So, in an offhand interaction between Fluttershy and Hummingway, a bird, I was racking my brain for a minute. "Hm. In what way is a pony pun produced by naming a bird after Ernest Hemmingway?" It took me just a little too long to realize--birds "hum." That's my confession for the day. A good deed. 

In Furry Friends Fair, Fluttershy's signature pet bunny, Angel, is ostracized and humiliated by Flim and Flam at a show case for pet talents. Flim and Flam basically call Angel unremarkable, so after Angel witnesses Applejack and her furry friend, Winona, herding sheep, Angel wants to develop the necessary skills for herding to compete in the Fine Furry Friends Fair, and prove to himself he is quite the remarkable bunny. After a rough start, Fluttershy's friends join in, problems arise, and, of course, we all learn a lesson about friendship--and the importance of self-worth.

@Fluttershutter recommended these chapter books to me months ago because they "read like episodes." I purchased a newer version of the books suggested and let them sit on my shelf for a while, but I've decided to pick them up and begin reading. I began with my favorite pony, Fluttershy's, protagonist book and read through it. Obviously not a long read, but Fluttershutter was right! It reads like an episode, and a good one at that! 

Rock solid. That's the best I can say about this particular chapter book. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the language and verbosity wasn't quite as sophomoric as I thought they would be considering the target audience being elementary students. Obviously, it didn't infuse the rich but quiet haunt of Cormac McCarthy or the linguistically clinical mayhem of H.P. Lovecraft, but it didn't necessarily read as a "baby book," for lack of a better word, which says something, because as an avid fan of the show, I already knew who these characters were and where these settings were, so the imagery and sounds were already there, yet I was still implored to use my imagination to visualize these scenes and hear these voices and sounds in my head. My favorite line which legitimately made me chuckle was spoken by Pinkie Pie, who says, "We brought you ewes to use!" But then she turns to Rainbow Dash and says, "Or was it, use these ewes so you don't lose?" Not only is that clever and humorous, but it's perfectly in character with Pinkie Pie. Not to mention, I particularly took note of a vividly descriptive sentence: "Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs across her chest like she was personally offended that her great idea didn't pan out." That is a succinct yet vivid sentence evolving the visual image the language creates for the reader to generate in their imagination rather than simply focusing on the conversation at hand, and, yet again, not only in dialogue but in behavior in mannerisms did the author manage to capture these characters. So, bravo to G.M. Berrow because it's actually something I'd love to write! I mean, if you write literature using characters from an established IP, it's still technically fan fiction if you're being paid.  

The pacing was genuinely great. It reads like an episode, and it's markedly divided into a three-act story, but there was never a point where I was wondering how this or that would be resolved in any time frame. This really goes into the potential for new appreciation reading these books could have on an MLP fanatic. Although the font is clearly larger than other books, it's still a hundred-and-something pages, and while it reads like an episode, it really puts a pony fan in their place when they realize just how much work goes into these episodes. Sure, we relish and rejoice and gush and spring ourselves at the show's, design, the lore, the characterization, and general effervescence. When reading this book, I realized and thought to myself, "Wow. This much thought goes into this show, and this is just in plain text format." So all that relishing and rejoicing and gushing I do was enhanced by reading this book and realizing how much effort and work goes into this stuff. Friendship is Magic! Friendship is work! And Friendship is Magic is a lot of work. 

Lastly, I'll mention the resolution. Spoilers ahead. When Fluttershy and Angel finally perform at the Fury Friends Fair, first of all, I'm glad the win still went to Applejack. There was no reason for any competition between Fluttershy and Applejack to be delved into. The book mentioned Rainbow Dash and Applejack's friendly rivalry by mentioning "those two loved to challenge each other over every little thing." I don't remember the context, but I believe the line was mentioned to affirm there's no competitive element between Fluttershy and Applejack in the story at hand. Also, while Fluttershy and Angel won second place, it was still with the help of her friends going to unconventional measures to pull it off, and ultimately, the author managed to infuse a satisfying victory for Fluttershy and her fuzzy bunny while also maintaining the crux of the most important themes, self-worth and self-confidence. The friendship themes are always stronger when it's neatly tied in with a message for the individual. 

Fun. Heartwarming. Adorable. Fuzzy. Well-written. I don't do ratings of any kind, so all I'll say is I can't compare it to the rest yet, but I definitely recommend it, and there's also a wonderful bonus for Fluttershy fans since it's a Flutter-focused story!