Hello everyone and everypony, I am Spy11887 and I am the newest critic of Reality Reviews. I am newish to critiquing works and this will be my first publically posted one. Now I chose this fic to review after spotting it in the 'New Stories' column. After giving it a read I thoroughly enjoyed it and requested the author let me review it as part of our group rules to have the author's permission. With Proof's permission I now give you my first critique.

Plot line: The plot of Like Flying focuses on a race between Applejack and Rainbow Dash that would decide on who is faster. Their previous attempts at trying to race each other had something or another get in the way of their race to prevent them from actually racing until now. Using Pinkie Pie as a judge and placing restrictions on them the duo race through Ponyville using vastly different methods. Applejack using the traditional foot racing style, and Rainbow using self-taught parkour.

Complexity: The story of Like Flying is a somewhat simple one utilizing the rivalry between Rainbow and Applejack as its base, but does include subtle jabs at the relationship and feelings between each other.

Character development: Character development in Like Flying manages to display the budding emotions between Rainbow and Applejack in a way that feels natural and in character. To quote another person who reviewed this story,

And a lot of people seem to romanticize it and forget that a lot of relationships start with things along the lines of, "Hey, I like you" and less like, "I LOVE YOU! BEINSIDEMENOW!"

Length: Standing at 5,222 words this story stands at a somewhat-shorter-than-average length for most one-shots that I have read. Most of this story is focused on the actual race with a good build up to the emotional reveal from Rainbow at the end.

Spelling/Grammar: Let me be bluntly honest right here, I am not amazing at grammar. That aside I could not see anything major wrong with the overall grammar of the story. It had well written dialogue that I could see matching up with their characters in a similar situation, Although on my second reading I did notice something off with them talking casually while racing, but that went away after my third read through before writing this review and spotting that they were not pushing themselves as hard as you'd initially expect.

Mood: Like Flying gives off a mood that was a mixture of a competitive feel to it while also having a good romantic undercurrent to it. ProofNegative does a fairly good job in my opinion on keeping a good level of tension during the race when it was needed without crossing the bar. Sneaking in some comedic moments alongside more subtle hints at romance in the exposition. His pacing went well enough that I could read it without feeling that it wasn't unreadable. (Another thing that I am not amazing at noticing pacing when it isn't horribly bad.)

Uniqueness: I consider this fic fairly unique due to the fact that I haven't seen any fics similar to this one in any way. Doing some background research I could only find one fic that had any similar relation to Like Flying, and even it was only related to Like Flying only because both had parkour in it.

Personal Thoughts: I personally enjoyed this fic very much. I do not normally read romance fics, but the word 'parkour' caught my eye and compelled me to read it. I had always had a fascination with free running and parkour from many sources, but it had slowly faded from my memory until I read this. ProofNegative has managed to rekindle my interest in parkour and I must thank him/her/it for doing so.

Final Score: With only minor problems that I noticed I bequeath this story the score of 91/100 alongside a recommendation as my first ever "Must read" story.

Whichever side you're on, I'm not.
~Spy11887