Spark Chaser Updates

Hey everyone! Broken here... Oh, wait, that's Spark Chaser now! I'm back from my month-long hiatus. So, here comes a bunch of answers to questions that may have been asked while I was gone.

 

Q. What about the Map?

A. I really am sorry. I was planning on posting up the map immediately after finishing "Broken Dreams", but it went late into the night, and I had to be up early the next day. It was pretty much done. Now that I'm back, I'm going to need to make a bunch of changes to match the current state of things. So, if you have something that needs a-changing, let me know.

 

Q. Why were you gone?

A. NaNoWriMo. There is a challenge during the month of November to write a 50,000 word novel within the confines of the month. You cannot start from anything you already have written. So, during this time, I was finally writing a book I had thought up back in my junior-high days. I didn't actually make it to 50,000. I got up to 43,825. I really like what I've written, and I'm really hopeful. Even having written that much, I still haven't gotten halfway through the story.

 

Q. What was your character doing while you were gone?

A. There was fallout from "Broken Dreams". The story leading up to it brought Broken to the brink of death, and he was saved only by the players' intervention. Starvation, exposure to cold, and wounds from living alone on the fringe took its toll. After reawakening as Spark Chaser, he spent a good deal of time recovering at the clinic, until he was released. Since then, he took up residence at Cartography, and continued work on the map, while also writing a book he had thought up while in the old world. (See where I'm going with that?)

 

Q. What was this "Broken Dreams", I don't even?

A. "Broken Dreams" was the third of three quests making up the Broken Horn Saga. It's important to note that it occurred primarily in a dream, and thus is open to interpretation. To understand it, we have to go back to day one.

 

        When I first arrived in Equestria, I was, in short, a bit of a wreck. I've got serious self-esteem issues, and was suicidal in the first grade. So, having arrived in this new world, I had a fresh chance. I could create a new name and everything. The name I had chosen was Spark Chaser. This name is a take off the weapon from Mega Man V for Game Boy. It would shoot forward, stop, then shoot off in another straight line, constantly heading towards the nearest enemy. This represents my obssessive nature, constantly shooting off towards the next big idea, then finding something new, but alwasy finding a way to link it back. Following a path through tangents. It's my favorite Mega Man weapon, but it also represents the fact that, if given the chance in this world, I would run after my favorite pony, Twilight Sparkle.

 

        But, that self-hatred returned. The same old lies I believed about myself told me that I wasn't worthy of her. I wasn't worthy of such a "cool" name. I wasn't worthy of still being alive. I'm a parasite and a monster. That couldn't be my name. Just ignore it. Hey! I'm a unicorn! I can use magic! The schism between my conscious and unconsious mind was so deep, that when I attempted to use magic for the first time, the magic was infused with that self-destructive impulse. The horn blew up, shattering the end of it. When I woke up in the hospital, the nurses were calling me "that broken guy". In my state, I accepted it as my new name.

 

        (Side note: It is stated during "Broken Dreams", that Cadence was responsible for giving us our names. She stated that she whispered to each pony their name, based off the cry of their heart. That would mean that the name Spark Chaser would have been whispered to me, and I rejected it. The Cadence that said this, however, was entirely seen within the confines of a dream, and may not have been the real Cadence.)

 

        Fast forward to "Red Blast", the first quest in the Broken Horn Saga. This was a quest to the Red Blast Valley to try and learn how to use that magic properly. None of the spells work properly, causing effects that even the Alicorns had not been stated to be able to do. This is a combination of the schism in the mind, as well as a broken horn, resulting in chaos magic-like cascading effects. The subconscious, looking for a way to communicate, used the butterfly-effect of the chaos magic to send hints as to what was going wrong.

 

        Late in the Mist Veil adventure line (titled "All's Fair"), we begin to see evidence that I am not eating, and complain of nightmares. The entirety of these nightmares are not revealed until "Tower Defense", the second part of Broken Horn. Here, we discover that I have been having nightmares of brutally murdering the entire town. These nightmares are accompanied by my horn shooting off lightning blasts in the waking world. This is because the dreams are a result of the conscious self-hatred, while the subconscious is attempting to remind me of my true self, linked irrevocably with the magic. During "Tower Defense", this is reinforced, as the talking spider-boss reveals that it was sent to destroy the Watchtower and everything in it, and that "the darkest days are coming" and "the blood red sun is rising". At the end of "Tower Defense", I am launched away from the town by a blast of magic, and cannot be found for a week. This brings us to the beginning of "Broken Dreams". Starving, frost-bitten, and wounded from the fight in "Tower Defense", I finally return to the Watchtower. There, I lay down, knowing that I most likely will not wake up. After falling asleep, the subconscious makes one final, desperate plea. It utilizes the chaos magic effects to create a portal into the dreamscape, a portal so big that it will draw attention, and hopefully help. The effect is not unlike a red sun dawning.

 

        (Side note: If the "real Luna" that appeared at the end of "Broken Dreams" is the true Luna, then her jumping into my dream also became a source of energy, using her Alicorn magic to generate enough energy for the portal. Of course, we did not see her outside the dream, so this may not have been the real her either.)

