Read It Now Reviews #91 – Cherish, At the Riverside, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Letters from an Irradiated Princess, The Majestic Tale of a Noble Hunter · 9:34pm Aug 24th, 2016
Sorry about the dearth of posts recently. I told myself that I’d get one of my stories done before I did some other pony stuff, and it turns out I’m really, really good at procrastinating.
On the upside, it did finally force me to actually get my story done! I’ve been sitting on it for far too long – in fact, I started on it before the Season 6 premier, and then managed to procrastinate on it for half a year.
But now it is done, and I am pretty happy with the result.
My Fluttering Heart
by Titanium Dragon
Drama, Slice of Life
10,158 wordsAfter the birth of Princess Cadance's fourth child, an adorable little pegasus filly, Princess Flurry Heart wants to know why none of her brothers and sisters are alicorns.
Her parents claim not to know why she's different.
They're lying.
Hopefully, you folks will like it. I had a lot of fun coming up with a character for Flurry Heart at the age of seven and a half, as well as packing the first half of the story full of foreshadowing and some other stuff that I plan on writing a blog post about down the line. If you’re curious about TD’s take on Flurry Heart’s existence (and TD playing with canon, as he is wont to do), this is well worth checking out.
But now that I’m done with this story, it means I am, at long last, free!
To read more pony fanfiction, of course. I have a lot to catch up on, and by some very talented writers.
Today’s stories:
Cherish by shortskirtsandexplosions
At The Riverside by Pascoite
You Can’t Always Get What You Want by bookplayer
Letters from an Irradiated Princess by Tumbleweed
The Majestic Tale of a Noble Hunter by ZOMG
Cherish
by shortskirtsandexplosions
Slice of Life
1,001 wordsFluttershy visits Rarity in the middle of the night. She's white as a sheet.
Why I added it: SS&E is a good writer.
Review
Fluttershy has an existential crisis in the middle of the night and comes to visit Rarity to be comforted.
This is a very simple story, with a warm little ending. There’s not a whole lot of depth here, but there’s a fairly simple message that comes through.
If you’re looking for an in-depth story about existential dread of death, this is probably not the story for you.
If you’re looking for something a little bit fluffy, and a simple event that makes someone feel better, you might like this.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
At The Riverside
by Pascoite
Slice of Life
4,871 wordsAnother visit to the ER for Dash, but that's not going to keep her from her usual night out with the girls. The conversation turns to Death, and… it's not at all what Twilight expected. Death either.
Why I added it: Psychopomps! Also, Pascoite is a good writer.
Review
While drinking off her latest injury, Rainbow Dash mentions having seen Death during her latest stunt. After pressing her for a while, Twilight learns that Rainbow Dash has seen Death on a regular basis, and considers her a friend – or possibly a rival of sorts.
This draws out stories from the rest of the Mane Six, who each share their own experiences with having seen or interacted with Death.
This is ultimately a story about different people’s view of the not-so-Grim Reaper of Equestria. It appears differently to each of them based on their own beliefs and expectations about what Death should look like. Rainbow Dash’s interactions with Death were, I felt, the most interesting of the lot of them, though Fluttershy’s was kind of sweet in its own way. The idea that Death was helping Rainbow Dash not die was an interesting one, and the idea of a stunt flyer constantly seeing Death and getting little nudges from them is definitely cute.
In the end, this story really doesn’t go much of anywhere, though there is a smidgeon of resolution at the edge about just who Death is. But if you’re interested in different people’s conception of what a psychopomp should look/be like, this story is likely to be up your alley.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
by bookplayer
Drama, Equestria Girls
7,805 wordsAfter her little magic trick at the Fall Formal, Sunset Shimmer is not having the best night, and it's about to get worse: Principal Celestia just found out that Sunset has been living in the school clock tower. Now she has nowhere to live, and who's going to take in a teenager with personal issues that include recent demonic possession? No one normal, obviously.
But... maybe someone with a mohawk, a house full of creepy masks, and blue eyes that seem to see more than words -- or rhymes-- can say.
Why I added it: Bookplayer is a good writer, and I enjoyed this story in the writeoff.
Review
“Can you believe Sunset? I knew she was a jerk, but I didn’t think she had jerk magic!”
“OMG, Sunset is in my chemistry class! She CAN’T be coming back to school, right?”
“Isn’t it the worst when you think you have the perfect dress, and you get to the dance and some other girl TURNS INTO A RAGING SHE-DEMON?!!”
“I wasn’t surprised, that’s pretty much what happened when she broke up with me. LOL.”
Poor Sunset Shimmer. First she turned into a raging-she demon, then she lost, and now she has to pick up the pieces of a life which are now in ruins. Principal Celestia not only knows what she did, but also knows she was living on school property.
But rather than her worst fears being realized, Sunset Shimmer is granted a second chance by Principal Celestia - and a place to sleep, with one of Principal Celestia's friends, Zecora.
This story is focused on Sunset Shimmer's worst weekend ever, a weekend full of dread, of having to move into a new place and fearing having to return to school (and the wrath of her classmates) come Monday, and dealing with a rhyming weirdo who has a house full of a bunch of freaky masks. But it is also about Sunset Shimmer getting over it - coming to terms with what she did, recognizing that she's going to have to pay for it, but also that her life isn't actually over.
