Ponyfic Roundup 287

Read it Later story count: 221 (nc)

Once again, I don't have much to say here. I'm deliberately avoiding you-know-what subject, and my life otherwise has been pretty uneventful of late. Maybe I should fill up the gaps by reading more ponyfic! Nah, that's a ridiculous idea, isn't it? Just the pair of stories this time around:

Operation Firework by Crowley
A Friend In Me by TheNewYorkBrony

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

Operation Firework by Crowley
OC and Tempest Shadow
Romance/Adventure/Mystery/Thriller/Second Person; 23k words; Oct 2017; Mature (Sex)

Set one month after the Storm King Crisis, Tempest Shadow joins a prestigious branch of the Royal Guard known as the Elite Operatives. Her first ever partner - you - must work with her to solve a theft, and potential threat to Equestria.

For a second-person clopfic, this story worked better than I'd expected. Part of that may be because it isn't really a clopfic! It's a thriller with a couple of (marked) explicit chapters. The motivation for the criminals is interesting, one I haven't seen before and one that simply wouldn't work on Earth – I appreciate things like that. On the downside, the fic does rush into mutual attraction between "you" and Tempest, with "Wouldn't you like to know?" exchanges before the first chapter has even finished. The sex scenes are fine, barring the odd weird phrase like "wise libidos", though I think I might actually have preferred the fic with those scenes left implied. I did find the second-person format and rushed attraction enough of a distraction that I couldn't give this a particularly high rating, but those who are particularly keen on 2p might just bump it up to three stars. ★★

A Friend In Me by TheNewYorkBrony
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash
Equestria Girls/Slice of Life, 2k words; Mar 2015; Everyone

Fluttershy meets Rainbow Dash on the first day of her new school.

This EqG take on 'Shy and Dash's first meeting is simple and cute. Nothing wrong with that, of course! Most of it is pretty by-the-numbers, such as Flutters being bullied by Gilda and being defended by Rainbow. There is an unexpected twist when we discover a link between the two girls, though it comes rather out of nowhere and so isn't as satisfying as it might have been. Undemanding fluff if you're in the mood for such. ★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include DJLowrider's A Simpler Time.