Generosity and Avarice
"Well, this has grown dull. Let's mix it up a bit, shall we everypony? I'll pick the next opponent, and you can pick the location." Discord clapped his hands and giggled like a schoolgirl.
"Rarity, I choose you. You have the night to prepare and think about the location you wish. Until next time!"
-------------------------------------------------
Rarity spun a few gemstones in the air with her magic, thinking. She kept coming back to the same conclusion time and again. She let the gemstones fall and banged her head upon the table. Sapphire... who or what is your Tom? What did you come to covet that was used against you? It was never simple with Discord, she almost longed for a simple foe like Nightmare. At least Nightmare had made sense. She simply wanted to control the skies to bring about eternal night. Foolish? Certainly! Everypony would have died from starvation eventually because of lack of food! She was no farmer like Applejack, but even she knew plants needed sunlight! However it was a plan you could understand, and she was a foe you could beat by standing with your friends and shouting you would not go gently into her night! Discord twisted you all around, made you give into your weakest and most humiliating flaws. Losing to him meant more than just losing your life, you lost the essence of what you most valued about yourself. Worse, you threw everything good about yourself away because of a delusion. An ideal... something you dreamed about... but ideals never held up in reality. You dreamed of Him... but you ended up with a (bastard) Blueblood.
Discord had seen that flaw in her, the avarice she had held for... things, for station, for ponies of importance. She tried so hard to be more... more than her parents, more than the town she resided in. It had always been the bane of her life. She genuinely cared for her friends, her family, but at the same time she wanted... and it wasn't generous to want for yourself.
Only her craft could help her find a balance between her flaws, and her more altruistic wishes to better the world. She created dresses for everypony, in every station of life. For those who could not afford to pay, she took but a pittance, or nothing at all in some cases. Those in higher stations paid for the status of wearing her gowns; which was far in excess of the actual cost of upkeep for her shop and the material costs of the gowns. So, the scales were balanced, always it came back to balance.
"I am so pathetic! How do I help somepony when I can barely help myself? I was given a gift, a gift of power, of flight, and I used it to make time in my social calender! To make more outfits for people who don't understand beauty in the slightest! Did you despair like this Sapphire? Were you flawed as I am?" She burst into tears.
Much could be told from a name and a cutie mark, perhaps that was the key to understanding this pony. Rarity, a singular event or object. Her cutie mark, three diamonds. Diamonds were the hardest gem on the planet, but they were formed from coal, one of the dirtiest and most humble minerals. Only time and pressure turned coal into a diamond. Celestia knew she placed enough pressure on herself by choice...
Sapphire, with a cutie mark of her namesake. A blue gem of immense beauty. The blue was from an impurity... a flaw made it beautiful. Yes, you were flawed weren't you? Your namesake spoke volumes. Perhaps I can help you.
Now, how to keep you from killing me until then?
-------------------------------------------------
"Rise and shine everypony!" Discord appeared in the library in a flash. "Have you chosen your location Dame Rarity?"
"Yes, the rocky valley area just outside Ponyville, I hunt gemstones there. It's deserted, mostly anyway. The only inhabitants live deep underground."
In a flash, everypony found themselves in the rocky valleys of the Diamond Dog tribes. Discord set himself up on a lawn chair and sat casually sipping a chilled drink under an umbrella. Nightmare sat upon a throne she had made from shadows and dark fire. Across from them glared four alicorns. Standing with them stood two more, Shimmer looked... confused, but still angry. Blueberry seemed noncommittal. Fluttershy waved to Shimmer, who in turn mouthed something unprintable. Applejack tipped her hat to Blueberry, who refused to look her in the eye.
Rarity gulped, and stepped forward. This was no manticore, she faced a goddess in her full power, power which could unmake her should she choose. Her mane seemed to be a growing flowing vein of crystals, they were beautiful to see, shame about the coat, gray was not this mare's color. She expected when not under Discord's control her mane and coat would be shades of brilliant blue. The thought saddened her, such beauty sullied.
"Begin!"
The next thing Rarity felt was a roundhouse kick dislocating her jaw. "You won't take her from me!" Sapphire screamed in anguish.
Rarity picked herself up off the ground and felt her jaw as it knit itself back in place. When it had healed she took up a defensive posture as the other pony feinted for another opening.
"Her? Darling, I feel I am entering a conversation midway. Whom am I supposed to be trying to take from you?"
"Celestia!" Sapphire hissed the name, anger in her voice but somehow... reverence?
Jab to the midriff, protect the organs. Celestia? What does she- Oh.... Oh my... Her Tom... Well, give the mare some credit. High block, overhead chop, watch for attacks on the ears. If you went for fillies, you may as well shoot for the stars, or the sun as it were.
Rarity blocked another kick from the lovesick alicorn. She was trying to think. She couldn't blame the poor dear, admiration could turn to love very easily, goodness knows she had looked upon Applejack a time or two... (Ahem) back to matters at hoof. Low block, protect the kidneys. Love for a thing was far easier to break, once free of her enchantment she had seen Tom for what he was, and it was easy to give up her greed for the apparent shiny gem. (However she had polished him nicely and made him part of her backyard topiary. Oh Tom, why can't I quit you?) Love for a pony of the class of Celestia? Unlikely.
