Clink. Clink. Clink.
Rarity sat alone inside Carousel Boutique’s kitchen, her spoon clinking against her cup as she stirred her warm tea. She took out the spoon, placed it to the side, and then lifted the cup, but before she could take a sip her body intervened. She coughed once, twice, thrice, and her hoof rose to her chest and rubbed in slow circles.
When the coughing fit subsided, she finally lifted her cup and took her coveted sip, her eyes scanning the table and landing on a book. A leather-bound purple book about old magic spells. A book that looked brand new despite being a thousand years older than Rarity herself.
The final lost book.
Rarity put down the cup and floated the book over, gingerly taking it in her hooves. She ran her hoof over the cover, because it still felt surreal. The book she’d looked for all her life, found only once time had caught up to her. Destiny liked playing cruel tricks on her, much like it had made sure that she—not Amethyst—would be the one to find the last book.
A present from a client given to her because she always asked about old books.
She opened it and her eyes settled themselves on the painfully familiar calligraphy decorating the top of the page. For just a moment, she imagined herself as a young mare again, foolish and in love, running to the library in the forest with the last book, moments away from seeing her princess free at last.
“Rarity?” Amethyst Wind’s voice rang from a distance, and immediately Rarity closed the book and pushed it away. “Is the book ready?!”
Fear gripped her for a moment. No, she wanted to say, no, it’s not ready.
But she didn’t, because another voice replied, repeating over and over that her time was done. Her time was done, done, done, ended decades ago in Canterlot Castle, and now she had no choice but to let go.
She cleared her throat. “Yes, darling!”
“Okay!” Amethyst called back, excitement ringing in her voice. “I’m going to call her, then!”
Rarity sipped her tea again, distracting herself with the sensation of the hot drink burning her tongue. She didn’t want to see, truth be told. She wanted to leave, wanted to do everything but bear witness to what followed, but she had to, didn’t she?
Finally, Amethyst stepped in, smiling like a filly, her eyes glowing and Rarity’s… Rarity’s former necklace hanging around her neck, glowing bright pink. Amethyst did not spare the unicorn a glance as she went straight for the book on the table.
She picked it up, slowly, gently, and tears bordered her eyes. “Look, sweetie,” she whispered, opening it and brushing her hoof against Twilight’s hoofwriting. “It’s the last one.”
Even though shame burned her, Rarity looked away. She’d never seen Amethyst use the necklace before, and now that she did, she realized it was more than she could handle. Tears stung at her eyes, and she forced herself to look back to Amethyst. She tried to smile, but the smile did not come.
After a moment, Amethyst closed the book, giggling with delight and hugging the book against her chest, apparently still in communication with Twilight. She opened her mouth to speak but, instead, she shifted her sight away from the book and toward Rarity herself. Her expression changed immediately, the ecstatic smile fading just as the book slipped from her grasp and loudly fell to the floor, ignored by the two mares.
Amethyst stared at Rarity, and Rarity stared back because somewhere in there, perhaps now leading the two intertwined minds, Twilight Sparkle was looking at her for the first time in decades.
And now…
Now Rarity smiled, tilting her head to the side and speaking up.
“Hello, darling.”
Amethyst held Rarity’s gaze for a moment before, suddenly, the necklace’s connection ended so abruptly it threw Amethyst off. The younger mare stepped back, her hoof going to her head and rubbing.
“Oh, wow, uhm…” She opened her eyes, blinked three times and cleared her throat. “That’s weird, I kinda zoned out there…” She giggled nervously, picking the book up from the floor. “She got too excited about the book, I guess!” she ventured, lifting her hoof and pressing it against her necklace. She sighed and continued, “I’m so happy, Rarity. I’m so, so, so happy…” She looked up at the unicorn. “I owe this all to you.”
Rarity bowed her head. “It was my pleasure.”
Amethyst took a deep breath. “Okay! I’m going to go now!” she exclaimed, seemingly invigorated by all that had just transpired, and Rarity couldn’t blame her for it. “I’m going to finally save my Twilight…” She drifted off, giggling nervously, and rushed forward to hug Rarity. “Wish me luck?”
When Amethyst pulled back, Rarity shook her head. “You don’t need it,” she said, and with that, the younger mare nodded and ran off, taking with her the last missing book of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Don’t wait up for me!” Amethyst called, and Rarity simply took her tea again.
Rarity decided to wait, but not for Amethyst’s sake.
\ o /
8053709 Agreed.
Monochromatic.
You are my favorite horse.
But I swear to Celestia, so help me, if you don't take my heart out of that vice right this instant, I will be alternately very sad and very cross.
8053725
Don't you mean in next chapter?
Jeez, you write quick. Another chapter in less than a week? Then again, nothing excites quite like the third act, so I suppose your fingers are itching at the keyboard. I can't wait.
Jupiter, can I look yet? Is it safe? :'(
Well, I think Monochromatic will tease us at 1st April.
8053789 of course she will, like the unrepentant evil witch she is, tugging and playing on our heartstrings!!!
You are an evil, evil enchantress, Mono! You want to make us suffer so, waiting A WHOLE WEEK for another chapter!! How dare you!?!
