It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #148 · 8:01pm January 17th
So yesterday was my wife's birthday. As a result, I've decided to theme today's blog on BEING OLD.
Okay, also and Twilight Sparkle being carried by reptiles but that's honestly less relevant.
(Love you hon!)
For the bigger of the two, we go to Novelle Tale and Growing Together.
It's been… well, quite a few generations since Twilight Sparkle took the throne. At least six. Far enough that those she knew around Ponyville are gone, as are their children and their children's children. But one of their more distant descendants - Winesap Apple - comes to her with a request. She is needed at Sweet Apple Acres once more. Because, he reveals, they have spent the last two centuries or so taking care of Tank, and the tortoise has finally grown too large for them to care for. And so Twilight gets to meet him once more and deal with old memories and old grief through an old, old friend.
Twilight being sad about being immortal stories are a dime a dozen. A rare few step outside the mold to create something unique - and this is one of them. Twilight and Tank without Rainbow Dash is a rare thing to start from, and to my knowledge only one of two that use a turtle's longevity to counterpoint Twilight's immortality. It's a sensible plot tool, too, so I have no idea why it's so underused.
That immortality is portrayed well here, too. Twilight's sad, sure, but I quite like the early bit where she just has trouble keeping track of which generation she's talking to and seeing bits of her old friends in the modern ponies. It's poignant without being angsty, which is kinda the note this whole story hits.
I do also like the twist of Tank being what he is. It kinda makes sense (moreso with the appearance of the giant tortoise in Between Dark And Dawn) that he could be a magic creature of some sort. I mean, it's Equestria, they're all over the place. Forming that connection to Dash makes it kinda extra sweet, too.
Really the whole thing is just a good unique take on a classic formula, done without falling into the normal traps. Good 'Twilight is sad because immortal' fics are about as rare as good Anon-A-Miss fics, so that's a big thumbs up from me.
Now let's flip the script with Friends Forever by EmberHeartshine.
Twilight Sparkle is dying. She's old, you see - almost one hundred and twenty. That's pretty ancient for a unicorn. The Element of Magic and Caretaker of the Golden Oaks sees one last day where she can say goodbye to two immortal alicorns and a long-lived dragon.
So while the author notes the story was written back in 2011 and wasn't published until much later, I kinda ignore that a little because it stands out so much more dramatically in the 2020 it was published. Twilight being sad she's immortal is common. Stories of a Twilight that never became an alicorn dealing with her own aged end of days are much more rare and cast a fascinating alternate perspective for the reader.
The story itself isn't that long, but it gets the job done well with what's there. From the 2011 perspective, having Twilight having little moments with Spike, Celestia, and Luna is spot on. Perhaps the only one a 2020 audience might expect is possibly Discord, but I don't think him being absent hurts anything. (I mean, Twilight wasn't his pony after all.) The moments with those three are short and sweet, giving just enough space to each and letting the reader fill in the blanks. Plus of course there's the expected end scene, but I don't think that needs real elaboration on.
Not a ton more to say here. It has a fairly unique idea, it executes it well, it gets in and out. Simple as.
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Yay for getting older! That means, wiser, more acute, more experienced, potentially more interesting and rich person overall
Loved Friends Forever. A charming little nugget
5764145 You're only young once, but you can be immature forever.
Getting old sucks. But it's better than the alternative.
(Yes, I hit 60 last year.)
Ah, Growing Together! One of the last fics I read before starting reviews, and thus off. Ages test subjects for review-style comments. As such, I can see pretty clearly what I thought of it then.
I don’t know that I would like it as much now, but the never-seen pairing of a Mane 6 with someone else’s pet, the magical lore for Tank, and making a story about Twilight’s sadness at outliving her friends actually work and feel deserved through restraint and tweaks to how the sadness is shown makes it a winner.
Haven’t read Friends Forever (though I recognise the cover art from a Scribbler reading of the fic In Memory Of, but despite my entry time in the fandom, I don’t think fics about Twilight as a unicorn at the end of her days are all that uncommon. Certainly rare these days, but before she got their wings they were notable enough, if only to judge from the fair share I’ve read. That said, I still much prefer it to Twilight Alicorn Immortality Angst, due to not being run much today and offering a wider range of takes.
Your words on what 2011 and 2020 audiences might expect reminds me that I am not an average user, because I have never had any issue with an old fic being jossed due to later canon developments. Possibly coming at a point when there wins tons of great old fics that did that is the chief reason. I do get why other reviewers and recommenders feel it proper to point out such things, though, even if I generally don’t beyond side mentions.
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Well of course it sucks.
Still, not the reason to not to try see it in positive light. I'm in the ripe age of 30+ when men become aware of their mortality, so these wisdoms are not so elusive to me
5764153 Only 30 and you feel old, HA! Go out and eat a bag of corn nuts while you can. (I have two crowns that keep me from that now)
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No, I'm not. I have friends who do, though. Poor suckers have no idea what will hit 'em
happy day after wife's birthday!
loved "Growing Together", every word you say here is so true. i should give "Friends Forever" a look as well. the show was already complete by the time i entered the fandom, and the layers in trying to see a fic written in 2011 and published in 2020 as being written in 2020 because it is more meaningful that way reminds me of "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote", one of my favorite things ever
I wrote one: Moving On. I think I bungled the scene where Celestia and Twilight meet, and that really does damage the story's credibility. But I'm pretty pleased with the rest of it.
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Funny enough, I've read it, I enjoyed it, and it's actually in the prospectives pile for this blog series. So I agree that it's something to be pleased with!