Friday, September 9, 2011

Story: The Light in the Darkness

[Normal][FriendShipping]

Author:
zaptiftun
Description: Rainbow Dash returns from an evening in Cloudsdale to find Pinkie Pie in a dreadful state after a terrible nightmare. The pegasus tries her best to comfort her friend; will it be enough?
The Light in the Darkness

Additional Tags:
Nightmare, comfort, friendship, short, story

86 comments:

Flatterscheu said...

Friendship is the best ship.

Azarias said...

I shall give this a look.

Marvin said...

When I though of friendshipping, the first idea was friends with benefits xD oh and first if it applies.

SoFDMC said...

That cartoon above is like that happy ending scene from that grimdark fic 'Cupcakes'.

hoverhoof said...

Did she dream of cupcakes?

Greenf0x said...

@Flatterscheu

I face hoofed after reading your comment, i read this as friendship shipping. aaaahhhhggg

Streek471 said...

friendship is good. Friendshipping...I dunno.

seniumboy said...

How is friendShipping different than just plain shipping??

Greenf0x said...

@seniumboy

Have to read to find out i guess.

Grez said...

friendshipping? I haven't heard that since my Fanfiction.net days.

Avohkah Tamer said...

I assume (without having read the fic yet) that FriendShipping means it's about a strong bond of friendship rather than romance. Which I approve of, since I'm not personally a fan of normal shipping.

CTVulpin said...

This was a great read, and I laughed pretty hard at the ending. Pinkie needs to make a friendship report in season 2, just to compare it with this.

Miyajima said...

This was great indeed. It's nice to see a story that doesn't involve them tangled up in the bedsheets together for a change.

Azarias said...

I finished reading it.

Ah mah gahwd that were umazing!

Take all of my stars.

Streek471 said...

Okay, I read it.

We need more friendshipping instead of just shipping.

banannagram said...

This truly deserves five stars.

Homfrog said...

Then:
B'awww.
Now:
D'awww.

red-savant said...

Yup. I'd tell you to shut up and take my stars, but if you shut up you won't write more, which you absolutely must do. So...

Erroneous said...

Honestly I wouldn't put a shipping tag on here at all.
When Pinkie says "I love you" its completely platonic.

NinesTempest said...

@Erroneous
IT'S FRIENDSHIPPING

BETTER FRIENDS

READ TAGS

blindredquine said...

Amazing.

I cannot believe that someone took something as utterly leprous and corrosive as "Cupcakes" and used it as a spring-board to write something so utterly heart-warming and faithful to the tone and themes of the show.

Good job!

Freeze Frame said...

@Erroneous, It's not "shipping". "Friendshipping" is a take on the idea of "shipping" where instead of building a romantic relationship, you're building up a deep friendship. Friendshipping is J.D. and Turk from Scrubs, essentially.

Trollestia said...

Im still horrendously depressed by cupcakes related things (odd considering how much and the fact i havent even read it, never will either) .

But i gave this a go, i liked it. It was very well written. it deserves the ratings its getting.

pmcollectorboy said...

Not only is this much needed retribution for the existence of Cupcakes, but it works on its own as a great story. I have the biggest grin on my face right now.

Flutteryay said...

I love this!

All my stars are belong to you.

Whiteout said...

Five stars, and my profuse thanks for writing something that catches the spirit of the show and the characters.

omegablaster said...

finished reading...need more friendshipping...allmystars.jpg

Cloudy Skies said...

Every star I can muster, Sir.

Or madam. I can't really tell your gender based on your name, but what I can say about you based on your story is that you're one of my favorite people, now.

Kits said...

THIS!

This is the kind of fic I come here to read. Sweet, adorable, and very, very pony. 5/5 and here's wishing for that 6,.

GOOD SHOW!

str8tUPbr0ny said...

wow this is one of the very few fanfics that had a sweet ending to it, thanks for this or else i would have forgotten what ponies were really all about, friendship!

OminousBrony said...

Of all the fanfics that use Cupcakes as their basis for the story, This one has to be the best.

Zanzibar said...

Pretty cute story, but in the end nothing I thought were particularly touching. Some of the memes involved and some of the dialogue was particularly groan worth.

Not bad at all, but simply average to me. Glad others are enjoying it though.

The Lovely Penguin said...

B'aww, that was completely heartwarming, especially at the end! Very good read.

Poni1Kenobi said...

I dub this: The cure for Cupcakes.

That was excellent. Well done!

WE NEED MORE FRIENDSHIPPING!!

Flutteryay said...

Friendshipping is awesome and we do indeed need more of it.

TenchiFreak5 said...