By the way, what's the name of the kind of cypher you use, again?
8053868
Vigenere cypher
Stare at dat Themisto avatar...
origin.webcdn.theblackdesertonline.net/forum/service_live/monthly_12_2015/somuchwant.jpg.42faa9342e9e7f28bdca5ae18844d8ce.jpg
8054039
Third letter is hard to find, but can be guessed
Monochromatic, words cannot describe both how infuriating and how captivating your story has been thus far. Good to see that I was right on the curse's method of spreading.
On Discord and his "actions" in Chapter 28 - Well done! Discord is very much a less scrupulous, more hedonistic Q. He does things for HIS enjoyment, and if for some reason he is not having fun - then the game is dull, and he HAS to change it. Case and point - Rarity was actually making headway against his "already having won", thus he was enjoying the game again, but now she's cursed, and thus his "victory" is assured again. Being a winner for over one thousand years, and watching ponies just forget about you and your game is NOT fun for him. I'm thinking Discord is treating this "game" of his like a gigantic Oubliettes & Ogres game, with real ponies as the 'game pieces' and Equestria and beyond as the game board. This is an unreformed Discord that four Princesses were bargaining with, who is solely interested in his own amusement. Again, well done on Discord.
But as for the infuriating part of it, the curse - it's too perfect. The way it is now, Everypony in Equestria, even Discord himself eventually, will be affected by it. Then it's truly "game over", but because Discord cannot find the other three Princesses to gloat to them, even he loses. The nature of Chaos magic, is that it is always in a state of flux, ready to alter or change itself at any given moment. You found a method to 'remove the curse' via brute-force magic, like a virus adapting to immune responses, it changes. That method of breaking it might only apply to one pony, or might be different for each one, sometimes slightly so, sometimes radically. That's Chaos magic to me - no 'standard' rules apply. It's like living, sentient magic, based on Discord's will.
That? That there? Is beautiful. I love this little bit, right here. I want to dig in with my hind-claws and make a nest on it.
8054048
A fault might appear in the magic. Or possibly already has. Remember, Order is born from Chaos, and Chaos from Order in turn. Just a matter of 'how long will it take'.
*Old lady Rarity rolls up newspaper*
"No Harmony!" *wack* "Bad Harmony!" *thwack* "That's MY Twilight! Bad!"
Is what I wish Vision Rarity would do!
Even well aged, looks like you still have it, Rarity.
...
You made me cry again...
I hate you...
Great chapter(s) though...
I once looked upon each of these updates with happy anticipation.
...
Now it's dreadful, painful trepidation.
Though there's still the same excitement and I stop doing whatever to read.
Anyway, let's see if I can't find something to cheer me up.
Ciao
Nightjar
P.S.: I don't really hate you. Y'know, just...right now I do...
The following also contains profanity.
DREAMWORLD YOU FUCK
You're having way too much fun with these interlude AUs.
I'm having too much fun imagining what might've happened if Rarity had managed to surprise Discord with that book and actually knocked him the fuck out. What would Rarity even do with an unconscious Discord? Break his ribs? Lug a draconequus through the streets of Canterlot in broad daylight and present him to Princess Cadenza? Would she even know what to do with him, and does anyone know how to suppress his magic for when he wakes up? How would Discord react to it all when he does wake up?
It's an amusing scenario to think about, and to distract me from your horrifically depressing interludes.
8054048
Exactly the point here. Either he can bend it at any time he wants - utilising something most elaborate and fun for him, and obviously different from case to case - be it directly or by proxy, or the magic itself can understand what it should do even in very specfic situations, what with "based on his will" and all.
I rest my case.
Oh my god. Now I am really starting to freak out. Even with half of act 3 to go, we still have part II of EL. Which means, if I remembered correctly that there will be 2 "books". So this foreshadowing in making me really antsy and honestly quite frightened, not so much about the fic not finishing but that something like that could actually still happen.
That is the true power of mono. The author that I have the utmost respect and adoration for. These feels are what brings me back again and again, no matter how hard it is or how much it makes me "hate" mono for fiddling with the feels as she does(and being incredibly good at it) .
To continue from my first paragraph. Having read mono's: "Demons and Desires" and "Injuring Eternity" both a must read mind you and reading through both exceptional stories, the prospect of EL leaning more towards IE with the foreshadowing of "visions" makes my heart race like there is no tomorrow. The only thing that gives me comfort is the fact there is no sad tag yet. I can expect my heart to drop the moment it should appear.
Ok enough rambling. Tnx for the update and can't wait to see what you do in the next chapter
8053659 I can't tell if it's a face or a drowning man or a cry for help or something entirely different.
Whatever it is
It speaks to me.
Oogh, I'm not even in this for the ship, so much as the excellent storytelling; but oh, is this stressful, even for me.
I'm enjoying this interludes quite a lot.
Hrm. There is a part of me, when reading these interludes, that is like. Luna, what you is doing? But then I think, actually, this isn't just a dream, it's a vision, possibly of the future, or a potential one. Almost educational, it seems to be setting up a little teaching moment.
