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That was even more badass than the other Dusk Shine's Flutter becoming a Dovakin.

Well thank you! In truth, it wasn't my original plan. I had planned to draw it out and have the dragon do far more damage, driving Fluttershy into a rage before she finally snapped... but it just felt too heartless. Plus some readers have pointed out there is hardly a chapter were Dusk isn't passing out from exhaustion or damage, so I decided I wanted to have things end relatively quickly before anything else went too far.

Also, was the overdose on pain killers enough to completely heal Dusk's horn? Not sure if you clarified that or not.

The painkillers sealed the scar in his horn until he used so much magic while fighting Trixie it broke open the seal. Something [vague on purpose] healed his horn.

Dusk proves that his god damned titles are well deserved by calming the crowd.

Damn straight! :3

It never ceases to impress each time a fan comes up with an explanation that better describes the events in the show. Lost in the bureaucracy is a way better explanation than simply forgetting a day.

Aww, shucks, thanks!

Really digging the lore you're setting up.

Thanks! It's why I put so much effort into the build up! To make the world and lore matter so much! I'm sure I overdo it occasionally, but I love world building!

Lastly, these royal sisters make the others look absolutely negligent in comparison.

Just wait :3

I got to say that the training montage was interesting and I was surprised that Rarity knows hand to hand and is, probably, the best fighter of the Main 6. Also, I'm happy that Lyra is finally accepting Bon Bon's affections.

So, we should or shouldn't point out any mistakes? Cuz I only caught one.
Hey, Dash. You got the message to neet at Applejack's today, right?

6476674 Haha Should. Always should! Thanks!

Oh good! Then I found another one maybe.

'Sorry, Scoots, gotta go fight a dragon, will train tomorrow, promise.'
Is that supposed to be we'll?

6476687 Haha. Well, considering it's Dash speaking her grammar isn't top notch, but yes I'm sure we'll is far more appropriate.

6476154 Haha! I wanted to keep things realistic, and making sure they know how to defend themselves in different ways is realistic. Rarity isn't the BEST unarmed fighter, if Dash or AJ managed to land a kick on you, it would hurt a lot worse than Rarity's best punch or kick.

Yeah, I love building up Bonbon and Lyra's relationship

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(to leave Dinky and Ameh)

Good point.

Hmm, Rarity is cute with her sister

Thanks! I freaking love the combo. It's freaking adorable!

Good to see the issue with the black lotus is still lingering.

Just wait! Here comes Zicora

Saw that coming about a third of the way through, but it just goes to show my earlier point of contriving something new and awesome.

Thanks! I've been hinting at it for ages, but it's nice to have it finally out!

(mixture deep into his lungs, burning away a buildup of phlegm in his lungs) It's a little awkward the way you say 'lungs' twice.

Good catch!

AJ with a hammer, good work.

Pinkie with a Hammer. Everything looks like a nail, except when it looks like a Party Cannon. You do realise that when Dusk really, Really wants Pancakes now, Pinkie can, Deliver. Anyone for explosive impact food production?

Big Macs hammer? Why not just drive an RSJ through an Anvil and call it quits?

Neat idea with Vinyl and Lyra, one uses her knowledge of sound to enhance her Still Way, Vinyl uses her knowledge of sound for both antinoise stelth, and Disaster Area acoustic attacks? Or maybe even vibroblade weaponry? I also get this Predator vibe where she vibrates the air, or surface around her sideways or rotationally, so theres no emmited vibration but the light etc blurs to invisibility?

I still think Rarities prefered primary combat method should be something like thousand needle. Of course, if she actually Had a thousand needles, that would weigh a kilo or two, which would be like the brick in the purse hammer attack method as well. Doent mean it has to be needles. Or her own supplies.

Im wondering, as time goes on, if the reason Ponyville actually has an occupancy, is because everyone in some way or another, is there for retirement and holiday training. Its a honeypot agent ground. Which means you have to have non agents, but they are then agents of normal population, very dangerous in their own right, because normal people, untrained in agency, wont do what you expect them to do. MIT research suggests no less than ten percent of the population being any given class, such as normal population should keep things working nicely.

Poor Barb, has her feelings, urges got any worse so far, or has Greed occured, or is coming up later? I apologise for forgetting. 8(

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AJ with a hammer, good work.

Felt natural

Pinkie with a Hammer. Everything looks like a nail

Ha! But it's Pinkie so you know she'll use it to do cute things like pop someone softly on the tip of their nose to be silly.

Big Macs hammer? Why not just drive an RSJ through an Anvil and call it quits?

Because that would look bad and be poorly balanced. And while Mac isn't as fancy as Rarity, he does like things to be orderly and done properly.

Neat idea with Vinyl and Lyra

Thanks!

I still think Rarities prefered primary combat method should be something like thousand needle

Not having to fight would probably be her first choice. Maybe knitting a nice wool scarf and a new table slip as a peace offering or the like.

Im wondering, as time goes on, if the reason Ponyville

Don't worry, things are going to happen to Ponyville.

Poor Barb, has her feelings, urges got any worse so far, or has Greed occured, or is coming up later? I apologise for forgetting. 8(

Nothing major, yet...

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Touching how Sweetie longs to have a dad, and cute how she latches on to Dusk as the best candidate.

It felt right. Sweetie is just a good natured girl who wants ponies to be happy, including her moma. I'm glad you've made it past that point as its one of my favorite parts x3

I shared Rarity's sqee at AJ and RD. But ya know, with all this love that's already existed and that Dusk is catalyzing, it's getting harder and harder to imagine them getting to Tirak without Dusk siring a foal or two.

I've covered that, but don't worry, things will happen!

Regarding Lyra, the terms you use make her sound more like a futa, yet you say she's trans?

