THE GRIMOIRE — An Official Universe Guidebook to "This Game of Mine" · 7:59pm Oct 19th, 2014
T H I S G A M E O F M I N E
T H E G R I M O I R E
A N O F F I C I A L U N I V E R S E G U I D E B O O K
Below, you will find my personal design and planning notes for This Game of Mine,
including differences from the show canon, a comprehensive list of references,
and clarifications on decisions I’ve made regarding terminology and language.
It will be updated regularly.
This document is constantly being revised, and any information contained within is subject to change.
U P D A T E S
2014 Oct 21 — Added Chapter 4 references. Updated Twilight’s reference—she still lives in Ponyville. Renamed it to the Grimoire because of this guy.
C A N O N C O N F L I C T S
This Game of Mine shares the same basic fundamental setting as the show, but it does diverge from continuity before the Royal Wedding. Everything afterwards should be considered non-canon to this story. (i.e. Princess Twilight, Sombra, Tirek, The Crystal Kingdom). Other canon differences can be found below.
S E T T I N G
The official Map of Equestria is non-canon to this story.
C H A R A C T E R S
Minuette has been renamed to Romana. She is Captain of the Ponyville Town Guard. {Inspired by Nonagon's "Death Note: Equestria"}
Bulk Biceps has been renamed to Heavyweight. He is Featherweight’s father.
Derpy Hooves has been renamed to Ditzy Doo.
Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks (Sweetie Belle’s original parents) do not exist, and have been replaced with Primrose and Magnum.
Twilight Sparkle has become the Royal Archmage of Equestria. She leads the research and development of magic and its general applications, operating out of a laboratory in Ponyville, though she makes frequent trips to Canterlot, Manehattan, and elsewhere to work with private companies. She also often participates in politics as an ambassador. She is currently a unicorn, and holds no claim to the throne.
S E T T I N G
The time period of this story is three to seven years after the Elements of Harmony are rediscovered (Season 1, Episode 1).
S O C I E T Y
Government in Equestria (formally "The Principality of Equestria") is an absolute diarchy, ruled jointly by Princesses Celestia and Luna.
Education in Equestria has students graduating at around 13 years old, due to a simpler society and a more efficient education system. {Inspired by Nonagon's "Death Note: Equestria"} It is formally split into primary (-13) and post-graduate (13+).
P O L I T I C S / D E M O G R A P H Y
Relevant races include ponies, horses (bigger than ponies), and gryphons. Less relevant races include zebras and changelings.
Relevant nations include Equestria (mostly ponies), Gryphos (mostly gryphons), and Saddle Arabia (mostly horses). Less relevant nations include a zebra nation.
T E C H N O L O G Y / M A G I C
Major technologies include traditional "electronics" (powered by electricity) and "magical technology" (or simply "magic tech").
Equestria's technology is mostly Digital Age magic, Early Atomic Age electronics do exist. High technology (computers, game consoles, etc.) is mostly uncommon and generally non-mobile (no cellphones, laptops, etc.).
Gryphos's technology is mostly Atomic Age electronics, but is stagnant due to the rapid advance of magic tech.
S P E C I F I C T E C H N O L O G I E S
The Zecora-Sparkle Thaumic Circuit is the basis for most magical technology {like a transistor}. Invented by ponies, it's a tiny device that can continually perform a magic spell. It consists of six miniature gems, which each contain a single basic spell based on the Elements of Harmony (Loyalty connects the gems; Laughter creates magic energy; Kindness regulates energy; Generosity distributes energy; Honesty opens the other gems to energy; and Magic casts the spell {inspired by Sharaloth's "Harmony Theory"}.
A console is a computing device that processes and stores data and information {like a computer}. It is usually a large, heavy box that requires a stratoscreen to operate {so no laptops, tablets, smartphones, or portable gaming yet}. Most consoles are general-use {like a computer}, but specialized consoles exist for specific purposes (i.e. video game consoles, stratonet server consoles).
A stratoscreen is a display device {like a TV/monitor}. It's a magically-enchanted sheet of paper that displays an interactive image from a console. {Name inspired by Nonagon's "Death Note: Equestria"}
The Stratonet is a data network {like the Internet} that sends information via streams of magic and data that pass through the stratosphere of the world.
