Twiggled: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse

by SigmasonicX

10. The Rescued Princess (SigmasonicX)

Rarity bashed the ruffian with her pipe. Dazed, he pulled at the slide whistle between his lips, resulting in the expected sound as he fell to the ground.

She huffed. Of course all this had to happen on her one day off from working with the Resistance. She acted like a tourist—and really, she hadn’t had much opportunity to see the sights, so she might as well be—and met up with a cute local girl. Then that girl turned out to be the princess, and now she couldn’t keep track of all the factions after them. What even was her way out of all this?

She caught sight of Sitwee—no, Princess Twilight Sparkle—at a window with Rainbow Dash. Seeing her purple ponytail brought immediate comfort. She wasn’t sure what it would lead to, but surely staying with her was what her heart wanted.

Then she saw Rainbow push her out the window.

Rarity gasped, smacking another ruffian. He wielded a soundboard that promptly played a notable cinematic scream as he fell over a sidewalk railing. She rushed forward just as, to her relief, Twilight’s rope went taut and she fell reasonably safely into the ground floor window of the train station. Still, she would need to talk to Ms. Dash about this later.

Peeking through said window, Rarity saw her princess walking with several people in armor. They certainly weren’t with that wily band they were fighting, so they must be the royal guards. Part of her felt relief that Twilight found real safety, but another part of her realized this meant the princess would never be able to sneak out like this again.

Never be able to see her again.

Rarity bit her lips. Then after a second that she chose not to spend thinking, she leapt through the window.

---

Twilight walked sullenly. Her mother kept telling her that it was dangerous outside of the castle, and lo and behold, she was completely right.

Well, she said it was due to the commoners, and she was really just parroting Duchess Muffins when she said that. And Twilight had just met several commoners, hadn’t she? They were a bit rough to be sure, but they were nice, and they protected her from… Duchess Muffins’ underlings. She could smack herself. Why did they entertain anything Muffins had to say? Let alone her claims that all the violent activity among House Manehattan was being done by an outside figure named Director P.

Well, at least she could bring her mother direct proof that House Manehattan was dangerous, instead of just newspaper rumors.

She looked at the guards. She didn’t recognize them, but even with all her time spent in the barracks with her brother and his friends, she couldn’t know all of them. The hallway came to an intersection, and peering to her right, she saw two people she did know: Captain Sunrise and Agent Glimmer. They’d be the best people to talk to about this.

“Take me to Captain Sunrise,” the princess said in her most regal voice, pointing down the hall.

Looking back at the two figures, her blood suddenly went cold. Why did they look so scared?

Before she could process this, she felt cold metal clamp around her neck. Her hands shot up to feel it. She couldn’t see it, but she knew what it was: a magical seal.

Soon after, the guards pulled her hands down behind her back and handcuffed them. She struggled hard, but there was little she could do without magic. Twilight regretted dropping her pipe; even if it wouldn’t have helped against this many foes, being able to smack some of them would have felt less embarrassing. She should have actively resisted help from anyone she didn’t know.

She hoped Rainbow didn’t feel bad about sending her right into danger.

And she hoped Rarity…

Rarity…

Somehow the thought of not seeing her stung more than being taken prisoner. If only she could see her one more time…

There was a loud clang and the man standing behind the princess fell over.

Gasping, the princess spun around. There was Rarity, sweating and with scuffs all over her clothes, but still as beautiful as ever. She winked. “Miss me?”

One of the other two guards—or rather Manehattan grunts—grabbed at Rarity’s pipe. She tripped her, but still, she was forced to drop the weapon. Searching the ground, she pulled something unusual from the downed ruffian’s armor: a purple keytar! So they were still carrying magical instruments even in disguise.

The third ruffian rushed toward Rarity, but a quick swing of her instrument pushed him back—which wouldn’t have amounted to much if he himself hadn’t tripped over the tripped guard and fallen over.

Rarity looked over her supposed weapon. “Sit—Princess Twilight, how do I use this?”

Twilight caught herself staring and shook her head. “Well, you have to channel your innate magic into whatever you use to play it—your fingers in this case—but you have to keep in mind the principles of innate—”

Rarity blinked.

Watching the prone villains get up, Twilight shouted, “Just play a song!”

Nodding, Rarity frantically struck the keys, playing a short little ditty, and suddenly, a massive shockwave erupted from it, not only blasting away the ruffians but also tearing the paint off the walls and shattering windows.

The keytarist looked back and forth between her weapon and the results of her attack. “Is that what’s supposed to happen?”

Twilight’s eyes were wide. “Uh, well, I mean, I guess if you trained in magic for, like, over a decade like me, but that’s not normal for a first time.” Sensing an opportunity, Twilight fluttered her eyelashes. “Rarity, you are magical in every way.”

Rarity put her hand to her cheek and waved the keytar. “Aw, darling, you’re so sw—”

There was a gunshot.

---

Starlight and Strawberry dashed forward, leaving behind the bodies of other so-called guards. “Shit! Shit!” chanted the red-haired captain with every step.

“Civilian down!” Starlight shouted into her radio. “Unknown assailant! Asset is in sight! All units to building D!”

