Site Post » Fanfiction Spotlight #37 · 11:10pm Mar 18th, 2016
Fanfiction Spotlight #37
Published 3/18/16
AHHHHHH!!! I’M TARDY! By about three hours. But enough to give Twilight Sparkle a small conniption fit.
This week Everfree Northwest presents two lovely stories, both of which have a bit of humor to them! We have one that sets up some background for “Spike, At Your Service” (please hold your shudders until the end of the story!), and a fun story that flips the roles of Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor. Puppet timber wolves? Twilight as a royal guard? Check out these two fun romps!
That’s it for this week, my little readers, but remember, new Pony Episodes next weekend! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
---- Review by Silver Flare ----
Terrifyin’ Timberwolf
by Swashbucklist
Words: 1,703 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Silver Flare
If there’s one thing my brain loves to do without my consent, besides memorize pop lyrics, is to fill in plot-holes in pony episodes with potential bits of story. Unfortunately, my brain shorted out during the devastating debacle that is Spike At Your Service, an episode in which Spike suddenly became clumsy enough to give the Director of OSHA nightmares. Fortunately, for all of us, Swashbucklist brought a high-speed juicer to the table, making lemonade out of some serious lemons.
It’s a short one-shot, barely a few pages long, yet the story is delicious. One well-written Spike? Check. One terrifyingly-accurate timber wolf puppet? Check. Super-scary timberwolf sound effects? Check. One Element of Honesty trying like heck to sell this ridiculous sham with her incredible acting skills just to get out of a life debt after having saved a young dragon’s life? Double check. But what happens when Applejack nails the role, and Spike actually believes that she’s in mortal peril? How far would he actually go to save her life?
Take the plunge. Relive this dreadful scene with fresh eyes, and savor the ending. It’s almost enough to make one want to rewatch the episode itself, contemplating what might have been going on behind the scenes. And if you enjoy it, take a gander at some of Swashbucklist’s other stories for more Spike Appreciation.
---- Review by Asylum ----
Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard
by King of Beggars
Words: 80,475 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Asylum
Normally, we like to spotlight fics by lesser-known authors, but I feel this one deserves a mention for one specific reason: it is an adventure fic that does everything right.
It starts off slow, as a fic that could be slice-of-life, portraying the life of Twilight Sparkle, if her brother had become Celestia’s student, and she had joined the Royal Guard in his place. The first chapter describes every mundane little thing, from getting her armor fitted, to standing guard in an empty hallway.
Boring right?
Well, it picks up speed as she’s given a secret mission: to protect a VIP on a diplomatic trip to a foreign land. Naturally, it all goes awry, keeping the reader hooked, all the way through.
If you’re planning on writing your own adventure fic, or just need an example of great pacing, pick this up and learn.
Its sequel? Ehhh... Doesn’t quite measure up.
I love Twilight of the Guard. It's a great series. Can't wait for the next installment.
you take that back
Eh, I didn't quite like Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard as much, though part of it is that the story pulling a literal "flip of a coin" to change Twilight and Shining's respective destinies and then doing very little to establish how it changed their characters just rubbed me the wrong way. However, I can't deny that the parts that I did read were beautifully written. Just little quibbles with how a couple things were done made me step away from it.
Then again, I'm a surly bug, so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt.
3815052 While it is the middle book of a planned trilogy with all the structural challenges implied by that, it also has an impressive crowning moment of awesome exactly where it should be - the climax. And the biggest problem with The Rising was inherited from the first book - a rushed romance pushed too far too fast for the narrative.
I'm definitely on board for the final installment when the King has time for it.
This is the second time Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard has been in the Everfree Spotlight, so it must be good. Which I agree with. I enjoyed it quite a bit myself.
3817594 Wait, we did it before?
Crap, I missed that.
3820891
Yep. In spotlight 32.
Oh...
Ohhhhhhh...
So this is where that wave of favorites came from all those weeks back.