Read it Later story count: 92 (nc)
Words read this week: 35,469
The Light Goes Out by AbsoluteAnonymous
NYC Title 24 §4-03 by Admiral Biscuit
Lightning Pest by Casketbase77
The Ponies in the Caves by SockPuppet
The Conference Call by Dafaddah
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 4 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
The Light Goes Out by AbsoluteAnonymous
Twilight and Celestia
G4; Sad; 3k words; Apr 2012; Teen
Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia's final conversation together.
That shortdesc isn't an especially startling setup these days, even once (almost immediately) it becomes clear why it's their final conversation. That being so, it's all in the execution, and fortunately AbsoluteAnonymous does that well here. A slightly different story to all those "Twilight struggles with immortality" tales. As PaulAsaran noted, the formatting is oddly inconsistent in places, with large gaps between some paragraphs and italics that switch on and off at unusual times, and it's impossible (for me, at least) to tell how much of that was deliberate. It's a bit of a cliché to use the word "bittersweet" about this kind of fic, but nevertheless I think it's approproiate here. I wasn't bowled over by this story, so this is only a moderate three, but the atmosphere and character interaction mean it's a clear one. ★★★
NYC Title 24 §4-03 by Admiral Biscuit
OC and Other
G4 AU; Human; 3k words; Sep 2023; Teen
Pulling a carriage in New York City isn't all that different from pulling a carriage in Equestria. Except for the regulations—the law is complicated, and not really set up for an Equestrian pony.
This is another of Admiral Biscuit's "ponies on Earth" shorts. Put aside the horrible title, which is the down to the clunky way US local legislation is named rather than any fault of the author's, and this is a good read. Offbeat can deal well enough with most of the oddities of being a sapient pony in a world that isn't designed for them – but a city enforcement officer demanding to know why she's not complying with the rules for keeping horses? Ah. As usual, the author really did his research here, as the story notes (spoilery) will amply demonstrate. Slice of life stuff where no world-shaking events occur but you'll probably empathise a lot with Offbeat despite (I assume) not being a pony yourself. A solid three-star rating here. ★★★
Lightning Pest by Casketbase77
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 3k words; Feb 2023; Everyone
Lightning Dust is back again, having proudly undergone some... "changes." Her personality is exactly the same though, which is annoying news for Rainbow Dash.
This one is fun. It's an entry in the author and Str8aura's "Snippet Series" of older one-shots. Lightning Dust has indeed changed – into a changeling! Rainbow Dash, who would really prefer not to be late for her Wonderbolts appearance, is therefore subjected to Dusty's monologuing and generalised stupidity. Also, for some reason, a recurring mention of a breakfast cereal. (Not the only food reference. Peaches get in here too, for all you old-fandom folks!) Lightning Pest isn't trying to be a serious look at Lightning's mental state in the wake of her Wonderbolts and Washouts debacles, but as a stupid bit of comedy it's very entertaining. A pretty high three here. ★★★
The Ponies in the Caves by SockPuppet
Batpony, Redheart, Diamond Dogs, Rarity and Twilight
G4; Adventure/Drama/Thriller; 23k words; Aug 2019; Teen (Violence)
When Diamond Dogs kidnap four foals, it's up to Ponyville's first batpony immigrant to lead the rescue into the caves.
In the same continuity as A Story to Relate To (PR 507) but reading that isn't required. Dusky is a batpony, and not everyone around Ponyville is too keen. That includes Davenport, who runs the Home Guard. But in an emergency, you don't turn down capable soldiers, and Dusky is very capable – and also a great central character. We learn quite a bit of her backstory as we go along, but the core of the fic is the rescue operation. SockPuppet makes this tale entirely worthy of that [Thriller] tag. It's a gripping, exciting read, helped by the author not shying away from the realities of war. (I think it stays just about below the [Gore]-tag threshold.) Nurse Redheart is there in her medical role and we learn more about her as well. Also present: Twilight, Rarity and more besides. The Diamond Dogs are led by a new alpha, Rex, who isn't inclined to respect the aftermath of Rarity's kidnap back in S1. Don't worry, they're not all shown as barbarian lunkheads. My biggest reservation is with the level of anti-batpony speciesism in the first place, exemplified by Davenport but also in a minor character early on. I'm not absolutely convinced by that in a non-AU Ponyville. One side note: Dusky's home city is Equuicigalpa. I assume that references the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, but the reason for that choice is lost on me. This absolutely cruises into the four-star bracket and with room to spare. I've seen more than one person opine that the longer side story Redheart's War is even better than this. It's going to have to go some. ★★★★
The Conference Call by Dafaddah
OC, Twilight and Pinkie Pie
G4 AU; Comedy/Sci-Fi/Slice of Life/Human; 3k words; May 2024; Everyone
Ever hear of Starswirl the Bearded’s Magical Simulation Hypothesis?
Back in one of those online group calls we all remember from 2020 (the year this story is set) an IT manager is driven to distraction by the appearance of a certain pink pony on the screen. He doesn't know who's pretending to be Pinkie, but he'd prefer to keep the call on the straight and narrow. He'd also prefer none of his colleagues found out about his dirty little secret: he writes fanfics. He also knows exactly who Pinkie is. Then Twilight joins in the ponybombing, rambling about cross-dimensional contact. It's silly stuff, but I chuckled, and I also laughed at the punchline. Parts of this (Pinkie breaking physics on screen) are reminiscent of very old stories, but this is a nicely done update to more recent times. That's worth a three. ★★★
Not a bad week at all, with all the fics being decent reads. One standout, though, and I suspect Redheart's War might get bumped up my RiL list a little way after that. Next week's stories will be:
Twilight Sparkle & The Martyr of Zephyr Mountain by PatchworkPoltergeist
Party Loyalty by forbloodysummer
Periselene by Marshal Twilight
A Foalsitter's Inspiration by Protector of Light
The Symposium by Orbiting Kettle
Hey, one I've read! "Conference Call" was a nice bit of fun. I don't remember too many specifics about it, but I did enjoy it.
ReplyDeletemmm, that SockPuppet rec sounds promising! :)
ReplyDelete