Celestia. Luna. Greensmith "Greenie" Apple. Discord. Sombra. Chrysalis. Tirek.
These seven students at Queen Twilight's Friendship University are the Elements of Magic -- Sun, Moon, Earth, Chaos, Order, Love and Self. A year ago, they first came together to stop the deadly Diamond Queen from turning all of Equestria to beautiful crystal, and turn her back to Good Queen Rarity of the Crystal Empire. Now, plants are growing out of control all over Equestria, and violent storms have trapped the Changelings and the pegasi of Canterlot. Queen Twilight Sparkle summons the Elements of Magic to combat the new threat.
Written for the "Swapped Roles" contest, but it's unlikely that I'll get it done within the deadline of the contest.
Note that there are way too many characters for the character box, so I can't include them all. Sorry.
"I told you to walk without rhythm, but did you listen?"
A fascinating first look at this worldline. Looking forward to seeing more of it whenever you have the time.
Odd choices to say the least for the new Elements, but I can dig it. What I don't get, is why Rarity went with the Crystal Empire?
What's wrong with Cadance? And what does Rarity even have to offer in that role anyway. This isn't the first story to have Ponyville's resident drama queen end up ruling the empire. For usually really stupid reasons.
If you're going to have a Granny Smith tag instead of making it an OC, why use someone named Greensmith "Greenie" Apple? Why not just have it be Granny Smith?
10347352
Think about it. Who names a child Granny?
In my headcanon her real name was something else and she's called Granny now because she's a grandma. I think they may have tried to say otherwise in the pear episode, but they also claimed that Mayor Mare's real name is Mayor, and I can only take so much of that silliness.
I've been excited for this idea of yours since the original blog post, which was in like 2014? Either way, I am very glad to see this topic touched on.
I'm definitely curious about family trees here, since there seems to be a focus put on the mixed species ones. Are adoptions not involved? If not then...yeah, how the heck are Discord and Starswirl related?
“No one has forgotten the time you accidentally took us to that world with the giant worms coming out of the sand that almost ate us,” Luna said.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetle...
A most interesting start. Looking forward to future chapters.
(My money on Fluttershy as the villain)
Hmm. Interesting -- I have a soft spot for role-swap AUs, and I'm liking what I'm seeing of this one. The Elements are interesting choices, as are the split between the order/harmony/chaos magic systems and the seemingly more multi-species society. All in all, an intriguing glimpse into a new world.
Granny's an... interesting choice in this setup. She's not exactly an obvious fit for this sort of group, but she does make for a good choice for embodying the Earth element.
Out of curiosity -- how does it work that some people can have siblings of different species? Is it just a matter of adoption, or are magical shenanigans in play?
Also, calling it now -- Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are the ones behind the alt-plundervine crisis; Fluttershy's making nature go crazy, Rainbow's behind the storms.
10347278
I'm assuming that the Rarity thing is meant to be a reference to "Inspiration Manifestation", where Rarity went nuts on dark magic, turned all of Ponyville into crystal and precious metal, and decided to do the same to the rest of the world before Spike stopped her, plus her canonical obsession with the Empire. If the mane six are going to be reinterpreted as ancient legendary figures and take the place of the Princesses and the villains, they can't really come from Ponyville anymore.
10347229
That would come pretty naturally to him, wouldn't it?
10347558
Well, remember that in canon, Tirek's brother Scorpan is a gargoyle. I didn't add that. And Twilight and Spike had the same relationship as in canon, a long-ass time ago, but as Spike got older, he and Twilight had to explain their relationship to too many diplomats to leave it vague as they do in canon. Twilight could have been defined as Spike's mother, sister or boss, but they picked sister because it explained the degree of closeness better than boss but made it clear he wasn't in the line of succession.
There is an explanation for how Discord and Starswirl are brothers, and it is ridiculous. :-)
Hmmm looks like there’s going to be an exploration into the different types of magic found in the series which I just love. Other than that it’s a bit early to have an opinion but I will say you did an excellent job hooking me on this story I eagerly await more.
Call me a fish cause I’m hooked
I am very amused by the team being Celestia, a bunch of (occasionally former) villains, and Granny Smith.
i wonder where is Cozy Glow now?
maybe she swap with Starlight
10347973
If this universe runs long enough that I need some irredeemable villains, Cozy Glow is number one on my list. Most of the pony characters who are in the same generation as the Mane 6 are not irredeemable, that's kind of the point to them. (And other species as well, like Gilda.)
It wouldn't exactly be fair for the regular universe to have some irredeemable villains but all villains in this universe can be reformed, so anyone in the Mane 6's generation or younger who can be cast as an ancient evil, I probably will. And unlike, say, Diamond Tiara or Trixie, Cozy Glow has the advantage of already being irredeemable.
Starlight is actually going to be the Starswirl of this universe if she comes up -- the mortal absurdly powerful unicorn mage who was a close companion to the immortal alicorn way back when she was young.
This is a great AU! It was fun to read and fun to speculate on. I especially love how the boys had little patience for Discord's antics. I'd love to see more of this, if/when you can get around to it!
I only have one criticism, and that would be that it would be nice to get a little more physical description of the characters. We know who they are, of course, but I think it would help round off some corners. For example, some more description would help limit confusion about Celestia and Luna's tribes (which remained unspecified for a while), Greenie's age, and Discord's power level (e.g., if he was described as young or small, that would help establish how strong he was without having to use an A/N to do so). Most of these questions are resolved by the end of the fic, of course, but it would help limit confusion in the moment.
