Good News, Lero!
Your life sucks like a cheap vacuum!

2584146
Wouldn't that be a good thing since a cheap vacuum probably wouldn't work all that well thus having low suction meaning it doesn't suck very much at all?

2584208

you'd be surprised at what a reasonably-priced carpet cleaner can do

2584223
You said cheap not reasonably-priced. There IS a difference.

2584257

Brother, for me, cheap is reasonably priced.

Also, I vacuum about 5 times a year.Cheap is goood

Oh God, it's motherbuckin' Star.

Wasn't Discord troll enough for this fic? Any more and it'll buckle under its own weight.

Oh...My.. Luna... that was one heck of a ride with Disco-ball...
Oh Luna! Star Sparkle is coming? I think he'd rather be dealing with Discord!
*thinks back over the chapter*
...Wait..
Oh no...you didnt!?!
Ohhh I dont know wether to hope Im wrong or right...

And that is exactly how Discord should be written. Few people can do him justice but I dare say you sir did him that.

I am really looking forward to how this "surprise exemption" is. I'm suspecting it is Twilight's mom but it could be something as awesome as the Doctor. Unfortunately Time Turner is Leroverse canon (I think).

OMG, that Scene between Twilight and Rarity! One, need to know how that happened! Two, the official stories need some Lyra bonding with Lero's herd like that. Lyra's sort of been included but she could definately use some 'character' developement, in and out of the bedroom.

Fiuw, save by the mother in law, Lero almost has to take one for the team, boy did that would have be awkward in the future after all this mess is fix. Even do it will be already awkward from Rarity and Twilight from now on. Oh well nothing that a little brain bleach can't fix, eh Discord?

As usual par excellena!
Or however you spell that.

Excellent story! And this is by far your best chapter, yet. The scenes with Discord were awesome, though I felt at the time of reading that Lero was a bit over-the-top uncontrollably angry for too long. You more than made up for that with Discord's character, presentation, and explanation of the workings behind the difficulties with the cutie mark swap, though.

And that Rarity/Twilight scene at the end was... very nice. I really wouldn't have minded reading the full story on how that scene came to happen. From the top.

2584473 You'll find some excellent Lyra 'character development' in the Leroverse here (out of the bedroom), if you haven't read it already.

No pressure or anything...

2584825

Don't worry! You'll do fine! Besides, if it ends up terrible, you can blame us for crappy editing.

2584473
2584771

Thanks to both of you! I put allot of effort in editing and creating the Discord Dialogue- (I *love* writing villians.) I edited or created a big chunk of it, and Mike chose to keep most of my revisions. (Don't get me wrong, Mike did a fantastic job setting up scenes and came up with most of the gags, and gave me a good basis to work on for the dialogue- it just needed to be a bit more... Discorderly.)

As for the Angry Lero- I kinda agree, it dragged on a bit long, but it was hard to get the dialogue to flow right without it- so I worked in Lero's self-admonishment and semi-explanation for it- Besides, it's hard to cool down with Discord's constant jackassery, malicious or not.

And that is exactly how Discord should be written. Few people can do him justice but I dare say you sir did him that.

--- [BEAMS WITH PRIDE]

I am really looking forward to how this "surprise exemption" is. I'm suspecting it is Twilight's mom but it could be something as awesome as the Doctor. Unfortunately Time Turner is Leroverse canon (I think).

--- I'll tell you this much; the pony we're speaking of is The Doctor in my books, no matter WHAT anyone else says. I'm too much of a Whovian!

OMG, that Scene between Twilight and Rarity! One, need to know how that happened!

--- Already answered it for you in the author's notes!

Two, the official stories need some Lyra bonding with Lero's herd like that. Lyra's sort of been included but she could definately use some 'character' developement, in and out of the bedroom.

--- I can guarantee this: Lyra is returning back to her herd sooner rather than later, and I will make her as fully developed a character as any of the others!

...And I can't help loving how you're making 'character development' into innuendo.

2584771

Excellent story! And this is by far your best chapter, yet.

--- High praise, indeed!

The scenes with Discord were awesome, though I felt at the time of reading that Lero was a bit over-the-top uncontrollably angry for too long. You more than made up for that with Discord's character, presentation, and explanation of the workings behind the difficulties with the cutie mark swap, though.

