183.1 (Evilhumour)
Twilight looked at her house and sighed; the room where her daughter usually slept in empty and bare.
"Are you okay, miss Sparkle?" Glimmering Dreams, her in loop assistant, asked as she used her magic to shelf the books. Glimmering was a common looking unicorn mare, a light yellow coat with a soft baby blue mane and a stack of books for a cutie mark. Her husband, a rugged green stallion, was a hired hoof on Applejack's farm and he was a kind enough stallion, by what Twilight saw when he stopped by for their lunch dates. It was really cute, she had to admit.
"Yes yes, it is just..." Twilight sighed again, going back to work with organizing her library. "My daughter left home with her husband and I–"
"Empty nest syndrome?" Glimmering offered, raising an eyebrow with a light smirk.
"Yeah," Twilight nodded her head, remembering how she watched Nyx and Leman teleport away to settle down as a married couple, as they agreed to do if they were both Awake. "I hope they're okay but it just..."
"Speaking of, this just came in for you miss Sparkle," the mare levitated a letter over to Twilight with a light smile on her face. "From one miss Nyx Sparkle Rush."
Twilight eagerly took the letter and opened it, taking a seat at her kitchen table.
'Dear mom,
How are you? We are all good, both Leman and I are so happy! We looked around Equestria and found this quaint little town for us to move into. It's a nice town that suits us just fine; a bit chaotic for Leman but quiet enough for me. We both got jobs in this town, and the townsfolk were so kind to help us get settled in as a seemingly young couple without anything to our name!
Leman has found field work, helping the locals bring in the harvest and defend the town from the somewhat dangerous animals and I found work with a very nice librarian, who is a bit oblivious at times...'
Twilight trailed off, looking at a smirking Glimmering Dreams, who walked over to her.
"Took you long enough, mom," with a light laugh, the married mare brought the Anchor into a tight hug. "Now that you know and I now owe Leman a few bits for our little bet, how about we talk a bit more directly?"
With happy tears in her eyes, Twilight used her magic to pull out the chair opposite of her and watching her daughter sit down.
"Well, to begin," Nyx started, as she began to talk how married life was treating her, her mother beaming with pride and joy with each word said, knowing her daughter was in good... hands.
183.2 (Evilhumour)
Twilight let out a long sigh, shaking her entire body as she walked up to her tree. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was to open that door, walk inside and read her new boo–
Frowning, Twilight opened her eyes to see the door knob was a bit further ahead than she first thought, but no matter. Reaching out a bit further, she–
The door and the tree moved backwards, away from her.
Narrowing her eyes, Twilight tried to swipe for the doorknob, with her tree leaning away from her approaches. Then the branches leaned down to the base of the trunk and lifted it like a skirt and actually ran from her!
"Oh no you don't!" Twilight shouted, chasing after it down the street, only for it vanish around the corner. Running ahead so she could spot it, she made it down to the other side of the next block when she noticed the tree had been behind her the entire time. It then jumped over her, going up several blocks before running across the main street, forcing Twilight to continue to chase her runaway tree.
The library had repeated this on her several times before Twilight had to stop and catch her breath.
Looking up at the massive figure reading a newspaper, she asked, "Did you see a tree run by?"
With a branch pointing to the left, Twilight gave the figure a nod of thanks before sprinting down the street before realizing she had been had.
"You know..." Discord said to himself as he watched Twilight, now with her friends, chase after her home. "There is something missing from this whole chase scene, I just can't put my claw on it."
183.3 (Evilhumour)
"Well well well," the changeling imposter of Cadance, otherwise known as Chrysalis smiled savagely down at Twilight Sparkle. Said 'ling hadn't replied to the ping, and was more than likely unAwake. She had managed to separate Twilight from her friends and trap her in the mines along side the real Cadance. "You are becoming quite the little pest, Twilight. Do you know what we do with pests?" she asked as her eyes flashed green.
"Monologue them to sleep?" Twilight snarked as she worked on getting the repressing ring off of her but she wasn't too worr– All of a sudden, there was blinding white hot pain that stole her attention away. Looking down, she could see a knife jammed into her neck. Coughing out blood, she looked up at Chrysalis.
"While normally I'd just store you away for my hive to drain at our leisure, I am not foolish enough to leave you alone," she reached down to pat Twilight on the cheek, with Cadance thrashing in outrage at what the invader had done. "I am going to enjoy a nice long future with my new husband with two sources of infinite love. A pity you won't be around to see it." Coughing out more blood, Twilight tried to give out a warning but it turned into a scream of pain as the knife was pulled out and the blood flowed freely. "Goodbye Twilight Spa–
183.4 (Vinyshadow)
Luna flew over Equestria, eyes scanning the ground as she looked for her elusive sister.
Finally finding her walking down one of Las Pegasus' streets, Luna landed in front of her.
"Celestia," Luna said with a smile. "What are you doing out here?"
"Taking a vacation," Celestia replied innocently. "Is something the matter?"
"...Your...replacement is performing...admirably."
"I knew I made a good choice with Miss Derpy."
"You stuck a plunger on her head and put a sticker on her flank."
"Is...there a problem?"
Luna sighed, shaking her head with an amused smile. "Well, apart from me and the Elements...nobody realized the switch."
Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't expect it to work for so long."
Luna sighed and scowled. "I'm just upset I didn't Wake up first."
Celestia stuck her tongue out and jiggled a bag of bits. "So, I've got a quarter of the royal treasury here. Shall we go blow it on the slots?"
Luna perked up. "Sounds like a plan."
Celestia's grin faltered a little. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing? Leaving Canterlot in the hooves of Miss Derpy? You know how...clumsy she is when she's not Awake."