Right as they reached the hallway intersection—and the princess, who had kneeled down, crying over the body of the woman who saved her just a moment before—a transparent yellow wall appeared in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

“No!” shouted Strawberry as she banged on the barrier.

“Now now, captain,” someone said from around the corner. “It isn’t appropriate to show such emotion on the battlefield.”

A woman stepped into view. She wore a black uniform with white ruffles. Her blonde hair was down and she had a monocle over her good eye. And she was immediately recognizable to anyone who knew anything about the politics of the city.

Starlight clenched her fist. “Duchess Muffins, you were behind all this!”

The duchess lazily spun her hand. “Yes, it was I. My machinations lay undetected for years, for I am a master of deception.”

The agent spread her arms, electricity crackling between her fingers. “Do you think this barrier will stop us?”

Strawberry grabbed her shoulder. “Agent, stop! It doesn’t matter how fast you take down the barrier, you can’t move fast enough after to save the princess. Not with the duchess right there and her agents all around us.” She narrowed her eyes and faced the blonde tyrant. “Or should I say, Director P?”

Muffins hummed. “Oh yes, I suppose there’s no reason to hide that now. In a matter of hours, I will have the means to conquer the kingdom in one fell swoop. You two are quite competent, and I’d be willing to carry over your employment, depending on how you choose to act. But I’ll consider that later.”

With a snap of her fingers, a man in a black poncho and hat appeared from the other corner and promptly snatched up the princess. Too tired from crying, she did nothing to resist.

Soon, the only person left behind the barrier was the civilian woman, still laying in her own blood.

Tapping Strawberry on the shoulder, Starlight said, “We need to double back, hopefully we’ll catch up with them.”

The captain nodded, taking one last look back before sprinting away.

---

Rarity’s mind drifted through the fog. Disparate sounds and images flooded through it, and she was unable to focus on any of it.

But then the song came. With it came thoughts of the day. Thoughts of… her.

Twilight… her love. She needed to see her again.

Twilight… was in danger!

Rarity shot up from the couch, panting.

“Woah, easy there!” someone said. That voice… it was Sunset!

Her vision cleared as she looked around. She was in Rainbow’s apartment, still wrecked from all the action it saw but empty of any ruffians. Instead, she saw the faces of Sunset, Rainbow, and Pinkie staring at her with clear relief in their eyes.

“Thank Celestia,” Pinkie squeaked. “You’re OK!”

She dived in for a hug, knocking Rarity back. “Oh! Good heavens, Ms. Pie, you do realize I’ve been shot, right?” The second time in that many minutes, Rarity shot up. “Wait, I’ve been shot!”

She felt around her midsection. There were bandages, but she felt no pain there at all.

Still with Pinkie clamped around her, Rarity looked to Sunset and asked, “But how?”

Sunset shrugged. “Well Rainbow saw the way you blasted those losers away with a keytar, so we figured, with so many of those magical instruments laying around, one of them had to have healing magic.”

Rainbow scoffed. “And it turned out to be this sweet red electric guitar, of all things! I gave that one to Sunset and picked up this baby with lightning magic,” she said, pulling out a blue electric guitar.

“I got the drums!” shouted Pinkie as she appeared behind them.

Rarity looked down to see that indeed Pinkie was no longer holding her. She repositioned herself on the couch and crossed her legs. “How long have I been out?”

Sunset nodded. “An hour, which really isn’t bad for a gunshot, all things considered. Still, in that time, the political situation went crazy fast. I honestly have no clue what we’re supposed to do other than wait it out.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Where is Twilight?”

Sunset and Rainbow both looked at each other, twisting their faces, but showing no restraint, Pinkie said, “She’s been taken to the House of House Manehattan, Bubble Manor! The royal army is stationed outside of it, but they’re too scared to go in.”

Rarity got up and reached down for the keytar placed on the ground next to her. “Well then, sounds like we have something better to do than wait it out.”

Sunset tilted her head. “Rarity! I mean, sure, it looks like we can all use these instruments way better than those goons, but rushing into an enemy base without a plan, without practice—”

“Sounds awesome!” shouted Rainbow. “Sorry Shimmy, I know you were trying to convince her not to do it, but you just made it sound too cool not to do.”

Sunset sighed then threw up her hands. “You know, fuck it. I’m in.”

Rarity smiled and looked out the window. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Sitwee. We’ll be together again in just a moment.”

“Ohhhh!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Sitwee is like SciTwi, but intentionally mispronounced! I get it!”

Rainbow blinked. “What?”

Author's Note:

Yes that's right, this is ending on a cliffhanger! It's entirely possible the confusing adventure will continue on from here at a later time.

Comments

[kits]

> Read own chapter
> Immediately find a stupid typo

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[Gavier]

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I love the mix of intentional comedy and unintentional (both are hilarious, tho it's hard to top the "we should keep the situation under wraps" into getting published in the news that same day)

[PresentPerfect]

well, that was certainly a thing c_c

did you seriously fit a Wilhelm Scream into text? XD

[SigmasonicX]

11717652
Hey, it could be the Howie Scream :P

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it. As it turns out, there is indeed more coming for this story!