Long story short: I spend some time researching different terms and names and phrases and talking with people in a few of the trans / futa groups here. I settled with what I have because it s a primitive society who do not posses the ability to do sex changes, and after Celestia acknowledged the special status of a trans child she had [or adopted, nobody knows for sure as Celestia is very private with her very rare pregnancies], the world simply accepted that a 3rd sex exists. Obv there are still bigoted people, so laws like the one forcing Lyra to reveal hir sex exist, but overall it is against the law to specificly mistreat them.

On a biological level? Shi is female, without working ovaries or testies, but with a penis that does function. I could go into further messy biological details, but why spoil the fun shi and Bonbon get to have, right?

(showed me her dreams when I tried to to use magic) The first 'to' is unneeded, but the second is just fine. Keep that one.

Really, cause I figured the first to was way better spelling than the second? Thanks man.

Nudity is always fun, but you came up with a clever way to keep the tension regarding Philomenia by making the legend uncertain.

Philomenia is a challenging figure to get right. I hope I can continue to do her justice.

"Don't make me make you hurt me." Love Derpy.

I'll be honest, I still laughed at that scene.

Is Luna flirty with how frequently she offers kisses, or is this a reflection of the culture?

She has minor issues as a result of her time alone. She is very open with affection because she spent a thousand years without any. She probably has a specific mental disorder of one kind or another, thought I couldn't name it off the top of my head.

It's so cute the way Apple Bloom is looking after her soon-to-be niece.

I wanted the CMC to make sense. Existing relationships aside, this was a great way to make Scoot feel epic.

I'm reminded of a story which said that zebra magic presented itself primarily through potions and mastery of herbs. In that sense, it's a derivative of earth pony magic in their connection to the earth, plants, and animals. Just from seeing them talk about 'the smuggler', I'm guessing she black lotus is an ingredient for a potion or she has a way of filtering it to make it safe.

We shall see! And yeah, I consider the Zebra a kind of bridge between earth and unicorn magic. You'll find out more soon.

Being threatened by one lover to have another lover sit in your lap... I think I hate Dusk.

HAha. Wasn't meant in that way, was a threat to pin him down and force him to eat.

Dusk might feel his title isn't deserved, but he acts more like an authority figure in a single chapter than Twilight has all series.

Just wait for Magisrate's Day in Canterlot.

I'm reminded of Deep Space 9 when Odo brought out a list of all of Warf's failings when the klingon challenged the constable's competence.

Reminds me I need to get back to working through my backlog. I am on season 5 or TNG and season 2 of DS9.

Perception filter? Maybe? ^^

6488893 Thanks man! I love building up the little moments. How AJ and Rarity's friendship works really is a delight to me.

I'll admit it, Bronze was really just a background character until fans started commenting constantly about how much they liked her and her 'romance' with Dusk. So I decided to see where it goes. So far, it's been a lot of fun.

6488914 I sympathize completely. Fans kept egging me on to build certain romances in my story until I gave in. Also a lot of fun there.

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Pony catnip.

HA! Not a bad way to describe it, right?

poison joke. I've definitely been looking forward to your interpretation of this

I liked it, it was a fun to take a very different approach to a situation that many have dealt with before.

"I don’t know how a herd could work with so many mares." Really? Isn't the ration of male to female 1:4 at least? And you offhandedly mentioned that one guy with 8 mares.

Long term was the point in general, but you are right. The ratio is 10:1 btw. And his 8 mares was a shared joke, as in they were amazed he could keep things working at such a level haha.

It really is silly to go nude when you're not used to how cold it is

It is, isn't it?

I'm worried the guy might get too many ladies as that's a thing I often hate in harem stories.

Life is odd, I promise it will be interesting to see how things are balanced.

Did you get help with the rhymes, because that was amazing?

That was about a week or so of heavy work with my editors. It's shit like Zecora as to why I have so many of them. Keeping that kind of stuff straight and flowing is a bitch.

(Besides, you don't even have a retaining pool, and besides!)

Good catch!

All in all, a rather impressive feat the way you managed to combine these two episodes.

Thanks! I can officially announce now that the next merged chapters will be 'Call of the Cutie' and 'Suited for Success'. I hope I can do just as good of a job there.

6497738 Ten mares for every stallion? Then the standard for herds really shouldn't be less than 6 members, which, come to think of it, fits nicely with the story. Also, since there's been no mention yet, I'm guessing you're not doing the Xenophillia thing where everyone is bi.

6508820 Due to balancing relationships, the ideal of 6+ does make sense, but doesn't work in a realistic scenario. Thus why I introduced the other solutions that society has come up with: Breeding Stallions, lesbian or bisexual couples, and the like. EG: Vinyl and Octy, Derpy and Amethyst, ect.

I will have an example of a 'dysfunctional herd' during 'Best night ever'

6508838 Even with those, it still seems logical that most herds would be larger than 5. And, since this is the norm, ways to make it work would be passed down through the generations. Like humans, you learn functional behavior by watching functional parents.

Ooh. You tease

Damn. The next villain looks like he'll be in for one hell of a fight.

Good character set ups, but otherwise not too much happening just yet.

Fluttershy...Sometimes, the only kindness you can give is a swift death.

And you can only spare your enemies when you can afford it. And Fluttershy, you can't. <= Was thinking about Time-looping Fluttershy when I typed this. That Fluttershy can LIVE in Warhammer 40K universe and even thrive...This Fluttershy simply doesn't have the power to afford it.

That and some enemies simply refuse to be good.
Quoting 'Blackjack' from 'Project Horizon': "Security save ponies.........But some just refuse to be saved."

6643652 Makes me think of the saying that: 'adventure is 90% boredom and 10% excitement, and all you can do is hope that it isn't the excitement that kills you!'