Chapters
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Summer stared down off the edge of the deck, adjusting her scarf under the jacket and flexing her wings one at a time. The Horizon couldn’t moor alongside the balcony as Sharp had first wanted, not with the wind blowing so fiercely. If the wind ever did stop, they might smash the gasbag up into the jagged ice, and they’d be stranded.For humans this wouldn’t have been much of an issue: they could toss a rope ladder overboard and climb down with primate grace. Summer’s flying might not be great, but…-
163.3 K •
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It would’ve been wonderful to fly directly to their destination and get everything over with. Summer was eager to reach that portal, and confront whatever reality waited on the other side. Whether she’d be able to continue her relationship with Sharp or not, whether the portal would even work—at least the endless confusion and doubt would be over, and she could see how the chips would fall.But there were some distractions too tempting even for her.It was after at least two weeks of gentle travel that…
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163.3 K •
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Of course they didn’t fly straight from Seaquestria after that. There was one place left for them to go—a promise she’d made to be kept.It wasn’t hard to find the Harmonizing Heights, particularly when every creature in the city couldn’t say enough about them. After being forced to sit through the court proceeding that might abruptly take away her ability to go home, Summer was thrilled to be out moving again, with her hooves on solid ground. “Hopefully you haven’t been too bored,” Sharp…
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163.3 K •
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For the second time, Summer found herself on the edge of a pool in the palace, staring down at the clear water’s surface. Only this time she wouldn’t be relying on someone else to change her, or fearing that she would run out of air halfway there. Instead she had other worries. “Why does the court want to see me, Princess? Did we do something wrong?”“Oh, no.” She bounced past her, grinning a little wider with every step. “You know how stuffy old creatures can be. They like to feel like they…
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163.3 K •
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It was quite a hike to the peak, up what felt like thousands of grinding steps. At least they had the comfortably cool mountain breeze around them as they walked, along with an incredible view.It wasn’t just rising switchbacks as she’d initially thought, but a series of farms and meadows taking them all the way to the top. No small wonder why there’d been so much civilization at the bottom of the mountain, with a climb like this waiting for anyone who wanted to go any further. Summer had felt plenty…
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Agent Barton walked calmly through the halls of Barrow Observatory, his ears alert to everything happening around him. The base normally had only a few people during winters, a crew that he could’ve counted on one hand. Thanks to his agency, there were now two hundred people. They passed him in the halls, hurrying along with lab coats or pushing carts of supplies. Department of Defense dollars had turned this modest observatory into something that scientists stationed elsewhere could envy.Assuming any…
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Summer Ray swam through the vast open gateway to the seapony palace, feeling like any moment her strange dream would end and she’d wash up on the shore somewhere. Being in a strange world was one thing: obviously that was real, she saw the evidence all the time.But being here in Seaquestria. Everything her senses told her seemed impossible. She swam through a kingdom of fish, with a tail of her own, surrounded by a crowd of other fish. Plainly impossible things, except that she was living them.Summer had…
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“You indulge too much in drama, daughter of mine,” said a distant voice, drifting in from somewhere far away. Summer couldn’t see where it came from—but with the distortion caused by her bubble-helmet, that wasn’t terribly unusual. Everything sounded strange and out of place.A creature emerged from one of the curtains of glowing jellyfish fronds, somehow escaping without apparent chemical burns. Like one of them, except—longer, more elegant and beautiful. What they were to a child, this…
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Some part of Theo wondered if she should be worried about their unexpected invitation to visit the queen. Certainly it would’ve frightened her if she stepped off a plane during her first visit to the United States and had a few police officers show up to escort her to the president. But one sidelong glance at Sharp didn’t suggest any distress on his face. If it was weird to receive treatment like this, he didn’t show it.They didn’t threaten us. They let us do whatever we wanted, let us stay…
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Somewhere far above an alien planet, Summer watched the rain.It came down in gentle sheets now, splashing off the waxed balloon. With nothing to buoy them forward but the gentle drift of high-altitude wind, she could stay dry as she watched. Somewhere far below was a dark red desert, parched land probably rejoicing at the moisture.Not her.Below her, she could make out a pair of faint voices, and the sound of tools on metal. She couldn’t have said what their chances were of getting moving again. What…
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