Words read this week: 42,294
The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, and so I'm sure does the warm glow of festive ponyfic. In honour of the rapid approach of Hearth's Warming, today I present a special six-fic edition of Ponyfic Roundup. Usually I mix authors I know well and those new to me, but this time I am being self-indulgent and concentrating on stories by writers whose works I've liked in the past. As you can see, I liked all of them this time.
A Holiday Errand by Pen Stroke
Yule in a Donut Shop by Rune Soldier Dan
The First Stitch by Carabas
How Lily Longsocks Spent Hearth’s Warming Eve on the Moon by Pascoite
In the Bleak Midwinter by Skywriter
Badvent Calendar by Estee
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 4 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
A Holiday Errand by Pen Stroke
Sunset Shimmer and Gallus
G4 EqG; Slice of Life; 3k words; Dec 2019; Everyone
Sunset and Gallus share a holiday conversation that leads to a shared realization.
A highly unusual combination of characters; as this was written for the Jinglemas event I suspect that may have been mandated by the requester. Set back when the FiM/EqG portal wasn't always open, this story sees Gallus sent through with a seasonal care package instead of Twilight as Sunset had expected. One or two oddly "American" bits for this British reader (Sunset's line about "a lot of religious and cultural holidays", for example), and I wasn't massively taken with the poem that ends the story. Still, a pleasant and comfortable read, so a comfortable three. ★★★
Yule in a Donut Shop by Rune Soldier Dan
Gilda, Trixie, Prince Blueblood, Ms. Harshwhinny and Lightning Dust [and Donut Joe!]
G4; Slice of Life; 11k words; Dec 2014; Teen
Donut Joe keeps his store open on Hearth’s Warming Eve. And why not? He doesn’t have anywhere else to be, and neither do the tired, bitter ponies who find their way inside. But the Eve is young, and strange things lie ahead...
Inspired by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra track "Old City Bar", and though more than just a straight ponification the inspiration is very obvious for anyone who knows the song. (I didn't, I'm afraid, though I do now.) That's not a bad thing, as this is a story full of Yuletide magic, despite the apparently unpromising collection of characters (see the tags – though, avoiding spoilers, not all the important ones are in those tags...). Surprising and good-natured by turns, this fic has a warm heart and seasonal spirit in abundance. ★★★★
The First Stitch by Carabas
Rarity, Clover the Clever and Princess Platinum
G4; Adventure; 11k words; Dec 2017; Teen
One winter's day, before Hearth's Warming Eve, Rarity falls backwards in time. To before all the Hearth's Warming Eves to come.
Thanks to an unfortunate accident with a time spell from Twilight and Starlight, Rarity finds herself in the depths of winter, just before the very first Hearth's Warming. I really like how Clover is written here, very believably for somepony who is both inevitably suspicious of why a well-fed unicorn is in the midst of a near-starving remnant of their people and someone who is just as intelligent as her legend tells. Platinum is mildly irritating at times, but again believably so. Rarity narrates this story, and her style is very her. Satisfying and (eventually) uplifting. ★★★★
How Lily Longsocks Spent Hearth’s Warming Eve on the Moon by Pascoite
Vapor Trail, Sky Stinger, Starlight Glimmer, Luna and Other
G4; Slice of Life; 7k words; Jan 2018; Everyone
On Hearth’s Warming Eve, Princess Luna asks for special duty volunteers from among the Wonderbolts and Reserves. For the first time, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger have the opportunity to make a child’s dream come true.
A fic which Pascoite wrote for Jinglemas, this is very much in the mould of some of his other children's tales. Like those, it employs a playful mixture of prose and rhyme, with alliteration thrown in. The use of Vapor and Sky is a nice change and they're satisfyingly used here. I was a little thrown for a while about Starlight's role and odd demeanour, until I realised just why she was in a seasonal fic like this. Perhaps not quite as glorious as the same author's Dinkin’ Donuts (PR 424), but then few stories are. Still very enjoyable, though. ★★★★
In the Bleak Midwinter by Skywriter
Cadance, Shining Armor and Crystal Ponies
G4; Slice of Life; 4k words; Dec 2013; Teen
In which Cadance I of the Restored Empire is given a very unusual Hearth's Warming gift.