Luna glanced up at the giant glowing muffin in the sky and shrugged. "I'm sure she's got everything under control."
183.5 (Purrs)
There was a knock at the library door. Yawning, Twilight got up to answer it. "Oh, hello, Luna."
"Ærgód æfen, Æfenrima." The princess of the night pawed at the ground. "Áhilpaþ mé eac þisse þéodisc unéaðnesse?"
It took a moment to recognize the words, then: "Oh, I see. Old Equuish actually is the equivalent of Old English this Loop, instead of its usual Shakespearean — Equuish is usually a more conservative language, takes more time to shift — do you want to learn Modern Equuish the thorough way, then? With dictionary and lessons? You'd have cast the translation spell yourself if that was what you wanted, I'm assuming."
Luna frowned.
"Right, sorry. Beþurfest þu þá rædan ond þá rædungbéc?"
"Gese." Luna nodded. "Ic þance þú."
"Ne séo unéaðnes."
183.6 (LadyStina2)
“You’re all Awake, right?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as they all hid under the table as Nightmare Moon made her usual appearance at the Summer Sun Celebration.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo replied. “Looks like it’s just the three of us and–”
“It’s Twilight,” Sweetie said loudly over the screams of their fellow Summer Sun Celebrants. “We ran into each other while she was doing her Ponyville tour.”
“Ok. Any plans?” Apple Bloom asked her fellow Crusaders, as Scootaloo briefly grumped over not being able to show off her Loyalty ability. “Ah’m sure we can get Twilight to go along with whatever since she’s apparently runnin’ things baseline.”
Scootaloo smirked and said, “It’s been awhile since it’s only been the three of us, and Twilight of course, Awake. I say we initiate Prank Alpha-Crusaders.”
Sweetie gasped excitedly and clopped her hooves together. The sound was lost amidst the galloping ponies and screaming coming from the outside of their tablecloth hideout. Sweetie squeaked out, “I love Prank Alpha-Crusaders!”
“Right!” Apple Bloom’s grin slowly matched Scootaloo’s. “We’ll haf’ta ‘become friends’ at Luna’s party tomorrow, then make a right menace of ourselves.”
Sweetie shot her a flat look and asked, “And that’s different… how?”
“More tree-sap and explosions, of course!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Oh dear,” Sweetie groaned and facehoofed. “You know it never goes well when we try for tree-sap and explosions…”
“That’s the point!” Apple Bloom chimed in as her ears perked up. “Uh-oh. Here comes Big Mac. See ya’ll tomorrow and cover yer ears…”
A second later a large, red hoof reached under the table and grabbed one of Apple Bloom’s back hooves. Sticking to the script, she screamed as her brother pulled her to safety. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo screamed in reply as their friend was expectedly jerked away.
Once they were sure that Big Mac had galloped away Sweetie turned to Scootaloo and asked, “So what’s your family situation this Loop?”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and answered, “Loop memories say that I have surprisingly normal, if slightly inattentive, parents this time. I used to wish my history would firm up, but after seeing what happened with DT and Spoiled Rich, I don’t know anymore.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie agreed. “She used to be so excited when she got a mother. Speaking of, mine should be here soon. See ya tomorrow.” She had just spoken the last word when she was pulled out from underneath the table with a tiny “Eep!”
“The barn?! How’d you girls manage to destroy the barn?” Applejack ranted at the trio of guilty fillies standing in front of her. If she wasn’t so upset with them, she would have laughed at their mismatched outfits of hoof-made capes, fancy necklaces, and her spare Stetsons. “Landsakes, Ah know Ah was rambunctious as a filly, but you girls take the cake!”
Apple Bloom looked up from under the oversized hat and protested, “But Applejack, we were only tryin’ to get our cutie marks–“
Applejack interrupted her younger sister, “In what? Demolition?” Scootaloo perked up and looked out from under the oversized hat excitedly. Applejack cut her off before she could say anything though. “No. The only thing yer gonna try for yer cutie mark in for the next few days is gonna be barn raising. Then Ah think ya’ll could use a week off from each other. Every time Ah turn around, Ah hear about property damage, tree sap, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. No. No cheering. Ah’m gonna march you girls home and tell yer parents what you did and how yer gonna fix it.”
Sweetie Belle timidly raised a hoof and said, “My parents aren’t home. I’m staying with Rarity.”
Scootaloo’s cape lifted slightly as she rustled her wings before adding, “And uh… I’m staying with Rainbow Dash tonight. My parents had to go to Fillydelphia for business.”
Applejack raised a hoof to her face and took a calming breath before sighing and saying, “Fine. Fine. We’ll head to Rarity’s and Ah’ll try to spot RD on the way. Let’s go.”
The fillies in front of her stood up and started walking dejectedly in front of her. The cape that covered Apple Bloom’s back suddenly moved much like Scootaloo’s did a moment ago when she rustled her wings.
Applejack asked sharply, “Apple Bloom. What’s on yer back?”
Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder with a confused expression on her face. She glanced down at her Crusader cape then back to Applejack before answering, “Just mah cape, sis.”
“Eenope. Whatcha hidin’ underneath?” Applejack asked before grasping the cape in her teeth and pulling. The last thing she expected was to see her little sister raise a pair of wings in response. The gasps of shock that followed was accompanied with Scootaloo’s wings suddenly raising in surprise. And Sweetie’s cape matched the movement exactly.
Applejack could only look on with growing alarm as the small group of fillies revealed Sweetie Belle’s wings, and then Apple Bloom’s and Scootaloo’s new unicorn horns by removing the borrowed Stetsons. At the shout of “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ALICORNS, YAY!!” Applejack unconsciously decided to imitate Rarity and fainted.
