Ponyfic Roundup 511

Read it Later story count: 94 (-1)

Words read this week: 24,014

It's Ponyfic Roundup time again, and I've mostly got a handle now on being able to write up these posts with my temporarily limited computer resources. Still, I hope you'll bear with me if some things are a little bit clunkier or more basic than usual. Not that PR is very complex in its design anyway, of course! Five stories this week, of which all but one are very short:

One Night in Saddle Arabia by A Wise Pony
"It Is All Hell" by It Is All Hell [sic] (reviewed at author's request)
Cake Story by Blueshift
White Noise by Ninjadeadbeard
Somepony to Fall On by hoofbeatsoftime

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

One Night in Saddle Arabia by A Wise Pony
Celestia, Luna and Other
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Apr 2013; Everyone

During her visit to Saddle Arabia, Princess Celestia discovers a new drink that has some unexpected effects on her.

I was amused by the author's introductory comment that, Celestia having drunk tea all the time in canon, it was about time she broadened her horizons a bit. It's something slightly different, which is nice. I find "solar orb" a pretty irritating phrase, but that's a bit of a YMMV thing and it's only used once. The story is solidly written, nicely atmospheric and pleasant in its brief insight into another culture. Where it falls down for me is that I just can't make myself believe Celestia wouldn't know what this drink was, especially with who is around her. That hits it fairly hard for me, but the story is worth an extra star if that aspect doesn't bother you. ★★

Story reviewed by request of the author
"It Is All Hell" by It Is All Hell [sic]
Rainbow Dash
G4; Tragedy [and Comedy, and Anthology]; 1k words; Jan–May 2024 (but see below); Teen (Gore/Death/Profanity)

Rainbow torments herself.

This author previously wrote under another name, one they don't wish made public. As mentioned in the longdesc, this writing also has its roots several years before the publication date given here. Anyway, this is actually a mini-anthology of two 500-word short-shorts. The first isn't for the faint-hearted, starting with a pile of mutilated pegasi and continuing with Rainbow's non-stop self-hate in a hellish dreamscape. Vividly if brutally written, but not my thing at all. The second is a strange meta comedy featuring the author and Rarity but no actual spoken dialogue. Rarity isn't happy about being a fanfic character. I didn't exactly laugh, barring a pretty much unrelated pun right at the end, but it has a certain weird charm. I've no real idea how to rate this, but it's not really to my taste but does have its moments, which I think means it justifies a two-star score here. ★★

Cake Story by Blueshift
Pinkie Pie, Mrs Cake, Mr Cake and Other
G4; Dark/Comedy; 18k words; Apr 2012; Everyone

Pinkie Pie thinks Mr Cake is literally a cake

Back in early 2012, Blueshift was very well known for his absurd fics in which Trixie and Twilight were zeppelins in love or whatever. This one, which for in-story reasons takes place before mid-S2, is slightly different, in that Pinkie sees crumbs where there should be blood and jumps to the conclusion that Mr Cake literally lives up to his name. Comic it certainly is, but there's a strange edge of darkness here: Mrs Cake is chillingly and apparently uncharacteristically savage in her put-down when Pinkie voices her feelings about her husband. Later still, we move into horror, though still with a dash of humour. I was reminded of an Asimov short story occasionally, though I won't say which because spoilers. The reveal as to who or what set all this off floored me, though it may not have the same impact on those newer to the fandom. A few oddities – why would Pinkie find it strange that a random pony knows her name? In conclusion, as ChatGPT would say, this is a very Blueshift story. If you get on with his particular brand of quirkiness, you'll probably like this a good deal. If not, it may be only marginally worth it. I had a really good time, so a low-end four it is. ★★★★

White Noise by Ninjadeadbeard
Twilight
G4; Comedy/Random; 1k words; Mar 2022; Everyone

In the beginning, there was nothing. And then there was something. Mostly regret, on Twilight's part.

The late lamented Ninjadeadbeard here serves up another of his ridiculous but fun silly comedies. Twilight tells a class of foals the story of the ancients Princess Galactica, and how she lives on in the sounds heard from the radio she's acquired from... a friend. A simple, light story, but fun and with the ponies in character. Not a huge fan of what I felt was over the top shouting near the end, but the fic does enough before that to get into the threes. ★★★

Somepony to Fall On by hoofbeatsoftime
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Big Mac and Granny Smith
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; May 2023; Everyone

A young Applejack sets out to buck apples and ends up with a sickly Rainbow Dash on her back instead. Now carrying the weight of tentative friendship, this farmfilly’s morning has just gotten a lot more complicated.

First up, points for not turning a setup like that into a shipfic. That alone makes a change. There are no monsters here, no world-shaking events, no wild adventures. This is a simple story of friendship, and it's all the better for that. The tight focus and the homely atmosphere feel right for a story told from filly AJ's perspective. This fic won't blow your mind, but it might well warm your heart. ★★★

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It'll be back to the Thousand Words Contest III medallists next week. There are 22 fics left for me to review (twelve Bronze, five Silver, five Gold) and I've decided to split these into four parts. Hopefully I won't have to write the whole post up on my phone, but if I do then at least the number of stories each time will be manageable! :P Here are the half-dozen for next week, covering the Drama and Slice of Life categories: 

White Painted Walls by applezombi
Millennium by Discombobulated Soul
Damn These Vampires by RB_

Balloon Animal by AltruistArtist
Pure Absurdity by FanOfMostEverything
Space Pony / 40 Winks by alafoel