Twilight and Spike spent the next few hours catching up, talking about accomplishments and events that had been happening around. Twilight’s memory filled in more and more as they spoke, Spike made sure to cover a lot of information to help jog her memory. Luckily she only got a bit lightheaded from the rushes.
Something became apparent, though, and Spike noticed it.
“You already miss the hive, don’t you?” He asked after a moment or two of silence. Twilight sighed.
“Yeah, I do… Though I know when I go back I’ll miss it here too. I suppose I’ll just have to deal with it.” She said with a half-hearted laugh.
“I’ve got a feeling that the Hive is your home now, and that’s where you’re most comfortable living no matter your memories. There’s also people you care about there, and also here. And comfortable or not memories don’t die.” Spike said. Twilight gave him a strange look.
“Wow… That’s kind of really philosophical… Since when did you become such an intellect?” Twilight chuckled. Spike rolled his eyes.
“I really got into the studies you had me on and my own I decided I needed after you… left. I’ve been to the Canterlot University a few times, once by request even, and I’ve spent a lot more time researching in libraries. I guess it all just stacked up. I still have fun with the CMCs all the time though.” He explained.
“That’s good, wouldn’t want you growing up too fast.” Twilight laughed. They sat in silence for a little while longer before Spike got up.
“Do you want to come with me? I’m heading over to Rarity’s soon. She probably forgot to tell you but we’re kind of experimenting with a relationship.” He said with a bit of hesitation. Twilight raised the equivalent of an eyebrow.
“Really now? Exactly how does that work?” Twilight asked, curious, as she got up too. Spike grinned and closed his eyes. He exhaled what looked like green fire out of his mouth, but it swirled around him and his form changed.
“It’s Dragon Magic, the ability to camouflage myself as something else. It’s hard to mimic a living thing, but I’ve been working really hard on this one.” He explained, though instead of the dragon he was; he looked like a human male a couple years younger than Twilight. He wore all purple, naturally, and had spiked green hair. His eyes were the same, though, and if you looked closely you could see scales on his skin. There were a few ridges or spines here or there, and his fingernails were more like talons, but he looked mostly human.
“Wow Spike, I’m impressed.” Twilight said. Spike grinned and walked over to the door, opening it and beckoning a ‘you first’ sarcastically. Twilight laughed and poked his forehead as she passed him, with her carapace covered finger it might have broken the skin if he didn’t have scales.
---
“Oh I was hoping you’d bring her along Darling, it saves a lot of trouble of me wondering if she knew or not.” Rarity said happily, waving over from her seat at the cafe.
“So you finally got together, what happened that made you try it out, Rarity?” Twilight asked as they sat down.
“Well, you know that he’s had the cutest crush on me ever since you first came here. At least hope you do anyways… Well as he grew he got a lot more mature, and we talked a lot more. The girls and I were obviously devastated when you didn’t come back, but we couldn’t even imagine how he was feeling…” Rarity started, looking at the Draconic boy next to her.
“I wouldn’t even talk to anyone, not her or even Celestia for a while… It was a bad time for me, but everyone persisted and finally got me out of the library and got me talking.” Spike continued. Rarity continued off of that.
“We all spent a lot of time together, spending nights at a time with each other… Eventually we all kind of accepted it, knowing you wouldn’t want us to mope around if you actually… well… you know. Spike still took it harder than anyone and I had him living with me for a while and we just got really close. We had started joking around about it, as were all of our friends, but not too long ago he found that book of Dragon Magic at the Canterlot Library.” She explained.
“I spent almost four days straight learning and mastering it. I still need improvement, but it’s good enough to not be really weird and awkward now.” Spike said. Rarity giggled and pulled him into a hug.
“I guess I should be glad that Dragon life cycles are so inconsistent, he aged quickly because of all the magic he was around according to that book. It’s a bit strange dating something you’ve known since it was only a couple years old, but hey he’s old enough now.” Rarity giggled. Twilight laughed.
“How about you Darling, any changelings that strike your fancy?” Rarity asked. This question surprised Twilight.
“Um, well… Changelings never really developed the individuality to have relationships like this until about a month ago… The only ones with true individuality are me, Chrysalis and a couple of the younger ones.” Twilight replied, sort of avoiding the answers.
“Without relationship how do they reproduce?” Rarity asked, curious.
