Warning! This roleplay contains mild grimdark elements (war, death, physical violence, etc) and an alternate/fanmade canon for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. While there's nothing graphic, and certainly not nothing along the lines of 'Cupcakes', this isn't all rainbows and sunshine, there's going to be serious misery. This is just a warning to anyone looking to join this, in case you like your ponies pure and happy. Nothing wrong with that of course, this just just doesn't have the happiest of plots and I don't want anyone saying they weren't warned!
It was beautiful. Truly, utterly beautiful. Order finally removed, allowing the brilliance of chaos to shine through. Day and night coming and going of their own accord, the land moving as it willed, growing as it pleased. Or didn't. Laws of nature removed, allowing the impossible to be as easy and natural as breathing. My gift to the world, and what a gift it was! Endless food and drink, the gift of flight to the wingless... why, even the feeble and elderly could dance and caper about like young fillies again.
And I? Why, I just enjoyed it. Being a statue for a thousand years or more puts a new perspective on things. I simply let my magic loose on the world, and once I had taken care of that little pest problem, I let it do as it wished, while I enjoyed being free.
Ah, but you all know the story after that. They broke my spell. Sealed me away once again, and I sit in the Canterlot sculpture garden once more. This attack however, was... incomplete. See, that's the beauty of the Elements. So very powerful, but even one weak link, and they are only half as strong. Even if it was barely a crack in the chain, it was enough. I am not utterly powerless! I can still think, I can plan. I can even extend some small magic into the world.
Of course, I know better than to try and directly break the Elements again. No, I learned my lesson then, and besides, it's far beyond my current power. But I can do something. I can... create. I can bring back things ponies believe only to be a myth, thought gone since before even my time!
And then? Why, I haven't thought that far ahead. It's never as much fun... we'll just wait and see.
Discord is little more than a memory to Equestria, his brief reign just another story to tell young colts and fillies during Nightmare Night. Even Celestia and Luna have begun to relax, no longer posting a guard to watch the statue every day. Even if they still kept one there though, they would never know what went on within the statue.
A god can never be killed, never truly removed from existence. At best, all one can do is force him to sleep, and in sleep, gods can dream. In his imprisonment, Discord dreams of terrible things. He no longer thinks of simply overthrowing Celestia and the Elements; he'd given them their chance. Now, he dreams of a world at war, tearing itself apart only to be cloaked in ice, ripe for destruction and rebirth as he sees fit.
The idea came to him on Heart's Warming Eve, when the howling wind sparked a long-forgotten memory to life. Beasts of wind and ice, things even he wasn't sure existed, but that was when he was alive and had to keep his attention divided between a thousand things. This time he could be patient. He reached out to these creatures, finding that they too were forced to the fringes of existence, kept alive only by the occasional feud between ponies, not enough to sustain them for much longer. So a deal was hatched- in return for allowing the Windigoes to return to power, they would obey Discord.
That night, using the magic he still had, Discord gave the Windigoes the power to possess living ponies. Not just any ponies, only those bound by fear, who harbored grudges and refused to forgive. It was these cracks that allowed the Windigoes to slip in, and slowly eat away at a pony's mind and sanity until they became as cold and heartless as a Windigo themselves.
To the rest of the world, they might appear unchanged; maybe a bit less vibrant than usual, a bit quicker to snap and fall into argument. As time goes on though, they become... corrupted. Incapable of kindness, laughter, loyalty, generosity or honesty. Pegasi find flight difficult, earth ponies find the ground seems to frost underneath their hooves, unicorns lose their magic. If it becomes worse, even their very cutie marks begin to fade; or in the case of very young possessed ponies, never appear at all.
Worse still... some say the Princesses have been acting oddly. Luna has left Canterlot entirely, while Celestia locks herself in her chambers unless there are duties she must attend to. And the sun, bright as ever, does not seem to shine as warmly over Equestria.
Plot:
With the help of Discord, a number of Windigoes have taken over the body of various ponies- including at least one of the Elements of Harmony and one of the Princesses. Rather than simply feeding off of hatred, they now create it by making a pony lose his or her very sanity. They do this by preying on some specific flaw- a major fear, a grudge they refuse to let go of, or some past failing they can't forgive themselves for, until they begin taking it out on others and losing sight of who they truly were.
They also use their new forms to spread rumors of Celestia being a tyrant and a liar, rumors that she sealed Luna away for trying to set up a new democratic regime, rather than trying to take full control as the most-known story goes. Through this, they hope to spark an all-out war between those who support one sister or the other, until Discord can emerge and strike down whatever survivors there may be.
