Dash’s Unsuccessful Fanfic

By Penguifyer

“I actually thought I was a successful composer when I had thirty people [in the audience]. I didn’t measure it by the audience.” — Philip Glass

“Twilight! You gotta read it!”

Twilight levitated a stack of papers to the side, staring at Rainbow Dash with drooping eyes.

Dash went on. “I’m telling you, I put my heart into this one. I know it’s good.”

Dropping the papers onto an ever-growing “To do” stack, she sighed and melted into her chair. “I’ll do it. Just give me a day or two.”

“Come on, Twilight. This is urgent.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll do it by tomorrow,” she conceded. “What even is it?”

“It’s a Daring Do fanfic. Just trust me, okay?”

A Daring Do fanfic; she shouldn’t be surprised. “Just give it to me.”

Rainbow Dash flew over her desk and tackled her into a hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou…”

“That’s enough, Rainbow,” she grunted, trying to break the hold.

Dash hopped off and hovered over the desk, embarrassed. “Sorry Twi.” She pulled out a stack of paper from a saddlebag and plopped them on Twilight’s desk “I’llbebacktomorrrowgoodbye,” she rambled before darting out of the castle window.

Twilight brushed herself before resetting her chair and peeking at the stack of paper Dash just gave her, its title being Daring’s Greatest Epic Journey of All Time. She flipped through the first few pages, skimming the text. The worst it could do is give her a break from her royal duties. How bad could it be?

— — —

“So, how was it?” Dash asked, jittering with nerves.

Twilight sipped a cup of coffee as she rubbed her eyes, noticing the clock read nine am. “When are you up this early?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night. I just really need to know if you like it.” She bit her hooves, hovering over the desk.

Hoof clippings piled on Twilight’s desk. “It’s, um… how do I put this?”

Dash froze, knowing what was coming.

Twilight chose her next words carefully. “It’s something.”

Dash backed away, bringing her hooves to her face. “I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s not what I mean…”

“Of course it’s what you mean. What else is it supposed to mean?”

“Let me explain myself…”

“Why should I? I knew I couldn’t trust—”

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, enveloping Dash in the aurora of a levitation spell and setting her down in a chair. “It’s not that it’s bad. It just doesn’t feel finished.”

“How?”

“Well, first of all, you literally put yourself in the story.”

Dash paused before asking, “Is that bad?”

“Most of the time, yes. It’s something you can only do with considerable care and introspection.”

Dash kicked back, crossing her hooves behind her head. “Come on, I know myself well.”

Twilight glared. “Yeah, well, look here also.” Twilight flipped a page and pointed at a line of text. “‘Daring Do jealoused over Dash every day wanting to become like her and follow her till the very last day.’”

Dash sat motionlessly, embarrassed from her own words.

“First, ‘jealoused’ isn’t a word. Second, why is Daring Do in this story?”

“Come on, we all know she’s got an ego. I thought it’d be cool to humble her for once.”

Twilight stared at her. “With yourself?”

Dash scratched her head. “Um, about that.”

“I don’t want to sound harsh, but it’s kinda hard to read. I mean, the main villain is Tirek.”

“What? I was confident in that part.”

Twilight paused. “We defeated Tirek, in real life.”

“That’s why I…” Dash put the pieces together. “Oh…”

She sighed. “I shouldn’t get too mad. Funny enough, your story reminds me of my first fanfics.”

Dash jumped out of her chair. “You wrote Daring Do fanfics!?”

Twilight nodded with a small smile. “Uh-huh, and I’m not proud of many of them.”

Dash hovered back into the chair, perplexed by Twilight’s statement. “What do you mean?”

“I should clarify. I don’t regret writing any of them, but some of them are really bad. Over time, I learned to use those fics as stepping stones to help me improve.”

Dash sat silently, processing what she just heard.

Twilight continued. “Thing is, I had to fail in order to learn what I needed to learn. It’s one of those, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ sort of things.”

Dashed looked down. “Then what do I do? I really want to make it good.”

