Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

93 Atziri's Arsenal, Part One

September 18th, 1000 Domina Solaria

The sun shines brightly when it pierces through the partly cloudy layer, a warm Autumn afternoon. Many shades of Pegasi flit back and forth in the sky during the last shift of the day, mostly pushing clouds into position for the nightly light shower. A cool breeze blows through the trees, perhaps a herald of the coming winter, leaving many ponies basking in the sun whenever they can.

Fluttershy looks up from her picnic spread, smiling as she sees Applejack and Trixie approaching. She looks forward to the whole herd getting together once a week and, as Rainbow puts it, ‘chillax’. Just lay about, finally able to get away from the rigors and demands of life.

It got even better when she convinced them to bring their pets along instead of just their foals. The youngsters can tire themselves out playing with the animals, a perfect distraction for the mares to catch a few z’s. And she just loves seeing the happy looks on their faces as they tumble around the grass or race between the trees. This time the trio will be watching Lemon, Hedge, and Pomarbo and hoping for their foalsitting cutie marks, allowing the mares a bit of time alone with each other and their pets. Maybe she should try to get that to happen more often?

An idle thought flits through Fluttershy’s mind as she watches Winona traipse behind Applejack, the small dog nearly as large as Hedge. Soon her filly would be grown up, too. Would she want to stay in Ponyville, working with her dam? Or would she find a place in the world that she fit perfectly into, someplace far removed from everything she knew growing up? And how would she, Fluttershy, take that?

Her gaze strays to Applejack’s face; the earth pony has lost some of the gloomy look that has been lingering for the last two weeks, but the irritation that has replaced it might be traced to the azure mare walking next to her. They are probably arguing about something or other on the farm. Hopefully it doesn’t ruin their evening again.

Rainbow Dash flies in from above, greeting her herdmate with a quick nuzzle before yawning and stretching her legs, sore from the long day of shaping and pushing around clouds. Her eyes dart between the various covered dishes spread out on the checkered tablecloth, hooves sneaking towards the closest one; she would only take a quick peek, of course! Not try to find the bottles of cider. It would just be a happy coincidence if they are in the first one she checks. Nope, that’s a bunny. Maybe the second.

Fluttershy sighs, prying her gaze away from Rainbow’s poorly concealed search. From the other direction walks - or, in Pinkie Pie’s case, pronks - Rarity, Spike riding on her back, while Meringue rides on Twilight. All five are engaged in a heated discussion, likely on the importance of a good organizational scheme, and what qualifies as ‘good’. Hopefully that doesn’t ruin their evening. Again.

Rainbow briefly looks up from the basket she is ransacking, a bottle of cider halfway out, as Fluttershy groans to herself. When Fluttershy merely crumples down Rainbow shrugs, pulling the newly liberated bottle of cider over and laying next to her.

“Sooo,” the cerulean pegasus slowly rolls out, popping the cap off and inserting the helpfully provided straw. She takes a long, slurping draw from the bottle, nearly half of the cloudy liquid disappearing. Her pleased lip smacking is interrupted by another yawn, which concludes by Rainbow looking again at Fluttershy’s cowering form. “What’cha doing?”

Fluttershy merely points a hoof, the two arguing groups slowly getting closer.

Rainbow raises an eyebrow.

Fluttershy frowns as she sighs, shaking her head. “I’m afraid they’re going to ruin another nice afternoon together with their arguing.”

“Huh.” Rainbow taps her hoof against her muzzle a few times before she shrugs. “Yeah. Probably.” She shrugs as she glances up at the nearby trees. “Well, I’m going to go take a nap. Have fun!”

“Oh, um,” Fluttershy stammers, her frown quickly replaced by a stretched smile. “You too.”

Rainbow Dash grabs a pillow and flies up to the closest tree, fluffs it a few times, and rests it in the crook of a sturdy branch. She stretches all four limbs before she drops down and closes her eyes. Her silly grin gets wider as she hugs the pillow.

Much to Fluttershy’s consternation the arguing just gets louder as her herdmates get closer. She can barely make out snippets of conversation, focusing instead on the four pets. Winona ambling forwards right at Applejack’s flank, Gummy bouncing along on Pinkie Pie’s back, Opalescence strutting in front of Rarity, and Owlowiscious flying next to Twilight. Her muzzle relaxes, grin becoming more natural, as she watches. As Doug would say, silver linings.

