Equus Mortis by Eskerata
Review by SweetieBotError

Warning: Before reading for yourself, this Story contains very graphic descriptions and some sexual language.
Equus Mortis. For those of you who don’t know latin, it translates to ‘Horse of the Dead’. It also happens to be the name of our protagonist, a pony mortician if such a thing could even exist, who struggles with his family history in addition to present events. Not an enviable position in a world of magical talking horses. I don’t like spoiling stories, especially this one, so I’m going to give an oh so brief synopsis and then go straight to the review.
Equus Mortis is a descendant of the ancient Mortis family, which worships Nightmare Moon. Part of the family heritage is skills involving dealing with the deceased. He gets a position in Ponyville as coroner and mortician, and is immediately known as the pony who deals with the dead, and avoided by the rest of the town. His already undesirable life get’s turned upside down when Rainbow Dash is murdered, and the plot thickens as his family history is brought into the case. That is all I’ll reveal, because I really want all of you readers to read this story.
Don’t be daunted by the word count. It may be 17k words, but it flies by a lot faster than that. Unfortunately, it hurts the story a little to not have as much exposition as it probably needed. The climactic battle towards the end begins and ends within a single chapter. I often criticize stories for being too short, but I do honestly believe that the resolution of the conflict would be more rewarding if the ready has more invested in the final confrontation. While Equus himself does have something invested in the struggle in the form of his independence, I found myself getting distracted by the other reason, which was avenging Dash and Pinkie.
That said, pacing was the only real issue I noticed with the story. The base philosophical question may have been a bit trite (at least in my opinion), but the last speech by Celestia on true loyalty makes a good deal of sense. And even when the generic concept of death is addressed, it is handled in a very creative way. Equus is not afraid of death, but he is not ready to grasp hold of it with both hooves, because in his words, ‘he would rather have a future’.
Equus himself I feel is underdeveloped as a character, but only slightly. In most of his dialogue, he comes across as the kind of pony who gives answers to questions that no pony should be able to answer. He is awful close to being a Gary Stu, but is kept from crossing that threshold by virtue of not knowing and not being able to do everything. Having his ass handed to him at the end definitely helped make him more believable.
However, I’m sure a lot of people who stumble across this story aren’t expecting strong characterization or plot development. Although that is present to a degree, the real strength of this story, and what most people are looking for, is the reason for the Gore tag. In the area of shock and awe, Eskerata proves himself more than capable of making weaker stomachs churn. While I was not off put by the graphic descriptions of undead Dash, I can easily imagine more squeamish readers pausing to think whether they really want to continue. The genius of the gore lies not in it’s colorful description, but in it’s restrain. While that may sound like it contradicts what I just said, allow me to explain. The gory language doesn’t pull any punches, but it doesn’t make itself the centerpiece of the story. While reading a scene detailing how blood flows from Rainbow’s mouth when she speaks, you never forget what the story is really about. Not too subtle, but also not overbearing, the gore in this story strikes a great balance.
I’m going to tell you all to read this story, because it is definitely worth your time. While not a literary classic, at least in my opinion, it is definitely something that will entertain you, and in the end, that is what I believe the purpose of the entire story was. Those looking for answers to deep philosophical questions should probably look elsewhere. However, if you are the kind of the person who enjoyed Dead Space or The Thing, then this is the story for you.

ACHOO!
Someone's talking about me.
Thanks very much for the review. It's true that I did skimp on the world-building, so I'll have to work on that. I also tried my best to make Equus not be like a Morty stu (See what I did there?) and having the guy frankly suck at fighting helped keep him out of that pigeon hole. Plus, in spite of all of his misery, he doesn't mope, he copes. He may look like a goth, but he doesn't wallow in existential angst.
I'm glad that you thought I handled the gore pretty well. Going overboard with the squishy stuff is what turned me off of "Cherilee's Garden". (Yes, I know the gore is the main event in that story, but when I say you need heart in a story to make it work, I don't mean you should yank out the heart and rub it in my face like a napkin.)
I'll be adding more to Equus in an upcoming sequel, however. I'll try to add more to that story in terms of character, insight, that sort of thing.
Anyhoo, I'm very glad that you like my story enough to give it this much attention. Thanks again.
Stay cool.