Loops 85
85.1 (Bigou)
This loop started exactly like any baseline loop, letting Twilight think it effectively was one. That changed soon after defeating Nightmare Moon.
The exact instant princess Celestia landed on the floor of her old castle, Fluttershy became a yellow and pink blur before tackle-hugging the white alicorn, while releasing a deafening cry of "MOM!"
As soon as this traditional royal Canterlot cry was released, Rarity did the same with her consciousness, Applejack and Rainbow chose to do the same with their lower jaws, letting Pinkie sitting there, muttering something about a "happy family reunion", her eyes full of joyful tears.
During all that, the purple anchor looked back and forth between the royal group and the rest of her friends, trying to process what was happening and decide the proper way to react. Eventually, she decided that Rarity was the one who knew how to do so properly: By fainting.
When Twilight regained consciousness, she was in her Ponyville bedroom, with a vague memory of a wired dream. Something about Fluttershy being Princess Celestia's daughter. Her thoughts were answered by a timid but familiar voice. "It wasn't a dream, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia really IS my mother." She must have thought that out loud.
Hearing that, the purple anchor burst out laughing. "Nice one, Fluttershy! You almost got me, there!" But the kind pegasus seemed to be saddened by those words. "It's not a prank, is it." Hiding behind her mane, the shy friend shook her head from left to right and back.
An awkward silence filled the room.
"I understand if… If you don't want to be my friend anymore. But please Twilight Sparkle, promise me to never say to anyone else who is my mother." Finally voiced Fluttershy.
"Why wouldn't I be friend with you? Six ponies were needed to defeat Nightmare Moon. Six friends, and you are one of them," The unicorn assured. "But I admit, I still have a hard time believing you're related to Princess Celestia. It still look so surreal to me. I mean… Who else have a reality shattering secret? Is Pinkie Pie my long lost imaginary friend?"
As if on cue, a book unnoticed until then suddenly burst open, liberating confetti, streamers and a certain party pony. Said equine shouting "I AM?!?", her face full of panic.
85.2 (Crisis)
Twilight considered the current variant of Fluttershy to be rather intriguing. She was still a soft-spoken mare who loved all animals, but this Loop her Unawake friend was actually rather proactive about finding good homes for the numerous pet hopefuls that hung around her cottage. And the match-ups were often interesting in and of themselves.
Honestly, Twilight was rather surprised that it had taken Fluttershy this long to try and match her up. Even more surprising was her choice of pet for Twilight.
Generally speaking, a rabbit wasn't her style.
"Fluttershy," she tried to think of how to gently tell her friend that this wouldn't work, "I know you mean well, but I'm not really the rabbit type. I'm sure he's great, and cuddly, and..."
Twilight looked the lapine in the eye. She couldn't help herself. It was like a mental itch she had to scratch.
"And adorable! But I have papers to write and studies to..." She looked again. Was it just her or did looking at the rabbit give her ideas? That spot on his left ear generated a desire to look up genetics research and how it translated into pony coat colors this Loop. Why did closely related ponies often have wildly varying colorations? "And why does he seem to be giving me all the inspiration I suddenly have to work on?"
"That's what he does," Fluttershy smiled gently. "He's a plot bunny. His name's Fluffy."
'Of course it is,' Twilight mentally rolled her eyes. 'Still, that's one heck of an ability. I'd love to know how it works...'
85.3 (Crisis)
"Momma?" Nyx grinned widely. "Can you tell me again how I ended up being born this Loop?"
Twilight grumbled, causing Nyx to grin even wider, before protesting. "You've heard it dozens of times now! You could probably recite it in your sleep!"
"Not like you!" Nyx wheedled. "I can't help it if it gets better every time you tell it!"
"You just want to hear me say 'Stupid sexy Nightmare Moon' again, don't you?" Twilight accused her daughter.
"Only in the proper context!" Nyx clarified happily.
"....." Twilight stared at Nyx for a moment. "In anyone ever tries to tell you you're not my daughter, buck 'em in the face."
85.4 (Masterweaver)
Scootaloo walked into the library with a wide grin. "Oh hey, Nyx. Mind if I'm your adopted sister this loop?"
"...Not... really, no." A pair of slitted eyes peered from over the top of a book. "Can I ask why?"
"Oh, Dash isn't Awake," the pegasus casually explained, pulling out the proper forms and tossing them on the table. "And quite frankly, I want to move out of my progenitors' house immediately."
Nyx eyed Scootaloo's smile warily. "I take it they were too abusive to consider even calling them parents this loop?"
"Eeeeeyup."
"...you extracted a horrible vengeance, didn't you."
Scootaloo shrugged. "All I did was explain the loops and... demonstrate. They're still alive. Their house is still standing. They'll only need two, three months of therapy, tops."
The alicorn sighed. "Pansy, did you hold her back at least?"
Against my better judgement.
"...that's something, at least."
85.5 (LordCirce)
Twilight had just stepped down into Ponyville when she was almost bowled over by a white blur. She spun around, and had just enough time to recognize Angel Bunny before he dashed around a corner. A second later, Rainbow Dash shot past Twilight as well, her wings skimming Twilight's mane as she too shot around the corner. Twilight stared, looking a bit frazzled, as Fluttershy slowly made her way over.
"Hello Twilight. Sorry about Angel, he and Dash are still finishing their game of tag."
Twilight blinked. "Wha? Wasn't that several Loops ago? I know they have both Looped since then."
Fluttershy shrugged. "Apparently they were tied at the end of the Loop, and Dash forgot about it because she had that run in with Kirk the next Loop. Angel picked up a new trick in a Fused Loop and brought the game up again."
Twilight nodded vaguely as a hole formed itself in the road a short distance away and Angel shot out, twisting between Twilight's legs to dive into a bush off to the side. Dash then shot past over head, before twisting and diving into a nearby cart.
"Aha!" Dash shouted before shooting out of the cart and into the sky. "I've got the lead!"
Angel jumped out of the cart (how had he gotten there from the bush?), and tapped his foot on the ground. Another hole opened up and Angel shot into it, before it sealed behind him.
