When magics mix, sometimes unexpected things happen. Everyone's familiar with mixing paint - add a little red and a little blue and you end up with purple, or take some yellow and a bit of red with just the tiniest hint of blue and you end up with gold; but magic doesn't work that way. Take a bit of conjuration, a healthy dose of translocation, a dab of unfiltered thaumaturgy, and an unexpected touch of necromancy and you end up with.... well... two very normal natives of Equestria. So what happens when the town librarian, and resident princess, nearly kills one of these ponies? And what about the strange tingle she gets whenever that particular unicorn is nearby? What about that patch of field on the edge of the Everfree where the one sleeps at night.... outside? And why exactly does Zecora absolutely refuse to speak about the black zebra who seems to be the odd unicorn's only real friend? And all the while, a slowly growing threat that isn't quite obvious enough to catch the right ponies attention. And...well...far too many "and"s.
... oh.... and Pinkie simply MUST know how his pies make sparks without zap apples.
Things be getting creep. Looking forward to the next chapter!
I feel I have to comment on how intriguing this story is proving to be. The original characters are some of the most colorful I've seen in a long while. The slight difference in narration depending on the character focus is something I have not encountered before either, which is good in the case of a story like this. Not a terrible amount happens in each chapter, but the balance of description and perspective, coupled with the ever-present feeling of dread that something awful is about to happen, keeps the reader rolling right along. I commend you, and hope to read more soon!
5435292
Thanks for the comments, most of the authors here live to see that little red box after all <chuckles>.
That being said, I've got the next chapter pretty much set, so it should be up within the week. It would have been up sooner but... you know, [excuse] got in the way and [time procrastinating pastime] just couldn't be avoided [that was a blatant lie, I was watching cartoons].
Never fear though, Mojo, Twilight, and the crew will be returning soon for the next installment of "How to mistake innocent actions as those of an angry god" to a fimfiction near you!
While entertaining, and did give interesting information across, most of this chapter seemed...unnecessary. I actually checked if I was reading a comedy after reading about all the chasing and freaking out the mane six did, since the audience already knew it was one big misunderstanding.
Nice story so far, I like how you subtly write the mind control that's going on
Well, having read all of a quarter of the chapter, I admit I am intrigued. Most people don't whip out Loa in these kind of stories. Does explain the urge for me to purchase a top hat... Nice job with Baron Samedi.
7526531
<chuckles> Glad you're enjoying. I'll warn you though, even though it's not on hiatus, I haven't updated this in a loooooong time. But, if folks are reading it, I suppose I can dust off the unpublished chapters and get one or two new ones out.
incidentally, when is it not a good time to have a tophat?
7526630
is this dead? also no one will read an incomplete story that hasn't been updated in over four months I actually put anything not updated in four months into my “canceled” folder unless its on hiatus in which case I wait a year.
7526630
I would love to see what happens next :)
8793040
Nah, not dead, but I really should tag it as hiatus. I have been working on 3 other stories weekly, but if folks are reading this again, I can get another chapter out pretty soon.
8793993
I mean, work on the stories you want to first otherwise the quality might suffer, but be warned if you don't update then no one will read a story they think will never be finished and if no one reads it then you won't want to wright more for it and from there it's a vicious cycle, my advice is to announce in a group that your thinking about writing for this again and then see how many people read it to prepare for the new chapters.
8794063
I've had a bad day and seeing that folks were enjoying my story was pretty cool. So I replied and thought it was pretty cool that folks were still enjoying it.
That being said, the follow up comment was pretty much just a snarky demand to make me do something.
While it's great that you're commenting, here's a pretty nifty thing you should be aware of:
Telling folks that people won't X if Y doesn't happen? That's pretty much bad mojo — and not like Mojo from the story.
It's like saying "Hey, thanks for sharing this thing you have no obligation to give away, but if you don't appease me, bad things will follow."
Think about it for a second. I mean, don't get me wrong, there is a bit of truth in that. Since I stopped writing 10k words a day, the number of updates has gone down. The number of likes has gone down. The number of faves has gone down.
And yet, new folks still stumble upon them and take the time to comment, like, fave etc.
Putting that logic into another format, relationships show EXACTLY why this is bad. Don't believe me? Get into a relationship and wait for the argument where this line comes up: "If you loved me, you would/wouldn't X!"
Never fail, you get screwed. And the reason is simple. It's not a statement of reality, it's a demand and a threat. I demand X and if you REALLY loved me, you'd do it. Since you didn't X, you don't love me.
Of course, that's B.S. It's quite literally insulting someone into doing things for you. It's blackmail.
I heard you the first time, I commented and even said I'd put out a new chapter shortly.
This? This comment I'm now replying to? This comment is pretty much what makes authors not want to write, share, or respond to people.
My response to that comment? Overkill. Yep. But you know what? I don't live for faves or likes. I write things because kidnapping people and forcing them to act out your interesting make-believe worlds is technically illegal. (yes, I stole that from a shirt.)
I don't announce things. I don't look for groups. I write when I feel like it. And since you decided to push the slippery slope of self-defeating behaviors... you know, if I don't write, people won't read, I won't feel like writing and a never ending cycle of suffering and depression will result... well, let me direct you to my previous statement:
I meet with people weekly to write, read, and help improve other folks' writing skills. I'm in no danger of having no one reading or feeling no desire to write.
