Reading is important. Even if it's fanfics. We've got a bunch today for you all starring the crusaders above.
This list is different from last year, so be sure to hit that one up if you want more to read! And thanks to Whisper Key for digging it all up.
Go read CMC fics below.
Slice of Life
Allure of Generosity by PaulAsaran [5k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
After months of watching Scootaloo and Spike, Sweetie concludes it's finally time to educate Scoots on the fine art of being beautiful! Scootaloo isn't so enthusiastic, especially given how Sweetie seems to treat her suitors.
Rarity noticed this as well. She feels it's time for an intervention: Sweetie needs to clean up her act, and Scootaloo needs to learn what really makes a mare alluring. There's no better time than now to teach them both a valuable lesson.
Lake Day by GrangeDisplay [1k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
On an unusually hot summer day, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo look forward to a day at Saddle Lake. They just have to stop digging their hole first.
Dark Soulstice by NaiadSagaIotaOar [2k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Staying indoors during the cold, Button Mash subjects Sweetie Belle to one of his favorite games.
Volunteer Day by SockPuppet [3k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Sweetie Belle volunteers at Children's Hospital.
Sweet Apple Anthology by Bad_Seed_72 [141k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
After Babs Seed moves in with her cousins and grandmother at Sweet Apple Acres, seven years and twenty-eight seasons of lessons about friendship, love, and the true meaning of family shape her into the mare she ultimately becomes.
What became of Babs Seed's mother and sister? Will the bobtailed foal ever see the ones she left behind again? How will the other Ponyville Cutie Mark Crusaders react to their fourth member earning her cutiemark before the rest? Is family what we are born into, or is it what we choose to create? And, ultimately, can a city-pony truly adapt to country life?
Thrown by nanashi_jones [2k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Babs enjoys a game of horseshoes before she has to leave Ponyville and put her lessons on bullying to use. But Scootaloo surprises the city filly when she opens up about some bullies who went beyond cutie marks. Can Babs reach out to her pal or has Scootaloo shared more than the new Cutie Mark Crusader can handle?
Comedy
Sweetie Bot and the 'Founding of Canterlot' Essay by Wanderer D [3k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Apple Bloom attended one of Twilight's talks about magical constructs that emulate creature's intelligence. But why limit that to magic, when good ol' Earth Pony ingenuity can do the trick?
Another Fine Product by Silent Whisper [1k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
In her bid for necromancy, Apple Bloom is faced with the greatest enemy of all: Autocorrect.
Sweetie Ban by Casketbase77 [3k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Technology has come to Ponyville, and with it all kinds of complications. The School of Friendship in particular has too many students using AI to cheat on their homework. Not to worry, though. A simple, no-exemptions ban on electronics will solve the problem for everyone.
Everyone except the robot employed in the tutoring lounge.
Sad/Dark
Frail Feathers by DarthBall [1k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
There is an eternal longing within each pegasus as they come of age---an insatiable desire to break free from earthly bonds and soar into the heavens above.
For most, answering the call is easy. But what happens when you cannot rise to the challenge? What happens when you cannot rise above your physical and mental limitations?
For Scootaloo, this is her reality---a voice that screamed in the back of her mind as she looked enviously at the other pegasi soaring freely through the deep blue, unburdened by any lingering doubts.
With nothing left to lose and everything to gain, Scootaloo takes a leap of faith.
In Your Kindest Voice by Ice Star [5k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo need to do an interview for a school project. Fortunately, they have found the right pony to help with their homework assignment. One trip to Ponyville's Town Hall in after school hours should be all they need for their research.
Absolutely nothing whatsoever goes wrong.
Sweetie D/B/? by Shaslan [2k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Am I me if I’m just her? Am I her, rewritten? Am I myself at all? Questions circling in my head, day and night, waking and sleeping. Rattling like pennies inside a tin can.
That Isn't Me by wishcometrue [1k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
No matter what anyone else says, Sweetie Belle knows that whatever that is in the mirror isn't her. That doesn't mean she can do anything about it.
The Blackness by Shaslan [4k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Sweetie Belle looked into the infinite blackness of the void and sighed.
Asynchronous by danatron1 [1k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
A short existential horror. Apple Bloom accidentally time travels a fraction of a second into the past, and realises she's the only one there. The world continues on around her, yet she's not in it.
The present is an infinitely thin span of time bordered by endless past and future. Everyone you know and love balances on that line. What if you fell off?
End of the Line by False Door [4k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Rumble and Apple Bloom run away together to start a new life in the big city. Things don't go as planned when they miss their train stop and end up stranded somewhere they've never even heard of.
Drama
The Vulture's Coinflip by Odd_Sarge [6k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
Show and tell: it’s a classic Ponyville Schoolhouse tradition.
Likewise, there’s a storied rumor of a mysterious cave on the edge of Saddle Lake, where baubles and trinkets are awarded to foals who manage the trek. But the Everfree Forest is no place for ponies, let alone foals.
Scootaloo has nothing to show. So she’ll gladly take her chances.
Half for the Fairies by Silent Whisper [3k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
If Rarity saved half her meals to feed to the fairies so she could stay pretty, Sweetie Belle wasn't going to argue. Rarity was always right, after all.
SciFi
Cuts Too Deeply by scifipony [3k words]
https://www.fimfiction.net/
I had come from Hooflyn to visit Apple Bloom because my cousin had written me about her cutie mark nightmare. Though my golden scissor could cut only one thing, my special talent called in to question everything; whether I was adopted, if I was an Earth pony, if I was willing to take responsibility for the life of the strangers around me. It made my life a waking nightmare. I wanted to talk to Apple Bloom so I could decide whether to keep my cutie mark… or remove it.
