//------------------------------// // FAQ, Facts and Last Words // Story: Stairway to Equestria // by AlexUk //------------------------------// Stairway to Equestria FAQ, Facts and Last Words (also prize winners!) This ‘chapter’, as expected, contains a background song as well. No. I do not regret starting this amazing adventure. Writing this story has taken a big part of my free time over the past years, but no, I don’t regret it one bit. It was an amazing opportunity to experience the great sensation of expressing an idea, a concept based on another concept: writing a fan fiction. A story. A novel. A book . . . Regardless of what you want to call this, it has been one of my greatest achievements to date. The last chapter and the epilogue have been the hardest to write. I was basically saying goodbye to the characters we all grew to love so much. It would be the last time I would make Blink do something with the power of written word. Yet all things must come to an end at some point. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did in the end. Yes, it may have made us angry at some points, the grammar mistakes might have annoyed us a bit, and for me it might have been a pain in the flank sometimes to make sure you guys get regular chapter updates. But it happened, and that’s what matters most. So, without further ado, here are the winners for the prize contest I’ve organized. Grats, guys/gals! - Review category: Not Worthy for his review here (pending final version): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bsqdxkxj_jXpDmg5rhH4g81zqu62mxMrlH2MtJe26HM/edit - Art category: Exelzior for this piece: I’ll contact you soon enough for details on sending the gift. Runner up on the art category, Not-A-Hat, will receive a digital second-place prize for his submission: (Backup link: https://i.sli.mg/7uzMPp.jpg ) Home is where your heart is . . . This is not over though! Here are the answers to your biggest burning questions you might have had for this story! In addition to this, feel free to ask me absolutely anything about Stairway To Equestria. Everything goes! FAQ . . . - Q: "I still don't get some things from the story!" - A: Near the end of this chapter there is a full explanation of all things. . . . & Facts: - The story didn't have a title during the time I wrote the prologue and Chapter 1. As I was writing Chapter 1's ending, it all came to me while listening to Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. I stuck to it and even now I think that it’s the best title I could have given to this story. - Chaser was actually inspired from a dream I had during the early chapters but I changed his name from Dim Light to Star Chaser. In that dream, Luna was visiting a tall, white memorial stone, and the exact words she spoke between her tears are still fresh in my mind: "You were my Dim Light . . ." Don't ask me how I deduced that his name was Dim Light, I just felt it so. - Blink's title of "Deathbearer" was initially "Deathifier". It goes without saying that it was changed in an update. - The story was initially planned to have 10 chapters at most and be a tragic satire of the monogamous HIE fics. Boy, did I fail at that . . . - I came up with the name Midnight Blink pretty much at the same time as Blink himself did while writing chapter 2. - Blink calls Twilight by her nickname (Twi) for the first time in chapter 14, in his house, before leaving for the Griffin Lands. - The three background songs used (linked) in the story represent the celebration of Life (proposal scene), the celebration of Death (funeral scene) and everything beyond them (epilogue). - The romantic story between Silver Wisp and nurse Redheart sparked right as I was writing chapter 22 and I must say, it was something that I had no control over, very much like Luna and Chaser. I intended the earth stallion to fall in love with Pinkie Pie in one of his visits to Sugarcube Corner, however, while filling up the first flashback scene with ponies in my mind, the off-duty nurse somehow made her way into the story, grabbing Silver Wisp's attention in a heartbeat. - Fun fact: Chaser’s sister was originally Octavia. - The most complicated characters to write were by far Death, Life and Pinkie Pie. - The funeral song was initially planned to be 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel. It was changed to 'Funeral' by Band of Horses because the first one was too short. - The death of the unnamed soldier that was hiding behind his shield at the corner of a street in the siege of Canterlot was inspired by the tragic events in Ukraine. One of the over 100 protesters that died on the morning of February 20th was hiding behind a stolen riot shield before being shot in the head by pro-russian government troops. - The songs Blink was getting on his radios (both shed and motorcycle one) were coming from American radio stations from the 1982’s. The songs, in order of appearance, are: Spark - Number One Song in Heaven; Willie Nelson - On the Road Again; Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain; AC/DC - Highway to Hell. - The story was automatically rejected by the EQD staff just because it is a BIE fic. It didn't even have the chance to get to the pre-readers. "What’s up with Celestia banishing Blink in Part Two of the story? That was the worst part of the entire fic; it made no sense!" *angry reader noises* Well, to understand Celestia’s decision, we have to acknowledge the fact that there were two motives behind said decision. One motive, the one actually presented by her, was that Blink attacked a high official of the Gryphon Kingdom, a nation Equestria had not the best of ties with. Her decision was supposedly made with the wellbeing of the entire Equestrian nation in mind, as she did not want any further disagreements between their nations. It was actually what Celestia made herself believe initially. However, there is the second motive. The real one. The one buried deep in her subconscious that day when she handed in