A Look Behind the Scenes: Supervillian Flu

Here's a special behind-the-scenes look at my writing process! This episode, we're covering the final chapter of The Supervillain Flu, as well as some deleted scenes from earlier chapters.

For those who are interested, the following are my unedited "jot these down so I remember later what I want to write" notes on the chapter (I suggest not reading this until after you've read the chapter, as it does not just contain spoilers, it is spoilers distilled):

coming to night, seems like everything's calmed down

teams meet up.
This is already a statistically ridicukous number of cases, so I feel confident in saying that we can rest easy

Giant shadow cover city

Afterparty speech

no choice, fight with magic and flying
not enough!

Suddenly, a portal
Fluttershy emerges
What are you doing here?
Discord and I have been watching everything from his living room. I couldn;t stand by and watch you all fight on your own.
I don;t know hoe much help one more pony is going to be
Package, Discord gave me this. He said I'd know what to do
Opens box. Oh, oh I see. Turns to friends. Please, after this is over help me remember who I am

Puts on outfit. Military Uniform of Tanya the Evil
Opens eyes as tugs on cap, suddenly yellow irises
"gets too into character" ref to scp episode
rough and tough military planner
let's out shriek too high to hear.
rumbling
animals pour forth from forest

still not enough
reaches into hip holster, gets banana
[] calling [], this is [] calling []
this is [], we read you loud and clear
we need back-up, we're getting slaughtered out here
roger that [], who do you need.
Call in... pause. thinks. idea "Call in everyone"
hear his grin over the phone. Roger that []

Trixie
yes
you said you have some knowledge of supervillains
well I suppose - i never claimed to be an expert
tell me, cuts off, what separates a villain from a supervillian
presentation? glim
True, but thjere is one other thing
steady thumping begins to resound
A vallain will do his dirty work and go, regardless of the actions of others. A supervillain, evil grin, hates being upstaged.

enter Rarity with army of ponequins. "Who dares threaten my fashion empire?"
mechanical buzzing comes from behind. Enter Vinyl with legions of robot animals and ponies, riding dragon
Lyra jumps in covered with tools and saws
enter Dr. Whooves with his changeling gun, good pony goes to war ref, well here's an army of good ponies
Mayor Mare send in swarms of interns, "a raise and employment to whoever brings down my competition"
Delayed, Cutie Mark Crusaders something or other, maybe reference something
Countless more described in passing
At end, Dinky shows up, points pinkie as root of her conspiracy. Rushes to join fight, but Derpy holds back, "Oh no, that's more than enough for one day"

Giant epic fight to "Evil is fun" music

Pinkie never coughs or sneezes

Given that this is the end of the story, here's a few deleted scenes as well.
The first is a long-winded explanation for how the virus works from the first chapter which was cut because 1) it was not funny and broke the story's flow, and 2) I didn't want to tie down the science of it in case I needed wiggle room later.

"First off," Twilight began, "You know I'd never let anything bad happen to you, or any of my friends for that manner. So when a rumor started circulating in the scientific community about a virus which turns ponies evil, of course I took action. I've been working with ponies across Equestria who are the best in their fields, ranging from magical theory to microbiology." Her wings fluttered a nervous shuffle. "It seems, actually, that the creation of this disease might be partially... um... our fault."

Spike glanced at her questioningly. "Our fault? You mean you and me? Or like just you, or ponies in general, or what?"

"'Our' meaning the girls and I." She clarified. "There's little concrete evidence so far, but our leading theory is that our actions as embodiments of the Elements of Harmony may be a direct cause of this mutation. It's commonly believed that Equestria held such a long span of peace during Luna's banishment due to the Tree of Harmony suppressing evil during that time. It's also been theorized that all the villains we've faced had emerged in such a short span of time due to the tree finally weakening. However, according to our research, we've been defeating and purifying so many evil-doers in such a short span of time, that all the evil energy released upon their defeat has been dispersing across the nation faster than natural processes can balance or contain. We also think this may be why so many of our recent foes have been ponies, rather than elder beings of ancient darkness."

"So you've been... polluting Equestria with evil? And that's been what's making ponies sick?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, even as high as it is now, this level of negative energy in the atmosphere isn't enough to affect ponies. How can I make it clearer? Ah, imagine every time we defeat a villain, it's like a small forest fire. Significant amount of smoke and ash are released into the air, enough to be detected by scent dozens of miles away. But even though it's detectable, it's not enough to warrant a heath hazard. Does that make it clear Spike?"

"I think so," he agreed as he poured another cup of coffee. "But that still doesn't explain the whole 'a virus is making ponies evil' thing we started with."

"Right, sorry, I'll get back on track. Essentially, we think that, in response to this change in it's environment, the virus mutated to adapt to the higher level of negative energy available." Twilight's hoof rose to her chin, as her eyes gained the glassy focused-on-something-in-the -distance look that indicated her train of thought had derailed from helpful explanation to internally-aimed discussion and analysis. "It's actually really a remarkable example of a symbiotic relationship. The virus infects a pony, seeding a place for evil to grow, and then once they're either beaten or purified by the Elements, the negative energy is once more dispersed far and wide. Meanwhile, ponies acting in a villainous manner are often brought in close contact with other large groups, increasing chances of spreading the virus. It's so ingenious, it almost doesn't seem natural."

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike interrupted her external monologue. "I know you said you had everything under control, but this sounds like it's actually something we should really be worried about."

And finally, an earlier version of Pinkie's introduction speech as Afterparty. Rewritten because it felt too broadly ominous and not Pinkie enough.

CITIZENS OF PONYVILLIE...

FOR MILLENNIA, YOU HAVE LIVED UPON THIS PLANE. CHANGING IT, SHAPING IT TO YOUR NEEDS AND DESIRES. FOR GENERATIONS YOU HAVE LIVED AND LAUGHED AND CELEBRATED LIFE.

"What is that?!" Trixie cried, scrambling to her hooves.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, "But it looks... somehow familiar."

The figure reared up to even greater heights, now fully casting the entire town in shadow.

It IS TIME TO WIPE THE SLATE CLEAN. DO NOT DESPAIR, FOR EVERY ENDING IS BUT ANOTHER'S NEW BEGINNING. WHEN THE WORLD IS CLEANSED AND MADE ANEW, OTHERS WILL COME FROM THE SPACES BETWEEN AND SHALL REMAKE THE WORLD IN THEIR IMAGE, MUCH AS YOUR ANCESTORS DID IN THEIR TIME. THE TIME OF PONIES IS COMING TO A CLOSE, BUT WHEN THE NOISE AND LIGHT AND LIFE WINDS DOWN, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER CELEBRATION TO TAKE ITS PLACE. AND IT IS MY DUTY, THOUGH I TAKE NO PLEASURE IN IT, TO BE THE ONE TO SHEPHERD THE CHANGE. TO EASE THE WORLD FROM ONE CELEBRATION OF LIFE TO THE NEXT.

"Don't you think," Starlight began hesitantly, "With the shape of it's mane, it almost looks like..."