Fanfiction Review: Infallible

It's been quite a while, but the reviews have returned. And let's get it started in here with the Pegasus Rescue Brigade's offering, Infallible.

Ponies and Technology

Ponies and technology. Two good things that go great together, right? Well, yes and no.

Setting a hard technology level for Equestria is a real hassle for a number of reasons, all of which we'll hopefully be able to address. But suffice to say that Faust's intent was quickly moved away from in favor of convenience and expanding the possible stories, and for the most part I feel that was a good move. But if we're to approach ponies with machinery, just what is considered going “too far” and breaking the setting?

Thoughts on the Pets

We've looked at a lot of characters, haven't we? The Mane 6, Spike, Trixie, Celestia and Not-Celestia, and so forth. But you know who we haven't talked about? At all? None other than those lovable critters, the pony's pets. And since they're technically characters in their own right, why not take a look at them and see if there's anything to mine?

April Fools Day Review: So Many Ways to Play

Happy April Fools Day, everybody! I hope you're having fun with...whatever your favorite sites are doing this year, because there will be no hope and joy in this post. Today, we're going to use this holiday as an excuse to look back on the very last thing produced in G3.5 and see just how badly Faust and her team needed to swoop in and save this franchise.

Yes, we're looking at the infamous Newborn Cuties and one of the two animated straight-to-DVD cartoons bundled with the toys. This is So Many Ways to Play.

Thoughts on the Mane 6: Fluttershy

Well, here's the updated Fluttershy post, complete with discussions about that Discord episode.

---

From the moment Fluttershy was introduced, she became one of the most popular (and celebrated) ponies in the fandom. Her first meeting with Twilight was one of the most awkward moments in the entirety of the pilot, and her sheer cuteness created such an indelible mark on the fan base that she quickly skyrocketed in the polls. Even better, however, was that large swaths of the first season was devoted to her. She got to take out dragons, defeat cockatrices, and destroy an entire ballroom, all without losing any of her cuteness.

And then Season 2 happened.

Fluttershy basically faded back into the ether for almost all of the season. Sure, she had a few appearances, but her importance in the series had almost sunken to Applejack levels by the time she finally got some time in the limelight again. Even worse, the writers were getting lazier and lazier with her, although this ties into one of her most important appearances in the first season. While she still ranked highly with a lot of Bronies, she wasn't the powerhouse she once was, as other characters had the chance to shine.

Season 3 initially did little to change that fact, as Fluttershy continued to be treated like a cowardly punchline in “The Crystal Empire” and “Magic Duel.” That changed, however, when Celestia entrusted our heroes with the task of reforming Discord. She was the only one who was willing to give the enterprise a chance, offering to become the fiend's friend if it would mean he'd stop tormenting ponies. And Discord proceeded to exploit this for all it was worth, ready to stick a knife into Fluttershy's back when the time was right and escape. Fortunately, our shy little mare was not a naive, gullible fool, and her kindness won through to Discord's black heart and won him over to the side of good. Then, during the Cutie Mark incident, she tried (and failed) to become a party pony like Pinkie usually was, and was ready to leave to go back to Cloudsdale when Twilight convinced her to give animals a chance. And thus, she was the first one to be restored to normal.

-

Fluttershy is a Pegasus, and yet is not at home in the clouds. Rather, she prefers to hang out on the ground, taking care of her animal friends. Indeed, she is capable of communicating with Equestria's non-speaking residents better than anypony else, to the point where she can seemingly understand their language and they hers. Her house is filled with various houses, shelters, pet beds, and other assorted safety places for her cuddly critters. Her years of playing Doctor Dolittle have also given her some experience with veterinary skills, although she seems to be more of a forest ranger or the like than a vet. She also seems willing to give her pets away, although she most likely would want to know they'd be going to a good home before she signed the papers.

Fluttershy is, well, shy. Her voice is always hushed and barely audible, she avoid eye contact with just about everypony, and she seems to prefer the company of her animals over other ponies. All of her friends have tried various schemes to get her to open up more, and while they might meet temporary success, Fluttershy will never fully change. Being a quiet, introverted pony is just who she is, and she's comfortable like that. It doesn't stop her from hanging out with her best friends, nor does it keep her from saving Equestria twice so far.

When it comes to physical prowess, Fluttershy is horribly overshadowed by everypony else in Ponyville. She is not a great runner, her flying skills only scratched adequate after several straight days of intense training, and she is too self-conscious to perform publicly. Despite all this, however, she can reach Rainbow Dash-levels of power when the chips are down. If somepony was tumbling down a cliff, she would jump down after them without reservations, glide them to safety, and then completely forget to do what she just did.

