• Published 9th Sep 2017
  • 20,028 Views, 1,968 Comments

The Enchanted Kingdom - Monochromatic



As an ancient alicorn trapped inside a library, Princess Twilight spent many a century dreaming of being rescued from her prison. Now, finding herself in an entirely new Equestria, she realizes she'd never planned for somepony to actually succeed...

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PreviousChapters
~ Epilogue ~ A Beautiful Night ~

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading The Enchanted Kingdom!

The sequel, The Enchanted Carousel, will premier sometime early next year, probably February!


Princess Cadance had long ago made peace with the fact that she’d never have foals of her own.

Long, long ago, this might have bothered her. It might have hurt her deeply, just as losing Shining Armor had. But long ago was long ago, and things had very much changed since then.

Princess Cadance knew she’d never give birth to a filly or colt of her own flesh and blood, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have children.

She had many children.

Or, well, in this case, adopted changeling nieces and nephews. Hundreds she’d known and looked over for a thousand years with as much love as she looked over ponies.

It was a late afternoon when a gaggle of changeling hatchlings spilled into Canterlot Castle’s throne room, each and every single one ignoring the orders of Princess Cadance’s handmaiden.

“I said to come in an ‘orderly fashion’!” Aster boomed, scowling at the hatchlings pushing their way to get the best seat of the night. “Orderly! Orderly!”

“Every time, Ast,” Rift Shield said, strolling inside the throne room, several other guards following behind. Her glare barely deterred his smirk. “Every time they do this. When will you learn?”

“Can it, Rift,” she snapped before turning towards the hatchlings. “Sit! All of you! Or else I’ll remind Princess Cadance she has paperwork to do!”

The hatchlings gasped, and after a symphony of ‘no’ and ‘sorry’s, quietly settled down in front of the throne. Rift and the guards similarly sat down to the side of the room, taking off their helmets and relaxing in front of a large arched window from which sunlight poured in.

“Come ooooon,” Rift said. He fluttered his eyelashes. “We’re all behaved now, Miss Aster.”

“Sure you are…”

After a great harrumph, Aster opened a door leading to a small balcony and stepped out to find Cadance looking out at her kingdom, her brows creased into a frown.

“Your Highness?”

Cadance turned to her, and the frown vanished. “Oh! Aster. Is everypony ready?”

Aster nodded. “Yes, Princess. But… May I speak freely?”

Cadance smiled warmly and gestured with a hoof. “Of course.”

“Is everything all right? You seem preoccupied. Are you worried about Princess Twilight and her friends?”

Immediately, Cadance’s frown returned. “I am, yes,” she confessed, looking back towards the horizon. “It’s been several days since I’ve heard from them, and yesterday was that foal’s birthday, and…” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m frightened, Aster. What if it didn’t work? I… I tried not to get my hopes up, but...”

Aster softened. “Princess Twilight and Rarity know what they’re doing. Have faith, your highness.”

“I’m trying to.”

Aster fell silent a moment and then spoke up. “Princess? If it would ease your mind, I can have one of the pegasus guards fly there tomorrow and bring back news. Would that help at all?”

Cadance nodded. “Yes, that would help, I think. Thank you, Aster.” After one last glance towards the horizon, she stood up and made her way towards Aster. “All right. Let’s go.”

As she did every Saturday night for centuries, and after having wiped away the fear and replaced it with joy, Princess Cadance stepped into her throne room to hold the most important event of the week: storytime with the hatchlings visiting from Heart’s Haven.

“Hello, everybug,” she greeted, striding towards her throne with grace and poise. “Are you all ready for tonight’s story?

A chorus of assents rang out, the hatchlings sitting up straight and inching forward ever so slightly. Most of them had been there before, but those that hadn’t couldn’t help but gasp at the sunlight shining through the princess.

When she reached her throne, she cleared her throat. “Now, let me just take a seat…” she said, and promptly did as much, allowing herself a pleased smile that vanished when muffled giggling filled the room.

She blinked at the hatchlings, their eyes sparkling with as much delight as the eyes of the guards, the bunch of them also giggling from the back. Even Aster seemed amused.

