Recommended Story Reviews #18 – Heretical Fictions, Tiny Wings, Shine, Taken for Granite, Groomed to Perfection · 7:33pm Jun 3rd, 2017
I’ve re-read Heretical Fictions a few times over the years, but kept on putting off posting a review of it until after I reviewed Eternal, as Heretical Fictions is a story about Twilight and Celestia reacting to Eternal being published in Equestria. Thus, that story’s review kept getting shuffled forward and forward in time, until finally I reviewed Eternal.
Naturally, after doing so, I fell off the side of the planet for a month and a half.
But now I’m back, and decided to finish out the review set with four more stories. Two are related to each other – Tiny Wings having served as inspiration for Shine, which is a semi-sequel, semi-prequel. Taken for Granite is the best ApplePie story I’ve ever read. And Groomed to Perfection questions one of the most popular ships in the fandom.
Today’s stories:
Heretical Fictions by Skywriter
Tiny Wings by DeadParrot222
Shine by The Descendant
Taken for Granite by Cloudy Skies
Groomed to Perfection by Rainbow Bob
Heretical Fictions
by Skywriter
Drama, Recursive Fanfiction, Meta
7,830 wordsSometimes, fictionmatters.
Why I recommend it: Because sometimes, fiction matters.
Review
In a different Equestria – an AU from the show, now, doubly so given that this was written before season 3 – somepony publishes Eternal in Equestria. The fanfic. It contains a number of deeply uncomfortable truths, but the story of Eternal is not the story of the Celestia and Twilight of this Equestria.
Still, the story moves Twilight deeply, and she worries – not only about the truths of the book, but also about her relationship with Celestia in real life.
This is a nice little piece. As a piece of recursive fanfiction, it is meta on a few levels – first off, Twilight reading a story about herself. But secondly, the story talking about how a story, however fictional, can move a reader and make them realize that they are missing things in their own real life. Just because something is fictional doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain truths about the world, or about our relationships with others – even in stories not about ourselves.
This story isn’t just about Twilight and Celestia’s relationship – though it is – but also about the reader’s relationship with fiction, and why these works can affect our lives.
And it is an homage to Eternal, complete with spoilers for that story.
Heretical Fictions is very good. If you’ve read Eternal, you should read this as well. And if you haven’t read Eternal, you should read it, and then read this, too.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
Tiny Wings
by DeadParrot222
Sad, Slice of Life
35,581 wordsScootaloo has always been a filly with big dreams, but can they all come true?
At the very least, she can always follow in the hoofsteps of her hero, right?
Why I recommend it: An excellent story about Scootaloo finding out she can’t fly.
Review
Scootaloo has finally gotten her cutie mark – a nice daredevil mark of a flaming wheel to go with her scooter. At her cutecinera party, she gets some gifts – a nice signed poster of the Wonderbolts from her friends, as well as a napkin from Rainbow Dash.
Napkin? I meant one ticket for free flying lessons from the world’s greatest flier.
There’s just one problem – Scootaloo’s tiny wings make it nearly impossible for her to fly. Even doing her whole bumblebee thing, she can only barely stay up for a minute. After going to see the doctor after a training accident (which is totally Rainbow Dash’s fault), she learns that not only can she not fly, but she’ll never be able to fly.
Angry, upset, and hurt, she just wants to be left alone, and it is up to Rainbow Dash to try and find some way to get through to Scootaloo.
It is too bad DeadParrot never wrote anything else, as this is a good story.
This story shows a Rainbow Dash who isn’t quite sure of her relationship with Scootaloo. She likes the kid for sure, but there’s also a tinge of annoyance there, as well as of pity – Rainbow Dash feels kind of sorry for Scootaloo, and it is fun to look at the mixture of emotions that drives her through the story. She feels guilty, she feels nurturing, she cares, she wants to help, she wants to make up for what she’s done, she wants to help Scootaloo as she herself was helped… there’s a lot that goes into her in this story, and it works well.
Indeed, the story is really more focused on Rainbow Dash than it is on Scootaloo – while Scootaloo gets some POV sections, a lot of it is about Rainbow Dash’s motivations, and how she is trying to help out Scootaloo.
That isn’t to say Scootaloo herself doesn’t get some characterization, but she isn’t the protagonist here – it is Rainbow Dash who is trying to elevate her protégé, and Rainbow Dash who needs to teach Scootaloo that even if Scoots never gets to fly, she can still shine.
And in that, this story succeeds. Rainbow Dash’s own personal flaws are shown off well, and how they negatively impact her and those around her is shown. They nicely complement the more positive aspects of her characterization, and over the course of the piece, it does a pretty good job of making things feel like someone dealing with someone else having a really bad few days. And in the process, we both get to see more of Scootaloo, as well as see a new aspect of Rainbow Dash – her desire and intent to inspire others.
