R4 (Reactions, Reviews, Reference, Redirection) #0120 · 10:06pm Apr 29th, 2015
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Here are five slightly edited old reviews:
Joshing by Cloud Wander
In Her Majesty's Absence by PegasusMesa
Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry by bookplayer
Wet Feathers by bookplayer
Daring Do and a Place Called Home by bookplayer
Joshing by Cloud Wander
[story link] [my original review]
Pair of stories that involve the teamster ponies I liked from The Boneyard. First story was okay. Amusing but nothing amazingly profound. The second one had me laughing out loud pretty much for the whole thing. Great comedy. Recommended if you like funny. Or if you like good writing. Or if you enjoy ice-cream/Cthulhu based humor.
In Her Majesty's Absence by PegasusMesa
[story link] [my original review]
This was good. One of my favorite events in the MLP:FiM timeline is the fight between the two sisters and the exile of Nightmare Moon. So I usually like any story that deals with it in some fashion. Even with that bias I feel this is a well written story. My personal preference is for Luna’s rebellion to be a longer and more epic thing with armies and battles. This story is a version of it that is a very personal and private event. A fight between two sisters that just so happened to have world-affecting collateral consequences. Plus it visits a concept that I’ve enjoyed in a few other stories (most notably Eternal), that the sisters have no experience or even concept of how the other interacts with their cosmic duties. For some reason that just makes it feel much more mythic and divine that way.
Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry by bookplayer
[story link] [my original review]
This one was fun. The romance angle was so-so, good but not great. However, I thought the author did a great job showing us Rainbow Dash’s viewpoint and personality. I really felt like I was peeking into RD’s thought processes for the entire story. I found the comedy funny. The ending is very predictable. There isn’t any tension. Heck, I figured out how it was going to play out simply from the story description and it didn’t try to hide it at all. This is very much a ‘I know where it is going, but going to enjoy the ride’ type of story. And I did enjoy the ride.
Wet Feathers by bookplayer
[story link] [my original review]
This is another romance, another Applejack and Rainbow Dash romance in fact. Not sure if this is the same continuity as the other one. Pretty sure this one was written first, but I’m not sure it matters all that much. Neither of them refer to each other in any way. It’s just the previous story was the start of a relationship between the two and this story is about their relationship a few years into things when Rainbow Dash is being a famous Wonderbolt all over Equestria. I liked it. Was sweet and had both miscommunication and characters got angry over things, but they also sat down and talked about things like rational ponies. Also had a scene of Applejack asking Twilight Sparkle for relationship advice that felt natural and sensible. Not because Twilight is any good at romance, but because Applejack wanted a clear logical viewpoint of things.
Daring Do and a Place Called Home by bookplayer
[story link] [my original review]
This was an interesting pair. Daring Do and Zecora. Works pretty well too, more or less. The story is a little fluffy. This would have been a nice late scene in a larger story that involved these two characters. There is a lot of assumed backstory and emotional history that I just didn’t feel connected to, so a lot of the interactions seemed a bit shallow. Had good writing though and it gets plenty of points for being a relationship I haven’t even heard about anywhere else.
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