Age Swap

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life.  Something, I haven't done in a while is a fanfic review.   Well, I'm going back to that and today,  I'm taking a look at a sub genre that I haven't talked about much.   Alternate Universe.  As that's what I'm looking at today and it is also an episode re-write.  Now, these are two genres that can be challenging.  With Alternate Universe stories, the author has a little free reign to do what they want but with an episode re write,  it needs to be different enough from the episode it is  based on to stand out while at the same time, keeping some of the core elements.   An episode re write is tough,  if not done well I won't read it.   However, that is not the case with this story as I found it rather enjoyable.  With that out of the way, let's begin.

The Plot

As stated this is an alternate universe re write.  In it, this is  an alternate universe episode re write of the first two episodes. What makes this different then those episodes? Well, the premise is pretty simple, actually.  The idea the author presents with is what if the fillies and Spike were the adults and the Mane Six and other adults were colts and fillies.  Simple as that, really.   With that in mind,  Spike is now the main character and Twily is now his number one assistant. Although, this does raise one question for me, if Twilight is a filly. Why isn't she living with her parents.  It is a legit question, is it not?     Ah, well.  Anyways as mentioned this is a take on the first two episodes and while, we do follow those events for the most part, things are still different enough that it doesn't feel as I'm just reading a text version of the episode. Take for example,  Scootaloo was the one clearing the clouds.   And the reason, she wasn't doing a very good job wasn't because she was practicing for the Wonderbolts, which is never mentioned but rather because she had to keep an eye on her two little sisters, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy because they were helping her but being little kids, they get distracted easily.   Which, I believe that this was a play on the fanfic trope of Scootadoption.  In which a character usually Dashie adopts Scootaloo. For the most part however,  these three still feel like the same characters.   Something else, I liked is that not all of the Filly 6 (as I'm calling the young Mane 6) had their Cutie Marks as Twilight is a Blank Flank in this story whereas Rarity has hers and when the two meet, it led to some hurt emotions.

"Spike!" Came a wail from the other room as Twilight tore in, her eyes glistening with the start of tears. "Spike! Spike! Rarity.....Rarity said that blank flanks aren't special!" the purple filly wailed, burying her face in Spike.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Rarity came in after Twilight, looking just as upset. "It just slipped, I'm sorry Twilight!"
"Rarity, you need to watch yourself more,” Sweetie scolded her. “Just because you got your cutie mark doesn't mean you can make fun of other fillies."    

Which this was a nice touch because, the author could've taken the easy route and just made the Filly 6,  the new CMC.    Instead, this little moment adds a little conflict as Spike pointed out, Twilight is sensitive about not having her Cutie Mark.   Probably, the one area that be the most hard to get into would be with Pound and Pumpkin Cake as they now run Sugarcube Corner, in this story and Pinkie lives there with them.   Again, why isn't  she living with her parents? That is perhaps the biggest complaint, I have with this otherwise pretty good story.   Pinkie has her energetic nature but multiply it by 10 with her being a filly.  Spike ends up making friends with the likes of Apple Bloom, who runs Sweet Apple Acres in this story, with her older sister, Smithy.  (Any guesses who that is), while looking after her younger siblings Applejack and Lil Mac.  Along with the characters mentioned, Spike and the rest journey into The Everfree Forest to put a stop to Solar Flare.  Well, okay she was originally named Sinking Sun but the author changed her name in the story, when they saw the response to the name. So, yeah Celestia is now the villain, which makes Spike, Luna's faithful student.  This is actually quite common in alternate universe tales, I'm reading one right now, where Rarity is Luna's faithful student. And Luna sends him to Ponyville to make friends but part of the reason, he has troubles making friends is because of being a dragon, so many ponies are either scared of him or they don't think, he's worth getting to know.  Such as was the case with Fluttershy.  And I loved the fact that they made a running joke of Dashie excusing Spike of being a spy.  And just between you and me,  Eternal Night is a lot scarier then Eternal Day.  Just sayin'.  And yes eventually, Spike and his friends do become the Elements of Harmony in this story. Spike is Magic,  Pumpkin is Honesty, pretty much for saving Spike.   Pound is Laughter, which his scene included a take on Giggle at The Ghostly. Not as good as Pinkie's  and I'll have some more to say on that.  Apple Bloom  was Generosity for giving up her bow to a lady dragon that lost her hat.  I have to say thank you for not making her Honesty as it would've been to easy to compare to AJ.   Sweetie Belle is Kindness as she used her music for calm a beast that was after them.   And Scoots is Loyalty, which makes sense because she was tested in being given a better life but then she thought of her sisters and knew she couldn't leave them behind.   Oh and also Spike does have a crush in this story, it's Sweetie Belle. You know, I have to say that I'm both relieved and disappointed was it wasn't Rarity having a crush on Spike. Relived because that would've been too obvious but disappointed because I think it could've been really cute. Well, actually there is another crush to mention as Filly Twi has a crush on Pound Cake.  For those of you, that think is weird. Just remember alternate universe, and Pound is an adult and Twily is a filly. All in all, this was a rather cute story that is highly enjoyable.  Even if it did have some issues.