Inspired by a throwaway line by Katie Cook in one of the IDW comics, this story involves Rose Quartz¹ (the Crystal Castle's major-domo) not being aware of why Cadance has been hanging up stars and icicles. There is a reason for their ignorance of Hearth's Warming, and it's a believable and in a way slightly sad one. Some fun give-and-take between the characters, with nice supporting roles for Shining Armor and perhaps even more so, Derpy. More notably perhaps, a fascinating take on Sombra, though slightly frustrating in how little concrete we find out. Still, a minor quibble about a lovely tale. ★★★★
¹ Not, as far as I can tell, intended as a Steven Universe reference, despite SU starting a few weeks before this fic came out.
Badvent Calendar by Estee
Mane Six, Spike and Filthy Rich
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 6k words; Dec 2018; Everyone
Equestria's newest Hearth's Warming craze is the gift clock: a new present every day for the entire moon. It's perfectly natural for the Bearers to try a few out! And it's not as if the riot was completely their fault!
I had to have one comedy in here, since after all Christmas tends to feature a man who says "Ho ho ho" all the time! The Bearers rarely shop as a group, since that tends to end in disaster. So it is this time, though the mess is a little slower unfolding. We get the tale of "gift clocks", Equestria's equivalent of advent calendars. Each of the Mane Six is excited to have treats awaiting them every day for several weeks... though is "treats" going to be quite the right word? Well... yes and no. I was amused, and the gentle satire of our own world was quite effective. Slightly less madcap than I'd expected, but some nice little twists, such as the problem with Pinkie's own clock. Doesn't quite explode into life, but simmers steadily and flavoursomely. (Yes, it's a word. Shush.) A high three, therefore. ★★★
As I'd hoped, a great week all round. And now a little announcement: in a break with my usual Christmas tradition, there will be a Ponyfic Roundup next week! Not only that, but it will be a Spotlight Edition. One of the oldest fics on the site (story no. 400!) and a crossover I can actually read, since it's with Discworld. So again, I am indulging myself. The story is:
Binky Pie by Miyajima
Nothing like a good self-indulgent week! Right time of year for it too, and the one next week will echo that further. An early-to-mid fandom Discord crossover novella? Clearly something passionate for you!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these six fics, but given the pedigree of these authors – I'm not really familiar with Carabas, but for everyone else I range from having read a few (Pen Stroke, Skywriter), to being very familiar and having read a hefty chunk of their works. I would say fully half of these strike me as worth adding to the list, and weirdly, it's Carabas' story that grabs me the most. Rarity send back in time to before the first Hearth's Warming? Sure, why not! I can see the potential of that!
One of the oldest fics on the site (story no. 400!)
Even less if one uses the site's search function with a date filter to ignore ID never turned into a story or deleted stories, where it is just about in the first 250 stories. Though unusually for such an early entry that did finish, it appears to have taken almost five-and-a-half years to finish, despite being only 53K. It'll be interesting to see how that affects the final fic.
Ooh, next week's is one of my early favorites, and I was glad to see it completed after a long hiatus.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy "Yule in a Donut Shop" landed on the high side. I read it when it was new, and it's a wonderfully quiet atmospheric piece.
In mine, I was perhaps a bit opaque about why Starlight was there. I wrote it right after "A Hearth's Warming Tail" aired, so it'd be fresh in everyone's minds, but I didn't really consider whether that'd still be apparent years later. I had so much fun writing "Dinkin' Donuts" that I try to have a similar children's story feel to these Jinglemas pieces when I can (sometimes the requests I get don't really lend themselves to that style). I was kind of able to do a half-and-half approach twice, on "Open Up Your Eyes" and "Trix of the Trade," but there were only two others (so far) where I gave it the full treatment, "The Joys of Homework on Hearth's Warming" and "The Gift of Laughter." It's been fun doing Jinglemas in general, and I'm glad it seems like it'll keep going for some time.
Now I have to buckle down and get this year's done on time. Six days left...
Lily Longsocks is a fitting followup to Dinkin' Donuts. :) Really love that Pascoite keeps putting these out.
ReplyDeleteAnd he wrote it on my request! n.n
DeleteYes, as much as Logan liked the inclusion of Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, that was all IN's doing. And I knew as a regular, he'd be by here.
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