[FWM] OOC 3: Eccentric Cheerilee

[TheAmishPirate]

Apologies I haven't really been taking part in the discussion. I've got a nasty combination case of eye strain + head tension, which happens to = nasty dizziness if I use the computer too long. I'm keeping up with what folks are saying, and so far, it looks good. No real complaints over here.

The only thought I did have (which is completely unrelated to the current royal sister discussion) was with regard to the whole Space Pony thing. What if we went with the angle of their technology being used to fuel the current tech boom that allows things like the Cirrus to exist? A few individuals/organizations with relics from space reverse-engineer new tech from them, and thus we have airships and guns and such. I'd imagine Luna would have at least one such piece, the Backers likely have one too, and Balboa has a few amid his network of swag. That way, Space Ponies can still be a (very rare) thing if people want to do alien-related adventures later, but on a whole, they don't directly play a huge role in the timeline.

[Orzel]

That's not how I've set up the Dark Ones to work. They're more like.......'plant seed of power and corruption in someone and then stand in the back and watch what happens. They wouldn't particularly interfere and would stay in the backward and let Luna and The Mane Six take on Celestia. They don't really care if their selected pony/creature succeeds or not, but mostly amusement in watching how it all plays out.

That matches up with Crisis' version of the timeline more than Orzel's, I'm afraid, since he specifically stated that Celestia banished Luna to the moon on the false pretenses of being Nightmare Moon. But it does give me an idea... hm.

It's not that far off it you make the "Luna being corrupted" imagined by the corrupted Celestia and move the Dark Ones to always being in the shadows, laughing.

[TheAmishPirate]

*poke* Also, waiting on Rainbow and Hover for the roll-call.

[Grif]

Just something random. (Been feeling like writing these short snippets of history.)

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The Restoration by Ink Pots
The New Lunar Republic was formed after the tyrant Celestia was banished by the combined might of Princess Luna and the Elements of Harmony. Luna swore never to repeat the mistakes of her sibling and abdicated her place as sole ruler of Equestria.

In its stead, she instituted a representative form of governance, which she called a "Republic". Although officially, Princess Luna would remain the head of state, though stripped of most of its power. A parliament was established, with members elected directly by the ponies. Actual executive power lay with the prime minister and his cabinet, which was chosen from the ruling party of the parliament.

Although created with the best of intention, in practice, the Equestrian Parliament was dominated by the nobles of the land. Those with the most power and bits commanded lesser MPs to follow their lead. This often led to ruthless power plays and frequent behind-the-door deals amongst the nobility. While Equestria shuddered under the weight of incessant invasions and sporadic outbreaks of violence, the nobles fought their wars for political power and pride behind their gilded desks. More often that not, administration is paralysed by red tape and entire regions are often left to their own devices and to defend their own. It is not uncommon to find towns or cities running completely independently of Canterlot. It has been said that the new "Republic" is nothing more than a hodgepodge of independent states bounded together only under a common name.

Princess Luna could only watch on helplessly as her little ponies bickered and squabbled over petty issues. While bound by her oath not to interfere with the Parliament, she has been known to circumvent official channels to quietly solve problems which she feels the Parliament is not capable of handling. To this end, she has a small team of ponies that only answer directly to her. Chief among them are the Element Bearers, and Princess Luna has been known to approach ponies with special talents directly if she so feels the need.

This uneasy duality has lasted for quite some time, and it is unknown if Luna would act more forcefully should her patience wear thin.

[TheAmishPirate]

@Orzel: Sandy's avoiding eye contact with Rainbow, not staring at her.

[Orzel]

@Orzel: Sandy's avoiding eye contact with Rainbow, not staring at her.

Fixed. I just caught that on my second reading.

[Benson]

Tagging HalfTangible and Grif for the Misc Adventures thread

[HalfTangible]

Tagging HalfTangible and Grif for the Misc Adventures thread

I'm waitin on you to make the new one It's been a LOT longer than the moment/minute you said it would take

[Grif]

Will be replying once HalfTangible got his bit in.

