Category Archives: Features

Aragon’s “A Million Little Lights”

13 Friday May 2016

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Today’s story lets a novel interpretation of Princess Celestia shine.

million-little-lightsA Million Little Lights
[Drama] [Slice of Life] • 2,176 words

Tonight, Celestia will talk to Shining Armor. With just one conversation, she needs to save Equestria.

FROM THE CURATORS: The core of this story, which earned rare unanimous curator approval, is “Celestia trying by sheer force of will to stop ponies — including herself — from believing in her divinity,” as AugieDog put it.  And both the vision and the execution of that idea were exemplary.  “This is a really singular ‘goddess Celestia’ story,” Present Perfect said. “It’s clear the Celestia in this story could solve the world’s problems in a heartbeat, or the problems of single ponies, but if she does, they won’t learn anything. Assuming she doesn’t make things worse somehow, as her sorrowful monologue at the end suggests.”

But while this shines as an idea story — “The idea of walking the tightrope between being a living symbol and being the object of zealotry is explored concisely, but compellingly,” Chris said — its depth as a character piece won our equal acclaim.  “Celestia’s a remarkable combination of alien and all-too-comprehensible,” Horizon said, and AugieDog found her extremely sympathetic: “Her inner struggle is so nicely rendered — very calm, very quiet, very Celestia, but very heartfelt.”

That sympathetic portrayal made this story both a moving experience and an easy choice for a feature.  “Celestia repeating her phrase like a mantra drives home just how easy it is for even a creature who can all but see the future to become trapped into a world — and a role — they can’t abide,” Chris said.  And its economy of storytelling was the cherry on top of the narrative sundae.  “This is a fantastic little one-two punch of a story … it really is remarkable how vivid a picture this paints given its length,” Horizon said. “Not a word feels wasted here.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Aragon discusses finger guns, nightmare retardant, and boys named Texas.

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Doppler Effect’s “A Brief History Of Time”

06 Friday May 2016

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… Therefore, by Farnsworth’s logic, we were always meant to feature today’s story.

brief-history-timeA Brief History Of Time
[Drama] [Sci-Fi] • 5,861 words

“Anything that happens, happens.

Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen.

Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.

It doesn’t necessarily do it in chronological order, though.”

– Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

Twilight and Minuette discuss Starlight Glimmer’s timeline disruptions.

Twilight just wishes the conversation had happened in chronological order.

FROM THE CURATORS: There are two types of fanfics — those which leap from canon into the unknown and unexplored, and those which dig into the details of the show to bring new context to the moments we love — and this is an easy exemplar of the second type.  “At its heart, this is a short and simple exploration of how to reconcile the S5 finale with It’s About Time‘s premise of stable time loops,” Chris said in his nomination.  Horizon praised the nuance with which it handled that topic: “The way this squares two episodes with seemingly incompatible time-travel theories is sharp, and it’s got a good eye for the multiple-timeline consequences the episode leaves unexplored.  It’s nice to find writing both this smart and this clear.”  AugieDog especially appreciated that clarity: “Time travel stories in general make me itchy, so anything that serves to lessen that itchiness is always welcome.”

But this fic isn’t content to merely bat around time-travel ideas.  “There are tons of cool little details, like the idea that Equestria would have a journal for both fiction and true accounts, or the rotation of the magical bubble,” Soge said.  “It takes a premise which could easily fit a blog post, and turns it into a full fledged story thanks to some great characterization work.”

