A Slight Divergence In Plans (Writing Status Update)

Hey all!

It's been a little time since I mentioned the launch of "Fractured Skies," and that's still coming along slowly. As it turns out, writing a story that requires A LOT of science talk (with RQK, since he's kinda known for that kinda thing), math (more so just algorithms for science stuff), and working in some subtle and not-so-subtle nods to other writers' work in the shipping world of SunLight... is seriously time consuming. Of course, there's some real life factors that include the fact that my mother might literally die at any possible second due to her heart developing an irregularly fast bpm, among other things keeping me away from the keyboard, though I can assure you, work has been started, and has been slowly happening. Math and science stuff takes time.

I'm not going to announce any hard release dates for things, though I'm quite tempted to just release the whole thing at once when it's done at the rate I'm going. That way, I feel less pressured to have a release schedule. I doubt it will come to this, but it's a possible idea that I'm going to try out with another thing I've been working on that is much less complex in terms of science and math and stuff like that. I'll get back to that in a minute. Fractured Skies, and it's two planned sequels are still happening, they're just taking a little longer due to the fact that it's a story that primarily deals with the idea of a multiverse, and the mechanics of said multiverse. Believe it or not, the biggest road block doesn't even involve the SunLight part of the story, but in fact, the stuff outside of that, like the basic rules of the universe (which I plan to release a blog entry about later, once all of the rules have been firmly set, and I have at least posted up to the point in the story where it's relevant) for instance.

So back to that thing I mentioned. I'm going to be working on something of an... all encompassing prequel of sorts to anything I write from this point forward. Well, technically, it's "prequels," not a single prequel. They're not going to be very long in comparison to Fractured Skies, and the rest of the "Cracks In Our Reflections" series and side-stories. These are basically me just answering a question for myself that the show has left me, but will never answer. So I'm going to do this as a means of filling the void. What am I talking about? I'm going to be writing some backstory stuff that will not only be canon to the "Cracks In Our Reflection" saga, but basically anything I write myself will be using as some of the backbone of my "expanded universe" if you will. I'm currently not planning anything other than this and the "Cracks In Our Reflections" series, so don't worry.

What kind of backstory stuff? Well, I'm going to be going over the backstories of my primary characters of interest. This, of course, means I'm going to be writing stuff for Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Moondancer. I might do some quick short stories for the backstories of the rest of the characters, though that's not something I'm looking into right at this moment in time. I'm not going to be doing all 4 of those characters at once though. I'm starting with Sunset Shimmer, and then going into Starlight Glimmer, with Twilight Sparkle and Moondancer basically sharing a story, although I might split Moondancer's story off of that story, because of how this is going to work.

So how's this going to work? Well, it's pretty simple honestly: I'm going to be exploring points of significance in these characters' lives, up to their debut in the series. This means I'm establishing a sort of... backbone to the multiverse I've begun building. So now, I'm going to answer the questions I think will be the most obvious, just so you all get a pretty good picture of the intention of these things.

We got backstory for these characters in the show and comics already, didn't we?

That we have, but that's part of the problem. I'm writing these for two real reasons.

a) There's a significant gap in time from those backstories to their first appearances, and I'm not satisfied with that to a certain extent.
b) I want to be able to make the characters I write feel distinct from everyone else's renditions of these characters.

What do you mean by "not satisfied?"

I think it should be kind of obvious, though I guess I could elaborate a little. Basically, I'm not satisfied with the lack of information about the character's childhoods, the things that put them on the path of being the way they were when they first appeared. This is especially true for Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. As such, I'm going to be elaborating on the lack of information with my own world building, so I when I callback to events in their childhoods, it won't look like I pulled it out of my ass for the sake of it.

Wait, so you're just going to ignore the show and/or the comics?

Yes and no. Anything in the past that has a confirmed depiction in the show will be followed as closely as I can manage. So when we get to, say, Starlight's founding of the village, I'm going to indeed have that little scene where we see her ask Maud about the rock needed for the Cutie Mark Vault. Anything that was in the show is canon, though if at a later point the show contradicts my words, depending on the situation, I might edit it to match the show, or I might elect to leave the story as is, and leave a note explaining the situation.

As for the comics... I'm electing to ignore the comics entirely. Why? Because the comics are only soft canon, and as such, don't really mean anything to me. This means I'm going to be outright ignoring the existence of "The Fall of Sunset Shimmer." I'm going to tell my own take on Sunset's life pre-EqG 1, going off of what we were told in those films. There is no exception to this "comics =/= canon" rule in my work.

You're ignoring "The Fall of Sunset Shimmer!?" WHY!?

Because the story is contradicted by the existence of "Amending Fences." How? Simple. In the comic, Sunset is in the park, studying, when Minuette and Co. ask her to hang out. First of all, Moondancer in this story looks nothing like the Moondancer we know from the show, nor is this take on Moondancer the one I'm using. Secondly, Minuette and Co. went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns together, and were in the same grade, as we saw in a flashback in Amending Fences (the flashback where Twilight and Moondancer are
reading/talking about making a salt lick, and Lemon Hearts got her head stuck in the beaker)... yet we can plainly see a young foal Twilight in the background (as a blank flank no less) with Cadance and Shining Armor.

