Story Reviews » SA: Round 163 · 5:17pm Nov 23rd, 2019
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Heartshine sat by the fireplace, waiting. She had everything laid out, just like Cynewolf had said. Pumpkin pie, Pumpkin muffins, Pumpkin spice latté, and of all things, Ugg boots. Heartshine was skeptical when Cynewulf said that the boots were necessary for the ritual, but who was she to question the wisdom of human traditions?
Slowly, the clock on the wall ticked, and yet nothing happened.
The door behind her swung open, and Intern poked his head in.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“I’m waiting for the Great Pumpkin!” Heartshine cheerfully replied, pointing at her offerings to the human nature spirit. “Cynewulf said that humans celebrate Thank and Giving with pumpkins to appease the Great Pumpkin. She said if you’re good, you get presents and a good harvest!”
“What?” Intern asked, looking over her display. “I’m… pretty sure the Great Pumpkin isn’t real.”
Heartshine pouted. “Of course he is! He will come and see all these pumpkin things and those fashionable boots, and then we’ll have bountiful reviews for the next year!”
Intern hated it when she pouted. It was weaponized cuteness.
“Uh, okay. Well, we do need to get some reviews done,” he said, pulling up a cushion. “Shall we do them while we wait?”
ROUND 163
Twenty thousand years into Twilight Sparkle's rule, the burden of the countless trillions of ponies killed Equestria. Depleted, polluted, and dead, the planet was abandoned. The Goddess Twilight Sparkle and her alicorn compatriots led the surviving ponies to a new life among the stars.
Ponies advanced. They evolved, and grew. A golden age of peace and prosperity occurred that lasted for thousands of millennia.
But that was long ago. Before evolution turned against them, and before the deadly Mortality Virus raged through their ranks. Now, at the twilight of ponykind, their final hope is for a small crew to return to their long-dead and long-forgotten homeworld one last time.
When I picked out this story, I thought to read a little just to see if it would be a good one to promote. Halfway through the first chapter, I had a good feeling about it. A few chapters in, I was positive. I meant to read far enough where I could form enough of an opinion to write this review, but ended up reading the whole thing in the weekend leading up to this post.
I haven’t been this engrossed in a story since reading through the Harry Potter books. The best thing by far is how the world building is presented to us. A lesser author would have a wall of text to explain the setting, but that is artfully avoided. Exposition is seamlessly weaved into the plot, keeping my attention while still dolling out bits and pieces of the lives the ponies now live many many years after leaving Equestria.
There’s so much this story goes into as far as themes are concerned, some I’m sure are inspired from other media. Stuff like what long life does to a pony and how they cope with it, the mistakes and choices we make that affect not just ourselves but billions, and how difficult it can be to reclaim lost friendships. That weird looking thing in the cover art with the googly eyes? Definitely one of my favorite characters in the whole story. It reminds me of the monolith like robots in Interstellar in terms of usefulness and genuine humor.
I could gush about this story all day. I've rewritten this review several times; not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I have way too much to talk about. If I were ranking stories I’ve read this year, this one would be near the top of the list. Go, please. Give it a chance like I did.
Holy crap. Okay, so I didn’t know Sci-Fi was a tag on Fimfic before this story, and I’m incredibly disappointed that I never noticed it in the 7 years the site has been operational. This story is an amazing piece of far future science fiction as applied to ponies, and holy crap is it excellent. I fell into the same issue that RT ran into where I tried to read just the first few chapters, but then I kept going.
The story gripped my attention with the attention to minute details that make this entire story work so well as a piece of hard sci-fi. Making note of adaptations in evolution, high energy defense satellites, and bringing in robot characters are among my favourite things about science fiction, along with the ideas and hopes and dreams of what the future could look like.
Honestly, I’m surprised this didn’t get reviewed sooner. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves things like the Expanse or Interstellar.
STORY 2
Figments, by Half Awake
For Princess Luna, guarding the dreaming minds of Equestria against intruders is no easy task, even on the best of nights. When the Cutie Mark Crusaders get involved, it is definitely not the best of nights.
