Tag Archives: slice of life

DuncanR’s “Appletheosis”

16 Friday Jan 2015

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Go ahead, take just one little bite of today’s tempting tale …

appletheosisAppletheosis
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 18,225 words

Applejack, while surveying the border between Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree forest, stumbles across a perfectly ordinary, garden-variety talking snake. In an apple tree. The mane six, of course, decide to be neighborly.

What’s the worst that could happen?

FROM THE CURATORS: While the title is almost identical to last week’s feature, this is a very different take on the concept of deification: “a story with religious themes, funny and thoughtful in equal turns, and without any super-depressing grim-dark or blatant preaching,” in the author’s own words.  Our reaction was exemplified by Bradel, who assigned it a top score with a simple “Yup.”

Among the features earning this story its feature — and a rare unanimous vote — was its skillful blending of moods. “This is by turns profound, touching, and hilarious.  It packs in a magnificent range of emotions in its 18,000 words, and none of them feel out of place,” horizon said. Chris also cited the exemplary characterization: “The way everypony reacted to the snake’s attempted temptations perfectly highlighted their characters, without falling back on their Elements as stereotypes.  Most stories would have just given us ‘Dash is Loyal/Rarity is Generous/etc.,’ but this one is actually about those ponies, not just some convenient archetype.”

But, most of all, it was the deft touch with which it explored a deep (and sometimes touchy) subject both respectfully and authentically.  As Present Perfect put it: “This is a bizarre confluence of MLP and the Bible (and other mythologies) in a G1-scented wrapper. If I’m not mistaken, it’s also a deconstruction of the silliness of placing human societal constructs into the world of Equestria. And yet it still explores human religious thought. I just stand in slack-jawed amazement as the ponies refuse to rise to bait that would have ensnared the deepest human intellectual, and it all makes sense … the most amazing thing is Pinkie getting into a theological debate and not even knowing it.”

Read on for our author interview, in which DuncanR discusses unwritten endings, Hitlerjack and Applejesus, and the true north strong and proud.
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The Ponytrician’s “The Truth About Myths And Legends”

26 Friday Dec 2014

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

myths-and-legendsThe 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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Taranth’s “Little Deceptions”

07 Friday Nov 2014

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Today’s story has a clever plan to steal your heart.

little-deceptionsLittle Deceptions
[Slice of Life] • 5,527 words

Blank Slate is the greatest thief of his generation. He has robbed countless nigh-impossible marks, and his talents as a master of disguise are beyond par — truly, nopony knows who he is. 

And now he’s preparing the greatest heist in mortal memory: the treasure vaults of the Princesses themselves.

But you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one past the pony who defines when ‘early in the morning’ is…

FROM THE CURATORS: Like all its characters, this story of a daring theft gone wrong has a little secret — in this case, that there are two chapters.  “It’s bizarre to say, as JohnPerry did, that the best thing about this story is how it sticks the landing,” Horizon initially wrote after be failed to notice Chapter 2, but quickly amended his statement: “It stuck the landing.”  All of us agreed.  In Chris’ words: “The ending is great, no argument.”

But there’s more to this story than a great twist, and it was that richness throughout which propelled it to its feature.  Present Perfect cited the writing’s redemption of an often-poorly-used technique: “This makes good use of talking heads, something that’s hard to do.”  And Chris appreciated the heist’s construction despite his ambivalence toward the genre: “Too often, the number one rule of good mystery writing is ignored — the reason it worked ought to be, if not solvable, at least conceivable pre-reveal.  This story does a nice job on that front.”

Little Deceptions’ richness extended to its ideas and its setting.  “What really struck me about it was the world-building,” Present Perfect said.  “We get an explanation for why a pony would turn to crime. All those magical gems … make sense, and the methods of disguise are entirely believable.”  Horizon seconded that: “The heist is a joy to read, and plays with Equestrian worldbuilding in marvelous ways.  I was debating whether to nominate it simply on the strength of Chapter 1.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Taranth discusses fertility, flowers, fandom justifications, and Shining Armor’s criminal history.
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Kavonde’s “An Outsider’s Perspective”

24 Friday Oct 2014

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From the dread darkness of Chthonian slumber, from the maddening whispers of voiceless space, comes today’s story of doom.  DOOOOOM!  And makeovers.

outsiders-perspectiveAn Outsider’s Perspective
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 5,475 words

A freakish abomination from beyond the fringes of the rational universe emerges from the trackless depths and finds himself in Ponyville.

