Fic Spotlight » Fic Spotlight #20 - It's The Fic Signal, Batman! · 2:11am Nov 20th, 2015
The Royal Guard—Missed Thanksgiving By One Week Edition
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Hey guys, it's Fic Spotlight. It's like a magical world where good MLP fics rain from the sky and all your troubles are washed away. Only it's real and not actually anything like what I described. Instead have a choice selection of good MLP fics, which should distract you long enough to avoid remembering that the world is actually a dark and scary place.
Enjoy
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Every two weeks, we recommend six high-quality stories from a variety of authors and popular genres. From action/adventure to slice of life, from drama to comedy, from stories about ponies kissing to stories involving pink hairless apes, we feature a wide variety of stories so that every post has something for everyone.
We’re always looking for a tip-top tale, so if you’d like to submit your fic, here are some links you’ll probably find useful:
-The Royal Guard Group
-Submit Your Story!
-The Royal Guard's Official Handbook
Finally—and I cannot emphasize this enough—we are always recruiting. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a prereader, then don’t hesitate to send us an application. If you have any questions about the application process, please direct them to Prak.
AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... STORIES!
This Week:
Action/Adventure
The Legend of Falling Rocks, Buffalo Brave
Drama
Dust and Harmony, by KitsuneRisu
Romance
Ciphers, by Grand Moff Pony
Comedy
The Mane Makes the Mare, by Dubs Rewatcher
Slice of Life
Not In Bluff Nor Bravado Nor Loneliness, by Vivid Syntax
Human
Burning Man Brony: Fear and Loathing of Equestria, by Bad Horse
ACTION/ADVENTURE
Long ago, before the ponies came to this land, the buffalo roamed free across the hills and plains, and the stampedes could run from mountain to sea without fear.
In those days, a buffalo brave, Falling Rocks, became legend. Come, listen to the tale of how he saved his people.
A story of buffalo mythology.
PR Recommendation: “A tribal story told as a tribal story should--it bleeds an awesome feel and understanding for old folklore-style storytelling, and I'll be damned if it isn't refreshing.” —Figments
DRAMA
The signs have fallen. The notorious outlaw Raven Lune is coming back, and she's looking to take out a few good ponies in a bid for revenge. There's nothing left to do but for Mayor Celeste to send one of her best deputies to the burg of Ponyton to make sure Lune doesn't succeed. But to do so, the deputy is going to have to find a weapon - one whose secrets are buried deep within the citizens of Ponyton, its only purpose to destroy all who stand in its way.
A weapon by the name of Harmony.
PR Recommendation: “Now this is how you do an Alternate Universe Pilot! Such complex and different yet completely recognisable characters! A unique setting with a rich and deep atmosphere! Easily one of KitsuneRisu's best stories, if not his best. Dust is perhaps the only MLP story I've ever read that feels both like a faithful reinterpretation of source material and its own completely separate entity. That is something to be highly commended.” —Cerulean Voice
ROMANCE
Untold luxury and wealth. A place in high society. A life full of the finer things. All this and more await Fleur, but at what cost?
Now, Fleur must decide: Is love worth nothing, or is it a secret worthy of sacrifice? Can she be the mare she is and the mare she has to be?
A cipher, after all, can be anything— Or nothing at all.
PR Recommendation: “Growing up is never easy, especially when your path to adulthood is being chosen for you. In Cipher, Grand Moff Pony takes us through a few heartbreaking moments of self reflection and remembrance of who Fleur Dis Lee was, who she is, and, when faced with what love truly means, who she chooses to be. Love isn't easy, but recommending this story to all who appreciate it definitely is.” — BlazzingInferno
COMEDY
Twilight Sparkle has been serving her country as the Princess of Friendship for over two years, and she thinks that it's finally time for her to take the next step in her royal career: she wants a fancy enchanted mane, just like Celestia and Luna. Luckily for her, the process behind it is pretty simple—all she has to do is go petition the legendary Author of All Beings. You know, the one that lives near the supermarket. Surely she'll be willing to grant Twilight her new magical princess mane!
Unfortunately for her, there's one catch: the Author of All Beings is a complete troll.
PR Recommendation: “It's hard to find something meaningful to say about an absurd comedy. Sometimes it's enough for a story to just be funny, and this one delivers plenty of laughs. It's also the only fanfic I've seen that manages to use Fausticorn without making me want to throw my eyeballs into traffic.” —Prak
SLICE OF LIFE
Ponies? Yeah, you hear a lot about them growing up in the minotaur homelands, and it isn't all positive. Actually, almost none of it is positive. They're different. They've got those weird pictures on their flanks and those little prayers they mumble to their princesses. Ponies are gentle, passive. They're not like us.
See, a minotaur is supposed to act a certain way. You bulk up. You get aggressive. You don't let anyone else push you around, and you don't associate with ponies. I've heard the same thing my whole life, ever since I was young.
PR Recommendation: “I could simply point out that, come on, how often do you actually get to read fics about minotaurs? But in a sense this story isn't just about minotaurs. What it's really about... you'll have to find out for yourself. (But yes, it is also about minotaurs, and it's good, so it's pretty rare and you should give it a try.)” —R5h
HUMAN
Sometimes, you really can go out into the desert and find yourself with the help of a bag of mushrooms and some ponies. Sometimes, you're better off not knowing.
PR Recommendation: “Shrooms don't lie, but they don't tell the truth. They just show you what's already inside you.
The refrain of this story, this is something I could see appearing in a literary magazine, or in a textbook about what can be done with the medium of fanfiction. A surprisingly realistic-feeling piece, the story focuses a lonely brony who does software database engineering. He goes off to find himself - and the magic of friendship - with the aid of the Burning Man festival and a bag of mushrooms, but even as he tries to immerse himself in the foreign culture of the Burning Man festival, he still stands apart from it.The story is remarkably authentic, both in the Burning Man festival and in its treatment of ponies, and there is an intense feeling of verisimilisilitude. The man, hallucinating alone in the desert, has visions of ponies, but it isn't clear whether any of it is "real".
But it doesn't really matter - the central ideas of this piece are very real, and the story contains a lesson that all too many people know, and yet, like the narrator, fail to apply to their own lives. Even if you don't ordinarily like stories mixing humans and ponies, this isn't a story you should miss, especially if you feel like the magic of friendship is missing from your real life interactions with others.” —Titanium Dragon
Addendums
If you guys have any questions about our sitepost policies, or our approval guidelines, feel free to browse the handy dandy Official Royal Guard Handbook, and if you still find yourself lacking answers, feel free to ask Prak so that he can find the right person to give you what you need.
See you guys next time!
Great to see Ciphers on this list
Sorry my blurb became more of a blag, but seriously guys, Burning Man Brony is really freaking good and you all should go read it. Don't let the human tag dissuade you; this is a great piece of general fiction.
3554689 Thanks! Your featuring it inspired me to finally patch the flat spot in the Lost Penguin.
"The Legend of Falling Rocks, Buffalo Brave" is by somebody named Titanium Dragon. You might want to mention that.
3554711
I am merely the noble scribe who wrote down the tale which had been passed down by the buffalo for generations.
I already brought it up on Skype with R5H, who was responsible for assembling the site post. Apparently the fact that it already had a comma in it made him think it already had the author's name in it.
3554689
3554711
Congrats to you both on the feature! :)
3554755 It's just butterbrain on my part, honestly. But what's done is done, and we can kinda figure out who wrote it anyway, right?
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Thanks to Prak, CV, and the entire Royal Guard crew for deigning to consider my fic good enough for a spotlight here. I hope you all enjoy!
3554964 Congrats! :D