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.