Ponyfic Roundup 533: RNG Choice Edition

Read it Later story count: 89 (nc)

Words read this week: 22,153

I forgot to update this bit earlier – oops! Anyway, this time the stories I read were largely determined by the random number generator. I say "largely" because I did have a slight restriction, over and above my usual ones such as stories needing to be incomplete. For today's edition, I only allowed one Mature fic. Here's the list:

Liable for Content by Sarcasmo
Sentinel by Xenos
The Truth That Lies Within by Ps3luver
We Can't All Be Friends by Awesomo3000
Fear Itself by saarni

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Liable for Content by Sarcasmo
Blueblood
G4; [no genre tag]; 6k words; Feb 2015; Teen

Blueblood's approval ratings are at an all-time low. To counter this, he tries a new strategy: make himself look good by making others look bad.

This is a tale of two halves, and frustratingly so. The first part, in which the prince decides that the best way to improve his standing with Equestrians is to supplement performative good works with wildly smearing everypony else, is really pretty amusing. Blueblood imagining that a soup kitchen is a place for him to get fed is a good example. Sadly the second half sends it downhill, with clunky meta fandom references (even a Cupcakes one, something which is almost always ill-advised) followed by an overlong and boring courtroom scene. This would have been a comfortable three had it maintained its early promise; as it is, it's no more than a moderate two. ★★

Sentinel by Xenos
Other [Royal Guard]
G4; Slice of Life; 1k words; Jun 2013; Everyone

A Royal Guard briefly reflects on his uneventful life at the base of Princess Celestia's throne.

The last and best-received (+15/-0) of this author's half-dozen fics, Sentinel is an internal monologue stretching over many years, beginning just before Luna's rebellion and banishment. At first the unnamed guard is proud of his role, but then an itch grows inside him and he starts to wonder why he is never sent on missions, why Celestia never thanks him, why he does this job despite missing out on seeing family grow up. This is very slice-of-lifey, but that's not a bad thing in itself. The story just lacks the justification for the narrator's eventual epiphany. Good enough for a middling two, at least. ★★

The Truth That Lies Within by Ps3luver
OC and Rainbow Dash
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 5k words; Oct 2012; Mature (Sex)

You have always seen Rainbow Dash as your best friend, but could your true feelings be too much?

As that shortdesc suggests, this is a second-person story. I don't complain about the lack of a [2nd Person] tag, since I don't think that existed in 2012 and in any case the author is clear what this is in their longdesc. Rainbow is upset when she's bullied by Weather Patrol colleagues and comes to "you" (her friend, a stallion) for comfort. Does this lead to something more? *looks at tags* Well, what do you think? Actually there's something of an actual story here in terms of the friendship, but as with a lot of fics of this kind things move extremely fast from soft hugging to Dash not being able to keep her hooves off "your"... well, for some reason "spire" is the word the author uses more than once, and it's seriously distracting. That aside the sex scene isn't that bad, it's just that getting there so fast is not justified in-story. I've read worse. Just about a two. ★★

We Can't All Be Friends by Awesomo3000
Starlight, Twilight, Spike and Mane Six
G4 AU; Adventure/Drama/Sad; 6k words; Dec 2015; Teen

What if Starlight had rejected Twilight's friendship offer? What if she refused to change her ways and vowed to continue with her revenge on Twilight and her friends?

I think this is a first for RNG-chosen stories in PR: We Can't All Be Friends has a TV Tropes page! (Spoilery, obviously.) The story was published only a few weeks after the S5 finale, so all readers at the time knew of Starlight's reformation was what we saw in that episode. I've read a fixfic by this author in the past (Slipping Through My Hooves, PR 216) and this is sort of an anti-fixfic. Twilight gets as far as the point where Starlight is starting to tear up the time-travel spell, but this time Glimmy isn't persuaded by Twi's entreaties. As a result, with a heavy heart, Twilight uses a serious magic spell of her own.. There's a fine and brave little cameo from Spike, who helps to avert total catastrophe, and Starlight's dialogue sounds very much like her evil self, so props for that. The pace is rather fast, the action sags a little in the middle, and the writing has quite a few small but irritating technical errors. Even so, if you can accept that S6 onwards don't exist, this makes for an interesting read, enough that it shades a three-star rating. ★★★

Fear Itself by saarni
Twilight and Celestia
G4; Slice of Life; 4k words; Jan 2019; Everyone

Trapped in Canterlot Castle when a storm hits, a young Twilight Sparkle is alone and afraid. Some sage advice - and a confession - from her mentor will soon put things to rights, though.

Would you like me to end with a cute filly Twilight story? Yes? Well, that's fortunate, because that's what this is! She's taken to staying so late studying that the staff have even added a little bed for her. But she's still a kid and still frightened of this wild Everfree thunderstorm. One of the staff suggests she talks to somepony else who's on her own and awake in the castle. Yes, it's Princess Celestia. The Princess and the filly have a gentle heart-to-heart, during which Tia imparts wisdom and shares a confidence in a fashion that suits her character admirably. There are a few minor irritations, such as some prose that shades into purplishness and the dreaded single tear, but the contrast between the storm outside and the peace inside is lovely. A three, and quite comfortably so. ★★★

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Not the worst RNG Edition I've experienced by any means, and I'm actually quite pleased with how things have turned out! Two stories made it as far as the three-star level of being more than just okay, and the first one was also looking really good until it rather lost its way midway through. Can't win 'em all, but I'm happy not to have lost 'em all either! Back to stories I've chosen next week, and they'll be:

Villains aren't supposed to Die by IGIBAB
Waking Up is Hard Sometimes by RB_
Captain Twilight by Moonlight Eclipse
No Filter by ReedHoarse
The Brave Little Caretaker by Estee