Fic recs, February 24th: Songs of the Sisters edition! · 1:24pm Feb 24th, 2022

Local extremely coolperson Skeeter the Lurker is in some real dire straits and could use the community's help! Here's hoping things go better for him. D:

VisualPony has done a reading of PinkamenaPiePrincess's classic The Battle of Fort Book!

So unexpectedly, last night I finished the first 'book' after Background Pony. :O It didn't take me years and years to finish, either! Songs of the Sisters is a collection of stories and poems by our very own horizon, gifted to me by the same in PDF format. Of course it's pretty good. Many of them aren't on Fimfiction (I think), but I've also already read a bunch more of them, so here's links to all my previous reviews!

Administrative Angel
Devil May Care
Quiet Boy and Moon Horse
No Regrets
Queen of Clubs
Time Enough for Love
Thou Goddess
Only, Only, Only Me
4th District Court, Canterlot, 11:35 a.m.
Fugue State
Melt
The Last Dreams of Pony Island
The Iridescent Iron Rat
Moon Bright
On Alicorn Fiction
Torn, Discarded Pages from an Old Notebook
F=MC2
The Slow Fall of an Unfamiliar Star
The Illusion of Choice, or Vice Versa
Watch! Watch!
Three Letters

Also, let me just say that introduction. What a fucking tribute by Skywriter, damn. I know he's supposed to be playing up Horizon a bit, but he sells himself short in the process, ain't everyone who could expound on another's writing skill quite as well.

H: 0 R: 5 C: 1 V: 0 N: 0 X: 1

To Sunchaser the Younger
Genre: Poem
So here's the first MLP fic that is, I believe, a Songs of the Sisters exclusive! It's just a short poem, with no meter or rhyme, but it hits like a truck? A great warning to someone about to come too close to the sun.
Recommended

Lagniappe
Genre: Poetry
And another, similarly! This one has rhyme, and a meter that kind of messed with me but I suspect is a bit more consistent than it seems. And it's about the pilot episode from a very unusual perspective, the punchline of which is quite uplifting.
Recommended

An Impromptu Private Composition Upon the Joyous Occasion of My Return Gala
Genre: Poem
Gotta love that title. This is the rare two-syllable-per-line kind of poem. It's ridiculous that this kind of thing can work, and yet it does. And the subject matter is, well, "me" is Luna, and the ending is rather heartbreaking. So you can guess what it's like!
Recommended

On the Roof
Sequel to Fugue State
Genre: Romantic Musical
If Lyra is serious about becoming a Versebreaker, she'll have to confront her greatest fear first.
God damn, why are these not comedies? Again, this is a really good drama, and it makes excellent use of subverting a common musical trope by putting it in text. That alone was funny by itself! The rest is Versebreakers world-building, honestly pretty interesting if you're invested in this 'verse. The Verse 'verse. <.<
Recommended

Alicornication
Genre: Filk
Guhh, filk. But given that I don't know the song very well (I never liked it), it's easy enough to treat this as a poem. And the few bits that I recognize as fitting the original cadences are amusing. Like, this basically just sums up the first three seasons of the show, but to do so in this manner is pretty neat. It's all right.
Recommended If You Like Poetry or the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Koans for the Next Age
Genre: Friendship Is Optimal
Okay, zen and FiO are not a combination I ever would have expected. Also, given that I find both difficult to understand, I, uh, quite frankly do not know what to make of this? It's got that koan style at least, I can say that much. No, this is way over my head, wtf.
No Recommendation

Double Jeopardy
Genre: Drama
It's just a stupid game show. Why is Chrysalis losing?
What a weird story this is. Almost a comedy, it swiftly gets really dark, before hitting you with a twist (I saw it coming) and then ending on a very clever note. The end result is a bit of a look at the concept of power, and some introspection on Chrysalis's part. Neat.
Recommended