Author's Notes:

For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I wrote my first book a few months ago. You can listen to a free audio reading of it on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uGE3S3Dj24

Sunset Shimmer and Diamond Tiara sat in Sunset's room. The two played video games together for a while. They started chatting about their recent endeavors.

"So what have you been up to lately," Diamond asked.

"Same old, same old - just staying in and passing the time."

"You sound bored."

"Maybe a little."

"Have you thought about doing something different?"

"Here and there, but nothing's come up so far."

"There's gotta' be something."

"Well, I've had an idea for a story lately, but I haven't been motivated to do anything with it."

"What is it about?"

"It's about these two guys who live in Michigan. One of them is a twenty-year-old emo dude. The other is his best friend."

"Why don't we start on it now?"

"I don't know."

"I can get it published."

"You can?"

"All I'd need is the final draft file. I can print out the manuscript and send it to the publishing company my dad owns."

"That's awesome!"

"Let's get started."

Diamond followed Sunset to the computer. Sunset opened her word processor.

"First thing we need is an outline," Sunset commented.

"What are their names?"

"Jeremy Baisley and John Royce."

"What do they look like?"

"Jeremy is shorter. He has longer black hair styled sideways that covers his eyes. John is taller and has short, spiky dark brown hair with a diamond piercing in his left ear."

"What about eye color?"

"I never gave it much thought. I'd say both of them have brown eyes."

"What kind of clothes do they wear?"

"Jeremy's into black hoodies and jeans with tennis shoes. John's more of a duster coat and steel toe boots kind of individual."

"Now for the juicy parts. What are their backgrounds."

"like I said earlier, Jeremy's twenty. John is twenty-three. They met in high school. Both of them still live with their parents in the rural community of Pluviam, Michigan."

"What year is the story set in?"

"The current year."

"Um...What is the story exactly?"

"Have you seen the blair witch project?"

"My mom and dad don't like me watching scary movies."

"We'll have to watch it sometime. Anyway, I wanted to mess around with the plot of blair witch and see what I came up. Some of what I imagined is based on true experiences a friend of mine had."

"What happened?"

"Growing up, my friend saw a few things he swore up and down were ghosts."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I constructed the plot around that and made up a story about Jeremy seeing ghosts when he was five years old, but he never talked about it. The beginning of the book starts with him confiding in John and asking for his help investigating the woods behind Jeremy's house. This is where the key difference between the blair witch and my story comes in. Jeremy and John are highly introverted, down-to-earth characters. Instead of approaching the situation with skepticism, they approach it from a believer's perspective."

"Meaning...?"

"They prepare for the worst case scenario."

"I thought everyone prepared for bad things. Isn't that like, rule number one or something?"

"Hollywood is often really bad at writing realistic, relatable characters. Most cartoons and anime have the same problem."

"I guess you're right, now that I think about it. Real people don't go around yelling random gibberish at the top of their lungs."

"Not unless they're totally insane."

"What do Jeremy and John do, anyway?"

"Basically, they turn themselves into a two-man holy army. They train for three months and stock up on survival supplies. For defense, they bring weapons blessed by a Presbyterian minister named Summer, a bottle of holy water each, and blessed crucifix necklaces. Jeremy carries a bible as a last resort."

"Talk about triple reinforcement. What weapons do they use?"

"Jeremy has a silver aluminum baseball bat. John has a golf club."

"Why those? Wouldn't guns be better?"

"Guns have limited ammunition and take time to reload. Melee weapons can more effectively defend against a close and personal opponent."

"How can you defend against a ghost?"

"In this story, there are a few ways. The first is running. If you see something coming at you, you're gonna' run away. A lot of their training is focused on improving their speed so they can book it if they need to. The second is fighting. The blessed objects and holy water will seriously burn the ghosts and distract them for a brief period. The last method is only used in dire emergencies because of how dangerous it is. There are a few stories where ghosts are able to warp the fabric of reality. In cases like that, an exorcism is the ultimate solution. Exorcisms drive spirits back to wherever they came from so they can't attack anyone anymore."

"I've heard about those. If an exorcism fails, the person performing it either gets possessed or dies, right?"

"Exactly. That's why priests rarely do exorcisms today."

"That's why Jeremy has the bible."

"You guessed it."

"You put a lot of thought into it."

"I wanted to try to make it reasonably compelling."\

A heavy rain began to descend outside.

"We've been at this for awhile. Let's take a break. I'll order us a pizza. Can you grind us up in Final Fantasy?"

"Sure."

Sunset ordered their food. She pulled up Funeral Thirst by The Black Dahlia Murder from her playlist and went to the living room to wait.

Sunset and Diamond crashed after eating. Sunset woke up early the next morning. She completed the initial outline and started on the first draft.

"What time is it," Diamond groaned.

"It's a little bit past ten. You must've been tired."

"You workin' on the book?"

"I just finished brainstorming. I'm working on writing it now."

"Let me see."

Diamond scanned over the descriptions and dialogue.

"Isn't the language kind of bland?"

"It's as creative as I could manage. This is a contemporary ghost story, after all. It would make more sense to use language modern audiences are familiar with."

"I have to give you credit for avoiding obscenity for the sake of obscenity. That gives you a solid foundation."

"How can I make it better?"

"Finish this draft and send it to me. I'll write a second draft using darker, more mystical vernacular. We can compare both drafts and keep what we like from each one."

"Your literary skills are impressive. I like the way you think."

"Being from high class society has its advantages. I won't lie."

"Alright, George Washington."

For the next month, Sunset and Diamond exchanged ideas. Sunset added Diamond's name to the author section to acknowledge it as a joint effort. Their work ultimately culminated into a final draft which combined the best of both worlds. In total, the word and page counts amounted to over fifty thousand and two hundred-fifty respectively.

"This is it," Diamond stated, "You're gonna' be a best-selling author."

"So are you."

"What are you gonna' do with your first check?"

"Probably help a few people pay their rent and bills, ya' know? Living's tough."

"If you ever need a hand, you know where to find me."

Sunset rubbed Diamond's head.

"You're alright for a little squirt."

Diamond stuck out her tongue. Sunset further softened her smile and weakly chuckled.

"Hey, maybe it'll get made into a movie," Diamond suggested.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed."