Best of Season 1 Short Fics, Part 3 · 2:30am Jun 26th, 2017
Sorry for the delay. The week was a rather busy one for me, and I wasn't even sure I was going to have time to post anything. Fortunately for you, that turned out not to be the case. So if you're tired, book this for tomorrow. Otherwise, head down below,
30. …And Apple Accessories by Bobcat – It’s career day, and Apple Bloom is nervous about her sister coming over to talk about her job. So is Applejack, who doesn’t know how to describe her job (take care of tree, buck tree, get apples) and apples in an interesting, fancy-schmancy manner without also feeling stupid.
Published: March 9th, 2011
Most Recent Episode: The Show Stoppers, 18
Length: 4033
Characters: Applejack, Apple Bloom
Genre: Normal
The main goal of a comedy is provide laughs. …And Apple Accessories has them from funny dialogue (“Wait. You think ah’m more boring than undelivered mail?”) to some more dry observation (Applejack tossed her note cards into the fireplace. It would have been a more impressive gesture if there had been going at the time, but she used what she had to work with.). Admittedly, not all jokes are hits, some of this is meme level humor as are parts with Derpy, who isn’t exactly given a bad or offensive portrayal here but she mostly delivers random non sequiturs (which is not the same as word salad) that seem out of place in what is essentially an episode like story, but fortunately, most of them are good.
But …And Apple Accessories is more than just a comedy. Bob dives into Applejack’s self-esteem issues driven by her perceived intellectual inferiority. And while you can probably tell what the message is going to be from that, which is delivered with a rubber mallet force, it’s still something. Plus, in addition to Bobcat’s excellent writing of Applejack’s character (though, I wasn’t always happy with the accent), he does a great job of writing the other characters in general, particularly in their dialogue.
29: The Sweet and Sorrowful by MoronSonofBoron - Trixie heads back home after her trip to Ponyville, where she must deal with her father, and together, with their past.
Published: March 17th, 2011
Most Recent Episode: A Dog and Pony Show, 19
Length: 5295
Characters: Trixie, OC
Genre: Sad
I’ve said before there’s a lot of sad Trixie stories out, and during season one that’s really the case (I think there’s more of them than say Sad Luna). The problem with these stories is simple, they attempt to absolve the character of their mistakes and .
The Sweet and Sorrowful, while corny at times, doesn’t do that. Instead, the three main characters, Trixie and her two parents, are flawed characters who in many ways are hard to like, but easy to understand. They disappoint each other (and themselves), and that drives their interactions and the eventually reconciliation of the two living ones (I’m not really spoiling anything by saying that one of character is dead at the start). The ending is cheesy as all heck, although not unexpected, given all that came before it.
The story is told by jumping back and forth between the past and the present (or perhaps more accurately, between the distant past and the recent past given that it is written in past tense), but it does take time to get used to this, especially because it isn’t always clear at first at what point in time, not helped by the fact it isn’t always present-past-present. Writing remains mostly good and error-free, although I found myself rushing towards my dictionary at various points just to figure out the meaning of the words.
People who like Trixie should give The Sweet and Sorrowful a look, and anyone who wants to see a better backstory for Trixie should also consider it as well.
28: Cupcake’s Day Out by Rexx Ivan – Cupcake is good at most everything she does.
Published: February 22nd, 2011
Most Recent Episode: Sonic Rainboom, 16
Length: 2805
Characters: OC, Main Cast
Genre: Grimdark
This is a hard piece to talk about because doing so would spoil much of the story. But I’m going to try anyway, even though it will likely reveal some things that should have remained a secret.
Like Luna’s Biggest Fan (talked about it in the last post), this story starts off by appearing to be one thing and then turning into something else by then end. Much of this is achieved through the use of Cupcake’s limited point of view, though if I was going to be honest, I would have liked the story more if Rex Ivan did a better job of showing how limited that view actually was meant to be. But it still doesn’t change how good the twist was, even if it is obvious, nor does it change how powerful the ending was.
27: The Red Thread of Fate by The Lovely Penguin - A love triangle emerges in the circle of friends when Rarity admits her feelings to Fluttershy.
