The synopsis of "How many enemies have you made today?" and farewell. · 6:15pm Sep 12th, 2022
It’s been a wild ride, but I’m tired, and I think I deserve some rest. Before putting this part of my life in the past, I’ll deliver the final nail in the coffin. Below will be a few chapters and the synopsis of the final book “How many enemies have you made today?”. With that, the name Sarcastic Brony will die here.
The following chapter drafts:
Chapter 24(HML) “The end is neigh” - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tSjOtPAVueZ9_lhubHh3E4ba2aUXW6nzZKOynLfDG7I/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 1 (HME) “New start” - https://docs.google.com/document/d/11jCRqqP6-ILo8o6XvbAif0CjONv0UPhvxOD8a4R6an4/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 2 “Ponyville and other things” - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1maxnK2GXiHZ1_G2_ZKUtROdHBNXLyOXwrkE3opSN2yE/edit?usp=sharing
Synopsis:
The theme for Anon in “How many enemies” would’ve been based on overcoming his loyalty as a way of staying true to himself. This became abundantly clear once Nightmare Moon came into the picture. Most people may not have picked up on this, but Anon is a binary thinker. He understands there’s a gray area but his mind defaults to black or white thinking.
This is why, on one hand, he can be fascinated by Nightmare but terrified of Twilight. He’s never been hurt by Nightmare, so he believes she’s good. Whereas Twilight has hurt him, so she’s evil. While he knows Celestia was a victim of Nightmare, he can’t find it in him to ignore Nightmare because of it.
It’s also why despite Twilight trying to gain his forgiveness or be friendly, he is disturbed by this. First-hand knowledge is what defines Anon’s personality. He himself wants to experience what something is or isn’t to make his own conclusion. It doesn’t matter how evil or crazy the concept is, he can’t readily take any side if he feels not all information is present.
Despite being a critical thinker as well, Anon suffers bouts of irrational fear due to his emotions, mostly from his PTSD. It’s why he is prone to going “blank” as to maintain control. The process of allowing himself to feel his emotions would’ve been another milestone for his character in this story.
This is why in the provided chapters, he tries to come to grips with his love for Nightmare Moon. A proxy-type love stemming from how closely she relates to Celestia. Though as the story progressed, this love wouldn’t become genuine as Nightmare reveals her past.
Nightmare Moon:
To maintain some order, I will try breaking down the story based on each character. Hopefully, this reads well.
Nightmare is a complex character piece I’d been working on for many years. Obviously, the show didn’t do her any favors, and I always loved the more depth a character has over the cut-and-dry “evil” concept. With Nightmare now residing in Anon, they would naturally become closer over time. First starting out friendly but eventually transitions to romantic.
There were also plans of changes happening to Anon due to Nightmare inhabiting him. Such as being able to see in the dark and feel the emotion of nearby ponies. Here is a part of an old test chapter I made to show off how that would’ve gone down:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MeUP5OGMROxmcw4qpBxgBSCniBLNwv1SlUmIMC_89Q4/edit?usp=sharing
He isn’t a magical creature, so casting spells would never be possible, but Nightmare can cast spells while in her manifested form. What about Nightmare’s past? Well, as luck would have it, I did write up a rough draft of Nightmare telling Anon about her past. It was a means of taking a break from the main story and working out the idea I had for her character. While not polished, it gives the idea I wanted for her.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rv_dEn5X62_O-ViOpqRbcSZEP5WZNv64dLm-3Qn5Ebc/edit?usp=sharing
So, this was my idea for her past. Pretty cool, right? It helps put a lot into perspective on why she exists, why The Elements didn’t destroy her, and why Luna hates her. Having Nightmare be a misunderstood martyr, who lost herself in the role, really makes you think on what “evil” is and if it’s just a story told by others.
Luna:
With the reveal of Nightmare’s past, Luna’s actions begin to make sense. She’s not evil but is constantly plagued by nightmares, and mistakes she can’t take back. Nightmare had stopped embodying that persona as soon as she fused with Anon. So Luna’s cold and heartlessness towards Anon was due to her “true nature” returning.
I had plans for Luna spiraling into paranoia, depression and contemplating using “soul magic” as a means of killing Nightmare. However, this wouldn’t go too far, as during one of her dream walks, she would find Spike having a nightmare and help him with it. This would establish their connection again, just as they had one when he would visit her library.
Spike still cares about Luna, and as their friendship begins to blossom, he would mature quickly and understand that Luna is holding back and needs someone to talk to about her problems. It would be a long process, but Luna would be given some peace of mind as she tells Spike about everything that’s wrong.
