Review: Nyx's Family · 8:23pm Oct 18th, 2014
Last Tuesday I did something that took me over a year to do. I finally started reading Past Sins.
...then I read Trinkets and Nightmare Or Nyx on Wednesday.
...and Nyx's Family on Thursday.
What a story... What a story! I'm usually far too lazy to review stuff, so if I do something like this, the story must've left quite an impression on me. And it's only partially because it's written in the style of one of my favorite non-pony authors. So as a tribute to both Terry Pratchett and RealityCheck, I will do my best to spice up this review with some humorous footnotes.(1)
Nyx's Family. Yes. What can I say about this story that comes close to doing it justice? Frankly, this will probably less of a review and more a pile of subjective praise, but by my personal standards, this story was perfect in just about every regard. It almost had me falling off my chair laughing a dozen times, despite my roommate trying to study. And if I can get just a few people to read this story and find it half as glorious and hilarious as I did, then this effort will have been worth it. Even if you aren't a fan of Past Sins, it is not a required reading to understand or enjoy this story, and it is not anywhere as Nyx-centered as the name suggests.
So why should you read this story? What makes it just that bit better than almost every other story I've read so far (which have been quite a few)?
Well, where should I start? The characters? The jokes and references? The Crowning Moments of Awesome en masse? I will do my best to keep the following from becoming a mass of black bars, but some of this will obviously be spoilers. I'll try to keep it to a minimum, of course and not spoil any major plot points.(2)
So, jokes and references. I could name a lot of them, but I'll keep to the one that aren't any spoilers in and by themselves. Like a renown sceptic by the name of Ignatius Mendicant Dubious(3) or Diamond Fragment.(4)
I already stated that there are a lot of awesome moments in the story... But if you really need one reason to read this story:
The demolition squad of the Crystal Empire Army are the freakin Mythbusters.
And they blow up a gigantic dragon from the inside.
With a steampowered tuning fork!
And yes, it makes perfect sense in the story.
Lastly, the characters. I could talk about how every character is spot-on, how they are funny or have character quirks... But instead, I'll talk about the one thing that really makes this story fundamentally different from every other Adventure story I remember reading.
All the protagonist and side characters are competent.
I'm not talking about a sudden moment of competence. I'm not talking about really good at magic or even being generally competent. No, all the important characters that aren't antagonists are competent to the best of their abilities, have common sense and snark(5)... and that is before they are back against the wall, and ascend from "competence" to "badassery". In the whole of the story, 140.000 words, I cannot think of a single thing a protagonist does that I would have done different. And I don't think that has ever happened before in any story I enjoyed in the last year. There are no schemes, ploys and manipulation. The antagonists are brutal powerhouses that attack as soon as they make first contact, and their plan of attack basically boils down to "Charge and burn!"(6)
Night Light stepped forward, his stemmed cigarette nearly poking the pony in question in the eye. "Don't mess with me, boy. I am one of Equestria's fierce beasts. I am the original steam powered animal; I have dual pistons and a built-in cowcatcher and I will roll over your tiny ego like a herd of pie-crazed buffalo. I have SEEN horseapples.
"I spent a portion of my daughter's cuteceneara day as a potted cactus. I nearly was father in law to a giant cock-a-roach. I have alicorns in my kitchen on a regular basis. My family pic-a-nics in Everfree Forest and likes it.
"The Elements of Harmony swap Hearthwarming gifts with us. The fruits of my loins are forces of nature, boy. My daughter juggles ursa minors for a pastime, makes Nightmare Moon sit in the corner when she's naughty, and turned a Chaos god into a birdbath. She and her friends destroyed the Grand Galloping Gala and Princess Celestia applauded. My son slaps armies out of the sky by snogging his wife. My daughter in law sits on a THRONE and held the sky up for three days by sheer force of will.
"And every one of them calls me SIR!"
This isn't just empty talk. This is what the characters are like. All the time. And I'm holding back a lot of spoilers and examples here.
Final verdict: If you like comedy(7), read this story. It is worth it.
(1) Now if only I could think of something funny to write here... Sorry folks.
(2) Like this one for example: What, you really thought I would be that mean?
(3) Yes, he really introduces himself with his initials. Also, he runs like a sissy. That's mostly unrelated, but still explicitly stated in the story.
(4) D. Frag to his friends.
(5) Disregarding the "Curse of the Crusaders". That doesn't count, and you know it.
(6) "Charge into the city", not "charge their final attacks". Don't be silly.
(7) And if you don't, why are you reading my blog posts?
[Post Scriptum: A friend noted that RealityCheck has a bad reputation to some people, due to a careless and controversial blog post that he apparently can't live down. I treat this knowledge like I treat most blog posts and comments of that sort: If I don't pay attention to it, it won't give me or anyone else any more grief. RealityCheck has my deepest respect as an author after reading this story of his, and short of murdering someone I personally know, that won't change.]
Sorry I read almost nothing of this wall of text, but have you read Winter Bells?
2541459
I started into the whole Past Sins canon five days ago.
In other words, no, I haven't read it yet. But it's on my list and on my E-reader.
2541492
She's just like her big sister. Those eyelashes...
After reading that section with Night Light, I have only one question:
Why haven't I read any of the Past Sins canon yet!?
2541504
That is an excellent question. The only answer I can think of is the same answer to why I put it off for over a year: Too many other stories, and nopony giving a review like this.
2541521
Yeah, that's definitely the reason...
2541526
Reading the sequel now ("Nightmare Night and Nyx").
Quote from one of the footnotes:
That's the kind of humor I need in my stories.
After reading this, I wish we could upvote blog posts...!
Well, failing that, and considering On Friendship's Trail and The Creation of A World are both yours...
...how about a follow instead?
2554673
A Follow would be awesome.
And as an author, I can tell you that comments are a lot better than upvotes.
2554721
/) Tell me about it... my story has garnered a lot of views, but few comments and even fewer upvotes...! I know folks are reading it, at least. *shrug* Puzzles me why they don't want to leave comments.
2554726
The frustrating part comes when I put all kinds of jokes or references or freaking plot twists and cliffhangers into a chapter.
s?!? 
Why won't people comment on my
ya that was a good story. I don't suppose you read his other storys?
3322961
Well duh. I read all of them except that kooky fourth-wall story.
Hey do you know what happened to that story, I can't seem to find it any where on the site.
5746674
The author got into a lot of drama for Reasons (I only saw the edges of it so I can't say how bad/valid it was) and eventually left Fimfic in a snit.
They're on AO3 though and have some of their stories on there including this one. Just look for RHJunior on AO3.
5746715
Thank you and I found him over there, I'm just glad his stories are still up and able to be read there.