Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life. Today, I'm taking a break form fan made content and taking a look at something from the official MLP line. But don't worry, there will be a fanfic review soon. Of possibly one of the most acclaimed and beloved MLP fanfics. What is it? Stay tuned to find out. Now I know I said when I first started this series, that I'd only do fan made material reviews as myself. Well, that's changed for a few reasons, 1. I'm having a blast reviewing stuff as myself, 2. I have no idea where to take Magic Dust's story next, and 3. there are certain episodes, I'd like to talk about as Moviefan12. With that out of the way, let's begin. The subject of today's review is the book, Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell. And what did I think of it, it was okay but I did have issues with it. You'll see what they are in a bit.
Cover
There are two ways, I have to look at this cover. First from a marketing standpoint, it's brilliant. It's simple, just a picture of Twilight Sparkle wearing the Cosmic Spectrum (the book's plot device) and The Crystal Heart. Simplicity sells. Imagine your in a bookstore and there is is a My Little Pony book display and you see a young girl, who loves MLP, she sees this cover and Twilight Sparkle is her favorite character. She'd be automatically drawn to it because it's Twilight Sparkle and would ask her parents to buy it for her on that end. So from a marketing perspective, it makes sense for it to be a picture of just Twilight Sparkle. Now from a creative standpoint, it's lackluster. Just a picture of Twilight wearing the necklace and The Crystal Heart. Boring and here's another issue, I have with the cover. In the book, Twilight is a princess because in some regards this book is an indirect sequel to the season 3 finale, Magical Mystery Cure. So it shouldn't be Unicorn Twilight but Alicorn Twilight on the cover. This is the Twilight that should be on the cover, if she is a princess.
Or if you don't want the fancy getup...
Maybe this is a minor nitpick but I just think if Twily is a princess, in the story that should be reflected on the cover.
Plot
The plot is pretty simple in that Twilight is stressing out over being a princess and wants to go to someone for advice on being a leader. This is after Spike suggests she do this by comparing her situation to a Daring Do book. Sounds good to me, so she at first goes to see Mayor Mare but she wasn't in Ponyville. So, she heads to The Crystal Empire to speak to Princess Cadance about being a princess and what it was like, when she became a princess. It turns out that my favorite princess was born a Pegasus and taken in by group of Earth ponies and raised and loved as one of their own. Cadance's ability for love could over come anything including a mean old Earth pony named Prisma. Who only cared for a necklace that she wore and this necklace reflected one's emotions. If the person wearing it is happy, it shines and reflects their happy emotions but if the person is feeling negative, it starts to rust and bring out the negative emotions in the wearer. Well, Cadance is noticed by Celestia and after helping Prisma appears in the same location that we see during Celestia's Ballad or as I call it, Celestia's Personal YouTube Channel.
It was nice to get some backstory on Cadance. Hey, anything involving Cadance makes me feel like this.
Ahem, getting back on topic (sorry). This was a good story for Twilight to hear and it also led to the second part, The Crystal Heart Spell and how Twilight had to unlock it. (Spoilers: the key to unlocking the spell is friendship). So Cadance suggests that Twilight think of what she would want in a kingdom ruled by her and how she would run it. To get some help with this, Twily gathers her friends and asks them what they would want in a kingdom. Twilight is starting to act like a bit of a jerk and even dismisses Rarity, when Miss Rarity tries to warn her about the effects of the Cosmic Spectrum. Twilight is stressed out and shoots down all of her friends' ideas. Which is a shame because Cake Day should exist. Yes Pinkie Pie suggested Cake Day, a day once a year, where everybody eats cake. I'm with Pinkie on this one, Cake Day needs to exist. Twilight, you may have shot it down but I want Cake with Pinkie Pie as the mascot and the first cake should be in the shape of Sugarcube Corner. The world would be a better place because of Cake Day. Now this is where the story loses me a little bit. You see, there was a character eavesdropping on the conservation between the Mane Six. Gilda The Griffon. Here's the issue with Gilda, this story suggests that Gilda hangs out in Ponyville but why? We haven't seen her or heard be mentioned since her episode back in season one. And why would Gilda want to hang around Ponyville, when her parting words pretty much sated she thought everyone in Ponyville were lame-o's. So, Gilda's appearance made ask, "Why are you here?" Thankfully, it was later explained in the story but I was still asking myself, "Why are you here?" Oh and then Gilda reveals herself to Twilight and plants a seed to go to Gilda for leadership. And Twilight follows through on it. Twilight, why would you go to someone that bullied one of your closest friends for leadership advice and we haven't seen any leadership qualities from Gilda. There are so many ponies, you could've gone to. You could've written a letter to Celestia, talk to Luna, you went to Cadance. Discord, would've been a better option then Gilda. This doesn't make any sense and I was just left confused. My face looked something like this...
