Story Updates · 2:39am Aug 29th, 2019
So with "Don't Fear The Reaper" now #1 Trending on the site (thank you all who liked it) I thought I'd offer an update on my other works:
-The God Squad will have their next chapter next week as I move into a more stable update schedule.
-High Tide, my Lost Episode that introduces Tydal and the capricorns in a show-style story, will be at least a week away. I am currently half way through and at over 10,000 words... and the next half, plot wise, will be even longer. It is very likely I will be breaking the story into chapters as otherwise it would be a 20,000+ word one-shot. A bit too much to handle.
-A sub point to High Tide. I have been tossing ideas around with my friend CrowMagnon (go read Snowblind again, I just did and it needs far more reviews!) and I have two more Lost Episodes planned. The first, "Mothers Day" i already talked about. The second? A currently untitled Season 6 or 7 episode that would see Luna and a few of the Mane 6 summoned to the mountains... and discovering the last Thestral tribe. I am looking to come up with an Earth and Unicorn equivalent for night-themed pony races to join the Thestrals, so suggestions are welcome! The plot will deal with finding out that the Thestrals and other races dealt with such a backlash after Nightmare Moon they created their own small society away from main Equestria. And now Luna and the Mane 6 must bring them back into the fold... if they can
-I am currently bouncing around ideas for another anthology style series that would be different from The Many Secret Origins of Scootaloo. There are two variations I have in mind. One I talked of previously, The Tourist Board of Equestria, which would deal with multiple crossovers of characters going to Equestria for vacation and the Board dealing with that.
The second idea is called 'The Bureaucrats of Ponyville'. it would star Brainstorm, a creative unicorn stallion from Celestia's school who she decides to send to Ponyville to get the local city clerk's office back on track. Brainstorm would join with Mayor Mare and a group of bureaucrats, including Red Tape and Triplicate, to deal with all the problems Ponyville is suddenly dealing with. A slice of life style anthology meets work place comedy.
-Finally, on the back burner are both The Should Have Been King and my Japanese MLP anime parody. Need more time to think on those.
At one point I had considered Unicorn and Earth Pony counterparts that were similar to Thestrals although I don't think I ever got further off the ground with them beyond naming them. But if Thestrals have a sort of bat theme to them, maybe having the Unicorn and Earth Pony counterparts have a nocturnal animal to their theming. Perhaps darker colouration and something that ties them more to the night although I can't think of what would be fitting to give them.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to more Tydal and seeing him meet the group in a more show-style setting.
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Somehow I never saw your comment... so I apologize for the delay in responding.
Working with CrowMagnon, who tends to be my sounding board nowadays, I've come up with the two new races that will appear with the Thestrals in my October Lost Episode.
The first are a race of unicorns that, at first glance, appear to be like any other unicorn. Oh sure, their coats are a touch different... they have blotched coats, with dark colors around their barrels and their legs while their heads and back are lighter and their sides and limbs have stripes... but they are just like unicorns.
Well, and the fact that those lighter patches are phosphorescence patches. So when the unicorn does a spell they glow. Not bad during a bright day. At night?
The look like glowing skeletons.
While the elders would call themselves phosphequus the younger ones call themselves "bonies".
Their magic tend to look like will o wisps, swamp lights, and other ghostly lights. Thus why normal ponies fear them. During Luna's first reign they were great trackers and guides, searching for list fillies and colts.
The earth pony race are a subspecies with larger frames, shaggy coats, and HUGE hooves. They also have a natural connection to animals, able to mimic their calls and cries. In the past they were guardians and shepards but now? Legends of wereponies come from them calling their dogs and Bighoof also can be traced back to them due to their quiet and loner natures.
As for the capricorns and Tydal I am using for the Lost Episode a kid-friendly version of his origin from 'The Should Have Been king'... the idea that the capricorns once warred against each other and Tydal was a lowly soldier who defeated a warlord. But when he was offered the chance to become the next tyrant he refused, declaring that capricorns had to choose a day to say "I will not fight today. Today I will be better". The Sea, finally finding one that felt that way, chooses him as her champion and ascends him into Lord Tydal, King of the Capricorns, Lord of the Sea, Commander of Salt and Rock, Protector of the Innocent.
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That’s fine, wasn’t expecting a response. I am looking forward to seeing the new races when the story’s ready. Those sound really interesting and distinctive from the ones we already know. And more Tydal is always welcomed which reminds me that I should start reading “The Should Have Been King”.