• Member Since 9th Feb, 2017
  • offline last seen 6 hours ago

the7Saviors


I am a self proclaimed horror and dark fantasy fic writer. You want darkness, death, and despair? You've come to the right place. Also an eternal Twilight Sparkle and avid Lovecraft fan.

T
Source

Twilight had never questioned the nature of the Tree of Harmony. To her at least, it stood as a sentinel, a silent guardian watching over Equestria and keeping disharmony at bay.

She soon starts to have questions and misgivings when she inadvertently witnesses the horrifying fate of hers and the rest of her friend's twisted doppelgängers. Did something happen to the Tree of Harmony, or was it always this way?

Twilight aims to resolve this mystery once and for all. Little does she realize that this mystery goes far deeper—the truth far more terrifying than she can imagine.

Will she be able to solve this nightmarish mystery with her sanity intact, or will she surrender and be lost to madness?


After some deliberation I chose to put a Crossover tag as the whole story uses many assets from several stories in the Cthulhu Mythos (most of them written by authors other than Lovecraft).

Fantastic cover art done by Mix-up!

Chapters (36)
Comments ( 260 )

If somepony starts going on about the curative properties of blood, I'm right out.

9346774
Now why would they do something like that? :rainbowhuh:

9346821

There are some things that really should not be touched. Rather, they should be scoured with fire, and the ashes buried safely. But, as always, someone will insist on,
.
.
.
curiosity.

The Tree Only cares for Harmony Twilight. Only Harmony.

This would be cooler if the show hadn't already told us the Tree was essentially the Pillars' friendship graduation project.
(Unasked for world building: the wet blanket of FIM fanfiction?)

9347321
The show tells us a lot of things, but that doesn't stop writers like myself from giving canon the middle finger and doing what we want anyway. That's both the up and downside of fanfiction depending on how you look at it.

9347348

Oh, I agree that fanfic writers should be free to write as they wish when they find show canon confining or dull. What I am saying is that as long as the the show didn't actually give an origin to the Tree, a story like this could be taken as a creepy Hidden Truth or a What If question, expanding the world of the show in new ways. Now that the show canon explicitly says "no, that's not the way it is" [1] it gets downgraded to "alternate universe", not in the show "universe", and one loses some of that "we're growing the show's world!" thrill. (Not that the show writers were likely to have ever intended to add Lovecraftian horrors, but as long as they didn't explicitly say "no", we could make things as weird as we wanted).

[1] I really think one reason fan enthusiasm has flagged is that there's now too much canon, a lot of it sort of disappointing: it greatly constrains the fan's mental playground. I suppose it matters less to those who get into MLP through fanfics and art without actually watching many episodes of the show and have little idea of what is "canon" and isn't.

This writing style is what initially drew me to your stories, first seen in Those Left Behind. There's something calming, and yet deeply unsettling that you've tapped into here. I could read this all day.

Ooh! Definitely some good feelings of Cthulhu here. It shall be interesting to see where this goes and how you put Cozy Glow into it.

A neat twist on "The mean Six", too. I wonder how it would impact the Mane 6 is they saw what happened to their clones?

I don't know what caused me to react that way

The plot required it.

Well Twilight better work out those magic muscles of yours if that's the enemy that's plaguing you.

I suppose just asking the tree of harmony in person what's up is out of the question though? I dunno, she/it/whatever seemed pretty amenable in 'What Lies Beneath'. Also capable of speaking modern Equestrian.

For some reason I'm feeling that this story has something to do with Life is Magic. I begin to wonder if it's not a prequel...

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Eh, maybe. Savior did say in his blog that this was supposed to be a totally new story. I'd be surprised if it was related, but it'd definitely be cool to see a bridge here.

Happy to hear Twilight is going on trip to get some fresh air, all in her usual nerdy self.

Oof :facehoof: An intervention for a sleep deprived and depressed Twilight was doomed for failure..

I was a foolish, foalish mare in the end.

"Pft that's dumb, you should always get friends involved!"
- Sun Wukong, RWBY.

Seriously, what ever happened to the magic of friendship, Twilight?

See, what you need to do is carve your true-name in an amaranthine tablet, and then fill in the carving with an octiron casting, and then put that tablet in the best circle you can conjure.

Then you can go mucking about with eldritch knowledge, once you've created an anchor.

Really good so far. Captures Lovecraftian horror extremely well. Twilight Sleep deprivation being caused by not wanting another glimpse into the grey domain which is quite understandable. I wonder how long it will till take for the gap between the dimensions shorten (if they do at all).Also the dream sequences just make me think of Azathoth.

Very gripping. The diary-like tellings of Twilight certainly do well in conveying all that each character present would have said, done, and reacted. You can easily visualize various montages and full scenes up until the journey into The Everfree.

It will be very interesting to see what happens next. I'm really enjoying this alternative outcome after the events of "The Mean Six". :)

Well, guess Twi either A. Dies, or B. asecends to a higher plane if existence. Good to know.

WOW. I’ve never read Lovecraft before, but if I could describe this style..... I would still say Lovecraftian. I take it that thing at the end was the sparkling Twilight form the tree took before? So excited to see where this story goes.

I heard the man's voice in my head the whole time I was writing, and it kind of... influenced things a bit...

Well that's not worrisome or anything...

I did feel this chapter had a differen't essence behind it. Though I really liked it and thought on how just the right music would really send this whole section into a place that would give anyone the creeps.

