And when the workers are all set and and ready for payment for their suppliers all ready to go, the nobles suddenly find a small thing in the contract that needs to go through teh courts for a week or two, the workers get no money, the suppliers dont get paid, and the person wanting to put teh idea forward and get it done now has a name worse than mud.

And someones laughing to the bank because they no longer have to deal with or pay suppliers and workers who are now bankrupt and destitute.

All I could think of when I heard Hard Line talk was:

memegenerator.net/img/instances/64872631/they-terk-err-jerbs.jpg

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If you want more chapters, he has a patreon you can buy them at.

Ok, immediate priority: waterproof enchant the phone, and probably enchant it to be unbreakable, and only to respond to Ian.

Also, when will we get to see signs of Water's pregnancy? ;)

Something about this chapter, felt off. Im thinking its the pacing or something like that. But I'm not certain. reading it made my head feel like I had six shots of everclear, which I don't recommend, didn't have a hangover the next morning but last thing I remember was falling back in the chair. Woke up on my friends couch cuddling a sock monkey the next morning. Anyhow, been loving the story so far, but like I said pacing or something like it feels a bit off. Keep up the good work.

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Apologies, if you think of something more specific, give a prod.

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She had a point, I had to agree. Did pony legs work like human ones for swimming? I was about to find out. "Let's go for a little dip." And not drink too much, I decided quietly. I stepped into the water, expecting ground beneath the dark surface. I was suddenly cold, but not wet.

As it turns out, you can't really be 'wet' if you're entirely in the water. One of the curiosities of the universe. With a gasp, I broke the surface, kicking with hooves and paddling with hands to keep myself buoyant. "Alright..." My hooves felt different than feet for moving water, but they were moving water, and I was floating, so that was good.

This is the first point I notice my head start to go swirly.

"That was an interesting way to get in." Easy slipped in without the sudden dunk, paddling towards me. "Now for some air." Bubbles appeared around both of our heads. "And I'll be the light." Her horn glowed all the brighter. "Which is why we're not doing the thing you wanted."

gets a bit worse at this paragraph, also its a bit muddy to me as to how he entered the water. yeah he stepped in but, I'm not sure what easy found interesting about it. Are you trying to say he went to step in what he thought were shallows only to fall in?

The ground was easy enough to spot, and the walls came into view, keeping the water safely contained. "Follow the walls."

"Ok," she replied, but her voice was distorted by the water in a way I had to assume mine had also been. It was like she was further away, shouting through a tunnel at me.

I swam up to the wall and felt along it, pulling myself with clever human fingers instead of swimming to quickly scoot along the wall. The current was getting stronger the further I went. My hooves started to be pushed away from the wall.

"I'm going up," came her shout. "I'll keep your air going." She swam up and away, leaving me there.

Was doing all that really that hard? I couldn't speak from experience, and keeping clung to the wall was becoming a challenge, so I focused on that, clinging and walking with my hands towards where the pressure grew only stronger and stronger.

Head gets Fuzzier here, perhaps something about your water scene is triggering that uncanny valley reflex? Not too sure.

"You can stay right there." Another pony emerged at the point I had been swimming to. "We have questions, and you will answer."

My head seems to clear a bit here, I'm starting to think something about the way you were writing swimming was putting me on edge. Not sure why though.

A frustrated female cry told me my prediction had only been slightly off. Flames and sparks began to explode from her direction as I swam past the dazed stallion as quickly as I could. My world went lopsided. The pony in the water with me managed to lash out with a hoof, connecting with my skull in a distinctly painful way.

Yeah, its something with swimming, not sure if its the way you write it or if its a me thing, but it's the scenes in which water based movement are directly related that make my head go swirly. Now if I knew why I'd give you more. Sorry I can't be more help with my critique. Perhaps read up a bit on moving through the water. Like I said it almost triggers that uncanny valley thing. Or it could be a lack of detail making my head just lack the picture to imagine how pony legs should swim. I haven't seen there leg motions before while swimming, and with my mind typically seeing things like this visually like i'm playing a 3rd person shooter just errors out my brain. Dunno. But I did re-read to try and figure this out for you.

Hope I could help in some way. Hate to be such a downer about this. but like I said Love the story so far. Kinda weirded out by my response to this chapter, but life is strange. Thankyou.

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I appreciate the feedback and obviously considerable effort on your part. Thanks!

Why are the ponies so ignorant in this fic?

They should know this stuff already now.

They shouldn't be so ignorant of everything.

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Ignorant of...?

Ignorance and xenophobia can only go so far.

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This is centuries before the show starts. The banishment of Nightmare Moon is still in living memory.