Ponyfic Roundup 242: The Citadel of Chaos

I have before me a paperback called Reach for Tomorrow; it's a 1974 reissue of a 1956 collection of early Arthur C Clarke short stories. In his preface, Clarke says, "I wrote these stories to entertain one person—myself. It still seems a remarkable piece of good luck that other people have been entertained as well." Words to live by.

Read it Later story count: 265 (-3)

Another small collection of ponyfics today. Without further ado, adieu or even Agadoo, here they are:

Dragon Lord Ember Skips Work for an Hour by The Cloptimist
Twilight Discovers Literary Analysis by Amit
Late Fees by MrNumbers

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Dragon Lord Ember Skips Work for an Hour by The Cloptimist
Ember, Thorax, Garble and Dragons
Romance/Slice of Life; 3k words; Feb 2019; Everyone Teen

The mighty Dragon Lord Ember slips away for an hour, to meet up with her secret mate.

Another new author; they only joined Fimfiction this year. Most of their stories are clop (more or less), but this is their first non-M-rated fic, so I thought I'd give it a look. On this evidence, The Cloptimist is a welcome addition to the ranks. As Present Perfect said, it's nice to see a look at Ember in her own environment, away from ponies, dealing very efficiently (and suitably bluntly) with others in her role as Dragon Lord. Her characterisation is great, and it doesn't fall down once we see the shipping come in. Thorax is well written too, and I could believe the reason given as to why these two might see something in each other. The fic pushes the [Everyone] rating occasionally, and would probably sit more comfortably as [Teen], but that aside I have no real quibbles. Update: it is now [Teen]. This grabbed me more than a shipfic has any right to. ★★★★

Twilight Discovers Literary Analysis by Amit
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Celestia
Comedy/Slice of Life/Tragedy; 6k words; Jul–Aug 2012; Everyone

Twilight reads a book about literature. It doesn't go well.

This is something a bit different. And also odd. In a nutshell, Twilight's reading leads her to become convinced she exists as part of a narrative. Which of course she does from our perspective, though here Twi believes she is so from her perspective as well. Although she encounters Pinkie, Twilight isn't able to turn her self-awareness into Pinkie-style fourth-wall breaking. In some ways, Pinkie actually plays straight mare, though Spike is useful there as well. Also, Celestia is having none of it. There's a lot of self-referential stuff in here, and you may be thoroughly sick of the word "narrative" by the end, but it's a clever little fic. In a comment, Amit says that they wrote this "partially as an objection to metafics written by people lacking the self-awareness to realise the inevitability of authorial fiat." If you're cleverer than me, you'll probably love it. Since I'm not cleverer than me, it made my brain hurt a bit. Three stars, then, but this is another fic that readers who love the idea may rate higher. ★★★

Late Fees by MrNumbers
Twilight
Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jul 2013; Everyone

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria, is still, above all else, a dedicated librarian and bibliophile. Books must be cared for. Books must be returned on time. Books must be respected.

Caramel is about to discover that Twilight really, really means it. This is a good fic if you want a bit of short silliness, with Caramel managing to put his hoof in it with every apology or excuse. It's potentially a very nice setup, but it didn't quite click for me, I think because it doesn't quite flow. Possibly the whole "newly-ascended alicorn has problems adjusting" thing is now just too much ancient history to feel relevant. A high two, and a worthwhile tea break fic, but I didn't find it all that funny. ★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: Stories reviewed should include PresentPerfect's My Full Sized Goddess Horse.