“Howdy, y'all!”
“Applejack!”
“Twilight!”
“Spike!” And she surged to him, flying- literally flying- as he toddled toward her. She caught him up and hugged him close, fresh tears pouring down her face. “Oh, Spike! I'm... I told you I'd see you again, Spike! I told you I told you I told you-”
“I love you, Twilight,” Spike said as he snuggled deep into her chest.
“I love you too, Spike, I love you so much!”
“Heh, good to see y'all all right.”
“Oh, Applejack, it's so wonderful to see you again!” said Fluttershy, fondly rubbing up against her.
“You came just in time, too!” said Pinkie Pie.
“Reckon I did,” said Applejack, looking all around her. “It was a near thing, too, I guess. A snowstorm hit us goin' over the mountains. I was worried we wouldn't get here in time, 'specially since Philip mentioned his scouts had seen that big ol' army headed for the Crystal Empire.”
“Your timing was perfect, Applejack,” said Twilight cheerfully. She took a glance around. The fields were smoking, steaming from the power that had vented on them. Fires burned at odd angles. Of course, all the snow was melted, and the ground was scorched from lighting and from dragonflame. The dragons that had belched the latter now were resting, massive living mountains visible from even this great distance. Ponies, deer, griffins and pronghorns all milled about, laughing, singing, dancing from their joy to be alive. “I can't believe all these races you brought!”
“The dragons were the hardest part,” said Applejack. “Nearly didn't get ol' Ancalagon to sign on.”
Twilight's jaw dropped. “You went to Ancalagon the Black for reinforcements?”
“Yep! In the end, he agreed to help us. Reckoned it was better to hit Reiziger now, than be hit by him later.” She smiled down at Spike. “Spike was a big help.”
“Aww, I didn't do anything special,” said Spike, blushing. “I just told the truth.”
“The truth is super special, Spike!” cried Pinkie, ruffling her lovely wings. “My Uncle Pinkerton always said to never sell the truth short! It's the most impressive thing there is!”
“Lordy, Pinkie! Look at you!” cried Applejack.
“I know!” cried Twilight. “You're... you're a pegasus, Pinkie!”
“Surprise!” she cheered, flapping out her wings. Her body had not changed in size, but now her wings were fully grown. They were gracefully feathered, and they swelled out toward their tips, much like those of a pelican. Pinkie bounced excitedly in place. “Oh my gosh it's so much fun to fly! You get to zoom and swoop everywhere and there's so much wind and clouds and the sun is so bright and beautiful and ohmigosh it's so great!” She jumped up high and pumped her wings repeatedly, cycling the air in swirling bursts of wind.
There were more meetings taking place around the smoking fields. Hammer Hoof, coming to a stop, bowed low. “Princess Celestia,” he said. He inclined his head. “And Princess Luna! An honor.”
When he rose, Celestia and Luna bowed themselves. “King Hammer Hoof,” Celestia said proudly.
“Thy coming is most welcome, O Lord of the Dale,” said Luna.
“I hope we were not too late,” said Hammer Hoof. “It seemed to be a near thing.”
“Thy timing was impeccable. Thou and thy allies hath saved our folk, and our nation too.”
“Ha! I should not have known to come were it not for Applejack,” said Hammer Hoof. “She came and rallied us. She rallied all of us.”
“She is a great and mighty pony,” Celestia said. “So are all the Elements of Harmony.”
“Princesses!” The three ponies wheeled about. Glorfindel came cantering toward them. “Celestia, Luna, there- oh, I am sorry, who are you?”
“This is Hammer Hoof,” Celestia said, “Lord and King of Gildedale.”
Glorfindel bowed low. “I am honored, my lord.”
“Speak, master elk!” said Hammer Hoof.
“We have cornered a dark beast! One of the Herd Lord's special monsters is imprisoned by my fellow Elders. Come, come and see!”
Celestia and Luna exchanged glances. “Lead on, Lord Glorfindel,” said Luna. The three regal ponies followed him into the thronging crowd. Ponies, deer, griffins, and pronghorns parted around them like a sea. It was not long before they felt the pricking of great energy.
They passed through one great group of ponies, and at last they saw it- saw her. The mythicorn was thrashing, writhing up against its prison, a dome of light put up by Nordeshang and Decima and Morta. Its empty purple eyes were flickering like fire, and true fire, real fire colored violet flashed and blazed off of its horn. Even in the brilliance of the morning it was dark as pitch. “Rarity,” whispered Celestia.
“Rarity!” cried Fluttershy, bounding past Celestia. Twilight, Spike, Applejack, and Pinkie followed close behind. Fluttershy advanced toward the barrier. “Oh, Rarity...”
“Careful, Fluttershy,” said Nordeshang. “The barrier will hurt you if you come too close.”
“But... we can fix her. We can fix her!” Fluttershy looked up at Nordeshang with pleading eyes. “That's what we have to do!”
Nordeshang looked carefully at Fluttershy. Then he glanced upon the other ponies. Twilight stepped forward. “She's right, Lord Nordeshang. We'll take it from here.”
“Yep,” said Applejack.
“We sure will!” said Pinkie. “Spike, you're gonna wanna step back.” Nodding, Spike retreated, coming to a halt beside Shining Armor.
Nordeshang nodded. “Very well. Lower the barrier!” His own antlers started flickering.
“But Father Nordeshang-” Morta began.
“We can do nothing for her but contain her, and only for so long. Lower the barrier.”
Morta and Decima exchanged soft glances. “Very well,” Decima said. Their own antlers flashed, and in a flash of light the barrier fell down.
