Chapters
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Chapter 16: Discord“I'm afraid not, my dear ponies." Chance heard the voice, though it did not seem as though anything in the room had changed. It made them all shiver, though Chance had never heard it before. It was not the voice of a pony, that much she could tell. Then, as though their barricade was a hologram, something casually walked through it, and the voice suddenly had a body.Chance wasn't sure what she expected from the body of the being whose mind she had briefly sensed. In one way at least it…-
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It was another late shift.Many of Elliot's coworkers loathed the overnight, with its long stretches of nothing broken only rarely by the occasional trucker or weirdo. Far from avoiding it, Elliot often volunteered.There was something honest about only a few tables at a time, delivering bizarre orders to those customers who rolled in when honest folk were asleep. Overnights were the shift for long conversations, for wild tangents and getting on a first-name basis with the regulars.Ruby wasn't as fond of…-
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The Gungnir rocked violently to one side, then the other. Even with no windows, Lotus felt the temperature begin to rise, as though the huge ship had been sitting in baking summer sun without opening a window. Her magical senses felt the impact very differently—like a great ship plunging directly into a massive wave. Its supernatural walls held firm, but there was no telling how many such impacts they would survive.Something shook her by the shoulder, drawing Lotus sharply back to reality. Princess…-
133.2 K •
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Lotus lay still, but not in the endless silence that threatened to swallow her. There was a sound here, repeating every second or two, exactly the same. Other sounds sometimes joined it—distant voices, the sound of shoes on something hard. She could've been there forever, and maybe she would've. Except that something touched her shoulder, and a familiar voice whispered.Iron Feather. "Stay as long as you need. We'll be waiting here when you're ready."She twitched, rolling to one side. Of all the creatures…
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133.2 K •
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The flames burned high over Hono that night. Hono wasn't just a village built on discipline, friendship, and cooperation—it depended on those things to continue to exist. It took only one soul to lose control of their anger, just once. If the residents couldn't get things under control almost instantly, they probably never would.That night, they didn't. Blue flames turned orange as the town's largest structures caught fire, and its ancient trees burned. Hono survived a war, survived the return of the…
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133.2 K •
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Lotus rarely visited Canterlot anymore—less often than in her first year in Equestria. She could only sit for so many interviews and appear in so many elaborate public ceremonies before they all turned exhausting. Besides, she had a family to think about. Nothing could beat the peaceful, rural quiet of Hono.Until the village burned to ashes.Even so, there was something particularly impressive about arriving in Canterlot by train. Almost an hour weaving slowly up switchbacks up the mountains, until…
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133.2 K •
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Despite being the princess of something that shouldn't exist from any scientific perspective Lotus understood, Twilight Sparkle approached their initial conversation with a familiar method of investigation. She wanted to know about kirin—what made them different from ponies, how their magic worked, and how they could transition between Nirik and kirin and back again.She also seemed to know about humans and other worlds, or at least about something called a “mirror portal.” But whenever Lotus pressed…
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133.2 K •
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But Lotus Cinder wasn't really alone. Now that she carried her tormentor with her, she never would be. At least not for however many months kirin took. She dropped onto the plush carpet of the study floor, turning sideways to look at her belly. As though there would be some obvious sign of whatever was taking place within. Searing Gale's severed spirit might've gone completely unnoticed, if she wasn't so desperate to manipulate Lotus.I'm the only reason she didn't kill you yet, said the voice. She still…
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133.2 K •
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Iron Feather escorted her downstairs, though not exactly straight to bed. As soon as they were out of Twilight's presence, both of them relaxed. Iron slid the spear back into its holster."I tried to keep up with what you two were doing, but..." He looked away. "Couldn't really follow it. Magic is one of those gifts you either have or you don't—and that's before it had anything to do with me. When it's my mate, and my foal involved with the spell." Lotus stopped on the ramp. One section of the huge castle…
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133.2 K •
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Lotus Cinder knew the day the other team had finally solved their spell from the sudden transformation in everypony's moods. The unicorns spent every hour in such grim focus that they spoke about little else, and never smiled.But then she heard polite applause from their half of the room, along with loud cheering. Even if she couldn't hear what they were saying from across the room, part of her suspected.The princess appeared in the doorway a few minutes later and vanished into a conference room with the…
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