Chapters
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It looked like Harlequin was going to escape the blast, though she could only glance panicked over her shoulder once as she shot straight down. With every flap of her wings the wave of magic got more tenuous, and street level below rose to meet her.But even then, she wasn’t fast enough. She felt the wave of magic catch her in the air, or what little was left of it. She couldn’t have said what happened to those changelings that were caught in the blast, like the one she’d left behind.The magic washed…-
102.0 K •
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The fight didn’t seem to be going well. Harlequin kept her distance from the opening to the alley, watching as a veritable storm of ponies went by. They fought so quickly that she barely got a good look at them, but she could see well enough to be afraid.How are they winning so easily? She crouched low, watching as a dozen different drones surrounded their little group, attacking all at once. The ponies responded with equal synchronicity, with the horned one and an unhorned one blasting away half of them…
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102.0 K •
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Harlequin could hear the shouting as she emerged, though it was faint and filtered through many confused voices. She partially wanted to go after the one she’d just stolen her name from, try to learn more—but the screams were more important.“You don’t understand, I’m not one of them! It’s me, Codex!” She didn’t know the name, but she recognized the voice. A voice that now reverberated in the changeling way, and was markedly higher-pitched than a pony male.Some part of her wanted to be as…
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102.0 K •
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The request sounded simple on its face: find herself a name to steal. But what did that even mean? With everything else she’d done during the invasion, H had been able to rely on either instinct or imitation to get her through. She knew that food was good, and she knew that the bigger changelings would help her get more of it. She knew she wanted to be like them, not like the thousands and thousands of other drones who didn’t even have a single letter to their name.But as she slipped into the pony…
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102.0 K •
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The process was neither swift nor pretty. But changelings were creatures of instinct, and H could do nothing if not follow them. Unlike when H wanted to know information about pony concepts that she had never seen, where the things she saw often didn’t make sense, the process of converting a pony into one of their own was something that came quickly. Eventually the hours were over, and a few drones arrived to lift the new cocoon onto the ceiling to join the others. H bounced out of the cage with an…
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102.0 K •
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“That sword… it’s yours now,” Hydrus said, as soon as his entourage were done encouraging her. But for all their support, none of them had done anything for Dark’s fallen body. “Here, the scabbard.”Hydrus removed a belt from the dead guard, made of the same gold-looking metal as the hilt of the sword. He settled it around her, tightening it until it held fast without constricting her wings. “It’s been a long time since I first killed. I wish I could remember. But now you can.” He turned…
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102.0 K •
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H held still as noises sounded from the other side, coming from the door. There was something mechanical to them, but she didn’t actually know what let some doors open and kept others closed. Maybe they’re giving up? Her promotion was coming for sure.The door opened in a crack, and H got her first look at the other side. There were three ponies just as she had sensed, an adult mare in some fancy cloth that had been torn in ways that didn’t look intentional. A much smaller filly, even smaller than she…
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102.0 K •
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H knew that things were looking up the instant she joined the other different changelings. Some of them were like Hydrus, with a strange name and access to others like them that somehow had the power to give directions.Her guess was right—they all had names. H was placed into the back of the line, without ever having to be told exactly where she ought to go. But she was the smallest, the newest, so it made sense.The crowd of drones below moved like a single organism, with buzzing ripples that passed…
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102.0 K •
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Even after hours of assault on the surface, her eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the brilliance of sunlight. Everything was washed out, colors drained away to a few feeble pastels.She was one drone among hundreds of thousands, a creature of black chitin and sharp teeth. She could fly, without having ever been taught to fly. There were others in the air beside her—creatures that were like her and also nothing alike. They were so much bigger than she was, and every time they spoke the things they said were…
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102.0 K •
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Diplomacy had never been Ocellus’s strength, even before the world got torn apart. It had taken every drop of determination and cleverness to keep her group from fracturing—or worse, from inviting the humans to go to war. But after hours of fancy parties, of listening to speeches and promises of peace from both countries, she dared let herself feel a little pride. She had done it. There would be no wars today. Humanity would’ve made a dangerous enemy, but now they would become a friend.Even so, she…-
68.0 K •
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