Loops 25
25.1
Twilight frowned. “Huh. I would appear to be… Twilight the False Bearded.”
It seemed that in this universe the fabled old wizard was actually a mare – her, in fact. But… she was pretending to be a stallion for some unknown reason.
Well, it wasn’t important… probably. Twilight discarded the beard and, after a moment of deliberation, decided to keep the hat and robe.
“Right, I wonder if-”
Something barrelled through the door and threw forelegs around her. “Hi, Momma!”
“Nyx?” Twilight said, delighted. “How come you’re-”
Luna entered the room. That jogged Twilight’s Loop memory, and she made an ah of realization. “So, the Royal Sisters are twins this time.”
“Indeed.” Luna nodded to her solemnly. “Strange, but it gives me a good opportunity to really get to know my…”
She paused. “Now that I think about it, a permanent descriptor for Nyx’s relationship to me is a rather tricky question. I mean, I can scarcely call her a dark side.”
Twilight and Nyx giggled.
“I am darker in colour, though…” the youngest Looper there said critically. “I mean, there’s not a lot in it…”
Luna appeared to come to a decision. “I shall simply call you sister, dear Nyx. And I would be honoured to continue to call you that, no matter the whys and whens of the loop.”
Nyx beamed.
“Now,” the elder Lunar Princess added, “how shall we divide the duties?”
“I know!” Nyx’s horn lit, and created an illusion of the moon-sun system relative to them. “I get the new moons, you get the full moons. That fair?”
“Sounds good,” Luna nodded. “What about the daytimes?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course you’re going to want me to do it.”
“Now you mention it…” Nyx said teasingly, “that would help.”
“Er… Day Regent?”
Twilight looked up. “Yes?”
“I was wondering… I know it’s impolite, but…” the elderly noble shook his head. “How old are you?”
“What makes you ask?” Twilight replied. “And it is rude to ask a mare’s age.”
“Well, I remember when, as a young colt, my father took me into Canterlot for the first time, and he mentioned that you’d been a rock of stability for the country for as long as he could remember.” The stallion seemed very confused. “And here you are, the same as you were on that day.”
“Oh, I understand your confusion,” Twilight said earnestly. “Assisting with the court is something of a family tradition.”
“…right. Sorry for getting you mixed up with your mother.” The noble walked off, satisfied.
I wonder if he’ll ever work out that those two sentences I said, while both true, weren’t actually otherwise related…
25.2 (Anowack)
Celestia and Nightmare Moon – apparently allied – met the looping alicorns on a tall, bare hill several miles outside of Canterlot.
They didn't bring an army, but a scrying spell had shown Twilight that it wasn't for lacking the option. The royal guard – even a torn Shining Armor – had begged Princess Celestia to let them help. Celestia had been forced to refuse them, of course; against seven enemy alicorn princesses an army was likely to be only a fleeting distraction.
An expectant quiet had fallen over Canterlot – over all of Equestria. The sun had still not risen – a limit to how far Nightmare Moon was willing to compromise, no doubt – and the rainbow waves had dimmed only slightly, still visible to the magically unaided eye.
Everypony that lived knew that their world was changing forever, and they waited to see what it was changing into.
Neither Celestia nor the corrupt Luna were foolish enough to think that their first blow would end the fight, but the twin beams of brilliant solar fire and cold moonlight scattered their foes' formation and briefly suppressed their defenses. A powerful gravity spell forced the loopers to the ground before the two larger alicorns.
There was silence for a long moment as the opponents studied each other. It was Twilight's first time seeing this loop's Celestia with Awake eyes, and it hurt to see the pain and confusion in her gaze.
Celestia's eyes widened in surprise as they passed over Cadance, blinking back unshed tears, but it was only when they met Twilight's gaze that she spoke. “Why, Twilight?” she asked, and despite it all the betrayed agony in her voice made Twilight shake. “What did I do wrong? Was I too harsh a teacher? Should I not have hidden the truth about Nightmare Moon from you? Why?”
Pinkie Pie seemed to be within seconds of vibrating into a thousand pieces from impatience, so Twilight nodded at her. “All right, do it now,” she said.
“Yes!” Pinkie exclaimed, and her horn glowed a brilliant pink as she teleported all the ponies who had been “killed” in their attack on Ponyville to the battle site from the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters, where a bemused Looping Mayor Mare had been explaining the plan and overseeing the preparations.
“SURPRISE!” came from a hundred throats – though in nothing close to unison. The plan had been for them to get a ten second countdown, but Pinkie skipping that wasn't really a shock.
The “Welcome Back Princess Lu-” banner really shouldn't have been either, but Twilight still planted a hoof in her face when she saw it. At least she hadn't pushed it and tried to get them to make a “Congratulations On Reconciling” sign. Harmony only knew how that would have been spelled.
Celestia sat back, her mouth gaping open.
Nightmare Moon laughed, her starry mane waving wildly around her. “And thou called me insane, sister?” she asked.
“But... wha...” Celestia sputtered helplessly.
Nightmare Moon shook her head, still chortling. “They got us, 'Tia,” she said, blotches of black corruption running down her side and melting away. “Is it not clear?” Luna asked, apparently not even noticing her transformation reverting. “No doubt the entire intent of this rebellion was to force us to fight alongside each other once more.”
Celestia certainly did notice though. “...Luna?”
The younger princess was still snickering. “It is most obvious that this Twilight Sparkle is thy student, 'Tia.”
Celestia glanced at Twilight, and though the Princess of the Sun was still clearly confused, Twilight was relieved to see gratitude in her eyes. Then Celestia jumped up, almost bowling her sister over in the force of her embrace.
Twilight smiled. Though it was a little painful to apply anything learned from that distasteful loop to others, it had only held to reason that if sudden, massive rebellion by seven alicorns was enough to force Nightmare Moon and that slave-owning Celestia to reconcile on their own, it would also work on more a more ordinary version of her also.
Luna had finally taken stock of herself and the situation, and started returning her Celestia's hug, both sisters sobbing wildly. Twilight's smile widened a little. She and her friends would have a lot of explanations and apologies to make, but it was worth it, really.
Twilight glanced up at the unmarred moon and, deciding that the royal sisters were likely to be distracted for a while, quietly set it and brought forth the delayed dawn before joining the celebration.
