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>>40985186
Parking I guess

>>40985186
I chuckle every time I see that image.

>>40985186
Historianon if you are reading this please come back. I need to know how the story ends. At least let us know if you are 'werkin on it!' or not anymore.

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>just 24 posts to bump limit
Come on Anon's we were doing so good last thread, how could you let it die?

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>>40985344
Don't you see? Anons went to Equestria.

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>>40985392
>I didn't make it to Equestria

>>40985553
yet

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>>40985344
nigga i was at work
>>40985198
also this

>>40985344
Sleeping, how could YOU?

>>40986761
Nice

>>40986761
Nice

>>40985344
Too many dragoniggers

bump

>>40985344
I think there was a sudden flood of slide threads. Caught us off guard.

>>40988880
We call those gen 5 threads

>>40988880
been a few lately

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If someone decided to make a manga/comic for AiE, what would you want it to be about? Do you care as long as it has a story with at least some thought put into it? How about quality? As long as there was effort would you enjoy it? Would the story go a long way to help you overlook the quality not being as good as am actual comic or manga? Would you prefer a more average quality to avoid another poaching by Hasbro?

Why not replace the thread's pastebin links with ponebin ones?

>>40989969
Shhh! You might summon the autist.

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>>40985910
>i was at work
Yeah same here, I suppose not all of us can shit post from work, but still It doesn't take that much effort for people to keep the thread alive wherever they are.

>>40988323
>Too many dragoniggers
Yes, all one of me or is that one too many for you to handle faggot? And besides, as long as it's on topic it belongs here.

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god damn it coming up with clever names that add weight to a character is hard how do you experienced writefags do it

>>40990193
Random punny name generator.

>>40990193
>Think on what the mare is/should be good at
>???
>profit

>>40990193
I use alliteration with a side of some names that sound cool and unique without being edgy.
For example:
>Stormbane
Too edgy. More of an artifact or weapon name
>Painted Pavise
Perfect for an earth pony guard who has coat markings similar to a horse breed called a paint. Alliterative. Original name I fully intend to use for my OC, donut steal.
>Chef's Compliments/ Chef's Kiss
May or may not be alliterative but a pun on a common saying that communicates exactly what the mare does. She's a chef. Also a name I have for an OC, donut steal.

Just some examples using names for characters I intend to write about.

>>40990825
Is Stormbane as edgy as his name

>>40990840
No, that's not even a name I intend to use. It's more of a go to name when refining weapons in Fire Emblem - the bow that nearly one-shot Gharnef at the end of Shadow Dragon for me. I also like naming a high tier thunder tome Inclimency.

>>40990840
>his

>>40989877
The cool thing about AiE is that it doesn't have to be about anything in particular. It's a format rather than a fiction, if that makes sense. Do what you like and someone will find it appealing, and that's one more happy person in the world than there was before.

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>>40989877
>pencils is fucking dead

>>40990193
I don't.

>>40991590
True. And I imagine the art will get better over time and a style may even properly develop with proper discipline. I was just moreso curious what people would really want to see out of it. The genre is just a genre, but stray too far and people will bitch about it not being fit for the thread - and then complain about why their thread is dead when they actively contribute to fracturing the board with a million different specialized threads.
>>40991756
I said poached, not dead nigga

>>40991784
I think he meant Pencils hasn’t made a new page of this in years

>>40990844
I didn't understand anything you said after Gharnef but I thank you for answering just the same.
>>40991283
What's the problem? Is Stormbane fucking trans or some shit? Did I mess up his preferred pronouns?

>>40992375
No problem. You should give Fire emblem a try. Not Shadow Dragon though. That's bad in respect to the entire series and not full of the charm.
>Did I mess up his preferred pronouns
I think the other Anon was making a joke about how Stormbane doesn't have to be a stallion. Could be a mare. Like a wonderbolt or Airforce guard general. Like Tempest Shadow is a mare name.

>>40992401
Tempest's real name is Fizzlepop. which I find hilarious

>>40992401
>You should give Fire emblem a try.
I do not play a lot of jrpgs, but maybe someday I will, yeah.

>Not Shadow Dragon though. That's bad in respect to the entire series
kek, sounds like you have some strong opinions.
Go ahead and dish, sister. I want to see your autism.
>>40992410
Right. Full name Fizzlepop Berrytwist.
aka the cutest edgy pony ever

>>40992410
Fizzlepop Berrytwist is a mouthful.
>>40992423
>some strong opinions
I mean, you're not wrong. But it's not even anything all that controversial. Fire Emblem has always had perma-death for your units. That wasn't what made it special. What made it special was the fact that the characters all had interactions amongst themselves. Some more than others, some with everyone. But these told stories and fleshed out the characters to make them feel more real. So when you lost a unit and they permadied, it felt much worse than losing a unit. You lost someone who had interactions with characters that would miss them. Interactions that would've continued if they didn't die. A backstory that characterized them with no happy ending.

In order for FE: Shadow Dragon to fit in the multi-player PVP addition to the remake for the DS, they needed to cut content. And the most important and unique part of the series was put on the chopping board. Interactions and conversations were widely cut outside of necessary story beats, recruitments, and rare Easter egg interactions. This made the game feel woefully underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the series and kind of boring and played out. I still had fun (trust me, when you learn to proficiency grind on bosses and arena cancel out for money grinding it goes easy mode as fuck), but it's not the most representative of the very excellent series that's now 30 years old.

If you want some really strong opinions, don't get me started on the mobile game FE: Heroes, sheer doodoo

>>40992461
>Playing gacha and expecting to win

>>40993747
I was new to the gacha thing when I started. The game was fairly new and it was fun and had waifus galore. It's done miracle work in making obscure characters of the franchise relevant, urging the devs to make new amazing music, remaster classic songs, update character art, get voice actors for nearly all of them, and make new original characters (many of which are waifus). It's just that the game got too greedy and overwhelmingly meta with biweekly must have power creep. And I left years ago. Now the OG busted units that I never thought would be irrelevant are getting buffs to stay relevant.

Also... I had ridiculous luck. I do win when I play gacha.
Oh, and one of the OG characters is pure waifu material with a summonable seasonal alt of her in a wedding dress (with the strong dialog implications that she's preparing to marry (you)) - AND she has a heartwarming voice line where she tells you she loves you.

>>40991950
Pencils had to take care of his sick father and between the medical bills and other things he had to settle down for a job that could support him, so yeah, obviously that his old fancomic wasn't a priority he could afford anymore.

parking

>>40991784
I think that as long as there's anon, and he's in equestria, you can't go wrong. Fuck with either of those things and it doesn't work anymore. The traditional idea is that anon is a human and the ponies are ponies, and I think that straying from this is acceptable to a degree (for instance, if anon is a pony, or if anon isn't in a part of equestria with ponies, etc) as long as it doesn't mess with the core idea.

>>40994122
That’s what they all say

>>40994669
like the third this week

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>>40994129
Sir, you can't park here, it's a disabled parking space.

>>40997248
>a disabled parking space.
that's this thread all right

>>40997736
you fit right in

>>40997736
Seriously

>>40997248
Yes, and?

>>40998137
his samefagging and proving us even more right is fun

>>40994304
I don't plan to mess with anything core to the concept really. Just interested to see what other anons are interested in. How about length? Sometimes short is cool, but we get too many short comics. But longer form stories run the risk of the artist being kill. I was interested in doing something neat with an idea of mine. I was inspired by something in the RGRE thread (I don't really like those elements so I'll be leaving that out of the comic), and the inspiration from ONE when making the One Punch Man webcomic. He improves, But remains pretty mediocre. But he harnesses what he has and still obtains a sense of dynamic motion and his vision is still clearly expressed. That alone with a good story is something I found myself very engaged by. Could be a neat project that'll teach me a lot about composition and form - as well as give back to the community I've lurked on for so long.

>>40998644
The parking space is disabled, so you can't park there at the moment, please wait until its enabled again.

>>40999434
it's too late
it was always too late

>>40999434
We’ll try unplugging it and plugging it back in

>>40999907
I did this and now there’s a black can parked out f

>>40998987
If your art is mediocre your humor has to be top, that’s the general rule

>"Hey. This ain't normal, is it."
>The sun
>The sun is broken
>Shaped like the crescent moon with
>With fucking teeth marks on it
"I... nah. I don't think it is, Applejack."
>You were inside comparing notes about how to streamline her family business
>Least you could do with your professional past is put it to good use in the land of technicolor knockouts and beauties
>That all came to an end the second you heard the crunch of someone biting into a glass saucer
>That's what it sounded like to you anyway
>"This is bad. I think we should get Twilight."
"I think so too but..."
>With hardly any strength you lift your arm
>The brown path of a road going from the family house to the barn had twisted into a licorice-like spiral that looked like something out from an old video game
>The grass around it, spreading out to infect the rest, had started to melt into a mesh of grass blade-topped sharks
"I don't think I can make that jump."
>You've heard of this before
>Not this situation, but of reality falling apart
>It has only ever meant one thing
>"Discord. Discord must be doing this. That don't make sense, Fluttershy told me-"
"I don't think Discord is causing this..."
>"Who else could be doing this?"
>You exhale a laugh
>If a single "ha" counts as a laugh
"Whatever ate the sun."
>You hear Applejack say something but it's out of your depth to pay attention to what you see versus what she wants you to hear
>Four blips in the sky
>Brilliant, shining orange
>Aurora streaks of blue and purple
>A shining purple star
>A jagged spike of green
>All of them
>All of them are surrounded by a pure, complete void
>There wasn't a void moments before
>In the time it took for you to realize that, the spike of green warped and... burst
>The grass blade storm of sharks sprang from the earth and launched up toward the bursting star
>Even the licorice path whipped out, leaving behind editing stills and pencil sketches of the path from two seasons ago
>"What in... what. What are they doing up there?"
>The shock in the pony's voice is so dull you'd think you were looking at half-baked fireworks
>Was she really this used to this sort of chaotic exposure?
>Were you?
>The entire sky fills with grass sharks
>And licorice spears of gravel
>And giant letters from the earth itself that spell out
>You don't know what it spells out
>Ponies don't use English letters
"Fighting? Don't you guys have those Elements?"
>No answer
>You break away from the sight of a second sun being born to look at Applejack
>Her face
>If you ever thought you'd have another chance to sleep, you'd be kept awake by her face
>"D... did you see that?"
"Which part?"
>You go back to the sky
>The green star has become it's own planet
>Countless letters so big even visible in the growing abyss that used to be the sky swirl around like a comet field
>The aurora visage of night had flickered out, leaving the cosmos available to the naked eye
>And naked was the cosmos
>"That was Princess Luna. Did you see it?"