Published: March 7th, 2011
Most Recent Episode: The Show Stoppers, 18
Length: 8806
Characters: Rairty, Fluttershy, Main Cast
Genre: Shipping
I’ll be honest, I’m not a shipping person, mainly because they usually end up being gooey, plotless fluff that are lacking in real conflict and/or broader theme while also breaking who the characters are – granted I prefer that over the plotless pornography that clutters up on Fimfiction these days. The Red Thread of Fate may share some aspects of shipping, but I wouldn’t call it a typical one. This is a shipping melodrama, and like the titular red thread, it’s a tangled mess of various characters trying to unwind themselves out of it to get together with the one they want without ruining their friendship. That means there’s plenty of heightened emotions and reactions from the characters to what they see and hear, even to the point where the semblance to a character’s show personality seems strained (I’m thinking mainly Twilight at parts, but ironically I feel that Dash had the opposite problem, her emotions seemed too restrained). In other stories that would be fatal, but in The Red Thread of Fate, it actually seems fitting, and amusing, if not fun. If there’s a problem with that it’s that the story can feel too fast paced and not always have enough time to breathe, mainly at the end. On the plus side, Lovely Penguin keeps you guessing over who likes who and what’s going to happen and I do enjoy the contrast, at various parts, between Rarity and her daydreams.
One last thing, I’ve read some comments about how people don’t like the ending of the story, not because of who ends up with who, but because it seemed like one character was taking advantage of another’s emotional distress. I didn’t see that at first, but on my re-read, I have to agree that it can lead to a bad taste in some people’s mouth. Thus people who don’t like potentially bad endings, should probably pass this one, as should people who don’t care for shipping in general. So yeah, The Red Thread of Fate is not a perfect story, but I can’t help myself, I like it quite a bit.
26: Derpy’s Bebop by Trelatyraelis - Ditzy loves Blues, but one thing about it angers her. He, like everyone else, calls her “Derpy.”
Published: May 1st, 2011
Most Recent Episode: Party of One, 25
Length: 3825
Characters: Ditzy Doo, Blues
Genre: Sad, Shipping
Interested in looking into the mind of your favorite mailmare? Then Derpy’s Bebop is a great story to check out.
Told mostly a long, if somewhat bland, narration with only spurts of dialogue and inner thoughts (which are strangely presented both with italics and parentheses), Derpy’s Bebop presents an interesting look of Ditzy’s thoughts and feelings towards the various objects of the tale (how other ponies treat her, Blue, his music, and of course, the fact that the calls her that “name”). The result is that this take on Ditzy is one of the more “human” of I’ve read, and one of the better romances amongst early pony fanfiction, one that feels natural within the terms set by the narrative.
By the way, I know this story got additional chapters later on, but I’m only talking (and read) about the one that was submitted to the April Friend-off here that is it’s own complete story.
March Notes
- There was this weird moment at the start of the month when people in the fanon were shipping each other. Thankfully it was short (only three stories), but it was still strange to read.
- March comes across as a weak month as far as episodes, especially compared to what came before and comes after. February had Suited for Success, Sonic Rainboom, Stare Master (if only for the Stare and the sibling relationships it confirmed), and (even though I loathe this episode, I’m not going deny a sizable portion of others do like it, and those does whose opinions are closer to mine have a hard time forgetting, no matter how much we try) Feeling Pinkie Keen. April has A Bird in the Hoof, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, and Party of One (also Owl’s Well that Ends Well, but 3 out of 4 ain’t bad). March, meanwhile gave us The Show Stoppers (a crusader episode with some bad bad singing), A Dog and Pony Show (annoying Gollum sounding bad guys), Green Isn’t Your Color (okay, this is a fine episode), and Over a Barrel (hey, let’s use Native American stereotypes). That’s not what you think of as being the best/memorable of season 1, and I think the fandom would agree. I encountered few, if any, references to things like Diamond Dogs, or Appleloosa. By comparison, the stuff like the Stare, the Rainboom, and the Pinkie Sense appeared quite a bit afterwards. [Bugs of the Present Day: This is a true but also uneven comparison. Of course, there are more references to sonic rainbooms and Pinkie Senses than diamond dogs and Appleloosa; the former are things related to the main cast that are easy to name drop while diamond dogs and Appleloosa are not and so, trickier to work in. Plus, Appleloosa does get a hand’s count of stories based on it, more than I can remember for say Cloudsdale, and heck there’s references to Flutter-tree on rare occasions (the diamond dogs on the other hand, are almost nonexistent). Having said that, Vinyl Scratch still has more appearances than Braeburn and Photo Finish do, and in general, the episodes February and April do seem to have inspired more than the ones of March.