That would mean that the show ages are inconsistent, and thus, this exchange couldn't have happened. Thus, rendering the story faulty in it's execution, and as such, not worth citing as Sunset's backstory. I'm also ignoring it, since I was never really satisfied with it, and would rather write my own story about Sunset's basically blank canvas of a past.

So the Equestria Girls films are canon, but the comics aren't?

Yes. Equestria Girls is made by the show staff, and as such, is canon to the show. That, and McCarthy confirmed it over Twitter a while back (Google it).

What about Starlight?

Starlight's backstory is one I doubt we'll get the full story on, so I'm electing to write my own. I know I'm not the only one that thinks her "I lost my first friend and never got over it" bit being the only thing of note in her past that lead her down the path of founding a cult that took the talents away from ponies because cutie marks ruined her life. While I do believe it started her down that path, ultimately, she had several chances to not end up going down that road. One of which being her magical ability, what with creating a spell that can rip the butt tattoos of talent off a flank and replace it with an equal sign and all.

Why didn't she just try to get into Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns? With her magical talent, she totally should be able to have done so. And so, the question then becomes "why didn't she?" Her problem of losing Sunburst would have been solved had she done this, since that's where he went after he got his mark... so what kept her from following him? That's something I doubt we'll get any kind of answer for, so that's why I'm writing my take on Starlight's life up to the Season 5 debut... or, at the very least, to the foundation of her village.

Okay, that's fine... but Moondancer and Twilight too? Why bother with that when we basically know what happened for both of them?

That's because I want to go over their lives as friends up until that fateful day for Twilight, and what followed it for Moondancer. They'd share the stage for a story because they went to school together, and were friends all the while. I want to explore Moondancer's life a bit, since losing one friend and becoming a bitter person seems to be a common theme with Twilight's foils... and it's kinda weak in my mind. Besides, I want to write about the aftermath of Amending Fences for Moondancer, and it'd be harder for me to do that without establishing her as more of a character and less as a "Mirror of Twilight."

Twilight, by the way, will likely have the least "story" in this set of stories, since once we hit the show's first episode, we effectively have that all filled in. I might do a little story of her writing to Sunset or something once they've both hit the "start" point of their show debuts. That's a big maybe though.

So just these four?

For now, yeah. Maybe, and this is a big maybe, I might explore the lives of the other Main 6, and some other characters that will play a role in my stuff at a later date. These four are just my focal points for my work, since they are all my favorite characters. I might even write something for the other Rainbooms and Shadowbolts someday... but that's not set in stone either.

What about Trixie? You're missing one Unicorn!

What about Trixie?

......

Okay, that was mean, sorry. But in all seriousness, she's not really a character I care enough about to write something for at this point in time (and there go my chances of ever being featured on Equestria Daily... sorry Sethisto...). She'll appear in my work, sure, but to the same capacity as the not-Twilight parts of the Main 6; i.e. she'll be there, but more so as a secondary cast member than Twilight, Sunset, Starlight, or Moondancer. For the "Cracks In Our Reflections" series, Trixie is going to be a recurring character, but since the type of stuff for that story operates outside of her wheelhouse, she's not a "main" character.

What were you planning on calling these stories?

A name for these types of stories is kind of hard, especially if I ever go beyond the three/four that I already know I'm going to do. A working title is "Children of the Sky Above," since they all have 'sky' related names. I mean, that's part of the reason I'm calling the first part of "The Cracks In Our Reflections Saga" "Fractured Skies" and all. Still, I'm thinking on it still.

Will you make a timeline of events for this?

Possibly.

When are these coming out?

When they are finished. I'm going to be releasing Sunset's when it's all done, and I'm going to gauge the response to this kind of release. This is because they likely aren't going to be super long. I'm estimating Sunset's story will be about... Five chapters. Eight chapters at the absolute most. Starlight's will be about the same. Twilight and Moondancers will depend on a few things, though it's likely going to be the "shortest."

These will be canon to Fractured Skies?

Yes. They'll all be 100% canon with Fractured Skies and it's two planned sequels, and any oneshots therein.

And they'll be canon to everything you write?

Yes... and no. There's something they aren't canon 100% for, that I haven't gone into yet. Let's just say that said thing is another reason why Fractured Skies is taking as long as it is, and once it appears, you will all know why.

But didn't you say these would be canon to everything you write earlier?

I kinda did, it depends on how you interpret how I worded said statement. Let me clarify it a bit better now: these will technically be canon to everything I write, unless I state otherwise. Again, I'm not going to go into that right now, since it's not important right now, and once it is important, then I'll go into the situation of these short stories' canonicity. For now though, it's not important, and thus, you shouldn't worry about it. Pinkie erases the worry from your minds. Yes. Pinkie will return that worry in the future for all of your toothpaste, and the secrets to Nuclear Power! Yes.

So yeah, in closing, there's going to be a slight sidestep for the sake of setting up my multiverse both through story and in the writing process. I'm sorry for the wait everybody, but it will hopefully be worth the wait. I promise!

Until then everyone!