Inspiration, Author's Notes, and General Stuff
What a long and wonderful trip this has been, drifting along through the last year while working in bits and pieces on something that would compare well with the original story.
I think I did it.
Inspiration for the story goes to Mark Twain, otherwise known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and of course the story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (pdf link) In particular, I would like to thank Andy Thomas Studios for their permission to use the painting ‘Huckleberry Finn’ in this story. As it is commercial art, all rights remain with the artist, I just have permission to show it to you here on a limited basis. The original painting is $29,000, but you can get 8x16 signed prints starting at $35 here (which I’m going to, as soon as I can talk my wife into it).
(Ain’t it pretty?)
And of course a second thanks for Pen Mightier and Manifest Harmony for their great (and only slightly late by a day or two) cover art of Turpentine and Ripple on the raft.
Moving right along, interesting things happen in the margins while writing. Odd conversations you never see in the finished product (unless Georg adds them, which I am here)
(On Pearl and Ripple’s ‘aunts’ in the river)
Tek: Ok this line of talk just makes me wonder if Ripple has any other siblings or cousins either living or deceased from the conflict they are refugees of. Their names being oh I don't know Tsunami, WaveFront and Big Kahuna.
Hmm that last one meeting Big Mac could be amusing. Maybe they can form a Big Club.
Me: Gabby: So, you're Big Kahuna. Pearl says you're her brother, right?
Gaberdine tried to smile while waiting for a response, but the only thing he could think of was how much the huge seapony looked like he had some blue whale in his family tree somewhere, or perhaps a megalodon shark who had eaten a blue whale.
(after the scene where Turpentine throws the coffeepot out into the river)
Tek: Wilson!
TheMaskedFerret: Noooooooo!!!!
Me: Sigh.
(Or on occasion, my editors leave little bits of knowledge for me)
Tek: Maybe he starts to think the island is a Aspidochelone
Georg: Even I don't know what that is. I'm trying to keep the reading grade level down.
TheMaskedFerret: Giant sea creature, often a turtle the size of an island.
Georg: Maybe I should slip in a baby Aspidochelone.
Turp: It's a turtle.
Ripple: It's a baby Aspidochelone.
Turp: Is that some kind of turtle? (eyes the turtle) And how can it be a baby? It's about twice the size of any turtle I've seen before. How big do they get.
Ripple: Greece? Of course that's centuries from now. He's just barely big enough to have some dirt on his shell. It'll take a least a hundred years before he's big enough to get even a small town on his shell. So do you have a pet?
Turpentine: Not really. I had a cricket back a few years ago, but it got away.
Ripple: I'll share, if you want. He's not much of a bother. He eats water lettuce and pond weeds, mostly.
(Since I’m mostly a discovery writer, there are times when my plans don’t work or I find something better while I type. Example in point: I had not *planned* on Pearl going to Canterlot. I had planned on having the confrontation when they returned to the riverboat, but while I was writing, it made a much better theatre to have her overcome her fears and show up, using the dragonfire parchment and Celestia’s authority as background plot point ‘movers.’ Here’s what the original plan showed)
I have this mental pic if Ripple ever gets to Canterlot.
Gabby: Ripple convinced my father to let her play with his train set. They spent the whole afternoon in there, messing around with the locomotives and adjusting the scenery.
Pearl: Is that.. bad?
G: Wel... No. Although she got busy with a screwdriver when my father's back was turned... (produces small box that rattles) Once Ripple gets the locomotive put back together, we need to bring it back to him.
Pearl: (long pause) All the way to Canterlot?
G: Yes. (pause, eyes slowly track to Pearl) Not that you have to--
Pearl: Yes. If you'll go with me. And Turpentine.
rest of the day, Gabby is a little foggy, drifts
(Back in the section where Ripple first saw Turpentine)
Tek: yup he never saw her, it’s not like he has a painting to prove him a liar on that, I wonder if you'll make him smart enough to hide it
Me: Well, he is still a little in shock. First female unicorn he sees it will be like
"I didn't see her."
"Who?"
"Your daughter."
TheMaskedFerret: Snerk!
(On the hissing of the waves against the shore of Turpentine’s Island)
Tek: I thought waves lapped not hissed?
Me: These are very snaky waves.
TheMaskedFerret: I had a sudden mental image of all these little water snakes crawling out onto the bank for mating rituals. XD
Me: Small Town Charm with snakes. Brr.
