Ponyfic Roundup 534

Read it Later story count: 91 (+2)

Words read this week: 27,058

It's been another week of sunshine and blue skies here, which is really different from the same time a year ago! Last month was the sunniest March in England since modern records began over a century ago, and early April has continued in the same vein. It should last a few days longer before showers start appearing again. Also appearing again right now, the list of this week's ponyfics:

Villains aren't supposed to Die by IGIBAB
Waking Up is Hard Sometimes by RB_
Captain Twilight by Moonlight Eclipse
No Filter by ReedHoarse
The Brave Little Caretaker by Estee

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 15 to 11

You'll doubtless have noticed the lack of a "My Little Repeats" this week. I just haven't had the time, what with various things including the PoniesOnline virtual convention. I might have squeezed it in had it been a normal FiM episode, but as it's the Rollercoaster of Friendship special I thought it best to leave it for a little while. Don't worry, it'll be here before too long!

Back to music, and it's the last edition of this series before we get to the top ten. Exciting, eh! Oh, be like that then. I think it's exciting and it's my blog, so there. Here's the usual reminder of my inclusion criteria; for this week, Rule 3 is still not being automatically applied.

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Last week I managed to feature a full set of five tracks. This week, as happened fairly recently before, I got all the way to the end and then found I needed to skip. It's frustrating, but the track in question just wasn't famous enough for Rule 3. So, here's the list:

15: PrinceWhateverer – Frailty
14: Animated James – Winter's F***ed Up
13: µThunder & FritzyBeat – Sinking Ships (remix)
12: EileMonty & David Larsen – I am a Parasprite
11: skipped

There's your list of songs. Now to see what they actually sound like!

Starlight turns ten

Season 5 of Friendship is Magic began exactly a decade ago, on 4th April 2015, with "The Cutie Map". Widely seen (including by me) as one of the best episodes the series ever produced, this also marked the debut of Starlight Glimmer. Opinions on that vary rather more, although personally I like her even as a reformed character. Whatever your feelings, the double episode itself remains, I think, a classic. Since Hasbro has been nice enough to upload it in full to the official YouTube channel, I can legitimately embed it on Louder Yay, so here it is!

Ponyfic Roundup 533: RNG Choice Edition

Read it Later story count: 89 (nc)

Words read this week: 22,153

I forgot to update this bit earlier – oops! Anyway, this time the stories I read were largely determined by the random number generator. I say "largely" because I did have a slight restriction, over and above my usual ones such as stories needing to be incomplete. For today's edition, I only allowed one Mature fic. Here's the list:

Liable for Content by Sarcasmo
Sentinel by Xenos
The Truth That Lies Within by Ps3luver
We Can't All Be Friends by Awesomo3000
Fear Itself by saarni

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Sounds of 2015, nos. 20 to 16

We really are getting to the sharp end of things now, as we move into the top 20! As a reminder this chart was decided through votes from people following Equestrian Radio at the time. I'm afraid I'm not entirely certain of the precise voting mechanism, but that doesn't really matter for our purposes. Here's the usual reminder of the inclusion criteria:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Last week, I had to skip one of the five tracks that made the chart. We're not quite at the point just yet where Rule 3 will apply across the board, but it doesn't matter this time: a full five tracks today!

20: SlyphStorm ft. 4EverfreeBrony & Midnight Melody – Soldiers of the Night
19: PrinceWhateverer – Your Own Sky
18: Silva Hound ft. Odyssey Eurobeat – Come Alive
17: MandoPony & MegabyteBrony – Spitfire (Give It All You Got)
16: ponyphonic – Applejack

So, we've reached the end of the introductory stuff, which means we can get on with the actual point of all this: the music!

My Little Repeats 184: "The Mean 6"

Honestly, I'd be on Starlight's side at this point

S8E13: "The Mean 6"

6 Jun 2018 (in the UK; 9 Jun 2018 in the US)

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.8

The one with smelling the roses

Thoughts: This was one of those rare and precious occasions when the UK got an episode before the US – although the scale of early international releases and indeed leaks going on by this point made it all a bit moot. As a mid-season finale, though, this is a bit on the weak side, largely because of all the potential it wastes. Chrysalis here starts out properly villainous, as she should be, but then shows surprisingly little of the intelligence we know she possesses, not least in not nipping Twilight's plotting in the bud sooner. The Mane Six are absurdly – let's face it, unbelievably – dense not to realise that their friends are behaving way out of character, some with very obviously wrong cutie marks, and the one "maybe it's poison joke" reference isn't enough to save that. (Special boo for Twilight "We know each other really well" Sparkle here, given she personally observed something very similar happening to said friends in "The Return of Harmony".) Now, I don't think this is a terrible episode. Even if Starlight's presence is a bit superfluous, she is good value in her part. The voice work, visuals and incidental music are all excellent. Evil Twilight, more than the others, actually has a certain depth of character. The famous "melting faces" scene, even though short and diluted from the draft version, remains memorably unpleasant. The real problem here is that this is an intriguingly ambitious setup that in the end doesn't really deliver the goods. Knocking it down to two stars.

Choice quote: Starlight: "Home has books, tea... fewer bugs... a roof."

