16. Exits
When the sun came up, Crystal was snuggled close to my side. She looked beautiful as she softly breathed, her mane splayed out on the pillow like a golden aura. Then she gave a little snore and I grinned at the mental image of how she’d pout if I told her she snored.
I wanted to stay there with her. She was soft and warm, and I felt better than I could remember in years. I’d slept over before, but last night had been different. Very, extremely, life-altering different. Things would never be the same and I was more than okay with that.
Maybe if it had been a normal day, I could justify being late because I wanted to sleep in with my marefriend. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to have a normal day for quite a while, so I carefully slipped away from her and snuck out of her bedroom.
The condo was painfully quiet. Every hoofstep felt like it was the echo of pots clanging. I took care to move as quietly as I could I crossed the living room.
“Well, good morning,” Velvet’s voice with a little suggestive tone said from my right.
I stopped, my eyes going a bit wide as I turned my head to look at her. She was sitting at the dining table, hind legs crossed, like a parent who had caught a disobedient child.
I swallowed. “Good morning…”
Velvet gave me a sly look. She knew. “So… would you like some breakfast?”
Softly, I cleared my throat. I could feel sweat beading on my brow. “That… that would be lovely, but I have to fly home, get my kit, and then report in. I’m in command of the whole palace, so I wouldn’t want to set a poor example by showing up late. Even for a great breakfast.”
She smiled and shrugged. “Suit yourself. Perhaps in the future you should just bring your kit along?”
“In the future… yes… that, that would probably be wise. I hope I’m no inconvenience to—to you,” I stammered a bit, completely embarrassed. “You forgive me?”
Velvet giggled. “Forgive you? For what?”
The look I gave her said that I was absolutely not going to answer that question. It only made her giggle all the more.
“You two are adults, Silent Knight. Don’t apologize for that. Just keep her happy.”
My ears shot up and I felt my face turn red.
Velvet laughed loudly and waved a hoof at me. “That came out wrong!”
I pointed to the door and started to inch towards it. She just nodded and laughed harder, unable to catch her breath to speak to me otherwise.
“Bye,” I struggled to say before ducking out the door and closing it behind me.
Well, that was awkward. I didn’t regret last night but I certainly didn’t want to encounter Velvet first thing in the morning again. As I took to the sky, I tried to ignore the embarrassment by focusing on one task at a time.
First thing was getting home. That much was easy. Once I was there, I showered, changed into a fresh gambeson, and had a quick breakfast.
Next, I trotted outside to check the lamppost and found the chalk X. It looked like I’d be going to the Phial and Filly soon. I rubbed my hoof on the mark to clear it away and took flight to the palace.
Secret data could wait. A palace full of lightly supervised guards couldn’t.
When I got to my office, there was already a line of ponies at my door. Radiant Orchid, Storm Rider, a palace guard lieutenant, and a sergeant were at the head of the line. Behind them was Sogni DiVolare, Cloudy Skies, and a random assortment of enlisted ponies.
I was half an hour early! They were at least polite enough not to launch into their problems immediately, but there were a lot of eyes on me.
Without a word, I walked past them all, unlocked my door, and went inside. Settling behind my desk, I shouted, “Now serving number one!”
The day went exactly as I expected: ponies had problems and they came to me because their immediate superiors weren’t there to solve them. DiVolare was missing a hoofguard and needed a new one requisitioned. Cloudy Skies came clean on taking and then losing said hoofguard as part of some sort of foolish but well-meaning prank.
There was also a scheduling conflict that required Radiant Orchid to miss her eldest’s school play, and that was not going to fly, or so she told me with a very stern look. I agreed because nopony argues with a mare regarding her foals. Even I knew that.
I even had to eat my lunch at my desk while some low-level bureaucrat explained his anger over being denied immediate access to Princess Celestia. He didn’t like my answer that he had to make an appointment like everypony else. He also didn’t like when I stood up and loomed over him at his suggestion that he could get me relieved of duty.