85.6 (Vulpine Fury)
Her Majesty Celestia, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith looked down at the head of her Intelligence service this Loop. "M, what has 007 been up to this week?"
"Well, he seems to have talked your sister down from her Moon Cult World Domination plan ... in his usual way."
Queen Celestia couldn't decide between an exhausted sigh and a fit of giggles that hadn't been proper for her since the previous monarch had abdicated.
85.7 (Masterweaver)
"...and so, in conclusion, my client feels that representation in the legal system is a necessity for his people and moral imperative for ponies everywhere."
Celestia blinked at the brown mare. Part of her recalled that she was from Ponyville which, according to the letters she had received from her faithful student, was abundantly odd. But this...
"I apologize, but I'd just like to clarify. You want me to grant citizenship to rabbits?"
The mare shook her head. "No, your majesty, my client wants you to grant citizenship to bunnies. I personally don't agree with his views--"
That earned her a light smack from the rabbit on her head.
"--but I am obligated, as mayor of Ponyville, to petition for this motion as it has received a three-citizen recommendation and passed two thirds majority vote in the city council." She pulled a sheaf of paperwork from her saddlebags. "I've already assembled a preliminary outline for the legal framework, if you would care to analyze it?"
Celestia took the papers and flipped through them. "...hmm. I... will have to check with parliament, of course, but I cannot find anything objectionable in this. I'll put it on the itinerary."
"...and that was the start of the Glorious Reformation," Cheerilee concluded. "It would take a few months, but now we all give thanks to the wonderful nation we live in, reigned by Princess Celestia and Prince Angel."
Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "What about Princess Luna?"
"Oh, she decided to abdicate and move to the griffon lands. Nopony is quite sure why..."
85.8(misterq)
Anakin was bored. He had awoken in his Darth Vader armor while walking down the shuttle ramp onto the Death Star hanger bay, far too late to save Padme, the Jedi younglings, or the rest he had hunted down. Fortunately, his abilities with the force were useful in stabilizing himself so he did not stumble as he walked. Frankly, he was getting a little tired of baseline loops. Never one for much patience, Anakin wondered how the other anchors dealt with the weight of everything occurring exactly the same, over and over a countless amount of times.
He was wondering what entertaining changes he could make to this timeline when the first of the glitches started. Lights started flickering, systems went into maintenance loops, droids were acting a bit more erratically, and brief intervals of music was piped through the intercom. Even using the force, Anakin wasn't able to clearly detect the cause. He did get the vague impression that the force was happily blowing a raspberry at him, but that was a ridiculous concept. Right?
Definitely not a baseline loop, then. Although he didn't show it outwardly, Anakin was secretly amused. Despite the glitches, everything else continued as it always did, right up until Tarkin ordered the destruction of Alderaan in front of Leia. He was about to countermand that order as he had done in every loop where he had the power to do so, when a cupcake suddenly flew out of nowhere and hit him in the back of the helmet. He stooped and picked it up off the floor, noticing how it had the words 'Let it fire' written on it in frosting. As soon as he held the sugary treat, Anakin was also immersed in the force; enveloped in a sense of giddy serenity and a feeling of everything working out just fine.
Everyone on the bridge waited to see his reaction, but Darth Vader just stood there in silence, awkwardly holding a dented cupcake.
Tarkin cleared his throat, "Carry on."
The beams were reddish and stuttering as they converged on the output of the main superlaser, which was also reddish in color. Then the blast lashed out at the planet.
Anakin waited. So did Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia. So did the entire bridge crew of the Death Star.
The planet floated serenely in space, completely intact.
"Sir!" exclaimed a communication technician, "We're getting reports from the surface. Apparently, it's raining down confetti and balloons throughout the planet. And, er, everyone down there is now wearing a silly party hat."
Tarkin blinked, "A.. silly party hat?"
The technician double checked the report, "Yes.. yes, sir."
"I think I know whom we are dealing with," under his mask, Anakin smiled, thinking, 'At least this loop will be anything but boring.'
"Was it me!?" a high pitched voice sounded as a girl dropped from the ceiling, did a lazy flip, and landed lightly on her feet. She had curly reddish hair and was wearing something that could only be called a combat cocktail dress, "Was I the one you were thinking of?"
"Pinkie Pie," Anakin stated and took a step back, trying to remember everything he knew of this particular looper. The force was decidedly strange with her. Instead of feeling direct and straightforward like most Jedi or furtive and greedy like most Sith, Pinkie felt like a mobeus strip stuffed in a klein bottle filled with syrup. Anakin stopped trying to delve deeper when the headache started.
"Guards!" Was the only thing Tarkin was able to get out before Pinkie waved a hand in his direction.
"Your arm is now a lollipop!" she chirped.
And Grand Moff Tarkin, one of the most powerful men in the Empire; dropped his blaster, sat down on the floor, and started licking up and down his forearm while making moaning happy sounds. Anakin put up his hand to halt any other actions by the stormtroopers and other imperials.
"You're here to save me, Master Jedi?" Leia looked away from her former captor's disturbing actions and asked with optimism.
"Silly, I'm a person of impulse and emotion. Just because my personal goals involve making others happy, doesn't mean I don't pursue them with every fiber of my being," Pinkie Pie giggled, "In other words, who ever said I was a Jedi?"
She was suddenly holding two activated lightsabers at her sides - both beams were the same color as her hair. Even with his mastery of the force, Anakin didn't even see her move. Then just to make sure, Pinkie's wild hair moved on it's own. A few moments later, her forelock was wrapped around a third ignited lightsaber. There was only one thing Anakin could think of doing now.
Darth Vader walked up to the small pink haired girl and looked down at her for a moment. Then he knelt, "What is thy bidding, my mistress?"
Pinkie Pie smiled wider, "Let's get my new Party Star moving! We have a whole galaxy to cheer up with my super duper party cannon and time's a wasting!"
85.9(TheCentauress)
Twilight Awoke surprisingly comfortably in a human form, sitting in a familiar seat.
Well, familiar, as in she had seen in before.
The main seat of the Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701, the Original.
The surroundings, however.... they had seen better days. Much better days. The lighting was dim an flickering, where the alert panels we not illuminating; the consoles looked like someone had loosed Discord on them, telling him they held his presents.