(On the use of the phrase ‘mountain unicorn’ for the Canterlot nobility.)
Tek: may want to use Noble or Canterlot. This mountain bit had me thinking of Gabby as part mountain goat for a minute, after all I believe that Canterlot nobles say ‘bah’ often enough :)
Me: I like that mental picture. I’ll have to see if I can introduce some goat-like climbing into it later as Turp thinks they do. And yodeling, of course.
(On Gaberdine hiring Turpentine)
Tek: what he's not going to ask or Gabby going to state the benefits package?
Me: What, and look a gift horse in the mouth? (sorry! No, not really.)
(On a discussion about Ripple and any future siblings)
Tek: a case of to many cooks spoil the broth I assume, though Ripple not understanding a reference to them trying to put a bun in her mother’s oven could be cute.
Ripple: that doesn't make sense Mom doesn't even have an oven
Me: (I gotta stash that one away for later)
Tek: Ripple: Gabby's the one with the oven, so the bun should go in there :) hmm would a seahorse (where the male incubates the eggs) be to much with this joke?
TheMaskedFerret: Not at all
(On the pegasus sisters and their names, particularly Lemon Drops)
Tek: yup that what I want in a pony's name who is hauling cargo. Drop :)
Me: Who who's your cousin? Horrendous Crash.
Tek: What's her Aunt? Terminal trajectory?
Me: If Rainbow Dash ever has a foal, she's naming it Escape Velocity.
Tek: That or Rainboom or Awesome, since it’s something she produced :-)
Me: And these are the triplets, Awesomesauce, Rainboom, and Are You Kidding!!
Tek: naw the third would be Prankasaurus Rex
(On the discussion of their landing spot in Canterlot)
Tek: shouldn't proximity to the school where their appointment is be a bigger priority than the castle or is the school in the castle, I never did get that aspect of Canterlot geography straight
Me: Yeah, I was jumping the gun.
Tek: Umm when or why did the school become a museum?
Me: (I have to use this) Well, it does house this one ancient old fossil…
(On where Turpentine is touring the castle art gallery)
Tek: reminds me of an old Rupert bear episode which features the "dove of dawn", of course it could be worse they could have referred to her as the worlds largest rooster crowing to bring up the sun :)
Me (in my head): Chicken Boo, Chicken Boo, you don’t do like the other chickens do...
Twilight: She’s a chicken, I tell you! A chicken!
(On the painting of Celestia and Luna in the dandelions)
Tek: one would think being in a field with a bunch of foals and Turp about to paint her would have alarm bells ringing for Celestia
Me: Heheh
Tek: I was thinking of 'that' painting and not just hijinks
Me: "Ok, now who wants to be painted nursing?"
(On Celestia's little arson every century or two)
Tek: sudden vision of Celestia stabilizing a wobbly table with a Rembrandt under a leg just because
Me: Luna: Celly!
Celestia: What? There's a couple dozen of them still in the gallery.
Luna: No, I mean you could have used one of the Renour's. The closet is full of them.
Celestia: (sigh) I guess I better go find the matches.
(On the Royal Sisters and their plot tinkering)
Tek: Sudden vision of the sisters playing croquet or pool with ponies as the balls.
Me: (Celestia aiming her pool cue) Baron in the side pocket, and artist over at the end.
(On naming a young pony Long Division)
TheMaskedFerret: Ah, yes, that evil beast.
Tek: I suddenly have a vision of that pony's job or special talent not being math but the old saw a pony in half trick :)
(On the seaponies helping repaint the riverboat)
Tek: making me think of helpful elves like those that help that cobbler in those old tales.
Me: Why are all these shoes flipper-shaped?
(When Turpentine put the infant Dawn in the store window)
Tek: how much is that pony in the window :)
Themaskedferret: The one with the fluttery wings n_n
Well, that’s all there is for now. I hope you enjoyed our little trip down the river Fen and meeting all of its interesting inhabitants, both above and below the waves. A big thanks to all of the readers and staff on FimFiction.net without which so many quality stories would not have been told, and of course the biggest thanks to Hasbro and the staff of My Little Pony, who have created this wonderful world in which we are privileged to enter.
Thank you all.
— Georg
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No, I'm not going to start a Kickstarter for that original painting. The wife would yell at me for *years*. (I bought a print, though.)
...and they added a Seapony tag... Yea!!
Impressive.
(Still on my To Read list, but some stuff you already now that it's going to be good.)
