Chapter Five: The Art of Aging
When Rarity discovered that a solid streak had begun to show its face in the mirror, she at first didn’t know what to think.
She twisted her head, examining the streak from every side. Mayor Mare’s words echoed back at her: she supposed the color went quite well with her natural mane. Through this examination, she also saw that there were lines appearing under her eyes, and she noted a stiff neck and stiff joints, stiffer than they were yesterday or yesteryear.
She lifted the clump of silver with her magic, and poised a set of scissors right up against it. She paused, considering. Then, with a short sigh, she lowered both and allowed the silver to curl gently into the rest of her mane. It was like something in her had been released. She smiled, and though the smile felt tired, it felt right and whole. It was a welcome change from what the past week had entailed.
From downstairs she heard knocking. She exited the bathroom and trotted up to the door. It was Fluttershy. “Oh,” she said, her pink mane just a little bit dimmer today—but that could have been the effect of the sun. “I was worried that you were going to miss our spa date today.”
“Miss it? Oh, never, darling,” Rarity said. “I was just preoccupied with something.”
“Really? With what—if you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
“Oh, it was nothing, really.” Rarity smiled. “It’s just that I found myself graying today.” She showed Fluttershy her mane.
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, Rarity. It… it doesn’t bother you too much, does it?”
Rarity paused. There was no doubt that that would be a question she would be getting in the future. And, so thinking, she realized that her friends would be curious as to what had happened to her, why she had been so despondent. Twilight, no doubt, must have been confused ever since that Council of Friendship reunion. She would need to write her a letter; or visit her in person; explain what she was feeling, but moreover, explain what she meant to do about it.
But she had all the time in the world for that, didn’t she? All the time to live.
Rarity stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She smiled, graceful and poised. “Not in the slightest, Fluttershy. Not in the slightest.”
An older, ever-graceful Rarity, as depicted by my friend Cyonix. Thank you so much!
Thank you, everyone, who has ever commented, liked, Favorited, or even simply viewed this story and all of its parts. I cannot express how happy it makes me feel to see that you've enjoyed this piece as much as I have in writing it.
And, of course, special thanks to my editors and proofreaders; without your help, this story could not have taken off as well as it did.
Finally, I've also written a few afterthoughts about this story, which you can find in a blog post here. If you're interested in learning what this story initially was supposed to be, take a look!
Stay graceful, everyone!
Jarvy Jared
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Completed! Amazing story, an instant favorite for me! Ending was short and sweet, right to the point and in character!
I loved ‘Gracefully’ and I look forward to your next story!
10306995
Thank you! And I know I've been saying it a lot, but it bears repeating all the same: all of your help, advice, and feedback is greatly appreciated, through and through.
That was sweet. Nice story!
10307634
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Why is this story not named Gray-cefully?
10310634
Hey, yeah, why wasn't this story... Huh.
Face the aging gracefully, it totally in rarity's style, nice work!
10312560
Thank you!
You know, part of me wondered if the entire conversation between Discord and Rarity was your original idea for the story which you then branches out from. That part was my favorite, and its was written brilliantly. It's also one of the few times in a story I've read where the two of them exclusively have a conversation. But I love when people take Discord and actually write him out to be as insightful and empathetic as you did here, he becomes an incredibly complex and enjoyable character.
Rarity's voice within her own mind was done incredibly well too. Although I'll say that parts of this felt maybe too heavy on exposition (trust me I have that problem myself a lot), the way she panicked internally about something like aging would make sense, as did the long process on acceptance of it. You also mentioned the open-endedness of the story's ending and I liked that quite a bit, although perhaps it does leave openings for maybe a couple branching off sequel one-shot sort of things where Rarity talks to Twilight about her own immortality (speaking of which I wrote about that in one of my stories Infinite), or mentions to Fluttershy how she ages. Might be worth looking into with how much you seemed to enjoy writing about this.
The story was a wonderful read, loved the idea, and this was great!
10315707
I'll admit, the second clearest scene that emerged before the first and second drafts were written, was that of Discord and Rarity talking in the middle of the night. In fact, that seemed to me the climactic moment of the story, and so, starting with discovering the gray strand, everything else naturally was leading to that conversation.
I'm glad you found it pleasing and intelligent, too. That was probably my favorite part of the story to write. It felt like I was recording a conversation that I'd just heard - it was, in that way, a true spark of dialogue. And it's interesting, too, that it is one of the few examples of a Rarity and Discord interaction. I'm surprised to not have found many stories dealing that kind of dichotomy - I figured that they are both vain, to some extent, and therefore I wondered if they wouldn't have a conversation about their sense of personal vanity at one point or another.
Writing them in this way seemed almost as natural as writing Discord and Fluttershy, without the guidance of romance involved.
Indeed, the ending was left naturally open. I couldn't think of anything more concrete than letting the possibilities speak for themselves, and I do have a few ideas about exploring the headcanons introduced in this story, but nothing concrete.
Nevertheless, thank you for your insightful comment! I'm happy you enjoyed the story.
beautiful, and sad, and sweet, and fulfilling. Thank you for sharing
10331651
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
It was a great story. You did a great job!
A beautiful ending for Rarity. She does deserve some peace of mind. She'll always stay graceful.
10343275
Glad you enjoyed it!
I know you're gonna get like a million different notification for this one but I'm pretty sure Boss would have my head if I didn't follow the protocol. So here it is:
Greetings from the My Little Reviews and Feedback group! Have a review!
Damn, this was really well written
10360872
Thank you so much!
10360929
Thank you!
It is a terrible thing to grow old. It is a more terrible thing to not to...
Speaking as someone who is slipping into his mid-fifties, I can relate to Rarity's struggle. This story has an excellent moral and some interesting insights. I'm faving this.
10368504
I'm glad you found it relevant to your own experiences. Thank you!
This was a beautiful story. Judging by what we saw in The Last Problen, Rarity does seem like the first one to start clearly aging. Thus, the experience and inner struggle you developed throughout your work does very much seem like something Rarity would inevitably encounter. Gracefully will be a story that I'll remember. Great work. :)
10368620
Thank you!
A review for YOU
Here you go! <3
An excellent read. I felt your characterization of Rarity was spot on. For us mortals, aging is one thing we can't avoid. Living life for living and doing so with grace is an excellent message. A graceful Rarity is what we saw in the Season 9 finale.
10660163
I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
Wow, just wow! A sweet little story that touches on the attitude to such a sensitive topic as the aging of loved ones and yourself. Nice work!