Chapters
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Harlequin led the way through Canterlot Caverns, with S following close at her hooves. The caves were so large she knew she could get lost forever if she went the wrong way. Ponies hadn’t really done much to change the caves when they built the place, just sealed up every exit they knew of and hoped for the best. That could mean there’s a way out of here, if we can find it. The caves could go through the whole mountain. The Swarm could easily accomplish a task like that, exploring it with a growing…-
102.0 K •
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Harlequin was no stranger to the look of the changeling prison as the pony guards escorted her down. After all, she’d been there when much of it was dug. She knew about each of the fortifications in place, knew where each of the attendant guards would be standing, and was ready for them. What she didn’t expect was the blacksmith waiting at the end of the ramp. “Another straggler, huh? Will we need to get it out again?”“Likely,” said one of the guards. “Pretty elaborate scheme going to replace…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin could feel that something was wrong before they even stepped through the door. She knew little about medicine—the Swarm never had hospitals or doctors when anyone in it could be suddenly empowered with the knowledge to treat whatever wounds were present.Even without anything to compare against but her last visit, there was so much suspicion. Where there had been only a handful of doctors and the sick before, the ponies she sensed inside now seemed healthy and numerous. They were……
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin didn’t need to sleep like a pony, and so she spent most of the night awake in bed. Eventually she would probably find a way to sneak out and do something else at night. Maybe work on the escape plan for the other changelings. If I can get out without being seen, the ponies will think I’m asleep in bed here. They won’t suspect anything was me.There was no organized meal for breakfast, just ponies coming and going between bowls of cereal and offered fruit. The selection was interesting to…
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102.0 K •
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The ponies in the medical tent seemed confused with the one they were bringing. Harlequin remained in back, letting Azure Sigil do the talking. When the medical ponies suggested just putting the injured changeling back in the cages and ‘letting things happen,’ Sigil just shoved past them all and deposited the injured changeling at one of the cots anyway.“We’re wasting time!” The doctors all wore the same white coats. This one was taller than most, with a stern face and a pair of glasses perched…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin was guarding the prison.There was only one entrance meant to be used, where the dungeons descended into the rock of Canterlot’s mountain. In the time since she’d arrived to help, the ponies had filled the upper cells with prisoners.She knew they were different from the way they dressed—many of them had little scraps—a hat here, some socks there, or something clipped into the tail. They’d been allowed to keep their clothes, but not the holsters and weapons that almost all the changelings…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin faced down Azure Sigil, magic sword only a foot away from her neck. This would be the moment where a better changeling than her would come up with some clever lie. Hydrus would probably already have had one in reserve, just in case someone asked about where the sword came from. If the Swarm had still been within reach, she could’ve asked their collective reasoning for help. But they were gone, and she was alone.Harlequin winced, then met the pony’s eyes. “I found it on a dead pony. I had to…
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102.0 K •
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Ponies worked fast. It was amazing just how quickly the cave transformed around her—whole sections of crystal cut down while carts with massive lengths of steel were rolled in past her. Harlequin got a chance to see firsthoof just how the ponies built such amazing things.She did her best not to do her assigned job of setting out cots and blankets—things that changelings didn’t use to begin with—and instead tried to memorize the map. It was hard, and even harder to be sure that she was remembering…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin spent that night in the lair of her enemies.At first it didn’t seem like much had changed between having ponies in charge and when her own kind had ruled ruthlessly over the city. Ponies still separated into small groups, with tiny sleeping areas they made for themselves. Only this time, Harlequin came with them. The room they were led to was little bigger than a storage closet, with cots packed in with barely enough room to walk between them. Without any conversation between them, Harlequin…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin’s trip back to the upper city was far less eventful than her flight down. There was no wave of magic following them, no other signs of spells radiating away from the palace.Under other circumstances, she probably would’ve been fascinated by the ingenuity of the gondola car. It was an incredible little invention, a safe and warm way for the ponies without wings to ride from one part of the city to another. The three earth ponies in the group kept well away from the windows, looking different…
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102.0 K •
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