//------------------------------// // Author's Afterward and Q&A // Story: Dust on the Wind // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// I think I will start this off by telling you all how this came about. I read part of the first Five Score story. And it got to where they all met up at the farm. I seriously enjoyed it. And was enjoying new chapters as they came out. Then June of 2014 came about. Twisted Spectrum did a blog post, talking about a new story in the five score universe. I had read quite a few of the side stories, not aware how many were defunct. But this new one, by a guy named Phenrys, looked interesting. I read the entire thirty thousand words in a day. And then my muse bit my ear, I sat down and wrote. And wrote, and wrote some more. By the time I had about fifteen thousand words in. I worked up the courage to PM Phenrys about his story and I was seeking his input on the beginning of Dust on the Wind. He wrote back, and and he had the same idea that I had written to him and hit send not five minutes before, collaboration! I finally published the start of Dust at the beginning of July, 2014. Little did I know at that point that I had met my best friend. Seriously, Phenrys, I’m so glad I met you. While his pace of writing is much slower than mine, he crafts wonderful pony words, seriously, if you’ve read Dust, you need to read Irony’s Tale. (And Velvet Nightfall, but I’ll get to that in a bit). So, after a bit more than a year of writing consistently on this story, it’s finally done. YAY!!! A latecomer to the addition of the Five Score universe that is Dust on the Wind, Kitsy Chan, she powered through the main story, and The Last Crusade, and Earning Wings of a Different Nature, then she went through Dust very quickly. And then she decided to make her own story. So, now I’ve got three authors I’m in constant communication with. Even though this story is over, I’m going to continue talking to my friends about their own five score stories, and providing support wherever possible. What am I going to do now? Well, I’m going to get some other stories complete. Though I’m not done with the five score universe. I have Mischief Makers tickling the back of my brain. But I don’t want it to completely take over my life like Dust on the Wind has, so I’m going to try to force it back to the back burner for a while, it needs time to mature. Remember, Mischief is a little foal, and she needs to grow up a bit before I start in on her life. Now, on to the real Q&A… Pretty much all of them from the third author I talk to all the time…exnaggerwes Q. Do you like Dust more than your OC Sparky? A. At first, no. After getting in her head for a year, most definitely…yes. Q. What's your opinion on Dust wearing shoes in Equestria? Rainbow Dash tried to sell her horseshoe in "Trade Ya", implying that she wore them at least at some point. A. I think shoes are helpful for ponies as well as horses. I have Dust wearing shoes for a reason. I even have Dash wearing shoes in Rainbow in the Dark. Q. Being a fillyfooler, can Dust confirm that Rarity is an attractive pony? or does she wear too much makeup? A. Yes, skillfully applied makeup can make an average woman beautiful, or make a beautiful woman drop dead gorgeous. From every reliable depiction of Rarity, she would be one to skillfully apply makeup, not cake it on. Though I do wonder, how does makeup work on fur? Q. What's Dust's favorite color? A. Turquoise, what else? Q. Obviously Mike Shaw had an affinity for electricity and circuits. Does Dust actually share this affinity naturally, or was it acquired as part of her human side remaining behind as she took on her new form? A. Acquired as her human side integrated with her pony side. Q. Would said affinity for electricity carry on to modding electrical and mechanical parts and machines? Would she know which power supply to put into a computer that ran dual xeon processors and 2 GTX 980 Ti's in SLI? A. Dust is not a computer expert. Q. Does Lightning Dust's house have a room with a skylight? A. No, she did eventually build a pegasus landing platform off of the Master Bedroom though. Q. What kind of Music does Dust like? A. Hard question right there. I think she’d like classic rock, and perhaps some metal. Anything else is pretty dependent on mood. Q. Does Dust prefer Intel or AMD? A. She doesn’t care, one way or another. Q. Does Dust prefer AMD or NVIDIA? A. See the answer to the previous question. Q. Did Dust ever find out about Irony's background? Did she know about Ray's? A. She knows both. Perhaps not all the details, but quite a bit of the story is inferred. Dust has been lover to Irony for over five years as of the end of the story, they know each other pretty much inside and out. Q. Why didn't we see a clear call out to Sparky in the story? A. You did, Sparks, in the bar, where Mindy announced her pregnancy. He fought with the human that became Maude Pie Q. Did anyone ever high five Dylan for courting an older mare? A. You did exnaggerwes. Q. What kind of car or chariot would the herd use if they went out with all of the ponies, foals, and children? A. For earth bound vehicle, a Dodge Sprinter or equivalent. They have a lot to haul around. Chariots, theirs is custom built. Minimum of two strong pegasi to pull, or preferably four. Q. Would you support polygamy in real life, or should it be reserved for herds in fanfiction? A. That is a touchy question. I am not a fan of it for humans, but I do follow the tenet of live and let live. If some humans want to have a big family like that. That is their business. Q. That said, how would Dust's herd deal with the fact that there are so many couples in one herd, and so few instances of the herd as a whole? A. While there are “couples” within the herd. They are mere subsets to the herd as a whole. Moon Shadow has a strong affinity for Irony. But she really does love her entire herd equally. Dust is the same way. Mindy and Alan, for the longest time were fairly exclusive, but Alan did finally show his love (in more ways than one) to Dust and the other mares. Q. How would a herd marriage work? Separately as couples, or an even bigger ceremony? Is the herd leader something you have respect for, or is it something you would have preferred to leave out? A. The herd leader is something I have respect for. Families need leadership to advance and function correctly. In a plural marriage, a leader would need to be chosen, I would think. I don’t think it would be a marriage, at least not on this world. Marriage is older than any government on this world. The fact that government has usurped what is really a function of the community and religion is distressing to me. But I’m not getting into a political discussion, merely stating my opinions. Q. Just how much inspiration came from Xenophilia and how highly would you recommend it to someone who is more neutral on the concept of herding and polyamory? A.I highly recommend Xenophilia. In fact, I was not even neutral to the idea of herding and polyamory among ponies before I read it. Though the design of the story, and how well it works, really changed my mind. Herding and polyamory is great..for ponies. Q. Would you have preferred to break this story up into several slice of life style stories with much more detail, or condense it into one adventure with a lot less focus on the details like Dust's interpersonal relationships and daily occupation? A. Hmmm, a very tough question. I actually would have liked to make Dust quite a bit longer and focus more on the interpersonal relationships. But I really wanted to advance the adventure side of the story. Elements I’ve thought of will find homes in other stories. Still, about 350k words for this story. I’m quite pleased. Q. Do you enjoy talking about your story as much as writing it? A. I could be sarcastic, but….no, I won’t be. Hell yes I enjoy talking about this story. My coworkers are probably sick of Dust on the Wind. I know my wife is. Q. How many characters in the story are based on real life people? A. Dust is, Hannah is very much like my daughter. I’ve included the personalities of several people I know into multiple characters. Q. How many events in the story were inspired by real life? A. Some events, the switchgear explosion did happen. And a couple of other things. Q. What was your favorite scene to write? A.I actually had a lot of scenes that were really fun. Anything where Mindy was being nuts was a challenge, but I think they turned out very well. I loved doing the interpersonal relationships between the herd. But an absolute favorite? I can’t say, there were a lot that I really enjoyed. Well, that’s it for this story. Hope you enjoyed, and go ahead and check out my other stories.