Cutie Mark University - Brainstorm Two

It's me again. The writer that makes blog posts while doing actual writing at a glacial pace. I'm still working on my potential next story: Cutie Mark University

I've been writing the first chapter and trying to brainstorm how things should progress once the CMC is at CMU and in classes and whatnot. So far, I've hit a bit of a brick wall that I think could be helped by another brainstorming session, combined with some thoughts from you guys if you're so inclined! One thing that'll help is a list of potential classes at CMU, which is basically anything that could be considered a skill or talent. Keeping in mind that the ones that matter most are ones that the CMC would care for (or perhaps not, but could):

A starter:

• Theatre (Sweetie Belle)
• Music/Singing/Band (Sweetie Belle)
• Spellcasting (Sweetie Belle, obviously)
• Mechanics (i.e. building stuff that moves, physics, etc) (Scootaloo)
• Acrobatics (Scootaloo)
• Dance (Apple Bloom)
• Potions (Apple Bloom)

If I can get this rolling, I plan on making this story more episodic in nature so it doesn't necessarily need to be "finished" in any sort of timeframe. For the overarching story, here's a few ideas I've got in mind. Apple Bloom's main conflict will be indecisiveness, which is somewhat funny because that's what I made Sweetie Belle's be in The Crimson Crusade. But I think it works, because that's what "college" is all about for people (that's what CMU is akin to, btw). Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will likely have less pronounced story arcs, but there are a few things I'd like to explore.

One is writing a plotline wherein Sweetie Belle is in a play but has some sort of conflict along with it (could be not being good enough, or something more exciting like a rivalry between her and someone else, etc). I feel like something dramatic and a little over the top would suit her best, being that she's basically going to become a slightly different version of Rarity in this aged-up story.

For Scootaloo, I like the idea of her being in an acrobatics class and being surprisingly good. That's not a story in itself, but I'm sure there's something I could do with that to make it more entertaining. I also think it'd be cool to have her in a more academic environment with something like physics/mechanics, being that perhaps she has a knack for that kind of stuff tinkering with her scooter over the years and whatnot. She's not really the "egghead" type in the show, but I think I can give myself a little creative room with this aged-up stuff. So that might be fun to explore.

Basically, this story will probably have plenty of cliches, and that's the whole point. Think college movie, but rated E (and possibly T). Right now, I've written most of what could be called the first chapter, but I'd want to have them solidly at CMU before releasing everything up to that point. Getting all the setting stuff figured out is always the tough part for me.

Comments

[PonyThunder]

Oh, also!

I need ideas for dormitory names and other college campus-related things. Preferably things horse-pun related (but not too strongly) or things that would make sense, like in-universe stuff. Yes, I'm being lazy by asking for lore. I'm shameless.

[Justanotherstory26]

“Harvard”
How about
“Hayvard”

[PonyThunder]

5095943
Good one!

Maybe a know-it-all transfer student can come from there.