The end, and the begining · 7:01am Mar 10th, 2018
[Melody not pictured. Art by Jadeile]
Welcome Princess Melody Justitia Skyla of the Crystal Empire, Spirit of Order
and
Ismaat Sparkle Draconequus , Spirit of Chaos
Yes, I know, much like pony-Discord in DD, the thought of my using a 'babies ever after' type ending was something I was hesitant and a little anxious about. But when I decided to give the story (and series) a happy ending,this was the type of thing that started forming in my head. Plus even though I know Discord babies are a fairly popular thing that fic writers do, I hadn't yet staked my claim at doing such a thing in my story. Plus, (I would hope anyway) having them create a new chaos being to balance things out just made sense. A being that - like Celly and Luna – was created on Equus for the purpose of being on Equus. Now there might be questions about Melody having safely absorbed the order magic, and those would be fair. In my writer's opinion though, the absorption of the magic while Mel was forming not only excellerated her growth, but sort of wove itself into her DNA, in a way. So she is just as much a spirit being as Celly and Luna were.
A fewtiny little bits of noteworthy trivia:
- Weirdly enough (tome at least) DiH breaks the mold of the Sympathy Series by havin the longest chapter not be the last one.
- Technically you could say that chapter 12 is the actual last chapter,wheras chapter 13 is just an extra bonus scene.
And now let's take a minute and talk about the ways I could have ended this thing. This was a little thing I wrote during NaNo while hammering out this happy ending:
[Looking down at the two squirming futures of the balance between the two powers,Twilight couldn't help but feel the sense of peace as well, as if true harmony had really been achieved. At least for now, time would tell how the little ones grew into their powers, but for now all seemed well.
“Discord,” Twilight said as she looked back to him, he already leaning in close to her to see the babies as well. “I'm so glad that you didn't fade away up in the other plane, or create Ismaat using all of your chaos power and then faded away, leaving me a magically-crippled single mother to a demigod. Or worse, that the chaos magic killed me from the inside, leaving you to create Ismaat out of both chaos and your grief fueled memories of me. I'm so glad that didn't happen. Wouldn't that have been terrible if it had?”
“Yes, and if we both died, having to leave him on Celestia's and Luna's doorstep to raise. That would have been so sad for little Ismaat, I'll bet anyone who read that in a story might cry and be very mad at the author.”
“Yes, they might have thrown their computing devices across the room they were in out of anger and sadness.”
“What is a computing device?”
“I have no idea, but there would probably be a lot of broken ones.”
And then they went outside to the top of the tallest tower in Canterlot Castle and lifted up both Ismaat and Melody for all of Equestria to see, while Lady smith Black Mambazo sang off in the distance. All of the gathered ponies bowed before their new harmony twins... cousins? ]
Yeah... what they said there were just a couple of the original endings I thought about. It really seemed to me like the most dramatic, poetic, bittersweet ending was the way to go. BUT after a conversation with Pen Stroke (that I'm sure he's forgotten, or at least I kinda hope so) I was given the seeds for the idea that lead to Twilight trying to get back in contact with Discord and then exploding (but not dying). Then the rest of it was born from a conversation with my former manager at my last job who told me y'all probably might not like a sad/bittersweet ending no matter what I think.
I know that for the most part one must really try and write the kind of story one wants to read, and not to worry about having it be liked by everyone. But the thing also is that I have spent a long time with these characters. I love them so much that I have been known to call Discord my son out loud and in public. They've come to mean a lot to me, and I'm sure they have toyou as well. Y'all have been with me and them for these six years, you've traveled with them and come to love them too. So I feel like both they and you deserve to have that happy ending.
Plus there's that whole 'death of the author' thing, that once I finish my work and hand it off to an audience, does it really belong to me anymore?
I do thank y'all – each and every one of you – for reading, liking, commenting,and following me throughout the years and through this writing journey of mine. This wasn't my first writing project or fanfic project, but this is the first fic series – and the first actual series – I have ever written and saw through to completion. I'm proud of that, no matter what anyone's opinions on fanfiction and how I spent my time writing it. I wrote what equates to an entire book trilogy. Not many of those who poo poo fanfics can say that.
So what's next for me, you might ask? Well, I always said that I didn't want to “leave” the fandom until after I had properly concluded the Sympathy Series. And now that I have I don't think I'll exactly be 'leaving', but you might indeed see less of me.
I don't plan to stop writing fanfiction – I don't really want to ever stop to be honest – but there are just so many other fandoms of which I'd like to devote my time and talents. Plus there are some original fiction ideas I've been working on on and off for the last few years as well. I'd like to see where that can take me.
And of course I'm still voice acting. Be sure to follow me on twitter if you are indeed interested in following me to my other fan projects and/or original work. (@Ckatwriter for writing, and @ckattime for fun times and voice work) I may at some point have to sever my connections between my fan writing and my original writing, but for now I'd very much like there to be an easy way for my readers to come along if they so choose.
Thank you all again for sticking with me through all of my ups and my many, many downs. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride,an that the rest of your year (and lives) are filled with the balance that makes life worth living. That makes up true harmony.
Your friend,
-Ckat
I, for one, am glad you went with the happy ending. Bittersweet stuff is poetic and all, but it does wear thin after so many authors go that rout.
I loved it so much!!! I am so glad that I got to read your awesome series! So thank you so much!
I really do hate sad endings, so thank you for saving my computer. Installing Linux is such a pain, after all...
Pap good ending to a good story. . . . Cute too.