This was kind of... meh. I mean, the themes were nice, but it honestly seemed like the picture used in the header told just as much of the story as the story itself, only it did it much quicker.


Don't get me wrong: There were some nice touches, like Pinkie responding by throwing away all of the knives in the bakery (a very Pinkie Pie way of responding to the dream), Dash going behind Pinkie's back to bring all of their friends in to help with the bakery so Pinkie could get some rest, and Pinkie writing the letter to Celestia.

But for the most part it was just *there*, not really having that much of a point to it; and I agree with Zanzibar above in saying that some of the stuff covered caused eyerolling rather than an actual connection with the story.




@OminousBrony

Eehhh...

I think A Precious Rainbow was much better, even if it was basically the exact opposite of this one in concept.

Venlin said...

I need help! I wand to give this 6-star but how do I do it? Is there some button or do I just write it? Anyway awesome fic I loved every word of it.

AzuNyan said...

A VCR, in this day and age?

pmcollectorboy said...

@Venlin
Sometimes the rating form is stubborn, and practically nonexistent if you're using the mobile version.

Ace2401 said...

@TenchiFreak5

Have you been following the rest of that continuity? A Precious Rainbow is just the first story of several.

banannagram said...

@Poni1Kenobi I'm not sure about it being the cure for Cupcakes. I read Pretty in Pink, the one claiming to be a cure, and somehow it flushed my system of cupcake residue. It could be a cure, or both could work, or I'm just not a good test subject.

iAndster said...

I d'awwwed

Not the d'awww I usually do when I read regular shipping stories, but it was still a good one.

Violet Droplet said...

I lol'd at My Little People.

That was an absolutely wonderous story <3

M1Abrams said...

I was very very impressed with this little story, is was wonderfully done and the characters fit to the themes of the shows so well. I've never read cupcakes, I never intend do (I don't like to think of our adorable ponies that way, are you mad!?) But this right here, even thought related to it in such a direct way, was outstanding.

I could SEE this happening in the show, maybe the nightmare wouldn't be...well...Cupcakes, but still that's how well written it was. And the I love you's at the end made me dawwww so hard my jaw nearly came off. All my stars people...ALL OF THEM!

mycutiemarkisagun said...

How come this gets its own post but Lord Xaos's The Dark Side is relegated to the Cupcakes ghetto? INJUSTICE DETECTED

Ford said...

@hoverhoof

She didn't really go into details, and I never read the full Cupcakes fic. Let me just say that anyone who had a nightmare like she did would be utterly terrified.

Just read it.

TenchiFreak5 said...

@Ace2401

I started The Cupcake Killer while it was in progress, but I don't think it was any farther than Chapter 2 when I started it; and I haven't checked on it since then.

OminousBrony said...

@TenchiFreak5

I have read that one too. Though I can't help but to prefer this heart warming one more.

Pyrite said...

Quite good, and very authentic throughout. I didn't achieve that emotional-catharsis-why-is-my-face-leaking moment I expected from the picture, but then again it doesn't have a [Sad] tag so I really shouldn't have expected that.

This is probably on it's way to 6 star territory.

Barb &amp; Gage said...

I absolutely despise shipping but I will give this a go simply because from what I've read there is no romance.

Ace2401 said...

@TenchiFreak5

It's a lot farther now, and we're working on the second to last story in the continuity (I've been a collaborator since The Cupcake Killer btw).

Ace2401 said...

@zaptiftun

Cute story, I enjoyed it. I can't help but think that Cupcakes Pinkie is still in there waiting to get out though...

Of course, I would think that with the fic I'm currently working on XD

Anonymoose said...

Nice feel good story! Even though it is sort of referencing cupcakes. And it's nice that it doesn't end on a cupcake reference either.

Stefan said...

Short sweet and feel-good.

The antidote to Cupcakes.

Non-romance shipping.

Good writing.

This deserves every five-star rating it's getting. Including mine.

Hunter X said...

I'm not sure there's much I can say that hasn't already said. This is a brilliant, incredibly well-written story. 5/5

mycutiemarkisagun said...

"You are not psychotic, Pinkie..."


uhhhhhhhhh...EHHHHHHHH.....not sociopathic, you mean.

TenchiFreak5 said...

@mycutiemarkisagun

Actually, I disagree with that. When your Average Joe doesn't know the difference between the two terms and uses the first as a catch-all for both, Rainbow Dash certainly wouldn't be one to understand the distinction and get it right even if she was told.

I think using the wrong term is more correct for her character.




@Ace2401

I suppose I'll give it another looksie, then.

bronydash said...