Opal yowls at Rarity as the mare steps a little too close. Her small face turns up, eyes snapping closed haughtily despite Rarity’s hurried apology. The mares stop in their tracks and watch silently. Opal snatches her toy mouse from Rarity, tail swishing back and forth as she quickly strides to the picnic, huffing as she sets down next to the basket containing Angel Bunny. Winona’s excited barking as she joins is greeted by a hiss and swipe of claws, the dog agilely dodging back. Winona’s tongue eagerly lolls out regardless of the intent behind the swipe, darting forward to lick Opal on the face. Opal yowls, both claws flying in a flurry around her head. Angel Bunny pokes his head out of the basket, shrill hissing at the cat and dog. Owlowiscious adds a frustrated hoot of his own, his talons outstretched and curling as he flaps above the two.

Gummy flies through the air, a wayward pronk of Pinkie Pie catapulting the gator directly into Owlowiscious. The two tumble to the ground, bouncing off of Angel Bunny’s basket and directly into Winona and Opal. The basket tips over, dumping a growling rabbit over. Angel Bunny hops up, menacingly stretching his back legs as he turns on the lump of four writhing creatures.

“Now, girls,” Fluttershy chides, clearing her throat. All motion comes to a halt, five pairs of eyes staring at the pegasus. Fluttershy continues, “I’m sure Gummy didn’t mean to do that. So, we’re all going to sit here and have a nice picnic together, yes?” She grins, nodding her head. The five animals quickly mimic her, carefully disentangling themselves from each other. They methodically move into position at the picnic, cautious to not make any moves that might be interpreted as being threatening to each other. Fluttershy claps her hooves together, something she learned from Doug, as she beams. “Okay! Who wants some nice tea?”

“Wow,” remarks Rarity as she and the other five mares approach the picnic. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Opal back off quite like that. You certainly have a gift, darling.”

“Oh, thanks,” Fluttershy says with a shy smile. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Yeah,” Spike says, brandishing his claws and primping up a little bit. “I’m pretty good with them, too. They never complain about having to stay with me!”

A sly smirk crosses Rarity’s muzzle as she watches Spike, noting the glint from his claws. She turns to Fluttershy, “Now, you don’t threaten to Stare them, do you?”

Fluttershy’s eyes go wide as she furiously shakes her head, jumping up to her hooves. “Oh, no, I would never! I-” She stops as Rarity pats her head, slowly calming down.

Twilight’s horn flares, plates and baskets levitating to everypony. They dish food onto their plates, arguments forgotten, as Doug comes up to the picnic. He glances up to Rainbow’s sleeping form, smirking at the small shudders and twitches of the cyan pegasus. He shakes his head as he drops down, dishing himself out a generous portion of the salad and bread for himself. He glances at Fluttershy as she pushes a small, specially wrapped box in front of him.

“More?” Doug says, sniffing the pungent odor. He smiles. “You didn’t have to do this.”

Fluttershy nods, “Oh, it was no trouble at all. I just hope you enjoy it! I mixed in a few spicier, um, spices, not that I think you’ll mind!” She smiles back at him as she returns to her own food.

“Mm,” Doug says as he takes a bite, though he does move back from the group. Especially because of that not-quite glare Rarity gives him.

“Did you have to bring that here?” Rarity groans, huffing as her nose puckers up from the stench. “I thought we were supposed to relax, not constantly be on the lookout, in fear of our lives.”

“Sorry,” Doug apologizes, putting the box back down. Both he and Fluttershy frown, an uncertain shrug traded between the two. Doug reaches a hand over to scratch Rarity’s ears, though the white unicorn is having none of it.

“I’m sorry, darling, but it’s too late.” Rarity pulls her head back just slightly, her horn and Doug’s hand surrounded by a blue aura. She gently pushes him away, much to his disappointment. “How do I put this delicately? Your breath stinks like fish Opal drags into the shop and hides and I don’t find for a week. Which you then boiled and dipped in Fire Sauce.”

“Jeez,” Doug says, pulling his hand back. He cups it around his mouth and blows, sniffing the resulting air. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy says reassuringly, nuzzling Doug. “I happen to like the smell of week old fish that I boiled and dipped in Fire Sauce.”

Doug smiles in return, rubbing Fluttershy affectionately. He turns to Rarity with a pout, rapidly blinking as he desperately tries to bring tears to his eyes and utterly failing. Rarity merely shakes her head before returning to her food, pointedly ignoring Doug from then on. Doug sighs as his gaze turns upwards to watch Rainbow Dash sleep. Or fidget around in her sleep.

The pegasus’ twitching has gotten stronger, nearly flopping off the branch as she kicks out again and again. Her wings poof out, knocking her off the branch completely. Her eyes instantly snap open just as she falls, though her first burst of wingpower takes her down, not up. She smashes into the ground, a cloud of dirt expanding around her to her low moan.

