Fic recs, January 3rd, 2018! · 9:47pm Jan 3rd, 2018
This is likely the fifteenth time you've heard about this, but please take a moment to read this blog by horizon. It is about super-bad, super-important things.
Kind of a somber way to start the new year, but to that end, I won't update you on audiobooks, only mention that there's another issue of Flash Fiction Online. This time, we've got a somewhat disturbing piece about a girl, a dragon and fire, a digital deal with the devil, and waking up a little later than you anticipated.
Got another amazing crop of stories, though. Next will probably be an edition, for all that I have more audiobooks I could go through...
H: 3 R: 1 C: 2 V: 0 N: 0
Grogar: A Hearth's Warming Horror Story by Jade Ring
Reading (part 1) by Scribbler, et. al.
Reading (part 1) by Sparrow9642
Genre: Horror/Shipping
It's said that fillies and colts who forget the spirit of Harmony on Hearth's Warming Eve will be visited by the dread Grogar and spirited away. But Grogar's no more real than Santa Hooves, is he?
Carousel has kind of become my go-to piece for comparing everything to right now, especially horror, so when I can read a horror fic and go, "Yeah, that's still really good," something has gone terribly right. On top of being a great entry into the litany of Christmas horror — Grogar is basically the pony version of the Krampus — this is also some top-tier G1 repurposing. I mean, you don't have to even know the name Grogar for him to be frightening, but if you've seen Return to Tambelon, you will no doubt appreciate the imagery used here to make him even more sinister. That said, if there's one angle to this story that doesn't work, it's the shipping. There's basically a ButtonBelle fic dropped into the middle of this bone-chilling holiday horror piece, and even if I were more into it, I'd have to admit that it doesn't add anything. Button gets the best line, sure (okay, maybe second next to Marble Pie, another odd inclusion who doesn't add much), and we get Sweetie Belle being heroic, but it just feels like a completely separate story. Still, it doesn't ruin the overall effort, even if it brings my sum opinion down just a bit. Be warned: there are no happy endings here.
Recommended
The Witch's Spell by Duelist96
Reading by Winged T. Spears
Mature: Sex
Genre: Clopfic
Rarity and Rainbow Dash get together for some adult fun on Nightmare Night.
I would call this the baseline example of what I expect from a decent clopfic. There's nothing here but the sex, yet there's still some explainy setup at the start. There's nothing weird going on, just a futa spell, lots of liquids, some oddly specific detail about piercings, and horse anatomy. The writing is adequate, minus some close repetition. In short, it's the kind of story you can get off to (if you're into that kind of thing) and then completely forget about, and there's nothing wrong with that. (Gee, only took me seven years to finally accept why people read sex fics. :V)
Recommended If You Like Horse Sex
The Calming Christmas Flame by BlackWater
Reading by Into the Breach
Soft, mumbly, lacking in confidence: basically everything you don't want in a fic reader. He's tried to compensate somewhat by upping the volume of his voice, but that will only take you so far. I'd be willing to give him a second chance later, but only after some improvement. I had to get Fimfic to read the rest of this for me.
Genre: EQG Shipping Fluff
Sunset Shimmer spends Christmas with the Sparkle family.
I'd complain about this being too fluffy, but it's very up-front about what it is, so caveat emptor. That said, I do have some issues with it. It's the kind of shipfic that seems amazed and enthralled by the fact that its characters can be together, revelling in being able to apply words like "girlfriend" to them and doing so at every opportunity. The writing is often focused on minutiae, like who's wearing what, while simultaneously being completely unfocused. A line that mentioned Twilight was smart, for instance, was immediately followed by a non-sequitur concerning her tidiness, which suggests not enough thought was put into the writing. It's filled with referents, from the uninspired (Sunset is often "the redhead") to the bizarre (Sunset is, at one point, "the former demon"). Still, that's not to say this is without merit. Sunset and Twilight's banter is pretty good, Twilight in particular failing at flirting in a spectacularly hilarious way, and I was kind of caught up in the slice of life portrait of the Sparkle family at home on Christmas. That being said, this is yet another EQG fic that stolidly refuses to explore any kind of world-building. Christmas can be celebrated secularly in our world, but its existence implies the existence of Christianity. So what does that have to do with mirror-pony-world? No one but me cares, it seems. :| Anyway, only if you're into the ship.
