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    When everything seems dark, don't be.

    Chapters

    • Chapter 26: Barbastella Cover
      by Starscribe Jackie was conscious with every step just how much danger she was in. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d formed diplomatic contact based on a lie—that was practically the reason Alex had kept her around—but this time she was the one doing it. What was the alternative, send the mayor, or one of the ponies on her city council instead? Except that none of them were really suited to this. Any bats with diplomatic skill had already risen in Mundi. They weren’t her exiles. Along the walls were……
    • Chapter 26 Cover
      by Starscribe "This last month, I tried to figure out why we weren’t in touch with Equestria. I was able to confirm a few things—there’s no jamming signal I can detect coming from anywhere in the system. I left a navigation probe a few thousand kilometers behind us—where we had our engagement with the Prospector. We’re still in perfect contact.”“How do we know the sensors aren’t lying to us?” Applejack asked. “Cozy mighta… done somethin’.”Twilight nodded. “I hardcoded a few modifications into…
    • Chapter 26 Cover
      by Starscribe "You feel like being a hero, uh…""Eric." Eric sat in the corner of the room, a sketchpad in hand and a lump of charcoal in the other. He had lost his old one in Unity, with its thousands of charcoal drawings in various stages of completion, but that didn't mean he would be discouraged. “And no, I don’t.”Jackie landed beside him, ignoring his answer and instead glancing over his shoulder at the drawing. "What's that?"On the first page, Eric was taking his time with a cover page. He had drawn a…
    • Chapter 26 Cover
      by Starscribe It was a good thing for everyone that Ocellus had seen the capabilities of humans and warned her friends—otherwise, she was sure that at least one of them would’ve reacted violently to the “tests” the humans had in mind. What she’d imagined as some questions and maybe an essay actually involved more of what she’d done when she impersonated Marie—lots of moving from machine to machine, along with a few long metal needles to take some of her blood and more of her dignity. All the while there…
    • Chapter 26 Cover
      by Starscribe Lotus stared up through the broken wreckage of one window. She was still trapped somewhere in her truck, its body now crumpled and crushed beyond recognition. She'd been thrown from her seat, though by some miracle that hadn't meant shattering her whole body through the windshield.Sound rang through her ears, and her mind struggled to focus. Everything warped and melted, with only brief moments of clarity. A stone pony towered above; its glowing eyes fixed on her."Not... sure what I expected when we got to…
    • Chapter 25: Venture Cover
      by Starscribe Twilight Sparkle circled her workbench, occasionally leaning in close to prod at a gear or fiddle with the wires leading to a thaumic crystal. Her creation remained dutifully still, perched on a pedestal that would act as its home and repair station.It was about the size of Owlicious, and based on a similar avian body-plan. A probe meant to travel through a Worldgate would certainly encounter rough terrain, and couldn’t rely on something as feeble as wheels or a single rotor like Tank’s flight-harness.…
    • Chapter 25: Tone Lock Cover
      by Starscribe “I’m not sure how long this works!” Jackie called, without even stopping to look over her shoulder. “But we need to move, right now!”There was now a solid wall of bodies in front of them, with thick brown smoke congealed around it like mortar. But even looking at it from a distance, Jackie could see that the Federation marine had been right. It wasn’t going to last long—the wind was blowing and soon it would be gone. They couldn’t just wait here for the entire city to march into it.Jackie…
    • Chapter 25: Supply Chain Cover
      by Starscribe Harlequin sat in an impossibly beautiful space, furnished more like a pony than any bug could’ve created. “The answer to your question is simple, Harlequin. I understand what creatures value. This is the secret that even our queen never mastered—the way to control ponies without conquering them.”He set his empty glass down, then reached below his desk again. He dropped a bundle on the desk between them, wrapped in brown cloth and sounding like it was full of metal.Harlequin reached down, pulling at…
    • Chapter 25: Sphere of Influence Cover
      by Starscribe 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…
    • Chapter 25: On Her Birthday Cover
      by Starscribe Manehattan swallowed them like a living thing, with streets so overflowing with ponies that Theo felt instantly lost in the crowd. This was certainly a good thing—even if Sharp Edge was right about the dangers of working with Feather. In a city this big, there was no danger of being recognized and attacked once they slipped into the crowd.Of course nothing will happen to us, because she obviously wanted to be in contact. The ponies who delivered this could’ve attacked me, but all they did was give me a…
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