Another block, felt like her leg might have fractured, she could feel the bones knitting in place. Her only hope was to end this match before her opponent decided she was a true romantic rival and murdered her. But how exactly?
She leaped over a leg sweep attempt. She felt a twinge in her horn, one of the first spells she'd ever learned was telling her a large vein of diamonds was directly underneath her, about fifteen hundred hooves below. She reached into the earth with her telekinesis. A fountain of diamonds shot up into the sky.
A small respite as Sapphire looked confused. "When in doubt, cover it in gems." She grabbed each stone and coated her body in a (literally) diamond hard armor casing. It moved and flowed around her, each one being controlled with her magic.
She turned to her opponent, who was apparently mesmerized by the display of shining diamonds. They were shifting, flowing, and catching every facet of the sun. She grinned. "My best work yet, beautiful is it not?" Then she lept high into the air and came crashing down on Sapphire like a ton of bricks in a furious jump kick.
Sapphire went down. "Celestia..." She murmured. Rarity laid her head upon the supine alicorn's chest. A small flash and she had cast the spell. "Sweet dreams darling..."
Discord clapped. "Well done mademoiselle, that was a thing of beauty. Well then, till tomorrow everypony."
He snapped, and they were gone.
Stats
Page generated in 0.06 seconds
Total duration
1,040 users online
256,211 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You mentioned Tom
. We need a Tom emoticon, complete with sun glasses.
Wow, that was a clever ruse on Rarity's part. The coat of diamonds to protect herself as well as momentarily disorient her foe. Then when attacking it enhances her weight (something a lady never mentions alongside age) so she comes down like a ton of bricks or diamonds in this case.
Also why is Discord not noticing the Elemental 6 are being reverted? I mean sure AJ's battle obscured the spell with dust and Rarity's armor likely would have made her horn shining seem like part of the illusion, but surely he's noticed Shimmer and Blueberry no longer answer to him or at least notice they are no longer gray.
315991 The real question is not why he hasn't noticed, its why he doesn't care.
316022 Is it because he's in league with Deadpool?
And so Discord's game is unravelling.
Excellent work, keep it up.
this was short
, sweet
, and to the point
315873 yes we do
Rarity... you so sneaky!
Can't wait until the epic magic battle of the Elements of Magic! Oh, I hope that one is soon!
...shimmer does not like pinky...
If you went for mares you may as well shoot for the stars, or the sun as it were.
The sun is a star.
316337 ah but a very specific star. its like saying that dog, or poodle rather. its more specific.
315991 He didn't notice when the Mane 6 broke his control the first time, either. I think he's colorblind, and his changing everypony to grayscale is just making them match the way he normally sees them.
I have a feeling the next one will be Pinkie...
All you do is take a party cannon, turn it to the max. Now for something a bit neat not dour, a bit of laugh, just a joke. Making you lose is such a treat, add a hoof between the eyes. Add a little more and you count to four and you never saw this coming! PARTY! So sweet and funny. PARTY! So fun and awesome. PARTY PARTY PARTAAAAAY!
...what? I envisioned a combat version of the Cupcakes/Sandvich song, had to get it out of my head.
I think the little charade of discord is more than it seems, the game is pretty silly and discord don't even care of the result, he's just as happy whatever the outcome! my take is that discord is buying time for something to come... who knows, chaos works in chaotic ways
316412
I feel the urge to write a rhyming version of that.
So many people don't care about rhyming.
You'd almost think Discord was letting them win... On purpose.
Oooh, you sneaky snake. What are you up to?
317321
315873 We need a lot more Emoticons, like 1293458721346 of them! of everypony! and every Reaction!
Wow...
At first I though this fic has turned weird, now it's awesome
It's already 3:0 in 6 match, there must be something
316348 Well, it could have been worded like this:
If you went for mares, you may as well shoot for the stars, or, more specifically, the sun.
Also, you forgot a comma in there. You should have one after the word "mares".
316388 That actually makes perfect sense
317639 It could have been, but the sentence as it stands is fundamentally correct.
good catch on the comma though. 
Specifically just doesn't strike me as a commonly used word in Rarity's thoughts. 
She tends to second guess herself when monologuing. 
The phrase as it stands is more distinctly Rarity, your phrasing strikes me as more Twilight.
317666
Dammit, that means it can't be the truth!
This is Discord we're talking about, after all.
317694 Twilight's my favorite character, so I guess it makes sense that I'd think of things as she'd word them.
317701 First I was going to comment that that was a brilliant thought, and has changed how I define his character. Then you went and broke my mind
Steel: Is that a subtle Independence Day reference I see? Or do mine eyes deceive me?
Also, I lost it once again at "Oh Tom, why can't I quit you?"
317875 maybe a little bit, it did evoke a rather epic scene of a small group standing against a force that wished nothing more than their dominance and demise.
lol yes, you think it was fun to read that line, I cackled the moment I got the idea to write it. my wife thinks I'm crazy. she's not entirely wrong.
