This vote was a lot closer than the complete whitewashes of the past two votes. There was a point where I thought there would be no clear winner, however in the end, Princess Celestia Gets Mugged secured two breakaway votes to come out on top of Hard Reset and The Warm Diary of Twilight Sparkle with a final score of six votes over the others' four each. Sorry, Princess Twilight, but you've had all the spotlight until now. Give somepony else a chance to shine! And who better to shine than the Princess of the Sun herself?

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3750906 Everything I feel which is bad about this story can be aptly described in my blog post about this story.

But this is a short summary of what I think.

The story does not deserve its rating. The comedy is... funny at first sight, but after reading it, you realize it's cheap. Celestia's pranklestia/trollestia characterization is old, not to mention so morally problematic that it bugs the reader once they think about it further. The kidnappers are unrealistically characterized given the world they are in and which the author created. The characterization of Luna is also flawed and she doesn't react in a logical manner not to mention its also morally disturbing that she acts this way.

Essentially, this story is haphazardly constructed, full of cheap comedy and laughs making use of overused tropes. When fitted together, the entire story makes no sense and its characters are morally problematic at times. It will make you chuckle at first, but when you do actually recall it, it won't make you laugh in the middle of nowhere, it will piss you off.

I do not often recommend stories to be avoided at all cost, but I make an exception for this one.

Sincerely,
vren55

3772394 I'd like to point out that Celestia didn't actually know that the kidnappers were poor, as you said that Celestia's lack of decorum to the poor ponies.

I found it very funny that those three muggers were not realising that they were failing at being criminals the story describing every blow at Celestia's head which were meant to knock her out felt like a whack with a pillow to her. And I can say that I laughed at 'Sunny Skies'' over the top and ludicrous fake sob story about how her family was mistreating her. And those 'muggers' started having an inverse form of Stockholm syndrome and I couldn't help but feel sorry for them at the end. Luna's worrying over her sister, while understandable, was a bit of an overreaction and made her look like a very overprotective sister. Though like I said, understandable as they're sisters.

Highly recommended for reading if you like comedy and enjoy having harmless villains once in a while.

3772409 Really? I beg to differ

Chapter: Kidnapped

As her eyes slowly opened, she was able to gauge her surroundings for the first time. The space was only lit with a singular lamp. The room itself looked to be little more than a small apartment, as there were only a few run-down beds and a miniscule table next to a tiny kitchenette in the room. Very cramped conditions for her four kidnappers. In that moment, she felt a little pity for the muggers. Clearly this was the reason they had been drawn to crime, despite Celestia's best efforts to combat poverty.

3772414 If she's worrying and overeactional... can someone explain to me how she was seduced by a masseur in her realm, aka the dream realm?

3772426 Sorry, it's been almost a year since I read it, most of the things I've written were based on my memory and it seems that I have forgotten that part.

I can see that it can be seen as morally wrong. Then again, inside a dream the morals are generally blue and orange, with a slice of cake on top. A nice person could dream of being a tyrranical god-emperor of the world.

Sorry if I was rude or if I offended you in someway, you're one of my favourite authors and I don't want to piss you off over a short story.

3772456 Oh don't worry. You're not offending me at all. I'm just trying to illustrate the rather strange and weird as hell choices the author of this story made. Sorry for sounding aggressive/sarcastic.

You do have a point about the dreams though... I just... feel it jarring for the author to suddenly shift from concerned Luna to seduced Luna.... get what I mean?

3772484 I think that was the point of the sudden shift of Luna's emotions, only it was probably meant to be funny.

3772426 Ah. Must not have seen that part.

3772505 Perhaps. I just didn't see it as funny.

P.S. I will be updating PC:TCQ tomorrow.

3772506 It happens. I couldn't believe either at first until I re-read that part

3772509 Oh goody!

I think the main thing I disliked about the story is how Celestia seems entirely out of character. I understand the author was justifying the way she was acting (e.g. irresponsibly having fun at the expense of others) by saying she wanted to have a day without any consequences; but from what I've seen from the show, having Celestia even giving in to those urges is out of character.

