Diamond Tiara is a young filly striving to one day become a savvy businesspony who can help pull her family out of being poor. Even with the radical events of kaiju arriving in her world doesn't shake up Diamond Tiara's day to day routine of going to school and dragging her best friend Silver Spoon along on one money making scheme after another. One day such a get-rich-quick plan sends Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to explore the Everfree Forest, where a chance encounter with a strange fox-like being occurs, and an unusual friendship is born.
Based upon Tarbtano's Amalgam'verse and The Bridge, and the Mirrorverse story Sound of Thunder.
Cover image and additional art done by the talented FallenAngel.
Chapters (7)
Bad vex bad! You should not write so many different stories! Concentrate those creative juices instead of diluting them like this!
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Well I've been making it a point to work on Trigger's next chapter while I was working on this one. This story is shorter than most of what I write and is already mostly written, so it's not that big a distraction from my other projects. Still I hear what you're saying and I do hope to get Trigger updated soon.
I haven't read those stories or that comic arc, but the confusion wasn't that bad.
You definitely have my interest. I'll keep reading for sure!
(Also, you're so lucky you're such a prolific writer.
)
These... are some really long chapters. I'll probably get down reading them around the end of the week and then tell you my opinion on it.
Did Ki Seong think Cho Yun was cheating on her with Jeog?
In Sound of Thunder, Diamond Tiara's mother was named Spoiled Sweet, and it was implied her family was rich. But I understand that this is your own spin on it. This story is cool. I'll read more later.
I like how you designed the Mirror CMC's Cutie Marks, and how they are rough, but not exactly villains.
Wow, that was a really awkward lie Diamond created, but it works. Her thinking Jeog is a Kaiju makes sense with her limited information.
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*nod* When I was going over things with Tarb he did mention this, but told me the concept of the family being poor instead of rich worked in this case. As for the name, I could change it if necessary. My thought that was, much like Spoiled Milk changed her name to Spoiled Rich in the Mainverse, that Spoiled Sweet did the same here.
Not a bad first chapter at all, in my opinion.
This has my attention...
This whole thing is brilliant.
Sorry my last entry was so brief, but I read this in the middle of the night. It's kind of strange how some characters seem the same in the mirror universe like Gentle Leaf and some of the school ponies. It's very heartwarming how Diamond tries her best to help Jeog feel welcome, and the brain freeze part was the best. Ki Seong scares me.
I have a feeling Ki Seong killed Cho Yun herself. Will we finally learn the name the Yun family gave Jeog?
Does Tarbtano consider this story canon? If it is, I will correct its placement in the Amalgamverse group and the TV Tropes page.
Kind of sad, that Diamond got a mother who's not a total bitch at the cost of her fortune.
I thought the evil kaiju were living in Everfree? Or did they move out?
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I think what happened is Ki tried to kill Jeog because she's from a family of monster hunters, and Cho died trying to protect her. Ki naturally blames Jeog for everything.
The Crusaders are jerks. But Jeog's attempts at pretending to be a pony are amazing! Who could possibly suspect such a brilliant master of disguise?
JESUS Song. I know you're driven to kill Jeog, but do you need to be this big a bitch?!
*sigh* I'd hoped they could avoid 'Let's You and Him Fight,' but at least it didn't last long.
And man, Seong's messed up.
A brilliant display but a brilliant writer. One I am honored and proud to add to my canon!
Vex has a great range it shows itself well in this piece! I shall definitely link this in the next chapter of my own tale!
Once again my dearest thanks for writing this my friend, I'd be happy to show a favor. Seriously dude, you're awesome!
I'm just gonna say it. I'm Loving this Demon Hunter Seong
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Glad to hear I managed to write things in a way that they were easy to follow. I was a bit worried on that point.
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Thank you all, its much appreciated.
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Sorry for being a bit slow to respond, but yup it looks like Tarb considers this fully cannon, which is awesome.
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Yeah, I tried to keep the scuffle there brief, since its not the main focus of things. And yes, Ki Seong in the Mirrorverse has some... personal issues.
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Thank you for letting me write this. This story wouldn't exist without yours first to inspire it. Here's hoping you enjoy the finale once I get it finished.
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Happy to hear it. One the first ideas I had for writing the Mirrorverse side of the gumiho/Ki Seong story was that I liked the idea of Seong being from a family of traditional demon hunters.
You were killing me with the constant cut aways, but it was worth it. It was a perfect name Cho Yun picked, as it means "Friend". Ah the irony.
