Fanfic / Aftermath of a Fallen Star

The one shot series sequel to The Assassination of Twilight Sparkle, that was inspired by the fanfic Ripples by Brony Writer. Written by Rated-R-PonyStar.

A single life can affect so many others in such positive ways, but when it dies all are left to feel the aftermath. With the death of Princess Twilight Sparkle, assassinated at the hooves of both guards and nobles, a nation struggles to recover as the effects of her death are felt throughout Equestria.

The many lives that she had touched will never be the same. Each is their own story of their struggles, their sorrows, and their attempts to move on in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Each chapter is about the other characters, outside of Celestia, who deal with the aftermath of Twilight's death in the first story.

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Aftermath of a Fallen Star contains examples of:

• 0% Approval Rating: After killing Twilight, Prince Blueblood has become the most hated pony in Equestria.
• Abusive Parents: Prince Blueblood's father Amadeus Blueblood. He never loved Prince Blueblood, he never even liked him. He saw him as nothing more than a means to an end.
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Part of Blueblood's plan involved seducing Marble Pie and getting her drunk enough to let the location of the Pie family's orichalcum mine slip, information which was crucial to killing Twilight.
• All Deaths Final: Word of God has proclaimed this the case for all characters who've died in-story.

• Antagonist in Mourning:

• Sunset Shimmer is devastated when she finds out that Twilight is dead, breaking down and crying for hours.
• Apple Bloom's chapter has Diamond Tiara clocking Silver Spoon in the face for saying that Twilight's death was deserved. Yes, really.

• Asshole Victim: The slavers who Spike accidentally kills while rescuing their victims. Their assholishness is a cold comfort for their killer.
• Batman Gambit: It's later revealed that Amadeus Blueblood orchestrated Twilight's death so Celestia would push for all of Twilight's reforms, although far more aggressively than before. This would force a civil war between the Progressives and the Traditionalists, leading them to eventually destroy each other so the Blueblood family would be free to take over.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Why did Blueblood start to have second thoughts? Because he knew it would hurt Celestia and Cadence, who were literally the only ponies who ever showed him any form of kindness. Indeed, in the Recursive Fanfiction Rise From Betrayal, where he falsely believes that his plot succeeded, he feels regret over his actions and even wonders if what he did was really worth it.
• Big Brother Instinct: Shining Armor is this, bordering on Knight Templar Big Brother. During the trial, he looks at the murderers and plotters like he wants to kill them. When two ponies crack a mean joke about Twilight in front of him, he beats them up. And last but not least, it's implied that the, as Flash Sentry put it, "well deserved justice" he and the guards gave to Blueblood was his idea. In his chapter Shining says that he enjoyed beating him to an inch of his life.
• Black Comedy: Stag indulges in this often, mentioning that in his line of work it's necessary in order to avoid insanity, alcoholism, or both.

• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Flim and Flam have started a legitimate company that's revolutionizing technology in Equestria, which is another thing upsetting a lot of traditionalists.

• Declaration of Protection: Flash Sentry promised this too. His failure to do so pushed him over the Despair Event Horizon, and drove him to suicide.
• Didn't Think This Through: Fastlane's father, a pegasus, was enraged by the work laws that would allow non-pegasi, including unicorns and griffons, to work at the Cloudsdale weather factory. He and some of the other pegasi went on strike, but the factory just hired replacement workers. He continued to hold out, to the point of refusing to get another job. His efforts ultimately amounted to nothing and his family became so poor that they couldn't afford his wife's medical expenses. Having pride doesn't put food on the table or pay the bills, and if you don't swallow it when you have to, you'll end up with nothing.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Twilight's new position apparently sparked a wave of backlash amongst the people with the more tolerant ones not as vocal. A little like how the fandom reacted to this event, eh? According to Word of God, this was intentional.
  • Sunset Shimmer being called "Sunset Satan" by her classmates after the Equestria Girls climax brings to mind the fandom's reaction to her demonic form.
• Driven to Suicide:

• Flash Sentry decides to do this in order to be with Twilight again.
• Sunset Shimmer, unable to deal with with feeling all the pain she'd caused due to being hit by the power of the Elements and the hatred of the entire school (which got so bad that she occasionally had to go to the nurse), tried to walk off a bridge, and was only stopped by Human!Twilight.
• This happened with Granny Pie, but the exact circumstances of this are still unclear. It's later revealed that Hearing Voices affects whichever Pie family member has Pinkie's abilities each generation, and many end up taking their own lives.