New rating: ★★

That brings us to S8's mid-season hiatus. The next Friendship is Magic episode in term of broadcast was "Yakity-Sax", which was pushed up the schedule as part of a Discovery Family promotional event, but it's nevertheless generally considered to be E18 and so I'll review it in that spot. That means next up for FiM will be "A Matter of Principals". However, before then we have the second Equestria Girls special, namely "Rollercoaster of RariJack Friendship". That one was a mixed bag for me first time around.

Ponyfic Roundup 532

Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)

Words read this week: 26,587

I've had quite a busy time this week, not really for any bad reasons but just because several things have come up at the same time. I am therefore rather tired as I write this and could do with sleeping for about 18 hours. As such, I'm pleased to have managed to get this edition of Ponyfic Roundup out on time. The usual five stories on the slate today, so first of all let's see what's coming up:

Remember Vigil by Golden Paw
Interloper by Raugos
One of Them by ThePinkedWonder
Filly à Deux by UmberRose
A Charmed Life by BlazzingInferno

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 25 to 21

It's time for another look at what was making the Equestrian Trot 100 fandom music chart ten years ago. We've seen quite a bit of variety in the songs featured so far, and I've certainly discovered some forgotten gems among all the more famous tracks. I'd like to think there'll be more of those in this upper quarter of the chart, but we shall see! The usual reminder of my inclusion criteria follows:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

A rather more frustrating week this time, as I've had to skip a song for the first time in a while. Even more annoyingly, it was the very last track I reached for this edition. I looked around, but it wasn't officially available anywhere that I could find, and it wasn't famous enough for Rule 3 to be invoked. Sorry folks!

25: Vylet Pony ft. Strigidae – My Past is Not Today (remix)
24: SlyphStorm – Neverending Strife (redux cover)
23: PrinceWhateverer ft. Dreamchan – Awesome as I Wanna Be (extended cover)
22: oodorato2 – トワイライト Sunshine Remix
21: skipped

That's the intro stuff done with, so on we go to the music, what we have of it at least.

My Little Repeats 183: "Marks for Effort"

I have my problems with the number of late-series meme faces, but "I see" is a true classic

S8E12: "Marks for Effort"

2 Jun 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.2

The one with empathy cocoa

Thoughts: "I found Cozy Glow rather irritating," I said in my 2018 review of this episode. Of course, at the time I had no idea whether she'd be anything more than a one-episode guest character!¹ Indeed, she doesn't even appear until the second act of what is mostly a CMC story. But with the benefit of hindsight, Cozy's emotional manipulation is very obvious. At the time, this mostly felt like a pretty nice Crusaders-centric tale, and watched in that light it's still an enjoyable one. The stilted dialogue in the staged "fight" had me giggling. The pacing is rather uneven, and Twilight behaved frankly poorly in immediately believing the CMC were guilty and not even apologising later on. Still, there's some fun stuff in here, and Starlight's supporting role as guidance counsellor is very amusing. I think "Marks for Effort" can still get a three-star grade.
¹ This was known at the time, since as usual by 2018 the show leaked like a sieve, but somehow I'd managed to avoid this one.

Choice quote: Students (to Spike) : "Oh dragon, my dragon."

New rating: ★★★

Next time it will be the final episode before the mid-season hiatus, "The Mean 6". Opinions of this were all over the place at the time, and that hasn't really changed in the intervening years. I liked it with significant reservations. Soon we'll see whether that's still the case now!

Ponyfic Roundup 531: Spotlight on The Night Guard - Night Mares

Read it Later story count: 91 (-3)

Words read this week: 45,884

It's been ten Roundups since we had a Spotlight looking at a longer story, so let's fix that right now. I'm sure the author of today's fic needs no introduction if you aren't absolutely new to ponyfic, but I will say here that this is the sequel to the much shorter and explicitly [Comedy]-tagged A War of Words - the Opening of the Guard. I read and liked that one a long time ago (PR 49!) and you should probably have read it too before starting on this sequel.

The Night Guard - Night Mares by Georg
OCs, Celestia and Luna
G4; Slice of Life; 46k words; Nov–Dec 2024; Everyone

For centuries, the stallions of the Royal Guard have protected Equestria from every danger imaginable. Now they face a new threat to their position that will not be so easy to defeat. Mares.

This story has inevitably dated somewhat since 2014 since in more recent years Royal Guard mares have become established canon. You really have to accept that this isn't so as the fic begins, and accept that it's still so in the matriarchal world of Equestria, otherwise much of the story doesn't work. Of course, you could imagine that the events described here are what led to these changes! Anyway, four mares are attempting to become the first female Royal Guards, and Luna in particular is very keen to see them succeed. In the background and steadily becoming more significant are the events of the S3 premiere up in the Crystal Empire. This is quite a fast-paced story, with a fair amount squeezed into under 50,000 words, but wasn't a dealbreaker for me. The four candidate mare OCs are quite good fun, though I became rather tired with an overused running joke about one of them lactating (she has a young colt, and he plays a significant role later). It's also one of those stories where I occasionally wonder about that [Everyone] rating, but don't quite object to it. A high three. ★★★

Naturally, from here on in there are spoilers aplenty!

UK PonyCon dates and new venue announced!

Given the importance of this news to so many My Little Pony fans in the UK, I've chosen to post this tonight rather than wait. For that reason, and to give people a little time to digest the news, Ponyfic Roundup will now appear on Friday. Apologies for any inconvenience, as they say when there are temporary traffic lights in the town centre for 874 days running. Anyway...

