News Archive

  • 21 weeks
    The Day of the Dead Anthology

    The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a now-famous tradition from ancient times that has been a huge part of Mexican Culture through the centuries. Like so many things in Mexico, it's influenced strongly by certain aspects of the Aztec people.

    It has shaped the way those of us with that heritage look at life and death in many ways, and most importantly on the remembrance of, and honoring the deceased. We traditionally decorate little altars dedicated to the memories of those that passed away… but it's not a somber occasion.

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    22 comments · 4,510 views
  • 21 weeks
    Jinglemas 2023!

    Jinglemas is the annual tradition on Fimfiction to exchange stories around the holidays with users on the site. This single event allows all Fimfiction users to come together and celebrate the reason for the season. Ponies!

    Enroll in this Secret-Santa-style gift exchange to request a holiday themed story, to be written secretly by another participant during the month of December. And in turn, you will be tasked with writing someone else's request. Then all the stories will be exchanged at Christmas! Simplicity itself! Thanks to the hard work of the Breezies, everyone will be ensured to get their gift!

    You only have until November 24th to Sign up!

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    30 comments · 5,700 views
  • 45 weeks
    PSA: Using AIs to Write and Publish Stories in Fimfiction

    Hello everyone, this is a PSA (Public Service Announcement, for those of ESL) to put to rest consistent questions about using AI to 'write' stories and publish them here. This is not intended as a poll or a request for feedback. It is exclusively a clarification on an already-existing rule.

    People ask: "Can I, oh great and powerful D, post a story or chapter that I got ChatGPT to write for me?!"

    And the answer, my friend, is... No.

    Absolutely not. Not in a thousand years!

    Because you didn't write it.

    It is not your creation. You are NOT the author. In fact, you are the opposite.

    There seems to be some confusion when interpreting the following rule:

    Don’t Post (Content)

    [...]

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    698 comments · 23,709 views
  • 73 weeks
    Jinglemas 2022!

    Jinglemas is the annual tradition on Fimfiction to exchange stories around the holidays with users on the site. This single event allows all Fimfiction users to come together and celebrate the reason for the season. Ponies!

    Enroll in this Secret-Santa-style gift exchange to request a holiday themed story, to be written secretly by another participant during the month of December. And in turn, you will be tasked with writing someone else's request. Then all the stories will be exchanged at Christmas! Simplicity itself! Thanks to the hard work of the Breezies, everyone will be ensured to get their gift!

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    62 comments · 12,406 views
  • 100 weeks
    Phishing Awareness

    Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?



    And then you magically find yourself in a suspiciously familiar site, except that you're not logged in, and it requires you to do so?

    Well. Don't log in. This is a scam, and a cheap one at that. 

    There've been recent attempts to obtain Fimfiction users’ personal data, like passwords and/or emails through links like the one I'm making fun of above. And a distressing amount of people don't seem to know what phishing attempts are.

    If you HAVE entered a site like this and put in your data, make sure to follow these basic steps at least.

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    167 comments · 15,382 views
  • 112 weeks
    All Our Best [Royal Canterlot Library]

    As should be obvious from 15 months without a feature, life has taken the Royal Canterlot Library curators in different directions. While there’s still plenty of awesome stories being written in the My Little Pony fandom, we’re no longer actively working to spotlight them, and it’s time to officially draw the project to a close.

    Thank you for all of your support, suggestions, and comments over the years. We’re grateful to have been able to share seven years of exemplary stories with you, and give more insight into the minds behind them. In the spirit of the project, please keep reading and recommending fantastic fics to friends—the community is enriched when we all share what we love.

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    115 comments · 18,166 views
  • 116 weeks
    Jinglemas 2021 has come to a close!

    Jinglemas had 114 stories written and exchanged this year!
    You can read them all here, in the Jinglemas 2021 folder!

