Raiding villages was a bad idea.
For old dragons it was a waste of time, for young dragons it was dangerous, reckless, and as many other words for stupid as any dragon could think of. Most ponies might have been panicky and skittish, but they weren't all cowards, and they weren't all helpless. Sometimes the ones who could fight back could more than make up for all the ones who couldn't. And then there were the ones who got fed up with constant attacks and paid gold to other creatures who would “take care” of the problem. Smolder's own mother had told her never to raid a pony village… until she had to.
“Never let yourself go more than three days without food. On the fourth day, do whatever you have to do, and take from whoever you have to take from.”
Smolder flexed the bony digits of her wings into a half-fold, turning her high soar into a long dive towards the thatched roofs below. Her sharp eyes narrowed against the wind, flicking from target to target until she settled on a pristine roof. She drew in a deep lungful of air and flared out her wings just as the first terrified voice screamed out.
“DRAGONS!”
Right on cue, she blew out a jet of red-orange flames, drawing a line from one end of the roof to the other. Just before her fire could scorch the ground beyond, she flapped hard to pull up into a steep climb. In moments she was up and out of reach of all but the most eagle-eyed unicorn. Garble and Fume had spotted more than a few horned ponies when they'd scouted the place out the day before. Crossbow bolts were no big deal if she kept her distance, but there was no telling what weird things those unicorns could do.
Other dragons were doing the same all around her. Roof after roof went up in flames, and ponies galloped into the dirt streets in blind panic. Fume drove a small group of earth ponies through the middle of town with low swoops and streams of smoke, while Backdraft was already tearing open a burning roof to break in. A deep, tooth-rattling belch and a burst of flames from an alley told her that Clump was doing his part stirring up panic, and Garble--
“Ha! What's wrong? Are the pretty little ponies scared of a little fire!?”
Smolder rolled her eyes. Garble was doing what he did best: over-compensating. Her big brother laughed spitefully as he came up level with her.
“Look at them run! Not so tough NOW are you!?”
Smolder gave him a sidelong look. “Okay, what's up with you, Gar-Gar? You've been acting weird ever since the Migration. Did someone see your drums--?”
Garble's claw clapped over her snout. “Not in front of the guys!” He cast frantic looks all around him to make sure no dragon was looking their way.
She flapped back and out of reach. “Relax. I'm pretty sure they're not listening.” Another fiery belch rang out from below as if to prove her point.
“Yeah, well, we've got work to do.” Garble squared his shoulders and pointed down at the burning roofs below. “Get in, grab whatever food you can carry, and get out. We've only got a few minutes before those wimpy pegasi show up with storm clouds, and you're not ready for that kind of action yet.”
“Yeah, yeah, my next two emeralds say I get the bigger haul!”
Garble bumped his fist against hers. “Ha! You're on!”
As Garble dove, Smolder squinted down at the roof she'd set alight, waiting a few more moments for the flames to really take off before she followed.
Smolder tucked her wings and dove again, this time pulling up and alighting right in the middle of the dancing flames eating away at the roof she'd lit up before. She licked her lips eagerly while she tossed aside burning clawfuls of thatch, the aching hollowness of her stomach only getting sharper as she got closer to her goal. Give it an hour and, with a little luck, she'd be roasting up the spoils with Garble and the gang, swapping their stories of the raid, and laughing while they watched the smoke rise over the horizon.
This was gonna be a good day.
“You want to do what!?”
Smolder crossed her arms and kept her eyes level with the Headmare's from across the desk and between the piles of paperwork.
“It's basic dragon knowledge. Every dragon needs to know this sort of stuff.”
Headmare Twilight's wings snapped open and shut over and over while she sputtered and alternated between waving her hooves in weird, jerky motions, and cradling her head in between them.
“But-- that's-- you-- what!?”
“So… Thursday?”
“What? No!” Twilight shook her head violently and wrestled her wings back against her sides. “This is absolutely, one-hundred-percent out of the question! You are not teaching Spike how to burn down Ponyville!”
