But in the nightmare hope still shone. Three ponies, bound by eternal friendship, stood against the evil that beset them from all sides.
Cutie Mark Crusaders 10k (abbreviated to CMC 10K) is a Fan Webcomic of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic that applies the trappings of Warhammer 40,000 to the setting.
Equestria as it was once known has fallen. The Elements of Harmony have been swept up by Chaos and now work alongside Discord. Princess Celestia and the Crystal Empire have been consumed by the influence of Sombra. Nightmare Moon has returned, plunging much of the land into perpetual night.
Yet not all hope is lost. The Cutie Mark Crusaders serve as a rallying force for the ponies that still have their bodies and minds intact. Queen Chrysalis' hive has allied itself with the nascent Equestrian Empire. And Nightmare Moon may be the closest thing there is to a neutral party in this mess.
It can be read here
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CMC 10K contains examples of:
- Distant Reaction Shot: After Twilight finds out Pinkie Pie allowed someone to steal the books from her library during the invasion of Ponyville, she extends her arm all the way to the town just to drag Pie back to the territory of Chaos to yell at her. The comic then cuts away to show Scootaloo watching this happen at a distance such that all she can see is Twilight's arm stretching from behind a mountain.Scootaloo: Whoa.
- Eyes Are Mental: No matter what form Applejack assumes, her eyes always remain their usual bright green.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Discord bursts out of the Chaos pit in The Lost loudly declaring that he's finally won against It/They and rattles off several impressive-sounding titles for himself. His boasting peters out as he notices the Mane Six aren't cheering him on because he looks exactly the same as he did before jumping into the Chaos pit.
- Fastball Special: In Lulamoon, Sweetie Belle uses telekinesis to launch Scootaloo close enough to Applejack to kick her in the face.
- Food as Bribe: Rarity needs Rainbow Dash to move some floating islands around so they can grow crops on them, but Dash refuses to do anything about it in a time-efficient manner. Rarity blackmails her into getting to work by threatening to eat the entire known supply of Thunder Puffs if she doesn't get the islands moving.
- Godzilla Threshold: At the beginning of The Shadow of Grief, Luna being on the verge of getting crystallized and taken over by Sombra pushes her to willingly unleash Nightmare Moon to save herself. Even then, she still tries to get her darker half to promise not to hurt anyone first.
- Hand Puppet Mockery: Twilight wonders why Discord is concerned about Nightmare Moon shrouding Equestria in eternal night, considering she defeated Nightmare Moon with relative ease and Discord is much more powerful than she is. Discord responds by conjuring up sock puppets of himself, Twilight, and the alicorn royal family to poke fun at how much Twilight doesn't know.
- Heel–Race Turn: Queen Chrysalis' hive of Changelings joined forces with the Equestrian Empire after they were offered an alliance following a defeat in battle. Several years later, the Changelings have taken to pony culture so wonderfully, Chrysalis is worried they'll lose what made them changelings in the first place.
- Home-Run Hitter: The end of Twilight's fight against Crystalestia has her use a long stick to send the alicorn flying all the way back to Canterlot, producing a twinkle of light as she does so.
- Lazy Bum: As a side effect of taking a dip in the Chaos pit, Rainbow Dash can't be bothered to do so much as lift a finger to help anyone unless they offer something of interest to her. She's content to just lie around, take naps, and eat snacks, though she's still capable of using Super-Speed to avoid people.
- The Night That Never Ends: Nightmare Moon envelops Equestria in perpetual night to prevent the Crystal Kingdom from invading the land in full force.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Trixie uses magic to lock the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her wagon to keep them safe during her mission in Ponyville, only for the trio to have already escaped by the time she turns around again. The only explanation they provide for how they did it is "Cutie Mark Crusaders escape artists", but shortly afterwards the trio reveals they know how to use lockpicks.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Trixie panics when she discovers that Twilight hung onto the Alicorn Amulet and it's still trying to influence her actions.
- When Applejack tells Twilight that the books from her library were removed under Pinkie Pie's watch, Discord utters "oh boy" and ducks for cover behind a diorama of Equestria.
- Once More, with Clarity: Twilight grabbing Pinkie Pie with a greatly-extended arm after letting her library get broken into initially shows up in Lulamoon. The Lost revisits the scene after elaborating on Twilight's order to leave her stuff alone and what she was doing when she found out her books were taken, down to showing Scootaloo watching the grab happen in the distance again.
- Squee: Discord's eyes glisten and he actually goes "Squee!" in delight upon hearing Twilight Sparkle is finally out of the Chaos pit.
- The Starscream: Pinkie Pie has a strong desire to lead the forces of Chaos, and is furious that her promise of power was waysided by Discord taking on Twilight as his second-in-command. The few times she attempts to challenge them directly, though, it's apparent that the two draconequuses vastly outclass Pie in terms of power and they're quick to put her back in her place.
- A Twinkle in the Sky: When Twilight uses a stick to launch Crystalestia out of her turf, the alicorn leaves a trail of light and a twinkle in her wake.
- Visual Pun: When Discord is explaining the rules of his game, he says that whispering sweet nothings to the pieces that represent who the player wants to influence works well. He is then shown literally whispering the phrase "sweet nothings" to his piece.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: Discord points out that Twilight's initial attempt to defeat Crystalestia failed because she got too emotionally invested in trying to win. Once she loosens up and treats the fight as a game she's already won, she fares much better.
