FimFiction Link - Short ID: 416875/never-going-back-again
Published: Mar '23 — Apr '23
Some things require sacrifices.
"never going back again" is a 26 thousand word long sci-fi fic. We follow the story of Celestia, who wakes up on a space station somewhere far away from Equestria, but not quite that far away from a certain other place. The station has clearly seen better days, the Solar princess can't remember anything that happened before, and it looks like something strange and perhaps sinister is happening in this place. Why is she here? What is going on? Read the story and you will find the answers.
Some thoughts about the plot:
I really liked the whole thing with the passage of time. How with each passing loop the station deteriorates further, the prospect of closing the rift seems bleaker, but Celestia and her companions continue to carry out their duty, in spite of their deteriorating bodies and sanity. I liked the way the characters were written, they are really distinct and feel alive. The thing that i didn't liked that much about the story was the ending - it felt a bit anticlimactic and to ambiguous for my taste. The destruction of the Chaos tear feld a bit underwhelming. Also, it's not clear if Celestia who woke up in the Canterlot throne room carries the memories of the station's Celestia, and i'd really like to see some closure in this regard.
Without spoilers - the characters are great and feel alive, the prose is great as well. The story is good, but i didn't like the ending that much. It wasn't bad, but it didn't satisfy me. Still, it's definitely worth a read.