The mythicorn immediately fired off a burst of violet flames. Twilight reared up and repelled it with her own bright magic, then balanced aside and knocked another spell away. “Get at right angles, girls!” she cried. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie dashed to spots perfectly at firm angles to Twilight, so that the four ponies created a large square around the mythicorn. It snarled and flashed its fire, but the presence of the ponies that were now glinting with light seemed to make it cower.
Focus, thought Pinkie, and her joy and calm seeped into all their minds. They concentrated on their Elements. Applejack bent herself on Honesty. Fluttershy immersed herself in Kindness. Pinkie gave herself to Laughter. Twilight dove deep into Magic. They sank, and rose as well, fully harmonizing with the power at the core of their own souls. Their cutie marks were gleaming, glowing, and suddenly shining brighter than the sun. A gasp of wonder rose from all the creatures watching, for a rainbow started arching overhead, and light began to grow in channels between all four ponies. The mythicorn was frightened; it reared back and whinnied, thinking for a moment to escape. At that very moment blazes of white light shot between all four ponies, forming a great square of gleaming brilliance. The ponies glowed brighter, brighter, brighter-
Blasts of rainbow burst from out their chests. Their cutie marks appeared as gleaming sigils o'er their heads. The rainbows struck the mythicorn and forced it to the ground. It cowered, it curled up, the rainbows rose brighter, brighter, higher, higher, time and space themselves turned inside out, the world was filled with one great rainbow flash-
Soft white light filled the air. The smell of clean water rose in the nostrils of all creatures. Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy stepped forward gently to the glowing whitened space. They held their breath. The light fell slowly back...
A white unicorn glanced about, and, seeing the four around her, smiled. “Oh! Hello darlings.”
“Rarity!” the others shouted, wild in their joy. They rushed at her and smothered her in snuggles, nuzzles, and embraces. She leaned into them, glorying to feel their touch again. Spike too pounced forward; Rarity nuzzled him just as much.
“Rarity! Oh, Rarity!” squealed Fluttershy, crushing her against her chest. “Oh, Rarity, it's you! You're safe!”
“Of course I am, Fluttershy,” said Rarity. “How could I be anything but safe and sound with you all?”
“How did Reiziger even catch you, Rarity?” asked Twilight. “How did he put you under his spell?”
“She went to him willingly,” said Falalauria. A gasp rose up. “I have had occasion to bend my Sight on Rarity. I have seen what transpired between Reiziger and her. She went and offered herself to him as a servant.”
“That's ridiculous!” cried Cadence.
“Traitor!” some pony shouted.
“This seems strange,” said Hammer Hoof. “Why should anypony willingly serve the dark lord?”
“Rarity,” said Luna, voice soft, but firm, “Rarity, wouldst thou explain thyself?”
Her friends- her true friends, her five friends, four ponies and one dragon- stared intently at her. Rarity sighed, and bowed her head. “I did go to him. I pledged himself to him of my own free will.”
“No!” cried Pinkie. “No, how could you?”
“Because she saw how things had to be,” said Applejack. “She had a vision. She told me about it. That's why I left, too. She and I both did what we had to do.”
“Rarity, come on,” said Twilight. “You can't have... you actually gave yourself to Reiziger because of a vision?”
Rarity's eyes, such a lovely blue, turned onto Twilight, and grew firm. “Yes, Twilight, dear, I did. You should put more stock in visions. They are stronger than you think.”
“Servant of darkness,” said Glorfindel, thunder rising in his voice, “agent of evil!” He started, forward, antlers glinting-
However, he was blocked by the two red deer sisters. “Let her be,” said Decima.
“She is a traitor!” cried Glorfindel. “She is a servant of the Herd Lord.”
“No,” said Morta, “no, she is not. Or if she was, she is no longer, because her time with him has ended.”
“If she really was a servant of Reiziger's, I...” Shining Armor swung an angry gaze on Rarity, “why? How could you, Rarity?”
“Traitor!” some pony cried.
“Stick her on the rack!” cried another.
“At least banish her!” a third voice rose.
“Shining Armor's question is worth answering,” said Morta.
“It is a question all seers must answer, when their actions are laid bare,” said Decima.
“Indeed,” said Falalauria. “Rarity,” she said gently, “I believe you when you say you had no choice. I think my fellow seers believe, as well.” Decima and Morta nodded. “But Lady Morta is right. Why did you do what you did?”
Eyes by tens of thousands fell on her. Rarity breathed gently. “I had a vision,” she said. “I had a vision of Equestria suffering greatly. I had a vision of Equestria being pushed to the brink of disaster and collapse. I Saw Canterlot crumble. I Saw the beautiful fields and forests turn dead and gray. I Saw ponydom hang by a thread.” Her cutie marks were glinting. “However, I also Saw my friends- my dear friends, my beloved friends- rise to meet the challenges that Reiziger put on them- that I put on them under Reiziger's control. I Saw that Twilight was only the beginning- had to be only the beginning. I knew that if the Elements of Harmony were to grow strong enough to defeat Reiziger once and for all, they would have to be tested. They would have to be put in dire circumstances, in blackest night. The hottest fire forges the strongest steel. That is why I went.”
“So you don't think our Elements.... that we would have gotten as strong as we have without you turning?” asked Fluttershy.
“Yes,” said Rarity. She smiled bitterly. “Oh, maybe it would have happened. Maybe without myself as an antagonist- without being one of the villains of the piece- the drama would still have had a happy ending. However, that was not what my Sight showed me, and I couldn't take the chance that my vision was wrong.” Her cutie marks began to twinkle brightly. “It was a sacrifice worth making.”