Characters

Now for characters, I'll be breaking this down into Main, Supporting, & Villain. With that out of the way, let's begin.  And just so you know, I'll be doing this in the order, the characters were introduced.



Main Characters


Spike


Spike, was probably the one character that remained the most faithful to his show counterpart while still fitting into this alternate universe.  As mentioned, Spike was partially jaded and didn't make many friends because ponies were scared of him. Including Twilight, when they first met. And in this  universe,  Spike had been raised by Princess Luna since he was hatched. As mentioned, he eventually became the Element of Magic.  Which I can see,  and I do appreciate that Spike still had a bit of his snark  to him.   And I liked his reasoning for not being able to make friends as that is an interesting idea.  Oh, also I can't believe that I almost forgot this but in this story, Spike has a form of dragon magic that let him manipulate fire.   Kinda like a firebender from Avatar, I think.  


Apple Bloom


AB,  was not bad in this story but like some of the other new adult characters.  They did remind too much of the Mane Six.  AB was a bit too much like Applejack in how stern, she was with her little sister (okay, I still can't get use to typing that).   But it makes sense with working on a farm and as I said, she became the Element of Generosity.   Which was a nice diversion from the expected as I thought for sure, she'd be Honesty.  But no, instead when she how distraught a female dragon was over losing her hat, she gave up her special bow to the dragon. That was a very nice gesture of her to do and having AB do this makes it easier to separate her from AJ.   And I did like how they were putting up ribbons at Sweet Apple Acres, when Spike arrived.  That was such a nice touch.


Scootaloo


I loved Scoots in this story.  She was easily my favorite character in this entire story.  Of course, she is one of my all time favorite characters anyways. But I loved her in this story because of her big sister role in the story. In how she was tough but fair with Dashie, when Dash kept wanting to do  tricks.  But my favorite moment would have to be how she reassured Fluttershy that Spike was a good dragon. Filly Shy was deathly afraid of Spike because of a past experience with dragons.  I so wanted to go into the story at that moment and give Fluttershy, a hug and let her know that everything will be okay.  Does anyone have that portal from Equestira Girls?  Because if so, I know a yellow pegasus I want to say hi to.

"Bu...bu...but dragons...eat...eat ponies," the frightened filly stammered.
"Spike has a pony about your age as an assistant. Do you think she would be here if he ate ponies?" Scootaloo asked her.

This moment here showed me how good of a sister, Scoots was to her two adopted sisters.  Any complaints that I have regarding Scoots are that, when the story gets into The Everfree Forest,  she seems to much like Dashie.    Again, this is minor but these moments did distract from the story a wee bit.   Scootaloo became The Element of Loyalty by being tested by weird figures that said, that they could lead her and her friends out of The Everfree and give her and her little sisters, a better life. (Still not used to typing that)


Sweetie Belle




Sweetie as the Element of Kindness made sense for her character as we saw with her interaction with filly Rarity.  She certainly lived up to her name as being rather sweet and kind.  And as I showed, when talking about the plot, she was fair but tough with Rarity.  And in this story, Sweetie was in charge was  of the music for the celebration. I believe it was called the Summer Solstice in this story.  Sweetie was not bad and did feel like a real character but I think, she kinda paled to Scoot's awesomeness.  That happens in the show too.  Sweetie Belle became The Element of Kindness by soothing a beast, I think it was a Cerberus with her singing.



