Link here. He's asked for us to consider it for some sort of canon status.

Thoughts?

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Well, it involves one of the L6 as a primary character, but takes place notably before our start date. Since it's a prequel for a character, I vote semi-canon, much as how An Early Reunion is semi-canon.

3933022 : That works for me.

To be perfectly honest I've been having a lot of trouble trying to read this fic. The first two chapters were especially hard for me to get immersed in because the way character continuously seem OoC for the Lunaverse.

A major inconsistency I noted fairly early on; BonBon seems to be rather strangely reluctant at the prospects of Lyra leaving, which feels contradictory to LNLD where it was established that she was the one who convinced Lyra to pursue the scholarship in the first place. Lyra herself also feels strangely clingy (even going so far as to recklessly suggest MARIAGE) considering how sporadic their communication with each other is supposed to have been over the years she spends away at school. I suppose none of this is strictly impossible to reconcile, but it all still feels very incongruent and distracting.

The story also seems somewhat internally incongruous with even itself. Early on it's noted that Lyra's dads have supposedly never been all that comfortable with their daughter dating BonBon, but then after Lyra leaves they both start saying she might as well be part of the family.

There is also a point where Lyra, briefly wishing she had inherited her mother's wings, conversely concludes she wouldn't be attending Luna's school if she were a pegasus instead of a unicorn. Not only has it already been established elsewhere in the Lunaverse that the school teaches all three tribes, but the very next paragraph even reminds us that ponies of all types are moving about the campus. Realistically she probably should have already met a few non-unicorn applicants on the previous trips that this story mentions she's taken to the school, especially as she's supposedly attending an a music scholarship in the first place.

Speaking of both non-unicorns and music, Octavia introduces herself with the last name Melody. While that is her official toy's last name, her long since establisher name in the Lunaverse is Philharmonic... though Is suppose we could retcon Philharmonic as a stage name with Melody being her born name.

Lastly, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the way the story ends. Yes it's sweet for the two would be lovers to write each other on the very first day, and yes we know that the two ponies eventually get back together, but we also know that neither of them had written to each other in around 8 months prior to the events of LNLD. As such, the long distant aspect of the relationship was clearly not working, and I sort of feel this story should better acknowledge that beyond the partial lip service BonBon gives during the non-breakup.

...

Also --and I'm aware this may be a very personal hang up-- I absolutely detest our Lyra using "Bonnie" as a pet name, and this story makes excruciatingly gratuitous use of it to the point where I feel like repeatedly banging my head against a wall. I just don't think it suits the Lunaverse version of these two characters to use it as any kind of term of endearment. If we need Lyre to use any nick name at all "sweetie" would seem the better choice. IIRC that's what RDD uses in his own writing, and conveniently it maybe even also works as a reference to the Hasbro's official toy name for the character, Sweetie Drops.

...

Overall, however, I suppose most of the story works as semi-canon... well, that is excluding the first two chapters which I rather strongly feel need to be rewritten almost entirely form the ground up, if not excised entirely. Most of biggest inconstancies were in that opening scene between Lyra and BonBon. Also, I felt those two chapters were by far the most redundant with far too little difference between the perspectives to justify reading nearly the same exact scene twice in a row. If rewritten I'd highly recommend merging them into a single chapter that shifts perspective or just written entirely in a more neutral third person. If T&T really feels the need to maintain the alternating chapters gimmick, however, BonBon's half should still probably be re written focus more on her thoughts in the AFTERMATH of her talk with Lyra, rather than her thoughts DURING it.

Gonna side with Emeral in that it felt very scattered and could use some polish, especially on the feelings of Bon Bon and Lyra and Lyra's father...and of course all the continuity flubs that need to be fixed. Also without a framing device putting this as a present day story I see no way to fit it as canon.

I'm not as adamant about the 'Bonnie' thing but maybe cut down on it a little at least?

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Also without a framing device putting this as a present day story I see no way to fit it as canon.

Hmm... I don't think a framing device is required to fit anything into canon. That said however, without a framing device we can't really assign it to any particular season and thus there aren't actually any "canon" folders to place it in. Possibly one more reason to create a new section for stories predating LNLD. Maybe even just call it "Season Zero"... or at least for anything in the L6 personal histories.

