On The Application...: aftermath & pointless Writer's Workshop bits.

Everyone knows the drill by now: on the count of three, head to your own FIMFic homepage to see if anything's happened to your Follower count in the last twenty seconds.

(No, really. Betcha it jumped by six while you weren't looking.)

Idea genesis here is a little awkward because I'm honestly not entirely sure where it came from: this is one of those flares Paul Sheldon's crew in the boiler room sent up, and I'm still trying to figure out what was used for fuel. At a guess, this probably started perking along in the subconscious background after Chapter 11 on Triptych, wherein the problems of picking up the Mane Six at a bar were discussed in some detail. It was noted, for purposes of that story, that Rarity was the pony who would be most frequently found in the right environment and thus had the most experience in dealing with all the issues, from overdone lines to dismissal via verbal rapier. (Also that she's the cast lightweight: a four-drink limit, with #4 leaving her in a state where she must backtrack every action with ponies who are willing to talk because she will remember none of it.)

Sometime after, the boiler room sent up 'Twilight and speed dating'.

Since I knew Twilight would never go through that herself without several high-grade weapons trained on her from a great distance, I went back to the base concept a few times over the next few days and found the thing just sitting there, waiting for something more to happen.

On Day Five, I knew it had to be done to Rarity. Everything else came in a rush of composition.

Rarity was the natural victim: both the one with the most semi-comfort in the usual setting and the friend whom Twilight would have the least difficulty roping in. Once I knew it was her point of view dominating, the story was written within hours. I knew the signposts to visit along the way: open in the shop, move to the rotunda, and have Twilight come inches away from Equestria's first version of Internet matchups as the final crisis point before the close at the fountain.

So...

* There's a lot of views on Rarity out there in the fandom, interpretations stacked to Cloudsdale and beyond. I've tried to be fairly consistent with her: the artist as small business owner dreaming of turning her skills into something more than a minor local landmark. Her aspirations are largely social, but she's more than just a climber for the sake of ascent. In a way, I keep getting her as the classic American Dreamer: she will be one step higher on the ladder than her parents were, and her children will go farther than that... Kind of explains the deliberate accent dump, right?

(I am among those who see her as trying to distance herself from her mother and father, at least in the sense of final tier achieved -- not to mention embarrassment inflicted on offspring.)

As with my thinking Rainbow Dash is at her funniest and most sympathetic when she's frustrated and out of her limited waters, Rarity seems to reach part of her comedy potential when she's in a situation she should be able to handle and can't. When it's a struggle between the social polish she's spent a lifetime mastering and the instinct to throw all of it away and just go for the double back kick, some of her character opens up. 'I can revert, I choose not to -- but if you push me one step further, I will make no promises...' Civilization vs. instinct and a single unicorn at the crossroads debating whether to switch paths.

Side note: to me, when you give her cause, she's the dirtiest fighter in the cast -- something there was a flash of against the rams for Chapter 7 on Tr -- and not all of those moves are social ones. Twilight has power and spell knowledge, Applejack & Pinkie Pie bring in raw strength, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy can both retreat more times than not (as can Twilight, teleporting out --- although getting RD to retreat is a challenge few ponies are up to). Rarity's magical strength is average, as are her physical prowess and speed -- so she brings what she has to bear in the most effective ways possible. And that does not mean working within any illusion of combat rules. Her father taught her well...

* The opening sequence was largely just for the fun of it: have them talking and get to the latest Death Words of 'three minutes'. (Incidentally, if you know anyone who's ever sold art or craft items, ask them about the use of 'cute' and 'adorable' in their stores. You might as well have a non-customer say 'Thanks, but I'll be throwing it in the trash now'. That bit was taken from a few people's painful experiences. I did not use one of the most painful retail stories I ever heard because -- well, would you have believed a child happily defecating on a display item and the parent claiming the result was planted as a frame job? No? Right.) I also wanted to say directly that while Twilight can be a great friend to the others, she's also the one most likely to get you into something you will be regretting for the rest of your days with no idea why her actions were wrong. Yes, even more so than Pinkie. Well-intentioned -- but dear gawds, the places those intentions lead...

As for Thread Moresby, I imagine he went on for eight full seasons before revealing that the pony he ultimately wound up with was one you never felt he'd be attracted to at all. Presuming anyone was still listening.

* The 'dates'... There were certain ponies I wanted in on this. I didn't want the full Mane Six present because I'm juggling them elsewhere, plus Fluttershy would have barricaded herself in the cottage again, Applejack would have begged off after a hard day at the Acres, and Pinkie would have just known this wasn't going to work. That left RD as the secondary, mostly unseen victimized friend.

Mouser was both the reason there's an OC tag on the story and why I stuck a Teen rating on it. (Pony bondage: not rated E for Everyone.) I put restraints in Triptych as part of how I saw unicorn magic: that the horn generally must be completely uncovered and virtually anything placed over it acts as a barrier to the field. Moving them into the bedroom was a logical -- and slightly scary -- step.

I wanted at least one failed Hearts & Hooves Day suitor. You can see The Unbearable Weight Of Monogrammed Pocket Squares pony as the snob if you like, but the ones who deliberately wound up in there were Too Short (Stile) and Strangely Obsessed -- with the later only getting there on final edit. Snowflake is there because I like the big lug, Lyra for a sympathetic ear, and Flitter because frankly someone had to be the bitch and you with the bow, fly on down!

As for the degree of commentary on non-traditional dating styles: go for one of these speed rounds and see how many unchewed fingernails you have left the next morning. (Internet dating works as well as virtually anything else: intermittently.)

* Some of those who commented felt Twilight's ending treatment was on the rough side. Given Dash's pranking standards and a lot of unseen pegasus suffering, I thought it was about right. I was also avoiding having Twilight get away without consequence, as her friends are pretty close to the only non-alicorns who would seriously consider and be able to deliver a degree of payback. Note that Rarity signals Rainbow to come down for the non-kill: it was a case of 'Let me talk to her first?' followed by 'I'm no longer sure talking will do any good'. Also, forty-three dates in one night and no sleep. Rarity is not the nicest pony on no rest with the prospect of an Equestrian eHarmony staring her in the face.

Plus RD was so worked up over this, she stayed awake. Now that's dedication.

Happily, beyond the perceived unicorn abuse, the aftermath level on this one has been fairly light. At least, no full-fledged Comment Wars have broken out. (Yet.) I'd like to think this is a positive sign, but Internet. Plus that next CDA peek may not be all that far away.

But for now, we'll return you to Trotter's Falls sometime in the next few days, where somepony will --

-- well, I've got to have some secrets.

Comments

[Georg]

I've always wanted to do a 'Mane 6 in the bar' story except the complexity would blow my story to unreadable size, and Bad Horse already nailed 'Fluttershy's Night Out' (ouch, bad double-entandre) I loved that you had Piers Anthony inspired Stile in there. Because when I saw him on TV, I knew that was going to be his name if I ever used him in a scene.

Rarity has always been the hardest shipping target, in my opinion, because she seems to wobble between self-absorbed narcisism and self-less generosity. (depending on the writer, I suppose) She must be kicking herself in the flank for letting Shining Armor get away, but This Platinum Crown in my opinion does an *excellent* job of bringing her out.