>>41002388
>"Something ate her. Something with teeth opened and-and she's gone."
>Impossible
>There is nothing that could have done that
>Not up there
>Not so impossible to see when the sky could be so barren
>Barren save for the sun, the gleam, and the star
>And something else
>You hadn't realized it but your legs gave out
>For a glimpse you see it
>Impossible numbers of long, needle spines opening in the void
>Like an etch-a-sketch, the green star vanishes
>The entire battalion of reality it stripped from the very earth vanished too
>Closed around the gaping maw of
>Of
>
>If you had a word to describe it, it wouldn't be
>Only the second sun and purple gleam remained
>The second sun had to be at least five times brighter than the one that had been...
>Where was it?
>It was up there not moments ago
>Though it burned your mind, the light from the second sun gave you insight
>It wasn't the night sky you were looking at
>Not some ceaseless abyss of space
>Segments
>Black segments
>Segments that blotted out the sky in it's entirety
>Segments that pulsed and coiled around everything, everywhere
>Segments so big that even the second sun looked like a mole on an otherwise unremarkable face
>Laughing
>Applejack is laughing
>Not one to be outmatched, the purple gleam had been darting around the ether
>While it did not muster a sun, the darting purple bullet-trailed by a thin myriad of colors-sped up until it became a solid figure
>A circle with so many figures that it may as well had become a solid figure
>Rather than vanish like the green star, the second sun revealed that it wasn't teeth of any sort but more segments that would spell demise for the purple plate
>Segmented tendrils
>Or fingers
>Scooping down at the purple plate
>Swiping or scraping at it, just to have no effect
>Only after an hour's worth of evading passed in a second did the entirety of the purple emblem vanish
>All it took was one tendril to hit the right, singular spot
>No more purple then
>Next was the second sun
>Segmented abyssal loops tried to coil around it
>You can only assume so, as loose strands tried to get in front of the second sun
>It failed
>It failed
>It failed yet again
>Until a hole appeared in the very center
>Small
>A needle's point in a zeppelin bulk
>As soon as you noticed that needle, the second sun blotted out complete
>The entire sky fell to complete darkness
>No more stars
>No more moon
>No sun
>Either of them
>Nothing
>Nothing but Applejack laughing
>You're speechless
>You don't hear when the laughter stops
>Or the horrific shrieks from Ponyville
>Were they truly only just now?
>You only see what you can't anymore
>It's all over
>You never knew

https://ponepaste.org/9968
A Quick One Before The Eternal Worm Devours Equestria
Don't ask me what it means, I don't have the faculties to guess.

https://ponepaste.org/8980
i am sincerely sorry for how long this update is

>“Ya really said that to ‘em?” Pal asks incredulously. “Even knowin’ what he does to people? How’d ya even make it outta there without somethin’ a’ yours gettin’ broken?”
“I mean, if he hurt me for real, Ambrosia would’ve probably banished him… Or made him sit and watch us.”
>Gruff, infectious laughter echoes down the pitch-black prison block.
>Some time after you had been dropped back off by Heavenly Virtue, all of the wall sconces had simultaneously been extinguished, plunging you and your new friends into an almost complete darkness.
>If not for the dim moonlight slithering in through everyone’s frosted panes of glass, you might’ve been well and truly blind.
>Instead, the only thing you can see apart from the small, intrusive moonbeam is Hearth’s faint silhouette, dashed against the black like an abstract painting.
>Everything else about her is inky, blotted out of view by the darkness as she lays on her cot - it makes you wonder what she looks like when she’s not covered in injuries.
>Pal’s laughter dies down, and amid the touchy silence, he speaks up once more.
>“So, you’re, ah… gettin’ taken to the city in the mornin’?”
>You heave a dread-laden sigh into the open air.
“Yup. Don’t think I’ll be able to weasel my way out of it this time, either.”
>Pal grunts, shifting about in his cell.
>“Shit… Maybe I’ll think o’ somethin’ before they come to take ya.”
>The hope in his voice is entirely for show; he just doesn’t want you to spend the rest of the night dreading your future.
“I wouldn’t waste your time, Pal.”
>You deliver the words gently, but there’s no reply all the same - just the dull roar of the incessant wind outside.
>Hearth hasn’t said anything in a while, and you start to wonder if the events of today have finally caught up with her.
“You still with us, Hearth?”
>She shuffles slightly, and her outline undulates in the darkness, presumably turning around to face you.
>“Yeah,” she replies, her downtrodden tone just barely croaking over the white noise. “Just… trying to stay calm.”
>The events of the day have definitely caught up to her at this point.
>Poor mare’s about three words from crying, if the waver in her voice is anything to go by.
>You want to reassure her, but what good would it do? You’re not even sure /you/ would believe it at this point.
>For now, all you can do is just hope that some facet of the Royal Guard isn’t too far behind.
>Preferably led by one or two very angry princesses, but that might be asking for too much.
>“Are you…” Hearth chokes out, cut off by a sniffle. “Are you going to be okay?”
>You chuckle, feeling around in the dark for your own mat to sleep on.
“Not at all. I'm not exactly keen to be a terrorist’s plaything, if you couldn’t tell.”

>>41002725
>A grimace crosses your face as the events of earlier flash through your mind.
“…But if I have to commit to it to get out of this alive, then so be it.”
>Silence invades your dingy sanctuary once more.
>“You got somebody back home, Anon?” Pal asks after a while, eager to lift the mood.
>You have a feeling that if you /did/ have someone back home, your previous conversation wouldn’t have been the best lead-in, but he gets an ‘A’ for effort.
“Nah. I was thinking about it, though. Being back in Ponyville definitely gave me the time for it.”
>“Ohoho, you /definitely/ had someone in mind, didn’t ya? Who’d ya have googoo eyes for?”
>You laugh openly at his phrasing.
“Nobody yet, Cupid. Was just more open to the idea, that’s all.
>“No idea who Cupid is,” Pal replies, “but I /know/ ya gotta have at least considered some o’ the girls around ya. Or dudes, I don’t judge.”
>He’s not gonna let up, is he?
>In the interest of solidifying his trust, you dig deep and think of old feelings long since past.
>Even though they’re not current, they might still serve their purpose in getting you through this conversation without too much embarrassment.
>It wouldn’t even be that bad, but Hearth’s from Ponyville - any mare you can think of, she probably knows, or knows of.
“I mean… one or two. One of my coworkers in Canterlot used to be really sweet on me, but you know what they say. Company ink, and all.”
>Pal waits in anticipatory silence for your second answer; even Hearth has turned over in her cot to better listen to you.
“Had a thing for a school teacher from Ponyville once, too, but that was just a little crush that lasted a week or two, nothing serious.”
>“Cheerilee?” Hearth responds, a slightly positive shift in her tone.
“Yep! She’s really sweet, but it was just a passing feeling after I helped her with some paperwork.”
>“That’s nice an’ all,” Pal interjects haphazardly. “But I was referrin’ more to the here n’ now.”
“That would be nobody, then.”
>“Aw, come on! Ya can’t see yourself bein’ all tangled up with /anybody/ ya know?”
>Your gaze flits back over to Hearth amidst your interrogation, hoping for an easy out.
“Hearth, please get me out of this.”
>To your dismay, though, she’s waiting with bated breath for your answer - she’s even sat up straight, exhaustion seemingly a thing of the past.
>You swear, somewhere in the blackness, you can see a demure smile peeking through over tear-stained cheeks.
>“Come ooooon,” Pal goads, his sheets audibly shifting. “If ya /had/ to pick.”
>Were it so easy.
>You’re just… not like that, insofar as browsing the market is concerned. Really, you hardly do any browsing at all.
>If you had someone you truly felt something for at the moment, this would be so much simpler - relaying a truth is far easier than manufacturing a lie on the spot.

>>41002726
>In your haste to find an answer suitable for your ravenous audience, you slide onto your sleeping mat and lay your head back on the bunched-up blanket that serves as your pillow.
>You sigh into the open air just as an idea graces you - you’ll mold in your head an ideal mare, and leave the name ambiguous.
“There is someone, actually.”
>“Who is it?” Hearth asks, her pale blue outline inched slightly forward in anticipation. “Is it somepony I know?”
“Could be. She knows a lot of ponies, honestly, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”
>“She got a name?” Pal asks, sounding like he’s on the edge of his seat.
“She does, but the only way you’re gonna get this out of me is without it.”
>“Ah, screw it, fair play. Now tell us about ‘er.”
“I mean, she’s…”
>What? What is she, Anon?
“She’s been there for me for a long time. I don’t really know why she didn’t pop into my head earlier, honestly.”
>Okay, that’s a good start, but what else?
>Christ, you didn’t think your well of creativity would run dry this fast.
>What else could you-
>Your job!
“Even when I quit my job and ran back home, it was like nothing changed. She still wanted me around, even though I didn’t really have any prospects to think of.”
>Hearth coos at the dedication of your would-be marefriend - seems like she’s the type to appreciate highschool sweethearts.
>“She a looker?” Pal cuts in, seemingly irritating her with the shallowness of his question.
>Thankfully, answering that seems to come naturally to you somehow.
“She’s got no idea how cute she really is. She’s got these little bangs that hang over her eyes, and every now and then when she hasn’t had a haircut in a while, she’ll have to blow them out of the way and it’s just… look, you just have to take my word for it, okay? I’m not really good at this sort of thing.”
>That isn’t necessarily true - it’s just that your ability to go off-the-cuff is now thoroughly depleted.
>Mercifully, Pal’s deep chuckle seems to signal the end of his friendly tirade.
>“Oh, I believe ya, buddy,” he relents, warm tones of nostalgia in his voice. “All that trippin’ over what you’re tryin’ to say… Reminds me o’ how I was when I first met Kalliope.”
>You were believable?
>Oh, thank God.
>“Is she your wife?” Hearth asks, looking over in the direction of his cell.
>You wonder if she can see him from here. From what you can tell, most of the cells are spaced far enough apart so that a prisoner can only see the individual in front of them.
>What is he, you wonder?
>Pony? Griffon? Hell, maybe even a dragon?
>“Ohoho, ya don’t even know the half of it,” Pal replies, wistful in his remembrance. “I met ‘er a few years before the Ambrosia gal n’ her cronies took over…”

