I've read through the first 3 chapters, and believe that's a good cut-off point for a review.

Linkedy Link: The Silver Standard by PatchworkPoltergeist

First Impressions

Once upon a time, Silver Spoon's life made sense. She had the right friends, the right house, and the right school for a young lady coming up in the world. Once upon a time, Silver Spoon lived amongst proud towers in a vibrant, bustling city that never slept.

Now she lives in Ponyville. Not so terrible once one gets used to it. Silver's learned to appreciate some ponies, harbor grudges for others, and tolerate the rest. But sometimes, she wonders if one pony in particular is as popular as she thought.

So, this is a prequel to the show? It certainly sounds slice of life, and it's a good thing that it's tagged as such. The tags also include drama, which lines up with the synopsis. Maybe not drama in the sense of world-defying odds, but it doesn't need to be that to interesting... right?

Plot

...Yup. correct.

Right from the start you understand the main character's position, and what's happening. You're brought straight into a situation that, for a young person, would be pretty major. And it's treated as such, which is great to see. I'm going to be talking a lot about characterisation here, since that's basically what the story is; small events, which are made a lot bigger by the characters themselves (I have a theory that if this type of story was made for... characters with less interest in social situations, or who don't give a second thought about anything, then the story would be way less interesting).

One thing I picked up on early as well was the separation between classes portrayed, which I thought was very well done. She doesn't understand what her peers are even doing half the time, and it actually makes it pretty funny to see that disconnect. The class-thing also opens us up to another asset- the fact that the show has brought these characters, Silver Spoon and Diamond, as one-dimensional bullies.

In this story, they're humanised... as much as one physically can, and while they may still turn out as mean bullies (I'm not entirely sure since I haven't read all of it, but I could see it going that way back here from ch3) to the other members of the school, they seem to actually have reasons for it.. some just being that the way they act, which they believe to be normal, is seen as rude, or snobbish to the others.

I also started to see rifts between Silver and Diamond from the get-go; Silver appears to have worked in her higher-class situation, while Diamond appears to have had stuff laid out for her. Such small details really immerse you into the world the author writes.

Oh, one other thing. Another point I really liked in the way you presented the story, is the connection with the main show... but not in the way one would expect. Instead of going for 'Fighting the bad guys!' it's more of 'Making sure the kids don't cry!', and it's done in such a way that it really emphasizes that these kids know that they're kids. They aren't fighting monsters or anything actually insane... they're sticking to their system, their social system, and making themselves the best they can be within it.

Mechanics

Grammar: No problems.

Dialogue: Second strong point of the fic, the way the character thinks being the first. Not saying that this is worse, though. I had a lot of fun with this:

“Nuh-uh!” Berry Pinch yelped. “She’s totally real! Diamond Tiara just likes ruining other ponies’ stories because she’s a…a big, smelly butt!”

Diamond stuck her tongue out. “Takes a butt to know a butt.”

Worldbuilding: The thing which I find quite interesting about world building is that... well, there's a lot of detail brought to the already existing world we know.

From my understanding, there's no 'new addition' to it. Silver's from Manehatten. Maybe that's not canon, but you'd... guess she would be, wouldn't you? Or at least be open to the suggestion. Anyway, point is, I saw stuff that was new here, definitely. It's just that it was minor tweaks rather than a full-on character change, and I liked it.

One of the biggest parts where stuff is added to the world is the reputation, at least that the fillies believe, is to be held on class. Seeing as the main character thinks about how wealthy other characters are before... conversation? I think this is to be expected.

Pacing: I never felt an issue here, and the added surprise of an end to the 'introduction arc' by chapter 3 was really nice to see. I hope that as the story progresses, the clear scene-end is used to mark out other arcs of the story.

Impact: I think the impact here is that you might actually start sympathising with the two show-bullies, which I certainly didn't expect coming into it.

Conclusion

I had an issue coming into this review, the issue being... I had nothing to harp on.

I'm not usually a fan of Slice of Life, but I think this has shown me how to do it right. It's been well thought-out, and I may read more of it if I have the time.

The only problem I could feasibly see at the moment is whether/not the story starts running out of steam as it keeps going. I can see that it is still incomplete at the moment, and I assume you have thought up an ending. If so, then... there's no real issue I can discuss.