It was that “terrific character writing,” as AugieDog put it, that sealed the deal on the feature.  “I love it when Minuette gets serious and Twilight realizes that this isn’t just a theoretical discussion they’re having — and the way the story comes up with a Pony-logical solution for the problem it’s addressing,” AugieDog added.  Soge enjoyed the characters as well: “Minuette is adorable, Twilight is perfectly in character, and it has amazing comedic timing,” he said.  And, as Chris noted, Minuette’s personality served the story very well: “Her cheeky carefree-ity is used to keep what could easily have become an overly-technical bit of headcanon from being too narrow in scope or dry in tone.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Doppler Effect discusses Novikov consistency, Terminator predestination, and Asimov’s ambiguously real goose.
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Venates’ “Pinkie Pie and The Quest for Missing Smiles”

29 Friday Apr 2016

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The quest through today’s story may yield much richer rewards than some goofy grins.

pinkie-pie-questPinkie Pie and The Quest for Missing Smiles
[Adventure] • 12,804 words

Pinkie Pie’s entire day revolves around getting every pony she meets to feel happy. She’s a master of it all, from practical jokes to slapstick comedy. Sure, she’s had a few tough nuts to crack, but in the end those nuts always crack a smile!

…Except for today. A strange spell has infected Pinkie’s home, somehow leaving only her immune to the effects. Clearly there is only one solution: an epic adventure to return the smiles back to Ponyville! With her trusty sidekick Gummy at her side, there will be no stopping her quest!

FROM THE CURATORS: Don’t be fooled by this story’s surface presentation — it’s got a surprising amount of depth once you start flipping its pages.  “This is a story which shows how to do a range of emotions right,” Chris said. “There aren’t many stories that can make such a smooth and effective transition through so many tones over the course of just 12,000 words, morphing from a goofy comedy to a thoughtful look at the role of sadness in our lives.”  And it’s a story that uses all of those words to build its bigger picture piece by piece.  “I started to write how much I liked the story’s twist ending, but the more I think about it, the less I like using the term ‘twist’,” AugieDog said.  “It’s done so gently and matter-of-fact-ly that it’s more a shift of perspective than anything else.”

The fic’s slow unfolding generated quite a lot of curator discussion — especially over the cheerful cliches and almost-mythic foreshadowing of the opening chapter.  “I liked the style (of Chapter 1),” Chris said.  “I thought it was very appropriately reserved, children’s story-esque construction which fit the narrative design very well.”  AugieDog appreciated it more as it deepened: “I was intrigued by the tension between Pinkie and Twilight and Rarity in chapter 1 … and the sheer weirdness of Pinkie’s journey kept me going till in the last chapter, all finally became clear,” he said.  Even the first chapter’s detractors respected it in the story’s fuller context. “I bounced pretty hard off Chapter 1, but I do appreciate the way it retroactively justifies its opening,” Horizon said.

And while the story’s emotional range generated its share of praise, other curators also singled out the structure.  “Ponyville is grieving over some tragedy, while Pinkie is in denial — this might be the smartest exploration of that situation I’ve ever read,” Soge said.  “It attacks the idea on multiple fronts: The plot itself, the evolution of the prose, her interactions with Gummy, the way the chapter structure follows the 5 stages of grief … it does wonders to really get the reader inside Pinkie’s head.”  The characterization, too, was hailed as exemplary.  “Through it all, Pinkie remains ineffably Pinkie-y; a silly character, but one who takes her silliness seriously,” Chris said, and AugieDog agreed: “This is a finely rendered Pinkie.  Heck, it’s one of the best Gummy stories I’ve come across, too.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Venates discusses loaded questions, Latin games, and the grounding of alligators.
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N00813’s “Schemering Sintel”

22 Friday Apr 2016

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Today’s story walks the lonely road to revenge.

schemering-sintelSchemering Sintel
[Adventure] [Dark] [Drama] [Sad] [Tragedy] • 29,611 words

It’s been a long, long time since Spike was stolen from her, but Twilight hasn’t forgotten nor forgiven.  After a long and arduous journey, she has finally found him and his kidnapper.

She will save him.

No matter the cost.

FROM THE CURATORS: While Schemering Sintel doesn’t flinch from its Dark tag, it’s “a very clever grim fic,” as Soge put it:  “It is a great example of how to twist a character beyond recognition without alienating the audience.”  Indeed, it was the way that the story handled its vision of a morally altered Twilight which drew the most curator praise.  “Where this piece excels is showing,” Present Perfect said.  “It’s not just a story about Twilight finding Spike, but about her changing over an extreme period of time filled with hardship. And that change is shown perfectly in the final chapters, when it seems like the plot has finished, but the story is still going.”  Chris agreed: “This is character development done right.  Twilight’s dual growth and collapse as a character doesn’t stop at any one point … the dramatic moments are simply waypoints that show what she’s become.”

