Dear Sweetie Belle

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/57590/dear-sweetie-belle

I am...... very conflicted about this piece. It is incredibly well written, beautifully described and portrayed. I honestly felt I could see and hear everything being said, and the letter came across beautifully and felt right at home with Rarity. I was engaged and it never lost my focus throughout, so I want to say kudos and great job in writing this piece.
I'm not sure if anyone else felt this way, but to me it felt very clear, almost over-foreshadowed if that is possible, what the ending was going to be. I felt reasonably certain that it was going to end with Rarity being Sweetie's mother before we even hit the letter and it was fine, it made sense. I wanted to brush it off as cliche or predictable, but I kept reading. Fortunately for me, it was anything but cliche and the sheer emotional retelling in the letter left me hooked and wanting to hear her tell the rest of her story. I can't help but commend you for that, I didn't want to put this down, and didn't want to look away.
Throughout the letter, the flashbacks almost felt... out of place. I know how this would all look in the show and how visually you would do this to make sense and show what happened instead of telling, but the flashbacks almost made the rest of the letter into almost narration and reaction rather than the two flowing together. In some ways, I would have liked to have seen how the letter itself turned out. In fact, going back over it, I think there was more flashback written than actual letter, especially with the first scene as long as it is.
Also the miscarriage revelation honestly felt contrived and a bit unnecessary. It comes out of nowhere and there's little to nothing in the descriptors beforehand to suggest that the parents had lost a child. Had it been a close to full term miscarriage, something akin to already having a baby room set up or something of that nature to tie back into when the miscarriage was revealed would make a lot of sense, for example. The way it is currently, it kinda just made me scratch my head.
When we got to the end of the letter, I was honestly unsure how either was going to react. One could guess between the length and the completed status that it was going to resolve, but I could entirely see it going either way. Heck, I don't know how I would react. Of course, the emotional outpouring was fantastically done and as most everyone before me has attested, you set up a powerful impact right on the heartstrings.
I've not yet read the next two letters, nor any of the following stories (I figured since your series was the "Dear Sweetie Belle Continuity" I figured it would be the place to start). I'm sure that the Dear Applebloom you've alluded to isn't another "I'm your mother" story, but some other family secret that AJ is relaying after keeping it bottled up. If it is another "I'm your mother" story, I'll probably be disappointed to be honest. You're too good an author to do that, I can see that from your writing.
I do wonder why it was that Rarity was telling this to Applejack, as opposed to, say, Twilight or Pinkie. Applejack and Rainbow Dash always seemed to be the two that Rarity saw the least eye-to-eye with. It, too, felt a bit contrived, just to further the continuity. Had AJ been one of the last of the Mane Six or somewhere in the middle, it would make sense as more as going through letting each of them know in my opinion. Otherwise it feels a little unjustified.
Please don't take away from this that I didn't like it. I absolutely loved it, and the quality of your writing is superb, the simplicity and power of your words are incredible, and you've done an incredible job. And as with everything, this is all my opinion which you are more than welcome to take or leave at your discretion. I can't wait to go through and start reading the rest of the continuity.
I wish you the best of luck on all you do.
-Duskrider