My Favorites · 6:05am Apr 7th, 2014
Hey all,
I thought I'd take this opportunity to promote and review my favorite HiE fics on FIMFiction. If you like Pericynthion, you might want to give them a try - they all in some way inspired me to start writing myself.
The God Particle by MoonriseUnicorn
This was the first HiE fic that I really enjoyed reading. Slow to develop, it is well worth the time it takes to read. The author does an incredible amount of world-building, and his slow revelation of the underlying plot is on par with any quality long-running TV show. His writing style is simple and effective; where I have to consciously switch between internal narrative and external scene descriptions, he's able to do both simultaneously in a succinct and impactful manner. There is a romance subplot that, to me, came out of nowhere, but it's a minor weak point in what is otherwise a magnificent story.
Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger by AdmiralTigerclaw and its companion fic, Sparkle's Notes
Quite possibly the most "accurate" HiE fic on FIMFiction. As a NASAphile, pilot, and one-time engineering student of actual rocket science, I have a huge appreciation for the author's attention to detail when it comes to current and near-future technology. As for the story itself, he makes the difficult narrative choice of sticking with a realistic language barrier between his human protagonist and the rest of Equestria. Despite this, the interactions between characters are spot on, and even more enhanced by the companion story. The author takes the time to fully think through two completely separate perspectives of the same events, and the results show in his work.. The ponies' reactions to high technology are endearing, realistic, and truly the high point of this fic. I, for one, cannot wait to see where it goes.
Chapter 1 of this story is by far the best example I've seen on this site of a great introduction. It vividly sets up the scenario, builds the reader's expectations, and delivers an emotional punch that only a few stories can match. It's a hard act to follow, but the subsequent chapters keep up well. There is a playful and mildly humorous dynamic in spite of a very antagonistic relationship between the human character and the ponies. My only complaint is a minor one - specifically the characterization of the human, in this case a US Marine officer. In the same way that lawyers cannot watch law movies without picking apart the inaccuracies, I have the same problem with fics featuring military protagonists. I've been in the service for a decade now, long enough to know that officers simply don't act like that, even Marines. That said, it's an extremely minor issue that you probably won't even notice. All in all, Article 2 is one of the best HiEs on FIMFiction - you know you've hit the big time when you get your own TVTropes page, and Muppetz' is well-deserved.
Also, he gets bonus points for not only writing the fic while on active duty, but also for having a title that the audience might not immediately understand, but is eminently appropriate when they think about it/look it up. For reference:
Article 2 of the Code of Conduct for the Armed Forces of the United States:
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.
The Best of All Possible Worlds by McPoodle
This fic may not be for everyone, but that doesn't make it any less amazing. On it's own, it is a highly imaginative HiE fic, but if you as the reader happen to be a fan of 18th century European politics, Enlightenment philosophy in general or Voltaire in particular, this story will blow your mind. It goes well beyond the standard "let's take human X and put him in Equestria scenario Y and see what happens." This is a full-on application of 18th century French liberalism to an equivalent point in Equestrian history with Voltaire being just as much of a magnificent pain in the ass in Equestria as he ever was in Europe. Given that royal court drama may not be as riveting as most plots, this story is an acquired taste. Even so, you should read this fic just to witness the talent behind it.
Mass Effect 2 - DLC: The Equestrian Equation by Loyal2Luna
If you think I do a good job combining two very different worlds in my story, then you haven't seen anything yet. The author captures the essence of Mass Effect so perfectly that even though you know you're reading a story, it feels like you're playing through a lost DLC to the game. She even went so far as to provide voting options for Paragon/Renegade/Neutral decisions throughout the fic, changing the outcome as the readers decided. That alone would have been enough to blow me away, but Loyal2Luna even manages to capture the subtle morality lessons/consequences of the decisions the same way BioWare writers do. The way she envisions the crossover itself and the nature of Equestria in the Mass Effect universe is by far the most imaginative and mind-blowing thing I have seen in any fic on this site. If you have ever played the Mass Effect games, you owe it to yourself to read this story.
Also, double bonus points to her for including a suggestion I made in the comments: a Tali - Fluttershy hug. I may have had a sweetness-induced heart attack.
BattleTech in Equestria.
Hardened military grunts interacting with ponies? Check.
D'aww induced heart attacks? Check.
Ponies' minds blown by high-level technology? Check.
Epic alicorn vs. BattleMech fight scenes? Check.
