Tag Archives: mystery

anonpencil’s “Broken Bindings”

10 Friday Aug 2018

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Today’s story is a real page-turner.

Broken Bindings
[Dark] [Horror] [Mystery] • 23,036 words

Twilight has given you a new book to read. Well, she didn’t exactly give it to you, you actually just found it in the back of the library. Behind a shelf. On the ground. It looks very old, downright ancient, and it smells like moss and rot. The binding is a little cracked, and there’s no title on it. You can’t help but wonder what might be inside, and the only way to find out is to keep reading.

Just turn the page.

You can do that much, can’t you?

Please?

FROM THE CURATORS: Notable fanfiction can bring to life ideas that are too big for the show — but even among exemplary stories, it’s not every day you see ideas that are also too big for traditional prose.  “anonpencil’s most recent work — I hesitate to call it just a ‘fic’ — is impressive,” RBDash47 said in his nomination.  “Beyond the pure fic/storytelling aspect, pencil spent months building a multimedia experience that takes full advantage of the publishing format: this is not a story that could ever exist in book form, or even really as an ebook.”  And while that novelty caught our collective eye, what earned this a feature was its solid quality.  “There are plenty of other fics which toy with formatting,” Soge said. “What sets Broken Bindings apart is that it does these things well.”

He wasn’t the only one impressed.  “There’s substance in all of this stylish packaging, and it is some beautifully haunting work,” FanOfMostEverything said.  “anonpencil used literary devices as thoroughly and as well as she did hyperlinks and multimedia integration.”  RBDash47 praised the craft in the character work: “From a pure fic standpoint, it tells a compelling story about a mare imprisoned within a book, and is creepy while simultaneously earning the reader’s sympathies for a villain (maybe even a ‘monster’). The turn/reveal/prestige at the end also makes it an interesting commentary on ‘death of the author’ for me.”  And Present Perfect was most impressed by the consistent eye for detail: “I had so much fun finding the little inconsistencies, the seeming mistakes, and the really, really hidden stuff.  It was every bit as much fun watching the story unravel, too.  Muse’s unstable emotional state comes through in chilling ways.”

Even curators turned off by the story’s structure found themselves admiring it.  “I’m here to read a story, not play a game … the concept behind Broken Bindings, though, struck me as a really nice answer to a lot of my objections,” AugieDog said.  “If I’d just stumbled across this story on my own, I would’ve stopped about page 6, but since I was reading it for the RCL, I kept going — and found myself immensely impressed with the character’s voice, the little animations and nutty typography stuff, and the rising tension.”  And in the end, our biggest regrets were not getting to the tale sooner.  “I meant to nominate this one myself. This is what I get for procrastinating,” FanOfMostEverything said.  “In any case, this is a glorious exercise in using the medium to its absolute fullest.”

Read on for our author interview, in which anonpencil discusses brie bathing, editor cheating, and dream infiltration.
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Mitch H’s “A Requiem For Lost Libraries”

16 Friday Feb 2018

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Today’s tale has its roots in an unusual ghost story.

A Requiem For Lost Libraries
[Mystery] • 2,655 words

There is a ghost haunting the corridors of Ponyville’s newest dwelling, the princess’s Castle of Friendship. It is a ghost without voice, or hoof, or spectral limb to cast strange shadows upon crystalline walls.

But it’s not the ghost of a pony. It’s not a person at all.

FROM THE CURATORS: Seven seasons in, it’s a delight to find the fandom still delivering fresh takes on classic ideas — as this story does succinctly and elegantly.  “This examines an angle of #SaveTree that I’ve never before seen covered, and does something quietly lovely with it,” Horizon said in his nomination, and that spurred accolades like Present Perfect’s: “This was fantastic. It elevates the #savetree meme — the catch-all for the fandom’s ability to love even the background of this show, justifying that love and nostalgia for a tree whose story we never really knew.”

The unique angle of the core concept was only one element of our appreciation, though — several of us commented on the delicate touch with which the story balanced its ideas with canon.  “The big thing right felt like the way that this maintained a horror-like sense of tension while also resolving in a satisfying and entirely non-horrific way that felt squarely show-tone,” Horizon said, and Present Perfect had similar comments: “The larger-than-life ghost story aesthetic of the narrative fits the content and only serves the overall tone. I agree with Horizon, there’s something horrific, Twilight Zone-ish, to the final reveal, but it’s a good kind of horror. It fits the show well, save for covering a topic the show never will. I was duly impressed.”  The story’s gentle approach to not only death but the Equestrian approach to it also earned AugieDog’s appreciation: “I quite like how this story makes the pony afterlife an underground thing, too — if I might devolve in punnery — something that isn’t officially acknowledged but not really discouraged.”

