Story Reviews » SA: Round 150! · 3:52pm May 4th, 2019
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Intern rushed through the main work area of the Seattle’s Angels compound, coming to an abrupt stop next to Heartshine.
“What’s up—AAAHHH!” was all the small pegasus got out before Intern picked her up and dashed back out of the room.
“No time to talk!” Intern said as he raced through the halls with Heartshine slung under his arm. “We have reviews to do!”
“What’s the rush?” she asked with a frown. Despite her generally pleasant demeanor, getting carted around without warning ranked around a five on her bottom ten list.
Intern finally came to a stop, paused to catch his breath, then addressed the question. “It’s our sesquicentennial post.”
Heartshine’s eyes lit up, giving a happy clop of her hooves. “Ooohhh, really?! We’re turning one-hundred and fifty already?”
“Yeah, and I heard rumors the higher ups are planning an award ceremony to celebrate. So, we need to finish the reviews ASAP so that we can prepare.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Heartshine pumped a hoof into the air. “Let’s get to it!”
ROUND 150
STORY 1
Swimming Lessons, by reynard
It's the height of summer in Canterlot, and everything is peaceful for Celestia, sole ruler of Equestria and regent of the sun and moon. Her newest and youngest of pupils is mastering every task set before her, moving through every subject with confidence and skill.
Every subject except for one, that is.
Little Sunset Shimmer can't swim. And Princess Celestia aims to fix that... no matter how difficult it ends up being.
Sunset Shimmer is one of those characters that I feel the show hasn’t utilized as well as they could. So much potential is inherent with her character and the whole “fallen student” angle she has with Celestia. Thankfully, fanfiction lets us explore the things the show doesn’t.
Taking place not too long after Sunset became Celestia’s student, filly Sunset is fitting nicely into her new life. However, on a hot summer day, Celestia invites Sunset for a swim and quickly discovers that her new student can’t swim. Figuring that this needs to be corrected, Celestia takes it upon herself to teach Sunset, even though she’s never taught swimming before. How hard could it be?
Yeah, you guys already know the answer to that. What’s unique about this is that we get to follow a Sunset before her fall from grace. Her interactions with Celestia and her attitude towards learning a physical activity she isn’t too keen on really sets her apart from a certain other student Celestia will get later on.
Cute, wholesome, and at times heartwarming, I give this my hearty recommendation. Filly Sunset needs her time to shine!
I really like Sunset Shimmer. She’s honestly probably one of my favourite characters, and I’m always a little sad that we don’t have much information on her. Which is why fanfiction is lovely! We get to see other people’s views of someone else’s life, and it’s always fun to wonder what inspired the little slice of life scenes.
That said, I love swimming, but I certainly remember the fear that came from having some close encounters water in the lungs. 0/10 don’t recommend, so I definitely empathised with filly Sunset’s plight throughout the story. But swimming is a joy to be had, if you’re careful.
I really enjoyed watching filly Sunset interact with Celestia. Seeing the princess in a maternal role is one of my hidden joys, and it’s nice to see how she works with a student whom she cares rather deeply for. I really recommend this story for a day when you need a smile.
STORY 2
Aletheia, by Foehn
Ponies tell themselves many stories.
Tales of great towers spun from the air itself; legends of those who could bend the heavens to their will; myths of cities that live forever on the edge of memory.
Often, the stories themselves bear little resemblance to reality; the truth is found between the lines.
Wow, did Cold in Gardez set off a wave of inspiration with his “Lost Cities” or what? Not that I’m complaining, since I got to read some terrific stories based off of it. And today, we get to highlight one of them!
Aletheia isn’t a story persay, but more of a guide to describing locations lost to both nature and memory. Not that it’s dry reading, far from it! I love the detail and poetry used to render the scene; my imagination running away with all the possibilities the author is presenting.
And once we get to the end, it all comes together in a way I wasn’t expecting. So now you have to check this out to see what I mean. Get on it!
When I read this story, I really enjoyed how it looks at the idea of place as character. I think that’s something we don’t see a lot in ponyfiction outside of depictions of places like the Golden Oaks Library and maybe Twilight’s School. But I think it’s really important to remember who a place or setting also ends up shaping the views and beliefs and feelings of those that live in it!
It’s also really neat to see how Foehn works to tie all the pieces together. Perspective is a funny, fickle thing. And what are perspective is often shapes how we interpret the beautiful world around us. So go check out the world that Foehn built. It’s really neat!
