An early warning first up: although there should be a Ponyfic Roundup as normal next week, there won't be one the week after, on account of UK PonyCon. I expect to return to weekly PR instalments on 23rd October. Back to today, and here are the three fics I've been reading. One of which is much longer than I usually manage, so hurrah for that! Reviewed today:
Just Two Clones, Having Dinner by Summer Dancer
The Archetypist by Cold in Gardez
...But It Often Rhymes by Posh
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Just Two Clones, Having Dinner by Summer Dancer
Other
Slice of Life; 7k words; Jun 2018; Everyone
When Twilight's clone escapes from Queen Chrysalis, she eventually discovers yet another clone in hiding.Summer Dancer hasn't been online since April, and as things stand this is their final published ponyfic. It's a concept I haven't seen used before, with Twilight's clone from "The Mean 6" meeting an unzapped Pinkie clone from "Too Many Pinkie Pies" in Manehattan, where they're both hiding. I enjoyed that setup, and there were flashes of nice character insight, but overall I was slightly disappointed with the lack of excitement and drama and a bit irritated with what Clone!Pinkie would call the FUN! You're likely to be thoroughly sick of the phrase "the pink one" long before the end, too. ★★
The Archetypist by Cold in Gardez
Twilight, Discord, Mane Six and Starlight Glimmer
Drama; 52k words; Mar–Apr 2019; Teen
I knew there would be trouble when Discord started asking about dreams. He just wanted to make them better, he said. More interesting. In a way he was right – in a very terrible way that we must stop, before it is too late.A story I read in physical form in CiG's book, Completely Safe Stories. As usual from this writer, it's fascinating. This is a thought-provoking and disturbing look at what can happen if dreams really do come true. It's a rather different sort of strangeness from what happened in "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" with some rather darker results. Twilight has the most memorable arc, in which the Sun plays a central role in both present and distant past – yes, there's plenty of symbolism here – although Applejack and Fluttershy are also intriguing. The other mane characters are a little more lightly drawn, but still have impact – Starlight in particular. There's a coda which is not intended as part of the main fic, but "something that might have happened". Personally I think the read is slightly stronger without it, but the coda does give a bit more insight into how things may have panned out "in one interpretation". This is CiG, so that the writing is excellent is taken as read – but you can expect to feel distinctly uncomfortable well before the end. ★★★★
...But It Often Rhymes by Posh
Cheerilee and Sunset Shimmer
Equestria Girls/Romance/Drama; 13k words; Sep 2017–Jan 2018; Teen (Sex)
For four years, Sunset Shimmer has carried a torch for Miss Cheerilee, and for four years, she's struggled to look at her without thinking of the one who got away.Another fic with a coda, and indeed another fic that made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. Here, Sunset fell for Cheerilee back in Equestria a while before her initial departure through the portal, and we get regular flashbacks following what happened with that relationship. In the human world, Sunset has just finished at CHS and Cheerilee is no longer her teacher – which makes the prom a little more charged than usual as we discover how the two principal characters feel about each other now. There's a little bit of chronological hand-waving to explain the age difference between Equestria and Humanworld, and even though Sunset is clearly legal by the time Cheerilee falls for her and though the awkwardness of a potential relationship between a just-ex-teacher and her just-ex-pupil is touched upon, I still found it a bit unnerving. I suspect there's a layer to this story that I'm missing. I was impressed by the character writing, including of Twilight who plays a nice supporting role, and the flashbacks are embedded well. I still find it uncomfortable enough to keep it to a three-star rating, though it's a high three. If this is your kind of fic then by all means add a star. It's a good story, that much I'm sure about. ★★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include Treasure by paperhearts.
It's strange - and more than a little unsettling - to think that next week will be the last ever fic roundup where the stories are theoretically at risk of being contradicted by future episodes. From then on, with no ongoing canon other than the comics, fics themselves *are* their own future episodes. Gosh.
ReplyDeleteYes... I suppose in a way it's like having the stabilisers* taken off our bikes at long last! Liberating, exciting, but also just a little bit scary.
Delete* Training wheels, for my American readers.
Although, as we now know, the dread spectre of possible canon contradictions will be back with G5... ;)
Delete