I just found this really old popular story with Rainbowpie in it that was from before the days I joined the fandom and I really really like it!

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/3479/the-games-we-play

I'm considering making a comic adaptation of it and I'm wondering how many people would remember it from back when the fandom was young and recognize it from the name? (This is important because its got a mystery element to it and those people would remember the original ending)

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Honestly that was one of my first stories I read here and also one of my absolute favorites. I still go back to read it every once in a while.

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Yessss more fans!!!
Isn't it such a great story?! I've been obsessed with it lately.

Reading the comments after each chapter makes me fee like it would be so much fun to try to guess and theorize about the identity of mare do well, especially because the story is written so cleverly that up until the last moment we had so many leads but no way to be certain!

I'm wondering if I can recapture the magic of the mystery by saying that the ending of the comic may possibly be different from the original fic: after all, the author herself wrote multiple alternate endings!

I know you said that you'd still be interested even though you know the ending, but for others who know the ending I'm hoping this might keep it fresh!

I remember reading it when it came out you had people guessing correctly the entire time saying how easy it was, a bunch of people that just did not want to believe it, and at the end the author basically saying this wasn't really a mystery story and that she was trying not to come right out and say it but she did not think that it was supposed to be that surprising.

The author was doing a great job trying to make you doubt yourself but in the end the story was not really about the mystery of Mare Do Well's identity, in fact that point is brought up many times to Rainbow Dash in the story and you can see it clearly in how the narrative focuses much more on how Rainbow Dash is feeling and how things are affecting her rather than really trying to find out MDW;s identity.

Some people wanted it to be a mystery story however which is why some were so upset at the end. The identity being so obvious throughout the book enraged some people because a mystery story should not be so obvious but since that was not the actual focus of the story it makes a lot more sense. It is a mystery for Rainbow Dash but not so much for the reader where a lot of clues point you to exactly who the answer is for a long time.

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Oh.
Well I wasn't actually around yet at the time so you probably know better than me: I was just going by the comments sections and my own impressions reading blind and I certainly didn't figure it out till the end!

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To be honest I was never 100% sure. More like pretty darn sure the entire time about the identity but I would not say absolutely sure.

Actually it is more fun to let yourself not see it until the end anyway. Most of the clues are actually ones based on meta knowledge, for instance how much writing went into each character. Only a couple characters really get anything at all in terms of characterization and the things that MDW and her actual identity take about happen to be the same thing (but complaining about the other). Many people correctly guessed at the start and then managed to convince themselves that it had to be somebody else (some because they thought one answer was too obvious for a mystery story and thus got themselves led astray).

I would imagine if you read things as the character and go with it the mystery tends to stay that way whereas if you read it more like an outside observer seeing things going on in characters heads it is easier to pick up on things.

As one example that one poster got really upset about is when Dash leaves Pinkie's house in a snow storm. The poster was upset because he recalled that the chapter said that there was no way out of the house due to snow. He took that at face value because Dash believes it but that does not mean that it is actually true. The story is in first person at that point as I recall and so the viewpoint is flawed because we are getting info filtered through Dash's perception. She might think it is impossible but that may not actually be true. If an injured flightless Dash can get out of the home then any of her friends could potentially. If she can walk outside then any of them could. While Dash may not realize it almost all the characters have the ability to jump from roof to roof. Twilight could teleport, Fluttershy can fly, and Pinkie has shown she can jump roof to roof in the show (think of the "Smile, Smile, Smile" song for instance). As for the others AJ might be able to do it as she is very fit (but we cannot know for sure) and Rarity might be able to as well but we have not seen it. Also notice that of all the characters we do know that can do this only one actually does it in the way that MDW actually does it in the story.

Due to the filter of Dash's perceptions that is how you can get doubts on the identity because Dash continually looks in the wrong places, asks the wrong questions, and is not sure what she wants. The mystery is real for her because she does not do these things. If you look at the comments you can see that sometimes posters remark on clues that Dash completely misses so the more you concentrate on the character the harder it is to actually see the true identity.

The "obviousness" of this story comes from meta knowledge so it sounds like you got to enjoy an extra layer of fun by experiencing the story much like Dash has to.

By the way if you want more excellent older stories to read mostly involving Pinkie Pie (and a lot of Pinkie Dash) just let me know I have a bunch in my story libraries and they are quite good.

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Hmm yes I can see how if you stop reading to think about things in a meta-sense, and if you kind of get out of dash's head to analyze things, it is probably more obvious.

Some would also say that Mare do well's exact insecurities and motivations (the thing about being put in a box and not being free to be anything other than what other people expect of her when not in disguise) would only apply to the person it ultimately ended up being. I would disagree with this however: all of the mane 6 are much deeper and more complicated than they often get to outwardly show.

