Ponyfic Roundup 153: Coco Pommel Edition

There's nothing quite as guaranteed to make me feel intellectually inadequate as a Bad Horse blog post, even more so when I read the comments. They're good reading, but they do heat my brain up somewhat! This time I at least understand bits of his post, thanks to my long-standing interest in the Roman Empire and its decline (and, indeed, fall). If you don't already, give BH's long-form posts a look.

Read it Later story count: 446 (-6)

I laugh in the face of the Evil Corporations who insist we call her "Miss Pommel". Ha! to you! Ha! I say! Coco she is and Coco she e'er shall remain. (Except in one of the stories I review here...) There aren't a huge number of Coco-tagged stories on Fimfiction, and there are even fewer that I actually wanted to read, but I did manage to find five that looked potentially appealing. This week's fics are:

Miss Pommel (or Current Resident) by MythrilMoth
Those Below the Hoof by playnwin
Sweetie's Manehattan Birthday by Czar_Yoshi
My Nightmarish Heroine by Quillamore
The Midsummer Theater Revival by plumander

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0

Miss Pommel (or Current Resident) by MythrilMoth
Coco Pommel and Rarity
Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 1k words; May 2016; Everyone

Coco Pommel's life is turned upside-down by a stupid clerical error.

A silly little fic from when the news about Coco's name change first hit the fandom, I think before the "legal issues" explanation was officially confirmed. I suspect this was written at least partly as a jab at the predictably wild overreaction of some bronies to the whole affair. Don't go expecting a deep storyline or perfectly crafted prose, as that's not the point. It's fairly forgettable fluff now, but as such it achieves its purpose. Go and play Douglas Adams' Bureaucracy if you want an inspired take on a similar theme. ★★

Those Below the Hoof by playnwin
Coco Pommel
Adventure/Dark; 3k words; Jan 2014; Everyone

Underneath its shining exterior, Manehatten holds a dark secret, and Coco Pommell has stumbled across it.

Manehattan (however you spell it) is the obvious location for a mafia-esque thriller, and once you're past the long descriptions of the opening, that's what you get. Unfortunately, that wordiness doesn't let up even in the tenser scenes, which takes away much of the excitement. The story does provide an interesting background to Coco's appearance in "Rarity Takes Manehattan", and to the origin of the reel of rainbow thread. It's a shame, then, that I found it a rather dull read. ★★

Sweetie's Manehattan Birthday by Czar_Yoshi
Coco Pommel, Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Rainbow Dash
Adventure/Comedy; 10k words; Dec 2016; Everyone

Rarity has a whole day of fun planned out, but when an unexpected business incident arises, it falls to the unprepared Coco Pommel to make sure Sweetie Belle's birthday is as special as it needs to be.

The author's bio reads simply "Noble Jurist", so I was a little concerned I'd be in for enormously long descriptions and incomprehensible comments about lemurs. Thankfully, no. This is Czar_Yoshi's Fimfiction debut, and an excellent one it is too. I'd never read a story focusing on Coco and Sweetie, but I now wonder why not, as this is a really cute, sweet piece of fluff with Coco given real character. There's some gentle world-building, handled with a nice light touch, and I really felt for Coco at one point – you'll know when you get there. The final chapter doesn't appeal quite so much, with Rainbow Dash feeling a couple of years out of date. But this is absolutely worth reading, and if there's ever a sequel I'll be delighted. ★★★★

My Nightmarish Heroine by Quillamore
Coco Pommel, Rarity, Nightmare Rarity and Bat Ponies
Alternate Universe/Romance; 3k words; Oct 2014; Teen

In a world where the nightmare forces have their own country, Coco Pommel joins their ranks in hope of a better life.

Fair warning: this fic has the phrase "nightmare thestral" in the very first paragraph. :P It's not a setup I've seen before, and a relationship between "Nightmarity" and Coco is also a new one on me. So points for originality there. On the downside, I found the narrative style very wordy and a bit dull, which didn't feel right for a story with such a dramatic AU. Once you accept the startling ship, it's a fairly pedestrian relationship tale. ★★

The Midsummer Theater Revival by plumander
Coco Pommel and OCs
Slice of Life; 4k words; Mar 2017; Everyone

Coco Pommel gets her cutie mark. She's happy. Of course she's happy.

Filly Coco is really cute, and that's the best thing this story has going for it. I can buy this being her background, and a few slightly overlong sentences apart it flows pretty well, too. It takes a bit too long for conflict to arrive – it does do so eventually – and one of the OCs seems almost a carbon copy of a canon pony. Nevertheless, a nice little tale and one that fills in a little background for our favourite Pommel horse. ★★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: no PR next week because of Easter, but the following week: It's Returning? The Immortal Game? (Yes, at last!)