You Might Like This Recs: Feb 2015 · 4:24pm Mar 2nd, 2015
Table For Two by Kitsune Risu
As this and the next recommended fic will show, I have recently rediscovered why Kitsune Risu is one of my favourite authors (although dear god do not read Brand New Flavour under any circumstances). The basic premise of this is not an entirely unheard of one, but it takes that premise and pulls it off magnificently well. If you enjoy mysterious entities that may-or-may-not be eldritch gods, and especially if you enjoy deep explorations of characters through conversations over coffee, check this out.
Dust And Harmony by Kitsune Risu
It may be by the same author as Table For Two, but this story is a different beast altogether. It's incomplete, with only one chapter, but I felt obliged to recommend it anyway because that one chapter took my breath away. It has been on my RiL list for while, and I'd put off reading it because I'm not usually a huge fan of Westerns, but this was spectacular. This is picture perfect adventure, and the characters as you have never (and I mean never) seen them before - and yet somehow, they're still recognisable.
My Little Prompt Collabs: Shipping is Magic by palaikai
Why yes. I am recommending a prompt collection. Why do you ask? :P
Anyway, this will obviously not be for you if you don't want to read a series of prompted one-shots, but palaikai is excellent at this short pieces. Haven't really got much else to say about this - it varies wildly from chapter to chapter, so I can't really give you an idea of what you're in for other than that there will be shipping. Go give it a shot.
Made Of Glass by Cyneryk
This is another incomplete story, but I truly cannot recommend it enough. It's by a fairly well known author, which just makes it low view count all the more criminal. It was originally intended for the MMDG contest before it grew too long I believe, so don't be turned off by the premise of "Lyra meets a bunch of humans". The characterisation in this is fantastic, but the thing that really shines is the prose itself. It flows, and was such a joy to read that I found myself surprised that I'd finished each chapter - no mean feat considering the shortest chapter is 7000 words. This is seriously worth your time, and I urge everyone reading this to stop and go read Made Of Glass instead.
Talking Pony Syndrome by shortskirtsandexplosions
Even if you're not a skirts fan, this story is worth your time. It is a carefully written piece, done from a very particular perspective, and the result is fascinating. Easily the best exploration of Derpy's eyes and their potential cause that I've read.
Ice Paved Trees by Regidar
Out of all the people in this fandom, I think I've seen Regidar grow the most. He's gone from being, in his own words, "the eternal shitposter", to writing things like this. Ice Paved Trees doesn't go anywhere, it doesn't stand for anything or even tell a story really. It's just an account, a vignette, of Applejack going out to see the first snow. But it's so beautifully written, that I honestly felt like I was there with her, staring out at untouched white. At a short 2000 words, this is definitely worth your time.
Elpis by Bad Horse
Bad Horse is one of those authors who only hasn't turned up in this list due to the fact that I've already read all of his stuff - mainly because it's so damn good. For some reason, I avoided this one for a while - which is a shame, because it's one of his best. This is as much philosophy and creation myth as it is a fanfic, and it's an experience to read - an experience I would heartily recommend.
Love Letters For A Girl I Hate by GAPJaxie
If you like Skyrim, go read this. End of story.
Six Best Friends Play Diplomacy by DagaYemar
If you have ever played and enjoyed/suffered the board game Diplomacy, then definitely go read this. Even if you haven't, it's a great character study, and anyone who has ever seen tempers flare up over games will be able to sympathise.
Of The Earth by Gojira007
I was honestly quite surprised that I enjoyed this story - it's concept isn't one that typically inspires hope of a good story. But by the time I knew what the concept was, I had already been sucked into the narrative. This is a charming little oneshot, and really gets inside Applejacks head.
Apple of my 'Shy by Gojira007
And Gojira proves here that not only can they write Applejack incredibly well, they can write Fluttershy incredibly well too! Seriously, this is a fantastic character study. Go read it. Go read it now.
How Far Away You Roam by Ponydora Prancypants
It says a lot about this story that despite it being a gloriously sunny day in western Anatolia, I could practically feel the cold, grim weather that pervades this story throughout reading it. However although the background is wonderfully wrought, what truly shines is Rarity's internal and family drama. How Far Away You Roam is the sequel to two excellent stories, The Fires Of Friendship and The Fruits Of Their Labours, both of which I recommend you read if you haven't already. Roam stands on it's own however, and the realism and strength of the narrative immersed me completely. Highly recommended.