“Well we can convert other creatures into Changelings, though that fell out of practice even before my incident. I’m not entirely sure, it’s not like bees where the queen lays lots of eggs. I think there’s just big mating chambers where we go to mate and there’s some sort of Changeling magic involved. I’ve never been in one and I’ve never really asked.” Twilight answered.
“Hm… Sounds kind of like nightclubbing if you ask me.” Rarity said, earning a bout of laughter from them all.
“But, back to the subject, is there one that’s stuck your fancy? You never answered my question.” Rarity said after they stopped laughing. Twilight hesitated.
“Well… There’ve been a couple I guess. There’s Kaine, one of the head hunters, that I’ve kind of been thinking about. There’s Cerene too, though she seems a bit young.” She admitted.
“Huh, and I totally thought you were banging Chrysalis” A very distinct voice said from behind them, making both Twilight and Rarity nearly choke on their drinks.
“Oh man Dash, That was awesome!” Spike said, laughing. Said Valkyrie high fived the Draconian and plopped down on an empty seat.
“But seriously, I thought you had a thing going on.” She continued. Twilight groaned and wiped coffee off of her lap.
“not exactly. We share a bed, that’s about it… and in the hive there are normally dozens in one bed. We’ve been using smaller beds and sleeping pods more lately, but still.” Twilight explained.
“Twi, when you have ash colored skin you can’t hide when you blush.” Dash retorted.
“She has a point Darling, it is rather brazen.” Rarity confirmed. Twilight groaned and facetabled.
“Just because we’re close doesn’t mean we’re together…” She moaned into the table. The others laughed.
“Twi, do you like her in a romantic way?” Spike asked, strangely serious for all the laughing he’d been doing. after a moment Twilight nodded, head still planted on the table.
“Are you satisfied with your current position with her?” He continued. Almost a full minute before she shook her head. He smiled and patted her head.
“Then do something about it. I know it’s not easy to keep secrets with Changelings with the hive mind and all, but you’re obviously doing a good job of it. If she knew I bet she’d be all over you.” Spike finished. Twilight raised her head and stared at his grinning face.
“If that doesn’t work then just get drunk and bang her. with a body like that she has to change her mind.” Dash said poking her chest carapace. Twilight laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Thanks guys, I needed that. And Spike, since when did you become an advice guru?” She asked. Spike shrugged.
“Dragons inherit experiences from their ancestors, sometimes we’re wise as elders out of the shell. But for that, it’s one of my own experiences.” Spike replied, pulling Rarity close. She kissed him on his scaley cheek and he grinned.
“Well I just dropped by because i saw you and wanted to mess with you. I’ve got to get the weather team ready for the Wonderbolts tournament.” Dash said, saluting to them and flying off.
“Wonderbolts tournament?” Twilight asked.
“The Wonderbolts are holding a tournament late tonight, they’re passing through all notable areas searching for the best weather teams to train with them and fly standby for a set of massive storms and hurricanes that are scheduled or predicted soon. Now that I think of it we might be able to get there in time after the hunt tonight.” Spike said.
“Oh right you guys are hunting that Ursa… I really hope you’ll all be careful, even though we know you can handle one Twilight.” Rarity said.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got more than enough people to take care of it. We’re not killing it, just scaring it off.” Spike said.
“Speaking of the hunt I should probably re-coat my quiver with a stronger anesthetic solution.” Twilight said, putting a finger to her chin. Spike and Rarity gave her a curious look. She smiled sheepishly. “You don’t want to know.” She added.
“Is it that weird organic stuff you spit out? I heard Applejack talking about it, apparently you spit on her wound and it healed her?” Rarity asked.
“Well, not really. It’s an organic material with anesthetic properties that can be modified internally. In that situation it was in place of a bandage, it eased the pain and kept it covered.” Twilight replied.
“Fascinating, do you know how it works?” Rarity asked.
“Um, a little bit but I’ve no idea how to explain it. You might want to ask Nel or Charon, they were born long before I was.” Twilight answered.
“I see… Oh! Twi! I almost forgot!” Spike said suddenly after a few moments, almost falling out of his chair and jarring Rarity.
“What?” Twilight asked, curious.
“If you don’t remember, this all happened because you were writing research books on Changelings. We managed to salvage all of your notes and stuff so they’re here, so if you wanted to continue that endeavor it’s an option.” He explained.
“Really? Where are they?” Twilight asked.
