I'm Working On It! - Letters From a Little Princess Monster · 3:41am Jun 23rd, 2016
Keeping in tune with my ‘I’m working on it! Honest!’ series of blog posts, I would like to reassure fans of Letters From a Little Princess Monster that the current arc is being worked on, Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara will get their little mind-swapping problem resolved, and Trixie has a foolproof plan to fix everything.
Really. Honest. Would I lie to you? Or leave you with a cliffhanger? Here, you can look at part of the arc in progress after the break. Just… step around that messy spot. It’s nothing important. Really. Oh, and towed pegasus kites? Not as good as they sound.
~ ~ ✶ ~ ~
Monster could feel the flow of time slow to a crawl as her heart hammered away. The rapid beats of Rainbow Dash’s wings, previously too rapid to watch, now seemed frozen in place as the slipstream across her face slowed to the gentlest of breezes. The wooden tow handle which previously felt so uncomfortable in her jaws now seemed to be sucking every drop of fluid from her mouth as she twisted to look past the empty tow rope where Scootaloo was supposed to be and toward the distant ground.
It was a very, very long way down.
Far below, she could see the tiny speck of Scootaloo with her wings still drawn up tight against her barrel as she fell backwards towards the unyielding ground, much like the deadly scenario Rainbow Dash had warned her about earlier. If nothing was done, she would die in a matter of seconds. She was too far away for Monster to think about flying to her rescue, even if she could get her clumsy wings to work for more than a hesitant glide, and enough terror surged through her mind that teleportation would only kill them both.
Do something!
Thousands of threads of probability streamed through her mind, made blurry by the constant thumping of distant zebra voices raised in a pervasive chant until she could not even put a single thought together. Scootaloo was going to die and not all the wise words of her mother or trusted teacher could—
Trust in Harmony.
Trixie had said it was the phrase used by Princess Celestia whenever she was about to do something stupid, and the thought brought a tiny fraction of order to her panic. As her sense of frozen time began to thaw and motion began to intrude into her perception, Monster managed to touch her horn to the rope and release her magic. The fibers of the rope disintegrated into dust with a sharp crack, her altered time sense making the rapid decomposition to seem to crawl up the tow rope, hesitate at the harness Rainbow Dash had been using to pull them up into the sky, then burst into a cloud of violet magic as she was set free from her voluntary bondage even as Rainbow gave a sharp yip of pain at the sudden noise.
There was only one chance for Scootaloo to live. Monster had to fly. She reached out with her wings, cupping them to the wind and feeling the spirits of air buoy her up as Rainbow Dash began to turn. There could be no hesitation. Even the slightest pause by the speedy pegasus would prevent her from diving fast enough to catch her friend, and Scootaloo would die. Monster’s small purple wings embraced the sky, stretching wider than she had ever reached before. She did not tumble out of control, or fumble her flight, but held herself firm in the air as Rainbow Dash finished her glacial turn, took a brief glance at Monster—
—then dove straight down so fast that her slipstream spun the little alicorn around in a circle.
~ ~ ✶ ~ ~
“She’s not going to make it.” Trixie stared up into the sky where Rainbow Dash had just begun her dive after the plummeting little filly. To her experienced showmare’s eye, there was no way she could possibly catch Scootaloo before a horrible end in the rocks on the other side of the river. Without even realizing it, Trixie broke into a gallop as she kept an eye on the falling pegasus and a whirl of numbers filled her head. While other ponies tended to panic when stressed, the proximity of certain death was where Trixie shone. Throughout her career, more than one potentially-lethal stunt which had failed every time during rehearsal went off perfectly during the performance, including her last great performance at distracting Nightmare Moon.
This would be a trick she had never managed to master. Only the most powerful unicorns could teleport, and only with a great deal of concentration and control, both of which Trixie had in only microscopic amounts. Every attempt of Trixie’s until today had only wound up in either fire or choking smoke, but even at her fastest gallop, there was a river between Trixie and the little falling pegasus. Ignoring the cries of alarm from behind her, Trixie focused her power as she had never before while running just as fast as her hooves could travel, but one distracting voice kept bouncing around inside her head as she ran.