The main thing I really liked was near the ending—particularly Chapter "Oh".

"Thou didst not think of Us, Tia," Luna mumbled. "We did not know what We would have done had you actually been injured. It scared Us."

Celestia gave her sister a small smile and wrapped her in a hug. Luna leaned her head against Celestia's shoulder and returned the hug. "I'm sorry. Had I thought for a moment that this would happen I would have never done it. It was just a bit of fun on my part. I'm sorry if it hurt you."

Sadly, I can't c&p everything under the last break since there's too much, otherwise I would. I feel like here, in a way, the author confronted the way he wrote Celestia. I like the way the author made her realize that she was being selfish in her thinking (particularly Luna's shout "Tia, canst thou think of nothing but thyself?!"). I like the additional personality of the sacred sister the author added to Luna in contrast to "the easily offended other princesses". I felt it was the most realistic thing that happened in the whole story.

Okay, my thoughts are basically, the story had some good moments, but the whole didn't add up.

First off, the whole 'nobility' acting like children brought me right out of the story every time they appeared. It's a trope/cliche/fandom thing that is seriously starting to piss me off. The crooks were... dumb, to put it mildly. The humor with them was good, but their situation and Celestia's reaction to it was meh at best and just, "What the?" at worst.

So, not horrible, but not good either.

Been having computer troubles and busy lately so I'm going off months old memory here I'm skimming through the thing again:

The title is a bit of a misnomer. Celestia was mugged and then kidnapped but Princess Celestia Gets Mugged and Kidnapped doesn't have that nice ring to it. I feel that Celestia is rather out of character and lack the maturity we see in the show. In the show, she indulges in some harmless fun to lighten the mood but she wouldn't go along with kidnappers because "It Amused Me". Celestia could have played along because she genuinely wants to know what would drive her little ponies to such desperate measures and she would be very in-character and still have the crooks carry the humor with their antics, which the story actually does.

Regarding the bickering nobles, after reading the IDW comics (especially the ones by Andy Price), I wouldn't say that it is out of place anymore.

The kidnappers are pretty funny and they carry the comedy pretty well, Celestia cleaning them of her own mugged money is pretty funny. It certainly have that Andy Price vibe to the whole thing, especially with the masseur sequence (though never that risqué, children's comic and all).

Overall, the writing could do with some rewording, there are places where the narration feels very clunky. The story carry the comedy decently and could do with some tweaking to Celestia's character. The ending really nailed how much the sisters cared for each other.

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This is one of the higher rated stories on the site, but now that I've read it, I have to say I'm honestly unsure as to why exactly. The premise itself is definitely enticing and attention-grabbing by itself, and while it does generate its fair share of amusement, it never really did much for me in the "Oh-God-my-sides!" department.

Celestia desires a day off from the mundanity of dealing with petty, flippant nobles who only seem to give a rat's arse about themselves, which is totally fair enough; I mean, not having a day off in over a millennium would surely drive any lesser being completely insane. I personally know what it's like to work literally every day, and so I can understand the desire for a day off. What I find odd is that Luna was also planning to have a day off when Celestia came to her with her woes, and while I commend Luna for being an amazing sister and forfeiting her own time off, is there any reason why she couldn't have had her time off, then organised for the next day or the day after to replace Celestia on the throne in court?

So then we get to the actual kidnapping. Celestia has donned her disguise and decided it might be amusing to let herself be abducted. It is a funny concept, and it does serve to bring some smiles, but I didn't really feel the comedy vibe. I think the story would be more appropriately tagged as Slice of Life alone, without the comedy tag.