At the end of the day, I had approved a tour of elderly ponies for next week, tracked down the owner of a dog found wandering the halls, and dealt with several so-called ‘emergencies.’ Apparently, a pony not liking the commissary food was an emergency.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The day had exhausted all of my patience and my last nerve had gone AWOL. I turned the palace over to one of the other lieutenants and headed to Princess Luna’s wing so I could hopefully spend a little quiet time with her.
The guards posted outside her chamber nodded in acknowledgement as I passed them. Princess Luna was at her desk, poring over some documents. She blinked in surprise when our eyes met.
“Silent Knight! I was just wishing to see you.”
I came to a stop across from her, head tilting to one side. “Is that so?”
Princess Luna nodded. “Verily. I have not seen you often enough since we’ve returned. In fact, I have not even offered you proper condolences on your loss. I’ve been uncertain as to how. Crystal Wishes informs me that you’re being stubborn about this.”
Everypony wanted to say they were sorry or they hoped I felt better. I never knew how to take it and I was tired of hearing it. Maybe that was being rude, but nothing anypony said ever gave me peace. My father was dead. Sooner or later I’d come to terms with it. Probably later, but it would be on my terms.
I put on the best amiable face I could and replied, “I apologize for not spending much time with you. Somehow, I’ve ended up in command of the palace.”
Luna’s ears flicked. We stared at each other a moment, but she accepted my obvious attempt to change the subject. Her eyes shifted to display confusion and then a little smile crept onto her face. “You’re teasing me again?”
“No, Princess,” I said, “I’m actually being serious. There are so many officers out right now that there are only section lieutenants left. The group of them elected me commander.”
She went silent, the smile faltering and then returning. “Elected? Well, that was inevitable, wasn’t it? Who better than you?”
“I could think of several ponies, but thank you. I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“You’ve more than earned it. Although… it makes my next question a bit more difficult.”
My brow arched. “And what question is that?”
The princess walked over to her desk and motioned to her empty inbox. “I’ve worked diligently and caught up on my work. I’ve spoken to Celestia and she agrees that it is wise for me to learn all I can, as soon as I can. I need to return to Haven and continue my training.”
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It couldn’t come at a worse time. There were a lot of ponies relying on me at work, and then there was Crystal. Being apart from her had been hard the first time, and now we were closer than ever. I didn’t want to be separated from her for so long again.
Of course, I’d promised the princess that she could return. With a forced smile, I replied, “Yes, of course. I’ll make the arrangements immediately, Princess. I—” I closed my mouth before it could be too honest.
Luna’s ears turned towards me expectantly. “Yes?”
I shook my head. “It was nothing, Princess.”
“No, by all means, Silent Knight. Speak freely.”
Reluctantly, I said, “I’m torn. I probably shouldn’t leave until a superior officer comes to relieve me. You’ll forgive my bluntness, but the average lieutenant around here doesn’t know the difference between a pilum and a broom.
“At the same time, I made a commitment to take you back and, of all ponies, I would be the last to break my word to you. I’m in an awkward position here.”
The princess, for some reason, smiled. “Then do both.”
“How do you mean?”
“Run the palace, Silent Knight. Delegate my trip to Haven,” she replied, setting a hoof on my shoulder.
I blinked and looked up at her… which was a lot harder these days, given her new height. “You’d go without me?”
“Yes, but only because our schedules are not being respectful of each other. That will also allow you to spend more time with Crystal Wishes. Perhaps this one trip, you should send another pony in your stead and, when it is time for me to return, you could come and retrieve me?”
My eyes darted back and forth as I considered that possibility. Haven was safe. Getting there was dangerous, but not overly so. Yet, the idea bothered me. It bothered me a whole lot. I’d rarely trusted other ponies to protect Luna. I was never far away.
“Princess, I… don’t have a good reason to say no.”
Her brow arched and she asked, “And yet you want to?”
I nodded in return. “I realize that my responsibilities have grown and that I might have to let go of certain hooves-on responsibilities, but it feels wrong. I’m your bodyguard.”
Princess Luna settled down in front of me and softly looped me in a hug. “I know, but perhaps it is time you live a bit for yourself as well. I’ll agree to more guards to compensate, but I feel it is best I go without you for now.”
