A parting note on William's story · 11:54pm Aug 4th, 2016
Yes, I'm also going to do this for our favorite dreamon of the day, Prince William MacDarkDoom.
First off, I really want to thank Mix-Up for all the arts he did for the story. Those sketches and then magnificent pictures really helped me focus on my work and sometimes gave me just the push I needed to overcome a writer block. Thanks dude, seriously.
So, just to get William out of my head, and discuss a bit on the writing process, if I can, here are some random facts about the story.
-The first draft was ridiculously different. Small Pond was a minor character, William was the only danger around, the String-Man didn't really exist. Small Fry certainly wasn't really much of a character and more a piece of the background.
-A big piece of backstory is only mentioned throughout Luna's side of the story and never quite elaborated. The Story of Fickle Heart. I have a draft of what it is lying around. Here:
“Fickle Heart...”
“One night he had his heart broken by yet another conquest, he saw my sister raise the moon and paint the sky with stars. He immediately decided that he fancied her.”
“Luna... refused him.” “Amongst other things, he was a commoner, and one with too transparent feelings. He may have declared that he loved her, that the sight of the moon gave his life meaning, but in truth, he did not know my sister. He loved a shadow.”
“Yes...” Princess Celestia repeated. “A shadow of my sister.”
“What happened to him?” she asked, despite feeling like she already knew the answer.
“He was attacked by a dreamon. Like today, it was a powerful one that could resist or evade my sister's spells.” “Desperate, she dove into the dream despite her exhaustion. Inside, she managed to find Fickle Heart, on the borders of a lake.”
“He was not alone.”
“That poor stallion had to pick. The only way my sister could save him was if he let go of the dream and returned to the waking world. He said...” “He said he would go with his One True Love.”
“Fickle Heart chose the dreamon.”
“He died, the dreamon manifested and I know that Luna has never forgiven herself for her parts in it.”
This rough draft does tell you the sad reality of most dreamons encounter. The dreamon gave Fickle Heart exactly what he wanted to see in a Luna that loved him and killed him that way. For the record, that was a changeling dreamon.
-Oh, and btw, I have been holding this back for a while. Some people asked why William was so lucid compared to all the other dreamons mentioned, and I was trying not to shout it, and wait to see if someone would realize. It's because, when he turned into one, he was lucid dreaming!
Finally, because I'm either a tease or pure evil, here is the concept for an eventual sequel, if I ever get around to writing it.
“So, how long have you been feeling nauseous in the mornings?”
“A few weeks. I've never suffered from sea sickness before, but the last month on the lunar sea has been hell. I could only do half my chores for the whole duration.”
“I see... Anything else?”
“I haven't been able to stomach the smell of apples for a while now. I feel like my emotions are on a swing set. I feel peaceful and hopeful for the future one moment, and absolutely shipwrecked the next.”
The old stallion clicked his pen, and placed it on his desk. With a small sigh, he clopped his hooves together and gave her a serious look.
“Miss, please understand that my profession forbids me from sharing any of the information you will give me. So, I ask that you be honest with me. Have you been having unprotected sexual intercourse during your last estrus cycle?”
Small Pond's cheeks coloured. “Doctor, I haven't had sex in months. And considering I live on a cruising ship, that's really saying something.”
A voice in the back of her head supplied that it would be hard to, when all her wildest fantasies happened with such regularities during her dreams.
“Doctor, I know what it looks like, but it's impossible,” she added, more to silence her own thoughts than the disquieting frown on the professional's face.
“Well,” he replied in a tone that implied he wasn't quite convinced, “we will need to run a small battery of tests on you and see what could be the cause of your discomfort. Please, follow me.”
--
She clutched the paper to her chest, immensely relieved and yet uneasy.
“Negative.”
--
“Why, hello there, beautiful,” purred a warm, low-voice in her ears. “I must be the luckiest guy in the world to have somepony like you, all to myself.”
“William,” she giggled, “you say that every night.”
“And every night,” he breathed in her neck, his muzzle stroking her shoulder, nuzzling her mane, “every night, it's even more true. Pond, you don't understand. I spend all day watching you move that cute rump around, and I can't even touch it.”
Oh, but she did understand. Or did her sweet stallion not think about the sumptuous shadow he projected on every surface she glanced at? Every time, she had to restraint to imagine the body that created such a picture perfect silhouette.
“William,” she hummed, gently biting the tip of his ear. “Please...”
She saw clearly the shiver that ran down his spine and smiled to herself. His glance to her was that of an old accomplice, very well acquainted with the task required. With gentle touches, he made her lie on her back, a confident grin on his face. She was already feeling the heat pooling in her lower parts when her stallion stilled over her.
Her lover was very much staring at her body, though not in the usually lust ridden gaze that sent her blood pumping. This time, his pupils had shrunk to the size of grains of salt. And they were focused on her midsection.
