Search

    Chapters

    • Chapter 4: Iron Crown Cover
      by Starscribe — It took over an hour to break a wide enough gap in the ice to permit a single pony through. It didn’t help that the ice had dripped through the cracks in existing stone, melting until it was merged with the rock. The shade had protected the ice on all but the outer layer from melting.But eventually they broke through, and Plowshare from the labor crew walked over to the makeshift supply area on the slope.Ponies from his entire crew were arriving now, except for the guards who protected the stockpile.…
    • Chapter 3: Hollow Heart Cover
      by Starscribe — Gale was worn, bloody, nearly broken. The monastery stone was soaked with blood, dribbling down from the carnage above. His own foreleg was heavily bandaged, and the ledgers of grain and vegetables were splashed with bandit blood.There were three of them dead on the floor near the stairs, laying right where they fell. Gale had only taken the time to remove the daggers from them, spreading them casually around the room where he could reach them. Behind him was the final, greatest target of the nameless…
    • Chapter 2: Desperation Cover
      by Starscribe — If Iron Quill was the kind of general he’d copied stories about in the scrolls of ancient history, he probably would’ve flown proudly through the camp then, uniting the surviving companies and making some decisive orders that would save the army. Unfortunately for Nightmare Moon, unfortunately for their chances of freeing Equestria from the tyrant and getting their revenge, he wasn’t a legendary general.Iron Quill flew straight back to the place he’d come from—the stockpile.Despite the disaster…
    • Chapter 1: Crash Landing Cover
      by Starscribe — Iron Quill landed with the harsh impact of dust and blowing sand. The incredible force of Celestia’s magic washed over and around him for a few more seconds, charring at his mane and burning at his eyes. Is this the end? The Tyrant has beaten us. Now I die for choosing the wrong side.But he didn’t die. Alicorns were capable of terrible things, and he’d heard all the stories about the artifacts kept securely in the Castle of the Two Sisters. That was why they had to seize it so badly. That was why the…
    • Chapter 8: Celestial Cover
      by Starscribe — For the palace of the princess, Canterlot Castle wasn’t much of what she’d expected. It was really just a large room, with an elegant chair on one end and a few seats for witnesses along the wall. Sunset walked in at the back of the group, keeping her head down. I can see why the Princess is renovating. The throne room she’s building is way more impressive than this.The trip into Canterlot had been uneventful, painfully so. She couldn’t have said which train Flash Sentry had ridden in, but she…
    • Chapter 7: Sentry Cover
      by Starscribe — Instead of being packed into the cargo hold with the other help, Sunset got a cabin all to herself on the return voyage. Well, it was assigned to her, but she invited a certain stallion to share it with her just like their tent. Some part of her wondered if Daring Do had put the two of them together like that all along, after noticing their friendship during the trip over—but that was stupid. There was no reason for an important pony like her to care.Sunset did a lot of stupid things during the trip…
    • Chapter 6: Daring Cover
      by Starscribe — Sunset hadn’t been allowed to see the dig site before. But now, after weeks of cooking and hauling and cleaning, she was finally allowed to walk the short trail up into the hills and see what was worth sending people so far into the wilderness to retrieve.The ruins were located at the bottom of a valley, nestled into the peaks of Isla Colas so tightly that most would probably have walked past them within a hundred meters and never known what they were missing. “Couldn’t have happened to a better…
    • Chapter 5: Isla Colas Cover
      by Starscribe — If the world through the portal was the same geographically as the one Sunset had left behind, it got harder to tell during a sea voyage. Sunset spent much of her time aboard the Chrysanthemum’s deck, reading or practicing the suggested levitation drills. While up there, she saw basically the same empty ocean stretching away in all directions. Occasionally an angry member of the crew told her to move so they could work the sails, but she soon found the places she wouldn’t disturb them.She gave up on…
    • Chapter 4: Flash Cover
      by Starscribe — The pony city of Canterlot might have the same name as the real city she’d left behind, but its charming design led far more to confusion than it did to understanding.Sunset thought she’d be heading for the train station, yet as she got closer, she realized the path she was on led right to a cliff. She hadn’t noticed because dozens of ponies were still taking it, sliding off into the void and coasting down on their wings to the train station below. The flow of messengers and businesspeople up and…
    • Chapter 3: Value Cover
      by Starscribe — Sunset Shimmer had known full well that there might be civilization on the other side of the portal. American fiat currency would be worth less than the paper it was printed on, but she might need money to get things done. There hadn’t been a transcendental instant waiting beyond the mirror, stripping away the illusion of substance from reality and giving her a single experience that would empower her with magic forever.She would have to work, have to read, and have to study. That’s fine. I knew it…
    Note