Twiggled Ever After: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse

by SigmasonicX

4. Bonds Across Worlds (SigmasonicX)

“The Fang of Chaos,” Princess Twilight said, turning up her palms and summoning abstract images in purple flames. “A dark sigil, representing a despot from long ago named Discord. It’s said that those who wore it were under his control, and after his defeat, all of his spells were sealed as the highest form of forbidden magic. And that sigil is what I found on Trixie’s uniform.”

“F-forbidden magic?” said Duchess Muffins.

“We have a Discord in our world,” said Sunset. “He’s a reality warper and immortal. Maybe your Discord came back.”

Twilight’s dour expression shifted to wonder. “Immortal? Is that even—no, that’s for later. No, there’s no chance Discord is still alive; not even he could control life and death. But he was still a monster nonetheless. He heavily taxed the peasantry only to build extravagant decorations, he’d regularly torment them with his soldiers, and he even let an entire village die of ligma without lifting a finger.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly fell onto her back, laughing uncontrollably.

The princess blinked in confusion. “Wha?”

“Just ignore her, darling,” said Rarity, fluttering her eyelashes. “Since it isn’t Discord, could someone be using his forbidden magic?”

“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow said between chortles. “Did you know Tirek died of ligma too?”

Twilight turned back to the overturned woman. “Who’s Tirek?”

“Ligma balls!” Rainbow yelled.

There was a pause. “What does that mean?!”

Rarity huffed and grabbed the princess’s shoulders. “That’s not important right now. Focus, dear!”

Flustered not just by the conversation but by their sudden closeness, Twilight stammered, “Y-yes, right. The thing about Discord’s magic being forbidden is that as the years passed, fear of it faded and it was considered a non-issue since no one but Discord could actually cast his magic. There’s even one noble today known for collecting Discord’s writings and artifacts: the new head of the ancient but largely irrelevant Trendy Family, a man named Trenderhoof.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Trenderhoof?” She glanced toward Rainbow Dash, who shrugged from her prone position. She turned back to Twilight and shook her head. “My stars, this really is a strange dimension.”

“Trenderhoof was hardly a threat, though,” Twilight continued. “He didn’t even have an affinity for magic… but he did start showing off some parlor tricks after he acquired that magic staff. I only thought it escalated his magic to a beginner level, so he wasn’t on my radar before, but if there was more to that artifact, then maybe…”

Sunset stepped forward. “Wait, a magic staff? Was it a tall wooden staff, real dark wood, taller than me? With a blue crystal on top?”

Twilight’s voice shot up. “Yes! That’s exactly it!”

“Shit!” exclaimed Sunset. “That’s the Staff of Sacanas, something from our world. We came here to get it before it caused any trouble, and I don’t know if it’s because of the flow of time being different or whatever, but we clearly screwed up there.”

Captain Strawberry Sunrise rolled her eyes. “Should’ve figured this was all the fault of you other-dimensional weirdos.”

“Strawberry,” chided the princess. “Regardless of whatever boost the staff granted, the magic Trenderhoof used is still of our world; no need to throw blame around.”

Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s fine, Twilight. Blame is totally warranted in this case. But we’ll make up for it.” She wrapped her fist with her palm. “Just show us where Trenderhoof is and we’ll fix everything.”

Rainbow shot up. “We’ll make him wish he had boffa.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow. “Wha—”

Rarity put a finger on her lips, eliciting a sudden rush of blood in the princess’s cheeks. Ignoring this, the purple-haired visitor simply said, “Don’t. Just don’t.”

Agent Starlight sighed. “Yes, fine. Now, Duchess Muffins, about that safehouse you mentioned? I know our princess said we didn’t need one, but we can’t just leave Trixie on the street like this.”

“Could take her home like you usually do,” Strawberry added with a smirk, earning her a sharp glare.

Duchess Muffins rubbed her fingers together. “Oh, yes, yes. Well, actually, Big Mac knows where we can find one better than me.” She turned to her guard. “Do you mind?”

“Ee-nope,” the large soldier said. With a wave, everyone followed behind him while the city rioted in the distance.

---

Big Mac lifted the shutter door and, after a quick scan, ushered everyone in. Starlight went in first, carrying the unconscious Trixie with her magic, and the others followed shortly after. Big Mac pulled the shutter down behind him, muting the sounds of chaos outside, and flipped a switch.

Row after row of lights turned on, revealing shelves of wooden crates with black apple logos printed on them, along with an open area with chairs, couches, a TV, and a mess of empty cider bottles.

Starlight looked around with a frown as she placed Trixie on the cleanest couch she could find. “This is an Apple Family base.” She scoffed at the man who led them there. “When Duchess Muffins mentioned she was working with crime families, I should’ve figured you were on loan from one of them.”

Big Mac crossed his arms. “Family’s family, but I guard her because I wanted to. Anyway, shouldn’t be anybody bothering us here.”

Twilight gave her royal guards a stern look. “With the noble families all compromised, we should consider it a blessing that Muffins got herself mixed up in all this. Trenderhoof wouldn’t have even thought to take over crime families.”

Muffins nodded serenely. “It all works out in the end. Even if by accident.”

Strawberry and Starlight both grumbled, but conceded their point and moved to examine the base and treat Trixie respectively. As everyone else found somewhere to sit, Twilight found herself lost in her thoughts and she paced around the shelves of crates.

