Much of the discussion so far has revolved around worldbuilding, the rules of magic, differences between this universe and canon, all those things that fans love to analyze. But what about the stories themselves, and what makes a text? Let's talk about themes and symbolism, structures, characterization, style, and everything else that goes into the telling of the stories.

Let me start with some thoughts about the story that's still my favorite, 100% Move = 50% Fire.
I think I first saw this story (unlike what I said in the introductions thread) after reading On the Application..., which was just great fun, and which made me think I was going to read another story which was just great fun.

Now, a large part of literature is playing with or manipulating the reader's expectations. I went into 100% Move expecting hilarious moving day mishaps and shenanigans. To begin with, that's where it seemed to be going, with Spike warning that the move was going to be horrible and that they would hate him afterwards for getting them involved. Throughout the story, there's plenty more of that to go around, all of it delightfully character-specific, with each personality adding to the humor.

If that had been the whole story, I would have been perfectly satisfied. It might not have gone on any list of timeless great short stories, but it would have been reading time well-spent.

But then you get that climax, where everything comes together, not just in a Comically Big Disaster, but a crystalline moment of character insight that gives a greater meaning to it all. That ties all the characterization and all the events together in a way that turns it from being just a bit of fun into an emotional punch in the solar plexus, with no warning. The specific themes of not understanding friendship, not knowing how to work it, feeling inadequate and fearing that you are inevitably going to chase away everyone around you, are all themes that resonate with me personally, and, I imagine, with a huge portion of the fanbase generally.
I came here to laugh, and Estee made me cry. And I've shown the story to other people who told me that they were expecting to laugh and it made them cry.

And because I'm a lit major, what boggles my mind is that the author must have meant to do it exactly that way, and pulled it off perfectly. My emotions were played like an instrument.

Oh, and then there was something about pianos that for some reason excited people. I don't know what that was about.

So that's my story, for starters. Any thoughts? What story hit you the hardest, and why?

-Daedelean, who is trying a new avatar. That's Star Swirl, from the MLP comics.