We also found the construction of the world around Twilight worthy of note.  “It’s a great fantasy adventure,” Present Perfect said, “from the unfriendly civilizations Twilight encounters to the beautifully-described landscapes and the cool stuff like her mythril tattoos.”  Horizon also praised that worldbuilding: “There are some really unique ideas here that feel uniquely Equestrian while supporting a tone we’d never see in the show.”  But in the end, Soge said, it came back to the strong writing of that world’s inhabitants: “It is an adventure that focuses on character rather than action, and is all the stronger for that.”

It was that strength which has kept Schemering Sintel relevant despite its vision of Equestria becoming increasingly obsolete with newer seasons’ canon.  “I think it’s interesting to note to what extent this story is a product of its time,” Chris said.  “The broader world of Equestria wasn’t nearly as well fleshed out before Season 3; I don’t think you could write a story with a similar tone today without doing significantly more to set the stage for all the violence, cynical choices, etc.  But viewed in the light of the first two seasons, this holds up extremely well as a glimpse of how the world can silence our better angels.”

Read on for our author interview, in which N00813 discusses friendship entropy, thematic architecture, and glued-together pieces.
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CyborgSamurai’s “Can’t Choose Your Family”

15 Friday Apr 2016

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Make the choice to read today’s story, and you’ll be rewarded with an intriguing romp through Norse mythology.

cant-choose-your-familyCan’t Choose Your Family
[Crossover] [Slice of Life] • 3,937 words

It’s been five thousand years since the Summit of the Gods was last hosted in Equestria, and after dropping off Discord in Ponyville, Celestia returns to Canterlot Castle to meet with the entire Norse Pantheon. Before she can arrive, though, she’s stopped by a guard with a strange message, sent on the behalf of a mysterious figure from her past.

FROM THE CURATORS: This story’s cover art and description suggest the central family tie of the story — but it takes a deeper reading to realize just how cleverly the idea is constructed.  “The story’s labeled ‘Crossover’ because it posits that Celestia and Luna are the daughters of Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse in Norse mythology — which means, of course, that their grandmother is Loki,” AugieDog said in his nomination.  “It’s an idea that I just plain find appealing.”  The rest of us were equally taken with those ideas.  “The big draw here is the mythology, and what sells that is the solid characterization,” Horizon said.

Singled out for the greatest praise was the Norse deity who pays Celestia a visit. “There was clearly a lot of thought that went into Loki’s character, from ‘his’ flexible definition of gender to his unconventional sense of loyalty and understanding of betrayal,” Chris said.  Present Perfect agreed: “The way Loki is written has a certain je ne sais quoi. There’s an equal measure of ‘otherworldly god’ and ‘concerned grandmother’ there, very difficult to pull off well.”  But, as AugieDog noted, the Equestrian characters are given equally thoughtful depth.  “The story is a very nice character study of Celestia,” he said, “focusing on the choices she’s made concerning Equestria, in light of the constant sideways glances she and Luna get from the other Aesir due to their heritage.”

And while there was plenty to impress us in the character work alone, this story was also full of little surprises to enrich our reading experience.  “There’s a good deal in here that I’ve never seen before — most notably Discord’s relationship to Celestia,” Present Perfect said.  Horizon agreed: “From how Discord fits into the picture to the identity of Celestia and Luna’s mothers, this is full of surprising ideas that click into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”  All told, as Present Perfect said, this is a story carried by the solid execution of its ideas: “Anyone interested in mythology weaving will no doubt enjoy the way in which the Norse mythos has been applied to Equestria.”

Read on for our author interview, in which CyborgSamurai discusses dangerous shoulds, replacement hips, and sociopathic shattered shapeshifters.