I do like when stories can inspire all sorts of different stimulations beyond just that of thought. Through 'feeling' the tension and hearing the music that went along with Twilight's ramblings I got a total experience from this section. Nice job!

Most certainly well communicated. This chapter need not be long for what one needs to grasp from it has been achieved along with a strong hook for what may be learned in the next segment.

I almost had forgotten how Cthulhu communicated. The way he got into the minds of anyone anywhere in the world. The epic influence of himself and his followers.

Are you familiar with the game "Eternal Darkness"? It borrowed heavily from Lovecraft and, between "Call Of Cthulhu" and the game I must say you're doing a fantastic job of getting us to feel how the influence of the unseen does much to meddle with the minds of mortals.

*shiver* This is getting unsettling...... I love it.

Omni:Oh no twilight...I might be wrong and I pray I am,for the chaotic music and eratic dancing combined with what little you do remember seeing...I fear you just caught a glimpse of AZATHOTH The Nucular Chaos,it who lies at the center of infinity.

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I've heard of Eternal Darkness, but I haven't played it myself. I've heard it's fantastic though.

Your stories got me into Lovecraft. Thank you

I'm not sure about it, but anthropology doesn't seem to be the appropriate subject for Daring Do to specialize in. Anthropology is the science of humans and I don't really see any connection between humans and Daring Do. I see what you mean, but you probably need to find another name for it.

9381654
I thought about it, and was actually going to put something in the A/N about using the word, but I can't find another word for what it could mean when it comes to multiple races. I thought about xenology, and eidology, but those don't work either. By all means, if you can find a better word, I'd be happy to hear it and will gladly use it.

EDIT: Couldn't find a word so I made one instead.

Oh, wow! This is quite a turn in the story! A very good one, too! who better to help in researching a Cthulhu-like entity than Daring Do?

This story gets better-and-better and definitely more engaging. You've definitely put a lot of thought, effort, and love into making this.

It also seems you have created a potential timeline for this to have happened. The exit of Twilight for the adventure around the episode 'A Matter of Principals'?

Keep up the awesome work!

You see Twilight, this is why it's important to learn when to stop talking and simply punch someone in the face. A little bit of concussive diplomacy and some good old fashioned defenestration would have made your evening much more pleasant.

9390048
Ah, but attempting to punch this particular stallion in the face would be... ill-advised...

Still very engaging. That time with Sound Mind was definitely one to make someone wonder if he, or anyone he would come into contact with, is of sound mind at all. Is he an unseen will of an entity brought to life? Perhaps he is one who has also been tormented by knowing that which was never meant to be glimpsed behind the veil of reality?

Lots of really interesting feels out of this chapter. You set the scene very well and had it progress in a way that brings a lot of uncertainty to the whole situation.

Perhaps Daring Do may have hard of, or seen, such a stallion? Time will definitely tell. :)

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Who’s to say? They might all be connected and Saviour will pull a Marvel on us. There are some stories that are connected (by subtle nods) but in the end... just keep em’ separate for the time being.

Interesting dream sequence I wonder what it could mean for her in actuality? My guess would be that her mind knows that is is being probed or being searched in the dream scape or reserving signals of a huge threat to herself and that she is trying warn herself of that fact. I wonder if her eyes are becoming vertical slid like predators or horizontal like pray animals like goats, cows, and horses?

This is truly becoming quite the psychological thriller! I'm loving it!

Twilight's moment of insanity as a result of the 'dream' and what The Conductor witnessed remind me a lot of what I'd come to expect from the boundless touch of Cthulhu. It also reminds me of what I saw while watching "Event Horizon". That was quite the film that played on the mind.

This story is truly in a league of its own. I am eager to see it through to the end!

Yo, Their Otherworldly Grace has to be one of my favorite fics on this site. Feels pretty good that you know it.

Found this story, I like the ethereal, disturbing ambiance during it. Also read your profile description. 'Darkness, death, and despair'? YES PLEASE.

I am sure it will all go well and it will have a rosy ending for Twilight. Dibs on Twilight growing tentacle and mandibles.

*sees story in feed*
*sees name of chapter*

Me: “it’s a curse, definitely a curse.”

This is definitely a deep work. It certainly does make you think of how all of twilight's advancement towards being 'The Princess Of Friendship' is fading away in lieu of her true nature as a deadest scholar.

Those who lie beyond the veil tend to work best when they know they can influence when not hindered by outside forces. Cthulhu knew how to afflict and the entity here is no different. It is gradually pulling Twilight further-and-further into what it intends for her before making her a part of its overall master plan.

It reminds me of the tie-in of how Cthulhu influenced "Eternal Darkness". The deity, Mantarok, seemed on the cusp of death. It was bound and thought of no matter. However, over 2000 years, it manipulated the multiverse to undo all those who opposed him when a time existed where more than one great entity existed.

Whatever is 'guiding' Twilight has done so well and, in the end, I wonder if Daring Do may have to stop her from unleashing what she's being moved towards? Will twilight take Daring's life as a result of being the pawn of whatever is guiding her?

Lots of interesting things to consider as we move further into the spiraling insanity brought about glimpsing the unseen.

*looks at how interesting this story is*
*looks back at all the other interesting stories you have unfinished, left behind to make new stories*

Oh no.. Please don't let this one follow that pattern.

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