    Jhoira wrote The Hearths Warming Eve Guest for EngageBook
    GaPJaxie wrote Twilight and Spike Hide a Body for Telly Vision
    SnowOriole wrote The Armor Hypothesis for BaeroRemedy
    snappleu wrote Words Said So Often That They Lack Any Meaning for Trick Question
    NeirdaE wrote Starlight and Trixie Direct a Play for Moosetasm
    Ninjadeadbeard wrote Garland Graveyard Shift for NeirdaE
    Roundabout Recluse wrote Apples to Apples for Ninjadeadbeard
    MistyShadowz wrote The Times We Shared for NaiadSagaIotaOar
    Petrichord wrote A Gentle Nudge for Angel Midnight
    Jade Ring wrote Past, Future, and Present for Frazzle2Dazzle
    Jake The Army Guy wrote The Big Talk for Dreadnought
    The Red Parade wrote Heart Strings for Franso
    Greatazuredragon wrote A Hearth’s Warming Question for GaPJaxie

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    20 comments · 9,859 views
  • 147 weeks
    Reunions: A Swapped Roles Contest!

    Okay guys here's something fun presented by Nitro Indigo.

    Presented by me, I guess, but I digress.

    Last year, I (Nitro Indigo) noticed that there was a surprising lack of roleswap fanfics on this site. To fix that, I decided to run a roleswap contest over the summer themed around secrets. While it didn’t get many entries, it nevertheless attracted the attention of some big authors and was the origin of two of my favourite fics. Overall, I think it was a success, so I’ve decided to run another one!

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    57 comments · 16,324 views
  • 220 weeks
    Minor Rules and Reporting Update

    Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.

    Some small changes have been made to our rules as well as to the reporting process.

    Rules

    "No attacks directed at individuals or groups due to race, gender, gender identity, religion or sexual identity."

    This better clarifies our previously ill-defined hate speech rule and includes groups as well as individual attacks.

    "No celebration, glorification or encouragement of real life criminal activity."

    This includes past, present and potential future crimes.

    Read More

    747 comments · 15,868 views
  • 222 weeks
    Jinglemas 2019

    There's truly no time like the holidays. What's better than copious amounts of food, quality time with family and friends, hearing the sweet sound of Trans-Siberian Orchestra on repeat, and unmanagble financial stress from our capitalist overlords?

    Gift exchanges of course!


    Our Own Little Way of bringing Hearth's Warming to Fimfiction

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    28 comments · 8,372 views
Jul
16th
2012

Site Post » [Interview] Cloudy Skies' Where Earth Meets Sky · 2:33pm Jul 16th, 2012

Originally posted to the Vault on 1/27/12.

We end the week with an extremely solid piece of shipping, and with a ship I've only seen done well (so far) once or twice.

[Shipping] • 38,900 words
Something is definitely up around here. Applejack and Fluttershy have been spending a lot of time together without the rest of the gang. Well, Rainbow Dash is on to them! In fact, she is sure this is the no-good friend-stealing Applejack's doing, and she will not stand for this - whatever this is. Also, Rainbow Dash wears a corn hat.

Hit the break for an interview with the inestimable Cloudy Skies, and links to Where Earth Meets Sky on the pony sites you know and love. As always, grab a copy in your preferred eBook format over at the Vault's Downloads page.

Pony Fiction ArchiveFIMFictionEquestria Daily

Where do you live?

I hail from the frozen land of Norway, way up past the arctic circle! 'Tis a place where light and dark are seasonal things. It's dark now.

What kind of work do you do? (i.e. are you a student, do you have a career/day job, etc)

I am a perpetual student dabbling in history and linguistics both. I have a part-time IT job to fund my sugar addiction.

How did you discover My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? When did you realize you were a fan of the show?

I picked up on it via 4chan. I thought the whole thing seemed silly at first, and I was a closet fan for a while before I admitted I liked it even to myself. By April I was reading fics on ponychan and naming video game characters after the mane 6. I think it's safe to say I was a fan at that point, and my first fic followed soon after on a whim and a self-dare.