And the display screen in front of her... holy ironwood! ... displayed an image that would scar her memories, FOREVER.... A human Pinkie Pie, arming a Genesis Party Device...
As reality went Neon Rave, she seriously wondered if anyone could stop the Celebration Arms Race...
85.10 (Vulpine Fury)
"As usual did Twilight Sparkle wake
On riverbank, with ancient open tome.
This time a baseline path she chose to take
And settle in her familiar home.
The Purple Smart fled swift to turret dome
And sought her stalwart friends by Looper Ping.
The swift reply of Loyal Polychrome,
The Mare Profound of Thought and Swift of Wing,
Whose awesome deeds resound amongst each living thing..."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Laying it on a bit thick there, aren't you Dash?"
The blue pegasus harrumphed and replied:
"There once was a mare with unusual curse:
She'd make every statement in verse.
'Cause her friends, they did choose
A learning foible to abuse.
I can't see how her day can go worse!"
Twilight smirked. "I'm not the one who tried to trip Zecora up with 'silver' and 'orange.' I think it shows a bit of class on her part that you have to use poetic forms and not just doggerel."
Rainbow Dash grumbled.
"I'm thankful haiku
Doesn't necessarily
Have to be rhyméd."
85.11 (Daniel H)
It was the day before the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, and Spike and Twilight were going over the standard checklist. As was traditional for times when they were both Awake and the other baseline Element bearers weren't, they discussed their recent separate Loops in between meeting their friends. Twilight finished telling Spike about the difficulties the new Loopers seemed to be facing (Vinyl had experienced yet another "first Loop"; Derpy had regained another set of unAwake memories and asked if she could fly in the Equestria Games qualifying round again) on the way to check on the decorations, so when the meeting with Rarity was done, Spike started telling the stories of some of his recent Fused Loops where Twilight hadn't been present.
Any Looper can speak practically any language found in any world if they've gone through enough Loops. Some of them, such as English and Japanese, can usually be learned within a handful of Fused Loops; others, like Klingon, are a bit rarer. On the whole, though, if you meet a Looper who's able to store anything larger than a language textbook in their subspace pocket, chances are they don't actually need that textbook. In this case, Spike was telling Twilight about a recent Middle Earth Loop, and it was natural to use mostly Westron with the occasional sentence in one of the other Mannish or Elvish languages.
It came as a bit of a surprise, therefore, when a voice suddenly sounded out "Are you a baby dragon?! I've never seen a baby dragon before! Is this Smaug you were talking about also a dragon?"
Apparently, baseline Fluttershy's ability to understand all sorts of creatures extended to those who were speaking languages which didn't even exist in Equestria.
85.12 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
Heartstring's Eleven
It was another variant loop, this time located in Las Pegasus. Things were vastly different here, but it was definitely Equestria. Some differences included it was always night time, the Lunar Solstice had replaced the Summer Sun Celebration and Rarity was part of the Canterlot elite. Nightmare Moon herself was something different almost altogether. Even though her night has lasted for a thousand years, she had taken steps to preserve Equestria, such as controlling the heating and cooling of the two sides of the planet and magically imbued plants with the ability to grow in moonlight.
Twilight was letting Lyra run the show this time to ease her into these odder loop variations. Besides, Lyra was the one who approached Twilight with a plan to save Equestria and Twilight thought her plan was interesting. Eleven loopers including Lyra and Twilight total had gathered in Rarity's private mansion on the edge of the city, all in various states of resting positions around the pool and lawn. Lyra and Twilight approached the group, calling them all to attention. Lyra greeted everyone, "Mares, welcome to Las Pegasus. Before we get started, what we're about to do is highly dangerous, but something new we haven't done before. If you already have plans for this loop, help yourself to whatever food," pointing to the apple fritters, daisy sandwiches and countless confections provided by Pinkie's poolside party, "you like and please go enjoy the loop to your hearts' content. Otherwise, come with us."
The two mares did a 180 and went into the mansion. The gathered loopers rose slowly and trotted into the building. Once inside, Lyra called on her magic, activating a projector screen, "Ponies, I give you the 3000 block of Las Pegasus Boulevard, otherwise known as the Ponyville, the Mirage and the NMM Grand. Together, they are the three most profitable casinos in Las Pegasus, but also known to house the Elements of Harmony."
The screen shifted to that of six stone orbs in circular pattern surrounding a tarp covered pony sized object in the center of the room. Lyra trotted from left to right, "This is the vault at the Ponyville, located below the strip, beneath 200 feet of solid earth. It is where the elements of Harmony have been housed for this loop. And we're going to rob it."
She paused for a second, "Ok, this loop is mostly bad news, the casino houses a security system that rivals most hub world's nuclear missile silos-"
Rainbow Dash waved nonchalantly, "Big deal, just have Twilight teleport inside and steal the elements as always...in fact I'll just summon mine."
She concentrated for a second as an Element of Loyalty materialized around her neck. Twilight gave her a scathing look, "Dash!"
Dash looked at Twilight who gestured at Lyra. The musical pony and part time thief was looking down at the floor, with a mournful expression on her face. Dash rubbed the back of her mane, "Uh, actually this would be a bit too easy. Need to challenge myself, so what's the plan Lyra?"
She brightened up almost immediately as Dash sent her element away. Chrysalis, resting against Trixie, raised her hoof, "Quick question, why is Nightmare Moon running a casino in Las Pegasus anyway? For that matter, why Las Pegasus?"
Lyra flinched a bit, then shifted the slide back to the vault, "See that tarp covered object in the center of the room? It's not covering money or jewels, it's housing the sleeping form of Celestia, sealed in stone. Every year, she likes to gloat over her victory on the night of the Lunar Solstice, AKA the Summer Sun Celebration and put Celestia on display for 24 hours under close guard. Every year, it's in Las Pegasus since it was the site of Celestia's defeat. As for a casino, Twilight and I think she does it for fun. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess."
Another image of the casino floor replaced the vault, "First, we have to get within the casino cages which takes more than a smile, sorry Fluttershy."
