Hey-o. So, I'm IceboxFroggie, the one they call whenever a fic that involves horse pheromones romance is added to the folders! So, to kick off my reviews, I reviewed Picking Up the Pieces by Shrinky Frod.

By the way, this review has spoilers. You've been warned.

This fic is about Pinkie Pie trying to amend her bonds with the Cakes after Discord's return. It fills in the blanks of what Pinkie did while not being a grouch with Twilight, but instead being a grouch at Sugarcube Corner, where the Cakes reside.

Through these altercations, it's revealed that Pinkie Pie does, in fact, partake in regular threesomes with the Cakes, which is where my main problem with the fic lies: the sex isn't necessary. It's really only in there for, well, sex. And maybe so the author could call Mr. Cake a limp-dicked gelding horse. But still. It doesn't really contribute to the story in any major way. What I'm saying is, I feel that the sex in this story does not contribute to the story, and only serves as a '' moment instead of really making the story a romance. I'm still not entirely convinced that this story belongs in the Romance folder, because if there's one thing I've learned from writing, it's that sex does not make a story a romance story automatically.

And while you may argue, "But Froggie! It's said that they all love each other!" If there's a story where the main character who has a girlfriend who is there and is just there and they also happen to have offscreen sex, it doesn't make it a romance story. Romance stories are about the romance, not the sex or the sorrow. The romance: the characters coming together in joyous union, knowing that they've found the other part of them they've been looking for is what makes a story a romance story. This story's main focus is not the romance, but instead Pinkie's sorrow and reconciliation.

TL;DR: I firmly believe this story is better suited to be in the Sad or Slice of Life folder, not Romance. It's just not romance, it's sad with 'oh, hey, look, sex is also happening off-screen and it looks like they have some sort of love thing maybe?'

off-topic: WTF does it mean to be a contributor?

2595118 Same thing as admin, just you don't have access to things like banning and deleting stuff. Also, you're my partner-in-horse-pheromone-reading, right?

2595118
It means that you are a story reviewer and can move stories around if they are misplaced.

2595142 okay

2595081 Froggie!!! What Folder????

Never mind, I see...

2595523 ?

2595528 Think I might wanna make a thread on the topic... Considering that the site is getting more active, I think we will need some consistency to make things as organized as possible.

Such as one story reviewed per thread, and add the category in the thread name to make it much easier to keep track of things.

2595081
Fair review, though feel free to move it to a different category if you think it fits better.

There is one thing I'd like to point out as a contradiction to your review: IMO (as the author, admittedly), the sex - and more importantly, the relationship that Pinkie, Cup, and Carrot have is at the very center of the story.

I wrote it thinking about a couple of things:

1: What did Discorded Pinkie get up to? Just what would she have gone to be all grumpy at off-screen?
2: Some of the more serious aspects of a poly relationship.
3: Why the heck would the Cakes keep Pinkie around when she's pretty obviously a massive liability case waiting to happen?

The reason that Pinkie and the Cakes are together in this story (besides Pie and Cake always being great together, of course!) is because I wanted to write a short story that focused on the middle of the relationship. Not the beginning of one, like most stories (particularly back in 2011 in this fandom) and not the end of one, but one of those rocky moments in between where a couple (or triad!) fights, argues, says things they regret... and then has to pick up the pieces and fix things.

That's why I looked at it the way that I did; I didn't want the story to be a "typical threesome" story, where the guy just wants to bed multiple girls. That's why I made Cup the main focus of the triad, and Pinkie's desire to feel more like part of a three-way *relationship* than just being occasional 'stress relief' the main focus of the story.

If that didn't come across, I apologize, though I also plead "this was my second pony story, and first romance one..." Not that that's much of a defense, given how many stories I've written pre-fandom with similar themes.