Introduction: Hey guys! It's Nailah here with another review, Sorry it took me so long to get another one out, but I have quite a LOT to read, and a lot to do now that things are starting to look up for me. I'm sure you don't want the boring details, just know this mare is very treasured and feels very loved. Now let's get down to reviewing "Diplodocous" by The Cloptimist.

TDiplodocus

• MLP: FiM
• Romance
• Slice of Life

A dinosaur dig at Sweet Apple Acres threatens to send Rainbow Dash and Applejack's relationship into a tailspin.

• Rainbow Dash
• Applejack
• Rarity
• Petunia

The Cloptimist · 24k words  ·  24  9 · 637 views

Summary:: Rainbow Dash wants to go big. Applejack just wants to go home. And Petunia Paleo wants to dig up dinosaur bones. It's the palaeontological find of the century... but will it send Rainbow and AJ's relationship into a tailspin?

Initial thoughts: A romance story that somehow involves dinosaurs? That is certainly not something you see every day. But that doesn't always make it good. You can have this grand epic idea, only for people to go "Meh" I think this is not at all the case here. Sure if you looked at the summary you might be like "eh" but by the time you'd actually start it, you'd see the fossil buried underneath all that layers of dirt and muck to find a true Masterpiece of writing and crafting. It's by no means a flawless story, there's some things I would have done differently, but overall it's a story that needs more attention, because it let me with this happy squee like feeling. 8/10

Heart of the story: The heart of the story is Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Even if during most of the story the two are seperated. It shows their struggle, but also how strong of a bond they have with each other. And that even in our weakest moments thinking of the one we love can give us a new found source of strength, courage, and sheer will to endure. To wait for our love to return to us again. Even if there's an event in here that this is all building up too, keeping them separated was a unique approach. However, the one thing I would change is the reveal itself. It's almost too sappy. And yes I know this is a romance, but it feels like Cloptimist is doing everything in his power to get you to feel like AJ and Rainbow here, but it's over the top, and could have been a lot more impactful if the characters simply just gazed into each other's eyes and confessed to one another. 7/10

Characterization: Applejack, Rainbow Dash are the MAIN characters here, but Rarity and Twilight have their own little amount of time in the limelight too. And Petunia Paleo. I certainly didn't expect that! Every character felt real, and I could understand their motivations clear as day. Cloptimist knows how to write his characters. 9/10

Story/Concept: The story itself without giving away the ending is good, but not great. Now hear me out. And this will be mentioned more throughoughly in originality, but this story isn't truly unique. Unless you count the fact it has dinosaurs in it, but it doesn't really even need that to work, it helps play off the ending and I'll give kudos for that, but this story reads like most Aj/Rainbow dash ship fics. It's not unique enough to stand out. However, the concept was a good one and one I enjoyed. 7/10

Originality/Execution: As I mentioned above, there isn't a LOT original here, so how's the execution? I'd call this "above standard" ship fiction. It goes the extra mile to get you to truly feel for how the characters feel, and it really wants to tug on your heart and get you to feel as desperate as the main characters are, all while going on about this "illusion" of seperation, anxiety, and even depression at times, while somehow managing to always keep it light hearted and I never felt it went too far. 8/10

Overall score and final thoughts: : This is a solid story with very excellent characterization, and feels that will make you very happy or groan at just how sappy it is, but it just works. And it all comes together in a way that most people will see coming a mile away, but the reveal is still worth the wait to see the happiness of the couple it brings together.

Total score:8+7+9+7+8=39/50
7.8/10

Headpat worthy:
Boop worthy: Yes
Meh worthy:
Cringe level:

To the author: Keep up the good work, and continue being awesome. I know this story is something that should be getting more attention so I hope this review sheds more light to another good AppleDash story.

Next up is "Kaleidoscope" by Zontan. See ya soon!

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You forgot the comment below tge story, Nailah.