Ponyfic Roundup 545

Read it Later story count: 87 (nc)

Words read this week: 25,724

As you'll have noticed, the UK PonyCon news coming out a few days ago meant that I just couldn't find the time to finish writing up my PR 545 post and so there was a blank week. I hope you'll appreciate, though, that UKPC stuff is about the biggest deal there is for fans over here, at least when it comes to the social side of the fandom. I'm back with ponyfic today, though! The stories under review are as follows:

A Chat Between a King and a Prince by PoisonClaw
Oh, For The Love Of... by StoryEdge
The Price of a Smile by Trick Question
According to Plan by Vic Fontaine
Her Best Behavior by Fervidor

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

A Chat Between a King and a Prince by PoisonClaw
Thorax, Shining Armor and Changelings
G4; genres; 5k words; Nov 2016; Everyone

Shining Armor and Thorax have a chat about current matters and their own regrets.

Shortly after the changelings' transformation in the S6 finale, the two rulers discuss leadership, the problems of royalty, and Ogres and Oubliettes. Okay, that one's mostly from Shining Armor. The chat isn't particularly high-stakes, and it's not an especially focused tale, so it depends whether you like simply spending time with ponies – well, a pony and a changeling in this case – without there being much more than that to it. I do, and I think PoisonClaw did it rather pleasantly here, so I'm comfy giving it a decent three-star rating. ★★★

Oh, For The Love Of... by StoryEdge
Twilight and CMC
G4; Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 1k words; Jan 2016; Everyone

The CMC cause havoc in Ponyville on a regular basis. One day Twilight gets a bit fed up with waiting for them to discover what's been staring them in the face this whole time. Quick one-shot written long before Crusaders of the Lost Mark.

And no, she doesn't tell them all that their special talent is helping other ponies! There's a fair bit to like about this fic in terms of its show-style atmosphere. One little scene involving Owlowiscious is fantastic and could easily have been in FiM itself. The downside is the resolution, which is just plain weak. It's clunky and rushed and seems only to be there to allow a particular term to be used. For that reason, the story as a whole is rather lacking, and I can't go above a middling two. ★★

The Price of a Smile by Trick Question
Twilight, Luna and Mane Six
G4; Dark/Drama/Thriller; 15k words; Jul 2015; Teen (Violence, Profanity)

Twilight Sparkle is plagued by nightmares and hallucinations. Princess Luna knows the secret, but it comes with a terrible price.

I'm not sure whether the tags were available in 2015, but I'd also class this as [Mystery], and arguably [Horror] as well. Twilight has been having all kinds of disturbing visions. She joins an underground society run by Cheerilee(!) whose members range from tinfoil to serious, but it's not enough. Luna cautions that if Twilight ever finds out the secret, it will destroy her – but Twi just cannot leave it alone. Twilight is confused and disturbed, and we the readers are too, although possibly more by her apparently unreasonable obsession. A few slightly odd-feeling romantic touches here and there, but the eventual reveal is just as savage as it was doubtless intended to be. There are clues in the narrative, but they're easy to miss, at least for me since I did first time round. Recommended. ★★★★

According to Plan by Vic Fontaine
Lyra and Bon-Bon
G4; Romance/Random/Slice of Life; 2k words; Oct 2019; Everyone

Plans change for Lyra and BonBon when chaos engulfs Ponyville again. But that suits them just fine.

Springing off events in "The Big Mac Question", this is a cute little piece that leads up to that moment (in the background in the show) where Lyra and Bonnie both offer each other rings. It's told in first person by Lyra, which gives it a little more immediacy, and I can't really complain at the part apparently sentient apples play as those are canon! (Hay, remember this comic arc?) Overall, a simple and cute story of a key point near the end of one of the most fondly remembered arcs for secondary FiM characters. ★★★

Her Best Behavior by Fervidor
Applejack and Rarity
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 4k words; Jul 2013; Teen

It's not easy being a couple when you're the exact opposite of each other. After a nasty fight with Applejack, Rarity wants to patch things up but is distracted by an important customer. As it turns out, Applejack has other plans.

Rarity is distracted because the big-shot fashionista, Gala Glitterati, is on his way. As an aside, he's probably the most fun character in this fic; it's such a great name for such a pony, too. Anyway, Applejack storms off after Rarity seems to imply that she (AJ) would be an awkward pony to be near Gala thanks to all the countryisms. Later, Applejack returns with a hoity-toity (not that one) accent and mannerisms. You can probably guess where this is going, which is what stops this getting a really high rating, but the story is sweet enough in its telling and its resolution that it just about shades a three from me. ★★★

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As for next week's stories, I'm sticking with the slate I chose when I thought I'd only have a few days to read them. That means a rather low word count, but I hope there'll still be interest in the fics. And they will be:

Schadenfreude by Daemon McRae
Carry Me Home by PropMaster
Jade's Adventure by Ni-kun
Backstage by Noriko Nakayama
Derpy Explodes at the End of This Story by Brony_Fife