And thus begins my newest, multi-chapter fic. A few interesting facts:

1: The Duchy of Anhalt is real. Thankfully, it's German, as I was going for a German-esque enemy of Equestria. It was also quite easy to ponify! Ponified version being "Anhalter". Y'know, because "Halter." I'll shut up now.

2: Duchess Amalia was also a real person, but not Duchess of Anhalt. Wouldn't it be cool if she was, though? I went with Amalia as it flows very well off the tongue, much like "Princess Celestia."

3: For those who've read my "Blitz" story (I promise the second volume is coming, just give me a break from it for a while), you'll recognize Baron von Himmel. Yes, that's the very same one. We'll get to see how the ever-lasting friendship between he and Thunder began.

Thunder Chickens... I amuse myself.

I like it!

Well it starts off good. I will wait to see where this goes.

Welp, here's the new chapter. Thanks a lot to Lithe for volunteering to sort of co-op this fic with his OC's grandpa, Comet Streak. Between the two of us, the banter between Starfire and Comet is going to be great. It's going to be even more fun than I thought .

And also, thank you for your patience with me. Moving from Illinois to Florida is not an easy feat. Right now I'm writing another First-Person one-shot to clear my brain, and also very slowly working on my Magnum Opus. Not for any lack of ideas, but because I want it as perfect as possible. It's going to be my greatest work (in relation to ponies) and you deserve the very best of it.

Interesting, makes me wonder if the sky blue mare is or is related to someone important.

ARTIE, I WANTZ MOAAR!

No, 'Ci' is not the Spanish 'yes' in this context. It's the classification of the 'Cirrus' cloud. Thus, the Ci Squadron.

I'm not even going to bother thanking Lithe anymore - he's gone from simple contributor to actual co-writer. All of the banter you see between Starfire and Comet Streak are basically me and him, respectively. And the banter between Comet Streak and Speed Star is all him. It makes the dialogue that much more realistic, and entertaining.

Will the Thunder Chasers survive this encounter? Will the Sons of Sleipnir win the battle? Will Comet Streak ever get laid!? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON TALES OF THE WONDERBOLTS!

Just looked back at your blogs, turns out the sky blue mare is someone important, but not quite who I thought (everytime I see a sky blue pegasus I tend to think of Dash).

Looking forward to seeing you bring Starfire and Jetstream together.

in b4 eqd comment raid

Shoot, Shoot - Dio

RIP Ronnie James Dio, 7/10/42 - 5/16/12

As my buddy Cheesey Poof often says:

"asdfasdf GET OFF OF ME ARTI! STOP LICKING ME! I HAVE A KNIFE I'LL KILL YOU!"

Oh, and he also mentions something about black/white vs. grey/gray. Which I so arrogantly believe I've captured.

In this sense, grey/gray refers to the idea that, in a conflict, neither side is inherently good or evil. Which is what I was going for here. Is the Duchess bad for doing what she did to Celestia? Yes, of course. But she's also looking out for her own subjects, which have gone through a lot, as you can see in my world-building ways.

Is Celestia the "good guy" here? No. Wounded pride caused her to seek retaliation. Unfortunately, all the warriors are just caught in the middle.

We see Baron's own perspective on this war. He doesn't understand why it has to be, only that he follows his orders, though his own code of ethics. One thing you cannot have is a "hive-mind" army - one where the leader calls all the shots and everyone else blindly follows along. Unless it's the specific trait of an alien species.

But here, it's not so. Baron follows his orders, with a certain apprehension. His refusal to do more than just box his enemies around and knock them out makes it all the more apparent that he does not exactly agree with everything that goes on.

I'm rambling. Enjoy the chapter!

>>667627667627 It definitely does later. I've got a plan for that.

>>668285668285 Huh, so it is. Graci - fixed. Perhaps next time I'll dig a little further in my research. Usually I come well-prepared before talking out my ass.

my fic has the Wonderbolts in it too

I wonder if Thunder's arrhythmia will come into play when the Baron attempts to crush him. Having the pony you are beating to a bloody pulp have a heart attack in the middle could seriously put a crimp in one's no-kill policy.

A little error:

Ebony isn't a rock, it's a type of wood.

Wow.  This could be a perfect opening.  

I edit things as I read them sometimes.  Only a few details for this chapter, though.  

"your own special talent" might be canon-derived, but as a phrase, it's sort of...  off.  "Your special talent" sounds better.  

"luminescence, denoting" doesn't need the comma.  

"cuts, Starfire himself getting a rear hoof to his face."  Needs a 'with' after the comma or 'and' without one.  

If they're supposed to be somehow flawed, then improve, then the flaws certainly aren't showing so far.  And the captain hasn't commented on this, either.  It might happen in the next chapter, but having everything go smoothly without a single remark causes the tension and anticipation to fizzle out a bit.  It could use a sentence or two to that effect.  Or some kind of chapter transition.  

"He looked just as his name implied - he had become a comet."

Ehh...  

Like the concept, more or less.  It's sort of...  meh, considering how close-but-not-quite it is to a rainboom, and how this guy is a pretty dislikable character, but it can work.  That sentence, though...  

There's an imbalance of character development here, which could be a problem later, but isn't now.  

Is mail delivery an actual squad?  If so, why do they need an escort?  Why do they act and organize like one, if not?  Starting to leave questions unanswered.  

Oh look, he's alive after all.

It's been a long while for an update, hasn't it? And even in that stretch of time, this is the best I can produce for you? A bunch of world-building fluffiness that hardly drives the plot along? Flay me now, I beg.

I both love and hate this chapter. I hate it for basically giving me an excuse to stall the pace of the story. I love it, however, because we're getting to see a look into more cultures. I also love it because, my ever-amazing writing partner (an author I'm sure you most likely never heard of before by the simple name of Lithe) was awesome enough to create the Duke. What is the significance of the Duke, besides total badassery?

Well, if you read carefully, Amalia's an Alicorn (OC ALICORN RED ALERT RED ALERT), and He's a simple Pegasus. And He made Her His bitch. (WHAT AN OC ALICORN THAT'S NOT HORRIBLY OVERPOWERED O(*AIHTJKEA<NGA< MY BRAIN SHURT DOWN KLAHGA)

So I'm just going to randomly come out and say right now that I'm pretty much no longer a solo writer. Lithe and I have been official writing partners for well over a month or two now, so- hey, wait. Drop the pitchfork. The lack of Two's Company updates is not my fault! No! Put the fire down! NO! AHHHHHH!

~Message incomplete.~

Edit: It may be obvious, but I should still mention that technically they're all speaking Anhalteri, a dialect based off of modern-day German. When we get to Baron interacting with an Equestrian, we'll see his heavy accent come out as he speaks Equestrian. (I borrowed this idea from a similar situation used in this fic).

Oh it has been so long since the last update!

Reading now!

Edit:

Heh, I just stopped reading dialogue in a german accent once Baron von Himmel began talking to the Dutch Chess.

Well, yay world building! Kudos to all involved in writing this story!

Trying to get a mental image on Lil' miss Anhalter's Palace and stuff... as well as her physique, I'm kinda inching toward slightly plumper Luna- physique

Interesting, so the invasion was the Duchess's plan, but not the plan of the actual ruler of the country? Plus some sort of religious disagreement, the plot thickens.

*Places in Read Later*

I'll check it out tomorrow after bed