), I do love fussing over stats where anything of interest is concerned, Fimfic included. Happily, I’m not alone (because duh 
): Recommendsday blogger, fic writer and all-around awesome chap TCC56 does too, and in his latestGhost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #44 · 12:15am Jan 10th, 2023
You know, after a holiday season where I let a lot that had happened throughout the year get to me, and keep me not quite as relaxed and joyous as I could or should have been, I think I’m feeling more at ease with things. Deliberately taking a week off not just from the more high-maintenance hobbies (fic writing, etc.), but from even thinking about them, did me some good.
Still kept plenty busy with other things, naturally, but when the end result is I had a cheerier last week than the one around Christmas, it’s a nice boost for the new year. Now I feel I can commit better to some goals going forward.
Of course, there’s another reason to be cheery too, one pertaining specifically to these Ponyfic reviews…
And [these Ponyfic review blogs have] broadened my follower base from less than 40 to tipping on 100.
- Ghost Mike, Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #43, January 2nd 2022
…Yeah, that aged fast! But it’s the good kind of ageing. Not going to wax a lot of philosophical at this, we’ll save that for the one-year mark in March. Obviously there are plenty of new users the last few years who have gotten well past this milestone, and justifiably so, but that’s invariably down to a high output of quality writing. Rare is the user who gets there mostly by purely their blogs (with the odd one here or there from a Jinglemas or rare contest fic). It’s… it’s nice.
Of course, it’s just a mild stepping stone to what’s next – Fimfiction domination!
…Erm. [clears throat] Yes. Picking up where I left off, a mixture of fic pre-reading, contest judging and general holiday season business meant that the reviews here neglected both the themed weeks and especially the author spotlights for a good while. Will have to see about getting both of those back in the limelight. In the meantime, though, back to a menagerie of unrelated horse words.
By pure coincidence, this week’s quintet of stories are all different ratings, representing the five “positive” ratings, as it were. Doesn’t mean that it’s all downhill from the Excellent one, of course. Though as has happened before, it is the longest of the five stories, which both skews it and this week’s overall takeaway. But in a good way.
This Week’s Spectral Stories:
Iron Princess Competition by MidnightDancer
Why Do We Hate Each Other? by Boltstrike58
Rise by Blueshift
Mistakes Were Made by Sharp Spark
Nothing Shocks Me Anymore by SusieBeeca
Weekly Word Count: 38,418 Words
Iron Princess Competition by MidnightDancer
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Mane 6
10,315 Words
October 2013
Chastised by her sister for practising bouts of combat practice with unwilling guards, and learning that the old standby of guards doing so with the princesses was discarded centuries ago, Luna decides to challenge Celestia to this feats of strength competition she heard Twilight’s athletic friends partook in one time. You know what they say, sibling rivalry knows no bounds.
This is a low-risk episode sequel, taking the Iron Pony competition as depicted in Fall Weather Friends and having Celestia and Luna play it, all while the Mane 6 moderate and much of Ponyville spectates (it is tonally 100% a Season 1/2 fic except for Twilight being a Princess, only because most authors in 2013 felt obliged to set stories at the forefront of canon – it even pulls a Cider episode twist with the ‘moral’ at the end). And without major alicorn power flexing, for while their challenge results are darned impressive, they keep themselves deliberately restrained in only using earth pony magic that won’t damage the landscape. Much. So, for better or for worse, it avoids being a redo of the original episode where each competitor is trying to outdo each other and bucks the rules to kingdom come.
What that leaves, then, is a fluffy depiction of a whole competition played straight. And I do mean whole: all twelve activities we saw in the episode even somewhat are depicted here in real-time (the fic sidesteps inventing the unseen eight by claiming its only twelve, when it should have said they couldn’t be set up in time or wouldn’t work for ponies of their body size; in any case, not inventing any is quite a gaping flaw). It remains fun the whole way, with everyone of the Mane 7 getting at least one moment of wry or amusing comedy, with Pinkie as her excitable, exuberant self without crossing to sugar-high flanderisation being the standout. Celestia and Luna are comparatively more sedate, with only the opening and closing having them played up as you might expect. For the actual contest, they just compete and remark sincerely on each result, the odd wry joke or jab excepted (the hoofwrestle being the lone exception, and thus probably the standout moment for the Royal Sisters).
