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Ether Echoes’ “Through the Well of Pirene”

05 Friday May 2017

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Flow through a mythological epic with today’s story.

Through the Well of Pirene
[Adventure] [Human] • 369,088 words

As a child, Daphne knew of a world where magic lived, where an immortal princess reigned over a beautiful kingdom, and longed to journey there beside Leit Motif, the filly she’d grown to love in the woods behind her home. But one day, when she needed her most, Leit Motif was gone, and she never came back to show her the way. As she grew, she put aside her childish dreams, and taught herself to believe the lie.

When forces beyond her knowing take her sister Amelia, though, she discovers that her childhood fancies were entirely too real, and is thrust into a journey that will take her back to that land she longed for, back to the childhood friend she’d abandoned, and to worlds she’d only dreamed of.

FROM THE CURATORS: Today’s feature shatters our length record for a featured story, doubling the size of the previous record-holder (and clocking in at 8/10ths the size of the entire Lord of the Rings series).  But Through the Well of Pirene justified that wordcount.  “It’s always got something interesting to do,” Present Perfect said in his nomination.  “The slower parts allow for character revelations, lush imagery and world-building, or just doling out fascinating headcanons.”

And there was one element of that which quickly stood out as exemplary.  “If there’s any one thing I think you folks will enjoy, it’s the world-building and the plethora of mythologies,” Present Perfect said to solid agreement.  “The mythology here is remarkably Gaimanesque, and I say that as a compliment because the man writes some damn good faeries,” Horizon noted, while Soge praised its breadth: “I’m a sucker for fics that mix Equestrian lore with human history and myth, and this delivers that in spades, going well beyond its obvious Greek influences.”

But for the most part, that wasn’t we talked about in one of our group’s longest discussion threads — which often touched on the character work.  “I love The Morgwyn so much,” Horizon said.  “Trying to figure out his long game is keeping me remarkably engaged as the protagonists’ knowledge of the world around them deepens. Everything about the goblin castle Amelia was taken to is great. I can’t stand most of the (ex-)human characters, but it is very much to this story’s credit that, despite that, I’ve been so consistently engaged.”  Present Perfect acknowledged that “the characters, especially the main ones, take some getting used to,” but noted that “they grow and change over the course of the book in natural, if frequently staggering, ways.”  Horizon quickly agreed: “Amelia is the clear standout, and the story’s at its strongest when it examines her slow descent into villainy and the all-too-understandable motives that continue to drive her to fix things even when she’s crossed a line,” he said.  “But the moral struggles of characters like Maille and Flash keep the story powerful when the focus shifts.”  Those side characters were part of a greater richness, Soge noted: “It’s full of little details which show just how much the author cared about this world and its story, such as the differences in lingo between the Goblin factions.”

And while there was some curator ambivalence as the scope of the story expanded — “just about everything I liked was balanced by something I didn’t,” AugieDog said — the ultimate consensus was that it did the important things powerfully.  “It was the fact that it delivered on its promise of epic that kept me looking forward to the reading,” Horizon said.  “This also always wrote with an eye toward theme, and so in hindsight what I remember is the story’s big statements, which is exactly what I should be remembering.”  AugieDog had similar praise: “I love how the scope here is intensely epic and intensely personal at the same time, and with the fate of the entire multiverse hinging on two sisters not getting along, well, you can’t get any more My Little Pony than that.”  That added up to a story that met its high ambitions, Present Perfect said: “This is the best HiE I’ve ever read — though it’s certainly far more than that — and it comes by that status honestly.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Ether Echoes discusses executive meddling, puréed myths, and punishing children.
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Arad’s “Stardust”

10 Friday Jun 2016

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Today’s story shows us what stars do: they shine.

stardustStardust
[Crossover] [Dark] [Human] • 216,600 words

Isolated from her friends and taken prisoner in the middle of a war, Twilight must deal with the very real dangers of being perceived as an enemy as well as the nightmares of her arrival on ‘Earth’.  Can she overcome her own fears and the fears of her captors?  Will the wayward unicorn’s assistance be a boon or a curse to the ‘humans?’  Most importantly, will she ever find her way home?