He would even offer for Luna to visit Ponyville, which would put her in contact with Scootaloo, and Luna would begin her own healing process. To see that all of her pain did lead to a better future.
Celestia:
Celestia doesn’t like Nightmare Moon. Given their past, it’s understandable. At first she is willing to give Anon his space with her, but soon she would wonder if Anon wasn’t being entirely honest with her. He would admit to her that, in a weird way, he does love Nightmare but only because of how she reminds him of her.
This would disturb Celestia more than she’d let on. Causing a huge character arc for Tia in this book. Daybreaker. Since the start, I’ve been throwing in sections where Tia can emotionally lose herself to Daybreaker. However, my version of Daybreaker is less like Nightmare Moon and more just all of her bottled emotions manifesting as physical traits.
However, these emotions would become so strong in her dreams that it would begin to burn the dreaming realm as a whole. Nightmare would catch on to this and warn Anon that if he didn’t act quickly, then there would be a chance that in order for the world to bring order to Celestia’s imbalance, another entity would be born, just as she had been.
With Nightmare’s help, Anon would break into Celestia’s dream. There he would find a hyper-realistic dream. Much like Luna’s, it would be memories of Celestia’s past being played out while Celestia consciously watches. This would do two things. Show how much Celestia burdens herself with the past and make Anon realize he’s been idolizing her.
Now, I’ve always liked the idea of writing action scenes but never really got the chance. So, cringey as it may have been, I wanted to have some dumb dream-level fights with Anon employing dream magic to insert himself into those dreams to change their tone, if only a little. Nightmare would also join in after seeing Anon trying so hard but only in Celestia’s final dream memory of banishing Luna.
There, she would tell Celestia the truth to why it all happened, as this Daybreaker event would’ve happened after Nightmare told Anon about her past. Hearing the truth would dissolve Celestia’s dream and leave the three of them in a white void, the opposite of Anon’s. There Anon and Celestia would make up, and Celestia would look to Nightmare and tell her that she’d still need time to come to terms with the truth.
Which Nightmare would only leave Anon and her alone while returning to the void.
Chrysalis:
This was actually a red herring. Chrysalis nor the changeling attack would happen in my story. Just like with my titles, it’s all an illusion but still has meaning to the events that do transpire in the books. However, it would’ve played an important role on keeping stress on Luna to further develop her story, as she would fear the “coming war”. As for why the changelings were scouting and moving closer to Canterlot?
Well, I wanted it to come more off as world-building. They would eventually invade Canterlot but only during Cadance’s wedding, which in my story, would be a few years off. As quickly as they had appeared, they would return to their homes, plotting for the invasion in the future.
Twilight:
Being back in Ponyville, Twilight would be faced with a lot of hardship in trying to help her friends. Rainbow Dash would’ve been the easiest to turn, as her loyalty is easily manipulated to get her to see where Twilight is coming from. Fluttershy would already want to join Twilight and focus on bringing Pinkie back together with Rainbow.
However, Pinkie would be the most reluctant to make amends after Rainbow tried to kill Anon. Now, I admittedly haven’t gotten too far with these subplots, so I’ll have to gloss over them. I wanted each Element to represent various types of depression. Rarity, self-harm. AJ, isolation. Pinkie, resentment.
In the end though, I planned for the Elements arc as a whole to end not with them better but slowly starting their journey to recovery together. Here’s a fun little thing no one noticed as I wrote each book. The books each transition from Anon being the “main character” to a mixture of him, and Twilight, then a mixture of him, the sisters, his friends, and the elements. Which would’ve ended with Anon’s story arc and Twilight taking the spotlight for her final Element arc.
This was kind of a way for me to wrap things up back into the “canon” of the show, with Twilight as the “main character”.
Final thoughts:
So what about Twilight and Anon? What about his mortality? What about Luna?
As for Twilight, Anon and her wouldn’t make up. It’s just not possible. However, he would understand that she isn’t evil but just a damaged pony looking to become better, something he can relate with. If I did entertain the idea of the changeling invasion, it would’ve played out like in the show but with Anon as “Twilight”, noting the odd attitude of Cadance, and seeking Twilight for help, which she would agree to.
Next is his mortality. Well, some of you already guess it. Being able to see in the dark and feel others emotions isn’t the only thing to change with Nightmare inside of him. For simplicities sake, she made him ageless but there would’ve been some “soul magic” employed to do so.
Lastly is Luna. Anon and her would come to an agreement that things just can’t work between them. Even with the truth, Luna still hates Nightmare and Anon loves her. She would move on with her own life and so would Anon.
I think that covers everything, or at least to the best of my ability. There may be some side characters and whatnot, but mostly it would’ve just been slice-of-life/filler content and not really part of the overall story.
