Paul's Thursday Reviews CCCXXXVII – Estee Edition · 8:33pm Aug 10th, 2023
Before anything else: the Breakup Trilogy now has a Ukrainian translation! And along with it I commissioned new cover art for the starter story, Escape, so that now all three have unique custom covers. My thanks again to NekoJackun for agreeing to do a commission for this despite technically not doing commissions anymore (Jackun’s Aria Blaze is Best Aria Blaze, just sayin’) and to volkov for offering to do the translation in the first place. As for the new cover art, look at this beauty:
Alright, enough of that, let’s get to the meat of this: Estee. Back in May Estee announced it was their 10th FIMFiciversary, an interesting coincidence since it was so close to my own. Feeling a burst of generosity and knowing I hadn’t read much of Estee’s library, I offered to review one story of their choice. Estee refused, instead creating a blog asking her fans to recommend stories in their place.
For some reason that I found very amusing at the time, I decided to counter by instead doing a whole blog of Estee works. “Oh-ho, can’t pick one, can you? Then I will take all of them!”
So here we are. I intentionally kept the most obvious parts of my schedule hidden, hoping that this would come out as a surprise for Estee. Speaking of… Numbers.
*cough*
So! First author’s spotlight. Seems odd I haven’t done this before, but now that I have I kinda-sorta want to make it a regular thing. If there’s a particular author out there you folks think is deserving of such treatment, by all means let me know.
Before we get to Estee’s stuff however, there’s one story that I must include due to old scheduling obligations. This one’s been waiting on a review for longer than a year and I wasn’t about to delay it because of my first ever author spotlight. I mean, it took me half a year to read through this thing, can you blame me? But that’s okay, I’ll get to the Triptych Continuum eventually.
Let’s get to the reviews!
Stories for This Week:
Prey and a Lamb by Lambs Prey
Donuts Not Of This World by Estee
Pony Go Boom by Estee
Post Negative Comments Only by Estee
Pinkie Pie vs. The Soufflé by Estee
Bitter/Sweet by Estee
One Tenth-Bit by Estee
Blessing by Estee
While Their Name's Still Spoken by Estee
Twilight's Escort Service by Estee
Total Word Count: 1,442,668
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 4
Pretty Good: 5
Worth It: 1
Needs Work: 0
None: 0
Prey and a Lamb
1,339,278 Words
By Lambs Prey
Requested by Deor
Alternative Title: Nature. Does. Not. Care.
There once was a little runt of a lamb named Gossamer. Gossamer lived on the very edge of Equestria, so far from the prosperous center that Celestia herself could not be bothered to care what happens out there. But now? Now there is only Prey. And Prey is about to be freed from six decades of imprisonment. Equestria isn’t ready. How fortunate that it may never find out.
I recall when this was making its rounds in the Feature Box with great regularity. I was interested, but it was so ridiculously long that I cast it aside as not worth the time investment. And then Deor happened. There’s become a natural progress to things like this: I don’t wanna, but I’ve developed a reputation for it, and then someone asks me to, and I have no legitimate reason to say ‘no’, and then I am briefly resentful, but then I realize this is sorta my niche anyway, and then I make my peace with it, by which time finally I actually read the dumb thing, and then I’m glad I did. This is the… what, third, fourth time it’s happened? At the time Prey and a Lamb was the second longest story I’d set to read, beaten out only by Starlight Over Detrot.
Next year I’ll be reading a story that is longer than either of them. I am currently in the “this is my niche anyway” phase for that one.
Anyway, this ridiculously long story centers on the runt lamb warlock/mind mage named Prey, formerly Gossamer. Coming from humble beginnings, he’s lived an extremely painful life that he only survived via a distinct intellectual brilliance, slavish focus on practicality, relentless paranoia, and a burning loathing for everything equine. Sixty years ago he became legendary as the vicious, murderous last survivor of a rebellion, at least until he got captured and sentenced to stay in the isolated, secret prison of Dreverton until old age made him rot.
It’s hard to rot when you’ve used multiple and redundant levels of black magic to preserve your life and youth indefinitely. A pity the Royal Guard never noticed such details.
Our story begins with Prey being dragged out of Dreverton and forced to assist in a criminal case that his unique abilities may prove insightful towards. One thing leads to another, and eventually Prey finds himself pressganged (as he sees it) into Princess Luna’s Night Guard, specifically the elite investigation squad known as the Intelligence and Secrecy Night Division (ISND).
There are two elements that form the core of this story. The first is Prey’s relationship with his fellow ISND members, Sergeant Gloom and Private Crimson. Things start off rocky at first, because Prey’s hatred for ponies is all-encompassing. But as time goes by and these three survive more and more missions together, Prey’s racism begins to ease up. In many ways, his growing fondness and appreciation for these two are the most important aspects of the entire story. This is further expanded upon by other characters who come within Prey’s sphere of attention, such as the delightful Taffy, ever-frustrated Lilly, too-innocent-for-his-own-good Scenic, and struggling ex-cultist Lemon Pink.
