What Could Have Been

Hi everypony everyone.

Let me start by saying that I never thought I would make a blog post.

Though I also never thought I would write fanfiction, and I never believed I would dare to comment on my fanfiction.

Now I am here doing all of it.

Strange how life works, isn't it? Instead of regretting doing what I never thought I would do, I only regret not doing it earlier, finding that all my fears were completely unjustified.

Anyway, the purpose of this blog post is to give those who are interested an insight into some scrapped scenes/alternate scenarios/ideas I discarded, taken from chapters 1-13, that I found noteworthy.

There will be spoilers.

The first scrapped idea was that Cadence hid the fact that she was an alicorn/princess. I thought it would make sense since Twilight didn't know who Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was. It would also have made things more sinister.

The problem, though, was that this idea was stupid. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't work. It would only have resulted in me explaining for hours how she hid it, and the payoff wasn't great.

The solution and what was the end result came when I thought of the idea that she simply disguises herself as a pegasus in public to avoid attention. It seemed like a good enough explanation for why Twilight didn't immediately recognize her.

Aside from that, nothing else comes to mind till chapter 9. I only began keeping scrapped scenes, starting with it. Until then, I really didn't have any real issues, or if I did, I caught them before they were written down (Possibly, I also simply didn't bother keeping them and can't remember anymore).

For chapter 9, though, there are many different scenarios of how things could have gone. What you have gotten was not my first, not my second, not even my third idea, though I believe it was the best choice.

Here is a look into what could have been:

As soon as Celestia fell to the ground motionless, it became dark.

Not entirely, of course. Twilight's flames provided more than enough light for them.

The unicorn made her way towards Rainbow, disregarding the dead princess.

"Are you ok?" she kneeled down next to Rainbow.

She killed her!

She killed the princess!

She practically murdered a goddess!

"Dashie, are you ok? Has she hurt you?" Twilight looked her over, trying to look for any more injuries.

"I think I am fine, somehow?" Rainbow glanced at her wing. Nothing indicated that just a short time ago, an arrow had pierced it.

The purple filly threw herself on her, the flames simply dancing around Rainbow instead of hurting her. "I was so scared! They were going to kill you!" she sobbed.

Slowly the fire around her and Twilight died down, with the unicorn returning to her natural colour.

"It's ok, Twi. It's ok." Rainbow muttered.

We are going to work through this…

Hopefully.

A bright spell impacting Twilight, knocking her out cold, proved otherwise.

Dead! We are so dead!

Princess Celestia levitated Rainbow towards her, with magic forming around Rainbow's neck.

"How-"

The pressure around Rainbow's neck increased dramatically. "I am an immortal alicorn. I control the day and night cycle. Do you really believe that a simple knife will be enough to kill me? We alicorns are very durable. Death doesn't stop us. It merely slows us down." As if to prove her point, the knife sticking in her eye disintegrated.

"We didn't mean-" Again, the pressure increased. If her face hadn't been blue already, it would have certainly gone blue now.

"Didn't mean to kill me? I am sure Twilight didn't mean to. You on the other hoof "- Celestia grabbed Rainbow's wing, breaking it. The cries of pain were music to her ears. "A few days ago, Twilight was the most loyal subject a princess could have wished for! She loved me! She adored me! She wanted to be just like me!" Rainbow could have sworn that the fire had returned. Only this time, the princess was the source. "Cadence always insisted that these unnatural feelings wouldn't negatively impact a pony's morals, yet here she is! A few days with you and Twilight has become a murderer!" Celestia broke her other wing.

"If you kill me, she will never forgive you," Rainbow cried out, barely processing any of the princess's words.

"News flash, I can always edit her memories! She won't even remember you when I am done!"

Very slowly, the princess continued, making sure to emphasize every word. "No pony will ever remember you when I am done. You will just be forgotten. No pony will cry for you, no pony will ask for you, no pony will look for you. Not even your parents and definitely not Twilight."

The words had hit their mark perfectly. Rainbow had stopped struggling.

"Are you going to cry now? Where has the rebel in you gone?" The princess mocked her.

"Where is the pony that ruined my precious Twilight?" The pressure on Rainbow's neck was eased.

She isn't your property.

"Nothing to add, Rainbow Dash? No defence?" Celestia used her magic and forced Rainbow to look her in the eyes.

Rainbow spat on her. "She is her own pony! You don't own her! You don't get to dictate her life!"

