Runaway to the Future's Humongous Author's Notes for Training Arc pt. 1

Status: Submitted

Warning: This blog contains spoilers for Training Arc pt.1, and the notes on how I ended up with the story I came up with. If you don’t want the story spoiled. The link to this blog can be found in the stories A/N Box.

Direction:

I originally had 3/4 different directions for this story and settled on the friend path. The 4 directions went as such:

1&2) Destruction and Atonement / Moon Banishment: In this path the two spells that gave her pause and fear mentioned in the story would be used. Upon the transformative, destruction spell used, she’d lose her ability to use logic and reason. Becoming a force of raw destruction.

Then either Celestia would cast a mind walking spell in the weak point of the spell and undo the spell after a mental verbal confrontation. If that path would’ve been taken she’d spend the rest of the story building Group dynamics between herself, Twilight, and Celestia. Showing filly twi grow up. And seeing a change in the corrupt and broken system of nobility. But it’d have less room to grow her inventive and creative potential.

Or She’d be banished to the moon, and it would be Night Mare Moon who frees her. But as she grows up they grow close and form a close emotional bond with one another. Both would have potential.

3) CHIMERA: In this path Nemesis would come upon her and would corrupt her. Doing a Nightmare moon corruption, Changeling mind wash on her. She’d use corruption spells, mind domination spells, and with Nemesis’s help playing on desires of others. To form a criminal organization called CHIMERA.

Creating an army of monsters (Arachataur, Goblins (less DnD and more Artemis Fowl), Zombies), and augmented/altered ponies (living weapons). Would do my head canon version of Night Mare Moon’s take over plan. And would try to over throw Celestia behind the scenes. Slowly falling deeper and deeper into Nemesis’s control.

Eventually Celestia finds Soul Shard. Nemesis would show herself turning her into a Cthulhuesque horror. The Watcher would step in to stop Nemesis’s direct involvement and empower temporarily Celestia. The two would have a climatic fight and Soul would be purified and pardoned. This would leave CHIMERA up to act in the shadows, ironically a shadow of itself. As a group of antagonist to act from time to time in various stories.

4) Friendship: This is the path that I took with the story. It shows that her as she struggles with loneliness and the need to be loved, and accepted as she is. As well as the need to belong. And how she pushes herself to go farther and push the limits of her body in order to prove her worth to herself. And it’s through here that she finds friends who pull her out of the depths of her own mental darkness and shows her the power of friendship. I won’t tell to much for it’ll be spoiling the story.

Soul Shard’s Production in Arc 1:

The training arc’s are to show her two main needs, and her starting mindset. She’s innocent, kind, and caring. But she’s also lonely, hurt, and filled with the need that she had as a foal / younger filly in her Origin story. The need to prove her worth as a pony, hoping that she’d be loved and accepted if she does.

Her needs are simple the first is to physically and magically push herself. And since she has nothing but free time she can dedicate almost every free moment to training that isn’t taken up by eating, sleeping, or creating things in her mind. The second need is to find away to build money / funds. Originally this needs was to give her an IC reason for all the stuff she gets / does later on.

The training Arcs as a whole are basically setting everything up. Why she can do what she does, why she gets what she gets, the why’s and how’s of the character. Also I didn’t want my character to be OP. So I thought showing her training, and building her up from the bottom up. Would make what she accomplishes somewhat more realistic. That and I have a wonderful collaborator and editor to tell me when I cross the line from OK, to too much territory.

Also the training arc builds something for any Author that wants to use Soul Shard to diverge from any of the arcs. Or take what’s done and take her on a different path than the one she’s on currently.

Friend the Blanket: I love Friend so much. He brings out the best in Soul, and gives her an emotional connection that keeps her in line so much. It allows her to have dialogs with something during her self imposed isolation, and keeps her somewhat sane. It also grips at the feels for me to see this little filly talking to her only companion until she meets Lightning Flicker in Arc 4.

Important Magic:

Transformation Magic: Transformation Magic becomes important in combat parts, as well as fics where she might need stealth [stealing / infiltration], alteration [comes up alot as she alters and augments her body into what she sees as an “improved form”], or what have you.

Gravity Magic: Originally was for training purposes. Has so many uses that it branches out for other things as the story progresses. From starting wealth, moving the Las Pegasus Arc from needed for seed money. To a vacation and friendship arc when it comes up. I love Gravity Magic.

Crafting: This is used for so much stuff. Between Thaumaturgic alteration of objects, Spell crafting, and MagiTech. It allows me to fully explore her and my imagination as well as form interesting things in a progressive manner.

Levitation: I have this simply because it is the most used spell in FIM and has the most practical uses.

The Light Orb: This is important for giving her light at night. Allowing her to open hours for training, over creation. Giving her, her first of several starting inventions for Shard Industries [will be talked about in Arc 2’s A/N]. For a flameless light source.

Magic Crystal Pool: This is a start up for the Mage Battery in Arc 2. As well as useful later for recharging a Mage, as well as powering up spells. It also opens up alot of future inventions.

Planes Crafting: Inspired originally by DnD, and the stories Purity & The Belle Tolls for Love [the Reality Bubble]. The bubble that allows the holding items and hides them in extra dimensional space is something that I think has tons of potential. It is used and mentioned loads later on.

Ending these Notes:

I loved writing this chapter. The later Arcs while decent, and necessary for introducing character growth. I loved showing how when this all starts she is innocent, and caring. As well as how she bonds with her Blanket. It also shows her OCD and how she puts more pressure on herself than is reasonable. All because she thinks that Celestia and others would force her to go up against adults just to humiliate her. IC Celestia isn’t like that, but when your only interaction with her is her Nobles (the parents that locked you away so you wouldn’t stain their reputation by being born the wrong race in their eyes), and her school (who kicked you out and laughed you away for being a Pegasus. Even though you passed the written test). And each of those interactions were mentally scarring, then that tends to lend one to have a rather skewed version of what to expect.

I love exploring her and how she deals with things, and seeing her grow. I hope y’all enjoyed this chapter and if anypony has any comments, questions or criticisms I’d be glad to hear them.