Ponyfic Roundup 205: Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard

Title explanation: current weather is thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening

Here we go: the final PR before my break. Strictly speaking, not even that, as I'll be off before this post goes live. I hope there'll be one a week on Wednesday, after which I'll try to get back to the usual weekly schedule. I hope you lot behave yourself around here while I'm gone. :P

Read it Later story count: 330 (-3)

Yes, another tiny selection this time. Was that run of five-fic weeks a flash in the pan? I don't know. I hope not. But hey, one of the fics this week is 46,000 words, much longer than those I usually read. Anyway, I've got a little list:

White Demure by Heitomos
Weight by Regidar
Apple Shampoo by Titanium Dragon

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0

White Demure by Heitomos
Mane Six
Adventure; 46k words; Dec 2011; Teen

A filly is stricken with a terrible disease. Can she be saved in time?

A story I'd never heard of until it was referenced in the pretty terrible My Little Pony: Corrupted Fandoms (PR 141), this was clearly fairly popular in its day as it has over 6,000 views. It's what you'd expect from a 2011 adventure fic, really: when Apple Bloom falls dangerously ill, the Mane Six all play their part in retrieving the rare items Zecora needs to cure her. One nice old-fashioned touch is the Zecora/AB friendship, something the modern show has sadly rather let go of. We do get some moments of genuine tension and a little of the blank-slate world-building you can't do now, but they come in flashes. Most of the story is rather pedestrian, with pervasive LUS and enough small technical errors to be distracting. A scene in Manehattan is pretty unbelievable, too. ★★

Weight by Regidar
Twilight
Dark/Sad; 2k words; Aug 2015; Teen

Twilight Sparkle is completely fine, regardless of whatever she thinks.

This would probably have the [Suicide/Self Harm] warning tag if published now, as it's written from the point of view of a depressed and suicidal Twilight Sparkle. She has a very miserable view of anti-depressants, but I guess that's part of what depression does. Still, I'm not sure I could recommend this fic to anyone who can't cope with a "the drugs don't work" message. The Fimfiction comments suggest this fic may have been written in a context that I don't now grasp; the end A/N links to a video, but that's no longer available so I can't tell whether it would have been illuminating. Two stars because of all that, but might have been three if I didn't feel I was missing so much. ★★

Apple Shampoo by Titanium Dragon
Applejack, Rarity and Mane Six
Romance/Comedy; 2k words; Jan 2015; Teen (Sex)

Rarity’s friends have noticed that she smells an awful lot like apples lately and want in on it.

Apparently Hasbro had licensed Rarity-branded-but-apple-scented cosmetics when this went out. That's about as much background as you need. It's quite funny, as these things go, and it doesn't outstay its welcome. I was a bit disappointed that the ending didn't contain a further twist, though, and that drags it down from a three to a high two. AppleDash fans who aren't too serious might well like it, though. ★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories. That's all I'm saying!