A Dream of Sunny Dappers · 12:41am Feb 6th, 2016
This is a long overdue review for a certain user who's been incredibly helpful with a side project of mine. So, let me clean out the cobwebs from my blog and lets get started with my first review of 2016.
While it is obvious as to how deeply Celestia is in keeping Equestria up and running, its no surprise that removing a particular cog from the machine results in a major meltdown. Through unseen actions, Celestia is slain. The main suspect, Princess Luna!
Our beloved Luna killing her own sister? Absurd yet many stories due have the night monarch still bearing a grudge against Celestia after all this time. Not to mention, Nightmare Moon still causes a 'reasonable' amount of fear in the common ponies. I.E. Luna Eclipsed. No sooner is Celestia's body discovered, Luna is apprehended by the wonderful, well known Prince of Equestria, Blueblood and the newest Captain of the Guard. I truly wonder how rigorous a process it is to become the Captain of the Royal Guard, because one of the major antagonist, to me, Silvermane, is hellbent on 'order'. Luna escapes but with her disappearance, there's a power vacuum and luckily enough, Blueblood can't sit on the throne without raising many questions about his impromptu ascension. So, next best choice to lead everypony of course falls to one of our national heroines of Equestria and Alicorn of Friendship, Twilight.
The news is received quite badly, leaving a wound in Twilight much deeper than anypony else yet she keeps her head held up high. Thrust into the spotlight, Twilight accepts the title, along with the social burdens, as she is christened as Equestria's newest princess. This roller-coaster has yet to even reach the top of arc as a funeral service is held in the former ruler's honor, with many different nations in attendance. Words are exchanged and alliances are tested as all circles of life congregate to usher Celestia over to the other side.
Moving forward, Twilight needs to show she's just as capable that she can perform the duties of a monarch. Not to only impress everypony but assuage the turmoil that's gripping at everypony's thoughts. So, why not move the sun, simple right? Well no, turns out its not going to as making her horn light up and saying "Abra Abracadabra, Alakazam" For her to pull this off, she needs several other significant unicorns to help muster their strength together. Everything is always so much better on paper. Just as soon as this little ritual kicks off, all unholy hell breaks loose. The spell backfires, ponies are maimed and a few are even struck down. It seems that the failure, coupled with the guilt, drives Twilight into her private quarters, refusing to come out or say a single word to anypony. Looks like leaving without a word is a common theme in this story because, fwoosh, another alicorn is out the door and didn't bother leaving behind a note where she went. Better keep an eye on Cadance folks, she may pull a Houdini soon enough.
With all the major players off the board, the mane six, five now, find themselves in an even tighter bind. So, they'll do what they do best. Let's split up and gang and look for clues. Rarity, the ever classy, marshmallow fashionista, opts to stay behind in Canterlot to try and mitigate the damage while the rest go out in search of Twilight. It's a good thing too, seeing that now nopony left with any strong political ties or perfect visage, Blueblood is pretty much running this funny farm.
Rainbow Dash in stronghoofed into falling into line with a military edict from Cloudsdale because of her training in the Wonderbolts. Pinkie Pie and Spike both travel to the Crystal Empire to rally support or get the Empire's favor in case all Tartarus reigns down from up high. Fluttershy goes after Discord, whom has mysteriously, even for him, exited stage left and is off doing whatever he does somewhere in the Badlands.
Silvermane is backing her royal tool and using the current chaos to enact her own ideologies in to play. Forced recruitment, banning rallies against the crown, oh she has become the most adorable warmonger that ever walked on four legs. There is no limit as to how much power one can have when the populace is in a tizzy and its quite obvious that the festering fear is playing into her hooves right now. Despite Blueblood acting empty headed, he does make one crucial move. Blue boy offers his hoof in marriage to the illustrious, purple maned mare to help him cement his position and give Rarity her fillyhood dream of becoming a princess. Any sane minded person would play chicken with a chimera but BB and Silvermane both 'influence' her decision, seeing as she has no honest friends in Canterlot. It speaks volume and gives a distinct perspective of how alone each of the Elements are when they aren't together covering each others backs. The time apart makes their talents shine but it points out how much they help one another to bring out their full potential.
