News Archive

  • 180 weeks
    MSPiper’s “Autumnfall Change” [Royal Canterlot Library]

    You might want to keep a whiteboard handy for today’s story.


    Autumnfall Change
    [Sci-Fi][Slice of Life][Human] • 8,419 words

    Magic and technology may have pierced the void and blazed a path between the realms, but that was the simple part. Adjusting to the changes that follow can be far more daunting.

    Yet despite the complexities involved even in basic communication, Serendipity has found friends to talk to among humankind who can cheer her up when she’s down. And occasionally inspire her to bursts of ingenuity unhindered by such trifles as foresight.

    Read More

    6 comments · 9,150 views
  • 194 weeks
    TCC56's "Glow In The Dark, Shine In The Sun" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    A villain might just have a bright future in today's story.


    Glow In The Dark, Shine In The Sun
    [Equestria Girls] [Drama] [Slice of Life] • 27,035 words

    Despite all attempts, Cozy Glow still hasn't been shown a path to friendship. No pony has been able to get through to her, and she's only gotten worse with each attempt.

    Reluctant to return the filly to stone again, Princess Twilight has one last option. One pony she hasn't tried. Or in this case? One person.

    Sunset Shimmer.

    Can Sunset do what no pony has been able to?

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    10 comments · 9,346 views
  • 196 weeks
    The Red Parade's "never forever" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Today's story never says never.


    never forever
    [Sad] [Slice of Life] • 1,478 words

    Lightning Dust will never be a Wonderbolt. When she left the Academy, she swore she'd never look back. When the Washouts disbanded, she swore she'd forget about them.

    Yet after all these years, against all odds, she finds herself here. At a Wonderbolts show. Just on the wrong side of the glass.

    Read More

    20 comments · 8,140 views
  • 201 weeks
    Freglz's "Nothing Left to Lose" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Don't lose out on today's story.


    Nothing Left to Lose
    [Drama] [Sad] • 6,367 words

    Some things can't be changed.

    Starlight believes otherwise.

    FROM THE CURATORS: One might be forgiven for thinking that after nine years of MLP (and fanfic), there's nothing left to explore on such well-trodden ground as changeling redemption — but there are still stories on the topic which are worthy of turning heads.  "Though the show seems to have moved past it as a possibility, the question of whether and how Queen Chrysalis could be reformed alongside the other changelings still lingers in the fandom's consciousness," Present Perfect said in his nomination. "In comes Freglz, with a solidly reasoned story that combines the finales of seasons 5 and 6 and isn't afraid to let the question hang."

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    26 comments · 7,560 views
  • 205 weeks
    jakkid166's "Detective jakkid166 in everything" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Missing out on today's story would be a crime.


    Detective jakkid166 in everything
    [Comedy] [Human] • 15,616 words

    "Every pony thing evre made would be better if it had me in it."
    - me

    I, Detective jakkid166, will be prepared to make every pony fanficion, video, and game better by me being in it. All you favorite pony content, except it has ME! And even I could be in some episodes of the show except cause the charaters are idiot I'm good at my job.

    The ultimate Detective jakkid166 adventures collection, as he goes into EVERYTHING to make it good.

    Read More

    171 comments · 9,625 views
  • 207 weeks
    Mannulus' "Sassy Saddles Meets Sasquatch" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Today's story is a rare find.


    Sassy Saddles Meets Sasquatch
    [Comedy] [Random] • 5,886 words

    The legend is known throughout Equestria, but there are few who believe. Those who claim to have seen the beast are dismissed as crackpots and madponies. Those who bring evidence before the world are dismissed as histrionic deceivers. There are those who have seen, however -- those who know -- and they will forever cry out their warning from the back seats of filthy, old train cars, even to those who dismiss them, who revile them, who ignore their warnings unto their own mortal peril.

    "The sasquatch is real!" they will cry forevermore, even as nopony believes.

