Read it Later story count: 90 (-1)
Words read this week: 5,000
Bittersweet Memories by Shaslan
Always Has Been by Bandy
No Bones About It by Pascoite
Dinner and a Show by TheDriderPony
Aurora by Flashgen
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 4 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Bittersweet Memories by Shaslan
Lyra and Lemon Hearts
G4; Drama/Sad; 1k words; Jul 2025; Everyone
Lyra is leaving, and Lemon Hearts doesn't understand why.
After two years of her relationship with Lemon Hearts, Lyra is leaving Canterlot and going to Ponyville to further her musical career. Lemmie is devastated as we join them at the station. Lovely use of tea imagery here, which is always a plus, but the overall feel is very much poignancy. As EileenSaysHi noted in her appreciation, Shaslan's achievement here is to pack so much into a thousand words – without rushing – that you feel you've read a great deal more than you have. It's a lovely fic, but it's also crushingly sad – all the more so as we know from canon that this relationship never does return. ★★★★
Always Has Been by Bandy
Cadance and Flurry Heart
G4; Comedy; 1k words; Jul 2025; Teen (Profanity)
The world might be ending—but it's not Flurry Heart's fault. You have to believe her. It's totally not.
That shortdesc was what clinched this one being on the slate. It's narrated by an apparently teenage Flurry, and she reveals that an exotic fungal parasite is infecting horns and making reality conform to inner thoughts. Those with long fandom memories may recall Gamer Luna; well, this is Gamer Flurry, and it works for her. The profanity is fairly mild, one line apart, but it fits I suppose. Also, we get a middle name for Flurry, and that's also a nice link back to older Pony times. Didn't blow me away, but it was amusing, which is something worth having in a comedy! ★★★
No Bones About It by Pascoite
Rose and Twilight
G4; Horror; 1k words; Jul 2025; Everyone
Roseluck finds a bone buried in her garden. Nopony can tell her what to do with it.
She asks a policepony for help, but there's no conclusive answer. Then she finds another bone. And another. There's one hay of a revelation about these bones halfway through the story, too. If you're irritated about something in the way I was... keep reading. This feels just like Ponyville, though Ponyville with something not right, which I'd imagine is what Pascoite was going for. The Fimfiction comments have some interesting, though spoilery, thoughts. Very efficiently done, even if it does feel just a smidge constrained by the contest rules. Top-end three for this one. ★★★
Dinner and a Show by TheDriderPony
Blueblood
G4; Dark/Drama/Horror; 1k words; Jun 2025; Teen (Violence, Death)
Oceans of ravenous and ruthless eyes, but you've never felt so alive as the irony bleeds from the crook in his eye
It's a highly exclusive eaterie, but as the author says in the longdesc, "nothing comes without a price". The story opens with the aftermath of a fight to the death between two ponies; well, this is a horror story! It's one of those fics where the protagonist (the Prince) sees that horror when everypony else just takes it as read. I did guess what the horror would be very early on, so we're in Columbo "howdunit" territory. TheDriderPony's tongue-in-cheek approach works well, and the final reveal is wonderfully banal. Another top-end three. ★★★
Aurora by Flashgen
Celestia
G4; Drama; 1k words; Jul 2025; Everyone
As Celestia tries to paint "Love," she comes to a realization about herself.
Flashgen is one of the longest-standing Fimfiction members (no. 91!) and here provides an intriguing little piece. Celestia is painting and has been asked to create something on the prompt "Love". This introspective story shows us what she thinks about from that prompt, and there are a number of satisfyingly Celestia-ish aspects to this. You may or may not see the ending coming; I didn't, but perhaps I should have done. Another high three to round off the week. ★★★
There'll be a break next week, because I have a bunch of medical appointments and I'm just not going to have much spare time at all. I'm having enough trouble keeping up at the moment even when that's not the case, so I think it only fair to skip a week. I'll be back!
Fics for Wednesday 5th November. I've picked six stories rather than the usual five, and not only because review date is more than a week away...
Remember by applejackofalltrades
Fifth by Nukepony360
November Rain by Lucky Seven
Gunpowder, Guillotine by Silver Sea
Treasonous Love. [sic] by wisp1
Plot Twist! by Mighty Fine
just so long as it's not centipedes c_c;;;
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