MLP Loops 153
153.1 (Masterweaver)
Glitched Up Harmony
Vinyl rolled her eyes, maneuvering around the detritus in her foyer. "Alright, alright, I'm coming! Hold your horses... snrk." She opened the front door... and burst out into a wide smile. "Cheerilee! 'Sup girl, didn't ‘spect you to come round!" Her eyes darted left and right. "I don't have to take remedial classes do I?"
"Relax, Vinyl, I'm not going to force responsibility onto you this loop." Cheerliee shook her head with a smirk. "I had enough of a hard time teaching you when you, Octavia, and Lyra were all crusaders."
"Huh. Wasn't awake for that one." Vinyl grinned broadly. "You'll have to show me the pics sometime."
"I'll dig them out later. Actually, I was hoping you wouldn't mind teaching me about the maintenance of amplification speakers." The schoolteacher shrugged. "Part of the whole 'learn everything' plan..."
"Yeah alright. Not right now though, kay?" Vinyl gestured to the mess behind her. "Octy's coming down from Canterlot for the Summer Sun celebration so I need to clean up before she gets here. Mostly I'm just dumping junk into my pocket so I can organize it later..."
Cheerilee chuckled. "Only you would use your pocket as a dustbin... Speaking of which, have you told Octavia about the loops this loop?"
"I teleported a letter and her journal to her. Put a little 'notice me' charm on the letter, just so she'll read it..."" The unicorn rubbed the back of her head. "Actually, I've had a weird feeling ever since I wrote that letter. Something seems a little off. Maybe I should talk to Twilight..."
The earth pony shook her head. "Derpy used her scrying bubbles to track the pings this loop. We've got a guest anchor, her pony name is Moon Bunny and she's replacing Trixie." She shrugged. "She wanted to take her time coming to ponyville, be a real traveling showmare."
"Huh." Vinyl tilted her head. "Derpy has scrying bubbles now?"
Cheerilee waved a hoof. "They're basically crystal balls she makes out of... spit."
"Neat. So who is awake?"
"Me, you, Derpy, the mayor, Lyra, and Sunset."
"Yeah... maybe I'll ask Sunset when she gets into town..." Vinyl bit her lip. "I dunno what it is, but something is really bugging me this loop... So, anyway, what's our plan for Nightmare Moon?"
"Well, Lyra called dibs. Apparently she wants to pretend to be a seapony from the moon and..."
"NNNNNNnnnnnnnnrnrggngngngnn."
Derpy Hooves peered around the doorframe. "Problems, Scroll?"
"Look at this. Just look at the laws my unawake self passed." Ivory passed the document to the grey pegasus. "See how she plotted the municipal district?! This is going to bite me in the flank." Her head hit the desk. "I'm honestly tempted to let Nightmare Moon rampage through it so I can fix it up later..."
"Huh, I... have no idea what I'm looking at." Derpy shrugged, putting the paper back on the desk. "Look on the bright side, after tonight you'll be able to spend some time with that sea serpent again."
Ivory rose her head and frowned. "Steven isn't actually the kind of fellow I like. Don't get me wrong, he's a good man, but... well, unless he's half drunk he's just a touch too gentlemanly for my taste." She rolled her eyes. "And he's high maintenance. Do you know, one loop he single-handedly caused a market collapse in toiletries?"
"Oh, high maintenance boyfriends are terrible," Derpy agreed. "There was this time where Dinky's father was actually prince Blueblood. I mean, the money was good and he was actually pretty skilled, but apart from that!"
"You have my sympathies. Honestly, I think some of my best loop flings have been outside Equestria."
Derpy chuckled. "I get you. Did I ever tell you about the time I replaced Arwen?" She sighed happily. "I mean, Aragorn wasn't Awake, but it was still... mmmm."
"I can imagine. I have fond memories of Tom myself."
"Tom the boulder?"
"No, Tom Riddle."
The pegasus blanched. "You dated Voldemort?!"
"What? No!" Ivory Scroll waved her hooves. "No, nonono. This was before he became a dark lord. I mean, we broke up later, amicably enough I suppose...." She sighed. "I was a little upset when he did turn to the dark, though. Thought I had changed the timeline enough... I may have published all his embarrassing teenage secrets rather publicly in the Prophet, though."
"Oh... he couldn't have been happy about that."
"The death eaters tried to track me down, yes." She smiled maliciously. "They were expecting a helpless muggle-born pencil pusher. The look on Bellatrix's face..."
Derpy grinned an evil grin. "Oh, that had to have been good. Shame I missed it." She glanced at the clock. "Darn it. I should probably head out to pick up Dinky. I mean, I could just teleport but then ponies would ask questions..."
"No, I understand." Ivory sighed, turning back to her desk. "At least I should have most of this cleared up by the celebration..."
Lyra winced as two ponies with highly frazzled manes suddenly appeared beside her. "Whoa, whoa, what the oak?!"
"Sorry, couldn't get to the train." Sunset Shimmer shook her head, glaring up at the city hanging off the mountain. "The royal guard decided that I needed to be captured at all costs."
"Why?"
"Well, obviously the 'ex-student' of princess Celestia has to be a fugitive, because why else would Celestia dismiss her unless she was completely evil?!" The unicorn took a moment to magically style her mane with a grumble. "Apparently they've been pinning every other unsolved crime on me. So now I'm a serial killer, drug dealer, foal molester, jaywalker--Seriously, what the actual fuuuudgebuckets?!"
"I'll admit I was a little worried when you burst into my home," the other mare finally managed. "You have built up quite the boogie-mare reputation, and if it hadn't been for that journal Vinyl teleported to my table... Speaking of which, I'm actually amazed you managed to teleport us both down to Ponyville after all of that." She sighed. "I hope I'm not pinned as an accomplice or anything like that... No offense meant, miss Shimmer, but a regrettable portion of my career has to do with image and, well, you can see my problem."
"No, it's fine Octavia." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Just so you know, the real reason I was dismissed was basically 'I threw a hissy fit and jumped into another world.' Which isn't that different from baseline."
"I know how bad a bad rep can be," Lyra said with a sympathetic nod. "Especially pre-loop reps, you know? Being known as 'that crazy mare' really makes life difficult."
Sunset blinked, looking at the other unicorn with concern. "Lyra..." she said slowly. "...you are crazy."
"Well, yeah, but I don't want to be treated like it!" The mint green unicorn huffed. "It's not like I'm a psychopath or anything, I just have more than one me. I can function normally in society."
Octavia rose a hoof awkwardly. "Ah, more than one...?"
"She's got five selves because of a glitch." Sunset turned to Lyra. "It is five, right? You haven't gained another Lyra in there?"
"Well, five and a half," Lyra admitted. "Siren Lyra is part of Seapony Lyra, but not. It's complicated." She rolled her eyes.
"See, that doesn't help with non-loopers. When you say things like that, ponies are going to think you're crazy."
Octavia snorted. "Like how you burst into my home, shattered a window, told me that you jumped out the window, and then ran upstairs?"
"Yes that." Sunset nodded firmly. "Exactly like that. Did you tell the guards I jumped out your window, by the way?"
"I... yes." Octavia sighed. "I mean, I had no idea what was going on-- are you going to fix my window, by any chance?"
"Yeah, sure, later." Sunset waved a casual hoof. "Point is, if you don't want to be treated crazy, don't act crazy."
"But it's my pre-awake self that was acting crazy!" Lyra whined.
"...Point."
"What do you two even--whatever." Octavia flicked her tail and stormed off. "I'm going to find Vinyl. She's the kind of crazy I can understand, at least...."
"Octiiiiii!" Vinyl cried, wrapping a warm hoof around the frazzled gray mare. "You made it! Just in time, too, I think the celebration is starting in a few minutes."
Octavia shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Well, I'll admit I had a bit of trouble getting here, but here I am." She glanced around nervously. "So... is it true?"
"The loops? Yeah." She held up her hoof quickly. "Just so you know, though, we've got a guest anchor so Twilight's not Awake. Which basically means I don't know her this time."
The earth pony rolled her eyes. "Right, right. Another promise you can't keep."
"Hey now! Give it a couple months!" Vinyl leaned in conspiratorially. "I can get you to see her very soon, if you can stand horrible dresses. And I mean hideous, stupid enough that even I can't see them as anything but zwonky."
"...would I have to be wearing them?"
"No, thank Yggdrasil! I'd never purposefully subject you to that torment!"
"Thank Celestia for small favors..." Octavia said, letting out a relieved sigh. Her eyes started to wander around the crowd of ponies walking toward the town hall. "There is, uh, something I don't understand."
