Pony POV Series: A Retrospective (Spoilers!)

Pony POV Series: A Retrospective

The Pony POV Series is a truly epic and immense work of fanfiction, and while I have worked on it personally, I'm not a main writer, nor does my influence on it go further than 'suggest edits to the author, see if it goes anywhere', and occasionally writing a chapter of scene. But I thought perhaps it'd be a good idea to give my personal thoughts on the work as a whole.

Please note, this is just opinion, I don't want anyone taking this as gospel just because I'm on the crew. Nor do I want anyone to take offense if I don't agree with your opinion of the fic. I personally love it, which is why I work on it. This is simply my opinion, nothing more. I'm generally going to ignore the parts of the story that I worked on and focus on general things. I know I have some blame for the flaws in the story, but this is a retrospective for a reason.

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Discorded Ponies was originally meant to be stand alone drabbles based on the events of "The Return of Harmony" from the mane six's perspective. I enjoyed that Alexwarlorn managed to get into the characters' heads so well and give us a real idea of what it felt like to be them, and present it in a truly heart-wrenching way. The Epilogue is downright terrifying and tragic as well, as it paints a horrifying picture of what it would have been like if Discord actually won. Also included is the surprise chapter staring Trixie, which is also well done and tragic. This is not to say they're perfect, but as far as what they're meant to be, they do it well. I feel Alexwarlorn improved as the story progressed, but seeing as they were intended to be a one time deal and not what they've become, I think it works when taken in that context. They weren't meant to be a continuing story, and when reading them, that needs to be considered. Reading them as the epic start to this story isn't really fair, as that wasn't what they were made to be.

The Reharmonized series was of course a sequel series, and the first Arc deals with recovering from Discord's brainwashing. I like how each of the mane six was hurt in a different way and had different ways of dealing with what Discord did to them. Rarity has PTSD, Rainbow Dash is dealing with guilt over how she handled Discord's Sadistic Choice, Fluttershy has to deal with her Discorded self being a separate sentient soul in her body, as we discover later, is suppressing her memories of nature's dark side, Twilight is trying her hardest to help everyone else recover, Pinkie tries her hardest to deal with the pain she suffered but couldn't push on Pinkamena and Applejack has to deal with the painful truth she was shown. And Fluttercruel (Fluttershy's Discorded self/daughter) has to deal with her feelings of being a clone, while Trixie is still crushed by Discord's attack on her. They each try dealing with it in a different way, and ultimately do. I won't spoil the Big Bad, but I do find her one of the most terrifying villains in the series, precisely because we know so little about her. If I had to choose one pony who got the best story arc in my opinion, it's Rainbow Dash, as I feel her position is the most relate-able. Not all of us have split personalities or PTSD, but we've all had that time we've had to make a choice we're left wondering if it was the right one. True, they don't always have worldshattering consequences, but they can still hurt and break us if we don't face up to our guilt. The one issue I have with this is we don't really SEE Applejack's suffering as much as the others, we get she's afraid of lies, but we don't see her caused a lot of pain and suffering from that fear. We don't see her put in a position where she might seriously want to lie, but is terrified of doing so, we're given a rundown of what's happened, then off to the Princess. And unlike Fluttershy, we don't really come back to this point with Applejack herself either. I feel this is the one imperfection of the Reharmonized Arc.

Next is the Princess Gaia Arc. Now this is a bit of a controversial one and I can see why. We finally focus on Fluttershy and Fluttercruel, and see just what Fluttershy has done to herself; rendered herself incapable of seeing the dark side of nature. Fluttercruel is driven to try and just let herself fade away, but decides to show Fluttershy nature's cruel side to teach her. But this backfires and causes Fluttershy to transform into Princess Gaia/Nightmare Whisper, who tries to make the world devoid of suffering and cruelty. I feel this arc is done well and if the story had ended after Gaia's defeat, I'd have been content with it ending there. I feel it was a good way to culminate their Arc from the Reharmonized Arc and the overall story is done well, as is Trixie's involvement and character development. However, there's the Elephant in the Living Room; what happens to Fluttershy afterwards. Some feel she was punished more than deserved, some less. Some felt ponies let her off light and she was unforgivable. I'm not saying these people are wrong, they really aren't. Alex outright said it's up to the audience to judge Fluttershy as they see fit and to decide if they forgive her or if her future actions need to earn it. My personal opinion is that it worked better not to focus on ponies' reactions to Nightmare Whisper, but on Fluttershy, Fluttercruel, and the Mane Casts' reactions to what happened. Fluttershy ultimately has to face the fact she caused good and bad, and how she and Fluttershy react to that is a major part of it. I feel focusing on Ponykind's reactions to it would have lost the fact this is a POV Series. It works best focusing on a few characters and their reactions rather than giving a clearcut story of Equestria's perspective after the event. If this wasn't a POV story, then I could see that working, but it is, therefore, scattered reactions and perspectives are what work best to any given event, unless the character we're seeing through is someone who looks at the broad spectrum stuff (which we do have a few, particularly in Shining Armor's Arc), and even then, we can't be sure they're correct.

