Desperation can make a pony do a lot of crazy things. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Pay a call on two ponies who were trying to kill her the last time she saw them.
Of course, she was trying to kill them, too, back then.
But that's all in the past! And now that their daughter Rarity is on Princess Twilight's new ruling council, set to become a leader in the Equestrian government once Princess Celestia and Princess Luna actually step down, well, everything'll be totally different and so much better, right?
As long as the truth doesn't come out, of course...
An entry in the Ancestral Tribute contest, this story was awarded 3rd place, and its title comes from David Mallett's song "Ambition."
Chapters (1)
I love the unique narrative style here, very immersive
I've been given to understand the sunset shimmers, whereas the twilight sparkles. Especially with those colors involved.
I love the idea of Rarity's parents having accents just as artificial as their daughter's.
I also love this sort of subtle connection that I'd never think of but that makes perfect sense in hindsight.
Amazing.
Beautiful stuff. There is no better symbol of the transfer of power than a genuinely remorseful pony who Celestia hid away coming forward to confess her failures and being met with love and forgiveness. (Though, to be fair to the old regime, I'm 99% certain that Celestia would have reacted the same way to this kind of contrition.)
This take on Rarity's parents makes me consider her in turn. I know I'm the one who said she couldn't be major part of the story, but this is still a fascinating way to show traits she inherited. I have to wonder how many they put on display at home before the agency was shuttered and how many run in the family without her knowing about it. (Not until they told her anyway. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.) And Sweetie Belle... Honestly, I suspect nopony else in that whole family is entirely sure how Sweetie came about, and they're keeping an eye on her to see if it's actually deeper cover than they ever imagined.
But I digress. Outstanding work throughout. Thank you for it, and best of luck in the judging.
That was a good story.
Was it really all your fault? Sure, we'll go with that, but you really have to see the bigger picture here. See, if you didn't let tall, dark, and horny out of jail, he wouldn't have had his climatic showdown with Twilight Sparkle and all her little friends. If there's no showdown, then that shining beacon of crystal and retinal scarring in the center us town would be... puaff! Never materialized! If it never materialized, there'd be no projection table with a map inside it, and if there's no projection table with a map, then Twilight Glimmer never meets Starlight Sparkle, and they never do their thing. If they never do their thing, then Chrysalis shows up like she always does, and this time there's no one available to stop her. So, sure, maybe you did accidentally assist Tirek's jailbreak, but in the exact same way, you accidentally assisted Starlight's defeat of Chrysalis. So, I guess what I'm saying is, you're being way too serious about all this, champ. And why? The bad guys are where they should be, you buried the hatchet with your old instructors and not in either of their heads, and you're going to have the best wife in the world.
So why so serious?
(If you're awake when you should be asleep, like me, read all of that back to yourself and it would be spoken by the Joker, as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger. Or don't, I'm not your mom. But I am going to bed. Good night!
Eh.
Secrets can eat at the very soul, but are nothing before the Power of Friendship. And a good group hug.
Oh! Nice to see this featured.
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Thanks, folks!
As soon as I saw on the MLP wiki that Rarity's parents each had two official names, I knew they had to be connected to Bon-Bon/Sweetie Drops somehow. Thanks for FoME for giving me a space to explore the idea. And as much as I'd like to take credit for being clever with the wording when Dropsy describes the spire of Twilight's castle, I have to admit that the word choice was subconscious at best...
Mike
The Idea of Rarity's parents being secret agents explains a ton more about how they act versus how Rarity acts in the few times we see them in the show. I really enjoyed this.
Two can keep a secret if one is dead.
--Celestia
Ooh, this was really good. More S.M.I.L.E. stories, please!
Hmm, came here from Ancestral Tribute, haven't read this yet, trying to find the song that this title reminds me of. Bookmarked, though.
Did the title come from a song?
EDIT: Ah. Reminded me of "Break me like a curse". Instead of Cut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ewoCflHhY
EDIT 2: Also, that this involves SMILE makes me even more interested.
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Thanks, folks!
I've never read any of the actual S.M.I.L.E. stories, but, well, one super-secret monster-hunting organization is much like another, when you get right down to it.
And, yes, I have a link to the song where the title occurs in the long description: it's a thing called "Ambition" by a guy named David Mallett.
Mike
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Whoops! Missed the description!
Good story! All being told from Sweetie Drops' POV! Cool!
And the other characters being understanding and helping her out and stuff! So good!
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!
A delightful story. I think this is my favorite from the contest
Excellent work.
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Thanks, folks:
I think this is the first time I've ever tried this sort of story structure--there's a conversation going on, but the readers only get to hear one side of it. I'm glad it seems to work!
Mike
You can has review!