Not pictured, the dangerous adventures to save an island from certain doom.
Princess Ponies is a series of children's fantasy adventure books by Julie Sykes and Jeff Norton under the pen name Chloe Ryder.
The Magical Land of Chevalia is a place were sapient ponies live in peace. However, one day the eight golden horseshoes sustaining the magic of the island go missing, and if not returned by Midsummer's Day, the island will sink into the sea.
Meanwhile, a young, pony-loving girl named Pippa (short for Philippa) is spending time at the beach on vacation with her family when she is spirited away to Chevalia by a pair of sea horses named Rosella and Triton. An old legend says a human girl will come and save Chevalia in its time of need, and to save it, Pippa and the youngest princess of Chevalia's royal family, Princess Stardust, must make that legend come true. And it will take all their courage to do so.
Books in this series are:
- A Magical Friend
- A Dream Come True
- The Special Secret
- A Unicorn Adventure!
- An Amazing Rescue
- Best Friends Forever!
- A Special Surprise
- A Singing Star
- The Lucky Horseshoe
- The Pumpkin Ghost
- Season's Galloping
- An Enchanted Heart
This series contains examples of:
- All Girls Like Ponies: Pippa certainly does...but as it turns out, little ponies like little girls too and Stardust feels the same about her as does Cinder. Both get a laugh out of this when Stardust realizes and agree to be friends instead.
- Apocalypse How: A regional one will occur should the eight golden horseshoes not be returned to the Whispering Wall by Midsummer's Day. Chevalia will sink into the sea and be destroyed.
- Big Damn Heroes: At the climax of the second book, Pippa and Stardust are racing to retrieve the second horseshoe before the tide rises and it's washed into the ocean. Both are exhausted and if the tide comes in while they're too close, they run the risk of dying in a whirlpool. Stardust's best friend Blossom, who Pippa helped earlier, arrives just in time to take Pippa the rest of the way to get it.
- Call to Adventure: Pippa gets hers with Triton and Rosella ask her to come save Chevalia.
- Celestial Deadline: The golden horseshoes have to be returned to the Whispering Wall by Midsummer's Day, eight days after they're stolen, or Chevalia will sink into the sea and be gone forever.
- Central Theme: According to Jeff Norton, the central theme of the story is bravery. This shows with the dangerous situations the heroes end up in and have to face.
- The Chooser of the One: Rosella and Triton are the ones to choose Pippa specifically to fulfill the legend.
- The Chosen One: Pippa, who is the little girl mentioned in an old legend who will help save Chevalia in its hour of need.
- Cosmic Keystone: The eight golden horseshoes maintain Chevalia's magic, and if they're not back on the Whispering Wall by Midsummer's Day, Chevalia will be destroyed.
- Covers Always Lie: The covers to the books look like generic little girl's books, but the author's actual intention was to give young girls something more than that. The books are actually fantasy adventure stories with a lot more intense situations than is standard for the target audience. Lampshaded by Jeff Norton during an interview, who admitted they were the publisher's idea to better appeal to the target demographic and if he had his way, they'd look like Indiana Jones posters.
- The Ditz: Stardust is rather easily distracted and Pippa has to help her focus on the situation at hand.
- Face Your Fears: Pippa is afraid of heights, with some implications of vertigo. Given the Central Theme of the books is bravery, she naturally has to face this fear to retrieve several of the horseshoes.
- Furry Reminder: The ponies of Chevalia are sentient, but they still demonstrate horse behavior. Their most common greeting is to touch noses and 'breathe' at each other, something actual horses do.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Pippa and Stardust have to retrieve all eight of the golden horseshoes and return them to the Whispering Wall before Midsummer's Day, or Chevalia will be destroyed.
- Innocently Insensitive: Princess Stardust has this as a flaw. She keeps forgetting Pippa doesn't like being called her pet and has to be reminded of such. In the second book, she accidentally seriously upsets her best friend Blossom by saying she's now her 'second best friend' after Pippa, not considering how this might make her feel. Pippa calls her out on it.
- Karmic Jackpot: Pippa choosing to help Blossom after Stardust accidentally causes her to breakdown crying leads to Blossom pulling a Big Damn Heroes moment and helping them save the second horseshoe (and themselves).
- Little Miss Badass: Pippa is this, but it takes until the second book to really start showing. She's a young girl, but she's willing to put herself in dangerous or life threatening situations (like potentially being sucked into a powerful whirlpool or jumping between two horses going full gallop) to save Chevalia.
- Magical Land: Chevalia is a magical island inhabited by sentient horses and other fantastic phenomena that only those who truly love ponies and horses can see.
- Massively Numbered Siblings: Princess Stardust is the youngest of eight siblings.
- Meaningful Name: Pippa's full name is Philippa, which means 'Lover of Horses' (or Lover of Ponies). She is one, and it's one reason why she's taken to help save Chevalia: only someone who loves horses or ponies can see Chevalia, let alone go there.
- Narnia Time: Pippa is told at the very start of her adventure that time will not pass in the outside world while she's in Chevalia.
- Pegasus: They live on Chevalia, with the first one introduced being Pega, a friend of Stardust's.
- Perception Filter: Only someone who truly loves equines can see Chevalia and understand its inhabitants.
- The Power of Love: Chevalia's magic is powered by the love of humans for ponies and horses, channeled through the golden horseshoes. This is also why only those who love them can see Chevalia.
- Race Against Time:
- The heroes only have until Midsummer's Day to retrieve the golden horseshoes during the first Story Arc, or Chevalia will sink into the sea and take their entire civilization with it.
- In the second book, the climax is one: high tide is coming in and if the second horseshoe isn't retrieved, it will be sucked into a powerful whirlpool...and so will the heroes if they try and fail to.
- Shout-Out: Pippa's initial outfit resembles the most common one Megan wore in the G1 cartoon.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: During the second book, Pippa runs all the way down a lengthy path to the sea shore to meet with Rosella and Triton, then tries to run to the second horseshoe, through unstable ground quickly being covered in water. She gets exhausted long before she reaches it. Stardust then does the same to come help her...and the same exact thing happens. While Stardust does have better stamina, she's still a princess, not an athlete, and thus isn't conditioned for this sort of thing. In contrast, her best friend Blossom, who is an athlete, isn't winded from running Pippa the entire way.
- Talking Animal: Played With. Stardust implies it's not so much the sentient horses of Chevalia can talk as Pippa is magically able to understand their language for the same reasons she can see the island in the first place.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Stardust's oldest sister Crystal is terrified of horseflies.
