This story is a sequel to An Open Door
After receiving a request from a rather unexpected source, Twilight helps deliver a long-overdue message from Celestia to her former student.
This story is set one month after An Open Door, which itself occurs about six months after Rainbow Rocks.
It's not required to read Open Door first. Just go into this story with the understanding that the Dazzlings have started to befriend the others, and have come to realize there is some joy to be found in their new life-after-magic. If you're interested in how that went down on this timeline from Adagio's perspective, then Open Door is the place to check that out.
Cover art is my own. You may have seen it here already, as another author had created a story based on it some time ago. Drawing this piece is what got me interested in fanfiction. So now that I've had a taste of writing with Open Door, I've decided to come full-circle and write something for it myself.
Pre-reading and brief creative input from Jondor (thanks, man)
Editing, proof-reading and additional input from Csquared08 (I made some small tweaks after the final edit pass, just recently. So any typos are my fault and not something overlooked by C. ;)
This is what I have to put up with while editing. I hope all of you are happy. This was pure torture D:
5528638
> tfw no [Innuendo] tag
For reference, I threw in that line he quoted as a joke while writing. It was in the Epilogue after Sunset sits on Adagio's bed and compliments the red color she chose to paint the walls. All of which got removed for final, as this isn't a shippy fic. (but I loooooves me some SunDagio ;)
Excellently written. I hope you continue to write more stories in the EqG universe with Sunset and the Dazzlings; you have a wonderful way of having the characters interact and bond with each other.
I look forward to your future endeavours.
Rush and Pony on!
T4E
I love your story! It is very well written, the interactions between the characters is good and the feels, especially with Sunset.
This earns a like and favorite from me!
5528648
sky pls
5529692
You're my new best friend!
Huzzah for a follow-up! Well done, and if you ever continue with this verse, I'll be happy to read it.
Princess Celestia: Making Twilight solve all her problems since 2010,
s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg
5530101
And I've (just) watched you, since the very first daaaaay.
5529071
Thanks. I've found that's what I seem to enjoy writing - them warm fuzzies.
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5529670
And thanks as well.
5530359
Speaking of watching, I realized earlier that I'm following your deviantart,
5530373 Ah, right on. Same name there?
5530393
).
No, I think it's under ChazzmanianDevil or something dumb like that... I have zero art skillz; I just use it to keep track of artists I like to feed my never-ending stockpile of screensaver photos (65k+ pictures and counting!
SO refreshing to see this story in my tracking list! :) After a very stressful/depressing day, I decided to check FimFiction before I had planned on curling into a little ball and crying myself to sleep. While reading this, I felt all the weight on my shoulders disappear without a trace! :3 Nothing helps cheer me up more than the wonderful people in this amazing fandom! Thank you, Sky!
5530734
Oh, my goodness. Warms my heart so much to hear this. Glad to have been able to provide something there. And then seeing Jacky's cute 'dagi there in your icon only makes it that much warmer. =)
Remember how in the prequel to this I had a pair of shipping goggles on?
...Yeah, those got immediately ripped off and set aside while I was reading this. Seeing this as anything romantic would've ruined so much of the story/emotion to it. Sure, being romantically attached would clearly provoke these kinds of thoughts of helping each other like Adagio wanted to do for Sunset, but here's the thing.
She did it because of everything Sunset had done for herself, Sonata, and Aria. Doing it for any other reason would've lessened the impact immensely. So before Csquared comes charging in ripping down shipping goggles, I will personally set mine aside in favour of a much more moving story that "might" have brought a tear to my eye because I could actually imagine all of this taking place, with the faces, the emotions, the voices...everything. Once again man, fantastic work.
5530963
Agreed entirely, on Adagio's motivations. And the impact in the context of the story. That's that character development this is aiming to show. And I'm pleased it seems to be resonating with a lot of readers so far.
The innuendo bit was humorous, but was thus only there as a joke in the rough draft. ;) Because while I love these two pairings in a shippy sense as well, if that were to be imagined somewhere in this timeline, it'd be much later on and something that grows out of the long-established friendships. As opposed to the other way around.
5530963
This right here is why I despise shipping. Stories make this mistake so many times.