It just left me confused. Oh and it only gets better from here. Turns out Gilda had been hanging out with The Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie and Gilda team up awesome. I love that but here is another issue and one that bugged me even more then Gilda being in the book. Okay as mentioned this book takes place after season 3 and in some regards is a sequel to the season finale, Magical Mystery Cure. Well, here's the issue with that, in season 3, a previous episode, Magic Duel. And this was Trixie's return to the show and in the end, it appeared as she had learned her lesson and redeemed herself. But that episode is ignored in the book Let's take a look at one of the lines from Trixie's first appearance in the book.
This line is directly referencing the events of Trixie's first episode, Boast Busters. And one could argue that this line is not ignoring Magic Duel but here's the thing, Magic Duel is never mentioned whereas Boast Busters is referenced at least twice. And the Trixie in the books is more in line with how she was at the end of Boast Busters rather then Magic Duel. As I'll talk about, when I get to characters, there is a way that the book could've included Trixie and still acknowledge Magic Duel. Now there is kind of an answer to my question of why Gilda and to some extent were there. They were used to bring out the negative emotions in Twilight Sparkle. And in that sense, they couldn't have chosen two better character but their presence and why they stayed in Ponyville should've been explained better. These are the two biggest issues, I have with the book. The main story about Twilight dealing with the stress of being a princess is a great idea for a story and the exploration is pretty good. And I am just so thankful that after seeing "Woes me, I'll have to say goodbye to my friends", Princess Twilight fanfics, this is something different. And the idea that something could bring out the worst in Twilight is intriguing. But again, there were just some hiccups along the way. As much as I liked the story, this did take me out of it. Ah well, moving on.
Plot Device
Cosmic Spectrum
Something else, I didn't mention is that this necklace belonged to Cadance before she gave it to Twilight. The best way to describe the Cosmic Spectrum. It's mood jewelry. In a very literal sense, if the wearer is happy and it'll shine brightly and expose the happiness, but if the wearer is around negative emotions, it'll dim and I believe rust and make the negative emotions more visible. I must admit that I think that this is a really neat idea.
Characters
This will be broken down into Important, Supporting, and Antagonists. With that out of the way, let's begin. Also, even though this was a chapter novel and did not rely on pictures to tell the story, I will still be using pictures of the characters for this review.
Important Characters
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight was pretty good in this book and the exploration of her being a princess and the stress it brought with the job. And seeing how the Cosmic Spectrum brought out the worst in her by hanging around Trixie and Gilda was a nice touch. And the jerk thing wasn't so blatant. It subtly built over time and Twily did feel in character. The only thing missing was her hair going sproingy, when she got stressed out.
Cadance
Cadance again played quite an important role in this story as she filled the mentor figure that is usually occupied by Princess Celestia. It was nice to see somepony else feel that role as while Celestia is great, Twilight has a lot of smart ponies in her life and hey, this book gave some development to one of my favorite characters and I got to learn how she became a princess. Honestly, if that section had been a story on it's own, this would've been awesome. And I'm such a dork but each time I see Cadance, I hear the "Sunshine Sunshine" rhyme in my head. Which thankfully was included in the book, with Cadance's first appearance. Hey, I don't care if people don't like it, if the "Sunshine Sunshine" is not there with Cadance, your doing something wrong. And I'd like how Cadance was able to sympathize with Twilight's stress and be there for her as a big sister role. Also, I'm not sure if this a fan shout out but at one point in the book, Cadance is referred to her as Twilight's Pegasister-In-Law and the reason, I bring this up is because Pegasister is the term for adult female fans and if that is a fan shout out, that's awesome.
