Alright, currently this is more-or-less what the idea is.

1: the element bearers of each universe (at the Moment the Canonverse, Dashverse, Manehattenverse, Flipsideverse, Lunaverse and Cadanceverse) are summoned to the extradimensional plane.

2: there, either the Fausticorn or Bonniecorn informs them that the destruction of the elements of Universe...616 or something has caused a bit of a reality break that threatens to consume the multiverse.
As such, the different teams are to collect the element (or elements, still a bit confused on the exact details) from 6 other universes to combat the threat.

3: the teams are sent, but have been scrambled due to interference from...something.
So we'll have something like a team of Lunaverse Trixie, Dashverse Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Canon Pinkie, Flipsideverse Cheerilee and...whoever was generosity from the Cadanceverse, in one universe.

4: the story is basically the group working together, building friendships and finding the elements.

5: The story ends with the group finding the right elements, giving them to the Bonniecorn, and returning to their home universes, know that they've done something great.

6: possible Bonus chapter of Canon Spike, Lunaverse Pokey, Manehatten Spike, Flipside dragon Twilight, and whatever their Dashverse and Cadanceverse counterparts are sitting around comparing their universe's elements and in general discussing things.

Points of discussion:
-We still don't have the ideal "team" picked out for the fic.
-R_K_Striker wants to include the Hasbroverse, at the cost of the Canonverse.
-Other fine tuning and stuff.

-who's going to write what.

Because we're bringing together so many universes, I initially thought it might interesting to have each Universe head, or someone from the group, write each chapter of the fic from the POV of their character.

So for example, RDD or someone writes the chapter from Lunaverse Carrot Top's POV, Daring Do's POV is written by Jackie, etc, etc.

But that's kind of asking alot from you guys, so...yeah.

alright, so let's talk.

2137356 I think the first order of business would be to establish the main antagonist to the story.

I'm pushing for Nightmare Rarity with a genius bruiser Spike as the main villains with 6 bearers of the elements of anarchy as their minions

2137356 Well, about the 'Canonverse'...

1. The Hasbroverse is very close to the Canonverse, so no loss and quite a bit of gain.

2. Who would write the Canonverse bits anyway? That's extra work. Including the Hasbroverse brings me in and my full willingness to help out.

Whew, that's quite a bit to take on. Especially writing for five other characters from five different fic other than each author's own.

A modest proposal from me: the "writer" for each chapter might as well be the Element of Magic for that group. So I'd write whichever group Flipverse Spike is with, RDD would do Lunaverse Trixie, etc. Then it's a question of who'd write for Canon Twilight.

I like the idea of a bonus chapter involving the assistants. It'd probably surprise Dragon Twi just how far her canon-self has gotten.

Also, in regards to Canon Twilight, should she be an Alicorn for this fic? It's where she is in the show now and it'd give an easy way to differentiate her from Manehattenverse Twilight.

2137482

Hmm. Interesting Idea. Let's see if the others like it.
I think it can work either way, but we'll see.

As for Twilicorn, I haven't even considered it. I'm Largely neutral on using her, but we'll see what the others think.

2137420

Really, if everyone else wants it, we'll swap it.

If we go with the Canonverse, who ever wants to can volunteer for it.
...If we have no one else willing to do it, I'll take a stab at it, but I'm not sure I could do it justice.

2137866 Well, I didn't see any real objections to it in the previous threads. And heck, there's another reason to use the Hasbroverse. Less pressure on you. ;)

2137356:

My understanding was that it was going to be mostly like that, but with just one team (at least at first). So we pick one team of 6 Elements, one from each verse, and they have the adventure for the story (beginning, 6 adventure chapters, ending). If it goes well, then we can do it again with another team of 6.

It's asking a lot for each author to write a full adventure with 6 ponies that is self-contained (if we go with 6 teams, and each chapter is an entire team, so that team is really only in that chapter). It's much better if we have one team of six ponies. Then each author can focus on their own character while also building their relationship with other team members, and that can grow over time as the chapters progress. The team's adventure and dynamics can be explored in 6, not 1, chapters.

2137482:

If we go with the 1 team option, I'd say, of the six chapters, each should be written by the author of the character of the ELement in question. E.g., if Chapter 2 is about retrieving the honesty Element, then whoever on the team is the honesty Element, their author writes that chapter.

I also have an idea for a writer from each group writing a chapter about the universe they represent

2138366 That'd be a very good idea. A thread for each universe for questions and answers. I'm very familiar with the Lunaverse, Cadanceverse, Manehattanverse and the Hasbroverse, natch. ;) But the Flipsideverse and Dashverse I'm not.