Going hoof-in-hoof with this are the missions the ISND is assigned to, either by Luna, Night Guard Captain Nighthawk, or their own selection. Every mission is more mysterious, more complicated, and more dangerous than what came before. Well, not entirely; nothing, not even Haven Hay, could top the sheer terror and lethality that was Alfalfa Dale. But these missions make up a major element as the three (sometimes more) work together or even against each other struggling to solve the ongoing mysteries and survive.
The worst part about writing a review for this is that it’s impossible to go into any details without spoiling things. I want to talk about the desperate fight on a crumbling rooftop, or the constant war of attrition in the caves, or the enemy hidden within the hurricane, or the terror that leaves jawbones behind it in the night. Alas, I can’t, because they are things that need to be experienced. I will say this, though: Lambs Prey has got their finger on the pulse of any given scene. There are moments of levity, of frustration, rarely of joy, and a couple of outright horror.
For the record, my favorite was the night around the bonfire. That was the height of this story for me. Those of you who know me won’t be surprised that it was a scene of masterfully crafted horror, vague in its mysteriousness yet terrible in its inevitability.
But there were nice moments too. Prey discovering the joys of candy and hot showers. Having tea and pointless conversation with his newfound friends. The constant but amusing dodging of Taffy’s mountains of gleefully assigned paperwork. Prey is an imminently serious and practical creature, but that doesn’t mean even he can escape the occasional moment of levity and friendship. In some ways these are the most critical moments in the story, for they help Prey evolve and adapt and realize that he doesn’t have to be the villain of the piece.
Although make no mistake, Prey is a villain. He can be mean, even outright cruel, and the lives of others mean precious little to him. Early in the story we will sometimes see him go out of his way to cause harm, but as he discovers the value in others he starts shifting away from such things. Even so, when Prey sets his mind to seeing someone put away, it will happen. (Almost) nothing is more precious to Prey than his own survival, and if he has to dig a few graves (pre- or post-mortem), he’ll do it without a second’s hesitation.
And we can’t escape the fact that Prey is vehemently, unapologetically racist. Towards equinity in general and unicorns especially. We are never allowed to forget. It affects his every decision, driven by a past of pain and torture inflicted upon him. And that hatred is nothing compared to what he feels towards Luna, owner of his leash, and Celestia, who allowed his old life to burn without so much as an “oops”.
Actually, that’s an interesting topic in and of itself. Prey is utterly convinced that Celestia and Luna, as immortal and all-powerful alicorns, don’t give a rat’s ass about the lives and wellbeing of the mortals beneath them, save that they are appropriately served and worshipped. Many of the decisions he makes throughout the story are based on his belief that he continues to exist only by staying in Luna’s good graces. He consistently fails to see them as having ‘normal’ personalities and interests or even emotions, but rather views them as Lovecraftian abominations impossible for the mortal mind to comprehend. It’s an interesting and uncommon perspective. Prey’s mind, tainted by a life of betrayals and struggling to survive against the slimmest odds, is so twisted that he often blatantly misinterprets what he is told by Luna into some bastardization of her intentions.
Then he talks to Celestia. Whew, was that an eye opener. In some ways, that long-awaited conversation actually confirmed some of Prey’s worst fears about her. While I can somewhat forgive Luna’s actions, Celestia’s decisions and her adamant refusal to accept any logic that wasn’t her own came off as damning in the extreme. I didn’t blame him one bit for hating her after that.
The point is, this isn’t your common Equestria and Prey isn’t your common protagonist. That I was somehow still willing to root and care for him and his plight from start to finish says a lot about how Lambs Prey handled the story.
I suppose I’m obligated to point out some criticisms, and I should do that now before this review gets to absurd lengths. The first I’d like to address is how sometimes the conversations felt forced, particularly in regards to Princess Luna. There are two or three times when Prey and Luna will meet and something important needs to be conveyed, but Lambs Prey conveys the dialogue in exactly the most unrealistically wrong way to ensure that what needs to be said never is. Clearly, this was done in the name of preserving and stoking Prey’s oversized biases and loathing towards her. Clearly, it was blatant and blatantly unnecessary, especially considering that this problem doesn’t exist when Prey is talking to literally any other character in the story.
There was a time or two where I questioned the logistics and implications of events. For example, there’s one scene where a big secret of Crimson’s is revealed. Except it’s… really… not? Like, you can tell Crimson knows what is being discussed, and it’s clear Prey knows what it is too, but at no point is it outright stated, and so the reader is just left to figure it out on their own. It never comes up again. I suppose it’s possible that Lambs Prey left hints throughout the story, but with a story this big such hints are easy to forget amidst all the death and conflict and Big Reveals.
Another such instance that really bugged me was when Discord showed up (Oh, did I mention the events of the first two seasons are going on in the background? Because they are, and that’s awesome). In order to avoid the ponies that have been Discorded, Prey actually kills a few. To me, this was a huge red flag, because in all the things we see Discord do it was pretty clear nopony was dying. And if nopony was dying, but then a few dozen ponies are discovered all dead by what appears to be the same means… Well. I expected an investigation. One that would reveal the presence of a mind leech. I was surprised and a bit put off that such a very real danger was never brought up later.
