The Writing of The Bonds of Love (Chapter Nine: Fear)

Alternate Titles: Fear, Part Two, Death —Since the last chapter wasn’t “Fear, Part One” I obviously couldn’t name this one “Part Two” but as you can tell, I did keep “Fear” as the title for thematic reasons.

As for Death? C’mon, you already know why. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to give away what Smolder’s fear was through the chapter title, so I didn’t go with Death, and thus, I couldn’t go through with Ch.8(Tension) being named Life because that would’ve thrown off the title pairing. Now though? I absolutely should have named these chapters “Life” and “Death”! Those fit so much better than what I went with. And believe me, I was tempted to change them on the re-edit…

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And here we have Ch.9(Fear)… The best chapter in the story? Perhaps, but it most certainly is home to the single greatest scene within it! Alas, poor Smolder… I really put her through the ringer. Let’s not waste any more time and jump right in!

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~ Dealing with the Fallout ~

Before I could continue the plot proper, I needed to address that cliffhanger, starting with establishing the time, setting, and everyone’s current state of mind, and their reactions to Smolder’s departure.

So I bring everyone to the library far away from the Nightmare Night party and other students—Again, I wanted Smolder’s issues to remain private—only a short while after Smolder ran off.

As for the characters’ reactions, well? Minus Shimmy, the Drama Club weren’t technically Smolder’s friends and honestly had no reason to be involved here; however, I still wanted the characters I spent so much time writing into the story to be, you know, involved in the story. So rather than simply writing them out of the scene and not utilizing them, I opted to address this issue in-universe.

I had been wanting to give Scoop a character arc of her own since Vellum got one regarding his attitude and stress problems, but I could never think of one for her. Until this chapter, that is. So, I called back to the Gallery incident and had Scoop be scared to get involved in the situation and make everything worse, and the idea worked wonderfully!

Scoop got to stand out more as a character beyond being a Gallus-Stream shipper through her insecurity of screwing things up—Something I would have given far more prominence had I planned it from the start, especially since Silverstream shared that fear.

Vellum got to flaunt his own character development by wanting to help Gallus and the others with Smolder regardless of whether or not they’re part of the main cast.

The Gallery incident got to be plot relevant in a way that directly tied into Scoop’s character development rather than merely being something I made her do just to end that scene.

And Shimmy spring-boarded off this entire sequence to explain her involvement in Smolder’s subplot and subsequently get the conversation and scene back onto said subplot.

All-in-all, while I meant thereview scene in Ch.6(Stagnation) to be the Drama Club’s official sendoff, this is the true last hurrah for the main members of it—Vellum, Scoop, and Shimmy.

I’m still bummed Patty got squat despite how much I wanted to do with her, but at least, she, End Zone, November, and Lighthoof get referenced when Vellum and Shimmy suggest asking them for help.

And speaking of help, that’s exactly what the Drama Clubbers are here to do: Help find Smolder.

While I didn’t want to leave the Drama Club in the metaphorical “Unused Bin,” the Student Six were obviously who we’d follow predominantly. Thus, Gallus takes initiative and has them hunt down Smolder off-screen while he and the others figure out what to do. And of course, since I couldn’t show the Club’s search efforts once they left the scene, I dragged things out a little by having the Club theorize places Smolder would be, deciding to split up while they were still in the library.

After the Drama Club each give Gallus their own “Farewell and good luck” moment, they’re off and the focus is put squarely on Gallus and the others, and we even transition perspectives through some internal dialogue. How quaint.

Also, here’s a cool comment from FanficReader920:

I LOVE Gallus taking command of finding Smolder. Really helps foreshadow his future as a Guard abs shows he’s be good at it.

This is exactly what I wanted with this scene. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: After Ch.6(Stagnation), I was done having Gallus demean himself all the time. The closest I allowed myself to get to that was this line:

“I can help save Equestria twice without blinking, but I can’t even be certain I can solve one friendship problem?”

Which was, all things considered, a natural reaction to the current dilemma. Nevertheless, Gallus’ development has stuck this time, so he cracks down, refuses to self-demean again, and takes charge of the situation despite having no plan at all.

Once again, thank you, Jack of A Few Trades, for criticizing how I previously presented Gallus’ character; were it not for that, I likely wouldn’t have prioritized showcasing Gallus’ leadership skills here as much as I did.

~ Jinkies! ~

While I may have hinted what Smolder’s fears were enough that you, the audience, could reasonably theorize what they were, the same could not be said for the characters. So I decided to completely embrace that fact, dipping my toes into the Mystery genre by having the students do some detective work, starting with Ocellus.

Sadly, her spell wouldn’t have provided any new information, given the Silver/Smolder argument previously, so I opted to have Smolder flee before Ocellus could use it—Even after having confessed to crafting it, that spell still couldn’t help her solve a friendship problem. Furthermore, I couldn’t have Ocellus be tipped off early to how awful Smolder was doing which was why she claimed she “Never used it around Smolder because she already knew Smolder was angry.” It’s a lame excuse, but I had to give one since I backed myself into a corner regarding it.

And while I let Sandbar and Yona be confused about the spell being brought up, that wasn’t anything close to important at the moment, so Gallus dodges the question to cover for Ocellus and focuses on the next immediate avenue of investigation: Smolder skipping Science Club.

Ocellus continues by explaining Smolder’s excuse for skipping was, according to Sunburst—because of course he teaches Science Club—the same reason Smolder gave Yona when she also began skipping cheer-leading: To finish her project.

And as we all know and Gallus points out: Smolder didn’t finish her project.

But that only raises more questions: Why didn’t she finish, what was she doing with all that extra time if not her project, was she doing something else, was it another project?

Luckily for Gallus and Ocellus, Sandbar’s there to be the level-headed one of the impromptu investigation team and asks the simple question: What does Smolder not finishing her project have to do with Smolder’s current situation.

And Gallus—stressed out yet still logical and reasonable—pauses to recognize and admit that, yeah, Smolder’s project might not have anything to do with the situation. And while Sandy sadly doesn’t have any better ideas for why Smolder’s upset, he at least got Gallus to consider another piece of the puzzle: Smolder’s Psychology books.

This leads to the group conversing about that particular subplot and eventually to all of them—minus Yona and Silver who already knew—to the realization that studying those books was what Smolder was really doing.

But without the context Silver and Yona know, Smolder being interested in Psychology at all makes utterly no sense. Thankfully, the two aforementioned characters do have that context. And not only does Sandbar know that via Ch.7(Pride), but he also doesn’t hesitate to inquire them about it.

I had an absolute blast writing this portion of the chapter! I’ve never properly dabbled with the Mystery genre before, so this was both a new experience and a fun one, and I did a good job going through the various hints provided concerning Smolder, having the characters discuss them all to determine what was and wasn’t relevant until they ultimately reached the truth.

Like I said earlier, you guys may have already begun piecing the puzzle together, but the Student Six only just found out there even was a puzzle to begin with, so obviously I’d make them solving it the main focus for a while, each of them contributing in their own unique way.

Gallus and Ocellus are the logical ones, so they’re naturally the ones actively working to solve everything with what little they had to go on. Sandbar, meanwhile, is the most easy-going and grounded of the team, so when the others latch onto Smolder’s project, he’s quick to stop them and encourage them to consider alternative avenues of investigation. Yona, unfortunately, gets screwed and becomes nothing more than a background character for now.

Silverstream, on the other hand, didn’t know everything about what was going on with Smolder, but she certainly knew the most. As such, I couldn’t let her reveal everything immediately since that’d take away from the mystery; luckily, I had a way to keep her beak shut for a good ten minutes.

Silver’s paranoia over Gallus’ well-being may have been addressed, but much like Gallus’ issues, that didn’t mean Silver was completely okay. More importantly, on top of her concern for Gallus, Silver had also been taking responsibility upon herself to ensure he was happy, no matter the cost, even herself. But while Silver didn’t need to worry about making Gallus happy at this point since he was happy, that didn’t mean the character flaw applied to only Gallus. Silver wants all of her friends to be happy, but unfortunately, she only made things worse with Smolder.

After feeling guilty for being mad at Smolder, after trying to confront Smolder and make amends, after discussing everything with Yona, and even after everything seemed to finally be returning to normal with merely a dash of lingering tension… Everything still went to st. Silverstream’s worst, most paranoia-induced fears had come true in the most heartbreaking way…

And it had all been her fault.

Knowing—Or rather, believing that, there’s only thing Silver can do once Yona decides enough is enough and reveals Silver and Smolder had a fight: Break down. And she breaks down hard, and you guys got the toned down version, if you can believe it! Silver was going to stammer and cry far more, but I felt I was dragging it on too long, so I shortened it appropriately.

Nevertheless, the sight of Silverstream falling apart is nothing shy of horrifying for her friends to see, and I make darn sure to show that, hence:

While Gallus consoled Silverstream as best as he could, Sandbar and Ocellus watched on in abject horror. And although Yona said nothing, she too was quivering where she stood.

They had all seen Silver upset at some point or another, but this…? This wasn’t right.

After all, Silver’s the “Optimistic one”; it feels wrong for her to be dealing with issues like paranoia and self-blame, even calling herself a “terrible friend,” much to Ocellus’ shocked gasp.