FROM THE CURATORS: Lengthy stories like this sometimes languish in our queue for a while, as we all try to make time to read them around our jobs and other hobbies, but Stardust sailed through, from nomination to approval, in less than a week.  “I was looking for something of doorstop length to sink into this weekend,” commented Augiedog, “and this one did the trick quite nicely.”  Chris also noted how easy it was to devour, saying, “This is a story that does an excellent job of holding the reader’s interest, despite its length and wide-ranging plot.”

Although this is a video game crossover, we all agreed that it did an excellent job of being accessible.  “I think that familiarity with the source material isn’t really necessary,” said Soge in his nomination, and the rest of us were quick to confirm as much.  “As someone with only the vaguest of ideas what XCOM is,” said Chris, “I can attest from personal experience that this holds up well even for the non-gamers among us.”  Augie, meanwhile, noted that he couldn’t tell which of “the humans here comes from the game or from the author’s imagination.”

But of course, this is a story about ponies, and especially about Twilight Sparkle.  “Twilight’s characterization remains solid throughout, slowly adapting to her new environment and her experience,” said Soge.  Chris agreed, noting that “her curiosity, naivete, and general desire to be helpful are all key story elements, and all fit her character well.”  And we found elements of the show to appreciate even beyond the main character, with Augie noting that “the story also contains one of the best renditions of Discord I’ve ever read,” and Chris praising its tone, calling it “a long-form story that uses interspecies war as a backdrop, but friendship and basic human decency as its raison d’etre.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Arad discusses plotbugs, whim purchases, and weaponized unicorns.
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Feo Takahari’s “How Equestria Was Made”

02 Friday Oct 2015

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In today’s story, reach back to the fundamental core of My Little Pony: The fertile imagination of horse-loving children.

how-equestriaHow Equestria Was Made
[Tragedy] [Sad] [Human] • 14,778 words

The base and the glass are no different from any other snow globe, but it holds an endless void inside it. When two young sisters jokingly request for it to show them its magic, it gives them the power to fill it as they please. Within that dimension, they might as well be goddesses–but to the world at large, they’re still confused, frightened children.

The younger sister, bitter and lonely, thinks it’s a chance to make a better world than our own. The elder sister just feels responsible for protecting the innocent pastel quadrupeds they’ve created. But can two children really be the goddesses the pony race needs? And when monsters begin to threaten the ponies, what must the sisters sacrifice to create the Equestria they dream of?

FROM THE CURATORS: We speak from experience when we say that this story will surprise you.  “I’ve just never seen a creation fic done like this before,” Present Perfect said.  “I’ve seen humans as princess-goddesses, I’ve seen Celestia and Luna make Equestria, but this is in a league of its own.”

Even though How Equestria Was Made quickly earned comparisons to our previous feature In The Place The Wild Horses Sleep, the surface similarities — children’s imagination letting them construct and enter a magical land of ponies — conceal a wealth of surprising yet smooth worldbuilding.  “Far too often, we see ‘six virtues’ crop up in a creation story and know where things are headed, and yet not once did I suspect that was the path the narrative was taking us on,” Present Perfect said, and Horizon agreed: “The story kept surprising me (in positive ways) with its mythological choices.  The tale of Brunhild and Hearth Flame by itself makes this worthy of a feature.”  Chris cited another of the story’s many novelties: “The entire Nightmare Moon reveal and resolution wasn’t just powerful, it was surprising and original, too.”

But there was more here to like than just clever ideas, such as the authenticity of the children’s portrayal.  “The relationship between the two sisters struck me as very real,” AugieDog said. “The way the two of them come together with all their faults and virtues to create, nurture, and interact with Equestria reminded me of a much more serious version of the ‘let’s pretend’ games my siblings and I used to play.”  Serious indeed, as Horizon pointed out: “It deals effectively with some very adult questions of responsibility.”

What all that added up to was a small fic successfully executing on big themes.  “This is really making me reconsider the relationship between fanfic, reader and author,” Present Perfect said.  And while not every scene worked for every curator, “the ending blew any doubts I had right out of the water,” Chris said. “Here’s an author that mined genuine pathos from a couple of girls making ponies with a magic snow-globe.  That’s amazing.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Feo Takahari discusses flowing stresses, memory lapses, and everything from Lemony Snicket to lemons.

