//------------------------------// // 42 The Jester, Part Seven // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle staggers to her hooves just before a speeding blue blur tackles her to the ground. Stars in her eyes replace the stars in the sky as her head hits the soft grass, the purple unicorn - dazed and exhausted from using so much magic - blankly looks up at the gray and blue mane in her face. “Thank you thank you thank you,” Trixie cries, her hooves nearly strangling Twilight Sparkle. “The Thankful and Appreciative Trixie is more thankful than you can possibly imagine!” “Trixie…” Twilight Sparkle tries to choke out, barely able to breathe. She looks around at the other ponies, most of whom are dancing and celebrating. “Help…” Pinkie Pie whispers to Twilight Sparkle, laying on her side in exactly the same position as her, “I’d recommend hugging her back and saying ‘It’s okay’ or something like that. But I like my hugs that tight!” Twilight Sparkle manages to reach a hoof around, tapping Trixie on the back. She grunts as she squeezes the blue unicorn, Trixie squeezing back and finally letting go. Twilight Sparkle shyly gets to her hooves, awkwardly looking at the ponies around her and hanging her head. Rainbow Dash plows into Twilight Sparkle next, standing her up in front of the crowd. She yells, “Everypony! Twilight Sparkle!” Cheers echo around Ponyville as Rainbow Dash slips over to Trixie, yelling as her cerulean hoof raises an azure one, “And Trixie!” The crowd stomps their hooves as Snips and Snails bound up to Trixie. Trixie looks less thrilled to be there than Rainbow Dash, yet her forced smile is far and away larger than Twilight Sparkle’s. “Heavens to Betsy,” Applejack says to Twilight Sparkle as Rainbow Dash moves away, “We knew you had ability, but not that much!” Twilight Sparkle cowers at first, though recovers some at the cheering crowd around her. “Really? You don’t hate me for showing off, like Trixie did with some of her tricks?” Applejack shakes her head and opens her mouth to say something, both stopping and looking at Snails. Snails shouts to Trixie, “Hey! G and P T! Why didn’t you vanquish it all by yourself?” “Yeah!” says Snips as he nods along. “I thought you could vanquish an Ursa Major all by yourself?” “I can’t. Nopony can,” Trixie says, glancing back to the wreckage of her wagon, Doug standing next to the smoking remains, “I… I made it up.” “You made it up?” cries Snips and Snails, many of the other ponies echoing the sentiment. Trixie nods apologetically, “I did. I heard about an Ursa being sighted near Hoofington, so I made up the story to make myself look better.” “But Twilight Sparkle defeated an Ursa Major all by herself!” Snips says, pointing a hoof at the purple unicorn. “Why didn’t you?” “Okay, first, that wasn’t an Ursa Major,” Twilight Sparkle says. “That was an Ursa Minor.” “Yeah, an Ursa Major is purple and, like, forty feet tall!” Rainbow Dash says. “I think you might need to calibrate your visual estimates,” Twilight Sparkle says with a smirk, “Because an Ursa Major could eat an Ursa Minor like that Minor nearly ate Trixie.” She motions to the blue unicorn slinking away to her wagon. “Okay,” Rainbow Dash says, one hoof at her chin while the other whirls around, mimicking the cycles her brain is going through. “So, more like sixty feet?” “Try six hundred,” Twilight Sparkle corrects, “if it was standing straight up.” She gets up, walking towards Doug. “And I didn’t do it on my own.” “How do you even remember all that?” Rainbow Dash says, moving with Applejack and Rarity towards Trixie’s wagon. Twilight Sparkle nods, “Oh, after Doug turned down Trixie’s offer of a private magic show-” “Wait, what?” exclaims Applejack. “- and then he joined me in the library for my private magic show-” “Wait, WHAT?” exclaims Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash together. “- I was curious as to what an Ursa Major was like, so I did some research.” Twilight Sparkle looks at the three ponies standing next to her, jaws wide open. “...What?” “Um, darling,” Rarity says, sidling up next to Twilight Sparkle as Applejack and Rainbow Dash continue gawking, “Not to pry or anything, but, um, how did your private magic show… go?” Twilight Sparkle beams, “Oh, Doug really enjoyed it! He was amazed at how good I was, especially since it was my first time trying out some of the tricks!” “You… bwuh?” Rarity blurts out, one eye squinting as she tries to process this. “Ah think what Rarity is trying to say,” Applejack says, rushed but quietly as she pulls Twilight Sparkle off to the side and away from Doug and Trixie. Two colts and one stallion walk up to Trixie and Doug, moving away after a short time. “Is that this weren’t your first time performing some of the… tricks?” “Of course it wasn’t!” Twilight Sparkle says with a grin, “Some of them are really fun to do on your own!” “Bwuh?” Applejack says, glancing back at Twilight Sparkle’s recently sweat-stained flanks. It quickly turns to a long leer as she tries to imagine the bookish unicorn