The end result is light and pleasant fare, and I’m torn between whether that dominates over my lingering feeling that the fic should have done more. Not with playing the event mostly straight, but at least freshening up the depiction of the event, or having some angle, or doing more with Celestia and Luna’s personalities throughout; the only real surprise comes from who will win what event, which thankfully isn’t always as easily guessable as one might think. At least the ending gag is pitch-perfect, even if it would have landed better with more foregrounding of what Twilight points out (there’s certainly a bit of “not well communicated script writing” syndrome going on in this fic).
Still, pleasurable light fun this consistent isn’t to be sniffed at, and for better or for worse, it feels like an episode script dropped from being far too on autopilot. Far less of a sin for fanfic, given it means evoking the fuzzy warmth and fun of the show too.
Rating: Decent
Why Do We Hate Each Other? by Boltstrike58
Genre: Comedy/Random/Slice of Life
Starlight Glimmer, Twilight, Trixie, Spike
1,557 Words
December 2022
Starlight has had it. It seems that Twilight and Trixie can’t go more than a minute in each other’s presence without breaking into a verbal spat. With the latest round so high-strung it has sent Spike running for the hills. Disgusted and fed up, she resolves to stop it, find out why they always squabble, and amend matters to prevent more bouts like this.
By the author’s own admission, this was written to keep busy. Which is a good encapsulation of the piece, a suitable time-waster for the reader too. It’s breezy, a fitfully amusing lark of Starlight playing Mother Hen, both ponies hashing out why they can’t stand the other, Starlight shooting their reasoning down with logic, and a makeup that dissolves into a verbal argument of a different, yet cyclical variety. Other than Trixie’s reasoning for not liking Twilight being shot down using direct show evidence, while Twilight’s problem with Trixie requiring some headcanon to be undermined, it’s a fic that writes itself.
Which is, hey, not the worst thing, and clearly the cover art did a lot to sell this fic and get it featured. If a couple minutes of this sound pleasant enough, it’ll make for a fine read.
Rating: Passable
Now she has reached the milestone age of sixteen years old, it is time for Misty, just a simple breezie, to go on the Quest. By venturing beyond their home of the World Tree, and striking a blow against the ponies that torment them, she will live up to the legacy of her father and late mother. She will prove her bravery, and assert their strength against their foe. All before the Summer Shutdown signals the coming of winter.
Despite universal acclaim from many corners, this fic lay near the top of my bookshelf for months, and I have no one but myself to blame for that hemming and hawing. Hopefully I can say enough here to implore those of you who have not read it (and at “only” 4.7K views, it’s closer to an under-read classic than the opposite) to do so right away. Forgive me if I mostly gush here.
Probably the most obviously impressive achievement here is the worldbuilding. Blueshift has crafted a whole culture out of the breezies in this Borrowers/Nomes scenario of tiny creatures living unknown away from the proportionally gigantic people, viewing their actions as wholly different than the reality of innocent ignorance. Much of the delight, especially in the opening chapter, comes from seeing how the Breezies have interpreted aspects of the pony world in a totally different light. Equally impressive is how all this is integrated; never is this doled out like an encyclopaedia or an exposition dump; instead it’s drip-fed through reminds of breezie culture as the story progresses, always relevant to the going-ons. Long as the reader is paying attention, for it does rely on extrapolation at times, but to its benefit. It’s not Northern Lights-levels of letting the reader connect the dots, anyway, for this is (mostly) tonally and stylistically in the wheelhouse of a children’s book. But, like, an amazing children’s book – I did name-drop Terry Pratchet’s Nome Trilogy for a reason.
The actual journey isn’t as blissfully perfect as that – there’s a few points of not going for the maximum tonal punch, and especially near the end, it feels a bit rushed (contest word limits, I understand) – but it’s pretty darn close. Misty makes for a great protagonist, with a wonderful mix of uncertainty, self-inflicted weight of expectations, sense of duty and spunk, and there’s not a moment where the events she’s undertaking, and the connection to how it all started back home, isn’t utterly beguiling. Leaves quite a meaningful and poignant journey, even if I’m not sure I agree with the choice of ending.
After all that, have I effectively sold this story? Probably not. To be more blunt, this has so many strengths that are near-perfect that the few tiny flaws barely register, and you remain engrossed the whole way through. Fanfiction like this is what we come here for. A must-read.
