To help kick off this group, I'll write a thread detailing just how The Lost Element came to be.

The story originally began as a roleplay with my girlfriend at the time of exactly what would happen if I found myself in Equestria. It originally involved me getting into a relationship with Rarity due to us sharing the same dominant virtue of Generosity, although the unexpected love triangle involving Twilight Sparkle was entirely my girlfriend's idea and caught me by surprise, even if it made sense in hindsight.

It was during a week when my girlfriend's phone and internet service suddenly went down that I decided to distract myself from the loneliness by putting our roleplay down on paper. Started back in July of 2011, the story is one of the older HiE fanfictions in the fandom, having been started only three months after the end of Season 1. Although I was initially uncertain of what to call it, my girlfriend suggested the title of "The Lost Element" and it just stuck.

One thing that should be mentioned is that my initial response to Diamond Tiara's harassment of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was originally supposed to be much more forceful and harsh, but I went with a more fitting punishment (the temporary removal of her cutie mark) when I found that while I wanted to do something harsher to her, I probably would not have the nerve to.

As stated above, I originally intended for the relationship with Rarity to be canon. But after some rethinking, I redid the fifth chapter of the story to have the relationship build with Fluttershy instead since I felt that our personalities meshed better. This other plotline with Rarity has temporarily fallen by the wayside and has been renamed "A True Rarity".

As one could guess by what has been written above, the James in The Lost Element is actually me. Therefore, instead of being a character built around tropes, stereotypes, and cliches that other characters in HiE stories tend to be, he is in fact a real person and I do all I can to keep myself in character to the best of my ability while also keeping in mind the personalities of all the established characters in the show and how they would interpret and react to events, which is not terribly hard since the first two seasons portrayed them almost like real people one could easily grasp. But as there are many different types of people, personality types, and behavioral patterns in the world, it is understandable that not everyone who reads this story can relate to or like a guy like me. But I suppose that is their problem and not mine.

As James is myself, any events in the story that are brought up about my life on Earth are all true events. Including any information regarding my former girlfriend. I try to be as honest as possible in my works, for better or worse.

I really was not expecting The Lost Element to take off as well as it did and am rather impressed with myself that I have not only figured out a total of five arcs and have a couple of side stories in the pipeline, but even have an entire sequel planned that will be a joint venture between me and EquestrianGeek where she arrives in Equestria as the next human visitor to join me. Very nice girl and a great friend. Currently undecided for a title, but we will get to that when the time comes.

On a side note, I originally was unsure of where to take The Lost Element after the fourth story arc and was planning to end it there. After some brainstorming though, I came up with a fifth and final arc to end the story on and am really looking forward to writing it when the time comes. I will not spoil too much, but the action scenes will be incredibly tense, some scenes will be something not too out of place in a survival horror game, and the second last battle in the story will likely end up becoming a fan favorite.

I suppose it goes without saying by this point that The Lost Element is, for all intents and purposes, my baby. It is because of this story that my writing skills have developed to what they are now. If My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had never been released, I would still be writing on the level of an amateur fanfiction novice. Upgrading my style to a 1st person style greatly enhanced my storytelling skills. I am deeply grateful to Lauren Faust for her contribution to the series and giving me something to inspire me to try something new.

As of this moment, The Lost Element is nearing the halfway point. In all, there are five arcs. A Newcomer in Equestria, Tears of the Moon, Mortal Chaos, Sins of Humanity, and Endgame. The Mortal Chaos arc is currently underway.

Something a lot of readers have likely not noticed is that this story serves as a subtle delving into the functions of the human hearts.

A Newcomer in Equestria - Explores the reaction of the human heart to a world of genuine kindness and hospitality and the process to adapting to it.

Tears of the Moon - Delves into the quality of the human spirit in choosing to do what is right over what one wants.

Mortal Chaos - Explores the weaknesses and fragility of the human heart.

Sins of Humanity - Choosing to do the right thing, even if it defies the norms one's society revolves around.

Endgame - Exploring the quality of the human heart in doing the right thing even if one truly does not want to.

I try to make a point in my writings and I hope they do get through. I think this is all I have to say about The Lost Element's history and purpose, and I hope that people will continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.