//------------------------------// // 6 - Lofty Withers // Story: The Stolen Acorn: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// The sky darkened with wings overhead, but the acorn’s glow drew their attention. “Come on!”  Twilight snatched the ring from Rarity, slipping it over her horn. Rarity watched the flock briefly before galloping after Twilight.  “I can’t help but notice.” “This ring looks good on me?” “Yes, but no.” “Nopony is disturbed by the birds chasing us?” “They’re used to you.” They turned the final corner to the empty lot where the library once stood. “They’re not attacking.” Rarity stopped to breathe while Twilight slowed to study the birds.  Some combination of becoming an alicorn and training for the Running of the Leaves had made her faster.  “They’re waiting for something.” A deep jeer rang through the skies.  The birds quieted while one called in response.  The deep jeer sounded closer, and all the birds broke into a frenzy of flight and cries as they descended. “Hold them off,” said Twilight, taking the seed from Rarity’s bag and galloping to the hole.  “I can’t maintain a shield while controlling the seed’s growth.” “Um, girls?” Rarity glanced at the new arrival.  “Fluttershy! Please talk some sense into these birds.”  She swatted a group away as they rushed Twilight, but another group swooped in to grasp unsuccessfully at Twilight’s horn before flying away. “Rarity!  Try not to hurt them.” Rarity sighed.  “Yes, dear.” Rarity turned to rejoin Twilight, but a large jay—easily twice the size of any other she’d seen—landed between them.  “Stand aside, villain.” It squawked and leapt at her, grappling and scratching.  She swatted and flailed, but it moved too fast. From the corner of her eye, she spotted another group swooping towards Twilight.  “Oh no you don’t.” Bucking, she knocked the jay away, opened her saddle bag, pulled out a scarf, and grinned. “Try on my new winter lineup.” The bird spread its wings and squawked.  Rarity scuffed the ground with a hoof. It leapt.  She charged. She left it wrapped and tied in the scarf, chirping angrily. Another group broke from the flock, diving towards Twilight, but they scattered when Rarity tossed a hoof-ful of sequins into the air.  Taking their new treasures, they retreated. “Hah!”  Rarity shook a hoof towards the sky.  “I’ve defeated your soldiers and your champion.  Give up now. That ring is Twilight’s!” Six jays—each as big as the one she’d defeated—landed just beyond reach. “Oh for goodness sake.  Alright.” She pulled a roll of double-stick tape from her bags and motioned them towards her.  “Let’s do this.” The birds ignored her. She looked around.  “Did Fluttershy talk sense into you?”  She spotted Fluttershy getting an earful from another of the large birds.  It didn’t seem to be going well. She turned back, doing a double-take as she spotted the new arrival standing amidst the others.  It was as much larger than these jays as they were to the rest. And it had a horn. That was beginning to glow. Because of course. Rarity sighed.  “I guess you’re some kind of blue jay alicorn.  Alright, Prince. Let’s see what you’ve got.” With a flash of it’s horn, Prince shot her with a beam of light that knocked her back and down. Wincing, she rose with a mutter.  “Try not to hurt the birds?” As she stepped forward, another blast struck, knocking her down again. “I. will. murder. that. bird.”  She waved at Fluttershy. “Painlessly.” She whimpered when the third blast hit.  “Maybe a little pain.” Prince Jay hopped towards her while the others encircled Twilight. “Keep your claws off my fiancée.”  She gathered her magic, but it vanished with her concentration as a tremendous roar echoed through the street.  All eyes turned towards the sound. “What now?” Cape billowing, Trixie made her glorious entrance upon the scene atop the back of a tyrannosaurus rex.  “Fear not, Ponyville. The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to save you from…” She looked around. “A flock of seagulls?” Fluttershy looked up from her conversation.  “Blue Jays.” “Whatever,” said Trixie.  “Come, Boopsie! Defeat the avian menace.  Crush, kill, destroy!” Fluttershy glared.  “But don’t hurt them.” Trixie pulled her hat off her head, swinging it in frustration.  “Oh come on.” Fluttershy pointed a hoof at her eyes then at Trixie, who just rolled hers. “Whatever.”  She put her hat back on, standing on her hind hooves.  “Come, Boopsie! Defeat the avian menace. Hug, stun, detain!” Rarity humphed as Prince ignored her to attack the dinosaur.  She would’ve bet on the dinosaur, but Prince was rather agile, and the tyrannosaur had tiny little arms.  