Preview: Flash Sentry and the future of Dragoon Wars · 1:27am Mar 29th, 2014
Heya folks, Crystalis McCloud here, and I bring with me a preview on my much-delayed work on my current obsession of a story, It Comes in a Flash.
"Hey, Crystalis, why are we seeing an update about your Flash Sentry story when we favorited Dragoon Wars?"
You may be thinking something along those lines, but trust me, dear readers, there is a reason. Well, I'll be the first to admit that I've been in a slump with my writing, all of my stories. There are a number of factors to blame for this. Chief among them is that I have a little almost four year old daughter to look after every day, and finding the energy to write after she gets to bed or at any other possible opportunity is hard at best. I think considering that, I've actually been able to put out a decent amount of content in the past year. There's another reason that you particularly haven't seen an update for Dragoon Wars in months.
I've hit a snag in inspiration. Rather, I know what I want to happen, and how I want it to happen, and if I pushed myself, I could probably get it out.
My problem, is that, as my first major story, I was kinda writing this story for the thrill of it. I had big ideas for the challenges Twilight and the other Dragoons would face, the foes they would fight, and this was only the first of four planned arcs, separated into books, much like Legend of Dragoon was. However, unlike with my other stories, I haven't been able to feel out a strong theme that underlines all of these ideas. For my other active stories, Equestria's Strife Online, Two Emerald Hearts, and It Comes in a Flash (especially this one) I actually have a theme I want to portray and communicate to my audience, even if the first two will take a bit more work to do so. Dragoon Wars doesn't have that. There's a pretty good connection of events and conflicts and history in my head, but I don't have an actual message I'm trying to work towards. I feel I've done very great things in concept with this story, but I just don't feel like in the end it would be anything other than a sequence of events and conflicts of various sorts. Now, I haven't completely decided to turn this story to canceled, as I did put a lot of work into it, but this is the way I'm feeling about it lately in light of the inspirations I've felt towards my other stories.
But I'm happy with some things, even if I do give it the kick into cancelation. Namely, its chief contribution in my writings are threefold.
1. I now have utter confidence in my portrayal of Spike as a primary character in stories. In particularly, thanks to a review from La Barata of the W.R.I.T.E. reviewers group. I will write almost any Spike in any of my stories like the Spike you've all come to enjoy in that story.
2. Casts. These wonderful little weapons, where applicable and sensible to a story, will be a consistent element present in any of my works from now on. I have come to adore the sheer versatility and possibilities for character building they allow. The type of weapon that resonates with ones very being from the Casts can say a lot, at least in the portrayals I have of those characters. For instance, and most notably, my choice of Cast weaponry for Twilight and Flash.
3. Flash Sentry. Now, I've had a soft spot for this dude ever since Equestria Girls first came out. Sure, his actual portrayal in the movie left A LOT to be desired, and I actually could care less about the human Flash. But Pony Flash is where I see all the possibilities, and the result is the Flash you saw a peek of in the latest chapter of Dragoon Wars.
And that's where It Comes in a Flash becomes relevant. It's actually the story of that Flash Sentry, just written in a way that will allow for it apply to more stories than just Dragoon Wars. It is my take on his growth and development; his discovering of his talent to take in lightning, and his skills in flight even without that lightning; his family life; and eventually, how he got into the Royal Guard; the challenges and tasks he performed; and how he rose in the ranks to become a soldier of note under the command of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Dragoon Wars helped me to come up with this whole thing, and thus I feel that this story of Flash Sentry is incredibly relevant to any of you that loved my interpretation of the character.
So, in light of that, I hope to tempt you towards this story, with this snippet of my current work on the second chapter, which has yet to be released. (I'm totally not taking advantage of the connection with my most popular story to get an influx of new readers, no siree :mustache:)
Spitfire took off to land over by the finish line. She gave a short wave and both Flash and Strike lowered into their starting positions. They spread their wings wide and fanned their pinions out. Their hooves scored against the firm clouds beneath them. They were ready. They waited until they heard...
Spitfire put the whistle to her lips and let out the familiar piercing tweet.
In the blink of an eye, Flash pushed his wings down and shot into the air. He took a quick lead ahead of Strike and flew through the first upper ring. Strike was right behind Flash as he pulled into dive, aiming for the first lower ring. The lead was short-lived, as halfway through the dive, Strike went barrelling by Flash.
This was the deciding point. Flash knew Strike was faster than him. If this race had been more of a straight shot, Flash knew he would lose. He would have performed better than he had before, but he still would have lost. This course, however, was perfect for him.