By far her most powerful skill, however, is The Stare. When Fluttershy is especially upset with somepony, or needs to command that something be done, she's capable of turning her eyes into the most dangerous weapons Equestria has ever known. Her powers are so great that she was able to drive a full-grown dragon to tears with just a stare and a stern talking-to, and that's not to mention the time she managed to intimidate a Cockatrice into repenting his evil ways...even while it was turning her to stone. Unfortunately, Fluttershy has no control over when this happens. Also, the Stare is not very effective against Discord, perhaps because he far outstrips her power-wise and knows he has nothing to fear from her. This is good, since if Fluttershy could have overpowered him, then nothing would have stopped her from using her mighty Stare to conquer all of Equestria...

Fluttershy is the most motherly of the ponies. She frequently speaks in a smooth, calming tone to her friends, and does her best to make sure they're not feeling too low or in distress. She knows plenty of lullabies for whenever animals or ponies need help getting to sleep, and can give a lecture on misbehavior that would make the most disciplined schoolmarm blush in shame at having no hope of ever reaching her level. Sadly, she also has a tendency to spoil her charges, especially her bunny, Angel. He, in turn, slaps her across the face and throws her out of her own house when she won't make his perfect salad. (Although to be fair, Angle doescare about Fluttershy. Right after the slapping incident, he turned around and helped train her to fly better and overcome her self-consciousness. And in “Just for Sidekicks,” he seemed to genuinely miss her and want to get back to her, even while making Spike's life a living hell.) Even worse, she can also completely blow it when it comes to cheering her friends on, like that time she set Rainbow Dash on the path to ruin by reminding her of her real odds of winning in "Sonic Rainboom"...

Still, Fluttershy has a dark side, and a rather vicious one at that. It might take a lot to do, but if someone truly angers her, she transforms into a living volcano of fury and rage. Such bursts are thankfully brief, but in those few moments, nothing on Equestria can match the pants-soiling terror in her eyes and voice. Even worse, however, was the time she took assertiveness lessons from Iron Will. By the time she realized how far she had fallen, she had become every bit as big a bully as the colts that teased her as a youth. She was even willing to call Rarity and Pinkie Pie's life goals utterly worthless, and in a world where a pony's talents and ambitions guide their entire lives, that is about as low an insult as anypony can muster. It's a testament to their friendship that anypony was willing to forgive her after that.

And that brings us to the big problem with Fluttershy. All the stuff that I wrote up there? That's really about it. For all her screen time in the first season, she never got a whole lot of development. There's a few reasons why, but the one that bothers me the most is this: every Fluttershy episode is basically the same thing. Something comes along to scare Fluttershy, she fights with her fears, and finally triumphs at the end to great fanfare. "Dragonshy" was about her overcoming her fear of dragons. "Stare Master" was about her inability to handle kids, and thus losing them in the Everfree Forest. "Putting Your Hoof Down?" Assertiveness. "Hurricane Fluttershy?" Public performances. In fact, the only Fluttershy-centric episode that didn't do this for the longest time was "A Bird In The Hoof," which was pretty much a "meh" episode.

And then “Keep Calm and Flutter On” happened. The episode, for all of its other faults, managed to take Fluttershy's strengths and development and bring them to a logical conclusion. Back in “Return of Harmony,” she only overcame Discord because she was willing to admit she was weak and helpless, and the Chaos God assumed this was still true during his “reform.” But beneath her kind and loving exterior, Fluttershy has a great deal of inner strength, and it is that that allowed her to not only offer to become Discord's friend, but also to stand up to him when he crossed the line, turning his own game back on him and actually reforming the villain.

Besides that episode, the times she shines the best are when she's playing a supporting character. She's hilarious in "Sonic Rainboom," makes a great flying save in "Secret of My Excess," and even outwits some Changelings in "A Canterlot Wedding." I also loved her near-orgasm of joy in "May The Best Pet Win" at the mere idea of Dash wanting a pet, even if I didn't care much for the song itself. And let's not forget how spectacular she was in "Return of Harmony." Not only was she the only pony Discord had to force his brainwashing on, but she was even capable of pulling the entire hot air balloon and catching up Dash in time to save Rarity and Pinkie Pie from falling. All while looking like she was ready to tear Discord's guts out.

She may or may not want to be a tree.

