Ponyfic Roundup 560: Should ever be forgot

Read it Later story count: 90 (nc)

Words read this week: 12,724

Welcome one and all to another Ponyfic Roundup! There are six stories in the mix this week, which isn't something I've done outside of a contest medallist themed post for a long, long time. I'm back into a five-figure total word count, too. Don't go expecting a half-dozen stories to become a regular event, though! I just thought it would be amusing to do this run of titles, given the date. Here's the slate:

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

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

Remember by applejackofalltrades
Rarity and Twilight
G4; Sad; 1k words; May 2021; Everyone

Rarity looked at the source of the voice. Someone had come to visit her. Strangely, she seemed familiar.

Rarity doesn't recognise Twilight – the latter's identity is obvious early on, so this isn't a spoiler. We gradually learn more about the former's condition. I should think many readers will guess what's happening, and this probably wouldn't work if it were much longer – but at barely a thousand words, it maintains the sadness of its story without feeling strained. High in the threes. ★★★

Fifth by Nukepony360
OC
G4 AU; Sci-Fi/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jan 2023; Everyone

An android prototype tries to solve a dilemma about herself.

This story is told in first person by an android who has nothing to do with Sweetie Bot. Points for originality there! There are some nice touches here in terms of the protagonist's thinking patterns being non-human (well, non-equine) and so rather disconcerting, yet still recognisable. You'll need some tolerance for emotionless writing, but here that's deliberate. I was mostly won over, so this shades a three. ★★★

November Rain by Lucky Seven
Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot
G4; Drama/Sad; 1k words; Jun 2024; Everyone

Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot have a rough conversation.

Here we have an entry for last year's Thousand Words contest. Rainbow and Fleetfoot are in a relationship – but that "are" might be about to become "were", as Dash has caught Fleetwood cheating on her with Soarin'. I really like how Rainbow is characterised here: it's often interesting when she's pushed out of her show-style comfort zone, and that's certainly the case here. There's a great line about a pie here; watch for it. A real gut-punch, too. The ending may divide readers, but I think it's believable. A satisfying, if sometimes painful, little story. ★★★★

Gunpowder, Guillotine by Silver Sea
Pinkie Pie and OC
G4; Dark; 1k words; Apr 2012; Teen

Based off "Killer Queen" by Queen

Yes, that's the shortdesc. I like the song, but it's not desperately helpful. The longdesc isn't too inviting, either, including as it does "WARNING: Contains references to "Cupcakes"." It's about a pony (the OC) who has a particularly gruesome job, and finds shelter with that version of Pinkamena. To my slight surprise, this isn't a gore-filled mess. It's certainly rough and has little beyond dialogue, but there's the kernel of an interesting grimdark here. Not enough for me to enjoy it, though. One of those top-end ones. ★

Treasonous Love. [sic] by wisp1
OC and Changeling
G4; Romance; 6k words; Dec 2013; Teen

Midnight wisp, a Unicorn stallion who finds love in an odd looking changeling. Although, changelings are still looked down upon in Equestria. M\M, first story, if it does fine then ill keep making more.

This pretty much does what it says on the tin. M/M shipping involving a changeling is a bit different from usual, so props for that, although disappointingly little is made of the species' particular features. As so often in shipfics, things go from first meeting to mutual attraction in the blink of an eye. Far too many very basic errors ("here" for "hear", not capitalising proper nouns, etc), and one very jarring clopfic-style comment. Just about scrapes a two for the unusual premise. ★★

Plot Twist! by Mighty Fine
Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Mane Six
G4; Comedy/Random; 1k words; Dec 2013; Teen

Everyone knows that Twilight's spells have a 56% reliability rate, so it's no surprise when her spell reversing Fluttershy's bat transformation goes wrong. What she discovers in the aftermath, however, is a little more...unexpected.

This is an alternative take on Fluttershy's recovery from being Flutterbat in "Bats!" In this case, things go very oddly indeed, including Rainbow Dash punching Applejack on the nose and AJ herself having "no game", which probably means something if you're younger than me. ;) Later on something of what the hay is happening is revealed and things get a bit meta. It's all rather disjointed, but there are flashes of fun in here if you bear in mind the [Random] tag. ★★

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It's been a while, but I'm finally ready for a Spotlight edition again! Not one of the longest fics around, but above my usual 40k-word lower limit, if not by much. Next week:

Discordant by ezra09