The princess just nodded before robbing Rainbow of air again. "This is where you are wrong, my little pony. Twilight would be nothing without me. She wouldn't even exist. Her whole existence centres around the fact that she is going to become the element of magic one day. Her whole life was engineered to make sure she would become a worthy bearer.

"Do you have any idea how hard that was? Making sure she would get a good family? Making sure she would grow up with the right set of morals? Getting her to dedicate her life to magic?

"Nothing in her life was left up to chance.

"Until you messed it all up with your rainboom."

"So… sorry… my… Princess." Rainbow used the little air she still had.

As a response, Celestia threw Rainbow into the next tree with all her might. "I forgive you, Rainbow Dash. Like I said, I am more than capable of fixing Twilight."

And by fixing, you mean transforming her into your personal slave again.

"She is smart. One day she will figure it out." Being able to breathe again was a relief, yet the throw had also taken its toll. Rainbow could barely move.

"I will take my chances." The anger slowly dissipated, with a look of pity forming. "We have wasted enough time already. Before I deal with you, I just want to know one thing. Why?"

I just have to stall! Twilight is bound to wake up again!

She can save both of us!

"You are going to have to be more specific, your majesty." Rainbow continued her mocking.

But Celestia didn't let herself get distracted. She wanted an answer, and she was going to get it. "It is obvious that you have put Twilight down this path. She fled because of a vision that must have shown you. Now, a few days later, she is a completely different pony. You must have done this to her. Why?"

What does she want from me?

Rainbow genuinely had no idea what Celestia wanted to hear. "My Princess, I still have no clue what you are getting at."

"Ponies love me. Twilight loved me," Celestia sighed, "Since you are apparently not smart enough to get my implications, I will confront you directly. What have you told her about me? I know Twilight. She would have never left Equestria on her own. You must have manipulated her. I just want to know why you did it. To get her for yourself? To spite me? Or are you working for a third entity?"

Is she seriously accusing me of manipulation?

"I merely told her how real life worked. It was more than enough to topple your charade." A confident grin underlined her statement.

Celestia didn't let herself get fooled by it. The bitterness Rainbow spoke with was clearly audible to her. "Real life or your life? I assume you didn't have it as easy as she did?"

You don't say. Applause for our new top detective.

Rainbow avoided eye contact, keeping quiet.

"I always strived to make Equestria a good place to live for everypony. It seems that with you, I haven't succeeded. Is that why you twisted her mind? To get back at- "

The blue filly couldn't hear the self-centred ramblings anymore. "Not everything is about you! I didn't even know you! Do you really believe that I have some secret dart board with your face on it? I hated my life! There is that what you wanted to hear? There was no secret plan to get back at you. I just wanted to leave. Twilight just happened to be there. Without her help, I wouldn't even have managed to escape."

The admission didn't shock Celestia. She was more than aware of the fact that life wasn't always sunshine and roses. "I am sorry to hear that. Maybe we have started on the wrong hoof here-"

It was clear where the princess was leading. "What? Are you going to bribe me now? Promise me a fancy noble title and shower me with money? Just like you did with Twilight? Keep it! I don't need it, nor do I want it."

I was already perfectly happy before you showed up to ruin it again.

Indeed, it was exactly what Celestia had wanted to offer. "That's unfortunate. Thank you for your honesty." Her horn lighted up.

Healing magic enveloped Rainbow, undoing the damage Celestia had done.

Rainbow stared at her questioningly.

What is she up to now?

"I realize that you didn't intentionally confuse Twilight, so I will not hold it against you." She levitated a small pouch before Rainbow. "Here a more than enough bits to aid you on your quest. I hope that someday, you will find the happiness you seek."

"You are letting me go?" Rainbow couldn't believe it.

"Yes. Finding a pony representing magic was the hardest part. It will be hard to find a new compatible bearer for whatever you represent, but it won't be impossible. Sometimes we just have to cut our losses and move on. At least this way, I will never have to justify myself for killing you. You can view it as a win-win." Celestia turned around, making her way towards Twilight.

That was until the pouch impacted the back of her head. "Everpony wins, except for Twilight! She will return to being your toy again, won't she? I would rather die than allow that!"

Come on, Twilight! Wake up! I don't know how long I can keep this up!

Celestia didn't even turn around. "I am sure you can find another filly to live out your twisted fantasies with. Just don't return to Equestria, or there will be consequences."

Twisted fantasies! Take a look in the mirror, geez!