Hells, I just compared one of my stories (which I write at a lovely 20 minutes total per week) and discovered that it currently is 50% longer than a physical novel I just purchased last month.
So, here's my unsolicited suggestion: If you like something, praise it. Comment. Like. Fave. Promote. Communicate. All that good stuff.
Don't passive aggressive the source of your free entertainment.
Better yet, if you're unsatisfied with how things are going, consider making some of your own. Use the premise, build upon it, write fan-fiction of fan-fiction and build the world around you. Share your works. Ask for feedback. Grow the things that you enjoy and contribute towards that goal. If you're wanting something to progress when/where it hasn't, contact the author and ask if you can make an unofficial offshoot, timeline, variant or whatever, and WRITE IT. Heck, if you don't like the idea of adding to it, write so that you can "show them" how it's really done.
Hells, I have a 'story' here that I use specifically for things not MLP related; just as a dumping ground for ideas. I don't publish it, but I make stories as individual chapters. One of those, "The Effective Cheer of Festive Capitalism", is a WoW crossover fan-fiction that has nothing to do with MLP at all... and when the author of the crossover source realized it (yes, I presented it to him without any hint of the crossover), he freaking loved it.
Ultimately, we're people. I'm ranting and you're wondering why I got so hot under the collar over a simple comment. The reason is simple: it's great to hear people like what you offer them... but it's offensive when folks try to force you to do something when you were just sharing something freely.
Oh, and the real kicker? I signed in specifically to work on the partial chapter that's been sitting here since the last update, specifically because of the two comments that folks were enjoying it. I thought "Hey! I could put off working on Damn Cheaters and A Battleground of Kindness and just clean up that chapter as a treat, you know, to show those guys who took the time out of their days to say they were enjoying it that I appreciated the thought."
----- End of rant -----
Thanks for the comment. Thanks for the warning. I'm good though.
8793632
I've got a partial chapter ready and the next few actually roughed out, I've just been working on other stories lately.
I'll see about getting the partial cleaned up and out shortly though since warm bodies seem interested. Have a great day.
8794186
Sounds good! I'm also the highest active owner of Nercomancy group so I went ahead and added your fanfic there, in hopes of generating more traffic.
8794178
Ok several things my comment was nowhere near a threat, I said it because you obviously put a lot of time and effort into this story and the logic of “I’ll write if people read it” is a flawed concept because if people think its dead then the vast majority will not want to get invested in something there won't be an end too. I know your doing other stories thats why I didn't say “drop those stories your currently doing this one is better” I said to “work on the stories you want to first” I meant the announcement option for when your ready to start writing for this again, not as something to force you to write.
Your response seemed so over the top that I can't help but think that it was building for a while and it wasn't just my (apparently) poorly worded advice to cause it's, so I gotta are you OK?
8795027
Nah, completely overkill solely on your comment.
But, don't worry, like I said, I'd been having a bad day and that just seemed like a slap in the face.
Here, look... I'm not miffed, but it's actually kind of something that folks have done historically (as in decades ago, not internet-history), and have been doing more and more recently. Normally found in people of authority or power, the backhanded compliment or offhand 'suggestion' was used as a tactic to specifically coerce others to do what was desired.
I get it, you didn't mean a thing by what you said, but it ended up falling squarely into that exact format.
On the upside, I was able to chill the rest of the night and I get today off from work (yay for escaping that circle of hell) so I'm not anywhere near as frustrated.
Just, if nothing else buddy, in the future try to think how those kinds of things can come across; you never know when someone might take it wrong. Words on a page can't show facial expressions or give a nod while sliding a mug of something in commiseration.
So, in short: we're good.
Yay! It's not dead!
Now I can justify reading it nd getting emotionaly invested in the characters! Yay! xD
I'll comment more once I've read some of it. :P
8945645
<rubs his head> Yheah... sorry about that. It was never really dead, just on indefinite backburner due to other projects.
Anywho, hope you enjoy.
Wow, this is far too high of a quality story to be this underexposed. Part of me is glad I didn't know about it while it was on hiatus; that would've been excruciating.
8949387
Glad you're enjoying. Hopefully it won't disappoint.
If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
8951013
Mojo would sound a bit like Gambit from the original X-men movie, perhaps a slightly thicker accent... so Cajun or Bayou mixed with the remnants of a French accent.
Storm would be laid back and a touch resigned, though not angsty. No real accent on Storm, just more of a "hey, I'm here and I know I'm about to be drenched or zapped again, but how's your day going" kind of thing.
The Bone Court guy? He hasn't really spoken yet, but if you need a voice, take Kel'Thuzad from World of Warcraft or Heroes of the Storm (I know he was around before, but the voice clips are SOOOOO much better) and add a slight ivory coast accent. He's more about impact than region, so it's half mental anyway.
Anyone else you were particularly curious about? Manilla Takes? Oneila Takes? Various bad guys?
Oh... and that stallion with the tie? He's David Tennant all the way.... <engages shifty eyes> Because of wibbly wobbly reasons.
8949972
I think it's a safe assumption that you aren't going to drop the ball at this point. whatever conclusion you bring this too is bound to satisfy. I'm just hoping that that conclusion is a fair bit of words away.