Ponyfic Roundup 472: Spotlight on Binky Pie

Read it Later story count: 96 (-1)

Words read this week: 53,100

It's not my usual practice to have a PR straight after Christmas, but I thought what the hay? Binky Pie is that rare thing, a crossover I can actually understand properly, and so I'd been wanting to read it off and on for ages. At last I had both the inclination and the time! As ever, spoiler-free potted review up top, spoilery details below the page break. Here be footnotes!

Binky Pie by Miyajama
Pinkie Pie
G4; Comedy/Crossover; 53k words; Aug 2011–Jan 2017; Everyone

[no short description]

First things first: you do need to have at least a passing acquaintance with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, specifically the Death books, to get the best out of Binky Pie. I mean, reading Discworld is a good idea anyway, but even more so here. The setup could be described as "Pinkie agrees to replace Binky as Death's horse, but ends up being Death. Sort of." While inevitably the prose isn't quite up to Pterry himself, it's a pretty readable and entertaining piece, fitting nicely with the mid-period Discworld I like.¹ "Bill Door" is given an unexpected but surprisingly successful romantic subplot, while Ridcully and the Unseen University wizards are much their usual selves. Applejack does well in a smaller role. Twilight's part is perhaps slightly obvious and overwritten, and not enough use is made of there being Mrs Cakes in both worlds. Still, considering the challenge, I was pleasantly surprised. As such, a very high three. I could see some readers making it a four. ★★★ Edit: now including me! I had missed (because my phone didn't render it) that Death's SMALL CAPS speech formatting was included. This really added something, and that pushes it over the three/four line. Upgraded! ★★★★
¹ After the essentials were firmly established, before it all got a little too world-weary and cynical for my liking.

As you will doubtless already know, spoilers lurk below!

Crossovers with something as beloved and fiercely defended as the Discworld series are often very disappointing, with the author not truly getting that simply copying a few famous phrases isn't remotely enough to make it work. Binky Pie does rather better. It's clear that the author knows, loves and respects Pratchett's creation – though I think the story works better when it doesn't try to ape Pterry's style perfectly, since that is close to impossible.¹
¹ There are a few exceptions: I loved a sideline explaining that Death tended to do well in arguments, since folks had a feeling that he always tended to win in the end.

It helps that the actual story here is quite interesting. Death has a direct link to Pinkie's family (via Binky being her grandfather) to set things up, but what I found more engrossing was the idea that Pinkie just can't feel "comfortable" (for want of a better word) as Death, given that as the Element of Laughter her domain is very much Life. This, of course, leads her to... Interfere rather more than perhaps she ought. Of course, the... previous Death wasn't innocent in that regard.

Readers of Reaper Man will be unsurprised to find a Bill Door stuck on Equestria, learning just what it is to be alive. This takes various forms, not least in an even more intense relationship with curry than he discovered in Mort – but the most memorable aspect is a rather different kind of relationship: Bill's growing interest in Fluttershy. I wasn't keen on this when it first turned up, but I think it ends up being largely successful. Applejack's supporting role helps there.

One aspect which I feel is quite successfully carried over from Discworld itself is the way in which a surprisingly serious subject is hidden beneath all the silliness. Here, it's the intricate and complex relationship between Life and Death, and how both are necessary for the other to, if you'll pardon the term, thrive. Whether it's the Congregation of the Pink Pony of Death or Pinkie's non-standard approach to life-timers, there's quite a bit to chew on here.

As you might expect, there are heaps of references and Easter eggs for long-time Pratchett fans, from the use of L-Space to the wizards' "course 7a". One or two of the callbacks and footnotes¹ are perhaps slightly forced, but the squabbling Unseen University wizards are funny and we even get a cameo from Cut-me-own-Throat Dibbler.² I slightly wish Miyajama had resisted the temptation to include a very obvious Hitchhiker's Guide reference at one point, but that's not a huge deal.
¹ As usual they're just slightly awkward to read on screen.
² I was vaguely irritated that he was referred to as "CMOT Dibbler" on subsequent references, when Pratchett's books generally just use "Dibbler".

And then there are the Auditors. These are the grey, spectral forms that look upon Death's doings and generally (if impersonally) disapprove of his increasing closeness to humanity – or equinity, as the case may be. They nearly work, but I actually think they may have been used just slightly too often in this story and might have been better as a very occasional presence, jolting the reader with a reminder that "Oh yeah, those things are here still".

As for how everything is resolved... the notion that words have literal weight and that this can be harnessed isn't a bad one at all and feels suitably Pratchetty. The exposition to get there is slightly heavy¹ but it's all wrapped up reasonably well, especially for Pinkie Pie herself. On the whole, considering the difficult nature of making this particular crossover work, I think Binky Pie does a pretty decent job. Even if the title is something of a distraction from the real meat of the plot.
¹ And the six years between the story starting and ending do show up occasionally, for example in Twilight's tree being both "Treetops Library" and "Golden Oak Library".

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Next week, it'll be back to the usual five short stories. These will be:

The 200 Words Contest by DeathToPonies
Ghost in the Strings by Koregazz
The Past Saw The Future by CoffeeBean
Three Nights by Bradel
Family Reunion by AnonymousPegasus