My Unsubmitted Incomplete Stories · 9:35pm Apr 3rd, 2016
Introduction
I have 18 stories none of you have seen, unless I PM'd parts of them to you. For the sake of this post, by "unsubmitted story" I mean a story with at least one chapter of which enough has been actually written that, looking at it, I remember exactly where the story is going -- this is to distinguish it from mere story concepts or fragments or tentative ideas. (I have dozens upon dozens, maybe hundreds of those. In order, from oldest to most recent, and dated by YOH with 1500 being Luna's Return, namely the Friendship Is Magic Season One Opener, these are:
I. A Long Morning At Sweet Apple Acres: YOH 1500, Season One. When the Sun fails to rise on the Summer Sun Celebration, and monsters surge out of the Everfree, it is Big Mac who must lead the defense of his farm, family and visiting kin. Created 22 April 2014 with 1,940 words written.
None of this needs serious rewriting; it's all based on aspects of the SWSV that I'd already decided upon by then and which have not been at all contradicted by subsequent canon. Luna's sense of humor and overall style, the conflicted nature of Nightmare Moon, and heroic nature of Big Macintosh Apple have all if anything been reinforced by "Do Princesses Dream of Electric Sheep," "Brotherhooves Social" and The Cutie Re-Mark to name some obviously related episodes aired after I wrote this.
I do want to complete this someday because it has important SWSV material about Apple Strudel, Granny Smith Apple, Apple Fritter and a number of other Apples. Plus, awesome heroic Big Mac is awesome heroic! I am a fan of the big red stallion, as you may have noticed from other material, and I think that he deserves more chances to shine.
II. Diamond Bell: YOH 1496 - 1500, up to just before the start of the Season One Opener. Alternate Universe. Instead of suffering a miscarriage, 14-year-old Rarity Belle manages to bear the bastard son of Rush Rocks, and she does her best to raise him while starting her business, with the help of her best friend Fluttershy. 2,037 words written, 8 July 2014.
Not a priority, though I sometimes think about this alternate world. It's kind of a SWSV canon dependent alternate in that Rush Rocks and Rarity's seduction and abandonment by him in her young-adolescent years is entirely my creation. In the main SWSV worldline, her sense of shame and guilt for this part of her life, for very many reasons and most especially the fact that her foal died, weighs on Rarity's mind at times, and her great quest for Fabulosity is in part inspired by a desire to prove to herself that she's better than her mistakes might imply.
Spike is one of the very few people outside her family to know her secret, which is one of the marks of how deeply she loves and trusts him -- he found out when the Night Shadows used Rush Rocks as their agent to return and complete her fall into despair in my version of the events of Nightmare Rarity in 1503. That Spike did not renounce her in disgust when he discovered what had happened surprised and touched Rarity very much, as she almost renounced herself in disgust when it actually happened to her (as alluded to in A Robust Solution, Divine Jealousy and the Voice of Reason and Post-Traumatic.
III. A Cart of Air: Year of Darkness 5, or what would have been YOH 1505. Five years after Nightmare Moon's near-annihilation of Equestria. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Silver Spoon venture out of The Acres, the great subterranean shelter beneath what used to be Sweet Apple Acres which holds the survivors of the Ponyville region, in quest of ices containing oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide with which to refill their life support system. They must brave the perils of the White Walkers -- corpses animated by the Night Shadows -- but all that is routine and expected. What is unexpected is the party they encounter from another shelter -- a party on a mission which may yet end the deadly tyranny of Nightmare Moon! 1,461 words written 9 Oct 2014.
Notably, this alternate world is more pessimistic than the Nightmare Moon Triumphant timeline of The Cutie Re-Mark, because in it Nightmare Moon is crazier and does not figure out how to keep the world alive despite shrouding the Sun. It is thus in contrast to my Moonlight Nights timeline. Some may find it interesting that the leader of The Acres is Big Mac (Granny Smith having died in the stress of the catastrophes); Applejack and the rest of the Mane Six have of course been captured or killed (no one's entirely sure) by Nightmare Moon on their failed quest for the Elements of Harmony.
Most of the Equestrian population of over 80 million are dead; perhaps a few hundreds of thousands remain alive. The rest of the world, not totally occluded, is wracked by famine and plague, far too weakened to mount miilitary expeditions powerful enough to defeat a fully-unleashed Nightmare. If Luna ever regains her sanity, she's going to feel very bad about having, essentially, caused a Second Cataclysm. And of course the Shadows are pouring through ...
I may or may not write more of this someday. It's very dark, though not entirely hopeless.
