Rarity dreamt of a unicorn mare called Amethyst Wind.
Amethyst reminded Rarity much of herself when she was younger, full of vibrancy and desire for adventures. She was several decades younger than the elderly Rarity, and unlike Rarity, Amethyst Wind was not cursed.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
Rarity looked up from her book, smiling at the mare sitting opposite her, busy burying her face in her hooves with what could only be described as a love-struck expression.
“I remember being quite in awe of her back in the day, yes,” Rarity said, turning back to her book. A memory of long ago came back to the surface, of a flustered unicorn having confessed her feelings to an equally flustered alicorn.
Rarity had learned to suppress that memory.
Amethyst giggled. “I always forget you used to go to the library when you were young. She barely speaks of you.” After a moment, a blush shot through her face. “Er. Wait. That came out wrong.”
“That’s all right, darling.”
After all, Twilight barely spoke of Fritter Cobbler.
There were many things Amethyst Wind did and did not know. She knew her mentor had stopped visiting Twilight due to a terrible accident decades ago that was responsible for the scars on Rarity’s leg, though she did not know it was also because her mentor was cursed. She knew Twilight Sparkle and Rarity had once been friends, but she did not know they had once been in love.
Rarity had never said anything, and neither had Twilight.
An agreement that was made in silence and would stay silent.
“I think she likes me,” Amethyst said, and in her voice rang a feeling Rarity had not experienced in a long time. She giggled, and whispered, “I think Twilight loves me, actually. Maybe. I hope. I want to talk to her all the time, but I can’t! Uuuuuugh!” She groaned and buried her face in her hooves. “Why can’t I be with her all the time?” She giggled at the impassive stare Rarity fixed her with. “Sorry. You must think I’m silly.”
Rarity laughed. “Hardly, darling.”
With her magic, she levitated a jewelry box from a nearby shelf, and placed it on the table, right between them. Carefully, she opened it up, extracted a broken necklace she’d not touched in a long time and floated it over to Amethyst.
“Take this to her,” Rarity said with a soft smile. “She’ll understand.”
ha ha, mini hiatus what mini hiatus
Two chapters in one day.
thepreachersword.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/praise-the-lord.jpg
this story makes me feel things
sad things
mostly good things though
thanks
8033661 Im trying to think about what to say to you after you put us through all of this.
For some reason this came to mind, not sure if its appropriate but its what I'm going with.
Once again I both love you and hate you so much right now.
8033698
omg i'm sorry ;; I didn't really think 27 ended on a really bad cliffhanger AND IF I WROTE IN EVERYTHING WE'D HAVE 16K CHAPTERS hdhhjdsjhsdjhdsjh
that is all.
These cliffhangers will be the death of me yet
You are the
bestworstbestmost depressing pony wordsmithI knew it was coming and it still hurts whyyyyyy
I know the RariTwi will come to pass but the Act 2 end is the worst
Oh my. I am really happy this is only a dream. I can't take any more heartache after that last real chapter...
This is still torture though, Mono, and I'm ok with that for the moment.
Mono, I think you just wrote every masochist's wet dream; I'm on the borderline of screaming and crying rivers right now.
"Why don't we all go together to present our case!"
"Oh yes, I'm travelling with six other ponies, and here are their names and locations. It is not suspicious at all of you to ask me that!"
"You can see the princess if you go through this secret door. I'm totally legit."
I'd feel worse for Rarity, except she kind of walked into that, and dragged everypony along with her. One would think she'd have been a little less trusting, especially with her encounters with Discord, and all the people literally saying Princess Denza is evil.
And now it makes total sense why they turn away ponies with clear evidence of the princesses.
If Rarity were smart, and not just a selfish brat, she'd never speak of the curse, then get some clueless pony like Derpy to start following the owls, and visiting the princess. Then Rarity would go find the rest of Twilight's damn books. I don't care how powerful Discord's curse is. It's not going to do jack shit against the Princess of Friendship free of her bonds levelling the entire Everfree forest if it gets in her way from reuniting with her friends. But no, Rarity doesn't care about Twilight, any of the princesses, or about saving the world from Chaos. She only cares about whether she gets to be the one to do it. Here's an idea, Rarity. How about instead of whining at the timber wolves while they claw you into kibble, you find the rest of Twilight's books, and then give them to be delivered by a very nice and courteous giant dragon you may have met who might really appreciate a chance to return to Twilight himself. Then Discord's curse would have a rampaging dragon and a raging Princess to deal with, instead of just one simpering pony mare who can't bring herself to share the spotlight with anyone.