Friendshipping? Interesting concept. I hate shipping, but this might not be bad. I'll give it a try.

Ford said...

Good news, everypony! I found a video of Pinkie's nightmare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozDvkBe2rdg

zaptiftun said...

...
0.o
o.0
Wow...this is humbling...I think my brain locked up after seeing the number of comments and ratings that this earned so quickly. I seriously wasn't expecting this sort of a response from you all; thank you, I'm more than pleased that you enjoyed it! :D

Alright, let me answer some questions here before I get too far behind:

1. I meant the "Friendshipping" tag as a sort of joke, but it seemed to fit given the context (I think Freeze Frame defined the best XD).
2. Yes, I'm a male *gives Cloudy Skies the Lazy Eye*
3. Ok, the story behind this fic: I haven't read "Cupcakes", nor do I have any desire to, but I did read the synopsis for it on Knowyourmeme and that alone was enough to put me off. Afterward, I got the idea to write a alternate ending-thingy-whatever where it was all a nightmare Pinkie had. Halfway through writing it, I took a break and literally five minutes later discover that a dozen other people had similar ideas already. Rather than beat a dead horse (ha, horrible pun, please don't kill me), I decided to rewrite this as a standalone fic, like something that might happen in an episode (though I highly doubt they'd actually do something like this). I apologize if it seems too much like a "Cupcakes" alternate, but I needed to keep certain elements from my original draft so that it would work properly.

Thanks for all the feedback, I really do greatly appreciate it, and thanks for enjoying it! You may see more from me farther down the line and some of it will be shipping. I'm a hopeless romantic, so sue me (though I wish you wouldn't, I don't have much money as it is :P).

ThemsAllTook said...

That was incredibly sweet. Loved it!

Heartmend said...

This was very sweet! It brought a warm smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Five stars, easy! :D

Mattatatta said...

>326 Ratings
>5 stars

The story deserves that. It's a nice story, it made me feel pretty good at the end. Despite it's short length, it easily got to me on an emotional level. Well done

Antiguo said...

Six stars.
Absolutely the best rendition of cupcakes aftermath in Equestria Daily.

Great, great, fantastimundo work.

zaptiftun said...

Thanks for the comments and for enjoying it, guys! :D

Trivial said...

Dear sir, you have earned 5 stars from me, but only because I cannot give you 6. I enjoyed this story very much. I'm not a fan of shipping, but friendshipping is awesome (I think the proper trope name is "Friendship Moment," but that matters little). Thank you kindly for your contribution.

lanasevol said...

haha it's funny cuz at the end dash says she's into stallions, oh author you so crazy.

Flutteryay said...

Sethisto, I do believe this should be updated to "Star-6."

Trivial said...

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this before, but Night at the Opera? Wouldn't Rainbow Dash have preferred Horse Feathers?

DPV111 said...

Aww. What a sweet story.

zaptiftun said...

@Trivial:
Thank you very much for the compliment. As for the movie selection, maybe, but Night at the Opera was the one I had watched that night. :P

@lanasevol:
Yes I am, crazy like a fox!

@DPV111:
I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Flutteryay said...

Yeah, when I start my fanfic tomorrow (I've put it off because I've been sick), can I use the [FriendShipping] tag?

zaptiftun said...

@Flutteryay

...

I suppose you can, I mean I don't have copyright on it or anything, I was just being silly with it :P

axlemn said...

I just read a synopsis for cupcakes. It was just a paragraph, right?

I am going to reread this a few times to help regain sanity and to stop flinching.

axlemn said...

With help from Pretty in Pink, I think it worked - noticeably at least.

I'd have looked it up sooner or later, and I'm glad I had this on hand when I did.

Trivial said...

@zaptiftun
You're welcome to all my compliments and more. As for the movie comment: that was an attempt at a horrible, and probably misplaced, pun ('Horse Feathers'- get it? She's a pegasus). Again, I apologize if my levity is out-of-place. Wonderful, wonderful piece of work.

zaptiftun said...

@axlemn
Yeah, that paragraph was all it took for me. Glad this helped. :)


@Trivial
It was a good pun and it made me chuckle, I just hadn't thought of it that night. ;)

Tundra said...

@Poni1Kenobi
I concur.

Well done.

smith0211 said...

The love displayed here is Phileo love, the love displayed between friends. That, by the way, is what friendshipping is. It's the non sexual side of love.

zaptiftun said...

Ah, someone else who knows the various aspects/translations of love, excellent!

Jase Mercer said...

This is the most heartwarming thing I've read in a long time, without it making me cry in sorrow.

smith0211 said...

FiMFiction
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/16531/the-light-in-the-darkness

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