When going into stories that explore Luna’s dream walking abilities, I’m always curious how the author interprets it. Just like with dreams, there are endless possibilities. In this one, Luna has to track down an elusive creature lurking in ponies’ dreams. Unfortunately, the Cutie Mark Crusaders bumble it all up.
This is a quick and cute adventure. Luna’s exasperation in doing her job while dealing with three interfering fillies is a treat. They bop around the dreamscape and it’s fun to try to guess who’s dream they have dropped into next.
Lots of fun to be had here. Of course, fans of Luna or the CMC should check this out, or anyone who has a hankering for exploring Equestria’s dream land.
I always love the idea of being able to explore dreams. The episode with the Tantabus was interesting, because it gives the impression that the Equestrian dreamscape is just as interesting as the waking world.
This one has the CMCs getting up to their usual shenanigans, but also brings to light the idea that there may be creatures other than the Tantabus lurking in the dark hallways between dreams. Luna finds that the unpredictable nature of dreams is enhanced by the unpredictable nature of the Crusaders themselves.
This story is super cute, but comes with the bonus of having an excellent air of mystery about it as well. Trying to figure out whose dream Luna and co are exploring is one thing, but also dealing with the confusing, whimsical nature of dreams is fun as well!
A short tail of love and lighthouses, seas and sea ponies.
This one is a quick one, but an interesting one. A pony takes over a job at a lighthouse and is ready to start his duties, when the old lighthouse caretaker gives him a cryptic message before leaving.
“Watch out for the seaponies.”
The new pony then has to live with that statement for the next few years. And of course, there are seaponies.
The big takeaway here is how a single sentence can take on new meaning over time. The lead thinks it means one thing, until reasoning that it could mean something else entirely. His final act before the story ends shows us what he wants to believe.
Yes, I’m being cryptic! It’s a short one so I kinda have to. Go read it if you want to know what I’m rambling on about.
I love lighthouses, and the stories that come from those that are in remote areas that meant that keepers were left isolated for long periods of time. There’s many a good tall tale that comes out of times like that, and several good spooky stories as well.
This one can be a little bit of both. With the cryptic warning of ‘watch out for sea ponies’, we learn over time that this seems to change meaning for the character. We get to see some interesting thoughts on the psychology of intense isolation, and the lengths people (or in this case, ponies) will go to in order to relieve that feeling of being alone.
I’m being a bit vague, like Intern, but I have to because of how short, but sweet this story is.
Fluttershy has disappeared.
Equestria's most dangerous criminal has escaped.
And a monster from the dawn of time hunts its prey.
Starring Rarity as Sherlock Holmes, Rainbow Dash as Watson and the Great and Powerful Trixie as Dr. Mortimer
This one’s an oldie, but still a goodie. I read a few Sherlock Holmes books in highschool, and this tale does a good job of mimicking the writing style of those books. With a few character substitutions here and there, we get a wonderful mystery romp.
Thanqol must have been a prophet in another life, because he predicted a few things the show would do several seasons later in “Rarity Investigates.” Rarity’s fine attention to detail makes her the obvious choice as detective, and Rainbow Dash’s impulsiveness contrasts that well. Add in Trixie for a little seasoning, and it all comes together splendidly.
Of note, this is a sequel, and the story does make a few references to it, but I was able to follow along just fine without having read the first one. So once you’re done wetting your appetite for pony mystery shenaniguns, take a look at his other works to quench your thirst.
The Hound of the Baskervilles was always one of my favourite Sherlock Holmes stories, and oh my goodness does Thanquol do a wonderful job mimicking the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So much so that it’s a little jarring when we see Rainbow Dash seep through, but honestly I kind of love it because it adds some character to the piece.
The idea of Rarity as Holmes amuses me, as does RD as Watson, largely because the latter is as un-Watsonian as they come. However, the story uses the characters inner strengths to take on the roles of the characters they are portraying, and like the intern said, it makes it all the more interesting to consider that Thanquol published this in early season 3, only for us to later see ‘Rarity Investigates.’