>>41002727
>…

>The night crawled on.
>Stories of love, of loss, and of better tidings were passed back and forth between the three of you, and in the frigid desolation of that damnable hallway, the tender threads of new friendships were weaved into the world.
>Said world was, of course, indifferent to such a development.
>Here you all lay, still in your cages, your fates still at the mercy of your doggedly fanatical captors.
>For now, though, it doesn’t matter.
>In your restless apprehension of the day to come, you feel glad to have known them, even for the short time that you did.
>Perhaps your stint with them, however brief, will join your greater array of comforting memories - a solace amid your new, pre-dictated life.
>…
>You hope everyone back home is alright.
>Twilight and Spike probably aren’t taking it very well…
>Oh, how you miss them with all of your heart.
>What a cruel thing, to have them all back again, only for it to be robbed from you by happenstance.
>You’ve still no small amount of hope that they’ll come for you eventually, but it seems as if you’ll have some rather unpleasant stories to tell by then.
>Oh, well. Maybe it’ll build character. Who knows?
>You fix your restless gaze to your pitiful window; if you squint, you can see Luna’s full moon somewhere in the distance, its glittering light somehow seeping through the intensive frost covering the glass.
>Would that she could see you through that pale orb…
>Your eyes wander back over to Hearth, whose sleeping form hasn’t moved an inch since an hour or two ago.
>It must be one or two in the morning by now. Your companions haven’t made a peep, other than the occasional stir of their sheets, or somnolent sigh.
>You’d like to follow their lead, but try as you might, your brain won’t rest - knowing what’s in store for you tomorrow, it can’t.
>As your thoughts race along, however, you just barely hear something over the sound of the howling wind outside.
>Tip, tap, tip, tap…
>Bare flesh stepping along damp concrete, each impact spaced far apart from each other.
>An apprehensive frown takes hold of you. Who would be down here at this hour?
>The rhythm is erratic, too - stopping and starting seemingly at random.
>Slowly, almost achingly so, you sit up in your makeshift cot, careful not to make any noise as you listen out for anything else.
>Your eyes have adjusted ever so slightly to the blackness, and you can see faint outlines of your surroundings.
>All is still for a moment, including you.
>Tip, tap, tip, tap…
>There it is again, coming from somewhere down the hall to your right.
>You rest yourself against the back of the cell, breath catching in your throat so as not to make any noise.
>Tip, tap, tip, tap…
>It grows ever so slightly louder.
>It’s drawing closer.
>You wrack your brain trying to figure out who this could be.
>It’s not hoofsteps, so that rules out your little sadist, or Ambrosia.
>Tip, tap, tip, tap…

>>41002729
>The hall in front of you is still empty, but the steps sound just out of view.
>Your heart pounds in your chest so viciously that you’re afraid the uninvited guest might hear it.
>Tip, tap, tip -
>A silhouette.
>It creeps in from the right, standing tall and blotting out the crepuscular rays from outside.
>A biped.
>You can’t judge its height accurately from where you sit, but if you had to guess, it’d probably come up to your shoulder if you were standing up.
>The sizable cloak it’s wearing makes it impossible to discern what species it is for now.
>It stops just outside Hearth’s cell, peering in and giving her a once-over as she slumbers, blissfully unaware of what’s taking place.
>The stranger shakes his head before turning around soundlessly, not even a rustle from its cloak.
>As it makes its way over to the bars of your cell, it freezes just shy of them.
>You can’t see underneath the hood it’s wearing, but you know it’s locking eyes with you.
>The blood in your veins runs cold.
>Do you say something?
>Wave, maybe?
>You deign to move your hand shakily from its resting point against the floor, showing your palm to the stranger as a sign of good faith.
“H-Hello?”
>Your greeting falls from your mouth as a whisper, no louder than its steps from earlier.
>It doesn’t move, or say anything in response for a few moments.
>Suddenly, though, its tensed shoulders relax, and it comes right up to the bars of your cell.
>A four-fingered hand wraps itself around one.
>“You’re one of the new ones, right?” he says in a whisper even softer than yours. “From the train?”
>You go to stand, placing your hand against the wall for support as you stretch out to your full height.
“Yeah?”
>He sizes you up when you come closer to the bars, hood subtly nodding up and down once or twice.
>“I figured. I overheard some guards talking about an ‘alien captive’ when I made my way in.”
>Made his way in…?
“Who are you?”
>“Unimportant,” he deflects. “Have you seen a phthalo green male unicorn anywhere in this prison block? Lengthy sky blue mane, gray eyes? Cutie mark of an ornate crystal flask?”
“No, sorry. The only time I left my cell was with a blindfold on.”
>“Damn…” he curses, looking down at the floor of your cell. “He /has/ to be here. This is the only place I haven’t searched.”
>He drops his hand from the bar and backs up, casting a cautious gaze down both directions of the hall.
“Are you here to rescue us?”
>Your chest fills with hope…
>“I’m sorry, but I’m only here for the unicorn.”
>…only to be replaced with disbelief.
“What…? You’ve got to be fucking with me, we need /help/!”
>“And one day, you will have it,” he replies, undeterred by your desperation. “My window is too tight as it is, and you are not critical to my mission.”
“Is there a rescue team coming after you, then?”

>>41002735
>“No. Even though this compound is smaller than the others, we lack the numbers for such an operation.”
>On a deeper level, you get it. One misconstructed plan could spell disaster for a small team - you just got done living through that.
>On a surface level? /Fuck this/.
“So we all have to just sit here on our asses getting beaten into submission while we wait for you to show up again?”
>Your temper flares as you press yourself against the bars.
“Do you even know what they’re doing to us?”
>The stranger turns back to you, his attention captured by the vitriol in your whisper.
>“Intimately,” he responds flatly. “And it will get much worse before it gets any better. You will persevere, though, I’m sure.”
>What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?
>He moves to continue down the hallway, but only gets an inch or two before you call after him with a hushed voice.
“How the fuck is anything supposed to be worse than being that bitch’s concubine?”
>He stops in his tracks, doing a double take before returning to the front of your cell again.
>“Concubine?” he whispers, confusion strikingly apparent even in his breath.
“Yeah. She’s taking me with her to the ‘mecca’ tomorrow, wherever that is. Apparently, I’m supposed to be her husband, according to her fairytale cult bullshit.”
>Even without seeing his facial features, you can sense his utter confusion from under the black hood.
>He casts his gaze warily to and fro before locking eyes with you once more, saying nothing the entire time.
>Without even the hint of a warning, he backs away from you and continues meandering down the hallway, barely a sound to his movement; it’s like he’s floating, really.
>Not that you care, of course. You’re far too busy being livid.
“Hey! What the fuck? I’m not done with you!”
>You whisper-shout after him, but he pays you no mind as he continues checking the cells for his target.
>Well, that’s just fucking wonderful, isn’t it?
>Your one avenue of escape - /your only way out of this/ - and he’s not even here for any of you.
>Some luck you have, Anon.
>You back away from the bars, steaming with indignation. The temperature in your cell has easily gone up a few degrees in the wake of your incoming shit fit.
>A brief rumble in your throat capitalizes your dissatisfaction as you lean against the Pal-adjacent wall of your cell.
>God damn it, Anon, just…
>Breathe.
>The stale air of the prison hall fills your lungs, quelling your deep desire to shout your grievances at the stranger.
>“Anonymous?” a timid voice calls out from your right.
>Glancing up, you see Hearth stirring in her cot, rubbing her eyes and squinting to see you.
>“What’s going on?”
>You feel for her; this is the last thing she needs to wake up to.
“Rescue’s here, and it’s not for us.”
>She frowns in confusion as she shakily rises to her hooves.
>“…W-What?”

>>41002737
>Down the hall, you hear the unmistakable click of a steel lock being twisted.
>The shriek of a cell door opening rings out for but half a second before everything falls silent once more.
>He must’ve found his guy.
>Hearth’s eyes widen with caution, as if the very noise were compelling her to shrink back into the corner of her cell again.
>She stands firm, though - out of curiosity or courage, you can’t tell.
>“What do you mean? W-Who’s here?”
>As if to answer her question, the stranger strides into view from your left once more, albeit with a four-legged plus one.
>His description of the fellow was apt, but it left the overall condition of the stallion up to interpretation.
>Judging from how thin he was, you guess that he must’ve been here for a long while; it might be the lack of light playing tricks on you, but you swear you can see his ribs through his fur.
>He already looks to be of a thinner build, judging by his facial structure, but malnutrition must have been a factor in his current state.
>If you thought Hearth was roughed up, this guy is /covered/ in injuries. Scabbed-over lacerations here, heavy bruising there, and if you squint, you can see that one of his eyes has a subconjunctival hemorrhage.
>A silver, oblong contraption is fastened tightly to his horn, adorned with several low-profile locks. You can’t make out the finer details, given how dark it is, but you surmise that it must be some kind of magic suppressant.
>He’s dressed in some kind of shabby robe, but with a heavier coat over the top - probably courtesy of the biped, who hands him a bottle of silver, faintly glowing liquid.
>Without a moment’s hesitation, the unicorn downs it, some of it overflowing and dripping down his chin.
>As he stops to properly drink without spilling, the biped strolls up to your cell once more, stopping just shy of the bars again.
>“What’s your name?”
>Your anger is begging you to mouth off to him, but you hold it in for now.
“Anonymous.”
>Just barely, if your tone is anything to go by.
>“Interesting name,” he replies, the ghost of intrigue playing at his words. He looks to the right for a brief second, checking for something, before returning his attention to you.
>“Stick your hand out.”
>…What?
“Why?”
>“I want to shake it.”
>Is this guy serious?
>Are you being fucked with right now?
>Here, of all places?
“Why the hell would I-”
>“Just do it,” he interjects, glancing both ways again.
>You hesitate for a moment.
>He’s not even sticking his hand out yet.
>What kind of asshole-
>…
>Just swallow your fucking pride, Anon.
>If he actually does come back at some point to get the rest of you, it wouldn’t hurt to be in his good graces.
>Sighing, you head over to the bars of your cell, eyeing him sharply as you close the distance.
>Without a word, you offer your hand out to him between the bars.
>He wastes no time in sweeping it up in his… paw?