Anyway, here's the proposed timeline change. For comparison, here's the original:

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All of the following is tentative and subject to change

~1000 years ago - Twin alicorn princesses are born on Equestria. Their innate power and goodness is so great that the Dark Forces that plague the land retreat before it.

Roughly 17 years after that, several thousand light years away, another pony planet known as Argonia is invaded by a mysterious and hostile force. The invaders, led by a horrific pony named Zoda, lay waste to the planet and the population when the Argonians refuse to surrender to their rule. The Argonians manage to put un enough of a fight against the invaders that a sizable portion of their population is able to flee the planet, including a stasis pod containing the Argonians' own young alicorn princess and six of her closest friends.

~950 years ago - An Argonian stasis pod is mistaken to be a meteor as it crashes into the ruins of an ancient pony civilization in the South Islands.

~900 years ago - The Dark Forces begin to tire of hiding in remote caves and start to organize into armies and attack cities all over Equestria. Celestia, the more proactive of the princesses, decides to form an army to fight back. A pony known as Gallant Garion becomes one of the first generals of the army and leads them to many victories over the Dark Forces.

~850 year ago - During one particular engagement that Celestia herself was present for, the princess is struck with an unknown form of dark energy. She appears to be unaffected, and the incident is written off as unimportant.
Gallant Garion willingly volunteers for a magical procedure to make him an immortal servant in Celestia's army. However, the process goes awry and the villainous Simmer escapes into the wilds of Equestria.

~850 years ago to 20 years ago - Celestia gradually becomes more agressive and tempermental as the undetected taint from the darkness she was struck with influences her mind so gradually as to be unnoticable. As her temper worsens, only her sister Luna is able to stave of the worst parts of her personality.
Argonian Space Pony refugees arrive on the planet sporadically and are absorbed into the greater population.
Zoda hunts down the Argonian refugees across space, not knowing that political maneuvering (aka backstabbing) and subversive rebel movements are gradually eroding his existing galactic empire.

~500 years ago - A group of settlers in the northern mountains find a ship they name the Ark of Yamato frozen solid in a mountain lake. The lake remains solidly frozen for centuries.

~250 years ago: Due to a diplomatic breakdown whose root is lost to history, the griffons went to war with Equestria seeking to claim a section of the border (now known as the Hipogrif March). Outnumbered and facing pony magic, they still attacked. After the initial shock, the royal army pushed them back, forcing a treaty that lead to the current semi-autonomous region of the "Silver-Feather Highlands."

~110 years ago - An innately amoral pony named Xykon is born. He quickly kills his own family at a young age and joins the Dark Forces for a few decades before striking out independently.

~30 years ago - Xykon transforms himself into a skeletal abomination using forbidden magics. He bigins a plot to steal the powers of the princesses themselves.

20 years ago - Organized Dark Forces armies show up claiming alliegance to an unknown individual they call 'Iron Hoof'.
Celestia's temper finally reaches levels where even Luna can no longer calm her sister.

13 years ago: The Mountian Moose king, Jotun the Red signs a peace treaty with Equestria.

10 years ago - Celestia imprisons Luna in the moon after her sister was supposedly taken over by the Dark Forces and transformed into 'Nightmare Moon'.

The Rime Moose conquered Moosegard and suddenly attacked Equestria. The invasion was repelled by the Equestrian military in a month but took heavy losses.

10-5 years ago - It is revealed that 'Iron Hoof' is actually an evil split personality of Celestia that has become dominant in recent years.
Celestia begins a tyrranical reign over Equestria under a sun that never sets, and a summer that never ends. She brutally quelches any resistance with either the Equestrian army, or an army of monsters under her control.

A division in an old clan of Unicorn pyromancers throws nearly every fire-using pony in Equestria, including the entire Fire Pony race, into a bloody civil war.

During The Summer, a large section of the griffon population wished to rebel against their blood ally ponies. A coalition of the reformers and loyalists fought them, eventually destroying the rebel army by trapping it between a small Equestrian force and itself.

A young pony named Twilight discovers that 'Nightmare Moon' never truly existed and plots to release Luna.