Video games are mostly the same as our reality. The three major gaming consoles are Marendo, Hoofbox and PlayStable.
S T O R Y / C H A R A C T E R S
S W E E T I E B E L L E
Sweetie Belle is 13 years of age. {Relative to my impression of their age being around 7-10 in the show.}
Sweetie Belle's skills make her perceptive, intelligent, responsive, coordinated, and charismatic; however, she is non-athletic, impulsive, forgetful, scatterbrained, and unmotivated.
Sweetie Belle's talents make her very good at video gaming (self-learned); and decent at singing, cooking, sewing, and decorum (taught by parents and Rarity). She's currently being taught dancing, fencing, and woodwinds by Rarity.
E T E R N I T Y , T H E V I D E O G A M E
Eternity (stylized as E T E R N I T Y) is a first-person shooter MMO set in a science-fantasy world. {Heavily inspired by Destiny. }
{The game's title and a lot of the scripture-esque excerpts from the item descriptions and flavor text coincide well with the themes of the story.}
(in progress…)
R E F E R E N C E S
This Game of Mine contains several references to history, pop-culture, media, and real life. Below is a list of references in case there’s one that may have been confusing or misunderstood.
C H A P T E R 1
F A T E O F A L L F O O L S
Chapter Title: Fate of All Fools, an exotic Scout Rifle.
Chapter Quote : Mark of Bulwarks, a rare Titan Mark.
/ “Yeah, whatever Timberine.” /
“Timberine” is a portmanteau of “Timberwolf” and “Wolverine”, a character from the X-Men comic book franchise by Marvel Comics.
/ Mind of teacher. Mind of lesson. Mind of bullies. Too many minds…No mind. /
Inspired by a line from the kendo practice scene in The Last Samurai, a movie.
/ “Ten points to Gryphondor.” /
Ponified reference to “House Griffindor” from the Harry Potter, a book series by J.K. Rowling.
/ Sweetie Belle did not recognize that input. Please try again. / Sweetie Belle has stopped responding. / Sweetie Belle does not compute. /
Sweetie Belle’s computer-like internal thoughts are a reference to “Sweetie Bot”, a character introduced in Episode 5 of Friendship is Witchcraft, a My Little Pony parody series by Sherclop Pones.
Zaid ValRoa
Named after Zaid ValRoa, a user on Fimfiction. His online handle, “ZaidyWaidy”, is inspired by Imploding Colon’s Yaerfaerda.
Eternity
The online game that Sweetie Belle plays, Eternity, is heavily inspired by Destiny, a video game by Bungie, Inc.
Zecora-Sparkle Thaumic Circuit
Each Element’s basic function is inspired from Harmony Theory, a fanfiction by Sharaloth.
stratoscreen
Named after a similar concept present in Death Note: Equestria, a fanfiction by Nonagon.
C H A P T E R 2
A L I G H T I N T H E D A R K
Chapter Title: A Light in the Dark, an exotic weapon bounty.
Chapter Quote: Mark of the Beacon, an uncommon Titan Mark.
/ Hide in plain sight. /
Reference to the second tenet of The Creed from the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise.
/ …committed to a more structured form of adventuring, one that required much less familiarity with the town's emergency first response unit. /
Reference to a line from Chapter 10 of Through the Well of Pirene, a fanfiction by Ether Echoes.
/ Is it bad that my mind instinctively told me to reach for the Share button? /
Reference to a feature present in the Sony PlayStation 4 video game console. The “Share” feature lets you capture a screenshot or record video from your gameplay and save it for later viewing.
/ “It’s not a Marendo or a PlayStable, sis, it’s a Hoofbox.” /
Ponified references to the Nintendo, the PlayStation, and the Xbox video game consoles/companies respectively.
/ “Well! I’m, er, certainly glad that the thousand bits helped you discover your destiny!” /
Rarity’s unintentional pun is a reference to Destiny, a video game which heavily inspired the game that Sweetie Belle played to get her cutie mark.
/ “once the details of the Cirque du Poné contract come in” /
Ponified reference to Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil, a theatrical production.
I N T E R M I S S I O N
A L L E N D S A R E B E G I N N I N G S
Chapter Title: All Ends are Beginnings, track 44 of the Destiny Original Soundtrack.
