State of the Writer -- Mid-Deployment Update · 2:35pm Jul 7th, 2014
Hey folks,
As of today, I have either nine weeks or 13 weeks remaining in Afghanistan. Normally I would know for sure, but things are in a bit of a flux over here right now.
My two big stories last time I was in Afghanistan were The Carnivore's Prayer and Salvation (the original, shorter version). Both are fairly dark tales, and they were definitely influenced by my experiences during that last rotation. Without going into too many details, it was a rough deployment. Probably my hardest.
Knocking on wood, things have been much better so far this deployment. I haven't had as much time to write stories, sadly, but what I've managed I'm pretty happy with -- quite a bit of Salvation, For Whom We Are Hungry, and my current work, Down the Endless Paths of Summer.
But for the next three weeks or so, I'm actually taking a break from writing. I'm finishing up my final course for my Masters Degree, which requires a fairly involved thesis, and I want to dedicate my energy toward it. Not that I don't love ponies! But I've put a lot of work into this degree and I really need to finish strong. So for the next few weeks you'll see me bumming around on FimFic but not really writing anything new.
Once August rolls around, I'll be finishing up 'Summer,' probably within a week or two. After that will come Salvation, which I hope to have complete -- really! -- by the end of this deployment. Considering I wrote the first version at the end of my last deployment, it's a nice bit of symmetry.
It occurs to me that most of you know what Salvation is about, and some of you may know what For Whom We Are Hungry is about, but probably none of you have any idea what Down the Endless Paths of Summer is about. So, here's the first scene. Enjoy some Cutie Mark Crusader goodness!
Down the Endless Paths of Summer
The morning dawned like any other late-spring day in Ponyville. Birds singing, gorgeous sun lighting the eastern sky aflame, et cetera, et cetera. The usual, in other words; Ponyville being Ponyville. Celestia's favorite little town, where everything was perfect.
Except for all the terrified ponies. That was a bit unusual, but we'll get to them in a moment.
The day looked to be real a scorcher, as Granny Smith would've said if she weren't still asleep. The sun wasn't even over the horizon, and already the humid air stuck to ponies' coats and smothered their tongues with each breath. High above, the early-risers of the Ponyville Weather Team had already cleared away the night's thin overcast, leaving only a deep azure that slowly bled to grey and pink in the east. A weak breeze rustled the highest leaves on the great oak in the town square, but at street level the air barely stirred, as if it too were still trying to wake.
The farm ponies were already up and getting to work. They rose with the sun, or maybe a bit earlier, depending on how lazy the sun was being that day. Celestia was known to sleep in sometimes, despite the attempts of her entire staff to break down her chamber door and rouse her so that she might raise the sun. On those days, the darkness lasted a little longer than normal, until in a sudden moment the sun would race into the sky, settling into a mid-morning position like a sheepish foal who hoped her tardiness had not been noticed.
It was always noticed, of course. But ponies, even farmers who needed the sun, tended to love their princess even more, and so they never let her know that it bothered them. They just worked in the dark some mornings.
Today was not one of those days. Celestia had not slept through her alarm, and the sun rose precisely when the almanac said it was going to. The farm ponies noticed this, nodded approvingly, and then cast wary, frightened glances over their shoulders.
Back toward the heart of town, the shopkeepers and business ponies were slightly slower getting to work. Business hours were not farm hours, after all, and they tended to rise later in the day, not until the first rays of the sun broke through the windows to lighten their bedrooms.
Today, those ponies lay still in bed, but not asleep. They clutched the covers to their chests and stared at the ceilings or the doors. They tried to breathe as quietly as possible.
Finally, there were the town's pegasi. Let's just be honest and admit that most of them were still asleep and had no intention of waking until the sun was closer to noon. The few exceptions – the aforementioned weather team members, who woke under protest, and the town's animal caretaker, living out on the edge of the Everfree – were among the only pegasi the rest of the town would see for half the day.
Thus it was that the sun dawned on Ponyville, on a normal, beautiful, mundanely perfect late-spring day. Normal, except that it was also the first day of summer break.
The foals were loose. Cheerilee's free babysitting-slash-educational services were done for three months, and the schoolteacher herself was already halfway to Las Pegasus, where the first of many heavily salted margaritas waited for her on the pool deck.
The foals were loose. They blinked their gummy eyes and tottered out of bed, wondering for a few confused moments where their parents were, and why they were not being hustled into the bathrooms and off to breakfast and out the door with book-stuffed saddlebags and lunch pails. And then the last fog of sleep drifted away, and they remembered running out the schoolhouse doors, and they shrieked with joy. Summer – the magical promised land of summer – had finally arrived.
The foals were loose. And that was terrifying.
Oh man, this is going to be up to your usual standards, I can tell. Celestia sleeping in got a chuckle out of me.
And this:
For some reason it just fits so well. Poor put-upon Cheerilee. She deserves the break.
Most terrifying indeed. CMC cause enough collateral damage as is DURING school days. xD
Grats on your Masters! (you've come this far. I don't see you failing!) See you in three weeks? Best of luck out there!
Think I'm gonna like this one :D
Oh heck yeah, that one looks like it'll be a huge amount of fun.
Good luck on knocking out the rest of that Masters!
Glad to hear that things are going well! Don't worry about us - go knock that thesis out of the park!
Be well and stay safe!
You've not violated opsec by announcing this have you?
Always good to hear from you. I concur with your hope that everything continues to go swimmingly. Best of luck!
Best of luck on that thesis. If I may ask, a Master's Degree in what?
The three adorable ponies of the Apocalypse.
Good luck with your Master's! I assume you can't cram in some ponies at this late date, can you?
DtEPoS looks really promising just from that start. I'm very curious about what will your take of the CMCs will be like, here.
Oh yeah, looking forward to this fic!
And Ciggy? stay safe, brother.
Sounds just a little like "Dandelion Wine", but more comedic.
If this story turns out as good as its intro, the next round of sushi is on me.
Sounds thoroughly entertaining. Can't wait.
Bleh, I still need to read For Whom We Are Hungry
Good luck on your thesis!
New teaser looks great, as per your typical. Good luck on your Master's!
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Oh yeah, the Taliban are gonna come over the walls now that they know I'm leaving in either nine or 13 weeks.
Seriously, no, OPSEC is fine.
Wait, you're on deployment... working on your master's degree. And you still sometimes find time to write ponyfic?
Man you make my excuses about not writing sound really lame.
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That's... probably a good description, actually, and not one that had occurred to me.
Since you blogged about it earlier, I'll spill a few of the beans here: this story is also an homage to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's style of Magical Realism.