Epilogue
by MonochromaticIt would be romantic to say that fate is in charge of us all.
That it was destiny that Twilight Sparkle and I met, destiny we should find each other again. Certainly, I believed it then, but now? Now, as this part of my tale spins to an end, I think that’s not right.
Falling in love was inevitable. But loving each other?
Loving each other was a choice.
That’s what love is, really. In all shapes and forms, it is a choice one has to make over and over again.
The choice to love yourself, as Fluttershy did when our very first driving lesson was to visit a small studio apartment she might rent.
The choice to forgive, as Sweetie Belle did, rushing to hug Twilight Sparkle when she saw her standing next to me outside her school.
The choice to help, as Lady Luna and Rainbow Dash had done for me over and over again, whether I deserved it or not.
The choice to move on, as Lady Celestia started to do when she dusted off an old picture of her and a beautiful young woman with sapphire eyes dancing in a dimly lit street.
And finally, the choice of defining what love really means, as Twilight Sparkle did, holding my hand and learning that love wasn’t defined by actions. Sex was just sex, kisses were just kisses, hugs were just hugs, and so was everything else.
Just things.
Things that aren’t special because you should only do them with those you love.
Rather, it is only when you do them with someone you love that these ordinary things suddenly become special.
Simple as that.
And now, here we are.
The story is over, you think. It didn’t end with my death, you think, and you’d be right.
Mostly because the story isn’t over. Our wager is not over yet.
Then, what was all this? you ask.
Something simple, I reply. Something every good play must have.
This, my dearest friend, was just me setting the stage for my grandest show yet.
It’s been years since I’ve read fanfiction due to my life changing in many different ways that didn’t leave me much time or brainspace for doing so. When I decided to dip my toe back in, I knew exactly the story I wanted to pick back up from years ago, the one I wanted to see the conclusion of, and that’s Crimson Lips! 😀
Rereading the parts I’d read before, and finally reaching the epilogue was just as wonderful of an experience as I expected it to be. I’m looking forward to starting on the sequel right away!
aaaaa im so happy!! ;-; the sequel is on hiatus right now while I work on the original version of crimson… and then the sequel will probably be restarted as original from the get go…
I’ll read them both when they come out! 🙂 In the meantime, I have many of your other works to read! ^_^
Oh yeah, this marks the end of my reread of Crimson Lips and I have to say I loved it almost more than the first time. I sprinkled comments on various chapters that I particularly liked, but I’ll take the time here to get say that this is, probably one of my favourite pieces of media.
Bravo, good job, etc, etc. I don’t have enough words to sing you praises.
Sweetie Belle really is my favourite character in this story, and will always be.
This is still painful, because damn, the relationship between Celestia and Rarity is so fractured, but at the same time both of them want to mend it, they just have no idea how to.
I must echo the sentiments of other commenters with how good this story is. The prose was delightful and I read all of it in Rarity’s voice. The relationships between characters felt authentic. The characters were well rounded and engaging in their various ways, even Fluttershy’s mother – who I wouldn’t ever invite to my dinner party. The way flashbacks and flashforwards were added was very effective. Wonderful use of cliffhangers and a bit of mystery. My favorite stories incorporate some mystery well and Crimson Lips, TEL and TEK all did.
Another thing I liked was being wrong at times about where the story might go. The misdirection and foreshadowing played into that. This is a story I’ll read again along with TEL and TEK. It’s superb.
I would love to know how you created this story. What inspired parts of it. How you designed the plot and foreshadowed events. Did you do a full outline? Or was it more organic? A mix of both? Did you write the chapters in the order they are laid out? Did you revise the plot often as it does feel well planned? Was it hard to be inside Rarity’s mind for how long you wrote this? I think my inner thoughts might be in Rarity’s voice for another day or two.
I put off getting work done for the last couple hours finishing the last several chapters. Since Sapphire Eyes and TEC are ongoing I will be protected from giving into binge reading ten chapters in a row when I start those.
Thanks for the story. If it wasn’t apparent by my previous comments, I enjoyed it.
This story was amazing and the fact that it ended with the promise of something grander sets the stage.
For more heartwarming scenes.
For more sadness.
For the story of the wager and what falls around it.
And I can’t fucking wait.
I could write more, but I want to save everything for the day we see the full conclusion. But know this: this is easily in my top picks for “fanfiction that proves it’s almost more worthwhile than conventional media”.
Aw, thank you, Platinum!! That means a lot <3 I'm really glad you liked it, and I appreciated all your comments. If you're interested, the sequel Sapphire Eyes has some chapters out already c:
I told myself I wouldn’t stay up late, since I start a new job the next day…and yet here I am finishing this story at 5:30 in the morning, 5 hours before my orientation meeting begins…
Excellent writing as always, can’t wait to start reading the sequel 🙂
Well there it is. I finished Crimson Lips on February 6th, past midnight.
Sure I could’ve been asleep, but this story had me at the edge of my seat, and I HAD to keep reading. I was feeling a bit antsy when I had free time and wasn’t using it to read. I don’t think I would’ve survived if I had to wait chapter by chapter! What I wonderful way to spend my weekend.
The amount of emotions I felt while reading this. Joy, fear, excitement, butterflies, crushing depression, agony…and even self-reflection. I ended up reassessing some of my own biases. I went into this story with an answer to the question proposed in the synopsis, I thought, “Of course it isn’t the same. I know I’m pro-sex work.” But to my surprise I found myself empathizing with and almost…agreeing? Is that the right word? With Twilight so often, and it led me asking myself questions, even doing some research. I…really didn’t expect that to come from here of all places, but here we are.
I’m so happy Rarity kept her agency throughout this whole story. Her narration was brilliant and fun. This is a difficult story to tell, and gosh you wrote it so tastefully.
I feel this with all of your stories, but your interpretations of the MLP characters are some of my favorites. Even when put in situations they would never canonically be in, they still feel like themselves, but still have a distinct voice you’ve given them. Your Rarity and Rainbow Dash were particular standouts for me. And Twilight! Oh gosh, the prose may have given me a little bit of a crush on this Twilight as well, I completely understand how Rarity fell head-over-heels for this woman.
Another thing, this story was so dreamy and gave me such specific visuals, that I so badly want to draw so many scenes from it. Hope I can get to doing that one day.
Overall, this was a magical story and I am truly in awe. May have to get some sleep and take a day break from this emotional rollercoaster before dipping my toes into the sequel, but I’m excited to get into reading that as soon as I can.
I should have finished reading this months ago and yet I just got around to it now. Sometimes this one is a little tough for me, for a whole basket of reasons. Have you ever read something that is exactly the kind of thing you love writing, but executed five times better than you could have ever done yourself? That’s this whole fic for me.
I think the smoothness is what I admire the most. It’s one thing to have a really captivating narrative voice, but it’s another to maintain is across every scene and sentence so well. The setting is just there enough to ground the story, but it never gets in the way. The characters are recognizably themselves but also brimming with your own style. The plot is compelling and dramatic but also very thoughtfully foreshadowed. It’s a lot of impressive craft all at once, and I feel the urge to go read something a bit clumsier before diving into the sequel, just get my confidence up a bit. And I’m only half joking.