• Story Updates December 19th (Morning)

    I cancelled my Old Republic pre-order today.   Playing to level 16 in the early access just didn't grab me.  I guess it's time to wait it out for Guild Wars 2!

    But enough about my choice in MMO's! Have some story updates.  Lots of 6 star tonight.  I really should get to reading Tales of the Winter Magic Academy.  Just need some Twixie...


    Story: Tales of the Winter Magic Academy (Update Part 14!) 

    6 Star


    [Adventure][Slice of Life]

    Author: Storytayler
    Description: Twilight and eight fellow unicorns from Ponyville enroll at Princess Luna's revived school for advanced magic studies. Best known as the Winter Magic Academy, the establishment is located on an ancient island of mysterious history since Luna's banishment over 1000 years ago. While the ponies think they're in for simply a semester of intensive magic studies, they will encounter much more than they initially expect through personal struggles and mysterious misadventures.
    Tales of the Winter Magic Academy





    Story: It Takes a Village (Update Chapter 15) 

    6 Star


    [Normal] [Shipping]

    Author: determamfidd
    Description: Spike only wants things to stay the same. Time, however, has other ideas. He's going to need a lot of help...
    It Takes a Village




    Story: A Renowned Reputation (Update Part 6!) 

    3 Star

    [Normal][Shipping] An OC shipped with the mane cast story that actually made it past the pre-readers! That's a rarity to say the least.

    Author: JordanJwoww
    Description: Rarity is confronted with a business deal of a lifetime. However, it requires her to be in Canterlot, which brings back memories from long ago. Now, Rarity must overcome her past to confront her present
    A Renowned Reputation




    Story: The Virtuous Sister (Update Part 3!) 

     5 Star

    [Normal]

    Author: Some1Else
    Description: While Celestia is away overseeing the development of a new settlement, Luna receives a letter requesting Celesta's presence at the Ponyville hospital. Though she lacks an official decree that all her powers as a princess have been restored, Luna decides to take matters into her own hooves and investigate the issue without sending word to her sister. She quickly becomes involved in a battle against an ancient evil creature, a member of Celestia's personal council, and a certain misguided pony all while trying to adhere to the eight virtues.
    The Virtuous Sister





    Twilight is best pony

    a is best placeholder

    65 comments:

    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Ah, I see 'a' updated again. I've been thinking of giving that a shot.

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    3. Why isn't 'a' given a legendary tag yet?

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    4. I wonder if the two "a"'s were updates. Guess I'll have to check back in a while.

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    5. I love me some "a" stories. They sound fascinating. ;)

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    6. Ooh! Lots of star 6s this time around...notices that he already has all of the star 6s open in tabs
      Well don't that beat all?

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    7. "Twilight is best pony

      a is best placeholder"

      Hah. Dat correction.

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    8. Does anyone else enjoy Tales of the Winter Magic Academy I'm going to end up reading it so I would like to know if others enjoy it as well............

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    9. YOU QUIT TOR? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?
      Maybe try a different class?
      Oh, right, stories.
      TOR IS AMAZING!

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    10. I've been asking about that like 50 times but no replies so far :]
      Is "Tales of the Winter Magic Academy" a harry-potterish mumbo jumbo or something actually worth my time? I'm afraid it may be just another hidden crossover with something I don't like. RSVP, dear bronies!

      And what does "slice of life" actually stand for? It's not explained in fic archive.

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    11. TotWMA is definitely not a crossover, more inspired by the sense of adventures at a magical school. Definitely good though.

      And slice of life means instead of a single storyline, it's snippets of their lives in single days, like the main series.

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    12. Wait, so does TotWMA actually explore the fundamentals of magic then? If so, you've got another read.

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    13. Good for you, Seth. Old Republic's basically KOTOR The MMO, anyways. Better to wait for GW2, which actually does some things differently from its predecessors. :P

      In the meantime, hooray, stories! :D

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    14. Thanks for clarification!
      @litewarior4
      @s

      Thanks for crarification but I'll pass. "Fundaments of magic" were explained in like 10 fics I've already read. I wanted to write something similar in my fic but all the good ideas are already used somewhere...

      Slice of life, eh? MLP the show is limited by air time and attention span of little girls. Fic writers imo shouldn't go this way because they have no such limitations. The thicker book, the better. At least for me.

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    15. Wait, so does TotWMA actually explore the fundamentals of magic then? If so, you've got another read.

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    16. YES! I love "it takes a village".

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    17. >Lots of 6 stars updated!
      >Only 2 fics are 6 stars rated.

