Bronetheus’ “Waiting For Celestia”

03 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

If you’re looking for some comedy with a philosophical twist, don’t wait to read today’s story.

waiting-for-celestiaWaiting For Celestia
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 6,056 words

After Celestia takes her flying chariot to Ponyville to have an important talk with the new Princess Twilight Sparkle, she teleports back to Canterlot … leaving her charioteers behind. Unsure what else to do in the wake of this improbable, nay, highly unusual, nay, nay, impossible event, the two pegasi have a conversation that leads them to some startling revelations.

FROM THE CURATORS: Appearances can be deceiving with fanfiction — and in this case, there were pleasant surprises behind the façade of the title.  “I’ve never actually seen Waiting for Godot, but this isn’t really a crossover with it, so no worries on that front,” Chris said.  “What it is is a story that moves from absurd comedy to crisis-of-faith in barely 6000 words, and is both funny and thoughtful where it needs to be.”  Present Perfect agreed, adding: “I’m very glad that the author decided to invoke Godot just long enough to subvert it, then put in some actual plot.”

Subverting its source material was a point in Waiting For Celestia’s favor, but it didn’t stop there — and one of the factors in its feature was how memorably it made the tale its own. “It’s been more than a year since I last saw this story, but all its scenes stuck in my notoriously sieve-like brain,” AugieDog said.  Even its send-up of the titular absurdist play was a joy to read: “The image of how the guards communicated while guarding the chariot was, alone, enough to get me liking this story,” Horizon said.

But ultimately, the story’s stand-out feature was the way it first balanced, then merged, the comedy and philosophy, which at first seemed destined for an ungainly collision. “Not only was I engaged all the way through, but I found the ending surprisingly impactful,” JohnPerry said.  “The earlier discussion on the omniscience of Celestia came back in a big way, such that it turned the absurdist nature of the set-up into a surprisingly grounded tale.”  That light touch with philosophy was praised by several curators. “Waiting For Celestia doesn’t try to tackle something as weighty as ‘what does it mean to be seen as deific by those who serve you’ in its entirety, but instead confined itself to what that meant for two ponies, for one night,” Chris said.  “Sometimes, keeping things small is the right way to go.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Bronetheus discusses altruistic struggles, pony charity, and mythic trees.
Continue reading →

zaponator’s “Blink”

26 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

Today’s story is one to pop onto your reading list.

blinkBlink
[Slice of Life] • 3,947 words

Twilight does some research into her tried and true teleportation spell.

FROM THE CURATORS: On one level, this story is about pulling back the curtains on an unsettling implication of teleportation — one that’s going to be familiar to longtime fans of speculative fiction.  But there’s more to like here.  “This is more than a ‘one idea’ fic,” Chris said. “It doesn’t just stop at the (easily predictable) reveal, nor does it it follow that up with a bunch of wangsting and/or an immediate descent into insanity.”  JohnPerry was similarly impressed by Blink’s nuanced approach: “Deliciously dark, without resorting to an unnecessarily tragic ending.”

What ultimately propelled Blink to a feature, however, was the presentation of its central characters. “The handling of the characters throughout is superb,” JohnPerry said. “Spike and Twilight’s dialogue at the beginning was delightful … it’s a great examination of their relationship and underlines the importance of it, but without dwelling on it too intensely.”  Chris agreed: “The setup helps sell the ending, and makes this a true story about Twilight and Spike, not just an event that happens to involve them.”

The combination of those two factors made this feel like an authentically pony story, despite the dark sci-fi flavor of the core idea.  “It gives me shivers on a level I’ve not experienced much before in fanfic: the ‘that could have been so much worse’ level,” Present Perfect said. “That it wasn’t speaks volumes about how well this spellcrafting headcanon fits into the show.”

Read on for our author interview, in which zaponator discusses sticky names, mutual caregiving, and unintended debate.
Continue reading →

New curator: AugieDog

24 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Admin

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Fillies and gentlecolts, please join us in extending a warm welcome to the newest member of the Royal Canterlot Library team: AugieDog! Over his time in the pony fandom, Augie has assembled an impressive bibliography (which includes a previous RCL feature!) and regular participants of the Writeoff Association will likely recognize him as Baal Bunny. And those are just some of his accomplishments in the pony fandom–he also writes and sells original fiction!

