Raritwo
Twilight noticed that she was also dead-tired; she started seeing phantom images.
“I’m a little afraid to ask, but what are you going to do with that body?”
Or maybe because she went to the wrong room. “Rarity?”
“Belle. Rarity is, as far as I know, right there on your back.”
Twilight turned around. “I didn’t see anypony.”
She heard a sigh, then the weight behind her lifted. She jumped a little before turning around, then squinted. She was seeing doubles now. “Belle? Why are you two?”
Belle put Rarity’s (hopefully) unconscious body on her bed, then dragged Twilight by the hoof. “You’re overexerting yourself again, I see.”
“Am not!”
Belle put Twilight on the sofa. She stuttered a little before plopping gracefully on the handle. With a smile, Belle said, “I don’t really have much room in here, so preferably you’d be going to your own bed at downtime?”
Twilight let out a blissful sigh. “Yes. I’ve been sleeping on schedule, though. No way I’m overexerting myself.”
“Sleep deprivation isn’t the only form of pushing yourself too hard, darling.”
Twilight’s ears perked up at the downtime ping and the distant chiming. She chuckled and stared at the ceiling. “You actually made a music box?” She put her head back on the handle. “That sounds beautiful.”
“I didn’t know you like music.”
“For a few cycles’ worths of effort, that much is impressive.” She shuffled about before assuming a more comfortable position for her spine. “Anyway, how’s the research going?”
Belle trotted away and took a blueprint from her desk at the far end. “Your initial design doesn’t need much adjustment, but the problem now would be on the mass.”
“The biological cargo module is two thousand kilograms. My initial design didn’t get anywhere close.”
“No,” Belle slowly started, “but the minor adjustments that I made to make sure the rocket won’t split in half almost made it five.”
Twilight launched herself into a sitting position, all traces of tiredness gone. “Five tons?”
Belle gave her the blueprint and let her skim over it. She went to her refrigerator, took out two plates of frozen burgers, then put them on her back. “You can’t brute-force your way to every victory, darling. Frostbuns?”
Twilight put the blueprint down, took a deep breath, and straightened the frazzles under her cap. She took a plate of Frostbun and muttered a thank you.
Belle took a bite of her own bun. Swallowing, she said, “We’re back on square one.”
“Is this really how rocket science work?” She rolled the blueprint, put it aside, then started eating her bun.
“Jumping back and forth between everything and everypony and hoping it will eventually end?” Belle shrugged. “What do I know? I’m a Duplicant.”
“Our ancestors’ research notes make it look easy.”
“They’re not really written for other scientists, now, are they?”
Twilight sighed. “I suppose.”
“Twilight?”
“Yes?”
“Are you scared?”
She stared. “About this project? Why would I? It’s just a fun little experiment.”
Belle paused. Then, after a few seconds, “How old are you?”
“Somewhere around 250 cycles. Why?”
“Have you seen the... you know.”
“Our planet?”
Belle nodded.
“It’s... fascinating, I guess.”
“Do you know what Horizons IV’s main goal was?”
“Finding out what’s on the next asteroid ring. The Manager told me she was hoping for a helium giant for more niobium.”
“Was.”
Twilight swallowed a little too fast and coughed. “What?”
Belle put down her half-finished bun. Her expression told Twilight that she won’t be finishing it anytime soon. “You knew that the expedition had been in suspension before you were printed, right? Have you ever wondered why you needed to start everything over despite taking it over from Celestia?”
“I thought it was for me to learn.”
“No. The expedition’s first research aim was to find a way to make the sturdiest rocket possible.” Belle poked at her food and frowned. “The Biological cargo module is the only prototype hypothetically strong enough to not break on impact with the force field.”
“The what!?”
Belle put a hoof on Twilight’s snout and glanced at Rarity, still sleeping peacefully in bed. “The force field. The Manager wanted to know if it’s at all possible to get back to our home planet.”
Twilight shook her head. “But even then, what would there be to it? It’s a broken planet. Literally.” She looked at the ceiling. “You won’t find anypony in there. Magma and dust, probably. Molten silicon if you land in the crater straight to the core.”
“As you said, it was a fun little experiment.”
“Suicide is a fun little experiment!?”
Belle shushed her. The silence afterward suggested that Rarity had indeed been incredibly tired. “We abandoned it at the final notice.” She put the rest of her Frostbun back at the fridge. “Originally, I was about to be the guinea pig.”
Belle closed the fridge, turned around, then shrieked—for no more than a split second before she caught herself—when she met Twilight’s face. She glared and muttered a few gibberish words before stage-whispering, “Don’t do that!”
“’Guinea pig’?”
Belle slowly nodded. “Yes. Are you alright?”
Twilight put two hooves on Belle’s face. “No. The Manager is dumb sometimes, but she’s not that cruel. You’re lying.”
Belle pushed away Twilight’s hooves from her face. “I am not. I volunteered.”
Twilight opened her mouth, glanced at the lovely figure on the bed, then whispered harshly, “Why!?”
“Before I answer, may I inquire as to why you are so upset?”
“You volunteered on a suicide mission!”
“A mission that was disbanded when we found out it was a suicide mission.” Belle grabbed Twilight’s shoulders firmly. “Snap out of it, Twilight. The Manager knows what she’s doing.”
Twilight sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. I was about ready to throw a tantrum.”
“You better not.”
“So!” Twilight coughed. “Why?”
Belle blinked. Then she let out a nervous chuckle and slowly raised her shoulders. “...Artifacts?”
Twilight blinked. Then she let out the same nervous chuckle. “Artifacts.”
“Space artifacts, darling.”
