Something new this week: while I did think about going the whole hog and making this another edition where I was guided by the whims of the random number generator (as with PR 102), I decided to postpone that for now. It'll still happen, but a bit later on. This time, I'm still making use of the RNG, but using it simply to pick stories from a pool consisting of those already on my RiL list. I hope this method will give me a better hit rate than I had in PR 102! Six stories this week:
A Friend of a Friend by 8686
Out in the Cold by EsperDerek
Maud's Cutie Mark Story by My Little Scribbler
A Taste of Meat by InsertAuthorHere
Ghost of a Rose by Noble Thought
Fallout: Equestria - A Mare Worth Fighting For by Pacce
★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
A Friend of a Friend by 8686
Spike, Mane Six and CMC
Slice of Life; 16k words; Sep 2014; Everyone
Twilight is away and Spike rapidly becomes bored. Luckily, he has five other awesome friends to hang out with. Doesn't he?This is a good, old-fashioned story of friendship. Spike starts to wonder whether the rest of the Mane Six are truly his friends, or simply talk to him because of Twilight. Things proceed in a fairly predictable but nevertheless pleasingly Equestrian way from there on. There are a few nicely judged references, too. ★★★
Out in the Cold by EsperDerek
Twilight, Trixie, Celestia, Luna and OC
Romance/Sad/Slice of Life; 24k words; Nov 2012 [but see below]; Teen (Sex)
Haunted by her past, Trixie returns to the scene of her greatest defeat. Can she find a new path?This PMV-inducted tale is an ancient Twixie story: its Fimfiction publication date is November 2012, but it actually dates back to April 2011. It really shows its age, unfortunately: the ship has well and truly sailed by the end of chapter one, and most of what comes after that is fanservice pure and simple. Luna is of course the S1 model, though there are a couple of amusing similarities with her later incarnation. The resolution, though, is ridiculous. Two stars, but not by much. ★★
Maud's Cutie Mark Story by My Little Scribbler
Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie
Adventure/Comedy/Random; 3k words; May 2014; Everyone
Pinkie tells a story of how Maud got her Cutie Mark while outwitting diamond dogs.Here we have a fairly standard "Pinkie tells a story in her own inimitable way" fic. Her voice isn't bad, but its not quite good enough to avoid being irritating from time to time. There are some odd events ("Twilight bucked Rainbow in the side") and a number of spell-checker typos. Another of those fics that would have been more fun if the author had gone all-out. ★★
A Taste of Meat by InsertAuthorHere
Sunset Shimmer, Granny Smith and Mane Six
Dark/Equestria Girls/Human/Slice of Life; 5k words; Oct 2014; Teen
An Equestria Girls tale. Rainbow Dash dares Sunset Shimmer to try meat. The results are not what any of them expected.Since it's entirely obvious where this is going before you even start reading it, there's not a lot to say here. If you like stories in which Rainbow calls Sunset "Miss Bacon Hair" and is her usual EqG-model mildly obnoxious self, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, there's not a lot to detain you, especially as the ending is rather a let-down. ★★
Ghost of a Rose by Noble Thought
Roseluck, Pinkie Pie, OC and Other
Alternate Universe/Sad/Romance/Slice of Life; 74k words; Sep 2014; Teen (Sex)
Roseluck goes on a journey through her past to discover what her future holds.A haunting tale in more ways than one. Rose, in a strange limbo-like world, meets Pinkie Pie there. Pinkie won't tell Rose why she's there or what's going on, but insists that she must see for herself. Gradually, Rose discovers her memories and pieces her life back together. As well as the emotional hits, I really like the world-building in this fic; this includes some really interesting cultural stuff, including the sort of fertility festival that you most definitely don't get on a TV-Y show. We also get brief hints of Ponyville's past triumphs and tragedies. Very worthwhile reading, and easily recommended. ★★★★
Fallout: Equestria - A Mare Worth Fighting For by Pacce
OCs and Derpy
Crossover/Dark/Romance; 6k words; Aug 2013; Mature (Sex)
Littlepip shares a moment of sublime intimacy with [spoiler] and reexamines why she fights.Well, wouldn't you know it? This was the RNG's final pick! First things first: you need to be familiar with Fallout: Equestria (PR 5) itself for this story to make sense. In fact, it's endorsed by Kkat and can be treated as "Chapter 20.5" of the original. The identity of the pony Littlepip shares a bed with is important to the parent story's development, so I've chosen to censor it here. Said pony is not a character I like very much in F:E anyway. As for this fic? It's clop, and decent (well, indecent) clop at that. However, there is some actual plot here as well. It's still not entirely to my taste because of that pony, but I did find it more interesting than I was expecting. ★★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: a return to the shelves of the Royal Canterlot Library.
You don't like her either? I'm so happy! :D
ReplyDeleteNot really, no. She's an immature idiot half the time. :P
DeleteI found Pip's reaction to her to be far more interesting than the character herself. Also, I really giggle at the idea that somehow the world of FoE just lacks for ladies who swing that way. The Fallout universe itself certainty doesn't lack for lesbians. From Fallout the original you could even get married as a gay couple.
DeleteI have no real knowledge of the original Fallout. I played the first game (and maybe the second) right back when they were newish, but that's about it. So I'd either forgotten or didn't know things like that.
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