What TD has in store

Some of you might be wondering what I've been up to and what I have been plotting, as I've mentioned writing some things. Well, here's a list of a lot of the stuff I've been doing.

Ponyfics

Crêpes - This idea got into my head and refused to leave it. It has been my recreational activity at night for the last week or so, and I'm making decent progress on it. It starts with a Prench breakfast and a debate between Applejack and Rarity over crêpes and whether or not they count as real food. It will be the first "real" shipfic I finish (though I have completed a couple of short RariJack stories for the prompt game over on the RariJack forum) and is likely going to end up around 18,000 words long (about double my original estimate of 8-10k words). This is partially because I was insane thinking I could write it all in fewer words, but also in part because I added an additional scene onto the end. This is about three quarters of the way done - I have to finish up the last two scenes, then proof the whole thing and fix all of Applejack's dialogue because I used "you" and "ya" inconsistently. Joy.

Writing in the third person omniscient had seemed like a good idea at the start of this fic, but it ended up being a bit awkward in the middle, and required me to rewrite the (original) second to last scene and add another one in after it to make it work. Still, I think it might come out the better for it, plus it allowed me to use a couple characters I wouldn't have used otherwise (and indeed, who I had not planned to use to begin with).

I should be done writing this by Monday, hopefully, so it will probably be up sometime next week.

The Best: Shortly after Twilight's coronation, Rainbow Dash finds herself with an invitation to train with the Wonderbolts so that she can step in for Fleetfoot, who is pregnant and will have her foal later in the year, forcing her off the team for a time. Rainbow Dash is excited for the opportunity to fly with the Wonderbolts, and Applejack and Fluttershy will be there to cheer her on, as well as her other friends when they have time. When at the Wonderbolts Academy, though, Rainbow Dash had broken every single record, and has never stopped to think about what that means in the context of the Wonderbolts themselves and what they are capable of...

This will likely be the next ponyfic I work on after Crêpes is done, though I have a bunch of Skyreach stuff I need to turn and burn on next week, so it likely won't even really get started until the week after next. My hope with it is to get it done by the 15th of August, though I am uncertain if that is going to happen with the other stuff I need to get done and the fact that I won't (probably) work on this at all next week. This will likely be about the same length as Crepes ended up, meaning probably around 15-25k words, depending on how it is handled. I'm not very good at estimating lengths yet, I guess. The story has been completely laid out though; it just needs to actually be written.

Congratulatory Dinner: A much shorter sequel to The Best, it may or may not be a part of The Best or simply written as a standalone thing, as its topic is somewhat different from the rest of the story. Again, completely laid out, but not yet written.

Daring Do x Rosetta Stone OTP: Originally was going to be written for the TwiDash contest which ended last month, this is about halfway done presently and will eventually get finished, likely after The Best.

Completely laid out, but not yet written.

Beyond this, I am unsure what order I am going to be writing the stories in, so they're going to be more or less listed in the order I came up with them.

Fake season 4 episodes
(The Best may fit into this continuity, but I think a lot of these are going to be intended to stand mostly separately - there are plans for some other episodes mixed in here as well, but they haven't even been thought of yet, really, or are basically just one sentence.)

Wind and Earth (provisional name): A fake season 4 two-part opener, dealing with Princess Twilight Sparkle's new responsibilities and role with the princesses. A story about coming to appreciate the abilities she had been given. Completely laid out, but not yet written. Likely to clock in around 25k words.

Learn to Fly: Twilight finally gets onto learning about how to fly properly, rather than neglecting Rainbow Dash in favor of hanging out with the princesses, but Rainbow Dash is not used to being a teacher, nor to teaching someone like Twilight. Both need to improve their ability to understand the other if they hope for this to work out. Completely laid out, but not yet written. Likely to clock in around 15k words.

Rare Talent: Twilight, finally getting her head on straight again, gets around to asking Rarity about the weather control magic she was using while under the sway of the cutie mark swapping spell. Rarity takes a few tries, but finally manages to demonstrate it for Twilight, making Twilight realize that the spell she was using is completely unknown to her. Twilight learns the spell from Rarity, but encourages Rarity to nurture her own talent at magic, something Rarity has not truly devoted much attention to in quite some time. But she lives a dangerous life now as a hero of Equestria; can she afford to let any edge he might have go to waste, and put herself or her friends in danger? Rough outline.

Canterlot is a Silly Place: Pinkie pie tries to liven up Canterlot. Hilarity ensues? Very stubby and not entirely happy with the present plot, which is why I'm not going into it too much.

The Perfect Date: Rarity is introduced to her ideal romantic partner, Sterling Silver, and goes on the perfect date with him. So why isn't she helplessly in love with him? Completely laid out, but not yet written. I really like the idea behind this, so it may be written after The Best.

Succession: The line of royal succession is changed so that Twilight Sparkle is third in line to the throne after Luna and Celestia, and ahead of even Princess Cadance and her brother, while Prince Blueblood is finally cut out of the succession. Deals with what this means for Twilight, how Blueblood ended up in the line of succession in the first place, and the burden of responsibility, as well as a decision by the new princess. Outlined but not fully laid out.

Potential: Rainbow Dash is entrusted with a vital task by the princesses while Twilight has to continue her lessons in Canterlot. But Twilight is a natural-born leader and this is a serious problem; it seems like exactly the sort of thing that the faithful student would have leapt at previously. It almost feels like a test. But why would the princesses be testing her? Stubby.

