FimFiction Link - Short ID: 518446/nightshift
Published: Jun '22
'Nightshift' is a two thousand and two hundred word comedy SoL oneshot featuring the absolute carnage a sleepy princess with awesome powers can cause.
Though I wouldn't say this story does anything particularly new, what it does set out to do - a simple comedy with no massive plot-twists or anything - it accomplishes very well. What I personally found most fun about this fic was the implication that not only has this happened previously, it's at this point such a common occurrence that the characters almost began rationalizing it, not that they could do anything else due to her royal status anyways. That is not to say I didn't find the other jokes plenty funny as well, several of them made me chuckle, especially the intricate descriptions of unlucky wares going flying or smashing into the ground wherever Bookhorse treads.
I also really like that the author incorporated the cover art into the story (or, what seems more likely to me, wrote the story around the cover art) especially since it's not just a background detail, but things like Twilight's mug play an active role in the comedy. I also have to mention the slightly lewd undertones of the story. I'm not entirely sure if these were just meant to be part of the humor or the author's own style seeping into a story that really has nothing sexual about it otherwise, but I found this too pretty amusing. Seeing the frustration of the store clerk of how he both subtly finds Twilight really hot, but is also pissed to no end about the destruction she causes is a rare kind of humor, but I think it works well. And let's be honest, Bookhorse in socks is pretty hot.
The characters too are very enjoyable. Seeing how differently they react to Twilight is both pretty entertaining and shows a nice understanding of how to establish personalities with relatively little text. Hell, I'd say even Twilight herself got nicely personalized with the science joke mug, her totally inappropriate for outside clothing, and her mumbling for cookies, despite the fact that she spends the entire story practically unconscious.
Now, admittedly one could ask such pointless questions as "would ponies really swear this much?" or "would truly no one tell Twilight that she's sleepwalking?" but such pedantry is absolutely pointless and would just harm your enjoyment of an otherwise pretty damn funny fic and I personally refuse to raise either as negatives.
Overall: 7/10 This is probably one of the easiest 7/10-s I've given yet. While, as mentioned before, the concept itself doesn't feel that novel or daring (not that there is anything wrong with that, not everything has to be the story to save the world), the execution effortlessly carries this story to a high score like this. If you're looking for a low-stakes comedy that you can get through in a few minutes, I can definitely recommend this one.