TThe Breaking of the Storm
MLP: FiM
Romance
Adventure
Deadly threats loom ever nearer for Dawn Lightwing and those close to him.
Twilight
Rainbow Dash
Scootaloo
OC
Main 6
moguera · 239k words · 821 20 · 9.6k views

A Long Overdue Update · 5:57am Jul 5th, 2015

Once again, real life, along with my own ridiculous lack of anything resembling a work ethic has kept me from bringing you updates on things long after I probably should have updated you guys about them. Sorry about that. I'm still trying to balance two jobs and sometimes end up working anywhere from eight to twelve days in a row. Thankfully, one of those jobs usually only runs for about four hours a day, so I'm not completely wiped. But four hours of scooping ice cream feels more draining than it probably should (I also can't quite look at ice cream in the same way anymore, but that's to be expected). Onwards!

For those of you who have been reading my works or rereading them for the umpteenth time whilst you wait for me to finish the next story in the Savage Skies series may have noticed that the cover image for the second story in the series The Promise of a New Day, may have noticed a recent change to the relatively generic cover-art. Talented artist, lonewolf342 has truck again with this brilliant piece, featuring none other than badasses Red River and Storm Front. Behold it in all its glorious magnificence!

It really is a thing of beauty and I'm incredibly grateful to lonewolf for creating this for me. Thanks a bunch. Check out the profile on DeviantArt. This person's a pretty talented artist.

Now...onto the next topic, namely my progress on the next story in the series. It's getting long...really long...at least compared to my other entries. It's no Forgiveness Pending or Piercing the Heavens (by the way, both of these are great stories and later parts of great series and are the perfect suggestion if you'd like to binge on something while you're still waiting for me), but it's starting to get to what I consider to be monster-length, probably due to me trying to resolve two separate arcs in the same story. At present, it stands at around 167,000 words in length and I'm still quite a ways from the ending. Still, I'm quite happy with what I've got so far. It's got intrigue. It's got action. It's got several ponies kicking ass and taking names. It has Pinkie Pie dancing on the ceiling for no particular reason except to set up a gag/shoutout that will hopefully bust some guts when people read it. Several ponies get the chance to show their awesomeness credentials, so I hope everyone likes the final product when it comes out...eventually.

To help show that eventually is indeed coming, I decided to extract a little sample from this big story and show it to you folks as a sign that progress is being made and to hopefully whet some appetites for when the whole thing comes out. Enjoy...