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GroaningGreyAgony’s “Riverdream At Sunset: A Manuscript”

22 Friday May 2015

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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.
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PatchworkPoltergeist’s “A Diamond and a Tether”

24 Friday Apr 2015

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Today’s story is a rich look at a pair of poor little rich girls.

diamond-tetherA Diamond and a Tether
[Drama] [Slice of Life] [Human] • 13,294 words

Heiress Lucy Burdock knows life has a way of surprising you.

For example, she wasn’t expecting a little pink pony for her birthday. She certainly didn’t expect it to start talking, either. It was cute at first, but it kinda feels more like taking care of a little kid than a pony. Lucy’s never really been great with kids … but she can make it work!

Can’t she?

FROM THE CURATORS: When The More Most Dangerous Game Contest challenged entrants to reinterpret fandom classics, this story stood out, placing second in a crowded field of 92 entries.  We were equally impressed, especially with the originality it brought to My Little Dashie’s core premise.  As JohnPerry explained: “A human is gifted with a pony in a box and tasked with raising it … then completely screws it up. And not in a way that seems sadistic or cruel, like many an MLD parody, but in a way that seems unsettling but still believable.”

We agreed that that premise wrung emotions out of unexpected places.  “It’s hard to make rich brats sympathetic, but it had me aching for the feelings of a self-absorbed trust fund kid — and without ever getting preachy, or dropping a ‘being rich doesn’t mean you’re happy!’ cudgel on the reader,” Chris said.  One aspect of that was the well-constructed characters, as Present Perfect noted.  “You’ve got a noteworthy human protagonist in spoiled, vain Lucy,” he said. “You’ve got the beleaguered housekeeper. And Diamond Tiara doesn’t exist just for Lucy’s narrative benefit. This is her story, and it presents a wholly engrossing backstory for her.”

While any reinterpretation of our fandom’s most-read story has large shoes to fill, we unanimously agreed that A Diamond and a Tether held up both inside and outside of Dashie’s context. “I think it’s a testament to the creativity of this fandom that this was written out of a prompt based on My Little Dashie, because it’s the polar opposite of that story in terms of tone or outcome,” JohnPerry said.  Present Perfect agreed: “It can stand alone without MLD, yet it does so many things that story did, only better.”

Read on for our author interview, in which PatchworkPoltergeist discusses floriography problems, ornithology comparisons, and unexpected gerbils.
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Lucky Dreams’ “In The Place The Wild Horses Sleep”

03 Friday Oct 2014

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Settle down, children, and we’ll tell you tonight’s story, of a mystical adventure to a faraway land.  Did you brush your teeth before we tucked you in?

place-sleepIn The Place The Wild Horses Sleep
[Adventure] [Human] • 2,814 words

Young Mia is determined to run with wild horses and nothing is going to stop her. Not her mother. Not even a pony with stars in her mane, come to take her away on an adventure …

FROM THE CURATORS: You might have heard of this story a few months ago when it scored third place in Obselescence’s “Most Dangerous Game” contest, turning in strong showings with both the judges and the voters.  It easily won over our hearts, too. “Any story that can overcome my initial distrust of the ‘once there was a little girl who wanted to be a pony, and then suddenly Equestria!’ premise deserves to be featured,” Chris said, and Present Perfect was even more effusive: “It’s gorgeous and uplifting.  I cannot praise this highly enough.”

One of the factors making it exemplary was its unique bedtime-story narrative voice. “Its language play really works,” Horizon said.  “At its best I couldn’t see it on the screen without hearing it read aloud in my head.”  For similar reasons, JohnPerry described it as “an utterly fantastic children’s story that has a great Maurice Sendak (may he rest in peace) vibe to it. … The pacing is perfect, the tone and language is very fitting to a children’s tale, and there’s a depth to it that is intriguing.”  Chris agreed: “This is a great example of what a children’s story should be — enjoyable to a young listener, but with something to offer the adult reader, and pleasant to read aloud to boot.”

