'But what she saw almost made her drop her hand and spill the salt from her fingers.

Another doe stood in front of her, looking at her intently. Her ears twitched in excitement, and now that Temari was paying attention to her, she tilted her head as if to ask, "Are you finally ready?”

Seemingly ignoring the fact that, as a deer, she should have been shy, she stretched her head purposefully toward Temari's hand as if the salt were her rightful property that she was claiming.

Overwhelmed by the series of events, Temari forgot to keep up the mask behind which she had hidden her feelings. Eyes and mouth wide open in joyful amazement, she absorbed the magic of the moment.'

im an american so i can't measure shit lmfao

i have used that pun three years running and i am not stopping

so hey happy new year everypony! i hope 2023 treats everyone well, and i know for me i’m gonna try and hit the ground running this year. so with that in mind, let’s do a little new years state of the deer post!

first off, huge thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed the prototype script chapters! i honestly wasn’t sure if anyone was going to, but a few ppl did and said nice things about them and i appreciate that alot.

there were meant to be more prototype chapters, but a cold snap at the end of the year knocked me on my ass and it was too FARKIN COLD to actually get anything done, so alas i wasn’t able to make more chapters.

but speaking of the prototype! i am happy to consider it a HUGE SUCCESS even if i didn’t technically finish it, bcuz it gave me two very big and important gifts:

1. the version of the story i put together from the prototype is the FINAL VERSION. it has rly helped me consolidate and solidify all of the disparate ideas i’ve been accumulating for this story and world and characters over the last two years, and it feels like a rock solid foundation to build on. very excited.

2. working on the prototype was sorta the final boss of all the visual novel development i’ve been doing over the past year, and it has rly helped me understand what it takes to make a visual novel. turns out it takes ALOT more time and resources than i had originally thought.

more time and resources than lucheek and i have at our disposal at the moment, in fact. so we’ve both decided to scrap the visual novel idea and are retooling the story into somthn much simpler that fits more in line with the tools and skills that we both currently possess. which tbh?? kinda a relief!

our current plan for the new form of the story is to do somthn similar to the prototype chapters, just putting up chapters that ppl can read for free, but the chapters will be accompanied by beautiful illustrations from lucheek to set the scene or mood.

we’re planning to put the chapters right here on the blog bcuz that is RLY CONVENIENT. there are also plans in the works to give it its own dedicated website, but that’s more for down the road.

the other big perk to this retool is that we can get the story into ppl’s hands much sooner!!! tho i’m not ready to put an ETA on that just yet, lucheek and i are both busy women with tight schedules and we gotta work some stuff out before we can say anything concrete about release dates and such.

it’s actually a throwback to how the two of us became friends; she was following me on twitter for a bit and i posted about wanting to see a funny meme ponified and she drew it for me! i was very moved by this generosity so i followed her back and then we became pals. and i’m glad we did cuz she is one of my favorite ppl in the whole world

unfortunately, the writing and drawing part is gonna take a while due to schedule issues and irl stuff. GOD WILLING we’ll be able to start posting finished chapters sometime this year, but it might still be a hot minute

which is why i’ve also been working on a little side project for everypony to enjoy!

YEARS ago i came up with a fun my litte pony au based on the 2017 concept leaks about a potential g5. this stuff

and now in the year of our gay lord 2023 i’m bringing it back! i need somthn to do in the breaks between working on deer story, so i’m going back to my roots and writing pony fiction

u can read the first chapter of this story HERE: https://www.tumblr.com/mlplovelight/707088648017936384/ch-1-scrap-meet

this blog also has a bunch of old stuff from my previous stab at this au, some lore posts and some microfiction, which i’m keeping up for posterity’s sake. i’m planning on posting daily fic chapters (just like the old days) and EXCESSIVE amounts of lore posting bcuz i just goddamn love doing it

like not a literal vacation, i’m not like. GOING anywhere. but i did talk about my 30 vacation days i wanted, and after consulting with one of my best friends it occurred to me that i should just take november off in its entirety even if i didn’t finish the scripts yet.

