Sunflower update and a sneak peak · 3:17am May 2nd, 2012
Howdy, everyone!
Well, this week has been horrifically busy so far, but at least I'm not scheduled to work this weekend. Yet.
So, I should be able to still get Sunflower Chapter 16 done by the end of Sunday, hurray!
I'm at the parts now that are the most fun for me to write. These are the scenes that I've been aching to write since I first started this story. I'm hoping you'll like it. I really do.
Sunflower still has quite a few chapters to go before it's done, but something kind of neat happened today. Even though I'm still immersed in Project: Sunflower, I already have a good idea of what my next story will be. Tentatively, I've named it Stargazer. That title is only the working title, and may or may not stick to publication.
I had a random burst of inspiration today that made me write up an introductory chapter to Stargazer, that basically helps to set the character and tone for that story, and I thought I would share it here, with you guys.
Details of this story may change. I haven't even plotted this one out, yet. I only vaguely know where it's going and what's going on, and I'm not going to stop writing Sunflower for this (so don't worry!) This was just a random burst of something-or-other out of nowhere. The story itself may change radically, and I may or may not keep the first-person view. But I liked this enough that I thought I'd share it via blog post.
Also, I'm kicking around some ideas for a follow up or maybe even a full-blown sequel to Interview With a Princess. No promises, but we'll see! (Once again, that would be AFTER Project: Sunflower is done... I'm 100% committed to finishing that before diving fully into new projects)
Anyway, here it is... the sneak peak for Stargazer:
~~~~~
It's the drums that I remember the most.
That’s surprising to me now, because at the time I was too busy avoiding being skewered by the spears of the dozens of green-skinned natives that were busily hunting me to really even register the drums. But when I sleep at night, or try to, that’s what I hear when I fall asleep. The rhythmic pounding of the drums.
I think they did that to confuse and panic their prey. I can’t tell you whether or not it worked, because I was far too busy being confused and panicked just by being chased and hunted. I hid and rested when I could, and ran frantically when I couldn’t.
If I were an earth pony, it wouldn’t have been a problem. I would have had more than enough stamina to outrun the hunters. Even better, if I had been a pegasus, I could have just flown away, resting on the clouds for the three days I needed before I could leave. Of course, if I had been an earth or pegasus pony, rather than a unicorn, I would have never gotten into this mess in the first place.
My name is Wisteria Stargazer, and this is my story.
Wisteria Stargazer, what a mouthful. Please imagine me rolling my eyes right now at my pretentious-sounding name. With a name like that, I bet you think I’m into Astronomy or something, right? Especially since I'm a unicorn filly. My name sounds more mystical than an entire fortune-teller's tent, even if that fortune teller is just Pinkie Pie wearing a silly hat. But no, that’s not the case. I'm about as normal a filly as you can get, really. Except for my special talent. Which, I admit, is pretty weird. It turns out that stargazer lilies and wisteria are both a type of flower that my mother really liked when I was born.
Call me “Wisty”. All of my friends would. If I still had friends.
My coloration kind of matches those two types of flowers. A very light lavender for my coat, and magenta fading to white for my mane and tail. I always thought it was kind of a pretty combination, which is also a little embarrassing and I'd never say to anypony, because the only ponies that go on and on about how pretty they are are usually snobs like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. So, even though I think my colors are kind of pretty, I usually kept pretty quiet about it.
I keep quiet about a lot of things, really. I never raised my hoof in Miss Cheerilee’s class, even when I knew the answer. I never put myself forward. I’d purposely do only okay on my tests and exams, because I didn’t want any special attention. Mom would get upset about that, tell me “You’re smarter than this, Wisteria!”
And she was right. But she didn’t understand. I was, literally, the last pony in my class to get my cutie mark. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders beat me to it, and everypony thought they would be always be blank flanks. The last thing I needed was to get more attention, especially as some sort of egghead.
I was always kind of shy, but I didn’t use to be this bad. Speaking of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, those two are a big part of why I’m like this now. It started after Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark, but before Applebloom and Scootaloo got theirs, maybe two weeks after mom and I moved to Ponyville. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon suddenly decided to be friends with me. They’d ask me how I was doing, they would even say how interested they were in what I had to say. Having just moved with my mom from Fillydelphia, I thought it was great that I made two such nice friends right away! They even called me their “B.F.F”.
