Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

4 Rain Tempter

Twilight grumbles as the latest shelf of mismanaged books levitates to the floor. Just one more wall and she will have the entirety of the library carefully arranged, stacked up on nearly every available floorboard. Actually, if she moves the bookcases to the floor, she wouldn't need to levitate everything back up.

Ugh, but then she'd need to put walkways around the shelves, and she might accidentally stomp all over the books during one of her early morning coffee hunts. She yawns; speaking of coffee, where is Spike? He's been gone with Rarity for hours now! He better not have ruined his dinner from snacking with her! Actually, it's morning. He... can you ruin your breakfast with gemstones? Hmm, she's never had enough gems lying around to test this. She might need to draw up a testing schedule, and she would need to somehow hide from Spike that he is eating more gemstones in the morning. Actually, it would need to be a double blind study, to not contaminate the results by her own biases based on whether or not she knew he was eating fewer gemstones. She would need to ask one of her friends-

Twilight huffs, a slight sigh. Former friends? She... she hadn't had a friend storm out on her before. Much less five.

Well, that's on them, for not listening to her.

Focus! Twilight reminds herself, lightly stamping a hoof on the floor. She needs to finish sorting the books. First, she needs to decide on a classification paradigm. A grin slowly spreads over her muzzle; while there are a few established systems in use, and she is very familiar with the Canterlot Archives Classification System, this would be a perfect opportunity to design her own system from the ground up!

"Spike! Take a note!"

Twilight pauses at the lack of response, a frown quickly forming. Why didn't he answer her? One more strike against him being Best Assistant!

Oh! Right. He isn't here. She grunts in exasperation, levitating the parchment and ink herself. Now, where did he put those quills he bought?

One minute of frenzied searching later and Twilight locates the quills. She glances at the brochure for sofas; well, it wouldn't hurt to be more comfortable when she starts reading and sorting through these books, right? So, all she has to do is create a matrix of the different qualities of every sofa and chair and how their different characteristics compare and contrast to each other and-

Twilight stumbles over one of her stacks of books, flopping to the floor in a cloud of dust. She groans, one hoof coming to her forehead, coughing as she pushes herself up. Maybe she should finish sorting the books first.

But under what classification system will she sort the books?

And will she be comfortable enough while she makes that determination?

Maybe she should take a break from this. She's been at work for hours now, even if she doesn't count that short nap she snuck in.

The front door opens, the purple unicorn slipping outside. She squints under the bright mid-morning sun; where to go first? Well, starting on the outskirts would probably be best. Make her way around the town. One lap should be enough to clear her head, then she can get back to work. A few nearby ponies wave, Twilight absentmindedly returning a wave of her own.

The air outside is much cleaner than the dusty air in the library, Twilight notes; maybe she should open a window or two while she sorts through all the books. You know, maybe she should have brought some parchment. And quills and ink. And definitely a book. Or two.

Twilight trots faster, quickly making it around the east side of town as she tries to distract herself with the scenery surrounding her. Her eyes focus on the Everfree Forest, not so much the stormy clouds building above, but specifically the path her five friends had taken with her. She sighs; former friends.

Well, maybe there is still hope for them. She spots a cottage nearly hidden by the surrounding foliage, but Fluttershy doesn't appear to be home. She continues along the southern end of Ponyville, crossing over the bridge to the center of town. The Carousel Boutique has a few ponies going in and out, but she doesn't want to deal with Rarity right now. Or Spike, for that matter. Twilight follows the river back to the south, wandering along the train tracks, a quick game developing as she tries to avoid stepping next to the railroad ties.

She stops as she looks over the rows and rows of apple trees. Sweet Apple Acres. The loud thud of hooves on wood repeats against the backdrop of birds chittering to each other and flitting back and forth among the branches. Most of the trees close to her have already lost their fruit, and she thinks she can spot the orange farmpony further in. And, peering through the branches, Twilight spots him.

