Story review - a crushing disappointment
I have never written a story review before. I certainly didn't ever expect to do so for a fan-fiction of a cartoon show. Oh, by the way, this is about My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic, so if it's not your thing, you probably won't want to bother reading this. I've always been a fan of good animation though, and I enjoy the series, but don't generally get into fanfics. A comic adaptation of the first chapter of this fanfic did manage to grab my attention though. I am talking about "Background Pony" by Shortskirtsandexplosions. No, I'm not making up that pen name.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/19198/background-pony
The story takes a background pony - Lyra Heartstrings in this case - and expands upon her history and creates an enormous problem for her, namely: she's forgotten. Here is the author's blurb for the character:
"My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and you will not remember me. You won't even remember this conversation. Just like with everypony else I've ever met, everything I do or say will be forgotten. Every letter I've written will appear blank; every piece of evidence I've left behind will end up missing. I'm stuck here in Ponyville because of the same curse that has made me so forgettable. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing the one thing that I love: making music. If my melodies find their way into your heart, then there is still hope for me. If I can't prove that I exist, I can at least prove that my love for each and every one of you exists. Please, listen to my story, my symphony, for it is me."
Lyra has gotten this way as a result of a curse put upon her by Nightmare Moon, and the story relates how she deals with this, how she struggles to make a living, to interact with people, to deal with the fact that neither her best friends nor even her own parents remember her. It travels the emotional rollercoaster from suicidal lows to triumphant highs, with crushing failures to incredible accomplishments, all the while trying to find a way to alleviate the curse, and the key to it all is her musical ability. The author skilfully weaves a complex background where song is the very essence of creation, and Lyra's talent gradually unravels the complexities of it all, even as the events interweave seamlessly with those of the cartoon show. (The story ended before the third season which had events that ended up contradicting a couple of things in the story, but that is not the author's fault.) Eventually she succeeds in her quest to find the solution to her problem, only to discover that the price is terrible.
It's at this point that things go sour for me. Up until chapter 19 (of 20), I had nothing but praise for the story. I had even hypothesized how it would end, with Lyra's curse lifted, but her past still forgotten even to herself, so she starts off as a blank slate, only to rediscover her own nature and talent, and re-making her friendships. In short, she would receive her reward for all her struggles and sacrifices. I could not have been more wrong. If you don't want to read any spoilers, I suggest you don't read what comes next. She is basically given two choices. The first is to have her curse lifted, but that would mean that everything that she achieved while under the curse would be undone also, and one of those achievements was saving the entire world. The other choice would be to completely embrace her fate and become one of the "unsung", joining the hordes of the forgotten in a kind of purgatory. Instead she chooses a third option. She asks that her love of music be taken from her, forgotten just like herself, so that she can go back to her life in Ponyville, but still a forgotten person. WTF??? She would trade the very thing that makes her special, the thing that enabled her to succeed where all others failed, the thing that earned her cutie mark and defined who and what she is, all in exchange for a mere continued existence, and a miserable one at that? This jarred me badly. I could not believe that of the character, and it pissed me off badly. Yes, the ending was poetic, but that does not make it good. It ruined my day, and had me upset for several days afterwards. You could say that the story was intended to be a tragedy, but I don't think it needed to be. Besides, I don't read or watch stories with unhappy endings. Real life is too full of hardships, failures, and real tragedies to have to deal with an artificial one. You need the highs to balance out the lows to make life worth living, or in the end you become like Lyra - merely existing. I certainly don't need an ending like this contributing to the depression that I deal with daily.
So read the story at your own risk. It's skilfully written even if I disagree vehemently with its conclusion. I'm just wondering if I am game enough to try one of the author's other stories after this however.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/19198/background-pony
The story takes a background pony - Lyra Heartstrings in this case - and expands upon her history and creates an enormous problem for her, namely: she's forgotten. Here is the author's blurb for the character:
"My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and you will not remember me. You won't even remember this conversation. Just like with everypony else I've ever met, everything I do or say will be forgotten. Every letter I've written will appear blank; every piece of evidence I've left behind will end up missing. I'm stuck here in Ponyville because of the same curse that has made me so forgettable. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing the one thing that I love: making music. If my melodies find their way into your heart, then there is still hope for me. If I can't prove that I exist, I can at least prove that my love for each and every one of you exists. Please, listen to my story, my symphony, for it is me."
Lyra has gotten this way as a result of a curse put upon her by Nightmare Moon, and the story relates how she deals with this, how she struggles to make a living, to interact with people, to deal with the fact that neither her best friends nor even her own parents remember her. It travels the emotional rollercoaster from suicidal lows to triumphant highs, with crushing failures to incredible accomplishments, all the while trying to find a way to alleviate the curse, and the key to it all is her musical ability. The author skilfully weaves a complex background where song is the very essence of creation, and Lyra's talent gradually unravels the complexities of it all, even as the events interweave seamlessly with those of the cartoon show. (The story ended before the third season which had events that ended up contradicting a couple of things in the story, but that is not the author's fault.) Eventually she succeeds in her quest to find the solution to her problem, only to discover that the price is terrible.
It's at this point that things go sour for me. Up until chapter 19 (of 20), I had nothing but praise for the story. I had even hypothesized how it would end, with Lyra's curse lifted, but her past still forgotten even to herself, so she starts off as a blank slate, only to rediscover her own nature and talent, and re-making her friendships. In short, she would receive her reward for all her struggles and sacrifices. I could not have been more wrong. If you don't want to read any spoilers, I suggest you don't read what comes next. She is basically given two choices. The first is to have her curse lifted, but that would mean that everything that she achieved while under the curse would be undone also, and one of those achievements was saving the entire world. The other choice would be to completely embrace her fate and become one of the "unsung", joining the hordes of the forgotten in a kind of purgatory. Instead she chooses a third option. She asks that her love of music be taken from her, forgotten just like herself, so that she can go back to her life in Ponyville, but still a forgotten person. WTF??? She would trade the very thing that makes her special, the thing that enabled her to succeed where all others failed, the thing that earned her cutie mark and defined who and what she is, all in exchange for a mere continued existence, and a miserable one at that? This jarred me badly. I could not believe that of the character, and it pissed me off badly. Yes, the ending was poetic, but that does not make it good. It ruined my day, and had me upset for several days afterwards. You could say that the story was intended to be a tragedy, but I don't think it needed to be. Besides, I don't read or watch stories with unhappy endings. Real life is too full of hardships, failures, and real tragedies to have to deal with an artificial one. You need the highs to balance out the lows to make life worth living, or in the end you become like Lyra - merely existing. I certainly don't need an ending like this contributing to the depression that I deal with daily.
So read the story at your own risk. It's skilfully written even if I disagree vehemently with its conclusion. I'm just wondering if I am game enough to try one of the author's other stories after this however.