“Wow. Ah think that’s the first time we made AJ faint with that reveal,” Apple Bloom said between giggles. “Ah do feel bad about the barn though.”
“Isn’t that the one that she usually has Rainbow Dash destroy a couple months from now?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, yeah. But her and Mac haven’t decided to knock it down yet,” Apple Bloom answered.
“It’ll be ok. Now let’s get these cloaks and hats back on and go to Rarity’s!” Sweetie cheered.
“Ya really think she’ll let us past her doorstep in this getup? We do look a mite ridiculous,” Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie giggled as she magically placed one of the Stetsons on Scootaloo’s head, making sure to hide her horn. “Probably not,” she answered. “But we should go before Applejack wakes up so she won’t get a chance to warn my sister. And if we hurry, we’ll still have time to spring it on Rainbow Dash. Maybe with a sleepover? If we keep her busy, she won’t think to talk to Applejack or Rarity beforehoof.”
“Alright. Let me just holler at Mac so he can look after AJ,” Apple Bloom replied as she adjusted her borrowed hat and settled her wings.
Twilight was calmly sipping some tea while re-re-re-re-who-can-keep-count-anymore-reading a book she had chosen due to the calming shade of blue on its cover. She had sent Spike out to check on Rarity after she heard an unmistakable “WHAT?!” drifting in from the distance. The CMC’s prank was confirmed when a few minutes later Scootaloo popped her Stetson-wearing head into the library and asked her to say she cast a cloud-walking spell and teleported them to Dash’s house if asked. It was only a matter of time now until she would be hosting three panicked friends.
Hence the tea.
Twilight’s ears perked as she heard somepony galloping towards the library. Loops and loops of experience told her nopony would be that excited to check out a book. Mostly because it wasn’t time to introduce Dash to the Daring Do series yet. Her baseline-self pretty much had to be confined to that hospital bed before she would even entertain the notion of opening a book. After that, it was Twilight’s windows that wasn’t safe as opposed to her front door.
She had just closed the book when the library’s door slammed open with Applejack looking around frantically. “Can I… help you?” Twilight asked her friend.
Applejack’s gaze zeroed in on her and she exclaimed, “Twi! Have ya seen ‘em?! Ah don’t know what happened! One moment Ah’m getting’ on to ‘em for destroyin’ mah barn, and the next they done sprouted wings and horns!”
“Ok, just come in and calm down,” Twilight prompted, hoping to get her friend at least breathing properly. “Who exactly are you asking about, now?” she guided her friend to the couch and gave her a cup of tea.
Applejack opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the front door slamming open once again and a yell of, “TWWIIILLLLIIIIIGGHHTTT!!! This is THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!!”
Twilight sighed and greeted flatly, “Hello, Rarity.”
Applejack had quickly jumped to her hooves and consequently dropped the teacup. She ignored, or more than likely didn’t notice, the mess and gave Rarity an alarmed look. “You saw it too?!” she asked.
“Oh my, yes!” Rarity exclaimed with wide eyes. “Those hats paired with those capes! It clashed horribly with their lovely necklaces! WHAT were they thinking?”
Applejack stared at the fashionista in shock before sputtering out, “Wha? NO! Ah was talkin’ about the Crusaders!”
“Well so was I, darling. Why? Whatever is the matter?” Rarity asked calmly.
“Rarity? Why did you come screaming over here if nothing is wrong?” Twilight asked while trying to get Applejack to sit down again.
“Nothing wrong? Darling, did you see what they were wearing? It’s absolutely atrocious! But I was merely escorting dear Spike back home,” Rarity replied. Spike peeked out from around Rarity and waved.
“Maybe Ah’ve been spendin’ too much time out in the sun… Ah never used to hallucinate…” Applejack started muttering to herself.
Twilight opened her mouth to attempt to take control of the situation when she heard her name being yelled once again. “Of course…” she moaned and rolled her eyes.
She looked up and used her magic to open the window closest to the sound. She wasn’t quick enough because just as she grasped the window, Rainbow Dash crashed through it and landed in a heap in the bookcase across the room. Which caused the books it used to hold to crash to the ground.
Spike sighed and grumbled, “I’ll get the broom.”
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash jumped out of the pile of books and looked around for her unicorn friend. Once she spotted her she asked frantically, “Did you see the Crusaders?!”
“Heavens! I never took you as the type of mare to follow fashion,” Rarity commented. “Did you manage to get those terrible hats off of them?”
“HEY!” Applejack protested.
Rainbow Dash shot her a look and answered dryly, “Yeah. Yeah, I did. You know what I saw then? Horns!” Dash started hovering agitatedly in front of Twilight and exclaimed, “Twilight! Why does Scoots and Apple Bloom have a unicorn horn?! Why do Sweetie and AB have wings?!”
“She WHAT?” Rarity gasped.
“That’s what Ah’ve been tryin’ to tell ya!” Applejack exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash landed and stared off into the middle distance, “Do you know what this means? They’ve ascended. Just one of them could be more powerful than us put together.” She gestured to herself, Applejack and Twilight. Rarity loudly cleared her throat, but Dash ignored her. “What are we gonna do?!”
“Girls! Why don’t we all calm down and talk it over. I can even have Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia if you want,” Twilight once again tried to gain control of the situation.
“Aaaaggghhhh!!! I can’t stop!” Sweetie Belle’s shrill scream interrupted the conversation right before a loud thud resounded and shook the library. “I’m ok!” her voice came loudly from outside.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity gasped and ran outside to see to her sister.
“Looking good, Bloom! Now kinda flap your wings forward to slow down, then you can land,” Scootaloo’s voice sounded from outside the open window.