Then there’s the mid-story scene where Prey supposedly dies. Except he doesn’t, we all knew he wouldn’t, and the story goes on. Which would have been fine if that was that. But then I see the Author’s Note where Lambs Prey claimed that the scene had been added specifically to inform the readers that “anyone could die in this story.” Which struck me as a profoundly dumb thing to claim, especially since Prey didn’t actually die, so all the author had really done was suggest Prey has the finest plot armor. Protip, author: if you want to send a message that even mainstay characters can be on the chopping block, you do it by actually killing one of them. Miraculous saves “after death” don’t count.
Which is not to say that bad things don’t happen to our characters. They do. Frequently. Limbs will be removed. Poison will be consumed. Acid will melt flesh. Minds will be broken, wills crushed, and lives snuffed out. Because if there’s any one constant theme in this story, it is that nature. Does. Not. Care.
Good lord, this review is turning into a short story all its own. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Prey and a Lamb has to offer readers, but I can’t keep this going forever. So a few short highlights:
- The character and relationship growth here is phenomenal. There are characters you will love (I was especially fond of Lemon and Taffy, which is funny considering they never meet and are completely different from one another), characters you will loathe (Strange Happenstance comes to mind), and friendships that will feel as real as they are complicated (between Prey and pretty much every other character he concludes he doesn’t hate by the end).
- The mysteries the ISND struggle to solve are always compelling and interesting in their own right, be it hunting drug dealers or facing off against warlocks in dark forests.
- There are plenty of welcome slice-of-life moments between the drama and horror that serve well to remind us that life goes on despite everything.
- Most of the story is with a limited perspective – that of Prey’s – and thus the narration is constantly closed to outside viewpoints. This means that you often won’t get the full picture, save what you can infer from the context clues missed by the protagonist. This proved a great way to show Equestria and Canterlot from the perspective of someone who doesn’t like them, which by itself is an unusual and welcome twist.
- Speaking of such, Prey’s racism towards Equestrians balances nicely with the fact that Equestrians tend to be pretty racist themselves in this story. For example, most are incapable of saying anything outside of pony terminology: “everypony”, “nopony”, “anypony”, etcetera. Even when they aren’t talking to or about ponies. Hell, Gloom consistently tries to correct Prey’s language to be exclusively ponified, as if including other races is somehow improper. For as much as Prey’s hatred for Equestria is blown well above reasonability, some of his criticisms have merit, which was another element that kept things interesting.
- I said it earlier, but it cannot be overstated that Lambs Prey has a strong concept of atmosphere and scene setting. This was never more obvious than in the scenes of despair and horror, but other events – idleness, amusement, frustration, and so on – are just as well represented.
- Lambs Prey struggles with grammar at times, especially in the early chapters, but frequently has editors assist with the work. When those editors are active, the story reads near seamlessly. Just be aware that there will be some awkward moments in the early chapters.
- It should be made clear to anyone considering this story that it is Dark, and yes, that capital D is warranted. Prey is not a nice lamb, and nature. Does. Not. Care. For every good thing that happens in this story, expect three bad things, and expect those bad things to hit hard.
I think this review has gone on too long. There’s still a ton I could say, but for the sake of sparing everyone their eyeballs I shall end it here. In summation: this was a fascinating, heavy-hitting, at times powerful story about a lamb using every tool and option available to him to crawl, bloody and sore and weeping, out from the depths of a personal Tartarus to discover companionship and search for some semblance of inner peace. Despite my original misgivings I am, as usual, pleased with the final result. Enough so that I’m willing to reward it my highest rating. The story is complicated, intense and, best of all, memorable. My only regret now is that I can’t go into as much detail as I would like.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Donuts Not Of This World
8,276 Words
By Estee
Recommended by Moproblems Moharmoney
The Greening has come. It’s a holiday not unlike St. Patrick’s Day, in that everypony wears green and drinks their weight in alcohol. Pinkie doesn’t like the Greening. Not that she has anything against the color green. She just hates having to fight disemvoweled entities beyond the folds of reality intent on bringing about the apocalypse. Which, it just so happens, is also (unintentionally) part of the holiday.
Ah, now this is more my kind of comedy. Only Pinkie Pie can look an indescribable, over-limbed, reality-warping entity in the eye and have a semi-rational conversation with it.
The story operates under the idea that the Cakes got an ingredient for donuts from A Book and are now mentally conditioned to make them every Greening, blissfully unaware that in so doing they are summoning a Lovecraftian entity bound by The Rules to destroy reality as we know it. Pinkie can (and has repeatedly) only stop it by besting it in a challenge, which always results in them playing a game together. They’ve tried Hopscotch, they’ve tried a nameless card game I strongly suspect is Uno, and they may have tried other things in the past. This time?