But bless his sweet, little heart, Gallus doesn’t hesitate to be Silver’s knight in shining armor. And after dealing with those same self-blame issues for the entire first half of this story, like Tartarus is he going to let Silver deal with them for even a second. And though it takes some convincing—As well as clarifying Gallus doesn’t blame himself for the incident either; he’s had enough character development to know better, but boy does it say something when, even mid-breakdown, Silver is still afraid he would—Gallus manages to help Silver realize she isn’t at fault either.

Gallus then gives Silverstream a few minutes to recover her composure while he asks the others what they want to do. And while Yona and Ocellus are busy recovering from seeing Silverstream like that, Sandbar proposes the only sensible solution: Get the Mane Six.

They’re their professors, Equestria’s heroes, the Elements of Harmony, and have studied and learned practically everything there is to know about friendship and resolving interpersonal conflict, and even if they weren’t all these things, they’re the adults. They’re supposed to know how to deal with problems like this.

The Student Six? They’re a bunch of kids—something Sandbar even acknowledges later—they don’t know how to deal with these things. And that was something I recognized while planning these chapters.

Considering I knew exactly what Smolder’s problems were, realistically speaking, the adults would clearly be the first to get involved in the debacle. No one in their right mind would let a group of young adults—one of whom was barely holding it together as is—take on the responsibility of helping someone dealing with everything Smolder was going through.

And I acknowledge this with both Gallus and Ocellus conceding Sandbar has a point. They don’t know what they’re doing or what’s wrong with Smolder, and Silver is effectively out of commission.

That said…? I still had a story I was telling, and after all the build-up, and especially after the Silver/Smolder argument last chapter, I couldn’t just have the students say, “Screw it, let’s make Rainbow Dash deal with this.” That would have been a terrible resolution to the conflict.

Of course, I wasn’t about to completely throw this all out the window; the idea the Mane Six wouldn’t learn about this situation, let alone get involved, was ludicrous.

So I compromised. I had Gallus remember Starlight knew what was wrong with Smolder and realize she likely failed to help Smolder too, considering current events. And with that in mind, Gallus determines it’s best he finally crack down and confront Smolder properly—something he’s been putting off for a while.

And of course, since Sandbar naturally resists the idea of not fetching their teachers, I slip in Gallus arguing Smolder would likely be even more peeved off by them sending said teachers after her, rather than talking to her themselves. A part of me wishes I had tried tying in Gallus’ negative feelings toward Gruff into this particular issue, but…? I’m glad I didn’t.

I had decided from the get-go this chapter would focus solely on Smolder, no other subplots. Trying to explain Gallus’ decision to not get the teachers as also being fueled by his feelings of “Gruff certainly wouldn’t help in a situation like this; if anything, he’d just berate me for having problems in the first place”…? Well, yeah. It would have helped that moment, maybe, but it definitely would have taken away from the current situation.

As for why Sandbar was the one to suggest getting the teachers? Simple: If his test in “What Lies Beneath” was any indication, he looks up to the Mane Six the most, so it was only natural he’d be the one to think to go to his personal heroes for help. At least, that was my logic anyway.

Choosing not to get the teacher’s help, however, leaves the group with a rather big question: What do they do now? Thankfully, Gallus reminds himself that he’s a clever griffon, channels his leadership skills once more, and makes the decision to uncover what’s wrong with Smolder. But in the event they genuinely can’t fix things, they’ll go find their professors.

And while Sandbar and Ocellus are still Team Get Professors Now, they’re cowed by Gallus’ confidence(And glare), and Yona and Silverstream are onboard to help Gallus with whatever he wants to do next. And that is to finally solve that Psychology book issue.

Side note: During T.B.O.L.’s publishing, Fimfiction was having this bizarre issue where if words were italicized, they would sometimes be separated by gargantuan spaces. This only appeared on the reader’s end, so I had no clue it was a thing until I was re-reading Ch.5(Normality) for fun and noticed it.

I bring this up now because this issue screwed up the line:

I love them all so much, he thought, feeling his confidence rise.

And you know? That line was supposed to be serious, emotionally honest, and show how much Gallus’ friends trusting and believing in him means to him. So to have the line appear like:

I

love them

all

so much.

Yeah. I was rather sour that happened to this line in particular ‘cause it’s one of my favorite ones, in both the chapter and the story as a whole. Thankfully, Fimfiction seemingly fixed that bug, so any lines affected by it should appear as intended now. Thank goodness, I was getting pretty fed up with having to always preemptively check and fix that before properly posting everything from this chapter onward.

~ The Poem Book Is the Means by Which All Is Revealed ~

Not wanting to resolve it off-screen, I sneaked in some closure regarding the others learning of Ocellus’ spell; however, the Smolder subplot was the priority, so I cut straight to the tail end of the conversation and had Gallus bluntly end it. And since I didn’t think Smolder would leave her room unlocked, given what was in it, I threw that little obstacle in, even if Ocellus’ magic rendered it mute.

We then enter the dragon’s den and finally see Smolder’s book hoard in all its unsettling glory. Although, since I had already described it twice before in Ch.5(Normality) and Ch.6(Stagnation), I opted to keep the description here brief instead of waxing poetic about it for three straight paragraphs.

Although, it wasn’t like I put no thought whatsoever into the hoard. The books Smolder arranged into towers were ones she had already read, and the pile by her bed consisted of ones she hadn’t yet gotten too. I didn’t communicate this whatsoever in the story, but I had other priorities, and given the circumstances, the Student Six weren’t going to realize or care about this fact.

Gallus asks a question pertaining to the books that it’s high time I answer: Why does Smolder have so many in the first place. I mean, I kinda had to provide a concrete reason for that since Smolder realistically should/would have grabbed only a dozen or so books, not every last one of them.

And at first, I was content to simply shrug and go, “Well, she was panicking and just grabbed it all in a blind frenzy.” That explanation felt anticlimactic, however, like something I pulled out of my a rather than one I put actual thought into.

So I put some actual thought into the issue, remembered the hoarding thing, and had Ocellus suggest that was the reason. Buuut, that also felt wrong. It purely being some dragon thing—as Sandbar put it—took away, I felt, from Smolder’s agency—That she stole all those books, not because she was going stir crazy worrying about Gallus and looking for ways to help him, but because she literally couldn’t control herself and swiped them all in a semi-maddened haze.

Ultimately, I combined the ideas: It started as Smolder frantically grabbing every book she could, but her hoarding instincts kicked in at some point and made her grab even more unconsciously. Afterward, I had Ocellus clarify Smolder’s issues aren’t truly connected to her dragon instincts, but something else entirely. And what that something else was is something I can finally start properly revealing.

The Many Signs of Sorrow was a completely random title I came up with, and Ocellus was originally going to describe it with the same amount of horror and disgust she did with the other books she found. But I didn’t quite want her to have that reaction yet, so I had her merely react uncomfortably to the book instead of being downright terrified of it.

On that note, now that I was slowly leading into the suicide element, I decided to show through the characters’ reactions how uncomfortable they were getting with what they were discovering. Books on mental health? Specifically about noticing when someone’s mental health is worsening…? Yeaaahhh… Not a good sign as far as they’re concerned.

Nevertheless, it’s enough for Gallus to question if it’s a pattern, but since every good mystery needs a red herring, Ocellus counters with the very realistic possibility that Smolder didn’t mean to grab those specific books. And while Gallus is annoyed at seemingly having no more leads, Ocellus conveniently adds that they don’t know what books Smolder even did or didn’t read.

Cue Yona’s turn contributing to the investigation team: Thanks to a certain career path of hers, she has an uncanny eye for details, even ones as minor as the scratches Smolder leaves on her books. In hindsight, I wish I had set this up earlier—maybe a line about Yona borrowing a notebook from Smolder for homework or something?—but as it stands now, it’s still a great moment. Because now, they finally have a method to determine what is and isn’t a clue among Smolder’s mini-library.

That said, realistically, not all the scratches are from Smolder, and Sandbar, still being the voice of reason, points that out, giving Yona an apologetic glance upon doing so. And while he suggests magic could be used, Ocellus shuts that down immediately. Magic already failed her once, after all, but there’s another, more immediate reason she does this that we’ll get into soon.

With the clock ticking, Gallus swiftly stops Sandbar and Ocellus from getting caught up in another magic-related argument and keeps their focus on the problem at hand.

So no more stalling. And after Yona and Silver share a glance where the former puts on a brave face for the latter, they all search through the books for another clue, and boy do they find them!

And because I just can’t let her catch a break, Silverstream is the first to find one—another copy of The Many Signs of Sorrow. With Smolder getting copies of the same book, it was only natural she wouldn’t read the copies, which was unfortunately what Gallus and Ocellus initially found. But nope, Smolder did read that book.

And worse.

And while Ocellus dodges the question, the books she found and momentarily freaked out over contained material even more paranoia-inducing than The Many Signs of Sorrow. Whether that material was factual or terribly misinformed was something I was undecided on confirming, so I’ll instead leave that up to your interpretation.

Regardless, we’ve got a mystery to wrap up, and the characters finally had the clues within their grasp. Or more accurately, Sandbar does. And yes, I, the horrible, fun-hating monster I am, did consider having Silverstream be the one to find the final book. But I decided to be merciful to her just this once and make Sandbar deal with it.

