I wrote something!

Granted, it's only a little something, but it's progress!

I'm so happy. 😁

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Baked Bean, under normal circumstances, was extremely reluctant to talk about his desire to write. His own parents were less than supportive of his desires, to put it mildly, and that fed into a fear that his friends would find his ideas to be rather simple, plain, and unworthy.

But on a deeper level that he was loath to admit to, even to himself, he was scared that he was not meant to be a writer. If so, that would mean that the one thing that motivated him—the one thing that kept him going when the going got tough and everything in the restaurant imploded on him—was nothing more than a thin dream that would deflate as easily as his souffles.

But as he looked into Celestia’s eyes and took in her earnest, eager expression, he found all of his previous inhibitions melting away like the frost before the sun.

She wasn’t asking him just to be polite, or to make conversation. She honestly and truly wanted to know.

“Well, it’s kinda dumb, really.” Bean found the words spilling out without any effort or fear. “My idea was to write about a unicorn who finds himself transported to a strange new world after falling into some kind of interdimensional portal. He’d try to find his way home, of course, but most of the story would be about him helping out the creatures he encounters.”

“Interesting premise,” the Princess said thoughtfully. “What do these creatures look like?”

“I’m still working on that. I want to have something that’s somewhat familiar but still unlike anything ponies have ever seen.” His courage and creativity were gaining steam now, and Celestia’s nods helped to get his train of thought rolling even faster than normal. “I’m thinking of something that stands upright, with claws like a dragon on its unused forelegs. They would have big eyes, small noses, and small ears, so at a glance, you really wouldn’t think of them as a threat. But there would be two groups of them: a bad bunch that are mean and grouchy, and a smaller nice group that are being bullied and persecuted by the others. The unicorn finds out that this world doesn’t have magic, so he uses his to help the nice creatures, but he has to be careful and avoid being caught.”

“How did this unicorn find the portal?”
Celestia asked. “Is it just free-floating, or is it tied to something, like a doorway or…” she hesitated with a faint, pained twitch. “Or a mirror, perhaps?”

“A mirror?” Bean rubbed his chin. “I hadn’t thought of that. I guess it could be. Maybe one he finds in the castle of a nearby noble or something."

“A detail to worry about another time, I suppose,” Celestia said, her tone suggesting that she would rather move on from the subject, thank you very much.

Bean caught the implied hint and wisely acted on it. “Yeah. Anyway, I was also thinking that he could travel between worlds as needed, so I could have some scenes with him here in Equestria, trying to convince other ponies that he’s telling the truth and they think he’s gone crazy. But I want all of this to have some reality behind it, so I was hoping to look into how ponies lived back in the Pre-Unification Era.”

“I see.” Celestia now gave him a sly smile. “I imagine it would be useful if you could speak to a pony who was alive at the time.”

“Boy, would that be nice,” Bean said with a lingering sigh. “I’d love to hear what it was like. How they dressed, what they did for entertainment, how the laws were set up between the peasants and the nobility. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear the tale of their lives? I’d give my left rear leg just to have ten minutes with them.”

“Fortunately, I believe there is a way for you to get your answers and to keep all of your legs.”

“Really?” Bean couldn’t keep the surprised excitement out of his voice, even if he’d wanted to. “Do you know some sort of spell that allows ponies to speak to someone in the past? Or do you know how to time travel? It seems like you should avoid…” he trailed off as the obvious hit him in the head like a brick thrown by the world’s strongest hoofball pitcher, and his cheeks suddenly began to burn intensely. “Or I could just ask you,” he finished in a meek, chagrined voice.

And at that moment, Baked Bean witnessed something that he never thought could be possible.

Princess Celestia laughed.

This was not the dainty chuckle that he had heard before, nor was it a polite titter that was gone as soon as it had came.

No, this had to be the most unroyal laugh he had ever heard—not that he’d heard that many, of course. Or any, really. Celestia’s laugh was high pitched, fast, and piercing, almost like she was whinnying in a way, and she was having trouble catching her breath to let out more peals of mirth. She sounded something like a squeaky toy that was being run over by a hundred stampeding ponies, and there was a very good chance she’d let out a few snorts in short order.

Bean could only imagine how many noble ponies would faint in shock if they could see their princess acting in such an uncouth manner, and yet…

He had to admit her laugh was sort of cute, in its own way. It was genuine, heartfelt, and unrestrained. It was a laugh he could get used to.

Comments

[Lighting Ace]

Yay it alive, the story is progressing. Glad to hear from you

[Subject 19]

Happy to hear you're making progress! Can't wait to read more

[sykko]

It's good that your story is progressing. I know how it feels to have writer's block and creative burnout.

[Monk With No Name]

Glad to see you’re alive and kicking, please don’t feel like you “have” to produce. Burnout is real and it’s ok to focus on anything and everything you feel you want/need to in your life. Don’t worry when the muse/inspiration strikes we’ll be happy to see the next update on Ole Bean.