It’s Magic: The Gathering. The entity’s choice. I was grinning from ear to ear when I realized, about two paragraphs before the entity did, what Pinkie’s final strategy was.
This was a lot of fun. I have to admit that it appeals to my bias for the weird, dark, and outright strange. I am reminded, fondly, of any given episode of Welcome to Night Vale, in that the story takes the fantastically creepy and morbidly mysterious and makes it feel like an average day at the Dog Park. In short, this is my kind of entertainment. I can’t say for certain that it will appeal to everybody.
Regardless, Estee uses trademark wit and humor, combines it with some Eldritch horror, and tops it all off with Pinkie being Pinkie for a final product of silly near-apocalyptic entertainment. If that appeals to you, then you owe it to yourself to give this a go.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Pony Go Boom
8,194 Words
By Estee
Recommended by Lurks-no-More
Luna is still struggling to grasp the finer points of what she missed over the last thousand years. One thing she completely missed is something called the Rightsstag, which appears to be Equestria’s version of the Fourth of July. So imagine her surprise when it is announced that it now falls under her purview. Because you light fireworks at night, apparently. Luna is at a loss for how to contribute… at least until she sees a certain performance put on by a certain infamous showpony.
A performance that involves blowing oneself up.
This is the closest thing to a nonfic I’ve seen by Estee, and by “nonfic” I specifically mean a story that exists purely for entertainment value, without a moral or revelation or any of that “character growth” stuff (Pre-Blog Post Edit: This was before I read some of the stories below, mind you). It’s simply Luna and Trixie getting along and collaborating on a special event.
I am fine with this. Every author wants to write one of those (heck, I’m writing one now), they can be highly entertaining when handled well, and I’m never going to complain about two of my favorite ponies sharing the spotlight. Aside from this, the story also involves the anxiety of Luna’s advisors, suggestions on alicorn magical limitations, the stupidity of past nobility, Trixie being a consummate professional, and a rather amusing description of exactly how boring Estee considers baseball to be.
I suppose if you squint you might find a lesson in there regarding the importance of communication.
For being a story that exists largely for entertainment value, I greatly enjoyed it. It possesses Estee’s unique ability to take a while to get to the point without ever making that time feel like a waste. Really, this was everything it needed to be. Even when writing a nonfic, Estee delivers.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Post Negative Comments Only
22,692 Words
Estee failed to provide cover art.
Recommended by FTL and Emptybee
The crystal ponies are used to living under a tyrant. Cadance is not a tyrant, but they can’t seem to figure that out. So every day they shower her with praise and work tirelessly to ensure that she never, ever, not for even a fraction of a second, has a reason to act out. But Cadance can’t rule this way. She’s new to this whole leadership thing, she wants their honest, critical feedback, and she’s getting desperate. And then a minotaur shows up in the Crystal Empire…
Ack-tually, FTL and Emptybee recommended The Bounce Test, but this came first and Estee recommends reading them in order, so here we are.
I am surprised to realize that I’ve never seen a story that addresses this specific issue. Most stories referencing the crystal ponies as having nothing but joy at being saved. Here Estee reminds us that the crystal ponies were slaves. Granted, Sombra is made into an over-the-top monster of a villain here, so their time as his slaves goes above and beyond what most people might think of in regards to the term. Point is, what the crystal ponies went through was savage and left lasting scars that don’t heal overnight, and Cadance is coming to understand that.
The story largely involves Cadance trying to force the crystal ponies to be critical of her. Needless to say, her plan backfires. You might imagine from the title alone that this would be a comedic backfire, but it’s not. It’s not at all. Instead it ends up being truly tragic.
And then there’s the minotaur in the room. Iron Will has a presence here, and it’s not what you’re used to seeing. This is an Iron Will who not only means well, but genuinely learned an important lesson from Putting Your Hoof Down. In this story he comes off not as a money-grubbing bully but as someone determined to help Cadance take the right steps to not look like a tyrant to a people who only see her as such. There’s a conflict brewing under here, stemming from her misunderstanding his words and her not listening when he tries to correct the record. Even more fascinating was this revelation that the minotaurs as a race had themselves been enslaved once, and if I’m reading between the lines properly then it wasn’t all that long ago that they were freed from tyranny. This gives Iron Will a special and important perspective regarding the ongoing situation.
This was a character-heavy piece, and Estee did everything right. Combining a hint of narrative wit (often in regards to Sombra’s ludicrous levels of evil), great character development, and the uncommon interaction of two individuals we rarely see in the same fic. Also: Shining Armor running in terror from his wife. It all comes together to make a fascinating and satisfying whole, and I am mildly annoyed with myself for having not checked it out sooner. I can only imagine what The Bounce Test will be like.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Pinkie Pie vs. The Soufflé
11,281 Words
By Estee
Recommended by FanOfMostEverything
Ask most ponies and they’ll tell you Pinkie Pie is an excellent baker. Ask Pinkie Pie and she’ll tell you she’s only an apprentice baker, and always will be so long as she can’t produce That One Dish. Soufflés are her master piece: that one thing that proves you can stand alone in your art and be a professional. Today, Pinkie has no responsibilities, no work, and no appointments, and she’s going to take advantage of it to finally beat the soufflé.
