My One-Shot-Tober is over for 2020 · 6:55am Nov 1st, 2020
You may have noticed Nightmare Night, Windigo Fright recently, one of my Halloween story traditions that I started back with the duo City of Monsters and Child of Nightmares and Everfree. There are no cute adorable wild batpony children in this one, although there is a cute adorable colt, which you’ll have to read the story (or below) to find out about.
You may notice a theme in my One-Shot Tober story I just posted. Hey, I like writing about children with misconceptions about the world of weird grown-ups. Windigo Fright is no exception, because Ooo winds up in a situation much like Dee in City of Monsters, where he finds strange monsters roaming the streets of Canterlot, some of whom look much like he does. Now, let me expand some things out in my normal rambling.
I was writing at the prompting of Admiral Biscuit for One-Shot Tober where you generally try to write a one-shot a day for all of October. Spoiler: I can’t do that. Secondary spoiler: Not even close. What I can do is open up a blank document and scratch out short ideas as my brain puts out sparks in various directions, so that’s what I did all this month, and that’s what I’m going to toss up on FimFiction in a few minutes. Yeah, it’s a mess, but there are some pearls in there, like Windigo Fright, which I split out into its own story.
One thing you may notice is a certain NuttyOatyOat bar that has snuck into both Windigo and into Irrespective’s latest chapter in Pregnant Noses Know. That’s intentional, and has nothing to do with an theoretical multi-million dollar endorsement contract from the NuttyOatyOat Bar Company, home of the finest snack foods in Equestria. Try one today and you’ll keep coming back for more. Ahem. I mean that’s because I help Irrespective edit. Honest. Oh, and Irr? If you see a semi-truck pull up outside the house, that’s because I had them put half of our advertising revenue in product, so I hope you like NuttyOatyOat bars.
I’m not really sure what world I wanted to put Windigo Fright into, because it started as a Substitute Librarian chapter, then I waffled and thought it would work better as a pure Green Grass story, then I To-Heck-With-It’d and just tossed it out there, so feel free to glue it into whatever headcanon you wish.
A few other notes on the one-shot file: The Luke Skywalker goes to Equestria bits came from a loose comment at Everfree Northwest where somebody basically said some crossovers are too complicated and just won’t work. I didn’t agree, and used Empire Strikes Back as a base. The actual Substitute Librarian fragment is not completely done yet, and will eventually be peeled out when completed into its own chapter there. The 1940 Equestria short is complete, but I’m fuzzy on if I should make it into its own published story, or merge it in with the 1969 Mare on the Moon chapters to make a larger collection.
Anyway, I’m finishing this up with a section of links that I *think* I’ve shared before but I can’t find, so I’ll share them again. And then a section of Sweetie Belle - Hogwarts Exchange Student where she is introduced to Nearly Headless Nick.
Orbiting kettle has completed Bug On A Stick. GO READ IT
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/917224/a-bug-on-a-stick-qa
Comma Typer has created a delicious treat that drags you into a world we don’t normally see and bastes you with spicy sauce. Enjoy! (and enjoy a bunch of other fics he’s written too)
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/917184/langit-at-lupa-afterthoughts
500 Little Murders has a full audio production now with Scribbler, Illya, Borgman, Caitbug, and Wuten. Listen to it!
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916828/five-hundred-little-murders-the-full-audiobook-production
Augie Dog has some publishing news
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916486/two-bits-of-news
(Sweetie Belle - Hogwarts Exchange Student)
* * *
Sweetie Belle was taking solace in the familiar. Threadcount, for one. Tapestries did not usually have too terribly fine threads, because that made them more fragile over time. These threads were a nice compromise, and packed in tight enough to support each other while still maintaining their vibrant hues. From the dusty smell with little musty odor, they were also quite old, although she did not have a unicorn spell to determine actual age. Also, and quite thankfully, there were no spiders lurking in the upper reaches of the tapestry, observing her trembling with glittering dark eyes from crevices made by the thick supporting rod or wire hangers.
It was also quite a distance up from the stone staircase, which she tried not to think about.
“Professor, is that a… unicorn?” asked one of the students below.
“I didn’t know they could climb,” said another.
“I don’t think she knew about the ghosts,” said Wycliffe.
“Quite a unique circumstance,” said a deeper voice from beneath Sweetie that made her tremble and hang onto her precarious position even harder. “I don’t believe we’ve ever had a unicorn at the school before. Mister Weasley—”
“Professor Weasley,” said Percival. “And please come down from there, Sir Nicholas. You will frighten Miss Belle again.”
Sweetie managed to pry open an eye to look down, and saw an extraordinary number of eyes looking up, including the translucent human who had so frightened her in the first place. He was floating, which still frightened her, but more importantly he was dressed far more formally than the rest of the wizards and witches she had seen so far. There was even a neck-ruff in his outfit, which Mayor Mare only wore on the most formal of occasions. Since none of the other students appeared to be worried about his ghostly appearance even in the least, Sweetie could feel her panic begin to subside, being replaced by a terrible sense of embarrassment at being such a scaredy-pony over such an important… whatever it was. “I’m sorry!” she squeaked.
The students looking up gave a collective ‘Daww!’ Percival hesitated, then looked down at the floor and thumped his chest with a clenched fist. Sir Nicholas politely cringed, much like whenever Rarity saw something made out of plaid cloth.
Ok, my One Shot Tober for 2020 is now up. 20k words because I'm too lazy to chop the whole thing into 30 slices or so, and it's 1AM on November 1, so I'm going to bed. Night!
Percy's teaching? Good for him! Bad for any misbehaving students he may encounter in the halls, though.
5389998 Oh, Percy's just as much of a rule-breaker as the rest of the Weasley clan. He's just good enough he doesn't get caught.