We didn’t just appreciate the uniqueness of the story’s ideas, but also its narrative approach.  “I like the way that it slowly shifts tone from the abstract into the personal, and the way that the narrator gradually becomes part of the story,” Horizon said.  “I love the way that this manages to keep a sense of supernatural wonder and inexplicability, despite being set in a world that takes magic for granted.”  And that all added up to a package well worth our attention.  “The dreamlike aspect of the ‘ghost’ is both unsettling and fascinating, and I loved the suggestion of a pony afterlife rooted in nostalgia,” Soge said.  “This is memorable and very well written.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Mitch H discusses haunting hopes, boxcar loads, and peytral burdens.
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Morning Sun’s “Gnosis”

18 Friday Nov 2016

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It’s time to learn the secret of what makes today’s story great.

gnosisGnosis
[Mystery] • 3,916 words

Life in Canterlot Castle is about more than just the Princesses. Many ponies spend their days working in the palace, toiling with their virtues unsung to keep life humming alone.

Meet Spot Shine, Aegis, Raven, and more. Take a glimpse through their eyes, even as Princess Celestia finds herself a bit under the weather.

Some knowledge must be earned, but remember: Some doors cannot be closed once opened.

FROM THE CURATORS: Like all good mysteries, there’s more than one layer to this carefully crafted tale.  “On the one hand, this is a great slice of life piece that shows us the day-to-day of Canterlot Palace from numerous perspectives, while also telling a story about Celestia falling mysteriously ill,” Present Perfect said.  “On the other hand, it’s a perfectly insidious mystery, the existence of which might not even occur to you until the final scene.”  The nature of that mystery, though, is something best left unspoiled.  “People should read the story before delving into commentary about it, because it will be more effective the less they know walking in,” the author noted.

Our experiences reading the story bore that out — despite how different they were.  “When I first read it, I didn’t twig to what was going on in the story until the second-to-last paragraph,” AugieDog said.  Horizon appreciated the story despite being aware of its twist from the original draft in the Writeoffs, and Chris picked up the story’s epiphanies only in hindsight.  “It’s a clever story, and although it might have been too clever for me, I don’t believe that it’s too clever for its own good,” Chris said.  “This holds up well to attentive reading, and still works when one knows/guesses the twist(s) from the start.”

There were several reasons for Gnosis’ strength on rereading.  “The character profiles are quite nearly strong enough to carry the story on its own,” Horizon said, while AugieDog praised its tone: “This story builds such a distinct feeling of dread that I was primed and ready, looking for some sort of reveal at the end.”  In summary, as Present Perfect said: “However you slice it, this is a really strong, clever story.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Morning Sun discusses cake bribes, butt words, and non-unlearnable revelations.

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JohnPerry’s “The Wreck”

29 Friday Jul 2016

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Lose yourself in today’s story about a boat that’s more than it seems.

the-wreckThe Wreck
[Dark] [Drama] [Mystery] • 13,126 words

A.K. Yearling leads a quiet, peaceful life as a novelist living in Canterlot with her fiancé.

But recently, she has been haunted by dreams of a strange shipwreck, and she doesn’t know why.

FROM THE CURATORS: JohnPerry left the fandom (and the RCL) some time ago, but we weren’t going to let that stop us from featuring The Wreck, given the wide-ranging quality of its tale.  “It’s quite an amazing piece, given the intersection of dream, desire, adventure, writer’s block and mystery,” Present Perfect said, while Soge had nothing but praise: “Very creative, amazing imagery, great characterization, and a surreal plot which ties up in the best way possible.”

We had some difficulty, in fact, finding the most praiseworthy part of this tale of A.K. Yearling’s journey of self-discovery.  AugieDog thought it was the character deconstruction: “JP’s take on the idea that A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are the same pony is just plain perfectly realized,” he said, “exploring not only which of the two is the original and dominant personality but also which of them would honestly envy the other.”  Horizon appreciated the unfolding of the mystery: “The construction here is impressive.  For instance, there’s a part of the story which seemed subtly wrong to me until I realized that the wrongness had been foreshadowing an important reveal that caught me off guard.”  And Present Perfect appreciated the way it reforged canon: “It proves that Daring Don’t didn’t rob the fandom of its ability to interpret Daring Do to their heart’s content.”

