Today we bring you a surprisingly dark story from an author better known for his comedies — and a story which shows that “dark” doesn’t have to mean “violent and edgy.”

Home is Where the Harp Is
[Dark] • 6,312 words

Ever since Bon-Bon left for a new life in Manehatten, Lyra’s life has lost its focus. She gets up, she goes to work, she eats, she goes to sleep. One day she knows she’s going build up the courage to tell Bon-Bon how she really feels about her and they can live happily ever after.

That day will never come. Something terrible is happening in Equestria. Something that could be the end of the world. The Smooze has arrived and no-one can stop it, not even Twilight Sparkle. What hope then does Lyra have?

FROM THE CURATORS:  There was quite a bit of discussion concerning whether this was the best fanfic of the author’s to showcase; Blueshift has written plenty in other genres, and it’s difficult to compare a goofy, light-hearted parody with a much more serious piece like this.

But in the end, we all felt that Home is Where the Harp Is was an undeniably high-quality piece of writing: “…if anything of Blueshift’s gets put up, it should be “Home is Where the Harp Is,” which is better than nearly every other story in the fandom I’ve ever read,” said Vimbert.

Read on for our surprisingly breezy interview, in which Blueshift talks about the difference between writing drama and comedy, his love of repurposing characters and elements, and his fandom background in another Hasbro franchise.
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