"Yeah?"
"When I read your letter, you mentioned something strange. I didn't get a chance to do more than flip through the journal you sent..."
Vinyl Scratch chuckled. "Come on, Octy, out with it."
"...Vinyl, what is the Mare in the Moon?"
Vinyl blinked. "What are you talking about? It's the pattern of..."
She froze, her hoof pointing at the familiar white disc in the sky. She had expected to see the silhouette of a unicorn's head formed out of black splotches on its surface, but instead... Instead they mad the image of a pair of almost serpentine horns on a square face. Vinyl's eyes widened as she dove into her loop memories, trying to recall Nightmare Night--but instead came forth with a holiday where all the little ponies dressed up as dragons, and left candy at the hooves of a centaur statue.
"Oh fascicle."
"What?"
The unicorn twisted on the spot, gripping the gray pony's shoulders. "Octavia, find a basement and lock yourself in. If anypony knocks, ask them who Nyx is dating, and if they don't say Leman Russ don't open the door."
"I'm sorry, what did you just--?"
"CHEERILEE!" Vinyl bounded away, rushing up to her fellow looper. "Cheerilee, the moon!"
Cheerilee gave her fellow looper a glance, looking up. "Vinyl, I don't see what oh sweet Ficus!"
"I know! Can you get the foals somewhere safe?!"
"The stars are already moving, Vinyl! I'll try, but--"
"Excuse me," Octavia interupted, "but what exactly are you two talking--"
"Octy, please, round up whoever you can and get them to safety!" Vinyl was already galloping toward town hall. "I've got to warn the mayor!"
"I... Cheerilee, right?" Octavia turned to the other mare. "Why are you worried?!"
"Twilight's not awake," Cheerilee muttered. "Most of the older Loopers aren't either... This could go badly. Very badly. I hope Vinyl gets to Ivory in time..."
"Why? What's so important?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
The schoolteacher looked at her grimly. "The Summer Sun Celebration is about to have an unexpected guest."
Ivory Scroll ran a comb through her mane, checking her appearance in the mirror as she adjusted her glasses. She wasn't vain, exactly, but a town executive had to present a certain image to the public, and that meant being well groomed and presentable. With a final ruffling of her cravat, she trotted out to the stage accompanied by the now all too familiar fanfare.
Hmm. Maybe next loop she could change the tune to some light metal...
"Fillies and gentlecolts," Ivory projected with a small smile, "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"
She felt her heart warm up as the ponies in the crowd cheered. Her eyes roved around--there was Twilight, nervously standing in the center of the crowd, and--ah! Derpy was hovering over Lyra and Sunset, chatting amicably about some loop nonsense, she was sure.
Clearing her throat, Ivory turned her attention back to the crowd in general. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..." She paused dramatically, giving the two mares on the upper level a few seconds to get ready. "...Princess Celestia!"
The birds gave their chorus as Rarity tugged back the curtains, revealing an empty balcony. Ivory Scroll rolled her shoulders as the crowd began to chatter among themselves, trying to figure out where Pinkie had ended up--even in baseline loops, even unawake, that pony could end up doing almost anything. And there she was, wrapped midway up a pillar and cleaning her binoculars.
"Remain calm, everypony." Ivory kept Pinkie in her periphial vision as she spoke. "There must be a reasonable--!"
Vinyl burst through the town hall's doors, closely followed by Cheerilee. "IVORY! MOONSWAP! MIDNIGHT CASTLE!"
The unicorn paused for a moment, realizing all eyes were on her.
Then she shrugged. "Okay, you know what? Screw secrecy. Time is broken, I've been here before, and everypony needs to clear out now."
As if to confirm her words, a pillar of fire suddenly burst into being on the upper balcony. Thick black hooves stepped out, bulging red arms snapping forward as powerful red hands ripped the railing out. "BEHOLD, PATHETIC PONY SCUM! I HAVE RETURNED!"
Welp, Ivory thought to herself, that scuttled her plans for the loop. "Everypony head for the nearest basements or other shelters! Guards, ensure the civilians are escorted to safety!" Reams of spell paper burst from nowhere, surrounding her and lifting her into the air. "Tirek, I am suing you for destruction of public property!"
The centaur slammed down to the first floor, cracks forming under his hooves. "You think you can match me, little pony?! I AM THE EPOCH OF ALL THINGS MAGICAL! I! AM YOUR CHOSEN TYRAAAAAAANT!"
Ivory Scroll dodged a blast of fire and sent her stacks of paperwork on him. "YOU! ARE! VIOLATING! ZONING! LEGISLATION!" Drat. That sounded more epic in my head.
"Auntie Leelee, what's going on?!" Ruby Pinch shouted as she gripped Cheerilee's leg. "The mayor is doing weird things with paper and that scary red ponything is spitting out fire beans and I can't find my momma anywhere--"
"Beams, sweetie," Cheerilee absently corrected, letting her eyes dart around the panicked crowd as a stray bolt of magic hit the wall behind her. "It's fire beams--" Her eyes lighted on an overturned table in the center of the room, or more specifically the foal huddled behind it in a desperate attempt to avoid being hit by one of the many stray bolts of magic. "Shrub."
"What?"
"Um, never mind." The teacher hunkered down behind the buffet, pointing across the way. "You see Dinky over there?" Her niece looked over and nodded, wide eyed. "Well, we're going to have to go over there."
"What?!"
"I know you're scared, but she is too, and I'm going to find a way to get you both out of here." Cheerilee leaned down. "You've known me all your life, Ruby. You know I wouldn't ever put a foal at risk. I promise, I will keep you safe."
"I... I..." Ruby whimpered for a moment. Then she shut her eyes tight. "I trust you, auntie Leelee..."
"Eyes open, Ruby, it's easier to dodge that way." The teacher lifted her neice's chin. "Look, after this is all done, we'll all head over to sugarcube corner and I'll get you a big plate of cookies, okay?"
"O...okay."
"A wise pony once said that bravery is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act despite it."
Ruby opened her eyes, peering around the table at the red-skinned centaur fighting a pony in a paper mecha. She watched him set the walker on fire and swallowed hard. "....I think we're about to be very brave, then."
"Heh." Cheerilee smiled to herself. "Yes we are... On the count of three, we run to Dinky. One... Two... three!"
Mare and filly darted across the intervening space. True, it was only a few feet, but with the panicking ponies and Tirek's bolts of power shrieking through the air, it was almost a war zone. The only thing missing was the actual army, Cheerilee mused as she dodged under a magical blast. She nudged Ruby out of the way of a panicking mare--
"GYYAGH!"
Cheerilee fell to her side with a pained gasp. Ruby snapped her gaze around. "AUNTIE LEELEE!"
"I'll... I'll be fine!" Cheerilee tried to push herself up, but collapsed with a wince. "It was just a little fire beam to the ribs. Nothing to be upset about!"
"But auntie Leelee--!"
"Get to Dinky for me, alright?" Cheerilee forced herself to smile and waved the filly out. "Go on! Behind the table, you'll be safe there..."
"Dinky!" Derpy cried, gliding over the crowd rushing through the wall she had just bucked down. "Oh dear Druantean Dryads-- Dinky! Are you alright?!" She wrapped the foal up in her wings.
"I'm scared mommy..." The unicorn hiccuped. "What's going on?! Who is that big mean horse-ape thing?! Why is the mayor fighting him?! Where's the princess?!"
"Oh, it's... it's all so complicated, I can explain later--"
"Miss Derpy!" Ruby cried, hopping for attention. "Auntie Leelee's hurt!" She skittered up to them and pointed at where the teacher was groaning. "We gotta help her!"
Derpy let her eyes rove around the town hall quickly, realizing there were still a large amount of panicking ponies rushing for the exits, before her gaze fell on a mint unicorn. "LYRA! I need you to get these two out of here!"
"Gotcha!" Lyra whisked up a couple of hands with her magic and grabbed the two fillies. "Come on, we've got things in hoof!"
"But auntie Leelee--!"
"I'll take care of her, Ruby, don't you worry." Derpy gave the filly a reassuring smile before turning back to her daughter. "Now you be nice for miss Lyra, okay? The mare's completely crazy, but she's got a good heart."
"Hey, I'm only, like, seventy five percent crazy! At most!" Lyra plunked the two foals on her back, rearing up. "Hold on tight girls. CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" She rushed through the broken wall with the gurgling battle cry of the seaponies rippling out of her throat.