I'll convert you all away from your silly ships yet. Just you watch~
5531048 Oh I never said I was done. I just know when to turn it down/off from time to time.
While reading this work of art, I almost cried. Almost.
then I went over to DA, found you updated the pic you used as a cover and... well, while seeing it again, I shed a tear or two.
kind of like, it all sank in.
I'm almost sad that this is over. At least for now.
Do you have anything else on the works?
5531468
At some point, I'd really like to do something from Aria's point of view. But I don't have any ideas at the moment for what that might look like. It's going to be back to artwork for a vector or two first, though.
This was even D'awwsier than the first one, and that's saying something!
All without resorting to a few scenes of Sonata being goofy, too. Achievement Unlocked, for sure.
That was just lovely.
... I just had an idea:
1. Travel to the human world.
2. Take off clothes.
3. Return to Equestria.
4. Repeat.
5. Sell clothes.
6. PROFIT!
Edit: I also don't know if you're going for a Sunset / Adagio ship or they just really like hugging each other, but either way it's really cute.
5539169
God—
Son of a—
...I hate everything.
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5539169
Oh, you.
Yes, I refer to SunDagio as my "battleship" (and ghaaaa, ship this so hard). But there's not meant to be an obvious pushing of that agenda within this story here. Friends first. If that comes later, it'll be based on this solid foundation. ;)
The way I like to see Adagio is that her recent experiences with Sunset and the others have opened her eyes to just how good genuine (not spellbound) affection and tenderness can feel. That realization sort of turned her world-view on its side, and she's reached a point now of not being afraid to express it.
I loved this. And I feel like your writing has improved a lot since An Open Door. Well done all round.
Also, I kinda feel like I should be on the side of defending a SunDagio interpretation here. Honestly, though? I don't think it matters. Firstly, because it's a secondary element to Celestia and Sunset, but also because it's clear compassion is the mainspring of Adagio's behaviour -- and that holds whether the context is romantic or platonic.
5533506
5534325
Thanks.
5543610
And thanks as well. I did want to give a slight nod to that SunDagio aspect, but without taking away from the main focus for Adagio on that illustration of compassion, as you very aptly termed it. When it comes to romance-y subjects, I've found I like to tease just a bit in certain directions, but then leave the rest up to reader interpretation.
Wait a minute... I thought this story was finished a long time ago....
Well, it certainly hasn't gotten worse.
Very nice work.
5546934
Wat
Are you thinking of An Open Door?
5547996 No, a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, the story Messenger was just a oneshot, sans mention of Rainbow Rocks.
5548293
5547996
Hm, if there was such a thing, it wasn't mine. You talking about another with this same cover art? I noted that in description if so.
5548293
Um, I'm pretty sure that was an entirely different story.
5548411 It's a distinct possibility. In fact, now that you mention it, it probably was a different story. I could swear on my still-empty grave that they both had the title of Messenger, though.
Personally, I would recomend tagging Sequel every time, if they are.
The only reason not to, is if you fear readers would judge this story by the previous, but this is still not right.
I have nothing to say but:
It made me cry.
Is it possible to die from feels? 'Cause that's how well-written this was......
5602034
That is potentially really scary - if they went back without their clothes, would they come out missing their fur or worse?
OW, OW, OW! MY FEELS!
I just read this story again and I just... I-... ;-; Sky, do you think you'll write another sequel in this series? That would be so awesome I might die from happiness. :')
P.S. Btw congrats on 100 likes for this story! :D
5699843 I'm having a tough time finding inspiration for what to write, so it's been back to artwork for while. I'd really like to do something for Aria, but it might require an alternate timeline of events versus in-line with these two. And thanks again. I came back myself and re-read this a few days ago and that second chapter sort of got to me similarly, heh.
5531048
Pah. Don't hate the game, hate the players. There's nothing wrong with shipping, just the authors who contribute to Sturgeon's.
5803915 Heh. I saw this comment come in as I had the editor open still fine tweaking a few parts of chapter 1. Just little words here and there in that second scene still. =) Thanks again.
5803915
Nah. I hate the game.
The problem with shipping is that too many people don't know how to bloody wait. It's a tool for bringing joy like anything else, but too many wield it like a blunt object because... I dunno, hormones, I guess.
derpicdn.net/img/2014/5/24/635287/small.gif
Now.