doing, well, much of anything. Especially by herself. “I think what Applejack and Rarity are trying to say,” Rainbow Dash says as she pushes Applejack to the side, “Is did you or did you not have sex with Doug during your private magic show; and if so, why was I not invited?” “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle exclaims, an offended look crossing her face, “That is a personal matter between myself and Doug, and I won’t speak any more on the subject!” Twilight Sparkle turns up her nose, walking the rest of the way to Doug and Trixie. “It ain’t a no,” Applejack remarks. “And if Trixie invited Doug for a private magic show as well,” Rarity says, glancing between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, “we might need to have a discussion as a herd.” The three glance at Twilight Sparkle as she reaches Doug and Trixie, then back to each other, before they dash off to find Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Trixie walks up to Doug, joining him in staring at the smoldering remains of her wagon. The fire has been reduced to mere embers, leaving boxes of shattered glass marbles, burned and bent cooking implements, destroyed knick-knacks built up from years of travels laying about. All ruined, or maybe barely salvageable once everything cools down. He sits down as he notices her approach, brushing aside a few glowing coals and merely grimacing at the heat. Trixie pushes her head between Doug’s arm and chest, tears bubbling despite her best efforts. His hand comes up, rubbing against one side of her cheek as she presses the other side against his firm chest. She sighs at the loss of her home, her livelihood, her belongings. All gone, in the blink of an eye, because of the reckless actions of some stupid colts who probably wouldn’t even be punished. And for what? Because she made some boastful claims that obviously weren’t true? What kind of justice is that? She pushes harder against him, trying to bury her concerns and fears and hatred inside her. Those blasted colts! She’d like to drop them in a water tank, watch them squirm against the glass! She releases her rage against the stallion next to her, brief spurts of anger that he just absorbs. His arm doesn’t push her away, merely holding her against him even tighter, making it harder to release the emotions erupting inside her. And, yet, just pushing against him, struggling to break free and inflict some real damage, seems to be doing just the trick. She sighs as her anger subsides; she could get used to this. That deep wellspring next to her, the calming force that merely insists that life will go on, that things can get better, that this isn’t the end. She chances a glance up as he grips her withers and neck; his eyes are still watching the fading fire of the lone piece still ablaze, reflecting the dancing flames. Three sets of hoofsteps rouse the two, both glancing over to see Snips, Snails, and a yellow stallion she doesn’t recognize. The larger stallion clears his throat, “I’m Puppy Tails, and I’m right sorry, ma’am. These two are always getting ideas in their heads, about what can and should be done.” He sighs, “We don’t have much, but we can help a little...” “I-, The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need your charity,” Trixie states, looking at the three ponies. She sighs as she glances back to her wagon, “But she supposes that whatever assistance you wish to provide would be… appreciated.” Snails and Snips both walk over, dropping off small sacks that jingle when they hit the ground. “We’re sorry, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” they chorus before hanging their heads, trudging back to their sire. He nods, first to them and then to Trixie, the three walking away. “Can we get ice cream?” Snips asks. “That was your ice cream budget for the rest of the year, colt,” Tails snaps, the two colts cowering down a little, “So you’ll be making your own hay smoothies off what we can glean at the farm.” “Aww,” the two colts chorus as they walk out of earshot. Trixie levitates the two bags, glancing inside. Her eyes open wide at the several hundreds of bits in each. How much ice cream did those two eat? She glances from side to side, sighing as she can’t find her saddlebags to put the bits in. Or anything else of hers useable. “Well, if you don’t mind accepting some more charity, you’re more than welcome to stay with us,” Doug says, his hand resuming its rubbing against her ears. Trixie coos appreciably as he continues, “You can either stay in one of the barns, or we can double up some of the older ones. Temporarily.” “Hmm,” Trixie says, rubbing a hoof along her chin, “The Great and Powerful Trixie will consider your offer. Just until she is back on her hooves.” Twilight Sparkle walks up, saying during the lull in conversation, “So, Ponyville has a fund to help after a disaster like this.” She motions to one of several damaged or destroyed houses, a few pegasi flying around and taking pictures or taking notes from sobbing ponies on the ground. “I’m sure, even