Very Important News · 8:42am Aug 15th, 2012
EDIT: For everypony who didn't know, my old username was Prince Superfire.
In the interests of keeping the readers... interested, the following announcement will be made in the form of a story.
The darkened throne room was completely silent. It was empty, too, save for one weary alicorn stallion seated on the plush cushion that served as a throne.
Prince Superfire looked every day of his ten thousand years. His chin was drooped, his back was bent, and the look of resignation of his face signalled the approach of something potentially earth-shattering.
A call from one of the guards outside his throne room door snapped him out of his stupor. "Your highness, your messenger is here as you requested."
Superfire straightened his back as much as he could, and adopted the regal posture that was his appearance to the public. "Send him in."
The massive, jewel-encrusted doors swung open, and a straight-haired pink earth pony stepped through the door, coming to a stop before the prince.
"Pinkamena." Superfire smiled. "It seems that you were able to get here in time, despite your... troubling business in Repercussions."
"Eternal Prince," Pinkamena began.
Superfire snorted. "Eternal? That's a laugh."
"It is my duty to serve you, regardless of all my other issues."
"Much appreciated." Superfire nodded, trying to dismiss his spur-of-the-moment interruption. "I have some news for you to deliver to all of my faithful readers."
"What is it, your majesty?" Pinkamena asked.
"For the next few weeks, all of my incomplete stories- Repercussions, Vengeance of Equestria, and Shades of Grey- will be put on hiatus due to the approaching examinations."
"If I may ask, your majesty, why are there links to three of your stories in the previous paragraph?" Pinkamena asked.
"Shameless advertising." Superfire answered curtly.
"Isn't that a bit... well... shameless?"
"Nothing is out of the question if it increases the author's viewers."
"If you say so... but why do you refer to the author as the third pony? Aren't you the author?"
"No." Superfire shook his head. "I am merely the author's representative. The true author is currently sitting behind a laptop in some small city-state in Southeast Asia, trying to study for his exams but utterly failing."
"I, uh, see." Pinkamena did an awfully good job of hiding her surprise behind a mask of obedience.
"Which brings me to my second point." Superfire sighed, and returned to his sagging position. "The author has given me my last order."
Pinkamena's head shot up. "Last order? Your majesty, are you going to die?"
Superfire shook his head. "No. You see, after almost nine months, the author has decided to replace me as his representative within the next twenty-four hours. He is going to send his new representative here, and he, or she, or possibly it, is going to take my place."
"But... but why?" Pinkamena asked.
"Because he feels that I have been pampered too much. An alicorn, who's had princedom handed to him on a silver plate? Too... Mary Sue-ish for his taste." Superfire closed his eyes wearily. "And so, he's going to replace the representative he himself created, with another more astute and cunning one. One who will work for the position of the author's representative."
"A usurper."
"What is going to happen to you, your majesty?" Pinkamena had an expression of worry on her face.
"I have been promised a safe, happy existence in one of his stories, provided I don't tell anypony about who I used to be." Superfire chuckled, thinking behind closed eyelids. "He'll take either my wings or my horn, of course. Can't be too careful. I know just how all of his stories are going to turn out. I am not allowed to leak that news to the public, especially since he cannot control me when he does not involve me directly in his stories."
"Wait, he's going to take your wings or your horn?" Pinkamena asked. "Isn't that... cruel?"
"The author isn't evil." Superfire responded instinctively.
"Yes." A strange new voice that sounded vaguely like Pinkamena's echoed around the throne room. "He's only practical."
The prince's eyes snapped open. Only an empty throne room met his eyes.
"Oh no." He whispered.
Superfire was halfway through standing up when a blade at his neck pushed him back onto the cushion. He gasped. "Pinkamena... you're the..."
"Your messenger is still in the world of Repercussions, carrying out the ambush on the resistance." The voice responded from behind Superfire. "I intercepted your message to her, and prepared as necessary... as per my orders."
The prince finally recognised the magical signatures of a voice disguising spell, and he knew that an illusion spell probably wasn't beyond the pony or creature behind that voice. "Then... the author..."
"Sent me, yes." The voice confirmed. "He isn't cruel. He is merely practical. But let it be known that he is also merciful."
