I smell a trap...

Arcane is an interesting character. He’s a loathsome, opportunistic bastard who, once realizing that he could get away with it, became a rapist and willingly betrayed his country in exchange for wealth and prestige.

On the other hand I like that he’s a lot smarter than the setting’s average collaborator OC. Providing Dainn with fake artifacts was a risky but smart move that really paid off for him. Being aware that the Caribou would inevitably be overthrown or self-destruct and having a plan for that scenario was also pretty clever. And once freed he intends to ditch the rest of the Caribou loyalists at the first opportunity and makes a run for the border, which is the smartest thing someone in his position could do. Well except for ratting the others out and hope for a good deal.

It also helps that he’s a realist. Before this mysterious “ally” arrived he knew that he wasn’t going to walk away as a free stallion and stoically accepted his fate. He even showed a glimpse of kindness to the former Red Collar and told her to beg the judges for forgiveness, forget about her former master and move on with her life.

All in all he’s still a loathsome, opportunistic bastard but somehow I don’t want him to die a horrible death like usually.

As for the mysterious “ally”: This feels like a plan made by Sunset Shimmer. Allowing a bunch of Red Collars and stallions to escape and have them attempt to restore the Caribou to power both portrays the current government as incompetent and increases the fear of Red Collar/Stallions. And Sunset would profit from both of these things. She probably already plans to lure them into a trap and recaptures them to boost her own popularity.

Very nice chapter.

by keeping them in this frigid place, far away form the rest of Equestria.

he got to work on making sure he would get the results none of his other colleges would.

as Arcane Wirt became one of the few ponies he could actually depend on to get results.

it probably was something started by a group of them who didn’t want to be associated with any ponies who could be legitimate tractors to Equestria, which there was a high ratio among the stallions.

“You have no idea how little it narrows it down,” Arcane replied

their tongue on a daily bases

How anypony who wasn’t being mentally manipulated not was beyond him

The passed couple of chapters give me the feeling that you aren't too enthused to be writing this anymore; aren't you?
Forgetting the ongoing typos, you're still one of the best authors on this site when it comes to characterization; Arcane Writ is simply despicable, and I enjoy finding him revolting! ( )

Quick clarification: I don't say that to be mean-spirited; I only meant it as genuine curiosity, because I do recall that you relatively recently questioned whether the story should end. I feel that if your heart isn't in it anymore, then it's always better to tie it up neatly before it's left incomplete.

11758891
Got the typos fixed. As always, thanks for the catches. I'm such a bad typist, even after all this time.

As for wanting to continue writing this story, it's complicated. Well, not that complicated, but here's the deal. It's not that I don't want to keep writing this story. I do want to keep going and give this story a proper ended, and for me that means going through the paces I have in my head, which sometimes get expanded when I get more and more good ideas. This, however, is hindered by the fact that while my interest is still high, my drive has decreased a bit. Maybe it's my age showing, but I don't crank out the stories like I used to. That, plus I have less free time due to work related stuff, and I do have less engagement than I used to, which doesn't help with motivation. All these things are no one's fault, and getting more free time or interaction wouldn't just fix the problem, but these are contributing factors to why I write less than I have in the past.

So no, I'm not any less interested in writing this as I was when I started, it's just my brain isn't as laser focused on FoE anymore. At one point, it was practically all I ever thought about, and now it's more a thing I only focus on when I'm writing it. That said, after this particular story is done, I'm probably done with the setting altogether. Same can be said with my other MLP stories, as while I intend to finish each of them up too, it is unlikely I will start a new story to replace any of them, despite how many story ideas I had formed in my head years prior. When it comes to FoE alone, I had ideas for post fall stories for each of the Main Six (minus AJ, cause she had hers), and during fall story for the Wonderbolts, Granny Smith, and the CMC, but but at this point writing them all out completely, to a point I would be satisfied with, would take a lifetime, and I have other plans I want to accomplish (involving writing) in a few years.