Chapters
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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…-
90.1 K •
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"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…
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90.1 K •
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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,…
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90.1 K •
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"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…
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90.1 K •
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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…
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90.1 K •
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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…
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90.1 K •
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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…
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90.1 K •
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"You know you don't have to do this." The android sounded about as sensitive and friendly as any android could, much better than the emotionless voice she had used a decade ago. "You can turn around. Nopony will judge you if you stay. You could probably convince the others to call it off. Somepony else can go instead."Sweetie Belle did not look over her shoulder at the Carousel Boutique, where what was left of her going away party was still winding down. She didn't because she knew that if she did she…-
13.5 K •
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Today was a completely ordinary day for Lyra Heartstrings, just like thousands that had come before. She woke up earlier than she wanted to but later than her roommate would've liked, enjoyed an almost warm breakfast that had been left for her and headed out to the park with her lyre for another day as a "freelance musician."It was a real job! She could make some good bits on a nice clear day like this, at least enough to keep her going between real performance gigs. It was an enjoyable enough existence,…-
8.8 K •
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The ground shook with the force of distant thunder, though there were no clouds in the sky and no inclement weather scheduled. Each blast brought distant flashes of light from below, accompanied by a sound that could only be distant screaming. Chance did not know how an enemy could have penetrated this far into Equestrian territory, didn't know for sure who was even attacking or why. But it didn't matter. She had to do something."Spike!" She called, breaking their stunned silence. "Get close to me! You're…-
194.9 K •
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