Ben's First Day
is a fanfiction by Jussonic.
Taking place in the author's version of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic universe, the fanfic is a sequel to Curse of the Demon Pony, taking place immediately after that story with everyone returning from Canterlot and follows Ben adjusting to life in Ponyville, seeking a quiet life. Unfortunately for him, after a suprising turn of events, Ben finds that life is not going to be so quiet.
The fanfiction contains examples of
- Bag of Kidnapping: Toward the end of the fic when Ben is attempting to leave Ponyville, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash tie Ben up and stick him in a bag so they can take him to Sugarcube Corner.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In one scene, Pinkie and the others need to get into the Golden Oak Library, but cannot because of the crowds. They circumvent this by exiting and entering the film frame, which Pinkie demonstrates. As pointed out in the dramatic reading, this fails because it is a visual gag, and does not work in text format.
- Celebrity Is Over Rated: Upon arriving in Ponyville, Ben ends up with ponies fawning over him, to the extent they chase him around Ponyville, much to his dismay because he came to Ponyville for a quiet life with Twilight and Nyx.
- Continuity Nod:
- Events from Curse of The Demon Pony are referenced, including Ben being freed from the cage by Lorcan and Twilight's parents' house being destroyed at the end of that fic.
- Ben unflatteringly mentions the events of Hearts and Hooves Day where the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to hook Cherilee with Big Mac using Love Poison, much to Cherilee and Apple Bloom's embarassment.
- Ben's unwanted attention is likened to the episodes where the Mane Five tried to get Twilight's extra gala ticket in The Ticket Master and Fluttershy being stalked by everyone after she became Photo Finish's model in Green is Not Your Color.
- Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds in 10 seconds in Friendship is Magic Part 1 is mentioned, and she demonstrates this again.
- One of the fic's last lines "redemption isn't easy but will be worth it", is lifted from Return of Harmony Part 2 (albeit with the word "friendship" replaced with "redemption").
- Department of Redundancy Department: As with Curse of The Demon Pony, the author restates in narration what has already been spoken by a character.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Pipsqueak is revealed to have a toy of Princess Luna. A boy with a toy of a technicolor pony. Sound familiar?
- Easily Forgiven: Ben declares he was the Demon Pony to the citizens of Ponyville, who take no issue with this. The worst he gets is working at Applejack's farm as punishment for eating a pie when he was the Demon Pony.
- Hammerspace: Ben brings with him a bag that is bigger on the inside to store his belongings.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Ben's reason for coming to Ponyville was because he wanted a quiet life and yells at the Ponyville citizens for not giving him privacy.
- Mood Whiplash: After being given a tour of Ponyville, Ben asks Twilight what has happened to her brother, Starlight note only to learn he was murdered, ending a relatively pleasant chapter on a grim tone.
- Running Gag: Wherever Ben goes, ponies keep following him.
- Sailor Earth: Ben is revealed to be the holder of three new Elements of Harmony.
- Series Continuity Error: Twilight claims she was able to get extra tickets due to being related to Celestia through Shining and Cadance's marriage. The marriage did not occur until season 2 whereas the incident with the Gala tickets was in season 1.
- Shout-Out:
- Ben's bigger on the inside magic bag is activated with the words "Bibidi bobidi boo", the magic words the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella used.
- After visiting Sweet Apple Acres, Ben and the others go into the Everfree Forest, where Applejack taunts a group of steers to chase everyone. This was ripped off from a scene in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Ben's tour of Ponyville is essentially a copy of Friendship is Magic Part 1, meeting the Mane Five and doing with Ben what they did with Twilight did in the first episode, including Ben meeting Apple Jack's relatives, Rarity getting Ben a new outfit and Pinkie Pie throwing Ben a party.
