Today’s story is no ordinary tale.

An Ordinary Day
[Slice of Life] • 5,436 words

Fluttershy lives a happy life. Every day is special. All of her friends are lovely ponies.

Today is a day just like any other; she wakes in the morning, does her chores, sees her friends, takes a nap and sees more of her friends before an evening of relaxation.

Just an ordinary, wonderful day.

FROM THE CURATORS: One interesting aspect of fanfiction is that — much more than published fiction — it’s a living medium, with stories changing over time.  And sometimes, you stumble across the sort of story that makes you thrilled you gave it a second look.  “Once upon a time, I read and reviewed this for Scribblefest 2016,” Horizon said in his nomination.  “I was blown away by the gorgeous and literary prose, at turns intimate and philosophical, and the incidental worldbuilding; I wasn’t so impressed by the many textual errors. However, I am thrilled to say that the story has since been polished to a fine shine.”  That sentiment was widely shared, with reactions like FanOfMostEverything’s: “Gorgeous is right. I’ve never seen a take on Fluttershy quite like this one.”

Almost every aspect of that take came in for praise — sometimes all at once.  “This has absolutely everything I look for in a Fluttershy story,” AugieDog said while assigning it a top score.  “A gentle pace, beautiful language, understated humor, semi-requited love, quiet insight, a tender sort of melancholy, and kindness infusing it from beginning to end.”  But while the story as a whole drew widespread raves, it was the story’s unusual focus which often got singled out for praise.  As FanOfMostEverything noted: “There’s a fascinatingly animistic aspect to the perspective here, where even the cottage’s squeaky floorboards deserve Fluttershy’s consideration just as much as any of her other friends.”

Amid all of that, the story did exactly what its description promised: simply showed us a day in Fluttershy’s life.  And yet its depth made it so much more.  “It’s got very much an ‘infinite space in a nutshell’ feel to it,” AugieDog said, “showing us the whole world of Equestria by focusing on these very specific images, these very specific moments, so small as to almost be non-events, in Fluttershy’s life.”  Ultimately, what impressed us most was the way it captivated us with those non-events.  “The prose is lush and engrossing, definitely the big thing right, and the author has a knack for writing single sentences that powerfully encapsulate a character,” Present Perfect said.  “This proves that you can write a story about nothing in particular without it being dull.”

Read on for our author interview, in which alt-tap discusses drunken Bs, buttery heads, and adventure couscous.
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