A thousand years ago, my Princess showed us that there's a chance we can survive, even after everypony else in Equestria died. The griffon army is at our doorstep, as they have been for as long as anypony can remember, and yet my Princess insists upon her secret projects, and there's something more. Something bigger that she's keeping secret.
What else is she not telling me?
This story is the sister story to Children of the Sun, but both can be read independently of the other.
Coverart drawn by the incredibly talented Kai_KAMOI!
Thank you to my brilliant prereaders and editors: Axolu, Holtinater, Haphazred, AFanaticRabbit, Draconequues, Dioxin, Lofty Withers, Cynewulf, Red Parade, Vis A Viscera, Bill Cipher, Ruby, Flashgen, Moonshot, Luna, and to everyone that's supported me throughout the 3+ years of working on this fic and its sister fic.
Thank you especially to Zontan. Your help has been invaluable with this fic, and I appreciate all you do for me.
Eeeee! This is so exciting! One story, two sides, being revealed at the same time?!? That’s awesome! I might actually disregard my rule for not reading a story until it’s completed ;P
10995725
That means a lot, thank you!
A great start to the companion piece for Children of the Sun. It's an interesting idea to release these stories side by side with different perspectives, and I love the bits of world building here to give a picture of how dire the situation is in Equestria. Can't wait to see where they both go and when they meet.
ah, very nice cloaking of the reveal with "the Princess", if the title were not a hint! definitely could read that as a Celestia that had grown bitter and dark over the awful events that transpired, and the difficult decisions she must have had to make. fun references to Sapphire Shores and Vinyl Scratch in setting the mood, a more technological and less magical Equestria. more retro-future than magic-assisted schizo tech. especially love the twisted version of Cadance, an extrapolation of her role in the show of being the most battle-ready alicorn of the four, despite appearances.
And thus we have the explanation for Rarity's conspicuous absence in the sister story. This should be well and truly fascinating.
What really strikes me is how the planetary pony population never recovered from the misfired banishment. Yes, the vast majority of equinity got sent to the moon, but a thousand years is a long time. I suppose they've had to be careful about inbreeding, but still, I wouldn't have expected them to be on the knife's edge of extinction the entire time. I have to assume there's something I'm not seeing holding back a full recovery. The question is what...
In any case, looking forward to seeing how both halves of the tale develop.
very interesting worldbuilding, with the ponies as a besieged species, a nation with geopolitics rather than a hegemony whose security is unquestioned.
oh, i absolutely love this! even though i should have totally seen it coming from the premise, and all the hints building up to it with the talk of space programs. i'd read the effects of the Elements of Harmony as a historical distortion to be uncovered, and i guess it turned out to be, but in a way i didn't expect somehow. excited to see how this plays out!
Okay. Okay. This is an awesome idea and works fantastically beside the other fic.
I bloody called it when you mentioned there were no bodies. That was excellent, and I am excited!
I'm so glad to see this piece finally on Fimfiction. It's come so far from when I first saw an unfinished draft way back in 2019, and I'm super excited to see where it goes. This half has always been my favorite since you-know-what (coming soon!) and I am so happy to have helped it along. ^_^
How much money do I have to give you to work in background ponies
Again really happy to see this finally go live! Very excited to see this massive ethereal journey finally take its first steps and look forwards to where it'll go!
Ooooooh! Nice twist!
Also really fucking bad aim, Celestia. And here I thought the Elements of Harmony had auto-aim.
Woo! Let's go! Both stories are going to get better with time as they slowly spiral together, I can feel it!
10995810
The answer, to me, seems fairly obvious once all the facts are laid out:
The Sisters are not as powerful as they once were.
Of all Equestria, only Canterlot remains.
Of all the world, only Equestria was so affected.
Millions upon millions of acres of empty lands with no guardians, noticed from afar, perhaps truly noticed for the first time, by envious eyes.
Prosthetics, advanced and very capable, are regarded by the population, at worst, as a curiosity, and at best, just something that some ponies happen to have.
The question is "what", while the answer can only be "war".
With this information in mind, I'm surprised it's Rarity whose ancestors were in Canterlot and not Twilight's.
Having read this chapter and the sister story, all I have to say is:
I understand why NMM haven't pushed on with the takeover and let me guess, the rest of the ponies were sent to the moon
10996194
Ikr? How do you manage to hit the earth while aiming for something in the sky?
10995728
Tip don't end on a crossover, finish the first story first but make the ending of this one link to the ending of that other one but happen after it, then either write a sequel to both or a sequel for each that separate the sisters with the respective factions and then a new story sequel that links them again.