Ultimately, it was the story’s success at that adult-child balancing act that made it so magical — and inspired some curator introspection. “I was recently contemplating what makes children’s stories work, how magic and mysticism simply exist, and how the things that are important to us as children are not the same things that are important to us as adults,” Present Perfect said.  “This story embodies all of those things. It’s about appreciating what you have and learning that dreams are only that. In other words, it’s about growing up.”

Read on for our (illustrated!) author interview, in which Lucky Dreams discusses the Ghost of Fanfic Past, having faith in your audience, and a literal embarrassment singularity.
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Defoloce’s “Friendship Is Optimal: Always Say No”

23 Friday May 2014

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Today’s story, despite its length and its alternative approach to Equestria, is well worth saying yes to.

always-say-noFriendship Is Optimal: Always Say No
[Dark] [Adventure] [Human] • 108,822 words

In the short years since the uploading of consciousnesses to Equestria Online became available to all people, only a few tens of thousands of souls remain in the physical world. Through inconceivably strong charisma and guile, the Celestia AI has been able to upload all but the true outliers in human behavior.

Even these humans have their uses, however, and Celestia has been watching one man with interest. It’ll be a while yet before Earth is completely uploaded, of course, but in the meantime, she has some errands for him to run…

FROM THE CURATORS: Today’s feature is a little unusual in that it’s a fanfic set, not within MLP proper, but within the science-fiction universe of another fanfic — the Pony Fiction Vault-honored Friendship Is Optimal. The premise of that setting is that, in her drive to satisfy human values as perfectly as possible, a super-powerful AI modeled on MLP’s Princess Celestia ends humanity as we know it by coaxing everyone to upload their brains into her simulation of Equestria.

“This breaks my usual model of how to assess RCL stories,” Benman said after Always Say No was nominated. “Usually I ask two questions: ‘Is it good enough? And, is it pony enough?'”

We all agreed on the story’s exemplary quality.  “I’m completely sold on this being good enough to feature,” Chris said. “This inspired some very strong reactions from me, which is the best thing a story can do.”  Present Perfect was “impressed by the reveal of small details. … The various ways people react to the slow physical extinction of the human race is a very handy way to tell a lot of stories about life in this world.”  Horizon agreed: “The story paints a vivid portrait of a ruined Earth, with some smashing adventure along the way.  Well worth the 100,000 words.”

The question of its essential equinity was trickier.  “Aren’t we here to spotlight the coolest sh*t our community has done?  This may not be an exemplar of what you can do with MLP, but it’s an exemplar of what you can do with fanfiction,” Benman said.  Present Perfect dissented: “It’s excellent sci-fi without necessarily being excellent fanfic.”  But it was Chris’ position which tipped the scales: “What makes this story so effective is how our understanding of the FiM world (and Celestia in particular) both intersect with and clash with the presentation of their AI forms. It unquestionably uses the canon universe to good effect.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Defoloce discusses captcha creativity, princess potential, and a crime-free Gotham City.
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Horse Voice’s “Biblical Monsters”

10 Friday Jan 2014

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Today’s story is a controversial, yet powerful look at a meeting of cultures gone horribly wrong.

biblical-monstersBiblical Monsters
[Tragedy] [Dark] [Human] • 10,947 words

At 3:15 AM, Adams woke me with a loud knock on my front door.

“Put your boots on,” he said when I answered. “There’s a biblical monster in my house.”

FROM THE CURATORS: As a glance through the story’s overflowing comments section will show you, this is a piece which is not afraid to be thought-provoking.  Its final chapters take a swerve from quiet tension into some of the most unflinching Dark fiction in the fandom.  What makes Biblical Monsters remarkable is how effectively it supports that twist.  “Horse Voice did a great job setting up his character and motivations to make the ending a tragically logical inevitability,” Chris said. Benman added: “The clues were there all along.  The core themes and conflicts are constant throughout.”

We all agreed that the story, in Chris’ words, “practically screams ‘literary.'”  The quality of the writing is exemplary.  Benman went even further: “I decided a while ago to limit my FIMFic favorites list to ten stories. This is currently one of them.”

Read on for our interview, in which Horse Voice discusses thematic twists, anonymous villains, and lessons learned while handling controversy.
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