Smolder rolled her eyes. Leave it to the pony to jump to the worst case scenario. “It's not like we need to burn the whole town. We just need one building and a couple of volunteers--”
Twilight reared up and planted her forehooves on her desk. “Are you crazy!? You can't burn down a building!”
“Pft, why not? It's not like it'd be the first time.”
Twilight's eyes went as round as bits. “It wouldn't?”
Smolder casually shrugged and leaned back in her seat, claws behind her head. “Not even close! Me and Garble must've hit about a half dozen villages. Well, me, him, and some other dragons. Solo raids are waaay too dangerous until you hit a hundred or so. Most ponies are lousy shots, but you give them just one or two dragons to aim at and one of 'em is gonna get lucky sooner or later. Oh, yeah, that reminds me,” she sat forward in her seat again, “do you know anyone who's good with a crossbow?”
Twilight's eyes went wider still. “Crossbow?”
“He's gotta learn how to dodge them.” She brought one claw around to rub her chin thoughtfully. “There's other stuff too, but you probably don't have a ballista or any catapults laying around this far from the Dragon Lands. Oh, and we'll need some pegasi with storm clouds, and some unicorns who can shoot those magic beam things. Those are all the biggest hazards with pony villages.”
Twilight threw her hooves up high. “But we're at peace! Ember said she'd forbidden dragons from attacking ponies!”
Smolder straightened up and nodded sagely, a single finger raised. “Well, actually, she told us not to attack Equestrian ponies. Some ponies do live outside Equestria, y'know. It's just easier to avoid them all, just in case. And Ember could call off the whole 'friendship' thing tomorrow and we'd go right back to raiding the border towns. Besides,” a fierce grin exposed almost all of her wickedly sharp teeth while she settled back again, “Spike could use a little more exercise. He spends waaay too much time doing paperwork and junk.”
Twilight shook herself from head to tail and straightened up, full princess style. “No. I do my best to respect the cultural heritage of every species, but I will not condone teaching Spike how to attack and terrorize innocent creatures. That sort of behavior goes against everything this school stands for.”
Smolder met the headmare's stern glare for several long seconds before she yielded.
“Whatever.” She hopped down off her chair and made for the door. “I'll figure out something else for the next lesson.”
“Smolder.” The dragon paused and looked back, claw resting on the door handle. The headmare's expression had softened somewhat. “I appreciate you agreeing to take all this time to teach Spike, even if some of the things you want to teach are… unconventional.”
“Maybe to you,” Smolder muttered.
Twilight went on as if she hadn't heard her student. “But I have to do what's best for him, and I just don't see how learning to raid villages would ever do him any good.”
Smolder snorted, pushed open the door, unfurled her wings, and launched herself down the hallway without another word.
The strategy to raiding ponies was so simple that a hatchling could understand it. Start by lighting the roof on fire. That drives the ponies out of the building, but destroys the rest of it slow enough to ransack from the top down. When the burning roof starts falling in, move down to the next floor until you hit ground level. Gems were almost always on the upper floors in drawers, or any fancy looking little boxes, so check there first. Most of the rest of the food would be kept in wooden wall-vaults downstairs, but the best stuff was always in their ice-vaults.
Stuff like eggs. There hadn't been anything worthwhile upstairs except for an oversized basket that looked good for carrying loot, but the day was a victory the moment Smolder opened the ice-vault door and saw a full dozen eggs waiting for her. The sweet taste of victory got soured when the first egg shattered into a thick splash of cold goo between her teeth. She choked down the slimy mouthful with a determined shudder, but wasted no time blowing a small jet of flames across half of the remaining dozen or so. The sharp cracks and pops of the shells breaking open as their insides flash-baked was almost loud enough to drown out the impatient growling of her stomach. She popped a second egg in her mouth and chewed experimentally.