though you aren’t technically a resident, that they can consider your claim.” “The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates your concern.” Trixie sighs, her magic pulling at a few of the scraps on the ground. She glances at Twilight Sparkle, “You don’t mind helping carry this? I… The Contrite and Homeless Trixie-” Doug swats Trixie on the side of the head, grinning at her smile in return, “Hey, you aren’t homeless just yet. Just because it’s a barn you’ll be staying in doesn’t make it not a home.” “Trixie thinks that Doug does not understand,” a smirk growing on Trixie’s face, “because she will be staying in your room.” Twilight Sparkle raises an eyebrow at Doug’s lack of rebuttal, merely following the two and levitating the remains of Trixie’s wagon to Sweet Apple Acres. * “Alright, MoHA,” Applejack states, having explained what happened with Twilight. She looks at the other mares of Herd Apple gathered in the back room of Sugarcube Corner. “Ah think we need to put all our cards on the table.” “Are we talking about Trixie or Twilight Sparkle?” Fluttershy asks eagerly, “Because I can see either one of them asking to join.” She smiles around the room, her eyes unfocusing as she envisions Doug with either one of the mares. Or both! Applejack responds, “Doug’s a big colt. He don’t need to come to us first and ask for permission. Having said that, even if he was messing around with Twilight Sparkle - which Ah don’t think he is - he’d have told us. Or at least me. And Ah don’t think any of us would object to Twilight joining, right?” Applejack looks around the room, grinning at everypony nodding. “So that’s settled.” “I agree, our main concern is going to be Trixie,” Rainbow Dash says, an acknowledging nod to Applejack. “Like our lead said, I think Doug would have gotten permission to fool around with her. Maybe it would have been a spur of the moment thing. But, like you said. We trust him, and we trust the decisions he makes.” Rarity continues, “If he wants to invite Trixie to join, then it would take three of us to vote him down. I’m not saying he would, but is that something that we, as a herd, want to happen? Or want to not happen?” Applejack flicks her head back towards Sweet Apple Acres, “We had made a list before of what kind of things we were looking for in a new member. And, especially after today, we know Twilight Sparkle meets all those. So the question is, are we looking to add two new members?” “I wouldn’t mind,” Fluttershy says as Pinkie Pie nods her head. “A bigger herd is a happier herd, after all.” “Well, up to a certain point,” Rainbow Dash says, a slight frown. “Too many and there are just too many competing interests. Hard to do something and include everypony.” “And Trixie has some pretty competitive interests,” Pinkie Pie says, oddly subdued. “And competitive instincts, and competitive insults, and-” “That’s true, and I don’t know how many things I would like to do with her,” Fluttershy adds, Pinkie Pie instantly quieting down. “She only fits, hmm, three of the criteria. Coat, unicorn, and she’s obviously talented.” “She’s the same coat color as Rainbow Dash,” Applejack huffs. “Blue is blue is blue. Ain’t nothing more to it.” “Now who cares about the color of a pony’s coat?” Rarity says dismissively. “Okay, look, that came out wrong,” Applejack says with a roll of her eyes. “Ah’m just saying, we agreed on what kind of pony we would set Doug up with. And three out of five ain’t good enough.” “Yes,” Fluttershy says, nodding along. “But, are you listening, Applejack? We aren’t setting Trixie up with Doug. She might come to us to ask about joining. Or Doug would ask about her. She wouldn’t need to fulfill all the requirements.” Rarity says, “Yes, and we can argue whether cerulean and azure are the same color - And they aren’t - But the fact of the matter is she would have been far more likely to fail on the bookish aspect or the ‘shy’ aspect. The not liking to show off that power. If you don’t want Trixie to join the herd, then that would be a much better argument than some silly coat color requirement.” “Hey!” Pinkie Pie says, crossing her forelegs, “My coat color requirement isn’t silly!” “The point is,” Rarity continues, “that we shouldn’t be looking at those requirements at all. Is she a worthy addition to the herd or not? Based on her merits.” Rainbow Dash says, “And what are those merits, exactly? I’m going with my gut. I don’t care for her attitude, and that’s coming from me. She’s probably great in the sack, but so what? I don’t think she’d ever let me or Rarity take center stage, much less Fluttershy. Are you really going to let every…” Rainbow Dash counts on her hooves as she looks around the room, “Fifth night you have with Doug go to waste because she won’t let you help, or do anything you want to do?” “I liked her magic show,” Fluttershy quietly says, “and, um, maybe she could help us out with some things she learned from that. Besides, she doesn’t have to be perfect, right?” Applejack shakes her head, “Nopony is saying she has to be