Your friendly local hollow eyed demon baby.
Sometimes, a spark is just a spark. Nothing comes of it, nothing grows. But sometimes, a spark can become a fire, burning bright and powerful.
It will not last forever. But it has a beauty all its own.
A series of moments throughout the lives of Rarity and Fluttershy.
Pre-reading and editing provided by Timaeus and auramane, and also pre-read by Carapace and MewKat.
Special thanks to Feenkatze for their help with straightening this out.
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Very, very nice
This is the first story I've read since almost a year on fimfiction, and I'm glad to have found it. This is definitely going on my fave list
Everything was perfect. Then ending was beautiful.
Thanks for writing this story :)
Oh wow. Wow. This is positively lovely. Just—wow.
Lovely writing, exquisite imagery, and I adore the role fire plays in the story. Please keep writing.
Okay, so, I'm gonna set aside everything I don't like about romance for a second..
AHEM....
I enjoyed this read
There were a lot of good set pieces in it, and I especially liked your ideas for how Ponyville sort of aged around the two mares. Now I want to read a story about Pumpkin and Pound Cake's adventures at odds with each other! The imagery with the fire was done very well, and the stuff about the forest fire being a purification for the future really resonated with me. I still remember the time I learned about fires being a natural part of a forest's life. It's stuck with me.
One thing I will say is that there was a lot of attribution for what they were doing. A lot of begans, smiles, head movements and the like that sort of kept taking me away from the dialogue and the story. I think you could have left a lot of those words out and gotten a better effect.
Anyways, I know you've said this is a kick to get you into writing again, and I'm very glad to hear it. Have you heard of the EFNW contest that's started up recently? I'm thinking of joining it, and I think your writing would suit the prompt.
5740205
I'm very glad you enjoyed it! And you are very welcome - I'm just glad I could make your return to fimfic a positive one.
5740420
Thank you!
Coming from you, that means a lot! I'm so glad you enjoyed it - I kind of consider you the standard for slightly convoluted romance stories (because Daring Do(esn't Need A Special Somepony) is genius), so for you to like it puts a huge smile on my face.
5740912
I wasn't expecting that. I'm glad that you could find something to enjoy in it despite your personal preference. 
I'm glad you liked Pound and Pumpkin, and the fire imagery. The twins appeared out of nowhere but I loved them instantly once they'd crystalised in my head - and the entire story was built out of the fire imagery. I had the title before anything else, and I got it from watching a fireplace and thinking "wow this is really pretty maybe I could write something about it".
Oh wow, you actually read this?
As for your criticisms - you make an excellent point. The reason for a lot of these movements is that stories often play out in my heads a bit like movies - what they are doing is just as important as what they are saying. Dialogue is also something of a weakness of mine, so I tried to use description and imagery more as it is something I'm stronger at. That said, I can see why you thought there was too much - I think I got a bit nervous about the reader not understanding what the characters were doing and went overboard. I'll keep it in mind for next time.
Also I hadn't heard of the contest (mainly because I'm not in place to go to any cons
), but it sounds good! It doesn't cover the deadline in the blog for some reason - but you're right about the prompt suiting me. I think I could definitely do something with that. Thanks for pointing me at it! 
5741783 Actually, that blog post just has too much information in it to find anything. About halfway through it says that entries are accepted until March 24th.
5742099
Ah, got it. Thanks!
5742419
"COME ON BABY LIGHT MY FIRE"
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/5/8/320181__safe_solo_rarity_singing_microphone_spotlight_artist-colon-secoh2000.jpeg
5742481
Also:
th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/115/8/4/disturbed_pumpkin_cake_by_necronomiconofgod-d4xjpw5.png
5745015
Thank you for pointing that out!
....Well shit.
Nice
Sweet 
Sad 
5749562
Thanks.
You're stories are like the songs of Ponyphonic. We only get like 1 or 2 a year, but theyr'e always worth the wait.
5750505
And thanks for the fave too.
Being a big fan of ponyphonic, holy shit that's one hell of a compliment. Thanks proto.
Also I may be writing more in the near future. As in the next week.
This... story... is so touching... *Bawls.* Fave, thumbs up, download!
5833914
Thank you so much for the high praise! I'm glad you could enjoy it so much.
A bit rough around some edges; specifically, the dialogue and the POV felt just out of character at times. But the fire theme was strong and actually really deep, so I guess that makes up for it.
