After the fact blog post + sequel information · 4:24am Jul 2nd, 2014
I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for their readership, their comments and feedback. All the critiques, both praise and criticisms have helped me grow as a writer, to understand what works and what doesn't. I also must thank you all for your patience, especially those few who first caught onto the story when I published the first chapter two years ago.
There will be a sequel. Yes, I know that a lot of the plot threads are sort of left hanging, and that epilogue wasn't epiloguey enough. I mean to ties those into the second installment, ham fisted epilogue or otherwise.
Largely this sequel is going to be taking place during the third season of the show. As one can imagine a decent chunk of the action is going to take place in the crystal empire, where Twilight and Co run into Trixie and Walker during key events of the season. Awkwardness ensues. Spike and Loose Leaf are going to be having some action in Ponyville with the whole civil rights movement.
I'm also entertaining the idea of crossing over with Frozen. I think that Elsa meshes nicely with the whole wanderer spiel, and the recurring theme of sibling estrangement. So, we'll throw her into the mix with Jerry and see what comes of it
ahem, excuse me.
I haven't worked out many of the details, and I'm open to ideas. However, I should mention I have some intermediate writing projects before I start the sequel. I'm a little tired of the story Don't get me wrong, it's my opus. But I have some other ideas that haven't had a chance to be written because of Two Names eating up all my writing energy. I'm going to take some time to be writing some other stuff, With less pony racism (probably).
In no particular order, some writing projects I want to knock out :
NanoWriMo- non-pony related. Content to be determined
Unamed collection of short stories on the collaspe of society /apocalypse/post-apocalypse
“Celestia Gets Drunk”- exactly what it says on the tin. Well, not quite. One shot about drunk Celestia and Luna bonding a little.
“How To Succeed”- Slice of life with a bit of romance thrown in. Basically The Cakes move away, leaving Pinkie Pie to suddenly learn to be not only a responsible adult, but the owner of a small business, alongside the Cake's Manehattan nephew, Flannel Chip.
“Rarity: Thesbian Extraordinaire”- (Possibly AU?) Rarity secretly was a human that was transformed into a unicorn filly on her 20th birthday.
So, I won't be touching the sequel for a bit of time. If you have any final comments on the story, or any suggestions for the sequel, I'm all ears.
tl;dr section
sequel to Two Names? - yes, but not for a while
other stories? Yes, but one shots or MUCH shorter works
y u do this? gooby plz
EDIT: Survey on the crowd says "Nope" on the crossover part. Noted.
cant.... wait.
...............
IM SORRYYYYY!
That Elsa idea sounds completely horrible. But you maybe you can make it work, I have no idea. Just remember this: you can never have too much pony rascism.
...Ok I guess my question is how the Crystal Empire events are going to happen in this story considering Twi was on the outs with Celestia and Spike was barely speaking to her?
2250364
You know how the whole thing in the sombra arc where Celestia says she is "testing" Twilight? and the part where she has to rely on spike to do something? I'm not sure exactly how, but I think that I would retell that whole arc as Twilight trying to prove to Celestia and Spike that she's changed.
I would definitely include a part where Twilight was sent off to live with a family of griffins or something to show that she's has been trying to understand different species as part of her penance.
2250355
Yeah, not a fan of the Elsa thing either. It sounds like it belongs in a completely different story.
I'm just going to remind you to think about how the Elements see each other after everything, since I imagine there's a lot of akwardness around AJ and Twilight.
Dude, let the frozen idea go it wouldnt work... Just.. LET IT GO! LET IT GOOO
2250487 what are you talking about, it would work perfectly into the plot.
Don't do Frozen. That will kill the story. Walker is enough.
Since looking back here and a lot of people are saying that the Elsa idea is crap without offering explanation, I'll give you one just so you know it's not a conspiracy against you. Having Elsa in this would be out of place. It would be like if in the last Harry Potter book, Luke Skywalker showed up and they talked about how it sucks having to fight the forces of evil instead of having regular lives. If handled properly, both characters would come out better for it, there would be some good laughs, and it really shows the parallels. But no matter how it's handled, it would come out of left field and be completely random and unnecessary. The only crossover this would be appropriate with is The Bible(the book, not the show), and I'm not saying because I'm trying to get as much Christianity as I can out into the world but rather because it wouldn't be random.
Your idea "Celestia Gets Drunk" reminds me of Drop of Moonshine, and "Rarity: Thesbian Extraordinaire" reminds me of The Other Life.
I see what you did there.
And yeah, I know that feel. Ya just don't always feel like writing for your best story. Sometimes you just wanna kick back and write some other shit.
2250458 I am with you on this, although I feel like Rainbow would be the really interesting point of conflict because she was getting excited about meeting the human from her conversations with Celestia and came back to find that her friends had essentially turned into monsters while her back was turned. She is going to be wondering what the hell happened to the ponies she knew and if she can trust them after everything that happened, something that could be accentuated by the Mare Do Well fiasco depending on the timeline (I forget when this was set).