“Celestia’s keeping them in her private study, at first she was supre analyzing them to try and figure out what happened but now I guess she’s just keeping them safe for you.” Spike replied.
“I’ll have to talk to her about them then, though not for a little while. I’m still trying to figure myself out. I don’t remember much right before being born.” She said.
“Well, I suppose you need more time for that. I have to get going soon, Darling. I recently started a new line of clothing and it’s begun to soar, Spike promised he’d help me but if you want him for longer I can wait to borrow him.” Rarity said after a few moments of silence, standing up.
“Oh no I won’t keep him. We had our catching up, I’m not leaving for a while so there’s no rush.” Twilight said, standing as well.
“Alright Darling, we’ll be seeing you then.” Rarity said, quickly hugging the Changeling girl.Spike did the same and they walked off together. Twilight smiled at the sight and started looking around, thinking of something she could do.
“If you get bored, you could always retreat into the hive for a little while.” A soft voice sounded in her mind. It was Chrysalis, and she smiled at it. She had all but forgotten about their connections.
“I’ll think about it.” She said aloud with a giggle, though the amused feeling she got from her connection told her that Chrysalis had heard as well. With a hunt tonight and a tournament to go watch directly after, she decided to go take a nap and Indulge her queen’s suggestion.
Indeed! I adore you're take on changelings, especially how they're developing as they acquire more love.
3474337 I meant the organic material that they create lol, there should be a 'the' in thee
will there be another chapter or has the story stopped now, you said in the author notes that the direction wandered off so I was just wondering, so far it has been the best depiction of an Human alternate universe changeling story I have ever read, if it has gone dead I have enjoyed it thoroughly , If not I will be eagerly awaiting the next chapter .
3656920 its not dead, not much drive to write anything lately but what I do I try to put it into a moon's tale.
I enjoyed writing this so its definitely not going to get canceled
3657240
That has made me really happy, as many of these brilliant stories one by one usually stop releasing chapters, plus this is as I said the best Human changeling story I've read and is one of my favorites to date, I look forward to more chapters, this has made me really happy it deserves two smiles, keep up the good work .
3790970 uhm... the term terran is an ancient term for people bound to the earth, like druidic people. This is in no way related to starcraft at all
3792118 okay I didn´t know that.
This story has a great feel to it, good pacing and grammar. Well as far as I'm concerned, just a few hiccups. I hope you find some drive soon, I'll patiently wait.
3961880 im currently trying to get progress in scarlet reverie lol, this is high on the list after that
3962989 Dude, just put the Scarlet whatever on hiatus for a month and work on this instead, then switch back in another month. That would be a better way than making us wait even longer for this.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5130188 I've got work and school, so I don't have much time to write anymore. When I do, I never can find the drive to continue anything, mainly because I've forgotten what I originally planned for most of these. The only two stories that I'm even capable of finishing somewhat easily are Seeker and When the Night Beckons.
Believe me when I say I'd like to finish this, and everything else, but it's just not that easy.
5131442 If you must, you could always rip some things from Law Abiding Pony's Of the Hive series since your fic is what inspired him to make his. But either way, there are a lot of people who care more about this fic than the ones you are currently working on, myself included.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5131456 Rip something from another story?
you speak blasphemy, sir.
and there are a lot of people who care about this fic more than others
but there are a lot of people that are the vice versa.
and I will be honest, I write for me. If I don't feel like writing or I can't find the drive to write I'm not going to force it.
that leads to shit literature.
5133059 I didn't mean rip from other's really so much as draw inspiration from it. I have done similar things in the past to help get around a block. If you can draw inspiration from multiple sources, you can use that inspiration to brute-force around a block without sacrificing quality.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5133708 well when you say rip something it means rip something lol. As for taking inspiration, I take my inspiration in a very weird way. In this case, it was a picture of Chrysalis that I saw that I really liked and decided I wanted to make a Changeling story, sat down and started writing. I can't go and be inspired by another story with this one, especially that one, just because of how different the two are. Of the hive may have been inspired by this story, but ultimately they are completely different- even though the content is similar.
For inspiration try rereading the previous chapters and see what flows from there.
5161692 I reread my stuff like weekly out of boredom lol. It always depresses me because it makes me want to write more.
and then I try.
and by the time the gdoc loads I can't think of anything to write.
switch the order round. it's pure genius.