“Whooee! That’s more tirin’ than it looks!” Apple Bloom commented before the three Crusaders and Rarity entered the library.
Sweetie Belle was talking excitedly with her stunned sister before looking over at Applejack and saying, “I’m real excited about learning how to buck apples! Will you teach me, Applejack?”
“Yeah, and that flyin’ sure was fun. Ah think Ah have a knack for it. Think ya can teach me ta do one of those sonic rainbooms, Rainbow Dash?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Hey yeah! What do you say, Rarity? Feel like teaching me how to use magic?” Scootaloo hovered and asked the unicorn excitedly. Rarity’s only answer, after a momentary silence, was to summon her drama couch and collapse back on it.
“See? That’s what I’m talking about!” Scootaloo cheered.
183.7 (Gym Quirk)
"Twilight? Got a minute?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Sure. What's up?"
"Thanks to this most recent expansion, I've been thinkin' 'bout runnin' time-and-motion analyses on everypony, especially baseline Applejack."
Twilight nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah, at first. But then I started wonderin' how this could change things down the line if I could free up an hour or two for her each day from the start of the loop. Butterfly effect and all that."
"Interesting point. Maybe you should do the analysis, but only let her know about the results when she's Awake?"
"Yeah. That'd prob'ly be safest. So have your recent adventures in pig feedin' inspired anythin' on your end?"
"I'm taking a closer look at the Spa's water supply. I'm worried about how their steam room could do that to Rarity's horn..."
183.8 (Evilhumour)
"Mom, dad," Fluttershy said as she looked up at her parents, finally having them back after all these years of Looping. "There is something I need to tell you."
Her parents, squeeing internally at the thought, looked at their precious daughter. "Yes dear?" Her dad, dad!, asked, placing a hoof on her arm.
"I have children. Eight of them," she said plainly, watching her parents rear back a bit, blinking in confusion.
"You have chi–" Her mom started when suddenly seven massive figures appeared.
"Grandfather, grandmother," Lemon Rush, her first child, boomed into the room as his brothers walked towards the table with a smile on their faces. "It is a pleasure to meet you at long last!"
"Indeed," Big Maroon nodded his head as he lifted a cup of wine to his lips, his mane covering his missing eye. "We are so happy that our family has gained more members."
"Maroon, the Little Mother asked us to behave," Regal Stone narrowed his eyes at his brother as he stepped forwards, with Siege Patrol and Blood Flower facehooving at this. "I expected this from Corn Curse but not from you."
"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence," the bat pony rolled his eyes before looking the green earth pony. "How did I become a voice of reason and sensibility again, Forging Fire?"
"It is a mystery," the earth pony shrugged his massive shoulders as he examined the room. "But I do suppose it had to do something with your mentor, brother."
"Speaking of," a mare with serpent eyes said, looking out the window. "It seems that Butcher Nails is helping uncle Zephyr Breeze become a proper stallion."
"Oh dear," Fluttershy said as she went to window. Opening it so she could stick her head out, she said "Butcher, please remember nothing too difficult."
"Do not worry, Little Mother," a voice yelled out, causing some of the loose stuff in the room to shake. "I am not treating him like an aspirant; a planetary guard if anything."
"Flutters, save me, please!" Her slacker of her brother cried out before her son grabbed her brother back into the training exercise.
Closing the window, Fluttershy looked at her gobsmacked parents before gasping. "Oh, please meet my daughter in-law, Nyx Sparkle Rush," she said while placing a foreleg across her withers. "She used to be Nightmare Moon, but then my Lemon here kissed her and turned her into a good pony, and they ended up getting married."
Both Lemon and Nyx had the decency to blush at this while her sons did not have decency to hold back their laughter.
Both of her parents simply blinked at her. Her mother then coughed and said, "Dear, I think you have a few things to explain."
Smiling at her family, Fluttershy nodded at her sons and daughter to sit down as she began to explain everything to her parents, happier than she had been in while.
(Masterweaver)
Fluttershy's parents listened to her explanation calmly.
There was a long pause.
Eventually, her father cleared his throat. "Fluttershy, dearest?"
"Yes Dad?"
"You're forbidden from doing this 'looping thing'."
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "I can't exactly stop it, you know–"
"Looping is dangerous! Far too dangerous for a precious flower like you. If I hear you've gone through another loop, I will ground you. Is that clear young lady?!"
"...You do realize," Fluttershy said calmly, "that I can turn into many animal and plant species at will, including but not limited to alicorns, dragons, and timberwolves."
"Just because you're talented doesn't mean you're safe–"
Fluttershy stood up, dusting herself off with her wings. "Dad, I think you're not quite getting what I'm saying. I can handle the loops. I have been handling the loops, pretty well, I might add. I'm not alone, I'm not in any serious danger, and honestly I think a number of wonderful things have happened that would not have without the loops. You're worried. I get it. But there's nothing to be worried about."
"Don't take that tone of voice with me, young lady–"
"Oh boooooys!" Fluttershy singsonged. "I think your grandfather is oh so lonely. Would you be dears and get to know him?"
183.9 (Masterweaver)
"...You think I'm cute, huh?"
Zephyr Breeze smiled at Rainbow. "As a button."
"...You know what? Okay." The pegasus got up. "We're doing this. You, me. Dating."
"Wait, what? Really?"
"BUT!" Rainbow added. "I. Have. Standards. And if you're going to be my coltfriend, you're going to have to meet my standards."
Zephyr blinked. "I... what?"
"First of all--You get your own place before the month is out. Secondly, get rid of the five o'clock shadow. It's afternoon."
"Well, there might be some problems with that--"
"And we're going on a run--not a fly, a run, every morning, two miles."
