End of Nightmares
Keep her promise and live…stay and save her friends…the choice seemed far too obvious as to what she should do, as much as it pained her to think such a thing. It was in her nature to be sacrificial, to put others in front of her own needs, to make sure that her friends were happy even if it meant her own misery or stress. The very thought of life down here in this world was revolting, but it was the option she would have to choose.
She would miss her friends, and of course her dragon, but maybe they’ll be happy with her decision, and perhaps one day they’ll forgive her for what she had to do…and the promises that she had to break.
But then, another thought occurred to her. If she were to do this, would it really be the best option? Plot Twist was just that; twisted. What would resurrecting her friends accomplish? They would never forget their time here, and some of her friends were perhaps too far gone to ever truly recover. What would happen when Princess Celestia and Twilight were to meet once again? Would Fluttershy ever be able to look at her animal friends again after consuming so much of their flesh to survive? A simple second chance meant nothing if they still had to remember all of this. In fact…it was starting to look like the worse option the more she thought about it.
It all seemed so hopeless; she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. A chill washed through her as the temperature of the room dropped suddenly. Shivering, she pulled her torch closer to her freezing body. The blue flame flickered but hardly gave off any heat, much to Rarity’s displeasure.
Plot Twist started tapping his hoof impatiently. “If you’re going to make up your mind, I’d do it quickly. This anticipation is killing me.”
Rarity frowned at his imperiousness. He seemed awfully eager to get this over with, but that puzzled her…If he wanted her so bad, why not just kill her from the start? Why did he spare her life and not the life of others? Then she had thought was simple, that he simply enjoyed her suffering…but now that she took a moment to think about it, there was something very fishy going on here. Perhaps if she had a few more moments to think about it, then she could figure out what.
“Mr. Plot Twist, I don’t suppose I could get a slight extension on my decision?” She asked.
“No,” shook the stallion. “You have to make it now, I’ve waited all year for this, and you’re going to be my hearth’s warming present.”
“Strange…You say that as if I’ve already made up my mind...” Rarity mumbled to herself. This stallion wanted her, and he had the means to keep her here. It didn’t make sense that he would ever allow her to leave with something as simple as a choice. It didn’t make sense for him to leave something like this to chance. “…as if you’ve already decided that I’m never going to leave this place regardless of what I choose.”
“What?!” Plot Twist said with fake enthusiasm as he started to grin. “That’s appalling! But true, so I guess you staying willingly will be the best option, so if that’s what—“
“Wait a moment,” Rarity said. “You said that you would resurrect them, and the fact that that’s what you said and that alone concerns me.”
“As it should, it’s not like I want to or will allow them to forget their stay in my paradise,” Plot Twist chuckled. “I do love the utter hopelessness I’ve caused them, showing them that life is about as purposeful as a dung beetle’s knee. However, I must applaud you for your analogy. You’ve successfully figured out that there is no possible way that this is going to turn out great for anypony, so just make your meaningless choice so I can make you my queen and continue my little rain of misery.”
Rarity supposed that this was what it was all leading up to…a meaningless, hopeless choice. Her cards had already been dealt, now she could only choose which cards she played first against her opponent's superior hand. Another shiver rattled her. Her fire was getting smaller and smaller…her fire of hope.
Hope.
“This flame represents your hope, and as long as you have hope, you will be just fine down there. However, stray from the flame’s glow or let it be extinguished, and you will die.”
That was it…that was his game the whole time…
“You…you can’t actually kill me, can you?” Rarity asked.
Plot Twist gave her a strange look. “Umm…have you seen the world that I’ve created? The misery I’ve spread. I’m fairly confident that I could kill you if I wanted to, keep pressing my buttons and I just may.”
“You can’t actually kill me,” Rarity said, her smile returning to her and the fire of her hope growling ever slightly. “Or at least not now…you need me to be utterly hopeless to do that. That’s why you gave me this torch, so you could see when the best time was to strike. Not to protect me, but that’s not all now, is it? I think that you’re a very good actor that’s made the very foolish mistake of breaking character. This world is your stage and it’s meant to do one thing, to break the wills of ponies and leave them utterly hopeless and that they’ll never escape. I have no idea why you would do this, but I have a few theories.”