Fluttershy seemed a bit abashed as Lyra continued, "Next, through a set of doors requiring a six-digit code which is changed every day. After that comes the elevator, which won't move without authorized hoofprint identification-"
Twilight sighed, "Which we can't fake, not even with a Changeling's disguise."
Lyra nodded, "And voice print identification from both the security system within the Ponyville and the vault below-"
"Which we won't get."
Lyra continued, "Furthermore, the elevator shaft is lined with thaumatic detection sensors as well as motion sensors linked to an anti-magic field generator within the elevator itself as well as automatic brakes and door locks."
Twilight explained, "Meaning if we tried forcing the elevator to the bottom by magic, physical force or computer override, the elevator will be locked down automatically, and we'd be trapped within."
"Once we get down the shaft though, It's easy. Just have to slip by two golem sentries whose destruction will result in the Vault going boom, several more anti-magic field generators located within the hallway walls, and the most elaborate vault ever conceived by ponykind. Any questions?"
Gilda raised her talons, "Why don't we just smash through the vault and fly them out that way? Or tunnel under the vault?"
Twilight sighed again, "The vault is rigged with explosives to destroy the elements, followed by an incinerator to melt the dust remaining into glass by either remote activation or when the Gollems are destroyed. If it appears someone will succeed stealing the elements and Celestia, the vault is detonated immediately. We can't tunnel, since she has motion sensors that can detect the earth shifting from 100 yards. If Angel Bunny were to build a home under the casino, Nightmare would know."
A blue pony raised her hand, "Trixie has a question. Say we get into the cage and past the security doors. Then, down the elevator we can't move, past the guards we can't destroy and past the vault we can't open-"
Twilight blinked and added quickly, "Without being seen by the security cameras."
Lyra rubbed the back of her mane, "Oh yeah, the entire casino is rigged with cameras covering every nook and cranny of the building with special attention paid to watching the vault hallway and vault very closely. Every camera can also see through the use of magic so illusions won't do us too much good."
Trixie nodded, "Yes, say we get past all that. We're supposed to just walk out of there with Statue Celestia and the Elements completely unopposed?"
There was a moment's pause before Lyra spoke with complete confidence, "Yes."
The magician grinned. "Trixie likes this plan. When do we begin?"
85.13 (Hubris Plus, DrTempo & yannoshka)
Sunset Shimmer stumbled as she Awoke mid-step, distantly wondering where she'd ended up this time. She'd been to so many worlds, lived so many lives, and, though she wouldn't trade away the friends she'd made for anything, she was beginning to grow homesick. It had gotten to the point that she'd grown more used to walking on two legs than four and she wasn't certain she'd be able to recognize her own face in the mirror.
"Right, first things first," she muttered, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Examining a new body was a habit she'd picked up all the way back in Kingdom Hearts, where her form was liable to change any time she set foot on a new world. "Biped, feels female. Oh, fingers, fingers are good," she added, waggling her digits. She'd quite gotten to like fingers over the course of her adventures.
She paused as she caught sight of her reflection in a pane of glass, turning to examine herself in full.
"Unusual pigmentation," she continued with growing excitement as she saw the pale orange of her skin, raising a hand to double check that it wasn't a trick of the light. "And the hair!" She enthused as she tugged a lock of bright red hair streaked with yellow into her line of sight. Finally, she caught sight of the trophies on the other side of the glass.
'Canterlot High Gymnastics Team
, she read.
"I'm home!" She shouted, pumping both fists into the air, only to realize that the hum of conversation around her had cut out entirely. Turning slowly, she found the entire student body staring at her incredulously.
"Nope," she declared. "Still happy. I'm home!" She said again, tugging the nearest teen into a hug.
"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked, "that's, um, nice?"
"Yes. Yes it is," Sunset answered, releasing the trembling girl. "I'll explain everything later," she went on, manifesting her Keyblade. "For now I have a friend to meet, a planet to save, and amends to make!"
Running out into the courtyard, she levelled the blade at the portal at the base of the statue, and twisted. With a click that thrummed through the very fabric of reality, the gate to Equestria was opened and she darted through.
"THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!"
Twilight Sparkle, as was usual for the baseline Loops, was facing Nightmare Moon. She was intending to more or less handle things as per usual. She'd checked, and was the only one Awake. As Nightmare Moon finished her usual speech, a cloaked figure(Twilight noticed the cloak looked like those the group known as Organization XIII wore in the Kingdom Hearts Loops) slammed into the corrupted alicorn, and then opened a portal, tossing Nightmare Moon in, jumping through after that. Twilight was confused.
"What the...."
Twilight took a few minutes, and sensed where the strange figure had taken Nightmare Moon. Quickly hiding somewhere, she entered alicorn form, and teleported to where she'd sensed the corrupted Luna. She found herself in the middle of nowhere..somewhere near where the Diamond Dogs lived, if she recalled correctly. As Twilight arrived, the cloaked figure summoned what she knew to be a Keyblade. The guard looked like a sun setting in the distance, while the blade itself looked like a Keyblade usually did. The teeth and keychain had the exact same look...
Sunset Shimmer's cutie mark. "Sunset? Is that.."
The cloaked figure removed her hood, revealing the face of a pony she never expected to see. She smiled, and said a phrase Twilight remembered from so long ago.
"I have been, and always shall be, your friend. And I did enjoy seeing those last moments together." Twilight was in tears. She never imagined this moment'd come...That Shimmer would ever truly Awaken.
Sunset then yelled, "Now go..Get the Elements of Harmony. I'll keep her busy! MOVE IT!" Twilight nodded, and quickly teleported off.
Nightmare Moon looked at Sunset Shimmer, and asked, "Who are you to stand in my way?" Growling, Sunset Shimmer said, "I am the morning sun, and I have come to vanquish this horrible night!" Nightmare Moon, in response, laughed manically. "Please..like YOU could stop me with that silly sword!"
Shimmer smirked. "You know, I was like you in a way once. I craved power. I wanted to be like Celestia..become a Princess. Now... I know I don't deserve that sort of power. I didn't even have an idea on what I'd do after I became a Princess! I'd thought I was being held unfairly from power I thought I deserved. Man, was I such a foalish mare!"
