Continued Correspondence

So, remember that thing I said I was never going to do again? And that I said I might do it again in a recent comment, after sort of doing so in a reply?

I just checked my mailbox. I’ll just type it up and let you guys enjoy.

Dear Mr. Subtle,

I’m sorry to say that Princess Luna is still quite perturbed by the events of our last visit. In spite of all your apology letters, she remains resolute that she will not aid in any face to face interviews. She did want me to thank you for the gifts, though. She was particularly intrigued by the ‘buckeyes’ you sent, as was I. Just when I thought I was starting to think I understood something about human society and culture, it turns out you’ve come up with a way to coat little peanut butter balls in chocolate. But, I digress.

I spoke with Luna about your other idea, and thankfully she was a bit more receptive. She added some stipulations to the arrangement, but otherwise agreed with your proposal. I’m therefore happy to announce a second round of Questions and Answers with the contributors to Valor is Magic.

This round will be different than the last. Princess Luna’s perfectly valid objection to the last Q and A was that it allows the interviewer a chance to ambush us with inappropriate questions. She is understandably concerned by the possibility of a repeat performance on your part. Hence, this exchange shall be conducted entirely by mail, with all questions to be reviewed by both myself and Princess Luna before being sent to the pony (or griffin) they are directed to.

Since we won’t have to bend space and time for a face to face meeting, Luna and I agreed that we should open up the correspondence to include all of the ponies (and Kaleb) that have had a point of view in the story so far. When I tried to follow up on this, though, there were some minor problems with the list. We’ll be able to have contributors available for questions, with a few minor exceptions.

Unfortunately, we are having a hard time getting in touch with Kaleb right now, so while I’ll happily hold on to correspondence until I can reach him, it might take a little extra time. Additionally, Canard has respectfully declined any involvement for now. His time as a prisoner was really hard on him, and he’s quite busy with his new deployment in the Crystal Empire. Lastly, I should note that Princess Luna has stated she will be very particular regarding what questions she answers.

I do have one bit of happy news, though. Even though it hasn’t appeared yet, Sonnet and I are outlining a passage for her contribution sometime in the next few chapters. When she heard about this exchange, it was impossible to get her to wait until after her passage was published. She’s become quite the historian and can’t wait to share her findings about Night Order history. That brings the final list to (in order of appearance): Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, Kaleb, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Nova Drive, and Sonnet.

Oh! Sorry about the delay, but the next chapter should be out to you shortly. Kaleb has contributed again, but when I had some follow up questions for him it turned out he’d been sent up to talk with some zinthos khans about something. I should be able to get the chapter to you a day or two after I hear back from him.

That should be all for now. We can work out any other details once the questions start coming in.

Princess Twilight Sparkle

PS: Please send those buckeyes ASAP, today if possible. Pinkie just discovered the last few I was saving in my kitchen. I don’t expect they’ll last long

PPS: Pinkie wants more of them now too. Please just send a recipe.

To clarify, the guidelines are as follows:

-All questions must be submitted in the form of private message to me via FimFic. As much as I love you guys on IRC, I will almost certainly lose track of any questions I receive there.

-Each question should start with the intended recipient. Such as Princess Luna: (Question.)

-There is no limit on the number of questions you submit, but keep in mind I will be trying to respond to as many submitters as possible.

-I’m more than happy to leave anyone as ‘anon’ that would prefer that, but there were submitters to the last blog who were kind of saddened that they weren’t named. As such, submitters will be identified with each question, unless I am asked not to.

-Any question that would make me consider a mature tag for the blog post will be rejected. Blog posts must now be Safe For Woona by site policy.

-Questions that spoil the story will be rejected outright. Things like “does X live or die?” will be ignored. I do, however, understand that not all questions that dance around spoils will look like it to those who don’t have access to the full outline. That’s part of why I’ve not set a cap on the number of submissions per person. I’m trusting you all not to abuse this, but I can’t imagine there will be a problem.

-Submissions will be open until further notice, but most likely at least through the end of September. I will be answering one or two questions a week, on Friday or Saturday, unless a chapter is posted. That means weekly ViM related content for the foreseeable future.

-I have the final say over what submissions are used. If I think it’s an interesting or fun question that the characters can respond to without getting spoilery, there’s a good chance it’ll get answered.

Like the Friendship Princess said, that’s all for now. I’ll make clarifications or updates via blog if I need to.