5854538
Oh wow thank you! I'm glad you could like it despite it's flaws - this was a rather rushed piece, and I'm a pretty unpolished writer, so I'm not surprised there were issues. Thank you for favouriting it anyway - and I'm glad you liked the fire theme.
Whose dialogue/POV felt out of character? And what specifically about it? I suspect it was probably Rarity - I'd love any input you're willing to share!
5857158
NATURALLY, THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Alright, then let's take a closer look and maybe go a teensy bit into detail. *writes wall of text* The tiniest of bits.
The first scene I'd say is good as it is. What put me off was the part after that.
It starts with the first paragraph, which is long and messy and where you can easily miss the viewpoint change. Then we have:
Since "the unicorn" is the subject of the first sentence, you might assume that she's also referred to by the pronoun in the second one. It's happening again later.
After starting off with those little confusions, the POV is barely used. I had to remind myself multiple times whose perspective it is, and while dialogue-heavy scenes like this have a tendency towards those shortcomings, it doesn't exactly help that you focus so much on what Rarity does. One line is pretty interesting:
Aside from the fact that you didn't capitalize the "she" (you might want to do a little research on said-tags and punctuation of dialogue). What you do here feels like describing Rarity's POV through Fluttershy's; Rarity percieves Fluttershy relaxing and reacts by smiling.
It gets better towards the end of the scene. But then comes the big bang.
First of all, tackling somepony down and kissing them without any warning if you don't know if they actually want that is not romantic, it's sexual harassment. I know that commercial mainstream romance is putting really bad examples, but honestly, I don't think it's anything Rarity would do. Especially since she doesn't even seem to expect her feelings being returned.
No. Just no.
Then we get Rarity's POV in disguise. No Fluttershy POV at all beyond that point.
This was the point where I actually wanted to give it a dislike. The rest I believe is better, but no guarantees, since I'll not analyze the whole thing.
I must say though, now that I've been consciously paying attention to character voice and POV, that most of it is actually really well-done.
So, let's look at some of Fluttershy's dialogue next:
This doesn't seem to me like something Fluttershy would ask. She's not that invasive, is she?
Same as above. She might offer to listen, or kindly ask, but I can't see her using the imperative there. Not to mention that she'd never "gaze with a startling intensity" aside from using the stare.
I checked on Rarity's dialogue as well just to be sure, but it's good, with only one thing I found to pick at:
"I don't know", doesn't seem to me like a phrase Rarity would be using.
And now that I'm at it, I might as well mention the other details that stroke me.
First of all, it's considered bad style to write things like "the white unicorn" or "the shy pegasus". I'm just proud that you didn't write "the fashionista", but really, if you've ever heard of that term: this is what's meant by "lavender unicorn syndrome".
Another thing is Fluttershy's stuttering. It's completely legitimate to write "A-are you okay?" when she's actually startled or nervous or something, but try not to overdo it or it'll get annoying. Same with fillers like "um" and "oh".
One last thing, you can't use "smile" as a said-tag; you don't smile "I'd like a cappuccino, please" to the waiter but you say it, right?
That's all that comes to my mind right now. And yes, it's true, I did enjoy the story in the end; I probably should have mentioned that in my comment. I like stories in which you see the ship growing old and dying, and even from the technical side it's not at all bad.
5858744
You. Are. Awesome.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. As a writer I really appreciate the feedback, and as an editor I admire your thoroughness.
Now: I am going to argue back on some of these points. Please don't take this as the "this is my story, I'll do what I want!" attitude that I've seen some writers take. Rather, I am simply providing counter points to some of yours, and I would love to hear what counter-counter points you have to mine.
I have nothing to say to this other than that you are absolutely right - the POV here is a mess. Thank you for focusing my attention on it.
I'm not sure I entirely agree with you here. While tackling may perhaps have been over the top, I find it hard to believe that simply kissing someone if you don't know whether they want it is sexual harassment - if that were the case, I doubt many romances/relationships would have ever started. Kissing someone who clearly doesn't want to be kissed? Definitely not good. Kissing someone again if they are not receptive of your initial advances? Also not good.
But saying that kissing someone to express your attraction to them is sexual harassment doesn't seem quite right to me. I'm not of course saying that that was your message - if I simply didn't convey that this was the situation in the text, then that is definitely something to fix.
Eheheh. Yeaaaaah, it's pretty clear I don't have much experience in this field, huh?
