Story Reviews » SA Reviews #92 · 1:35am Oct 24th, 2016
Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.
An iron pickaxe came down hard, dislodging a few pages from the Mountain of Books.
“Why is Mountain of Books capitalized?” Intern asked as he wiped his brow with a forearm. He leaned against his own pickaxe with the other.
“There are some things you’re better off not knowing,” Arch said, knocking even more pages loose with his next swing.
“Is this one of those things only higher ups get to know, or do you just really mean that?”
Arch groaned, giving Intern a sideways glance. “Look, we’re behind as it is. Let’s get a few more sections minded out and then I’ll tell you. Deal?”
Intern rolled his eyes but did as he was told, heaving his pickaxe up overhead. “Fine, but this better be good.”
ROUND 92
In the closing days of the Pre-Classical Era, at the dawn of the rule of the Royal Pony Sisters, the devastation of Discord’s cruelty hits hard and leaves an open wound. As the young and inexperienced Princesses Celestia and Luna struggle to keep the peace, powerful figures in all three Pony tribes bridle at the upstart Alicorns who so quickly and easily claimed power...
Epistolary is a hard style to master (and in this I speak from experience), but in the hands of a competent writer it can be used to craft stories that might seem impossible to tell in any other form.
The majority of the story spans a few years, from shortly before the rise of Discord to shortly after the fall of Nightmare Moon, but in the process it introduces so many ideas and details to the world that it feels far deeper and longer than the surface would suggest.
I confess now, were I to properly review this, I'd be here all night and all day, and you lot would have to read a review longer than the fic. So, instead, I'll keep it short: read this. It's dark, without being grim, and emotive without angst. It motivates Celestia and Luna, and the ponies they serve, more effectively than much of the official documentation of the period in question. I can't get enough of it.
Set in the time shortly after the events depicted in A Hearth’s Warming Tale, we follow the journal, diary, and communique entries of several ponies. So while most of what’s being told is mostly after the fact, we get a good glimpse of the mindset of these ponies and how they are dealing with a world that’s rapidly changing around them.
Tradition and heritage are major themes throughout this story and how hard it can be to give them up in order to adapt to the times. From these ponies’ point of view, they are the victims of circumstances that are beyond their control, and their actions are a way to regain some of that control. Are they right? Wrong? The author gives us that chance to answer ourselves.
The one word I would describe a story like this would be: biblical. Not so much in the sense that things get beyond the point of reasoning (though there is some of that too), but more so with how faith can lead us to act in ways others would find questionable. Faith giveth and faith taketh away.
Also worth note are the interactions between a much younger Celestia and Luna. Being new to their princesshood, they go through many troubles and anguish as they learn what it means to have their power and how to rule the ponies around them. It’s a nice look into their lives, something that the show has not really given us yet.
All in all, a very worthy read. I found the characters compelling and interesting, and the setting detailed enough that I could believe that this is the world they lived in before the show takes over.
Twilight Sparkle is thrilled when a famous old musician pays a visit to Golden Oak Library. But something unusual begins when he asks her, "Ms. Twilight Sparkle, what do you know about ghosts?"
Is Mr Brannigan being haunted? The question is asked, but never quite answered in this neat and tidy horror ripped straight from the classics of that genre. Written in a style reminiscent of those same classics, we're presented with a mystery in which Twilight, the sceptic of the piece, is forced to face the possibility of the existence of things beyond her neat and orderly view of the world.
The title character, haunted by ghostly songs and strange terrors in the night, is slowly being driven mad by his circumstances. Or perhaps not. For as Twilight discovers, one cannot be driven to a place when one is already there.
A little horror story to bring us into the Nightmare Night festivities! And what a way to start. Definitely way beyond anything the show would ever produce, this story tackles the paranoia and madness that comes about when our world around us makes no sense.
Twilight is visited by a retired pianist who’s experiencing very odd things around his house. Whispers coming from under his door, the cover for his piano keys mysteriously opening on its own, and loud crashes coming from the stairs. These events have the pony convinced that his house is haunted and asks Twilight for her aid. Of course, this is Twilight and she isn’t ready to believe about ghosts. She sends the stallion off with some books and a vague use for salt. Unfortunately, things do not get better for the stallion and Twilight is drawn into his crumbling world in order to make things right.
What I like about this piece is that much is left to the imagination, the most frightening thing of all. Are ghosts really terrorizing Brannigan or is it all in his head? Can Twilight save him or is he already doomed? The author has a good handle on building the tension and drawing a picture for us readers to walk through. IF. WE. DARE.
Some might say that it was a Confluence of Magic. Others might declare it to have been the Will of Discord. Still more might claim that something in the Baker herself was to blame. And some would state that it was something about the dough. Truly, it could have been any of these factors, or a combination of them, but however it happened, its end result was a strange event so unusual, it changed Ponyville forever.
