Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

127 The Inoculated

Apple Bloom groans as Twilight flips to the eighth and (hopefully) final page of her lecture on all of the dangers of the forest. And the plains. And the fire swamp. Seriously, Twilight? When would she ever come across a chimeric goat/snake/lion? And did she really need to know all the nuances between hybrid lions and tigers and bears? Even if the demonstration on the flame spurts was pretty cool.

“~Twi-i-ilight, come o-on,” calls Rarity from her tent, with a delicious roll to her voice that smells like Freedom. “The water’s getting cold! And I’m tired of heating it!”

Twilight grunts, her telescoping pointer sliding shut with a delightful ‘click’. She blows on the end, spinning it a few times before slipping it inside a monogrammed cloth holster. Her smoldering gaze, which could probably be used to heat the water in the tent, starts on Scootaloo, then shifts to Apple Bloom, then finally rests on Sweetie Belle. The filly shifts uncomfortably, trying to evade the twin laser-like beams emanating from Twilight’s eyes.

The tent’s flaps pop open, a cerulean snout followed by a rainbow main poking out. “Come on, Twilight! Rarity’s gonna make me start heating the water! Stop messing around playing Supermare and get in here!”

Twilight’s body turns to the tent while her eyes remain locked on Sweetie Belle, small wisps of smoke and the scent of charred hair blowing in the chill wind.

Rarity remarks from inside, “I can’t believe that Doug didn’t want me to pack my traveling spa kit and accessories. He called it a waste of space! Can you imagine what the rest of this trip would have been like without it? Forgetting it would have been quite possibly the. Worst. Possible. Thing!”

“Oh, and that little meet and greet with a dragon wasn’t? I think you need to get your priorities straight, Rares.”

Twilight’s front hoof barely breaks the plane of the tent, her head about to disappear behind the tent flap.

Scootaloo casually remarks, “So, which corner of the forest do we wanna explore first?”

Twilight’s hoof freezes while her eyes shift, gouging twin lines in the packed snow between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The pegasus filly shrieks as the searing rays slide over her side, hooves kicking up a cloud of white, her wings blurring to scatter the snow as she sprints away.

Twilight’s eyes go wide, the beam cutting off as two cerulean hooves latch onto her withers. They yank her inside as Rainbow shouts, “She was joking, Twilight! Now come on!”

“I was?” Scootaloo says to nopony in particular, shaking her wings free of any snow and dirt before folding the small appendages to her sides.

Rainbow sticks her head out the tent, magenta eyes surrounded by green goop boring into her filly. “Yes. You were.” She points a hoof at the ground. “And since you’re so bored with nothing to do, give me a hundred wing ups.” Her eyes narrow, a bit of green threatening to drip off her nose. “And if I hear a peep out of you, you’ll be doing laps around the clearing until we’re done in here. Got it?”

“Yes, dam,” Scootaloo says, her clenched teeth grinding together. She stomps over to the Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She rests a wing on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as the other fillies disperse to the tents to find something to do until the mares are ready. Which, knowing Rarity, could be hours.

“So, what was it like being with the dragons?” asks Apple Bloom quietly, grunting against the small wing pressing against her back.

“Yeah!” says Scootaloo, excited but keeping her voice to a whisper. “Was it super scary?”

“At first it was,” Sweetie Belle admits, hooves digging into the ground to give Scootaloo a bit more support. “Then Garble, who’s the lead singer in Dragonfarce, by the way-”

“Cool!” shouts Apple Bloom, Scootaloo muted but just as enthusiastic.

“-staged this big fight for me on top of a bunch of gems, which Spike nearly won but then I knocked him off, so I won! Then Garble flew me up on this cliff over a lava pool, which was really hot and made it hard to breathe. He told me his plan, which didn’t make it any easier when he jumped off, straight for the lava! You should have seen the look on Spike’s face! But then Garble tossed me to Charcoal, and then we rocked out! It was super fun!”

“Awesome!”

Sweetie Belle grins, nearly throwing Scootaloo off as she stands and shakes her rump, “And they’re gonna have me on stage with them at the opening! Can you believe it?!”

“That sounds amazing!” Scootaloo struggles out, grunting as she continues doing her wing ups.

“Ah just wish we could come up on the stage with you,” Apple Bloom sighs.

“Hey, I’m sure Garble would let us! He even said Spike could come!” Sweetie Belle looks up as Doug and a purple unicorn walk into the clearing. “Oh, and Spike and I may or may not be dating.”

“What?” exclaim the other two fillies.

“I'll tell you later. Hi, Daddy!” Sweetie Belle exclaims, ignoring her sister’s pestering remarks. Doug waves as several of the other fillies poke their heads out from the tents. “Who’s this?”

Apple Bloom peers closely. “Is that a… equals sign for a cutie mark?”

“Weird…” mutters Scootaloo, her wing ups complete. She hops down, the three fillies walking closer.

“Hi, everypony!” The purple unicorn beams a smile at each of the fillies. “My name is Starlight Glimmer.”

“Hi, Starlight Glimmer!” the three fillies greet her with a smile.