So, this is it. Thank you all for sticking around for so long. It’s bittersweet, but that’s just how things go. I’m Sarcastic Brony, signing out for the last time. Take care of yourselves.
Well this is saddening to see... I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, and thank you for writing and sharing these amazing stories.
Sometimes the goal can seem lofty and grand to plan and start to work to show something great. But as you walk the path it can get Dark, Weird, or plainly WTF.
It saddens me that the story will ultimately be closed before a true ending can be typed/written, yet also an author has to also understand if the story can be continued or be put down. I did enjoy reading this series and not being able to fully read it to the true end will sucketh but can relate to needed less stress and make a break from it.
Sad
Thanks
Damn bro, gonna miss ya. Wherever you are, wherever you'll be. We'll meet again. Some sunny day
It's sad to see you go but I understand that you have to do your own thing. Thank you for all of the amazing stories and I wish you the best of luck. Godspeed and much love.
✊
Cheers mate.
Thank you for the magnificent stories you’ve created and I hope you have a great life
Thanks for not leaving tons of unanswered questions and half finished works. Your stories have been awesome and if you decide its time to stop, then I'm at least glad its on a good note and not some crazy cliff hanger like some authors do. I hope you enjoyed writing these stories as much as many of us have enjoyed reading them. Thank you and good luck with whatever your future holds.
Thank you for everything! Wishing you all the best for the future!
Your creations and stories will live on in our hearts, as will you. May you have a pleasant rest, and may your days be filled with joy. Thank you, for everything.
First of all, ow the pain. Second of all thank you infinitely for not only your stories, but for not leaving this on a cliffhanger. Good luck man, we're routing for you.
Thanks for the great stories I wish you the best of luck for the future.
Don't feel bad sometimes it's time to move on and do something new
RIP. Always sad to see the fandom die a little more.
Thanks for some of the best stories I've ever read. I wish you best in your future endeavors.
Thanks for the horsewords
Thanks for the tales of grandeur. May you find yourself upon brighter shores, and may the wind carry you as far as you please.
Until we meet again.
Take care!
Thank you for all your stories and sharing your awesome imagination and time with us! I hold your stories as some of my all time favorite on here and make it a point to re read them occasionally.
I'm sad to see you go, but I'm thankful you stayed as long as you did and wish you the best in future endeavors!
Farewell, good writer! While I would’ve loved to see this series continue/finish, your own self care and needs are far more important. Thanks for the good stories you’ve written though. All of which we’ve been able to enjoy!
I wish you luck wherever life may take you! Thank you for the stories
Sad to see it but at least you have us some closure, I still go back and read the how many stories now and then. I wish you all the best moving forward in life
Goodbye, good luck, see you in another world
Hey thanks for the countless hours of stories. Hope you have a good one.
Thank you for all the stories, you've made a lot of us very happy over the years. Good luck and safe travels.
I'm sad to see that the story won't be completed, but even more grateful that you published where it was going along with notes and explanations. It's much appreciated, and I wish you all the best as you move into your next adventures!
Im sad to see you go i enjoyed your stories i hope you succeed in your future endeavors thanks for all the great stories
I'm sad to see you go, but even more so that many stories that you have made will never be finished. I wish you well with a heavy heart. I wonder how long your stories will remain on here. If it's like the last friend's stories a month or two.
The only thing that seems to stand out to me is the implication that NMM did nothing wrong, and that Anon falls in love with her and leaving Celestia.
You may leave the community (for the time being) but your name will never be forgotten, we ALL will make sure of that! Once apart of the Herd, Always apart of the Herd!
You will always find Friendship and magic here!
Though, I don’t think this will be the last time as it’s hard to find a community like ours and even with it’s good and bad parts, it will always draw you back!
Have fun and enjoy your endeavors! And know: You will ALWAYS be welcomed back!
Damn. One more good soul sails away.
Thank you for letting us live in your universe for a bit. Smooth seas and bright warm days in your path.
Thank you for awesome stories. They are very well written and really got me to think, to try and understand that usually things aren't good or bad but a mix. Best of luck in all you do in the future!
Damn, not again... but we understand, Bro.
No matter what, your stories shall always be remembered by us! Thank so much for all the fun times you've given us. They have given us joy and entertainment and will be cherished by your fans!
It's sad to see an old writer go, but that's the thing about life. We'll always be here for you if you ever decide to come back, and we'll be damn sure to welcome you back with open arms. For this, I shall re-read Sugar and Spice, since I maintain that it's one of the best and enjoyable stories in Fimfiction.
