FimFiction Link - Short ID: 49829/what-is-a-name
Published: Sep '12 — Jul '13
Not a story I would've read if left to my own devices. Overall, I regret reading it for one major reason: about the first 70-85% of the story reads like what I imagine an isekai genre fic is like. Pinkamena wakes up and then proceeds to rip apart the cartoonish nature of the FiM setting. Oh, look at how super cereal she is, not like those silly ponies.
Only occasionally was I reminded that it's not an isekai, it's Pinkamena inhabiting Pinkie's body. I was hoping that the style of prose was a gimmick that would go away as Pinkamena grew to be more Pinkie-like, but it's not the case. There's some lampshading of how it's unreasonable for an 11yo girl to talk and narrate the way Pinkamena does, but otherwise that's just how it is for almost the whole story.
The fic starts picking up in quality towards the end, as the M6 struggle with the philosophical ramifications of having to (nonviolently) kill Pinkamena to get Pinkie back. I've watched enough episodes of Star Trek that do a better job of discussing variations on this question.
Above all else, it's disappointing.
The concept isn't bad, if a bit cliche. After a magical emergency(tm), Pinkie Pie wakes up as Pinkamena, who lived all her life on the rock farm and never met the rest of the Mane 6. Unfortunately, the execution is severely lacking. Since there is no explanation of the setup and the fic struggles to maintain a serious atmosphere, it's hard to become immersed in it. And because the characterizations of everypony are quite bad (the dialogues are especially horrid), it's hard to have it grow on you while reading. The ponies are cold and antagonistic without a real justification; in a word or three, they're all OOC.
The story tries to do something more interesting near the end, but by that point it's too little, and way too late. Despite how negative this review might read, it's not a terrible fic. I don't know if it's any worse that 'mediocre'. But it's meant to be a sad, touching story, so when that fails, it's hard to find any good reason to read it. 5/10, but I can't recommend it.