“So,” Starlight says, stepping forward. She kneels down, looking the three fillies in the eye. “Doug tells me that you three have been having trouble getting your cutie marks.” Her eyes shine a bright white, her head slowly turning to regard each of them. Her cheerful smile slowly turns to a pursed grimace. “You weren’t foaling around. This is far worse than when I helped you out with the essences. Their thaumic signature is completely ensorcelled by the chaotic strands!” Her gaze draws slightly closer to the fillies, who glance at each other nervously.

“Excuse me?” Twilight Sparkle sticks her mud-mask covered face out of the tent, two green cucumber slices over her eyes. “I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about thaumic signatures.” She glances at Doug who, despite the cucumbers, smiles back at her. “Mind if I observe?”

Doug explains, squatting down, “This is Twilight Sparkle, Friendship specialist. She’s the one I was telling you about.”

“Yes, I can remember a conversation from two minutes ago.” Starlight Glimmer glances to Twilight, a quick, “Hello,” then back to the fillies. Her eyes focus on each filly in turn, a rumble forming in the back of her throat.

Twilight walks over to Doug, Rarity following behind as she wipes her face off with a cloth. Rainbow pops out of the tent, mane done up in a towel. “She seems… nice.” Twilight glances up at Doug, the cucumbers falling off of her eyes but caught in a blue aura. “How’d you meet her?” She turns to look at Starlight Glimmer. “And get her involved here so quickly.”

“We go back years,” Doug says as Rarity chomps down on the cucumbers, “and just ran into each other at the festival.”

“Really?” interjects Rarity. “I’ve never seen her before.” Her tail slaps Doug on his flank. “And I think you might have mentioned if you had somepony on the side.”

Doug nods, “I would have; it’s been mostly letters. Purely platonic. At least, it was before today.”

Rarity raises an eyebrow. “So, when she said she helped you before, she was the pony that pulled those essences out of you? Impressive.” She glances to Twilight. “Well, I think we can trust her. But do be careful.” Her eyes flick to Starlight, then back to Doug. “Was there anything else?”

Doug turns to Twilight. “Starlight knows a spell to remove a pony’s cutie mark, and their special talents, and replaces it with a mark of equality.” The three fillies glance up, listening intently. Twilight’s face pales a little. “They are having a problem with, well, getting pregnant while under the effects of the spell. She wants you, Twilight, to cast this spell on her. And then for me to make an attempt with her.” He holds up his hand as Twilight opens her mouth. “I know it’s crazy.”

“I was going to say it sounds entirely probable, actually,” Twilight says, speaking past Doug’s hand. “It’s a fascinating problem. And one I can entirely understand why you would undertake. I hope it works out.” She pushes past Doug’s hand to nuzzle his cheek, then turns to Starlight. “But I like to think we would have helped them even if she wasn’t helping us. Because that’s what friends do, right?” Behind Twilight, Starlight huffs to herself.

“Right.” Doug’s hand comes up, stroking Twilight’s muzzle. “But, she offered, so here we are!”

Starlight calls, “Have you ever had a full spectrum thaumic scan performed on them?”

Rarity answers, walking over, the others following, “Not since the catapillt attacked. I believe the trio had a class two, chaos focused, afterwards.”

“Did it show anything?” Starlight asks, focusing on Apple Bloom. Her horn shines turquoise, Apple Bloom gulping nervously.

“It showed a dispersed spread of chaotic magic, diffused through their bodies. Synonymous with late stage, high dosage chaos exposure. Certainly abnormal, especially given the lack of effect of them and those around them, for something that has proven fatal when it gets that far.”

“Hmm, I’m having trouble getting a sharp enough resolution.” Starlight huffs, her eyes dimming. Rainbow hovers above them, everypony getting a little closer to observe. She motions to Scootaloo. “Doug said you are an Honesty specialist, yes? Can you project one? Superimposed over each in turn.”

“A full spectrum?” Rarity stammers, glancing at Doug and Twilight. “I’ve only observed it the once, with Applebaum.” She gulps before stepping forwards. “But I shall do my best.” She nuzzles Sweetie Belle, whispering, “I hope this works.”

“Me too,” Sweetie Belle whispers back as Scootaloo steps away from her sisters.

Rarity’s horn lights, her azure eyes turning white as she concentrates on Rainbow’s filly. A light blue aura bathes the entire area as a thin screen pops up between Starlight and Scootaloo. Rarity breathes in long and deep, settling to the ground.

“Hmm.” Starlight peers closer to the image of Scootaloo, tiny pinpricks of light whirring around and around, concentrating in her wings. “Her potential is awfully low.”

“That’s a preexisting condition,” Rainbow states from her perch above.

“I see. Can you filter it out? Only show the chaotic energies?” Starlight’s mouth purses as Rarity struggles. The moving pinpricks fade, the entirety of the filly’s body pulsing a deep purple outlined in black, interspersed with dark and medium blues. “Perfect.”

“Wooow,” utters Twilight, stepping a little closer. “That’s… that’s unreal! It should be impossible!”