the sentence: she cared for Twilight. She remembered very well what happened with her sister, Luna, when she was a Deathbearer in their previous Cycle. She knew the dangers of being close to such a pony, and had to suffer losing her sister early in her previous life. Celestia’s decision to banish Blink was taken in a desperate attempt to sever the ties between the two before they become true bonds. Celestia was knowingly sacrificing Blink so that Twilight would not get to experience the pain and suffering she experience in the previous Cycle. Her plan however failed. Blink returned, and Celestia realised she couldn’t get between them anymore. That was a major factor contributing to her decision to abdicate for a period of time: she had put her personal interests ahead of the kingdoms’, and most importantly, ahead of true justice. In the end however, she was right, as Blink shared the same fate Luna had. Twilight got to spend half of her life missing the stallion she loved so much, and their kids and friends suffered as well. Does all that pain justify her actions? Maybe, maybe not. It was a mistake of hers and a serious character flaw that I believe added to the story’s idea that every life, even an immortal one, is a journey, and every journey changes you, for good or for worse. "So, even after that ending, I still don't get it! Who's who and what did they do?" This story is confusing sometimes and it also took me two years to complete. Forgetting foreshadowing elements I wrote half a year apart makes readers not pick up on certain things. Here is a list of terms, important characters and their major role and contributions to the story: Celestia, Luna (Celly and Lulu) and the Cycles: A Cycle is the lifespan of the entire universe. There have been many Cycles, and the current one is 13 billion years of age at the time the story is told. Celestia and Luna are the re-incarnation of Celly and Lulu, two alicorns that lived as a Lifebringer and Deathbearer in a previous Cycle. We catch a glimpse of that world when Celestia shows Twilight what being a Deathbearer did to her sister in the previous Cycle. In that memory, Celly was a Lifebringer and Lulu was a Deathbearer. From the point where they discover each-other's abilities, Celly starts to worry for her sister, which culminates with the memory of Lulu slaying all those other alicorns/ponies that murdered their parents. In the current cycle, Celestia and Luna have gained the title of Watchers, and were given a world to watch over as deities. The date in Equestria is xxxx AC (After Celestia), which marks the point in time when Celestia took physical form and started leading the creatures of that planet that looked similar to her and her sister (the ponies). Luna joins her soon afterwards. The two Watchers hold the Elements of Harmony, tools bestowed upon them by Life and Death, and take the name of that world's most prized virtues (Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, and Magic). Their purpose is to re-establish harmony in the world they watch over (things such as a Watcher going rogue and breaking the rule of not killing any live creatures, or when a powerful spirit wreaks chaos in their world (Discord)). That's the reason why the Elements can't be used in the war in Part 3, because wars, despite their violent nature, are just a manifestation of that world's attempt of establishing harmony and balance. Luna and Celestia cannot directly intervene in the world order, yet they can act as guides for the ponies. Luna, even as a Watcher, still has the darkness inside of her that is specific to Deathbearers, and in a moment of fury she loses control and her Nightmare surfaces. She is banished to the moon for 1000 years by Celestia after a battle that traps the souls of numerous ponies (including Bellona the Wise), due to the nature of the magic used in the fight. Equestria and Earth The two worlds Blink lived in during his life coexist in the same physical world. Our solar system is several light years away from the one that contains Equestria (around 40, given the delay it takes for the radio signals to reach Equestria). In chapter 11 we see Luna using a powerful spell in the observer room, taking her and Spike on a trip through the galaxy, ending up near a star called Sol. There, Luna shows Spike the planet Terra (Earth), where Blink came from originally. She doesn’t tell Spike about it being Blink’s birth world yet, just that at some point he will realise why that planet is important, which he does, later on. Bellona the Wise: Bellona was a human, a spy of the Roman Empire (notice the use of Latin in her writings). She died and ended up in Equestria, much like Midnight Blink. There, she eventually became captain of the royal guard under the tutelage of Starswirl. She was killed by Nightmare Moon in the battle before NMM's 1000 year banishment. Being slain with the dark magic of a Watcher turned rogue, her and the other guard's souls remained trapped on Equestria, until the Mane 6 discovered them. Luna found out about them from Twilight and visited the ruins in the Everfree, where she granted the trapped souls leave from that physical world, letting them know that they have done a great service to Equestria and their acts of bravery would not be forgotten. Midnight Blink and Bellona: Blink finds out about Bellona the Wise from studying advanced spells. He investigates and finds out some of her notes written in Latin. He finds out she mentions Rome in one of them, so he suspects that Bellona was also a human sent to Equestria. Bellona helps Blink during his fight with Discord, giving him a slight 'push' by healing his wounds. He sees her as a translucent ghost, the Everfree Forest distant in the background. Blink never gets to see her again until he returns from the Griffin Kingdom. He has a talk with her and finds out about how she got there. Midnight Blink: In the story, the main protagonist starts off a human that has an unfortunate encounter on the streets