--- Hmmm... alright, noted. But I'm actually glad: at least you all liked Discord. Frankly, I was more worried he'd come across as too 'expository,' so I really tried to give him loads of character and keep him active! Believe me, Lero WON'T be getting drunk like that again.

And that Rarity/Twilight scene at the end was... very nice. I really wouldn't have minded reading the full story on how that scene came to happen. From the top.

--- Hmmm... tempting... but if you're asking me to take it from the top... to do it FULL justice then that'd be a LONG bit of erotica to write. From the time Rarity returned home with her errands done and groceries bought, and saw Twilight reading her books all melancholy and decided to cheer her up, to the point where Lero finds them on the foyer floor... several hours. I may write that scene out later... or if you want, you, or one of my other readers are welcome to pen this scene yourself!

I will say this: this WILL NOT be the last sex scene you'll see in Divided Rainbow. After all, Lero and his herd are sweet, good-hearted souls, but none of them are the poster kids for celibacy. And I'm trying my best to stay true to the Xenoverse, even given the weird direction I'm taking it down.

So... onward to adventure! To suspense! To romance! To drama! To bumping uglies in the most beautiful way possible! Sex Ahoy, Cap'n!

>> Zer0prototype You'll find some excellent Lyra 'character development' in the Leroverse here (out of the bedroom), if you haven't read it already.

--- Yep! the Lyra you'll see in Divided Rainbow will be based off of this fic! (As best I can!)

I've generally been enjoying the story, but that last chapter...

Twilight getting it on with Rarity (which by itself completely violates any suspension of disbelief) effectively amounts to rape. Twilight and company know Rarity is not herself and that she wouldn't act that way normally. What kind of friend would do that?

That's not cool, and people should be very uncomfortable reading this. It ruins what was otherwise an interesting premise.

Holy crap! M-my head! Quick wheres jackie chan aka Mybrainisfulloffuck.jpeg !? Oh my god what did I just read in this chapter?

Better question how do you plan on topping it?!

OK, while the Twirity bit was hot, others have pointed out that it had better have some repercussions on both ends. And Lero does seem to be pissed. Dunno how you're planning to deal with that can of worms.

But I didn't make this post for that. No, I'm here to open up a completely different can of worms. Ready?

Celestia is a complete and utter douchebag.

Not only did she know exactly what was going to happen after the LAST time (!!!), but it's even worse than we were lead to believe by the original version. She called in Discord just to do damage control, because mind-raping all of Equestria in general and six families in particular was less bad than the alternative. She's rendered her country's strongest strategic weapon useless. The rest of the Mane 6 have a decent chance of utter insanity and/or being trapped in a living hell for the rest of their lives. Let's not even get into the emotional trauma inflicted on everyone on the exemption list. And assuming Twilight succeeds, "Surprise! You're an alicorn princess now! Hope that's ok with you. Oh, and your herd, I guess."

I take back what I said in the commentary thread. If Celestia doesn't get an epic bitch-slap at the end of this, I will be seriously disappointed.

Also, I would love to see Luna's take on this. Her S3 counterpart was clearly unimpressed with the whole idea, and unless you've changed that in the Xenoverse, I suspect she's severely pissed right now.

2585643

Dear Abstract Indigo,

I want you to know that you have raised a very valid, poignant point. As erotically as I wrote the sex scene, I am NOT turning a blind eye to this aspect of this situation; of what she and Rarity just did. In fact, Lero, himself is very much in your camp of thinking at this point in the story.

In the next chapter, Lero and Twilight are going to have a moment alone. And they're going to have words about this. Momentous words.

However, like Discord, Twilight DOES have her side of the story to tell.

I'd also like to tell all my readers this: From the beginning, I never once intended for Rarity's chasing-after-Lero to simply be a silly, sitcom-y running gag, like Spike's puppy crush on Rarity. Our former fashionista is as SERIOUS as a heart attack about who it is she loves. Just like Dash, in the original Xenophilia.

Sex -- the pleasures of the flesh -- has always been a crucial foundation for the herd, a lynchpin which holds the four adults together. Now, through Rarity, they have to deal with a situation in which sex has been turned against them, driving wedges between them.

Lero and all the herd are truly caught between a rock and a hard place. By the time Twilight's had her say in Chapter 10, Lero will probably be kicking himself inside for rejecting Discord's offer to put him under bewitchment.