"What?!"
"It's a step down, I know, but I figured if we're going to share hobbies we should start small." Rainbow cricked her neck. "We can refine the exercise regimen as we go."
"I'm... beginning to think I might not be right for you," Zephyr managed, backing away.
"Oh, no. You threw down the gauntlet, loverboy. This is happening."
"Gauntlet–?"
"I am going to take you and mold you into the kind of stallion I really want." Rainbow popped her hooves. "And there is nothing you can do about it."
183.10 (Masterweaver)
"...so then I said 'No, actually, I don't think that's how you make waffles.' And your unawake self looked at all the animals scampering around, took a breath, and finally went down to Pinkie Pie."
Rainbow snorted. "Oh come on, Rares. I mean I know I'm sort of the bachlorette of the group, but I honestly can't believe I was ever that bad at cooking!"
"Your cooking skills aside, we're almost at Starlight's village." Twilight rolled her shoulders. "Game faces, girls."
The six ponies schooled their expressions into well-practiced masks of vague suspicion. Pinkie made a point of pulling off stunts that would not be out of place in a mission-impossible film, somehow not gaining anypony's notice despite her loud "DUN-DUN-DUNDUN"ing. The group was approached by Double Diamond, as per usual, and introduced to Starlight Glimmer, as per usual. Fluttershy was swaying to the beat of the equality song, as per usual–
–and then suddenly, she stopped and stared. "Wait a minute–ZEPHYR BREEZE?!"
"Oh! Hiya big sis!" The stallion waved. "Guess what? I found my true calling!"
183.11 (Masterweaver)
Derpy grabbed her mug, drained it, and slammed it on the counter.
Berry winced. "Wow. What's up?"
"Social services." The pegasus groaned. "More specifically, the pony with fans on her flank."
"Uh–"
"Latest expansion, there's this ONE servicemare who, somehow, rigs a claim that I'm being negligent toward Dinky. So they hand her off to fanflank while I'm investigated." Derpy let her head drop on the bar. "It's always different, too. It's the plumbing. Or the groceries. Or Dinky's vocabulary. Or me being disabled. I'm able to get through it, but..."
Berry winced again. "Wow. I know that feel, drunk mother and all... every loop?"
"Yeah. Worst part is I don't think fanflank is evil or anything. It's just she has to be walking Dinky around for some time." Derpy held out her mug for a refill. "I don't get it. What's going on with Equestria these days? When did it get so... abrasive?"
183.12 (Masterweaver)
"...and I'm very glad Fluttershy suggested I make a back-up line," Rarity finished with a smile. "Why, if I had known that Suri Polomare would steal my designs–"
Fluttershy giggled. "I did read the fashion magazines during my modeling stint. I'm just happy you avoided a scandal."
"Well, it was really all thanks to Suri's assistant coming forward. I owe a lot to him. Oh, here he comes now!"
Fluttershy blinked, turning to see the pony approaching them, and gasped. "...ZEPHYR BREEZE?!"
"Oh! Hey sis!" Zephyr waved. "Fashion's my passion, you know?"
183.13 (wildrook)
"Your brother's a NEET," Discord said to Fluttershy.
"I know," she replied.
Discord gave her an inquisitive face. "I'm really tempted to see if I can turn him productive with chaos magic."
"Don't." She had added a bit of oomph with her disapproving stare to emphasize her point. "I've seen what happens when you meet him. I'm pretty sure it involves turning Cloudsdale into Detroit."
The Draconequus gave her a look. "Don't you mean Detrot?"
"I know what I said, Discord. Just...try to make sure Rainbow Dash doesn't kill him."
"Oh, what's the worst that could happen?" Discord asked her.
(Twenty minutes later)
"SOMEBODY GET THIS FREAKING DUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Zephyr yelled, being chased by a wooden duck piloted by the Wonderbolts.
Discord blinked.
Angel face-palmed.
Fluttershy was just slack-jawed.
"Where in the name of the Horse Chestnut did they get a Trojan Duck?" Rainbow Dash asked them.
"I thought the tree sap was a dead giveaway," Discord said, making Rainbow Dash face-palm. "Either way, what prompted THIS reaction?"
"Zephyr tried to hit on every single female member of the Wonderbolts. As in...everyone but Soarin."
"Well, as long as they don't turn into a giant robot," Fluttershy started.
Unfortunately, before she could finish her sentence, the duck transformed into a giant humanoid robot.
"OH COME ON!" All three of them cringed at the volume.
"Haven't heard her this loud since Baseline Gala," Rainbow Dash muttered.
183.14 (Keywii_Cookies55)
Starlight Glimmer was getting annoyed again.
"How?" she asked Spike as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, "How is Twilight ALWAYS able to predict my moves?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, watching the unicorn begin to pace across the room.
"At first she came into the village and, without saying a word, exposed me to everyone."
Spike was confused, he'd heard this story from Twilight, but never in too much detail. It seemed like he wouldn't get elaboration now either as Starlight continued.
"Then, then she stops me from using Starswirl's spell to change her past." Starlight was getting frantic, and upon spotting the glare from Spike at her latest comment she reeled her energy back a bit. "Which, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful she did, but she just teleports in before I do anything and rips the spell in half. Still not saying anything."
She continued pacing, now paying slightly less attention to what she was saying, but speaking her mind all the same. "I tried a few other things to get back at Twilight before I finally gave up and agreed to study friendship under her. But every time she just silently stopped me before I could do anything."
"And I thought to myself that things would be normal, that Twilight wouldn't just always know what I was about to do anymore. But it didn't stop there, she stepped in and stared deeply at me when I wouldn't confront Sunburst. She actually stepped in with Trixie instead of me when she almost used me to get back at Twilight herself, and then finally she changes my mind about Hearths Warming Eve almost two full weeks before it even happens."
