Great writing takes wing as today’s story flies through an episode-like misadventure.

Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop
[Slice of Life] • 16,548 words

The Wonderbolts may be the greatest fliers in Equestria, but overseas in the griffin lands, aviation has become all but synonymous with the name of Gerard Goldenwings. Word gets out that the living legend is vacationing in Equestria, and rumor has it he’s looking to take on an apprentice. Rainbow Dash is eager to meet him and prove herself worthy of his tutelage, but she must first perform one simple task: catching a certain special bird.

FROM THE CURATORS: We read lots of stories that go in very different directions from Friendship is Magic, which makes it all the more pleasure to stumble across one that goes so effectively back to the show’s roots.  “Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop was a light but deceptively satisfying read,” Chris said.  “It shows how to write a story that feels like an episode, while staying true to the strengths and limitations of the written medium.”  That sentiment got broad agreement as this story soared to unanimous approval.  “It’s just straight-up fun, with that mixture of goofiness and earnestness that the show does so well,” AugieDog said.  “Even the little asides — Gerard falling into conversation with the waiter at the restaurant, for instance — just shine.”

Great character work and strong structure rounded out the story’s strengths.  “Gerard is likeable to a fault, and this does a marvelous job of bringing its secondary characters to life, too — such as with the argument by the lakeside and with Harry’s reaction to pulling Dash from the window,” Horizon said.  “I also appreciate that it didn’t try to force all of the Mane Six in, instead giving us an effective Rule of Three structure whose progression reinforces the message of the piece.”  And the mythology was the cherry on top: “Most of this story is low-key, show-style comedic action, but it’s the legend of Hashala that really brings everything together at the end,” Present Perfect said.

What our praise coming back to, though, was the way this fundamentally understood what we love about MLP.  “This could not only be an episode, but an amazing episode,” Soge said.  “What truly makes the great episodes of pony great is well-defined characters taking active decisions, and ultimately learning through the consequences. It is not at all uncommon for cartoons to have characters learning lessons, but what has always set pony apart in my mind is how earned those feel. A lot of times this seems to be forgotten, both by fanfic writers and by the show staff, and this fic gets it right.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Fifths discusses tonal circles, Mesopotamian OTPs, and linguistic fungal infections.

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