• Drowning My Sorrows: Rainbow has begun drinking in the wake of Twilight's death due to her Parting-Words Regret.
• Dude, Not Funny!: In-Universe, Stag mentions that in payment for identifying Twilight's killers, he'll be pardoned for all crimes he's committed in the past. He then mentions that he might use this to become a librarian, seeing as how Ponyville has an open spot. Thankfully, he's quick to apologize, saying how he has to make jokes like that in order to avoid insanity.
• Dying as Yourself: If Cadence is to be believed, Blueblood died not as the monster he became, but rather the good pony he used to be.
• Dying Dream: Rainbow's drinking eventually ends up giving her alcohol poisoning causing her to have one of these where she sees all of Ponyville mourning her death. This is enough to put an end to her alcoholism.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Evening Glory, the new captain, is horrified to learn of Gallant Heart's identity as a conspirator.
  "I can't believe it, Gallant Heart... the Gallant Heart. He’s always been loyal, his family has been in the royal guard since it was founded. Shining Armor picked him as one of his best stallions at his wedding! His brother is even in the academy! How could... this is...”
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Stag may be a torturer, but he does not like the idea of hurting an innocent child. This is because when Chrysalis was still alive she ordered the deaths of many changeling children in order to eliminate any threats, including one of Stag's relatives.
  • In Amadeus' chapter, it's revealed he and his true allies hold the traditionalists in scorn, seeing them as being threats to the strength of Equestria as a whole themselves. They're simply a convenient pawn for Amadeus and allies to eventually seize the throne for themselves, and he plans on destroying them all afterwards.
• Evil Former Friend: Blueblood and Cadence were friends before his fathers "lessons" turned him into the pony he is today.
• The Evil Prince: Between rallying Equestria to try and force Twilight to step down from royalty and masterminding her death, Blueblood's actions graduate him from Prince Charmless to this. He also got Marble pregnant after seducing her in order to find the location of the mine.
• Exact Words: Gallant Heart died believing he saved Celestia from an usurper. He never said that the usurper was Twilight.
• Expy: According to Word of God, Amadeus Blueblood is based on Tywin Lannister and Gendo Ikari, abusive fathers who manipulated their children to achieve their own ends.
• Fantastic Caste System: Equestria has one in all but name. A pony's cutie mark determines not only what their special talent is, but what job they'll do for the rest of their lives, whether they like the job or not. Performing a job that doesn't pertain to one's special talent will get them arrested like Diamond Tiara's nanny Strawberry Star.
• Fantastic Racism: It’s mentioned that Twilight’s planned reformations included more toleration of other races. The nobles didn't like that. They didn't even like Twilight adopting Spike.
• Fantastic Slur: Traditionalists have come up with words like "Moderates" or "Sparkheads" to demonize Twilight's supporters.
• Friend to All Children: Implied with Stag. His biggest Berserk Button that anyone can push is claiming that you have harmed children or had an intention of harming one. This is due to Queen Chrysalis killing Changeling children to protect herself from future threats, one of which was a member of Stag's family.
• Happily Failed Suicide: Sunset Shimmer tried to take her own life by walking off of a bridge, only to be saved by Human Twilight.