Derpy let out a breath as she saw her daughter leave the battlefield, but couldn't help rolling her eyes with a small smile. "Never change, Lyra..." Glancing carefully at the ongoing battle--and noting that Sunset was now hopping from paper platform to paper platform swinging her keyblade at the increasingly frustrated centaur--she snuck over to Cheerilee. "So, you're not looking that well."
"Oh, don't you worry about me," Cheerilee reassured with a wince. "A little death and I'll be just fine."
"Sorry, but we have a parent-teacher conference this week, and I'm not willing to put it off a loop. Hold on--" Derpy turned sideways and concentrated for a few seconds.
"Dinky made it out alright?" Cheerilee asked. "I saw her hiding behind a table--Fsssccccc!"
"She and Ruby are with Lyra. That mare's good with kids." The bubbles in Derpy's flank suddenly rolled upward, gaining irises and pupils which began to rotate as they peered at the fallen teacher. "Ah... hmm. Ah, that would do it."
"What... what are you doing?"
"Hindsight with X-Ray vision," the pegasus explained simply. "You've got a couple of broken ribs, you've pulled a shoulder muscle, your magic is running over time to patch the damage, and your barrel's covered with second degree burns."
"...Derpy, you are a mare of many talents," Cheerilee muttered. "This one is incredibly creepy."
"To be fair, I could have just used my normal eyes, but more eyes means more accuracy." Closing the eyes in her rump again, Derpy leaned down. "I can't do much about the muscle, but I can heal the burns and then set the bone."
"Heal the burns? Oh, sweet oak, you're talking about--!"
The pegasus started running her tongue over Cheerilee's barrel.
"OH ICK! Aggh--gaaargh, auugh, not there I'm ti-hi-hi-hickilish there--!"
"Now stay out here where it's safe, you two." Lyra grabbed Dinky and Ruby off her back, placing them on the ground. "I need to go back in and make sure everypony makes it out safe."
"But miss Lyra--!"
"Ut ut ut! Bonbon can look after you, she's great with kids."
"WHAT?!" cried a cream mare with dual-toned mane. "I am not!"
"Well now's as good a time as any to learn. Just think of them as two little mes!" And with that, Lyra galloped back into the town hall.
Bonbon paled, meeting the eyes of the nervous fillies with a weak chuckle. "So, um... how about we hide at my candy store while this blows over?"
Ruby glanced back at the building. "I... I think we should go to my house, so my mom can find me if she..." Her voice trailed off.
"...yeah, um. I'm pretty sure she's going to be fine." Bonbon awkwardly patted Ruby's head. "Lyra probably knows what she's doing in there."
Do we have any idea what we're doing?
Seapony shrugged. Nah, human, we're just winging this.
Okay, just checking.
Unicorn Lyra temporarily took control of the eyes, looking around the room. Okay, I see Sunset and Ivory fighting Tirek, Derpy is licking Cheerilee for some reason--
Healing spit, Miscellaneous chimed in. Remember that Middle Earth loop?
Oh yeah, that's right! Smaug drop kicked that steward guy, I remember now--
You know, I'm not the one usually doing this, but focus people!
Good call, Sweet Roll. Oh, and there's Vinyl, trying to convince... oh no, it's the flower trio and a few dozen panicking ponies. Unicorn Lyra sighed, trotting over. "Hey, Vinyl, what's the sitch?"
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Roseluck cried at the top of her lungs. "HORRIBLE SCREAMING DEATHS OF FIERY PAIN AND AGONY!"
"There's a big double door across the room!" Vinyl protested. "And Derpy knocked a hole in the wall right there!"
"THE TOWN HALL IS COLLAPSING!" Daisy yelled.
"IT'S GOING TO FALL ON OUR BURNING BODIES!" Lilly added.
"HORRIBLE AGONIZING BURNING SPLINTERY DEATHS IN A COLLAPSED TOWN HALL!" Roseluck screamed.
"Dammit, why are ponies so skittish?!" Vinyl turned to Lyra. "I can't seem to corral this lot at all--"
Sunset suddenly slammed into the ground next to them, releasing a little groan. "Okay, so my mega attack just pisses him off... I'm taking five." She waved her keyblade in the air with a weak cheer. "Go mayor, kick his flank...!"
"OH SWEET CELESTIA HE KILLED... uh... WHOEVER THAT IS!"
Lyra pushed Vinyl to the side. "Right, let me handle this. PONIES! LEND ME YOUR EARS!"
"WE'RE DOOOOOMED!"
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no. See, this is all just a floor show."
"I'M TOO YOUNG TO wait what." Roseluck gave Lyra an incredulous look. Vinyl was giving her an equally unbelieving expression, but it was thankfully hidden behind her tinted glasses.
Human, what was that about?
Had to get their attention. Um, I don't know where to go with this--
Let me. "See, Celestia wanted to do something to honor the mayor, cause she's worked her flank off with organizing all this, but she didn't feel something like just giving her a ribbon would be enough."
Good story, Unicorn.
"But the wall--" Roseluck protested.
"This old building was on its last legs anyway," Lyra explained casually. "The mayor figured a little 'destruction' would just help get the paperwork through quicker, bribed the performers."
"But there's only one centaur up there--"
"What, you think he's responsible for the lightshow?"
"And the mayor just turned into an alicorn--!"
"All politicians can do that," Lyra interjected quickly.
Sweet Roll!
"They usually don't because the bills pile up," she continued. "You know, a few thousand years of groceries, plus the whole fine on using cosmic forces--It all adds up."
"But Celestia--!"
"Tenure."
"What?"
"She has tenure."
"How does that make any sense?!"
"Look, what makes more sense: A magical centaur nopony but a DJ's ever heard of kidnaps the princess and starts tearing down the town hall while the mayor makes paper missiles and ascends into an alicorn, or this is all just one big staged performance by a really bored Celestia?"
Roseluck opened her mouth to speak--
"Huh." Lilly glanced at Tirek. "You know, for a performer, that centaur seems to not care for keeping his audience safe."
"He's drunk," Lyra replied. "We're holding an intervention. It'll be a bit personal, though, so it would be best if the bare minimum of ponies were here." She waved at the hole in the wall. "Would you all kindly file out? Single file, please, no pushing or shoving."
Daisy shrugged. "Yeah, alright. Come on, ponies, show's over." Over the baffled half protests of Roseluck, the crowd of ponies calmly walked through the hole in the wall; a number of them complained over frighteningly hyperrealistic magic effects.
"You can't honestly believe the nonsense this mare is spouting out! That, that, that's a big red centaur and our mayor is an alicorn and there's paper everywhere and--"
"Roseluck?" Lyra put a hoof on her shoulder. "Go home."
"BUT--YOU--THIS IS--!!"
"Home. Now."
Roseluck stared at her for a moment. Then she huffed, spun around, and stormed out the door. "Why am I the only sane pony in this town...?"
As the last non-looper exited the building, Sunset Shimmer pulled herself up and gave Lyra a dazed look. "I was kinda out of it for that, but... did you just do what I think you did?"
"If what you think she did was lie through her teeth and convince a panicked Ponyville populace that this was actually a floor show, then yeah, she just did that." Vinyl shrugged. "You know, I didn't think that would work."
Lyra shrugged. "Luna Lovegood once gave me a good piece of advice: 'if you can't lead them with logic, baffle them with bullshit.' That's all I was doing."
"Baffle them with..." Sunset's eyes snapped wide. "Jiminey Cricket! Lyra, you're a genius!"
"Part of me is," Lyra allowed with a confused look.
Vinyl quirked an eyebrow. "...'Jiminey Cricket'?"
"...My first loop was Kingdom Hearts."
"...Still. Jiminey Cricket?"
"...oh shut up."
Vinyl put up her hooves. Lyra snickered.
Sunset rolled her eyes and jumped forward. "TIREK!" she shouted, pointing her keyblade dramatically. "Your reign of terror is at an end!"
The centaur laughed, backhanding Ivory as she tried to strike him from behind. "Brave words from a foolish pony. You CANNOT HOPE to stand against my POWER!"
"That's where you're wrong!" the unicorn replied, sweeping her keyblade around in a grand gesture. "For we have the very power that defeated you so long ago! The Elements of Harmony stand ready!"
"Hah! A great fool you are! There are no elements here!"
"Oh really?"
With a dramatic twirl, Sunset pointed her blade. "Vinyl Scratch, who blurted the whole truth to all of Ponyville, represents the spirit of... Honesty!"
"Wait, is this what we're doing?" Vinyl asked. "I'm not saying no, but... hey, where's my shiny gem thing?"
