Ponyfic Roundup 318

Read it Later story count: 182 (nc) 

It's time for some ponyfic. In a roundup. Because I'm really brilliant that way, you know? Anyway, three stories this week, and in their different ways all of them have something interesting to mark them out. Here they are:

A Grand Day Out by Pearple Prose
Daring Didn't by Hoopy McGee
That Isn't Me by wishcometrue

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

A Grand Day Out by Pearple Prose
Luna [and Other]
Comedy/Slice of Life/Crossover; 3k words; Sep 2013; Everyone

Wallace & Gromit visit the moon, and meet a mysterious mare.

If that description amuses you, then this fic probably will as well. It's a straightforward piece of crossover silliness, naturally involving cheese. Interestingly, the Luna our Yorkshire twosome meet is there because this is set before FiM itself. Still, there's nothing too heavy here, just a lot of fun dialogue (which is generally well done) and the odd strange contraption. If you don't know Wallace and Gromit this might well confuse you – but if you don't know Wallace and Gromit you should be ashamed of yourself anyway! ★★★

Daring Didn't by Hoopy McGee
Daring Do
Comedy/Random/Alternate Universe; 3k words; Dec 2013; Everyone

What if Daring Do had failed?

This is a parody of "Daring Don't", though from an author who liked that episode. Here, Twilight and company don't convince Rainbow to go and help Daring, and as such the latter has to face Ahuizotl alone. It's all over the place in the first half, though in a good way that justifies that [Random] tag without seeming pointless. The humour is generally light and silly, with the occasional sly aside from the narrator to liven things up. A fic to make you chuckle more than think, but there's nothing wrong with that and it does it rather well. ★★★

That Isn't Me by wishcometrue
Sweetie Belle and Rarity
Horror; 1k words; Nov 2019; Teen

Sweetie Belle dreads looking in the mirror. No one else seems worried, though, so it's probably fine.

Sweetie's concern here is that what she sees is not a simple reflection of her face, but something much worse than that. Some things, indeed. Sometimes what she sees goes as far as being an actual monster. What's going on? Rarity seems relatively relaxed about it all, which would give a clue even without her making it fairly explicit. This story was written in an hour for a speedwriting contest, so it does skim through its events rather too fast, especially late on. The author has an interesting (but spoilery!) commentary on the story's meaning in this Fimf comment; there's a very specific inspiration that I certainly didn't pick up on. Still, this is a top-end two even as it stands and I'm sure would easily have been a three without the constraints of such a tight time limit. ★★

---

Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include Coyote de la Mancha's Exiles.