She frowned, truly confused. Truly! “What? Why are you laughing at me? Is there something on my face?” When the giggling intensified, she looked all around and what a grand gasp she let out when she realized she was sitting inside the throne. “Oh my! Again?! I do this every time! You’d think I’d learn!”

She shook her head, got out of the throne, and sat down on the floor in front of it.

“Ahem! Since you’ll watch me raise the moon and bring the night when this is done,” she began, “I’ve decided that our story for today will be…”

A crackle of magic, and suddenly every single hatchling wore a pirate’s hat. This was quickly followed by a picture book floating before her, the cover depicting a pirate captain flying an airship towards the night sky.

“Captain Hookshot and the Search for the Stars!”

To the cheers of the hatchlings, she opened the book to the first page and skimmed it through. She wanted to try out a new narrative voice she’d been practicing for a few days now and was sure to impress the kids.

“Let’s see…”

She cleared her throat, and the light in the room dimmed almost completely. This made for a wonderful story-telling ambiance, but it was also highly annoying as she couldn’t really read in the dark.

“What happened to the light?” She looked up from the book and immediately noticed night had fallen. “Oh, it’s night!” She turned back to her book. “Aster, could you get the lights, please? Thank you!”

But the lights never turned on. Aster didn’t move a single inch, which was fine for moments after she’d spoken, Princess Cadance no longer cared about the lights either.

Night had fallen, brought to Equestria by someone other than herself.

The book fell to the floor with a thud, and Cadance looked up again, her heart hammering in her chest. The hatchlings in front of her blinked at her, excitedly waiting for their story, not a single one noticing the guards and handmaiden gaping at the window.

“P-Princess!” Rift blurted out, slamming his forehooves against the window. “The moon! The moon is out!”

She felt faint, at first. No. Not faint. She felt numb, staring at the window with what could only be described as dread. Not a dread born out of fear, or horror at what was going on, but dread of having her hopes crushed again.

A force alien to her pushed her onwards until her tentative steps became a hurried trot as she made for the balcony, flung the door open, and rushed outside. Aster, Rift, the guards, and even the hatchlings pooled in behind her, each and every single one looking up at the moon floating in a sea of night.

She could feel it. This moon she’d raised for centuries upon centuries, that she now knew like the back of her hoof… It was different. She felt the knot in her throat, and the tears almost but not quite stinging at her eyes.

Not quite, not yet.

“Princess!” Aster exclaimed, as bewildered as the rest of the older changelings. “Princess Luna! It must be her!”

Cadance didn’t stammer.

“No.”

Rift balked. “No? But—! Your highness!”

“It could be Twilight,” she said, and her voice almost trembled but not quite. “Auntie Celestia could have taught her. I don’t know. It could be Twilight.”

“But, your high—”

He fell silent when the princess raised a hoof towards him. He and the others watched as she lowered her hoof and stepped forward to the railing, her eyes scanning the sky.

This night was familiar. It was the same sky she saw every night when she raised the moon, and the same sky she’d seen for a thousand years since Princess Luna vanished. A sky with a moon and only a couple dozen speckled lights.

This night was not Auntie Luna’s because Cadance remembered Auntie Luna’s night. One that was not defined by the moon--by this object any alicorn could control--but by what surrounded it, the hundreds of dancing lights that were Auntie Luna’s and Auntie Luna’s alone, that obeyed no pony but her.

“Please,” she whispered. “Please.”

She waited, and waited, her heart in her throat until it happened.

The stars came back to Equestria, flickering to life one by one, waking after a thousand-year sleep.

And only then did the princess allow herself to cry, her eyes filling with tears as sparkling as the stars, her heart beating as loud as the gasps of her changelings.

A sentence she feared she’d never speak rolled off her tongue with painful ease, like it’d been waiting in the wings all along:

“Welcome home, Auntie Luna.”



Cadance had always loved Princess Luna’s night, much like Twilight did, and now all of Equestria would.

Celestia, too, loved her sister’s night.

She thought about it often, sitting in her cave, still in the same position she’d always been. She had a game, you see. A form of meditation. Her Inner Castle, she called it, which she visited and stayed in whenever she closed her eyes. It was in this castle of her mind that she spent most of her time, her sanity kept safe in this world of imagination.

