• Published 24th Feb 2013
  • 14,440 Views, 464 Comments

The Trotzamore Stratagem - The Rarispy



(The Gems Trilogy: Episode 3) The Mane 6 try to stop Discord from gaining ultimate power, as they and Sweetie Belle face their own battles closer to the heart.

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Send Me On My Way

The sapphire sat proudly on its shelf, glimmering in the cast of the sunlight, brightening up the entire room in a glory of deep blue lights and shadows.

Its tranquility however, would be disturbed as the fashionista hoisted a ladder up to the shelf and climbed up to inspect this bedazzling stone even further.

“Oh… This can’t honestly be one of the Gemstones,” she lamented. “Sweetie Belle’s precious gift to cute little Spikey Wikey, a token of their young love. … And aside that, it’s so heavy. Who would carry it all the way to Trotzamore? Certainly not I!” Just then, her head pinged, making her wince for a split second. “Oh, hold on a mo’…”

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated the spell again. A red spotlight from her horn lay onto the sapphire, which then proceeded to bounce it back to Rarity. The force was almost enough to knock her right off the ladder.

“Oh, my. So it isn’t the sapphire.” She wiped her brow and placed her hoof over her chest. “Oh, what a relief! No heavy lifting for poor old Rarity after all!”

“Um… Rarity?”

Rarity’s body prickled up in a startle. She whipped her around to see her little sister standing in the doorway, gazing up at her in a face of pure perplex.

“What are you… doing up there? Hey! You’re not trying to take our sapphire to use for your dresses…” She turned her head and raised an eyebrow at her sister. “…are you?”

“Of course I’m not, Sweetums! I—I’m just, umm… inspecting it to make sure it doesn’t get dusty, yes!” She started rubbing the sapphire with her hoof. “Such a precious and beautiful marvel would lose some of that splendor if it were to start collecting such vile agents as household dust. So proper care and attention is needed, you see?”

Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Rarity’s eyes darted left and right as sweat started to trickle down her otherwise smooth face. Finally however, Sweetie’s face beamed up into one of pure glee.

“Oh, okay! Yeah, I guess that makes sense! Wow, thank you sis, you’re so generous and helpful!”

“Yes, aren’t I just?” Rarity replied as she slid down the ladder, eyeing around the room. “Well you’re here Sweetums, maybe you can help me. You wouldn’t happen to know if Spike keeps any extra, maybe very special gems around here, would you?”

“Um… not that I know of. I’m pretty sure he just eats them as soon as he can. Oh, but boy if he doesn’t look so adorable while he’s doing it…” she muttered, nudging her hoof along the ground. She shook her head to regain focus. “Why, is it important?”

“Oh… perhaps a tad. Let’s see now…”

She went over to Twilight’s dresser and started pulling all sorts of clothes out with her magic. Sweetie just looked on, briefly glancing at various points of the room whilst tapping her hoof. Finally, she cleared her throat and stared straight ahead at Rarity.

“Hey Rarity, can I ask you a question?”

“Uhh—sure, Sweetums, what is it? Ohhh…”

“Can true love really last?”

“Well, of course it does,” Rarity answered, desperate to the point of pulling the shelves themselves out. “After all, Fluttershy and I have been together for three months and still going strong, are we not? And you should see Applejack and her boyfriend Caramel. Ooh, they seem to get more adorable every day!

Not to mention my good friend Golden Harvest and—Oh, that reminds me, Sweetums! The girls and I will be—well, let’s call it ‘out of town’, for a little while, so I’ve already made the arrangements for you to stay at Golden Harvest's."

“Right, but… what about those relationships that don’t last?”

“Well, yes, that does happen too. Poor old Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-Lis, and Gerard Gelato. Oh, Chell Copper, bless her heart. But in the direst of situations my little sister, true love will always—ERRRRAH! I can’t find it anywhere!”

“Find what!? If you’d tell me, maybe I could help you look for it!”

“I told you, I’m just looking for a gem! Not just any gem, but—ohh, it’s all so hard to explain!”

“Hmm…” she patted her chin in thought. “Hey, I just remembered something! I think Spike said something about still having a gem that he was saving for you—”

All of a sudden, Rarity sped over, her face now just mere inches away from a crouching Sweetie Belle.