“What good are theories down here? The end results are all the same,” Plot Twist frowned. “And I think you’re just stalling the inevitable. But for argument’s sake, humour me.”
The fire in Rarity’s grasp engorged even more. “I think it’s where you get your power perhaps? Why else would you cause so much misery? If you wanted us all to die you would have killed us all, but then you’d be cutting off your power source. It explains why you’ve never attacked us before and why you were so blunt. In fact, I don’t even think that that little story you told me was true. I think that you’re just a sad, angry little boy that’s miserable and wants to make the rest of the world the exact same way!” Her fire was almost now a blaze. “Well I have some news for you, Plot Twist or Hellfire or whatever it is you want to be remembered by, I’m sick of feeling sorry for myself! I’m sick of being miserable and hopeless! So there’s my answer to you!”
In her fit of passion, she swung her torch with all her might, the blue flame cracking against the stallion’s face. He went spiralling towards the back of the theatre, slamming against the back wall with a thud before falling to the floor. He seemed out for the moment but that wouldn’t last. Rarity took this opportunity to get Spike out of the cage, looking for any sort of lock that she could bash or a latch she could open.
“Rarity…” Spike wondered. “That was amazing.”
“Thank you darling,” Rarity beamed, still looking for a way to open the cage. “But for so long it was me keeping myself from saving everypony. I spent the year thinking that I could only save one of us, but now I know I can save us all…I just had to be brave enough to see past Hellfire’s darkness.”
“Darkness…my darkness…” a rumbling moan muttered from across the room. Plot Twist shambled back to his feet. His neck seemed to be snapped the wrong way and there was a large blue burn on his face. “That was very stupid of you, my dear. Now you’re going to DIE!”
His body started to pulse, thumping like an arrhythmic heart as he grew larger, lava started bursting through his skin that was fading from a dark brown to a crimson red and his eyes were reverting back to a glowing yellow. Rarity readied herself and her torch, she wasn’t going to go down without putting up a scrap.
“Abandon your hope! Accept the inevitable and be mine, Rarity!” Hellfire roared, upchucking a glob of steaming magma at her and the dragon. Rarity barely had a chance to dodge it, and even a few hairs on her tail were singed. “This isn’t your fight to win! This is my world, and here I hold all the power! You cannot defeat a Child of Tragedy, so just give up!”
“Never!” The mare screamed, collecting herself and charging at the fiery being. “I’ll never submit to a monster like you! You can’t feed off my misery anymore!” She leapt off the one of the chairs in the theatre and smashed into Hellfire’s head with her flaming stick. Taking the offensive, she continued to barrage him with strikes of her torch, each hit leaving a strange blue mark on him. “This nightmare ends now!”
Hellfire snarled, whipping out and wrapping Rarity with his lava-like tongue. “Nightmare, you want to see the real nightmare?” He leaned up on his high legs and buck kicked her across the room. Rarity went crashing through it and found herself back outside in the frozen city. The blizzard seemed to have gotten worse, she could barely see the blue-scarred face of the pony of fire. “You think you’re something special? That you’re going to be the one that finally does me in? You’d make my brother chuckle if he was still alive with that pig-headedness of yours. But it does humour me that you think that a little confidence will be my undoing. You need to remember that you’re nothing but garbage, a coward that can’t fight her own battles!” The storm seemed to increase around him, and the glow he admitted grew brighter and brighter. “You couldn’t even protect yourself at the ball! What makes you think that tonight will be any different? I’m done toying with you, my dear. Your frozen burnt carcass will look great on my mantle!”