This is right up my alley, with a concept that I can greatly appreciate. I love food, I love making food, and I love eating food (I’m perpetually 20-25 lbs overweight despite my best efforts for a reason). But while I might be good at making food, I’m not great. I’ll never be able to match the culinary talents of, say, my father or my uncle. I certainly don’t have Dad’s amazing ability to identify assorted ingredients with a mere sniff or taste test. And I’m fine with that.
Here we find Pinkie. Pinkie is good at baking, and she loves doing it. But she’s got a cutie mark in parties, not baking, which means she will never, ever match the ability of ponies who can say otherwise. She’s fine with that. She understands it, accepts it. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be the best baker she can possibly be. And in order to make that claim, she must make the one dish that has always ever refused her best efforts: the soufflé.
…now I kinda want to try making one myself.
This story is a master class in combining comedic timing and wit with an underlying seriousness. Yes, there are goofy moments, moments involving Apple Bloom and cymbals, Twilight Sparkle and idiot library customers, or Rarity engaging in acts that we do not speak of in polite company. Every one of them landed, because Estee’s narrative style is good at that kind of thing. Yet for all of that humor, not once is it lost upon us that what Pinkie is trying to do is important to her on a deeply personal level. As funny as these interruptions are to us, for her they are anything but.
If I appreciate nothing else, it’s that Estee was able to maintain that balance all the way through. I’ve seen enough authors fail at it to know that it’s not an easy thing to pull off.
And then we get that final encounter with Cranky. Which I feel a little critical of, because he seemed to come out of nowhere and the excuse for him being present felt sort of tacked on. But that’s nothing compared to the insightful one-on-one talk he gives her, one that shifts the entire story into a new perspective to great effect. It’s at this moment where the whole thing shifts from being a really good story to a great one.
Another absolutely delightful demonstration of Estee’s talent. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you’ve not read it.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
I’m definitely going to try making a soufflé soon.
Bitter/Sweet
9,742 Words
By Estee
Recommended by Pseudosapien and bigbear
Once, Worthy Chocolatiers was the first and only name for chocolate in Equestria. After all, it was Equestria’s very first chocolate shop, founded some twelve hundred years ago by Equestria’s very first chocolatier. But today that name is the butt of countless jokes. Today, there is only one store left open. And today Valrhona, the last cutie marked chocolatier of the Worthy line, is closing up the place for good. What she doesn’t know is that there’s still one customer left, and she happens to also be the business’s very first.
Another food-based story, and this time it’s chocolate. I am a bit of a chocoholic (60%-75% preferred if I can get my hands on it), so already my attention has been garnered. The first thing you might ask in that summary above is: “What kind of name is ‘Valrhona’ for a pony?” If you did, then you, my friend, don’t get it. Although to be fair I had to look it up myself.
Our story begins with Valrhona closing up her shop for the very last time and basking in the bitterness of knowing she failed to save the family brand despite trying her absolute best. Then she gets a surprise visit from a certain Princess of the Night. Luna has had a rough time and, having learned of the shop’s closure entirely by chance, hopes to both soothe her soul with chocolate and visit a place for which she has only the fondest memories.
What follows is several hours of bonding over bad images and being blamed for wrongs perpetuated by others. We learn of how Worthy Chocolates got its start, how it became famous, why it fell, and how that story relates to Luna’s own. The simple explanation is greed and a focus of quantity over quality.
As is typical, Estee’s evocative writing style knows exactly how to make every little moment interesting and gives the entire story the push it needs. It’s a recipe of history, healing, and fresh starts combined with Best Pony, chocolate, and emotion. The final result is a great story, and one I am certainly glad to have read.
…and now I want some chocolate. Not that this is anything new: I always do.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
One Tenth-Bit
9,707 Words
By Estee
Recommended by VTek44 and BronyWriter
All Rarity did was pick up a lost tenth-bit piece. Now she’s stuck in a back room while a particularly unpleasant police officer grills her. Luckily, she’s smart enough to understand what’s really going on… and where it’s going to go.
Simply put, this is a story about police harassment. Estee is conscientious enough to make it clear that this story isn’t applying a universal stamp of corruption on all police. It’s a story that highlights that the problem exists, and no more. Which is definitely a big point in its favor. It’s a very… simple story compared to this author’s usual works, perhaps because the topic in and of itself is very simple, i.e. bad cops are bad.
I did thoroughly enjoy Rarity’s verbal takedown of the ponies responsible for her predicament. It felt so very… Rarity.