“But Rarity... you became an enemy!” cried Twilight. “You threw away the love of everypony!”
“I did throw it away, didn't I?” She chuckled. “All my work, all my outer appearances and business deals... all gone. Who will love me now?” She raised her head higher. “But that is what Generosity is, after all. You must give and give until there is nothing left, and then give of yourself the last of all. Reiziger thinks himself true nothingness. He thinks he's emptiness incarnate. But true emptiness belongs to those who give themselves and everything they have. They pour themselves out for those that need them.” Her triple diamond cutie marks were gleaming bright. She smiled. “But they're not really empty, because the moment they empty themselves- the moment they give all they have- they receive gifts in return greater than anything they might have possessed. To empty oneself is to become full-”
A burst of rainbow blasted all the air. The four ponies around Rarity staggered back, feeling intimately what had taken place.
The thestral writhed and thrashed within its pen.
More soft light came. The smell of clean water emerged again. As the air cleared, Rarity blinked hard. “Oh, my,” she said. “I feel... different.”
“You oughta,” said Applejack. “Give yourself a look-see!”
Rarity stood up, and eyes all round her bulged in wonder. She had grown. She had, like the four other Bearers of the Elements around her, assumed a larger, thinner, far more graceful body. Her horn had grown much longer, and much sharper. Her mane and tail had grown as well, their ringlets now arranged with far more loveliness than any hairdresser could manage. And-
“Rarity!” cried Fluttershy. “Your eyes!”
“Hmm?” asked Rarity. Twilight made a mirror appear, and Rarity glanced into it. “My goodness,” she said softly. Her eyes were still blue, for the most part. However, overlaying all their whites and black pupils and blue irises, there was a layer of stars. As she moved her face, she saw the starscape shift, different patterns and bright constellations growing visible as her head bobbed from side to side. “My word,” she whispered. “I...” she glanced upon her friends. “Oh. Oh!”
“What?” asked Spike.
“Well, it's just... my Gift of Generosity. It works. It really works. I... I can See everything.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Hmph! It's rather fascinating, really.”
“Rarity.”
The five ponies and one dragon turned round. Celestia and Luna stood before them. Rarity bowed low. “Princess Celestia... Princess Luna... I apologize for all my crimes and sins.”
“I know,” Celestia said. “You are forgiven for all of them.” Another gasp rose up.
“But princess...” said Shining Armor.
“She is forgiven,” said Celestia again. “I believe what you have said, Rarity. I believe you did believe you had no choice. Moreover, I believe you have found success. I believe your gambit has paid off.” She smiled warmly. “I know the way farseers work. I have learned to trust those with sight beyond sight.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” said Rarity. She turned back toward her friends. “Now, for you-”
“Oh, Rarity!” cried Fluttershy, wrapping her again in a tight hug. “Rarity, I do forgive you, I do! I believe you. I believe you did what had to be done!”
“I do too!” said Pinkie. “I don't believe any friend of mine would just turn into a meanie for no good reason! And you're right, it worked!”
Applejack drew close to Rarity and nuzzled her. “I never stopped believin' in you, girl.”
“I believe too!” said Spike. “You're one of the bravest ponies I've ever met, Rarity. You're a hero!”
Rarity turned round to Twilight. She glanced aside a moment. “I...” she looked deep into Rarity's blue, starry eyes. “I...” she saw the constellations and the galaxies go drifting in that infinite dark gaze. “I... do believe you, Rarity.” She wrapped her hooves around her. “And maybe I believe in visions, too. I have to, I suppose.”
“It seems too easy,” muttered Shining Armor.
“Perhaps it does,” said Luna. “Many things look easy on the outside, however difficult they prove to be in fact.”
“Now, Rarity,” Celestia said, “do you feel well? Do you feel healthy?”
“I feel splendid, princess!”
“And you, Applejack? How do you feel?”
“I feel just fine, your majesty.”
“Excellent,” Celestia said. “Your presence will needed within the hour. It is time for us to have a council, to determine what the final act of this great drama will entail.”
Within the hour, Celestia sat at the head of an enormous- truly, truly huge- crystal table in the main dining room of the crystal castle. “So,” she said, “what is our plan of attack?”
“Oh!” said Pinkie, at the other end. She pounded her hoof on the table. “I've got a plan: attack!”
A laugh rose up. In between Celestia and Pinkie there sat such a congregation of nobility and mighty folk as never had been seen within the Crystal Empire. Hammer Hoof, Ashtail, Philip, Clive Croixeus, Decima, Morta, Nordeshang, Glorfindel, Falalauria, Shining Armor, and Cadence were gathered all along the table's length. Celestia and Luna sat together at one end. At the other end were Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike. To top things off, one of the four dragons poked its massive head into the window. The air was slightly warm due to its presence.
“In seriousness,” said Luna, “attacking now might not be a bad idea.”
“How do you figure?” Philip asked.
“Reiziger has suffered a tremendous defeat. He has not lost any of his own power, but his confidence- his security- has been shaken. Moreover, he has suffered horrible losses to his forces. He sent so many here, thinking to destroy us utterly, and all have been destroyed themselves. It will take him some time to replenish his armies. The defenses round his castle will be weak.”
“There is still the Herd Lord himself, of course,” said Morta.
“We now have enough mighty folk to check him, at least until he gets angry,” said Luna.
“Well spoken,” said Hammer Hoof. “I agree. Attacking now is best.”