The ground around her started to shake. It seemed the wind started to pick up around her, and the snowflakes started to engulf her in a twister of ice. Hellfire gave a mighty yell and threw up more fire towards Rarity, the magma mixing in with the snow and entrapping the mare in a vortex of the two elements. She tried to look for an opening but there was none and the walls were starting to close in on her. She could feel the intense heat and chill burning and freezing her fur. It seemed so hopeless, that she was going to die here…
“No…” she shook. “Not here…not now…not in this place!” She closed her eyes as the tornado of fire and ice engulfed her. “I won’t give up!”
She felt the burn…but then there was warmth, not too hot but a comforting heat, like she had just crawled into bed after a long winter day. When she opened her eyes, the fire and the snow were gone…she was in a land of light, perhaps she had died and if she had, did she care? All she knew was that she didn’t feel scared anymore, and that everything was going to be okay.
“Rarity...”
Her ears perked up as she turned around. Standing behind her were all her friends. They looked happy and normal, not like they were in Hellfire’s underworld. Twilight walked up to her and spoke. “Hi…” she said. “How’s it going?”
“Twilight? You’re looking fine,” Rarity said, looking around the light world. “Where are we exactly?”
“Not really sure, sugarcube,” Applejack chuckled. “Some sort of weird place between life and death. Uh what did you call it again, Twi?”
“Limbo, but I don’t think—“
“Limbo?!” Pinkie laughed. “I thought that was that game with the stick and the bongo music?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyways, we’re not in limbo, we’re in some sort of strange realm where we’re all able to communicate on a telepathic level. I guess Rarity needed some happy thoughts to deal with the fact that she’s moments away from being frozen and set on fire.”
Rarity sighed. “Yes…I’d imagine anypony would find that rather enduring. But why this then? And why now?”
“You’re scared Rarity…” Fluttershy whispered. “And we have something really important to tell you.”
“We wanted to say that we’re sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack moped, staring at her hooves. “We acted like a bunch of monsters.”
“We were so scared that we would never leave…” Fluttershy squeaked. “That we lost hope…”
“But then you took the fight to Hellfire,” Rainbow said. “And made us realize that maybe things aren’t so hopeless after all.”
Rarity looked puzzled. “How could you know that?”
“We’re your friends, silly!” Pinkie Pie pepped. “Oh, and the world is starting to change! Hellfire wouldn’t want you to know this but you’re beating him! The ice is starting to crack, the snow is dying down, and ponies are gathering! You’ve given us hope Rarity, and it’s super awesome!”
“So don’t you dare give up,” grinned Rainbow Dash. “Get your head back on and kick his ass!”
“We believe in you, Rarity!”
“Don’t give up!”
“Go get him, Rare!”
Rarity nodded. “I will…I will, and then we’ll all get out of here. I promise,” she said, her friends fading away as the snow and the fire took their place. The warmth grew back into a burning and the mare found herself in the midst of being cooked alive. But she felt no pain, strange as it was. These wicked flames couldn’t scold her fur, or singe her hair any more than water. She could defeat him; she only had to have faith.
The torch she wielded grew ten times in ferocity, the blue fire overtaking Rarity in a sphere of fire. It blew away the lava and ice and even the air. The more she believed she could defeat this monster the more the fire grew until it exploded, propelling everything and all things back. Hellfire flinched away from the fire, shielding himself was a wall of hardened ice. When he peaked back to see if Rarity was still there he saw a new being in her place.
A tall mare descended to the ground with a pair of large fiery wings that didn’t seem to connect to her body, yet still allowed her to fly. She had a coat so white it ashamed the snow she landed on. Her mane and tail were like a gentle flowing river of fire, curving smoothly down her face and only ever flickering into a curl at the end. Her eyes glowed the same tint of blue as her hair, and her horn glowed of a magical aura. Hellfire almost looked worried as the mare spoke. “This is it, Hellfire. Let everypony free and I’ll spare your annihilation. Your world is crumbling at its core. It is now time for you to give up.”
“What witchcraft is this?” The devilish pony asked himself. “This isn’t right! You’re nothing! You can’t possibly possess this power, it’s hopeless!”