Rarity
Now Rarity also played quite a big role as she knew what the Cosmic Spectrum was and tried to warn Twilight Sparkle what it was. But Twilight just brushed her off. Twilight, not cool. You brushed off third best pony, while trying to warn you about something important. You are so lucky it wasn't my girl, Fluttershy or the Pink Party Pony but still, what you did to Miss Rarity was not cool. Now as for Rarity in the book, it was great, you could actually feel how much she cared for Twilight and was worried about what the necklace would do to her friend and would do anything to help her. And this story really explored the relationship between these two quite well.
Supporting Characters
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie
Now once again, the relationship of the girls and how much they cared for Twilight was explored and they were all kept in character and every line, they spoke, felt like something they would say in the show but at the end of the day, the big focus is on the relationship between Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. Something, I'd like to see in the show.
Spike
Spike was very much in character and the way, he helped Twilight in the beginning reminded me how he is always there for her and will always be there for her. Also, I love the fact that this hunger for gems was used as a joke while staying in The Crystal Empire as he had to resist the urge to eat the furniture in the room that he and Twilight were staying in. And when Twilight was starting to act like a jerk, you could see how worried he was and especially considering when Twilight went to The Crystal Empire with Gilda and Trixie and left Spike behind. Spike knew that this wasn't the Twilight that he knew.
Shining Armor
Shining Armor was so underused in this book that there was almost no need for him to be there. Which is a shame because the book could've used him as someone that Twilight went to for leadership advice and seriously who better then her B.B.B.F.F (Big Brother Best Best Friend Forever).
Antagonists
Gilda
Gilda in this book made sense for the negative emotion thing and having her hang around Twilight Sparkle to bring out the worst in her was a great idea. And again, Gilda's line did feel like Gilda. But my biggest issue is that it is not explained why Gilda is still hanging around Ponyville, still the idea of Gilda and Trixie hanging out and pulling pranks is awesome. I loved that and the chemistry between the two of them was beautiful. Plus I got to check off something, I'd always wanted to see, a Gilda and Trixie team up.
Trixie
As I mentioned prior, Trixie is the biggest issue I have with this book because this book is supposed to take place after season 3 but it uses Boast Busters Trixie and ignores Magic Duel. It almost felt like the author felt the only way to fit Trixie into the story was to ignore Magic Duel and use Boast Busters Trixie and pretend that the events of season 3 with Trixie never happened. Now as I said, there is a way, I think that Trixie could've been worked into the story while still acknowledging Magic Duel. Okay, what the Cosmic Spectrum was doing with Twilight is similar to what happened to Trixie in Magic Duel with the Alicorn Amulet.
In how it brought out the worst of her. You could've had the rest of the Mane Six and make this connection and reluctantly go to Trixie for help or flip it around and have Trixie notice the similarities and have her try to warn the rest of the characters but they ignore her. Now taking that out of the picture though, I loved Trixie every minute she was in the book as she was so egoistical and it was wonderful but it still bugged me that the book ignored Magic Duel and yet referenced Magical Mystery Cure.
My Final Thoughts
This book is okay. There are some issues mainly with Trixie and the continuity error but the story was really enjoyable and I could picture this as an actual episode of the series. So my fellow Bronies and Pegasisters, I'd say give this book a read. Should be able to get through it in one sit and while it is obviously written for a younger audience, I believe that it maintains the quality of the show. I suggest this book as an enjoyable read. Okay time to reveal the fanfic that I'll be taking a look at....