Sweetie Belle hasn't come home yet, it's getting dark, and her older sister is worried. Where is she? Is she alright? What happened to her? And just what will Rarity do when her questions are answered?
I didn’t plan this, but this story and “Swimming Lessons” above have a connection that compliment each other beautifully. One deals with determination of overcoming a difficult task, while this one deals with failing a task and having to move on from it.
Failure is a part of life, no matter how much we wish it weren’t so. We sometimes learn more from our mistakes than our successes. That’s what this story delves into, using both Sweetie Belle and Rarity to explore what it means to come close to a dream and letting it slip by.
Saying anymore will ruin it, so gallop on over and give it a read.
Sometimes I worry that I’m starting to influence the Intern with my normally fairly feelsy stories, but this time he picked them both on his own! So proud. I think a lot of these stories end up complimenting each other in the lessons therein. How to deal with failure and moving on from it is often a difficult thing to do in life. Especially when we fail at something we’ve worked hard to achieve.
I think this is a really difficult lesson for kids to learn. Much like how Sunset felt in “Swimming Lessons”, it’s easy to focus on the negative, and not look at what could be the reasons why we failed in the first place. I can’t give too much summary without giving the details of the story away, but it’s really lovely to see Rarity and Sweetie Belle interacting as sisters. Especially with Rarity’s ability to take her own life experiences and use them to help Sweetie how to grow.
STORY 4
The Basement, by Hap
An explorer delves one last time into a subterranean pit of lost hope. A letter holds the key to avoiding pitfalls of the past.
It’s rather amazing what an author can do with so little words. I wasn’t sure what to expect halfway through this piece but then I get to the end and I’m nodding my head at how well everything comes together.
Perspective and time are played around with here, making things a little jumpy with how the presentation works, but I can’t argue with the results. I couldn’t imagine how things would wrap up with only a few hundred words left, but then it does in a satisfying conclusion.
I’m being really vague about what’s going on here, but you really have to experience it yourself. Take ten minutes out of your day. You won’t regret it.
So this was a story I got to judge as part of EFNW’s Iron Author contest last year, and when I noticed it hadn’t gotten much attention, I really wanted to bring it here to share. Hap does a lovely job of weaving a story together out of snippets, moments, and vignettes that honestly ends up being extremely powerful in so few words. One of my favourite things about him as a writer (I may have gone and binged on his stories after EFNW) is that he has mastered lines that are emotionally impactful while being concise. As a poet first and a fiction writer second, I really appreciate that.
That said, this is the story of a mare and her daughter, and the story of basements, and the things we keep in them. As RT said, it’s worth the ten or so minutes it’ll take to read.
A crowd assembled within the main waiting room. Reviewers, podcasters, interviewers, and theoretical scientists all mingled together, waiting for the ceremony to start. Some voiced the question of why it was being held here rather than the auditorium, but those questions were shelved as the PA system clicked on. A hush fell over the crowd as Plum’s voice came out of the speakers.
“Attention. Can Heartshine please report to the principal's office? Thank you.” The PA went silent.
A moment of silence passed. Somewhere in the crowd, someone asked, “We have a principal’s office?”
“I thought we got rid of the school last year?” came someone else.
A flutter of wings signaled Heartshine’s take off, the pegasus flying up a flight of stairs. With her gone and no other announcements forthcoming, the crowd dispersed amid grumblings of wasted time.
Intern scratched his head, puzzlement etched on his face. “I guess there’s no awards, then?” Sighing, he turned to head back to his officecloset. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the flapping of wings. Heartshine landed next to him, something held in her hooves.
“Look what I got!” She held it up for Intern to see. Attached to a wooden plaque was a shiny gold piece of metal with “Perfect Attendance Award” etched within it.
Intern cocked his head. “You got an award.”
“Yep! I didn’t even know I had worked here long enough to get one.”
“... So there was an award ceremony.”
Heartshine shrugged. “I guess. Just not a very big one.” She smiled, holding the plaque close to her chest. “But I don’t care about that! I’m just happy you guys like me enough to give me something, even something as simple as this!”
The pegasus’ good cheer dispelled whatever cloud of disappointment that was forming over Intern’s head. Smiling back, he said, “Well, congratulations. Wanna get a sundae to celebrate?”
“Do I ever!” With her award held under one hoof and the other dragging Intern away, the pair headed for the cafeteria where a double-decker banana split awaited them.
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
Pleased to see reynard getting more attention. :)
Intern, of course, does not do enough quality work to qualify for any awards... he's just an intern, after all.