>>41002738
>You look down, and are greeted with a hand-shaped mass of slick, gray fur enveloping your hand as his fingers curl around it.
>He’s only got four of them, and they’re quite a bit more sizable than yours. Padded, too; they’re oddly warm for how cold it is.
>A cursory inspection reveals the absence of any claws at the moment, so he can’t be a Diamond Dog.
>The inner analysis is interrupted, though, when a cold, metallic object presses firmly into your palm.
>Your surprise is involuntary.
“Uh-?”
>Before you can move past your gut reaction into a coherent sentence, the stranger turns your hand over so that it’s on top of his, and places his other hand over it.
>His firm grip holds you in place, and for the first time, you can finally see his eyes as he leans in further.
>They give off a dull glow amid the darkness of his hood. Unflinchingly blue, with vertically slitted pupils - an Abyssinian.
>“The guards are in the middle of a shift change, so there are none on any of the towers, and their overall presence throughout the compound has decreased,” he explains, monotone. “You have about eight minutes before they return to normal coverage.”
“Wh-”
>“There’s a hidden passage to the outside that goes under the first floor’s easternmost wall. Exit the door to the right end of this hallway and follow the leftmost path until you come up to a set of stairs - take those to the ground floor. They’re not often used, so you should be safe.”
>You nod, struggling to keep up with the frenetic pace of his instructions.
>“When you get down there, hug the right wall until you reach a hallway. Take it until the end, and then go through a door labeled ‘Janitorial Staff Only.’ The hatch leading out will be under a stack of pallets.”
>Fuck, okay, that’s a lot to remember.
“W-What then?”
>“Run for the city. If you’re quick, you’ll be too far for the tower guards to see you, especially given that it’s nighttime. The snowstorm will give you some cover.”
>Holy fuck, okay.
>Right door, left hallway, stairs, right wall, janitor door, and then through the hatch.
>Wait…
“How are we gonna-”
>He removes his paws from your hand, revealing a worn-down, rusted key resting in the center of your palm.
>“Master key,” he explains simply as he steps back and hoists the unicorn up onto his back.
>“Be seeing you, Anonymous.”
>He barely even gets your name out before he and his VIP are barreling down the hallway in the opposite direction of where he told you to go, taking massive, graceful strides. Despite his greatly quickened pace, he’s /still/ nearly dead silent.
>“Did h-he just…” Hearth utters, still in disbelief.
>Her voice barely even reaches your ears.
>Your muscles spring to life before your thoughts can get themselves in order.
>The key nearly falls from your hand entirely because of your overloaded nerves, but you fumble it back into a tight grip with the pin facing outwards.

>>41002739
>Legs operated by a far-away mind carry you as close to the iron door as they’ll go, and you smush yourself against it as you slot your whole arm through the bars.
>Your hand races for the lock mechanism, but you can’t quite get the pin into the hole…
>“Little to the left!” Hearth guides, trying her best to keep to a whisper.
>Alright, to the left then… aaaaaand-
>Bingo.
>There’s a bit of resistance, but the key does eventually slide all the way in.
>Your fingers strain against the rough metal, but turn it does, and when the latch clicks, your heart skips a beat.
>Pausing for a moment to collect yourself, you push against the door…
>…and it swings open, its signature piercing shriek signaling your freedom.
>Holy shit.
>Holy shit, okay - stay calm, Anon. Breathe.
>You’ve still gotta get everyone else outta here somehow.
>Hearth is befuddled in her cell; her lips are curled upward in a half-smile, but the urgency in her eyes is still clearly present.
>Once again, your body moves on its own, ahead of your thoughts by at least a few seconds.
>After you retrieve the key from the ajar door, you stride over to her, kneeling down to be better leveled with the keyhole.
>It goes in a fair bit smoother this time, and after another quick turn, you’ve wrenched Hearth free from the jaws of her prison.
>You hold the door open for her, and she doesn’t hesitate to bolt out of her cell and join your side, repulsed by the thought of staying for even one moment longer.
>She draws a shaky breath before looking up at you, every single ounce of despair from earlier nowhere to be seen.
>In its place is pure, focused determination.
“Let’s get Pal, and then we’ll start with everyone else.”
>She nods, falling in behind you.
>As you trudge over to his cell, you wonder why none of the commotion woke him up.
>Sure, everyone was mostly whispering, he definitely should have heard the cell doors opening.
>Regardless, you don’t have time to speculate.
>Just before you come to the front of his cell, you call out to him as loudly as you think you can get away with.
“Pal! Wake up, man!”
>As he comes into view, though, you’re stopped dead in your tracks, mouth hanging open in dubiety.
>Your initial thoughts for what Pal might’ve been were nebulous at best. After your lengthy conversation with him earlier, your mental image of him settled on a griffon, and it never really deviated from there onward.
>His personality reminded you of your meat vendor back in Canterlot, who just so happened to be one as well, so it stuck.
>You expected to be wrong, but not quite /this/ wrong.
>Before you, lying perfectly still on the cot, is a concerningly large bipedal skeleton.
>A minotaur skeleton, if those horns on his head are anything to go by.
>…
>You know you aren’t hallucinating.
>If you were, Hearth wouldn’t have outwardly gasped behind you.
>You’ve a myriad of questions, but you don’t have time for speculation.
>Focus, Anon!

>>41002741
“Pal? You gotta get up, come on!”
>As you draw closer to the latch and kneel, he stirs, his inappropriately small blanket sliding off of his bones as he returns to the waking world.
>A faint green glow populates his eye sockets, and after a second or two, the light concentrates into two pin-prick sized points of color.
>He wrests his head - skull, rather - from his pillow, ethereal gaze locking onto you after a few moments of supposed confusion.
>“Anon? Whadda ya…”
>To your absolute astonishment, his skull contorts to display an uncanny mixture of embarrassment and horror.
>He extends his bony arm out toward you, five-fingered hand attempting to defuse the situation.
>“N-Now I know what this looks like, an’ I jus’ gotta say-”
“I got plenty of questions about it for later, man. We gotta get the fuck out of here.”
>This time, the key’s giving you all sorts of hell trying to get into the lock. It’s all you can do not to strain to insert it fully.
>Pal, bless his soul if he still has one, seems to understand exactly what’s going on as his skeletal expression switches to one of anxious enthusiasm.
>“Say no more,” he replies, rising to his full height, almost a full head taller than you.
>No idea how he still pronounces words without lips or a tongue, but that’s a thought for another day.
>You curse under your breath as the pin struggles to get past what feels like a layer of hardened rust.
>It finally does, and you breathe a sigh of relief…
>Only for the turn of the key to be an even more daunting task.
>Inch by inch, though, it trudges counter-clockwise.
>“What’s wrong?” Hearth asks from behind you as it’s halfway turned. “Is it not-”
>She’s cut off by the swish of a unicorn’s horn firing off a spell.
>As the key snags something in the lock, you turn to face the source of the noise, but are interrupted by a pair of hind hooves colliding with your upper left cheek at an alarming velocity.
>You’re sent toppling over onto your back as you clutch your ringing face, vision painted over with stars from the brutal impact.
>Blood drips from where you were hit - the strike broke skin, it seems.
>You look down, and in your hand, the bow of the key lies broken and useless, snapped off from the pin that’s undoubtedly still lodged in the lock.
>It slips from your grasp as the reality of what it means hits you.
>Your only method of freeing everyone… gone.
>With adrenaline and anger now pumping through you, you find enough willpower to sit up as much as you can and face the incoming threat.
>Beside you, Hearth lays slumped against the floor, no wounds visible on her still form.
>Her chest rises and falls slowly, and her eyelids twitch uncontrollably with every breath that leaves her.
>She was put to sleep. Which can only mean-
>“Sacrilegious /fool/.”
>Heavenly Virtue marches toward you.

>>41002745
>“You were given a golden opportunity to be of service to Her Grace, and to our future, and what do you do with it?” he asks facetiously, not intending to wait for an answer. “You spit in Her face, as if she were nothing more than a common lay.”
>You backpedal on your ass until you can rise to your full height, vision still clearing after the blow.
>“I /warned/ you, creature,” he spits, malice overflowing. “All you had to do was behave, and you would have had the privilege of siring a new age of royalty with Her. You will be punished for your flagrant disobedience, you undeserving, godless /whore/.”
>Every word that leaves his mouth seems to make him even more furious than before.
>Against all odds, shocking even you, you find time for banter amid this dire situation.
“You’re really gonna do this, huh? Didn’t she tell you all not to lay a hand on me?”
>His frown deepens as a sick smile curls into his cheeks.
>“She will understand.”
>He charges you, baring his horn toward you as he charges a spell.
>Although you’ve only been in a proper fight once in your life, your guard goes up instinctively as you wait for him to get closer.
>If you can bait that spell out, then-
>Too late. Halfway through his charge, he lets it fly straight at your head.
>You just barely manage to bob your head to the left enough to dodge it, but the sudden jolt so soon after his kick threatens to throw you off balance.
>Your left hand shoots out against the wall to stop you from falling, and before you know it, he’s on you, jumping straight at your chest in an attempt to tackle you to the ground.
>You’re able to catch him with a glancing blow from a right swing, but with him already hurtling through the air at you, it doesn’t do much to slow him down.
>His full weight slams into you, his head angled precariously with his horn just barely slipping under your armpit thanks to that punch.
>You stay on your feet for a second or two, but the weight proves to be too much, and the two of you fall backward onto the cold, damp stone.
>Virtue gets his bearings before you and starts trying to wail on you with his two front hooves.
>Your arms go up to block all of the incoming hits. A few find their mark on your body, but your arms catch most of them.
>It still hurts like hell, but you get the feeling that Virtue might not be a fighter either.
>How lucky you are.
>He relents, channeling a spell through his horn as he rears his head back.
>Your hands shoot out from your guard and wrap around his snout, stopping him from angling his head downward.
>He pushes with all his might against your grip, but you hold him off, and his spell fires at the ceiling.
>The impact loosens some debris from the ceiling, dust and rocks raining down on the two of you.
>Virtue’s grip loses some of its strength when a stray falling rock hits him in the snout.