My Little Dashie
Yes, next time I'm taking on one of the biggest names in the MLP fanfic and one of the most beloved MLP Fanfics as I review My Little Dashie in the first three parter for Trotting Through Life. Pt. 1 will be the review itself and Pt. 2 will be going over why I think it is so popular and a look at why it has been cloned so many times. And finally Pt. 3 will take a look at some of the fan creations that have come from this story, so perhaps the Impact.
Cover
There are two ways, I have to look at this cover. First from a marketing standpoint, it's brilliant. It's simple, just a picture of Twilight Sparkle wearing the Cosmic Spectrum (the book's plot device) and The Crystal Heart. Simplicity sells. Imagine your in a bookstore and there is is a My Little Pony book display and you see a young girl, who loves MLP, she sees this cover and Twilight Sparkle is her favorite character. She'd be automatically drawn to it because it's Twilight Sparkle and would ask her parents to buy it for her on that end. So from a marketing perspective, it makes sense for it to be a picture of just Twilight Sparkle. Now from a creative standpoint, it's lackluster. Just a picture of Twilight wearing the necklace and The Crystal Heart. Boring and here's another issue, I have with the cover. In the book, Twilight is a princess because in some regards this book is an indirect sequel to the season 3 finale, Magical Mystery Cure. So it shouldn't be Unicorn Twilight but Alicorn Twilight on the cover. This is the Twilight that should be on the cover, if she is a princess.
Or if you don't want the fancy getup...
Maybe this is a minor nitpick but I just think if Twily is a princess, in the story that should be reflected on the cover.
Plot
The plot is pretty simple in that Twilight is stressing out over being a princess and wants to go to someone for advice on being a leader. This is after Spike suggests she do this by comparing her situation to a Daring Do book. Sounds good to me, so she at first goes to see Mayor Mare but she wasn't in Ponyville. So, she heads to The Crystal Empire to speak to Princess Cadance about being a princess and what it was like, when she became a princess. It turns out that my favorite princess was born a Pegasus and taken in by group of Earth ponies and raised and loved as one of their own. Cadance's ability for love could over come anything including a mean old Earth pony named Prisma. Who only cared for a necklace that she wore and this necklace reflected one's emotions. If the person wearing it is happy, it shines and reflects their happy emotions but if the person is feeling negative, it starts to rust and bring out the negative emotions in the wearer. Well, Cadance is noticed by Celestia and after helping Prisma appears in the same location that we see during Celestia's Ballad or as I call it, Celestia's Personal YouTube Channel.
It was nice to get some backstory on Cadance. Hey, anything involving Cadance makes me feel like this.
Ahem, getting back on topic (sorry). This was a good story for Twilight to hear and it also led to the second part, The Crystal Heart Spell and how Twilight had to unlock it. (Spoilers: the key to unlocking the spell is friendship). So Cadance suggests that Twilight think of what she would want in a kingdom ruled by her and how she would run it. To get some help with this, Twily gathers her friends and asks them what they would want in a kingdom. Twilight is starting to act like a bit of a jerk and even dismisses Rarity, when Miss Rarity tries to warn her about the effects of the Cosmic Spectrum. Twilight is stressed out and shoots down all of her friends' ideas. Which is a shame because Cake Day should exist. Yes Pinkie Pie suggested Cake Day, a day once a year, where everybody eats cake. I'm with Pinkie on this one, Cake Day needs to exist. Twilight, you may have shot it down but I want Cake with Pinkie Pie as the mascot and the first cake should be in the shape of Sugarcube Corner. The world would be a better place because of Cake Day. Now this is where the story loses me a little bit. You see, there was a character eavesdropping on the conservation between the Mane Six. Gilda The Griffon. Here's the issue with Gilda, this story suggests that Gilda hangs out in Ponyville but why? We haven't seen her or heard be mentioned since her episode back in season one. And why would Gilda want to hang around Ponyville, when her parting words pretty much sated she thought everyone in Ponyville were lame-o's. So, Gilda's appearance made ask, "Why are you here?" Thankfully, it was later explained in the story but I was still asking myself, "Why are you here?" Oh and then Gilda reveals herself to Twilight and plants a seed to go to Gilda for leadership. And Twilight follows through on it. Twilight, why would you go to someone that bullied one of your closest friends for leadership advice and we haven't seen any leadership qualities from Gilda. There are so many ponies, you could've gone to. You could've written a letter to Celestia, talk to Luna, you went to Cadance. Discord, would've been a better option then Gilda. This doesn't make any sense and I was just left confused. My face looked something like this...