2137866
Thoughts on Twilicorn:

Ah absolutely hated it when it happened, but really when ya get right down to it none a' mah objection is to Twilight bein' an alicorn; it's that Magical Mystery Cure was a terrible episode that didn't come anywhere near doin' the concept justice, an' the writers' statements on what they're gonna do with her in season 4 are kinda dumb. As fer the wings themselves? Sure, we can do that, jus' don't anybody linger on MMC references or anythin'.

2138870 Looking back, that's about how I feel about the episode too. That and I feel it should've been a two-part series finale.

The idea is certainly ambitious. I wouldn't mind writing a chapter from RD's perspective for the story.

I'm just brainstorming a bit about the plot, so my thoughts may be a little rambly. I think the premise can work from two different angles. On the one hand, you have some evil force in one dimension scattering the Elements and putting them into other dimensions. On the other, we saw what happens when you take an Element into another reality in Equestria Girls. So there could be a two-sided danger and thus, a need to get the Elements back 1) to stop whatever disrupted the multiverse in the first place and 2) to prevent the stray Element from falling into the wrong hooves.

And I think it would be kind of unnerving for the Multiverse Cast to find out that there are plenty of alternate realities and find out that they're not an Element of Harmony. Something I was thinking of for a similarly premised story was that Rainbow Dash would find that her's is the only reality where she's the Princess' student and the 'leader' of the Elements, and that in most of the others its either Twilight or Trixie ... but never her. That would leave her feeling like a fluke and unnerve her. I imagine it could work with most of the other ponies involved as well.

So I'm certainly willing to give this idea a shot.

2139581

Actually, something amusing I thought of is along those same lines. Daring Do, from the Manehattenverse: How would she deal with finding out she's a fictional character in most other verses?

I know it's kind of ambiguous in the canon I guess, but in Flipverse at least I'm just assuming that she's only a character in an adventure novel. And I'd bet the same is true with other verses out there. So how would M! Daring Do react to learning that she only exists as a heroine in a book series instead of as a real pony in these other worlds?

Especially seeing as she's the Element of Honesty in her home world?

Of course, I don't know for sure if she is just a book character in canon or in other verses, but I didn't see anything to suggest otherwise in canon. If it turns out I'm wrong about that then hey, I'm wrong.

Ok... I need to get over the sight of so many of my favorite authors in the same conversation together and actually trying to make this idea happen... must. avoid. squeeing.

If the "Hasbroverse" is pretty similar to canon as it is, it's probably better to go with them. Like in most science experiments, they can be the "control" group, especially if most of their adventures do not diverge too much from anything pre-Magical Mystery Cure.

2139939
Apparently there's going to be a Season Four episode devoted to the author of Daring Do. It's highly speculated due to the comic that the author is Twilight's Mom, but the comic says a lot of non-canon things, so until it's on the screen, it's still up in the air.

I think I mentioned it in one of the other threads... the whole "Daring Do is real" concept reminds me of a Darkwing Duck episode "Twitching Channels." There's a decent division within the fandom ranging from her existence as a living, breathing pony (Ponkyverse, Manehattanverse, Winningverse) to the figment of somepony's imagination like Twilight Velvet, Fluttershy's grandmother, or a random OC who usually isn't a pegasus, much to Rainbow Dash's dismay. The concept must have come from somewhere, though, and like the DW episode and DC Comics' Crisis series, sometimes there's truth in fiction.

Another thing I've mentioned in other threads is the hope that there will be a seventh character filling Spike's role as the assistant to the Element of Magic in addition to the Six Elements. Reaction to Spike's character is a mixed bag, whether it's because he's one of the few male characters in a show for girls, or that he's a dragon in a show about ponies, or the fact that some of the episodes focused on him were extremely polarizing in terms of quality (Spike ends up saving the world in The Crystal Empire but is a complete buffoon in Spike At Your Service? Come on, writers!) In any case, my personal opinion is that he's important to the Canon cast (and hopefully is in the Hasbroverse), the Manehattanverse, and obviously Flipside (with Dragon!Twilight sharing a much bigger role in defeating Nightmare Moon than canon!Spike did, even if she's not an Element).

Going back to Magical Mystery Cure... none of the universes involved her to my knowledge have made it anywhere close to dealing with the repercussions of the Magical Mystery Cure episode. To keep things simple... why worry about it yet? If the crossover event is to become canon to the six chosen AUs, it is probably easiest to keep it in the timeline before such an event is to occur (if ever). Maybe that means no Sunset Shimmer or Flash Sentry, and maybe it doesn't, but do they even matter?