Nightmare Moon said, "And your point?"
Sunset raised a hoof, as if to tell Nightmare Moon to be quiet, replying, "I was getting to it. As I read once, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' I wasn't responsible enough to handle that kind of power." Sunset frowned. "Look at you...You got jealous of your sister, and instead of talking it out, you went insane! Sisters aren't like that."
The corrupted alicorn laughed. "Like she'd listen."
Sunset shook her head. "I can't believe I was like you once."
Nightmare Moon chuckled manically in response. "And you think a mere unicorn can stop me?"
Sunset focused a spell, and took on a humanoid form, much like the one she usually had in the world beyond the mirror. "I am not an ordinary unicorn. I am Keyblade Master Sunset Shimmer. And I'm the one who will show you the light!" Taking up a stance, she smirked.
"OK.... LET'S DANCE!"
The two charged at each other, and the fight began in earnest.
Twilight teleported her fellow Element bearers back to where she'd left Sunset Shimmer, now equipped with the Elements of Harmony.
As she saw Sunset Shimmer fight, she had to admit; she was impressed. She noticed moves she'd seen from many a Looper. She also could turn her Keyblade into various forms, like a whip, gauntlets, and other forms; Shimmer's style seemed very adaptable. Twilight noticed that it didn't seem as if Shimmer had truly mastered one kind of fighting style, like the other Loopers had over the Loops. She seemed to prefer anything that worked, but she did seem more comfortable with using her Keyblade, though.
"AND STAY DOWN!" Sunset landed a powerful blast of light on Nightmare Moon, who looked dazed. Seeing Twilight nearby, Sunset yelled, "DO IT! Free Luna from this madness!"
Twilight nodded, and the Elements' power awakened...
Sunset and Twilight hugged; the former was back in her unicorn form, and the two had just talked to Celestia, where Sunset humbly apologized for her sins.
Twilight quickly asked, "How did you get past the mirror?"
Sunset chuckled, like the question was as easy to answer as two plus two. "I used my Keyblade on the mirror; it opened the portal up early. When I came through, I kinda realized Nightmare Moon'd arrived, and I knew what I had to do." Twilight's next question was the obvious one.
"Where did you learn all of that stuff you used?"
"I've been in a LOT of Fused Loops.And I mean a LOT. A few dozen, at LEAST...met each of the original Loopers too. My third Loop was a Kingdom Hearts Fused Loop, with me in Riku's place." Twilight grimaced. She'd heard what'd happened to Riku in baseline..that'd definitely humble Sunset.
Sunset continued, "It was my third Loop, actually....Can't remember if the Loop where you told me about the Loops happened first, or the one where I acted like the first time you went through the mirror did. My memory was so jumbled, I thought the memories of who I was in that first Fused Loop were the real thing, and everything else...Simple dreams."
"So, who gave you the speech about the Multiverse? Sora?"
Sunset shook her head. "Nope. Mickey did..right after Castle Oblivion." She removed a book from her subspace pocket. "Here..a journal of all I've been through. I'm finally home...." Sunset sniffed, and then said, "Let's go meet your friends, OK?"
Twilight smiled, glad a friend she thought she'd never see was back. "Yeah..Let's go."
At last, Sunset Shimmer was home.
85.14 (Zetrein)
The four Crusaders woke up in a lecture hall, all of them robe wearing unicorns. Applebloom wore a green robe, Scootaloo wore blue, Sweetie Belle wore white, and Nyx wore purple. Standing behind the teacher's desk, a similarly robe wearing Twilight Sparkle was speaking to them.
"Good morning." She greeted them. "I am the senior tutor of the University, Twilight Sparkle, and I am not an alicorn." Following that oddly specific denial, she continued. "You have been chosen to travel to Canterlot, and aid The Princess in the defense of the great capital city.
So, a quick briefing before you go:
Luna is gone.
Monsters roaming the lands.
The Princess in need of your aid!
I am Twilight Sparkle, not an alicorn.
You must go to Canterlot.
Class dismissed. Have fun saving the kingdom!" She waved at them, prior to teleporting away.
The sudden silence that followed was broken by Sweetie Belle. "Please tell me you're all Awake?"
"Eeyup." Applebloom replied.
"Why do I feel oddly desensitized to death? Scootaloo chimed in.
"Maybe because our loop memories tell us Trixie would be a paragon of safety around these parts?" Nyx let her head fall to her desk. "Oh cypress, and Mom isn't Awake yet either."
After pulling themselves together, they went down to join their "Saving the World" party, already in progress. The mage that greeted them, Shamrock according to their loop memories, had just finished telling them about a tragic cheese shortage, when somepony else walked up, said... something, and the floor underneath them exploded.
"Are you alright down there?" Shamrock peered down on them. "You just try and find your way out of the dungeon, while we board this up." As soon as he finished saying that, planks started being laid across the hole.
As Shamrock finished saying something about bananas, the light from above shut off completely. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom and torchlight, they noticed a convenient rack of staves and swords.
"Convenient rack of weapons, and what looks like a tutorial dungeon." Nyx nodded to herself. "It's official girls, we're in a game-loop."
A quick teleport and a few flights of stairs later, the Crusaders decided to forego the party, and simply get underway. Taking their farewell gift of some spells, the four trekked onward.
Aside from the old mage examining a dead moose, and swiftly clearing out a rat infestation in some farmer's celler, it was oddly quiet. They were beginning to think they'd missed something at the party, or maybe left too soon, when goblins attacked.
When negotiations broke down, which was an impressive eight seconds in, the four of them took a brief huddle in the middle of a shield spell. After concluding their discussion, they came out, spells flying.
Scootaloo ran up to her friends, after the troll that had killed the guard captain finally went down. "Ohmygosh, is Nyx okay? I saw she was on fire, then she went in front of my beam, and vanished! Is she okay?!"
The other two Crusaders didn't say anything, Applebloom pointing at the red streak on the ground, while Sweetie Belle seemed to be in shock.
