Chapters
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We couldn’t exactly go anywhere to escape the presence of our rescuer—his strange device was the only reason we were still alive, slicing through the ash and somehow leaving an intact trail behind. I couldn’t begin to imagine how it could actually work, or how it could produce traversable paths without having them collapse on us. But that also mattered far less to me.I had a captive subject for an interview, so long as he didn’t leave us behind. So under the increasing weight of ash over our heads,…-
45.4 K •
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“Do we really just… follow some stranger?” I asked, staring down through the empty tunnel where the bird had vanished seconds before. It seemed incredibly stupid to me—we didn’t even know this creature’s name, we knew nothing except that he didn’t seem to want us in one of the buildings, and yet here we were considering following him. True, he didn’t have skulls or anything hanging from his saddlebags, but I hadn’t so much as seen his face. I looked up at the sky, but couldn’t make out…
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45.4 K •
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Whatever we were standing on was impressively strong to survive the overflowing waves of ash and dust that had fallen on it from above. It became clear why as Radiant Dawn reached one of the edges of the building and started clearing away ash with a foreleg. There was stone under there, apparently strong enough to survive a volcanic eruption.“Help me find the way down,” Dawn called, glancing over her shoulder. She was still cute, even as her bright colors turned to ashy gray. “We need to find…
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45.4 K •
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I didn’t belong here. I knew that getting an interview with the emperor wouldn’t be easy—but I thought that might mean having to talk to lots of stuffy people in closed rooms, impressing or them into admitting that a few minutes of the emperor’s time would have returns for them, if only because it meant the authoritative history I would write would more favorably capture the griffon perspective. In some of my nightmares I had imagined having to bribe my way through, or perform some strange griffon…
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45.4 K •
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I knew I wouldn’t have much time for this interview. The Hammer of Gaius was fast, and the emperor didn’t seem patient. I glanced around the bridge to see if any of the other birds here would be disruptive, but so far I could see no sign of their intention to interfere. I reached into my pack, and nearly took the pad myself when I remembered what Radiant Dawn had said. Velar would be too uncomfortable with a male writing to give me anything like honest answers. I passed her the pad, along with my…
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45.4 K •
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I didn’t fall off during the trip into the sky. There was more than a little reason to be afraid—with no walls and only a thin wooden platform to separate me from certain death by falling, I wasn’t exactly confident. But despite her protests of its speed, Radiant Dawn seemed to know exactly where to stand so it wouldn’t tilt too far.Lifting up gave me a great view of the city, one that made me wish I’d brought more than my notebook and questions for the emperor. Seeing everything from so…
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45.4 K •
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We left Gina’s office behind shortly after that. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t eager to leave, though I’d certainly gathered some useful information. Maybe not quite as much as I would’ve if Starlight Glimmer had been willing to talk to me…“Did you find out what you wanted to know for your book yet?” Radiant Dawn asked, bouncing along beside me. “It felt like you were going to be in there asking questions for hours.”For the heir of the largest empire in the world, I wasn’t sure if I should…
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45.4 K •
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All this talk of noble houses and city lords was hard for me to wrap my head around—but as we walked into her office, I found myself finally relaxing in the presence of something familiar. Even on the other end of the world, in a civilization of birds that had once kept slaves, some things never changed.Gina herself was an older bird, though like many of the griffons I’d met so far it was hard to tell her age with the signs that might work well for ponies. Most birds didn’t lose their feathers as…
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45.4 K •
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I clutched my pack close as I wandered out of the throne room, taking one last glance at the imperious Empress on her throne before turning around the corner and out of sight.She invited me here. She accepted the interview. But now Starlight was rejecting me, tossing me back into the city with what was either callous advice or thinly veiled threats. I couldn’t tell which, but either way didn’t bode well for the success of my project.I didn’t make it very far, maybe a few steps, before Radiant Dawn…
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45.4 K •
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Through the maze of rock and stone we climbed. Though I had little in common with many other pegasus ponies, I did share one particular discomfort: being trapped indoors. I kept adjusting my wings in agitation as we walked, glancing up as though by doing so I might be able to lift the ceiling from over my head.“It’s not much further,” Radiant Dawn said, her voice sympathetic. Did she understand what bothered me, or just think I was bored? At least the latter would mean she didn’t think I was a foal…
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45.4 K •
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