“It’s chaos magic. That’s practically it’s specialty,” Starlight states. “Now, to see if we can remove it…”

“Hey!” Twilight states as Starlight’s horn flares, a turquoise beam shooting through the image to hit Scootaloo in the chest. It pulses, undulating slightly back and forth. "Careful!"

Starlight mutters to herself, “Just need to get a good hold… Pony, this is slippery! Maybe if I try all at once…”

Scootaloo looks down, then back up at Starlight. “Is it suppo-”

An ear splitting scream rends the air, each of the fillies shrieking like they are being burned alive. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom instinctively backpedal away. Scootaloo merely slumps over, her howl of pain quickly fading. The light around Starlight’s horn winks out, the beam disappearing, the unicorn staring slack jawed.

Twilight finds her lungs first.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BUCKING MIND?!” shouts Twilight, raising her hoof as if to strike the unicorn, but ending up just pointing at the quivering filly. “You can’t just mess around with this without thinking! You could have killed her!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle rush forwards, embracing Scootaloo. The pegasus filly shudders, quick, heavy breaths as she moans.

“I nearly had it!” Starlight frantically says, awkwardly scrambling backwards until Rainbow Dash slams into her, knocking her onto her back. “Maybe if I just poke a little hole in her core, then-”

“NO!” Rainbow’s bared teeth are inches away from Starlight’s eyes, magenta eyes boring down. “Absolutely not.”

“Okay, okay, sheesh, it can’t be that bad,” Starlight rolls her eyes as her horn lights, a turquoise aura surrounding Rainbow and tugging the surprised pegasus away. She hops to her hooves as Rainbow spins around, ready to charge except for Doug’s hand on her back.

“Let it go, Rainbow,” Doug says, trying to force his voice to stay calm. “She’s trying to help. Maybe she’s going too fast, and she’s treating this like normal magic instead of chaos magic.”

Rainbow grits her teeth, “No. We’re done here. Come on, Scoots.”

“No.” Scootaloo shakes off her sisters, resolutely looking at Rainbow Dash. “You taught me to never give up. Well, the Cutie Mark Crusaders don’t quit. We don’t stay beaten. That’s what you wanted us to learn, right? We get back up.”

Rainbow Dash pauses, taken aback. “But, Scoots, this could be really bad. Please!”

“I know. But giving up now, living life without a cutie mark? That would be worse.” Scootaloo turns to Starlight. “That hurt like Tartarus, but I’m ready this time.”

Twilight shakes her head, stepping in between the two. “First, language, Scootaloo.” She looks at Starlight. “Second, you’ll never be able to remove the chaos like that. There’s too much, and any holes that it leaves would be irreparable. Not with what we have on hoof.”

“Oh, and how do you know that?” Starlight Glimmer exclaims, rolling her eyes.

“I…” Twilight briefly glances at Rainbow Dash before returning to Starlight. “I read a case study on a pegasus who had a similar injury. Suffice it to say, it only barely turned out okay.”

“Fine.” Starlight points a hoof at Scootaloo. “So, we have two choices, then. We leave the magic in, and she never gets a cutie mark. Or, we yank the magic out, and she may or may not die from a perforated core. Huh. Tough call.”

Silence fills the clearing for several long seconds.

“What about partitioning the magic off?” Doug asks. The various ponies look at him with varying degrees of confusion or amusement. “You know. Like, when a disease can’t be killed off by the body’s immune system, it might make a barrier, like a cyst, around it to keep it from spreading.”

“That will never work,” Starlight says. “First, magic doesn’t work that way. You can’t just partition off a pony’s core like that. Second, how would we even do that?”

“Actually,” Twilight states, “that might work. First, this is chaos magic we’re talking about. We don’t need to remove it from the core if we can push it around while it’s still inside. And, I know a spell that can mimic a magical core. Perhaps we can use that to make a temporary vessel to hold the chaos magic. And you’re a Laughter specialist, right? Maybe you can make a more permanent canister to keep the chaos separate from the rest of her core. Rarity, we’ll need to see what we’re doing, so you just keep your scan going. Let me work out a few theoreticals, and let me know when you’re rested.”

Starlight Glimmer stares at Twilight. “You know, that might just be crazy enough to work.”

Comments

[badninja]

Well this is going to work becuase it is so crazy. Now the question is this what drives the crusade to it's crazy antics?

[RedMage0661]

9549807
I don't have any problems with the concept, the Equestria already contains enough hybrids to show that it's possible for species that shouldn't be compatible to actually produce offspring.

[DarkPhoenixx]

Knowing Our Town from the show and then what Starlight Glimmer does in the finale of season 5.....I'm not sure how I feel about her. Especially in regards to the CMC.

[PinkDragonJr]

well, starlight is still impetuously amoral AF.
was not sure what to expect after garble turned out to be less of a d-bag.

[f0st3r21]

I thought they were going to keep the chaos magic. Maybe that’s why they get the related triple marks and at the same time -like maybe they integrate the chaos into their core to overcome their birth deficiencies.