“Nothing is ever hopeless,” Rarity said, marching up to Hellfire. “No matter how bleak you try to make the world look, there’s still hope! It may not come right away but it’s still there! Pushing you to try to chase your dreams or face your feels, and with its power I can finally put you to rest!”
She shifted speeds and charged at him, impaling him with her flaming horn and pushing the hellish pony through a few buildings. Rarity continued her assault on Hellfire by blasting him with a barrage of blue flame. However, Hellfire quickly curled up into a ball and vanished in a pool of fiery liquid. Rarity looked around the room, trying to anticipate his next move. She didn’t expect an attack from the floor, as Hellfire burst through the floorboards and head-butted the mare, and then blasted her again with an upchuck of fire.
“Die, you wench!” He shouted, slathering the mare with flames.
Rarity flinched as she blocked the flames, pushing back against them with all her might. When she finally broke free from the fire, she tackled the beast to the ground, slamming against his skull with azure hooves of fire. She pounded his head until fleshy chunks of lava started chipping off of his face and leaking out of his ears. The more she stomped the angrier she got and the harder she stepped down. After a minute of stomping, there was nothing left of his head but a small yellow puddle.
But she knew he wasn’t done yet. Injured perhaps, but not dead. The rest of Hellfire’s body liquidated and sifted away. He reformed on the other side of the house they were on but he was shaky, like he hadn’t healed something quite right. He was even leaning against the wall for support, coughing up liquid fire.
“I…I…” His voice started to return to normal. “I was abused…and hated as a child…” he croaked, falling to his knees. “My father wasn’t a nice stallion…and my mother…my mother didn’t see that my father wasn’t a nice stallion…”
Rarity looked puzzled at him. Was this a confession? Perhaps but it was still best to be on her guard. “Let me guess, you thought the situation was hopeless?”
“Clever…” the fiery pony wheezed. “I ran away from home and deep into the woods. I just wanted to get away from it all…the bad, and the terrible. But when your life is hopeless, bad and terrible are always making cameos. I had a little run in with some very bad ponies…a cult if you will…and they thought I was some sort of vessel for their crazy god or something…and they sacrificed me to become what I am today…don’t know if they did it right though, I killed them all anyways.”
“Is this even true?”
“Perhaps it is, perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s just a scapegoat I’ve created to justify my actions,” Hellfire moaned as he fell to the ground. His body was starting to melt again, but it looked like it wasn’t his doing. Was he finally dying? “It looks like the curtains about to fall for me…but I promised you a tragic ending, didn’t I?” He continued to dissolve into sludge. “With the last…bit of my power…I promise that you’ll never be with your…beloved…”
A barrage of flames blasted from Rarity’s horn, destroying what was left of the fallen devil and evaporating it into nothingness. She waited for him to reform, but deep down inside she knew that she had finally defeated him. That Hellfire, the Killer of Hope, was dead.
With that dealt with, Rarity immediately walked out of the room and outside. Already the world was beginning to calm down, and the blizzard was starting to die out. She noticed that ponies were starting to leave their ragtag homes to peak at the climate change. They noticed her and winced in Rarity’s bright flaming mane. It had been so long since they had seen hope, it was nearly blinding to them. These ponies started to gather around her, following her like a prophet. She didn’t mind at all, it saved her the trouble of gathering them all later.
She headed back into the theatre, where Spike was still sitting in his cage. He almost didn’t recognize her since her change but after a small explanation he was soon hugging his love, and was overjoyed with the idea that him and all of his friends would be able to escape with them, and that Hellfire was finally dead.
Rarity liberated the city of Isis, melted the frozen lake, cleared the forest, vacated the cave, and emptied the tundra of all its victims. Soon Rarity was leading a mob of hundreds of ponies towards the exit to the world. It looked like it was finally over.
“I…I can’t believe you did it, Rarity,” Fluttershy smiled sombrely. “And…I wanted to say that I’m sorry for trying to eat you.”
