Still waiting on two responses. I'll PM them again tomorrow if I don't get them before then.

738454
I like the idea of a complete fic, so long as people pay attention to what's going on before their part. Snapshots seems likely to turn into basically the prompt thread.

But I agree, it will depends on what the prompt is. Something like "Birthday" might offer opportunities for a cohesive collection of snapshots, while something else might not lend itself to multiple approaches.

I haven't heard from the last two voters yet, so I'm going to move along with this collab. Results will be posted tonight (I'm busy til then!) and writing orders will be posted either then or tomorrow. It's almost time to get this show on the road!

Let's do this.

And the winner is: Desire

By a margin of only three points! Honor came in second, with Journey and Cider tying for third place. I will start organizing turns and the first writer will start on Friday, the first of March, so if you said you'd be willing to kick this off, be prepared to start then! I'll have the order up no later than noon EST tomorrow and I'll try to find a way to put people on a calendar.

The story will be written in order and won't be episodic in nature; everyone will pick up where the last person left off (desire has enough possibilities, I think!).

747179 I'm so excited for this I cannot even express it in mere words. Desire is an awesome prompt too.

747179
Tennessee Williams' presents, "An Applecart Named Desire." Coming soon.

Looking forward to the prompt as well.

747179
Desire, huh?

Hmm, might want to remind people to keep it Teen with this prompt.

747179
Desire, eh? Somehow I'm unsurprised at that result.
747363
Yeah, that. I forget what I voted for that. Not sure I put positive... i think i did either negative or neutral, as I knew we'd possibly skirt the ratings depending on what's written. Well. We'll see where we'll go with this!

747409
I'm not really, either. However, the prompt I was looking forward to winning more was "Dad". That was leading through the first half of the voting by a good margin. Now it's somewhere in the middle.

747363
I'll be making sure it stays Teen. Every entry will be receiving a quick grammar/spelling pass and a ratings check before I post it. That way we don't have things like "Applebloom", "Apple Bloom", "applebloom" throughout the story, changing with every entry.

Honestly, I was hoping for Dad too. I wanted that to be a thing so bad.

And away we go! First up is Tchernobog (really—I used random.org).

Yay! It's not me Tchernobog!

Make us proud!

747937
I'm a strong advocate for using phrasing and not phoneticizing her accent. "I" instead of "Ah" and all that. I think it leads to a much stronger Applejack character as people don't focus on her accent, but what she really has to say, which is what a character really is.

747747>>747756

We have three days, right? I'm gonna have to think of something... nothing comes to mind just yet!

edit: unless, of course, I get a terribly evil idea.

748170 Tchernobog. Watch the evil. You may not like what it unleashes.

Nothing can go wrong!

The afternoon had been, in one word, wonderful.

She still owed Rainbow Dash a smack upside her head for springing this on her, but it looked like a lot of preparation had gone into it. The pegasus had waited for one of her more relaxed days, and had even helped around the farm to lower the workload. She’d gone to Twilight and had asked in advance for a cloud walking spell, and had even prepared the alicorn’s now mostly unused balloon in advance.

And then, Applejack had found herself in Cloudsdale, meeting none other than Rainbow Dash’s parents.

The city had been a lot larger than she remembered from her first trip there, but they’d only toured the weather factory and the coliseum. This time, Rainbow showed her the sights. She’d even dragged Applejack to a museum, which had been a momentary cause for worry, but the Wonderbolt paraphernalia within assured her that yes, this was still her Rainbow Dash, and not Twilight in disguise.

They’d eventually reached Rainbow’s old stomping grounds, trotting up to one of the homes with determined steps. At least, Rainbow’s had been determined. Applejack was just following the pegasus’ lead, wondering who they were going to visit.

Seeing a stallion with the same mane color as her marefriend, and hearing Rainbow greet the pony with ‘Hey, Dad!’ answered that question pretty clearly.

“So, what do you think of them?”