5467455 be gone with you then.
if that's all it takes to turn you away we don't want you here
Are there any plans to complete this story? I ask because I am going to favorite this because the plot behind it sounds interesting. HOWEVER, until it is completed, I am going to give it a thumbs down. Because while I may approve of the plot behind the story, I DO NOT approve of the fact that it has been 1 year, 2 months, and 3 days since the last update. I mean, I understand that greatness can't be rushed, but needing 429 days in order to update the next chapter means one of three things. A: You've given up on the book (this is the most likely scenario). B: You’re too busy to write any more (this is understandable, even if highly annoying). Or C: You're dead (this is a scenario with a 50% probability chance, seeing as how people die every day.) If option C makes you feel uncomfortable than that means two things. You are obviously not dead, and I am sorry for having that as one of the three possibilities. Also, don’t give up! Your fans deserve better! I, of course, meant that in the best and most encouraging possible way.
5483759 So let me get this straight. You like the story, and you're favoriting it, but because I haven't been able to find the drive (or the time when I have the prior) to get more than a paragraph down in the past year, you're going to put a thumbs down?
I've already explained that if it doesn't say cancelled, I at the very least really want to finish it. I don't just give up on stories. If I cancel one, it's because the concept behind the story could only go so far and instead of integrating it into another one, or ignoring it, I started a story based on it and realized that there was more filler than anything. And I don't like reading filler half the time, and I definitely don't like having to write it unless it's sparingly.
While I honestly couldn't care less about the stats of my stories (though positive stats are always a morale boost) the idea behind what you're doing just irks me a little bit.
5483992
SEE BIO.
Now that that has been said, YOU ARE CORRECT! I AM giving you a thumbs down based on what I've already said is an understandable fact of life. I am judgmental in that way. I just don't like the fact that I see several stories on this site go unfinished. It is highly annoying. Now that that has been said, that comment was supposed to have been motivational. What part of it would you suggest changing?
Or let me put it to you a different (more ridiculous way than I did the first time) way:
Just replace
with
Not to say that my home is anything like Azkaban, mind you...
5484004 All I'm saying is would you rather me actually give up on it, mark it as cancelled or delete it?
I plan to finish it, and I really want to, but I've forgotten the path I originally wanted to take with this story. You have no stories at all on this site, and so going off of that I can only assume you don't write yourself. Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. I'm still absolutely heartbroken that amazing stories like backwards through the mirror haven't updated in a year. But I understand. I also write with very bad habits, like starting stories on concepts that only last a chapter or two, albeit this isn't one of them.
And I know you meant your comment as motivational, but you suck at it lol. a thumbs down is NEVER motivational in any form. It's a sign of dislike no matter how you look at it. I appreciate you explaining your reasoning, nobody ever does, but I just believe the reasoning is a bit shite.
Now if you really want to see this story completed, suggest some ideas. Help me get some ideas flowing. Most suggestions I've seen are admittedly shite too but at least they kept the subject relatively fresh- and hey if it's a good suggestion I'll use it and I always give credit.
5487505
No I don't want you to give up on it, or mark it as cancelled or delete it. Like I said, the first comment was supposed to be motivational. As for your,
you're right. That comment was rather harsh. Sorry. I just recently looked over some of the other comments that I made about stories that were incomplete and I realized that for some reason the comment that I used in the beginning transformed into this comment. This comment did still work for a few stories, but that doesn't excuse it's rather harsh aspect. I would write myself, but I have discovered that even though I can come up with the plot to a story, I can't make the story itself work.
5488032 yeah it's not as easy as one would think. Basically the reason why I don't write much anymore is because most of my writing would be done in school during free time. I had a lot of time to think up what I wanted to write during the days, and I had a decent amount of time to do the writing as well. Then I graduated and my writing hit a wall because I had too much free time, too much time to do other things, and so I never felt like writing. Or when I did feel like writing, I'd lose the little drive by the time I refreshed myself of the story or even just by the time I opened up the gdocs page.
and for future reference, saying that you're leaving a dislike even though you've favorited and followed it and everything is essentially saying I like what you do and everything but hey middle finger. the like system is there to show how many people like the story compared to dislike. (or to be exploited alongside the featured box system) Leaving a dislike just because the story hasn't been updated in a while, at least in my opinion, is no reason to leave a dislike if you like the story.
and also the way you worded your comment made it seem like you had a bit of a high horse thinking that your dislike was really important. I know that's not your intention, but it comes off at that, and if you do this to other stories I can imagine that not very many people like you for doing it. (I'm also surprised you haven't done the same to my plethora of other incomplete stories now that I think of it). If you would have been paying attention to me when I actually was writing, though, you would have known that my unstable drive was made up for by the fact that when I DID have the drive for a story, I pumped it out.
