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    When everything seems dark, don't be.

    Chapters

    • Prologue: Terms of Surrender Cover
      by Starscribe Emperor Gaius Renault sat upon the Onyx Throne with no outward sign of the absolute despair he felt. No bird in his vast throne room—not the dozens of his Plumage Guard, not the advisors flying or scurrying about, not even the slaves—none could know what he was feeling. Such emotions from a griffon were a terrible thing. It was not wise to chum the waters in a kingdom of predators.Gaius was not an old bird, but he also was not a young bird. There were feathers missing from his vast expanse of gold…
    • Prologue: Temperance Cover
      by Starscribe Temperance“Jackie,” said a voice, so sudden and real that Jackie’s entire reality came crashing into focus. It was a familiar voice—one she’d known for thousands of years. Alex. Where everything else in the universe was transparent and ever changing, the pony that pushed it all aside was violently real. Her coat was sharply green, her mane stark white, and her eyes seemed to cut right through her. “We’re almost there.”Holding up one leg, Jackie could see that she too was transparent. Only…
    • Prologue: Spring Cover
      by Starscribe Ashton hurried up the stairs to his bedroom, taking each one two at a time. He stopped at the top, long enough to make sure no one had seen him. His parents' cars were both gone from the driveway. From the silence in the house, his little brother and sister were gone too. Perfect.He tossed the backpack off one shoulder and into his arms, then hurried into his bedroom. The space beyond was clean and well-organized, at least for a kid his age. One month from the start of high school, and all the fresh…
    • Prologue: Missing Pieces Cover
      by Starscribe Twilight crept nervously through the halls of the crystal palace, levitating half a dozen books around her in a gentle cloud. Her mane was disheveled, and there were bags under her eyes. The ramblings of long-dead wizards overlapped in her head, each one a contradiction to half of the others. She dreaded every step, and the news she would have to deliver. But she’d reached the point that a few more minutes in the library just weren’t going to magically fix everything.The throne room was every bit as…
    • Prologue: Goetia Cover
      by Starscribe Princess Luna approached the door to Star Swirl's lab like a nervous filly who had just gotten herself into trouble. On paper, there was no reason for her to be afraid—this castle "belonged" to Celestia and herself, in a country they ruled. Everypony within who was not one of their servants was at least one of their subjects, Star Swirl included.But while everypony in the Castle of the Two Sisters knew Celestia by name, sight and cutie mark, some significant majority of their subjects didn't even realize…
    • Prologue: Drums Cover
      by Starscribe These are alien beings, what is the biological imperative in helping them? If survival is the continuation of genetic material and resources are limited, then their extinction might also complete our objective.If we were competing genetic machines I suppose that would make sense. But we are not machines, and these are not aliens. We are all pilgrims, traveling together to the altar of intelligence.-Operational Log, Equestrian InterventionTwilight Sparkle was scared. No matter how she considered the…
    • Prologue: Antrozous Cover
      by Starscribe The world basically ended when Charybdis finally rose from the sea.Ancient writers of the human world had long speculated about such abominations, and the reign of madness and ecstasy they might bring. Those ancient writers had foreseen the destruction that they would bring to every nation, as their servants rose and brushed aside the organic life like dust in a breeze. There were no Elder Signs, no supernatural means by which the desperate defenders might easily overcome. Their enemy outnumbered them, had…
    • Prologue Cover
      by Starscribe Five weeks, two days, nine hours until summer crew get here. So went the mantra in Theo’s head, one he had repeated so many times it was probably burned there.If summer crew was here, you wouldn’t be able to do this. As usual, he ignored that thought, then thumbed the exterior door activation.“Hey, Theo,” the voice came over the radio, barking into his earpiece and echoing in the little red plastic airlock a second later. “Computer says you just put through a departure request. You’re going…
    • Professional Conduct Cover
      by Starscribe Levi pulled his Audi to a stop at the end of his driveway, still feeling distant. It was true he had made the trip in incredibly good time, without any hint of a traffic violation along the way. But he couldn’t shake the melancholy. That woman, Olive, had needed more than a free meal.Can’t save the world, Levi. She probably didn’t even want your help.To his surprise, Levi realized that Wing Walker was still there, watching him even though the screen had seemed blank and the car wasn’t running.…
    • Prices Paid Cover
      by Starscribe Kira arrived in Las Plumas on the last train that day, packed in with hundreds of other ponies. She probably should’ve realized something was wrong from how many were dressed in costumes: bright red dresses, masks of bone, and every monstrous and mythical creature that had ever been speculated or imagined. Some were even fictional. She’d planned to make things easy for herself by blending in with the locals, making casual conversation on the way to her destination, and learning everything she needed to…
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