Do you have a favorite episode?

One? Oh no. I am terminally indecisive and I shy away from anything that smells of calling "best" on anything, but I am very fond of Dragonshy, Luna Eclipsed and The Last Roundup.

Who is your favorite character based purely on the canon of the show itself? Would your answer change if you considered the fandom in its entirety (i.e. art, fanfiction, memes, etc)?

I don't want to name a bestpony, truly. I love everypony just as they are, and prefer canon-close stuff, but I also greatly appreciate most fanon BG pony personalities where they are in tune with the show. Octavia and Bon-Bon are great examples of this.

I am far less enthused about the darker show-contrasting variants such as the psychotic killer Pinkamina. I just never "got" that.

How did you come up with your handle/penname?

Oh, that's easy. It sounded nice! When I set out to write, I wasn't quite as open about the "pony stuff" as I am now, and felt I needed a pen name. That, and I like to watch the clouds.

Have you written in other capacities (other fandoms, professionally, etc)? When did you first start writing?

I had my goth-poetry phase in my early teens like so many others, but I never stopped writing. I am the co-founder of and do scripts for a webcomic, and I've had two partial attempts at writing novels before. Ponies didn't make me write, but they changed how I write in that I actually complete things now. It's such an immense motivator, I can't begin to describe it.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Honestly, I'm downright uncomfortable when I'm not writing. If I don't feel like I can write on - if I'm writer's blocked - I get depressed. When I'm forced to take time off, such as when my roomie threatens to crush my hands if I don't take a break, I enjoy the regular stuff; walks, games and hanging out with the Wonderbolts.

Who is your favorite author (published or fanfiction)? Do you have a favorite story or novel?

China Miéville. His versatility is staggering. He's written weird steampunk/industrial fantasy, modern horror, sci-fi and children's tales - and they're all amazing. His Perdido Street Station in particular is amazing. He's delightfully weird and treats both his own weirdness and that of his settings with callous indifference.

That said, I also want to mention Daetrin and his Off the Edge of the Map. That piece of fiction had a greater emotional impact on me than most published works, and almost single-hoofedly inspired me to keep writing after my first fic.

Stephen King believes that every author has an "ideal reader" - the one person who they write for, the one person whose reactions they care about. Do you have one, and if so, who is it?

I wonder if this is a trick question where the answer is supposed to be "myself"? Most of the stuff I write aspires to inspire emotions. I try to spice my writing up with clever turns of phrase, but I never considered myself a strong technical writer. I want to make the reader cry and laugh, so I cater to those who aren't cold, dead fishes, I guess.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers, or writers who are struggling with their own stories?

I don't know if I am qualified to give tips or advice, but many have said before me that it's about being able to both love and hate what you write. I think there's truth to that, you just need to realize there there's a "when" here, too. Love your every work as you write. Convince yourself that this is going to be the best thing ever written. Prepare to hate it only after you submit it or finish it, and seek to learn from critique you get.

What is your typical writing process? (Do you work through multiple drafts, do you have any prereaders/editors, etc?)

Complete chaos. I am still learning and trying new things, but generally, I write start to finish and let the characters decide what happens. I rarely plan, but rather collect ideas and scenes as they come to me. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes I struggle to write on, but basically I write, then edit, then edit again. The more I try to organize and plan, the worse the result gets.

I do have friends and pre-readers who are invaluable resources in pointing out inconsistencies or things that flat-out don't work. Without them, I would be an unproductive useless bubbling mass of insecurities. Cormacolindor and Kits in particular are my rocks. Thank you!

What inspired you to write Where Earth Meets Sky?

Initially, I wanted to raise the issue of homophobia, but I dismissed that quickly when I realized how ill-fitting it was for a tolerant and loving setting like Equestria. It felt like an unnecessary step in the wrong direction.