>>41002746
>Mustering together all of the strength you can manage, you maintain your grip on his face and twist yourself to the right in an effort to throw him off of you.
>He buckles, and when you sweep your left leg outward, he falls over completely, slamming against the floor next to you.
>You scramble to your knees, and he levels an unholy glare right at you, charging up another spell.
>Your fist flies out to his head to try to stop it, but you’re a little too late, and the spell is sent into your left shoulder.
>A distant, far-away voice - your own - cries out, but the pain dulls as you surge forward with your other hand, rocking Virtue on the chin as he’s trying to get back up.
>He’s knocked back down onto his side and shuffles toward the opposite wall, but you’re on him the whole way.
>He brings his hooves up to cover his face as you throw blow after clumsy blow at him, a fusillade of soft-handed wrath.
>He rears his head back again. Another spell being charged - not happening.
>Operating on instinct alone at this point, your wounded arm shoots out, grabbing his horn before he can fire anything at you.
>You wrench his head forward and drive your knee into his nose as hard as you can, which is inhibited by the fact that you’re on your knees to begin with.
>It still hits hard enough to draw blood, though, and Virtue yelps in pain.
>His hind legs frantically strike against the right side of your ribs over and over, but you hold out against the pain.
>Somewhere in the distant soundscape, a metallic scraping sound rings out, but it barely registers in your single-minded frenzy.
>Your grip on his horn holds, and you drive your knee into his nose again.
>And again.
>And again, and again, and again, until he stops crying out, and his legs fall slack.
>When you finally deign to stop your amateurish assault on Virtue’s face, you fall onto your hands, left shoulder buckling as you make acquaintance with the individual bricks that line the floor.
>Every single ragged breath heaving in and out of your lungs sets your chest ablaze.
>You look over to your unconscious assailant, blood dripping from his snout into the cracks of the damp stone beneath him.
>Amid the subsiding anger pounding in your chest, a profound sense of what might be called guilt creeps forth, as if you’ve just done something terribly wrong.
>It holds your gaze leveled at Virtue’s battered body, forcing you to drink in the product of excess violence.
>It is, at once, irrational; this much, you can recognize.
>And yet, it’s there. Gnawing at you. Undiminishable.
>Fortunately, it isn’t allowed to eat at you for long; a slender hand slips over your shoulder, pulling you from the upsetting scene before you.
>Your head twists in the direction of the unexpected contact, only to be greeted by Pal’s skeletal visage, towering over you even as he kneels down.
>“He’s done, Anon,” he reassures you, grip tightening as your muscles start to go slack. “He’s done.”

>>41002747
>Your eyes shut as the catharsis of his words crawl over you, and you shiver as if to rid yourself of the excess of emotion you just experienced.
“H-How did you… How’d you g-get out of the cell?”
>Even talking is a tall order for you right now.
>“Key got just far enough before it broke off,” he replies, his usual light-heartedness missing. “Can ya stand?”
>You flex the muscles in your leg; even though they burn like hell, you can still feel them.
“Yeah. Yeah, I can s-stand.”
>Proving your point, you shakily get up on your own two feet, glancing down the whole time to make sure Virtue stays asleep.
>From up above, he-
>“Don’t,” Pal says simply as he follows your gaze. “He deserved it, end of story.”
>You don’t have a reply readily available for that.
>…
>Oh, fuck, how much time did you lose fighting him?
>Why the fuck was he even down here, anyway?
“Pal, we… we gotta go. They’re doing a shift change, we gotta get out of here before they’re done.”
>“How’d ya know that?”
“Guy came through to pick up his friend and he left the key with me.”
>A glimmer of disbelief flashes through his eyes before he shakes the feeling off.
>“Good enough for me. He happen to tell ya a way outta ‘ere?”
>You nod, recalling the stranger’s directions.
“Yeah, but… what about everyone else here?”
>You nod at the long hallway of cells, most of which house faces that peer out at you from between the bars.
>Races of all kinds; pony, gryphon, dragon… some you couldn’t even recognize.
>Some surprised, some shocked… some anticipating Pal’s answer.
>Some of the faces you recognize as having been on the train.
>“We’ll be back for ‘em,” Pal replies, grip tightening further. “All of ‘em. I swear it.”
>With great effort, you tear your eyes away from their pleading expressions as they begin to make more and more noise to get your attention.
>A great wave of stinging agony in your shoulder slowly throbs its way to your attention, and you grab around the afflicted area with your other hand, groaning as you do so.
>A cursory look at the source of the pain reveals a torn-up section of your long-sleeve shirt, soaked through with your sticky lifeblood.
>Virtue wasn’t firing sleep spells at you.
>He was trying to /carve/ you.
>Fuck’s sake, if that one aimed at your face had landed, you’d have been way worse off.
>You can still move the afflicted arm, but not without grievous waves of pain spreading from the shoulder.
“Carry Hearth for me, he put her to sleep.”
>“You got it,” he replies, jogging over to where she lies and hoisting her into a piggyback hold. “Lead the way, big guy.”
>You don’t have to be asked twice. As fast as you can muster with your shot nerves, you gun it down the hallway where Virtue came from, Pal following close behind.

>>41002748
>Slowing your roll when you get to the door, you crack it just a smidge and peek through to see if there might be anyone on the other side.
>No one so far - the coast is clear.
>Throwing the door open wide, you make for the leftmost hallway that you can see, opting for a brisk run instead of a slow sneak.
>The room immediately adjacent to the cells is lined with various instruments of pain - hot irons, pliers, needles, syringes of various fluids…
>The very center of it is a slightly raised platform with drainage ditches along the side, housing a long, concrete table atop it that sits under the same blue lamplight from the prison hallway.
>Must be the little asshole’s favorite room here.
>Deeper analysis of the decor is shoved aside as you and Pal file into what must be a maintenance hallway, given how tight and desolate it is.
>You aren’t quite sure just how unguarded this place is at the moment, but right now, you’ve no choice but to trust that he meant /very/ unguarded.
>Before long, the staircase comes into view, almost as tight as the hallway you barrelled through.
>Your legs burn like fire as the two of you descend downward through several flights, and as you reach the bottom floor, you hear one of the doors three or four floors above you swing ajar.
>Holding your breath, you gesture back at Pal to keep quiet, and he nods, freeing one of his hands to reassure you by metaphorically zipping his lips - teeth, rather - shut.
>As the mystery individual’s steps begin to ring out through the stairwell, you peek through a glass window on the ornate door at the bottom.
>It leads to an outdoor courtyard of some kind, stretching out a good distance with plenty of shrubbery, benches, and other architecture that you can duck behind if needed.
>As opposed to earlier, when you could hear the howling of the wind even from your cell, the wind has died down a bit.
>Thankfully, though, though snowfall is still heavy, helping reduce visibility for you, Pal, and Hearth.
>The entire yard is covered in a blanket of white, and there are only a few guards milling about closer to the other end of the space.
>They’re looking in your general direction, but you think you can duck behind a bench adjacent to the right wall without being spotted if you’re quick enough.
>Echoing footsteps from above compel you to take the chance.
>You whisper back to Pal so that he’s on the same page.
“Keep up with me.”
>He nods, and with his acknowledgement, you open the door just far enough so that you and Pal can squeeze through.
>You don’t even bother looking in the guards’ direction; with speed you didn’t know you were capable of, you drop as low as you possibly can, almost crawling over to the far end of the stone bench so that he has enough room behind you to slide in.
>Resting on one knee, you deign to peer around the side, praying that the gaggle of assholes across the yard didn’t notice anything.

>>41002752
>They’re still milling about and gazing in your general direction, but aren’t focused on anything in particular.
>It’s hard to see from this far away, but it looks faintly like three of them are more focused on listening to the leftmost one, who switches to looking at them every once in a while.
>Maybe you can time your advance with that…?
>You don’t get time to mull over it - the leftmost guard turns to them, and they respond in kind.
>You book it over to the next set of benches using shrubbery and statues as partial cover, keeping your eye on them the whole time as you quietly dash forth.
>As the guards continue to yammer on about who-knows-what, you seize the opportunity to extend your small dash all the way into the rightmost covered hallway, ducking back into the belly of the beast and out of the elements.
>Compared to the auxiliary hallway from earlier, this one looks like you’ve stepped right into the Biltmore, with elegant crown molding and the like.
>You’re too focused to soak in all of the details, though - most of your attention is directed toward making sure you’re not followed, and that no one sees you as you delve deeper into the unknown.
>So far, so good… but why the hell is the hallway so long?
>Not only that, you’d /swear/ this part of the compound would have had at least a guard or two patrolling, even during a guard change.
>A quick check behind lets you know that Pal’s still right on your tail, just like he said he’d be.
>Before long, you both come upon a dead end, just like the stranger said you would.
>You frantically search the doors’ labels, hoping for-
>The latch of a door to your leftmost rear clicks, indicative of a turned handle.
>A muffled female voice drones out from within.
>Without a moment’s hesitation, you reach for the nearest door, labeled ‘Document Storage’, and fling it open.
>You grab a surprised Pal and drag him into the cramped room behind you, throwing the door closed up until the very last second, where you shut it gently with the handle still turned.
>Slowly, you release it, and the latch makes little noise.
>As you do so, you hear the other door swing all the way open, voices becoming understandable even through your wooden threshold.
>“-don’t see the reason for his overwhelming concern. The only place she could have run off to was the mecca, and we have informants in every district waiting to report back at the mere sight of her.”
>That voice…!
>The older, gravelly texture, that middling baritone…
>He’s the older male from the crash site, you’re sure of it.
>What the hell is he-
>“His anxiety is well-founded, Grand Vizier Atlas. If she was cunning enough to escape the compound, she might cause further trouble for us in the future.”
>/Ambrosia/.
>Your startled eyes find a similar reaction in Pal’s glowing eye sockets when you exchange glances.
>Both of the strangers you met earlier were male - was there another escapee?

