• Published 24th Oct 2013
  • 1,633 Views, 375 Comments

Blueblood's Ascension Part III; or, Even Alicorns Have Dreams - MyHobby



Blueblood is sent to Tartarus. No, he's not a prisoner. Rather, he is to become the new warden of the magical prison for Nightmares. The key problem is that he just doesn't want to be the warden. Will he follow his duty, or his dreams?

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Chapter the Very Last; or, a Short Epilogue

Blueblood, Prince of Equestria, worked feverishly at his workbench. Wood flew in his magic grasp, iron and steel bended to his will, and intricately carved crystals fastened themselves to his creation. A final scrape with his wood carver and it was complete, his latest and greatest creation.

Blueblood was not a fool, nor was he what one would call “lazy.” He was rather the hard worker, especially when he applied himself. Fortunately for posterity, he applied himself in nearly every aspect of his life, even when it wouldn’t have an immediate and positive effect on his goodself.

Before the prince stood a wood-and-metal pony with emeralds for eyes and a ruby for a heart. He circled it, searching for any flaws or imperfections in his masterpiece. Finding none, as usual, he sighed contentedly and sat before the artificial pony.

“Automated Servants Mach Two,” he said to the newly-crafted statue. “You will now ‘Come to Life,’ if you please.”

His horn glowed blue, and the pony glowed to match. A few moments passed as the spell warmed up, gaining power until Blueblood was certain that it would work. A flash, a spark, and the whir of machinery signified the spell’s completion. The Equestrian prince sat back and waited.

The woodwork pony twitched, vibrated, and sputtered to life. It took a bow and addressed Blueblood, “I am at your service, master.”

Blueblood chewed his lip. “This is a little too much déjà vu for me.”

“Time to throw a wrench into things,” Redheart said. She pushed the door aside and plopped a bag on the ground beside the robot. “What’s new about this model?”

“It is utterly incapable of harming ponies.” Blueblood came up beside her and rubbed his cheek against hers. “Notice the complete lack of laser eyes. Notice the servos which have difficulty lifting anything heavier than one hundred pounds. Notice the all-encompassing friendship report programming.”

“Dear Princess Celestia,” the robot said, “I was right all along!”

“And I do mean ‘all encompassing.’” Blueblood kissed her ear. “How was your day at the hospital, Dr. Redheart?”

“Busy,” Redheart said, her voice growing quiet. “And… surprising.”

“Oh? Surprising?” Blueblood laughed. “My dear wife, I’ve become an alicorn, orchestrated the robot apocalypse of Canterlot, travelled to a parallel world, fought a changeling invasion, met my undead great-grandfather, battled Nightmares, watched my friends turn into monsters, watched my friends turn back from monsters, dueled a mad alicorn inside a volcano, and faced death and come out nearly unscathed. I am now friends with a diamond dog, a ranch hand, an ex-evil overlord, and a shapeshifting creature that eats love. I create lifelike machines for a living, partnered with a pony that has invented a magic mirror. Please, I beg you, surprise me.”

“I’m pregnant,” Redheart said. “With our baby, that is.”

Blueblood licked his lips. He gave her a curt nod. “That’ll do it.”

He keeled over in the middle of the workshop floor.

Author's Note:

Now it's wrapped up! Kinda!

Comments ( 40 )

Hmn, well, guess the next question is whether being an alicorn is inheritable.

Awww... Complete... Well, i know what I'm reading tomorrow.

4970924

Ah dammit, so in the end Twilight really does get a thousand year banishment, even if it's fairly lightly applied? That's kind of... terrible. Extending from my comments about the possession last chapter, it feels like, well, making the victim serve the punishment for the crime (they literally just convicted a kidnapping victim of kidnapping, for example). I'm incredibly unimpressed that Celestia would participate in such a miscarriage of justice.
This really isn't the ending that I was hoping for.

Well, we've seen it mentioned that although the Nightmares pushed her into it, Twilight did make the decision to go through with this stuff. It was less... forced than it was convinced. In the end, she had her foreshadowed Lesson Zero freak-out, and they weren't able to stop her before she did something monstrous. (And being the victim of a crime does not excuse your own crimes.)

She suffers the consequences for her actions, but her life gets to go on. That's leagues better than what Luna got when the same happened to her.

I'm sorry the ending disappointed you.

Did Flash just save the world (or start to, at least) with a Cakebutt insult?

Close enough. :twilightblush:

And now I find that not only is my beau, my dream stallion, the Tyrant King of the Crystal Empire, he also sacrificed himself to allow Twilight Sparkle to proceed to Tartarus, in order that she could free Blueblood and in turn be freed of possession.”

Well that's just a slightly creative interpretation of events. I suppose with the appropriate glossing over of the exact details they might even be able to officially let Shadowfright and Scorpan rightly take all of the blame.

He had Celestia unawares. He could have ended her and Twilight's lives and taken the kingdom then and there. He did not.

He's a slimy son of a gun, but he's a slimy son of a gun who has learned what love is. I think he has potential to reform completely some day.

Also, it's funny how right Sombra feels as a match for Rarity. Drama is Rarity, and he brings it in spades.

I ship it like eBay sellers. A little late and a little overpriced.

Ooooo, Fluttershy in a nightmare, I can't help but think that letting Discord see that was a mistake. And that was a clever method for dealing with Sorpan (it's so nice to see Twilight on the side of the heroes again).

Okay, so Flash didn't really save the world with a Cakebutt insult, but letting Discord see Fluttershy cry was absolutely a mistake. Bye bye, Shadowfright, I'm sure you won't be missed.

It was highly satisfying to give the villains of this tale their due. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it was relaxing.

Hmn, well, guess the next question is whether being an alicorn is inheritable.

Nope. Gotta earn it yourself.


4971477
I hope you enjoy it! :twilightsmile:

4973204 I understand that you've been pushing all along that possessed Twilight's actions were her own actions (as were Soarin, Braeburn, Lyra, and Lightning's, did they get banished too?), I just thoroughly disagree that someone who has been mind-raped into betraying her country deserves to live with both the consequences and shame of her actions and what's basically an eternal punishment as far as her mortal friends and family are concerned.

And what's more, the whole "released for Element duties and then back into exile" thing is practically insulting. It's not like Twilight would ever choose not to save her country even though her country betrayed and failed to save her, but here's hoping she never wants to visit the country or world she's saving outside of the times that she's in mortal peril on everyone else's behalf. Every other Element Bearer is probably seriously reconsidering whether they owe their loyalty to Equestria and Celestia or to Twilight at this point.

Probably what is most cheesing me off is the feeling that the justice system on display was specifically designed not really to make sense but to make sure Twilight gets screwed over. Discord gets a second chance in the show via friendship with Fluttershy in spite of his season two coup attempt, but the many times over world savior gets a thousand year exile for actions performed while her free will was compromised? Argh.

