Fanfic / Lost Reflections

Lost Reflections is a story in The Rejuvenationverse by Purple Patch.

Following the events of the previous stories, Countess Glass has been forced to leave Derpy alone, at least for a while. This respite has been used by both sides to prepare for the inevitable conflict that will come. The mercenaries begin with an atrocity in Boulette, turning the already isolationist city against the rest of Equestria. As the Bearers are summoned to try and limit the damage, the Doctor and his allies engage the mercenary army on several fronts, all across Equestria

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This story contains examples of:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Miura's sword. Cuts through locks and necks with equal ease.
• Air-Vent Passageway: Used by Lambasar when invading Royal Flush's compound.
• The Ageless: All of the Eternal Knights have become this somehow, whether by "natural means"^note Midnight Blade, a ritual to gain a deer's lifespan^note White Wolf, or Nano Mites^note Fletcher Fray.
• The Alcoholic: Countess Glass seems to have degenerated into this. Berry Punch used to be one, but after encouragement from sister and marefriend and influence from her daughter, she's much better than she used to be.
• An Arm and a Leg: How Cascadius is defeated in the Laurelore Flashback, with the Doctor cutting off his own leg to drop him down a crevice leading to Tartarus. Later on, Alma Rose loses a leg in the fighting at the Crystal Empire.
• And I Must Scream: During her imprisonment on the Moon, Luna was apparently conscious and aware of everything going on in Equestria while it tore itself apart because of her fight with Celestia.
• Anticlimax Boss:invoked Marephistallion's returned form during the Interlude is viewed as this In-Universe, due to being brought low by an asthma attack before really doing anything.
• Anti-Magic: Cascadius makes use of a powder that has this effect on ponies, with a side of Mind Rape.
• Anger Born of Worry: After Dinky defies the Doctor and becomes involved in the fighting during the Interlude, we see one of the very few times he's angry with her.
• Apologetic Attacker: The mysterious pony in Dinky's room at the end of Chapter 13 offers apparently sincere apologies to the sleeping pony they're about to harm.
• Assimilation Backfire: During the Interlude, Marephistallion possesses Pipsqueak, and his demonically-supercharged form proves quite a problem for the heroes. Until the asthma attack disables him.
• Badass Adorable: Angel Bunny goes toe-to-toe with the self-styled King of Nightmares. And wins.
• Badass Boast: Aunt Bustle Bloomers gives one to Countess Glass, making quite clear that she hasn't fallen for any of her false contrition.
• Bad Guy Bar: Downplayed, Moon Tea's bar is rarely visited by ponies from nearby Ponyville, and is far enough out that it's a decent place to hide out from the law, but it's not a full Bad Guy Bar, and some (such as Balisong) aren't welcome there (not that it stops her).
• Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: During the Doctor's nightmare Russian Roulette, Derpy shrieks (blocking potential gunshot noise) and goes limp during her turn. It quickly turns out to have been a panic response, rather than a lethal gunshot.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Celestia, upon being informed of the number of casualties from the mercenaries' attack on Boulette, cracks the ground with an angry stomp, and demands the identities of those responsible. Later Played for Laughs as the Doctor exploits this trope by threatening to set Dinky on his guests if the rules are not obeyed. Back to seriousness, Fluttershy crushes a bolt pistol with her bare hooves when pushed.
• Big Bad: Cascadius, having usurped Countess Glass at the end of Intriguing.
• The Big Bad Wolf: Gevaudan.
• The Big Board: Cascadius has constructed one to assist his planning.
• Big Damn Heroes: The Eternal Knights arrive at just the right moment to keep Braeburn from getting gutted by the Cult of Piggsicorn when he stumbles on their shrine underneath Appleoosa. Later on, Flash Sentry is kept from being used to jam up the geomantic workings of the Portal Network by the timely arrival of Sunset Shimmer and the Dazzlings.
• Big Sister Instinct: When Pipsqueak's alcoholic father tries attacking Tootsie, Sparkler takes a deep breath. Cut to the unpleasant stallion leaving the hospital with magic-assisted speed.
