Twilight Sparkle was only a filly when Equestria detected the enigmatic Signal. A series of increasingly complex mathematical proofs, the Signal transformed from an intriguing curiosity to reliable evidence of extraequestrian life.
And as it happened, Equestria's exploration of their own solar system was nearly complete. With colonies orbiting every planet and large body, and an asteroid belt filled with miners and prospectors, Twilight's civilization was just about ready to turn its focus outward. The signal was less than ten light-years away, within reach of a daring, experimental voyage. A voyage Twilight Sparkle would lead.
Along with a small crew of the most skilled scientists and engineers Equestria could offer, Twilight is determined to uncover the mystery of the Signal, and brave the final frontier for future generations of Equestrian explorers.
A comment-driven, CYoA story. Please use the links provided in the author's notes of each chapter to vote, rather than the comments.
This story is a creative experiment of mine, one meant to explore the general idea that creativity is often most fostered by restrictions. As a result, I've imposed a number of restrictions on the writing of this story, which I'm stating explicitly here so I can be called out if I break any of them.
1. Brevity is the soul of wit
No chapter may be more than 1000 words long. This wordcount only includes prose, and not the questions/rolls.
2. Every choice matters
When a choice is offered in a chapter, at least one sub-optimal choice must be present, with no indication about which is which other than the prose itself. Every chapter should end with a CYoA-style decision tree when possible.
3. Fate is cruel and the universe is heartless
The decision of the vote must be respected. This means any character could be killed, or the entire story could end in failure, if that's what the votes decide. Where numbers, stats, and randomization appear in the text, these elements are not verisimilitude, but are decided by public diecrolls in my discord server.
Note: Because of the unusual production of this story, its chapters won't be edited in the same way as my usual fare. Feel free to point out any mistakes you encounter.
Awesome cover by Zutcha as you can probably tell. Editing stuff by Two Bit and Sparktail, where applicable.
136 Chapters:
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Chapter 1 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
957
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Chapter 2 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,022
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Chapter 3 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,009
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Chapter 4 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,270
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Chapter 5 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,084
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Chapter 6 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 20th, 2018
1,066
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Chapter 7 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 22nd, 2018
1,072
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Chapter 8 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 22nd, 2018
985
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Chapter 9 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 22nd, 2018
1,143
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Chapter 10 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 26th, 2018
1,139
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Chapter 11 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 29th, 2018
1,043
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Chapter 12 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 2nd, 2018
1,191
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Chapter 13 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 7th, 2018
1,182
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Chapter 14 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 7th, 2018
1,053
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Chapter 15 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 10th, 2018
1,124
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Chapter 16 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 12th, 2018
1,176
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Chapter 17 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 14th, 2018
1,126
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Chapter 18 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 15th, 2018
1,197
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Chapter 19 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 15th, 2018
990
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Chapter 20 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 16th, 2018
1,086
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Chapter 21 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 18th, 2018
1,173
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Chapter 22 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 19th, 2018
1,165
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Chapter 23 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 21st, 2018
1,128
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Chapter 24 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 23rd, 2018
1,021
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Chapter 25 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 23rd, 2018
1,111
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Chapter 26 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 28th, 2018
1,074
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Chapter 27 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 28th, 2018
1,342
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Chapter 28 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 27th, 2018
1,150
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Chapter 29 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,164
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Chapter 30 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 30th, 2018
1,270
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Chapter 31 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 2nd, 2018
1,124
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Chapter 32 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 3rd, 2018
1,164
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Chapter 33 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 4th, 2018
1,186
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Chapter 34 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 7th, 2018
1,197
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Chapter 35 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 13th, 2018
1,145
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Chapter 36 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 13th, 2018
1,218
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Chapter 37 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 21st, 2018
1,221
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Chapter 38 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 21st, 2018
1,188
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Chapter 39 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 28th, 2018
1,145
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Chapter 40 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 3rd, 2019
1,218
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Chapter 41 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 3rd, 2019
1,194
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Chapter 42 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 7th, 2019
1,108
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Chapter 43 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 15th, 2019
1,304
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Chapter 44 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 15th, 2019
1,153
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Chapter 45 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 19th, 2019
1,151
-
Chapter 46 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 22nd, 2019
1,253
-
Chapter 47 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 27th, 2019
1,084
-
Chapter 48 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 27th, 2019
1,058
-
Chapter 49 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 29th, 2019
1,128
-
Chapter 50 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 31st, 2019
1,124
-
Chapter 51 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 4th, 2019
1,081
-
Chapter 52 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 6th, 2019
1,007
-
Chapter 53 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 9th, 2019
1,011
-
Chapter 54 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 12th, 2019
1,028
-
Chapter 55 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 17th, 2019
1,493
-
Chapter 56 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 17th, 2019
1,058
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Chapter 57 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 21st, 2019
1,120
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Chapter 58 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 23rd, 2019
1,089
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Chapter 59 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 4th, 2019
1,124
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Chapter 60 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 28th, 2019
1,091
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Chapter 61 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 4th, 2019
