Why TSC: The Best Night Ever makes me tear up every time. · 1:35am May 26th, 2016
Looking back, re-reading The Sweetie Chronicles, I almost feel like the story as a whole is kinda like Robotech—overall good, but the real magic happens in a specific part (Macross) or for TSC, The Best Night Ever.
Spoilers ahead if you haven't read that whole saga.
Whenever I read the last part of TSC: The Best Night Ever I tear up. It's funny, I know what happens. I wrote it. I've read TSC cover to unfinished cover... four... five... six times? And yet, when I get to that point, I tear up.
I never understood it, until today, when I thought up a theory...
When re-reading it, I stopped to ponder why I had this emotional reaction to the last few scenes, starting with Sweetie waking up for the last time in Blueblood's loop-world. I didn't get it. Sweetie was moving on and Blueblood, although trapped for now, eventually emerges victorious... but then I realized why it was hard on the feels... In a way, Sweetie is going to die in that world, for real.
Her last day is spent like a dying person would spend their last day. She overcomes her fear of talking to her biological parents when there's no other choice but to otherwise leave forever without that chance to come to know them.
She spends time with those that—in that world—were most important to her. Her "brother", her teachers. The friends that didn't know who she was day after day. Ponies that taught her to deal with isolation, or to remain strong, or to think of beauty or to be sneaky even. Ponies that taught her magic. Ponies that taught her music.
Much like Twilight's Fragment, Sweetie had lost touch of reality and needed to be centered, and it was these ponies that kept her together, unlike the fragment, who was alone and became mad.
Sweetie says goodbye to each character, trying to convey to each how much they meant to her, and when she sings that last song, full of emotion and baring her soul and telling the truth to Rarity and the others... it's like that moment when a dying person who has hidden what's really happening tells the truth to his/her family and friends and it dawns on them (on some level) that this is the last time they're going to see her.
And then poor Blueblood confirms it the next day.
And even tho they're going to see her go, the way she thanked them and talked to them made it very clear that she's led a very full life with them, for however long it was and so, as sad as they are, they can't also help but feel proud of her for being strong, finding herself and finally being free.
Thoughts?
Never read it, but that sounds like a valid reason to tear up. Saying that last goodbye is freaking hard.
The TBNE chapter is what made TSC TSC. The exact opposite of Backwards through the Mirror.
God dammit. Please no. Not now. When I read that section and at the end with the song and whatever, I was like 'It's sad that Sweetie has to go but all good things must come to an end at some point.'
I never thought about it in that way.
I have a habit of re-reading stories especially longer ones when waiting for an update. Even so very few stories have actually led me to tearing up and it usually is the last goodbyes that hit me the hardest. I will admit 8ts been a while since I last powered through TSC so I cannot convey my exact feelings for that mommet. However I am looking fordward to more of her adventures. And in my usual way I will most likely read through it all to get a proper feel for the whole.
God damn it, I'm not even reading it and I'm getting teary eyed just remembering that scene. I can so see the death angle now...
The Best Night Ever chapter is, by far, my favorite part of TSC. I admittedly never thought about the allegory of Sweetie dying in that world, but it does fit.
Oddly enough, the part that really got to me wasn't when Sweetie left, but when Blueblood admitted that he seriously considered sabotaging her attempts to move on, yet couldn't bring himself to do it. This may seem odd, but it reminded me of the end of A Tale of Two Cities, where Carton is about to head to the guillotine. By aiding Sweetie, Blueblood purposefully consigned himself to repeating that day completely alone, an endless fate he considered worse than death (as he tried to kill himself multiple times).
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
Except for Blueblood there isn't even any rest.
I think you hit the nail dead center on the head. Not to take anything away from the other arcs of TSC, but The Best Night Ever arc is truly something special.
Have to admit I've never thought of it that way before but I can certainly see the comparison.
Sweetie Belle and Blueblood had great chemistry. The story had gone on long enough and The Best Night Ever left us with such a positive bias towards Blueblood that when we see these two, we want good things for them, especially with them in a pair. So seeing such a sad, dramatic separation really hit home emotionally because as a pair they were beloved to us.
That and it was written well.
The Best Night Ever, and its sequel, are probably my most beloved pieces of fiction I've read in the past decade. TBNE is fucking perfect, and TPC hits every single one of my political intrigue/cartoon action receptors.
Trying to separate out TSC chapters from that love is impossible, so when I absolutely devoured and enjoyed those bits of this story I assumed it was my love of that particular universe shining through.
Nice to see that maybe that blind appreciation wasn't so blind after all?
CoughhackcoughMayIHaveAnother,Sircoughhackgasp
What TBNE did was sharpen TSC Sweetie's abilities, develop a scale within her emotional side, and allow us a glimpse of how she handles the pressures of her harder trials. Friendships, rivalries and hatreds became more important to her further character growth, bonds formed there carried over in some ways to future chapters, and adaption to failures actually started there as well.
Honestly? You went a bit too far with Sweetie's development if the chapters succeeding the TBNE arc are tame by comparison. Even BTtM wasn't nearly dark enough, especially considering that Sweetie actually dies at least once during the final part of the former arc. The feeling of her realizing that fact was more gratuitously horrid than that of further possibilities of death in the story thus far. She wasn't just faced with it, she was totally outclassed and the reader knew it; this wasn't even done only once though, it was done multiple times and even if she wasn't actually removed from existence, it felt like there was a piece of her that was permanently shaved away in a manner in which it cannot be recovered. Really hope the story does it again, though; TBNE was the real dark side of the story in the first act, regardless of what is said to the contrary.