Despite the ever-present witty narrative style and excellent characterizations, this is still little more than a “watch the bad guy get what’s coming to him” story. It will appeal to the vindictive, even if Rarity is not. Or perhaps to the people who have a disproportionate loathing of authority figures, I suppose. It’s very well done in its presentation – I would expect no less from Estee – but is easily overshadowed by the other works in this author’s library. Most of my personal appreciation stems from the fact that it stars Rarity, and I am always and forever biased in favor of a well-characterized Rarity.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Blessing
10,137 Words
Estee failed to provide cover art.
Recommended by erictheblue
Celestia really only has but one talent: to raise and lower the sun. To all her little ponies, that is a great thing, the thing of gods. To Celestia, it is so little, too much, and not enough all at the same time. Today she faces a father who will remind her of that in all the most painful of ways.
This story is set in a hospital, and mostly focuses on Celestia visiting the father of a foal born far too early. She’s there because one of her guards begged her to go, because the little ponies have fully bought into the nonsense that Celestia, Sol Invictus, Mistress of the Sun, Mother of all Ponies, can do anything. Even save a life that everypony knows can’t be saved.
It can be tempting to cast this aside as an “immortality sucks” tale. That’s not what this is. It’s much more complex than that. Rather, this is a story about Celestia’s limits and the pain that comes with nopony else understanding that those limits exist. It’s all the more painful when the ponies refuse to blame her for anything, even the things she should rightfully be blamed for. It’s always their fault, because they interrupted, because they doubted, because they lacked faith.
I feel like I’ve seen this angle before. But I can’t remember where – which may say something unto itself – and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t handled this well.
The only caveat to this story I would add is that it’s a slow burn. Readers will have to be patient before they can reap the rewards of the conclusion, which involves Celestia giving voice to her emotions and Luna being there for her big sister for a change. I should also add that this is one of the few Estee stories I’ve read that doesn’t rely on a witty, ever-winking narrative to maintain its tone. Which is not to say that the writing is boring – far from it – so much as to note that things are toned down here, as is appropriate for the heavy subject matter.
As long as you are willing to put up with the pacing, you should definitely add this to your read list.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
While Their Name's Still Spoken
6,791 Words
Estee failed to provide cover art.
Recommended by JudgementalHat
She knows nothing. She can’t remember. Not touch. Not places. Not events. Not even names. But she’s still here, and she still follows. All these ugly, morbid ponies. If only she knew why.
This is a story set with a very limited perspective. Specifically, the perspective of a ghost. We begin with said ghost acknowledging what she is – or perhaps isn’t – and what she can and can’t do. Eventually she finds herself focusing on a single hideous, loathsome pony and following her around for a bit.
There’s a big mystery here, namely the mystery of who our ghost is. It becomes apparent towards the end, but until all the pieces come together it’s a delightful head piece. My expectations regarding the ghost’s identity shifted at least four times throughout the story that had me going “ah-ha!” every time. It’s definitely one of the highlights.
Not everything is answered, owing to the limited perspective. If the ghost doesn’t know it, neither do we, and we can only speculate on the things we are aware of beyond the ghost’s knowledge. This leads to a lot of unanswered questions or, at the very least, half-answers. The “must know” crowd won’t be pleased.
But I am. Estee keeps things deeply atmospheric from start to finish, with an experimental narrative style that can take some time to get used to but proves extremely effective. It’s a peculiar story about the afterlife and a heart that needs something even after it’s stopped beating.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Twilight's Escort Service
15,277 Words
By Estee
Recommended by Brumby_Run and Winter_Solstice
Escort: verb. To bring one or more creatures along in a teleport. Twilight just got her license to escort as many as three creatures at a time, but the literally prohibitive cost for getting that license has cleaned her out. This is Very Bad, especially considering there’s something she needs to buy soon. How better to make up the bits than to put her newly licensed skills on the market?
This is one of those stories in which characters will be forced by the author to speak in exactly the wrong and most unrealistic manner possible in order to avoid saying what they actually mean, thereby creating a similarly unrealistic embarrassing or awkward situation that we’re somehow meant to accept throughout the entire story’s run. If the manner of my description hasn’t made it clear, it’s not my favorite comedic genre. To put it mildly.
Luckily, Estee doesn’t stick to the format. At least not directly. A good portion of the story involves Rarity and Applejack – AKA the Reasonable Ones – trying to find and stop Twilight before she gets involved in something she doesn’t expect, while also not telling Spike exactly what is wrong with the ads plastered all over town.
Plus we get introduced to one Ratchet. I’m rather looking forward to the sequel that is apparently all about her.