Whenever she decided night should fall upon her Inner Castle, she always made sure it was her sister’s night. So many centuries had passed, she couldn’t perfectly remember it, but she remembered the stars. The stars and their intricate patterns that she clumsily recreated by memory.

In truth, whenever she was in her Inner Castle, her inner self avoided staring at the night sky for too long. If she did, it made her sad. She’d stared at it once for nearly a week, and she felt like she’d wept for an entire year after.

On a particularly hard day, which she had once about every other year, she wished she could die. And if she were to die, she thought, she wished the last thing she saw was her sister’s night.

Ha! Wasn’t that a thought. It made her smile, just thinking of how Luna would feel about that.

Sometimes, she wished she could die.

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. And this was fine.

Celestia would sit in that cave for many, many more moons, probably more than the one’s she’d already spent sitting in it already, casting the same spell, and this?

This was fine, too.

In any case, it happened when she’d least expected it. She’d been painstakingly repainting the castle in her mind--imagined every tile, every line, every drop of paint—when she heard a poof of magic, followed by the softest sound of something dropping onto the ground.

She opened her eyes, black as the night, and through tears saw a single rolled-up parchment resting at her hooves. A parchment quite similar to the ones she’d received in the past months, which lay opened but unanswered at her hooves.

It was rude of her, but it was what it was. So long as Twilight Sparkle thought she was safe and well, and thus could focus on other matters, a little rudeness was allowed.

It was obvious she should open the letter, but she was frightened. The low thrum of the spell she’d been casting almost uninterrupted for a thousand years filled the cave, and though she knew she had magic--she was casting the spell, after all—she knew such an act had damaged her horn.

Perhaps irreversibly.

How silly. How ridiculous. The idea that opening a letter might damage her horn even more. If she still had a full horn at all. She tried not to think of that. It’s why she stayed in her Inner Castle, where she could mediate and think and forget and—

The letter.

A letter had arrived.

Silly Celestia, off she’d gone to dreamland again and forgotten all about it. Silly, silly, silly! She really had to stop doing that. She decided she’d make a chart in her Inner Castle, and write down important things to remember in it. Maybe she’d put it in her study or—

The letter, Celestia.

She stared at it, and despite her reservations, made a choice. The thrum of magic intensified, and with delicate precision, the parchment floated up and unfurled before her. She didn’t hear a piece of her horn fall to the ground, either, which was relieving.

Under the dim light of her spell, she began to read. She read, and read, these words her student had sent, and the more she read, the more she cried.

The parchment fell to the floor when she was done.

Though she’d long ago suppressed any and all physical sensations, she remembered what it was like to feel your chest compress. To feel your heart squeeze and contract, to have it pound against your ribcage.

If she could still feel, she imagined she’d be feeling all these things and more.

She looked towards the distance and stared at her cave’s exit, the horizon distorted by the rushing waterfall hiding it away. She stared and stared, and when she’d stared enough, she made another choice.

She stood up.

She felt elderly at first. In fact, she was, but goodness, she felt it when she stood up, her legs wobbly and unsure after centuries of unuse. It was aggravating, in truth, but necessary. She couldn’t risk anything going wrong.

Once she’d steadied herself, she took a step.

And another.

And another.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

She stopped, lightly turning her head back. She debated replying. In the castle of her mind, she wrote down a list of reasons why she should and why she should not. She decided this was a special occasion.

“Out.”

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. Scratchy, and irritating, like sandpaper against her throat. But it was there.

“Ah.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon enough.”

She waited for a reply, and when none came, she turned back towards the exit and walked forward. Step by step, right up until she was at the edge of the cave, and the thundering waterfall forced her ears to press against her skull.

It was here that Celestia looked up at the sky for the first time in so long.

It was here that she saw her sister’s night sky. A watercolor painting of a blurred moon and blurred stars, distorted and faded.

For the first time in so, so long--so long, she’d feared she’d forgotten how to do so--Princess Celestia smiled.

“Ah,” she said, the tears in her cheeks for once tears of joy, “what a beautiful night.”


PreviousChapters
Comments ( 85 )

I don’t know why, but I love the Celestia scenes! That was such a tragic yet beautiful way to end the interlude!!! Can’t wait for more!