“To what end, though?” asked Glorfindel. “Time and time again it has been proven that the Herd Lord cannot be defeated in battle. Every martial, physical, magical attack on him only makes him stronger.”
Celestia smiled knowingly. “Our forces, and the battle they will do, are mere vessels. They are transports for our real weapon against Reiziger.” She glanced down the table. “Isn't that right, girls?”
Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack exchanged looks. All of them, at once, broke out in smiles. “I think it is right,” said Fluttershy.
“We're ready!” said Pinkie.
“Yes,” said Twilight. “Yes, I think we are.”
“We are indeed,” said Rarity.
“Darn tootin'!” Appelejack exclaimed.
“But what about Rainbow Dash?” asked Glorfindel. “She is still under the Herd Lord's control.”
“We'll handle Rainbow,” said Applejack.
“Just get us close,” said Fluttershy. “We'll do the rest.”
“A SOUND ENOUGH PLAN,” rumbled the dragon in the window. “LET THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY BE WIELDED.”
A silence fell over the table. “Princess?” Shining Armor asked.
Celestia was looking at the five ponies far down the table. They, in turn, looked back at her. She could see them in ways others could not, save for Luna and perhaps Cadence. At last, she nodded. “So my faith will be vindicated after all.” She banged her hoof, with all its golden filigree, upon the table. “So it will be! In the morning we ride for the depths of Equestria! In the morning we ride for Reiziger's castle, to finish this once and for all!”
One more to go, and then Reiziger will well and truly be done.
The Elements of Harmony shall prevail (all six of them) , and the Lord of all the Herds shall fall once and for all.... for the final time.
I... hm.
Unfortunately, the causality as to Rarity turning herself over and it being there is... really really vague. I can't point to any one incident where one of the other Mane 6 grew because Rarity was their enemy. Seems like it was because she wasn't around, not because she was acting against them.
These Surprise jokes will truly never get old.
Rarity!
I'll be grinning like a madman for the rest of the day.
Yeah, that was exactly what I was worried about regarding her. Regardless of the explanation, she may never have a good life again.
But then again, between the physical changes and Celestia's absolution, that may be enough to satisfy.
So let it be done.
EXCITEMENT INTENSIFIES
6189235 I love the title of this fic.
Rarity's claim is bullshit. She generously threw away "the love of everypony?" Screw you Rarity. This entire chapter worries about appearences for Rarity instead of the suffering she inflicted.
But then this fic hasn't given a damn about the little pony except for a scorecard. How many Reizinger killed, vs how many were saved.
Yeah, not buying it. The rest of the bunch would have been tested plenty without Rarity making everything worse, and there would be a lot fewer dead ponies besides. I mean, shit, how many deaths has she personally caused by turning into the Mythicorn? Those ponies have families, lovers, lives of their own. All that, gone, because Rarity felt the need to make a pointless gesture of self-sacrifice. No wonder everyone's calling for her head.
I'm glad the Element seems to run on personal conviction, because by my appraisal, she's caused death, destruction, the abject ruination of an entire country, just so she can claim a more direct hand in her friends' ascension. That smacks to me of selfishness.
The world runs on bovine feces so I have less problem with this than others.
just want to add, if I were the ponies of Equestria after Reizinger was defeated I would not try to rebuild the country if Celestia or the Elements or the deer stayed around. There's essentially nothing left of the country so it's not like it's some great loss. They move on or we do.
Errr, I'm afraid I did not feel much at their reunion with Rarity. It was a bit... afterthought-like, if I can say it like that. Just a bit of an aftermath for the battle, where I never really got the vibe that they had ever captured her. And then... well, rainbows and she's okay. I could be fine with it, but it's played a bit too much by running dependant on good faith. What I mean is that maybe Rarity's actions could be justified, if, you know, the readers KNEW what she saw, what EXACTLY made her think this was the only path to defeating Deer-Morgoth. To say it so vaguely is sure to infuriate characters and readers alike, and contrarily to the characters and the authorities of those talking, readers are not going to let it slide so easily.
Personally, I would have given a simple explanation, and even one that could have shut up Shining Armor. Just have her say something like... "In other versions of our future, I saw myself and Applejack at Twilight's side, and we tried facing Reiziger too early. Twilight had not learned from the High Deer's folly, and he killed her while we were powerless to watch. And the Element of Magic was lost."
There, it's not perfect, but not only is it a personal motivation that people can buy about Rarity sacrificing her will, if temporarily, and her reputation for her friend's life, but it gives a lot more weight to what happened before. We would at least be told that yes, Rarity and AJ's presences were detrimental for the growth of others, because they would die before they had the chance. Right now, it's like telling us to just roll with it, and it's... unpalatable, in my opinion.
6201999
you know that's not the only strange view of things to get an ascension. Fluttershy had to be okay with Pinkie's suffering while she was fixing it
Everyone seems to be forgetting that Rarity as the Mythicorn teleported ponies away instead of killing them in the battles she was in. She almost exclusively damaged buildings and suchlike. Go back and reread the Fillydelphia chapter if you don't believe me! I'm pretty sure I remember it being hinted at that that was happening in Canterlot too.
6202243
she participated in the destruction of cities. You don't think people died during that?
And anyway, she attacked her friends when she was captured.
I'm still waiting for the twist. Something tells me Discord isn't done yet. And while he's probably not behind it, I won't count out him having a hand in the remaining story.
You didn't...You actually did it.