Twilight drops down, peeking out from behind one of the trees. She stealthily walks closer to better observe the creature she has only seen once before, debating whether or not she should risk a teleport to the branches above him. Twilight creeps closer, spying through the apple trees, noting Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's pink manes against the green grass and brown trees. He appears to just be sitting against one of the trunks; long legs relaxing along the ground in front of him, one foreleg holding some kind of book. Both mares seem to be... snuggling, if their rhythmic motions along his chest and lap mean anything, with the creature from Applejack's farmhouse. Twilight watches, the blush along her cheeks growing redder as she imagines exactly what sort of 'reassurance' Pinkie Pie is giving.

"Oh! Hello, Twilight!" calls the yellow pegasus, spotting the purple unicorn not very well camouflaged among the trees. She probably should have brought along something to better conceal herself. "Come join us!" Fluttershy smiles, her cyan eyes beaming with joy at seeing her friend again.

Twilight drops down, her head barely shaking from side to side. They didn't want her to do that, did they? She chances a glance back up, just in time to see Pinkie Pie looking over as well, a perfectly innocent look on her face.

"HI, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie Pie gleefully shouts, waving a hoof as her smile grows larger than her muzzle. "I knew you couldn't stay mad at us!" She rapidly beats the spot next to her with her other hoof; Twilight gives a shy smile, standing up and cautiously walking over. Pinkie Pie grins as the unicorn approaches while Fluttershy leans back against Doug, her pink mane partially covering his face, as Pinkie Pie drops back into his lap.

Twilight analyzes the creature casually resting against the tree. He reminds her of the felines found far in the south - past the Badlands and the Bone Dry Desert - but he lacks any of the telltale fur or claws or tail. Just a shock of auburn hair on the top of his head, the hint of red more pronounced as she gets to the sparser hair on his chest and abdomen. Actually, his whole body has hair, she notes as she gets closer, it's just much thinner and matches his tanned skin. Ears sticking out at a different angle, but similar recessed eyes near a less pronounced muzzle and more angular nose.

His small eyes regard her intelligently, focused and unwavering. Yet, she doesn't feel like he is staring; more like he is inspecting her just as closely. The corners of his mouth and eyes smirk at her, as if daring her to ask the question on the tip of her tongue. She smirks right back; two can play at that game.

Her eyes trace over his spindly legs and arms, casually splayed out on the ground or wrapping around the two ponies resting next to him. She glances down his body; maybe she had been a little quick to jump to her earlier conclusion. She still hasn't seen him standing, but a quick estimation puts him a bit taller than her brother, maybe even eye level with Princess Celestia. Thinner than even the most emaciated pony, the way his ribs are visible.

One fairly new journal, similar but less ornate than the one Princess Celestia gave to her, is resting between his legs. Pencils are in easy reach, several weather reference guides stacked next to him. Her head cocks to the side as her eyes look to the sky; it is nice and sunny now, a rainbow blur speeding along the forest border to the south, but why take the risk with those kinds of materials this close to the Everfree and its unpredictable weather? Especially with a storm scheduled for afternoon, it could easily hit early!

Twilight finally opens her mouth as she gets close, her best impersonation of Princess Celestia's pleasant, "Good morning, Doug." She smiles, practically biting her tongue to keep from asking the question both of them know she is burning to. Her mouth opens anyway, blurting out, "Why are you outside? Aren't you afraid of it raining on you and your books?"

Hmm, maybe she could have picked a better question than that to replace the one she really wanted to ask.

"Well, it's a beautiful day," Doug says with a slightly forced smile. Twilight rolls her eyes as she rests her tired legs, Pinkie Pie between her and the creature. He continues after a brief pause, "So, thanks for that and all. Besides, it's hard to mess up clear skies."

"I don't know, I would say it's pretty easy," Twilight says, a glance at the storm clouds building over the Everfree Forest, that same rainbow blur patrolling back and forth as if daring them to cross an unspecified line in the sky. She looks over at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy; both mares are regarding her with gentle smiles and poofy manes, not a hint of the sadness they were showing before at the party. She realizes why he had emphasized the word 'day', blurting out, "Oh! And, you're welcome. I guess." She laughs to herself before saying, "But the less said about that the better, right?"

Doug gives her a sad smile, withdrawing into himself as he mumbles, "Yeah, I guess." A long, shaky intake of breath follows, his eyes closing as his entire body tenses.

