Story Reviews » SA: Round 179 · 4:39pm Oct 24th, 2020
Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.
Winter peered cautiously out the corner of the broken window, surveying the damage outside. He turned to his companion.
"Looks like we're trapped in here," he said quietly.
Intern grunted and adjusted the bandage on his arm. "Nothing we haven't gone through before." He looked up at Winter. "Got your reviews?"
Winter nodded and patted his chest pocket. "Right here, where they're safe." He turned and looked once more out the window. "Now, it's simply a matter of getting through all those ponies." Winter shuddered as he took in the horrors before him.
Bonfires were burning everywhere. Colorful streamers were strewn from building to building, along with balloons and other decorations. Ponies staggered from booth to booth, wearing outlandish costumes. Little fillies and colts chased each other from house to house, bags of candy in their hooves. Winter shuddered again.
Why did it have to be Nightmare Night?
Intern joined him in staring out the window. "The sooner we start, the sooner we'll get this over with."
Winter sighed and nodded. "Let's do this."
Cautiously, they opened the door and stepped outside. Trying to keep to the shadows, they made it a good way down the street before they were spotted.
"Humans!!" cried a mare as she pointed a hoof in their direction. "Get them!"
"Oh dear God," Winter whispered, seeing their escape was cut off. Resigned to his fate, he reached out and scritched the ears of the first pony to reach him, as his companion did the same.
"More scritches!!" cried one pony. "And belly rubs!" cried another.
As they were pressed upon by all sides, Intern finally screamed, "RUN!!" They made a break for it, going as fast as their legs could carry them. Panting, staying just ahead of the mob, they made it to Seattle's Angels' headquarters and slammed the door shut on the demanding ponies!
Winter wiped his brow. "That was close."
Catching his breath, Intern nodded and added, "We're safe for now. Let's get the reviews in."
ROUND 179
Do you want to hear a scary story?
You do? Oh…well…okay. You’re the first pony I asked who didn’t turn me away. Most just looked at me funny, or just told me to get lost. A lot of ponies don’t like scary stories. I know I don’t.
What? Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. My name’s Scootaloo.
Our first entry is a chilling tale with a twist ending worthy of M. Night Shalyman at his best. It starts out innocently enough with the CMC doing little filly stuff but quickly becomes dark. I must admit I've never had a tale affect me at my core as this one did.
At its heart, this is a ghost tale, but it has a layer the reader won't expect, and one I will not of course ruin. But safe to say, this is pure nightmare fuel.
Winter thought ahead and selected a few appropriately themed stories for the month. We start with one that genuinely brought a chill down my spine. While the setup for this is rather standard fair for a ghost story, the payoff more than makes up for it.
Seriously, I’m not kidding about the spine tingling.
To get the full impact, I dare not say anymore. You gotta trust me on this one. Just listen to what Scootaloo has to say. It’s worth it.
Mwahaha...
When Starswirl the Bearded sets out to find an end to the chaos plaguing Equestria, he asks his friend Halo to accompany him. The pegasus mare has yet to earn her cutie mark, but perhaps she can find her purpose along the way...
Our second entry is a beautiful tale of redemption and loss, but ultimately one of hope. This story also has illustrations, which I normally find distracting, though that was not the case this time.
I like stories that contain OCs that are fully developed, for the only canon character in this one is Starswirl the Bearded. Well rounded original characters show a depth of talent on the part of the writer, which is always welcome.
This tale is told by one of the OCs, an Earth pony named Lyric. I made the mistake of reading that as Lyra, so I was at first disappointed when her illustration wasn't that of a unicorn, then I quickly realized my mistake. Lyric does share one trait with Lyra, in that she plays a stringed instrument, so I suppose I can be excused for confusing the two. Lyric's purpose in telling her tale is to bring hope to an odd village of ponies who have all just lost somepony dear to them. She tells the tale in the best way possible to those who are grieving, in that she's not dogmatic about it, but leaves the conclusion up to the hearer. I found the ending both believable for My Little Pony, as well as comforting.
While not horror themed like the last one, this does raise up some questions about the supernatural. Framed as a story within a story, a wandering bard tells a tale of how tragedy can lead to greater things and what happens when destiny sneaks up on you.
This is a pretty short story but it packs in a lot of interesting ideas and worldbuilding. It’s the type of thing where you want to hear more about the characters and where they are going. The story ends on the right note, keeping things neat and tidy.
Like I said, not too long but there’s plenty to take away from it.
"To one's own heart be true" they say, but for royalty that is not always the case. Sometimes royalty has to put duty before love, and sometimes they find themselves unable to do so.
