YMLT - May 2015 (& New Story Update!) · 12:20am Jun 2nd, 2015
Ah, May. The first month of actual spring, with rain, mayflower trees in bloom, and no more university classes until September. It's a month of change, and there's been a lot of good change happening on my end. A new job that I'm actually quite enjoying, a lot more time that I've used to read, and time that I've dedicated to writing.
Before I get into my additions to the YMLT group for May, just a quick heads up that I have finished writing a new story that is currently sitting in the capable hands of my prereaders/editors. If things go according to plan, it should be hitting a fimfic near you early next week! Without further adieu, I give you an upcoming lesbian pony happy-fun-times story:
And now, check out below for what I thought was good and would recommend to anyone looking for a story!
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, TwiDash
Description:
Twilight Sparkle has been feeling strange, and these feelings seem to be centered on her friend, Rainbow Dash. After a few years of hanging out, reading together and so on it seems the simple feelings of friendship have evolved into something more. The easy part is recognizing that fact. The harder part is figuring out what to do now.
This is a short story by a budding writer on fimfic, so I thought I’d try to give it a little attention. While far from a masterpiece, this story should appeal to people who enjoy a get-together story featuring TwiDash. Nothing groundbreaking or particularly unique shines through in the story for Lakeside Chats, but it does a good job of avoiding some of the major pitfalls that a lot of get-together story fall into. Namely, one (or both) of the characters involved pronouncing their undying true love for each other by the end of the story and/or the almighty and super crippling fear of confessing that one of the characters is in love in the first place. Twilight and Rainbow feel in-character, and while there’s definitely room for improvement, I think there’s something for shipping and TwiDash fans to appreciate here. Give it a look, and give a growing author some feedback so that they can continue getting better so that they can make an appearance in this group more often!
Genres: Adventure, Slice of Life
Description:
Rarity and Applejack share a secret history: as fillies, they were the best of friends, until one terrible day soured their relationship for years to come. Forced back together by recent events and mutual friendships, they nevertheless cannot ignore the painful memories of all that went wrong. The past cannot be changed, but when Rarity and Applejack must work together to save their sisters from terrible danger, it just may be the case that a friendship once broken can be reforged in fire, and emerge from the flames stronger than ever before.
“The Fires of Friendship” was recommended to me by ThatOneWriter after I was griping about how few good RariJack-related stories there were. Needless to say, I enjoyed this one. Although it isn’t a RariJack romance story, it does focus on the strained friendship between Applejack and Rarity. One of the major complaints from those who dislike RariJack is that Rarity and AJ have been shown to constantly bicker to the point that it would harm their relationship in the long run (despite the generally agreed upon glorious makeup sex). This story addresses those differences in personality, interests, and passion, and I would recommend “The Fires of Friendship” to anyone interested in a story that explores AJ and Rarity’s relationship in a non-romantic light.
Genres: Sad, Slice of Life
Description:
The former equalized ponies struggle to reconstruct their town after Starlight Glimmer's defeat, and Double Diamond struggles to reconstruct his own identity after being freed from Starlight's equalization brainwashing.
The season five premiere episodes were quite possibly my favourite two-parter series that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has ever released. One of the reasons I loved it so much was for the new characters that it introduced. Night Glider, Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Double Diamond were all so very delightful for me, and I’ve been waiting for something good involving them to come out for some time now. I’m delighted to say that “Reconstruction” delivers for me on that front. This story focuses on Double Diamond and how he’s coping with adjusting back to “normal” (whatever that is) after Starlight Glimmer was exposed and fled town. The sad tag here may not necessarily be warranted, and I don’t want it to frighten away possible readers. What I will say is that “Reconstruction” was a very satisfying bit of closure for Double D and the “Equal Four.”
Internal Issues by Peroth E
Genres: Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, TwiShy
Description:
After three years of working side by side, Twilight and Fluttershy find love within each other. As a blossoming new romance, there are many hurdles the two will have to tackle together, from learning to live in close quarters, to sorting their feelings out, to approaching the topic of sex.
However, they aren't alone. Their friends are having love problems of their own and nopony has all the answers, leaving them to discover what it means to be in love together.
TwiShy is a quiet, underrepresented pairing that frankly doesn't have too many notable stories going for it. So, I was quite happy to see Peroth publish this TwiShy romance fic and I'm even happier to say that it's a good one. While only one chapter in so far, the story thus far explores how Twilight and Fluttershy are navigating their relationship post get-together. More often than not, romance stories found across fimfiction end with the first kiss and the couple just starting to get together. The reason? It's arguably one of the most exciting parts of any relationship, when everything is all new and happy and fun. For me and a few other writers I know, what's possibly more interesting is everything after they get together and exploring how the couple will navigate the subtle nuances of their relationship as they learn more about each other, experience new things together, and ultimately grow closer to each other because of it all. "Internal Issues" does this for Twilight and Fluttershy (and Rainbow Dash and Applejack!), and I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in watching two of the most awkward characters from the show figure out how to do the whole relationship thing. There are also tacos. So, if you like tacos, you should read this one.
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, TwiDash
Description:
For a long time, Twilight and Rainbow Dash have been marefriends, and as time passed on, their love for each other kept on growing.
With her recent ascension to an alicorn, Twilight recalls the longtime pegasi tradition of feather gifting and wishes to bestow one of her own to her special somepony. After much preparation, she sets off on her next date with Rainbow, hoping that her lover will accept her gift.