"Well," Spike spoke, "it is a little weird, but she's the princess of friendship, and she's been doing this for a few years, she can solve any problem." But he was seemingly ignored by Starlight as she continued her rant.
"Is it something to do with how wise her expression is? I wrote it off before when nopony else seemed to noticed, but she looks like she has decades on all of us, maybe more. She just somehow knows things before they happen, but how? Is there something she's hiding? Maybe she's somehow using Time Travel?"
Spike laughed at that, "C'mon, is your answer always time travel? She's just really smart and good at problem solving." But Starlight was not satisfied with this answer.
"It doesn't makes sense though, not only does Twilight know what's going to happen before it does, and seem to have the best possible way of dealing with it without missing a beat, she also has an air of ancient...ness about her. It can't just be because of how smart she is, there's something else."
She never stopped pacing, but went quiet as she contemplated Twilight's odd behaviour. Spike tried to explain it using his knowledge of Twilight and her mannerisms, but never once did Starlight break concentration. It wasn't until he described that Twilight seemed to 'feel more experienced' when they moved to Ponyville a few years ago that Starlight stopped and had an expression of sudden realization on her face.
"What?" Spike asked, "What is it?"
"I...think that Twilight may be warping in time." Starlight slowly stated so she was sure of what she was saying. But Spike looked about to laugh. "She changed suddenly years ago, and ever since has just been one step ahead of everyone. And she seems to have gone through time enough to be practiced at confronting any problems that happen."
Starlight was hesitant, but seemed to fully believe that Twilight was repeating the same few years in some kind of cycle, she would have elaborated more to the unbelieving dragon in the room with her, but he had already left to go ask Twilight about it.
She tried to follow but lost him after he turned a corner.
Spike didn't believe Starlight, it was a pretty far fetched idea, Twilight was just smart, he didn't feel the need to question it. But if it meant he could have a response to give Starlight, he'd felt like taking the time.
He found her in her library reading a multiple books at once.
"Hey Twilight," he said, braking her out of her literature, "can I ask you a question?"
She laughed lightly, "You just did," Spike laughed as well, "But sure."
"I don't know why, but Starlight thinks you're traveling through time."
Twilight's expression didn't change, but she seemed curious, "Oh does she?"
"Something like that. I was just wondering if it was true."
"Of course not," Twilight answered with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "And besides, if I were time traveling, I'd definitely bring my number one assistant along."
Spike smiled, knowing that Twilight was right, and even if he couldn't come with her, she'd still tell him about it. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know in case she doesn't come talk to you about it."
And like that, he left her to her reading, but she had other things on her mind now.
183.15 (Evilhumour)
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" A tall pegasus stallion was being seen dragged out of the town hall, with Nightmare Moon blinking in confusion as to how her new general was being defeated. "But sis," Zephyr Breeze whined as he dragged out of the town, although he did take the time to give a mare with a rainbow mane a pointed look. "Leading an evil army really jives with me!"
183.16 (LadyStina2)
Fluttershy accompanied an unawake Rainbow Dash to Sweet Apple Acres to stand in line for their annual cider sell. Again. But the local Loopers all tried to be there when none of the Apple Family were Awake to help them deal with the Flim Flam brothers. Twilight, Rarity, and Spike had already bought their cider and were sipping on their purchases while also waiting for the arrival of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.
“Oh Celestia, this line is taking forever,” Rainbow Dash moaned and started to hover. Mostly just to move around a little, but also to try to see how close they were to the end of the line. About five ponies back, so hovering wasn’t really necessary.
“Oh, Rainbow, we’re almost there,” Fluttershy comforted. Then tried to hide a giggle as she continued, “I’m sure Pinkie Pie couldn’t have bought it all.”
Rainbow landed and groaned again, “Ugghh! Pinkie Pie! How does that mare always get ahead of me every year?”
“Well, umm… perhaps next year you two can go together. Then she wouldn’t be ahead of you,” Fluttershy suggested.
Rainbow got a thoughtful look on her face and said, “Huh. You know… I always used to think she was annoying, but now that I’ve been hanging out with her more I think that would work. In fact, we could all get in line together! I see Twilight and Rarity over there, so they should be down. Thanks, Fluttershy!”
“Oh, it’s… um… no problem,” Fluttershy blushed slightly from the praise.
A few minutes later and they both had their own coveted mug of Sweet Apple Acres Cider and started to walk away when the tap went empty for the pony in line after them. Fluttershy shot a quick wink at Twilight. She had discovered eons ago how to move the two of them up a couple places in line when they were keeping things baseline. And if nothing else, she let Rainbow get her cider first so if it did go empty, she would be the one with the empty mug.
The crowd started griping at Applejack about running out when they heard the cider contraption coming up the road. It stopped and the Flim Flam brothers started their heartsong.
Then a familiar-looking third stallion stepped down off the machine.
“Zephyr Breeze?!” Fluttershy exclaimed loudly in surprise. And inadvertently interrupted the heartsong. “What are you doing here?” The double meaning of her question only resonating with the Loopers present.
“Your brother?” Rainbow asked incredulously.
“Oh hey there, Flutter Butter,” the teal pegasus replied casually and held up a wrench. “Like I always say, ‘maintenance is my mainstay’!” He tapped the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy a couple times with his wrench.
Which then proceeded to lose a couple bolts. Which caused a metal plate to pop out of place. Which then sheared off a couple more bolts. That was apparently load-bearing because then one of the stacks collapsed in on itself. Several very loud noises later and there was an unidentifiable heap of metal where the cider machine used to be.