25.3 (Stainless Steel Fox)
Academic Excellence continued
As she approached the Flight Assignment board, she saw Cloud Chaser and Wildflower coming away with affronted expressions, which went flat as they saw her approach.
“What’s up guys? I figured you’d be able to team up with any-pony else, that’s why we cross-trained.”
“It’s not us!” Cloud Chaser exclaimed, “You were robbed!”
“Yes, they made you a wing-pony!” Wildflower said indignantly. “I managed to get a look at the Hall of Fame. That run you pulled yesterday was the fastest ever!”
Dash shrugged. “I know. So who did I get as Lead?”
“Who else…” Cloud Chaser growled.
“They made me lead pony!” Lightning Dust’s voice held a hint of smugness. “And they made us a team, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Working together and all that.”
Dash turned to face her with a grin. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted.”
That seemed to take some of the enjoyment out of Lightning Dust’s expression. “I’ll see you out on the tarmac, wing-pony.”
She stalked off, to Dash’s called response. “Hey, since we’re partners now, we should get some breakfast together…”
She found the other Ponyville ponies had clustered around her, most with similar expressions of displeasure. Thunderlane had a face like his namesake. “Why aren’t you going to Spitfire’s office and asking what in the wide, wide world of Equestria she was thinking! That pony couldn’t lead a sing-song, let alone a team!”
“Why would Spitfire snub you like this? I thought she liked you!” Milky Way asked.
“That would be one excellent reason to be harder on me than any-pony else. Playing favourites is one of the fastest ways to breed resentment and break discipline. Besides, I know what she’s doing, or I can guess at least. I guessed she’d put us together, we’re the two strongest fliers, but there’s another reason. Spitfire has to have spotted the potential problems with Dusty, they don’t exactly pick Wonderbolt Commanders out of a hat, and she wants some-pony who can cope with her teamed up with her.”
“Then why not as Lead pony?” Thunderlane asked. “Then you could tell her to shape up and she’d have to.”
“Ha, like that would work! All that would do would be to make her even more resentful. She’d have to take my orders or quit, but she’d ultimately get so eager to show she’s better than me that she’d pull some stupid stunt that would earn her a crash-landing. Trust me, I know show-offs. I was one… okay I still am one, but I’ve learned that there’s more to life than that. Lightning Dust hasn’t. As her wing-pony, I can advise, suggest, and hopefully get her to see the advantages of working together.”
Thunderlane still seemed unconvinced. “You and Spitfire are going to a lot of trouble to salvage her. I thought you said something about not playing favourites?“
“Not quite the same thing. I’d like to think that Spitfire or I would make the same effort for any-pony, one of you guys if you were the problem foal. She has the potential to go all the way, and it would be a crying shame if she failed because she failed to understand the rest of what she needs.”
Raindrops was looking at her with a degree of wonder. “Dash, when did you get so… wise.”
“Heh, if this is wisdom, I want my money back!” The rainbow maned pegasus grinned. “Seriously, I hang around with a group of very smart ponies. There’s Twilight, the certified egg-head who’s about the cleverest pony I know, she even got me reading! Applejack has the market cornered on down home common-sense, while I reckon Pinkie is just as smart as Twilight, but at right angles to reality. Fluttershy is Miss Empathy and Rarity is as skilled at shmoozing as any-pony in Canterlot.”
She shrugged. “You can’t be friends with that bunch and not pick up a few things. I needed more than just awesome flying skills to keep up with them, and you know I never turn down a challenge, or let some-pony down.”
Cloud Chaser gave her a friendly pat on the back with one wing. “Well, good luck, I guess. You’re going to need it!”
“Yeah.” Snowflake agreed.
As the group broke up, Manerick, who had been observing things from behind a newspaper and a coffee (it was a big coffee) finished the mug and headed off to report what had happened to Spitfire.
The teams formed up out on the main runway, Milky Way and Wildflower exchanging small talk, while Snowflake stood at attention watched with a slight smirk by Cloud Chaser, and Raindrops stretched out her wings next to her partner Thunderlane.
Lightning Dust had her Lead pony badge in her hoof and was examining it proudly as Dash came up beside her. Her eyes fell to the silver badge Rainbow wore. “Mine is gold!”
“I know, it’s a big honour, right?” Rainbow replied easily.
“Huh, I’d have expected you to kick up a bigger fuss about not getting one of these yourself!” The green pegasus stated, trying to get a rise out of Dash.
“It would have been nice, but you have to figure Spitfire knows what she’s doing. She knows I can lead from when she came to observe Ponyville’s water delivery to Cloudsdale, she probably wants to see if I still remember how to follow. Which I do, I’ve been lead weather-pony for Ponyville for a couple of years now, but I paid my dues to get there.”
“Huh, weather work, that’s kinda dull. I’m a high speed courier, anywhere, anytime I deliver!”
“That makes sense, you’d need self-reliance, guts and speed to do that job well. But weather work isn’t all clear flying, at least not in Ponyville. We’re right up against the Everfree Forest, or as we weather pegasi call it ‘Princess Celestia’s Home for Clinically Insane Weather.’ Seriously, you never know what’s going to come out next. At one point we had rains of fish so regularly that we had a thriving canning industry!”
Lightning Dust gave her a look askance. “Yeah, right…”
The rainbow-maned pegasus held her serious expression for another couple of heart-beats, then cracked up. “Okay, you got me… but I mean it about weird weather. You should come over some time, what with that and Ghastly Gorge, there’s plenty of challenging flying.”
“Heh, I might just do that.” Lightning Dust replied, “You know Dash, you’re alright.”
Dash preened. “I’m better than alright, I’m awesome, which I guess makes two of us.”
“You ain’t just shovelling stratus!” The other pegasus grinned.
Spitfire and her assistants arrived at that point, putting an end to the conversation.
“Today you will all be participating in a flag hunt. We'll divide you into two teams, red... and blue.” As she stated the colours, her assistants appeared behind the groups, one holding a red flag, the other the blue. Lightning Dust and Rainbow were partnered with Thunderlane and Raindrops. Dash had neatly stepped forward and avoided being pushed aside by the pony holding the flag.
“Whoever finds the most flags of the opposing team's colour wins.”