      ...

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    18. Sweet! The big climatic action chapter of It Takes A Village has arrived!

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    19. It explains a little about the fundamentals of magic, but like Harry Potter, very little, instead choosing to focus on their extracurricular adventures and activities.

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    20. And why the hell The Virtuous Sister tagged as complete?

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    21. I would only play TOR to find what happend to the clones after Vader took over, I loved those guys

      Well nothing on my long list, oh a updated!
      Silly Seth, that's not how you spell Rainbow Dash
      But Twilights still awsome

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    22. Never been a Starwars guy at all....one of my friends is tryin to get me into the new SW MMO too tho.....

      I rather wait for Planetside 2 and Guildwars 2 personally.

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    23. Wait for guild wars?
      Did we all just forget Diablo existed?
      Yes I know its next year but come on
      It's diablo!

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    24. Diablo's the one where you click all the time and there's no story or characters to speak of, right?

      Pass.

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    25. This "a" updates often but what about b? nobody has even mentioned it.

      Nothing i'm reading as of yet.

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    26. You cancelled it? Do you hate fun?
      I think you need to rethink your life Seth

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    27. "That's a rarity" Aha, I see what you did there.

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    28. Twilight is best pony.

      Rainbow Dash is cutest pony.

      TwiDash is most adorkable shipping.

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    29. Winter Magic Academy, It Takes a Village, AND Virtuous Sister? Best update ever!

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    30. YESSS IT TAKES A VILLAGE

      I just pulled another all nighter for finals. but this makes it all worth it

      =____=

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    31. Theirs a good Seth, that Old Republic is sadly so clunky like it shouldn't be :C. GW2 should change that though!

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    32. Purple pony is best pony is best saying of twilight is best pony.

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    33. 6 Star? TWIXIE!? OMG THE BALLAD OF- Oh. Sethisto you troll you...

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    34. Yes! Guild Wars 2 looks incredible, it will be the new WoW (when it was still good).
      Will be rolling a Mesmer for sure, they look awesome.

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    35. you canceled your old republic pro-order!? Seth, whats wrong with you?!

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    36. @Marshal
      Hear hear!

      Oh and A is the single best piece of literature I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

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    37. Hopefully when I re-write my story's beginning, you can have some Twixie, Seth.

      I, mmyself, am waiting for Teardrops and Snowflakes

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    38. >Implying SWTOR isn't the best MMO ever.

      :/ Your loss, Seth. Your loss.

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    39. @Mysecsha Are you sure You've actually played a Diablo game? Both Diablo 1 and 2 had a lot of story in it if you payed attention to the dialogue.

      Been waiting for "It Takes a Village" to update, and its the climatic chapter too! :D

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    40. Yay! Updates. Should be a slow week this week, so I might be able to read through these with time to spare.

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    41. @Maquabra
      @A Polish Ginger
      @s

      YES! ToWMA is the shit! It's totally not a crossover. The only similarities it has to HP is that it's magic users at a magic school. HP follows Harry around blindly, and with few exceptions, you have no idea what the other characters are doing. ToWMA is a little more episodic in that every few chapters the focus shifts to a different 'mane character' and explores what s/he is doing. There is an over arching plot line interwoven with everypony's story but most of the time is spent in the head of the character at hand seeing the world through their eyes. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears, their understanding of magic, etc. It doent really go into how magic works so much as how each pony uses their magic. Its well written on a number of levels and definitely worth a shot.

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    42. I read chapter 15 of It Takes a Village last night, and I just want to say: Holy sweet baby Jesus in a miniature breadbasket!
      Determamfidd, if you're reading this, (I hope you are) then know that every accolade, every piece of fanart, every review filled to the brim with positive feedback, and all six of the stars here on EqD are all well deserved. People have said it better than me, so I'll just throw my two cents in and say A) If I met you in person, I would hug you, and B) Please don't let this be the last chapter. It's too good to end now!

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    43. @Maquabra
      TL:DR version at the bottom >.<

      It is kinda harry potter in the way that they go to a school and live there while they go on adventures, HOWEVER i wouldn't say that it reminds me the least of harry potter, no. But i suppose that the school itself and the rules etc. does remind me more or less of hogwarts on some points.

      as for the "slice of life", i'm not sure if every fic uses it in the same way, but in the case of winter academy, the story isn't one large continious one (did i spell that right? :S), it's divided into "episodes" with about 5-6 chapters each, the episodes are about diffrent ponies that go to the academy, meaning that each episode has a diffrent "star", much the same way that the actual show has diffrent episodes dedicated to one of the mane 6.

