Most Dangerous Game Stories #06

So the voting part of Most Dangerous Game went up. The top five are wildly different from my top five, so that’s disappointing. Guess the judges aren’t as big fans of alicorn mythology and worldbuilding like I am. Still, the top five they picked are all pretty good stories.

On an unrelated note, oh Celestia is it so much easier to keep track of everyone’s review links using a proper spreadsheet. Efficiency and ease be praised! I can actually keep track of all the reviews the other reviewers are doing. Just need to decide if I want to keep the old list, since it’s a bit easier to read. Not that the giant list of stories/reviews was really useful for just skimming through it.

The King in the Mountain, by Carabas

Liked this one quite a bit. Had a dash of mythic in it and an interesting idea of where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came from, as well as the nature of alicorns in general.

The Magnificance of Pinkamena Diane Pie by The_Weatherbug

This is possibly the most non-pony MLP fan fiction I’ve ever read. Pinkie Pie as a bloodthirsty fanatical revolutionary leader who whips up a crowd’s bloodlust and kills a Pegasus pony to the cheers of that crowd. That’s the entire story. Oh, and Applejack supports her because Flim and Flam took her farm after Granny Smith died, and then social services took away Applebloom. This story is honestly baffling to me. Did not like it just for the thematic failure on every level. The actual writing quality is decent, I guess.

I Ain’t Your Sacrifice by Dragor

This was dark, but not without cause. A look at what might have brought Sombra back with the Crystal Empire. I’m not entirely sure this should have been in the contest. Which led me to the story page. Apparently the main character is an alicorn. Which you literally could not figure out by reading it. No mention of wings, or alicorns, so the story basically treats him as a unicorn. This wasn’t very good.

Remember Vigil by Supersnot

More mythic stuff. Another really good one. I seem to have found a few good ones. Which makes me check the last few reviews I wrote down, which reminds me that I didn’t like the last couple I read. Oh well. This one is one I’d highly recommend. A theme of hidden alicorns seems to be popping up a lot in the contest. Alicorns that are tucked away in the hidden parts of the world away from mortal eyes. Which is cool.

Awakening by Razalon the Lizardman

One of the more creative human in Equestria stories. A bit dark/sad, but not gratuitously so. Though the use of the phrase ‘meat puppet’ is always a bit creepy. Still, worth a read.

Tainted Reflection by Imperaxum

Interesting story. Certainly worth a read. Touches on what exactly makes a pony a person, what self-determination means and all that fun high-concept stuff. A few pacing troubles, but the start is good and the second half rolls along effectively. It also has a really good exploration of what exactly the element of laughter is right near the end. Hey, and while posting this I found out that it wasn’t finished when I read it. So hopefully the last two chapters won’t completely ruin all these good feelings I have for the story.