Coming out with a convincing lead early and never relinquishing its hold, after our smallest suggestion and voting threads yet (awh?), Lulamoon's Castle will be the fifth story read by the Golden Oaks Book Club.

At <16k words, readers have seven days to finish the story before we open up discussion in the Skype group, which you can join by shooting ToixStory a PM. If you do not have a Skype account, or do not wish to join, this thread will also be opened after seven days from today for discussion.

We also encourage commenting on the actual story.

Happy reading, everyone!

edit: Thread is open! Off we go!

3908518 Thanks. :)

Well, I loved this one. Lulamoon's Castle managed to do great characterization with Trixie and Twilight. I think Trixie deserves props. She's a fine line to walk, especially anything written post-Magic Duel. Yeah, she's a jerk, but she's not evil or even all that bad. I thought her interaction with Twilight was great, too.

I'm still agog over this line:

"Privilege is wasted on the privileged."

Oh, how delicious it was for me, a huge Trixie fanboy. As much as I like Twilight, yeah. Sometimes she doesn't really get it, does she. Not much of a knock against her, but it's there.

And the end? As a diehard Twixie 'shipper it was the icing on the cake. :D So I think you can see where this story stands with me. :D

I actually read this one long ago (sort of), but it's always good to revisit a favorite.

Something I like about this particular (and actually many that Bookish Delight writes) is that she tries to go beyond simply "Trixie shows up after Twilight becomes a princess, and they become real friends." There is always more to it than that — motivations for doing so, and how their experiences after their last meeting shaped their current one, and what those experiences were — and it's nice to see those explored, particularly in the way that Trixie has built up in her mind how their encounter will go, and how that gets completely dashed to pieces by how reality has changed. She is defined her not as a showmare, but as a mare with a breadth of experiences that has shaped her beliefs and ethics, who just happens to be in show business, he feels the need to prove her position in the world as much for herself as for others around her, and who isn't really sure what she wants from her life after she challenges Twilight again.

At the same time, it's also nice to see depth to Twilight, especially since we lost some of that in later seasons and how we often don't get it in many other stories. Much like Trixie, Twilight is defined here by much more than just her castle and her books; she has doubts, she's uncertain and insecure of her position in the world, and she doesn't have more than a vague idea of what she really wants from her life after, well, everything.

It is this common ground that they are really able to bond over, and I really, really like that dynamic, versus the usual one of "Trixie isn't sure what her life will be and is struggling, but luckily here's Twilight with a plan to bail her out!" If anything, it's Trixie who bails Twilight out on this one, not by actually solving any of her problems, but by giving her an anchor point that she can use to navigate.

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Lulamoon’s Castle centres around Trixie, and her ambitious return to Ponyville for a second time to truly prove her dominance over Twilight Sparkle. The kicker is, she knows absolutely nothing about what Twilight has been through since their last confrontation in Magic Duel. Obviously this will be ignoring the book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, in which she and Gilda both antagonise Princess Twilight… but that is definitely a good thing here.

Trixie has travelled far and wide after being humbled by Twilight. For over a year she has rebuilt her reputation and gone on to become one of Equestria’s greatest showmares. Bookish cleverly weaves in Trixie’s past at the start of every chapter, in which we see her as having studied at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns before choosing to leave of her own volition (and not being expelled as people like to do), her determination while working on the rock farm, and then a shot of her giving a young filly advice on following her dreams. We can really see the development that Trixie has undergone in her absence and over the course of her defeat, as she has matured from a bratty showoff, to a broken mare bent on revenge, to her present state in which she is happy and successful. It’s nice to see her this way instead of just being constantly revenge and anger-driven.

Of course, it’s laughable when she arrives in Ponyville hoping to show off her new wagon and her success to Twilight Sparkle… only to find that great big shining abomination of a crystal castle, and that Twilight has become a Princess. Instantly she’s struck dumb at having been foiled yet again.

Trixie and Twilight get talking, and we see some real, honestly unexpected maturity from Trixie in chapter two, where she admits that Twilight is a Princess and tried to treat her as such, addressing her as “Your Highness” and even bowing to show her respect until Twilight insists it’s not necessary. It’s here where they begin to catch up with what each other has been doing, and the dynamic between them is really quite fascinating. Twilight is as humble as she can possibly be, but not in a hand-wavey way as if to say she doesn’t really care or anything like that. Trixie cannot believe everything that has happened, yet she too plays a straight game even as the old feelings of jealousy well within her, unwanted.

I have to say, the way that Twilight and Trixie interact with each other, comparing their achievements and the ponies they have become, really warmed my heart. Trixie was well-behaved, Twilight listened and offered advice while trying to downplay her achievements… but something Twilight said while doing so greatly annoyed Trixie, and it resulted in this delicious gem of a retort from Trixie: “Privilege is wasted on the privileged.”

One of the interesting things about the start of the story is how it refers to Tirek’s attack, how much it actually affected Trixie on a personal level. She was extremely upset and pissed off at having her magic (and particularly her cutie mark) stolen from her, after having worked so hard to get herself back on track. Bringing this up with Twilight sets a truly emotional scene that, despite not being a real tearjerker, hits all the right notes. The Tirek discussion is meant to show how much it affected both mares, and it does so splendidly. What’s of particular note is something subtle that readers who have a tendency to skim might overlook: as Trixie talks to Twilight more about everything that has happened, she begins to speak less and less often in the third person, instead opting to speak normally. It’s a curious thing that shows her actually warming up to Twilight as they slowly come to understand each other.

Oddly, it’s not only Trixie who had Twilight on the mind in her past. It turns out that Twilight has been following Trixie’s career, when she pulls out a bunch of posters advertising Trixie’s show. She says that she would have loved to attend sometime if she weren’t so busy, and that really humbles Trixie. It’s then that she realises she doesn’t need to be superior to Twilight; the fact that Twilight admires her for qualities she doesn’t see in herself is enough to make them both smile, and after a small amount of shipping tease, it ends.

Bookish said that she waited almost four years to be able to write a Trixie story that really meant something. With the season four finale, she finally had the platform to begin. It was a long time to wait, but doing so paid off in spades. It deserves its high rating in every way. There were a few niggling grammar errors that annoyed me quite a bit, and her insistent insertion of copyright disclaimers in the middle of every chapter made me pretty mad (especially in chapter four where it was most jarring and not just acting as a scene break), but other than that, it’s a solid story that truly does justice to both Trixie and Twilight’s characters.

8/10

I like it. Yes.

CV, excellent overview. I honestly wish I could add more to it.

Well, a sequel wouldn't be bad. ;)

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http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/429155/more-trixie-talk

3963678 *Checks out link* Dang, sorry you were sick. Hope you're feeling better. And this was an awesome tale, too.