I'm sure Rarity will come to her senses. She may be a greedy attention whore, but she's got to figure out at some point that you're doing no one any favors by ruining yourself trying to out-sacrifice everyone else. It doesn't count as generosity when you're doing it to try to make the princess think you're better than every other pony.
Then .. The End
damn
I think I need to start downvotin' for such cliffhangers
Welp Mono, you just killed me. You murderer.
Meanwhile at Equestria-98...
2 years later I still can't believe that im faithfully reading a shipping fic Kudos 4 ye
Aw, this was the dream Rarity said wasn't a nightmare? For how horribly sad it is, it at least seems hopeful on Twilight's side. I think it says quite a lot about Rarity that this was what she thought of as a nice dream.
Harmony Life for best pony to never actually exist because this future ain't happenin'. I'll build a DeLorean myself if it comes to it.
8033842
Did we read the same story, or are you some sort of sociopath in that you can't understand empathy, which might be required to actually comprehend the writing that you're naysaying?
Oh wow, I know Harmony doesn't exist, but man that was harsh Rarity.
Well... that last chapter was waaay better than what I imagined. My imagination will be the death of me yet, I tell you
That being said, the heartburn, it's real nevertheless
And Rary done goofed with not reading the letter fully, so cliche
So, no kidding, you could just flip this story to "Complete" and walk away.
Not all stories need happy endings.
8034162 Would you really not be bothered if Twilight remained trapped? I would vote for going on, and letting the girls eventually beat the curse and the elements coming back together. Harmony could easily be an avatar of the tree.
This dream must never come to pass! This curse reminds me too much of Albinocorn's SunLight fic Anamnesis. My one gripe with that fic is that they gave up rather than fighting the curse. Cmon girls don't give up! You've fought gods and mad goddesses and won, what's a simple curse!? Nevertheless give, up never surrender!
Btw if this story ends sadly I will find you. Probably not actually cause I'm lazy...but I'll be upset and it will be all your fault!! So...no pressure!
8034248 except that destiny, it seems, works just as thoroughly as in canon. I.e., mane six still met, and it all is still, more or less, tied around the elements. So, by all logical cues, they should have become friends nevertheless.
I am glad this I only a dream. And it better not become reality!
It's only a setback...
It's. Only. A. Setback...
No drama or dark tags so its just another cliffhanger.
Still they need something to cleanse themselves and to prevent him from cursing them again.
I get the feeling the books won't help at all in the end and its more about the Elements of Harmony in the long run.
8033898
Hi, Mimimi!
I'm sorry you feel that way, and I'm sorry if it's been hindering your enjoyment of the story. I can't actually stop you from giving it a dislike based off that D: Unfortunately, this is a rather intense arc, so from what I see, every chapter will seem like a cliffhanger. The only other option I have is just going on a six month hiatus or so, writing out the entire arc and then posting it all at once.
I honestly don't want to do that because I've already been struggling a lot with EL and teetering over the edge of cancelling it, and I know taking a hiatus longer than two weeks will break my drive :C I can suggest maybe just putting the story away until Chapter 29 0 30 has been posted? A lot of the tension will be gone by then, so it might help?
8034393 Please don't call it quits, even if you're going to a difficult part of the story. I don't claim to understand your discouragement, but I know that I would be one of many people who would be sad to see this story end here, especially when it's obvious you have such grand plans for this.
Besides, you know the Raritwi shipper in you would never let you forgive yourself for keeping Twilight trapped in the forest forever, away from her one true love, Rarity.
Guys I found the answer to the whole curse
Get Pinkie with a very long rope, leave one end inside the library with Twilight holding it and have the other end leading to the edge of the forest. Just grab the rope and follow it all the way to library while somehow avoiding all the timberwovles trying to eat you alive. Make sense, ..... right?
In truth, getting all the books or using the elements may be the one of the only ways.
Monochromatic, I belivie in you to be able to finish this story. It is one of the best stories I have ever read and I and many others would be sad if you have to stop it. I hope you can get pass what ever is causing your discouragement and finish this beautiful piece of art.
I'm going to keep saying it: There is no curse. There simply can't be one, and the reason why is simple.