FROM THE CURATORS: Like last week’s feature, An Outsider’s Perspective was an entry into Equestria Daily’s Outside Insight contest, and quickly rose to stand out from the pack.  “If Moonlight Palaver was the Outside Insight entry I found the most entertaining, this is the one I found the funniest,” JohnPerry said.  “Its absurd premise belies its wit; it looks like a piece of featurebox bait from the cover, but inside is something really clever and wonderful. It’s not often that you come across something that’s this absurd yet feels so true to the tone of the show.”

But when that wit and show-feel are mere supplements to perfectly on-point comedy, it’s easy to understand what makes this fic exemplary.  “This story is so hilarious,” Present Perfect said, and Chris agreed: “It’s fun, funny, and left me in a better mood after reading it.”  Its whimsical melding of Lovecraftian horror and the magic of friendship won Horizon over: “Everything about this brought a smile to my face.  The core idea is so clever and the execution is just so spot-on that you can’t help but like it.”

Ultimately, it was that tongues-in-the-many-cheeks-of-the-gibbering-faces-of-horror tone which sold us on the piece.  “I’ve never seen comedic juxtaposition done so well,” Present Perfect said.  “It really stood apart on the merits of using such a dark non-pony character and playing it for laughs.  This was one of my absolute favorites from Outside Insight.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Kavonde discusses grandiose monologues, death rays, and Lovecraft hats.
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Carabas’ “Moonlight Palaver”

17 Friday Oct 2014

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They say that politics is like making sausage — and today’s story puts Equestria’s neighbors through the grinder.

moonlight-palaverMoonlight Palaver
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 6,851 words

Upon Nightmare Moon’s return, the leaders of other nations gather to discuss the situation. 

They’re not especially happy about it.

FROM THE CURATORS: “This might have been the most entertaining story I read in Equestria Daily’s Outside Insight contest, which is saying a lot,” JohnPerry told us when he nominated this story. “The worldbuilding is exquisite, with brilliant little details scattered throughout.  The dialogue is superbly written.  And even though the ending is a foregone conclusion, it’s an absolute delight. Start to finish, this one is just a whole lot of fun.”

It didn’t take long for us to agree — in fact, Moonlight Palaver set a record for our fastest-approved nomination (at 6 hours, 37 minutes).  “I bumped this up my reading list, and I’m glad I did,” Chris said, while Present Perfect found it immediately memorable: “I haven’t read this story since round 2 of the official Outside Insight voting, and I can still remember it perfectly. … There’s always something missing when writers start making their own species, or giving show races nations, but not this time.”

Beyond the marvelous worldbuilding, Moonlight Palaver also distinguished itself as “one of the best examples of non-pony politics I think I’ve ever read,” as Present Perfect put it.  Ultimately, the intricate interplay between the personal and the political brought both the politics and the story to life.  “This does a great job of showing that greed and habit are the cockroaches of sentience, outlasting even the grandest thermonuclear blasts,” Chris said.  “And yet, the fic never loses its essential humor, nor does it trivialize the potential disaster facing the delegates — except, of course, to show how they have trivialized it.  It’s funny, it’s clever, and it never lets those two things get in the way of its respect for its characters and the setting.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Carabas discusses ploutering, Perralt, and prompts promoting plausible political pondering.

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Maphysto’s “In Which Twilight Sparkle Attempts to Eat a Sandwich”

19 Friday Sep 2014

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Grab today’s story, and take a bite of Equestrian folk mythology, with a side order of mystery and comedy.

sandwichIn Which Twilight Sparkle Attempts to Eat a Sandwich
[Slice of Life] • 8,379 words

Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and student of Princess Celestia, has braved many dangers and defeated powerful foes. But on a peaceful afternoon, she will face her greatest challenge: eating some lunch.

FROM THE CURATORS: When you see a fic with a “Pony Verbs Noun” title, you’re most likely going to expect a forgettable featurebox-bait comedy — but this is a story that transcends its roots. “The whimsicality of the ‘Pony Does X’ format belies a deep look into the power of folklore,” Present Perfect said.  Of course, that doesn’t stop it from being funny.  “It’s the kind of silly that’s easy to enjoy,” Chris said, “but it doesn’t collapse in on itself when subjected to more than a modicum of thought.”