“Well, I could show you some of the resources I used to help me write back in the day. I’m still open to proofreading too.”

Dash lunged at Twilight, tackling and hugging her again. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Twilight unlodged herself from Dash’s grip. “Anytime, just try not to hurt me.”

Dash hopped back into the air. “Sorry about that.” Then she darted out the window again.

Twilight brushed herself off again before resetting her chair and levitating the hoof clippings to the trash. She was used to this with Dash.

— — —

Twilight didn’t see the story for three months. She barely even thought about it in that time. Dash, on the other hand, made the story her life. She checked out multiple books from the library on fiction writing and story structure. She read reviews and analyses of her favorite Daring Do books, breaking down the plot structure. She chatted with other fanfic writers, discussing common tropes and writing pitfalls. Within a month, she acquired the critical eye of an author.

The next month was spent revising and redoing the whole story. What was once a self-insert character became Little Cloud, a representation of her insecurities which she juxtaposed with Daring’s adventurous spirit. The dumb and generic villain of Tirek became cunning and intelligent, justifying his actions with a bent morality. Most importantly, she crafted an arc where Little Cloud learned to take risks and believe in herself, aided by the help of Daring Do.

The final month was spent drafting and redrafting, producing a polished product. Her grammar became impeccable with every comma placed intently and skillfully. Her language evolved into a witty, yet brash style with a punchy voice. All plot holes were stomped out, creating a solid narrative. To top it off, the themes were refined and permeated the whole story, pulling it all together.

When Twilight reread Dash’s story, she didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t stellar by any means, but she had to admit it was solid.

“You like it?” Dash asked, gitty with nerves.

“I do, actually. The structure is purposeful. The language is clear.” Excitement brewed within Twilight as a grin grew on her face. “Look at how much you’ve grown as a writer!”

“Really?”

Twilight nodded. “Uh-huh. And I know just where to send it, too.”

— — —

Rainbow Dash laid awake in bed, awaiting the mailpony. Twilight submitted her story to the Daring Do Fan Magazine the day prior, assuring her they’d know if her story was accepted the next day. Hearing the subtle twang of the mailbox outside, she dashed through her house, out the door, and to the mailbox, pulling out the magazine as the mailpony drifted away. She flipped through the pages, finding her story before spinning around in excitement and darting toward the castle.

Twilight poured herself a second cup of coffee as Dash burst through the window and froze in front of her. “Twilight, Look!”

Twilight placed her coffee on the table and levitated the magazine out of Dash’s hooves. Flipping through the pages, she found Dash’s story smiled back. “I told you they’d accept it. It’s not like you violated any rules.”

“I haven’t done this before, okay?”

Twilight smirked. “Regardless, just letting you know this magazine is enchanted to track everypony who reads your fanfic, turning it into a number you can see on the last page. It’s what the publisher uses to decide featured stories. I also think it’s a great tool for trying new ideas and seeing what sticks.”

“Like, I’ll know everypony who reads it?”

“Only how many.”

“Cool! You know, I think this one might be a hit.”

Twilight held up her hoof. “Don’t speak too soon. You never know what’ll happen when you put yourself out there.”

A day went by and the counter hopped up to 40. Dash jumped at the thought that 40 ponies read her story and liked it. Another day and it jumped to 58, then 64 the next day and the initial enthusiasm wore off. By the end of the week, it leveled 71 with no signs of climbing again. Dash didn’t know what to think until she read the story on the front cover and saw its view count.

— — —

Twilight sipped her coffee, relaxing instead of doing paperwork for once. She only needed one cup of coffee on days like today. Kicking back, she settled down with a Daring Do book, good for fun reading which she desperately needed.

Dash burst through the window, plopping the magazine on Twilight’s desk. “Explain this!”

“Explain what?”

“This!” Dash pointed to the view count of the front cover story, which read 1,900. Twilight read the title of the story: “Daring, falling for Tirek.” And of course, it was tagged as a romance.

“What about it?” Twilight asked.