The Fang of Chaos returning. Visitors from another dimension. The unusual death of the old Duchess of Manehattan—surely slipping on a banana peel, falling into a bowl of spaghetti, and choking on a noodle had to be a result of chaos magic!—and Muffins replacing her. It was hard to believe all of this was happening now.

Yet somehow, what bothered her more than the current threats was what would happen after. Rainbow, Rarity, and Sunset were here to find their staff and surely they would return home after that. Yet in the short time their paths crossed with her diplomatic trip to Manehattan, they’ve all become such good friends. It couldn’t just end like that, right? Especially…

Twilight looked up, realizing she was far away from the lounge area she started at. She considered doubling back, but then she heard… music. Following the notes, she found Rarity sitting on top of a crate, fiddling with her keytar. Glittering moonlight showered her from a cracked window, bouncing off of her luxurious purple hair and highlighting her soft skin and lovely facial features. Her blue eyes were distant, adding to her otherworldly feel. Twilight stared at her for what felt like hours—and she could have easily gone for hours more—before the woman turned and gave her a curious look.

“Hello there, darling. What are you doing just standing there?” she said with a smile that indicated she knew exactly why.

Twilight jumped. “I, uh… heard your music!” She shuffled over and sat next to Rarity. “I was actually wondering about your instruments. They’re magic, right? I mean, I know they’re magic, I’ve seen them in action, but is that how magic works in your world?”

Rarity looked down at her keytar. “Oh! Well, normally we don’t need any tools to use magic. Well, Rainbow would, but not Sunset and me. However, when we cross dimensions, that becomes considerably more difficult. In another dimension—a third one—Sunset discovered that music can channel magic no matter what dimension you’re in, so that’s why we use these. These are actually just normal instruments by the way, but we each have our particular… I suppose favorites?” She clicked her tongue. “Ack, Sunset can explain this better than me.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “No, it’s fine, I like hearing about it from you!” She scratched her cheek. “But we can talk about something else if you want.”

Rarity gave her a look, then sighed. “Darling, before we continue down this path, there’s something you really need to know. Back home, in my dimension… I…” She put her hand to her chest. “I am a horse.”

Twilight touched Rarity’s other hand as her eyes glittered. “Oh Rarity. I may be a princess, but I’d never find sex work objectionable.”

Rarity blinked, then blinked again. Then finally she broke down laughing.

Twilight frowned. “I’m being serious!”

Rarity wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh darling, I know, I know. I appreciate the sentiment, believe me I do, but you misheard me. I said—”

There was a loud bang and the ground rumbled, knocking some smaller objects off of the shelves. Both women shot up.

“That was close,” Rarity said.

“We can’t afford to wait any longer,” Twilight said grimly.

Everyone gathered in the lounge after the explosion and they quickly got to work.

“Trixie still isn’t awake, so we can’t get any information from her,” said Starlight. She bit the inside of her lips. “And even though I removed Discord’s sigil, she would still be under its control anyway.”

“So if we attack Trenderhoof, we’d be going in blind,” said Captain Sunrise.

“That’s fine, we’ll improvise,” said Rainbow, swinging her guitar. “With this baby and a couple lead pipes, nothing can stop us.”

“Normally I’d want more of a plan, but I think Rainbow has the right idea,” said Sunset. “We’ll go in on our own. Trenderhoof in our world is a loser, so if we sneak past whatever traps he has, we’ll be able to stop him pretty easily.”

Rarity nodded without any sign of disapproval, which only increased Twilight’s determination as she said, “I’ll go with you.”

Before the interdimensional visitors could respond, Captain Sunrise shouted, “Absolutely not!” She poked the princess’s chest. “I don’t care how good you are with magic, there’s no way I can allow you to go into a dangerous situation you don’t need to.”

Twilight glared. She was a princess, she could override her whenever she wanted. There’s no way she could leave Rarity to go into danger like that. And yet… she was indeed a princess, and she trusted Strawberry precisely because she spoke the truth. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. But still, they can’t go alone. Agent Starlight, you guide them to Château Branché and aid them anyway you can.”

Starlight looked at Trixie with furrowed brows, but stood up straight and saluted regardless.

Twilight put her hand on her guard’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Trixie. I’ll look into undoing her mind control.” And, she left unsaid, if she learns anything important, she’ll rush to Rarity’s side.

Captain Sunrise nodded. “So that’s it then. Rainbow, Rarity, Sunset, and Starlight will go to Château Branché. The princess, Duchess Muffins, her bodyguard-slash-mobster Big Mac, and I will stay here with Trixie.”

Sunset nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s go, then.”

The assault party left without further word, though Rarity looked over her shoulder back at the princess.

Twilight grabbed the hem of her dress and narrowed her eyes. If there was anything inside Trixie’s mind that would help, she’d find it.

---

In the darkness of Château Branché, a man sat on a throne. His glasses were lopsided, he slouched to the side, his mouth was agape, and his eyes were glazed over. His name was Trenderhoof, and he was the man behind all this.

“Or so they think,” said a high pitched voice.

A woman leaned against the throne, gripping a tall staff with a blue gem, her black and red dress offset by her poofy pink hair and her bright grin. She tapped Trenderhoof and he fell down to the ground. “Won’t the girls be surprised when they get a load of me!”

Her giggles echoed throughout the chamber.