Ponyfic Roundup 49: Tales from the Royal Canterlot Library

This week, Ponyfic Roundup will be looking at a half-dozen sub-20K-word fics from the Royal Canterlot Library. I've had this edition planned for quite some time now, so I had no idea at first that I'd be able to refer to my fellow RCL inductees – but, hey, I'm not complaining about that! Looking back, I've already reviewed ten RCL fics, and nine of them received four or five stars (converting to my current scoring system where necessary). I was therefore hoping for good things from these randomly-chosen stories, which in reading order were:

Mandatory Fun by FanOfMostEverything
When the Levee Breaks by Cynewulf
A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard by Georg
Desert Rose by Golden Vision
It Is My Fate To Enter Every Door by Cloud Wander
Games by CCC

Mandatory Fun by FanOfMostEverything
Cheese Sandwich
Dark/Random; 3K words; Aug 2014; Everyone
Cheese Sandwich dons the Alicorn Amulet. Told in first person by Cheese himself, which really works – because we get to see what an Amulet-wearer really believes they're doing. The highlight, though, is the wonderfully playful language, a delight throughout. Plenty of references, naturally: I'm not enough of a Weird Al fan to get all of those, but there's also a very amusing Dr. Horrible-inspired pun. And whether it was deliberate, I don't know, but this Terry Pratchett fan was reminded of the city of Genua, where it was a punishable offence for cooks not to be fat and jolly, or toymakers not to sing while they worked. So, why four stars and not five? Simply that I felt a little disappointed by the ending. Spoiler considerations mean I need to stay vague, but for once I'd have preferred a story without a twist; without this twist, anyway. ★★★★

When the Levee Breaks by Cynewulf
Daring Do
Sad; 7K words; Dec 2012; Everyone
Daring Do returns to the Riverlands, the country where she grew up, to face both the past and the present. Something I've noticed is that there are a startling number of really good non-Adventure Daring Do fics – and this is another. The actual plot is a little on the predictable side – it doesn't take a genius to work out what Daring is facing up to – but that doesn't actually matter because... oh, the writing! Lyrical, economical and utterly, utterly wonderful. The sort of story where one pony tipping his hat or shaking her head can speak volumes. A fic that will live in my head for a long, long time to come. ★★★★★

A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard by Georg
Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor and OCs
Comedy/Slice of Life; 4K words; Dec 2012; Everyone
A folder of notes and background material, compiled by a later Royal Historian, on a... conflict between Celestia and Luna, as well as a change in Royal Guard recruitment policy. I took a little time to warm to this, but it got there after a while and by the end, I was hoping for more. (There's a sequel; yay!) It's the sort of idea I could imagine being used in the series, if they ever had the sense to do a real "The Royal Sisters at home" episode. There are a few mis-steps – "Chef Ram Sea" is just not funny – but a lot can be forgiven for my finally finding an author who can get Royal Canterlot Grammar consistently correct! ★★★★

Desert Rose by Golden Vision Story inaccessible; checked on 13 Mar 2017
OCs
Romance; 17K words; Jul 2013; Teen
Altair, Prince of Saddle Arabia, is captivated by the mysterious and beautiful Desert Rose. A straight-up, OC-only romance (the word "shipfic" would feel out of place here) is not something I'd usually read. I'm not sure this has entirely converted me. I like the evocation of Saddle Arabian society, the trusted servant Habiib, the tensions between Altair and his sire (a word strangely rare in ponyfic) and... the questions. (Spoilers!) I'm less enamoured by Desert Rose herself, who I don't find as captivating as the prince did, and by a disappointingly predictable final scene. A high three, to which those with more interest in romances might well want to add a star. ★★★

It Is My Fate To Enter Every Door by Cloud Wander
Pie Sisters and Others
Sad/Slice of Life; 4K words; June 2013; Teen
Blythe "Blinks" Pie visits Tartarus every year to visit her grandparents and hope for their redemption. (Note that this fic has been significantly edited and extended since its original RCL listing.) I tried, I really did, but in the end all I can do is admire this story, which I certainly do. I can't really love it, despite (because of?) all the well-written mythology. Maybe I'm simply too thick for a fable like this – even its comments section is seriously erudite – but I just didn't connect with Blythe very well. On the plus side, and it's a substantial plus, it has the best-realised Tartarus I've ever read. It's worth taking the time over for that reason alone, but don't expect light reading. ★★★

Games by CCC
Twilight and Discord
Slice of Life; 13K words; Sep 2013; Everyone
Discord needs to be surprised. The fate of Equestria rather rests on it. There are a lot of dodgy Discord portrayals in the fandom, but this isn't one of them; CCC's version of Discord is one I loved and can entirely buy into. It's a shame, then, that the fic feels a little too short to really do the plot justice. I know I tend to prefer the short stuff, but on this occasion, I'd have liked a few more thousand words. Games also suffers from a tremendously annoying and pervasive case of Full Stop Before Closing Quotes Disease, a real surprise from a writer like this. Also, "Applebloom", several times. These are so irritating as to significantly diminish my enjoyment of the fic, so they cost it a star. Also, "blue box". Really? ★★★

Next week on Ponyfic Roundup: Issue 50 special: Something New.