Read It Now Reviews #75 – Songs Like Snow, Making an Old Lady Cry (and other hazards of espionage), Constants, True Ascension, Growing Pains · 8:37pm Mar 21st, 2016
I’ve been a bit lax of late on reading new stories as they go up on FIMFiction; the first story in this set went up on my birthday, more than two weeks ago, and I think the latest was up several days ago. Still, better late than never, right?
Though maybe not in something called read it now. Apparently this is more read it nowish.
Still, this started out as such, so a Read It Now it shall remain!
Today’s stories:
Songs Like Snow by Ghost of Heraclitus
Making An Old Lady Cry (and other hazards of espionage) by Nyronus
Constants by NorrisThePony
True Ascension by RaineDash
Growing Pains by Minds Eye
Songs Like Snow
by Ghost of Heraclitus
Romance
2,426 wordsSecretary Dotted Line and Ambassador Mkali Walidahani of Zebrecia step out of a deadlocked meeting to watch the snow fall.
Why I added it: Ghost of Heraclitus released a new story on my birthday. How could I not read it?
Review
During the sixth interminable meeting about Northern Griffonstan and a territorial dispute between the griffons and the yaks, Dotted Line steps out to enjoy a bit of sky. It may be bitterly cold, but it is better than sitting in there while griffons and yaks shout at each other.
Ambassador Mklai joins him, and after discussing the situation, they speak about a certain ritual conducted in Zebrecia when it snows.
This was a very pretty little story. Ghost of Heraclitus has a wonderful way with words, and his descriptions here are very pretty. Dotted Line’s own feelings and emotions are put on full display, and his behavior towards and interactions with Mkali reveal a certain longing. The conversation is very interesting, but so is the emotional subtext and the general complexity of Dotted Line’s mentality.
Like A Canterlot Carol, this story is to a great extent about Dotted Line coming to grips with his station and emotions and recognizing that just because he’s the Cabinet Secretary doesn’t mean that he has to disallow himself a bit of joy – and, in this case, just because someone else is an Ambassador, doesn’t mean that they can’t let their hair down every once in a while amongst friends.
The story is labelled romance, and perhaps it is, but not of the explicit “two ponies want to kiss” kind. Rather, this is a story about joy, wistful longing for peace (both of the military kind and the inner kind), and respect.
Recommendation: Recommended.
Making an Old Lady Cry (and other hazards of espionage)
by Nyronus
Adventure, Comedy, Random
3,063 wordsI had a pretty good life. They called me Spit Shine, I worked in the palace, cleaning this, doing that. Hell, I even got to talk to the Princess, and learned all sorts of interesting stuff. It was stimulating, prestigious, and hey, call me weird, but I liked the work.
Shame I was also secretly a changeling infiltrator with a name too annoying to pronounce in polite society trying to observe and potentially subvert your nation state.
I mean, these things happen.
Of course, you'd be surprised what you can learn about a pony when you have a different perspective.
Why I added it: Nyronus is a good author.
Review
Nichts the Changeling spy had been working for Princess Celestia as Spit Shine for quite some time. He thought everything was going great… until, one day, Princess Celestia told him she knew what he was.
So, naturally, he threw himself out the window in a green fireball and, after failing to escape, faked his own death so he could go out in a coffin.
There was only one problem – Celestia cried over his body.
And there’s nothing worse than making an old lady cry.
This is a rather silly back-and-forth interview with Nichts the Changeling. The first half of the story takes the form of an interview/interrogation, with the end of it transitioning into more normal prose. The story does a good job of focusing on Nichts, and we get a pretty decent feel for him, and why he ended up feeling guilty over making Celestia cry.
While the story isn’t perfect – it sort of ends twice, as while it is amusing, the second ending also feels a bit out of place – the overall thrust of it is good, and I have to say I thought Nichts and the thought process that lead to him turning himself in was interesting, and on the whole, this was a fun little piece. Nichts has a strong voice and he’s fun to listen to, and in the end there’s a bit of cute, fluffy payoff that works well.
If you like changeling stories, you should put this on your to-read list.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
Constants
by NorrisThePony
Slice of Life, Fluff
1,985 wordsTwilight was ecstatic when she became the personal protégé of Princess Celestia herself. But even a young filly's excitement and curiosity has its limits, and several months into her tutelage Twilight begins to feel homesick.
Princess Celestia does her best to help.
Why I added it: It seemed sweet and was in popular stories.
Review
While this story does not have the fluff tag – indeed, the site does not have a fluff tag – make no mistake, that is fundamentally what this piece is meant to be. It is supposed to be a cute little scene between a young Twilight and her mentor, who works to ease her loneliness in the same way that Celestia herself does – in a way which is much more significant to Celestia than she first lets on.
This is one of those things which is designed to be heartwarming, and while it plays things very by the numbers, and uses a well-worn trope in the process of comforting Twilight, the trope fits Celestia quite well, and the story does a good job of capturing a sense of wistful hope and comfort by the end.
If you like fluff, this is something you’ll likely enjoy.
Recommendation: Worth Reading if you like cute fluff.
