Ponyfic Roundup 446: Treefics 1

Read it Later story count: 97 (+3)

Words read this week: 12,184

Today I am setting out on my reviews of fics entered into the Arboreal Yearnings Contest I that Mockingbirb ran recently. I wrote We Are the Everfree for it, as it happens, though obviously I won't be reviewing that one! I have managed five fics in the spotlight for this first edition – but they're so short that it's an extremely low weekly word count for me, as I'm not yet quite back in the mood for reading extensively.

Trees Don't Think by Starcoder
Séance by Muramasa
A Tree in the Park by Lingo
Immortal Tree by Bad Dragon
Forest Dryad by Twilight_Shimmer

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Trees Don't Think by Starcoder
Twilight and OC
G4/G5; Sad/Sci-Fi/Tragedy; 2k words; Feb 2023; Teen (Death)

Trees don't have thoughts. But only one pony knows that is wrong.

This caught my attention straight away, since the author is writing in first person from a tree's own perspective, rather like I did! The world is rather bleaker here, though, with a war going on in the background. You do eventually discover what kind of war, and how it links into G5. This story is strong on atmosphere and it's a rather original idea, even if it doesn't really go anywhere much. I really do like the atmosphere it creates, though, and that wins this a three-star rating. ★★★

Séance by Muramasa
Twilight and Other
G4; Sad; 2k words; Mar 2023; Teen (Death)

The night after defeating Lord Tirek, Twilight Sparkle speaks with the dead.

That place in time means it's not difficult to realise that "the dead" here means her ravaged tree library. There's more nice atmosphere here (the opening, "Ponyville was an open casket", seemed particularly strong) and feels as well, especially towards the end. It didn't strike me quite as hard as Trees Don't Think, though, perhaps because of the more conventional perspective and a small number of irritating technical errors ("She lied there weeping"). Maybe it suffers slightly by comparison, but a top-end two feels right. ★★

A Tree in the Park by Lingo
Twilight
G4; Slice of Life; 3k words; Apr 2023; Everyone

Twilight finds the perfect spot for reading and relaxing in Ponyville park. However, there's just one issue...

As it happens, another Twilight fic here. She's sitting under a tree when suddenly she realises it's talking to her. There is a reason, and though it's not an especially hard one to figure out, some of the lore that stems from that is quite satisfying. I also enjoy the edge of humour, whereby Twi gets annoyed at ponies shrugging at weird stuff happening because "It's Ponyville". On the downside, the opening is a little overlong and there are really too many tense mismatches. Manages a three for me, though maybe only a highish two if you don't like the underlying concept in the end. ★★★

Immortal Tree by Bad Dragon
Fluttershy, Twilight and Discord
G4; Dark/Drama; 2k words; Apr 2023; Everyone

Fluttershy wants to be a tree.

Why? Well, apart from the obvious, it turns out that will make her immortal – clearly of interest to Discord, who otherwise faces losing her after a century or so. Twilight has the magical ability, but as ever in a [Dark] story (though it's maybe more of a dark comedy at times) there's a catch... This one kept me reading nicely, though it suffered from Twilight's voicing not always seeming quite right. ("I'm so awesome!" after completing a spell?) Yet another highish two – though that's slightly above average, remember. ★★

Forest Dryad by Twilight_Shimmer
Fluttershy
G4; Random/Slice of Life; 4k words; Apr 2023; Everyone

The Everfree Forest is a mysterious place with many creatires great and small, one such creautre though is reltively unknown to the commong pony, the Dryad

Multiple typos in the shortdesc didn't fill me with confidence going in, but there are some eye-catching ideas here. The notion that a forest spirit might feel Fluttershy was a good fit to take over her role is a great one, and there's also a nice moment where 'Shy is startled at the idea that Equestrian nature might care for itself. However, the fic's execution lets it down. It's much too wordy: the author says they didn't have an editor, and sadly that shows. It could probably lose a third of its word count, and some very long passages desperately need breaking up, or at least more punctuation. As this stands, only a moderate two-star fic, but with more experience (this is only the author's third published story) there's the kernel of something quite memorable in here. ★★

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Next time, I'll have... well, the next batch of treefics, of course! Given my uncertainty about how many I'll be able to get through, I'll depart from normal procedure today and not give a list of titles. I definitely do intend to bring that preview section back when I return to standard review practice, though.