The quest through today’s story may yield much richer rewards than some goofy grins.

Pinkie Pie and The Quest for Missing Smiles
[Adventure] • 12,804 words

Pinkie Pie’s entire day revolves around getting every pony she meets to feel happy. She’s a master of it all, from practical jokes to slapstick comedy. Sure, she’s had a few tough nuts to crack, but in the end those nuts always crack a smile!

…Except for today. A strange spell has infected Pinkie’s home, somehow leaving only her immune to the effects. Clearly there is only one solution: an epic adventure to return the smiles back to Ponyville! With her trusty sidekick Gummy at her side, there will be no stopping her quest!

FROM THE CURATORS: Don’t be fooled by this story’s surface presentation — it’s got a surprising amount of depth once you start flipping its pages.  “This is a story which shows how to do a range of emotions right,” Chris said. “There aren’t many stories that can make such a smooth and effective transition through so many tones over the course of just 12,000 words, morphing from a goofy comedy to a thoughtful look at the role of sadness in our lives.”  And it’s a story that uses all of those words to build its bigger picture piece by piece.  “I started to write how much I liked the story’s twist ending, but the more I think about it, the less I like using the term ‘twist’,” AugieDog said.  “It’s done so gently and matter-of-fact-ly that it’s more a shift of perspective than anything else.”

The fic’s slow unfolding generated quite a lot of curator discussion — especially over the cheerful cliches and almost-mythic foreshadowing of the opening chapter.  “I liked the style (of Chapter 1),” Chris said.  “I thought it was very appropriately reserved, children’s story-esque construction which fit the narrative design very well.”  AugieDog appreciated it more as it deepened: “I was intrigued by the tension between Pinkie and Twilight and Rarity in chapter 1 … and the sheer weirdness of Pinkie’s journey kept me going till in the last chapter, all finally became clear,” he said.  Even the first chapter’s detractors respected it in the story’s fuller context. “I bounced pretty hard off Chapter 1, but I do appreciate the way it retroactively justifies its opening,” Horizon said.

And while the story’s emotional range generated its share of praise, other curators also singled out the structure.  “Ponyville is grieving over some tragedy, while Pinkie is in denial — this might be the smartest exploration of that situation I’ve ever read,” Soge said.  “It attacks the idea on multiple fronts: The plot itself, the evolution of the prose, her interactions with Gummy, the way the chapter structure follows the 5 stages of grief … it does wonders to really get the reader inside Pinkie’s head.”  The characterization, too, was hailed as exemplary.  “Through it all, Pinkie remains ineffably Pinkie-y; a silly character, but one who takes her silliness seriously,” Chris said, and AugieDog agreed: “This is a finely rendered Pinkie.  Heck, it’s one of the best Gummy stories I’ve come across, too.”