There's nothing surprising about "Alicorn's Feather." It is, by all means, a simple romance shipfic between Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle (the writer even says as much in the long description). People in the comment section have pointed out that the story is filled with cliches, like the whole giving-of-the-feather practice (thank you bats) and the idea that Rainbow and Twilight are exact opposites but are somehow still together for it. These people aren't exactly wrong. Why then would I add this? Because there's nothing necessarily wrong with going into well-tread waters. Cliches have become cliches for a reason, and while many people can and will roll their eyes whenever they crop up, it doesn't make using them a bad idea. The trick to using these well-worn cliches is to use them well. Sure, nothing may be entirely unique about this story, but that doesn't make it a bad story. By all means, I found it quite cute and it brought a smile to my face. "Alicorn's Feather" is a nice little TwiDash fic that takes a few old TwiDash cliches and Kev has used them well enough to make me enjoy the story. If you want something cute, slice-of-lifey, and happy, I'd recommend this story to you.
Genres: Slice of Life, Equestria Girls
Description:
Sunset Shimmer has never needed anyone or anything - she had her magic, she had her ambition, and she had intellect. Others just stood in her way or held her down. So what do you do when your plans for world domination fall through?
Now she's about to discover that the only thing harder than hitting rock bottom is climbing your way out of that crater. Good thing she has some new friends to help her along, but its tough to seek forgiveness from others when you can't forgive yourself...
Any Sunset Shimmer fans out there? Yes? If that's the case, then you'll probably want to check out this story by CommissarAJ. "A New Sun Rises" follows Sunset Shimmer as she goes from evil tyrant of Canterlot High at the end of Equestria Girls and slowly and painstakingly figures out how to no longer be a horrible person. Here, Sunset genuinely wants to become a good person and to change her ways, which is much easier said than done. Unlike a lot of Sunset Shimmer stories that make the transition sudden, Commissar does a rather fantastic job of showing just how difficult it is to change the way someone did everything for most of their life. Sunset was not a good person, and her change to a good person is a long, bumpy road filled with hiccups and messes left, right, and center. It doesn't look like it's anywhere near done right now, so if you're looking for an excellent Sunset Shimmer fic by a great writer that looks to update semi-regularly, I'd recommend this story to you.
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, RariLight
Description:
A day before the town-wide Hearts and Hooves Day party, Twilight Sparkle received a strange note in the mail. There was no doubt that it was Rarity who had penned the curvy script gracing the letter, but the riddle that lay tauntingly alongside her greeting was quite the mystery.
And Twilight loved solving a good mystery.
I'm not normally a fan of RariLight. Out of the many mane six ships, it's one that I tend to ignore mostly because I enjoy shipping these two lovable unicorns (or unicorn + alicorn) with other equally awesome ponies. I did, however, enjoy reading this RariLight by Zaphod. "Riddle Me This" is a fun little story about Twilight following a small series of riddles left for her by Rarity that will inevitably lead to confessions of feelings, huggles, snuggles, kisses, and the promise of sexyfun times later down the road. While this fic didn't sell me on RariLight the same way other stories have sold me on other ships, I found enough to enjoy here to fav it and add it to this group for y'all to consider reading. Also, there's background AppleDash happening which just sweetens the deal all around!
Genres: Slice of Life
Description:
Life is looking up for Sunset Shimmer.
With her grandstanding at the Battle of the Bands, Canterlot High has taken a new approach to her. Amends have been made, friendships have been restored, and Sunset is on the fast track to becoming a better person.
But even now, there are still apologies that have to be said.
For her Spring Break, Sunset returns to Equestria to make up with her estranged family: the parents that raised and provided for her, and the sister she left behind. But a lot has changed since then, and some wounds won't heal by just saying 'I'm sorry.'
Fixing friendships is one thing. Sunset will be put through her hardest test yet when she tries to bring her family back together.
...I am growing steadily convinced that Albinocorn may just write the best Sunset Shimmer in general. Not to bash "A New Sun Rises" by CommissarAJ (which y'all should defs read if you're a Shimmer fan) or any other story that stars Sunset, but Albinocorn seems (to me) to write the most diversified Sunset Shimmer with the most depth to her character. If you couldn't tell by the cover art, "Firebird Dahlia" is a story about how Sunset comes back to Equestria during Spring Break to reconnect with her family and Princess Celestia after she abandoned them like the bitch she is all those years ago. However, all is not rainbows and sunshine for Sunset as some of her family is less willing to bury the hatchet than others, her sister in particular. The moments when Sunset does make amends with her parents are truly heartwarming and the glimpses we get to see into Sunset's past are quite well done and, again, very heartwarming and endearing. If you're a fan of Sunset, if you're a fan of her not-so-secret sister (for srs, the cover art gives that away~), and if you're a fan of slice of life, fixing-up-your-past-mistakes stories, I'd recommend this story to you.
Genres: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe
Description: Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.
Today, it's all crashing down around her.
Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?Sunset Shimmer is really a fascinating character. In the Equestria Girls movies we've seen her go from Celestia's prized student to a tyrannical bully to joining the Elements of Harmony in defeating the Sirens and learning the values of friendship. All of this makes Sunset a very versatile character to work with, which is why I've found myself guided to stories that focus on Sunset Shimmer in the last few weeks.
This story in particular stood out from the crowd and is one take on a single question: what if Sunset never went through the mirror? For Magnet, that meant Sunset fleeing to the Everfree Forest where she became known in Ponyville as the witch of the Everfree. What makes this story delightful is how well it works itself into the fabric of canon story and, more importantly, how Sunset finds her own path that leads to understanding friendship and becoming a better perso—err, pony. The story ends where the first two episodes of the series end, and it's a gripping read from start to finish and is one of my favourite takes on Sunset Shimmer that I've found so far.
