PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE.
“They aren’t getting married.” Twilight said. The group of four had walked in silence for a time; Twilight had chosen to wait until they were out of Ponyville limits before bringing the topic up.
Broken turned his head to face her, eyebrow raising. “Really.”
She nodded. “Applejack had bought the ring and was planning to give it to Rarity before the Princess’ decree.”
“Mmhm.”
“And she wasn’t willing to not give Rarity a gift just because it looked like an engagement ring.”
“Understandable.”
“And Rarity didn’t want you going around telling anypony that they were getting married. Or about the ring at all.”
“Right.”
“Because some ponies might come to the wrong conclusions like you did.”
“Sure.”
“Any questions?”
“Are you the maid of honour?”
“Of course not, Sweetie i-“ Twilight slapped her hoof over her mouth as Broken’s smirk cracked into an open grin. She glared at the stallion, and he started sniggering.
“So, wait, what’s going on?” Spike asked. Pip put his eye on the young dragon.
“I believe that Miss Applejack and Miss Rarity are to be married, but did not wish for anypony to know about it at this point. Miss Twilight is attempting to support their wishes, but Broken Shield is unwilling to.”
“Hey, weddings are happy occasions. Don’t see any reason to hide them.” Broken shrugged, then started giggling again. Twilight maintained a glower at him.
“Just don’t tell anypony. She was very clear on that point.” Twilight grabbed Broken in her magic, lifting and turning him to stare him in the eye. “Got it?”
“Got it.” Broken nodded furiously, his grin not leaving his face. Twilight maintained her hold on him.
“Are you… ‘mad’, right now?”
“Frustratingly so.” Broken’s eye twitched as he laughed breathlessly. “Had about a dozen urges to kill you since we left the Boutique. Really hard to hold them.” He barked another laugh before biting his lip. Pip positioned himself halfway between the stallion and Twilight, and Spike thumbed at the small emergency note tied to his wrist. Both stopped when Twilight waved her hoof at them.
“Broken, do you think you can calm yourself down?”
“Already trying.” The scarred stallion muttered, seeming to gag a few times after the words. He closed his eye and took several deep breaths, twitching and retching after each. Then he shook himself, breathed again, and went still.
“Broken?”
The white unicorn exhaled, opening his eye and staring at Twilight. “Feel better now.” She let him go, and he stumbled slightly as he landed. “Damn, I owe Path fifty bits.”
“He made a bet with you on your treatment?” Twilight asked, disgusted.
“No, I just said I’d pay him if that actually worked.” Broken stretched himself up and hitched his cloak around his shoulders. “Where are we going, anyways?”
“That’s up to you.” Twilight stopped the group as they reached the edge of the Everfree. Broken and the other two gave her almost-identical odd looks.
“What?”
“I want you to show me where the main Loyalist base was.”
“…What.” Broken raised a hoof to his head, glancing between Twilight and the forest. The mare cleared her throat.
“I had an idea on what to do with you while I was talking with Rarity. I want you to show us where the main base of the Loyalists was.”
“And why in Faust’s downy subplot would I be stupid enough to show you?” Broken threw his hoof from his head to the air. “The Everfree’s bucking dangerous, especially if you go off the path, and we stuck to the deepest parts because of that. You’re asking me to take you on an at-bare-minimum-one-point-five-hour-long hike through one of the most unnaturally-violent areas inside of Equestria to a spot that looks exactly like the rest of the hundred or so square kilometres surrounding it?” Twilight blinked, then nodded. “Why?”
“Because I think it’ll do you good to visit there, maybe spark some ideas or memories that you’ve forgotten. And I want to see the area for myself.”
Broken snorted. “Right, and why exactly should I show you the area that the Loyalists hid from Dawn in? So that when she comes out she knows where they are?”
Twilight ignored the ‘when’. “If Dawn appears, everypony’s going to be ready for her. I highly doubt that there’d need to be a secret hideout out here at all. Plus, I’m sure Pip knows where it is-“
“I do, Miss Twilight.”
“-and thus if you refuse I can just have him knock you out and drag you along.” Twilight gave Broken a grin, and after he recovered from his surprised look he gave her one back with a laugh.
“Right then. First we need supplies.” He glanced expectantly at Twilight’s saddlebags. The mare blinked, then facehoofed. Broken gave her an incredulous stare. “You didn’t bring-“
“Miss Twilight, I have a stash of supplies a fairly short distance from here. There is more than enough for a three hour Everfree hike.”
“That would be great, thank you Pip.” Twilight said quietly, still hiding her face in her hoof. The stallion nodded, disappearing for a minute before returning with several saddlebags and a dozen bottles of water strapped to him. Broken quickly walked over and checked the contents.
“Apples, carrots, wheatstalks, apples, apples…” Broken glanced at Pip. “Applejack know you’re poaching from her?”