“How is this more popular than my story?”

“Have you read it?”

“I don’t think you understand. I spent months on my story, but this two-thousand-word piece of filth somehow got more views.”

“Bring it down, Rainbow.”

“How am I supposed to calm down!? I wasted three months of my…”

“Dash!” Twilight shouted with the royal voice. Dashed jumped before hovering down to the ground in silence. “Have you read the story?”

Dash looked away. “No.”

“Then don’t judge it. Ponies put as much effort into their romance fics as you do to your action-adventure epic.”

“I know, but why that story?”

“I don’t know what Daring Do fans like?”

“On the description, it literally says it took the author three days.”

“You can do that with a lot of practice, you know?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t have the blood, sweat, and tears I put into mine. Don’t ponies appreciate that?”

Twilight let out a deep breath and face hoofed, unsure of what to do with Dash. Few ponies ever came out with hit stories, even if they were good writers. Something else came to mind.

“I once heard of a composer who didn’t make a living off of his music till he was forty-one.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Moreover, he wrote some of the most influential music ever in that time, doing whatever other work he could to pay the bills. They say he even lost money on his groundbreaking opera, even though it sold out two nights in a row, forcing him to make up the money as a taxi driver.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. When asked, he just said he was having fun. I always think back to him whenever I write fanfic or express my creativity in general. To him, success didn’t come with ambition, but rather an enjoyment of the music. It doesn’t matter if my stories do well. If I enjoy making them, somepony is bound to enjoy reading them.”

A tear fell down Dash’s eye. She sniffled. “Thanks, Twi.”

“It’s what friends are for.”

Dash wiped the tear from her face. “I just felt useless after seeing the views. Like nothing I could do would make my story better.”

Twilight slid out from behind her desk and patted Dash on the back. “It’s okay. It’s the toil of being an artist.”

A few moments of sniffling and reassurance passed. “So, what do we do?”

Twilight smirked. “Next, we work on a sequel.”

Author's Note:

As someone whose imagination runs wild with epics, adventure, mystery, and heroism, I have a tendency to write ambitious stories. Thankfully, I’ve progressed to the point where I can pull them off (there were some rough years), but that doesn’t mean people will read them. In a way, this story is me telling myself what to do.

I think this is why I’m so drawn to the music of Philip Glass and his career as a composer (whom Twilight references in the fic). He didn’t make music to seek fame. He made the music he wanted to make and ultimately became not just famous, but a genre definer.

It’s his story I repeat to myself when I worry about my future, both as a writer and a composer. Success is not getting the most views or making a living off of art. Success is making art other people enjoy because I enjoy it.

P.S. The quote comes from this interview.

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Comments ( 22 )

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Kal Dano

Kal Dano #1 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

That was somehow very inspiring.

Captain_Hairball

Captain_Hairball #2 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Not every fanfic is a success, but I feel this plucky and sincere little gem should be.

Emo Rainbow

Emo Rainbow #3 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

I felt this on a spiritual level. Great job on this one!

DJDJ

DJDJ #4 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

This story got way too real. Nice.

Chadbane

Chadbane #5 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 2 · ·

Reminded me of THE WORST STORY EVER WRITTEN by Commander202 from back in the day. Improved upon the concept though and flushed out the characters a lot better. Well done!

DmitriTheWriter

DmitriTheWriter #6 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

This...

This is what I needed to hear.

Thank you.

Animeteor

Animeteor #7 · Jul 8th, 2020 · 1 · ·

A fanfic about a fanfic. I like this story.

Player 4

Player 4 #8 · Jul 9th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Such great words from Twilight!

The DJ Rainbow Dash

The DJ Rainbow Dash #9 · Jul 9th, 2020 · 1 · ·

This may be the most meta thing I've ever seen.

Props to seemingly writing out the feeling a lot of authors have on this site, and doing so pretty accurately too.

Needling Haystacks

Needling Haystacks #10 · Jul 9th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Ah, fan magazines. Sadly I was a bit too late to really get those. Yet in the early days of the internet I was too young to find what fanfiction circles there were.