Applejack blinked as Rainbow’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. She took a moment to regain her bearings, finding herself once more on the path to Sweet Apple Acres, the sun making it’s way towards the horizon. She turned to glance at the pegasus, grinning at her marefriend.

“I first thought y’were a daddy’s girl, but your momma threw me for a loop. Figured she was like Fluttershy at first.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t’ve been more wrong.”

Rainbow’s answering snort of laughter almost had Applejack giggling herself. While Rainbow had inherited most of her father’s looks, her mother had made a few contributions herself. Most notably her eyes, her sense of humor, and the sound of her laughter.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Mom plays for keeps in hoofball. You all right?”

“I’m an earth pony, Dash.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “It’ll take more than a few tackles to keep me down.” She smirked at Rainbow, nudging her with a shoulder. “But I might still have a bruise or two.”

Rainbow picked up on Applejack’s tone immediately. “Oh, really? You want me to kiss them better?”

“I might take ya up on that.”

The pair shared a laugh, leisurely trotting down the path. But as fun as the afternoon had been, Applejack couldn’t hold back a sigh.

Rainbow’s sharp ears picked up on it immediately. “A.J.? You okay?”

The earth pony slowed down to a halt, sitting down as she gave the question some thought. “I’m fine, sugarcube.” She smiled gently, easing her head against Rainbow’s neck as the pegasus sat down next to her. “Thanks for today. Means the world to me.”

Rainbow nuzzled Applejack’s mane in response. “They love you, A.J. Just like I do.”

“I know, Dash. I’m a lucky pony.” Applejack sighed once more. “I wish y’coulda met my parents. They’d have liked ya.”

"...So why don't we meet 'em?"

Applejack blinked, frowning at Dash. The pegasus could be somewhat insensitive at times, but this reached a new level. "Uh. They caught a mild case of death?"

Rainbow waved a hoof in the air, ignoring Applejack’s expression. “Yeah yeah yeah, you told me that. I know. But..."

"But...?" Where in Tartarus is she going with this?

"Well, Twilight fought that dog-monster-thing from Tartarus, right?"

...Tartarus itself, apparently. "Uh, distracted it with a chew toy I thought?”

The pegasus nodded. "Right. She said it was the Guard. And guarding implies... keeping things in, right?"

"Yeah...?"

"And if you can get out... you can get in, right?"

Applejack could only stare.

"AJ? AJ?” Rainbow asked, waving a hoof in front of Applejack’s face. “ A- OW!! Hey! Let go of my tail! Where are we going?"

Applejack grunted as she dragged the now confused Rainbow back towards Ponyville. Her own confusion, however, was gone. Even with a mouth full of tail, her answer was loud and clear.

"We're goin' to see Twilight. Right now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------
(this is not the evil idea I had in mind. That was... something else entirely. Which I won't reveal, as who knows, someone else might actually include that idea
Have fun with this!)

748222 Thus the adventure begins!

748222
I love it! I can't wait to see where everyone goes with this. Two hooves up () for a fantastic first entry. Oh, the places we could go. I have it lined up for submission as soon as the second entry is done. Yours falls a couple hundred words short of the 1000 minimum for submitting it.
Also, we can now continue on with the regular prompts, since this one is technically started. Huzzah!

748573
Huzzah! I had other ideas, but this seemed the one that would fit a collab best. I felt this was the best place to stop without getting into TOO much detail, allowing a bit more freedom for others to expand on - so it does fall a bit short. Can't wait to see how Neumo picks up on this :D

748624>>748573
Neumo is up next? Is there an order list somewhere yet?

ETA: Duh. Never mind. Found it.

748653 I was the same, Bookplayer ^_^

And Ah, third! I'm nervous, now. But excited! Should be fun, and an awesome start ^_^

748662
At least you know, there's only so much BronyNeumo can do before he hands it to you. I'm smack in the middle, who knows what this story is going to be by then!