• Blood from the Mouth: Whatever was injected into Dinky Doo at the end of Chapter 13 produces bloody vomit come morning.
• Body Horror: The bearers of the palanquin in the Interlude. Chaos in general does a good line in this.
• Booby Trap: The Bearers try and rescue the Doctor from Cascadius during the flashback to Laurelore's reign, and fall prey to several of these:
  • Cornflower is Impaled with Extreme Prejudice and Buried Alive.
  • Iris and Nuzzle are stuck in a dead end that is set ablaze.
  • Zipadee and Adamanta have a cave's worth of stalactites dropped on them.
• Bond One-Liner: Gringore kills Banana Republic for the sole purpose of doing this.
• Brother–Sister Incest: The founders of Boulette.
• Call-Back: Several:
  • The rejuvenation play described has several to The Rejuvenation Play.
    • Dinky plays the same role as her mother.
    • A principal actor suffers from Performance Anxiety.
    • The demons (in this case played by Diamond Tiara) being subject to a Produce Pelting.
    • Dinky and Twist watched the film of the earlier play to get the birth scene right.
  • Najiva mentions the Echo Squad Copycat Killer who appeared in Old Fences, and the dishonour of his failure is why the real Echo Squad are involved now. He's also mentioned by the Doctor when he's trying to explain Cascadius to the Mane 6.
  • Celestia mentions the Mexican Standoff she's engaged in with Countess Glass.
  • The sword Celestia uses during the Civil War was forged from part of Laurelore's sword from her fight against Marephistallion in Old Fences.
  • Warlord Schnortel was given one mention in Intriguing. Apparently he's a proboscid tyrant making war with the Zebricans who lost in a war where the local king of West Zebrica, Kintampo, was aided by Fancy Pants and Zecora. Cascadius also runs a few jobs for him including retrieving a runaway slave.
  • Blueblood recognises Alma Rose, given they met in Final Curtain, and that recognition spurs him to overcome his cowardice long enough to save her.
• Carry a Big Stick: Sunset Shimmer's weapon of choice. It's on fire.
• Chainsaw Good: Favoured by Gringore.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason Royal Flush is still alive.
• Catapult Nightmare: These apparently afflict Fancy Pants with sufficient regularity that the staff are well used to helping him deal with them.
• The Cavalry: Adagio's arrival is the only reason Blueblood's sudden surge of courage doesn't kill him.
• Clingy Costume: Doctor Poddle's armour is designed to never come off. The addition of chaotic magic just made it worse.
• Clip Its Wings: Part of the plan for dealing with Fluttershy involves putting a bullet through one of her wings.
• Closet Geek: Diamond Tiara, to her mortification when the CMC find out.
• Cloth Fu: Lambasar uses this as his weapon of choice.
• Combat by Champion: The three Eternal Knights duel Celestia to resolve the Siege of Olwen during the Civil War. It turns out a draw.
• Corrupt Politician: Royal Flush got the position of Senator with the help of Cascadius' mercs.
• Creepy Crows: Corax makes use of the motif.
• Cult: The Cult of Piggsicorn are now working for Cascadius.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Three of Cascadius' mercenaries vs. Royal Flush's security staff. Result: 3472 Boulette casualties. No mercenary casualties.
• Cyanide Pill: The Cult of Piggsicorn uses various poisons in their rites that are easily (if messily) converted into this.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Luna and the Eternal Knights.
• Demonization: Someone (probably Cascadius or Glanders Gate) is sending defamatory letters about Derpy and the Doctor to the residents of Ponyville, in an attempt to Invoke Hero with Bad Publicity.
• Dirty Business: The Lunar Republic leadership considers dealing with Downriver this until he crosses a line, at which point they (unsuccessfully) sentence him to death.
• Dirty Coward: Blueblood spends a significant amount of time cowering in Shining's study. He does step out to help Alma Rose when she is injured, but proceeds to flee once an enemy appears. Ultimately Subverted, with him overcoming his fear to save her from an attacker, and remaining when the other moose arrive, even though it likely means his death.
