Chapter 1
I found myself floating, complete and utter darkness encompassing everything. A pinprick of light formed below me, flecks of green visible in the far distance. As time passed, the speck grew outwards, slowly showing more of what lay beneath. I found streets beginning to take form, then buildings, and as I watched a jungle of concrete and steel sprang into existence underneath me far below my hooves. As more of it came together, I realized that not only was it a city from my past, but it was the city. The place that I had called home for so long before finding myself unceremoniously dumped into Equestria.
My gaze wandered, following the familiar ribbons of asphalt through the city. Some locations stood out like beacons to my mind; the schools that I went to growing up, the ballpark where I first broke my arm, my house, and other various locations that held memories of the life I had given up. A wistful smile found its way to my face as I continued scanning the city below me.
Sounds pulled my attention from below to above, where instead of the blue skies and familiar sun, another location began to unfold. Starting at the base of a large mountain that dominated the landscape around it, a winding path unfolded beneath my gaze, terminating at a set of ornate doors leading into a city of another sort. The buildings within the town seemed to gleam, the buildings lending an excellent foreground to the gleaming towers adorning the castle behind it.
As my neck craned upwards to take in the sights, I could only think just how magnificent it was. If one were to take a snapshot of the view and put it directly to canvas, it truly would be one of the greatest pieces of art ever made, sure to make any other works pale in comparison. I let my gaze stray over the winding paths of cobblestone marking the streets of the grand city, my eyes lighting up when Donut Joe’s Bakery entered into sight. The familiar looking building had become a place of refuge at times; after all the new me loved to bury my concerns in sweets, and he had the best in town.
As I continued to admire the wondrous city, a quiet sound from below reached my ears, extremely faint at first. Stringed instruments playing an unknown concert number drifted on the wind from the city below. I tried to ignore it, not caring much about what was behind me for what was in front of me, but it began to physically tug on me.
A mixture of woodwinds entered into the piece, this time coming from above. They played a different tune, the two melodies offsetting each other and creating a rather discordant sound as they clashed. I felt both sides tugging at my very core, as if two ponies had each of my forehooves and were lightly tugging in opposite directions. I attempted to ignore one of them and move towards the city in the sky, intent on leaving the last vestiges of my old life behind.
It refused to let go, however, the strings become more intense, the music becoming violent in nature as the tugging turned into a pulling sensation. The woodwinds from above retaliated, and the pulling and tugging quickly caused my discomfort to surge; an almost painful feeling now.
The battle raged between them, the pain gradually increasing as I felt myself being pulled apart. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, trumpets entered the fray, lending their sounds to the violent cacophony of noise. They immediately began to crescendo, and I felt as if I were ready to fall apart from the pain.
“Oh, this isn’t any good!” A voice broke the cacophony, the instruments ceasing their discordant playing and falling silent, the pain fleeing at last. A swirling portal of colors entered my sight as my vision cleared, Dream bouncing out of it. “There, nightmare’s s’all gone now!” she giggled a bit, bopping me on my nose. “You have some weird nightmares, Sis!”
I was left speechless as she bounced back out through the portal, the swirling of colors disappearing as everything faded, my mind drifting back into a dreamless sleep.
“Cannonball!” a voice exclaimed, waking me up from my sleep. The speaker sounded familiar, as did the word they said, but my tired mind simply could not process what it was, or how I was supposed to respond to it. Blearily my eyes opened in time to see a dark blur racing through the air towards me, causing me to jump in place. However, I was thoroughly wrapped up in my covers and only succeeded in flailing around for a moment before Dream slammed into my chest, both of her hooves wrapped around my barrel.
“Good morning, Sis! It’s time to wake up, come on!” Dream pranced about on top of my chest, each impact actually rather light, what with the blanket cushioning the hits. After a few circles of this, she hopped off of me and decided to bop my nose with her hoof. As she pulled back, I chuckled and nuzzled her.
Pulling back, I focused on removing myself from the covers. Dream’s wakeup call had me wide awake now, so it was relatively easy to extricate myself from the covers. I stretched, opening my mouth and letting out a very loud yawn, causing Dream to giggle. I closed my mouth and smacked my lips a few times for good measure, then turned to look at her.