Actually, about that, does anyone think a blog post on three act structure might be helpful to this project? Is there anyone who doesn't know what it is, who might be interested in finding that out and trying to apply it in a general way to their parts? Or is that pretty much a lost cause here?

748721

It might be useful I can see the potential for this story to become a bit rambly. I'm vaguely familiar with the concept but I'd be grateful for a refresher course and you make rather informative blog posts.

748721 I think that would be wonderful to put up. I was worried about the story getting lost somewhere in the middle because we don't have much structure to it if we aren't at least agreed with how the flow should go. Maybe it's something we should keep in mind in the list order, as well, like how at the end, "should start wrapping it up" is there.

Sixteenth, huh? Works for me.

Quick question regarding the schedule, does it shift according to when a writer finishes? As in, since Tcherno finished his part on the first day, is it now Neumo's turn, or does he have to wait until the end of Tcherno's three days first?

Just want to know so I can stay on top of this.

748721
I think a blog post about that would be a great idea.

748653where do I find this list?

748831 It's linked in the first post. I was confused as well until I went back to look.

Oh damn, I have to help finish it off.

748222 Love where you're going with this.

If you don't normally read my blog, you might want to check out the post I did for this project, about three act structure.

I just thought it might give people a little bit of a road map to follow.

Confound it, Tcherno. Why'd you have to have such a good, yet aggravating idea?

And lo, a perfect chapter of set up to follow the first, and in record time, too! Served piping hot with a side of intrigue, enjoy!

*-----------*

“Absolutely not.”

Rainbow Dash pouted. Twilight had barely even looked at them before uttering her single, curt answer. “Aw, come on, Twilight! It’s a great idea! AJ hasn’t seen her parents in like, forever!”

“Please, Twi? I never even thought o’ this before, and I’d just love to see my parents one more time.”

The alicorn let loose a deep sigh, floated down from where she had been hovering, dusting off several bookshelves, and turned to face her two friends. She rolled her eyes at the heavy fake puppy-dog eyes both were giving her. “Whose idea was this, anyway?”

Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest. “Mine!”

Twilight rolled her eyes once more. “Just as I suspected.”

Rainbow blinked a couple times, her mock-heroic stance relaxing. “And just what is that supposed to mean?”

Twilight ruffled her wings once as she folded them at her sides, levitating her duster into a back closet. “As usual, when it comes to your ideas, you’ve gone ahead and jumped right in without giving it the slightest bit of thought.”

“Hey! I’ve given it plenty of thought!”

Twilight chuckled lightly. “Oh, really? Tell me, do you even know how to get to Tartarus?”

“Sure I do! It’ right next to the… um… uhh…. It’s just past the… Everfree… no. Help me out, here, AJ.”

“Sorry, Sugarcube. I haven’t got the slightest.”

“This is what I’m talking about. Neither of you are even equipped for such an undertaking.”

“Sure we are.” The brazen pegasus flipped an annoying lock of multi-hued hair from her eyes. “We just need you to tell us how to get there; we’ll make a day trip of it, see AJ’s parents, and be back before night!”

“And you think you can easily make it there and back in a few hours?”

“Sure we can! Hello, fastest pegasus in Equestria, remember? Besides, you went there and back in a few hours when that dog got out.”

“And that’s another thing!” Twilight, exasperated, threw her fore hooves up in the air. “I suppose you’ve completely looked over the fact that you’d have to get past Cerberus in the first place.”

“Well, duh. That’s why we need your help. You can just distract him again, like you did last time!” Rainbow Dash smirked.

Twilight slapped a hoof to her forehead, her temple suddenly throbbing. “That… that was different. I needed to get him back there. I can’t just go messing with him willy-nilly. He’s guarding the entrance for a reason, you know.”

“Ain’t there some way you could give us a couple hours, just to see my parents, Twi?” Applejack stepped up to her alicorn friend, setting a hoof on her shoulder and looking straight into her eyes. “I never even got to say goodbye.”

