This story is a sequel to Critical Mass
Two months have passed since Twilight was rescued, and since then, she has been constantly exhausted, worn out, and easily ran down. Her outlook is far from hopeful in her vulnerable state, but Rainbow and the rest of the princesses are there to help her start the long road to recovery. Perhaps the Crystal Faire, the celebration that the Crystal Empire is most known for, a prominent display of joy, love, and hope, will be just what she needs to realize that tomorrow will be better than today. A hope that things will improve, even if it isn't overnight.
This story is completely written, except with the possibility of revisions of the last chapter. Edits of the remaining chapters are still in progress, but a new chapter will be posted every two weeks until completion, barring any unforeseen problems that arise.
Love it so far! <3
Wait, how early did this train arrive?!?! A few minutes I understand, but this is more like a few hours. I think they may have accidentally gotten on an earlier train. Somehow...
How long has celestia been around? In the past we had no clue, all we knew was “over a 1000 years”. But in the episode “horse play” celestia celebrated her “onesiversary ” (or however you spell it) so we know she first raised the sun 1111 years ago. So depending on how quickly you believe alicorns age she could be as young (in the loosest possible sense of the word) as being in her 1120s. If that’s the case she was only about 120 when she banished her sister for 1000 years. That’s over 8 times her age, which for her must have felt like forever.
I’ve been wait for this for so long, and it’s finally here
Stories that focus on emotion can be a real draw if done right, and I love this so much. You can feel twilight’s pain 
, and rainbows devotion. I’m can’t wait for the next chapter.
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You know it's funny because I didn't actually think of an exact time as to how early... Most likely no earlier than six hours, however. But the answer can change depending on what times they eat, so if we assume they ate at 12:30-1:30, and they were finishing up when Twilight and co arrived, most likely they arrived at the Palace about 1:20-1:40, so depending on how long the walk was, they could have arrived anytime between 12:00-1:20. Of course it also can depend on when exactly they had lunch. If they had lunch earlier, then the timeframe shifts, and the maximum time before dinner they arrive could possibly exceed six hours.
That's probably a confusing answer, isn't it? Sorry, I never really thought that much about it, other than them showing up early. Sort of like in Reaction where the travel time to Canterlot is pretty undefined...
Excellent question! My headcanon after "Horse Play" is that Celestia is around 1124 years old, and Luna is around 1118, or perhaps 1117 because Halo. This also puts them as having a relatively small age gap between them, which fits in with what I generally think of as being the case, since they could have both been foals at the same time, but as they grew, Celestia could look after Luna. Additionally, if this is the case, then Luna has been imprisoned on the moon for about 91% of her lifetime, which is incredibly sad and could allow for some very emotional stories involving Luna and Celestia... and Twilight by extension.
However, Horse Play is not canon in this series, which is a bit of a shame, because I enjoyed that episode. Their canonical age in this series is a few thousand years old. But, of course, a mare never tells her age.
You won't be waiting too terribly long for the next chapter. I've not finished edits with it yet, but most likely it'll be ready on time.
Great start, looking forward to more
the interactions between twilight and rainbow are so cute. And it's good to see more stuff with celestia. i was worried when those kidnappers showed up, thought s
t was really gonna hit the fan there, thank god it didn't.
Also i'm pretty sure it's 'fair', not 'faire'. googles 'faire' Huh, turns out its an older spelling of the word, who knew. (not me, obviously)
pretty sure you meant 'week'
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Cute Twilight and Rainbow interactions were are always good.
I felt it was absolutely necessary for Celestia to play a larger role, plus it was an opportunity to expand on her relationship with Twilight... which, if my plans come to fruition, might be important in the future...
And yes, I did mean week. Thanks!
Great ending. Seeing Twilight getting her wings and horn back was great. I couldn't help but smile along with her. And I guess the crystal heart going off was going to be a great reason for it to happen. I can't wait to read the sequel in a year
Also, you said in a blog post that Twilight couldn't have children because of the radiation. Did the crystal heart fix that as well? Wouldn't be surprised if it did.
You'dve (You'd've?) thought Twilight would've noticed crazy mood swings, aggression at anyone who dares ruin her night with Rainbow, and becoming the size of Celestia.
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I published a chapter in that before publishing this chapter.
And actually, I sort of happened to write that part, then think about that story, then come up with an idea to write for it. So it's not a coincidence!
Right now the extent of her healing is up in the air. As per the end of this story, it's unknown to Twilight (and the rest of them don't even know in the first place). Twilight is implied, however, to think about it.
I'm mostly decided on this, but there's still a chance my mind could change. I have plans, after all...
Stay tuned for the blog posts, they'll have more (and quite important) information. I'll probably post at least one of the blogs tomorrow- giving more people time to read through this.
In response to your authors note the only thing I feel cheated on is that this last story was so short as for her recovery though I was kind of hoping it would go fast so she could stop with those negative emotions and hopefully recover from the rest
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Yeah, I'm used to writing longer stories, but I feel like I don't want to keep writing so much depressing stuff- I feel like it affects my mood, but maybe it doesn't. I also originally intended for this story to be happier than it is, so it's sort of a middle ground here.
As for recovering, it's still not entirely complete, so there's that.
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Well it would be amazing if this story continued I often find stories that seem like they might be amazing but end up unfinished and stay either incomplete or somebody puts them on Hiatus and it's both saddening and maddening so to see a story like this finished would be a nice change
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I know your pain... I have far too many stories in my "Tracking" folder than haven't updated in years, and they were stories that I've considered exceptionally good.
I suppose that, at the very least, this particular story (and by extent, series) has an ending, although it's still not reached my ultimate goal. At the very least, this story doesn't stop in the middle with absolutely no closure.
But I've sort of decided that I will continue this series, I'm just not sure when or how.
Liked it so far, definitely reading more
Good chapter, I enjoyed it.
I think like 90% of my tracking folder is dead stories.. a shame some of them really resonated with me.
I hope maybe this will get a sequel? Maybe dealing with the more emotional side of recovery?
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I'm not sure. I had great plans for this series a while back, but I'm not certain I'll continue it now. There's a lot of other things I need to finish writing first. If I do, it probably won't be until towards the end of 2020 or the start of 2021.
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I am completely fine with waiting, I enjoy your work.
Alls well that ends well. Twi’s whole again, she and rainbow are happy. Now I’m just waiting for when they get married.
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9726518
i hope for more too ... there is diffidently more to this that i would love to read
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I still have this series in mind. It’s still going to be a while before there’s any news, though.
10607833
News? Its been 1.5 years. Please sequal