//------------------------------// // 100 Audacity, Part Four // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// Rarity forces a smile to her mouth. “A-are you sure, Twilight? Because, not to be a nag or anything, but I’m not so sure that this is, well, entirely safe. After last time…” Twilight returns a reassuring smile, her hoof tapping the metal table. Dull ringing echoes around the room, setting everypony’s hair on end. She sheepishly grins as she stops tapping. “I’m sure, Rarity. Everything turned out fine the last time, right?” “R-right.” Rarity gulps as she slowly walks forward, wary glances at the various sharp and dangerous implements around them. Her attention then turns to Pinkie Pie, who is looking at her eagerly, and Spike, who has a confused expression on his face. She comes to a stop just in front of the table, raising an eyebrow at the straps. She frowns, a bemused shake of the head. “You just wanted me to hop up there and ‘do my thing?’” She raises her hooves, making little quotes in the air. “Yes? Is there a problem?” Twilight asks with more than a bit of exasperation at Rarity’s slow pace. Rarity scoffs. “Well, since you asked. First, this is entirely the wrong setting for what we are about to do. I, for one, will have difficulty getting into the, hmm, proper frame of mind. And inside a cold, dark, underground laboratory is hardly conducive to my own sense of well-being.” Twilight’s teeth grind against each other before she utters, “Would you prefer if we were upstairs?” Her horn lights, a few pillows teleporting next to her, casually tossing them down. “Or does this work?” Rarity huffs. “Please, darling. It hardly matters where we are if you’re just going to be like this.” “Like what?” Twilight asks, her tone biting. Rarity motions to Twilight, her hoof making little circles in the air. “So forceful. Demanding. Like all you care about is, pardon my Prench, getting your next lick.” “I am not salty,” Twilight bluntly states, a stomp of her hoof accompanying her statement. “Could have fooled me,” Spike remarks off to the side. He and Pinkie Pie are digging through one of the cabinets, pulling out small shards of metal, bands of rope, and small, firm cushions, as well as some face paint. Twilight gives Spike a short glare before she turns back to Rarity. “I’m merely tired of your constant delays! I should have been working on figuring this out a long time ago!” Rarity turns her head upwards, closing her eyes as she pointedly looks away from Twilight. “Fine.” Twilight huffs, a hoof massaging her forehead. “I guess that wasn’t exactly your fault. But I did feel like you were avoiding me.” Rarity continues staring away from Twilight. Twilight takes a deep breath, barely calming her nerves. She glances at Pinkie Pie and Spike, the two giggling as they paint each other’s faces. She turns back to Rarity. “What do you want?” Rarity tilts her head back to regard Twilight for several long seconds. “Well, for starters, if you’re just going to use me like a common whorse, you could at least buy me some breakfast first. I prefer dinner, of course, but I suppose I shall make do with whatever you deign to provide.” Rarity hides her smirk by turning away from Twilight, her long, styled mane doing a passable Fluttershy impersonation. “Excuse me?” shouts Twilight, raising herself up as high as she can. Rarity rolls her eyes, then pulls her mane away from her face so that Twilight can see her roll her eyes again. “I’m just trying to inject a little brevity into this, darling.” “Yeah!” exclaims Pinkie Pie, pronking over to Twilight. She has a large grin painted on her face in red, the rest covered in white, the area around her eyes blackened. She utters in a low, gravely voice, “Why so serious?” before breaking out in a fit of giggles. Twilight inhales, the Laughter briefly buoying her spirit. “Okay,” she says in a normal voice, “I can try.” She forces a smile to her face, walking over to Rarity. Rarity gasps as Twilight struts up to her, firmly planting a kiss on her lips. She sputters, taking a hesitant step backwards as Twilight presses forwards, her focused eyes displaying more than just lust. They speak to a deeper desire as they slowly trace a line down Rarity’s horn, ending at her mouth. “Excuse me!” Rarity says as she continues backpedalling around the enclosed room. “What are you doing?” “Just