This story is full of lovely descriptions of both Principal Celestia's house and Zecora's house. Zecora really works well here, and her rhymes are as natural as you can hope for, with a voice that really shines through.
However, it is also pretty slow-paced, clocking in at nearly 8,000 words to tell a fairly simple story. If you have a short attention span, it may feel like Sunset Shimmer spends a bit too much time wallowing.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
Letters from an Irradiated Princess
by Tumbleweed
Genre
1,132 wordsPrincess Celestia writes a letter to her favorite student, highlighting the need for proper lab safety.
Why I added it: Tumbleweed is a good writer. Plus, that title.
Review
Princess Celestia writes Twilight about Twilight’s latest experiments with radioactivity and the resultant giant radioactive centipede it produced.
This is one of those stories that has the shape of something funny, but which did not actually make me laugh myself. I think the biggest issue is that I’ve seen other stories very similar to this, not in terms of the particular disaster (well, okay, also in terms of the specific disaster), but rather in terms of the general form of things – a too-nice letter about a horrible disaster, from Celestia to Twilight, whose humor largely hinges on Celestia carefully trying to be nice about things that aren’t very nice at all. And indeed, a lot of the humor felt pretty derivative – the only bit that really felt all that “fresh” was the bit about the radioactivity it left behind.
Judging by the votes on this piece, other people clearly found this more amusing than I did. But if you are familiar with the genre of this piece, you might find this to be fairly standard fare without much new to bring to the table.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
The Majestic Tale of a Noble Hunter
by ZOMG
Comedy
7,107 wordsChangelings are mighty hunters, capable of imitating anything they choose to perfection. Naturally stealthy, soft on their hooves, and cunning to a fault, there is no doubt that they sit on top of the food chain. Incognito is a proud changeling and looks down on his friends prey from his lofty spot above them all, confident that his spot at the pinnacle of the food chain is secure. After all, his race is without equal, their strength unquestionable ...
With the exception of a small, little nerve cluster at the tip of their snouts. It doesn't help that everypony in Ponyville knows about it, too.
'Nito really wishes they didn't.
Why I added it: It was featured.
Review
This story is criminally fluffy.
This is the story of Incognito, a young changeling who is stalking his love donors prey through Ponyville after the signing of a treaty between the changelings and the ponies. The terms of the treaty seem to mostly normalize things with changelings, though they put certain… restrictions on their activities, as well as force them to ask for donations of love from volunteers.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders – and in particular, Sweetie Belle – are such donors, and Incognito is intent on mock-hunting them before they give up their love to him, as part of a game of sorts.
Tragically, Pinkie Pie has discovered their one weakness – nose boops that cause temporary weakness in changelings – and told the fillies about it. Things are a lot fairer than they’re supposed to be…
This story is very, very, very fluffy. I mean, it involves a changeling mock-hunting some filles, who thwart his not-so-nefarious schemes with nose boops. Added to that, it is pretty obvious that Incognito and Sweetie Belle have a thing for each other, something he is apparently completely oblivious to.
This is the sort of story that a certain audience will really love.
Alas, eating this much sugar gives me a stomachache. Well, metaphorically speaking. The story is relentlessly cute, but there’s no real texture to it – it is basically like a cartoon short, except instead of Wile E. Coyote ending up propelled into a cliff face by ACME rocket boots, instead the not-so-nefarious hunter is thwarted by his own foolishness, followed by nose boops from his would-be prey. There’s not really much in the way of escalation here, either, leaving the whole story a slightly flat feel until the cutesy toy shipping at the end. Without highs and lows, there’s not much contrast between sections, nor is there much mystery to how it is going to end.
This isn’t really for me; fluff can be fun, but I like there to be more emotional topography to it than this story had. It just ended up feeling insubstantial in the end.
Recommendation: If you like relentlessly cute stories, and don’t mind eating sugar straight from the bowl, it might be for you. If that’s not your thing, there probably isn’t much here for you.
Summary
Cherish by shortskirtsandexplosions
Worth Reading
At The Riverside by Pascoite
Worth Reading
You Can’t Always Get What You Want by bookplayer
Worth Reading
Letters from an Irradiated Princess by Tumbleweed
Not Recommended
The Majestic Tale of a Noble Hunter by ZOMG
Not Recommended
Now, time to watch the other three post-hiatus episodes I still haven’t caught up on – the only one I have seen is The Times They Are A Changeling, which I mostly watched because I feared it would Joss my story.
Fortunately, it didn’t.
If anyone has some more recent story suggestions for me, feel free to put them in the comments below; I’ve got a bunch more on my list, but I’m not sure if I caught everything.
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 153
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 539
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 1956
Letters from an Irradiated Princess is a parody of Letters from an Irritated Princess, if you haven't read the source the parody may not be as entertaining.
I'd like your thoughts on 'To Love is Chaos' by Emperor.
Three Worth Readings?
Help, TD's been replaced by a changeling!
4170162
To be fair, I'd read two of them previously during the writeoff. It was kind of granted they'd get WRs once they went up on FIMFiction. Pascoite and Bookplayer and SS&E are all good writers.
TBH I was kind of hoping for 5/5 WRs, but that wasn't to be.
4169948
I'll put it on my list!