In a world without the sovereign Princesses, gemstones have taken over as the ruling force of this modernized and industrious Equestria – running everything from technology and magic to the economy itself.
But when an ancient, chaotic evil rises to reclaim this world for his own, can a world-weary band of strangers come together and rise to the occasion in a universe where help, strength and courage are not so easily found?
---
Now featured on EQD!
Special thanks to:
RyuuKiba - Cover art
KitsuneRisu - Best damn editor ever
Chocolate Milk - Proof-reader
JohnPerry - Proof-reader
Chapters (4)
YAY! =D
COMMENT! =D
Oh, hello there. Dark, adventure, AU without the princesses, and a Discord that isn't just a less interesting Q? You have my attention.
This is amazing, mate. Your grammar and wording is astounding as well as setting up for an interesting Alternate Universe type fic.
If you hadn't noticed yourself, you just made it into EQ:D
So watch the influx of a 100+ viewers come rolling in soon.
Please continue. It's hard to find something worthwhile to follow now-a-days for me.
511216
Couldn't have done it without you. Much
552761
I'll try my best not to disappoint!
552845
Yay! Finally posted! Thanks for the kind words.
There's not quite enough here to form a solid opinion yet, but I will say this much; you've got me wanting to see what happens next, which is, I'd say, a very good sign. Your prose is excellent; I found myself having no trouble at all seeing what was happening in the story without ever feeling like it was being spelled out for me, which is another very good sign.
You've definitely gotten my attention and I look forward to seeing the next part.
shit just got srs
Congrats herpy!
Ooh! I'm excited to see where this goes and where all the other Mane 6 are. I'm assuming Rapidfire's "big sis" is Spitfire. Interesting. And I'm glad nobody died (yet).
553489
Eeyup, fair assessment. And thank you for the watch!
553773
Hey Choco! Thanks for all your help.
I'm really enjoying this so far, keep up the good work!
Sorry about the delayed update, assignments and Diablo 3 taking up all my time.
I hope to have the next chapter out in about two weeks, hope y'all enjoy this one!
The devious vs the delusional: what a spooky AU you have created there.
I'm really interested in the world you are building in this story; ponies in modern day metropolis is just a very intriguing concept. Can't wait to see how the other main characters slot into this world. The first couple of chapter are promising a thrilling experience (The first season of Heroes comes to mind, for some reason), so I'm definitely staying tuned for future chapter to see if you can deliver.
Keep up the good work.
643889
Not quite sure if 'spooky' is the feel I am going for, but I hope you're enjoying it nonetheless.
646519
Glad you're liking it so far.
Always so great to hear from readers!
This place sounds like America- Overly Capitalist and corrupt.
I mean, that sets a great background for a story, and I'm not complaining.
I wonder what Twilight's doing...
Again, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. This is the first piece of writing I have ever done, so... I write very slowly.
Exams are over now, however! So hopefully I'll have more time to work on this.
Enjoyed the chapter, but I noticed that the chapter name is different in the index (Secrets and Lies) than it is at the top of the chapter (The Lull Before the Storm). I'm assuming that this isn't on purpose.
807370
It's fixed now.
Oh! Thanks for pointing that out. I copied the format over from the prologue and forgot to change the title, silly me.
And happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Oh, and here's where finally Twilight comes in.
I was wondering when she would come up. I also wonder what does she do in this world? She can't be Celestia's protégé, since there's no Celestia.
Great chapter, btw
clip2net.com/clip/m73955/thumb640/1340638990-another_smaller-371kb.png
808196
Eeyup, we finally have Twilight. Pinkie and Dash aren't far off either!
Glad you enjoyed it, mate.
806935 Work on it harder!
This is very interesting so far, and I want to see where this goes 
817477
Hopefully it doesn't last too long.
I'll try my best! Although this flu ain't helping my productivity at all.
Strictly speaking, Tia and Luna are diarchs. "Oligarchs" would also be accurate, albeit less precise.
Well. I had pretty low expectations from the description. But I gave this a chance; let it never be said that I don't at least try to be fair. And so far, it turns out that I actually don't hate this story. Cool.
You're not including Spitfire? But everybody loves Spitfire! She's the most popular Wonderbolt, and I know you know I'm not just making that up.
You know, I really don't like the name "Equinetropolis." I do not like the way it sounds at all.
Some context on Soarin'. That's nice to have.
So what I'm getting is that GemTech is quite vulnerable to changelings.
Well then. You've given us a small piece of a story about Dash's quintessence; will we be receiving a story about Dash's self in the next chapter?
Come now, Rarity, don't be so melodramatic. I know you're not sure whether he is a bad pony, but I know you recognize he's at least not so much of a psychopath as to intend ill to his niece's best friend. You admitted as much this morning. And surely you don't believe he has been ordered to do anything of the sort; what would Filthy gain from harming the sister of a loyal and productive employee? We both know you know better than that.
Soarin': he may be Scoots' legal guardian, but that doesn't mean he knows the difference between dinner and dessert.
I gather this is the end, then? Pity; I was really wondering what Twi would be doing in a world without Tia. And you never delivered on that story about Dash and her quintessence.
2664807
.
Hey, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you didn't hate it
For Rarity, I was going for panic mode. People usually aren't thinking very clearly or logically when they panic, and I thought it was quite appropriate for Rarity's character.
As far as the rest of the story goes, there was a lot more planned, but it has been put on hiatus for... an indefinite amount of time as you can probably tell by the dates of submission. I am currently very busy and will be for at least another month, so hopefully when I have a little more free time I'll get around to writing this again.
I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who has read this, and that I'm very, very sorry I haven't been able to update like I said I was going to. I hope y'all can forgive me
.
I'm glad to see this story isn't totally finished. I know too many good, potential authors who ultimately didn't have the means and time to finish good projects. I hope to see this one carries on. If you ever need another hand in editing and more people to bounce ideas off, drop me a message, I can offer a hand if need be. - SR