If the creators of the six universes are in agreement that they are in favor of the idea, then it seems like the big questions are:

#1 - which Six? Is it one team of Six Elements (and maybe a "Spike" type to make seven) or all six teams are mixed up into six different groups and have figure out how to get home to their friends, and defeat a Big Bad in the process?

#2 - The Big Bad. Someone caused this. Who is it, why, and how does everything return to Status Quo Antebellum (or as close as possible, considering...) I doubt any universe wants to sacrifice a team member like crossovers do in the DC universe. dramatic_spoon mentioned leaving the villain ambiguous, and there are ways to make that work, but considering how people (and ponies) like to place blame on something for their problems, the question will be HOW to make that work.

2140482
Ah know we've got several competing suggestions fer the villain, but can ah jus' add one here?

Twimera.

2140636

Twimera, Eakin's Queen Sparkle, or any alt-Mane Six as an antagonist would all be cool in their own way... provided everyone agrees on it, including the character's creator. How would Trinary's Rainbow Dash react to having to fight one of her friends? How would any Twilight react to having to fight against an alternate version of herself?

T!Rainbow Dash: Hey Twilight, remember when I said that you had to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen?

Flip!Twilight: Um... sure... (folds arms in irritation)

T!Dash: (points a hoof at Twimera) I've changed my mind. That is now the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

2140677
Ah figure it kinda has ta be a Twilight if it's any alternate a' the Elements, since Twi is the only one who we know means somethin' to all universes... well, her or Fluttershy.

Do we really need a villain? If they're going to collect Elements, it could just be to prevent a 'the world is falling apart' kind of thing, not an active, malevolent opponent.

2140787
But that'd still leave the question a' how they got scattered in the first place. Fer which the only other plausible explanation ah can think of is "lab accident", but that's the story a' Sweetie Chronicles.

Maybe it's some kinda periodic thing that happens once every thousand years, ah dunno.

2140849: If it's set in some seventh universe, we could just say that... I dunno, maybe none of the alicorns went crazy there, so the Elements of that universe were never gathered, which will cause Problems if they aren't gotten. So 6 Elements, one from each verse, make up the team to collect them.

Well I'm no 'head of a verse' or anything, but I would like to throw in my two cents on the matter as I've read and seen my fair shair of crossover story.

When it comes to big crossover event, it's actually a bad idea to make it TOO complicated a story. It should be a simple enough premise that can be explained without knowledge of each universe' backstory. The crux of the spectacle should come from two simple aspect: showing characters who don't normally interact together, do so, and each of those characters showing off what makes them unique compared to the others. The more straightforward the plot, the more time you have with the characters. So let's not get bogged down with complicated plot twists, and let's not be affraid to rely on clichés and well worn tropes. As long as it works, it works.

2138870 Gotta agree there. The episode was just too weak to support a grand idea like Twilight's ascension.

2139581 That's an interesting point, though there's also Pony!Spike. And I guess Dusk Shine :p

2138194 So basically a sort of on-going series? With more than one story if the original one is well received? If there is going to be more than one of those six chapter story then maybe other authors could get involved depending on who shows up. I sure wouldn't mind helping out by writing for Carrot Top.

2137420>>2137866 I think RK has a point on the fact we don't have anyone to write for the canonverse. Between the Dashverse and his Hasbroverse there's enough similarity with the canon show that no one is gonna be bothered if Megan is involved.

OOOH! How about we send the sidekicks to the Hasbroverse human world with Megan? I don't know what they would want from there but it's not like that world is lacking in its share of macguffin.

2140482 Well in the Lunaverse we don't have a 'Spike' but Trixie does have Pokey Pierce as an administrative assistant in her daily job as Representative of the Night Court. He's generally considered the 'Spike' since whenever she goes off to do heroic stuff she dumps all her paperwork on him and leaves him at home. They banter and trade cutting remark back and forth a lot. Mostly no one would want to work with either one of them (Trixie is a terrible boss and Pokey can't hold his tongue when speaking to a superior) so they endure each other and usually get the job done.

As for the Big Bad my choice would something more akin to a natural disaster than a proper villainous prescence.

Though if we were to pick one I would vote for a subtle allegory on the evil of executive meddling and the way most girls franchise are sucked dry of any interesting element and made super bland (and pink).

2140925 I so volunteer Megan's house to hold the sidekicks for the time being.

Pokey: "This is a... tele-vision? Hmm, Tengen Toppen Gurren Laggan... why not!"

2140787

The seventh world is dying because the Elements of that world were never gathered? Harmony itself creates the equilibrium needed for this particular world to survive, but it's "too utopian" for the Elements to have ever been needed?

