Read It Now Reviews #51 – The First Rain of Spring, Any Other Business, The Problem with Pegasi, Hey Jealousy, babytails · 10:33pm Sep 8th, 2015
I hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend! Sorry for the relative dearth of reviews lately; I’ve been trying to get some stuff written, as well as review stories for the Writeoff. But I’ve been cheating on my writeoff reviews with reading some other stories as well, either recommended to me or written by folks that I follow.
Today’s stories:
The First Rain of Spring by CalmNQuiet
Any Other Business? by Ghost of Heraclitus
The Problem with Pegasi by shortskirtsandexplosions
Hey Jealousy by Ruirik
babytails by KitsuneRisu
The First Rain of Spring
by CalmNQuiet
Romance, Slice of Life
4,576 wordsWinter is finally wrapped up and Twilight Sparkle is ready for a well-deserved rest, but Rainbow Dash has one last thing she’d like to share with Twilight.
Why I added it: Cryosite recommended it to me.
Review
Rainbow Dash has been spending a lot of time with Twilight Sparkle this winter; sharing cocoa, reading together, even helping Twilight plan for Winter Wrap-Up and make things better. But it seems there is some sort of pegasus tradition the day after Winter Wrap-Up, the first rain of spring, and Rainbow Dash wants to share it with Twilight.
And something else, too, judging by the tags on the story. 
This is fundamentally a TwiDash fluff piece intended to arouse warm and fuzzy feelings in the audience, as Twilight has an inkling of Rainbow Dash’s feelings, but it is nothing more than a subconscious touch, though it grows over the latter half of the piece as Twilight gets a feather from Rainbow Dash, a common fandom trope indicating romantic interest, even if Rainbow Dash doesn’t say so outright.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sold on this, as I didn’t get the WAFF the author was hoping for. I just didn’t connect enough with Twilight wanting to get a kiss from Rainbow Dash – while the rainstorm itself was reasonably evocative, and was the best part of the story, the rest of the piece just didn’t add up for me emotionally, and consequently, the ponies kissing just didn’t cross the finish line for me.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Any Other Business?
by Ghost of Heraclitus
Comedy
785 wordsDotted Line deals with the nobles after the announcement of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Why I added it: Ghost of Heraclitus needs to write more.
Review
Poor beleaguered bureaucrat Dotted Line has to deal with the Canterlot Nobility after the ascension of one Twilight Sparkle to princesshood.
Clearly, she’s been elevated above them so as to legitimize her dalliance with Princess Celestia!
Or because she’s Celestia’s immaculately-conceived starchild!
SHE’S GOING TO REIGN OVER THEM WITH AN IRON HOOF.
Or, you know, not.
This is a silly little short, but you’re unlikely to get a whole lot out of it if you haven’t read Whom the Princesses Would Destroy.
Recommendation: Worth reading if you liked Whom the Princesses Would Destroy, but it is just a silly little vignette, not a full story.
The Problem with Pegasi
by shortskirtsandexplosioins
Romance, Slice of Life, Fluff
2,878 wordsApplejack has had it up to here with Rainbow Dash's sleepflying. Rarity attempts to lend a hoof.
Why I added it: Shortskirtsandexplosions is a good writer.
Review
Every night, no matter what Applejack does, Rainbow Dash somehow manages to sleepwalkfly into her house and sleep with her.
No, not like that, you pervert.
Applejack is at her wit’s end, but maybe Rarity has a solution…
This is a very fluffy fluff piece about ponies liking each other but having trouble expressing it while awake. And while I saw the resolution coming a mile away, I have to admit I didn’t see the very end of the piece coming.
But at least SS&E has good taste in ships.
Recommendation: Do you like fluffy stories about ponies literally sleeping together? You might like this. But if you’re looking for something more substantive, you probably will be disappointed.
Hey Jealousy
by Ruirik
Slice of Life
2,611 words"If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago, I could be flying up there right now. With her, with them, the Wonderbolts. But... would I be better off for it?"
After being expelled from the Wonderbolts Academy, Lightning Dust traveled around Equestria in search of herself. Then, many years later, after a hard day of working she went to a bar and ran into the last pony she ever expected to meet again.
Who is jealous of who, though?
Why I added it: It reminded me of One More Shot.