Let the Moon Shine and the Sun Sleep: Twilight suggests a means for Luna to become better accepted by the populace at large, even if it means a change to this year's Summer Sun Celebration, while Luna has plans of her own as relates to Twilight's power and abilities. Outlined but not fully laid out.

Harmony's Parting: The mane six temporarily part ways, some heading home to Ponyville, others lingering in Canterlot for longer. Not sure where this is going to fit in chronologically, but certainly before The Changelings Are Due in Ponyville. Stubby.

The Changelings Are Due in Ponyville: The Cutie Mark Crusaders have been out Crusading in the forest. Again. And they're out past curfew. Again. And they're lost. Again. But this time, they come across something that might be of interest to the whole town - two changelings out arguing in the woods. While they don't hear the whole argument, they do hear that one of them has been in the town for many years, while the other one is apparently a more recent arrival. Following them back, they see one of them transform into their disguise in the distance - a pink-maned pony. How many suspicious pink-maned ponies are there in Ponyville? The mane six are going to find out the hard way. A story of trust and distrust. Fully laid out and a scene written. Probably going to be 25kish words.

(Name redacted): This won't be revealed until after a few other episodes are written, but I rather like the idea of the arc it is part of. Might be fairly long, and concerns Luna, Celestia, Twilight, and the rest of the mane six to varying extents. Stubby, but I like the idea. But I have to write several other things before I can even contemplate this one.

Unrelated random ponyfics

The Elements of Harmony Must Endure: A great threat faces Canterlot, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack have fallen before it to buy their friends time to escape. Can the princesses, the remainder of the mane six, Spitfire, and a random guardspony caught up in it all come up with a means of using their most powerful weapon before it is too late? An adventure/darkfic, written in three parts. Fully laid out.

No Light to Guide the Way: How the rest of the mane six's lives went in the alternate reality where they had the wrong cutie marks. Outline, but not entirely happy with Applejack's bit. Probably somewhat long, may be broken up into each of the cast members, in which case each wouldn't be -that- long.

Luna the Babysitter: The elements of harmony have started families of their own, and when a new threat rears its head and the elements of harmony must sally forth and save the day, they don't have time to find a babysitter.

This is all the princesses' own fault, really.

Not sure if this is going to go with darkfic territory or not; might end up writing two fics around this premise, one of them cute, the other one dark (where the mane six don't come back, and the Crystal Empire is destroyed - way to orphan those foals). Both are stubs at the moment.

Uncomfortable truths: Old earth pony magic that allows you to feel souls. Twilight learns from Luna where ponies go when they die. Twilight finally perfects amniomorphic magic, something Starswirl could never do because he lacked the other types of magic necessary. What do these all have in common? Darkfic, but not a hopeless one. Outlined.

Good Fortune: Applejack wakes up with a headache in her apple orchard. It seems she has forgotten that she needs to pick up a certain filly from school with Rarity so they can go together to Scootaloo's show this afternoon. But since when has Rainbow Dash been in the wonderbolts, why is Rarity being so friendly when everyone knows she is interested in stallions, and who is this Fortune filly she's picking up from school to take to the show? Completely laid out, and one scene written.

The Flying Mage: Dark Lightning, a pegasus pony researcher from Cloudsdale, has begun to unlock the secrets of pegasus magic. While most pegasi only use their innate abilities to fly and manipulate the weather, Dark Lightning always thought there was more to it than that, especially after Rainbow Dash did her sonic rainboom. After considerable research, he has discovered a few tricks, and can actually throw lightning bolts from a standing position, without need of a thunder cloud, as well as conjure up clouds from ambient moisture in the air far beyond what ordinary pegasi can. He has been asked by Celestia to act as a personal mentor to Twilight Sparkle and teach the new Princess of Magic what he has learned. Rainbow Dash, who has had a crush on Twilight for some time but has never acted on it, is initially disinterested, but after Twilight describes some of the things that Dark Lightning can do, Rainbow Dash decides to start showing up to the lessons.

But Rainbow Dash is not the only pony with her eye on Twilight, and Rainbow Dash doesn't even know if Twilight likes mares... but this new guy seems to be getting awfully friendly with her.

OC x Twilight x Rainbow Dash love triangle (and no, this isn't going to be polyamorous - contrary to popular perception, Dash is the element of loyalty, not threesomes), told from the point of view of a very jealous Rainbow Dash. Completely laid out but not yet written. Tragedy.

Skyreach projects
I am presently working on a number of short stories set in my Skyreach campaign setting, for the tabletop roleplaying game I am presently working on (as my actual job). These are done as actual work, and will be being focused on next week; at least one of them (The Conductor) will be done and at least linked to from here. There's a lot of other work going on with that, both in terms of other short stories written to help establish the campaign setting and advertise the game as well as a lot of other stuff (website, rules, art-related stuff (though I am no artist myself, I am responsible for contracting out for it), ect.). I may end up talking a bit about that stuff in here, so be warned, though obviously it is not pony related.

Hopefully some of it will be of interest to you all, it being my actual dayjob and all, and taking up far more of my time than writing stories about colorful ponies.

Engineering is about more than building bridges.

It is dangerous to venture into the smog without proper equipment.

So why, when I write stuff (albeit mostly not stories per se) for a living, would I write ponyfics for fun in my free time?

Celestia only knows, and she's laughing at me and making silly faces.

Oh yes, and if any of you happen to know any decent to good landscape artists, point me their way.

Comments

[Jondor]

That is a long list. And they all look pretty interesting. Good luck.