A Small Snippet of My Work In Progress · 3:13pm Jun 6th, 2014
My current work in progress is shaping up to be less dark than An Equestrian Freedom, and a lot more character driven. At face value, it's about cutie marks. I've always been fascinated by the innate magic that seems to be responsible for giving every pony in Equestria an extra special mark to showcase their talent. I got to thinking, what happens when fate goes wrong? What happens when the major deterministic factor of cutie marks malfunctions and a pony's destiny is fractured? The answer comes in the form of an especially vile cutie mark - a bright red X.
There are several ways that unlucky souls get the X. They can denounce their special talent. They can fail in their special talent. They can never find their special talent. Then there are some extremely unfortunate blank flanks who wake up one day... and find the X for absolutely no reason.
The mark is horrific. It condemns all who display it to the life of an exile. Hunted, shamed, and humiliated, the poor marked ponies recede into the shadows of Equestria. They curse the government that shuns them and search desperately for the meaning behind their disparaging cutie mark. They band together, a collection of blank flanks turned outcast, until they can act. Until they can fight back. The story starts with a bright young unicorn. On the verge of gaining acceptance into an exclusive vocational school, his life couldn't be more perfect. That is, until, he sees he's earned a cutie mark...
I'm hoping to be done writing before 2014 2015 is up. For now though, I give for your viewing pleasure, a sample of my work in progress. The working title is appropriately:
(^That's a link.^)