It just left me confused. Oh and it only gets better from here. Turns out Gilda had been hanging out with The Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie and Gilda team up awesome. I love that but here is another issue and one that bugged me even more then Gilda being in the book. Okay as mentioned this book takes place after season 3 and in some regards is a sequel to the season finale, Magical Mystery Cure. Well, here's the issue with that, in season 3, a previous episode, Magic Duel. And this was Trixie's return to the show and in the end, it appeared as she had learned her lesson and redeemed herself. But that episode is ignored in the book Let's take a look at one of the lines from Trixie's first appearance in the book.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't have all day, Twilight!" She was clearly still a little bitter about the time Twilight accidentally revealed to be a fraud in front of all of Ponyville. Trixie probably didn't feel so "Great and Powerful" after that.
This line is directly referencing the events of Trixie's first episode, Boast Busters. And one could argue that this line is not ignoring Magic Duel but here's the thing, Magic Duel is never mentioned whereas Boast Busters is referenced at least twice. And the Trixie in the books is more in line with how she was at the end of Boast Busters rather then Magic Duel. As I'll talk about, when I get to characters, there is a way that the book could've included Trixie and still acknowledge Magic Duel. Now there is kind of an answer to my question of why Gilda and to some extent were there. They were used to bring out the negative emotions in Twilight Sparkle. And in that sense, they couldn't have chosen two better character but their presence and why they stayed in Ponyville should've been explained better. These are the two biggest issues, I have with the book. The main story about Twilight dealing with the stress of being a princess is a great idea for a story and the exploration is pretty good. And I am just so thankful that after seeing "Woes me, I'll have to say goodbye to my friends", Princess Twilight fanfics, this is something different. And the idea that something could bring out the worst in Twilight is intriguing. But again, there were just some hiccups along the way. As much as I liked the story, this did take me out of it. Ah well, moving on.
Plot Device
Cosmic Spectrum
Something else, I didn't mention is that this necklace belonged to Cadance before she gave it to Twilight. The best way to describe the Cosmic Spectrum. It's mood jewelry. In a very literal sense, if the wearer is happy and it'll shine brightly and expose the happiness, but if the wearer is around negative emotions, it'll dim and I believe rust and make the negative emotions more visible. I must admit that I think that this is a really neat idea.
Characters
This will be broken down into Important, Supporting, and Antagonists. With that out of the way, let's begin. Also, even though this was a chapter novel and did not rely on pictures to tell the story, I will still be using pictures of the characters for this review.
Important Characters
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight was pretty good in this book and the exploration of her being a princess and the stress it brought with the job. And seeing how the Cosmic Spectrum brought out the worst in her by hanging around Trixie and Gilda was a nice touch. And the jerk thing wasn't so blatant. It subtly built over time and Twily did feel in character. The only thing missing was her hair going sproingy, when she got stressed out.
Cadance
Cadance again played quite an important role in this story as she filled the mentor figure that is usually occupied by Princess Celestia. It was nice to see somepony else feel that role as while Celestia is great, Twilight has a lot of smart ponies in her life and hey, this book gave some development to one of my favorite characters and I got to learn how she became a princess. Honestly, if that section had been a story on it's own, this would've been awesome. And I'm such a dork but each time I see Cadance, I hear the "Sunshine Sunshine" rhyme in my head. Which thankfully was included in the book, with Cadance's first appearance. Hey, I don't care if people don't like it, if the "Sunshine Sunshine" is not there with Cadance, your doing something wrong. And I'd like how Cadance was able to sympathize with Twilight's stress and be there for her as a big sister role. Also, I'm not sure if this a fan shout out but at one point in the book, Cadance is referred to her as Twilight's Pegasister-In-Law and the reason, I bring this up is because Pegasister is the term for adult female fans and if that is a fan shout out, that's awesome.
