Ponyfic Roundup 58: Just Ticking Over

Fact of the day: "any more", "for ever", "per cent" and "apple sauce" are all correct forms in British English. (In theory. Not always in practice these days, grumble grumble.) Anyway, another four-review week, since life refuses to calm down and give me more time to read about pastel ponies. All short fics, though I hope to have something a little bit longer for you either next week or the one after. A fic most of you will have heard of, too. Last week, I gave my first five-star fic for quite some while. This time round? Well... oh, just read on, eh? I'll be reviewing:

Part of a Pantheon by DannyJ
Scootaloo's Mind by mehperson
Who Needs to Talk? by Peter Yellowhammer
Angel's Promise by Starlight Shadow

Part of a Pantheon by DannyJ
Discord and OC
Dark/Slice of Life; 2K words; Oct 2014; Teen
Discord comes face to face with an old adversary in the depths of space. An all-dialogue fic which feels very much like (and is, as the author confirms) a snapshot into a much larger world. That's also its problem: there's so much world-building in here that, fascinating as it is, it almost overwhelms the actual story. Fans of a certain IDW comic may appreciate this the most. ★★★

Scootaloo's Mind by mehperson
Scootaloo
Sad/Slice of Life; 1K words; Jan 2014; Teen
Scootaloo wonders whether she can call herself a true pegasus. This is only just over the minimum word count, but still feels a bit padded. It never really (aha) gets off the ground, and the English isn't anything to write home about either. Even Scootafans like me may have trouble getting much out of this. ★

Who Needs to Talk? by Peter Yellowhammer
OCs
Romance/Random; 4K words; Jul 2012; Everyone
Two Canterlot Royal Guards keep watch after the wedding. This (+179/-0!) story is a shipfic, and M/M shipping at that. There's not much basis for the couple's feelings, though one of them has a rather interesting character. I'm not that keen on the poem, though it's better than most you'll see. Very tell-y, but I don't mind that. M/M fans may well love it. ★★

Angel's Promise by Starlight Shadow
Angel and Winona
Slice of Life; 1K words; Aug 2014; Everyone
Winona asks Angel why he treats Fluttershy as he does. I'm a big fan of pro-Angel stories, but this one doesn't quite work. Several things aren't properly explained, the writing is a bit off and the pets' voices don't convince me. Still worth a look as it's so short, but don't expect too much. ★★