MLP Time Loops

by Saphroneth


MLP Loops 184

184.1 (Detective Ethan Redfield)

Dash's Catapults

(First Fail)

Twilight looked at Dash's Catapult for a second as another splinter came loose, shot out and embedded itself in a nearby tree. She had tried, she really did, to talk Dash out of using this catapult. Originally, she had come just to get Dash to change its direction so she could enjoy a quiet afternoon reading the original Daring Do series once again for the first time in over a hundred loops. But then, Dash told her who helped make the catapult this time. Secretly, Twilight even tried to magically fix the previous catapult, only for it to collapse unexpectedly. Luckily, the original builder had a ninth catapult just in case if number eight were to fall apart like the others.

When Dash found out Twilight messed with Catapult number 8, she gave Twilight such a talking down to that the mage pulled up her hooves, stepped back and Pinkie Promised not to mess with the catapult ever again (this loop secretly), as long as it was aimed away from her library.

It was soon time for the launch, when the builder came up and stood next to Twilight. The two watched the momentous occasion as Dash fixed a pair of goggles to her eyes and gave a hooves up for Applejack to launch her. Twilight said a bit too cheerfully, "Hey Derpy! How far do you think Dash will fly?"

Derpy put a hoof to her chin in thought as the catapult fired...only that the bucket, instead of halting at its apex and sending the pegasus flying forward on the unspent momentum, kept going and slam Dash into the ground right in front of the catapult. Derpy turned to Twilight and gave a sheepish grin, "About that far."

Twilight nodded and fired off a signal for Nurse Redheart, who was waiting just on the edge of Ponyville when things inevitably went south.

(Second Fail)

Dash smirked. This time, she knew she and Derpy got it right. It had taken a couple days and two more catapults, but this time for sure. She signaled Applejack, who pulled the lever. Suddenly, she found the catapult lurch backwards, flip end over end, and slam into the ground. Dash landed headfirst against the soil, not having moved another inch.

Twilight tilted her head in surprise, "Huh...so it's one of those loops this time. Better break out the popcorn."

(Third Fail)

Dash frowned at the catapult. She was now wearing a helmet. Twilight shouted from the sidelines, "Let me know if you need any more protective gear."

Dash glared at Twilight, "Go away, Twilight! I'm going to get this right if it kills me."

Twilight took a sip of a pocketed Mountain Dew and shrugged, "Not likely. We got Redheart on standby. Let me know when you want help."

Dash groaned and sat on the catapult, "I don't need her help."

She smirked as she looked into the sky, "Rainboom, here I come."

With a hoof's up, Applejack sighed and pulled the leaver. With a massive snap, the bucket holding Dash up slammed into the ground underneath her. Dash pulled herself out and muttered angrily at Twilight, "Not one word."

Twilight held up her hooves in a peaceful gesture. Dash sighed and started pulling the catapult away for repairs.

(Double Fail)

"Pull the lever, Applejack," shouted Rainbow Dash. This time, Dash was equipped with a helmet and pillows.

Applejack pulled, and suddenly a massive secret door underneath slid open, causing the entire Catapult to drop into a bottomless shaft. Dash shouted, "Wrong lever!"

With Twilight's magic, the catapult was hauled back up, moved over, and set back down on an adjacent hill. Dash glared at Twilight and shouted at Derpy, "Why do we even HAVE that lever?!"

"Actually, um..."

The gathered ponies turned to see Applebloom kicking a stone, "That was my lever."

Twilight sent out a quick ping, which Applebloom returned. Dash ruffled the sad filly's mane and said, "It's alright kid. At least my catapult is alright."

Once again, Dash took her position on the bucket. Applejack had her face buried in her hooves, but stood ready. With a single raised hoof, the catapult was launched. Dash shouted in victory as she soared through the air...then realized she was heading straight up. After another few seconds, her upward momentum turned around and started falling back down. She tried flapping her wings to stop her descent, but failed to notice the pillows she was using were preventing her from getting wind under her wings. Dash landed on the bucket, only to tear through the bottom and crash into the dirt below.

(Sixth Fail)

Applejack pulled the lever once again, only for the lever itself to snap off. The mare threw up one hoof and walked away, shouting about how she wasn't going to be part and parcel to this anymore. It was quiet for a second as Dash shouted, "Great! Now who's going to launch the catapult?!"

Twilight raised a hoof, but lowered it a second later when Dash glared at her. Suddenly, a chipper voice echoed from behind the catapult, "Oh, oh, oh, I'll do it! I love pushing levers!"

Pinkie appeared from under the catapult and pushed the lever, only for cats to start jumping out from every nook and cranny of the catapult and scatter in all directions. Dash blinked several times, "Bu-wha-how-du-huh?!"

Pinkie giggled and answered, "It's a Cat-apult, Dashy!"

Applebloom and Dash facehooved in unison. Twilight just chuckled and asked, "What are you doing here, Pinkie? I thought you'd be baking up a storm at Sugarcube corner."

"I kept getting a twitchy tail, and I had to figure out what's up!"

Twilight raised a hoof, "Could I get some scones? This will probably be going on for quite awhile."

Pinkie started leaping down the hill, "Okie Dokie!"

(Seventh Fail, with help from Anonymous Ask)

After a few minutes, Applebloom had rigged up a wooden handle to launch the catapult again. Twilight, Pinkie and Derpy were now lounging on lawnchairs and eating scones. They were taking bets on the next catastrophic failure, well Pinkie and Derpy were. Twilight was smart enough not to bet against someone who could predict the future. Dash, meanwhile, was starting to get a bit upset. Perhaps she should take a break before attempting this again? After a minute, she shook her head and raised her hoof. This time, Applebloom stood at the control and pushed the lever.

The catapult exploded into treesap and splinters. Everything and everyone was covered in the gooey material. Applebloom groaned and Dash tried swimming her way out, only to find herself stuck. Twilight and the two observers weren't spared either, as their coats were covered in the material.

Twilight applied a quick scourgify spell, removing all the sap from the surrounding area.

"So... are you ready to give up?" Asked Twilight.