5 years ago - Luna escapes her prison thanks to Twilight. Together, they manage to best Celestia and imprison her in the sun. At the same time, they manage to dispel the evil personality of 'Iron Hoof' and free Celestia from direct influence by the Dark Forces.
Luna, loving her sister very much, allows Celestia to contact ponies outside her prison. However, Celestia's personality is still highly aggressive and she and Luna get into frequent arguments over how Equestria should be run.
Unable to reconcile their differences, and legitimately fearing that her sister might suffer a relapse into 'Iron Hoof', Luna does not ever set Celestia free. Celestia understands this position to a degree, but she feels that Luna is much too soft and forgiving to do what needs to be done to combat the Dark Forces which grow ever stronger.

3 years ago - Zoda finally locates the escape pod that held the Argonian Princess in the South Islands and lands his flagship. He kidnaps a local archaeologist and has him decipher the instructions to bring the ponies in stasis out. The kidnapped pony's nephew, Mike, a Sea Pony named Echo Wave, and a wandering bard named Eric, band together to locate and rescue Mike's uncle, and then the Space Ponies in stasis, and hand Zoda his first military defeat in over a millenium. In the process, they destroy Zoda's flagship and strand the alien conqueror on Equestria with no way to contact his extraequestrian armies which also never come looking for him.
Mike is able to free the Space Ponies from stasis and the Argonian Princess Mica finally awakens after nearly a thousand years of sleep
Mike, Mica, Echo, and Eric are later joined by two other ponies, Shutter Shade and a pure white adult Blank Flank called Ammy. Together they call themselves the Starlight Six.

The 40-day revolt. The two remaining griffon factions fight to see their vision of the future of the Highlands come to be. With the traditionalists victorious, the reformers were dealt with.

2 years ago - Following a blood oath from his father, Roy forms a band known as the Order of the Stick to hunt down and destroy Xykon.

1 year ago - The Great Eclipse occurs.
Despite most science ponies saying that most of Equestria will only be able to see a partial eclipse, everypony views a full eclipse that then plunges the world into darkness. For several minutes, many ponies are claiming everything from Celestia turning the sun black from within to Luna finally showing her 'true evil colors' to the Dark Forces being victorious. Then the sun comes out and the shadows are banished.
The official statement from Luna is that the event was due to a horrible weapon of the Dark Forces that was so powerful even the Dark Forces rightly feared it. Both she and her imprisoned sister present medals to a band known as the Starlight Six which they publicly credit with this weapon's defeat. Most ponies believe this story at face value, and within twenty four hours this previously unknown weapon has a dozen different foreboding titles/nicknames.
The Starlight Six publicly disbands after they are awarded medals by both princesses. Oddly, a Pony Fly named Issun is among their ranks at the time instead of a now mysteriously missing Ammy.

6 months ago - Xykon finally puts his plan to drain the princesses into action. Targeting the imprisoned Celestia, he is able to begin siphoning her powers without breaking or entering her prison in a process that would have killed Celestia had it succeeded. However, he is defeated and destroyed by the Order of the Stick at the cost of the lives of two of their members, saving Celestia's life. Thankfully, the details of the process Xykon developed die with him.
The Order is presented with both the Lunar and Solar Medals of Honor, including posthumous honors to their fallen members, for their defeat of Xykon.
Zoda's name begins to circulate across Equestria as a new powerful commander of the Dark Forces' armies.

Here's the proposed revised timeline. For clarity sake, I excised most of the Argonian and OotS references.

Spoiler

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All of the following is tentative and subject to change

*~2000 years ago - The Dark Ages ended with the formation of Equestria.

*~1200 years ago - A chaotic spirit by the name of Discord seizes power in Equestria and begins a long reign of terror. Around this time, the group known as Dark Forces was recorded to have started their activities.

~1000 years ago - Twin alicorn princesses are born on Equestria. With their innate powers, together they banished Discord to a statue and restored order to Equestria. The Dark Forces retreats to their hideouts as their patron ruler was removed from power.

~900 years ago - The Dark Forces begin to tire of hiding in remote caves and start to organize into armies and attack cities all over Equestria. Celestia, the more proactive of the princesses, decides to form an army to fight back. A pony known as Gallant Garion becomes one of the first generals of the army and leads them to many victories over the Dark Forces.

