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Twilight Sparkle may have shown Starlight Glimmer the error of her ways, but Starlight is still new to the concept of true friendship.
Fortunately, Twilight has true friends in high places--and none of those friends could be better at providing a down-to-earth perspective than Applejack.
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It's bookish writing Applejack, one of the best ways and doing what she does best, writing sweet stories about characters bonding. I love it.
This was a nice story.
Now this is Bookish at her best, right here. Writing sweet character driven stories.
Personally I think Starlight's problem is she jumped from one extreme to the other. Now she's 'GO INDIVIDUALITY!' and we don't like admitting in this culture that can go too far too.
Yep. Cutie marks aren't supposed to be straitjackets. Ponies, like all people, can be a lot of things.
Also, much appreciated that Applejack had an actual reason for objecting to Starlight's method instead of falling back on the tired 'it's tradition'. As Terry Pratchett once noted, 'tradition' is what you get when you've forgotten the actual reasons. however, her lofty speech about "we'll do anything and everything to get the job done" kind of ended up being a contradiction, since 'anything and everything' would, by definition, include using magic to get the job done. I would have rather liked to see her argue the more relevant point that the particular choice of magic (essentially, overwhelming brute force) was the bad move, rather than claiming what boils down to "solving things with magic is the cheap and easy way out". Especially since she's a-okay with Starlight using a more sensible spell later.
That's basically the issue I have here. Applejack doesn't come across as as consistent as I'd like.
8194997
Good call, thanks.
I changed a couple of words on AJ's lofty speech (and a little bit afterwards) to hopefully clarify things.
Loftiness stays, however.
This story. All my love. Nothing else to say.
Wow, this was really well-written. Great job!
What a great story, Bookish! I really liked Applejack's encouraging explanation to Starlight and how she made her see how much and how far she could go just by being herself and working hard. Great work!
8194997
Nice comment, Moon. It seems that AJ has learned some things, as well!
Well, that was a pleasant story to read. Got me some good vibes out of it.
8194997 Yeah, and why couldn't Starlight just use telekinesis? Wouldn't that save both of them leg strain?
Although to be fair, Applejack has a long history of being 'worst pony' with 'worst episodes...'
A great start to what I hope is a series, considering you've already thrown up a sequel for me to check out,
Cool.
This promises to be a fantastic series. I look forward to seeing what each of Twilight's friends has to teach Starlight.
I can only imagine the hell you must live in for Red Delicious to be considered anything other than an economical way to comply with nutrition requirements.
Good story.
This was such a cute story! Great job!
8200305
I happen to like Red Delicious: It's no-nonsense, knows exactly what it is, and doesn't try to trick you into thinking it's something else.
Downright adorable, and some of the best AJ I've seen in a good long while to boot.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say Applejack is a character a lot of writers struggle with. It’s an understandable problem, mind; the show itself hasn’t always provided the strongest example to follow, after all, and in contrast to her peers, Applejack’s hooks as a character can sometimes be difficult to fully grasp because they’re either not as immediately recognizable, or else difficult to build a compelling story out of. Plus, hey, on a personal level? Yeah, I can be pretty exacting about how I like my Applejack. All of which is to say, it’s been an increased
Rarityrarity for me to find Applejack stories that I can walk away from wholly satisfied, both here and elsewhere, for what feels like a solid two years at this point*. Which, really, makes it all the more wonderful that you not only do that here, but in such a way as to make it look super-duper easy.Admittedly, part of that is because, as is the norm, you've chosen a really great foil for her by which to create a dynamic that exhibits her best traits. Which is admittedly an unfair description of Starlight in this story given that, really, she's the actual main character here. Especially now that I've recognized the bigger picture this story fits into, in fact, it stands out all the more to me that this is, in fact, your first Starlight story where she's actually in Equestria, spending the majority of her time interacting with characters from the original show and, shock of all shocks, you nail every last element of her character down to a tee as well here as you did in "The Taste of Friendship". Indeed, one of my favorite, understated little elements of this story is how your handle on Starlight and her dynamic with AJ not only makes for a perfectly-pleasant read (I really love how gun-shy Starlight is in a lot of ways; she's never timid, but she also has a strong sensitivity on the way in which her every word or action will be interpreted/judged, and it reflects in the guarded but ultimately humorous, and often self-effacing, tone she takes), but it also reflects an under-explored aspect of her character: her relationship with the rest of the Mane Six. Given the larger meta-story this particular 'fic is a part of, I imagine that's pretty deliberate on your part, indeed something like the main point here. And yet, it also highlights how unique that particular dynamic is; strictly speaking, Starlight is friends with Twilight, and that means she's on friendly terms with the other characters, but not necessarily as close.** But you do a fantastic job of drawing on what we have seen in the show, in particular the mixture of respect, fear, and genuine good nature with which Starlight has approached basically everything post-"The Cutie Re-Mark", and, as you always do, expanded on it very nicely. I especially love the moment Starlight fails to catch AJ's joke early on; it's such a perfect encapsulation of what a new friendship looks like, when we're still getting a feel for the ins and outs of the other person's particulars and personality, learning that special language each individual has unto themselves. Moreover, though, it, and indeed the whole rest of the story, establishes the sincerity of affection between both ponies, the atmosphere of understanding and acceptance that underlines the whole story even when the strength spell stirs up some conflict. Even when she isn't quite connecting, Starlight wants this to work, and you can't not feel for that desire.
