Well, there you go. · 7:07pm Dec 13th, 2012
Wow.
I mean... wow. It's over. It's finally done. Almost a year in the making, months of ripping my hair out, and Under A Luminous Sky is finally over.I really wish I had something deep to say here. Instead, I'll just thank the people who made it possible for me to actually achieve this.
First and foremost, everypony over on /fic/. As I said, the very first draft of this odd little murder mystery came about in February of this year. Since then, I'm pretty sure every single reviewer over at ponychan has seen it at some point. I'm probably going to forget one or two, and I'm sorry if that's you, but in no order or precesende: LunarShadow, Neitzche, Umbra, I_Post_Ponies, soundslikeponies, ED Garnot, Proffessor Hugbox, Richard M. Nixon( yeah, I don't know, either), Nick Nack, Applejinx, Khakispony, Seidio, Kurbz, Chocolate Milk, Figments, Science Brony, Ryonne, Heavy Mole, Sound Wave, Casca, and probably a few random ponies in The Training Grounds.
Yeah, like I said, pretty much everypony there. It's taken a LOT of work to get my stuff fit for human consumption. Every one of y'all have taught me something, be it grammar, stylistic choices, story-telling, something. And for that, I thank all of you, so very, very much.
Next we come to the portion of the evening where everypony thinks I'm kissing flank, but I'm not. I am genuinely grateful for the work of the Equestria Daily Pre-readers. All the time, ponies bemoan their rigid standards, claiming them tyrants, perfectionists, hypocrites, grammar nazis, and worse. And, in a way, all of that is true. They demand writers to be their best. When I first started writing, I made it a personal goal to get posted to EqD. I wrote my first draft, got it pre-read by a few, and shipped it off to EqD, content with myself.
My asshole was bleeding for a few days once I got the response. But, their absurdly high-standards forced me to get better. I HAD to work harder, learn more, become a better writer if I wanted to make the front page, especially with a Dark tag. But I did it, and let me tell you, I've almost got that email memorized. This is probably a very pathetic thing, but the day I made the front page of Equestria Daily was one of the high points of my life. Dear Celestia, I need to get laid...
Now, all the above ponies helped in some way, but there are three individuals who deserve special mention:
First is my editor, Piquo Pie. He only came along during the final few chapters, but his advice helped a great deal. Also, he can attest that I DO, in fact, need an editor before I see the pre-reader. He pre-reads for a crap-ton of authors, so if you are in need of a boss editor/reviewer, check him out. Piqs, Thanks, duder!
Next is fellow author Guesswork. Now, when I first posted this story, I got some praise from the masses, and that felt pretty dang good. But that was nothing compared to the joy I felt when the author of one of my favorite fan fictions, Daylight Burning, PM's me and gushes over how much he loves my story. Not only that, but he also offered to pre-read/consult for me! Chapters four through the end, pretty much all of them he had a hand in. He even killed an entire chapter! Seriously, there was a chapter planned, and written, where Shining Armor confronts Top Notch about the investigation, and tells us how he got the information on Bentgrass. It was written, I was proud, and Guesswork asked one question: "What does this have to do with Berry Punch?" And that day, friends, I learn the importance of scope and focus. Now, that chapter may at some point come out as a "deleted scene," but for now, Guesswork, Thank you so much for your assistance and mentorship.
The final guy is... well, hell, what can I say? He was the first, the first, to lay eyes on the very first draft of this story, back when it was a shitty Human in Equestria story. Since then, he has seen literally every single draft of this story. Every chapter, every scrap of writing that I did pertaining to this story went through him. I can honestly say, with out hesitation, that he has taught me more about writing than anypony else. His editing eye is unmatched, and his flair for descriptive wording is boundless. If you every remember a really catchy, juicy piece of description, he probably wrote it. It's because of him that I learned the importance of body language, how to show and not tell, to avoid adverbs, ditch speech tags when possible, pretty much every trope of my style came from him. So, Golden Vision, brother, thank you. I can think of nothing else to say but... thank you.
And finally, you. Every. Single. One of you who read this story. Even the six(so far) that downvoted it. Every one of you who commented, speculated, guessed, gushed, complained, bitched, cried, laughed, jumped. I can not express enough how much it means to me that you did so. That people had arguments over the possible endings and twists of my story is... too much. There's nothing else I can say. I love you all.
So, what's next? Well, as you probably guessed, the sequel is in thew works... but it's probably not going to show up for a while. See, I have a few tings I need to do professionally to prepare myself for the next E-7 promotion board, and I'll be focusing on that for a little bit. Also, Let me tell you all something. The worst feelings I ever got with this story weren't when I got a bad review. They were when I missed a deadline and I made you wait. Seriously, I felt so bad. This is why with the next story, I'm not going to publish the first chapter until the bulk of the story is written.
But beyond UALS, I have a few other things rattling around in my head. I have a pretty good idea for a Rarity ship fic, and I want to explore Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh's relationship a bit more in depth. I'll tell you know that unless I expressly say otherwise, all my stories will happen in the UALS universe. Oh, and for those who are curious about the HiE angle dropped from UALS, or even remember that far back, I will merely say this: the tale of Albert Pomeroy and Detective Robert Barlow is far from dead...
Well, at this point I'm rambling. So, I shall end with the ponies saying it much better than I ever could:
Until next we meet, Stay safe, stay free, and stay metal! Jake The Army Guy out!
Dude you are so welcome. Congratulations on turning out such a great story, and send me links to any drafts you come up with in the future. On a totally different topic, you can expect the first chapter of the new Canterlot Embassy some time in the next few days.
Guesswork out!
I like that I am so awesome that you add letters to the word dude.
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It's the name of the related chapter. As to why I didn't also include the song for the epilogue... muffins.
Psst.
Hey, Sarge.
I see your story doesn't have a TVTropes page.
I could, y'know... do something about that, if'n ya like.
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629166 Well hey, would you look at this little thing I put together. Pretty barebones, and even then I probably made a mistake or two... but there you go! I'll see about adding more stuff later on.