"Oh. Oh... Twilight's gonna kill me." Scootaloo held her head in her hooves. "Then she's gonna wait for the loop to reset, and kill me again. Then Nyx is gonna kill me. My seemingly infinite life is over for the short term."
"Hey now, Nyx voted for playing the game too. We could have gone past this, but she wanted to give the loop a try, just like we did." Applebloom turned to the remaining Crusader. "Back me up here, Sweetie? Um, Sweetie Belle? You okay?"
Sweetie Belle hadn't moved her eyes away from Nyx's... sorta-corpse. Shakily lifting her staff in her magic, she began to cast a spell they'd been given before leaving the University.
"L-Life. Lightning." With a splat, the end of her staff landed in the smear, green and purple orbs orbiting the end as she cast, "Revive!"
The sun seemed to shine a bit brighter through the trees, the wind picked up, and the world seemed to fall silent, as they all held their breaths. Their friend however, did not revive.
Putting a hoof on her shoulder, Applebloom tried to console Sweetie Belle. "You tried, Sweetie, but we might just have to accept Nyx is gonna get back-"
"I don't feel so good." A voice behind them interrupted her. Turning, they saw Nyx, alive and well, complete with an intact purple robe. Also, oddly enough, a new staff and sword, in spite of her previous set still being on the ground.
"You're okay!" Scootaloo hit Nyx in a tackle-hug. "The spell worked! You're okay! My life isn't over!" She continued to gush as she held her friend.
Well, her friend's body, at any rate. Unfortunately for both ponies involved, a tackle-hug inflicts a single point of damage, and fresh from being revived, Nyx only had one hit point.
Another panic attack, and revive spell, later, and the four of them akwardly stood over a dead Nyx. The living Nyx also came with an untarnished robe, and new staff and sword.
Scootaloo once again broke the silence. "So... can we not tell Twilight about how I killed her daughter? Twice? In a ten minute time period?"
And so, our young and bold wizards set forth on their quest. Guiding them through the perils of the world was the charmingly beautiful Twilight Sparkle, who is by no means an alicorn! As they approached the Everfree Forest, it became clear there was evil afoot.
85.13 continued
“So... where did you go?” Twilight asked. “I mean, you said you had a lot of fused loops...”
Sunset nodded. “I feel like I've been... well, everywhere. I almost certainly haven't, but...” She broke off, and pointed to the book lying on the table. “I kept a journal. Remember? Maybe... maybe it'd be better if you read it first.”
Twilight twitched, as though she'd started to move but thought better of it. “May I?”
“Of course.” Sunset nodded, as Twilight picked it up. “That's why I kept it, really. Oh, I might have got the numbering confused a few times. Sorry...”
“You don't need to apologize for that,” Twilight replied. “I've lost count of how many loops I've done.”
She cracked the cover of the book, and began to read.
From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
Entry 1:
My name is....Houka..or is it Sunset Shimmer?....
I remember being born here on Destiny Islands...but also remember being born in a world called Equestria. I remember both talking to a friend named Twilight Sparkle who told me time was looping endlessly, and trying to kill her.
Both seem like a dream now....Anyhow, today, we're building a raft to see the outside world...I can't wait.
Entry 2:
Ever since that day the islands were consumed by darkness, I've been through a lot. First, I found myself in another world; something I'd always wanted to see since I was young....I then met a woman named Maleficent. She seemed arrogant..like I was in those dreams.
But said she'd help give me strength to help my best girl friend, Kairi...OK, I had a crush on Sora...But I knew he loved Kairi.
Maybe out of jealousy, or wanting to do something to help, I let Maleficent teach me a few things. I didn't like her..with a name like THAT, come on, who WOULD trust her? But I had no choice at the time. When I saw Sora again, he had a weapon called a "Keyblade." I was curious about it, and when I had it in my hand, it felt like a part of me.
Maleficent tried to tell me that Sora'd abandoned me, but I knew better. Friends never do that. Still, her gift to control the Heartless-beings of pure darkness-was tempting, but I knew I had to be strong on my own merits. I did in, the end, take the gift, but only to use as a last resort in case I was surrounded.
Then "Ansem", a massively powerful Heartless, possessed me after Sora reclaimed the Keyblade after I somehow claimed it, despite my efforts at not becoming his new body...I still feel used.
After "Ansem" was stopped, as I journeyed through a place called Castle Oblivion to face my darkness by going through my memories, I found myself in a world similar to my dreams of Equestria and Canterlot High. I don't understand why I experienced what I'm sure were dreams at the time, but I went on my journey, nevertheless.
I faced my darkness and accepted it as a part of me, and faced "Ansem" again, and defeated him. Now I await for Sora to awaken as his memories are put back together again...
Entry 3:
Yesterday Mickey, a friend I'd made asked me what was wrong, when he saw something was on my mind. I told him about the dreams I had, and the odd world I'd seen in Castle Oblivion.
His response shocked me.
"So, you're Looping too, huh?"
It was then I learned what the "dreams" I'd had were; memories. They were the real thing: I WAS Sunset Shimmer. That was who I truly was. It explained why my "Dark Mode", the form I'd taken when I harnessed my darkness in my heart to its full power, looked the way it did..it was the form I'd taken when I'd put on the crown that fateful night. Apparently, I'd just begun to experience these Loops, and me having what's called a "Fused Loop" so early on threw my memories off so badly, I couldn't tell the difference in my memories.
And it also explained the odd looks Sora'd given me at first..he was "Looping" as well; in fact he was the "Anchor" for this particular part of the multiverse. Mickey was an Anchor for the "Disney" Loops in general, which were seperate from the Kingdom Hearts Loops(though they did share many similar inhabitants) I was gonna get Sora back for not saying anything when I saw him again. But for now, I need to make sure that meeting does happen.
Entry 4:
I've had to go through a lot, even having to look like "Ansem" when I had to stop Roxas, who had been created when Sora had to free Kairi's heart, so Sora could wake up from his sleep. But when we did meet again, I did give Sora a good talking to. He apologized for it, saying he wasn't sure where I was from and smiled at me, as he always did...Curse that smile of his.
