Feeling deicidal in,

>/FSBC/

I'm writing this from a parking lot, on my lap and without my notes, and I might have to stop this post early if my laptop battery threatens to die, BUT!
I liked this fic. I might be mean and go back to calling Voltaire Anon, and I might complain about parts of the finale, but overall, zooming out and looking at the fic as a whole, I think this is a good story, an enjoyable one, and also (somehow) probably near the peak of AiE as a genre.

But first, the second half of last week: I largely agree with what the other anons said. The start of the [Adventure] is alright, Voltaire is too OP (more on that later), and it's noticeable that the DiE part gets extremely reduced. Where I disagree with some is that I think this was a good move. While yes, this is a fine story, it's almost-sorta-kinda [Crossover], except crossing over with a historical figure. It becomes even more evident as the fic goes on—this is a *Voltaire* fanfic, set in the world of FiM. The author is, unquestionably, a huge fan of the guy, and I bet the main intent was the same as for the crossovers: to see how the [thing-I-like] mixes with ponies. Now, because the author was also good, he wrote a story where the character chosen makes sense and can meaningfully contribute—but a lot of the fic is built in a way that lets Voltaire shine as bright as he can.
The author succeeds, though, or at least managed to win me over. I spent some time digging up more info about Voltaire for the story, and because of the fic and what I found, my opinion of him improved by a lot. Is he a bit too good in the fic? Maybe, but it also helps that many of his faults are such iconic "4chan" behavior (the argumentative, arrogant poster with a sharp wit and far-too-high self-esteem) that I can't dislike him for it. He is being somewhat idealized in the story in general, but I was shocked how accurate this portrayal was to his actual beliefs. To stop short of cirlejerking, I'll note that some of his beliefs and ideas were portrayed in a somewhat skewed, propagandist way. I don't think the author intended that, but a bit of the criticism was intellectually poor and out of place... much like Candide, actually.
I liked his antics in the fic, never got bored of them, and cheered when it was made apparent that it's primarily his story, rather than the humans with the donkey. And because I will forget about this otherwise, I must mention that the fic was pretty funny when it wanted to be. The "big" story finale near the end is an exception to that, and I'll complain about it more later, I hope.