The current status of the now (and a little PSA) · 9:08pm Mar 4th, 2015
And now it's time for something completely different. In this blog you'll find:
-No whining about the state of the show
-Information about that Night Shift prequel I've been teasing for a long time
I figured it would be fair to let you guys know -- this is why I'm tagging Night Shift -- that I'm finally, actually working on the prequel. It's been a long time coming.
So what's this going to be about? Well, the thing is, when Night Shift became super popular, I promised myself I wouldn't milk it. It would've been easy to crank out story after story in the "Shiftverse," making Twi go on more adventures, ship her a little more with Trixie, have a spin-off about Omen, stuff like that. I could have done that. But I didn't want to. Instead I went on to do other things.
Honestly, when I finished writing NS, I was convinced that was it for the Shiftverse. I did (and still do) have a few ideas for a potential sequel, but for the above stated reason I won't be doing them. Not any time soon, anyway. Sorry!
So how did Monsters come about? It was, at its inception, just another story entirely unrelated to Night Shift. I sat on it for a very, very long time -- I usually do with all of my ideas. It's probably over a year old. Maybe even two. Over the course of months, I toyed with the idea of the story that would later become Monsters. Eventually, I placed it some 20 years after Nightmare Moon's banishment in the show's timeline. And as I kept developing it further, I started to realise that the way Nightmare Moon got banished in canon was totally lame (the whole thing lasted like 2 minutes, I mean, come on!) so I instinctively began subtly altering canon in my mind.
Maybe Nightmare Moon's reign laster longer than two minutes. Maybe a few weeks. Maybe she was a complete monster. Maybe she spread pain and misery across Equestria until Celestia finally stopped her. Maybe the effects of this "Longest Night" would be felt in Equestria for decades to come.
Then it hit me: I already did all this in the Shiftverse. Actually placing the story into the Shiftverse allowed me to shape a coherent story from the garbled mass of ideas I'd had.
Where is Monsters right now?
As of now, I'm 4 chapters into writing Monsters. How long is it going to be? Exactly as long as it needs to be. I'm projecting somewhere between 5 and 10 chapters. It's coming when it's ready.
When will it be ready?
Soon.
"Soon" does not imply any particular date, time, decade, century, or millennia in the past, present, and certainly not the future. "Soon" shall make no contract or warranty between the writer and the audience. "Soon" will arrive some day, the writer does guarantee that "soon" will be here before the end of time. Maybe. Do not make plans based on "soon" as the writer will not be liable for any misuse, use, or even casual glancing at "soon."
What can I expect from Monsters?
I don't feel ready to release a lot of details. I certainly wouldn't want to hype you guys about stuff that might not even make it into the fic. It's a work in progress!
What I can tell you is this: Monsters will be similar to Night Shift, but it will not be like Night Shift. What do I mean by this?
Monsters will have a secret service run by one of the princesses.
That secret service will carry out morally questionable deeds.
The plot will revolve around an alicorn-worshipping doomsday cult.
One of the main characters -- yes, there's more than one! -- will work for said secret service.
The other protagonist will get tangled up with the cult.
During the story, you'll get to travel inside the mind of the Big Bad.
The grand climax will be about preventing a great evil from destroying the world.
But while Night Shift focused mostly on action and adventure, with some gratuitous gore to boot, Monsters will take a different approach. Here I want to focus much more on characterisation and world building. Night Shift wasn't a particularly smart story. With Monsters, I'll try to explore things in greater detail. There will be less action, less adventure, and more slow buildup and internalisation by the characters of what's happening to them.
And while someone who has read Night Shift will definitely recognise certain elements (a particular old vampire might make a cameo 
), the story is intended to be read completely separately from Night Shift. It will be its own, stand-alone story with its own stakes. If you've never read Night Shift, Monsters will be an excellent place to jump into the Shiftverse. If you liked Night Shift, Monsters will be a place for you to learn more about its world.
That's about it. Get excited! Just not too much. It'll be a while. I promise to work on this as much as I can -- it's kind of a passion project, and I do love writing it -- but you know how that pesky "real life" thing loves to get in the way of pone. I'll keep you posted.
Something else I figured deserved a post, but it's probably not enough to warrant its own blog. Remember that time when I asked if any of you guys wanted to be my beta readers for Monsters? That was an amazing turnout, and I have got in touch with several of you over the past months. On the one hand, as of now I feel I have enough helping hands and won't need any more.
On the other hand, the Royal Guard does need your help! They are an amazing bunch who work tirelessly to bring quality stories to the readers of fimfiction. Due to that pesky real life, though, several of their most active members had to quit or at least call a hiatus. Which is why I'm doing this -- a bit of a favour, really, calling attention to the group. If you think you have an eye for good stories, head on over and post your application.
That application form might look overwhelming. Don't fret! To quote TRG's Prak:
We don't ask for a huge time commitment from our members. Even the smallest contribution is welcome. ... If we could bring in 15–20 people to do 1–2 stories a week, we'd completely eliminate the backlog in less than two months. Maybe within one month if we find a few die-hards who can do 5+ each week.
That's all it boils down to, in the end. Read a piece of My Little Pony fanfiction or two every week and give your opinion on it. To an avid reader like you -- yes, you! -- that should cause no problem. If you ever wanted a chance to help the site's entire community, TRG is an excellent opportunity to do so.
Not that they'll accept absolutely anybody. With TRG, it's quality over quantity. They don't ask for much of your time, but they do ask you to be professional, take what you do seriously, and to be reasonably good at critiquing stories.
Now, I know how many people read my blogs (thanks to that nifty counter at the bottom). If only a fraction of the people who get this message apply (and get in), TRG would pretty much be saved.
Consider it.
Oh, look, the official announcement. i was wondering when it would show up.
Whoo! I would have volunteered to be a beta-reader, but I have quite a lot on my plate as it is, as 2849338 can no doubt tell you. (Hey Paul!)
But I admire what you're doing. I don't appreciate when author's milk their own stories, for the sole reason that nothing else they've written has managed to garner as much attention, and I especially dislike it when an author starts a sequel and then doesn't update for two years.
I'm looking forward to this immensely.
I like action stories as much as the next guy. But I am quite interested where you'll go with this. I would like to know more of the shiftverse.
And as for the Royal Guard... I never knew that existed. I think I may check that out next week, it seems like it would be fun.
Ooh! Super excited to see how this has evolved since its conception. Awesome to hear it's finally making an appearance.