5491733
Let me offer a rebuttal to you, kind sir. As for my not giving you a thumbs up and still giving you a favorite let me counter what you said to that by giving you an example of how someone else took it, shall I? I shall!
This was said by WolfTheWyvern when I said (and did) the EXACT same thing about (and to) his story, How to NOT Become a Changeling, and, as you can quite plainly see, he actually took it the way that it was meant to be taken. I also helped the author of The Frostbitten Colt not give up on his story with this comment and this action. So, maybe, just maybe, I do not have a "high horse" as you call it. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE I have past experiences with either helping people get back to their stories or getting better responses than yours. You, my good friend, are both a breath of fresh air (as you appear to think quite a lot like me, as I would probably do the same exact thing that you are doing if someone had the audacity to leave the comment on a story that I posted onto this site that I left on your story) and, at the same time, quite annoying. I wonder if that is, the quite annoying part anyways, how other people see me? Oh well. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
5495804 YOu misunderstand me, at least a little bit. I know you're not on any kind of high horse. it's just that at first glance, that's what it seemed like to me. I know you only meant well. And those examples are pretty cool, but at the same time they aren't relevant to me. I do have stories I want to rewrite. I do want to finish this one, and others. But me focusing on one isn't the problem. As I've said, every single time I try to start writing again the drive just leaves me and I refuse to force myself to write. It leads to bad literature. I'm also actually incredibly active on here. like I said I check the site every day, and if there's a comment I look at and/or reply to it as soon as I see it. And also, all I said was that your reasoning for leaving the dislike just irks me a little bit and your wording was a little unintentionally harsh.
5496096 Still waiting for more...
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5609260 So am I, friend.
5611006 ...
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5659664 no, I refuse to even watch equestria girls. I've been writing humanized since before it was announced, it's AU.
5661324 Either way, we are still waiting for new chapters...
That means hurry up and get writing.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
5798994 I haven't been able to summon up the drive to write anything for months, work does that to you. This is a story I do plan to eventually finish though, but when eventually happens is still up in the air
I think you may want to add an 'Anthro' tag, and add a disclaimer that the 'Human' tag does not mean that there are humans in addition to ponies, like it usually does, but rather that the ponies are humanized. Your story was very confusing until I realized that.
5805719 You have no understanding of the words that the tags are made up of then.
Anthro is anthropomorphic, meaning half and half basically. There is none of that here, no ponies (or human-pony hybrids) whatsoever.
and the human tag does NOT mean humans alongside ponies exclusively. It simply means the story involves human characters. Humans alongside ponies would be Humans in Equestria, or vice versa.
Frankly if you are confused by this story when there isn't a single mention or reference to any single character being a pony then there's nothing I can do to help you.
hi 3657240 i must say love your story. So i understand that you had problems writing this story. Maybe you should ask your fans for ideas.
For example i would love to see the reaction of twilight family and the nobility to twilight transformation.
5956193 Ideas are all well and good, but if I can't summon up the energy or focus to actually write them out this would have been completed over a year ago. Thanks for trying, though. it still makes me happy when Isee people enjoy my content.
6001816 I use that same profile pic for my youtube lol
6002895
cewl
What happens next please bring out a new chapter. please.
Puuurrrrrrrr I like this one welcome to the hoard little mouse.
another good story i love it
I hope this continues eventually, it's really nice.
Cya
Raziel-chan
5956479 I understand what it like not have energy to write or do something, great story and hope that one day it be update,
Nice chapter. I wonder if Twilight will eventually help Rainbow Dash with the weather. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Question: Update?
7659367 me think this great lovey story is dead, but i hope not
Okay, last chapter before the hiatus, good place to pause for a long comment.
Chrysalis. I understand from the prologue that she and the changelings were degenerate shells of themselves due to love starvation when they attacked, and they're "better" now that they have some nourishment. But to me, the change from brilliant evil tactician to caring mother figure is so jarring I have a hard time believing it's the same character.
This human aspect is killing me. When I read Twilight, Chrysalis, Celestia, wings, magic, changeling, and everything relating to MLP, I'm thinking ponies, so every time I'm reminded they're human, it's very jarring.