Rarity
Now Rarity also played quite a big role as she knew what the Cosmic Spectrum was and tried to warn Twilight Sparkle what it was. But Twilight just brushed her off. Twilight, not cool. You brushed off third best pony, while trying to warn you about something important. You are so lucky it wasn't my girl, Fluttershy or the Pink Party Pony but still, what you did to Miss Rarity was not cool. Now as for Rarity in the book, it was great, you could actually feel how much she cared for Twilight and was worried about what the necklace would do to her friend and would do anything to help her. And this story really explored the relationship between these two quite well.
Supporting Characters
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie
Now once again, the relationship of the girls and how much they cared for Twilight was explored and they were all kept in character and every line, they spoke, felt like something they would say in the show but at the end of the day, the big focus is on the relationship between Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. Something, I'd like to see in the show.
Spike
Spike was very much in character and the way, he helped Twilight in the beginning reminded me how he is always there for her and will always be there for her. Also, I love the fact that this hunger for gems was used as a joke while staying in The Crystal Empire as he had to resist the urge to eat the furniture in the room that he and Twilight were staying in. And when Twilight was starting to act like a jerk, you could see how worried he was and especially considering when Twilight went to The Crystal Empire with Gilda and Trixie and left Spike behind. Spike knew that this wasn't the Twilight that he knew.
Shining Armor
Shining Armor was so underused in this book that there was almost no need for him to be there. Which is a shame because the book could've used him as someone that Twilight went to for leadership advice and seriously who better then her B.B.B.F.F (Big Brother Best Best Friend Forever).
Antagonists
Gilda
Gilda in this book made sense for the negative emotion thing and having her hang around Twilight Sparkle to bring out the worst in her was a great idea. And again, Gilda's line did feel like Gilda. But my biggest issue is that it is not explained why Gilda is still hanging around Ponyville, still the idea of Gilda and Trixie hanging out and pulling pranks is awesome. I loved that and the chemistry between the two of them was beautiful. Plus I got to check off something, I'd always wanted to see, a Gilda and Trixie team up.
Trixie
As I mentioned prior, Trixie is the biggest issue I have with this book because this book is supposed to take place after season 3 but it uses Boast Busters Trixie and ignores Magic Duel. It almost felt like the author felt the only way to fit Trixie into the story was to ignore Magic Duel and use Boast Busters Trixie and pretend that the events of season 3 with Trixie never happened. Now as I said, there is a way, I think that Trixie could've been worked into the story while still acknowledging Magic Duel. Okay, what the Cosmic Spectrum was doing with Twilight is similar to what happened to Trixie in Magic Duel with the Alicorn Amulet.
In how it brought out the worst of her. You could've had the rest of the Mane Six and make this connection and reluctantly go to Trixie for help or flip it around and have Trixie notice the similarities and have her try to warn the rest of the characters but they ignore her. Now taking that out of the picture though, I loved Trixie every minute she was in the book as she was so egoistical and it was wonderful but it still bugged me that the book ignored Magic Duel and yet referenced Magical Mystery Cure.
My Final Thoughts
This book is okay. There are some issues mainly with Trixie and the continuity error but the story was really enjoyable and I could picture this as an actual episode of the series. So my fellow Bronies and Pegasisters, I'd say give this book a read. Should be able to get through it in one sit and while it is obviously written for a younger audience, I believe that it maintains the quality of the show. I suggest this book as an enjoyable read. Okay time to reveal the fanfic that I'll be taking a look at....
My Little Dashie
Yes, next time I'm taking on one of the biggest names in the MLP fanfic and one of the most beloved MLP Fanfics as I review My Little Dashie in the first three parter for Trotting Through Life. Pt. 1 will be the review itself and Pt. 2 will be going over why I think it is so popular and a look at why it has been cloned so many times. And finally Pt. 3 will take a look at some of the fan creations that have come from this story, so perhaps the Impact.
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