Words read this week: 41,260
By some miracle, it's actually been both mild and dry (well, largely dry) on the day I'm writing this intro. That means I managed to spend a little time sitting outdoors reading ponyfic, the first time I've been able to do that this year. With a coat on and the sun out, plus shelter from the wind, it was pleasant. Anyway, it's back to the usual setup this week, with no particular theme involved.
Arbitrary by RunicTreetops
A Moonlit Storm by SilverNotes
Pinkie Pegasus by Lets Do This
Dying to Get There by Titanium Dragon
Winona by Obsequiosity
★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Arbitrary by RunicTreetops
Celestia and Luna
G4; Comedy/Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jan 2024; Everyone
As Equestria celebrates the arrival of a new year, Luna ponders if it's even worth acknowledging.
RunicTreetops is mostly known for stories featuring Anon, but this fic is not such a story. Instead it's a simple tale about the Royal Sisters' feelings as New Year arrives. Despite the [Comedy] tag and the odd amusing aside, it's not especially funny; the slice-of-life-ness is more of a thing. Instead, what comes through is the depth and warmth of the Princesses' relationship. Nothing too startling if you've read a few Sisters fics before, just quite a pleasant read. Top-end two. ★★
A Moonlit Storm by SilverNotes
Night Light, Zebra, Kirin and OCs
G4 AU (show/movie/comics); Adventure; 16k words; Oct 2022; Teen (Violence)
There are troubles brewing in the far-off nation of Farasi, and a young Night Light is entrusted with securing an artefact that, if it fell into the wrong hooves, could cause untold havoc.
This standalone entry in the Eventide Verse won the Ancestral Tribute contest, so I had high hopes. Happily, these were satisfied. Night Light and his... let's say cronies, though that's simplistic... operate here in a highly multi-species world and rip through an adventure that at times has a tone not far removed from a skimmier version of iisaw's The Celestia Code (PR 59) and its sequels. It's fast, it's exciting, it's often funny, it's packed with world-building – not least in showing exactly how various magics work – and it makes you wish there was more. (There is an unfinished sequel.) A Moonlit Storm is not always particularly deep, but with so much going on in just 16,000 words it would have trouble being. High four and recommended to anyone who likes superior pulp thrillers. ★★★★
Pinkie Pegasus by Lets Do This
Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Rarity and Twilight Velvet
G4 AU; Comedy/Drama; 15k words; Sep 2022; Everyone
Rainbow Dash finds out that asking your friends for help can lead to unexpected results. Especially if one of those friends is a party-pegasus named Pinkie.
The third in the AU series that began with When Ponies Fly (PR 416) and The Two Unicorns (PR 437). I greatly enjoyed those, and Pinkie Pegasus is in the same vein. I did still like it, but I feel diminishing returns are just starting to kick in here. This is quieter than the previous two instalments, with world-hopping feeling a bit everyday now. The Twilight/Rainbow relationship still forms a solid core, and this apparent "breather" episode may feel better once I've read the next one. It's still very readable and far from being a bad fic, but I hope some of the – well – magic is brought back in part four. ★★★
Dying to Get There by Titanium Dragon
Twilight, Spike and Mane Six
G4; Comedy; 5k words; Jul 2015; Everyone
None of Twilight's friends would be silly enough to believe a newspaper article that claims she was killing herself every time she teleported, right?
Wrong. This is a fun little piece, possibly inspired by zaponator's Blink (PR 122),¹ in which the Mane Six (more or less in turn, in ye olde fandom style) react to Twilight's "death" even as she becomes increasingly exasperated on account of how she's right there telling them she's alive. Pinkie is baking hundreds of black cakes. Rainbow Dash is pushed into an existential crisis (a slightly disconnected part of the story). As a concept it's not especially new and probably wasn't so even in 2015, but it is done well and so makes for a pretty entertaining read. Top-end three, with a special nod for the excellent cover art. ★★★
¹ I'm deliberately not saying why, since that'd be very spoilery for Blink.
