It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #107 · 7:47pm Apr 5th, 2023
Sometimes things just sort of line up.
About three months ago, I lamented on Discord a bit that there was a story I wanted to feature but couldn't find a matching second story for. It was something I found to be really interesting and unique, but that's also why it became a chore to connect.
Fast-forward to about two weeks ago, where I was grousing at the realization that in this series I'd largely skipped over one of my favorite authors and hadn't given them their proper due. So while sorting through their works, I found one that I realized was a near perfect fit for the story I'd been stumbling to find a match for months prior.
Life's funny that way, ain't it?
The first story I was talking about is Magical Mystery Marks by bdoubleowo.
The events of Magical Mystery Cure tend to get overshadowed by the final part: Twily-corn casts a long shadow. But prior to that, you've got five ponies with different cutie marks who insist that it's really their destiny. Which raises the question: doesn't that conflict with their own memories? Their own ideas of who they are?
This story delves into that in a fascinating way: it relates each of the five telling the story of why their (current, switched) cutie mark is the right one, and the story of how they learned about their own destiny.
And it does that quite well, despite how short each chapter is. Each one of them retells their cutie mark story (as seen in The Cutie Mark Chronicles episode) but with their incorrect mark - and gives context as to why it works within the story.
It's a fascinating story conceptually to me: I'm not sure anybody else has done one like it. Because yeah, there's gotta be something going on in the heads of the five Elements when their marks are switched. They're really sure the swapped ones are the right ones, but how that meshes with their own memories is never really explored. It's prime fanfic territory, and I love that this story tackles it.
The whole thing's quick - while it's 7,000 words, that's split between five perspectives and includes a bit of contextual introduction for each chapter. So each perspective only has maybe 600-800 words to work with. But it honestly doesn't need more than that. We already know the overall story, this one just needs enough room to give us the alternate perspective. So quick is good in this case, and the interesting material isn't buried.
It's a wonderful little read that gives some interesting context to an incident that gets overlooked a lot.
Now the other half - and the author I wanted to feature more of. See, I'm a total fan for FanOfMostEverything. Yet somehow despite loving his works, I've only brought him up once in this blog series. I've got twenty three of his stories in the potentials pile and yet keep bouncing over them.
So when I was searching for an excuse and re-stumbled into Who We Are in the Dark, it was a lightning bolt as the perfect companion piece.
Rather than Magical Mystery Cure, this story takes on Friendship is Magic, Part 2. Because you have six mares who've barely known each other a day, and they're all plunging into the hell that is the Everfree to take on an evil goddess with nothing but each other. And you've got to wonder what was going through their heads.
This is the story that delivers on that.
Now, while there's an end segment that gives a bit of context and a wrapper on the story, the real meat is the six page-long perspectives from the soon-to-be Elements. Each of them is a beautiful and quick glimpse into their thoughts as they do something completely insane for the sake of a pony they just met. And it makes it make sense.
It's typical FoME quality combined with tight, strong character work to cast light on an incredibly pivotal moment in canon that's rarely explored. This falls into the same category as Time for me like that: a glimpse into a critical turning point in Equestria that adds important depth and enhances the rest of the scene.
And really, if that and FanOfMostEverything's name on it aren't enough to get a read? Dunno what else to say.
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Stop, you'll make me blush.
Glad one of my stories was able to so perfectly fit with the companion piece for this week. I'll be sure to give that one a look.
Your first story here gives me a chance to whip our little-known behind-the-scenes production trivia about Season 3: the episode that would become "Magical Mystery Cure" wasn't conceived as one where Twilight would become a princess, but just as another challenge she would face on her path of growth. It's hard to tell whether Hasbro had already demanded "Moar Princess Becauz Buy Our Toyz" by then, meaning this was a mid-season step of Celestia observing Twilight becoming closer to earning it, or if it was just an episode, but there you have it. Wasn't a musical either, though otherwise it was basically the first two-thirds of the episode we got without singing and with proper pacing with an epilogue expressing the sentiments of Twilight's growth both among her friends and from the princesses. The initial musical episode was Twilight being mayor for a day, and the outline reads as a solid, fun take on that and a sore loss.
I bring all that up because given how utterly rushed and overshadowed the first two-thirds of MMC were, even a brief headspace glimpse into that aspect seems most inviting. I can see from the concept alone why you held onto it tight for the right featuring partner.
Speaking of that partner: thanks for featuring Who We Are in the Dark. It was a fic I instantly recognised as having read before in my pre-rating days, yet upon clicking into it, I noticed I hadn't added it to my Re-evaluate bookshelf. Whoops!
FoME has so many fics to his name it's not surprising I didn't comb through his whole backlog the way I did for most authors I followed when making my bookshelves. Either way, I look forward to rereading it too – I remember it selling well for me, not least for fleshing out a significant-yet-usually papered over aspect of character from the show's start. And those are always welcome.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much!
I'm so glad you enjoyed Magical Mystery Marks and I can't wait to read Who We Are In The Dark as well!