Magisight: Chapter 19 (contains spoilers for the chapter!) · 11:45pm Aug 28th, 2019
I REALLY need to get better about posting these the night of or night after I post a chapter. I blame weekend laziness!
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So, how about that reveal in chapter 19 about the Tree? From nearly the beginning, I had always intended for a giant tree to be a centerpiece location of earth pony magic, and from there, I thought "Hey, what if there was an ORIGINAL Golden Oak?" Despite my intention to use it early on, I was unsure on how exactly to weave it into the narrative. I was unsure if it would be meaningful or come off as cliche. I bet many of you saw it coming, considering how awkward and nostalgic Twilight felt everytime she stepped foot in the Golden Oak. Finding that delicate balance of how much to reveal is really difficult. Show too much of it, and it takes away from more important things in the plot, while also making the reveal super obvious and less impactful. Hint at too little, and the reveal can come out of nowhere and blindside the reader. Still, I imagine I missed the boat by about 4-5 years to weave the Golden Oak Library into a story, to which I say "nyeh!"
Not too much else to say about this chapter, really. It underwent a complete re-write from the ground up, but the basic premise was largely kept the same as the draft. I imagine you all can probably guess what's right around the corner!
Also apparently my editor, Ember, commissioned this! As I've mentioned a few times before, early drafts of some of the Peacegrove scenes were a bit too... shippy between Twilight and Applejack, and this is meant to make fun of that, especially the bath scene in the Golden Oak. The green pony on the left is Ember's OC, while the red one is mine. The mysterious one at the top of the thought bubble spying on Twilight and AJ... well... Let's just say you might recognize them as a slightly eccentric and goofy pony from Peacegrove Village!
May the stars shine until the end of your journey!
-PK
