FimFiction Link - Short ID: 141957/memoirs-in-ink-and-blood
Published: Oct '13 — May '15
The prequel, 'The Monsters We Made' was edgy, this fic, however, just feels confused.
'Memoirs in Ink and Blood' is a twenty thousand-word long mess, that can't decide if it wants to be a tragedy (for that it is too fast paced), a philosophical piece (for that it is too shallow), or perhaps a story about hope (for that the resolution is way too much of an asspull).
Much like in the first part of the fic, we follow several characters, including Twilight herself as they try their hardest to fulfill their goals in this new post-apocalyptic world created by the ex-princess, now goddess of Magic's destructive tendencies. Once again, the main problem is that everything happens way too fast. In one of the final chapters a group of ponies mount a grotesquely upbeat death march to stop the princess, in the next it actually works and a sudden deus ex machina solves the plot. I get where the author is coming from, but in the way the story it is written, it is simply not really compelling or entertaining. Twilight is way too overpowered to be defeated in any shape or form that would feel satisfying. The fact that she just flies over to the Gryphon-kingdom and with the flick of her hoof decimates the entire place to dust shows how absurdly imbalanced her power-level is. So of course when the aforementioned sudden defeat does reach her, it just feels... I don't know. Random? Unexpected? Laughable? The author then desperately tries to save the story's ending by throwing in a frankly not bad scene about Twilight being haunted by all the ponies she killed, but by that point it doesn't matter. What adds insult to injury is that I otherwise like the humanitarian (ponytarian?) message of the story: the people if they are really determined can even surpass the gods, but due to how suddenly it happens, the whole thing just falls flat on its face.
I did enjoy the Nightmare Moon bait and switch. It was a sweet joke (no pun intended) and I really did not see it coming. Sadly it's hardly enough to save this story.
Overall: 2/10 This duo-fic feels like a story that started out as nothing more as a cruelty-piece, but then suddenly changed its mind and wanted to be more. It's not terribly long, so if the idea of a genocidal Twilight and her quick and absurd downfall tickles your fancy, I guess you could read it, but otherwise don't waste your time.