Her words hit me hard and tears unexpectedly built in the corners of my eyes as my emotions surged. It was irrational, but in that moment it suddenly felt like I was losing another parent. I embraced Princess Luna and held onto her as tightly as I could.
“Silent Knight, it will be alright. I’ll be perfectly safe and we’ll be reunited soon enough,” she said softly, rubbing a hoof along my back.
I didn’t respond for fear that my weeping would be obvious. Instead, I nuzzled against her neck and took some deep breaths to get myself into check. Once I was confident that I could be mature enough to speak, I leaned back to look up at her.
“You will need a whole lot of guards to compensate for the lack of my presence, Princess,” I said with as much bravado as I could muster.
She laughed softly and nodded. “Yes, yes. How many?”
“How long do you want to stay?”
“Twelve weeks.”
I kept my expression blank and business-like as my emotions flared again. Twelve weeks apart was a long time! She had set an end date, though, which gave me a target to work against. I went over the numbers in my head, focusing on the task instead of the loss I was feeling.
“I can work with that. You can go with a squad. That will be sufficient for the day to day but I’ll want to rotate them out every three weeks to keep the ponies fresh. When the last rotation comes, I’ll relieve them myself.
“You know, as long as a senior officer is back and ready to take over the palace. If not, we’re probably better off moving to Haven at that point anyway,” I said, trying to force a bit of humor.
She smiled and stroked my mane. “Agreed. I shall also take Willowy with me, some staff, and additional couriers. My studying will be less aggressive and I will do royal business in the evenings.”
“I think that is wise. I also think we should speak to the royal guard command about setting up two outposts along the way, to make the journey safer for all ponies and perhaps help facilitate trade. Assuming that is your goal?”
The princess pondered that a moment and then nodded. “We should introduce them slowly. I’ll draft a letter to the Royal Guard. You can do the rest, yes?”
“Of course, Princess. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of planning to do and ponies to prep,” I said as I backed away from her. Focus on the tasks at hoof, get them done, and feel later.
“Thank you, Silent Knight. Truly,” she replied.
I turned towards the door but paused halfway. “It is my pleasure. It always will be,” I said before trotting down to the administration area. On the way, I knocked on Orchid’s, Iridescence’s, and Miley’s doors.
Heads popped out and I called, “Send for Mountain Stone, and everypony be in my office in an hour.”
“Yes, sir,” Radiant Orchid replied.
It wouldn’t take an hour to send a runner to Mountain’s home and ask him to come in. The reality of the situation was that the hour was for me to organize my thoughts and calm down in the privacy of my office. I was touchy. It was unusual for me to be so.
I settled into my chair and took my helmet off. Feelings were something I was having to deal with a lot more since my return from Nordanver and the death of my father. Sometimes I was angry for no reason. Sometimes I was sad. Sometimes it just felt like I was going through the day to get to bed.
It was just easier to focus on the tasks I needed to do than think about the deeper meaning. In time I’d get over everything and my life would go back to normal. Time healed everything. I just had to hold on. I just had to remain strong. I just had to—
There was a knock at my door loud enough to wake me up. I didn’t remember laying my head on my desk but it was. I sat up, wiped my mouth and put my helmet on. “Come in,” I called.
Radiant Orchid, Iridescence, Miley Hooves, and Mountain Stone filed in together. “What’s up boss?” Miley asked cheerfully.
“Princess Luna is going to be heading back to Haven soon,” I replied.
Orchid’s brow arched. “Oh?”
“Yes, but we’re going to be doing things differently this time,” I started before explaining my plan and how we’d keep everypony fresh this time around. That alone left Orchid looking a lot more relieved.
“Iridescence, you’ll lead the first expedition, Miley the second, Mountain the third, and then Orchid and I will go down for the pick-up. Any questions?”
Iridescence piped up, “From what Orchid told me, we’ll need to be concerned about morale. Especially for three weeks of darkness. Any thoughts on that?”
Orchid nodded and said, “You’ll have more guards. I’d say station two at Haven’s gate every day. That will give them some sunlight. Other than that, perhaps take some games and such.”
“No gambling,” I put in and earned myself a dirty look from Orchid. “Other games are fine. I like the idea of watching the gate.”
Miley shifted a bit. “When does this all start?”