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Kwakerjak’s “Flash Fog”

08 Friday Apr 2016

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It’s not hard to see why today’s story is a quality tale.

flash-fogFlash Fog
[Adventure] [Comedy] • 127,920 words

When Fluttershy received her certification as a fog specialist, she only wanted a plausible excuse to write off the expenses associated with her ground-based house on her taxes. However, when an accident in Cloudsdale sends a blanket of industrial-grade clouds rolling towards Ponyville, Fluttershy suddenly finds herself in charge of coordinating the response, mostly because she’s the only fog specialist in the area. Can our heroine step up to the challenge at hoof, or will she risk facing the wrath of the Equestrian Revenue Service?

FROM THE CURATORS: Though we found ourselves debating the merits of particular aspects of this story, there was one thing on which we all agreed: it effortlessly kept us turning the pages.  “Flash Fog spins a loose, sprawling, unfocused yarn which is nevertheless consistently entertaining on its own merits, and it has plenty of humor without sacrificing story at the altar of comedy,” Chris said.  Horizon agreed: “This is a highly readable story, with laconic, page-flipping prose and concise chapters that make it feel like a breeze.”  AugieDog, meanwhile, pulled out cinematic comparisons: “The main storyline — actually dealing with the fog — kept making me think of those ‘all-star cast’ disaster films of the 1970s and 80s, but I mean that in a good way. The tension, the conflicted characters, the setbacks and triumphs: it was all very fun to read.”

Disaster films weren’t the only comparison being made.  “This story’s like one of these modern open-world RPGs, where you have a main plot, but it doesn’t stand out that much from the multiple side quests on the way,” Soge said.  “But that also works in the story’s favor since, even if you don’t enjoy one particular distraction (like, say, the Lyra and Bon Bon human stuff), you can be fairly sure that it won’t affect much.”  Chris, too, praised the wide-ranging nature of the story’s explorations.  “Some of these interpositions are almost entirely unconnected from the titular fog,” he said, “but what they collectively accomplish is to showcase a wide range of Equestrian low-key goofiness, from the Cutie Mark Crusaders building convoluted Rube-Goldbergian traps to the insipid idiocies of a superior’s pointlessly idiosyncratic speaking style.”

What really made this story sing, however, was the sharp way that the broad ensemble cast was portrayed.  “The characters are spot on target,” AugieDog said, and Chris agreed: “I was consistently impressed with how the characters responded to events in-universe.”  Chris went on to praise the depiction of Fluttershy in particular: “An on-point mix of soft-spoken, nervous, and uncertain, she nevertheless doesn’t fall into the ‘weak-willed waif’ trap that many writers — and sometimes, the show itself — cast her as.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Kwakerjak discusses exploding vignettes, unplanned deuteragonists, and the collision of cameos and H.P. Lovecraft.

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BlazzingInferno’s “Apple Knots”

01 Friday Apr 2016

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Engage in a little back talk with today’s featured story.

apple-knotsApple Knots
[Slice of Life] • 4,675 words

Lotus is a professional masseuse. She sees the pony below the skin, and tends to coax just as much out of their mouths as their muscles. Late one day, she gives three very different massages to three close friends, all of whom mention a name she isn’t familiar with: Applejack.

FROM THE CURATORS: While the main attraction of this story is its unique storytelling method, what first earned it its nomination was the way it hearkened back to core pony principles.  “One of the things that drew me to MLP when I saw the first two episodes back in 2011 was the way our various heroines all had jobs that they both enjoyed and were actually good at,” AugieDog said.  “This story gives us another pony in town who fits that description, and adds in a wonderful narrative conceit: Lotus chooses to speak only with her hooves while she’s giving massages at the spa, but that doesn’t stop the commentary that runs through her head.”  Horizon fell in love with that conceit: “This is a gem of a story, and the narrative gimmick is wielded as expertly as Lotus wields her massages.”

