Behind the words: The first steps into a new world

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Manehatten was just a name.

So we have our hero's awakening, now time for a little world building. It's a hobby I enjoy, maybe one day I'll share the Corrallis 3rd Drop Troops, but hard to do when in the confines of an established universe. That's part of the challenge I suppose, you have to start small and begin working on the worlds these characters knew as opposed to trying to rewrite the narrative. I am in awe of the world that Kkat has made - given the fact this is attempt number 2, I think you can see that - so I wanted to do justice to the gaps given. We know what Manehatten was like before Littlepip and co start working their magic. That gives me only a little space for wriggling.

I had to begin with introducing the other leads to the story, Domino and Clean, in a satisfactory way. Clear cut with their personalities and motives from the word go, and there's no better way than an argument and basic exposition. As said before, I wrote Hard to be the character who you pick up in a DLC quest line: helpful, but potentially clueless about it all. He's got a whole lot to learn about the world of Fallout Equestria, and that isn't going to come easy by any means. So having the two give him the basics of the FOE world (the sort of stuff we should know from the fic itself) off-screen I felt cut through all the useless faff of hearing the same old same old.

Instead, I wanted to approach Manehatten from someone who had lived there, who knew what it should be like. Hard trying to cope will all the horrors that must have taken place over the last century and a half was rather exciting to write. It was a real challenge, I can't even begin to imagine that kind of loss and I only have condolences to offer for those who have. Honestly, I haven't done it justice because I know I can't write PTSD convincingly and that isn't the area I wanted to explore. It was far more the sense that something is wrong with a place, yet it's the only way the rest of the world knows it.

The raider scene was placed to show the danger to Hard in a far more threatening and unemotional way. A shotgun to the face eventually led to talking, which worked out fine for him, but the raider attack was meant to be short, brutal, and one hell of a wake-up call. I've never felt the need to narrate every battle, especially considering how often raiders attack in the FO games, so having this one as a one off I thought was perfect.

My favourite, and perhaps the most challenging, scene was Hoofbeats. Originally, I wanted Hard to have his first "flash" here, where he races to the still hanging platform and desperately tries to make the club seem like it once was again - hitting buttons to get music playing and causing the platform to crash like we see in the original fic. Ultimately, I decided it was a bit too early for that and so let him have the mindless rage - the first sign that something is amiss with him.

Instead, I went for emotional torture. One of my friends, and readers of the fic, said that they loved the moment when Hard finds the bones of Gentle Giant and the (rather dispassionate) reaction comment Hard makes. It was unintentional, but looking back this was the first time I had Hard really "throw the switch". He's in work mode, right next to the corpse of one of his closest friends, helping ponies he doesn't even know. And I just love it when you can write a character that can do that. Just how long until they burst? What happens when they do?

Finally, we have our first confirmation of what the Magic of Friendship is. Pay close attention to the dates and the comments Hard makes, because I want people to work out what it is long before the reveal. I won't confirm or deny anything, but I'm keen to hear ideas.

Chapter 2 playlist
This chapter didn't have a lot of music to go with it. If I were to have this as a movie, it would mostly be silent beyond ambient noise. If you want an idea of how it should go, try finding the ambient backgrounds used in New Vegas and 4 to give you an idea.

Portal to the Past by Inon Zur from the Fallout 4 OST
Never Forget by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori from the Halo 3 OST