Chapters
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If Magpie’s supply of compassion had been running low before, after crawling through the cramped service-passages of Vanaheimr for over an hour with Solar Wind’s voice yapping constantly in her ear, she’d now thoroughly reached the negative. With every step she took through the gloom, her desire that the hippogriff’s air armor would finally start to fail grew. Then the bird would have to fly back to the safety of an airlock, and Magpie could finally accomplish her mission in peace.“It doesn’t…-
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“I can’t believe you’d let a crazy walk all over you like that,” Solar Wind muttered, shoving the paper card into her pocket. “Weren’t you threatening me with all kinds of crazy things, like… yesterday?”It was still night, so at least there weren’t many other creatures in the transfer station. A few food carts sat dark and cold against the wall, but here the lights all worked and the benches were freshly cleaned. Magpie made her way towards the stairs, leading up to the Starseed line. The…
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Magpie was the last through the Tower airlock, slamming it shut behind her. If she’d had more magical talent, she probably would’ve put some kind of protection spell on it—for all the good it would do. Goldleaf was already way ahead of her, manipulating a set of crystal controls near the wall. A thrumming reverberated through her hooves, bringing with it the acidic tang of acetone on the air. “That should keep anything from shadow-stepping through our walls,” he muttered, only the first echoes of…
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“I don’t have a bucking clue why he trusts you,” Goldleaf muttered, as they left the Tower behind. There were sets of air-armor available for both of them, but they’d both decided against bringing any. Neither of them really needed the protection, but plenty of creatures in the Constabulary might.That meant they trudged across the moon’s surface with nothing but Goldleaf’s bubble, lit with the steady glow of his magic. It was enough to keep any bats from shadow-stepping within sword’s reach,…
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Magpie caught them up on everything she’d seen and done, though she was light on the details that had led to her void compass. At least she could save her pride, since the specifics of how she’d “stolen” it from Polestar didn’t matter very much.She went through the attack on the tram, then what Bauble had decided in just a few more minutes. “We could be worse off,” Silver declared, as soon as she’d finished. He wore a breastplate made of scavenged Alicorn air-armor, along with a belt of…
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Magpie crouched low as they neared the extreme edge of the cavern, where long ago a ritual combat arena had marked the place for many creatures to fight and die. She had stood in those stands and watched as Nightmare’s champion died at the sword of a helpless old scholar. She’d seen a mountain of “rebel” ponies slaughtered at the order of the final Lord Commander.But in the years since, the arena had fallen into even greater disrepair. Gravity disc was less interesting to most creatures than…
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Magpie watched as Luna faced Nightmare down. This was the moment all her efforts might become meaningless. If the princess turned against Moonrise now, there was nothing any of them could do to stop her.“The Luna I know wouldn’t listen to it!” Magpie shouted. She ignored its furious anger, focused on her like a magnifying glass. It could focus all its attention on her and it wouldn’t be able to capture her body again. “You fought injustice your whole life! You know what Nightmare will bring to…
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Magpie couldn’t have said how long she lay there, her concentration so fractured that she couldn’t process what was happening around her for longer than a few moments at a time. Shapes surrounded her, and she knew some of them. Should she keep fighting? Was Moonrise still in danger?She tried to ask, but nothing that came out her mouth ever quite became words.She felt it when the lights came on, a brilliant glow she knew ought to be there. Did that mean they’d won? She hurt too much to care.Eventually…
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Silver Star crossed the boarding platform, one hoof extended to touch the railing. He’d never seen the moon from so high before, where even the newest domes looked like little mounds of gray dirt broken by the occasional skylight. Thousands of ponies were down there now, all watching this mission.Guess they got their invasion after all, he thought, stopping beside the waiting outer airlock door. We knew we would be returning for revenge on Equestria for hundreds of years. Hopefully our ancestors don’t…
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The flight to Equestria was certainly not uneventful, taking Silver Star, Daystar, and the princess just over three days to complete. There were a few systems adjustments to be made along the way, and some minor emergencies corrected with nervous calls back to ground control. But in the end, their mission was a success.And the great blue-green marble of Equus grew larger and larger in their view until they finally entered into a slow, regular orbit. “It's so much bigger,” Daystar muttered, mostly to…
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