Chapters
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Hayden had less than an hour to pack away his whole life. What were you supposed to bring when a Great Family forced you to leave against your will? At least he had Evelynn beside him, suggesting things and rejecting others. Little clothing made it—but aside from another outfit to change into, his sister suggested his version of the family's matching oversized tee-shirts. He cried as he held it up, looking at each eevee stitched into it in turn. It had everyone represented, though Liz was an eevee…-
169.6 K • Completed
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Hayden tossed and turned in his basement bedroom, alone in the dark. Every child spent their later years dreaming about this moment, when they finally got to come into their own and grow up for real. Most families threw parties for their kids when they settled, which usually marked the passage from childhood into their teenage years. He still remembered Ellie's party two years ago. Mom and Dad had done several extra projects for a few bakers in town, so they could get enough food for all the kids…
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169.6 K • Completed
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The next few hours were simultaneously tense and uneventful for Hayden. He showered away the grime of his brief encounter on the street, scrubbing his cuts until they were clean. He tried, anyway. But under the dried blood he found only smooth skin, not even a stray splinter from the old dock. He felt a little better when he was clean and dressed. Nothing he owned hadn't been worn by at least two siblings before him—but at least it was intact, and any tears would be mended as soon as he…
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169.6 K • Completed
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There was already a crowd gathered by the time Hayden made it to the shore. Many of those were Sunyshore's permanent residents, shopkeepers like his parents, or workers in the various factories and nearby mine. None of those spared him a glance as he slipped off the walkway, then hopped the low wall to get back onto the streets proper. At least until they noticed the daemon floating along beside him. Someone dropped a large bundle of cloth directly in front of him, which rolled slowly across the…
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169.6 K • Completed
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Hayden was in the wrong part of town. Sunyshore City had its many unspoken rules, and by crossing onto the piers, he had broken most of them. A townie just didn't belong on the pier, and the local children weren't about to yield their territory easily. He hoisted his threadbare coat high on his shoulders, covering his face as best he could. Maybe they would mistake who he was, long enough for him to cross back to the shore side. "They still following us?" Hayden might be only twelve…
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169.6 K • Completed
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Arcane Word visited a memory.Technically speaking, it was not a moment she did remember, which was why she had chosen it. The serpent of causality in the Ouroboros recreated all things, traveling backward from the final moment of Earth's existence. Most of those moments were little more than historical curiosity for the population of Equestria. From the news she heard, it seemed that more of the Equestrian-born generations were interested in the simulation than the First Generation. So many wanted to see a…-
14.4 K •
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It took longer than the party—long enough that the station on the Ouroboros shard became its own prominent tourist destination.For those of the proper disposition, it was possible to visit the simulated world beneath, using it to form a shard all your own. Arcane had no doubt her work was twisted an infinity of different ways by visiting ponies. Some would make themselves saviors, others tyrants, or worse.But none of those would remain faithful to the project she organized. There would be no true…
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14.4 K •
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Arcane Word did not rush to complete her task. She had begun this assignment by reminding Mystic Crescent that it might take her a great deal of time. Time enough to consult with the machine god, attend a hundred thousand different meetings with creatures all across the universe.It was enough time to invent whole new forms of computronium, purpose-built to simulate the very universe within which they existed. Enough time for the equivalent of a dozen different degrees, enough instruction to understand and…
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14.4 K •
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Domino deposited the old leather tube on Arcane's workbench, grinning with pride. "The soul you ordered."The Necromancer's laboratory shared surface-level theming that helped it line up with the world outside—crumbling castle walls, rusty metal railings, and lots of cobwebs. But beyond the spookiness, the laboratory was a practical workspace. The row of skeletons on display along the far wall served a useful purpose designing the bodies that matched the needs of the souls they revived.Domino didn't…
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14.4 K •
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"I know you don't like coming with me..." she told Domino, as they ascended the steps of the spire. As they walked up floor after floor, they left behind overlapping layers of Wintercrest, each one a parallel reality existing at the same point.They walked through a primitive settlement on the cliffside, where ponies barely understood fire. A far future, submerged version of the town, populated by seaponies who did not remember any who walked. There were crime-ridden dystopias, futuristic space stations,…
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14.4 K •
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