Recommended for SciSet Fans Only
The City Upon a Hill by GaPJaxie
Prequel to Familiar
Paid Review for GaPJaxie
Genre: Dark Sci-Fi
Rainbow Dash is a very troubled pony. But it's okay; everyone just wants to help her get better.
This story can indeed be read before Familiar, but I would say that one has a keener eye toward setting up the world. This fills in the rest of the things you didn't know about, specifically that a pony's life is more or less dictated to them until they turn sixteen. And Rainbow Dash is not a pony who can thrive in that situation. With that being said, you may find yourself wondering why she's called "Rainbow Dash" at all. It wasn't until the penultimate chapter that I realized why this character with this name was introverted, unhinged, almost shy and absolutely not interested in flying. But that's all you need to justify a major change to a character, really. Meanwhile, this has quite a lot to say about mental illness and the road to recovery, which may or may not sit well with any given reader; that kind of thing likely depends on your personal experience. Familiar might honestly be a better story, but this is no less of an experience, and it's on that that I make my recommendation. Plus, if there's any reason to read this, it's to see Rainbow give Zephyr Breeze what's coming to him. :D
Highly Recommended
The Choices We Make by Monochromatic
Reading (part 1) by Super Trampoline
Genre: EQG
Every Friday, Pinkie Pie does super-important volunteer work.
I'm not sure how much I want to say about this piece. It covers a topic I'm familiar with seeing written about in fanfic, and does so in a very sympathetic manner, through layers of detachment that nevertheless do not erode said sympathy. It's not just a single emotional gut-punch, either. I'd call this a very important story, and it's so short, it shouldn't take much time out of your day to read. Make sure you do.
Highly Recommended
Spa and Order by SkyWriter
Read by Fimfiction
Sequel to The First Time You See Her
Genre: Cadance of Cloudsdale
Cadance has finally arrived at her post. Too bad there's no longer a vacancy for her to fill.
So I was going through my bookshelves the other day, adding dead stories to the backburner and looking for complete fics in places they shouldn't be. Surprise, this one was finished months ago! And I could swear I'd already read it; I have to imagine I started following it as it was being posted, then somehow missed the last chapter. So, number one, Cadance finally has made it to Cloudsdale, and that's just the start of her problems. Number two, you'll never read a story with more bathing-centric world-building in it. Ever. Number three, there's a great cameo. Number four, we learn something rather shocking about series darling Auric, the griffin. Oh yeah, and Cadance eating everything. :V This is maybe not the most exciting entry in the CoC canon, but it is eminently worth the read regardless.
Highly Recommended
I have a question about Spa and Order, and this is probably as good a place to ask as any. I loved the other CoC stories, and I've tried this one a couple of times but I've never never gotten past the first chapter. From where I'm sitting the first chapter is all about Cadance struggling with an eating disorder, and I found it just viscerally unpleasant to read and I noped the hell out. Does it change later on, or is that how it is the whole way through?
Huh. I honestly didn't realize Spa and Order was complete until now. Whoops.
And yeah, just plopping Christmas into the human world without considering the implications rankles me to no end. I use Yuletide in my stories; same principle but without nearly as much implied cultural baggage.
4766457
Weird... I was following Spa and Order as well and didn't know it had been completed. I'm usually really good about tracking stories and downloading them when they're finished. Maybe it was a derp in FiMFic's noticifation system?
More than Social Bathing?
I want to echo the highly recommended on “The Choices We Make”. And Spa and Order.
4766414
Spa and Order is about a hell of a lot of different things. I highly recommend sticking with it, although Cadance’s eating issues will remain touched upon from time to time.
