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// Notes and the Future of this Story 
// Story: The Outlaw, The Star and the Big, Big Sky 
// by TotalOverflow 
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Hey there, 
Thank you for reading The Outlaw, The Star, and the Big, Big Sky up to this point (or just checking out this addendum). As was mentioned in the unfinished chapters previously, I was never able to complete this story. But I wanted to discuss the status and future of this story, as well as share some behind the scenes notes and art I made for it back while I was able to actively write. Your feedback will help determine the path I take with this story in the future. I would say the story was still in its first act as of its hiatus, though it was rapidly nearing the end of Act 1 and the start of Act 2.

Origins
After finishing Macintosh, I wanted to try my hand at writing another story about an (at the time) under appreciated male character from the show. Being one of the few male characters, Braeburn seemed like a good choice. Bear in mind, this was written back in 2011-2012, so we were still going off the first season and maybe a couple episodes from season 2 for the bulk of the lore and world building. Having recently started playing Red Dead Redemption, and a fan of Once Upon A Time in the West and other old westerns, writing a western set in the Appleloosan deserts sounded like fun.
At the same time, a close friend of mine who was also a fan of MLP:FiM approached me with an idea for a character named Starlight. We discussed ideas back and forth, developing her identity and design. Though Starlight came from a very different world and type of story than Braeburn, the stars began to align and I saw amazing potential for an epic story. Two characters from very different lives and worlds meeting and experiencing things neither of them could have imagined. And so, I put pen to paper (or rather, hand to keyboard) and started writing.

The World
As this story had a western setting, I had to decide how far to take that concept. Are there outlaws? Desperados? Wild animals? Firearms? I felt that if I was going to do a western, I was going to do it right. The Outlaw, The Star, and the Big, Big Sky was going to be a decidedly darker and more serious story than Macintosh, and I had to think very carefully about how to make that work, especially in a world where the most extreme conflict in Appleloosa we'd seen was a pie fight. But is it really a western without the risk of gunmen and shootouts?
It made sense then, that Appleloosa became a town which was founded on the principle of peace and second chances, and that firearms were rare and frowned upon. Only a few ponies owned them, only those trusted most deeply with the deadly apparatus, or criminals who used them for nefarious ends. The further west you go, the more lawless the deserts become. But how would a pony use a gun with hooves?
At the time, I was working as a clerk at a grocery store, so many of my notes and sketches were made in a notebook and on receipt paper in my spare moments. Here are some designs for how ponies would use such weapons. 



They are cumbersome devices, relying on a large lever mechanism pulled by the pony's hoof, and a loop secures it around the leg. Larger rifles are reliant on the pony's shoulder for balance.

Braeburn
The introduction of firearms into the story meant death was all but inevitable. I think the appeal of FiM for me and many was how the show and world felt real and weighty, and that even though we never really saw the darker side of life there, it never felt impossible to imagine. In a similar way, I was uncertain how much of that darker side of life we'd see in The Outlaw, The Star, and the Big, Big Sky. Braeburn's backstory was going to be explored and alluded to later in the tale, but I was never sure how much I'd actually show from that time. In the Unfinished Chapter, I decided to share the backstory I had written, but as I stated, the final version may never have included those sequences. 
Regardless, I wanted to contrast Braeburn's excited, bubbly exterior with a lonely, burdened inside. In my story, he hides his trauma and dark thoughts behind his smile and excited demeanour. His true self sneaks out from time to time, however. As a young colt, he got separated from his family while traveling the desert. Alone, near the brink of starvation, he met another pony: an outlaw named Jake. As showcased in the flashback in the Unfinished Chapter, this encounter was how he earned his cutie mark, and their meeting would set of a series of events which would follow Braeburn for the rest of his life. That view of the world of outlaws gave him a new perspective and mercy towards outlaws, and that compassion became a core tenant of Appleloosa's mission statement: the town of second chances. 

Here are some sketches of Appleloosa and the surrounding desert, long before there was any official world map from Hasbro. I was inspired by the excellent Dangerous Business fic by Jetfire2012, imagining that ponies from Gildedale had moved south to the deserts, establishing desert settlements mainly comprised of earth ponies.


(Top Right is Appleloosa, with the orchard and Braeburn's house nearby. Top left is the town of Troughton, and below is a general, not to scale map.)

Later episodes of the show (not to mention maps and other lore tidbits) radically outdated a lot of my world, but that's okay.