Finally: I've been kicking around ideas for a MLP-themed mod to the game Cultist Simulator, and I think I may steal your Elements of Magic for that project! (if it's okay with you, that is). I really liked how you set up and explained them, and they map pretty well onto CS's lore. [Link] for my initial ideas...
I added this to the contest folder in the Swapped Roles group, but if you don’t want it to be considered for the results, I can move it to a different folder if you want.
10357438
I wrote it for the contest, so it's really up to you. It's not complete and I can't possibly finish it before Friday, so if that disqualifies it, move it if you think that's the right thing to do. If it doesn't, then no need to move it.
10347278
The main thing that's wrong with Cadance is that in canon she is older than Twilight, which means that in this roleswap she is younger, and therefore not a good candidate for a banished queen who was sealed away. Also, while I find the "Nightmare Rarity" act in the comics fairly stupid, it is true that when dark magic that makes you turn on your friends comes calling, Rarity is the first of the Mane 6 to answer the call (not just Inspiration Manifestation, but the fact that she fell hardest, with the least convincing from Discord, in Return of Harmony.)
Not quite sure what I'm gonna do with Cadance, but logically speaking, she should probably be a threat to the Changelings.
Breaking the Elements to seal other Bearers. Well, that's familiar. Very telling that Twilight sought replacement artifacts rather than replacement users. Goes to show which one she thought she could work with more easily. Though this does imply that Applejack and Pinkie are out there somewhere. The latter seems especially menacing...
The not-quite-necromancy raises some fascinating questions. This AU has gone from intriguing to downright fascinating. Looking forward to more, especially Discord's reaction to that second demand.
I'm super excited to see where you take this, it's interesting to see a villian to actually wants to negotiate.
I wonder how Discord'll respond to the second half of that deal. On one hand, he clearly thinks she's pretty and appreciates her magic. On the other hand thought, I'm not sure how he'll feel about being put into what's basically an arranged marriage. Sure, he may think she's cute, but feeling obligated to be her mate may sour the mood
Wonderful chapter very well written has my even more curious about all the changes to the world the role swap has caused
So are the new elements of magic forged/grown using the remnants of the original element of magic? Like how in canon the pillars planted a seed of harmony that grew? If so wonder what happened to the remains of the other elements and the tree as well maybe they were used as well to make the new elements of magic?
Hmm wonder if this means Flurry Heart is the mother of cadence and father of Shining Armor? The father but being a joke well maybe it’s certainly possible with magic
So I doubt Sylvan and Storm Queen will win completely but I don’t think they’ll necessarily lose completely ether so I’m very interested in how this develops.
Okay, that's... reasonable enough, all things considered.
... I don't know what possibility worries me more, her meaning this or her deliberately throwing in an unacceptable demand to throw off the negotiations.
10628004
You know, that's an interesting point. I could definitely see Discord rejecting a deal he'd otherwise like if he's being forced into it.
This is such an interesting concept for a role swap! I’m eager to see where you’re going with this, and how much the characters retain their personalities. I like Fluttershy’s design, and I’m wondering what exactly Twilight did.
10635634
(I love when Fimfic doesn't give me notifications lol)
It's like when you were a kid and you decide to clean your room. It's all fine until your mom happens to tell you to clean your room JUST before you were going to yourself. Now that you HAVE to do it, you don't really want to anymore. The question is: does Discord's thirsty-ness outweigh his desire for freedom? Does his desire for freedom outweigh his want to protect Equestria and the people within? Discord's a pretty selfish character in general, but not when it comes to his friends. He may be willing to go for it if it saves them from taking the deal.
Let me add another consern to your list. I notice that Fluttershy is asking TWILIGHT about this second half of the deal, not one of the 7 she's potentially taking as a mate. Luckily, I don't think Twi would force any of them to take the deal, but the fact that Flutters doesn't seem to care too much about the opinions of the Elements says a lot about how much she's changed.
Okay so im guessing Sylvan is Fluttershy and the Storm Queen is Rainbow Dash.....that makes me wonder what exactly Twilight did to make them that way
HA!
If Discord doesn't respond with "I volunteer as tribute!" I'm quitting FimFiction
Just kidding! Seriously though, this AU is amazing! I absolutely adore every time I learn something new about this different world. All the immortal/long-living beings as young inexperienced students? An Equestria ruled by Twilight and open to more species than just ponies? The "Elements of Magic"? I love it all! I very much look forward to more!
10627732
Depends on how old Twilight is in this universe I suppose.
Luna is the "Younger Sister" in cannon, yet she is very much the ancient queen who got sealed away.
Having never seen the comics I'll put that down to execution more than anything else.
That's really more writer's prerogative than anything else, judging by how this story was written.
Tirek, Sombra, and Chrysalis, were all deemed irredeemable by the show's standards, and you didn't blink at rewriting those characters into heroes.
It pretty much all boils down to who the writer likes and who they don't, once you get to this level of revisionism.
Even so, if your going to turn ordinary ponies into cosmic power houses, then you've got antagonists aplenty to work with; The Sirens, Gladmane, Suri, The Washouts, Zesty, Atticus Cinch, Flim and Flam, the Storm King and his minions.
And that's not even counting side characters going mad and turning into antagonists, or things like the Plunder Vines or Wendigos.
You're most likely going to have to do something like that for Cozy Glow anyway, if you want her to be scary at all (that or have every character around her be extremely gullible).