I had a question about clothes, but that was answered in the last chapter. Also, to me, it seems the point of humanizing them is to make the setting more, well, human; but here they are, as magical as ever. Maybe this is a gripe, but maybe the reason I don't like it is that there is really no reason for all these pony names and terms to be humanized other than "I like writing humans better."
Yeah, as I think about it, the more I see that my problem with the humanization is a personal gripe. Until it starts creating worldbuilding issues, I suppose there's nothing really wrong with the ponies having human versions. It's just jarring and unusual to see humans with pony names and characteristics... instead of anthropomorphic animals, it's equinomorphic humans.
So many little things like typos, failures to count, confusing, clunky or rushed wording, awkward narration, unlikely statements or conclusions from characters, POV issues, pronoun mishaps, punctuation misuse, inconsistent capitalization, and other things that an editor should have helped with really begin to add up. These are not normally game changers for me on fimfics, as I don't have a very high standard on fimfiction, but they are numerous enough that they begin to detract from my enjoyment of the story.
Suspension of disbelief. This is fantasy, so I can do that easily to a certain extent, but there are things that I presume to be the norm, yet when these norms are broken, characters barely act surprised. So how am I supposed to feel? Awed that they did something special, or nothing because this is apparently normal for this world? For example, Hunting is a highly respected role, which presumably takes years to master, yet Twilight is automatically good at it and no one acts surprised... at least not until a chapter after the fact. Another example, the Mane 5 are fending off some creatures with weapons of their own, but I don't know whether I'm supposed to be impressed or to yawn.
I want to enjoy this. A changeling story has been my favorite fimfic since I discovered it, so I want more of its kind to enjoy. And don't get me wrong, this is written better than a lot of fimfics. But a lot of little things really do add up to make this, unfortunately, underwhelming in my book. I will go ahead and finish it and even start From the Ashes; hopefully, it will get better as you have gotten more practice since the beginning. Even Of the Hive had a shaky start, but it got better toward the end, and For the Hive was even better. So I'm willing to give the rest a try.
8904333
I do admit the characterization wasn't exactly quite the same- I honestly know very little about Chrysalis as a character since I've only seen the invasion. The decision to personalize her as I did was due to the fact that when feral you are down to your sanity is literally just bashed down by the insanity and hunger of your drones going feral, so the change in personality is usually day and night. It was also due to the fact that Twilight was then part of her brood, and so her pseudo-paternal instinct as a queen helped along in that regard.
As far as the humanization goes, I've actually put a lot of effort into building my humanized version of Equestria. The people with wings aren't just people with wings, they're Valkyrie. Magic isn't just everyone does magic, it's normally through glyphwork and spell matrices and arrays and such, otherwise usually requiring verbal or somatic components. And ultimately if I completely changed names and places and such then it wouldn't be a fimfic, it's maintaining the characters and modified setting of the show. And honestly, have you ever played a tabletop fantasy game? Pony naming conventions aren't that strange for the fantasy setting XD. I haven't gone into nearly as much detail on the Equestrian side of things in this story, but that's because the whole point of this story is to build and show the changeling culture and history and the likes.
And I've tried having editors. They either take far too long for my tastes or quit because of how inconsistent my writing schedule is and my hiatuses. I will say I've gotten a lot better in more recent writings, though old habits die hard. Even bad ones. There are still minor mistakes in later chapters and stories in the series but they are definitely not as frequent, you certainly aren't the only one to mention it.
Some of the cases, like the other 5 elements being fairly proficient in combat, is generally intended to be assumed as the norm- it's a little crazier here so people generally know how to defend themselves like a standard fantasy setting. Things like the Wonderbolts also being a high ranking military force as well as a stunt flying group, things like that. And for something like Twilight automatically being good at stuff, well that's both attributed to her ability to learn quickly and also my habit to mary sue the fuck out of my characters- which I've also gotten better at since this point in my writing 'career'.
And since there was such a long gap there's probably some minor inconsistencies after this chapter, but I do believe they are better. And the stories later in the series are definitely better, even if by only a small amount. Either way though, even with all of your gripes and legitimate criticism, you're still reading. And you're not being an ass hole in your comments, that's important too. At the end of the day, that's why I wrote this story. So people can read it and hopefully enjoy it enough to continue so thank you for your time.