097 Status update: All good things... · 10:46am Jan 11th, 2020
097 Status update: All good things...
Good morning, hope that your weekend if off to a great start! Here comes the blog post I promised you at the end of my recently finished Hearth’s Warming story. It’s kind of an important one for me, and unique in its kind because, well, you only get to end your pony-writing career once - which is exactly what I’d like to announce. It’s alright, deep breathing now for the both of us! Let me walk you through, because even in this being the end, we still have work to do, and... a story to write?
If you have ever read one of my stories, this blog post is for you, please read!
Why does it have to end?
This is neither the time nor the place for me to do one of those long essays on how I started and what I learned on my journey. We’ll do that later when I’ll be actually saying my goodbyes, so don’t you dare giving me those sweet, tear-jerking comments about how you enjoyed parts of my writing just yet!
The short version is that in the recent years I couldn’t devote much time to pony writing (adult life, other hobbies, generation wrapping up), and I don’t suspect that will change - and in case of having some free time in the future, I’d much rather write in my own settings than in the gloriously colorful MLP one. The logical decision is to close this particular candy of a chapter, which I do without any regrets or remorse. It’s been a great ride and I learned--whoops, that’s the essay alright.
Look! Some of the projects I’ve been working on at some point!
What about your unfinished projects?
There is some collateral damage, unfortunately. Both Dreamlocked: Chronicles and Arcane Realms should now be considered as can’tpleted. It’s a state in which they are cancelled, but if you stretch it you could say it’s a complete story - the content released for first one is a complete “Act I” of the story I had in mind, and the chapters of the second are loosely tied, so due to their length can be considered separate one-shots (with some unresolved overarching plot in both cases of course).
No, seriously, what about them?
Since I won’t be able to wrap up those stories, or continue with looser plot points I left my writing in feature-length tales, I would like to write one last bit to compensate for that. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! It will be something different and “meta” in its nature due to having myself, the author, talking to my spirit pony as we take a stroll through Canterlot. Basically, a self-insertion interview in which I will be able to answer all the questions anyone, including myself, may have about the fate of my characters. I want to write short scenes to answer that, and jump between the interview-question and the story-answer parts.
For example, someone may be dying to know “What’s Chestnut like in her adult life?”, so I’ll write a short scene in which we’ll have a glimpse into the future and perhaps see her job, family, or hobbies she will have taken. Other may have question about Spike and his magic (Arcane Realms), or Iqqel and her hidden love towards Chrysalis (Dichromatic), or if Skyla returned to Equestria (The Royal Daughter), or Sunset and Sonata’s business (Icebreaker), or something else entirely.
Rejoice! Trixie started it, so she’ll be the one to finish it!
I want more story from you, what can I do?
Go to the comments here and tell me what would you like to know! I’ll do my best to include the scene, or at least an answer to you questions. I reserve the right to leave the answers cryptic or puzzling, though! I’d also rather not give an ETA on this story’s premiere, but this is indeed going to be the last pony story of mine.
And with your help, it will be glorious!
Best,
~Prane
Glad I could join you on this journey.
Kinda saw this coming.
Thanks for the words, though. They were excellent.
~Skeeter The Lurker
You wrote some good stuff, man. It's been a pleasure over the years.
Yeah I feared this was coming, I enjoyed your stories Prane, and I wish you the best even if we lose another marvelous writer.
I had imagined Chestnut accompanying Fleur and Fancy on a diplomatic mission.
Aww, so I guess those unpublished projects won’t see daylight any time soon?
Just a reader’s question, but did you have any plans to continue your story with Skyla and Sombra in any way? Either a sequel or a prequel? Would you be opposed to anyone who wrote a story like that?
What’s Chestnut like in her adult life?
Well, most authors who leave this community just stop logging in and disappear without a word, so in that aspect, you're definitely doing us all a huge favour.
It will be a bit of a bummer to see you go, but I get it.
Let us know when you have something new and not pony-related out in the wilds, though.
Godspeed, and thank you for all that you have written, and for the last, splendid goodbye.
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Those are both excellent questions / plot hooks - I’ll add them to the list and try to include a little scene addressing that. Thanks!
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It would be easy to just slip into the darkness - and very comforting, too - but I like for things to be put into frames, so where there’s a beginning there should be an end too. I’ll definitely stick around the site itself, in case some comment or PM appears. Perhaps without writing to worry about I’ll be able to actually read some of the stories here too!
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I certainly hope it’s the matter of “when” than “if”! I feel I touched a couple of archetypes, like an orphan, high society people, magical adventuring, alien race and culture, which can very easily be adapted into original things. So who knows? Those characters may one day return under different names and wearing a different skin!
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The three projects that I included in the picture, well, I have some words for those, so although I won’t publish them, I will likely include the best bits in the final wrap-up story. One was a one-shot set in the Icebreaker timeframe, the other was a Star Wars crossover, and the last was kind of Friendship is Magic, but swap Twilight for a snobby marine biologist and Ponyville for a seaside village. Oh, and merponies, too!
As for your question about The Royal Daughter. No, there will be no sequel or prequel to it, but I think I’ll include a scene to show Skyla during her journey back to Equestria. Would I be alright with someone carrying the character or the premise forward? Probably - but that’s a decision I’ll make once I’m done. :)
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You’re much too kind! And I wouldn’t count that as losing me - an author lives as long as there are people reading their stories, so with dedicated folks like you I already feel immortalized. :D
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Thank you! You will be forever remembered as a person who didn’t hesitate to tell me about the typos in Dune Goddess, for which I am eternally grateful!
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Appreciated! Some of them may have been excellent, others less so, but if any one sentence made someone’s day brighter in the end, that’s good enough for me. :)
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Glad you tagged along! You made my stories and characters live beyond my own writing, and that’s something not every author will have a pleasure to say. Kudos!
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This is wonderful news. Glad to hear you'll still be kicking about
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It’s muscle memory at this point - I don’t have the site faved or in any shortcuts, but I sometimes quickly write “fim” in the browser bar and the browser knows what’s up. :D
Bra! I am happy with anything involving Chestnut, Fancy, and Fluer. I love that family so much!