I've downvoted fics for this kind of ending, and I'm having a very hard time convincing myself to not do so again. I like the story, I like you as an author, but I'm sitting here in my cubicle at work actively getting upset as I write this reply. My mind keeps drifting back to the possession chapter and the fact that from the moment Twilight was kidnapped nothing was going to be able to save her, and it just makes me angry and unhappy.

4970922

Ah dammit, so in the end Twilight really does get a thousand year banishment, even if it's fairly lightly applied? That's kind of... terrible.

That she gets a barely-banishment for desiring to release a ton of villainous monsters in order to save one pony? Almost completely ruined life for everyone to save one? Seems like she got pretty lightly off.

Also, no matter how long a thousand years is, now Twilight will live forever, so time is pretty much of no importance. It's not like it's going to waste a chunk of her limited life by making her impotent or anything. Maybe she'll get lonely. Except anyone can visit her whenever they want anyway. I mean... it's not a non-punishment, since the rest of the world doesn't stand still, but it's clearly a punishment that looks awful but is a slap on the wrist.

I've been pretty invested in Flash's story line and the end is... disappointing. He sorta-half Spike-style-saved-the-day (which is to say, was pretty useful once when someone else could have probably done it but it means he's loyal and clever, right? Great for a kid to help. Less great for an adult to "be a hero"), and then on the confrontation with Twilight... ignores all the crap and how she, worse than saying she hated him or did evil things, simply discarded him when push came to shove. That's her hidden feelings: Flash is not important to her. So he ignores that in order to help her feel better about it.

To clarify though... it's not like I expected him to not forgive her, but the omission of anything about how she abandoned him and treated him like he wasn't important (that was, to me, the central conflict in their relationship) seems... bad for him. She betrays everything for Blueblood, but Flash is only worth being told he wasn't worth it when he tells her that's wrong to do. So he decides he's going to 100% forgive her, with no effort on her part, because... he's fine with being second banana? If that's not what's happening, it might need clarification.

It seems a bit like the real climax wasn't these last three chapters, but was the preceding chapters, where the majority of the personal confrontations happen. The villains are defeated, but there isn't a lot of significant personal conflict with them. Discord/Shadowfright was the most personal of the conflicts resolved here.

Also it's a little confusing as to who did what against Scorpan. He gets bound to the erupting volcano and dumped in lava by Blueblood, but... did Blueblood trigger the chains? Did Redheart (whom Scorpan was attacking at the time) do it? The scene was a little confusing.

I did enjoy this overall, though... And a lot of the character arcs were done pretty well! I just talk about the stuff I don't quite like a lot more than the stuff I do like. :twilightblush:

4973421

Probably what is most cheesing me off is the feeling that the justice system on display was specifically designed not really to make sense but to make sure Twilight gets screwed over. Discord gets a second chance in the show via friendship with Fluttershy in spite of his season two coup attempt, but the many times over world savior gets a thousand year exile for actions performed while her free will was compromised? Argh.

Although, to disagree with my last comment: your point about Discord part a is pretty good one. Twilight was at least misguided in her efforts, whereas Discord was granted clemency with no promise of good behavior, and he knew what trouble he was causing and what he did.

4973804 My issues spring from the fact that I cannot view nightmare possession as anything other than rape of mind and spirit. It doesn't really matter to me that she was trying to end the world, given that 1) she didn't, at least in part because of her own actions and 2) given actual free will she never would have done the things she did while possessed.

Real world similarities of crimes committed while being a victim yourself don't really apply as we don't have actual demonic possession that our laws would need to take into account. A world of magic would have to have a legal system that understood the subtleties of people truly being soborned into taking actions against their will, actions that (in my opinion at least) they should not be held accountable for. Think about the Want-It-Need-It effect, or Mac and Cheerilee under the effects of the love poison.

My impression of Twilight's punishment is that it's about the lightest security prison ever, with the lightest visitation policies ever, with permanently ongoing conjugal visits even. But all that said, it's still a prison. She is not the master of her own fate, and she will not be for a very long time.

4973916
First: She did in fact release the Nitghtmares, and Shadowfright and Scorpan, and she wanted to help in their recapture, but did not.

Second: We have a remarkably accurate metaphor in drinking and drugs.

Do we hold criminals responsible for their actions if they were taken when they were under the influence of a drug? Which cause you to take actions you might normally do but stop yourself because of your sense? Or would cause you to have exaggerated feelings and act upon them?

Absolutely. It's illegal to even put yourself in a position to do dangerous things when inebriated. She wasn't drugged without her consent, even though she was pressured into it. She did it knowing she would almost 100% commit a crime.

4974319 Gonna have to disagree on that one, a roomful of nightmares yelling at and emotionally abusing you to say yes to possession does not count as consent in my book. It was enough for their purposes, true, but surely the legal system would have different standards than a bunch of demons.

Consent obtained while under duress isn't consent, otherwise a lot of rapes wouldn't be rapes. Force the victim to say yes once and it's fair game? No freaking way.

Do people who commit crimes while under the influence of drugs that were forced on them receive leniency from the courts? I don't have any stats or exact numbers, but my gut says they absolutely do.

4973916
4973876 I kind of agree with both of you on both issues, that Twilight's punishment is too harsh given that she was possessed, and that it seems likely that, however sorry Twilight is NOW, it feels like she's probably going to go back to treating Flash like an afterthought <cough> Spike </cough> pretty soon, and he's too much of a weenie to stand up to her about it in the future. Have you considered the possibility that maybe these two things are related? Consider that Celestia owes Flash big time. What does she do? She immures Twilight in the Everfree Forest, presumably in the old castle. Twilight will have guards (Flash and others, probably just him). Her friends can visit, but most of the time it will be just Flash and Twilight.

Celestia, as a cunning reward for Flash, has created a situation where Twilight will be forced to actually pay attention to Flash and not treat him like an accessory, because most of the time Twilight will have NO ONE ELSE to focus on but Flash. He just has to endure being 2nd banana when guests visit.
I bet when Flash kicks the bucket in 50 to 70 years, Celestia will start looking for ways to commute Twilight's sentence. I realize that idea is creepy in a whole bunch of OTHER ways, but I could see Celestia doing something like that.

Oh, and whatever happened to Hoity Toity and Peach bottom? I hope they're not still in jail.

4973421

I've downvoted fics for this kind of ending, and I'm having a very hard time convincing myself to not do so again. I like the story, I like you as an author, but I'm sitting here in my cubicle at work actively getting upset as I write this reply. My mind keeps drifting back to the possession chapter and the fact that from the moment Twilight was kidnapped nothing was going to be able to save her, and it just makes me angry and unhappy.

You can do that. You probably should, since this story upset you in a way you most certainly did not want to be upset.

I tried to write the story in a way where only Twilight was capable of saving herself. It was really up to her all along, but she refused. I can see that somewhere along the way I messed up. I know this story has several critical, fatal flaws that could have been avoided with a bit more pre-thought.