• Dissonant Laughter: Cascadius, upon learning that the Eternal Knights are still alive, much to the concern of the Cult of Piggsicorn.
• Disproportionate Retribution: A 13 year old colt bullied Tungsten and broke his O&O set, Blue Murder tortured him to death.
• Domestic Abuse: Pipsqueak's father wasn't just absent, or a cheater, but actually abusive to Nancy.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: After Corax gets rather poetic with Rarity while she's his prisoner, she's left with the impression he's going to rape her. He was, actually, being literal with the food metaphors.
• The Dreaded: Several characters, including the Doctor and Cascadius most widely, but several other characters on both sides are feared.
• Dream Walker: A Magic Mirror provided by Cascadius is used by Countess Glass to torment Derpy and play on her guilt over Dinky's illness.
• The Engineer: Bovril, for the mercenaries.
• Escaped from Hell: Cascadius' first meeting with the Doctor ends with him being dropped into Tartarus. It wasn't his last meeting.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Blue Murder and Royal Flush both have foals they care about. Unfortunately, Royal Flush betrays the mercenaries, and his daughter is attacked.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Diamond Tiara may have been a bully, but she would never hurt Derpy, because of past favours. In addition, the entire Rich family cut ties with Countess Glass after You Shall Go To The Gala, including Spoiled Rich. In a much darker turn, Balisong considers herself above Corax because she doesn't kill her prisoners. Cascadius points out that they wish she would.
• Evil Versus Evil: During the Interlude, the demonic hordes attack Trottingham, where Tungsten is sheltering. The mercenaries are waiting.
• Evil Versus Oblivion: Why Discord originally betrayed Marephistallion. He didn't want the world destroyed, that's no fun.
• False Reassurance: Morlock said he'd let them go. He didn't say he'd spare their lives, and sets hellhounds on them as soon as he's given them a suitable head start.
• Fantastic Racism: Ancient Griffonia apparently suffered from this. Boulette also suffers from this, with foreigners being arrested on sight and confined to a ghetto, and outsiders, even heroes explicitly there to help, being verbally and physically attacked.
• Fate Worse than Death: Poor Trilby, she clearly believes this about what the Cult Of Piggsicorn is doing to her as retribution for her father's rebellion, as by Chapter 9 she's wishing for a Mercy Kill. What little we see of it suggests she's not wrong.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Being a minotaur makes Iron Will rather good at this.
• Forced to Watch: Cascadius can't do anything about what the Cult of Piggsicorn does to Royal Flush's daughter, only whether he gets to watch. Later on, a feature of Fancy Pants' nightmares.
• Forensic Accounting: Pinkie Pie, with the help of evidence gathered by Loli Beats and Blizzard Wind, links Countess Glass to Royal Flush via illegal campaign donations.
• Godzilla Threshold: Celestia considers the deployment of armed enforcement to be this, but given the chaos left in Boulette, does so.
• Good Parents: What Derpy is aspiring to be, like her actual parents were to her, and she's succeeding.
• Go Through Me: Berry Punch tries this when she and her friends get attacked by the mercenaries. It doesn't go well.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Pinkie Pie seems unable to get the idea of a hate group, as groups are meant to get rid of hate.
• Good Is Not Dumb: Invoked by Princess Luna, who is expecting Cascadius to invoke its opposite.
• Good Is Not Soft: The Eternal Knights have become this in the modern day, ruthlessly eliminating threats like the Cult of Piggsicorn, in contrast to their earlier appearances. The town of Ponyville later comes at this the other way, rallying against the mercenaries.
• Grim Up North: The Jotnar Warhost originates in the Frozen North.
• Hanging Judge: Grand Justice Nocifer was a horrifically corrupt one in Mareseille's past. Everyone tried in his courts had to give up one foal or face the gallows. He was later torn apart by the ponies of the city.
• Harmful to Minors: Ruby Pinch is delivered a video of her mother being subjected to Cold-Blooded Torture by Balisong. Also a feature of the Doctor's nightmare, where Dinky is forced to play Russian Roulette, and see someone lose.
• Heroic Second Wind: Rarity breaks out of a binding on her magic by using the pain and fear she's experiencing to kick the nerves back into action.