-

When it comes to shipping, there are two ways to approach the relationship. The first is to show Fluttershy struggling to overcome her shyness and confess her feelings for the other party. These stories are common and continue the same line of thought that trapped Fluttershy in the same episode for two seasons. The second is to have the other pony approach her first, and she gets swept along without really knowing all that is going on.

Naturally, the most common partner for her amongst the Mane 6 is Dash, who's loud enough for two and probably has a schoolfilly crush on her friend. There have also been a couple pairing her with Luna; after all, she did give the Princess of the Night lessons on how to talk. But by far the most vocal ship is FlutterMac. For whatever reason, Big Macintosh and Fluttershy are just perfect for each other. Then again, they are both quiet, gentle souls who are absolutely terrifying when angered, so it makes some sense. But of course, all of this is moot since "Kindness' Reward," the best Fluttershy ship fic ever written, already exists. TrixieShy forever!

Fluttershy's relationship with her friends is simultaneously a means to drag her out of her shell, and to provide herself with somepony to depend on. Her closest friendship, however, is with Rarity, the two having shared a spa day for quite some time since meeting. This friendship, however, came under fire when Photo Finish chose her as a model while also dissing Rarity's dresses to the side. Fluttershy hated the attention and demanding schedule, but was so convinced that she would lose Rarity as a friend if the truth came out that she refused to just tell her. Fortunately, Rarity hated what was happening just as much as she did, and the two finally reconciled after telling each other the truth.

The other interesting relationship is between her and Rainbow Dash. The two have known each other since they were fillies, and yet have two very distinct personalities. When the show began, Dash saw Fluttershy as more of a load than anything else, and during the course of "Dragonshy" spent all her time belittling the Pegasus and calling her weak and a coward. This wasn't without reason, either, as she was consciously slowing the group down because she was too afraid to admit that dragons scared her to her friends. By the end, however, Fluttershy had managed to yell the dragon into submission, thereby saving Equestria. Since then, Rainbow Dash has seen fit to incorporate Fluttershy into other Pegasus activities, becoming an almost-big sister to her in the process.

Fluttershy is also friends with her former enemy, Discord. In fact, she's the only friend he has, as the rest of the Mane 6 and Celestia still don't trust him. This relationship is still too new to fully go into detail on, but it presents some possibilities for future stories.

Fluttershy's only other key relationship of note is Angel Bunny, her...bunny. Despite his name, Angel is a boisterous, brash, rather jerkish brute of a rabbit who will gladly throw his food in his caretaker's face if she upsets him even slightly. Even so, he does have some sense of responsibility for her, and is constantly encouraging her to be more outgoing and assertive. He also assists with bribes and ticket stealing. He's by far the most personable of the pet characters, but also one of the least popular for his genuinely terrible behavior.

-

Fluttershy is a character that may have fantastic possibilities, but is weighed down by the very nature of her identity. She's supposed to be the "shy one," so all of her stories revolve around her being shy. She really deserves something more complex than "Oh noes I has the sads but wait I'm all better now!" Fortunately, “Keep Calm and Flutter On” improved things, and will hopefully herald even bigger things in the next season.

A Study of AUs: The Lunaverse vs the Dashverse

The Alternate Universe genre of fanfiction is usually held in a rather low regard. Far too many writers use the tag as a means of escaping things like keeping characters true to their canon selves and adhering to everything the plot presents, even if it's something they personally didn't like. (And I'm not including fics that were made AU because of significant changes in the canon. There's a rather large difference between the two ideas.) The same tends to be true in a lot of pony fiction, although there are stories that try to get around these issues and instead present clever “What If?” scenarios.

But what we're looking at today are two universes, the Lunaverse and the Dashverse, and looking at the way they break away from the canon and explore their own beliefs and alternate interpretations. Also note that I am mostly focusing on comparing Rainbooms and Royalty to Longest Night, Longest Day, since both are alternate versions of the pilot. (I will be including Boast Busted later on, though, to compare the handling of Twilight.)

Fanfiction Review: Rainbooms and Royalty

Say, you remember the Lunaverse? Well, someone read that, combined it with a few other stories, and came up with their own alternate universe version of Equestria, where Rainbow Dash is Princess Celestia's student. Does this one fare better than the one about the amazing awesomeness of Trixie and Luna? We're going to find out...in the accompanying post, because this one's all about Rainbooms and Royalty.