Zephyr dropped the wrench and said, “Flam, I quit.” The brothers could only stare as their hired hoof flew away.
183.17 (LadyStina2)
“Oh Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called up into the clouds when she spotted a multi-colored tail hanging off the side of one.
Rainbow poked her head over her cloud and noticed Rarity. She got a far-away look in her eyes for just a moment before refocusing on the unicorn and greeting her, “Hey Rarity. What’s up? Any plans this Loop?”
“Oh, I was hoping you were Awake. As a matter of fact, yes. And do come down, darling. It’s terribly unladylike to hold a conversation this far apart,” Rarity answered.
Rainbow rolled her eyes before then rolling off the cloud. She flared her wings as she approached the ground and gently landed. “Ok, I’m here. What’s the plan? Are we going to prank Twilight? She’ll have a harder time spotting a prank if you’re involved…” Rainbow trailed off in thought. Obviously thinking of how to incorporate Rarity into a prank.
“Not exactly, no,” Rarity replied. Once she had Rainbow’s attention again she said, “Rainbow, darling. My last Loop, we were running things mostly baseline and you weren’t Awake. When I accompanied you to your Wonderbolts exhibition in Canterlot and helped you get out of that mess with Wind Rider, I got to thinking. The two of us don’t tend to socialize one-on-one very often.”
“What are ya talking about? We hang out all the time, Rarity,” Rainbow protested.
Rarity frowned and said, “Nooo… we ‘hang out’ as part of a group. Yes we’re friends. But I feel like we are only a step or two above being a friend-of-a-friend. I suggest the two of us go and do something alone together for a Loop or two.”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a hoof and looked away as she said, “Well… no offense… but we don’t really have many of the same interests. What would we go off and do?” She looked back at the fashionista quickly and said, “And no mentioning me ‘dressing in style’!”
Rarity smirked and replied, “I wouldn’t dream of it darling. But as for what to do….” Rarity reached into her mane and pulled two pith helmets from her subspace pocket. She placed the pith helmets on top of both their heads and commented with a sly smile, “I have some ideas.”
Rainbow tilted her pith helmet up out of her eyes with a broad smile and said, “Rarity. You have my totally undivided attention.”
“The diarchy of Equestria formally greets the newly-formed diarchy of Griffonstone. If it would please Your Majesties, could we meet privately to discuss the relevant points of the proposed… Eque-stone… Treaty?” Twilight Sparkle addressed the dual Griffon’s thrones in a deadpan. And the frustrated sigh she issued before speaking the name of the treaty spoke volumes to her frustration level.
“Gee, I dunno, Queen Rarity Belle,” the Alicornified Queen Rainbow Dash spoke to her fellow diarch with a mischievous grin. “I mean, if Equestria’s a diarchy, then surely one of them could have came and greeted us herself.”
“Now, now, Queen Rainbow Dash. I can only assume this Twilight Sparkle has all the diplomatic authority to speak for their Princesses,” the also Alicornified Queen Rarity chided her sister queen with a small smirk on her face. She then extended a hoof towards Dash which was met with Dash’s own for a quick high-hoof. Rarity turned back to face their friend and asked, “Isn’t that right, darling?”
Twilight shot a glare at her Looping friends, both strangely wearing pith helmets with a golden inlay of a crown circling them. She sighed and replied, “I guarantee you that as Princess Celestia’s personal student, I have full diplomatic authority to speak on behalf of the diarchy.”
“Eh, good enough for me,” Rarity said in a surprisingly casual tone.
Dash stood up from her throne and somehow her mane fell into a style very similar to Rarity’s before primly addressing all the griffons in the room, “Pardon us, darlings. We have some royal business to attend to. Court will be resumed tomorrow. Tah.” Rarity had a foreleg covering her mouth. You had to know her to realize that she was trying desperately to keep from giggling.
When the three friends were left alone, Twilight asked, “Ok, what happened? I get a note from you two before the Summer Sun Celebration saying you’re going off adventuring. Then two years into the Loop, without hearing a word from you, suddenly Griffonstone has new alicorn rulers. Of course I convinced Celestia to send me here to check it out. Particularly with Queen Rarity Belle and Queen Rainbow Dash being the names of the rulers of the Griffons!”
“Totally an accident, Twi,” Rainbow replied.
Rarity jumped in, “Yes. Quite. We were on the trail of the Lost Treasure of Gael the Griffon. We had both decided to go alicorn before entering the ruins so Dash could use magic and I would have access to wings. Not to mention the earth-sense helps to detect certain traps. Thanks again for sharing that tid-bit with me, Dashie.”
“Ehh, no problem, Rares. I can’t have my raiding partner get squished before we make it down the first hallway,” Rainbow said with a smirk.
Rarity glared at her and hissed, “Never speaking of something again, doesn’t mean to tell our friends when we first see them.”
“I didn’t. You just told her more than I did,” Rainbow grinned.
“You. Are. Impossible,” Rarity said through gritted teeth.
“Nope, that’s you again,” Rainbow teased.
Twilight interrupted, “Girls? Focus? Why are you ruling the Griffon Empire?”
Rainbow answered thoughtfully, “Technically it’s not an Empire anymore, Twilight. That kinda stabilized out, remember?” Twilight just gave an exasperated sigh in response.
Rarity took pity on her and continued their story, “Well, we entered the ruins. Dodged some traps. Solved ancient riddles. You know, the usual. At long last–“
Rainbow interrupted dryly while rolling her eyes, “It was three hours.”
Rarity spoke just a little louder and made sure to enunciate clearly, “At long last, we discovered the hidden treasure room. I was scanning the area to make sure it was safe when Rainbow Dash-”
“Oh sure, blame me.”