working on ydf lately has rly been stressing me the fuck out, and i didn’t realize how bad it had been doing that until i talked to my friend yesterday and it just kinda suddenly hit me.

cuz like, so here’s the thing; i came up with a RLY GOOD structure for the story, somthn that i think hits alot of the beats that i want and that carries a rly interesting and natural flow. it’s a GREAT STRUCTURE!

it just has one tiny flaw: it turns out i am one (1) human being with physical limitations! and the structure didn’t rly account for that! :v

i did some math and realized that an episode of ydf with this structure would take me two-thirds of a year to write comfortably. for ONE episode. that time table is unacceptable to me, and trying to write it in a way that it gets done in what i would consider a “reasonable” amount of time completely devoured my life, leaving me no time for my friends or other hobbies, which is also unacceptable.

so i need to go back to the drawing board a bit wrt structure, tho thankfully i don’t have to scrap any of the work i’ve already done. i just need a better system for writing episodes more comfortably, and i haven’t figured out what that is yet.

and good thing too cuz we have crafted the best system possible for this thing and i am EXTREMELY proud of it.

the system starts out fairly simple and becomes more complex with layers of additional context, so i'm gonna present this lecture in layers cuz we're gonna cover ALL of that context for the sake of thoroughness, even if the deeper layers won't become relevant to the story itself until much later.

LAYER 1: AURAS

magic takes the form of a colored aura that a deer can tap into and cast spells with. generally, a deer has one (1) aura they acquire in their youth (the exact nature of HOW a deer acquires an aura is a mystery, even in-universe).

here are the basic auras

as u can see, each aura has three aspects: power, role, and behavior. power is what the aura can actually DO, role is what it tends to be used for and what deer are taught to do with it.

behavior is the secret spice of this system. magic is an extension of the will of naravalon, a world that is very much alive, and so magic is alive as well. it's not sentient, it can't like talk or anything, but each aura has its own instincts that it follows.

spellcasting is a push and pull between the caster's desires and the aura's instincts. u have to work with ur aura, or ur desires have to overpower the aura's instincts.

some deer might be totally in tune with their aura's instincts and so magic comes easily for them cuz they and their aura want the same things.

others might be at odds with their aura's instincts, and so magic is more difficult for them as they either have to drag their aura kicking and screaming to do what they want, or get creative about how to work within their aura's instincts to do what they want.

so that's the basic idea. each deer has a colored aura that has like two abilities each, the auras have a distinct purpose, and a caster has to work with their aura's living instincts in order to tap into its true potential.

the additional layers are mostly about how the current state of naravalon's world contextualizes this basic system. so! let's get into that shall we!

LAYER 2: UNIQUE AURAS

we're just gonna cover each of these individually cuz they all have a specific context in this world that'll illuminate the greater context of the system and how it works.

NULL: this is raw magic, uninfused by a magic aura. this is how basic magic appears before a deer gets an aura, when their magic runs completely dry from overuse, or if their aura has been taken from them by a powerful force.

generally, it is only contact with the harmonizers that can destroy\steal a deer's magic aura. but princess vritra has found her own method to do so, and uses it to punish individuals or communities that draw her ire.

CELESTIAL: this is the special aura created by vritra to be the weapon of emeraldeer's soldiers, and it is only allowed to be used by soldiers chosen specifically by vritra, who bestows it on those that have earned her blessing.

this leads into the concept of a SECOND AURA; deer have one (1) aura usually but CAN acquire a second one. historically this was a sacred rite of passage for entering into adulthood.

but emeraldeer has taken control of most of the sacred sites that are able to bestow a second aura, and now only vritra gets to choose who gets a second aura.

the CELESTIAL aura is only ever given as a second aura; it's just too new for anyone to have acquired it naturally during their youth.

LUNAR: when vritra uses her power to steal the auras from deer who've pissed her off, they're left with the NULL aura. but some deer who have had this happen to them have, through communion with naravalon itself, evolved their NULL aura into the LUNAR aura.

this aura is seen as a sign of weakness by emeraldeer, and honestly by alot of others bcuz it's functionally useless in battle (at least directly, it can be a powerful support tool in the right hooves). others see it as a symbol of rebellion against emeraldeer, taking what the empire did to them and changing it into a blessing.