IV. Fire-Eyes and the Ice Wolves: Time of Extermination, around YOC 3984 (for frame story) or 3970 (for main story), which is to say 6016 or 6030 years before Luna's Return. Or, 30 to 16 years Before The Megan. In a classroom in Dream Castle, Mare Memory relates to two little fillies, Baby Wind-Dancer and Baby Blitz Streak, the story of how their own sire Fire-Eyes saved two colts from a pack of Ice Wolves. 1,899 words, written 31 Oct 2014.
I really would like to finish this someday. It's a look into the horrible Time of Extermination, when Ponykind was almost wiped out by Tirek the Annihilator and many other monsters and warlords, one of the darkest times in the history of their species, but one in which they managed to keep alive the flame of the Harmony amongst them and remain civilized, and good, down to what they thought would be their bitter end. And it's part of the origin story of two Ponies very important to G1, and one who is still an active character in the SWSV.
V. In the Time of the Plague: YOH 829-831, which is to say 329-331 years after Luna's banishment or 671-669 years Before Luna's Return. Plague burns through the land of Equestria, spreading death, fear and madness. As both magic and medicine fail to check the spread of this dreadful disease, the very foundations of Equestrian civilization are shaken. Hostility rises between the Three Kinds, and the unity so painfully achieved by Princess Celestia seems about to shatter.
Can Celestia hold on to her sanity when all her dreams are dying? Can she hold the Realm together when she, herself, is falling apart? And can the Plague be stopped? Or will Equestria die in anguish?
1,292 words written on 31 December 2014.
A very dark story, though of course both Celestia and Equestria survive. I'd like to come back to this sometime, as in general I want to write fiction set in the past and future of Equestria. It's from Celestia's third-person POV, and it's mostly about her struggling to make the right decisions while staying sane. Many of her friends die in the Plague, and she's very lonely at this point in her life, and it's not easy to be the Ruling Princess at a time like this. The more so because she knows herself immune.
VI. A Light in Dark Places: Year of Discord 153, or 2547 years Before Luna's Return. Most of the world has submitted to Discord's capricious domination, but the Crystal Empire holds out beneath the Aegis of the Crystal Heart, which is painful to the Chaos God to penetrate But the effect is weak at the edges of the field, and the vital port city of Morganopolis is vulnerable. Discord decides to bestir himself to scramble the minds of every Pony in the port.
Wind Whistler, trapped in Discord's mind, is horrified at the thought. This is greater and darker malevolence than his normal malign mischief, and if Discord continues lon this course, he may wreck what is left of Pony civilization. She wants to try to persuade him to abandon this design, but she is starting to lose hope. Paradise Estate is gone, most of her friends are dead, and she's even lost her own form. It seems as if everything for which she's struggled over three and a half millennia was pointless.
Then, a memory from two and a half millennia ago, of a very special stallion who lived in the Dark Age around the Year of Megan 1000, reminds her of why some things are worth fighting for.
684 words written, 9 Feb 2015.
I may never write this because it's a logically rather long nested story, at least novella-length, mostly from Wind Whistler's 3rd Person POV. But maybe I should, because it tells some of the story of the long struggle between Discord and the Crystal Empire, and also of what things were like thousands of years earlier, during the Dark Age between the Time of Extermination and the Age of Wonders. There is a separately-written battle scene, about 1000 words long and not yet attached to the story, of Wind Whistler, as the demon "Marediana," anniliating about a hundred armed mercenaries in pitched battle, single-handed, to avenge the death of that very special stallion. It's one of the rare things I've written about Wind Whistler in full-on terrifying berserker mode.
VII. Dawn of the Blanks: YOH 475-500 (25 to 0 years Before Luna's Banishment, 1025 to 1000 years Before Luna's Return): In the last quarter of the disastrous 5th century YOH, a group of related families from the river port of Pie Town, all bearing the genetic curse of adermosignia, are granted lands in the Everfree to found a new settlement, where they can live apart from normal Ponies. Can they find their happiness? Or are they doomed to a darker destiny?
2,001 words written, 17 Apr 2015.
You know, I'll bet "darker destiny," and you will too when I tell you that the four friends are Grey Hoof, Starshine, Three Leaf and Mitta Gift. Well, Starshine doesn't live long enough to suffer the Curse of Nightmare Moon, but she does live long enough to bear Starlet, who does.
I fully intend to finish this someday, and you may have noticed that I'm starting to realy get into my Sunney Towne and the ghosts therein.
VIII. Children of Night and Shadow: 1540's YOH, over 40 years After Luna's Return. Over a decade after the end of the Shadow Wars, and over four decades after Luna's Return, her two eldest children since that return, the fraternal twins Princess Sweetrose Nyx and her brother Prince Crimson Noctis are growing to adulthood. But what destinies do they wish to win for themselves in the new world their mothers have made? And what legacy of the distant past may return to blight their tomorrows?
2,858 words written, 9 May 2015.
