Writing of: After the Day Breaks · 6:14pm May 2nd, 2020
Hello, SunlightRays here, and I'm back with another episode of the "Writing of" series!
Today we will be talking about my most successful story to date, which incidentally happens to be the one that was published today.
Yes, this blog is about my most recent story, After the Day Breaks.
I mean, come on, six favorites, thirty-three bookshelves, nine likes, 116 views, and, most importantly, featured. All in a little over eight hours. 
This is especially meaningful because it is my first story to reach the feature box, albeit for a brief period. I mean, I didn't expect to reach said box so soon! Not that I didn't want to, I just wasn't expecting it. This story is also the first story of mine to be edited by another editor. Special thanks to RandomGuy101!
For this, I am infinitely thankful for you guys. Like, seriously, you guys are the BEST. PEOPLE. EVER!!!!! 
So, let's get right into it!
Warning: Spoilers ahead! If you haven't read the story yet, go read it. NOW.
And also, please add comments after you read it. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Conception of the Idea
So my would-be editor RandomGuy101 and I were talking via the comments section on my user page the other day. The comments are still there, but since it's almost two pages long, I'll abbreviate it for you:
Me: I'll be kind to others, as long as you behave!
RandomGuy101: *Snickers*
Me: Behave, or thou shalt suffer the wrath of the Rays of my Sun! Glory to the Sun! Glory to the Solar Empress!
RandomGuy101: Glory to the Moon! Glory to the Lunar Empress! *Daybreaker and NMM tussle it out*
Me: *They fight until they somehow end up in a cuddling position on the ground*
RandomGuy101: You know, we should make this into a story!
Me: Good idea! I'll get started on it ASAP!
... 
Yup. It was quite impulsive, to say the least. 
But hey, sometimes we gotta be impulsive, right? I mean, look where that beginning led to. I'm just impressed with how (relatively) popular this story became.
Drawing a Plotline
So I created a Google Doc for me to write the draft on, and began thinking: hmm... how should I write this story? Then I decided that the story wouldn't include both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon, but only one of them. My choice was Daybreaker, because, you know, I didn't want to make a story about Nightmare Moon dillydallying on the Moon having nothing to do. Well, that's not the exact reason, but rather because I always thought of Daybreaker as an interesting character to explore. We know how Luna became Nightmare Moon, but there are infinite possibilities as to how Celestia became Daybreaker. And who am I to not explore one of those possibilities?
So I was thinking about how to make this cuddly cuddling story as convincing as possible. I could write fluffy stories just for the sake of fluff, but that didn't feel right with me. I wanted an actual plot, not "Daybreaker and some random pony cuddle for 4000 words" (though there are some people who managed to pull that off).
Then it came to me. If I want this story to be convincing as possible and explore how Celestia became Daybreaker, why not implement that as the story? The fluff would be used to detail the relationship Daybreaker has in the present, while Celestia becoming Daybreaker would serve as the main plot. Of course, since this was meant to be a fluffy-fluffy cuddling fic, plenty of cuddling and feels would be written outside of the backstory.
With that out of the way, I needed to come up with what caused Celestia to turn into Daybreaker. It had to be something that would have broken her, or else it wouldn't work. Something that would have broken the last straw... of course! I could always drag Luna's fall to Nightmare Moon into the picture! Seriously, that's the exact words I thought of when the inspiration came. Anyway, I drew out a scenario where Luna's corruption was caused by an elusive yet potent curse, designed and executed by ponies who sought to destroy the Equestrian diarchy, especially the Solar Princess.
But I wasn't going to have Daybreaker be the destructive tyrant she was in Starlight's dream in the story. That wouldn't fit well for a comfy, cuddling story, now would it? So I set it so that Daybreaker realized the errors of her ways and reformed herself in a way, except that she didn't get to shed her appearance.
Now, with the plot drawn out and its details figured out, it was time to begin the hardest phase: executing Operation: Writing.
Putting it into Words
Whenever I write something, whether it be a new story, an essay, or a new chapter, I find the hardest part to be translating my ideas into coherent words that make sense. And it was no exception for this story. Every step of the way, every paragraph I've written, every single dialogue with its quotation marks, I found myself thinking 'should I replace this word with that word?' or 'would it be better if I wrote in the form of A instead of the current form B?'. And, to be honest, I think that's one of the biggest joys of being a writer; you get to be concerned over what form of English would work best, all the while writing about something you love with your heart.
