I don't have a lot to say here today, except that the Ashes begin tomorrow – so you can expect the occasional cricket-related comment on the blog again. Depending on England's performance, of course, which is never something to take for granted in either direction! As far as PR is concerned, I've reviewed three stories this time. It hasn't been a bad week, either.
How to Remove a Unicorn Tooth by Skywriter
Intellectual Property by AugieDog
We Were Bunnies by Heartshine
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
How to Remove a Unicorn Tooth by Skywriter
Cadance, Celestia and Twilight
Slice of Life; 12k words; Dec 2012; Everyone
Three missing pieces, two loving alicorns, and a single stupid decision that will set young Princess Cadence on a fresh new course.Published halfway through S3, this is a fascinating look at Cadance (from her POV) as she was when we'd only seen her in two episodes. Don't expect her backstory to mesh with Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell: here, she's always been an alicorn. Set 12 years before the start of FiM, it sees her trying to come to terms with a missing piece of who she is – her then-lost kingdom. At the same time, she's finding Aunty Celestia's guardianship a bit of a pain, yearning to be appointed ambassador to Cloudsdale (not part of Equestria here). Still, she does find happiness in looking after young Twilight Sparkle. The start of the story is a little below Skywriter's considerable best, being frankly rather wordy exposition, but do stick with it. There's heaps of great world-building, while Celestia, Twilight and Cadance herself all get the benefit of intriguing looks into their characters as of Equestrian year 988. It's the first in the "Cadence of Cloudsdale" series, which explains the few loose ends. ★★★★
Intellectual Property by AugieDog
Twilight and OCs
Human/Slice of Life; 7k words; Jul 2019; Everyone
Elaine Torkleson, an attorney in Los Angeles, is almost completely unfamiliar with My Little Pony. Her new client is about to change that. And everything else Elaine ever thought she knew as well...Well, this is certainly something new in the humans-meet-ponies field! We've seen stories before in which My Little Pony is both a TV show for humans and a reality for ponies – but the difference here is that the ending of the show will directly affect Equestria. The ponies won't die, as such, but without new material, they'll be little more than mindless automatons. This has been discovered by an eccentric genius who, along with Twilight herself (on his laptop!), engages Torkleson to do something about the ponies' looming fate. This is a fascinating, horrifying and (as far as I know) wholly original premise. The story does skate on some slightly thin ice in the execution, though: the explanations as to why certain things perpetuate Equestria and certain things don't are a little hoof-wavey, and buying the resolution asks quite a lot of the reader once you start thinking about it. AugieDog is a good enough writer that he just about gets away with it, though I think this fic may have less impact if you don't read it soon. ★★★
We Were Bunnies by Heartshine
Fluttershy, Mane Six and Nurse Redheart
Mystery/Slice of Life; 5k words; May 2019; Everyone
Fluttershy asks Twilight what happens after death. Or if there is anything that occurs before life. The answer, it turns out, is complicated.A compelling character piece now, with some really excellent insights into Fluttershy in particular. 'Shy has suffered from a recurring nightmare for many years, and the mystery of what it means and how it ties in with her feelings (past and present) is gradually teased out in a very interesting way. I greatly enjoyed Fluttershy's characterisation, and the same goes for the supporting characters, though Rainbow Dash comes across as a bit early-series on occasion. If I had a criticism, it would be that the writing is occasionally a little rough: for example, there's considerably more Lavender Unicorn Syndrome than I'd expect from an otherwise accomplished piece. Given some superbly judged sections elsewhere – at one point, the word "breakfast" speaks volumes – I suspect this has to do with Heartshine's Author's Note comment about having written the fic in two hours. Recommended, but especially for Fluttershy fans. ★★★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include FanOfMostEverything's Scootaloathe.
I wrotw a very similar premise to Augie's story years ago called "Author, Author!" I find it interesting to speculate on the nature of the characters like that.
ReplyDeleteHmm, don't think I've read that one. Sounds interesting, though, so maybe at some point I'll get to it.
Delete