• Member Since 26th Sep, 2011
  • offline last seen 21 minutes ago

FanOfMostEverything


Forget not that I am a derp.

E

When ponies say they'll do anything to achieve some goal, they rarely mean it. Morals, ethics, common sense, physical limitations, something will stand between them and true, full commitment to fulfilling the task ahead of them.

A mare raised from foalhood by Equestria's last true alicorn is not so limited. Even methods that alicorn hesitates to use are fair game as far as she's concerned.

Misty is about to make her mentor either very proud or very angry. Possibly both.

A belated G5 Halloween tale written when inspiration struck.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 47 )

I find it hard to believe the CMC didn't also try necromancy.

Oh, this would be such a great reveal if it turned out Opaline was Diamond Tiara's daughter. The question is how she became an alicorn, though— she certainly doesn't deserve to have been…

Even after passing on, a Cutie Mark Crusader's job is never done.

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I like to believe that Twilight was one step ahead of them on that one.

Opaline certainly hadn’t minded Misty going through the castle library to find the ritual in the first place… though she just might not have noticed the research when she hadn’t needed Misty herself. Anything Opaline needed took priority; not because she needed Misty specifically but because she'd be too busy with something truly important. Otherwise, Opaline would have taken care of it herself.

Misty: Right Opaline? If it was something really important, you'd handle it all yourself!
Opaline: (on her couch, rewatching Power Ponies: The 97th Reboot for the third time that week) Definitely, now get going.

Both made way for Apple Bloom, who'd found a way to crack her fetlocks despite being a disembodied spirit.

Cutie Mark Crusader Ethereal Beatdown, Yay!

I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that "get Misty away from Opaline" is a G5 subgenre in its own right. Hopefully this is a worthy addition to it.

And I'll thank you kindly to stay away from my pole position in the charts, dammit! (Ah, who am I kidding...)


A very fun little post-spooky season treat, and as good a speculation on Opaline's lineage as we're likely to get. :scootangel:

Well, at least you didn't go for the nuclear option::derpyderp1:
There'd be nothing left of Opaline if she ran afoul of Best Pony.

Scootaloo tilted her head as she looked back at her. “How the hay did a Friendship School dropout become an alicorn?”

A question we'd all like answered, Scoots. Seriously, Opaline, you're a bit of an enigma still, at least in regards to your past history.

I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that "get Misty away from Opaline" is a G5 subgenre in its own right.

It does seem to be the trend, doesn't it? :ajsmug:

I guess this isn't a generic summoning, but one to summon who can grant you the wish you hold! Which is a better ritual than summoning any random demon / spirit and just hoping they can provide!

And such a good choice! Unexpected history between the summons and the "mother"!

I thought it was the Mane 6 who was summoned, the "pinks and yellows and oranges" didn't clue me in. Took me until "Sweetie" to figure it out, because no one in the Mane 6 uses that as a general term, so I figured it out, eventually.

And yeah! Don't spend time dealing with Opaline, do the good dead you were summoned for! Except maybe after Misty falls asleep, then they can deal justice and stuff when they're off-task.

...

forces Opaline wouldn't dare contact.

:rainbowlaugh: - Such meaning!

In fact, she couldn’t stop . She tried midway through, but her body was running without her input by that point, behaving like the spell was as much a part of her routine as sweeping the hallways or fluffing Opaline’s pillows. The Neighcronomicon had said that once started, the ritual would want to see itself to completion, but Misty had thought that had been an exaggeration like so many of the mad Saddle Arabian’s other warnings. It wasn't like she’d run into any octopus-headed minotaurs or congeries of spheres while preparing the ritual. She wasn’t even sure what a congery was!

Thanks to FanOfMostEverything, now I know what a congery is; a pile, a collection, a conglomeration.

A Conglomeration of Spheres.

*loads M1918 BAR with malicious intent*

You know, I think you're back story for Opaline is better than the theory that she's just Luster Dawn as an adult. Also, I am really disappointed in myself for not thinking about Misty meeting the CMC first.

Oh I loved this. So much. Misty and Opaline’s messed up, abusive, codependent relationship is the most interesting thing about Make Your Mark, but also upsetting. I hope for canon healing for Misty, but in the meantime stories like this will do.

Definitely loved this one-shot. Really appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up. Yeah, I could DEFINITELY see Misty being desperate enough to resort to necromancy (though, in this case, it's a good thing, since the three ghosts she summoned were probably three of the best that she COULD have called). REALLY loved the Crusaders' ghosts ripping into Opaline (and, yeah, I could see a post-reform Diamond charming some Unicorn stallion into staying long enough to have a kid with her, even if the kid went worse than Diamond ever was). And, yeah, the Crusaders have a point about getting Misty away from a toxic home being the first major step. The next step is, of course, finding out what she is best at and loves doing the most (though it will probably be a long time before she tries enough things to be able to fairly judge what she loves doing the most).

Anyway, really looking forward to more of this.

... I look away from fimfiction for a minute, and suddenly there are G5 episodes I didn't even know about. :derpyderp2:

“How the hay did a Friendship School dropout become an alicorn?”