After that, the whole "Mark Of Mastery Exam" business occured, to be sure we'd be ready for Xehanort, the one responsible for all that had occured, when he returned...Sora's gotten used to the darkness by now, so he didn't end up suffering what Mickey told me he did in the baseline. Even I hadn't gone that far back when I was still a jerk. I'd never literally shatter someone's heart like that.
The Xehadorks' faces when Sora leapt up from his seat during our encounter with the True Organization XIII, the group made of Xehanort's other selves, was PRICELESS. They did not expect their little vessel to have gotten past what they'd done to him.
After that, Sora said the Loop usually ended here, but told me that we would meet again someday, and as I held my Keyblade, Shimmering Sunset, in my hand, I smiled.
Sora is a true friend, indeed...
Entry 5:
I Awoke in a bed I didn't recognize. Shouldn't I be home? I frowned, remembering what I'd been through with Sora and Mickey, and what my Keyblade felt like to give me hope...
And then a flash of light, and my Keyblade appeared. How? Then I remembered Mickey saying some things carried over between Loops...Guess this had, as well...
When I see you again, Twilight, I'll definitely have some questions for you. But for now, I have to find out where I am.
Someday, I'll be home again, and then, Twilight..I hope you forgive this fool.
Keychain: Glimmering Sunset
85.15 (Masterweaver)
"...Okay." Twilight rubbed her head, looking at the assembled ponies (and one admin) as she clutched her mug. "Okay, okay okay. So. Vinyl, you... have somehow awoken multiple times."
The unicorn nodded, wincing. "Yeah."
"And we all didn't remember it until just now--"
Sleipner gave an awkward grin. "Yeah, sorry I didn't... warn you, I just noticed a batch of buggy code and fixed it. Didn't realize what was going on..."
"No, it's fine." She took a deep breath and let it out. "I... think that everypony that Woke Up because of Lyra has a few... glitches. Vinyl Awakened several times, Derpy has that--"
"Bright Eyes," Derpy interrupted. "I'm Bright Eyes this loop, Derpy and Ditzy are my triplet sisters... and we're all Awake."
"...right. That, plus you're dreaming." Twilight looked to Sleipner. "That is the proper term, right?"
"I think so... it's not like there's an official lexicon."
"Which brings us to Sunset, who..." She turned to the yellow unicorn. "I'm sorry, but from a purely logical standpoint you shouldn't even be here. You should be on the other side of the mirror!"
"Er... there's something else." Sunset Shimmer rubbed her hooves together awkwardly. "See, back when I was talking to Fluttershy for my... loop therapy, we kind of realized... apparently... weeeeeeeeell, I'm kind of shapeshifted."
Twilight blinked. "But... what?"
"Yeah, for some reason I'm consistently 'cursed' to be a unicorn, and removing that curse gets you a teenage human girl." She smiled shyly. "Great leather coat, though..."
"Right. Right." Twilight looked at her mug, drained it in one gulp, and slammed it down. "Right. To the chalkboard!"
85.16
“Here y' go,” Applebloom announced, putting a sheaf of paper down in front of each of the other Crusaders.
Scootaloo took it and scanned the first page. “It's that time again?”
“Yep.” Applebloom nodded. “Time fer another game of Battleships.”
Silver picked the papers up. “...there's a lot more rules.”
“Well, yeah, 'cause you lot keep finding loopholes.”
“You're one to talk!” Sweetie pointed out. “Who was it who used an SSTO flyer once?”
“No comment.” Applebloom shrugged. “Anyway, there's the rules, get designin'.”
“Hub 1940s timeframe?” Scootaloo checked, then grinned. “Cool. We limited to production models only?”
“Nah, just so long as it was possible with the tech of the time.”
Diamond Tiara coughed. “Silbervogel!”
“Ah said possible. That thing weren't – woulda melted.”
“I assume I'm to check that the rules are followed?” Nyx asked.
“If y'all don't mind.”
“Okay, let's be honest,” Applebloom said, as her blackened 16-inch guns returned to their rest positions. “You were really askin' for it using a ship based on Warspite, Silver.”
“It seemed funny at the time,” Silver admitted. “Less funny now.”
“A ship that unlucky?” Applebloom shook her head. “Only Warspite could hit an uncharted rock in the middle of the Griffin Ocean.”
Silver's reply was cut off as the magazine exploded.
“In all honesty, you probably weren't going to win that one anyway,” Nyx said, as Silver tugged her teleport harness off.
“Well, yeah...” Silver sighed. “I'd thought the Unrotated Projectiles I added might have helped, though. Hey, what did the others go with?”
“Well, Sweetie and Diamond are getting pretty close...”
“Stay still!” Sweetie hissed, as Diamond's ridiculously fast ship did another supple turn, dodging adroitly into the gap between two of her torpedo salvo, and settled down onto a course directly for her.
“Like it?” Diamond asked, over the radio link. “It's a Shimikaze. I thought, I like destroyers, so why not just use a ship which is like four of them at once?”
The hydrophones on Sweetie's Type XXI U-boat reported a loud series of splashes.
“What was that?” she asked. “Sounded like torpedoes to me...”
Diamond's ship was already going evasive. “It was. Ten Long Lances.”
“TEN?” Sweetie spluttered.
“Indeed. I thought I'd keep five tubes loaded just in case.”
Sweetie's hoof was already jammed onto the dive switch. Sadly, the Type XXI was not particularly good at crash-dives.
“Okay, that can't be legal!” Sweetie insisted. “Fifteen Long Lance torpedos?”
Nyx held up a data sheet.
“...huh. They really did build one.” Sweetie scanned it. “HIJMS Shimikaze. That is a ludicrous top speed.”
“Yep.” Silver grinned. “I think 'Bloom's gonna get her comeuppance. Iowas are good, but nowhere near that good.”
“Can Scoots stop her?” Sweetie asked.
Nyx passed over another data sheet.
“Oh, what the hay. How did she...”
“I suspect weather magic was involved,” Nyx said.
“Now, see here, I have something of a dilemma,” Diamond said down the radio link. “I've got twenty-five torps left. So, how many do I use on you?”
“None, 'cause ah'll blow y'all out of the water first,” Applebloom replied lightly. “Hey, stand still for a minute.”