I know that if I were to write the hypothetical second draft, I'd probably obliterate the Equestrian legal system subplot altogether and replace it with some other consequence. I'd pay more attention to developing Flash Sentry's subplot. I'd adjust a billion little things. I'd give Spike a bigger part.

All I can really do right now is take your worries into consideration, and try to make my next story that much better. Even if it's only a little bit.


4973804

I've been pretty invested in Flash's story line and the end is... disappointing. [...] So he decides he's going to 100% forgive her, with no effort on her part, because... he's fine with being second banana? If that's not what's happening, it might need clarification.

I tried to do a "You don't need to save the world to be a hero" thing with him, but I guess it didn't work out. More like a second banana peel, amiright? Hahahaha bleh. :pinkiesick:

It seems a bit like the real climax wasn't these last three chapters, but was the preceding chapters, where the majority of the personal confrontations happen. The villains are defeated, but there isn't a lot of significant personal conflict with them. Discord/Shadowfright was the most personal of the conflicts resolved here.

I'm still working on the finer points of pacing. I guess the real climax of the story was when Twilight blasted Blueblood, and all the rest has been the falling action. It would have been better if I actually weaved relationships between the villains and the heroes, and left a final bit of growth for that bit of conflict.

Also it's a little confusing as to who did what against Scorpan. He gets bound to the erupting volcano and dumped in lava by Blueblood, but... did Blueblood trigger the chains? Did Redheart (whom Scorpan was attacking at the time) do it? The scene was a little confusing.

That scene was meant to link with the one right before it, where Twilight and Spike locked themselves up in accordance with the oath. As long as there were prisoners in Tartarus, Scorpan would be chained.

I did enjoy this overall, though... And a lot of the character arcs were done pretty well! I just talk about the stuff I don't quite like a lot more than the stuff I do like. :twilightblush:

Just about everybody has a habit of focusing on the negative. I appreciate your criticism a lot. It's most certainly helping me be a better writing by showing me what I need to be looking out for. Thank you very much. :twilightsmile:

Although, to disagree with my last comment: your point about Discord part a is pretty good one. Twilight was at least misguided in her efforts, whereas Discord was granted clemency with no promise of good behavior, and he knew what trouble he was causing and what he did.

So many Season 3 episodes are there just to screw with me, i'm sure of it. I forgot the details of that episode.

I don't know how it's supposed to fit. I literally can't reconcile it. All I can say right now is that i'm sorry, i'll try better next time. :facehoof:


4974476

it feels like she's probably going to go back to treating Flash like an afterthought <cough> Spike </cough> pretty soon, and he's too much of a weenie to stand up to her about it in the future.

I messed Flash's arc up so bad at the end. And the middle. The start had promise, at least.

Oh, and whatever happened to Hoity Toity and Peach bottom? I hope they're not still in jail.

Depends on how well they fed the jury their line about Temporary Insanity. :applejackunsure:

4974714 Crap. I guess I will then. I was really hoping I could convince you to revise the ending just a bit and have the court return a surprise not guilty verdict or something like that. A legal system with zero flexibly or leniency (or even a pardon or parole system) is also something that doesn't make much sense. I guess I was hoping that since the ink was still wet it was a still bit malleable, so to speak.

Honestly, I've been nervous about the direction and ending of the story for a while now, largely because of the legal system and the overall feel of the Twilight arc, but I've mostly kept it to myself. That was apparently a mistake.

You seem pretty set to just move on, but I guess I'll take the direct approach I should have from the start, just in case. A question unasked is a question unanswered. Would you please revise the ending in an attempt to deal with the problem that Twilight's punishment makes zero sense?

I tried to write the story in a way where only Twilight was capable of saving herself. It was really up to her all along, but she refused.

...

Yeah, that detail wasn't obvious at all. I had no idea it was a possibility that Twilight could have saved herself earlier in the story until you just mentioned it.

All I can say right now is that i'm sorry, i'll try better next time.

This feels like I'm kicking you while you are down, but I don't know that I'll be around for the next one. It's hard to trust again after you get hurt, and for a trilogy plus the side story to end this way makes me hesitant to commit to another. Most authors (just a handful, really) that I unfav and downvote like this also end up unfollowed.

That said, I'm already reading the near future series, which, unfortunately, I am now much more nervous about.

4974714 You built an action adventure alternate universe of multi - novel length. Yes, not every character in your vast tapestry got the precisely - calibrated karmically - derived ending everyone wants, but point me to one example on fimfiction where it's been done better (not the Lunaverse, that thing has like 20 people co-writing it). It's still been a fantastic ride!

Oh, and I assume Hoity just told Peach bottom one of the jurors was a Prince, and then an insanity defense was proven to everyone's satisfaction.

4974878

I guess I was hoping that since the ink was still wet it was a still bit malleable, so to speak.

I've never felt comfortable posting something and then rewriting it. I try to make sure all the rewriting happens before I share it. And when it's just me editing, I guess things get... MyHobby-ed.

It's not like I haven't done it before, though.

A question unasked is a question unanswered

That's a chillingly true thought.

You seem pretty set to just move on, but I guess I'll take the direct approach I should have from the start, just in case. A question unasked is a question unanswered. Would you please revise the ending in an attempt to deal with the problem that Twilight's punishment makes zero sense?
[...]
This feels like I'm kicking you while you are down, but I don't know that I'll be around for the next one. It's hard to trust again after you get hurt, and for a trilogy plus the side story to end this way makes me hesitant to commit to another. Most authors (just a handful, really) that I unfav and downvote like this also end up unfollowed.

And the chips are down.:fluttershysad:

One scene removed. One conversation edited. A reader's good will in the balance.

I want to do it because it would arguably make this story stronger. So I think I will.
4973804 I'll even edit the final scene between Twilight and Flash to give him more of an ending. Maybe this story will pass muster at that time. The beginning is still gonna be a mess of unfocused motivation, but what the hey, right?

I promised a happy ending, and if the ending isn't happy enough...

[...]for a trilogy plus the side story to end this way[...]

Well, the trilogy's over, but the side stories have at least a couple more on the way.

That said, I'm already reading the near future series, which, unfortunately, I am now much more nervous about.

Ponyville is ready to kick Applejack out of office. Scootaloo can't fly on her own. Sweetie Belle is gonna fall for another stallion while Button Mash fights to save her. Spike is gonna face a creature that hunts dragons alongside his fear of being an outcast. They're all gonna almost die.

Cuss darn it, but I'm starting to think my "sense of drama," as it's been referred to, is not for My Little Pony. C'est la vie.


4975008

You built an action adventure alternate universe of multi - novel length. Yes, not every character in your vast tapestry got the precisely - calibrated karmically - derived ending everyone wants, but point me to one example on fimfiction where it's been done better (not the Lunaverse, that thing has like 20 people co-writing it). It's still been a fantastic ride!

Thank you for the compliment. My answer to that is: "Does The Dusk Guard Saga count yet?" If not, It's on its way to counting. That series is about as long as mine right now, and probably longer.

And that series' only real problem is that its author can't remember where apostrophes go. Otherwise, it's rock solid.