"Ivory Scroll!" Sunset continued without pause, swinging her keyblade around. "Who dropped everything to protect the citizens of her fair town, represents the spirit of... Loyalty!"
"Huh. I suppose taking Tirek one on one is rather like miss Dash--"
There was a sudden splintering sound as a stone globe crashed through the wall and clonked Vinyl on the head. "OW! Hey!"
"Cheerilee! Who dove in front of a beam of fire to save the foals around her, represents the spirit of... Generosity!"
"I'm alright now," Cheerilee added as the mayor casually caught the second stone globe coming through the wall. "Just in case anypony was wondering."
"Derpy Hooves! Who showed concern for the terrified foals and assured their safety before tending to a wounded pony, represents the spirit of... Kindness!"
"Wait, both of those were kind acts!" Derpy protested as she dodged the orb rushing toward Cheerilee. "It's not like I could have done both at--dang it, I could have cloned myself couldn't I?"
"Lyra Heartstrings! Who calmed down a crowd of panicked ponies by weaving an incredibly ludicrous and unbelievable story, represents the spirit of... Laughter!"
"BOOYAH! Oh hush up Sweet Roll, don't take all the credit." Lyra rolled her eyes as Derpy caught the fourth orb flying through the wall, but there was still a big smirk on her face.
"Your speech matters little in the long scheme of things!" boomed Tirek imperiously. "You only have access to four of the--"
Another splintering sound resounded through the hall, and Lyra jumped in the air to snatch her own orb.
"...five of the six Elements!" The centaur scoffed, gathering power between his hands. "And NOW you ALL shall PERISH!"
"You forget, Tirek, there is a legend!" Sunset raised her keyblade skyward. "'When the five elements are gathered, a spark shall make the sixth appear!' That spark is the spark between us all, the spark of camaraderie, of mutual respect and care, of glorious accord! It is the spark of friendship, and today, this friendship shall summon the final and most elusive element of harmony: MAGIC!"
A great light poured out of each of the five stone orbs, wrapping around the ponies holding them and causing them to glow with blinding power. Tirek shielded his gaze as a beam suddenly shot from each of them, converging on the tip of the keyblade that Sunset held aloft and spiraling down to the pony herself. She shut her own eyes as the essence of harmony flowed through her; when she opened them again, they were shining white. Sparks danced between her ears and around the necks of the other five, taking shape for the briefest of instants--
Six streams of colors flew up, twining round and round in the air until they formed a glorious rainbow. Tirek cried with rage as it wrapped around him, but soon enough the sound was overcome with the explosive hum of Harmony.
"Whoa. What a trip!" Vinyl swung her mane around, glancing at the orange eighth notes hanging from her neck. "I can see why Twigang likes these baubles. Wait, aren't we all supposed to be unconscious?"
Lyra shrugged helplessly. "Don't ask me, I don't pay attention to how these things work." She looked at her own torc and rose an eyebrow. "Huh. I was wondering how my Mark would look as a gem. I mean with the strings and all, it's not very solid--"
"Solidness isn't a mandatory aspect of the Harmony Gems." Derpy gestured to the pink bubbles wrapped around her neck. "But yeah, that is some impressive gemcrafting. Kindness, huh? I guess I can see it..."
"Did you really have to lick my flanks?" Cheerilee grumbled, absentmindedly rubbing the purple bloom resting on her chest. "I'm pretty sure you have some other form of healing spell."
Ivory Scroll sighed, letting her wings and horn disappear with a flash. "I have a red scroll around my neck, how long until I become known for Faustian bargains? Still, I suppose this was a good idea."
"Indeed it was." With a melodramatic flash, Celestia appeared in the middle of the town hall. "It is good to see that you..."
She paused, staring at the gathered ponies.
"...Ah... pardon my rudeness, but where is Twilight Sparkle--?"
"I'm a Magic bearer."
Celestia's eyes widened as they fell on the yellow unicorn sitting stunned in the middle of the town hall. "Sunset? Is... is that you?"
"I... I'm a Magic bearer." The unicorn rose a hoof to the tiara on her head, nervously removing it. "I... I have the Element of Magic..."
"Oh... Oh my, Sunset, I..." Celestia stepped forward. "I haven't seen you in so long. I--"
"Magic," Sunset continued, ignoring her. "I... this... if, I shouldn't have, it, not worthy, she should--"
Derpy rolled her eyes, walked up to the hyperventilating unicorn, and slapped her.
Sunset blinked in shock for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath. "...I needed that. Thanks." She turned to Celestia and cleared her throat. "Oh, uh... hi."
"...Hello." Celestia twitched a wing awkwardly. "Sunset, I... I just want to say I'm--"
"Sorry, right now I'm going through a lot of emotions. Can we reconnect later?" Sunset gestured to the stage. "I'm sure that Tirek needs you more than me right now..."
Celestia blinked. "Right. I... suppose I should talk to my husband--"
"Right, we've hit too much information." Lyra stood up, brushing her chest off. "Everypony, Looper cool-off party at Vinyl's place."
"What?! Why my place?"
"You've got records, and likely booze." The mint unicorn tapped Sunset on the head. "Besides, we need to work together to get this mare straightened out before she panic attacks Ponyville into oblivion."
"I'm not panic attacking," Sunset said, annoyed. "I'm having an existential crisis."
Ivory Scroll rolled her eyes. "Be that as it may, I need to file a lot of paperwork for this... mess. And I suppose explain things to Celestia..." She glanced behind her. "After she's done making out with Tirek."
"Why don't you unicorns go set things up? Me and Derpy should head out and check on the foals." Cheerilee started trotting for the hole in the wall.
Derpy nodded, flying out after her. "We should probably go find Twilight as well. If she's not Awake, she could be halfway to the Everfree by now..."
Vinyl flicked on the lights of her front room, leading Sunset in with a gentle hoof. "Lyra, could you go to the basement and tell Octavia that Nyx is dating Leman Russ? It's a codephrase."
"Yeah, alright." Lyra walked in, looked around for a couple of seconds, then awkwardly rose her hoof. "So... where is the basement?"
"Through the kitchen there, it's the trapdoor in the pantry."
The mint unicorn saluted, walking briskly in the indicated direction. Vinyl pushed Sunset onto the couch, sitting down next to her and adjusting her shades. "How're you feeling, filly?"
For a moment, Sunset was silent. The crown between her forehooves tilted, its sun-shaped gem catching the light and refracting patterns on her face.
"...This... this shouldn't have happened." She put the jewelry down. "We should have spotted this was a variant, even without Twilight. And we're loopers, we should have been able to take on even a variant Tirek without using the elements. But I, I had a stupid idea, and I jumped on it."
"And it worked." Vinyl picked the crown up. "Look, I'm not going to lie, I don't fully understand how these thingies are supposed to function, but... they run on friendship, right? They wouldn't have worked if we really hadn't considered each other friends. You didn't manipulate us into doing the things you said we did. What happened happened, and we're all better for it."
"Better?" Sunset let out a weak chuckle. "Stronger, maybe. But better? I just robbed this Twilight of her destiny."
Lyra walked back in, leading a confused gaggle of ponies through the room. "So it's all over now, just head on out and go check on your homes. Miss Cheerliee should be bringing foals along if any of you are missing them--" Her eyes fell on the two other unicorns. "Um, Octavia, could you make sure everypony heads out? I think I need to..." She waved at Sunset vaguely.
The gray mare glanced over, her eyes widening. "Oh. Is this a... thing?"
"This is a thing, yes."
"Alright. Ahem, just keep moving, everypony!" Octavia beaned nervously, making regular gestures with her hoof. "Nothing to see here, just move along..."
Lyra rolled her eyes, walking over to her fellow unicorns. "So what's up?"
"Sunset's depressed ‘cause she thinks she stole Twilight's destiny," Vinyl reported.
"PFFFFFT--"
Lyra barely managed to hold back a snicker as Sunset glared at her.
"Stole her destiny? Sunset, just because we get magical tramp-stamps doesn't mean our destiny is set in stone! So yeah, Celestia was trying to work Twilight into being, well, the proto-princess from baseline, but that doesn't mean she's going to just drop dead if things take a different turn. Heck, you might have just freed her from a heck of a lot of stress! And if you're really that worried, just take her under your wing. Trust me, Twilight will be fine."
"I guess..." Sunset rolled over, resting her chin on the couch's arm. "I mean, I know we can work overtime to keep her from going into a downward spiral, that's our duty as loopers, but... if it were just that, I could put it all aside."