“YOU DID!? Where is it? Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“I-It’s over there, in that drawer!” she stammered, pointing in the direction of it. Rarity dashed to the drawer and hastily opened it, tossing out several drawings that lay inside. Some of them were drawings of Sweetie Belle, but one particular drawing of his landed on Sweetie’s face.

“Where is it? Where is it? WHERE IS IT!?”

Sweetie picked up the drawing and looked at it. Her face immediately sunk.

It was an older drawing, depicting an elaborate Ponyville wedding between Spike and… Rarity, his original crush.

He looks so… happy in it. He really wanted this to happen back then…

She looked down at the other drawings on the floor. They were all of Sweetie Belle instead, including a couple of them kissing. Although they still made her smile, they definitely weren’t as elaborately made as this one drawing. She placed the drawing of Spike and Rarity’s wedding on the floor with the others, unsure what to think or look at.

“AHA!”

Rarity pulled out a sparkling green prism-shaped gemstone.

“Oh, my wandering eyes! What a positively pure and perfect emerald! I just—”

Suddenly, without warning, her head snapped forward and she found herself in a tight involuntary stare towards the emerald. She blinked her eyes a couple of times, until it all clicked. From her point of view, the emerald radiated several red outlines and glowed in that color brightly.

“Oh, dear, what a spell… So that’s it, then. This must be the gemstone! Ha-ha, I’ve found it! How about that?”

Sweetie Belle wasn’t noticing her older sister’s newfound joy, however. She was still concentrating on her art discoveries.

“Hey, sis?” she called out as Rarity continued to admire the stone in her hooves. “Exactly how long did Spike have a crush on you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, a little while I suppose, perhaps several months,” she answered, still focusing mainly on the emerald. “You know how young boys are. They change their minds faster than their teeth fall out. Such is young love, you know what I mean?”

“W-What!?” Sweetie Belle squeaked, stepping back in shock.

But Rarity, still not paying much attention to her sister’s concerns, was already heading out with the emerald in tow.

“Ta-ta, Sweetums! Have fun at Golden Harvest’s while I’m gone!” After a few seconds, she poked her head back in the room. “Oh! And the next time you see Spike, tell him I said thank you for finding this precious gem with the intentions of giving it to me! I’m very grateful! Bye, now!”

And so she left the filly alone in the room, with a plethora of Spike-crafted drawings spread on the floor. She gazed between them and the space where her sister had been.

She started to whimper.


“Not there… Not there… Not there… Not there either… Maybe this is—No, not here either…”

Fluttershy in her current state looked as if she had been sleep-deprived. Her eyes were feeling heavy, and her hair was starting to frazzle out. But still she pressed on, sifting through every single one of Rarity’s individual gems, having already turned several chests upside down, trying to find the perfect one.

“Ohh, this is probably going to take forever.” She laid her hooves down to the ground in defeat. “Discord’s probably going to reach Trotzamore before we can get there anyway… It’s hopeless.”

Before she could even start sobbing through, her head sprung up involuntarily, as she found herself being pulled by a seemingly magnetic force.

“Whoa, whoa! Wh-what’s happening? Ow!”

She bumped her head into a dresser in the far back of Rarity’s massive closet. On top of the dresser, she found herself fixated on a curious lavender box.

“Oh… dear,” she said nervously.

She reached her shaking hoof over to the box and carefully opened it. Inside was a sight that raised some déjà vu to her mind.

“That gem…” she realized. “That’s… that’s…”


“Oh, no! You are not getting this gemstone! This was given to me by my dear friend, Spikey Wikey, the kindest, sweetest, most generous dragon ever. And it is too precious to me to give to a greedy old beast like you!”


Fluttershy held up the red heart-shaped fire ruby in her hooves, looking very solemn.

I wonder if it’s glowing red because of the spell or because it’s already red… I sure hope not. I don’t want to use the gem Spike gave to Rarity as a special gift.

Oh, but I have to in order to help save Equestria! If we don’t have all thirteen Gemstones, Discord will be able to take over Trotzamore, and we’ll all be doomed! Ohh… why do I always have to make such hard decisions?

“I know! I’ll just take it to Rarity myself! Spike gave it to her, so perhaps she should decide what to do with it.”

She put the fire ruby back in its box and placed the box in her saddlebag. After that, she left Rarity’s house to go find Rarity herself.