~850 year ago - During one particular engagement that Celestia herself was present for, the princess is struck with an unknown form of dark energy. She appears to be unaffected, and the incident is written off as unimportant.
Gallant Garion willingly volunteers for a magical procedure to make him an immortal servant in Celestia's army. However, the process goes awry and the villainous Simmer escapes into the wilds of Equestria.

Celestia gradually becomes more agressive and tempermental as the undetected taint from the darkness she was struck with influences her mind so gradually as to be unnoticable. As her temper worsens, only her sister Luna is able to stave of the worst parts of her personality.

*~500 years ago - An abandoned space ship was found in the frozen wastes of the Great Tundra. Enterprising ponies immediately begin studying and reverse-engineering the technology of the ship, fuelling a technology boom which was to last for decades. It is said Princess Luna herself encourages such activities.

*~400 years ago - The zebra nation of Zebrica went into isolation, permitting no outsiders to enter their territory. No official reason was ever given.

~250 years ago: Due to a diplomatic breakdown whose root is lost to history, the griffons of The Eyrie went to war with Equestria seeking to claim a section of the border (now known as the Hipogrif March). Outnumbered and facing pony magic, they still attacked. After the initial shock, the royal army pushed them back, forcing a treaty that lead to the current semi-autonomous region of the "Silver-Feather Highlands."

*~100 years ago - Rumours of alien ponies mingling with the locals gain popularity. No evidence was found to substantiate the rumours, but sightings are often reported.

30 years ago - Organized Dark Forces armies show up claiming alliegance to an unknown individual they call 'Iron Hoof'. Although they pose a severe threat to the border regions, the Equestrian Army manages to keep them in check.

Celestia's temper finally reaches levels where even Luna can no longer calm her sister.

16 years ago: The Mountian Moose king, Jotun the Red signs a peace treaty with Equestria.

10 years ago - Celestia imprisons Luna in the moon after her sister was supposedly taken over by the Dark Forces and transformed into 'Nightmare Moon'.

The Rime Moose conquers Moosegard, then turn their attention towards Equestria. The invasion was repelled successfully by the Equestrian military with heavy losses.

*9 years ago - It is revealed that 'Iron Hoof' is actually an evil split personality of Celestia that has become dominant in recent years.
Celestia begins a tyrranical reign over Equestria under a sun that never sets, and a summer that never ends. She brutally quelches any resistance with either the Equestrian army, or an army of monsters under her control. Civil war erupts as ponies align themselves with either Iron Hoof or the banished Night Goddess.

8 years ago - A division in an old clan of Unicorn pyromancers throws nearly every fire-using pony in Equestria, including the entire Fire Pony race, into a bloody civil war.

*Valhalla was destroyed in an epic display of power by Celestia. The remaining rebellious northern cities soon surrender.

6 years ago - A large section of the griffon population wished to rebel against their blood ally ponies. A coalition of the reformers and loyalists fought them, eventually destroying the rebel army by trapping it between a small Equestrian force and itself.

A young pony named Twilight Sparkle from Ponyville discovers that 'Nightmare Moon' never truly existed and plots to release Luna.

*5 years ago - Luna escapes her prison thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Newly invigorated, she rallies her loyal supporters and begin the rebellion anew.

Together with the Elements of Harmony, they manage to best Celestia and imprison her in the sun. At the same time, they manage to dispel the evil personality of 'Iron Hoof' and free Celestia from direct influence by the Dark Forces. It was not without cost however, as the town of Ponyville was badly damaged in the fight. Armies under the Dark Forces melt away amidst the chaos.

Luna, loving her sister very much, allows Celestia to contact ponies outside her prison. However, Celestia's personality is still highly aggressive and she and Luna get into frequent arguments over how Equestria should be run.
Unable to reconcile their differences, and legitimately fearing that her sister might suffer a relapse into 'Iron Hoof', Luna does not ever set Celestia free. Celestia understands this position to a degree, but she feels that Luna is much too soft and forgiving to do what needs to be done to combat the Dark Forces which grow ever stronger.

