For a thousand years, Equestria has been too close to the sun. With the land rendered largely uninhabitable by the scorching heat, the ponies of Equestria have retreated into the sky. Now airships roam the clouds, severed mountaintops, held aloft by ancient and powerful magics, serve as the home for ponies everywhere and the land is mostly at peace.
But that peace is threatened when an ancient prophecy heralds the return of the one who caused all this change. Daybreaker. Princess Luna's older sister, imprisoned in the Sun for a thousand years, is about to return and, according to legend, burn the land to the ground.
Can the three students of the Princess defeat the mad empress? Or did Princess Luna's desperate use of the Elements only buy Equestria a thousand years of borrowed time? Either way, it will be an adventure for the history books.
So after reading Reformation ... It's a Pony Thing and Twilight's Pirate School, both by the wonderful Let's Do This, I realized that they effectively boiled down to the tagline 'My Little Pony - Everything is Better with Airships'. This story and, indeed, this setting are the result of my mind taking that idea and going wild with it.
This story is written in full and will not interfere with my other work. The sequel to Phoenix is still in progress and sadly taking a little longer than I had hoped, but it's coming.
This story hits all my favorite AU points. You have my attention and I can't wait to see where this adventure in the skies goes.
Wait...if the surface is too hot, shouldn't it also be too hot to fly in airships or have floating cities?
If it's gotten hotter, shouldn't LESS clothes be the norm, especially during the day?
9769882
You are aware that the air gets colder the further up you are, right?
9769888
No. White clothing is actually much better than, say, a dark grey coat.
9769922
9769923
Oh, okay.
9769922
Ah. I was wondering that, too. But that makes more sense. Maybe it has something to do with the greenhouse effect, or thinner air meaning less densely packed gases. Guess I didn't think too hard about it.
This has got to have devastated the ecosystem, though. I wonder how the dragons are holding up… Do they need water to survive? I figure that they can survive the heat, if they can go skinny dipping in lava. And they do eat gemstones…
You have my attention
So far, so good for the girls... at least til Twilight meet Dash.
AJ's parents are ALIVE?
Do these islands have safety railings?
And was there an easier way to get down to that one than jumping off the edge?
9771562
In order: Yes there are. As far as I'm concerned they were killed (in canon, I mean) by monsters from the Everfree. The forest is over a mile below and most of the monsters there can't fly. And even those that can won't go above tree level for reasons that will become obvious later.
They do in some places.
And yes, yes there would have been. Sunset was just showing off.
9771625
This is the first time I've seen a remake of the premier where they were alive. Wow.
Are there even any forests left at this point?
"Some" places? That seems dangerous.
Good old Sunny.
9771645
Dangerous? Not really. Though I think the reason for that comes in the next chapter.
9771773
Pegasus rescue?
9771790
You'll just have to wait and see ...
And the Sun Demon has returned
DUN-DUN-DUUUNNNNNN.
Seriously though, I'm liking this. :) Lovely little AU you've created here, but then everything IS better with airships.
9773090
Told you ...
Some impressive flying by Twilight
Great job mixing things with how the girls make it to the castle
Oh, so that's why they don't bother with railings. Makes sense.
This is an AWESOME ship.
Nothing too special about this chapter, there are still great read and great to see Luna and Celestia reunite
I'd love to see a continuation.
...Moon Dancer's an AI?!
9779555
How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?
9779636
Her 'bed's' an engine and she's not actually a pony.
9779639
True, but she also references an 'accident'. Last I checked, AIs are usually made intentionally.
9779665
Hmm. Not sure what she is, then.
Also a bit weird Twilight, Sunset and Starlight talk about 'discovering' friendship...but they were BFFs already.
9779666
Uhh, no, not really, they were sisters. Kinda like what canon Twi had with Shining Armor.
9779669
You can't be friends with a sibling?
9779673
Sure you can, but they didn't see it that way.
I'm so glad that Twilight, Starlight, and Sunset wrote that letter of apology to Moondancer. Great job on the story, will we be expecting a sequel?
9779757
It depends, but things are tending towards yes at the moment, though I cannot promise when ...
9779761
Fair enough, thanks for answering
Sequel Please
(is there a weaponised cutenesses?
9805986
Again, it's in the works.
9805986
Not weaponized cuteness my only weakness NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On a more serious note I am looking forward to the sequel.
9907560
It is proving difficult ... and several of my other projects are not ... so yeah ...
9907625
Doesn't mean I can't look forward to it.
9769922
And the atmosphere gets thinner too.
9773090
"Airship ready."
"Helium mix optimal."
"Maneuvering props engaged."
9771645
I imagine any 'forests' or other wilderness areas would be areas of land that have been abandoned for one reason or another. Forests were old orchards, plains were farm land, any bodies of water are either artificial or puddles that got to big.
First time ground side? This should be fun.
Good to know Luna has the 'long-term-gain' mentality. Taking the renormalization process slowly, while giving the planet and population a chance to adjust.
9779666
Robocop ghost.
*Imminent.
Helpful changelings? Hmmm