After Discord’s defeat, Princess Luna glimpses a devastating future for Equestria. Her solution? The Eternity Project—an impossible mission that will either save their civilization or doom those who attempt it.
Burnt Brick is a convicted criminal with a gift for construction. In order to build a crystal array in the Frozen North, he’s given a team of unique ponies: a young crystal expert with unwavering faith, a battle-scarred captain carrying the princess’s secrets, a sophisticated merchant with a yearning for adventure. Together, they must build something that will change Equestria forever.
But as they battle the elements and their own demons, they begin to uncover darker aspects of Luna’s ambitious plan. How far will they go to save Equestria? And what price are they willing to pay for success?
This story reveals the true history of the Crystal Empire’s creation, following (mostly) smart ponies doing (mostly) smart things to achieve the impossible in a deadly environment.
We got featured by EQD: Equestria Daily Page
We got featured on FF: 11.03.2025
Cover art is by Aerinlioina: Cover Art Source
Special thanks to mellon, who helped me with editing and proofreading, can't thank them enough. The story wouldn't be the same without their hard work and endless patience.
I thought about tying Luna into origination of Crystal Empire myself (those crescent moons on Crystal Guards uniforms are very compelling), but ultimately decided to go another route. Have fun writing!
How come you gave a link to Aerinlioina’s derpibooru profile, but not mellon?
12046896
That's a good point, fixed now
The intro was beautiful in a cosmic mythos sort of way, and then the scene of this secret laboratory was a good use of mythological science that is taking magic/myth/fantasy and carefully blending it with just enough real science (harmonics) to make it sound legit. And then the ending where I got enough subtle hints to pin this to the era right before NMM I.
The show would have us believe that one day Luna woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided "I'm sick and tired of being ignored...Imma become EVIL bwa-ha-ha!" but stories like this that have her downfall play out over months or years makes the inevitable that much more harrowing.
Even if this isn't the focus of this story, the idea that the reason why we see Equestria running on steam and pseudo electronics is because of some ancient plan put in place centuries before Twilight and Friends 10x grandparents were even a shimmer in their own 10x grandparents eyes is a huge draw for a world-building nerd such as myself. I'm looking forward to reading this story as it develops.
12052279
Your comment absolutely made my day.
I'm also a huge fan of the show's worldbuilding. One motivation to write this story was that I saw a lot of seemingly unrelated and unresolved tidbits (one of them being the very strange and inconsistent state of Equestria's technological progress) and saw a way to weave them together into a coherent whole.
The story is more character-focussed after the Prologue, but be assured, there will be more worldbuilding elements to enjoy!
I seem to recall in the first chapter Luna discussing with Melody's mom(or dam if you want to expand your pony-isms) a few things that at the time were spoken of in the "hypothetically speaking" sort of way. But anyway a decade or so later (and closer to NMM I) Luna's moved past hypothetically into deliberate action, albeit under the table and closed room and whatever spells being broadcast beinga bit less altruistic than discussed.
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Let's see what she has to say for herself
See, this is what happens when you have "good" intentions but too much power. Knowing the end result of this Project (coughSombracough), I do not know if their fate was unavoidable, but it seems likely.
12073789
I like the way you're thinking, the only question I would pose is if Sombra is really the end result of this project, considering everything we know about modern Equestria
Good chapter, keep it up
12080098
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Next one's gonna have a lot of world-building
I notice from your name that you're also an enjoyer of alliterations. My editor and I always amuse ourselves by sneaking those in there
I don't know about you, but this Luna is already scaring me. She's got plans... And it doesn't seem like they're particularly friendly plans
12102015
This is Luna before Nightmare Moon has been lasered out of her, after all. Most probably wouldn't call her 'friendly'.
But is she 'good'? That's a different question.
Why isn't there a dark tag?
Some
onepony is preparing a "the means justify the ends." And I'm not sure I would agree here... but it does make for a great story.Side note, I felt as through there was a lot of information being repeated, first through plain text, and then through dialogue. Still pretty good writing though.
12106815
Thank you for your thoughts!
I'm not trying to prescribe whether what various ponies here are doing is right or wrong. This is a messy world of unknowns, limited resources and incomplete information. Making your own moral judgements is part of the fun! You are very much invited to share them as the story goes on.
Regarding the side note, I get what you mean, but I do think this is mostly confined to the prologue. In any case, let me know if that feeling of being repetitive persists through the other chapters!
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I thought about adding it. However, considering the description for the tag and the tone of the story, I don't think it's justified.
Description for the 'Dark' tag:
Dark stories contain aspects that deal with grim situations where hope seems to be lost or the ‘good guys’ have lost the battle or are losing it with horrifying consequences. Tyranny, torture, war and death are common themes for these type of stories. While the tag doesn’t mean necessarily that evil ultimately prevails, it does heavily imply that it is for the most part winning. This tag may also apply to stories with particularly unsettling concepts, such as a character’s descent into insanity.
There are some elements and themes in The Eternity Project that certainly qualify as dark, but I think the story as a whole does not. Though reasonable people can disagree.
