Logan rates Logan

A little while ago, Chris did a post in which he compared how Fimfiction users ranked his published stories to how he personally would rank them. He took this concept from horizon, who took it from Estee. And now I'm taking it from Chris! I've made very few changes to his format, since it seems to work.

At the time of writing, there were 23 eligible stories – Little Bits and Friendship is Poetry are open-ended and/or incomplete. Just for the hay of it, I'm going to list them in reverse order. Here, then, is how I rank each story, along with a brief explanation of why. It's quite long, so I've used a page break.

23 (-3) So Many Different Ways to Prey

This is bottom of the heap for me. Although I don't hate it, there isn't a great deal going for it beyond the gimmick of "Newborn Cuties crossover in verse".

22 (+1) The Ballad of Wyverns' Rock

I can't disagree too much with the Fimfiction consensus here. This is a not-terribly-good epic poem, though I do retain an affection for some of its lines.

21 (=) Ra Ra Raspberry

A tremendously silly story that depends entirely on you being familiar with a particular song. Nevertheless, it still makes me giggle when I read it, and that has to be worth something.

20 (+2) Sunset's Sales Snag

This is no masterpiece, but I think it deserved a slightly kinder reception than it got. It has a pathetic ending, but like Ra Ra Raspberry it takes a meme and runs with it.

19 (=) The 20 Percent Solution

My first ponyfic, and in a number of ways it shows. Shoehorning in the whole Mane Six (and Spike), a pinch of LUS and rather Flanderising Pinkie. Mind you, inevitably I have an affection for this one.

18 (-9) This Fragment of Life

The first big disconnect. I really do think this story is overrated. It has its moments, and I quite like the way I wrote Rarity, but it's really just a long lead-up to a weak punchline.

17 (-10) For an Angel to Pass

Another of my old stories that's got more attention than it deserves. This tries to keep something a mystery when there's really no need. On the plus side, I wrote it at a time when pro-Angel stories were fairly unusual.

16 (-10) Starlight Repeatedly Teleports into Custard

Come on, people. This is a silly story written just before UK PonyCon last year. It's ridiculous, and deliberately so, and it surely doesn't deserve to be in my top half-dozen stories on any account.

15 (+3) Clouded Minds

Although it's written in a rather irritating purplish style, I'm still quite proud of the concept behind this story, which I've still rarely seen addressed elsewhere. Hence my bumping it up the table slightly.

14 (-1) One Hell of a Party

File this under "Could have been better, had Logan made more of an effort". I still like it as it stands, and it's probably the first time I wrote Applejack in a way I felt captured her character reasonably well.

13 (-2) Kicking Back

A Cloud Kicker story written at a time when I hadn't read any canon Winningverse. I play around with CK's reputation in a rather obvious way, but there is (what I think is) some nice dialogue between CK and Buck.

12 (+2) Like a Flower to the World

This has had wildly varying reactions, ranging from "Beautiful" to "Avoid", so maybe it's no surprise it ended up mid-table. An expanded Writeoff minific, and I rather like its gentle look at social anxiety.

11 (+5) More than Alive

No real surprise that I like this more than the community at large. This was a story I wrote simply because I wanted to see Rainbow Dash as a speed hillclimb driver. Best bit: her assessment of Fluttershy's driving.

10 (-8) Shining Armor's Amour's Armour

I am genuinely baffled as to why this is no. 2 in my Fimfiction rankings. It's really just a load of silly puns. I like silly puns, but there's no way this is my second best ponyfic.

9 (+1) The Light that Ignites in the Dark

I think this is about right. I consciously set out to write an old-fashioned Pony tale here, and on the whole I managed it reasonably well. I still wonder whether I should have gone the whole hog and added a letter to Celestia.

8 (+7) To Be the Candle

This, on the other hoof, I feel is ranked too low by Fimfiction. Maybe it's the [Dark] tag, or the fact that it's a monologue, but the thought of Silver Buck's desperate quest for the last mirror he'll smash still gets to me.

7 (+10) By the Seashore

Yes, there is some humour at the end, but mostly this is a simple slice-of-life piece of 2014-vintage FlutterDash friendshipping. I don't think it's half bad in that respect, either. No way is this only my 17th best story.

6 (+2) Ever Let the Fancy Roam

My first feedback for this fic was brutal, but I had faith in it – and I still do. You need to like dialogue, but if you do then I'd suggest the interplay between Fancy Pants and his butler Silver Cloud is done pretty well here.

5 (-1) The Unbearable Lightness of Bucking

I did a lot of research for this, much of which many readers will miss, but I'm glad the story's done well. Another fic in which I'm happy with the way I wrote AJ; by this time I was really enjoying writing her dialogue and mannerisms.

4 (+1) Where They Understand You

Although the actual writing is shaky on occasion and it was rendered canon-incompatible after "Flutter Brutter", as a story I'm mostly very happy with this one. It gives a believable explanation for the origin of Rainbow's "birthaversary" and shows how Dash and Fluttershy's friendship deepened between school and S1.

3 (=) We Who With Songs Beguile

I really must bring back Mazarine the blue jay at some point. He's such a fun, crusty old bird. This was written for the "Outside Insight" contest in 2013, and I feel I did a solid job in showing ponies from an avian (and almost alien) perspective.

2 (-1) It Doesn't Matter Now

As my RCL entry, you'd expect this to be a fic I like a good deal – and it is. I think it's the best I've ever written Pinkie, as well as being a riposte to those who always characterise her like... well, like I did in The 20 Percent Solution.

1 (+11) The Book of Ended Lives

If I had to pick one story to represent my ponyfic, this would be it, especially given the slight tightening it received a few months ago. This is where all the earlier Applejack stuff eventually led – and I'm damn proud of it. I'm not giving up this AJ headcanon without a considerable fight.