Ponyfic Roundup 572

Read it Later story count: 91 (nc)

Words read this week: 21,226

Just to let everyone know, if – if – all goes well I will be restarting "My Little Repeats" at some point during the next week. I've decided to write a single post covering the shorts that appeared between S8 and S9 of Friendship is Magic, at least if I can find them all in good nick online. After that it will be back to the main business of the final season of the show. As for today? The slate is:

Only Now by LunaUsesCaps
Applemania by Leafdoggy
Thank You, Doctor by The Wizard of Words
The Jerk That Time Forgot by King of Beggars
Singing to the Moon by uSea

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

Only Now by LunaUsesCaps
Celestia and Luna
G4; Slice of Life; 2k words; Apr 2013; Teen

Twilight casts a spell that accidentally switches her friends' cutie marks. Unnoticed, Celestia considers this.

As that shortdesc suggests, this story is inspired by "Magical Mystery Cure". However, exactly when in relation to the episode is a little ambiguous: it could even be an origin story for Starswirl's spell being given to Twilight. However, the core of this is very simple: a story about an adult realising that her "child" is growing up and worrying about where their relationship will go. A particularly hard hit at one point helps to balance out some perhaps slightly overwritten prose. Into the threes, I think. ★★★

Applemania by Leafdoggy
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie
G4; Romance/Drama; 4k words; Aug 2019; Teen

Pinkie Pie tries to help Fluttershy control some unwanted urges.

And just what are those urges? One word: Flutterbat. PinkieShy is an established pairing from the start here, and although there's probably rightly no [Comedy] genre tag it's an entertaining ride. I like the way Pinkie is portrayed her, with her combination of silliness and seriousness fitting well. A fic with the phrase "No apples 'til you can control your urges" can't be all bad! The shippery is of less interest to me personally, and the ending didn't land for me as it felt too crude for this story, but the rest is nice enough for this to shade a three. ★★★

Thank You, Doctor by The Wizard of Words
Derpy and Doctor Whooves
G4; Romance/Comedy/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jun 2015; Everyone

Shortly after Cranky and Matilda's Wedding, Ditzy remembers that she forgot to thank the Doctor for helping her.

A cute fic here, which doesn't get too front-and-centre shippy for most of its length. Ditzy (as she's called here) is the POV character, and I'm fairly fond of the way she's written: the author gives her that slightly "off" feel, but perhaps makes her just slightly simpler than I'd like. It doesn't feel ill-natured, though. There's clearly some context to this story (beyond "Slice of Life") that we're asked to fill in ourselves. But... maybe we shouldn't think too hard and should just enjoy the warm fluffiness. Another low three. ★★★

The Jerk That Time Forgot by King of Beggars
Mane Six, Spike and Other
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 7k words; Mar 2015; Teen (Sex)

Twilight Sparkle finds something unexpected lurking in the basement of her new home. A very old, very grumpy something.

Oh, this is fun. The "something", as we discover early on, is a certain wizard with bells on his hat. Yes, Starswirl has been living in Twilight's castle basement (kind of; it's complicated) for centuries and now he's angry. Okay, not angry. More immensely jerkish. Calling Twilight and her friends "harlots" because they have their cutie marks exposed is only the start of it. Soon there are duels involved. Some wonderful lines in here, and a great extended cameo from a pony who fits into this mess quite perfectly. This is stupid, but it's funny stupid, and for a comedy there's not much higher praise than that. ★★★★

Singing to the Moon by uSea
Sweetie Belle, Luna and Rarity
G4; Slice of Life; 3k words; Sep 2011; Teen

Sweetie Belle sings to the moon. But her song attracts an unexpected guest.

This is story 771 on Fimfiction, so this is a fic featuring S1 Luna. It's a pretty slight tale in which Luna turns up and sings with her. Since this is such an old fic, Fimf's rule against copyrighted lyrics hadn't kicked in yet, and you'll surely recognise some of the songs. This is really just a mildly cute vignette, and with S1 Luna's character being so different from what it was from "Luna Eclipsed" onwards, it didn't feel that relatable. Low two therefore. ★★

---

Five more shortfics next week. I don't want to tempt fate, but I'll do it anyway! I think I'm getting back into the swing of things here now. Next week's five will be:

Luck of the Lyrish by Timaeus
A Lesson Never Learned by Workard
Just Look at This Baby by FrontSevens
My Lil Scoots by Hawaiian Summer Splash
There's Something in the Woods by HoofBitingActionOverload