• Hero Killer: The Bearers of Laurelore's age were killed by Cascadius while they tried to rescue the Doctor.
• Honour Before Reason: Downriver accuses the Eternal Knights of this when they disapprove of him using an arrow barrage against civilians to try and break a siege. They also all gain immortality in order to keep their oath to put Luna alone on the throne of Equestria. Now that Luna has returned and is ruling alongside her sister, they can't fulfil it. They aren't too bothered, and intend to continue serving her as long as she needs them.
• I Am Spartacus: When Morlock comes to Ponyville in search of the Doctor's progeny, Pipsqueak claims that it's him to save Dinky and Tootsie.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Countess Glass claims a Freudian Excuse that is this, making politically and economically savvy, but very, very ruthless, moves to, in her eyes, save the family fortune after a crisis. She's probably wrong about the necessity^note All the people her family helped returned the favour, bailing them out later., and the nature of it suggests she was already somewhat twisted.
• I Have Your Wife: Tyria is being controlled by Glanders Gate because they are threatening her sister. Balisong also uses kidnapped ponies to force Trixie to acquire the Alicorn Amulet. Later on, the mercenaries kidnap several ponies from Ponyville, intending to keep the town scared and unable to resist.
• Innocent Innuendo: Derpy makes one upon the Doctor's return from the Raptor War.
• It's All My Fault: Derpy blames herself for Dinky's acute Dryditch Fever, believing she missed the early warning signs. She didn't, there weren't any early warning signs due to the infection being artificially induced.
• I Want Them Alive!: The Cult of Piggsicorn has plans for Royal Flush's fate. Because Cascadius still needs him, they settle for his wife and daughter.
• Kid Detective: The Cutie Mark Crusaders have a go at this, trying to link the smear campaign, Pipsqueaks' Puppy Love, his mother's disapproval and Dinky's sudden illness. Unfortunately, this makes them a target.

• Magic Antidote: Averted, the treatment for acute Dryditch Fever is long and involved, and they expect it to be a week before any improvement is shown.
• Magic Mirror: Dinky's birthday present from the Doctor. She can use it to scry on anyone who's passed their hooves across the mirror's gems. It apparently even works across Time Travel.
• Magic Music: Pinkie Pie and Lolli Beats sing and dance the Caramelldansen to invoke this, blocking bullets and blasting away enemies.
• Mama Bear: Blue Murder tortured a school bully to death when he attacked Tungsten.
• Master of Disguise: The Doctor describes Cascadius as this. It's shown when Cascadius rapidly switches disguises during his attack on Laurelore, well enough to fool a crack squad with a Wounded Gazelle Gambit.
• Meaningful Background Event: While planning during the flashback in Interlude Part 1, Luna is seen talking to a "dark grey batpony with colourless eyes", the exact same description used earlier for Midnight Blade, foreshadowing his part in the later battle, and the survival of the other Eternal Knights.
• Mecha-Mooks: The "Eagletrons" used by Colonel Lammergeyer.
• The Medic: Sweetie Belle has an apparently surprising knowledge of first aid.
• Mistaken Identity: Cloud Kicker is kidnapped and taken to Glander's Gate under the misapprehension that she's Derpy. Cascadius is not amused, and makes sure that the next pony sent knows exactly what to look for.
• Mook Horror Show: What happens to the Cult Of Piggsicorn underneath Appleoosa, courtesy of the Eternal Knights.
• Moral Event Horizon: invoked Cascadius' attempt to murder Princess Laurelore is viewed as this by the heroes.

• My Beloved Smother: Pip's mother shows signs of this in her (so far limited) time onscreen, in particular disapproving of his Puppy Love with Dinky. She does have reasonable reason for disliking the Hooves household though, as from the outside they can appear recklessly irresponsible, and she's worried about Dinky taking after his father.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Half of Equestria's failure to deal with their guilt over Luna's isolation and its consequences leads to them using Celestia as a Scapegoat and starting a Civil War.
• My Greatest Failure: The Doctor views his failure to prevent the attack on Laurelore claiming so many lives as this.