Sooo… The suicide element. I’ll fully explain why I went for this once we finally discuss Smolder herself, but suffice it to say, I did not want to fk it up like I did with the Schizophrenia issue from before. Thus, I made sure to forewarn everyone through the previous chapters’ comments and Author Note that a rather uncomfortable subject would be discussed soon.

I couldn’t reveal what it was because of spoilers(Though I did consider it), but I obviously wasn’t going to blindside everyone with it. The closest I came to spoiling it was telling Great White Prime that the subject involved death. Which, on that note…? Yeah, the suicide element is very much not the focus of the chapter, merely a smaller part of the discussion of death in general. And that was absolutely deliberate.

Suicide is not something to treat willy-nilly in any story, and I didn’t want to do more with it than was necessary, lest I screw up. It’s not just a plot element in T.B.O.L., it’s a terrible and tragic thing, and it should never be treated as anything less.

With this in mind, I made darn sure to showcase how utterly horrified these kids are to learn their friend is researching it.

Sandbar chucks the book as far away from himself as possible and then proceeds to freak out.

Gallus, who couldn’t even bring himself to read the last word of the book’s title, has no clue how to process the situation, almost begins to question if it’s related to him, only to then deny it and assert that Smolder reading that book meant nothing.

Ocellus uses magic—Hey, it finally helped her out with solving a friendship problem! —to learn Smolder read all of the copies of that particular book, then hunts down all the similar ones and discovers Smolder read them too.

Oh, and you might have noticed that during this scene, I take care to not say the actual word “suicide.” You can understand why, given both the connotation associated with the word and the mood I was going for. It’s why I only allowed Gallus to say the word itself once and had everyone subsequently flinch upon hearing it.

It’s like I just said, I didn’t want to treat the subject with anything less than the greatest grace and care I could. Why do you think I went so far out of my way to assure none of the characters have ever or would ever consider it. The question was naturally going to be posed, just on sheer virtue of the subject matter, but no chance was I going to imply Gallus was ever at that point in his life—not even when living in Griffonstone or in A.D.F.F.—or that that was what Smolder’s problem was.

It’s why when Sandbar says this:

“Holy horseapples!” Sandbar swore, covering his mouth his hooves. “Y-You guys don’t think th-that… That she…?”

Gallus cuts him off with:

“Don’t you pecking dare, Sandbar! Don’t you pecking dare suggest that!”

And then you have Gallus’ whole denial spiel… But yeah. I didn’t want to leave a shred of an implication that any of them had ever considered that.

That said? The characters didn’t know that, and I had a story to tell and a mystery to solve.

So, we now had a solid lead on why Smolder had those books: Someone she knew was going through some terrible times—to put it mildly—and she clearly suspected they weren’t dealing with it well.

Now comes the next question, and one Sandbar poses: Who?

Someone she knew in the Dragon Lands? posits Ocellus. Or even more terrifyingly: Someone at the school, a student they possibly attend classes with, possibly know, possibly are friends with.

Yona subsequently states the next obvious fact: If Smolder knew someone in that bad of a place, she would have told someone.

Which Sandbar naturally counters by looking straight at Gallus and going, “Not if she was afraid going to the teachers would make things worse.” A bit dkish of him, not gonna lie, but given the circumstances, it’s understandable. Plus, I needed to answer that question before it became a plot hole.

But of course, Gallus is still trying his hardest to remain calm despite everything, so he reminds them they could be completely wrong. Nonetheless, he asks again who Smolder knew would be in that predicament.

And well? We all know who it is by this point; Silverstream simply says it first.

Cue Gallus’ denial.

Unfortunately for him, Ocellus now has the final clue to solve the mystery of what’s up with Smolder, and she wastes no time destroying his arguments with facts and logic. As for why she becomes so weirdly tranquil and logical when mere seconds prior she was freaking out as terribly as Sandbar? I figured it’d be a nice character moment that, in order to compartmentalize the several emotions she was feeling in that moment, she instinctively focused squarely on the facts of the situation.

And even more unfortunately for Gallus, Silverstream catches up quickly, realizing what Smolder’s “Assuming I’d know how” line truly meant, as well as why Smolder was so mad about the Royal Guard issue.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, Sandbar joins in, and ohhh boy! So? Given the situation, Gallus’ denial, and how Sandbar was the one I made suggest going to their professors, it was onlyinevitable they would butt heads.

Thus, Sandbar addresses how completely unequipped they are to deal with what they’ve learned, and Gallus reaches for every possible reason to not get the teachers and not accept he was the one Smolder was worried about. Seriously, not even Silverstream can reach Gallus at this point because he’s that desperate to believe anything other than that Smolder worried herself sick over him, fearing he’d consider suicide.

And honestly? How could he accept that at first? He could barely accept the idea of Ocellus staying up overnight worrying about him, let alone the idea she was still worried about him in the months between then and the Science Fair. Plus, after how far he’s come in learning to not think so little of himself, to not hold himself to some unattainable standard of perfection, and most importantly, to not blame himself for his friends being upset…? After everything thus far in The Bonds of Love…?

How could Gallus bring himself to accept he was the reason Smolder was upset, no matter how partially?

The answer is he can’t. So he does the only thing he can do in that situation: Continue denying it. Lashing out at Sandbar over him possibly fearing the same as Smolder despite Sandbar promising Gallus back in Ch.5(Normality) that he always believed Gallus when he said he was okay.

And while Sandbar assures that fact to be true regardless of what they’ve now discovered, he still acknowledges there was a time where Gallus was both seeing and hearing “Cozy Glow” in his head—Care to guess what inspired me to have Sandbar acknowledge this issue in particular?

Undeterred, Gallus immediately argues that no matter how bad off he was then, he’s better now and Smolder has to understand that. She has to.

And while the fighting continues for a touch longer, Yona decides that, after getting her chapter cut and being nothing more than a glorified therapist for Silverstream for the majority of the story, now is her chance to finally shine.

Or more accurately, I decided to give her that chance to shine, and I am elated I did because the alternative was stupid.

Want to know what was originally going to happen? Gallus and Sandbar weren’t going to have their shouting match quite yet, but Gallus was going to keep denying everything, and he would be so ridiculously stubborn about it that he’d suggest—demand, really—they find proof Smolder was genuinely afraid he was considering suicide.

None of the others would be happy about this, but at this point, they didn’t want to believe the reality of the situation either, and Gallus was effectively the leader and what he said went, sooo…? They agreed to find one last piece of proof, just in case.

That proof, which Gallus randomly remembered because the plot demanded he did, was Smolder’s poem. Yep, we’re finally talking about that stupid thing.

Basically, the group would agree to go hunt it down—with Sandbar being pretty indignant at having to find something Smolder likely threw away ages ago—and Ocellus would use magic again—which would work here because the plot demanded it would—and they’d track the poem down to Starlight’s office. They’d then unlock the desk—another inspiration for why they had to unlock Smolder’s bedroom door—search through the papers and find the poem, read it, and resume panicking.

Sandbar would finally go “Fk it!” and start running off to find their professors, but Gallus would stop him. They’d have their argument; the girls wouldn’t contribute whatsoever; Gallus’ denial wouldn’t be properly addressed; and everything would come to an abrupt halt when Vellum showed up, interrupting their fight. Afterward, they’d…somehow…reconcile, and the rest of the chapter would proceed as it ultimately did.

Yeah, I know.

The reason I didn’t go this route is a simple one: I’m not a poet. And as great as I am at writing character dialogue, poetry is not my specialty. Let alone writing a poem that properly captured the whole situation without coming across as blatantly disrespectful to the suicide element, while also staying true to how Smolder writes and speaks. Yeah, I wasn’t up for that challenge. Unfortunately, that hadn’t always been the case.

Back during the writing period for Ch.2(Reprieve), I was certain I’d figure that poem out and include it in the story; after all, it would have surely been more impactful for the characters to hear straight from Smolder’s mouth, er, claw what she’s been feeling throughout the story, right?

It didn’t matter how much logic would need to be ignored or how the characters’ behavior and actions would need to be twisted and manipulated beyond believability to get the characters to even consider looking for the poem Smolder wrote months ago, let alone go through with hunting it down and finding it! Nevermind all the terrible and disgraceful plot convenience and character assassination I’d have to do, it was all worth it so long as I got to cheaply imitate The View From Halfway Down.

Because yeah. That scene/poem was what inspired this idea. I obviously wasn’t going to directly Copy/Paste it—I ain’t that pathetic—but Smolder’s poem was basically just The View From Halfway Down, not from the perspective of the suicide victim, but from their loved one(s).

Fortunately, I kept putting off writing the poem, telling myself I’d figure it out once I got to this chapter. Needless to say, what I truly figured out wasthat I had no clue how to write the thing. And while I did kick myself for not realizing this back then, I decided it’d be best to completely ignore the poem’s existence and have the characters realize the gravity of the situation from the books alone.

I did keep several elements from that poem idea though: Gallus’ denial, his and Sandbar’s argument; neither Ocellus nor Silverstream being able to calm either of them down… Heck, the fact so much emphasis was put on investigating Smolder’s room for clues was directly lifted from how they were going to treat the search for the poem.

One element I specifically refused to keep though was Ocellus using magic. It’s why she’s adamant “Magic can’t do everything” when Sandbar suggests using it. The only exception I made was her using a spell to find the copies of the How to Help the Struggling book, and I only did that because it afforded some more tension to that moment.