The whole Cho Yun situation was one big tragedy. One I hope will be resolved.
It just occurred to me that in spite of not being friends with Ki Seong or Anguirus in this world, Gentle Leaf seems the most like her regular counterpart. Unless the difference is that she is shy.
Merciful emperor... I don't know if I've said this yet, but you sir... are a fucking genius.
This is a bloody masterpiece!
GO GENTLE LEAF GO!
0-o *boooooooommm* Mind blown!
Awesome all around, especially Ditsy's fighting and Chingu finally understanding the heart.
Quite an accomplishment
...Seong, you fucking bitch.
I hope Ki Seong gets redeemed.
That last scene was perfect.
This was one hell of a rollercoaster ride... And I bloody loved it! You did a bang up job capturing each and every character in the Mirrorverse, and for that, I give you a full military salute!
this whole chapter I was listening to emotional Fairytail music. This is my feels right now.
The story was fun. I liked it. The only negative takeaway I have with the story is that the longer chapters probably could have been sectioned off into shorter chapters, but that's merely a personal preference.
Jeog's first attempts at passing as a pony reminds me a bit of Zim XD
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So that's what her name means. Good to know.
From what I've gathered, the connection that formed between the worlds caused the counterparts to reflect each other in opposite ways. Those very balanced may find themselves not very different, while others that embody or incline themselves towards certain values, quirks or personalities will find a stark contrast in the opposite world.
Even with the bond between worlds broken, as it appears to be now.
Now that was a battle. And what a contrast to what happened in The Bridge.
You know, I guessed Chingu would use what Cho Yon taught her. Though predictable, it was pretty fitting.
This was a great fic, and as far as I'm concerned it stands right beside Tarbtano's works :)
Is it wrong that i want to see the mirorr gang meat the main gang easpeshily Destoyah. I can see the main D having a simer reachtion to her counter part that Raiga had when she herid about hers
Honestly I don't know what I love about the chapter the most, there is so much good stuff to pick from! From the hilarity when the fillies joined the fray (*copper pot banging sounds*) to the heartfelt moments involving Ki Seong and Chingu to the kaiju battle that seems right up to par with the ones in the core series and makes me proud to give this the official "CANON" stamp of approval to, while brief, the greatness of Ditzy joining the fray! I'd say making the climax is probably the hardest part of the story because not only do you have to adequately build up to it and establish things to pay off in it, meaning it must constantly being your mind as you write, but also you have to give it all a satisfying conclusion. Now the story the size of this you've definitely achieved both with this chapter. I will start posting a more thorough review of the whole story after my new blog post, but rest assured my friend that this tale you have woven is going to sit in a honored place with me!
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Happy to hear you enjoyed the big climatic fight. Spent a lot of time thinking over how it'd go, pretty much from the first chapter onward. I was super iffy on whether or not Destroyah dividing herself would work quite like I had it work, with her being able to kind of refine how her personality pairs down and becomes less mature for all the juveniles, which she has to use a slightly older version to act as a wrangler for the younger ones. I figure the Mirror-verse Destoryah has a lot more practice at doing this than Main-verse Destroyah does, which is why none of them become full on regressed to base instincts. Looking forward to hearing what you thought of the rest of the story.
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Won't lie, it'd be kind of fun to do some kind of eventual crossover situation where the Mirror-verse and Main-verse meet, although I have no idea how that might work out. We'll see what plans Tarb has for the Mirror-verse in the future.
Nicely done my friend, I like where you went with Jeog.
Nice one!
It's been a long time coming and grad school has slowed me down severely, I finally got around to rereading the whole story just to ensure I didn't miss anything. If I could give massive in-depth reviews on every single chapter by God I would! This story is just that good and I am honored that the author took their talent and time to a world I created as someone who writes to entertain the only thing that could ever make me smile more than someone enjoying my stories is seeing someone use an idea or character or setting I helped engineer in their own way. This is not just one of my favorite reader works, this is easily one of my favorite adventure stories on the website and prove originality is not dying down.
When I first heard that the author was going to make a story set in the mirror of the Amalgam'verse, I at first thought they were going to bring in mirror versions of kaiju or Canon equestrian characters we haven't seen yet. Or possibly doing that world equivalent to one of the story arcs in the Bridge that ended in a big kaiju battle. Nothing wrong with that, but when I heard that Vex was wanting to adapt the original Gumiho mini-arc, I was more than a little surprised. Not to knock my own creation nor this effort but I always considered that sort of a filler arc, something more for character. Vex managed to do just that as well as embrace his own spin on it.
