A ghostly Pegasus who'd found redemption. A tortured writer saved from his own demons. A soldier drawn into a lewd position against his will. A young stallion with anxiety—and hormone—issues. An autistic foal without a cutie mark, or a care in the world. And a colt who learned, in the nick of time, that bullying can be a vicious cycle.
Six ponies, all characters exclusive to the world of the fans, gather just outside of Ponyville and discuss where their stories have taken them since being created. They talk about the perks, and the dangers, of having been made unofficial parts of the Equestrian mythos, and what being given life and place means in a harsh world. Philosophy, psychology, comparisons, and emotions are taken apart and studied, and it may all lead to the true meaning of being an original character.
A special one-shot written for my 500 followers, as well as in celebration of one full year on the site. Without you, I wouldn't have learned and done so much in this past year, and this story—and the characters in it—would not exist. Thank you all for reading.
Special thanks to the wonderful Salty Zebra for another great cover!
There are steps to turning a new leaf, this is the first one. And it was spectacular.
Absolutely stunning. The meta and sociological concepts about literature perception and all that goodness about author worth... you just can't replicate this. This was a once-in-a-lifetime read. And I can't be more happy than I am now for staying to read it. I admit, it was somewhat hard to read due to the dailogue's format proximity with the narrative. But everything else was... well, inspiring. And even if you'd thought about what they'd said millions of times before, it doesn't hurt to hear it again.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. And don't sweat on that last part. That's for snobs.
6410075 What a great review! I'm so glad you enjoyed this fic so much. Thank you!
Hm. For some reason, as I was reading this, this song kept coming up in my head:
It raises an interesting question, though. Are OCs mere wish fulfillment, made simply to be?
To answer this, one must look back on everything that the human race has ever and will ever created. Everything was a fulfillment of a wish in some sense. Perhaps it was the wish to survive; or the wish to express; or the wish to renew and recreate.
When one creates, they say that they put a bit of their soul into their creation. Perhaps that is more true than we might think. Perhaps we feel a strong connection to something, and our desire to connect even more closely implores us to create content.
I don't think of that as a bad thing; nor do I think that makes everything a quote-on-quote "wish fulfillment." I think it's something truly remarkable; that the human spirit has the power to create something and connect to it.
Lightning, thank you very much for spinning out some of the most wonderful stories and characters that this fandom has to offer. The amount of care and love that you have for each character is truly impressive.
6410412 I can't express how grateful I am for the chance to show my work to this fandom. Despite my worst days here, I still wouldn't trade being a Brony, or a Brony writer, for anything in the world. And seeing others enjoy my work, or at least go out of their way to help me make my work more enjoyable, is a privilege I no longer have the appropriate words to describe.
Thank you for reading, and thank you so much for favoriting.
No words
T.CC
I'm happy to be one of the 500.
(Note: sorry I'm so late on this, I was at school and I had to finish some bullshit homework
) That was great! That didn't just seem like a message to us, but a message to the entire fandom and fanfiction communtity. (Kind of like Slice of Life) I'm not a big fan of OC's, but as usual, you handled them greatly here. Even the ones I didn't know about, I was able to get into quickly and start to like. Still don't know how the characters know about all of this 
, but that's just nitpicking. Thanks for this, and keep going strong, my friend. 
Congratulations on 20 stories buddy!
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6411734 Thank you all. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all being there for me. I'm proud you be able to deliver stories that you all love to read.
6411708 And an extra thank you to you for the fave!
Congrats on 500 followers
6413088 Thanks!
A sweet story, as well as a thoughtful one. And there's no shame in giving your original characters some love.
And no shame in acknowledging that others enjoy you and your works. Or in being proud of them. Never forget that.
6421931 Thank you for the favorite.
4th wall breaking.... only the creator can do that!
6422386 Uhhh . . . yeah.
Well, thanks for the fave. 
Another excellent story, my friend.
6430067 Thanks. And thanks for the fave.
6474532 True, but they're all friends. Autistic people are more comfortable around people they know. Cal is used in a bit of symbolism here; he carries on what he's doing regardless of what's going on around him. As OC creators ought to do: carry on doing what they do regardless of judgment.
6475302 . . . . . . . What?
6475681 You mean Nocturne? Nah, he's a softie.
6475831 Suit yourself.
Just so you know, the point of Nocturne's story is not judging people before you know them. 
I love these characters. I know I've read into Stormy's little outbursts.
6944017 I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reading!
6944037 Anytime Bud!
Philosophical fics are fantastic when done right.
7066889 Thanks so much for reading, and thanks for another fave!
Wow.... just wow. This was amazing!
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Glad you enjoyed. Many thanks.
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This just proves you are an amazing writer!!! :)
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I'm flattered. Sincerely, thank you.
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No problem friend.
This is so awesome, I love it.