• Harmful to Minors: Pinkie was just a little filly when she witnessed the aftermath of her grandmother's suicide due to her mental condition.
• Hearing Voices: Pinkie. This is revealed to be a hereditary problem that accompanies Pinkie's abilities (which has been compared to schizophrenia, though Pinkie says that it feels different), though she's lucky enough to have a family that can afford to buy the medication she takes to help the problem through their contracts with minotaurs.
• He's Just Hiding: invoked This is Trixie's initial reaction when she first hears about the assassination. It's not until she sees Spike mourning Twilight at her funeral that she's forced to acknowledge the truth.
• Heel Realization: Except not really. Three years after Twilight's death and most ponies still refuse to accept her as a princess. They still insult her behind her back, make mean-spirited jokes about her relationship with Flash Sentry, and some even went to her funeral just to spread more venom and propaganda.
• Hidden Depths: Diamond Tiara hates her cutie mark and is jealous of the Crusaders. She even punches out Silver Spoon for badmouthing Twilight.
• Hypocrite:
  • The ponies who tried to disparage Twilight went into a state of mourning... and promptly went back to disparaging her.
  • During the trial, Celestia says that she loves each and every one of her subjects. This becomes a little hard to believe when it's revealed that she has torturers working for her.
  • Amadeus' chapter shows some stunning displays of hypocrisy as he contemplates his plans and convinces himself he's "just" a Well-Intentioned Extremist. He talks about how his family and his allies have forcibly prevented inter-tribal breeding among their ranks, to the extent of not only exiling unicorns who fell in love with pegasi/earth ponies but forcibly aborting mixed-tribe foals... and then insists that they don't hate pegasi or earth ponies, and that the latter species do have their roles in the empire, it's just that unicorn blood "needs" to be kept pure in order to preserve the strength of their magic to protect ponies against other races. He also talks about how Celestia's focus on Harmony makes their race weak, and how they should instead be focusing on Unity.
  • When the Pie family discovers that Marble became pregnant by Prince Blueblood, her father Igneous wants her to abort it because the consequences for their family would be devastating if it was discovered that she was carrying the foal of Twilight's killer. Her mother Cloudy calls him out for having always been staunchly pro-life until now, having given many bits to those organizations and made speeches about how babies are the most precious things there are, yet wanting to abort his grandfoal because the truth about its parentage would destroy his daughter's life should it ever come out.
• I Have No Son!: Gallant Heart’s parents disown him for his part in killing Twilight, burning all his pictures except one his brother manages to save.
• Ignored Epiphany: Twilight's death had little (if any) effect on the ponies who didn't like her. If anything, she's accumulated more hatred since her plans to modernize Equestria are happening no matter what.
• In the Blood: It turns out that Pinkie's abilities are hereditary, appearing once in every generation of her family. Unfortunately, Those with the power also start Hearing Voices.

• Informed Flaw: It's stated twice that Blueblood is a bigot, but we never see any proof. Granted, he's only had two appearances so far, but still.
• Jaw Drop: Everypony after Diamond Tiara punches Silver Spoon for badmouthing Twilight.