Oh, and I assume Hoity just told Peach bottom one of the jurors was a Prince, and then an insanity defense was proven to everyone's satisfaction.

:rainbowlaugh::rainbowlaugh:

Thank you so much for the belly laugh. :twilightsmile:

4975693 Thank you for indulging me in this.

They're all gonna almost die.

Ehh, it would be more surprising if they didn't die, eventually. Except in cases of surprise immortality (thanks, Twilight! :twilightblush:), most people don't make it out of life alive.

4975693 Thanks for the tip on Dusk Guard. I'll take a look. I do hope you look back on this fantastic trilogy and see your overwhelming successes, and not focus on any failings.

4975693

I'll even edit the final scene between Twilight and Flash to give him more of an ending. Maybe this story will pass muster at that time. The beginning is still gonna be a mess of unfocused motivation, but what the hey, right?
I promised a happy ending, and if the ending isn't happy enough...

I... If you think it's better. Don't change it just because someone doesn't like it... should change it because it warrants change. Because you think so, and I guess if someone else convinces you that's the case, then you should, but not just because someone else doesn't like it.

It's still in character for what we've seen of Flash, it's just not an ending I particularly liked... with Flash being the awesome bighearted forgiving stallion... but in doing so basically rolling over his own feelings. I always love complaining, then when something like this happened (it's been a couple times now) that the author looks over their stuff and agrees with me then I feel weird.

4973204 I'd say Twilight has a case against her banishment... She WAS under the influence of an external force that had entered her mind... She FEELS guilty, and FEELs that she is entirely responsible for those thoughts, because we all have dark thoughts in the recesses of our minds. I know there's a term for it, but I forget it... (queue people here who know)... Basically, due to the nature of the brain, it is inclined to create scenarios subconsciously to allow us to sort of... i don't know... prepare for varying reactions to our environment. Blueblood is trapped in Tartarus... what if Tartarus was destroyed? Man it's a long way to the bottom of that cliff... what if I were to just go over the edge... What would that be like? I could totally just run my horn through that pony's gut... No one would see it coming... The brain has... bugs where these can manifest as conscious thoughts. Most of the time they are suppressed, but yeah. Weird scenarios can make the brain do weird things.

Fortunately, the healthy brain has healthy inhibitions (thank you, frontal lobes!) that suppress these "what ifs" from becoming "what did I dos"!

In Twi's case, she had an outside influence removing those inhibitions. I would argue before the court, that all ponies have such inhibited thought processes, and that the healthy brain inhibits these, most of the time from ever becoming conscious.

I'd personally ask each element bearer to air one dark thought that they would be willing to admit to having thoughtlessly passed through their mind and inhibited into an oblivious afterthought... Then challenge Celestia, in front of her entire court, and in the face of Applejack, Element of Honesty, to confess as to whether or not she has ever thought a dark thought about another pony or place or nation or whatever, and inhibited it like a good little mare and not acted upon it... And would she truly be responsible for those thoughts, if an external force had actively removed her inhibitions? Tell us, Princess, what do you really imagine doing to the nobility when you sit on your throne, hearing another one prattle on about some pet peeve or personal agenda... :trollestia:

See her squirm her way out of that one... :ajbemused:

Then challenge, that how can a pony with her inhibitions removed by an external force, a nightmare, possibly be responsible for those thoughts, when she was not the force removing her inhibition, that the force doing so WAS a conscious entity that had merged with her, FOR the sole reason of removing those inhibitions, and making that nightmare into reality.

That's my argument... :twilightsheepish:

4976733

Thanks for the tip on Dusk Guard. I'll take a look. I do hope you look back on this fantastic trilogy and see your overwhelming successes, and not focus on any failings.

A little humility is healthy. I'm not going to get any better as a writer if I don't focus on my weak areas.

Though I need to work on not actually wallowing in self-depreciation. That's bad. :rainbowwild:


4977386

I... If you think it's better. Don't change it just because someone doesn't like it... should change it because it warrants change. Because you think so, and I guess if someone else convinces you that's the case, then you should, but not just because someone else doesn't like it.

I definitely think it'd be better. I wouldn't be bowing to the whims of someone who, say, said I should rewrite the story so that Twilight and Blueblood get together. I would merely apologize that I didn't write the story they wanted to read, and move on.

But this rewrite is gonna close up plot holes at the very least.

It's still in character for what we've seen of Flash, it's just not an ending I particularly liked... with Flash being the awesome bighearted forgiving stallion... but in doing so basically rolling over his own feelings. I always love complaining, then when something like this happened (it's been a couple times now) that the author looks over their stuff and agrees with me then I feel weird.

Hey, don't feel too weird. Think of this as me deciding to do what I should have planned to do and write a second draft for the whole story. Now that I have the entire thing complete, and a few outside perspectives, I can actually do my best to make this story... great.

Flash needs a strong ending. The new final conversation will tie into my retconned Twilight ending, too. I think I'll actually get closer to my original vision for Flash's arc.

And maybe I'm just blowing smoke, and it's gonna be just as lame. We'll see. :eeyup:


4978681

Then challenge, that how can a pony with her inhibitions removed by an external force, a nightmare, possibly be responsible for those thoughts, when she was not the force removing her inhibition, that the force doing so WAS a conscious entity that had merged with her, FOR the sole reason of removing those inhibitions, and making that nightmare into reality.

That's my argument... :twilightsheepish:

My response to that would have been that it was a conscious entity that had her explicit permission to remove said inhibitions, but that response has been beaten into a pulp. I'm gonna edit basically everything that creates this plot hole in the first place. Because as mentioned, the Equestrian legal system is all over the place, and can't really fit well in a story that takes itself halfway seriously.

Your thoughts on her defense are somewhere around what I'm planning for the rewrite. Stay tuned.

She FEELS guilty, and FEELs that she is entirely responsible for those thoughts, because we all have dark thoughts in the recesses of our minds. I know there's a term for it, but I forget it...

Some would call it the Id, some would call it human nature. I would probably call it my flesh.

4980248

I wouldn't be bowing to the whims of someone who, say, said I should rewrite the story so that Twilight and Blueblood get together.

...so that's a no on my Scorplestia ship?

4980339

She's just too old for him. :trollestia:

*Grins and applauds* Bravo. This was great fun to experience and I hope I'll get to see more from you.:twilightsmile:

4983411

*Grins and applauds* Bravo. This was great fun to experience and I hope I'll get to see more from you.:twilightsmile:

Have no fear, more is on the way! One-shots and novels both!

And also the second draft of this story, which ought to make it even greater fun to experience. :twilightblush:

Thank you bunches, I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed it. :pinkiehappy:

All in all, a great ending now.

Been a while since I commented (sorry, pulled in a million directions at once). I did get to read through before and after the revision. I thought the first time around was good, but the changes make it great. Although that could simply be my own penchant for happy endings speaking there. And I'm glad to hear that there's more planned. Parenthood is an adventure in and of itself, and I will admit a desire to learn more about King Luscious and his lot.