Small Pond looked down at herself.
Her belly felt harder than usual, noticeably rounder.
The black and red alicorn stallion above her picked up his jaw from the floor. He very distinctly seemed to wish he could be swallowed by a giant snake, at the moment. In all fairness, Small Pond contemplated that too.
“William. I think we may have a problem.”
Yes...
Oh, edit: This here is one last piece of Mix-Up's awesome work. It is unfinished as I kinda sprung the last chapter without notice, but you can still see good concept art for the foals and two of them mostly completed with awesome details.
Edit number TWO, the electric boogaloo. Mix-up's fanart of William's golden armour just got featured on Equestria Daily. Dude deserves it.
Ah.
Curse you, sequel bait! How dare you tease my shipping instincts!
How could you make the concept of a half dreamon half pony work?
If you do have something interesting, it could be a fun story to tell, maybe a short story with only a few chapter?
A little dreamon baby, huh?
So, I'm wondering, does this mean you may be picking up one of your other unfinished stories again sometime soon? As you probably noticed, I've been reading quite a few stories of yours over the last few weeks which I'd like to see continued, some of them more than others.
4132317 Well then, I guess that answers the "Pure evil or pure tease" question.
4132383 What? No, it would be like an epic adventure of Small Pond's travels around the world with a lover in her dream and a pregnant not pregnant body. Also,
dream birth is painless, Small Pond is the luckiest mother to be in existence.4132391 That, or an abomination against all laws of Nature. It would be technically half-undead after all. At this point, I'm giving Havoc competition when it comes to creatures that should not have a right to exist.
4132410 Yeah, I noticed your comments. Sorry, replying skipped my mind a bit. I'm quite grateful for the effort you did in commenting. I'll get around to this in a few, I think. Do know that at least one or two made me laugh quite a bit, in a good way.
As for picking up unfinished stories, I'm thinking about it. Not sure what to do though. Which ones were you thinking about?
OH very interesting.
4132420
"One horn too many" is probably the one I'm most interested in, it's pretty unique. We've had a very limited perspective so far in that one and I'm really curious to see where that one goes. The Havoc stories were funny enough, but they're that "monkey cheese random" kind where there isn't enough of a coherent plot for it to really matter what happens in it.
4132420 I dunno. Usually these kind of sequel are much of a let down to me. As I said, I already feel like I have closure in this story. Unless you really have a storyline and a new concept to follow, it will probably end up being redundant and not quite as fun as the first story.
Well, you've got two of those (Not counting Over a Thousand Barrel that is cancelled if I remember well), the adventures of Honest Havoc, 3rd installment and the Bicorn thing.
I personnally prefer the second, Honest Havoc is too crazy for my taste, but both are nice to read once in a while.
4132455 4132444 Huh. Both of you are saying more or less the same thing. Havoc is too insane, and the bicorns have an interesting lore to examine still. Well, to be honest, I don't know if I will go back to it. It was a collab, but I think my partner might be willing to return to it after that hiatus. We'll see.
4132526
Yeah, we often end up agreeing like that. We run into each other a lot.
Well, if the story ends up not getting continued because your collab writer jumped ship it would be too bad, but I can understand it. As to other stories, you hinted near the end of My Little Brother that you were considering a sequel for it. Any news on that? I gotta admit, I ended up getting a bit attached to those characters and it's one of those stories that just don't really feel quite done yet. It's the kind of open-ended that looks like an intentional sequel hook.
4132526 4132548 I didn't even read Wlam's comment until you draw my attention to it.
Mmm, it's a shame if the collab die. Hopefully your aprtner will be willing to get back to it someday.
If not, well there is still new stories to be told. And How My little Brother had a very open ending. I suppose something could be done with it. The strongest part of the story were the character's interaction. I had a particular fondness for the scene beetween Ventus and Celestia.
4132526 I hope he comes back, I just caught up and your sequel tease make me want to read it right now.
Though I have to ask, why didn't they think up golem any in combination with a transformation spell?
It isn't necromany since your not using dead bodies, and even undead, he us still a soul. A clay body could be made as a vessel and then spells can be weaved into the body to turn it from clay to flesh.
Thanks for sequel teaser
Also just a thought: equestrian world is full of wonders. If she travels so much - could it be that she will find some artifact Daring-Do style that will give bodies to prince William and baby somewhere ?
Wow. Both the story and the possible sequel teaser were stunning. I have to say a unique and riveting story.
Sooo.... Sequel pls?
Yours continue to be among my top favourites on the site, with The Dream of Many and Ten Trips To Equestria being some of the best works of fiction I've read period. Although, I admit that the sequels are a bit more random, Havoc's moments of lucidity are brilliant and his interactions with others are generally entertaining even when he's at his least lucid.