- I haven’t really been counting, but yes, a lot of the fanfics of the time do start with a weather report (“It was a hot summer afternoon in Ponyville”, “It was eerily dark in the village of Ponyville”). I’m not as opposed to this as some people are, and there are certainly cases where it is appropriate (people make fun of “It was a dark and stormy night…” from Paul Clifford, but it’s actually a good sentence that sets the tone for the book, or at least the first chapter, and helps say something about the characters). But most weather report first sentences don’t really add to the story because the forecast doesn’t come back into the plot itself or serve a useful contrast (to state two instances I can think of were it would make sense.) Saying a day is ‘nice, warm, and sunny’ as an opener is bound to induce eye rolling because that’s assumed, but describing that perfection and then ending it with, “only the smoldering remains of Ponyville detracted the idyllic scene,” is (to me) a decent attention getter.
- Mid March had two writing events from Equestria Daily. The first of these was the Friend-off where writers would write a story to go along with a drawing and artists would draw something that would go along with a story. The timeline was two weeks, means things are going to be hit or miss, which is what ended up happening. What is kind of interesting it what stories did inspire art and what artwork beget writing. The tales that got drawings mostly follow under the shipping category (three of the fifteen were based on works by ButterScotch Sundae) and while there isn’t a pattern in what was being illustrated (from a peaceful sunset scene from RoyGBiv’s Fluttermac to a somewhat risqué bit from ButterScotch’s SwaybackMountain), I think it’s somewhat indicative of what stories resonant with readers. On the other hand, at almost half of the drawings that rise to fanfiction are humorous pictures like Celestia getting bonked with an anvil or Spike being forced into having a tea party with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. MadMax’s work alone inspired three to five of the stories, and she even came in with her own comic entry. Now granted, not all those stories ending up being humorous, but still I find amusing. As for stories that got something drawn for them, this includes Everypony Loves Dash (Ben X), Appleshy (Twinkle Tail), Rocket to Insanity (Scherzo), Swayback Mountain (ButterScotchSundae), Fluttermac (RoyGBiv), Spike’s Perversion (Pacce), Bubbles (Anon), CP Violation (Albatross), Constellations (RPGGenuis), Filly on Fire! (Victorian R. Hellsly), The Night Fluttershy Exploded (ButterScotchSundae), Apples and Oranges (Fon Shaolin), Twilight and Rarity’s Magic Book (ButterScotchSundae), and Through Simple Eyes (PhoenixReece Normal)
- The second event came on the 17th, the 300 Word Event. The requirement back then should be obvious, although a few people did go overboard (one person nearly went to three times the length). Overall, 100 stories were submitted, but I have to admit this took longer to get through then it should have. My problem goes back to what I said in previous months; there a lot of works that are more scenes than actual stories, and when the writers are confined to a even shorter word count than the one they usually set for themselves, they either speed rush through a tale that should have been longer or write something that feels incomplete. That doesn’t mean there weren’t good ones [Bugs from the Present: examples of this include, besides Flashfox’s Ponyville Nudist Colony, which I already talked about, Legion of Pony Pets by Chopper’s Top Hat, Breathless by Kegisak, A Very Long Night by RoyGBiv, and Jetfire’s Swift Pursuit, which I did consider for the top 50.], but I’d say the percentage worth spending your time on is much lower than most write-offs.
- While I don’t like using the word alicorn to describe Celestia and Luna, the “race” (for lack of a better term) people used refer to them instead at this time (besides that one) such as “unicorn-pegasus” or “pegasus-unicorn” (or “Pegasus-unicorn”) are actually even more awkward (and “goddess” is just terrible, although, I’m indifferent to “winged unicorn”, and I find “princess” to be weird when used in this context, as a opposed to a title). What confuses me the most about using them is that the two sisters are referred to as “unicorns” back in the opening narration of the first episode, and I believe this month contained the first instance I’ve come across it being used as such for a fanfic. [Bugs of the Present: Poisoned Sugar by The Lord of the Wrongs, if you’re curious (I don't recommend by the way), and I don’t remember coming across another story that did the same.] I don’t think there’s a good excuse for why it didn’t become more widespread. I think a sizable part of the blame can be attributed to the show (and by show I’m including both the Hasbro executives, and the Hub ones in addition to people like Lauren Faust, Jason Theyissen, the writers, the storyboarders, the animators, etc.), where Celestia seems to be positioned on a higher plane than the other characters; I don’t mean in the divine sense exactly, but Celestia’s role as Twilight’s mentor (and thus the adult that’s meant to be the one with all the right answers* in these kid shows) mixed with being a ruler for over a thousand years old and controlling one (and for a long time, both) of the heavenly orbs means that if she’s not a god or a demigod, then she’s at least King Solomon (the popular perception of him that is). Put it this way; Celestia (and Luna) looks special and is treated as special, and therefore others assume she is something special as opposed to being just a simple unicorn. But that’s just a reason, it’s not a good one. [Bugs of the Present: Of course, this is now water under the bridge. Alicorn is canon whether you like it or not.]