Rating: Excellent
Mistakes Were Made by Sharp Spark
Genre: Romance/Sad
Applejack, Rarity
5,358 Words
November 2014
Quite a few years have passed since Rarity and Applejack were last together. And even that was the culmination of being mostly together with periodical breakups off of arguments. Rarity’s even moved away in this absence. But absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder, and so, on a cold winter night in Manehattan, they cross paths in a bar. Applejack knows how this dance always ends, but despite that her love has never wavered.
Obviously a fic of this length cannot cover everything about the characters’ dynamic, regardless of whether it goes for the old tried and tested “alternating between select flashbacks and the present” or sticks to the present (this one does do the former). But this does cover the aspects that matter, encapsulating how Rarity and AJ both get on each other’s nerves as friends and lovers yet also how there’s something missing when they’re not together. And when they were together too; Sharp Spark doesn’t shy away from heartbreak tinting even the positive memories.
Much of the tumultuous energy here goes to how they reluctantly get back together time and time again, regardless of it not working out. And the time they didn’t perfectly shows why they did every other time. The passage of time feels natural, and this lets the characters breathe and keeps a mostly-even balance.
It is a hopeful tragedy, as they go, and the emotion and anger throughout comes through strong enough. I don’t think it’s one of those shipfics strong enough to linger for those not normally fans of the genre, but it certainly shares its ship well – I found it stronger than most RariJacks, anyway. Take that as you will.
Rating: Pretty Good
Nothing Shocks Me Anymore by SusieBeeca
Genre: Dark/Sad/Slice of Life
Other, Pinkie, Mrs. Cake
6,397 Words
June 2014Reread
Screw Loose has finally made enough progress that she is recommended to start keeping a journal. Sure, fine, she’ll give it a go: whether or not it helps curtail the smoking habit, it’s at least a helpful new habit to try and start. Little did she know that what would follow would be quite the new steps in her condition, and potentially getting over it.
It took me quite a while into the story to realise that Screw Loose was the dog-like pony from Ponyville Hospital in Read It and Weep. That’s largely immaterial; even considered as an OC, this depiction of somepony suffering from psychiatric disorders is a really remarkable story. SusieBeeca holds very little back, and the often offhoof manner in which some quite sensitive, traumatic and dark topics are referred to pull no punches. But it’s never just melodrama; the individual entries do a really remarkable job of both feeling like they were written, capturing the mentality of Screw at the time, and pulling us into her viewpoint such that things she can’t remember sometimes do surprise us as much as those occasions where the implication is clear early on.
The story does end with a light at the end of the tunnel, and while the path there is a painful one, it is earned, with hopeful, uplifting if bleak entries and days for her along the way. It’s quite an emotionally wrought piece at times (the last chunk moved me to actual tears), has humour at others, but above all it just really gets inside the mind of someone who is not insane, just grappling with mental issues. Moments like realising the meaning behind her nickname for her sister Mrs. Cake can contrast with her blanching at the hyperactiveness of the Ponyville Schoolhouse foals, and a budding relationship with Pinkie (yes, this works).
The issues tackled within certainly don’t make this the easiest of reads, but unless one is super squeamish, this is absolutely worth reading. It certainly gives a new dimension to a joke one-off background pony, among other things.
Rating: Really Good
Spooky Summary of Scores:
Excellent: 1
Really Good: 1
Pretty Good: 1
Decent: 1
Passable: 1
Weak: 0
Bad: 0
I will always give Iron Princess credit for avoiding the early-fandom annoyance of "Of course Luna wins she's edgy and smart and cool and Luna!" Obsessive balance is its own annoyance (the Rarijack ep where they judge a 3-way tie comes to mind), but the little twist at the end was good fun.
Hm. Not a story I would have chosen without a very strong rec, but I will give Rise a go.
Yeah, I pretty much wrote that story because I was bored. I have no idea why it blew up the way it did. I wrote it in like 2 days.
Oh hey, someone else remembers Screw Loose/Screwy/Barking Mad. Been a while.
Dude, Rise is so fucking good, oh my god, I'm so glad you got to it. :D
Also, I think Mistakes Were Made was the one I did a big audio production of? :B
5707883
For what it's worth, if anything, I also loved Rise. I read all the entries for the Outside Insight contest all those years ago (in which Rise placed fifth overall) and looking back I see that I rated it 8.5/10. Using my current system that would be a top-end four, very nearly a five -- it only lost a little at the end, for much the same reasons Mike mentions in his review today.