I also can’t help but admire the fact that Thanquol used the perfect shade of purple for his prose when telling the origin story of the Hound. It feels like a myth that should have been set in Equestria, as told by a pony from the bygone days where we smoked pipes, wore frilly dresses, and had intelligent discourse on matters of history, myth, and the legends where the two meet.
Honestly, if you love mysteries, pretty words, or Sherlock Holmes, this story is well worth the read!
“Close the blast doors in sector 37! CLOSE THE DOORS IN SECTOR 37!”
Intern’s voice cracked into a panicked shriek as pumpkin vines raced down the hallway toward him. Oh, and Heartshine, who was desperately trying to dodge getting any more Cool Whip on her.
The Great Pumpkin was real. And he was angry.
“What did you two do this time?” Corejo’s voice echoed over the com.
“PUMPKIN!” Heartshine and Intern shouted in unison, diving away from the panel as a pumpkin pie - travelling at close to mach 3 - shattered the wall intercom.
A hail of McCormic spice bottles rolled down the hallway toward them. Intern took a moment to grab Heartshine and dive through the closing blast doors. Several muffled explosions sounded from the other side of the door, followed by a loud, ominous THUNK as something big impacted against them. The doors held, but had buckled ominously.
“Are all the human holiday spirits as angry as this one?” Heartshine asked as she and Intern raced toward the safety of floor 4. Hopefully Cynewulf’s office would be relatively free of angry harvest spirits.
“You know, maybe it’s because Christmas seems to overshadow the Harvest festivals every year,” Intern said breathlessly as they reached the safety of the elevator. “So it feels forgotten?”
Heartshine breathed heavily before responding, “I suppose so.” She looked up and gasped. “Oh my gosh, are you bleeding?!”
Intern felt his forehead, and came back with a red, jelly-like substance. He licked it off of his fingers before grimacing.
“Ugh, cranberry sauce. I hate cranberry sauce…”
“If it helps, I think you have half a pumpkin scone lodged in your shoulder. W-we should probably go to the med bay.”
“Not again!”
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
Before anything else, I'd like to thank y'all for shoving The Ending of the End's discussion thread off the front page.
:)
5159537
Not only that, but next time we shall rule the news feed!
Yes, finally! :)
I'm really happy that you liked Equestira 485,000 - I happened to found this story totally on accident on the front page, I thing, where it was for few hours as "new story".
Still one of my favourites ever. :)
Oh dude. Unwhole Hole is an author who needs a lot more attention. :D
5159556
I wouldn't have known of this story's existence if it hadn't been recommended in our group thread. So yes, we do take suggestions there, so help us find the fics that deserve a feature!
5159559
He's on my radar for any future recommendations, that's for sure.
5159582
This is story I recommended, and if I will find anything near that level would love to do it again.
It just takes so much time, and my "to read" list is somewhat full for two years of non-stop reading...
Man-oh-man...waaaaay back during the Season 1 or 2 era, one of my earliest episode ideas was seeing Princess Luna struggling to babysit the CMC while they drag her around on a madcap adventure. That one's definitely going in my Read Later.
Just a reminder that 12pm (noon) tomorrow US central time is the application deadline to become an Angel yourself! See all the details and how to apply here!
Yessss I've been pushing Unwhole Hole fics on people for over a year now since I found him by sorting by word count he's so good and nobody reads AAAAAAAA–
*vibrates into pieces*
...
cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/316020809640443905.png?v=1
Really happy that Equestria 485,000 is getting some much-needed attention!
>485000
Oh hell yeah
I just want to say...
Heartshine seriously didn't the that the Sci-fi tag existed for seven years?!
One of my favorite tags! A pretty big one, too!
I mean, it's good they know of it now... Just wanted to express my surprise.
Equestria 485,000 was a great. Thank you for featuring it, I doubt I would have ever read it if you hadn't.