'Dear Dinky Hooves' Notes

-Right off the bat we have a shout-out to 'First Week of Winter' by Relaxing Dragon. 'The Hoof's End Horror' by Sugar Cane is a novel in one of my all time favorite works of fanfiction.

-Nevermore's daring escape was of course originally mentioned way back in 'Phases of the Moon.'

-Speaking of Nevermore, I can't put into words how much of a thrill it was to finally see him fully fleshed out. When all is said and done, I really want Luna's former student to be remembered as one of the most developed characters in the Continuity.

-The first time we see the gathered Guild is echoed by the last time we see them to show how relationships and ponies have grown in their roles. Dream Weaver, Tick, and Tock are all off in their own little group. Colgate, the youngest member, is notably beside Turner, signifying how much she looks up to him (and has a wee bit of a crush as well.) The Tall Pony, the undisputed leader of the Guild, is off on his own.

-The Tall Pony is an obvious ponification of the Tall Man, the antagonist of the 'Phantasm' film series and portrayed by the recently deceased Angus Scrimm. This actually ties back to one of my favorite fanons; that the Tall Man is actually a renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey.

-The Time Advancement/Reversal Distribution Isotopic Singularity' Spell. Shame we can't boil that down to an acronym.

-I wanted to include Amethyst Star somewhere since she's often grouped in with Doc, Derpy, and Dinky. I ultimately decided to make her Derpy's adopted/step sister. Remember that Derpy, like Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo, was found abandoned outside the Cloudsdale Home for Wayward Pegasi as an infant.

-I gave so many clues to the identity of Feather Duster's foal that to give any more would outright spoil her identity. She is a canon character and she will be returning later in the Continuity.

-The Chronologicon; a living book that knows everything. I'm sure that won't come back into play down the road.

-Yes, Nevermore nurses a grudge against "royal doofus" Shining Armor and has a historical attraction to alicorns. Remind me, do we have any major characters without romantic entanglements yet?

-Let's talk about the Harbinger.

Per the Chronologicon, the Harbinger is "borne of two worlds that should never have crossed, formed by the briefest of unions or the deepest of loves." That actually gives you a healthy list of suspects. Off hand, I can think of Dinky Hooves, Sweetie Belle, and all three Apple siblings that could meet that description once you go past the literal.

-Seriously, I'm super pleased with I was able to squeeze the entirety of Colgate's crush on Turner into pure subtext.

-Behold the War of the Sons of Armor. Behold the end of all things. Behold... the Twilight of the Gods.

-And so our mysterious over-arching antagonist makes his first proper appearance. I wonder who he might be...

-The scene where Turner tells Derpy about his "death" broke my heart. Almost literally. Haha. It's funny because I could have died.

-Colgate's age advancement was a late development that I'm quite happy with.

-And we have the death of Magnum and Pearl, not an accident at all but a necessary murder. I expect to see that updated on the Tropes page, Yami.

-Turner's lullaby is actually the first verse of 'Dear Theodosia' from my current obsession 'Hamilton: An American Musical.' The lyrics were just too perfect not to use.

-And here's our last scene with the Guild. Notice the shifts and changes. Dream Weaver, Tick, and Tock are gone. Colgate is a grown mare and has assumed leadership of the Guild. She's also in direct opposition to Turner both because of his inherent betrayal of Guild principles and her shattered teenage crush. Nevermore has assumed Turner's role as the seasoned and easy-going veteran with a new recruit of his own; Pipsqueak. The Tall Pony has withdrawn entirely, clearly not well since his encounter with the shadow-thing. Turner himself has become disillusioned with the Guild and is still with it for Equestria's sake.

-The Tall Pony's new "cutie mark" should be terrifyingly familiar to some of you (Swirling). It seems that another threat has begun to emerge from inside the Guild itself.

-Dinky's future lies with the Guild, it would seem.

-This was a tremendous labor of love for me and it's simply astonishing that I was actually able to finish what is now my longest one-shot. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Per doctor's orders, I'm to take it easy for a while. Once I'm back to full operational standard, it's back to the grindstone.

And by grindstone, I mean 'Changelings.'