Read It Later Reviews #50 – Pinkie Pie Has Infiltrated the Changelings’ Secret Base, The Rainbow Pony, Under the Mistletoe, Good Thing She’s So Disorganized, Small-Town Charm · 10:54pm May 25th, 2016
It is amazing how long a couple weeks can feel like.
At the time of writing, less than a week ago I was at Everfree Northwest.
It feels like it was forever ago already.
I was feeling like I haven’t recommended a story in a long time… but the last story I read that got added to my Recommended list was read on May 11th, only 11 days before I wrote this introduction (which I then took four days to post).
Still, I’ve read a fair number of stories since then, and thus, somehow, it feels much longer than it really has been since I last handed out a golden star.
But I did manage to help get The Gathering featured yesterday after featuring it in my review, so I did accomplish something positive. As noted yesterday, it is worth reading, and both bookplayer and Ghost of Heraclitus recommended it, so...
Today’s stories:
Pinkie Pie Has Infiltrated the Changelings’ Secret Base by Estee
The Rainbow Pony by Level Dasher
Under the Mistletoe by bathroomstahl
Good Thing She’s So Disorganized by Present Perfect
Small-Town Charm by Cold in Gardez
Pinkie Pie Has Infiltrated the Changelings’ Secret Base!
by Estee
Adventure
6,887 wordsBecause when her Pinkie Sense is going off and she just knows somepony's been denied the birthright which is their birthday celebration, she'll go anywhere and do anything to make it right. Even if anywhere means heading deep into a changeling hive, and anything is... well, anything!
But she'll do whatever it takes.
Birthdays are important.
Why I added it: Estee is a good writer.
Review
With a premise like this, you might think it is a comedy, or at the very least, lighthearted.
Yeah, no, that is not this story.
The story is a series of letters written by Pinkie Pie, left around a changeling hive as invitations, but really it is mostly just a stream-of-consciousness on her part as she talks about what she’s been doing.
Pinkie Pie is bad at what she’s doing, but the changelings are even worse at what they’re doing, so it all works out for her in the end.
Well, more or less.
I sort of figured out the central twist (or I suppose, purpose) of the story about the point at which it mentions singing, but it took a while for the story to really reveal what exactly was going on.
Like many Estee stories, this piece is a bit meandering at times, and the overall format of it is something which may be appreciated by some people, but might also be offputting; the letters are a bit of a stretch as far as suspension of disbelief goes, but nothing too immersion breaking.
In the end, I’m not quite sure how to feel about this story; Pinkie Pie’s emotions are a bit all over the place as a result of the events of the story, and she ends up coming off a bit like she’s cheerfully sociopathic at times. Honestly, in the end, I’m not sure that I was really sold on the emotionality of the piece; while I was happy that Pinkie Pie did what she did in the end, and it was kind of cute in an ugly sort of way, I’m not sure that the emotions ever really congealed into a consistent whole here for me, and the whole thing left me felt vaguely lost in terms of emotional response at times.
I suspect that folks who like changeling stories with kind of heartwarming endings, but who don’t mind some darkness in the middle, may well like this more than I did; personally, it didn’t quite sit right with me.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
The Rainbow Pony
by Level Dasher
Dark
2,535 wordsIn Equestria, legend tells of a pony, all the colors of the rainbow, who will grant the wish of a pony whose heart is true. Tread lightly, though, for it is not a wish to be made without careful consideration.
The Rainbow Pony will grant a wish only if the wisher completes a unique task. Suffice it to say, these tasks are not what you’d expect.
If the Rainbow Pony gives you something wrapped in noctis wings, you will automatically know your task— words need not be spoken.
Some say that the pony’s colors on the outside compensate for the darkness on the inside, so think carefully before you attempt your task…
Why I added it: The Royal Guard queue.
Review
The summary of this story is actually the start of this story, but oddly is not actually repeated in the text body of the piece.
The story centers around Scootaloo invoking the Rainbow Pony, then getting something wrapped in noctis wings and, after getting freaked out about it, doing some research on it.