All the recruits cheered, but the ones trained by Dash knew better then to start talking in the ranks. Lightning Dust didn't. “Aw yeah! We're going to rock this so hard...”
She got a face full of Spitfire for her pains. “This isn't some sort of game, it's a training exercise! Lead ponies and wing-ponies must fly together. If any pair splits apart, they will be immediately disqualified. Do you understand?”
“Yes ma'am!” They chorused. At the whistle, they all took off, and the red team forming up and agreeing on something. Then they formed a line abreast and started doing systematic sweeps of the area, exactly the way Dash had taught them, straight from the Wonderbolts own play-book on search and rescue techniques.
The blue team had more difficulty. “If we have to keep our speed down to those guys, we'll never get anywhere!”
“We're not that slow!” Thunderlane retorted, glaring at Lightning Dust.
Rainbow Dash tried spreading stratus on turbulent air. “Sweeping as a line lets us cover more ground and not end up checking somewhere the other wing pair already did. We should stick with the Thuderlane and Raindrops.”
“If we can sweep the whole place in half the time, why do we need any-pony else?” Lightning Dust exclaimed. “C'mon Dash, let's go!”
Dash gave an apologetic glance to the other half of blue team, and a 'Do your best without us!' before zooming off after her lead pony. She came up alongside Lightning and said, “I don't think this is going to work as well as you think, but you've got lead. How do you want to do this?”
“Just follow me and keep looking for those flags, we'll have the whole lot before they can blink!”
She started flying hither and yon in a pretty much random pattern at great speed. Dash could have helped make a clean sweep, as she knew the locations of every flag, red and blue after so many repeats, but she was only going to 'find' the flags that Lightning Dust's random pattern took them over.
They made an impressive haul, scooping up flag after flag as they covered a longer path than the other three pairs put together. It was a confident Lightning Dust who landed by the instructors when time was called, with Rainbow Dash in perfect formation with her.
“Heh! Told you!” The green pegasus was grinning. “We must have found twice as many flags as any-pony else! Though you spotted even mopre than me, you must have X-ray vision.”
“Uh huh, my super-powers are all to do with flying.” Dash bantered back. Lightning Dust had relaxed as they'd flown around, and Dash had enjoyed chatting with her. She was finally starting to build up something like the connection she'd unwittingly made that fist time round. However, she didn't expect the other pony's good mood to last much longer.
Spitfire examined a clip-board. “After totalling up the flags, it's clear this was a close run battle. Both teams got a very high count, record breaking in fact. However, the Red team wins.”
“WHAT?” Lightning Dust exclaimed. “But me and Dash got more flags than any-pony!”
Spitfire removed her shades and gave Lightning Dust a severe look. “Unfortunately, the other half of your team got the least out of all the pairs. It's the total as a group that counts.”
Lightning Dust glared at Thunderlane and got her stare returned with interest. Dash put a wing on her shoulder to calm her down before she said something she'd regret, or at least that would put her in hot water with Spitfire. She whispered, “Stay frosty, it's only a test...”
However, once Spitfire and her team had left Lightning Dust rounded on Thunderlane and Raindrops. “What were you two doing? Goofing off and smelling the flowers? You cost us the win!”
Thunderlane exploded. “WE cost YOU the win? You and your grandstand tactics are to blame for us losing!”
“You're crazy!” Lightning Dust snorted. “Dash, tell him he's crazy!”
“Why should I? I said your plan wouldn't work.” Dash responded.
Lightning Dust looked aside at her, incredulously. “Why are you turning on me? I thought we were a team! Well fine, I don't need you or any-pony!”
She turned to stalk away, only to be blocked by Snowflake and Thunderlane, who growled at her. “You're an idiot! Dash is the one pony who's been supporting you from the start! The rest of us wouldn't be giving an arrogant egotist like you the time of day if she hadn't asked us to! She sees something in you, I don't know what, but then she's the real deal, a leader because she _leads_ rather than because some-pony pinned a gold badge on her!”
“Thunderlane, that's enough!” Rainbow Dash interjected. “I know you're mad, I would be too, but it's as much my fault as hers. I should have done more to stop her pulling that kinda stuff.”
“You don't need to make excuses for her.” Thunderlane gave a snort. “We saw you trying. She was the one who was convinced of her own infallibility. If you want to make it up to us, explain it to her, and this time use small words! Maybe if you grind them fine enough they'll filter through that layer of ego she wraps herself in.”
Lightning Dust still wanted to leave, but the rest of the cadets had crowded round, blocking her escape routes. She didn't have much choice. She turned to Dash. “Fine, so explain already!”
“If we'd stayed in line with Thunderlane and Raindrops, we'd probably have won. The red team did a standard search and rescue sweep pattern, right out of the Wonderbolts' own Flight Operations Manual. They use a three abreast flight, but the same idea. They covered a strip four pegasi wide, and because they were in formation, they knew exactly what had been covered, and any flag one pony missed, some-pony else was likely to spot.”
Dash indicated the positions with her wing tips, demonstrating what she was describing.
“By going off on our own, we forced Thunderlane and Raindrops to cover twice the distance and fewer eyes meant more chance of missing a flag. Not to mention fatigue towards the end. We made up for it somewhat by finding more flags, but by flying around random-like, we covered some areas twice and missed others. Plus we picked up flags they'd have gotten if we'd been working together.”
“You and I still got the most flags, that has to count for something!” Lightning Dust claimed, stomping a hoof. “Spitfire seems to think I've got the right stuff, or she wouldn't have made me Lead pony.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Maybe she just wanted to see how you'd do as a leader. It's more than just telling ponies what to do, it's about being able to ask for ideas from your team-mates and make decisions that are best for the group, not just you. If you're as obsessed with the Wonderbolts as I am, you'll have seen all their displays. Just think, have you ever seen a stunt or performance where there was a _lone_ Wonderbolt flying?”
That seemed to get through to Lightning Dust, and her annoyed expression turned worried.
“That's what I thought. I doubt she was too impressed with that out-burst afterwards either. She took off the glasses, that's generally a sign that some-pony's gonna get unlucky.”
“How can you know that!” Dust asked finally looking nervous.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Any-pony here can tell you how much I want to be a Wonderbolt. I've studied their moves, their strategies, and the ponies who fly for them. Do you really think I wouldn't find out anything I could about the pony who was in charge of the Academy for our course?”