Earlier on this evening, UK PonyCon announced the dates and venue for this year's 21st iteration of what has become the world's longest-running My Little Pony convention. And they are:

Friday 3rd (evening), Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October 2025

The Birmingham Conference and Events Centre

That's right – after being in Nottingham since 2018, UKPC is on the move! Those who've attended (or at least known of) the convention for many years will recall that, before it moved to Nottingham, it tended to move around the country. In a way, then, this is a return to the event's roots. Although I know Birmingham fairly well (since I only live 20-25 miles away) I don't think I've ever attended an event at this particular venue, so I can't comment on that.

What I can say is that the place is extremely well connected. As the BCEC's website shows, it's within sight of Birmingham New Street Station, the city's main rail hub – and that is a ten-minute train ride from Birmingham International Airport. As you'd expect from a city with a population of well over a million, 3-4 times that of Nottingham, Birmingham has no shortage of hotel options in the centre either. Whether I'll actually stay over or commute in (if I go – as usual, I can't commit just yet!) I don't know.

As the PonyCon folks say in their announcement post (not yet fully updated) this year it will be possible to stay at the venue, with a special rate for attendees forthcoming. That's not yet live, so be aware of that if you do the instabooking thing. UKPC hasn't been held in a hotel since it was in Leicester in 2014 and 2015, but I remember that plenty of people took the opportunity to stay on site back then. The other big change is the addition of an extra music event on Friday evening, The last con I attended that did that was BUCK 2014!

Lots to think about, but this has blindsided a lot of us as we didn't really expect UK PonyCon to be able to secure a venue in Birmingham city centre. The initial reaction I've seen has been really very positive, though, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it all as I type this. Many thanks and congratulations to the convention committee for managing to get something so complex and impressive worked out.

Sounds of 2015, nos. 30 to 26

On and on we go with this series. I was asked by a friend recently how long I intended to keep the "Sounds of..." posts going, and the honest answer is that I don't know. I'm pretty sure I have charts available up until 2019, but after that Covid sent a lot of things into a tailspin and so 2020 onwards might be a bit trickier to organise. Still, 2015 definitely works. As usual, a reminder of the feature rules:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Yet another week with a full house of five tracks being featured! This is always a good thing, and so we can go right on to the list of songs:

30: WoodLore – Down South in Appleloosa
29: SlyphStorm vs Forest Rain – Duelling DAWs
28: OhPonyBoy – The Blob Symphony
27: Aviators – Heaven Knows
26: dBPony ft. Mic the Microphone – No Chance

Okay, now you know what you're in for this week, let's get a move on and listen to the actual songs!

My Little Repeats 182: "Molt Down"

"You mean to make these spots go away I have to drink all that?"

S8E11: "Molt Down"

26 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.6

The one with the school tour

Thoughts: Or "Moult Down", as it clearly should have been spelt. :P Another episode I really liked seven years ago, but to be honest I think I overrated it. This is very obviously A TV-Y Puberty Episode and, while that's not a bad thing, it does get a bit one-note at times. The best parts here are the little sections with the likes of Smolder (especially) and Pinkie, and of course it's very nice to finally see Zecora get a significant role again. The roc is okay if not amazing, but Josh Haber's dialogue generally isn't overly memorable: Rarity's "This isn't the first time I've been in the clutches of a horrible giant creature – but it doesn't get any easier" doesn't exactly snap. Rarity's temporary deafness is stretched out for too long, although as ever Tabitha St. Germain aces the voice acting. I'm fine with Spike getting his wings and happy that Twilight reassures him he's still welcome. "Molt Down" is still fun, and I like that Spike isn't just the butt of jokes, but it's missing the real pizazz of an episode like "Gauntlet of Fire". I think "Molt Down" is a solid three, not a low four.

Choice quote: Spike: "I slept like a roc!" (Okay, I'm being silly. But nice foreshadowing!)

New rating: ★★★

Next comes "Marks for Effort", which as the debut episode for Cozy Glow was a rather more significant ep than I realised at the time of its initial broadcast. I had mixed feelings about it in 2018, so it will be interesting to see whether now knowing Cozy's future character arc will make a difference.

Ponyfic Roundup 530

Read it Later story count: 94 (+1)

Words read this week: 31,727

The RiL list count is creeping up again, I know, but don't worry: it will creep down again by the end of the month! Not a lot has been going on in my corner of England over the last week, although up until the last couple of days the weather has been superb for early March, with temperatures reaching the high teens and plenty of sunshine. Anyway, here's today's slate:

The Joy Hive by TheDriderPony
Counting Crows by VashTheStampede
Why Celestia Never Helps... by Huk
Pony Play by Bad Horse
Whatever I Shall Meet On The Road by astrolatryy

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 35 to 31

This week's "Sounds" will take us into the top third of the Equestrian Trot 100 chart from a decade ago. You'd think that by this point all the songs would be at least moderately famous to this day, but these charts do tend to throw up some surprises. Remember what was number one on the 2014 list? As I type this I don't actually know what this week's selection will throw up, so let's go and see! First, though, the inclusion rules:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

We've had a couple of weeks now with all five tracks able to be featured. At the very top end of the chart Rule 3 will probably apply anyway, but that doesn't kick in just yet. Never mind, we get all five today anyway!