>>41002753
>Putting that aside, why are they both here? Isn’t it three or four in the morning…?
>As their voices fade into the distance along with their hoofsteps, you try to pick up on more of their conversation.
>“Be that as it may, Your Grace,” Atlas replies, “She is still only one child, and one bearing the crest of foreign royalty, at that. It won’t take long for us to find her once more.”
>The voices grow dim, but you can still just barely make out what’s being said…
>“Perhaps,” Ambrosia replies, just as level headed as she was with you earlier. “But I won’t leave this up to chance. I’ll consult the Holy Mother when we return to the city, after I’ve spent some time with my husband-to-be.”
>The urge to vomit is replaced with a sharp, twisting pain in your ribs, and in all honesty, you’re not sure which you prefer at this point.
>After a time, their voices fade along with their hoofsteps, but the prospect of stepping out into the hall after having heard them is a daunting one indeed.
>“Ya good?” Pal whispers, just loud enough for it to be discernible.
“Y-yeah, I’m… Yeah. I’m just waiting for a second before I open it.”
>“We don’t got that kinda time, Anon,” he replies, urgency present in his expression. “I’ll lead the rest o’ the way, if ya want.”
“No, no, I’m good… Ready?”
>“Go.”
>With utmost caution, you gently pry the door open once more, mouth ajar in concentration.
>Through the slit of clearance, you see that the door they came through is closed once more.
>Without the insulation of the door, you can hear much further - their hoofsteps are still present, but you thankfully can’t see them anywhere.
>They must have headed the way that you came from.
>Probably on their way to get ready for departure, no doubt. There’s no other reason they’d be up this early.
>Slowly, steadily, you push the door outward, thankful for the fact that they evidently keep their doors well-oiled, apart from the cells.
>You and Pal file out into the hallway as quickly as you can without making too much noise, and continue your search for the correct label.
>Conference room, bathroom, another storage room.
>A mountain of relief washes over you as you finally spot the properly labeled door.
>‘Janitorial Staff Only.’
>You grab the handle and give it a twist - unlocked.
>Pulling it open, you’re greeted with a relatively tiny custodial storage room, but there’s enough space for the both of you to fit without any trouble, Hearth included.
>You file in one by one, locking the door behind you once Pal is in.
>At this point, with your goal so close to completion, your capacity for caution is waning.
>The stack of pallets in the corner of the room stick out like a sore thumb amid all of the cleaning supplies. Before either of you can say anything, you’re already clawing pallets off with your good arm, discarding them haphazardly to the side as you dig for the prize.

>>41002756
>And what a prize it is - the wooden hatch with metal fixtures lays bare, free for you to open…
>…apart from the padlock keeping it sealed.
>The mountain of relief makes way for an ocean of unending despair.
>The key that the Abyssinian gave you was probably for this lock, too, not just the cells.
“Pal…”
>“What is it?” he asks, giving up his watch on the door to hold your defeated gaze.
“We’re locked out.”
>“…What?”
“It’s got a padlock.”
>“Lemme see,” he says, turning his back to present Hearth to you. “Hold ‘er for me.”
>You take her with your good shoulder, her head resting against your cheek as you struggle to find a good grip with only one arm.
>Huh. Apart from the obvious grime of having been in a prison for a whole day, she smells like a freshly-lit log fire.
>Ironically enough, it fits her cutie mark, which you’ve just now noticed since she’s up close - a ‘blazing hearth’ within a brick chimney. Go figure.
>An alarmingly loud crunch, followed by an even louder metallic snapping sound, yanks your startled eyes over to Pal.
>Below him sits a ruined padlock, guts of its mechanism strewn about on the floor. Its ring that held it to both the hatch and the floor lies distorted in two pieces.
>Pal steps back from his handiwork, gesturing for you to hand Hearth back to him. You gladly oblige.
“Were you always that strong…?”
>“Yup,” he replies, looking between you and the hatch expectantly.
“Could you have done that to your cell, too?”
>“Nah, too sturdy. Get the damn thing open already, somebody prob’ly heard that.”
>No arguments there. You throw the hatch open, revealing an eight-or-so foot drop into a narrow dirt passageway, a ladder lining the way down on the side closest to you.
>As far as you can tell, there aren’t any lights,
>“You first, ya take up less space.”
>Heeding Pal’s words, you descend down the latter, dropping the last few feet as opposed to climbing all the way down.
>You look back up to see Pal sizing up the entrance before readjusting Hearth slightly higher up on his back.
>He hops onto the first few rungs and shuts the hatch behind him, ushering in total darkness.
>He then hops down the rest of the way, the impact of which is ever so slightly felt in your feet.
>Feeling along the wall, you quickly trudge forward into the unknown.
>You’d call out for Pal to check if he’s still following, but his footsteps and shuffling are all the confirmation you need in the confines of this dingy tunnel.
>Eventually, after what feels like ages, you feel the mushy dirt beneath you begin to slope upward.
>As a precaution, you hold your hand out in front of you so as not to run into anything, and before long, the sound of muffled wind graces your ears as you come to what must be the tunnel’s end.
>Your hand finds resistance at last against an angled, steel hatch.

>>41002757
>Resituating yourself to face slanted with your bad shoulder turned away, you prop your good one underneath the door and place your right palm flat against it.
>If anyone is out there listening, anyone at all…
>/Please/ don’t let this one be locked.
>To your relief, the door does budge.
>With the added weight of what must be snow, however, you have to strain against it with all of your might to make any headway on getting it opened.
>Once it reaches a certain angle, it becomes far easier; you feel the heaping pile of snow sliding off of the door as your legs catch fire from the force needed to lift it.
>When the hatch fully opens, you stumble forward, half of you exposed to the elements and half of you outside.
>Before you commit to either, you spin around onto your back and gaze back up at the compound.
>The snow has calmed down considerably, making the ominous structure more visible given that there’s a full moon out.
>The core building itself seems featureless on the outside - must be an ominous sight for prisoners that are still awake when they’re taken in.
>Ambrosia’s tower must be somewhere over the main building, since you can’t see its exterior from here.
>The guard towers look like they’re made out of sandstone brick, culminating at the top in a traditional rounded outpost.
>From where you are, you can see three of them; one directly in front of you, one to the far left, and one way in the distance to the right.
>And if you squint…
>There are no guards manning those towers yet.
>They’re /empty/.
>You’re still within the time frame, somehow!
>Which means-
“Holy shit, we’re out!”
>You involuntarily yell it out, cringing after you’ve realized how loud that actually was, even against the blowing wind.
>“Then /go/, dumbass! We’re still in eyesight o’ the place!”
>Pal isn’t much better as pulls you to your feet, clambering out alongside you with Hearth still asleep on his back.
>When he lets go, you hit the ground running, trying desperately not to trip over yourself in the deep snow.
>Something that should have been apparent in the courtyard now beats you over the head as the wind whips against the exposed parts of your skin.
>It’s cold. Very, /very/ cold.
>You thank your lucky stars that you had the foresight to at least wear Rarity’s sweater for the train yesterday.
>As Pal runs beside you, he pulls ahead slightly thanks to his bigger build, despite being literally nothing but bones.
>Your eyes are glued to your feet, but as you find your balance navigating through the copious snow, you find enough confidence to look up as you run.
>There, in the distance, lies a behemoth of a city.
>Divided into rings and reaching for the sky towards its center, it sits miraculously amid an endless expanse of pearly white dunes, lights from its seemingly ancient architecture reaching out through the darkness as beacons in the night.

>>41002758
>Even from what must be a considerable distance, its size is staggering - certainly deserving of its title as ‘the mecca.’
>It whispers to you over the harsh winter winds of the frozen wasteland.
>‘Run to me,’ it calls. ‘Run to me.’
>So, on weary legs, you do.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na47wMFfQCo

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>>41002760
and that's act 1, done and dusted. i might make some edits here and there in the future for grammar, word choice, and sentence flow, but by and large, the first of four acts is complete.
side note, but i'm going to take a break for a little bit to focus on building up the world that Anon's about to fall into. i have the major story beats and pathways to them down, but i want story to feel as lush as possible, and that means trying to be as meticulous as possible when it comes to the setting.
i'll be lurking in the meantime. cheers, anons

>>41002725
>i am sincerely sorry for how long this update is
Man who has ever been mad at that.

>>40985186
The stories sorted by pony link has been killed due to being "harmful". God I fucking hate modern internet. . .

>>41003139
It hates you too

>>41001240
Good point. I forgot to point that out - it's especially why my example of OPM was successful. I think I can try to make that work.

>>41003131
Reminder that Pencil's Anon Pie Adventures comic could have finished ages ago if he had kept the plot focused, and hadn't instead noodled the story out into a meandering mess by introducing a veritable mountain of new story elements left and right until it no longer made any sense, and now has like a dozen unrelated things that all need to be resolved before it can finish. And I think he no longer knows how to do it, the story having effectively spun entirely out of control.

>>41002765
fucking awesome!

>>40991784
>poached
Some fat chinese guy is eating his dick in a soup for fertility or something?
My dude was a tiger or a shark?

>>41004728
>anon is a burger-flipper at best, who's never had any job where anyone might conceivably want to "poach" him or any of his coworkers
>consequently, he's never heard the term used
New headcanon acquired

>>41002433
Someone's been reading Junji Ito I see.
Hellstar Remina is a classic.

>>41005299
I've heard of Hellstar but I've never read it. Last Ito story I recall reading is the one about the long dreams.

>>41004728
Kek, no. His artistic ability and inherently appealing style that slots right into the IDW gallery and comic styles was so good, it caught the attention of Hasbro/IDW themselves and they hired him on. Effectively poaching him from the community to produce their own comics rather than his own. He then effectively clowned on one of the other comic artists by using his proper understanding of posing and appealing frame composition as well as just better style, expression and proportion to so severely outdo them that it was laughable.

>>41005986
>clowned in other comic artists
Lel? Sauce? I could use a laugh or two, I still remember the google images whisk cutiemark fiasco.
>>41005310
You should, it's a short read, maybe 30-40m and with an oddly optimistic ending, despite the obvious. (no spoilers).

>>40994304
Anon is a pony is the one deviation that is absolutely unacceptable in any shape or form, it's nothing but complete cancer of an idea that shouldn't be entertained in the slightest. Anon has to be a human, he can't be anything else at any point.

>>41006377
Why though? Anon filly greens can be pretty entertaining if they are written well.

>>41002765
This story is awesome! Can't wait until Act II begins.

>>41006398
If you have to ask then you may be part of the problem yourself. Anonfilly greens won't ever be good as long as they stick to cancerous /ptfg/ premise. Only good Anonfilly greens are the ones where she's Anon's daugher without any /ptfg/ faggotry involved.

>>41006517
I ask because I am writing an anonfilly green. Though it mine is more like a reincarnation with memories rather than transformation faggotry. My filly was born into equestria rather than just waking up in the everfree or something similar.
>>41006620
My anonfilly is someone's vindictive little shit ass daughter, though not an anon's daughter if that helps.