That was more like it. Egg after lukewarm egg got crunched up and swallowed as fast as she could get them down. It was a mystery to her why ponies thought eggs were good cold. Mom's scrambled cockatrice eggs with seared slingtail steak, now that was a breakfast. Fresh eggs mashed up and sizzling on a hot rock with some smashed rocksalt and a little gypsum, delicious! There had never been anything better than waking up to the sound of a freshly caught slingtail being dropped on the cave floor next to the hoard. Sure, butchering one was a lot of work, but it was so, so worth it when the meat started to sizzle on the rocks. If only ponies ate meat…
She finally forced herself to stop after her sixth egg when she saw that smoke was beginning to curl down the stairs and spread across the ceiling. The rest went in the basket along with anything else she could get her claws on. Bottles, jars, bowls, everything in the vault was fair game. She moved on the moment it was empty, digging through the wooden vaults instead.
“Honey? Is something burn--?”
Smolder froze where she stood on the kitchen counter, looking over her shoulder at the mare that stood, just as frozen, in the doorway. Her pale gray coat was rumpled, her slate blue mane and tail were a pair of perfectly matched tangles, and her eyes were carrying around some seriously dark circles under them, like she'd been woken up from a hundred year nap fifty years early. That didn't stop those big, pale blue eyes from drifting from Smolder to the empty vault, then down to the loaded basket, up to the plume of smoke fanning out over the kitchen ceiling, before finally coming to rest back where they started.
“Dah. Druh. Dra--! Dra--! Drag--!”
“Dragon?”
“DRAGOOOOON!”
The pony spun about and galloped out of sight past the edge of the doorway, still screaming at the top of her shrill pony voice. Smolder kept still a moment or two longer, waiting for any sign that the panicking pony was going to stir up any other stragglers. When no more screams started up in response, she snorted and went back to rooting through the dry goods for anything worth taking.
“Sleeping through a dragon raid. Heh, wait 'til the guys hear about this one.”
Smolder picked at the pile of food on her lunch tray with unusual disinterest. It'd been pretty cool at first, just being given three meals a day. She'd spent the first few weeks shoveling it in as fast as they'd serve it to her. Turned out that the ponies in the lunchroom had no idea how much food a dragon her age needed, so they never even questioned it when she demanded more, outside of cowering a little. She'd almost felt bad about it after the whole thing with Sludge but, hey, these were grown adults whose actual jobs were to give out food, not a freshly molted kid who thought he was being reunited with his long-lost dad.
It was weird though, thinking about it. All this food just given away. She sat down three times a day, every day, with a tray full of fish, vegetables, fruit, and gemstones, all piled high just for her. So did Gallus, Ocellus, Yona, Silverstream, and Sandbar. Every creature got food, no matter what kind of food they ate.
She turned a rough, mashed potato smeared ruby over with the tip of a talon. Even ponies didn't give stuff for free. The less of a thing they had, the more bits it cost to get it. Spike and Professor Rarity had probably dug up most of the gems she ate every day. Had they charged the school for it? Who did the school charge to get the money to pay them? Sure, Sandbar's parents could probably pay for him, and Silverstream was basically royalty, but did Yaks even use gold for money? And what about Gallus and Ocellus? What about her? Did the ponies really have so much food that they could go around throwing it at creatures like the three of them?
“Why dragon-friend glaring at food?”
Yona's question snapped Smolder out of her thoughts. The ruby suffered the consequences. “Itsh nufhin'.”
“Soooo,” Silverstream leaned over the table, “how's teaching Spike going? Oh, oh, oh! Are you teaching him how to breathe super amazing fireballs or how to crush rocks with his teeth!?”
Sandbar swallowed his mouthful of salad. “Uh, I'm pretty sure he already knows how to do that.”
Silverstream sank back onto her seat, rubbing the back of her neck and flashing Smolder an awkward smile. “Oh, right. That's just… all I really know about dragons.”
Smolder snorted out a puff of smoke then shoved a clawful of potatoes in her mouth.
