Long ago, Starswirl's mirror was damaged, and for some reason that nopony knows the destination was changed. Sunset Shimmer learns about this world, a wild and untamed land, and in a display of angry-teenage decision making thinks spending 20 moons on that world is a good way to get Celestia's respect.

Meanwhile, the year is 1889, Ether-Flyers traverse the inner solar system, and the tidally-locked world of Mercury is still a nearly unmapped mystery for humanity. The British Empire, nearing the height of its power, claims the world, but only maintains a small outpost in the small sliver of land between the eternal day of the hot side and the eternal night of the dark side known as the Twilight Zone.

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A crossover with Space 1889, a sort of steampunk sci-fi RPG setting that I am a fan of.

NOTE: This fic will get into the politics of the late 1800's, and the reality of the time was that most people in positions of power were pretty terrible by our standards and Equestrias, but this will not be a human-bashing fic, just because the governments of Earth are full of terrible people does not mean humanity is terrible.

Also available on Spacebattles, where I am much more active and respond to comments much quicker.