Bravo, bravo, bravissimo!

4994943

Been a while since I commented (sorry, pulled in a million directions at once). I did get to read through before and after the revision. I thought the first time around was good, but the changes make it great. Although that could simply be my own penchant for happy endings speaking there.

Thanks! I'd call it a definite improvement, too. It's just more Friendship is Magic overall, alongside a nice denouement for the entire series.

And I'm glad to hear that there's more planned. Parenthood is an adventure in and of itself, and I will admit a desire to learn more about King Luscious and his lot.

I'm not saying I will never write Blueblood's Ascension Part IV, but it isn't in the pipeline for now. What I do have on the way is at least two more side-stories for Background Ascension, and the big side-story The Courtship of Pinkamena Diane Pie.

That said, if I ever think up a plot for number four, it's totally getting written. :pinkiehappy:

Bravo, bravo, bravissimo!

Grazie, grazie, grazie!

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:facehoof:
I completely missed that. :twilightblush:
*scans through the section again*

“Blueblood!” Luna grasped his foreleg with hers. “We return to your unconscious mind! Farewell, Lady Rarity!”

Yeah, somewhere in the several paragraphs following that line, I completely forgot about its existence.
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/552/653/a0c.png

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As programmers, we are wired and trained to see what is wrong with something, and then to fix it; this involves a vastly different skill set than would be required to point out someone else's mistakes in a sensitive manner and help them understand how to avoid said mistakes in the future. :pinkiecrazy:

It really doesn't help when half of what they want to fix is nothing more than personal preference... "Oooh, you put your braces on the wrong line!" type of crap.

5061704 Heh, I was wondering what you were going to think about the comments towards the end of the story once you got there. Ignore most of my complaining comments, they were from before our fair author tweaked the ending a bit.

I'm actually glad I forgot to star this story; when I came back to fix that, I noticed there was an epilogue chapter. :facehoof:

You know you have a good ending when one of your readers, upon reaching said ending, completely and utterly fails to even consider the possibility that there might be more. :twilightblush:

And an excellent epilogue it is; nicely wraps around to the very beginning, turning this all into one nice tidy bundle of joy.
I'm always a sucker for the other kind of little bundle of joy, such as the one Blueblood and Redheart (that still has such a nice ring to it) will be receiving in about 10½ months or so... :pinkiehappy:

5061723 I gotta bite, who's best?

Probably the pony who gets the lion's share of my emote-usage. :twilightsmile: (Hint: It's the Mane Mare herself.)
(Though I have been trying to branch out a bit lately.)

Cheers, and auf Wiedersehen.
(And have another moustache, for good measure: :moustache:)

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Facehooves abound... :facehoof:
I forgot that was a Veggie Tales song. When I read it I assumed it was just Nightmare Entropy being a doofus.

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It really doesn't help when half of what they want to fix is nothing more than personal preference... "Oooh, you put your braces on the wrong line!" type of crap.

You can count me among the people who get cheesed off when somebody does something the "wrong" way. I've just learned to keep my mouth shut. :pinkiecrazy:


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our fair author

Who said I was blonde? :rainbowwild:


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I'm actually glad I forgot to star this story; when I came back to fix that, I noticed there was an epilogue chapter. :facehoof:
You know you have a good ending when one of your readers, upon reaching said ending, completely and utterly fails to even consider the possibility that there might be more. :twilightblush:

I'm glad you saw it! I couldn't very well finish the trilogy without one final kick! :ajsmug:

And an excellent epilogue it is; nicely wraps around to the very beginning, turning this all into one nice tidy bundle of joy.
I'm always a sucker for the other kind of little bundle of joy, such as the one Blueblood and Redheart (that still has such a nice ring to it) will be receiving in about 10½ months or so... :pinkiehappy:

Real epics seem to end in one of two ways: A wedding or a birth. This is somewhere in between the two. :pinkiehappy:

Probably the pony who gets the lion's share of my emote-usage. :twilightsmile: (Hint: It's the Mane Mare herself.)

Oh, you mean Peachbottom!

...

No?

Ahem! A fair choice indeed! While I personally put Pinkie Pie on that metaphorical pedestal, Twilight also holds a special place in my heart. And she's way too much fun to write for, much like Rainbow Dash. When those particular two are on the page, the words flow oh so naturally.

Cheers, and auf Wiedersehen.
(And have another moustache, for good measure: :moustache:)

Gesundheit! Aloha! Shalom! Do svedanya! Buenos noches! Bon apatite!

Facehooves abound... :facehoof:
I forgot that was a Veggie Tales song. When I read it I assumed it was just Nightmare Entropy being a doofus.

Actually, it was the author being a doofus. :twistnerd:

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You can count me among the people who get cheesed off when somebody does something the "wrong" way. I've just learned to keep my mouth shut. :pinkiecrazy:

I know right!? OBVIOUSLY braces go on their own line. I mean duuuuuh.

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Thank you for that. I can't tell you how many revisions that went through and I still missed it.

Happy to help.

I beat you to it. :rainbowwild:

Oh poo. *pouts*

Relations with Equestria's neighbors can only be improved by letting one rip during meetings. :trollestia:

*dryly* I'm sure.

He's astonishingly underused, considering how much the authors around here like a good redemption story.

I know, I've seen him mentioned a few times here and there, and even used, but usually his G1 incarnation who was a servant of Tirek, but I'm glad they brought him back for G4, having seen all of Tirek's scenes in the original G1 pilot where he got King Sombra, ie, unalived. He worked better as a villain when he was shrouded in shadows, he looked more sinister then when he finally revealed himself. Though the scene where he threatened to decapitate the baby G1 Spike to get Scorpan to cooperate was scary, then again, 80's movies could get rather dark, for example, the 80's Transformers movie where a lot of characters died and there were some crazy high stakes, but my point is, I think authors don't use him because we barely KNOW anything about G4 Scorpan other then him redeeming himself, though I suspect it wasn't as fast as the book implies.

This is the story where Luna became my second favorite pony to write.

Well, she is best princess.

I noticed that as I rewatched the premier, all of his little spells were basically puns and bad jokes. Sneezes that knock houses down? Dancing buffalo ballerinas? Chocolate rain? Dohohohohoho!

Not all of them, what he did in the hedge maze was a lot less humorous, for example, his Sadistic Choice to poor Rainbow Dash, no wonder she was the first to ditch him in Three's A Crowd.

The only thing better than Discord being a troll is to have somepony who's easy to troll. :twistnerd:

And then having Discord troll that pony. I swear under virtually any other circumstances, Discord would be the kind of character you hate, a villain that's even more powerful then the local Big Good who was sealed in a statue, comes out of nowhere, beats the Mane 6 with almost ridiculous ease, and while laughing and being a malicious troll, however, just how damn funny he has as well as being voiced by the Chuck Norris of Voice Acting, John De Lancie as well as being based on the beloved-by-the-fandom Q probably saved him from a far less pleasant fate.

