Fic Recommendation: The Table Set · 5:16am Jun 29th, 2019
One of the small delights I have on this site is finding a story from an author that is clearly only starting out, but shows a lot of promise.
Such is the case with The Table Set by TheGuineaPig45. While there are two other canceled fics on their page published in 2016, this story is complete and very compelling in its simplicity.
The story's concept is simple: Prom is coming and all of the Mane 7 are excited about it... except Sunset. Sunset wants to be excited about prom, but she can't seem to muster up the expected enthusiasm. Not wanting to ruin the other girls' fun, Sunset goes along with all the plans, faking excitement, but as prom gets closer, the more she just wants to stay home and look at a table set in a furniture catalog, but she hauls herself to prom...
... which goes badly for her.
Not in the usual way you might expect. This isn't that kind of story. There's very little melodrama here. Just an exploration of the feeling you have when you just aren't enthused about something. I've felt that for years now. Because holidays hold very little meaning for me. New Year's, Christmas, the Fourth of July. None of them excite me anymore and Sunset's lack of enthusiasm about the prom resonated with me greatly. You wonder if there's something wrong with you, if everyone can tell you're faking it, if you're going to embarrass yourself or get found out, and if so, if everyone's going to be mad at you. And all you'd rather be doing is almost anything else that doesn't require you to be involved with what's going on.
Theguineapig45 manages to evoke this feeling and the feeling of relief when you manage to escape and find something to be excited about after all, and does so in less than 5000 words.
Go read this one. You won't regret it.
I just discovered this today! Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the story so much!!!