Updates and a Sneak Peek · 6:33pm Mar 3rd, 2019
Greetings everypony,
just a heads-up that the new, ninth chapter of my story featuring Princess Luna as The Forest Pony has been shipped off to my editor a few days ago as I promised to one of you in my latest comment on the story.
(Own Castle by Yakovlev-vad)
But it seems to there always have to be some bad news as well. Alas, my editor has been having some minor issues with straining his back a little too much lately and I don’t want to worsen his state by making him sit and edit though the chapter because of a set deadline. Once more, please accept my humble apologies as it’s only me to be blamed for the delay. As soon as I get a more definite date of when the chapter’s going to be ready, I’ll edit it into this blog post. So you can keep an eye out for that.
Furthermore, since I have a habit of semi-outlining the chapters, I was thinking of creating some sort of progress chart updated in real time for all of you to click on my profile page whenever you wished. As I usually have a bunch of checkpoints I need to go through in order for the chapter to work, I could easily base it on that. Let me know if you’d like to see that feature added, along with any other nifty details you’d appreciate 
And also, because I don’t plan a lot of the jokes and some scenes ahead, the resulting text between two checkpoints is usually rather flexible. Sometimes it turns out great, other times it just deviates from the intended flow and atmosphere of the chapter and I have to scrap it and start anew, often using small snippets of the original part if they fit. One such remnant of the last chapter will you find just below the horizontal line as a sneak peek of sorts. Be warned, it may still contain some minor spoilers! It has some comedy, very very mild dark satire and something for nature enthusiasts as well. It’s unedited (duh), but should still be of decent quality.
The green mare just chuckled, turning her attention to Luna as the princess cleared her throat. “So, is it true that he has earned a rank in the guard?” the blue mare said. She pulled up a hoof, readjusting it to block out the late afternoon sun.
Hedvika chuckled, rubbing her cheek in thought. Looking up, she stepped up from the sidewalk and pointed to a nearby flowerbed. The stalks of lavender swayed gently from side to side, a few brownish-orange specks zooming around them, only to stop in midair and start moving again the next second. “If I tell you there is a tiny hummingbird, will you believe me?”
“You do not really like giving straightforward answers, do you?” Luna huffed slightly, but stepped forward, bending down. The flowers brushed against her lower jaw, sending a pleasant tingling sensation down her spine. The mild, sweet scent of lavender tickled her nostrils. She focused at the creature circling around in a zig-zag motion, its beady eyes shimmering and buzzing wings merging into two blurry shapes by its sides.
Her eyes crossed as the critter hovered before her chest, apparently interested in the cornflower tucked into her lapel. Luna smiled. “A lovely bird.”
Hedvika’s lips curled up, her eyes glinting. “It’s actually a moth, by the name of Macroglossum.”
“What?” Luna paused, taking an inconsiderate gulp of air. The moth set off onto a journey through her airways. The princess coughed as her muzzle burned and tickled, waves of pain rocking her whole being. She flopped on the sidewalk, sneezing and snorting. A firm slam to her back finally set the moth free once more, the poor creature landing on the sidewalk with a wet splosh, dripping with mucus.
The princess glared at the squirming insect, heaving heavily with saliva dripping out her mouth. Hedvika retracted her hoof from Luna’s withers.
“Hey, are you alright? A stallion poked his head over a nearby hedge, a watering hose in hoof.
Luna just nodded, snorting. The stallion didn’t seem assuaged.
“Oh, just a spell gone wrong,” Hedvika said, nudging the princess. “Spits out butterflies now and then. And rather don’t ask what comes out of her ears!” she exclaimed, helping Luna on her hooves and quickly ushering her away.
“Celestia-damned pinheads,” the stallion said, rubbing his forehead. “Darling,” he called back into the house, “is it possible to change a pony’s race, from, uh, let’s say unicorn to an earth pony?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Eh, just wondering about our son’s future.”
Hedvika’s ears swivelled to the conversation growing quickly into an argument by the second, but almost immediately deemed it unimportant.
“What was that supposed to be?” Luna coughed, wiping her lips with her hoof. Very unroyal, said the little pony in her head. She made sure to apply a mental gag to it.
“Well...” Hedvika rubbed the back of her head, the shift in her weight causing her to wince. “It was supposed to be a direct example. When I say something biological, you are quite likely to trust me, as I have more experience in the field. Still, that does not mean what I said is the truth.” She stopped, the princess giving her a nod. “Likely so, Crinet has more experience than that rookie. Couple it with the colt’s alleged reverence for authorities and it’s no surprise he fell for what his superior said.”
Luna slowly nodded, quirking an eyebrow. “So, it was another deviation from protocol Crinet allowed himself?”
“Not really, it was still based on truth. Or rather a half-truth,” Hedvika said curtly and moved her head to the side, motioning for the princess to follow into a large open park to their left. Once her hooves touched the grass and dirt, leaving the cobblestones behind, the unicorn relaxed visibly, rolling her shoulders. She let out a contented sigh, her ears pivoting to the chirping of grasshoppers and muffled steps of mice scurrying through the lawns.
She waltzed through the stalks, slumping to the ground below a large oak. She patted the spot next to her. “Let’s wait for Sev here. Do you want to read?” Her hoof fished out the fairytale collection Luna acquired from Entropy.
“Thank you.” The princess took the offered book, wincing slightly as her back chafed against the bark. She slowly listed through the pages, her awkward hooves oftentimes requiring more than one try to do so properly. She bent forward, spying Hedvika skimming through the large tome with ease, the pages falling neatly into the grooves carved in her hoof.
Straightening back with a sigh, Luna snapped the little book shut, letting it slip to her lap. She closed her eyes, letting the earthy smell of moist grass grace her palate. Her wings shifted under her coat, trying not to brush against her sweaty sides.
She squirmed a little, opening her eyes, trying to unbutton at least the collar of her coat. “You still have not answered my question about Sev.” The princess turned to Hedvika and raised her hoof before the biologist could speak. “Let me rephrase it.”
And I won’t let her rephrase it, that would be too spoiler-y! 
For anyone interested in learning more about the moth, the full scientific name is Macroglossum stellatarum and here is a photo of it I grabbed on Wikipedia, of course under the Creative Commons license:
And that’s all!
Signing off,
Ever
5022482
And honestly, your comment on my story is a part of the reason this blog appeared so early.
I’m glad you did!
Looks good to me.
5022490
If you are talking about the deleted scene, I put it up here because it wasn’t all that bad. However, it didn’t truly work in context of the whole chapter, so it had to go.
5022497
I actually meant the sneak peak
5022501
That’s the deleted scene
5022505
Ah, right, but still is good
I like the idea of a progress bar. I’ve seen a few users try that to keep their followers up to date and it seems to work well.
5022570
I’ll try to include it somehow. Hopefully the possibility of constant surveillance will keep me from slacking off. A personal Big Brother of sorts.
5022574
It’s been a while since it’s been used. 
Do I need to borrow MV’s whip?
I’m just messing with you, no whips.
For now. 
5022601
Rather get me a spaceship that would be able to run at least at one tenth of the speed of light. That ought to buy me some more time