Imaginative original characters (both pony and human) supplementing the cast we know and love? Check.
Good vs. Evil in an epic mech showdown with ponies supporting the good guys? Hell yeah double check.
This fic is as awesome as it is well-written. Definitely worth your time, even if you've never been exposed to the BattleTech universe (I haven't).
It's a tough competition - all these fics are neck-and-neck in my book, but this is quite possibly my personal favorite. A slow burn like The God Particle, this tale is all about atmosphere, build-up, and the slow reveal. Shalrath's human protagonist is clearly the hero (or anti-hero) of another story, but the little hints dropped here and there just make you all the more curious to know his background. The sci-fi human side of the fic has obviously been thought out to a level of detail commensurate with professional science fiction authors, and that alone makes it worth the read. While the author may have exaggerated the characteristics of the pony characters just a tad, it's only a minor complaint, and the interactions between the main character and the Equestrians are the true high points of the story. Shalrath is a talented writer, and I can only hope this fic gets finished.
Arddun Lleuad and Chwe Goleadau by Priderage
....hoh boy.
What do I even say about these fics? It's no accident that they're no longer on FIMFiction and that Pride's DA account has been removed. Actually, that had me a little worried when I saw it. I honestly hope he's OK.
I had to go digging to even find these links, and I intend to save a hard copy before they disappear altogether.
I can say that without Arddun Lleuad there would be no Pericynthion. After reading it, I got in touch with the author and found out a little more about the story behind the story than I ever intended or expected. Seeing firsthand the level of passion and drive Pride put into his story provided the inspiration for me to write mine.
The stories are not perfect. Parts touch on subject matter that may make you feel uncomfortable, and the sequel earns it's Dark/Mature rating in spades, but there is no question that the author was able to put a part of his very soul into this work. That's what makes it special.
Firstly, I'll need to address the elephant in the room: the interspecies romance. I wasn't in the fandom when Arddun first came out, but as far as I can tell, this is what drew the most flak. All I can say is that he is one of a very select few authors I've seen do it right, and the other two are/were professionals (CJ Cherryh and Philip Jose Farmer). Avoiding the squick is a matter of strong and believable character portrayal, and in my opinion, he is the only MLP fanfic writer who has successfully pulled it off. I would not have been able to read the fic otherwise.
Secondly, we have to talk about the mind screw potential. The first story, Arddun Lleaud, is rather tame and can be handled by most anyone. I would only recommend the second, Chwe Goleadau, to those who were able to come out of the End of Evangelion movie with their sanity intact. If you're too young for that reference or don't watch anime, think slightly worse than the most nightmare-fueled aspects of The Dark Tower series. If you don't get either of those two references, then I wouldn't recommend reading these fics. The first will only make you want to read the second, and I fear for your mental health if you do.
All that said, if you are up for it, this fic will stay with you for a long time. Arddun and Chwe are powerful and worth the emotional punches that come with them.
...and on that happy note, that's all I've got for now. I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but I think I've covered the best. If you've got a favorite HiE fic, by all means, leave it in the comments. I'm always looking for more to read.
Im saddened by the lack of Quantum Castaways in this list :(
Edit: Although technically, I guess it really is not a HiE fic. Technically.
If you have the time you should really check out The Transient's Detail by J Winters. It is a very well written HiE that was based on a Dwarf Fortress game (much better than it sounds). If I remember correctly its the first book in a trilogy and the author is currently working on the second one. Just to warn you, the first twenty-five chapters are setup to the rest of the story.
A bunch of good ones on there. Some I have read, other's I may read.
And now my humble suggestions:
Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore by Legionary: The premise is simple. Let's take a black virus who's not truly evil, but is basically a sociopath and only interested in survival and dump him into MLP during the first episode. Its great and underappreciated, the main character is not a Mary Sue. In fact, the mane 6 still do most of the heavy lifting. Despite that, Oskar still causes trouble, is still a villain in many ways, and is very interesting in his attempts to protect his life from even possible threats. It's not quite a redemption fic, or a new villain comes in and stomps everything (he's constantly in fear of the princesses.) All in all a good read, however there are a few errors that mar the story.
Stardust by Arad: A reverse story with Twilight being sent to Earth by Discord...during the middle of an alien invasion. Considering it is an X-COM crossover it works very well. The X-COM universe is smartly expanded, and reacts in a legitimate, if unfortunate way to Twilight. As they begin to learn more about pony society, there is an interesting, and very understandable interpretation of the princesses, cutie marks, and other things spawned by a justifiably paranoid group. A great read with no errors and hilarious reader comments, I highly recommend it, its sequel, and the third book when it comes out.