“I actually don't know much about dragons either,” Ocellus chimed in. “All I'd been taught before Thorax took over was that dragons were too dangerous to replace for love stealing.”
Smolder raised a brow. “Why?”
“Umm…” Ocellus shrank down in her seat. “Because you breathe fire and can crush gemstones with your teeth.”
Smolder's expression soured. “Seriously? Doesn't anyone know anything about dragons!?”
Yona raised one of her cloven hooves. “Yona knows! Small dragons no like cold! That's why dragons not raid Yakyakistan. Yaks tough out coldest winters with tough hides and thick coats. Scales hard, but bad at keeping dragons warm.”
“So, let me get this straight. The only one here who knows anything about us is the one creature living in a place dragons my age never go.” Smolder blew short jets of smoke from her nostrils. “Figures.”
“Eh, it's no big deal,” Gallus said. He'd picked his fish down to the bones by this point and pushed his plate away as he joined the conversation. “It's not like any species really knows anything about any of the others. Half the ponies I've met at this school didn't even know I was a griffon until I told them. I'd never heard of hippogriffs or sea ponies before I came here, and changelings were just a myth in Griffonstone.”
Sandbar ran a hoof over the back of his neck, his face settling into the awkward frown of somepony noticing a not entirely comfortable fact for the first time. “Yeah, I guess ponies kinda just learn about ponies in school.”
“Yaks all alone in Yakyakistan until we make friends with ponies.”
“I met some Sea Serpents once! They were really friendly and had the most amaaaazing manes! Other than that, nooot a whole lot of creatures to talk to under the sea.”
Ocellus shifted uncomfortably, ears wilting. “I would have learned more about other species if things hadn't changed. Infiltrators needed to know enough to get by no matter where they were sent. The adults are still working out how to redesign our training programs around our new diet.”
“What Smolder know about us?”
Smolder shrugged and picked another gem out of her potatoes. “Eh, not that much, I guess. Probably the most important thing before I came here was that you ponies don't lay eggs.”
Silverstream shot out of her chair to hover over the table right in front of Sandbar's muzzle with her claws cradling her face. “Ponies don't lay eggs!?”
Sandbar leaned way back from the pointy pink beak that was much too close to his eyes. “Uh... nope? And that's pretty specific. How often does stuff like that even come up?”
A large, potato covered emerald cracked between sharp teeth.
“Yeu'd be shurprished.”
The pony just did not stop screaming.
Ponies took panicking so seriously that it felt rude not to watch them go at it. And watching her run by the open doorway every few seconds, screaming all the way, was funny for the first couple of times. She'd run past (screaming), go out of sight, there'd be some banging and thumping, and then she'd go past the other direction (screaming), there'd be some banging and rattling, and then she'd go past the first way again… screaming. Every pass she got a little slower and wheezier, but kept right on going anyway, and after lap five Smolder tuned her out and went about her plundering.
It wasn't until her basket was just about to the point where she wasn't going to be able to carry it fast enough for a quick getaway that she realized that the screaming had finally stopped. She cocked an ear to listen and got only the roar of flames and… coughing? She raised a claw to her frill and listened harder. That was definitely coughing. The pony was still in the building.
Sighing, Smolder hopped down off the counter, crossed the room, and stuck her head around the doorway into the pony's living room. “Okay, are you actually going to run away or…?”
The pony lay huddled at base of the front door, watching the smoke above with wide, terrified eyes. Her legs were all tucked up against her stomach and her whole body was shivering.
“Uh,” Smolder stepped through the kitchen doorway, glancing between the pony and the closed door that was right behind her. The pony's eyes snapped onto her and she pressed herself even harder against the floor. “Have you tried opening the door?”
The pony swallowed heavily. “I-! I c-can't. It's… stuck.”
Smolder shot a look over her shoulder at the far wall where a window stood wide open. “Aaand you're not going out the window because…?”
One of the pony's back legs protectively tucked up higher against her side. “I can't fit.”