"...Sure! I can do that. No problem." Pinkie Pie grinned widely as she bounced in place, her teeth gleaming.
"Thanks," said Scootaloo with a relieved smile, glad that she had thought to do this beforehoof, rather than try to do it on Hearts and Hooves Day itself.
"I'll just add you two to the list," said Pinkie, turning to Mayweather, who was watching from behind Sugarcube Corner's counter, "Put us down for one Picnic Lunch-DS."
Mayweather raised an eyebrow. "DS?"
"Dawn Special!"
"You have a special lunch just for Dawn?" asked Scootaloo.
"Of course I do!" exclaimed Pinkie, holding a hoof out imperiously, "What kind of party planner would I be if I didn't take a pony's tastes into account when I plan for them?" She moved a few steps to the right so that she stood an empty part of the floor. "Pull the lever, Mayweather!"
Looking to the wall behind her, Mayweather reached out for one of the two levers mounted there. Scootaloo watched, tilting her head in confusion. Wait! Were those always there?
Mayweather pulled one of the levers down. With a click, a trapdoor opened between Pinkie's hooves. Looking down, she had just enough time for her eyes to go wide and a gasp to escape her throat before she plunged through the opening. "WRONG LEVEEEEEEEEEEER!" Her words terminated with a loud splash sounding out from somewhere down below. The doors swung shut.
Scootaloo looked over at Mayweather, who was staring at the floor, aghast. Neither of them said a word.
A few seconds later, the front door slammed open and a dripping wet Pinkie Pie came stomping in, her mane and tail now soaked down so that they hung straight, her toothless pet alligator, Gummy, clamped onto one of her haunches.
"Why do we even have that lever?" she groused, shaking vigorously, the motion dislodging Gummy, who went tumbling through the air, only to land on the counter with all four feet, his naturally vacant gaze staring across the room as though absolutely nothing of interest had occurred.
Now that she was finished shaking, Pinkie's mane and tail had returned to their natural state and she stomped over to the exact same spot on the floor as before, before nodding at Mayweather with a serious expression.
With a sigh, Mayweather reached over and pulled the second lever. This time, rather than dropping out from under Pinkie, the trapdoor instead tilted down part way so that the party pony slid down off of it with a jubilant squeal that echoed through the shop until the floor returned to its original position.
Scootaloo blinked and looked at Mayweather. "What's down there?"
"Beats me," said Mayweather with a shrug, "I haven't been down there yet."
They stood there for a few minutes, watching the floor and waiting for something to happen. Then the trap door dropped down to a slanted position again and Pinkie Pie came sliding right back up. "Got it!" she said, proudly displaying a rolled up scroll.
"What's that?" asked Scootaloo.
Pinkie tossed the scroll to Scootaloo, who caught it and began to unroll it. Her eyes widened as she perused the scroll's contents. "Hey! These are party plans for Dawn! You've come up with all of this?"
"Yep," said Pinkie, "Everything from his favorite food to the colors he likes best and even what music he prefers and what arrangements I can do depending on the kind of party."
"Cool!" said Scootaloo, scanning the scroll, "Wow! You're already planning out his birthday party...and his cutecenera..." Her eyes continued to scan down. "...and his wedding reception..." Her cheeks went bright red. "...his first anniversary..." The color spread to the rest of her face. "...his firstborn FOAL?"
"Whoops!" yelped Pinkie, swiping the scroll away from Scootaloo, "I let you read a little too far ahead. Spoilers."
Steam began to come out of the fillly's ears as she glared at Pinkie Pie, her face practically glowing red.
"So...um...anyway, I'll make sure to have your lunch ready on the big day," said Pinkie, quickly diving over the counter and rushing back into the kitchen, "See ya later!"
"Wait!" Scootaloo froze when she realized that Pinkie was already gone. In her mind, she remembered what Rainbow Dash always used to say about Pinkie. Pinkie Pie, you are so random. Strangely, it seemed almost the opposite in this case...and it creeped Scootaloo out a little. "You know what, I'm just gonna forget about it. Yep, bleach it from my brain, never talk about it again."
"That sounds wise," said Mayweather, nodding sagely.
"I don't know how you put up with her," said Scootaloo, giving the former cultist a wry smile, which Mayweather returned.
"She makes life interesting, I'll say that," said the mare with a giggle, "With her around, I don't think I'll ever fail to see the bright side of things."
"Do you two have any plans?" asked Scootaloo. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure that Mayweather and Pinkie Pie were actually an item, for all that they had been spending so much time together.
A faint tinge of pink on Mayweather's cheeks appeared to confirm Scootaloo's suspicions. "Not this year," she said, "Since she thinks the two of us can handle it, we're giving the Cakes the day off so that they can have it to themselves." Normally, Mr. and Mrs. Cake spent the day running the shop, which was always especially popular on Hearts and Hooves Day. On top of that, a lot of ponies had the same idea that Scootaloo did, wanting to order picnic lunches or baskets of treats to share with their special someponies ahead of time. Normally, the couple were loaded down with work until well after the holiday was over. When asked about it, they often said that they had had their fun and were giving the younger ponies a chance to enjoy the day.
"Are you going to look after thee twins too?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yep," said Mayweather, "I don't understand how Pinkie and I can handle it, but the Cakes seem to believe we can do it and I'd be happy to give them the chance to take the day off for once." When Mayweather had opted to stay in Ponyville after her former fellows from the Cult Solar had returned to Appleloosa, the Cakes had treated her like family, always welcoming her into the shop with open arms, even hiring her on, even though they didn't actually need an extra hoof.
"Good luck with that," said Scootaloo, glad that she wasn't looking after the double bundle of infant terror. Her mother had regaled her with stories of what she had been like at that age and Scootaloo couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to deal with two infant foals at the same time, much less one who was a unicorn on top of one who was a pegasus. Thankfully, according to the Cakes, the twins were nearing the end of their spurt where their respective magics were flaring.
"I guess I'll see you then," said Scootaloo, heading for the door.
"Yeah," said Mayweather, "We'll have your lunch ready to pick up at eleven. Remember that those dumplings won't retain their heat for too long, so you'll want to get to eating them fairly quickly."
"'Kay, thanks," said Scootaloo over her shoulder as she went out the door. Now that that was out of the way, it was time for her to head over to Bon Bon's shop. She had another order to place with the candy maker.

This is actually from one of the more recent sections of my story, which I wrote only a couple of days ago. I've been leery about samples from other parts, because they tend to tie in a little too heavily with the rest of the story and what's going on there. Naturally, there are plenty of Warm and Fuzzy moments coming, so look forward to that. Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Report moguera · 850 views · Story: The Breaking of the Storm ·

Comments ( 15 )