Chapters
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Jamie knew she would have to make her time in the royal castle productive. With no creature coming to rescue her and no skills to escape, her only hope of survival transformed to simple cleverness. Maybe there was some fact she could use as blackmail hidden away, or some weakness of the princess’s defenses.And maybe there was, but if that was the case, Jamie just couldn’t figure out what it might be. The dictator hadn’t left her any human books either, so she wouldn’t even be able to learn the…-
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Jamie wilted, glancing nervously to either side. But there was no retreat here. They neared a thick fortress wall, manned by a dozen more of the weird-smelling soldiers. She wouldn’t be getting away from this. “S-sorry. I guess you… probably think I’m a changeling or something. From one of the… clans?”The princess relaxed, her anger fading as though it hadn’t been there. She turned back to the gate, and waited for Jamie to catch up with her. “It was one possibility, and I admit I did…
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Jamie had seen plenty of Perspective Entertainment in her idle time aboard Persephone, watching as brave heroes fought off dozens of opponents with makeshift tools and their wits one moment while inventing incredible devices or negotiating treaties the next. But putting on a VR headset and watching trained actors perform the stunts was one thing—doing any of it herself was another.There were no daring escapes as they led her from the Zapapple. Maybe if she’d been able to fly, she might’ve tried…
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The bug turned, wings buzzing nervously. They bowed, and spoke in a nervous, faintly feminine voice. At least Jamie thought it was a girl, under all that reverb. “Please, uh… finish the meal, Emissary?”Jamie did, with far less fear and impotent frustration than she’d felt with Pike watching her every motion. If having to deal with him for a few minutes was the price for getting something she wanted to eat, she could live with that.When she was done, Jamie couldn’t exactly just go to bed—not…
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247.0 K •
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Shouting sounded from down the hall, accompanied with a hissing and squawking from Kondrak’s helmet. More of that almost-magical communication called radio, perhaps?Star Orchid would’ve been completely lost, except that the Devourers spoke the same language. “They’re coming back!” shouted a human voice. Not terrified, but urgent. “Kondrak, they are marching. Drones say it’s even more than last time!”The human straightened, twitching towards the exit. “It seems this conversation will be…
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247.0 K •
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Star Orchid worked through the night. It was a bloody business, ensuring that she saw more of the Devourer than she ever thought she would. There were no ancient magical secrets to discover—the Iron Lord was no hidden Alicorn. It was a good thing she’d been exposed to so much of what happened in the dungeons beneath the castle, or she might not have been able to keep up her composure around so much blood.Star did not fake some accident to murder the Iron Lord, though it was hard to imagine needing to.…
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247.0 K •
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Star Orchid could hear the echoing gunfire overhead, the pounding of hooves on stone, the distant shouts. Yet those weren’t the shouts of royal guardsponies giving orders, but the screams of anypony getting in their way. At least she hadn’t heard more orders echoing down the halls behind, perhaps warning that soldiers had found another entrance and would be flooding the Undercastle. The rebel ponies had weapons of their own, didn’t they? How long could they last down here?Windbrisk’s sledgehammer…
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247.0 K •
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Days passed. Star Orchid waited nervously for new orders, expecting to receive a call from Golden Shine about a telegram any day. Maybe she’d have to intercept it, or creatively interpret its instructions so things wouldn’t be so obvious to Geist. Though it was also possible its message would be impossible to hide. Maybe she should be pulling Windbrisk aside to warn him of what had happened.What would the Iron Lord do to her if she admitted her real purpose? He was still a Devourer, wasn’t he? Even…
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In time long ago, Twilight Sparkle had once overseen a navy of a thousand ships, from the smallest tugs to the mightiest destroyers. Her fleet could darken the sky over a city, bringing unification against even the fiercest resistance. Couldn’t trust them. Disobedience is weakness. Devourers wiggle in, steal what we’ve built. Ponies’ greatest strengths were also their greatest weaknesses: they were far too compassionate. When dangers beset them, they betrayed orders, sparing enemies to attack again…
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Star Orchid stared down at the scroll in front of her, chewing subconsciously on the feathery tip of her quill. This message wasn’t scribbled hastily, but copied with perfect calligraphic order, exactly as she wrote any court document she thought the princess might see. As perfect as she could create, though from her that was never quite good enough.The little fireplace against the far wall crackled merrily, turning dry wood into an uneven orange glow. Star hadn’t seen any of the other residents here…
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