Sunflower by Hoopy McGee: A story that can be compared to Arrow 18 in that the sole human comes to Equestria on purpose to learn more about the planet. In this case though, the story is an adventure with a ticking clock off doom for the human. Time is running out, and she must complete her studying of the world while remaining undetected. A great read with an awesome climax, this story I cannot recommend enough. Has a recently started sequel, and a compilation of side stories.
If and when you read them, I hope you enjoy them.
Also, I need to figure out how to do links, that would make this comment so much better.
Firstly, I'm very glad you did this, though I'm rather surprised you don't have your top favorites featured on your homepage.
Secondly, I love Arrow 18 and Mass effect 2: Equestrian Equation (as well as the sequel.) In the past I'd written off Falling Stars and The End after reading a bit of them, but your review made me go and give them another chance. I wound up really liking the End, though parts still seem bizarre (Ponies have invented telescopes, but Twilight hasn't figured out that pointing one at the sun is a bad idea? At least when it happened on the show it was an accident caused by sleep deprivation and thinking Pinkie had filtered it.) Falling Stars I still think is fairly weak, but it gets decent enough later on that I'm not sorry I read it. The same is true of Article 2.
Best of all possible worlds, Arddun Lleuad, and God Particle I just got bored with. I'm not saying there is nothing there for anyone, only that I rolled my eyes too much to enjoy them.
Thirdly some of my favorite Human / Pony stories in no particular order, not counting Arrow 18, Mass effect 2: Equestrian Equation, or Pericynthion.
Anthropology by JasonTheHuman. This story is the Star Trek IV of pony fiction in terms of feel. If that sounds awesome to you then read it. A bit slow to get going, it is well worth it once the twist is revealed and anything else I say about it will spoil it. Both HiE and PoE, Well worth a read.
Outside the Reaching Sky by Karazor, sequel to the Human/Pony stranded on an Alien world together The Dread Chitin (which is also worth reading, but not as good as the sequel,) this epic sci-fi exploration is just fantastic, and features the most interesting Rainbow Dash character development I've seen in a story. It is also criminally under-read. Humans don't play a central role, but they do show up. If you have liked any version of Star Trek, you will like this.
Misunderstandings by The Rogue Wolf is the story of a 26 year old competitive shooter / sketch artist / copy clerk stranded in Equestria via cosmic accident. Featuring a full language barrier, ponies wowed by human technology, and a series of Misunderstandings driving much of the conflict as the 'Everfree Yeti' tries to survive a hostile alien world, it is well worth a read. A possible inter species romance is developing, but so far it is more of a close friendship and very believable emotional intimacy.
Hail to the King by Qwapdo is pure comedy gold. King Sombra tries to steal the after life of a human, but the human's soul reconstitutes Sombra's body. Finding himself in the body of a gravely voiced black unicorn with incredible power, in a magical world of horses, he becomes convinced that everything around him is a coma dream representing deeper aspects of his psyche. Hilarity ensues in the Crystal Empire. It is a bit strange that it is written in a first person omniscient style, but the author makes it work.
I will also heartily second aduck's recommendation of Stardust and Project: Sunflower for the same reasons he already gave. Sunflower takes a bit to get into, I didn't like the main character much at first, and the premise requires a lot of suspension of disbelief (so i wouldn't blame you if you decided it wasn't for you,) but it may be one of the best stories on the site taken as a whole. Including some fantastic tension, and one of the best original sympathetic villains I've seen in any fiction (Malachite.) it is well worth reading.
Honorable mentions go to The Dresden Fillies: Strange Friends and its sequel, as well as Quantum Castaways. While I have some minor niggles with both, and it is possible my love for the Dresden Fillies is biased by The Dresden Files being my favorite book series, both are still pretty great, and I'd be doing a disservice not to mention them. I'll warn you that the Dresden Fillies starts off rather weak, but gets very very good by the end, with a great sequel. Quantum Castaways is sort of like the TV show Lost if it didn't suck, with a great chemistry that develops between the two main characters. I will say decisively that it is much better than Article 2 in my opinion.
So, if you wind up reading any of these stories, drop a reply here letting me know what you think, especially if you disagree with me! Hope this gives you some entertainment, as you have certainly given me quite a bit.