* I’m talking about how she’s conceived and presented. Whether or not I think the choices and courses of action the writers/show runners/Hasbro/whoever give her are the wisest or even good at all doesn’t change the fact hers are still shown to lead to success.
- Not surprising, but putting a grimdark tag on your story back then (and now) is basically a kiss of death as far star ratings go. Actually, it wasn’t that bad back in January, 2011, but by March the tag pretty much guaranteed that you’ll get a lower score than otherwise. People do not like seeing their favorite pony mutilated, abused, or killed. [Bugs of the Present: I hasten to add that many of those grimdark stories were bad, and that were reasons to criticize them besides “I don’t like gore with my ponies,” but I also don’t believe they were necessarily worse than say a lot of other stories from other genres.]
- New writers to pony fiction include some of the more memorable: Blueshift, Lurks-no-More, Poultron, SorcerusHorseus (later on would create the long running fan comic Dash Academy), Nukeiffium, Thanqol, Bobcat, Chicken Vortex, Chistery, CupcakesNom, Hephestus, Kegisak, Jetfire, Ninestempest, Polecat (the two have been pre-readers for EQD), PhantomFox, Stainless Steel Fox, Flashfox466 (what is with people and foxes), Sithicus, The RPGenius, Tumbleweed, Twinkletail, WTFHIW, and last but not least, Chris. The most productive authors this month include old-timers RagingSemi and Pacce,Ebon Mane, Chistery, and Flashfox466.
- Normal and shipping stories still make the majority of stories written this month, but not to the extent that it was in the past. There’s a far healthier mix of the genres than previously.
- Again, Twilight and Rainbow are the most prevalent main characters for this month (TwiDash shipping on the other hand only appears twice). No one comes close; Dash for example has almost twice as main stories as Pinkie and Fluttershy, and they’re tied for third place. After those four, come stories that are main cast focused and OC centered stories, followed by Applejack. Spike and Big Mac are tied, and then comes Luna and then Rarity (goodness, people really don’t like writing stories about her), Ditzy/Derpy, Celestia, Gilda, Trixie (I take joy in the fact that Gilda has more stories for one month than Trixie), and then Apple Bloom. Speaking of her, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally get a decent number of stories this time around, including some of their own (finally Sweetie Belle, you’re a star); I attribute this to the fact they got fleshed out in both Stare Master and Show Stoppers, the last and first episode of February and March respectively. As for background characters besides Ditzy, Dr. Whooves and Lyra have as many tales as Scootaloo, and Bon Bon and Vinyl have as many as Sweetie Belle.
- March is overall a far better month than Janurary and Feburary. It doesn’t suffer from the short incomplete non-stories that make up majority of those months (300 word event fics aside, and even they have a different feel to them than the Jan/Feb stuff). Instead, there’s actually a good number of works that are worth reading here and looking into. Having said, it’s also hard to really define what March is like. I think attribute it to the fact that there's starting to be more non-/CO/ based writers, and so more backgrounds are coming in. That's a good thing.
25: A Summer Twilight by Larathin Bradley – Upon home returning from the Summer Sun Celebration, Spike discovers that Twilight has died while he has gone, leaving him with a good deal of guilt
Published: April 10th, 2011
Most Recent Episode: A Bird in the Hoof, 22
Length: 3401
Characters: Spike, Twilight, Luna
Genre: Sad
I talked before about how death, properly done, can be used to explore In A Summer Twilight, Larathin Bradley uses it look into Spike’s guilt at not being there for Twilight in her final moments, and the fact that Spike, being a dragon, will outlive most of his friends and therefore, will carry the pain of their deaths longer than they would. To do this, the relationship of Twilight and Spike is treated as that between a parent and a child. The results are moving instead of sugary and silly even when one has to deal through sad story clichés like the idea that the rest of the cast has since drifted apart.