• Karma Houdini: Blueblood's father, Amadeus Blueblood. Yes, he does get his title, power, and money stripped... ...But he has a successful backup plan, go to the far off kingdom of Unicornia, where... Well, let's just say Fancy Pants thinks (without a trace of sarcasm or "he'll get what he deserves") he'll fit right in. At least Luna sics the Tantabus on his sorry hide just before he escapes Equestria.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Regal, a nephew of one of the conspirators who suffered endless bullying for his uncle's actions to the point of shooting himself in the head in front of his entire class.
  • Flash Sentry, who was in a relationship with Twilight and shortly after her assassination committed suicide to be with her.
  • Queen Chrysalis died a week after the invasion of Canterlot.
• Knight Templar: Equestrian's First believes itself to be restoring Equestria to it's "former glory". In reality however, they're just a bunch of firebrand zealots who destroy anything and everything they believe is Unequestrian.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Twilight's assassins and the nobles behind the plot suffer this by being burned at the stake. Boulder Brawler and Flare and their families after Regal's suicide in front of the entire class are driven out of Canterlot out of disgust and anger by everypony else. The school will also apparently suffer this, as Cheerilee sends a copy of her resignation letter to the Manehattan newspaper and expresses pleasure that Equestria's Education Council will most likely conduct an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the incident.
• Like a Daughter to Me:
  • It's eventually revealed that Celestia still loves Sunset as a daughter, in spite of everything.
  • Shining Armor after learning about Flash Sentry's relationship with Twilight and how he kept Twilight sane through her princesshood sees him as a brother-in-law.
• Living Lie Detector: Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense can be used to detect if somepony is lying. After finding out that Twilight was killed with weapons made of orichalcum that may have come from their farm, she uses it to interrogate her family and find out if they had anything to do with it.
• Long Game: The Bluebloods have spent the last several centuries plotting to take the throne of Equestria for themselves, with the recent birth of Amadeus' daughter Majesty being just what they need to finally bring their plans to fruition.
• Magitek: One of the new innovations is the development of devices that combine magic and technology.
• Manipulative Bastard:
  • Blueblood, who manages to seduce Marble Pie into giving her the orichalcum used to kill Twilight. Who knew Blueblood had that in him?
  • Compared to Amadeus Blueblood, Prince Blueblood is just a talented amateur. Amadeus was the real mastermind behind Twilight's death after all.
• Meaningful Name: Chapters 9 and 10 are focused on a changeling OC named Stag, as in a stag beetle.
• Medieval Stasis:
  • The reason for Equestria's is that there are a lot of traditionalists that insist that things should be done magically or by hoof, even though other nations are developing their technology to the point that Equestria is falling behind. These traditionalists are part of the reason Twilight met such opposition with her reforms, though things are changing in that regard now.
  • As Pinkie's chapter reveals, this also applies to medicine, with many ponies with mental problems simply declared lost causes because there's no magical cures for their conditions or arcane treatments in the works, with many simply locked up in sanitariums. Pinkie is lucky enough to have a family that can afford to import the medicine she takes, allowing her to be herself and use her talents while maintaining her sanity, but others aren't as lucky, which is part of the reason Pinkie supported Twilight's attempts to advance Equestria's medicinal knowledge.
• The Mole: Gallant Heart tried to infiltrate the conspiracy and save Twilight, but Amadeus Blueblood found him out and forced him to go through with it.
• My God, What Have I Done?: It's implied that Blueblood regretted his actions in the end. But by the time he did, it was too little, too late.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Flash Sentry was going to propose to Twilight before she died. This becomes the catalyst for his suicide.
• Never My Fault: Fastlane and his father blame Twilight for ruining their lives. In truth, his father refused to work with non-pegasi at the weather factory and went on strike, only for others to come in and do the work just as well if not better. He died poor and alone due to his racism, and Fastlane ends up the same way.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Blueblood gets one from the guards before he dies. It was so brutal that when Cadence sees him she actually feels pity him, saying that he "barely looked like a pony."
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Big Macintosh realizes something's wrong with Applejack when she stops wearing her hat.
  • Not only has Rarity stopped taking in orders from Canterlot, but when one of them threatens to ruin her business for not making a dress (not even a month after Twilight's death mind you), she tells them to kiss her plothole. (In those exact words!)
• Outlaw Town: The Erebus Islands, an anarchic land of outlaws and criminals that is ironically less racist than Equestria.
• Painting the Medium: Each one of the voices Pinkie hears is represented by a different color of text , including a happy one that speaks in pink text, a sad one that speaks in blue text, an angry one that speaks in red text, and Twilight's voice (which may or may not actually be her), speaking in purple text.
• Parting-Words Regret:
