FimFiction Link - Short ID: 491528/a-new-world
Published: Nov '21
'A New World' is a one thousand and one hundred-word shortfic of pure unfiltered kino. The protagonist, known as one Daniel Walker, (likely a distant relative of Not Important,) reflects on how absolutely terrible his life is, because his work was hard and how watching television is the only thing stopping him from "wrecking havoc and just killing as much as he can… or himself." Finding no solace in the aforementioned device, he ventures out into the forest, apparently the only place he feels like "he can be himself." After a brief description of his devastatingly gray city, he finally ends up in the forest where he falls asleep and ends up in the Everfree. He's cornered by a manticore, but before the beast could end his life, Fluttershy suddenly appears and wards the beast off, ending the chapter and, - due to the rest of the fic being lost to time, - the entire story.
Dropping all pretenses, this is obviously a very poorly written fic, written by a then-twelve-years old author. The reasons why I'm even talking about it is because one, it's hilariously earnest in its angst and "Teen vs The World" attitude; and two, because I can respect an artist who's willing to go back to their old work and be the first one to cast a stone at themselves.
Even if these aren't any big revelations, it's interesting to see how well this story fits all the common fic stereotypes that cause some people (a group that included me, before I re-evaluated my opinion) to consider fanfiction as nothing more than awkward wish-fulfillment for children. From the main protagonist being a depressed and unhinged loner, to him - through incredible luck - ending up near one of the main protagonists of the show, this story is simply adorable with how cool it tries to be. I think any reader, who has tried writing at a young age, can probably relate to having at least one if not multiple of these stories.
Overall: 1/10 I mean, it's still an awful story. However, it's one that doesn't make me angry or frustrated, rather nostalgic. Can't recommend.