You turned Rarity into a willing mass murderer! You made it that she knew what she was going into, she knew she was going to participate in the destruction of Equestria and the mass murder of thousand of ponies, and she did it anyway (without much chance of a payoff). And to top it all off, since everypony got their epiphany without her help and activated their elements with no intervention from her, it was all for
This version of Rarity has officially became the most repulsive and unlikable character of the whole fic. I hope Reiziger kills her painfully once he wins (and that hurts me because I love Rarity as a character).
Not only was it an incredibly contrived and lazy way to keep Rarity off the game (due to her powers having the potential of being story breaking), that ark ended up being drama for the sake of drama. It served ABSOLUTELY no purpose except making the story even bleaker (and making your promise of an happy ending impossible, but I'll get to that later). All the events that happen between could've easily be done without this. Hell, Rarity's arc could've been done there as well. She could've, I don't know, been dealing with the fear of her powers and having an epiphany on sharing her personal pain with her friends to overcome obstacles (keeping in the theme of generosity). And that's just an example that could've been done without destroying her character.
And if you really wanted for her to keep this faux-martyrdom, you could've made her a direct impact on one of the mane 6 awakening of their powers (like having Fluttershy heal her transformation or having Pinkie helping her deal with her post-transformation and post-betrayal trauma). It would still have been incredibly lazy and contrived, but at least, it would have a POINT!
Jetfire, what the hell happened to you. You first created a great fic with "It's dangerous going out your door." You made some amazing world building with this one, but you decide to pile on bleakness over bleakness and destroying characters for the sake of drama. What happened to Applejack willing to stand her ground for her friends? What happened to Rarity inspiring her friends to keep moving? What happened to Rainbow Dash confronting her claustrophobia? All for saving their friend Twilight? What happened to these great interaction and character development? What happened to all of this?
And by the way, that happy ending you promised, it's now impossible now. With this chapter, the story cannot end without Rarity dying or being banished (maybe along with the Mane 6 due to guilt by association). Since now all of Equestria and beyond hates her with good reason.
I'm sorry I came across as too vitriolic, but I loved the previous story so much and I really needed to get that off my chest.
The End is (almost) here.
I'm sorry, but I have to echo what people are saying about Rarity's justification being terrible. Surely if she had seen everything, she'd have known Dash had already been turned by the time she had her vision, and that she would inflict quite enough destruction on her own. It might have made sense if she had been directly involved with one of the others ascension or otherwise turned the tide in a way she could've done only by turning, but as is her willingly turning to evil feels like all it did was make things arbitrarily more hopeless. She could have been doing good during that time she was leveling cities, and if her presence really was somehow detrimental, she could've gone with Applejack or hid under a bus until it was time to reappear.
When Rarity turned over I thought it was so she could get closer to Dash, to hold her back or save her or...I dunno, something that would make working with the bad guy make sense. Then it turns out they'd both been reduced to mindless (or at least, my interpretation was that they were mindless, given the lack of any indication of thought on their parts, barring Rarity's 'holding back' with Falalauria) creatures of destruction. And I wondered, "How could Rarity have seen that would be her fate, and ever think that was the right thing to do?" I was hoping the story would sell it to me by the time she came back, but all it did was confirm to me that the whole thing did nothing but give Reizegar a shiny new minion to play with for a while.
A minion who's presence made absolutely no difference on any of the events that transpired, since Dash was already filling the same role.
Wow, lots of Rarity hate radiating off of this chapter's comments. I'm kinda shocked, but I'm not going to argue the point, cause haters gonna hate, etc. Farseeing is a thankless job, like most public service work.
I could definitely make a rant of my own, but I'll just leave it at this:
You can feel free to think that she did it for all the wrong reasons. Or you can trust that she did it for the right ones. Or you could have, y'know, faith...
I understand why she did it. It's like if you saw the future of WW2, before Hitler was in power. You could kill him, but who is to say someone worse.might not rise up instead? Better the devil you know... or, if it's not broke, don't fix it, I guess.
6203502 fuck faith, and when people reach a certain level of stupidity in their actions they lose the benefit of the doubt or any reason to have trust in their actions. I have no doubt Rarity thinks she did the right thing. All that shows is she is a very stupid pony.
While I have one ot two issues with the story, centred around the chapters in question - Rarity's behavior therein is not one of them.
My reading of the story has lead us to believe that the things she saw were not POSSIBLE futures that MIGHT happen, it was the ACTUAL future that was going to happen; as set in rigid stone as the past, cast unbendingly by the very act of being viewed. She chose the way she did because she would have always chosen the way she did, knowing that she knew this, because she saw that too. Heck, she has even basically shown the rest of the story as we read it to Ziggy, who just sneered it off - exactly like she'd seen him do - because he is fundementally incapable of accepting that he won't even get what he wants, even in the face of explicit evidence.
Rarity thus made, in my opinion, not the right choice, but the ONLY choice; to assume that she could Make This Not Be Going To Happen, that she could know better than the Wills That Drew The World or whatever, would have made her as foolish and arrogant as Ziggy himelf.
Furthermore, going willingly, she was basically a double-agent. Let us also not forget she DID teleport away ponies that would have died. Those cities were not taken and destroyed by RD and Rarity. Their presence did absolutely NOTHING to worsen the situation, in the end, since Ziggy's troops would have obliterated them anyway; nor could either have achieved anything if, by some miracle, they had gone to fight against Ziggy in those instances.
The bare bones of it is, whether Rarity went to Ziggy or not, anypony that died in the attack of those cities would still have died. NOTHING could have altered that. Those ponies were already dead, whatever happened. As a mate of mine says "it happens. Some times with an 'sh' in front of it." Life isn't fair. It is what it is.