As the two pegasi neared the lower ring, Strike flared his wings to slow his descent. Instead of doing the same, Flash kept going and took the lead again. He didn't slow down at all, much to the surprise of the onlookers.
"You're coming in too hot, Flash! Slow down!" Spitfire shouted from the other end of the track. "Crazy colt, he's gonna overshoot the ascension point if he keeps that up," she muttered under her breath.
Flash paid no heed to the warning. He reached the low ring and in that instant fanned his wings out. He slowed for only a half second, losing a small chunk of his momentum. It looked like he was going to overshoot it, just like Spitfire and everyone else thought.
Instead, in the next instant, his wings snapped down and he shot right up to the next ring without missing a beat. Only the faintest signs of rigor showed on the colt's face from the strain of the momentum change.
"Wha-?" was the collective statement of bewilderment.
Even Spitfire was scarcely able to believe her eyes. She'd pulled out of high speed dives before. Faster ones than this colt had performed, but even then she would have had to slow herself down a good five yards from the ring in order to make it. On top of that, the G-forces from a shift like that were intense. Very few ponies could handle the strain, and yet it looked as though those forces seemed nearly nonexistent for him.
Flash broke into a huge grin as he reached the next high ring, which hovered even higher than the first. Strike had only climbed half of the distance, though all Flash knew and cared about was that he was winning. He was winning! That week of intense home training had been completely worth it!
This was his strength in flight. His agility.
He wasn't the fastest pegasus. Far from it. He understood that perfectly well now. He didn't need to be; not when he could go from a dead stop to full speed in just three flaps of his wings. On top of that, he could turn on a dime too. His body instinctively knew how to change the direction of his momentum while barely losing any speed. All while bringing the strain on his body to a minimum.
Acceleration and agility. These two skills fed each other. With them, he could stay at his peak speed for the maximum amount of time while slowing down as little as possible. That was why this was a perfect course for him.
Flash stooped into a dive when he passed through the ring. He squinted against the rushing winds, and brought all of his focus forward.
Behind him, Strike started to gain once more, but had to slow his own dive before he could pull ahead. Flash just kept charging forward. Just like last time, right when he passed through the ring, he turned his momentum upward and almost effortlessly rose again.
Little by little, with every switch, Strike fell farther behind. Flash, on the other hoof, surged ahead. He zig-zagged up and down through the rings with everything he had. His wings and lungs burned like fire as he pushed himself as hard as he could.
Then finally, after one last high ring, he turned down and swerved in through the finish line ring. His hooves skidded along the cloud surface as he came to a halt beside Spitfire. His breath came out in ragged gasps.
He was wiped, but he had won. He'd won! His first ever victory!
I still have some thinking to do about Dragoon Wars. I hope some of you may have thoughts to share on the issue, or anything. I'd very much appreciate all of your thoughts.
Well, as the author you can make any choice you want, and I'd respect that since you are doing it out of your own ambition and free time. I for one, however, would be very disappointed to see it cancelled. I was really enjoying what you had there, even if I had a pair of nostalgia goggles on because of the topic.
Please don't cancel it. If nothing more put it on hiatus and see if the message comes back, or maybe consider a re-write after thinking about it some.
1963032 That is an option I've considered. Though I will say that at this moment, fist and foremost, I really want to complete It Comes in a Flash. It's a much shorter idea than pretty much any of my other stories, and the message, the theme, the everything is crystal clear in my mind. At the very least you can expect me to restart Dragoon Wars after that story's completed.
1963047
That's all I'd ever ask for. IM not an author myself so I cant imagine the energy put into it, but I can take a guess and its a lot.
As I've done with some other stories (my very favorite 2 stories got thrown onto perpetual hiatus with promise to finish..somead..) ill wait as long as it takes
1963059 Well, maybe if I get a strong urge, you'll see the next chapter before the other story ends. But it's far from a guarantee. Like I've said though, I know what I want to have happen, but it's just the problems I've mentioned.
It's nice to know that you're around
I do hope this story doesn't kick the bucket, because I was enjoying it thus far, even when I post appropriate OSTs for each chapter 
1963125 I am glad that you've been enjoying it. I do appreciate every last one of my faves and follows. I am not making the decision in a hurry, and I do feel like finishing It Comes in a Flash will help me to know if I feel like I can do proper justice in writing under a theme with Dragoon Wars like I know I can with the Flash story. If I do keep i going, the way I take my Flash story will have a solid effect on how I write Flash in Dragoon Wars too. Hell, at some point if I did continue, I'd be making reference to events in the Flash fic when Flash talks about his past, so either way, it's important that I finish it.