perfect. But we need to see ourselves doing something with her. Otherwise what’s the point? One more mare for Doug to keep up with?” “Okay, then,” Rainbow Dash says, “Quick show of hooves. Who wants Trixie in the herd?” Pinkie Pie raises her hoof, Rarity tentatively raising her hoof about halfway before putting it back down. Fluttershy also wavers between raising her hoof, but keeps it down. “Okay, and who votes no?” Rainbow Dash raises her hoof, looking around the room. When nopony else raises their hoof she nods, “Okay, and I’m willing to be persuaded. Applejack, what are you thinking?” “Ah’m still undecided,” Applejack says, a low chuckle at Rainbow’s rotating hoof telling her to get on with it. “She ain’t no stranger to hard work, dragging that wagon around and performing. Workin’ unicorn, like Rares here.” Applejack waves a hoof at Rarity, the white unicorn beaming a smile back. “Maybe Ah’m a little worried that she’s a bit of a boast, but if’n she’s serious about joining Ah think she can tone it down a notch.” “That’s a big ‘if’ to me, but okay,” Rainbow Dash says. “And it sounds like it’s your main objection, too.” Applejack looks at Rainbow Dash, “Unless you’re afraid of getting upstaged by her?” “ME?” Rainbow Dash exclaims, glaring at Applejack. “Projecting just a little?” Applejack snorts, looking to Fluttershy. “Anything else you want to say?” Rainbow Dash folds her forelegs across her chest, huffing as she quiets down. “Oh, um, I like her energy.” Fluttershy quiets down a little, shying into her mane, “Maybe she could help me be a little more assertive.” “I don’t think she needs to join the herd to do that, just like she doesn’t need to join in order to help me learn color manipulation with Loyalty.” Rarity sighs, “Maybe a part of my objection, the reason I’m not fully on board with this is because I look at Sweetie Belle. And I see how she struggles with magic in general, and wonder if Trixie knows what she is getting in to. Because you know Doug will want foals with her.” “Actually,” Pinkie Pie says, “Doug thought the best parts of her magic show were the parts that weren’t done by using unicorn magic, and instead were done with sleight of hoof. Like the box trick.” Pinkie Pie smiles, “Trixie would be happy in the herd, and that’s enough for me. And any foals she has would also be happy! She just needs to go in with the right expectations.” “I sure hope you are correct,” Rarity says, her smile not all that confident. She looks around the room, “It sounds as if we do not have the votes to overrule Doug, should he invite her, but also not enough to make the offer on our own. Correct?” Applejack stifles a yawn as she steps forward, glancing at the heads nodding along with her. “Agreed. Anything else?” Rainbow Dash adds, “If she can adjust her attitude, I’m up for it. But otherwise? We might need to revisit this.” She yawns wide, stretching her hooves. “Agreed.” Applejack looks to each mare, “Thanks for staying up late for this, y’all.” She looks back to Rainbow, “Hoofrace back?” “You’re on, Applesnack!” Rainbow Dash yells, both mares bursting out the door. Rainbow Dash takes an early lead, but the farmpony’s endurance catches up to her as Applejack takes one length after another back. Applejack is only momentarily distracted by the pile of rubble outside of one of the close barns, barely beating Rainbow Dash to the front of the Carrot House. “No fair!” Rainbow Dash quietly huffs, out of breath, trying to stay quiet and not wake the fillies. They both walk inside, “I thought it was to the main farmhouse.” “Getting a little green there, Rainbow,” Applejack says with a wink. “Besides, why would we go there when-” Applejack opens the door to Doug’s office, cutting herself off as the two spot Trixie sitting on Doug’s bed, making herself comfortable. Trixie’s eye raises at the abrupt entry, “Yes?” Applejack coughs, “Um. Just, uh, seeing if you are… comfortable. You’re… staying here?” “Seeing as I have noplace else, Trixie thought the answer would be obvious.” She looks between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, “So…?” “Doug staying back at the main farmhouse?” Applejack cautiously asks as she recovers. “That is what he said, though the Great and Powerful Trixie hoped he would reconsider.” Trixie splays herself out on the bed, forlornly staring at the ceiling. “Maybe you can convince him?” Rainbow Dash snorts as she turns, getting a head start back to Applejack’s room at the farmhouse. Applejack glances back before saying, “We’ll… consider that. Good night, Trixie.” Trixie merely nods, pulling the blankets and cuddling into the firm, yet not warm enough, bed. Better than her hammock, at least. Applejack enters her bedroom, Rainbow Dash already starting with Doug. “So, anything going on with Trixie?” she asks as she hangs up her hat on the bedpost. “Just needed a place to stay,” Doug says as Applejack hops next to him. They share a kiss before Doug continues, “Nothing more than that.” Applejack snuggles next to him, falling asleep to the rhythmic motions.