• Nanomachines: The Nano Mites are Magitek that can be used to keep someone alive long past their normal lifespan.
• Nerdy Inhaler: Pipsqueak uses an inhaler in the flashback scene to his first meeting with Dinky.
• Nightmare Sequence: Fancy Pants is reintroduced having a truly disturbing one.
• Noodle Implements: The delivery of supplies for Pinkie's Birthday Super-Suprise-Stunt consists of a mini-trampoline, a roll of lights, three wheels of cheese and a clockwork monkey. We never find out why.
• "Not So Different" Remark: When forgiving Angel, Spike reminds himself that he gave Colgate quite a hassle the first time he was pet-sat.
• Odd Friendship: Raven and Bustle Bloomers, working together on Countess Glass.

• Oh, Crap!: Senator Royal Flush once he realises the mercenaries have come for him. Most of his staff once they encounter one of the mercenaries. The villains get a turn when The Eternal Knights invade the Cult sanctuary underneath Appleoosa.
• One Hit Poly Kill: A single one of Fletcher's arrows can go through several ponies.
• Our Elves Are Different: As in the canon comics, deer draw a lot from the Wood Elf variant, being long-lived and inhabiting hidden woodland kingdoms.
• Our Orcs Are Different: The demonic Ungul, twisted mockeries of equines.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Batponies are bloodsucking and immortal, and distinct from Thestrals, which causes some problems for the latter when prejudices about the former are transferred.
• Papa Wolf: Somewhat obviously, the Doctor for Dinky.
• Paranoia Fuel:invoked Rarity is annoyed at the Doctor for giving them a dose of this while describing Cascadius. The Doctor points out that it's more than justified and he's just trying to keep them alive.
• Parental Abuse: Part of the campaign against Derpy's reputation is doctoring images of Dinky so that she looks injured, with this implication.
• Please Wake Up: Laurelore's steward, Knickerbocker, is seen with his wife after Cascadius' attack.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: The Eagletrons are powered by griffin eggs, stolen from their nests. No wonder the Doctor is fighting their creator.
• Proud Warrior Race: Boulette used to be this, and they've never forgiven Equestria for giving them help when they needed it, and the attitude is still held by significant portions of its population, causing problems when the Bearers are sent to help after the mercenary attack.
• Puppy Love: Pipsqueak's fallen hard for Dinky. It appears to be reciprocated, although she's better at keeping it together in face of her crush. Silver Spoon is also going on long walks with Featherweight, to Diamond Tiara's annoyance.
• Rage Breaking Point: Celestia descends into a furious rant upon hearing the number of casualties in Boulette
• Really Gets Around: Captain Jack is introduced hitting on Miss Harshwhinny (and getting hit), and has apparently been in a threesome with Lyra and Bon-Bon, as well as feeling up the Doctor and flirting with Sparkler.
• Redshirt Army: The Guard sent to Boulette become this, being armed with staves and shields and expecting to deal with individual criminals, not a full-scale mercenary attack.
• Rescued from the Underworld: How Cascadius escaped Tartarus. Marephistallion the Deceiver attempted to build an army by recruiting the prisoners there, and Cascadius was amongst them.
• Revenge by Proxy: Royal Flush is still too useful to Cascadius for him to kill, so he hands over his daughter instead.
• Russian Roulette: The Doctor has a nightmare where Cascadius enforces a game between himself, the Doctor, Derpy and Dinky. Cascadius loses, although this doesn't kill him thanks to nightmare logic.
• Sanity Slippage: The years of house arrest have not been kind to Countess Glass.
• Sensory Overload: Lolli Beats uses her echolocation scream to disable a group of mercenaries.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Filthy Rich abandoned all business dealings with Countess Glass after her mistreatment of Derpy, and refused all attempts to bribe him into resuming them.
• Sex Slave: Warlord Schnortel maintains a harem of them, and part of his price for joining Cascadius is the opportunity to add Fleur to it.
• Shoot the Messenger: Morlock does this in a Shout-Out to Dawn of War.
