Chapter 2

Took me a while due to housework (and procrastination), but I finally did it! Episode 2 is finally out! And you know what that means: an update is bound to follow.

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the length of this one. I actually tried my best to cut out any filler, but it was hard making believable dialogue while still trying to keep the story engaging. In the process, I wound up making it twice as long as the first chapter. I did title it "Calm Before the Storm" because it was meant to introduce most of the major characters we'll be seeing throughout, but I'm not sure how well I did overall.

First, let's finally talk about Lightning again. I decided to just have him be slightly naive, a bit of a fanboy, eager to get a job done if he can, and just generally upbeat. I'm curious to see how you guys like the idea, but that's honestly all I have to say about it.

Titan, meanwhile, doesn't have a set structure to him yet. I plan on fleshing him out the next chapter, but for the time being, I decided to up the ante on his threat meter. I wanted to build him up, as well as set up things for later, so that's precisely what I did.

Now for the others. And yes, everypony has had their names changed from the original; Buddy Rose is now Garter Variety, Artie Bristles is now Colin Canvas, Rhymey (*shudder*) is now Percy Prose, Starla Shine is now Astra Physics, Cookie Dough is now Caesar Salad, Inquerius is now Ingrid Tuition, Abra Kadabra is now Hocus Pocus (real original, I know ), and Professor Brain is now Equal Librium.

Garter was pretty easy for me to come up with a character for. You know how there's always that tough guy with a soft side, right? Well, I decided to just make him that instead of merely a gardener. Pretty much, any personality is better than no personality, I'd say.

Secondly, Colin; Colin was actually the one I had the most trouble coming up with a character for, next to Lightning. Eventually, however, I decided on "Southern Beast Boy", and the reason why is our next character.

Percy has had literally everything about her changed from Rhymey. I mainly did this so that we'd have a more even number of boys and girls, and also because I figured he was actually more interesting to write as a girl. I decided to make her more like Raven, which amused me when I thought of the yellow-covered Percy talking like the daughter of DC Satan himself. I also made her more of a performer than a poet, and none of that incessant rhyming will be present.

Astra was probably the one I hated working on the most, at least until I found a solution. My main problem was that she was becoming a pony version of Twilight Sparkle, what with being the smartest member of the group. Then I thought to myself, "who's another nerd you happen to like?" And I remembered Goombella from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Once I made my decision, the rest was history.

Caesar is, more or less, a side character. He's more or less the big, fatherly restaurant owner who feels like a part of the family, and this version of the character is a bit more humble, to boot.

Finally, Team Trifecta, as I like to call them, were all at one point minor or supporting characters with varying importance. I decided to make them all part of the team before Lightning and co. become full-fledged officers. Ingrid is more caring with less of a tendency to ask questions all the time, Hocus is a pretty big ham when it comes to his entrances, and Equal is pretty much the tech genius of the bunch. I decided to make them more in their 30's and 40's as well, for the record. And yes, Ingrid and Hocus are husband and wife.

Now for overall scenes; Lightning's house was important because it showed off that part of his character I'd come up with, and that his childlike innocence never really died. I decided to keep it mostly short, because the rest of the plot is what matters.

I only had the group meet Garter on their own, as I, again, wanted to shorten most of the scene and have the entire rest of the group become friends earlier. And I chose a local hub instead of a five-star restaurant because, in my opinion, it just doesn't have the same atmosphere to it.

The scene where they're walking to their next destination had the group further bonding and getting to know Lightning a little better than just the basics, adding a few things in common with Astra for obvious reasons, and introducing another place for the group to typically hang out.

The library scene mainly showed off a plot important locale, and gave us an introduction to the OG team and their future involvement in the plot aside from helping the group out from time to time. And I decided to leave the rest of the plot developments open before I go too info-heavy.

So that's chapter 2! I hope you all enjoy it, and I look forward to your feedback.