Ponyfic Roundup 98: Walking in Memphis

With the announcement that Season Six of FiM will begin on 26 March, it's a nice coincidence that Ponyfic Roundup 100 will appear a few days earlier. If you're one of the few people who read all the way down these posts, you'll notice a small change I've made to the format right at the end. The reviews themselves, though, are as they were last week. This time around, I have six stories on the chopping block, and here they are:

The Liar by ChoppersTopHat
The Right Thing by Psyga315
My Personal Hell - Mischief Patchwork by EyesoreForTheBlind
Hooves of Clay by iisaw
Can We Be Friends Again? by Just A Random Pegasus
A Little Prank. by RainbowDashX12345

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

The Liar by ChoppersTopHat
Twilight and Trixie
Adventure/Sad; 6k words; Feb–Nov 2012; Everyone

Who IS Trixie? A marvelous mare of mysterious magic? Or a flippant, flimflamming, fantastic fraud?

Another week, another RCL inductee. This story seems to be quite famous among the real old-timers, and it's certainly a lot better than many very old fics I read. (It pre-dates "Magic Duel", so bear that in mind when reading.) It's an interesting, solid story which uses its quickly-apparent gimmick pretty effectively. I'm not a big Trixie fan, so this story gets points for making me feel empathy for her. I don't find the section that deals with her family background very satisfactory, but overall this isn't a bad read. ★★★

The Right Thing by Psyga315
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Luna and Discord
Drama/Sad; 2k words; Feb 2016; Everyone

Twilight, after seeing baby [name removed: S6 spoiler!], goes to get magically sterilized. Ten years later, after being afflicted with Empty Nest Syndrome, she begins to regret this decision.

This strange fic has a horrible thumbscore balance (+4/-12) but may actually be worth a read, if perhaps not for the reasons the author intended. Don't read it if you want to remain unspoiled for Season Six of the show, since there's a major spoiler based on the S6 teaser. On the other hand, it will probably not make sense once we know more about the baby. The story itself is set some years in the future, and has the weird premise that Twilight has been magically sterilised, but is now regretting it. If you can deal with some bizarre imagery and a really disconcerting revelation involving Fluttershy right at the start, it's a mildly amusing read. Possibly inadvertently so, but never mind. It should probably be rated [Teen], though. ★★

My Personal Hell - Mischief Patchwork by EyesoreForTheBlind
OCs
Drama/Sad; 5k words; Jan 2016; Teen

I've got voices in my head, and stitches in my body. They keep me sane, they keep me held together. They're my glue that keep me from falling apart. I don't need any other pony.

An unwieldy title, a garish OC in the cover art, a first-time author — not the most promising combination. In fact, though, I found this a rather intriguing story, even if it's arguable that it should have an [Alternate Universe] tag given this Equestria's tech level. I was interested in the title character's story, not to mention the somewhat tragic tale of... well, that would be telling. This has faint echoes of Griffinilla's song "Hard Knocks" and deserves more views than it has. ★★★

Hooves of Clay by iisaw
Twilight, Celestia and Luna
Dark; 9k words; Jun 2012; Teen

Twilight deals poorly with disillusionment.

The oldest story on iisaw's Fimfiction account, this has elements that will be familiar to anyone who's read the author's The Celestia Code (PR 59) series. Hooves of Clay isn't quite as good as that, but it still has many virtues, not least some excellent interaction between the various pony characters and bits (but not enough!) of Awesome!Celestia. The fic has dated somewhat, especially where Twilight is concerned, and one particular aspect is a clear reference to our world that takes me a little out of the story even though I agree with the sentiment. If you like iisaw's later epics, though, this is well worth a look and merits a high three-star rating. ★★★

Can We Be Friends Again? by Just A Random Pegasus
Rainbow Dash and Other
2nd Person/Drama/Equestria Girls/Romance; 2k words; Jan 2016; Everyone

It's been a long time since you and Rainbow Dash had stopped talking. Now, she has an important question to ask you.

An unpromising collection of genre tags, and when I discovered that the "you" of this fic is actually called "Anon" in the narrative, my heart sank further. The premise is pretty unbelievable, and Rainbow's reaction to events doesn't really fit her character, though it's not all bad: the story reads fairly smoothly and it does at least have some sort of a plot, which is more than many [2nd Person] fics do. You're probably not going to like this unless you already enjoy this sort of setup — but if you do, you could do worse. This is a top-end one-star fic that could have crept into two-star territory with a proper name for Anon and a little work on Rainbow's character. ★

A Little Prank. by RainbowDashX12345
Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Mane Six
Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 2k words; Feb 2016; Everyone

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash go on another pranking spree!

The description suggests that this might be a cute fic, in a vaguely S1 kind of way. There is the odd flash of potential here, for example in the prank they play on Rarity, but sadly the story is too error-strewn and the pace too hectic for it to be enjoyable. Rainbow Blitz is Dash's brother in this fic, if that sort of thing bothers you. With some heavy-duty editing, this could be pleasant in a fluffy sort of way, but I can't recommend it as it stands. ★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: Logan raves about an Equestria Girls fic. Yes, really. Also, Cheerilee endures cardboard captivity.