---

SYNOPSIS:

Shortly after Rainbow Dash made her first Sonic Rainboom, she is approached by a visiting Princess Celestia and offered the opportunity to become her personal student. She accepts, but years later, she has grown restless and weary of the Canterlot lifestyle and runs away to Ponyville. There, she meets an eccentric group of friends, befriends her crush's reclusive little sister, and discovers a far more terrible truth about the coming Summer Sun Celebration. And before long, she will be thrust into a dangerous quest to bring down the greatest threat Equestria has yet faced: Nightmare Moon.

REVIEW:

Rainbooms and Royalty owes its direct inspiration to the Lunaverse, but also has bits and pieces of several other stories mixed in there, all of which are listed on the story's cover page. There's also quite a few fanon references worked throughout, from Rainbow Dash's middle name of Miriam to Ditzy being crammed in there as a single working mother. Still, it's nothing terribly distracting (unlike another set of references I'll be getting into in a moment), and does help to flesh out the world Dash finds herself in.

I'll mostly be covering the differences between this AU and the Lunaverse in a separate post, but for now, let's talk about our characters. All of the canon cast are very well realized and kept in-character, albeit with additional layers and slightly altered histories. The only two who have real changes made to their characters are Rainbow Dash and Twilight. The former is still a speed demon who wants to join the Wonderbolts, but now has feelings of inadequacy over being stuck in a society that she simply doesn't fit into for so long, and has a much tenser relationship than the canon Twilight has with Celestia. Likewise, this Twilight's magical rampage lasted much longer, and because of all the destruction she caused, she's left feeling like she's a walking time bomb and has no friends because everypony (including herself) thinks she's a monster.

The actual story is a retelling of the original pilot episode, but the challenges have been altered to be more intense and less contrived. And for the most part, they work pretty well. The stakes are much higher, the challenges are much larger, and there are even brainwashed minibosses. (I'm not telling who they are, but it's a loop.) Nightmare Moon is also a much more threatening (and competent) opponent, and the final battle is actually a battle, bordering on a full-on war.

So this story is wonderful and perfect, right? Well, no. There are some rather huge stumbling blocks.

One issue I have with the story's middle section is the inclusion of blatant “homages” to other movies. Sometimes it works; the first obstacle is based on the Swamp of Sadness from The NeverEnding Story and is executed to good effect. But then you start hitting a few other, less-than-charitable references. At one point, the heroes run into gargoyles...who are presented in the same way as on the actual series Gargoyles. It's a rather jarring reference that knocks me out of the story. And the very next chapter has Twilight reciting, word for word, Superman's “World of Cardboard” speech from Justice League Unlimited. There's a very fine line between homage and plagiarism, and I think this story toes it quite a few times.

Length is also a bit of a problem. The story drags at several points, especially towards the beginning, where almost everything is setup. This was fine in the Lunaverse, for reasons that we'll get to in the followup post, but here it just feels like we're walking over ground we've already treaded before coming in. The ending is also rather long-winded, as Trinary seemingly wants to close off a host of lingering questions before finishing the story, as well as debate some points revolving around ethical philosophies and the famous “Needs of the Many” quote. I won't debate the points made here, other than to say that while Trinary raises some good points, I don't think this section was wholly necessary or executed very well.

And then there's my biggest issue: Rainbow Dash herself. While she's mostly in-character and works fine, there are two points of contention I have with how she's presented in this story. First, her central conflict comes off as being rather whiny. I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for the “I'm the student of a princess so everypony thinks I'm too good for them and I hate that so much” kind of drama that flares up from time to time, especially in the early-going chapters. The second, and far more damning issue, comes up in the last few chapters, where Dash behaves like a total bitch because Celestia wasn't completely straightforward with her. And that's how it starts; by the end, my sympathy for any of the characters involved in those passages has evaporated like ice cubes under a magnifying glass.

On a closing note, I need to talk about Zecora. She's greatly expanded upon here, and has several good moments throughout the story, but Trinary simply does not nail her speech. She rhymes, sure, but there's a rhythm to how she talks that's completely missing here. I know from experience how hard it is to write good Zecora dialogue, but the stuff here just falls flat. Still, at least she didn't get turned into a villain because the author thought making her an evil enchantress would be funny.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Despite my issues with the story, most particularly with the last couple chapters, I still enjoyed it. The AU aspects are rather subtle and needed more expanding on, which should have happened in the sequels if I understand. (I haven't read them yet, so no comment.) Everypony here is kept wonderfully in-character, and the challenges they face are far more threatening and intense than in the show. It's a rather long read, but I would recommend giving a chapter or two a chance if you have time to see what you think.