It's that time of the month again folks!

...No, not like that. It's time for our monthly Spotlight! And I'm going to kick it off with what will likely be a rather controversial pick. Let's go!

One day, I saw a story in the featured box that contained the simple description "Rainbow Dash flies East." Something about it caught my imagination - whether it was the strange, nigh-on incomprehensible title, the starkly brief description or the beautiful scenery in the cover, something compelled me to click on it. I started reading - and 2 days and over half a million words later, I stopped, just under three books in to one of the most extraordinary series I have ever read. From there I continued to follow it with great zeal, from chapter to chapter, from book to book - for a while at least. It was still an amazing story, but somewhere along the way, life caught up and the new chapter didn't seem like the greatest thing ever. And at some point, as we all do even with series we love, I took a break. But the thing about that was that the longer the break lasted, the more catching up I had to do, to the point where it got intimidating. And so I forgot about the series - until I happened to see a new story in my feed, one by the name of Ynanhluutr. I had missed an entire book - and that gave me the motivation to start it up again. And boy am I glad I did.
The Austraeoh series was never perfect, and in fact I would be hard pressed to tell you why exactly I love it so much. The writing is good, but not the greatest I've ever seen. The characters are interesting, but not perhaps the most interesting that I have ever seen. If I had to compare it with something, it would be The Lord of the Rings - I would never call Tolkien's work great literature, but I harbour a deep and fierce love for it. It is that love that I found as I finally took the plunge to catch up with this story. I laughed, and cried - sobbed - and more than anything else lived this story with it's cast. My heart broke and sang for them. Because that is what makes Austraeoh great - it may not be one of the best pieces of writing that I have ever read. But it is without a doubt one of the greatest stories that I have ever read. Not bad for an MLP fanfiction, wouldn't you say?

While I haven't added many to the list this month, I did read a few that were good I just forgot to add to the list...

Bad me, I know.

That being said, there is a story that I reread because I enjoyed reading it. That story is...

This is one of the FEW first person stories that I have loved to read. I looked past my typical aversion to the perspective because not only was the story enjoyable all the way through, Sterling Gears and Dave were excellent characters to watch. Don't be scared of the human tag in this story, it's not what you would typically think of seeing that tag. I highly recommend this story to anyone.

The best word I can use to describe this story is interesting. The world is interesting, the reimagined characters are interesting, the tech is interesting. It’s all just plain interesting and I think it’s worth reading for that reason alone. Aside from that though, it is extremely well written and leaves me waiting eagerly for the next chapter.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the story, I can’t gush much without spoiling anything, so I’m just going to tell you to read it and leave it at that. It’s well worth it.

What Hath Joined Together

I have a very interesting relationship with this story. On one hand, Bad Seed does an amazing job crafting this alternate world and the characters within it as they combat their own feelings about various social norms and those toward each other. On the other, I really don't like Celestia in this one. I can't go too much into why exactly that is without spoiling it, but, believe me, read this and you'll see why. However, that said, I have spoken to bad about it and have to admit that this is done for the right reasons. The reader isn't supposed to like these social norms, as they feel far too restrictive. We get a few hints as to something that served as an impetus to whatever made Celestia value absolute order above all else, something that made her seem almost distant, even to Twilight after she gets another perspective.

Oh, and no, I don't care that this is FlashLight. The characters are developed beautifully. So there.

With that said, I eagerly await the next update... Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go poke Bad Seed on Skype. I need more WHJT. Zommiekins needs his fix!

This is a story about a mistake, a sneaky trick one friend pulls on another.

This is a story about the best time of her life.

This is a story about a life-changing moment, and how that could be as seemingly simple as being comfortable in one’s own skin.

While I couldn’t directly link this due to its Mature tag, this story lives up to it with actual maturity. There are consequences here. There is great joy that the main character finds, but also risks that were never considered. Friendship is tested, lessons are learned, but most importantly, the characters grow.

Yes, characters. Both of them walk away from this with something.

It's a well known fact that Princess Luna is in my opinion best Princess, so when I saw this story which is the tale of an alt universe where Luna never existed I was well, intrigued. I have to admit though it took me two times reading through this. The first time I got upset about something I read and well to quote Button Mash. "Rage Quit!" However after a few days I went back to the beginning and reread. It was the best choice I could've made.

Nightmare is not the Luna we know and I think that's something that makes me adore her even more. She is rude, cold, sexual, and mischievous. In other words exactly what you'd expect from a good Nightmare Moon. Let's see what can I say without giving to much away? The sister bond between Nightmare and Celestia is fantastic they truly love each other and it's easy to see and understand. There is romance between Blue Balls er Prince Blue blood and Twilight Sparkle but it... Well you will have to see. I'm not sure what else I can really say other then go read this with an open mind it's a wonderful story of a character we hardly ever see in this manner!

Rated T Romance, Slice of Life, and AU 2403 upvotes 90 down.

This story hasn't gotten a lot of attention, lately, but I think you'll enjoy it if you read it. It's a purely OC story that has it right. If the sad tag is keeping you away from reading this, don't let it. This is not a sadfic. The sad tag does belong here, surely, but that is not the focus of the story. The focus is slice of life, and slice of life done right. It's a story about dreams dashed on reality, and that is a sad thing. But, also, life goes on. Maybe there are new dreams, quieter dreams. But life does go on, and we all live forever. In small ways.

What's that? Another shipping story?

It's no surprise that my favourite genre to read here is romance. The reasons for why that is are varied, but ultimately I love seeing how different characters can grow together and with each other to create meaningful relationships that we won't ever get to see in the show.

Now, this story—or rather, collection of stories—is a bit different from what I normally read. Instead of focusing on one pair, this is a collection of mini-stories, the longest just being over 2,300 words, and what Donnys Boy manages to accomplish in such a small number of words is really quite astonishing. A myriad of ships are represented here, ranging from old favourites of mine like TwiDash to ships that I've payed little/no attention to like TwiPie. I think anyone who's a fan of shipping in general will find at least a few chapters to enjoy here, and while you may be inclined to only read the chapters starring your favourite pairing(s), I would encourage y'all to give the others a chance. I'm not a big fan of TwiPie, but even I found something to smile at in Donnys' small handful of TwiPie vignettes.

Totally not late. :P

It was close between this and Wet Feathers. Ultimately, it came down to pairing. RariTwi for the win!

As I said in my March thread, the idea of using riddles was brilliant. It fits Rarity's sense of subtlety, and it appeals to Twilight's nerdiness. Things were set up well, and played out pretty reasonably. All in all, I can't really find anything negative to say about it. It was enjoyable from start to finish.

Totally not late more late than TOW was. :P

There's not much I can say without spoiling this one, so zealous exclamations of how great this story is will have to suffice. The prose was extremely tight, the characters were engaging and full of depth, and the twist nearly had me pee my pants. It doesn't matter if you don't enjoy dark/horror stories—this is a must read for anyone who considers him or herself a ponyfic enthusiast. It's relatively short; take the half an hour out of your day and read it. I promise that you won't regret it.