“Hey, I want to be a Wonderbolt too! I've dreamed of it since I was a filly! Why do you think I push myself so hard in the first place?” Lightning Dust exclaimed in a hurt voice. “It's not my fault other ponies can't keep up!”
“Look, I get you! I was the same way. But my friends helped me to realise, it's more than just pushing yourself, it's about pushing yourself in the right direction. A Wonderbolt has to be an expert flyer, but she also has to work with other pegasi, and that means listening to them, even accepting that you can't always be out front.” She gestured to her own silver wing pony badge. “If you can't figure that out, it doesn't matter how awesome your moves are, you'll never be a Wonderbolt.”
Lightning Dust glared at Rainbow Dash, but the other pegasus just looked back at her with a cool, steady expression. Finally, Dust's wings sagged, and she looked away. “I... I need some time alone...”
She heard the other ponies trot off, and started when a wing-tip touched her shoulder. Rainbow Dash was standing there with a more sympathetic expression. “When you're ready, I'll be in barracks if you want to talk. For what It's worth, I think you can do this. I know it's not easy, but then the really important things never are.”
As she walked away, she called back over her shoulder. “After all, for a Wonderbolt, the bigger the challenge, the better we like it!”
25.4 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
"K-Keep 'em comin' barkeep," a drunk, human Twilight Sparkle slurred as she watched her pony self, loyal student of Tyrant Sun Celestia, speak to the United Nations on national TV.
"Ponification fixes all the problems with your people. We get rid of that pesky human nature and reconfigure you to live in harmony with others."
A loud thwack echoed through the room as the anchor smacked her head against the stainless steel counter. Oh, how she hated Bureau loops. But this one finally pushed her over the top. It was enough that her teacher who she knew and loved for centuries was twisted into a mockery of everything she knew and loved. Now, it was her that was being twisted. Worse, it was in front of her very eyes.
The real irony though was that she wasn't alone. No, a human looper Celestia was resting her chin on the counter next to her student. She wasn't quite as drunk as Twilight, but still swayed when she sat up in her seat. After downing another shot of brandy, the anchor tried calling for Spike and turned towards the corner where 'spike' watched with interest, "'Take a note Spike, this tops the list in terms of bad loops...No more about Rainbow always dressing in style or Eik...Eik...that school loop where we can't use magic. Even the loop where Pinkie became an alicorn princess wasn't as bad as this one."
Celestia held up her glass and swirled the ice, "Twilight...that's a dog."
A happy bark echoed from that corner. The other patrons didn't pay them much attention as the Twilight on the tv continued to dig herself a deep grave she could never escape. Human Twilight looked to her teacher, "Well, better get this fixed."
Celestia nodded as the two rose from their seats and stumbled out the door.
*****
The two stared into the night sky from their apartment where they had woken up. Twilight clutched her head as the hangover pounded away, "How did this happen?"
What had once been the moon was now a whole other planet with a new small moon orbiting it. Celestia didn't reply right away, "Well...since the other Celestia had teleported the entirety of Equestria into the Pacific Ocean, disrupting all kinds of natural weather currents...I'd have to say Equestria itself was causing disharmony. Theoretically, we restored this planet to its natural harmony by banishing all of the invading Equestria to the moon."
Twilight nodded, "Ok...that explains 'Equestria', but where did 'Equestria' get that smaller moon?"
Celestia shrugged, "My memories are still fuzzy from last night, but," she walked over to mug, lifted it up and sniffed, "Since at once point we made some of Luna's moonshine, I don't think I want to remember. I only make it when I want to forget something."
Twilight shuddered, "Let's never mention this again."
After a moment she blinked. “Hey, where’d we get the other Elements from? I can only summon Magic, the others I have to get from the Loop if they’re there…”
“I believe we mugged your friends’ counterparts for them.” Celestia winced at another stab of pain. “Wow, Applejack has a mean right hook. I’m going to have a nasty black eye for a while…”
25.5
Rainbow Dash fretted quietly as the night wore on. She knew she shouldn’t, she’d worked how to handle this series of events until it was a fine art, but…
It still hurt seeing what her old friend had become. Or was on the way to becoming.
Still, it didn’t take very long nowadays to reverse the trend.
“Oh, hey, Gilda!” Dash said, giving the griffon a welcoming smile. “Nice to see you after so long.”
“Yeah…” Gilda said, with none of her usual enthusiasm. She frowned, then shook her head. “Yeah.” This time was much more natural, and after considering what it might mean for a moment Dash just decided to ignore it. (Maybe there’d been some bad weather? Dash had tried to understand what time looping did to the weather, once, but it had made her head hurt when Twilight got onto Lorentz attractors and so she gave up.)
“Okay, so what do you want to do first?” Dash asked, flaring her wings. “Flying? I’ve picked up some really cool tricks since last time we saw each other…”
“Maybe later…” Gilda looked around as though trying to spot something, but came up blank. “Actually… hey, back east I met this guy called Gas- G- Gustav, that’s it. He was… kinda strange, but I bet you’ve never eaten anything more tasty than what he made.”
She grinned, and if it was a bit forced then there was also a lot of genuine humour in it. “But he was kind of scary too. Threatened to tie me to a railway line if I took a muffin before it was ready.”
Huh, Dash thought absently. Now I want to check if Con Mane is real and if Mulia’s really a ninja…
“Sounds like a cool guy,” Dash said. “But do I detect a note of…?”
Gilda looked blank.
Dash rolled her eyes. “And I thought I was the unobservant one. Did you fancy him?”
“Ew, no.” Gilda stuck her tongue out. “He was, like, old.”
Both of them laughed at that.
“Anyway, I was…” Gilda paused again. “I was kind of wondering what kind of friends you have, now.” She held up a claw. “But only the awesome ones! I only go so far.”
“Yeah, I think they can do awesome,” Dash replied, with a cocky grin.
Internally she was wondering what on Equestria was making this Loop so strange.
“…and this is Twilight Sparkle,” Dash said, as they entered the library. “Well, this is her house, since she seems to be out at the moment, but you know what I mean. She’s pretty buckin’ powerful.”
“Powerful?” Gilda repeated, looking around dubiously. “This is a library.”
“Yeah, it is.” Dash shrugged. “But hay, there’s a few here that I read. I mean, look!”
