Read it Later story count: 173 (nc)
As promised, at the end of this post you'll find out which longfic I'll be spotlighting in the New Year! (No PR on 30th December.) This week, though, the usual three shorter stories. I couldn't resist the temptation to include one very seasonal offering, plus one that was chosen randomly from Fimfiction's search and one by an author who I felt deserved a little more attention:
Say Goodbye to the Hollandaise: A Hearth's War(ming) Tail by WishyWish
What a Surprise... by Rainbow
The Quiet Day by Lets Do This
★: 1 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Spike, Starlight, Mane Six, Celestia and Luna
Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 9k words; Dec 2016; Everyone
In the midst of the Hearth's Warming season, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are preparing a feast for their friends. But what happened to the hollandaise? Who erased it, and will everypony have to face it? (A little bit of Holiday fun.)
An amusing story inspired by the events of "A Hearth's Warming Tail" (the clue is in the title...) although not directly so. It's hard to describe in terms that make much sense, but suffice it to say that Spike and Starlight are having a gigantic food fight while represented by small wooden Rarity figurines, and that more characters are drawn in as time goes on. Meanwhile, Twilight is on the edge of a breakdown over her inability to find exactly the right-sized measuring spoon. It never quite burst into fireworks for me, being more a consistently fizzing spark, and there are a few more small technical errors than I'd expect – not least incorrect speech capitalisation. It'd be a fine choice when you're lazy and full of food/wine/whatever on Boxing Day, though. A highish three. ★★★
What a Surprise... by Rainbow
Pinkie and Other
Random/Sad; 2k words; Jul 2012; Everyone
The only story by this briefly-visiting author, and sadly it's not a memorable one. Except for that setup: I actually found the idea of confronting Pinkie with Surprise (in this fic her long-lost cousin) a rather interesting one. Given the date, it's also the only changeling left in Equestria. Unfortunately the author does little with the idea, instead providing a very predictable tale in which things go wrong and the changeling ends up regretting it. Hard to give this more than a one-star score (albeit not a disastrous one) but the premise still piques my interest a little. ★A changeling turns into Surprise and tricks Pinkie, but feels bad about it after having fun with her
The Quiet Day by Lets Do This
Fluttershy, Angel and Mane Six
Slice of Life/Thriller; 4k words; Jun 2019; Everyone
It turns out that the Quiet Day is a thing carefully set up by Ponyville as a whole, under the direction of... well, that's a bit of a spoiler. But this is a perfect read for those (and I know you're here!) who just like spending time with ponies ambling through their lives and not battling monsters or whatever. You will have to at least quite like Fluttershy, as it's all about her – though I appreciated Angel's nice supporting role, too. The ending is sweet, though again don't expect any great theatrics. Only minor issues, such as a small amount of LUS – there's a "butter-yellow pegasus", which is almost nostalgic to see! Not sure I can really get behind the [Thriller] tag, but it's a pleasant, peaceful and gentle story set in a nice little town. Right now especially, I can see plenty of people enjoying that. Another high three. ★★★Ponyville is quiet today. Disturbingly quiet. So are all of Fluttershy's friends. But Fluttershy is completely comfortable with it. She loves days like this...
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup, which will be in two weeks' time, a Spotlight edition! I'll be looking at Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard by King of Beggars.
There is nothing nostalgic about butter-yellow pegasi. :|
ReplyDeleteExcept my nostalgia over strangling authors for using it.
DeleteI was surprised, especially from a solid author like Lets Do This -- but that phrase was only used once, pretty early on, so I didn't think it reasonable to penalise the fic for it beyond a little mention.
DeleteI swear I read a story once - and for the life of me, I can't remember where, and I can't find it in my reviews, and it's driving me crazy! - that referred to Rarity as the "white cream-colored etc." and Fluttershy as the "yellow cream-colored etc."
DeleteWhich, I think you'll agree, is... really something.
Were the others orange, purple, blue and pink cream colored as well?
DeleteMakes me think of the gifts from the parody, Bored of the Rings: "magic cloaks that blended in with any background, either green grass, green trees, green rocks, or green sky."
DeleteThe chances of Chris seeing this are probably minuscule, and it's been more than two years now anyway, but still. I couldn't find exactly what you mentioned, but there is Metroid Equis by Flammenwerfer. Here's a sentence from the end of chapter 5:
Delete"Samus could feel the sincerity and kindness rolling off the yellow/cream-colored pony, something she hadn't felt in quite a long time."
A quick search suggests that story doesn't use a similar phrase about Rarity, though, so it may well not be the one you were thinking of in 2020.
that foreslash raises my hackles something fierce :|
Delete