TEARS: this is the one of a kind aura created and used by ESME. born from her love for naravalon and her research into lost magic... more on that later.

LAYER 3: OUTLAWED MAGIC

these are auras that are forbidden by emeraldeer and can only be practiced in secret, or used by specially chosen emeraldeer soldiers. deer who naturally become attuned to these auras will be scouted for recruitment into the empire, or will have their aura taken from them.

this has become increasingly rare, as the auras need people to practice them in order to thrive; emeraldeer clamping down on these auras means less people practicing them, means deer are less likely to become attuned to them. which leads us to...

LAYER 4: LOST MAGIC

emeraldeer's conquest to try and control what magic can and can't be used has resulted in casualties. these are auras that saw historic use but have now been lost to time after being outlawed by emeraldeer.

notably they're all destructive, protective, or have to do with directly manipulating magic. some aspects of these auras wound up being the framework to create vritra's CELESTIAL aura, and the OCEAN aura was the inspiration for esme's TEARS aura.

while these auras are mostly lost and writings on them have been forbidden, there are still communities who carry on their memory in secret, and rumor has it there are some who can still practice them...

though if anyone is found to be able to practice them, emeraldeer will not respond lightly. practicing an outlawed aura will have your aura taken from you. practicing a LOST aura will have you disappeared entirely.

LAYER 5: POTENTIAL MAGIC

this layer's just for fun! there are a couple ideas i had for auras that didn't fit into the current landscape of naravalon, but that WILL appear in the story somewhere down the line.

the BLOOD aura is the result of a Certain Someone trying to reverse engineer esme's TEARS aura and it going horribly wrong.

the CHRYSALIS aura is a similar concept to the LUNAR aura, taking the NULL aura and transforming it into something new. i can't rly get into how or why without spoilers but it's cool right?? :v

the RAINBOW aura is the result of an old friend of vritra rebelling against her with a group of friends, who were all trying to create their own unique auras. vritra crushed this burgeoning rebellion, but the friend escaped and her own aura took on the traits of all of her friends' auras.

said friend is now in hiding, and her aura is in like. SUPER HIDING. even if she appeared, she would keep her aura to herself.

AND THAT’S THE FULL FINALIZED DEER MAGIC SYSTEM!!!! again, i am EXTREMELY proud of it!

the magic system also intertwines with the DEER CLASS SYSTEM, with MAGIC being mostly about personal self-understanding, and CLASS being about community connection and solidarity with others (though obviously there is some overlap in both).

Look alive, ACORNA.

Two members of the Order of the Storm have approached your camp; one is massive, and the other is shrouded in some kind of magical darkness. They’ve already attacked one of your comrades (though to be fair the term ‘comrade’ is doing some real heavy lifting there), and they’ve said that they’re after the Princess’ apprentice, aka YOU.

Fortunately for you, none of your so-called comrades know that you are the Princess’ apprentice except for Archangel, who isn’t about to give up her own Muse. Whenever she gets here, that is. You’re not sure what’s taking her so long, but you hope she hurries up and gets here to fix things soon!

“I won’t ask again,” the massive peryton from the Order of the Storm takes an intimidating step forward, and although you are surrounded by trained warriors, all of them take a step back when the peryton approaches. “Where is the Princess’ apprentice?”

“I-I think you have the wrong idea,” Hawthorn, legs shaking as he stands over his wounded Knight, is the first to speak up. “No one here is important enough to be the Princess’ apprentice, we’re all just humble warriors in her majesty’s army.”

“He’s right,” Popstar says sternly, taking a defiant step toward the peryton. “You come into our camp, attack one of our members, and start making demands, and yet you’re barking entirely up the wrong tree.”

Technically, Hawthorn and Popstar are both correct; the Order of the Shield is one of three Orders working directly under the Princess Vritra, and it is far and away the most neglected, with its members given no real autonomy outside of Vritra’s army, and treated as little more than underlings for the Order of the Sun and the Order of Mind.

