“There never was a good war, or a bad peace,” Benjamin Franklin once said.  Well, today’s story is a good piece about something that  never was quite a war.

A War of Words – The Opening of the Guard
[Comedy] [Slice-of-Life] • 3,691 words

The history of war may be written by the winner, but the Royal Historian is the one who provides the notes and background to the writer.  The recent events that some have called ‘Mare Wars’ or ‘The Invasion of the Barracks’ are no exception.  The Royal Historian has painstakingly compiled this folder of notes and background material on what should more accurately be called, ‘The Opening of the Guard.’

Please remember to return the folder back to the Royal Historian when you have completed reading, in the event we gather more material that needs to be included.

– Musty Pages, Royal Historian

FROM THE CURATORS: “A War Of Words” is exactly that — a tale about a conflict in the freewheeling battleground of documentation — and we were all impressed by the life that was breathed into its letters. “The epistolary format is done well … Georg has a fine touch for jumping between just the necessary details,” Horizon said.  Present Perfect added, “What’s really great about this is the grandeur built up around bits of paper retrieved from trash cans.”

But it is, first and foremost, a comedy — and despite the gravitas of its core plot, it juggles that expertly with its lighthearted tone. “Even the serious plot [about the guards’ gender gap] … produces some unexpected laugh-out-loud moments,” Horizon said. Mix that with an escalating royal prank war, and you’ve got an exemplary fanfic: “I found myself laughing pretty much the whole way through,” Bradel said. “I’ve seen this concept pop up in the fandom a number of times, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen it executed in a way I thoroughly enjoyed.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Georg discusses the naming of cats, the massacre of words, and the breeding of typoes.

Continue reading →