I'll be honest... I lol'd at the "Dark and stormy knight". Nice job with this one.

The 'knight' thing so tripped me up. This is brilliant, and the ending was great. :D

Oh wow, okay, this is really awesome and I didn't see the end coming! Well done!

An entirely acceptable story and worth the time to read it.

When Gallant mentionned writing books I just lost it. It's a very funny and yet sweet piece man RD would go crazy if she knew who lived in town with her!

>>753930753930>>757779757779 "Dark and stormy knight"

I'd been planning to shoehorn that line into a story, and this one seemed the most suitable I was likely to write any time soon!

>>757779757779>>757785757785 "The twist"

I thought my prose was telegraphing the ending in flashing neon letters a mile high, and that I was losing more by sticking to pronouns than I gained with the reveal... but perhaps that the blight of being the author: you can't write a twist ending without knowing about it in advance!

The plan originally was to refer to the background pony by the last name she would have taken from Gallant, but nothing seemed to fit unfortunately... and referring to her as "Mrs [insert name here]" in the prose didn't quite feel right. It felt too formal for something as informal as prose.

>>761510761510 "Being agreeable"

I'm glad it passes muster with you ;)

>>763428763428 "Mad Dash"

I can't imagine that she'd reveal herself, as it smacks too much of egotism... but I'd like to imagine she discovers how Dash, and indeed Twilight, feels. It would brighten up her day immeasurably, and having her identity a secret would make it that much sweeter!

Hah, saw the revelation coming a mile away. But this is sweet :D

Hi pines!

Since the transparency level of the ending seems to be the thing to talk about here - well, I may be dumbpony, but no, didn't at all see it coming. I wondered why we didn't learn her name, but that was it.

Lovely little bite-sized story, this! I swear I've read something like this, nonpony - I mean, the "retired hero" premise isn't exactly completely novel (what is, these days?) but I can hardly imagine a better way to spend a few minutes'n this. Thank you for writing it! Funny, heartwarming and everything besides.