Read it Later story count: 97 (nc)
Late this week, but here I am at last with today's little selection of stories. Once again I really don't have anything much to say, although it is Griffish Isles this weekend so I hope everyone going to the convention has a great time! One thing I will say, though: I would dearly love to award a five-star rating again. It's been a very long time. Quite a few fours, but nothing that blew me away quite enough for a maximum. That doesn't change today I'm afraid, though there's still some worthwhile reading here.
Business Trip by AlwaysDressesInStyle
No Storms in Canterlot by Esle Ynopemos
Rainbow Dash and Rarity Get Into an Argument by Sonic_Applejack2005
★: 1 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Other
Human/Slice of Life; 13k words; Nov 2019; Everyone
'R' and 'E' are right next to one another on keyboards, so I dismissed 'Mareiott' as a typo and booked my hotel room online. It was only after I found a pony waiting for me at the airport that I realized it was, instead, a horrible pun.
Written as a result of Admiral Biscuit asking for more stories about ponies working on Earth, this is a surprisingly straightforward tale of exactly that. I say "surprisingly" because a lot of authors would have written this as a comedy, or even a cross-species romance, but neither is the case here. The human narrator simply tells us what it was like to be staying at a hotel run by ponies and interacting with a staff-member unicorn called Snowcatcher. World-building stays in the background, and we don't dwell on the ins and outs of how the human world and Equestria came to know each other. The author had clearly done a lot of research on New Jersey, though as a non-local I have no idea how accurate the details were. That was actually one minor downside: the flurry of bridge names and fine details of how pizza was served locally did occasionally get to the point of feeling more travelogue than actual story. Still, it did feel quite convincing as a portrait of an everyday, non-shocking "ponies on Earth" future. ★★★
No Storms in Canterlot by Esle Ynopemos
Rarity
Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jun 2013; Everyone
The one thing about Canterlot that really got to Rarity was the rain.
Expanded from a Thirty Minute Pony Stories entry, this atmospheric little piece gives us a glimpse into the mind and soul of a homesick Rarity. There's a letter from a friend to cheer her up, though to a fair extent we're left to wonder how much it actually will in the end. The fic is a little on the one-note side – but it's a quietly melancholic one note, if you see what I mean. On that score, it works. Certainly worth a few minutes of your time. ★★★
Rainbow Dash and Rarity Get Into an Argument by Sonic_Applejack2005
Rainbow Dash and Rarity
Drama/Slice of Life; 1k words; Dec 2018; Mature (Profanity)
Rainbow Dash and Rarity are hanging out one day when one of them makes a comment the other does not like.
This was a random pick. The dreadful thumbscore (+4/-46!) wasn't a good sign, but the story actually starts out reasonably okay. Rarity and Rainbow are walking along in a prickly mood, the former irritated by the rain and the latter grumbling that Rarity doesn't realise what it's like to be up close to clouds. Sadly, once the first insult flies the fic falls apart completely, as does the characterisation. Dash and Rarity scream swear-filled insults at each other, which go from simple profanity to really nasty jabs aimed at family members. As if that wasn't enough, the story manages to destroy Twilight's character right at the end, in the single paragraph in which she appears, turning her into a tyrannical homophobe. ★
Next time, stories featured should include Sharaloth's Fallen World story DIamond In The Darkness.
For those who might be curious about the worldbuilding behind Business Trip, AlwaysDressesInStyle has written two other stories set in the same timeline and revisiting some of the same characters, Mr. Jones Goes To Equestria and especially 16, which shed more light on the details of that universe.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that third one just the plot of that Raridash episode from season 8? :V
ReplyDeleteI've read "No Storms In Equestria" (plus the original 30-minute version in the anthology), and it's pretty good, won't deviate from your assessment. Still need to reread Else Ynopemos' other anthology collections to properly grade them (if I can - grading a collection of stories is hard!)
ReplyDelete"Business Trip" sounds pure Admiral Biscuit - the matter-of-fact approach to ponies in Equestria, the intricate detail to a particular area or walk of life beyond most people's common knowledge, dipping into travelogue territory occasionally - so it's not remotely surprising to discovering what it was written for. I'm a relatively new convert to Mr. Biscuit's work, but by and large I always find it pleasant and a charm, which is a surprise given how much I generally don't like stories with humans in Equestria or ponies on Earth. This sound quite good too, adding it to the list!
And yeah… just gonna echo Present Perfect on that last one there! As if I needed a reminder of one of Season 8's most infuriating episodes (if not one of its absolute worst, but pretty close).