Rainbow whirled around Celestia, protectively positioning herself between her and Twilight. "I have promised to stay by her side until my death, and you won't stop me from fulfilling that promise!"

The princess wanted to slap herself. "Loyalty?"

"You bet I will stay loyal to her! Your pitiful bag of money will not stop me from staying by her side, even if it means you will kill me!" Rainbow proclaimed, fully expecting to face the consequences of refusing the princess again.

There was no punishment. "Your loyalty is misplaced. It stems from the wrong reasons. As an alicorn, Twilight will never be able to return your feelings. Just cut your losses and move on."

I don't even love her!

"Twilight already told me about her vision! We will change things! We will ascend together with the other bearers!" Rainbow insisted.

"You are delusional. Do you think I would still be alone if that was possible? Cadence was an exception, with even me not knowing how it happened." Celestia scolded her. "As for Twilight, that train has already passed. As a matter of fact, it was never even there, to begin with.

"It is her divine right to rule. You, on the other hoof, are nothing. We will move on without you.

"Twilight will move on without you-"

"Even if I will still stay by her side regardless!" The words only fuelled Rainbow's determination.

I should kill you right now.

But you clearly mean too much to her. I can practically smell her magic on you.

Your whole body is radiating it. Especially your wing.

Celestia looked at where the arrow had been.

"Do not make me regret my mercy. This is your last chance, and you have only gotten it because of her," she relented.

"What are you doing to her?"

"Altering the memories of what has happened here. Do not distract me, or she will suffer the consequences."

Hmm, I will leave the part in which she defended you, but everything after the soldiers charged at her will be gone.

Pray I don't alter it further.

"Now, for her sake, the new story will be that I murdered all those bat ponies to protect you, and what happened to me never happened.

"Can you work with that, or do I need to edit your memories too?"

Rainbow just nodded.

"Good! We don't want her to feel bad about this, after all!"

"You think that story will make you look like the hero?"

"I have no problem playing the bad guy if it gets the job done."

She swooped them up and teleported away.

Obviously, there were many issues with this first version. Most apparent is the question of why Celestia would allow a bearer to leave after everything she did to find them? Wouldn´t stating that she can find another bearer for loyalty while Rainbow is alive contradict what I wrote previously?

I didn't have a good answer, and what I had written seemed forced.

Then there is the issue that Rainbow allowed for the manipulation of Twilight's memories.

She wouldn't have allowed that.

This doesn't even mention the fact that Celestia would have definitely manipulated Rainbow's memories, too, and not only Twilights and that she gave away too much information.

For her to give that much information, she would need to be sure that she could trust that pony or that the pony would never be able to give it away again.

Needless to say, the scene needed to change.

So, what if it hadn't been Celestia? What if Chrysalis had come to save them?

What if they had lost?

What if they had met a mare in black like I had intended at first?

In the end, I simply decided to rewrite it into what you have today.

But what didn't happen today can still happen tomorrow, for not all of what has been scrapped will be shown.

Instead, here is what I planned to write once they had reached Canterlot:

They appeared in a room.

Celestia used her magic to remove the sleeping spell she had cast on Twilight.

Before Rainbow could react, she became the victim of the next sleeping spell.

Twilight opened her eyes. "Where am I? What happened? Dashie-"

"Don't panic, Twilight. You are all safe now. I brought you back to Canterlot. Rainbow is over there." Celestia pointed to Rainbow, who was now sleeping on the ground. "I have cast a sleeping spell on her so that we could have a talk in private."

You had no right to do that.

Twilight rushed over to Rainbow, making sure she was all right.

"I realize you two have grown quite close, despite knowing each other for only a very short amount of time. Did your vision have something to do with that?" Celestia probed.

Why would she care?

"My vision has made me aware of her existence, your highness. I don't believe we would have gotten close so quickly just because of it," Twilight reasoned.

The princess wasn't happy with Twilight's overly formal demeanour, which was on the verge of mocking. "There really isn't a need for those formalities, Twilight. I think we are over them after what you have done."

After what I have done?

…

Oh no-

Celestia intervened before Twilight could freak out. "It's alright. I am not going to hold it against you for obvious reasons. I will just assume that you were under a lot of stress from the attack and didn't mean to attack me. Just know that this is a one-time exception. If it happens again, there will be consequences. Even for you."

I tried to kill her! I succeeded in killing those soldiers! I am just as bad!

I accomplished my goal. Rainbow is safe.

