Please note: Original author's notes are below, but everything in italics is new, written with the FimFiction upload.
First, thank you for reading. If you have read this entire thing, then I salute you. A special extra little thanks to those who have read this before it completed and added their comments on EqD or mailed me; I could not have written this without feedback and encouragement along the way. I feel like such a broken record saying this, but it’s true.
So yes, I have no idea where all these words came from. A little over a month ago I had an idea for an adventure fic that involved finding the truth about what happened to three villains who had been varying degrees of douche to our beloved little ponies. That was the main focus for about as long as it took me to write the prologue.
Apparently, I ended up with something like a psychological drama romance novel. This is not to say I made it up as I went along, but the focus shifted. At one point I was toying with the idea of cutting three of the mane cast out of the fic. I am so very glad I didn’t.
I never felt like I had much choice in anything, though. I made one or two decisions that I knew people might dislike, but trying to change those things felt like going upstream. From the moment I conceived this idea and up until this moment, it’s never been a question of “what happens”. At worst, it’s been “how does this happen?”
This month has been a blur. During the middle three weeks, I spent between 6 and 10 hours a day on this. You may make comments on my sanity at this, but fact is, I’ve enjoyed every single damn moment. Now that I’m done? I can’t wait to write about something else.
(Feel free to drop me a mail (cloudyskieswrites@gmail.com) or a note on deviantArt to say you hate me for Trixie or felt that Twi and Luna should totally have bonked or something. I get so happy whenever I get mail!)
-Cloudy Skies
Edit 23.04 2012: This fic was originally written during August-September 2011. Over the past month, I've edited and uploaded a new version here to FimFiction.net. I've taken the opportunity to smooth out some problematic oversights, address awkward turns of phrase, and generally tried to make this story the best it could be.
It's been a special type of nostalgic journey, reading my own old fic and editing it, but also great fun. I hope you've enjoyed it! For those who read it here first, I pray the fact that it's a S1 fic didn't hurt your enjoyment. For those who re-read it, I hope that the changes were all for the better and that issues surrounding Ch16 and the 21-Epi bridge were resolved. Trixie should no longer be quite as neglected, and the timeline leading to Ch21 no longer makes you wonder about how Celly has the letter already - it should make sense, hopefully!
Thank you for taking the time to read, and thank you again for reading the author's notes! I've left the thanks-to below unchanged because those three ponies are awesome, but I want to send a huge thank-you to RBDash47 for his help, too! He's been a total champ in providing me with proofread versions of the original fic that've been very helpful.
Special Extraordinary Super-Thanks!
You, brony, are a rock without which this fic would’ve had less rocks. No, seriously. Knowing your reader count can never go below 1 is an absurd motivator, and your feedback has been appreciated so much - all those nights where you’ve stayed up a little longer just to read, if only so I could go to bed with a pat on the back? Done me a solid, you have. But you know, I think you’ll be hard pressed to top the pic you did for this fic. Going “sure” and sitting up through the night at a moment’s notice like that, it’s just stupid as hell. And I love you for it.
Check this guy out, ‘cause he does awesome art! But you saw the pic on EqD, so you probably know that already. He also loves pony plot.
Cormacolindor.
It sucks that you don’t do anything artsy-fartsy and that I can’t link to anything as thanks, because you’ve made Applejack and Rainbow Dash check their flanks to make sure you didn’t steal their cutie marks. A few mails and a tentative query from me, and here you are, trying to surpass me on hours spent working on this fic. You weren’t kidding, sir. Loyalty and hard work. Thank you for every mail where we’ve discussed the fic. Thank you for every gruelling hour spent finding stupid typos that I missed.
We have, at this point, exchanged over two hundred and twenty emails in under three weeks. That’s insane, in case you wondered. This is why FiM is awesome: The magic of friendship.
You’re just silly, you know that? You probably don’t even realize how much you taught me during the period where you went above and beyond the call of duty. Pre-readers are supposed to be busy creatures - and I know you are - but the close feedback you provided during the first six chapters were immensely helpful to me. Of course I have probably peed all over those lessons in everything after chapter six, but I like to think I learned a lot. If nothing else, I look at the first draft for Building Bridges, and then at the final version of Within and Without, and I’m thinking you’re to blame for much of this. When the world ends in romance novels written by me, you’re to blame.
Kits also does both art and stories, and is awesome. You should be ashamed if you didn’t know this and haven’t read his fics, but you’ll be forgiven if you check him out now!
Elsewhere.
Silk Net loved his job sometimes. When he had discovered that his special talent was making sure everypony was well taken care of, most of his friends had thought him destined to become a nurse. Not that there was anything wrong with being a nurse! He simply did not see himself in a job where he had to deal with such unpleasantness, was all.
Today, Silk Net was returning to his office after a month-long vacation that he had decided to take on a whim. It was one of the many benefits of being high up in Equestrian Insurance Co., and one of the reasons he loved his job. He nodded to his assistant as he passed her desk by, opening his office door with a shimmer of magic.
“Two cases for you on your desk, sir,” she said, looking up from her work.
Silk Net paused. “I thought I told you to transfer all cases to Deadbolt and Scales while I was gone.”
“I did,” she said, indignant. “Twice, in fact. They were referred to back to you specifically because of the, um, circumstances. And the subject.”
A vague yet terrible feeling passed through the insurance agent’s entire body. It was as if a shiver had called in a favor from its big brother. Silk Net strode into his office and found two innocent-looking brown folders resting on his mahogany desk. He opened them both and peered at the cover papers. He already knew what name he’d find.
Winter Sun, P.E 1001, Fall - Insurance Claim - Grey Hollows Inn.
Riot.
Possible fire.
Hostile territory. (I looked it up, there’s a clause for that from year 605.)
(P.s: I think the inn may still be standing, but really, it’s a bit like that time in Grazewich if you remember, back in ‘997. -Winter)
Winter Sun, P.E 1001, Fall - Insurance Claim - Clopenhagen Grand Hotel.
Extreme exterior damage. (Seriously, you should see this, the wall is missing!)
Major interior damage.
(P.s: Hey Silk, does emotional damage count too? Princess Luna said it did. -Winter)
Silk Net’s head hit his desk. Sometimes, he really hated his job.
(Thank you for reading the credits!)