Fic recs, May 25th: Ponies After People edition! · 10:21pm May 25th, 2019
After reading Starscribe's The Last Pony on Earth, I was intrigued to learn more about the setting and scenario he'd created. Enter the aforementioned group and a handy list of stories that... At this point, I don't remember how I chose these. <.< But they're mostly short and run the gamut from "really good" to "really not so good".
I mean, I'm tempted to blame the 'verse for some people not using it to its fullest extent, but really, just like ponyfic itself or even fanfiction in general, a universe will attract writers both good and bad. That's just life. So yeah, not all of these appealed to me, but some of them really did, so enjoy.
(Also apparently the date for the event in the story was earlier this week, so I figure posting now, while late, is appropriate.)
H: 2 R: 1 C: 0 V: 2 N: 1
Tyra B by Celefin
Genre: Dark
A lone pony wakes on an oil platform.
Wow, damn. So this does a couple things: looking at people after ponies stranded in locales they can't get out of, and giving us more than just ponies that people have turned into. Also, it's really dark. Pretty much nothing good happens over its short word count, but it does end on a hopeful note. Moreover, I just love the way this was written. It mostly comes in short snatches, sentence fragments that mirror the decaying mind of the characters as they slowly starve on this oil rig. Really, I shouldn't be surprised; this is the author who wrote Track Switch after all. Really marvelous stuff.
Highly Recommended
Despair by Framwinkle
Genre: Sad
I awoke in a dead city, as a pony.
I won't say this is poorly written, though it is paced lightning fast, but it's what I was afraid I'd be finding a lot of in this edition: the same idea, just someone else writing it. The author does at least try to give their human-turned-pony a major obstacle in coming back from the event after everything's been looted, but… That's it. There's no hope of rescue or survival, just a lot of crying and a leap off a building. The protagonist even says their life was already terrible beforehand, but never why. So while there might have been potential here, not enough time was taken to really make the effort stick.
Not Recommended
School Tour by JumpingShinyFrogs
Genre: Dark
We were just supposed to be on a school tour, but then the tunnel collapsed.
One of the things about The Last Pony on Earth is that it sets up a tremendous time scale for Ponies After People. And this author has jumped on that, taking a look at what kind of toll might arise from people returning after a very extended period of time, though we don't find out just how long until near the end. This is a story of survival, overcoming odds and hope, compressed into a single roadway tunnel and told through a journal kept by a nine-year-old Irish girl. I could see the simplistic writing actually being a turnoff for some, but I consider it a strength; the author has really captured this girl's voice, and this is good epistolary writing. Otherwise, it's a (so far) unique entry into the Ponies After People canon, and an example of what writers can do with the setting.
Highly Recommended
Dark Arrow by Stellar Light Sparkle
Genre: Military Drama
An incoming aircraft with a secret payload spells certain disaster for the ponies of Brisbane.
Right off the bat, this story is confusing as hell. It's a murky milieu of original characters and military jargon the reader is expected to know in detail, because — surprise! — this is actually set in a sub-verse of Ponies After People, except literally nothing tells you so before the author's note at the end. So we'll ignore how I couldn't keep track of anyone in the story, nor did I ever really care about any of them, and instead focus on things like what is with military-knowledgeable people not writing jargon to be understandable by non-military-knowledgeable people? You're basically writing a crossover, it should be handled as such. Which isn't to say the author doesn't make an attempt, later on, after we're already lost. This comes in the form of ill-timed parenthetical translations for things like "MPH". Y'know, miles per hour. The one I already knew. And there's the convoluted, if generally interesting time frame: This takes place 3,000 years after people started turning into ponies, but some of the characters returned just now, one of them returned twenty years ago, and he's married to a natural-born pony who doesn't get cultural references. Beyond that, the writing is okay, but the author had a tendency to go into great, drawn-out detail for scenes like "pony putting on space suit". And like, I used the "drama" tag up there, but there really isn't any? There's tension once we find out the plane is carrying a nuke that will go off if it hits sea level, but then the characters put together a plan and execute it with literally no hitches. So there's essentially no conflict. Not to mention there was also a ton of slice-of-life stuff that might have had more impact on me had I known who these characters were to begin with. But the author didn't front-load the story correctly, and so I ended up reading something I honestly shouldn't have. Let this be a lesson.
Vaguely Recommended
Metro 2534 by Alkarasu
Genre: World-Building
As a newly Returned minotaur, it's Mike's job to guide travelers through the tunnels.
This feels more like a Metro 2033 crossover than Ponies After People, though it's not marked as such. The Russian place names, the… well, the title. You get what I mean. My point is, this is just sort of various Equestrian races (and non; camels?) talking more like people from Earth than a fantasy realm. This does have some neat PAP ideas in it, though, mostly the idea of needing to map out where trains were before everyone vanished so no one will be present in their location when they return. Anyway, the writing is pretty dire, as I expect the author is not a native English speaker, and this just sort of exists as an introduction to some places and people and ideas. I suspect it would have more impact if I'd read the companion story, but that's incomplete still.
Vaguely Recommended
Hope for a Better World by Orsuros
Genre: Dark
A desperate changeling queen seeks out a new source of love before it's too late to save the ones she loves.
This is how you take "Equestrian races talking like people from Earth" and do it justice. This is a story about faith and love, taking place in a more (?) post-apocalyptic Utah wracked by plague. The way the changeling's magic works is really neat, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. The writing does let this down a little bit. It could have easily been two or three times its length, but more to the point, the writing tends to be stilted and explainy, especially early on. Still, this was maybe the best example of what can be done with PAP, and it suggests a whole lot more than exists in its wordcount.
Recommended
If you shit on the whole concept, is it a PAP smear?
5064438
why
My main problem with the "Ponies After People" universe is that the name is inaccurate. Ponies are people too! "Person" is not synonymous with "human"! That's the main distinction between the terms, that people don't necessarily have to be biologically human! Or even made out of meat!
5064465
I can dig it.
I gave up on the series after a while. I wanted a look at the society that would develop after such an event. It became villains with godlike powers.
*curses in non-native English*
Some day I will prevail and make it look like the real deal!
5064682
You're not doing too bad, all things considered. Writing in another language is hard! Which is why I don't do it. :')