This is your fault, Trixie. Scootaloo will die because of your pride.
“No. Way,” she grunted as she galloped. Magic funnelled along in her rapid wake, drawn to her horn in a glittering pink corona that swelled with every step and threw sparks from her hooves. She did not have to look up to be able to trace Scootaloo’s rapid ballistic trajectory, or just exactly how many seconds of life she had left until she died on the other side of the river. The numbers danced instinctively to their inescapable conclusion as the river grew nearer and the thunder of hooves in her head grew stronger.
Trust in Harmony
“Bull,” she muttered as she galloped. “Trust in Trixie.” The edge of the river was coming up fast as the magic coalesced into incandescent fury around her galloping hooves and throbbing horn. She was only going to get one shot at this. One performance only, the Great and Powerful Trixie, Student of Princess Celestia, the Unconquered Sun. Do or die. Pass/fail. It was all up to Trixie.
Not me. They will say we saved your daughter.
For one blazing moment, Trixie could see everything. The polychromatic blaze of Rainbow Dash as she plummeted toward the ground. The rapid gallop of Fluttershy and Rarity as they chased after Trixie. The long, frantic leaps of Pinkie Pie far behind in Ponyville as she bolted out of her store window.
Scootaloo’s little friends, looking up into the sky with screams and pointing hooves.
The spot where Trixie needed to be instead of where she was.
Even as one hoof sprayed water from her first step into the river, there was a blinding blaze of light, and Trixie vanished.
Before anybody starts, I would like to formally protest the label of 'Cliffhanger' in this preview.
You will notice no cliffs anywhere in the text, or any hanging going on.
Thank you.
Don't rush. Don't let anyone pressure you. Get the story right in your mind.
Updates on Letters From a Little Princess Monster is one of the things I look forward to most on fimfiction. I even go back to the story from time to time when I need to be reminded why I love all these characters. And rereading Monster meeting Lyra and her friends makes me cry EVERY DAMN TIME.
So I would rather you be happy with the story, then you rush it to meet some self imposed deadline.
I'll wait.
Thanks for sharing a great story with all of us.
4042918 Indeed, there's no cliffs in that post.
Ah, so the cliffhanger is in the teaser instead?
I feel the same way. Take your time, the worthwhile followers know that life can get in the way.
I personally do not like one shots but when I see them from my favorite authors, it tells me they are still writing something. Which means the multi chapter stories are still getting worked on.
Drive on sir, I am excited for what is next
Take as long as you need. Quality takes time, but it's always worth it.
This leads me to a query: is this story actually going to have an ending, or is it just a series of stories that will continue until you're tired of it? I only ask because it's been in my 'Incompletes' bookshelf but, if it's not intended to have a set ending, I might as well put it on my list for reading. This kind of thing has happened to me before.
4043673 That's a good question. I think the best answer to it is "I don't know."
Each 'Arc' in Letters is a somewhat self-contained chunk of story covering Monster's fast/slow transition from the broken pony she was into a new and special little pony, surrounded by friends, family and interested onlookers. Also, Trixie, who was never broken in the first place and most certainly does not need any new friends or family (at least in her mind).
It's a learning experience for all of them, from fireworks to immunizations, Diamond Dogs to Dragon's Eggs, and of course the ability of Twilight Sparkle in any form to accomplish the impossible, such as finding Trixie a husband (he should look familiar to you).
So I'll probably keep writing them as long as my brain holds out. They're fun, they're cute, they're heart-ripping at times, and I've got about a thousand people who follow along behind, keeping me honest.
Come on in. The water's fine.
4043752
Alrighty then, I think I'll be adding this to my list. Maybe I'll read/review it by 'parts' rather than all at once.
4043815 As "Letters" is over a quarter-million words now and has run two years, you'll also find more than a few places where the Author has leveled up and put a few more points into his 'Craft Disturbing Mental Image' skill, too.