Carnation/ Ch. 6 Map and AlmanacP Story Plug · 5:36pm Jun 24th, 2020
Only one map this time, but I'd like to spend some of yours talking about the inspiration for both this chapter - the third-to-last one before the season finale in 1.8 Castaways and their move to Cloudsdale for the next stage - and Daring's reference to Bravely Blue. So here's the map, and above it, the fic that made it possible.
Since the beginning, I've always been fascinated by Daring as a character - both in how she would market herself to the world and how the impact of the places she's been wear on her. And it's to both those ends that I gave her her own side take within the story, as a way of bringing the Carnation canon to you with smaller bites. It's a bit redacted, and Darning sees so little of the bigger picture, but the fact that she is still so active in the face of such a terrible coup is what sells the danger for her. I know of how... expositionary I get in the main story, but this is the safety net for it. And I've never been prouder of it.
So thus, this chapter - the one which serves as the crucible for the well-prepared thief pony known as Viscera - owes its roots to another thriving pony's downfall. The one in the above story's final chapter in the trek to the terrifying tower. Read the story if you haven't already but the fact that Daring Do is on the cusp of losing everything, currently called with a Royal Guard you might drop her like a baked bad when he realizes she inadvertently decorated a tomb, and has one of the people she treasured her life trying to usurp the natural order for her own selfish gain...
Well, I could then see how that could translate into a pony with just a bit more personal knowledge of the amber pegasus.
Despite my chomping at the bit to release the story earlier, I had to make sure the character I made for this sequel to one of Headless_Rainbow's most controversial fics was airtight. This would be who the story would focus on, exclusive after season 1, so no room for error in how she developed could be allowed. S oI seized upon her concept for concealment as a way to both make her a viable survivor and explain her non-presence in Daring's tale, being the only one whose ego she refused to fluff with page space. She's struggling to make her place in the world, and ironically enough, its the madness of the Element of Magic that gives her that center stage by refining her goals and very being. Even before Thestrelization, Queen Twilight is what makes this Viscera... well, Viscera.
But of course, you'll see what Viscera does to stand out in the next two chapters, personally. For better and for worse. She's already done it with Berryshine, now let's show you how her most powerful moment gets turned on its head in the heart of the Crystal Empire she's unwittingly endangered.
Instead of boring you further with my headcanon, I will simply reiterate that she is back, invite you to watch out for 1.7 Cadance chapter next week, and bid you all adieu. Despite this being a map for the Carnation story, the real winner here is the Almanac that Daring Do/A.K. Yearling shows the true plight of a cataloger of chaos, so that is why it is being linked today. Both of them.
Enjoy till next time, fair readers. May be a bit late with A.Y.H.A. this week, but I promise you it'll be compelling all the same.