 

        The party arrived at the portal and went in, where they were met with Luna. She proclaimed that Broken was evil, and that she and Celestia were going to seal me away in Tartarus forever. The party didn't buy it, so she took them into the huge, horn-shaped tower that had replaced the Watchtower. Inside, they found several displays. One was a model of Four Cannon, and a death-toll should I blow up at either the Watchtower or Cartography. This number is grossly over-exaggerated. "Luna" used this as evidence that I was planning to kill everyone. The party correctly re-interpreted this as my fear of what I could do to the town, which was my driving reason for continuing to live outside the pallisade. Around the model was a series of mannequins dressed up in various outfits. These represented my various personas, both on and offline. The "Hazard" display was me as an artist. "Agent M" was me at work. "Another Kuu" is my handle on /x/. Then, of course, there was "Broken". These displays were used by "Luna" to suggest that I was a liar, and was not who I pretended to be.

 

        At this point, a red light bounced through the room, highlighting a door they could not see before. This lead up to the next room. Here, they met a young boy playing Mega Man V on his Game Boy. The players bypassed this section, and continued. On the third floor, they found the red light again, bouncing against the walls, which were covered in insults. "Luna" attempted to convince the players that this was me convicting myself of my sins. Liven correctly guessed that this was just the manifestation of low self-esteem. The players caught the light, which turned out to be the tip of a broken unicorn horn. They found a hidden door to the roof, upon which time, "Luna" became irrational, and refused to go any further.

 

        On the roof, they found Luna, locked in a cage. The "Luna" that had been with them the whole time was actually the darker aspects of my personality, which took shape as a black version of Broken. It is my conscious self-hatred and lack of self confidence, and is called Doubt. Doubt tore the tower apart, launching the players into the dream version of Red Blast Valley. Here, Luna calls in Cadence (we think), who tells the players why Broken's magic doesn't work. My name isn't Broken. In order to put everything right, they'd have to figure out me name and convict me of this. They do so, and the horn they found becomes a white and red version of Broken, Spark Chaser. I aid them in defeating Doubt, and we all wake up. Briefly, I appeared as the dream version of Spark Chaser, before fading back to my original brown color scheme. Now psychologically stable, I return to the town for recovery.

 

Q. You had mentioned the possibility of multiple endings for "Broken Dreams". What were they?

A. If the players hadn't successfully figured out the name by the end of the time limit, the consequnces would have been dire. Doubt would have taken complete control of my magic, ejecting the players from the dreamscape and becoming just as black. What little power remained in the good part of me would then eject Doubt from the city. This would have been a temporary measure, as he would return in a few months time to kill everyone in the town. Of course, quests I would introduce would build up countermeasures against him.

 

        If the players had managed to figure out my real name prior to the destruction of the tower, they would have been treated to a "cutscene" of Spark Chaser whupping on Doubt by himself, then snapping his neck. From there, it would have continued as the normal "good" ending.

 

        It should be noted that the ending had to be altered because the players bypassed talking to the boy. He was intended to give them a key object, his Game Boy, which would function as a Lens of Truth. Since they did not talk to him much at all, the Game Boy was given to them through the explosive destruction of the tower. It should also be noted that while the boy was destroyed by Doubt in the destruction of the tower, there was no way to save him at all. If they had talked to him, the floor would have dropped out from under him, dropping him to his "death". The boy represented the original, core "me".

 

Q. Did we avert the prophesy of the "Blood Red Sun"?

A. No, as was hinted OOC at the end of "Broken Dreams".

 

        <Broken>: (See? The Blood Red Sun is rising on the broken carnage of the darkest days.)

 

        This suggests that the prophesy is still active. What it portends is still unknown.

 

Q. Will we see the white-and-red version of Spark Chaser outside of dreams?

A. Yes, I hope. When and how? That's for me to know and you to find out.

 

Q. What do you have planned from here?

A. Well, I'm now done with the Broken Horn Saga, and have completed "All's Fair"/Mist Veil. I have a few other things up my sleeve...

 

        "Holiday" (Slice of Life): Spark Chaser has recovered from his condition, and invites those who saved him to go on a picnic to thank them. But all is not normal in this meadow, and the experience becomes something very different than was intended!

 

        "In Love" (Slice of Life/Action): An expedition is sent back to Mist Veil to acertain its viability for steam power, sulfur production, and a safe haven. Midway through, though, the party discovers that the harsh winters and recent invasion has had its on effect on the foggy cave.

 

        "And War" (Action/Exploration): The love letters found in Mist Veil revealed the location of another Diamond Dog hideout, but as the players discover, getting in may be even more complicated than surviving the hideout itself!

 

        "Starcrossed" (Exploration): I'm keeping this one close to the chest. Magical accidents, ruins found, over-arching plot begun. I've been planning "Starcrossed" for almost as long as I had been planning "Broken Dreams", and its overplot would need to be aprooved before I can do it. That being said, I'm stoked for it, if I ever get there.

 

Q. So, now that you're back, are you going to be on more often?

A. Not really. I've always been a busy boy, and that's picking up even more now. I've got my own business, and a full-time job on top of that. Part of my business is going to require more time from me than before, so don't count on my constant activity. I'll be catch as catch can, and IC, will be pouring myself into cartography and writing.

 

Q. Wait, you have a business?

A. Yes. Once it's off the ground, it will be a really revolutionary web service. Until then, I've been also making shirt designs on Redbubble. My sister and I also make jewelry, which she sells on Etsy. I do the art, she puts a glass bead on it to turn it into the jewelry. If you want to get links, just ask me.