Oh please tell me this isn't the end of Who Rules! I'll cry! That was soooo perfect!!!!

That was good. and next story will contain Twilight maybe coming back for a visit?

4409326 The series and characters are not done IIRC, though this might be the end of Who Rules? Trying to remember if Who rules? Circles was just the title of the latest Who Rules series, or a transition to a new series called Circles? Either way, he said he was going to do future stories.

Called it!

But really. Wow. That was amazing.

But I have to ask. Where to now? What's the next one going to be about, if there is to be another one? Possibly the Legion Hive?

And what exactly does pure magic look like? I've seen this phrase used in so many places that it has to have a definable feature or two, right?

4409326 4409419 4409573

Definitely not the end. There will be more stories. Now, I'm trying to decide WHICH story (implying there are more than one in my head, yes) will come next. Most likely contenders right now are one that involves Twilight (et al), or one that involves Trixie and Rarity (et al). I will warn that it will most likely be late summer/early fall before you see the next one. Got stuff on the plate to handle before I get back to it.

Oh, and as to what "pure magic" looks like...well, that's up to you. One of the strengths of the written word is that it allows you to create your own image of what happens. To me, the place that falls short is with massive battles. It doesn't give scope. But for smaller things, it lets your mind make things up and create an image that fits the moment. It's why H.P. Lovecraft's stories work so well, but movies based on them...not so much.

Wow! But, I am sad why we hadn't one threesome... would we have?

Loved it and looking forward to more Who Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice to see that Tia is a Dom now. For a while at least, it'll be good for their relationship. I can't wait to see the next fic in the series. Can you PM me when it comes out?

still incomplete :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O ????

fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/073/6/4/the_usual_part_2_5__page_24_by_pyruvate-d7a42yg.jpg

Very nice ending.

I still think Regnant sucks, though. He's terrible at his job, all he had going for him was not being a changeling. Plus his role in the story could easily be made superfluous with minor changes, it seemed.

4412694 Oops! Forgot to update that! Thanks. Fixed.

4412813 I can see that argument. I still like the character, and have no issue with him being there, personally. I think that having him there adds a more "human" side to Chrysalis. If she had just been by herself there wouldn't have been that personal insight into her. No conversation or pony to support her point of view.

4412906

What? I thought she only talked to Dapifer? I had no problem with him.

4412944 DOH!! I mis-read what you typed. I feel stupid. Yeah, Dapifer was with Chryssie.

Regnant, on the other hand, well, I equate him to a Bond girl. I needed someone for Fleur to play off that way, and I decided a dumb, sexy bohunky horse would be fun. (I also kind of saw him as the combo of Shaggy/Scooby-Doo in the mystery solving team....)

4410227 Had no doubt. You've left A LOT of other things open. Such as that whole other world thing. Hell, that could be an entire series of itself.

And thanks for the direct answer for what pure magic looks like. I wasn't actually expecting an answer. Sorta forgot you're one of the authors who bothers to reply to comments.

Only thing I can say I'm disappointed by at this point is the lack of closure involving the Legion Hive, but that's forthcoming, so it's fine.

4412869 BITCH!....

That was a good ending. Everything really came full circle.

ok , sooo no clopy clop , danmit i wanted them to take up chrysalis on her offer so bad >_> , am disappoint..........

buuut how did the changeling powerder get on those changelings? did i miss a paragraph or what?.....
also how bout a more detailed explanation on what happened in that scene and on the powder? cause im still not sure myself.....

and i would have loved to see the scene of luna's confession play out longer , would have made me school girl giggle for sure.....
buuut what's with the decision to giving the full on personality shift to luna and celestia now that they can switch roles like that? when the whole crux of the series was based off celestia is the ultimate badass , but loves to bow to luna , and luna is content to play slight second fiddle while secretly playing the mistro like a fiddle?.....

4417168 Okay, Fleur released the powder and it covered Tenebrous. When she activated her spell, it caused the magic to go haywire and zap the other changelings. They weren't covered in the powder, only her. It was her magic that got them.

As to the character shift: that has more to do with personality. I think I make it clear that Tia is still the more powerful one, but she also is now coming to realize that having that much power can corrupt you. She's become somewhat righteous in her stance, and she just came to realize that she needs to step back and let Luna grow into the role of leader, too. And that pressure--along with other things--has Luna subbing to Tia. In many ways, it is the ultimate show of respect and trust for a domme and sub to switch places, even for a single session.

4417502 so when did she use it then? and you still didn't explain it in any greater detail , sees like a kinda silly hidden surprise win button for the plot if you ask me....

didn't she come to realize that already in the third book?....

what pressures? what other things?.....

see im still not seeing any explanation for the character's personality shift , not seeing how supposedly celly suddenly realizing she has power means she wants to dom luna , especially when her their first session you had her say she was afraid of hurting luna when they fought because of how much more powerful she is , and then proceeded to kiss luna's boots , or how luna claiming her much sought after title on the throne in that scene then had her ordering celestia to bow where's now it's having the opposite effect??.........

4418141 No, no. Celestia is doming Luna to make Luna happy. She isn't flaunting her power, she's actually pulling back to make her happy. The events and after-effects of Shattered Hearts left Luna feeling a little vulnerable. And now, with Celestia stepping down from the throne, she is extra stressed. The whole thing with Chrysalis was the deep-seated desire to have someone else in control for a while, so Tia is stepping into that role for her.