The spoop continues on a lighter note (despite the dark tag) with a creative retelling of The Gingerbread Man, if the gingerbread man was a cat having an existential crisis about her faith in god, and the fox was Fluttershy.
You can guess who made the fated ginger treat.
The story never delves too deep into its premise, escaping the tendency for "I was just born and now my creator wants to destroy me" fiction (it's a surprisingly popular genre) to descend to angst and pages of overwrought dialogue. Instead we see Pinkie Pie: Goddess of Baked Goods learning how to be friends with her creations, and indeed learning to recognise that just because she wants something doesn't mean she automatically gets it.
This is a strange one. It’s equal parts disturbing and touching. Not much is revealed in regards to the why and how. What matters is how the characters respond. In this way, the story succeeds, especially with Pinkie Pie.
A take on the classic gingerbread man, Pinkie Pie bakes some cookies and somehow one of them comes alive. It runs off after witnessing some terrifying events, with Pinkie in hot pursuit. The gingerbread kitty comes across other FiM characters and from there we learn some rather poignant points about Pinkie’s way of thinking.
A little rough in the editing department, but I did like the voicing of the gingerbread kitty and her use of naming things. I also found her “birthing” to be appropriately dramatic in a similar way that the Scarecrow came to life in the Wizard of Oz book. Small things like that help build a character using just the barest of words.
A quick read, it should be able to carry you through the gamut of feelings. The ultimate affect the situation had on Ponyville is also rather amusing. I say, give it a go!
In a nearly empty library, a librarian tears pages out of books and tosses them out an open window.
Twilight studies in the same library, alone.
They exchange words and a dance.
For reasons that anyone who knows me by more than just my username could tell you, this fic is all kinds of familiar.
Gale is a pegasus with a problem. She can't remember something. She knows what she should remember, and in some ways she does remember it, but she can't recall what it is she thinks she knows. If that sounds a bit opaque, then that's because it is, for this is a story that is deliberately cryptic about its central conceit. Yet at the same time, it is entirely open about it.
The frustration that Gale feels at how she perceives the world is tangible throughout, a constant barrier to her peace and contentment. The disease that she suffers haunts her. Her denial brings her to the point of projecting her fears onto the only other occupant of her library, who also appears lonely and isolated, and forgetful - but for entirely different reasons.
Diseases of the mind are, to put it bluntly, a horrifying thing. More than any other part of our body, the mind is us; not just an extension of the self, but that the very existence of it. To lose parts of the mind, to know that parts of it have slipped away and can no longer be recalled, to be aware of that loss, is frightening. Moreso for its inevitability, for we will all face some element of that one day.
Some sooner than others.
It’s a scary thought to have a debilitating disease and not being able to do much about it. It’s even more scary, for me at least, to have a debilitating disease and slowly giving less of a care about it with each passing day. That’s what Gale is going through and it’s particularly unnerving.
The pull of this story is the ways in which Gale copes with her situation. I’m not going to give those away here as it’s best to read those parts yourself. What I will say is that Twilight makes an appearance and it’s revealing on both characters’ parts how the two interact.
This is a story for those that love $YMB0L1$M! Everything a character does has a double meaning. The setting tells us as much about the characters as the characters’ actions themselves. This is the type of story you would discuss at your local book club. If that appeals to you then dive in!
“Alright, we’re set for now,” Intern said. He set down his pickaxe and rubbed at his arms. “So, why’s it capitalized?”
Arch tossed his pickaxe aside and made for the mess hall. “Dunno.”
“Wait, you said you’d tell me once we finished!”
“Yeah, but I never said I knew myself. Like I said, there are some things we’re better off not knowing.”
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
I am so glad that Bouts of Forgetful Artistic Destruction has finally been promoted here. It is possibly one of the best stories on FF, and if not that, then certainly one that deserves to be read by almost everyone. Read it now before it goes away!
No disguises? Needs more Spi.
Back on FimFiction after a year break. Thanks for adding some quality pieces to my reading list!
Nice to see Mr. Brannigan's Ghosts getting featured here. That was a good horror fic. And it was only pitched to you in the fic rec thread... 77 weeks and 5 days ago. Okay, so that was a year and a half ago. Oh wow. Holy fuck.
Woo, you read my recommendation
wow these are interesting. if it's not too much trouble how would i get my story featured?
Yay, thanks a bunch for the reviews! You're too kind.
4268751 Gotta admit it srikes me as the most interesting one. Gonna give it a try.
Nice to see Mr. Brannigan's Ghosts in here. The OC naming style puts me off a bit (yes, I read the author's explanation for that and it still does) but that's only a minor thing. The second half of the fic in particular I found tremendously gripping.