All while using characters he didn't own or create in ways that seem perfectly in character and logical. That is far harder than many might think. And he pulled it off perfectly. Absolutely splendidly. I was grinning ear to ear every single time Destroyah came on screen. And the mirror world equestrians I had mentioned but hadn't really used being shown off in such a way felt very organic and natural, especially with the fillies and Ditzy Doo.
The characters almost all have established arcs of the go across small or large, and the ending is satisfying to see all of them taken on their journey. I was very invested in the Rich family throughout the whole thing as a Diamond is just precious without lacking any substance beside her cuteness. Even though I might've gotten the ball rolling, it is Vex who kicked it into the field goal with this family and their associates and I was grinning ear to ear in the epilogue upon learning that their financial situations were finally going to have an upswing. The trio of main children remind me very much of the main children in another kaiju story, "Gamera the Brave", and it's all for the right reasons. They have to troubles but they're still optimistic. They can be adorable but they can also be a little bratty and argumentative, just a factor of their age. And they show great courage while also being hilarious in doing so. I am never going to get the mental image of them banging pots and pans in an effort to hurt a demonic monster hunter out of my head, and I never want that never to change!
Chingu as she is known by the last chapter is our main character by most measures and I think Vex handled the essence of the characterization I laid out into his own thing beautifully. While the baseline of having a different type of conscious that makes their morality a little bit different and there's to be some clashes of understanding, here it's played out in a very different way than I did which is fitting giving the setting. At the end she still doesn't quite grasp absolutely everything about Equestrians and other mortals, and she's got some scars over it, but she's understanding enough to figure out where she stands. I get a sort of Iron Giant feel from her, which makes all her interactions with the children that much better.
Seong is a brutal as she is telling. There's a thing about these Captain Ahab-like characters who gradually lose themselves more and more on their quest that can be very compelling. On one hand you have the characters that managed to realize the path or on and break off before it leads to ruin. On the other hand you have characters that get progressively worse and worse like the seafaring namesake. Doing the latter means you run the very real risk of making them unsympathetic, which is something that Vex skillfully dodged. You feel for her but you know she has to be stopped because of how dangerous she is to everything around her, all without losing any bit of threat.
The other characters are also well fleshed out and while I wouldn't say they go on as big a arc as the others I listed, they still have changes and it's nice to see them whenever they show up. Not to mention of whether some lovely monster fights between resident life-of-the-party heroine Destroyah (who would've ever thought I'd say that sentence?) and utter sociopath Battra. Even the more minor Equestrians and less used kaiju are a delight to see because it helps build up the world that much more. Sure seeing them a bit more as well as getting some more full on Kaiju action be nice for the crossover, but that's not exactly necessary and in the end this isn't a story about one of the kaiju but about the children and the gumiho. So having Des and Lea both Monster-Out in the climax would have made it a fair bit more difficult to write out in giving Seong or Ditzy much to do (though I did entertain the brief notion of a battle on top of the kaiju Shadow of Collossus style hehe).
Overall I find this story extremely well fleshed out, having great action sequences, compelling character arcs, some of the best child characters I've ever seen in fan fiction, and an extremely enjoyable read.
5/5, very well earned!
I'm slapping this thing across the Reader Works section repeatedly to ensure it gets plenty of air time!
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I can only thank you for taking the time out of what I now know is an exceedingly busy schedule to share your thoughts on the story with me. As my goal is ever to tell stories that'll hopefully entertain a few people besides myself, I'm always happy to hear when I've managed to hit the mark for someone, and given this is your world I'm writing in I'm just glad it's a story you've enjoyed so much.
Admittedly it took me a bit of time to figure out just why I felt so adamant about writing this story about what is essentially a very minor villain from The Bridge, and after thinking about it for so long I think the answer turns out to be pretty simple; I felt an unusual amount of sympathy for the gumiho. I don't imagine it was your intent to write the gumiho in that light, but for me that's how it turned out, largely because of Jeog's original motivation of trying to understand what love among mortals was. In The Bridge that curiosity went horribly wrong, twisting an being with already fairly alien morality and mindset down an even more violent and monstrous path, but the core of the gumiho's desire to acquire or understand love remained, and for me no matter how bad a monster it was portrayed as, the motivation remained sympathetic to me and left me feeling like its lonely life and eventual brutal death was more of a tragedy than anything else. It left me with the question of what might have happened had the gumiho's desire to understand mortal emotions had met with different responses that led her down a different path, one still fraught with difficulty and even tragic events, but perhaps one that might end in actual understanding? Could such a creature even succeed in understanding her goal, in the end? That was the driving force behind the story, and it's certainly turned out to be quite the interesting journey.