It's just a tip you don't need to actually do it, but it would've be great
10997410
I... have no idea what you're trying to say, I'm sorry. Each fic will be updated once every two weeks, alternating between fics.
10997508
Just a tip on how I'd make this universe work, finishing this story after it's sister and with the ending happening after it's sister story ending but while not actually telling all the story of this universe.
I'd also put Celestia up with the moondigers from the sister story at the end of this one and then either continue with one sequel for both or one for each that focuses on the royal sisters and kind of retells everything while also continues the story of this universe from where it was left at the end of both of the stories in this pair, again I'd cut the story short and not finish it completely in order to make one more sequel that again focusses on what happens after the second pair/single sequel ends.
But this is how I'd approach a retelling of an universe that is the same story told from multiple perspectives in different stories
10998081
I appreciate your opinion, but I think I'll still tell the story how I've planned. You are more than welcome to write your own fic in the universe, of course, and do that how you'd like, but these are my fics, I have been working on them for three and a half years, and I'm going to tell the story my way. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, though!
10998081
And "sister story" does not mean "story about the two royal sisters." There may be some confusion there.
10998088
Oh no, I'm not telling you to change them, I just presented the best way to tell such a story, and some things I kinda want to see in this one, I mean seriously put Tia on the moon, it'll be the perfect punishment and gift for her, but then again I'll understand if you don't, after all like you said, it's your story
10998090
I know that, I was using the term as you used it, but since in my proposition the second and third parts were more or less about the royal sisters the terms blend into eachother
10998092
10998104
Terribly sorry, but perhaps I should have been more clear: please do not assume the way that you'd tell what you think the story will be is the best way.
Telling an author, especially someone who's said they've been working on this for a long time and presumably already has a plan, how to write their fic is actually seen as incredibly rude. I'm sure you didn't mean it as such, and are, in fact trying to be helpful and supportive, but I would appreciate it if you'd not do that in the future. If you'd like to write your own fic about what you think will happen, I'd love to read it, but I do not find unsolicited advice on how to end a fic I literally just began particularly inspiring.
I appreciate your excitement, though, and promise it will have an interesting ending (though, no, I will not be banishing Celestia to the moon, nor are these fics primarily about the royal sisters. You are more than welcome to write your own fic about them, though, and what you think should happen.)
10998117
Actually a tree branch pattern is the best way to tell this story if you don't want to have confusing crossovers, altough the branches could be summarized in one narative, but that creates confusion with who the narator is if you have multiple ones
10998127
Please stop telling me how to write my own fic.
10998132
I'm not, I just point out some things that may create confusion later on, but I'm pretty sure that you have them fixed by now, still why no Tia on the moon?
Oooooooooooo
I kinda predicted this was what had happened, but it still is quite the nice reveal for it all.
11003436
Excellent! That means I set it up properly! Don't worry, this is just the start!
God damn, Silent. That's.... Yeah okay. Whew. Really had to stop and take this bit in. The perspective it gives to Children of the Sun.....
The framing of this chapter through a morning radio show is awesome. I adore this use of Vinyl Scratch (and Vinyl Scratch herself. I may be biased), and her voice lends such rich detail to this world. The fanfic author in me like....... REALLY wants to write a story with her as the star. The fights she likely puts up to be on the radio, and the information she's privy to as a result. Damn, that's juicy content.
And then!! You manage to top it all off with this incredible bite-sized scene in the throne room, revealing SO much about the world and the lore...... And God. The relationship. Rarity and Nightmare Moon herself. Part of me was like "the title can't be that literal" but holy shit it IS. And it is DELICIOUS.
I can just feel this world so viscerally. I adore it. I wish I could walk through it and interact with it, just as a passerby, yk? Wow. Super excited to keep up with this one.
I think I used up all my coherency on the first chapter. All that's going on in my head rn is steampunk dystopia pony space race steampunk dystopia pony space race over and over, with a mini refrain of Rarity is in love with Nightmare Moon Rarity is in love with Nightmare Moon.
This story (or, I suppose, these stories together) are just. Wow. You've developed such a unique, well-structured, rich and terrible world to explore. I am DYING to know more, and yet I also want to savor it, yk? Like this is my chance to live here, and I need to make sure I seize it.
I'm really excited. These stories are incredible. You should be really proud of them!!
Aaaa this is amazing, can't wait to read more! You truly are the master of world building
Loving this story. Added to my read list!
This is a refreshing twist to the formula.
Good work so far, and I can say with sincerity that I'm looking forward to reading more of it.
Bravo!