After this, the Reharmonized Series gives us more Slice of Life style stories. These are among my favorite parts of the series, as everyone is strong in its own way. Simple as that. I have no complaints, but I do enjoy seeing through the eyes of various characters. I particularly enjoy the stories centering on Fluttercruel, as we get to see her grow stronger as a character and develop. LZ, the writer for several of these, did a good job of capturing the characters and presenting them well. I also like seeing Silverspoon's development throughout the stories, as well as Spike's, with them both gradually becoming the fourth and fifth Crusaders.

Next we have the Generational Transitions/Origins Arcs. These deal with more cosmic matters. The former gives us the last days of the G3 universe. The Gen 3 pony specials are generally hated by fans, and yet this story makes them sympathetic and makes us mourn the death of their world along with them. Also, we're introduced to Discord's family, the Draconequi. I like how they're portrayed as just doing their jobs. They don't want to do this, and in fact Discord himself is the only one enjoying it. Each of the others have a varied reason for not liking it that fits their Concept well. The fight at the end is well, and I do enjoy that despite all that happens, it ends on a positive note of rebirth rather than wallowing in the depths of despair.

The following arc, Origins, is a prequel dealing with Discord's rise and primarily from Celestia's POV. Here we get the fact that Discord was not always evil, but he was always sadistic. We get to see him gradually turn into the monster we now know him as today. We also eventually get to see him, Celestia, and Luna come to Pony Land during G1 and gradually get to see the events leading up to Discord's defeat. Overall, this is a very good arc that reminds me a Greek Epic in how it's presented. I like how we see the relationship between Discord and Celestia change over the course of the story, and also the reveal that Discord entered the world via a mortal mother who genuinely loved him. However, I will say one thing looking back on it; I wish we'd gotten more focus on the G1 Ponies and the Alicorns, as these two groups didn't really get as much focus as Celestia, Luna, Discord, and the Draconequi. Naturally there are more Alicorns, but we've only gotten to really meet a handful, and none of them nearly as well as the Draconequi are. And to date, we've still never gotten a story focusing solely on G1 characters in the series, and this could have been it. Still, Origins was a great arc that I enjoyed reading.

Next up was Mind Games, which...I hate to say, is my least favorite Arc. While it's very nice to see Diamond Tiara be a focus character, and see her parents get to grow and become better, the mind games Discord plays on Diamond aren't my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, it's well written and Discord is at his finest, this arc just wasn't my favorite of the story. That said, it is heartbreaking to see Discord break Diamond's mind throughout the whole thing and Golden Tiara's realization at the end of what she'd done to Diamond was another tear jerker. We also do see some development from Discord and him in all his glory. Overall, it is a great arc and Discord's manipulative traits are showcast in full, it's just not an arc that appeals to me as strongly as the rest.

We also get a short two parter dealing with Nightmare Mirror, Applejack's potential Nightmare. It was a really good two parter that showed just how different Applejack could have ended up, and Nightmare Mirror was a great villain. I loved the interaction between Applejack and Orangejack, and the message that just because someone is different from you does not make their way of life wrong. The fact Applejack and Orangejack are completely different ponies, and even that Orangejack is still a liar does cause conflict, but it ultimately doesn't stop them from coming to an understanding and being able to accept the other as being as real as they are. The fight with Nightmare Mirror is also wonderful to see, and the alternate universes we get to see both here and in the first look into the truth, are both wonderful fanfic fuel, and indeed several have been seen.

Now we get to the current arcs of Dark World and the Shining Armor Arc. Now let me get to the Elephant in the Living Room right away, some have complained that Dark World overshadows Shining Armor, but I politely disagree. Dark World is very much a high fantasy story, there's barely any realism or technology to be found in Discord's World of Chaos. And it's a story dealing with finding hope in the depths of despair. On the otherhand, the Shining Armor Arc deals heavily with technology and psychological terror taking place in the middle of a relatively peaceful world with a greater amount of realism. In other words, the two are nearly opposites. But there are still common elements, such as some focus on World Building. I feel this compare and contrast between the two stories actually ENHANCES both of them. The contrast makes one stand out as opposed to the other, and in my mind, this makes them each all the more unique and memorable. I feel reading one without the other is only getting half the experience and you need to read both to truly enjoy them both.