*The New Lunar Republic was declared to replace the former Kingdom of Equestria, with the former Prince Blueblood being the first prime minister. Many ponies remains loyal to Celestia and war erupts anew as the two sides clash. However, with Celestia's imprisonment, the resistance was disorganised and mostly limited to local rebellions.

3 years ago - The 40-Day Revolt. The two remaining griffon factions fight to see their vision of the future of the Highlands come to be. With the traditionalists victorious, the reformers were dealt with. (Needs clarification. Who are the traditionalists and reformers?)

*2 years ago - Equestria was finally declared to be united by Blueblood. However, this is an uneasy peace, with rumours of Dark Forces gathering their armies again and the renewed threat of invasion by the belligerent Rime Moose and griffons.

1 year ago - The Great Eclipse occurs.
Despite most science ponies saying that most of Equestria will only be able to see a partial eclipse, everypony views a full eclipse that then plunges the world into darkness. For several minutes, many ponies are claiming everything from Celestia turning the sun black from within to Luna finally showing her 'true evil colors' to the Dark Forces being victorious. Then the sun comes out and the shadows are banished. The official statement from Luna is that the event was due to a horrible weapon of the Dark Forces that was so powerful even the Dark Forces rightly feared it.

Present

Those with * are my own additions or revisions.

[Benson]

I'm waitin on you to make the new one It's been a LOT longer than the moment/minute you said it would take

there, now no one can say nuthin'
------------------------



time to read grif's post *strokes chin*

[Orzel]

Wow. I just realized that if Celestia banished Luna only 8 years ago, I have to stasus lock most of Grills' older family members to have the civil war make sense.

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The Troubled Decade of House Flamestrong.

The Flamestrong noble house has been one of the linchpins in the protection of Equestrian land for century. Founded by the pony pyromancer, Flamestrong in Unicornia, this family and its allies have guarded Equestrian from invasion and internal threats for generations. Their strict adherence to the "The best defense is an overpowering offense" has burned away many issues leaving whoever the current leader free for other duties.

But defending the nation was not always easy and without cost.

Many decades ago, the union of Captain General Fiery Explosion and Lady Twinkletoes begot Brigadier Generals Wildfire and Flashfire. The union of Brigadier General Flashfire and Duchess Honey Bun begot Colonels Searing Clash, Colonel Hotspot and Lady Cocoa. Wildfire sired Brimstone III with an unknown mare. These ponies would change Flamestrong forever.

Before Celestia banished Luna to the moon, the Captain General of the Equestrian army and head of the illustrious Flamestrong noble house, Fiery Explosion mysteriously fell ill and died campaigning in Valhalla. Because he named no successor, the noble house he ran erupted in bid for power as they bid for spots in the the newly forming power structure.

His children, Wildfire and Flashfire challenged each other for head of the family. This broke the Flamestrong house into civil war and the general pulled their forces from the gates of the northern city-states. Angered at her retreating forces who fight amongst themselves, Celestia decided to handle Valhalla herself and utterly destroyed the city.

Ultimately the Flamestrong civil war, resulted in Flashfire, Wildfire, Searing Clash, and Hot Spot all being self-exiled and placed into stasis-lock under ground. Brimstone III was killed during the fighting. Honey Bun was driven insane by the loss. The house and banner houses splintered and half left Equestria for 8 years forming the economic powerhouse House Skald under a mysterious pony from a former lesser house.

The only sane and free senior member of the family, Lady Cocoa, abdicated her position to the more powerful of her brother's children, Fire Flowier. Today she runs the house with her brother Representative Axehandle and two children, Charlotte and Grills.

It includes parts about Valhalla. Grif, I can take it out if you wish.

[Grif]

Wow. I just realized that if Celestia banished Luna only 8 years ago, I have to stasus lock most of Grills' older family members to have the civil war make sense.

Spoiler

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The Troubled Decade of House Flamestrong.

The Flamestrong noble house has been one of the linchpins in the protection of Equestrian land for century. Founded by the pony pyromancer, Flamestrong in Unicornia, this family and its allies have guarded Equestrian from invasion and internal threats for generations. Their strict adherence to the "The best defense is an overpowering offense" has burned away many issues leaving whoever the current leader free for other duties.

But defending the nation was not always easy and without cost.

