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A pleasantly heartwrenching story.
The "Human" genre of MLP fanfics has a bad reputation of bouncing between the extremes of wish fulfillment, demonization of humanity, and zoophiliac erotica. Thankfully AAG is a quality story.

AAG is set years after First Contact between Earth and the pony universe. The plot concerns Daisy Jo Martinez, the first pony to accidentally end up on Earth, fifteen years before that; she is raised by humans, married to one, and considering herself one, which provides a neverending tension with her biological parents and fellow ponies. She later finds herself dragged into epic, world-shaking events. DJ is a likeable, if crabby protagonist, and the reader can empathize with her tribulations. The other characters are an rather overwhelmingly large crowd, and the secondary ones blend together into one blur.

The setting is balanced, a world you can believe and you'd like to live in. . AAG is, however, a gloomy story, both in the calamities induced liberally upon the characters and the settings, and in the characters' own personal demons and flaws. It is a quite dark story, to the point where the reader dreads opening the next chapter, for Anyone Can Die.

Shinzakura is an able writer with an instinctive understanding of how long to drag out suspense, and when to switch from a distressing scene to a calmer one. His style is also a pleasant and polished one, and the dialogues are a delight to read.

The author avoids most sensitive political or ideological issues, partially through presenting an alternate history Earth. I must say it is refreshing to finally see a Republican or Catholic portrayed sympathetically, rather than as a fundie, gaykiller, or otherwise. Though DJ's right-wing views seem to be a bit of an Informed Attribute.

Like a lot of other MLP fanfiction, AAG shows a glorified view of same-sex relationships, presenting a world where nobody non-evil sees anything wrong with them. Thankfully, this kind of romance is kept in the background of the story (for now.)

While I'm on the subject of non-traditional romance... the way interspecies relationships are treated looks suspiciously like kinky wish fulfillment at times. Hopefully it's the part-time cynicist in me seeing Author Appeal where there is none.


Bottom line: careful recommendation; a delightful piece of writing, but content and atmosphere may not agree with everyone.
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