I'm glad to see you finished it. I got distracted by star wars fanfictions after reading the first three chapters. And, I'm WAAAAAAy behind on my reading if it's almost- what do you mean you finished it?
Loved the story. The only disappointment was not getting to see Celestia's reaction to how Turpentine painted her.
Ok, my opinions.
The first half was good, but by the second half I started getting lost at what was going on.
7969132 No, it's all good *stage whispers* we can pressure him for another sequel.
Not really sure it can support one though...
CHALLENGE ISSUED
Beautiful story. Nicely done.
Ripple is JUST SO CUTE!!!
*dies*
Doctor: Cause of death, Cuteness Overload.
7969006
Oh yes, THAT IS a TAG that the MODS SHOULD REALLY DO sometime
*coughs*- you should really get on that like right now, *cough*
(I totally agree, Georg)
7966220
Look, I (and humans/people in general) don't like endings...
But an incomplete story is even worse...
Because you'll always wonder what happens next...
At least with endings you can smile if it happened...
But cry once it's finally over...
7969238
Affirmative, and also
Fantastic stuff from start to finish. Don't know why I doubted the inevitable conclusion for even a moment. Thank you for this.
(And don't think I missed that Green Grass cameo. I can only imagine what he'd think of a filly that was already transmuting herself.)
That was wonderful to read, and I'm really sad/happy to see it completed, though it would be great to hear more about the Baron and his crew! I do hope there is the possibility of such!
I def look forward to hearing more about all the other seaponies there and such.
Also with the Equestria movie, I believe they are tossing in seaponies, your gonna get your wish for that marker! :D
I'm dying...
7969154 CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!
GEORG, SEQUEL OF SEQUEL PLZ!!!
For some reason, in the past five minutes dislikes went from 4 to 5...
Wtf?
Great story. Loved it from start to finish. I read the prequel during this one, and now I really want a sequel. You are a brilliant writer, as the 5 dislikes can say, and just keep doing what you are doing, because it works.
7969006 YES! Seapony tag!
How exactly would we petition for something like that?
When that was a truly fantastic atory, 100% amazing. It was perfectly paced, the characters were well fleshed put over the course of the story, and everything is wrapped up nice at the end. Truly a read for everyone. My favorite parts were all of the quirks the royal sisters had, pure genius. Georg, you've done it again.
Well done, well done indeed.
P.S.
If you had any ideas/plans for how Ripple and Turp actually hooked up, it was be awesome if we could hear about it. Perhaps a sequel, maybe?
A wonderful story beautifully told.
WHY CAN'T I LIKE IT MORE THAN ONCE?!?
I want to see a ripple x turpentine
7969277
I must have missed that. When was it?
Great story, Georg.
Doesn't deserve the romance tag, and neither does its predecessor though. It's about the adventure and discovery of one's self, with zero romance present. It's not a focus.
Only critique I have.
7969311
Wow. Simply, wow.
I don't want to divulge into too many words, and I don't want to ramble finding anything proper to say, at length. Nor should I. But I will, regardless.
Both this, and its predecessor were greatly written. Both had different tones and dictions, fitting the perspectives of their distinct protagonists, yet make for a unifying couplet of tales. In terms of a Romance tag, I'd say it's appropriate given how much the senses apply to the characters' emotions in more ways, than the narrowly understood term of "romantic" by most. It wasn't strictly focused on boy meets girl, but more on self-discovery through family and friendship, while also learning where your heart is telling you where you belong. Taking the long way around to figure things out at a natural pace. Perfectly, well done. Well done, indeed. I look forward to other projects you might have in store. God Bless.
7969404
A dark green unicorn magic tutor? Color me suspicious.
7969006
Oh, I think a seapony tag is going to come. I've seen photos of some of the new MLP toys coming out with the movie.
I caught that veiled reference to Green Grass. And the idea that Sen and Friday Haystrings are distant cousins amuses me immensely. I find myself bemoaning the fact that I don't have the painting skills to render the paintings of the princesses that Turpentine paints. I love the mental image of them covered in dandelion fluff and Luna's picture that leaves everypony going "um."
We want another. Do we want another?
WE WANT ANOTHER!
So... good...
I'm satisfied.
Always a pleasure to read your work. Thanks again!
aww I wanted to see Gabby and Peal get married and for Turp and Ripple to get some siblings.
maybe have Gabby get a new, bigger boat.