• Sinister Surveillance: The mercenaries have done their research on everyone they think connected to Ponyville and maintain a close watch, at least if Balisong's use of it to intimidate Trixie can be trusted.
• Sleep Cute: During the Lord of the Horseshoe film viewing, both Pipsqueak and Dinky get scared by Lurhk the Spider Queen, and Dinky falls asleep before the end of the film, much to Pipsqueak's embarrassment when the end of the film rolls around and Dinky's dozing against his shoulder. Given what her mother's doing at the time, it apparently runs in the family.
• Stern Teacher: While standing in for Cheerilee, Big Mac projects this persona. Still, Applebloom knows he won't actually paddle any of the foals.

• The Slow Path: How Cascadius has managed to fight the Doctor through history. Or at least, the Doctor is pretty certain that it's this, and seriously hopes that Cascadius doesn't have access to Time Travel.
• Surprise Party: Dinky's Birthday party.
• Take Me Instead: During the flashback to their first meeting, Pipsqueak gives himself up to Morlock, son of Marephistallion to save Dinky and Tootsie.
• Take Our Word for It: The Birthday Super-Suprise-Stunt that Pinkie Pie performs is really cool, even if it does go somewhat awry.
• Teleport Spam: Midnight Blade occasionally uses it.
• Televisually Transmitted Disease: When Dinky becomes ill with a potentially lethal disease, it's a rare one. Justified, as it was artificially induced, rather than naturally occurring.
• Tested On Ponies: Bovril's designs most certainly are.
• Training the Peaceful Villagers: When the mercenaries attack Ponyville and kidnap several ponies, they were probably trying to intimidate them. Unfortunately, Mayor Mare is a capable public speaker, and rallies the townsfolk against them.
• Tranquil Fury: Blue Murder during the Interlude, when a demon makes the mistake of trying a Breaking Speech devoted to his history of slaughtering foals.
• True Companions: The Eternal Knights.
• Token Evil Teammate: Downriver is this to the Lunar Republic, although after his war crime he is sentenced to death by the leader of the Republic. He vanishes from history, along with any sent after him.
• Underestimating Badassery: Defied by Cascadius, he's very careful to research the Elements' capabilities properly. To his frustration, there's still a lot he can't predict.
• Un-person: Celestia attempted this with Cascadius for his crimes the last time he showed up, and not just with mundane means, she used a very powerful spell to erase every record in the known world. The Doctor later believes it to have been a mistake, allowing him to hide much more effectively.
• Verbal Backspace: After asking why someone would want to kill Royal Flush and getting a flat stare back, Celestia amends her question to why someone would want to kill him who hadn't met him.
• The Villain Knows Where You Live: Cascadius isn't shy of making the heroes very paranoid about potential attacks on their families and friends.
• Villainous Rescue: Threadbare, one of the mercenaries, rescues Rarity from two Boulette thugs because the plan at that point calls for the Bearers to be intimidated, not dead.
• Voice for the Voiceless: Najiva uses an undead cobra as a mouthpiece.
• Vomiting Cop: Twilight's encounter with the lift that Gringore dealt with the SWAT team in has entirely reasonable results.
• We Need a Distraction: As always, Cascadius and his mercenaries like this, a particularly dramatic version being the destruction of Arch of Unity during his attack on Princess Laurelore.
• We Have Reserves: The demons favour this tactic, as shown in the Interlude.
• We Would Have Told You, But...: During the Interlude, Midnight Blade doesn't reveal that the other Eternal Knights are alive and on their way, as the defenders needed to give their all, and they might not have done had they known The Cavalry were coming.
• Wreathed in Flames: Blizzard Wind somehow sets his mane on fire without it hurting him or the mane, but still injuring the mercenary he's fighting.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A trick used several times by Cascadius and his mercenaries.
• You Have Failed Me: After Morlock brings his father the wrong foal to possess, Marephistallion devours his essence, which also works for reactivating his lost powers.
• You're Insane!: Twilight's response to Colonel Quimper suggesting they invade the cities that the mercenaries originated from, despite the fact the mercenaries have little to no remaining connection to their birthplaces.

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