When a king finds himself torn between his heart and his country, he must make the hardest decision. Whatever the consequences.
This third entry is a bit of a tangle: it's a great story, but its headcanon is a bit of a stretch! Even so, I love tales where the author is willing to go against established canon and do so as well as was done here.
From the character tags the reader can expect to see a familiar, cantankerous donkey in the tale, but one might not recognize him at first. The writer builds this new world and peoples it with individual concepts and situations that are both interesting and fun to read. I can't remember the tale I read before that had some of these same situations, but this story reminded me of the best parts.
In the end, our hero is just as we first saw him in A Friend in Deed, but now with a much more interesting backstory.
Whenever I come across a story to highlight here starring Cranky Doodle, I’m always surprised at just how creative authors get. A fairly simple character is ripe for exploration and this fic takes full advantage of what we know and spins it in a unique way.
There’s not too much to spoil with this one, but I’ll avoid them anyway. Cranky is his usual crotchety self and his interactions with his nephew are both amusing and a bit eye opening. I love the headcannon here, ridiculous as it is. I also got a laugh out of some of the names that are used. Very appropriate and creative.
This is for fans of donkeys and the nifty backstory given to Cranky. I thought it was fun and a hoot so give it a go yourself.
Everypony likes a nice cold treat on a hot day. Even the ice cream mare.
Our final entry is back onto the Halloween theme of the macabre and dark. The writer claims the inspiration for this tale was something once read out of Omni magazine, a magazine I barely remember ( it's that old ) but I do remember it catered to the darker impulses of its readers.
Like our first entry, this one starts out so innocently, told by the little colt or filly. who just wants to get their ice cream treat. I'm old enough to remember the Good Humor Ice Cream trucks coming through our neighborhoods every summer. Like the bit done by Eddie Murphy back in the 80s, it was true: everything stopped when the Ice Cream man showed up, and you heard that familiar jingle! You'd badger your parents for money, or if you were older ( and wiser ) you'd have saved your allowance and had the cash in hand by the time HE showed up!
In this tale, that's exactly the situation, though with a dark twist. A very dark twist.
We bookend this post with another spooky story. Another short one, but the punch still has impact. It’s the kind of tale where everything is hunky dory until it suddenly isn’t. And it ends ambiguous enough to let you decide what’s going on.
Second person perspective is used, though I say the gimmick doesn’t wear on you. If you can get past that, go check it out.
“I thought you said we were safe?”
“... There’s always room for error.”
Winter and Intern stood back to back, surrounded on all sides by colorful, adorable equines. Somehow the security protocols had been breached, allowing a veritable flood of ponies to invade the building. Now all exits were cut off, including the ones built into the ceilings. Pegasus ponies hovered above them, smiling and waiting for their chance to pounce.
“I still don’t know how they got past our grid,” Intern said, vigorously shaking his leg to dislodge a small filly clinging to it. “All systems were green last I checked.”
Just as the mass of touchy-feely Equestrians were ready to make their move, a small but piercing voice stopped all in their tracks. “Wait!”
Pushing her way past the startled ponies, Heartshine came up to Winter and Intern, standing before the costumed ponies. “Now hold up. This is all wrong.” The Equestrian Angel flew up so that she could be seen by all. “Have you no manners?”
“Heartshine, thank God you’re here!” Winter let out a sigh of relief. “Talk sense into them, would you?”
“Sure thing, that’s why I’m here.” Heartshine cleared her throat. “Now then, I want two lines starting here and here. Stallions and mares will make up one line while colts and fillies will make up the other.”
Intern blinked. “What are you doing?”
Heartshine turned back and smiled. “Just making sure things are done properly. Everypony is going to get their turn.”
“Turn?” Winter asked with growing dread.
“Yes. It was I, Heartshine! I disabled the doors and now the official Nightmare Night Human Affection Attraction can begin.”
“Traitor!” was the last thing Intern managed to get out before being piled on by a seemingly endless line of eager ponies, Heartshine’s evil laughter haunting him and Winter for evermore.
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
Another day, another dollar.
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"More like another nickel."
-Squidward
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Nickle down cos theres no cents with these guys?
Pinkie gets in early at Nightmare Night, for Panto Season.
She is Always Behind You.
Heartshine, you wicked, mare. (Joins in laughing evilly) That was perfect!
It's really a shame Wandering Bard isn't around to bask in all the recent praise. :C
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I second this sentiment...
Huh, interesting.
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I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but these are completely off-topic and against the site's rules about linking to NSFW sites.
Knock the shit off.
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