Please imagine this piece with Fancy’s name flashing and this playing in the background.

In spring, Fluttershy takes a leap of faith and reveals long hidden feelings to a close friend, leading to a short, passionate affair. But come winter, she discovers what of love lasts when affairs end.

The author writes:

I'd meant to show that they began to naturally drift back to their normal relationship already, not for any particular reason, just because passion naturally dissipates over time, as this was meant to be a romance based more on desire than on love. . . . By the end Fluttershy hadn't lost anything, only gained new memories and experiences.

This short, sweet story beautifully and oh so truly describes how wonderful bright-burning passion is, and how even a relationship that doesn't last can still completely change one's life and leave behind nothing but happy memories. I know that experience well, and I've long wanted a story that captures it. I highly recommend this.

Have a fitting song.

I set out to write a didactic exploration on the nature of ethics in a utopia, in the time-tested form of fanfiction. [. . .] Interesting mostly for the character studies; the didactic part of the story was lost in the noise of fanservice.

Ask Scootaloo Pie (mirror) is an ask blog from the point of view of Scootaloo, who aids, lives with, and is in love with the serial killer Miss Pinkamina. It’s simply text, not images, so it isn’t nearly as well known as it ought to be. It’s a bit science fiction, it’s a bit bildungsroman, it’s a bit supernatural romance, and it’s beautiful and quite well thought out. Contains existentialism and branching and intersecting timelines.

“I just wanted to compliment your stuff because I actually don't know how I should feel about the characters. Uncomfortable, but empathetic. This is good ambiguity you're putting up here. So, uh, good job, and pony on.”

“Yay! That’s the feeling I’m aiming at; nothing about these characters should be black or white; they’re just bundles of desires that tend to conflict. “Evil” is something you label a desire opposed to yours that you don’t understand. “Selfless” is something you label a desire in line with yours that you don’t understand.”

A neat excerpt from the story:

“I, Celestia, do swear by my name to serve as, ehe, the agent of She of all order, imposed law, structure and knowledge, advancement, continuity, peace, friendship, solemnity, and Good in the world. I shall be the prosecution.”

“And I, Luna, do swear by my name to serve as the agent of She of all chaos, natural law, evolution and intuition, repetition, discontinuity, war, love, frivolity, and Truth in the world. I shall be the advocatus diabo—er, the defence.”

[. . .]

Celestia: “Ugh. That again? Listen, this is how these things are done. We… to use your favorite analogy, we’re tending this garden, to ensure it remains healthy.”

Luna: “Yes, yes, so your kind can walk through it and admire the topiaries. This garden was planted to bear fruit. You’re trimming the flowers!”

Also a fan-work of the Ask Pinkamina blog:

Here's a heartwarming PMV (I linked to this in my bio above):

“Tonight” is a song by Aviators—like most of his works, its lyricism and musicianship aren’t masterful. What makes this song his only song that I particularly like—and I absolutely adore this song—is that, while it’s a dance anthem, it’s also about letting your hair down. It’s a song that compels you to jump up and dance, yet it’s a song you can sit back and trance out to. Aviators’s typical breathy, greatly emotional vocal delivery fits it perfectly.

Sub.Sound’s remix of The Living Tombstone and Dasha’s “Good Girl” makes the song not only incredibly danceable, but . . . hopeful. I can’t believe how Sub.Sound does it with such gut-wrenching lyrics. Brings to mind that old phrase: “. . . which springs eternal in the human breast”, huh. . . .

Also, the Italian Friendship is Magic opening is quite possibly the best thing ever. (An English translation of the lyrics are in the video description here)

These are a man’s recollections of some of his dreams. This pony, Safe Haven, seems to be watching over him, saving him from recurring nightmares he’s had for years. If you wish to see the threads in their entirety, you might head over to https://desustorage.org/mlp/ (be aware that these are from 4chan's /mlp/ board).

And I’ll put a couple non-pony recommendations here at the bottom: the webseries The New Adventures of Captain S and Cracked's After Hours, the (absolutely marvelously localized) manga Vampire Game, the LiveJournal roleplays of one Team Galactic Commander Charon, and the webcomics minus. (lower-resolution uploads with silly author's notes here), Subnormality, and Crossed: Wish You Were Here.