35: Aviators ft. GatoPaint – The Surface
34: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Tell Me
33: PrinceWhateverer – 12115
32: Sim Gretina – I'll Fly (remix)
31: BassBeastJC – The Magic Inside/I am Just a Pony (instrumental cover)

That's all the introductory bit done and dusted, so it's time to move on to the actual music. Here goes!

My Little Repeats 181: "The Break Up Break Down"

Aw, even matching wrapping paper!

S8E10: "The Break Up Break Down"

19 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.9

The one with cool leanings

Thoughts: This was a much-needed tonic after the mess of the last episode. I'm usually not a huge fan of romance being brought to the fore in Friendship is Magic, but this story is very enjoyable. You do have to accept one or two clichés, not least Big Mac and Sugar Belle repeatedly managing to miss the simple explanation, but that aside it's fun. The Guys Night stuff is entertaining and it's always nice for Peter New to get to talk a bit. The pacing is without the long saggy periods that some episodes suffer. There's some nice dialogue, especially between Discord and Spike; and the animators managed to sneak a few same-sex couples into the celebrations (one of them especially prominent!) without US TV bursting into flames. The CMC subplot was a little more ordinary, and it's a slight stretch that nopony thought of the other "Belle" given the setup. But hay, we got a Derpy cameo! It's possibly a tad over-generous to give this a four, but I smiled a lot, so it's keeping that rating.

Choice quote: Discord: "Please! Can't you see that that holiday is a commercialised ruse pushed on you by the greeting card industry?"

New rating: ★★★★

Well, that was quite an improvement on "Non-Compete Clause"! Next time, it'll be "Molt Down", which apart from annoying my spellchecker (and me) because of the title's US spelling isn't an episode I dislike much. I can't remember much beyond the very broad-brush details, though.

Ponyfic Roundup 529: Equestria Girls Edition

Read it Later story count: 92 (nc)

Words read this week: 27,285

As I type this, it's 15 °C and sunny outside and there's a feeling that spring really is on the way. (Well, already here if you go by meteorological months.) Back in the world of ponyfic, though, it's time to look at five stories that all revolve around the humanised versions of those same ponies. Yes, it's EqG time today! Here's what I've been reading:

Penance by Bicyclette
Just Want A Hug by SilverStar7
My Little Songfish by BlackWater
Dark Sunset by pabrony83
Asking a Favor by Tinybit92

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 40 to 36

Here we go once more with another look at the Pony music that was shaking the fandom ten years ago. For those of us who've been around that long, it's slightly concerning that some of these songs – and the events that inspired them – are now a decade old. Ah well, time marches on as they say. So indeed do my inclusion criteria:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Last week I was able to feature all five tracks. This week? All five again! One required a non-YouTube official source, but it was there! I think it's a good list, even if not all the songs were brand new for 2015:

40: µThunder – I'll Fly (remix)
39: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Sight Unseen
38: PrinceWhateverer ft. Dreamchan & CGScrambles – Beyond the Horizon
37: SlyphStorm – Nightmare Night (cover)
36: Sim Gretina – In Our Town (remix)

All right, that's the introductory stuff dealt with, so let's avoid getting bogged down in waffle and get moving to the actual music!

My Little Repeats 180: "Non-Compete Clause"

An actual nice reference? In this episode? It's a miracle!

S8E09: "Non-Compete Clause"

12 May 2018

My original rating: ★★
IMDb score: 4.4

The one with er... bite-a-cudas?

Thoughts: In IMDb ratings, this is the lowest that Friendship is Magic ever got, the only episode of the entire series that scored below five. Look, you know it's bad. I know it's bad. Everyone knows it's bad. The students are the only real saving grace, and they stop this from breaking my run of never finding any episode of this series entirely without merit. It's nowhere near enough, though. Applejack and Rainbow are not just hit with the Idiot Ball but repeatedly shot at point-blank range with Idiot Blunderbusses. Even ignoring the absurd character regression, "Fall Weather Friends" did their rivalry far better in the middle of season one. They almost drown Yona and don't show much concern, which is just unbelievable. Their fighting also goes on and on and on. Otherwise? Um... the Fluttershy "Teacher of the Month" joke is amusing, Twilight isn't entirely useless, and... er... the episode looks quite nice. But AJ and RD still bickering at the end? Tedious, like the ep as a whole. I'm only glad for Kim Beyer-Johnson's sake that this wasn't her only FiM writing credit. Her others weren't terrible. "Non-Compete Clause" is, and hard as the students work to save it, they still can't. And now it's over and I never have to watch this episode again. Until I inevitably do. Again. And regret it. Again.

Choice quote: Gallus: "Yeah... it's been like this all day..."

New rating: ★

The only way is up, right? And indeed, the next episode is "The Break Up Breakdown", which I remember rather enjoying – and not only because it wasn't "Non-Compete Clause" any more...

Ponyfic Roundup 528

Read it Later story count: 92 (+1)

Words read this week: 22,543

I don't really have anything of interest to say here, but when has that ever stopped me? I will note that we're now getting to the point in the year when if – if – the sun decides to come out, it can almost feel springlike. I even sat outside a pub with a drink the other day. For about ten minutes before I got too cold, but still. Anyway, back to the ponyfic. Five stories this week as usual, and here's the list:

Pumpkin Talk by Heavy Mole
Try by Nailah
More Than Her Mane by Westphalian_Musketeer
Ever After Never Came by Thunderbug80
The Best and the Worst by Shrink Laureate

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 45 to 41

It's back to "Sounds of 2015" today, and things are really hotting up. Actually they're kind of doing so in real life as well, since as I type the sun is out and the sky is (mostly) blue, which makes a change after the endless weeks of grey drizzle we've endured in these parts up until recently. Never mind; it's time to blow any remaining clouds away! The usual reminder of my inclusion criteria first:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

For the past couple of weeks, I've had to skip at least one track. This time around, it's back to the full five, although I'm afraid I still couldn't find official HQ download links for most.