Diamond replied by going to full throttle – a blisteringly fast 39 knots. “Nah. Right, let's go with a full tube strike. Scoots will have to make do with ten.”
As the two ships jostled for position for when Diamond began her run in, something appeared on the horizon.
“...well, I didn't expect that,” Diamond noted, as the Iowa class battleship she'd been contemplating attacking finally exploded under the pounding of a second Bouncing Bomb wave.
“Scootaloo, how the fern did you get Lancasters out here?”
“That'd be telling,” Scootaloo replied cheekily. “Now, 'scuse me, I need to spot another strike.”
“Not if I catch you first,” Diamond promised, turning to face the direction the Lancs had come from.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen,” Diamond said in tones of hushed awe.
The aircraft carrier she was closing in on – very quickly – was utterly enormous. Almost half a mile long, nearly four hundred feet across the beam, and far taller than her own diminutive super-destroyer.
Also, it was made almost entirely out of ice.
“Yeah, I know.” Scootaloo admitted. “But it's still awesome. I'll be with you in just a few minutes, I'm nearly finished spotting my deck strike. How do eighty Mosquitos sound?”
“Like something that'll never get launched,” Diamond replied. Curving Shimikaze out in a long, looping arc, she bored in towards the side of the... well, the iceberg... and launched a full spread of fifteen torpedoes.
“At last!” Scootaloo cheered. “I won for once!”
“Still not sure how you survived that,” Diamond grumbled.
“That's what happens when your hull is forty feet thick,” Scootaloo replied, sticking her tongue out. “Left some impressive craters, though.”
“...all right. Nice one.” Diamond shook her hoof. “I'm impressed you found a loophole in Applebloom's rules, though.”
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Yep, Lyra Definitely broke something. Like, really bad.
Ah I loved the Petriculture Trilogy (I think it was a trilogy at least)
At least I think that is what this is referencing
Magicka loop?
Lyra definitly broke something, so Sunset is Awake, has repented for her actiosn and has spent a lot of fused loops getting skills and hoping to go home. Nice.
I feel like Scoots might've done a loop in Alera . . .
I remember the ice ship! It was from a tv show called "weird wacky experiments from the world wars" or something. Pretty good show.
Thanks on that entire image of that happening- that loop is still making me chuckle. This is where I entirely lost it though.
Well, I love Derpy being a dreamer and having so many cutie mark skills.
Pinkie Pie's philosophy on the Force is several orders of magnitude superior both to Sith and to Jedi.
Yay Sunset!
Sunset is the best.
I wish redeemed Sunset was my girlfriend.
4310307
I thought it was a small reference to The Unexpected Love Life of Dusk Shine
"I have been, and always shall be, your friend. And I did enjoy seeing those last moments together."
Mah eye holes! Theys leakin'!
I knew it would be the Habbakuk.
85.8 =
85.13 = YES.
that ship won't melt for at LEAST a year because it's made of pykrete and would explain how it survived that much damage all at once due to its structure
6758883
That all depends on relative temperature actually. Yes, pycrete is durable, but it's still only ice and paper pulp. Get a few weeks of the right temp, and it'll just become a pile of wet paper pulp.
That's why ships built out of the stuff would only work in severely cold temperatures.
You know what's odd? The Mythbuster's episode that deals with pycrete was just on over the weekend. I watch a lot of Science Channel.
i read a short story on this site where Applebloom accidentally made Zecora choke when she mentioned silver and orange...then put Zecora into a coma when she said she couldn't come up with a rhyme for "Zecora"! then she ran to the library to find a dictionary.
7662178 Flora. That would rhyme quite well. Heck, it's even topical!
"My name is Zecora, I make potions with flora."
I can see AB not knowing that word though, Sweetie's the dictionary after all.
Loop 85. 12: Lunar solstice in summer? I mean, granted it's Nightmare Moon, but I think, even in Equestria, the lunar solstice would mark the first day of winter, not summer, hence the longest night of the year. So, I think something like Winter Moon Festival or something would be better.
85.12: i saw this in a video...in some game, a character you frequently talk to keeps saying he's not a vampire...and of course, at the end, turns out to be one.
85.16 Ah, the Shimakaze. Because the best defense is ludicrous speed and agile maneuvering from behind a literal wall of torpedoes. Seriously, we're lucky Japan only made one of them.
4310678
If you're talking about 85.14, then yes. The end passage would cinch it for anyone who's familiar:
MLP Time Loops-Saphroneth Character Outline
The same one linked before, I'm just really itching for someone to come double check my work. So in other words, ADVERTISEMENT! PLEASE COME LOOK AT WHAT I MADE! I"LL PAY YOU IN SMILES AND FRIENDSHIP!
I got that reference. Nice.
I nearly cried when sunset finally reunited with twilight again
now I'm hoping that fleur and flash will soon loop too
sanity be damned i would love to read this as a full story
“Angel jumped out of the cart (how had he gotten there from the bush?), and tapped his foot on the ground. Another hole opened up and Angel shot into it, before it sealed behind him“
Did Angel do a loop as the Easter bunny
From Rise of the Guardians?
https://youtu.be/aPLiBxhoug0
The old Danny Ocean gambit. Nice.
The trick is to make it look like you're trying to stop the heisters. Splice some dummy footage from a practice vault, pose as a SWAT team, then stash the loot in your gear bags and make it seem like the loot you didn't get is destroyed in a shootout and the loot you did get (a duffel full of stones) is back in their hands. Helps to have someone inside, too. And if you don't understand the big twist... 1, watch Ocean's Eleven, and 2, don't worry, it takes a few hours to understand the twists of an Ocean's film.
9970024
Let me guess; Petriculture?
10250952
Me too.
La meua xiqueta
oh, this reminded me of a crazy story, "a screwed up life". (or was it "It's a screwed up life"?)
that story starts with a random fan somehow turning into Screwball, WITH some of Discord's magic, and discovering she's also Diamond Tiara's SISTER.
their mother was VERY nasty, BUT Screwball thinks she HAS to, well, follow what THIS story calls "baseline", so she puts up with it until the scene when the CMC get their cutie-marks, THEN gets her father to divorce her.