Hello, Reader. · 7:26pm May 19th, 2014
Well, the bulk of Aurora Song is completed, (minus any editing and/or critiquing from an actual proofreader) and I figured I might as well put down a couple more thoughts for you, Reader, and basically just chat.
I may have mentioned before how this was my first fanfic and I was surprised at how different it was to be writing with other people's characters. Initially, I just wanted a touching story (sorry, there's no tag for "touching") about Scootaloo giving up the power of flight for her friends, but without an actual blueprint, I was caught off guard by how the story progressed.
I. E. I didn't expect Lilly Liver to become as big of a character as she did and even Drossel Meyer continued to grow until he took up more space than the M6 or even Scootaloo. In the future, I would probably change that, since it was really fun to try and bring to life characters that the readers already knew and enjoyed instead of forcing my own characters down their throat. Drossel Meyer isn't even my chosen pony persona, I created a unicorn named Arcane Circle for that (more on him later) but I figured that my first story on Fimfiction should be the best and Aurora Song brought me to tears as I wrote it.
Of course, I wanted the story to be enjoyable to other fans of MLP: FIM, but I also nodded to many other things and had some downright silly things when I couldn't think of anything better. Her Drossel Meyer is a nod to the Nutcracker's Her Drosselmeyer and Porcelain is a nod to his dolls. Lilly Liver and Yeller Belly are slang terms for cowards and even though I didn't intend for Black Spot's name to be a dead giveaway... I kind of was. (Any other fans of Treasure Island out there?)
Awell... Perhaps I don't need to go into every detail about the story. I don't want to bore you, Reader, by giving the etymology of all the names or the inspiration of each plot element. Suffice to return to what I was saying earlier about how the story took on a life of it's own once I began writing.
Here I thought I would simply tell an adventure story devoid of cussing, gore, and sex (sorry for those of who who like that) and it turned into more of a story of how I first discovered the MLP fandom. That's right, a piece of me could be called Drossel Meyer and Ponyville was this irksome, foolish, colorful show that completely ignored the rules of reality and promoted a false ideal of peace. But, what is an ideal, after all, except something worth fighting for? Despite how silly it may seem at first, I'm glad I found MLP: FIM and I'm glad it brought back a part of me that I thought was dead; joy. Lately, I've made it a point to say "good morning" to my family every day, I've stopped dreaming about killing monsters in my stories and started outsmarting them, and I can feel a shameless smile spread on my face at the very thought of a cupcake.
Sorry, you probably weren't looking for sticky eyeballs. Sorry for all the sappy words. =D
Still, I really enjoyed myself with this project. It felt like I was able to share a little more of Equestria with fellow fans while we all wait impatiently for season 5. If those characters sounded like you were watching them on the the tv show, then my goal is complete.
"I know! You spent, like, three hours trying to channel what a Pinkie Pie would say!" A cotton-candy colored pony appeared!
"asdjflks!" The writer mashed his keyboard. "Darn it, Pinkie! That fourth wall is there for a reason!"
"That's me! Cracking smiles, splitting sides, bursting with laughter, throwing parties, cracking jokes, breaking into song! I break lots of things!"
"You also break my reader's concentration..."
Anyway, like my pink friend here, I'd love to take this moment to reach out to you, Reader, and talk about what other stories I should write. I've seen limitless potential on this site and it's got me fired up for more stories!
The first thing that comes to mind was just a short quip of a story that I actually wanted to turn into a meme, but was too lazy too. Tell me, have you ever wondered what became of the Twilight Sparkle in the human realm after the Princess Twilight Sparkle left Canterlot High? Now, don't get your hackles up, I know that the EQG story can be as cannon or non-cannon as you want, and that's your choice, but since there's a mass of "ponies on Earth" and "humans in Equestria" stories on Fimfiction, I think even something as disappointing as the EQG movie can be redeemed with some good writing. So then, this would be an experiment; a kind of way to see if some cool dramatic writing could make an EQG story bearable to read. However, I can't say that I have a plot, yet. It would just be a snippet of Sunset Shimmer and the M5 meeting the newest student at Canterlot High, Twilight Sparkle and her (mute) dog, Spike. "Hey, want to be in a band? We could use your singing voice!" "How did you know I sing?"
Other story ideas are more in-depth like Aurora Song. For instance, there's the story of Arcane Circle (told ya he'd be back). His story, being my own, can insert himself into any plot arc of the main show and beyond, but the most promising idea I had revolves around him being a reverse-Sunset Shimmer. Instead of being a unicorn who lost her hooves and magic, it would be a human who gained them. And... that's all I got! It would focus more on the M6 than Aurora Song did and that's always fun, but there's the danger that it would be a very Drossel Meyer-redemption-type story. I. E. he comes to Ponyville as a monster hunter for hire, wielding his new magic, but is astounded by how the M6 and the limitless power of the Elements of Harmony are used to defeat villains without killing them. Well, at least he finds a little changeling hatching that he names Alius. That always pulls on the heartstrings, right?
And don't worry, I haven't left earth ponies out. Does anyone want to hear a story about a samurai blacksmith mare-for-hire who wanders into Ponyville? If yes, then I'll have to come up with an actual plot. ('Cause I've got nothing!)
If, however, you prefer an alternate reality story, I don't think many people have done a cyberpunk pony story! The more I think about it, the more it sounds like it has potential. It would be a retelling of the first season premier set in a poisoned futuristic utopia. Rainbow Dash flies hovercrafts for the Wonderbolts security company, Pinkie Pie is a rebel graffiti-ing walls in the underworld, Sombra is the head of the "big business" that rules the city, Spike is Twilight's AI companion, and Apple Jack is a paraplegic working in a ship yard (courtesy of her two bionic rear legs, "Hooves McGilligan" and "Bucks McGee").
I don't do romance. (Well, I've never tried.)
Um... what else? Stories of the Crystal Forest? (I wanted to make a reference to them in Aurora Song) Another steampunk story? (with more M6 and DISCORD!! XD )
Or! And this is a big "or". But if you liked my style of writing, I can redo any episode of MLP: FIM or EQG in my dramatic style and try to redeem whatever seemed "uncool". There's a lot of potential in the EQG universe and if there was a season finale or premier that just left you tasting cheddar from how cheesy it was, perhaps I can help!
Be sure to let me know what you think, Reader, and I'm glad you stuck with me long enough to finish this blog post! Thank you for your time!
-MasterZadok
Oh! And crossovers! I forgot to mention how perfectly MLP and RWBY would work together. Granted, I'm not one for crossover fiction anyway, but let me know what you guys think!