This is something you generally appreciate about the Order, and supposedly it would make you difficult to detect, as no one would be looking for someone of your station in a group like this, but somehow you’ve been discovered.

“Perhaps you Shield Order failures are used to being wrong and useless about everything,” the peryton woman chuckles, “but the Order of the Storm doesn’t make mistakes like that!”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” you take a hesitant step forward and make your voice heard, though you tremble as the peryton gives you her attention. “Who is this apprentice you’re looking for? What’s their name, what do they look like?”

You’ve been standing here for a while, if they would’ve recognized you on sight, they would’ve just taken you. It seems worthwhile to see if you can prod them for information and figure out what exactly they DO know.

“The details of the Princess’ apprentice are kept a secret by ‘her majesty’,” the peryton puts a notable amount of disgust in her voice at those last two words. “We have no idea what her name is or what she looks like, but we have a method of identifying her.

“I had thought that her comrades would know her identity,” the peryton lets out another chuckle and shakes her head, “but I suppose not. In that case, she’ll simply have to show herself before I start maiming every single one of you Shield scum!”

“If you think the two of you are a match for the thirty-six of us,” Popstar scoffs, “you’re more than welcome to try us.”

The other warriors rally behind Popstar as he makes his defiant statement, though you can’t help but wonder if the thirty-six warriors here really ARE a match for the peryton. The Order of the Shield is historically stocked with weak deer, especially those that are outcast from other Orders, and none of their spells, especially at lower levels, are terribly suited for offensive pressure.

You wonder what the hell is taking Archangel so long and you resolve to try and keep stalling until she arrives.

“Ma’am,” you speak clearly, and the peryton once again gives you her attention, but you can tell from the unenthused look on her face that her patience is wearing thin. “May I ask for you and your partner’s names? At the very least, we could fight with some measure of honor.”

“I am Camellia,” the peryton says proudly, before tilting her head toward her Muse. “My Muse goes by the name Le Doeyon, and you will refer to it as such.”

You suppose you shouldn’t be surprised that the deer shrouded in a dark mystery fog goes by an alias. You wonder what it’s hiding, or if it’s just trying to be cool and aloof.

“And may I ask your name in return, little miss?” Camellia asks, taking another step forward that seems to send a chill up the spines of the collected Shield warriors.

“My name is Acorna,” you answer honestly; if they don’t know the apprentice’s name then there’s no real reason for you to hide it, though immediately after answering you start wondering if maybe you should’ve replied with an alias anyway, just to be safe.

“I see,” Camellia nods thoughtfully. “Acorna, where is your other half?”

“I’m here,” Archangel states as she drops out of the sky, taking a defensive stance in front of you and flaring out her wings. She turns to look at you with a warm smile and whispers, “Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“No worries,” you reply, a sigh of relief resonating through your entire body.

“I take it you are also the leader of this encampment?” Camellia asks, sizing Archangel up. “You seem to have more backbone in you than any of your underlings.”

“I’ve seen a battle or two in my lifetime,” Archangel chuckles. “Now unless you want to be just another joke I tell around the campfire, I’d recommend you pack your Muse back up and go back to where you came from.”

“I won’t leave without the apprentice,” Camellia says sternly, and you start to feel sick. You were hoping that somehow once Archangel got here, she’d be able to talk Camellia down and you could all avoid a fight, but that is looking less and less likely by the second.

“The only thing you’re taking away from this battle,” Archangel chuckles, before snarling at Camellia and activating her magic, “is the shame of defeat!”

Archangel charges at Camellia, who reacts with a sinister smirk and flares out her wings, the feathers at the tip glowing with blue energy before exploding in a crackling ring of electricity that shocks Archangel and stops her in her tracks, your Knight falling to the ground with a pained scream.

You try to shout her name, but anxiety chokes the word in your throat. You should’ve been there for her, you should’ve protected her from that attack! What are you DOING?!

Archangel gets up in a second, jumping back a safe distance away from Camellia before sizing her opponent up again. She shouts a command for the other warriors to attack, and the camp breaks out in battle cries and screams as the thirty-six deer—or at least the eighteen Knights—charge Camellia and Le Doeyon.