She swooped up and picked the first Daring Do book off a shelf. “Isn’t that just basically me with a different coat and mane?”
Gilda looked from the book cover to Dash. “It really is. Huh.”
“And she’s kind of awesome, too, she even gets a broken wing at one point and it doesn’t slow her down, and…” Dash trailed off. “I was talking about Twilight, wasn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Gilda nodded, and sniggered. “I’m reminded of when I helped you revise.”
“Hey, I did just as much helping!” Dash objected. “When I remembered…”
“Which was twice.” The griffin shook her head. “Anyway. That unicorn you were talking about?”
“Yeah, she’s probably the most powerful spellcaster in history.”
“Like you’re the fastest pony in history?”
“Both are true!” Dash said quickly. “No word of exaggeration. I’ll show you later, actually. But yeah, Twi is… kind of awe-inspiring, really. I’ve seen her take telekinetic control of a collapsing dam and… un-collapse it. I’ve seen her fight monsters and consider it a normal day.” Dash’s voice became slightly distant. “I’ve seen Twilight teleport to the moon and back.”
She’d seen Twilight do a lot more than that, too, but most of the examples she could think of required more explanation.
“So, yeah.” Dash pointed. “Twilight. Hey, Twilight, meet my old school friend Gilda.”
Twilight frowned. “Hold on a minute…” She darted over to a bookshelf and picked something out. Paging through it, she reached the page she was looking for before either flier could get more than a little bit confused.
“Micro-expressions!” she shouted, apropos of nothing obvious.
Whirling on one hoof, she pointed at Gilda. “How long have you been Looping?”
“Oh!” Dash said, Gilda’s behaviour suddenly making a lot more sense.
Seeing that the griffin seemed lost, Twilight steered her over to a seat with the gentle pressure of a foreleg. “Come here. You might not know the terminology, but I can tell you recognized me – so you’ve clearly met me before, and you haven’t normally met me before, and there’s nothing different than standard about this loop so you’ve come back in time. Hi, by the way, nice to meet you.”
Gilda blinked. “Hey, Dash, I thought that pink earth pony was the talkative one.”
“Yeah, you just caught Twilight in geek mode,” Dash replied casually. “Hey, what kind of party do you prefer? ‘cause I need to let Pinkie know.”
25.6
Takeru “T.K.” Takaishi grimaced down at his body. “You know, when you were the human and I was the digimon… I complained, I understand that.”
The pegasus sitting next to him grinned.
“I said I looked like a My Little Pony. And I might have said some things which, on balance, could be viewed as rude.”
“Keep going…” Pegasusmon said, still smiling. “Oh, and that reminds me, since this isn’t our normal world I’m Shoya again.”
“Sure, standard practice.” TK paused. “Where was I?”
“Things which could be viewed as rude.”
“Yeah.” The earth pony nodded. “I take them all back. Now I am a flippin’ My Little Pony!”
“Hey, don’t knock it,” Shoya commented. “This looks like gen IV. Much better than the others.”
“Define better,” TK deadpanned.
“Actual dangerous villains, a working and dynamic society, powerful magic and-”
Something exploded overhead.
“-that,” Shoya finished, nodding skywards at a series of expanding coloured rings. “Awesome in a can.”
TK examined his friend and partner closely. “Are you blushing.”
“No. Yes. Maybe…” the digimon trailed off. “Look, my armour form is a pegasus, alright? I… may have watched the show.”
“I would tease you about that for centuries,” the erstwhile Anchor said, “but I have absolutely no standing on the grounds that I’m a pony more often than you are a pegasus.”
“Yeah, Rookie forms are like that.” Shoya tossed his head. “Come on, let’s try and find out if the plot expects us for something.”
Putting action to words, he spread his wings and shot off upwards.
“I can’t fly!” TK shouted after the rapidly receding pegasus. “Oh, this is just perfect.”
Feeling stubborn, he got out his D3 and began playing Tetris. It was about five minutes before he noticed he was doing it with hooves.
“Wait a sec, Gils,” Dash said, screeching to a halt mid-sky and backwinging. “I didn’t recognize that pegasus.”
“Right,” Gilda said, turning in a slow loop as she had to be more conscious of her speed – not having Dash’s insane acceleration. “I’m guessing that’s unusual in these… loops?”
“Yep!” Dash pointed. “Right there.”
Gilda focused. “Wait, is he wearing armour?”
“Huh, he is. Maybe it’s just a lost guard…” Dash pondered the problem for a bit. It was only Gilda’s third loop, and she was still learning the basics.
On the other hand, every bit of practice helped. “Come on, we’ll see what he has to say. Twilight can probably sort it out, whatever it is.”
“You really trust her, don’t you…” Gilda said quietly.
“Yeah, I kind of do. You know we’ve spent a couple of loops as the Royal Sisters? Second time, I didn’t screw up, and we just… lived and ruled for over a thousand years. I know her really well.”
“I kind of wish I knew you half as well.” The griffin shook her head, and returned to the topic of the moment. “He seems to be experimenting with how clouds work.”
“Oh, sweet!” Dash pointed. “Come on, we got us a guest Looper!”
“So, if I understand this right…” Twilight said, scanning a digital library on her PADD, “You are from Digimon Adventure.”
“Yep,” Shoya said with a nod. “Me and T.K. are the Anchors for that Loop. We’ve been all over the place.”
“Yes, I imagine you have…” Twilight noted it down.
“And it’s pretty cool to be here, actually… when are we? That’s Gilda, so… before or after she normally shows up?”
“Before,” Dash said with a shrug. “You turned up pretty sharpish. She’s a Looper now, but that’s recent.”
“It’s interesting to meet someone who’s actually familiar with the show version of our world.” Twilight added. “We’re used to it from the inside, of course, so seeing it on the screen is a little strange. Oh - where’s your co-Anchor?”
“…oh, snap…” Shoya gulped. “Well, probably in the middle of a Pinkie Pie Party by now.”
The doors flew open with a bang, and Pinkie dragged a bewildered T.K in by the ear. “You could have mentioned you came here with somepony else! Now I need to make a whole new party theme for two new local Loopers! Stay right here, and I’ll be back in five minutes!”
She bounced out, leaving by the window.
T.K. looked like he’d been bowled over by a bus.