Several of us commented favorably on the tactility at the core of the story.  “The use of literal body language gives the conversations a remarkable depth, and the asymmetric conversations are a joy to read,” Horizon said.  Meanwhile, Present Perfect found it to work on multiple levels.  “What I think makes this work is the symbolism of the confessing during the massages,” Present Perfect said. “I also particularly love how Fluttershy’s muscles have character; I mean, each of the four tribal representatives is shown to have different muscle issues, but her muscles hide like she does. It’s a great little touch.”  And the way that those different interactions revealed character came in for praise, too.  “The scenes that the author used felt very natural and were well explored — in particular the idea that Fluttershy only mentions she has a date, but not with whom,” Soge said.

Finally, Apple Knots shows off the author’s finesse with a skill that’s normally invisible.  “I remember this one from the February 2015 Writeoff Association competition,” Horizon said.  “I liked the original version with reservations, all of which were addressed by the editing process.  The way that this has grown is nearly as commendable as the finished product.”  AugieDog agreed: “Reading the final version on FimFiction, I can see that the author took everyone’s comments to heart … I’m a huge fan of the revision process in writing, and this shows the revision process done well.”

Read on for our author interview, in which BlazzingInferno discusses telephone fires, fun silences, and liberating compressors from backhoes.
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plumander’s “Happy Ending”

25 Friday Mar 2016

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Today’s story bubbled up to the top of our reading lists.

Happy Ending
[Sad] [Slice of Life] • 4,552 words

Golden Harvest farms carrots, is incredibly devoted to her husband, and lives in bubbles.

Written Script writes and travels far too often, but is charismatic and well-liked.

Derpy likes muffins and is legally unfit to take care of her foal.

And then there’s Dinky, who (legally) belongs to Golden Harvest and (legally) must visit her mother once a month.

Life is incredibly complex, but it’s also profoundly simple.

FROM THE CURATORS: Let’s not mince words here: the tragedy here is on a level rarely seen in ponyfic.  “This story does such a masterful job of making you squirm as you read that I felt absolutely compelled to nominate it,” Chris said, and the rest of us agreed as it sailed to a rare unanimous approval.  “Often, Sad-tagged fics prod you continually with ever-increasing woes, like sticks, hoping you’ll eventually break and cry,” Present Perfect said.  “This Sad-tagged fic punches you in the junk and steals your lunch money.”

At the center of that were the exemplary portrayals of Golden Harvest and a vivid supporting cast.  “This is a story about characters trying to make the best of situations they wouldn’t have chosen for themselves,” Chris explained, while AugieDog focused on Golden herself: “The portrait of a character completely out of her depth is terrific.”  Horizon agreed: “All of the characters are painted solidly, and Golden is laudably complex — while she’s clearly the villain, she’s presented sympathetically, and we see how she’s been damaged by forces beyond her control.  And when she crosses a line, and the story gamely continues on with the other characters pretending like nothing’s changed, we see that damage from a very different angle.”

Several of us also singled out the story’s structure for praise.  “I love how the themes manage to resonate with the plot, the characters, and each other,” Soge said, and Chris agreed: “Perhaps the best thing about this is the poignant simplicity of its ‘bubbles’ motif.  It frames the entire narrative as an exploration of who we are when we’re rocked from our comfort zones.”  But as bleak and non-pony as that might sound — “this is earth-analogue to a fault,” Present Perfect noted — it felt informed by the show on a deeper level.  “It manages to feel pony in spite of all the darkness,” Soge said, and AugieDog agreed: “As the eternal optimist, I’m able to see a bit of light in the ending.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Plumander discusses technicolor reality, non-anti-heroes, and ninja plums.
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Wellspring’s “Arthurian—The Black King”

18 Friday Mar 2016

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You always go back to the classics — and with today’s story, you can return to a pony take on one of the great classics of English literature.

arthurianArthurian—The Black King
[Dark] [Romance] [Tragedy] • 30,305 words

“Those of us who have a general overview and knowledge of King Sombra regard him to be a despotic autocrat, a power-hungry potentate and a vicious oppressor. And, even if this condemnation is justified, we may perhaps not have the right reason for this attribution. This is due to the fact that before King Sombra turned to the tyrant we all know him to be, he was the greatest knight of the Crystal Empire.”

