Return from Hiatus... with a Guest

Hello, everypony. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Before the release of this latest chapter, I haven’t written or said much. Heck, I’m several months late in delivering the last blog post lol. Well, I want to first address the issue with an apology. I thought I had the time to complete it, but then I got caught up with work and next thing I knew, I ended up cursing myself for settling for such a short deadline. As such, I will replace that blog post with this one… and it’s one of many new changes I will be implementing, both in my life AND for the novel. But first, a few announcements are in order. 

First, I am now enrolled in a trade school. More specifically, I am currently enrolled to become an automotive technician. Long story short, if I’m gonna to pour more than 3 G’s into fixing my ride myself, I may as well make a side gig out of it… and so far, I’m loving it. Rest assured, however, that this new development will not in any way affect the progress of my story. If anything, this alteration in my life is just what I needed to develop new ideas on not only the story itself but also how to implement the news related to it. 

“But how does that work?” you say? Well, my friends, one of my ideas will go something like this: if at any point in time I decide to create a new blog post to come with the latest chapter I’ve created, I will be sure to have both the blog post and the chapter ready roughly at the same time. This way, I can avoid having to spending the 24 hour grace period on actually making the post and more time on proofreading it. Take this blog post, for example: by the time that you guys have finished reading this latest chapter (which I hope will take most of you no more than a day), I will have already finished creating this blog post and possibly even finish proofreading it while I’m at it. I used to think that I would be able to create and publish a blog post within 24 hours of publishing a chapter, but I realize now that it will take a lot more than that for me to put everything that I want to announce into any one post… and between work and school, I no longer have the time to do so. That being said, I think this change will be a great asset in the progress of my story. There will be no further excessive delays from here on out. But now then, onward to my next change. 

As I’m sure those of you reading this right now are aware, I wrote “End Segment I” in the latest chapter. So what does it mean? It’s quite simple, my friends: as Bladewing himself knows, it means a new “chapter” of his life is about to begin. As such, I’m dividing his story into parts to prepare for the action yet to unfold. I initially wanted to split it up into separate stories entirely, but then where would the fun be if I decided to end this particular story with him being knighted? It would be more anticlimactic than a kid opening his presents before his birthday party even started… and Lord knows how many of us as kids would rather keep the fun going. As such, know that Faust was right about one thing: his journey had only just begun. 

Now for my final idea. Well, it isn’t really so much MY idea as it is somepony else’s. But rest assured, my friends, that I am in no way stealing from anyone. In fact, why don’t we let our favorite protagonist tell it himself? *ahem*, you may come in now, Bladewing. *A door opens and shuts, followed by hoof steps and then the creaking of a chair* 

“Oh, finally. I was beginning to wonder if you would EVER give me a voice. ” 

Yes, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? 

“TOO long... and you know how I feel about just sitting around doing nothing.” 

Well, excuse me for having a life outside of yours. I don’t get paid to write it, you know. 

“I know, I know. *sigh* This is crazy. You’re nowhere near a deity, and yet my very life is tied to your every word.”  

I mean, it’s not like you have a choice, my friend. Magic doesn’t exist in my world. Without me, you wouldn’t have a story… and I’ll bet you every coin of your half-a-million in prize money that no one else knows you like I do. 

“Of course. I wouldn’t trust any other man to tell my story. I’m just saying that I wish you had spent more time doing so.” 

I’m working on that, trust me. I already told our readers that, and I assure both you and them that I will put in a greater effort into making it told. All I ask of you lot in return is to be more patient with me. I will write out the new chapters of your story when I’m not being lectured by a teacher or fixing up my old man’s ride. Okay? 

“All right. I’ll do my best.” 

Good. Now then, let’s get on with it. I’ll let you take over from here. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving now. 

“What matters?” 

Oh, it’s nothing too serious. Don’t worry about it. Just know that it regards something I always dreamed of doing.
 
“Fair enough. Have a safe trip.” 

