Chapters
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Twilight Sparkle knew she didn’t have much time to act. Freezing water poured in from all around them, water that was cold enough to reach through her fur right to her soul the instant it touched. Much of this priceless relic was being destroyed in that contact, shelves knocked over, scrolls that had been preserved by the ice now being torn to shreds as that same ice melted.Any thoughts of relief—that the artifact might still be working—would have to wait for the moment where her and her friends…-
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“You really think we’re gonna find somewhere for the griffons to live all the way out here?” Applejack asked. Her voice was obviously skeptical, and Twilight could see why. Past the Crystal Empire, the north was an absolute wasteland. Twilight had never seen this land before the great eruption, though something told her global cooling had only made it worse. Their little balloon struggled to stay airborne, and probably would’ve fallen right out of the sky if it wasn’t for the magic protecting…
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Gina knew this wasn’t going to be easy the instant she saw the griffons flying up from the city below. The settlement called Griffonstone was every bit as pathetic as the stories she’d heard, at least most of it was. There was new construction off on one side, a walled quarter that looked to be slowly growing. Smoke rose from some of the buildings there, and it seemed that was also the direction from which the newly arriving birds had flown.Much more important than any change to the city, though, was…
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Of course it would be house Vengeance.Gina realized there was a little bias there. Vengeance was the clan that took in many of her former house. They had been the ones always at odds with Virtue. From the point of view of a civil servant like herself, who was privy to the machinations of the empress and her husband, it seemed as though the world might be peaceful and prosperous forever if only Vengeance would just submit to imperial authority and do what they were told.Of course the assassin would’ve…
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The next few hours of travel were less eventful for Velar than he would have expected. Once the doctor had arrived and inspected his wounds, Starlight explained that she would take some much-needed rest. She would return here once they arrived in Canterlot, to help with his transfer to the hospital there.“How long am I going to be like this?” he asked, to the pony he trusted, not the doctor.Starlight only shrugged. “I’ve never seen someone get a bullet in the chest before. Not until the doctors say…
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Velar hadn’t expected he would ever wake again. Once he made it clear to Zoya that he would not accept any life in exchange for his own, even those that were offered willingly, he had expected a painful end.Anesthetics put an end to the first of those—modern chemistry had become very good at suppressing pain, even terrible pain. Less so about putting the mess of his guts back together. His parents had come to see him off, though he couldn’t stay awake for most of the ritual. He could barely even talk…
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Starlight Glimmer stared down in horror as the coliseum floor exploded into activity. The smoke from a single gunshot still lingered in the air, obscuring the mob that was taking place below.She’d been worried enough for Velar’s fate as he began a duel without real weapons or flight against an enemy that was far larger and stronger than himself. But the not-prince hadn’t even seemed to hear her objections, or notice his mother’s terrified eyes.Then the slave he’d volunteered to save had shot him…
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Velar didn’t think it was all that strange for a bird of courage and bravery to volunteer to assist a noble cause in the Tournament of Freedom. He’d spent his childhood sleeping in war camps and listening to stories of Gavin the Just, and the loyal friend he made in the minotaur Mel’darak, when he volunteered to assist the creature in just such an event as this. Griffins were creatures of superior moral character, that was where their right to rule came from in the first place. If the former wasn’t…
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Starlight Glimmer was unsurprised to see a scroll waiting for her when she rose. She had slept longer than she probably should have—long enough that she could hear the distant shouts of the tournament. She had been so happy to hear the tournament wouldn’t involve any dead, as the ancient stories of griffons recorded. But there was a greater atrocity hidden in plain sight.And it was her fault.Starlight Glimmer didn’t want to get up. But she had put things off long enough. She had to read the Crown’s…
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Starlight Glimmer knew she wasn’t going to enjoy the tournament.She hadn’t intended to go at first—some parts of Accipian culture just weren’t meant to be appreciated by ponies. They weren’t the only nation like that. Thanks to her connection with Twilight, she’d visited Yakyakistan at least once, and been thoroughly appalled by the time she left. But the yaks enjoyed it, so who was she to judge?This was different, though. This wasn’t just slavery, something that deeply upset most ponies who…
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