Winona by Obsequiosity
Spike, Applejack, Twilight and Luna
G4; Sad; 4k words; Feb 2013; Everyone
Then Twilight looked up at me with this shattered look, and I realized: Her foal is dead on account of I let him realize that we’re all just Winonas.
By some way the better known of this author's mere two published ponyfics. After hearing what was intended as gentle words of wisdom, Spike runs away and is found dead – possibly – the next day. The fic has dual narrators, Applejack and Luna, and fortunately their voices are distinct. The odd interesting bit of dreamwalking lore, plus a lovely tear-jerking moment involving Sweetie Belle. The story isn't very focused, though, and it's weakened by an overly convenient twist involving Twilight late on. High two. ★★
In PR 480, it'll be... ponyfic! I bet you didn't see that one coming. Quite a low word count for the upcoming edition, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Still five stories, and here they are:
Strong to the Finnich by KnightMysterio
Late Delivery by WaywardSon
Quod Timeo by Figments
Letter Never Sent by Rambling Writer
To Be Remembered by MrSpartan
I have to say, there are few jokes funnier than those along the lines of "character exasperatedly informing their friends that they are, in fact, still among the living". :D
ReplyDeleteDiscworld rather than ponyfic, but Keli in Mort comes to mind...
DeleteIt is a very fun comedy trope. The one problem with the Mane Six is that they violate the rule of three (you should, in theory, only repeat the joke at most three times, so if you have someone go around to all their friends, they are repeating the joke five times instead of three) so I had to come up with different ways of twisting it to avoid making it overly repetitive>
DeleteI'm glad folks continue to find it amusing.
I mean, five is a prime number, three is a prime number, same thing right? :D :P
DeleteWon't complain at the ★★★★ for A Moonlit Storm! It won Ancestral Tribute in a landslide, helped no doubt by being distinctive – many of the other top pieces were great takes on the Mane 6's parents, but also often more expected ones. Night Light as a crown agent in far-away lands with non-ponies loyal to the crown to recover artefacts that can't be let fall into the wrong hands? It gets the pulp adventure juices a-flowin'!
ReplyDeleteI'll second that Pinkie Pegasus has diminishing returns, though with the caveat that I already felt that with the second entry (granted, mostly in the back half). The magic and lore already feels resolutely domestic here, against the clear strengths of where the series started out at. And thus, Lets Do This' writing quirks that, for me, can have "a little goes a long way" syndrome at times nip at the heels again. A breather entry that lays some groundwork is admirable, but far less so when each story is its own one-shot rather than all one big fic. Far from bad, but little better than competent. The fourth entry is an uptick, you'll be happy to hear, and does return to the lore and adventure roots. Though not as much an uptick as would be liked.
It's also fitting that something by RunicTreetops got in here. Sounds like, when you strip out the Human and Anon elements, he writes pleasant, competent, cozy, but utterly undistinguished slice of life pieces. So, a discount Lets Do This :P But, he clearly has market appeal down pat, so I do admire that in part. Least he's not writing porn.
Three stories I had words to say on, not often that happens! And there's two next week, so it's a good time for me to be reading Ponyfic Roundup. Also:
Quite a low word count for the upcoming edition
It's a sign of how much your reading quantity, in length, has gone up over the last few years that you can say this. Two years ago this would have been the higher range of the middle tier of length for you!
I really do wish the sequel to A Moonlit Storm had been finished. If it ever is, and assuming it's not half a million words long, I'm reading it like a shot.
DeleteAnd on your last point, indeed! I'm glad about that.
Yep, A Moonlit Storm is a strong 4-star fic for me as well! It's not just because I have a soft spot for exactly that sort of action/adventure, but it's also very well written, with great character voicing.
ReplyDeleteI've only just noticed I didn't really mention the character work, which is a silly oversight, since I agree with you. I'd love to spend more time with them.
Delete