That's pretty much the only thing I can say in my defence about this line, as well as the fact that I was attempting to make this section as sappy as possible. On reflection, this line was a terrible idea, and I will fix it ASAP.
I'll have a look at this, but I think it was more that I left Fluttershy's POV behind and tried to focus on both of them from a third-person perspective. Obviously I didn't do this very well - another thing I will revisit.
Here is the first place where I really must disagree. Perhaps the first line of dialogue doesn't feel quite in character, but your overall point about Fluttershy I'm not sure I agree with - in this context. Yes, Fluttershy is absolutely not the kind of person to normally be assertive or really speak up at all. But we've also seen that she can be very assertive, even passionate, on both the rare occaisions when she loses her temper, and - more importantly for this example - when she is confronting something to do with those she cares about. Be it her friends or her animals, Fluttershy has a hidden well of strength when it comes to helping them. In this scenario, while I agree that perhaps the first example is a little too invasive for a simple conversation between friends, she is worried for Rarity - her friends is acting very abnormally, as she would normally be right in the thick of things, the socialite that she is. Instead she is sitting alone off to the side, and that worries Fluttershy a little. In the second example - well, Rarity is clearly very troubled about something, and on the verge of telling her what it is. As I said earlier, when it comes to her friends, Fluttershy can be very assertive.
...Or at least that's how I see it. Sorry for the wall of text.
Hmm. I can see her using it, but I do agree that there are things that would be more in character for Rarity. I'll have a look at it.
I have indeed heard of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome, and even as I published this I was slightly aware that I may have used those terms a bit too much. What I will say in my defence is that this was a rather rushed piece - I was trying to write it for someone's birthday, and I was rather late on that front. As for why I used so many of those in the first place - well, using "Rarity said" or "Fluttershy said" all the time can be almost as bad as full-blown LUS, and the way I was writing this using "she" constantly would have become confusing fast.
That said, as far as I'm aware LUS refers more to the overuse of these terms - using them sparingly doesn't seem like it would be that bad. As I said though, I did probably overuse them a little here (though I don't think I went full terribad), and I'll have a go at cutting some of these.
Huh. I didn't think I'd been that bad with this. I'll cut it down.
Now see, I know that this is a style thing. Grammatically it's not really correct, but it is used in writing. I'll find where I've used it and have another look, but I might not change this one if I really like how it works in that context.
Apologies for the massive wall of text - and I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, even with the issues.
5860063
Well, if anyone did that to me, even a friend, I'd be freaked. Maybe talking too much can be boring in a story (depends on the pacing I guess), but there's always the more careful route of slowly approaching the other one to see how they react. It's just important that the intentions are clear and the feedback is positive, otherwise I would consider it indeed harassment. And even if you feel differently about that, others around you might not, so in all seriousness, I wouldn't advise you to try and kiss someone just like that (we're talking first time!). Respect people's comfort zones, please, for their sake if not your own.
But that only as a side note, as it has nothing to do with the actual technical stuff that we were talking about.
That you've succeeded in! And, well, I'm all down for sappy romance, but I don't think it really fits your style in this.
That's true, and I get that she really wants Rarity to tell her, so I don't think she would be shy or vague or undetermined here. But, just those two words, that's really direct; it's the way I'd expect Rainbow Dash to ask, or even Rarity, but not Shy. And, like I said, staring until Rarity is startled? Maybe it's just me getting it the wrong way, I can't rule that out; it's just something that definitely stroke me when I read it. But I don't think it's a huge issue either way.
Do that; you might be surprised. I mean, it's not as bad as some things I've already read, but as a rule it's usually considered to be bad to have any of those with very few exceptions, like, to emphasize distance ("Dash narrowed her eyes searching the skies for Twilight, and indeed; the purple alicorn appeared in between two clouds, heading straight for her home.") or to signal relationships with the viewpoint character ("But Luna seemed to be unharmed; with a sigh of relief, Celestia rushed forwards to hug her sister."). I don't know how much you could argue that it can be a part of the style, but usually, before you can break rules you have to follow and understand them, so it might be helpful to perhaps just hunt them down for testing purposes, or at least think really carefully about why you would or wouldn't want them. Same goes for the "smiled" thing.
5870276
Don't worry - I'm far too shy to do this!
In all seriousness, you're right. I know I would feel extremely uncomfortable if I was subjected to this, and I couldn't see myself doing it to someone else either.