"Forget it. I'll never give up." Groaned Dash.

Twilight shrugged and pulled out another box of popcorn. Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out three haydogs before passing two of them to her companions.

(Ditzy Fail, KrisOverstreet)

"OK, I'm ready, Ditzy!" Dash shouted. "Go ahead and pull the lever!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Dash?" she asked. "I mean, we all understand Ditzy Doo's... er... unique talents..."

"Nah, I'm not worried," Rainbow Dash snorted. "After all, what else could possibly go right?"

Ditzy Doo cocked her head to consider this exchange while Twilight continued, "Are you trying to reverse-invoke Murphy? Because you can't make Finagle's Law work in reverse."

"How do you know? Have you ever tried?"

"As a matter of–"

*sniffle*

Twilight and Rainbow Dash paused in their bickering to look at Ditzy, who looked back with crossed eyes beginning to water. "I'm pretty sure that was a hurtful thing you just said, Dash," she said slowly. "Did you mean it?"

"Um, what?" Rainbow Dash ran back through her last couple of sentences. "Oh. OH! No! No! I wasn't making any kind of backhoofed remarks about anypony's ability to spread destruction and mayhem without even realizing she was the cause of it! And I certainly wasn't saying that any particular pony, least of all you, might be incapable of doing anything whatever without messing it up!"

Twilight slapped a hoof to her face.

Despite everything, the excessively-detailed denial had its desired effect. "Really?" asked Ditzy, brightening up. "Pinkie Promise?"

"Um... don't push your luck, okay?" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Okay!" Ditzy put a hoof to the lever. "Ready to fire!"

"FIRE!"

Ditzy threw the lever.

For a long, horrible second, absolutely nothing happened.

Then the lever fell off the catapult.

Then all four wheels flopped off the axles.

Then, bit by bit, the framework came away, folding neatly downwards into suspiciously orderly rows of timber beams.

The main catapult shaft fell last of all, leaving the basket, and its pegasus occupant, hovering in midair in the precise same way that bricks don't.

"OH, COME ON!" Dash shouted.

(Vinyl Fail, Harosata)

After the catapult was repaired...

"I guess it's my turn to throw the lever." And Vinyl threw the lever. The catapult swung forth.

And back. And back and forth. And back and forth with Rainbow Dash still firmly seated in it. "H-hold on! I'll stop it!"

Octavia held up her hoof. "Wait, can you make her a bit faster instead?"

Vinyl paused and then jiggled the lever, swinging the pegasus slightly faster. Octavia nodded in rhythm and then pulled out her violin, playing each big note to the tempo. After all these hectic attempts, a classic song was a nice thing to witness.

"You know, this isn't a bad song, right Pinkie? Pinkie?" Twilight turned to her friend...who is now an empty seat. Her true whereabouts were answered when the violin played so much faster that it sounds more country than classic. Especially when Applejack and Applebloom stomped along and Pinkie danced with an unwilling Vinyl.

"Swing your partners to and fro!

Fa la la la horsey do~!

I make these words up as I go!

And Dash now free, she will oh no–"

(Discord Fail, Harosata)

"So, Dash, I heard you were–"

"No."

"Come on, everyone else had a chance."

"No, Discord, you're going anywhere near that lever!" Dash growled as she tried to wave Discord away.

"Now that's not fair! If I was Awake, you'd so let me do it!" Dash would not, but Discord sniffed away a tear. "Besides, you can't possibly think I'd do worse, do you?"

Rainbow opened her mouth... "Point. Just make it quick."

Discord giddily rubbed his hands and pulled the lever like the sword in the stone, and to everyone's amazement, Rainbow was launched into the sky!

"Finally, I'm flying! Nothing's going to stop me now!" She froze. She froze when she noticed she wasn't going forward, and when she felt something tugging on her flank, she looked down and saw a very long strand of gum attached to it. "Oh, horsefeathers."

Then she snapped back and splatted onto a catapult-sized frying pan. One that a smiling Discord walked up to.

"She's pancake! I mean, Awake!" A sky blue hoof punched him in the face. "...I don't know what I did before I Woke up, but I'm pretty sure I deserved that. Ow."

(Shiny and Cadance Fail, Evilhumour)

Shining Armor rubbed a hoof through his mane, blushing a bit as he watched the chaos unfold.

"You know, in theory, it should have worked..." he trailed off as he hit the dirt, ducking under the speeding shield ball that contained one very angry and nauseous mare that had bounced off another tree.

Cadance patted his hoof, smiling at him. "You thought it would be protect her to be in a shield when you launched her from the catapult in case she crashed and you made a mistake, that's all."

"Thanks Cady," he leaned over to nuzzle her when Dash's scream of terror and anger interrupted them. "I guess we should go help out first."

(Jojo Fail, Wildrook)

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" a voice yelled. "OH MY GOD!!!"

Rainbow Dash had looked at the pony who test-ran the catapult and the centaur that was trying to chase him.

"Of course the one Joestar that's bad with flight would kamikaze an immortal god into an active volcano," she muttered. "And he had to borrow my freaking catapult instead of just taking an airship."

"This is what happens when things take a turn for the bizarre," Discord said to Rainbow Dash. "It's becoming a common sight now, too."

(Big Mac Fail, NachotheBrony)

Big Mac came up the hill wheeling in a simple oversized seesaw on a wagon.

Rainbow eyed it skeptically as Mac unhitched himself, pulled the seesaw out of the wagon, then gestured her to get on one side.

"Mac, I don't..." She was starting a retort, but was quickly silenced by him levelling a dark look on her. She thus zipped her mouth and climbed on.

He then walked to the opposite side, began glowering at everybody present, and then let out a roar and reared up... and then kept going up as he grew into a humongous green mass of muscle and fury, which then gave another roar and gave a brutal hammer punch to his side of the seesaw.

Too bad, however, that the beam split in half from his punch, resulting in Rainbow barely being propelled at all. Meanwhile, Mac rapidly deflated, then shook his head and calmly began picking up the broken seesaw out of its new crater and back on the wagon.