Fleximare and the Deranged Doctor by Green Akers
The latest story by possibly the most underrated author in the entire fandom, this story is wonderfully silly from start to finish. If you like seeing the piss taken out of the superspy/superhero genre, go read this.
Discord's Ant Farm by Fiddlebottoms
I'm not going to write anything about this story. There is no need to praise the author, no matter how much he may deserve it - he is long gone. What I will say is this - you will be lesser for missing this. It is a hauntingly brilliant piece of prose, and better than 90% of the stuff you can buy in a bookstore these days. Go read it.
Bonds Of Glory: A Hearth's Warming Story by Taialin
I know it's a bit late for these, but this is one of the more interesting Hearth's Warming stories that I've read on the site, primarily because of it's premise. Basically, the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs hits Ponyworld/Equis/Earth/whatever you prefer to call the pony planet, and the story follows Princess Twilight as she struggles to deal with the fallout on both a personal and professional level. It's well written, and the story is a poignant one. If you're still in a festive mood, go read this, or otherwise save it for next Hearth's Warming season!
The Selfish Thoughts Of Those Who Watch You by palaikai
This little oneshot has a really well structured perspective, from Fluttershy's POV. It's essentially her thought process when visiting Rainbow Dash in the hospital, and I love the way it's been done. The dual monologue style, with Fluttershy's inner voice of reason gently buffering against her angry internal tirade makes for an engrossing read. It's short and sweet - go read it.
Applejack and Skeleton Bloom's Wild Ride by Protopony350
You know what? I'm just going to put the description here:
A great evil has arrived on the Apple farm, and also it has DESTROYED THE APPLES!
Applejack and her sister Skeleton Bloom are about to embark on an adventure that will test the apple powers inside of them! Also Apple Bloom was on fire a lot and also was reduced to bones.
And also if you keep reading you'll get to see a fight on a train and also a battle of wits or something.
For those of you who don't know, Protopony is the author of the magnificent Swooty Bell series, and if you have ever laughed at a story with bad grammar or no grasp of common story-telling conventions, then this story is the one for you. Present Perfect calls these trollfics - I personally prefer badfics. Whatever you call them, they're funny as all hell, and this is no exception - Protopony is a master of these kind of fics, and this looks to be a corker.
Rainbow Reflections by Bookish DelightOne of the best shipping authors in the fandom has just delivered a potential magnum opus. I don't want to spoil any of this, so I'll just say that it is absolutely perfectly done shipping, with spectacularly good characterisation.
It would appear that Timaeus has already spotlighted this story. Regardless, my recommendation stands - go read this if you haven't already.
Luna, Princess of Space by Chuckfinley
If you are a reader of science-fiction, particularly if you are a reader of Golden Age sci-fi, you need to go and read this right now. That's not even a recommendation - it's just a statement of fact. Go read it.
Benediction by Eustatian Wings
This is a bizarre little oneshot, but there is a magical quality to the prose. It may not be for everyone, but it is a fantastically done story, and at the length it is, you should definitely see if this is your kind of thing. I know it's mine.
The Line by Axan Zenith
There are precious few good griffin fics on the site, but Axan here has just added to their number by one. I should note that this is a Mature Story, but not because of any sexual content - rather, this is a chilling and slightly gorey oneshot, following the perspective of a worker in a mysterious factory. What particularly caught my attention about this was the prose itself - there is a mesmerising quality to it, that had me hooked on every word - and every word was made to count. Axan really knocked it out of the park with this one.
Secrets and Lies by Masterweaver
I'm sure you've all seen Lyra as a human conspiracy theorist before, but it's usually played for laughs. Masterweaver takes the concept and runs with it, creating a rather unsettling vision of humanity's possible place in the FiM universe. It's also interesting to see just how crazy Lyra sounds - it's unclear whether or not she is crazy, as the story deliberately keeps it ambiguous. At under 2000 words, this is worth a read.
