Marching Orders updated and a potential side story · 6:10pm Mar 16th, 2018
So, when I said I was going to give Starfleet Nemesis my undivided attention...
Marching Orders, the first proper chapter of the fic, has been updated as Starla continues to be awful but hopefully in a more relatable way that she was before we could see into her head. She's still the bad guy, but I'm going for a bit less 'jackass' and a bit more 'tragic flaws' this time around. Kind of, anyway.
So check that out.
Also in this chapter is a hint for a Starlfeet Nemesis sidestory that I am strongly considering writing, because it's just bitten me so hard I can't shake it.
It could not be denied that Friendship is Magic had never been the same since the untimely death of their squad leader. The attempt to find an alternative bearer for the Element of Magic – or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say the attempt to hammer a not-Twilight shaped peg into a Twilight-shaped hole – had been little short of farcical.
You see, one of the things that I really didn't like when I reread Starfleet Magic III recently was the fact that Celestia takes Twilight's spot in the Mane Six as the Element of Magic. It betrays a lack of understanding of how the elements work, a disrespect to Twilight and to Celestia herself for that matter. Don't like it one bit.
But it did give me an idea for a story where the Grand Ruler would assign a 'replacement Twilight' to the Mane Five, who would of course not care for one bit. And, although it's too late to incorporate that idea into Starfleet Nemesis the way I would have done if I'd just been starting, it isn't too late start a new fic based around the idea.
I'd appreciate some thoughts.
Yeah, that has always and will always be a sticking point with me. Appearently, the elements work on worthiness in this universe
And that Celestia was the only pony 'worthy' enough of the element of magic because she was the only pony out there that was magical enough to wield it
That the element flew to her because it chose her, you know, because it's not a bond that is needed for the elements, in spite of it being said differently. I asked it in the riff as to why it picked her because, well...it still doens't make a lick of sense!
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Really, from the moment that Twilight's body disgorges a new Element of Magic stone like she's a goomba from Mario Bros to the suggestion that one of the Mane Five could become the Element of Magic if they trained hard enough, to the statement that 'Oh, the space ponies are already too powerful for elements' to Celestia getting it the treatment of the Element of Magic is just one misstep after another.
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Really, the easies solution was to make a brand new OC. Just make a brand new one like how Victor Von Doom made a brand new Sailor Moon after "Death of Sailor Moon" named Selene and she was given Serena's powers (Granted, she became evil in Sailor moon and Xena crossover, but the less said about that...) He made countless already. Hell, remove Mykan Stev-whateveridontgiveafuck and you have an opening. But nope, the excuse is "Too many characters to take care of."
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Leaving aside that I'm not sure I'd trust Mykan to make an OC capable of replacing Twilight...I think you're right. Ideally a character who could act as a foil to Twilight (who would be present in the show via flashbacks and reminiscences) and who could create conflict via the initially distrustful/disgusted attitudes of Twilight's friends, and who could gain character development. All of which Series 3 sorely needs.
I didn't realise until I re-read it how incredibly boring the final third of SFMIII is. I think the fact that the most dramatic event happens in episode 16 and all ramifications thereof are quickly wrapped up (because Mykan expects us to be more interested in Lightning's destiny than Twilight's death) is largely to blame; the actualy end of the story feels like an anticlimax by comparison but the intro of a new character could shake things up.
I actually like the concept of Mykan Stevens; although he's far too young to be a NASA test pilot the idea of the story reminded me a lot of Farscape (hell, if Mykan arrived at the beginning of season 6 and joined the escaping prisoners from Conva on the run from Starfleet then his story would be Farscape). It's just that M. Stevens is written as so aggravatingly unlikeable even as everyone insists on what a good person he is.
Intriguing.