Story Notes: You're The Inspiration · 1:20am Mar 5th, 2021
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2560472
So a G5 fic. Already? Why not. I saw some art and teasers and I'm not going to lie, they're adorable.
Right now, the story is a short, sweet one-shot. I've marked this as complete, but... if there's enough interest, I can embiggen this fic. I'd like to do chapters for Izzy Moonbow and the as yet not officially named "Pipp" as well, and I've got a rough draft of the contents of Smolder's journal. I'm not speculating on Hitch at the current time. Is he Sunny's boyfriend? Brother? An unlucky foalhood best friend who's destined to forever be relegated to the friend zone? Time will tell!
If I go that route, my goal here is worldbuilding. I'm assuming they won't address what happened in Equestria between G4 and G5, so I'm filling in the gaps.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2557561
I noticed that 'Earth Pony', 'Unicorn', and 'Pegasus' are all capitalized this time around, and I've reflected that in my writing. Not sure if that's a thing for this generation, or if that was just the Netflix announcement. I don't normally do that. When talking about humans, we don't tend to capitalize the 'H' in human. That's my traditional view on the subject, and why I fight autocorrect every time it tries to capitalize 'pegasus'. Keep in mind, Pegasus is a name (for a mythical flying horse), not a species.
That's not the only thing that may change about this story once I've seen the movie later this year. Everything here is speculative.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2559527
Speaking of things that may change, I'm not really sure what rhyme and reason there is to G5 naming conventions just yet (if any). For the time being, consider background characters like Curio Steeplechase to be generic placeholder names until such time as I get a better handle on the new naming scheme. It seems ponies now have a naming convention more in line with humans. Time will tell on that.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2559125
Izzy Moonbow is adorable. I look forward to working with her in the future. Specifically, once I know what limitations unicorns have on their magic at the beginning of G5. The ball in the image above may be a magic inhibitor... Or since there's supposedly no magic left in the former Equestria, possibly just there to prevent her from putting somepony's eye out. Or maybe she's just really bad at tennis...
I might write something for her without mentioning magic at all.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2559133
On a side note, if Fimfiction has opened the door to G5, will G1 and G3 fics ever be allowed to be posted here? I haven't written any of those (yet), but... suffice it to say that would be relevant to my interests.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2558317
Starring Sunny Starscout. I don't know if Star Scouts are like Girl Filly Scouts, but if they are, just start stacking the Thin Mints in my garage. Keep 'em coming. 
The above is a screencap from the upcoming movie, featuring Sunny Starscout in what's presumed to be her bedroom. Look on the nightstand - see anypony familiar? How about the posters on the walls? The buttons on her sash? The image on the side of her satchel? This little pony is big into G4. It bears the question of where, exactly, she got this merchandise if there's no unity between the tribes. That's what I've tried to answer with this story.
Also, I think we have a new Book Horse.
In case I didn't make it clear in the story, an Edger in this case is somepony who lives on the edge/fringes of society. It's a term I made up for the fic, since the leaked movie summary implies Sunny is exiled from her town when she befriends a lost unicorn (Izzy Moonbow), which is the final straw in a town already tired of her antics.
I don't think I need to tell any of you how disappointed I was with the ending of G4. G5 is showing promise I didn't expect. I don't think it'll be enough to bring back the glory days of the fandom, but it might just be enough to keep us going.
"I noticed that 'Earth Pony', 'Unicorn', and 'Pegasus' are all capitalized this time around, and I've reflected that in my writing. Not sure if that's a thing for this generation, or if that was just the Netflix announcement. I don't normally do that."
Ah, I did notice that. Personally, I'd not be inclined to trust the capitalization in an announcement like that, but up to you for your story. And the world you're building in it. :)
"That's not the only thing that may change about this story"
Oh, you think you might edit what's already there? Hm. Well, understandable if you do continue this, but perhaps please keep the current version as an "Original First Chapter" or "Original Pre-Movie One Shot" or something?
"On a side note, if Fimfiction has opened the door to G5, will G1 and G3 fics ever be allowed to be posted here?"
Huh. I didn't know they weren't allowed now. I haven't actually checked, though.
And while I don't share your disappointment, I assume, with the end of G4, I'm still, and to some extent increasingly, optimistic about G5 and its potential results, aye. :)
(My, though, I don't envy the people trying to make the show and movie right now, given the stakes they're presumably aware of.)
Anyway, thank you for the blog post too. :)
5467961
Same here, but when that's all the information there is to go on... Gotta roll with it.
I could certainly do that! I guess we'll see where G5 goes from here as to whether I expand this or focus on writing new G5 stories instead. Of course I'll never stop writing G4 content.
FIM definitely left big shoes to fill! It's still too early to say, but I'm optimistic G5 will be good!
Go ahead -- this is the only time when you will have true creative agency in G5. When they actually start it, then you will be constrained by what is shown. It is kind of like Luna in Season 1. There were tons of author opinions on what Luna was. Some of them were very good. Then canon closed the walls, limiting the range of what she was.
5468660
Very good point!
5468422
[shrugs] Well, I think you could have gone either way still, but, like I said, your story, not mine. :)
"I could certainly do that!"
Ah, thanks!
While I expect an adapted and expanded version would also be good, I'd rather not have this vanish just because it probably doesn't fit actual G5.
"I guess we'll see where G5 goes from here as to whether I expand this or focus on writing new G5 stories instead. Of course I'll never stop writing G4 content."
:)
"FIM definitely left big shoes to fill! It's still too early to say, but I'm optimistic G5 will be good!"
Agreed! I was open to giving it a shot when we knew nothing or just had some leaks, and while some of the leaks and such may have nudged up or down at my expectations, I kept in mind that they were pre-release if they were real at all. And since the big reveal, I'd had, if still cautious, optimism, and am looking forward to seeing what they do! And it's quite nice to see how much creativity the fandom's already engaged in, just from the very little we've gotten so far. :)
5468660
We still got AU fanfics.
5468925
AU's are still tainted by the knowledge of the new canon. Plus they are AU's. There is a big difference between writing a story where characters are certain ways because you don't know what the canon is and despite what the canon is.