The lost timelines of the HM series · 3:54am Aug 30th, 2021

Yo! While working on HML, I kinda went back and looked over some old chapters that I have stashed away and thought it was pretty interesting how many of those ideas could’ve radically changed the story that you know today. So, I’m going to share a few interesting ones for those of you who are curious about how writing can evolve drastically.

How many forgiven: Anon pulled off Twilight’s horn ring in chapter 4?
In “The lies we tell” when Anon walks past Twilight as she’s leaving the castle with Spike while she’s distracted reading a book. The alternate version was them interacting and the following scene playing out.

Time slowly down as Anon notices Spike walk out from the castle doors. Spike freezes as he notices Anon. Twilight turns around to look over at Spike but instantly sees Anon standing there. All three of them are frozen in place. Anon doesn’t even need to turn around to see that Twilight is burning a hole into his back. He can feel his heart rate climbing my the second.
Anon can only feel a small grin on his lips. Bonbon was right. It was only a matter of time. Anon turns around to face Twilight, a dead expression that could rival Luna’s.
“Sparkle.” Anon gives a nod as he turns away and walks to the castle.
“Anon!” Twilight calls out.
Anon stops mid step and turns to face Twilight.
“I-I just wanted to say ho-”
“I don’t care.” Anon cuts her off. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
“But I’ve been doing so much to prove how sorry I am.” Twilight points to her horn. “I’ve worn this because of you.”
Anon closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath in and lets it out. His heart is racing like mad, but he needs to do something. He walks up to Twilight as she stay perfectly still. Twilight can only look up at him with noticable fear in her eyes. Anon doesn't speak as he wraps his hand around the ring on her horn.
“W-What are you do-”
Anon rips it off in one quick pull. The sudden rush of magic buckles Twilight’s hocks as she falls to the ground. She’s panting heavily as she tries to control all the the magic flowing through her. Anon looks at the ring in his hand and decides to put it into his pocket. He turns away from Twilight and starts walking away.
“W-Wait! You can’t do that! I need to prove to you that I’m so-”
“You aren’t proving shit.” Anon say with a shaky voice filled with hate.
He turns around to face Twilight. He walks up to her so he can look her in the eyes.
“You think that wearing that ring will make yourself feel better. That if I see how much you’re suffering I might be able to understand and accept what you’re doing.” Anon shakes his head. “I don’t see it that way, Sparkle. That ring is just you way of justifying your crime. It’s your own salvation. To believe that you’re doing the right thing, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t forgive you, because you’re trying so hard.”
Twilight can only sit there and look into his eyes. She’s never seen so much hate in her life. She’s never seen so much fear either.
“You’re going to suffer for as long as you live. You’re going to live with the choices you’ve made. I will not allow you to find solace or comfort. When you are just dirt upon this earth, then I will consider forgiving you.” Anon turns and walks away. “Till next time, Sparkle.”
Anon walks towards the garden instead of the front door where Spike is standing. Anon doesn’t even spare him a glance as he walks out of sight. Spike runs up to Twilight in concern.
“Are you alright?” He asks.
Twilight rubs the base of her horn some.
“Yeah, just some virtigo.”
Spike looks over to where Anon walked off.
“Twilight, how did he remove that ring?”
Twilight’s mind is running in overdrive. Everything Anon said and even what he did. She needs to understand. She needs to study.
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

How many forgiven: The chapter after ‘For what it’s worth p2’
Before the name change, I made two test chapters. One was the one you all know “All that is gold” but the other was titled “new day”. In which, the story continued and no third book would be made. In the end, I went with the third book idea. Here is the 4k chapter that never was.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MiPvZiNg9srQTgMy9yHv_y47dyHDlpYHxyC-Imb80t0/edit?usp=sharing

How many lovers: Anon met Discord?
Yes, after Anon found out that he loved Celestia, he ended up running into Discord!

“I hope this is one-sided.” He says with some fear. “I can’t have her loving me.”
“And why is that?”
Anon stops as a voice just echoed in his head and it wasn’t a voice he recognized.
“Over here!”
Anon whips around to face a statue with a creature he’s never seen before. It’s a weird cross between a number of animals. Yet for some reason, he knows it.
“Bingo! It’s been a while, Anon. How have you been?”
“Good?” This isn’t normal and everything about this situation is screaming at Anon to find help quick.
“No need to be afraid of me... Why, I was the one that brought you here!”
“...Discord.” Anon whispers realizing who’s before him.
“Right again! So, what’s got you all in a kerfuffle? Oh, wait, I already know what it is. You love that sunbutt, don’t you?”
A sneer crosses Anon’s features. “I’m out of here.”
“Wait! I’m not a bad guy, honest.”
“Says the creature responsible for ripping me from my world?”
“I didn’t do that on purpose... That’s just how chaos magic is sometimes!”

How many lovers: Anon kissed Nightmare?!
In the chapter “Listless Nightmares” I was playing around with many scene ideas. One such idea, I had Anon be more aggressive to try and break through to Nightmare. Then this happens.

Nightmare leers at Anon. “What do you mean by we?”
Anon isn’t here to talk about his relationship with Celestia. No, he has other things to take care of.
“Perhaps I’m just projecting but I think we have a lot more in common than we’re both willing to admit.” Anon once again walks up until he’s a few inches away from Nightmare. “You’ve shown kindness to me and nothing you say will change that, because actions speak louder than words to me. I can’t even begin to imagine why. Perhaps it is for nefarious purposes or maybe you just wanted to help me. Luna thinks the former and I’m entertaining the latter.”
Nightmare leers at him. “You like to talk a lot.”
“Then how about an action?” Anon quickly grasp Nightmare from behind the head and pulls her into a deep kiss. Just like the one she forced on him when they first met.
Nightmare is actually caught off guard as she pushes Anon away. “What are you doing?!”
“Consider that as an act of revenge and thanks.” Anon cleans his lips. “There is no love shared between us, let that be clear but I want you to know I truly do appreciate you helping me as much as you have. I’m sure that last nightmare was a doozy to deal with.” He then faces her. “However, you also took my first kiss. I would’ve prefered it have been Celestia but that isn’t what happened.”
“What would your lover think if she found out you were kissing other mares?” Nightmare spits to clear her mouth.
“I’m sure she’d be understanding, as long as I explained to her why I did it.” Anon shrugs. “It’s not like I kissed a stranger. We’ve known each other for quite some time now.”
Nightmare’s left eye twitches. “You’re starting to piss me off.”
“That’s fine because time’s up.” Anon states pointing towards a door that manifest from the darkness. “See you tomorrow?”
Nightmare doesn’t even acknowledge him as she face away and lies on the floor. Anon starts making his way towards the door but before leaving he says one last thing.
“Goodnight, Nightmare.”
Once he leaves Nightmare is left alone to her thoughts. She can’t fathom his thoughts or intentions. Tonight she wanted to manipulate him into becoming the wreck he was once before and to use him to escape but now she’s left with his stench and taste in her mouth. She lifts a hoof onto her barrel and can feel the hammering of her heart.
This wasn’t what she expected, not at all.

That’s all I’ll post for now. There are a few more and if you guys are interested in part 2, then I’ll keep it in mind! Until then, I hope you enjoyed these little snippets of a future that’ll never be.

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