Lest anyone get it twisted: there will be time enough for neverending, ooey gooey, body-exploring, emotion-searing, shining golden Sundagio with Sparkly stars on top, on a beach under the moonlight amidst the rolling tides... when and only when the time and situation are right. Neither of which existed here. This story wouldn't have worked with romance (though the tiny hints in AOD and this are most appreciated). This was a Mission of Mercy, and it was executed near-masterfully.
I say near- because yes, there are things I would change, some things I would add (I think the Epilogue is missing a suitable coda, for one), some paragraphs I would break up.
Still, I don't know what you've done to this story specifically between our talks and right now, but this is a complete 180 from my experience with An Open Door, and quite frankly, it's a story I've waited a year for someone to craft in my absence.
Thank you for it.
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5804040
I honestly didn't change much of anything content-wise. I trimmed a couple of extraneous sentences, tweaked a few words here and there and broke up some paragraphs. But 99% of what's here was the original content from January, I'd say. =)
However, those subtle rearrangements accounted for much more than a 1% difference in impact. I'm still quite amazed at that effect. So thanks again.
5804040
If you'll allow me to be super cereal for a moment...
...is that people do it. Shipping, by definition, is stupid and never benefits any story. Ever.
See, shipping is not romance. They are two very different things. Shipping is all about the destination. Shipping wants two characters to kiss. That is the whole reason behind the concept. Sure, occasionally you get oddball who writes a shipfic and stumbles about and develops a halfway decent relationship, but anyone who goes in to a story with the mindset of, "NOW KISS!" is not gonna have a very good story.
On the contrary, romance is all about the journey. Romance wants to know how the characters interact with each other. Romance wants the relationship to develop organically. Romance doesn't even necessarily know where the characters are gonna end up because it lets the characters decide that.
Romance is the way to go. Shipping can go die in a hole.
5804078
That is shipping, though. In fandom, they're two terms related to near-interchangeability. Shipping is the desire to see two characters in a relationsip, which by sheer definition of relationship, means the "shipper" wishes to see two characters interact in a deeper manner than they are used to. Kissing may or may not happen as a part of it. Hell, the whole thing may end in a trainwreck. But in the end, the practice of shipping, if an artist is so inclined, leads to the writing of actual romance.
It also leads to the writing of a lot of actual schlock, yes, but what you described before this paragraph isn't the essence of shipping, or "shipfic."
It's laziness. (Which, even in itself, isn't inherently bad, but usually does lead to shallowness in artwork, yes.)
And while I agree with your views on laziness, I can't help but feel they're being given an unfair association here. As in all creative works, in the end it's all about expression.
5804123
In theory, sure, I agree with you. But in practice, shipping more often than not amounts to little more than, "I want these characters to kiss, so they're going to kiss." That's lame.
And when it happens so often in practice, the old theory of what it should be is lost in the muck. So to distinguish actual romance from the muck that shipping has become, separation has to happen.
You know exactly what I meant there.
What, so they can drink from sippy cups together?
On a more serious note, that's a very vague definition, and it hardly means anything. Relationships, as you should know, aren't necessarily romantic. The definition you just told me just says a person wants to see two characters become (closer) friends. And while that's cool, that's hardly a useful definition. So I'm not at all inclined to budge from my earlier definition of shipping.
Even if there was a useful definition in there somewhere (where useful means that it tells something more concrete), I'm not inclined to believe that definition is still widely used by people today. Shippers want characters to be in romantic relationships, and they don't care how it happens so long as it happens. This is a useful definition because it 1) Tells me something specific 2) Differentiates itself quite a bit from romance (journey vs destination) 3) This difference allows me to separate the garbage from the greats. Whereas the other definition is pretty synonymous (or it at least tries to be) with romance. This again doesn't give me much useful information. If we're making a whole new term, why is not different than romance on some significant level? And if it's not different on a significant level, why not just call it romance? But it is different on a significant level, and that difference is a matter of caring about the journey vs caring about the destination.
So if you'll allow me to repeat myself:
Also
Don't worry. I hate all shippers equally
Except for Tcherno. He's the worst.