Lovely chapter, lovely arc. But I do have to say... even knowing they would come out, I was still crying with goosebumps on my arms and my heart in my throat when Cadence was begging the stars to shine.

Very nice to end this arc on a high note with tears of joy.

Good to see this updating again.

Hold on Celestia, the others are comming for you. Dont lose hope.

This part was every little bit I hoped for when I contacted you on tumblr and then some!

When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars, for Hope burns bright.

Amazing.
If only I could upvote more than once.

Discord (presumably) seems a bit surly. Or maybe he's just as tired as Celestia is... I wonder...

Me, reading the previous chapter full of fluff:
- Aw that is so cute, I love it :rainbowkiss: Haha, what a strange sensation, Mono, you didn't make me cry this chapter!

Me, reading this chapter:
- Ah… there it is…

And that's one.

Hoo boy, and another Element? Well, this should be fun!

Baby 'lings :rainbowkiss:

A perfect pair of viewpoints to end this act on.

Oh Tia. You're not going to make it, are you? :fluttershysad:

It's really great seeing how happy those two are. I hadn't thought of the fact that the night sky would look so difference under Cadance.

Cadance reading to buggos is great, and it's intriguing to check in with Celestia again. The bit with the mind palace is interesting. I wonder how that will play out with whatever's keeping Celestia trapped.

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I don't like to ship the Doctor with anyone but Clara/12's relationship was interesting and rock-solid. Ditto Rose/9.

"Love is not an emotion, love is a promise" is also a great quote.

If Celestia survives all this (she better... :trixieshiftleft:), she's going to have some extreme scars once all is said and done. Physical ones, mostly in the form of her horn (I about cried when a piece fell off without her noticing...), and to a far greater extent, mental ones. She feels that she's keeping her sanity safe with that imagination-castle, but there is absolutely no way in hell she can be anywhere close to a sound mind after this. I can easily imagine decades after all this, after decades of being safe back with friends and family in Canterlot, her sister still constantly finding her zoned out staring at walls or just mindlessly staring at the ceiling for hours on end after waking up, constantly having to bring her back to the world outside her mind; it really scares me how easy it is to imagine that. I believe you've outright stated before that this story is secretly about mental health, and I feel that Celestia is going to be the most in need of healing out of all of these characters.

These were very charming chapters, as is always the case when there’s RariTwi fluff to be had! And then we have the sad reminder of the Princesses left to be saved, and especially Celestia’s plight. I think I finally (belatedly?) understand her situation: She has trapped Discord with herself via a spell she must constantly cast, removing him from the world, but leaving her to believe that she can never be rescued without releasing him as well... She is trapped by her sense of duty to others and is martyring herself.

That will be a challenge to overcome... especially if Twilight takes the Elements apart before they find the rest.

In any event, loved it! It’s always such a treat to get more of this story.

Well, I just have to wonder what spell Celestia is casting. If she’s casting a spell at all. Because wouldn’t that be about the funniest thing Discord could think of, making her waste her magic for a thousand years and ruining her horn, doing nothing?

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They also don’t have to visit every waterfall just those big enough and with suitable geology to host a large cave behind them. We could meet EL Maud to help.

WWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?

CELESTIA COULD HAVE JUST UP AND LEFT?!?!?

good chapter though :twilightsmile:

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They all could. The traps are all willingly sustained by their captives.

I think we all know who "The Voice" is.
A very nice chapter. I notice how Celestia seems a little... off. But I suppose, you must get a little cooped up after a millennium of loneliness.

the celestial scenes break my heart :( loved this interlude tho

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Very plausible, but it also could be a trick by Discord. He used something personal against every trapped alicorn (not that certain about Cadance but definitely two of three). The reason why your theory holds the most water is because Discord hasn't turned Equestria into his own personal playground - yet. Should Celestia be keeping Discord at bay, it will only last as long as her horn does...he'll be back.