My venture into Red and Black Alicorn territory (literally, in Crimson Noctis' case). Also good vs. evil sibling, as Sweetrose Nyx is mostly as nice as her name would suggest, and Crimson Noctis -- ah, let's just say that he doesn't make his mothers proud. I may or may not continue this story, which would have some nice views into the Next Generation (or two), the New Alicorns, and the ageing but still game old veterans of Luna's Loyal Band (aka the Lunatics).
IX. At The Gorge: YOH 1490, 10 years Before Luna's Return. Eight-year-old Rarity is in danger. Twelve-year-old Applejack is sure that her own parents can save her friend Rarity. They're the bravest and strongest mom and dad any filly could have!
But sometimes, even the brave and the strong can fall.
This story is directly based on part 3 of Core of the Apple by Neterrang.
4,112 words written, 14 June 2015.
This is the SWSV canon version of the death of Applejack's parents. It's more than half-finished as well. Tangelo and Melrose are very important characters in that their example influenced Applejack and Big Mac to heroism, and reminded Rarity of why she should fight to live at her darkest moments. So I really should finish it.
X. Lyra-ology: YOH 1478-1495 On what convoluted chain of causation hangs the tale of everyone's favorite mint-coated Unicorn? Learn the story of Lyra Heartstrings. Both of them.
1,099 words written, 10 Nov 2015.
This is about how the souls of Pony Lyra and Humanoid Lyra got switched, and some of what happened in consequence. It's also about one of the crucial mistakes made by Cloud Kicker and Winning-Through-Degradation, which enabled Pinkie Pie and the Paradise Entity to defeat them. It actually has some rather dark stuff in it.
The title is an obvious homage to Anthropology.
I may work on this more in the future.
XI. The Tinker Mare: YOH 1480, with backstory streteching decades further back. Main story happens 20 years Before Luna's Return. Pot Mender is a tinker mare, an intinerant tradespony on the fringes of Equestrian rustic society. Goldie Pie is a highly-educated and well-respected medical professional, the midwife who serves South Dunnich, Nickerlite and much of the northeastern fringe of the White Tail Hills. Goldie Pie doesn't much like Pot Mender. But the day will come when Pot Mender will have her chance to do a deed of worth, and accomplish something of great importance to Goldie.
1,170 words, 23 Jan 2016.
Very much a side story to the Pie Family, though it does highlight Lemon Quartz (one of Pinkie's younger uncles) and Oh Shiny (his love interest). It's about how the Wise should value even the foolish and disreputable, for there may be a day when they are grateful for their assistance.
May continue, I have a sneaking love for the roguish, slatternly main character of Pot Mender. She mostly means well.
XII. Mackie and Dashie: YOH 1499, Moonlight Nights Timeline, one year before Nightmare Moon's Return: Big Mac is a shy, stoic stallion who runs Sweet Apple Acres almost entirely on his own. Rainbow Dash is a brash weather pony who can clear the clouds in ten seconds flat. This is the story of how they met and became friends.
3,029 words, 3 Feb 2016.
A sentimental story about the friendship between two of the Ponies destined to rise high in Nightmare Moon's Night Guards. Also, in that timeline, two of the Ponies closest to Fluttershy, the Hermit of the Everfree -- who is destined to become Nightmare Moon's enemy.
Needs editing because the start of the story as written is a long expository block that I'm not sure even I like, and I'm a fan of initial exposition in the 19th-century style. Not sure how to improve it. I also have a couple thousand words or more of other chapters in manuscript.
XIII. Mismatched Hearts: YOH 1503, between Seasons 2 and 3, almost three years After Luna's Return. February 1503: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have loved one another since they were fillies, and in the last few years, they have consummated their love. They want to remain together forever.
Yet incompatibilities are starting to appear between them. And Fluttershy has a major secret she has never quite managed to tell Rainbow Dash. After years she hopes that she may never have to tell her.
Unknown to Fluttershy, a dark Queen is rising in the south, and massing her forces against Equestria. And the time in which Fluttershy may still voluntarily reveal her secret is fast running out ...
2,116 words, 5 Mar 2016.
This is a sad story, which may be why I haven't been writing it much. It's basically about two very good Ponies, who deeply care for one another, whose love fails because of their character flaws. It doesn't completely fail in this story, but we know that they're going to break up due to the events of A Canterlot Wedding, when Rainbow Dash realizes that Fluttershy knew of the existence of the Changelings all along, because she was half-Changeling herself. And didn't warn anypony.
And neither of them mean any harm. Dashie loves Fluttershy but can't satisfy her, in part because of something she doesn't know -- Fluttershy's a Royal-Caste Changeling. Fluttershy loves Dashie, but can't bring herself to be honest with her about something of extreme importance, because she figures that the Changelings will never trouble Equestria. And Chrysalis, of course, has her own long-laid evil plans, which reck nothing of Pony happiness.