Children are always tough to write, finding that balance between making them feel like children in their thinking and actions, but not letting them slip too far into being more of a nuisance or annoyance than solid contributors to the story, or making their dialogue too much like the adults that they stop feeling like kids. I did especially like writing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, with their particular dynamics with Diamond being the habitual planner and schemer who sometimes needs to be reeled in by Silver's more practical and often sassy mindset. Believe it or not the whole pots and pans thing is apparently a real thing, at least according to some of the research I did on old folk remedies used to try to drive off evil spirits. I liked the idea of the kids just using every single possible method they could find on Ki Seong, no matter how silly.
Jeog/Chingu was far and away the toughest character in the story to write, specifically because of high much of a tightrope I had to walk in balancing her alien nature as a gumiho versus keeping her struggle both understandable and something that could be empathized with despite her being very different in her mindset than normal people. One thing I wanted to really get across with her was that the emotions and level of sapience she had wasn't really that different from mortals, but how she interpreted them and interacted with them was very different and made it hard for her to understand the actions and thoughts of mortal creatures like ponies. And then there was just the difficulty in balancing out her gradual changes, slowly seeing, bit by bit, through her interactions with the children and other characters just what Cho Yon had been trying to teach her. I'm glad I was able to pull it off to any degree.
I did so love writing Seong in this story, her and Battra both, really, given how different they were from each other they played off one another pretty well. With Ki Seong her relentless obsession and drive gives her character a lot of passion and leads her down a dark path, but its an understandable and relatable path because its all motivated by some of the most elemental emotions people have; love, hate, and pain. Everything she does is fueled by those emotions, so even as she changes her body to be more demonic she remains very much an understandable person. Like Chingu noticed in their final battle, strip away the rage and underneath the demonic powers and fury, Ki Seong was just someone in pain, still mourning the death of the one she loved. As for Battra, its at times kind of fun to write a character who has no moral compunctions, no interest in pretending to any notions of goodness, and revels instead in her own crazed ideology with a sort of disturbingly pure glee. Doesn't necessarily make her complex, but there's something to be said for a villain that knows what they are and embraces it fully with no restraint. I did like to play with the notion a bit but not just making her a destroyer, but a very curious minded and almost amiable destroyer. She only joins up with Ki Seong because she enjoyed the taste of the kirin's hatred and wanted to poke at Ki Seong to find out how she ticked. Even the goal of getting one of the fox beads was more secondary than just toying with the head of a mortal being consumed by a familiar darkness. Oh, and the fact that she escaped with the fox bead is a plot thread left dangling quite intentionally. That could literally lead anywhere, so feel free to do with that as you will, or I could always think of ideas down the road for that one.
Heh, it would've been pretty cool to somehow work in a full on kaiju battle at their true size, and having Chingu and Seong fighting it out on top of the kaiju in Shadow of the Colossus style is a pretty neat idea in and of itself. But yeah, it would've been hard to work in with the particulars of how I wanted the final battle to play out. Still I think it is a shame that I couldn't quite work in an iconic kaiju brawl, so in my next foray into this world I imagine I can correct that both readily and eagerly.
And thanks one again for giving me the chance to write this story, and I'm just glad it turned out as well as it did. At the end of the day this story still couldn't have existed without yours to inspire it.
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Will there be a sequel?
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It's certainly a possibility. That being said, I have no immediate ideas yet on what I might do with a direct sequel. I had a pretty solid idea on what I wanted to do with Mirror Image from the get go, but where a sequel is concerned I'm still musing over ideas, mostly because I've already taken the characters on the arcs I wanted to, so I'm not sure what a good next step for them would be. Now, on the other hand, I've also got ideas for just more stories in the Mirrorverse of The Bridge in general, so its possible I might write one of those first, but those could still connect to this story on some level depending on how things go.
Very nice!
Is it bad that I'am kinda rooting for Seong? So much for going for cheering for the good guys...
That was a great fic. I'm very new to this universe, so rather unsure about everthing, but it's interesting how Chrysalis is the leader of this Equestria and not Sombra. Or is it just set after the collision? Either way, it's good, great job!
Oookay! After many Years, I finally got around this chapter. And Finish it!! Not a bad chapter love the added details of Raiga, more descriptive of Destroyah’s first time in Ponyville, and giving Ki Seong a snippet of her background. Also Battra Lea is bitch.