A failed idea from long ago... · 12:05am Jul 5th, 2017
With my original FiMfic finally completed (after almost two years of work), I guess I can reflect on some stuff that could have been.
The thing that sticks out in my mind is the story I wrote that never got put on this site. This was before I ever started working on this (in fact I think Friendship Games, which was what originally inspired me to write Magical Meltdown, hadn't even aired at the time so this would have been my first story).
It was a pony story and I had envisioned it to be a three-parter (though I had doubts that I'd have been able to write that many, especially since my ideas for the second phase of the story were weak). The overarching point of the story was to try to create a unified theory of magic in MLP that would account for all branches of the MLP canon. Talking not just the show but also Equestria Girls and even the IDW comics.
The setting was an alternate Equestria that was ruled by a dictatorial version of Celestia who banned the study and practice of magic. She was paranoid that if magic research were allowed, it would be a threat to her rule. In this realm, the Elements of Harmony were never found but Celestia banished Luna anyway, this time in order to prevent her from challenging her rule. It would turn out that Celestia had actually been corrupted by the "Nightmare Forces" (the power that the IDW comic postulates corrupted Luna, not just her own jealousy) and not turned evil on her own.
The first story would have taken place shortly in the aftermath of season 4 and involved Twilight from the mainstream universe being pulled into this alternate Equestria by Sunset Shimmer. It turns out Sunset of this reality would be a chief magical researcher under Celestia (who permitted the study of magic under very strict conditions for the most talented unicorns, believing you need to understand that which you want to control). Through her research, she discovered that there were multiple realities and that magic naturally flowed through all of them using "conduits" (ethereal pathways leftover from the moment reality originally fragmented into several dimensions). Celestia would have had good reason to be paranoid of magic users as that is exactly what Sunset wants to do: by enabling her to research as much as she wanted, she gave Sunset the tools to present a serious threat to her rule.
Twilight's reason for being in the realm was to help her locate the Elements of Harmony and use them to overthrow Celestia, which Sunset knew existed thanks to observing other dimensions for years. In doing so, they would unite the other five elements together to help overthrow Celestia.
The rest of the story gets complicated from here (involving Twilight secretly making contact with her dimensional counterpart, who was imprisoned for studying magic, and using her as an ace-in-the-hole in case Sunset betrays their agreement) and would essentially serve as an origin for an alternate MLP universe where magic is just starting to be permitted (and the problems that come with that). Sunset would have served as the antagonist for the entire three story arc, serving in a different capacity in each story.
The reason I dropped this project was because I discovered that it took far too much exposition to actually build my unified theory of magic (thus making the world building element tedious and difficult to read). I personally liked the premise but I know I wouldn't have been able to really make it compelling as I'd like.
Oh, don't beat yourself up over it. (I know I'm late in this) But I'll give you a perk up with one of my ideas.
You remember DAY BREAKER don't you (The Nightmare Moon of Celestia) Well in season 9 of my Starfleet series... SHE is the 2nd antagonist apart from the big bads.
As we all know, Day Breaker lives deep within Celestia subconscious. So, the right thing to portray is Celestia having nightmares about Day Breaker, and worse... whenever Celestia gets overly stressed or nervous, Day Breaker starts to take over.
Desperate to be free of this evil, Celestia tries to vanquish Day Breaker from within, but (As you can guess) something goes wrong, and it causes the two halves to SPLIT, so Day Breaker comes into reality. She's just as powerful as Celestia is, and INDEED wishes to bring forth ETERNAL DAY.
Fighting her also presents a serious problem... because she and Celestia are spiritually linked, any attack made on Day Breaker will harm Celestia too, and if one half dies... they BOTH die.
So, how can you beat Day Breaker without hurting Celestia?
...So you see, sometimes you just have work things out a bit more, but I'm not telling you or forcing you to work, I'm just trying to perk you up, that's all.