The Writing of The Bonds of Love Progress Update 7

Hello, everyone, and yep! I am here to deliver another progress update on the “Writing of…” for T.B.O.L.

Let’s just cut to the chase: I finally finished discussing both Ch.12-13(Serenity)! I guess I jinxed myself when I theorized it’d take me less time to discuss them because…? Yeah. Been a while since that last update, huh?

But despite how long it took me to write up those chapters’ discussions, it was certainly worth it. Ch.12(Serenity, Part One) has 13k+ words dedicated to it while it’s second half, Ch.13(Serenity, Part Two), has over 17k+ words, with both chapters having a combined total of about 3k+ words’ worth of additional tidbits. The result is “The Writing of The Bonds of Love” is now just over 140k+ words in length itself. Yeah.

But with those two chapters thoroughly discussed, only the Mount Aris arc and Epilogue remain. Once I finish up with those three chapters, I’ll post what will hopefully be the last of these progress updates, confirming as such; after that, all I’ll have left to do is go through the entire “Writing of…” and make sure everything is presented coherently and that I covered everything there was to discuss.

Knowing me, I won’t be done discussing those chapters until midway through the summer at best, but you know what? That’s the cynical way of thinking about things, and in light of Silverstream’s main character arc in T.B.O.L., I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t at least try to be optimistic myself and just be happy I’m finally in the home stretch of this particular project.

Thank you guys for being so patient with me so far concerning this whole thing, but I promise it will be worth it!

Now then? How about that promised excerpt?

As I’ve mentioned every other time I’ve provided one of these excerpts, they will naturally be included in the final version of the “Writing of…” and might also be subject to change should I edit them.

And you know what? I’m feeling generous today. Here’s a sizable portion of the discussion pertaining to the creatures who got caught trying to spy on Gallus and Silverstream’s 2^nd Date:

The 2^nd Date Eavesdroppers weren’t going to be sent to the Tree of Harmony’s catacombs initially; rather, they would have all been teleported to some generic hill on Ponyville’s outskirts, far away from Gallus and Silverstream. And though they were still going to be imprisoned in a barrier, it was instead going to be of Starlight and Twilight’s making rather than Starlight and Ocellus’.

Yep, Twilight was going to show up too. So was Edith. So were the CMC. Possibly Terramar too. I think I even considered having the Pillars of all creatures show up too, just…because. I also considered having some random Ponyville citizens getting caught and imprisoned but thought it’d be somewhat creepy to imply a bunch of random adults wanted to spy on two teenagers’ date night.

Other Friendship School students were going to show up too, but I opted to stick with just the main students I had already used in the story, sparing myself the agony of explaining who was who and why they were there despite never appearing before. Same reason why I decided against including the Crusaders; though I like to imagine those three were totally running amok doing something once the Great Pancake War began.

Edith was nixed because…? Honestly, I don’t remember. I believe I decided against it since I was already juggling so many characters in one particular scene. This was the same reason why the other Mane Six(And Sandbar and Yona) weren’t physically present either; though I made sure to justify that in-universe by relegating them all to Rarity duty.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be extended to Sunburst and Trixie; I wanted to have them here too, but there was literally nothing for them to do.

Ocellus was actually going to be in this scene as well, helping Starlight and Twilight keep the barrier up, but I also planned for her to teleport back to Gallus and Silver once they reached the restaurant anyway, so I streamlined things and had her go to the restaurant immediately rather than appear here. Same reason why Smolder isn’t here either.

Terramar didn’t show up because I wanted to save him and the rest of Silver’s family for the Mount Aris arc, and the Pillars didn’t show up because they really had no reason to be here.

And Twilight… Alas, poor Twilight Sparkle. I really did want her to appear for this scene; the plan was for Starlight to call in a favor, and both Twilight and Spike would show up to provide extra backup. Sadly, after some thought, I realized she ultimately wasn’t necessary for the scene. Would have been fun to see her and Spike’s reactions to the other Princesses spying on random teenagers because they couldn’t help themselves, but…? Yeah.

Courtesy of Starlight, Twilight does know what her fellow Princesses got caught doing, but what she said or did to them afterward, I’ll leave up to your interpretations, but you just know Spike sent some snark their way. Also, Shining Armor absolutely knows his wife went gallivanting off to stalk Gallus and Silverstream. Maximum smugness is the only thing I’ll say on how he reacted to Cadence returning home bedraggled, defeated, and newly made master of one Ursa Minor; the rest of his reaction is up to you, including whether or not he forewarned her things wouldn’t end well.

Ironic, that last part though, since Shining was going to be here too, and he only wasn’t because somepony needed to be back in the Crystal Empire watching over Flurry, and it certainly wasn’t going to be Cadence. Although, I did consider explaining they had called in a favor of their own with Thorax and got King Buggo to watch over Flurry for the night so they could go eavesdropping.

But, since we’re discussing the Princesses themselves again, they’re actually the reason why I moved this entire sequence to the catacombs beneath the School. But alas, how they caused such a change in this sequence will only be explained in the “Writing of…” proper.

And that’s about it for now. I hope you enjoyed the newest excerpt, and I wish you all a pleasant day.

Comments

[Stellar Shine]

Congratulations on finally finishing discussing these two chapters!
Really looking forward to see the next ones, though they will be the last...

Knowing me, I won’t be done discussing those chapters until midway through the summer at best,

... However that is not the thing to be sorry about in the nearest future

I wish you all a pleasant day.

And have you a nice day too.

[Daemon Wolf 22]

Although, I did consider explaining they had called in a favor of their own with Thorax and got King Buggo to watch over Flurry for the night so they could go eavesdropping.

Good thing that didn't happen-- I don't think those poor ponies would survive Cinnabug's disappointment when he inevitably learned why they called him. Nothing is more soul-destroying than the sadness/anger of the most precious creature in existence.

[Summer Script]

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I don't think those poor ponies would survive Cinnabug's disappointment when he inevitably learned why they called him.

Nah, Thorax would have just been glad he got a chance to babysit Flurry again. And if anything, he would have just had a laugh at how badly their eavesdropping attempt went. Pharynx, on the other hand...? He'd be downright miffed they stole Thorax away from his royal responsibilities all so they could avoid their own and go stalking after Ocellus' friends.