Alas, while this story is marked dark, the story itself isn’t very creepy, and in the end, I was left feeling like it didn’t really go much of anywhere or say anything. It just felt a little bit pointless.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Under the Mistletoe
by bathroomstahl
Romance
1,090 wordsFluttershy tries to build up the courage to show Rarity there's a certain plant above her in a special way.
Why I added it: The Royal Guard queue.
Review
Fluttershy notices some mistletoe over Rarity’s head. After trying to call her attention to it a few times, Fluttershy screws up her courage to kiss Rarity. She misses her lips and gets her on the cheek, but Rarity realizes what is going on, and they kiss for realsies.
The end.
This is a very short story and, unfortunately, doesn’t really do a whole lot for me. It feels very basic, and the characters aren’t really given motivation for their feelings. As such, it fell flat for me – a shipfic needs to make me want to root for the characters to be together, and this just didn’t really do that for me.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Good Thing She’s So Disorganized
by PresentPerfect
Comedy, Random
1,084 wordsGrey walls? Check. Doors that only go in? Check. Inexplicable sewing paraphernalia? Check.
Discord's been through worse. He spent a thousand years trapped in stone. There's no way this little setback is going to get to him.
Still, it would be nice to leave sooner than later. Those walls seem awfully close. What would Twilight Sparkle do?
Why I added it: The Royal Guard queue.
Review
Discord has a psychological breakdown in Rarity’s boutique.
This is really pretty much a jokefic, and explaining it would give away the joke.
On the one hand, it is a short story, and there is a punchline at the end.
On the other hand, it is a thousand word long joke with a kind of weak punchline, but not so weak that it becomes strong again and makes you want to punch Present Perfect in the shoulder for telling it.
While the idea is mildly amusing, in the end, I didn’t laugh.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Small-Town Charm
by Cold in Gardez
Comedy, Slice of Life
3,958 wordsRemember the time Ponyville was invaded by Parasprites? Or the time Cerberus, the demonic three-headed dog guardian of Tartarus, Equestria's underworld, wandered away and ended up in Ponyville?
What I'm trying to say is, it's an odd sort of town. Anything can happen.
This is the story of how a million star spiders came to live with Twilight Sparkle. It wasn't even the weirdest thing to happen to her that month.
Ponyville, man. Crazy place.
Why I added it: Cold in Gardez is a good writer.
Review
This is a weird story.
Twilight wakes up to find herself – and indeed, all of Ponyville – covered in Star Spiders. Sure, they seem friendly enough, and don’t bite, but they’re everywhere.
And everypony else seems oddly okay with them being around. Only Twilight is totally freaked out by their creepy cuddly ways.
Well, and Rainbow Dash sticks to the air. Because she’s sensible and such.
The central humor of this piece basically revolves around the fact that everyone is totally okay with endless spiders everywhere, crawling over everything (including them) while Twilight is freaking out over it. The sheer absurdity of the situation leads to some pretty funny (and terrible) lines, and while Rarity and Applejack feel like they’re out of character, they’re presented in an out of character way as if it would be in-character for them to behave in such a bizarre and erratic fashion, if that makes any sense.
The story then gets serious towards the end. The whole story had sort of been subtly leading up to it, but at the end, the story stops being funny at all and actually ends on a highly emotional note. This can work, but here, it felt like it resulted in a considerable amount of whiplash.
There are some hilarious lines in this.
There is a thinky bit in here too.
The big problem is, I’m not sure if the whole thing comes together as a whole to make a good story.
But I can’t say it wasn’t interesting, in the end, even if the absurd spider humor did begin to wear a bit thin (though perhaps that was intentional for the moral).
Recommendation: Worth Reading.
Summary
Pinkie Pie Has Infiltrated the Changelings’ Secret Base by Estee
Not Recommended
The Rainbow Pony by Level Dasher
Not Recommended
Under the Mistletoe by bathroomstahl
Not Recommended
Good Thing She’s So Disorganized by Present Perfect
Not Recommended
Small-Town Charm by Cold in Gardez
Worth Reading
Time to get to work on writing my own stories. Let’s see if I can’t get a story drafted tonight so I can release something this week. Bad Horse is making me look bad; he’s released three things this week, including a The Lady or the Tiger-like story today about Rarity and Celestia.