Other Characters
I don't want to get too in depth on other characters here, to not bog down the reader nor to give too much away. In short, Appleloosa is a town made mostly of earth ponies. Few have ever seen a unicorn or a pegasus, unless they came here from Equestria. Characters like Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves were very fun to explore in new ways, and original characters like Watergaze and Slate would help establish the rest of the world of these deserts. Watergaze comes from a different buffalo tribe entirely, while Slate being an ex-outlaw helps reinforce the goal of Appleloosa and the themes of redemption in the story. 
'Rawhide' Tanner and Jake clearly share a sordid past, and Tanner's characterization is one I went back and forth on. In the current build, he feels a little excessively 'evil' and antagonistic. Were I to rewrite him now, I'd handle him with more finesse and care. Then again, sometimes a straight up villain is fun. Jake, meanwhile, I had a lot of fun with. An outlaw who's clearly done some horrible things on the run from his friend, and trying to do at least one good thing before he dies. That had a huge impact on little Braeburn and shaped the way he saw the world and others.
The buffalo were always a very fun group to me in the show, and I wanted to explore their culture a little bit more. Real world similarities are unavoidable, but the setting of magic ponies grants literary freedoms I appreciated. They are definitely hiding something, knowing more than they are letting on, but what?
Another mysterious group, the Bighorns, are definitely up to some sort of plot. Back when this was written, we hadn't seen a bighorn in the style of MLP, though we had seen some sheep and goats. MLP played fast and loose with which creatures could speak and which couldn't, but I (and much of the fandom I think) rationalized that if the creature was hoofed and somewhat similar to a horse in any way, they were sentient, even if they sometimes chose not to behave that way or were overwhelmed by something (the cows Applejack herded in Applebuck Season come to mind). After looking into the older generations of MLP, I was fascinated by the episodes "Return of Tambelon" from generation 1, and wanted to incorporate it and its lore/characters into my story somehow. In a way, it was strangely gratifying when FiM itself would incorporate those same episodes and characters into its later seasons, even if it did interfere with some of my story's lore.


(Lord Spire, though I was never 100% satisfied with the design.)

The Mystery and Revelations
The goal of the bighorns, the secret of the buffalo, Starlight's history... these all are connected in an important way. I laid many seeds and hints as to how they all connected, and I'm curious how many were caught. I'm not ready to fully reveal everything yet, but I will say: A certain fan favourite magician pony would have been horrified at what would befall the western deserts 
By the time the climax of the story arrived, all the mysteries and questions would be answered, and the entirety of the western deserts were to have been radically altered by the actions of the bighorns, and a threat to all of Equestria was about to be unleashed. Starlight was to discover her true identity and purpose, and Braeburn would have to confront the actions of his past once and for all. 
I made many, many notes. Like, a lot. Scattered and rough as they were. I've blacked out some major reveals, but I'm sure some of you may find a few juicy tidbits in here. 



Finding these decade old notes and reading through them again reminded me why I ran into trouble with writing this story, but at the same time, how excited I was for the climax and reveals. This all brings me to:

The Future of this Story
By now, hopefully it's clear that I put a lot of time into this story back in the day. I never wanted to leave it unfinished, but life got in the way. I started college in 2012 and it occupied all my focus. I was hired into the animation industry right after finishing college, and life only got busier from there.
That said, it still feels bad knowing this story lays here unfinished. I know it only has a few readers, and never quite had the reach that other popular stories had, or even my other stories, but I still think this one had great potential. I've thought a lot about what could be done with this story. I've even considered reworking it into an original world apart from ponies, so I could even conceivably publish it one day. For now though, I just want feedback and thoughts from you. It feels a bit rough to say, but if no one reads this story, I have little incentive to finish it. But if interest is there, I could maybe make the time to continue it, even if it's slowly.
I also need to consider whether I want to revisit older chapters and touch them up and make corrections/updates, or leave them as is and just continue from where it left off. Both could be an interesting challenge, as there is plenty I want to change about the story so far, but restricting myself to what's there is its own reward.
Another point to consider are how the seasons of FiM which came after would affect this story. There are certainly episodes post season 1 which negate or at least interfere with a lot of the future ideas I had for this story, not to mention new world maps, mentions of other towns in the desert, etc etc. Are these things that I should consider and incorporate into my story, even making retcons so it fits with established canon better, or do I throw it all to the wind and restrict myself to the lore that was present when I began writing and fulfill that original vision as it was? I don't have an answer at the moment, but I would need answers before progressing with the story at all.

A few final things I'll leave you with. As you may have noticed, I've updated the story with a new cover art. I assembled it from various AI images I generated, tweaking and adjusting them until they were just right. I'm quite happy with the final result. Even if I don't continue the story, creating this art felt like a nice sendoff.



Here's another piece of art I drew of Starlight and Braeburn at the start of Act 2. They look a little different... I wonder what changed? And where are they? Hmmm, I wonder... 



Thanks so much for reading. I cannot express how much your thoughts and feedback would mean to me right now. If you enjoyed what you read, want to see more, have suggestions, please share them. I want as much feedback as I can get and it will be instrumental in my decisions of what to do next with this story.

And just for fun, here are some bonus ponies I drew back in the day when I had a few spare minutes at work.



Thanks so much everypony. It's wonderful to know this fandom is still active, and creative people still bloom like flowers in the desert.
-TotalOverflow

P.S. Also, you can imagine my surprise when they introduce a character named Starlight in the show itself! Ironically, if you squinted, her color scheme is even a little similar