45: Sim Gretina – The Pony I Want to Be (remix)
44: TheIronPony & Michael Picher – Rio's Ballad
43: Foozogz – Faded
42: Scraton – Wireless
41: Lenich & Kirya – Love Me Cheerilee (cover)

And now we're done with that, come with me for embedded videos, a few facts and figures, and my trademark semi-pointless ramblings about each song.

My Little Repeats 179: "The Parent Map"

Early-series Twilight doing this at her library might have been fun

S8E08: "The Parent Map"

5 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.4

The one with chocolate perfume

Thoughts: This is a reasonable enough episode, with a reasonable plot leading to a reasonable moral. It doesn't do anything I hate, and it's nice to see Starlight and Sunburst teaming up, but by Celestia it's predictable in its overall direction. The "don't touch the books" bookshop is strange, all the more so as Firelight does handle them later with no comeback. You do wonder what Starlight's dad was doing while his daughter was off brainwashing ponies. I do like the tension between modernisation and preservation, but then I do live in an old town in Europe! As in 2018, I rather wish that had been the central conflict here. And where are our heroes' other parents? Even a line would have been nice. Some nice visuals and jokes, such as those gates, but even some of those get reused noticeably often. Not a terrible ep, but a bit flat compared with other family-based episodes like "Parental Glideance". All in all, a time-passer of an episode rather than anything more; just too predictable to be more than that. I think only a smidge above the purely run-of-the-mill, which means a top-end two-star rating now.

Choice quote: Stellar Flare: "Use your words, Sunburst."

New rating: ★★

Well now, let's see what's next on the list. And... "Non-Compete Clause". Oh. Well, it has to be done, doesn't it? I suppose. See you there!

Ponyfic Roundup 527

Read it Later story count: 91 (-1)

Words read this week: 17,002

A very low word count this time, partly on account of having only five days to read, note and write up, rather than the usual seven. Yeah, I know I ought to get a couple of weeks in advance exactly so I can ride over these bumps without too much issue, but I never seem to manage it. Nevertheless, I did get all through all five fics, and as a reminder they are:

Immortal Beginnings by Snake Staff
So Her Legacy Will Endure by PresentPerfect
Pink Geode by Faeforches
A meeting by IsaSpSp
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Midnight by Jade Ring

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 50 to 46

A milestone passed today, as we enter the top half of the Equestrian Trot 100 chart of most voted-for fandom music tracks of 2015. Not all of them were originally released in 2015, but that's irrelevant. The point is that the people who voted still found them worth voting for in 2015. And now I've used the year three times in three sentences (four in four, if you count the title) I think it's time to move on! The usual reminder of my inclusion rules follows:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Last week, I had to skip two of the five songs for non-compliance with those criteria. This week, I can improve a bit: I only need to skip one track today! I hope to get back to a full slate soon, but we'll have to wait and see on that score.

50: Scraton – Ponies
49: skipped
48: Notion – Stop the Bats (remix)
47: PrinceWhateverer ft. Rockin'Brony – Ace of my Heart
46: 4everfreebrony ft. Lil' Everfree – Otherwise

That's the introductory stuff over and done with, so it's time to continue to the section that has actual music in it...

Ponyfic Roundup 526

Read it Later story count: 92 (+3)

Words read this week: 32,686

It's been a hard week for me, but after the music post the other day, I'm feeling that I'm ready to get back into the routine of bloggishness. You'll be getting a "My Little Repeats" about the next S8 episode ("The Parent Map") before too much longer, but first it's Ponyfic Roundup time. Five stories as usual when there's no Spotlight fic to hog all the limelight for itself, and here they are:

Can't Choose Your Family by CyborgSamurai
The Heart Thief by Sharaloth
Button Squash (Or, Maud Doesn't Write About Rocks) by Rinnaul
Moonbug by Sledge115
Supper of Scootaloo Stew by Lucky Dreams

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 55 to 51

Back to the usual run of things now. Because this post is a day later than usual, and to space things out a little, Ponyfic Roundup will be on Friday this week. Today, though, it's time for "Sounds of 2015", in which we complete our look at the bottom half of the Equestrian Trot 100 music chart for that year. As usual, here's my summary of the inclusion criteria:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Well, it was always likely to happen sooner or later. After a run of full houses, this week I've come across not one but two songs that I can't find still up anywhere officially connected with their artist. As such, I'm afraid they will have to be skipped. Here's what you are getting this time, though:

55: &I ft. Giggly Maria – Dive
54: skipped
53: FritzyBeat hugs PhonyBrony ft. Chi-chi – Hush Now
52: µThunder – Make This Castle a Home (remix)
51: skipped

All right, next up comes the bit you're actually interested in, to wit the songs! Even if there are only three of them today, let's set off at once.

