Page 729 – City of Villains, Part 14

And that’s the end of City of Villains!

Confused by the momentary change of style? Well, behind the scenes, this mini-arc has been a chance to test the latest version of Comic Life (3.5, whereas I’ve been using 1.3.6 all this time). I needed it for editing speech bubbles where simply Paint.NET would be insufficient. I wanted to see if the features they’ve added were worth it and if the program is comfortable to use.

At the end of this lengthy trial period, I’m gonna say “no.” The speech bubbles have weird restrictions on the text within them. (I made the speech bubbles above using two at a time – an invisible bubble with text and the shape bubble without text.) And even moreso than is usual for Comic Life, the preview has an annoying habit of not matching the export in very tiny but noticeable ways.

So when I return after three or so weeks of guest comics, it’ll be back to business as usual with the finicky program I’ve already spent the last four years wrangling into submission. And that arc will be… something! Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash still need a ticket. We’ll see who’s next when Friendship is Dragons returns!

Twilight Sparkle: Session one? I thought this was a one-shot spinoff.

DM: I dunno, I’m kind of attached now to the super-pony ‘verse. I could see us returning to it at some point. It could even join the main campaign somehow. I wouldn’t put it past some stores in Canterlot to start selling “enchanted comics.” Maybe the Elements of Harmony and the Power Ponies will cross paths?

Rainbow Dash: Yeah, so us villains can get beaten down TWICE as hard. Thanks.

DM: Full disclosure, that was not a “supposed to lose” fight. But I wasn’t pulling my punches, either. That’s what a total party wipe looks like here: The villains are carted off to jail until they escape next week. Y’know, the classic formula.

Rarity: I am truly sorry, everyone. I had no idea things would turn around that fast. I was just having fun roleplaying my character…

Applejack:

<sigh> S’pose we can’t blame you for THAT.<br/>
Fluttershy: It’s okay, I guess. I didn’t like Long-Face that much anyway.<br/>
DM: Well, still, message received. Losing is no fun. I just left that option open because this was supposed to be a one-off. If we end up doing more, I’ll definitely make the scenarios a little less… punishing.<br/>
Pinkie Pie: Hey, and while we’re at it, maybe we could play as the heroes next time! Their powers were fun to use!<br/>
Applejack: Yeah. They did seem pretty familiar…<br/>
Rainbow Dash: Right down to the races and roles.<br/>
Rarity: Almost as if… <br/>
Twilight Sparkle: You modeled them after something.<br/>
DM: …Wait, you only just NOW got that?