The Process of Beating Undead Ponies Two: Electric Boogaloo · 4:27am Mar 21st, 2015
So after promising another QandA post for my story some time ago, and after many new questions rise in that time, I think its only fair to do this once again.
You admitted in an author's note rhymes don't come naturally to you, and yet not only is Zecora part of the secondary cast, but she is in charge of the Ponyville survivors when the Mane Six aren't around. Why is this?
She seemed like a natural fit. Mysterious figure with vaguely defined magical abilities herself who dwells in the Everfree Forest? Sounds like the right kind of character for a setting like this. That said....getting her dialogue right wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and I willingly admit it.
Why use Cherry Jubilee as the first arc villain?
She seemed like the unexpected choice, but also the one that made the most sense for the Appleloosa/Dodge Junction chapters. Her cherries are most likely the biggest source of income for Dodge Junction so it only make sense she be in charge of the Dodge Junction survivors. As for her status as a villain its a little more complicated. See, I came to the conclusion that if Rarity and Pinkie were left behind by the rest of the Mane Six as the final gag of the episode The Last Roundup, its fairly likely Applejack also left without letting Jubilee know about it. And because a zombie outbreak is bound to cause emotional pain to anyone, I decided Jubiliee would over react, putting her into conflict with the Mane Six and anyone else who could potentially leave her alone again. And as for her becoming obsessed with Applejack which would drive her to becoming not just a murderer but a rapist as well......
People have written clop fics about Jubilee based on that line alone. That and the real life brothel in Nevada, the Cherry Patch Ranch may have had something to do with it.
It's not exactly a moment I'm proud of. Whenever something like rape shows up in a story, it must be taken seriously, and I'd like to think I avoided the pit falls of including such a serious topic. If not, then I apologize.
If you said that your plans involve using only canon characters, then what was up with Braeburn's lover mentioned in the Appleloosa/Dodge Junction arc, the Neighsayer's original leader, and Rainbow Dad?
Simply put, I kept my promise. This is Long Play, Vinyl Scratch's older brother. 
The red head on the right. Duh.
As for the Neighsayer's original leader, well you have a good point, but I decided to cut some corners and just not give his name. At best you could say he was a generic pony with a slightly bigger role. (Though obviously not as big as ones given to background ponies by the fans ironically enough.) The Neighsayer's themselves being a call back to The Walking Dead's prison arc, though I decided to go in a much different direction. 
And as for Rainbow Dad, well again we have seen him in the show, albeit briefly in a flashback. 
And speaking of this character....
What was the inspiration for Rainbow Dad's characterization, and why?
This may surprise you, since I don't go around giving info about myself, but I like to subvert things. If you have the time, you might want to check out the story. You may find it familiar. The whole idea was to subvert the introverted characterization of Rainbow Dash's father, and making him more of a swinger. Or mare's stallion as Dash calls him my story. And of course him becoming Twilight's concubine seemed like the right way to go about doing it. After all, if this is typical of Rainbow Dad, then Dash would simply be used to him doing this. Which does lead me back to the first question with Jubilee and what she did to Applejack. The thing is, when characters do....what she did.....they don't exactly regret their actions. It's usually a sign that they have gone past the point of redemption. This I saw as a chance to do something different. The fact she hung herself in grief over what she did was hopefully a step in the right direction. But back to Rainbow Dad, I don't intend to spoil anything, but the nature of his and Twilight's friends-with-benefits relationship be addressed more fully in a later chapter.
Why are zombie ponies eating the living? If reduced to base thought, surely they would be eating plants and grass instead?
A very good question. Lordofmyth, the reader who made this statement, deserves a pat on the back for noticing. I don't think this issue has ever been addressed in any work of zombie fiction. Cause lets face it, humans don't naturally eat other humans, so the logistics of being reduced to base nature in other zombie works are a little off. But that's the scary thing about zombies, they used to be us, they used to be normal. Not so much after reanimation. You could say this is a hold over from other zombie fiction, and hey, ponies aren't the only things that become zombies in this story. Which leads me to....
How is Spike in any danger? Surely a zombie can't bite through his scaly hide?