Inside the topmost room of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was happily bouncing around on a beach ball in the center of the room. Her trusty pet toothless alligator watched from the recliner.

“OHHH! This is just so awesome, Gummy! We’re going to go on super-fun adventures in our noble quest to Trotzamore, and meet lots of cool ponies and sniff lots of pretty flowers and maybe even throw lots of amazing parties! THE EXCITEMENT IS KILLING ME, GUMMY! And I know just how to get this excitement train a-rolling!”

She sped over to Gummy and gently tapped his back, causing him to gag out a small white gem. She marveled at it as she picked it up and started dancing around the room with it.

“Because this gemstone will be my gift to Twilight, and then she’ll be all, ‘Oh, Pinkie! This is the greatest gift anypony’s ever given you! I love you much!’” she said, doing an eerily spot-on imitation of Twilight’s voice. “And then the prophecy will finally start to come true, and we’ll be all super-duper hunky-dory FOREVER AND EVER!”

But in the midst of her excitement, she suddenly felt compelled to place the gem down on the table and stare at it.

“Hang on a second, Gummy. All of a sudden, I’m getting a mysteeeeerious vibe from this gemstone… Something so strange and different… What could it be? What could it be? Hmmm…”

She eyed the gem for a few more precious seconds, before falling back into an oblivious smile.

“I know! It’s because this has gotta be the most valuable, most pretty-rific gemstone in all of Equestria that’ll make Twilight really happy! Gift-giver’s intuition, huh Gummy? … Gummy?”

Gummy, who had… somehow ended up on the ceiling, fell down to the floor with a squeaky noise.


Fluttershy was racing down the streets, searching frantically for her girlfriend.

Elsewhere, Rarity was also running the other way towards where the rest of her friends are.

Inevitably, the two ended up bumping into each other.

“Ohh… oh Fluttershy, my douce!” She helped lift her up and even duster her off. “I am so sorry, I didn’t see you there! Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Well then, take a look at what I found!” She presented the emerald to her. Fluttershy had a face of astonishment. “I found it in one of Spike’s drawers. Apparently, he was to give it to me at one point during his little crush phase!”

“Wow, that’s absolutely beautiful… Oh, by the way Rarity, that reminds me.” She took out the box and opened it in front of Rarity. “You see, I have you—”

“Oh my word! What a marvelous looking fire ruby! Where EVER did you get it?” Rarity exclaimed, gazing at the fire ruby’s beauty.

“A-Actually, it’s the same one th—”

“Why, it looks almost exactly like the one Spike gave me a while ago!”

“That’s because it is the one that he—”

“You even got the same color box that I put mine in! Great, beautiful minds think alike, don’t they?”

“I—Thank you so much Rarity, but you see—”

“Wait… oh my stars, darling! Fluttershy, do you realize what this is?”

“I know, that’s what I was going t—”

“This is one of the Gemstones of Passion! You found the other Gemstone, Fluttershy!”

“I know, I’ve been trying to tel—”

“Oh, come on! We should tell others!” She started heading off again, while Fluttershy remained there.

“But, Rarity, I—”

“Oh, and by the way…” She gave a Fluttershy a huge kiss on the lips, stunning the poor mare into a happy vertigo. “Thank you so much for this gem. It means a lot to me.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, Rarity…”


“How long are ya gonna be gone?”

“Ah don’t know, can’t say for sure. It could take us a while to find all o’ them, and even then, we’ll still have to take the Gemstones to Trotzamore when we find them… and stop Discord once and for all.”

“Alright then, just as long as you come back safe and sound.”

Rainbow Dash was still spying on the couple from up in a tree. And she yawned really hard.

I’m getting bored out of my mind. Come on you guys, wrap it up so we can get going alrea—

“Hey there!”

“WHOA!”

Rainbow was so startled that she ended up falling out of the tree and landing on the ground with a thud, in front of a cross looking Cherry Jubilee.

“And just what do ya think you’re doing up in there, huh? You’re not spying on those two lovebirds, I hope!”

Rainbow gasped. “YOU!”

Without being seen, she led Cherry Jubilee behind a bush where they remained out of earshot.

“Alright, Miss ‘Cherry Jubilee’, if that is your real name! You’d better spill the beans and tell me what’s going on here with you and Caramel!”

“And just what makes you think anything is going on between us?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! I saw what you two were doing in that old barn!”