His partner leant over. “See, you would have expected this if you’d just watched the show like I did.”
25.7
Spike soared over the dense canopy of the Everfree forest, letting single wing beats and thermals carry him across the cloak of green.
Of all the things the Loops had brought him, he thought flying was the best.
Well, aside from the people who looped with him… but they weren’t things, anyway. Flying was a skill… or, rather, several. There were so many kinds of it, from the effortless speed of a pegasus to the ponderous flight of a great wyrm. Right now, he was about thirty feet in wingspan, which gave him options.
Humming a jaunty tune, he set a course south – then frowned, squinting down at the ground, and flared the big wings before coming to a hover.
Yes, there was definitely something down there that didn’t belong.
Spike let air slip out from under his wing membranes and gradually lost height, trying to get close enough to confirm what he’d seen.
Aha!
A large wolf loped steadily along under the dappled sunlight. Things stirred as it passed, but none of them did more than stir.
The canine slowed as it reached a low ridge, sniffed, and then turned a little and resumed the ground-eating pace. Leaf litter and twigs crunched underfoot, and when the wolf came to a cliff it bounded up in a series of huge leaps, ground-root-branch-trunk and then to the top.
Eventually, a clearing opened out in the middle of the forest, one cut by a huge fallen tree. Climbing the side of the trunk in a scrabble of claws, the wolf padded along to the middle of the trunk and sat.
Leaves rustled in a sudden, intense wind, as Spike backwinged into the clearing. He landed lightly enough on the end of the tree nearest the roots.
“Good afternoon,” he said cheerfully. “I didn’t realize you did this.”
“Not very often…” the wolf replied. “But the Everfree is the only really wild place on Equestria… sometimes I just feel the need to get away. And I feel… safer like this.”
The animal blurred, and Fluttershy was stood there instead. “But if you want-”
“No, no, don’t change back on my account,” Spike protested. “It’s not often I see you so confident, it’s probably good for you.”
“Thank you…” she muttered. “But I did bring a lunch, and wolves can’t eat chocolate. So I may as well eat now.” Fluttershy managed a little giggle. “I’m sure the big scary dragon will keep me safe.”
Spike posed. It was hard to tell if he was seriously trying to look macho or just trying to make her laugh.
A moment later, he dropped it. “I do know how you feel, though. It’s good to just meditate once in a while.”
“Thank you. Oh, would you like some?”
He waved it off. “No, I’ve been eating too much Bluejohn, I need to lose some weight.”
“Well, you’re too big for it to just be baby fat…” she said critically, and Spike laughed.
“That whole wolf thing is really working out for you, huh?”
“Sometimes. Other times I try being a leopard, or… something.” Fluttershy looked at the ground. “I’m probably not very good at it by Oerth standards, I just can’t get the hang of, er, hunting.”
“Really, that’s not a problem,” Spike said, shaking his head. “Instincts can be overrated. Take it from the dragon!”
They sat in companionable silence for the next half hour or so, as Fluttershy ate and then carefully stored all the leavings in her subspace pocket to recycle.
Eventually, the pegasus stood up with a purposeful air. “Nice seeing you, Spike,” she said, and blurred back into an animal. Spike was slightly surprised to notice that this one was a puma, but she winked at him and then padded off.
Being a druid was really working out well for Fluttershy.
25.8 (Masterweaver)
Twilight blinked as the loop memories flowed in. "Hmm, this seems to be fairly baseline. I wonder if--"
Her ears perked. Something was... off. It sounded as though somepony was mimicking her word for word.
"Hello?"
There it was again! A voice, to her left! She turned to look and came face to face with herself.
"......huh. This is new."
***
"So let me get this straight," Luna deadpanned. "Everyone who's awake this loop spontaneously duplicated when they awakened?"
"Eeeeeyup."
The princess of the night let her gaze shift from one red stallion to the other, slowly licking her ice cream. "This is... quite an interesting development."
"Ah know, right?" Apple Bloom grinned. "First thang we did, tried ta see if we could double what was in our subspace pocket!"
"Turns out we share one," her duplicate said with a shrug. "Oh well. Still pretty useful."
"I see..." Luna rolled her eyes. "Shame I didn't get a duplicate."
"Oh and what am I, chopped hay?"
The princess smiled down at the alicorn filly. "No, Nyx, you're a very special pony."
Nyx mock pouted before taking a huge bite of her ice cream. "Oh fiiiiiine."
She blinked.
"....I just realized. I have two mommies."
***
Celestia’s pen moved furiously on her paperwork, glancing at the clock on occasion.
"Five more minutes. Just five more minutes and we switch out."
She already had her trunks on.
***
Cadance whispered something to Cadance.
Cadance grinned.
Shining gulped. "We're in for a long night, aren't we?"
"...yep." Shining blushed. "I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing."
***
Carrot Cake and Cupcake peered into the kitchen cautiously.
"...There's two of them, hon."
"...What do we do dear?"
"We pray. We pray."
***
"DOUBLE RAINBOOM ALL THE WAY!"
"SO INTENSE!!"
"WHAT COULD IT MEAN?!"
25.9 (Filraen – Vulpine Fury - Nikas)
Gilda tried to doze under the shadow of a tree in an effort to trying to collect her thoughts. Flying had only made the matters worse because it made her remember Rainbow Dash.
She could understand griffins and ponies grow and change when you don't see them in some time, but Gilda knew the first time they met after Dash moved into Ponyville she didn't leave a good impression of herself. And looking back at that incident she was quite upset with herself, even if no one else would ever know it.
And somehow, by some strange magic she had a chance to start over again... well, not from the very beginning in Cloudsdale but from the time in Ponyville. It was strange, going to her after seeing that long night and the rumours of a Nightmare Moon again, but somehow she saw the chance to meet Dash again without the weight of the previous time.
To her surprise not only did Rainbow apparently know a bit of what was happening, but she had been "looping" longer than Gilda. Apparently she could grew herself a horn which let herself do some magic, learned to perform a Sonic Rainboom – how crazy was that? – from a standing position, got herself a fancy necklace about loyalty something or other and could tell a lot of crazy stories. Gilda preferred to just give Dash some beak service and pretend she believed them.