On the other hand, things headed south nearer to the end. There’s a rather rubber mallet-esque message as seen in both Twilight’s final note to Spike that mimics the style of Twilight’s Letters to the Princess™ and Luna’s last words. The whole moment is as a result less touching and thought-provoking than the earlier conversation between Luna and Spike about death and dealing with it, more likely to induce eye rolls than tears (even though I share the sentiments of it). Not helped was the fact Twilight seemingly knew she was going to die once Spike took off to Ponyville (which is either one plot contrivance too far or makes her look like a bit of jerk for having carry a lot of guilt with him; well okay, that’s too harsh, but it was my first reaction). Those are not the only compliant I have (to state a rather minor one, I would have liked it if a better job was done to indicate the second section was supposed to be a flashback), but they’re probably the only real ones I can think of that will bother anyone.
But even then A Summer Twilight is a still a good sad story to look at, and one of the better handlings of death
24: The First Winter Wrap-Up by Chopper’s Top Hat – Applejack tells the story of how Ponyville came to be and why unicorns don’t use magic during Winter-Wrap-Up
Published: circa. December 2010
Most Recent Episode: (likely) Winter Wrap-Up, 11
Length: 2916
Characters: Applejack
Genre: Normal
Let’s see here. A fun piece that manages to fit in a complete story, plenty of interesting, if no longer canon accurate, world building, and do so in less than 3000 words with some great narration by Applejack. Outside of a few capitalization mistakes here and there, it hards for me to think of anything really bad to say about the First Winter Wrap-Up. You should read it.
23: Twilight Sky Over Canterlot by Foxxy – Twilight comes to Canterlot to pick up some books, and talks about her day there.
Published: April 10th, 2011
Most Recent Episode: A Bird in the Hoof, 22
Length: 16113
Characters: Twilight, Trixie, Princesses
Genre: Normal
Before you consider Twilight Sky Over Canterlot, I should point out that this is not meant for people looking for plot; this is a work of about a mare (or a woman) and her stream-of-consciousness descriptions and feelings on the various things she sees and thinks about from seeing the aforementioned things such as architecture and the history of Canterlot, or the various ponies she meets on the way. It’s a tale of words, tones, atmosphere, characters, and settings; the kind of writing you would sip a cup of tea with than munch popcorn to.
Now, lacking any real narrative is not necessarily a bad thing. But it does mean that interest has to be placed elsewhere. And for the most part I think that was done. Told in first person, Twilight travels the spots she visited as a student to the palace of the princesses, while rambling about various things from the history of the Canterlot Waterworks to the colors and sounds of the twilight sky over Canterlot itself, . Take this paragraph for example
Compared to the slouching, retiring form of Ponyville’s houses, Canterlot shoots up confident, wound tight, engineered, polished, filigreed railing and smooth plaster walls. Ponyville’s simple weathervanes and climbing ivy can’t compare to the decorative scrollwork and domed tops of any Canterlot house, or the splashing fountains and arched bridges. Unicorns are a nervous kind of pony and the restless energy of my ancestors twines ‘round each balustrade and promenade in swirls, flutes and fleurs. In Canterlot, no road can merley proceed directly from point A to point B without winding over a dozen bridges and turning corners for extra dramatic emphasis and a pillow cannot simply be a pillow, it must be an extravagant settee with tassles and ribbons and bows which reclines back on thickly carved and burnished legs in a fashion which had seemed suspiciously decadent to me for years.
Misspellings aside, that’s a pretty good section that gives clearly view of what Canterlot and it’s denizens are. But should be obvious from it that it the story is filled with extraneous description (much like Canterlot itself in the story). But the result is one of the most powerful atmospheric pieces I’ve read from season 1. You actually feel that your with Twilight as she waxes on about her old student stomping grounds (a bookstore) and magical theory.