"There are so many things we need to address. If I were to try and make a list about it, it would end up becoming a book. Still, I am committed to trying to make amends. All concerns you have will be addressed-"

"Because you need me? Like you stated in your letter?" Twilight interrupted her.

"Yes." There was no resentment about it. For Celestia, it was a simple fact she had come to terms with a long time ago.

Is she really that desperate? Is she really going to overlook everything that happened?

How far could I push her?

"Twilight, before we continue, I want you to know something that I believe is very important, and please know that I am not saying this out of malice. I am saying this because I want to protect you. I want to prevent you from making the same mistake I made a very long time ago.

"Whatever you do, you should make sure to never ever become closer than friends with anypony. As an alicorn, it will only end in inevitable disaster."

The problem with this version of events is that it would have immediately resulted in an argument, and I didn't want Twilight to have one with her. Not having an argument with Celestia made the dynamics between a Rainbow that has been scarred and a Twilight that has only seen a relatively friendly side of Celestia far more interesting.

It also made Twilight more open to Celestia in the talk they had later.

The next discarded scene I have is the one where Cadence died.

Because Cadence was supposed to die.

Only had she died, nopony would have been left to uncover her mystery.

It caused her to live:

"The constitution says I can't remove you from your position.

"But do you want me to tell you a secret?

"It doesn't matter. We are alicorns.

"Even if there would have been a legal way, it would have always resulted in bloodshed.

"Your rule ends here, Cadence, and once the deed is done, no pony will question it.

"History is written by the winners, after all."

The ponies of Canterlot could hear rumbling in the distance. For a second, the ground shook.

Everypony looked around.

Everything seemed fine.

Whatever it was, they believed it couldn't have been that important.

The princess of love had taken her last breath.

Alternatives might have been placing Cadence under mind magic or banishing her, but those seemed too complicated and too risky for Celestia to take. Especially in the state she was in.

And Cadence isn't one to break.

There also was the scene with Celestia's Captain of the Solar Guard. I tossed it since I thought it would be unlikely for the captain of her personal guard to oppose her.

While the army may have been supposed to protect all princesses, her personal guard certainly isn't a force with those reservations:

The guards saluted, rushing to pass on the orders or perhaps simply trying to increase the distance between them and the princess.

One guard didn't.

One guard unsheathed his sword, pointing it at the princess.

You poor fool.

"My princess, I have to insist that you release her immediately. You have no right to treat Princess Mi Amore Cadenza like this," her own guard captain proclaimed with fearless eyes.

"She admitted to treason!" Celestia defended herself.

He didn't budge, silently saying goodbye to his family.

He didn't want it to end like this, but he had a duty to fulfil.

A duty to protect the crown.

All members of the crown.

A duty he would die for instead of looking away when it mattered.

If only you didn't come here.

No doubt you would have stood up for Twilight like this as well.

You would have served me so well.

In one swift motion, his neck was snapped.

Why did you throw your life away for her instead?

The other guards that had remained looked unsure of how to proceed.

"Tell the Vice-Captain to assume command." With those words, Celestia teleported away with Cadence in tow.

She still needs her soldiers. A scene like this would have been too much for them.

Last but not least is Amaya. Little Night Rain was originally supposed to meet Pinkie and not Candy, which would have caused the farm to become a victim of Celestia's forces.

However, it wouldn't have worked out with the timeline of events, causing the elements to miss each other and not be united. Also, I thought that Candy and Amaya would be an interesting dynamic, and since both were in the same area, the decision was easy, though they probably reached their destinations quicker than they should have.

And I don't think I have written the little bat pony that well.

Unfortunately, there is no scene to show with Amaya and Pinkie. I wonder, though, how they would have reacted to each other?

Congratulations if you have made it this far. I don't know if this blog post provided anything of value to you, but I believe it would be a pity not to put this out here. What use would it have been if those files and ideas sat on my hard drive forever? They were supposed to be shared, and now they have been, even if it wasn't like I had originally intended.

If there are any other topics you would like me to cover, let me know.

Comments

[LastToTheParty]

Thank you for giving us a deeper insight into your creative process it's always interesting to have a look into the workshop.

On that note I was wondering how far ahead you are usually planning your story out. I'm guessing you have some sort of general roadmap planned for the story, but how far does it reach and what are you making while writting (only as far as you can tell us of course )?

Finally as I am thinking of maybe starting writting a bit myself, though nothing as massive as your epic, any advise you would give to a newcomer?

