Ponyfic Roundup 489

Read it Later story count: 92 (-5)

Words read this week: 27,709

Pickled onion flavour crisps. Why are they so damn good? And no, this is not the shortdesc of a forthcoming ponyfic, though possibly it could be. For someone. In some alternate universe where crispfics are unaccountably popular. Anyway, a rather lower word count this week than has mostly been the case in recent times, but still more than enough to cover five stories. Look below to see what they are.

Does a cyborg have a soul? by GrayOnBlue
Movements of Fire and Shadow by Inquisitor M
The 2,000 Year Friendship by DaeCat
Angel Crashes a Wedding by Prak
Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies by Sledge115

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Does a cyborg have a soul? by GrayOnBlue
Twilight and Sunset
G4 EqG; Romance/Sad/Sci-Fi; 4k words; Feb 2018; Teen (Violence, Death)

A tragic accident had taken away the very meaning of Sunset Shimmer's life -- her special someone, Twilight Sparkle. Marvelous modern technologies are able to bring her back... but is this the same Twilight, who Sunset knew and loved?

Twilight dies in a traffic collision, and Sunset is so upset that she ponders taking her own life. However, the somewhat mysterious organisation for which Twilight worked – run by a certain Time Turner – thinks it has an answer. As the fic's title suggests, that involves technology. I hoped for an exploration of that question, but the atmosphere isn't really there, not helped by a lot of little technical errors (maybe the author isn't a native speaker?) and some pointless techno-geekery ("the cutting edge Intel Core iII central processing unit). Apparently this author is (in)famous for violently misanthropic stories, but Dachas? does avoid that, barring the accident itself and a nasty little scene where Sunset is menaced in an alley. It's just too choppy to be as evocative as it could and maybe should be. A lowish two. ★★

Movements of Fire and Shadow by Inquisitor M
Luna, Octavia and OC
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jun 2013; Everyone

A pony very close to Luna notices that she's been sneaking off after nightfall for some time. When that pony has all the tact of a battleship, the only thing for sure is that things are about to get heated.

Inquisitor M was once known as an uncompromising critic of other people's stories, but he also wrote some fine ponyfic that was often (to me at least) hard going at times. This is a solid example. Luna's apparent reluctance to talk to Octavia is seen by her (Luna's) guard/companion Artemis as odd, given how much more Luna clearly knows about the pony than she will admit. Luna's vehement insistence that Artemis let it go is perhaps counterproductive, too. We do eventually get a reveal of sorts, and an interesting one it is as well, but (as others have said) this feels like a one-shot prequel to a longer fic – that doesn't exist. Very well written, as usual from this author, and some nicely Equestrian moments such as the earth pony's struggles to play the oboe. Another Inquisitor M story that goes into the "probably better than this rating, but I just struggle to fully understand it" box – and given that I rate on my personal enjoyment, a top-end three. ★★★

The 2,000 Year Friendship by DaeCat
Celestia, OC and Other
G4; Dark/Drama/Sad; 4k words; Nov 2015; Everyone

A wolf, a huntsman, a filly. A sacrifice on a lonely shore. This is where a princess comes to die.

This tale has no Fimfiction comments at all, which is a pity. As its shortdesc might suggest, it's a fable of ages past, and written in the slightly flowery style that for some reason is often seen as being how ye olde storytellers spoke. This gets in the way occasionally ("a fireball of cascading embers that fell like celestial crystals") but for the most part the story pushes on. There's a nice, slightly otherworldly atmosphere, and it's never entirely clear how much of Celestia's part in this is history and how much is myth. Unfortunately I was never really clear what the point of this story was. What happened in Equestria as a result of the events of all this? As such, it left me a little unsatisfied. ★★

Angel Crashes a Wedding by Prak
Fluttershy, Big Mac and Angel
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jan 2014; Everyone

If Big Mac wants to marry Fluttershy, he'll have to go through Angel first.

This is one of those fics where the shortdesc is pretty much the story. You have to accept FlutterMac being a thing, but then it's a case of waiting for Angel to escape from the house Fluttershy has boarded him into while the wedding is going on. Turns out Big Mac can only marry 'Shy if he beats Angel in combat. Why? Who knows? It's a one-joke fic, really, but Prak clearly realises this and sensibly keeps things short. One to read when you want a slice of undemanding silliness. On that score, just about a three. ★★★

Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies by Sledge115
Twilight Velvet and Celestia
G4; Drama/Slice of Life; 13k words; May 2023; Everyone

Twilight Velvet, book editor for Hoovesbury Publishing and mother of two, meets her newest client: aspiring writer Sunny Skies, who has as many secrets as Celestia has loving subjects.

If you have a working knowledge of ponyfic classics, the name "Sunny Skies" will immediately stand out. What's great is that knowing that name doesn't at all detract from this pre-S1 story. It's a very satisfying character piece, with both principals and the supporting cast (most adorably an infant Twilight) being written with aplomb. This feels like a much older fic in many ways – Velvet being in the writing business, a newspaper called Equestria Daily, etc – but if anything that makes it all the more effective. One brief but very impactful revelation regarding family; I won't say whose. The ending rounds it off nicely and I was pleased and warmed by a decision Velvet made. Really solid stuff. My favourite this week and recommended. ★★★★
NB: This is part of the Spectrum-verse but importantly (since I haven't read Spectrum) stands alone.

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To reward those of you who bother to read this footnotey waffling, here's a nugget: an Author Spotlight will be coming before long – certainly before I reach PR 500. Who'll be the featured author? The only clue you get for now is that I've been saving up their stories and so they haven't had much attention on PR recently... beyond that, well, all will be revealed in due time! Next week, though, this is what I'll be looking at:

Lunch with Fluttershy by iisaw
Twilight Sparkle at the Gates of Heavenly Peace by Cold in Gardez
The Runaway... Ears?... by Lulamoon-Crystal
Stone Cold Justice by Featherstroke
Doused Flame by heartlessons