The writing though could use some work. Grammar problems such as missing commas and slips in present tense are scattered throughout the story (well suppose the commas aren’t spread out because they’re not there, but you know what I mean), and words are at times used incorrectly at parts such as terraced (used to describe a window) and vendetta (used to describe a wagon). But most of the problems I think come from Twilight Sky Over Canterlot being a stream-of-consciousness piece. For example, at times the paragraphs don’t flow well together. To take an early example, Twilight is getting into a bath and talks about the various smells conjured from the minerals being adding. Three paragraphs later it she prating about how she used doodle in her old school planner. There’s nothing wrong with this because each paragraph in between provides a clear link to the next. Where it does become a problem is in the next paragraph where she mentions that there is a letter in the spine. While it does became clear eventually that Twilight is referring to the planner she has in the present, it’s not obvious based on the previous section. Also a problem is that at various points, Twilight begins flashbacking without any indication that one has occurred. An example of this occurs on the fourth page, where Twilight begins to relax in a tub while reading a letter from Celestia, and then bam we hear Spike complaining about the messes Twilight leaves in the library, which is confusing at first because Spike is not with Twilight. The recollection by itself is good and contains a chuckleworthy line, but it needed a smoother transition, and it’s not an isolated case. Run-on sentences are also common and while I personally think that there’s nothing wrong with them, particularly in this type of work, I admit that there are a few that made me go “what?” The result of all this is that I found myself re-reading sentences multiple times over at a significant chunks of the story. Good as Twilight Sky Over Canterlot is, it really needed an editor.
Characterization is tough to judge. One hand, a minor canon character who makes a lengthy appearance was a little too open when compared to their show persona, but I what did like was what Foxxy did focus. But I do like how Twilight comes across as a here, mainly in how she changes her view of Canterlot. At she’s dismissive of the place, and wants to get back to Ponyville ASAP (her thoughts constantly drift towards it and her friends in many parts), but while meeting many of the ponies there, and having her memories jogged about all the great places she spent her time at, she starts to become more appreciative of the place as a whole.
Again, Twilight Sky Over Canterlot isn’t for everyone, and it’s a rather imperfect piece, and not an easy one to describe either. But those can get through the first person point of view, it’s uneven and unstructured story with writing problems will find a very engaging work about Twilight and the city she once called home.
22: Let Me Play Among the Stars by I0x0r- Princes Luna loves her sister more than anything else, and so to help her burden, she proposes a radical idea to her: creating a time in which the sun will disappear so that ponies can easier. But what happens when her creation and herself become ignored by the general populace and she starts to feel unacknowledged?
Published: 13th April, 2011
Most Recent Episode: (likely) A Bird in the Hoof, 22
Length: 13315
Characters: Luna, Celestia
Genre: Normal
The story of how Luna became Nightmare Moon is a tale told many times. Because there’s quite a few of them to point of being it’s on subgenre, I usually look for two things to judge: are the forces that cause Luna’s transformation are internal as opposed to external (outside events and things can have some an effect on Luna, but at the end of the day it should be her choice), and two, what kind of pony is Luna at the beginning. These two help determine what kind of this story is ranging from a miserable Sad Luna that attempts to absolve her completely of what she did, to a complex tragedy of a good pony gone bad with interesting psychological insights into the Matriarch of the Moon. Despite what you might expect me to say next, Let Me Play Amongst the Stars is not the latter (if it was, it would be much higher on the list) because there’s not really an overarching theme or admirable trait of Luna’s that brings about her fall like Beowulf (a courageous hero who dies because he can’t help but be brave) or Hamlet (an overthinking scholar who ponders himself into stupidity), and it is true that quite a bit of the story can be summed up as “Luna is unappreciated.” But nevertheless, I0x0R does portray her as someone who is responsible for her own downfall and does some in a way that makes sympathetic, at first.
That mostly has to do with Luna’s character, which I would describe as something of a introverted child who really feels isolated once her already tiny social circle starts disintegrating. At the start, she’s innocent, pure, rather precocious (she comes with both the idea of the sun moving and the night), and so shy that even Fluttershy would probably tell her that she needs to get out of her shell. She’s motivated by her love for her sister and a desire to do her proud, but also for herself. That childishness extends later on when her fall begins such as moments where, after being rejected for being “the other princess” by a subject coming for advice, she ransacks her room and throws a temper tantrum like a kid that isn’t being treated as seriously by adults as they desire, which is fitting because Luna has become an adult by becoming co-ruler of Equestria or her anger that others are treating her night with disrespect (using it to do terrible things and therefore soiling it’s reputation in the eyes of others). And while I0x0r does make Luna understandable and even sympathetic (if I was called “the other princess” to my face and snubbed at party thrown in my honor, I’d be resentful myself), it’s also clear that Luna was going about her problems the wrong way (such as not talking to the sister she was seeing less and less when she could and instead letting it stew over and sending herself into a vicious cycle of anger). While that might all seem simplistic or melodramatic (but hey that’s kind of how the whole origin story in the pilot is), I personally liked this interpretation because it seemed truer to canon and more personal than others that came out. Immaturity and loneliness, more than anything else, were Luna’s problems. Besides Luna, the only other character is Celestia, who really is more of a role than an actual character; she loves her sister, her subjects, she’s kind and generous, etc., but she’s really there to provide Luna someone to talk to and be the final push to transformation.
