Chapters
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Captain Twilight Sparkle shifted uneasily in the confines of her insulated sleeper suit. She could feel the fabric pressing down on her coat, constricting her movement. It’s alright. Once I go into hibernation, I won’t be feeling anything.She pushed off gently from the back of the elevator, then used only an occasional flap of her wings to keep her moving through cryogenics. She passed five other pods, each of which was already occupied, and had been for weeks. There was no way to look inside, but the…-
158.4 K •
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4. Let Spike Decide (He’ll be awake anyway, might as well let him choose once there’s more information)"I can't decide right now," Twilight said, pushing the tablet back with her magic. Spike caught it in his claws, frowning. "You've got to decide," he said. "It takes a long time to build a lander, Twi.""I know!" she grinned down at him. "And you'll be around to make the right choice. Wait until the probe gets there, then do what seems best." She hopped up onto the table, wincing visibly as the…
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158.4 K •
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Scrap the WeaponsWaking from stasis was a painful process. Twilight remembered the awful discomfort she’d felt after a few training freezes. But now it was real, and she had to watch chunks of her mane crumble away from her face into the water washed of her pod. Her veins burned, and she knew a slurry of chemistry and spells blasted her from the inside. How long have we been moving? As the light gradually came up in her tiny pod, she watched the water draining away carry an awful lot of purple fur.The…
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158.4 K •
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Applejack (Engineering, Hydroponics) Twilight stared unblinking into her mirror, eyes watering even with the assistance of a pair of new plastic glasses. A thin line of fuzzy mane had sprouted in the week since she had first woken, the only healthy color on her whole body. Patches of her fur were still missing, with splotches of grayish skin visible underneath. But they’d started to itch terribly, which the manual told her meant they were healing. The joys of being generation one. She could only hope…
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158.4 K •
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Repair the Engines Twilight Sparkle drifted through the computer mainframe, fighting down her stomach with every bounce and push with her wings. It’s okay, Applejack is doing what I told her. There’s no reason to be upset. Repairing the Equinox’s engines required shutting them down, which meant they stopped decelerating. No more negative acceleration meant no more apparent gravity. Unlike some of her friends, Twilight was no rock hopping prospector, who had spent months at a time in low-to-no…
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158.4 K •
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Evoli looked out at her army, swollen with the ranks of the mighty force sent to destroy her. Many of these drones still wore the body-paint or armor of her enemies, glittering in the dawn sunlight. But all that armor didn’t protect them. There was no chance that the great queens wouldn’t realize what she had done. The real question was—how much of their army was this? It would take them at least five years to grow replacements. That assuming they could find the glamour to do it. Without so many…-
27.0 K •
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New Delaware was not one of the dozens of villages and tiny towns Evoli had faced in her campaign across the country. It was, rather, a fortress of surpassing strength, built by the finest griffon stonemasons. As night fell, Evoli could see their torches moving back and forth along the walls, and see the outlines of their patrols in the air.She couldn’t see a single changeling anywhere—though by their nature, it was hard to be certain about their presence. But Evoli would’ve been able to sense it if…
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27.0 K •
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There was only one destination left to them now. Evoli knew it, even as the Great Queens would know it. The end of all things waited for them at the fortress called Eternal.It was an ancient place, or as ancient as anything built since the end of the old world could be. It was meant to be a capital of sorts for the changelings—built by a cooperative of many queens and many workers. Riley had been all about symbols and rules. She’d designed the fortress herself.But did you think it would be my army…
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27.0 K •
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Evoli could feel her drones dying as they charged into the mouth of the Pillar of Equilibrium. Each death gave her only a brief glance inside before the drone died—from a hail of arrows, from bullets or boiling oil or many other hazards. Yet there was so much energy in there, so much life.Isaac dares to lecture me, demanding that I give up and die while he lives his endless, immortal life. What does he know of hunger? I deserved the blessing of the gods, not him, not that freak drone of a younger sister.…
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Decimus and her swarm of controllers fought brutally. Evoli could hear them from outside, and sense the violence through the aid of her own swarm. The deeper they went, the better prepared the enemy became. She could not see into the minds of Decimus and her controllers, but she could ask those on the outskirts through her own controllers’ vocal questions.The enemy was prepared—with weapons of the ancients, in great numbers. Many of the orphaned controllers died. All the better. We need as few mouths…
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