(Luna Fail)

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!! Get those rockets away from the catapult now, Luna. This is a catapult, not a launchpad for the moon."

Luna frowned. In the background, Octavia started playing a sad tone on her violin as the Princess of the Moon turned, picked up a couple Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles she had brought with her, and trudged off. Suddenly, several fillies who had come to watch started booing out Rainbow Dash. They even started pelting her with popcorn seeds...

No wait, that was Twilight. Dash just glared and pointed a hoof at her own face, and the resting form of Twilight Sparkle.

(Lyrical Fail)

"Uh...Twilight, I'm having second thoughts!"

Twilight waved Rainbow off as her horn lit up. "Don't worry. I decided to be direct this time, and cast the indestructible spell on you. You won't even feel a thing if you end up embedded in a mountain."

The catapult had been heavily modified this time with Lyra's help. It had taken entire days to get this just right, but was now upgraded with Nanomachines. What made Dash worry was the almost deafening humming coming from the device. Of course, Twilight thought it might have been the fact that they tested Tom the Boulder a few minutes ago, and it's still circling the planet several hundred feet overhead...every other second.

Dash stared overhead with horror as Tom once again flew overhead, then tried shouting at Lyra to abort. Pity she couldn't hear anything over the humming noise as she threw the lever. Her screams were there one second, and gone the next. Then without warning the catapult exploded, catching tom and an instant later Dash as she made her first loop around Equestria in two seconds flat. This abruptly shifted the orbiting rock and mare, redirecting them at the perfect angle towards Ponyville, and right into a familiar library tree.

A second passed in silence, as something snapped in the air. Lyra turned towards the purple mare, who's eyes suddenly went cross eyed. She muttered, "Oh birch," before disappearing into her own subspace pocket to sit out the loop away from the fallout.


184.2 (Detective Ethan Redfield)

A pair of waffles were laid in front of the two girls. Sombra asked, "Would you like any CCCCRRRYYSTAL brand syrup to go with those?"

Twilight blinked, and asked, "Why are you enunciating Crystal like that?"

Sombra shrugged. "Waffle King is owned by the Crystal Corporation, who produces some of the best syrup worldwide. I'm supposed to push crystal brand foods here. Check out our shop."

Twilight nodded then said she didn't want any. A few seconds after the human version of Sombra departed, Rarity said, "Twilight."

"Yes Rarity?"

"Why–"

"Stop! Don't...just...don't. Let's just finish our waffles in peace and go."

Silently, Twilight thought this probably had something to do with pancakes again.


184.3 (LadyStina2)

It was a couple days after the Summer Sun Celebration and Ivory Scroll had been bitten with a case of wanderlust. But she couldn’t just abandon her mayoral duties.

Well, she could, but it never worked out well for Ponyville.

In an attempt to help keep things semi-orderly, she knocked on the door to the Sweet Apple Acres homestead. A moment later and an unawake Applejack opened the door. A Loyalty check of the Elements performed at the Loop start had told her which of the Element bearers were Awake.

“Well howdy, Mayor Mare! What can Ah do ya for?” Applejack asked brightly.

“Good afternoon, Miss Applejack. I’m actually here to see your sister. Is she around?” Ivory asked.

“Apple Bloom?” Applejack raised a questioning eyebrow. “What’d she do that’d get you involved Madam Mayor? Ah know her and her new little friends are a mite excitable, but Ah didn’t think they’d gotten into any trouble.”

“Please, Miss Applejack, call me Ivory Scroll. And lil’ Apple Bloom wrote a paper on local governments for class that made its way to me. I’d like to discuss it with her,” Ivory lied smoothly. Before realizing that she just lied to an Element of Honesty. Many Loops of political experience kept her face schooled into a polite yet curious expression.

Applejack eyed her for slightly longer than necessary before saying, “She and her friends went and found my old clubhouse and have been fixin’ it up. They should still be out there. Ah’ll take ya to them, Ivory Scroll.”

Ivory smiled and said, “Thank you, Applejack.”

The two made their way through the sprawling apple orchard chatting about the upcoming harvest and its importance to Ponyville as a whole. Ivory decided that the next time she Woke up early, she would try to get an unawake Applejack elected as mayor and see how things would work out. She’d probably be good at it with just a few lessons. And with her being as honest as she was would bound to shake things up with some of the ponies Ivory had to deal with on a regular basis.

As they got closer to the clubhouse they started hearing the sounds of power tools and fillies shouting instructions to each other. Applejack got a worried look on her face and started walking a little faster.

A voice drifted over to them, “The perimeter alarm just tripped! Quick, button up the hanger bay doors.” It sounded like Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom’s voice replied, “Oak bark! Ya got video feed up yet, Scoots? Ah don’t think the nanites have gotten to the door controls yet.”

“Not yet,” Scootaloo answered. “I was helping Sweetie get the clubhouse up to code.”

“Oh! Just a sec. I’ve been working on my illusions,” Sweetie Belle’s voice replied. “There. How’s that?”

“That’s pretty good. Think we could bind that spell to a crystal or gem or somethin’? It’d give us a backup for when the holographic generators ain’t workin’. Like now…” Apple Bloom’s voice answered.

“Hmm… That’s really more of a Rarity or Diamond Tiara thing. And neither of them are Awake. I could do some research and see what I can come up with. If nothing else, I could get Twilight to help if I can’t figure it out,” Sweetie said thoughtfully.

Their conversation quickly stopped when Applejack pulled back some branches which revealed a treehouse that looked incredibly well built, a trio of fillies trying a bit too hard to look innocent, and absolutely none of the power tools they had heard earlier.

“Uh, HEY Applejack!” Apple Bloom greeted nervously. “What… uh… brings ya by?”

“Just comin’ to see what you fillies were up to,” Applejack replied while looking around with a critical eye. “So, what are ya up to?”

Apple Bloom looked over at her friends then back at her sister before answering, “Just fixin’ up yer old clubhouse, sis. Ah think we’re just about done.”

“Well, the clubhouse looks good. But what was all that talk about alarms, illusions, and holo-whatsis ya’ll were talking about before we got here?” Applejack asked.