-- Mike Teavee

2585942

I'm absolutely fine with it leading to conflict and drama within the story, since from Rarity's altered perspective she'd be hurt at being rejected and seemingly pushed away. I completely welcome that being explored. Indeed, with the premise you've constructed I'd go as far as saying you're obliged to explore that if you want to keep the story true to its roots. I have no problems with the behaviour Rarity has displayed thus far.

While I still find Twilight's behaviour unbelievable, and as I stated it's a seriously wrong thing to do with someone who would not consent when of sound mind, I will begrudgingly wait and see what happens. Though I will admit to being somewhat dubious that the situation can be rescued.

And I'm kind of disturbed that no one else seemed to think this was a big deal, at least before my comment. I mean, seriously guys?

Edit: There's also the way this is framed in story as well, where within this chapter it's presented erotically which gives it a disturbing overtone. Put it this way, in a well-written rape scene (as rare as it is), you would not have things described as they would in a typical romantic sex scene.

2585973
I read the chapter, think about it for a bit (I've gone off while missing an important detail before), then come back and comment. Yeah, I had a serious WTF moment with Twirity, but I was more occupied with the implications of Discord's revelations. Celestia had him mind-rape the entire nation. Starswirl's friends(?) went bugfuck nuts and probably had to be put down. I was a bit distracted.

2585942
Hey Mike, remember how I said I was all curious about how you're gonna fix things? Multiply by some large number.

2586181

The reverse here; I was distracted from the other big reveals (which are themselves interesting).

Hmm. On the one hand, I suspect that Star is the mystery exemption on Discord's list. On the other, the resulting frission could very well lead to homicidal Rarity rage, which Discord has confirmed as being bad. Curious...

In any case, fantastic chapter. An exemplary reformed Discord. I almost don't hate the concept any more. Almost.

Definitely looking forward to more. Especially Discord's third gift to Lero. Who knows how he might use his artifacts of humanity?

Star Sparkle you say?

pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw605_small.jpg

2585663

Better question how do you plan on topping it?!

--- Elementary, my dear Genesis! I just have to... oh wait, to tell you would be spoilers. Aw, dang it!

But believe me, this roller coaster's only JUST revving up!

2584825

You'll do wonderful, Archonix!

2586481 You glorious bastard, glorious I say! (slowly strokes his fu man chou as he patiently wait for the next chapter.) Yes quite.

2584825

Don't worry too much about it Arch your a great writer and i love the way you characterized her so its in the bag :P (tremedous pressure. )

I do like how you betrayed Discord here. A 'good guy' that just loves to make you uncomfortable. Lero got a pretty good deal out of it.

2585809

OK, while the Twirity bit was hot, others have pointed out that it had better have some repercussions on both ends. And Lero does seem to be pissed. Dunno how you're planning to deal with that can of worms.

-- A plan is in place. It involves Lero and Twilight having a talk, by themselves, in Chapter 10.

But I didn't make this post for that. No, I'm here to open up a completely different can of worms. Ready?
Celestia is a complete and utter douchebag.
Not only did she know exactly what was going to happen after the LAST time (!!!), but it's even worse than we were lead to believe by the original version. She called in Discord just to do damage control, because mind-raping all of Equestria in general and six families in particular was less bad than the alternative. She's rendered her country's strongest strategic weapon useless. The rest of the Mane 6 have a decent chance of utter insanity and/or being trapped in a living hell for the rest of their lives. Let's not even get into the emotional trauma inflicted on everyone on the exemption list. And assuming Twilight succeeds, "Surprise! You're an alicorn princess now! Hope that's ok with you. Oh, and your herd, I guess."

--- Wow! That's a lot of grievances to lay at the Princess' feet! And I'm REALLY impressed that you nailed the full scope of it!

There's something I'd like to bring up.

I think that EVERY long-running Western cartoon series in existence, ever, has had at least one "swap" episode. It's almost an inevitability. Sometimes it's a Body Swap episode. Sometimes it's a Mentality Swap, such as Magical Mystery Cure has been. I think about 90% of all Swap Episodes pretty much boil down to the same two tired old plots...

A) Ha ha ha! Our cast members are performing each others' idiosyncrasies and/or speech patterns! Ha ha ha! Okay, time's up, let's switch you back!
B) You Never Know A Man Until You've Walked A Mile In His Shoes

I think, at heart, Magical Mystery Cure was more of the former.

