Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

131 Left to Fate, Part One

December 27th, 1000 Domina Solaria

“And, Spike, you’re sure you’re going to be okay running the library by yourself? I know Owlowiscious will be here at night, but Meringue is only going to be able to come over every so often if you’re getting overwhelmed, and-”

“Twilight!” Spike exclaims loudly, his exasperation long past showing through and practically tap dancing through his voice. “I’ll be fine!”

“I know, I know,” Twilight Sparkle admits, nervously glancing from one corner of the Golden Oaks Library to the other. Three separate checklists levitate next to her, every box checked off - twice - that detail the library, the kitchen, and the bedroom. “I’m just so worried about leaving you all alone for almost a week! I don’t know that we’ve ever been apart for so long!”

“Well, Twi, you’ll be in Canterlot visiting Princess Celestia, right?” Spike vaguely motions to the mountain in question, the capital city shining even in the dusk of evening. “So, if you’re worried about me, or if I’m worried about you, then we can just send a letter. Right?”

Twilight sighs heavily, the pieces of parchment neatly rolling up and dropping to the kitchen table. “You’re right, Spike. I don’t know why I’m being so silly about this.”

“It’s not silly,” Spike reassures, claws coming up to wind their way through Twilight’s coat, as high up as he can reach. “You’re worried about me, and I appreciate that. It’s just, I’m a big dragon! I can take care of myself, and the library! You can count on me!”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asks for the sixth time. A soft smile spreads across her muzzle as Spike folds his arms across his chest, his deadpan stare enough to answer her question. “I know! I know. But after Garble said that dragons aren’t really considered ‘mature’ until they molt and get their wings, whenever that is, and grow a little bit bigger, or in your case quite a bit bigger. But then their parents kick them out of the nest! And they have to get their own place and start a hoard of their own…”

“I get it, Twilight. You don’t want to kick me out, and I don’t really want to leave.” Spike stops running his claws through Twilight’s coat and pats her a few times. “How about this. When it becomes time for me to leave the wonderful nest you have here, we’ll do it with hugs instead of kicks.”

Twilight nods warmly. “I think I’d like that, Spike.” She gathers him up in her forelegs, a bit of a shudder in her chest that she tries to disguise as she shakes him back and forth. Spike grins as he hugs her back, a content exhale as she squeezes him.

Twilight looks over as Doug enters the library. “Hey, love!” She gently sets Spike down before hop up, snaking her way inside Doug’s jacket to nuzzling her stallion’s chest. “You all packed and ready to go?”

“Sure am.” Doug reaches down, rubbing Twilight between the ears. “Did Celestia tell you why we’re heading up to Canterlot?"

“No; and it was such short notice, too. I hope it’s nothing too important.” Twilight sighs as she hops down, hat and scarf levitating over. “And I hope Spike will be okay.”

“Hey, it’s not like you’re leaving me all alone. I can always sleep at Rarity’s if I’m feeling lonely.” Spike blushes just a tiny bit as his mind flashes back to something Garble told him backstage.

‘Hey, dude, I can see how much that Sweetie gal likes you. And, she’s pretty cool, so it’s, uh, cool and all that you seem to like her back. But, let me tell you something. Dragons are monogamous. That means we pick one mate, and we mate for life. Dragons don’t do the whole herding thing. Could you imagine trying to defend three clutches at the same time? Dude, it’d be terrible. Even taking care of one is bad enough! So, what I’m trying to say is, ask yourself this. Are you more like a dragon, or a pony? And is Sweetie going to be okay with that choice?’

Spike hastily tries to cover up by coughing, then continuing, “And Meringue will be coming over here, so I’ll at least have the simulacrum of socializing.”

Twilight smirks, cottoning on to Spike’s blush immediately. “Oh, and I suppose you feeling lonely is the only reason to go to Rarity’s, hmm?” She glances towards the front door, a hint of curiosity in her voice. “I wonder how she’s doing?”

