CadenceVerse! Episode Snippet · 2:41pm Apr 18th, 2013
What on earth is this; a C!Verse post? something that resembles actual progress? unbelievable! I know shocking as it is I have made some small modicum of progress with some C!Verse material, in this case the first scene from the first episode. This isn't technically the first episode chronologically speaking, as I am not sure I have the skill or the characterization down enough to try my hand at the pilot yet, so this would be a test episode for all intents and purposes. I didn't have an editor so this might not read terribly well, I did edit it myself, but that can only count for so much. (The parts in brackets i'm not entirely sure about and would like an opinion on, thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have any views, issues or feedback i'd greatly appreciate hearing about them! :)
A mysterious plague has beset Everfree City’s restaurants, farms and groceries, all the food is disappearing without a trace, entire fields are being consumed in the night and Lightning’s Dust’s fridge has been raided! Lightning Dust and her fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony set out to discover what’s responsible.
Parasprites in The City
All across Equestria ponies were awake and well into their morning routines while happily basking the crisp summer sun. Throughout the land the citizenry were beginning their annual preparations for the coming autumn; food was being harvested, celebrations planned the weather teams were re-organising and bickering over their schedules.
But all of this could not be further from the mind of one young mare. “Ninety eight, ninety nine” the turquoise mare ground out through gritted teeth. A black weight strapped to each individual wing as they were forced up once again “aaaand one hundred!” she cried triumphantly.
Letting out a sigh of relief Lightning Dust allowed her wings to slack, the twin weights slipped down and dropped to the thick carpeted floor with a metallic thud. The mare’s ear’s twitches hearing a faint buzzing by her window but she paid it no mind.
Glancing at the full body mirror fixed to her side wall Lightning Dust experientially flexed her exhausted wings, stretching them out to avoid cramps. There was a thin sheen of sweat coating her pale turquoise coat and strands of her dark orange mane hung limply over her face.
‘All in all, a good work out!’ she reflected proudly, a small smirk extenuating her angular features.
Dust then picked up one of the many scattered weights and set about returning them to their proper place. The gym itself took up a full quarter of her spacious white stone wall apartment; despite its relative small size her gym was complete with weights, machinery, armour and even armaments; that particular corner of the room was carpeted unlike much the rest of her stone (hardwood?) floors -it made the dents less noticeable-
All her weight packed up Dust added the finishing touches to her stretches when she felt a tremor go through her body, accompanied by a deep grumbling sound as though some sort of localised earthquake was happening to her and her alone; her stomach was grumbling. Though grumbled would not be an appropriate word; she’d been told that such a sound was more appropriate coming from a bear in the midst of voicing extreme disapproval. Turning away Lightning Dust left her miniature gym making a beeline for the kitchen, licking her lips in anticipation.
She had a long day ahead of her and despite much of her youth having been spent in a palace Lightning Dust had never grown a fond of the meals enjoyed by noble ponies, meals where the food portions were so tiny it would barely feed a mouse. She was far more inclined towards the feasts indulged in by her pegasi ancestors, she thought licking her muzzle in anticipation.
‘It’s going to be a big two days; Cadence will be here tomorrow and it’s down to me to make sure everything’s up to par.’ Lightning Dust reflected with no small amount of pride, whilst rummaging through her bread bin. The faint buzzing of what Dust assumed to be flies hovering just within ear shot as she removed two large rolls and placed them on a dark brown chopping board.
“Better stay away from my breakfast.” She glanced around but finding no offending insect Dust returned her attention to breakfast.
Being the princess’s ‘Knight, Apprentice’ there were few ponies closer to Cadence then Dust herself, so she’d been asked to advise and assist with the decorating, entertainment and generally every other little thing being arranged to honor their princess’s visit.
Any city that was hosting their princess would want to throw a festival, parade or a banquet of some description to honor her; Lightning Dust herself had been dragged to quite a few of such events in her young life, she knew what to expect and what Cadence liked. For as long as Lightning Dust had known her the princess had adored such celebrations being held in her name, so long as everypony else was having fun as well fun as well. Of course it was never all fun and games there were always hooves to shake, egos and disagreements to soothe and a public to please with some speech or a dazzling display of magic.