But when I sat down and really THOUGHT about this episode, examined it from all sides... stuff like what would've had to happen for Pinkie Pie to be allowed to farm at Sweet Apple Acres and how the Apple Family hadn't raised a peep while Applejack left to work at the Carousel Boutique, and for Rarity to believe she'd ALWAYS been a weather mare and the cottage was Dash's, and what it must FEEL like to be compelled to shut yourself up in a cottage with over 100 animals who HATE YOUR GUTS and how much time would've needed to pass for a fruitful orchard to go barren, and what it must've been like for Twilight and Spike to watch their friends compelled to torment themselves and not be able to talk sense into them, and why no one else stopped them, and what it must've been doing to their sanity, and, and, and and, AND...!

Well, I was just THUNDERSTRUCK, ladies and gentlemen. Thunderstruck as I hope I've made all of you at this point in the story.

In fact, it actually occurred to me that if there ever WERE a proper Ultimate Test for Twilight to prove that she was ready for such a huge thing as Alicorn-hood... yes, Fixing The Incomplete Spell would indeed be IT. When you fully consider all the ramifications, you'll see it's one of the most psychologically fraying scenarios ever imagined! (Why did the writers only give it 10 minutes of screen time again?!)

And just as you say, Celestia was taking a GIANT gamble, she risked EVERYTHING, including the very safety of the PLANET, all for the sake of advancing a favored, (if thoroughly deserving) student into a fourth alicorn! Mind-boggling, ain't it?!

But I'm having lots of fun. I really hope I don't come across as arrogant when I say this, but I feel like the first guy in a long, long, while to take a 'Swap' storyline and fully fleshed it out into something gripping and truly different! Thank all of you for reading it!

I take back what I said in the commentary thread. If Celestia doesn't get an epic bitch-slap at the end of this, I will be seriously disappointed.

--- Hmmm... I'm not going to spoil the ending by revealing Celestia's ultimate fate, but out of curiosity, would you prefer Celestia GETTING bitch-slapped, or Celestia bitch-slapping HERSELF?! Just curious.

--- Also, I would love to see Luna's take on this. Her S3 counterpart was clearly unimpressed with the whole idea, and unless you've changed that in the Xenoverse, I suspect she's severely pissed right now.

There's a reason I put Luna on the exemption list. You will be seeing her... and not just as an incidental background character. She'll have thoughts to share.

2585973

I'm absolutely fine with it leading to conflict and drama within the story, since from Rarity's altered perspective she'd be hurt at being rejected and seemingly pushed away. I completely welcome that being explored. Indeed, with the premise you've constructed I'd go as far as saying you're obliged to explore that if you want to keep the story true to its roots. I have no problems with the behaviour Rarity has displayed thus far.

--- Thank you. I am very glad.

While I still find Twilight's behaviour unbelievable, and as I stated it's a seriously wrong thing to do with someone who would not consent when of sound mind, I will begrudgingly wait and see what happens. Though I will admit to being somewhat dubious that the situation can be rescued.

--- I won't promise that it will, (and I won't promise that it won't.) Rescuing the situation is actually not IMPOSSIBLE, but I guarantee nothing. All I can say is that Twilight will fully explain to Lero what motivated her to have sex with Rarity.

And I'm kind of disturbed that no one else seemed to think this was a big deal, at least before my comment. I mean, seriously guys?

--- No comment.

Edit: There's also the way this is framed in story as well, where within this chapter it's presented erotically which gives it a disturbing overtone. Put it this way, in a well-written rape scene (as rare as it is), you would not have things described as they would in a typical romantic sex scene.

--- There is a legitimate dramatic reason why I framed the scene the way I framed it. Sadly, I'm afraid I can't explain why just yet... because there's just no way I could without completely spoiling Chapter 10. If you'd like, you're perfectly welcome to ask me about this again after I've posted 10, and I promise to explain.

2586181

Starswirl's friends(?) went bugfuck nuts and probably had to be put down. I was a bit distracted.

--- I can confirm this much, my friend: The Incomplete Spell was cast at least one other time in Equestrian history. And it did go MUCH, MUCH WORSE for the ponies Starswirl swapped than Twilight's friends.

