The Mare With No Name...

Well, here it is...I'm officially stuck...

I have not one, but two Derpy/Doctor Whooves stories well on the way, and locked on both. They're huge, both of them, 75,000 words on one, just 6,000 plus on the other, (though that one is in its infancy), but complicated.

My Fallout: Equestria one is 168,000, with enough for a second story sequel. That one is hung, too. I wrote a scene. A very, very good scene. One that defines my protagonist perfectly. Motivation, behavior, just everything the guy is and does...

And I can't use it. At least not as is. Put in there now, it makes him too weak and indecisive. Its not believable. Leave it out, and I have to go the long way to get him there...yeccchhh...

So, I reached out to a friend of mine. She writes professionally. "Professionally", as in, "Hollywood paid her to do two television series." She's a tremendous resource, and one I jealously guard. Don't even ask.

I laid it out for her. This is not for money. There isn't a deadline other than to complete and release. Its because I like and care about these ponies, these avatars. I want to do right by them. They deserve my best.

And I told her the same story I told you.

Her advice; (paraphrased): "If you feel its important to keep it, keep it, even if you have to do a partial re-write of the original story..."

Ouch.

That's why I'm slowed down. 168,000 words is a lot to do. As well as 75,000. And I want to fix the other before it gets much more beyond 6,000.

So I did a one-shot with Applejack for all of you, because as I've noted before, she's a hard one to figure out. That's why she's so backgroundish. She's all distilled essence in a polished glass decanter. WYSIWYG.

I put her in a different place. Ruthless. Dangerous. A mind bent on revenge. Cold and calculating.

And she's still Honest.

She ever catches up to Indigo, he's a dead pony...for what he did to Cherilee and Big Mac...

Crystalheart