Chapters
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Starlight Glimmer stared off the deck of the Daughter of Wintergreen, her whole body shaking visibly. Being so close to a princess of Equestria, and what she’d done before, meant she had been exposed to her fair share of terrible things. In her past, she had inflicted some of that suffering. Her experiments with time travel and her vengeance against Twilight Sparkle still gave her nightmares.But for all that, she had never seen such naked barbarity. The griffon prince had been so kind, so courteous. He…-
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“I don’t suppose you were listening to my father’s opponent?” Velar asked, his voice every bit as sarcastic as his mother’s had been. “Lord Gabriel represented everything hostile to your nation. He would have seen Accipio prepare boats full of soldiers instead of refugees. He would probably have seen us invade the volcano too, once the eruption is over!”“What is your name?” Gaius asked, before the pony could respond to Velar’s question.“Starlight Glimmer,” she snapped at him.…
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Gabriel charged, tearing up chunks of rock with his armored talons as he went. The crowd roared, many races filling the air with shouts that transformed into a near-uniform rage. Gaius could feel the bloodlust rising, his ancient blood demanding satisfaction. But he fought that down, as he had done so many times before. Gabriel would not have the discipline, and in doing so he was constantly ruled by his anger.Gaius had to be something different, something better. If he couldn’t, then birds everywhere…
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To say the meeting had not gone well would be a bit of an understatement. The lords of all the great clans had been there, obeying his call. He had guessed that at least some of them would be unhappy about the promise he had made on their behalf—he had not expected an actual challenge to his authority.But just because it wasn’t expected didn’t mean Emperor Renault wasn’t ready for it. Of all the birds who might defy him, he had even expected it to be Lord Gabriel of house Vengeance. It could only…
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“Miss Starlight, we’re just about there. If you’d like to join us on the deck, this will be your only chance to see Scythia from above. It’s not an opportunity I would soon miss,” Sure Heading said, stepping aside from the door to her tiny cabin so she could follow. He had been a considerate first-mate during the whole voyage, though she would’ve expected nothing less. Considering what Twilight had paid for this trip, treating her like royalty every made complete sense.“I would like that very…
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Emperor Gaius Renault sat upon the Onyx Throne with no outward sign of the absolute despair he felt. No bird in his vast throne room—not the dozens of his Plumage Guard, not the advisors flying or scurrying about, not even the slaves—none could know what he was feeling. Such emotions from a griffon were a terrible thing. It was not wise to chum the waters in a kingdom of predators.Gaius was not an old bird, but he also was not a young bird. There were feathers missing from his vast expanse of gold…
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“How?” It was the first word Twilight had managed. She felt herself shaking—her bubble of silence sparked, then went out. They were plunged into the dim candlelight of the evening, with the moon shining in from above. “How can you…”“You know,” Celestia said. “The night I sent you to the graveyard. When I raise the sun a few hours from now, her pain will be over. Theirs will never end.”Someone knocked on the front door—then a familiar voice spoke. “Hello?” Rainbow pushed it open…-
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There were no venues in Ponyville large enough for the event that had been gradually constructed for Sweetie Belle. So it was that they borrowed Sweet Apple Acres, along with all the land around it.Twilight wasn’t surprised to find that Pinkie had already made arrangements for a much larger space, to her usual standards of quality and coordination. Hundreds of meters of ribbons and streamers coated the trees, with firefly lanterns so bright that nopony would long for the electricity that the farm…
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A few months passed. Twilight got her crown, but in general her months were quiet. Twilight still hadn’t been given anything like royal responsibilities.Twilight had to call in several favors to make the potion happen—brought in Zecora to supervise during several sections, brought in laboratory equipment and pressure vessels from the university, even borrowed a linguist from the historical department to clarify the wording of the recipe so there were no mistakes. She wasn’t willing to permit a…
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Twilight marched out of the otherworldly manor house, conscious of the eyes of the guards and strange ponies on her. It pained her curiosity not to go back to the party and try to meet more of its guests, but not quite so much as her fear of Thunder’s promises.Could he really hold her hostage here for a whole year, doing the terrible things he’d implied? Would Celestia tolerate it?There’s so much you didn’t tell me, Celestia. Did you really plan on waiting for me to find all this on my own?It was a…
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