This has holy pony prophet Celestia written all over it, methinks.
8054690
You rested your case too early, my friend ...
Thought exercise time (also a way to explain the drawback to the clone spell from D&D). Think on this - if you made a perfect clone of yourself, that knew everything you did, thought like you, and even had the exact same personality. Could you both coexist, or would "nature" drive one of you to kill the other?
Answer - we all have an ego that says to us, on the primal level "We are unique, we are the only <insert name here> in the world right now". Suddenly this clone pops into existence. We might be able to suppress our ego for a time, but only truly spectacular specimens of self-discipline could ever fully master their own ego. In short, one or the other, as both think they are the genuine article, will go kill-crazy on their doppelganger.
If Chaos-magic is, as I posited, sentient and it's personality is BASED ON Discord's will, that could also mean that, as part of it's innate randomness, it gained sapience and now has it's own desire to win, even against it's would-be 'father/creator'. Thus, the ironic "Discord cursing himself" scenario I posited. The rest was a dissertation on my understanding of some depictions of Chaos-magic, and Mono's depiction is so far holding true to them, after a fashion.
So, to quote Moroes from Karazhan, "Now where was I...? Oh yes ...!"
8053659
\o_
Keep calm and make contact
Swear to god Mono you actually cuck us like this and I will burn your house down with lemons
Not really but y u do dis
8055433 actually, I rested it because I thought I will not be able to hold up in further discussion, but wait wait, back up a second.
Who said anything about clones? The way I see it, "based on his will" while being sentient means it knowing what it should do(in our case - what alignment of chaotic to be for the most entertainment to be produced in different situations) and deciding the finer details for itself, rather than have all the memories/feelings/etc that Discord has.
Also, while I'm interested in D&D, I never had a chance to actually play it/learn about it/what have you, so I'm pretty much lost on when the conversation stirs that way.
8056037
8055433
To spin this discussion another way. i suggest a different thought.
What is a spell - a caster's intent imposed on the world around him at the moment of casting. We know that Discord's magic is perpetuating - it will last until removed. We also know it is semi-sentient, as it reacts to the world around it - case in point - Dragon caves. Various instances (the maze in the library, objects in the castle or the painting in Dragon caves) have existed for a long time, What else do we know or can infer from what we've seen already?
Nah, I'm fine. You just ripped my heart into a million pieces and set the shattered remains on fire.
8056692 Monochromatic, The Emotional Manipulator.
Sounds good doesn't it?
Damn...right in the feelings T_______T
*heavy breathing*
Looks like I was wrong, and there's a curse after all. But that's fine, because it looks like ol' Dissy is about to give Rarity a hint.
It's a game, after all, and games are no fun if there's no element of risk involved.
8054570 My thoughts exactly. Got another one ready for the next chapter?
If this ends up being the actual end, I am not going to be happy. Don't make this a repeat of the time skip and Twilight's suffering in La Princesse, Mono, I am BEGGING you.
8055966
_o/
Make contact
8058240 Depends on how b***s*** dinner with Discord is.
8057858 seems like rarity figured out how to break the curse already... but is likely unaware of it?
8058761
I'm not sure "break" is the correct word for it. "Subvert" maybe? But hey, this is Discord we're talking about. I think we'll just have to wait and see.
Oh. That was the last updated chapter. Discord seems to have had the last laugh regardless.
8058417 Something tells me that were gonna get a bomb dropped on us, and it isn't what we're expecting.
Instead of a big info-bomb, Discord could very well let loose with an f-bomb.
8058986 Rarity will drop the f-bomb, methinks. She's rather pissed about all this.
8058017 I am The Machine!
Well, Rarity's as adorably dumb as ever. I want to just correct her in every way that she's wrong, wrong, wrong, but I have to respect the genuity of her passion. She never stops trying, so when she gets stuck, she flails around like a fly trying to get past the window, but given a little calm and an opportunity, she always makes the right choice.
These interludes are touching and tragic and all, but I have trouble believing it would take Rarity decades into her old age, before she could indirectly trick some clueless pony into delivering all of Twilight's books. Rarity's just done such a good job so far, and even the hardest to find books wouldn't take that long to track down. Perhaps she'd hold back out of spite, until a "worthy" enough pony came forward, such as her daughter, but I think Rarity's love for the princess and her genuine desire to help would win her over.
Anyway, just my thoughts.
...
I think Rarity should avoid telling Rainbow Dash about her meeting with Discord, in a way that deliberately rouses Rainbow Dash's suspicions and gets her to follow Rarity, for no reason other than to piss off Discord who didn't want the rainbow pony to disrupt their meeting.
8059908
Aren't you being too condescending to Rarity?
After all, you know a lot of meta-information, which she by definition can't learn. And, well, get in her shoes, man. She has much on her mind.
8059908
I think there's been a bit of misreading!
It's been clearly stated, or was, at least, in the first interlude, that those are dreams!
This story has torn me to pieces like no other great work of literature has. I barely understand how I feel about all the characters. It's so good, and everything is just...so perfect. I'm going to go cry now.