A Few Thoughts on Rainbow Dash and her Many Deaths · 3:23am Jan 3rd, 2014
There's some gory stuff in videos below (including the preview image for one). Just a heads up.
Fun fact: this story was supposed to be a little lark initially. As in, I'd do an update a week, top it off in about 30,000 words, and have it done in two months.
So, consider how things turned out another confirmation that I'm incapable of writing short. And also that graduating college and working two jobs takes up a remarkable out of free time over the course of a year.
Anywho, onto my little post-story thing for The Many Deaths of Rainbow Dash. First, let's all give a big show of thanks to Caden. He's been my editor on this thing since the beginning, and he is essentially the reason that the story is even half as readable as it actually is (no, he didn't edit this blog post, why do you ask?).
And further, a general thank you to all of you for digging this story so much. I never would've guessed that my little idea about killing Rainbow Dash over and over would've proved so popular, and yet here we are.
My original plan for the story was something much more low-key, albeit just as absurd. I had noticed how often Dash appeared to be a target for doom and destruction and all things bloody when it comes to darker fics, and decided to try out doing something about exactly that. Something along the lines of Dash suddenly encountering a number of deadly situations, and somehow managing to survive/die/something-in-between. It wasn't long into the planning, though, that I realized that it would be a story that would start to get real meta real fast. Seeing as my previous story already covered the meta angle (in general, kinda-sorta), I figured that that would just end up pigeonholing me. So I changed things up to a general narrative, the results of which I'm actually pretty pleased with.
To address the big complaint I've seen: yes, Twilight should've stopped putzing about and contacted the Princess way earlier. I tried to justify what she was doing as best I could while still staying in-character (that's the number one goal I have in all my stories: keep everypony in-character), but I believe my results were only marginally acceptable. My excuse is a bit of a cop-out, too: had she done that, the story would've been a whole lot less interesting. This story's ultimate focus was on Dash, well, dying. It's right there in the title. Everything else was background to me, so even as I was slowly nudging the plot along, I wanted to keep Dash's predicament in the foreground. This is also why the curses that befell the other ponies didn't get nearly as much attention (what I said in the comments is true: that whole subplot was pretty much just an excuse for Pinkie to make the "I wonder where the fish has gone" gag"). Had I planned things out better at the beginning, I probably could've made things stronger, but things can get tricky to plan for when a story just balloons out of control.
Luckily it was still a lot of run to write as it is. So, again, I'm okay with it all.
Also, people seemed to be looking towards the Final Destination movie series as a primary source of inspiration here (along with that Captain fellow from Dr. Who, a character I was totally unfamiliar with until you all started bringing him up). That would be a good guess, but believe it or not, those movies never really came to mind as I was writing (I was never much of a fan). I was just trying to get creative with the various ways I killed Dash. And in that regard, getting ridiculous or having an overly-intricate setup works well for keeping things fun. If anything, my inspiration was stuff like this:
Plenty of blood and plenty of laughs. Just the way I like it for this sort of thing.
And... that about covers it, I think. If anyone's got a question, feel free to ask. If you spotted anything you think I could improve upon in later writings, please don't keep it to yourself. I am all about the criticism, the more the better. I know I'm still a mid-level writer (a tremendously lazy one at that), so there's always room for improvement. As to what comes next, I really couldn't say at the moment. I'm toying with a few ideas, but nothing really strong has jumped out yet. Maybe I'll actually get to my Read Later folder and actually check out some other fan fic for once (which is something I never seem to ever do, for whatever reason. Likely the insane jealousy I get when seeing how good all the other writers are without even trying. Who can say :P).
To close, thanks again for reading everyone! Definitely boosts my spirits (and weirds me out a bit) to see something I've written become so popular. Hopefully it happens again sometime.
I've praised the story enough times in the comments. Suffice to say, it was a blast from start to finish. And, don't feel bad about your rate of writing. I'm right there with ya, brother.
Also, your taste in movies is excellent. You should check out the Hatchet series if you haven't already. Victor Crowley is a boss.
Any possibility of a sequel? I mean, I am sure you want to try something new, but perhaps later down the road? I have never come across an author like yourself that can pull off so much dark humor and still keep it interesting. I can see you parodying so many Dark fics out there with ease.
Well, whatever you have planned, can't wait to see what it is. 
Captain Jack Harness
1676655 what he said
Nice to see someone else who likes Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. I understand it got a mixed reception, but I liked how straightforward it was--you've got the people who're clearly going to die and the people who may or may not die, and the reason the former are doomed isn't just out-of-universe tropes and cliches, it's their in-universe stupidity.
Thanks very much for that glowing shout out, although I think you give me too much credit. I was little more than a sounding board who was anal about grammar and pacing. XD
I enjoyed the process though, and I am happy to see this story receive so much success. It is well deserved.
Please keep writing. Your stories are the reason I discovered "The Thing" for the first time. That alone has made it worthwhile. I've always had a soft spot for dark/horror combined with comedy, as well as for the somewhat laid back hipster tone that your writing tends to display. So I'd love to see more. :)
1676654
The Jeffrey Dhamer line is probably about as good a compliment as this story can receive, and I am thankful for it (and the rest of your flattering praise). Also, I have seen Hatchet, although not the two sequels (working on them!). It was delightfully amusing and gory, which is exactly what I was after.
1676655
I'm not much of a sequel person I'm afraid (or at least not direct sequels), and I honestly need to start reading a lot more darfics (or fics in general) before I start parodying any. I think I'm going to make an effort for my next fic to not be all that dark, or at least not loaded to the gills with blood and violence. Time to take a step outside my wheelhouse, ya know?
1676914
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a delightful film that was one of my favorites of that year. I recommend it whenever I get the chance.
1683349
"laid back hipster tone"... I'm not even sure what that means, but I'll take the compliment all the same. And I do hope to write something else! If nothing else, I never get sick of the ego boost when people respond favorably. It's just a matter of picking something worthwhile to stick with (my track record is actually quite poor when one factors in all the first chapter drafts for stories that never worked out).
1683533 Understandable, looking forward to whatever ya do.
1683533
*LE OBVIOUSLY FAKE COUGH
Sorry. Kinda dusty in here...
If you find yourself incapable of writing short fics, start your next fic with a one sentence prompt. Every one of my one-shots started as just that. here are a few examples:
Twilight and Pinkie Pie face a fight in their committed relationship. (truly irreplaceable)
Rainbow Dash needs to use the bathroom but can't for various and sundry reasons. (Diarrhea Dash!)
Twilight, while trying to recover from a loss in her life is about to lose the one she loves due to her inattention. (All for a Smile.)
Those are just a few examples. The genre you choose will also affect how long the story is. If you really want to try a short story, try choosing a simple prompt.
Also, I really wanted to say that your story is genius. The repeated, horribly graphic description of RD's deaths eventually do to the reader what her deaths do to her friends. Desensitization. Thanks for making, IMHO, the definitive dark comedy of the pony community.