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    When everything seems dark, don't be.

    Chapters

    • Chapter 3: May 25 Cover
      by Starscribe Dear Journal,I didn’t find anyone today. Power died sometime during the night, though the batteries in the truck haven’t yet. There were no streetlights on when I woke in the morning, and while my cell phone still sometimes claims to have service, I haven’t been able to so much as reach anybody’s voicemail today. So ends the connectedness of the information age. At least until everybody comes back. I mean; if the vanishing happened all at once for no reason, I see no reason the return of humanity…
    • Chapter 2: May 24 Cover
      by Starscribe Dear Journal,I survived another day, despite what you may’ve expected. I didn’t starve, though that almost seemed like a more pressing danger than anything else so far. Despite my expectations, the lights are all still on. I guess whatever automated equipment they use to keep the grid running can go twenty-four hours without human intervention. How long will it take for all the fuel in all the world’s emergency generators to run out? Another day? A week?There were no visible changes to the situation…
    • Chapter 1: May 23 Cover
      by Starscribe Dear Journal,I think I better get these details down before I forget them (or else go completely insane). If you (probably just me) notice that I’ve switched from pen-written entries to typed ones glued awkwardly into the book, know that I have a very good reason for that decision.Actually, I’m using the text-to-speech on my laptop, this entry won’t be typed. Why? That’s an excellent question! Because I can’t. Can’t, you ask? Why could that be? Well, now you’ve asked the right question. Not…
    • Epilogue Cover
      by Starscribe In many ways Second Chance's return to Ponyville was completely predictable. Despite the fact that neither she nor Twilight had made any mention of the day they would be returning, Pinkie Pie had either managed to obtain restricted information or kept a surprise party on standby.But before all of that was a trip from the train station up to Sweet Apple Acres, to return Apple Bloom to her family. Chance couldn’t help but giggle at the way Apple Bloom had taken specific care that no trace of fabric hung…
    • Chapter 12: The Brave and the Fool Cover
      by Starscribe Second Chance heard it like a voice, though it was not a voice. "Installation Complete. Performing Startup Sequence." As though she had been abruptly plunged into a sensory deprivation chamber, her senses were suddenly cut from her, and she was floating bodiless in the void. She would have screamed, except that the Nanophage had stimulated a state of sleeping immobility in order to protect her from herself.It was a good thing too, because panic rose in her. The being now named Second Chance had seen and…
    • Chapter 11: Helpless Cover
      by Starscribe Apple Bloom had never worked so hard in her life. No harvest had ever motivated her to such violent action, not even the contest over cider-making when her farm had been in jeopardy. True, every passing hour made it more likely her friend would be taken too far to easily follow, and what she had seen happen just outside the lab all but proved the guards had been impostors. Every ounce of her concentration was devoted to engineering her way out. The magical glass proved resistant to drilling and heat, and…
    • Chapter 10: Captivity Cover
      by Starscribe "As you requested, My Queen." Equilibrium lowered his head in a respectful bow, or at least as respectful as either of her Builder servants ever showed. "I have the filly." She watched as he tossed the cloth sack casually to the ground in front of him. No lights shone in the room of pipes and rushing water, yet none of its occupants needed them. Changelings had long since adapted to lives in the deep places of the earth. "Though I'll admit, I was more than a little disappointed not to have the chance to…
    • Chapter 9: Builders Cover
      by Starscribe Was it normal to be this nervous when going to talk to a machine? Twilight felt like her hooves were made of lead, and each step was an enormous effort of will. The generator was running upstairs, belching occasional clouds of steam and smoke up into the air. She hoped no pegasi were unfortunate enough to be flying over the library today.She carefully locked the door behind her, then flicked the lights on with her magic and began trundling her way down the stairs. Each step practically shouted on the wood,…
    • Chapter 8: Conquest Cover
      by Starscribe "So this is everything you need?" Their adviser Confident Theory was a stern-looking mare, her mane graying at the tips. The rest of her was firm and angular, like an angry sliderule. "One fifty-liter pressure vessel, three hundred meters of uninsulated copper cable, two industrial gas burners, a rotary kiln, high-density filters, fifty kilograms of lye, nine-hundred liters of distilled water, and... let me make sure I'm reading this last one right... three hundred kilograms of unprocessed red-brown…
    • Chapter 7: Treaty Cover
      by Starscribe Apple Bloom paced nervously back and forth at the door to their private car, the clopping of her hooves loud enough to hear even over the rumbling of the train. There wasn't much room for her to pace; barely three steps and she had to turn around with a flash of her rose tail and growing agitation to her body. "You haven't been away from home this long before, have you?"Apple Bloom paused briefly in her pacing, her mane buzzing around her face like sparks. "It's not bein' away from home." Chance had never…
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