Roranicus has given me a story that makes me question the plot but in a good way. Who's truly loyal to whom in this matter? So much infighting not just between nations and nobility but the elements themselves. Headstrong Rainbow Dash and the ever, cool as a cucumber Rarity are at ends halfway through the story. The death of a beloved leader, who acted as any loving mother would do for her children, was taken away so cruelly from us. What peeves me is that no plan, stated in this story, was made for her absence. That, to me, makes no sense. Celestia should've had a contingency plan in the foreseeable future when she was no longer capable of retaining a firm grasp on Equestria's politics would she have another step in. It's such a huge oversight but sadly believable seeing as everypony sanctifies the ground she ever walked on. It's a pretty broad spectrum with how much ponies respect or overly devote themselves to Celestia that it can be utterly ridiculous.
Now, I've noticed a lot of subtlety in this story. It draws out a lot of how ponies think and who's being loyal to who yet I find it a tad nerve wracking as how much wordplay continues to be spat back and forth. I enjoy mysteries and trying to guess what happens next but it can become incredibly convoluted and lose the direction an author is pointing to their readers if it goes on for too long. Keeping tabs on every characters, villains mostly, usually remain in the dark but there are so many outlying schemes and sub-plots I find it hard to remained focused here. We've got two high rollers here for who's actually in charge but it shifts so quickly I wonder if their trying to outpace the other or overly paranoid to a fault. Time can only tell who holds the winning hand but I can guarantee that Bluey certainly doesn't have as big of a grasp on the crown as he would like to have. Within two of my own stories, I'm just as guilty in using the same ploy here though so I can't be overly critical of Roranicus' methods. Keeping the suspense is a basic, nearly cardinal rule, to keep readers going but I felt it bogging me down. So many interlacing plots that a definitive answers may not honestly satisfy our questions that we could be left wanting.
It's easy to villafy but it's even harder to give a good line of reasoning to symapthize with an antagonist. Silvermane, for all of her faults and gung-ho bravado, does retain a good heart, even if it is misguided. She does want what is best for Equestria but she has no sense of boundaries, no limit that she won't break to ensure safety. Equestria could very well burn because of her irrationality to keep it safe. Rarity also could be losing just as much, even more with how the author has written her. While being a diva of the spotlight, Rarity relies heavily on her wit to try and keep everypony, and her family, safe but it may come at a hefty cost. A lot of persona sacrifice is shown, what ponies will put on the chopping block to make sure they can see another day, not just for them, but for Equestria as a whole, is woven into the story.
Finally, I can't give a solid number on this due to it still being incomplete. I don't wish to give out numbers anymore because I think its too impersonal of a method to display how well written a person's story is. Best option is for you as a reader is to go out and read it yourself. However, in the end, I've decided to give out a small token instead to showcase which stories I've taken the time to read and give honest feedback on.
A Dream of Sunny Days was a fun story to read and its not finished which leaves me eager to read the rest of the chapters that have yet to be published. Its an unappreciated gem in the Fimfiction site and I'm constantly on the lookout for more under appreciated stories out there. No matter what anyone has to say, this story is definitely worth taking the time to sit down where you are right now and reading.So, with that, Happy 2016 folks and here's hoping I can finally publish another chapter this year.
I'm keeping that quote, haha. Also, I thought you'd titled the review "A Dream of Sunny Hats".
Thanks for the review man! It's appreciated. You're right that I went with complexity and multiple subplots. I'm mostly satisfied with the results, but I also learned a great deal about what people like to read, and which subplots people like. (Which seems to be mostly Rarity.) As far as the subtelties go, I definitely want to go with a story that readers can enjoy going through more than once. I don't expect most people will, obviously, but I'm a sucker for hidden clues.
I'm glad you appreciate the depth I tried to give Silvermane. Fun fact: when I first invisioned the story, she was involved in a romantic subplot. It was complete garbage, and brought nothing to the story, so I axed it. Still, I wanted to give her something extra so readers could relate to her. I will admit that I still can't bring myself to think of her as a villain, even though she kind of is.
Either way, thanks for the support and review! I'm actually editing the next chapter as we speak, so hopefully I can have it out in a few days.
Color me intrigued. I will be sure to check this one out.