Millenia after fleeing the Cataclysm that destroyed their homeworld, the globular cluster that has come be known the Forge is home to all manner of creatures. The old powers that launched the Exodus are long gone, and the current settlements live on their bones, scavenging what they can from the ancient magitech.
When a unicorn named Rutile Quartz learns of a sealed Crystal Empire vault that is speculated to be the tomb of the last alicorn empress, she swears a vow to help the researcher in search of it find and open the vault to learn the secrets within.
In the Forge, a vow is more binding than the strongest of magics, something the sworn will sacrifice anything to see done. But everything has a price, and the pony who sets hoof in the ancient Imperial vault may not be the same one who leaves it.
An entry in the 2023 Science Fiction contest.
A crossover with the TTRPG Ironsworn Starforged. Familiarity with the game is not required.
Other tag is for reindeer, umbrum, and Rabia
A branch in the Eventide multiverse.
Also check out author Ko-Fi and commissions.
What's TTRPG stand for?
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"Tabletop Role-Playing Game"
Not familiar with the crossover source. It’s an engaging first chapter though, I’m following.
Fascinating world and premise. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this one.
Got a bit lost there, with a random jaunt into alternate reality and then a flashback, second reading sorted it out. Maybe Rutile and Tundra should take a break sometime, and have a rambling conversation that you can pack an exposition dump into. The straight to action strategy worked great, I’m an invested reader now, but it’s still all confusing.
Thanks, that helped some. The flashback was jarringly inserted into the action though, Rutile didn’t have any reason to think back on that scene right then. This new whispering antagonist is sure interesting though!
That... does not seem very wise of you, Rutile!
Let's hope I and Tundra are being too paranoid.
It's fiiiiine, it's fine!
Well, that’s definitely a bad sign. Turns out implanting the dark magic artifact into your body was a bad idea.
Definitely a nice read.
Flurry Heart: "Alright, everyone! Chill!"
I see Flurry picked up a few tricks of her own ...
Wonderful stuff, fascinating, thrilling, and suspenseful by turns. It's not the best future for these species, but Root's made it a much better one than what she was born into. And to think, this is just the beginning of her royal service.
Great work across the board. Thank you for it, and best of luck in the judging.
great ship name
aww, a reindeer’s in this!
ooh, some intriguing worldbuilding being hinted at through this
hehe, very cool! also really makes you think that a human would not be out of place with this threatening duo, considering they’re just describing what we do to animals for fun
understandable
ooh, fitting for Changelings to be in an old Crystal Empire outpost
ooh, interesting cultural worldbuilding! after Rutile’s reaction to the Changelings just now i would’ve assumed she’d never seen one before, but this adds an interesting layer to that
alicorn-based religion, love it! and there is a beauty to the fact that this Changeling’s ancestors would have been opposed to the very same Two Sisters
ooh, makes sense as a backstory, and a tragic condition for the Changelings to be in!
hehe, very video game-like
aww, love how muddled the history becomes through the clouded lens of time. and a sad end to the harmony and unity that was once Equestria! but it is always thus
aww, that brings it together! and yeah, the crystal ponies aren’t always so obviously crystalline in the canon. and do appreciate how this story is bringing together so many of the elements of the Crystal Empire worldbuilding we saw in the canon
hehe, and makes sense for “Sombra” to fit into these names
now this sounds like something that will turn out to be an ironic twist later
yeah i am with Tundra here
oof that does not sound good! relishing too much in fighting an “acceptable enemy”
augh, an adorable interlude!
hehe, great use of that reference
ehehe, brain-spider L
love it every time
aww, so true! what a lovely reconciliation between the species, so many ages later. Flurry Heart has taken up the mantle of Alicorn Princess very well with her Celestia vibes
ooh, neat alicorn worldbuilding! and this makes a lot of sense why Celestia and Luna were effectively immortal during the show, while the other alicorns of the past evidently were not
ah, the idea of getting through a temporary extinction by waiting for the random genetic combinations to recoalesce again! that is a great one
looks like Flurry Heart has inherited her alicorn predecessors’ methods for dealing with this kind of thing as well!
and aww, a very fitting end to this space opera tale, leaving our protagonists on their way to the new adventures made possible by the one this story told! thank you for writing!
Took me a while but I finished this and this was good. Thank you for your time.
Very interesting, I thought things would end when they found her, but it seems like the story goes on. Looking forward to reading more.
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I see what you did there.
I love your idea on why the Alicorn lived for so long was because of being tide to certain things. Flurry sure but them on ice.
Dang, now I am all caught up. Looking forward to whenever the next update becomes available.
Good job
Great story! One minor issue: In the first chapter, you wrote that Rutile had lost one pistol, then in this chapter she pulls out both pistols.
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Glad you liked the story! And that reference to both pistols is intentional; the flashback with the bounty hunters occurs before she lost the second one.
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Ah, so it is a flashback! I thought that at first, but it wasn't clear and the other italicised passages all seemed to be in the present.
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All of the italicised passages are flashbacks! This piece was my first attempt at telling a story in non-chronological order, interspersing action and the context of the events that led up to that action.
A rough chronology of events would be: First chapter's flashback --> third chapter's flashback --> second chapter's flashback --> fourth chapter's flashback --> events of the core story
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OK, that really confused me - the time in which the flashbacks occur really wan't clear, so in the end it seemed like none of them were flashbacks.
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Also thanks for clarifying - I'll revisit the story and see if it makes any more sense.