While they fought, Rarity rushed to Twilight. Fending off Prince’s escort with a yard of cloth dancing through the air, Rarity focused on Twilight.  “I’ve been thinking lately.” Twilight concentrated on the glowing acorn.  “Mm?” “About mortality.”  She gestured around them.  “Not just because of this. Because you’re an alicorn, and I won’t live forever.  But I was thinking, what if I could?” “With black magic?” Rarity perked up.  “It can do that?” Twilight shot her a look that said, “Girlfriend, you did not just go there.”  She blinked angrily. “No,” she lied, returning to her task. “Oh.  Anyway,  I’ve been considering estivation.” “Esti-what?” Rarity smiled.  “There’s a word you don’t know the meaning of?” “Just because I read the dictionary doesn’t mean I am the dictionary.” Rarity caught a bird in her cloth, swung it around for momentum, and launched it towards the edge of town.  It wouldn’t be back for a while, but the distraction had let two of the others get into her mane, tugging and yanking.  “Not the coiffure!” She bucked and fought to get them out of her hair, drifting away from Twilight. Returning, she announced, “Short manes are in this season.”  Yanking a foe from the air, she stuffed it into her slowly-emptying saddle bag, closing and buckling it swiftly. “And maybe feathers.” She sensed Fluttershy’s disapproval, but pretended to ignore it.  “Estivation is like hibernation. Dormancy during a period of deprivation.  When I’m deprived of your company, I’ll petrify myself. Eight hours a day while you’re holding court, and you’d have me for thirty percent more years.” “That’s a terrible idea.” “You needn’t agree right now.  We can discuss later. When I get older.”  She ducked, avoiding another attack. “If I get older.” The acorn’s hue shifted as Fluttershy approached, accompanied by Prince.  “You have something that belongs to them.” Rarity humphed.  “I most certainly—” The seed pulsed, blinding observers with a bright flare.  “Back!” shouted Twilight, grabbing everypony—and bird—and dragging them away before they could react.  The seed pulsed again, repeating with increasingly shorter timing until the final pulse also blinded everyone who wasn’t looking at it.  The accompanying shock wave knocked them into a heap. Prince squawked. Fluttershy gasped.  “Oh. No, little birdy—” “Little?” asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow as she stood.  “That thing’s as big as a pony.” Prince squawked furiously. Fluttershy winced.  “You shouldn’t have said that.” “Huh?” “He’s conscious of his weight.  There there. I understand how hard it can be to control yourself sometimes.  Why, I’ve got an anger management problem.” Prince seemed to laugh, holding his sides as he chirped in staccato, followed by more bird talk. Fluttershy slowly closed her gaping mouth.  “Well I do. I don’t appreciate you belittling my struggles.  I didn’t belittle yours.” “Can we get on with it?” asked Rarity.  “I’ve got to take a bath and see a mane stylist before dinner.” Fluttershy nodded.  She pointed first at Twilight then at Prince.  “But be nice. Listen before you speak.” Twilight nodded.  “Lay it on me.” “Well, it all started…” ——— “So as the final condition of the armistice, you must agree to never again sleep upon the bodies of their fallen brethren,” Fluttershy concluded. Twilight looked at Rarity.  “What?” “Pillows.  They mean feather pillows.” “Oh.  Sure.” Rarity lifted a hoof to her chin.  “But what about eider down? It’s harvested without harm from the shed down of ducks.  If they can build their nests with hair and shiny things we discard, then can’t we use things they discard.” Attention turned to Prince.  He turned to squawk with the advisors behind him before turning back and nodding. “Then it’s settled,” said Twilight.  “I’ll write up the armistice and trade treaty. Rarity, help Mayor Mare throw together a signing ceremony in front of the new library.  We’ll sign it, cut the ribbon on the library, and celebrate. I’ll have an announcement to make, too,” she said, touching her new ring. “I’m sure Pinkie would love to help with the party.”  With a flash, Twilight summoned a scroll and quill and began scribbling. Fluttershy winced. The birds bristled. Rarity leaned over, whispering to Twilight. Twilight blinked.  “That’s ridiculous.”  She continued writing.  “These are gathered after moult.  Like eider down is.” She looked up at the crowd, who visibly relaxed as she spoke.  “Although, I should probably add that in here. And a POW exchange. Trixie for that bird Rarity captured.  Any other details we’re forgetting?”