And it wasn’t until weeks later, after Applebloom and Scootaloo both found their special talents, that I found out that when they called me “B.F.F”, they really meant “Blank Flank Forever.”
I was devastated. Not only had my “best friends” betrayed me, but they’d secretly made fun of me all that time, behind my back. Even before that happened, I was always really quiet and had trouble making friends. And, because nopony else in class liked those two, because I was their “friend”, nopony else in the class wanted to have much to do with me. I didn’t have the social skills to convince anypony that I was worth talking to, let alone to be friends with.
Okay. Writing that down made me pretty sad. Oh, that’s what I’m doing, by the way. I got this journal from Granny, and she said it would be a smart idea for me to write down about my travels.
Ha-ha. “Travels”. Good one, Granny. That makes it sound like I’m on a vacation or something. But the truth is, this all started the same day I discovered my special talent. And it’s not something I can even control. Not really, at least.
Anyway, I was feeling pretty lonely and sad. Diamond and Silver didn't stop calling me their B.F.F. even after they told me what it really meant. And all the other colts and fillies in class didn't realize they were secretly being mean. I suppose I don't really blame them for not wanting to know me. I probably wouldn't have wanted to, either, in their place. Who wants to be friends with somepony who's friends with those two?
I would have been okay, though. I had my mom, and she was always the nicest mom you can imagine, and she was the only reason I was able to stick with school like I did. But she was on the roof, trying to fix our thatching because my bedroom was leaking and
I'm sorry. I had to walk away for a while. I'm alone for now. That's really all it means, when you get down to it.
That's kind of how it started. It was the weekend. My mom was in the hospital, in a coma, and Miss Mayor had said she was going to help find me a place to live. I should have been grateful, but all I could think of was how I couldn't even imagine staying with strangers. And how was I going to manage at school? Mom is the only reason I stayed sane as long as I did. I had a hard time even thinking of going back to school. Being alone is bad, being alone with a bunch of other ponies around is somehow so much worse.
And then the Mayor told me that she'd found someone who would help look after me. It was Filthy Rich. That's right, Diamond Tiara's dad offered to take me in.
I tried to run away. I'd rather live in the Everfree like Zecora than stay in the same house with her. But they caught me, brought me back.
I remember I was in my room, with one of the Mayor's aides outside to keep an eye on me, in case I tried to run away again. She told me to pack a few essentials, things that I would need. I had my saddlebags on, and I was just going through the motions, not really even paying attention to what went into them. I went through them a day or two later, and it's obvious I had no idea what I was doing.
It was while I was packing my blanket from the bed that a drop of water fell on my head. It was raining outside, you see. The pegasi had scheduled rain for that afternoon. And a drop of rain came through the leaky thatch that my mom had been trying to fix. And I completely lost it.
All I remember thinking was wishing that I were somewhere else, that I could go somewhere nopony knew me. And I didn't notice that my horn was glowing. Why should I have? I wasn't casting any spells, at least not on purpose. But then it got so bright, I couldn't ignore it anymore. And then it flared, and I thought I was blind.
I wasn't, really. Spots of color danced in front of my eyes for a little while, but otherwise all I could see was blackness. Because it was, somehow, suddenly night time. And, as my vision returned, I saw that I was sitting in a field, somewhere.
I knew I wasn't in Ponyville anymore. What I didn't know was how far away I really was.
~~~~~
And that's it! That's all I'm writing for now. I'm going to let this story stew for a while, whilst writing the rest of Sunflower out. Hopefully there's some interest in having me continue that story, because I think it will be a fun one.
That's all for now!
~Hoopy
I read that preview...
and now all I want is more... twitch.
It sounds interesting.
pretty cool, the opening with the drums kinda reminded me of Heart of Darkness
Wow, that looks like it's gonna be a dark one. Not death-gore-horror dark, but definitely on the heavier side of adventure stories. So her special talent is (severely) misplacing herself? That can only end in excitement.
And I'd be all over a followup to Interview. I hope you get some good inspirations for that too!
interesting...
interesting indeed
I will read this when it comes out...
I NEED SUNFLOWER
then i will read this new one when it comes out
96130
No need to worry. Sunflower is still my top priority, and will remain so until competed
I'm having way too much fun at the moment with Sunflower to stop for long. This was more of a burst of ideas that I had that kind of gelled for my next story, and I wanted to get it down before I lost it.