Chapters
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A few minutes later, and Hayden had followed Lodestone back inside, accompanied only by the guards and a handful of other ponies. None of the guards asked for her identification.“And what of Polestar, Lord Snow Storm?” Captain Lodestone asked, as soon as they were safe within the castle walls. Most of the servants and staff didn’t follow them to the upstairs sitting room near where they had first entered. But Hayden followed, and Lodestone glared at any guard who dared approach her. “Why didn’t…-
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Evening Star could hear the drums long before she could see the city through the clouds. This was by design, of course—flying above the clouds meant they could avoid the worst of the currents that might’ve knocked an inexperienced flier from the air. It meant they could spend the least effort, and rest whenever they wanted just by gliding down a ways.The distant beats sounded nothing like anything Star had heard during her time in Defiance, watching ponies in their military drills. The beat sounded…
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Hayden had almost nothing of what she needed. She didn’t even have the passable set of tools she had commissioned from the castle blacksmith. But Hayden had spent years of her life as a general contractor, and years before that in the military. In neither of those careers had “not having what she needed” been an excuse. She wouldn’t let it be in Defiance, either.Besides, though she lacked almost anything of what might’ve been considered essential by others, she had the one thing that just…
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The night passed without much incident. Captain Lodestone didn’t try anything with her, and she managed to resist whatever instinctive part of herself wanted to get closer to him in return. The only strange thing about the experience was her dreams, which seemed quite unfamiliar to her. She’d never seen so many ponies in armor in her life. But Hayden dismissed it as a dream brought on by her work, and woke at first light along with the captain.He filled their canteens by squeezing out the cloud, before…
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About a month later, and Hayden was shuffling nervously back and forth in her room, fussing over what she’d packed into her saddlebags and wondering how long she would have to wait. She had packed everything she could think off—her old belongings were more than enough for survival in the wilderness when she’d been human, but there was no telling how useful they might be, or how much they would even be needed.We’re not camping, we’re not crossing the wilderness. It’s okay. It’s only a day’s…
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Hayden found herself alone on the roof of her tower that night, staring up at the stars. She hadn’t bothered with clothes, hadn’t bothered with a blanket or even a pillow for resting on. She just sat on the floor, with the phone in front of her. She’d rigged a stylus for it by wrapping a thin rod in a little metal foil taken from a gum-wrapper, and that worked well enough so long as she was careful. Her solar charger still worked, though she knew even that had a limited lifespan. If she stayed in…
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By the time Hayden returned to her room, she found a pair of Lunar Guard soldiers standing in the hallway on either side. Even the guards seemed a little intimidated by her strange appearance, though. They got out of the way as she approached, bowing, and scraping and moving so quickly it looked like they were afraid she might attack them.She was too upset with herself to let that feeling spread to anyone else. I ruined it. I can’t believe I was so stupid! She was an animal! I’m an animal! None of this…
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“There,” Nightbreeze proclaimed, after twenty minutes of painfully slow work. “Not that you’ll wear that again. But if you did want to, you’d be able to.” She carried the last of several hangers into the wardrobe.“Thank God.” Hayden stretched each of her limbs in turn, feeling as though she’d just had shackles removed from all over her body. “Every time I moved I thought I was going to tear something.”“Well… you did. Damage the dress, I mean. Not that it matters—one of Luna’s…
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Hayden could not have easily described what about this pony made him so attractive. A month ago, she might’ve been so disgusted she rejected the feelings outright, or worse, made it clear just how she felt right in front of him. Lord Golden Glow was taller than she was, more muscular as well. He wore a tailed suit like the other stallions, only he didn’t seem like he cared about how he looked.Instead of fluffy and loose like most of the other suits (including the one his butler was wearing), his was…
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But Nightbreeze had been right about the ritual, just as she had been right about a great deal. There was nothing dramatic, at least not to her. Hayden listened to the ponies as Princess Celestia and Luna formally accepted oaths of loyalty from each of the house lords—which thankfully didn’t include her. She was here as a member of Luna’s house, so all she had to do was sit and listen as quietly as possible.She got many stares, whispers, ponies pointing at her, but that was all.When the ceremony was…
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