Some Commentary About G3 MLP / Review #92 - Glimmerhorn Vale, The Dragon's Riddle · 2:57am Apr 19th, 2017
Review is just below the commentary:
Please... kill me now... I decided to watch G3 MLP for an episode, and it is scary... but I can't turn away because I must finish it... what have I done to myself?????
An actual question, though... why exactly are clouds such scary things to those pegasi?
Ah well, at least it made me laugh:
"I thought I could be Santa."
"Why? What's wrong with the real Santa?"
"I broke it."
"You broke Santa?"
Oh please, Pinkie Pie, don't even try to blame Minty for leaving to get Santa, it was your idea!! Holy crap, Minty and Thistle just kissed 
. And now they've got their fleet of misshapen balloons to go find Minty. Yes, yes yes, fall into off the cliff and DIE you stupid ponies! Aw, they got saved last minute 
. Apparently, Ponyville is a town of ten balloons and fifteen ponies.
"It's a note. It's from Santa." -Minty
"Ooh, it's a note." -Town
"That's a note, darling." -Rainbow Dash
I do believe everypony is about to explode... they're all glowing now.
"You gave us your precious socks, darling? How darling" -Rainbow Dash
Glimmerhorn Vale by Abalidoth
The Dragon's Riddle by horizon
Glimmerhorn Vale by Abalidoth
(Romance)
Twilight teaches Trixie a lesson about the history of unicorn magic.
Review
I've actually been putting this one's review off for a long time due to its interesting themes. It is a thoughtful drama with romantic ideas. So, Twilight, you sneaky screwhead (please don't hate me, iisaw) unicorn. I see Twilight as a risk taker, as proven by what she does with Trixie. She is also thoughtful, smart, caring, and a bit mysterious. While I do think Twilight could have been done a little better, she is pretty well done. And now for Trixie. Trixie is reasonably annoyed, has clear vulnerabilities, such as a fear of losing her magic, and she jokes with Sparkle a bunch. Now, now for the reason I put this off for so long. Glimmerhorn Vale is, as mentioned earlier, a thoughtful drama with romantic ideas. However, it is so much more than that. It has a crazy amount of world-building for the short 3k words it is, world-building such as the history of unicorns, the practices of unicorns, and the legends of unicorns. Also, some allusions to a character's backstory.
To conclude, I'll say that the greatest weakness is its unclear sense of finality. It seems like there needs to be a sequel, a sequel that explores the relationship of Trixie and Twilight. The story does work well without one, but I feel it would be nicer with one.
Recommendation: Recommended. (Especially for deep story fans, shipping fans, and world-building fans. But, this is because it's really great, even if it could use some continuation).
The Dragon's Riddle by horizon
(Drama, Mystery)
Long, long ago, the Age of Dragons ended in fire and ruin. The greatest of the dragons challenged the races of Equestria to prove themselves worthy to rule the next age. The fast, the strong, and the clever all journeyed to answer his call … but sometimes true wisdom is found in the most unlikely of places.
Review
Horizon, I have one question... how in Luna's beard did you manage to fit all of this in 1k words? Okay, two questions... how did this not win first? Anyway, this story is a drama filled mystery fic, with a riddle such as Gollum's where the answer is time. What I mean by that is if the reader cared enough, said reader could figure it out. Though, it is a very difficult one. I simply cannot examine the characters in this one because of how complicated they are with so little "screen" time. Really, horizon, you accomplished the impossible to get this much world-building, feeling, and such wonderful characters with only 1k words. This, my dearest readers, is a mark of a great author. The names of the characters are a little annoying, but that is the sort of thing that is acceptable.
You know, I cannot really find any weaknesses. So, I'm gonna have to go with it being slightly confusing at times. Example time:
The next day, as soon as the earth had cooled back into rock, the king of the minotaurs strode proudly up to Ancalagon's muzzle. "I am the strongest of the creatures," Stands-The-Mountain bellowed, "indomitable of body and mind. As the first to brave your heat, I will succeed where Pierces-The-Heart failed, and be the one to rule. Speak your riddle, Dragon King, that I may answer it."
I had to read this twice to find out who was speaking. That makes me sad.
Recommendation: Very Highly Recommended. (Despite the possible confusion if you just skim read this, it is a deep and evocative story with wonderful world-building and beautiful characterizations {Sometimes I use bigger words to make me sound more photosynthesis. Isn't that indubitably an ambidextrous idea?}).
Belatedly got the review linked from the story. Thank you for such glowing praise!
As for the original ranking, it was up against some strong competition — and this story felt more compressed at its original 750 words; the extra space allowed me to smooth it out.