Must Reads - The Immortal Game

Review for my expanding Recomendation List

The Immortal Game by AestheticB

Tags: Adventure, Dark

Timeframe: Based on middle S2 canon (Discord exists but Shining Armor expressively doesn't) the story takes place an indefinite time after the show.

Author's description:

Long ago, in the magical land of Equestria, there lived a powerful King and his dark Queen. Immortal and ignorant, their end came at the hooves of their daughters, Celestia and Luna, who sought to build a better future for ponykind.

Now ponykind’s old gods have returned.

Twilight Sparkle is trapped inside her own mind, slave to a cruel and impulsive consciousness built from everything she is not. Powerless and voiceless, she must find a way to stop the being that calls itself Nihilus from destroying everything she holds dear.

Luna is tasked with assembling the remaining Elements of Harmony in hopes of freeing their leader. For if ponykind is to have any hope, it is in Twilight Sparkle. And if Twilight Sparkle is to have any hope, it is in her five friends.

Facing her father in mortal combat, Celestia must do everything she can to ensure that ponykind has the tools to survive before she falls. With inevitable defeat bearing down upon her, she makes the first move in the oldest and deadliest game known to creation.

Why you should read it:

Because it's awesome. Regarding adventure stories this is my single most favourite story on Fimfiction. I would even give it a top spot among the hardcover books in my shelf. I would spend money for this and you can read it for free. Plus it has ponies in it, but for this story that's just a bonus.

Now, the first thing you have to know about it is that the short description does not describe the story properly. After about a quarter of the story it significantly changes direction and the really awesome parts come in the later chapters. Saying anything more her would spoil things though.

AestheticB is a master at creating suspense and from the first moment on I was fully immersed into the plot. I ended up reading all 300.000 words straight through in one and a half day.
There are many stories where Equestria is supposedly at stake, but here you really feel like it.

Another great thing are the battle scenes. There are countless of those throughout the chapters, but all of them are diverse and never get boring. Also expect each of the Mane 6 and the Princesses to get their personal moments of awesomeness.

Amazingly this does not result in lacking character development. On the contrary. With a giant threat hanging over every ponies head, there is a lot of interesting and diverse characterization. Especially Twilight and Rainbow Dash see a lot of it, but the changing perspectives make sure that no one is left out.

In addition we get a lot of backstory on Alicorns, the three tribes, pony history and creation, Nightmare Moon and a lot of other stuff that all tie into the main storyline.

Now, The Immortal Game is dark. Before I got around reading it I spend a lot of time in indecision because I feared it might be too dark for me. It was completely unnecessary. This is one of the few stories where increasing darkness is not overwhelming or depressing, but urging. While things seem very bad at times and the odds are almost impossible, all this does is make you read faster.

In the end all the darkness just makes the lighter parts of the story, the moments of happiness and triumph way more worthwhile.