It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #78 · 7:47pm Sep 14th, 2022
Well heck. I can't just stop at two alicorns. That would be rude. And I've no desire to have Cadance thrown at me like a javelin.
So we begin this week with a story I've had on my to-feature list for a while and an author I'm excessively biased towards. Namely: Sledge115 and the stunning Rose of Florentina.
The story begins minutes after a miracle: Princess Celestia is rushing through the Palace's halls, overwhelmed by excitement. She's just emerged from the dreamy other-realm where she watched a new alicorn ascend. For the first time in almost a thousand years, she is not alone. And she can't bear to wait even a minute before she truly meets her new kin.
And then Celestia travels across the sea to the distant village of Florentina to meet the young Mi Amore Cadenza. And the connection the two form is... well, it's something special. And Cadance's first glimpses of Canterlot just as much so.
I will lead by answering the question I know some are going to ask: yes, this is set inside of Specturm's universe. No, you do not need to be familiar with it to get this story. Sledge is pretty solid about writing the Spectrum-verse side stories as not needing context, and the world is similar enough that the differences (at this stage) are minimal. (I think the only part that comes into play here is that Cadance is descended from Amore, who's descended from Luna.)
But returning to the story proper: damn but do I love this one. I mean, I'm a fan of Sledge in general, but this story's on the money for me. First of all, the elevator pitch is just perfect for me: Cadance's ascension is a minimally explored but critically important time in Equestria's history, and the first meeting of Celestia and Cadance is something that screams drama. Just thinking of the implications, the emotions that would have to be there are crazy.
And Sledge hits the nail dead on. Just as importantly, he does it pretty minimalistically. A lot isn't said, but honestly the words in a situation like this aren't that important. It's the emotions, and those get conveyed loud and clear. The characters ring true, too - my favorite moment is Cadance's actions right at the end of their first meeting: “No one should ever feel so alone" his just right.
As an aside, this is one of the pieces that teed up my own story, First Hoof Account. Mentally, I set the start of it right about where this story ends - while they're not connected in truth, in my mind the two ease together. (Which will come up in a few chapters in Account.)
With Cadance and Celestia on one side, I'm going to swing back the other way now for some Cadance and Luna with: The Luna Papers by CoffeeBean.
The events of Nightmare Moon's return were only two months ago. All of Equestria is still getting used to Luna existing - and Cadance is trying to get used to Luna being around. She's heard stories, but she doesn't know her new aunt. And Luna's somber, reserved manner and imposing nature makes it difficult. Now, with Celestia out of the palace for a week, the two have every opportunity to interact.
But the two have very different ways of thinking and acting - and Cadance isn't entirely over the whole part where Luna was a legendary monster deeply ingrained into the fabric of Equestrian culture for several centuries. Things, perhaps predictably, go awry.
This is another part of the setting's backstory that's really interesting but poorly explored. Luna's return is so rich with opportunity, and her meeting with Cadance is something that you just know had to be interesting. So stories like this that dive into it? Love 'em.
In particular, this story really leans well into the just-returned Luna's nature. Seen from Cadance's outside perspective, Luna comes across as mysterious, stand-offish, and often borderline threatening. But knowing her as readers, we can see the more familiar Luna under it: a pony out of her time, still burdened by the shames of her past and struggling to find her footing in the modern world.
And Cadance is so relatable, too: she's desperately trying to understand Luna, while at the same time you can see the elements of Celestia's teachings (ie protect and lead Equestria) seeping through to influence her. She doesn't get what's happening, but she's trying. And while the plot leans a little heavy into sitcom-esque "If you two had just talked everything would be fine" moments, the misunderstandings aren't unreasonable when you see it from Cadance's end of things.
At its core, this story's just, well... sweet. Sure there's some conflict, but it's the Luna/Cadance interaction that really shines through. It's very introvert/extrovert by my read, and the finale confrontation is touching. I was entirely sold at "You ask me questions... nopony asks me questions." And then the epilogue made me smile all the more.
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Good stuff! I'm a fan of Sledge's work, and plan to read most of the rest of his library that I haven't yet which looks interesting (so, the one-shots). Musn't have registered this one, but now you point it out, does it ever look interesting! Early-series or pre-series backstory for Cadance, with or without Celestia/Luna, is such interesting subject matter (is it any wonder the rudimentary first chapter book is vividly remembered solely for a few details about Cadance's backstory?). Between that and the second story here, TCC16, you've got to stop featuring stories that expand my RiL even further…!
Lovely thing to see this morning
You flatter me good sir, a d I'm touched and humbled both by your thoughts and on The Rose of Florentina, and certainly honoured that it fits well with your story too.
I really should check out that Luna and Cadance story as well, heh.
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It’s good to see Coffee’s work still getting attention. He was a great guy.