Endof NaNoNoWriMo, Reading from Illia, Spanish translation, and new Bruener chapter · 5:36pm Dec 5th, 2020
Ok, since I’m too lazy to put out blog posts as I find out stuff, a number of things have piled up. I have a new story reading by the amazing Illia Leonov, the end of NaNoNoWriMo, some Spanish translations of some of my stories by Spaniard Kiwi, and a new chapter of Farmer Bruener which I’m just putting out now. Oh, and a sneak peek into Substitute Librarian below the break.
I’ve added Illya Leonov’s reading of Those Who Go Down to the Sea to my extensive collection of people with far better voices than mine reading my works for your enjoyment. Feel free to drop by and listen for a while.
Shortcut here for you:
There have been a number of people who have made foreign language translations of my stories (or I suppose local language translations from my foreign tongue), and I need to put together an index page for all of them too. (I’m such a lazy slug) Spaniard Kiwi has been one of the more prolific translators, and a listing of his many works is below:
Those Who Go Down To The Sea: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Aquellos-que-bajan-al-mar-860609970
Twilight Sparkle Lays An Egg: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Twilight-Sparkle-pone-un-huevo-860625570
My Brother, The Tooth: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Mi-hermano-el-diente-860832009
Friendship is Strawberries: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/La-amistad-es-fresas-860929098
Daring Do and the Dance: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Daring-Do-y-el-baile-860935898
Seven Brides for Seven Changelings: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Siete-novias-para-siete-replicantes-861036829
This is a Stick-Up: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Esto-es-un-atraco-861073870
The One Who Got Away: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Aquel-que-se-fue-861291842
Changelings, Love and Lollipops: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Replicantes-amor-y-piruletas-1-2-862352306
https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/The-dance-of-the-sun-Spanish-translation-846233834
https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/In-Celestia-we-trust-Spanish-translation-845674638
https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/How-many-princesses-does-it-take-Spanish-833639709
https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/The-lazy-dragon-of-Dragonvale-Spanish-819438999
Ok, where does that leave me? Oh, yes. National No Novel Writing Month, where I challenged all of you to come up with a novel idea and not make any writing progress on it. Well, NaNoNoWriMo was a complete success for me. I wrote exactly zero words on my not-novel, making my goal exactly. Grats to all of you for your participation! Here's a medal for you.
Which brings us to the new chapter of Farmer Bruener, which I plan on publishing in a few minutes, and the sneak peek of Substitute Librarian which Emerald proves that in even the darkest night, there always is light.
After all, the monsters need to see also.
There was really no way to know how far down Emerald had traveled before he took a break and sat down on the cold stone. His senses were starting to play tricks on him, with the odd echoes that his hoofsteps were making and the ever so faint glitter of sparkles in his eyes, but there were tendons in his legs that fairly demanded a break from his tip-toe-first-check-for-a-step-just-in-case descent.
“Who would have thought it was harder to go down the mountain than up,” he muttered quietly to himself while trying to rub the painful ligaments. “A firepole, that would really be the way to go. Or not,” he reconsidered at the practicality of the thought, and the eternally long slide. “Escalators, maybe.”
Getting back up was painful, but not as painful as simply remaining where he was and eventually starving to death, so Emerald sucked it up and continued. And continued. And continued.
Eventually, every time Emerald put down a hoof, he could actually see the light put out by piezothaumic reactions in the granite, and his eyes had adapted so much to the darkness that the wan light actually made shadows flicker on the walls. Due to the ebon darkness enfolding him, the lack of any other stimuli while walking gave each faint glimmer its own special motion, a friendly indication that he was actually moving instead of some sort of infernal exercise device, designed to cripple him.
So when Emerald stopped on one of the landings for one of his frequent rest breaks, his heart nearly pounded out of his chest when the ever-so-faint flicker of illumination he could just barely see…
Moved.
There comes a time in every young stallion’s life where they regret each and every horror movie they’ve ever seen, both the ones they snuck into when far too young, and the more recent ones with even better special effects. In particular, the ones that leap to mind are any where the monster is hidden in some dark and spooky location, and does not have the common courtesy to show itself to the camera right away. A wealth of experience such as that, accumulated over several years, is able to be replayed through the modern miracle of adrenaline overload, such that every scene, every dripping knife, every drooling zombie, flashes across the eye with a vividness that cinematographers would die to be able to replicate in the real world.
Emerald’s family had a history of heart problems.
For a fraction of an eternity, Emerald was absolutely positive that meant he no longer had to worry about starving to death.
Most ponies would run away from something that caused them fear. Emerald was not most ponies. He had been blessed (or cursed) with an overwhelming curiosity toward dangerous magical things. While spiders, snakes, and husband-seeking mares still made him flee as fast as his hooves would carry him, the bellow of an unknown creature or the whizzing-bang of a malfunctioning spell made him stop and look to determine just exactly what creature it was, or precisely how the spell was detonating. He would still be terrified, of course, but at least he would know what he was terrified of, and just exactly what the best approach was in order to maximize his chances for survival. Since he had considered himself to be the only pony in the emergency evacuation staircase for what seemed like most of a day’s descent but was probably only a few hours, his scrambled mind promptly arranged the possibilities in the most rational format:
The cause of the unexplained lighting phenomena is:
☐ — A malfunctioning lighting device
☐ — A rescue team
☐ — A malfunctioning lighting device carried by a rescue team
☐ — Another lost pony (malfunctioning lighting device optional)
☐ — Unexplained natural phenomena worthy of a quick look and that’s all
☐ — Monster (see subtypes A-M, Subterranean, Carnivorous, Hungry
☐ — Creature not identifiable as monster, or herbivorous, or even vegitative
☑ — Twilight Sparkle, hunting down a particular book-pulper
Admittedly, he did not really expect to find Twilight Sparkle in the pitch-black mountain stairwell, but it was best to be prepared for the worst. Besides, the Element of Magic would probably generate a much brighter light, or at least right before he was turned into glowing library dust.
Emerald, the Eternal Optimist.
Yay! I participated successfully!
Thank you, Georg!
I guess I double won. I didn't even come up with a novel idea to not make progress on. Yay me!
5410215
Well I mean... Better the Optimist. At least he can ensure the monster won't experience indigestion so long as it makes his death quick and painless!
I missed the tick in the tickbox first time around
Thanks for sharing that reading here!