It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #97 · 11:07pm Jan 25th, 2023
Swords are awesome.
...yeah that's what you're getting this week.
SO!
We'll start with one of my favorite authors, I-A-M and their Why Should I Dance.
Sunset Shimmer was Princess Celestia's student - graduated now, but when she was? Her reputation for brutal efficiency, pragmatism, and bluntness earned her the nickname Celestia's Pet Sledgehammer. Capable with both magic and blade, she's a capable combatant both physically and in the political arena. Perhaps that's why Canterlot's nobility wants her removed. But that problem's for tomorrow: tonight, Sunset is being forced by Celestia to attend the Gala, and has been further pressured into giving the first dance to Celestia's new student (and Sunset's replacement) Twilight Sparkle.
Now, while the core of this story isn't the interplay with Twilight - it's actually a bit of SunFlower romance - I actually think the other half is the stronger. Not to say the romance isn't good! It's nice and sweet, and the ending scene is just adorable. But the heart that sets this one apart to me is actually the rest of the characterization. (I mean, that should be no surprise, I-A-M is a master at it.)
Celestia's wonderful mixture of suave political operator and mother-figure is contrasted by her tone-deaf shortsightedness - it's Celestia in a capsule, and you get a great picture of her whole character despite her tertiary role in the story.
Sunset's alternate interpretation as well is excellent: the characterization makes sense, even though she's got quite a different situation. There's no mirror or desire to be a princess, but she still feels true to Sunset Shimmer and that's great. (Plus, giant ass sword and Sunset being a hammer to snide noble politics are awesome.)
Wally's little speech at the beginning of the last scene also is spot on, giving development to the Celestia/Sunset dynamic that I hadn't even thought about until she brought it up. And their little romance suits, too - the rough knight to the dirty, humble gardener.
This one's a total package of an alt-u, and it's got a nice additional continuation in Ordinary & Everyday. Solid stuff all around, and it's got a bit of everything.
The other - and shorter - one comes from a much more unknown author: True Edge, with Mark Of The Rose.
Rose is a young filly of Cloudsdale in a long ago Equestria - when isn't specified, but recent enough that the Night Mare is still a thing within memory. She looks to a neighborhood hero as they leave church service: Cumulus, an older member of the Wonderbolts who she idealizes. Then a young and rash thestral arrives, drawing a blade and challenging Cumulus to a duel. It is in those moments that Rose learns the difference between a storybook swordfight and a true duel - and when she earns her Mark.
This one's short and fast, but it's a wonderful little coming of age snippet. The swift jump from childlike - images of a duel filled with banter, acrobatics, flashing swords and the like - to bloody, lean reality is the whole process of growing up streamlined into 1600 words.
And really, that's kind of all there is to say on this one. It knows what it wants to do, it accomplishes it with remarkable brevity and efficiency, and it has a stark brutality to it. It does feel like the first chapter to a longer story - and I would quite like to see Rose's education - but as a self-contained piece it's exactly what it wants to be and smoothly gets the job done.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
aww, what a classic :D I still quote that bit of comic now and then