“The end of the week. The princess has some business here before leaving. I want the chariots ready to go immediately though in case she changes her mind.”
“So… sir. Without the princess here, what are the rest of us going to do?” Miley asked.
“Jump school,” Mountain Stone said and it took all of my effort not to glare. I’d approved his paperwork for it, but I was still a little jealous. It was like he had heard me talking to the princess about it.
“Exactly. It is time for advanced training and specialist schools. This is a prime opportunity for any of the two-week courses, unless you’re Mountain and his bunch. They’ll have even more time. Get with your ponies, pick some programs, and get them ready. I want all of the paperwork on my desk before the princess leaves. Anything else?”
“No, sir,” they replied.
“Dismissed then.”
Iridescence, Miley, and Mountain made their way out. Orchid lingered back and shut the door behind them.
Our eyes met and then mine narrowed. “You’re not going to tell me I’m a disappointment again, are you?”
She shook her head and came over. “I’m sorry about your father.”
“It’s fine,” I replied flatly.
“It isn’t. You’ve barely had a moment’s peace. How’re you feeling?”
My ears fell. “In this moment? Mildly annoyed.”
Radiant Orchid glared at me and then shrugged. “Suit yourself. If you want to talk, you know I’ll listen. I need you to listen to me, though.”
“Sergeant, forgive me, but I’ve had a long few weeks. I’m not up for a lecture or some anecdote about love and loss. Let me deal with my father’s death in my—”
“Silent Knight, for Celestia’s sake,” she said, cutting me off, “shut up a minute. This isn’t about you.”
I sat up straight and peered at her. Outside of my office, that level of familiarity would have been a gross violation of protocol. Behind closed doors, I rarely minded and she had yet to be wrong when she did so. “Alright, go ahead.”
“I’m due in four months and each day from here on out it is going to be more and more obvious,” she said plainly.
I shook my head and blinked. “Wait, what? What do you mean, due?”
“After we got back from the gryphon kingdom, Mr. Orchid and I were really, really happy to see each other and—”
My hoof somehow found its way onto her mouth. “No, no, no. I get it. You never said anything. You haven’t even slowed down!”
She swatted the hoof away and grinned. “I’m a royal guard and this is my third foal. I’ve got this all down cold now. It wasn’t going to impact my performance until now so I didn’t see a need…” The grin fell and she added softly, “I’m sorry, sweetie. I wanted to tell you but you had so much on your plate already. I didn’t want you to be worrying that I had an expiration date but, I kind of do.”
All I could do was stare at her. This was a shock. Another big change that was being sprung on me. “This is it?”
She nodded and smiled. “I’m afraid so. I’m going to push the paperwork for maternity leave. After that, I’d like to go to warrant officer school, if you’ll write me a recommendation.
“The House Guard is for ponies without foals. I’ve had the privilege of serving on both and under two amazing lieutenants, but it is time to take a bow and leave the stage. Iridescence is going to be fine and so are you.”
Her words gave me a little comfort but turmoil was buried beneath it. Orchid had every right to do this and I was happy for her. A little angry, too, but that was just a petty part of me that was easy to ignore. I offered her my hoof. “I’ll write you the best letter of recommendation you could ever imagine.”
Orchid shook her head, pushed my hoof aside, and hugged me instead. “I expect you to be there when this little stallion is born.”
As we embraced, I replied, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
☾
The sun had ducked below the horizon and I found myself standing outside the gates of the Unicorn Temple. In the quiet and darkness, I knocked three times. The door opened immediately, revealing Exemplar Ferrel. Our eyes met and she stepped back.
“Please come in,” she said.
“You were expecting me,” I replied as I walked across the threshold.
“Two out of three pointed to you, yes.” Her tone was flat and without warmth.
“And the third?”
“Celestia of the Six called upon me.”
My ears twitched, catching the title. A title that the exemplar had never used. There was no sense in beating around the bush, then. “Do you know what happened to them?”
The pearl-coated unicorn looked into the heavens, the moonlight reflecting off her highly polished armor. “I do.”
“Tell me.” The words rung like an order, far harsher than I had intended.
