It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #1 · 10:39pm Mar 24th, 2021
One of the Discords I hang out in has a channel set aside for sharing fics people like and putting up a "You should read this!" to each other. For nearly a year in that channel, the excellent Dave Bryant has been doing Saturday Selections to help spread around stories he liked. About four months ago, I joined in with Wednesday Recommendations (dubbed 'Recommendsday' by image wizard TamiyaGuy) to join in the fun. After my New Blood blog post, I realized there's no reason not to share those more widely, as well.
Now, not all of these are going to be hidden gems or unknown authors like New Blood focused on - some are, but not all by a long shot. Still, they're stories that I think deserve attention. And since I've got a backlog, I figure to put up two each week (one new, one from my backlog).
My first is Fluttershy, Royal Game Warden by JimmySlimmy. A fairly new writer, Jimmy has gotten some traction and is (I feel) one to watch coming up.
The story itself is a wonderful bit of absurdity stemming from a sensible premise: In an effort to help out her friends, Twilight has abused her royal powers to do little things for them. In this case, appointing Fluttershy to an obscure, outdated governmental position that entitles her to an extra stipend in exchange for doing no work. All she has to do is be the the Royal Gamekeeper for crown lands around the Castle of the Two Sisters. Which nobody knows is a role anymore, and no pony is insane enough to go sport-hunting in the Everfree.
Until the griffon ambassador decides he wants a fresh kill for breakfast. What follows is a delightful (and still going!) romp as Rarity is dragooned in to help as they plunge into the Everfree. The ambassador wants a meal, Fluttershy wants to preserve the balance of nature and keep everyone alive, and Rarity just wants the griffon not to break her incredibly expensive custom built marksman's sport rifle. It has some rather serious moments as well, but it's wonderfully written and cuts a great balance between serious and madcap.
Our callback today is Friendmaker by Lets Do This. One of the author's earliest pieces, Friendmaker is a long-time favorite of mine.
The hook is simple: If Luna is Nightmare Moon and Celestia is Daybreaker, what happens if Twilight goes evil? Then she does exactly that. For science.
While the premise is a fascinating one, what really makes this shine is - of all characters - Trixie. She plays a critical role in the story and to me this tale is a perfect encapsulation of the late-season Twilight/Trixie dynamic. It's an excellent character piece that way and one of the stories I take my cues from when writing Great and Powerfully.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
I like the blog title and highly approve of the reference. :)
Excellent picks both.
I've read the second and it's great! The first goes on my list.