🐴 
IRL 🎠 stallion
[@NavelColt](/images/2757016#comment_9903897)
Typing up this for a second time because of a bug in Philomena that made my previous attempt not post at all. Apparently, if you open a page and type half your response in the morning and then return to finish at the end of the day, it doesn't actually post when you hit post. ~~Filing a bug report once I post this.~~ See [bug #148 on the Philomena GitHub](https://github.com/philomena-dev/philomena/issues/148).
There are at least four categories of fan fiction rather than merely canon-compliant vs. AU. As [@harasha456](/images/2757016#comment_9904204) pointed out, the same exact story may be canon-compliant in 2011 and then an AU in 2014.
1. Canon-compliant. It could fit into the existing story without modification.
2. Canon-inspired. The author and official writing team took diverging paths. Stories may retroactively be moved from canon-compliant to here due to later developments in the official media. A different timeline in the same Equestria.
3. Light AU. Think of all the stories set in an Equestria where Nightmare Moon won. It's recognizably Equestria but a different Equestria than FiM.
4. Very AU. EqG if it were a fan project rather than an official Hasbro series. Names, color palettes, and (sometimes) personalities are about all that is shared with the source material.
Typing up this for a second time because of a bug in Philomena that made my previous attempt not post at all. Apparently, if you open a page and type half your response in the morning and then return to finish at the end of the day, it doesn't actually post when you hit post. ~~Filing a bug report once I post this.~~ See [bug #148 on the Philomena GitHub](https://github.com/philomena-dev/philomena/issues/148).
There are at least four categories of fan fiction rather than merely canon-compliant vs. AU. As [@harasha456](/images/2757016#comment_9904204) pointed out, the same exact story may be canon-compliant in 2011 and then an AU in 2014.
1. Canon-compliant. It could fit into the existing story without modification.
2. Canon-inspired. The author and official writing team took diverging paths. Stories may retroactively be moved from canon-compliant to here due to later developments in the official media. A different timeline in the same Equestria.
3. Light AU. Think of all the stories set in an Equestria where Nightmare Moon won. It's recognizably Equestria but a different Equestria than FiM.
4. Very AU. EqG if it were a fan project rather than an official Hasbro series. Names, color palettes, and (sometimes) personalities are about all that is shared with the source material.