Are You Sure? by Archmage Ludicrous
Although on the surface, this story seems a little simple, it has a surprising depth to the prose that makes it definitely worth a read. The main concept behind the story is the idea of a great "secret" - things-man-was-meant-to-know-not sort of thing. This revelatory concept gets discovered by someone, who passes it on to Twilight Sparkle. This is where it gets interesting. The entire fic is told as a recounting of a story in the future, and the world-building done through little asides and the eventual unfolding of the narrative of the storyteller and listener is fantastically well done.
True Love Never Lies by Admiral Biscuit
Pretty much a perfect Random story.
The Great and Showerful Trixie by Pascoite
A rather short piece, with quiet, contemplative prose and an interesting take on an idea often played for laughs. Go check it out.
I Don't Want To Write This by Aragon
Aragon is best known for his comedies, but apparently he knows how to write serious stuff pretty damn well. This is a sad piece, but not in the sense of "MUH FEELS". Although you may indeed feel the "FEELS" as you are reading this, even if it doesn't have an emotional impact the situation that couches it is an undeniably sad one, and one that everyone has either had to deal with or will at some point. It also has an extremely well written Rainbow Dash, in a situation where it's quite hard to get her right. Go read this.
Sparkle Day by Potential Albatross
This guy showed up as a strong newcomer with Two Pair, and had quite succintly blown that (excellent) fic out of the water with the first chapter of it's sequel, Sparkle Day. Just, go read this. I'd recommend reading the prequel first, but even if you don't, read this. It's so damn good, and only one chapter in. EDIT: I know we're not supposed to recommend stories we already read, but fuck it. Go read the prequel too. I re-read it, that counts right?
The Enchanted Library - Secrets in Books by Monochromatic
So while this is on the surface simply a Rarity/Twilight shipping story, it is in fact much more than that. Say hello to some of the best AU world-building I've seen, and only in a single chapter - and I know for a fact that this story is going to be quite a bit longer. Go read it, it's fantastic.
Too Much Love Will Kill You by A Hoof-ful of Dust
I'm not going to spoil this story at all. It's not something you're meant to read with any prior knowledge of what's inside - the whole thing is more of an experience than a normal piece of prose. Yet another example of just how underrated Hoof-ful is. Go read this - it is seriously worth your time.
The White Horse by Carabas
An amazing piece of remarkably self-contained world-building. If you have even a passing interest in what might have happened to Equestria after Luna was banished, go read this. Each of it's characters is amazingly crafted (and for the most part, pretty detestable), and I particularly love how many meanings the title can have, once you finish reading it and think about it. Death of the 4 horsemen rides on a Pale horse, as does Conquest, and of course Celestia herself is a rather fetching shade of the colour.
Teros by Scampy
If you're in the mood for adventure, and like exploration into the wild territory of the unknown (coughaustreaohfanscough), this is definitely worth a read - it also features a fantastically good Cadance to boot. Although the story hasn't been updated in a long time, the author doesn't appear to be dead, so I have some hope this may get going again at some point.
Daring Do(esn't Need A Special Somepony) by Fahrenheit
I'm going to go ahead and give this guy "new author of the month" because goddamn is this good. An absolutely fantastic portrayal of canon Daring Do (which is a rather odd thing to say, but still), glorious prose and a funny story to boot. And I do mean glorious prose - this guy(? gal?) has a hell of a way with words. I was hooked on every sentence.
Wizards, Fools, and Foals by FanOfMostEverything
You may recognise him more for his comments everywhere, but FanOfMostEverything is a bloody good writer too. His most recent effort is a very interesting piece - it's short and tight enough that giving anything away might spoil it, so I'll just say that if you like Starswirl the Bearded, you should definitely read this.
A Route Obscure And Lonely by JapaneseTeeth
This one's just starting out, but everything so far points towards a top-quality adventure story. The premise is an interesting one that sets the focus squarely on Spike, and leaves potential for a lot of character development. Spike is also written incredibly well - it was very easy to recognise the purple dragon we all know and love. His interactions with Luna are amazingly snarky too. One to watch.
The Secret of Manehatten Mall & The Steeden University of Culinary Arts by Dee Pad
This author is more well known for his changeling story, but it really is a crying shame that these two stories are so overlooked. The first story, The Secret of Manehatten Mall, is a charming little comedy/adventure that feels a lot like an episode of the show. It has great interaction between Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, strong and believable OC's and even a little character development thrown in. It's sequel, The Steeden University of Culinary Arts, has one of the best written Pinkie Pie's I've seen, and is a pretty much perfect slice of life story to boot. There are some editing issues to be sure, but the story makes up for them in my opinion. Both of these are definitely worth your time.
