Read It Now Reviews #79 – The One Who Got Away, Trav(ap)est(r)y, Discourse on Fillies, Just A Pony, When We Were Young · 11:33pm May 23rd, 2016
Some folks have been writing some interesting stories lately.
Clearly, that means it is time for some reviews before I dig into grading tests.
Today’s stories:
The One Who Got Away by Jay-The-Brony
Trav(ap)est(r)y by Estee
Discourse on Fillies by Daedalus Aegle
Just A Pony by Godzillawolf
When We Were Young by naturalbornderpy
The One Who Got Away
by Jay-The-Brony
Comedy, Random
1,319 wordsPinky is not Pinkie. Nope, that's a completely different mare. The two have absolutely nothing in common, and Pinky certainly isn't a magically-made clone of Pinkie, no Sir. Pinky is just your average, non-Pinkie mare, trying to get on with life.
Which makes things a little difficult when a certain other mare, one who totally isn't the original flesh-and-blood pony of a cloning magic that never even happened to begin with, comes waltzing in out of nowhere.
Why I added it: It was a hilarious gag in the episode.
Review
Sadly, this didn’t really do a whole lot for me. The story just places the second Pinkie Pie – AKA Pinky – in the diner, and then has her try and hide from the other Pinkie when she comes in. We don’t really get any idea of what her life is like, how she is different from Pinkie Pie, what she has been up to… really, much of anything, nor does this story really go anywhere with any of it. It is just basically a simple little scene that doesn’t really seem to have much of a point in the end.
I was really hoping for a story here about the clone who got away.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Trav(ap)est(r)y
by Estee
Comedy, Slice of Life
15,364 wordsCertain aspects of the palace have been stable for a long time, and the longer that time has gone on, the harder they are to shift -- no matter how badly Luna might desire it. But one tapestry is undeniably ugly. It's been ugly for more than a thousand years. And so she's going to do what should have been done centuries ago and simply kick it out.
Inanimate objects have a way of returning to the scene of the crime.
Why I added it: Estee is a good writer.
Review
This is the story of a truly hideous tapestry (an heirloom of Equestria!) that Luna and Celestia yearn to rid themselves of.
Too bad it seems as if reality itself desires otherwise.
This story made me laugh. Estee’s usually slightly long-winded style worked well with this piece as scene after scene drug out the excruciating ordeal of trying to get rid of the most hideous tapestry ever™. Luna and Celestia are fun here, as the pair struggle with getting rid of an awful, awful thing that has no place existing, let alone in the palace.
The whole thing made me smile, though I will note that there are a few things in here which are a bit referential with regards to Estee’s other works; still, they worked well enough, and I think most of them are at least comprehensible to the average reader.
This is very much a The Cat Came Back kind of story, as Luna and Celestia ever-escalating attempts to rid themselves of the thing are foiled time and again, but it is enjoyable watching them fail, and each failure is fresh enough – and plausible enough – to make you wonder if this time they will, finally, succeed.
If you’re the sort of person who enjoys Luna and Celestia bickering and being sisters in private, this is a story you’ll like. And if you like the idea of the most powerful ponies in Equestria struggling to get rid of an inanimate object, you’ll also like this.
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
Discourse on Fillies
by Daedalus Aegle
Drama, Slice of Life
15,532 wordsDiamond Tiara always knew that someday she'd be invited to dine with the Princess at the Royal Palace. She didn't think it would happen like this.
But she's going to sit there and be polite and smile and not be bothered by all the ways this is all wrong. Because that's what good fillies do, and Diamond Tiara is a good filly now.
Right?
Why I added it: It was featured and someone I follow mentioned it being worth reading.
Review
Princess Luna invites Diamond Tiara to a tea party. At first, Diamond Tiara is very cagey aroung the magnanimous princess, but Luna will have none of it. It is obvious there is something deeply wrong with Diamond Tiara and her world. And so, Luna presses Diamond Tiara in an attempt to come to understand her feelings and help heal the filly.
And so ensues a discussion about Machiavelli, strength, power, and Diamond Tiara trying to control the world around her, and being unable to see anything other than the dark side of power.
This was promoted by a few folks in their blogs, and with good reason; I suspect a lot of folks will find this to be an interesting exploration of Diamond Tiara’s character. She is a jerk, but she’s also a scared little kid who is terrified of being left alone.
It is a decent bit of characterization, even if I feel like it is a bit done – there are far too many stories which try to play this angle for jerks, and while some jerks really are this way, a lot of them aren’t, and frankly, Diamond Tiara’s previous behavior never really flowed very well with her persona in Crusaders of the Lost Mark.
Still, if you were interested in that particular incarnation of Diamond Tiara, you’ll probably like this story; it gives her a lot of character, and works hard at making her out to be a more interesting, three-dimensional character. I do think that breaking someone by talking – as this story fundamentally does – is somewhat unrealistic, and that is a flaw in this story, but the truth is, it was done in service to the theme, and I could forgive it for at least being interesting.
