//------------------------------// // Author's Notes // Story: The Gemmed Satyr // by The Rarispy //------------------------------// Ahh. And at last, here we are. The Gemmed Satyr is finally finished, and once again, we are at the part where I thank every one of you for reading my story, give some insight on the development behind it, and of course, share what’s coming up next.   I first had the idea for The Gemmed Satyr a couple of months after I had begun writing The Sweetest Gem back in 2011. A lot of elements of it, such as Rainbow’s role in the story and Rarity’s dramatic reactions to Fluttershy's initial confession, were inspired by an excellent Scootabelle fic by darkshadow051 called New Discoveries… which itself was apparently inspired by elements of The Sweetest Gem.   Hmmm.   Much like its predecessor, The Gemmed Satyr was ultimately written as my response to something I had noticed within the MLP fanfiction community that bothered me.   Fluttershy X Rarity is, as you probably figured by this point, my favorite Mane Six pairing, arguably even my favorite pairing overall. However, as I’ve read various Flarity fics around FIMFiction.net and other sites, there’s one common thing within them that always stood out to me.   Suddenly, Rarity likes mares.   So many fics do that, and not even exclusively Flarity. After all the gushing she’s done over Prince Blueblood in the first season, and how she uses her feminine charm to coax men into doing what she wants, you can’t just have Rarity reciprocate Fluttershy’s love with absolutely NO explanation. Rarity is the only one of the Mane Six to have her sexuality explicitly displayed in the show, so you have to work with that if you honestly expect me to believe that Rarity is suddenly homosexual now, or even bisexual.   So, yes. Creating a story where Rarity is trying to find the perfect stallion, at the same time Fluttershy wants to confess her love to her, was my idea on how to write a fanfic revolved around addressing that concern of “Suddenly Sexuality”.   The idea to have it told in back-to-back first person narrative between the two of them came a little later. So The Gemmed Satyr also became an experiment for me in writing with that style, much like how The Sweetest Gem was my first story written in narrative format.   And some people have noticed that various chapters experiment with different methods of using the first-person narrative. “Rainbow’s Faith” is entirely supported by dialogue with almost no narrative context, whilst “Reaction Time” and “Feels Familiar” begin with the same scene, but from different perspectives.   But anyway, writing this story was a great experience for me. Not only did I get to experiment with some different styles, but I was able to use what I learned from writing The Sweetest Gem, such as actually outlining the entire fic before getting started writing, to make what is hopefully a more sophisticated and well-written piece of literature (even though it’s probably still not as good story-wise as TSG).   I also learned the hard way that I need to improve my scheduling plans and work better at setting aside more time for myself to work on writing, so you guys aren’t waiting two weeks at a time for updates. Sorry about all of that, by the way.   So next, I’d like to take the time to once again thank each and every one of you out there who actually took the time to read my story, and especially those of you who have liked it, favorited it, commented on it, and somehow even got it featured.   I always appreciate the feedback you guys give me. As I’ve made clear before, I have low self-esteem when it comes to my own writing, so the positive comments you all make always leave me feeling warm and relieved… if not also bewildered.   I’d especially like to thank (and again apologize to) everyone who followed this story all the way to the end, braving droughts between chapters that sometimes spanned a couple of weeks at a time, during the times when I was swamped with college work and personal family issues.   Seriously, I can never thank you all enough.   You guys are the best.   And once again… it’s time for the only part you guys actually care about.   So… in The Sweetest Gem, we saw how Sweetie Belle, with a little help from her loved ones, was able to win over her love, as she and Spike both professed their love and found happiness.   Meanwhile, The Gemmed Satyr chronicled Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s simultaneous pursuits for love, finally converging and climaxing as the two mares finally embraced each other as a couple.   So now everyone is wondering…   “Just what is The Rarispy going to pull out of the Seventh Doctor’s hat next?”   “Will there be a third episode?”   “Could it possibly be as good as The Sweetest Gem and The Gemmed Satyr?”   “What is with all of this Discord nonsense? What is he planning?”   “I swear he’s got something going on between Twilight and Pinkie!”   “When is The Rarispy going to stop sounding so conceited and enigmatic and just tell us what's next already!?”   “Why does everyone like these pairings so much?”   “What is the meaning of life?”   “If it’s ten times better than the leading brand, then why isn’t it the leading brand?”   “How DOES food become poo!?”   Well, get ready for the answer to ALL of those questions (except that second-to-last one…), in the third and FINAL chapter of the Gems Trilogy!   The Trotzamore Stratagem   It’s been a month since the events of The Sweetest Gem and The Gemmed Satyr, and frankly, everypony is emotionally on edge.   Can Fluttershy stomach up the courage to tell Rarity what she really wants out of their relationship more than anything else? When Rainbow Dash finds out a dark secret about Applejack’s boyfriend Caramel, will she prevail when her conscience battles against whether she should tell her friend? Does Sweetie Belle really have good reason to worry about her future with Spike, and his faithfulness to her? And just why has Pinkie Pie been so keen to hang out with Twilight lately, and what's this she keeps spouting about the 'prophecies coming true'?   But those are only the roots of their problems. Trouble is brewing. Strange things are happening all over Equestria, one of the royal sisters has mysteriously disappeared, a familiar evil is about to rise again, and the fate of all the hearts in Equestria will lie in six ponies’ own troubled hearts as well as a mystical place talked about only in myth.   Doesn’t it all sound so… chaotic?   It's now up, and you can read it here! Holy crap! You’re still here? Oh man, first the long and drawn-out fic, and now you mean to tell me that you actually read that big boring wall of text?   I should reward you with an ice cream sammich.