“You agreed to launch yourself as a pony missile straight into a planet-wide Arcane Force Field to find shiny trinkets.”
“Why else would you go there!? Go to the rest of Alicorn tech. and find for your own skeleton?”
“That would actually be kinda cool.”
Belle grunted. “Don’t imitate Rainbow, please.”
Twilight chuckled. “Speaking of Rainbow, you think you can fix this problem soon?”
Belle nodded. “I’m going to find the little notes we have on foundry engineering. All we need is lightweight glass that won’t shatter upon launch.”
“Glass that won’t—” Twilight scrunched her eyebrows.
“...Twilight, are you having an epiphany?”
Twilight answered by jumping to the bed and harshly waking up Rarity. “Rarity! Wake up!”
Rarity jumped, yelped, then muttered a few things about voles and digging before focusing on Twilight. “Wha? Twilight.”
“Rarity, can you—”
“Twilight, dear, darling.” Rarity yawned. “Don’t you know better than waking Duplicants up in the middle of their downtime?”
“But this is serious! This is—”
“I have to agree with Rarity. We’re not exactly on a time constraint.”
Rarity blinked and focused on Belle. “Oh, hello, Belle.”
“Good afternoon, Rarity.”
“Rarity!”
Rarity growled. “Alright, what is it?”
“Do you have the notes on diamond welding?”
“Fluttershy does. It’s in the archive under her name.”
Twilight’s cap dropped to the ground as the support underneath it collapsed into quantum particles that shot out of the room. It fluttered gently, its sound upon landing breaking the imploding silence of the room.
Belle coughed. “Terribly sorry about that. You know how she gets at research.”
Rarity blinked away the rest of her sleepiness, to no avail. “Why am I in your room?”
“Twilight blanked out when carrying you.”
“Ah.”
“’Ah’ indeed.”
“...”
“...”
“I won’t be bothering you anymore, then.”
“Have a nice evening, Rarity. Here’s your hat.”
Rarity put her hat on and tipped it at Belle. “And you, Ms. Belle.”
Rarity opened the door. Rarity stepped back. Rarity and Belle stood side-by-side in front of the maniacal grin at a distance, hoping that one of them have a long enough stick to poke it safely.
“Belle, I think I figured it out!”
Rarity nudged Belle’s ribs. “I trust you can handle her?”
Belle coughed and rubbed her sides. “Yes. Now, if you could please notice how strong you are?”
“Sorry.”
“...Isn’t the archives a bit far from here?”
“It’s next to the printing pod.”
“Twilight, did you just galloped all across Bristle Acres?”
“I sure did!”
Rarity and Belle looked at each other. Then Rarity smiled. “Do you need some time alone, darling?”
“Well, if Belle could—”
“Oh, would you look at the time!” She gasped and looked at her nonexistent wristwatch. “It would be a wonderful time to visit the spa, don’t you think, other-me?”
“It’s almost night—” Rarity’s words were cut by Belle’s harsh nudge. And Twilight’s expectant look.
Disturbingly expectant. “Ah, right, it is a perfect time to visit the hot tub. Would you care to join us, dear?”
“But I have to—”
“Such a shame,” Belle said as she trotted to the door with Rarity in tow. “Well, we won’t be bothering you, then. Make yourself at home. The salt is in the fridge.”
The door closed behind them, then they galloped away. Rarity looked at the doppelganger. “...The fridge?”
“Don’t judge me.”
“Is it that bad, though?”
“I just so happen to not have a cabinet—”
“Twilight, I mean.”
Belle chuckled. “Oh, right. Well, believe me, you won’t be getting any sleep soon if you stay. We’re going to need to take care of her tomorrow, though. Speaking of taking care.”
They skidded to a halt, conveniently in front of the spa. Rarity smiled. “What I need is sleep, Belle. I don’t think sleeping at the sauna is a good idea.”
“Nor has anything our colony ever planned.” Belle opened the door and flourished. “After you.”
The two laughed and entered the spa, all the while another Duplicant took claim of Belle’s room for the rest of the night.
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
1,054 users online
115,078 hits today, 2,205,040 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
She's apparently really good at doing this
As someone who plays Kerbal Space Program I can confirm this is exactly how it works.
Me: “The what!?”
Good chapter!
I didn't play the original game (yet), so I don't know the backstory.
Did you take the plot from the game or did you make yor own? Whatever the answer, it looks very intriguing.
Two Raritys. For some that would be a dream.
Oh my. Planet-buster of a bobmshell to drop there. Good thing Twilight's had an epiphany of comparable magnitude. Looking forward to seeing what comes of it.
with the released DLC (in early access), are you going to adapt the story according to the expansion?
10573741
I don't think I will. There are quite a lot of stuff that will suddenly exist if I do. Plus I haven't tried it yet and we all know how many hundreds of hours it'll be before I continue writing again (or do anything else in general) yeehaw.
Oh good. Looks like no one beat me to sharing this.
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/84c16b73-6995-4caa-a35e-6825f60f2851/de9kweo-69ef6b6e-c6d6-4534-b377-b467c385cb04.png/v1/fill/w_1492,h_536,q_70,strp/friendship_not_included_by_assasinmonkey_de9kweo-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02OTAiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC84NGMxNmI3My02OTk1LTRjYWEtYTM1ZS02ODI1ZjYwZjI4NTFcL2RlOWt3ZW8tNjllZjZiNmUtYzZkNi00NTM0LWIzNzctYjQ2N2MzODVjYjA0LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xOTIwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.QpgIUoace8yar9DY3tXno5YUDwil3JPf80twbvXmBnc
Link