Demon · 9:50am Apr 10th, 2016
I told myself that I wouldn't drop 12k word monster chapters anymore. They're difficult to write, stupidly hard to edit, and no one reading them has the attention span to really read them. But here I am, doing it again. I'll do what I can to pare it down once I finish writing it, but I've got 8.3k already and there are still substantial portions of the chapter that are only skeleton outlines.
The chapter isn't technically complex. There are no real fights to choreograph and a lot of it is Firefly talking. I tried to be as straightfoward as possible when differentiating between Firefly's spoken narration and elaborating on her storytelling using flashbacks, much like in one of the previous chapters where Roshina describes her last sortie with Bashir. Of course that's not the part I'm scared of. I can handle technical challenges given enough time, caffeine, and reviewing passes.
The chapter is extremely emotionally complex. Delving into Firefly's past means delving into the reason she is the way she is in the current timeline, warts and all. This chapter elaborates on a major event in the Equestrian Horizon timeline, the Battle of Valdus, and also establishes clear consequences for Firefly's actions both at Valdus and in every prior chapter in the story. Bombs will be dropped and a few of the loose threads will be tied up or at least prepped to be tied into other threads later in the story.
I'm going to go ahead and say it now. This will not be a happy chapter. This will not be a funny chapter. This will not be a fun action chapter. This chapter goes into some very dark places and may permanently alter how you perceive some characters in the story. It will be full of feels.
I apologize ahead of time for subjecting you guys to this chapter, only to have to wait another month or more to get the next chapter. I promise subsequent chapters will address the obvious dangling threads and get deeper into the spy games and conspiracies that have been hinted at in prior chapters. Rest assured Rafale will be making a return in force. Even the spy does not escape consequences.
Anyway, it's way too late/early for me to be up any longer. I don't have an ETA on the chapter, but it is being worked on and a substantial portion of it is complete. Further updates to come.
Looking forward to it!