1,010
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Chapter 62 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 5th, 2019
1,239
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Chapter 63 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 9th, 2019
1,316
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Chapter 64 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 9th, 2019
1,232
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Chapter 65 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 12th, 2019
1,503
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Chapter 66 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 14th, 2019
1,221
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Chapter 67 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 17th, 2019
1,169
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Chapter 68 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 21st, 2019
1,094
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Chapter 69 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 21st, 2019
1,075
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Chapter 70 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 22nd, 2019
1,061
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Chapter 71 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 25th, 2019
1,128
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Chapter 72 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 27th, 2019
1,163
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Chapter 73 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 29th, 2019
1,206
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Chapter 74 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 2nd, 2019
1,223
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Chapter 75 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 6th, 2019
1,149
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Chapter 76 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 9th, 2019
1,438
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Chapter 77 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 12th, 2019
1,375
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Chapter 78 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 17th, 2019
595
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Chapter 79 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 22nd, 2019
1,523
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Chapter 80 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 25th, 2019
1,029
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Chapter 81 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 29th, 2019
1,001
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Chapter 82 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 1st, 2019
1,166
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Chapter 83 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 4th, 2019
1,020
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Chapter 84 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 8th, 2019
1,019
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Chapter 85 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 9th, 2019
1,049
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Chapter 86 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 11th, 2019
1,191
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Chapter 87 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 14th, 2019
1,025
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Chapter 88 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 21st, 2019
1,149
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Chapter 89 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 28th, 2019
1,319
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Chapter 90 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 4th, 2019
1,071
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Chapter 91 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 10th, 2019
1,343
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Chapter 92 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 14th, 2019
1,192
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Chapter 93 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 15th, 2019
1,288
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Chapter 94 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 19th, 2019
1,109
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Chapter 95 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jun 27th, 2019
1,299
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Chapter 96 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 3rd, 2019
1,024
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Chapter 97 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 6th, 2019
1,144
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Chapter 98 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 10th, 2019
1,086
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Chapter 99 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 13th, 2019
1,538
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Chapter 100 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 22nd, 2019
1,130
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Chapter 101 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 22nd, 2019
975
-
Chapter 102 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 26th, 2019
1,444
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Chapter 103 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jul 30th, 2019
1,574
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Chapter 104 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Aug 6th, 2019
1,294
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Chapter 105 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Aug 10th, 2019
1,132
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Chapter 106 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Aug 20th, 2019
914
-
Chapter 107 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Aug 27th, 2019
1,114
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Chapter 108 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Sep 3rd, 2019
1,098
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Chapter 109 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Sep 10th, 2019
1,213
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Chapter 110 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Sep 17th, 2019
1,100
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Chapter 111 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Sep 24th, 2019
1,080
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Chapter 112 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 8th, 2019
976
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Chapter 113 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 19th, 2019
1,028
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Chapter 114 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 28th, 2019
1,226
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Chapter 115 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Oct 29th, 2019
1,010
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Chapter 116 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 5th, 2019
1,109
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Chapter 117 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 12th, 2019
1,207
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Chapter 118 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Nov 25th, 2019
1,069
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Chapter 119 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 9th, 2019
1,076
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Chapter 120 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 23rd, 2019
1,287
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Chapter 121 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Dec 30th, 2019
1,269
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Chapter 122 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 6th, 2020
1,154
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Chapter 123 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 16th, 2020
1,016
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Chapter 124 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 17th, 2020
1,230
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Chapter 125 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 20th, 2020
1,528
-
Chapter 126 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Jan 27th, 2020
1,113
-
Chapter 127 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 6th, 2020
974
-
Chapter 128 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 10th, 2020
1,065
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Chapter 129 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Feb 24th, 2020
1,171
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Chapter 130 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 2nd, 2020
1,203
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Chapter 131 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 26th, 2020
1,183
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Chapter 132 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Mar 27th, 2020
1,393
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Chapter 133 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 3rd, 2020
1,226
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Chapter 134 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
Apr 20th, 2020
1,520
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Chapter 135 [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 18th, 2020
1,869
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Epilogue [Fimfiction.net] [Cache]
May 29th, 2020
1,531