If you’re interested in the subject matter, this is definitely a story you should read, as it does a good job of addressing its central themes and showing off Rainbow Dash’s character.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
Shine
by The Descendant
Sad, Slice of Life
8,113 words"Her parents hadn’t come close to telling us what had happened. As I read her newest letter I couldn't believe what she was telling me. This kid hadn’t 'had an accident'… this kid, damn, this kid had been buckin' broken... she’d been broken…"
Why I recommend it: A really nice story about a Wonderbolt helping a young Rainbow Dash to shine once more.
Review
Thunder Clap is the captain of the Wonderbolts. He’s a vain, egotistical, show-offy flirt who is one hell of a flier but who is kind of crap at following the rules.
After a crash due to him crossing the flight line into the stands to show off for the crowd, he spends weeks in convalescence, hanging out with his girlfriend and answering fanmail. Including fan mail from a certain rainbow-maned filly, who had seemed terrified by his crash, and had smiled when he told her he soldiered on for his fans.
This is one of those feel-good human interest stories about a celebrity helping some normal person deal with their problems. Thunder Clap is strongly voiced here, which is really nice to see in an OC – getting a voice in your head from a short prose story is great.
While this is fundamentally something of a fluff piece about a celebrity doing something nice to make someone feel better after something awful happened to them, as well as an interesting view at someone who is simultaneously generous and vain, it is a well-constructed story and fundamentally sweet.
If you’re put off by fluff, this is likely not going to change your mind about it, but if you don’t mind fluff, this is really good, and the climactic scene works really well.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
Taken for Granite
by Cloudy Skies
Romance
61,172 wordsIf you ask Applejack, she’ll tell you Pinkie Pie can be a few apples short of a bushel even on the best of days. They’ve always been good friends, but nothing more than that. After all, what could a hard-working apple farmer and a sugar-crazed party pony possibly have in common?
As it turns out, the answer to that question may not be a pleasant one, but something good may yet come of it.
Why I recommend it: It is an excellent character-focused ApplePie shipfic.
Review
Winter came a week early this year, shutting down the trains. This wouldn’t ordinarily be a problem, but Pinkie Pie normally goes home during the last week of fall.
But even though Pinkie Pie didn’t go home, she still isn’t hanging out with her friends. She’s locked herself up in her room at Sugarcube Corner, hiding away there. And Applejack can’t help but be concerned.
So the next day, when Pinkie Pie shows up at the middle of the night to talk to Applejack alone, Applejack is all ears. Out in the barn, Pinkie Pie tells Applejack what is really bothering her, and asks her to help plan a party for the dearly departed Granny Pie, a kind pony who would rather ponies be happy on the day of her death rather than mope around. It is a touching little secret, made all the more so by Pinkie Pie wanting to keep the real purpose quiet, so that her friends won’t feel awkward and can just enjoy themselves at the party.
But Applejack knows that it will be hard for her friends to come on such short notice. But it is very important to Pinkie Pie that they all be there for her…
So begins a pretty slow burning shipfic. After Pinkie Pie starts opening up to Applejack about some things, Applejack starts to see Pinkie Pie from a new perspective. Sharing in the secret of Granny Pie, that little intimate moment out in the barn where she finally saw that Pinkie Pie is not all giggles and gumdrops but that some of the silly things that Pinkie does actually have some purpose behind them (even if, upon reflection, most don’t), makes Applejack start to treat Pinkie Pie subtly differently, and spend more time around her friend. The two start drifting together, but as they do so, Applejack begins to balk, realizing that if she actually starts dating Pinkie Pie, that will make her part of the family for real – and Applejack, for all that she sees Pinkie Pie as a pony now, can’t figure out how that could possibly work.
Primarily driven by Applejack’s internal conflict, this story is an interesting piece. There’s a lot of tension throughout the story as Applejack tries to reconcile her growing emotions for Pinkie Pie with her thoughts about what family means and what Applejack really wants. Everyone’s favorite freckled farm pony manages to tie herself up in knots over Pinkie Pie, and the story does a good job of making it feel like the characters have to overcome some real obstacles within themselves to get a happy ending.
Pinkie Pie herself is very well-characterized here. She has excellently in-character dialogue and feels very Pinkie Pie, and yet at the same time we can see her as a serious character with feelings and emotions, even if she has trouble expressing them in a coherent manner sometimes. We see her say things, and as the story goes on, we, like Applejack, come to better understand what they mean, and how Pinkie Pie’s mind works. Pinkie Pie is a very silly pony, but she’s also a real person, and while she may not express herself the same way as other ponies, she still can have her feelings be hurt and care about ponies and stuff.
The story has a sort of central emotive theme going on. It is multifaceted, but perhaps the greatest core to it is that keeping things a secret from your friends and family can lead to you being alone when you need their support and love because they don’t know. But there’s more to the story than that, with various facets of things not necessarily being easy but also being impossible only because you are making them out to be so, as well as general thoughts about what it means to be a family, and what choosing your family means.