Laypony nothing. When I think about how he must look in real life, I get this cold slither down my spine... To say nothing for the fan art i've accidentally stumbled across. :pinkiegasp:

I know what you mean, he looks creepy enough in MLP's colorful Flash animation, so in real life, just being around him, not to mention his lack of personal space, the fact that he could do virtually anything to you and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it and his penchant for screwing with others heads, no wonder the mane 6 are apprehensive of him.

You know, I really do keep forgetting that this is pants-on-head, bat-poo crazy. Go figure. :twilightblush:

Eh, we all forget sometimes.

:pinkiehappy: But then they'll miss the party of their dreams!

Or rather,party of their, *glasses pull* Nightmares.

Don't scare me like that! :raritydespair:

Sorry, sorry, but yeah, that's a thought I'd rather not entertain, mainly because I suspect even the strongest of Nightmares would be driven mad simply from having to deal with Discord for too long, so, being inside his head? That wouldn't end well for them.

Thank you. I love scenes where you get character interactions you never see anywhere else. I think Blueblood and Spike go well together. A regular pair of bros.

Yeah, it's fun to see just small interactions like that.

Even then, you have to squint. :applejackconfused:

A lot.

But with lots of confetti!

Naturally.

Nightmares are too cool to wear black all the time. If you see Lyra whipping out sunglasses, though, watch out!

I will.

I maybe had too much fun designing them. Just a little. In writing, if you wanna spark people's imaginations, you gotta be imaginative.

And the best way to do that is to have fun.

Shadowfright may be the best villain I've ever written. He's got, like, all the good adjectives. Just wait'll you see his endgame. :raritywink:

I both dread and look forward to it.

It is, though! It means "dimly illuminated by twilight." You use it the same way you'd use "light" and "lit." :twilightsmile:

Oh, good to know.

I wish! I didn't do "Dark of the Night," but the Nightmares get a very nice villain song at the start of the fourth quarter of the story. :rainbowdetermined2:

Pity, it'd fit, but,I'll take what I can get.

You don't necessarily have to go too dark. You could go with temporary paralysis or a splitting, incapacitating headache if you wanted.

Provided you make her mad enough, I wouldn't put it past her.

Not senile. Desperate.

Similar to her plan in Twilight's Kingdom, she knew it wouldn't work for long, but on the fly, it's the best she could do. My headcanon is that while Celestia can masterfully plan things out, if her plans go wrong, she has trouble adapting, like Twilight, while Luna isn't that good at making more detailed plans, but it better at improvisation, they're opposites, like Day and Night.

I hope you enjoy where it goes in this story. :trollestia: Muhuahahahahaha!

I'm sure I will.

“Automated Servants Mach Two,” he said to the newly-crafted statue. “You will now ‘Come to Life,’ if you please.”

Mark Two, not Mach 2.

“Oh? Surprising?” Blueblood laughed. “My dear wife, I’ve become an alicorn, orchestrated the robot apocalypse of Canterlot, travelled to a parallel world, fought a changeling invasion, met my undead great-grandfather, battled Nightmares, watched my friends turn into monsters, watched my friends turn back from monsters, dueled a mad alicorn inside a volcano, and faced death and come out nearly unscathed. I am now friends with a diamond dog, a ranch hand, an ex-evil overlord, and a shapeshifting creature that eats love. I create lifelike machines for a living, partnered with a pony that has invented a magic mirror. Please, I beg you, surprise me.”

She's pregnant isn't she?

“I’m pregnant,” Redheart said. “With our baby, that is.”
Blueblood licked his lips. He gave her a curt nod. “That’ll do it.”
He keeled over in the middle of the workshop floor.

Well I do hope somebody picks up that phone. Because I f+cking called it! Also, Imma watch you so I can know when the next installment in the Blueblood's Ascension series comes up.

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Mark Two, not Mach 2.

I don't suppose you'll let me get away with saying that's the robot's top speed?

She's pregnant isn't she?
Well I do hope somebody picks up that phone.

The best stories either end with a wedding or babies ever after. :pinkiehappy:

Also, Imma watch you so I can know when the next installment in the Blueblood's Ascension series comes up.

Sweet! Keep an eye on Background Ascension and Braeburn's Ascension, they're next in the update queue for the series.

Not all of them, what he did in the hedge maze was a lot less humorous, for example, his Sadistic Choice to poor Rainbow Dash, no wonder she was the first to ditch him in Three's A Crowd.

Point to you. That is definitely Discord at his scariest!

It IS a bit of a stretch, but Discord did turn Rainbow Dash into Traitor Dash in the Season 2 premiere, and the Wonderbolts were trying to get Rainbow Dash to betray Ponyville, I know due to him being reformed and being extremely subtle, it's a bit farfetched, but, like I said, conspiracy theory.

What I've been told is "Don't attribute to maliciousness what you can attribute to stupidity." I think I wrote that scene before the Rainbow Falls episode, but I can't quite recall. If anything, Spitfire got into that little league coach mindset. The kind where the grown adult looks at the kids and starts shouting "Gotta win!" like he's got Tourettes. :unsuresweetie:

Shouldn't it be anypony ELSE?

Maybe to be grammatically correct, but I think it fits with Rainbow's vernacular.

all living beings are flawed

You just nailed one of the themes I've really been shooting for with basically all my stories. :twilightsmile:

Also, Yearling Hawk... *mind clicks* MyHobby, you Magnificent Bastard I read your BOOK!

Like I said, I beat you to the Star Wars reference!

Sometimes I swear you enjoy writing this TOO much.

I really do. I really, really do.

What? Wow. *clears throat ans sings to the tune of You're Mean One Mr Grinch* You're a weird one, MyHobby. You really are insaane! You're as crazy as Pinkie Pie with some bedlam in her mane, MyHobby! I got nothing, so I'll stop nooooooow!

If you don't admit you like it then... You just in denial! :rainbowlaugh:

I am not being random with whether Luna speaks "thou" or "you," I swear.

Fell the questioning power of my right eyebrow.

It's whenever she gets really darn mad at somepony. That's when she switches.

Oh he's good, though I'm surprised he's a pony not a gargoyle like the G1 and 4 Scorpan, but no matter.

Originally, he was gonna be a gargoyle, but then I saw Sunset Satan and thought "Hay, I can do something with this." Plus, like I've said before, this was written during season four, so we hadn't even seen G4's Scorpan yet.

Oh crap, I swear, between Tirek, Discord, the Dazzlings, and the Nightmare Forces, there are more villains who are good at manipulating then any other kind.

I've always found the manipulaters to the the scariest villains. If your bad guy has your hero wrapped around their pinkie, what hope does the world have? Then it's doubly awesome to finally see them get taken down!

Granny Smith is best pony. That is all, seriously, she's got so much experience and so many adventures, why are there not more stories about her?

I feel your pain. Granny Smith is too great to be relegated to the show alone.