—Sir Sombra de Onyx, Foreword to the Third Edition

FROM THE CURATORS: “This is a very ambitious piece,” Present Perfect said — as its roots show.  “The author lists Le Morte D’Arthur and Ivanhoe as the primary inspirations,” Chris said, “and Wellspring does a commendable job capturing both the literary style and the feeling of history-by-way-of-myth which permeates Le Morte D’Arthur.  A capital-r Romance in the truest sense, this is a story about character archetypes presented in a tell-heavy style.”  It is also, in Horizon’s words, “metal as heck.  From Sombra’s world-serpent origin to the way the sphinx is killed, this continuously finds new ways to crank up the level of epic.”

And while The Black King can be an easy story to bounce off of — “I can appreciate what the author’s doing here, but I can’t read it,” AugieDog said — it richly rewards readers willing to engage with it.  “The style is obtuse, and all the grammatical errors don’t help the story at all,” Soge said, “but this story sold me on its metafiction aspects levels so hard that by the end I went from ‘Wellspring needs a editor’ to ‘Boy, Equestrian grammar sure has changed’. The afterwords are tone perfect, the historical and plot inaccuracies feel legitimate, and the footnotes complement the text beautifully.”  Present Perfect had similar praise for those margin elements: “There’s so much unexpected humor with the historical inaccuracies in the footnotes. And there’s historical poems in them! They do quite a lot more work than one expects footnotes to. … I’ve also never praised an afterword before, which should say enough by itself.”

What locked in The Black King’s feature, though, was that its unusual style was wrapped around solid storytelling.  “Sombra’s backstory is really powerful,” Present Perfect said, while Soge praised its worldbuilding more broadly: “The story carries some fascinating ideas about Sombra, the Crystal Kingdom, and historical Equestria as a whole. I love how Sombra’s tragic flaws are mostly positive attributes, which makes the inevitable conclusion all the stronger.”  It all added up to a package worth the time spent in adjusting to its presentation.  “The more I think about it, the more impressive I find this story to be,” Chris said. “The Black King captured my imagination in a way few fanfics do, and I feel like that’s the definition of something worth spotlighting.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Wellspring discusses showy footnotes, writing archetypically, and the evil of Cervantes.
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Raugos’ “Integration”

11 Friday Mar 2016

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Today’s story will change the way you look at fanfiction–inside and out.

integrationIntegration
[Adventure] • 118,733 words

Caramel wasn’t always a Changeling, but he’s going to become one. And he’s going to do it for the sake of his very special somepony.

FROM THE CURATORS:  There are no shortage of changeling-centric, lore-heavy stories in this fandom, so it takes something exceptional for a story to stand out from that company.  But in this case, we had no trouble finding plenty to appreciate.  Present Perfect focused on Caramel’s role, saying, “He’s the perfect kind of layabout Everyman, the sort of character I really want to see succeed at something for once.”  Augie concurred, adding, “It’s got a certain epic feel to it, too, while staying very closely focused on Caramel and his love for Sassaflash.”

Chris, meanwhile, praised the lore: “The story does a good job of lulling the reader into thinking of the changelings in familiar terms, via Caramel’s perceptions of the same, only to throw a wrench in those assumptions down the line.”  Soge also noted that “the way the changeling society is established is impressive, completely alien while still relatable,” and Present Perfect noted that “The transformation sequence allowed for revelations of headcanon without infodumping,” complementing Integration for not sacrificing its narrative for the sake of over-explaining and headcanon justification.

These elements, together with an intriguing mix of action and slow-burning tension, impressed us all.  “There was a lot of humor, and the action was paced well,” said Present Perfect.  Chris, meanwhile, said that Integration “manages to combine moments of high action with longer stretches of waiting and uncertainty, along with exploration, discovery, and plenty of flashbacks, into a cohesive, engaging novel.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Raugos discusses dragon waterfalls, imperious goths, and attention deficit dyspepsia.
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