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
This is what most writers should do for some of their finished fics.
Thank you.
For the story, for the images, for the memories.
For The Last Paragraph.
The End Of The Beginning.
This was an awesome story I reread it twice!!! Will there be a possible sequel? The story is one that I will advise to my friends. Sequel plsssssss????
One of the most beautiful story I've ever read on internet and books, such feels... I would totally offer you a drink if we were to meet one day
5088690 I'm happy that you enjoyed it, and thanks for sharing it with your friends!
Unfortunately, this was the first, and the last story I will ever write. The ending kinda tied everything together (or at least, gave everyone the opportunity to tie everything together the way they want). There might be a chapter describing events that happened during Blink's late lifetime (for example, I would actually like to explore the confrontation between Twilight and Blink, and the griffin armies that took place 8 years after Canterlot's siege, also the talk Blink, Luna and Celestia had that changed him so much that day!). I can't promise anything though.
5088756 ok. If you were to make a sequel then I has an idea.
Thank you for writing this wonderful story. Will you ever write something again or are you finished for good?
Will you ever make another story? I'm not talking about a sequel (though if that were possible..) just writing in general.
Manly tears were shed. Good fucking story. Even reading this answers section brought back the memories and the watering of the beard.
5088902
I'm gonna miss this. It was a good ride. Thank you for this amazing work.
Ah, I feel bad that I haven't followed this story in MONTHS (maybe even a year, if it was just when Part/Act III had begun), even though I've still been tracking it, but just have left several chapters unofficially marked as read that I did in some way (mostly skimming, due to the length) and not got around to reading several of the last chapters at all. While I gripe that there isn't much I can do now (not just cause I was unaware there was a contest for reviewing, which I admittedly don't do a lot of anymore, like I used to on this site or on anything , but cause I didn't review and offer criticism or feedback), other than actually re-read it from the beginning and maybe comment once the story is over and haven't officially read all of these notes; I'm glad you saw it through to the end, unlike so many other well-crafted (or otherwise in quality) stories I've seen on this site and/or stumbled upon. I mean this is no offendable way, but if you do write on this site again (or if you can post a notice about writing non-MLP on another site), despite seeing what you said to somebody else here; I'm sure your next story will be even better due to your seemingly improved grasp on the English language (or from using editors), from when you started this story to this final post. And I'm sure when I do get around to reading this again over several days or weeks, I'll enjoy it like I did in the beginning and be moved by the end, perhaps.
*clap*clap*clap* Wow, the background music made it even that much better... So this has been a great story, and I'm happy to have been with you most of the time. I will miss this story greatly. So great job and good luck at wherever you end out
Not many writers end with the main 6 dieing. This ending was great.the story was great. I crude so much the last two chapeters.
All good things must come to an end. And this has been a good thing. It took a while, but this story has been a fun read since the beginning.
Thanks for the good story.
WOW just WOW the epilogue is the best ending i've ever read in a story. And the part with Shining Armor and Cadance is so sad ;(
I really hope that you write more fanfictions because you are one of the best authors on this website.
Thank you for the journey.
Congratulations on finishing! This really is a great accomplishment, and you're right to be proud. Good luck with your future endeavors!
That would of been a great end to the story and a chance for a great sequel but, I like the current ending anyways
5088506
Yes, yes they should.
Do it fgt.
Seriously though, please?
I really loved this read, everything sat right and even though the Celestia banishment part still pisses me off, I still look at this as one of the better works on FiM-Fic. I hope that you do add that last paragraph for I would love to see a sequel but leaving it "as-is" doesn't change anything for worse. 10/10
This still makes me cry.........
Wow, just wow.
That was an amazing story, it actually made me cry. Thank you for writing it.
P.S I gotta know, was the last part in the epilogue inspired by the Lost series finale? It kinda reminded me of that.
5175265 Happy you enjoyed it.
The last part does feel a lot like Lost's finale, but it wasn't something I was actually aiming for.
Finally got enough time to finish this. I do enjoy how you connected Equestria with our world, despite how far and how much we are able to see we know very little about the universe. This was a great story, sad to see it end but glad that it actually finished as well. So many great stories tend to die halfway through, good to see one make it all the way.
5182309 I had about 4-5 total editors over the years (took > 2.6 years to finish the story). Each chapter had at least 2 editors go though them, but at the end of the day, you still have 350k words. That's an inhuman amount of editing hours needed to check every one of them.
Even now I still find mistakes, which I fix immediately. But yes, I did re-write quite a few chapters (first 12 or so), since they were written about 2 years ago, and my writing style has drastically changed (for the good I think ) in that time.
Anyway, I am happy that you enjoyed it!
5183220 I'm glad you wrote it! It was a good read.
Editing effectiveness has a lot of variables. The primary one, in my opinion anyway, is the amount of time a chapter has to be edited before publishing (I personally suggest, depending on length and chapter writing rate, that there's a buffer chapter allowing two chapters to be gone over at once).
5183298 Well, for the bigger part of the years STE took to complete, the chapters took about 4 weeks to write and 2 weeks to edit (talking about the big ones, over 10-12k words).
Wow...just....wow. I'm so touched that you ended the story with all the letters between Twilight, Celestia, and Blink
5234405 Well, throughout the entire story I went to great lengths to not show the contents of all those letters. Now you know why. I'm glad you enjoyed it
I loved every moment and wish there were more. Maybe you should write a sequel with Nyx in it? I'm Glad you wrote this (P.S. What the heck is this? Twilight? A princess?)
[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WP2sv9ZmSrc]
5237698
I think you got the wrong fic here :D
Sorry. The video wouldn't load. The ull must've been flawed or something.