There’s also one more part about the poem I recycled, and I’ll mentionit once we finally discuss Smolder…

Now, about the poem itself? I’m…torn. I am miffed I couldn’t include it, especially since I gave it enough prominence that you’d expect it to be properly plot relevant. But? By that same token, I’m sorta glad I gave it that prominence despite never doing anything with it.

Realistically, not everything everyone does is going to be known by others, and in the case of the poem, even though you’d think it’d be plot-important, it ultimately wasn’t. And it isn’t because the poem itself wasn’t plot-related; if anyone other than Starlight had seen it, they’d have known exactly what was going on with Smolder. Rather, the poem was a supremely plot-important item that the characters(More specifically: Gallus) know is plot-important, but deliberately ignore.

The way I see it, I got to subvert one of the most essential, foundational tropes of story-telling: Chekhov’s Gun. Granted, I had no intention whatsoever of having it play out that way, and it isn’t exactly a good thing per se to go against writing rules that fundamental. But still, I’m glad it worked out like that, even if not getting to show the poem was rather disappointing.

I considered trying to write it out for the “Writing of…”, but I’m still not a poet, so I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. Regardless, there’s one more thing I wanted to discuss regarding it. Later on, we get this line from Smolder:

“…And I don’t care what Starlight says!” she snarled balefully. “I don’t want new friends! I want my friends!”

Confirming she had been seeing Starlight sometime between Ch.3(Expression) and now. But I wanted to also confirm Starlight talked to Smolder about the poem and returned it to her. Whether Smolder kept or got rid of it…? Well, since the Student Six never went looking for it, I don’t have to say she canonically kept it. That means whether Smolder still has it and whether she ever showed it to her friends or told them about…? I’ll leave that up to you. Same goes for whether or not Starlight told anypony else about the poem or if she kept quiet about it out of respect for Smolder’s privacy.

I am sorry I couldn’t actually show Smolder’s poem and that I foolishly set it up to be something you guys would see. If I had known from the beginning I wouldn’t do anything with it, I might have cut it. But? I also probably would have included it anyway. Nevertheless, it’s still a rather notable failure on my part, and for it, I apologize.

Anyway, let’s move onto a brighter topic: Yona.

I finally got to give her a proper character moment in T.B.O.L. I may have given her that tailor scene at the start of Ch.6(Stagnation), but I never felt that was enough to make up for her chapter being cut. So I decided to put the spotlight on her one last time. And what a moment it is.

Yona snapping is easily one of my favorite scenes, both to have written and to read. Up until now, Yona has seemingly been handling the situation the best of all the characters, not being paranoid over Gallus’ well-being like Silverstream and Smolder, not blindly accepting Gallus was A-okay like Sandbar, and not going out of her way to recognize whenever he was upset like Ocellus.

And she was indeed handling it the best of everyone. However, this wasn’t entirely because I wanted her to be that way. Don’t get me wrong, I did always plan for Yona to be the one to handle everything the best of the Student Six, but there was a problem with this.

Her chapter got cut.

I understand I keep harping on this, but having to cut her chapter forced me to reduce her role to essentially that of a background character. That frustrated me because:

#1) I like Yona and wanted to do more with her.

#2) I felt I should have done more with her since this story was all about Gallus and what his friends mean to him and how they reacted to learning of what transpired in A.D.F.F.

And #3) I hated how I locked myself out of giving her more screentime, not because she wasn’t necessary to the plot, but because I failed to manage her role better.

So, since I needed to end Gallus and Sandbar’s argument anyway, and since I was determined to use Yona to do it…? Yep, I did it again. I turned my frustrations into a plot point.

While Yona was handling all the emotional drama rather well, much like what Gallus talks to Ocellus about in Ch.6(Stagnation), so many little things kept happening and building up… All of Silverstream’s paranoia, Gallus’ behavior during the tie debacle, and everything involving Smolder…? And because she been trapped in the background for most of the story, she’s been forced to watch everything go to st and her friends grow more and more anxious, unable to do anything more than give vaguely profound Yak wisdom…

And although she tries to keep it together and tries to calm the group down, her words aren’t even heard over Gallus and Sandbar’s argument. And their fight escalating is the last straw for Yona who cracks and admits she’s as worried and freaked out as the rest of them, and above all else, she’s sick of being forced to watch everything go to st and her best friends grow more and more anxious, unable to do anything more than give vaguely profound Yak wisdom.

But being the absolute treasure of a character she is, Yona still manages to handle the situation well. While she may be as terrified as her friends, she quickly calms them down enough to stop arguing and focus on the fact they need to help Smolder now.

And she starts by getting Gallus to stop denying the truth of the situation. Not through arguments, not through logic, but through sheer, sincere honesty. They all believe Gallus is better, but Smolder doesn’t. And though he doesn’t want to believe that, he doesn’t have much choice in the matter.

Silverstream, being the awesome girlfriend she is, swoops in to repay the favor from earlier and comforts him as he quietly breaks down in her talons.

Sandbar, meanwhile, needs only a glance from his girlfriend to know he wasn’t exactly in the right either which he admits.

But of course, Gallus and Sandy are best friends, so they make up immediately. In fact, this is why I made sure to show that, as soon as Yona has her initial outburst and they briefly stop fighting, Gallus and Sandbar instantly regret getting so heated at one another. That’s one of my favorite little details ‘cause of how well it portrays their friendship. I feel similarly proud of including that moment when Yona calms down slightly herself once she notices how ashamed Silver is feeling during her rant.

Probably the best part about this particular sequence, however, is how swiftly it all progresses. Gone is the glacial pacing of the early chapters, and in its place is a comfortable middle ground between slow-paced enough to feel thorough but fast-paced enough to feel engrossing.

Seriously, this entire investigation team scene is one of the greatest parts of The Bonds of Love, and I adore and am proud of every second of it! I mean? The pacing of this part was probably also helped by how I needed to wrap it up soon since I felt it was beginning to drag on now that the mystery had been solved. But nevertheless, I was on my A-game this entire chapter, and I ain’t gonna pass up the chance to brag about that.

But speaking of moving things along, Ocellus asks the obvious question: What do we do now? And the answer is clear as day: Get their professors and go help Smolder.

Right on cue, Vellum shows up, and while I may have just sung praises for this entire scene, I fully admit I don’t like how I wrote this particular part. I obviously had to have him or the other Drama Club characters show up, but it’s still unbelievably convenient he just so happened to pop up at that exact moment.

Edith was also here because this was the last chance to have her cameo, what with the Everfree Forest being plot-relevant and all, so I took said chance. Though, it also somewhat contributed to this part not being all that great, given we get a moment where Silver stops being worried sick for a second to joke about giving Edith marshmallows and Vellum whines about getting set upon by manticores, which I only included for realism’s sake because:

#1) It’s the Everfree Forest.

And #2) Something would have had to keep the Drama Club from returning while the Student Six were still searching through Smolder’s room.

“Tonally inconsistent” is the phrase I’d say about this part, but you know what? Who cares? I mean, I care, but I digress.

Edith got her cameo, Vellum reveals Smolder’s location, Gallus finally internalizes that lesson from Ch.3(Expression) about not holding himself responsible for his friends’ feelings and gets a chance to shine as a leader, Sandbar, Yona, and Vellum get to go fetch the adults, Ocellus’ teleportation spell gets to be plot-relevant again, and Silverstream goes with Gallus and Ocellus because she’s determined not to leave Smolder alone again.

Point is, this last part accomplished everything it needed to, and even if I could have written it a bit better, I’m happy with how I ultimately handled it. It’s perfect just the way it is.

Now then… It’s finally time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: It’s time to talk about Smolder!

---

~ But First: A Quick Word From Yours Truly! ~

Okay, I’m mostly going to talk specifically about why I handled Smolder’s subplot the way I did, rather than go over every little detail of the Gallus/Smolder scene as I’ve been doing for every scene in the story. As such, let’s get most of those details out of the way first:

#1) I looked over the establishing description for the Treehouse of Harmony back in A.D.F.F. to re-capture the same mood when writing the scene of the group entering it.

#2) Gallus acknowledging the widened halls of the Treehouse was a callback to the Tree’s promise to widen them for him back in A.D.F.F.

#3) Ocellus needed to be there to provide a means for Gallus to instantly show up to talk to Smolder, and Silverstream was natural to include here due to her involvement in Smolder’s subplot—She’s arguably more important to it than Gallus ultimately is, despite what happens next.

However, I wanted the next scene to be exclusively a Gallus/Smolder scene, so I was forced to hide away Ocellus and Silver in the other room and have Smolder conveniently never realize they were there, even having them be downstairs when Rainbow and Fluttershy arrive so Smolder doesn’t immediately encounter them upon leaving the balcony with Gallus. This last part is a little messy though when you consider Silver and Ocellus were sitting there, listening to Smolder and Gallus’ conversation for the entire scene until then.

Though, if you want an in-universe explanation for why they suddenly left, Shimmy and Scoop ran up and let them know their professors showed up, so all four of the girls ran back down to inform them of the situation.

#4) Speaking of Shimmy and Scoop, I considered having them listen in on the conversation too but decided against it due to, once again, wanting Smolder’s fears to be kept between the Student Six. It’s also why they were waiting at the ground floor rather than in the same room Silver and Ocellus hid within.

