Z Reviews: The Mares of Diomedes · 5:53am Feb 8th, 2015

This time's review will be of The Mares of Diomedes, authored by Admiral Biscuit, reviewed by me, TheifofZ. If you like this review, check my blog for other reviews, or follow this link to go to the post containing the mission statement and a list of all the stories I've reviewed so far.
As always, here's how I'll be doing this; First I'll cover the story idea, and writing style and quality of the story. Next, I'll look at the actual story itself, including character motivation, action (if the story has any), and the general plot. Finally, I'll throw down my egotistical and opinionated rating, declaring exactly how good, or bad, I thought this was. And yes, I will do my best to avoid spoilers for the plot IF POSSIBLE. If the spoiled events are integral to the story, I'll throw down spoiler warnings instead, and ask that you proceed with caution. Always remember, folks. This is all opinion. Disagree with me? Think I'm dead wrong, or spot on? Argue about it in the comments if you want. It's cool. Noone has a truly humble opinion, after all, but make sure you read the review first.
Caution: Spoilers: The story I'm reviewing this time is a one-shot based around a bit of a twist. Everything past this point should be considered a spoiler. As such, I can't be held responsible if you continue without reading the story first.
Caution: Gore: The story is tagged Gore for a reason. I will be discussing it briefly as well; If you're really squeamish about blood and guts, you probably should back away slowly, and then run as soon as you get to 30 paces. Best advice I can give. Also the story isn't for you.

Here we are, guys. The last (Hopefully) Human In Equestria story I have to review in awhile, and it's a doozy, even if it is a One Shot.
Now, I grew up on greek mythology. My mom read it to me as a child for bedtime stories and once I was old enough to read on my own, I devoured the myths and legends I could find. And while this might have given me a grab bag of morals, a screwed up basis for any religion to follow, and a high tolerance for some, frankly, messed up crap, it also means that I really love mythology. And I was ecstatic to see a story with a very firm tie to what I grew up on... Although it did spoil the twist alittle. Anyone with more than a passing familiarity should have guessed it from the title, really. The Mares of Diomedes is an awesome, lovingly dark homage to the twisted nightmares of the greeks. The basic story idea is that all the ponies of equestria are descendants of the original Mares of Diomedes (For those not familiar, they were evil and foul tempered horses that fed nearly exclusively on raw human flesh), and share their less than pleasant nature, and Rainbow Dash stumbles on a human by sheer chance. The writing is excellently done, with smooth tone and clear descriptions setting both scene and character, and while it isn't done perfectly, the idea of the story is executed well.

The story follows Abderus as he flees through the Everfree before stumbling on Rainbow Dash. The story develops fairly slowly, with a small stand off and then several paragraphs idling as they head back to Twilight's house, which include some very cleverly executed foreshadowing. After that, well... it gets messy, though the author does a good job of misleading anyone reading it into thinking that something else is intended instead. It does a great job of calling back to several aspects of the original myth, including the four of the mane 6 involved, and I thoroughly enjoyed the idea. There's even a happy ending, and one which I don't really hate as it's only a small page in a much larger story which, sadly, I think will never be told. ... Though there isn't much more to build on, really, so I suppose it's for the best.
Once the real action starts, the author does a great job describing the scene so that it's easy to visualize each agonizing moment, and RD's exultation at the end was very much adorable and completely in character, aside from the reason for it.

Overall... I give this story 8 out of 10 moustaches, and 4 out of 5 exuberant Podargos.

Any opinions or major points you'd like to make go in the comments below. Advice, Major Corrections, story suggestions, and fan mail can be PM'd to me. ... if I ever get fans. HAH!

Final Note: Not usually really into super dark and bloody fics, but usually they require someone to go off the deep end, and that makes me uncomfortable for a whole slew of reasons. This is far and away from insanity, though, and even better, it's a homage to something I care about. So as messed up as it is, I can't help but love it.

Report TheifofZ · 378 views ·

Comments ( 3 )