Pony Stories 466

Almost caught up on adding reviews to the big master review list. Pretty sure I’ve got all the reviews from fimfiction and even most of the ones from outside sources. Just need to catch up on my own I believe. If I’ve missed anyone else’s stuff, please let me know.

I think the part about the con trip that annoys me the most is that I didn’t get around to handing out the cute little bottle USB drives with GhostOfHeraclitus stuff on it. All the ponywords he’s done, including the stuff I could find in his blog. Plus the audio readings of his stuff I could find. But sadly the lack of space in the booth (as usual we didn’t get quite as much as we had expected) and my dang social anxiety prevented me from sharing the excellence. Anyone out there want a 8gb flash drive with all of Ghost’s ponywords and audio on it? Five bucks plus shipping. Looks like this:

 

Now for the reviews:

• Light the Sky on Fire by EquesTRON
• Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger by AdmiralTigerclaw
• Forever and Again and Again by Titanium Dragon
• Injuring Eternity by Monochromatic

Light the Sky on Fire by EquesTRON

Pretty good Scootaloo learns to fly story. A little light on the details. It’s her inner monologue about what she has been doing as she gets ready for one last self imposed test of her own ability. So its a lot of her telling the reader what had happened. It almost pulls it off. I didn’t find it slow, but I would have liked more details. I personally prefer Spellbound Fireflies, but if you like Scootaloo, this was a cool look at another path to her flying.

Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger by AdmiralTigerclaw

A lot of this felt like fluff while I was reading it. A sort of Cliff’s notes version of first contact. Yet the scenes with intense emotions got to me. In particular the two scenes that were Rainbow Dash riding with them into orbit, and the very last bit that was Twilight Sparkle’s letter back to earth. It makes an interesting comparison to Celestia Sleeps In. Not as detailed, not as focused on the details, but also not taking hundreds of thousands of words to get from one event to another. Same basic concept, but this one is more of overview wide focus story. I’d give this a highly recommended. It was enjoyable on its own and had me thinking about two really good ponyfics while I was enjoying it. Celestia Sleeps In, and Days of Wasp and Spider (for the very scifi look at controlling the sun and moon, even if it was just a minor point in the story).

Forever and Again and Again by Titanium Dragon

This was nice. A simple conversation between Celestia and Twilight. One of the better stories both with this situation and about the subject being discussed. There isn’t enough ponyfic about Celestia’s romantic endeavors. Plus this has a relatively clear headed look at long life. I would argue one or two points with Princess Celestia, but as with all good stories I want to argue with the character and not the author. This is a perfect example of a story that isn’t a story, just a slice of life snapshot of a scene. Still worth reading, I’d recommend this one. I also need to read more by this author. Pretty sure I’ve enjoyed everything I have read, but don’t think I’ve made any effort to grab a bunch of their stuff.

Injuring Eternity by Monochromatic

Nitpick section:
Why do earth Ponies die first? Between a vigorous farm life and mimicking refined nobility, I know which one I’d call a healthier life. Plus the oldest Ponies we’ve seen in the show has always been Earth Ponies.
Twilight Sparkle makes a point of not using a disguise spell, then gets examined up close by Rarity without her disguise cloak, and Rarity doesn’t notice the wings? Ah, needed to read a little further, she traveled back to a point fairly soon after her wingification.

The main reason I enjoy time travel stories (besides logic puzzles) is that time travel can magnify the emotions of the story. Joy, sadness, love, all become something more when you add time travel to the mix. This story is an excellent example. At the heart its just a simple Rarity and Twilight shipping story. It doesn’t even have build up, just starts with the assumption the two are in love. Yet adding in the time travel you get the backstory sort of baked in without needing to go through the whole thing. Not quite sure how that works in my head, but as mentioned I really like time travel stuff so it might just be something my brain does.