"You do remember Cosy Glow, right?" :unsuresweetie:
"Yeah, but she at least was getting top marks before she got stoned, so the point still stands!" :scootangel:

Gotta love when necromancy works just right!

You know, this might actually lead to Misty getting a mark in necromancy, since she changed her life for the better with that spell!

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After literally giving them the recipe to love poison, Twilight was a lot more careful about what she let the Crusaders study. Part of that was Twilight Time, part was just greater oversight over what they were checking out.

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We do see the Bewitching Bell among Argyle's collected Twilit Era artifacts. Opaline having an ill-gotten ascension would explain a lot.

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That reminds me, I now have enough background to read your latest story. I need to get on that.

And yes, that mini-scene perfectly captures their dynamic.

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Yeah, that summoning ends in the entire castle collapsing. Somehow.

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The spell is guided by one's deepest desires. The problem is that most ponies who used the spell had rather destructive desires, which led to predictable results when they didn't cast it perfectly.

Such meaning!

You know me, I love double meanings.

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"Congery of spheres" usually refers to Yog-Sothoth, but bullets also work.

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It's one of those team-ups that seems obvious in hindsight, yet no one seems to have stumbled upon it yet. I love finding that sort of idea.

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Agreed on both counts. The dynamic is equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking. And yet there's also surprisingly rich comedy potential there.

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I can't promise any more—I seem to specialize in scratching the surface of far deeper ideas—but I'm glad you enjoyed this!

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An octet of them are up on Netflix, with a holiday special coming later in the month. Not the greatest pony media ever rendered, but it's a good foundation for stories exploring the setting in greater depth.

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I had a hope they might be a cute villain couple, but canon jossed that so hard that I had to add an AU tag to my pre-canon fic about that. :facehoof:

“Necromancy usually isn’t the right answer to any problems," added Sweetie Belle, "but you’ve found an exception.”

"I keep trying to explain to them that dark magic isn't inherently evil, it's all in what you do with it."
"Yes, Star Swirl, but what you did with it kept convincing ponies that it was inherently evil actually."
"Ingrates, all of you."

A fun story for belated Halloween, nicely done.

This is quite a nice story and I like how Misty tried something so extreme partially out of ignorance. Opaline doesn't teach her anything that doesn't help her be a usefull and controllable minion.

Ok, this was fun.

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Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you were referring to the Bubble Bath of Death here, not Yog-Sothoth:

derbk.com/ancientevils/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/02103.jpg

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A question we'd all like answered, Scoots. Seriously, Opaline, you're a bit of an enigma still, at least in regards to your past history.

The last "Make Your Mark" episode had Misty remark: "For somepony made of fire, I've never met a heart so cold." "Made of fire" seems to imply that Opaline used some crazy forbidden magic to cheat the system.

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And from what's been shown, it's quite likely that Misty's blank flank is due to Opaline discouraging her from having a life outside of being a minion. So it seems that Misty got exactly what she needed here.

At any rate, I was just thinking that having Misty meet up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders could be wildly entertaining.

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I don't know if the show actually meant that as literally as you're interpreting it, but at the moment, with as little as we know officially, it's as good a theory as any. :twilightsmile:

Well, Discord's flashback in the comics showed what was heavily implied to be a unicorn version of Opaline, and she certainly doesn't seem like the type who'd ever perform any sort of "princess-worthy task". Though I suppose she could have been wearing clothes to hide her wings.

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Neither did Darla Dimple Cozy. At the very least, temporary alicoronation or shapeshifting is possible.

Made of fire, though... longshot bets on Chrysalis in disguise, anyone? She's got the 'tude.

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Fire, in the context of cheating the gods, isn't considered nearly as negative as it was when Prometheus actually did it.

As to the name thing, think its pretty clewr ponies legally change thier names after getting a cutie mark and last names aren't really a thing for ponies. Diamond Tiara's copy right name is Diamond Dazzle Tiara, so gotta assume we was born Diamond Dazzle not Diamond Rich and added the Tiara part added when she got her mark. Like how Ms Cake is Cupcake but was Chiffon Swirl before she got married.

The idea of Opaline being Diamond's kid is interesting, being a result of Spoiled Rich well spoiling her granddaughter. Opaline doesn't come of as ture evil, more a egocentric, selfish, judgemental narcissist. Just the kind of thinking Spoiled Rich would teach her.

Misty does deserve better, but I think they plan to milk the "good guy working as the evil minion" thing a while yet.

I had to read this when I saw who wrote it and for how long it was on the featured page, good thing because this story has a good twist.

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At the very least, temporary alicoronation or shapeshifting is possible.

Opaline also managed to live from not long after "The Last Problem" to present-day G5, which had to be a couple centuries at least. Then again, "Magic Duel" established that anti-aging magic is a thing - technically, the magic she's using to avoid growing old need not be the same magic that she used to grow wings.


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As long as you aren't using it to take over the world, at least.

Now I really hope to see them helping her with getting a cutie mark.

“Diamond’s filly?” added Apple Bloom.

...that makes waaaaaaaaaaay too much sense.

That makes so much sense it hurts.

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I think this counts as a heavenly crusade.

