Thoughts on IDW My Little Pony Friends Forever Comic Volume 2

So this comic omnibus is broken into four stories, each with two main characters for each comic. I'll go through them from the one I liked the least to my favorite.

Fluttershy and Zecora: This one is pretty simple. Fluttershy's animal friends can talk, but she doesn't know why. Thinking she's either going crazy, or something magical is happening, she goes to Zecora for help. Zecora, in turn, helps her find out it is Discord, and he does it so the animal can throw her a party. Overall the concept is fun and exciting, but I think it lacked weight, and there wasn't much going on with the animals. Zecora didn't do much outside of telling some jokes as well. Also, it wasn't a surprise knowing Discord was behind everything. This issue was ok, but I wish there was more to it and that Zecora played more of a role.

Pinkie Pie and Luna: in this issue, Luna has to help her sister, Princess Celestia, do a Chuckle-Lot. Basiclly, Luna needs to do a comedy routine as it became a tradition for celestia to do one every year in Canterlot to show that they were like every other pony. However, Princess Luna is quite too serious and needs help with her humor, so Twilight gives her to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie does her best to help Princess Luna, but she seems to be against Pinkie Pie's antics as she struggles with humiliating herself. Eventually, she attacks Pinkie Pie and calls her a clown. And Pinkie sees that Luna is more obsessed with outdoing her sister than just being herself. However, at the Chuckle-Lot, Luna does indeed embrace the slapstick humor Pinkie Pie taught her by having a pie thrown at her sister's face, which causes her to trip, and the two slam into a pie, splattering pie all over the place.

The story itself wasn't bad, but I feel like there should've been more at the Chuckle-Lot; maybe have Luna and Celestia do a routine, and Luna finally let up during it as she remembers all of Pinkie Pie's advice. Also, I felt Pinkie Pie deserved more of an apology because Luna was rude seeing Pinkie Pie was doing pretty well teaching her to try not to take this too seriously. But other than that, it wasn't a bad issue and a fun read. Also, I'm glad to see that this shows Luna to be much more relatable, and it sucks we have to get more character from her through the comics than the show.

Rainbow Dash and Trixie: this one was great, so Rainbow Dash gets invited to perform in a mystery kingdom known as Diamondia. She learns that Trixie has been the queen of the Diamond Dogs, but the bad news is she's trapped being queen for them. Trixie lied to them as they thought she could look for diamonds using her magic, and now's she stuck with the job as the crown they gave her makes it so that she can't leave. So she and Rainbow Dash have to trick the Diamond Dogs into hating Trixie's guts to make them stop wanting her to be their queen; then, she can ditch the crown and leave. Overall the story was simple, but it was so clever and well thought out; it also showed that Trixie and Rainbow Dash can work well together, seeing they both are pretty egotistical. I also love the world-building and seeing Diamond Dogs having a kingdom of their own. I think this issue would be great animated.

Applejack and Rarity: this comic has to be the best one I've read so far; this was an adventure with Applejack and Rarity traveling across Equestria together as Applejack tries to go to the Oranges on the west coast in Applewood to make a deal to sell Apples to them. They need this deal as Big Mac "accidentally" destroyed the barn. So Applejack sets off on the business deal with Rarity coming along as she brings a few burlap sacks to bring some samples. Rarity gets them sidetracked with sightseeing the Biggest Ball of Yarn; however, the two lose track of time, and the pair then get on the wrong train. They are then sent up to Seaddle, and Rarity decides they should go see a water show, and then the two are going to use a taxi to get back to the train, but their cab gets destroyed by one of the stunts at the show. So the two are forced to run through the rain to an abandoned building, where they steal a plane. They then argue while flying, and they end up crashing into the Equestria version of Mount Rushmore; they then come to a small western town and get a stagecoach across the plains to their destination, only to be chased by a bunch of steers trying to rob them. While Applejack and Rarity argue, they take down the ruffians (while still arguing) and continue along. They finally make it to Applewood and check out Whinnyland (which is basiclly Equestria's version of Disneyland). Then they finally meet Applejack's cousin, who has no idea what Applejack is talking about in regards to a business deal. (The last panel reveals Granny Smith read the letter wrong as it read east coast, not west coast).

What made this comic the best I read was how natural it felt with how Applejack and Rarity played off each other during their adventure. The humor never felt forced, and it was smooth throughout the comic. The art was beautiful, with the Mount Rushmore version of the princesses being rather breathtaking. This was something that could be animated in this style done by Andy Price, as it was that good, and I was laughing at nearly every panel. I highly recommend this one and can't wait to enjoy more of Andy Price's work.