You bastard! You made me cry.
Only 1 other fic managed to do that, and that was years ago. Considering the fact that I go through about 1-2 stories a day (depending on length), you have managed to accomplish something extraordinary. For that alone, you have managed to secure a spot in my "Hall of Fame". That doesn't even take into account the masterful writing (I'm willing to overlook the occasional typo).
You've created something special here, and I'm looking forward to the next time this story reaches the top of the "To Read" list.
5337299 Thank you very much. I'm happy that you've enjoyed it !
My reaction to the story was:
A review on one of my favorite stories on fanfiction.net
I must say this story was quite a journey.
I enjoyed every moment of it.
Thank you.
5351644
5360996
Glad you enjoyed it! Means a lot to me. Stay tuned however. I have a few more surprises left,
This was one crazy ride.
5435384 I wouldn't be writing about it if nobody had ever pointed a gun at me, so yes, I've gotten a pistol shoved up in my face. It's. Not. Pleasant.
5463413 I admit this is by far the biggest plot hole in the story, however the real motivation is later-on presented (or, at least hinted at). Also a detailed explanation on that decision is in the last chapter of the story (the FAQ, big spoiler alert for that one)
I stumbled upon this story thanks to that fancy recommendations column to the right of something else I was reading. Imagine my surprise when I found something marked "completed". I kinda let it sit in an open tab for a day or so and when I couldn't fall asleep Wednesday night (more like Thursday morning 2am) I figured I'd read this.
It's Friday a little after 5am. I read the whole thing. I haven't slept, and it was worth it. Thanks for writing this, it was a remarkable journey.
Liked and Faved. I'm going to sleep now. Oh I'm #1300.
5483181 hey! Glad you enjoyed it, and grats on being 1300'th to like it!
5513548 I imagined her a couple of years older. She is a bit taller than him and can fly properly.
5554321 Thanks. Hold that thought as you go through the book's most controversial plot line segment
5554514 I am more than glad that you enjoyed it.
In regards to the book: in the story's 'lore', the book 'Stairway to Equestria' was put together by Celestia and Spike long after their pony friends and loved ones died, and contains a lot of things:
First, all the adventures of Twilight and her friends since she moved into Ponyville (if you remember Firefly's mother reading to her daughter from the book, she starts off with the introduction from the episode 1); so it is implied that Celestia or Spike added all her adventures from the show up until about season 2-3.
After that, Blink turned up and the book continues with his first-person story spread into two parts that he wrote.
In part 3, Blink is on his night watch in Canterlot, finishing off the introduction that we read in Chapter 1. That is when he start writing about his adventures. (this story's part 1 and 2)
But who wrote about him in 3rd person afterwards? Didn't actually explained that, but it is to be assumed that Spike did so from letters, discussions or stories told with him and his friends.
In the end, as described in the last chapter, Spike brings all the letters he ever received/sent/saved over the years from Twilight/Blink/Celestia/friends and leaves them with Celestia, who presumably finished the "book's" epilogue by listing all those letters.
5597771 No, Gilda is the victim of the case of Blink vs. Gilda. Gilda is the"victim" because she was attacked by Blink when she had diplomatic immunity. Blink did not know this,and reacted accordingly to how he saw the situation play out. Let's put this into perspective: Let's say you are watching your friend do some parkour stunts, and a guy walks up her and makes a move to stab her.You react accordingly and step in to stop this assault, not knowing that the guy had diplomatic immunity. You get slammed by the government for attacking someone with diplomatic immunity, despite the fact that he was about to stab her. And if you think my analogy is wrong, Gilda did raise her talons and make an effort to seriously, if not fatally, injure Dash.
5652112 Sorry that you didn't enjoy that part, some other readers didn't either. Can't really force you now to continue with the story, but all I can say is that the reasoning behind some of the decisions made by Celestia are explained later on. While this doesn't do much to solve a reader's frustration as he reaches these rather bad chapters of the story, at least they are able to see the whole reasoning later on in the story.
5723011 Thanks for the comment. Glad you enjoyed it so far, and sorry for the bad parts.
While certain scenes might not seem realistic/appropriate for the readers (as each individual person comes with a different mindset and expectation to this story) I will, however, have to agree to some of the issues presented.
There are certain points I will have to bring up. First of all, every reader has its own 'canon' in regards to how the world of Equestria would function in a real-life scenario. Some people think that certain fight scenes were 'realistic', while other encounters not so much and vice versa. As the complaints and appraisals seem to be evenly distributed on that matter, I see those particular scenes as 'well' written and acknowledge the fact that due to the different age/culture/background of each reader, some will have issues with certain parts of the story, and that there is nothing I can do in regards to that (the classic 'you can't please everyone').
That being said, the most common, often mentioned issue in the story's plot is Gilda's arrival and the consequences of Blink's attack on her. I've agreed in several comments throughout this story that the events that were used to drive the story forward in Part 2 are simply not 'realistic', or at least, not realistically presented and justified.
There is no doubt about it, the motive of Blink's journey is flawed. The plot hole is horrid and no matter how much I tried to patch things up and justify it in the chapters that followed, almost every reader has had a bad taste in his/her mouth after reading those particular chapters. It is, without a doubt, the worst part of this story, and I wish I would have written it differently, because I know I could have pulled-off Blink's 'exile' in a much better way. Regardless, I can only hope that the story's progress in the following chapters will wash out that bad taste for you. I know for certain that Part 3, and subsequently, the ending, represent the best chapters I've ever written and I am quite proud of them and the way the story is concluded.
Thanks again for the time you took to comment on this story, and I hope that you will return with more reviews as you read along.
Cheers,
Alex