Introspection

What a week. (More like a month, but whatever.)

To say I'm struggling to get things done would be an understatement. I was amazed that I managed to pull about 10K words out in a single sitting for the new story I just put up for the Sovereigns contest yesterday. I had written my first draft of this story weeks and weeks ago, but what I came up with was too bloated and had a bad message. I was fairly disappointed in how it was shot down by my usual reader, so I had little motivation to work on it again.

I attempted to fill the gaps with working on super, but, for reasons I won't disclose, that is taking an emotional toll on me that I never expected. It's been difficult to do much of anything with it, and every time I do try and work on it, I either don't like what I've written, or can't seem to get any further than a couple hundred words.

What I think I managed to do with The Princess's Title yesterday, was break through the fog I've been stuck under for weeks now. Things I've been thinking about, things I've been dealing with all managed to get put away or squared off and dealt with with this story, and more than anything, I actually managed to finish something. I can't promise any haste with the last few Super chapters because it's already hard, and I've yet to even get to the fallout of what happens. Even starting this chapter knowing what comes next makes me anxious and tears me up inside. I'll get it done eventually, because I have to. Every story I've ever published was written with the intent to be completed, and you can be damn sure that it'll happen. But, slowly, when I can finally work through the turmoil and get to the finish line.

So: The Princess's Title.
This was a story based on a few ideas that came about after seeing the awful epilogue that was episode 9|26 of FIM. The message of the epilogue, effectively, says that friendship ain't shit, bonds fade, people die, people move on. To use the princess's words, it was disgustin' ta me, and I needed to think my way out of it. Much like the glass was broken for my love for pokemon with the mess that is Sword and Shield, This episode broke the glass for the mediocrity that was the latter seasons of Pony. Blinded by my nostalgia, I accepted everything with open arms because it still resembled what I loved while it slowly rotted inside. That episode was a betrayal of what I loved about the show, and it shows with how split everyone's opinions are on it. You can't please everyone, but that episode was like the fallout meme. [Everyone Disliked That]

When her friends die, what happens to Twilight? If her purpose is to be the princess of Friendship and she loses the very friends that made her who she is, would she in turn lose her power? It sure didn't seem so. As a matter of fact, she seemed fine with the knowledge that she would live on and her friends would not. The Twilight I met when I was seventeen and the Twilight that sang in the Epilogue weren't the same character. So what if... it was all a sham? Princess of friendship? No, that was just a convenient lie. The elements of harmony imply synchronization, yes, but does that mean that they're wholly devoted to the nebulous concept of friendship, or something without a hue? If not by friendship, since that power seems to be linked to her friends, what really made Twilight a princess?

From that idea, to choosing my princess and deriving a situation based on a very, very old show, I came up with the concept of Princess Applejack and a whole background that leads from episode 9|25 to about 370 years in the future. A reasonable way for the Princess who actually believes in her ideals to come across a moral dilemma she cannot solve, and a way for her to hurt her friends and lose them in the process. Things that would eventually lead a bitter old mare to try and take the reigns from Twilight, knowing full well the truth of what was happening in the background. When all is said and done, we're left with an old mare doing what she must to preserve what she believes in, all the while fighting with her self over what is right and wrong. It takes the one pony she trusted more than any other to show her the way, and only by the truth of Friendship is Magic does he do it.

I don't expect anything from this story, but for what it is, I needed it. In the event you've taken an interest after reading this, I hope that you enjoy The Princess's Title