Does anyone really believe that the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony — but chiefly Chaos — would ever come to his senses enough to lay down a pre-programmed spell capable of doing only one thing?
Harmony, you just keep your hooves out of Rarity's ghost princess.
Beauty. Work of art. Sheer dedication.
Words that come to mind after reading the entire thing.
Every word, sentence and plot twist makes the story come alive. It feels so organic, real and heartfelt. And while cliffhangers are the hardest part to deal with I love every one that happens. No matter how hard it is to deal with them we all have to accept that life is in fact full of cliffhangers.
Nice work. Wishing you the best of luck with you own personal cliffhanger that you are currently dealing with.
Don't be afraid to take a break if you feel the need to, I will be waiting to see YOUR story the way you have envisioned it.
Small personal notes: I really love that you can make me love and hate you at the same time. An author like that gets my respect anytime and it will not go away no matter how you decide to continue. I really wonder where they will send Rarity :)
Curse these cliffhangers. Mono, why must you do this to us?
8034440
Didn't they try that in The Fog? It didn't end well...
So here's an idea. If the curse is spread by Denza's line whenever she does anything that can be remotely interpreted as sending anypony out...she can just abdicate with no heir. It would suck for Equestria for a while, but it'd cut off the curse at the source.
Here's another idea. Since Pinkie can still get there, and Twilight knows about the curse now, Twilight might be able to screw the curse by owl-mailing her all of two words while Dash is still in the area.
"Fireworks party."
8034093
Orange oil, rubbing alcohol, pine sol, butadiene, and food grade hydrogen peroxide are painfully more effective than lemon juice. But, I want to thank you for thinking of my personal care and for being so laissez fare about it. After all, my personal reaction to the chapter without giving specifics as to why the emotional roller coaster went up and down like a slice of jalapenia pepperoni pizza that clears the sinuses and burns all the way down with a choking feeling (and where) was neither clear or of any relevance to the author.
Clearly, the author does not need to know the opinions of every reader in order to improve; and, being able to identify with characters empathically or otherwise, the ability to maintain and pique interest, or direct emotions should be secondary to how the story is structured. As I do not like Fritter Cobbler, and any interest I have is in the library appreciation club is a clear sign that I just want to grunt and roll my eyes at the actions of the main character, so even that is obviously evidence that I want Rarity to dress up like a banana (or bicycle). And I obviously want to do that because the mentally advanced ponies are awesome...
This chapter hurts more than the last one. Probably cause it is condensed hurt.
8034965
If you don't like the story or the characters, drop it.
Being constantly vitriolic is rather shameful of you.
8034965
Hi, Everglue!
It's unfortunate you think I don't pay attention to what my readers say. I do, and I may not reply because I have an extremely busy workload, but I take into account everything that's said. I also have several editors that consistently find flaws in my work, and I listen to them as well so I can provide a better story.
I understand you may not like the direction of the story! You've already commented several times, and on other blogs, that you dislike certain choices I've made, and that's alright, I'm hardly a perfect author, but everything going on right now is something I have been planning for a very long time. Though I understand it's a difficult direction, and it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I have decided to stick to my guns because this is the story I'd like to write.
8033842
Hi, Ferret!
I'm sorry you feel that way, though I can understand why.
Rarity is being selfish, there's no denying that, though I hoped that even if readers don't really approve of her actions, they can at least sympathize. This is very much an arc where Rarity's pushed past a breaking point, and as in any story, it will have consequences on her! I've always tried my best to write her not as a perfect character, but one that is flawed, makes mistakes and hopefully learns from them for the better.
I was a bit unsure of how to take your comment. You've been a consistent reader and this is, I feel, quite aggressive, but if this arc ends your interest in the fic, I understand and appreciate your support until this point.
8034987
I wasn't being viltronic, I was describing my behavioral reaction to the story and I'm sure (if not certain) the fact that I lost interest and wandered off for an hour (to do something else) after being on tenterhooks, pins, and needles for the first half of the chapter has some relevance. While it was clearly not relevant to the story itself (something which my opinion has no effect on that whatsoever),and naturally having no more effect on the author than what information or insight they glean (or chose to take from what they will), it behooves me to wonder why my description of loss of interest is a such a threat to future creation in general.