“Oh, really?” She leaned in close and raised her eyebrow at Rainbow. “So you were spyin’ on us, then?”

“Well, I—I was just—I needed to—I wanted to make sure that—”

“Whoa whoa whoa, calm down there, honey bunch!” Cherry placed a hoof on Rainbow’s heart to ease her tension. “Listen. You’re a friend of AJ’s, aren’t ya? I remember your face from that ordeal in Dodge Junction. So I figure you musta had some good intentions behind this, am I right?”

“Yeah…” Rainbow stroked her hoof as she looked down in guilt. But she shook her head and went back to scowling. “Hang on now! Don’t take this off-track! Like I said, I saw what happened in there and what’s really going on! Don’t you think AJ oughta know about all of this?”

“Now hold your horses there, partner! You’re not thinking of actually tellin’ her about all of this, are ya?”

“Of course I am! AJ’s my friend, and she has every right to know that her so-called boyfriend is keeping this giant secret from her!”

“Does she, now? Does she really? Look at ‘em.”

She pointed towards the couple, and Rainbow peeked out to have a look. Applejack was nuzzling up against Caramel’s neck, as Caramel embraced her in a soft farewell hug. They were both fighting tears.

“Those two love each other, so very much. Caramel loves her, and she loves Caramel back.” She turned back towards Rainbow Dash again. “Now do ya really think AJ would still love him if she ever found out the truth?”

“Well, I—Maybe not, now that you mention it. In fact, probably not at all…”

“Exactly. Ya see what I’m getting at now?”

“But—But—I can’t just keep something like this from Applejack! I’m supposed to be her loyal, trustworthy friend!”

“Right. I know that. But tell me something… what was your name again, sweetheart?”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Tell me something Rainbow, didn’t your mother ever tell you: be careful of what you do, and don’t go around breaking young mares’ hearts? Look at her. She’s so happy. As a friend, don’t you want to see her happy?”

“I—I guess you’re right.” After a few more moments of silence between them, she decided to truly make a confrontation. "Do you love Caramel?"

She paused, and then looked down the ground. "...Of course. With all my heart."

Rainbow huffed in disgust.

"You're sick, you know that!?"

"Now what's so sick about it? It's perfectly normal for-- Hang tight, here she comes."

As their discussion reached its end, so did Applejack and Caramel’s special moment. The two had parted ways, and Applejack was walking down the road now. Cherry suddenly pushed Rainbow out of the bush and into the open road.

“Aah! Hey!”

“Rainbow Dash!” said Applejack. “What in tarnation are you doing out here?”

“Oh uh, I was just, uh—just… just coming by to see what’s taking you so long. Our friends were getting worried.”

“Oh. Well, no need to worry, I just need to say one last goodbye to the family, and then we’ll be on our way.”

The two started walking side-by-side.

“Heh-heh, yeah, great.” Rainbow turned her head around to take one last look at Cherry Jubilee. She pointed a hoof at her eyes, and then straight at Rainbow, with a watching glare on her face. “Great…”


Meanwhile, Twilight was at the train station, tapping her hoof impatiently. Fluttershy and Rarity had already rejoined her.

“OHH! Where are they!?”

“Calm down, darling,” said Rarity, as she sipped her iced tea. “I’m sure they’ll be here shortly.”

Twilight suddenly teleported next to her, making her spit her tea.

“But what if they’re NOT! Look, the sun’s already going down! SEE! SEE! And they’re late! We need to figure out what we’re doing and GET MOVING ALREADY, BEFORE DISCORD REACHES TROTZAMORE AND WE’RE ALL DOOMED BECAUSE HE’S CREATING CHAOS IN EVERYPONY’S HEARTS! CHAAAOS!”

Twilight fell on her back as all of her hooves twisted up and her whole body fell into paralysis.

“Wait a minute,” Fluttershy realized. “If Princess Luna is missing, then… how can there still be night?”

“Poor Princess Celestia must be raising the sun and the moon in the absence of her beloved sister,” Rarity noted, looking up the sky with a sad face.

“Hold the phone, y’all! We’re here!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally came up to the group, but stopped when they saw Twilight’s state.

“Whoa! Now what in the hay happened to her?”

“Another panic attack?” Rainbow asked deadpan.

“Another panic attack,” said Rarity.

Rainbow pulled out a book and started waving it in front of Twilight’s face. She sniffed the air in response.