As the last of the ponies exited, Octavia made a move to shut the door. However, a pegasus of a slightly lighter shade of gray managed to glide in just before it clicked shut. "Okay, I got Twilight and the others out of the Everfree. They're Celestia's problem now." She paused, glancing around. "Um, Octavia? Between you and me, this celebration party seems to be kinda low-key."
"From what I can gather, miss Shimmer is having a crisis of conscience because of her being..." Octavia frowned. "...Excuse me if this is an odd-sounding question, but, ah, are you feeling, well, loopy?
"Yes, Octavia, I'm a looper. And so are Cheerilee and the mayor."
"Right. Just checking..."
Derpy trotted over to the trio of unicorns, frowning as she saw the expression on Sunset's face. "Oooooooh, I know that look. That's the look Dinky gets when she's forced to do something she doesn't like. Is this about the element of magic?"
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Oh gee, is it that obvious?"
That got a chuckle out of the pegasus. "You sound just like my little Sparkler sometimes... Sunset, you should know better than anyone that nopony is going to force you to use that thing. And more importantly, you should realize that just because you had a bad history of handling power before, it doesn't mean it'll harm you now. You've learned from your mistakes, become somepony so much better than you were... you're not just a teenager anymore." Derpy giggled again. "No matter how much you sound like it."
"Hey, I Wake Up as a high school rebel most of the time. You're lucky I'm not boycrazy." A brief smirk flickered on the yellow unicorn's face, but the frown quickly returned. "Yeah... high school rebel. Saboteur of relationships. That's me..."
Octavia was standing awkwardly off to the side, watching the group and rubbing one of her legs, when there was a knock on the door. She turned and opened the door quickly, just managing to dodge as a unicorn foal ran past her. "What in the--?"
"Sorry about that." Cheerilee gave her an apologetic smile. "I just thought after all the foals had been returned, it would be good to get Dinky to her mother ASAP. She was so worried--" The mare giggled as the foal brought her mother down with a running tacklehug. "I hope you don't mind that I brought her here."
"Well, no, this is Vinyl's house," Octavia replied. "I just pay the rent," she added under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Ah, I assume you want to help with miss Shimmer's self-confidence issues? That seems to be what all you 'Loopers' are doing."
"Oh, dear, is she still on about that?" Cheerilee frowned, walking over the couch.
"I'll just stand here, I suppose. Serving as a doorpony." The gray mare shut the front door. "Since that's such a good use of my skills."
Sunset glanced over at Dinky and Derpy play-wrestling on the floor. "Huh. Well, those two seem pretty happy."
"Mmmhmm," Cheerilee agreed. "While we were coming over, Dinky asked who was brave enough to help take on Tirek, and I mentioned that you were the new bearer of Magic. Do you know what she said? She said you had to have a heart almost as big as her mother's. Risking your life to save everypony in Equestria... well, I don't know about you, but she thinks that anypony who would do that has the soul of a true hero."
"Really?" The unicorn smiled faintly. "She said that?"
"Mmmhmm. From the mouth of babes, as the saying goes."
Octavia frowned as another knock came from the door, opening it quickly. "Let me guess: another looper?"
Ivory Scroll smiled at her. "The last one, it looks like. Well, aside from our guest anchor, but she shouldn't be around for another few weeks."
"I see. Well, do come in, make yourself at home I suppose--"
"Don't worry, miss Octavia. I will personally ensure that the shenanigans are kept to a minimum." The mayor gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she strode into the home. "Everypony, I've explained the situation to Celestia and she has agreed to handle damage control for the day. I also explained that while Sunset Shimmer is eager to reconnect with her, we... would insist on waiting until tomorrow at the very least."
Sunset lifted her head up. "We?"
"But of course. After all, it was obvious how much your... actions were weighing on you. What kind of friends would we be to make you go to her alone?" Ivory adjusted her glasses. "But for today, let us all simply relax and enjoy each other's presence."
"Good call!" Vinyl cried, standing up and walking over to Octavia. "First order of business, though: My mare is feeling neglected because of all the looper shenanigans so I'm going to take her to the bedroom for a little private time and reassurance."
"V-Vinyl!" The mare blushed brightly. "I'm not--well, I mean I might be a little, but--You didn't have to blurt it out!"
"Element of Honesty, babe, it's just how I roll. Help yourselves to the kitchen!" With that, the DJ dragged the cellist up the stairs.
Dinky frowned. "What did she mean by 'private time'?"
Cheerilee and Derpy both facehooved, the pegasus letting out a little groan as Lyra burst out laughing. The mayor rolled her eyes. "I'll go whip something up for us to eat. You lot explain all this to the filly."
Sunset smiled at the antics around her briefly, before examining the crown she was still holding between her hooves. For a moment, she considered the gem with a deep frown.
Then, she lifted it back on her head.
The fit... was actually... rather nice, come to think of it.
153.2 (BIOS-Pherecydes)
Big Mac On Campus
Big Mac had had more than his share of unusual beginnings to a Loop, ranging anywhere from the time he died saving a boy from a car right after Awakening to the time he caught a pet tiger using a tuna fish sandwich, and quite a bit in between. (For some reason he had a tendency to Replace the local Anchor whenever he Looped somewhere new, and judging by what little of his surroundings he saw he doubted he was in Equestria.) However he was pretty sure this was the first time he had Woken Up a half second before being run over by a girl on a bicycle. Sitting up he barely took the time to notice that he was a human this go around before he moved to help his accidental assailant.
"Are y'all alright?"
"Owwww... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to crash into you like that, but I was feeling dizzy. I have anemia so sometimes I get a little lightheaded." the pink haired girl stated as she looked up at Macintosh, who immediately recognized her, with an embarrassed blush.
"Are ya feeling a bit Loopy Miss...?" he questioned leadingly, not taking any chances.
"Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Fluttershy Akashiya. It's nice to meet you. I feel much better now." she said with a small bow. Straightening, she averted her eyes from his gaze only for them to widen suddenly.
"Ah! Your cheek, you're bleeding!"
Pulling out a small handkerchief she moved to clean the small cut, before seeming to go into a daze.
"Oh, the scent of blood. I...I...can't - I lose control when I smell that scent. I'm sorry. I can't help it, because I'm a Vampire."
Before Big Mac could even attempt to process that, the Unawake human version of his friend had closed the distance between them and using surprising strength pulled him in close and bit at his neck. He stiffened, but didn't push her away. His Loop memories didn't say anything about Vampires being a common thing in this Loop, but he had dealt with partial pictures before. Whether he was going to turn himself was uncertain, he wasn't sure how Vampirism worked here, but either way it was too late to do anything now and Unawake or not he refused to hurt his friends. Besides it didn't actually hurt all that much, he wasn't the type to overreact to something like this.
Once she had finished her macabre snack, Fluttershy pulled back with a sigh. "Oh thank you, your blood was very tasty. I know I don't really look like it, but I'm actually a Vampire. I hope you don't hate me."
Mac nodded his understanding, the previous events and her words beforehand had made that perfectly clear.
"Its fine."
"Thank you so much, you don't know how much that means to me. I was feeling lonely since I don't know anyone here, but now I feel so much better. If you're willing I'd like to be friends."
Well that was simple enough.
"Ah'd like that Miss Fluttershy."
Halfway around the world Twilight Sparkle Woke Up. Taking a quick peek into her Loop memories, she quickly summed up the main points. She was now, and always had been, human. She was a student at Canterlot High. She was apparently taking Fluttershy's place in their group of friends, the pink haired girl and her family having moved somewhere far away almost a decade beforehand. Applejack and the Apple family were also gone, having left only a few years later. AJ's place in the group had been filled by Sunset, who had apparently Awoken shortly after exiting the Mirror and had thus managed to avoid hurting anyone.
"Huh. This is different."
"It's a good different though, or at least mostly." Realizing she had been in the middle of a conversation with Sunset, Twilight nodded.
"True, and wherever they are Fluttershy and Applejack are able to take care of themselves. So, do you have any new plans to try and redeem Sonata this Loop?"
Sunset grinned.
Shortly after reaching the campus which had been their destination the pair had been forced to part ways, Mac heading to his homeroom while Fluttershy went to speak with the Headmaster. Currently Mac was taking a look around the classroom where he was seated. To his surprise he actually recognized two people with him. The first was a human version of Blueblood, currently reclining arrogantly in his chair looking for all the world as if everyone around him was beneath his notice. In other words, exactly the same as usual. The second was standing in front of the class giving a speech. Not unexpected considering she was the instructor.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to Youkai Academy. I am your homeroom teacher Cheerilee Nekonome. I'm sure you all are already aware of this, but this is a school for monsters."