Edit: Then again prequels are also something to always be extra cautious of as they tend to be one of the easiest place to inadvertently insert continuity flubs should an author not be exceedingly diligent in their overall knowledge of the setting.

3978126 Yeah I meant it was difficult to put in terms of chronological order and organisation.

The nickname 'Bonnie' is already canon. It shows up in 'Past Remnants' and 'A Concert for Ponyville', and possibly elsewhere as well. (And personally, I think it's a perfect nickname).

Octavia's name should probably be changed to Philharmonica; I don't mind her being a cousin of the Melody family, but the name itself shouldn't change. I'm also not sure that I like her ancestral home being Trottingham; that's too close to Ponyville for me. I'd rather she were at least from another part of the country.

The tribe thing I think makes sense. We know that unicorns are the only ones with the power to consciously manipulate their magic; it was even discussed before whether or not Fragrant Posey should be able to summon a snowball using her inate pegasus magic, and we decided that she should need a magical artifact to do that and should not be able to do it on her own because pegasus magic doesn't work like that. So I can buy Lyra being surprised by Tavi's presence; there likely aren't many other non-unicorns at the Magic Academy. There may well be a few--and I liked the explanation Tavi gave that she was interested in the magic of song (and I can just see her starting a thesis on why ponies suddenly break into song for no apparent reason)--but probably not too many.

I don't actually mind that the characters feel a bit off in the beginning, simply because it's three years before we first met them, so they might well have been different. I could buy the Lyra depicted in this story becoming the Lyra we know and write about, and same for Bonnie. So no objections on that front.

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The nickname 'Bonnie' is already canon. It shows up in 'Past Remnants'

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not anywhere in the finalized version of that story, as GreyGuard agreed not to use it at my request.

and 'A Concert for Ponyville', and possibly elsewhere as well. (And personally, I think it's a perfect nickname).

I've been avoiding confronting you over that because of all the other things we tend to fight about, but It's still always bugged me just as much every time in those stories as well. Don't get me wrong, I think it works great and is absolutely adorable in your Cadanceverse stories, but I think it's completely out of place for the versions of the characters as they are portrayed in the Lunaverse. Notably it's never showed up once in any of RDD original writings for the characters, like LNLD or Helping Hands, so it only ends up sounding all the more jarring when Lyra seeming uses "Bonnie" exclusively for all of her dialogue in T&T's story.

It's not even really a sensible nickname, as it's not really any shorter than BonBon, and further more it seems all the more unusually for Lyra to conversely only ever be addressed by her own proper name in turn. We wouldn't call her "Lyrrie" so I don't think we should use "Bonnie" any more so. Maybe as something occasional, but it's use should be the exception, NOT the rule.

there likely aren't many other non-unicorns at the Magic Academy.

This is patently incorrect. While yes only Unicorns can cast spells, the Lunaverse has from the outset firmly established that ALL ponies have magic. Even more to the point, "real" magic is supposed to transcend the physical capabilities of the tribes, being more accurately represented in the bonds and connections individuals share (thus why it is synonymous with friendship as per the show's subtitle). Ostensibly this has always been why the school is intentionally referred to Luna's School of Magic as opposed to Celestia's School for Unicorns from the show, specifically to allow for a more diversified student body.

Now of course it could have ~maybe~ been okay for Lyra to have an initial misconception on her first day, but again, the fic also says that Lyra has visited the school before for an admissions test, where she would likely have already met non-unicorn applicants (who aren't supposed to be rare). Moreover, the fic even says that she sees students of al three tribe roaming the campus before going to her orientation. Overall, the scene where Lyra asks Octavia about it just comes across as clunky and arbitrarily forced exposition.

I don't actually mind that the characters feel a bit off in the beginning, simply because it's three years before we first met them,

While some subtle differences are to be expected, they are both already adults so three years probably isn't enough to account for the extent of the OoC. The character should feel younger, yes, but still be more recognizable than they are here. The worst of it though is in the first two chapters, so if those could be cleaned up, I'd not really feel as much need to complain about any of the rest.

3978789 :

I just did a 'Find' in Past Remnants; the name definitely shows up at least once. Which, again, is perfectly okay. We have not made an official Quorum ruling banning the name, so it's perfectly alright for other authors to use it.