What we agreed on was that — despite its strong opening — this story kept finding ways to up the stakes and close even stronger.  “The whole thing kicks into high gear in Chapter 4 and stays gripping till the end,” Horizon said, and Present Perfect added: “The way it unfolds is quite the experience, with a strong, relatable moral at the end.”

Read on for our author interview, in which JohnPerry discusses sympathetic actors, Steven Universe, and suffering feature boxes.
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Miller Minus’ “Analemma”

22 Friday Jan 2016

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It’s always sunny somewhere in the world, and it’s always a good time to dig into the mysteries buried in today’s story.

analemmaAnalemma
[Mystery] [Slice of Life] • 11,639 words

Once every month, a mare appears on a remote beach, far from her home. She plays, she reads, she sleeps, and she wastes precious, precious time.

FROM THE CURATORS: Princess Celestia taking relaxing vacations on an idyllic beach — certainly not the first thing you’d think of when browsing through the archives of FIMFiction’s new Mystery tag.  But this one was positively arresting in the slow build of its revelations.  “Wow, what a remarkable piece,” Present Perfect said.  “Hardly anything made sense throughout the story, until the final chapter tied it all together in the most satisfying way possible.”  Chris agreed, adding: “The real brilliance of this story is in how often Celestia or the narrator does something that doesn’t seem to make any sense, even as the story gives you enough clues and assurance to convince you that yes, there’s a reason for all this.  And when that reason comes, it’s invariably satisfying.”

That’s not to say that the mystery here is the only thing to appreciate.  “The narrative voice is unique, and I really appreciated the way it manages to pull off multiple levels of headfakes as it slowly unrolls its core plot,” Horizon said.  Chris also appreciated the characterization: “This story manages to tell us a lot about both Celestia and the narrator, in ways both obvious and subtle.”  And AugieDog found Analemma’s pacing exemplary.  “Puzzle stories like this are really hard to do; they’re all about doling out the information at exactly the time the reader needs it,” he said.  “This one added each compelling detail just when I needed one, and kept that pace right up to the end. Even the point-of-view switch in the last chapter, something that throws me out of a story 99% of the time, didn’t bother me that much.”

It all added up to a story that left us unanimously impressed.  “The story makes a lot of promises and fulfills them all, which is an exemplary quality in a mystery,” Horizon said.  Chris summarized it as “a clever little bundle of a story,” and Present Perfect found it “a joy to read” throughout.  “In the end,” Present Perfect said, “it shows us that there are still creative new ways to tell age-old stories.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Miller Minus discusses poetry creeping, trampoline jumping, and magical husband lamping.
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ponichaeism’s “The Mare In The High Castle”

20 Friday Mar 2015

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Broadcasting on all frequencies, today’s story comes to you from an Equestria that’s turned dark in more ways than one.

mare-in-high-castleThe Mare In The High Castle
[Alternate Universe] [Dark] [Drama] [Mystery] [Sci-Fi] [Thriller] • 161,695 words

“Hello, hello, hello, this is Thorny Bends coming at you live on Radio Free Canterlot, and from where I’m sitting, folks, the Land of the Eternal Moon is looking lovely. Well, except for that nasty smog cloud rolling toward us from the coast, but hey, that’s the price of progress. Still, if you’re heading outside you might want to think about an Easy Breezy-brand respirator, guaranteed to make the air taste like new. Buy yours from all major retailers today!

“As I’m sure you all know, it’s been almost a thousand years since the founding of our great civilization. And as the big day approaches, I sure hope the High Castle set their clocks right. I’d hate to find out it was really last Thursday. Ha! But seriously, folks. I’ve been doing a fair bit of thinking about our fair Canterlot, and I’ve realized it isn’t just somewhere we all live. It’s what we build together into something greater as we all reach for the moon. A symbol for a way of life and a state of mind. So, in honor of the thousand years, I’m taking an eye in the sky peek into the lives of the ponies on the streets, and a few in the penthouses too. I don’t often do real news on this show, but these are some genuine equine interest stories, folks. In their own small, unique way, these ponies are as vital to the city as the princess of the night herself. So settle down, get comfortable, and don’t touch that dial.