We’re all thrilled to have Augie on board. His tremendous experience is already shaping our upcoming features and is undoubtedly going to shape our reading list in the days to come.

Chopper’s Top Hat’s “The Liar”

19 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

In today’s interview, Chopper’s Top Hat discusses authorial flirting, sideways Cardassian, and a classic Trixie tale that’s all about reversing our expectations.

the-liar The Liar
[Sad] [Adventure] • 5,572 words

The magician’s art lies in the act of misdirection. This is true even in a world where magic exists. Trixie has mastered the art, but how much of her act is true magic, and how much is an illusion? And what if that same question applies to her entire life?

Discover the truth about Equestria’s most Great and Powerful showpony, in a story told in a most unconventional manner…

FROM THE CURATORS: Today’s story is a blast from the past in two different ways — not only was it written in the earliest days of the fandom, but it was also one of the first stories that the Royal Canterlot Library ever voted to feature.  We shelved it for years due to being unable to locate the author, but having recently stumbled across Chopper’s Top Hat again, we’re pleased to unearth this classic for modern audiences.

Given that history, it’s quite fitting that this story digs into Trixie’s backstory with a unique backwards storytelling style.  “I still love this for one simple reason: it takes a narrative device which could easily backfire, and uses it cleverly and effectively,” Chris said.  Former curator Benman agreed — “The gimmick works as intended, which is really impressive, and it’s actually necessary to telling this particular story” — and Present Perfect also concurred: “It builds up … and the gimmick works with that; it wouldn’t have the same effect read chronologically.”

One thing we did disagree on — which speaks well for the quality of the story — was which part we enjoyed the most.  “The first chunk is really cool.  The reverse chronology thing keeps adding new information that illuminates and recontextualizes the previous content,” Benman said, while Horizon took the opposite tack: “It all felt necessary to give the ending its powerful thematic closure.”  Chris, meanwhile, appreciated the act of reading it: “Figuring out how the story hangs together is really the fun here.”  Overall, it added up to quite a solid package, as Horizon noted: “It has aged really well.”

(Today’s story can be found here, but first, continue below the break for our author interview.)
Continue reading →

Noble Thought’s “Under a Tree”

12 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Like the titular tree of today’s story, this farmer’s tale has deep roots.

Under a Tree
[Slice of Life] • 13,558 words

Applejack tells Fluttershy about the great oak tree atop a hill on the farm. It was the first one she ever planted, y’see. That doesn’t have anything to do with why Granny Smith is in the hospital, and why Applejack isn’t there.

Nope. Not at all.

FROM THE CURATORS: This is a story that has had our attention through multiple iterations, starting out as a shortfic of under 4,000 words before being expanded into the larger multi-chapter story it is today. We have Bradel to thank for introducing it to us: “I’m a sucker for a good AJ story and a good grief narrative, so this is in my wheelhouse.”

“This is a story told in negatives,” Present Perfect pointed out. “Applejack doesn’t want to talk about what’s really bothering her, so she talks about her first time planting a tree. Said tree wasn’t an apple tree, but an oak. It’s a story just as much about Fluttershy as about AJ, but it focuses entirely on the latter.” Bradel put it thusly: “What I really love about this story is the tension between foreground and background. … Although the story never seeks to hide what it’s doing, its impact is delivered through metaphor and implication rather than direct engagement, through paralleling Applejack’s stories with her state of mind.”