“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” Camellia mutters ominously, and you can see the faint glow of Le Doeyon’s hooves as it plants them into the ground, the earth itself trembling from Le Doeyon’s magic.

Eight spheres of light blue magic rise slowly from the ground, each of them crackling inside and outside with electrical magic.

“This spell, it’s—“ Archangel reacts in alarm. “FALL BA—“

Before she can finish her command, the spheres EXPLODE, sending shockwaves and bolts of lightning through the camp, tearing through deer and tree and magic alike. You managed to cast your shield before they erupted, but it barely dulls the blow as it shatters around you, the lightning tearing through your body like boiling water poured on your unprotected skin.

In the chaos, you manage to hide underneath a table. The spell might have put you in searing pain, but the little bit of buffer allowed you by your shield meant you were at least left on your hooves, even while the rest of the camp lied broken, battered, and unconscious around you, pillars of smoke rising from the limp bodies of your allies.

They’re all still breathing; deer magic isn’t capable of KILLING, but you wonder how many of them are still conscious after that.

“That spell…” Archangel groans, barely managing to get back to her hooves, “what ring was—“

“Fifth,” Camellia says with a cocky smirk on her face, and while you can’t see Archangel’s expression from under the table, you can hear her gasp.

“Fifth?!” she says in awe and rising panic.

“Le Doeyon has seen more than just a battle or two in its lifetime,” Camellia’s words drip with pride for her Muse.

The magic of Naravalon is divided into nine rings, with higher number rings containing more complicated and powerful spells. Most deer won’t ever get past the third ring in their lifetimes. Archangel has reached the fourth.

This isn’t good. You’re about ready to have a mental breakdown hiding underneath this table. You can barely stand the hazing from your supposed allies, if your ENEMIES catch you… you don’t want to think about what might happen. You need to get out of here!

You crawl out from under the table and run as fast as you can away from the camp.

“Where do you think you’re going, little miss?!” Camellia calls out, and you try to run even faster, but the massive and threatening peryton is hot on your trail, and is much, MUCH faster than you.

Thankfully you have a Knight to protect you, and she quickly stands guard between you and Camellia.

Unfortunately, just as Archangel is getting her second wind and preparing to do battle with Camellia, you see an orb of lightning rising from the ground between you and Archangel.

“ACORNA, RU—“

There is no running from this. You turn to keep running from the camp, but you are surrounded by those spheres of lightning on all sides. Archangel grabs you and casts a protective shield over you both, and while it is just as easily shattered as yours when the spheres explode, you can feel Archangel and her barrier protecting you, and you remain conscious even through the pain.

You lie on the ground, your body singed and smoking all over. Archangel lies on top of you, barely conscious. She looks at you with her single eye glazed over.

“Run,” she mutters weakly.

“Where will she run TO?” Camellia laughs as she shoves Archangel aside. The massive peryton puts her hoof on your neck and pushes down, choking the breath out of you. “I’ll teach you to defy the Order of—OOF!”

Camellia is thrown aside by Archangel’s magic, your Knight having summoned a magic glyph that repels the target, and with that move she’s given you an opportunity to escape. You intend to make good on it.

You stumble to your hooves and run; your direction doesn’t matter, any direction that’s AWAY from Camellia and Le Doeyon is good enough. Camellia screams and you can see her in your peripherals trying to charge at you again, but she’s stopped short by Archangel’s magic.

You run and you run and you keep running, long after your legs have become numb in the icy cold. Long after the sounds of battle have stopped echoing in your ears. Long after you realize you’re completely lost and the world starts to blur around you.

You can’t stop running.

Until you do.

You collapse from exhaustion in the middle of a grassy meadow, the edges of the blades of grass frosted over. It’s cold to the touch, but after your harrowing experience with getting fried alive, it feels like putting an ice pack on a hot wound.

It’s relaxing enough for you to almost fall asleep, but you force yourself to stay awake and to rise to your hooves. You’re still in danger, and you—

A shock runs through your entire body. Blood pools in your mouth. Your legs give out from underneath you, and your eyelids become too heavy to stay open.