Pound  Cake


These next  two characters are always tricky to write because the show really hasn't given anything to work with as they are just babies in the show.  So, I was wondering how the author was going to pull this off. And I applaud the author for attempting this but it didn't pan out as well, as I hoped.  Let's start with Pound, he was and I mean was Pinkie Pie in this universe.  You may recall that I made mention that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had traits similar to their big sisters (Hey, I consider Dash to be Scoot's big sister, even if they aren't related) but they still felt like their own characters. Whereas with Pound,  it was just a stallion version of Pinkie. Hmm,  Stallion Pinkie Pie, I wonder....

That's surprisingly less creepy, then I thought it would be. Anyways back on topic,  Pound suffered as a character because it was too much Pinkie Pie and not being able to be his own character. Which was a little disappointing.   As I made mention Pound does a rendition of Giggle at The Ghostly  in The Everfree Forest, when they come across timberwolves.  And while other characters did have moments that were mirror images of The Mane Six's iconic moments from the first episode, they still felt different enough to stand on their own.  Whereas Pound's take on this song rang a little to close to Pinkie's classic.   Here take a look.

"When I was a little colt and the night would overtake," Pound sang.
"Is he...singing?" Spike asked, glancing at the wolves only a couple of yards away. They were just staring at the singing pony with as much confusion as his friends.
"The shadows and the monsters, they would always make me quake."
"Yes… yes he is," Pumpkin Cake reluctantly admitted.
"I'd hide with my dear sister from what we thought we saw. But Grandma Cake said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all!"
"Then what is?" Scootaloo asked, only mildly interested in the answer.
"She said 'Twins! You got to stand up tall. Learn to face your fears! You'll see that they can't hurt you; just laugh and make them disappear.'" Then the Pegasus walked up to a couple of Timberwolves and laughed in their face.

Maybe, it's because I'm such a huge Pinkie fan and this moment did play a role in declaring the Pink Party Pony as second best Pony, but this was a moment where I couldn't separate from the show.  Maybe, it's me as a fan, who can't see anyone else but Pinkie singing this.  If  anything,  I liked the moments with Filly Twi in Sugarcube Corner as she had a not so secret crush on Pound Cake.  Oh, and case you were wondering, this is how Pound became The Element of Laughter


Although, I must admit that I loved the follow up conservation between Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle regarding the timberwolves.

"But, why did they just leave?" Sweetie asked. "Couldn't they see we were still there?"
Apple Bloom shrugged, "Ah guess if they don't smell the fear, they don't think we're prey. They're sorta dense like that."
"That makes sense," Scootaloo remarked. "I mean, prey would be afraid, and if we aren't afraid then we must not have a reason to be."
"When did you become so knowledgeable in animals?" Sweetie Belle asked her friend.
"Fluttershy, blame Fluttershy."

Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin fared much better then her brother in this story because she didn't seem to be using elements from any other character from the main show. Instead, she got to be her own character.  It seemed as though the author took inspiration from Twilight Sparkle for this character but unlike some of the other characters, it was never made obvious.  So, I actually appreciated that.  And almost seemed in a sense that the author was trying to make the dynamic of this relationship be smart sibling and goofy sibling.  Just once,  I'd like to see a brother sibling relationship like this where the sister is the goofy one.  Having said that,   it would not have worked for this story.     Pumpkin became The Element of Honesty in pretty much the same way AJ, did saving Spike from intimate death.

  

Supporting Characters

Twilight Sparkle

Filly Twi was just adorable. She kept her bookish nature and her love of reading. Which was captured in such a cute moment.

"Twilight," Spike groaned. "What have I told you about reading in front of the door?"
Twilight’s face reddened even more. "Sorry Spike, I just got really engrossed in this book and didn't notice where I was laying."
Spike rolled his eyes as he stood up; that filly was always getting lost in a book.

When,  I saw that I thought to myself "Yeah, I could see Twily doing that".    And as I said in the plot,  we did see emotion with her as she got her feelings hurt by Rarity, when Rarity said that ponies who don't have Cutie Marks aren't special. Another nice thing is the author found ways to work things in that we know belong to these characters such as in this case with Twily, her Smarty Pants doll.