Only Big Mac could make saying Eeyup sound awesome.

It just comes naturally.

You know what'd be fun? Celestia vs Xehanort or David Xanatos in chess. That'd be fun, because they all always have a plan.

Why stop there? Xehanort and Xanatos working together in a time travel plot to gain immortality as alicorns. This stuff just writes itself!

Ironic how this is usually the other way around.

I think inversion is funny.

Also, Damn is Nightmare Twilight scary.

Mission accomplished!

Actually, it's Knock Knock jokes and Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road jokes.

A kid has to start somewhere. I think knock knock jokes earn their keep as Training Humor.

Mid Season 4 limbo, this before or after Discord being a Magnificent Troll in song? Also, i wonder how Tirek would react to Scorpan, they'd probably both say "How the mighty have fallen."

Before, unfortunately. This doesn't sync up with the second half of the season at all.

I suspect Discord would be Present, albeit, reformed Discord anyway, Luna in her Nightmare Moon guise would be Future, and Past, Spike maybe? Maybe Blueblood would be Scrooge with Twilight being the girl Scrooge loved, I can't think of anypony else for now. It's a good story though.

The pony that comes to mind as Tiny Tim would be Apple Bloom, actually. Big Mac could be Scrooge's nephew.

Feel the questioning power of my raised left eyebrow.

It's kinda like savory oatmeal...

It also sounds like the kind of story that would need to be written very carefully, lest it go horribly wrong and backfire badly on the author.

Which is why i ain't touching it with a ten-foot pole.

Well, I see it as the EOH being a bit ironic,

At times, but it seems the results can vary depending on who's wielding them, since the Six were able to set Luna free with little fuss. Maybe it's ironic... and picky.

To quote Zeus from Disney's Hercules, "Hades, YOU'RE BEHIND ALL THIS?!"

"You're correct, sir!"

Also, the way I see it, Nightmares are born out of accepting darkness and out of twisted enlightenment, like Nightmare Moon's logic was "They don't love my night, so I'll make night last forever so they'll be forced to love my night!" they do have good intentions, usually, at heart, but the longer they stay Nightmares, the more the darkness in their heart grows until it corrupts them completely. The amount of time this takes differs depending on the pony. They're sort of like a cross between a tragic case of Insane Troll Logic, and S/He Who Fights Monsters.

Precisely! It was a fantastic opportunity to explore a situation where these guys could be villains, yet have the story still be believably canonical. You don't get many chances like that in storytelling.

Heh. Hehe, Hehehe, HEH! HEHHEHEHEHEHEH! HAHAHAHAHAAA! AHAHAHAHAAA! *slaps self* sorry about that. I just realized, I made a joke earlier about Nightmare Discord, and now, it's come true. Please send your flames to ShadowLDrago@idiotwithbadtiming.com.

Hey, you guessed the twist (Accidentally). It's not bad timing, it's brilliance in action! :trollestia:

Who me? Ha. Ha. Hahah. Hahahaha. HA! HAHA! HAHAHAHAAA! HAHAHAHAHAAA! OOHOOO HOHOOO! OH god you kill me! Shadowfright buddy, cm'ere. You don't want to get into my head. You really don't. I am a person in the Internet, I have seen things you could not imagine, thought of horrors that would you make you scream in terror. I have read Pony POV. You frighten me not, King of Fools.

And Shadowfright replies with one simple phrase: "What are you afraid of?"

I like this. I really freaking like this, it shows that while Fluttershy is a lovely and patient pony, even she has limits to her kindness and she knows when it's best to be blunt.

I think that when Fluttershy's allowed to have character development, she's one of the best characters we've got. Baby steps indeed.

I like this, I seriously do, it's a nice extension to Flash's personality, the guy's been put under a lot of stress and pressure recently, so it's only normal that he'd eventually blow up.

That's one of my main ways for developing characters, i've found. Throw crap at them until they snap. Usually it's either followed up with a villainous breakdown or some sort of support from outside. It's been an interesting road I've taken with Flashy, I hope he's a stronger character for it.

Also, Discord is probably the ballsiest character here, seriously, even HE doesn't know if he'll survive, but he's willing to take the chance if it means Shadowfright gets blown to quarks along with him,.

By golly, Discord's earned his heroic sacrifice by now! He needed a big redemption after his big collapse, I think, and it doesn't get much bigger than a volcanic eruption.

HE SURVIVED! YAAAAAY! I should've known you'd never kill of Discord. He's probably gonna need a while before he's back to full power, but still.

Despite all appearances, this is still something of a comedy. :twilightblush: Discord's too good-looking to die.

Yes, but what about BonBon?

Probably going on a chocolate binge right about now... That or trying to woo Prince Davenport.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story! Thanks for leaving comments. Talking with people is one of my favorite parts of writing. :pinkiehappy:

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I don't suppose you'll let me get away with saying that's the robot's top speed?

Considering Dash's lowest Sonic Rainboom speed is Mach 1, no. Nice try though.

The best stories either end with a wedding or babies ever after. :pinkiehappy:

Not always. I direct you to Frozen.

Sweet! Keep an eye on Background Ascension and Braeburn's Ascension, they're next in the update queue for the series.

Pretty sure I faved and tracked both of those.

Point to you. That is definitely Discord at his scariest!

Yep. Discord is a good villain, he's a perfect mix of funny, yet at the same time absolutely terrifying if you keep in mind that without the EOH and his teleporting abilities, he could easily turn the world upside down at any time and even without that, his razor sharp mind is enough to cause trouble with words alone.

What I've been told is "Don't attribute to maliciousness what you can attribute to stupidity." I think I wrote that scene before the Rainbow Falls episode, but I can't quite recall. If anything, Spitfire got into that little league coach mindset. The kind where the grown adult looks at the kids and starts shouting "Gotta win!" like he's got Tourettes. :unsuresweetie:

My headcanon for that is that Spitfire and co were under a lot of pressure from their higher ups and that at the time, the 'Bolts were overworked for some reason or another and Spitfire wasn't exactly in her right mind.

Maybe to be grammatically correct, but I think it fits with Rainbow's vernacular.

Fair enough.

You just nailed one of the themes I've really been shooting for with basically all my stories. :twilightsmile:

Neat!

Like I said, I beat you to the Star Wars reference!

Yes, that was very clever of you.

I really do. I really, really do.

I can tell.

If you don't admit you like it then... You just in denial! :rainbowlaugh:

What can I say? It's a catchy song. And technically, its' you'RE just in denial. Sorry, I'm very picky about proper grammar.

It's whenever she gets really darn mad at somepony. That's when she switches.

So, Luan has more or less managed to adapt to modern vocabulary, but sometimes slips back when she gets really mad, eh, seems legit.

Originally, he was gonna be a gargoyle, but then I saw Sunset Satan and thought "Hay, I can do something with this." Plus, like I've said before, this was written during season four, so we hadn't even seen G4's Scorpan yet.

That's, very clever of you actually.