Before I kick ‘em out of the scene though, I make sure to give them both a quick character moment with Scoop showing genuine care for Vellum, double-checking that he got out of the Everfree, safe and sound, as well as Shimmy tearfully begging Gallus to help Smolder. They’re little moments, sure, but they still serve to give the two some extra depth.

#5) While we know Rainbow Dash took off once she learned of where her students were and Fluttershy flew after her, I never clarified how Starlight, AJ, and Rarity got to the Treehouse, whether it was on hoof or via teleporting. And honestly…? That’s because I was in a bind no matter which method I confirmed to be canonical.

Realistically, Starlight would have teleported them all to the Treehouse, but if I had that happen, then Starlight and co. would have also shown up far before the Gallus/Smolder scene wrapped up. So naturally, that meant they trotted through the Forest, right? But…why would they waste time trotting through the place when Starlight could just pop them there, get the students, and then pop them all back to the school? Plus, if Rainbow sped all the way to the Treehouse immediately upon being told what was going on, then she should have showed up even earlier.

This begs the question: Just how long did Sandbar, Yona, Vellum, and Edith take to find and tell them about Smolder…? Yeah, either way it’s a plot hole, but honestly, the sacrifice was worth it. I needed to have the Gallus/Smolder scene play out fully before the professors could be allowed to arrive. At least I compromised by having them appear the instant the scene was done, sooo…? It’s something, I guess.

#6) I considered having Trixie and Sunburst arrive too but ultimately decided against it since it would unnecessarily bog down the scene due to needing to give them extra lines. And considering Trixie and Sunburst are practically nonexistent throughout T.B.O.L., there was literally no reason to include ‘em here. Applejack should consider herself lucky she even got a line.

#7) Lastly, I want to sing my praises for John. G. Music and their Infinity Train OST remixes, specifically these three:

And especially, this one:

These were the three music tracks I listened to while writing the entire Gallus/Smolder scene since it did wonders in helping me get the mood of the scene right. In fact, I need to praise Infinity Train itself because I discovered that show during T.B.O.L.’s development, and it was a massive inspiration in both how I progressed with everything regarding Smolder from here on out as well as how I think about my own writing in general.

Seriously, you all need to check it out for yourself when you get a chance; it’s an absolute masterpiece, and it’s a travesty it got canceled before its creator, Owen Dennis, could properly conclude it! We could have gotten four more seasons! FOUR! MORE! SEASONS! And if some rumors are to be believed, we might have even gotten a MOVIE! Seriously, why the fk did it get canceled!?

So yeah. Go watch Infinity Train; its stories are phenomenal, the characters are amazing, the setting is creative, and the themes are excellent!

Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, right! Smolder! Yeah, let’s finally get to her, shall we?

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~ A Dragon’s Fears ~

Since the rest of the Student Six had to learn what happened in A.D.F.F., I needed to plan their reactions. Obviously, they’d all be sad and worried for Gallus and whatnot, but I wanted each of them to have their own, unique reaction specific to them.

However, one of those reactions I wanted was anger. After all, it’d be quite boring and unrealistic if the only emotions they felt were sorrow and concern and nothing else.

Now, Silverstream’s reaction to everything was already established in A.D.F.F.—being worried about Gallus while also wanting to help him feel better. Said worry gradually twisting into something far more unhealthy was merely an evolution of that idea.

Sandbar I already had pegged to be the one most calm about the revelation, swiftly believing everything was perfectly okay again despite the signs otherwise. This wasn’t due to maliciousness or stupidity, however; Sandbar genuinely believed Gallus was okay again and moved on accordingly.

With Ocellus, I wanted to take advantage of the facts she had magic and was a changeling by having her utilize both traits in an endeavor to help fix Gallus’ issues. Thus, she spent half of the story actively trying to solve a problem she could never have “solved” to begin with.

Yona, meanwhile, is a gift from God with the disposition to match, so I obviously couldn’t have her be anything other than just as concerned for Gallus as the others. And thanks to her chapter getting cut, her role onward became Silver’s quasi-therapist and her reaction subsequently became concern for Gallus tempered by the understanding he was indeed getting better.

All of this left Smolder as the only member of the group whose reaction I hadn’t yet planned, and conveniently, her personality allowed for anger to be a possible one.

This led to the obvious question: Why would Smolder be angry at Gallus at all?

Given the context of the scene in Ch.1(Transition) where they all confront Gallus about what happened…? The easy solution was to have her simply be mad Gallus hid everything he was going through from them. However, that would be a rather petty problem in the long run. It would be perfectly serviceable for that one scene alone; I could simply write it off as Smolder not knowing how to process what Silver told them and reacting poorly, saying and doing things she didn’t mean. But long term? No.

Smolder is Gallus’ friend and just learned he was in a bad place, so even if she was upset he hid that from them, she wouldn’t have held a grudge over that any longer than a day or two; if she had, it would have been extremely pathetic of her and completely out of character.

But I still wanted her overall reaction to be anger; thus, I had to determine why she would have that reaction.

So I used the idea that she was mad he hid his problems from them as a starting point, and from there, I thought from Smolder’s perspective.

Q: Why would Gallus hide his problems from us!?

A: Maybe he doesn’t trust us?

Q: But we’re his friends; he should trust us! I mean, I trust him! We all do, so why didn’t he trust us about this!?

A: Perhaps it’s not a matter of trust.

Q: Then what is it a matter of!? If he was as bad off as Silver said he was, then why would he ever hide away from us!?

A: Because he was afraid.

Q: Of telling us he was sad?

A: Not just sad.

Q: Well, yeah, I guess. He was lonely, upset, and angry too… But he could have still talked to us about it; we would have helped him!

A: Except he thought he didn’t deserve help.

Q: But why would he ever think that about himself? Gallus would never think that about himself!

A: Yesterday, we’d have said the same thing about Gallus hiding away in her room and talking to her as if she were actually there.

Q: Okay, so he wasn’t thinking clearly, I got that! But still, Gallus isn’t stupid; he knows full-well we care about him and would’ve helped him!

A: Except he didn’t think he was even worth being helped. Us enjoying the holiday was more important than whatever pain he was going through.

Q: But it wasn’t!

A: But he thought it was. He thought his pain and loneliness would have been a burden to us—That he would have been a burden to us.

Q: But that’s not Gallus! Gallus doesn’t think things like that; sure, he gets upset sometimes, but to actually think he’s not worth us caring about him!? That he’s not worth our friendship!? Just— Just how bad off was Gallus…?

A: Bad enough he isolated himself away from us. Hiding where we couldn’t find him. Hiding where we couldn’t stop him if…

Q: O-Oh Celestia…!

And that’s merely the truncated explanation of my thought process here.

Q: Why was Smolder angry?

A: Because he lied to them.

Q: Why did Smolder think he lied to them?

A: As Gallus himself answered: He didn’t think he was worth their concern.

Q: But why would Gallus think that?

Well, that’s what Smolder asked herself. Thus, came the Psychology section subplot. After all, I couldn’t simply have Smolder be angry about Gallus hiding how awful he was feeling then have her sit in her room all story and brood on it. That wouldn’t be compelling writing, let alone fitting of Smolder’s character.

So I had Smolder take a proactive approach, taking a leaf out of Ocellus’ playbook by researching the issues, trying to learn more about everything Gallus was going through to fully understand the problem and determine a way to help him.

There is a reason why one of the books she had was titled: Toxic Positivity: What To and What Not To Say. Not to mention her line from Ch.2(Reprieve):

“I haven’t figured out exactly what I want to say to you yet, so until then…? … … … Yeah.”

Smolder wasn’t going to sit on her tail doing nothing; her friend was upset, and as furious as she was about how she learned about it, her priority was learning how to help him.

Smolder’s reaction was still predominantly anger, however, so I had to throw in the caveat that, in her search to understand how to help Gallus, she isolated herself too, leading to the silent treatment issue.

Additionally, I had to properly communicate what Smolder’s true intentions were throughout the story without giving Smolder too much screentime. Thus, her Psychology section raid. And from there, it was only natural her subplot became yet another round of “One of Gallus’ friends let their concern for his well-being overshadow literally everything else to an unhealthy extreme.”

So, now we know why the suicide element became incorporated into Smolder’s subplot, but what about the rest of the Gallus/Smolder scene and her fear of outliving her friends?

Once I landed on the idea of Smolder fearing Gallus was considering taking his own life, I needed to explain why she came to that conclusion. After all, she could have insteadfeared he had depression, and it would have accomplished the same purpose, narratively speaking.

So why didn’t I make Smolder afraid Gallus simply had depression instead of going with the suicide element? Well, it’s partly because I didn’t want to dip my heels into the subject of depression when I had already botched up the Schizophrenia issue and was already planning on the suicide element. However, it’s mostly because I figured if Smolder believed Gallus had depression, then the idea his depression would drive him toward suicide was likely the next logical leap Smolder would make and be actively concerned about.

But why would Smolder make that aforementioned logical leap? That was the question. Suicide may have been something she’d be afraid Gallus considered, but why would it be the sole focus of her paranoia when helping Gallus deal with possible depression would have been a greater focus?

