2020, The Year in Review · 6:09am Jan 1st, 2021
And so we can FINALLY bid farewell to 2020, a year I'm sure we'd all rather forget even though we can't. The first full year without the show, and the world seemed to fall apart around us. But hey, I survived (somehow) and so did all of you who follow me. And I think it's safe to say that working on various projects here definitely helped me cope. I still intend to keep cranking out stories for as long as the inspiration lasts (and hopefully the site). Now get ready to take a look at what I was doing throughout 2020 before and after everything changed when the coronavirus attacked (sorry, not sorry).
January
I begin the year with an online class from EMU to finish up my degree, meanwhile I complete "Fashionable Free For All" and publish it on January 6. Soon afterward a collab with Latecomer from 2019 is given the greenlight in the form of "All Creatures Great and Small (Can't Foalsit)". From there, I mostly work on the next volume of my rewrite series as double digit volume numbers approach. I also publish both "The Not So Rock Solid Sisters" and my first padded pony fic of the year in the form of a request that becomes "A Captain's Padded Relaxation".
February
On February 1 the tenth volume of my rewrite series is published, but within a week it's pretty much done. I then only publish one more fic for the month in the form of "Back to Equestria", a sequel to "Sunset on Canterlot High" from the year before. Towards the end of the month I reach 800 followers. Perhaps ironically, this is my least active month on the site even though it's before everything will hit the skids.
March
Although Pony Life starts to come out I have no interest to see it and thus don't see it. "Trying to Fly" is the first fic to be published in the month, and a few days later I leave for a vacation to Universal Studios Orlando and Disney World just before they will close due to the coronavirus (which also finally hits my home state). Upon coming back I quickly enter a changed world as my work place closes and eventually goes out of business, sending me back into unemployment. With my online class now more crucial than ever I devote myself to it to complete my degree. But I still find time to work on a collab with Latecomer, and then publish both "The Teacher and the Belle" and "Daring Do and the Quest for Cookies". Yet in terms of activity it's not my most active month on the site.
April
"The Pies' Special Day" and "Flame Out" are completed as my online class comes to an end and I officially complete my degree (though due to the virus there is no commencement ceremony in person, a virtual one is held). I also begin to work on my unemployment issue, confined to home due to lockdowns. At the end of the month I manage to get the Latecomer collab "Just Mares Talking" published.
May
Initially I focus on completing "A Magical Mother's Day" in time for Mother's Day, but soon afterward I get contacted for a request to write a padded pony fanfic for FabulousDivaRarity involving Shining Armor and Twilight Velvet. It becomes "A Guiding Hoof". Then I work on and complete my other planned fic for the month in the form of "Itty Bitty Chrysy". And towards the very end of the month I work on a fic for publishing in the next month.
June
"The Sitter with the Diamond Tiara" is the first fic to be published this month, and then it's on to the Father's Day fic in the form of "Trixie Hits The Jackpot". The rest of the month is spent working on "Under A Burning Sun" which is born of a request from Fanfiction.net, which becomes one of my few multi-chapter stories for the year.
July
"Gallus' Guard Training" is written and published within a day, and then the rest of the month is spent working on "Equestria Boys" which finally covers the events of the first Equestria Girls movie within my Stallion Six universe, as well as preparing my big padded pony project for the year. I also inherit "Cozy Glow's Padded Punishment" from Matt11 and update it. As the month comes to a close my unemployment situation finally lets up as I manage to snag interviews with both Culvers and Applebees and eventually get hired on by the latter. And yet this is my most active month on the site.
August
"The Secret of Crinkleloo" comes out on August 1 as my family celebrates my younger of two brothers graduating high school, and then gathers together later in the month for something small. "Proud of Your Boy" is released nine days after my padded pony work, and then the rest of the month is spent on the eleventh volume of my rewrite series that now includes episodes from Season 9. This is also the month in which I reach 850 followers, hosting a second Q & A as a result.
September
I throw myself quickly into my new job while also working on "Best First Date" as a sequel to "The Pony and the Yak", complete and publish "Gliding Along" and prepare the big anniversary fic that will become "A Glimmering Reunion". Time is also spent on long standing projects that have been updated over the months.
October
"A Glimmering Reunion" is published on the show's tenth anniversary, the only fic I publish throughout the entire month. Otherwise I focus on a few updates for "Cozy Glow's Padded Punishment" and on my Stallion Six fic and the collab "Potty Training Tales", though I do find time to work on "Cakes and Pies".
November
"Cozy Glow's Padded Punishment" is finished and wrapped up, then "My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition" is finally completed at 230 chapters on the seven year anniversary of its publishing. I publish "Cakes and Pies" midway through the month, and at the end of the month I work on both my Christmas/Hearth's Warming fic and another collab with Latecomer, though is also sadly the month when I learn my family's cat will have to be put down since her quality of life declined sharply.
December
I publish "Quibble on the Hearth" on Christmas Eve and "More Precious Than Pearls" just a few days before the new year. And "Potty Training Tales" is finally wrapped up after over 200 chapters and lots of ideas from others kept it going throughout the year. I manage to end 2020 with 185 stories and 871 followers. I'll probably reach 200 stories before the end of this year (2021) but time will tell if I'll reach 900 followers or beyond.
Well, there you have it.
Good review of a really bad year. Definitely looking forward to seeing what you have in store for this year.
Perhaps one of the stories can be a possible additional sequel to "Sunset on Canterlot High" and "Return to Equestria" that has a two-decades older Sunset as the current Principal of Canterlot High (picks up around the "future present day" of "The Last Problem", but purposely vague enough to fit into just about any of your universes OR the official canon).
You were a busy bee last year. Here's to a better one. I had crazy year with work, plus some traveling in state to go see my folks, plus spending all of last year cleaning out my barn and other projects; writing hasn't been so forthcoming to me, because of life, but it happens sometimes.