Completing a work of fiction, even fanfiction is a fairly incredible feat it seems for many of us. Often times things get started, but never finished, and we find ourselves in a position wondering why we even bother.

I certainly actually felt this way about Mending Hearts at some point. With a story that was wildly different than what I’d done with Starlight, I felt the notion that not many people were as invested in it as they were with my previous work.

And of course, the numbers definitely show it. Mending Hearts has far less in the way of views than Starlight and way less in the way of actual comments. Truthfully most writers would have given up on it. But the story weighed on my mind. It cried out to be finished, to show where Starry Night and Lightning Chaser ended their story, an ending I knew all too well in my mind.

I took a break, one that was perhaps a bit too long for story’s sake. I started working on an original piece of fiction (one that is still not finished as of this writing but at least being actively worked on), and dove into a few other projects before finally deciding to get back to Mending Hearts.

Since getting back to it, despite the numbers, and despite the lack of comments, I pushed forward with the ever growing intention to just finish the damn thing. Originally I had a lot more planned out that was going to drag out the story much longer before we got to the Crystal Empire. Originally it was going to be just Wrath attacking Stable Town, and we’d get to see Heartshine interacting with Patch in Theater before the Empire made itself known.

None of this really introduced any urgency in the storyline, and felt very filler so it was cut from my ideas and the focus placed on the Empire as the definitive “big bad” of the story.

Dusk was used as the framing device behind this. Originally introduced as a mere cameo for Stryker1959 (a patron of mine who has in a sense become a very important person for me to go to on matters related to this character), Dusk became a big part of the storyline in a big way. Originally in Starlight, Steeljack never dies and instead Violet perishes during the battle with the dragon. This hardens Star’s heart and she murders Spark / Twilight instead of saving them, causing permanent damage to the fabric of the Elements of Harmony.

Of course, this never happened because Dusk went back in time and changed things. Part of the big theme of this story is accepting responsibility, growing up and allowing life to happen as it happens. Starry Night goes from being a impetuous but well trained young adult into a mature and understanding mare. Lightning goes from being the goof to being a leader. Velvet… oh poor, poor Velvet, she goes from being a bad guy to sacrificing her life for her friends.

On the subject of death, it was fairly well known to me from the get go that the only characters that would potentially survive to the end were Starry, Lightning, and Coconut. Rock Thresher, acting as a possible love interest for Starry (due to her prime interest in well… other species) would eventually die, as it happens to the claws of Wrath, leader of the Cult of Iron Will. This presented a stark difference from Starlight, in that many of the main cast besides Steeljack makes it to the very end. Not to mention that Golden Chalice and Shimmering Night both die near the end, as well as Velvet. Oh, and the entire population of Stable Town.

Now that I look back at it, there’s a lot of actual death in the story. Xerves, Iron Comet, Wrath, Rocky, Stable Town, the alicorns, Velvet… so many characters take the final plunge. It was very… cathartic for me to write this, as it wasn’t something I was overly used to.

Another thing I tried to emphasize with this story was the themes of time travel and the dangers of changing the timeline, in addition to the presentation of threats beyond imagination, eldritch horrors much like how the Fallout series addressed with the Dunwich areas. These parts of the games were always my favorite since I am a fan of the work of Lovecraft and the like. All’z’reth was born out of that idea, and while we never learn really that much about him (as we should) his presence sticks around Starry and infects her to the point of burning out the empathic center of the heart.

Finally, the heart. Much of this story is centered around the journey to save Patch due to her heart condition. My own daughter at 2 months old was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a form of congenital heart disease. At 4 months old, she received surgery to correct the defect and at the time of this writing, is now 3 years old and kicking life in the pants. That struggle, the hopelessness you feel as a parent behind it, how there isn’t much you can do except to trust another life to the hands of a trained professional, is one of the big things that ultimately drove me to finish Mending Hearts. This story is just as much for her as it was for me.

Wrapping up, I hope you enjoyed the story. It was certainly a different approach for me, and taught me a lot in finishing it.

As for the future… I am not sure on what I will do with Fallout: Equestria next. To be honest, I don’t get much time to read many FoE fics anymore, but I still greatly enjoy what the subfandom has done for me. In time, perhaps I might finish Tales of Chicacolt or start another piece of work, but for right now it’s up in the air. I do have an original piece of work I need to finish after all.

Signing off,

volrathxp