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.
Try teleporting your opponent instead of yourself, Sunset.
I’m enjoying the journal format so far. Good way to keep things moving.
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Sunset learned a lot of things as Celestia's student, but how to fight a monster was sadly not one of them. A bit of an oversight on Celestia's part if you ask me.
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Thanks! I actually originally wasn't going to include them, but then I realized just going a year into the future and telling people that Sunset had been through a lot wasn't a good idea, so I decided to write the journal entries to show what she'd been going through.
Holy crap those boats move fast.
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I know, it surprised me to when I read it in the sourcebook. But then again, you have to take into account that that is a best-case time when orbits match up perfectly, and ether fliers get to cheat by using massive mirrors to focus sunlight into boilers to provide constant power to their propulsion instead of having to use a limited supply of rocket fuel. Rockets get higher acceleration while they are active, but ether propellers can be running the entire trip, and even at a much lower rate of acceleration that gets them up to much higher maximum speeds.
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Quick back-of-the-envelope math gives like, 120 000 kph. That's pretty good for a wooden vessel.
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I know, and it's actually more impressive than that.
That's the average speed for making that distance, so the maximum would be double (based on the equation [starting velocity+ending velocity]/2 and setting starting velocity to zero). Which means that the ship would have to accelerate to 240,000 kph over 17.5 days, then decelerate back to 0 to avoid ramming the planet.
Which means that ether-fliers accelerate at a constant .04 G for more than a month, first picking up speed and then to go back to zero. If it wasn't for the built in limitation that the sourcebook gives (sunlight is to weak beyond the asteroid belt for solar boilers to work, so any ship that goes that far out gets stranded without power to turn around) humanity would be probably setting up on Pluto and talking about a race to Alpha Centauri.
And the best part about this? Thomas Edison made the first ether flier out of a hot air balloon and went to Mars in it.
That sort of thing is why I enjoy this setting, Equestria isn't the only side of this crossover that can pull off insane stunts.
Pictured: The World River
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Escher_Waterfall.jpg
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Well that's not inaccurate
You really should link to that in the synopsis. Please respond to this comment.
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...Ok then.
Sunset used Bribery! It's super effective!
This is a surprisingly different story, as is the setting. In a good way. Actually made me check out the game. I love the focus on discovery rather than action, with the occasional (reptilian) challenge, and how Sunset has to overcome her problems with smarts instead of brawn. On that that note, I always wondered, what does stop an unicorn to just telekinetically "grab" inside an enemy’s chest and give their heart a good yank? Asking for a friend.
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I am glad you are enjoying it. I find the focus on discovery and exploration fun to write, and having Sunset think her way through things is a neat exercise.
And I think mostly the fact that they have no need for that sort of bloodthirsty use of magic, plus any magical creature will have at least some resistance to magic? Not an expert, but that's my best guess.
And also, if anyone cares... I'm bringing this story back. Expect the next update within the month.
Welp, only one thing for it, Sunny. Gotta turn 'em all into ponies.
Really enjoying Sunset working with actual mechanics instead of "it happens because magic." The science fiction tag is wholly justified and I'm pleased by the plot's progression so far. The same goes for Sunset's character development; still ambitious but not callous anymore, with a good portion of growing self-awareness of her (past) flaws. Your writing has also improved quite a lot since the first chapter. The roundabout but civil manner of speaking/thinking shown by the humans, even present in their swearing, fits the age of colonialism the setting is based on. I have a guess what the needles are meant to do but will refrain from stating it in case I'm right.
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Thanks! I always love figuring out the mechanics behind things like magic, so this is a bit of a self-indulgent story for me in that regard. And I am glad you are enjoying her character development, if I'm being honest on the re-read I did during the end of the hiatus I was sort of kicking myself for not adding another two or three chapters to make it more explicit what was happening in that regard, but I'm glad it was clear what was going on.
I am really glad my writing has noticeably improved, that actually means a lot to hear, and knowing that I've got the tone down enough that no one is calling me out on "that's not what late 1800's British people sounded like" is also good.
As for your speculation, even if you did post it I could neither confirm nor deny.
You now have fifteen minutes to reach minimum safe distance...
I don't know, seems like an adequate build-up to me. I understand your concerns about the quality and yes, there could have been more to the chapter in regards to the Needles' mystery. However, the methodical analysis and consideration of potential dangers adds to Sunset's scholar background and steep learning curve. For each misstep, she makes two leaps forward. The pace is fast, yet you manage to make it feel natural. This is also because you wrote a good foundation, despite earlier flaws. The underlying thrill of the exploration narrative still keeps me hooked; shows that you don't need a BBEG to tell a captivating story.
One thing makes me wonder, though. "Magic keeping the planet alive?" I mean, I suspected as much and more. But I can't remember Sunset making this particular conclusion in the previous chapters. Just that the Needles draw out the remaining magic but not for what purpose. Or the planet depending on that. I might have missed that, though.
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Glad you don't think it's rushed!
And as for the magic keeping the planet alive thing... that's an assumption she's making based on three known facts:
1) The Needles are magic and drawing magic in for some purpose
2) The Needles are all exactly on the midline between the eternal day and eternal night sides of Mercury
3) Mercury is, quite simply, an impossible planet. It should not have an atmosphere, or life, and yet it does. Even beyond that, it's central feature The World River clearly uses magic to function, making it clear that there is something magical about the very environment.
One cannot deny that the gaps slowed down the momentum, but not overly so. With the story being more centered around Sunset’s thoughts and learnings, now mixed with mystery and world building, one does not suffer the impatience that action scenes normally bring. I would compare it with receiving letters from a faraway expedition (heh); does not happen often but you look all the more forward to it. Certainly adheres to the setting’s charm, funny enough.
That is not to say the stakes weren’t high, especially with the rather subliminal threat to the planet. Loved how you went that route instead of going Michael Bay on Mercury. I was expecting some of the events, although I did not see Sunset mind-melting with the planet coming. You may call it "not epic" in the sense of lacking earthquakes or explosions, yet I think this had more than enough of an "impact" to justify ascension. Playing conductor for any kind of power supply, never mind a planet, could only end up with you getting either superpowers or a Darwin Award.
You also did a good job of further leading over to the mystery of the civilization that built the Needles, which I suspect will become a major question going forward. Not to mention magical abilities in humans. Laughed about the comment about "not being let into pubs" as if this is the biggest concern here. Instead of the disastrous implications of the British Empire gaining magical weapons, as also mentioned. Maybe the solar system is ripe for some changes in powers and thinking; history proved that this particular era of humankind needed it. Damn, did we suck.
Good thing Celestia, depending on which interpretation of her power you go with, always has the deterrent of "cross me and I’m flinging your planet into the sun".
I agree with Tetrakern. Sunset's ascension feels well earned. Considering the much lower bars cleared by Cadance and Twilight, selflessly putting her life and soul on the line to heal a world would certainly qualify.
I went into this knowing nothing about the setting but I love Crusoe-style adventure stories which kept my interest until the just as interesting Mystery of Mercury became the focus.
And now I'm REALLY looking forward to what's going to replace Equestria Girls and the two Sunbutts' reunion.
MysteryMan97, is this story going out of freeze any time soon?
Wow, just read this, and damn I need to get this RPG now. Also, I think you've done a great job with the story - and it's in a pretty good place to leave a frozen work, but I definitely wouldn't mind reading more :)