Gems: The Sun Princess
is the first part of the Gems trilogy currently being written by Pen Dragon. The story follows Watcher, a student from the Order, after he gets punished for using a forbidden spell to fend off an attacker from trying to kill his best friend. Now, he's just a librarian, but one day he encounters a mare who may or may not be the long-forgotten princess of the sun.
Has a story group in Fimfiction, the Gem-Verse, it also has a one-shot prequel Tales of the Sun, and a non-canon spin-off Gem.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Ancient Conspiracy: The story implied that the Order is trying to keep the existence of the four alicorn princesses a secret, so far their true purpose is unknown. Chapter 9 has them trying to capture Celestia at all costs.
- Author Avatar: Pen Dragon himself appears in the story as the CEO of the Dragon Corporation. Despite his name he's a pony, not a dragon.
- Benevolent Boss: Pen Dragon, he cares about the well-being of his staff, even putting himself in harm's way in order to protect them. Once it becomes clear that the secret weapon he's working on has been leaked, he doesn't attempt to deny it's existence.
- Broken Pedestal: Watcher becomes disillusioned with the Order after he's punished for trying to protect his friend, but he loses all respect for them after he realizes that Princess Celestia is real and the Order has been keeping her existence a secret and now are trying to capture her.
- Cassandra Truth: Many ponies believe that the legend of the four alicorns isn't real, apparently it's also genetically impossible for a pony to produce an alicorn. Midnight insists that the princesses are real, Celestia claims to be Princess Celestia; unfortunately she's in a unicorn body. Celestia managed to convince Watcher after she moved the sun by herself with no help.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Watcher, much to Celestia's dismay.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Watcher clearly has a crush on Stardust, however after the incident, she start dating Midnight instead.
- Evil Chancellor: The currently unnamed chancellor that appears at the end of chapter six, it's implied that he possess the power of the sun princess since not only is he Immune to Bullets, he then kill his attackers effordlessly and shrug it off like nothing happen. Its implied that all chancellors that ruled the Order for two thousands years are actually the same individuals, a false democracy.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Celestia has been gone for two thousand years, so naturaly she has no idea how the modern world works, much to Watcher's dismay.
- Legend Fades to Myth: Two thousand years into the future, the legend of the four alicorns has faded into just a myth.
- Magitek: Two thousand years after the disappearance of the four princesses, Equestria saw a lot of technological advancement.
- MegaCorp: The Dragon Corporation is a wealthy weapons manufacturing company, lead by Pen Dragon.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Watcher tries to save his friend Midnight by using dark magic against the attacker, this result with he gets punished by not allowing him to go to Alpha classes. Downplayed since he did nearly kill the attacker by using a forbidden spell. Subverted since the Order is actually corrupted.
- Pen Dragon suffers from this in the aftermath of the attack, justified in the form of realistic consequences.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: When Watcher is trying to console a sad Celestia, Midnight and Stardust suddenly appear and think they're dating, Watcher and Celestia reacts with disgust.
- The Order: The Order is the government that controls the southern region of Equestria. Chapter 9 confirms that it's actually corrupted, evidenced by liberal use of police brutality and a complete determination to capture Celestia. It's also implied that it's a false democracy, as its leaders all share the same appearance and cutie marks since its creation two thousand years ago, in other words these are the same individuals and not their descendants.
- Physical Goddess: The four princess of Equestria. The Order either doesn't believe it or doesn't want the population to find out.
- Professional Killers: The White Talons is a group of griffon mercenaries, they're known for dressing in white, use of antique firearms and have a very murderous reputation. They were supposed to have disbanded two decades ago, but have return with unknown intentions.
- Rip Van Winkle: Celestia is utterly surprised once she realizes she's been missing for two thousand years, and gets sad because her ponies had forgotten all about her.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Watcher is the savvy guy to Celestia's energetic girl.
- Schizo Tech: In chapter six, we have ponies armed with crossbows, the griffons that attacked the Dragon Corp. were armed with firearms, Pen Dragon's prototype weapon is a high-tech hovercraft that can fire electromagnetic shots and unicorns can use magic spells. Celestia is also seen using a computer.
- Self-Insert Fic
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Pen Dragon is forced to use the prototype aircraft he's working on to fend off the griffons, justified because he knows they're going after the prototype and he's not going to let them steal it. It's also a notable example because not only it's a Flawed Prototype, but it was also used while it was being repaired from a previous failed test.
- We Used to Be Friends: Midnight and Stardust attack Watcher after he chose to help Celestia instead.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: The attack on the Dragon Corp. doesn't go without consequences, the ADS, the company that offer security guards to Pen Dragon, terminates it's contract with Pen and a lawsuit is filled by ADS and the families of the guards that where killed during the attack. To make matters worse, there's large stock drops as a result of half of the investors quitting, the authorities has divisive opinion about Pen Dragon killing the White Talons, and this strains Pen's friendship with Cobalt Banks.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Equestria is currently divided into two territories, The Order and The Rebellion, naturally they oppose each other, the morality of the two groups remains unknown however. So far it's implied that the Order is the real Big Bad.
