Review: Dear Twilight. by: Raiden Gekkou

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A short rather sweet little story. Celestia, after receiving so many friendship letters from Twilight, sends one back to her. Letting her favorite pupil know just how much she means to the Princess. How much Celestia cherishes her own friendship with her pupil.

Story: Not much as far as overall story goes, just a letter from Celestia to Twilight sharing some of her thoughts, feelings, regrets and the joy of having Twilight as a friend. But very well executed, though talking about it more is better suited for the other sections.

Characters: Just one, Celestia, and she is handled very well. Her pain, her lose, her regret at the mistakes of her past, the loneliness she'd felt for centuries, how she had to wear a mask of the perfect, happy, Pony Princess for her subjects for so long, at times she could no longer tell the difference between the face she was putting on for the sake of her little ones, and her own true self. And her joy at Twilight, at having a friend like her, who could see her as a pony, not just an icon. And at Twilight reuniting her with Luna. It all comes through really well and is very touching.

Ponyness: Again very well done here. While the way it was written is a little hard to see coming from Celestia, the 'voice' didn't quite feel right for her. The word choices, manner of speaking that type of thing. The emotions behind them, the thoughts, feelings, what was being said, it's all things that are almost certainly things Celestia has dealt with. And I could certainly see Celestia sending a letter much like this to Twilight.

Engagement/Enjoyment: Hard to really judge engagement on a story so short. Not really time to either get totally hooked, or to start to get bored. But for what it is, the size is pretty much perfect, long enough to convey the emotions it wants to, without dragging things out. As for enjoyment. Very high, but 'enjoy' is an odd word. This is a story you really want to read just for the feelings, the emotions in it. Being able to make you empathize with Celestia, her pain, her happiness, And it does a great job at making you feel both happy, and a tad sad by the end.

Overall: Great. A very well done, short little story that does a great job exploring the character of Celestia in a very believable way. The only possible flaw is that, as above, the voice of the character didn't feel quite like it fit. But neither did it seem wrong either. And while the wording, tone, and general how it was written didn't really feel a lot like how I picture Tia talking, the what, the emotions, pain, joy, feelings, all of them felt very genuine. So if you are looking for a short, sweet, little thing to give you a happy-sad feeling, check it out.

And, just in case you need a bit more emotional torque involving the Solar Princess....