Power Ponies: The Storm Unleashed
By Darksonickiller
~29,894 Words (Complete)

First of all I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this review I wrote it last night and forgot to upload it... then my computer updated and I lost the whole thing But onto the actual review then shall we. Please pardon my inexperience in the matter. If I'm wrong or have missed something feel free to correct me.

So upon reading this story I was suddenly introduced to the explosion that was Power ponies stories. Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised considering what site I was one. However, the curious part was that I was digging around, a shockingly large percent of PP fics were actually good. I expected a lot of fics with an AU tag of the Mane6 personalities pasted onto the PP, continuing as if they've been them from the start. This isn't the case here as most of the stories I've come across give the metaponies their own unique personalities. In amazing example is "The Storm Unleased" by Darksonickiller.

Right from the start I went in with low expectations; not for any fault of DSK's but because I had ever read any PP fics before. (Reasons above) So from the Mane-iacs first line I knew that he at least had the characterizations down, even if he was going to use the Mane6. However, a few lines later (around Zapp's first line) I began to notice the differences. By lord Solaris' tush pocket these ARE different characters! Not only that but from the first and second chapters alone it appeared that these were fully realized characters with their own personalities quirks and such. Fili-Second is quick-witted and serious, Saddle-Rager is forefront and almost eager to get pissed, Matter-Horn is level headed and quick to make the best decision as a leader, and Hum-Drum is confident and is content to simply do what he can; he even gets more characterization later on. All of these characters, while they might have a little bit of the mane6 in them as a base, are their own ponies. They truly feel like a veteran super hero team. From a personal standpoint this delighted me to no end.

From a professional standpoint reading this story felt like jumping into the middle of a season long arc of a TV series, nearing it's conclusion. The "Main" villain The Mane-iac goes about her shenanigans while a completely different villain moves around behind the scenes setting various things up and rigging the events. Honestly, this may be one of this story's only fall points. The beginning acted as a double edged sword, we get straight to the action but then it feels slightly rushed near the end of the first chapter; with Zapp's disappearance not being at all shocking. However, despite being as short as it was the pacing afterwards was fairly well done. We got a sense of the urgency that the metaponies felt in their search and the frustrations that the normally level headed Matter-Horn was going through being unable to find her. It even got to the point that during Zapp's funeral some feels her had.

Going into spoiler territory here. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Speaking of which this might be another fall point. The order of events. During chapter 3 the ponies have had enough running into dead ends, unable to even locate the Mane-Iac to ask her personally, and pronounce Zapp to have passed. While this is an emotional scene it quickly becomes slightly redundant when the immediate next scene is them finally finding the Mane-iac and taking down her empire with the help of a large SWAT team. I felt that this should've been the moment when Matter-Horn breaks. Even the Mane-iac proves useless in their search and they finally give up. THEN the funeral happens and then end with this scene.

“Based on last night’s operation, I would like to inform you all that I will be reopening Zapp’s case personally. While you have pronounced her deceased, I will still coordinate with my counterparts at H.O.R.N. to begin a proper global search. Your teammate is not the only metapony in recent years to have vanished under inexplicable circumstances.”

Except that the ponies by this point have lost all hope. Also this...

Your teammate is not the only metapony in recent years to have vanished under inexplicable circumstances

...represents an unexplored plot point that begs for a sequel especially with the ending scene.

I'm not an editor so I don't knock points off for grammar, but from what I've seen there were little to no distracting errors in the story. Everything remained consistent. Though, I will say that Zapp's archaic speaking near the end threw me for a loop. Due to her lack of lines throughout the story I can only assume that she always speaks like that.

But overall the story was great. The premise was strong, the execution was decent, and the characterization of everypony, from the Mane-iac to the Power Ponies to the final boss "Stormtrotter", was spot on. The ending may have peeved a few people's pants off but I for one eagerly hope for a sequel exploring his apparent survival and the aforementioned other missing metas. Because honestly, it really did feel like I was just dropped into the season finale of a story not unlike Harpflank and Sweets. I don't know if that's what he was going for, but even if he wasn't I would still recommend this story to others; it's an enjoyable one.

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked it.