“So…” I began, looking at Dream with an almost predatory expression, “was jumping on me really necessary to wake me up?”
“Umm… not really?” she squeaked out, an impish grin on her face belaying her attempt to appear as innocent as possible. I went in for the kill, my hooves seeking out her most ticklish spots as she tried to escape me. She attempted to escape the bed, but I managed to predict exactly where she would go and a hoof and a wingtip found her stomach. Dream collapsed in laughter moments later as I triumphantly stood over her, laughing along with her.
I relented my attack after a minute or so, collapsing next to Dream as she recovered. “And that,” I smugly stated, a grin betraying my voice, “is for using me as a landing pad!” I hopped off the bed to let her recover from my attack, deciding to quickly clear up the bed-mane I was certain I had. A quick golden tie for my mane and tail thoroughly solved most of the issue of having hair everywhere, and I turned back to the bed, where Dream was standing on top, her tongue sticking out at me.
I just laughed at the sight and blew a raspberry at her, stopping next to the bed. “Well, shall we go find some pancakes to slay, Dream?” Her eyes lit up like lights, the bright teal color a stark contrast to her midnight black coat. I turned around and began to walk out of the room, but stopped at the distinct lack of sounds coming from her.
“Please?” Dream pleaded, a longing look on her face as she attempted to give me diabetes with her eyes. I sighed and walked next to the bed, allowing her to clamber onto my back. I gave her a moment to get situated before turning back around and leaving the room. “Hi ho, ‘Rory!” she exclaimed, and looking back I noticed she had a single hoof pointed down the hall that led to the dining room.
Laughing, I set off towards food at a sedate pace, thinking on a few things. The nightmare I had was a somewhat reoccurring one, although it had been getting less frequent as time passed on. I kept telling myself that I enjoyed everything about this world, even with the crazy first month I had. After all, I had a nice group of ponies to call my friends, and some I could even call family. Even with all of the holes that still needed to be filled in, what was there to dislike? Sure, there would always be things I missed from before, but honestly they paled in comparison to having a family again.
At this thought I turned my head and gave Dream a brief nuzzle, which she leaned into. She truly was an amazing filly, and I was more than happy to think of her as family. I had always been a single child, so having a sibling was a new experience, especially now that she truly was a filly in and out. At one point she had quite a few memories left over from Nightmare Moon and Luna, but those had finally completely disappeared. Now she was just an extremely ordinary filly, well except the whole alicorn bit.
I flared up my magic, opening the doors into the dining room, nodding absently at the guard posted at the door. “Good morning, all.” I quietly greeted as Dream glided off my back, her hooves clattering loudly on the tiled floor. I took a seat next to Celestia as I watched Dream shuffle into her seat between Twilight and Luna.
“Good morning, Dream,” Luna lovingly spoke, her voice completely filled with warmth, “I hope you did not wake Aurora up by jumping on her, right?” I did my best to contain my laughter as Dream attempted to stammer out a reply, causing Luna’s lips to tighten around the corners a bit. She and Twilight had been attempting to reign in some of Dream’s behavior, and jumping up and down on sleeping ponies was currently at the top of their list. From what I understand, Dream had woken them up that way after the two of them had fudged an experiment that left them both quite bruised. I could hear their voices clear through the walls that morning; it was quite comical, although I think they both managed to scare Dream quite a bit.
“Good morning to you as well, Aurora,” Celestia quietly spoke into my ear, drawing me from my thoughts as I focused on her, “I hope that your mood is much better this morning? You seemed quite down last night; I hope that I was able to help you.”
“Eh…” I started, taking a moment to concentrate on getting some pancakes on my plate, “I had another nightmare, same thing again. Overall though, I’m feeling pretty good this morning.” I rubbed at the spot where Dream had landed on me, grinning slightly. “Well, mostly good I should say. I had a ball of energy give me a rather quick wake-up call.”
Celestia and I both laughed rather heavily, drawing the attention of Twilight and Luna, who had apparently just finished scolding Dream. They had basically become her parent figures, as she was technically born from a part of Luna. Twilight had explained its full dynamics to me one day when I made the mistake of asking her about it; needless to say it simply was what it was. I do not think that my brain could survive that lecture again.