At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity paces back and forth, over and over, gradually wearing a groove into the polished wooden floor of her showroom. A mass of green and white fabric floats in her blue aura, ostensibly trying to decide if it is a fashionable chapeau or just a bargain bin hat, but really more to give the unicorn something with which to fidget. Sweetie Belle sits on her rump in the middle of the store, her somewhat exasperated sighs becoming louder and more obnoxious as Rarity continues pacing.

Rarity finally breaks the prolonged silence, “I’m just saying that, as a mare gets older, she will find herself pressured in certain ways that a young filly might not be. And you haven’t been a young mare for very long, so I wouldn’t expect you to have an experience dealing with these sorts of pressures.”

Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes. “Dam, it’s Spike. We’ve known each other for months now! I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this!”

“I know, darling, but now that you have your cutie mark, your body is going to start going through some… changes.” Rarity finally tosses the hat into the bargain bin where it most certainly belongs, rounding on the young mare. Her eyes focus on the crest on the white flank, specifically on the purple star in the middle. “Have you, or your sisters, noticed… anything… different about yourselves?”

“Apple Bloom hasn't, but she can’t really try, since it’s winter and all. Scootaloo, um, not really. My magic feels a little stronger.” Sweetie Belle demonstrates by lifting her pink and purple curls with a green aura.

“That’s wonderful to hear, of course,” Rarity says with a forced smile, eyes turning to Sweetie Belle’s horn, “and I do hope that your magic continues improving. But, I was talking, more…”

Rarity’s eyes flick back to the red, pink, and purple cutie mark, then a bit further.

Sweetie Belle groans, her tail swishing to better cover herself. “Come on, dam, it’s not like that. Spike doesn’t…”

Sweetie Belle trails off. Does Spike see her like that? He has certainly gotten more tactile in the last two weeks, ever since she got her cutie mark. He is more eager to run his claws through her coat and mane, not that he had been reluctant before. And when they sleep together he wants to lay on her bed with his back pressing against her foreleg instead of him sleeping on the floor, or on one of the cots. She doesn’t mind, of course, and finds herself looking forward to the pleasant contact. Even if his scales are a little sharp. But it's no more than if she was sleeping next to her sisters, right?

Does she want it to be more?

Rarity seems to sense her filly’s growing trepidation, laying down next to her. A manicured hoof gently runs along her back, helping soothe away those lingering fears. “It can be hard to know what we want,” she starts, a bit of a forlorn sigh as Sweetie Belle presses up against her. “And, now that you’re a young mare, you’ll need to make these decisions yourself. More importantly, for yourself.”

“Wait,” Sweetie Belle says cautiously, pulling herself away from Rarity’s hoof to better look her dam in the eye. “You’re letting me make those decisions? Like, how, um... how far I can go with Spike?”

Rarity nods solemnly. “You’ll have lots of sources telling you things that you ‘should’ be doing. Some of them will be your body. Others might be Spike, and not just the words he says. Or it might be when you look around at school and you see some of your friends kissing their Special Someponies.” Rarity’s smile slowly fades. “I won’t be around all the time to give you advice, or to tell you what you should do. You’re going to have to make these decisions yourself.”

Sweetie Belle pushes, perhaps a little further than she originally intended, “So, you’re saying that if I wanted to sleep over at the library every night with Spike… you’d let me?”

Rarity’s head drops down. “I wouldn’t be happy with that decision if you were to make it. But since you are the pony who would live with the consequences should that be your choice, it certainly wouldn’t be right of me to stop you. If I was to ask you what your reasons are, what would you say?”

“Well, I like Spike, and I want to be close to him. I think he likes me the same way. But I’m not really sure.” Sweetie Belle nuzzles her dam, trying to get her to look back at her. “How do you know when somepony, or somedragon, is right for you?”

“Well, sometimes you just know, as if fate itself has drawn you together.” Rarity smirks, shaking her head. “For everypony not lucky enough to meet and marry the stallion of their dreams, you have to get to know them. Preferably, not too quickly and too, ahem, intimately. It is important to take your time, especially if you are unsure that somepony, or somedragon, is right for you.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Sweetie Belle presses into her dam again, purple curls rubbing into her white neck. “I can’t believe you’re being so cool about this.”

