At the End Commentary: Chapter 24

This entry contains spoilers for its corresponding chapter of At the End. Be warned...

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Forgive me if somethings aren't capitalized. The keyboard at work sucks the root.

It was at this time I altered how I write At the End. I was a greenhorn, absolutely new to writing, when I started this story. I made a lot of mistakes that I want to fix. I won't just yet because A.) this story has been going on for a good eight or nine months and I want to finish it and B.) the amount of changes I want to make would consume a lot of time. There are issues with chapter one, seven, ten, sixteen, and seventeen that I want to fix, but they would consume my already precious little time. I want to finish this, then I will go back and revise the story.

That doesn't mean I can't change how I write. After over 100,000 words and loads of experimentation, I finally believe I have techniques that work for me. For instance, the very chapter this commentary is attached to. It's very short by my standards, but details some very important points. The method I keep referring to is as follows: keep the fluff, filler, feels, fights, and story in long chapters, but have plot exposition in short ones. Exposition itself, by its very nature, is short, as it is only words. Now the setting you are in and the people talking can lengthen the scene, but let's restrict the variables here. Exposition, by itself, is short. I find this method works relatively well. I found this out after the bloated chapter seventeen.

Now that my skills have been refined and my will is strong, I could finally begin writing. This chapter was, along with Left Hand of the Devil, an "extra" chapter in the week. This was the start of me no longer using by bimonthly schedule that I stuck to for about four months. Since I am in school, working two jobs, and have real life stuff to deal with, I could no longer stick to the schedule. This has the benefit of making chapters release faster when they are done, but has the negative benefit of making the exact time, and the duration between chapters, unpredictable. I have a story progression box on my front page for all those interested in tracking story progress.

Real life stuff is also why the bio I promised has been pushed back. I haven't forgotten about that, as well as the pony who asked for my piano sketches. I will post both when I can, but I am far too pressed for time right now.

Now for the actual story. After Corporal Shade took Fluttershy's testimony, he realized that he was a little in over his head. Unknowing to him. Era'doth tried to hurt Fluttershy, while Brimstone as the "Shadow Pony", gave the mare a lantern in order to escape the Void Fog. The purpose here was to toss around possibilities and acts. Is the Shadow pony trustworthy? Where was he hiding all this time? Why was he hiding? What's up with the biped with the glowing white eyes?

It's the problem with dealing with powers beyond your control: you can only guess what is going on. Brimstone helped Fluttershy as a sign of good faith, as he/she told Barricade. Era'doth is just a dick. The problem they were trying to contemplate was if the Shadow Pony could turn out to be a bigger threat than Era'doth.

In the end, Skylar, Hexxus, and hawk couldn't come to a conclusion, and couldn't act on it even if they did. They did, however, have evidence to believe that the Shadow Pony may be able to help them. Whether it wants to is a different story.