Mac perked up at this. Explanations were always good to have whenever certain things didn't match up with in-Loop memories, and the existence of Vampires definitely counted.
"As of now, the world is under control of the humans. In order for us monsters to continue to survive we have no choice but to continue to live alongside them. Therefore at this Academy, you will be studying 'How to coexist with humans.'" the energetic teacher emphasized this by pointing dramatically to a large, if poorly drawn, diagram which took up the majority of the blackboard.
"For that reason, school rule number one is that all students must maintain their human disguises at all times except for in extreme circumstances. School rule number two is no student must ever tell another what their true form is for any reason. Do you all understand?"
"Feh, Such ridiculous rules. Hey Teacher, wouldn't it be simpler to just eat any humans we found. That's what I would do."
Cheerilee frowned and took a look at the seating chart. "You are...Blueblood Kamiya correct? Well there's no chance of that happening, because everyone here both teacher and student are monsters. No exceptions. This school is sealed within a powerful barrier, if any humans did manage to find their way inside... they'd be killed on the spot. Or something."
...Well shoot. That complicated things. According to his memories he was completely human, so how did he even end up in a school like this anyway? Taking a harder look at his memories he soon found the answer. It looked like this was actually a fused Loop, and not a different one entirely like he had thought. His family had moved around a lot over the years and as a result his education had suffered. Therefore after they had settled in Japan he had had difficulty getting into a local high school. His father, and it was always nice to have a chance to see him and his mother again, had found a flyer advertising the Youkai Academy and before he knew it he had been on the bus.
Somehow Discord had managed to be weirder as a bus driver than as the Spirit of Chaos.
Any further thought on the issue was cut off by the sound of the door sliding open. Standing in the entrance was the familiar figure of Fluttershy, her bag held in front of her as she gave an apologetic bow.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I got a bit lost after the Entrance Ceremony."
Cheerilee waved off the pinkette's apology with a smile. "Oh its no problem. Come up and introduce yourself."
Big Mac watched as Fluttershy moved to stand in front of the class, and gave her introduction. He could have done without the whispered muttering which followed however. Yes she was attractive, he would have had to be blind not to see that and more stubborn than Applejack not to admit it, but even so the class was behaving as if they had never seen a pretty girl before. Of course as the only calm person in the room he stood out from the crowd and as a result was easily noticed by Fluttershy from where she was standing. Big Mac was quickly reminded of the fact that however much she looked like her, this was not the person he had known for thousands of Loops as she all but flew across the room and grabbed him in a flying hug. Much to the dismay of his classmates.
There was always something just plain uncomfortable about Waking Up in a relationship with one of his friends, and it was rarely a simple effort to explain the situation in a way where there were no hard feelings. Walking down the hallways with a Vampire version of Fluttershy pulling him along beside her while clinging onto his arm was quickly bringing up the same awkward sensation and the resulting death glares from the surrounding students didn't help the issue. Nor did the fact that technically he was a completely average human in a school of monsters.
Although he could always take care of any problematic situations that came up using the few abilities he had kept from other Loops, he preferred to leave that as a last resort and rely on in-Loop abilities unless provoked. Which, again, left him at the tender mercies of a hostile student body. A fact of which he was keenly aware, especially as he felt a spike of Killing Intent just as Blueblood stepped into their path.
"You are Fluttershy Akashiya correct?"
Without bothering to wait for an answer, Big Mac abruptly found himself dangling a foot off the ground by his lapel. Immediately he forced himself to push down the surge of green which made to overtake his sight, although he did allow himself to grip his attackers wrist hard enough to draw Blueblood's attention. He responded by throwing him down the hallway into a nearby vending machine.
"Please enlighten me as to why a Lady of such beauty as yourself would associate herself with a person like this."
"Macintosh!"
Fluttershy attempted to rush over to Mac's aid, but was pulled up short by Blueblood's grip upon her shoulder.
"Wouldn't someone like myself be a far more superior option than a weakling like this. Why don't you and I go somewhere and get to know one another a little better."
This suggestion was made with a sleazy grin, which Fluttershy luckily remained unaware of due to her focus on where Mac was getting to his feet. For his part, Mac was trying to decide whether he might actually need to utilize some of his abilities. Blueblood's strike was unfortunately similar to some of the attacks he had had to deal with as the Hulk, and if Narrative Causality had taught him anything it was that the first enemy was always the weakest. Which meant if things continued to escalate, he might find himself running out of other options sooner rather than later.
Unaware of her Looping friends thoughts Fluttershy, as politely as possible of course, brushed aside Blueblood's hand and rushed to Mac's side; grabbing his arm and pulling him behind her as she fled.
"No thank you. I'm sorry, but I'm having fun with Macintosh." she called back over her shoulder as she ran, not bothering to look back as she did so. As a result she completely missed the white knuckled fist Blueblood made as she so easily ignored him, as well as the dark look on his face which promised ill things to come.
After their impromptu race through the halls the duo found themselves recovering on the roof of the Academy. In the distance the moon shone out over the cemetery and the red ocean waters, while overhead the sun beamed down brightly allowing them to take in the full sight of the school grounds. While the view wasn't exactly the most interesting to Big Mac, Fluttershy appeared to enjoy it; monsters apparently had odd ideas of what a pleasant environment was supposed to look like.
"That was scary, are you sure you're alright Macintosh?" Fluttershy said, flittering worriedly around him as she checked for injuries.
"Ah'm fine, just a bump on th' head. An' Ah told ya, Ah'd prefer ya ta call me Big Mac."
"Oh, I forgot." she punctuated this by tapping her fist gently against her head with a sheepish smile. "I was just so worried. Blueblood hit you really hard."
"It's fine, nothin' ah ain't dealt with before." Mac denied. "So that's th' power of a monster here huh?"
Fluttershy giggled and patted Big Mac on the back playfully.
"You're silly Big Mac. You act as if this is your first time seeing a monster."
Mac chuckled ruefully from his new position on the ground. 'Not even close. An Ah definitely need to brush off some a mah Loop skills.'
Standing up and dusting off his uniform Mac turned to face Fluttershy who gave him a blinding smile.
"Let's keep having fun. We should check out the rest of the Academy."
Big Mac nodded agreement and the two headed off. Not long after, having explored the rest of the campus they found themselves in front of a large decaying property which looked as if it was ready to be torn down.
"This is the dormitory where we'll be staying. Isn't it wonderful, such a dignified building; so full of character. It's perfect for us monsters."
Taking another look at their apparent home for the next several years, or however long the Loop typically lasted, Mac gave a deadpan stare. Again, monsters' taste in architecture was odd. That aside, after looking closer he could see that despite outward appearances it did seem to be rather sturdy; and from what he could see through the windows the inside looked more normal than the entrance would suggest . Still, disregarding the housing situation for now, something else was bothering him.
"About that, ya'll look perfectly normal ta me. Ya don't really seem like a monster, an I don't feel comfortable calling ya one."
Fluttershy smiled and gestured to a small Rosary hanging around her neck, and uncomfortably close to her cleavage for Mac who quickly averted his gaze.
"Only right now. I know I don't look like a Vampire, but that's all because of this Rosary. If I remove it though, then I take on my true form, a super scary Vampire. My real self caused me to be all alone, so that's why I wear this protective seal. Normally Vampires are hated and feared, so I've never had any friends before I met you."
Mac frowned.
"That don't seem very fair, yer a real nice gal an ya shouldn't have ta hide who ya are to fit in. Don't ya worry none, Ah promise ya I won't ever hate ya and Ah ain't afraid of ya neither."
Fluttershy's eyes widened, tears gathering in the corners, before Big Mac suddenly found himself on the ground again; pinned by the happy pinkette as she stared gratefully down at him.
"Thank you so much, I know we'll be best friends forever."
Mac just blushed brightly as he took in his situation. A cold shower would have been nice right about then, especially as the gaze of the young woman above him grew unfocused and she began to draw closer.
"You know, until today I've never had fresh blood before. I always had to drink from transfusion packs. You're my first. I'll never forget that, the taste, the sensation..."
"Wait, wha?"
Before Mac knew what was happening, Fluttershy had already bitten him again.
The next day Mac headed out early so that he could take a look around the campus. Despite the appearance of the Dormitories, the rest of the school looked rather normal. Ignoring the nearby cemetery and nearly dead trees of course. Some of the other students, his classmates he supposed, were also moving about the pathway and Mac was able to overhear some of their conversations. Nothing overly abnormal stood out in most of them, although he made a mental note to avoid the Biology Club in the future.
