Off the Road · 12:04am Oct 31st, 2015
My latest story "Off the Road" will be me last grim dark story for a while. I've been wanting to try other genres and have a list of concepts all lined up for publication. Now I just have to write them. Fun, huh?
It's definitely the longest one-shot I've written for some time. As a "shotgun" driver for most of my life (I don't like driving) my mind was free to wander the roads of the imagination. We used to pass many a town on our long road trips and from time to time I wondered what it would be like to have to stop in one of those towns if we had no other choice. That was the beginning of the concept for Off the Road. I'm also not a fan of human stories and figured enough ponies got minced this Nightmare Night. It's time for those blasted simians to get "cupcaked!"
I purposely left the description of the characters to imagination of the reader, giving only vague and ambiguous cues such as Tom's superior height Emily's short hair. Stories are scarier when you can put your own face to the victims. Arguably the most challenging part was coming up with ghastly personas for the Mane 6. I used a combination of old ideas, such as Pinakema's diabolical laughter and RD's shadow bolt getup, to more original concepts like a FlutterBeast. Warping the ponies was fun and it was especially entertaining thinking of ways they'd decimate the human travelers.
Even if it doesn't scare the living cupcakes out of you, I hope you find it as entertaining as it was to write.
Happy Nightmare Night, everypony!
I see what you did here.
3508482 It's something only a brony would understand. Say that outside the fandom and see what looks you get.
3508504
People will look at you like you're crazy. I know that, I've almost went that way before.
3508519 Discord would say "what fun is there in making sense?" A little insanity goes a long way into creating good writing. Most great authors were criticized in their time, only to be emulated long after. I'm no great writer by any means, but it's a craft I adore, and I especially enjoy being around those do it well. Been writing fanficiton for almost ten years. Most are mediocre to crap, but those gems you find, those give you hope that there's something to this, you know?