trying to add a little spice.” Twilight licks her lips as Rarity trips over a metal contraption on the ground, her legs flying out from under her. Twilight walks over, ending up towering over the white unicorn. “Why? Don’t you like it?” “I like it just fine, when it is the correct time and place. And let me assure you, a passable facsimile for a Diamond Dog den is not my ideal spot for that sort of rendezvous.” Rarity rubs her backside as she looks up at Twilight, forcing a smile to her face. “Um, don’t take this the wrong way, but does Doug give you enough attention? And, vice versa, do you give him enough?” Twilight’s eyebrows furrow, a slight glare at Rarity. “Of course. You were there a few nights ago.” Rarity’s eyes roll again. “I don’t mean the sex, darling. I mean, do you open up with him, and tell him about what sort of projects you are working on, what assignments the Princess has given you? Because you seem distant to me, mechanically going through the motions.” Twilight slowly nods as she backs off slightly, allowing Rarity to get to her hooves unobstructed. “I… I haven’t. I’ve been worried about what happened with Fluttershy, and what it all means. And now that it happened again with Pinkie Pie, I feel like I was correct in my hiding it.” Pinkie Pie pronks over, “Well, maybe that’s the problem, silly! You seemed a lot better when you opened up with Spike, and then me!” She points at the metal contraption laying on the ground. The bottom looks like a set of jaws large enough to devour a ball, or possibly a medium-sized filly. A circular spire pokes out the top, twisted bits of metal jut out at four angles, and the whole thing is laying on its side. “You see this?” Twilight gives the device a once over. “Sure.” Pinkie Pie nods along, “Well, I was talking with Doug about it. And Rainbow. And they’re both super duper excited about it! Do you know what it does?” “It looks like the helicopter you built and used to chase Rainbow Dash and Gilda around. That I used a come-to-life spell on to help give you the necessary power to actually fly, even it was limited.” Twilight raises an eyebrow, “But nopony can fit inside of it. It’s too small.” Pinkie Pie grins, “Well, that’s because it isn’t for somepony! It’s for someturtle!” Fluttershy sticks her head in from upstairs, “Sometortoise.” She walks downstairs, followed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Right. But, the point is, Doug was super helpful and supportive about me making this, and I told him all about it and he really liked it, even though he, like you, thought it would never work.” Pinkie Pie looks over at Rainbow Dash, “Just finished it yesterday! You ready to give it a whirl?” “Sure am!” Rainbow Dash says with a cocky grin, swooping down to grab the metal contraption. “So, how does it work?” Pinkie Pie taps Rainbow on the withers, shaking her head. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.” “But it’s flying! And I know all about flying!” Rainbow Dash nods resolutely, but her smile turns grim as Pinkie Pie pulls a two-inch thick textbook out of her mane. “Oh, well, in that case!” Pinkie Pie pulls Rainbow Dash off to the side, cracking open the book and taking a deep, deep breath. “So, what’s this Ah’m hearing about you tying up Pinkie Pie when Doug ain’t around?” Applejack says with a lascivious smile. “‘Cause, Ah know a thing or two about ropes, if’n you’re lookin’ for any pointers.” “Applejack, stop, you’re embarrassing yourself,” Rarity says with a grin. She flicks her head towards Twilight, the unicorn listening in to Pinkie Pie, in a single breath, explain the rigors of mechanical flight to an obviously out of her element Rainbow Dash. “Twilight here wanted us to showcase our Elements again. You know what I mean.” “Oh. Is that it?” Applejack looks Twilight over. “And you’ll be okay this time?” Twilight says cheerfully, “Well, I’ve got you all here! How bad can it get?” Applejack sighs, a hoof finding her eyes. “Twilight, when will you learn to stop tempting fate?” Twilight shrugs. “Anyway. So, essentially, I found that my cutie mark was glowing, and it corresponded to having drained a little magic from each of you. I’m worried about the implications, and I wanted to do a little experimenting, to see if you are in any sort of danger from me.” Applejack stares at Twilight for a few seconds before nodding. “Alright, Ah