You as well, Bladewing. *The same door opens and then closes soon after* 

“*sigh* Great… and here I was hoping that he could stick around and tell me more about this ‘journey’ the goddess spoke of… oh right, *ahem*, sorry, everypony. As my friend Cavalryunit001 was saying, there’s an idea that the two of us have been wanting to try out since practically forever. Well, it’s mostly MY idea, actually, but he liked it enough to help me with how to implement it. Anyway, it goes like this: we’ve been thinking about having Q&A blog posts on our profile. Now I know what you’re thinking: ‘But aren’t you just him talking through another persona?’ Well, it’s true that I wouldn’t have a voice without him, but I am still my own person. The one thing he absolutely cannot change about me is who I am. Remember, my friends, that this story is about me, not him. He may be bringing my life to… well, life… but I’m the one who’s living it (and if he legitimately thinks he’s calling all the shots, he’s more drunk off his flank than that noble who tried to pick a fight with me. Don’t tell him I said that, though.) Anyway, that being said, there’s also a few key differences. I’m in a relationship; he’s not. I can fly and move objects with my mind; he can’t. I’m not afraid to risk my life to protect the innocent; for reasons I’ve yet to understand, he couldn’t even stand up to his grade-school bullies. As you can see, everypony, he and I are not the same… so believe me when I say I’m more than capable of speaking for myself when answering questions from you guys. However, make no mistake: I may have portrayed Cavalryunit001 in a negative light, but by no means does that mean I am mean or that I hate him. Besides Diamond Heart, he’s the closest thing I have to a brother. I just question some of the life choices he made, especially the ones from his youth. He has as much to learn about life as I do. But enough of that. You didn’t come here to listen to me bash the one who’s literally writing out my life’s story, humorous as it might be for some of you. Let’s move on.” 

“I suppose you all are wondering by now how Cavalryunit001 and I would carry out Q&As in future blog posts. Well, we decided that we would set the number of questions we would answer from you guys to a maximum of 12 per post with a bare minimum of 6. Each of you are allowed to ask one question per post, and if we receive more than 12, we will select the ones to answer based on a random number generator. This question can be about anything you like to know about either me, Cavalryunit001, or even about my story. For example, you can ask me about my thoughts on alcohol or my human friend about his thoughts on Equestria. The complete set of rules we came up with for each Q&A go as follows:” 

“#1: All questions for an upcoming Q&A must be posted on the most recent blog post with the label ‘Q&A’. This one is simple enough. If you would like to join a Q&A, be sure to ask your question here as a comment on this blog post and put the label ‘Q&A’ either before or after the question. After this first Q&A, you can join any future ones we do by posting your question on the blog post that announces it. Please don’t post your Q&A questions on the ends of any of the chapters in my story. Only comments and non-Q&A questions are allowed on them.” 

“#2: No profane, homophobic, racist, real-world political, anti-brony, derogatory, or other hateful content allowed. Again, simple enough: we want clean questions only. If we see any of the above content in a given question posted for Q&A, not only will we refuse to answer it, but we will delete it from the blog post. Please show each other the respect that my friend and I are showing you when asking your question. ‘But what does real-world political mean, Bladewing?’ Well, by that, I am referring to any questions regarding politics in my friend’s home country of the United States. That includes asking about Democrats, Republicans, left-wing or right-wing, or even heated topics such as abortion, gun rights, and the like. Cavalryunit001 feels very strongly about the divide that politics creates within a community and as such, we will refuse to answer any questions regarding such things that are outside the universe of my story, whether a particular political side is correct or not.”
 
“#3: Up to 3 parts are allowed for a multi-part question. This rule here is one of my favorites. If you ask us a question with many parts like ‘Do you like soda? If so, what are your favorite flavors?’ we are more than happy to answer them on the condition that you have no more than 3 parts in your question. Ones with 4 or more parts are a bit excessive to us and so while we won’t delete your question if it has more than 3 parts, we will ask you to trim it down to 3 if possible. If you refuse or if no change is seen by the time my human friend announces when the window for Q&A question submissions will be closed, we will simply replace your question with somepony else's. If this by chance happens to you, please don’t be discouraged from asking any more Q&A questions. We simply ask you to follow the rules if you do.” 

“#4: We reserve the right to limit how much detail we put into our responses. Cavalryunit001 created this one. It sucks that he even thought of it, but I agreed to comply with it in exchange for him making these Q&A blog posts. So how it works goes like this: while we will certainly provide as much detail into our answers to your questions as possible, we will limit how much we put into one if it’s for a question that involves divulging classified information about future chapters (that is, upcoming scenes in my life and the like. Ugh, I swear, this man is stingy enough to replace ‘A Christmas Carol’s’ Mr. Scrooge.) Be warned, though: while I am quite generous with my own responses, I might do a similar thing myself if the question I’m given makes me a bit uncomfortable (like, say, if I’ll actually breed Rose one day heh heh.). I will still answer it, of course. Just don’t expect too much of me at that point.” 

“So there you have it, everypony. You now know everything Cavalryunit001 and I wanted to reveal to you as of right now. Again, if you really want us to do a Q&A blog post, we will need one question from at least six different readers on this post to do so… and more than that is certainly welcome, of course. Or, if you’d much rather just read about my story, that is ok too. Even if this turns out to be the only time I get to speak to all of you, I am glad that I had the chance to do so at least once. All that being said, my friends, I now bid you adieu. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this blog post… and as my human friend always says, ‘Stay tuned for more content!’”