“Fluttershy darling, I told you. I forgive you. I forgive everypony for what they may have done down here, and Princess Celestia even agreed to omit all crimes and misdeeds done down here for the sake of recovery. She even forgave Twilight, I can most certainly forgive you.”
“Oh…thank you,” the shy pony said. “You’re a good friend.”
They continued up the icy mountain and into the dark cage. The walk seemed much less spooky this time around with so many ponies with her, and those dark metal gates were a sight for sore eyes, marking the end of her and all the other ponies journey. Several of them were overjoyed and ran through the gate and back up to the surface and outside, back to their world.
Rarity waited for every other pony to cross the gate, making sure that they got across. Spike was the last one to cross. The dragon turned around, smiling as he stretched out a hand for his beloved. “Come on, Rarity…let’s go.”
And she did. She walked towards the gates. It was time to put all this nasty business behind them, and finally move on. But of course as a pony said: there wasn’t going to be a happy ending to this story. She was a mere two feet away from the gate before they slammed shut. Rarity stepped back, startled at this strange occurrence as Spike tried to open the gates, but to no avail.
“No…no, no, no!” Rarity screamed, pressing her hooves against the metal bars and trying to push them open, but to no success. Suddenly she was pulled back into the darkness, screaming as the site of the gate and Spike disappeared.
She was left alone in the dark, confused.
“I told you… I wouldn’t let you be with your beloved…”
“HELLFIRE!” Rarity shrieked angrily. “What did you do!?”
From the shadows, a small, frail stallion crawled in. Hellfire looked more like a skeleton then a pony, all flesh had been ripped from his body and his skin clenched to his skin. Even the glow in his eyes was gone, they were just two empty sockets. He coughed a few times, before falling down to his knees.
“If it makes you feel any better…I’m all burnt out now. That was the last of my tricks, although I’ll admit though…it’s one hell of an ending. I’ll wither away soon, but at least we’ll spend our final moments together. How…romantic.” He finally fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Whatever life was left in him was beginning to fade away. “So I guess that’s it more me… it’s a pity you couldn’t meet my family. They’re a bunch of characters—”
Rarity stomped his head in, cutting him off for last time. She didn’t have time to be angry with him, it didn’t matter anymore. All her rage and sadness was gone, her fears vanquished and her determination stronger than ever. She would find a way to be with Spike again, somehow she would find a way…
*****
One year later…in December
It was another cold, winter night, and a dragon sat next to the window. Spike stared out of the window and watched the snow fall…what was once a time of joy and festivities for him was now a time of grief and misery. He sighed, leaning against the glass. All he wanted now was to get this damn day over with and back to his normal life so he could try and forget about December.
It was sort of funny though, sometimes when he stared out at the winter night he liked to pretend that he could see Rarity out there in the cold, dancing with the snowflakes, calling for him like a siren in the snow. But that was all just fantasy. The reality was that after the gates closed up Hellfire’s world disappeared without a trace, it was like it never even existed. The princesses were still looking for her, and yesterday they had a memorial service in honour of her bravery and sacrifice, but it looked hopeless that they would ever find her. He wanted to finally accept that she was gone, but it was too painful. He’d do anything to see her…one last time.
Then, there was a strange whisper in his ear. He slowly shook out of his little daze, giving a stretch and a yawn. Perhaps it was getting late, and his mind was playing tricks on his misery, so much that he was hearing things…
“Spike…”
The dragon shook his head. Now he was sure that he heard that one, but this was all because of stress, right? There was no way it was her…it couldn’t be her.
“Spike…come outside…”
“R-rarity?” He whispered, looking around the room. “If this is some joke it’s not funny!”
“Spike…please come outside…”
The dragon checked around the corners, under the bed, and in the closet. There was no sign of anypony, he was completely alone. But if that was true, then why was he still hearing the voice in the room, and why was it telling him to go outside? He supposed there was only one way to find out. Spike grabbed his coat from the rack and headed out the door into the cold. “Alright, I’m outside,” he said with a shiver. “Now what?”
