While preparing for a sad celebration, Fashion Plate and Rivet reminisce about a lifetime of happiness.
Winner of the 2022 M/M Shipping Contest!
Best read online for proper formatting.
Cover art by Bright Sight. Thanks to Bright Sight and Rillegas08 for pre-reading.
Fun read dude, nice to see you around again.
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Happy to be back and writing again now that I've got a handle on parenting. Come back tomorrow for chapter 2!
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congratulation on parenthood, and looking forward to it.
And I have a feeling there will be only a second time that our character is early.
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Stay tuned to find out.
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What channel?
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Right here and now, because the next chapter is up!
This might just take the number 3 spot for my favorite FIMfictions. It's so good even if it is two chapters atm
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That's high praise! I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Nice chapter dude keep it up.
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Thanks, Mix-up! There's still plenty more to enjoy.
exceptional as always! fun and bittersweet :) feel some sort of dread because of hints of what’s to come…
i also see that your comment section is getting showered with dislikes. screw them!
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Thank you! And I think the downvotes are a charity thing for the contest or something. Not quite sure, but either way, I don't let it get me down.
fuck. man… you killed me. just superb
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Thank you for reading, Dertox. I'm glad you found it meaningful.
That was a hell of an amazing story.
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Thank you so much!
gosh, this is deadly! masterful work!
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Thank you!
ahaha, very nice!
do love that Equestria is a place where Polaroids can exist alongside quills and chariots and it all still feels right
honestly just really appreciating these little mentions of age. just the inherent beauty of a long life lived well together
and this voice! so Fashion Plate, with the punctuating exclamations. love it!
it is funny that they are still called sawhorses in a world of sapient horses. augh i love the cartoon horse civilization
ahaha perfect! and just loving the sheer contrast between the two characters so far
oh this is just wonderful, absolutely love Fashion Plate
augh, i love this world! and that is the thing about fashion ponies, isn’t it? they are not afraid to point out what is beautiful in the world, and combined with Fashion Plate’s sheltered mindset, no consideration for propriety. and it is refreshing!
love her already
ehehe very nice
that’s how you know it’s love at first sight!
ooh, love the subtle slip in there. love slow reveals of the full context of an in medias res situation!
and what a perfect way to express this, augh. this was just beautiful
ahaha perfect response from Fashion Plate
honestly just love this. ponies do seem to decorate with their coat colors and cutie marks in mind in general, and so of course Fashion Plate would express his commitment to Rivet that way! also i love the colorful horses
ahaha just love this guy
ugh that is the worst, isn’t it? the world can be so cruel sometimes!
augh so true
love that this is a recharge of proteins in pony world, and of course the “~” is necessary!
and, oof! but doesn’t it make actually entering the candy store so much sweeter when it happens, in this metaphor?
augh pony sadness is extra heartbreaking because of the folding ears thing
and i just love to see it!
and of course the wine is terrible, perfect! just makes the memory that much sweeter
and, oof. slowly piecing together what’s happening here. am i going to be crying by the end of this?
and augh, i am feeling that very tension right now when reading this
augh just love the prancing in place! can definitely picture it. and of course Photo Finish would be the photographer here
yay, favorite secondary character’s back
ahaha, augh, just love these little bits of plans not going perfectly but that just adding to the charm in the end
damn, Rivet is so good at knowing what to say! and saying it in a note is an echo of the trick with the layered blankets from earlier, just a great throughline
perfectly Rivet
augh this is going to stab me in the heart later i just know it
perfect callback, as well as Fashion Plate doing his short exclamation thing
ehehe what a great ponification, and luckily Polaroids are also a thing in this Equestria!
perfect sentence
and augh, just love this! what are old people but young people trapped in the bodies of old people? i certainly hope i have their kind of spirit (and relationship) at their age…
hehehe nice
ahaha that is so great
damn so true, Fashion Plate really knows how to have a tombstone
oh yeah i am going to be a mess by the end of this
this is such a silly anxiety but i’d be an anxious mess too about this! just a really great heartwarming sitcom-esque line
augh yeah, totally see Fashion Plate having this worry
and augh, such a perfectly heartwarming sequence! i can only speak from the perspective of someone who is not a parent, but wow there is something here that feels so vivid and true that i’d be surprised if it were not written based on some similar experience. it really made the magic of becoming a parent feel real to me
oh, parents-in-law! not that i’d know, but i can imagine!
and oof, this whole sequence, too! i can just feel how overwhelming this is for Rivet, to have multiple grandparents doing this
and oof, i can only imagine how awful that feels. Fashion Plate was right to get so mad!
augh love this exchange
and this is so true! augh they are so wonderful for each other, and this story is showing that in the best of ways
augh my heart
ahaha, love this
well tears are forming in my eyes. augh.
and this really makes me think of the “Networking!” from earlier, applied to this most tragically romantic of situations. Fashion Plate is truly himself even beyond his own death, including giving Rivet all that he can
as always, love how pony names happen to always perfectly describe the ponies they become. and this definitely feels like Fashion Plate’s daughter!
i would question why ponies would even need sunscreen with their coats and all but Rarity does use it in canon!
i was wondering how much impact the children would have on the story in the end, given that they were introduced only in the middle, but wow, you really knocked it out of the park in this one! just amazing how the little details like Spotlight’s medication really go a long way in making this feel like just one slice of an actual family life with all its depth and richness. and in the end how it is all and this, all the while bearing his own father’s death. what an amazing father and pony Rivet is
just so beautiful. i can’t imagine the pain that Rivet is going to go through
i had to pause here to collect myself emotionally, and wipe the tears from my eyes. it just hit me what the purpose of them telling all of these stories to each other is, and it’s just so beautiful and heartbreaking.
ah of course this is how ponies would signal that they are purposefully not eavesdropping! augh love these horses
and again, that pony drivers move their carts by hitching them to themselves!
and of course, the story has to end. and augh. emotions again. just like the story itself is ending, and the time that i have with Rivet and Fashion Plate, which i don’t want to end!
the perfect line, the perfect last story to end it on.
i don’t even know what to say. i cried a lot during and after reading this, and had to stare at a wall and breathe slowly for a while before being able to type these very words.
in my writing and my reading, i am drawn to the complicated romances: clashing personalities, high-stakes situations, tragic ironies, that kind of thing. so many great ideas and sweeping arcs to come together at just the right time and way for an impactful emotional climax!
but this story, there are no complications here. just two stallions who are truly right for each other, and who lived ordinary and peaceful lives that were full of love in an ordinary way. and ended in the most ordinary of ways.
and it destroyed me, outdoing so many of the amazing stories i’ve read, and certainly all of mine. there is a light here that you’ve truly captured. a love of life and a love of love that is inspiring, all from the pairing of the most background of background ponies. the story of Rivet and Fashion Plate is going to stay with me for a long time, and i cannot thank you enough for it.
May we all be half as blessed or lucky. Cheers!
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Thank you so much for giving it a read.
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Thanks for checking in, and I hope you liked the story!