Bonus Review - Plainswalker by Burraku_Pansa · 12:30am Jan 15th, 2015
I’ve definitely done recommendations of other fics in the past. This is perfectly normal, and not at all part of a nefarious plot, no sir and/or madam. Yes I know that I can/should do more of these, but you guys know how slowly I update my main fics, as it is!
In the Zebrican tribes, for those zebras who have the talent, becoming a shaman is not a duty, not a responsibility, and certainly not a choice—it is a necessity. Some adjust to the role differently than others.
So fellow SA member Burraku_Pansa has been criminally underviewed for some time, despite pumping out fics for the World-Building Alliance and the Most Dangerous Game contest. I recently flipped through Plainswalker, which tied for first place in a WBA contest from a while back.
And I admit, I entered the fic with a bit of trepidation. I mean, sure, the WBA is known for whipping up some good stuff, and sure, this fic in particular was a contest winner. But on the flipside, I’m one of those authors that is super-sensitive to the whole deal of “does this fic feel pony enough?” Some world-buildy fics have been so focused on creation of new that it neglects to pay any homage to the old, and I just leave with a bad taste in my mouth. To me it feels like some giant bait-and-switch, where I go in expecting cute pony nuzzling, and instead I get some original fiction high-fantasy bullshit. Even if it ends up being good, it still had to use deceptive methods to trick me to read it, and the underhanded tactics just offend me too much to focus on the story itself.
Not so with Plainswalker. In fact, it might just have restored my faith in world-building fics, for I can look at this and say with certainty that “yes, this feels like a pony fic”, in spite of not containing a single pony in it! Rather, we’re shown a Zebrican tribe, in particular a day in the life of local shaman Zenna. At first blush, it seems like she’s not taking her duties that seriously, acting nearly disrespectful or sacrilegious. But as the events of the fic unfold, we actually see a lot more about what her motivations are, what her culture is like, and what being a shaman means to her. For a 3k one-shot, it’s pretty organic and well-handled in how it paces the reveal.
But like I said, what really seals the deal for me is how pony this zebra story is. I wouldn’t confuse this with a human OC story, and it veers away from fanwanky tropes of “now I’m going to define my race’s lore, starting with forty pages of backstory, look at how clever I am.” We see the notion of spirits, presented as our framing device / hook. The first scene, with Zenna’s somewhat irreverent take, nonetheless rings with some of the pragmatism that Zecora exhibits in the show. But once the kuri arrives, we start to unveil elements like mythological beasts, sigils, action, and destiny. Even the violence is tinged with lighthearted humor, as I loved that one line about reciting the poem of expletive.
It frustrates me to no end that, to this day, I can’t put my finger on the what makes a pony fic “pony”, at least not succinctly, but it's comprised of elements to be sure: like the wide-eyed mysticism of how the world operates, and the hope that underpins everypony. To me, Plainswalker succeeds in its worldbuilding because it captures that je ne sais quoi and carries it from actual ponies to the land of zebras, such that I effortless believe it to take place in the same Equestria. It's truly additive in nature, as it takes what we know and love, and puts a twist on it, giving us something new but yet something that belongs. At 3k, I’d definitely recommend it for a quick read. Besides, if you like it, BP alludes in the story comments to a potential continuation, so you can always pester him for that~