Fluttershy shoves her head against his chest, his left arm tightening around her neck as she rubs her silky mane up and down, the same bobbing motion from before. "There, there," she coos, smiling up on the off chance that he looks down at her, "It's okay, you don't have to worry about that any more. Just let it out, we're here for you."

Twilight watches as Doug's chest heaves up and down, practically dragging Pinkie Pie next to Fluttershy. Both mares wrap forelegs around him, cuddling and relaxing, allowing him to tug them left or right. Twilight grimaces as she sees the angry red scars on his left arm and a much fainter version on his right, noting how his right hand keeps tracing patterns in Pinkie Pie as it grips her while his left barely moves. The product of Nightmare Moon, she realizes.

"So, Twilight," Pinkie Pie says as Doug rocks her back and forth, "have you reconsidered your no party policy yet? I've got a whole bunch of super duper exciting parties planned and I want to make sure you're okay being invited!"

Twilight internally groans; of course it would come back to that so quickly. "Look! Pinkie," she grunts through clenched teeth, a bit of her bombast fading as she sees Pinkie's mane deflate slightly, "I want to keep the library, well, a library. And my home. I don't really want to have any more parties there." At seeing Pinkie Pie's downcast expression for the second time that day Twilight relents, "But, um, maybe if it's appropriate. And I'm perfectly happy going to any other party you throw."

An explosion of confetti blinds Twilight as Pinkie Pie leaps, tackling the startled unicorn. "Oh, Twilight, that makes me sooo so happy! I Pinkie Promise you won't be disappointed!" One hoof makes motions around Pinkie's chest and head as they fall down, quickly joining the other hoof in wrapping around Twilight.

"Pinkie!" Twilight forces out, struggling to breath under the pink pony's bone crushing hug. She pleads, "A little help, please?" when the mare doesn't release her vice-like grip, violet eyes begging for assistance as she furtively glances between Fluttershy and Doug.

Doug seems to have recovered from his earlier fright when Pinkie Pie burst away from him, his voice rough as he says, "Try hugging her back. Works for me." He squeezes Fluttershy to demonstrate, her eyes slightly bugging out from the pressure before she hugs him back with a smile.

Twilight groans as Pinkie Pie constricts further, weakly wrapping her forelegs around the earth pony and lightly tapping her back. Twilight gasps as she is finally allowed to breath, her muzzle full of vibrant pink mane. "Thanks," she coughs out, rubbing her chest.

"No problem," Doug says as he gives Fluttershy another quick hug. He quietly says to the pegasus, "Thanks for being here," a light kiss to the mane still in his face.

"Of course, Doug," Fluttershy says, spinning around and sharing the quick kiss, "Besides, Pinkie, some of the ponies in town have been asking to talk with me about what happened before."

Pinkie Pie nods, a goofy stare at Fluttershy, head cocking to the side slightly.

Fluttershy tries again, a small smile, "I think we need to head back to work."

"Really?" Pinkie Pie says, rotating in place, her stare turning into confusion. "I didn't thi- Oooh! You're right, Fluttershy," a gigantic, telegraphed wink at the pegasus, "We do need to go back to work!" She winks at Doug this time, somehow even more obviously, Twilight rolling her eyes a little. "Don't do anything I wouldn't!"

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie get up, smiling at Doug and Twilight as they walk away. The two still on the ground watch as Pinkie Pie pulls Fluttershy off to the side, two pink manes peeking from behind a nearby tree to watch them.

"Well, that just happened," Twilight says, staring at the ponies either failing horribly at concealing themselves or just plain not trying at all. "They do realize we can still see them, right?"

"Probably," Doug says, a slight grin as he shakes his head, "But with Pinkie Pie? It's the things you don't see that you have watch out for. Right now, though, those two there? I don't think we have anything to worry about. So, um, how did the party go?"

Twilight continues staring at Pinkie Pie for several seconds before neutrally saying, "I'm glad to be out of the house. Trying to clear my head."

"Yeah, I was having a hard time thinking inside, too," Doug says, grabbing the journal. "Not sure why, normally I don't have any trouble being cooped up for hours at a time."