“Book?” She perked her head up. “Book?” And then she snatched it from Rainbow. “Book! Mmmm. Book.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. Twilight shook her head and refocused her attention on the two.

“Where have you guys been? We’ve been waiting here and—and where’s Pinkie?”

“TWILIGHT!”

Pinkie ran up to the five of them, until she stopped in front of Twilight, very out of breath. She grabbed Twilight’s neck to hoist herself up, making Twilight lean her head back at how close she was.

“Look… look what I got for you!”

She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the white gem.

“Oh, my,” said Rarity. “What a lovely Blue Lace Agate.”

“Pinkie, you’re amazing!” She took the gem with her magic and inspected it. “Now we have all three of the Gemstones of Passion! Come on guys, let’s go!”

As they ran by, Pinkie had to stop for a second to grab her heart.

“Hee-hee, she called me amazing!”


Later that night, the six ponies all sat at a bonfire on the outskirts of Ponyville. Twilight placed three versions of the map, that she had drawn earlier, on the ground.

“I’ve decided that the most efficient way we’re going to go about this is to split up into three groups of two and each pursuit four of the gems.”

“Ooh! Ohh!” shouted Pinkie, raising her hoof in the air. “I call being in a group with Twilight!”

“Uhh—Okay. That should be fine. Pinkie, you and me will search in the town of Trotlanta, the Valley of Turnba, Lake Meghan, and finally in the Forbidden Cliffs of Lyshacria.”

“F-F-Forbidden?”

“Don’t worry. According to the records, Lyshacria is only considered ‘forbidden’ because it surpasses the national borders of Equestria. Now then, Fluttershy and Rarity, would you two be alright going together?”

“I don’t see why not,” Rarity answered.

“We’d get to spend a lot of time together,” said Fluttershy, smiling. Rarity smiled back at her.

“Alright, then.” She gave a map to Rarity. “You two will be stopping at Canterlot—”

“Canterlot?” Rarity repeated. “Well no offense darling, but that would’ve been nice to know while we were still in Canterlot earlier.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. Anyway, so Canterlot, the town of Fillydelphia, the Pharos Mountains, and the Mareianna Village of Tranquil Spirits.”

“Ooh, Fillydelphia,” said Fluttershy. “We could visit your parents while we’re there, Rarity!”

“I know, that’s why I gave you two the route. And I already wrote to them telling them you’d be in town!”

“Oh. …Yes. Thank you, Twilight,” said Rarity, trying not to sound unpleasant.

“Well… I guess that leaves Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

“Wait, w-what?” Rainbow panicked. “You mean… me and Applejack have to go through a whole section of Equestria TOGETHER, just the two of us!?”

“Why, is there a problem with that, Rainbow?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow.

Rainbow glanced over Applejack. Cherry Jubilee, still watching the two, poked her head out of a bush and shook her head at Rainbow.

“Uh—No, of course not! No problem at all! I’m just—not so sure you could keep up with me, is all.”

“That sounds like a challenge to me!” Applejack responded, lowering the brim of her Stetson.

“Maybe it is!”

“Well, you’re on, then!”

“Great. Let’s see now…” She gave the remaining map to Applejack. “You two will start off in the Everfree Forest, before heading to the Red Scale Volcano. Then you’ll go to the A-Mare-Zon Jungle and Nature Preserve.”

“Got it!”

“So we all know what we’re doing, then?” They all nodded. “Heads and hearts high, girls. Princess Celestia is counting on us!”

“Right!” said Applejack.

“You can count on us!” said Rarity.

“Yeah,” said Fluttershy.

“Adventure time!” shouted Pinkie.

“Watch out Gemstones of Passion, here we come!” Rainbow declared.

“For Trotzamore!” shouted Twilight.

“AND FOR EQUESTRIA!” they all shouted simultaneously.


The sinister laugh continued to echo through the caves. Luna remained huddled in a corner, keeping her eyes shut so as to not be startled by the constant red flashes. She was shivering to the bone, however.

“Give up, Princess. You’re mine now, and so will be the greatest powers in all of Equestria… and the throne!”

“No. Never. I’ll never give up.”

The voice responded with a vengeful hiss, startling Luna hard enough to make her fall to the floor, still keeping her eyes scrunched shut.

“Never—never give up, Luna. Never give up… for her.”