As to the powder: that's what Fleur dropped after she jumped behind the throne. The thing that revealed Tenebrous. And yes, it is sort of a deus ex machina, but that's not uncommon in spy movies--particularly the middle Bond films. (P Division = Q Division) And just like SPECTRE in the Bond movies, the Legion Hive will be back, so this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Hope that better explained things.

4418216 .....nothing you just explained there made any logical sense.....

OOOOOH THAT dust scene , i thought she just used some regular old conjured up normal dust just to find the solid changeling blending in to the background , ok so now i get it.....

well i never saw any bond movies , and that still doesn't make pulling something like that very believable or wright narratively......

4418266

It was a Deus ex Machina - a 'god from the machine' or essentially an act of god. It happens in some action narratives, though usually they have more setup to it. I don't RECALL the powder and such being used in previous chapters of the story, but then again its a long story and updated somewhat far apart so maybe I'm recalling wrongly. Though if it had it'd be more of a chekhov's gun. That said, it is a somewhat cheap cop out when the writer writes themselves into a corner, but handled well it can work as a good cheesy sort of resolution.

“Y-you’re an agent of S.T.E.E.D.?”

I may have made this comparison before, but this sounds suspiciously like The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

...God, I am old.

The Special Team of Equestria’s Elite Defenders,”

Aha! It is U.N.C.L.E.! The United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.

...Dammit, I am old.

A corona of light formed in front of her as she sped downward, beginning a pale blue and then changing hue, becoming a rainbow of color streaming behind her, finally exploding into a circle of rainbow light. And then again. And again.

A motherfing TRIPLE RAINBOOM!!

The only reason you feel it is right now is that you haven’t embraced it—not yet.

Extra "is."

How is it I went "Man from U.N.C.L.E." instead of "James Bond?" God damn it, I am old.

This universe you created is pretty awesome. I have seen groups created for lesser universes. For example, The League of Humans Acting Villainously. You ever think of creating a Who Rules? Universe group? Of course I think you are the only person writing in it. Then again, there are three groups dedicated specifically to Kaidan and five to Regidar. Then, of course, there is the Lunaverse. So it is not completely unheard of.

KBO.

4422845 As always, thanks for catching the errors! You the best!

And don't worry, I remember U.N.C.L.E., too (even The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.). Big fan of Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. (Watched The Magnificent Seven with my wife and friend the other night, and I kept making Napoleon Solo jokes--they didn't get them.) In fact, S.T.E.E.D. is a mash-up of Bond, U.N.C.L.E., S.H.I.E.L.D., the Flint movies, and...okay, maybe not the Matt Helm flicks. So, yeah...I'm old too. Long live old people!!

As to a group... I just don't have that kind of ego. I couldn't create a group dedicated to myself. That just seems...wrong. Now, on the other hand, if someone wants to write something in my universe, all they have to do is ask and tell me what they have in mind. It probably won't be "canon" (as much as any fan-fiction can have it's own canon, anyway), but I'm not opposed to seeing another writer's take on the universe. I just have a lot of plans--and they keep coming, someone stop me!--so I can't say that whatever is written might hold up against what I do.

Well this throws my argument with iamli3 'out of date' to say now we know that they all where under some typeof drug and were not in their right mind so not all the blame can be put on them but the vast majority on the other changiling queen (forgot her name derp) so at least my argument is worthless. So my good sir iamli3 can we agree that most all the blame for this is on the other queen? And put our previous disagrement behind us, and let bigons be bigons?

awww man , you had celestia also take the reasoning route that she was rapped by chrysalis :/ ? i thought she was supposed to be the kind of reasonable and forgiving character of the characters from this media.....

Is this the last ever "Who Rules?"

4636089 Nope. Next one won't likely be out until the fall, but there is more coming.

Nom_deCheval Nice touch with the tea thing didn't even see that coming. Of course I did notice the tea thing in itself (seriously a changeling drinking tea?) but I wouldn't have connected that to a miniature invasion by another changeling hive. So good work on hood-winking me on that cause im usually not that easy to deceive.

That being said I believe you already have the next major plot point set for your next lengthy "Who Rules?" Novels, cause this changeling against changeling thing is very entertaining in thought. However I do agree that you should focus on twilight or trixie (or both) in the next Chester of the series cause frankly it would be more fair. Like your first 2 stories in the series it went from the princesses to the student and showmare, and both were rather short. I see it repeating with this new one, and while It was too short for me it did satisfy me like all your stories do, so to do a lengthy one afterwords would seem, to me, rather unbalanced.

Simply put, doing this short story along with another one focused on twilight and/or trixie would make it feel like one continuous book made of subplot stories. Then a satisfying longer one after these two would really make my day. Thanks for listening

I like the action/espionage vibe. also very happy that poison purged princesses played 'posite positions while practicing pretty pony princest

I finally find this and it's already over.... I'll be checking my feed now to make sure this doesn't happen again. Anyway, amazing story! Just glad you left the new hive thing open, as that means that there's going to be another installment in this.

Aww, Chryssie was innocent!

That was cool. And I like your OCs. I think Chryssie might actually start considering her aide as a friend.

Cya
Raziel-chan

Thanks for the fic!