About Episode 6 (chapter 7)

Hey everypony. Wow, this was... actually pretty fun! Some chapters are harder to write than others, but this one seemed relatively easy. It only took me as long as it did because I didn't have a lot of time to work on it each day.

But there are a few notes her, that won't really fit in at the end of the chapter normal.

First, I'd like to thank all of my readers, and one guy in particular: ______________. You leave likes and comments and I love it, they've been really helpful, especially on this chapter.

See, the aforementioned reader told me that I was sticking too close to the original show (Kill la Kill). By chance I wound up reading the FIMFiction guide to writing, and it told me something similar. This chapter may not have strayed as far from the original as I would like, but I did the best I could. Most of the dialogue, is original. I tried to avoid using any lines from the episode, though in some cases it was unavoidable. When I couldn't deviate too much, I paraphrased or abused the thesaurus. I of course made Rainbow's backstory different from Sanageyama's; more on that later. I also changed the ending a little, trying to make it a little more heartwarming. A Pet The Dog moment for Cadence.

Next, I have to explain why I did not deviate too far from the episode this time. It actually goes back to the very idea of this fanfic. I was cruising YouTube and came across an epic animation that is basically a ponified version of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Since TTGL and KLK are sister shows, I searched for a ponified animation of Kill la Kill. And found none.

Surprised, I started thinking about why that might be. I couldn't come up with a reason, because the possibilities for scenes that could be ponified came to me really easy.

Later, I was thinking about it, and I realized that if no one else was going to ponify the show properly, why shouldn't I? I know I'm pretty good at writing, so thought, why not write a fanfic crossover between the two series?

I didn't start right away. I was concerned because I have another fanfic (I've mentioned this before) that I've been struggling with for a long time, and I didn't want to start another. But eventually, the sheer number of good ideas I had overwhelmed that worry and made me start writing.

One of the first ideas was this chapter.

Well, not exactly. But Episode 6 of KLK is possibly my favorite episode of the show, for one word: Engarde. That scene is so powerful, so spine-tinglingly epic, that it ingrained itself in my brain as the iconic scene of the show. Nowhere else do plot, dialogue, and music mix together so well. That might not be true, but it's how I feel. Naturally, that scene was the first my brain went to, to ponify. I decided on Rainbow as Sanageyama, and Twilight as Ryuko, right then.

In this final version, things are pretty different from my first imagining of it. The fight looks almost nothing like the one in Kill la Kill, though it might seem familiar. That's because, just when I started typing, CW's The Flash aired a new episode showing off just what their big bad could do. This is Season 3 of that show, just to be clear. I must Date this entry.

In any case, watching that episode and trying to type this, I realized that I'd given RD speedster powers, essentially, plus a couple other abilities. When it got to the Storm part of the chapter, that's when I made the leap: RD was Zoom, from Flash Season 2. I went ahead and based the first “fight” between RD and Twi on Zoom's curb-stomp of Barry. Funnily enough, that took place in episode 6 of season 2, 'Enter Zoom'.

The second fight get's it's basis in Season 3 of The Flash. It's a combination of two encounters between speedsters and the Big Bad; the first encounter, the episode that inspired all of this, was also episode 6. This is just occurring to me as I'm typing it, and I'm struggling to keep from laughing out loud.

But that's enough about that. I have to move on to Rainbow's backstory, because it's sure to be divisive. I'm honestly conflicted myself. A part of me thinks, wow dude you did an awesome job! The other part thinks: you idiot, you turned her into a wimp!

I'm not sure what the overall consensus will be. I know that I tried to make it similar to the backstory of Original-Rainbow, but not exactly the same. My thinking was, she had an accident similar to the one shown in the 'Newbie Dash' flashbacks. However, in this universe Fluttershy wasn't there, wasn't a friend to Rainbow, and so RD never really got over it. Sure, the original still had issues with the name calling, but this version is downright scared of preforming in public. She still has an ego, but now she's so afraid of failing that she never does anything to prove it. Add in a dollop of depression from that fear turning into reality, and I think that about completes my thoughts on AU-Rainbow Dash.

Maybe I should have taken her backstory further away from the show version. Maybe I should've made it closer to Sanageyama's. Or maybe I should've tried something completely different. I dunno, you guys tell me.

Finally, for those of you who read this far, you all get some extra info.

Pinkie Pie can still break the 4th wall. That isn't easy in written form, but I did try to put it in this story twice so far. However, she can only do it when her mane is frizzed and she's actually in a Pinkie mood. When she's Pinkamena, she can't do it.

Rainbow Dash did pull off a sonic rainboom this chapter, in case you were wondering. She did it while running, which I think makes it ten times more impressive. I'm not sure how often I'll show her doing rainbooms, but she'll weaponize it at least once.

I think that's all I can say without getting into spoiler-y territory, so I'll see everypony later!

Next time: a new friend of Twilight's comes to visit.