As I've been revising this, I've hit on a way to help ensure we reach the major plot points, as well as have plenty of smaller stuff in the middle. Think of the plot points outlined here as the beginnings/ends to a season, with any mini-plots being along the lines of the episodes of the show- largely self-contained, but with enough referencing of things in the past/foreshadowing to remain connected. For ease of tracking, the current major and minor plot points will be listed under 'Current Events'.
Major plot points:
Rules:
Character sheets:
It was beautiful. Truly, utterly beautiful. Order finally removed, allowing the brilliance of chaos to shine through. Day and night coming and going of their own accord, the land moving as it willed, growing as it pleased. Or didn't. Laws of nature removed, allowing the impossible to be as easy and natural as breathing. My gift to the world, and what a gift it was! Endless food and drink, the gift of flight to the wingless... why, even the feeble and elderly could dance and caper about like young fillies again.
And I? Why, I just enjoyed it. Being a statue for a thousand years or more puts a new perspective on things. I simply let my magic loose on the world, and once I had taken care of that little pest problem, I let it do as it wished, while I enjoyed being free.
Ah, but you all know the story after that. They broke my spell. Sealed me away once again, and I sit in the Canterlot sculpture garden once more. This attack however, was... incomplete. See, that's the beauty of the Elements. So very powerful, but even one weak link, and they are only half as strong. Even if it was barely a crack in the chain, it was enough. I am not utterly powerless! I can still think, I can plan. I can even extend some small magic into the world.
Of course, I know better than to try and directly break the Elements again. No, I learned my lesson then, and besides, it's far beyond my current power. But I can do something. I can... create. I can bring back things ponies believe only to be a myth, thought gone since before even my time!
And then? Why, I haven't thought that far ahead. It's never as much fun... we'll just wait and see.
Discord is little more than a memory to Equestria, his brief reign just another story to tell young colts and fillies during Nightmare Night. Even Celestia and Luna have begun to relax, no longer posting a guard to watch the statue every day. Even if they still kept one there though, they would never know what went on within the statue.
A god can never be killed, never truly removed from existence. At best, all one can do is force him to sleep, and in sleep, gods can dream. In his imprisonment, Discord dreams of terrible things. He no longer thinks of simply overthrowing Celestia and the Elements; he'd given them their chance. Now, he dreams of a world at war, tearing itself apart only to be cloaked in ice, ripe for destruction and rebirth as he sees fit.
The idea came to him on Heart's Warming Eve, when the howling wind sparked a long-forgotten memory to life. Beasts of wind and ice, things even he wasn't sure existed, but that was when he was alive and had to keep his attention divided between a thousand things. This time he could be patient. He reached out to these creatures, finding that they too were forced to the fringes of existence, kept alive only by the occasional feud between ponies, not enough to sustain them for much longer. So a deal was hatched- in return for allowing the Windigoes to return to power, they would obey Discord.
That night, using the magic he still had, Discord gave the Windigoes the power to possess living ponies. Not just any ponies, only those bound by fear, who harbored grudges and refused to forgive. It was these cracks that allowed the Windigoes to slip in, and slowly eat away at a pony's mind and sanity until they became as cold and heartless as a Windigo themselves.
To the rest of the world, they might appear unchanged; maybe a bit less vibrant than usual, a bit quicker to snap and fall into argument. As time goes on though, they become... corrupted. Incapable of kindness, laughter, loyalty, generosity or honesty. Pegasi find flight difficult, earth ponies find the ground seems to frost underneath their hooves, unicorns lose their magic. If it becomes worse, even their very cutie marks begin to fade; or in the case of very young possessed ponies, never appear at all.
Worse still... some say the Princesses have been acting oddly. Luna has left Canterlot entirely, while Celestia locks herself in her chambers unless there are duties she must attend to. And the sun, bright as ever, does not seem to shine as warmly over Equestria.
Plot:
With the help of Discord, a number of Windigoes have taken over the body of various ponies- including at least one of the Elements of Harmony and one of the Princesses. Rather than simply feeding off of hatred, they now create it by making a pony lose his or her very sanity. They do this by preying on some specific flaw- a major fear, a grudge they refuse to let go of, or some past failing they can't forgive themselves for, until they begin taking it out on others and losing sight of who they truly were.
They also use their new forms to spread rumors of Celestia being a tyrant and a liar, rumors that she sealed Luna away for trying to set up a new democratic regime, rather than trying to take full control as the most-known story goes. Through this, they hope to spark an all-out war between those who support one sister or the other, until Discord can emerge and strike down whatever survivors there may be.