Montage of Paintings, maybe some photographs.
Turpentine and Ripple getting married and having 2.5 foals.
Have you considered adding a waterfall Luna pic yet (this is the closest one that I could find)?
lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dAv5aur6anQ/VfABJso4L_I/AAAAAAAAA8A/8Up5bvOWeZc/w1200-h684/wow%2Bluna.png
JediWyrm: *One of the guards raises his hoof*
*Hrrk*
Masked Ferret continues to be nearly as adorable as Ripple.
7969660
YES!!!
PLEASE!!!!
(Make lightning strike three times in the exact same spot!!!)
7969825
That's definitely not "um"-inducing enough
7969277 "At least she can turn me back if she turns me into a gardenia?"
Or maybe a quiet, "Later." Who knows?
7969324 If I understand, a stack of non-sequential bills, quietly slipped under Knightly's door is the preferred method...
7969334 Have you ever watched Kim Possible? Probably like that, with less secret agents and no Monkey Kung-Fu.
7969923 Yeah, the phrase 'nothing left but smoking shoes' probably applies there
7970000 One of my most fun editors, I'll admit.
Oh boy, this story and it's prequel have to be one of the most delightful reads on this entire site. While part of me is going to miss it, I am left feeling wholly satisfied with the story. I seriously wish there were more ways I could endorse this fic, but I guess I'll have to settle for a sappy comment. The crew of the Castle Paradise are probably going to hold a likewise sappy place in my heart for quite some time. Bravo.
7970158 Nah, this was a happy piece, the tears are for sad sad stuff that has you bawling. This was a cinderella tale of life and living, the good and the bad, of growing older, but not neccesarily of growing up.
7969411 Well, I don't think this one really deserves the tag, since most of the romance in this one is just a continuation of a pre-established romance established in the first one, but in that first one, romance was at least half the focus.
Yes, it is a different format than most stories tagged "Romance." But I don't really think romance has to be the only focus of a story for it to be considered one.
7970339 I respectfully disagree. While Georg is unlike most in that he tends to keep the tags minimalistic, tagging something a genre implies that it plays a heavy role in the story. Both this and its predecessor were entirely about the journey of Gaberdine, and here Turpentine, of finding who they really were, or wanted to be. In the first story, the romance is barely even touched upon, and in this one it's just not there. We get some child-level interactions between some of the characters, and a brief glimpse of what might be considered romantic, but it isn't a big role within the story. Thus, my critique of the tag.
Mind you, the story itself is a fantastic journey and exploration to find one's place in the world, but romance it is not at all.
7970365 I definitely respect the points you made, and in some ways, I agree that romance is not the focus of either of them.
However, I still think the first story is improved by the presence of the tag. It alters the reader's initial assumptions about the story. Simply labeling it "Adventure" would make people expect some sort of underwater exploration.
While "Romance" only plays a small, subtle part in the story, "Love" in general is the catalyst for discovery.
Of course, this is based on my own opinions, and I am not saying you are wrong to feel the way you do about the tags. I think that if there were more descriptive tags, another one could be used.
And most of these tags are very subjective, anyway. Like, for example, "Alternate Universe" taken in a literal sense means that every fanfiction that does not directly restate the show's episodes should be tagged.
Well, now I'm talking far too long on this. I don't discount your argument, and I think you are right for your definition of the tag. I just happen to have a broader definition of what it means. (Mostly since there isn't a tag to encompass those particular topics specifically.)
7970158
Only if one is trying to get to the moon—the hard way.
Tis was great Georg, I'm a bit sad it's all over.
this was a brilliant story you have a great talent thank you for share it.
Ripple is my new fave to Nyx
7970943 Don't assume the river is saltwater. Actually, off the top of my head I don't know if that was ever stated. However, if the river is flowing towards Baltimare, it can be assumed that it's flowing towards the sea, which would make it most likely fresh water.
7971004 Rivers are always freshwater or brackish, unless one somewhere runs through a salt mine. A river only gets saltwater in it if seawater runs upstream.
Bravo on a great story Georg. Even though I would have loved for it to continue forever, this was a very natural and suitable end.
I do hope that pony's for sale.
7971152
From tears and blood, most often...
After all, the letters are written on kelp fiber 'parchment', scribed with specialty inks that reject the water, letting it 'dry' (in reality, merely setting like colored resin) even underwater. The paper's a bit dark, so the ink tends to be made lighter in color, to stand out better.