Chapters
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She closed a few hours before sundown, enough time for the brief drive to the dockside and to test the new equipment. It wasn't like anyone ever came in to get repairs the last hour she was open anyway. Aside from her wet-suit, a full set of gear felt so light that she probably could've walked down to the bay with it, even with her bad leg. But she still had a half-tank of biodiesel in the truck, and this seemed like a pretty good way to use it. She drove cautiously out of the garage. There were few other…-
21.7 K •
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Vera's next few days went about as well as she might've expected. She had decent business from the town's farmers, dusting off whatever salvage tractors and other hardware they could find for the upcoming harvest. Not all the news she gave them was good, of course. Sometimes a replacement part could be made in one of St. Agnes's two forges. But on the "newer" tractors, it was more often the brains that went out. There would be no more useful replacement parts shipping in from China or anywhere else…
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21.7 K •
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Vera pulled into her old house on the edge of downtown St. Agnes about an hour later. She rumbled to a stop in the old garage, smelling of biodiesel and rust. She kicked the service bay door open with a boot, and it wasn't long before one of St. Agnes's citizens came rumbling in on a tractor, engine choking and sputtering to a halt.She worked for the next few hours, fighting away her pain with a hard diet of sweaty labor. Keeping her hands busy helped banish the pain of betrayal, at least until the sun…
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21.7 K •
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Vera slammed the door to the old pickup. Even that wasn't enough to get the door to stick. She had to lift her good leg, leaning against her brace long enough to get the old lock to finally catch. It did, and she hobbled around to the back, past peeling paint and one window sealed with glue. The back of her truck sat low, borne down by heavy steel cylinders with high-pressure fittings. She hadn't lost any on the drive over, this time.The back of the dive shop was worn asphalt, patched a half dozen times…
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21.7 K •
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Sweetie Belle dragged her hooves through Carousel Boutique. It didn't matter how long it had been since she'd woken to the smell of steaming hotcakes. She could drench them with syrup, and tell her big sister about the plans for her next adventure this lazy summer day.Rarity wasn't in the kitchen, though. Her sister had more important things to do. Sweetie passed the pantry without a second glance. She didn't feel much like breakfast anyway.Sand and bits of broken glass rubbed painfully against her hooves…-
2.8 K •
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Lilac flew for the first time a few months later. She hadn't told Firefly she was coming—that was entirely the point. Her friend had seen her slow recovery in Willowbrook Municipal Hospital for long enough that she would probably guess Lilac would be released soon.But would she expect her to make the trip up on her own two wings? Calling it “flight” was a bit generous at this stage, true. Lilac spread both wings in a constant gliding position—then found a promising spot above her, and teleported…-
170.4 K •
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Firefly was not the pony to cut through the rubble and finally dig up Lilac's shelter. This time she obeyed Luna's instructions, staying well back from the magical excavation. She had nothing like the power the Alicorn could wield, and getting into her way only gave the princess more to distract her.At least the whole mine hadn't collapsed, or else they might never have found their way to Lilac's shelter in time. It was only one specific room, which Risk's dad had called the “throne chamber.” Even from…
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170.4 K •
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Lilac shielded her face with one leg, coughing and spluttering in the cloud of dirt and broken rock. She didn't expect that to matter much—the cave in would probably kill her, Risk, and Iris too. Only, it didn't. She lifted her leg a second later, confused. A glowing shell wrapped around them, bowing in slightly under the force of so much rock. Iris stood in the center, staring up at the collapsing ceiling. Even though her head was nowhere near the top of the shield, it seemed to be crushing her…
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170.4 K •
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Before Lilac was a terror emerged from the darkest nightmares. Its body was an amalgam of writhing, bloody flesh, with misshapen bits of bone emerging at odd angles. It stood on two legs, but as a human being it was a horrifying parody.The flesh that made it had no particular order—organs pulsed and bled, exposed. Eyes poked out from parts of its body, still blinking, while broken skulls formed sharp teeth in its jaws. It was so large it had to crawl forward on its hands-and-knees, leaving a black trail…
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170.4 K •
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Lilac Empathy remembered this place.She passed through a set of glass doors, along an indoor concourse with a large fountain filled with lilies, then up to an elevator with mirrored walls. She thumbed the button for the third floor, then stared back at her reflection. The dirty mirrors gave her a place to adjust her blue dress, and make a few changes to her makeup. She'd been crying again, so it ran down her cheek, and threatened to stain her blouse.The door opened a few seconds after the chime, but she…
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170.4 K •
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