      TL:DR
      Harry potter: the enviroment, yes, but not the characters or the story,
      Slice of life: story is built up in episodes of 5-6 chapters, each episode is about a diffrent pony on the academy.

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    44. @Maquabra

      Slice of life... Isn't that like Cupcakes or Rainbow Factory, where crazy ponies slice away at living ponies...

      I kid, I kid! I HATE those sick fics, but it won't stop me from stabbing fun at them or joking about their bad taste.

      I rather like slice of life, but I much prefer large story arcs in my fics... Usually.

      Progress is probably my favorite slice of life fic ever!

      Growing Pains is probably my favorite story arc ever. It takes the Mane 6 outside Equestria to seek out ancient sleeping Alicorns & restore the dying ley lines that power both magic & life itself. A foreign power is trying to awaken ancient waring Alicorn brothers, who predate Celestia and Luna's rule, & are risking the literal unleashing of hell over Equestria. Think Eldritch Abominations being used as weapons that remorselessly devour bodies & souls of their victims, their gaping maws being literal portals to hell. Twilight finds the spirit of the alicorn brother who originally created this hell, and ultimately, she takes a lesson in awesome as the story progresses. This story is in progress, and tends to get an update once every month or two. Long chapters are LOOOONG though. That's why the updates are slow.

      Past Sins seems to have plenty of Slice of Life to it, and I loved that story. It's well known enough, I won't detail it. LOL! :)

      Elements of Convenience... I have GOT to finish reading this. I'm not even sure of it's status. It's a fun story arc style fic. Celestia sends a letter to Spike announcing an important quest. Lazy Spike ends up ordering the ponies in line at the post office to go on this dangerous quest, instead of rounding up the Mane 6. That Spike...

      Paradise... This is by far one of the most wonderful origin stories to come out of this fandom, and it KILLS me how slowly it is progressing. It's a true epic story arc, featuring a lot of mysterious events, messages from shamans, a secret Unicorn city in the trees of the Everfree forest, pegasi perching in a cloud hanging off the face of a mountain, and a brutal existence for Earth ponies, who are like all other ponies, still very much prey animals in this world. It appears to possibly even be pre cutiemark. All the races are separate, and do not trust one another. While I support the canon of Celestia and Luna coming after the founding of Equestria and after Discord. This is a good enough story to accept at face value. It can still be worked out into the canon, if the author is creative, I think. This story needs some love! If i had to actually describe this story as anything... It'd have to be simply the joy of watching two loving sisters grow. They go through hardships, pain, joy, pleasure, excitement, terror... They are always thinking of each other, protecting and caring for one another as best as they are able to.

      Celestia's Notebook! Ha! It takes the origin story in a 180 degree about face, and I love it just as much... Not to mention it gets nearly weekly updates. Definitely a slice of life style, riding over a longer story arc. It's literally made of Celestia's journal entries as she seeks to unite ponies and ends up involved in a powerful spell that changes her and Luna into the first alicorns, but also causes a devastating global accident that renders the world unable to self propagate it's natural functions (weather, seasons, etc) and the celestial motions to wind down without manual assistance.

      All the fics I mention are wonderful stories. I'll warn that there are some brutal moments in some of these stories. ESPECIALLY Growing Pains. There is death in a lot of these stories. Mass death in Celestia's Notebook and some SERIOUSLY disturbing imagery in Growing Pains, including the massacre of an entire town, warfare, hellish Eldritch abominations, and torture.

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    45. I was a mesmer in The original Guild Wars and will be staying true in Guild Wars 2. The only sad part about GW2 being a good game is all the WoW'ers that will invade it...

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    46. @Maquabra

      I'm gonna jump right in here:

      Slice of life is nothing more then a format of storytelling. It's fun if you're in the mood for something short, sweet and to the point, as it usually isn't used much in large stories. I enjoy both slice of life as well as long story arcs. Depends on how well the author does it, and my mood of course. But I wouldn't dismiss it, unless you're an incredibly picky reader and can't get into short fics and one-shots, etc.

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    47. Yes, three stories I'm reading. This is definitely a good update. Also, if anyone is not reading ITAV then I highly recommend you give it a try. It is a very good story IMO.

      @Celestia
      Yes, I'm specifically talking to you, Princess. Read ITaV. I doubt you would be disappointed.

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    48. You know, someone should actually right a fic called "a" just to be funny.

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    49. I'm guessing that TOR didn't live up to the incredible legacy of KOTOR?

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