For such light reading, in fact, it withstands thought amazingly well. “The characterizations of the Mane Six feel spot-on, the stories are great, and Twilight’s investigative approach not only feels fitting to her character but also lends the story a very pleasant ending,” JohnPerry said.  Horizon also appreciated that “great tale of rational investigation,” but our consensus was that this story was most exemplary in how crisply it evoked the show.  As JohnPerry put it, “it’s not often that I utter the words ‘could be an episode,’ but this one earns them.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Maphysto discusses local flavor, poison ghosts, and the other Faust.

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Bad_Seed_72’s “Anxiety”

12 Friday Sep 2014

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Today’s story takes us on a journey beyond Sombra’s door to remind us that the scariest villains are often the ones inside our heads.

anxietyAnxiety
[Sad] [Dark] [Slice of Life] • 10,788 words

What Spike saw in the doorway of King Sombra’s crystal palace hasn’t left his mind. The fear of Twilight abandoning him haunts him through recurrent nightmares. Anxiety taunts him when he’s at his most vulnerable, reminding him of all his failures, all his inadequacies, all his wounds.

One night, this fear and anxiety manifests itself in a full-blown nightmare, dragging Spike face-to-face with his greatest fear: What if Twilight never needed Spike in the first place?

FROM THE CURATORS: One of the core strengths of Friendship Is Magic is its unapologetic sincerity — taking a premise designed to pitch moral lessons (and sell toys) to young girls, and imbuing it with a depth and richness that holds adults’ attention too, without ever forgetting its roots.  The notion that friendship literally is magic, and that it holds a power relevant to our own lives, is fundamental both to the show and the fandom surrounding it.

Anxiety examines that core premise through the lens of its adult audience — Spike is suffering from problems that will be all too familiar to some of us.  “It’s a great look at anxiety attacks, low self-esteem, and the mental blocks that can come with those to keep sufferers from seeking help,” Present Perfect said, and Bradel agreed: “This tallies really well with my experience of depression.”  The beauty of the story is that it still holds true to FiM’s core message in a relevant and honest way: Spike is in over his head, as it can often seem to those who live with mental illness, and it’s togetherness and understanding that will save both him and us.

What impressed us was not only the authenticity of the topics and emotions, but also of Anxiety’s characterization.  Chris found Spike well-done: “Too many authors turn Spike into a grown up. … Spike’s reactions feel real precisely because he acts like a frightened kid.”  Bradel agreed, also pointing out that “Spike characterization is always hard, since he resides in this weird, nebulous middle ground between child and adult.”

Finally, the strength of Anxiety’s closing message was singled out for praise. “The talk by Twilight at the end of the piece just knocks it out of the park for me,” Bradel said.  “It really sticks the landing.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Bad_Seed_72 discusses forgetting, Best Pony surprises, not being alone, and forgetting.
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Bachiavellian’s “Shoots and Roots”

05 Friday Sep 2014

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After love, loss.  After loss, picking up the pieces.  After picking up the pieces, what then?  Today’s story digs beneath Carrot Top’s surface for an answer.

shoots-and-rootsShoots and Roots
[Drama] [Sad] [Slice of Life] • 6,366 words

Time alone can’t heal all wounds for Carrot Top. Sometimes life simply goes on in the worst and best possible ways.

FROM THE CURATORS: The Royal Canterlot Library’s job is to spotlight the fandom’s best, which leads to a lot of reading from established, well-known authors — so it’s always a great feeling when we get to play hipsters and feature a little-known writer with obvious talent.  When Present Perfect noticed in the story’s author’s note that Shoots and Roots was Bachiavellian’s “first real attempt at writing fiction,” the discovery was accompanied by a cheerful expletive. “It’s been ages since I read a story this good and saw that at the end,” he said.  “I haven’t been this excited about a story suggestion since That’s All.”

We found Shoots and Roots exemplary in its “unusually mature take on its core tragedy,” as Horizon put it.  Chris, in his nomination of the story, explained: “It hits the sweet spot between sad and hopeful.  This could easily have been yet another ‘ooh, look at this pony, her life sucks, now feel bad for her,’ but despite Carrot Top getting dealt a tragic hand by life, the story is ultimately about acceptance, growth, and how we can move on without forgetting.”  It’s also about the relationships that strengthen her, as Present Perfect pointed out: “It’s nice to see a story not leave all the emotional bang for the end.  I was left reeling by Derpy’s generous understanding — I get really emotional when ponies are good goddamn friends to each other.”

