Fanfic Spotlight #23 · 10:39pm Feb 8th, 2015
Welcome once again to our Fanfic Spotlight! This week, the titles say it all, as a young Dash Gets An Extra Hour In The Ball Pit, Discord learns that friendship can mean More Than Trust, and The Cutie Mark Crusaders Get Lost in North Carolina.
Dash Gets An Extra Hour In The Ball Pit
by Sparkler
Words: 3,315 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Silver Flare
Here’s a tiny one-shot for you to chomp right down on, you poniliteratureavores you. Please, take a moment with me to behold the awesomeness that is Rainbow Dash. Hold the image of her firmly in your mind. Now, scale back the years until she’s just a little filly, then drop her in an enormous, automated ball pit. That is adoracute scaled up to eleven right there. That warm glow you’re feeling in your chest right now? That’s a heart attack. Maybe you should drop the image now. What? It’s stuck in your mind? Well, think of something else, quick! I don’t know, Vin Diesel, or whatever his name is.
Are you okay? That was a close one. Jeez. Okay, fair warning to anyone reading this, don’t click on the above link if your family has a history of heart failure, diabetes or feather flu. Everyone else, get ready for an epic adventure that will last until Rainbow Blaze drags his filly by the tail out of WonderZone, “Where foals wanna go!” This is more than a snapshot and a comedic character piece. It’s also a fun glimpse behind the scenes as hints of the future appear through the middle and end of the story. Reclaim your childhood, grab your insulin out of the fridge and show Starwin some love. This is definitely a short story worth the read.
More Than Trust
by TheTalentlessPony
Words: 9,416 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Xepher
After the defeat of Tirek, everypony has forgiven Discord for this betrayal... right? Yet Fluttershy seems sad still, and even more awkward than usual around him. Discord realizes he must be missing something, that Fluttershy must be upset about something more than just his betrayal. When he finds out what it is, he knows he has to make it right, and makes a sacrifice to ensure that it will never happen again.
This story is a really touching look into the relationship between Discord and Fluttershy, told mostly from the perspective of the confused (but trying!) draconequus. I really enjoyed this point of view, as the author does a great job of making discord's concerns and worries feel real. The text also highlights all the minor struggles he has in behaving himself; in the way he sees little opportunities to make a joke or a prank, yet realizes now the hurt he might cause, and resists those urges.
While it may be a little overly saccharine in a few places, and is fairly straightforward in plot/pacing, I think this is a great character study, for both Discord and Fluttershy, and elevates what are normally cartoonish motivations into the realm of actual human(equine) complexity.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders Get Lost in North Carolina
by totallynotabrony
Words: 6,486 Complete: Yes
Recommended by Ckat_Myla
This story has been on this reviewer's 'to-read' list for a while, as the title alone is humorously intriguing. While not having read the full series, The Cutie Mark Crusaders Get Lost in North Carolina is fairly easy to follow if you can accept the basic premise of the AU overall. This is a series where humans and ponies interact through the use of inter-dimensional portals, and this seems to be a more light-hearted side story to the overall arc.
The fact that I was so easily able to follow things despite not having knowledge of the rest of the series is a testament to totallynotabrony's writing. It's the mark of a good author that a reader can plop down at any point of their work and still be able to enjoy it.
In this story, Applejack has been living on Earth and working with humans at Camp Lejeune, which is a real Marine Corps base in NC. The CMC come for a visit, and when AJ is called away and has to leave the three alone for a while the expected hijinks ensue.
Apart from the existence of the camp, this reviewer doesn't have enough knowledge of NC to be able to say how accurate the geography is, but as I live in the south I am aware of the importance of Wal Mart to southern shopping. I may not have read the rest of their Battleship Series, but since I have a foot in already, I think I could be persuaded to check out the rest.
No epic-length novels this week, so no excuses for not checking out all three of these short stories! See you all back here next week. In the meantime, let us know what you think, or if you have any suggestions of your own that we should look at.
--Xepher, Ckat, and Silver Flare
Thanks a lot, guys. The surprise came like a bolt from the blue, which I suppose is how surprises are supposed to work.