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"The Real Story" - Review

The Real Story – Review

I’ve always been a bit skeptical of fan fiction, mostly because careless fans tend to get things wrong or just not write that well. As a fan and a writer, these things just get on my nerves and make it hard to enjoy the story. Fortunately, the MLP fandom seems to be more careful than others, and I’ve actually enjoyed most of the fan art and fan fiction I’ve come across. So I’m going to talk about some of the things I’ve liked and disliked in a few fan fictions, starting with “The Real Story,” a comic by ~Nimaru, which has influenced me more than any other MLP fan creation so far.

“The Real Story” is the story of how Luna became Nightmare Moon, a story with as many versions as there are fans of the show, it seems. This story takes the “possession” approach – basically, Luna didn’t choose to become Nightmare Moon, but was instead overpowered by some entity, which in this case is the Miasma, the physical embodiment of people who hate the show. I thought that was a clever twist, and the idea is presented subtly without breaking the fourth wall or coming off as preachy or corny.

The story is told the night after Luna’s return through Celestia’s recollection of the events of a thousand years ago. As the author states, one of the story’s purposes is to show Celestia’s relationship to Luna and to the ponies in general and to counteract the idea that she’s just a troll. ~Nimaru shows their relationship very effectively by how the two react as Celestia tells the story. ~Nimaru never has to come out and say they love each other; it’s obvious just by their actions and attitudes. Granted, I thought one or two parts were a little over-the-top, but ~Nimaru succeeds in painting Celestia as a kind and loving pony who truly cares for her sister and subjects.

Since I have no experience with comics or really any kind of art, I won’t spend a lot of time on it, but I did think the artwork was used effectively to tell the story. The author says there are a lot of symbols to be found. I don’t really have the patience for that kind of thing, but that’s not a problem because the story is effective without having to pick up on all kinds of symbolic hints. I think ~Nimaru made the right call on that – throw in some symbolism for the dedicated, but don’t make it a mandatory part of the story. It’s fun for those who want to find them and not an issue for those who don’t.

So how does it hold up to official MLP lore? Pretty well, based on what we knew before season 2 when this comic was made. The only real problem I have with this story, and with the “Luna was possessed” theory in general, is that by its nature, it has to deal with the statement in episode 1 that Luna became Nightmare Moon through jealousy. ~Nimaru decided to dismiss that entirely, saying that the ponies actually enjoyed the night and that Luna was just happily minding her own business when the Miasma showed up. While this does explain why Luna’s transformation from Nightmare Moon was so sudden, it doesn’t quite explain why Celestia asks Luna to accept her friendship, or why the first thing Luna says is, “I’m so sorry!” Sorry for what? Luna seems to think it was all her fault, but I’m not really sure how she got that impression. There was never a moment where I thought anything was Luna’s fault. Maybe the Miasma made her think it was her fault or something, but that’s not really explained, either. It wasn’t enough to ruin the story for me, but I do think it’s something that could have been explained.

Another little thing that bugs me is Celestia’s and Luna’s parents – not that they’re in the story, but that they just disappear afterwards. ~Nimaru explains that the two are resting or performing other duties, but after a thousand years and all the work they put into rescuing Luna, I think they’d be just as eager to see her as Celestia was, if only for a moment. Yet they only show up in the past. Maybe this got cut for space, and it’s only a little thing, but I have to wonder why they never show up again.

I’m really just nitpicking, though. Despite a couple tiny flaws, “The Real Story” is a great fanfic that gets its point across in an entertaining and involving way. It’s really influenced me in my own fan fiction, sometimes in ways I don’t realize until I can’t find a detail in the show I was sure was there. It usually turns out I got it from this.

To see the story or visit the author's web page, click on the following links:

"The Real Story"
~Nimaru