#mlp fim stygian

[mylittleponyauprompts]

An AU where the Pillars of old Equestria don’t plant the sapling, and don’t send Stygian possessed by the pony of shadows to Limbo. They end up killing Stygian in their attempt to exorcise the pony of shadows. It didn’t work, killing Stygian and letting the pony of shadows escape. They screwed up, and they needed a plan to fix it. In place of the canon timelines sapling, they turn themselves into crystal statues that will eventually use their harmony filled magic to become the tree of harmony (or something similar) and the elements of harmony. Stygian was buried in the cave they chose as their mutual resting place, the friend they ignored for so long and were unable to help in his time of need.

(AU of what if Starswirl was a little less of a jerk and actually tried to help Stygian. But of course there has to be drama)

Optional additions-

In this AU the Nightmare Moon event would be because of the Pony of Shadows.

The reason the pillars attempt to help Stygian didn’t work as planned could be for a multitude of reasons. They didn’t have powerful enough harmony magic yet and it needed to get stronger over time, which meant immortalizing themselves in crystal and becoming a power source for what they hoped would become a powerful force for harmony. They haven’t found out that friendship equals magic like the main six in the future did, so while Starswirl was definitely the caster of the group, he wasn’t the element of magic. Stygian was. As he was the one who brought everyone together in the first place. So even though they had no idea at the time, it was very crucial that they buried Stygian in the cave with them.

So what element would Starswirl be? I think he just adds a huge amount of needed powerful magic to fuel the process. Maybe he could be the element of Regret and Self Reflection. To look at one’s self, their actions and mistakes. Would he get a gem? I don’t know

[mylittleponyauprompts]

Part of a bigger AU as a prompt (ponyville confidential au)-

Instead of creating the tree of harmony and sending Stygian and themselves into Limbo, the Pillars of old Equestria have a different idea. Or in this case find a different idea. In this AU the equivalent to the tree of harmony always existed, and they found it just in time. For them to defeat the pony of shadows and rescue their friend from the depths of darkness they need to sacrifice themselves. The three of them fuse together into two alicorns to become stronger, and take the elements of harmony to face off with the pony of shadows. These two alicorns are later named Celestia and Luna by a free and grateful Stygian. He misses his friends and feels guilty, but he wants to be here for the two they were forced into becoming. Stygian is like a father figure to the sisters.

Celestia is- Starswirl, Rock Hoof, Flash Magnus

Luna is- Mist Mane, Mage Meadowbrook, Somnambula

(AU of Starswirl wouldn’t even think of the idea of damning his friend Stygian to limbo. AU of Starswirl isn’t a jack of ass)

[mylittleponyauprompts]

A universe where the pillars of equesteia never get trapped in limbo and instead they turn into alicorns and rule equestria to keep it safe for all of eternity

An AU where the Pillars of Equestria never got trapped in Limbo, instead turning into alicorns and ruling Equestria and keeping it safe.

Optional additions-

Does the pony of shadows and Stygian take Luna and Nightmare moons place/role?

Does Luna and Celestia still become Starswirls students? Do they become Alicorns eventually as well? What caught Starswirls eye for them to become his students? How is modern Equestria affected by these changes?

[mylittleponyauprompts]

An AU where the Elements of Harmony as physical objects never existed. It was just a title and gift/curse given by the Deity that is the tree of harmony. An Element bearer is one chosen by the Tree to be one of the many possible heroes of their time, and the possibility of becoming a demigod to keep the universe in balance is on the table.

Celestia and Luna were chosen to bear the burden of the day and night for the rest of time, Elements and Demigods of Day and Night.

Discord is the Tree of Harmony's opposite and equal. Although he is much more mobile than the Tree. He is the God of Chaos/Disharmony and the Tree God of Harmony/Order.

Starswirl was the Element of Wisdom. Fkash Magnus the Element of Courage. Mist Mane the Element of sacrifice. Somnambula the Element of Patience. Rockhoof the Element of Persistence. Mage Meadowbrook the Element of Healing. And Stygian the Element of Guidance. No one really remembers Stygian and how he guided the others together, to threats that needed stopped, or how he discovered and guided the others to the Tree of Harmony.

