Ponyfic Roundup 398

Read it Later story count: 87 (nc)

Another very busy week for me, so only one of the four fics I read this week was longer than 2,000 words. "But Logan," I hear you cry, "there are only three in the list!" Indeed so. Sadly, the fourth story (The Fire from memphisgurl) turns out to have been plagiarised: it's almost word for word the same as this story on Wattpad by TheLilSarah.¹ This wasn't the only such case, either. memphisgurl was banned from Fimfiction for that years ago, but since I found the story via search I hadn't realised that fact at first. Naturally, I cannot review it as if it had been honestly written, so this week I'm afraid you only get the three.
¹ The original's not bad, either. Worth a look if you don't mind the lack of ponies

On the Rocks by iisaw
Twilight Has Grey Hair by Fort Impression
Autophobia by BlabideeblahMLP

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

On the Rocks by iisaw
Twilight
Adventure; 9k words; Aug 2021; Teen

An Alicorn Adventures side-story. More of a mid-quel than a sequel, really. A Slice o' Life which takes place somewhere in the middle of Chapter 22 of The Twilight Enigma, and demonstrates that quiet enjoyment may be found in the middle of desperate adventures. Even pirates need to kick back and relax sometimes.

First things first: you do want to have read the first three main Alicorn Adventures stories (up to and including The Twilight Enigma) to enjoy this short properly. But they're all lots of fun, a kind of Indiana Pones meets Aubray-Mareturin (no, I'm not ashamed of myself at all), so that's no great hardship. Anyway, this is really more of a series of three linked sub-chapters, set in Stone Town in Zanzebra.¹ That gives iisaw an opportunity for lots of local colour, and thankfully he takes it with both hands. We get midnight cafés, we get posh parties, we get mysterious ancient artefacts, you name it. Twilight being the hugely successful pirate² captain she is, there's always an edge of danger as well, though her companions whether pony, changeling³ or whatever most certainly play their parts too. It's all wonderfully atmospheric, with just enough Swahili tags to feel exotic without becoming reader-exclusionary, and I revelled in being back in this world. Inevitably there isn't really the space for this story to develop complex plotlines of its own, and that might seem limiting if this was all we'd ever got. In context, though, this is a highly enjoyable bonus chapter to The Twilight Enigma. ★★★★
¹ For those unaware, Stone Town is also a real place in real-world Zanzibar
² Yes, all right, privateer
³ Look, you really do need to read the main series, okay?

Twilight Has Grey Hair by Fort Impression
Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Spike
Comedy/Random/Slice of Life; 1k words; Dec 2014; Everyone

"How is this possible!? Where!? When!? I'm too young for this! Oh, Cadance, the breathing technique isn't working! How can somepony as calm and collect as me get grey hair!"

That short description pretty much explains the fic. Twilight is not at all happy to find a grey hair at her tender age, and being still a rather early-series incarnation she runs around panicking about it. Spike, of course, is less than impressed. Dash and Pinkie seem merely to find it hilarious. It's a nice little scene as far as it goes, though it's rather one-note in its humour when ratcheting up the ridiculousness might well have worked better. Some annoying LUS, too, though at least the ending is fairly amusing if highly predictable. Don't expect too much, but this may pass the time for a few minutes. ★★

Autophobia by BlabideeblahMLP
Changelings
Dark; 2k words; Dec 2014; Teen

He was surrounded by the Everfree. He had no idea how he got there. The worst part? He was all alone.

A changeling awakes in the Everfree Forest, far from his hive and Queen. For a while he thinks himself alone—but then a horrific vision of a horribly scarred and deformed changeling appears. The monster is nicely portrayed and the author builds quite a chilling atmosphere: points for making the Everfree creepy, as it should be! But then a pony appears too... there's quite an interesting mystery here, though sadly the story doesn't stick the landing. The shift to Twilight in her library didn't work for me, especially her not knowing something I'd expect her to. Still, an interesting attempt all the same and perhaps worthy of a look if you have a few minutes. ★★

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Next time, I hope that the number stories reviewed will be back up again, and that they will include Daedalus Aegle's Sweetie Belle mystery What Cats Know.