Ponyfic Roundup 442

Read it Later story count: 92 (-3)

Words read this week: 39,425

Barely anything of any interest to say up here this week, other than to repeat my Fimfiction comment that Sweden's Eurovision song was okay at best and not a winner in my book. (I voted for Norway's entry and also liked Switzerland's.) While not having anything of interest to say doesn't usually stop me, this time I'm going to carry right on to the story list:

Firelight by MegatronsPen
B.B.B.F.F.B.R. by 8686
The Many Deaths of Twilight Sparkle by Jinzou
The Bun, The Oven, and The Muffin Man by Crosis
When The Rain Fell by Alicorn

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Firelight by MegatronsPen
Twilight and Spitfire
G4 AU; Random; 8k words; Apr 2015; Mature (Sex)

Princess Twilight Sparkle wakes up in Spitfire's bedroom with the worlds biggest hangover and soon discovers the two shared a rather intimate evening together... if her aching body is anything to go by.

TwiFire isn't a very common ship, and here we have it in full-on M-rated form. Let's get to the point: the actual clop parts here are not bad at all. They're fairly imaginative, they avoid some of the more tiresome clichés (both physical and narrative) and late on in the story we're provided us with a couple of startling and interesting revelations. On the downside... personal preference, but I found the sheer amount of boozing in the fic to go beyond "useful to get us here" and into "getting tedious now" territory. (And come on, at least try to ponify the brand name!) All in all, though, it's a competent clopfic that actually has a story, and which makes the pairing feel reasonably convincing. For that, after some thought, I think it can have a three. ★★★

B.B.B.F.F.B.R. by 8686
Twilight, Applejack, Big Mac and Shining Armor
G4; Slice of Life; 21k words; Nov 2013; Everyone

Twilight Sparkle has the best big brother in the world. Applejack has the best big brother in the world. They can't both be right. It's on...

This is quite an early 8686 fic, published right after the fabulous I Wish I Had Met You Yesterday (PR 20). While this isn't quite that good, it's not far off. Set during S4, this goes hard on character interaction and succeeds satisfyingly. Twilight and Applejack's respective brothers are the main focus, but how the two Mane Sixers relate to each other is also explored somewhat. Spike, though not credited, also has a pleasing supporting role. While this is mostly a light-hearted fic, there are also moments of real feels: Mac explaining to Twilight how he feels when AJ goes off on adventures is one highlight. They don't slow things down, though: the pacing here is very well judged. Any missteps are few and minor, and it's just an all-round example of how well S4-era domestic-style stories can work. A very comfortable four. ★★★★

The Many Deaths of Twilight Sparkle by Jinzou
Twilight and Starlight
G4; Dark/Comedy/Random; 2k words; Jun 2020; Teen (Death)

A story in which Twilight Sparkle proceeds to die. Several times. For science.

A fic where Luna asks Twi, "Surely you've died since you ascended, have you not?" right at the start promises to be a wild ride, and so this is. Twilight being Twilight, she quickly realises the scientific potential of being able to kill oneself and still be alive afterwards. The silly black comedy here becomes both sillier and blacker as the fic proceeds, and perhaps a longer version would suffer from the lack of depth – but at 2k words it does the job admirably. The very end is unfortunately a weak reference, but everything else is at least fun and sometimes hilarious – so a high three. ★★★

The Bun, The Oven, and The Muffin Man by Crosis
Spike, Discord, Celestia and Fluttershy
G4; Romance/Comedy/Slice of Life; 7k words; Sep 2013; Teen (Sex)

Spike had always wondered: just who were his real parents? To properly answer that, he needs someone sincere, someone sympathetic. What he gets is Discord.

Discord stories usually stand or fall on whether they can make the draconequus convince. This one does, giving him the slightly nastier edge he still had despite his reformation back when this fic appeared. A reasonably observant reader won't find the underlying reveal a surprise, but fortunately both the exact nature of it and the journey to get there are plenty of fun. A couple of fun references in the fic, not least a Star Wars one that only Discord could (and does) make work. Celestia isn't quite as convincing and Fluttershy's a little clunkily written in a smaller part, but Spike is great, and he and Discord bring this up to a top-end three. ★★★

When The Rain Fell by Alicorn
Rainbow Dash and Applejack
G4; Romance; 1k words; Mar 2013; Everyone

When a storm hits Ponyville, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are forced to stay in the barn until it clears up. But what happens when a certain cowpony feels something...strange for the pegasus?

Now there's a username! As for the fic, though? In all honesty, if you've read more than about three ponyfics you'll know almost every detail of where it's going. It's mostly acceptably written and the ending though clichéd is fairly aww – but too much else has the ponies overreacting to minor things for no real reason. (AJ is "afraid everyone would hate her" if she revealed her feelings.) Points for "special somepony", though. I do find that term cute. Even so, this is no more than a lowish two. ★★

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Another decent week, on the whole. Next time, thanks to being rather busy elsewhere at times I'll have a lower word count again. However, the Roundup will still feature five stories. These, to be precise:

A Real Pegasus by astrolatryy
How The Mighty Fall by ReaderReads
Storm Siren by Undome Tinwe
Symbiosis by Silent Whisper
"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Squirt" by gmen15