Because if Gilda actually believed Rainbow Dash's stories it'd mean creatures like humans existed. Because it'd mean she’d live these years again and again and again with no end on sight. Because it'd mean there are places so big that the Griffin lands would be less than a drop of water in the sea. Because it'd mean Rainbow Dash had lived through all of this a long time. Because it'd mean Dash had really flown through space, defeated the Nightmare Moon and raced a supersonic hedgehog. Because it'd mean she had really been the Equestrian Princess multiple times, raised the Sun and ruled for millennia. Because it'd mean she had become so awesome and close to those other ponies in as many lives as Gilda had feathers...
Because if she believed Rainbow Dash, what could Gilda hope to offer to her friend?
"G?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly. "You really feel that way? That you don't matter?"
Gilda lowered her eyes. How could she, just a griffin somehow caught up in this weirdness compare to a flipping alicorn princess?
"Should I tell you about the loops where we never lost touch with each other after flight camp?" The sad look on the polychrome pegasus' face was almost wrenching. "Those were pretty cool. How about the ones where I'm the griffin and you're the pegasus? Or the ones just like the first time through for all of us and I knew the thing to say to make you stay? I like those Loops. I don't have to choose between my first best friend and my other best friends. Gilda. Friendship is like love. It doesn't diminish when it's shared."
The griffin still looked dubious.
Dash kicked the floor. “Ah, buck it, I’m no good at these kinda talks. Come on, let’s see what Twilight thinks.”
Twilight listened in silence as Gilda spoke. When the griffin finished, she inhaled deeply and then let out a long sigh.
"Gilda, I'm an Anchor. Which means I've been awake for every single loop. Sure I've gotten powerful, but among Anchors and other long time loopers the truism is ‘with great power comes great insanity.’"
"I've been better than most, but even I've had moments where I slipped. You'll find this out yourself, but imagine everyone around you had a disease. They remember everything up to a certain day. After that, they can't keep a new memory past a full day. They just keep forgetting and reliving the same day, over and over again. Only you remember and grow."
The unicorn eyed the griffin. "How long before you stopped seeing them as friends out of frustration? How many days till you stopped seeing them as people at all? How many weeks till you started meddling, manipulating them for what is 'best'? How many months till you started smashing them in frustration that they can't bucking remember anything?!" The unicorn's mane toinged out.
Gilda’s instincts spiked from nothing, screaming at her to run or fight… or just stand perfectly still, in the hope that whatever was causing that fear wouldn’t deign to notice her.
It was then that she began to really believe, bone-deep, that Dash was right.
Twilight stopped, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply, pushing away with a forelimb several times before continuing. "I think that is the root of a lot of madness among Loopers. Offer Dash nothing? Gilda, she has hope of seeing her friend now, not an endless parade of someone wearing your face that can't remember the real her anymore."
Gilda looked down again, then raised her eyes. “I can try that.”
Twilight nodded. “Good. Hey, you might like to ask Dash for pictures. She enjoys your company, you know, even the non-looping you. Ask about something called Metal Wolf…”
Dear Princess Celestia,
This loop I had to be reminded to take care of others, putting myself in their hooves if necessary. I was so happy my friend Gilda had Awoke I forgot how overwhelming looping could get for a newcomer, and I showed off too much too soon. Even if everything got resolved, I almost alienated my first friend by not easing the reveals.
Hoping to see you soon,
Rainbow Dash
"... that's it. Now it's your turn, G."
"What, me? Why?"
"Tradition from my base loop."
Dear Princess Celestia,
First of all, my name is Gilda and I'm a griffin, friend of Rainbow Dash and according to her I'm also a looper now. Dash convinced me to write a "friendship report" for you and won't leave me alone until I write it so here it goes: I learned you should always be happy for the successes of your friends, because friends showing off are just trying to share their happiness; and there's always something one can offer to a friend, even if it's only the company of someone who remembers her.
Gilda
25.10 (Filraen)
In Ponyville Library there was a familiar scene playing out. It was neither the first time, nor the last – as anyone, Looper or not, could attest.
"Let's go over the checklist one last time Spike." Twilight said while giving her assistant a rolled scroll.
After nodding, Spike took a quill from the nearby desk and started reading the scroll. "Bedroom tidy?"
"Check."
"Living room clean?"
After a sound of teleportation Twilight answered, "Good."
"Tea?"
"Enough in kitchen."
"Cookies?"
"Here too," Twilight paused and closed her eyes briefly before continuing, "and also the super special secret sweetheart cake stash from Sugarcube Corner."
Spike frowned and looked around. "Where it is this so secret stash?"
Twilight teased back, "If I told you it wouldn't be so secret anymore." There's no need to mention Spike about subspace pockets, good to keep things from some powerful magical artifacts to snacks when one doesn't want to go to the kitchen to get them and break the conversation. "Also, those are for when Princess Celestia visits tonight."
"True enough" Spike said thoughtfully. "Anyway, do you think why Princess Celestia will come here this time?"
It isn't like it mattered much, though this loop her mentor decided to have delivered Twilight's Friendship Reports in person instead of Spike's magic flame. It was basically an excuse for Celestia to share more time with Twilight but the unicorn realized it helped honor Celestia's wish 'to get to know her all over again'. In that case it was... "Probably to change scenery? I'm not sure."
Celestia arrived soon after sunset. And then Celestia and Twilight shared a table chatting the night away, sleep claiming Spike within the hour.
"The Great Galloping Gala is in three months. Do you know if anypony still wants to go?" Celestia asked.
"Probably, though I have to make sure their expectations aren't too high." It wasn't like anypony else was awake this loop, Twilight considered, then suddenly tried to contain a laugh. "Still, if you wanted to spice the Gala up a bit, why don't you invite Steven Magnet?"
"You mean that river serpent who lives in Everfree?" At Twilight's nod both laughed. "Probably – he may like a social event like that and one way or other he will make that Gala one to remember."
"How is Princess Luna faring this loop?" Twilight asked after producing two slices of cake.
"Good enough. She's currently in the phase of trying to get out but afraid of the rejection."
"Send her here." Twilight shrugged. It wouldn't be Nightmare Night for some time but it'd probably be for the better. "Everything should be fine as long as you tell Luna to tone down her voice and I tell Pinkie not to play scared."
After a pause the white alicorn looked at her faithful student in the eyes "Twilight, did you just tempt fate?"