More ponies would have died if Rarity hadn't gone; all the ponies she teleported out, which Ziggy would no doubt have much rather preferred to be slaughtered. (And that might have made the difference in the last battle, of course; even one pony in the right place might have stopped any of the Named Characters from being killed or overwhelmed by even a handful more enemies. The bad guys only have to be lucky ONCE.)
The hard thing in this Equestria here, hammered in by Jetfire over the course of the last two stories is: you can't always save everyone. Sometimes, you have to make the hard choices and in a war, that means that sometimes you geniunely have to choose who dies and can only try to minimise the number of deaths. That's it, plain and simple. There is no magic "make this not be happening" button (or if here there is, it can't be wielded until there are six Alicorns of Harmony to press it).
There's also a fairly reasonably possibilty that, in corrupting the Elements of Harmony, Ziggy has fluffed by allowing the power he invested in that to be seperated from him and destroyed, thus weakening him.
6204289
if you idea is correct then ponies and everything else are just puppets putting on a play
and guess what. If Jetfire were hammering in "You can't always save everyone" then Twilight should have been left to die from horn rot. Cause none of this would have happened.
6204812
Whenever people make "if the future cannot be changed, we're all puppets" arguement, I feel it's missing one crucial element, in that they assume that someone else is writing the "script" in "advance."
Firstly, you - everyone - writes your own script with your own choices and actions, by who you are. The choices you make (that you will have always made), the actions you take (that you will have always have taken) are the script. Seeing into the future is either one of two things.
If hasn't really "happened yet" so it's nothing more than a prediction. But if that is the case, you can't have people travelling back from the future.
Or, the future does exist (and the existance of time-travel from the future as displayed in It's About Time[1] shows that it perforce MUST do) and looking into the true future is the reverse of looking into the past, which is to say the "script" has already been written (by you and everyone else), you're just looking at another part of it.
(The bit where you look into the future and see the script and decide the try and change the script is ALSO part of the script, because you always would have made that decision.)
You can no more escape the effects of your choices of a fixed future than you can change those in the past; it is just that the movement of your current consciouness along the timeline has not reached that point where you can "see" it; you will still always have made your decisions the way you have and are going to make. (Even if you think that you've deliberately changed a decision you think you would have made, in reality all that has happened is you will always have made that decision and the alternative choice you changed to avoid was actually never more than a prediction that never actually was real. See again It's About Time, where Twilight was trying to do exactly that and in doing so created the situation the thought she was trying to prevent.)
As a sort of example as to what I'm driving at, in the first episode of Deep Space Nine, Sisko was trying to explaing to some extra-dimensional aliens how existed outside of linear time how sport worked. Eventually they understood, in that the point was that linear-time based humans didn't know what the results were going to be before the end of the game; "you don't know what the pattern is until the pattern is complete" was I believe how they phrased it. That's basically how linear time works; but just because we can't see the pattern, doesn't mean that the pattern doesn't fact already exist nor that we have not created the pattern ourselves.
The immutable puppet arguement is still thinking in linear time, in that is it assuming that our "now" should be the only point in time that should be allowed to "write", lest everyone be puppets and/or assuming that there is some universal script-writing entity setting down tracks for everything to run along. As opposed to the fact that if you're looking outside of linear time: it's not linear! One point in time doesn't happen "before" another, it's all one continuous stream in its entirity and you can see the pattern that those in linear time can't until their present becomes their past.
So. if the future "exists" for people to travel back from (which it must do in some way, for if you were at the leading "edge" of time and nothign existed beyond it, you couldn't have people from the future coming back), the future is merely someone else's past; if you're some 10th century seer looking into the far future of the distant 20th century, from our perspective, it's already history; if you're from the 21st century looking to the 31st - for something in the 32nd century, it's still all history for somebody.
If Rarity's Generousity power is actually allowing her to basically look outside of linear time and see the pattern that mere mortals creatures of linear time cannot see until their present has passed it (which is my understanding of how it works) it is PHENOMIALLY powerful (as in, probably the most powerful of all the forces in play).
To the second point, observe I said "everyone", not "anyone." There is a difference between saving the life of one person in danger and tens of thousands in a war situation. The harsh reality is that you just can't save everyone. Especially in war, and outside of fiction[2], the larger the number of people in danger, the greater that chance that when you try to do that, more people will die. (History is replete with examples of this.) The universe, because it is inherently flawed, simply does not work like that.
(Heck, even Superman is not able to save everyone, as death is still a thing that happens in the DC universe.)
[1]The whole point about that episode is that Twilight can't change time, and in trying to do so, makes the thing she thinsk she's trying to prevent. So, going by pony show-canon, time has been thus far shown to be NOT mutable, so I'm going to disregard the whole mess of worms that brings up for the purposes of the rest of this discourse.
[2]You could say "yes, but this is fiction so you could" and you would be right; except for the fact that's not the story Jetfire wants to tell us.
6205202 there can easily be more than one potential future. Or by granting knowledge you gain the ability to change things. The grandfather paradox only works in certain situations. If you don't do something to eliminate your existence, or the existence of your means of travel there's nothing to stop you from informing your past self of what you're trying to stop so that they eventually would travel back in time to repeat your actions.
And the story Jetfire wants to tell features a bunch of self-absorbed stupid ponies being rewarded for Harmony when they're pretty much not doing a damn thing for the little guy.
6201800
I'll ditto that. I am excited for the up & coming. Time to vibrate some camera frames.
6205260
I'm sorry, but I am actually correct in understanding that you are taking issue with the fact that mane characters have not just deus ex machina'd away the enemy with no casualties? (And thus negated the whole point of the story?) That you consider that they, personally, have failed because people (granted, a lot of people) have died in a war?
