//------------------------------// // 128 Light and Truth // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// Starlight and Twilight rest on the ground, staring at the parchment in front of them. Both tap a quill against their chin, a low hum in their throat as they ponder the problem in front of them. Then they both scratch their ear with a hoof, shaking their mane back and forth before going back to staring. Applejack walks out from the tent where she had been observing, heading to Doug and Rarity. The human is massaging the unicorn’s withers at a delightfully languid pace, her tranquil visage barely acknowledging the earth pony’s advance. Applejack lays next to Doug, already feeling a little jealous of her herdmate, even if she knows Rares needs the relaxation more than she does. One hand briefly scratches the blond mane, Applejack cooing in response. His eyes turn as Pinkie Pie and Trixie return to the clearing. Both are loaded with bags, yet their boisterous laughter subsides as they notice the subdued atmosphere of the camp. Perhaps Applejack’s eyes portray just a bit more anguish than she intended when his hand pulls away. “That worried, huh?” Doug asks jovially. “More’n Ah wanna let on,” Applejack says quietly, watching as the two studious unicorn’s ears flick simultaneously. Green eyes, filled with worry, look up at Doug. “Ah… are ya sure you trust her? Trust them? That this will work?” “I can hope,” Doug says with a slight grimace. “I think doing nothing isn’t the right option. I wish I knew more theory to help them out. But maybe even that is all for naught, dealing with such an unknown entity.” “Well, you know more’n me,” Applejack says with a slight shake of her head. “But that don’t mean we can’t help in our own way.” She nuzzles Rarity, drawing an appreciative murmur. The three glance up as the two unicorns toss down their quills in triumph. “I got it!” They both look at each other. “Wait, you too?” A raspberry aura surrounds Starlight’s parchment while a turquoise aura surrounds Twilight’s. “Let me see that!” Both unicorns scan through the notes, eyebrows furrowed. “This is crazy!” Twilight shouts. “You can’t form a lattice like this! It would be incredibly unstable!” “But that’s what we’re dealing with! Anything more rigid will snap like a twig in a hurricane; you need to be able to bend and flow with the changes, not try to contain them! That’s even assuming that this core of yours can contain it in the first place!” “I’m not worried about that, I’m worried about you being able to cast this ball of contradictions!” “When it comes to magic, I don’t make mistakes. So, you worry about your side of the problem, and I’ll worry about mine.” The two unicorns huff, going back to scanning the other’s parchment. After a few tense seconds both horns fade, the parchments falling down. They look at each other, shake their heads, and look at Scootaloo. Doug pulls out a piece of paper, Meringue bringing him a pencil and laying down to help record as well. “So. We ready?” Twilight gets up first. “Well, I can’t guarantee it.” She nods at Scootaloo as Rarity and Starlight Glimmer rise to their hooves. “But, I think everything will be just fine.” Harsh stares greet her statement as Rainbow slaps a hoof to her face. Twilight ignores them. “Rarity, you’re first. I’ll make the core. Starlight, you maneuver as much chaotic energy inside as you can. I’ll take over holding it together as you make your abomination of a lattice. Then we collect everything together until it’s secure. Questions?” After a few seconds Trixie raises a hoof, Twilight nodding at her. “Is this likely to explode?” Twilight shakes her head. “Maybe.” Trixie takes a step backwards. “Alright, everypony, let’s do this.” Twilight sticks her hoof out, Rarity meeting it. Scootaloo walks forward, raising her hoof. All three look at Starlight. Starlight stares back. Twilight flicks her mane to the center. Starlight rolls her eyes, her hoof briefly touching the other three. Three sets of eyes shine white as the mares concentrate. Rarity’s horn lights as Scootaloo lays down, a blue and purple image superimposing over the filly. Twilight grunts in exertion as her horn flares brightly, a glow emanating from Scootaloo. Everypony watches, holding their breath, as the various spots of purple coalesce into a rough ball located in the center of Scootaloo’s chest. The purple slowly gets deeper and deeper as more and more of the pinpricks slide to the center until it finally becomes a black void. “There!” shouts Starlight, her horn flaring a last time before going dim. Twilight’s horn fades soon after, the mare slumping over and panting heavily. Rarity nuzzles her, not nearly as exhausted, as the image disappears. “Sooo... do you feel any different?” Rainbow asks as she swoops down. Scootaloo looks down at her hooves, then back at her flank. Still blank. She shakes her head. “Nope. Why? Was something supposed to happen?” “Really?” The scratch of pencil on paper breaks the silence as Twilight deliberates. “No dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea? Any tingling, or burning sensations?” “Nope. None of that. I feel, well, normal.” Scootaloo sighs as she walks over to nuzzle Rainbow Dash. “I don’t feel stronger, like after… after Rainbow helped me.” Rainbow Dash reaches forward with a wing, pulling her filly in for a tight hug. Twilight glances over at Doug, double checking the human’s observations, then Meringue’s transcript. “Well, we are in uncharted waters here, metaphorically speaking, so we aren’t really sure what should happen. But, with repetition, we should be able to figure it out.” Doug takes his chance to run first one hand along Twilight’s side, then both, then straddle her to better dig into her back. “Ooh,” Twilight moans, her back trying to arch against his legs. Rainbow scampers around with Scootaloo, neither noticing any sort of change in the filly’s demeanor or stance. After several minutes Twilight shakes Doug off, preparing herself for the second round. Applejack steps forward, nuzzling Apple Bloom. “You ready?” “Ah guess so,” Apple Bloom says. The three unicorn horns light; the process repeats itself, then again with Sweetie Belle. Each session leaves the mares a little more exhausted, yet the fillies don’t seem to suffer any ill effects. “That went