The Process of Beating Undead Ponies · 4:13am Oct 13th, 2014
At the time of this writing I have just finished watching the season five premiere of The Walking Dead, and I have to say, I am not surprised about what happened to Terminus given the cannibals they are somewhat an adaptation of from the comics. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to more, but knowledge of the comics does mean some predictability is to be expected. 
But we are not here to talk about that, we are here to talk about Equestria's own zombie outbreak in Beating An Undead Pony and the questions that have been asked, or ones that haven't been but I have answers for anywhere.
Which is the greater influence on the story? The TV show or the Comic?
Honestly I am looking at how the walkers behave and the general tone of the franchise that I am hoping to catch. Originally I had plans for certain events that would mirror events from the comic, but I feel that wouldn't be doing service to ether The Walking Dead or Beating An Undead Pony. In fact just making a ponified version of anything is what has been the downfall of a number of fanfictions, most notably Fallout Equestria side fics that use New Vegas as "Inspiration".
Are you basing any of the ponies actions off The Walking Dead Characters?
Absolutely not. The Mane Six, Spike, Zecora, Trixie and everypony else are their own characters. There is no reason for me to change their personalities for no reason.
Look at that face? You think you need to make this more like this?
Will there be any original characters based on The Walking Dead characters?
No, besides the fact I believe original characters belong in stories where the Mane Six and Spike are not primary characters, I feel like it will be far too obvious. Most egreiously is this example: Before I made the decision to not include original characters, I had plans for an Crystal Pony who had taken control of the Crystal Empire, being a general despot feeding survivors to the zombies, and of course he was going to be called "The Steward". You can probably guess who he would have been based on. 
Will there be events similar to what happens in The Walking Dead?
While you may recognize some things, I have no intention of mirroring events completely. Again, that has raised criticism of other stories in the past.
Not a bad story, its actually rather decent, but if you've played the game, you more or less read this.
Why do the ponies seem to accept the idea of a zombie out break as easily as they do?
This one is a question that I actually was asked. I won't name names, all though you know who you are. I simply couldn't do what Robert Kirkman and company did when creating The Walking Dead by stating zombies never became well known in the pop culture of its universe. Equestria by contrast has no such excuse since zombies have been mentioned by name on a few occasions.
By the way if you felt uncomfortable when you heard that line in the story, then mission accomplished.
What is up with the actor names in the story description?
Again this is one someone actually asked. If you watch the show you may remember the actor names during the opening theme, and I simply felt like including them as well. I had considered including Grey Delise and Tricia Helfer as well since Minuette, Lyra and Bon Bon don't have an official voice actors, but I figured actresses already on the show could take care of that. I did make the one acceptation with David Tenant. I think you know why this is.
So if The Walking Dead was such a big influence why didn't you call the story The Trotting Dead or something similar?
Partially because I have found five other stories with the same title, none of which have been touched by their authors in a long time. And frankly it is a bit more derivative than I would like. The idea to call it Beating An Undead Pony instead had to do with both the pun, and the fact we have had millions of zombie stories ever since the late sixties popping up with varying levels of quality.
Do you really intend to have each chapter be released weekly?
Yes. When the story was first uploaded I had the first five chapters written with chapter six in the works. I won't say where I am now for the purposes of not giving too much away. However if for what ever reason a chapter can't be completed and uploaded by the Wednesday it's intended to go up, you will know about it ahead of time.
If you have any more questions do not hesitate to ask and I might do a similar blog in the future. Until then all I can add is be on the look out more updates on Wednesdays, check out The Walking Dead show on Sundays and comic issues when they are released if you like, and make sure to destroy the brain, they'll just get back up and try to eat your face. It's their favorite delicacy.