Twilight felt her ears droop "I hope not."
"How is Starlight Breaker doing nowadays?" Celestia teased.
"You know she doesn't like that name." Twilight mock-glared her mentor. "I saw her ten or so loops ago. Apparently a new looper from Ranma's world decided to try yet another desperate attempt to finish the loops and we met at Hogwarts, together with Ranma, Harry, and Hiccup. She says she wants to show a new magic fireworks display next time she's in Equestria... Now that I think of it I fear the day she and Trixie meet."
"That reminds me, how long has been since the last loop Cadence has been Awake?" the white alicorn asked.
"I... actually lost count." Twilight frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Enough loops to actually lost count and yet you haven't fallen into madness, my faithful student."
Twilight took a sip of her tea to give herself some time before answering. "It's only because I have everypony looping alongside me. I don't think I could have actually handled living through the loops alone."
Celestia smiled. "Then it's a good thing it doesn't matter if you could or not, because you don't have to."
Twilight, feeling her eyes water, could only nod.
"Twilight, the fact you have lived through so many loops yet we still can meet here to chat calmly means you have grown beyond my and anypony's wildest expectations, so much I can't see you as my student anymore."
"Princess..." Twilight could only say, feeling somewhat numb.
Standing up, Celestia hardened her tone just slightly "Twilight Sparkle, it's my greatest pride and honour to graduate you tonight of your studies of the Magic of Friendship under me. I can only ask of you: Twilight, will you accept my friendship?"
The purple unicorn took a moment to react, but then she threw herself into Celestia's embrace, both nuzzling each other. No more words were needed.
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I swear, Masterweaver probably did his whole loop only for the sake of the last joke xD
Huh. I guess the old "item copy" glitch from Pokémon works with Yggdrasil. Good to know.
Also, I'm definitely going to have to check out those Digimon loops, especially since I had an idea for Apple Bloom replacing Izzy. Best to make sure someone else hasn't done it first...
EDIT: Ow. Never mind. That's what I get for assuming the writing would be on par with yours...
3133031
I'll take that as a compliment.
In all seriousness, the humour is perfectly serviceable (and there's a fair variety in crossover location, I've not seen a Loop which goes to Valdemar before)... but yeah, could do with SPAG.
Would this school loop be "Equestria Girls" but she was so hammered it came out as "Ekw"?
3133994
No.
It's Eiken.
This is, in Loops meta-canon, the Loop that the administrators send you if you've seriously screwed up. Your powers don't work there, and otherwise, well, it's Eiken. (Look it up. Or don't, depending on if you're underage - which should tell you roughly what it is anyway.)
Eiken is a very tacky series. Juvenile. I saw through roughly half an episode before dropping it. Bigguns can be good sometimes, but there's just nothing else there to keep any interest.
Twilight raises a good point there. A lot of Groundhog Day stories reach a point where the main character lose all empathy for other people and what happens to them, since the pawns, so to speak, just get put back on the board afterwards. Having any kind of true company for it would be a blessing.
3134535
Eiken is a punishment Loop for a reason. It's a place nobody wants to spend ANY time.
(MLP Gen 2, Gen 3 and wherever the hell those baby toys are supposed to come from are some more MLP Loop specific punishment Loops.)
And yes - when I stitched that Loop together from the contributions, I tried to make clear how Twilight at this point is very powerful and hence could be a very alien being - it's her friends that mean she's just stressed, rather than no longer caring about what happens to others.
(Though anything non permanent is fair game - it's better for all involved if Twilight works off her stress by doing things like graffiti-ing the moon, rather than going all Lesson Zero and crashing the moon.)
3134016 By "don't have your powers" do you mean everything, even the stuff they are born with or just the stuff they picked up on the way?
3134718
Absolutely nothing supernatural - at least, for the Loopers - for some time. Basically, for most Loops your powers (magic, chakra, chi, ki, whatever) all boot up instantly. In Eiken, you're limited to what a normal human of your type could pull off without special physical training or supernatural aid, for some time after Loop initiation. (This is widely believed to be a sadistic punishment, but they can't quite confirm it.)
Other, non Awake characters have their powers just fine. This can and does lead to the unfortunate Anchor being chased around the entire campus by Zaraki Kenpachi.
So if a character who isn't one of the Mane 6 grows/is redeemed/ or learns something, there is a chance they will wake up. So far we've seen Trixie, Diamond Tiara, and now Gilda. Makes me wonder if Lightning Dust will wake up if she finally gets what Rainbow is trying to teach her.
3135872
Generally Awakening is partly a function of how close the character and the Anchor (or one of the well established loopers) have grown, though it is by no means deterministic.
3137511
Oh, I get it. So if RD does get LD to open up and get close, LD could wake up. Gilda makes sense since they were childhood friends.
I wonder why Granny Smith isn't awake then.
3138178
Not that I'm favor or against, but It'd suck for Granny, looping in such an old body.
3149522
Not that I'm aware of. Where?
Great loop's. Than again so far they've all been great.
Is this a Terry Pratchett reference?
you know what id like to see, twilights first conversion bureau loop
"DOUBLE RAINBOOM ALL THE WAY!" -ACROSS THE SKY!
25.9 is by far the best one yet.
The duplication loop must have been fun, Two Rainbow Dashes and Two Pinkie Pies... Oh Celestia we're all screwed. Twilight finally graduated. Awesome.
Princess Celestia's Home for Clinically Insane Weather.
YES. /)
Well, I am sure Twi appreciated that.
Not sure if it's happened in the subsequent 100-ish chapters, but I'd love to see some more Baby Cakes looping. Gotta wonder how long they (one or both) have been looping for.
or
5280152 The Baby Cakes are not looping.
Epic ownage!
Flutters makes a really good druid.
*stares at the Pinkie and Rainboom portions of 25.8* Nope, nope, all the nope.
reminds me of a silly story "Anything but the Gala".
hums the Digimon theme song
Edit: also, yay Gilda!
7644030
Could you give me a link to that story it sounds interesting?
Oh my god the fluff of the last one I WANT TO CRY
I'm also honestly surprised that it's touched upon the insanity at this point when there's so much more for me to read...
... Have we had any serial killer/horror loops yet? .. Maybe I've just read too many horrorfics..
8545844
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/304836/anything-but-the-gala