The wind started to pick up, whirling around him a bit, if as if it were trying to push him. He followed the direction of the wind, walking in whichever direction the wind would take him. It seemed ludicrous to follow the wind, but he was curious.
His curiosity eventually led him to the edge of Ponyville Lake. The wind had finally stopped once he got there. Strange, since there still was no pony there. The dragon shook his head, throwing his hands in the air. It was crazy that he was out here in the middle of the night. He should just turn around and head home…
“Spike, don’t leave…”
That wasn’t in his head. “Who said that?!” Spike gasped, spinning around to try and find the pony that spoke but there was nothing but snow. “Must be out of my mind…”
“Now dear, you’re not just going to leave after all the work I did to get you here. I’d thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“Rarity? That’s…that’s you isn’t it? Where are you?” He asked. “Where are you hiding?”
“Look at the lake.”
Spike dashed to the edge of the lake, and he nearly fainted. By some profound miracle, she was there in the reflection of the surface. Rarity’s image was glowing on the icy surface, looking up at him, smiling warmly. She looked just as beautiful as she did the last time. The dragon pressed up against the ice, trying to meld through it and join her on the other side. He could even feel the warmth of her touch on the icy surface as he wept, “Rarity…I…I…how?”
“I never gave up, Spike,” she said. “I’m…still trapped in this world, but there are windows that I can look through. Through the ice and the stars have always watched over you and the girls, I wanted to talk to you but my voice was muted from this world. Although I’ve finally found a way to talk to you, my beloved dragon.”
“This-this is great!” Spike laughed joyfully as he shed a tear. “We can break this ice and you and I can—“
Rarity shook her head. “I’m afraid not, dear. If the ice breaks then I won’t be able to see or talk to you. Like I said, it’s just a window between our worlds, not a door. But I am ever thankful for it, seeing you again is just as good as being with you.”
“But Rarity…”
“Please Spike, no tears,” she sniffed. “This is a happy moment, I don’t want to waste what little time I have with tears and sorrows. We have until the sun comes up, so let’s make the most of it. Would you please close your eyes, my dearest?”
“O-okay,” Spike said, sighing in defeat as he got back to his feet and closed his eyes. “Now what?”
“Keep your eyes closed, and no peeking, dear,” Rarity hummed. “Now, hold out your hand…and remember to keep your eyes closed.”
He did just that, clenching his eyes shut as he held out his hand. He was a little confused as to what Rarity was planning, but it soon became clear when he felt a furry hoof in his hand. He nearly opened his eyes there but kept them closed. He was feeling Rarity, but that was impossible…
“Spike, would you give me the honour of this dance?” The mare in the lake asked. “We never did get to finish our dance last time.”
“I…it would be my pleasure,” he trembled, trying to hold it together as he placed his other hand on what felt like her lower back and they started to sway. Oh how he wished that he could sneak just one peek to see who he was dancing with, but Rarity had said to keep his eyes shut, so that’s what he did, even if it was its own brand of hell. It would have to be satisfying enough to be able to feel her again.
And as they danced however, he heard a strange and haunting melody in his mind…
Dancing bears, pegasi wings,
Things I want to remember,
And a song, somepony sings,
Once upon a December.
Will you hold me safe and warm?
Protecting from this the icy storms?
As we dance so gracefully, across my memories…
They danced into the night, never speaking, never looking into each other’s eyes. He would never understand why Rarity made him do this, but he didn’t care. After what seemed like forever though, he felt a burning in his closed eyes which could only mean one thing.
The sun was coming up.
“My time’s up, my dear…” Rarity finally said.
“Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“I wish that I could, Spike,” she wept. “But don’t worry…This isn’t goodbye.”
“It’s…it’s not?”
“Of course not, Spike…after all…”
You will hold me safe and warm,
Keep me safe in this silver storm,
As we dance so gracefully, across my memories…
Far away, I must go…
Fading away like an ember,
Still something, you must know,
Things you have to remember…
He felt her lips against his cheek.
I’ll return after spring…once again in December.