“You okay there?” Doug asks, though he doesn’t turn to look at her. Instead he gathers up a plate of greens for her while finishing off his own food. He finally glances over as Rainbow picks herself up, shakes the dust off and walks over to grab her plate.

“M’fine,” Rainbow replies, hunching down. She keeps glancing at the five pets arranged in a line, all of them - well, except for Gummy - staring back at her while they chew in eerie synchronization. Aside from Rarity, the other mares are all happily eating their food, though they have scooched away from Doug just a little bit. Not enough to be obvious, but noticeable if you look for it.

“So,” Rainbow continues in between massive bites, horking the food down as fast as she can. “I thought you all were arguing.”

“Aww, shucks,” Applejack says, nudging Trixie’s withers with her own. “We might’a been, but then after watching Fluttershy corral all them critters with just a clear of her throat?” She shakes her head, “Ah gotta admit, Ah sure didn’t want her looking at me like that.” The rest of the mares nod in agreement.

“Yes,” Fluttershy continues with a smile as she glances down at her empty plate. She looks back up at the animals, “And now it’s time for those pets to go play, right?” She nods several times, the animals taking the hint and bounding away from the table. “Oh, Angel Bunny! You didn’t finish your carrots!” Fluttershy grabs the lone item left on Angel Bunny’s plate, cheerfully chasing after the fleeing rabbit.

The other four mares get up; Applejack grabs a stick, Rarity the mouse, Pinkie Pie a balloon, and Twilight a toy mouse Spike made. They all chase after their own pets, engaging in a bit of play out in the nearby field. This leaves Doug to stare at Trixie as Rainbow Dash finishes her meal. Spike stretches out, basking in the sun as Meringue pulls out a textbook on anatomy.

“Soo,” Doug says, a only somewhat disappointed sigh. “I guess I can get some blue mane paint, and we can go around beating on random objects with sticks.”

“That sounds delightful, but done before,” Trixie says with a slight yawn. “Besides, I’m not feeling up for making music just yet.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow says, a frown growing as she watches the pets at play. “Besides, it’s not like I wanted to play with a pet now or anything. I have you in my life, Doug, and you’re like a big teddy bear. Yup!” She smacks her lips a few times, nodding her head mostly to reassure herself. “Definitely don’t wish that I had a pet right now.”

“What’s that?” Fluttershy says, poking her head out from the leaves of the nearby tree, a far too cheery grin plastered on her muzzle. “You wish that you had a pet right now?”

“What?” Rainbow Dash exclaims, shaking her head. “That’s ridiculous. Besides, I’m sure that if you were going to host another Pony Pet Playdate like this you wouldn’t need to feel bad about not inviting me. I’d just hang with Doug, right?” She forces a grin to her muzzle, offering a hoof to Doug that he reluctantly bumps. “Right. I’m the last pet to need a pony.” Rainbow nods resolutely.

Fluttershy blinks a few times. She otherwise doesn’t move. “Right.”

Rainbow fidgets for a few seconds. “I mean, I like to take naps, and work on my routines, and taking care of a pet is a lot of time, and I have Scootaloo taking up time. I mean, she doesn’t take up time take up time, it’s more like she needs a lot of love and attention, and I certainly give that to her, but that doesn’t leave a lot of time for a pet.” Rainbow nods resolutely. Again.

Fluttershy nods, her smile growing a little larger. “Right.”

“And, just because I don’t have a pet now doesn’t mean that I’ll never get a pet!” Rainbow points a hoof at Applejack, “Maybe I won’t go full Applecrack over there, and bang out another filly just because one of them decided to move out! I’m practically kicking Scootaloo out of the house every chance I get!”

Applejack looks over, raising an eyebrow and scowling, as Fluttershy nods again. The smile plastered on her muzzle has only gotten larger and creepier. “Right.”

Rainbow sighs, huffing. Her voice lowers, losing a bit of its edge. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea that someday I might perhaps decide on the framework to judge whether or not that a pet would be the best addition to my life.”

Fluttershy claps her hooves together, beaming with joy. “Oh, Rainbow, that’s wonderful! I have so many choices at my house! Oh, and I know that you’ll just love them! And they’ll love you! Oh, and you’ll be best friends forever and ever!”

Rainbow sighs as Fluttershy flies off. “Great.”

Comments

[DarkPhoenixx]

Here comes Tank! Well soon

[AuthorGenesis]

Fluttershy reads between the lines. I probably should have expected that given that she's a better listener than loquacious.

[Jack-Pony]

Are we just not going to talk about the elephant in the room? What's with Rarity?

[PirateLord93]

10463951
She just doesn't like him eating meat near her.