Sounds like a world where there was no Discord, no Nightmare Moon, no Sombra, no Chrysalis... or they all just got along so well right from the start that everything is sickeningly sweet...

"Yay, liver! Iron helps us play!" - the Flanders children

I now vote for Dinky Doo to be the Big Bad. (just kidding)

Alright then, It'll be the Hasbroverse instead of the Canonverse, and probably no Alicorn twilight.

2139939>>2139581

Indeed, this is going to be a shock for alot of the repeating elements.

That's also why I initially wanted to include the Discord/Republicverse I wrote.
Lemon Hearts, the Element of Laughter is the Writer of the Doc Daring: Mare of Bronze series, and seeing her interact with an alternate universe version of her creation is...amusing.

2140482

As much as possible, I want to keep the teams relatively balanced.
Flipside throws some things off, but if Pokey ends up tagging along it evens out.

So at least One of each race.

2140787>>2140636>>2142475

as for the villain..

I think we should have a separate thread for it. then everyone can toss out their ideas, and only ideas for that.

Honestly ah'm not sure we aren't makin' a mistake, makin' this about findin' the Elements.

There're complications in a quest fer the Elements, as we've already discussed. The how an' why an' whatnot. Too many variables. An' it's not like addin' the Elements makes fer a better story. Why don't we make the goal somethin' simpler an' maybe more personal, like... gettin' home, reunitin' with friends, survivin' a dangerous universe? Or maybe somethin' bad happened to their homeworlds an' now they gotta set it right? (Like Exiles! Hey! Waitaminute...)

2144315 Just want to add my two cents. This is a good idea as it scales back the epicness into something a bit more personal for the characters and would allow the readers to connect with them on this level.

2144315: Okay, so maybe 'one Element from each verse is thrown into a new verse and they have to get home?'

Sounds fun, but I think we still want a way to divide things up into six chapters, one per character. Making it Element themed does help with that, since each character maps nicely to an Element.

I dunno. I'm not sure how to divide something like that up between authors.

2143052

as for the villain..

I think we should have a separate thread for it. then everyone can toss out their ideas, and only ideas for that.

I would like this

2144315

Sort of more like "On Cross and Arrow" was then?

Actually, the initial idea I had wasn't that different from what you're suggesting.

I think the big problem is that Elements idea and the Stranger-in-a-strange-land Ideas both have equal amounts of merit, it's just a matter of figuring out which people rather do.

another thing to keep in mind is what the writers know about which universe they're familar with.

2149884 We have a TVTropes page

2149884>>2151135 The Hasbroverse does as well. Although methinks GrassandClouds has the right idea by putting a dedicated Cadanceverse thread up.

Flipverse: what you need to know

Dashverse Trope Page

I'll poke around Manehattan and see if there's a Character Sheet floating around there somewhere.

The Elements across the Six universes:

Magic: Twilight Sparkle (H, M, D), Trixie (L), Spike (F), Vinyl Scratch (C)
Loyalty: Rainbow Dash (H, D), Blossomforth (M), Lyra (L), Big Mac (F), Medley (C)
Laughter: Pinkie Pie (H, D), Trixie (M), Cheerilee (L), Ditzy Doo (F), Bluenote (C)
Generosity: Rarity (H, D), Aunt Orange (M), Carrot Top (L), Time Turner (F), Fluttershy (C)
Honesty: Applejack (H, D), Daring Do (M), Raindrops (L), Thunderlane (F), Octavia (C)
Kindness: Fluttershy (H, D), Octavia (M), Ditzy Doo (L), Cheerilee (F), Lyra (C)

The Life In Manehattan trope page.

I write for the Manehattanverse, I know quite a bit of the Lunaverse(season 1), Cadenseverse, and a bit of the dashverse.

I created/write the Hasbroverse, read/write for the Lunaverse and read the Cadanceverse and Manehattanverse. Sadly, I know little of the Dashverse or Flipverse.

Y'know... if we wanna keep it focused on one team, maybe we could use a cast roulette. Somethin', maybe a failed spell or a residual effect a' the multiverse travel du jour, jus' periodically swaps one pony out fer another, maybe once or twice a chapter.

2152147

Allow me to assist with that! Or at least with mine.

Flipverse: What you need to know!

The same link is posted higher up, but here it is again just to be safe. I'm afraid I don't have a TV tropes page at the moment, but this works as a sort of mini-wiki. Also includes some details about the Canon Mane Six in my verse.

2152472 Joined the group and will read the stories. Although now that I ponder it, this does seem familiar to me.

Well, like what Grass did, tomorrow I'll put up a FAQ thread for my own stuff. But tomorrow. Sleep awaits soon for me...