“You won’t want to miss this, I guarantee.”

FROM THE CURATORS: This story’s path to its feature started with a suggestion on our recommendation thread, and despite its 160,000-word length, it caught our attention right away with its vivid portrayal of an eternal-night Equestria.  “This story is far from being merely a pony re-write of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle,” JohnPerry said.  “The level of thought that went into developing this nightmarish — yet eerily familiar — alternate world and its cruel philosophies is astounding, and it manages to combine an epic scope with surprisingly intimate portrayals of its characters.”  Chris agreed: “This is a wonderful use of the AU tag. It takes a single conceit — that something went differently a thousand years ago — and projects how that one change would reverberate to the present, butterfly-in-China-style.”

We all agreed that the characterization which followed from that shift was exemplary, and Horizon cited one of High Castle’s central examples. “Twilight Sparkle spends the vast majority of the story as a reprehensible alcoholic racist haunted by nightmares,” he said, “and yet the entire setting and theme of the story are crafted so as to make it clear that she is that way because their world is fundamentally broken, and the Twilight we see is just a reflection of that.”  JohnPerry agreed, adding, “it’s incredible how ponichaeism managed to make the characters recognizable in spite of all the horrors of the world they are subjected to.”

The story doesn’t flinch from presenting those horrors as necessary to explore the dark corners of its premise, which earned high praise from Chris. “Can we take a moment to talk about Granny Smith?” he said.  “Because she’s where the author most impressed me on the pacing front. … She’s slotted in right where she needs to be to have maximum impact with minimum premise-questioning by the readers, and (up until the end) that’s how I felt about most of the big revelations.”

But The Mare In The High Castle isn’t just a parade of bleakness.  “It has a lot to say about the earth counterparts of the things it ponifies, but it has a lot to say about the ponies at the same time, and this is fundamentally and unquestionably MLP at heart,” Horizon said.  “For instance, this is the finest Flash Sentry story this fandom will ever produce.  He’s just as broken as the rest of this world, but he owns it, and he stands up and shows us that there can be beauty regardless.  I want to feature it for that alone.”

Read on for our author interview, in which ponichaeism discusses Gnostic sects, uncarved blocks, and the curious collision of Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski and Philip K. Dick.
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KitsuneRisu’s “Twilight, There’s a Ghost in Your Basement”

27 Friday Jun 2014

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Today’s story is a stirring, inspirational tale about courage in the face of the unknown … or, more accurately, the complete lack thereof.

twilight-ghostTwilight, There’s A Ghost In Your Basement
[Comedy] [Drama] [Mystery] • 8,636 words

Twilight firmly believes that ghosts belong in the realm of fantasy. But after multiple brushes with the supernatural in her home, she turns to the one pony who can help. Now Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike must banish the spirit before it starts flinging her pans and clogging the toilets.

FROM THE CURATORS: “I spent my lunch break today desperately trying not to break out into laughter as I read this story,” Chris said with the vote that earned this story its feature. “Kitsune’s got a way with deliciously ridiculous metaphors which puts a neat little bow on the jokes proper.”  The rest of us agreed.  “It’s certainly funny,” Present Perfect said, “a remarkable example of wordplay.”

It also shone in its thoughtful presentation of the characters. “My goodness, Twilight and Spike had the perfect, funny but real brother-sister dynamic going the whole way through,” Chris said.  Horizon appreciated that more broadly: “There are some magnificent character moments for Twilight that come out of nowhere and leave an impact regardless. … Digging into characters’ heads in a comedy takes some tonal juggling, but it keeps all the balls in the air.”

Our disagreement over this fic centered, of all things, on ladybugs.  “The scene with the ladybug tiptoes over the line from funny into simply bizarre, but it’s that same straight-faced presentation of the absurd that led to some of the moments I found most hysterical,” Horizon said. Chris countered: “By the ladybug’s fourth or fifth mention, the sheer contrast it made to the events proper (and the fic’s dogged insistence on including it) had me nearly in stitches.”  And Present Perfect offered a laconic dissent: “What.”

Read on for our author interview, in which KitsuneRisu discusses Twist, pie, mud, and the unholy fusion of two creatures that should never have seen the light of day.
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