“Pft, seriously? You're not that--” Smolder craned her neck to get a good look at the pony's midsection. Now that she mentioned it, she was kinda big. Make that really big. The rest of her was on the small side for a pony (as far as Smolder knew ponies), but her stomach was huge! It was so big that--
“Never forget that ponies do not lay their eggs like we do. If you see a mare with a belly too big for her body, do not lay a claw upon her. Ponies will accept the wounding of a soldier, or even a foolish pony defending his home. But if you value your life then you must NEVER harm a pregnant mare.”
“Are you... pregnant?”
The pony blinked for what might have been the first time since Smolder started talking to her. “Y-yes? Why--?”
Smolder smacked a claw to her face. “Why didn't you say so!? Move over.” The pony continued to stare at her. “No, seriously, move over and I'll let you out.” Staring. “Do you want to stay here!? Move it!”
The pony finally remembered how her legs worked and scrabbled her way against the wall and out of Smolder's way as she stomped up to the door and took a deep breath. One jet of metal-melting fire to the lock and swift kick later the door swung right open.
“There you--” The pony shot past her in a gray and blue blur, galloping away towards the edge of town. “…go. Huh.” With a shrug, she flapped back inside to grab her loot and then shot off into the sky as fast as she could carry it, joining the rest of the gang all winging their way out over the lava fields.
Did she ever have a story for them.
this entire chapter was hilarious
10056139
You have no idea how nice it is to hear that. Thank you for reading!
10056144
No worries, mate. Can't wait to see more.
10056144
I love this lessons about dragon pragmatism and the reasons behind them. Also, the cultural level of Equestria and beyond is appalling.
10056151
I'm glad you're enjoying it. Even modern day reality suffers from this sort of stuff, if you think about it. Most people where I live barely know their own history, let alone anything about other cultures, and we're all the same species!
Oh come on Twilight it's just one building!
10056219
Some ponies just don't know how to compromise. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the new chapter, as always i enjoyed reading it I like the lessons smolders mom teaches her and i loved the bit about how ponies will accept wounding of solders/foolish ponies trying to fight back but if u hurt a pregnant mare, they'll come after you like no tomorrow
Cant wait to see whats to come next on a side note, will Spike ever meet smolders mom? i'd love to see that interaction lol
10056237
You're welcome, I'm glad you liked it. I hadn't actually thought of Spike meeting Smolder's mom, but then I don't always think of what's going to happen in the next paragraph before it happens. I should really try writing an outline someday.
Yay, new chapter's here!
Wasn't expecting a chapter dealing with dragon raids but it was still pretty informative regarding dragon culture. Loved that bit with Smolder's mom telling her to stay away from hurting a pregnant mare or ponies would come after you no matter what! (wonder if Garble took this lesson to heart? )
Nice callback to Dragon Quest, guess this would be a few days after Spike's appearance there!
Think this sums up what Smolder was probably thinking when she saw the panicky mare
https://youtu.be/imq0PRgzedQ?t=242
Pretty enjoyable chapter, looking forward to more of these Hasty!
Gotta say I love this look at the really of Dragon Life. They struggle to reach adulthood with uncertainties that make modern pony society seem like a paradise, with quite a lot of their culture being a survival manual in easily suggested chunks. Specially love how well portraited is Smolder's internal thought process on cultures, hers and others alike.
It's also quite hilarious and heartwarming
10056228
When you consider the Crusaders Twilight really is rather unreasonable about it. It's not like they haven't done so repeatedly after all. But then again it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
10056254
I wasn't expecting it either but, here we are. It came to me when I realized I needed to reconcile my first chapter with the fact that raids are a thing dragons do. Hopefully I made it work. And yeah, I was thinking shortly after "Dragon Quest" for this one.
To be fair, who wouldn't panic in her shoes? Thanks for reading!
10056256
Thank you, those are exactly the sort of story and feelings I've been hoping to portray! I'm glad you like it! Although, in Twilight's defense, I suppose the Crusaders never intentionally tried for arson cutie marks. I think I might have read a fic like that though...