“We were just playin,’ sis,” Apple Bloom protested.

“Nuh-uh," Sweetie Belle chimed in. "I have been working on my illusions! Watch!” She faced the clubhouse and scrunched her eyes up, but her horn never lit up. She suddenly opened her eyes with a cheerful look on her face and said, “See?”

Scootaloo looked up at the clubhouse and scanned the tree it was sitting in. “Wow, where did it go, Sweetie? I can’t see it at all.”

Applejack chuckled as she apparently brushed away her concerns since the fillies were obviously playing pretend. “Yes, very good job, err… Sweetie, right?” Sweetie nodded her head happily and Applejack continued, “Well AB, the mayor came by and asked to see ya. Somethin’ about a paper ya wrote on local government fer school?”

Apple Bloom leaned over and looked behind her sister to see Ivory standing there and waved. She quickly glanced at her sister before saying, “Gosh! You read mah paper, Miss Scroll?”

Ivory stepped up next to Applejack and replied, “Oh yes. And Miss Cheerilee wanted me to speak with whichever little pony wrote the best paper to see if a governmental career would be right for them. And well, here I am.”

“Well, Ah’ll get on out of yer manes. Ah need to help Big Mac with getting the bushels set up for Apple Buck Season. Good job, AB. Ah’m so proud of you,” she turned and walked away. They could just hear her saying, “Mah little sis. The mayor…”

Once they were sure Applejack was out of earshot, Apple Bloom turned to the older mare and asked, “What’s up, Ivory?”

Ivory smiled and said, “Sorry about almost exposing your workshop. I wasn’t thinking about that when I came to see you.”

“It’s alright. We covered it up pretty well. Ah’ll probably end up tellin’ her about the Loops, otherwise she’s gonna keep tryin’ to ‘catch us’ at doin’ somethin’ we shouldn’t be,” Apple Bloom waved off.

Scootaloo tapped her chin in thought and said, “Or…we could give her something else to worry about. What if we find an ‘ancient relic’ that ages us all up to adulthood?”

“We'll talk about it later, Scoots. Ivory?” Apple Bloom looked back up at Ivory.

“Hmm, yes. Well, I was wondering if you could help me set up some holographic program of me. Frankly, I need a vacation. But Ponyville doesn’t do well when I just walk away. I have several copies of all the typical Loop paperwork,” Ivory said.

Apple Bloom thought a moment and said, “Well, if you’d want to wait a Loop, Ah’ve got a device that’d record your every movement and conversation, then we could upload a hard-light hologram to run that program. But both the Loops would have to be run baseline. We’ve used it a time or two ourselves when there weren’t many Loopers Awake and ran off to do our own thing. But if’n you need to get away this Loop…” She looked over to her friends and asked, “Is Silver or Chrysallis Awake? Or anypony a changelin’ this Loop? A shapeshifter would be better for coverin’ than a hologram...”

Scootaloo shook her head and said, “Naw. The only Kindness Awake is Fluttershy. And she only shifts into other animals. Not to mention, I don’t think she’d have the time to cover for somepony. And there’s not really a way to tell if anypony’s a changeling without them telling the rest of us. Or if Chrissie’s Awake.”

Apple Bloom nodded thoughtfully and said, “Alright… Let me think.” There was silence for a moment before she said, “What if we set it up so it looks like yer at yer desk whenever anypony looks into yer office, but when they walk in, yer just walkin’ out. Ya got a door in the back of yer office, right? Set it up so Twilight handles any public appearances, her bein’ Celestia’s student and then a Princess an’ all. Until ya can get them recorded, at any rate. You got some sorta paperwork mojo, right?”

Ivory answered, “Yes, I can set up some spells that will have the correct paperwork on the desk as the Loop progresses. Well, as long as things don’t go too far off the rails.”

“Well, we can talk with Twilight and see if she wouldn’t mind coverin’ for ya if that happens. We can make a recording of you handin' over executive power to her and we can run that program if things get too far off,” Apple Bloom suggested.

Ivory smiled and said, “I leave the details in your capable hooves. Just let me know what you need me to do.”

“City Hall is usually pretty empty around lunch-time, right? Ah’ll come by yer office tomorrow around then and we can set up those holographic recordin’s,” Apple Bloom said.

“Thank you, Apple Bloom. I’ll be expecting you.”s


After Apple Bloom set up the holograms she asked for, and taught her how to use them in the future, Ivory ascended, turned her mane aura on then off again which washed the gray dye out of her mane and tail leaving them bright pink. Then she had descended to a pegasus and dyed her coat to a shade just slightly darker than Cheerilee’s typical coat color before leaving Ponyville behind for the Loop.

She decided to spend the Loop in Las Pegasus and was surprisingly good at counting cards. Perhaps she should give that Chaos game everypony was talking about a try…


184.4 (wildrook)

Rainbow Dash groaned as she had to deal with Zephyr's ramblings.

"Then again," Zephyr said, about to lead in on something. "I can't help but think of a bit of an area I'd like to get into."

She then blinked. "Oh, dear sweet amber, you're not going to say what I think you're going to say," she said.

"I don't know. I kind of feel like going to..."

Dash then growled. "Zephyr, if you finish that sentence, I swear to the larch, I will end you!"

"Yeah, going right into the danger zone..."

Next thing Zephyr knew, he was thrown out the window and onto the ground. From Cloudsdale.


184.5 (Vinylshadow)

Twilight walked into Ponyville Town Hall, weaving her way through the crowd of ponies waiting for Celestia's appearance.

As usual, the Princess was gone and Twilight waited for the smoke that would form into Nightmare Moon to appear.

Except it never did.

A few seconds passed and a pony coughed quietly.

Twilight heard some rustling papers, whispered voices and then her jaw dropped as Zephyr Breeze stumbled into view.

"Uh...citizens of Ponytown–" He squinted at the papers in his hoof for a moment before correcting himself. "PONYVILLE! BEHOLD THE MIGHT AND MAJESTIC FORM OF HER DARK MISTREL....MISTRESS NIGHTMARE MOON!" he bellowed.