I did really like the ending and the ultimate reveal of who it was. Reading that gave me goosebumps! Drawing those epic, emotionally intense scenes would also be very fun and cool even if the conclusion is a given. I do think it would lose just a little bit from not having that doubt and uncertainty, though.

And if I want to make other endings a possibility I may have to add some more scenes in the body of the story because like you said, the identity of MDW did get more attention than the others, and looking back that may have been a giveaway.

I'll have to think about which direction to go with this.

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I might just take you up on that! The early fandom's explosion of creativity and artistry is so impressive! I'd like to add my own art in a way takes inspiration from what came before!

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That is a good idea if you were going to turn the story into an hones to goodness mystery you would need to give the other suspects more time and motivation. That would help reduce the meta knowledge giveaway. You could also do things like showing Pinkie doing jumps that show she could jump from roof to roof but not have Dash see it (or at least notice it she might forget how awesome Pinkie is) and so show off how Dash may think it is impossible but WE know that she can.

One thing that gets hinted slightly (partly as a red herring) is the stuff between Rarity and AJ. You could use that to get more out of those two characters. Twilight could be worried about Spike so you could use that. Fluttershy you might have to dig a little bit.

As for other stories just let me know if you want suggestions. Just give some hints on what kind of stories, characters, and the like you want and I can show you to a number of quality stories.

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Well considering the group I am in its only proper for me to request some Pinkie pie and/or Rainbow Dash!

But I've also got this itch for an Epic Adventure story! With lots of variety, maybe some travel and character development!

Can you think of anything that fits that description?

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I've seen a good amount of fan art, and it has over 10k views, IIRC. Generally, something that old and with that many views can be considered to be like a "starter" story, or a story that people read early in their discovery of the site. That's a pretty safe one to assume that a large group of bronies have read. That story is like the Twilight's List of RainbowPie; it's probably the most iconic one.

Worst case scenario, it points people back to what I consider to be the best story in the entire RainbowPie lineup.

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I see! That makes me even more excited to make this!

And the more people I can get to read that awesome story the better!

After doing some digging I found out that the author, "AbsoluteAnonymous" is still in the fandom somewhere, she just doesn't want to write anymore and I can respect that. I do hope that she gets to see this though, and I hope she likes it!

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Funny you should mention that. I have a story that I think will fit all of your desires. It is an adventure (though not a violent one but a very good one all the same) with lots of development and many of the other things you want from a very classic author.

"Within and Without" by Cloudy Skies

Give it a try it is worth while an dif you want more I can provide it.

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If you prefer a more action oriented story I can point you to "Crisis Equestria" by GanonFLCL . It is epic and action packed. Very long too. Has not updated in a little while but it isn't the first time it has happened so it may eventually finish.

It is one of the few stories I recommend that you cannot find on this site (one of the other ones is from the same author).

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Thanks, I'll check those out!

The reason I like adventure stories is because the best ones build up into such intense story climaxes, you know? Sometimes a one-shot just can't do that no matter how well written it is.

Question: is it alright if we discuss spoilers here?

Because I want to talk some more about how to illustrate The Games We Play, and some discussions of those scenes may spoil the ending!

Magnum Opus Dissonance. The story that drove AA away from the site.

It's been about a year now.

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I did read about that: I found screenshots taken from before she deleted her blogs (shut up I'm not creepy).

It seems she was mostly popular for Pinkie patches Paint dry, while she WANTED to be popular for the story we are talking about right now.

So I would expect her to be pleased with the attention to this story even this much after the fact!
And even though she is gone form the site I think she still has interest in, and ties to, the fandom. (thats what she said on her 'resignation letter' at least: https://web.archive.org/web/20130618055139/http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/67690/letter-of-resignation)

I've gotten videos and comics featured on EQD before so if I get a TGWP comic on there I'm hoping that she sees it!

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Then again I never spoke to her while she was actually here. Did you? Can you tell me about her?

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She had up and left everything by the time I joined. She appeared once or twice for a day, but never said anything and dropped right off again. Never talked with her.

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Aw. thats too bad :(

Well even if I never get to meet her I still have her body of work to be inspired by and to continue, if I may be so bold!
Because some stories are timeless, and there's no reason we can't just pick up where they left off!

I'm currently gauging interest from my voice actor friends to see whether they want in on this. Real life has been keeping them busy lately though...

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I just thought of an additional story that you might like. Sort of like "The Games We Play" this story was popular back in the day but some were upset by the ending because it had a mystery and it did not turn out as they may have wanted (but for the story the author was trying to tell the ending in the actual story is much better). This story was "Who We Are" by Kits .

It is fantastic and is a great story to read (and slightly shorter to boot.