So it seems this fic is finally finished, and the author is submitting if for canonicity judgment.

Personally, I'm going to have to vote NO, not even as a semi-canon side-story/tie-in.

The first big warning flag for me is that the author actually had to go and write an entire forward to try and explain his supposed justifications or whatever for conceiving this fic. Any story that seemingly needs to convince the reader of its own validity before it even starts usually has a flawed premise in the first place. More notably, in that forward the author states that his goal is to provide closure, but the problem with "closure" is that it leaves us with nothing left to exploit -- no more awkward glances, no more angsty emotional turmoil, no more humorously Tsundre miscommunications. Not to mention that it really just overall whitewashes Diamond Tiara too much (and I say this as a fan who always prefers to look past her superficial façade even on the show).

It also doesn't really help that none of the characters ever really feel natural, which is especially bad damning scenes where Diamond Tiara is ostensibly supposed to be confessing her feelings, and yet there never seems to be any emotional weight or context. Rather instead, they all feel more like voice-boxes for the author to pontificate through while delivering one bland and overly longwinded expositional info dump after another. There's no climax, no high point, and the titular "date" just seems so much more like merely going through the motions, and it only becomes all the more jarring because these characters are supposed to be children and yet don't really ever seem to act as such.

Agree with the NO, for the reasons Emeral states and others besides. The slapstick humor doesn't know whether it wants to be wacky fun or serious (a good example is Diamond Tiara bonking her head onto her desk, which could be a funny scene until we learn it produced a multiple-inch bump that apparently made Cheerilee think she required medical attention), the dialogue is very stiff and unrealistic for all the characters (esp. DT, who is completely different here--our DT isn't nearly this nice, or open about her inner feelings, etc), the whole background detail that Lyra was a jerk as a filly doesn't work (esp. since we already kind of did that with Trixie), etc. Honestly this feels like the style of a S1 Polsky episode, and that's not a compliment.

So, yeah. I vote 'no.'

3176715 3176976
Sadly, I'm going to agree with both of you. The fic just...isn't very engaging, on top of everything else. I actually found myself skipping ahead over large parts of the text. I hate to pile on to the litany of complaints, but that's my biggest one.

I don't actually mind closing Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo's storyline, or taking it in the new "dating" direction. Yeah, we'd lose some stuff in the process, but we'd also gain some stuff. It's not an innately unworkable idea. However...this fic isn't the one where we have to take that.

Now, let's see, since apparently group thread notifications don't work anymore, I'm going to try a magic trick to make sure Fizzy sees this, by just linking a comment from another thread...

2568652

3177012

I actually found myself skipping ahead over large parts of the text.

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one having the problem. Well, "glad" isn't exactly the right word, since of course it would be better if the problem didn't exist in the first place.

...

Anyway, baring an exceptionally impassioned plea from Fizzy to the contrary, it seems unlikely this fic will make the canon cut. So shall, we at least place it into the fanfictions folder for now? Canon or not it's still a Lunaverse fic -- ostensibly at least, even though personally I don't think the Scootiara ship needs to be fundamentally an AU thing in the first place... but that's another matter.

3179716
Sure, go right ahead.

Should we tell the author of our decision? We can revisit if Fizzy makes a great argument otherwise, and it seems unfair to let him dangle unknowing.

3186680
I thought that Emeral was going to...yeah, we should tell TheGreatEaster.

Do you want to, or should I?

I'll do it.
3189252