The multi-colour-codenamed crooks seemed a few tacos short of a fiesta, if you catch my drift. They really weren't that intelligent at all. If they were serious about holding Sunny hostage, they shouldn't have entertained a single of her whims or suggestions, even if their intent was not pure malice.
That's something else I find odd about the story: I think the criminals really lucked the hell out by kidnapping Celestia. If they had kidnapped anyone else, anyone at all, they might have gotten a successful ransom (or not, depending on the Royal Guard's efficiency and if they were made aware of the situation [again, chalk that up to the overall {lack of} intelligence on the kidnappers' parts]), which might have led them to do it again. The kidnapping itself was just so random; they were happy to take the first pony that crossed their paths.

So, Celestia makes the observation that they're a little down on their luck, perhaps in hard times for an unknown duration prior... so why not just rescind the disguise then and there, scare the hell out of them, help them, and let that be that? I understand that the rest of the story could not have happened, however I'm not entirely sure I'd have found myself wanting an expansion anyway. I can probably blame this on having read (and thoroughly enjoyed) a much shorter story, same basic principle, but far more entertaining: Ransom For a Pretty Pink Princess, by Mysterious Stranger. To everyone reading this review, I do actively recommend you check it out. It's only short, but immensely satisfying.

This is just speculation of course, but I feel like the situation was purposely dumbed down in an attempt to enhance the humour. I might have enjoyed it more if the kidnappers had been serious, had been intelligent and methodical, and yet still effectively trolled and defeated by Celestia, but instead she has them wrapped around her hoof the entire time, realising from the beginning of her "imprisonment" that the situation will be a piece of cake to manipulate. Which I suppose was the overall point of the story, but eh.

The nobility, though: come on, guys. Did you really think that word of your rude behaviour toward Luna would not reach Celestia eventually? Why can you not accept that Luna is a Princess as well and treat her with the respect and dignity she deserves? I really didn't like that chapter. It felt like it served literally no purpose but to irritate Luna and draw some cheap laughs at her overreactions.

What did do it for me though was when Luna revealed the true reason for her anger at Celestia's thoughtless, selfish joke: she was scared, worried that if someone like Celestia could be held hostage, then what potential for power and evil must the kidnappers possess? A very good issue to address, and it is nailed well. Great character interaction there, with Luna's issue being well-founded, and Celestia admitting her mistake. Good job.

Overall, I don't regret reading the story (for what it was, it did cause me to smile a few times), although I do think Ransom for a Pretty Pink Princess is a better story in the "abducted-trolls-abductors" archetype of story.

Oh, and there were a few grammar and stylistic issues as well. Not many, but they were till present. I think the story was very lucky to be accepted to EqD, just saying.

5.5/10

3773441 Oh you posted it here as well? Well I left my reply on your blog :P

3773479
I do this every time, vren.

3773494 I realized :P. I generally keep my blog for professional or personal announcements, like that story idea you helped me with "Princess Celestia's Interdimensional Tea Parties."

But back to the discussion... I personally felt there was a sort of moralic wrongness to the story, did you?

3773501 How so?

This definitely goes down as one of those stories that I strongly disliked because the narrative tone (and this, I assume, the intention) did not match the delivery at all. Bottom line, Celestia is just a horrible character here who is either genuinely sociopathic or emotionally stunted to a huge degree. More than that, it's fundamentally inconsistent to what Celestia is; on one had the author makes all the deific references that I detest so much, while writing her as having the emotional depth and awareness of a teaspoon. It's a gross violation of characterisation and it continually irks me that it gets as much attention as is does. But then I'm a whiny bitch like that.

All-in-all, it's a story that runs the narrative that fits the story the author wanted to tell, with just about zero attention to whether it made any sense or not. My first reaction was that it is extremely lazy, but I doubt that's actually true – more likely the author was largely oblivious to the inherent dissonance. Well, I guess the majority of reader are, too. I can't read something that is supposed to be a comedy when the comedy seems oblivious to how horrible the main character actually is.

3750906 Got through the first chapter and I'm already loving it.