Given there was a zombie dragon in an early chapter, its fair to say zombie ponies can bite through dragon hide (Or zombie manticores, hydra's, chimera's, etc). As far as I am concerned, a full grown dragon may be able to take on a horde of zombies on their own, but all it takes is for one to get close enough to take a single bite, and then the infection runs it's course. A related querry was the possiblity Spike is imune to zombie infection, using Murphy from Z Nation as a comparison. That's a good guess, but it was actually a bit of a misunderstanding of what happened. See Spike was the one who discovered being covered in zombie blood will allow someone to go undetected by a zombie. This is of course a hold over from The Walking Dead which in turn is partially inspired by the "walk like a zombie" idea from the likes of Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland though played seriously instead of for laughs. 
After all, this image is awesome, who would want to invalidate it by making Spike immune? The tension would disappear entirely.
Background ponies like Lyra and Minuette have "whose best pony" discussions?
Why not? They stand around in the background and watch the Mane Six's adventures, just like us fans. I like to think they have more in common with us than we think, thanks to many of their personalities being thought up by the fans.
Where did the idea of Rarity being responsible for the death of Applejack's parents come from?
This one has been a long time coming, being foreshadowed way back in the fifth chapter. Well we all know Applejack and Rarity have an...interesting love/hate relationship, and probably the one that's gone through the most amount of change in the show itself. They are also the one's who we definitely know were born and raised in Ponyville, unlike the rest of the Mane Six who moved into town at a later date. So it only seems fair they had a passing familiarity with each other as fillies. The idea of Rarity being partially responsible however, was inspired largely by this.
Tugs at your heart strings don't it? Well when it came time for Rarity's recalling of events in the story, I noticed a lot of you were either unsatisfied or confused. That's understandable. The circumstances were changed from my original plans. Originally, Rarity was going to go to Sweet Apple Acres in the early hours of the morning and try to make peace before any more trouble could be had. She would have looked in the barn, and while searching, accidentally knocked over a lantern onto the very flammable clothing she had woven for the Apple Family. Once the fire started, she would panic and flee to the upper levels, not thinking clearly. Applejack's parents would then come to the rescue, and manage to get Rarity free, but then the burning roof would collapse, trapping them inside and burning to death. I was set to go with this idea, trapping the parasprite horde in the barn and then setting it on fire to bring back the bad memories....but then I ran into a continuity issue. The Apple Family barn has been destroyed so many times in the show it's practically a running gag. Multiple parties have been held in that barn, the Apple Family shared a bonding moment and song while rebuilding it. So seeing the barn on fire would not bring back emotional scars for Applejack, nor bring up feelings of guilt in Rarity. I understand if you didn't care for the current version. I might go back and do some revisions, or expand upon it in a later chapter, maybe explain exactly why Applejack's parents couldn't get out of the burning schoolhouse, though at the time, I felt keeping it ambiguous would be interesting, since Rarity could be entirely right to blame herself, or perhaps it really was just out of her control.
"Zombies are attracted to love? How will that play out?
I can't tell you that, it would spoil later events. Duh.
When's the next History of Power Rangers chapter coming out?
A good question. The original once a week plan hasn't exactly been fulfilled. I do try to get it out more often though rushing a chapter just results in sloppiness. Lets just say I intend to release the next chapter as soon as possible.
Well that's all I have for this QandA post but keep asking those questions and I'll be sure to answer them. In the mean time though, I have a few questions for you. Are their any chapters you feel I should combine together? Do you think I should start including references to the events of season five once it airs? Am I going to far or perhaps not far enough in some areas? Are you looking forward to the upcoming Coastal City arc alluded to in the most recent chapter? Until next time, keep your weapon handy, and aim for the head. If there's one thing the undead like more than eating your face, its getting shot in theirs.
So far I have enjoyed the story, except the 'Rarity responsible for the deaths' bit. She killed them with highly flammable clothing has got to be out of left field. And it almost feels like your picking on Applejack a bit, crippled, rape, parents dead by friend. The rest has been pretty enjoyable though I did like Cherry Jubilee as a villain. In fact I kind of wish she had survived. Would have been interesting if they had need of some skill or knowledge she had and had to make a deal to get it. She was off kilter, but still pretty smart for all that.