"Hours?" Twilight smirks, one of the weather reference manuals levitating over. She idly flips through the pages, "Try days. Sometimes, Princess Celestia would have to send rescue parties to the archives. Generally just with snacks, but sometimes to make sure I wasn't lost in the pages." She glances over, a frown as she notices Doug staring at the levitating book, his hand twitching as terror starts to spread over his face. Twilight drops the book to her hooves, her magic winking out.

Doug quickly recovers as he shakes his head, his breathing heavy, trying to appear normal as he forces out, "Yeah, can't really have that happen here. One of the eight gets hungry before I do, forces me to take a break."

"Eight?" Twilight asks, looking around. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have both disappeared, which doesn't reassure her in the slightest. "Eight what?"

"Foals. Fillies, now."

"Really." Twilight skeptically looks up and down the creature's body, a light snort escaping her nostrils. "You're telling me that a..."

"Human," Doug replies, a smirk forming on his face.

"Gesundheit." Twilight rolls her eyes, "So, what, you take care of eight fillies? Where are their dams? Why do they need you to help take care of them?"

Doug pointedly stares at Twilight for a few seconds before coughing, "You kinda met them yesterday. Actually, the day before. You went to a party with them? I'm pretty sure?"

"A party with the fillies? No, I'm pretty sure I didn't. At least, there were a couple fillies at the party two nights ago, but I barely met anypony then."

Doug shakes his head, "No, the mares." At Twilight's stare he continues, "You defeated Nightmare Moon with them? And you saw our fillies yesterday, when you came over to the farmhouse."

"Oh. Huh." Twilight cocks her head to the side, her look wavering between confusion and a slow revelation. "They are yours?" Twilight frowns at Doug's nod, "How does that even happen?"

Doug shrugs, "Magic, I guess." His mouth curls to a smirk, the edges curling as if he can't stop himself, "Unless you mean the obvious. Do you want to know about 'the obvious' with the mares of the herd?"

"What? No! No, I mean, um," Twilight gulps as she backs up a step, quickly composing herself with a hoof to the chest. She forces out, "I mean the magic part."

"Unfortunately, I can't really help you there," Doug says with a sad smile as he leans back, hands nervously flicking the journal. "I don't have any magic, and I never really understood the explanations I got. They're just words to me. You're probably interested in how the cells magically convert to something livable, if I had to guess."

"No magic?" Twilight scoffs, as if she hadn't heard anything past that. She rears back, her horn lighting, a hum of magic surrounding her head. She closes her eyes as her voice raises, "That's impossible. Let me just..."

"NO!" Doug shouts, scrambling to his feet, "Stop!"

Twilight thrusts her head forward, aiming her horn at Doug. A beam of light shoots out, impacting and spreading along the tree he was just sitting in front of. She opens her eyes, quickly frowning, a quizzical look at the tree. It lights up, along with a good portion of the surrounding air, different shades of purple and blue displaying the thaums coursing through the trunk and limbs, just like every living organism. No sign of Doug, though. Did she just?

Twilight hastily looks around, briefly despairing about what she has done when she spots the human fleeing through the trees. She glances down, a puzzled look on her face before she calls out, "Hey! Wait!" She glances around for any excuse to get him to stop, spotting the reference manuals laying on the ground, "You forgot your books!" She sighs when he doesn't slow, a downcast look at the approaching farmpony.

"What in the hay?" Applejack yells, glancing back at Doug's retreating form before rounding on Twilight. "What did you do!?"

"Nothing!" shouts Twilight, flinching at the stomp of Applejack's hoof; even the white lie is enough to trigger the earth pony's growing fury. "It was just a harmless detection spell! He took off for no reason!"

"Well, he sure ain't treating it like it was nothing!" Applejack spits out as she glares daggers at Twilight, swinging a hoof towards the farmhouse and the rainbow blur speeding down, "What made him run off then, huh?!" Applejack paws at the dirt, clenching her muzzle and forcing out, "Celestia help me, if you threatened him..."

"No! I didn't!" Twilight sinks down, her ears splaying back, cowering under the farmpony's intimidating stare. "I promise!"

