Review for ‘Memories Best Left Forgotten’ By FaleYur
-I can appreciate any story that teaches a character a lesson. Especially when that character is an immortal, infallible deity with an affinity for sending other ponies to do their dirty-work. Celestia is a prime example of this type of character. In short, in the show she is portrayed as a perfect, benevolent ruler, and something about her just rubs me the wrong way. Every time she appears on-screen, I have the insatiable urge to mar the perfection that is Celestia.

And that’s exactly what this fic does. Brilliantly. Repeatedly.

Mood:
-The overall mood of this fic is rather dark, as much of it is set in a dismal orphanage that has few bright points. But this only proves to escalate the feeling of compressing finality that encompasses Celestia’s boon, as she is forced to relive the memories of one of her subjects that suffered neglect. The subject in question is -surprisingly- an elk by the name of Sure Fire. Now this is a high point that I don’t often get to praise. Most authors, like myself, have troubles writing anything outside of our comfort zone, and when we do, it ends up on a scale from Meh to Terrible. Brandedahall has managed to take a normally straightforward universe, and intertwine it with clashing cultures and ideas that provide constant conflict, (and more importantly,) constant headache for Celestia. Her transition to Elk lifestyle leaves her confused and wandering, saved only by the constant presence of her companion, another elk named Green.

Grammar:
-I am known amongst my friends and associates on FimFiction to be a bit of a stickler when it comes to the area of grammar. I hold myself to these grammar-intensive values when I review stories, even if it makes me a bit of a hypocrite, as my own fics are full of errors and misspellings. Regardless, spelling and punctuation make a story, and this one is no different. Throughout the read, I found multiple errors, most of which seem to be unfortunate victims of the demon known as autocorrect. Luckily, in this case, they didn’t take away from the read too much, and I was able to enjoy the amazing narrative and world-building without too many hitches. One of the main things that bugged me was the use of ‘apostrophes’ in the place of “quotation marks”. Call me a Nazi, but the apostrophes dug their way into my OCD and stayed there for the remainder of the fic, taking away from the experience a bit. But, I’m going to ignore that little irk, as I try not to let too many biased tendencies into my reviews. Therefore, I am proud to bestow this story a 4/5 on the grammar section, the mark degraded because of little errors found throughout, and the infrequent awkward sentencing.

Style:
-As mentioned before, I love little more in a fic than to watch perfect little Celestia become vilified or scrutinized. And in this beautiful, Elk-filled world of abandonment and poverty, our benevolent leader gets her mental health dissected into little pieces through assassinations, mind-altering hospital drugs and most prevalently, her own mortality. Even I, the biggest Celestia hater out there, feel compelled to pity the goddess as she is plagued constantly with reminders of her newfound ability to die, as well as being forced to jump out of her comfortable world and into the conflict-filled life of a wayward subject. This story is the textbook example of the imperfection that is the mind, and it does a fantastic job of capturing and widening the cracks in Celestia’s persona, bringing the alicorn down from deity to mortal in the blink of an eye. Fraught with dangers and insecurities, Celestia’s new life teaches her something early on; that one cannot simply send others to fix your problems, and that you may have to try to do it yourself multiple times before you get it right. Behind the beautiful character development and the careful world-building, lies a constant air of subtle, omnipresent danger, an atmosphere that rips Celestia out of her comfy, spoiled lifestyle, and into the harsh, unforgiving world that lies outside of her castle.

Rating:
-In a cold, brutal world of poverty and filth, nopony is more out of place than the flawless Equestrian monarch, a facet of the story that is written perfectly and consistently. By the first year of Celestia’s stay in the orphanage, she is floored by the amount of normalcy that she is being treated with. And it is only when someone close to her dies, that she truly realizes the plights and simple difficulties that affect her people. This quote sums it up:

“She was normally the one to give out punishment, when she was an Alicorn. Holding herself above every pony else. But now that it's happening to her, it made her feel so very small.”

This is probably one of my favorite quotes in the story, as it underlines Celestia’s conflicting emotions pertaining to the empathy she feels toward her subjects, even if the elk aren’t actually her subjects. From this point in the story on, Celestia decides to take matters into her own hooves, for better or for worse; a fact that truly begins her transformation from high-and-mighty, to an average elk.

On the Cromegas_Flare Review Scale: {You must read this!}
It is very rare that I will grant a fic a {Masterpiece} rating on Mr. Flare’s rubric. No exceptions are made for this story, as sticky sentences and misspelled words frequent this would-be work of art. The characters are realistic and concise, meshing together to create a beautiful patchwork of personalities and opinions that colour the world from grey to pastel. Flawless world-building and amazing descriptive narration rocket this fic into the {You must read this!} section of the review, falling tantalizingly close to the top spot, but sadly falling just short.

On FaleYur’s Scale: 9/10
World-building and culture-clashing create the foundations of this beautiful fic, cut down only by the grammar and occasional irksome sentence that permeates the visceral, gritty world of the Elk. Brandedahall has managed to create a domain of imperfection that is strangely perfect, while simultaneously ripping down the infallible image of Celestia to normal levels. This stunning narrative, backed by diverse and consistent characters crafts a tale of life, love and mortality, woven between subtle shows of revenge, realism and redemption, that all compile into the form of an innocent-looking book delivered to a benevolent monarch. Twists, trails and challenges are abound in this fic, and as Celestia finds out very early on, the world outside her comfortable castle is a cold, unforgiving place, and not just anybody, (pony or elk) can be trusted.

You definitely need to check this story out, and give its author some love. If you want me to review a fic of yours, (So long as it is Adventure) send me a Personal Message with the request, and I'll try to review it next Sunday, when my quota is due.

Hope you enjoyed,
~FaleYur

Wow, I didn't expect this when I logged in :)

I clicked on this expecting a harsh review as it's one of my earlier works, but thankfully I have left feeling happy and motivated to carry it on. Thank you.

First point, I will go back once I've finished a few more chapter and edit it so that the story is more consistent and less "sticky" as you put it. I totally agree with this.

Second point is that while I was writing, I transitioned into using apostrophes instead of quotes as more of an experimental phase. You'll be pleased to know I don't use them like that anymore. I thought I had edited the chapters before and changed them back... I guess I missed this story, oh well.

Thank you for the review, it helped me.

2703599 You're very welcome!

There's only one thing more I have to ask...

When will it be updating again?

2704968

I'm not sure. There's real life to get in the way.

I'll look into it though and see if I can soon.

2703133
I missed this so its more so my mistake Remember to put a link to the Authors user page. (Worded by the authors name)