Ponyfic Roundup 281

Read it Later story count: 232 (+4)

You can blame Present Perfect for the slight bump in RiL count. I wonder whether I ever will get the number down to 100, my long term goal? Anyway, three more fics for your (and, I hope, my) delight and delectation this week. Here's what I have in store for you:

The Place I Feel Safest by Lucky Seven
Extras by Casketbase77
Semantics by Claw in Cursive

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

The Place I Feel Safest by Lucky Seven
Roseluck and OCs
Sad/Slice of Life, 4k words; May 2018; Everyone

Roseluck gardens for many reasons. Of them all, one stands out.

Without spoiling more than I have to, the garden stands as a tribute to another pony, one who played a big part in Rose's life. The OC's story is not one that's likely to be new to you if you've read even a moderate amount of ponyfic, and so this isn't for you if you're looking for wild twists. It's a gentler, more sombre story than that. Even so, I found it rather touching. According to the A/N, the fic "holds a personal significance" for the author, one that of course we readers are not privy to, but I think it works reasonably well even without that context. ★★★

Extras by Casketbase77
Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, Blossomforth and Screwball
Comedy/Slice of Life, 6k words; Oct 2019; Teen

With the series winding down, four members of the ensemble cast are toasting to a job well done… when they’re approached by another background pony who wants their seasoned advice.

This is an intriguing take on the well-worn "the ponies just act for us" trope. We join the Extras Club, an informal drinking group made up of FiM's bit-parters. I really like their chats, which feel just right, and the idea of giving Vinyl a stammer – hence her on-screen silence – is clever too. Only Lyra has ever had a speaking role ("A Canterlot Wedding" was her speaking debut, fact fans) and that plus her frequent background appearances make her the head of the group. Things go downhill a bit when the meta gets stronger. Finding that Lyra, unlike the others, interacts with humans online is mildly amusing. However, the Extras then reassure a new pony that while fans may do bad stuff to their characters, they're really creative as well. There are several clunky name-checks to stuff like Anthropology and the Winningverse, and on the flipside there's a reference to Background Pony that won't make sense to anyone who doesn't know that fic. Still manages a high two, but the first chapter is where the best stuff is and on its own would make it into the threes. ★★

Semantics by Claw in Cursive
Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Celestia and Luna
Comedy/Slice of Life, 1k words; Dec 2019; Everyone

What's the harm in a choice of words between friends?

Rainbow and Rarity are filling in "Hoofmates" dating service forms for their friends – except for Fluttershy, for reasons explained in-story. But how should they describe Twilight when there's no option for "alicorn"? A nice concept that could have led to a very funny story. Sadly there are too many weirdnesses of the wrong sort: I'd have let "an unicorn" pass as a minor slip had Rarity not bizarrely corrected Rainbow into using that term shortly afterwards. Celestia and Luna are strangely characterised, and the former is described as "Celly" by the otherwise standard narrator. There's a sudden flashback near the end which does put things in perspective but is wordy and not very interesting – and having a pony called Mark doesn't add to the experience. This fic is a fairly classic example of "nice idea, but the execution is lacking". ★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include Skyward Shoe's The Sparkle Census. (Thanks to hawthornbunny for alerting me to this one.)