My general dislike for the ‘do everything in the author’s power to never say what you actually mean’ style of story is overwhelmed by Estee’s trademark witty writing style, Rarity’s and Applejack’s ongoing antics in an effort to save Twilight from herself, and that the unrealistic level of confusion actually makes a certain limited sense when you consider we’re talking about pre-alicornication Twilight Sparkle. I came away having enjoyed this much more than I usually would for the comedic sub-genre. I imagine most people will find it hilarious. Personally I found most of the humor in the accurate depictions of the characters rather than what the characters actually did, but hey, that’s just a sign of Estee’s skill.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Stories for Next Time:
My Darling Sugarcube by Seanessy
The Sweet Spot by Piccolo Sky
What I've Done by BlazzingInferno
Death Of The Author by Soufriere
Nighttide Star by Vertigo-01
Timescales by Bicyclette
Bionic Titan: A New Dawn by KorenCZ11
Flash Sentry Is Not a Hero by Bad Dragon
Hard To Find The Right Words by Nameless Narrator
Cobalt Blue by sunnypack
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Excellent set of stories to pick. Post Negative Comments Only is one of my absolute favorites of Estee's (for very similar reasons to yours), and I'm also very fond of Bitter/Sweet and Pony Go Boom.
Estee is one of my "drop everything and read the update now" authors for a reason.
Read a couple of these, mainly the shorter stories. Estee's writing style doesn't seem to hit that sweet spot for me, so I haven't delved too deep into their library. They do leave a lasting impression, though.
I'd totally forgotten about the "what would you recommend?" blog Estee had a bit back. Maybe then I'd have pegged this as a theme for this week off the lack of teasers last week.
The biggest surprise for me has to be that the 1.3M leviathan you'd been reading for most of this year netted the highest rating. I suppose it getting requested by someone besides its author was a good sign, but it just did not look good. Still nothing I'm ever going to read, not even slightly, but it at least sounds like a fic that digs into its topics and goals, and wasn't a total slog for you. Amen to that.
Now, the features fics! I must confess, for all that Estee a cracking author, the combination of an unwavering, sometimes suffocating cynicism (or idyllically cynical, as she puts it herself), and an often effective but also often over-heavy density of prose, has made their fics ones I can't read more than occasionally. As RTStephans put it, the stories and their style leave a lasting impression, but something about their writing style and worldview makes it hard for me to read them more than occasionally. Especially these days, some of the latter possibly comes from relying on doing these fics for Patreon to get by, and thus an obligation or routine to deliver chunky pieces. I rarely mind either of these attributes in any fic itself, but it's so present in virtually all of their library…
Course, I did lead with Estee being a cracking author for a reason (if one I have to kind of separate the work from the author; any time I read one of their blogs I get depressed). As you noted, Estee can take time to get to the core of their fic while making the setup and just watching the characters do their things keep us plenty engaged. And with these fics being reader-recommended, after a fashion, many of their have the overbearing-ness of some of their work diluted or not present at all, or with the strengths so on point they don't matter.
Of these, I've read Pinkie Pie vs. The Soufflé, Bitter/Sweet, One-Tenth Bit, and Twilight's Escort Service. The last one's the only one I actively remember, and I can see the "transparent wording on the author's part to facilitate a comedy of errors" writing nicking at me more next time, but I remember enjoying the margins so much – especially the scenes of nopony willing to help Twilight with the finances of the books she just HAS to get, those were really funny – that I'm disinclined to care. I can certainly see why Estee picked it as the one to commission art for their aborted anthology collection: the nativity of early Twilight and the tone and intimacy of the very early seasons, as filtered through Estee's tone and treatment of FiM, is a great encapsulation. Also, like most of this list, the cynicism is less biting without purpose. How much of this is to due with it dating from 2014, when said attribute hadn't yet became a default for their works, I cannot say. It is telling that six of these nine stories came from 2013/14 (the others from 2018 – their highest-rated work, so it doesn't count as being an outlier really – 2021 and earlier this year).
Although as happy as I am to see One Tenth-Bit here (though it does sound like one of those "really doing only one thing, does it needed to be nearly 10K long?" stories), it hits hard, as but a few days ago, I had a none-too-pleasant run-in with the police. Nothing like this story, no harassment, but not a positive experience either, and one that left me with a fine and some penalty points – a first for both. When you barely interact with them, and the first time in ages is something like that… yeah.
Considering I've got something like 20-odd stories of Estee's on my Re-evaluate backlog, I really should get around to reading some again, I suppose. Just throw a dart to be with, I'll get to them all eventually. Even factoring out the continuity-heavy Triptych stories I can't approaching, there's just so much of it, no way one reviewer can ever cover even a hefty chunk of them all.
Looks like I've got a few more added to the Read Later shelf.
Prey and a lamb is my favorite fic on the site, and seeing my favorite reviewer give it the same praise I fell in love with it for was a pleasant surprise to my day. Admittedly, I didn't notice the stuff you brought up, though maybe I should have. I really appreciate you talking about all the things you liked about it, especially the campfire chapter which is by far one of the best written things on this site.
Thank you Paul, and I hope you continue being awesome.
I don't think I've ever read anything by Estee, but that's too long a list of stories for me to search through and confirm.
wow, a huge pile of Why hurtys in this one! :O
that first story... man, you talk it up so good, I'm convinced, but...
It's one point three million words long! D: I loved Project Horizons, but I kinda don't want to spend that much time on a story again! Especially not one that sounds this bleak. ._. the reviewer's conundrum
Well I guess I've finally run out of excuses to try Prey And A Lamb now that it's got such a solid recommendation. (Though I don't know if I can ever unsee the Ringing Bell comparisons my brain naturally digs up.)