"Why?" Superfire asked.
"I know that you love your messenger Pinkamena like a daughter. The pony everypony knows as the corrupted Pinkie."
"She isn't." Superfire whispered. "She isn't evil, either. Not like Cupcakes Pinkie. She's just..."
His eyes widened. "Practical."
The voice gave what Superfire assumed was a sound of affirmation. "The author sees too much of himself in his version of Pinkamena. He has decided not to break her heart... and neither will he break yours."
"That is the concession he has given." The voice continued. "You haven't been betrayed. If you were his opponent, he would want to hurt you as much as he could before you died. But you are not his enemy."
"He ordered me to make your death as swift and painless as possible. He wanted me to make your last moments as comfortable as I can. He sent me here at the earliest opportunity, to keep you from worrying too long before your death. And lastly, he specifically let me know that I had to tell you my true identity, to confirm that you haven't been betrayed."
Superfire felt a warmth beside his ear, and the name the voice whispered would forever be imprinted within his mind, even after death.
"You're... you're..." He stammered.
"Now," The voice returned to his/her/its original volume, "let me conclude this final meeting, Superfire. The author is not all-powerful, as you may think. He is just as emotionally weak as the rest of us. He has a personality, as well."
"He is cunning. He is ruthless. He is calculative. And he is practical."
"But most of all..." The blade cut neatly into Superfire's neck, and his vision disappeared almost instantly, along with all his other senses, except hearing, which was no doubt the work of the usurper. Through the haze of imminent death, the prince heard the last words the voice had to speak.
"Most of all, he is merciful."
His head hit the floor, and for the rest of eternity, Superfire slept soundly, never to wake again.
Okay, I wrote that short snippet because I was kind of bored, and as Prince Superfire said, my studying isn't coming along so well. I would have tried to write some of the other chapters for my other stories, but I'm currently in the midst of getting past a major writer's block which seems to be exclusive to those incomplete stories. Probably exam stress.
We interrupt this author's note to bring you more shameless advertising!
Shades of Grey - In which the line between good and evil is blurred, and new threats to- or defenders of- Equestria's safety and livelihood emerge from their imprisonment.
Repercussions - In which small choices are made that determine the very course of the future.
Vengeance of Equestria - In which one pony's true destiny is discovered.
Fluttershy's Tail Extension - Really, the title says it all.
Eternity and a Day - When life itself has become extinct.
We now return to the notes!
Uhh... right...
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story (though since I wrote this in about two hours, it probably isn't that good), and just in case you haven't gotten it yet, here are the announcements in a nutshell.
1) All of my unfinished stories have been put on hiatus. This might last for a few weeks.
2) I'm changing my name within the next 24 hours. If you read the story you should know why. Being a prince sounds too... stuck-up.
I was actually going to put out a normal announcement, but since I'm going to do something as momentous as changing my name, I decided that I might as well make it into a (short) story. By the way, you can begin to guess who the usurper is. He/she/it is a character from one of my stories... though I'm not telling you which one, and it could an OC for all you know. I'm not going to give many clues until I give all of you the answer myself.
Rest assured, I will make up for the chapters I missed after the exams are over. I hope. I think...
Good luck, and may the power of magic and friendship be with you.
Well, It's a shame to assassinate an author avatar like that. But then again I've always had a thing for those types. They are so misunderstood yet very powerful. The constant state of watching other characters go though their life's not realizing that it may all be for naught but another's amusement, able to help but unable to do so due to the demands of both plot and audience. We, The audience can be a cruel bunch. Mr. Prince Superfire I wish you well in the underworld of lost characters, I hope your journey there is a safe one.
Anyway...
Good luck on your studies, Hope I'm not being too overly wordy. As an audience Member I'll still be watching of course, awaiting eagerly your return. Just don't let school studies get too much for you, cool down and cram in small increments if you have to.
Your audience here will wait, your audience there will see you now.
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Thanks for the good luck and the advice. It might prove invaluable in the weeks to come.
And don't worry about Superfire... Too much. He will have a happy ending in one of my fanfics.
In the meantime, I hear that lost character underworld has a pretty nice hotel.