Old Stories · 11:05pm Nov 20th, 2022
They say that everything old is new again. Sometimes that's true, I think.
In this case, I've been reading a lot of ponyfics lately, including many old ones from my list of favorites, that I hadn't read in years. I've been reminded of stories that I had almost forgotten about, and reacquainted myself with ones that I've read several times over already. And over and over again, I'm surprised and impressed and thrilled by how good they still are.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is one of the best starting points for fanfiction that I know, with a wide and varied cast of main characters (and a huge caste of minor and background ones!), and expansive worldbuilding that never quite gets too comprehensive. It invites you to dabble with horsewords, to try out new things, or new takes on old things, with the characters, or to tinker with Equestria and the world beyond. It lends itself with marvelous versatility to simple, hearty slice of life; to all flavors of comedy from the silliest fluff to the bitterest satire to sublime farce again; to romance and drama and erotica and tragedy and mythmaking.
What prompted this particular blog post was device heretic's marvelous Eternal -- one of the greatest early ponyfics, back from before Twilight got her wings in the show. It's ancient by the standards of this fandom, coming from an age before most of the pony canon we're familiar with existed, before all sorts of fanons were established. It has a decidedly mortal Twilight Sparkle, and decidedly immortal Celestia and Luna, and an Equestria that is very familiar, yet extremely unlike what we saw in the later seasons of the show, and in more modern fanfics. It's strange and fascinating, a superb example of worldbuilding upon the very little information we had after the first two seasons, but even more importantly it's just so good. The writing is very good, even with the high standards of this fandom, and the characterization... oh boy, the characters, and the drama, and the breadth and depth of emotion they show!
If you have never read this one, I very much encourage you to do so. And if you have, I suggest you re-read it, especially if it's been a long time since you last read it. It's a story that I think couldn't be written today, and that makes it all the more worth it.
I remember that story!
The first 3 ponyfics I ever read were Somewhere Only We Know, Eternal, and Fallout Equestria. Of course I was hooked.