Estee’s “Five Hundred Little Murders”

15 Friday Nov 2013

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This week’s feature bring us a heartwrenching look at what love truly means when you’re staring in the face of death.

Five Hundred Little Murders
[Sad] [Slice of Life] • 11,285 words

Flitter doesn’t like most ponies.  There’s hardly anything in the world Flitter likes, very few which she can even remotely tolerate, and only a couple which she truly loves.  Fluttershy is not in the last two categories.  Flitter sees Fluttershy as weak, and weakness disgusts her. 

But when you’re trying to help someone you love, you’ll look for help in a lot of places — including the cottage of the weakest pony in the world.  

And for those willing to listen past their pain, it might be the place where they start to learn what true strength is.

(Curator note: This story is part of a series set in the same continuity, but requires no knowledge of the series.)

FROM THE CURATORS: There’s so much that could be said about this story — the fantastic characterization of the appalling protagonist; the subtle use of unreliable narration; the haunting interpretation of Fluttershy — but we knew that this exemplar of sad fiction deserved inclusion when our collective reaction was simply stunned silence.  It passed with the shortest debate we’ve yet seen.

“This will punch you in the f*cking gut if you’ve ever lost a pet,” Horizon said, “but it will hit you 100% legitimately, and then give you a gentle hug and an apology for having done so.”

Present Perfect agreed. “Thank god I’m on a treadmill and can pretend these tears are just sweat.”

Read on for our interview, in which Estee discusses the implications of the Mane Six’s pet ownership, the tradeoffs of writing stories that share continuity, and creative character reinterpretation as an act of vengeance.
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TheBrianJ’s “The Diary Of An Evil Pony”

08 Friday Nov 2013

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Today’s featured story is a tale of an amoral confidence mare … and a job gone horribly right.

diary-of-evil-pony The Diary Of An Evil Pony
[Slice of Life] • 8,312 words

Dear Diary,

I have selected my new name for this job: “Fleur De Lis.”

The target’s name is Fancy Pants. He’s rich, he’s well-known, and most importantly, he’s single. This is going to be a breeze.

FROM THE CURATORS: Sometimes, when you’re squaring a subversive fanfiction idea (Fleur de Lis is a grifter and Fancy Pants her mark) with canon (she and Fancy Pants are apparently happy together), there are only a few ways the story can go. This story earned its honors with an exemplary journey as we discover how she gets from one to the other. “It’s the good kind of predictable,” Benman said, and Vimbert agreed: “It’s neat, emotional, and heartwarming.”

Like last week’s feature, this takes an impersonal and often telly narrative form and infuses it with genuine emotion. “This story is one of the few I’ve ever seen in the fandom that uses diary formatting to its full advantage,” Vimbert said. And it uses pacing effectively to make Fleur’s growth believable. “I think what sells this one for me is [the final scene],” Horizon said.

Read on for our interview with TheBrianJ, where he discusses his wrestling roots and the princess story that Diary almost was.
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Twilight Snarkle’s “Order From Chaos”

01 Friday Nov 2013

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Today’s story is about the transformative power of friendship, in the finest tradition of MLP:FiM … even though its protagonist is the villain of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

order_from_chaosOrder From Chaos
[Crossover] • 10,416 words

A handful of pages recount a remarkable journey to Equestria by someone who sought only a little peace.

FROM THE CURATORS: It’s tricky to write a Crossover story that appeals to readers outside your secondary fanbase. A major factor behind Order from Chaos’ feature is that it’s powerful even without any Sonic knowledge. “I don’t know Sonic from a hole in the ground,” Benman said, “[and] this story hit me extremely hard. … There’s a naked sincerity to this that makes me think of season 1, or Buffy, or the first Harry Potter book.”

And while the story’s about a psychological journey, the physical journey’s also a treat to read. “This does a lot of things right that [Human in Equestria] stories don’t often do right: cautious exploration, language barriers, balancing magic and foreign technology, day 32’s shift in writing style,” Horizon said.

Read on for our author interview, in which Twilight Snarkle battles plot bunnies and discusses how to draw out emotional depth from quiet, analytical characters.
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Bob From Bottles’ “An Imaginative Performance”

25 Friday Oct 2013

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This Friday brings us a story which is both light and lighthearted, but don’t mistake its whimsy for ephemerality — there’s more here than meets the eye.

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An Imaginative Performance
[Comedy] • 24,578 words

It’s once again time for Ponyville’s annual school performance. This year, it’s a musical retelling of a story about what it means to be a hero. With curtains only minutes away from rising, each student is finding their own way to deal with the pressures of being on stage. Some have no fear at all, while others are just hoping to get the night over with. A few even distract themselves by pretending the audience is doing something silly. Then, there’s Apple Bloom, who imagines everything happening on stage is real, regardless if it makes sense or not. 