Many decades ago, the union of Captain General Fiery Explosion and Lady Twinkletoes begot Brigadier Generals Wildfire and Flashfire. The union of Brigadier General Flashfire and Duchess Honey Bun begot Colonels Searing Clash, Colonel Hotspot and Lady Cocoa. Wildfire sired Brimstone III with an unknown mare. These ponies would change Flamestrong forever.

Before Celestia banished Luna to the moon, the Captain General of the Equestrian army and head of the illustrious Flamestrong noble house, Fiery Explosion mysteriously fell ill and died campaigning in Valhalla. Because he named no successor, the noble house he ran erupted in bid for power as they bid for spots in the the newly forming power structure.

His children, Wildfire and Flashfire challenged each other for head of the family. This broke the Flamestrong house into civil war and the general pulled their forces from the gates of the northern city-states. Angered at her retreating forces who fight amongst themselves, Celestia decided to handle Valhalla herself and utterly destroyed the city.

Ultimately the Flamestrong civil war, resulted in Flashfire, Wildfire, Searing Clash, and Hot Spot all being self-exiled and placed into stasis-lock under ground. Brimstone III was killed during the fighting. Honey Bun was driven insane by the loss. The house and banner houses splintered and half left Equestria for 8 years forming the economic powerhouse House Skald under a mysterious pony from a former lesser house.

The only sane and free senior member of the family, Lady Cocoa, abdicated her position to the more powerful of her brother's children, Fire Flowier. Today she runs the house with her brother Representative Axehandle and two children, Charlotte and Grills.

It includes parts about Valhalla. Griffin, I can take it out if you wish.

I have no objections to those parts. If anything it adds to the history.

I wonder who is this 'mysterious pony from a lesser house'?

EDIT: Come to think of it, I have yet to get an opinion on whether or not my concept of Equestria as a corrupt, weak Republic (echoes of SW: EU here) should be implemented or just have Luna as an ineffectual monarch on her own. I proposed the former idea primarily to explain why Bridle Shores could be attacked so often without any form of support from the central government. (Also, I hate the notion/implication that Luna is an ineffectual leader who cannot run the country.)

[Kelvin360]

The latter option wouldn't be so much that Luna is ineffectual, just that all this stuff happening requires a very hard tack she isn't willing to take. On one hoof, she wants peace for her subjects, but on the other, that's just not possible without doing some things that, to her, may seem too Iron Hoof-ish.

With all this dark darky darkness stuff going on at once, the armies (and Luna herself) are spread very thin. The reason Bridle Shores gets attacked so often is that she doesn't have enough troops to send without a formal plea and a very important one at that.

The reason we're getting troops now is because of 'John' (might've got the name wrong there), who is leading a bunch of the exact sorts Luna's armies are busy getting rid of. Threat analysis, not ineffectuality.

So, personally, I'm a fan of the troubled Monarchy, where Luna's between a rock and a hard place (especially with those crafty nobles) but isn't willing to do more in wake of her sister's mistakes. Kind of like putting a shell-shocked anti-war veteran in charge of the army.

But that's just my two bits.

[Orzel]

I see it as Luna only being the executive and judicial control of Equestria. The nobles hold the legislative control due to their wealth.

Basically all the bits are in the hooves of the nobles. Celestia drained the royal coffers on the military campaigns and Equestria's government is running on borrowed money. So the nobles who pledge the most money or offer the most credit get special treatment and Luna is stuck giving favors to noble houses and private millionaire merchants.

[Luka]

Sorry, been a while on other things.... You already went to the next day?
....Mindfreak, Aero left Aisis in stasis

[Mindfreak]

The latter option wouldn't be so much that Luna is ineffectual, just that all this stuff happening requires a very hard tack she isn't willing to take. On one hoof, she wants peace for her subjects, but on the other, that's just not possible without doing some things that, to her, may seem too Iron Hoof-ish.

With all this dark darky darkness stuff going on at once, the armies (and Luna herself) are spread very thin. The reason Bridle Shores gets attacked so often is that she doesn't have enough troops to send without a formal plea and a very important one at that.