But what really sold the curators was the dynamic between this story’s two main characters. “The meat of the story packs a punch, and the interactions between Fluttershy and AJ felt genuine,” Chris said. “The real triumph is the conversation. Rather than drop the current setting to skip back into the past, Applejack’s story-within-the-story is spoken, with fits and starts that make it feel naturally told without being unfocused,” Present offered, and Bradel added, “I enjoy how the story forces Fluttershy and Applejack to trade roles — here, Applejack is the avoidant one and Fluttershy is the more direct one. I find all the narrative subversion going on in this story really delicious.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Noble Thought discusses long commutes, character growth, and rewriting.
Continue reading →

Meta Four’s “Alarm Clock”

05 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

,

It’s an average day here at the Royal Canterlot Library, but today’s feature definitely isn’t an average story.

alarm-clockAlarm Clock
[Adventure] • 52,517 words

Wake up. Go to work. Save Ponyville from unimaginable horrors beyond time and space. Have lunch with your PFF.

Ditzy Doo lives in a different world than her fellow ponies. She sees things nopony else can see — like higher-dimensional spatial anomalies, fae creatures, and eldritch abominations. And she uses what she sees to solve problems that other ponies don’t even realize are problems.

But this time, Ditzy may have bitten off more than she can chew. Something very unfriendly is trying to enter Equestria through Ponyville’s Town Hall. An earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark has taken an unhelpful interest in Ditzy. The Princess’s personal student has grown suspicious. And, most irritating of all, her alarm clock radio is acting strangely.

Ditzy must race against the clock to save Ponyville — a clock that keeps playing the same song over, and over, and over …

FROM THE CURATORS: This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a story about the secret life of the pony we know as Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo, but Alarm Clock did so many things right it couldn’t help but stand out from the pack.  “There’s the outlandish callouts to the show,” Present Perfect said. “There’s the ridiculously well-placed fandom tropes.  (‘I emptied your fridge’ as a significant plot point?  Inconceivable!)  There’s a wonderful character in Derpy (an early standout moment was her fretting over being unable to handle power). There’s good use of time and dimensional travel, and the fact that never once did I feel lost in the story.  It was exciting and funny in all the right ways.”

If those elements sound like familiar Derpy/Ditzy cliches, prepare to be surprised. “This upends half of Derpy fanon while justifying the other half,” Horizon said.  “The whole first chapter is about giving her a reason to be in Fluttershy’s henhouse during the ‘Find a Pet’ song, and shortly thereafter is a chapter centered on foalsitting her friend’s daughter Dinky.  Doctor Whooves plays a prominent role … as a foil.  Nothing connects where you’d expect it to, but it all works.” Chris agreed: “Meta Four takes plenty of gentle passes at fandom standbys, but never in a lazy or immersion-breaking way.”

That’s all the more impressive given the wild ideas the story throws at us. “This is honest-to-goodness magical realism crossed with My Little Pony,” Horizon said.  “It hedges its bets somewhat in the chapters where Ditzy is trying to bring normal ponies up to speed, but when she’s fortunetelling for the fia or moving her hoof fjothward, the story is gloriously unapologetic about its oddness.”  That was aided by a fine touch with characterization and setting.  “Everypony in here just feels right,” JohnPerry said.  “For all the upending of fanon and interdimensional weirdness going on in here, this still manages to feel like Ponyville at the end of the day.”

Ultimately, though, Alarm Clock was just a joy to read.  “This is the most fun I’ve had reading a fanfic in a while,” Chris said.  “This story shows how you can write a clever story, an engrossing story, and even a dramatic story, all without taking yourself too seriously.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Meta Four discusses villain malapropisms, Gallifreyan baggage, and how to rescue a story from a two-year hiatus.
Continue reading →

Fahrenheit’s “Daring Do(esn’t Need a Special Somepony)”

29 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Today’s story offers a sweet deal: a two-for-one sale on action and comedy, with free shipping (while supplies last).

daring-doesntDaring Do(esn’t Need A Special Somepony)
[Romance] [Comedy] [Adventure] • 9,340 words

Hearts and Hooves Day is a sorry excuse for a holiday. Maybe it’s the fact that most of her dates tend to get eaten by manticores, but Daring Do has long since given up on risen above any longing for romance.

But that doesn’t mean she’s not 100% okay with slinking into the Sugar Cloud Confectionery to hit up their sale on rainbow truffles. Hay no. This is her most important quest of the year.