Of Dragons And Songs And Solace by 8686
This is a prequel to the fantastic Eclipse, which I also recommend you read, but knowledge of one is not required for the other. It tells the story of the relationship throughout the centuries of Princess Celestia of Equestria and King Ragnarok of the Dragons. While the worldbuilding aspects of this are interesting, and the prose is just as fantastic as always (8686 is a brilliant writer), the true star of the show is Ragnarok himself. Ragnarok is easily one of the best OCs I have read in any piece of fanfiction, and certainly the best dragon OC. If you have any interest in exploring some of Equestria's potential history or in brilliant original characters, go read this.
Pranks For Nothing by Baal Bunny
I'm going to admit something - when I first watched the show, I found Fluttershy far more annoying than anything else. She seemed to just be the epitome of all those stereotypes about quiet and shy people - very little depth to her. I've grown to appreciate her a great deal more as time has gone by and she has slowly grown into her own. However, Baal Bunny (AKA Augie Dog) has managed here to do something I didn't think was possible - make a S1 Fluttershy I enjoyed reading about. Rather than simply play her off as "the shy, nervous one", her social anxiety is instead approached much more seriously. Equally importantly for me, it's clearly shown that she is improving - not quickly, but still improving day by day. For a well written Fluttershy that doesn't feel like a stereotype, go check out this story.
Mature Stories: For those of you who wish to explore some more, ah, adult fiction.
Pink Is Too Sweet by Marshal Twilight
Marshal Twilight has always been a bit of a hit or miss clop author for me, although he is an undoubtedly good writer. Some of his stories are extremely good, but others don't quite do it for me. This though, this is fantastic. The clop is good, but what sells if for me is that there is an actual story leading up to said clop - one well thought out enough, but also silly enough to be both believable and funny.
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere by Guy_Incognito
I was not expecting this. This story is, I suppose, technically a clopfic, but it's a hell of a lot more than that too. To quote myself:
This was, at different times, hot, disturbing, depressing and everything in between but most of all, completely engrossing.
I don't quite know how to describe this story in a way that will really convey it. All I will say is that it feels less like fanfiction and more like literature.
Eros: A Collection of Experimental Short Stories by darf
Do you like clop? Do you like good writing? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, you really owe it to yourself to go read this. darf is one of those authors that the fandom is lesser for losing - although I suspect this is not a universal opinion, judging by the comments on some of his stories. Nevertheless, I firmly believe he was one of the best authors in this fandom, and certainly the best writing mature fiction. This short story collection is a perfect example of why.
Spotlight Review is here.
Ooh, I see Writeoff fics in that list :D
Was a little hard to split the links from the wall of text, perhaps a space between each entry would be easier to see?
IF ANY OF YOU VALUE YOUR HUMOR, GO TO PROTO NAO!
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Writeoff fics do tend to be pretty good.
And I see what you mean about the wall of text thing - I'll correct that from here on out.
Also, anyone who is reading? This guy has the right idea about Protopony.
Fuck. My RIL bookshelf wants to stab you in the back and twist the knife.
I hope Turkey is treating you well.
And yeah, protopony is swell.
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Which is awesome by the way - everyone is absurdly friendly, the countryside is spectacular, the food is delicious and the language is cool.
Ever since I pushed it past the 2000 mark, my RIL bookshelf has been taking out hits on me. Why do you think I fled to Turkey?
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Be sure to ask them about the Armenian Genocide.
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Yeah, there are two things you don't discuss in Turkey. The Armenian Genocide, and the possibility of Ataturk not being perfect. And even shouting at the top of your lungs that Ataturk was a raving loony is a better idea than discussing the Armenian genocide unless you definitely know the people you're talking to are okay with talking about it.
2846060 Well that's fucking bullshit. And they claim to be a modernized nation. (Not that the American South is much better.
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Every nation has it's flaws. You find this bullshit wherever you go - though Turkey's is perhaps one of the more extreme examples. And like I said, it's only if you don't know - these days a lot more turks are willing to discuss it (which considering the sheer level of censorship previous governments and the current one put into it is nothing short of extraordinary).