Complete silence met his declaration and after a few moments a sheepish Nightmare Moon came into view.

"So hard to find reliable interns nowadays. Back in my day, they were a dime a dozen. My how far theater has fallen," she grumbled. "Can't even read a script properly or act right..."


184.6 (Masterweaver)

"...just saying, why did we walk all the way out here if Twilight's already neutralized the rings?"

"Road trip, tradition, a chance to indulge the childish side of my personality that still does hero worship, a small adventure?" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Take your pick. It's a shame none of the other girls could come, though."

Fluttershy rolled her wings. "Well, Twi had her experiment, Rarity was on another honeymoon with Spike, Applejack's not Awake, and Pinkie..."

The two of them shuddered.

"Yeah," Rainbow mused. "That was... yeah."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"Actually, why didn't we bring anybody else?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, not just the girls – I know Ivory and Zecora are awake, and Chryssy–"

"Well, Zecora's off on another adventure with Shining, Ivory is redistricting Griffonstone, and Chrysalis... I asked her what was up, but you know how she gets sometimes. All secret and sly, acting like some sort of evil mastermind."

"Which, you know, she kind of is."

"No, I mean she actually just giggled and faded into the shadows." Rainbow frowned. "How does she do that anyway?"

"Something something magic, something something psyker, something something chakras." Fluttershy flicked a wing forward. "There's the house, and... Caballeron and his goons are already there."

"Well, let's go in and smash some heads together!"

The pegasi flew in through the door, each striking into the fray with martial precision. Rainbow Dash kicked a goon in the head, while Fluttershy twirled and raised a hoof–

"Wait–ZEPHYR BREEZE?!"

The cowering stallion waved. "Uh, hey big sis!"

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE?!"

"Oh, I'm interning with Doctor Caballeron for some credits on my archeology degree."

"But that–I mean–!" Fluttershy gestured to the rest of the ponies, who had frozen mid-fight to watch this confrontation. "Why are you here?! Why did you come into somepony else's home and help attack them?!"

"Weeeeeeeell," Zephyr mused, "Doctor Caballeron said she stole a precious artifact, and... look, she's pretending to be Daring Do. Clearly not right in the head. Obviously we're going to take her to a mental hospital."

For a moment, nopony said anything.

"....Eeeeeeeyeeeeeeeees. Sick in the head." Caballeron nodded. "Let us go with that explanation."

"Bringing students into this?" Daring Do growled. "I never thought you would sink this low..."


184.7 (Masterweaver)

"Beware you ponies, because you see, the flowers around can... dangerous... BE!"

The cloaked figure waved their hooves with a dramatic OOOOoooo noise. Fluttershy sighed. "Zephyr Breeze, what are you doing here?"

"Oh! Big sis! Fancy running into you in the middle of the Everfree Forest!"

"Zeph...."

"Well, you know how I want to do mane therapy?" The cloaked figure rolled his hoof. "See, I thought it would be cool if I could use some new kind of shampoo. Or conditioner. You know. So I asked around, and–"

"Zeph."

"I'm apprenticing under this really smart alchemist! She's called Zecora, kind of weird, but I've learned a lot from her!"

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Really? You're apprenticing?" She smiled a bit. "I am so proud of you, doing something on your own initiative!"

"Yeah! Plus, Zecora's pretty hot." Zephyr coughed. "No offense, Dash, I don't think it would work out between us."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "If restraining orders don't exist this loop," she muttered, "I'm going to invent them."

"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom interjected. "These flowers are dangerous, ya said?"

"Uh, yes. Oh! I'm forgot I'm supposed to rhyme! Yes, indeed, I did say those words on this... day–"

"Then why are ya standin' in them yerself?"

Zephyr Breeze looked down at his hooves. "...Oh."


184.8 (Gamerex27, Masterweaver)

"...Hey Twilight?"

"Yeah Applejack?"

"...Ah was thinkin', mah museum? What if Ah, ya know, opened that up to non-loopers?"

Twilight paused, her drink midway to her lips. Slowly, she lowered her mug.

"...that's actually an interesting question." She shrugged. "You know what? Next loop we're both awake, let's go for it. I'll open my 'Time Traveler' stall and throw in advertising pamphlets on top of that."


Not so long later, Applejack was starting to question her decision a little.

Between Discord drawing moustaches on almost all of her statues, Daring Do and Doctor Calleberon fighting over an exhibit of her first terraforming achievement (both the trees that had long since become fossilized and the magically-preserved still-living trees), and Zecora buying her clean out of the souvenir shop's supply of exotic plants and tea bags from across reality for her potions, things were getting way more hectic than she had ever expected. Or wanted, for that matter.

"Still not as bad as the first time your brother opened his bar to non-Loopers," Twilight said, putting a sympathetic hoof on her friend's shoulder.

"Ah still don't think Fluttershy ever forgave Tzeentch for blowing up Ponyville after he lost that game of chess to that one Loop-'Ware stallion from Tartarus. If the 'toon physics of these parts weren't there to make sure everypony was just covered 'n soot from the blast...Well, 'least we don't have to rebuild an entire block for this time."

"You know, once night falls and that tablet turns itself on, we should really ask the exhibits if they would mind guarding the place," Twilight mentioned, as both mares ducked to avoid Pinkie flying backwards into the pool of chocolate rainwater (Discord's idea) from bouncing off the magic barrier protecting her Looping self's pastry exhibits. "It would save us a lot of grief. Either way, it's a learning experience for when we reopen the place."


"Okay," Applejack said a loop after. "Ah think Ah've got it. The museum is goin' on the moon."

Twilight stared at her.

"Since it's on the moon, it's always night," Applejack explained. "So the tablet's always active, so there's a full staff at all times. Plus, factorin' in the teleportin', makes it hard to break in. Throw in some tour guides, and it's perfect!"

"...what... museum are you talking about?"

Applejack blinked. After a moment, she facehooved. "Dangit, we've got a stealth anchor again, don't we?"

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "What's a stealth anchor?"


184.9 (Masterweaver)

"HELLOOOOOOOOO CANTERLOT HIGH!"