4766414
It's not an eating disorder, she literally needs to eat far more than a normal pony due to being an alicorn.
The rest is about bathing, mommy issues, her place in Cloudsdale and secrets held by a certain immortal griffin. It is, in some ways, very disjointed, just a collection of random things, but I'm sure it will all be important later. Plus that cameo is totally worth the price of admission.
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Glad I'm not the only one!
4766414
As others have said, it's not an eating disorder. As an alicorn, she actually has to eat more than a normal pony to survive. Celestia doesn't want this fact to be known, so she (and by extension Cadence) pretend to eat a normal ration and then wolf down some bread once nopony is looking. Cadence's insistence on keeping up the illusion is what gives her trouble.
4766496>>4766513
I know what the story said, guys, I did read the first chapter. I did qualify my statement with "from where I'm sitting". But it definitely resembles an eating disorder - Cadance starves herself and scrounges in secret because she's terrified of what ponies will think of her if they see her eat as much as she actually needs.
Couldn't agree more for "Choices." The more people who read that, the better. Everyone should get a glimpse of this concept and this life.
I've also poked at authors about things like Christmas. I have zero problem with there being religion in Equestria or EqG, but when you just drop it in as a matter-of-fact thing without considering what implications it has for the world, it just sticks out. Just a casual reference to church or an expression using "god," and I'll ask the author whether he's prepared to do the world-building to back it up. I'm trying to remember the last one I saw. It was Rainbow Dash making a off-the-cuff statement about church or something, but she was the only one, so either it's a commonplace thing for everyone or just her, either of which could have interesting implications, but it got dropped just as quickly.
Sweet
about to do a reading of choices 
now I have an extra push ^^
Isn't she only like half a redhead to begin with?
4766570
You can't just treat EQG like it's exactly our world. If you want characters to have hands and cars and cell phones, fine, but it doesn't extend to everything, and I don't think enough authors realize that.
4766662
I know, right?
As 'Grogar' is as much a tribute to the fantasy-horror films of the 1980s as it is to the darker side of the holidays themselves, the inclusion of the ButtonBelle stuff seemed like necessity. I always enjoyed when two of the potential victims found the seeds of romance in the midst of a night of unyielding terror.
It also plays into the story's subtext, that of being forced to grow up. Sweetie Belle is forced to reveal her crush thanks to Silver Spoon, and her kiss in Chapter 3 is her beginning to let go of her childhood by fully embracing a proper romance. Same with Button, as he's still completely clueless about girls but full reciprocates Sweetie Belle's feelings.
Plus it leads to the Sweetie Belle death fake-out and ensuing big hero moment which I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
It's funny you should mention the randomness of Marble's inclusion. She was actually a late addition. The plan was always for Mac and one of his many shipping partners to take the role of the "sneak away and get attacked by the monster" characters. I ended up going with Marble just so I could use the "I like getting coal for Hearth's Warming" joke.
4766700
Y'know, I caught that commenter who was like, don't hook up, Sweetie, that means you'll get killed! But I didn't even realize it was Marble and Mac who got punished that way.
Marble was worth including for that line, regardless. :D
The biggest unanswered question regarding EqG is how the hell Celestia and Luna have human versions who don't appear to be thousands of years old. Did they attend the camp a millennium or so ago, and that's why they built a sundial?
Baffling.
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I have a fic idea based around that very question. >.>
Oh man... Spa and Order was a freakin' breath of fresh air! I have been having very bad luck with my ponyfic reading choices lately, and it's awesome to come across a story that isn't just 21st century teenage boys in horse masks in a modern Earth setting with some colorful Hasbro wallpaper hung up in the background.
I also glanced back over Skywriter's stories and realized that I've marked darn near every one of them as Favorite or Top Favorite. I need to re-read the whole Cadence of Cloudsdale corpus again!
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This is one of the many reasons I gave up on EQG a long time ago. It's lazy craftsmanship at best.