Maud Pie takes a few things in her life very seriously; rocks, her education, and her relationship with her fillyfriends, Starlight Glimmer and Trixie. But when it seems like her fillyfriends have forgotten her big doctoral defense coming up, Maud Pie will have to figure out how to balance her education versus her two fillyfriends, and manage one of the biggest days of her scholastic career all by herself!
Written for the StarTrixMaud contest, this was my very first attempt at writing a trio! They're very cute together, and while the relationships are romantic, there's only SFW material in here. I would call this a slice of life romance, with an established trio who love each other very much!
Contest: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/957718/startrixmaud-shipping-contest-24-july-31-august-2021
Winner of Second Place, and Best StarTrixMaud!
While it has been a joy to read the more unique and literary takes on what constitutes a "shipfic" between these three beloved characters, there is something to be said about the subset of works that are the most "central" to the theme: straightforward, slice-of-life stories without plot devices or unique premises or deep philosophical questions to distract from the shipping dynamics between the characters involved. While writing such a story can be very easy and quick, it is conversely a lot more difficult to stand out from similar stories of this genre simply by doing such a story very well. And that is precisely what It's Not A Big Deal; It's Just My Dissertation accomplishes.
Like many slice-of-life stories, as a sequence of events that happen, It's Not A Big Deal; It's Just My Dissertation could be described as a very common sitcom plot based on a misunderstanding. But the way said plot flows organically from the throuple dynamic, the richness of the little character details In their domestic life, and the sheer sweetness of their love and caring for each other evident in their every word and action had me squeeing at the end despite the resolution never having been in doubt. As any good slice-of-life fic, this one is about the journey and not the destination, and I just wish I could wrap the journey around me like Trixie's cape and nestle in its warmth forever.
--Bicyclette
Awww, they're cute. Surprised Maud moved out of her cave, though, it was big enough for all of them.
MareLA? Really?
thanks so much for the story! looking forward to this one!
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I bet she keeps it as a research room! Some people go to coffee shops to study, Maud goes to a cave!
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I would have kept MLA, but then how would people know it stood for Mare?!
Really!
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Wow, you found it fast! Thank you!
hello! you should have already been PMed about this, but this comment is just to record that this fic has won Best StarTrixMaud and Second Place in the StarTrixMaud Shipping Contest!
i just love these little character touches even if they add up to Maud's sad situation
aww! again, little touches and connections, just very nice
ugh my gay heart. just the little touches of her marefriends throughout, wonderful
hehe
yes! perfect!
amazing, i love this
you have to had been in academia, too! this is too relatable. wow, to be Maud!
okay, yeah, definitely
perfect self-aware meta-encapsulation of the story's plot, followed by a comedic beat. Maud is channeling her sister here
you're trying to get away with this by putting this in the mouth of Trixie, but i know that it was in fact you who wrote these lines!
perfect callback to how Trixie eats breakfast.
i can't say enough about how much i adored this fic. i just love how you put together all the little details of their characters in their throuple dynamic, and how organically the classic misunderstanding plot flowed from it. i see this as a beautiful celebration of all three of these characters and why they work so well together in all their combinations. out of all the entries i have read, i would say that this one encapsulates the spirit of this contest the most. it was an absolute joy to read, and i loved every word. thank you so much for writing it!
already love this
huh, didn't know "toilette" was used in english as well!
a lovely detail. Maud treating rock gardening as most ponies would treat plant gardening is just that perfect blend of absurdity and whimsy
so cute and domestic!
i can just hear the panic in Trixie's refusal to elaborate
yes! exactly! Maud sounds sarcastic even when she is truly sincere which she always is about the ponies she loves and ugh i love it so much
love the little touches, like the nicknames based on the givers' personalities
aww! my heart breaks a little for Maud here
Ah what a lovely little tale, encapsulating a perfect slice of relationships... that being the seemingly forgotten important event. In this case, Maud's dissertation defense.
The story's title and short desc made it seem like there would be more tension, more possible anger, and yet there wasn't. Quite the opposite, there was plenty of love, and just a little disappointment until the ones who ought to have been there showed up.
The relationship dynamic between the three was really nice, the way that all of them were respective of each other's quirks and needs. Starlight showing greater passion with Trixie and softer touch with Maud spoke to me.
I will admit I felt a little confused about the "Em" nickname that Starlight used, until I finally realized she was just saying the first letter of Maud's name, not a shortened version of, say, Emmeline, which would be a believable middle name for Maud. (And isn't; her middle name is Daisy.) It's a really nice touch that, letting Starlight show affection.
Really this was just fun all around. I appreciate that instead of using this for cheap tension and pointless argumentative drama, everything turned out okay.
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Thank you both so much for your wonderful feedback!!
It means a lot to me that you both took the time to write such thoughtful replies, so I just wanted to let you know that I saw, read, and appreciated both of them. 
I tend to have a hard time talking about fluff. I understand the appeal, but the conflicts in these kinds of stories tend to be easily resolved misunderstandings. Most fiction is driven by conflict, but that isn't the case for this genre. Normally I'd say that this needs a stronger conflict, but a more serious problem for the characters to overcome would get in the way of the warm fuzzies that it's trying to impart, so that's not actually a helpful thing to say.
The characterizations here were great. We don't get to see Maud give a speech in the show, but it makes sense that she'd be verbose about rocks in the right circumstances. The romance was understated, which I appreciated. Love isn't big gestures, but the little things. That idea came through well here.
I don't know what else to say other than it was heartwarming. Nicely done.
Howdy, hi!
I loved it. I like the chemistry between the three of them and how you characterize all of them. They are super loving to each other and I adore how they all have their little bits of personality sprinkled in their interactions. All of them feel fleshed out and adorable and I love it.
I like the breakfast scene and the presentation scene and just romantic partners being encouraging to each other and supportive. Also the little ways Maud incorporates Starlight and Trixie's personalities into herself, the glitter dust, the calming exercises, was just super wholesome and wonderful.
I don't know what else to say. Your writing just has this upbeat energy that I really enjoy and always love reading.
Thanks for the read!