Scores:

Plot: Centered around a small group of fillies doing... pretty much nothing important, the characters make everything SEEM important. The trip to the top of the social circle is very calculating. 19/20

Mechanics: No issue, with some pretty cool add-ons. 18/20

Characterisation: Top. You could tell I enjoyed it by how much I rambled about it. 20/20

Originality: I've not seen it before. I'm sure something like it has been done before, but this feels like it was probably done better. 18/20

Impact: Again, the ability to convert people over to the side of posh-filly bullys(I've seen the comments) is a pretty powerful one. Next you'll be making Snips + Snails honourary saints. 19/20

Final Score: 94/100

*Recommended*

5645976
1. Seems like a pretty high score to give for just a recommend. Might you change that score to something a bit more smashing? Or was that just a safety mechanism for reading only three chapters?

2.

Centered around a small group of fillies doing... pretty much nothing important, the characters make everything SEEM important.

Just remove the alcohol, sex, desire to become a woman, and a few other odds and ends and you got yourself a remake (switch them genders too m8).

3. Overall, the review seems to be lacking. Not sure if it's because you read three chapters, or because it didn't seem as... proper? I think this would've benefited from a more complete review when the work itself is complete (if it does get completed). Oh, and would it have been a killer moment if you added your "favorite tidbits" to the review? It could have given more dimension to "why you loved the characterization" so much. Eh, it was a good review, but just a teensy bit of lack.

But who could I critique, I have TD's story in the back burners causing massive holes in my papers. Blasted, it's not near Christmas yet. Soon.

If you gave this fic a 94 out of 100, that's practically Masterpiece by my standards. I'd definitely recommend that you up it to Must Read, if you think that highly of it.

5646335
While I think it rates very highly on all scores, I don't think it's a must read. I'd reserve that for things that would seriously make a strong following, having unique new characters, so on...

This story is very good within the show's restrictions. I feel that the show could learn a thing or two from it... but, you aren't missing anything not reading this, in my opinion. Therefore, I could not justify it.

As for, 'the overall review is lacking'... what, am I getting paid for this? Is there a high-standard that I must adher to in order to do free work?

I don't agree. I looked at a lot of positive points that the story had. Just because it's not negative anywhere, doesn't make it lacking.

Thanks for the review.
While I think your analysis is fair, I have to admit, I'm not sure how well the story can be analyzed by only the first three chapters. The first arc is by far the lightest part in the entire fic (barring maybe the Nightmare Night chapter). The Drama part of the tags doesn't come in until at least chapter four and the main conflict/plot solidifies around chapter five. Not that I blame you, mind. Reading the first three chapters is the standard for a first-glance judgement of a longer work (and Silver Standard is pretty darn long and still incomplete). I'm just saying I think you cut out right before it really got started.
That said, I'm pleasantly surprised at how much of the story and theme I actually set up that early. Pretty much everything you found is what I was going for.

The only problem I could feasibly see at the moment is whether/not the story starts running out of steam as it keeps going. I can see that it is still incomplete at the moment, and I assume you have thought up an ending.

I worry about this too. I didn't intend for it to end up as long as it did--Crusaders of the Lost Mark totally rewrote my original outline. Probably for the better, since the ending I have now is much better than the ending I planned back in early 2015.

Thanks again c:

5647539 Unfortunately, due to the current status of this group (I think it hasn't updated the folders in more than a year), we really need to get moving on some of these if we want to start working again.

Bit of a shame, really. I rather enjoyed going through one of Lost Marble's works a while back, and would have enjoyed going through yours, as well.

5647556
It's cool; I figured that might be the case.

5646991

As for, 'the overall review is lacking'... what, am I getting paid for this? Is there a high-standard that I must adher to in order to do free work?

Did I say anything about what you questioned here? No. I said this: I think this would've benefited from a more complete review when the work itself is complete (if it does get completed). I think later on down the road, regardless if it's out of the box, this should be revisited for a re-review. Yeah the current status of our group is pretty down, but that's not to say that we can give a more complex review when we're not clogged up the wazoo.

I don't agree. I looked at a lot of positive points that the story had. Just because it's not negative anywhere, doesn't make it lacking.

It's lacking depth, but maybe that's me seeing it differently.

5646991
Oh, and I forgot to mention:

While I think it rates very highly on all scores, I don't think it's a must read. I'd reserve that for things that would seriously make a strong following, having unique new characters, so on...

Then it shouldn't be rated a score that high. If you think it's lacking creativity, mention it.

5645976 I've read this fic! I love this fic! :D Awesome review.