Ponyfic Roundup 417

Read it Later story count: 90 (-3)

Another week with various things annoying me, another week with ponyfic providing a welcome refuge from the world. (Okay, that's overdoing it: some things are fine.) And you know what? Another week with me managing to read and review four stories! I'd better not tempt fate, so whisper the next part, but so far I've been keeping up with the four-a-week pace a little more easily than I thought I might. Today's quartet, then:

The Summit by The Lunar Samurai
PROTOTY by shortskirtsandexplosions
A Lesson in Regicide by MayhemMoth
Cracked Cog in the Idyllic Machine by jmj

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

The Summit by The Lunar Samurai
OC
G4; Adventure; 1k words; Oct 2013; Everyone

Candlelight climbs to the top of the a mountain in search for the one thing she has wanted above all else.

An author who wrote (they haven't been online since 2018) no fewer than 49 stories on Fimfiction, but this is the first I remember reviewing. Candlelight is inspired by Starswirl even though she never met him, and as she ascends towards the box she seeks, she wonders whether this is somehow a test from him. The climb is a fairly straightforward narrative, but I appreciated the straightforwardness: there are no sudden monsters or terrifying avalanches here, just a climb and Candlelight's thoughts. The ending is also quite straightforward and doesn't hold much surprise. Quite nicely written, though, so a pleasant enough quick read and a solid enough two. ★★

PROTOTY by shortskirtsandexplosions
Flurry Heart
G4; Mystery/Random; 3k words; Apr 2020; Teen

Princess Flurry Heart investigates the

Yes, that's what the shortdesc says. I'll be honest, this author is hit-and-miss for this reviewer more than he is for many people on Fimfiction. Sometimes his fics click for me (Theory, PR 351) and sometimes they leave me more confused than impressed. This one is a bit from box one but more from box two. I believe this story's "Cancelled" tag is actually part of the deal, which is why I'm reviewing a fic so marked in the first place, and unlike one story I read recently there's some near-repetition of a scene here that I liked a lot. I can sort-of glimpse the idea of a damaged Flurry Heart spinning away after a past trauma, too. On the other hand, a long passage without any punctuation was dull more than intriguing, the repeated use of an old school-English-class joke didn't click and the use of emoji (yes, emoji) was admittedly less annoying than you'd think but also didn't make much sense. If I'm honest, it takes a lot to make "Look how amazingly weird and surreal I can be in my writing" appeal to me, and though it can be done (and indeed has been by this very author: see .out.of.character., PR 138) with PROTOTY the sheer weirdness overpowered the deeper points of the story. If you're more often in tune with SS&E's stuff than I am, this will doubtless be much more to your taste. ★★

A Lesson in Regicide by MayhemMoth
Flurry Heart, Cadance and Shining Armor
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 4k words; Apr 2021; Everyone

Cadance unintentionally teaches her daughter about a very important tradition to Crystal Empire royals.

The winner of the "Cadance Is A Terrible Mom" contest, this gently dark comedy is a fun read and a fun ride. Flurry, now a school-age filly, gets inquisitive about just what happened to the Crystal Empire's rulers before Cadance was their Princess. Cadance is not entirely keen on giving all the gory details, but this ends up giving Flurry... ideas. She's quite enough of a hoof-ful for her teacher Chrysocolla in any case, but now she's potentially deadly as well. In more ways than one. Some may feel that theme needs a T rating, but it's not a big deal with this fic I think; it's handled in a light, cartoonish way. Indeed, the whole fic is light and cartoonish and really just fun. Shining Armor plays the straight guy role here to some extent, though he's a supporting character rather than a star. Oh, and the American usage of "washing up" throws me every time, but that's not really relevant. What is relevant is that the gently escalating situation is handled quite nicely. The ending is fun, too, and the chapter title "Lack of Communication Kills" is both clever and funny in the context of this fic. As I say, it's fun. Lots of fun. Recommended. ★★★★

Cracked Cog in the Idyllic Machine by jmj
Lyra
G4; Dark/Horror/Sad; 1k words; Apr 2020; Teen (Suicide/Self-Harm, Death)

Lyra Heartstrings has noticed an eerie strangeness in Equestria. Contemplating whether it's her or the world, she challenges the fabric of reality as she knows it.

We meet Lyra sitting on top of a tall Manehattan building, thinking about what it would be like to leap to her death. She's uncomfortable with what she sees as Equestria's inability or unwillingness to see what she sees. For a start, there have been no suicides in recent history. How can that be? Bon Bon is with Lyra on their city break, and gently tries to get to her mare's concerns, but is she too part of the world Lyra considers false? The two of them have some thoughtful dialogue for a while. There's then a late twist which I quite liked, and the ending although slightly predictable is rounded off in a suitably disconcerting way. Provided you don't mind the disturbing subject matter, this is quite interesting for such a short story and so reaches the threes. ★★★

---

Next week, I hope that stories reviewed will include TheDriderPony's Bugs Bunny crossover, Tirek Season.