When the sun rose, so did Spike’s eyelids. She was gone, his reflection in the ice standing along on the icy surface. Rarity may have been gone, but his smile had return. His hope had been reinstated and perhaps this was just the beginning. He had faith that she would return to him one day in the flesh, and he would wait a thousand years if he had too. The dragon slowly walked away from the lake, hands in his pockets. He took one last look at the lake, considering that he wouldn’t be visiting it for a while…
At least, not until next year.
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What an ending...
Take a Third Option indeed... well done Rarity. Well. Done.
This was... wow. An entire story of feels punching, and it manages to have an ending that is both a victory and defeat. Hope, is not a passive thing, hope is aggressive. We must struggle to hope when things look their darkest. Hope is a sword to strike against the shadow of despair.
And Rarity wields that sword well. I think that she will remain trapped until Spike and the others can return the hope that she gave to them. The burden lies on you, my little ponies.
Outstanding story, I am really glad you wrote this.
-Lumino
Clap clap clap
This was a great story. Probably in my top ten.
Oh god...This was just awesome. The tragidy, the awesoem fight, the great charactization of our lady mare and so much more. This was fic was just so awesome
Wow. I just...wow.
Whoops sorry for the first comment (if you can even call it that XD)
Anyway, I would just like to say, after all the waiting I can say it was totally worth the masterpiece you presented.
I also had a feeling you would use the song from Anastasia. Call it my inner childhood senses.
5/5? 10/10? does it matter? hell no, because you get a mustache parade
I love this story, the feels are so intense, I can't take it! thank goodness its not over yet, the battle was so epic.
*slow clap*
is it just me, or does it still say incomplete.. is that on purpose? i hope so, it would be great if there was more.
3547386sadly no, that was a blunder on my part. The story is over. I hope you enjoyed it regardless!
3547476
Well there go my hopes... just kidding, this is the magnifecent literature I always love to find! Though im sad it is over, im assured that youll pull out more storiesthat could meet the levels this one has met!
Why don't you have this tagged romance?
That was a pretty cruel ending mate, well played.
AUTHOR, Y U DO DIS TO ME?!
Such an incredible story, just.....wow......absolutely beautiful, and heart wrenching. Thank you for putting the time into writing this.
No work of fictional has ever made me cry like this, and i won't forget it anytime soon.
Favorite Fic of all time.
Of all time.
I'm just saying...... wow, that ending hurt man, so painful and tragic..... well written and well played
I was feeling it was rushed towards the beginning but that ending with the song was spot on perfect.
i hope in the end they will be together
Oh geez. ;_;
Sad to see it end, and especially with the downer that Rarity and Spike are separated from each other by the villain.
Just one nit pick:
) along with them spreading the torment to others when they start killing the normal populace.
So everyone's year of psychological torment at each others hooves and the hooves of Hellfire are now all healed over because they have hope?
No associative fears, phobias, or feelings of guilt/remorse?
Seems a little off since that would be the issue with Hellfire releasing them (which I called!
My immediate reaction:
3556357 nevet said that they weren't scarred from the experience, it can be assumed that the healing process is slow, but it is happening. Also, with ponies such as celestia and rarity to look up to, things arent as dark. All that we were shown was that spike was still sad over the loss of rarity. I didn't want to get into too much detail over. EVERY SINGLE PONY cause I could have done a whole other chapter on that, but I really wanted to get this story wrapped up, and I think that the ending was just as powerful without all that other irrelevant information. I do hope that you enjoyed the ending at least.
You sir are quite the word smith.
So in the end, Rarity chose to free everyone else, but she basically sacrificed herself for everypony else, and at the same time vanquished Hellfire/Plot Twist?
I know that it's naive to wish for a happy ending everytime, because there is too much sad shit that we deal with in real life anyway, but damn that's just fucked up. Rarity saves everyone from their fates, but ultimately the main thing is that they both lost the one thing the wanted---each other. What now? Is it just that they all have to die naturally to "see" Rarity again. Even in death, it seems that Hellfire won.