True Ascension
by Rainedash
Dark, Mystery
2,201 wordsTwilight died today, and then she woke up.
Why I added it: It was featured.
Review
Twilight Sparkle drinks poisoned tea brought to her by a changeling posing as Spike and passes out. When she awakens, she is in some sort of strange, otherworldly realm. It hurts to look out towards the horizon, but Twilight feels she must find someone else and escape this place.
But what happened to her? Did she truly die? Or is something else at work here?
The story is somewhat vague on this point, though it is heavily implied that the summary gives away the entire story. Is that a bad thing? A lot of time, the journey is as important as the destination, but with the story playing coy as it is, it feels a bit like the summary sort of diminishes it. I would have liked to see more resolution out of it, but instead, it just ends vaguely, without actually resolving what any of it really means to Twilight in the end.
It isn’t bad, but I’m not sure that I can recommend it, either, as while the story does end, it doesn’t really feel like it is truly resolving itself, and one of the interpretations makes the whole thing kind of pointless, while the other means that the summary and title gave away the entire story – and still doesn’t really properly chart Twilight’s reaction to it.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Growing Pains
by Minds Eye
Slice of Life
4,290 wordsScootaloo has always turned to Rainbow Dash through the biggest moments of her life: getting her cutie mark, flying for the first time, when she graduated from school. But you don't stop growing up just because your body does. Some lessons take time to sink in, and someone to share them with.
Why I added it: Scribblefest!
Review
Three years after graduating from school and leaving Ponyville, without having said a single word to Rainbow Dash in the interim, Scootaloo returns for a private meeting with her big sister/crush/pretty much the most awesomist pony ever. Not much has changed about Ponyville, but at the same time, life has gone on – and there are reminders of it all around her.
Just as Scootaloo is still the same pony, but is also a different pony, even though she’s grown up.
This is a cute little story about Scootaloo growing up and returning to talk to Rainbow Dash about life, as well as because she figured out what it was she wanted to say to Rainbow Dash. Sure, it might be about three years late, but she’s figured out a lot of stuff.
Well, mostly.
The story has a sort of wistful awkwardness to it, as Scootaloo clearly still does have a crush on Rainbow Dash, and much as she says she figured herself out, she still has a lot of growing to do. Still, it has a nice sense of nostalgia for her, as well as Scootaloo’s realization that life goes on and maybe not always as planned.
If I had a complaint, it is that the story is a bit meandering – while this reinforces the nostalgic feel, as well as the sense of exploration as Scootaloo grew up, it also ends up making the story’s point feel a little bit muddled at times, and I’m still not sure if, by the end, Scootaloo is really on the same page with herself.
But still, this is overall a pretty reasonable piece about Scootaloo growing up, and if you’re into that sort of thing, this piece never gets too heavy and is likely right up your alley.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
Summary
Songs Like Snow by Ghost of Heraclitus
Recommended
Making An Old Lady Cry (and other hazards of espionage) by Nyronus
Worth Reading
Constants by NorrisThePony
Worth Reading
True Ascension by RaineDash
Not Recommended
Growing Pains by Minds Eye
Worth Reading
I was actually pretty happy with this set of stories on the whole. Of course, I’m always happy when Ghost of Heraclitus puts out a new story – seriously, that man is a wizard with words – but this was a solid set of stories overall, and I feel slightly silly for putting off reading Nyronus’s story for so long (though in my defense, for some reason I thought it was 30,000 words long, instead of 3,000. Clearly this was a logical length for a one-chapter story in my mind).
Still, here we go – another set of five stories. And there will be more reviews coming soon; I’m working on reviewing a bunch of stories for Scribblefest, and still have some more to go, and many of those will be getting reviews.
I hope you guys enjoy Songs Like Snow, and I hope you folks enjoy any of the other stories I reviewed that you end up reading.
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 122
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 432
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 1875
Senpai noticed me!
Er... I mean... thanks for the recommendation.
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You're welcome. Thanks for writing something worth reading.
I know what you mean about the meandering. I honestly can't tell you how much of that was intentional or me taking way too long to hone in on where I wanted the story to go. Always wondered how much of that bled through. I'm glad that wasn't a deal breaker.
Happy belated birthday, ya jerkass :V
Happy birthday!
Ooh, imma read the changeling interview one.
To be fair on the 3000 = 30000 thing there ARE a bunch of stories on the site that are single chapter affairs that push 20000 words and I see a lot of multichapter stories with each chapter being something like 12000 - 16000 words each. It really wouldn't suprise me to know that there is at least one story around here a single chapter long and 30000+ words.
Welp, even more stories for me to read now... .
I need more hours in my days.
Happy birthday! In honor of the occasion, I put a blanket over my hoard, so you could have one day out of the year where you didn't have to covet my pile of awesome shinies whenever we Skyped.
… hey, wait a minute, my hoard's gone.
And the maid who came in for my washing did look awfully metallic.
3820966
*whistles innocently*
I'm of the opinion that you've failed to actually tell a story if by the end of it your readers are arguing over what really happened. I really didn't like True Ascension.