But, I still don't think it's sexual harassment. A bad idea? Yes. It isn't something I would do, like I said, and I can see it turning out quite badly. And if you kiss someone, and prevent them from trying to pull away, or do it when they clearly don't want to, that is indeed sexual harassment. Kissing someone out of the blue on the other hand merely seems naive - but it is something I can see Rarity doing. She is after all enamoured with the idea of romance - I could see her getting many ideas from cheesy terrible romance novels - and on top of that is an extremely passionate person. With both the kind of person she is and her own (perhaps naive) preconceptions of romance, I could see her doing this. As (I hope) I showed, she is mortified by her own actions immediately afterwards, and what keeps things going is Fluttershy's own positive response.
Anyway, other than that, I've fixed a lot of the things we discussed and tweaked some of the scenes as well - and also found a laundry list of typos while I was doing so.
The "Tell me" bit is still there, but I think I've clarified it a little - same with the kiss at the end of that same scene. I've cut down quite a few of the "pegasus"'s and "unicorn"'s, but there are still some throughout the piece.
I think this should be better now - and I found a way to tie it back to the fire theme as well!
Even when I try to write sappy stuff, I can't resist making it serious.
Yeah, as you can probably tell sappy romance is not the normal topic of my writing.
Again, I'd love to hear what you think now that I've made a few tweaks - the only bit that maybe I haven't changed quite enough is the section you described as "Rarity's POV in disguise", but I think I've made it clearer that it's sort of supposed to be a more third person perspective, shifting away from Fluttershy to an outside point of view. I'd also be interested to hear what you think of "Rarity being the sort of person to
sexually harasskiss people without much warning."Great job.........no I mean it this was great. Its starting to honestly astound me what I find on this site. I really liked the twist yet predictable moments (called the boutique burning down). Flaws.... well a couple
1: time jumps were a little bigger than expected, I mean it went from a month to 4 years to 20 years to 50 years, but alas its a minor complaint
2: the ending, now I thought the ending was great but I think fluttershy dieing while applejacks granddaughter watching & the fire going out seemed a bit forced (also, she had no family with her at all? I don't think I buy that)
But these are really just minor complaints on otherwise the best rarishy fic (and one of the best fics overall) I've read on this site
6091046
Thank you very much for the kind words, and for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
As for what you said:
1: The Timeskips.
I see what you mean, but I think for the story I was trying to tell here, the longer timeskips were better. I decided to go for the important moments, as it were, rather than a set jump of say, 10 years or so.
2: The Ending.
You're absolutely right - but that wasn't really the point. The ending was supposed to be more symbolism significant than anything else - as a narrative ending, yes it could perhaps have been a little stronger. But I like the way it ties everything together.
If you have any other questions/points to raise, please do - I'm always happy to discuss this stuff with people.
5857158
Hey, Meridian! Sorry for not leaving any comments earlier and I noticed your message way to late.
I loved this fic and despite being a huuuge Rarijack fan, I have no problem enjoying other Rarity shippings. Especially not when they are as cute and romatic as this one. I loved the idea of letting the reader follow through a series of key point in Rarity and Fluttershy's life like that and how you made fire a theme throughout the story.
You really put some effort into the dialogue and I loved every part of interaction between the two, it had a lot of feelings behind it and despite the sad yet beautiful ending I finished reading this with a huge smile upon my lips. A few tears later and I quickly added this to my fave list.
Lovely work and thanks for sharing such a beautiful story with us. You should really write more fiction with Rarity, you really handled her very well. *Hugs*
6271972
Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to comment - even if it is late, it's still very much appreciated.
So, to answer a few of your comments:
I'll let you in on a little secret - I'm a much bigger Rarijack and Raridash fan than Rarishy. But I've always looked at shipping as more of a scale than anything else: there are some I like more than others, but there are very few I actually dislike.
Thank you! Those two things were really the backbone of the entire story. My plan before writing was "sappy Rarishy with fire symbolism", and the first thing I did when I actually started writing was put in this "key moments" structure. So I'm glad you noticed that.
You say the sweetest things.
I want toooo!
So many ideas, so little time.
6273662
Oh, hello again, darling.
I agree with you to at least some degree, Rarijack is frickin' adorable to me but I've learned to like most shippings if they're handled in the right way or like in this case, written very well. Not long ago I was a frequent hater of the Sparity Ship but when I stumbled upon the fantastic Kilala97's faniverse I was so taken by her art and ideas. She did Sparity in just the right way for someone like me to enjoy and if you haven't checked her stuff out, do it. Do it now!
