Chapters
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Getting dressed for a trip into the arctic chill of winter was never easy for an earth pony. True, her clothes were specifically made for one of her race. There were pull-tabs and clasps large enough for hooves or mouth to operate. Even so, a process that might've taken ten minutes with hands took over an hour without them.She dressed Ezri first, then closed off access to the city's heat system for good. The old mansion had pre-Event insulation and held heat far better than their new buildings, yet still…-
153.4 K •
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They came from the gloom of near evening, circling in from upwind where their prey would not smell them. Since the Event, it seemed that all animals were at least a little smarter. Huan had seemed to outright understand her at times, and followed complex spoken instructions with characteristic canine loyalty. Unfortunately, that same new source of mental power was extended to all creatures, even the dangerous ones. Even the wolves.In later years, she might be impressed with their cunning. At the time,…
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153.4 K •
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The longer she met his eyes, the more she recognized. The glove might’ve changed, but the hand underneath was exactly as it had been. “Fine.” She gestured back at Ezri. “Just between us. I’ll cooperate, but only if you leave her out of it. She’s not involved.”He shrugged. “If that’s what you want. I’m sure I could improve her as much as you. But if it will speed things along…” Alex felt something stir at her back. The straps came loose without a glow of magic, sliding clean off to…
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153.4 K •
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They left St. Louis the next day, by the first light of morning. Nopony tried to stop them like in Alexandria. She pushed Ezri to her best possible pace, even covering a little more ground in the dark. They were walking west instead of south, but even so… she didn’t want to be anywhere near the city when night fell. If word got around there were a pair of young ponies traveling alone, there was no telling what “accidents” they might have on the road.There were others they passed, but none turned…
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153.4 K •
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“Dreams are your territory, not mine. Outside of my own sleep, I’m worse than useless. Here, though.” There was no delay like when Jackie had changed. One second she was an Alicorn, and the next she had her own batwings and her horn had vanished. It was not really all that different: Archive didn’t actually know what being a thestral felt like, so the sensations were entirely imagined.“I’ll… consent you’ve actually created a shared dream.” She sounded reluctant. “That doesn’t mean…
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153.4 K •
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For all the different ways Lonely Day had died, what happened after was always the same. She drifted in timeless space, felt forces tugging her towards the gulf that would terminate her existence, then turned away and returned to her body instead.This time was different. As Archive drifted back towards Earth, she passed through boiling clouds and roiling storms and found she was not alone.“It’s about time you died. Baconhead made it seem like a good death was part of your morning routine.”Archive had…
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153.4 K •
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The teleport took her in a flash, briefly blinding her and setting off all the thaumic energy indicators in her helmet. She had given herself a full twenty feet of breathing room over where she guessed the surface to be, in case her calculation had been vastly wrong. It was, and twenty feet was more like fifty. The parachute on the back of her armor exploded outward as she started to fall, but it wasn’t enough. Parachutes weren’t meant to work at such short distances. It was night, but even the gloom…
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153.4 K •
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There was no more drama for a few hours as Radio Springs mobilized. Alex learned then that the pegasi flying from Motherlode had been sent to tell the city about the attack and the armored pony that had killed three of their guards and been heading for the settlement. Thank God she had noticed them, or else she might’ve walked right into the city and been arrested.White did not correct the misinformation, not yet. If the pegasi heard that some other story was being passed around, they might be able to…
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153.4 K •
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The disused mine up on the back hill proved to have been barricaded to prevent further escapes. An hour or so and a crowbar later, and they could use the lift to start bringing trapped miners back up. Just in time too: the rain had flooded the mine, and the water level had continued to rise. The storm seemed to have lost interest in the complex once the battle was complete, but even so most of the Refugees emerged wet as well as hungry.Alex made sure she was out of sight as this happened, hoping the miners…
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Bingham Canyon proved not to be the paradise of technology and progress Alex had promised: mostly it was temporary buildings and lots of metal supports sunk into concrete near the bottom of a gigantic open-pit mine. Yet even the temporary structures on the rim had electricity and running water. As Jackie went into surgery, Alex learned that she herself was being brought on as an advisory engineer on the construction of “Paradise Crater.”Not because there weren’t any humans or ponies of the HPI to do…
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