Now be sure to grab your Smarty Pants doll, we wouldn't want to leave that behind."
Twilight went to find her doll as Spike took down his hammock; he certainly wasn't leaving that.

I also loved it, when the fillies were left in the library, Twilight was reading and Dashie said that she thought reading was useless.   Twilight was easily offended by this statement because of her love of reading.   It was one of the cutest moments.  But easily Twilight's best moment is in Chapter 3. Which is titled Cake, Pie and Adventure Time.  Where her crush on Pound Cake becomes rather apparent.   I'll just link to that chapter because it is so adorable, that you have to read it for yourself.   Here ya  are.  I should also mention that Twilight played a pivotal role in getting The Elements activated as she was the one that sent Spike the information on how to work them. 

Princess Luna

Luna, really didn't serve much of a purpose in this story.  You could make the argument that it was she that sent Spike to Ponyville to start him down this path of making friends. Even so, that just feels like a stand-in for Celestia. Mind you,  not a bad thing as Luna is rather inconsequential to the story.   And as hinted, Luna raised Spike.

He was hatched and raised from an egg by Princess Luna and had earned her deepest trust. He practically considered her his mother, though she insisted on being referred to as his mentor. Teaching him about everything he would ever need to know, caring for him, being there when he needed her.

Applejack

It was strange but in some chapters, AJ felt older then  she should've been.    My best guess is that she was the eldest of the fillies and she did seem to fill out the big sister role.  Especially comforting Fluttershy after the adults leave and she is scared that'll get hurt.    Blame Rarity for that one.  And I liked how they explained Applejack wearing her stetson hat in this story.

And what did Ah say about wearin’ daddy's hat?"
"'Don't wear it 'til the festival,'" The little pony said, looking at the ground. "But Ah just really wanted to wear it, Apple Bloom."
"Well, you can't yet. It might get dirty or damaged and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

I thought that was a really cute moment overall.  Oh, I should also make mention that Applejack like Twilight was a blank flank in this story and was excited to meet another blank flank.  I didn't think about any of the multiple times, I read this story but that does seem an Apple Bloom attribute.   But on the same token, she is a young child excited to meet another young child who she shares something in common with.  So,  I can't really call that an Apple Bloom attribute.  Even if that does sound really cool.

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash was just so adorable with how careless and reckless, she was doing her stunts. When being told not to by Scootaloo because they're dangerous. And she also thought that Spike was a dangerous dragon spy.

"Sorry, Scootaloo. But this dragon is a dangerous spy!" Rainbow Dash tried to defend herself.
"Somehow I doubt that," Scootaloo muttered under her breath.

"Dash!" Scootaloo called, diving after the falling filly.
Spike could tell that she wasn't going to get there in time, so he rushed forward and caught Rainbow before she hit the ground. "You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash panted. "Thanks."
"Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo sighed, relieved. "This is why I didn't want you to do tricks." She turned to Spike. "Thank you so much for saving her."
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy had come down and was circling Rainbow Dash. "I was so worried, you were falling and you could have been hurt. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"Nah, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof, trying to sound brave, but her voice was still shaking.
"Um..." Fluttershy slowly turned to Spike. "Thank...thank you for saving Rainbow Dash."

Besides these moments though, we also saw how much she cared for Fluttershy and wanted to be there for her to protect her. Such as she had to point out that Rarity was scaring Fluttershy.



Fluttershy


Fluttershy was simply adorable in this story.   As I've pointed, she was rather timid but she also had her love of animals.  She was just so sweet and you could feel her fear coming through.  I just wanted to go in and tell her that everything will be all right.  My heart broke each time, Fluttershy was sad.     And going back to the dragon thing, there was this line.  Which to me almost felt like an indirect reference to Dragonshy.  If it were, that'd be awesome because that is my all time favorite episode of MLP.

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo. I saw this really pretty butterfly and I just had to follow it." Fluttershy's eyes landed on Spike and she tensed up before squealing, "Dragon!" and hiding behind Scootaloo.

Scootaloo blushed slightly before saying, "Sorry, it's nothing personal. Flutters is my adopted sister, too, and she had a bad experience with dragons when she was younger." She turned to Fluttershy, still cowering behind her. "It's okay, Flutters. This is Spike. Princess Luna sent him."