Well, I think you did something unique here. When I saw the title of the fic I took it for just a fancy title but it wasn't hard to take notice of what was the theme for the story. I really enjoy romantic and sappy stories every now and then, and this had some really sweet moments in it and I must admit I really liked the bonfire scene. Rarity being the one to make the move and kiss Fluttershy was sweet and I think it suited her character, as you stated in another comment;
, so personally, I think you did a good job with that one.
*Blush*
Erh... h-hehe, well... you deserved the praise, hun. 
Don't worry about it. I understand what you mean and I know it's hard to find time for everything, no pressure. But I hope to see you write more fics when you got the time, till then you got yourself another follower.
6275066
I believe I have seen her stuff (although I do like the sparity ship anyway
).
I repeat - you say the sweetest things!
But yes, the title was actually something I put a decent amount of thought into - I prefer when my titles actually mean something (I did the same with my first story, and my most recent one is a rather silly reference). And I'm glad you like my interpretation of the character too! She's quite a complex one, but that makes her all the more interesting.
Thank you! I hope I will make it worth your while in the future.
6276929
Hey, sorry if I keep bugging you, darling.
Okay, that's cool. I think Kilala deserve the attention for her next gen characters and whatnot. She is talented and her drawings are super cute, anyways... I know I said I was a hater of Sparity but maybe hater was a bit strong. I knew there was a lot of Sparity fans out there but I wasn't really a fan about the whole idea of shipping Rarity with a baby dragon, I mean, he's a baby!
But I learned to accept that we all have our favorite shippings and whatever floats your boat, right? But as I mentioned, Kilala's faniverse with the boyishly handsome and grown up Spike and his relationship with Rarity was amazing, and their kids...
It was enough to make me see just how adorable the Sparity ship could be when it was handled well.
Oh, she sure is. But that is also one of the many reasons why Rarity is my favorite character, and I really enjoy to see how different authors imagine her to think, behave or act. Like you said, she's complex.
Heh, I have no doubt, dear. But as I said, no pressure, art can not be stressed. And again, sorry for bugging you repeatedly, I just got a bit overwhelmed by your friendly replies and I enjoy talking to authors and fellow pony fans a lot. I've met so many wonderful people since I joined the fandom and I treasure those encounters in which I am able to disscuss something I love within the fandom, like fanart, fictions, ships or headcanons... even clop... *Ahem* without being afraid to start a flamewar or getting into a pointless argue, you know? So thanks for your replies and for being awesome in general.
6279077
I should really be the one thanking you - and have no fear about bugging me either! I've been enjoying our little conversation.
I understand completely where you're coming from - it's why I always try and be friendly with people who actually come and take the time to read what I have written. As we've both just seen, sometimes it can spark up quite a nice conversation! And it really is fun to discuss things you enjoy without fear of mindless bickering starting up.
But seriously, thank you for all your feedback, and please don't think you were bugging me. One thing that has truly stood out about this fandom to me (despite the many, many people who would say something to the contrary) is how open and friendly people are, and I'm glad I could continue that tradition.
Took me for-freaking-ever to get to it, but thank you for writing this, Meri! It's a sweet little story (well, minus the sad part in the middle).
Also, old couple Fluttershy and Rarity are adorable.
6661595
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I did write it for you after all.
No but seriously. Glad you liked it mate.
6664787
The world needs more RariShy. I'd right that wrong myself, but I'm lazy.
Well, now you know that a good gift for my birthday is pretty much any kind of Fluttershipping. You've still got three and a half months to think up a new one! :P
7578366
Well I'm glad you liked it, even if it made you cry...
A very nice piece of Flarity and nice prose to boot.
9374195
Why thank you! It's been a long time since I wrote this and I'd like to think I've improved since, but it was the first thing I wrote with any real length to it, so I'm happy to see it still stands up to scrutiny!
9375596
Indeed it does! I've seen you around for a while; I didn't realize you actually had a few stories, though. I figured it was time to give a few a read, since I tend to read a little of everyone here and there. Or, almost everyone.
9375691
And I often find an author I've been meaning to give a look for a while and just binge a few of their stories, so it's kind of flattering to be on the other side of that.
I know the feeling! As my ridiculous favourites list may reveal, I am definitely in the habit of dabbling here and there.
9375811
Crap, we have the same reading habits. This calls for a duel or somethin'.