“–got impatient and grabbed the idol. And of course it was booby-trapped.”
Rainbow perked up and started telling the next part of the story, “Yeah! So, get this! Mossing lava starts to pour in from these hidden shoots in the wall. A huge slab falls over the door we entered the room through. So we’re hovering and trapped and the lava is getting higher and hotter. There’s no room to build up speed to burst our way through. I thought for sure that we would just have to try again the next Loop when my main mare here facehooves out of nowhere! I figure she just realized the same thing I did and was about to do the whole ‘see ya later’ thing when her horn starts glowing so bright I can’t even look at her anymore. She lets loose a burst of magic so strong, it looked like you fighting Tirek with all the Princesses’ powers. She blasted through five floors of solid rock, and I’m pretty sure she made a mark on the moon.”
“It was daylight at the time, darling,” Rarity protested.
“Well one of the outer planets then,” Rainbow continued without missing a beat. “Or it’s still going. Hope there aren’t any space-faring civilizations nearby this Loop. You may have just declared intergalactic war, Rares.”
“The blast wasn’t that strong, Dashie,” Rarity argued.
“Pfft! And I’m not the fastest pegasus around. Anyway, with the vertical hallway Rarity opened up, we were able to fly right on out. Well, some of the griffons spotted Rarity’s magic-beam-of-doom and came to check it out. They happened to arrive just as we were flying out. From their perspective, the ground just opened up and spat out two alicorns carrying one of their lost treasures. It's apparently supposed to have some mystical powers or something.”
Rarity chimed in then, “They decided right then and there that we were their rightful rulers. We tried to protest, but they kept insisting. Then we talked it over and decided that we could probably help turn their nation around. So here we are.” She shrugged.
Twilight giggled and said, “I think that’s the first time any of us has taken over the Griffon Empire on accident. And yes, I know it’s not an empire anymore, but it was when we took turns taking it over. So the principle stands. Are you going to keep ruling until the Loop ends?” she asked curiously.
Rainbow and Rarity shared a look and, after a moment of silence, both broke out into boisterous laughter.
Rarity recovered first and managed to say, “Oh heavens no, dear. I completely understand why Celestia attempts to get out of ruling so often. And do you honestly think Dashie wants to sit still that long? No, no. We’ll stick around long enough to put them on the right track, select a successor then disappear into the night.”
Dash had stopped laughing and said, “And what she really means is that we’ll put Gilda on the throne, she’ll cast that coat-dying spell of hers on us, we’ll turn into pegasi and fly off into the sunset before doing more adventuring.”
Rarity smiled and said, “For proper sneaking, we really should fly off into the moonrise instead.”
Dash barked out a short laugh and said, “Yeah. That is better. There’s that eye-for-detail again. Hey, next Loop we should be spies!”
Rarity smiled warmly at her co-Queen and said, “Darling, I would be delighted.”
183.18 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
Twilight suddenly appeared in Celestia's personal chambers. The solar diarch was in the middle of packing. As Twilight opened her mouth, Celestia beat her to the punch, "My faithful student, no doubt you're wondering why I called you here. I just woke up, and last loop was a doozy."
Twilight tried getting in another word before Celestia once again cut her off, "I know what your question is, and to put it simply...Eiken."
The atmosphere seemed to become that much heavier. Celestia packed another suitcase and shoved it into her subspace pocket. She turned to her faithful student, "I need this vacation, and I will be leaving you in charge for next year or so."
Twilight's eyes widened as Celestia stepped around the unicorn. Celestia looked to the sun with a smile on her face. A second later, the door opened, revealing Luna, "Art thou not ready, mine sister? And Twilight Sparkle, you are not prepared to take the mantle of rulership! Do not worry, we will assist thyself!"
Luna pulled out a lump of cosmic spectrum stone, looped it around her neck, then cast Starswirl's spell on her, turning Twilight into an alicorn. Twilight looked at herself and her eyes widened at the wings on her back. Celestia nodded and stepped next to Luna. "Ready?"
Luna nodded. "Indeed. TO THE SUN!!!"
The two diarchs disappeared in a blast of light, leaving the newly transformed alicorn behind. She blinked several times before her brain finally recovered from sensory overload and started stuttering, "B-Bu-wha-how-huh-bwa-wha..."
She took a couple deep breaths before shouting in the Canterlot Royal Voice, "COULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON!"
Unawake Twilight Sparkle started pacing back and forth as she mentally formed several questions. How am I a princess? What is a loop? What is an...Eiken? Did the Princess really leave me in control of the whole of Equestria? What if I start a diplomatic incident?! What if there isn't an Equestria when the Princess comes back? How long until this year is over already?!
183.19 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
"Twilight, we should do something!"
Rainbow Dash watched as the entirety of Canterlot Castle was wrapped up in red tape and then buried under a mountain of forms. Celestia appeared above the castle and began casting banishment spells at the waterfall of papers. It wasn't until Luna appeared and did the same that they started to make actual headway. At least until holographic eviction notices appeared in front of the two, distracting the two of them.
Twilight frowned and shook her head. "No, it's better for Mayor Mare to get it out of her system now."
Rainbow opened her mouth, only for Twilight to answer before she began, "She spent the last loop with the Vogons, learning their art of Bureaucracy and how to write their poetry."
"And why didn't she leave first chance she got?"
Twilight shrugged. "She wanted something to combat Sombra if he was ruler of Ponyville again."
Looking over her shoulder, she saw the twitching form of the usual ruler of the Crystal Empire. Twilight shivered. A couple hours of Vogon Poetry may have been overkill and she would need to talk with her about it at a later date.