>>41006517
>when you're so furious and obsessed with /ptfg/ that you can't even enjoy a silly anonfilly green text
Man, people need to chill out

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>>41006357
I think it was this image. Just look at the difference - just wow.
>>41003706
Really? Haven't kept up with it when it got slow updates. It's like how I read manga. Forget about it for a year and then come back to it. Still have to check back on Gate and My Wife is a Demon Queen. Heard they were finished. Which, seems incredibly abrupt from where I left. Then also Shield Hero. Left off in the anime at Kyo's Lab and Season 2 of the anime sucked ass. Shame Pencils overwhelmed himself though. It was ambitious as it was alone back when it was more simple.
>>41006377
Well of course. I appreciate the design and the meme images for what they are. I think they're funny and I have a small herd of faggot mppp plushies to bully. But I'm not interested in writing them as zippertits
>>41006517
That's pretty much it. I think the personality can stay, but the context needs to not be cringe.

So, speaking of deviations to the formula to keep it fresh. How do we feel about other humans? Traditionally, I hate adding more than Anon to a story. Even Incog for comedic Dinkelberg purposes is a little grating. But I feel potential in the idea I have. In short. Anon + Isekai + MLP + Demon Lord.

Beginning Premise:
Anon is MMO gamer. One of the best. Earns ability to choose advanced class in upcoming sequel expansion where he is the Demon Lord of his own server. A server where he reigns as the supreme evil and selected heroes may challenge it. He remains the only undefeated Demon Lord and this makes him the candidate of choice for isekai via Demon Goddess to be her new Demon Lord and re-conquer this world from a hero who was also isekaid from his world. He is given the load out and skills he had in the game - his tactics being the deciding factor. He mercilessly blazes a path through the human territory, proving he was the right one for the job given his strength. But all of his momentum gives out when he comes to the realization that this isn't a game. Staring down the defiant child of the other Anon in this world, standing in between the beaten Hero and our Anon - realizing he found something more than the digital title of "Undefeated" and accolades/achievements from developers. With this, he withdraws and returns to his base. Where a livid Demon Goddess awaits to confront him. Obviously they fight, and Anon is woefully outclassed but manages to repel her long enough for the cosmic rules to take effect and erase the Goddess from existence for direct interference in the mortal realm.

>>41006938
Anon is debuffed as a result and near death, so one of his most loyal minions who can see what decision he's made drags him back to the Hero in a desperate bid to save his life. The Benevolent Goddess intervenes and understands that his actions have permanently spared her world of demonic influence - making her just as unneeded. She also intervenes directly to save his life and move him onto a world where he can find happiness of his own. At the cost of her own existence. Though, this may not be entirely out of charity.

And so, Anon is notably weakened despite being saved. Moved onto another new world, Equestria. This is all backstory that is revealed slowly as we'll start with him already in Equestria. The driving force of conflict will be unveiled as the Demon Goddess's doing - where she has isekaid the other Demon Lord accounts from his MMO. If the best has failed, then she will summon all of them. Leaving them to battle it out amongst themselves in the end, she doesn't care anymore. So long as they kill Anon. And their summoning point is based on his location. So Anon was sent to Equestria as a Demon Lord, acting rather distant but is left alone by Celestia and Co since he's not openly hostile - gradually opening up to the ponies around him. Only for him to realize the need for his strength against the other Demon Lords as they spawn in and make themselves known - all possessing their own unique classes, gear, skills and builds. The main ponies will probably be OC guardsmares that he becomes fond of.

So, traditional power fantasy isekai with the MLP Anon paint on it - but presented in a Shonen battle manga format with a side of OC harem. Like the other Anon pointed out, I will probably need to add some comedic elements which don't dilute the story to really make it pop. Comedic elements unique to the culture on this board. So... what do you guys think? Even if it's cringe, I'll learn a lot as an artist just doing it anyways. And as a storyteller. What about there being other Anons/Humans/Incogs? Especially as a driving force for the story's conflict? Their mentality will range from a desire to conquer Equestria for themselves, to just following orders to maybe get back, to even just being deluded to think it's all just a game or dream with no remorse for their actions. And one special rival a cut above the rest, who doesn't care about any of that. Just settling a score is all that matters. Huh? It's not terrible. Perhaps a bit redundant, but it'll be ours. As horsefuckers, no one else would dare to make a story like this that doesn't shy away from ManXMare. I got the idea after trolling the RGRE thread and seeing the talk about a Demon Lord Anon as well as that character builder on imgur. This will not have RGRE elements cause theyre pretty cringe outside of oneshots.

>>41006911
Because anonfilly and /ptfg/ is the exact same cancer because of the former's very premise. I can guarantee you anonfilly would be much better off if there were zero /ptfg/ elements, not even reincarnation.
>>41006938
>>41006946
You know what, this reads like it would be a pretty fun story to read. God knows there should be more adventure greens.

>>41006517
Qrd on anonfilly drama

>>41007027
Thanks, glad at least another Anon is interested. I'll need to do quite a bit of preparation to develop the archetypes of the game so that these Demon Lords must all abide by to be balanced. Also create reference sheets for them. Oh, and for the OCs and locations of course. Have a pair of Pegasi sisters who are pretty cute in mind already.

Bubump

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>>41007027
>anonfilly and /ptfg/ is the exact same cancer
As much as I agree with you on this one Anon, I do believe there is an exception to the rule. Yes, Anonfilly and /ptfg/ are both sides of the same coin with each group centering around fetishes like gender bending, age regression and even a bit of mind regression as well. They're both outlets for faggots with the mindset of trannies who want to larp/roleplay as the opposite sex thinking the threads setting would allow them plausible deniability for not being "trannies" since their wanting to become mares and not women. However, when removing the gay fetishism and making a story/green with stallion/colt Anon you can write something that has purpose to it and have real character development and growth that isn't completely hindered by fetishes.

>>41008506
No, you can't. Anon can only be a human. Anon can never be anything else. Any non-human Anon story is /ptfg/ cancer in the end.

>>41008631
Anon is an idea more than any one species.
Fetishists should hang themselves though.

>>41009009
Anon is more human and an idea than anything else. Take Anon's humanity away and you lose Anon.

>>41006938
>>41006946
write it anon. we need more greens sharing the stage together. /aie/ renaissance when

>>41009037
Exactly this. Which is why making Anonfilly Anonfilly inherently means them retaining some aspect of humanity and that usually implies some kind of trannyism. No matter the cope you use, isekai/reincarnation, etc etc. So it's really difficult to do anything extensive with the character since the backstory and motives become more clear and this always goes back to tranny. But cute images or funny comics are fine cause who doesn't enjoy more pony? I can enjoy art that's most likely made without the purpose and intent of tranny cope and appreciate it for what it is. But long-form content is harder since it inevitably becomes that
>>41009245
I will need to write it but the intent is a comic series. Good to know I'm not off base or offputting others with a story that has elements regarding other humans.

>>41009245
>/aie/ renaissance when
Be the change you want to be

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>>41010197
i am trying anon
might try to get some art commissioned for the wanderer, not sure who yet

>>41002747
Ugh, I know I'm just a being a redkneck, but there is no way in hell I could ever feel bad about taking out a piece of shit like that, to the point I wouldn't stop till I KNEW he would never move again.

What would you do if your right eye saw equestria relative to your position(not sure how to word it, your coordinates are coordinates in equestria)? And you could be seen by whatever is there and have a conversation, but nothing else beyond that?

>>41010736
Take an elevator up and down in order to establish dominance. Joblestia shits and convulses in panic before surrendering the kingdom to me. I then proceed to do other feats that ensure obedience by the sheer inconceivable spectacle to them. AKA, I go to the amusement park and step in that slingshot up and down thing.

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>>41009037
Anon as a character is more than just his physical appearance as a human. Anon can still be Anon and by extension "human" in both mind and soul even with a different body (that is excluding the gay fetishism aspects) or other factors like environment and setting which can influence who he is as a character. My point is if done right something like stallion Anon could work as long as he's still the same shitpost loving faggot we know, but it goes without saying you need moderation when dealing these topics.

>>41010736
Walk into a lot of walls.

>>41011008
Once again, Anon cannot be Anon if he's not human, /ptfg/-kun. Anon must be human at all times. If your Anon is not human, then he's not Anon at all and you either must rewrite your story and make him human again or delete any and all mention of Anon and replace him with a pony OC.

>>41011424
Fetishists really do ruin everything

>>41011424
I agree

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>>41011424
this x10000000
Oh hey a seek shelter immediately alert onna phone and tornado sirens suddenly. Fuck this gay midwest.
If I die tell my waifu, hello.

>>41010197
Now

>>40989877
Quality of the story is important over all else, even the art. I like silly, funny, care free stuff that gives off early season vibes. of course lewd shit is always good but it can't be unrealistic mary sue power fantasy slop, we have enough of that.

>>41013723
Mixing titillations with serious storytelling almost never works out, especially in this case.

>>41002760
>>41002765
Great update! I'm loving this story.

Opp squasha

>>41014728
Not this time Vhatug

>>41013961
Leave it to a horse artist to fuck things up

>>41013961
This is true. When you go from a good story to just sex, even for a short bit, it changes the entire tone of the story. It's the drop of food coloring in a glass of clean, clear water.
If you still want intimacy in a story, you can always have it alluded to. Or just show characters growing closer. Sex is a very quick way to go from "they're work casual" to "aww they're an item". Not saying it's an efficient or believable way but a lot of stories do that across all media.

>>41017086
It’s not even that. Obviously a lot of us are pretty guilty of reading too much into a childrens show, most fanfiction is, but trying to sex up a show where the sauciest they get is puppy love just comes off as immature and shallow, ironically.
That’s not to say smut can’t work, but anyone who takes smut plots seriously has their own problems

>>41015043
https://youtu.be/wNRqJHzPA2c?si=wFADchNR-hNWjY9T

>>41012842
uh u good anon
report back nigga

>>41017245
>where the sauciest they get is puppy love
One of the characters gives birth to twins.

>>41019451
Not on screen, nor do they conceive them on screen.

>>41019489
>nor do they conceive them on screen
Truly a missed educational opportunity.