smoother than I expected,” Starlight Glimmer states. “There’s got to be some catch.” “You’re not wrong, per se,” Doug replies, holding his chin as he inspects the trio. “But, how would we know? And could we do anything about it?” “I have no idea.” Starlight Glimmer grimaces, her horn and eyes flaring to scan the fillies again. “You three feel any different?” “Not really,” Scootaloo replies, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shaking their heads. “Are you all sure?” Twilight implores, the three fillies lining up in front of her. “You don’t feel anything?” “Well, Ah know Ah’m supposed to be feeling better about this.” Apple Bloom scuffs her hoof against the snow. “Ah’m suppose to be happy that Ah can get my cutie mark! At least, Ah hope Ah can. But, instead, Ah mostly just feel sad.” Apple Bloom walks over to Starlight Glimmer, nuzzling as high as she can reach on the unicorn’s foreleg. Starlight Glimmer stares down at Apple Bloom, her head cocking to the side. “Me, too,” says Scootaloo, also approaching the unicorn. “Honestly, I think about all the cool things that I want to do with my cutie mark. But then, I think about all the cool things that you’ve already done with yours!” Starlight Glimmer’s eyebrows narrow slightly. Sweetie Belle joins her sisters, motioning with a hoof to her sisters. “I mean, look at us now! You, and Twilight, and Rarity, you developed a never-before seen spell to help us! I’m sad, too, because I think about all the ponies who won’t be helped by you!” “I know what you’re trying to do,” Starlight Glimmer states, starting to pull back a little. “And it won’t work.” “Maybe you’re right,” Scootaloo says, walking behind the purple unicorn. Starlight has to keep turning to keep Scootaloo in sight, a certain spring in the filly’s step. “Maybe you’ve already figured out everything there is about your cutie mark.” “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Starlight admits. “I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a natural at magic, and I’ve studied a lot.” “And you got a cutie mark that reflects that hard work and dedication. But is that all your cutie mark represents?” Apple Bloom glances back to her own bare flank. “Did you ever figure out what kind of pony you want to be? Or what kind of things you want to do with your life?” Starlight snorts. “Oh, and you three know about that?” Sweetie Belle shakes her head. “Not really, I guess. We’ve tried a lot of things. Hay, we even tried getting campaign manager cutie marks! But whether it was in sports, or in baking, or being a salespony, none of them ever worked.” Starlight motions to Twilight and Rarity, “But that could have been from the chaos magic. Maybe one of those things was your special talent, and you were blocked by it.” “That could be.” Apple Bloom nods. “But my sister got her cutie mark, and she was younger’n Ah was when the catapillt attacked. Ah think we pushed harder to get our marks after the attack. But we never let failure stop us. We kept on trying more.” “For me, I always thought I’d get a cutie mark in speed.” Scootaloo twists her hooves, like she is grabbing onto her scooter, making little 'vrooming' noises. “But, instead, I’ve always felt my best after helping others. We all did.” Scootaloo wraps Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in a hug, “Whether it was helping Diamond Tiara win the school pony president election-” “-or our friend Twist make candies-” “-or our sister Lemon counsel others-” “-we’ve always been at our best when we help others discover their true talent!” Starlight Glimmer’s eyes trace a line along the snow. “But you three don’t know what it’s like, being abandoned by the one pony you care about! What good is discovering your-” she practically spits out the words “-true talent if it leaves you all alone?” "Then you make new friends!" Sweetie Belle motions towards Trixie, "Just because a pony is different doesn't mean they aren't supposed to be your friend! We can learn all kinds of things from those that are different from us, and it makes our friendships stronger! And if somepony leaves you-" Sweetie Belle's eye glance to Applejack, the mare standing stoically "-then you remember the good times you had with them, and even the bad, and you work harder on the next one!" "But how do I know it won't go the same way!?" “Well, as dam likes to say, hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work.” Scootaloo looks at the ground, suppressing a sniff. "Maybe I don’t have talent. I’ll never be as fast as dam, or have as good endurance as Daddy. But that doesn’t mean they don’t love and accept me. That takes hard work! Just like how dam challenges me every day, and doesn’t let me slack off. Just because they love me doesn’t mean they’re happy with me not trying my hardest, or becoming the best pony I can be. They’ve shown me that I do have talent! I’m lucky to have a herd like that around me!” “Exactly.” Starlight stomps a hoof on the ground. “You’re lucky to have that kind of support. Do you think I had that kind of support? No! My parents were never around! They never encouraged me to challenge myself, or any of that! It was all me!” “And look at the amazing things you’ve accomplished in spite of that!” Apple Bloom points towards the concert stage set up among the mountains, “You’ve got the…” she taps her hoof against the ground as she counts to herself, “fifth most popular band in Equestria!” Starlight stares down at Apple Bloom, her mouth almost a frown. “Thanks.” “But, what Ah’m saying is, you did that starting with nothing! Just your wits and talents! Talents that you plan on giving up?” Apple Bloom looks to her sisters, then the mares of the herd. “Ah know you want a family. You want those around you to love and admire you! You want to be the star with all the power, too! You wouldn’t have worked your flank off otherwise! But that love is so important, you want that love so badly you’re willing to give up everything about yourself to find it. But what if you don’t have to?” Apple Bloom places a hoof on Starlight’s withers, staying by her side. On her other side Sweetie Belle reaches up, mirroring the motion. Scootaloo looks Starlight Glimmer dead in the eyes, her hoof resting on Starlight’s chest. “What if there’s a better way?” A dull glow surrounds the three fillies.