Twilight and Rarity do need to vanquish him in a very violent manner, after all :rainbowlaugh:

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But she isn't alone...there is "The Voice"

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Oh yes... I think it’s very possible, even likely, that It’s a trick by Discord and Celestia’s spell isn’t actually holding him there, whatever that spell may be. As you say, the other two that have been freed were trapped by their own traits which come from the characters and their roles in the show and fandom: Twilight is always stressed and blaming herself for potential failures, and Luna had her inferiority complex. Celestia, when looked at as a tragic figure in the fandom, is usually seen as someone who sacrificed for the greater good In banishing her beloved sister, and took on a lonely burden for 1000 years. Banishing Discord in a way that sacrifices her own freedom would fit that nicely, I would think. She’s held there by her sense of duty... she actively doesn’t want the others to try to rescue her.

As for Discord, I believed he’s likely just as damaged as all of the Alicorns that he has trapped. As I say, it may be that he’s not really held there by Celestia’s spell at all, and while one would think his nature would cause him to grow bored and leave, it may be that he simply cannot let go of his spite enough to do so... If Celestia is held there by her need to hold Discord, than to leave would be to free her, and he can’t move on past his hurt enough to allow that.

As for Cadance, I don’t really have any theories yet. Her role in the show revolves around being the Alicorn of Love and Family, and clearly there’s an issue here with family being denied to her (And doubly painful for having to pose as her own descendants while never actually being able to have any children), but I’m not sure how her own traits might be fueling her situation.

Going back to Celestia, I’m reminded of a scene from another one of my favorite action-adventure lesbian love stories involving emotionally damaged characters:

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An unfortunate truth is that act of Celestia banishing Luna pretty much makes her have this Messianic kind of figure; Celestia's need to protect all of Equestria could possibly be what Discord uses to keep her trapped i.e: "You must keep up this spell to prevent the whole world from blowing up inside out..." but in a more elegant way, surely. I have reason to believe it may all be a dirty trick...and I did have this theory that Discord has tricked Celestia into being the source of magic keeping the other alicorn's trapped. This theory was actually disproven before I even thought of it, given I came up with it after Twilight was freed (and Discord did his whole "She's trapping herself, darling" exposition on Rarity)

I don't want to dismiss your theory, it holds up, but he successfully has used each pony's weaknesses as magic fuel to keep them trapped. This is literally his ultimate plan to take his revenge, so in succeeding he should not be held back. What I'm trying to say is that for 1000 years until Rarity found Twilight, he should have his catharsis and thus whatever is keeping him from going hog-wild on Equestria may not be spite after all — unless...

I think it would be pretty genius if Celestia managed to use that very same spite to keep him trapped, or something similar. His weak-point could be something else entirely. That would be...a really interesting twist that in the final moments of battle, Celestia successfully left a magical booby-trap or what-not that kept Discord imprisoned in his own way.

As for Cadance, we have to see. She's the one I have the least theories on simply because her character doesn't display weak points. She's pretty much a perfect princess. Celestia has to rule a kingdom with all the grace & love and ultimate sacrifices, Twilight has self-hatred & guilt issues, Luna has inferiority complex & the fear of being unloved...Mi Amore Cadenza "protects the Crystal Empire" but I feel like the whole "duty" thing probably has been done to Celestia, it wouldn't be repeated on Cadance.

They're waking Celestia up (wake her up inside), but she can't quite wake up (wake her up inside), soon they'll (saveee heeeerrr) call her name and save her from the waterfall.

But seriously, great chapter! It's so satisfying to see Celestia have a brief moment of happiness! :heart: Thanks Mono!

So will we be getting a new story or will we continue from here?

(Loved the chapter btw. I always wanted to read cadance reaction. Hopefully it won't be too long until Luna and cadance meet.)

Celestia's PoV was a lovely touch

Ker

THE GJRLS ARE BEING GAY (again) AND IM SO GLAD!! THANK YOU !

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Continue from here!

“Ah,” she said, the tears in her cheeks for once tears of joy, “what a beautiful night.”

Ah
What a beautiful story.

I'm torn on whether Celestia's spell is keeping Discord pinned, or just a magical cardboard cutout of him.

In any case, two alicorns up, and Cadance probably counts for another half! Beautiful conclusion to the act.

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I think that Discord plan simply worked way better that what he wanted.

Remember, this is his "revenge" against what he saw as a betrayal from Twilight, and he went the extra mile to ensure that the curses were tailored to each princess issues, their personal nightmares.

