FimFiction Link - Short ID: 500326/a-perfect-world
Published: Jul '21
'A Perfect World' is an eight-thousand word oneshot and quite possibly one of the best fanfics I've read in the short amount of time I've spent here.
Cozy Glow has won. Magic is gone and the repercussions are as dire as you can imagine. Uncontrollable weather, famine and even death ravage Equestria, while Cozy deludes herself in thinking she finally achieved a "perfect world," while she's huddled up in Twilight's castle.
I have to admit, I wasn't even sure I wanted to click on this fic at first. I didn't really like Cozy's character in the show and knowing the sort of degeneracy that some authors subject these characters to, it's safe to say that I was apprehensive. Especially since even if the author is not interested in that sort of stuff, writing believable child characters is very hard.
Yet here it just works. Cozy is stubborn, mean, thinks herself smarter than she really is, deserves a right slap for being an arrogant little brat and yet she does all of this with a certain childish-purity that surpasses even the fact that she basically caused the apocalypse. Twilight's characterization is amazing too. In a way she acts like how Celestia would act towards her, but with less distance and with an almost motherly approach. Her sadness feels very real and the care she shows fits her character perfectly. Everything feels natural, has a nice arc, it's a story that makes me glad I started reading fanfiction.
Because the story is so short and good, I am not going to delve into details. There is no way my second-rate recap could give back the experience the story is able to deliver, but I can say with certainty that from the beginning to the very last line everything clicks and I am in awe. And damn that ending. If anything makes me feel the same as S1 and S2 did, this is it.
Overall: 10/10 Perhaps in time I'm going to regret this score, perhaps I'll find an even better story, perhaps my tastes will change. But until then, this story is a gold standard in my opinion on how you can emotionally sucker-punch your readers in a way that they'll thank you in the end. It is a must read.