Exemplar Ferrel started walking towards the garden and I moved to block her. She merely went around me, correctly guessing that I would do nothing to actually stop her.
I fell in step beside her. “Please, tell me.”
“To what purpose?” she asked.
“What purpose? This is important! The Unicorn Temple arranged the summit. They hosted it and nearly every alicorn ended up dead. Do you realize how suspicious that looks?”
“Extremely, and so should it be,” she said flatly.
“Exemplar, you’re not casting the Temple in a positive light here. What am I supposed to tell Princess Luna?”
The unicorn stopped and focused on me. “It is not my intent to cast it in any light, and you will tell her what you will, Silent Knight. There is a reason that we are no longer allowed to interact with the alicorns. In the past, we were too close to the rulers of this realm.”
We continued deeper into the garden. In the distance, the moon was rising higher into the sky and casting its light onto us. It struck the exemplar’s blonde mane, illuminating it and causing her to look as if she were glowing.
Her clear blue eyes fell to me. “Equestria is not yet ready for the knowledge we protect.”
“You wish to hide your shame?”
Her head shook. “No. Ponies of this world are barely aware we are here. What would we care if they thought us evil because of deeds carried out by those long dead? This knowledge would frighten them and lead to disharmony. Its revelation would be a disservice to the princess.”
My blood suddenly ran cold. “Disharmony? The princess? Exemplar, please. Tell me Princess Celestia did not murder the other alicorns.”
Exemplar Ferrel lifted her head suddenly and blinked. She looked at me as if I were crazy, the first emotion I’d seen from her. “Is that what you believe? No, Silent Knight. Celestia was to be a victim herself, as was Luna. Thankfully for us all, no pony could have imagined they were as powerful as they were.”
“Then why are you keeping this secret? Why won’t you tell me what happened?”
“Is that not obvious?” she asked plainly. “The knowledge is even more frightening than the idea of Princess Celestia murdering all of the other alicorns.”
Silence fell around us. It crashed down and filled me with dread and discomfort. “When will you stop hiding the truth?”
“When Princess Celestia deems it so. If she deems it so.”
“And Princess Luna has no say in this?”
“She will once she understands, and soon she shall.”
“What does that mean? How?” I asked.
Exemplar Ferrel turned from me. “Silent Knight, there will come a time in the future where you will be ready to take on this trial. That time is not now. When you have the blessing of the princesses, you may return and I will give you the knowledge. Until then, I have my orders just as you have yours, and we are both aware that you have no orders for this. Good evening.”
“Good evening…” I replied, trying to take solace in the fact that Princess Celestia was no longer a suspect.
Unfortunately, all I could focus on was what could possibly be worse than her being a murderer.
I have been waiting to use that image for such a long time! Pony Berserker completed it six months or so ago. It was just a really funny scene I thought deserved artwork. I hope you all enjoyed it!
If you are enjoying this story, please consider taking a look at Crystal and my's website QuillnBlade.com for extra content such as mini stories, Q&B AU wiki, and special rewards for the awesome folks who support our Patreon. We have monthly art give aways, a Q&B Discord RPG, a several other fun gifts for patrons.
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I didn't remember the art until seeing it again, at which point the entire chapter suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
THIs aRT!
"KK" stopped funcioning
Wow, that artwork looks like something Andy Price himself did!
I love it! Bring me another!
That was certainly a good laugh.
Well. Runic better start running. And praying.
Well! instead of gamer Luna we now have stoner Luna. Let's hope the come down is light and not a crash.
So SK has temporary controll over the castle. What next? Equestrian General? Alicorn?
Luna is like:
Best scene ever.
Actually scratch that, this is the best scene ever.
Best. Chapter. EVER!
That was awesome. Thanks for the new chapter. I loved the dying of Luna. I can't wait to see if she pulls this prank in Haven.
6156595 He'll only die tired.
Y'know what? I think it's a good look for Luna. Something new; something different. She should totally keep it (and visit Haven with her new glorious golden ***).
all my yes to this chapter
this part got me... I CHASE FOR EQUESTRIA
Silent Knight got his guard down and became a stallion chasing a pretty blond alicorn
they both had some tension off by this experience
Like always, Luna is Best princess... but now we have Banana Princess... that isn't so bad, i like blonde
LOL Another lunchtime read for me! :3
Ha, I've seen that picture around but this still caught me by surprise!
