Story Recommendations of the Day · 2:39pm Apr 12th, 2013
Man, it's been too long since I've done one of the these. Sorry. Anyway! Here are things which I've been reading and enjoying lately, and I hope you'll enjoy them too if you give 'em a read.
Spoiler: They are all shippy. You are shocked to your cores, I am sure.
"The Love Song of T. Sparkle" by Cynewulf
Synopsis: Rarity moves to Canterlot. Rainbow joins the Wonderbolts. Fluttershy and Twilight are shut-ins, to an extent. The friends remain so, but they have lost some of the freshness of their connection. Rarity, in her new home, invites all of her dearest friends to join her in the ancient city. Twilight struggles with her attraction to Rarity, long a secret, while another pony's plan comes to fruition.
It is like a prose poem, and it is introspective and moody and gently angsty. I burn with jealousy that I did not write it myself.
"Everything is Sound" by ThePwnzorMuffin
Synopsis: Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie find each other in the midst of a raging storm. Through the rain, wind, lightning, and whatever else a storm can throw at a pony, they just might find something new in the process. Based off of the song "The Lightning Strike" by Snow Patrol.
This is almost like an extended vignette, as the dramatic conflict is rather on the light side, but I enjoyed it a lot. There's a somewhat mysterious feel to the story's beginning as well as a very introspective tone throughout. This is the perfect story to read inside under blankets with a warm cup of tea while a thunderstorm rages outside.
"Stubborn as Ponies" by Esle Ynopemos
Synopsis: A pony is called stubborn when they refuse to change their mind no matter the persuasion against them. A pony is called persistent in hindsight when their refusal turns out to be a wise decision. "Persistence" is nothing more than what they call stubbornness when it turns out to have been for the best all along.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack may or may not be persistent, but they are most definitely stubborn.
ApplePiiiiiiiie! Best ship name is best ship name! This is a wonderful ApplePie romance, and I really enjoyed reading it. Both the portraits of Applejack and Pinkie Pie are complex yet sympathetic. There aren’t any heroes or villains here, just two good friends trying their best and making a total mess of pretty much everything. Also, there’s a scene towards the end, set in a dentist’s office, that is just pure joy.
"Twice as Bright" by Cloudy Skies
Synopsis: Celestia likes her routine. Tax reforms, grants, laws and construction projects are all a princess needs to be content.
It's just her luck that for Pinkie Pie, "content" is not nearly enough.
It's Pinklestia. As in, Pinkie Pie x Princess Celstia. And it's beautiful. The relationship between these two is slowly taken from a friendly acquaintanceship and turned into a friendship and then something a bit more. It's a lot funny, a lot heart-warming, and often surprisingly romantic.
I read The Love Song of T. Sparkle, and I have to say, I was pretty underwhelmed. Maybe I just don't have the right taste for the way it was constructed. I can tell the author put a lot of thought and heart into it, but it just didn't resonate with me //dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
Stubborn as Ponies was a nice read. We definitely need more ApplePie (both kinds!) on this site.
I would give Twice as Bright a shot if I wasn't currently staring down Lost and Found, trying to eventually work my way into it. Huge word counts tend to intimidate me
I will add it and Everything is Sound to read later, though. FlutterPie's another ship I find myself enjoying that's drastically unrepresented (compared to the others, anyway).
the first story you mentioned the raritwi one. i mean i do like his raridash stories it just i don't like how he writes pinkie. i feel he doesn't put enough heart in her character i mean in that story i don't even think she got shipped. i hate it when everyone else has someone and pinkie is left alone.
i lose respect for anyone who doesn't bother putting her in their stories all together for whatever their reason is. fluttershy isn't my favorite but i try to include her in my stories as much as possible because she is part of the mane six after all.
ApplePie is a better name than Twinkie?
But yes, Stubborn as Ponies is great. I wanted to look at Love Song myself, but haven't had the time.
Nuh-uh, 'Twinkie' is best ship name.
I already read Love Song and I dug it. It does read like an experiment in format - dialogue free, hard-changing POVs, very confined action and viewpoints - and that's its charm, I think. It's inspired by classic literature, which is a Cynewulf hallmark, and if you can read through the format then it's a nice little snapshot of romantic drama.
PinkeShy? That's the sound of something going straight in my read-later list, that. Yes please. Also, to echo what everypony else is saying, Stubborn as Ponies is fantastic.
Not sure about the fourth one though. Sounds implausible. I doubt that ship could even work.
(You're a gem.)
I think you can still write it yourself, as the story ended halfway through.
I'm torn on the subject of Twice as bright, Cloudy is a great author but in my mind Celestia belongs to Twilight...
Apple Pie is the most delicious ship.
I'll have to add that Pinkie Shy to my Read Later list, though. Dangit, I was just starting to get that list trimmed down, too.
With a title like that, what else could it have been?
There are a lot of good ship names in this fandom, but ApplePie pretty much takes the proverbial baked good.
"Twice as Bright" is something I've considered reading for a while, but I keep turning back because the idea sounds too weird and fairly silly. Maybe I'll give it a try now!
Thanks for the recommendations! I've already read Stubborn as Ponies and loved it.
1001966
I could definitely see that story being a hit or miss thing. Sorry you didn't like it!
Huge word counts intimidate me too--I still haven't read Lost and Found, mostly just because I didn't jump in at chapter 1, back before the word counts started getting too high. Oh, well. One of these days ...
1001971
That doesn't really bother me. Not every story can give the spotlight to every character, the way I see it, and them's just the breaks.
1002025
Twinkie's a close second.
ApplePie is, if only by a tiny bit.
Love Song, I think, is something most people are probably gonna love are gonna hate. If you do get around to it, hope it falls in the former category and not the latter!
1002036
Twinkie is second best ship name. In my opinion, anyways.
1002076
Yeah, even before it clicked that it was inspired by a specific poem, I picked up that it was based on/echoing big-L literature. That was one of its charms for me, but mileage varies, o' course.
1002117
I know, right? Pinklestia? Pfft! And yet, the story makes it hard to believe that Celestia could do anything but fall in love with Pinkie Pie.
I agree about PinkieShy (cough*whichismynewOTP*cough*) but even more, I think this fandom could use some more good, solid ApplePie stories. Especially ones as good as "Stubborn as Ponies."
1002153
Oh, no, no. The story's open-endedness is one of the things I like, everything kind of hanging by a single thread. Though, of course, YMMV.
"Twice as Bright" includes stuff on the Celestia/Twi relationship, for what it's worth. It's not a ton of the story, but it was very nicely done, I thought.
1002215
I hear ya. My to-read list seems to always be growing instead of shrinking. Sigh.
1002438
Please do give it a try! The story is a rom-com, but it's not silly. I mean, there are silly parts, and they're great, but both Celestia and Pinkie Pie feel very real and complex and three-dimensional. I'm not sure anyone in the fandom writes Pinkie as well as Cloudy does.
1018400
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You're welcome! (And all the love for "Stubborn as Ponies."