War is a rare occurrence in Equestria, but after over a century of peace, it has come again. To defend their home, ponies have answered the call to arms from far and wide. For one young pony, that decision may have come a little too easily. Will the weight of war prove too much for her, or will her new found comrades be the foundation she needs?
***
Originally created alongside this image.
I wish I had posted this earlier, but here is an incomplete visual list of the characters of The Line. For the characters not listed here, please consult the cover image.
You can also find a depiction of the standard armor suit here.
Chapters (23)
I love fics like this. This one in particular is extremely well-written. I'm actually anticipating for you to continue, as I really enjoyed the first chapter.
Also Firefly.
Oh wait, that was....and that was. Hum. So this is an alternate version of Equestria. Interesting.
I would really like to read more of this, in all honestly. Go for it, Esuka!
The day has come!
Honestly, sometimes I am not very sure of who is speaking. It is rather annoying.
The fighting-an-ilusion thing was clever, but it got me really confused for a while XD
I would also avoid putting numbers inside the narration.
I think you mean strongest sense.
Oh, so this is all before the show?
5340433 Yes indeed, set twenty six years before S1E1
...because Comet wasn't enough of a wreck.
So... a non-mind controlled sparklefang appears out of nowhere to specifically go after Comet Shimmer.
Suspicious!
I have this strange feeling that Comet isn't actually dead .-.
*half-roasted Pegasus collapses in the throne room*
Very well. Report to the stockade, deserter.
She quit XD
Well, that was an amazing story. I really liked the setting of it and how it fits in with the show canon. Comet's struggle through the training, war and their effects on her life seem to be portrayed almost perfectly. The epilogue wraps up the story in a meaningful way and potentially leaves room to expand on the story's universe without leaving unanswered questions.
One complain about the story is that for some reason the pacing at which the characters were introduced at the beginning and maybe later left me sometimes not remembering who was who. A lot of ponies later had certain situations or positions that made them easily memorable, but many times I was asking myself "who was that and how does Comet know this character?". Also the overall amount of characters makes it hard to emotionally attach to any of them.
Other that that I really enjoyed the story but I wish more people have seen it. I think you should link it again on your tumblr blog or DA seeing how it's concluded now.
This is a beautiful story. I look forward to reading more from you in the future.
5839864 Thanks very much for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can see what you mean about keeping characters straight. I will certainly keep that risk in mind for ensemble casts. And yes, I plan to advertise this more.
5845145 I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I don't have any plans for other stories at the moment, but that doesn't prevent things from happening later.
Incomplete but with epilogue?
Great story! Felt a bit slow in the beginning but by the time I made it to chapter 14 I pretty much ended up reading the rest of the story in one sitting.
Thanks for writing it!
I can't believe this has so few views, it's amazing! I've had this on my read later list for Celestia knows how long and I'm so glad I finally got around to it. I can't wait to see how it ends!
Ok, crying now.
This was brilliantly written and I can't believe I put off reading it before. I want to re read it right away but I don't think I could make it three chapters without crying again. I look forward to you continuing canterlot musicians even more now that I've see what you can do.
GDI I'm still crying.
I love this
I love you
I'm gonna go melt in a corner for awhile
Godspeed
Hello from the future, we bring upvotes and tears shed!
Outstanding story full of reality and feels. Oh, so many feels.
Sactofrog is right.
Great work!
Dang, this story needs more love. Great usage of a poem/song!
I love this story.
This is the first story in years to grip me and pull me into a reading trance. It's the first story in years to make me cry with sadness and happiness.
Your blog inspired me. I've read through it all, twice now.
But this story is just... I love it.
Something about your writing drew me in. I experienced this story more than just words on a screen, but as if I was there on the Adamant alongside Cyclone.
The attrition, the way it wore down on everyone. I could feel the weight on everypony's shoulders.
Whenever somepony I knew (mostly from the cast list) met their end, or got injured? I drew a deep breath. It was as if it had shattered something.
Every time there was an engagement, I shuddered in fear. I worried about the characters getting hurt or worse.
I've been holding back tears in the hours I read this. Holding them back because I could not read otherwise.
I fell out of love with reading. For years, I have struggled to read more than a few paragraphs at a time.
This story has rekindled that. This story has reminded me what I love about stories and writing.
In fact, I fear to write my own story now. I'm not sure I can do something as great as this, eheh.
The tale of Comet Shimmer, a chiroptequus mare who ventured into battle to protect that what she cared about, will be a tale that sticks with me. Thank you for writing this story, thank you.
A great fic. The gritty depiction of war, of characters treated realistically and having a balance between their souls and the toll the war took on them, of Comet Shimmer's entire arc and how you also managed to tastefully tie this story with the show in general like the Rogue One to its A New Hope...
It's good. It's all good. It's a supreme war story on this site, and there's very few if any that can compare to it. It's such a shame that it's massively underrated; it deserves more than this.
Thank you for this story. Wherever you are, may you stay safe and may you have happy travels.
Being a disabled vet who lived through the horror Comet faced (most of it), it is quite accurate of not only the terror of battle but the mind numbing waiting for the fan to be squarely hit. You don't have to have a PHYSICAL injury to disable you, I know because I have both.
Good job on the story, perhaps you can grace us with another sometime.
Honestly this story has too little views for how good it is. You made a good fanfiction. The only bad things I have to say about it are the grammar mistakes every now and then and how sometimes the characters talk a bit too unrealistically
I strongly recommend this fic, and so far it's been the best war fic I've read.
Also, we never saw what was inside the egg puzzle.