Magic has faded and the surface has been lost, but the war rages on. Twenty years after the catastrophic start of the battle, what's left of Equestria hides in the skies, fighting for survival with machines powered by diesel.
Most don't think twice about Captain Rainbow Dash, still piloting out in the field after decades, too stubborn for a promotion to stick but too skilled to be forced into retirement. All they see is an old burned out warpony waiting to die on the battlefield. Nopony knows what Rainbow Dash is fighting for anymore. Maybe not even Rainbow Dash.
Editing by Formerly Committed and JetstreamGW.
Chapters (1)
So why isn't everything powered by magnets or transistors?
What have you done.
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All will succumb, eventually.
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Back! Back demon!
The power of rice compels you!
Yay Bats is back.
And still one hell of an Author.
I really enjoyed this setting you've constructed. The romance was also excellent and naturally pulls off an otherwise rather strange pairing.
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Most likely because the author wanted to write a dieselpunk
Tells a complete and compelling story, while building an interesting world, and leaving me wanting more of this setting. Into the favorites it goes!
My feels. The "what we're supposed to do" bit got to me.
Hrm
Not bad. Some sky captain, some rocketeer. Everything with sweetie and dash was sharp and clear, the rest of it wasn't as. I'm hoping there's more, though to see where this goes.
Mane Six/Crusader shipping is tricky business, but you definitely made it work. And that's saying nothing of painting a grim but fascinating image of this timeline. Brilliant work in every detail. Dash is ponykind in microcosm, beaten, battered, and seemingly moving only on momentum, but still with a spark of hope deep inside waiting to blow Tirek's smug grin off his face.
Fantastic stuff. Thank you for it.
The part where Sweetie subtly shows Rainbow how her 'floating' trick works was the first part of the story where I remember laughing with delight. So the story's lesbian romance was working well for me by then. But of course, romance only works so well for me with interesting characters doing interesting character interaction. So really, that's at least two things working for me, isn't it, if not more?
I could praise the interaction between Sweetie and Rainbow at length, but I think you already know so much about how and why it works.
I like how the diesel(-ness) in the dieselpunk is used to symbolize and illustrate tragedy in multiple ways. (Disclaimer: Worshippers of Aristotle will complain of my use of the the word 'tragedy.')
I already commented in discord chat about how I saw the beginning of the story, including why I think some readers with different backgrounds will relate differently to it.
Sweeties hoof
Sweetie's
You can has review!