None of the actions the Mane Six could have taken could have prevented the mass deaths caused by the invasion of an overwhelming force. Now, I'll grant you, I have found the ease in which said forces have caused mass devastation to be the weakest part of this story, but that is a complaint I have to level at Jetfire's feet as narrative decision I somewhat disagree with[1], rather than a critism of how the Mane Six have acted given the events put upon them.
If I may ask, given you don't seem to be enjoying it at all (as your comments seem to indicate) and it apparently (no longer) you cup of tea, why are you still reading it?
[1]Less than I did before, since Princess Spike has illustrated that Equestria is SIGNIFICANTLY larger than I - and perhaps many others - had realised, considering there are at least fifty and potentially as many as 130 (from a gentlestallion on my local thread who counted the number of gems in the statue) cities. For comparison the UK, where "city" is a granted official status and can be applied to even small settlements occasionally (as opposed to a more generic term applied to a larger population centre), only has 69 cities (and about 3200 towns and cities combined, plus villages for referece); 2/7ths of which were granted that status since 1950 (where I very roughly eyeball Equestrian technology level). Equestria is very likely at LEAST the size (in order of decreasing population densities and thus increasing land area) of the UK or the slightly larger Germany or about 2-3 mid-sized US states - and could be much larger. The loss of the named cities doesn't suddenly seem quite as catastrophic as it did now when we thought that they might comprise a more significant fraction of Equestria.
Despite the terrible damage done to many cities in Germany during WW2, for example, the majority of settlements were not hit. (And even taking the upper estimates of civilian casulaties, it would be about 1% of the population. Which is, on an individual level a horrendous figure, but as a proportion, it is very small.) Manehatten and Fillidelpia and Canterlot may well be the Equestrian Dresden, Coventry or Nagasaki (et al), but now we are better informed, it is likely that there will be more cities at the edges of the country (of low strategic value) untouched, since simple logistics says that Ziggy couldn't maintain an army larger than the population (even Orcs had to eat) and if he could, this chapter would not have ended as well as the manner in which it did.
6205844 I take offense that they've barely noticed them to my eyes. Twilight's comments on Rarity becoming the enemy and Rarity flippantly dismissing it with that "who will love me now" comment as though she was the one who lost things not those she attacked.
and as I've said before, I have a hard time moving away from fiction I hate, it's like how some people have a hard time stopping looking at a car crash
6205872
That is because that is fundamental human nature.
Noone ever considers everyone. In the end, the people you care about will almost always take priority, on an instinctual level, over everyone else. For them you see merely as numbers.
Another thing is that now is not the time. Thinking about the consequences, at this given time, would be rather unproductive, due to it leading to a loss in morale. Thinking about the consequences still must be done, but there is a time and place for everything.
The Mane 6 are doing what they are for the people and country they love, by doing the course of action they think is the best possible. This affects all the little people as well. Merely because they do not take top priority does not mean they are completely irrelevant. And this prioritization, at least for me, is also the best route to take. Prioritizing the people you don't know is neither rational nor instinctual to me at least, so I see not why I should do so.
And the grandfather paradox is applicable in every situation. Your mere presence already has an influence on most surrounding particles, expanding in a field with roughly the speed of light. This influence influences every particle you were composed of, in the past, causing a feedback loop, as your influence gets indefinitely influenced with each iteration.
Finally, if you don't like something, it would be better you stop looking at it, if you can't stop it or meaningfully affect it. It will only lead to further pain on your side. Trust me, I speak from experience.
6207156
Indeed.
Let me put on my Uncharacteristically Deadly Serious Hat for a moment.
Whenever I see a demand for characters to act with utter selflessness far beyond what is normally expected, I have to ask whether the person making that question practises what they preach. I am, every day, VERY conscious of the priviledged status I live in, being from a first world country and having access to power, water, food, shelter, medicine and having the time to discuss magical talking ponies with people on the internet. I hav never had to walk miles for food or water, I've always had a roof over my head, I've never had to flee my home because of war or natural distasters. There are so many suffering people out there in the real world who do not have those basic things. The problems are not insurmountable and if everyhuman (and lich) made more of an effort, the amount of difference that could be made in enormous.
But we don't. Except for the laudable few, those who actually go out to places like Africa and spend all their time volenteering to help the truly needy, who go out to adopt children, who volenteer at rest homes (or even who serve in the emergancy services or armed forces) and so on - we don't. Most of us probably make the occasional donation to charity (those of us who are fortunate to be perhaps in a financial position to do so may even regularly do so (I am not)), but we all have the potential to do more. We could, in fact, be spending our time trying to help those in need, and not talking about magical talking ponies, or instead of spending money on our hobbies, send that to charities. But we don't. Because it's human (and ex-human) nature. I suspect me even bringing this point up will make many people uncomfortable, because people generally don't like to be reminded of such serious matters, as it can make them feel a little bit guilty.
(Me, I'm Evil, so I have no qualms about knowing that I'm being selfish. Nevertheless, I also takes pains to keep everything in perspective and heed the fact I know I am being.)
I'm not preaching or judging, nor am I suggesting we all rush out and devote our lives to charities or something (please note I said in the paragraph above we "could" and not that we "should"); I'm just saying that is the way it is. As harsh and uncool as that truth is to lay out on the table. Like I say, it is human nature. (I would politely suggest that we try to remember that, though.)