Both the tree of harmony and Discord can seem rather uncaring to mortals. They are gods and hold no allegiances to anyone but themselves and to keeping the universe intact. They may seem cold and heartless and are morally grey and a neutral party. But someone has to do the not so fun job of keeping the universe in balance, and the tree and Discord were literally born into that job. They know nothing else but their duties as gods of harmony and disharmony.

Optional addition- Discord has an equivalent to the Trees Element roles it gifts/curses. Although he's not so fancy with naming, in fact he just calls them the Discorded. Let them give themselves their own fancy titles and get dramatic with it, Discord loves dramatics! Sombra and Tirek would be possible examples of a Discorded.

[mylittleponyauprompts]

An AU where the Pillars of old Equestria and Stygian get sent far into the future instead of Limbo, the very sudden travel involved causing them to be reincarnated into new ponies due to time magics chaotic nature. These ponies getting memories of their past lives in the form of dreams often, all of them thinking it's just strange dreams. These ponies going through a very similar situation as their past lives, but also very different. The Pony of Shadows becoming separated from Stygians soul, now left wandering Equestria in search of a suitable replacement.

Optional addition:

Twilight Sparkle is Stygians reincarnation, Apple Jack is Rock Hoofs reincarnation, Rainbow Dash is Flash Magnus reincarnation, Fluttershy is Mage Meadowbrooks reincarnation, Rarity is Mist Manes reincarnation, Pinkie Pie is Somnambula's reincarnation, and Starlight Glimmer is Starswirl the beardeds reincarnation.

Due to being Stygians reincarnation she often has nightmares.

It doesn't take Starlight Glimmer long to realize what her dreams meant, this knowledge going to her head. And contempt for Twilight Sparkle growing daily. It was supposed to be her as the element of magic, she was Starswirl the beardeds reincarnation after all wasn't she! It was supposed to be her close to Celestia and friends with the other elements of harmony. It was supposed to be her to save the day and become a princess. Her hatred and jealousy for the purple unicorn getting to the point of Starlight doing questionable like spreading rumors about Twilight Sparkle, and gaining a following by taking advantage of her heritage of Starswirls soul and similar magical abilities like time magic and her ability to create new spellwork like her cutie mark removal spell.

The pony of shadows is getting tempted by some pony and it's not Stygians reincarnation like it expected it to be. How beautifully ironic that Starswirls reincarnation would become the thing he himself sought to destroy completely. Starswirl having very black and white thinking about the so called villain Stygian had become, and was completely prepared to get rid of the small unicorn completely. The pony of shadows laughs at this turn of fate, Stygians reincarnation has done far more than Starswirl ever had, and Starswirls reincarnation is on a path to be far worse than Stygians corruption ever was.

[mylittleponyauprompts]

Heavily alternate universe and basically a short story prompt:

An AU where the Pillars of old Equestria don’t plant a sapling that becomes the tree of harmony, they and Stygian become statues when attempting to use gemstones enchanted with harmony magic on the Pony of Shadows possessing Stygian. The pillars become vessels for the gemstones that become the elements of harmony, in a ironic twist since they tried to hurt Stygian alongside the Pony of Shadows instead of help him. The pillars of old Equestria having their souls absorbed into the newly forming elements of harmony, Stygian the one left alive and to marinate in the elements power for the next thousand plus years. Stygian and the elements of harmony end up bonding, him becoming just as essential a part of the elements as the pillars souls. The pillars souls gave the elements of harmony their power in their respective element, but since the their souls were used and broken down as a source of power the souls can be considered completely gone. Stygian was the new soul giving the elements of harmony thought, decision making, moral alignment, and opinions. Stygian is the elements of harmony’s keeper and voice on whether a being is worthy of using the element/s. Stygian doesn’t know what to think about being surrounded by what is essentially his old ex friends dead bodies, he doesn’t know what to think about being trapped in stone and the now immortal keeper of order/harmony. He does know that this being trapped in stone thing is going to be a pretty permanent feature unless someone finds a way to get him out.

What happened to the Pony of Shadows?: That is up to you, but I think being split up in multiple parts would be cool. Sombra and Nightmare Moon each getting a piece of the pony of shadows.