“Good morning, Aurora,” Twilight and Luna both said at the same time as I finally took a bite of my pancakes. I just chuckled and waved at first, doing the polite thing and not speaking while I had half of a waffle coated in syrupy goodness crammed in my muzzle. “I hope that Dream didn’t wake you up too violently, Aurora.” Twilight spoke alone this time, a small glare directed at the filly in question.
I swallowed, grinning at Twilight. “Relax a little bit, let your mane down, Twilight,” I playfully chided, “I mean, I am her sister, right? So, if she wants to wake me up like that, it’s fair game.” Dream’s eyes seemed to light up again, and I internally laughed. “However, she just needs to remember that it means I can do similar things to her.” I menacingly raised my hooves, making tickling sounds, causing everypony at the table to break out into laughter.
“Very well, Aurora. But if she breaks anything again, don’t say I didn’t warn you, okay?” Twilight briefly stuck her tongue out at me before focusing on her pancakes. Luna went to take a bite, but then paused and looked at me with a confused look in her eyes.
“Pray tell, what exactly did Twilight mean when she said again?”
I exchanged looks with Twilight, Celestia and Dream before breaking out into laughter again. Luna simply looked on in confusion the entire time, at least until I could get myself back under control. “Well, remember when you went on that diplomatic mission to Gryphonia for a month?” Luna nodded in reply, and I continued with a smile on my face.
“Well,” I began, drawing it out as Luna leaned forward a bit in her seat, “while you were gone, one of my magic lessons involved levitating rubber spheres without crushing them. I kind of slipped and sent it flying across the room. We ended that day a little bit early, and I had a very nice bruise on my chest. I found out the next morning it was actually a cracked rib when Dream landed on me and turned it into a broken one.” Luna looked at me oddly, then again that might have been because I had a rather goofy grin on my face at the moment.
“What? Don’t judge, Luna… Equestrian pain-killers are some amazing things!” I broke out into laughter again, remembering how time seemed to be much, much slower for those three days I was laid up while healing.
Luna hummed to herself, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I see,” she slowly replied, turning to look towards Dream and Twilight. “And why was I not informed about this upon my return?” Luna queried, her brow raised as she stared at them.
I just chuckled, waving my hoof at her. “No big deal, Luna. Stuff happens. You need to learn to relax a little bit.” I stuck my tongue out at her before, in what could very well be a moment of extreme stupidity, focused hard and gently tapped her in the face with one of her own, still untouched pancakes. She turned around to look at it, her mouth partially open, and before she could utter a word I stuck it in her muzzle.
The entire table went deathly silent, everypony frozen as Luna sat there, a pancake partially in her mouth, the glow from my magic gone. Finally, she simply chewed on it, and after a few moments swallowed. “I must say, this needs syrup,” she simply stated, a light smile on her face as I let myself relax. She shot me a devilish grin when nopony else was looking though, and I figured that I might want to watch my back in the near future.
“Aurora, I’ve been meaning to tell you this, but when you’ve got some free time I need to go over some of the results of the experiments we ran last month, okay?” Twilight asked as she refilled her coffee mug, the now full cup lingering under her nose.
I took a look to Dream, and thought for a moment about what I had to do for the day. I had long since moved past simply waking up, magic lessons, flying lessons, history lessons, and then going to sleep. Now some days I had hours of free time, some of which I spent going down into Canterlot and spending with Dream.
“I think I’ll be free after dinner, Twilight,” I slowly stated, sorting out the plans I had for the day in my mind, “I’m taking Dream down to play with the other foals at the Second Chance Orphanage after breakfast, and probably won’t be back until lunch, and I want to practice either flying or magic after that.”
The orphanage was a place that I had stumbled upon merely by chance. I had taken to walking through the streets of Canterlot in the evenings, as the majority of traffic dominated the daylight hours. While on one such walk, I heard crying coming from one of the many parks in the city and stumbled upon a small pegasus filly. It took a little bit of time, but I managed to get her to tell me her name.
Once Comet Burst opened up to me, I offered to take her home after her tears had stopped. I was quite surprised to learn that she lived in an orphanage, and after dropping Comet off I spent some time talking to the matron, who was coincidentally called Matron. The chance meeting at night turned into weekly visits to visit Comet and the rest of the foals. Dream had asked to come along one day, and now she had a whole group of friends her age that we visited a few times every week.