And what could be worse to a being of pure chaos and change that not being able to just snap away the things he doesn't want anymore?

That is what I think happened. Discord had his revenge, and after he did he either learned that he misunderstood Twilight actions or found that his revenge was too much even for him. But we have seen that chaos magic has a mind of its own, and that Discord can't just force it to obey it again, like when he confronted the chaos magic that took over Twilight.

So he now has to face the consequences of his actions, consequences that he hates from actions that he no longer stands for. That is the reason why the world is not a world of chaos, because by trapping the princesses, he ended up trapping himself in the only cage that can truly contain him, his conscience.

Those chaos magic avatars seem pretty smart, sometimes. Almost sapient. Maybe, when Discord made them, he put too much of himself in them.

Maybe Celestia's thousand-year spell is keeping what's left of Discord alive.

okay... that last paragraph has me HOOKED.
who was the voice?
what was the spell?
is celestia free to leave whenever?
Is discord even still alive?
Will discord and twilight ever be friends again???
Oh man this is so interesting and I have so many ideas and theories. This has played beautifully into my deep lore imaginings

On Discords revenge I think he set up his own punishment. It looks like Celestia has him imprisoned but part of his revenge is Celestia is just as trapped as he is. They can both be free if one just walks away.

As for where Celestia is, can you imagine if it's the one place no one would go to look? We have two very notable waterfalls in the series. The one where Twilights school will eventually be built and probably is not a notable location now and the Waterfalls around Canterlot. Imagine if Celestia could literally look out past the water...and see home.

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Ooooooooooooh!
Oooh oooh oooh, good theory!! I like it!!!

Before anything: I love your story, it's one of the best on this site.

Now, A lot of people has been mentioned that Celestia is keeping Discord, but that's impossible because (according to the myth from which Mono started this story) Celestia was the very first one Discord took down, followed by Luna, Twilight and then he imprisoned Cadence. Considering he tricked her by thinking he captured her sister (again, according to the myth) that means he used Celestia's insecurity (the idea that she has to sacrifice herself to ensure the safety of others) to keep her trapped in the worst way possible, by making Celestia herself use her own magic to actively keep the spell.

Regarding Cadence, since she is the Princess of Love, who lost her husband, sister in-law and aunts, no longer can have a foal and is relegated to her castle, unable to even contact her subjects directly, I suppose her mental issue is about what she considers a family and how much faith she has in others as well. The only thing is that Discord probably hit her with the lowest of magic, since she her curse was more aimed at not being able to help other ponies in general (a terrible curse for someone whose life is about love and helping others in general) but still, just theorizing.

I'll be waiting for the updates.

What a FANTASTIC end to act II I'm so happy we got to see cadence and celestial reaction to lunas night sky and I'm really hyped about the new tidbits of information we got from celestias pov 😳 I've read some of the comments here and I love the theory that she's actively trapping herself (rather than doing so subconsciously like the others) and I wonder if discord might be there with her too... This is all so exciting !!!!!!

A wonderful ending to the act. I will look forward to seeing what you have in store for us next.

To the comment regarding Celestia's magic being used against her is rather ingenious.

“So!” Twilight exclaimed. “What now?”

“...Don’t you have a plan?” Rarity asked.

“I told you my plan.”

“...An intelligent plan, Twilight.”

I might have to steal this dialogue sometime. I laughed way harder than I should have.

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EThe Enchanted Library (original one-shot)
Rarity liked the tale of The Four Princesses as a filly, even if she knew it wasn't real. Princesses fighting against a spirit of chaos? A library under a tree? Please. But then she grew up and found out some bedtimes stories were quite real.
Monochromatic · 4.3k words  ·  1,221  16 · 13k views

Thank you so much to this! I know it must be really exhausting to write such and emotional story.

Cant’t wait to see how Act III begins!

It is over. It was beautiful :twilightsmile: :raritywink: See you in the next one :trollestia:

Very happy to have been able to read this.
Thank you. Hope to read more soon.

Love the story....

But uhm what made Rarity run away for 3 plus weeks and travel with North 🤔
And what will happen when she get home?

And why did Discord visit her while she was on the run 😱

So many questions..

Love the story looking forward to the sequel

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