Review
Rainbow Dash runs into Lightning Dust at a bar, eight years after Lightning Dust was kicked out of the Wonderbolts’ academy. Rainbow Dash is curious about what happened to her – what sort of life she lives, and why she never tried again.
Lightning Dust doesn’t want anything to do with Rainbow Dash at first, but eventually, Dash’s earnest generousity makes her open up…
This reminded me a bit of One More Shot, but with the greater time elapsed, Lightning Dust has made some very different choices and moved on a lot more… but also, not, as evinced by her continued dislike of Rainbow Dash. It was a major turning point in Lightning Dust’s life, but it isn’t the only thing she’s had going for her, and it also expresses a bit of Rainbow Dash’s worries about her own life.
This was decent, but it didn’t really have much of an impact on me; the emotional thrust of the revelation of Lightning Dust’s family situation didn’t really do a whole lot for me, but I thought that the overall resolution of the piece was okay, if not amazing.
Recommendation: Worth reading if you want to read about a Lightning Dust who has moved on.
babytails
by KitsuneRisu
Dark
10,945 wordsthere is a moment
once in every pony's life
when the time comes
to shed one's baby tail
don't worry, sweetie
it won't hurt
Why I added it: KitsuneRisu is a good writer.
Review
Sweetie Belle’s tail is falling out, and it is very gross indeed. But everypony goes through it when they’re about that age. Sure, it is kind of nasty, and your tail looks gross, and you smell weird, and you swell up a bit, but everything will be alright…
…well, at least as long as you follow the rules.
Diamond Tiara’s tail is falling out too, but things don’t seem quite as bad for her for some strange reason. But at the same time, it feels like something is wrong…
This is a body horror story, and as is common with such stories, there’s an explanation at the end of what happened and why.
I never could really get into this story, unfortunately; I’ve just seen too many stories like this to not see what was coming from the start. And I didn’t feel like the final pony’s explanation really felt quite in character for the pony who was giving it. But then, this sort of thing doesn’t fit too well into the world of MLP to begin with, tonally or structurally.
If you like body horror stories, you might enjoy this more than I did, but it is very by the numbers, and didn’t really feel like it made a whole lot of use of the MLP setting or characters.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Summary
The First Rain of Spring by CalmNQuiet
Not Recommended
Any Other Business? by Ghost of Heraclitus
Worth Reading
The Problem with Pegasi by shortskirtsandexplosions
Not Recommended
Hey Jealous by Ruirik
Worth Reading
babytails by KitsuneRisu
Not Recommended
In other news, chapter 5 of Mistletrapped has been written and is in editing, and chapter 6 is halfway done. I’m going to try and focus on getting it finished today, but we all know I’ve said that before.
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 82
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 332
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 1655
You sir, have a problem.
I don't know why you added Hey Jealousy.
So nothing really special this time? Pity.
3378893 No he doesn't, he just makes sure he'll get around to them eventually. If they were all favourited, then there's a problem.
3378919
(It was a joke about the amount of Ponyfic he reads.
)
You gave no reason for reading Rurik's story.
THE PUBLIC DEMANDS A REASON!!!!!!
3378927 I'm still not seeing the problem.
3378903
3378958
I apologize. I was trying to shy away from giving away too much, but instead gave away too little.
Really, the part of the story that I liked was the idea of Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust having "moved on", and yet still thinking about what might have been, and looking at each others' lives. That sort of emotional core of acceptance but also of the idea that there isn't just one "right" way forward was something I appreciated.
3379031
I just like the little tidbits. There's usually an amusing gem or two every couple blogs.
3379031 I suppose that's a fair explanation.
Still...
Incidentally, I just realized that story came out in JUNE.
I really need to clean out my "Read It Now" list. >>
Woohoo! Mistletrapped! You make the characters feel so real in that story. Looking forward to the next part.
You know what the problem is, though, is that YOU READ EVERYTHING AND YOU KNOW EVERYTHING and also you had a copy of my script. =(
Thank you for reading, though, I do appreciate it. One day I will get another recommendation from you. I'll just have to go M. Night Shyamalan on your ass.
Thanks very much for the review, although in the title of your post you forgot the y in Hey Jealous[y]! I look forward, and mildly dread, the next time you tackle one of my stories
3380273
Whoops! Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.