This isn’t the sort of shipfic that is full of grand romantic gestures – in fact, the romance in it is very understated, as Applejack is a rather plain-spoken character who isn’t really prone to such, and Pinkie Pie is content to let Applejack make the first move. We get to see Applejack’s fears put on display, as well as Pinkie Pie try (badly) to assuage them at times, and we also see Pinkie Pie and Applejack sharing some special things that make them feel special to each other, because they are private moments together, just for the two of them, that mean something.
If I had a complaint, it would be that one of Applejack’s central fears is based on her brother’s own failed relationship with Carmel – after the two of them broke up, they stopped hanging out together altogether, and Applejack fears that the same will happen with her and Pinkie Pie. And while we see this, it would have been nice to be shown a bit more of why that had such an emotional impact on her, rather than simply being told about it. Seeing her perspective on Big Mac losing Carmel would have helped that a bit, but instead we don’t really get much of it.
Still, this is a good story. If you’re interested in Pinkie Pie and Applejack as characters, this is very likely to be up your alley, as it presents a very interesting perspective on them and does a good job of characterizing them, as well as creating conflict between them that doesn’t feel melodramatic, simply human pony.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
Groomed to Perfection
by Rainbow Bob
Alternate Universe, Dark, Sad
2,616 wordsCelestia has finally found her eternal partner in love. Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, savior of Equestria, and co-ruler of the nation. Celestia feels nothing but pride and love for her student, friend, and lover. However, a secret remains hidden in her heart, hidden from herself. Why did she choose Twilight, of all ponies, to be her student?
Unfortunately for her, Discord knows the answer all too well.
Why I recommend it: Discord deconstructing Twilestia.
Review
Celestia watches Twilight pick flowers out in the gardens. Her one-time student has grown into a beautiful young mare, one who she loves – and who loves her in return. Everything is perfect…
Discord might even say she had been groomed to perfection, in every sense of the word.
And that doesn’t sit well with Celestia.
This story takes the form of a conversation between Discord and Celestia, with Discord messing with Celestia. But it is kidding on the square – Celestia has some doubts about her own behavior, doubts which Discord highlights and puts on full display, as he questions the morality of Celestia’s relationship with Twilight, someone who Celestia had tutored from childhood. Discord’s words have some whimsical malice behind them, and the story twists and twists around Celestia, a good pony who, perhaps, is worried she isn’t as good as she might pretend to be.
Is Discord right? Did Celestia groom Twilight to be her lover? Or is he just trying to upset his old nemesis?
The story doesn’t definitively offer an answer to that question. But Discord does an excellent job of twisting the knife of doubt, and the ending contains some of Discord’s best lines I’ve seen in a story like this.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
Summary
Heretical Fictions by Skywriter
Highly Recommended
Tiny Wings by DeadParrot222
Highly Recommended
Shine by The Descendant
Highly Recommended
Taken for Granite by Cloudy Skies
Highly Recommended
Groomed to Perfection by Rainbow Bob
Highly Recommended
Ironically, I specifically said yesterday that I wouldn’t re-read Taken for Granite until I had finished reading some other novel-length stories that I’ve been putting off reading.
I then made the mistake of reading the first chapter of Taken for Granite, and ended up reading the whole thing in a few hours.
I’m really bad at this sometimes.
Still, I hope you all find something here you enjoy. These are all solid stories, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Number of stories still listed as Read It Sooner: 196
Number of stories still listed as Read It Later: 611
Number of stories listed as Read It Eventually: 2111
Yay, I helped with that story! :D And then Cloudy went away for most of ever after he published it. :C
Agreed. In my opinion, character voicing is the strongest part of Cloudy's works, and his Pinkie Pie is unparalleled.
Now I guess it's my turn to reread it
4557134 But he came back! This is THE! BEST! POSSIBLE! THING!
4557182
I know, right? :D
Another round of reviews where every story is highly recommended? You're slipping, TD.
4557498
It is really easy when they're all already on your favorites list. :V
I've only got 36 HR stories left that I haven't reviewed, and five of those are incomplete.
4557550 They're all good stories, I'll give you that. ;)
Wooow, that takes me back. Tiny Wings and shine are so old but looked so good they're still unread and on my favorites list because back then we didn't have/I didn't use read later. Going to get to them now.
4557736
I hope you enjoy them!
I really miss the descendent
4558004
Yeah.
I really should work on my "new to FIMFiction" guide so I can pretend to be the other TD to new users. :V
Hey man!
Thanks a bunch for the positive review of Tiny Wings!
I still can't believe it turned 5 years old last month, but I had a lot of fun writing it.
I'm really glad that people are still enjoying it after so long!
4572658
No problem! I really enjoyed it and I'm glad to point more people in its direction.
4557736
I'd love to hear how you like Tiny Wings whenever you happen to get around to it!
4572658
please write more!