>> Mike Teavee
Hey Mike, remember how I said I was all curious about how you're gonna fix things? Multiply by some large number.

I'll tell you this:

You've seen in this chapter that Lero Michaelides is a man willing to battle Discord himself, armed with nothing but a broken beer bottle.
True, his judgment was blurred by alcohol, but he still knew a guy like Discord had the power to turn him into a dust bunny with a finger snap.
But he still fought. Moreover, he had the guts to tell Discord that he's willing to devote the rest of his life to growing powerful enough to slay him if that's what it took to right all that was wrong in the world.
And when offered the chance for an 'easy out' (accepting his bewitchment,) Lero told him he'd rather tough it out for Twilight's sake.

...Weak or not, a guy like that's not what I call a fatalist.

2586275

Who knows how he might use his artifacts of humanity?

-- A good question!

One thing I will spoil: part of why Discord allowed Lero to keep those items was that he'd have solid, tangible souvenirs of their time together... though there are other reasons.

2586777

I'm not going to spoil the ending by revealing Celestia's ultimate fate, but out of curiosity, would you prefer Celestia GETTING bitch-slapped, or Celestia bitch-slapping HERSELF?! Just curious.

A little from each, I'd expect. Instead of giving you some revenge-by-proxy fantasy, I'll lay out bits that I could see being in-character and reasonable for the situation. I'm assuming three things here: no easy fixes (as you've indicated you're not wussing out here), Twi doesn't get a say in her death-and-rebirth thing, and Twi (and Cadance?) aren't given arbitrarily long lifespans.

- All of the Mane 6 and Lero's herd are going to be messed up for a good while. There's serious risk of lasting damage to their relationships. For example, AJ isn't going to be happy about Pinkie bitching out 'Bloom on a regular basis, and things between Rarity and the herd would be "weird" at best. The Elements may be useless, at least for a while. That's a self-slap for Tia.

- The Mane 6 in general, and Twilight in particular, have just been put through hell for questionable reasons. I could see some or all of them telling Celestia "go fuck yourself, don't call us, we'll call you." That's a bit from A, a bit from B.

- Depending on how the Equestria-wide clean-up is handled, some of it could hit the press. Not good PR for our Dear Leader. A bit from A and B.

- Twilight didn't ask to become a princess. She has a herd. Depending on the system they use there, the other three might be Prince(ss) Consorts or something. They might not want that either. Assuming it doesn't break the herd, they might all tell Celestia to shove that crown up her plot, pointy end first. If Celestia somehow gives Twilight a choice in becoming an alicorn, she'll probably want to discuss it with the others first, and might turn it down. That's a pretty good bitch-slap after all her planning.

- This might permanently damage Celestia's working relationship with Cadance, Luna, and (if she accepts) Twilight. Luna probably has some rose-tinted view of Tia, between the Nightmare thing and Tia being Big Sis. I'm not sure what Cadance's relationship with "Auntie Celestia" is like, but we can make some reasonable guesses. And Twilight has seen her as this near-infallible mentor and near-mother. Now she's gone and pulled this stunt without anyone's consent, and (based on S3) over Luna's objections. If any of this leaks out into the rest of the political system, it'll be a complete clusterfuck.

Things get even worse if Cadance and Twilight get extended lifespans, because Celestia is now potentially outnumbered three to one, and the objections get stronger. Luna's now reminded indefinitely that her sister overruled her, Twi's going to add a dead herd to the list, and Cadance gets to see what happened to the filly she helped raise. This is not a healthy situation. Cue far-future fic with Equestria split between Benevolent Dictator Celestia and the Constitutional Monarchy of Whatever led by the other three.

If you elect to grant some or all of the Mane 6, Lero's herd, and Shiny matching lifespans, things go right out the window. On the one hand, they have time to heal. On the other, they might not forgive and forget. As an added bonus, this completely wrecks the existing political system, and the rest of Equestria wonders why they have to die.

Edit: And then there's the bit I mentioned in the commentary thread where some or all of the herd might just drag Celestia out behind the woodshed as it were. I imagine bruises would be hard to hide under that white coat.

2586777
I think Celestia did all of this so Equestria could have the Princess of Friendship, aka Twilight. We don't know the full implications of this yet. Princess Twilight only appeared for a brief few minutes on the show so we don't know her true purpose. We also don't know if the spell did the same thing when Starswirl was playing with it on the show. Until season 4 comes out we can't assume that Celestia is doing this for giggles (or maybe we can).