  • The day before Twilight's death, she and Rainbow Dash got into an argument over her recommending that Rainbow not be immediately put on the Wonderbolts due to her Hair-Trigger Temper. The last words the pegasus ever said to Twilight was that she hated her.
  • Blueblood's last words to Cadence is a sincere apology.
• Posthumous Character: Blueblood and Twilight. They appear only in flashbacks or ponies remembering them.
• Power at a Price: Pinkie's abilities are revealed to be In the Blood, and whichever Pie family member has them once a generation also starts Hearing Voices, with most either killing themselves or doing something that gets them killed. Pinkie's lucky enough to have parents with the connections and money to import medication that helps quiet Pinkie's voices.
• Produce Pelting: It's mentioned briefly that Twilight would often be victim to this by the population.
• Rainbow Speak: When Pinkie is hearing three voices arguing in her head, she has a cheerful one in pink text, an angry one in red text, a sad one in red text, and Twilight's voice in purple text.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Celestia gives one to Blueblood and his fellow conspirators.
  • Fancy Pants gives one to Lord Hex, a noble who refuses to accept the changes happening to Equestria.
    “Hex I know you never approved of Twilight’s reformations, even if you never went public about them. You still were part of the side that favored tradition and wanted nothing to change. And now you look around you and see change happening, regardless of what you and those brave enough to still hold on to their argument can see. You’re not just upset you’re losing money or that Equestria is moving on, you’re upset because your side lost when Twilight died. All of Equestria is looking to reform itself and you have no choice but to follow, kicking and screaming like a foal having a temper tantrum because he didn’t get his way.”
• Replacement Goldfish: Mystic Sparkle, to her older sister Twilight. It gets to the point where Mystic has enough of living in her shadow, abandons the name Sparkle, and runs away from home.
• Rescue Romance:
  • After Human!Twilight stops her attempt to walk off a bridge, she and Sunset became lovers.
  • Fancy Pants met Fleur half starved to death at his summer house. The fact that she was undisguised as her changeling self didn't matter to him.
• The Reveal:
  • Fancy Pants was very supportive of Twilight's plans, especially the one allowing interracial marriages. This is because Fleur-de-lis, his wife, is actually a changeling in disguise, meaning they won't have to hide their love anymore.
  • Shining Armor's chapter reveals that Prince Blueblood's father, Amadeus, was the true mastermind behind Twilight's assassination. Why? Because the Bluebloods have been secretly plotting to take over Equestria for centuries; Twilight's death, Celestia enforcing her reforms and the resulting civil war were all part of their plan.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Before Blueblood is executed, the Royal Guard (and the Prince of the Crystal Empire) engage in a little free-lance torture just to express their contempt for him.
• Secret Relationship: Twilight had one with Flash Sentry, although it's implied that Celestia knew about them.
• Secretly Wealthy: Due to their orichalcum mine, the Pies are very wealthy, though they don't live a rich lifestyle.
• Shout-Out: "You see... there is one thing you never want to be when you face me either in public or when I’m having you tied to a chair ready to put a cage of hungry rats over your head and release them if you don’t tell me what I want to hear."
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: This is the real reason that Amadeus and his allies have been conspiring against Celestia for centuries. They think she's too idealistic, and that an Equestria ruled under principles of harmony, tolerance and friendship is one doomed to fail. They see Celestia's efforts to make peace with other races, instead of leading the Equestrians to crush them and take dominance over the world, as causing Equestria to get steadily weaker.
• Sins of Our Fathers:
  • Gladius Stride, a Solar Guard, is continually harassed for being the brother of one of Twilight’s assassins. Even Celestia is guilty of hating him until the end, when she makes him her personal guard.
  • Regal, the nephew of one of the conspirators, is constantly harassed and bullied at his Manehattan high school for his connection to the assassination, despite the best efforts of Cheerilee, who transferred to the school to get away from the grief surrounding Ponyville following Twilight's death. What makes it worse is that the father of one of his two main tormentors actually encourages the bullying on the grounds that "the brat needs to learn his kind can't get away with murdering just because somepony doesn't like what they do." He eventually crosses the Despair Event Horizon after the bullying goes too far and shoots himself in the classroom right in front of his classmates and a horrified Cheerilee, who resigns from the school to return to Ponyville soon after.
  • This will likely happen to Shale, Marble and Blueblood's child, should the truth of his parentage come out. Luckily, Applejack's chapter implies that so far only the Pie's know who Shale's father is.
• Sophisticated as Hell: When Cheerliee writes her letter of resignation, she leaves the headmaster this gem:
  "Thank you for the experience, sir. May you rot in Tartarus. Signed, Cheerilee."
• Split-Personality Takeover: Pinkie says that the voices in her head feel like different souls waiting for their chance to do this to her, citing the "Party of One" incident at a time when it did happen.
• Tears of Remorse: Gallant Heart's stoic expression finally cracks when he confesses to Shining Armor that he tried to stop the assassination but was forced to or else Amadeus Blueblood would kill his brother Gladius Stride.

