Story Planning Dump

I am currently in the first few chapters of a story I've been writing that I outlined in previous blog posts about worldbuilding and wanting to write an adventure story featuring the CMC as main characters. If you don't want to be spoiled, assuming I write this thing to fruition, then you shouldn't read any further than this paragraph, because I am going to outline what I have so far and want to go for, in hopes that it helps me stay focused on completing it and to get feedback.

~~~ SPOILER WALL ~~~

Here's the cover art I've chosen (not by me) and the story description I have so far (actually by me):

Summoned by the Cutie Map, the CMC find themselves on a journey to the Highlands, a land of Equestria home to a mysterious race of transforming creatures with a dark secret and a troubling past.

The mysterious race, as outlined before, is going to be the "Lirin", the opposites to Kirin. When they transform into "Nirils" (opposite to Niriks) they become sad and decrepit instead of angry and powerful. When they transfer back, which is an extremely rare event, it requires a sort of magical ritual involving the nature of time and "youth". Interpret that as you will. I want the main conflict/climax to be that "dark secret" and to involve the CMC.

I also want to make this not just a story about the CMC, but a story about them individually. To do that, there needs to be some semblance of a story arc for each of them, even if it sort of rehashes a few things that have already happened in the canon universe. For Apple Bloom, I want her to sort of be the "main" protagonist, but only slightly. Her main conflict is going to focus/intertwine with the dark secret of the Lirin. That is, it has to do with things such as coming of age, growing up, growing out of childhood, etc.

For Scootaloo, obviously things involving her lack of flying ability will come into play, but I want to focus more on a bigger idea. I want her to come to the realization that she puts too much pressure on herself to be the best she possibly can. Basically, she is a perfectionist and nothing she ever accomplishes is ever "good enough" to her.

And, as the complete opposite for Sweetie Belle, I want her to work through ideas like having no direction in her life, not knowing what to do, and so forth. That's the best I can come up with for her, and I think it's pretty decent considering she's basically a robot character with little personality (Sorry Sweetie Belle, it's true).

For some extra little details, because this is already long-winded enough, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will also be present for the first half of the story in getting them to the Highlands. However, the Highlands are for all intents and purposes inaccessible for anyone that is not young, which the CMC are. I want this to also play into the whole dark secret of the Niril's transformation back into Lirin. Basically, they require a "youthful host" to regain their old selves after going through the dreaded transformation to Niril (which can be seen as an allegory to growing old).

So yeah, there's a bunch of ramblings about my story idea. I'm toying with the idea of writing a few chapters and making sure they're really good quality, then releasing them. I might not though. Maybe I can keep myself motivated with these blog posts instead. But then again, if I get far enough into the story with a good plan, it should be a lot easier to follow through.

Also, I have a working title of "The Final Crusade" but I'm not sure about it for multiple reasons. For one, I see no reason why it would be the "final" one. Two, it reminds me too much of Indiana Jones. And lastly, I never really liked the idea of tying the CMC to the actual Crusades, which were a horrible event in human history.