Chapters
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Gina had never seen the palace in greater disarray. A full detachment of soldiers seemed to be martialing outside, with birds doning old uniforms, testing swords and securing armor. She took her delegation past the prelude to war, up to the throne where Gaius sat already armored.The metal he wore reflected the light like oil under moonlight, turning his outline into a dark suggestion of a bird more than the real thing. A massive warhammer sat on the ground beside the throne, as though he were ready to…-
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In other circumstances, Starlight Glimmer probably would’ve greatly enjoyed this day. After all her time traveling with Velar, after listening to all his petty superiority and unwarranted confidence, there was some cosmic justice in seeing his face when they wandered into Canterlot Drydock C. If only she’d managed to get a camera in there, she could’ve hung that up on her wall.But there wasn’t really time to enjoy the moment. If the world ended, she wouldn’t have a wall left to hang it…
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Velar feared he might be kept underground until the conflict had ended—maybe the entire thing would be over and he would only discover the victor after the fact.Apparently his cooperating with Starlight Glimmer was starting to pay off, because instead of shut into a cell, he was led through the caverns.It was beauty like he’d never quite seen in Accipio. Caves that had grown spectacular formations of crystal and gemstone, with walkways elevated above the floor and lit with strings of electric lights…
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Velar sat in the garden courtyard of the Canterlot General Hospital, pretending that he wasn’t a prisoner. It wasn’t hard—his guards kept their presence discrete, and they hadn’t tormented him with shackles or any other indignities. He hadn’t missed the armed guards always lurking just out of sight—but as long as they didn’t keep him locked up inside anymore, that didn’t matter.The Equestrians might not be much for war, but damn if they didn’t know how to keep a garden. There were so many…
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Gina didn’t have a chance to struggle. As little as she thought of the fierceness of ponies, she wasn’t going to test them in combat. It wasn’t really fair to take the victory of the best warriors in Accipio against a crew of unprepared sailors as proof that no pony anywhere could be a danger to her.These bats in particular were unlike the ponies she had seen before. Every bat she’d ever seen had been in some kind of military position or another. Escorting Princess Luna, pulling her chariot. Now…
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Everything hurt. Gina couldn’t have said specifically what caused her the most agony, if anything. The ache went deep—into every cell, every tissue. Every few dragging steps she wondered if maybe she could curl up under the scorching sun and let it take her for good.But however much she might want to give up and let herself die, she didn’t stop. If she gave up now, what was left of two nations might destroy each other. That damned volcano might have its final victory after all.“You sure you don’t…
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Not-Prince Velar knew when he wasn’t wanted. He could sense it in the hospital staff, in the constant eyes he felt whenever her went down the hall for lunch. The guards he could feel shadowing him all the while, though they tried to keep their presence discrete.Maybe that would’ve fooled ponies, who wandered through life half-blind and deaf at every moment. But Velar had been trained for war—he could sense an assassin even if they were an owl flying on the other side of a wall.He saw less of…
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Gina stumbled back from the flash, expecting to be consumed in a moment of terrible agony—and she found she was still alive. She blinked, still feeling the heat, before she realized what had happened. Isabel had conjured a wall of gray magic, separating the two of them from the flames. She grinned at the unicorn, nodding her appreciation—but there wasn’t exactly a chance to relax. The air was filling with heat, and smoke rose all around them. It wouldn’t take long before they couldn’t…
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The pony leading the boarding party was a pegasus stallion as stern and well-muscled as a pony could be—which still meant he was a little shorter than she was. No firearms on his belt, not even a musket. But then, none of the birds on her ship had firearms either. Gina had made very sure that the monks didn’t get a chance to try and smuggle anything back with them, despite their protests.The officer handed her seal back a moment later. “My name is Captain Skysword, Equestrian Navy. As I understand…
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Gina was not the sort of bird who had to deal with the big picture of politics. She didn’t have to see the relationships between the great houses, or their slow machinations as they constantly fought to out-maneuver each other. Her own house had been part of that great game once, though she hadn’t been anywhere near the top. The birds of Purity had been unwilling to sacrifice their purity to do what was necessary to keep a great house from being torn apart from all sides. Now Purity was gone, divided…
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