Chapters
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Bit watched as the guard poured in. After just a few seconds there were already more than she usually saw in one place. Only when they were guarding the Secretary of Labor did so many of these black-armored soldiers appear.Comet Hum retreated as they walked inside, backing up until she was against the far wall, near a resin printer. Pathfinder was too confused to move, and remained on the floor, stupefied. That alone could at least serve as proof of the success of Bit's healing—he didn't rise to join the…-
67.7 K •
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The path leading down into the city was not an easy one. Bit had arranged everything about her lab—even the shelves—and she'd placed each of these to block easy view of what was below. But she'd sliced through the edges, and her crystal ponies had already pushed the shelf aside, exposing the entrance just wide enough to travel downward."What is that?" Pathfinder asked, voice frightened. "Even I wouldn’t go below the city. Ponies that go down there don't come back.""Let's hope they believe that too,"…
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67.7 K •
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Red knew nothing more important than his duty. Function was purpose, and purpose was all that mattered.Centre was not the place of much labor anymore, not as it had once been. He remembered the very moment of transition, though it had been long ago. For years he had lived among others who were like him. They did things, they said things, and they wanted things... but he had understood little of it.But Red knew some things, even then. He knew that he wanted to be useful. That was how he had come to be here,…
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Sweetie Drops collapsed to the stone floor, her eyes weak and distant. “That’s it, then,” she whispered, staring up at the humming machines. “One by one, Computer got us. Now I’m the only one left.”Lyra dropped down beside her, resting one knee on the strange ground. Her girlfriend had always been cute, but now there was something almost parental in her feelings. She’d never sounded so heartbroken, not anytime Lyra could remember. She put one hand on her shoulder, and winced at Sweetie’s…-
47.8 K •
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For a single, eternal moment, Lyra sat suspended on the deck of the Equestria. Her friends scattered across the bridge, though not all of them moved. Time Turner and Muffins huddled close to each other in their seat. Muffins abandoned all pretense of using her own, and instead rested in his lap, both arms thrown over his shoulders. Lyra wished she could do the same with Bon Bon, but the mare didn't move. "Sweetie?"She wasn't just sitting still, but totally frozen. She didn't blink, and her mouth was open,…
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47.8 K •
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Lyra heard knocking against her quarters door. She wasn't sure how long it had been—long enough that she was in bed now, with the better part of her uniform now hanging on a hook. Technically speaking that might be a bad idea—a proper captain from the Equestrian army would probably not have stopped fighting until everything was resolved and they were all safe at home.But Lyra was an archeologist, not a general. If she didn't get a chance to rest, she would probably just keep breaking down. If she lost…
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47.8 K •
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The Equestria rattled and shook as it settled into its docking moorings. Thankfully, there was very little for Lyra or her “crew” to do during the process, other than watch the screens and look confident. The more time she spent on the Equestria, the more confused she felt about its creators’ insistence on involving “humans” in anything they did. The machine mind obviously knew how to do most everything. Why bother with a crew?Apparently it mattered a great deal, so much that Esperia Shipyard's…
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Lyra lowered herself awkwardly to the grass below a deep blue sun. She'd come not to a world this time, but a building without a planet. "I will not keep you for long. I know the ship you left behind is eager to have its captain returned. And your crew—strange as they are—I would not wish to cause them undue distress."Up close, the metal figure before her was only more perplexing. It wore a uniform over its golden body, similar in design to the jumpsuits that Computer gave Time Turner and Muffins.…
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Lyra waited outside the council chambers while the affairs of empires were decided. She heard some of it through the doors—raised voices, arguments over things she didn't quite understand, and impassioned pleas from ponies and griffons alike. A few times Twilight or Luna emerged for a brief conversation, or to ask her the meaning of some term. She had to explain why the “Sylphgate” was so important, and why the ancestors’ technology could not be used by griffons.While she sat, members of the other…
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It wasn’t long before they discovered just what the effects of the “bioforming aerosol” really were.Lyra guessed the victims had probably been griffons once, or something so close to them that there was no meaningful difference. They had once had wings, and beaks, and claws. They’d once been wearing armor and carrying strange long objects with imposing spikes that had to be weapons.But they wouldn’t be using them anymore, because they’d been melted into the ground. The jungle floor wasn’t…
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