Hopefully it doesn’t end up like last Hearts and Hooves Day.

Stupid Wonderbolt.

FROM THE CURATORS: “I’m not usually much for shipping stories,” Chris said with typical understatement in his nomination, “so when one catches my fancy my thoughts turn to the RCL.” As you might expect, a story good enough to win fans across genre lines sailed through to an easy feature, but we were all surprised at how many things this did right.

“This is basically the literary equivalent of a romance film that incorporates some action sub-plot to keep male audiences from dismissing it as a chick flick.  And by god, does it work.  I haven’t had this much fun reading a story in a while,” JohnPerry said.  Present Perfect, meanwhile, lauded the comedy.  “This was hilarious from the outset,” he said.  “The scene with Daring pulling a wagon and Fleetfoot chucking cushions at guardsponies perfectly sums up just what a ride this is.  It’s ridiculous how well this story works.”  And Chris found the emotions authentic: “What ultimately sold me on this story was the ending.  The way that infatuation, real life, and that ineffable combination of complacency, passivity, and fear-induced laziness combine in that exchange brought everything together for me.”

What it added up to was clear: a strong story from a multi-talented author.  “That Fahrenheit is as skilled with action as with comedy is not something you see every day,” Present Perfect said, while Horizon summed it up: “This story makes a lot of promises, and fulfills them all.  Great characters, some hearty laughs, an unexpected and unexpectedly touching moral … there’s something in this story for everyone.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Fahrenheit discusses meteorological heroes, defenestrated stereotypes, and midnight matchmaking.
Continue reading →

GroaningGreyAgony’s “Riverdream At Sunset: A Manuscript”

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Drift away on the currents of today’s story to see Equestria as you’ve never seen it before.

riverdream-at-sunsetRiverdream At Sunset: A Manuscript
[Crossover] [Adventure] [Human] • 7,768 words

A forgotten manuscript reveals an odd journey purportedly undertaken by Lord Dunsany, a Promethean explorer of the Lands of Dream. While the manuscript has yet to be authenticated, its contents are interesting enough to merit my posting them here.

FROM THE CURATORS: “At heart, this is just a human-in-Equestria story,” Horizon’s nomination began, but it was immediately obvious to all of us that there was much more going on.  “It’s HiE with class,” JohnPerry said, while Chris marveled: “This is in many ways ‘just’ an HiE story underneath all the trappings, but that doesn’t deter me from praising it.  First off, those trappings are really, really brilliant.”

That’s because the particular human visiting Equestria is one of the fathers of fantasy literature, and this fic is a marvelous homage to his style. “GroaningGreyAgony perfectly captures the way Dunsany meshed dense Victorian style, with its penchant for untranslated tidbits, flowery descriptions, and all the rest, with a nevertheless clear and readable narrative voice,” Chris said.  Horizon agreed: “The language here is unreal.  Pseudo-Victorian, quaint yet inviting, full of casual Greek that’s all clear in context (and all in the glossary if it isn’t), and bursting at the seams with worldbuilding of both the Equestrian and Earthy varieties.”  Present Perfect, too, fell in love with the language.  “There are just so many wonderful passages in this,” he said. “Like ‘We are glad of a fire, but we do not love it.'”

What we did love was basically everything about this story.  “Besides giving us what has to be the coolest origin story for Celestia I’ve ever read, you’ve got a protagonist who’s fun to follow,” JohnPerry said.  “Great framing story. Great creation myth.  The world-building is fantastic,” Present Perfect added.  Finally, there was a solid message in the story’s framing and presentation.  “It’s not just a story about going to Equestria, it’s a story about humanity willfully losing touch with the ways and traditions of our ancestors,” Chris said.  “Those Greek mythology callouts aren’t just to show how smart the author is, nor are they even ‘just’ because that’s how Dunsany wrote: they’re the girders which support the story’s message.”

It’s no wonder that Riverdream At Sunset sailed through our selection process with rare top scores from multiple curators.  “At heart, this is ‘just’ a Human in Equestria story,” Horizon said, “but I’ve never read another one like it.”

