Ridiculous right? How long it took me to do this? In my defense, I have been half-way around the world in the months that I have been working on this, but excuses are as paper…
I've decided that the rest of this comic will be done in black and white sketch only. The detailed stuff has been great experience and looks awesome, but it just TAKES TOO LONG! I can't even believe it. This is my longest and most difficult comic I've ever done and I've only JUST gotten to the meat of the story. I have no idea how many more it will take, but they'll come out faster this time. Maybe someday I'll color them, but for now, I'm just not skilled enough to do this the way I have been.
On to the comic: I hope that everything is clear. Crabapple is maintaining distance from Willow because he believes it's required to be that way. He sent his trusted assistant and quasi-sister pony, Feather Fern to keep watch. She didn't need to say a word for the meaning to be clear :D
Once he knew she was safe, he could finally relax and leave Willow to the care of the others. The stasis is broken and the true healing (and more) can finally begin!