If you want the name banned or limited, Emeral, you should make it a forum issue and try to achieve consensus here. Otherwise, your view that the name is bad is just a personal one, and it shouldn't outweigh an author's decision to use it.

And I think the name works great as a pet name for Bonbon that Lyra uses. Lyra is cheerful and playful and always peppy. She's the sort to use a 'cute' name for her marefriend, just because it's fun.

***

I still think there'd be more unicorns than other tribes at the Magic School, probably to a large degree. While other ponies wouldn't be excluded, there'd be natural limitations on what they'd really be able to do there, so I doubt there'd be nearly as much interest. A unicorn could develop practical skills there; an earth pony or pegasus would only be able to study magic theory but wouldn't be able to actually use it. A few might be able to exploit that knowledge (like Tavi learning about the magic of group songs), but I doubt that would be enough to push the admissions back up to parity.

***

The characters feel plenty recognizable to me; Lyra is energetic and happy, albeit nervous at first about moving away from Bonbon; Bonbon, by contrast, is more businesslike and rational, though still nervous about Lyra leaving. I think it works fine.

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To be honest I can see Lyra as flipping through a large number of nicknames, sometimes short ones and sometimes long and descriptive ones, Bon Bon probably just sticks with "honey" as well...unless she's mad about something but doesn't want the general company their in to know about it. And Lyra, being not particularly intelligent, doesn't ever really pick up on it.

Hence why I have this pic saved to my computer as "Lyra Honey Darling Baby Can I Maybe Talk To You In The Kitchen For A Few Minutes?!"

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To be honest I can see Lyra as flipping through a large number of nicknames,

I don't necessarily mind if Lyra occasionally uses pet names, in intimate/passionate moments or when struck by a poetic muse. It should, however, as you say, also be something she has a large variety to cycle through rather than ever overly relying on any one name. Furthermore, pet names should never be used so gratuitously as to supplant BonBon's actual name during most casual conversations.

3979088

Otherwise, your view that the name is bad is just a personal one,

I'm aware of that, and said as much when I first brought the subject up. I included it only as a personal request, a minor favor that can be corrected with a simple ctrl-H and doesn't otherwise affect the actual content of this or any other story. Regardless, it's not something I would hold against the story insofar as canonicity is concerned.

A unicorn could develop practical skills there; an earth pony or pegasus would only be able to study magic theory but wouldn't be able to actually use it.

I think you're making the mistake of taking the schools name to literally. Spell-casting might perhaps make up a large percentage of the curriculum offered, and of course only unicorns can viable engage in such studies. The Lunacverse, however, has always held that MAGIC is more than just spellcasting, and even more than just the innate passive abilities of pegasi and earth ponies. So while yes, unicorns might still be the majority of the student body, they shouldn't overwhelmingly outnumber the other tribes to the point of making them a rarity or even uncommon.

The fic actually otherwise represents this student diversity pretty well. The other three new students mentioned in Lyra's orientation are one of each tribe, and not only is Octavia an earth pony, but so is the other senior class member who shows up in the second meeting. So again, it just seems odd for Lyra to specifically fixate on and call out Octavia to ask a question that should probably just be general knowledge in the first place.

The characters feel plenty recognizable to me;

For most of the story, perhaps, but I still hold that the first two chapters just don't really work, not only in regard to the wider Lunaverse, but even also in the specific context of this story. These don't feel like characters who have supposedly already known Lyra was leaving weeks in advance. A bit of last minute nervousness is to be expected, but there is an incongruity in the implied seriousness of their relationship, and the seeming lack of open communication between them. Especially given that we know form LNLD that their romance was largely put on hiatus while Lyra was away at school, and given the theme of "endings" that was supposed be the theme of the event this fic was written for, I think that while Lyra should yes be saddened when BonBon suggests breaking up, she shouldn't become so immediately clingy. Conversely I don't think BonBon should be all mopey and lamenting that she'll NEVER find another love.

I guess a better way to put it might be that the story is written to much as a contrast of extremes, and could do with some more subtly to smooth it out and make the characters feel more believably genuine.

Likewise I think the story also falls short on other concepts it tries introducing. Notably the idea that Lyra's parents are supposedly uncomfortable with there "little" girl dating (which also works nicely as a potential prelude to the expected antics in RK's Meat the Parents), only to immediately turn around and suddenly declare BonBon as practically family already.