“The apples here are wild-grown. None were obtained directly off of the trees of Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Why did you have a food stash in the first place, anyways?” Spike asked. Pip turned his head at the dragon.
“…My metabolic rate is somewhat lower than a regular pony’s, but I do require sustenance. Where did you think I obtained food from?”
“The library? I doubt Broken ate all the food he had Twilight buy.”
“You’d be surprised.” Broken closed the saddlebags, putting his focus back on Pipsqueak. “You bring something to mark the path?”
In response, Pip raised his hoof and placed it on a nearby tree. He shifted himself slightly, and there were suddenly several cracks and a hoof-shaped indent in the trunk of the unfortunate plant. The other three stared at the mark for several seconds before Broken laughed and glanced at Twilight.
“Let’s get going, then.”
I understand. Get some rest. An exhausted author is not a good author.
Writing is kind of like good sourdough. The trick is to stop writing before you run out of the base, so you'll have some to speed the next batch.
Rest. Don't force it. Take an hour-and-a-half to simply think about the story every day for a week (Exactly 1.5 hours per day, and don't do anything but think. Jogging or other meditative activities can be done beforehand, but the end-point is crucial), and it will help you get into the creative mood.
Trust me: I'm a composer, and I've faced similar writing block issues before.
Get some rest and recover. I understand. I hope you regain your muse and your ability to write. Best of luck. I can't wait for the finale.
I've been in exactly your situation for nearly 3 years now. It's so bad it's stalled every project I've touched.
My advice? DO NOT STOP, KEEP MOVING. If you stop it may never start back up. Take a break from this fic, maybe, but keep writing SOMETHING at least.
First off, thanks much to all of you.
3920437
Very much agree. Avoiding exhaustion is the main reason I'm doing this.
3920493
That's a really good way of looking at it. I can usually get the chapters done a few days early, but there've been a few that I've mostly written the night before, and I always feel rather bleh after them.
Last night I was feeling bleh before I started. That's what rather solidly convinced me I needed this.
3920528
Thanks very much. The end isn't coming directly on my return, but we'll be within spitting distance.
3920559
That's something I'm in constant fear of - running out of momentum with no way to build it back up.
Don't be worrying about this too much - I'm not going to stop writing entirely. I do have other stories, as I mentioned - I'm going to give Prevention a little rest, work on them, see how it goes.
I'll only POST them when I'm up and running on this one.
Don't worry Mind, it's completely acceptable to take a break every once in a while. Personally, I'm amazed you haven't yet, as this is quite the good, and long, story.
Don't worry, we can wait. What's important here is that you're feeling okay. Forcing yourself to write will only stress you out, trust me on this. So relax, do something else for a bit and know that And know that you're not letting us down at all and we'll be here when you're ready
BTW, if you do need help with anything, don't hesitate to drop a PM, okay?
Thanks for the heads up.
3920849
Thanks. I've seen too many really good stories end up just abqndoned with no note or explanation, and I really wanted to make sure that I didn't do that.
3920902
Trust me, I know exactly how ruinous a forced piece of writing can be...
And don't be worrying too much. This isn't anything bad going on in life, I'm just trying to avoid overextension and making the story seem forced.
3920980
No problem.
3920921
In terms of injury reaction? Pretty much.
"Pip, your hind legs have been cut off!"
"There is no cause for worry, Milady."
Then he takes a tree, breaks it in half, sticks the halves into the stumps and goes along his merry way.
...
Excuses! I think you just ran out of good P words to use for the story!
Take your time, we can wait
3925377
Curses, you've discovered my secret!
Don't worry, I've got plenty more I can use. What's a headache is figuring out a title for the epilogue that uses REVENTION all in order.
Great story, yo.
3923845
The name was commenter-inspired (2633641 and 2633742) in a discussion on Ch. 20, but I actually hadn't been directly trying for an analogue to House - just an exasperated and somewhat foul-mouthed doctor. He was supposed to be a nameless one-shot, even, replaced by Path (who wasn't a psychologist) because of his duties to other patients. But after he showed up the first time, I found him too enjoyable to not use again.
Thanks, by the way.
3930070
Yeah, and Horizons is still ongoing. I know I'm not going to get anywhere near that length, but the end point that I'm aiming for is still five times as long as my original plan.
Fun Fact: There's a Harry Potter fanfic that's around ~7 million words long.
3933225
~The more you know...~
Although the eight buffalo sentence made more sense to me than its translation.
Watch this, it will help with your writers block. It really is a cure.
Though technically it is a 4:53 long cure not an instant cure, but still a cure.
3933971
That's actually a really good video - I've known about that method for a while, but he sums it up well and explains the idea behind it.
The only problem with it is that it doesn't account for when the 'critic-voice' is aided by the megaphone of OCD and the white-noise generator of ADD.
I'm pushing through it, don't worry.