In memory of Entei-rah

You may wonder why I haven't posted anything here for nearly a week. The answer, I'm afraid, is a sad one. Entei-rah, a wonderful friend who I'd known for well over 20 years, succumbed to his cancer on Saturday, and I've been knocked sideways by the news. I'd known the destination was inevitable for some while now, I just hate so much that the end came so quickly. I'm going to miss him terribly, indeed I already do, but I'll always remember him as one of the absolute Good Guys.

Although furry was the place where Ent was most active, he was also a quiet but dedicated supporter of the MLP fandom. He was a regular presence with his wife at UK PonyCon each year, and he attended quite a few Worcester ponymeets – the last of these as recently as December. By that time we knew he was seriously ill and I suspect he found travelling down from Stockport tougher than he let on, but being Ent he was more concerned with making sure we all had a fun, light-hearted meet as usual.

Entei-rah and I first met way, way back in the Watership Down fandom in the very early 2000s, in the days when Yahoo Groups were still a thing. From there he moved into the furry fandom, and in the last decade he took more of an interest in Pony as well and supported that with the same energy and enthusiasm he put into all the many things he loved. As he said in his Twitter and then Bluesky profile, "Luna is best something something..."

Farewell, my friend.

Ponyfic Roundup 525

Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)

Words read this week: 23,459

Just think, it'll be spring next month. Since that's my favourite season (usually) I'm quite looking forward to it, although the English weather being what it is I expect plenty of false starts before we actually get something I could fairly call springlike. It'll certainly be quite some time before I'm able to sit outside to read ponyfic, but here's what I've read this week while firmly indoors:

My Little Red Dwarf by JimmyZD
And The Serpent Said Unto The Princess by UndomeTimwe
Under the Harvest Moon by Rangelost
Her Song by marmalado
Without Another Word by Jack of a Few Trades

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 60 to 56

Here we are in February, then. Almost spring in these parts, at least in theory if usually a bit less so in practice. It doesn't seem all that long since I began on "Sounds of 2015", and yet here we are, rapidly closing in on halfway in the Equestrian Trot 100 music charts for that year. Before we go any further, here's the usual reminder of the rules. At leat one of the first three needs to happen to trigger inclusion; rule 4 is an additional one that's rarely used.

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

In terms of inclusion this time, it's another week when there's a full set! The days of 2011 and 2012, when I had to skip at least one track on many occasions, seem a long way away now. Having said that, they'll probably come back to bite me next time, but that's Future Logan's problem! The list today:

60: OhPonyBoy – Only Pony
59: oodorato2 – Halloween Rocks!
58: Aviators – Dragonheart
57: Aurelleah – Forever
56: 4everfreebrony ft. Chi-Chi & Relative Pitch – Chant of Mirth

The introductory formalities out of the way, we can now proceed to the meat of the post: the actual songs! Here goes...

My Little Repeats 178: "Horse Play"

Yeah, I know, least surprising header image ever...

S8E07: "Horse Play"

28 Apr 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.1

The one with Step! Buck! Leap! Touch!

Thoughts: Fluttershy is an alicorn princess? Five stars, next question. Ahem... this episode gets plenty of love from me for being one of the very rare Celestia-heavy eps out there. It is somewhat uneven, with some characterisation that really doesn't belong this far into the show, but it's also lots of fun. Applejack trying repeatedly to convince Twilight to be honest really tickled me for some reason. I can well believe Trixie selling dodgy back-street fireworks, though Pinkie's line about it is very clunky. Celestia herself is of course a bad actor,¹ though her (fortunately brief) anger with Twilight is real and of course in the actual crisis late on she demonstrates immense calmness and competence. The Student Six play nice little supporting roles on stage,² and Luna's late grumpiness at Tia's Sun-raising had me in stitches, brief as it was. This is far from a faultless episode, but I can forgive most of its faults as it's just so watchable. As such, though I'm nudging it down to three stars, I consider it really quite high in that band.
¹ Not in that sense. I hope.
² Though having six characters play unicorns, none of whom actually are unicorns? Tsk, I say.

Choice quote: Spike: "Now that's the best acting we've seen all day."

New rating: ★★★

The next episode on the list is "The Parent Map", which as I recall is an ep I found okay but no better, whereas I know some people greatly appreciated it. Who knows which category I will fall into on a repeat viewing?

Ponyfic Roundup 524

Read it Later story count: 91 (-1)

Words read this week: 26,034

It's been quite a busy week for me, though sadly a lot of what I was doing was boring stuff that didn't contain one single pony. Not anywhere. Can you imagine? Fortunately, Ponyfic Roundup is here today to take the edge off that dreadful situation. As is so often the case, there are five stories on the roster this week. They are:

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

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 65 to 61

Back we are again now with the next edition of "Sounds of 2015". We're more than a third of the way through the year's hits, and there have already been a few surprises and some songs which I think have been unfairly neglected in more recent times. Let's see what this week brings, and as ever I'll start by mentioning my rules for song inclusion:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Guess what, folks, it's another week when I can feature all five of the songs! This is very unlikely to be the case for the entire rest of the chart, but I'm not going to complain when it happens! Here's the track list:

65: PrinceWhateverer – Left Behind
64: SquareHead – Tricks Up My Sleeve (remix)
63: Foozogz – I'll Fly (remix)
62: Silva Hound – Diamonds
61: Ferexes – Blank Space

Next, it's time for the actual songs, and the perhaps equally terrifying prospect of Logan rambling on about them. Off we go, pop pickers...

My Little Repeats 177: "Surf and/or Turf"

Scootaloo in a world of her own. She wishes...

