Commentary on my favourite fics · 9:03am Oct 8th, 2021

Good day/night everyone, I hope you´re all having a great time. Now, if you´re reading this I assume you´ve read at least one of my fics, or are planning to. However, sadly my published works are far from infinite in size, and thus you´ll run out of things written by me to read eventually, and you might find yourself wanting for some more good content.

If you´ve ever looked at my user page, you can see the block titled ¨Go read this after you've finished with my crap¨. These six (at the time of writing) stories are some of the best stories I´ve read on this site, and it just so happens all of them are written by people over on the Equestria at War Discord, which makes it that I´ve been able to communicate and discuss with all of these fine writers.

As a way to give them what I perceive to be their fair share, and also because I'm a nice and generous person, I´m going to give you a quick rundown of the six stories, and tell you exactly why you should read them, in no particular order of preference.

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First off, we have Rules for Bodyguards, by ShiningBeacon. The story, set before the events of the show, follows Shining Armour, who is tasked with heading Princess Cadence´s security detail as she brings a visit to Roam, one of Equestria´s old rivals. Needless to say, there will be more than a few hiccups during this.

Currently, the story has 8 chapters, though the last two are one that was split into two pieces because of size. The chapters range between 3 to 4.5k words per chapter, and the current total is 31.659 words. In other words, just getting started.

I´ve already commented on the newest chapter published (which I betaed, as you can read in the AN) and I´ll paste the comment here for posterity´s sake.

¨Well, might as well comment here for all the world to see.

This is a very good story. The dialogue flows naturally and is amusing, the world feels natural, and it really feels like I'm reading it from Shining's POV. It's a rare enough thing that a POV feels like that, so definitely points for that.

All in all, a story that deserves praise. And views. Not sure which one is more deserved, so let's just say both are equal and leave it at that.¨

The comment pretty much sums up what I think of the fic, and so I shan´t allot any more words to it. It is just a very good fic that definitely deserves some more popularity. Go read it.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/486757/rules-for-bodyguards

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Following that strong introduction, we have the second fic on this list: Equestria at War: The Death of Harmony, by Danielle Rae. As the title says, it is set in the Equestria at War universe, and it is a more detailed and in-depth version of the Thestral Rights event chain Equestria gets in the early game. If you´ve played the mod you know how it can end, but I won´t spoil it for those that don´t know.

The story, at the moment, has 6 chapters of varying sizes that clock in at 32.889 words total. Chapter 7, I have been assured by Danielle, is in production, though I can´t comment on the size of that chapter, obviously.

I´ve also left a comment on the latest chapter there, and I´ll place it here too.

¨Good EAW fics are rare on this site.

Good fics are less rare, but still rare.

This is a very good EAW fic, which is basically an unicum. The dialogue is good, the characters are good, the lore is good, everything is fucking good. Damn I wish I could write a fic as good as this. I definitely look forward to more of this.¨

And again, the comment summarizes my opinion of this fic. Unlike Rules for Bodyguards, which stands on its own, The Death of Harmony takes place in the EAW universe, so some familiarity with the setting is recommended, though it is not by any means a requirement. Go read it.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/491822/equestria-at-war-the-death-of-harmony

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Third on this list (though it does not imply anything about how I rank these fics; I love them all equally) is Misadventures of a Henchpony, by Big Saij. It follows an OC, Jungle Trek, who moves to Ponyville after one-too-many adventures in the Tenochtitlan basin.

The story has three chapters at time of writing, with a fourth one in production. Each chapter has around 3k words, making for a grand total of 9.547 words.

My comments here are three-fold, as I´ve left one on every chapter so far. I´ll summarize them: the writing style is pleasant, grammar is flawless as far as I´ve seen, and the characters are written in a real and believable way (and show-accurate, as far as I can tell). Jungle is a pretty unlucky fellow at times, which makes for great comedic moments, but this is not purely comedy (and if it is, I have been trolled tremendously and will respond in kind).

Misadventures of a Henchpony is show-compliant, starting off after an ~~episode in S2(? I´ve not actually watched the show that far yet, so do correct me if I´m wrong), but it can also be read without that knowledge~~. Correction: I have been informed by the author that the story takes place in early S4, after Twicorn. Do with that what you will. I strongly suggest you go read it anyway. Go read it.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/496499/misadventures-of-a-henchpony

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Next, we have Rosiad, by The Fearless Hussar, one of the most insane writers I´ve ever had the pleasure of knowing in person. The story follows Rosa, a young unicorn, and anything beyond that is spoilers; all I´ll say is that this is the same Rosa as Rosa Maledicta who is in the current version of Equestria at War´s Dread League nation.

The story has 9 chapters, with an average of 4-5k words per chapter, and finishing at an astonishing 39.941 words, the highest on this list. I have also been informed that the next set of chapters (Oh yeah, these are all supposed to be chapters, split up to make reading easier) will clock in at a total of 160k words.

As I said, insanity.

I've not left a comment on Rosiad because I couldn't really think of what to say, but I´ll say it here: knowing what Hussar has planned, and the detail he has gone into for background information, it´s true insanity that I can only applaud for sheer creativity and force of will to write it all down and keep track of it.

Equestria at War has been used as a base background, but Hussar has practically rewritten all of the lore it has, and it might be better to call it it's own thing at this point. Anyhow, go read it.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/492375/rosiad

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The next two fics I will discuss together, as they are written by the same author and set in the same timeline and universe. They are, in chronological order, Prologue and Dour, both written by The Great Scribbly One.

Prologue has 9.331 words, while Dour has 2.609 words, making it a total of 11.940 words. Yes, 9.3k words for a one-shot is insane but as Scribbly has already said in a comment under Dour; his whole story (called the Quenta Roccolie) already has over half a million words and is not even finished yet. I can only applaud the dedication.

Prologue and Dour are both great fics. Scribbly´s writing style is very pleasant, his characters feel on-point and I´ll just paste the comment I put under Dour here:

¨Well, it was a pleasure to be the first person (aside from the author, obviously) to read this. Knowing what I do about Scribbly's plans for this story, boy is it impressive, and I can't wait for more of it to be released.

As for this story in particular: it is well-written (the few formatting errors I found while betaing don't count, since they never made it into the published version), the characters are clearly defined and different from each other (though given the constant namedrops it is obvious this is part of a larger story), and in general it is a fun and interesting peek into an EAW world with a truly massive amount of lore and research behind it.

Conclusion: very good fic¨

Scribbly is working with the Equestria at War universe as a base, but has gone into more detail than anyone except for Hussar. Go read them.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/492452/prologue

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/504616/dour

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The conclusion is that all these fics are great and you should read them. They´re very different from each other in tone and content, but all share a certain quality that is rare to find on FIMFiction, in my humble opinion.

I wish to thank all of these authors for writing these stories and sharing them with us, as well as their interaction with me and others on the EAW Discord. They have helped me with some writing of my own, be that by inspiring ideas, commenting on my writings, or just being nice and supportive. Thank you, all of you.

This is Eltirion, signing off. Good day/night to everyone who´s read this.

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The Great Scribbly One

The Great Scribbly One #1 · Oct 8th, 2021 · 2 · ·

Thanks for the review, and might I add to it that though I have yet to read Piece by Piece, both 'On the Shores of the West' (a Silmarillion crossover featuring best son of Feanor, Maglor) and 'The Wrong Mare' (set in the same world as Piece by Piece) are both definitely worth looking at. They are well-written and Eltirions has an excellent handle on character interactions.

Eltirions