Fanfiction Spotlight #50! WHOA! · 3:11am Mar 11th, 2017
Oh my goodness! We have done 50 Fanfiction spotlights! That deserves a PARTY! 
With the EFNW writing contest judging under way, let's get back to our regularly scheduled stories. Ducks as Twilight throws calendars at me
This week we have a story about Zephyr Breeze trying to be a recruit in the Equestrian Military, and another story about the shenanigans of living in Discorded Equestria. Hopefully soon we'll be able to update everypony with a list of contestant stories!
Have a lovely weekend everypony!
---- Review by Silver Flare ----
The Brothers Don’t
by Ponky
Words: 16,802 Complete: No
Recommended by Silver Flare
Speaking of odd couples! Oh man, if the above image doesn’t plaster a huge grin on your face, then I don’t know how to help you. Let me see if I can paint this Ponky picture…
The Brothers Don’t is set in a war-torn Equestria where the Element Bearers are missing, gone on a journey to try and stop an invasion from the uncharted wastes of the frozen north. The military elite, those with close ties to the Bearers, at least, form up under the banner of Team Harmony to find them, and see what assistance they can offer. Zecora, Spitfire, Big Macintosh, and Flash Sentry (snerk), all led by Shining Armor, form the initial all-star team here.
The story begins in the middle of kaizo action-y stuff. You’ve got winterwolves and deadly cold and an injured Big Mac, and it’s all designed to feel deliberately over-the-top. What quickly happens through these bite-sized chapters is a total tonal shift. We’re brought back to the Crystal Empire, not through a temporal jump but through deus-ex-magica, giving us a glimpse of the underlying mysteries of this story. From there, Shining Armor discovers Fluttershy’s deadbeat brother amongst Equestria’s newest recruits. From here, we get the most fantastic buddy-movie ever made. I’ve never seen Zephyr Breeze written as well as he is here, and a frazzled Shining Armor is the perfect foil to his character.
The premise is dark, tense, and interesting. The tone is light and zany and hilarious. Somehow, this mix works out really well, and I can’t wait to see how it ends.
---- Review by Grand_Moff_Pony ----
Numberography
by ph00tbag
Words: 6,896 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Grand_Moff_Pony
Ponykind may have once had great difficulty counting, but even former wrestler (and famously math-challenged) Scott Steiner can't argue with the math behind this whimsical tale.
This story is many things - a bedtime story for two rambunctious fillies, a history lesson wrapped in a fairy tale, a rather candid look into the life and times of a 'Discorded' Equestria, and more. Yet, like a properly done equation, it always finds balance, and ph00tbag does an amazing job bringing in bits and pieces at exactly the right time, reducing and expanding the equation of this story at just the right moments.
Even the smallest details yield a wealth of insight for the reader, from the origin of Clover's famous nickname and ancient Equestria's standing with other races, to life under Discord and the motivations of a young and mathematically frustrated Starswirl, who is determined to find a way to count past eight. Oh, and that's before we get the adorably perfect tiffs between two future princesses.
There's a lot of moving parts, but they build upon and play off of each other in perfect harmony to create a tale that feeds Equestrian lore as much as it does the readers' imaginations. And thanks to Starswirl's efforts, it's far easier to conclude with this:
Why should you read this story?
Let me count the ways.
