Of Hooves and History

by Ahmad J Charles

Author's Closing Words and Notes

I'll start with a confession: This story isn't the best. Especially when compared to my older works, because back then I believe I had a stronger connection to My Little Pony (albeit a little crazied one!) than I do now. However, there still exists a strong bond with ponies nonetheless.

Confession Number Two: I did cry as I wrote the final chapter. Partly 'cause I was listening to "The Magic of Friendship Grows" during the process.

But don't get me wrong. It's been a lot of fun writing this story. It began right after I watched the movie My Little Pony: A New Generation and immediately had an idea for a "Human in G5 Equestria" story. All the basic elements - the submarine, the main human character being a historian, archeologist, and submariner - were all there from the first inception. I also wanted to be among the first to write such a story on this site, and for the most part I believe I succeeded in that.

When I began writing this story, I intended it to be a fun adventurous story with a streak of mystery. But after Aiden's arrival in Zephyr Heights, I began to slip into slice-of-life mode and dragged the story out too much. (Shoutout to StarzGecko for helping me realize this!) You'll notice right afterwards I started to condense events and amplify the depth of them to shorten the timeline. Personally I believe this isn't good writing.

Due to personal life circumstances, I will be taking an extended break from writing. I can't say exactly when I'll be back, but hopefully early next year. Large, complex stories like this one are no more - I will stop writing them for good, simply because they're difficult to keep consistent progression with due to the hectic life I lead lol. As some wise old folks have said, keep it short and sweet! So that's exactly what I'll be writing next after my break - short, fun stories about Sunny Starscout and her friends - whilst keeping in line with canon. I also plan to write a story about bat ponies, too.

Speaking of canon, I need to catch up! I put so much effort into this story I haven't watched anything beyond the first movie and the first ten episodes of Tell Your Tale! Neither have I read any of the IDW comics! And the Make Your Mark special is calling my name desparately! I did get spoiled on a few things, such as Sparky Sparkeroni, and Opaline's castle. I hate getting spoiled, because it ruins the excitement and fun of seeing something new for the first time. Keeping a positive atttitude, I turned it to a positive by mentioning Opaline's castle in the last two chapters by way of foreshadowing.

I will also be writing some reviews/commentaries/analyses on Tell Your Tale, Make Your Mark, and the G5-verse overall.

I'll see you all soon. Take care of yourselves.

With love and friendship,
- Ahmad J. Charles

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Sadly, this story didn’t become the adventure story you wanted it to be like since those complex stories with adventure, lore, mystery does take time to create. I do want to thank you for this being one of the first original Human in G5 stories in FimFiction.

I haven’t liked the comics at all so far... The whole Equestria history lore just isn’t working for me since I have seen fans create better lore... I didn’t mind much of the newer episodes of MYM, but I can see why it feels off compared to how the first movie went there are things I haven’t liked in MYM and TYT which I rather wait till you catch up on. Too bad for spoilers since Sparky and Opaline are pretty cool characters.

[Phetiamwantip]

Ahmad J Charles I'm giving you a trophy for finishing your Of Hooves and history story. Congratulations. 🏆

[Zipp]

This was a delightful story and I'm glad you finished it! Sure, the writing wasn't perfect, but it was a heartwarming "little" tale of the Mane Five and other characters we love bonding with a lost, well-meaning traveler, only to have to say goodbye in a bittersweet ending.

I first found this story some time after A New Generation came out. I was absolutely enamored with the movie, its characters, and settings, and craved more time in its world during the wait for Make Your Mark. This story scratched that itch better than most, taking its time with introducing the characters and showing what was interesting about them all. Aidan's bonding with Sunny was especially special. I was dismayed to see the story unfinished at the time but checked in on it again this year and was delighted to see that you finished it!

One touch I especially appreciate is all the detail you went into describing certain moments like Sunny climbing up cliffs or jumping across the river, Aidan's finagling of the paramotor, or the operation of his submarine. It added a lot of immersion, especially when describing how ponies look, move, and generally manage going about various activities we consider "human" with their adorable hoofed bodies. I don't read a ton of fics but this stuck out to me as a relatively rare level of detail among the ones I have.

Certainly, there are some things I found myself wishing for more of and some aspects I could be critical of, but I'm more grateful for everything this story accomplished than miffed about that which it didn't. Reading the ending brought me to tears if that means anything.

I'm sad this story has as little attention as it does and wanted to leave a nice comment because I know how motivational it is to hear from those who enjoyed your work. If you ever want someone to talk ponies or especially G5 with, feel free to hit me up! I made a Fimfiction account If you feel motivated to write any more pony fics in the future - and I really hope you do - I look forward to reading them!