Magisight Chapter 29: WE OUT BOYS · 10:54pm Feb 19th, 2020
Wew! I know last night's update breaks my typical update cycle, but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer than necessary. I said once the chapter was finished, I would get it up for you all, and so I did! Fimfiction prime viewing hours/days be damned!
This chapter was definitely a weird one to do. For starters, it looks absolutely nothing like the draft. The very first draft of this chapter (almost a year old by this point, actually) was actually a series of super short mini-chapters (500-1000 words each). Twilight took each chapter to visit each one of the Mane Six and check on them after the storm. The idea of having a little one-on-one with each of her friends sounded really fun and wholesome to do.
The problem is, it broke up the pacing something fierce. I was sacrificing story flow for the sake of being artsy-fartsy with my chapters. Things got kind of jarring and jumping, and it didn't properly articulate what I wanted to convey. During my re-write, I combined things into two chapters, and then eventually into one single chapter. Each chapter will had these "mini chapters" functioning as scene breaks, and I still wasn't happy with it.
The final result of everything was that Rainbow Dash's "mini chapter" came at the tail end of chapter 28, and concluded at the start of 29. For the rest of 29, I threw everything else out and started from scratch with a brand new scene. Having everyone together in one spot allowed for much smoother interactions and proper foreshadowing. It also made sense to check on Sweet Apple Acres, since it got hit pretty hard by the weather.
I also like to avoid having overly short or overly long chapters, and try to aim for a sweet spot of around 3000-4500 words. That's why I had a research scene closing this chapter out. Better setup for the final stretch, and we just hadn't had one of those in a while, and I figured Twilight needed one after all the Cloudsbane nonsense. 
For chapter 30, I'm still aiming for a release next Friday. I haven't pushed my entire schedule around back because of chapter 29, but IRL has been hectic for everyone involved the past few months, so unfortunately, I can't make any promises. But it'll come sooner or later!
Just what will Twilight find in the Everfree Forest at the Castle of the Two Sisters? We all know the Tree of Harmony is there, so could that be possibly be...? WHOOPS I SAID TOO MUCH, RAID QUEUE POPPED, SEE YOU IN FFXIV UNTIL NEXT WEEK 
May the stars shine until the end of your journey!
-PK
