This story is a sequel to Renaissance Pony
Twilight has always dreamed of meeting her hero, Starswirl the Bearded. She finally gets her wish fulfilled on a mysterious deserted world. Together they investigate how they got there, where the world's inhabitants went, and why amongst all ponies, they two were brought to this desolate place. To Twilight's consternation, the more they learn, the sadder Starswirl becomes, until finally she is faced with a devastating choice that would have her betray her mentor, her friends, and even her innermost convictions.
Artwork by Nevina, based on a prior drawing by TotallyNotaBrony (Note: you don't need to have read Renaissance Pony before reading this story.)
Chapters (8)
I think I'll be following this one.
Normally I would try and write a serious, thoughtful comment on what you did right and why I like this, but in this case all I can say is...
MOAR
You could have mentioned this story as an author's note at the end of Renaissance Pony, you know. It would have saved me a few minutes of "Needs more Starswirl! Worst end ever! No comment for YOU!".
So please excuse me if I'm a little cautious for this one.
3990308
Good suggestion. I have to agree that I'm also not satisfied with the ending of Renaissance Pony. This idea was to have brought Starswirl full circle to the stage of his life before he arrived in Equestria (i.e. Starswirl in the pre-classical age). The big problem is that canon provides no further information on Starswirl's ultimate fate, so I wanted to leave scope for other Starswirl adventures, such as This Quiet Earth without having to add each one as more chapters to RP.
I am debating writing another "epilogue" to RP, your thoughts on the issue would be appreciated.
No eaters. Big "Uh OH!" if you read The Change novels.
No eaters. Big "Uh OH!" if you read The Change novels.
No eaters. Big "Uh OH!" if you read The Change novels.
3990656, 3990657, 3990658
Yeah, those whacky eaters are a hoot, ain't they?
mane
ley lines or ley-lines.
These kinds of stories do draw me in. Following for sure.
4001929
Thanks for the edits!
why did the chapter have to end
Reading this chapter I realized-- Starswirl refers to Twilight as Princess, and Twilight hasn't been asking him to call her Twilight. Every other fic I've read has Twilight asking ponies to call her Twilight instead of Princess. I have to wonder what the reasoning for that is in this story. Has Twilight been a princess for a while, and is more used to it? Is it because she doesn't have a personal familiarity with Starswirl?
I'm not sure why I find this so interesting.
Away, great story so far! Eagerly searching for hints in the text for what happened to the humans, only to see
I think were have pretty decent idea about what happened now.
4037464
Starswirl refers to Twilight as "Princess" when he wants to be more formal. Twilight invited him to call her by her first name, but he is her idol and maybe she's too in awe of him to complain more than once about it.
No need to capitalize there.
Leonardo was familiar with bullets, yes, but: a) bullets as Leonardo knew them were simply lead balls, and b) not all bullets retain their shape after hitting their target.
4038136
armed military personnel would likely stick together if you had one shot per reload. So he assumed there were many guns fired, and not just a few
4038136
Thanks for the edit. Will fix.
Starswirl may have wondered about the shape a bit, but his increased experience with aerodynamics since becoming a pony would certainly provide clues. The bullets were not being significantly deformed on impact because they were embedding in walls that were made of a type of very stiff foam material. This is also why they sunk so deep into the walls.
4038251
Exactly so. In the early days of firearms musketeers lined up and fired together, so the pattern of fire would actually seem quite natural to Starswirl from his time as Leonardo.
Would Leonardo know this meaning of "nano"? I don't think so.
4041217
Leonardo's native language was Italian. The word 'nano' means 'dwarf' in Italian, and so is a word with which he would have been familiar, although not in the modern context of 1 billionth.
This is going to be unpleasant for poor old Leonardo.
4090721
Dun, dun, DUHHNN!
However, this story isn't over yet. And we still don't know who brought them to This Quiet Earth, or why.
4091028
Very true. Still, finding out that your homeworld, which you have spent most of your life trying to save, is now a barren wasteland would be hard on anyone I imagine. Anyway, can't wait for the next update!
4091825
Eeyup!
Opposite of a spoiler: The Dark tag on this fic is there for a reason.
Operating Sorcery
4109597
Didja figure out the name of the API matrix manufacturer?
Hint : their current line of products are called the Magic Accelerated Cantrip Integration Nexus Total Orchestratation Spell Hexifier.
Reclamation? Biscuits?
I wonder what flavor the Soylent Biscuits are. Eh, it probably varies from person to person.
4127382
We
Are
S...
G...
Wow... That was depressing. Please excuse me while I go and cry in a corner.
4158628
The Dark tag is there for a reason. But Discord's now in the picture. What's his interest in Humanity?
Yeah, the squick factor these past few chapters with the reclamation unit has been a bit too high for my tastes. This turn of events promises more answers and less Soylent Green, however.
4158954
Judging by Discord current demor, he either whent there expecting a lot of practical joking for himself, or he got stuck there by meas similar to SStB and Twilight.
Must be horrible to be fully aware of where Soylent Green comes from.
4160863
But if you grew up with it, wouldn't it just be 'normal'?
4160714
Or he has other purposes in mind. Or no purpose at all. He is the avatar of chaos after all. What is humanity to him?
4163134
Humans are pretty chaotic and if he found the right person, he could have his own little puppet to mess about with.
4163265
That begs the question: does Discord do what he does out of malice, or does he simply not care about the consequences of his actions? Is he looking for a patsy or a playmate, or is what he really craves just an audience to appreciate his humour?Does he create hurricanes for no other reason than he wants everyone to see him as the eye of the storm around which the whole universe revolves? Or is he just looking for yuks?
4163693
Discord is the representation of someone who lives by YOLO.
Maximilian Sachs. I like.
Looks like this world suffered a black goo incident.
4230244
The Quiet Earth is the result of multiple environmental disasters, and some cosmic bad luck. And maybe not everything is as clear cut as it seems.
4230303
Neat.
Also, didn't see that coming.
Genetics, how it works?
but I still don't like where this is going
4230741
Maybe the Alicorn forms are something beyond genetics. Or maybe they're they are what happens when genetics and magic meet! Maybe Discord knows more than he's letting on.
What a twist
4233636
Nice quote there.
There had better be good explanation/reason for this! Otherwise, it's kinda of iffy, BS sounding.
4242128
This is Discord. BS is his thing – except – there's always an element of truth in his bovine scatology! But just what did he mean by that?
fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/059/2/3/twilight_the_lost__queen_of_chaos_by_gatesmccloud-d5wirwf.png
Twilight the draconequus huh?
More like Twilight the Lost, Queen of Chaos
C'mon Twilight Ya gotta save the Earth!
4286715
This.....
I HAVE NOW SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT IS AWESOME!!!
I have to say that you have done some amazing Noprize worldbuilding here. I am impressed with your supporting show references, references to other works (including mine) and the overall way that you have fit the puzzle pieces in so as to create a powerful, plausible scenario. Kudos!
This is quite a situation, and a very imaginative construction overall. Wow. Wow, I say.
4287118
Then she'll corrupt her friends and become the Lords of Chaos!
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