Title says it all. Before we actually write it, I feel like we should get the plot organized and tidy so that it doesn't spiral into a confusing, contradictory mess.

We need to figure out:
·what type of story will be written (single mulitchapter collab, oneshot anthology, true -verse with multiple multichapter stories)
·the track of the storm, along with its speed and intensity
·how many chapters/stories will be in it and what will be in each
·which subplots and characters will be used
·how it'll end
·determine the tone and style of the story/ies

It looks like there's some consensus on a storm track like this:

Everything else is still up i the air.

Intensity and duration is still a matter of debate. I, personally, am not a huge fan of a "magical" storm and would rather see something natural. Making it a natural occurrence gives it more power in my opinion--it'd be a true natural disaster and something really terrifying that not even the pegasi could fully contain it, whereas giving it a magic excuse kind fo weakens it. It's not the storm that's deadly, it's the magibabble in the storm.

If we go for a single story, given all the potential plots, I'd say it'll at least be 100k long. Possibly stretching into the 2-300k range depending on chapter length, prose style, etc. If we opt for anthology, I'd say shoot for 5-15k long oneshots. If it's a true -verse, then word count and chapter/plot structure's up to each author to figure out.

Here's some potential subplots I came up with in the thread:
· an outpost/ship first encounters the storm, alerting Equestria to it
· a griffin weather facility, decrepit from years of mismanagement and cost cutting, suffers a catastrophic failure, releasing magibabble/water vapor into the atmosphere
· The Oranges/Babs Seed struggle to evacuate Manehattan during the initial panic
· a bitter old earth pony stubbornly refuses to leave his family's farm they've owned for generations, despite being right on the coast and in the target path of the storm surge
· Dash and the Wonderbolts race to the Crystal Empire and meet with Cadance and Shining to prepare a new jetstream of cold air to attempt to weaken/divert the storm
· Rarity hosts a fundraising Gala with Fancypants to raise money for relief efforts
· Spike is deployed aboard the TMS Harmony, flagship of the Equestrian Navy, to provide live updates of the storm's progress and power
· AJ clashes with the FlimFlam brothers as they try to sell their patent pending Water-Be-Gon tablets to terrified citizens that may or may not be parasprite eggs
· Filthy Rich and AJ travel to Los Pegasus/Vanhoover/some other west coast city to get western businesses on board with relief efforts
· Baltimare's fire department works to rescue ponies trapped in their homes as flood waters begin to rise
· a group of workaholics find themselves trapped in their high rise office in Manehattan and must bunker down as the storm hits
· Luna fights with the Cosmic Council (UN expy) to allow her to alter the moon's tidal patterns to try and lessen the severity of the storm surge
· Celestia tours the coastal cities to boost morale and help with evacuations

Once we figure out what subplots to use, we can start putting together the outline/divvying them to authors if we go the anthology/-verse route.

I had my post-prologue scene started, which purpose is to actually introduce the storm to let us spiral into action better. The outline would be:

Since two other anons have continued my prologue without me finishing, let me point out my plan.

>Twilight explains
>yadayadayada
>Guard erupts
>Announces he has grave news
>Puts both princesses in communication with the radio outpost with some kind of crystal thingy
>News get transmitted
>Celestia asks Twilight to recall her friends
>Emergency meeting of Celestia's council

Now, a problem would be Unsufferable's unofficial continuation to my scene. I would have let him do it if I had really finished it, but he jumped in without any warning. Plus, and I know I may be biased, his scene feels awfully out of character for both Twilight and Celestia, even a bit edgy with Rear Guard saying all the other guards died (and getting stabbed in the brain by a shard of glass afterwards). Not to mention how he got from the outpost to Canterlot, and how the storm is already there with Celestia wanting to deal with it with Luna.

And it also seems the anons want to go two different directions with this scene. My version and Realsie's tend to go for a slower pace, while Unsufferable's goes directly to the action. I've made a new poll concerning it, including all three versions.

As for what we're writing, I'm considering one chapter per author, to avoid confusions within the same chapter as Unsufferable did with mine. There's a poll up, which is currently tied between one anon per chapter and one anon per scene. I personally dislike the second option, as it would just fuck things up, and cause some ideas to turn into something else entirely.

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I love for you to explain how that is out of character for them. Makes it easier to take you seriously.

5035119

Well, as DFR mentionned, Celestia just gets a giant ego out of nowhere and decides to go deal with the storm herself instead of letting the weather ponies handle it. She also exhibits an extraverted behavior in that part where she jokes about NMM, and being rather rude against the guard who comes in, while the show has shown her to be kind but calm.

5034853

Also, you should add this link in the thread. It's where Zaid stashed the chapter organization.

5035177
Celestia just gets a giant ego out of nowhere and decides to go deal with the storm herself
It's apart of the plot, Twilight Sparkle asks Celestia if she could handle things while they were gone.
Celestia obliges with this new opportunity. They were the guardians of Equestria before the mane six were introduced.