A voice pulled me from my thoughts, loud and full of excitement. “Oh, we’re going to see Comet today?!” Dream asked, beginning to bounce up and down in her seat. I laughed, nodding my head.
“Yes, but first… you need to finish your breakfast. That includes your vegetables, by the way.” I stuck my tongue out at Dream, who looked at the small pile of carrots and greens that Luna had snuck onto her plate. I still found it pretty funny that she disliked most vegetables, with a few exceptions. She was quite a picky eater it seems.
The rest of the breakfast passed in small talk, every one of us content to finish our breakfast so that we could all move on with our day. I got up and pushed my seat back in a bit, finishing off the last of my orange juice before setting the now empty glass on the table’s surface. “Well, I hope you all have a good day. Who should I bug to escort the two of us there?” I asked Celestia as Dream came up to my side.
“Hmm,” Celestia brought a hoof up to her chin as she thought for a moment. After a few seconds, a sly grin formed on her muzzle. “Aurora, if you go down to the Guard’s Barracks, I believe you’ll find Shining Armor there. If he puts up any resistance, you can just drop my name. I think he could use the time around foals.” I chuckled at her choice, nodding my assent.
“Thanks, Celestia. Try your best to smite some nobles, please? It might make things a bit easier for me.” I goofily grinned, somewhat hoping that she would indeed blast one or two of those pathetic excuses for ponies out of existence. Most of them were quite the whining, sniveling snob types who thought the world existed for them. Plus, the fact that increasingly more of them were trying to tie me up in a ribbon for their respective family’s status. That might have colored my opinion just a little bit.
I looked towards Dream, who had a big, goofy grin on her face. I lightly chuckled at the sight, causing her to realize that I had been staring. “Sis, I need to get some stuff from my room, can I just go there while you get the guards?”
I mussed her many lightly with a forehoof, laughing as she tried to dodge it. I finally relented after a few moments, a small smile on my face. “Sure thing, Dream. You want me to pick you up from the garden?” She nodded her agreement, and with a nod of my own she took off. I watched her scampering form quickly retreat, a smile still present the entire time. Once she left my sight, I turned around and left through the door on the opposite side of the room.
I navigated my way through the corridors, pausing to say hi to a guard here and there. While I still did not know many of them, I had become friends with a couple of the ones living at the castle. It all began one night over a barrel of Applejack’s best special cider, and by special I mean one hell of an alcohol by volume content. One poker game later and I had a small group of friends in the castle guard, even if one of them left with a black eye that night after sneaking a feel of my rear end. That had been about a month back, and now I could tell a few guards apart from the others, even with the armor that made them all look uniform.
Turning another corner, I entered the wing of the castle that was used almost exclusively by the Royal Guard. Eating, sleeping, training, relaxing… you think of it, they could do it here. A lot of the younger members actually lived in this part of the castle, something to do with it being easier for the single stallions and mares without any attachments. I never really asked for the full details, but it was a pretty interesting set-up. Luckily, the offices were at the front of everything, and as I approached the door a sky-blue unicorn stallion grinned and opened the door.
“Hey there, Breeze, I’m looking for Shining Armor, he around?” I asked, returning his grin as I bumped his offered hoof. His full name was actual Gentle Breeze, but for the obvious reasons everypony referred to him as Breeze. He was easily my closest friend in the guard, which was quite humorous as he had been the pony I gave the shiner to the first time I hung with them.
“Yup, he’s slinking around somewhere in the offices,” Breeze replied with a chuckle, slightly tossing his head towards the interior. “I think he still has it in his mind that if he doesn’t come down to check on us, we’ll just fall apart or something.”
Breeze and I began laughing. I had heard many tales of how the former Captain of the Guard essentially ‘babied’ his former charges. It was quite endearing to some, although they wasted no time in joining everypony when the mothering jokes began flying around. “Well, I’m here to take him off your hooves, at least for a little bit. I’d say that maybe you could get some work done, but looks like you’ve got some downtime, eh?”
