Chrysalis: SoT Chapter 6 · 8:11pm Jun 3rd, 2017
Hello, all. It has certainly been awhile, hasn't it? The next chapter of Chrysalis: Saviour of Time is now up. Discussion with potential spoilers to follow after the page break.
This chapter ended up being longer than I had initially intended, compounding the issues I've had with not writing a lot in the past several months. What you see in this chapter isn't even everything I had initially planned on, at first I was going to have the events from her return to Ponyville in the same chapter but I decided it would be best to split them up. On the plus side, this means that the next chapter is already written and will be posted relatively soon, certainly not with a several month gap. That doesn't mean future chapters after that will be faster, sadly, but at least there'll be a couple of chapters in relatively quick succession. I'm thinking maybe a week from now or so.
In this chapter, I tried to deal with a few things. First and foremost, the obvious issue for Chrysalis in that Time Keeper is being held prisoner by Celestia. Not only does his imprisonment remove the help and guidance that Chrysalis was planning on relying on moving forward in relation to keeping the time line on track, but it also presents a more imminent threat in that he could reveal who she was, blowing her cover entirely. I didn't think it was something that Chrysalis would be willing to just let stay as is for long.
Next up was the time machine. It's true that a time machine at their disposal had the potential to remove some narrative tension. It in theory could allow for them to travel through time again to fix mistakes. While I had already put some work in on negating the idea with the use of paradoxes, I believe a much simpler route is better. The time machine has now been destroyed and both Chrysalis and Time Keeper are stuck in the past without the option of even trying to use further time travel to fix mistakes. This was not, however, merely an attempt to make things easier for me, it is also meant to set up the isolation of both of the characters, and the inevitable loneliness of Chrysalis resulting from realizing she'll never have the option to return to her hive in her own time. This loneliness will definitely be playing a role in her future.
Though I'm sure there is more I could say and I'll surely think of more later, I can't think of anymore off the top of my head at this moment. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and goodbye.
The chapter was absolutely fantastic! I really do enjoy the direction you are taking it in -- very unique and thrilling.