Ponyfic Roundup 115: Westering Home

With the end of the Season Six hiatus rapidly approaching, I reflect uncomfortably that I haven't written a single full-length fanfic since March. I do have the bare bones of one sitting on my hard drive, but it's not even at the stage where I can be sure that it's actually going to end up publishable. So, let's now have a look at some ponyfics that are published. Just three again this week (since following UK politics is absurdly time-consuming at the moment), but at least one of them is quite long!

Undeliverable by ocalhoun
Behind the Door by NightLord
Why Am I Crying? by Rated Ponystar

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0

Undeliverable by ocalhoun
Derpy
Sad; 1k words; Jul–Aug 2014; Everyone

A collection of letters to Ponyville's Mailmare

Derpy is no longer around because... well, that's the mystery. Here, we piece together fragments of her life in Ponyville through the medium of letters sent to her after her departure. You can interpret what's going on in several ways, some of which are serious hits in the feels. The ambiguity works very well, though. There's really no reason not to read this small gem. ★★★★

Behind the Door by NightLord
Twilight and Starlight Glimmer
Drama/Mystery; 2k words; May 2016; Everyone

When Starlight Glimmer discovers a locked door in Twilight's castle, she is determined to discover what it is hiding. This story was my entry for the Forbidden Knowledge writeoff.

This is a very talky fic, but that in itself is not a major problem for me. My real sticking point is that the reasoning for all the mystery seems rather weak, and Celestia's reasoning a little contrived. Starlight herself seems to get a slightly bad deal here, and Twilight the opposite. ★★

Why Am I Crying? by Rated Ponystar
CMC, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara
Slice of Life/Tragedy; 65k words; Mar 2013–May 2015; Everyone

The CMC each deal with their emotions when their hated enemy, Diamond Tiara, dies in an accident

Obviously overtaken by canon, but despite its hackneyed premise I found myself getting interested in this story as it went along. We get some interesting background detail about life in Ponyville and even some snippets of their religious customs. The chapters take turns in concentrating on each of the CMC – though nopony else, which is a slight shame. Sometimes characters seem to be speaking in unrealistically descriptive tones that don't really sound like the Crusaders we know, and Filthy Rich really does get a tough break (yes, beyond the death of his daughter). Nevertheless, I think the fic does quite well by its characters, Scootaloo especially. ★★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: right now, I have absolutely no idea!