Canterlot in Flames, Chapter 6 · 1:31am Feb 27th, 2016
Now, before I get into meat of this blog post, I need to say something first.
Up until now, the story has been tame, with some injury and some death in it. But never anything 'on screen' as it were. The Command Sergeant and the Captain of the Guard, along with all the Guards and Reserves who died in the initial attack died off-screen, and there was one guard who died near Daring but wasn't shown.
That all changes after this chapter.
As such, as the author, I feel it is my duty to inform you that after Sound of Silence, in fact during the end of this chapter, the M rating will become relevant.
For those of you who do not like bloodshed and death, I would like to apologize, because the truth is I really don't like writing it myself. If the story didn't call for it, I'd be writing sarcastic humor, sappy love, and ponies making friends with each other instead of gearing up to go to war. But the story calls for violence, it demands I write something dark, something that is supposed to disturb you, make you feel that what is going on is wrong, because it is wrong.
It has taken me this long to get this latest chapter out, in fact, because it has taken me this long to write chapter 7. I kept activily finding things to do that didn't include writing ponies suffering, and the other EW authors kept having to pull me back and tell me to write.
Anyway, long story short, Chapter 6, 7, and 8 will be the real dark ones. For anyone who doesn't wish to read these chapters, I'll do a brief summery in chapter 9, but I implore you to read the marked chapters because you'll get the full effect of what is going on, because truthfully the good times are made to shine all the brighter when put beside the dark times.
Now then, onto talking about Chapter 6!
The Sound of Silence.
I chose this title for a reason, first off that the cover of the song "The Sound of Silence" by Desturbed is perhaps one of my all time favorite covers of a song.
Second off, I felt the title was a good way to say that it's the calm between storms. Canterlot as a whole is just now starting to recover from the attack by the Shadowbolts, ponies are picking up the pieces and wounds are slowly healing. In the background, though, a storm is brewing as Blueblood has continued his quest to gather to his side those who would see the current way of things between the upper and lower classes to continue as it always has, for in his eyes now that so many of his fellow Nobles are without homes now should be the time that the lower-classes should support them and give them whatever they want. This includes the Guards and the Reserves, who he (And quite a few of his fellows) feel are barring them from their rightful places, which is lording over the Ponies of Canterlot in the absence of the Royal Sisters (And Twilight and Cadence, but then they're not really ever in the city to start with unless called for!).
This reasoning truthfully stems from the meaning of the lyrics (In my opinion) of the song, which I feel is really about oppression. Obviously you all will take different things from the song, but that is what I got from it.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. Once more, this is the start of the real grim chapters, so if you do not wish to read what amounts to a civil war in Canterlot, then that is your choice. I won't hold it against you.
Until next time!
~Sylvian
As one of the pre-readers for this story, I can confirm that the next chapter is decidedly more violent and dark than any chapter prior to this one. It's absolutely fantastic, but it is definitely rough, emotionally speaking. and it inspired a whole reactionary sequence in Renegades: A Memoir