“Actually, I was just on break, but the moment I heard that you would be going into Canterlot I made sure to scamper back here as quickly as I could. Hopefully I can tag along again, sure beats doing paperwork!” I just snorted in amusement as I began to follow him inside in search of Shining Armor.
Following a trail of pointed hooves, we found Shining Armor within a minute or two. It really was not that hard, truthfully, as he was a rather commanding presence in any room, and when surrounded by guards it really showed.
Breeze knocked on the doorway of the office Shining was in, causing him to look up. “Aurora, Breeze, how are you two doing?” he greeted us with a smile, moving a bunch of loose papers into a neat stack on the desk.
“Well, I’m looking to head into town, and Celestia told me I should get you to come along. You know, we’ll need a sacrifice for the kids and all, and I guess she thought you’d fit the bill.” I just laughed at the look on his face, causing him to sigh.
“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” he stated, barely forming it into a question. I just smiled, doing my best to keep from breaking out into laughter as I took in the expression of relief on the pony’s face that had been talking to Shining before we interrupted them.
“Nope! Apparently she thought it’d be a good idea, so might as well come along quietly!” I jerked my head towards Breeze as I rested a leg over Shining’s neck in a totally platonic manner. “And this guy here wants to tag along too, give us some extra muscle too.”
Shining just sighed and worked my hoof off his neck. “Very well, I’ll be ready in ten. Just need to find one more guard to come along, just in case. Twilight told me those nobles are only getting worse, maybe having two guards and me around will deter them for a bit, hey?”
I sadly chuckled, shaking my head. “I doubt that an entire army would stop some of them. I still don’t get what part of ‘I have no interest in relationships or anything remotely resembling them’ they don’t understand…” I trailed off, a fun thought coming to mind. “Maybe we need to make an example of one? I figure a horn to an eye would be a good statement, yes?”
I managed to elicit a few laughs from everypony gathered, although Shining also ended up shaking his head. “They’d probably still come back even then. Maybe I could talk to Aunt Luna about sending them to her moon… nah, they’d dirty such a wondrous thing, I doubt she’d go for it.”
“I’ll meet you in the garden just inside the residential area, okay?” I asked, getting ready to turn around. Once Shining nodded, I left to let him and Breeze get ready for the foray into town. As I began walking, I thought on the garden that we would all be gathering at.
Probably the best thing about this garden was that it was located in a spot that only a few ponies had any access to, outside of the guard. Being so close to our rooms, nopony had any business being there. It was open to the elements, with flowers of all varieties planted. Basically, any time I wanted to have some of the outdoors without the hassle that went along with going into Canterlot, I could just come here and relax for a few hours. It was also a nice place for games of tag, as Dream and I did quite frequently. All said, it was a place where I could just let go for a bit, a rather nice luxury at times.
Dream was already waiting for me, a small package next to her side. She and Comet had gotten extremely close, and the two had taken to exchanging small gifts every other week or so. I was kind of curious as to what Dream had put together this time; she had made a point to ensure nopony knew what it was and to make it on her own without any help.
I walked up to her side, playfully bumping her with a forehoof. “Ready to go I take it?” Dream nodded in excitement, a massive smile plastered on her face. “We should be good to go in a few minutes. Shining Armor and Breeze are getting ready.” No sooner than I had said that did they enter, Breeze with a smirk on his face. “Or we’re ready to go now, it looks like.” Dream gracefully hopped up onto my back as they approached us.
Carefully, I picked up the package and held it out to Breeze. “Here you go, make yourself useful!” He rolled his eyes, but accepted the box and carefully stowed it away in the small bag strapped to his back. Turning to Shining, I just smirked at him. “Are you ready to go and visit some foals, Prince? Think of this as… practice for the real thing.”
“You’re trouble, you know that?” he quipped, one hoof over his face as he shook his head. I just laughed, knowing full well that Celestia had asked me to bring him along because Cadance apparently had been nagging him about children for some time. I just think that she was also playing a mostly harmless prank on him as well, either way it did not really matter too much to me. It just meant that maybe he could wear them down for me first.