can see that. Best be doing it in a nice, controlled environment.” She looks over at Rarity, then back to Twilight. “Ah suppose Ah can go first.” “Thank you, Applejack.” Twilight lowers herself to the ground as Applejack walks up. “Just like before?” “Sorta, ‘cept you won’t be doing any of the ‘channeling’. At least not initially.” Applejack lifts her hooves up, reaching towards Twilight. Her eyes close as she concentrates, starting with the memory of saving Twilight from falling down a cliff. Or, at least, helping her fall down the cliff safely. Twilight takes Applejack’s hooves, gently bringing them to her mouth. She can taste the Honesty Applejack is pouring out, though it isn’t quite the same as before. Nowhere near the rush, the pure passion she had before. She grunts, pulling her mouth away. “Applejack?” “Yeah?” the earth pony responds, opening her eyes to regard Twilight. “Something wrong?” “Can you try channeling Generosity? I think that’s what I got from you before.” “Um. Sure.” Applejack closes her eyes again, this time thinking through how she would be walking through a field, helping the spring flower buds bloom, the saplings sprout, the apples grow nice and strong. Twilight brings Applejack’s hooves to her mouth again, but she finds the taste disappointing. It’s still Generosity, pure and unfiltered, but it’s barely doing anything for her craving! Twilight sighs as she pushes away. “Thank you, Applejack. But, it’s still nothing like it was originally.” “Ah don’t know if Ah should be relieved or worried at that,” Applejack says as she gets back up. Fluttershy glances around the room as Twilight focuses on her. “Oh, me? Um, what, exactly, are we doing?” Twilight motions next to her, the yellow pegasus laying down. “Just, try to focus on your Kindness. The way that you might help an injured critter get over their fear of whatever hurt them.” “Okay.” Fluttershy focuses, though she flinches as Twilight takes one of her wings, bending it towards herself. She smiles as images of her animal friends flash through her mind, and all the ways that she is kind to them, and the ways that she uses her Kindness with them. Her own smile grows larger, having to force herself to remain still and calm despite the joy radiating from her. Twilight huffs, even as she feels the Kindness radiating around her. The mood-altering magic might modify her mind minutely, but she isn’t getting anything near the euphoric ecstasy she got before! She pulls away, leaving Fluttershy to smile by herself, and focuses on Pinkie Pie. The pink pony is just wrapping up and taking a massive breath, leaving a thoroughly confused and dazed Rainbow Dash with the metal torticopter. “Oh, me next? Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie jumps in front of Twilight, practically jamming her hooves into Twilight’s mouth. She hums, a long thrumming from the back of her throat. Twilight reluctantly sighs as she tastes the Laughter, but it feels like a joke that’s been told too many times. A mockery, a pathetic debasement of what it used to be. “Nothing?” Pinkie Pie asks, more than a little disappointment in her voice. She pulls out a large cookie, “Chocolate chip always helps me when I’m feeling down!” Twilight shakes her head, glumly looking at the floor. Pinkie Pie sighs, dropping the cookie into Spike’s awaiting mouth. “Hmm. You looking for something else?” Pinkie Pie begins pulling items from her mane, holding them up. “Candy corn? Taffy? Bon bon?” She pulls out a bowl of ice cream. “Rainbow sherbet?” Twilight’s eyes go wide at the last one. Even the mention of the name is enough to pique her interest. She turns to the pegasus, licking her lips in anticipation. She can feel the aura around the pegasus. Yes. That will do nicely. Rainbow Dash looks up at Twilight as she approaches. “Yeah?” Twilight stares at the pegasus’ wings, the way she is manipulating the little rotor blades. They look especially tantalizing. “Rainbow? If you don’t mind, I’d like to try with you.” Rainbow looks over at the other four mares. None look any worse for wear, just disappointed they weren’t able to help Twilight. She shakes her head as she turns back to Twilight. “No, thanks.” She turns back to fidgeting with the torticopter. Twilight blinks in surprise. “What?” “No. Thanks for asking, though.” Rainbow whacks one of the blades, watching it spin around.