And, Cut · 10:51pm Sep 14th, 2019
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
That's the proverb from which For Want of a Horseshoe draws its title. According to Wikipedia, we've found references to it as early the 13th century, but really, it's a pretty common-sense sort of thing: small details add up.
The scene in my head that gave birth to this story never actually made it into the final product. It would have been Nightmare Moon looking over her kingdom on her balcony, while a concerned Twilight Sparkle gently tries to convince her to Stop Being Evil. I love the idea of villains being more than cackling monologue machines, and Nightmare Moon is a particularly interesting one to try to tackle. She was born from Luna's isolation and desire to be loved, and then proceeds to do something that's not going to win her many friends. And yet, somehow, she's managed to hold onto the kingdom for years. That's interesting. She's must be doing something right, even if it isn't necessarily very much.
Finding Nightmare's character was one of the real challenges here. I had to somehow straddle the line between attention-hungry egomaniac, and competent administrator without having her descend into full-on cult of personality tyranny, or hammy cartoon villainy. The Sun Days were an eleventh hour addition that ended up giving me what I needed. Nightmare is doing something objectively terrible to Equestria, and it fits her motivation, while turning the kingdom against her. It did raise some serious questions about what's going on with the sun on the rest of the planet, but what part of this setting's solar mechanics doesn't?
This is the first piece of prose I've written in over three years, and the longest I've ever finished (though not the longest I've written) by about 20,000 words. The last time I did anything this ambitious, I did it with a rule that I'd write at least 300 words a day. It wasn't much, but I was consistent about it.
I never did finish that story.
This time, I actually had an outline, and an idea of the beginning, middle and end. Turns out, that makes all the difference. Take note, y'all.
This story was also partly inspired by the song Evelyn by Silent Films, as well as Cloud Cult's Complicated Creation.
I've been awake
To see the day
Devour the night
I've seen decay
Give way to growth
And make the most
Of nearly nothing
I called up the moon for a little consultation.
Yes, you know that I'm a happy man, but something in me is burning.
...
The moon called me back
And said "I'll give you some advice...
You're never too old to name your chapters after song lyrics.
In the process of writing the epilogue, I probably ended up cutting about 2-3k words of stuff that didn't fit, or didn't work. It all still happened, it just did so off-camera, in ways that were only alluded to, or influenced characters' state of mind. I intend to write and publish at least one of those scenes as a little companion piece to this. In it, we'll see exactly what Twilight Prime's encounter with Shining Armor involved.
Anyway, this has been a fun ride, and I've enjoyed my first foray back into fiction writing in a while. In no small part, it's been thanks to the really excellent feedback and comments I've been getting. Seeing that little notification icon light up is like a little hit straight to the pleasure center of the brain. It's probably a little concerning. Either way, I'd like to thank everyone who read the story, and an extra special bonus thanks to everyone who commented, or left upvoted, or favorited, or bookshelfed, or any other tangible expression of enjoyment. It brightened my day, and I'm glad I was able to write something that brightened yours.
Till next time!
I enjoyed this story and I eagerly devoured the new chapters. I have recommended it to all of my friends that are into ponies as well.
Great Job!
wooo
Pursuing Happiness is all named after song titles. Specifically song titles in my music library. Specifically songs few people have heard.
One future chapter is Lesbian Bondage Fiasco
I’m all for reading a side story about Twilight Prime’s meeting with Shining Armor, it should be interesting and funny as well as poignant. After all this Luna endangered Cadance and her unborn foal.
I still hope to look forward to Luna’s trial and subsequent adventures and growth. Perhaps some hale and hearty companions in Rainbow and a reluctant Book Horse, too. Maybe a quest. Quests are always good. 🌜Luna🌛
Really enjoyed how this turned out, absolutely top shelf! Doubly so for a writer who's new to the site. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for your future works, whether it's Luna-related or not... Although more Luna never hurts. :V
Out of curiosity, how did you code those little recipe-card looking quote boxes? I've been hunting down info on FiMFic's formatting for months now for my current work, and I've never seen that particular trick.
5166543
🙇 Thanks for saying so! As for future stories, I have two larger ideas on the brain I go into a bit in this blog post.
As for the quote formatting, it's just
[quote=Some Name Here] Quoted text [/quote]
5166560
Aaah, I was missing the authorial argument when I first saw that block. That makes much more sense! Thanks much.