We left the castle through the main gates, the sounds of a city in full swing reaching our ears. It was mid-morning now, meaning that everything was in action, and the streets were relatively full with ponies running about on their errands and business. As we walked along, a lot of them stopped and stared at us, but at least they were not all focused on me. Shining Armor made a really good patsy that way; he was basically a national hero and a lot more interesting than me, the random blank-flank alicorn, fortunately. For me, anyways, although it was pretty obvious that he had long since gotten used to the stares that still made me feel extremely self-conscious.
We passed through the commercial hub that was centered around the castle’s gates and turned into a quieter, residential area of the city. Here there were less ponies walking about, and the sounds from the market were a distant din that rapidly diminished the further in we walked. The layout of the city was quite ingenious, as they had a few markets, each one surrounded mostly by residential areas. It allowed ponies to never be too far from the shopping they needed to do, and ensured that the ponies selling their goods all had a pretty level playing field.
The rest of our route took us through winding swaths of residential roads, both sides lined with houses of various constructs. It still amused and amazed me to see a house made of clouds sitting between another made of wood and another of stone. Even with the varied materials and craftsmanship, it still felt like everything belonged, a place that one would love to live in. It was definitely a stark contrast to the noble-infested section of the city, as I had dubbed the upper crust’s homes.
The last turn came into sight, and we found ourselves on a dead-end cobbled road. Dream slipped off my back as we came to the last stretch of street, darting ahead of us for the main door of the large stone building at the end of the road. I chuckled at the sight, my gaze moving to rest on the painted wooden sign staked into the ground, quietly reading it aloud.
“Second Chance Orphanage.”
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Finally.
That is all.
4176382
Lawl. At least I was on tonight to give it a once over, else this would've probably waited until tomorrow, eh?
YES!!!!!
I mean... umm... I-I'm just going to go now...
3495954
Mine is bad enough that I'm using screen shots of it as an avi. Have you noticed yet that sometimes it doesn't show that you have new chapters? Like this story for instance; saw it on the front page, checked favs for it, nothing, show all favs, Boom there it is... Bigger that folder gets the more it happens to me, something ta watch out fer brah.
Great Job, Nicely done and all that jazz ^.^
Dream
4176655
Cvbrony JUST pointed that out to me on Skype, and I fixed it. He called it a small blip, I called it a big oops.
God I fucking love that filly Dream.
*mane
I love this chapter can't wait for more
4176666
Dude, I didn't want to hear about your pedophilia... Those are definitely inside words, aka thoughts. It's ok though, we all get them confused sometimes.
*Silent clapping cause its kind of hard to make sound when U have furry paws for hands* Well Done. Encore Encore!!!!
Thinking of the future; will it take a complete break from her former humanity to finally realize the missing cutie mark? Or something a bit more 'sappy', that is, embracing the lost humanity and new pon-ity in order to blend both sides of an alicorn coin into a harmonious whole? Lord knows what that cutie mark would look like... although. A hand-print (no, not from smacking her flank) seems to be the most obvious representation of humans.
But if she's really looking for a refuge from the nobles, why not take a sabbatical to Ponyville? It's close enough for emergencies but far and farmy enough to keep away the nobles. And there's a whole world out there to explore. She could loose herself amongst the crowds of Manehattan (closest thing to the city she used to call home), check out the not-so-wild west of Appleloosa, see if Los Pegasus is all it's cracked up to be in the brochures, compare her memories of history's Rome to Cloudsdale, and maybe even get brave enough to take a guided tour of the Gryphon lands. I know Cadance and Shining would never let her miss out on a private tour of the Crystal Empire, especially if foals are on the way.
I wonder if that will ever come up in the show itself? We already had the Cakes foals appearing awhile back. Although royal foals would be accompanied with all the hullabaloo comparable to the wedding itself. Hmm, Aurora might want to bring some bags of flour. Hey, it worked for Pinkie Pie and she's really good at knowing what a makes a pony smile.
Error here.
You've made a lively world. I want to applaud your use of en media res. You start the story, and let the reader unpack what happened. I really wish more authors would learn this lesson.
Good jot at not starting many sentences with "I": a lot of first person stories are rotten with I's.
- - -
You use the "stick tongue out" a bit much; it feels repetitive.
Watch your adjectives. Cull out those -ly words till it hurts.