• Together in Death: Flash Sentry commits suicide for this trope.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • The two ponies who crack a sick joke about Twilight... Right in front of Shining Armor.
  • Fastlane gives the location of the anti-Twilight "Equestrians First" terrorist organization to a pony who helps him break out of prison. Said "prisoner" actually turns out to be Stag, who uses that information on Luna's orders to lead an attack on the organization's headquarters, killing their leader, and most of its members.
  • The princesses, for never once, in all the years they've been ruling Equestria, thinking to keep a close eye on something that can kill an alicorn.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Cadence remembers not the vicious, self-centered and arrogant monster Blueblood became but the friendly, happy, good-natured pony he was before his father 'fixed' him.
• Vagueness Is Coming: Peewee's chapter reveals that a "Black Star" has been spotted, and that the most evil entities have been born from said star. The only clue Peewee received was to "beware of the one whose name goes with royalty.” And that Spike and two others, Shale Pie and Mystic Sparkle, are the only ones that can stop it. Amadeus' chapter reveals that the "Black Star" may very well be his newborn daughter Majesty, an alicorn.
• Villain Teamup: Averted between Tirek and Discord. Unlike in canon Discord stays loyal to Equestria and helps a group of guards successfully capture Tirek while he is still weak. Played straight later when Tirek is saved by a group of Changelings under Queen Cicada, and a knight from Unicornia named Sir Morning Blade. Tirek agrees to join them in their coming war against Equestria under the condition they can study his magic absorbing powers, which he knows they cannot replicate, and in exchange they will help him conquer his homeland for him to rule.
• Villainous Legacy: Those involved in Twilight's assassination are dead and/or gone by the time the story takes place, but the lasting damage is still enough to drive the story forward.
• Violent Glaswegian: Marc, a dragon Snake Oil Salesman on Erebus is written with this accent.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • Some of the conspirators honestly believe they were saving Celestia from a potential usurper. The biggest example would be Gallant Heart.
  • Gallant Heart turns out to be a tragically horrifying subversion. He was trying to stop Twilight's murder, but Prince Blueblood's father found him out and threatened to kill his brother Gladius Stride if he didn't go through with it.
• Wham Episode:
  • Maud Pie's chapter reveals that the weapons used to kill Twilight were made out of orichalcum, the only metal that can kill an Alicorn. There are only two places to get orichalcum: the Minotaur islands or the Pie Family rock farm.
  • The first part of Pinkie's chapter reveals that Pinkie's sister Marble was the one who sold the metal that became the blades that slew Twilight to Twilight's killers.
  • The second part of Pinkie's chapter reveals that Marble is pregnant with Blueblood's child, after he seduced her in order to find the location of the mine. (According to Word Of God, it was not rape.)
  • Shining Armor's chapter. He finds out Gallant Heart was trying to stop the assassination, only to be forced to chose between his little brother or Twilight when Amadeus found out he was a mole.

• Would Hurt a Child:
  • One of the conspirators mentions that if Spike was with Twilight when she died, they would have killed him first and made Twilight watch. Since Stag is the one who this is told to, it...doesn't go well for the other conspirators.
  • Fastlane mentions that Equestrians First successfully bombed Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It's not until Gladius Stride's chapter that it's revealed that some of the victims were as young as seven to eight years old.
• Would Not Hurt A Child: In Luna's chapter, Luna has a golden opportunity to assassinate Majesty Blueblood in her dreams and completely wreck Amadeus's plans, but she cannot bring herself to murder an innocent child. Apparently, years later, she would regret that decision.

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