Ponyfic Roundup 542

Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)

Words read this week: 23,630

Before I forget again, I really must note that the excellent Thousand Words Contest is back for its fourth edition. Bicyclette and co have done a superb job in running this since its creation, and the sheer level of interest it's gained even in today's smaller fandom is testament to its popularity. And yes, I shall make every effort to ensure that I have a story in there somewhere! But talking of stories, here are five that I didn't write, and they're the subject of today's PR:

Love Defenestrates by Liquid Truth
Mistmane and the Torii of Time by Impossible Numbers
The Dangers Of Teleporting While Intoxicated by naturalbornderpy
Dinner with Rose by Admiral Biscuit
Reminiscing by Gleaming

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

Love Defenestrates by Liquid Truth
Twilight and Rarity
G4; Romance; 1k words; Jan 2025; Everyone

Rarity ponders what it means to be thrown out of a window.

First up, yes, this story does open with a reference to that flight by Cadance. I found this quite an odd fic, though that's not intended as a criticism. It was fun odd, and there's a twist right near the end that's particularly nicely worked. A little hint of shipping here and there, but again not really in the conventional sense of the word. It's one of those shortfics that perhaps would outstay its welcome if it were any longer, but here it does what it sets out to do and then leaves the stage. That makes it work. ★★★

Mistmane and the Torii of Time by Impossible Numbers
Mistmane, Daring Do and Other
G4; Drama/Horror/Mystery; 8k words; Aug 2018; Everyone

As the Pillar of Beauty, Mistmane is distressed to find her home left to decay, but a mysterious stranger offers her a chance to set things right again. Meanwhile, Daring Do is nearby, exploring a creepy temple, home to a dark secret.

Impossible Numbers hasn't published a story since 2023 and hasn't even logged into Fimfiction since January this year – but with well over 100 ponyfics published, their name is going to keep popping up here occasionally for a long time yet. This one has well under a thousand views after seven years, perhaps due to its uncommon pairing of main characters. The narrative hops between Daring Do and Mistmane POVs (smoothly, with explicit scene breaks) and there's a nicely understated sense of Daring getting to an age where she's wondering whether adventuring is still for her. Meanwhile, Mistmane's encounter with the stranger from the shortdesc turns out to be key for all of them. I didn't quite get grabbed fully by this fic, perhaps because though I like Mistmane her culture and the Shinto mythology heavily drawn upon here can feel a little aloof and remote. Clever drawing out of clues, though, and a satisfying climax. As such, a top-end three. ★★★

The Dangers Of Teleporting While Intoxicated by naturalbornderpy
Twilight and Celestia
G4; Slice of Life; 3k words; Apr 2016; Everyone

Princess Celestia has a problem. Or perhaps it's Twilight Sparkle that has one. Namely, drunk teleportation.

This has over 20,000 views on Fimfiction, so it was about time I got round to reading it! An interesting story it is, too. For much of the early part it looks like it's going to be a fairly conventional drunk comedy,¹ with stuff like Twilight slurring about Rarity eating dress fabric – but note the lack of a [Comedy] genre tag.  There certainly are laughs here, but it's really a Twilight/Celestia friendshipping piece, especially after a twist deep into the fic, and a sweet one it is too. I'll emphasise friendshipping, so those who hate actual TwiLestia can breathe easy. Cute and warm and fluffy in the right ways, so quite a high three. ★★★
¹ The end A/N states that the idea was from an earlier and "far dumber" story, which might help explain this.

Dinner with Rose by Admiral Biscuit
OC, Roseluck and Other
G4; Slice of Life/Human; 9k words; Jan–Feb 2015; Teen

Shortly after their trip to the spa, Sam decides to invite Rose over for dinner.

The third in the Human in Equestria series that began with A Sleeping Rose (PR 227) and continued with Braiding (PR 427). Admiral Biscuit's unshowy style is a perfect fit for this, with Sam continuing her¹ acclimatisation to Equestrian society, and as in the earlier tales encountering the odd unexpected culture-clash pitfall. This time around, Sam meets a filly (an Apple, almost inevitably) and finds some difficulty with pony attitudes to nudity. As usual with this series there's excellent, quiet world-building – not all of it pleasant, with one suggesting pony supremacist views (see "Bridle Gossip", for a start) remain pervasive in Ponyville at a low level, at least. As with the first two instalments, Dinner with Rose is one of the most satisfying depictions I've seen of what HiE might actually be like.★★★★
¹ This is the fic that made Sam's gender unequivocally clear to me. I wasn't absolutely sure until now.

Reminiscing by Gleaming
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 2k words; Aug 2014; Teen

Vinyl and Octavia spend a Hearth's Warming Eve moment together.

This is largely a fairly conventional "how Vinyl and Octavia got together" story, but it does have some more distinctive elements. I like Vinyl as a rebellious high school kid who nevertheless wins out against a teacher who's a bad lot. Putting some of the exposition in interview form works okay, too. It's a shame, if a predictable shame, that the journey from "hey, let's be friends" to kissing is absurdly short. There are also some tense mismatches and a really odd use of "forearms". Yes, for a pony. Forearms? This one is largely for those who devour anything OctaScratch. ★★

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Really not too bad a week, on the whole. Next week's crop o' fics will be:

Hypothetically by _Undefined_
Javelin by McPoodle
Tacet by Jade_Turtl
Numbers by The 24th Pegasus
Twilight Sparkle Has a Type by errant