[silent_user]

5732814
I am so happy to see you have enjoyed it. Thank you .

Now, as for your questions, I am more than happy to answer them, but they are kind of linked together. Usually, I would probably think about what I am posting for a few hours and then edit it a dozen times, but this time I will just give you what comes to mind.

There will probably be spoilers, at least for the chapters I have already published up to this point,

How far have I planned this out?

I shouldn't say this since it makes me look bad, but in the beginning, there was nothing.

I had an idea and published it. I didn't know if they would get a good or a bad ending. There was no Sneak, no Candy, no Amaya, no Dandelion, no Summer. There was nothing. Only Twilight and Rainbow. I didn't even know that Celestia would play this big of a role, or else I would have tagged her.

What I did know was that I wanted those two to get this story. I knew I wanted them to go on an adventure, thanks to the vision. And I knew that I wanted this adventure to end when they were about the age of the ending of the show (Last episode not included).

For some time, I simply wrote what came to mind and immediately published it, sometimes even cutting back on editing and proofreading since I was so excited (Wasn't fun, though, when I forced myself to go back only to realise how many mistakes made it through as a result). Once I had published it and saw that there were no problems, I continued. I didn't want to write a chapter only for it to turn out that the previous chapter didn't work.

Of course, it couldn't go on like this. This system was insane, and I realised it when Rainbow and Twilight met Fluttershy.

None of you pointed it out, but when I first published it, Fluttershy was so happy to finally meet a dragon.

Only she had already met him when she met Celestia .

So, I lay in bed only to think: Buck me. She already met him, you moron .

It made me realise that I had reached a point where I could no longer keep everything in my mind. There was too much for it. I needed to take a step back. Work at a normal pace and finally ask myself how things should work? What I wanted for them to do? I needed to really think about the steps in between.

This was when I started keeping notes. I no longer just thought about the next chapter but also about what would happen in the future and, more importantly, really thought about the detail.

For example, the scene about Rainbow and Future Rainbow. I had it for weeks, kept safely on my hard drive named "Rainbow and Rainbow.txt", and with it, all other interactions they will have (The entire scene was written on my phone, thanks to it just popping up in my mind. Let me tell you, writing with an iOS keyboard that is set out for German in English on a phone that is way too small sucks). Just as this file exists, all other characters have these. Even Nightmare Moon, although her scenes are currently saved in the same file as the Acolyt's, waiting for me to finally bring them into play. Even background information on the economy, self-harm etc., gets this treatment. I do my research.

These days I have a better idea about the future of the characters. I even know what I want the ending to be. As I said, I knew for quite some time that Rainbow would cause Twilight to flee, and now that they are gone, they won't return for a long time. Instead, it is time for them to see the world. It is time for them to grow. And it is time for me to learn.

I have trouble with time skips and trouble writing scenes that let the characters breathe. However, if this is supposed to work, then I will have to start doing these soon, and I already have an idea of where I will get an opportunity to do so.

I am rambling, aren't I?

Long story short. Instead of just the immediate future or the beginning and the end, I have the entire general concept planned out these days, with more details for the immediate future than the long term, of course. Chapters 19, 20 and 21 are already finished, just waiting for their Friday.

This is long. This more than likely should be a blog post and not a comment.

You can probably already guess some of the advice I have for you. The most important point, though, is to write if you have ideas. Write them down. So many of mine are lost forever since I never bothered to do that. I don't know, of course, how it is with you, but for me, I have read those fanfictions since way before 2018, and ever since then, I have always had so many stories play out in my mind. Some concepts that I still think of these days are ideas like Twilight being a spy sent by an enemy nation. They replaced the real one after the entrance exam with her, and since then, she has been forced to report back to them, while she doesn't know what happened to the real Twilight. However, it became more and more difficult with time until the truth broke. I had it all planned out. The twists, the turns. Sometimes I combined it with my idea of a Rainbow that has a kingdom of her own, keeping it secret from her friends since it involved dark magic.

Though the idea I will probably centre my next story around, I won't name here.

Anyway. If you want to write, then write. Don't let fears hinder you. Don’t, think people won't enjoy it or make fun of you. This community is awesome. My friends always asked me: Fanfiction? Ok. But why MLP?

I always answered because the community rocks.

Once you have your idea, you can do it like I did, but the smart thing to do is probably to plan it out a bit more. Make some notes, and think about the stations your characters will have to face.