Chapter Quote: Atheon’s Epilogue, a legendary Auto Rifle.
C H A P T E R 3
T H E D E V I L Y O U K N O W
Chapter Title: The Devil You Know, a legendary Hand Cannon.
Chapter Quote: Mark of Resolve, a rare Titan Mark.
/ there was an incredibly loud “GASP!”—literally, she said the word ‘gasp’ /
Reference to a line from Chapter 7 of The Demesne of the Reluctant Twilight Sparkle, a fanfiction by MrNumbers.
/ “Like it?” She fixed me with a menacing glare. “Like it?” She began shaking violently. “’Like’ it doesn’t even flipping DESCRIBE IT!” /
Reference to a line from Awesome Reach, a video by Egoraptor.
/ “Alright, alright, calm down, Taliesin.” /
Reference to Taliesin, a 6th-century bard who commonly composed songs based on famous battles of the time that he had witnessed.
/ “I’ve been watching too much Game of Pones lately.” /
Ponified reference to A Game of Thrones, a book by George R.R. Martin.
Romana
Named after the same character in Death Note: Equestria by Nonagon.
C H A P T E R 4
T H E D E V I L Y O U D O N ’ T
Chapter Title: The Devil You Don’t, a legendary Hand Cannon.
Chapter Quote: Mantle of Efrideet, a legendary Hunter Cloak.
/ Commander Shepard would be proud. / Hey, it gets results. And Paragon points. / Renegade points earned. /
Reference to the Paragon/Renegade system in the Mass Effect video game franchise. During conversations with other characters in the game, players are granted choices in how to respond. Some of these choices are considered “Paragon” (loyal, dutiful, polite) or “Renegade” (blunt, harsh, rebellious), and you slowly accumulate points of each type, which helps define your character’s personality over time.
/ “Here’s some earth, chillin’. Dayme, that is some sweet earth you might say. Grouuuuuund!” /
Much of Pinkie’s dialogue in this scene is a reference to The End of the World, a flash animation by Fluid.
/ four family members piloting four racers and their four karts around a road of rainbows /
The game they’re playing is a reference to the Mario Kart video game franchise.
/ “what kinda funky mushrooms Rainbow must have been on” /
Reference to the Mushroom Kingdom’s obsession with mushrooms in the Mario video game franchise.
/ “‘Dove Talon and the Noble Six’” /
“Noble Six” is a reference to the name of the main character in the video game Halo Reach.
/ I had become a robot, programmed to follow and listen and do. /
Another reference to “Sweetie Bot” from Friendship is Witchcraft by Sherclop Pones.
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
" E V E R Y P O N Y " V S " E V E R Y O N E "
I often use “people” instead of “ponies”, and “everyone” instead of “everypony”. This is wholly intentional; I've decided that "people" is the most species-neutral reference to groups of sentient creatures, so any usage you find of it will likely be a conscious decision on my part.
P O N Y P U N S A N D P O N I F Y I N G
“Ponifications” are a bit of a divisive thing for me. For one, I generally can't stand when very obviously un-pony-like names are ponified (“Iron Mareden, Haul Mycartneigh, Fill Coltins, ugghhhh...is there anything at all here worth listening to?!” - Allegrezza, Ch. 4) because they feel ridiculously forced and out of place in the universe. For the same reason, I don't like just straight-up using human names either (like "Windows" and "Microsoft"), except for in certain analogical gags (Twilight does call Spike "Casanova" at one point in the show).
This is something that I will occasionally struggle with in order to maintain suspension of disbelief. Occasionally, you’ll see ponified names (“Hoofbox”); other times, you’ll see straight up references (“Taliesin”).
D E S T I N Y A N D F A T E
I believe in both pre-determined destiny and absolute free will—the future is a guaranteed outcome that is a result of the causal means by which we exercise our free will. This will affect my interpretation of “destiny” as a philosophical concept within the story.
A larger explanation can be found here.
Well, this saves the trouble of making a TV Tropes page.
Bubble bursting time.
'This one's too young'
I is Sweetie.
Submit.
Time to criticize something I love!
This, unfortunately, is technically considered an alternate universe. If it diverges from canon timeline, it's alt. However, due to the gap between seasons the Alternate Universe tag is generally only applied if the deviation affects something within a season, i.e. Mare-do-Well or the Sonic Rainboom. The term "Season X compliant" is more often used when, like here, you decide to break away from canon in the space between seasons; this story is Season 2 compliant, consisting of the first two seasons and none of the following, for instance.