Recommendation: Worth Reading
Just A Pony
by Godzillawolf
Drama, Slice of Life
4,646 wordsRara, formally known as Countess Coloratura, has shed the mask she wore thanks to her selfish manager. She's got a new manager and new life...but when a pair of classical musicians ask her to speak to their daughter they believe may have gone through the same situation that she was, she might find out there are things she wasn't expecting.
Why I added it: It was featured, and I like ImDrunkOnTea’s art.
Review
Coloratura (Rara, as she styles herself now) is asked by Vinyl Scratch/DJ Pon3’s parents to go talk to their daughter. They’re worried about her; she used to love classical music, but once she got a manager and moved out, she moved onto electronica. They’re afraid that she is being controlled by her manager, Heavy Metal, just like Rara was controlled by Svengallop.
But when Rara finally meets Vinyl, she finds a very different situation from the one her parents described.
This is a decent story; it works to characterize Vinyl Scratch, as well as give Rara more character as well – including why she ended up abandoning her pop style so quickly. And it gives us a couple conflicts to work with – the first, Vinyl vs her parents, and the second, the hurt Rara caused her fans when she dumped her pop persona.
That said, the story’s two conflicts lead to a central weakness in the plot. Rara dumping her persona is the more interesting conflict, but is less developed, while Vinyl vs her parents is more developed, but less interesting (and honestly, a pretty overdone plotline that this story doesn’t really add much to). Neither conflict feels as if it has the weight that it should, and consequently, the story’s feel-good outcome ended up coming off as a bit trite. It isn’t that it didn’t have good ideas, but I never got as invested in the plot as I should have, and the emotional payoff at the end didn’t really touch me as I never got to be invested enough in Vinyl’s perceptions of Rara as I would have liked.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
When We Were Young
by naturalbornderpy
Sad, Slice of Life
4,566 wordsDiscord's relationship with the Princesses as of late hasn't been all that grand. Not like it used to be millennia ago.
Life used to be so much simpler back then. Wake up. Cause some chaos. Watch events unfold. So what ever happened to those good old days?
And why did they have to end without his consent?
Why I added it: I follow the author.
Review
Discord relates the story of his earliest days with Luna and Celestia, when he performed minor villainy and they came to stop him. The first few times were such fun – such ridiculous things!
But Discord kept upping the ante as his – and their – power grew, and it increasingly became less and less of a game for Luna and Celestia – if it ever was.
It is unfortunate that I’ve seen this sort of thing before – the mischievous spirit who causes trouble just because it makes the heroes show up, thereby giving him “friends” of a sort. After all, who else would keep showing up to play with them? I might have enjoyed it a bit more there.
Moreover, I’m not sure that I really see Discord intentionally losing – from his character on the show, he seems to like winning a great deal, and take pleasure in twisting things so that he wins no matter what the rules (and is angry when he doesn’t win and come out on top).
It isn’t bad, but I’m not sure that I felt like I quite believed it. I never really got swept up in Discord’s character or his whimsy here, and thus, at the end, when it isn’t a game anymore, I didn’t really get the emotional payoff I was hoping for.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Summary
The One Who Got Away by Jay-The-Brony
Not Recommended
Trav(ap)est(r)y by Estee
Worth Reading
Discourse on Fillies by Daedalus Aegle
Worth Reading
Just A Pony by Godzillawolf
Not Recommended
When We Were Young by naturalbornderpy
Not Recommended
There we go! Five stories! I was pretty amused by Trav(ap)est(r)y, and wanted to give it an outright recommended, but I’m not sure if I can do that in good conscience, no matter how much watching people torture themselves with The Thing That Will Not Leave amuses me.
Read It Later #49 is already done as well (in fact, I finished it yesterday) and #50 is 3/5ths of the way there, so I'd expect more review sets this week. And, hopefully, a story.
Yes, I know, I say that every week. But I really mean it this time! 
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 131
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 456
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 1927
Been a while since I've read an Estee story sounds like this would be a good one.
I dunno, the S4 opener makes it look like Discord may have thrown the final fight, focusing on seeding his plunder vines rather than doing anything about the Elements, which seems to imply he knew what they would do.
3968937 Being as ridiculously overpowered as Discord is shown as, I always thought there was a little more back and forth to the character. If he merely took over Equestria and used all of his powers to keep it his, Discord would probably kill himself out of boredom. (Not really, but you get what I'm saying.)
That's why I never believed his "reformation" due to Flutts in the third season. The Elements and the Princesses basically told him, "Be a friend or be turned back into stone." Well... obviously, he's gonna take the first option. And, thus far, has he behaved all that much different than his first appearance? He still causes (mild) chaos and annoys everyone he can.
3969310 You gotta good point there, I think boredom is Discord's greatest enemy. That scene in the flashback, that starts with Discord just sitting on his throne in the midst of a chaotic landscape? There's no one else around, his chaotic phenomena are just kind of running quietly in the background, and you can see him slumped there, bored to tears.
Thanks for the review, and for the follow!