject some randomness, making any changes that seem fun, be creative.
Evil was the baddies with a list including the usual suspects (minus Opaline, hence the story). They wanted their owns stories to finally be told (and yes conquer everything in the process).
I think this might have actually gotten slapped down by the "no meta" rule, actually. It leans a lot further into the gimmick than, say, FoME's two stories.