S8E06: "Surf and/or Turf"

21 Apr 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.7

The one with kelp chips

Thoughts: This was, and remains, one of my favourite episodes from Season Eight. The first of Brian Hohlfeld's three Friendship is Magic writing credits, it brings together a new location for the show, an enjoyable new guest character and the CMC on a Map mission. Apple Bloom is the voice of reason as the other two Crusaders grump at each other. The ep looks lovely by Flash FiM standards, even if understandably its Seaquestria can't match the film's beauty.¹ I really like the ponies' seapony designs, both Twilight's and the CMCs'. Terramar's dilemma is a fairly transparent attempt at portraying a child of divorced/separated parents without actually mentioning that aspect, but he's likeable enough that it works fine. Okay, as with so many other problems, it could have been solved with a bit of forethought before the Crusaders ever arrived, and Twilight's presence is just slightly irrelevant given how little time she actually spends chaperoning the fillies. What I love most, though, is Scootaloo's sheer joy at swimming, the closest she can get to flying. I can't stop smiling at that segment. I really liked watching "Surf and/or Turf" again, enough that I'm certainly letting it keep its four-star rating.
¹ Yeah, that iffy animation going down the stairs early on, but that's short enough that it doesn't stick too much in the mind.

Choice quote: Sweetie Belle: "I have some serious field twirling to do."

New rating: ★★★★

Next time, it'll be "Horse Play". This is an episode that gets very mixed responses, though I quite liked it and (based on a totally unscientific quick chat at a recent Worcester meet) I'm not the only one. We'll see whether I'm still of that opinion soon.

Ponyfic Roundup 523

Read it Later story count: 92 (nc)

Words read this week: 35,469

Hello everyone, Ponyfic Roundup day once more. Not too bad a word count by my standards this week, and despite various things getting in the way I didn't have to delay publication. Yay. Another five stories on the list for this week. I don't have a lot to say before we get going, so... let's get galloping! Here's what's in PR today:

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.

Sounds of 2015, nos. 70 to 66

Apologies for the lack of activity on this blog over the last few days. Something else has been on my mind a fair amount (something personal, not what some of my US readers may be thinking), so Louder Yay has been a lower priority than usual. However, here we go again with another look back at the Equestrian Trot 100 music chart for the now decade-ago year 2015. The rules I use for deciding whether a song can be included remain unchanged:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

We've had a couple of weeks now when I've been able to feature all five of the songs in the relevant portion of the chart. And now, we do the treble! Here's the list for this edition:

70: Archie – Back Again
69: WoodLore – Let the Magic Fill Your Soul
68: SquareHead – Let's Have a Battle (remix)
67: MiatriSs – We'll Make Our Mark (remix)
66: Aviators – Crash

Here endeth the intro section. Beyond this point beginneth the non-intro section. Thou hast been warnèd!

Ponyfic Roundup 522

Read it Later story count: 92 (-5)

Words read this week: 30,840

I did say I wanted to get that RiL story count down, didn't I? Well, mission accomplished! As you'll see in the footer, there are more from that source to come, but the overall total may not change as much as I've ended my freeze on adding new fics to the pile. I've also had a couple of review requests – as a reminder, I do accept those but the wait is likely to be long. As far as stories reaching the front of the queue this week go, the slate is as follows:

The Cat-astrophe by Samey90
Heart of Gold by TCC56
She Kills Monsters by chiko
Coronavirus by Thought Prism
The Two Doctors by Silver Needle

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 75 to 71

The frost and ice of recent days here is now gone and we're back to the usual English Midlands winter weather of being only slightly chilly with lots of cloud. At the moment I'm okay with that as I just wanted it to warm up, but before long I'll doubtless start really yearning for some sunshing. In the meantime, I'll have to content myself with some Pony music. My inclusion criteria follow as usual. At least one of these is needed:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

I'm very happy to say that, as with last week's selection, this time I can also feature all five songs. Admittedly two of them were also in the 2014 chart, but I doubt many of you will mind when you see what they are. Talking of which, here's the list:

75: TAPS – Battle
74: Sayonara Maxwell – Light of Your Cutie Mark (remix)
73: Starlight & IMShadow007 – Lonely Road
72: Vylet Pony ft. Lily Cloud – Starcrossed
71: ponyphonic – Harmony Ascendant

All right, that's quite enough of the introductory waffle. Let's get to the actual tunes!

My Little Repeats 176: Forgotten Friendship

For my original review of Forgotten Friendship, I saw the 44-minute TV edit since that's all that existed at the time! This time around, I watched the slightly extended version Hasbro uploaded to YouTube,¹ which can be a pain to find since it's listed under the alternative title Most Likely To Be Forgotten. Since almost nobody in the fandom ever uses that name to refer to either version, I'm sticking with Forgotten Friendship here.
¹ Albeit only in 720p...

"Review? What, like a behaviour review?"