4176916
Damnit Vates, not what I meant. lol
4177565 4177649
I'll keep these in mind for the future. I do know that there are times where I feel like some phrases are being used a bit more than they should be, and you probably found the one I'm worst with. For the filter words, I'll read up on the article, maybe bookmark it. If I can start noticing them while writing, I'll try and trim them down. Think this is the first time it's been brought to my attention.
As for the rest, thanks. Hope you continue to enjoy it.
4177441 4176696
Thanks. I'll pull up GDocs in a few and take a quick look. No matter how much time I spend going over stuff, things still slip through the cracks.
4176716
Since I was simply splitting the chapter, I already have a nice portion of the next written. I just have to adjust the split point to serve as an lead in for the chapter, and then continue writing, which I had already planned on doing anyways. So, shouldn't be too long.
4177196
Can't really say too much because of spoilers. For now though, I plan on keeping her firmly in Canterlot for the foreseeable future, I mean, yes, I could have her travel to avoid the nobles or whatever other problems there may be, but that would put a massive spike in my plot-plans. Hopefully you do enjoy the path I intend to take with the story. Also, I can tell you that I've had her cutie mark in mind for months now, about the time I began to look at the first story and begin to think about things seriously.
4177843
Filter words aren't talked about as much as adjectives and passive voice are, but avoiding them is something that can really make a story shine. It's a simple concept too.
"Dusk Shine smelled breakfast cooking"
vs.
"The warm smell of pancakes and syrup drifted up from the kitchen."
- - -
"I smiled as I felt the wind running through my feathers"
vs.
"I smiled as the wind ran through my feathers,"
Not bad. Not bad at all.
I loved it all so much and can't wait to see what happens happens.I loved how close Aurora and Dream are and I'm so happy that Dream has a lot of new friends to play with.And that Aurora has some new friends to.And I hope Shining Armour has fun and decides to have some to with Candice.And I can't wait to see what Luna does to get back at Aurora for what she did.
thanks for the great update.
Im always excited when a new chapter of this story comes out, mostly because you are an amazing writer!
I mussed her many lightly with a forehoof, laughing as she tried to dodge it. I finally relented after a few moments, a small smile on my face. “Sure thing, Dream
That supposed to be mussed her mane? Anyway good chapter with nice conversations. Very amusing. I love dream and his relationship.
Does anyone else feel like this is a vague reference to that story, My Little Apprentice?
You are
Still Alive.
Dream is adorable, very cute and I bet the foals at the orphanage are just as cute. I can totally see some idiot mistreating one of Dream's friends and suddenly finding himself confronted by a mini Nightmare Moon... then the grown up version makes an angry entrance with full Canterlot Royal Voice. But if Aurora needs to get away from the nobles... she needs to put on an act that will have them convinced any kids she has will inherit some mental deficiency. So repeatedly drink from a flask and complain about how bad the medicine tastes at set intervals, 'forget to take the medicine one day' and start twitching eyes, darting glances around, basically act like she's seeing things nobody else can see. Have Celestia make it clear she's loosing her sanity and any family that takes her in would end up having to care for her full time. That should scare off a good chunk.
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Sheer coincidence. That story has been sitting in my favorites / read later, still haven't gotten around to reading it. I just like the concept of what the name embodies, so I went with it. A lot of my naming and names are sort of like that, there is something to them that applies to the situation and I roll with it.
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Just gotta get past this bump in the next chapter, and there'll be more proof that I live.
*pinches self*
Seems so. Not dreaming either.
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Glad you think so, I really love Dream, she's a blast of a character. As for your opinion, well... while comical, it would kind of go against what I'm aiming for in this story. One's image carries a lot of weight, after all. I do have some [hopefully] good stuff planned out though.
"I mussed her many lightly with a forehoof, laughing as she tried to dodge it."
I think you meant mane
You never mentioned the third guard.
I can see that place getting shut down by blueblood buying it out to try and force her to be his.
who focused hard? GrammarError: missing subject!
Finally got around to reading this. Gotta say, I absolutely loved the first one.
Small mistake here, though.
I just thought of the most dastardly way to get rid of nobels, pretend to accept their request and get with Dream and prank the living crap out of them to make an example of them.
Disproportionate retaliation on Blueblood is in order; the more out of scale the punishment on that bastard of a Prince, the better remembered it shall be.