Chapters
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Hollow Shades was nothing like Concord. When they first arrived, Star thought they’d gotten lost and wandered into some ancient ruin instead. But then she saw the movement from down below, and she realized with horror that they’d finally arrived. If there was going to be a rebellion hiding anywhere in the world, it would be here. These creatures even seemed to be hiding from the sun, let alone the princess and Harmony’s will.“We’ll have to find a place in the Kindness district,” Ginny squeaked,…-
247.0 K •
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Jamie settled onto the bed of her strange new quarters, closing her eyes and letting the silence enfold her like a blanket. The skylight in the center of her room had gone dark now with the coming of night, but she didn’t yet feel tired.Jamie had survived the end of the world. True, she’d paid with her humanity to pass through the door into summer—but considering the alternatives, she’d take that trade. Now the Empire’s toast, along with anything that ever mattered to me. It’s a fresh start…
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247.0 K •
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Jamie slowed as they finally reached the city, trying to process something that resembled nowhere she’d ever imagined. Hollow Shades was built into a narrow mountain valley, a vast circular city divided into thirds around a central market. It looked as though space had started running out for new homes a few centuries back, and so the ponies had started stacking things onto one another, leading to narrow streets that were just barely large enough for two people, weaving between shops and gardens and…
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247.0 K •
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There was no town at the end of the line, everypony knew that. Beyond Terminus, the land was too treacherous for the tracks to survive for long. The jungle here was some of the first land that Concord had purified, during a time so ancient that it was more of a flying palace than a flying city. But like that ancient city, Terminus had grown. Things here were a little more organized than the nameless places Star had seen—there were three districts instead of six, made from jungle wood and occasional…
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247.0 K •
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Riding across Equestria wasn’t the worst thing Star Orchid had ever done. So long as she kept the window shade down, she could pretend she was on an extended circuit of Concord, without ever quite reaching her destination. There was just one problem with that: Star was too curious to leave the shade down. A pony without her substantial academic background probably wouldn’t have had any idea that what she was seeing wasn’t the way things had always been. Vast swathes of forest transformed into sparse…
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247.0 K •
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Jamie could tell as soon as she stepped off the cargo truck that the jungle didn’t want her there. If it wasn’t the constant humidity overcoming the moisture capacity of her stillsuit, it was the cloud of mosquitoes, ready to swoop in and devour her if she so much as lifted the hood for more than a few moments. So she kept her visor down and helmet up, sipping on the stale-tasting water that the stillsuit fed her and keeping her eyes alert for danger.“Are you sure nothing’s going to eat me up…
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247.0 K •
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Star Orchid had never flown before. It wasn’t just that she was a bit of a homebody, never venturing too far from the capital district and all the ponies who lived there—though that was certainly the case. It was, rather, that almost no one flew unless they’d done something wrong. Flying meant you had somewhere to go, and there was nowhere to go from Concord that wasn’t worse.Now she perched near the bow of the little transport cruiser, feeling the deck rumble and shake as they moved. A thick cloud…
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247.0 K •
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“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Geist said, slowing to a stop beside Star outside her family’s flat. There was nothing to identify him as Equestria’s most dangerous pony in existence—he was just a bat like so many others, with a dark coat and a mane so light it was almost white. Instead of courtly fashion, Geist wore only a plain black cloak. Obtrusive during the day, but soon curfew would arrive, and all the lights of Concord would switch off. “Tomorrow morning,” she repeated, returning…
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247.0 K •
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For all that she had just done, the princess seemed unchanged from her usual self. Star followed close behind, clipboard of interview notes still levitating along beside her.The princess took them behind the throne, to where the castle was built not of shining crystal but reinforced stone. There were occasional cracks in the low hallway, or bits of metal stuck into the wall from ancient weapons. Equestria had not always been so pleased to serve under the princess’s rule.“With that failure, Equestria is…
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247.0 K •
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The elevator rose slowly through Concord Castle, its crystals humming steadily under them. Max’s steel cage took up most of the elevator now, with half a dozen Royal Guards occupying the rest. Star Orchid had to cram in near the front, close enough that if the diamond dog really wanted to, he could probably reach out and attack her. He didn’t, though. His anger had burned itself out now, and he sat still in the center of his cage.“Not so angry now that you know where you’re going,” a guard…
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247.0 K •
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