A.I. writing fanfic!Coming Soon: If You Weren't Afraid, Starring Discord · 8:31pm Jan 22nd, 2016
There's a new story on the way! It's one that I've been working on for several years, now, just trying to pull it together into a satisfying, enjoyable story. It's had several false starts, and even more mutations.
What was originally a story about Pinkie Pie getting Discord's power has become... something very different. Something better.
It's part of The Heart's Promise Continuity, but I'm working hard to make sure that it works as a stand-alone story. It's not easy, let me tell you, but it should be fairly self-contained.
But if you've been following along, then you've been looking forward to this one. It takes place ten years after Friendship is Magic, following on the heels of Scootaloo Will Fly! and DayBreak.
If You Weren't Afraid
[Adventure][Drama]
Discord has been sick for a long time. It's getting worse by the day. Equestrian medicine can't help him. He can't heal himself.
But then, that's what friends are for.
There is one hope: The fruit of a tree from the Garden of Elysium, the birthplace of Discord. Fluttershy takes it upon herself to make the journey with him, perilous though it may be. On top of that, two young stowaways have joined the party. Pumpkin Cake is prepared to do anything to help Discord, and Pound Cake is frantically scrambling to keep his twin sister safe.
Monstrosities await them as they find that not everybody in Equestria wants to see the Spirit of Chaos well. Fairies, immortals, and ponies converge on Elysium, each with their own plans.
The friends might just succeed, but only if they hold together. It's not an easy thing to do when the word of the day is "Chaos."
And to top it off, a selection from the first chapter:
Pumpkin Cake hurried herself through the field between the schoolhouse and the windmill. She had to be quick to avoid her schoolmates and any questions they might ask. That would just bring up uncomfortable answers.
Ponies generally gave the windmill a wide berth. The inhabitant was a weird one, no beans about it. Not even a full decade of reformation was gonna change that.
Pumpkin stuck her hoof in her backpack and felt around out of habit. Her rubber chicken, Chewie, was still safe, sound, and silent. His squeaker had broken again. Her mother kept making comments about how she might not need the chicken anymore. How it might be okay to not sleep with stuffed animals. How it would be a big step up in maturity.
She turned her nose up and mimicked her mother’s accent. “Oh when I turned ten I was already workin’ in the local bakery; it’s a yokel bakery, don’cha know.”
Pumpkin grasped Chewie’s foot with her magic and stretched it up to her mouth. She gnawed on the rubbery surface as she mulled over her thoughts. She always thought better when she was chewing something. It was probably bad for her teeth, but certain prices were worth paying. Braces could be cute, right?
A green leaf made its home in the tangled mess of her mane. Her curls were barely restrained by blue ribbons. Twin pigtails bounced just behind her head, beside her alert ears.
She grinned as she arrived at the entrance to the windmill. The dilapidated wooden door jiggled on its hinges with every breeze. The windows were dark and empty. For all appearances, the building was completely abandoned.
Pumpkin, of course, knew better. She pulled the latch and stepped inside.
The windmill became a world of complete chaos.
Her hooves sank into the sticky carpet, which appeared to be made of colorful molasses. Lampshades fluttered around her head on bat wings. The coat rack reached down to pull her backpack from her shoulders. She ducked as a firework sprinted past, trailing candy canes.
She stuck a cane into the side of her mouth. She grasped Chewie with a bubble of telekinesis and trotted deeper into the mill. “Discord! Diiiscooord!”
She glanced into the kitchen to see the plates beating the spoons in a game of euchre. There was no sign of the Spirit of Chaos—aside from the zaniness of the entire mill, but that wasn’t really helpful.
“Discord, I need your help again!” She wiggled Chewie as she marched around his living room. The fireplace bubbled and the armchair hummed a cheerful tune. “Chewie lost his squeaker and Pinkie can’t replace it!”
“I’m not seeing callers nowadays, Little Miss Cake.”
“The heck you aren’t!” Pumpkin curled her upper lip. “I’m calling and you’re answering!”
Discord appeared before her in a puff of green smoke. He turned yellowed eyes downward; they were tinged at the edge with red. “I’m tired.”
“You’re always tired these days.” Pumpkin gave him a tight smile. “Help me with Chewie and I’ll get out of your mane.”
Discord scoffed. He picked her up by the scruff of her neck. Her eyes widened; did she even have a scruff?
“I’m afraid I’m indisposed at the moment.” Discord shrugged. “Indecent, you might say.”
Pumpkin tilted her head. “Huh? What does ‘indecent’ mean?”
“It means they would pull me from prime-time radio.” He opened a door that wasn’t there a minute ago. “Hasta luego.”
Pumpkin hit the ground with a thump. Her backpack and Chewie followed close behind. She rubbed at her rump and glared at the creaky old windmill. She tried the latch and found it locked. “Creaky old Discord, that’s what he is.”
She smirked to herself. She lit her horn, calling on a super-special spell saved just for the occasion. She had come to think of it as her special talent, blank flank notwithstanding. The magic spread across her whole body, from her horn to her tail. She held Chewie close and walked through the door.