So, as I decided that I would start this story off with a bit of fluff (fluffy fluff fluff), I thought of what would be needed for a good cuddle fic. Fortunately, I had some previous readings I had at my disposal, mainly these two: No Matter What! written by Cupcakes, and Snuggles and Cuddles written by The Abyss. Both of these stories are great works that pull at your heartstrings, so make sure to go and give them a read! And be careful not to get acute adorableness poisoning from these stories.
Anyway, back to where I was. Thanks to these two stories, I was able to write the first one-fifth of the story with relative ease. Sure, it wasn't easy typing all those laughing sounds; it felt awkward like hell at first! But I managed to get used to it. And then came the more serious part: Daybreaker reveals her past to Stellar Flare.
While I wrote as if I had the entirety of the plot planned out and then went into writing it, that wasn't the truth. It was more akin to this:
- Write the first one-sixth of the story.
- Realize that I haven't planned out what would come next.
- Think several theories as to how Celestia became Daybreaker.
- Decide on a decently good idea among those numerous scenarios.
- Continue writing.
So I had to come up with that "Celestia becoming Daybreaker after she learns that her sister was cursed by an evil organization" gimmick while writing the tickling and cuddling scene.
Anyway, trying to come up with a good way of how Daybreaker opens up about her past was a hassle. I, once again, faced the dilemma I mentioned above: should I write it like this or write it like that? Should I put this word here or there? Does this word sound too negative for the context? So on and so forth. It was torture, but it was a pleasurable one. In the end, I settled with Stellar Flare's words triggering Daybreaker's memories, causing her to flinch and lead onto the flashback scene. I wasn't sure it would work at the time, but overall, I'm satisfied with the results.
By the way, I put a small reference to a fan-made song at the end of that part, did anyone catch it? If you did, leave the answer in the comments!
Then it was time for the flashback scene. Oh, the pain of writing this part. Since the flashback takes place only a few months at most after Nightmare Moon was banished to the Moon, I had to write the dialogues with Early Modern English, or Shakespearean as some of you might call it. And it drove me crazy. I hadn't looked at Shakespearean English for more than two years now. Since my knowledge of Early Modern English was abysmally small, I had to rely on online translators, which, it turns out, were just a bunch of inaccurate commands stringed together to make a sentence that had the least bit of semblance to what Shakespeare wrote at the time. In other words, they were crappy. They were so crappy that I wanted to kick their asses and send them flying to Tartarus.
Fortunately, after finishing the draft, RandomGuy101 came to my rescue and fixed all the half-assed Shakespearean sentences, making suggestions here and there. Thanks to him, the final version now has some accuracy to it when it comes to its Old Equestrian language. And also: oh look, a reference to the episode where Daybreaker first shows up!
And then came the relieving part: Daybreaker regretting her actions. This part was considerably easier to write than the previous section, as 1) it was something I had both done in real life and written down several times, and 2) I didn't have to use Early Modern English anymore. I don't think I even had the torture of having to choose between different words and sentence structures; I just plowed through it like a hot knife through butter. The snuggling part, although short, was also a bit of an oasis for me: a chance for me to rest using my own words.
The Ending
Oh yes, the ending segment. This part wouldn't have existed at all if it hadn't been for RandomGuy101. You see, after I had finished my original draft, I had him point out grammatical errors and weird spots where the story didn't line up. He then suggested that I expand the ending from where it ended. In other words, add something after where that third black horizontal line is now. He wrote his own version of an ending, and I thought about it. I decided that it would be better with the ending, so I set out to refurbish and refine his idea of the ending. The final result is what you now see in the story.
Whew, this has been quite the blog entry. I truly enjoyed writing this story, along with the editing process with RandomGuy101! Thank you again, Random, I was deeply impressed by your editing skills!
So this is how my one-shot story came to life. From an almost-jokingly made comment to a fully-fledged, 4294-word-long story that managed to reach the feature box.
As for those who are waiting for the new chapter on Sunset After the Storm, don't worry, I'm still working on it. I do have Chapter 8 planned out, after all. So, that'll be it for this blog entry, and thank you for reading!
SunlightRays out.
You're welcome, Sunlight! Always happy to help.
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Don't mention it!