Twilight bit back her retort as she felt Applejack’s words stab at her. “I’m sorry, Applejack. I know… I know how you must feel, but I’m not going to let you guys do this.”

Rainbow Dash stamped a hoof against the library floor. “And why not, Twilight? This is AJ’s parents we’re talking about. What if this was your parents? Wouldn’t you go to the gates of Tartarus and back to see them, too?”

Twilight shook her head. She turned away from her friends, willing herself to stay strong. “I’m… I’m sorry, girls. But it’s far too dangerous.” Her voice almost cracked as she swallowed a lump from her throat. “Do you two even know the first thing about Tartarus?”

“Sure. It’s where ponies go when they die. Isn’t that obvious?”

Twilight shook her head. “On a base level, yes. But that’s not all there is to it. Do either of you know why Cerberus is put there at all?”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged glances. Applejack just shrugged. Rainbow Dash groaned. “To keep the ponies inside from getting out?”

“No.” Twilight said curtly, levitating a large tome off a nearby shelf. “Well, not exactly. Not ponies, anyway. Spirits, shadows.”

Applejack frowned. “You mean like ghosts?”

“Pretty much.” Twilight agreed, her nose buried in the book as she magically flipped through a multitude of pages, looking for the right one. “It’s summed up in Starswirl The Bearded’s Complete Musings on Magical Theory, Volume Six.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack both deadpanned as Twilight continued to flip. Finally she found her page, and pointed a hoof at one particular paragraph. “Basically, when a pony dies, their spirit goes to Tartarus, while the pony is bodily left behind in Equestria for burial, cremation, or what have you.” She looked up from her page, staring hard at her friends. “Every being in Tartarus itself is only that spirit. A shadow, a mere flicker of their former self. Even if you were able to get there, even if you were able to get past Cerberus, even if you were able to find your parents among the hundreds of thousands down there, they wouldn’t even have physical form. They’d almost be an illusion, AJ. Hardly even better than a memory. Is that what you really want?”

Applejack bit her bottom lip. “I… I guess not.” Rainbow Dash’s ears fell back against the back of her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack cut her off. “But I don’t care, Twi. I want to see them just this once, just to say goodbye, and I’ve made up my mind.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine. I know I’m not going to be able to convince you. But I cannot help you two. This is still far too dangerous, far too risky, and frankly, I still think it’s a terrible idea.” Both the other two ponies were silent. Twilight ruffled her wings nervously. “Besides. The only pony I know of who’s visited Tartarus and actually gone inside was Princess Celestia. If you two go, there’s no… there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to get back out again. There’s no way of knowing if you’ll even be the same ponies if you do.”

Applejack nodded. Rainbow Dash just glared at her. Twilight grimaced. “I’m worried about you two. I don’t think this is safe.”

“I understand, Twi.” Applejack turned around and headed towards the door. “Come on, Dashie. Let’s just head back to the farm.” Rainbow Dash shot her alicorn friend a final glare before turning tail and following her marefriend.

Twilight bit her lip. “I’m really sorry, girls. I truly am.”

The library shelves rattled as the door slammed shut.

*-----------*

749578
Squee! This looks awesome :D

(side note to everyone else. You can comment positively on a submission, but please try not to offer ideas of your own - let the writer decide what they're doing. Don't try to direct them to write what YOU want to see!)

749649
Hey, Callisto, you should put in my inappropriately named black-and-red alicorn OC Thantos! He could guide AJ and Dash to the underworld because he can control demons and stuff. Plus he smells like patchouli.

Darn it, Tcherno! You're no fun.

749685

749685

749691>>749696
Okay, fine.

I'll wait until my turn.

749578

This is getting even better! I love the continuance of this and the mini problem created!

You know, with the way this group is and the way it's started off I wouldn't be surprised if we easily breezed through the 26 participants in a month.