Prey and a Lamb was fantastic and very reminiscent of the early fandom's heavyweights like Fallout Equestria.
Begging your pardon, but I'll just repost my comment on the story from last year:
I did have fridge horror moments concerning some meta aspects the story, though.
Some of its nihilistic elements almost reek of school shooter logic. I mean, I know it's fiction and all that, but the euphorically unhealthy amount of catharsis provided to the readers by some of Prey's murders makes me wonder whether this story might inadvertently be promoting that kind of domestic terrorism to young people in similarly bad circumstances.
I don't recall others saying as much in the story's comments, so I wonder if that's just me.
5741644
Everyone send in the bleakest and longest stories you can find
5741627
I would honestly say that's one of Estee's strengths. One of my key Estee stories for new readers is (In)Convenience: it's 9k about salad spinners. I find it's a solid indicator of if you'll 'get' Estee or not - I find it fascinating with world-building and slow burn comedy, but it's also easy to see why a lot of people would bounce off it. Because it's 9k words about salad spinners.
5741692
TCC56, buddy, I love ya, but did you even properly read my comment, or only zone in on one line out of context?
Considering I mentioned I have 20-odd Estee stories on my Re-evaluate backlog – as in, stories I've read before – I'm quite far from being new to their style. After checking my other bookshelves, I've read 30 of their stories all told. Probably not as much as yourself – working your way back through the whole website's fics, gotten through 50K-odd already, I recall – but well enough to have a feel for their style. As I elaborated on earlier here.
The tl;dr was, they're a great author, and very good at making a leisurely, lived-in pace not feel draggy for their works, even as many of their should be shorter. But even that has its limits. All depends on the work – the above Twilight's Escort Service never dragged, despite being 15K. And something like One Tenth-Bit or the one you cite may be the opposite of that. When an author has nearly 200 stories, even for the slow burn stories, you are more likely to lean towards the ones that can still be economical whilst being a slow burn. And faff about with more of a clear purpose
So, yes, I do "get" Estee. Just with reservations at times. That, and the unrelenting cynicism, while used largely excellently and a cornerstone of their style I wouldn't dream of jettisoning, makes reading their works more than occasionally not always something I'm keen on. Varies from story to story, of course.
5741694
Yeah, sorry, that was more meant as a general comment than specifically about you - it was just a solid jumping-off point for my statement.
5741660
and I will read none of them :')
Estee is a great author who makes ponies out of realism and comedy. Got excellent tales to tell, Both in stories and in blogs.
And that Prey and a Lamb…I never paid much attention to it considering that OCs messing with the main MLP universe is such drastic ways doesn't appeal to me. Now that I have read the review and was told that it tells horrible tales in a long form and actually makes Its mark, I think I'll file it under "admiring from afar".
The review alone made me feel chills up my spine, and I'll be on my way.
Wow, that was a fun Everfree Northwest! I'm finally caught up on sleep, and now I can go visit that grand ol' blog of Paul's that I missed in all the hubbub!
...oops
I pay enough attention to your reading/review schedules that I was able to piece it together, but evidently not enough in other places else I would have realized you quite clearly wanted to keep it hush. Sorry bout that.
I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised about Prey and a Lamb being such a hit. When an author's very first story is such a doorstopper, I tend to think they might not bode well. "Don't start with your magnum opus," and all that. Especially when that opus has a seven-figure word count. I've spent the last few months going "jeeze I hope it's at least palatable and that he's not suffering daily." And hearing that such a gargantuan project is legitimately good eating is always a feat to admire. That every million+ story you've read so far has gotten at least a 'pretty good' is an impressive showcase of what this community can do. Fingers crossed the trend continues next year.
Sorry again for throwing off your groove. See you on Thursday.
I actually love baseball. I just acknowledge its flaws.
Also, I have been to minor-league parks and seen their idea of 'between-innings entertainment'. The appropriate reaction would have been murder.
...so much murder...
Thankee for the partial catalog ravaging. Glad you survived.
5743033
Haven't done anything with baseball since little league, so I wouldn't know.
And you're welcome.
5741949
It doesn't actually mess with main events. It is its own story that exist in the mlp universe and only occasionally rubs into the main story stuff, but changes none of it. I can not encourage enough that you read the fic yourself. Paul did a great review, but reading the fic is an experience that I think everyone on fimfic should have. It is the only piece of media I've consumed thats made me root for the villain.
5744311
I mean I get it, of course it doesn't. But the point is that it changes the perspective and make us think in different ways.
And according to the review...I fear this story.
Yes, you hear me, I'm afraid of reading it, so I won't be reading it, at least not anytime soon.
It's not that I can't tolerate darkness, I just don't want to ba able to "root for the villain" or see Equestria painted in a way like that.
But if it works for you guys then I can support and respect this story. Art is good art, doesn't matter if it's beautiful or ugly.