Extraverted
I think your taking that a little too far when it's just a joke.

Rude to the guard
She just wants to know why they were being intruded. It's not like she can't be aggressive(A Canterlot Wedding, etc.)
And, he came in so blatantly. That has nothing to do with her calm personality, just a small quirk.

5034853
There's something I realised after making that possible track for the Storm.

Granted this is just a suggestion, but what if the storm went throughthe badlands and reentered Equestria through Appleloosa instead of Dodge Junction?

There are more characters there, not to mention that it can create an interesting dynamic where all the refugees from AL have to got o Dodge Junction, where things are already saturated and can keep up with the needs of all the ponies, and it becomes a refugee camp of sorts.

Then the buffaloes can come and offer help, and whatnot.

It's just an idea.

5035241

It's not like she can't be aggressive(A Canterlot Wedding, etc.)

Yeah, but that was a direct confrontation with a single individual, this is a force of nature, so there's no personal connection there. Celestia should be worrying and trying to put the safety of her subjects above all else, specially on top of any sort of bravado, or display of overconfidence.

5035241

Celestia obliges this opportunity

Which wasn't intended to be part of the plot. We were supposed to have the weather pegasi "handle" the situation until some stray magic fucks up the storm, not have the princesses handle it all on their own.

5035241
5035322
This is exactly the kind of reason why we should come up with an overall rundown of the plot before we start writing.

That way we can properly introduce little elements of foreshadowing when writing and make all of the stories consistent.

5035241 Your argument is flawed as all heck, we are being as polite as we can, you are being childlishly argumentative, my country is being militarized by a government that is purposefuly collapsing our own economy for external interests, and all in all my patience is starting to run thin with you. Could you be more open to critic and start retributing the effort I am putting in not insulting you on sight, please, at least by being more mature?
The part you wrote has subpar quality. That's it. That's the most polite way I have to say it right now, which is still pretty polite.
Accept critics. Don't be so sensible, Think before writing. Don't indulge so much unneeded drama, both here and in the story itself. Deviations from the story are fine, but they should be discussed if they aren't minimal. Respect other writers. If you can understand what I just wrote and learn from it, your stay will be welcome and we will be willing to help you improve as a writer.

5035333

Let's find out something we agree on first then.

Can we all agree on Twilight and Celestia being interrupted by a guard, getting notified on the situation and an emergency meeting taking place?

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5035322
5035345
I've already edited the part.

And I get it, I've heard your criticism. I understand what you mean.

5035538

The poll shows a win by me anyways, so I guess I'm going to finish my part.

As long as your writing is good, you can still participate in other chapters if you wish to.

5035549
After all this... Maybe.

But, not in the mood right now.

So, what should be the next step after the council meeting?

Well, for one teams rushing to try to take any groundbound guards from the frontier garrisons. Pegasi could stay there to help the others with the cold air banks. There's also the main six all over Equestria, and they are quite probably VIPs, so...
Next step could be, rather than actual preparation, getting everyone to where they need to be, in preparation for the preparation.
Things I can think about right now:
-Hospital patients should be readied to move
-People who won't move from their homeland should start going to the sewers or something
-Political parties from other places should oh-so-conveniently remember that they have things to do in their homelands
-Other countries, if they will offer any help, should do so/be requested at this stage
-Invaluable objects (From scientific, artistic, historical, and personal points of view) should be carried somewhere safe.
-In adition to the last point, Twilight should be going OCD about libraries, to have a small comic relief all through the chapters (Guy knocks your door, you open, he is a member of the Book Salvage Squad)
-The army should be brought to full force (No soldier should remain as civilian in this kind of situation) in order to assist with the evacuation

I am sure there is more, but I think I conveyed the idea already.

Other races helping could be, for a first, Diamond Dogs digging to get things and people that can't be moved further enough before the hurricane to a safe depth. Griffins could asist the pegasi, etc.

Here's what I got so far for the outline. I have concerns over how long it is (15 chapters and the storm's still a day away from Manehattan) and the tone it's setting (feels like a warfic), but it's a start.

5038180

Diamond dog

I don't think they'd be very keen to help. From what we see from the show, they're just greedy and nothing else.

5039126 This is kind of the same problem we have with zebras, minotaurs, changelings, and pretty much any species that isn't ponies or, to a lesser extent, gryphons. Too little representation to get anything solid on them. Often only existing as a single-episode gag.
Hell, for all we know diamond dog nations revolve around the preparation of yogurt.

What do you guys think about the suggested fusion between chapter 3 and 4?

Plenty of citizen are on the street with their horse drawn carriages. The Oranges observe it from their window as a storm alert passes on the radio. Switch to Twilight, Celestia and Spike arriving to board the Harmony to the FoB