Ponyfic Roundup 300: Back to the roots

Read it Later story count: 203 (-4)

And now, a special edition! I considered a few options for this PR, but in the end I went with an idea suggested by several people over the years. I am reviewing one story for each of the Mane Six – plus Spike – with a little extra twist. Each of these fics tags only that character. Nopony else whatsoever. Seven fics in a single PR is a rare luxury these days, so here we go.

Mood Wings by Tchernobog [Twilight]
30,000 Feet by The Grey Pegasus [Rainbow]
The Life You're Given by neutralmilk [Applejack]
Fluttershy vs. Shower by Lise [Fluttershy]
Chess with Pinkie Pie by The Engineer Pony [Pinkie]
As Horns and Halos Surround You by Norm de Plume [Rarity]
Spike's Hoard by Shotoman [Spike]

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 4 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Mood Wings by Tchernobog
Twilight
Romance/Comedy/Slice of Life; 10k words; Sep 2012; Teen

The body language of wings.

Twilight – still a unicorn at this point – has been reading through her library. All of it. She's about a third of the way through and has discovered a book about what pegasi mean by their wing language. The trouble is, as she reads it she becomes aware that other pegasi are behaving... strangely around her. This fic divided opinion: PaulAsaran loved it but Chris was underwhelmed. We get a lot of passages from Twi's book, and I mean a lot. Enough that it drags at times. There's also a fair amount of somewhat random shipping not always involving the characters you'd expect, which will grate on some readers. The world-building relating to the title is interesting and sometimes more, and I appreciated the inevitable "wingboners" bit of the book being kept a minor part, but this is almost a series of book extracts interspersed with a story rather than a fully flowing narrative. I'm going to give it a three as I don't much mind the infodumps, but you mightn't like this as much if you don't care for them. ★★★

30,000 Feet by The Grey Pegasus
Rainbow Dash
Adventure/Slice of Life; 2k words; Sep 2012; Everyone

It's a long way down.

Firmly in the "Rainbow's inner voice, which doesn't sound like her outer one" genre, this is a simple piece about Dash ascending to the eponymous height in order to... well, you'll see. I did enjoy the descriptions Rainbow gave of just what it was like way up there, in particular her quiet admission – to herself alone – that she prized these rare moments of tranquillity in her life. The ending is not the story's strongest part, and the reason Dash is so high (Not like that —Ed.) in the first place may make you think of a certain ancient fan project... but still. Nudges into the threes for its atmosphere earlier on. ★★★

The Life You're Given by neutralmilk
Applejack
Sad/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jan 2013; Everyone

Following the Apple Family Reunion, Applejack finally has some time to reflect on her life and the many lessons she's learned about friendship, family, perseverance, etc. However, perhaps the most important lesson of all takes a little more...

This fic takes as its starting point the shooting stars we saw at the end of the above episode that were intended to represent Applejack's parents. AJ is in reflective mood here, though she does start out by raging at the universe for letting her parents die so early. Things get more interesting later on, when Apple Bloom appears, having had a nightmare – and Applejack knows that her younger sister barely remembers their parents at all. This isn't an especially original story in and of itself, but it nicely captures the mix of frustration, anger, sadness and pride that comes with remembering loved ones lost before their time. One or two "her trademark Stetson" moments I could have done without, but those are minor complaints. Another three, but this time quite a high one. ★★★

Fluttershy vs. Shower by Lise
Fluttershy
Comedy/Slice of Life; 1k words; Feb 2017; Everyone

Using a human shower is intuitive. For a human. Fluttershy is not a human.

A little piece of Fluttershy fluff now from the author formerly known as Lise Eclaire. 'Shy is in a human hotel, for reasons that aren't made fully clear, and she's confronted with a human shower. We know Flutters has a shower at home ("A Bird in the Hoof") but this one doesn't work quite the way she expects. It's certainly fairly amusing, especially for those of us who've experienced unintuitive hotel shower controls, though there really isn't much substance to it even by 1k-story standards. I think most will read this, chuckle lightly, and then move on. I did. A high two-star rating seems right, therefore. ★★

Chess with Pinkie Pie by The Engineer Pony
Pinkie Pie
Slice of Life; 2k words; Apr 2017; Everyone

Pinkie Pie playing chess: are her moves just random, or is her apparent craziness the result of incomprehensible genius?

This is a first-person piece, but the narrator is playing against Pinkie Pie. Indeed, we're not actually told their name. It would certainly help here to have a modicum of chess knowledge, but I don't think it's crucial as there's enough context given for what's going on to be clear. The narrator's view of Pinkie's strange moves and their effect is told straightforwardly, but it all leads nicely to the conclusion. When you hit the final reveal, everything falls into place. Those who see it coming, and I suspect quite a few readers will, won't rate this as highly, but I didn't and was very satisfied. ★★★★

As Horns and Halos Surround You by Norm de Plume
Rarity
Slice of Life; 5k words; Sep 2017; Everyone

Movement in the edges of her vision. Little voices in her ears. Bits of cloud and ash on her pristine white coat. The Honorable Recorders are about their business.

Taking as its starting point the little "angel" and "devil" ponies that appeared in "The Saddle Row Review", this intriguing RCL-inducted fic gives us a look at how Rarity's own work – and what happens when one of them gets injured in an accident. We discover that these Recorders (based on the Islamic concept of Kiraman Katibin) consist of a Conscience and a Temptation for each pony, but that they can work together – with those of other ponies, too – when occasion calls. The story is both entertaining and thoughtful, with some interesting ways of looking at ponies – mostly, but not exclusively, Rarity. This fic won a "Make Rarity Not Garbage" contest, and it certainly does that. Recommended. ★★★★

Spike's Hoard by Shotoman
Spike
Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; Dec 2013; Everyone

Everypony knows how dragons hoard their treasures away. Spike is no different.

Given that this story is set in the far future, you probably won't be too surprised to discover what Spike's most treasured possessions actually are, but the story is nicely written for all that. The use of fandom names for characters of the future – including descendants of show-era ponies – is very odd, and I suspect some really won't care for it. I found it a bit strange but came to terms with it all right. Although this has a [Sad] tag, it doesn't take the "woe is me, I've outlived all my friends and I'm so alone" approach, and I very much appreciate it for doing something a bit different with the setup. ★★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: it'll be back to a regular issue, and stories reviewed should include horizon's Fugue State.