Today’s story will bring some smiles to warm the dark midwinter’s chill.

The Truth About Myths And Legends
[Slice of Life] • 4,211 words

A troubled Princess Celestia, wandering her School for Gifted Unicorns late one night, chances upon her young faithful student Twilight Sparkle, who has problems of her own:

She can’t catch the Tooth Flutterpony.

What possible advice could Princess Celestia give to her upset young pupil, who is desperately trying to prove that an old ponies’ tale is real?

FROM THE CURATORS: “I’d heard good things about this fic going in, and was not disappointed,” Chris said about this sweet coming-of-age tale.  “The author really captures young Twilight as a brainy, over-serious filly… but a filly, first and foremost. … It’s not too silly, not too dramatic, and feels important despite its surface ephemerality.”

There were several factors catapulting this story to its feature, but it certainly didn’t hurt that it melted the hearts of our curators.  “This one is adorable,” JohnPerry said, and Present Perfect agreed: “Gads, but this is precious.”  We also noted its strong characterization — as Horizon put it, the story “derives its feels not from any twist, but from the characters being earnestly themselves” — and its gentle sense of humor.  “There are plenty of clever jokes thrown in, and the ending is a fun surprise,” JohnPerry said.

Ultimately, on the strength of both its storytelling and its themes, this was an easy choice for a heartwarming holiday-season feature.  “This is a story about childhood and innocence, and the titular myth is just the lens through which we see it,” Horizon said.  “But even more so, it’s about two characters flailing for connections, and a moment that brings them together, and that’s the best kind of heartwarming.”

Read on for our author interview, in which The Ponytrician discusses biographical standards, the advantages of not knowing, and ham and cheese.
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