of London. Here is where it gets tricky: he doesn't die that night in the human world, but slips into a deep coma. Death notices the 'light' doesn't accept him so he send him in Equestria. There, the story begins for Midnight Blink and we only get to see Alex near the end of Part One where Blink faints by the lake, waiting on Twilight for their first date. He awakes back in the human world, but finds out he's about to die soon, his awakening brain activity triggering a severe underlying condition. He dies surrounded by his parents, having had the chance to say his proper goodbyes. He then meets up with Death in the Antechamber (a place between the real world and the afterlife), but meanwhile in Ponyville's hospital, Twilight uses her Lifebringer powers to pull Blink back to Equestria. She succeeds and from that point on, Blink is physically present in Equestria and Equestria alone. Midnight Blink is a Deathbearer and in Part Two he discovers an inner daemon that turns out to be his darker side, his Nightmare. That darker side is present in all Deathbearers (including Luna) and it’s their burden to control for as long as they live. Raven and Owlowiscious: The owl and the raven are Life and Death's companions, powerful spirits that were once their pets in previous cycles. Life and Death send them to watch over Blink and Twilight and help them across the story in different ways. Owloysius was sent to Twilight years before Raven was sent to Blink. Life and Death: The highest beings revealed in the story, Life and Death are thought to be brothers, having the power to transcend dimensions and time as they govern the undergoing Cycle. Death handles the passing of all creatures into the afterlife, while Life oversees their arrival into the world. They refer to each other as brothers and it is presumed that they were Watchers in a previous Cycle. The Afterlife (Ponyville): All good characters that eventually die go through the Light, ending up in the Afterlife (or Ever as it’s sometimes referred to). For this story and most of its characters, that place is a nighttime Ponyville. Chaser is the first one to get there, and among the last one is Twilight. She awakens on a bed of hay in Kazooie’s barn (the same place she met Midnight Blink for the first time), but doesn’t go in the farmer’s house where she sees an open light, because she feels that it isn’t her place to go to. Instead she goes to the old Library, where she meets her brother standing guard in his military and regal outfit. He tells her that ‘they’ are waiting for her inside, but he can’t go in yet because he is still waiting for someone. Twilight then realizes where she actually is and tells Shining that Cadence always loved him, even long after his early death. She goes in the Library where she finds everyone gathered around a couple of tables, laughing, hugging and telling stories from their lives. Lauren Faust: Originally a unicorn filly by the name of Firefly, she lived in Equestria after the events that took place in Stairway to Equestria. She became ill with an unforgiving disease and died surrounded by her devastated parents. Death denies her passage to the afterlife, instead sending her to Earth, where she gets a fresh new beginning. At the age of 36, the talented story teller gets the opportunity to (re)create a TV show and bases the characters on a story she subconsciously remembered from her previous life, when her mother would read to her from a book drafted by Midnight Blink and released long after his death. This is how Alex (Blink) got to know and love the ponies he would eventually meet after his human life comes to a sudden end. Stairway to Equestria: The book inside the story The beginning of Part 3 shows Midnight Blink writing down the epilogue of the story and the point of view changes to 3rd person. That is because parts 1 and 2 are Blink's draft of the book he starts writing at the beginning of part 3. After his death, Celestia and Spike use letters and Blink's memories to finish the book. She passes it down along generations as a story, a story which is eventually read to a unicorn filly by the name of Firefly, who will end up to be Lauren Faust in the human world. Symbolism There is a lot of foreshadowing and symbolic gestures and events that can be found throughout the story. I recommend readers to go back and read the story again, as it had been almost two and a half years in the making. A couple of examples of symbolism in Stairway to Equestria: Luna’s crown hanging heavy on her head in the times when she ruled alone, before the incident described in “The Green Gala”. The radio signals from Earth are blocked by the planet right after he leaves for Tartarus, yet the radio on the bike still picks up songs foretelling his demise. What happens after “The End”? I believe the answer to that question lies in each of your hearts. I have dictated my characters’ entire lives even well after their passing, so I wanted to set them free into the imagination of the people that truly enjoyed this story. Initially (and I can’t stress enough how this is only my personal take on it), I planned to have one last paragraph depicting Twilight and Blink emerging from a cave as the dawn of a new day broke over a beautiful new planet some billion years into the next Cycle. They would then swear to watch over that world to the new Life and Death, a pair of alicorn siblings Twilight and Blink knew all too well from the previous Cycle. Credits: I would like to thank all the people that have helped me in any way. Be that an answer to a simple question or the countless hours put in by my editors, tips on how to be a better writer or spotted mistakes in the chapters. I am forever thankful for all the help, advice and the amazing support you've shown to a complete stranger like myself. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Editors (2012-2014) CosmicAfro GreenMii JBL Sparklight I Brained My Damage Shira Pre-readers: (2012-2013) super monkey PonyPonyX Jed