    But from this day forward, Sassy Saddles will believe.

    Read More

    16 comments · 6,209 views
  • 209 weeks
    SheetGhost’s “Moonlight Vigil” [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Take a closer look into tonight’s story.


    Moonlight Vigil
    [Tragedy] • 3,755 words

    Bitter from her defeat and exile, the Mare in the Moon watches Equestria move on without her.

    Read More

    1 comments · 4,853 views
  • 211 weeks
    Unwhole Hole's "The Murder of Elrod Jameson" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Today's story is some killer noir.

    [Adult story embed hidden]

    The Murder of Elrod Jameson
    [Dark] [Mystery] [Sci-Fi] [Human] • 234,343 words

    [Note: This story contains scenes of blood and gore, sexuality, and a depiction of rape.]

    Elrod Jameson: a resident of SteelPoint Level Six, Bridgeport, Connecticut. A minor, pointless, and irrelevant man... who witnessed something he was not supposed to.

    Narrowly avoiding his own murder, he desperately searches for help. When no living being will help him, he turns to the next best thing: a pony.

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    14 comments · 5,343 views
  • 213 weeks
    Grimm's "Don't Open the Door" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    Today's story lingers like the curling mist in a dark forest.


    Don't Open the Door
    [Dark][Horror] • 13,654 words

    After an expedition into the Everfree Forest ends in disaster, Applejack and Rainbow Dash take refuge in an abandoned cabin until morning.

    This is probably a poor decision, but it's only one night, after all. How bad could it be?

    FROM THE CURATORS: "I don't care much for horror stories," AugieDog mused. "But this one does so much right, I found myself really impressed." Present Perfect thought it was "simply one of the best horror stories I've ever read," and Soge agreed "one-hundred percent" that "this is pitch-perfect horror from beginning to end."

    Read More

    8 comments · 4,658 views
  • 215 weeks
    TwilightFlopple's "The Celestial Mechanics in Midsummer" [Royal Canterlot Library]

    It's always the season for a fic as great as today's story.


    The Celestial Mechanics in Midsummer
    [Slice of Life] • 8,716 words

    "My dear Twilight Sparkle,

    Thank you for your recent letters. And I must apologize to you first and foremost that I have not responded back in kind to each and every one. I imagine has this concerned you, but please don't worry. Things have been very unsettled here in the castle as of late. Princess Luna has been researching Equestrian history, and I find myself in a strange kind of mood..."

    Read More

    9 comments · 5,459 views
May
1st
2020

Author Interview » Somber's "Broken Record" [Royal Canterlot Library] · 1:54pm May 1st, 2020

Today's story puts all the pieces together.

(Ed. note: Some content warnings apply to this interview, regarding current world circumstances and mentions of suicidal ideation.)


Broken Record
[Drama] [Slice of Life] • 7,970 words

There has never been an athlete like Rainbow Dash. The sprints. The marathons. The land speed record. She held them all.

Until she didn't.

Until she had only one left... and met the pony that might take it from her...

FROM THE CURATORS: "We never featured Somber," Soge pointed out in his nomination, "but that is understandable." The author's best-known works have already received 6-star status at Equestria Daily and been featured in our predecessor, the Pony Fiction Vault. With this story from late 2019, though, as Present Perfect replied to Soge's nomination, "Oh boy did you find a good one."

"This is a really layered story," Present Perfect went on. "On the one hand, we've got this pulse-pounding, high-stakes tale of advancements in physical training leading to doping scandals, and the tribulations of those in authority trying to determine what counts as innovation and what counts as cheating... Then there's the real story: Getting Old Sucks."

AugieDog also commented on the Time Marches On aspect: "The story itself has exactly that same sort of unrelenting pace, too, the tick-tick-tick of Dash's records falling leading straight to an actual ticking clock at the climax." "The only race she can't ever win," Soge added. "That against time." But AugieDog enjoyed that "in a story so very concerned with physical prowess, everything comes down to Dash sitting in a room alone with her thoughts — the one place Dash never wants to be — with a decision that only she can make."