Sorry for being late in commenting, but I needed to say a few things cause... you're a great person is all, good luck with your future endeavors, Sarcastic. Stay strong and the light in the end of the tunnel shall bring to you radiance.
Thank you for all the stories you have written, I’ve read and re-read some of them several times.
Wherever you are heading I wish you the best!
The books were truly my favourite fanfics ever written and I really thank you for this closure. While I might not like everything that was planned ahead, it's real real pity we won't see it being shown in writing. Maybe some day you decide to add to it, for now,
See you Space Cowboy
Really sad to see you go, How Many was a great series, but thank you for at least taking the time to explain how it ends instead of leaving us hanging. I wish you well in your future endeavors.
good luck. you will be missed.
Farewell, you magnificient bastard, and thank you, for all you have done. We will miss you, a lot.
funny. your name will never disapir and your work will never be coffin you are just too good.
Although my time on this site has been overall brief, but within the couple of months I've been on I've found your stories, Thank you for cranking out some of the best work I've read on this site, I whish you nothing but the best of luck man, stay strong and overall, thank you.
Damn.
This series has been such a great series to follow, and I can't believe how long it's been going for (the original story started in May of 2014! That's over 8 years ago!). Thank you for writing for as long as you have; and doubly thank you for releasing the synopsis/plans of the rest of this story, and the next. It sucks that they will never be finished, but that's just life.
I hope that wherever you head on from here, that it's smooth sailing all around.
Thoughts on the synopsis:
I'll start this by saying I haven't yet read the linked documents, unfortunately I just don't have time right now. I'll come back at a later time to do so, hopefully tomorrow.
My very initial thoughts are: Damn, sucks for Luna. I understand all the reasons Luna and Anon would decide not to be together, but Luna is one of my favourite characters in MLP, and I just feel bad for her all things considered.
Anon becoming ageless could mean that they could potentially make up in the future, but that's just wishful thinking haha.
The main 6 embodying the different elements of depression are not something I expected, but that's an incredible level of planning for this. I applaud that. You worked incredibly hard on these stories, and it shows.
Forgiving Rainbow would probably be fairly hard for all of them. Sure the rest did bad things to Anon, but none of them tried to outright kill him. Except maybe Applejack, though it could be argued that she just wanted to hurt rather than kill at the time.
The whole nightmare thing sounds really cool, and I wish I could see it all go down. The only other story that I've seen put detail into the nightmare is A Crafter's Dream, but they went about it a different way, and I believe that story is now cancelled too :(
Well, I'll miss this story. Goodbye!
Sad to see a good writer go.
5691109
If I understand everything correctly, then the book itself will not be?
Удачи тебе друг)
Salutations to an amazing Writer! You shall be missed, but great hopes to your future endeavors!
Well, I don't know what to say. Other than I'm late. However, I still feel the need to give you my thanks. You might not see this. Your stories have always had a lasting impression on me. Particularly Sugar and Spice. I truly loved the dynamic between Bon Bon and Anon. It's sad to see you go, but we all must move on at some point
Well shit...
I just lost access to the end of a great Storyline after i read the remnants of the "How Many-" Verse, I write this here very late becuz i didn' bother to even read this blogpost even tho it was posted 1 week before my 23rd birthday, it's truly sad to see him go away from us but there is one thing that will always remain to every of us, we'll always be members of the Fandom even if we decline it to the deepths of our heart, it's a realization that everyone here will aceept at some time, once a MLP Fandom Member, always a MLP Fandom Member...that being said Rest in Peace How many- Verse
I will always miss you, but just as this here was cut to the early end now, i will make sure to preserve what remains for the future, let's hope that someone picks off where Sarcastic Brony has left the story off and write the rest of the Finale by themselves with more Slice-of-Life and to get a great ending at this maybe someday, yet not today anymore. I am no writer myself plus i have no creativity like the normal writers do, therefore i won't take aim at doing the finale myself.
Farewell Mr.Sarcastic Brony, we'll always be connected to you by our hearts of the MLP Fandom!
Hey man, I wish you the best, your story series has made a lasting impact on the fimfiction community for years, and will continue to do so for years to come. I'm so happy to have been able to read it, and I've re read it many times when I could find nothing else with which I was interested enough in to read, the story kept me coming back over the years an I'm sad to see it go, but in the end its your choice to make as the author, and well its been a Wild Ride partner, but you're movin on down to better pastures beyond the prairie :D
I entirely missed this post, loved your works over the years, hope to see you somewhere again.
It makes me sad that it won’t officially conclude, but I am glad that the concepts are here for me to try and graft into my fim fiction head canon. RIP How Many Xs Have You Made Today.