General fanfiction update

Hi, everyone. Just thought I'd apologise for not having posted anything MLP-related for a good five months now - but there is a reason for that, besides railway modelling and other personal affairs. See, the story I'm currently working on is taking quite a while to complete, what with writing from three different points of view and trying to mesh them together in the best way possible (I hope), and also several bouts of writer's block. I am trying my level best to get it ready in good time, and I'm truly sorry for not having kept anyone up to date, but I wanted to get the whole story done and get it posted in its entirety as seemed to be an asset to the success of my earliest stories such as "Dilemma" and "The Rainbow Connection".

Anyways, where will I go from here? Well, I'll still be working on "The Power of Two", but I've kinda decided that it's probably best not to stay 100% canon with the original show, taking into account how other stories have been affected by "Slice of Life" and "Crusaders of the Lost Mark". I'll try to make it as close as possible, but given that it contradicts "To Where And Back Again" (and was thought up long before the episodes aired, so any complaints that I've purposely plagiarised them are null and void as far as I'm concerned), my headcanon will have to be suitably changed so that Starlight Glimmer's ultimate redemption takes a completely different form, while Thorax disappears from the face of Equestria after "The Times They Are A-Changeling," never to be seen again until my own story. I know this all seems a bit frivolous, but I've put far too much work into this story to just give up, and Hornette, the changeling protagonist of the story, has become far too close to my heart for me to write her off altogether. In the words of the great Brunel; "Could I have foreseen the work I would have to endure, I would never have entered upon it - but I never flinch when I have once begun, and do it we will!"

I'm also thinking of having a story that will be playing out in parallel with "High School Musical" (no, not THAT High School Musical, darn it!) which focuses on a completely different set of characters, but ends with a subtle hint of what is to come in "The Power of Two". I'm still not certain what kind of scenario or what characters to include in this story, so if anyone has any suggestions for who they would like to see in my next fanfiction, and in what kind of scenario, then please leave a comment down below. I know I may seem a bit closed off, but I really do mean it when I say that any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I'm also looking into the possibility of a Power Ponies story somewhere down the line, starring a mix of most of the original superheroes plus some creations of my own, with Locomotion taking the role of a hydrokinetic superhero named Steampunk. (Yes, I know Loco's been shoehorned into practically every other story I've written thus far, and he's probably looking like a Gary-Stu by now, but when you create a character that is based on your good self, sometimes the character just becomes so dear to your heart that he or she becomes the centrepiece of your individual MLP universe, as has been the case with EvilFrenzy, DarkOak213 and AskBubbleLee, to name a few - in fact, regarding the second of those three, it was mostly the involvement of his ponysona Maxwell House and his relationship with Tunipeace's giraffe OC Giobatic that endears most of his comic strips to me as a romantic. I have to confess, when I first thought Loco up, I never intended him to be my own personal avatar in the first place - he was just a random background OC on a not-exactly-a-date with Tornado Bolt in "From Rumble With Love", and then only intended as a one-off appearance just for the sake of maintaining a fair gender balance among the younger generation of Ponyville. But of course, when I started looking further into his character, I quickly grew so fond of him that I allowed a great many of my own personality traits into his, almost making him a more idealised version of myself. That said, I have been trying to shift him away from the "perfect pony" that I suspect a lot of people see in him, and give him a bit more depth. Hopefully "Wreck of the Bridleway Limited" and "The Power of Two" will see to that, but again, if you would like to give me your honest opinions on whether Loco is overused or one-dimensional, and why this is so, then please do comment.)

I'm also considering a series based on an MLP version of "The Titfield Thunderbolt" and the "Flockton Flyer" among other classic works of railway fiction, set on a preserved railway based on the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales. This again will star Locomotion as one of the main players; but also Filthy Rich, long since divorced from that snobbish mule Spoiled Rich, as the Chairpony of the Preservation Society, and an OC based on Private Joe Walker from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's "Dad's Army". There might be other stories to come, but we'll have to wait and see. All I can say for now is - watch this space.

So yeah, just letting you all know I'm far from dead, and that my stories are merely taking time to write. Again, I'm dreadfully sorry for keeping you waiting for the last million years or so - life has just been taking its toll on me, and I just don't seem to have as much stamina for storywriting as I did when I first started publishing MLP stories. Thank you for your patience, and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.