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.
// This is a dream I had last night. I don't know why I had it. (go to keep reading to read it)
So in it, the villains were attacking Equestria because they were in search of the Young and Mane 12.
It was because they heard an unknown prophecy that involved the elements (My dream never told it but there was a prophecy).
The pillars managed to drive out the villains, but the land took a beating.
After the scum were chased out, the leaders of their respective kingdoms were debating what to do with the future elements of harmony (They were babies in my dream).
They knew as long as the villains knew where future bearers were, they wouldn't stop until they captured the harmony.
Stygian came up with the idea that the bearers be taken to another land with a member of the pillar moving with them.
The dream ended with the children being taken to the new lands with a pillar going with them:
Twilight and Gallus are sent to Abyssina with Starswirl.
Rainbow Dash and Smolder are sent to Griffonstone with Flash Magnus.
Rarity and Ocellus are sent to the Dragon lands with Mistmane.
Applejack and Yona are sent to Mount Aris with Rockhoof.
Fluttershy and Sandbar are sent to Farasi with Mage Meadowbrook.
Pinkie Pie and Silverstream are sent to Yakyakistan with Somnamblua.
Starlight and a Kirin are sent to the Changeling kingdom with Sytgian.
Derpy and a bird are sent to the Thicket.
Sunset Shimmer and an Abyssinan are sent to Peril Peaks.
Trixie and a Diamond Dog are sent to Ornithia.
An Earth Pony and a Deer are sent to where the minotaurs live.
Sunburst and a Minotaur were sent to the crystal empire.
(Derpy, Shimmer, Trixie, The Earth Pony, and Sunburst are accompanied by unknown pillar members.)
Meadowbrook is a bat-pony from the bayou. History remembers her as an a legendary healer. Multiple artifacts and remedies have been named after her even after her alleged death. Historians are still debating about her existance though there are alleged descendants still living in a bayou who pretends than they are living on the same ground as their ancestors.
It would seem surprising since, if the legends are correct, she came from Equus which is now under the snows of the now Great Frozen North.
The most important tale known about Mage Meadowbrook is the tale of the swamp fever, it is sometimes told in medicals school as an example of taking inspiration of the nature to search of new remedies. That tale is alas not very known of the main public.
"If Meadowbrook was a real pony, it is unknown how much of our knowledge of plants and how many remedies we would have to thank her for." - Carbon Crypt, historian
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Flash Magnus was a recruit of the Earth Pony Army, his origin are unknown. His existance is known due to his presence on the EPA registries. If there are tales of unproved origin, multiple stories can be found in reports. Some are believed to be exagerated and there are probably tales which had a report which got destroyed during the great library fire.
The most known story is of his temporary inclusion in the Pegasi Army.
It is well known now than earth ponies tended to be seen as inferior by some members and institutions of Equus. This story is a reminder of how wrong it is to think like this.
The short version of the story is : the young stallion had been stationned in a town near the migratory roads of dragons. One of those decided to make a turn to the town to steal the crystals from their crystal farms before having a 'nap' in a cave nearby. The carbon the dragon would have emitted would have been toxic to the ponies. The EPA, being considered useless against a dragon due to its flying ability, was told to help the town evacuate for the battle about to happen between dragon and PA. The PA got beaten and as they were about to be burned to a crisp, Flash, using his intensive physical training, managed to reach them and use one of the discarded shield to protect the fallen pegasi. After, with a more or less impressive fight depending of the versions, he managed to get the final hit by climbing on the dragon and hitting him with the shield.
From differents reports, it seems than from that day forward, Flash Magnus kept the shield and continued to use it in battles. Some pretends than the shield was modified and/or became an artifact while some insists than it was just a regular shield.
This shield is now exposed in different military museum and, sometimes schools, depending of the moment.
Rockhoof and Meadowbrook redesign sketches! Plus a greyscale Stygian for size reference 😭
Gotta fix the proportions on Meadowbrook a wee bit but she has the exact vibe I wanted! Rockhoof is uh. Definitely more Viking. A lot of ponies in his village have Celtic and Old Norse symbols/runes, one even having an ingwaz/inguz rune one in the comics, as cutie marks so.... 👁👁
Rockhoof's cutie mark is specifically the Valknut symbol, which is believed to be associated with the 9 realms of Norse Mythology, the connection between Earth and the two most popular afterlives in Norse/Proto-Christian mythos, a warriors death, etc. (Scholars aren't entirely sure...)
Rockhoof's commander, Steela, has the Celtic Triskel symbol. The entire pony village is very explicitly connected to Old Norse and Old Celtic mythos and culture!