I've always found the manipulaters to the the scariest villains. If your bad guy has your hero wrapped around their pinkie, what hope does the world have? Then it's doubly awesome to finally see them get taken down!

True, I enjoy brutish Big Bads like Lugnut from Transformers Animated as much as the next guy, but manipulators are the ones you REALLY need to watch out for since you never know when they have a trick up their sleeve. And it's manipulatOrs.

I feel your pain. Granny Smith is too great to be relegated to the show alone.

Yeah, pity there are so few fics about her. My headcanon is she's actually not as old as she looks and just pretends to be a bit senile because it's amusing for her. So, she's a bit of a troll. Eh, old beings can be trolls, look at Discord and Celestia, those two are significantly older then her and are massive trolls.

It just comes naturally.

I'm sure.

Why stop there? Xehanort and Xanatos working together in a time travel plot to gain immortality as alicorns. This stuff just writes itself!

I realized something, by Kingdom Hearts logic, Nightmare Moon would either be Luna as a Heartless, or her Nobody, think about it, her heart fell to darkness, and she's obviously got a strong heart, so, yeah, Nightmares are Nobodies. Yeah, a KH2 and MLP crossover would be fun, OH god, I just had the scariest thought. Hades, Scar and pre reformation Discord working together.

I think inversion is funny.

It was.

Mission accomplished!

You win the no prize!

A kid has to start somewhere. I think knock knock jokes earn their keep as Training Humor.

Eh, I'll grant you that.

Before, unfortunately. This doesn't sync up with the second half of the season at all.

Fair point. Though Glass of Water is both hilarious AND Awesome, not only for the animators to animate all that insanity and GETTING AWAY WITH IT, but Discord is the only character whom I've ever seen be able to troll someone in SONG. That, takes some serious skills.

The pony that comes to mind as Tiny Tim would be Apple Bloom, actually. Big Mac could be Scrooge's nephew.

That could work. Scratch that, Fluttershy is better for the Ghost of Christmas Past.

It's kinda like savory oatmeal...

Oatmeal? Are you crazy? :rainbowlaugh:

Which is why i ain't touching it with a ten-foot pole.

Nor am I. That scenario could easily backfire and BADLY. Too risky for my taste.

At times, but it seems the results can vary depending on who's wielding them, since the Six were able to set Luna free with little fuss. Maybe it's ironic... and picky.

Perhaps, but think, Celestia has to use the EOH alone in the first place, and due to her not really wanting to harm her sister, and the Harmony between the 2 being broken, she couldn't bring herself to bring the full force of the Elements against her, so she could only seal her inside her own moon. The Mane 6 had not qualms about using the EOH full force because they didn't know.

"You're correct, sir!"

Hades is so much damn fun!

Precisely! It was a fantastic opportunity to explore a situation where these guys could be villains, yet have the story still be believably canonical. You don't get many chances like that in storytelling.

True, true.

Hey, you guessed the twist (Accidentally). It's not bad timing, it's brilliance in action! :trollestia:

Fair enough.

And Shadowfright replies with one simple phrase: "What are you afraid of?"

:pinkiehappy:

I think that when Fluttershy's allowed to have character development, she's one of the best characters we've got. Baby steps indeed.

Yeah, when Fluttershy's character development happens, and it stick, like in Hurricane Fluttershy, it is GLORIOUS!

That's one of my main ways for developing characters, i've found. Throw crap at them until they snap. Usually it's either followed up with a villainous breakdown or some sort of support from outside. It's been an interesting road I've taken with Flashy, I hope he's a stronger character for it.

I'd say he is.

By golly, Discord's earned his heroic sacrifice by now! He needed a big redemption after his big collapse, I think, and it doesn't get much bigger than a volcanic eruption.

Well, it could be a Planet Namek scenario where the whole damn planet's going kaboom, but that's hard to survive unless you're Frieza, Buu, or really freaking lucky.

Despite all appearances, this is still something of a comedy. :twilightblush: Discord's too good-looking to die.

Agreed.

Probably going on a chocolate binge right about now... That or trying to woo Prince Davenport.

Who's Davenport again? Also, this is the second story I've ever read where Lyra and Bon Bon aren't shipped together. The first was with Twilight.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story! Thanks for leaving comments. Talking with people is one of my favorite parts of writing. :pinkiehappy:

So it seems.

I have to say, the whole series was a satisfying read, though it seemed to have a bit of Cerberus Syndrome with each story, going from I, Robot parody to brony crossover fantasy to grimdark finale, but each of the three parts remains fairly well-contained (though the length difference between each of them is a bit of a different story altogether).

Twilight's arc in Part III was especially enjoyable, inadvertently friendzoning Blueblood, going through a whole Start of Darkness and then being infected by Nightmare, ultimately winning as a good guy but then being friendzoned back in turn. One wonders if there's an actual term for that.

On that note, I notice you wrapped up most of the characters, heroes and villains, but whatever happened to the two twin bat pony sisters, Charity and Chastity? They're not mentioned as being killed but seem important enough to warrant a separate mention from the generic Nightmares being imprisoned again.

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I have to say, the whole series was a satisfying read, though it seemed to have a bit of Cerberus Syndrome with each story, going from I, Robot parody to brony crossover fantasy to grimdark finale, but each of the three parts remains fairly well-contained (though the length difference between each of them is a bit of a different story altogether).

I think the whole Cerebus Syndrome thing came from writing this during a season of growth in my abilities. I kept wanting to do bigger and better things, and it resulted in the stories becoming gradually darker. I saw it happening while I was putting Part III together. Instead of trying to bring it back to pure comedy, I decided to follow the character wherever their arcs took them.

I'm not too happy that Part III ended up being so different from Part I, but I do take a lot of satisfaction that it's a pretty okay story on its own, and pretty great in combination with the others. It was a journey for me as much as anybody.

Twilight's arc in Part III was especially enjoyable, inadvertently friendzoning Blueblood, going through a whole Start of Darkness and then being infected by Nightmare, ultimately winning as a good guy but then being friendzoned back in turn. One wonders if there's an actual term for that.

I dunno. It might not be a prevalent enough arc to have an actual term. Actually, with all the tropes I've mish-mashed together, it's maybe a bit too complex an idea for a single trope, at least among the ones I've heard of. Broadly, I'd just call it a reversal.

On that note, I notice you wrapped up most of the characters, heroes and villains, but whatever happened to the two twin bat pony sisters, Charity and Chastity? They're not mentioned as being killed but seem important enough to warrant a separate mention from the generic Nightmares being imprisoned again.

Well, poop. That is kinda an important detail to miss. I had it in my mind that they were recaptured and shunted off with the other Nightmares, due to their joint efforts in breaking the prisoners out. But that said, I really should have mentioned them. Maybe even given them a bittersweet ending. Dang it!

I guess I'll have to do something with them when I finally, finally, finally put together the final side-story.


I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself. This series as a whole is really near and dear to my heart, so it's great to see that people are still reading and liking it. :raritystarry:

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