Chapter Six Part 7 Up! (March 22nd) · 5:40am Mar 22nd, 2021
Part 7 of Chapter Six is now up! This completes Chapter Six. But it’s not over just yet.
At this point, there’s not too much more to say about the story that I haven’t already. I made a few points in my author’s notes that are important.
As I said there, I originally intended for them to leave via the ship. They were supposed to escape that way. The problem was, up until I had to write the scene where Twilight burst in, I hadn’t stopped to consider what Cozy would do with the ship. And as soon as I got there, Cozy, just like every other character has in this ruddy story at one point or another, popped out just long enough to laugh in my face and say “What’s that? Your plans? Screw them! Ahahahaha!” and then she blew the ship up.
I’d written myself into a corner. The seaplanes were a… rough fix, at best. I inadvertently came across one arguably slightly better one, in the process of writing Everybody Lives, in the form of Starswirl coming along and teleporting the ship away at the moment of detonation. But in truth, I wouldn’t have been very happy with this solution in the canon story. It’s too clean. Too easy. Too much like something Cozy could’ve done something about, with radar or sonar or something else military-tech wise. It works for a silly oneshot half-summary about an alternate universe take, but it wouldn’t work for the actual story.
Other possible alternatives could’ve included a human navy ship wandering by, like a submarine, that then rescues them. But that carried with it all sorts of nasty potential consequences I didn’t want to touch with a hundred foot pole.
And, well… I could’ve always ended it by killing them all. I could even argue that’s still not worthy of a tragedy tag. Why? Because the hero still won. She still beat the villain. And she’d be at peace with her death. It’s sad, but not tragic.
But that’s an argument I’m sure we could all bounce around for hours and never agree on.
I also decided I liked blowing up the ship. Yes it did mean that my two lovely OCs got to last all of about five minutes, and while Boysenberry got a second hurrah… well… I needed someone to die as a result of the nuke explosion. And while I considered offing one of the main characters, I decided against it, because that’d cause a lot of people to be pretty dang peeved with me, and, well, it’d be pretty cheap at this point as well. So alas, there goes the OC into the shredder. But I’m sure they’ll pop up again in another story or two, perhaps in an alternate form.
I liked the ship exploding not just because it provided yet more story punch for Cozy’s almost victory, but because it helped fully flesh out some of the real world consequences of what she intended. Cozy wasn’t just a threat to those she’d kidnapped. She was a real risk to the safety of the world. Had Sunset failed to recover her magic, Cozy would’ve won. And I can tell you she wouldn’t have stopped with killing Sunset’s friends. As soon as she had the chance in Equestria she’d off the Mane Six, the CMCs, the Young Six, the Pillars, and anyone else that could be a threat to her reign.
In short had Cozy won, we would’ve effectively seen the end of Equestria itself.
Of course, her legacy lingers, even after her death. The risk of various people running around on Earth with buried mental instructions is just one of many ways in which she’s endangered the future for all.
Random aside: there’s something different about the way the chapter six ending card that I’m hoping people will catch. And no it’s not just the missing survivor count. I mean something more subtle than that.
In other news, I just published my short for this week, a story called "Love Is for Squares," based on a prompt from Angel Midnight, who challenged people to write a story featuring a character from a list, as a present for her birthday. I chose Trixie. It's a silly romantic comedy with a twist.
I'll be working on the Star Trek story all week this week. I’m hoping to have at least three or four parts done before I start posting it. Judging by work’s accelerated pace of business, I’m not going to get as much done as I used to be able to. Even if I have lots of free time after work, it’s gonna drain much of my energy. The good news is, this means it could post as early as this weekend. The bad news is, it means I might have to go for one post a week. That’s less than I’d like. You’ve all seen how impatient I can be sometimes, haha.
See you on Wednesday for the finale!
One part remains.
And after this, we've got the epilogue! Whoa, what a traumatic ride of betrayal and death.
Is it the fact that the word "End" is in white on the chapter 6 end card?
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This was because, unlike every other chapter, this one ended without them being in further danger of bloodshed. I know it's not that subtle an artistic touch, but well, it was one.
It is!
It's great that you're writing so much but don't take on so much you get burnout. I've seen it happen many times on this site. Do what you can and don't let others' expectations make you think you have to adhere to a strict posting schedule.
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Thank you. I appreciate the reminder to not burn out since that's a good thing to remember. That said, the posting schedule was something I established for myself as a way to ensure I didn't give up on my writing, not so much something based on others. Still, it's a good point and I will keep it in mind.
The end is nigh! (Also, nice touch on the end title card!)