• Member Since 20th Apr, 2012
  • offline last seen 8 hours ago

Loganberry


Hold your ground but do not be unkind. (Ponyphonic, "Shy Heart") He/him. Ponyfic Roundup reviews every Wednesday.

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This Equestria is much like any other. Rainbow Dash is still fast, still committed, still devoted to being number one. She's still flying upwards and still aiming for the sky. But right now, she's not even aloft. Today, she's going to be and do all those other things without ever leaving the ground.

"Speed creates a sensation of being alive, more than alive" – Juan Manuel Fangio

Cover image based on a photo taken by me at Shelsley Walsh, 2013.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 17 )

Ponies who don’t know racing think the worst thing about crashes is the noise. Nuh-uh. Noise is fine. Noise happens all the time in this game. What creeps us out is the quiet that comes right after. When everything goes still and silent, the air gets heavy like treacle, and just for a split-second you wonder whether that’s how the world’s always gonna be from now on. Then a hoof waves out the cockpit, there’s stomping applause and you’re back in Sportsville.

Oh, yeah. One of the worst things at any track, far worse than seeing the actual crash, is when you hear the unloaded engine abruptly rise in pitch, and then just as suddenly go silent, and then there's only a cloud of dust, drifting silently out from behind the obscuring trees. That's always the same, every time, and you ask yourself why you even wanted to come watch, when you knew full well this could happen. And then you hear the scattered applause beginning from behind those trees, and the afternoon's back to loud, brightly-coloured cars and men who can make them do things you never could.

Anyway, nice. Pony fandom needs more racing stories.

7810144 Thanks very much! Also, agreed with your last sentence. It's a shame "The Cart Before the Ponies" didn't get a better reception (not that I liked it much myself), otherwise we might have had more.

Not to bad of a story.

7810291 Thanks for reading! :twilightsmile: I wouldn't claim this as one of my greatest fics, but I had a good time writing it.

Yep, that sounds like Rainbow Dash alright!

Well done, that it is.

7811789 Thank you for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :twilightsmile:

I enjoyed this. Apart from being an armchair fan of F1 I've never really been into motorsports, so it's quite interesting to get this perspective from someone who's been there. You've got a definite knack for writing Dash. And all the other characters mentioned were nice additions.

7812068 Thanks very much! I did briefly consider making this F1-ish, but I've never attended an F1 race in the flesh, whereas I've been going to hillclimbs for more than 20 years. With that in mind, I felt I could do a better job going this route. Thanks particularly for the RD-related compliment -- she's not the pony I'm most comfortable writing, but she is fun when you can get inside her head like this. :rainbowdetermined2:

So here I am, a guy who has zero interest in car racing, and yet you really drew me in and made it interesting for me, because it mattered to RD. Fun story!

7814745 I'm delighted to hear that! I did wonder how much its appeal depended on being into motorsport (which, if it wasn't already obvious, I very much am) but it's great to know that it works for non-racing fans too. Thanks very much! :pinkiehappy:

Sideways story :o) Yeh, the bit after the crash is wierd. Up to that point it's all your mind on saving your ass. I don't remember any sound though? I guess you are all shook loose at that point.

7837076 Yep. Dash is talking about seeing other ponies crash, not about when she herself is having that experience. You know Rainbow -- she probably doesn't believe she'll ever fail. :P

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

I kinda went crosseyed reading this. c.c; Please tell me what kind of racing this is so I can recommend it properly? :B

8033849 And mine while writing, to be honest. :derpytongue2:

8034133 Hillclimbing, specifically speed hillclimbing. Think Pikes Peak, but over a much shorter course (1,000 yards in this case) and in single-seater racing cars with ridiculous levels of acceleration (0-60 mph faster than a Formula 1 car). The video in the Author's Note at the end of the fic is an in-car view of a car ascending the real-life Shelsley Walsh, on which Shiresley Walsh is to some extent based.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

8034884
I'm not sure I can properly recommend this. D:

8034979 Then, er, don't? :derpytongue2: It's easily the most niche-appeal fic I've written (even ahead of "Ra Ra Raspberry") and I'm actually a bit surprised it's had even as much attention as it has.

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