Well, having changed the course of the story, I'm finding the "butterfly effect" taking hold on it a little bit. Some of the events which I intended to happen earlier are a bit harder to fit in because of the new situation with Nyx being injured and stuck in the bayou.

So, I'm starting this thread to be able to post plot challenges which I'm trying to solve. And of course, if any of my advisers have any ideas on how to solve these issues, I'm definitely interested in hearing them.

The two main time sensitive issues are:
(1) Nyx is injured, preventing her from fighting or travelling for the next day or two.
(2) Withersberg is on the edge of becoming a raider town. Currently they don't suspect anything (except maybe zebras) and Sage is busy trying to infect enough ponies to build up a raider force capable of taking the whole town. There are also infected ponies at the Inn, who will probably convert in another day. This is an alteration of the standard zombie-apocalypse scenario which is about to play out in the town.

Currently, there are some plot elements which are experiencing roadblocks because of these issues. They are:

Getting the zebra raider body to Canterlot. It's still buried under what used to be the zebra camp. It's got a preservation spell on it, so I figure as long as someone digs it up and takes it to Canterlot relatively soon, that's ok. But how do we go about this now that Nyx is injured?

I'd like for Nyx to be present for the first discovery of pony raiders. I've got a scenario in mind as to how this could play out, but the problem now, is that I've got a whole town about to go raider, and Nyx isn't even well enough to travel much less fight them. With the town becoming a giant raider nest any day now, Nyx is gonna miss out on this unless I heal her up real quick.

I'd like to get Dinky involved soon. This will solve the whole "communication blackout" between Nyx and the Palace. But because she's never been to the bayou, she's going to have to get there via other means. I'm thinking maybe Derpy's team can fly her out. I can't get her out there though, until someone gets her attention.

But yes, the biggest issue currently is what to do about Withersberg becoming a raider town, when Nyx is injured. That just won't do. I either have to speed up her recovery, or delay the town's conversion. Or both. The current plan is that everyone makes it back to Gatorton safely and spends the night. Then, Chocolate Cake goes home to let them know about the fate of the zebra camps and ask them what they'd like Daisy's team to do. When he arrives, he finds the town in anarchy and not being a fighter, he returns to Gatorton and tells the others. The problem this creates is that it gives a sense of urgency to "handling" the raider town, when Nyx is still very much out of action.

One possible solution is to have Chocolate not go home until after Nyx is healed up, but he needs a plausible reason for this. The team has several fliers now, one a local pegasus who can make the trip solo. What's his plausible reason for not going home the very next day?

Twilight is irritated that I haven't figured this one out earlier.

The one piece of technology that solves a fair number of my current logistics problems:

Or more specifically, the powered version.
Wouldn't the powered sky chariots exist at this point? That would have been a civilian effort prior to the war I'd expect.

So... current solution perhaps would be to proceed with the plan as normal, since the zebras were wiped out, and as soon as Nyx is able to travel, they all fly to Canterlot and pick up a sky chariot. This solves travel issues for ponies like Daisy too. If they go to Canterlot first, then that gives Withersberg enough time to get mostly converted to a raider town.

I'll have to think about how the addition of a sky chariot will affect the story. It'd be silly to pretend that they don't exist, so I might as well fit them in as best as I can.

I still feel like it's giving Chocolate an "idiot ball" to not go immediately back home the very next morning. He still needs a plausible reason for not going home right away.

The problem with not going to Withersberg right away is that Daisy promised military aid to the town within a day or so, while Nyx is away at Canterlot. The only way to get around this is probably to have Chocolate make an early morning run to Withersberg to tell them what happened, and have the town not be in anarchy yet. Have the mayor tell him that they're fine as long as the zebra threat has been eliminated. Then he can go back to Gatorton and tell Daisy that she doesn't have to come for a few days. Maybe that can prompt the idea of acquiring a small powered sky chariot, because they can't be running back and forth between these settlements in alligator infested swamps. So Daisy stays put with her team for a couple days, allowing the town to convert to raiders and Nyx to be there at first contact.

Man oh man, I've designed (in my head) the sky chariot the heroes are going to get. And oh boy it is gonna be so cool! I can't wait to write it in.