History Fanfic / TheShadowWars

The ''Shadow Wars Series'' is a group of WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic stories written by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179 Jordan179]], inspired by but not canon with the Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries of [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Alex+Warlorn Alex Warlorn]]. The basic premise is described on Jordan179's site:

The core story in the series is Fanfic/NightmaresAreTragic, about Luna's Return as seen from Luna's own point of view. The story settings are divided into several periods. Some of these are:

* The Age of Wonders: Four thousand years before ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'', the high-technology civilization of the WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales series dominates the world and stands on the brink of expansion into the Universe. The twin daughters of Dr. Sweetie Finemare, physicist Sundreamer and engineer Moondreamer, lead the way into this glorious future, aided by Moondreamer's husband, astronaut Dusk Skyshine, and Dusk's best friend and Special Forces leader Dash Firehooves. But this glorious future is threatened by Discentaur, leader of the evil terrorist organization VIPRA, which wants to rule the world. Will Ponykind claim the planets and stars, or will all perish in a fearful Cataclysm?

* EvilIsNotAToy: The young and [[FriendlessBackground lonely]] Cloud Kicker summons the [[EmbodimentOfVice demon]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Winning-Through-Degradation]], hoping to [[PowersViaPossession gain the ability]] to make friends. Instead, she becomes an insane [[AnythingThatMoves nymphomaniac]] host for a ''sapient'' Shadowverse equivalent of a Sexually-Transmitted Disease.
* HeelFaceTurn: Not uncommon in this universe.

* HeelRaceTurn: All Earth must unite against the Night Shadows. That leads to severel of these.
** The Reconciliation of the Changelings, resulting in their incorporation into Equestria and their crucially-important aid in the form of Workers to build the advanced technologies downloaded from the Paradise Entity -- vital in winning the LensmanArmsRace against the Night Shadows.

-->The machinations of the Cosmic Concepts have shaped the history of the Ponies for ten thousand years. But now their mistakes have cracked the Cosmos, and the Shadows seep through to claim our own Universe for their dark and predatory purposes. If they can gain a bridgehead on Equestria's Earth, this will be but the first step in a war of extermination against our continuum, a war which will end in the destruction of all life in our own Universe.

** A particularly nasty version of this happens to Dissy, the [[UsedToBeASweetKid kind, sweet]] son of [[TheEeyore Shady]], when he is claimed and consumed by the [[DarkSide ''true'' incarnation]] of his [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Cosmic]] [[SuperpowereDEvilSide Self] — who is [[FaceHeelTurn ''far'' less nice]], and prefers to be called [[MeaningfulRename ''Discord'']].

** The Serpent Folk, who originally created the Great G'marr and whose Viprallan descendents are enemies of Ponykind.

* CthulhuMythos: The author is a major fan of the Mythos, and it shows in the Shadow Wars universe. So far, prominent Mythos elements have included:
** [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]], the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Crawling Chaos]], worshiped as "Ahtu" by Queen Chrysalis.
** Nyarlathotep's [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith avatar]] [[MeaningfulName Random Flag]] (an {{Expy}} of Creator/StephenKing's character Randall Flagg from Literature/TheStand) sows chaos and civil war amongst the Pony Kinds.
** The [[FishPeople Deep Ponies]], explicitly the result of interbreeding between the [[FishPeople Sea Ponies]] and [[FishPeople Deep Ones]] -- the latter from Creator/HPLovecraft's Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth.
** One of Luna's past lives was as a [[BlobMonster Shoggoth]], one of the monstrous slaves of the [[StarfishAlien Elder Things]] first appearing in Creator/HPLovecraft's Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness
** The Smooze is explicitly identified as being an "emotivoric self-replicating shoggoth" colony.
** Two [[StarfishAlien Elder Things]], Green-Glint-of-Copper-Shade and Four-Dimensional-Hint-of-Destiny are minor characters in Fanfic/DivineJealousyAndTheVoiceOfReason.
** Pinkie's family and descent, especially her elder sister Claire, are a reference to Literature/TheDunwichHorror, albeit with a distinctly more benevolent entity (Paradise) as the 'father' figure.

several character relationships hinge on conscious or unconscious past life memories.

** The [[spoiler:Changelings]] as a ''species'' do this when they [[spoiler:choose sides between the Earth Defense Federation and Queen Ombris, though most Changelings were never all that evil anyway]].

** Degradedverse: The alternate world in which Cloud Kicker's [[DemonicPossession demon]] [[Winning-Through-Degradation defeated the teenaged Pinkie Pie and began consuming the souls of the Element Bearers.

** The Smooze is explicitly identified as being "emotivoric self-replicating shoggoth" colony.

** Discord took his current Incarnation [[spoiler:to be with his beloved Celestia]], and in his [[UsedToBeASweetKid]] youth as Dissy was also Luna's best friend. When he [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening Awakened]] to his [[GodOfEvil true nature]], his [[StartOfDarkness cruel actions]] made the Sisters his enemy for two and a half millennia -- it isn't until YOH 1503 that Celestia starts to forgive him, and [[spoiler: it takes longer for Luna to do so]].

*** Over the millennia, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Tirek the Annihilator]] has accumulated power and knowledge to the point where what was once merely a [[SnakePeople Viprallan]] [[SuperSoldier War Lord]] has become a [[Transhuman semi-divine]] [[ImmortalityImmorality immortal]] monster who can [[ManaDrain consume magic]] and go toe-to-toe with the most powerful Immortal Avatars on the planet.
*** Kifuko, a [[spoiler: half-Zebra half-Changeling]], had such a lust to consume the essence of others that she [[DealWithTheDevil bargained with Nyarlathotep]] for the power to ''become'' [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Hunger]]. She first reveals herself to Equestria as Queen Chrysalis, and under the right circumstances is even stronger than Celestia.

*** Kifuko, a [[spoiler: half-Zebra half-Changeling]], had such a lust to consume the essence of others that she [[[DealWithTheDevil bargained with Nyarlathotep]] for the power to ''become'' [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Hunger]]. She first reveals herself to Equestria as Queen Chrysalis, and under the right circumstances is even stronger than Celestia.

** New Cosmic Concepts have arisen or are arising, fighting on

**

* BadassFamily: The Apples, even ''more'' so than in canon. They've been farmer-soldiers since the foundation of Equestria and have always been represented in the Royal Guard -- particularly the elements most likely to see combat -- in disproportionate numbers. Applejack is a natural fighter and [[MagicalGirl the Bearer of the Element of Honesty]], and her relatives include [[TheBigGuy her huge brother Big Mac]]; her tough old pioneer [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Smith]]; former [[TheMenInBlack Night Watch]] [[LethalChef explosives and poisons expert Apfel Strudel]]; [[CuteBruiser cute]], [[BewareTheNiceOnes friendly]], [[WarIsHell war veteran]] Apple Fritter, among many others.

** Nyarlathotep's [[AFormYouAreCofmortableWith avatar]] [[MeaningfulName Random Flag]] (an {{Expy}} of Creator/StephenKing's character Randall Flagg from Literature/TheStand) sows chaos and civil war amongst the Pony Kinds.