Shining Armor is written by LZ, which gives it a unique feel from the other stories and that makes it more memorable in my reading. One thing I absolutely love about this Arc is Shining himself. His personalty, particularly his Deadpan Snarker dialog and protective instinct, in general make me WISH Shining was like this in the show. In general, he's a very likable, fun character. Not many characters could carry an entire arc on their own, and LZ did a great job making Shining a character that's interesting enough to follow for the whole Arc. We ONLY see through Shining's POV the entire arc, and to make a character that can keep the audience's attention THAT long without us becoming tired of him is no easy feat, but LZ succeeded. I love Shining Armor and he's probably my favorite character in the entire fic period. I honestly can't wait for the audio adaptation to reach it to hear MasakoX voice the character, LZ's writing of Shining Armor and MasakoX's natural comedic talent are sure to be hysterical. I also love each member of Misfit Actual, each one is unique and entertaining to watch. Cadence is also well done, coming across as a complex character that still matches up to the show, but also has aspects of being a tomboy and has true chemistry with Shining. It's easy to see how they'll develop into the couple they ultimately will, but not heavy handed like a lot of love stories. Cadence's Hoof Maidens are hilarious, and each add something to the scenes they are in, and are good Shippers on Deck. The Big Bad General Makarov is also entertaining, but also terrifying in many ways as well once his true identity is discovered. The Wolf stalking Shining adds LOADs of Psychological horror to the story and makes it a very thrilling tale. This is a cast that I wouldn't mind seeing as the cast of a spin off of the TV series. The World Building aspects are also fun to read and give us a nice structure of the world we are in. In general, this is a very enjoyable story and one of my favorite arcs. I also feel in some ways its a bit better than Dark World, I'll explain in the following section why.

Dark World also takes a different tone, being darker and more frightening. The mane cast are each tragic characters and I generally find myself enjoying it as they gradually change and reform. The idea that Hope Springs Eternal and that even in the darkest of times, there will always be hope is well done and comes across well. I also enjoy the major theme being forgiveness and that it's a straight up fantasy story. As mentioned above, this makes for good contrast. It's also nice to finally see the completion of the Discorded Ponies ending. I also like how the new members of the mane cast develop and what they add to the story, particularly Apple Pie and Spike, who I find adorable. The final villain is also exciting and the reveal makes for a nice role reversal of some traditional aspects. I also like the video game theme. However, I feel it may have gotten TOO far away from the fact this is a POV series, as the story progresses, we get fewer and fewer POV scenes, with a number of chapters with no POV scenes at all. While this does make a good contrast with the Shining Armor Arc, I feel the Shining Armor Arc gets a few points over Dark World in my eyes for managing to keep the POV aspect as a constant throughout while Dark World has lost some of the charm by dropping the first person POV more frequently.

Also to be mentioned is 7 Dreams/Nightmares Gaiden. This is a series of chapter focusing on the G2 Mane 7 after the End of the World, of which only one chapter is written by Alexwarlorn himself. Something I like is that each has a unique feel and no two feel like copies of the others. They're all well written and fun reads. I won't comment on Starlight's, as I wrote a good chunk of it, but I did enjoy Patch's for its fairytale like story, and Sweetheart's for staring an 'everyday hero'. Bright Eyes' was also a very fun read and Alexwarlorn did a good job of writing the pre and post amnesiac Bright Eyes as different characters, but still similar enough to be the same pony. I like how each section of the story has a different feel to it, starting with hopeful, then gradually into tragedy, but ultimately ending on a high note. The frame story of Twilight, Pinkie, and Luna reading the stories is also fun to read. However, I must admit, BonBon's story DOES feel a bit Overshadowed By Awesome compared to the others, sadly. Still, it's a good story and I like it.

There's also a few side stories focusing on the Nightmares in some fashion. These chapters are generally creepy and I love how Alexwarlorn can balance comedy with creepyness and frightening. That I enjoy. They're not my favorite parts, but I generally enjoy them.

So there's my opinion of the entire POV Series in general, and I love the story and am proud to be a part of it. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

(Cue Reharmonized Soundtrack: We'll Make It Through Together (Elements of Harmony))