Chapters
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At least I’m with a pony who spends almost as much time pretending as I do, Harlequin thought, as she made her way into the single unmarked door between two fancy shops. On either side ponies moved—one sold food, with a line running out onto the streets filled with eager ponies.How easy would it be for her to slip off into that group, change into somepony else, and vanish completely? She could be free of this entire world forever—leave Canterlot, not look back.She didn’t feel the same loyalty to…-
102.0 K •
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Harlequin emerged from the darkness of the secret colony into a sunny courtyard. There were walls on all sides, and nearby an ancient-looking building with holes in the roof and a few missing windows. What few it still had were bright and colorful. Between the walls, shades were strung up, obscuring the courtyard where they stood even from the eyes of pegasus ponies flying above. But while standing close, she could see the outline of the upper city high above, and closer, the shapes of ponies walking along…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin froze completely still as the guard met her eyes; horror plastered all over her face. They found us. She hadn’t been in this colony one day and Equestria had found them. This is when we get shut down and we all starve, just like before. It was like the voice said. They weren’t part of a story, so they were destined to lose. Every single thing they tried…“You, uh… I kind of expected you to be more charming than this, if I’m being honest.” The guard walked slowly up to her, apparently…
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102.0 K •
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Thorax took them back into the cavern below, helping Harlequin carry Codex during the drop. “We have cells big enough for two bugs,” he said, as they landed in the honeycomb of an upper level, with only thin walkways between each section. “You’ll want to be together, right?”“Yes,” Codex said, before she could even open her mouth. “Harlequin is one of the few bugs I trust so far. Not that… I’m sure you’re great. But she’s so guilty about me that I can trust she won’t betray me. Not…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin sat in an impossibly beautiful space, furnished more like a pony than any bug could’ve created. “The answer to your question is simple, Harlequin. I understand what creatures value. This is the secret that even our queen never mastered—the way to control ponies without conquering them.”He set his empty glass down, then reached below his desk again. He dropped a bundle on the desk between them, wrapped in brown cloth and sounding like it was full of metal.Harlequin reached down, pulling at…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin could feel herself getting closer before she could actually see anything. Changelings had incredibly weak emotions, nothing that could be fed on. But when there were enough all packed in one place… that changed the math. Still not enough to eat, but enough to feel.Harlequin could feel them now, desperate fearful bugs living somewhere just ahead. “Harlequin, we need to slow down! What are you doing?”She didn’t slow, but she did turn to call back through the cave. “We’re close to…
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102.0 K •
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“Will the child of no reflection sing the song of seven strings?” asked the voice in her dreams.“Why should I? What do I have to sing about? The joy was stolen from my life when I was small.”“That is the most important reason to sing.”Harlequin woke with a start, rising from their tiny sleeping area with a scattering of blankets and pillows. For a few seconds she just lay there, clutching at her racing heart and trying to remember the significance of what she’d been seeing.There had been…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin was small. The hive where she had grown was a strange place, with hallways that moved, doors that opened and closed and strange rules of magic she had been too young to understand. Like all the smallest bugs, she spent most of her time in the cracks and crevices, crawling along the ceilings and feeding on love the adults brought them.“It seems like, maybe there might be a better way,” said a voice from far below. Harlequin hadn’t known it then, but now she recognized the throne room. The…
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102.0 K •
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“So maybe you don’t want to hurt me,” Codex said, as soon as they’d finished barricading the door. Harlequin had started dragging crates over, but the other bug was cleverer than that. He stuck a rod between the handles, and just like that it couldn’t be swung in either direction. He added a few more, and the heavy wooden doors were about as secure as any doors could be.We could break them if we were a swarm. But if we were still a swarm, we would escape this place. She hadn’t felt the Swarm…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin must’ve fallen asleep at some point, because she found herself back in that sightless void, where there had once been the Swarm to protect her and make her feel welcome. She could still remember it, the thousands of others that would surround her in her sleep. The memories she could see from other bugs filled her with strength and pride. Her ancestors had been mighty creatures once, and one day they would rule again.But now she was alone, both in waking life and in dreams. She couldn’t even…
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102.0 K •
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