Ultimately, those friendships make Shoots and Roots’ Slice-of-Life take on MLP a joy to read despite the tragedy. “This is one of those stories that takes something the fandom enjoys doing and makes it real,” Present Perfect said. “What [the Pony Fiction Vault-featured] The Archer and the Smith did for Lyra and hands, this does for Carrot Top, Derpy and Dinky.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Bachiavellian discusses Portal music, helpful mistakes, and recipe-swapping.

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anowack’s “The Princess Of Books”

01 Friday Aug 2014

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The next time you want to write comedy mixed with a thoughtful moral lesson, today’s story is a great one to take a page from.

princess-of-booksThe Princess Of Books
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 17,954 words

Celestia had a problem. Somepony wrote a novel about Nightmare Moon’s rebellion. This made Luna quite unhappy, and unfortunately for her sister, Luna has not yet gotten the hang of modern traditions like freedom of speech, the abolition of the death penalty, and not bothering Princess Celestia when she’s trying to sleep.

Fortunately, Celestia also had a faithful student, one who is now a Princess with an ill-defined portfolio and perfectly capable of dispensing justice by the laws of both today and one thousand years ago.

Now Twilight Sparkle has a problem.

FROM THE CURATORS: We found The Princess Of Books not only entertaining, but exemplary on two levels.  The first was how its tale of remedial Lunar education felt remarkably faithful to the show itself.  “Though the comedy tag certainly fits, it isn’t laugh-out-loud, but it is a rather masterful mixture of light humor and show-tone slice of life, with just a hint of going beyond the show’s boundaries in ways that make sense,” Present Perfect said. “It’s also an excellent look at Twilight adjusting to her role as a princess in ways that mirror what we’ve seen in season 4, despite having been published prior to it.”  Part of that excellence was its well-roundedness: “It includes all of the mane six without feeling bogged down,” JohnPerry said.

Its other exemplary feature was, as Horizon put it, “the story’s core maturity” in its examination of the issue of censorship (which remains all too relevant in our own world). “It’s refreshing to find a story with a strong moral that doesn’t overplay its hand,” JohnPerry said, and Chris agreed: “The lesson at the end was a great mix of blunt, important, and thoughtful.” Amid all its silliness, it treats its characters and their decisions with respect: “Twilight’s presented with several easy outs, any one of which could have plausibly worked given the conceits of canon, but refuses them and stands on principle, to everyone’s immediate discomfort and ultimate benefit,” Horizon said. “Aside from Luna’s early anachronistic wrath, everyone acts reasonable, and the different sides of the conflict are all presented as having legitimate reasons driving their actions.”

Those conflicts end up escalating into a climax and epilogue that “made me want to stand up and cheer,” Horizon said, and Present Perfect agreed: “The ending is rather unexpectedly epic.”

Read on for our author interview, in which anowack discusses meta-goals, mythological gifts, and mixing morality and grins.
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PoweredByTea’s “The Wrong Fork”

25 Friday Jul 2014

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Today’s story is a tiney glimpse into Equestrian high society.

wrong-forkThe Wrong Fork
[Slice-of-Life] • 1,138 words

During a lull in the conversation at an upper class charity dinner, Rarity takes a moment to contemplate some commonly held assumptions made of Princess Celestia. Specifically, her table manners.

FROM THE CURATORS: As previously mentioned here, stories this short — “The Wrong Fork” barely clears 1,000 words — are easy to write, but difficult to write well.  The effect of each word is magnified when a story is so brief, and PoweredByTea uses that here to great advantage.  “This story manages to invest a trivial moment, an idle bit of speculation, and a no-stakes ‘climax’ with such draw that it sucked me right in,” Chris said.  “The Wrong Fork is a great example of how small moments can be used to build character and introspection.”

This fic also drew praise for its strong closing.  “The last line really tied the whole thing together; a nice way to put everything into context,” JohnPerry said.  And Present Perfect marveled at the themes introduced by Rarity’s closing actions: “This is the Equestrian high-society version of a soldier throwing himself on a grenade, or a movement leader going to political prison,” he said.

Ultimately, though several of PoweredByTea’s stories were worthy of a feature, we selected this one for the exemplary mileage it gets out of its brevity.  “My god, this is deep for a thousand words,” Present Perfect said.

Read on for our author interview, in which PoweredByTea discusses social climbing, anthropological studies of the English, and sheep-bone headwear.
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