One of the biggest gripes people seem to have with the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" is the execution of the Mane Five's lesson in humility to Rainbow Dash, which many feel wasn't as satisfying as they'd hoped when they first saw it—as welcome as it is give an Aesop to anyone acting too out of line as Dash did, and as well-intentioned as the five were in doing so, it still seemed a bit much to make Dash feel completely unwanted. Well, the author was clearly one of these people came up with this continuation of the episode, in which the five realize they crossed a line they didn't mean to and learn to always make sure their lessons are clear to the ones they teach.
This story's biggest strength is the amount of respect it gives to both sides of the original story. On one hand, Dash's friends make it clear that their "Mare Do Well" plan was intended to be in good fun, and don't even realize that they'd hurt Dash's feelings until she lets it slip and ends up telling them her side of the story. On the other hand, Dash acknowledges that she was letting her popularity go to her head, and is grateful that her friends stepped in before anyone got hurt now that she understands their intentions. Both sides ultimately recognize their mistakes, and use what they've learned to assure each other that there really are no hard feelings between them. As an added bonus, there is a cute scene in the middle of the story where everyone else in Ponyville is wondering where Mare Do Well has gone, and Scootaloo, who started Dash's fan club, demonstrates that she has been and always will be loyal to her idol.
With everyone in the story perfectly in character, cute and heartwarming scenarios abound, a good deal of respect to the message the original episode meant for audiences to walk away with, and the addition of another lesson learned by the rest of the Mane Cast in a style suiting the show itself, "No Hard Feelings" is one of, if not the, best things to read for anyone who's looking for closure to "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" in an audience-friendly, passable-for-canon sort of way.
FanficRecs A great, satisfying epilogue
One of the biggest gripes people seem to have with the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" is the execution of the Mane Five's lesson in humility to Rainbow Dash, which many feel wasn't as satisfying as they'd hoped when they first saw it—as welcome as it is give an Aesop to anyone acting too out of line as Dash did, and as well-intentioned as the five were in doing so, it still seemed a bit much to make Dash feel completely unwanted. Well, the author was clearly one of these people came up with this continuation of the episode, in which the five realize they crossed a line they didn't mean to and learn to always make sure their lessons are clear to the ones they teach.
This story's biggest strength is the amount of respect it gives to both sides of the original story. On one hand, Dash's friends make it clear that their "Mare Do Well" plan was intended to be in good fun, and don't even realize that they'd hurt Dash's feelings until she lets it slip and ends up telling them her side of the story. On the other hand, Dash acknowledges that she was letting her popularity go to her head, and is grateful that her friends stepped in before anyone got hurt now that she understands their intentions. Both sides ultimately recognize their mistakes, and use what they've learned to assure each other that there really are no hard feelings between them. As an added bonus, there is a cute scene in the middle of the story where everyone else in Ponyville is wondering where Mare Do Well has gone, and Scootaloo, who started Dash's fan club, demonstrates that she has been and always will be loyal to her idol.
With everyone in the story perfectly in character, cute and heartwarming scenarios abound, a good deal of respect to the message the original episode meant for audiences to walk away with, and the addition of another lesson learned by the rest of the Mane Cast in a style suiting the show itself, "No Hard Feelings" is one of, if not the, best things to read for anyone who's looking for closure to "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" in an audience-friendly, passable-for-canon sort of way.