Keep up the splendid work.
That was hilarious.
Absolutely love chapters like this.
I remember seeing that picture before. It's great to have a story behind it.
6156629
Bahahaha, that was most excellent!
6156975 Ew. I hate peanut jelly and peanut butter in general.
that was awesome!
I worry that Runic will cause an incident of far more serious nature and forgiveness will be more hard earned
then, so he better learn or laws of averages will do it for him.
Oh thank goodness, that's a bit of a load off.
And replaced with a creative new load.
This is a much better plan for this second trip to Haven. Simply having a fixed start and end to the three week shifts should do wonders for morale.
Hah! I'm awarding myself a prize for guessing that based on nothing more than Orchid taking a single suspicious bathroom break. If she is due in four months then it would probably be pretty inappropriate to take her along with on the fourth relief squad trip in nine weeks. Hopefully she'll be out of the running for any other dangerous activities given her newly revealed status.
Hahaha!
I'd kill and/or pay for art of that. Anyway, so, Luna has heard the phrase "Blondes have more fun" and is just playing along?
Beautiful.
Oooo, there's the art I was hoping for!
...
...
...
...
...
... res ipsa loquitur.
How long will it take for that yellow shampoo to wear off?
As soon as I read that scene I knew I had seen artwork that matched it before. I went and pulled it up and lo and behold it was for you well in advance.
Technically Celestia isn't off the hook for actually killing the other alicorns. She (and Luna?) may have come under attack from them and been forced to defend themselves with extreme prejudice. For that matter the other alicorns could have been discorded/corrupted/all out of cakes and not even been in control of themselves.
[youtube=0CB-MHu8zKI]
I laughed so hard at the ending part. Poor miley but at least Luna had fun with it. then again, We all know their is a chance with Runic's potions but thats what most of the fun is with buying things from his store.
I immediately though of lemongrab
img1.etsystatic.com/038/1/5643468/il_340x270.517778507_663a.jpg
BEST CHAPTER EVER!!!
At least they got the deployment to Haven sorted out. This was overall a good chapter with some comic relief in it.
6150275 Yeah. It's a card game. The whole deck is dealt out between all the players and you have to put a card face down in the centre and say what the card is. The order of play is 3,4,5,6,7,8,9, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, 2; and then it loops back around. The cards have to be played like that. If you can't, you have to put a different card and say it's the card you need. Like if the next card was a six but you didn't have any fives or sevens you could put down a King and say "six."
BUT the other player can call "Cheat" if they suspect you. If you have cheated, you must take ALL the cards in the centre pile. If you have not, the player who called "cheat" must take all the cards.
It's kind of like 'Snap' I suppose.
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.
You're welcome.
...
...
...
Yup, somepony's gonna die.
Well, it seems like this latest comedy chapter was extremely well received. I can never fully know in advance. This was something that was a bit zany that I'd written months ago. It was just a matter of putting it into the right spot. Thank you all for the high praise and props! I'm thrilled with the outcome.
On the whole this was a pretty big chapter. We resolved some business, added in a lot of information, and really moved things along. We're getting close to the Secret's "halfway" point. I can assure you that it will be something you don't want to miss!
Those of you that read Crystal's Wishes will also know that we reached another Patreon milestone and will be doing a mini-update each week. These will be little one shot side stories, world details, and such. Those will start as soon as we collect for July. Our next goal will further increase the size of each update.
I'm also down to putting the last cameo from the previous Cameo Call into the story. The next to last is written and just waiting for the chapter launch. Once I clear that final one following that it is likely that we'll do another, smaller, Cameo Call. Please keep an eye out for that. It will be for a brief time and might include a twist.
6156557 Yeah haha. I had the art done a LONG time ago (by comparison). It was nice to finally have it tie in.
6156564 It came out great, I agree!
6156568 Yeah PB is really great at what he does. He does Andy's style very well. I just had to have a commission from him. There is also one from the scene where Miley gets stuck in the couch.