"A poignant and captivating tale," Soge concluded, while Present Perfect called it "a hard-hitting look at Rainbow Dash struggling with the aging process" with AugieDog commending the story's final scene for "perfectly winding things down and sending Dash off onto the next stage of her life."

Read on for our author interview, in which Somber discusses general outrage, warping characters, and just writing the damned thing.


Give us the standard biography.

I’m a nobody that likes to write horrible stories.

How did you come up with your handle/penname?

Chronic depression and a long term desire to kill myself.

Who's your favorite pony?

Rarity, Twilight, and Starlight, in that order.  Unicorn master race!

What's your favorite episode?

Winter Wrap-Up, A Royal Problem, and Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, in that order.

What do you get from the show?

A reason to live.

What do you want from life?

To die, preferably painlessly.

Why do you write?

Because people would be upset if I killed myself.

What advice do you have for the authors out there?

Write the damned thing.  Even if it’s horrible.  Every second you’re “planning”, or “researching”, or “thinking about it” you are not writing.  You are the ONLY person that can make that story exist.  Once it’s written, then you can do things with it, but first you have to write the damned thing.

What inspired “Broken Record”?

“Why did Windrider try to frame Rainbow Dash?” and “What would Rainbow Dash do if she was in Windrider’s shoes?”  It’d be easy to just say “Oh, she’s so much nicer than Wind Rider.  She’d NEVER do what he did.”  I’m not so sure.  Finally, general outrage at the record breaking world.

How long did it take you to go from initial idea to completed story on this?

3 hours.

How do you approach writing characters from the show compared to writing your own original characters?

Show characters are easier.  The more I work with them, the more I start to warp them to my own narrative needs.  OC’s are more made to fit the narrative.  The real challenge is to not warp them to the point that they’re not recognizable.

Do you prefer writing longer, more epic stories or shorter ones like this?

My big story was 1.7 million words.  This is easier.  

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

C19 is a monster.  I might be getting checked in to the hospital this afternoon.  It could even kill me.  Please take self isolation seriously.  I didn’t think it would be a big thing for me.  I was wrong.  I might be dead wrong.  It’s hard, especially if you can’t pay the bills, but this virus will wreck you.  Take care.  Stay safe.

Friendship is Magic.

You can read Broken Record at FIMFiction.net. Read more interviews right here at the Royal Canterlot Library, or suggest stories for us to feature at our Fimfiction group.

Comments ( 11 )
PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

And for anyone who might be concerned, per Somber's most recent blog, he's doing better now.

This author sure has a way with words.

It's a damn good thing this fandom seems to be persisting, since it provides an accessible creative outlet, and those are important if you're fighting a serious affliction like depression.

Hang in there, Somber. Remember, there are a lot of people who genuinely care.

Look at that! I remember when I put this story in the reccomendation forum and then nominated and reviewed it for Seattle's Angels last month. (I joined the Angels at the beginning of 2020) I'm glad it got the recignition it deserved here as well.

Somber really nailed it on the head when he talked about how the story came from those questions about Wind Rider (Almost made me wish he had a return episode). He really nailed a part of the "human" experience while also warping it to fit Rainbow Dash's character to a T. Plus, I just really love how he gave so much character development to Wind Rider without ever having to have him appear in the story itself, only mentioned.

In short, an EXCELLENT choice.

What, no gigantic flood of comments for this excellent piece?

I liked this story well enough, as might be evinced by my own review of it earlier this week.

Though man, Somber was not doing well when you guys interviewed him.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

5254388
Kudos to him for taking the time to answer the interview. I'm glad this story doesn't have a bad end.

Is there no way to have the interview done when the author is doing better?

5255104
Nah. I'm a jerk and horrible to interview anyway.

5257620
I'm not sure if that makes things less concerning but take care either way.

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