316035
Impossibru. Deadpool is in league with Pinkie Pie. *LOL*
Rarity, I choose you. Rarity is now a Pokemon. I'd have an emoticon here nut I don't know if she would be happy or mad about it.
Ah so we meet again unprintable remarks. Oh how I occasionally wish I knew what they say.I can guess I suppose. Hmm did Shimmer's comment rhyme with "vacuum"?
And it seems like these "fights" are over really fast. A kick, a diamond cover, another kick and a spell. But enough whining.
And Bridgebrain, no one can quit Tom. Why? Magic!
318066 Ha! I know that feeling. I've been laughing for a week at a scene that I had in mind for mine. It didn't come out nearly as funny as I had hoped, but I still laugh every time.
My character is neigh immortal (and thus has had a lot of practice), and he challenges Doctor Whooves to a game of chess. They sit there for twenty minutes staring at the board, only to agree to a stalemate at 4000 some moves. "Maybe chess wasn't the best idea..." "Yeaaaah..."
318080 fights are often decided in relatively few moves. the whole time she was analyzing the situation rarity was just blocking, trying to think, but 5-6 minutes of a pony blocking does not interesting writing or reading make. also, short "fights" are common for mlp, they had the manticore tamed in a matter of seconds, heck they took care of CERBURUS by rubbing his tummy.
It's important to remember, in all of this, their opponents could crush them easily, some of them even want to. each of the progenitors have their own motives, each was discorded for a different reason. when you face overwhelming odds you have two choices, you can be overtaken and steamrolled, or you can think. how do you win against an opponent who overpowers you? you understand them, you undermine them, you use their power against them. this is mental judo. it may not look as flashy, but its effective.
still, you bring up a good point, so I have added a couple more descriptions of what was happening while she thought, it reads a bit better now.
Okay...epic strategy against a foe, with an armor to finish, plus references to other stuff. This in my book is quite EEEEEEPIC! thingy here
. This is in the going to go on. Please do so. Hope to see you on the next chapter!
317875 Then my evil plan to confuse the Internet continues to advance!
maybe discord´s final idea is to betray Nightmare Moon...
Just for teh Lulz...
316916
Pay attention to the syllables. I prioritized making it match the tune of the song, as opposed to making it rhyme. I'm too pathetic to do both.
And like I said, I needed to get the idea out of my head otherwise it'd haunt me for the rest of the day.
My god. The diamond armour... Was that a minecraft reference? If so. Then awsome! And also a he'll of a
Watch out, here comes Rarity!
318618 It does seem like something he'd do lulz wise, but at the same time, hes very smart. He knows that that can't end well, so there has to be some sort of twist to it.
322751
A new challenger has arrived!!
316412 316916
All ya have ta do is take a Party cannon, turn it to the Max! Then ya hafta fire off that sucker, hey howd ya dodge that? HAX!
Kicking your Flank'll be a treat, take a kick To make you quiver! Now To slam your head into a door and if you still want more, I'll jab my horn into your liver! Beatdowns! Pinkie pie Style, Beatdowns! You'll run a Mile, Beatdowns! Beatdowns Beatdowns Beatdowns!
All ya hafta do is take some ol' Janx Spirit, Add it to the Mix! Then you drop in the tooth of a Sun Tiger for your Alchoholic Fix! C'mon Lokey boy Slurp This here Right down this Drink Zaphod Delivered. Just a Quick warning Don't Drink too fast or you might just Lose your Liver! Blasters! They're Pan-Galactic, Blasters! Like a Lemon-Wrapped Brick, Blasters! Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters!
Song time over. The Blasters song was better, but It refused to post first time so I lost it. T.T Who else sees Rarity Replacing Celly as Saphire's Object of Affection? Is it just me?
316388 Well, Discord is male (or is he?
), and sex-linked traits such as colorblindness show up much more often in males, therefore, yes he is most likely color-blind. MY GOD science class, what are you doing to me?!
"However it was a plan you could understand, and she was a foe you could beat by standing with your friends and shouting you would not go gently into her night!"
Me thinks I doth detect Dylan Thomas reference?
Well she did it... a round horse (or pony) kick to the face....EPIC
Discord is taking losing 3 in a row fairly well.......I sense a disturbance
316022
for him it's a game, at least so far. i mean sure he probably has a Xanatos gambit going on but still a game. by the by love your disQord. and lets be honest, being trapped in stone is an inconvenience at best really. admittedly if the mane 6 are immortal now a rather long boring one. but he can still enjoy the chaos. after all, what is life but chaos. also love using faust as the godhead.
That was badass and still very Rarity. Fuckin diamond armor. Hell yes.
I personaly prefer C4, when i'm in doubt, but the gems worked too.
lol
323608 Even more interesting tidbit: Tetrachromat
(Wikipedia seems to be a little behind the times on this article. I distinctly remember an interview where a woman with this condition attempted to explain how certain things looked different to her than to normal people.)
Isn't science awesome? We've come pretty close to answering the age old question of "do other people perceive color the same way I do?" ...What? You weren't haunted by that question as a child? Weird...
4829796
4015220
yes same i prefer exploives... its hypnotic form me to see fire and explosions in the beauty that is destruction... im wierd đŸ—¡