Ponyfic Roundup 193: She's Got More Bottle than United Dairies

An apology first of all: I will not be reviewing horizon's Watch! Watch! as promised last week. At least, not yet. That's because I've since discovered that an epilogue will be added once the contest it was written for has finished. As long as that's not too long, I'll wait for that to happen before posting my review.

Read it Later story count: 345 (nc)

Because of that, as well as the fact that it keeps snowing in spite of being almost March, I only have three stories today. I hope that this doesn't presage a return to skinny PRs, but I'd better make no promises. Here's this week's little bunch:

Beautiful Rain by argonaut
Showdown at the Card Table by Bronyxy
Heart is Where the Home is by Skywriter

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0

Plugging Flashfic 150

Real Life refuses to let up, so I haven't got much to post right now. Therefore, I'll take the opportunity to plug my little monthly writing contest, Flashfic 150. As its name implies, this is an event which requires you to write (up to) 150 words inspired by a prompt selected by the previous month's winner. There are no prizes, a deliberate decision that I'd hold to even if I were rolling in bits, but you are likely to get a much better benefit, which is to get a little feedback on your piece from some of the others.

The "judging" consists of me deciding which entry I like best! In other words, pleasse don't go expecting Ms Harshwhinny levels of professionalism here. Not from me, at any rate – the actual submissions have contained some little gems. The next contest starts on 1st March and will use the prompt "What You Leave Behind", chosen by last month's winner Ceffyl Dwr. If you're interested in trying your hoof at this, head over to the forum on the Flashfic group and watch for the relevant thread to go up on Thursday. Thanks!

Special review: Equestria Girls "Forgotten Friendship"

"It's my green hair, isn't it? Come on, Rarity, admit it."

It's been a while since I've written a full-length review for anything Equestria Girls, but it's time to change all that. Nick Confalone's "Forgotten Friendship" special, the same length as a double episode of FiM, seemed worth writing something about. Unlike a lot of the fandom, I hadn't read the novelisation (which came out first, but was written after this). I had been spoiled on one or two details, however. After the cut, with spoilers aplenty, I'll say what I thought.

Ponyfic Roundup 192: Crimson Sun on Traffic Lights

I happened to be at the Reviewer's Cafe group page when it was open for submissions, so I chucked We Who with Songs Beguile in to see what would happen. It got rejected with a score of 5/10: "There’s nothing that sticks with you, nothing that makes you think, no new perspective on the world of My Little Pony. For those reasons, I am rejecting this fic." The story is supposed to meander, because that's what Mazarine does, but it is a bit of a one-trick pony: if his grumpiness and skewed perspective on ponykind don't grab the reader, not much else will. Ah well. Here's the full review.

Read it Later story count: 345 (-8)

My RiL list is under 350 stories for the first time in... a long time. Probably several years. Considering it made it up to 499 at one point, I'm quite pleased. I do get the occasional person asking me to review their fic, but not many; it's not just because there are better reviewers out there, but probably also because I don't review on Fimfiction itself. I don't mind, though, as "I might review your story, but it'd be in about 2021" might not go down too well. :P Also, six stories for review today!

Diary of a Pliant Tyrant by xjuggernaughtx
A Tail by MyNameHere
A Requiem for Lost Libraries by Mitch H
The Cadance Conundrum by Super Trampoline
The Cup Cake Killer by Saddlesoap Opera
The Very Literal Rise and Fall of Pinkie Pie by 4EverfreeBrony

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0

"Pony Girl" starring Fluttershy and Fluttershy

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Tridashie's "Pony Girl" video has become a modern fandom classic, with over seven million views since it was released in April 2017. Now, Pinkie Rose has made a cover with the adorability factor taken up as high as it will go and then some. Rainbow Dash's role has been taken by Fluttershy, and Twilight's by... er... Fluttershy. It's a lot of fun, and with one exception ("'Shy" would have been better than "F. S.") the reworked lyrics are pretty decent as well. Give it a look!

And yes, I am posting this as my "Forgotten Friendship" review will be a few days yet. But what the hay!

Reading of The Book of Ended Lives by The Feral Brony

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The Feral Brony (obligatory disclosure: a friend of mine) has been kind enough to record a reading of my story The Book of Ended Lives. Thankfully, his Applejack voice is a great deal less silly than mine, which contributes to his reading being much better than one by me would ever be. He also gives some of his thoughts about it after the reading, and these are quite embarrassingly positive. As many of you will know, this is my personal favourite of the ponyfics I've written, but not everyone likes it, so I'm glad that Feral does!

Hype, hype, hype! S8 trailer out and S9 confirmed

Yes, I have seen the EqG special "Forgotten Friendship", and a review of that will be up in the near future. Back to FiM for today, though.

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It's New York Toy Fair time, and as usual that means a flood of My Little Pony news from Hasbro. I'm not going to rehash everything that Equestria Daily has been posting, but as far as Friendship is Magic itself is concerned, there are two big things. The first is an official S8 trailer, and one that hasn't instantly been withdrawn like the last one was. ;) As the thumbnail isn't spoilery, it's embedded above – but the video itself is packed with spoilers, so be warned! They are not the same scenes we saw in that previous release; some stuff is brand new.

The second piece of news is that S9 has been confirmed! We don't know when it will be shown, how many episodes it will have, whether it will be the final season – or indeed anything much. Except the basic fact that there will be another season after the one we're about to have. So lots more Pony to come. Am I hyped for this? Yes. Might it be a total disaster? Yes. Am I still hyped, knowing that? Yes. I think that covers it!

Also, new "season 9" tag. Woo-hoo!