Walking towards the school as the traffic began to pick up he saw an unfortunately familiar figure leaning on a nearby tree. His attempt to ignore Blueblood was unfortunately unsuccessfully as the Loop's version of the stuck up noble grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Hold on there Casanova. You had a lot of fun yesterday with Fluttershy Akashiya...” he stated arrogantly, before grabbing Mac by the coat and slamming him against a nearby wall. “And you're going to pay for it today.”
Mac once again felt a rush of energy surge into his body, accompanied by a primal roaring in his ears, however eons of experience allowed him to control how much of the power he allowed himself to tap into and he simply gripped Blueblood's wrist tightly. Blueblood hissed as the bones in his arms began to bend under the force being applied, and slammed Mac harder into the tree.
“You're not as pathetic as I had thought. Your true form, what is it?!”
“Ah'm human.” Mac replied tersely, not willing to lie. Having the Element of Honesty as his little sister probably had something to do with that. However his efforts to control his inner beast added a bit of edge to his normally laid-back tone as he tightened his grip, and Blueblood bones audibly groaned under the pressure. Blueblood grimaced before throwing him to the side.
“Bullshit! No pathetic human could be that strong. Don't screw around with me!” he roared as is fist bulged hideously and he slammed it into the wall, demolishing it. Mac stared back unaffected by the casual destruction; He had seen and done far worse.
“Tch. Whatever. Don't go near Fluttershy again. If you even talk to her, you're dead.”
Watching as Blueblood left, massaging his arm, Mac sighed. Around him the remaining students avoided his gaze and quickly moved on, obviously not believing his words any more than Blueblood had.
Standing to his feet Mac examined his uniform for damage, and seeing that other than being a little dirty it was still fine turned around to resume his interrupted exploration. Only to come face to face with a stunned Fluttershy, her hands held in front of her face as she stared in tearful disbelief.
“You can't be... you were just lying right? You can't be a human, you just can't!”
Unfortunately Mac's silence as he tried to come up with a way to explain without lying seemed to push her over the edge, and without another word she turned and fled.
“Ah, Fewmets.”
Fluttershy ran through the forest at the edge of the campus unseeing, her eyes blinded by tears as she recalled memories of isolation and bullying from the past.
'No! No way! The first friend I ever had... I finally though I had made a friend! But all along he was a human! It's not fair. It's not fair! Why?!'
Collapsing against a tree she pulled her knees in close and wrapped her arms around them, as if to protect her from the painful memories as she sobbed.
'I hate those humans! They were always so cruel, as if it were better that I had never existed.'
Her mind replayed the harsh words and actions from the students at her previous schools. They had been so mean, calling her names because they didn't believe in monsters; making her into an outcast just because they thought she was weird.
Abruptly she paused as she remembered Big Mac's words from the previous day.
Macintosh was her friend. Her first and only friend. He had said that no matter what he didn't hate her. But when when he told her his own secret she had run away from him. She... she was a terrible friend. How could she just leave him like that? She wasn't any better than the humans from before.
So what if Big Mac was a human? He was her friend and that was all that really mattered. If he could accept her for being a Vampire than she would do the same. Wiping her eyes she stood determinedly. She had to go back. She had to make things right. Even if... even if Big Mac didn't forgive her she had to try.
However upon turning back to the school her way was blocked by a familiar blonde figure. “Well now, what a surprise. Why is such a beautiful woman like you all alone?”
Moving closer, casually invading her personal space without a thought, he grinned a twisted smile before grabbing her wrist and yanking her into his arms. “Why should you be alone, when you can be with someone like me?”
Fluttershy struggled against Blueblood's grasp, his breath far to close to her face and his arms holding her even closer against his chest. Her writhing managed to loosen one of her own arms and she pushed against him, trying to get away.
“Let me go! Please.”
Blueblood laughed, a sickening mockery of a sound as he leaned in closer. “Truly your beauty is one of a kind. Far superior to any of those humans I've taken. I must have you as my own!”
“NO!!!”
Fluttershy lashed out, her nails gouging a trail down Blueblood's face and causing him to recoil. She quickly scrambled out of his reach. However instead of becoming angry Blueblood laughed even harder.
“Yes, perfect. That's just how I like my women. I can't help myself, when I get like this I can't hold back. I can't even hold my human form.”
And indeed, giving truth to his words, he had begun to grow; his school uniform beginning to strain at the seams as his body swelled. His arms bulged grotesquely as they tore his shirt and jacket into tatters, while his shoes were reduced to scraps as he became to large for them to contain any longer.
Finally the transformation was complete and he stood tall, having shed the illusion of humanity and revealed his inner beast. He was easily ten feet in height and at least half that in width. Both of his arms were easily as large around as Fluttershy and were slightly longer, nearly reaching to the ground and topped with savage claws. His torso was packed with wiry cords of dense muscles and as well as bony protrusions.
Gone was the cultured appearance which he had done his best to maintain in class, replaced by a feral savagery. His teeth had come together into sharp points, clearly that of a carnivorous predator and his eyes had lost any semblance of civility which they had held, replaced by cold cruelty and inhumane hunger made all the worse by the intelligence guiding it. Worst of all however was his tongue, which had extended by more than a foot and moved in a manner which screamed of cruel intent.
In the span of a few moments Blueblood had become a horrific monster, his true self. Towering over Fluttershy's stunned form he grinned a bestial smile, filled with teeth and malice. “I'm going to enjoy removing that spirited attitude.”
A small part of Fluttershy's mind identified Blueblood as an Orc, a half-breed monster with mixed heritage. The rest of her mind however was preoccupied with screaming in terror.
Mac frowned as he moved through the underbrush, trying to follow the trail left by Fluttershy in her rush. Even if she wasn't the Fluttershy he knew, that didn't mean he wasn't still her friend. Friends never left each other when they were troubled and it didn't take Mac's experience as a bartender to tell that this version of Fluttershy was clearly troubled. Mac wasn't the type of pony, or human, to leave that be if it was something he could help.
“Dangit, where'd she run of ta?”
Of course, she could have made it easier. Any further musing however came to a screeching halt as the sound of a piercing scream echoed through the forest. A familiar scream.
“Right. Ferget this.”
Reaching into his soul he found the barrier which held his inner beast at bay. Then he tore it open. Moments later the only thing in the area was a trail of shattered trees and upturned earth as a hulking creature tore through it's surroundings towards the source of the cry.
Blueblood was having a wonderful time. By pure chance he had managed to come across the current target of his attention. Even better, they were completely alone with no one to hear her scream anywhere around. Grabbing the terrified woman by the arms he lifted her into the air, bringing her close to his face; his tongue caressing the side of her face in a warped parody of a lover's touch.
“What's the matter Fluttershy? Why don't you transform? Aren't you going to fight back?” he taunted.
Mustering her nerve Fluttershy gave him a glare. “It's against the rules to reveal your true form.”
Blueblood threw his head back and laughed before returning his attention to his captured prize. “We're not in the school right now, their rules don't matter.”
Fluttershy's eyes widened in fear as Blueblood's widely grinning face moved closer to her own and she began to struggle harder. Luckily for her before her captor could complete his action a large figure appeared out of the forest and struck him in the jaw, causing him to drop her as he stumbled under the blow.
Fluttershy stared up in numb horror as a second behemoth stood over her with fist outstretched.
Upon reaching the clearing where he had heard Fluttershy's shout Mac tore through the surrounding trees. The first thing he saw was a figure which bore an eeriely similar appearance to Abomination, from the Loop where he had first Replaced the person who's power's he was now using. Less than a second after that he recognized the person hanging from the figure's grip. The sight resulted in only one thought in Mac's mind, one which both halves of himself fully agreed upon.
'Mac Smash.'
Moments later he had crossed the distance and planted his fist firmly into the unknown enemy's face. Forcing himself to stay in control he turned to check on Fluttershy, and seeing that she appeared to be unharmed returned his focus to his recovering foe. Not that he was willing to give him time to do so.
“Wha th hll?”
That was all Blueblood was able to say around his sore jaw, before Mac charged him again with an uppercut. This was immediately followed by a hay-maker, before he grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the ground. Not giving his opponent a second to get his bearings he grabbed him by the ankle and spinning around twice, launched him over the side of the hill toward the roadway.
Only once he had made sure his enemy was down, did he turn back to Fluttershy who flinched at his gaze. Breathing mildly heavy he approached her, frowning as she shied away.
“Are... ya'll... alright.”
Mac was beginning to regret not spending more time actually practicing with his abilities, rather than just his control. Although it did make it easier to ignore the cries of his darker half to go finish what he had started.