749685 I LOLed so hard, Bookplayer.

749696>>749649 And DAMN IT, BronyNeumo! So quick! You and Tcherny have got to stop setting a precedent for how quickly the next chapter gets out ;_;

Just HAD to say that, since I have no time right now to READ the new chapter, yet, but wanted to say SOMETHING to the effect. Ahem, anyways, I'll read it later tonight and start thinking ^_~

749578
You guys are too fast. I'll read it and submit the story pronto.

And submitted! Just waiting for moderator approval now.

Because people are getting these done so fast, don't feel obliged to complete yours in a similar manner. You can still take up to the last day of your allotted time to complete your entry if you need to.

Similarly, now that the story has reached the minimum word limit, I'm wondering which you guys prefer:
1. I can upload the prompts as I receive them. This means that there may be days or weeks between updates.
2. I can maintain a buffer of entries and upload them as the time slots go by, resulting in a guaranteed upload every three days.
Thoughts?

Should I copy the lines into a special chapter of the collab fic or post a link?

750459

I don't mind much either way, as I'll be stalking this thread so that I can read each chapter as it comes out. However, just to make it all nice and good with updating, I think the buffer idea is a good one.

751339
Perhaps add a chapter to it that links to the separate story?

751424

This!

750459
I like the second option. It gives you a chance to read over and do any necessary editing, assuming you don't get a steady stream of 11th hour submissions. And while, yes, that means we won't be seeing Callisto's addition go up for about a week, it's a small price for the measures of consistency and control you'll be afforded. With so many writers involved, take the breaks where you can.

751424>>751339
I third the motion.

I'm excited. Writing for the middle should be... interesting. I'm terrible with beginnings, love endings, and don't tend to focus on the center, so writing a chapter that is JUST the center will be fun.

Thanks!

Hey, all! Sorry for the wait. I've had a lot of work, lately, and the beginning was in severe need of editing. BUT figured i should finish it tonight before work or I'll never finish it. It's a LITTLE long, 1,089 in my word doc. Hope it's okay! Happy reading!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--

Applejack and Rainbow Dash laid on the floor of the sitting room in Applejack's house, surrounded by books. Some belonged to them, some were from their friends. The ever increasing pile of tomes to the right, towering over them, were useless for what they needed.

"I TRIED to tell Pinkie we didn't need cook books or party books," Rainbow Dash said, as Applejack frowned at the pile. "But she insisted there might be something in them."

Then Applejack looked to her left at the two books they had found with information pertaining to what they needed. One belonged to Sweetie Belle - Magic Equestria - which had information on how terrifying a place Tartarus could be, housing spirits of the dead and ancient creatures the likes of which could destroy all of Equestria. It then followed that with a nursery rhyme to help little unicorns scare away demons.

She didn't know how much stock to put into that book.

The second was an old encyclopedia that had belonged to her parents with an excerpt on Tartarus. Rainbow Dash followed her gaze. "What's that one say?"

"Rainbow, we need Twilight's help," Applejack said, looking back to the mare. "I don't care how mad ya are, these here books ain't gettin' us no closer to findin' out where ta go!"

"Look, we're doing fine!" Rainbow Dash said, jumping to her hooves, her joints popping after having lay still for so long. "We're getting our packs ready," Rainbow Dash lifted her near empty saddlebag. "I got a ball from Pinkie for Cerberus. You can use your skills to throw the ball for him!"

"My...skills? At ball throwin'?"

"Yeah! You have a dog!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as though it were obvious. "Or, you can belly rub him to distract him! Easy-peasy!"

"Ya want me to go up to a Three-headed dog and belly rub him? I ain't no Fluttershy!"

"Well, okay, maybe we'll distract him with a dog treat, first, but come on! We can TOTALLY do this." Rainbow Dash looked her mare friend over, who was looking at her disbelievingly. "Okay, maybe you'll want to bring rope."

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. "Rainbow, I appreciate this an' all, but how are we supposed to figure all this out without Twilight's help?" She looked around the room. "The library books'd be mighty nice right now..."