Turning away from her rolls Lightning Dust moved over to the small ice box wedged between the cupboards and roughly pried it open with a wing.
Dust sighed; the cool air on her face was incredibly refreshing she reflected while pawing around in the ice box steadily dragging out a small pile of food stuffs. There was so much that it needed to be carried in her wings, mouth and hooves just to get it back to the bench. A small water bottle was quickly deposited by her tail joining its breakfast contemporaries.
Lightning Dust stretched out her right wing and guided the pickle onto the board, taking out a large shining knife Dust slipped the blade into her mouth and began chopping.
Within minutes her task was complete; in front of Lightning Dust sat a truly grand sandwich, standing almost thirty centimeters tall and filled with, lettuce, tofu, tomatoes, carrot and half a dozen other food stuffs she couldn't even bother naming, all layered with cheese and sauce; the only thing missing was the final touch.
“The mayo! How do you forget the Pièce de résistance?” she said, slapping her forehead in disgust.
Turning around Lightning Dust returned to her fridge, intent find the elusive mayonnaise jar, acknowledging the small buzzing sounds with an instinctual flick of her tail toward the sandwich and nothing more.
“Hah! Got you, you sneaky little thing. hhrrngg! How does mayonnaise get stuck!?” she demanded of no-pony in particular. Hooves awkwardly grasping the stuck object in question, while she tried to avoid break anything in the removal process.
Lighting Dust’s wings flapping erratically, she gave one final forceful tug and- “Got ya!” she cried triumphantly. Holding the liberated mayonnaise jar proudly into the air, she (hummed a congratulatory song) could practically hear congratulatory music in the background.
Turning around Dust made her way back to the bench; leaving the fridge half open in the process.
“Time to eat!” she cheered. But her celebration was cut short as the young mare’s eyes were drawn to the counter top where her sandwich had been left. There was a beat, no noise existed in Dusts’ world as the jar fell to the floor with a crack; she stumbled forward almost tripping over her own terrified hooves before finally lunging forward and drawing herself up over the bench, wings flapping in frantic terror.
“no way…how, could this happen… no, no” the sight that befell her was amongst the most tragic things she’d ever seen, her breakfast gone; Dust could practically feel tear drops welling up in her eye’s her stomach groaned is disappointment.
Her meal was gone, not even a measly crumb remained as though it had been wiped from existence. She grasped the board and shook it as if hoping to summon her breakfast forms whatever dimensional void had consumed it.
Lightning Dust was completely oblivious to the little buzzing shadows slipping into her open fridge just as it shut it self silently, while she dropped to the floor in despair.
“Who stole my breakfaaaaast!” her voice so loud and raw with rage that ponies stopped in the streets looking confused and disturbed, flocks of birds fled the nearby trees in terror.
My current concerns with this scene is I feel I didn't inject enough character/energy into Lightning Dust and that it was maybe to expository as well as more tell than show. Some of these problems might be resolved when there is more than one character on screen. I'm still playing with designs for LDs house, I figure it's a pretty nice penthouse apartment, but my mind keeps going to marble walls and floors and I know that's crazy.
Sorry it's been so long, life has been stressful lately (much like everyone else's I imagine) uni in particular has been grueling and that's not liable to change; suffice to say it's terribly run and i'm near breaking point because it and other stuff that's leaving me struggling. Plus writing is just plain hard (though i'll only get better by trying I guess) sadly I keep finding large flaws within my own creation, which is normal, but it certainly crimps my ability to write when I keep second guessing myself about character careers and the like.
I'm sorry for complaining; I know my problems can and are fairly minor in the big scheme of things and I dislike using a blog to do that I just wanted to offer some context for the long wait time; plus i'm just sadly not that fast of a writer yet; despite my best hopes I doubt i'll ever be able to make this it's own universe the way other writers have or likely will, due to lack of skill and time constraints, but I don't intend to stop trying.
If anyone would like to offer feedback as always it would be greatly appreciated!
