It's happening...! · 6:24pm Aug 25th, 2020
Even a lightsaber-wielding Ron Paul is excited to know that not one but two Firefly chapters are on the way, and both are draft complete. One by me, and a guest chapter by our good friend and Changeling guru Denim Blue.
You already know what they're (mostly) about. My Blueblood intro chapter will be first, posted as soon as prereads are complete and a final editing pass/musical selections are made, while Denim's Changeling chapter will be posted on September 1st--the three-year anniversary of the story.
My chapter is well over 9k words at this point, and consists of three sections. I will excerpt the middle one, which is the only non-Blueblood part, changing perspectives back over to Firefly and picking up immediately after Gavian's duel with Thunderbolt:
Captain’s Quarters
EAS Loyalty
Cloudsdale, Central District Airship Anchorage
September 4th, 1139 AC
2250 hours
The duel was over. And ‘tis certain that at the moment I recognized Gavian’s incredibly unlikely victory over Thunderbolt, I was every bit as emotionally spent as he was physically.
We saw him announce his triumph and spare Thunderbolt following the Captain’s plea with a final insult, followed by him taking but a step towards us before passing out, falling hard to the cloud surface from the accrued damage and the expiration of Typhoon’s astonishing technique, ‘tis certain I felt every one of his burns and wounds I’d seen him collect as keenly as if they were my own.
Getting closer, the damage to his young form became even more apparent and ugly, leaving me no idea how he’d withstood it all.
We’d rushed him to the Loyalty’s sickbay after that, the healers levitating whilst Still Way stayed with him the whole way, strain visible on his face as he struggled to maintain a healing aura on him as I followed, though Blindside and Fell Flight were not present as they took an even more gravely injured Thunderbolt to a different room. A minute later he was laid down carefully on the table whilst the ship’s healers attended to him, but their initial prognosis was not good and I understood little else of their jargon beyond them cataloging all his injuries.
In the end, Still Way himself asked me to depart, saying that they needed space and that Gavian was out of immediate danger, but the intense emotions he could sense from me were clouding his technique, and the fewer distractions to his healing arts, the better.
I did so reluctantly, caring far less about Gavian’s victory than the ordeal he had suffered and the horrific injuries he had suffered. In fact, ‘tis certain I was so distracted that I never even noticed Captain Typhoon, not realizing he was beside me until I heard his voice. “Forgive my immediate absence, but I was speaking to your second and Thunderbolt. How is Gavian?” Were the first words out of his lips.
My ire rising from his mere presence, I refused to meet his eyes. Wishing to wound him, I recited Gavian’s long list of injuries instead. Injuries I held him responsible for. “Broken ribs, a cracked skull, a great deal of internal bleeding, severe electrical burns on his chest and extremities, innumerable external injuries that range from bruises and lacerations to deeper slashes... and ‘twould seem he tore every muscle in his right foreleg and shoulder when he made that Coiled Cobra assassin’s strike at the end,” I recited bitterly, using the gryphon term for the quick-draw attack he had felled Thunderbolt with, finding myself even angry with Swift Strike for having taught such a technique—worse, a Raven technique—to him.
“His heartbeat is very irregular and he is unresponsive. Worse, he is starting to run a high fever. Even with Still Way present, they say there is a chance he will not survive the night.”
“He will,” The Captain said with surety. “From surviving abandonment to a fight with Thunderbolt himself, ‘tis certain his will to live is strong.”
“With all due respect, you don’t know that… sir,” I told him through clenched teeth, sensing my emotions surging again. “Anymore than you knew that Gavian would win the fight!”
He gave me a level look. “And just what are you saying, Master Sergeant?”
“Methinks you know perfectly well, Captain,” I bit back.
He stared at me for several seconds longer. “Very well. If you have something to say to me, I will listen. Follow me,” he invited, leading me back to Captain Shady’s office, leaving me standing at attention before her desk as he walked around the back and sat down behind it, regarding me somewhat coldly. “You have ten minutes before I must depart for Hollow Shades. We are in private and this office is soundproofed. So say your piece, Guardsmare. And be quick about it.”
The confrontation between Typhoon and Firefly to follow is meant to address reader concerns about why Typhoon risked Gavian like this--he did indeed hold a few things back. You'll learn why, and what odds he actually gave his own plan of working, as well as why he still went through with it. It will not be a pleasant discussion, and will force Firefly to face some very unpleasant truths about war and command.
But around that... the chapter will have two entire sections devoted to introducing this era's illustrious and not to be underestimated Prince Blueblood. As I've been a bit hard on him *cough* in Nightmare Night, this will show him in a far better light while attempting to keep his core personality intact. Some stories I give Blueblood a bad treatment. But this will be a good one. And in the process of writing his sections, I actually invented an entirely new unicorn sword art.
The hype is real! Expect a fulfilling finale to the Thunderbolt/Gavian saga, everyone!
hyp
A yummy twofer!
I'm looking forard to the chapters and I'm eager to see what Typhoon's reasons were.
So many happenings!!!!!
5342690
Thanks for your preread and approval! We had a blast in the googledoc comments for this one.
5342716
Ys
5342897
A delicious doubleheader!
5343091
He didn't say anything untrue originally. It's more what he didn't say.
5343152
2020, man...
Speaking of Firefly and music, if there is ever a scene of Grypons and Ponies joining together against a common foe, then this HAS to be the song for it. Firefly needs a Gengl analogue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwfJsKfCnaM
5343302
Oops, forgot to answer this.
I'm glad you mentioned that. Because at this point, I have battles designed around several Sabaton songs, or alternately, I've found Sabaton songs for many battles, once altered lyrics are developed (by rule, I can't use the real ones in-story). As for this one? That is exactly the purpose I have in mind for it. As for when? Well, the song describes the Battle of Castle Itter in the closing days of World War II, where US soldiers joined with German regulars to repel an SS assault on a castle where high-value prisoners were being held. It is my intention that this war have an analog. It'll be many years before we get there, though.
But fear not--another Sabaton song with altered lyrics will be making an appearance soon, as well as Sabaton ponies themselves. I'll leave it to you guess what song they'll use to describe the battle for and escape from Epsilon, but for now, I'll just say it's one of my favorites and altered lyrics are ready to go.
5361246
> Heavily outnumbered
> Unexpected Reinforcements
It's Winged Hussars
Also wouldn't be surprised if Lejonet Från Norden/The Lion From the North got put in for Gaius at some point and En Livstid I Krig/A Lifetime in War got put in for the armistice.