FimFiction Link - Short ID: 503610/vessel
Published: Sep '21
'Vessel' is a two thousand and five hundred word shortfic about, well, I'm not even sure what. The first half of the story is spent with Starlight reminiscing about how despite her being accepted and having friends, she still feels like she doesn't belong. Also, apparently it's her birthday and she receives a present from Spike in the form of a curious amulet. I have two big problems with this premise. One, it is way too convenient for Spike to just so happen to stumble upon a cursed amulet. I know, the show already pulled this off with the Alicorn amulet but even there it was kind of eyebrow-raising. My other problem is despite it's Starlight's birthday, no one else comes around to celebrate. Even if I can somehow accept that most of the M6 is busy or haven't warmed up to her that much (though that is highly dubious as it's made clear she's been in the town for a while), there's no way Twilight and especially Pinkie wouldn't throw her a small party.
Either way, she gets the amulet and then it captivates her so much that she sits in her room in an almost catatonic state for a whole day. Again, no one steps in to check on her, except for Spike who at night comes around to tell her
>Uhh yeah, you've been absent for the whole day.
Then when Starlight expresses shock at this, he doesn't even give a shit and just leaves.
Anyway, while the first half of the story was kind of silly, the second half felt so incomprehensible that I'm still not entirely sure what I've read. Starlight wakes up late at night (or she is in a nightmare, the story is pretty ambiguous about it) and the stars are for some reason absent from the sky. She runs out and bumps into Trixie, who does a bit of magic with the amulet and conjures a star on the sky. She then gives it to Starlight and asks her to try. When she tries, some weird green orb appears on the ground that distorts reality and causes Starlight's body to slowly decompose without her even really noticing this at first.
Trixie in the meantime undergoes some sort of metamorphosis, her body elongating and some "chitinous growth" enveloping her face. This isn't explained, nor has any relevance, as the amulet starts to float and then a "tall, transparent figure" emerges from it, wearing a nun's dress. The entity holds Starlight's face as she slowly dies. Trixie in the meantime is back to normal and shows no reaction to the events. Starlight, upon seeing that Trixie is fine, makes her peace with death, but as the light envelops her she just wakes up and everything is normal again. She feels tired and goes back to sleep. The end.
I am so confused by all this. I assumed by the bug imagery that the amulet is another Changeling scheme, but the ending disproves this. My other thought was that it is a crossover-fic, but I have no idea what it could reference.
Overall: 3/10 I don't get it and I'm not sure if there's anything to get here. I can't really recommend this story.