Wednesday 20 May 2015

Ponyfic Roundup 57: The Heinz Issue

No, I'm not going to be reviewing lots of (or even any) stories featuring baked beans or tomato ketchup. Actually, I'm only going to be reviewing four fics this week anyway, since I've been absurdly busy for one reason and another. I think they make for a reasonably varied selection, though. In reading order as usual, they are:

The Princess of Books by anowack
P3 Project Episode 1: The Emergency by Bookish Delight
Her Final Flight by palaikai
A Voice In The Dark by Blueshift

The Princess of Books by anowack
Twilight, Luna, Mane Six and Other
Comedy/Slice of Life; 18K words; Nov 2013; Teen
Twilight, newly dubbed Princess of Books, has a crisis on her hooves: Luna is upset about a book. Really, really upset. This is a whole load of fun, and the "overtaken by canon" aspects can happily be ignored. It's entertaining rather than hilarious, but consistently so. A couple of clever twists I didn't see coming, and a great ending. It does have slight LUS at times, but this is still easy to recommend. ★★★★

P3 Project Episode 1: The Emergency by Bookish Delight
Pinkie Pie and Applejack
Comedy/Slice of Life; 1K words; Oct 2011; Everyone
Pinkie Pie has spotted a new pony in town – a purple unicorn! This story, set on Twilight's first day in Ponyville, seems to be the first part of a long series. Maybe I'm being unfair therefore, but it doesn't seem to have much to it. There's a tiny bit of shipping, and a weird remark about unicorns in general, but mostly this fic is just... there. ★★

Her Final Flight by palaikai
Twilight and Scootaloo
Sad/Slice of Life; 3K words; Sep 2014; Everyone
A hundred years or so hence, Twilight goes to see the last of her mortal friends still alive: Scootaloo, ailing in a hospital bed. Okay, this is a clichéd setup – though it makes a change that a CMC is the last mare standing – but once you get past the overlong second sentence, it's quite likeable. The ending moves me, too, silly sap that I am. I'm not sure the Spike thing works, but I've read a lot worse. ★★★

A Voice In The Dark by Blueshift
Others
Dark/Slice of Life; 2K words; Apr 2014; Everyone
During the tribal wars, a fallen pegasus's wounds are dressed by a mysterious unicorn. Apparently inspired by a pre-MLP comic Blueshift wrote, though I've never seen that so am reviewing this on its own merits. Which are several: we get an interesting spin on those far-off days, it's highly atmospheric and it has one of those endings that you'll kick yourself for not guessing – but still won't. ★★★★

9 comments:

  1. The comic in question was a Transformers fan-comic, involving an Autobot and a Deception in the exact same situation. Knowing about that comic made me enjoy the story less because I figured out what was going on easily, but I think it's a good enough story to have two versions. (And at least, y'know, it's by the same author.)

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    1. And a bit of digging around produced said comic. As I'm not a Transformers fan, it didn't mean a lot to me -- though yes, I admit to reading "Unicron" as "Unicorn" the first time. :P

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    2. Not a Transformers fan?! This is an OUTRAGE, sir! AN OUTRAGE!

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    3. I consider it a simple metric: I'd be more excited by a £100 Masterpiece Starscream than a £300 Fluttershy/Rarity/Luna plush. Thus, I am clearly more of a TF fan than a pony one.

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    4. I wouldn't even know who Starscream was if it weren't for that "Death Battle" video. I vaguely remember Transformers being a thing at school when they first appeared (1984, apparently) and one or two of the TV ads, but everything else has been picked up by social osmosis. I don't really do pop culture. This fandom is an aberration.

      Mind you, I don't get that excited by expensive plushies either. If I had £300 to spare on pony merch, they'd be a long way down my want list.

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    5. Well, it's the only pony-related item I'd actually want, so there wasn't anything else to compare it to.

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  3. Really enjoyed The Princess of Books. Twilight was written well, and the resolution was great.

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    1. It's certainly a very good example of that type of Twific. I hope I'll run across more!

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