But I won't lie. As much as I enjoy your Starlight, I enjoy your Applejack even more. Part of that, of course, is simple personal bias; even all these years later, AJ is still my personal Best Pony, and it always does my heart good to see someone recognize in her all the things that drew me to her in the first place in such well-defined, beautifully expressed terms. Part of that is as simple as letting her be the smartest pony in the room, so to speak, a scenario the show itself rarely ever uses***, but which here establishes an important aspect of the story's structure: Starlight's here to learn, and AJ is here to teach, a fact which plays out on multiple levels as things unfold, and thus allows the audience to understand the exact shape of the story early on. Part of it is how much I appreciate your particular handle on her voice; whether it's the "goodness" joke (again, such a perfect little moment) or the particulars of her countryisms this time around ("We don't break our new folk, we break 'em in" is a particular favorite) or the underlying sense of home and belonging which is constantly present in just about everything she says even when it isn't the direct subject (though when it is, it's even more potent; the awe she shares with Starlight when they first look over the orchard is wonderfully observed), your Applejack here resonates with me on an almost-molecular level, a "yes! THIS is why I love this character!" level that I really don't get to have all that often, but which even setting aside my own personal feelings is also just flat-out compelling and enjoyable to read. And there's so many layers to it, too! Again, separate from anything overt she does or says, there is this really intriguing other level to Applejack here, a constantly-present but only-sometimes-seen sense of who she is, where she belongs, and, most crucially, how she came to understand both those things. It's not only great in its own right as characterization, but it contrasts perfectly with the uncertainty and confusion Starlight is always struggling with. The source of Applejack's wisdom, in other words, isn't simple certainty; rather, it is an understanding, and one that she has had to work for over the course of her life. I especially love how she uses Apple Bloom as an example, not only of missing the point of Cutie Marks but also of learning and earning talents you might not expect toward the end, too. It all adds up, in other words, to something I brought up way, waaaaaaaaay back in my comment on your "Somepony To Look Out For Me" blog: it is a story that very much takes stock of the complexities of Applejack's own internal life, and respects and expresses it very powerfully.
We have, in other words, two really well-characterized ponies at the heart of this story, and, as per the norm, you utilize those two strongly-realized characters to get to a profound, and fascinatingly multi-faceted, point. Because the moral here is a bit more complicated than just "don't take the easy way out"; the fact that it explicitly addresses the show's own use of "tradition" as a plot-point by specifying that it isn't simply a matter of doing things the old way, but doing things the right way, draws very keen attention to that fact. As does the fact that, in the end, Starlight doesn't succeed by doing things the exact same way Applejack does; indeed, even in success, she's completely unable to match the level of output Applejack can achieve. But, by applying her own skills in a manner that fits the task at hand, rather than use them to try and find the fastest, simplest way to do it, she's able to make her own unique way of achieving her goal. Perhaps more to the point, however, that element about how we choose to apply ourselves to the tasks at hand, how we learn to match ourselves to what we need to do instead of try to cheat our way out, is part of a larger, and even more interesting, observation, one that feels very specific to Starlight and Applejack in particular even as it's broadly applicable to the show's entire world. Namely, that we only stop changing when we tell ourselves we can't change anymore, and that "the end" is not a set point but something we can keep defining for ourselves, over and over again, as we keep going through our lives. That's an idea I love not just on its own terms, but also because of how it applies specifically to Applejack, Starlight, and the relationship between them. Again, it's that compare-contrast of a pony who has a profound understanding of what her goal and identity are but only because she's had so many, many challenges to conquer along the way to earn that understanding, and another pony who wants to do good but is so scared of making another, terrible mistake that her faith in herself to make good has been fundamentally shaken. Both, each in their own way, have had their lives directly affected by their ability to live up to the standards they set for themselves, in other words, and so the story's lessons hit all the harder because we can recognize how it is the particular mixture of their differing experiences on that front that lead them to where they end up here.
I can quibble, I suppose; the ending is abrupt, but that's pretty clearly deliberate, and endearingly so. There are also times where the word choice can sometimes feel a touch repetitive (the phrase "I think" starts off a few too many bits of dialogue here). But neither problem is ever especially distracting, nor are there any real serious complaints I can find other than that anyway. Which means "Breaking Tradition" in fact keeps tradition by being a great Bookish story, and one that fulfills the wonderful, unique potential of both its central players in wonderful fashion. And yes, it's earned its place as one of my personal favorite AJ stories ever, which is about the highest praise I can think to give it.
"Don't do it for me, girl. Do it for you." Seriously. So great.
* though for the record I still haven’t caught up on Season 7, so maybe that’ll help? X3
** which, to my mind, is actually one of the best-realized and most multi-faceted details about her character in relation to the rest of the cast, given how she's started making her own group of friends entirely distinct from the Mane Six, but that's a whole other spiel. XD;
*** and a big part of why "Applejack's Day Off" quickly became a personal favorite of mine, among other things.
8224948
Thanks so much for the detailed review as usual!
I'm happy I could provide you with a such an enjoyable AJ experience with this. Especially since I have no idea if I'll ever be able to do so again. ^^; This was supposed to be an early 2016 fic, but I haven't felt her in my muse since then. This season certainly hasn't done her any favors lol.
Never say never, naturally, but... either way, this is the AJ I too like to see as well as write, so yay.
8252874
You are, as ever, very welcome; it took me a bit of time to find the necessary space to write it out, but I won't lie, I found this a particularly satisfying review to write. ^_^
It's quite alright. Like the man said:
Of course also like Thanos I too will likely take over half-a-decade to actually make good on this, but. Y'know. XD;
And again, I turn to a Disney-owned mouthpiece to express my reaction. Iago, if you please?
Thank you, Iago. l3
Full review here, but in brief: one of those character-driven, dialogue-heavy stories that pleases me, as someone who likes such things. Hence the like!
Huh, this is like the P3 series but with Starlight. That's cool. Really enjoying it.
9073079
Hey, you caught it :D
Nothing but short, sweet goodness.