Thanks for reading!
Alondro hmms, "Well, guess it's time to break out the Black Arrows again!"
Alondro is an excellent shot with a crossbow.
10056151 Shall I burn down your house and steal your stuff because 'muh culture'?
Sheesh.
Twilight, seriously. Applejack goes through barns at least once a season. Just let Spike burn that one down for practice. Everybody wins!
10056155
It's kind of interesting, don't you think, how so many people seem to think that having a good knowledge of their own history and the history of other peoples is a sign of an advanced society?
It's not.
It's just a sign that they, personally, aren't scraping every day in order to have food.
10056426
I was talking about the ignorance of each race regarding the others.
But yeah, the whole "culture excuses everything" is annoying and a real life problem.
So...what...ponies shoot like Stormtroopers?
I liked this chapter. I reminds you that, at the end of the day, even after something that seems as jerkish like the raid shown here, dragons are just people trying to make it through life like all of the rest of us.
10056643 It is, isn't it.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go burn down China and steal their stuff. Because... uhm… THE CORONAVIRUS!! (MUCH better excuse!)
That was actually interesting. Raiding in ancient culture always had an aspect of pragmatism to it.
What next? Dragon at wars? Dragon fight? Mating season? Hunting? What monsters to avoid? History? How to properly hide and stash your treasures?
This chapter went in a direction I didn't expect, but I liked the world building. It's kind of sad that most of the dragons seem to live hand to mouth. And it's good to know that dragons have standards, even if they're based more on pragmatism than morals.
OHHHHHH
HELL YEAH
Beautiful
Your thematic coherency has me quivering I'm loving the flashes to Smolder's past memories, I'm loving what you're setting up here in regards to cultural norms and ethics and morals and this was genuinely worth the wait. Smolder's reactions to the pregnant mare, her frustration with her friends and with Twi...I don't think this felt very rough at all—maybe my opinion might change after a re-read but as of right now, after finishing the chapter? This felt very well put together and I'm really glad that you're not quitting on this.
As always I can't wait for the next one, however long that takes
I'm sure the Apple's have a barn they need to get rid of.
10056428
That'd solve the burning a building part... not so much the part where she wants armed ponies involved.
10056433
How one measures the advancement of a culture is, in an of itself, a cultural matter.
10056688
That's definitely part of what I'm going for with how dragons live. I'm glad you liked it!
10056748
I'm glad you found it interesting! I'm not sure what's next, I've got several partial chapters written on a variety of topics. It'll depend which one I finish first.
10056749
It went in directions I didn't expect either. The difference between morals and pragmatism is something I'm not sure I have the skill to directly discuss in this story. That's a bit philosophical for this cast of characters. Thanks for reading!
10056882
Oh, the roughness I meant was mostly grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues. I got impatient and just wanted to post it without taking the time to do another five or twenty passes looking for those kinds of little mistakes. I've already fixed a bunch since posting. As ever I make no promises as to when I'll have the next chapter. Regardless, thank you for reading and for all your feedback!
10056923
But who among them has the skills with a crossbow, and the nerves to be in the building when it goes up in flames?
Something I forgot to mention earlier, it's funny that best yak knows more about dragons than the rest of the creatures, go Yona!
Wonder what Smolder's next lesson will be? Also wonder if Smolder's mom will make an appearance in one of these chapters, since she has been mentioned quite a few times already?
These chapters are well worth the wait!
I am a massive, MASSIVE sucker for this sort of worldbuilding and cultural/social information clash and trade. Keep these coming please!
10057463
Thanks, I've definitely got more in the works. Hopefully it will continue to be enjoyable.
While I share many of the praises offered by most of those above I'd like to highlight a part that hasn't been mentioned that I thought was rather good, namely Smolder's thoughts and dialogue during the cafeteria scene. She mulls over her growing knowledge of how the school, and to a degree Equestria, functions while also considering what that knowledge implies which she doesn't know/understand. As a result she displays a growing awareness of not only her own blind spots regarding other cultures but also how they perceive hers due to the nature of how they normally interact as well as potentially slightly starting to consider new ways of interacting based on this new knowledge. It show that while Smolder is teaching Spike about being a Dragon and helping him connect with his heritage she herself is also growing more culturally conscientious.
