And That's Terrible Chapter 3 Follow-Up · 5:08am Jul 2nd, 2014
Well, the story came back. And just for the record, it wasn't dead; it was just in a Healing Coma.
Originally, this was going to be the ending. And That's Terrible was scripted for three acts. The first introduced the conflict, and ended with the two adversaries preparing for their duel. Act Two was a game of brinkmanship, with Luthor launching his attacks and Celestia countering at every turn, ending on a comic book-style cliffhanger with Celestia seemingly killed. Act Three would be Celestia revealing herself to have survived, and Luthor finally jumping into the fray personally. We got that to an extent...but the actual final battle will be next chapter.
Part of the issue this chapter was working around how I shot myself in the foot last time. Originally, Superman wasn't going to appear until the very end, after Luthor had been defeated. After I thought about it some more, however, it didn't seem right to exclude Lex Luthor's actual archenemy, so I had him appear at the end of Chapter Two. But...well, there's a problem with Superman. Whether intentionally or not, once you put him in something, it's very easy for him to take over. There was a large portion of the chapter that was just Luna and Superman talking; when I went back to re-read it, I realized that nearly all of it was about him. So I threw it all out and just had them show up.
Which brings me to the one scene I was certain someone was going to call me out on: Celestia grabbing the idiot ball and torpedoing what was up to that point a successful capture. There were two reasons I did this. The first was to get Celestia, Luna and Superman together while still allowing Luthor an escape. (And really, why wouldn't Luthor have at least a dozen hidden passages out of his lair? You don't become a mortal that can harass a god without a lot of forward planning.) And the second was...why would Celestia trust Superman? The only person she's had any contact with from that world has, in the course of one night, attacked the dessert competition, stolen her cakes, attempted to kill her multiple times, and tried to blow up Ponyville. And he's doing all this because he's trying to kill this other guy you know nothing about. (That's also why Celestia couldn't do his voice; she saw the image Luthor showed her, but did not hear Superman talk.) It'd make sense that she'd be wary about this guy, and as a leader, she would naturally be upset at the idea of justice not being done for Luthor's crimes to her ponies.
Now, once they get to know each other? Yeah, they'd be best buddies. It's sort of like how every scenario where Superman would fight Goku is inherently flawed - the two have no real reason to distrust or hate each other. Celestia had a heck of a bad first contact is all.
So...next chapter will be a doozy. Celestia is in deep trouble, Luna and Superman are facing daunting odds, and Luthor still has his giant gun. Will our heroes win out?
It's also just a tradition for superheroes to fight each other when they first meet. It was even brought up in Watchmen, if I recall.
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Superman vs. the living embodiment of the very thing that gives him power...
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He's fought a sun before.
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He won.
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Yes, but THAT sun isn't a pretty pretty pony princess.
Although, it's just as IAH says. Once the awkward first contact is over they would probably buddy up real quick.
It's interesting to know what problems were present in the creative process of this story.
But I just want to reiterate: It's AWESOME!!
Keep it up!
Yeah, this story is great. I just hope justice involves Luthor being imprisoned in Equestria, forced to watch Princess Celestia eat 40 cakes right outside his cell. Let's not forget who the REAL victims are, after all (the cakes).