I’m only about 3 and a half chapters in, but I’m very impressed with your narrative voice. You’ve got some very well constructed sentences and very purdy prose that sparkles with imaginative imagery while never really feeling like it’s too much.
Very much looking forward to reading more
12107548
Glad to hear that your're enjoying it so far!
Keep me posted, I can confidently say the latest chapter is a real banger
I’m incredibly impressed with how this story is shaping up; the world building, the characters, plotting and especially the writing itself are all great.
Really looking foreword to what happens next.
12108386
Thank you for that kind and encouraging comment!
May I ask who's your favourite character so far? I'm always curious about that.
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Burnt Brick has had the most character development so far, and he seems to be the main/focal character so I’ll go with him.
I’m intrigued to learn what happened with his partner to make him so bitter and apathetic.
The others seem fun so far. I’d like to see a little more of Hammerhead’s depth.
I'm looking forward to the next chapter! Also, thank you for releasing this chapter on my birthday
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Late Happy Birthday!
It's hilarious because yesterday was my own birthday as well!
We are diligently working on the next chapter (sneak peak: it's gonna be called 'The Echoes of Desire'), but I'm afraid it'll need a good while to be ready for release.
12130690
Late Happy Birthday to you as well!
A belated happy birthday to both of youse
So Sombra didn't just wake up one day (a lá Canon) and decide to be evil. Whatever is "knocking" is a primordial something or other, or perhaps it's something that exists outside the veil, like the fel influence that is haunting Luna as we speak.
And Melody, don't blame yourself for not knowing everything. Nobody knows everything, and anyone who tries to say otherwise is a liar and not worth listening to. Yeah, you might have messed up with Leroy, but maybe the yaks could have noticed and said something "Why Yak take off sung-dü?". Maybe this "mountain sickness" would have still found a way even with the amulets, or maybe someone else entirely would have eventually fallen victim. What's more important is that you admit your ignorance and learn. I'd rather work with someone who can say "I don't know" versus someone who acts like they have all the answers or will fight tooth and nail to salvage their pride when something happens (it's not MY fault).
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If you're curious about what lurks within the crystals, I'd recommend checking out the official comics. This isn't a concept I came up with, it's just my interpretation of what was already there (this honestly applies to most concepts in this story).
Wise words regarding Melody and what happened, with so much going on, it is certainly understandable to miss the little things.
For the yak's part, they mostly associate the sickness with the mountains (not with crystals), so they didn't see an immediate concern with Leroy taking off his token here in the flatlands (they still prefer to wear them, even when not in the mountains, but it wouldn't be a very big deal taking them off).
12137495
As I hit the send button on my original comment, I wondered if maybe your Sombra had any relation to the comic version.
The rest of your replies make sense to me.
Sorry in advance for the Twilight-level think aloud lecture
My biggest beef with the show particularly with Luna and S9 Sombra is that they just "went evil" S2 Sombra was a force of nature, something powerful and dark.
As to Luna, sure the Intro to E1 mentioned jealousy but the show never really explored that. I often say that the transformation to Nightmare Moon is psychologically speaking akin to a kid having a full melt-down tantrum, that is that she was so worked up that she was beyond caring who she hurt. But how did she get to that place? I doubt she just woke up cranky one day and was like "screw everyone I'm going evil."
Was it something external like fel magick or a spirit? Or was it internal, like years of Celestia being a smart-rump older sister who got annoyed at the dumb bratty baby tagging along? I remember reading a theory that IRL horses/donkeys/ponies don't actually need to sleep through the night, but rather in short "shifts" based on the whole prey brain, so Equestria was "choosing" to sleep through the entire night basically waving a middle hoof to Luna. There was a YouTuber who sadly vanished into the æther who did a series of pseudo-documentaries about Equestria's past and it was the lords and bureaucrats who didn't want to share power with a "dumb baby" and so worked in the shadows to undermine her at every turn.
Anyways stories like this one that explore the transformation on the ground as it were makes for a much more interesting read than "
, she went bad she did, 
"
So Changelings are like locusts?
Changelings are, in the Fandom, like a force of nature, you can't exactly prepare for them in advance, just deal with them when they happen. Given that this is before Princess Luna's first fall from grace, Queen Chrysalis might not exist yet, unless you're going by the IDW comic where Starswirl unintentionally released them all from whatever prison/nest they were in ±1000 years ago. This means that Changelings are, beyond what Hammerhead has pieced together via guard/military experience, an unknown entity.
12160006
The changelings in 'A Canterlot Wedding' do kind of behave like locusts, I think. The swarm comes essentially out of nowhere, descends upon Canterlot and tries to eat up all the love. Later depictions obviously muddy those waters a bit.
Starswirl's lore is a bit hard to put together (especially if you include the comics, it might be irreconcilable), but if we go by show canon, he is likely in the void already (since the EoH exist and this is after Discord). Obviously we're taking some creative liberty with the '1.000 years' dates for Discord/NMM/Sombra/etc. Though there is a point to be made that in horseland '1.000 years' may just mean 'very, very long ago.'
Thank you as always for your comments. Quick question I'm super curious about: Did you see Guntram coming, was it a complete surprise or something in between?
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I'd say surprised.