One of our two second place winners, this mouthful of a title has a relaxed, carefree flow. The story makes no secrets about where it is headed or how it I going to get there, but strives to make the experience as enjoyable as possible along the way. Our judges certainly seem to think it has succeeded. So kick up a chair and let's talk a bit about the shippiest shipfic in our collection this month.

And let's not forget, I'm here to answer any lingering questions about the story itself or the plans for the future stories.

3671848 I suppose "GIMME MORE FLUFF PLX" does not count as a question, even if I put a question mark at the end of it. So I would like to ask if you are planning to extend this beyond the, ah, m-rated bonus chapter you mentioned, and if yes, more in a one-shot way or another full story.

3671935
The current plan is for the next story to focus on Rarity and Luna, but there will be Twilestia in the story. And as I write each new fic, Twilestia will still be present.

I also have plans for a longer, darker story with all four ships. I'll have plenty of light moments in it to serve as a balance. It also fits into the larger theme I'm aiming for with the story.

I'd be open to doing a little one shot, too. That might evolve from some of the prompts, though.

3672047 Totally okay with Rariluna over here. Since you said "four pairings", will we learn about them during the Rariluna, or did I forget something?

Extending from that, will the Rariluna one be multichapter?

And lastly, since you don't have a hole in your belly just yet, how dark is the longer story going to be?

3672975
The same pairings I mentioned in the author's notes. So, AppleShy and DashPie, too. And by its nature, the Rariluna story will be multichapter, probably similar (if not longer) to CWTDTS.

And it'll be fairly dark, actually. It's not going to be constantly grimdark "everything is awful forever" or anything like that. But I'm not going to lie and say "Oh, well, it's just the one part that's kinda scary or bad, and everything else is flowers and daisies!" See Invention for the kind of mood and setting I'm aiming for.

3672981 So, it will be war-story dark, not horror-story dark? I can live with that.

Also, I think in retrospect, asking a hole in someone's belly is not an expression the English language has...

3672989
It's not an expression I'm familiar with, no. Which does become problematic, because English tends to be a very idiomatic language.

3673010 Ah, yes. Well, it just means asking lots of questions until the questioned party hits you with something.

Anyways, I can handle a bit of dark, depending on if it is going to be dark with ultimately happy ending or a tragedy. But I don't expect you to reveal that.

For those who are interested, here is JKinsley's optional interview from last night:

Cerebus: So, a little bit about yourself to start with, please.

JKinsley: I'm Canadian-American, I like hockey, maple syrup, poutine, and good beer. I've been writing in the fandom since the end of Season 1. Outside of ponies, I've enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Writing's always been a hobby of mine and a skill I value. I've been an avid reader since I was little, and I happen to enjoy Shakespeare a good deal, particularly Hamlet.

Cerebus: I'm quite partial to MacBeth and Julius Ceasar, myself.

JKinsley: I liked Julius Caesar too, but it was required reading.

Cerebus: Aww. So what brought you to ponies, then?

JKinsley: I have a bit of strange tale about that. I frequented the Cheezburger network a while back and the influx of ponies convinced me to watch the show. I marathoned the first season during a rather... depressing time for myself. I needed some positivity at that point, and ponies were exactly the fix. Starting reading fanfiction from Equestria Daily, I eventually wound up on Ponychan's /fic/ board, and I guess the rest is history.

Cerebus: I can certainly understand the sentiment. A lot of us (myself included) found ponies were a pick-me-up during a very dark place in our lives.

Cerebus: What do you consider to be your best work of fiction currently on the website?

JKinsley: Celestia Wants to Date Twilight Sparkle. It's not as long as Canterlot's Guests, but I feel like I did a better job of actually telling the story itself and the story I wanted. That, and you buggers somehow convinced me that Twilestia is Bestia.

Cerebus: We have that effect, yes. I have plans for a spaceship that looks something like a cube. We need to assimilate beyond simply earth, after all....

Cerebus: On the flipside of the previous question, do you have any stories you regret writing on the site?

JKinsley: I don't regret writing it, but I dislike how... well received? A Different Kind of Research is. It was never meant to be that good. It's just generic Twidash (which I now recognize to be a vastly inferior ship) with a little added flavor from a well timed episode, Read It and Weep. Compared to my other stories, it just doesn't really hold up, you know?

Cerebus: I certainly know the feeling of Magnum Opus Dissonance. I consider my best works for the Twilestia Collab to be one of Dinner, Pressure or Honey. Apparently my fans would put forward Chuck Norris as my best. Jokes are fine and well and all, but my best stories to me will always be ones that had substance to them

Cerebus: But I digress. What gave you the idea for Celestia Wants To Date Twilight Sparkle?

JKinsley: A friend of mine, NickNack. We were talking about ideas for epic stories, and I got this idea for doing a big dramatic piece about an Equestria at war with a foe not faced in canon. This fic will wind up exploring how each of the pairings, Twilestia, Lunarity, AppleShy, and DashPie, deal with the conflict and their roles in it. In writing out the ideas for what would make up the whole story, I really wanted to show all of them getting together and showing what happened before. As far as the ideas for that story, the Invention prompt from the tag collab will take place in that setting.

Cerebus: I'm liking what you're doing with the pairings thus far, so I wish you luck on that.

Cerebus: Do you have any advice for people out there trying to get started on their own shipfic?

JKinsley: Read like crazy for the works already done for that pairing, if it exists. Pick apart what you like and dislike. If you can, do something new. If you can't, do it differently. Make it bigger, make it funny, make it sad. And if the ship doesn't exist or it's tiny, read as much as the characters as you can and then work on situations that would make them come together. But most important of all, care about the characters and handle with care.

JKinsley: *cough* The pairing must always be Twilestia, or heaven help you. *cough*

Cerebus: Some merry advice all 'round, to be sure. You forgot "find excuses to include General Grievous", but I'm sure we all forgive you.

Cerebus: One last question for you, then. What did you think of your competitors' stories? And did you enjoy your time writing in the Twilestia contest?

JKinsley: I enjoyed all of them. Sacrifice was probably the most interesting, if only because it told the story from Luna's perspective. All of them needed more Twilestia though. But I suppose that's the inherent issue with a (relatively) short time frame for writing. And I enjoyed the contest myself. I lucked out in that I had already done, well, a month's worth of writing prior and just happened to finish the edits DURING the contest and started publishing.

JKinsley: I'm just looking forward to the next one. And minor suggestion for a prompt idea: Celestia has to steal/encourage Twilight to leave a bad relationship for the loving embrace of her beloved mentor.

Cerebus:I like that latter idea. Celestia helps heal Twilight in some way.

JKinsley: I mean, it's the beginning of October, prime time for a new contest. Hint hint.

Cerebus: Next contest will go up in a week's time

Thank you so much for the interview, JKin. We look forward to your next story!