Everybody stopped, trying to locate the source of the voice. Rainbow Dash was the first one to think about looking up. "HOLY SH*T! SHE'S ON THE FLAGPOLE!"

"HANGING OFF THE FLAGPOLE, ACTUALLY. THANKS FOR POINTING ME OUT DASH!" Sunset twirled the bullhorn in her grasp. "NOW I KNOW YOU ALL KNOW ME – RUINER OF FRIENDSHIPS, SPREADER OF RUMORS, AND BASICALLY ALL AROUND QUEEN BITCH OF THE SCHOOL. WELL GOOD NEWS! I'VE DECIDED TO PUT ALL THAT BEHIND ME!"

"Good lord," Rarity whispered. "She's gone entirely mad."

"I'M LOOKING TO TURN OVER A NEW LEAF! AND TO DO THAT, I'M DOING THREE THINGS. FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE TEXTED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU THE VARIOUS WAYS I MANIPULATED YOU PERSONALLY – GO RIGHT AHEAD AND HEAL THOSE FRIENDSHIPS!"

A few of the students doubtfully pulled out their cell phones, scrolling through their messages. After a moment, Pinkie Pie gasped, glomped Fluttershy, and began weeping. "I'M SO SOOOOOOORRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Um," said Fluttershy. "I.... uh... um..."

"SECONDLY! I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT I AM NOT, SAY AGAIN, NOT RUNNING FOR PROM QUEEN THIS TIME ROUND! LET THAT CROWN GO TO WHO DESERVES IT!"

Applejack whistled. "Hooo-eeeee. She's serious about this, ain't she?"

"AND FINALLY, SPEAKING OF PROM! I AM NOW OPENING A DATE-SEEKING SERVICE! IF YOU DON'T HAVE A DATE, COME TO ME, FILL OUT A LITTLE SHEET, AND I'LL GUARANTEE A DATE THAT'S PERFECT FOR YOU!" Sunset twirled her bullhorn again. "SUNSET OUT! PEACE!"


184.10 (Keywii_Cookies55, Vinylshadow)

"Alright," Spike stated, somewhat amused by Twilight's antics, but still tired and a bit irritable as it was two in the morning, "Care to run that by me one more time?"

Spike motioned to the giant contraption that filled the entire library tree.

"Right, so the latest expansion had Applejack over-complicating feeding the pigs, and it got me thinking." Spike rolled his eyes as Twilight explained, when she had ideas like this, he always lost sleep, "I haven't done something like that in a while. What's stopping me?"

The answer, apparently, was nothing.

"Uh huh, and you decided to make a Rube Goldberg device, one involving an air horn I might add, to...do what exactly?"

Twilight was grinning from ear to ear, "Why, to turn a page in the book I'm reading of course!"

Spike blinked a few times while staring deadpanned at his long time friend, then turned to the device she constructed that was only good for one use, and most likely required half an hour just to set back up. All with the goal of accomplishing something she could do while sleeping, and decided that only one course of action would be needed here.

"I'm going back to sleep."

He pulled a pair of sound cancelling earplugs from his pocket and left the room. The window to the room then burst open and Vinyl poked her head in.

"Yo, Twilight, what's with the air horn sounding every 30 seconds? You keep setting off my Wubbing Machine."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "What's a Wubbing Machine?"

"It turns the lights on and off based on a specific sound pattern. One your air horn inexplicably replicates."

Twilight blinked, then arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you just use your magic to flip the light switch?"

Vinyl snorted derisively. "Where's the fun in that?"

She popped out of view and Twilight turned to her contraption with her mind whirring.

"Maybe if I replaced the air horn with eggbeaters..."


184.11 (fractalman)


Twilights eyes turned into white dinner plates with a tiny point of black. "Fluttershy, that's a Catachan barking toad."

Fluttershy smiled. "Greater barking toad, actually. Isn't it adorable?"

"I'd scream, but then I'd set it off and we'd wind up in Eiken or G3.5."

Fluttershy stroked the toad, which croaked contentedly. "There, there, there, it's OK..."

Twilight settled for opening her mouth and screaming silently until she was out of sight of the toad, whereupon she teleported herself to the sun and screamed there.


184.12 (Vinylshadow)

Twilight Sparkle Woke up standing in the middle of Golden Oaks Library, horn glowing as she sorted through the rows of books circling her. Seamlessly continuing her work, she finished in seconds and put everything back neatly before opening the door.

She took one step outside and froze.

Rows and rows of boxes filled the street, each holding a single pony.

"...What."

"Hey, Twilight!" came the familiar call. Twilight's eyes zeroed in on Spike, who had a smaller box than the rest of the town.

"You Awake?" he asked. "You've missed most of the race."

"Race?" Twilight asked blankly. Spike's eyebrows rose and he stared at her. Twilight perked up and a devilish grin crossed her face.

"Fools!" she declared. "Just because you have a five hundred lap lead doesn't mean your victory is assured!"

Grabbing a box of her own, she hopped in and joined the grand prix.


"Told you we could get all of Equestria to take part in the cardboard race," Luna said smugly, ensconced in a box of her own.

"Never doubted you, sister dear," Celestia replied absently before swearing violently. "A curse upon thee, Braeburn! May your apples turn sour!"

"How am I losing to Blueblood?!" Luna growled.

In his own box, Blueblood smirked roguishly and stroked his several dozen grand prix trophies as he effortlessly took the lead.


184.13 (LadyStina2)

Spike Awoke just as he finished tying the bow on Moondancer’s present. Millennia of experience helping Rarity on projects had him distractedly adjusting the bow to make it more pleasing to the eye.

Thoughts of his wife made him sigh sadly. He tried not to count the years when they were separated, but being Twilight’s son/brother/assistant/it’s complicated for as long as he had gave him an analytical mind. Therefore he knew it was well over two hundred years since he last saw her.

He sent out a Ping and did an Element check. Spike smiled broadly when he discovered that Rarity was Awake this Loop. And so was Rainbow Dash. His smile slowly turned into a smirk when he realized that Twilight wasn’t Awake and they were dealing with a stealth anchor.