2152426: I think that's still got some of the same problems. Less time to focus on any particular character, so less ability to write a self-contained story. Especially with multiple writers.

I think it's best if we just take one character from each universe to begin with, and write a complete story with them. That can help keep the story manageable. Especially since each writer can build off of the others so that he or she won't need to keep starting from scratch with new ponies.

2152821

I think most of us are in agreement that it should only be one set of Six at this point, but the question keeps coming back to which Six.

I mean, if I got a biased pick, I'd find a way to have Bluenote represent the C-Verse... but in the interest of making this really work, I don't think she or Medley would be the best fit in this crossover.

If you had to narrow it down to the two members of each Six who best exemplified the creator's universe, who would you pick? For now, don't worry about getting at least Six different Elements. Let's see who people liked to read (or write) about.

Well, fer me ah'd say Daring Do, as the catalyst that caused things ta go different in the Manehattanverse, or Orange Sherbet, as the example a' Manehattan life an' probably most well-respected pony in the city...

2153428 For the Lunaverse I'd say it's Trixie and Raindrops. Raindrops is essentially completely new, not owing anything to any other fic writer and Trixie is well... Trixie!

For Cadenceverse I'd say it should be Octavia and Vynil. No one writes Octavia like Grass does.

Manehattan Daring Do would be a good pick because of her status in other universes. I don't know it enough to pick someone else though.

Now that I mention it I don't think we introduced Daring Do in the Lunaverse. Trixie and Pokey are fan of Ace of Clover, a series of detective novel though.

EDIT: Hasbroverse/Maneverse I'll go with Pinkie Pie because RK writes a really good Pinkie Pie...and maybe Fluttershy?

For my verse... that's a tough one.

I guess I'd go with Spike or Big Mac. Spike is the literal embodiment of half the changes I made in my AU, so it's no contest that he's the element that most exemplifies that. Big Mac, on the other hand, kinda embodies all the stuff I didn't change. Manehattenverse aside, Flipverse is the one that's made some of the fewest changes and that includes to Mac. I think I got him pretty close to how he'd be on the show in this situation.

Basically I'd phrase my fic along the lines of Bioshock Infinite's multiple worlds thing. Mac's the constant, Spike is the variable. Hope that makes sense.

For Cadanceverse, I'll second Fizzy and say Octavia (who is the 'main' character and probably best exemplifies the themes of friendship as they are in the C-verse) and Vinyl (who is the strategist, Element of Magic, and best exemplifies some of my views on professional musicians/artists/crafts.) As much as the others can be fun to write (especially Lyra), I think those two work best.

For Lunaverse, I'll say Trixie, as the lead and Element of Magic, and then Carrot Top, since she's gone through the most development and is perhaps the best view of an 'ordinary' mare doing extraordinary things. No super-strength, no wild and varied backstory, just a simple carrot farmer who's ready to save the world.

For Dashverse, I'll go with Dash (for obvious reasons) and Twilight (I think she was the most notable of the other Elements, esp. the world of cardboard style speech she gave).

Manehattanverse, I'd say Sherbert, actually. Not so much Daring Do, in my personal opinion. For a second, I'd go with Twilight.

Not familiar enough with Hasbro and Flip to say.

I think we're going to have to make a thread for Element choices.

2154679 Good idea.

The reason that I asked the "best exemplifies" question is because while it's possible to have a team made up of M!Twilight, D!Dash, C!Fluttershy, H!Applejack, and a pair of Ditzy Doos (or Cheerilees)... that wouldn't be as much fun.

There's no "worst" team, of course. Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Trixie, Vinyl, and Spike could make a fun story if someone really wanted to. Heck, I'm loving the "bonus chapter" idea of Megan, M!Spike, Dragon!Twilight, Pokey Pierce, and whoever fits best from Dashverse and Cadanceverse.

If we were to try to take the either the best or second best examples so far, we end up with:

Magic: Spike, Trixie, Vinyl, or Twilight
Loyalty: Rainbow Dash or Big Mac
Laughter: Pinkie Pie
Generosity: Aunt Orange or Carrot Top
Honesty: Daring Do or Octavia
Kindness: Fluttershy

By process of elimination, I think we end up with F!Spike, D!Rainbow Dash, H!Pinkie Pie, M!Aunt Orange, and C!Octavia, and substitute L!Ditzy Doo in for Kindness. She may not "best" exemplify the Lunaverse, but more readers are likely to recognize her connection to the Lunaverse than to Flipside.

It unbalances the tribes 3 Earth, 2 Pegasi, 1 unicorn, and puts a (gasp!) stallion in the party...

Thoughts?