FROM THE CURATORS:  All of us noted how funny the story was; no surprise, considering it’s a comedy.  “It’s solid humor,” observed Vimbert; “this one has great comic balance… it might be his most consistent [story],” added Chris.

But what really set this apart for us was the way that it meshed that comedy with an unerring sense of its characters.  As Horizon put it: “This is exactly the sort of misadventure the CMCs would get into, in exactly the way they would do it, and the humor is in service of a moral ripped straight from the show.”

Continue down to see our interview, where Bob delves into his somnambulent inspiration, his use of lyrics, and the origin of his name.
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Cloud Wander’s “It Is My Fate To Enter Every Door”

18 Friday Oct 2013

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This week’s story delves deep into the hidden mythology of Equestria to give us a touching, personal introduction to the monsters beneath its surface.

it_is_my_fateIt Is My Fate To Enter Every Door
[Sad] [Slice of Life] • 3,399 words

Blythe Hyacinth Pie, Blinks to her family, makes her annual pilgrimage to Tartarus to see her grandparents and hopes for their redemption.

FROM THE CURATORS: One thing that impressed us all is the economy of the storytelling throughout.  (It’s hard to believe the story clocks in at just over 3,000 words!) “One of the things I love about Cloud Wander as an author is how much characterization he can pack into the smallest spaces,” Chris said, “and Clyde Pie is an exemplar in this area; despite his presence being pretty much limited to the first few hundred words, I got a better impression of what he’s like from this story than from some that have spent a dozen times the verbiage on him.”

And it’s the interconnection of those ponies with the mythology that surrounds them that makes it such a treat. “This is a textbook example of how to do worldbuilding right,” Benman said. “Our glimpses of Tartarus tell us as much about the characters whose eyes we see through as they tell us about the underworld itself.”

Read on for our interview, where Cloud Wander — in his inimitable style — describes his own formative experience with a literary dive into monster-filled depths, and envisions Twilight Sparkle’s struggles with whipped cream.
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Skywriter’s “Princess Celestia Hates Tea”

11 Friday Oct 2013

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We’re pleased to inaugurate the Royal Canterlot Library’s weekly story features with a look at one of the fandom’s iconic, most-beloved comedies.

princess_celestia_hates_teaPrincess Celestia Hates Tea
[Comedy] • 8,536 words

Seriously, a lot.

FROM THE CURATORS:  Normally, during our selection process, we take sides and discuss a story’s merits and flaws — but this one won a rare unanimous approval.  So what makes this story of a revealed secret and an escalating misunderstanding so exemplary?  First of all, it’s simply hilarious. “My poor boyfriend (who was just trying to get to sleep) was kept awake for some minutes thanks to my gales of laughter from this story,” Vimbert said. “This is fantastic in every way.”

Part of that comes from its unexpected depth. “It draws its humor,” Horizon said, “from … letting everyone’s plausible behaviors draw them into the most ludicrous possible situation.  Then, just when you think you’re done, it punches you in the gut with an insight about one of the show’s deepest characters.”

Read on below the break for our interview with Skywriter — where he offers a theory about his story’s unexpected popularity, and shares his personal feelings about tea.

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Before we begin …

11 Friday Oct 2013

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Our first feature will go live later today, but first we’d like to extend a special word of gratitude to RBDash47, whose archiving of the Pony Fiction Vault was the impetus for this project.

The Vault featured 107 of the fandom’s top stories over its two-year lifetime; offered fascinating looks into the minds of their authors; and gave us all something to aspire to.  We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants in our work to continue that legacy.

Today, an interview with RBDash47 (consisting of both his own standard questions and those collected from readers) is going live as the Vault’s final post.  It’s worthwhile reading, and the Vaulted stories are all great as well (we decided from the beginning we would grandfather them in as honorary Library selections).

— The Curators

Hello World

04 Friday Oct 2013

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Welcome to the Royal Canterlot Library! Every Friday, we’ll post an interview with the author of one of our favorite pony stories. You’ll get to meet the authors and see their analysis of some of the best work this fandom has produced. The schedule so far is as follows:

  • Oct 11: Princess Celestia Hates Tea (Skywriter)
  • Oct 18: It Is My Fate To Enter Every Door (Cloud Wander)
  • Oct 25: An Imaginative Performance (Bob From Bottles)
  • Nov 1: Order from Chaos (Twilight Snarkle)
  • Nov 8: The Diary of an Evil Pony (TheBrianJ)
  • Nov 15: Five Hundred Little Murders (Estee)
  • Nov 22: The Colour You Bleed (Kegisak)
  • Nov 29: The War And What Came After (NorsePony)
  • Dec 6: “The Art of the Dress” or “Expectations” (NTSTS)
  • Dec 13: Home Is Where The Harp Is (Blueshift)