Howdy, and welcome to the sixth issue of our Fanfic Spotlight. I’m Xepher, and in a break with tradition, this week I’m featuring some rather horse-famous stories and authors, instead of the obscure works targeted in the past. This week: A metaphysical meditation as Pinkie Watches Paint Dry, Twilight overreacts when she discovers that Princess Celestia Hates Tea, and an epic tale begins when Twilight looks into the methods of Petriculture.
by AbsoluteAnonymous
Words: 2,500 Complete: Yes
This one comes highly recommended by at least two of my fellow staffers, Pony Tim and Piquo Pie… and about 3200 other fimfic readers, judging by the rating. It is a very short piece, but an interesting meditation on the identify problem, and what exactly makes a thing that thing and not some other thing. Of course, it’s all wrapped up in the head of Pinkie Pie, so while knowing about the Ship of Theseus, and other metaphysical philosophy may give a deeper take on it, it’s certainly not needed.
by Skywriter
Words: 8,536 Complete: Yes
Another suggestion from Piquo Pie, but one of my personal favorites, as well as a favorite of several thousand others too. Here, Twilight discovers that Celestia doesn’t actually like tea. As that’s impossible though, she assumes there must be something wrong, and in typical Twilight fashion, the situation rapidly gets out of hoof. While plenty of stories do the, “escalate to absurdity” thing, what makes this one great is the way in which the author uses it to provided a very poignant look at Celestia’s devotion to her subjects and duties. Well, that, and it’s genuinely hilarious and well written, as are most stories from Skywriter.
On that note, you should also make sure to check out some of his other works. Derplicity is another short/funny favorite of mine, and Pony Tim also suggested Sun Princess. Heck, just read anything of his, it’s all fantastic.
by Kwakerjak
Words: 6,716 Complete: Yes
Another one from Pony Tim, but likewise, one I enjoyed thoroughly as well. When Twilight decides to look into “rock farming” as one of the many Pinkie-related mysteries she’s encountered, nothing seems to be available on the subject. As she digs further into the subject of how Pinkie could possibly grow rocks, she discovers something even more surprising about her friend’s past.
This story itself is a bit of a slow burn, with the really interesting stuff coming near the end. However, it is merely the opening to an entire cycle of stories, with four sequels and several spin-offs that eventually form a rather epic adventure that scales up until the very end, with plenty of fun and some really interesting characters along the way.
That’s it for this week. Last week’s edition can be found here. I do apologize for the lack of a community recommendation, but the one suggestion was longer than I had time to read this week. Please continue to post your suggestions below, and I’ll see you all again next week. Until then, have fun!