Empathize means to understand and share the feelings of another, i only meet half that definition with Rarity. I fully understand why Rarity is the way she is, but i can't share the feelings. Yes, i agree she got stuck with a lousy fate and has every rite to be pissed about it, but the empathy goes out the window because of two things.

1. Rarity is using her lousy fate as an excuse to be a complete bitch to others who don't deserve it, no amount of sympathetic reasoning every justifies that kind of attitude. Cynical? Fine. Dour? Oh sure, but when she starts dragging others down with, it loses her empathy points.

2. From what little we've seen, Rarity was already a bitch even before she became an alicorn, so in many ways i think she deserved it. She was still good, but just barely. I you have to toss someone to the Generosity pyre, might as well be the least of the good guys.

So yeah, as intended, i still don't like Rarity (though she is improving), and i don't empathize with her.
The reason i was dreading this arc was because my lack of empathy for Rarity's situation also weakens my investment in the story somewhat. I'm not invested in Rarity's struggle for her sake like i was/am for Applejack Rainbow, and Twilight, i'm invested because her well being is tied directly to 4 characters i do like and empathize with: AJ, Spike, Sweetie, and Twilight.

All that said, Rarity is still a very interesting character and my dislike of her is nowhere near enough to weaken my opinion that this is a fantastic story.
i look forward to where this arc is going, oh gosh, i hope Sweetie winds up connecting deeply with Twilight and she is able to be a better big sister than Rarity; that would be great karma, a good way to help lessen Twilight's understandable unicorn prejudice, and a great double nod to the show.
Also, 4 chapters in 2 weeks, you are spoiling us and i thank you so much for it.

Good to see Pinkie is in good spirits.

Do they all know that they cannot have kids or is Pinkie the only one at this point? It is also interesting that she seems to know more than the others at this point.

7361431 At this point, they all know about that. That's why Rarity is so upset. They all seem okay with it, while (from her view) expecting her to be alright with it.

Oh, and there is a reason why Pinkie Pie knows so much about the power. All in time.

I thought Spike would know about Alicorns not being able to have children given that his mother is Celestia.
Also, I liked this twist that rarity's generosity costs her life.

7364471 Spike was adopted, so the subject never came up.

Pinkamena seemed to be in bright spirits herself for some reason, and told them that their lunch was on the house.

Can't have a normal life ever again? Doesn't matter, had sex.
...Bad joke is bad.

If this were to happen to you, and you were given the power to heal, but only at the cost of your life and future, and you weren't given a choice, how would you take it?

.......... I'd feel about the same way, really, but...
She's still treating people like garbage.

This magic, this “honor” as everyone calls it, stole my humanity,

Is humanity the right word to use here? I can't think of any kind of substitute, but...

7367796 I couldn't find a substitute word for it, so I just use it. Besides, I use the word people in this story simply because there are other species in the world besides ponies (one of the main characters is a dragon for Pete's sake) so that would be racist.

Also, I'm so happy someone got the point to Rarity's plight. Yes, if you were in her shoes, you'd probably feel the same way that she does. That doesn't make it right to treat people the way she does, and she's not supposed to be likable outright, but you have to at least empathize with her, if only because her response to the power is very realistic.

7368424 Fair enough on that one. Of course, now I wonder about the origin of the word 'humanity' in universe.
That's a deep rabbit hole.

I empathize with her, yes, but... At the same time I wanna punch her.
Good job. You did what you set out to do on that one. It's not something that I see done well in many stories that try.

Whens the next chapter

7734871 Somewhere on the other side of writer's block corner.

I must say, I have no idea what it means to be using life force to heal others. Does it me mean that she gets hurt while healing others or something? I hope that this story is updated soon, I love how it is going and I can't wait to see the next chapter.

8146308 It will continue, don't worry.

As for what it means, essentially what Rarity is doing is using her energy to LIVE in order to heal. Remember when she healed Spike in the last arc, and was then unable to stand for most of the Applejack rescue? Basically, she's using her life to heal others. So in order to heal a super serious wound or illness, she'd have to die in the process.

8147850 oh nice to hear that it is still being worked on.
So Rarity's healing ability does not have any sort of long term affects then as long she does not heal anything that sever? If that the case, that is good to hear.

8147869 That's right. However, her healing period does still weaken her. To her, it's the thought of her powers eating away at her life that's upsetting her. That, and something that will be revealed much later on.

8147903 Now really can't wait for the next update, good luck on the writing!

Rarity may not be my favorite character, but she definitely has my sympathy, I can honestly tell you that much. Also...

Rarity nodded, “My magic… is killing me.”

Oh no....

10551064
Ah, now that makes much more sense. I was always why chickens at farms couldn't fly very far, other than what I had thought... thank you for clearing it up.