Though, be prepared to change it. If it turns out it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. In that case, keep your ideas, for they might come in handy later.

Third, advise it to read the writing guide this site has. It helps and explains a few things. With it, you also have to answer the question of choosing the right tags and the appropriate rating. This is important. Ask yourself what your story truly is about. Changing it later... I don't think that's a good idea.

As for the rating, I chose teen since I wanted this to be about their relationship and not... you know. It also makes it easier to crosspost, and I wasn't confident I could write scenes like these. Still aren't.

Though a choice like this comes with downsides. I have already self-censored myself multiple times.

You also might ask yourself if you want to get a proofreader or an editor. There are groups for that, yet they seem dead. In the end, I decided against it since I wanted to bring my world to life quickly and thought this would save time. However, they are there and might be a valuable resource for you.

Once you have published your first chapter, it will go through a review. If you have stuck to the guidelines, you will easily pass.

But you will probably also quickly notice that your story will disappear into the abyss of the other over 500.000 stories.

I know we write for ourselves, but we are human. We want to be appreciated for our work. So, fret not. There are solutions.

If you have multiple chapters, post them on good times. Try to catch a time when you believe readers are online, but the other authors are unlikely to update. This way, you will stay on the front page for some time.

You make a one-shot?

There are still ways. Groups.

Go through the group tab and note down all the groups your story would fit in. Be sure to read their rules, though. Some of them are quite strict.

Once you have decided, I would recommend posting in one or two groups at a time and wait for the reaction. Also, the weekend is probably the best time, but that is just me.

If you post into too many at once, people might get annoyed, or even worse, a potential reader that is in multiple groups might miss it. There is no need to rush. Take your time.

Interact with your fans . I don't think I need to explain this, do I ? They appreciate us, and we appreciate them . Without them writing would still be fun, though way less .

Now, everyone's favourite topic. Likes.

I believe the ratio between likes to dislikes is the only thing that matters for the algorithm, and I believe you get featured based on how quickly you get them in a time period.

Also, if we are real, we are more likely to click on a story that has a full green bar.

Though this bar only shows up once ten votes have been made, which can take some time, especially for an author's first story. That's normal, and we just have to wait.

About dislikes... they hurt. But they are necessary.

They need to exist.

It was those dislikes that made me mad enough to finally go back and fix the many mistakes of the first chapters. Without this encouragement, I probably wouldn't have gotten off of my lazy butt and made those necessary changes.

It is just another reason why any sort of feedback is valuable feedback.

Though don't let it get out of hand. Likes can be taken away again, but dislikes tend to stay forever since those readers are unlikely to interact with you again. The fact that they also usually don't explain why they have given them is maddening, but you need to ignore that. Make the changes you think you should do as I did, and then tell yourself that it doesn't matter. We can't look into their brains, so why ponder?

What I mean by that is that sometimes we can guess why they are given. Then we can act.

If we can't guess and they don't tell, then so be it.

Cross posting.

This is the site for MLP fanfiction. It is unlikely that you will get more success on other sites, though there are readers out there and since it only takes a bit of time, why not?

I chose Archive of our Own, FanFiction.net and Wattpad. At least on FanFiction.net, I found that there are quite a few interested readers. All those sites get the newest chapter one week later than you since this way, I can fix mistakes if you point them out... and this is one of my ways to promote the site that I love.

However, note that Fanficiton.net has a few quirks you might need some time to get used to. Wattpad... well, it only takes a few minutes...

If Webnovel contacts you to write for them, be advised that they are being criticised for a variety of reasons and that their site sucks. I haven’t taken their offer. I wanted to focus on you.

What's left? Cover art!

People are more likely to click on a work with cover art, and honestly... it's a beautiful way for us to express our work in one picture. I would recommend having one ready as quickly as possible, though take your time in deciding. I had mine commissioned by Mutter_Butter, and I can only recommend her, but this costs money, and I can see why you might not want to spend it.

Alternatives are DALL·E 2 (please don't, we would aid in our own replacement) or making an art request in the Artists Group.

Or if you are fine with taking something out of the internet, well... I didn't since I was worried about copyright, and you know... I wouldn't want one to do this to my story, so I didn't.

Ok. This was quite a bit about promotion. Important but not the most important. Let's circle back to writing.

What can we use to help us?