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>>41019406
unfortunately yes

>>41019585
Born to die, forced to live

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>>41019880

>>41019451
Stork

>>41021606
Is that why one of them has wings?

>>41021694
Sure

>>41021694
She fucked the stork too?

>>41023184
And a narwhal, I guess.

>>41022546

>>41023186
hot

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how autistic are you about your worldbuilding, writefags? do you delve just enough to make it seem interesting, or do you go whole hog and flesh absolutely everything out? trying to figure out a good approach to this

>>41025176
Good worldbuilding ends up as an "iceberg". You need to think about stuff deeply enough to consider how everything interacts, but dumping all that into the narrative turns away all but the spergiest readers, so you only show the interesting, relevant parts.

>>41025176
Most people have an understanding of the source material through the show, so it's rarely a good idea to heavily contradict that unless you have to.

>>41025176
There was a lot more worldbuilding stuff in the early AiE greens, back when the show was fresh. Not so much now, though The Wanderer seems to fit the bill.

As for me, well, 99% of my stories take place in Ponyville, so I don't do much worldbuilding. Not unless I need to invent a place that doesn't exist in the show, like, a jailhouse or something. Then, yeah, it can be fun, though I like to think I take a 'just enough to make it seem interesting' approach. My goal with many of my stories is to make you laugh, and you don't often need a lot of worldbuilding to do that.

I like 'characterbuilding' more, even though that's not a word. I like giving each of the characters a unique relationship with Anon; I like when they all have their own little quirks. It's probably my favorite thing about still writing these stories, honestly.
>>41025191
I mostly agree with this too, though I don't want to discourage any autistic worldbuilder fags out there. There's a place for it all.

>>41025176
Moderate, I do research some things to make my stories have a tint of realism. But I don't go that far into it, only a cursory glance.
Anyways did you know 3 acres of farmland can produce 21-22 thousand tobacco plants? I found that out for a green I'm working on

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>>41025176
I want to have some amount of depth to the world including outside of the usual ponyville/canterlot/etc. settings. There are some aspects of pone lore I want to explore in particular.

>>41026034
>autistic worldbuilder fags out there. There's a place for it all.
Is there a Silmarilion to some writefag's Lord of the Rings? That would be as cool as it was disturbing!

>>41025176
Presuming it's on the schedule, I'm going to focus on settings on the next Horsewords & (You) panel.
Personally, I just build out as it matters. Don't be afraid to put details in that no one cares about, because most won't. But there may be one anon who gets it. And internally, it'll be consistent and build up a greater sense of how the world is. I already made an outline, I can post it here if there is any interest in thinking ahead.

>>41026465
Tobacco green?

>>41027328
I'm curious, too.
>>41026465
Is this some fic involving buffalo?

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>>41027328
>>41027335
The green I'm writing involves a kid anon who's father lost his factory job, and now has to move to the countryside. I was researching farm land and agricultural production in Kentucky and Tennessee as well as a real life equivalent to the Rock Farm that Pinkie grew up in. So then I researched masonry and stone construction, did you know there's different types of masons? Quarryman and a Sawyers, and so much more.
Anyways the Tobacco is something I researched for the farm.
This is all for a /jdb/ green that I've been working on

>>41027209
>No wings

>>41029178
Shame about her

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>>41028886
YES

>>41030126
I member the leaks

>>41009245
>/aie/ renaissance when
Dunno how much you guys visit Fimfiction, but about 30% of fics there are AiE nowadays. If you don't think the prose format is an insult to the genre, that place is basically an AiE powerhouse right now.

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>>41031486
>but about 30% of fics there are AiE nowadays.
/fimfic/ makes it seem like 100% of fics are AiE with all the seething they do about it.

>>41031762
Why do they seethe about it?

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>>41031991
>Why do they seethe about it?
Jealousy and/or autism.

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>>41031991
Jealous autism.

>>41027640
Very interesting

>>41031991
What does anyone on this board seethe about?

>>41032500
skub

>>41032582
>tfw skubfags in my presence

>>41009245
I want to write /aie/ but I'm either too busy or too lazy when I'm not busy

;_;

>>41033786
Welcome to the last decade of my life. Elon needs to hurry up and make brain to text implants so I can just think up my story and have thousands of words cranked out in 10 minutes

>>41034705

>>41035614
Photos taken moments before a baby is thrown at the wall

>>41036034
>eats baby

>>41036038
Nah, bad for my blood vessels

>>41036500

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>>41036034

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>>41036034

>>41037290
>>41037371
She has wings she'll be fine.

>>41037290
>>41037371
Fags

>>41039604
look who's talking

This general is still going after over 12 years? Any good stories come out within the last few years?

>>41041269
Did any good stories come out, before?

>>41031991
Different generation.

>>41041269
No it died, hence the question in the op post

>>41042850
>the question in the op post
What question in the OP post? Are you posting from a parallel reality, or am I?

>>41044094
what's even happening here?
i don't get it

>>41044550
We know

>>41045151
would

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>>41046545
Me too

>>41047041
Based

>>41009245
>/aie/ renaissance when
we've been eating good for years, if you like bumps

>>41046709
>>41045151
wow an oc I like, besides dyx

>>41048857
Don’t speak that name

>>41049279
dyx

>>41051290
That's how you get shit on your own.

>>41052354
Horn*

>>41052086
Who the hell sleeps on top of the blankets.

>>41053129
The same type that sleep fully clothed?

>>41053138
“People”

>>41053138
Degenerates like that belong on the cross

>>41052086
Good lord he’s probably still wearing shoes

>>41054514
Little wonder Limestone is embarrassed to be in bed with him.

>>41053129
Why do you weirdos assume he's sleeping?

>>41055348
What else would I do in a bed??

>>41056145
eat chips

>>41056145
Cuddle with cute ponies?

>>41056989
Not with a suit on, jeeze

>>41057336

>>41002765
So when's the next one.

>>41058199
now

>>41056989

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>>41058199
soon tm. working on the next update as we speak

>>41059548
Plot twist is that it’s apparently now a 4 koma

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>Thread up for almost a month.
>Not even halfway to bump limit.

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>>41060071
The glory days are gone, but still we endure.

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>>41060071
Bump this, desert trash.

I saw AiE at a grocery store in Las Pegasus yesterday.

>>41060505
How embarrassing.

>>41060351
ANAKIN LOOK OUT-

>>41040324
yeah and that’s you

>>41061086

>>41059548
Cool!

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>>41061086

>>41062995
What is this a picture for ants.

>>41060505
How fat.

>>41064907
American grocery store, math it out

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>>41060505
Years ago I saw someone browsing the thread on their laptop at the airport.

>>41068746
Next time take a picture from behind their back and post it.

ay eye eeeeeeeee!

>>41068746
O rly? So, who was it? Think he's still here?
Show yourself!

>>41069393
Of course. The ride never ends.

>>41068746

>>41034705
If you get the Neuralink, you can't go to Equestria.

>>41070286
I’ll just VR it

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>>41070286
Equestrian immigration doesn't care about that shit. You want to get in, you need to embody the spirit of harmony as much as humanly possible, so you'll "fit in." They're gonna check your 4chan posting history, btw.

>>41070286
Watch me.

>>41059548
Neat

>>41071988

>>41068746
How embarrassing

>>41060071
I mean, I did offer something interesting to talk about and only a couple people engaged. So...

>>41076379
Link it again I was at work

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>>41076379
>replying to that
>ever

>>41076379
I say, i say, offer up your bussy, son, and that'll get you engaged right quick

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So what I miss boys?
PiE and general old drawfag/friend reporting in

>>41078403
This lineart is good, did you draw it?

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>>41059548
next update should be coming out sometime next week, wed-thurs time frame. i'm about to move house so it'll be a bit sparse for a week or two at the start of June. here's a very small teaser of some of the planning i did earlier on, some of this has already changed. babby's first worldbuilding

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>>41078790
I'm the same fella that worked on Getouttahere's illustrations. And thank you :3

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>>41078403
>>41079027
Oh wow, nice to see you still kicking. I dig your art, dude

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>>41079027
oh my god i remember you, hope life has been treating you well man

>>41060131
f

>>41078403
Hello, LeStrange. Nice to see you again.
I'm assuming you draw tons of non-pony these days, don't ya?

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>>41079562
Thx
>>41079592
As good as Apple bucking season my friend. :)
>>41080379
I do go back to ponies when I wanna decompress from the regular stuff I draw. Mainly doing vendor stuff and eventually continuing the smol frog comic I got in store

>>41079027
This picture hurts my back.

>>41079027
I love the picture, but wtf is Anon's posture with that run?

>>41080856
Whatcha mean?
>>41082957
The reference was taken from an Olympic runner. They had the most dynamic and most limber limbs which reflected on the journey that Anon took. It was a physical feat for sure. Though I can't say I'm happy with how Anon looks but this is just something to keep in mind.

>>41083011
I mean >>41082957 his posture hurts my back

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>>41080500
do you think you'd ever do cover art for a green again if someone commissioned you? asking for a friend

>>41085397
Cute twi

>>41047041
>Farts

>>41085397
Qt

>>41089923
>Reading green

>>41090295

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>>41078403
thought I was the only old drawfag that would check up on the PIE threads

if Lux is still lurking, have this pillow case

>>41092356
Half of everyone still lurks

>>41006946

>>41093592
Don't forget...

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just another day or so, lads. excited to pick up where we left off

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>>41085397
I would do it for sure but in addition I'd like to read the green first to get the idea of it all. I've done plenty of OCs as well but heed my words. My works are typically monochrome (sometimes I'd slip in color like you would see in the film The Red Balloon). Anything more we can talk on discord: dereklestrange
>>41092356
I would never forget my roots. I'm jealous of Lux having additional dosh for a PillowCase beanie baby. I always tell myself I'm going to get one commissioned but I never do cos I'm doing other bull. I love your PC but you're gunna have to write in your signature of some sort on that bubbo. Take pride in your works!

>>41092356
Is this new PiE art? I've never seen it. She looks like she likes cloth. Looks good.
>>41094737
good to know
cute twiggie
>>41094858
I honestly thought you were going to say no when he asked.
based LeStrange

>>41094858
I usually change aliases every so often, plus my old handle is hidden in a few spots in that piece

>>41095544
yeah it's new, I thought I'd whip something out real quick before bed

>>41095544
Artists can’t turn down paying work or they literally combust

>>41094858
wow, trippy