Life-Led Part 1 · 3:22am Feb 20th, 2013
Oh boy. This was a doozy. See, I didn't realize the importance of planning a story before hand and just put pen to paper without thinking too much about it. I think I've since lost the notebook that holds the first few pages that I wrote (consisting of the first chapter). I'll call this blunder a blessing to society.
What wasn't was me missing some of the original concepts. This was planning from a much earlier stage which only encapsulated the Everfree Forest. The original idea of Applejack and Dash depending on each-other stayed the same, but what was different was about everything else. the concept was a wall of darkness that was traveling across Equestria that brought the possibility of death to those who ventured in it. There would be ponies who would not have been touched by Harmony and who lived much like a depraved human would live. Monsters more abound than the Everfree along with a few other details that I cannot quite remember.
The story would have been much shorter. Applejack retrieving Rainbow Dash, but at a cost. She would have had to kill a creature in order to save her friend, but they would find that those who kill in the darkness would not be allowed back into Equestia because they were no longer 'pure'. They would depart at the border, Leaving Applejack behind.
Unless there was some sort of personal sacrifice. Here I had the idea of making Derpy some sort of long lost sibling of Dash's who would sacrifice her own right to live in Equestria in order for Applejack to be able to cross back in and lead a normal life. There was even the concept that the darkness was growing for some odd reason, but I didn't develop it too far beyond that. Things changed when I found that Equestria map.
The mystery of the everfree was lost (at least most of it), but I took that as an oppertunity. I thought of Dash's relationship with a single Gryphon, and the possibility that her parents may have gone across the sea. I created a legend with that under my work: Child of Color. The idea that the Gryphons could have taken her back to Equestria as a filly is a little contrived, but it was the best idea I could come up with at the time.
The sonic rainboom gave me license to turn Rainbow's hot-headedness into an advantage. She could travel a great distance with very little time to think twice, but I needed a way for her to learn of her parents and where they might be. Having her use a favor from the Wonderbolts to gain military records seemed like a good a choice as any. She would be curious to know, thought not emotionally prepared to hear the truth.
(Click on these to get a better view of the original image)
Of course, just plain coordinates on paper isn't enough to find anypony within reasonable time. I had to think of something else that would lead one straight to another. This problem gave me the idea to use Obsidian and a unique enchanting spell. I also decided to add a stigma to such magic to give reason for the need to hide it. Instructions for the pendant didn't seem far fetched considering Twilight's need to make intricate notes.
I have to admit, it was fun to write Twilight making notes. I can get a little wordy in my own explanations, so it was like tapping into an inner, nerdier, self.
Not wanting to drag anything along, I thought it best for Applejack to leave and try to catch the last train out of Ponyville as soon as possible. With that, I tried to add a bit of an emotional touch with her leaving the town she knew so well. Still quite the novice to writing, I don't think it turned out all that well.
Then we moved onto Dash's story. This was fun, to say the least. I had her flying across the ocean and encountering a storm already planned out, then I discovered this song:
Kind of drove the writing a bit for me. I'm a huge fan of music, and to have this just pop up out of nowhere as I was writing... it was a treat.
I'll have to make this a several part blog. Lacking time and I think I made enough progress to stop here. Thank you for reading, more to come soon.
Neat. It amazes me how much work goes into a story, any story.
And I had never heard of Red Goodbye before, but that was a great song.