1,000 upvote special is go. · 1:39am Oct 17th, 2022
Looks like I made it to 1000 upvotes, at last proving myself not to be completely worthless.
I know what you’re all saying “that’s not remotely impressive. Shut up!”
But ah! If you limit it to just fanfics published this decade then uh…
Okay, actually, if you limit it to fanfics published this decade which ALSO don’t have the human tag / are about ponified humans THEN I’m actually in the top five! And I have potential to become number one in this niche weight class soon enough.
Are you impressed NOW?
No?
Well whatever. I’m still happy so we’re gonna do a 1000 upvote special with deleted scenes, fanart and uh… maybe some other stuff.
So let’s look at some fanart to start out with:
Here’s piece number one! The first fan art as far as I can tell.
I don’t know who did this one, it was posted anonymously on 4chan, but we get a bunch of scenes from Dash in chapter 1. That’s pretty cool. 10/10 cool.
Piece number two, the second as far as I know.
Here we have Rainbow Dash and Twilight wearing the meme shirts from a certain scene, drawn by Sunnyroop23. I like this one too, 10/10! Great scene interpretation! This is almost exactly how I imagined those shirts looking.
Then here’s one from Abode_WTF. An entire poster. That’s impressive! I BELIEVE this is a work in progress since the file name says ‘WIP’, but also I got this months ago and I don’t know if he’s still working on it. Or maybe this is the finished one and I know nothing about art.
Either way, it’s still super cool and spooky! Maybe if it does get finished, it’ll be the new cover art.
From left to right, we got Pinkie, a zombie, Dash, Saccharine, maybe Rarity with her mask one, Twilight. But then there’s one more pony waaaaay in the back! Who is she? We may never know. Though maybe it’s Fluttershy.
Good work to Abode_WTF. You get a 10/10. Maybe even an 11
And then… what’s this? I dunno if the cover art counts as Fanart, but this edit was inspired by the fic at least. Twilight was originally an alicorn in the picture, and I briefly had that version as the cover art. But somebody de-winged her to make it more accurate. So thanks, mystery person!
Finally, we have some stable diffusion pics made by a robot:
(Last one is lemon zest if you haven't read Ghost of a Chance)
So next we can have some fun facts and deleted scenes. Why not!
1. Fluttershy being 69 is actually a coincidence, not a joke. Pinkie had to be 68 so she’d turn into a 13 year old and Fluttershy had to be 1 year older. Dash being born in 1337 is not a coincidence, however. I decided the year by making her be born on that date.
2 Did you know super early on, Cozy Glow was going to be the ghost of Crater Cemetery? I came up with a much better idea around the time I started posting. Details on my original plan were posted here >>11375058
3 Originally there were going to be mutants living in the sewers. I only got about one good joke out of that though. The mutant would tell Dash he prefers being called a ‘freakish mutant’ rather than a ‘mutant freak’ to which she’d reply ‘Isn’t that the same thing?’. Insert laughter
4 I actually had Applejack be the mad scientist for a while. She’d have called herself ‘Madness Jack’ but still have been trying to save her little sister with it. She was more over the top than Rarity. Ultimately, I decided I liked Rarity better so gave her the bigger role.
5 Also Rarity was originally going to have a far more diverse array of mad science stuff. Growth syrums, a flesh golem Blueblood, etc. Originally, I cut everything but the robots to save time. That worked out fine because it allowed me to give the four mad science organizations their own identities.
Though I did have to give up on one joke. Dash would try to gigantify some insects only for them to die because giant insects would suffocate trying to breath with an interstisium. Then Trixie would create working giant insects. An irate Dash would complain about how this goes against what she’d previously learned only for Trixie to scoff off a ‘well you can do it with MAGIC dummy’.
6. Night Glider actually quotes real life cultists… like ALL the time. Here’s some examples.
“This book is a milestone for ponies comparable to our discovery of fire and superior to the inventions of the wheel and arch”
-L. Ron Hubbard Describing Diantetics
“If you need a friend, Starlight will be your friend. If you need a hero, Starlight will be your hero. If you need a god, Starlight will be your god!
-Jim Jones
“Just like you could also blow your brains out or feed yourself to a manticore. It’d be stupid, but you can do it.”
-From a Scientology introduction video.
Next, here’s one scene I deleted. Originally, Scootaloo would show up during the Murder Motel chapter and interact with the Skeleton Crew as I like to call them (you’ll get it later). Originally, Deathblow was actually there to capture Scootaloo. Here’s how the initial confrontation would go.
Deathblow would show up soon after that.
I decided that having her show up in her own chapter and connect to Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash first would be a better idea.
Then here’s a short scene of Dash talking Sonata out of a revenge attempt!
Yeah, a lot changed with Sonata’s backstory… though not her ultimate role in the story. In the first draft, the banshee Pinkie fights wasn’t even Aria, you know. I just referred to her as ‘the banshee’ in the first draft and making her Aria was added in the second draft.
Finally, I already posted one but here's a scene of Zest and Indigo from Ghost of a Chance visiting a war mueseum. I suppose it might be interesting even if you haven't read that story but want more lore.
https://ponepaste.org/7423
And then uh... I dunno? That's it?
I guess you can watch some old Halloween commecials and stuff if you want to.
And that's... that's it. Thanks to the 1,000 people who upvote. No thanks to anyone else. I'll see you again if I miraculously get to 2,000 some day.
Congrats! This is by far my fav ongoing fic and one of my all time fav fics! A great milestone! I'll have to draw something for the occasion!
5692868
Thanks! I'll retroactively insert it.
For some reason, after reading this I felt like unupvoting just to drop it down from 1,000 upvotes, but more seriously, I am decently impressed with you getting 1,000 upvotes. Also, the attention to detail you have is incredible, I would have never thought that Night Gilder actually quotes from real-life cultists.
It seems so logical to me that you reach the 1000 that I'm in mode: It was sure.
Gj! It remains only to pass "Final Corruption" above 500.
5692874
Maybe in 5 or 6 years it will get there.
5692873
Already 1,001. Too late.
But yes. Starlight's religion actually has way more in common with Scientology than you might realize.
Congrats! You (and the story) earned it.
Congrats! You've definitely earned it. It's incredibly difficult to break four digits of upvotes on a story published so long after peak pony. Here's looking forward to more!
(And that is a gorgeous Lemon Zest... which only makes me dread whatever will/did happen to her all the more...)
Genuinely love how charming your characters are so much that I'm considering trying to hire you if I ever get far enough in my own pone project. It's cool to see the iteration here, it makes it clear it's not just bottled lightning but a process you have adapted real skill at.