Alright, before I go off on this review, here are the links for the three stories I am reviewing.

Breaking Rarity by Flutterwhy4

First Times by Lurks-no-More

Feels Like the First Time by CarcinoGeneticist

Be advised that these stories all deal in some manner or another with sex. Also be advised that this review will contain spoilers for all three of the stories.

And now, for the review proper.

Good day to everyone here. We here at the Orient Express Explorers have here a more in depth review. It is a joint review of three separate works that each address the complexity of sex is a distinctive, effective, and mature manner. Our works up for review are “Breaking Rarity” by Flutterwhy4, “First Times” by Lurks-no-More, and “Feels Like the First Time” by CarcinoGeneticist.

I would like to begin this review with the work “Breaking Rarity”. In this work, Rarity is kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. As the title suggests, she submits to her captors. This would have made, had it been the only component of “Breaking Rarity”, the work an excellent example in tragedy. Tragedy is defined as a story in which a character is brought to ruin because of some “flaw” within them. This flaw can be a lack of ability, a physical, mental, or emotional problem, or, as is the case in “Breaking Rarity”, something which many would hardly consider a flaw in and of itself. In this case Rarity is shown in the first chapter as being in the middle of her estrus season. She is, due to her body, in a position of vulnerability.

Another flaw that comes into play is the fetish she is characterized as having in the story. In the first chapter she floats out “a ball-gag, bright red with black straps of obvious high-quality.” We are informed that “she had discovered her penchant for bondage from a previous sexual partner.” It is these two details that come into play with in the second chapter when she is kidnapped.

In the second chapter, Rarity awakens with the ball-gag still in her mouth locked in a cage and still in estrus. The author foreshadows the tragic moment with a simple line:

Even worse than the heat itself was the realization that being gagged and locked in this cage was an aphrodisiac for her. She didn’t dare want to think like that, but she was aware of her fetish. She thought about capitalizing on the situation, but hesitated. It wasn't right, she didn't even know where she was. Her resolve faltered though as the fire in her loins overwhelmed her. As the mare lowered a hoof to her crotch, intent on relieving herself of the feminine affliction, a metal door squealed open.

In the third chapter, Rarity’s full situation is revealed; she is now in the hold of a sexual slavery ring. The tragic moment is when she is raped by one of the customers, who insists on her calling him “daddy”. He pulls out of her just before she climaxes, an experience which due to her estrus is unbearable. She succumbs, and calls her captor “daddy” in order to fulfill his fetish. She has been turned into a tool for the satisfaction of others. The tragic component of the story has been realized.

This story however, is not a tragedy, and that is to some a benefit. Were the work a tragedy, it would leave the reader with a sense of dread, of inevitability and the futility of life. It is a story that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of some (like “Cupcakes”). As the story progresses, Rarity plans to escape, along with the two other mares that she is imprisoned with. She meets a stallion, who thought the mares were consenting to what they were doing. The stallion agrees to help Rarity escape, and in farewell she allows him to have sex with her. Rarity soon escapes and is able to reach her friends, and tells Celestia what happened to her.

At this point the story would have become a Greek comedy. Comedy has gone through a number of definitions. Generally however, comedy has been understood as a story where the character wins. As Lord Byron once said, “All tragedies end in a funeral, all comedies in a marriage.” Comedies however have their weakness in teaching lessons. Comedy involves the serious, in this case sexual slavery, being turned into a light and frivolous thing. It leaves the audience mocking the world for not simply being better. Comedy leaves us feeling that no effort is needed for things to work out right. “Breaking Rarity” avoids this pitfall by having the sexual slavers, and their two remaining victims, escape.

Flutterwhy4 approaches the seriousness of sex in a dichotomy of tragedy and comedy, and reveals to us that sex is two things at once, a destroyer, and creator.

Moving on to our second work for review is the story “First Times”. In it the mane six each talk about their first sexual partners, and for each of them, sex is not always the greatest of things.

The story begins on a lighter note, with Pinkie Pie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’ detecting that Cadence and Shining Armor had just consummated their wedding. This in turn makes Rainbow Dash poke fun at the matter, but Rarity interjects with the rudeness of such an action saying that, “A lady would leave such matters unsaid.” When Rainbow plainly states that she is not a lady, Rarity cites Rainbow’s behaviour towards Soarin as proof of this.

We come once again to the concept of how sex is to be approached, levity on the one hand(hoof) or severity on the other. During this initial confrontation, Twilight is trying to avoid thinking of statistical assessments of what Shining and Cadence would be doing, showing that she is trying to avoid a deep introspection of the matter, and even then not enjoying the prospect.

The conversation turns to the general of first sexually intimate moments with a partner. Each of the mane six reveals their first time, and each have an unconventional experience with it. The stories are in turn considered by the others. It is a subject of scrutiny, but not idolatry or vilification.

