Ponyfic Roundup Awards Two (PRs 11-20)

It's awards time again! I'll stick to the same format that I used for the first awards post: one gold, one silver and three bronzes. It was quite hard picking out the best stories this time round, though I really didn't have much doubt about my one-two. The period was one of thinnish pickings at first: all five of my prize-winners come from the second half.

Ponyfic Roundup Gold Award

In the Place the Wild Horses Sleep by Lucky Dreams (PR 20)
OCs, Luna and Mane Six
Adventure/Human; 3K words; Jul 2014; Everyone
This just blew me away. A genuinely excellent children's story. Please, please don't pass on it because it has a Human tag attached. It's one of those tales that, once read, you will never forget. I love it fiercely, and that's why it gets the Gold Award this time.

Ponyfic Roundup Silver Award

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish by Blueshift (PR 19)
Lyra and Bon Bon
Slice of Life; 6K words; Jun 2014; Everyone
Blueshift's fic is really unlucky not to get the Gold. It's a fabulous story of LyraBon friendshipping, which pulled my emotions this way and that without ever feeling overly manipulative. Blueshift's stories are generally very good: this one is good even by his standards.

Ponyfic Roundup Bronze Awards

And We Are Not Yet Saved by Grey Heather (PR 18)
Chrysalis and Changelings
Slice of Life; 1K words; May 2014; Teen
There are far too many mediocre changeling fics about. This is not one of them: despite its extreme shortness, it tells the well-worn story of Chrysalis after the S2 finale without feeling like yet another re-tread.

I Wish I Had Met You Yesterday by 8686 (PR 20)
Daring Do, Twilight and OCs
Sad; 22K words; Feb 2014; Everyone
I've never been one to treat "Show, don't tell" as an inviolable rule, and stories like this are why. It's a very talky story in places, but that works. Read this if you're interested in seeing another side to the Daring Do mythos.

Old Friends by RBDash47 (PR 16)
Other
Sad/Slice of Life; 2K words; Mar 2014; Everyone
I'm a big fan of "restrained emotion" done well, and that's exactly what this is. It's too short even to qualify for EqD submission, but who cares? There's really no reason not to spare a few minutes of your time for this.