"You're not chickening out on me, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked playfully. Then seeing the look of concern on her marefriend's face, instantly changed her tone. She laid down next to Applejack and put her wing around her. "I mean, it's your decision and all, it's just--"

"Nah, I ain't chickenin' out," Applejack said, rolling her eyes to Rainbow Dash. "Just wish we didn't have ta go in blind." Applejack glanced around the room. "Did you bring down the boxes from the attic like I asked?"

"Oh...right," the Pegasus said, frowning. "They were pretty heavy." Applejack glared at her. "And what better way to get a work out!" Rainbow Dash got up, not looking too happy. "I'll be right back."

Applejack waited until Rainbow Dash was gone before taking the encyclopedia and opening it up to the page she had marked off. It was a list of what was believed to reside inside of Tartarus. Twilight was right - there was a lot more to Tartarus than just pony afterlife. What particularly bothered her was the idea of ponies being judged once inside to decide if they should be punished for their wrongdoings in their lives. Eternal punishment - that hardly seemed fair. And while the idea bothered her at first when she read about it, that bother soon became concern.

A small dread rose in Applejack. It was more about just saying goodbye, or letting her beloved marefriend finally meet her parents. She was worried, now. She wanted to make sure her parent's souls were okay.

Though she didn't know what could be done if they weren't...

"Okay!" Rainbow Dash said, carrying a box filled with books as she flew down the stairs. Applejack closed the encyclopedia and looked up to Rainbow Dash. "Here you go. We better find something in these books, bec--GAH!" Applejack jumped back as the old, musty box ripped open, spilling it's contents to the floor in a cloud of dust.

The two ponies coughed and covered their mouths while the dust settled.

"Well," Rainbow Dash said, trying to brush the dust off of her coat. "That went well." She picked up a crushed scroll and opened it up. The back was covered in mold and mildew, but what was written on the scroll was still legible. "What are these things, anyway?"

Applejack looked at the scroll. "Blueberry - twenty five. Thornberry - eighty two. Apple seeds -fifty seven. Hmm. Looks like documents from when Granny's family gathered seeds across Equestria."

"Oh, yeah?" Rainbow Dash asked, bored already. "Interesting..."

Applejack took up a scroll and unraveled it. "The things Granny musta seen when she was a filly..."

"Right," Rainbow Dash said, looking at the grime on her hooves and frowning. Her frown turned into confusion as Applejack's eyes widened and she near-dove to open the other scrolls. "Whoa. What are you doing?"

"Granny was a traveler!" Applejack said, opening a scroll, then tossing it to the side. "D'ya know what travelers need?"

Rainbow Dash was quiet for a second as the gears slowly turned in her head. "Maps!"

"Detailed maps," Applejack said as she went through scroll after scroll. Rainbow Dash helped out, and soon, there was a pile of useless scrolls in front of the equally useless books. They would find a map every once in a while, but of a town neither of them knew about, or an area they couldn't place.

Both ponies were quiet until Applejack flattened down a map and smiled to Rainbow Dash. "Give me that map there," the farm pony said. Rainbow Dash opened one map while Applejack held open the other. "This here area is marked as 'dangerous'. It's close enough that Twilight coulda gone there and back in a day. So, if that map is a bigger version of the badlands, then..."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash searched the other map. "Here!" Rainbow Dash said, pointing at an area classified as "restricted." Then she laughed with superiority. "I told you we didn't need Twilight."

"Yeah," Applejack said, looking at her sitting room filled to the brim with useless books and a coat of dust as old as Ponyville. "Easy, peasy..."

767876
1) Your entry wasn't due until Saturday so no need to worry about us waiting.
2) The 1,000 word ceiling is soft. Krazy said we can have up to an extra 500 if the entry demands it. So eighty-nine words ain't no thing.
3) Awesome addition to this prompt! I liked the banter, and you resolved one issue while leaving an opening that the next writer can take and use if they so choose.

Great, I'm next

768050 Tag! You're it ;)