Applejack holds the foreboding expression for a few seconds before she sighs, the anger leaving her face. "Ah believe you, Twilight." She slowly walks over, nuzzling the yielding unicorn. Applejack looks back towards the farmhouse, her expression now confused, "Ah ain't never seen him react like that before. Disappearing like Scootaloo before bath time."

"We were just talking," Twilight says, her voice quivering, "and then he was talking about the fillies, and how magic worked within them when they were... and then..." She vaguely motions with her hoof, "I cast a magic detection spell and he bolted off."

"Huh." Applejack stops, holding a hoof to her chin, "It ain't like he's never seen a detection spell before." She tries to puzzle it out, eventually shaking her head, "Well, Ah sure thought he was okay. Ah mean, he had some difficulty when he went to sleep yesterday. Ah hope it's just nightmares, or some such." She pauses for a few seconds before giving Twilight a hard look, "Ah might ask Rarity to come over. Maybe help see if he's afraid of magic."

"Afraid of magic?" Twilight scoffs, shaking her head. "Why under Celestia's sun would anypony be afraid of magic?"

"After what happened with Nightmare Moon? Ah'd be more afraid than a bushel of apples rolling to the press."

"But, it's...it's..." Twilight sputters for a few seconds, "It's just... Magic! It's like being afraid of trees because a timber wolf attacked you!"

"Yeah. It's just like that." Applejack puts a hoof on Twilight's withers, "Look, Ah ain't saying it's a logical, reasoned response. Alright?" She considers, "How about, Ah go get Rarity. Trio should be heading off to school 'bout now, hopefully she can take a break at the store. You just go to the farmhouse, wait for us there."

Twilight nods, saying to herself, "Okay. I can do that," as Applejack trots towards town. Twilight levitates the books, walking along the path towards the Apple farmhouse.

Comments

[Viper Pit]

really really hope twilight doesn't join the herd

I swear if twilight joins the herd to spike me i will be mildly upset

[badninja]

9327944

I doubt she will. Think of it from her perspective, she is going to be having sex in front of Princess Celestia. She would die of embarrassment easily once she finds out. I think she is safe from joining this heard. Hopefully she goes with the big red stud that is in Applejack’' family. Starlight Glimmer would provide more interpersonal drama for the characters.

[Not so New Brony]

Afraid of magic? Guess Rarity will need to adjust a bit when it's her turn.

[Syroc]

It's like being afraid of trees because a timber wolf attacked you!

I realize that's supposed to sound ridiculous, but I could totally see how getting attacked by animated, wooden murder-monsters would make someone more than a little wary about hanging around trees.

[Snow]

9471803
A more apt metaphor might be fearing doorknobs because something on the other side of a door nearly killed you.

[DarkPhoenixx]

Great story so far DG! Just like always
Seriously, I'm beginning to think you couldn't write a bad story even if you tried lol
Keep up the good work.

9471803
I totally could see that too. I mean Timberwolves are magically animated wooden creatures and their made out of detritus from the trees of the forest. So its perfectly understandable if somepony were attacked by a Timberwolf and developed a phobia of trees, especially wild trees.

9327944. 9328760
Idk personally I think Twi will join Herd Apple. For one thing it would keep the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony together. Though I'm not sure it'll happen till sometime later on. Maybe not during Continuity Disrupted though. That's just a guess though.

Plus Doug has to work through his possible PTSD. Bc it's obvious Doug does have post-traumatic stress, so you got the PTS; but would that be the same as PTSD. I mean who wouldn't be traumatized after Nightmare Moon did that stuff, and have a lot of stress too. Though what is the point at which it is a disorder?

[Jack-Pony]

10198054
It becomes a "disorder" if it does not subside in short order, with good care. Though what short order is, varies from person to person, and event to event. Generally, we're talking months to years; psychologists intentionally keep the time frame vague. This is why Doug should be getting therapy ASAP! Because the sooner you begin treatment, generally the easier it is to heal from the trauma. And conversely, the longer before you start, the worse the symptoms get.

[Even Evil Has Standards]

9471803
Eh...did you ever play Kirby's Dream Land 3?

[Theresa]

Since when is fear logical? If fear was logical we wouldn't have to be afraid.

[MurderP0n7]

11401563
My only answer to that is: are ponys do not see the most obvious answer until someone tells him