Read on for our author interview, in which GroaningGreyAgony discusses cat downloading, illusion shattering, and Faribalisteenism.
Continue reading →

TheJediMasterEd’s “Beneath Your Feet, What Treasures”

15 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Today’s story is a gem worth adding to your collection.

beneath-your-feetBeneath Your Feet, What Treasures
[Romance] [Sad] [Slice of Life] • 1,444 words

Spike has a hoard nopony knows about, something he’s been using to do a dragonish thing in a ponyish way.

But now it’s the other way ’round.

FROM THE CURATORS: It’s always a good sign when the first story an author posts on FIMFiction is a hidden gem — and so much the better if it’s a story about hidden gems, and what they mean to the dragon collecting them. “I was thoroughly impressed that the author found the specific rocks to use in the story,” Present Perfect said.  However, while “rocks are awesome” (as Chris said), there’s more here than a geology lesson. “I have a soft spot for fics which center around extended metaphors,” Chris added.

So what is behind the gleaming facets of Treasures?  “Everything about this story screams ‘Sparity,’ but thankfully, it isn’t that ship,” Present Perfect said.  “It’s a unique look at Spike and his crush on Rarity that doesn’t delve into any of the usual stumbling points.”  JohnPerry saw it from a slightly different angle: “I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of a child’s fascination with keeping secrets — and the characterization of Spike is excellent here — but to scratch beneath that surface and find a reflection of an outside event so subtly woven in was an immensely rewarding experience.”  Horizon took yet another view: “What distinguishes it here is the twist, and the way that Spike’s ultimate reaction paints him as so alien to the ponies, yet so understandable.  He’s trying to reconcile two worlds. That’s pretty deep for a story about rock collecting.”

That we could so easily come up with different interpretations speaks well of Treasure’s depth. “There’s plenty of understated meaning here,” Horizon said. “It’s clearly in the ‘Twilight Sparkle Makes A Cup Of Tea‘ school of indirect storytelling.”  And ultimately, that adds up to a fic in which there’s a lot to like — even if it takes some effort to tease all of its facets out.  “I confess that I had to reread this one a couple of times to grasp the deeper meaning here, but wow was it worthwhile,” JohnPerry said.

Read on for our author interview, in which TheJediMasterEd discusses Spike vs. Spock, zwilnick hunting, and the give and take of life.
Continue reading →

Foehn’s “A Tale Told”

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

They say blood is thicker than water, but today’s story is a novel look at a unicorn whose head is thicker still.

tale-toldA Tale Told
[Slice of Life] • 1,305 words

Sometimes, reality is best understood through fiction.

Other times, the two are harder to distinguish between.

Family is often such a complicated matter.

FROM THE CURATORS: In computing, the term “quine” means a program that will output its own code when you run it.  This intriguing little tale might be the literary equivalent: A story that tells itself.  “There’s really something unique to the layers here,” Horizon said, and Present Perfect agreed: “The literary technique is one we’ve seen before, yet the way it’s used is wholly novel, as far as I can tell.  It just adds so much to the story.”

The meat of that story is the emotional fallout from a moment of casual racism among the unicorn nobility — and we all found great finesse in Foehn’s handling of the topic.  “The story tells us a lot about our assumptions, both through the narrator and the father,” Chris said.  “I like how it doesn’t resort to overdramatics: in real life, such turning points are often defined by offhand comments rather than grand gestures.”  That subtlety didn’t mean it was lacking in impact, however.  “The exchange about the birds was quite strong, especially in a story this short,” Horizon said.

Ultimately, A Tale Told is not only a uniquely structured story, but also a unique look at one of the show’s more easily misunderstood villains.  “The ‘Blueblood as snob’ story is an easy one to screw up,” JohnPerry said. “Here, Blueblood is very deliberately underplayed … rather than getting caught up in trying to justify his actions in the show, it focuses more on the reality of living a life in that role.  It’s not so much a Prince Blueblood story, but rather a Prince Blueblood story.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Foehn discusses implied deserts, homeland accusations, and perfect girls.
Continue reading →