3973314 I don't agree with you that I went too far there or that the story should have been darker than BtTM. It was as dark as intended and what happens to Sweetie there IS very, very bad, even if people tend to gloss over what she actually went through. True, had she not learned some important skills in BNE, she wouldn't have survived, but that's character progression for you.
It was straight up my favorite TSC Arc.
Huh. I think you've just nailed why I haven't read that chapter again. It cut pretty close to the bone. Probably some of the most powerful writing I've encountered.
When I found about this fic, I read every other fic it crossed over with at that point, before starting this (including the only piece of FO:E verse I have ever read). But The Best Night Ever was already the third or fourth time I had read it. It's just that great of a story.
And The Sweetie Chronicles too, of course, but sadly I haven't had the time to reread it in one go, just the chapters relevant to ongoing stories it has crossed with.
There was no crying. Only liquid pride.
You know you've written something incredible when, not only do your readers love it, but you yourself get that emotional over it time and again.
Nope. No additional thoughts...that's just about it right there. That chapter nearly drove me to tears.
And speaking of TBNE (or that 'verse, rather), I really wish Chryssalid would get back to work on Platinum Crown. It's been a long time since a new chapter was added.
And I read that part for the first time while at my desk at work.
I was not prepared.
This theory suddenly makes the rest of the story make a little more sense. Something I've noticed is that when Sweetie entered The Immortal Game universe, why Sweetie was there, but also had a local Sweetie Belle somewhere else instead of Sweetie taking the local's body (of course I've never read the original "The Immortal Game", so I have a theory that the letter could have been forged. I don't know. But that wouldn't explain how in A Heart Of Change universe, she did take the local Sweetie's body. Perhaps it could have something to do with her consciousness being sent into that crystal. My point is, ever since she left The Best Night Ever universe, she wasn't taking the local Sweetie's place. Maybe that final loop causing her to somehow split or something.
Also, when are you gonna update TSC: Fractured? I'm confused about what's going on in that story.
P.S. I don't know if any of your planned universes will include this. But I've wondered how Sweetie would handle going into a world where she ended up in the body of Sweetie Bot.
TBNE is one of the chapters that really hooked me into this story.
To be honest, the first two chapters, though they were well-written and fun to read, were very light-hearted and seemed to be written more as comedy. The adventures were relatively short, and the goals accomplished without a lot of deep, character-shaking issues presented. The third chapter provided more emotional depth, and is what started to first change Sweetie in fundamental ways, though it was still relatively short, if I remember correctly (where "relatively short" means 20k words
).
TBNE was long, though. It's practically a story in and of itself. What we witness in that arc isn't like the typical chapters experienced up to this point, where Sweetie easily accomplishes an objective, and makes some acquaintance-level friendships along the way. TBNE is a journey, uniting two different characters as they work through personal struggles, challenges, and life in what is likely the next best thing to a personal hell. In the arc, both characters are crushed not just situationally, but to the roots of their character. The relationship between them rescues then both, and draws them as close as two people can ever be.
All of this made this one of my favorite arcs, and the separation at the end really was bittersweet. I even stopped progression through the story so I could leave a comment at the end of that chapter. From our perspective Sweetie will never ever see Blueblood again. It really is like death for both parties. I think the following arc actually loses depth, because Sweetie's brother and confidante is missing from the story.
All that to say, I really really enjoyed TBNE, and the emotionally engaging parts of the story in general. I can see how the last scene is like death, though more for Blueblood than anyone else (from the reader's/ main character's perception). Also that you've got me hook, line, and sinker for this story, and it's Sweetie's intense character development in this arc that is partially to blame. I greatly look forward to the next installment, whenever life permits.
P.S. sorry for the wall of text.
Agreed. It's one of the chapters I felt absolutely compelled to leave a comment on. The delivery of the warring emotions, and the horrible, unbelievable pain of not only having to watch her go, but helping her, knowing what awaits you when she does, that bitter isolation, in a world where nobody remembers but you.
That he could do it anyway speaks of his character at that point, and of hers, that they could both leave each other, both of them knowing the fate he is being consigned to, and believing, or hoping anyway, that he will find a way out. For me, the scene at the end, that buildup, and the moment of revelation, is so profound, and cuts so deeply, even now I'm tearing up thinking about it.
From the moment he wakes up that day he is at war with himself, hoping she succeeded in freeing herself, and simultaneously fearing it as well. The journey to Ponyville, walking up to the door and knocking, waiting for her to answer. His heart pounding in his ears as he waits to see if she'll recognize him, if it's still the Sweetie Belle he knows and loves.
The reader knows that, deep down, Bluey hopes to see that spark of recognition. Buried in his soul is the hope that their plan failed, that, somehow, it didn't work, and he won't have to have said goodbye just yet. That he'll get even just one more day with her. Just a little more time.
Yet the reader knows too that Bluey, despite all that, still truly desires for her to be free. Freed from the suffering of this repeating world, even if that insidious spark within him whispers "Liar... you want her to stay. Can't she stay just a little longer?"
It's a heartwrenching take on "If you love it you have to let it go." and is definitely the chapter I would most highly recommend to anybody looking to get into this. In fact, it's one I've explained to other people when the discussion of "Why are you a Brony?" comes up and I profess my love for this fandom and the works they've created.
Oh, and TSC TBNE was one of the few fics that actually had me call on google translator to access Pinkie's lines. She is a Santa Claus level linguist.