Tek is Awesome - Naming Silver Shoes and Sunspots (formerly Celestia Gets Nailed) · 2:52am Jan 5th, 2020
First, a shout-out to Tek, who has tirelessly edited and troubleshot a whole bunch of stories for me, so much that I actually did a collaborative work with him (something that I never do). (Yea Tek!!) So back in April of 2017...
I was wondering on your thoughts on the viability of this story concept as something else to add to your potential story pile. It’s sort of a reverse Cinderella story / mystery in a sense, as well as a play on the phrase ‘For want of a nail”
Now, an aside. Working with Tek on a story is a lot like drinking from the fire hydrant. He doesn’t come up with ‘an’ idea, he comes up with a few dozen at the same time and more every day after. We must have twenty pages of development/change/concept notes taking it from a country farrier to a royal position and all kinds of places between.
Really, that’s the funnest part: figuring out what you want the end product to look like.
Now, normally I’m a discovery writer. With Tek and the Fountain of Ideas, that was not going to work. So I sat down with a notes document and wrote up an outline, and no, I did not catch on fire or explode while doing it. (contrary to everybody’s expectations) Here’s a snippet out of the outline, exactly as it is in the notes document.
Scene 3) heading to bar from shop when servant shows up. Twi’s fused herself to the tiles. Hammer gets to make an after-hours trip to the castle with a toolbox, excuses Nails to go off on his scheduled date. Meets Celestia for the first time (she’s standing by Twi and acting as comfort). Deeply impressed, warm and friendly. Goes through the complicated process of extracting Twil from her half-melted shoes (can’t just magic them off because they’re enchanted to interact and ground magic). Celestia: Oh, don’t worry about the tile. I’ll have it replaced. Twilight is far more important than a chunk of stone. Twi objects. Playful banter. comment about Nails having a date.
And here’s a snippet of the end result around the same area:
The sharp nip of winter was filling Canterlot, sweeping down the streets and ruffling the coats of briskly trotting ponies. It made the warmth of the forge get sucked away by the weather at an alarming rate, but the bar was nearby, and the two friends hurried to get one beer before Nails had to depart on his date.
“You should come by my parents’ house sometime when Lady Grassholm is visiting, Ham.” As a unicorn, Nails managed to keep trotting along while running a brush through his short mane and fretting. “You’re my best friend, and she deserves to meet you.”
“I think you need to concentrate on your own good looks and shining personality,” said Hammer. “A couple of dates with this young mare should let you know if she’s finally the one.”
“Gentlecolts?” A Royal Guard in full armor floated down from the sky and landed with a brief skid sideways in an unanticipated gust. “Hammer and Nails, I presume? Sergeant Stalwart Sentry. I’ve got orders to bring one of you back to the palace to help out with an incident involving Princess Celestia’s student.”
“That took a lot longer than I expected,” said Nails before getting a nervous twitch in his bottom lip. “My date’s going to kill me.”
“I’ve got this one, Nails.” Hammer patted his partner on the shoulder and turned to the stern guard. “She blew off another shoe, I presume?”
So I’ve been working down the outline with Tek’s help, turning it into chapters as I go, for the last two and a half years on and off. We just have a couple of issues left before publication: cover art and a final title.
To give you an idea on my level of artistic ability, this is about as good as I can get for a picture, so any help offered will be quickly accepted.
Now title. What, you say? How can you work on something for about three years and still not have a title?
Oh, we have titles. Wow do we have titles. Here’s a list of them so far. Let us know which ones you like the most:
A Farrier Tail (as a title, of course)
Or Celestia Gets Nailed Or Celestia Gets Hammered
Or put them together ‘Celestia Gets Nailed - A Farrier’s Tail’
Other ideas
The Farrier's friend
The Friendship of a Farrier
The Farrier and the nail
The Horseshoe and the nail
The Fair Farrier
A Farrier nail
Celestia's hammer?
Celestia gets hammered?
To Nail a Princess
-A mile in her horseshoes
-the Sun's forge
-the forge of the sun
-the farrier in the land of Away
-the Blacksmith from Away
Cold Steel and Brilliant Sunspots if it goes long. Cold Steel and Sunspots maybe?
-The Brothers Fair and the Mysterious Mare
-The Sun in Gold and Silver
Days of Sunshine and Horsehoes (a play on a day of wine and roses)
-Celestia Forges Ahead (a takeoff on Don Martin Forges Ahead)
-Forged in Fire
-Brothers and Sisters of the Sky
-Steel Stallions and the Mysterious Mare
-The Cobblers and the Hidden Sun
-Steel and Sunshine (so tempted to continue with 'The Dork Princess Rises')
Silver Shoes and Sunspots (current idea)
One Simple Trick for Attracting an Alicorn Princess (clickbait, I know)
And you can probably expect to see this story (whatever it winds up being titled) inside a week or so. Enjoy!
Or a smiling sun cutie mark would work. That's Sunspot's mark. Hm...
i.postimg.cc/wjNsXWYP/Sun-smiling.jpg
Hoof d'Oevre?
Well this sounds interesting, I look forward to joining the peanut gallery when it comes out.
How about "My Farrier, Lady" or "Farrier to have Loved and Lost"?
Either way, it's good stuff
What you've written, not my suggestions, I mean
Hm. About the only useful feedback I think I'm thinking of is "not the clickbait one" (since it doesn't sound to me like the sort of comedy where that'd be appropriate). Sorry I don't have more.
Sounds interesting, though. :)
5180387
Oh. My Farrier Lady has such potential. Pun Power!
5180448
Puns are Magic.
5180618 I wonder if it would have as much impact by expanding it to 'My Farrier Lady, Sunspot' Hmmm
5180660
It's possible, but the context/lead up would be crucial.
For extra fun & jollies, you could also throw in "Are you going to Scarborough, Farrier?"
5180768 Well, the long description gives a good idea of what's coming up. We've got two sketched out so far:
#1 Long description: Two best friends running a farrier business in Canterlot have their world turned upside-down by an earth pony mare named Sunspot, who seems quite happy to get out of the palace for a few relaxing evenings a week in their presence. It is a growing mutual friendship through the years that struggles through disaster, marriage, divorce, and all the other calamities mortal ponies face during their lives…
...until the return of Nightmare Moon, and the revealing of Sunspot’s secret.
#2 Short Description: Two best friends running a farrier business have their lives turned upside-down by a small earth pony mare named Sunspot. But there is a secret in their relationship, that is only revealed when Nightmare Moon returns.
--Alternate Long Version Once upon a time, there were two friends who ran a farrier shop in Canterlot. The oldest fed the forge and used his earth pony magic to produce strong steel shoes, which the younger enchanted with his powerful unicorn magic. They worked together in harmony, creating beautiful shoes for all who visited until one day they met a young mare in their local bar. She was an (adjective) creature, overstressed by her job in the palace and needing the company of two friends far more than she realized.
Until one night, when her sister returned during the Summer Sun Festival…
5180784
First of all, I love this concept so much I am giving serious thoughts to marrying it and raising a family of concepts.
I think the best way to work in the whole thing would be doing Alternate Titles. for example:
"My Farrier Lady, Sunspot
Or
How to nail a princess without really trying"
5180815 I have a bunch of perverts following me.
Never change.
Yeah, an alternate title with 'Nail' in it certainly sounds popular. On the short description to draw attention too.
How To Nail a Princess -- Two best friends running a farrier business have their lives turned upside-down by a small earth pony mare named Sunspot. But there is a secret in their relationship, that is only revealed when Nightmare Moon returns.
5180870
That one sounds like a shoe in, with plenty of sole