On the subject of names: Many BG ponies have numerous names, but unless their names are mentioned in Canon those names are not considered canon to the character. Minuette, Romona, or Colgate could be equally applicable to the same blue unicorn, as she is canonically unnamed but has received these names from multiple places in the fandom. Bulk Biceps' canon name can be safely ignored, as you are only Season 2 compliant and so do not need to acknowledge season 4. ((Heavyweight's a new one by me, but okay.))
The real issue comes with the Derpy/Ditzy dichotomy, and seriously ties into her state as a character. Unlike the other two, this character was named in season 2 and may have been named in season 1--if the purple-maned grey pegasus was just the blonde grey pegasus with a dye job or animation error... This also leads into the meanings of Derpy and Ditzy as adjectives, and the cultural aspects surrounding them; suffice it to say you should have a very good in story reason to pick one over the other, otherwise you'll be stepping into an internet minefield. My personal recommendation is to have one name be a nickname, or have her have changed her name.
Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks have not had their name mentioned on the show, only in the CCG which in and of itself is of... flexible canon. Thus there is no need to "rename" them; they have no "canon" names.
As for Twilight living in Canterlot as royal archmage, this... will cause some serious questions. Even assuming she achieved the position, there is little canon reason for her to leave Ponyville; unless the archmage's duties require her to remain in Canterlot, she would probably still be in Ponyville, and it's difficult to see Celestia convincing her to leave her friends for any reason. Simply attributing the difference to the time gap won't help; there has to be a serious, reasonable cause for the change.
Ah, he actually appeared in the Hearts and Hooves episode during the musical number. He was far too young.
2543763
Though you're not technically wrong, I'm not sure that would comply with Fimfic's definition. From the FAQ:
"An Alternate Universe story has deviated from the basic setting of MLP: FIM in some way or another: much more heavily steam-punk; Nightmare Moon/Discord/Sombra/Chrysalis won scenarios and so forth."
The fundamental setting and all of the events leading up to the show (as well as most of the show's events), are still in place, so it feels wrong to tag it AU, at least here. I'd be more likely to call it an Alternate Timeline rather than an Alternate Universe. I know, I know, that's probably getting to TVTropes-level nitpicking, but hey, I like to pick nits!
But you're right, I can't explicitly say that it's not AU. I'll pull that from the doc and reword the sentence.
Generally, my policy is to consider the show "Canon Prime", with official merchandise as Secondary Canon that's "right until proven wrong" by the show.
Minuette is the official name given to the character according to the TCG and the Gameloft game. Since she hasn't been named in the show, I consider it canon, and thus feel it would be best to acknowledge the breach of canon.
New to me too! I thought it up while writing this. It was a completely spur-of-the-moment decision, and I thought it'd be funny/cute if Featherweight and his dad had matching names.
Nah, that's what the document's for: to point out canon inconsistencies so that people know it's intentional.
I'll freely admit that most of these canon conflicts are purely whimsy, things I do for fun or based solely on my own personal taste rather than some kind of narrative compromise or anything practical like that. (I mean, literally, the only reason why Derpy is Ditzy is just because I just genuinely think the name "Derpy Hooves" sounds really… really dumb.
)
Really, my inclusion of canon breaches in the document is more of a confession than a compromise. I'm basically saying, "I know I'm wrong and I'm okay with that."
It actually says "replace". I didn't just rename the characters, I got rid of them entirely. Magnum and Primrose are completely different ponies than Hondo and Cookie. They don't even share the same soul.
Oops, that's a relic that I changed my mind about a long time ago and forgot to switch up!
She's still living in Ponyville. Sorry Twi! 
Fixed! Thank ya kindly.
I view Ditzy as meaning "Airheaded" and Derpy as meaning "Clumsy". Derpy people might have glitches, but Ditzy people have very few roots.
And then we get into arguing semantics....
Man, the names of Sweetie Belle's parents change all the time. I eventually just gave up on updating them.
I just have to say, I really, really, really love your sense of aesthetics.
Really. Love.
Oh yeah, the content's good too. And soooooo pretty....