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 130
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 463
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 1929
You accidentally put the wrong story in your summary.
3972201
Whoops! That's what I get for rearranging what stories appear in what review post. Fixed. Thanks for the catch.
You're a big fan of mood cohesion aren't you.
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I'm a fan of stories feeling cohesive. I'm not a jar, even if people do try to leave me open at times.
3972258 " i'm not a jar" I can't say I've ever heard that phrase before. Unless you are a door. Then you would be not ajar
I remember reading Small-Town Charm awhile back and hating it... Part of it is a personal preference thing. I've never been much of a fan of stories from the point of view of the one straight man (or pony in this case) placed into an absolutely absurd situation that everybody else sees as normal. I was not a fan of The Twilight Zone
Part of my hate, though, I feel is a bit more objective. I could be mis-remembering, it has been at least a year, maybe more, but I don't believe Twilight ever tries to harm the spiders. She just doesn't want them near her. And she's sick and tired of everyone telling her that it's some great boon that the spiders want to be near her, since she really really doesn't want them near her.
It really detracts from the thinky part you were talking about when the ones giving the "lesson" couldn't give two flying fucks about what Twilight wants, or empathize with her in the slightest, particularly when they're supposed to be her friends.
You keep saying "Not Recommended", yet you always let me win. :V
3972340
You aren't wrong that everyone more or less doesn't care about Twilight's feelings here, because they totally do. This is one of the reasons why the two bits don't go together so well.
I'm a big fan of Small Town Charm, because it is far deeper than I
normallycan write myself. On the surface, you have Twilight freaked out and panicked about an event the whole town is happy to see every so often. One notch below that you have the reaction of Twilight to this unexpected stimuli as a problem that needs fixed, slowly transitioning to a really, really weird thing that she gradually gets used to, and in the end, misses. In a way, it is the same way Ponyville has reacted to having a Twilight dropped into it, only seen from the other side. And last but not least, you have the way each of her friends react to the event and to Twilight's reaction (of which, Fluttershy's is the most like an anvil to the jaw). Best lines:“Well, it’s like Granny Smith says. You can let a foal go through life afraid, or you can lock her in a dark room with a thousand spiders until she stops screaming.” Applejack put her basket under another tree and lined up for a kick. “She’s just full of folksy wisdom.”
3972590
That line is beautiful and terrible.
3972559
3972590
If fluttersh's moral speech at the end was an anvil to the jaw then my jaw is of solid iron because I still didnt get it even after reading that. I dont understand how it makes any sense to keep those spiders around if everyone KNOWS that they arent actually friendly, kind or smart and that they are actually just mindless nuisances.
The spider's blessings were just, like, *symbolic* right So if you know someone is feeling uncomfortable with it you shouldn't' force them to go through with the tradition anyway!
3972890
Just my opinion, but it seems the anvil Flutters unleashes upon Twi is that, by not being empathetic to her friends and neighbors in regard to the Star Spiders, she is coming across as cold and distant, essentially what she was to a point when she first arrived in Ponyville. Fluttershy is saying Twilight is not being a good friend by insisting that their...equimorphizing of the spiders is foolish, pointing out that the spiders are just mindless invertibrates following instictive patterns. The downside of this is that, this is how Twilight deals with her fear of the spiders, by falling back onto her scientific, rational side. It is a reminder that Twilight, while certainly more open and emotional, is very much like Wind Whistler from G1, the stoic, straight mare who values reason over emotion. Just my two cents.
The spiders are a metaphor for friendship, and Twilight's experiences with.
3972590
Man, so many people got upset with me for that line.
I guess I'm in the minority on this, but I have a special place in my heart for 3973456's random reality-warping comedies like Small-Town Charm and the documentary one where alicorns are apex predators. There's a core absurdity to them played straight that to me just hits a perfect Monty Python-like note.
3974283
I certainly concur; I absolutely love this sort of straight "Ha ha, only serious" type of humour.
As a side note, have you ever heard of the annual Red Crab migration on Christmas Island IRL? Ponyville's Star Spider Day reminds me a bit of that.