And Scoots had a line that perfectly summed up Fluttershy in this story that came after this little adorable moment.

The little filly just whimpered and hid her eyes with her hooves.
Scootaloo sighed, "Sorry about that. She's timid at the best of times."

Rarity

 Rarity was simply adorable in this story from the beginning.   She still had her drama queen attitude to her, which we will get to in a bit but easily one of the cutest moments, was when Spike first showed up. Rarity, wanted to be taken to his treasure because  according to Rarity, all dragons have treasure.

"I have a dragon and he's going to take me to his treasure!" The filly, Rarity, told the mare.
Sweetie Belle looked at Spike for a moment before replying to the filly, "Are you sure he's old enough to have treasure?"
"I don't have any treasure," Spike told them, trying to pull Rarity off of him, but failing. "I'm here on business for Princess Luna. This is my assistant, Twilight.” He finally gave up on freeing himself from the little filly and looked at the mare. “Are you Sweetie Belle? The one in charge of music?"
"Yes," The white mare confirmed. "Rarity, you can release him now."
Rarity let go of Spike, grumbling that all dragons should have jewels. Twilight went over to talk to her as Spike conversed with Sweetie Belle.

And  I think another very cute moment was when Rarity apologized to Twilight by giving her a necklace.  Showing that side of generosity, you expect with Rarity.   Though my favorite Rarity easily had to be this...

"Why did they have to go!?" she cried. "The Everfree is so dangerous and dirty! Something horrible is going to happen! And then who will sing me to sleep?! We're DOOMED! DOOMED I say! Who cares if the sun stays up?! Then we won’t have to go to bed! WHY? I want my sister back!"

That was just too cute and I could picture a little Rarity doing that.  And I love how she complains about it being dirty.




Pinkie Pie

It's so odd but I barely remember Pinkie in this story.  Don't get me wrong, the Pinkie moments felt like Pinkie early on but as the story went on.  The other five fillies seemed to overshadow Pinkie Pie. Which is odd considering who I'm talking about. This is something, I've noticed with fanfics featuring Pinkie.  She seems to be the character that authors have the most trouble with.  They either seem to hold back and not use Pinkie to her full potential or she obliterates the 4th, 5th, & 6th walls.    Which cane sometimes be like "Whoa, you went a little overboard".    That's not the case here though.  






Villain


Solar Flare/Sinking Sun/Princess Celestia


Okay, I have to be honest.   The villain is the biggest issue, I have with this story.  I applaud the author for attempting the full on age swap and having Tia be the younger sister but she wasn't threatening or intimidating.   As I mentioned,  I just don't think Eternal Day is a fear inducing as Eternal Night is.  Let me put  it this way,  Eternal Night equals darkness.  Darkness, on it's own is a creepy idea.  Sure, MLP isn't scary but Eternal Night is a scary idea.  Eternal Day on the other hand, it doesn't strike fear.  Filly Rarity has a line that sums up my feelings on this perfectly.  It's already appeared once in this review but I feel the need to revisit it.

Who cares if the sun stays up?! Then we won’t have to go to bed!

I agree with that.  If I were a kid,  that'd probably be my reaction as well. Yes, I admit that I'm using this out of context but it drives home the point that Eternal Day isn't scary.      Oh well,  there were moments where this villain was a threat but it just didn't work for me.



My Final Thoughts



Overall, while this story has it's share of flaws.  I enjoyed it.  It was a very fun read and really cool idea that I had not seen explored before.   I know I pointed quite a bit of issues but I only do that because of how much I like this story.   And reading it as many times as I did for this review, the issues became more apparent.  But the characters for the most part were good especially Scootaloo and the Filly Six. And the author, Tangerine Blast has said that there will be more stories in this universe.  Which I'm excited about because this was a good set up.   The second Age Swap story has already been published and it this universe's version of   Bridle Gossip.  It wasn't bad. Thankfully, the author has announced that besides episode re writes, they will also be doing some original stories.  Those are what I'm really looking forward to as I'd like to be able to explore this universe some more without comparing it to an episode.  And I hope that they do some Filly Six stories as they were the highlight of this story as it was a fun and interesting take on the mane characters, we love and getting to see them in new surroundings and situations. Overall, I'd say this story is worth a read.