As I've been revising this, I've hit on a way to help ensure we reach the major plot points, as well as have plenty of smaller stuff in the middle. Think of the plot points outlined here as the beginnings/ends to a season, with any mini-plots being along the lines of the episodes of the show- largely self-contained, but with enough referencing of things in the past/foreshadowing to remain connected. For ease of tracking, the current major and minor plot points will be listed under 'Current Events'.
Major plot points:
- Luna arrives in Ponyville, personality changes begin to crop up in affected ponies.
- Celestia begins imposing harsher laws to quell dissent that has appeared.
- Luna begins gathering forces, sensing an approaching conflict with Celestia, not wanting to be caught unaware or unprepared.
- War begins between the Solar Empire and the Lunar Republic.
- Discord.
- ? Well, I don't know how it might end, myself. There's a few ways it can go.
Rules:
- No Godmodding, Powerplaying, or Sues/Stus of any form. While I'm allowing for more tragic backstories on OCs, don't go overboard. Keep language the level it is in the show- i.e. no actual swearing, period. (However, 'swears' as used in the show- hay, horseapples, (pony)feathers- are completely fine). Romance and violence should also be kept at PG-13 or lower.
- Literate. This means I expect you to have have at least one good, 4-6 sentence paragraph per character whenever you post. Proper spelling and grammar is also a requirement.
- No machine gun posting- make sure everyone gets chance to post, and do NOT go past one page without me.
- Character sheets must be approved before play. And please, people, I expect to see some effort put into your characters! Give them flaws, give them strengths, give them actual personalities! If you play any of the mane 6, really get into character! Nothing saddens me more than an OC that's just a name, picture and vague talent that only ever gives one or two lines every post, give your characters room and reason to grow!
- Currently, every member is limited to three characters. This may increase or decrease as we go.
- As mentioned above, Windigo possessed ponies may lose or never even earn their Cutie Marks. However, if a possessed character responds to friendship offered by others, and/or overcomes their fear/grudge/whatever allowed the Windigo to take hold in the first place, they can break the creature's hold. In a young pony, this can result in them earning a cutie mark; in adult ones that lost theirs, they regain it (though it may be slightly different than before).
- If you wish to play as Princess Celestia... First, you have to prove that you can play her, in the 'sample' section of the form. Second, you need to be highly literate. This means consistently long posts, a good attention to detail and how the plot is going, and of course, proper spelling and grammar. Third, Celestia is possessed, and will start becoming a tyrant as the game goes on. It won't be immediate, I'll mostly leave it up to you on how it goes through, but I may PM you to either increase or decrease it. Sorry if this seems strict, but as Celestia is a massively plot-important character, I want to ensure she is played well xD Celestia will not count to the three-character limit, as until about the middle of the rp, she's little more than a glorified NPC, but she will be extremely active later on.
- Rules are subject to change, but this should be the bulk of it. Again, if there are any questions, just ask.
Character sheets:
- Code: Select all
[center][size=88][b]Username:[/b]
[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (Foal, young adult *mane 6*, adult *around the age of the Cakes*, elderly)
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Species:[/b] (Note: Luna and Celestia are the ONLY alicorns allowed. Any other alicorns will immediately get the Sue stamp and be denied. I apologize, but having only ever seen one good alicorn OC, I'm playing it safe.)
[b]Appearance:[/b] (Pictures are allowed, but they MUST be linked and supplemented with a written description. You're also welcome to give completely written descriptions.)
[b]Cutie Mark/Special Talent:[/b] (leave blank on foals)
[b]Personality:[/b] (Please include if they are possessed or not here.)
[b]History:[/b] (in the case of any main characters, this can be left blank/'shown in the show'. For background characters like Derpy, Lyra, etc, they require at least a paragraph (preferably more) of history, as do all OCs.)
[b]Pet:[/b] (Entirely optional, not every pony will or should have a pet. PLEASE, keep animals limited to reasonable, seen-in-show creatures (e.g. dogs, cats, frogs... phoenixes will be a case by case basis, you better have a good reason for it other than 'it's cool/pony earned its loyalty/Celestia has one so why shouldn't I!')
[b]Other:[/b] (Anything that doesn't fit above.)
[b]Sample:[/b] (Only applies if you wish to play one of the mane six, Spike, or Celestia. Please give me a 2-4 paragraph showing your ability to play the character, so I can ensure we get people who actually keep true to the characters.)[/size]
)