4428Gamer

4428Gamer #11 · Jul 10th, 2020 · 1 · ·

This was a good read. I always freak out when I post a new story or chapter and this helped me realize what it probably looks like in an outsider perspective. Great job!

Penguifyer

Penguifyer #12 · Jul 11th, 2020 · · ·

10324780
Did those actually exist? I just thought of a logical substitute for Fimfic since ponies don't have computers or internet. I guess I'm not be surprised.

Needling Haystacks

Needling Haystacks #13 · Jul 11th, 2020 · 2 · ·

10326351
Huh, surprised you don't know. Heck the term "Mary Sue" originated in a Star Trek fanzine, way back in 1973! https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Trekkie%27s_Tale That 'story' was itself a parody of bad fanfiction, meaning fanfiction was well enough known in certain circles to be parodied.

There were fanzines for the Tolkien legendarium as well, and I think at least one of those still exists (though I think now it also has a digital version). I thiiiink there were some for Star Wars and Doctor Who at one point, though those had 'official' magazines so there was greater pressure to suppress fan publications.

Anyway, fanzines would at one point publish fanfiction in almost exactly the manner described (minus the magic view count of course!), and letters columns would have other fans react to what was published. In the early internet days, before I was old enough to follow them, usenet groups and mailing lists expanded this practice, compiling fanfiction and routing it to everyone in the group, who could then react to it. These groups were typically single-property. Of course multi-property sites like Fanfiction.net eventually came along, and became popular due to the centralization and the ease of knowing where to put cross-overs without having to multi-post. These followed early, less well-known (I came across this one by accident while trying to find the name of that Tolkien 'zine I heard about) 'aggregate' zines. https://fanlore.org/wiki/Chronicles_(Star_Trek,_Tolkien,_science_fiction,_fantasy_zine)

Incidentally, 'fan published magazines' are frequently called 'zines' for short, distinguishing them from 'official' magazines and publications.

Side-note: Fanzines themselves originated with Sci-fi fans in the 1930s but consisted of non-fiction analysis and original works, the latter often called 'fanfiction', hence the label to stories abou tother people's works.

Of course fan-fiction in the sense of 'works set in another author's setting' have been around for at least as long as novels have existed, and possibly longer. But the first known instance of 'zine' fanfiction was 1960's Star Trek fandom in America and manga fandom in Japan. See here for more info. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction

So in a sense, Fimfiction is carrying on a proud tradition dating back over 50 years!

...I should write that into a blog post.

Tl;dr You seem to have captured a significant chapter in the history of fandoms purely by chance. :P

Penguifyer

Penguifyer #14 · Jul 11th, 2020 · · ·

10326416
I knew of the story behind Mary Sue, but I didn't realize it came from a fanzine. I read Fact or Fanfiction by Tumbleweed to get a feel for the Dash-writes-a-fanfic trope and it kinda mentioned a fanzine in passing (vaguely as I'm not sure if it was a physical medium).

When I wrote it into the story, I wondered if they actually existed. I'm aware that certain fandoms date way back, but I didn't know how fanfics circulated back then considering the legal and licensing factors.

Thanks for the history.

Heavyhauler75622

Heavyhauler75622 #15 · Jul 12th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Very nice!

With me, it isn't the people total. It's the value of what I write. "Buckball Mania" isn't "War and Peace"; not by a longshot. I want to give the reader something that doesn't waste their time. You, as reader, are trading a finite, precious commodity. Your time. And I don't want to write anything that spends it frivolously, or squanders it.

Heavyhauler75622

Heavyhauler75622 #16 · Jul 13th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Very nice!

crossr

crossr #17 · Jul 24th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Excellent story! While I am not currently a writer, I do understand the problems and learning curve it take to improve in any artform there is. I happen to sculpt, build movie and TV props, and am a magician. and this story reminds me of my journey in learning and growing. Thank you so very much for writing this story.