She saw Discord sitting in the humming armchair. He was flipping through a book with large pictures; probably a scrapbook. As he touched each picture, it moved on its own, replaying a few seconds from his life.
She propped herself on the armrest and got a closer look. “What’s that?”
He slammed the book shut. He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “How did you get in here?”
“Magic.” She crossed her forelegs and leaned on them. “What’s in the book?”
“Magic,” he said. He tossed it into the fireplace. It exploded with a violent bang! “And none of your business. You may go now.”
“You promised you would help me.” She wiggled the rubber chicken’s head in Discord’s face. “Aren’t you supposed to keep your promises, Mr. Reformed?”
“That would be true. If I actually promised I would help.” Discord nodded firmly, his eyes closed. He popped his leftmost eye open. “I didn’t, did I?”
Pumpkin did her best to keep her face neutral. She kept a snarky comment on the backburner. “You did. You totally did.”
Discord sighed. He cracked his knuckles, his neck, his back, and the lamppost beside him. “Alrighty. Let’s see the little delinquent.”
I'll be releasing this very soon. Just as soon as I get cover art together...
Hah. Even... however old Pumpkin is (ten? Sounds like her mother is saying ten), is still chewing her rubber chicken.
... How old are the youngish generation (Button, the CMC, Spike) compared to the ages of the main 6 during the show? They seem to be an age or two class younger than the main 6. The main 6 were adults who had already started their careers, the kids are right before they go "off to college" to learn to do a good job at what they want their careers to be (or don't quite know yet, but understand that they should be deciding.)
Looks fun.
Thank goodness this is coming out after they added the drama tag, huh?
Ok, I'm officially excited. This looks a lot more adventurous and less "slice of life about Discord slowly dying" than I thought it would be. Also cool Fluttershy is coming along, I'm sure she won't have any awkward encounters with old friends that really shouldn't be in the Garden of Elysium, or anything.
3705310
Some things are worth holding on to.
They are at or near the ages of our six heroes. Sweetie Belle is eighteen now, and working hard at the Ponyville Carousel Boutique. Not to mention her couple of minor radio hits. She's right at that young entrepreneur age, as far as ponies go.
Apple Bloom is eighteen-going-on-nineteen and has basically taken over Applejack's work on the farm (ever since AJ was elected mayor). She's planning on moving out in the next couple of years to start her potion shop.
Scootaloo is really the only one stuck in the pre-college era. She doesn't have much direction except for "up," literally. She's been focusing on odd jobs at Sweet Apple Acres and babysitting.
Dinky's taken over the clock repair shop, and Pip's a hard worker at his father's potato farm. Twist works at the Bon Bon with Sweetie Drops. Snips and Snails are professional slackers. Featherweight works at the post office. Silver Spoon manages her father's restaurants. Diamond Tiara mooches off Silver. Button Mash has a part-time job at the movie theater...
Actually, they're pretty evenly split in terms of where they're at in life.
3705497
Fingers crossed! I sure hope so, and it's looking fun from this end.
3705795
The Drama Tag changed my life, mate. The day it was pulled, there was no going back.
I guess I did give that impression, didn't I? I've always said there was hope, though, even if Discord doesn't believe so.
I suppose you'll just have to wait and see, mm? Fear not. Merry Mare will get a scene in chapter two.
3712776
Yeah... I guess I see where it is place-wise.
I guess I was wondering if(/fingers crossed: when) they start having their own adventures should I be classifying them as younger or at the age of the protagonists in the show.
And Spike is... where Spike is. In the same place as ever... with at very least no obvious desires to change it.
3713663
By the time Rhythm and Rhyme comes out, they'll actually be older than most of the main characters were during the show's run (according to my timeline for the series, at least, which has Twilight at eighteen when she ascended), with Button and Sweetie both being around twenty.
Of course, vanilla canon has them as ageless young adults, so take any of my numbers with a pinch of salt.
Actually, he has moved up in the world, ever so slightly. He runs the Ponyville public library all by himself, in addition to helping Twilight with her studies, in addition to trying to make a relationship work, in addition to being an active member of the community. He keeps busy.
3713705
Hm. Them being less heroes but "older" reminds me of... Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Where, two years into the show, the two-years-younger-than-her little sister was introduced... and always told she was too young to add to the heroics of the cast. Despite being the same age as the main characters when they were doing the stuff.
Sorta ambivalent about it here, actually. I'd like the slightly-younger generation to measure up to the main 6, but I recognize that not measuring up to "the biggest heroes anyone can remember" is not actually an insult.
Edit: And the rules for "how to be awesome/heroic" are different in your series than the show. Everything has a lot more time spent with it. Chances are if the second gen did heroics on par with "we saved the world due to magical artifacts" with no other complications it would seem rushed and unbelievable, given the pace you have established. Don't take my ambivalence as anything too serious, especially considering you're doing a great job.