2251907
Seems to be after season two, or at least after Luna Eclipsed. I think the timeline of the show has been modified a bit for the sake of the story, since if I recall correctly Luna implies that this is a year or two after Luna Eclipsed.
Yeah, Rainbow is probably less than pleased right now. Under different circumstances she would have been right at Fluttershy's side the entire time, but with her popping in at the end like she did she's going to hear a considerably more honest version of what happened.
2250381
Don't know if this works, but I think It might be interesting if Walker were to become a traveling missionary, putting his years of study and training to good use while he wanders Equestria with Trixie.
As for Twilight being tested by Celestia, well, I'm not too sure how I feel about that. After learning about all that Twilight had allowed to happen, would Celestia even allow her the opportunity? What if Instead of being sent by Celestia, Twilight heads to the Crystal Empire on her own hoping to find a way of getting back into Celestia's good graces through her relationship to Cadence?
Regardless of how the plot of the sequel progresses, I think there needs to be some indication that justice for walker was eventually served.
I'm hoping that when you do the sequel, you could add a plot line for Rainbow Dash, reacting to how horrible everypony was, and maybe debating wether or not she would have joined in on the racism. Maybe an existential crisis or two?
can't wait to read it!
*INCOMING RANT!*
i feel i need to say this.... after being forced to listen to a song (that for all i care is about letting go of a REALLY HIGH cliff ledge) at least several hundred times from a movie where THAT ONE FUCKING SONG IS PRETTY MUCH ALL IT HAS GOING FOR IT AND USES AT LEAST 77 TIRED TROPES/CLICHES: no..... just no... im so fucking sick of that movie.... i saw it, it sucked, and it had an ok song (that got old faster than fucking crank dat soulja boy bullshit did thanks to being replayed over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over every fucking day for the past several months.
im at a point with that movie where I DON'T EVEN WANT TO SEE THE PORN OF IT. i'll stick to my clop and other movie r34.... as soon as i see that bitch from frozen though: my dick shrivels up and i have this urge to burn stuff.
*RANT OVER!*
2276551 Well, although the movie was terrible, he is joking about bringing in the only good character. While all the other characters are terrible, Elsa is at least... fine. She's the product of bad character's choices.
2250500 Ah, sarcasm that actually purveyed through on-screen text. You sir, have earned an up-thumb on your comment.
But, seriously though, Frozen is a bad idea to merge with this.
2251907
2252974 Yeah, I'm excited to see what Rainbow's reaction is. Only one thing can be said in regards to that:
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I feel like a frozen cross over is a bad idea. Other then that i can't wait.
Not to sound like a broken record, but why must there be a sequel to that? I mean, yes, I can see why it's needed now, but it would be unneeded if you had adressed the story plots and finished it in the first story. A sequel's primary purpose isn't to tie up the loose ends of the first story, but rather expand it with a new conflict, climax, etc.
Honestly, if you're gonna write a sequel to it because your fans are asking for it, take a look as to why they want more; a lot of them really want the old plot threads resolved, and not necessarily a new story. I would like to see a resolution to the previous story without having a new story if it can be helped. Granted, I'll take a look at it if the sequel's story piques my interest, but even if it adresses some of the issues that were left hanging in the prequel, it's not gonna make me go back and change my vote on the old one.
Sequel =/= Epilogue. Everyone, readers and author alike, remember to make the distinction.
I think a sequel would be a good idea. Giving some focus to RD and how she reacts to all her friends have done would make for some interesting conflict. Not to mention it would be nice to see Walker finally get the peace he deserves. What he's gone through is punishment enough, especially considering how he seems genuinely sorrowful. But given how he's effectively been given the mark of caine, I don't think he'll be able to rest easy with a brand that serves to remind him "you are a horrible person".
Hmm I didn't know there was a vote.... But every pony voiced my opinion so hehe
Anyways, I would like to read that rarity story
I don't think the friendships of the Mane 6 will be destroyed by this incident. They've known each other longer than Mr. Walker. But there will no doubt be some troubles. The scorn Celestia will feel for Twilight will weigh down heavily on her, Applejack may have had her reputation destroyed, and her farm is in serious financial trouble, Fluttershy will be probably be haunted by the hatred she inadvertently spawned, both Rarity and Rainbow Dash will be stunned by how cruel their friends were, and Pinkie Pie will suffer under the strain of her friends sad feelings. They face a long road toward recovery, but I believe they will still be with one another.
Pump it .
Just finished your masterpiece of a story. I'm so glad that you are writing a sequel. Awesome!!!
I haven't seen Frozen and don't plan to any time soon, so the crossover thing would be weird...
2250381 I take it that this wont be coming to fruition any time soon?
2479550 I agree, and hope that this is shown in the sequel if it ever is written.
Sequel would be awesome for this can't wait