Six Shallow Stallions (and related content) Story Outline. · 7:26am Feb 17th, 2014
I. The Prologue
A. The Author and the Anarchist - The opening scene.
-Previously known as "Scatterbrained"
The goal I had with this scene was to set up the premise of the story to follow and install some challenges in the Mane 6's (read: my) path. The bit at the end about Discord giving the Author "six new perspectives" is deliberately stating that in the chapters to follow the titular antagonists are literally the broken pieces of the Author's psyche given pony form.
B. Luna's Discoveries
-Exposition, Exposition...
I had originally planned that Luna would be an important character to the story, but as things progressed, I realized that I didn't have much of anything for her to do. She was a vehicle for set up, and everything in the first segment was a dream for her or a vision as she quickly deduced. The "Moonlight Eye" was an invention of mine to try to explain how she does what she does in "Sleepless in Ponyville" and the dream I mentioned she'd had that inspired her down this path occurred during the events of "A Canterlot Wedding Part 2" as she was asleep during the day. The way I'd planned it was that her fitful slumber was reality bleeding through and took place during the actual changeling invasion. Also, the only thing she recognized in the dream she just awoke from was Discord, so of course she'll head there first.
C. What's my Motivation? & Breakfast at Discord's
-My Favorite Parts
I loved writing the sight gags (read: script gags) for the whole Discord section. In fact, the whole concept of Discord's International House of Chaos was a blast to describe. My idea was that "The Stare" worked differently for Discord than it does for Fluttershy based solely on their species difference but followed the same principle: assaulting the mind of the victim in order to coerce them into submission. Discord's version just goes a step further than Fluttershy's as he takes on the features of whatever his victim fears most. Now including him here, this early in the story had the potential to be confusing, but I feel I can now reveal what I had in mind for his involvement in this fic. I was intending to write the existence of both a "Good Guy Discord" and a "Scumbag Discord". More on that later, though.
Right now, it's late. I'll continue at a later date.