God. Damn.
jamspreader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CLAP.gif
This is one heck of an inspiring fic. And damn you Hellfire for having the last word... for now. There is still hope. Yay hope!
I saw that picture on EQD before, didn't think it was linked to this story. Did a good job.
You make me have da feels for the marshmellow?
and then KILL HER!?!?! 
Shut it, marshmellow.
well played, sir. well played.
And yes, she does seem to be, for all intents and purposes, dead.
SEQUAL???????? ;)
3556715
I enjoyed the ending, but I was a bit confused as to why the hidden problem with saving everyone was suddenly a non-issue.
I guess with an example of hope and recovery for them to follow, they can cope with all of the scars upon scars that they all have. Also Luna working overtime to make the vivid nightmares less horrifying and facilitate healing.
I can also dig the want to finish a project to allow you to either finish out others or start another.
Suddenly these pics feel relevant:
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derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/8/117424__safe_twilight+sparkle_princess+luna_animated_youtube+link_pmv_the+stars+will+aid+in+her+escape_florence+and+the+machine.gif
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I'll see you at your next update!
3547476
Awesome story. I can't say how much I loved it. Every step of the way... hell, but worth fighting for. The song at the end, a reference to "Disney's Anastasia?" because that's all I could hear. I'm glad that I read this... it was a good read, really... and in December after the coldest day in years of all times. I wish I could say more, but I'm already an hour and a half late for bed and it's a work night.
Tell me, are your other stories this good?
3600086 if you enjoyed this story, I'd recommend reading For the Ones We Love and Beauty and Her Spike. Although I'd say all my stories are awesome, those two are the one's I'd recommend for you.
I'm finally able to finish reading this and I have to say it was a wonderful, but tragic, ending. I was really tearing up at the end
This story has stolen the #1 spot on my list of favorite fanfiction. I mean, holy shit this was good.
3590359 Read Dante's Purgatorio
Damn, tears like rain....Damn good.
3600086 Anastasia isn't Disney, it's FOX. I hate it when people make that mistake.
a decent concept. a bit poorly executed.
one of the most sappy and rainbow sunshiny grim dark stories I've ever read. Made me laugh a couple times because of general sillyness which is utterly unacceptable considering the type of story this is. Loads of grammatical errors.
overall a 3.77/10 story.
...mwahaha...HAHHAHA...HAHAHAHHAHA I FINALLY FOUND THIS STORY AGAIN XD
oh and just gotta say one of my favorite stories ever since i first found it its always bugged me i never got to read that last chapter lol
It has been 4 years and this story is still one of my alltime favourites!
Overtly faithful
Pretty good story. The ending got me a little bit. A bitter sweet one where the villain is defeated, but at a high cost. Now that Rarity is the Mistress of that strange underworld, perhaps she can learn to control it. Maybe even turn it into something good. I guess time will tell.
That said, I think this story needs further editing. There's still a lot of grammatical errors in it, all the way to the ending song, and it distracts from the narrative. Also, some of it feels a bit awkward, and not just because of the grammar. I think it was some of the dialogue and character interactions. They felt a bit stiff to me, so they may need to be reviewed and touched up a bit. I don't think a total rewrite is needed; it just has some flaws that need to be fixed.
If it weren't for those flaws, I'd be putting this in my Favorites. The idea is pretty good and the ending seals the deal. I don't remember the last time I saw an ending like this in a story. A lot of them, especially here, tend to either be wholly triumphant or complete tragedy. Having the hero get tricked at the end and still save the day? Kinda rare. And it wasn't left there either, since you implied that she might yet find a way to return home someday.
I kinda hope you return to this one day and rewrite it, just enough so that it's polished. At least try to do a little more showing than telling. It makes the story more engaging.
Good luck on your future works, and thanks for the good read. I hope to see much more in the future.
I know I'm 9 years late, but damn that was good. Kinda wish it got a sequel but at the same time, it would've probably ruined the ending. Great story overall, well done.