Say, you remember the Lunaverse? Well, someone read that, combined it with a few other stories, and came up with their own alternate universe version of Equestria, where Rainbow Dash is Princess Celestia's student. Does this one fare better than the one about the amazing awesomeness of Trixie and Luna? We're going to find out...in the accompanying post, because this one's all about Rainbooms and Royalty.
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SYNOPSIS:
Shortly after Rainbow Dash made her first Sonic Rainboom, she is approached by a visiting Princess Celestia and offered the opportunity to become her personal student. She accepts, but years later, she has grown restless and weary of the Canterlot lifestyle and runs away to Ponyville. There, she meets an eccentric group of friends, befriends her crush's reclusive little sister, and discovers a far more terrible truth about the coming Summer Sun Celebration. And before long, she will be thrust into a dangerous quest to bring down the greatest threat Equestria has yet faced: Nightmare Moon.
REVIEW:
Rainbooms and Royalty owes its direct inspiration to the Lunaverse, but also has bits and pieces of several other stories mixed in there, all of which are listed on the story's cover page. There's also quite a few fanon references worked throughout, from Rainbow Dash's middle name of Miriam to Ditzy being crammed in there as a single working mother. Still, it's nothing terribly distracting (unlike another set of references I'll be getting into in a moment), and does help to flesh out the world Dash finds herself in.
I'll mostly be covering the differences between this AU and the Lunaverse in a separate post, but for now, let's talk about our characters. All of the canon cast are very well realized and kept in-character, albeit with additional layers and slightly altered histories. The only two who have real changes made to their characters are Rainbow Dash and Twilight. The former is still a speed demon who wants to join the Wonderbolts, but now has feelings of inadequacy over being stuck in a society that she simply doesn't fit into for so long, and has a much tenser relationship than the canon Twilight has with Celestia. Likewise, this Twilight's magical rampage lasted much longer, and because of all the destruction she caused, she's left feeling like she's a walking time bomb and has no friends because everypony (including herself) thinks she's a monster.
The actual story is a retelling of the original pilot episode, but the challenges have been altered to be more intense and less contrived. And for the most part, they work pretty well. The stakes are much higher, the challenges are much larger, and there are even brainwashed minibosses. (I'm not telling who they are, but it's a loop.) Nightmare Moon is also a much more threatening (and competent) opponent, and the final battle is actually a battle, bordering on a full-on war.
So this story is wonderful and perfect, right? Well, no. There are some rather huge stumbling blocks.
One issue I have with the story's middle section is the inclusion of blatant “homages” to other movies. Sometimes it works; the first obstacle is based on the Swamp of Sadness from The NeverEnding Story and is executed to good effect. But then you start hitting a few other, less-than-charitable references. At one point, the heroes run into gargoyles...who are presented in the same way as on the actual series Gargoyles. It's a rather jarring reference that knocks me out of the story. And the very next chapter has Twilight reciting, word for word, Superman's “World of Cardboard” speech from Justice League Unlimited. There's a very fine line between homage and plagiarism, and I think this story toes it quite a few times.
Length is also a bit of a problem. The story drags at several points, especially towards the beginning, where almost everything is setup. This was fine in the Lunaverse, for reasons that we'll get to in the followup post, but here it just feels like we're walking over ground we've already treaded before coming in. The ending is also rather long-winded, as Trinary seemingly wants to close off a host of lingering questions before finishing the story, as well as debate some points revolving around ethical philosophies and the famous “Needs of the Many” quote. I won't debate the points made here, other than to say that while Trinary raises some good points, I don't think this section was wholly necessary or executed very well.
And then there's my biggest issue: Rainbow Dash herself. While she's mostly in-character and works fine, there are two points of contention I have with how she's presented in this story. First, her central conflict comes off as being rather whiny. I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for the “I'm the student of a princess so everypony thinks I'm too good for them and I hate that so much” kind of drama that flares up from time to time, especially in the early-going chapters. The second, and far more damning issue, comes up in the last few chapters, where Dash behaves like a total bitch because Celestia wasn't completely straightforward with her. And that's how it starts; by the end, my sympathy for any of the characters involved in those passages has evaporated like ice cubes under a magnifying glass.
On a closing note, I need to talk about Zecora. She's greatly expanded upon here, and has several good moments throughout the story, but Trinary simply does not nail her speech. She rhymes, sure, but there's a rhythm to how she talks that's completely missing here. I know from experience how hard it is to write good Zecora dialogue, but the stuff here just falls flat. Still, at least she didn't get turned into a villain because the author thought making her an evil enchantress would be funny.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite my issues with the story, most particularly with the last couple chapters, I still enjoyed it. The AU aspects are rather subtle and needed more expanding on, which should have happened in the sequels if I understand. (I haven't read them yet, so no comment.) Everypony here is kept wonderfully in-character, and the challenges they face are far more threatening and intense than in the show. It's a rather long read, but I would recommend giving a chapter or two a chance if you have time to see what you think.
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