In my opinion, I didn't like that they locked Rarity up and performed an intervention. I was actually kind of disappointed the author did the intervention in a way that made Rarity's actions seem more selfish and without one reference to the dream in the first arc or how "tortured" Twilight must have felt in any sort of melodramatic prediction of things to come. Hell, there wasn't even one scene involving a fainting couch and hammy acting at all, and Rarity is known for hamming it up in the extreme. Plus, I would have put maybe a timber wolf puppy and an 'oh no!' diamond dog esque sceene in there for tom foolery purposes.
There was not metis or arrogance in my opinion, it just felt wrong or off somehow. And, that was with my taking physical action to get a sense of character with methodic levels of thinking. Granted, I'm more of an intuitive actor and often commit to lots of study before I take action, but this was a stinky chapter that started off brilliantly and with well performed and intended action; and the arc itself started off stinky, but I'm willing to stick it out because the other arcs had such good emotional resonance that upon repeat viewing the only flaws were those found in movies like Amos & Andrew or any other act you've seen before. wherein anticipation and awkwardly improvised comedy was lost undeveloped and under appreciated because you know what is going to happen and the false expectation it isn't as worry-some.
Look, I'm not telling you how much it smells, but I'd like to think the author has some interest in what the audience's reaction is, even if every other dog in the yard is chewing up their fecal matter like it's ice cream. I somehow get the impression that the object of fascination should be the predator that's willing to chase after a tennis ball or a wild hare than the one focused on it's own excrement.
8034930 It was The Mist that they tried it in.
...
That vision isn't real, right? Please tell me it's not real...
I'm too invested in these characters for it to be real. Even I can feel the heartbreak...
F*ck, I'm actually tearing up here...
I'm feeling ill...
Great chapter(s).
8035308 there's a huge difference between stating
"I don't like this or that part of the story" (I didn't like the intervention much either and felt much like Rarity did as it happened which I felt was probably the point)
and
"I was more interested in looking up the meaning of water and daisies in dream symbolism, looking up a lights out cube, a curta, serta sheep, lazyboy raccoons, and having breakfast before I decided to come back and finish the chapter... and I still wasn't satisfied."
The former is being critical and giving reason to your critique in something you felt lacking, which is fine. The later is being a pompous twat.
8035308
You're free to criticize all you wish, but this paragraph is tasteless. You're not a wolf among sheep, get over yourself.
If this story goes where the vision is true I'm going to be seriously pissed because I'm tired of these bad or bittersweet endings and this had the makings for something wonderful and I'm ranting with a run on sentence and how could you do this you horrible person
.
.
.
I've had a bad year, between loosing power for 2 weeks, the destruction of my porch due to the weather that caused that, and the death of my mom. Don't make me hate you
(even if I can acknowledge that even if you go that direction it would still be a good story, maybe better according to some)
(I'm so invested I'm ranting like a petulant child because you're making me feel things
8035905 The ponies need to apply my methodology: when Life gives you lemons, you give Life a whole bunch of cuts with a razor and then squeeze the lemon juice ALLLLLL over that bastard!"
But seriously, they need to just start by killing Discord. Killing the Big Bad usually solves most, if not all, of the problems. It's also pretty satisfying, unless you just end it in one blow every time. Then it does get a little anticlimactic.
Oddly enough, the only character who ever seemed to understand that was Saitama. He is a wise caped baldy.
8034595 I'm gonna keep saying it because it's true: even if the curse exists, it has several FATAL loopholes in it for those with the cunning to exploit them.
Not the least of which is they can still find Discord. And he's clearly not in top form himself, otherwise he'd be running things. He's DAMAGED. He's WEAKENED. He's VULNERABLE. Make him hurt MORE. Kill him if you can. NO PITY FOR THE WICKED!! (Alondro likes Angry Old Testament God the most and wishes he too could fling fire and brimstone at those who annoyed him.)
Unfortunately, we're dealing with the Mane 6 here and not Mensa....
8035308 Not liking something doesn't give you the right to be a dick. And given that your default was to rant like you think you're some youtube celeb, you don't get to hide behind "I'm just describing how I feel." You're being an unmitigated ass. Period. Full stop. Frankly, you owe Mono a goddamn apology. What's more, you don't deserve a fraction of the respect she showed in her reply to you.
Feel free to start showing some maturity and give her the courtesy of a response anytime. And feel free to stop acting like you're hot shit--you're only half of that.
It ain't "hot" either.
8035422
Oh right. Stupid horror movies with generic titles.