This will not excuse her from the talk down that Lero will eventually be giving her.

2587138
I don't really see "the ends justify the means" being an Equestrian concept. Or are we going with "Celestia is always right", which is objectively false after the changeling incident? In the S3 version, her actions were debatable. Here, they're despicable, IMO.

2587451
Well on the show Twilight didn't have a family like she does now. Of course it is horrible. Celestia put Luna on the moon for the better good. She's old enough to feel this way. Wouldn't be surprised that this is an actual problem she has. Looking at the big picture and she missed the small ponies that put it together.

I suppose Lero could buy himself some time with Rarity by claiming a degree of post-traumatic shock. It wouldn't be terribly unbelievable, after all, that falling through a bramble forest, then being captured and tortured by a giant spider could have some lasting psychological effects. It's not a permanent solution, but "That was some seriously agonizing and terrifying stuff I went through and until my brain decides to stop bringing it up I'm not going to be able to respond properly" would probably be enough to get her to at least temporarily pull back on the sex-kitten routine (though she might then transition into doting-mothering for the interim, trying to help him recuperate).

Interesting twist to have Discord actually be responsible for the altered memories; it makes him much more of a positive-chaos figure (and, if he's got to be spending his energies sustaining a worldwide spell, papering over any logical inconsistencies that might arise, would also explain him not getting involved again otherwise). I'd assumed that the Elements themselves had caused that effect - that the spell changed the destinies associated with the Elements, and what happened to the Bearers was actually a side-effect of that.

Also, if Celestia and Luna previously bore the Elements, and Starswirl cast the destiny-changing spell on the Elements, could that be what caused Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon - and if so, possibly the modern Luna and Celestia have elements of each others' original personalities still swapped into them. That'd certainly be a major revelation.

If this goes on for long enough I can see Lero just going "NOPE" and just getting out of Ponyville in the middle of the night with Lyra to places unknown.

Wow, this one prompted lots of discussion, didn't it?

I want to give my own response to this discussion from my own perspective, but if I'm overstepping my bounds here, Mike, feel free to tell me, and I'll delete this post.

As Mike mentioned before; "Swap" stories are a common thing in television, most longer-running series have at least one episode- and they tend to come in two flavors, Lighthearted and Serious.

MMC was most definitely the later, while giving it a very brief overview of it, it made it very clear that Everyone involved was *miserable* for the experience. (The brief shot of Applejack tearing up when her sewing machine jams still makes me misty eyed). Divided Rainbow had the possibility of going the wacky route with the inclusion of romance and sex. It's easy enough to envision wacky hi-jinks of attempting to evade Rarity's romantic entanglements while making it seem plausible they're not rejecting her, up until the problem's fixed. Rarity's a bit embarrassed, everyone laughs.

However, the moment Lero was abducted by a giant spider, tortured, and seeing a Minotaur meet a horrible demise, I realized that this was not that kind of story.

This is a story examining the consequences of Magic Mystery Cure in much greater detail- as well as the perils of dealing with romance and sex in context of things such as these mind-swap situations; it's not going to be an easy read, and odds are it'll get worse before it gets better.

But it's probably going to be damned entertaining.

Anyhow, there seems to be three strong themes in the replies:

First, Discord: I've always felt that "Reformed" Discord wouldn't be severally different from the original: He made a friend and agreed not to conquer the world and occasionally help out- not to completely alter his own personality. I've always envisioned him still being a snarky, sarcastic jerkass who lives playing pranks and messing with people- it's who the man is. Discord's motivation has, in my eyes, always been to have fun. I mean, what does the man do when he thinks he's "Beaten" Fluttershy's reformation efforts? He goes Ice Skating! Really, the true lesson Fluttershy's taught him wasn't about kindness or friendship- It's some kinds of fun come at expense of others- being a world-warping despot is a hoot, but it means you can't really have a good time playing with friends, because you don't have any.

So, yeah, I don't think the concept is a bad one- because, as you can see here, it means there's allot more ways he can be used, which I think is a good thing!

Second: Twirarity

It was commented that you should feel uncomfortable reading this, and that's probably a good point; Lero certainly was. I think part of the problem was it was written by Mike so well, it was easy to overlook the unpleasant implications of the scene, at least, not until they took a moment to think about it.