The reason we're getting troops now is because of 'John' (might've got the name wrong there), who is leading a bunch of the exact sorts Luna's armies are busy getting rid of. Threat analysis, not ineffectuality.

So, personally, I'm a fan of the troubled Monarchy, where Luna's between a rock and a hard place (especially with those crafty nobles) but isn't willing to do more in wake of her sister's mistakes. Kind of like putting a shell-shocked anti-war veteran in charge of the army.

But that's just my two bits.

Wait, what?
What did my John do that made troops come in?
You know, besides the constant murder and sabotage and treason and rule-the-world-attitude
And Luka, I'll get to it. I completely forgot about them >~<

[Kelvin360]

In fairness, I have no idea what the darky darkness backstory is. I just assumed John was behind the formation and was leading to whole thing.

[Mindfreak]

John is indeed the leader of an organization of evil ponies that has existed for thousands of years.
This is pretty much what he has done so far:
Got Zach to start and become the leader of Celestia's Resistance, so that the group would constantly try to combine Luna and Celestia into one being, causing strife and chaos.
When the above fell through, John got one of his generals to launch a full-scale attack on Bridal Shores that was repelled. He did this in hopes of making Bridal Shores weak enough for a full on take over, but it didn't happen.
John then appointed new generals and had them start working on ways to further disrupt Equestria's government, in the hopes that he can keep it unstable and ripe for taking over.
Doth happened.
John appointed further help to Doth's operation so as to get more of the Gloomium, as he plans to use it to armor an elite division of soldiers.

That's pretty much what he's done so far.
I plan on having him do more, though.

[Grif]

John is indeed the leader of an organization of evil ponies that has existed for thousands of years.
This is pretty much what he has done so far:
Got Zach to start and become the leader of Celestia's Resistance, so that the group would constantly try to combine Luna and Celestia into one being, causing strife and chaos.
When the above fell through, John got one of his generals to launch a full-scale attack on Bridal Shores that was repelled. He did this in hopes of making Bridal Shores weak enough for a full on take over, but it didn't happen.
John then appointed new generals and had them start working on ways to further disrupt Equestria's government, in the hopes that he can keep it unstable and ripe for taking over.
Doth happened.
John appointed further help to Doth's operation so as to get more of the Gloomium, as he plans to use it to armor an elite division of soldiers.

That's pretty much what he's done so far.
I plan on having him do more, though.

That begs the question. Why Bridle Shores? (Ignoring the meta fact that we needed something to happen.)

[Mindfreak]

Canterlot is too well guarded by Royal Guards, Ponyville has those pesky Elements of Harmony ponies, and everywhere else is too far away right now for a proper assault.

Bridle Shores is less fortified and less guarded than Canterlot and quite easy to cause trouble in.

[Grif]

Canterlot is too well guarded by Royal Guards, Ponyville has those pesky Elements of Harmony ponies, and everywhere else is too far away right now for a proper assault.

Bridle Shores is less fortified and less guarded than Canterlot and quite easy to cause trouble in.

While I know we have not really established a canon location for Bridle Shores (save that it is near a lake), there's countless other cities in Equestria that he could have targeted. Still, this was just nitpicking since it doesn't really affect anything plotwise. I just don't see anything (story wise so far) that makes Bridle Shores so special. Maybe we can add something about how strategic the town location is...

After all, we already had an army camped there once.

[Benson]

Well, Bridle Shores is a magnet for the weird, houses a earthquake making pony in its depths and may even house more....~~

I did make implications in a post that no one seemed to reject.....

Spoiler

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Twisting passages, a dark light-less labyrinth amongst self, closed off chambers from centuries of neglect. New passages opened up from fallen debris. Bridle Shores, a magnet of trouble and the weird, had many secrets still unknown to her people. Even those explorers from earlier who found themselves a prisoner down here in her fiery prison, knew not of the reaches this crypt extended to. Home to many creatures before and some that still should never be stirred, for now, it plays host to some vamponies and their machinations.

[TheAmishPirate]

^What Benson said. With all the junk that goes down there, I'd take it over just because it's statistically more likely than any other place in Equestria to contain some long-lost superweapon or something.