Now, if Smolder were, say, already afraid of her friends dying…? Then Smolder’s fears and actions would be properly explained. After all, if she were terrified of losing her friends, she clearlywouldn’t want to do ANYTHING which could risk that outcome, even if it meant giving Gallus the silent treatment. Not talking to and avoiding him at all costs was a far, far better alternative than saying or doing the wrong thing and triggering him into considering suicide again, let alone possibly going through with it this time. At least, this was true in Smolder’s mind.

And luckily, I had a built-in explanation for why Smolder would have these fears.

She’s a dragon. Quadruple-digit lifespan.

This is something I haven’t seen many stories take advantage of, regarding Smolder. I think I’ve read two stories where Smolder having such a long lifespan was mentioned, and in one of them it was brought up and then swiftly swept away in the exact same paragraph.

The other story being Matthais Unidostres’ own story: Smoldering for 1000 Years. Which they published while I was still writing The Bonds of Love.

Not gonna lie: When I saw that story hit the Featured tab, I panicked a bit, thinking, “Oh no! When I do the same concept in my story, people are going to think I’m ripping this story off!” And then I read the story and realized I was handling the idea far too differently for that to be a risk. Plus, I also paused and realized it’d be months after that story by the time I’d finally get to the Smolder chapters, so it wouldn’t be a problem anyway.

I’m really good at stressing myself out, huh?

Nevertheless, with that plot point now in mind, next was establishing why Smolder’s longevity would be such a major insecurity for her at this point in her life. She and the Student Six are still kids, after all, so the idea she’d outlive them wouldn’t necessarily be such an immediate concern. Except when you remember all the times they’ve all nearly died at the hands of the show’s villains…

I took advantage of that little nugget of information, spinning it into Smolder’s rant about how often they’ve either come close to dying or have had to save the world, lest they all die, despite the fact that—like Sandbar acknowledged earlier—they’re still kids. And yet, here the Student Six are. Heroes of Equestria, as referred to by Princess Luna herself.

But why now, was the next question. None of the characters ever displayed lingering trauma from the events of any of the show’s major villains. There was Silverstream’s fear of the Storm King in “What Lies Beneath” but… That’s about it, I think? Bad things would happen, Discord would screw over Equestria, the villains would get rainbow-lasered, and then the characters would move on with the plot of the next episode.

So, I—you guessed it—turned that into a plot point! The truth was all the characters, including Smolder, had moved on after the villains and their escapades. Why? Because they stopped them. No matter what happened, how much damage the Legion of Doom carried out, or how close everyone in Equestria came to dying… The heroes always saved the day and beat the bad guys.

But Gallus’ problems weren’t due to some bad guy. Yeah, “Cozy Glow” messed with him, but it wasn’t really her. His problems were the direct result of his situation, life in Griffonstone, and those issues never properly being resolved until after he broke down.

To put it simply, there was no villain to shoot with rainbow lasers, no friendship speeches to give; no Mcguffin they could gather to fix everything…

Gallus’ problems couldn’t be fixed so easily, and worse, no one had even realized there were problems to fix in the first place. Silverstream was the only one who realized something was wrong, and if she hadn’t been lucky enough to catch Gallus sneaking off and hiding away…? If Gallus truly had been in that bad of a place mentally, where suicide was something he contemplated…? If he had stubbornly refused to spend the day with Silver and instead wasted away, dwelling on his pain without her there to help him cope…?

If any of this had been the case…? Well, it’s as Smolder says:

“…No one would have saved you!”

And it’s that fact which leads Smolder to realizing for the first time how scarily close they all came to dying. How terrifying it is she and her friends needed to save Equestria on more than one occasion. How lucky they are to still be alive.

And with that realization comes another one: Because she’s a dragon, Smolder will have to watch as her friends wither and die anyway while she keeps living on regardless… And even worse, one day she’ll forget her friends, just like how she started forgetting what the Tree of Harmony looked like back in “Uprooted.” Who they were, how they met, what they looked like, what they sounded like, what she thought of them, what they thought of her, what they meant to her…? All lost to the sands of time. And there’s nothing she can do about it.

All because she’s a dragon.

It’s an absolutely horrifying fact and one Smolder acknowledged in her poem, even though we never saw it.

It’s also something I found so much joy in writing out! All the pieces clicked together in one massive sequence of realizations for what I wanted to write, and once I finally began writing the scene out, I couldn’t stop.

You think I’m exaggerating, but I spent all of two several-hour-long writing sessions writing the entire Gallus/Smolder scene out. Compared to the 4-5 it took to do the “Smolder’s room” scene…? Yeah. I was over the moon when writing this scene!

Also, I’ll admit it: I totally cried when writing it. It was somewhat annoying ‘cause I had to keep stopping to wipe my eyes dry so I could see the screen properly, but hey, if I can draw that kind of reaction out of myself just through writing the scene, I must have done a great job with it.

And yeah, I definitely did this idea justice! Which is doubly reassuring because I was genuinely afraid I had messed up the suicide element, so much so I promised I’d re-work the chapter and remove it if any of you told me I should. Luckily, that never happened. And thank goodness for that because, truth be told, I didn’t have any alternate scripts planned for this chapter. If anyone had ever came after me with metaphorical pitchforks and torches over how I handled the suicide element, I wouldn’t have known what to do.

Everything until this point had been setting up the revelations regarding Smolder’s worry for Gallus and her fear of outliving her friends, so if I had been told it all failed to work…? I would’ve been screwed.

But of course, I wasn’t screwed! Because I actually did my job right and wrote the story well without messing up the suicide element. And the result is one the best scenes, subplots, and chapters of The Bonds of Love, if not the best.

I won’t mince words here: The Smolder subplot is what I’d consider to be the third best part of my story as a whole, the first two being the Gallus-Stream romance and character dialogue.

Just…? All that raw emotion in just the scene between her and Gallus alone, but then you’ve also got the excellently done mystery on top of it all, and we still have the aftermath of this subplot to address in the following chapters too!

But speaking of aftermath, Gallus comforts Smolder, acknowledges how wrong it was to hide his feelings from her and the others, and the two ultimately promise to never hide their feelings ever again. And while they briefly consider taking the chance to talk about the stars, this chapter is finally coming to a close, so their professors show up, hurry them downstairs where the rest of the Student Six await to give them a group hug. Starlight is waiting for them too, and after her conversation with Gallus, Smolder is finally ready to admit that, no, she is not okay…

Luckily, the Tree of Harmony is there to promise both them and you, the audience, that all of the drama, pain, and heartache dominating both The Bonds of Love and the Student Six’s lives is almost over.

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And that was Ch.9(Fear), and what a chapter it was!

I think I’ve already made it clear how proud I am of this chapter, so I won’t bother repeating that. … Okay, yes, I will: I am so freaking happy at how I handled everything here!

And relieved. Very relieved. But mostly happy. I wouldn’t quite say this is the absolute peak of The Bonds of Love’s story and quality, but it’s certainly a good contender!

And I think it’s a safe bet to say many of you would consider that too. Matthais Unidostres compared Smolder to Asriel Dreemurr from Undertale—a huge compliment as far as I’m concerned—though curiously, this was the last chapter they commented on; I wonder if they ever finished reading T.B.O.L.? If they did, I hope they liked the rest of the story at least.

FanficReader920, meanwhile, noted how what I ultimately did with Smolder ended up being far more than what they expected I would do.

This chapter managed to be the one to get Johnerose126 to first comment on my story, and Daemon Wolf 22 and I even had a fun discussion concerning story ratings(Mine included) and Ch.6(Stagnation)’s nightmare sequence.

Then there was this one from Shrinky Frod on Ch.8(Tension):

And from the dropped hints, I think we'll find out that it's because she is much, much too fqmiliar with what can go wrong.

Notice that it wasn't just Gallus whose parents didn't get mentioned at F&F day?

Dragons are all about competition and showing off and proving their value. Smolder's been upset since learning that Gallus didn't value himself.

Dragon ways of proving yourself can be pretty dangerous.

Which, upon reading, made me consider slipping in some of this idea into the Gallus/Smolder scene, even though I had already fully written the chapter. But after some thought, I realized I had no idea how I would go about incorporating this notion into the scene as well as everything else, and I didn’t want to clutter the scene any further. So, uh, sorry Shrinky Frod. Good theory though!

To be honest, I wanted to know more of what you all thought Smolder’s issues were before I revealed them. Again, I like knowing what my audience thinks of my story. Nevertheless, I’m just happy so many of you enjoyed the twist and thought I handled it well. Even though I knew I handled it well myself, knowing all of you thought the same…? That really means a lot to me. Thank you.

Anywho! That’s Smolder’s subplot over and done with. Onto the next one, and it’s a big one too! So big, in fact, that in order to tell it we have to go to a little, ole town called Griffonstone.

And also possibly split up the discussion of the chapters in question due to having such high word counts. But that'll only be a concern for me sometime next weekend.

Obligatory Google Doc link.

Comments

[Summer Script]

~ Additional Tidbits ~

— 1) The line:

“Somehow, I doubt she’s thinking very clearly right now.”

Wasn’t supposed to be Shimmy’s, but rather Vellum’s. But since he was the one I wanted to suggest splitting up, I didn’t want to drag on his dialogue with that extra line. As such, Shimmy got it.