But I am of the opinion that only those among us who actually break that mould should be in a position to take the moral high ground and preach down to the rest of us for our various sins in this sort of instance: "do as I say, not as I do" is only an excuse, at the very end of the day.
All that said, I will also close out with a positive - the pony fandom actually HAS inspired people to attempt to be better people and do some lasting good in the world (there are plenty of examples, I don't think I need to list them), which is something worth remembering.
Right, I've said my piece, I'll go back into my corner and be quiet now (as we're also drifting rather far off topic).
6207156 Anyone who acts as an authority in time of danger has a duty to prioritize those who can't protect themselves. They certainly shouldn't be putting them in greater danger.
6207339 I don't feel that I'm taking some moral high ground with what I'm saying. As wrong as I feel the Mane 6, especially Rarity are, the stupidity is a far bigger issue. In fact it's them being dumbasses that's making them wrong
While most commenters raise valid points, I very much feel Rarity. Had I been in a situation where I had to take the choice she had to, I would have ended up crying in fetal position until it was too late to do anything.
6207575 then you would have done more good for Equestria than she did
6208456 Probably. I cannot know, I'm not a seer.
One does not simply walk into Equestria.
...it had to be said.
Anyways, thinking about it, yeah, Rarity's bullshit. She should have gotten on her knees and begged forgiveness, and even then it would have been questionable to accept her.
When you think about it, Rarity's whole deal was pointless. We could easily have had the same situation, with only rainbow dash being the one defecting to evil - at least she was forced to. Hell, Rarity could have done something or another to at least not kill other ponies - work behind the lines, use her powers to heal Reizeger's troops. Then, maybe, just maybe, Equestria wouldn't have been destroyed and the gang wouldn't have litterally been pressed against the ends of the country. But, in the words of Linkara, "no no no, we need to make it so completely HOPELESS, that it is simply LUDICROUS (that things could work out happily)! ... There's contrivances to make your stupid story work, and then there's "we're too lazy to THINK of a better explanation!"
Rarity wasn't taken out of the story so that she could have some redemption arc or whatever. She was taken out so that her future sight didn't affect the plot. It's the same damn thing you did with discord: remove all the plot elements which could potentially fix the problem in a heartbeat, so that the plot can continue on the rails. Ridiculous. If it causes plot holes, why did you give her the damn gift of prophecy in the first place?!
6201713 yes, yes, this story is mega amazing, it is known.
But i have a quetion to YOU!
How aware are you that your profile pic looks like a Magikarp?
literally everytime i see a comment by you i go like: "oh a magika... oh wait it's applejack..."
Anyway... sure hope Loyalty will push through by herself, instead of being helped by the elements... it would fit her more IMO, and would help her strengthen her element.
I'm neutral on Rarity' s course of action; I neither support nor condemn it. I do think it was rather jarring that Rarity pretty much said "Well, The Future says I turn evil, so I guess I have to turn evil." That's what is angering some people; it just feels stiff and "Deus Exit Machina" (from TvTropes, a convenient plot point to get a character's story-breaking powers out of the story for a bit).
What I envision for Rarity in the coming chapters is this:
The Mane Six are in the final battle against Reiziger. Rarity attempts to use her future sight to get the jump on him, but Reiziger spits in her eye to distract her and break her concentration. Since this is Reiziger, the spit starts infecting her eye, and fearing another corruption, Rarity tears it out. Fluttershy prepares to heal, but Rarity stops her, saying that this her punishment for her arrogance. Losing half her Sight is a small price to pay compared to the destruction she brought about as the Mythicorn.
6209525 Yes, it is.
Okay, shoot.
I'm sorry; a what?
Sorry, never heard of 'em.
Well, whatever floats your boat, dude.*shrugs*
Although I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that you're mistaking my profile pic of AJ for a ...whatever the heck the thing that you're talking about is.
And, as I've said before, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
And I, for one, am most eager to see the full and final climax! It should be a battle for the ages!
I agree with some of the reviewers who said that Rarity's explanation was too vague to be satisfying. It does make it sound like she turned herself over to Reiziger just because she Saw it happen. The easiest way I can think of improving it is to change Rarity's future vision so that she Saw Ziggy capturing one of the other M6 in addition to Rainbow (probably Twilight) if she didn't turn herself in. That way, Rarity's sacrifice would have a clearer purpose and a stronger emotional connection.
I know the real reason for Rare joining Ziggy is that she was too OP for the plot to keep going, but the explanation you come up with should make sense in-story.
6210102 media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9dvxe9ogL1qca498.gif
It's a fish pokemon.
Color is kinda alright (Tthe color is inconsistently orange/red)
The border of the card AJ is holding looks like its opened mouth.
6213197 Ah, okay.
No wonder I didn't know what it was. I hate Pokemon with a passion, so I generally tend to avoid anything to do with it.
And maybe we're seeing it differently, but...I just see the back of a playing card, not a mouth of any sort.
6213232
I don't recall you changing your profile icon within the last 2 weeks, so I am afraid the similarities are absolutely nothing between the two.
6208841
Pretty much this. That was a really, really disappointing ploy.
The sad thing is, it could have worked, narratively. But to do that, Evil Rarity would've had to play a much more critical and direct role in helping at least one of the others ascend. As is, it really does feel like she only did it so her future sight didn't solve everything too early.
Hell, you could've even played it like she expected to be deployed in some foretold bunch of situations that would help the Elements ascend, but Reiziger screwed her over by only using her to level cities far away from them all.
...Not sure I want to know how Rarity motivates Sweetie to do her homework or her apprentices (if she had any) to work harder. Dang Mare, you scary. Still, I understand her reasoning.