[Orzel]

I think ponies themselves are natural weirdness magnets. Bridle Shore is special because it had addition non pony magnets as well as a lack of infrastructure to deal with the wacky.

Every major city has their own crazy and their own crazy elimination system. Canterlot has the princesses. Ponyville has the Mane Six. Fetlock is built adjacent to a fort. Manehatten and Fillydephia are filled with gangsters and businessponies who prefer their stuff intact. Bridle Shores has a small group of guards and a small yet powerful militia.

This is also where the Cirrus comes in. The Cirrus is an experiment for weirdness elimination system. It flies around dealing with monsters and stuff for towns that have no protection or are in over their heads.

Essentially Bridle Shores is that one random spot on the Risk map of Equestria which 3 armies on it for no reason.

[Benson]

Just waitin' for something in the Misc Adventures thread some kind of input, comment, le sigh *whistles*

[Grif]

Well, Bridle Shores is a magnet for the weird, houses a earthquake making pony in its depths and may even house more....~~

I did make implications in a post that no one seemed to reject.....

Spoiler

Show

Twisting passages, a dark light-less labyrinth amongst self, closed off chambers from centuries of neglect. New passages opened up from fallen debris. Bridle Shores, a magnet of trouble and the weird, had many secrets still unknown to her people. Even those explorers from earlier who found themselves a prisoner down here in her fiery prison, knew not of the reaches this crypt extended to. Home to many creatures before and some that still should never be stirred, for now, it plays host to some vamponies and their machinations.

^What Benson said. With all the junk that goes down there, I'd take it over just because it's statistically more likely than any other place in Equestria to contain some long-lost superweapon or something.

I think ponies themselves are natural weirdness magnets. Bridle Shore is special because it had addition non pony magnets as well as a lack of infrastructure to deal with the wacky.

Every major city has their own crazy and their own crazy elimination system. Canterlot has the princesses. Ponyville has the Mane Six. Fetlock is built adjacent to a fort. Manehatten and Fillydephia are filled with gangsters and businessponies who prefer their stuff intact. Bridle Shores has a small group of guards and a small yet powerful militia.

This is also where the Cirrus comes in. The Cirrus is an experiment for weirdness elimination system. It flies around dealing with monsters and stuff for towns that have no protection or are in over their heads.

Essentially Bridle Shores is that one random spot on the Risk map of Equestria which 3 armies on it for no reason.

Well, I'd actually like Bridle Shores to have a tangible reason why it would be targeted by so many evil things, not only because it's home to a great deal of unorthodox ponies/creatures. Makes things clearer to my own mind, ya'know? But yeah, not that important in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway! Revised timeline. How do? Any objections?

[Orzel]

I say that it is the worst defending major town. It is the best town to attack that is worth targeting. Every other settlement is well defended or low value.

Canterlot and Ponyville are too expensive to attack. Places like Appleloosa have nothing of value worth taking and are more or less useless to evil beings.

[Benson]

Actually, Appleoosa is a great place for mining certain types of mineral still, I'm sure. It is now just a horrible a place to farm and an agriculture dead zone due to the Zebras bombing that place with a horrible Dark Magicks that blighted the life. This was during the time of Iron Hoof.


I really need to find that post >_<...it had a lot of information about some shat that was going down during Iron Hoof's reign.

[Grif]

Actually, Appleoosa is a great place for mining certain types of mineral. It is now just a horrible a place to farm and an agriculture dead zone due to the Zebras bombing that place with a horrible Dark Magicks that blighted the life. This was during the time of Iron Hoof.


I really need to find that post >_<...it had a lot of information about some shat that was going down during Iron Hoof's reign.

Interesting. Where was this mentioned?

[TheAmishPirate]

Actually, Appleoosa is a great place for mining certain types of mineral. It is now just a horrible a place to farm and an agriculture dead zone due to the Zebras bombing that place with a horrible Dark Magicks that blighted the life. This was during the time of Iron Hoof.


I really need to find that post >_<...it had a lot of information about some shat that was going down during Iron Hoof's reign.

Aye, I think I remember that post. Somewhere with Balboa doing a test-run of some sorta bomb, if that helps.

Also, Grif, waitin' on you in the Bits and Credit thread.