On the dark side of the moon of things, LMPAtS has pacing problems in parts. It can be slow going at times, notably when it’s being repetitive, such as near the last half of the story where it basically amounts to Luna finding more beauty in the night, resenting her subjects, the sun, and even her sister, and finding comfort in the night, again and again. And to be honest, there are no real surprises in the story. Sure, the idea that night didn’t exist before Luna suggested is original (and thus her attachment to becomes a lot stronger), but overall, this is still a typical take on how she became Nightmare Moon.
People who don’t like Nightmare Moon origin stories should probably avoid this story because as good as Let Me Play Among the Stars is, it’s not good enough nor different enough from other such stories to appease detractors. But anyone wants to see a entertaining take on such tales should check this out.
21: Tales by George Pollock Jr. – Twilight Sparkle talks about ponies and events in her long life.
Published: 21st February, 2011
Most Recent Episode: (likely) Winter Wrap-Up, 16
Length: 19068
Characters: Twilight, MC, Spike
Genre: Normal
Listening to old people tell you about their life, you often find yourself noticing their rambling style, with tangents and side comments. Tales captures that successfully in a series a series of short vignettes told by Twilight that jump across time and others. These are often separate from each except for references here and there, and anything that even remotely resembles a plot doesn’t even begin till the latter half of the story. If there’s a problem there’s, it’s that the lack of a framing story doesn’t really give much of an overarching theme besides “this is life” (not the same as saying that Tales is without motif mind you), which weakens the ones that make up each individual short bit, if they have one. But that’s a minor compliant overall.
What really makes Tales a success is that Twilight comes across as an actual character when describing the events that happen instead of a monotone distant observer; pony swearing at times when she starts to recollect some particularly painful memories or becoming chipper when talking about more pleasant affairs. The result is that it creates a powerful, solemn but not miserable, tone for the story and a very strong atmosphere. As such I found myself thinking that I was actually there, shaking my head at some of Twilight’s controversial statements (for what it’s worth, the story makes it mostly clear that Twilight’s point of view on such stuff, like attitudes towards the neighboring Mythos, is not the correct one), or being moved when one of her friends die. Admittedly, I found myself scratching my head at some of the things that were put in Twilight’s mouth. I’m thinking mainly in regards to her relationship to Spike, where at one point she says “Would I protect a child I didn’t know well at all.” Within the context of the story, it sort of makes sense given that Twilight wouldn’t know much about Spike’s past (more on that in the next paragraph), but given what we had seen of the show at the time, I have a hard believing that Twilight wouldn’t have any know who he is as a person (well dragon). It’s moments like that on occasional, thankfully quite rare, that break one’s immersion from Tales.
That’s leads into another think worth considering before thinking about checking out Tales. While this isn’t a flaw, it does require you to remind yourself you’re reading a mid season one story and adjust accordingly. Things like the Gala and the origin of Spike hadn’t been established yet when the story was written, and should be taken into account. Besides that, the write also has some of the more out there head canon this side of the Descendant. I’m 100 % fine that Pollock’s backstory for Spike didn’t match the one the show eventually gave him, but I think that the one he wrote for the dragon is a stretch even by more generous standards based on what did exist at the time. At least it does have a few interesting scenes. On the other hand, the decision to take Celestia’s princess title literally and the character’s portrayal in general as a much colder version than the show’s will probably also rub some people the wrong way as it did me, as are numerous other details. This is also a far darker version of Equestria than the one (which should not be confused with violent), for example, there’s quite a bit of death and mourning over it. Again, I don’ really think of these as flaws per say (well most of them, the idea that Equestria had an actually king but incapacitate, at the time of the show is a personal no-no and makes little sense when the show was written basically existed to tease the reader with a false lead), but one who has trouble adjusting to really old canon should think twice before reading this.
Tales is a lot like Twilight Sky Over Canterlot. It’s not something you read when want something light or fast, but instead something when you have a cup of tea and a comfy chair and want to spend part of afternoon on and pay attention to details. Kind of like when you are listening to a real life senior citizen talk about their life story.
Huh, I always remembered the "used her unicorn magic" part, but never the second one where they were actually called unicorns.