Fic recs August 27th · 11:50am Aug 27th, 2013

Should've posted this yesterday and just sort of forgot! :B So you get it first thing in the morning.

H: 0 R: 3 C: 0 V: 2 N: 0

Two Beats by NickNack
Genre: Someone’s Shitty Life
Poetically, there are two ways to look at this story. It’s a wonderfully written dark look into the life of a kid out on his own, hating half his life and living for the other. It’s also got nothing to do with ponies. Sure, they’re the characters and whatnot, but this could easily be scrubbed of all pony references and turned into a piece of original fiction. (It would still be excellent.) The theme of duality is explored wonderfully and the ending, while a tad fast, built to something that did not disappoint, despite me seeing it coming. Plus there’s an absolutely jaw-dropping twist near the end. So there you go. Me, I look at fanfiction for good stories and good writing; so long as lip service is given to the characters being ponies or griffons or living in Equestria, that’s enough for me.
Recommended

The Diary of an Evil Pony by The Brian J
Reading by Scribbler
Genre: Diary
Fancy Pants is one of my absolute favorite characters from this show: a rich guy who’s respected and esteemed and not the least bit a douchebag. And of course, everywhere he goes in fanfiction, so too goes Fleur de Lis. Personally, I’ve never been big on the marriage explanation for their relationship, though I certainly won’t turn up my nose at a story taking that view, and I’ve read a few that did and were quite good. But it’s just such an easy conclusion to reach; it’s the very first thing anyone’s going to think about them, and I’d much rather see something more original. Cue this story: Fleur is a drifting con artist who seduces rich ponies before robbing them, and Fancy Pants is a lonely bachelor with a dark past. That’s original. Brian J explores this backstory very well through Fleur’s eyes, and though the plot is somewhat predictable, the story is otherwise solid. There’s a lot of good emotion and inclusion of show elements. I can’t gush too much about it, but it is definitely “good”. (For the record, my personal explanation for Fleur and Fancy is that he’s far more important than we realize and Fleur is secretly his bodyguard.)
Recommended

The Best by Squeak-Anon
Genre: Slice of Life
This is a really basic story. Little Soarin’ has trouble flying, Spitfire gives him some pointers. There’s really nothing more to it, no deep insights or amazing writing. If that’s good enough for you, go ahead, but otherwise, you can pass this over and miss nothing.
Vaguely Recommended

A Measure of Eternity by Filler
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Flashfic
This is also really basic, but I liked it more. Again, there’s no great insight here, but the writing is good enough to make the ride enjoyable. Not to mention it’s not even 500 words long, so you could do worse than spend a minute reading about Apple Bloom dealing with the interminability of school.
Vaguely Recommended

An Imaginative Performance by Bob from Bottles
Genre: Play Performance
Bob from Bottles is another name that should be on everyone’s lists of great writers, yet I can’t help but feel this isn’t his best work. Granted, that means it’s still a good story, just not much more than good. It is, however, going to give me a lot to talk about, which is hardly a bad thing. Let’s start with the play itself. It’s definitely more interesting than the framing story of the CMCs being harangued by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, i.e., normal everyday life. I could see where it was going in general, but given that it’s meant to be put on by kids, it’s definitely age-appropriate. That said, my one real criticism of this story would be the voices of the CMCs in particular: they sound a good bit older than this story would suggest they are, it being placed a year after Show Stoppers. (At least, that’s what I assume they mean by “last year’s talent show”. It could always just be another talent show they refer to.) Well, that and the use of stage directions in telling who’s singing what, though by the end I was used to that, and I tried not to focus too much on the songs anyway. I’d say something about how Apple Bloom’s imagining being the character of the play is somewhat contrived, but I realized halfway through that it’s really no different than what we saw during Hearth’s Warming Eve, watching the mane cast become the characters in the play, interspliced with a bit of narration between scenes, and that’s rather clever. Not to mention the way Apple Bloom resolves the mishaps during the play with her running pretend-time provides all the comedy in this story, and is generally highly amusing. Good but not amazing, this is nevertheless a very solid story and one I’d suggest for people who like lighter fare.
Recommended

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