He pulled a list from his subspace pocket and continued to smile. Pinkie’s name was at the top, but she wasn’t Awake, so the honor defaulted to the next name on the list.

Which was his.

Spike pulled out two scrolls and quickly wrote a message to the other two Awake Loopers. Knowing Twilight would be bursting through the door soon, he kept the messages short.

“Stealth Anchor. My turn. Baseline!”

He may have added a few extra endearments to Rarity’s letter.

As soon as he sent the messages off he smiled and rubbed his hands together. One of the best things about an unawake Twilight Sparkle was messing with her head.


“Spike! SPIKE!” The door burst open, like usual, with a frantic Twilight rushing through. Spike looked up from the stack of books he was standing next to. He had the top-most book in his hand as he turned towards her with a questioning look.

“I’m right here, Twilight. What’s wrong?”

Twilight focused on him and replied, “There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies.”

Spike looked down at the book in his hand with faked surprise and handed it to her. “Huh. Here ya go, Twi.”

“Oh?” she said in surprise before taking the book in her magical grip. “Thanks.”


Spike 'accidentally' backed up into a bookshelf and caused a book he’d placed on the edge earlier to hit the ground with a resounding thud.

“How about this one, Twi?” he asked and pointed to it. Pinkie quickly ran over, grabbed it, and brought it over to Twilight.

The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,” she read off before glancing at the two of them questioningly.

Spike just yawned and shrugged as Pinkie sing-songed, “It was under ‘E’!”

When Twilight started reading out loud from the book, Rainbow leaned over to Spike and asked quietly, “What’s the plan, short stuff?”

Spike gave her a small smirk and replied, “Spike-sense. When she gets paranoid, I’ll let you know. I could use a pegasi-view.” Rainbow hid her smirk behind a forehoof and nodded in approval.

Spike continued to yawn obnoxiously and pretended to nod off while Twilight spoke. The girls eventually ran out the door to head for the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, after Twilight insisted he stay there and get some sleep. He was ‘just a baby dragon after all.’

Rarity hung back, and when everypony was out of sight, swept up Spike for a passionate kiss. “Oh how I’ve missed you, my love,” she breathed as she pulled away.

Spike smiled warmly and replied, “Me too. I’ll ‘grow’ tonight and come by tomorrow so we can catch up. You’d better hurry or they’ll leave you behind.”


“Spike? Can you see if this library has a copy of The Fires of Friendship: Fact or Fiction?”

“Sure thing, Twi. I’m working on reorganizing the Hearthwarming section. Oh? Uh… here ya go,” he extended the book in his hand out towards her. He was pleased to see her giving him a questioning look. Spike merely shrugged in response.


“Spike, could you get me Big Book of Botany by Berry Bouquet?” Twilight asked. Spike was standing beside her and quietly handed her the book in his hand. Which ‘happened’ to be the one she asked for.


A poison joke-cured Twilight entered the library and found Spike reading a comic book. She walked up to him and demanded, “Ok. How are you doing it?”

Spike closed up the Batman comic he was catching up on and gave her a confused look before asking, “Doing what, Twilight?”

“That thing with the books!” she exclaimed. “Every time I’m looking for a book, you have it in your claws! And today, I took every book off the shelves looking for a poison joke cure. Then you come downstairs, walk over to one book and offer it to me. I shouldn’t have ignored it, I’m sorry about that. But it happened to be the one I needed! So how are you doing that?”

Spike shrugged and answered casually, “I dunno, Twi. Just coincidence, I guess.” He opened his comic again, but caught Twilight’s eye twitch. It was almost time to call in Dash. Twilight would start ‘researching’ him soon.


“In hindsight, we really should have seen this coming,” Spike said dryly as he stood along with Rarity and Rainbow Dash in the cupola on top of Carousel Boutique and watched the library burn.


184.14 (Vinylshadow)

"And that is why this place doesn't deserve any hoof rating," Zesty Gourmand said with a huff.

"Ma'am, while your review was certainly...well thought out and constructive...this is a donut shop," Donut Joe replied patiently. "Of course we don't merit the same system as the fancier places. Now if you'll excuse me, my regulars are here."

"Regulars? Who on Equus would–" Zesty scoffed before catching sight of the regulars.

"Yo, Joe! The usual please!" Celestia called from a booth.

"For us as well!" Luna chirped happily.

"Of course, Princesses!" Joe called, expertly boxing two dozen donuts for each princess. Trotting past a gobsmacked Zesty, he presented the princesses their treats.

"Thanks, Joe!" they chorused.

Watching Zesty storm out of the diner, Luna tilted her head. "Do you think that was a bit much?"

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, oozing innocence. Luna rolled her eyes.

"I saw you tweak Zesty's schedule to bring her here at the same time we come for our meals."

Celestia munched a quadruple-chocolate donut thoughtfully. "I thought it'd be amusing and help show our little ponies that we eat the same food they do. Twilight certainly loves her hayburgers and fries. Why can't I enjoy a donut every once in a while?"

"One wonders where you manage to fit them in between the numerous cakes and delicacies you put away," Luna replied dryly.

"They help fill in the cracks so my belly is actually full. Can't let all those gaps go to waste," Celestia replied cheerfully.

Luna’s head hit the table with a thud.


184.15 (Gym Quirk)


Angel smirked as he played a card.

"Alfalfa monster?" asked Discord. "Okay. I don't see how that helps your–"

"Hey sis!" called Zephyr Breeze as he barged into Fluttershy's cottage. "Your new roomie is... Um... Where's Fluttershy? And who are you?" he asked the two not-ponies sitting at the kitchen table playing cards.

"Ah. You must be dear Fluttershy's little brother... Zeppelin Gust was it? Oh. Where are my manners? Discord, at your service." The draconequus stood and bowed, conveniently evading the carrot thrown at his head. "And the long-eared anger-management case is Angel Bunny."

The turquoise pegasus blanched slightly and started backing toward the front door. "Oh... hey... Nice to meet'cha. I was just stopping by to... uh... see if Fluttershy wanted to go out for... um... lunch!"

