This story is a sequel to A Beginner's Guide to Heroism
Before 'Everfree' was a forest, it was Equestria's thriving capital.
In the city's earliest days, fresh off saving Equestria from an evil that threatened to steal the sun itself, Princess Platinum faces a new challenge. She and her undercover coltfriend, Celestia's apprentice Mortal Coil, set their sights on what seems like a much easier, safer, and happier task: giving the Princess a choice other than the seven horrible suitors her parents picked out for her.
Unfortunately for them, when it comes to the politics of a freshly founded Equestria, the romance of a princess is anything but simple, or safe, or happy.
Editing by The 24th Pegasus, Pega-Ace, and Ruirik. Cover art by Ruirik.
Chapters (86)
First
finally i started to think there never be a sequel
i.imgur.com/9zsEFRg.jpg
going to enjoy the ride
IT BEGINS.
So great to finally see this published.
Luna ruins everything, as always.
*excitement noises*
I love that we're getting the pillars in PoL, that's a nice connection to more recently revealed show canon.
It works for some ponies.
That's what they get for serving mimosas to a horn cripple.
This is going well.
Wow, really well.
I've long felt that accidental impaling would be a really common problem for unicorns.
I just noticed your story was on the featured list. Congrats
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Thanks!
I look forward to seeing more of Dawn. She seems nice.
Fantastic example.
That's fair. Just the pronunciation correction could maybe be excused, but the followup metaphor dismantling was a step too far.
Just don't drop her.
Tolerating organized crime is one, actively allowing them the possibility of marrying into the unicorn royalty seems like a far worse step.
Neat.
Dawn does seem nice, but I bet that would turn on a dime if she felt she needed to.
That's quite a birthday request.
That was a great chapter but...went much differently than expected.
He saves that for in-person encounters.
That's a nice connection.
Peanut isn't really interested in being Gale’s suitor, is he.
Dang, that was going so well-ish right before it ended so badly. At least Peanut seems like a reasonably nice guy.
...Well, she's certainly a lively one.
Ah, yes. Can't have an array of suitors without at least one inbred noble.
The degree to which Gale is beating Morty is starting to become a problem.
Hmn.
Yeah, no kidding.
Well, this is an interesting family.
That's fair.
Oh god, Gale bursting in like that was priceless.
It's about time they sent Morty to Magic Kindergarten, maybe someone will teach him how to read.
Very excited, that child is.
Yeah, saying no to that on principle seems dumb.
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Yeah, her name is definitely fitting.
I like gray. He seems more reasonable than the rest.
Oh hi, Iron Rain!
Oh, nothing to worry about, then.
Not a bad guess given Morty's day so far.
They should have gone to an alchemist that didn't hate stallions so much, maybe Morty wouldn't have ended up with a metal neck. But then again, maybe it'll help the next time someone tries to hang him.
No worries about keeping secrets from Rain, interesting.
Proper turnabout would be a complete reversal of positions. Gale holding Morty, Morty feeding her the berries.
And that's just considering her personality
Gray must have been a great model for the eventual statues, assuming the sculptor never accidentally tried to put him up on display at the end as opposed to the statue.
It's nice to see Gale be so kind in dealing with him.
Welp, I'd say her patience has reached its limit for the day.
Now I kind of want to see Halo find something to give her that does that.
Barbarians can like art, no shaming.
If Cherry is that unnaturally adorable, I'm forced to wonder if there is something actually unnatural about him.
Creepy.
Praise the sun, and such.
I do have to wonder how the earth pony is holding two.
Gotta be careful about letting that kid get that close.
Ahh, so that's what all that gear is for, sound effects.
Weird, yet convenient.
Easy solution, stop pretending.
Worst first chocolate experience ever.
Cooperative wildlife is very helpful.
Neat. I'm sure that will catch on and be very popular in the future.
That went well.
Even better.
The birthday party is going to go terribly wrong isn't it.
Cliffhanger presents! The best kind, clearly.
Can't wait to see how this turns out.
That was quite satisfying.
A very good chapter indeed.
They're really bad at secrets. The plan of pretending Morty isn't really a suitor until it's too late to challenge should go well.
Really bad.
Endless amounts of trouble.
Even Celestia, it would seem.
The feeling appears to be mutual.
There's a lot of pain in their present, too, so it fits.
Oh no, Celestia is also under the influence of the unnatural child.
Easiest answer would be to obey that order, by why go the easy route.
Well then, I was not expecting to see this happen so soon. Did a fantastic job setting up and highliting the significance of Gale's accention, can't wait to see more keep it up.
Uh oh.
No great, not death-inducing.
Crystal barbarians, what can you do.
Morty's mastery of politics is astonishing.
That was a far more violent ice castle competition than I was really expecting.
Halo was really asking for that, to be fair. That said, good job laying low at the party Morty.
On the other hand, Gale seems to be making the most of it.
Welp, that's a party crasher.
That would have been an exciting twist.
Wait, my mistake, the exciting twist was still in the works.
Hard to argue with that endorsement.
Gale, the true protagonist.
...In which magic turns into legalese.
Will this story be as long as the previous one?
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Probably longer, to be honest. But hopefully the "Tale" divisions will break it up into more digestible chunks.
The Commander never actually retires.
Suddenly Gale is in favor of another present.
He's doomed.
Even more doomed.
This birthday present was a great idea.
It's hard for anyone else to measure up.
I really like this meeting, it's a nice almost reunion.
Well, oh my.
As always, Luna ruins everything.
Just can’t get Enough of this.
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Glad to hear it! Hopefully, if I get to a good solid 2 or 3 Tale lead on what's currently being posted, I can increase the post rate to twice a week. But for now, I want to make sure we don't have to hit a hiatus by catching up to my writing speed.
Thanks for saying something; it means a lot!
Can't tell if this is leading to just more fun of Tales or if this is some setup for the elusive Honor Guard sequel, but either way I'm so happy I caught up on your work and get to read this week by week.
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What if I told you the answer was both? Or rather, what if I told you Tales (or at least the Sunset Interludes in Tales) are the Honor Guard sequel? Without implying too much, the statement that Honor Guard is canon might very well give a strong suggestion of why Celestia is sending Sunset, Somnambula, Tempest, and Ink on this particular errand.
(But the implied separate Pillow Book fic is absolutely just a clop spin-off, and while I like to pretend it will have a plot (in the narrative sense, people) and won't just be pure smut, if you're hoping that will somehow become a true sequel to Honor Guard... well, I'm sorry to disappoint.)
It occurs to me that in a weird way, Tales is the direct sequel to Honor Guard, From Stalliongrad With Love, and 24's Snow and Shadows, in addition to the obvious Beginner's Guide.
Anyway, Price of Loyalty universe rambling aside, glad to have you caught up and following along! And thanks so much for your interest!
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OH haha I meant the stuff with sunset, I had no illusions that the eluded clop fic would be a nonessential side story. Though alot of the whole price of loyalty universe is clicking away in lots of ways whenever I think about I, t which is great. not to mention the sumerlands story I managed to read that was later removed
So, Discord.
Crystal barbarians, what can you do.
Ahh, so she simply wanted some necromantic services, and she wants everything about it kept extraordinarily confidential. Makes sense.
Crystal barbarians do not have the concept of metaphors.
That really did end up being a great birthday present.
This never disappoints me
...
...
...Oof.
That really makes me wonder what Star Swirl has done to himself.
43 with the body of a 20 year old, now that's a nice thought.
As always, Luna ruins everything.
Nice.
Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
Hah!
Well now.