— 2) Shimmy’s comment about catching Smolder sleeping behind the school bleachers was a nod to how she’s shown to do exactly that in “2,4,6,Greaaat.” I may not have watched the episode itself, but I at least saw that particular clip.

— 3) When Ocellus says this:

“B-But that doesn’t make any sense!” she yelped, sneering at the remembered image. “What was she doing with all that time if she wasn’t working on her project?”

Ocellus “sneers at the remembered image” because she wasthat offended by Smolder presenting a measly cup of dirt for the Science Fair. That might have been obvious from the context, but it’s one of my favorites character moments for Ocellus: That even in the midst of all the Smolder drama, she’s still bitter about that dumb cup of dirt.

— 4) Sandbar’s “A-Am I out of the loop on something again?” line was an indicator of his character development from Ch.5(Normality) by showing he’s now self-aware enough to realize and acknowledge he might not recognize when something is wrong(Like with Gallus’ issues). The one single line is probably not enough to communicate that development fully, but it’s still a nice touch I wanted to point out.

— 5) Sandbar’s word choice of “paranoid” during the scene was to imply Yona told him about the debacle with Silverstream. And while that particular information is never given a chance to be followed up on—thanks to Silverstream never having any scenes between her Sandbar(Another missed opportunity)—Sandbar does canonically know about Silver’s paranoia issues. He did not know during the events of Ch.5(Normality) since Yona hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him at that time, what with the play and all, but between then and Ch.8(Tension) and Ch.9(Fear) she did tell him about it. They don’t keep secrets from each other, after all.

— 6) Gallus asking Yona for a bobby pin was obviously so he could get into Smolder’s room, but there was another reason for this I didn’t really communicate: Him knowing how to pick a lock was a subtle clue about some of the darker parts of his life in Griffonstone. He had to learn how to pick a lock somehow and for some reason, after all. Sadly, I didn’t do anything with that idea, but whether or not it’s canon Gallus learned lock-picking for nefarious reasons, I’ll leave for you to decide.

— 7)

“About— About your crazy future ideas!” she blurted out wildly. “About you! But no! Of course she doesn’t talk to you about any of that! Because she’s too afraid to! Because she’s still paranoid!” Smolder deflected as smoke began billowing from her nostrils again.

I think you guys know exactly why I chose to use the verb “Deflected” here.

— 8) Another thing about this scene Infinity Train inspired was this particular part:

“Yes! Yes, we were!” she agreed. “Everything was fine until— Until it all started…changing!” Smolder snarled, hugging herself. “We were all happy before everything changed! Before— Before—”

I needed to slowly lean into the death discussion, and letting Smolder lament all the recent changes in her life—like a certain perennial child—seemed a nice way to do that.

[Summer Script]

~ Additional Tidbits ~

— 1) The line:

“That’s what I’m asking you; do you think I should stay, or should I go?”

Was a shameless to reference to:

— 2) Whether Silver learned of Smolder’s love of stars from Gallus post-Ch.7(Pride), or she already knew beforehand on account of being such good friends with Smolder…? I’ll let you decide.

— 3) Although I wish I had gotten to show Gallus and Smolder stargazing, there unfortunately wasn’t any time for it in the last few chapters, so I had to settle for sneaking in the line:

“She really does,” Gallus confirmed, thinking back to their last round of stargazing.

To confirm the two had started stargazing together off-screen.

— 4) The whole “Embarrassed of me” comedy skit happened for two reasons:

#1) I wanted to show more of Gallus’ snarky side now he’d gotten so much better.

And #2) I hate the “Someone doesn’t want their love interest to meet their friends/family because they’re embarrassed of them” trope. This isn’t always a romantic trope specifically, but I hate it nonetheless, so I decided to mock it.

— 5) Silver’s line:

“Oh yeah. I’m totally embarrassed of you, Gallus,” she deadpanned. “You’ve only helped me tell off that fake Storm King, brought us to victory at Lyra’s Laser Tag, and given me the warmest hugs ever,” Silver listed off merrily. “Yeah. Totally embarrassed to be your girlfriend.”

The third item she mentions—the “warmest hugs ever” part—I wanted to be something specific as well, like the previous two lines, but I couldn’t think of a good moment in T.B.O.L. that qualified here. Yeah, there was him comforting her during the Smolder situation, but I didn’t think Silver would bring that particular event up. And I already called back to A.D.F.F. with the laser tag comment, so I couldn’t have her also mention him winning her Horton and the Stripes twins. Probably could’ve gone for a reference to their baking/painting lessons, but that stuff happened off-screen, so it was out too.

Thus, I settled for a generic line about how much she loves his hugs; although, in retrospect, that’s also pretty good since it further establishes what T.B.O.L.’s Silver’s Love Language is.

— 6) Gallus’ “Yep. At long. Pecking! Last! I have finally finished planning the date.” linecould have easily been: “Yep, I’ve finally finished planning the date.” But I decided to drag it out with Gallus being extra dramatic about it to have a laugh at myself for how long I stalled out that subplot.

— 7) After including the dance deadline thing, I took the chance to also reference Starlight’s kite-flying suggestion. Because, yeah, I forgot about the dance scene but remembered the kite-flying line. … I don’t know how my brain works either.

I then had Silver confirm she would like to go kite-flying with Gallus at some point instead of scoffing at the idea since that fit her character more, much like how she’s genuinely excited at the possibility of doing macaroni art with him.

— 8) Gallus’ line about Silver singing her lines in Drama Club wasn’t in this chapter originally. When writing Ch.13(Serenity, Part Two), I inevitably reached Gallus’ “I love you because…” moment where I revealed she sings in Drama Club every so often. It was a funny line, but I had never previously established Silver did that. Thus, I came back to this chapter and sneaked in some retroactive foreshadowing. Though, if I had planned the “Silver sings her lines” thing from the get-go, I’d also have given Scoop or Vellum a line about it in Ch.4(Optimism).

— 9) Silverstream and Gallus’ conversation about the Griffonstone Library being rebuilt was another means to imply how bad Griffonstone was. Gallus’ sheer disbelief they’d rebuild it was to highlight both how apathetic griffons were to the library and how completely unbelievable it was they’d even spend the Bits to rebuild it.

Silverstream is also similarly shocked because she knows these exact same things, courtesy of Gallus, and her hesitation at correctly guessing they did indeed rebuild the library is to show how she just knows Gallus is using that as another reason to go back to Griffonstone.

— 10) It was Smolder who was originally going to say, “I can’t believe that actually has to be a concern…”Upon reflection, however, I realized it’d be better for Silverstream to say it, even if it does still sound more like a Smolder line than a Silverstream line.

— 11) Gallus’ line:

“My very presence is enough to triple the fun anycreature is having at any given time.”

Is obviously a reference to the “The fun has been doubled!” joke, but it’s also to show more of Gallus’ snarky, cocky personality making a comeback. To further cement his character development and make it feel worse when said development is tainted thanks to Gruff.

— 12) Since the train station scene is the first scene outside, I jumped at the chance to play with the elements by acknowledging how cold and windy it was, and once we get to Griffonstone, I emphasize it even more. Both to foreshadow the blizzard in Ch.11(Closure) and because it was fun to describe the weather effects taking place. Helped make the scene feel more immersive, you know?

— 13) Regarding this moment:

Smolder’s maw peeled back to reveal an enraged snarl as she growled, “We should’ve stopped him! That stupid place is— He hates— You— I—” She sighed furiously and weakly rebuked, “We didn’t even try to stop him…”

I had Smolder sputter angrily at first to show how upset she was Gallus left. However, I wanted to also show some of her own character development which is why she stops herself, sighs, and states what she’s really mad about—that she and Silver let him leave. It’s a nice way to reveal Smolder’s making an effort to understand her own feelings more, to the point she knows angrily sputtering won’t help and instead takes a second to think over her anger and properly voice it.

It’s a small moment, but still one of my favorites. Similarly, this moment later on:

“No, we did try,” Silver argued sadly. “But Gallus made his choice. I just wish he had let me go with him! If he does get upset, I-I could have helped him! But I can’t… I’m stuck here,” she lamented.

Smolder hesitantly reached out and patted Silver’s back consolingly. “W-Well? Even if he is going back, we’ll still be here,” she said awkwardly. “Gallus did promise he’d come back the instant that place starts screwing with him again. So…? Everything will be okay. Right?”

“I don’t know… But?” Silver continued with renewed hope. “You’re right. If anything happens, he’ll come back. And we’ll be right here, ready to help him however we can!” she declared, feeling somewhat comforted by that fact. “In the meantime, we’ll just have to be optimistic.”

“Yeah… Yeah! Optimistic! We can do that,” Smolder mumbled more to herself than Silver. “We can be optimistic. We can be optimistic…”

Is jam-packed with detail!

Silver’s “I-I could have helped him!” and “And we’ll be right here, ready to help him however we can!” lines further foreshadow her and Gruff’s conversation.

We also have Smolder reaching for Silver to comfort her, hesitating at first because things are still awkward between them, but shake off that hesitation and comfort Silver anyway, reminding her they both need to be optimistic even if Smolder is still struggling to be that herself. It’s much like how I have Smolder try to get out of going to Sugarcube Corner at first only to realize she’s trying to avoid her friends again, stop doing that, and agree to go, much to Silver’s relief.

— 14) That brief moment when Gabby asks if Gallus’ friends came with him was me poking fun at myself for not being able to let Silver and Smolder join the A-plot. Also, I tricked myself at some point into believing that when she says that line, she looks at the Friendship Express behind Gallus, expecting the others to trot out of it. She didn’t do that originally, and I have no idea why I thought she did. Buuut…? I liked the idea Gabby did do that, so I sneaked that detail in during the re-edit.

— 15) With this line:

“I’ll have to take your word for it since I can’t eat gemstones.”

I really hate how I didn’t just write it as “I’ll have to take your word for it” and not bother including the gemstone part. Why? The gemstone part is completely unnecessary; you guys know exactly why Silver can’t eat gemstones. So why’d I include that part regardless? Because I wanted Smolder to have that “Gems are delicious!” line. Nothing more, nothing less. I bloated Silver’s line just so Smolder could have another one. It’s a very, very minor thing, but I’m still irked by it.

— 16) Regarding the line:

“Whoa. Well, uh, look at this way: At least they wanted to come and help make you feel better,” Silver said jubilantly. “I think that’s really sweet.”

Silver was initially going to force a smile, already predicting the true implications of what Smolder’s mom and brother “Flying across Equestria to drag her back home” meant. But once again, I thought it meant more if Silver’s encouragement was entirely genuine; thus, she doesn’t force a smile of any kind, and instead says the line she does “jubilantly.”

— 17) It was actually going to be both of Smolder’s parents who wanted to bring her home, and Garble would have been the one to step in and stop them. But I preferred the idea of showing Garble being a loving, protective older brother, so I had Ember step in to stop him and their mother from bringing Smolder back, and had Smolder’s dad simply inform her of the situation.

Also, it would have been easy to give Smolder that whiny “But, Mooooommmmm! You’re embarrassing meeeee!” attitude, but I hate that trope. So instead, Smolder’s unquestionably proud of her mother, and since I wanted to sneak in some more dragon culture elements, I made sure the reason Smolder gave for said pride involved her mother being huge, tough, and strong.

— 18) Silver’s line:

I really wish Gallus were here to hug me right now!

Was initially written I really wish Gallus were here right now… But I figured it needed the extra “To hug me” context, lest it be misconstrued as more of Silver worrying about him.

— 19) The other griffons were obviously going to use the words “Grover’s Treasure” and “Peck” like Gallus had, but the question was Gabby. She’s not exactly the kind of character to cuss. That said, she was the only other griffon who’d speak for a good long while, and I wanted to show other griffons using those words early on… And just because Gabby’s so bubbly doesn’t mean she can’t get frustrated enough to swear, especially when she grew up in the same environment as Gallus; plus, she may have even been one of the griffons he picked up those words from to begin with.

Thus, I compromised, letting Gabby cuss without drawing attention to it while also having her make the “Language!” joke and be the one Gavin goes to to report on others cussing in front of him.

— 20) Other griffons I considered including but ultimately didn’t make the cut were:

#20.1) Galeena.

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She had at least one standout moment canonically, being the one who became distracted by the smell of Gilda’s scones, subsequently crashing into Greta as a result.

Didn’t include to keep the amount of characters to a minimum.

#20.2) Giselle.

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I liked her design and thought it’d be a nice touch for Gallus to know and look up to a griffon who participated in the Equestria Games, especially considering his subplot about not liking being a griffon. I also liked the idea of giving a famous athlete character like that a chance to be characterized as a normal griffon just living life.

Didn’t include because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of explaining all of this in a pair of chapters that already had a lot going on as is. As for whether or not Gallus does look up to Giselle and the other griffons who participated in the Equestria Games…? I’ll leave that up to your interpretation.

#20.3) Graff.

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I wanted to give Gavin a friend in Griffonstone around his own age, even if they weren’t going to appear in the story. And even though Graff got cut because Gavin already fulfilled the role of a fledgling character, I will say they are canonically friends.

#20.44) Gustave le Grand.

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Same reasons as Giselle, he’d be included for the sake of having some famous character who’d already had a canon appearance make a cameo here.

Didn’t think he’d be in Griffonstone for the holiday, instead being somewhere else gifting other creatures with his glorious culinary masterpieces.

#20.5) Gunter.

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Loved his design, but he’d have served the same purpose as Gigi and little else.

— 21) Another benefit to exploring the MLP Character Wiki for additional griffon characters was learning about Boffyball being a thing. It wasn’t important to the story of T.B.O.L., however, and is a comics-only thing, so I decided to merely reference it in the Griffonstone tourist pamphlet.

— 22) Gallus originally didn’t show Griselda and Gavin his picture of Silverstream when they were in the library. Rather, I wrote the line about him feeling her picture in his pocket before entering Gilda’s house, realized I hadn’t established he had said picture beforehand, then went back to the library scene and retroactively added him showing the others the picture.

— 23) Yet another line I want to draw attention to is this one:

“You get called ‘adorable’!?” Gavin asked, eyes widening in shock. “By whom!?”

So, I don’t know how it is for others, but from what I know, it’s far more common to hear/say “Who” in casual IRL conversations when asking about someone, rather than “Whom.” And while I considered having Gavin say “By who!?” I figured a bookworm like him would know to be grammatically correct and ask, “By whom!?” It’s yet another one of those minor, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it details, but still one I wanted to acknowledge since it further emphasizes Gavin being such a bibliophile.

— 24) I have no clue why I put so much emphasis on Griselda and food. It merely started as a way to show she had her own off-screen character development—Going from hardcore lunch thief to a supremely appreciative dinner guest who even apologized to Gallus for her previous lunch thievery—but I gave it far more emphasis than I remembered. I suppose I could ret-con this to be an implication Griselda had problems finding food too, but I don’t want to do that.

Though they’re never mentioned, Griselda did have parents growing up who cared for and loved her. They didn’t care at all about Gallus, but he usually avoided asking to stay with them and Griselda anyway.

— 25) The scene where Gallus thinks back on his conversation with Ocellus from Ch.7(Pride) and reassures himself he’s always been good enough was going to be in the next chapter when he’s approaching Gruff’s porch. I felt it dragged the scene out too long there, so I slipped it into this chapter.

— 26) Of all the places in Griffonstone I regret not describing more thoroughly, Gilda’s house is the one I think I did just fine with. The Bits she got for the Restoration Project weren’t for her personal benefit, so of course she wouldn’t be living the life of luxury, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fix up her own house too. But what she did was rather simple: New carpeting, some new furniture(For guests of course), a paint job, and a new stove(Gotta bake those Griffonscones). But the true draw are the portraits of the many creatures Gilda and her team have helped out.

A nice way to show how much Gilda’s Restoration efforts mean to her.

— 27) Gruff asking Gallus, “So, you’re back, huh?” is to show him at least trying to extend a conversational olive branch and lead into him later saying he’s glad Gallus is back in one piece. But the specific wording of the question—though it may seem generic at first—is actually lifted from Granny Smith saying the exact same line to Grand Pear in “The Perfect Pear.” Why that specific line? Because the way the voice actress said the line was oozing sheer indignation, and I always found that amusing. So yeah, whenever you read that line, I encourage you to read it in that same tone Granny Smith said it.

— 28) Gallus’ saying: “…Thanks for trying.” to Gilda was meant to be ambiguous as to whether he meant “Thanks for trying to get Gruff to talk to me” or “Thanks for trying to make me feel better.”

— 29) Greta telling Gilda to take it easy on Gavin after the “Complain in restaurants” comment and Gilda subsequently dropping the issue was another little hint at the possibility they were a couple. Because I guarantee you if Griselda or Gabby had been the one to defend Gavin, Gilda would have kept right on teasing the poor fledgling.

— 30) I want to once again highlight how Gabby also told Gavin not to talk to Gallus about moving back to Griffonstone. She’s probably the most emotionally healthy of all the griffons, and even she encouraged Gavin to bottle up his feelings over the situation. Says a lot about how far-reaching Griffonstone’s old ways truly were…

— 31) This part:

I’m mad as peck at the others, but they’re still my friends.

Was sneaked in to clarify that, while he was extremely peeved the others tried making Gavin hide his feelings, Gallus still considered them friends.

— 32) Regarding the moment when Gruff does successfully leave the table, I’ll leave it to your interpretation whether Gilda tried stopping him again but he fought her off, or if she didn’t bother trying, knowing she’d fail.

— 33) One of my favorite details in the dinner table scene is how Gavin only truly admits how much he likes Gallus after he sees Gallus’ wing is still blocking the others from view, meaning he has no extra pressure on him. Good on Gallus for thinking of that issue, and even better for him remembering to do that with Glory in the Epilogue(Love).

— 34) The few times the characters—mostly Gruff—comment “Pony” or “Ponyland” or whatever else are there to show some lingering negativity in how some griffons view Equestria. Not enough to imply hostility, but enough to clarify not all griffons are entirely fond of ponies and their culture.

— 35) This is the order of the griffons’ ages, from oldest to youngest, only including those mentioned in-story:

Gruff → Gigi → Gimmie Moore → Gilda → Greta → Gabby → Griselda → Gallus → Gavin.

Griselda is merely a few months older than Gallus(Same goes for Gilda and Greta), and Gabby is a few years older than both of them. Gruff is also the third oldest living griffon in Griffonstone, just slightly younger than these two griffs:

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