Instead, it became a bit of a personal challenge, trying to write something different from my other ship fics. Specifically, I wanted to start with a declaration of love, rather than end the fic with one. I also wanted to strip the fic of any "villains", once I ditched the homophobia angle. It was an attempt at making a harmless story that makes the romance seem believable, rather than forcing the reader to buy into something half-flanked.

Or, in fewer words; I wanted to write something sweet and fluffy while still making it an engaging read.

Did you run into any tough spots or challenges when writing Where Earth Meets Sky?

Where Earth Meets Sky involved three times as many people as any of my previous fics, and I spent a lot of time debating possible changes with pre-readers. As a result, this is easily the "slowest" fic I've written so far, but I am very thankful for all the help I've gotten.

The worst of it was entirely self-inflicted. I spent almost a full week frozen because I couldn't decide whether or not to re-write certain parts. In the end, I did nothing, and my main annoyance was that it took me that long to decide on it.

When you set out to write Where Earth Meets Sky, did you have any specific messages or themes in mind?

I always come back to the same messages in all my fics; love has many shapes, and nopony does well alone. Where Earth Meets Sky wanted to show that differences and similarities can both contribute to something wonderful. To me, AppleShy is just so incredibly tranquil and cute, and I wanted so dearly to give the reader a what-if scenario that worked.

I don't pretend everypony loves shipping, nor am I one of the people who try to interpret canon content with ship goggles. I just saw the potential for something adorable here, and poked at it.

That, and so many writers are mean to Fluttershy, myself included. She deserves a happy ending.

Where can readers drop you a line?

Everypony loves getting mail! I reply to everything I get at cloudyskieswrites@gmail.com, and I also have a deviantArt account at cloudyskieswrites.deviantart.com. I'm nearly always polite, honest.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Ponies are pretty swell? No, seriously, thanks for having me! I'm still writing, ever writing, and I hope to have my next story (not even shipping - hell has frozen over) out within a week or so.

Report RBDash47 · 11,610 views ·
Comments ( 9 )

Cloudy Skies! Oh my gosh.

Haha, in all seriousness, he is the author that got me to consider shipping as a serious genre of writing, and this was the story that got me started down that road. That's saying something right there. But I think it's also the ways he continues to surprise the reader with his versatility for generating scenes that are at once unorthodox and true to the characters involved with them, and that's something that transcends genre.

You're doing yourself a huge disservice if you haven't read this fic yet. Just give it a chance and let it warm up to you.

Not bad. Although his story between Applejack and Fluttershy? Weird shippin' man. So weird.

231563 I did, but it wasn't my thing. I prefer Applejack/Rarity if anything. Story's not bad, but it's a hit and miss.

I haven't read this fic yet, but the fimfiction link is bad.... :facehoof:

A very effective way to beat cold weather. This story leaves a warm fuzzy feeling and a stupid smile on your face!

RBDash47
Site Blogger

231893
232304
Yeah, not sure what happened there... thanks Posted!

Ah, I love this guy.

I remember back in August last year. I'd just started my international studies in Australia, so I was still trying to get acclimated to the heat. (It's really quite toasty there when you're used to Canada) I was sort of moping around in my dorm room without anything important to do, so I was huddled against the wall and doing my very best to read some EquestriaDaily news without anyone seeing. I stumbled across a picture of Twilight with her eyes glowing, and it linked to a fan fiction called Building Bridges. I was initially appalled by the idea of people actually writing fiction about ponies, but for whatever reason, I decided to just go for it and give it a read.

I'll forever remember that day as one of the most pleasant and unexpected surprises of my life. I would have never guessed that ponies, of all things, could be an excellent medium for brilliant storytelling.

Redundant narrative aside, I just want to thank you Cloudy. You're really the one that went above and beyond all of my preconceived notions of what a fan fiction could be. You're really the one that inspired me to write stories of my own. I'm indebted to you! :twilightsmile:

this story was the first shipping I've read on this site

It is still one of the best ones I've read, even if it's an unusual shipping...

Woo cloudy!

>linking DA page instead of fimfic
;_;

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