“M-macintosh? But... but how? I thought you said you were human?”
Mac grimaced. “Long... story. Tell... later.”
Reaching down he lifted Fluttershy from the ground, his current size allowing his hand to almost completely fit around her waist. Once on her feet, Fluttershy tentatively reached forward to place her hand on Mac's arm. Turning to stare into Mac's eyes, her own widened as she caught sight of something. At the same time Mac's senses yelled at him and he turned quickly to face the furious form of Blueblood as he charged him.
Reaching behind him without looking, Mac tried to move Fluttershy out of the way just as Blueblood came into range with roar. Two things happened then. Firstly Blueblood's fist came crashing into Mac's chest, pushing him off balance as he rolled with the attack. Secondly Mac's hand caught against the Rosary Fluttershy wore, and with an unheard clink, tore it off.
As Mac regained his footing, he was just in time to watch as Fluttershy was replaced by a more mature silver haired woman with fangs and crimson eyes. Eyes which were glaring death and bloody murder at Blueblood. With a wordless snarl she tore across the ground, closing the distance between her and her target almost faster than Mac could follow. Only his experience allowed him to watch the brutal beating which occurred, and even as fast as his power allowed him to move in the scant seconds which it took him to cross the area she had managed to deal an almost obscene amount of damage.
Placing himself between the barely breathing Blueblood and the murderous woman Mac held his ground, even as she stalked towards him. Coming to a stop directly in front of him, glaring up into his eyes she growled.
“Move.”
Despite the seething hate put into the single command, Mac held firm. However he couldn't reason with the unknown woman as he was, and so even knowing the risk he forced back the raging tide of emerald fury within his mind. Soon he had once more returned to his Loop-normal self.
“Ya'll need ta calm down.”
If anything Mac's words only served to increase the woman's anger, her eyes flashing.
“I don't know who you are, and right now I don't care. I have put up with this event more times than I can count, and I have long since had enough. This may not be the Saizo I know, but his actions are the same.”
Mac frowned. If this was a baseline event for this person than he could understand why she might be more than a little upset. Even still. “That may be true, but if'n ya'll keep try'n ta kill him Ah'll have to stop ya.”
The woman smirked. “I have no intention of killing him. Death is too good for the likes of beasts like this and I would never soil my hands on someone so pathetic. Despite how it may appear, I can assure you that he will recover from his injuries.”
Here she paused to glare at Blueblood. “However I have no intention of allowing him to walk away without a permanent reminder of his arrogance.”
Mac's frown grew. One the one hand he wasn't sure it was a good idea to let this woman deal with Blueblood, however on the other hand his actions and intended actions were unforgivable. And if this was something that occurred every Loop for this woman than her anger was more than justified. In the end it was the thought of what he would do if someone like this were to ever try something like this against Applebloom that made up his mind.
“Ya'll give your word ya won't kill 'em?”
The woman nodded, and with a grimace Mac stood aside. The native Looper strode over to stand over the surprisingly recovered Blueblood with a cold look.
“You who thought he could take by force that which belongs to only one man.”
Lifting her leg high into the air she slammed it down hard. Mac winced and subconsciously crossed his legs as Blueblood's eyes shot open and he release a high-pitched scream which lingered throughout the area for several seconds.
Tossing her hair behind her neck elegantly, she turned away dismissively. “Know your place.”
Shortly afterwards the two exited the woods, neither having spoken during their trip. Only once they had left the treeline did the still unknown woman turn to face Mac with a considering gaze. “Since Tsukune isn't here I'm assuming that you're also a 'Looper' then.”
Mac nodded in response.
“I see. My name is Moka Akashiya. I'll admit that this is still new to me, knowing that others are dealing with this as well. I was only recently informed of the nature of the Loops. Unfortunately I have not had an opportunity to speak with Tsukune yet and inform him of what I have learned as for the time being I appear to have been made into a Traveling Looper. Catching up for lost time I suppose.”
Reaching into her Pocket she pulled out a small mirror. “I can only hold a few items at the moment, but this is by far one of the most useful. A variant of an item from the Baseline.”
Moka turned her gaze to the mirror which released a flash of blinding light. When it cleared Mac was surprised to see the unconscious form of Fluttershy being cradled in Moka's arms. “She does bear a resemblance to my Outer self.”
Standing without trouble, despite the sleeping girl in her arms Moka smirked. “Very well, if Tsukune will not be present in this Loop then I suppose I shall just have to make do. First things first, I believe we'll need to speak with the Headmaster about securing quarters for myself. Afterwards I would like to know more about what to expect from a more experienced Looper.”
Mac just nodded agreeably as they walked back to the campus. If Moka was new to this, the least he could do was help her adjust. The last thing anyone needed was a misunderstanding like had happened with his own Awakening. Besides, this Loop didn't seem so bad. What was the worst that could happen?
Mac paused.
“Ah, Fewmets. Me an' mah big mouth.”
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oH MY GOD THE FIRST ONE
MORE GLITCHED UP HARMONY
Huh, cool. A reference to a specific fanfiction. I really like that one, too bad it hasn't updated for a long time.
I have to say I'm a big fan of both of these loops. I'd like to see more of them.
I, I, I got nothing.
She's not wrong.
Fair enough, besides, a lot of good people ARE crazy, yet they function fine, heck, most authors have a bit of crazy in them, but they're not going to go around forcing people into pony outfits and forcing them to reenact their fanfics.
Siren Lyra? Now THAT I'd like to see.
Good.
Oh fuck all kinds of duck.
Tirek, interesting.
YES.
Aye.
Nice lie.
All right.
Well...
Oh I am stealing that so badly.
Neat.
TASTE THE RAINBOW MOTHERBUCKER!
HAH!
Wait what¿
She's right.
Correction. WAS you.
OK, that's new.
Oh boy.
Not going to ask.
This reminds me of Zarbon.
Yikes.
Yikes.
153.1
Nope-ing! Nope-ing pretty hard!
Edit: Looping Sunset Shimmer, getting an Element of Magic of her very own, despite her fears of reverting back to Alpha Demon Bitch "Satan Shimmer" (Or was it "Sunset Satan")? Was bound to happen eventually…
153.2
Fluttershy and Inner Moka in the same body? Sweet.
Someone on this site reads Black Dragon other than me? Sweet. Now I'm curious how Looping Moka would handle a non-looping Ranma if he ever showed up in that universe again.
Lovely. I'd like to see more of these stories. Rosario X Vampire is one of my favorite manga.
153.1: You better hope she's hiding XD
153.2: Intriguing.
So now, in the Loops, we have 4 sets of Element Bearers.
Which I believe covers all the Looping Equestrians, save for Celestia, Luna, Discord, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Big Mac.
I do hope that Octavia and Bon Bon will start looping soon. Vinyl & Lyra deserve that to happen.
6325273 Five sets. Don't forget about WH 40K set. I'll count the magic elements
Twilight
Trixie
Applebloom
Lemon Rush
Sunset
Mac is bitten by his flaws: unused to speech, unused to prevarication.
The best lie, really, would be that he's keeping cover as per rules.
153.1: Fascicle? That one I had to look up, and it seems like an odd thing to use as a tree-swear. Particularly when Google's first definition is "a separately published installment of a book or other printed work".
"Midnight Castle" seems like an odd codeword - I assume it's supposed to clarify "moonswap", probably by indicating specifically who was swapped in, but I don't look at it and see Tirek. EDIT, a couple days later: OHHHH. As in "Rescue at". As in original Tirek.
...I did not expect that to work. (Lyra's thing, I mean.)
For some reason, even though I know she's a unicorn, I keep picturing Sunset holding the keyblade in her mouth. Which would make both flourishing it and talking difficult.
Sunset, if you didn't meet the prerequisites, you wouldn't have the thing. Besides, you've totally earned it, even if this iteration of you hasn't experienced Friendship Games yet. (On the other hoof, I have mixed feelings about the combination of sun-cutie-mark shape and purple color.)
Continuation, please!
153.2: I don't believe I've ever heard of the other side of this Fusion, but if their human forms are just disguises, why would Blueblood (or, I presume, the character who's usually in his place) put any stock in what Fluttershy looks like? Presumably these monsters have some degree of choice in the matter.
153.1 way to go Sunset! Good job.
oh, that made me think of an interesting story where, instead of going to the other world, Sunset went to an island kingdom called Freeport. but that place is..."a hive of scum and villainy".
it's called "the freeport venture".
oh, that makes me think of the Green Lantern comic books: "you have the ability to overcome great fear."
Best loops
Was the guest anchor Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon?