TToTS Ch.22: When Disaster Strikes · 12:35pm May 28th, 2023
Oh boy. So, some time ago (sadly not dated because I didn't finish it) I decided to write Tirek/Scorpan's backstory, waiting for a point to insert it. I decided that Chapter 22 was a good a time as any, placing it as a filler while the sisters passed through the Lowlands Forest. Before continuing the (let's call it Tau) backstory, I wanted to keep the momentum of the real journey flowing, so I began writing Chapter 23. Returning to work on these chapters a bit later, I decided that the Tau backstory was too non sequiturial to place here, relegating it back a floating chapter and merging what I had written of chapters 22 and 23.
Great, fine; a lot of wasted time and editing, but Chapter 22 is back on track, and the Tau story will have to wait for Tirek's return (spoiler for something that had to happen canonically). So I finish up Chapter 22 with lots of retrospection and a visually pleasing scene at the end, as the Sisters scale the mountain and cross the Great Plains to get to Pegasopolis (Cloudsdale).
Except... That's not where Pegasopolis should be. That's where is it on canonical (modern) maps, but I've already established that the newly formed Royal Legion is battling displaced dragons, thanks to Discord, which I had intended to be by Smokey Mountain--THIS side of the Highland mountains. Having Pegasopolis north-west of Canterlot implies a defensive position, despite Canterlot being under Discord's control, putting them under direct threat. So now I have an entire 5,000 word chapter describing the sisters travelling to somewhere they shouldn't be, and should have seen before even entering the Lowlands Forest, and I'm just so tired. Just. so. tired.
Not sure whether I should scrap major chunks of the chapter--and some really good visuals--to correct their destination, or if I should alter my vision to account for the mistake and preserve my writing, even if it doesn't make logical sense. So right now, I'm stuck.