I see you discovered Rise and Nothing Shocks Me Anymore. Always good for those two to get more attention.
Not surprised by the results for Why Do We Hate Each Other?, but also a little disappointed. I was kinda hoping it would be more than the obvious, but also didn't expect it to be so. Also, those "Starlight gets injected into a situation as the voice of reason" stories feel like a dime a dozen by this point.
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Yeah, I suppose that would be quite annoying to live through with most new fics doing that, as opposed to moi just being able to ignore the lesser old ones that do that.
It took me way longer than it should have to remember what episode this was.
Not that I'd totally forgotten "Honest Apple", but I guess I didn't remember it quite from that angle.
For sure, and I do quite like the ending. It's a low-key fun fic that does succeed at what it sets out to do, and I did enjoy my time reading it, make no mistake. I just wish it had taken a route that wasn't linear to the degree of the series' 2nd episode to get there. Or if so, did so more quickly. That might have boosted it above being a fine diversion. But fine diversions are grand, sure.
5707883
media.tenor.com/YllPEgH-ZqQAAAAC/obi-wan-thats-why-im-here.gif
Yeah, I was a bit skeptical too, hence it lingering on my short-term reading bookshelf for months. But it really is fantastic, and if my word-of-mouth isn't enough, just about every review of it I've found, not just those from Present Perfect and Logan, has praised it.
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It really is, and I continue to kick myself for lingering on it as long as I did. Better late then never! Always trust Blueshift to deliver, I guess.
Huh. So it was. Honestly, I constantly forget you've done some fic readings yourself in your time.
Not a good reflection on my part!
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Ha, back when EqD could run a fanfic contest and get tons of entries! Plenty of them quality too. I'll bet those sure were the days.
Oh? I would have guessed that was make for a mid-four. Did you ever formally state on your blog the score conversion for when you switched to stars, or was it always just a loose implication partially up to the reader?
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Well, rediscovered for the latter, my dear Watson.
And glad to have done so, it sure could do with more readers.
They kind of are, and feel weirdly reflective of the show doing the same towards its end, and with a character one would emphatically not want as the voice of reason at that. This fic was from a period where I was getting less inclined to read fics that could work just because they got onto the Featured Box for fear of missing out on a collective "experience". Kind of past that impulse now, though I wouldn't cite this fic as a catalyst for that; it would take weaker ones I regretted reading for that.
5707884
For what it's worth, I read it largely because it was in the Featured Box, was blowing up and staying there for a while, was a super-quick read, and came from an author whose works I'd read before. As noted to PaulAsaran below/above (depending on your comments ordering), I'm a little past that impulse now.
But again, bored writing to divert oneself from a skilled author is not necessarily a sin, so it's all good.
Rise is one of those stories that just clicked with me, and looking at the comments, I see I'm not the only one.
And of course, congrats on your rapid and unstoppable ascent to the very pinnacle of FiMFiccery! Nice to see people are still seeking out the good stuff, including the good reviews (like yours. Your reviews are good. You review good, is what I'm saying).
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Evidently you wanted to see firsthand how much an opaque, transparent spirit can blush, because as it turns out, the answer is quite a lot!
Anyway, don't worry, I'm past the stage of feeling insecure about this venture. It's a good 'un.
Besides, I have had lots of practice with various media across different reviews formats, to be fair. It'd be worrying if I wasn't at least decent! And this weekly format had forced me to get more concise and meander far less, though I think it took a while to not just repeat the same surface-level stuff in many reviews. So it's been good for me too.
And darn it, every time you comment, I keep remembering that I should look at your review of any given fic I'm looking at after the fact, to see how it fared there. Such a dummy with defiant Ponyfic review blogs!
5708069
hey, if I can't remember for sure, how can I expect anyone else to? :V
5708071
9/10 would be five stars on the current system, though that was before I started using my current skewed ranking system. So five-star scores weren't as hard to get from me as they now are. For example, I gave Fallout: Equestria a five. I wouldn't do that now, though I think it would still get a reasonably solid four as, for all its many issues, not to mention a major character (not Littlepip) that I don't much like, I do find the whole achievement very impressive.
Rise and blueshift are so good it makes me wish I could pay a charity of Faust's choosing to make her read them lol.