I'm honestly surprised the story didn't end immediately after that conversation, with Twilight arresting Smolder for assaulting and raiding pony villages...
10057800
Ponies are very forgiving. Besides, everyone already knows that dragons raid villages, Twilight was more surprised that some dragon as young and apparently friendly as Smolder has done it already. The whole point of starting the school of friendship was to strengthen relationships between the species so that things like that stop. Smolder is exactly the sort of dragon the school needs to be teaching to get them there.
10057724
Thank you, it's good to hear that scene fit in. She's learning as much as Spike is, even if she's not yet sure what to do with what she's discovering. I'm hoping to keep building on that.
So glad to see this story updated! This was a fun chapter, especially in showing how far things have come.
Also, I can see Smolder going "what, it's Ponyville, buildings get wrecked here all the time."
10058291
Sorry it took so long to update. I'd like to promise a brisker pace of updates from now on but that would be insanely optimistic.
This was a fun chapter! I like how this story switches between memories and current events.
10058291
I figured she'd go with that logic, actually. Surely Applejack's got a barn scheduled for demolition or something, could use it for dragon practice instead of feeding Rainbow's ego.
10059589
I was concerned that I might be pushing it with how much back and forth I put in this latest chapter, but nobody has complained so far, so...
Feedback has made it clear that I didn't convey the root of Twilight's misgivings properly though. I might have to make some edits to their conversation to remedy my failure there.
Despite the fun parts of this chapter, after a second read I can understand Twilight's reservations about Smolder teaching Spike how to raid, which could have hurt innocent creatures in the process.
After all in Secret of my Excess I still remember seeing him sitting on that bridge after the ordeal was over, overlapping his front claw against the big clawprint a few meters away, which made tears in his eyes probably thinking how many would have been hurt by him, even if it was accidental.
10077900
I'm glad that came across, at least in a second reading. I'm still debating with myself about clarifying Twilight's motivations a little more, though. I feel like I didn't convey them well enough. Thanks for all the feedback on this chapter!
Hey there Hasty, just hoping you're doing ok over there. Looking forward to more future chapters of this awesome story, when you're able that is. ☺
10238924
Oh, I'm fine. Just being pulled in about a dozen different directions by this and other stories, some of which are my own original work. I actually have three different chapters for this story that are each half written that I can't seem to make progress on. Sorry for being so inconsistent. I don't know why it's been so difficult to finish anything lately.
10240181
Glad to hear you're doing ok Hasty. As for this story don't worry about rushing though it since it's pretty much worth the wait. 👍
10240193
Oh, I don't think I could be accused of rushing at this point no matter what I do.
Actually, I can think of one way of getting some Ponies willing to stand in a burning house with crossbows (with blunt training tips on the quarrels even).
It just might be a diplomatic incident if Ember ever learned that Smolder had been tricked into helping train the royal guard in anti-dragon tactics by Principle Twilight's older brother...
10814888
If I weren't already struggling so much to write what I've already got planned, I would say that there's a story in that idea. Kinda wish I'd thought of it.
10815990
If I should decide that I want to write it (unlikely, but possible), would that be okay? If so, where on the scale of "Garble, why are you even mentioning this to me?" to "THIS MEANS WAR! DAD! I NEED YOU TO HELP ME CRUSH EQUESTRIA!" would you recommend I put the fall out?
Not even the pegasi?!
11361707
Well, earth ponies who have pegasi don't, at least. Pinkie might have had an easier time in Baby Cakes if Pound was just sitting around as an egg the whole time. Or maybe even a worse time as circumstances conspire to threaten to crack the egg over and over. There's a joke fic somewhere in that premise.
Thanks for reading!