The nastiest, according to their slightly less perilous contemporaries, could grab a unicorn’s soul through her horn and pull it right out of her body.
That turned out to be true, but the books needed the user’s magic to do so. Blank-flanked and dead-horned as she was, all Misty got from them was an uncomfortable tingling in her frogs as she paged through them.

The book: *angry screaming*
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/4/24/608771.png
Source.

behaving like the spell was as much a part of her routine as sweeping the hallways or fluffing Opaline’s pillows.

Opaline: "What? She is very good at that. My pillows are never too hot nor too cold."

Then she looked to her own unmarked hindquarters and steeled her resolve. Turning back to the spirits, she stood back up, squared her withers, and said, “I want a cutie mark.”

Guess she called the right spirits for that.

“Shut up!" the alicorn cried, loud enough to shake make the vials Misty had emptied shake and rattle. "Shut up, all of you! I’m finally free of your insipid lessons and I will not put up with them any longer!”

Opaline: "When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master- uhm, Alicorn."


Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.

But what would/can the ghost do to Opaline?
I mean despite everything they are technically still ghosts.
On the other hoof it's implied they have at least limited ability to interact with the world, but to what extend?
But at the very least they can give her a stern talk, which may be the thing Opaline fears the most.


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TCUTIE MARK CRUSADER NECROMANCERS, YAY!
Apple Bloom wants to see her parents, the Cutie Mark Crusaders want their cutie marks, so they do the the only logical thing and try to raise the dead.
Justice3442 · 7.8k words  ·  933  18 · 12k views

That turned out to be true, but the books needed the user’s magic to do so. Blank-flanked and dead-horned as she was, all Misty got from them was an uncomfortable tingling in her frogs as she paged through them.

'tingling in her frogs?' :applejackconfused:

A shake of her head and a stomp of her hooves put Misty back on task. “Spirits!” she cried, her own voice sounding like it came from the next room. “O, ye departed souls, called back to this land of sorrows, hear me and heed me! By will and wit, be bound to my bidding! Ye dark and fearsome shades who have answered my beacon, know that it is I who control the gate and the key to this world ye once walked!

Your missing a " at the end of the paragraph.

The unicorn gasped and brought a hoof to her own face. “The one where Rarity’s costumes kept everypony from noticing the awful dialogue? Gosh, I haven’t thought about that in centuries.”

Wait what!?!? :pinkiegasp:

The earth pony huffed out a sigh. “Right. Might as well drop all the fancy talk, filly. We ain’t ones t’ stand on ceremony anyhow. I’m Apple Bloom, the joker with the wings is Scootaloo, an’ Miss Playwright over there’s Sweetie Belle. How ‘bout yerself?”

Huh, I was not expecting to see the cmc in this! :derpyderp2:

“I said shut up! ” Opaline's eyes swept the room. She grabbed a flask in her magic, tugged out the stopper, and tossed the whole thing into the scrying pool.

Wait, how does she have her magic? She doesn't have it atm where G5 currently is. :unsuresweetie:

“Never mind what you were trying to do." A wingtip forced Misty's head up until she stared into Opaline's furious eyes. Smoke still spewed out of the darkened scrying pool behind her. "What you did was waste countless reagents for some foalish errand that will take valuable time and resources to undo when we can least spare either." Opaline narrowed her gaze. "But before any of that, you and I are going to have a long conversation about not taking what doesn’t belong to you.”

Says the one who wants a baby dragon from the Mane 5. :ajbemused:

And Misty, at least half as bewildered as Opaline, followed the three ghosts out into the dawn.

Proud of you Misty. :twilightsmile:

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'tingling in her frogs?'

The soft flesh at the bottom of a horse's leg and surrounded by the hoof wall is called the frog. If you thought Froggy Bottom Bog didn't have any horse puns in its name, now you know. :raritywink:

Wait, how does she have her magic? She doesn't have it atm where G5 currently is. :unsuresweetie:

Opaline has demonstrated basic telekinesis. However, if she doesn't have the kind of power to make the world (and everyone in it) tremble, she feels like she's completely powerless.

Says the one who wants a baby dragon from the Mane 5. :ajbemused:

That whole paragraph was meant to be incredibly hypocritical, yes. :derpytongue2:

Glad you enjoyed this!

Sweetie tossed her mane far more effectively than she had any right to, given how it was just an extension of her soul. “We’re more adult than you've ever been.”

:rainbowdetermined2: BUUUUUUURN!

Recorded reading this for an Audiobook to come soon :)

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Looking forward to it! Be sure to send me a link.

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Oof-da, someone always beats me to it! Bah! Fukkit! I'ma still do one myself anyway!

Hello! Have a review. I imagine everyone with a heart likes Misty, but you gave us all a good-natured, cute, smooth read. I'm not going to complain about that!

No amount of bone-deep loyalty could get Misty to deny that Opaline snored like a sawmill and could sleep through a earthquake.

an

Anyway, I haven't watched any G5 material since the film, so whatever I know is largely via osmosis, but this was a fun story. Thank you for it.

Still not caught up on all of MYM, and I'm glad I found this story before continuing. I was half expecting DT's ghost to show up and start chewing out Opaline for how she treated Misty.

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