Applejack reveals that her first experience was with her cousin Braeuburn, to the horror of Rainbow Dash. However, Twilight reveals that cousin marriage is legal in Equestria, and common among nobles and farming clans. Applejack concludes her story of how she and Braeburn each gave up on the relationship due to distance and obligations to work and family.

Rainbow Dash reveals that her first encounter was with a school bully, Dumb-Bell. She admits that it was an ill advised partnering, that ended with anal experimentation. When Dumb-Bell continued to demand doing anal again, Rainbow refused, and soon Dumb-Bell spread the news of what Rainbow Dash had done, effectively ending the relationship, and starting her friendship with Gilda along a different path.

Pinkie Pie is the next to explain her sexual history, and admits to have not done it. She says that while she has been intimate, she has not gone fully due to not being prepared for all the implications, including children.

Fluttershy reveals that she is strictly interested in lesbianism. She points to male-female coupling as being frightening, and claims that female partnerships to her are more “cuddly.” It is then revealed that her first sexual partner was Rainbow Dash, and that she was not cuddly.

The stories then turn to Twilight, who reveals that she used the “Want it, Need it” spell on a homosexual stallion so that he would be comfortable with having sex with her. The spell would wear off, and they would continue as regular friends. This reflects the superficial approach in which she considered her own brother’s encounter with Cadence at the beginning of the story.

Continuing with Twilight’s story, the stallion, whom she only calls “Stargazer”, convinced her to teach him the “Want it, Need it” spell on another stallion who was straight. Twilight later learned Stargazer had left out crucial information regarding the spell to his partner. After Stargazer and his partner had sex, the partner panicked and attacked him. This news made it all the way to Celestia, who demanded that Twilight find a way of proving that she could still be trusted as a student.

Twilight had misused magic, and by extension had misused sex. Sex by itself can be a wonderful or horrible experience, as is shown in each of these stories. The story concludes with Twilight having shown her regret for the action, and effort she had put into researching magical ethics. As she explains in the story, the “Want it, Need it” spell:

"It's a restricted spell, and for a good reason. There are some legitimate uses for it, mostly in mental therapy, but the potential for misuse is huge.”

The story ends with the mane six coming to understand the mistakes Twilight had made. Each story told by the characters reveals the concept of how sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Our final story for review is CarcinoGeneticist’s “Feels Like the First Time”. Like the previous story, it details the first sexual relations each of the mane six has. While more comedic in nature, the after-effect and fallout of each encounter is explored, making the story much more wholesome in content.

The first shared experience is (again) Applejack’s, in which she describes her encounter with a distant friend of the Apple Family, Potato Chip. Due again to distance, they cannot reciprocate their love for each other. However, by the end of story she begins writing to him once more.

Rainbow Dash’s experience involves mutual oral sex with Derpy hooves in the shower room of Flight School, the pair is caught in the act, and as a result they are both expelled from school, greatly complicating Dash’s chances of ever becoming a Wonderbolt. Like Applejack, she resumes contact with her partner, catching up, and with the promise of better times with them in the future.

Rarity’s first encounter was a one night stand with a Wonderbolt, which never developed into a deeper relationship. Over the course of the stories the others share with her, she begins to doubt the virtue of what she had done. By the end of the story she decides that while her first sexual experience was not founded on as deep grounds as those of her friends, she would one day find a stallion who would value her as much as her friends.

Twilight’s first sex partner was Cheerilee, in which due to physical awkwardness, accidentally physically harm each other. They are at first unable to try developing the relationship further due to Cheerilee’s work as a school teacher, but at the end of the story, they meet up at the end of the school year.

Fluttershy, after suffering anxiety through the stories of the rest of her friends, reveals that her first, and only, sexual partner was Big Macintosh. The relationship was difficult at first, as she worked up the courage and self-confidence to go through with what she wanted, with Big Macintosh being patient and considerate throughout. Her story ends with Big Macintosh proposing to her.

Pinkie Pie, the last to share her story, reveals an over-the-top fantasy/dream that she had involving Shining Armor, Cadence, and herself. When it is realized she is still a virgin, she ruminates on the matter, but soon ends up with a date with Vinyl Scratch.

Each of these encounters are strained or marked with some difficulty, but a difficulty that is overcome with the promise of a better future.

These three stories, written by different authors, in different styles, and with subtle variations of content apart from the inclusion of sex, all handle their primary subject matter with a mature grace which is reflective of the realities. They show, through the events that follow after sex and the consideration of what happened by the characters, that the story doesn’t end truly, it goes on, it is simply a piece of interesting narrative. Sex is just a thing, what it is depends on what we put into it, and what motivates it. These three stories, in each their own way, do this.

Interesting to compare the three. I can't see much connection between Breaking Rarity and the others. The phrase "Greek comedy" is sometimes used in this strange theoretical way to mean something like "things that aren't tragedy", so it doesn't imply humor when used this way. I find that odd, since most of what we have left of Greek comedy is Aristophanes, which is broad comedy--a subset of comedy, not a superset.

Thanks! You are an OEE hero!