Ponyfic Roundup 277

Read it Later story count: 230 (-3)

As I've mentioned before, there will be no Ponyfic Roundup on New Year's Day. Instead, I plan on posting PR 278 on 8th January. You can find an idea of what will be in that edition at the end of this edition. And talking of this edition, I've managed to get through five stories for a change – and I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed reading every one of them. Here's the list of what's under review today:

Apple Cider Caramels by iisaw
A Faded Touch of Blue by Tofazz
Calendar Chaos by Impossible Numbers
Conversations with Eternity by Sunchaser
It Doesn't Have to End Here by Soothing Stone

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 3 | ★★★★★: 0

Apple Cider Caramels by iisaw
Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith
Slice of Life, 2k words; Jan 2016; Everyone

Applejack passes on an old family recipe.

The Apple Family make the titular candies. That's pretty much all there is to this fic, so it's definitely one for those who just like a quiet, in-character scene with the family members talking amongst themselves. There's a nice sense of being allowed to look through a window into the home lives of the characters, with talk occasionally turning to the sort of shared memories surely that all close families turn into something approaching their own private legends. Not a lot happens, and as one Fimfiction commenter said this is largely a recipe at heart with the story written around that. But it's warm and cosy and homely, and those are not virtues to be ignored. ★★★

A Faded Touch of Blue by Tofazz
OCs and Trixie
Romance/Sad/Slice of Life, 14k words; Jul 2013; Teen (Sex)

Moxie's whole life has been decided for her. Except for that one trip to Canterlot, that one step into the wrong establishment, and that one mare.

This is a Royal Canterlot Library story, which is often a good sign for me, and so it proved here. Moxie is a Saddle Arabian, about to be married to a stallion she doesn't love. Things are complicated by the fact that Moxie is both high-born and physically damaged. The world-building here is wonderful, with a great, nuanced portrayal of Saddle Arabia that doesn't take the easy way out. These OCs almost all have shades of grey, as does the society in which they live, and that brings them alive. Moxie's past, as we discover early on, is that she had a fling with Trixie – something profoundly disapproved of in Saddle Arabia. I felt this was maybe a small mis-step: in the Pony world, a homophobic "Middle Eastern" society perhaps doesn't quite fit as easily as similar attitudes do in a story set on on Earth. You can also quibble with a few bits of language, for example the distracting use of "gimpy [right] wing" and some fairly mild LUS. The rest is so strong and memorable, though, that it overcomes these problems quite easily. As you'd expect in a T-rated story, the sexual element is not explicit, though it is more than incidental; this is certainly not a story for children. It is a story for any grown-up MLP fan who thirsts for a fascinating and largely convincing look at a non-Equestrian pony society. ★★★★

Calendar Chaos by Impossible Numbers
Fluttershy and Discord
Slice of Life, 2k words; Sep 2018; Everyone

One teatime, Fluttershy asks Discord exactly what a draconequus considers a birthday. He proves to be less than cooperative.

I feel a very mild and completely undeserved sense of pride that this story stems from an idea originally intended for (though not actually used in) one of my Flashfic 150 contests. Anyway, it's currently the author's highest-rated story on Fimfiction and it's an excellent character study for both Discord and Fluttershy. Both of them are very solid and convincing, the dialogue is very well paced, and their "chalk and cheese" friendship really does feel natural here. I'm not completely convinced by 'Shy's fillyhood experience, but that's only a minor part of what is a very satisfying piece of life-slicery. ★★★★

Conversations with Eternity by Sunchaser
Luna and OC
Adventure/Alternate Universe; 6k words; Jul 2013; Everyone

Prodded by whimsical intuition, Princess Luna finds herself walking the nostalgic streets of the desert city Gallopfree, and conferring with its enigmatic Steward of Eternity.

Another RCL-approved tale, this is set in the "City of Time", Gallopfree – a place whose name I've never been fully able to take seriously. (But I can do that with Ponyville. Go figure.) Anyway, this is a story that seems to be set shortly after Luna's return, but her old life – going back to long before her banishment – also plays an important part. The [AU] marker is even more needed today, in a canon world with the Tree of Harmony, but by its own lights this is a fascinating Luna character study, with some fine world-building thrown in. The fic is quite densely written, and I'm still not at all sure I caught everything I was meant to, but it presents an intriguing alternative take on Luna's story – and it does so without any other significant characters outside flashbacks, unless you count the Steward as one, and it's never entirely clear whether the Steward is a character as such. Oh, and the last line may well hit you hard. ★★★★

It Doesn't Have to End Here by Soothing Stone
Mane Six, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Celestia and Luna
Slice of Life; 6k words; Nov 2019; Everyone

Twilight's friends come together to celebrate her first anniversary after the coronation.

It's easy enough to see the subtext to that title, given the publication date: as the end A/N makes explicit, this story was prompted by a desire to remind us all that the fandom doesn't have to end just because the show does – to quote the author, "It's only over if you want it to". The fic itself is a pleasant ensemble piece in a rather old-fashioned style that I suspect was a deliberate choice on the part of the author. It won't make you sit up in shock, but it might bring a gentle smile or two. I do feel the story could do with another editing pass – there's a little too much exposition at times, as well as the narrator shoe-horning in little nods to the audience, including Royal Canterlot Voice and an indirect "20 percent cooler" reference. It made EqD, so clearly not everyone feels this way, but I thought the read was a little less smooth than it could have been. I don't know how well this will age, but if you're in the right mood for its message at the moment, this is a decent bit of positivity. ★★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: a special edition! I'll be taking a look at stories by some of Fimfiction's most prolific authors, with an emphasis on writers that I don't tend to review anyway.