6156576 I'm glad! It was time for some insanity to offset the somber!
6156607 Haha! Drugged by Runic Phial is a valid concern.
6156629 Silly pony. Stallions can't be alicorns! Mares rule!
6156663 Much appreciated. I've had that scene together since December. It just never fit anywhere until now!
6156696 Thank you!
6156699 I also love how happy Miley looks in that picture with her new mane color.
6156739 I wonder if they'd appreciate the humor as much as everyone else.
6156746 Yes, I thought she made an excellent blonde.
6156762 PB is a very clever guy. That text was all him and his buddy. Loved it!
6156816 Hopefully it did not impede eating. :D
6156882 Totally. I put the cart way before the horse there as I frequently do with art.
6156892 Excellent! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
6156897 Huzzah! Humors achieved!
6156975 Yup, I thought that would be ridiculous for him to have a war cry in the situation. It just felt right.
6157017 Thank you, thank you!
6157216 And thank you as well ^_^
6157252 You never know with Runic. He has the capacity to do great good and great silly. Only time will tell if it all catches up to him.
6157381 You absolutely get points for forecasting Orchid's pregnancy. It seemed like the most logical way to force a transition too. I may have been a little unclear. You're right about the timing. That is why she hung back. She was more or less telling him she wouldn't be going with him to pick up the princess. I'm glad you liked the chapter!
6157660 And so it is.
6157938 With Runic it could be 10 minutes or two years. We'll have to find out.
6157998 That is absolutely true. We'll say he is more accepting that she didn't "murder" them. Which murder and killing are different.
6158207 Yes! That is exactly the song she was quoting. I prefer this video in this case though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=407FDgVcqc4 ;D
6158605 You got the reference!
6158631 Thank you very much! I'm glad it played so well with everyone.
6158742 Yup, it is a far better plan this go around.
6159522 Possibly so but not everything is foreshadowing ;D
6159740 I always eat. :P
6159740
Just worried that Runic will be so focused on what he could do that he ignores if he should do.
Serious consequence like somepony or someone getting hurt often occur when that happens,
just read Jurassic park for example.
6159740 Yeah, and was inspiring. I had written some things.
But today -boom headshot- my komputer got fried. Lost all data. That's the delay by the way sorry, I forgot I had a Phone. Jeez, this small Phone keyboard is annoying...
And I think the latest chapter was the bananiest in the history of brony literaturę. Congrats.
6159740 i wonder... and this is a big if and people might not like it
will we ever see some "tension" between Luna and Silent Knight? while Luna romance isn't new but with this story and how close they are i might see Luna be more active on that part (silent won't do anything, he is too "guard") i don't know, but with chapters like this when they both act like ponys and not guard and princess it seems more open to the idea of her liking him as more then just a guard
6159740 SK can surely try. Eather by becoming a female or a wierd thing (look: Conchita and other Animals)
6159740 wlcm
6159750 Then huzzah!
6159899 That could indeed happen if he is so cavalier about things.
6159938 I'm sorry to hear about the computer =(
6159943 I can safely say that no, we'll never see tension. Luna views Silent Knight more as her child. That is why she mothers him when he is injured, brushes his mane when he is stressed, and other things along those lines. It is fun when they cut loose and act like regular ponies but it is purely platonic and/or maternal.
6163049 Don't mention It.
Seriously. Don't. I don't want to remember. It dangers with me going for the rope. #addicted
Besides - It will be fixed in an hour. True, the re-instaling of the software will Take the rest of the Day but still.
Haha, this is amazing!
I love you for this. I would've fallen out of my chair, had I been sitting in one.
I love the pacing of this story. It starts out so simple and slice of life, but the move to political and mythical conspiracy feels so natural and well established. Your world building is exquisite and I admire your skill for the way you set all this up.
6179551 Thank you very much for saying so! I'm really glad you're liking it. It has certainly been a progression on the building. We're certainly getting somewhere now!
6169769 ;D
6166689 I aim to please! Plus I think that is pretty darn funny (the original).
6166072 Thank you, thank you!
Glorious!
6156629 This is precisely what went through my head.
Love the tiny Tim reference