After Spike's destructive rampage in Ponyville, Rhumbline, Airship captain formally in the employ of the royal household has been recalled to service. His task, to voyage far beyond the borders of Equestria to the place of Spike's origin, to help the dragon find a way to control his hoarding instincts.
Meanwhile, the voyage forces the crew and passengers to reflect on their lives and their pasts, and come to terms with the ties that bind them together.
Cover art by Dembai/Sliverlynx http://sliverlynx.deviantart.com/
Chapters (6)
Enthralling, so far. Your characters are nuanced and interesting, even after such a short time spent with them. Plus, as you will note if you take a look at my story, I am a sucker for airships.
What else? Thank you for your service to your country, and thank you for your comic creations on deviantart. I'm sure that with a few more chapters your story here will get the attention your graphic art has.
Finally, and I hate to mention these in light of how much I like what you've written, I have two minor concerns. First, and this is truly minor, your premise regarding Spike is somewhat contradicted by the show, where I got the impression that the show was trying to convey that nopony (at least outside of a few in Ponyville) realized that Spike was the rampaging dragon. That's why it was shown that the Wonderbolts were trapped under the water tower while Spike reverted. Second, also minor, I struggle when authors give ponies proper names from our history and mythology like Perseus. You probably get a pass on this one if you explain the origin in-story. After all, Equestria has several of our constellations, as confirmed by Twilight Sparkle in "Suited for Success."
Also, Rhumbline is a very clever name. Then again, you ARE a sailor in real life.
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Thank you for your feed back. Being a sailor has given me a lot of practice telling sea stories. I think this has translated well into my comic work, and now into my attempt at fiction.
Thanks for mentioning your two concerns. I welcome the feedback so I can address them in future chapters
For the first, I am making the assumption that Spike would be quite sorry for the damage he caused in Ponyville, and would do everything he could to make amends. This would obviously reveal that he was the culprit to the community. Additionally, I'm pretty sure that Princess Celestia would know it was Spike. These assumption will be spelled out in the third chapter, which is written from Twilight Sparkles point of view (limited 3rd person)
As For Perseus... I am horrible at Pony names... Really horrible. Though I really though that Perseus would be a cool name for a Pegasus, since in medieval interpretation of Greek mythology, Perseus tamed a Pegasus, and is frequently drawn riding one. and of course, there is the classic film Clash of the Titans. The back story, which I may or may not be able to fit in (its tangential to the main plot) is that Perseus's family has a long military heritage, and they name their colts after heroes of old (pre-hearths warming, when the world was more dangerous)
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oh... You're the author of the flight of the Alicorn... I have that on my iPad to read. I've been working through fan-fictions that have looked interesting, but I haven't had time to read. I'm going to have 18 hours to kill when I fly over to Australia, and might as well kill it reading interesting pony fiction.
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Well, then I'll try to have my next chapter out before you leave. It's where things get "real." (60000 words in? Yes, this is a long story).
We also have one other funny connection - here is a link to my previous pony fic/short novel (http://jimvincible.deviantart.com/gallery/34329807#/d4dei1w). It's sadly not a first-rate work, because I wasn't taking it as seriously as I should have been at the time, but I think you'll appreciate the title: "The Ties That Bind."
And I eagerly await more of your "The Ties That Bind."
Wow Mister Birdco. Not only are you a talented artist, a naval officer, and a father you make one heck of writer.
I really like all the different reference you make not only to My little Pony but other shows, naval terminology, myths and video games. I cannot wait to read the rest of this adventure, and from the first two chapters I would like to serve on the Dodo. It would make for one great adventure. Okay I might be a little bias here because I really like the steampunk movement and when combined with ponies it makes for some interesting stories and art.
Oh are you considering doing some piece of art work to accompany your story? I would defiantly like to see the inside of your oc’s shop and your airship.
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I am thinking about doing art for it. I think the 2nd or third piece I will do after I get my art computer back is a drawing of the Dodo.
I find steam punk interesting from an art perspective, though it's not something I ame quite ready to draw yet. I think of the Airship in the story as a mixture between technology and magic.
The place where this is most evident is in the lifting envelope (balloon). There, a combination of phlogiston (hydrogen) and levitation enchantment provides the lift and stability of the airship. That is why there are fancy designs painted on the balloon, to help focus the magic, and help render the Phlogiston inert.
The engine is also a combination magic/mechanical device, where the main transmuter generates energy by breaking carbon bonds, and then transmits that energy to other, mechanical machines to do the work of propelling the ship.
Kayleighs chapter ( ch. 5) will have quite a thorough description of the Dodo's engine room, which is where kayleigh chooses to sleep when the Dodo is underway.
...Cool. Can't wait to see that mysterious place. Also, thanks for uploading this to FiMFiction. It really makes it easier to follow.
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You're welcome, and thanks for following the story
This is really in-depth characterisation for a first(?) fic. Its awesome.
Also, airships!
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Thanks. This is my first serious attempt at writing, though it is not my first story I've created. Normally, my medium is comics. I've tried writing fiction before this, but the results weren't all that good.