Forgotten Friendship

17 Feb 2018 (original 44-minute TV edit)

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.3

The one with edible sunscreen

Thoughts: Well, like most Brits I don't care about high school yearbooks, but this special mostly overcomes that. Wallflower Blush isn't the most thrilling antagonist (though she does rather grow on me as time goes alone) and the Memory Stone being in CHS-world in the first place is a tad convenient, but get past that and the slightly tedious beach/photo stuff and the story clips along. Sunset Shimmer's meeting with Celestia – in Equestria, which was A Big Deal when this special came out – is memorable. She also has the toughest time, being treated after the memory spell as though her reformation didn't happen. Meanwhile Trixie surely revels in her enormously enjoyable role, and Sunset and her work nearly as well together as Trixie and Starlight do in Friendship is Magic. Convenient discovery of Clover's last page is convenient. "Invisible" is the better of the two songs, but neither are out-and-out smashes. I enjoyed this, though in truth a four is a little too generous. Nudging this down to a high three – which, let's not forget, is still a comfortably above-average score. Nick Confalone done good.

Choice quote: Sunset: "Princess Celestia has a sense of humour? Looks like I'm not the only one who's changed."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, it'll be back to Friendship is Magic and an episode that's held a place as one of my favourites from S8 ever since I first saw it: "Surf and/or Turf". I'm fairly confident I'll still like it, but I can't be absolutely sure until I actually re-view and review!

Ponyfic Roundup 521: Spotlight on The Cadenza Prophecies

Read it Later story count: 97 (+3)

Words read these three weeks: 105,861

Taking three weeks to get this review out, partly thanks to this platform not liking me for a while, has unsurprisingly led to my RiL list swelling a little bit. I really don't want it to get back into three figures, so for a few weeks I'll be prioritising stories from there and having at least four of the weekly five taken from that source, rather than grabbing two or three of them from other parts of Fimfiction as I usually do. Back to the Spotlight!

The Cadenza Prophecies by iisaw
Twilight, Tempest Shadow, OCs and Mane Six
G4 AU; Adventure; 106k words; Mar–Aug 2024; Teen (Violence)

The Storm King's invasion of Canterlot goes differently when a more callous and world-weary Twilight is present.

AU is definitely the term here: while the story opens with the attack on Canterlot we see in the 2017 film, here it doesn't succeed and once he finds that out, the Storm King is not happy. That has... implications. Tempest, meanwhile, becomes a POW on Twilight's airship – indeed, her story arc is particularly interesting. You absolutely need to have read previous instalments for this one to make any sense, as otherwise you're going to spend the whole time asking, "But why? ...who? ...where?" and so on. About Twilight's character, but not just about her. There's plenty of swashbuckling adventure (and a good thing too!) and not too much TwiLuna (see previous comment, YMMV of course). One new culture is especially intriguing, and it ain't Klugetown either, though we do go there. I'm not absolutely on board with the pacing of what happens regarding Twi's main target, and overall I do slightly prefer The Twilight Enigma, but if you've enjoyed this series thus far, I think you'll enjoy this one plenty too. A lowish four, but I'm comfortable giving it that four. More on that below the line. ★★★★

Spotlight as this is, abandon unspoileriness all ye who enter here.

Sounds of 2015, nos. 80 to 76

Good news, everyone! After being mightily obstructive for several days, Blogger is now back to normal and will let me make long posts and use formatting. That means that the Spotlight review of iisaw's The Cadenza Prophecies will be posted at some point on Wednesday as I previously trailed, and that I can first provide this week's edition of "Sounds of 2015". Well, vive to that and an éclair for both of us! Anyway, the usual reminder of my inclusion criteria:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion. 

Last week was an interesting one, with some tracks I liked more than others, but it was a full house of five included songs. This time, I can say the same again! To my mind, today's crop is a particularly fine one. Here's the list:

80: PonyFireStone – Battle of the Bands (remix)
79: Foozogz – Together
78: JoinedTheHerd – The Pony I Want To Be (JTH Remix)
77: Rarity ft. Lady Aria – Alone in the Dark
76: Wasteland Wailers – Mail It In

Here comes the choo-choo train jump break, if you happen to be on a device that recognises those things. Beyond that is the usual mixture, so off we go!

Apologies to iisaw

And to everyone else. Blogger is refusing to post anything remotely long or with any formatting or labels at all. As such I cannot post the review of The Cadenza Prophecies today. In the past when this happened it was sorted out in a day or two. Since I'm very busy for the next couple of days I think the best thing is to post the review on Wednesday all being well, since that is at least PR's normal day. Again, apologies. I can at least say that I liked the story!

Follow-up to yesterday's, and my last post on AI for some time

I made a post yesterday on the future of AI in the fandom, and it brought quite a few reactions. One of the first was from Aragón, who it seems to some extent got the wrong end of the stick and inferred that I approved of what I thought the near future would bring. I don't. His misinterpretation is my fault for not writing the post better, not his. A few other people have weighed in with their own thoughts, and I'm more than happy for other people to continue to do so if they wish.

I will make it clear, though, that for as long as it remains practically possible for me to do so, I will be refusing to review AI-generated ponyfic. The reviewing policy I set out a year and a half ago still stands: if I review a fic and later discover it was made by AI, its rating will be changed to zero. I support the Fimfiction requirement that stories are written by humans. (I think being written by ponies is also acceptable, fortunately.)

But although I expect to be writing about AI stuff again in the future, unless there's some big development that I really can't ignore I won't be writing about it again here for quite some time. You need have no fear that Louder Yay is going to turn into one of those sites where the owner spends his entire time banging on and on and on about the same subject, wondering why the world is not grasping the incontrovertible fact that He Is Right.

And now it's time to move on. Ponyfic Roundup and Sounds of 2015 updates are in the works for the coming week. Happy New Year, everycreature!