However, I think the commentary that it's "Out of character" and "Totally immersion breaking" gives both Twilight *and* Mike too little credit- Twilight *does* have reasons for doing what she did, and it certainly wasn't for prurient or self-gratifying reasons. To say much more would be spoilery, but what I've seen satisfies my sense of logic, as unpleasant the implications are. While I don't expect everyone to accept the logic, or ever be comfortable with it, keep in mind, this story *is*, in a significant way, about examining the uncomfortable implications of this scenario.

Thirdly, about Celestia-

Yes, the ruler of Equestria is manipulative. Yes, she took a huge gamble with everything, including the lives of people she held dear to her heart to bring about Twilight Alicorn. I think the only reason it moved from "debatable" in the original to "despicable" here is simply because we are spending more time observing the impact and the additional complications of romance.

Celestia did this *exact thing* in the *actual show*.

When we think over the implications of this fact, it seems at odds of what we know about our nearly universally-beloved Monarch. She's manipulative, yes, but kind, loving, patient and wise.

I think we might be asking the wrong question here.

Not, "How could Celestia Justify doing this?", but rather "How is Princess Twilight so important that she'd even consider it?"

The answer? We don't know. That answer is in the Undiscovered Country that is Season 4, if the writers chose to address them at all. I can only think of a handful of things that could possibly motivate Celestia to such drastic actions. They're all headcannon, of course, but the implications are frightening.

Either way, Celstia's motivations are outside of the scope of this story, though, considering how epic it's planned out to be, we might know them by the time this story's over, so it might be something in the epilogue. Who knows?

Also, a minor point that's brought up: Why is there an impression that Luna was opposed to Princess Twilight? She *was*, after all, at the end of Crystal Empire who brought out Starswirl's journal, seeming in agreement with Celestia.

2587138
I am fully on board with Lero giving Celestia hell over this in what I hope will be one hell of a tongue lashing.

2586878
I just assumed Twi was in heat and didn't have the will to resist with the addition of the stress she was already under. But since Rarity wasn't using a cooler I guess that's out the window, unless she was using dildo magic or something.

P.S. I will give you all the money in my pocket if you actually find a way to explain this with dildo magic.

2588852
My thoughts exactly.

2589092

P.S. I will give you all the money in my pocket if you actually find a way to explain this with dildo magic.

Oh... what the hay.

LERO: Twilight! I got it! Discord gave me the answer! The only way we're going to lift the Swap Curse is by using your psychokinetic pseudopenis on Princess Celestia's every orifice!
TWILIGHT: Of course! Now it all makes sense! To the hot air balloon!
LERO: Ha ha ha! Psychokinetic pseudopenises... what problem CAN'T you solve?

-----

Banchoking, you know where to send the money.

2585461 Okay, having re-read the two chapters, I have to pretty much retract my statement about Lero. He does seem to go on a bit with his tirade, but Discord doesn't exactly play nice with him up to the time the alcohol is, err, processed, and that anger played well into Discord's explanation of potential events. Discord even brought the broken bottle with Lero, which would not have been an accident.

So okay, I need to follow my own rule of read twice, comment once.

2590094
BWAHAHAHAAA!!! I love your sense of humor!

Hey guys! Just throwing this out there: is there an illustrator willing to draw new cover art for Divided Rainbow?

I freaking love Discord
Hmmm Xenophilia was a full-on clopping fuck-fest but it's nice to see more ACTUAL story involved that's so perfectly intertwined with the show looking forward to see what happens

CHALLENGE FOR MY READERS!

Hey, everybody! Got a quick challenge for you all!

Okay, here's the skinny: I've been pretty vague about the passage of time in Divided Rainbow, (and this will actually continue on, deliberately.)

So this is a time-challenge, aimed at those readers of mind who are good at calculating time. Here goes:

How much time has passed between the start of Chapter 1 and this point in time in-story? (Chapter 9?). What's the breakdown?

In particular, I'm curious about:

- How long did it take for Rarity-on-Autopilot to cross from Ponyville to the Spider's cave? (Bonus if you can calculate the distance as well!)

- How long was Lero hospitalized for?

A worthy successor to Xenophila but one question...

"who's Star Sparkle"

Twilight's mother's canon name is Twilight Velvet