Rarity smiles. “I was a young mare, too. Not terribly long ago, I might have you believe." She pauses for a few seconds. "Though, if I’m being perfectly honest, I would prefer that any… risque business happen here, not in a secluded section of the park or in Twilight’s basement.”

“Twilight has a basement?” Sweetie Belle asks, raising an eyebrow.

Rarity coughs, “Nevermind that I said that. Just, please, try not to be too terribly obvious about what is going on.” Her tone becomes considerably more serious. “Do I need to lecture you on proper heat management, or cooler techniques? I’m sure your sisters will be glad to help out, especially since they will be going through it themselves. Or, if you think you’ll be unable to contain your urges during that time, should I get the pills?”

Sweetie Belle slowly gets paler with such a casual discussion of heats and all that entails. “Oh, um, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out. Thanks, though.”

“Of course, darling. Be sure to let me know if you need anything.” Rarity leans in conspiratorially, but her whisper comes out more as a warning. “Just don’t go thinking that just because Spike is a dragon and you are a pony that you’ll be ‘safe’.”

“Oh. Right.” Sweetie Belle smiles shyly. “Like with you and Daddy.”

Rarity nods, pulling away. “Correct.”

“But, dam, what if it, um, doesn’t work between me and Spike? What should I do?”

Rarity sighs, her hoof again coming up to stroke Sweetie Belle, this time on her mane. “I can’t answer that, dearest. It’s a decision you’ll have to make yourself. But what I can say is that there are other options, should that be the case.” She reaches forward, nuzzling Sweetie Belle’s horn with a soft kiss. “As Twilight Sparkle seems to be fond of saying, I’m sure everything would be just fine.”

“Okay,” Sweetie Belle says, slowly moving her head to return the nuzzle. Her smile slowly fades. “Hey, wait a second.” Sweetie Belle pulls away, a bit of a glare. “You’re being way too understanding about this. What’s the catch?” Her eyes narrow. “You’re not trying to get rid of me, are you?” She gasps, her eyes going wide. “Or, you’re trying to make me think that going and fooling around with Spike somehow makes it okay for you to fool around with that Prince?”

“W-what?” Rarity asks, taking a hasty step back. “N-no! No! That isn’t my intention at all! There are just, well, certain realities with Doug that-”

“Well, it’s not going to work!” Sweetie Belle stomps her hoof, wincing a bit at hitting the hard wood. “Talking to Starlight Glimmer taught me something! It taught me that I don’t need to be just as powerful as everypony else in order to be loved and accepted! And I feel bad for anypony who thinks that just because I can’t levitate a stick as well as somepony else means that I’m somehow less of a pony!”

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity admonishes, “You know that isn’t true! I love you and care for you with my whole heart! It doesn’t matter how much you can levitate, or how powerful your magic is!”

“Then why? Why would you go and fool around with somepony else?” Tears come to Sweetie Belle’s eyes as she storms off, turning back to Rarity at the base of the stairs. She opens her mouth to shout something, pauses, then turns away, racing up the stairs.

Rarity rushes forwards, holding her hoof out to her filly, just in time to see a green aura shut the door with a soft click. The door reopens, a white hoof reaching around to slam it shut with a loud *Bang!*

“Oh, dear,” Rarity mutters. “I wish I wasn’t so good at being convinced myself.”

Comments

[badninja]

Way to go Rarity way to go. I think Rarity blew this big time. Hopefully Doug will be able to talk to his daughter and help her understand what is going on.

[Doug Graves]

9557331
I'm curious; which part of Rarity's speech did she blow? The whole thing, just the ending defending her (their) decision to go to Prince Blueblood by letting Sweetie Belle storm off, or something else?

[badninja]

9557351

Not explaining to Sweetie the deal with Prince Blueblood. Sweetie Belle is mad but she doesn't understand just what is happening here.