For me, I decided to use Grammarly. For one, English isn't my first language, but more importantly, it gives me peace of mind, knowing that at least the most obvious spelling mistakes I won't make. Definitely don't rely on MS Word, and even Grammarly makes a bunch of mistakes you will have to catch. Those programs don't like the names our ponies have.

But they are the first step in the process of checking your chapter for mistakes.

Anyway. Once I have written the chapter, uploaded it onto Grammarly and downloaded it again, I print it out (I just work better that way). I read it and scribble corrections onto the pages about formatting, spelling, clarity etc.

Once I have made the corrections, I copy and paste the chapter into FimFiction and proofread it on the side directly.

From here, it waits until Friday arrives, when it is being proofread a final time. During that time, I often add more things that come to mind.

For me, this seems like a good system, but know that it won't matter. No matter how often you read it, you will always find a mistake. If you wait for perfection, your readers will wait forever. Give it your all and believe in your work. If you have undergone all those steps with your best effort, then you can trust that your chapter is ready.

Another helpful tool is the fact that you can download your entire work as a .epub file from FimFiction. Why is that helpful? Because if you have multiple chapters on your hard drive, you can’t search them all at once, or they aren't even up to date anymore since you made corrections on the site directly.

Using Aquile Reader, I can search this .epub file for scenes I am referencing in what I am currently writing and sometimes read up on them again. Also, if I catch a mistake, I can simply use the search bar to check if and where else I made it. It really is helpful.

I also recommend my golden rule. Don't start a new story before you are finished.

This was a lot... and there is probably more.

I wanted to give you everything that came to mind. Don't let this barrage of text scare you. In the end, it is easy.

Because if you have taken anything from this, then it should be: Believe in yourself. This is your story. These are your characters. If you don't write it, they will never get an ending.

"That she also wasn't able to complete her work of art is just cruel."

I meant that.

Only you can write your story.

If someone else writes it, it will be a different story.

Enough serious talk. What am I making when writing?

Well... writing really has replaced all other hobbies. I started and can't stop since then. So, if you do not write as quickly as I do, that is normal. I am just weird.

Though you didn't ask that. I know.

Sometimes, I have youtube videos running in the background, but most of the time, I hear music. It brings me in the right mood to write. I even gifted myself a new headset because of it.

My newest addition are also the Twilight and the Rainbow plush from Symbiote Studios. They stare at me and see how I write their story. Giving me a bit more inspiration.

I totally don't cuddle with them. I am too old for that.

Aside from that, I mostly just write when I write.

It really does take all of my attention. I am the author. The characters live rent-free in my head without fear of eviction. At this point, I am starting to write Twi and Dashie instead of Twilight and Rainbow, even when I am supposed to write the latter.

They all mean very much to me. I cry when Isabella cries, knowing what awaits her.

Writing the newest chapter, I cried since - meant so much to me, yet I screwed up. I wrote her badly, and she needed to suffer for it.

I had plans for her.

But where there is light, there is darkness. Happy endings aren't meant for everycreature. Else it would be boring.

It didn't make me feel any better.

I couldn't even bring myself to kill Cadence. It just felt wrong.

On the bright side, when they are happy, I am happy.

When they are lost in each other's eyes, I pat myself on the back, knowing that all of it is worth it.

It makes me happy knowing all the good things that still await them.

Welp. This definitely could have been a blog post, but it won't be. Lost in this corner of the internet, this insight that has become a bit too personal will probably only be seen by those that really care.

If I rambled too much or forgot to address something, I am sorry. But I hope I could help, and I hope I could address all of your questions. This really was me. Normally I need at least 20 minutes for a single comment since I always ponder how it can be perceived, but this time I wanted to be myself and be completely genuine, which is why what has been written will be put out there without revision.

If you have any further questions or want me to elaborate more, let me know.

And if you decide to take up writing, I promise I will be among the first to read your story .

Good luck and have fun .

[LastToTheParty]

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Wow just wow . Thank you so much. I honestly didn't expect such a heartfelt and extensive answer. At the moment I'm honestly still way more of a reader than a writer (only started writing down a few ideas which popped into my head recently). But given such overwhelming adivse maybe that can change. I'm still kind of overwhelmed, again thank you.

Let me tell you, writing with an iOS keyboard that is set out for German in English on a phone that is way too small sucks.

The sacrifices that are made for art . And I can totally understand where you are coming from, as I'm not a big fan of writing on phones in general. And about the use of non-English keyboards, let's just say: Viele Grüße aus Süddeutschland .