I hate when something like this happens in real life. I think I'm going to have to be fairly depressed to finish this story.
XIV. For In That Sleep Of Death ... (YOH 1505, but much is a flashback to YOH 470-500). Snips and Snails escaped, as was very much Three Leaf's hope. Now she dreams, and remembers how her life was, when she was still alive, over a thousand and five years ago.
646 words written but over a thousand more in manuscript. 2 Apr 2016.
A mood piece and exploration of the character of my Three Leaf. Definitely working more on this one.
XV. Caught in the Storm (YOH 1500, Season One, same time as "Look Before You Sleep"): Fluttershy has proven herself to Rainbow Dash by defeating a Dragon. Now, Rainbow Dash calls on her to help fight a rogue storm from the Everfree. Will Fluttershy be up to the job?
1,259 words written. Direct sequel to Dragonshyness. Adventure-romance with Fluttershy and Dashie. Part of the Kindness Is Magic series.
XVI. Becoming Lethe: (YOH 1500, same time as Friendship Is Magic): Some mares choose the path of patience and virtue to rise in society. Languid Grace is not one of them. She is an adventuress, giving herself to the rich and influential, hoping to bedazzle a scion of the nobility and seduce him into marriage. But her latest venture has failed. Embittered, she looks up to the night skies, calling for the power to wreak her vengeance on those who have thwarted her ... and something answers!
864 words written. The tale of how Languid Grace becomes the deadly Lady Lethe.
XVII. Hitting Rock Bottom: (YOH 1497): Cheerilee went off to get her higher education at Canterlot, certain that her fine mind and diligence would win her the world. But she found that her small-town naivete marked her out to certain Ponies as a victim, and she was too trusting. Now, she's woken under circumstances that make it obvious to her that she's sinking into the same alcoholism and debauchery that claimed the mind of her mother Strawberry and are claiming her sister Berryshine, and that unless she changes her life, she will not have a very happy one.
574 words written. The tale of how Cheerilee decided to return to Ponyville. It starts pretty damned sad, but of course it's about her redemption.
Seriously, I love Cheerilee, and probably the reason I haven't gotten farther with this is that it's painful to torture her at the beginning.
XVIII: A Fortunate Harmony (YOH 1154, or 346 years Before Luna's Return: Brilliant young Harmonia Pie, aged 14, has a serious crush on her teacher, 21-year-old Aventurine Miter. But Aventurine loves another, a mare closer to his own age. Does Harmonia have a chance against her older rival? Will Harmonia's friend Honesty, the 7-year-old younger sister of Aventurine, be able to help her?
Surely such sweet, innocent young fillies would never do anything unethical or immoral or dangerous in pursuit of their objective, now would they?
1,385 words written. Note the main characters. So, um, yes, they probably would.
Otherwise, it's a fairly sweet story about a young teenaged filly in love.
Conclusion: So there you have it. Eighteen monuments to my inability to finish what I start, though to be fair In That Sleep of Death was just started. What do you think of my ideas, or stories, and which sound the most interesting or good?
The great thing about your writing is how everything is tightly tied together in a single cohesive history. Even the alternate timelines feel closely meshed with the rest. That holism makes it difficult to pick favorites in terms of ideas. Still, being the sucker for temporaspacial shenanigans that I am, I do find Lyra-ology especially intriguing.
Man. You busy!
You've definitely set the bar as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to creating an elaborate, internally consistent alternate universe!
I am a interested in both the Tinker Mare story and the Cheerlee one, cause I love fables and redemption stories to pieces. Oh well maybe one day...
maybe you could tie story XIV into fools & drunks as kind of postscript
the full story idea that sounds the most intriguing is
l haven't read too much about the Apple parents (at least in the circles l frequent) and your take on alternate/slightly noncanon characters is one that l always look forward to. Another suggestion would be to finish off what you have already on your plate and see where you want to go from there. If l could suggest one and only one maybe finish off Dancing Alone
Is Lemon Quartz related to Lemon Hearts by any chance? It would be funny if that was the case.
3847683
I hadn't thought of it, but it's conceivable. Though the connection would probably go back a bit.
Being the fan I am of historical works when done right, like by yourself, I would most enjoy seeing 1, 4-7, and 15-16 as fully complete stories. And 15, well, I enjoy the other stories you did in the 'MLP from Fluttershy's viewpoint' series.
Though anything you do would be worth reading.
The tale of how Languid Grace becomes the deadly Lady Lethe.
Rather interested in her, just from that name. I get the idea that she's got some mine-affecting magics. 'Lethe = Forgetfulness', after all.