Ponyfic Roundup 203: To Me, To You

Title explanation: Chuckle Brothers catchphrase

We appear to be having summer in May this year. This suits me, as it's my favourite month of the year. Everything's fresh and green, the sun is warm but the air often still has a slight edge in it that makes it much more comfortable for walking – something I do a lot of. It's also the angling close season, which means riverside walks are usually fairly quiet and peaceful.

Read it Later story count: 336 (nc)

It's been a busy week and so I haven't had very much time at all to read, so my run of five-fic editions has come to an end here. Just the three this time around, though at least I did manage to read the fic I trailed last week! Let's start with that one:

Erase and Rewind by DuncanR
The Teeny, Tiny Pinkie Pie by RK_Striker_JK_5
Two Kinds of Beauty by Saacsa

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

Erase and Rewind by DuncanR
OCs
Slice of Life/Tragedy; 11k words; Jun 2013; Teen

Two ponies, equally but uniquely flawed, must decide if they have enough wits between them to cobble together a stable family. A story about trust, loss, severe neurological disorder, and ice cream.

Erase and Rewind are ponies. Rewind is a filly repeatedly adopted, only to find her new parents dying within hours. Her exact age is hard to gauge as there's a, doubtless deliberate, blurring of lines. Erase, her new prospective adopter, has a memory problem – though not the one you may think. This is a strange and sometimes disturbing story, and one which doesn't guide you to an easy conclusion. Indeed, the ending itself is left ambiguous, even if one option is suggested a bit more clearly than others. Thought-provoking and unusual; a high three, and only that low because it doesn't feel especially Pony. ★★★

The Teeny, Tiny Pinkie Pie by RK_Striker_JK_5
Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and CMC
Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 3k words; Jul 2014; Everyone

Pinkie Pie gets changed into a moth. Twilight, Dash, Applejack and the Crusaders search for her to change her back.

Described by the author as a "light, fluffy piece that will hopefully bring some smiles to faces", which seems fair enough. It starts well, with Rainbow Dash as an overly serious cider connoisseur being somehow hilarious. Pinkie herself gets a lovely little line later on, and there's a little welcome equine body language. There isn't a lot of urgency to the story, despite the apparent drama of the setup, which I suspect is supposed to indicate how blasé Ponyville is about weirdness (see "Slice of Life") but perhaps goes a little too far and sucks some of the entertainment out of the story. The ending is also underwhelming. One oddity: Twilight is described as a unicorn despite the fic being set during S4, by which time "alicorn" was show canon. Still, a pleasant, low-stakes time-passer, which makes it a highish two. ★★

Two Kinds of Beauty by Saacsa
Twilight and Luna
Romance/Sad/Slice of Life; 1k words; Apr 2013; Everyone

FLASHFICTION! Twilight is having a depressed moment years after her friends deaths, so Luna helps her out.

The other Bearers' deaths are not focused on much at all, which I appreciate and should have helped this story keep its focus on a simple scene between Twilight and Luna. Unfortunately, this effect is lost because the fic is very overwritten, in places almost as purple as Twi herself. Serious LUS, too, not to mention an apparent urgency to hammer home how beautiful and heartfelt this all is at every turn. I could have done without the rather awkward reworking of "Luna's Lullaby" lyrics, too. If only this had been written in a more understated way, it could have been rather satisfying. ★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: right now, I'm not entirely sure! But probably stories. About ponies, if you're really lucky.