"Ah. I see. Well, she's off somewhere with Rainbow Dash. I think they'll be back in another half-hour or... Well that wasn't very polite," said Discord to the dust cloud left by the clearly spooked and rapidly retreating sibling. "I suppose we should keep tabs on the lad to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble," he suggested as he turned back to Angel. "But that can wait until we finish this round. Oh. I've been meaning to ask. I heard something about you and Starlight Glimmer getting chummy?"

Angel shrugged and made "I don't want to talk about it" gestures.

"Fine, fine. I won't pry," said the chaos spirit. He scowled at the game arrayed on the table. "I believe you were about to explain that unusual play of yours...?"


184.16 (LadyStina2)

Ivory Scroll was busy doing her normal mayoral and name-changing paperwork before the Summer Sun Celebration when Twilight Sparkle suddenly entered her office.

Spike was busy protesting, “But Twilight, we’re supposed to be seeing about the weather. There’s nothing on the checklist about speaking to the mayor.”

“Just pencil it in, Spike. I’ll only be a minute, ok?” Twilight said as she shut the door on her confused assistant.

Ivory gave her a questioning look and asked, “Yes, Twilight? What can I do for you?”

Twilight got right to the point and said, “Rainbow Dash and Rarity have decided to run off for one of their bonding exercises. I wanted to know if you wanted to fill in for Dash? You’re the only other Loyalty awake. I can handle it, if you don’t want to.”

Ivory thought for a moment then smiled and answered, “Why not? I’ve been getting antsy lately. Baseline up to Luna’s arrival?”

“Yes. Just meet us at the library once she leaves. I need to go find Diamond Tiara and see if she’ll sub for Rarity…” Twilight trailed off into thought.

“So it’ll be you, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, myself, and Diamond Tiara? Kind of an Earth-pony heavy team, isn’t it?” Ivory asked.

Twilight smiled that disturbing grin she was entirely too good at and replied, “Omigosh! Are you kidding? That’s great! We could run an all Earth-pony team since Fluttershy’s Awake. It’ll be fun! Thanks, Ivory!” Twilight quickly ascended then descended back down to an Earth-pony in the blink of an eye. She then gave Ivory a wink before speaking loudly and clearly towards the closed door, “What’s that, Madam Mayor? You need some collateral before I can take up residence in the library? But I don’t have any bits on me and I’m only staying the night.” She was silent for just a moment before continuing with her one-sided conversation, “Really? Can you do that?” Another quick silence before, “And I’ll be able to get it back?... Well… ok…. go ahead and take it.”

Ivory kept her voice low and asked, “Did you just give Spike the impression that I took your horn in exchange for staying in the library?”

Twilight nodded and said quietly, “Yup! Can you get a message to Fluttershy and ask her to turn into an earth pony too before we get there? Thanks, Ivory. See ya tonight!” She turned and left the room without waiting for a response.

Ivory heard a stunned Spike ask, “Twilight? What happened? Where’s your horn?!”

Twilight laughed lightly and replied to the baby dragon, “Oh, Spike. It’s just for one day. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Uhh… wasn’t you worried about the Mare in the Moon?”

“Spike, Princess Celestia all but told me it was just an old pony tale. If you can’t trust the Princess, then who can you trust?” Twilight’s voice faded as they got farther away.

Ivory rested her head in her hooves and groaned, “Sweet Goldenraintree. How many lonely-Loops did she just get out of? She seems more manic than usual… And I just agreed to go along with her madness…”

She wrote a note to Fluttershy and folded it into a paper crane before sending it out the window to deliver the message.

Ivory quickly finished up the paperwork to get her name officially changed away from ‘Mayor Mare’ for this Loop and left her office. If Rarity left, there might still be some decorating that needed finishing in the Celebration Hall. Ivory might not have an eye for decorating, but she knew how it was supposed to look.


The Summer Sun Celebration went like normal. Once Ivory had finished directing fleeing ponies out of the Celebration Hall, she made her way to the library and met up with a pink filly heading the same direction.

When the filly spotted Ivory she smiled and greeted her, “Oh, hey, Ivory. Looks like Twilight had to tag in more of the backups than I thought. Anypony else different going on the Element run?”

Ivory did a double take and realized that the filly was, in fact, Diamond Tiara. She didn’t recognize her at first with it being night and the filly not wearing her usual headwear. “She didn’t mention me when she recruited you?” Ivory asked.

Tiara rolled her eyes and replied, “Like my mom would let a strange pony with a small dragon talk to me for longer than idle pleasantries. All Twilight got a chance to say was, ‘Oh, excuse me. Generosity. Tonight.’ I had to sneak out of the house as it is. Daddy hardly ever lets me attend the Celebration.”

Their conversation was cut short as Ivory approached the library. For some reason, Diamond Tiara veered away from the door and hid in the bushes. Ivory gave her a questioning look, but Tiara waved her on. Ivory just shrugged and headed into the library.

Shortly after Twilight began explaining about the prophecy and the Elements of Harmony for the benefit of their unawake friends, they left the library and made their way to the Everfree Forest.

When they approached the path that led into the forest Applejack and Pinkie gasped loudly before they chorused out, “The Everfree Forest?!”

“What’s the matter?” Twilight turned and asked innocently.

Ivory hid a sudden smirk and interrupted what Applejack was about to say with, “I’m afraid, Miss Sparkle, that the Township of Ponyville only allows visitors into the Everfree Forest with a permit and a License of Magical Wildlife Preservation. So visitation has been kept severely limited.”

Everypony gave her odd looks, but she kept the apologetic expression on her face. Pinkie broke the silence with, “Wowie! I thought nopony ever went in there because of how spoOooky it is!”

“Not ta mention dangerous! There’re all kinds of monsters in there,” Applejack protested.

Fluttershy interrupted and said, “They’re not monsters! Just poor, misunderstood creatures.”

Ivory turned to Fluttershy and continued, “Miss Shy, if you could come by my office tomorrow, I can grant you retroactive visitor passes on your license which would allow us to legally accompany you into the Everfree for a period of 48 hours.”

“Well, now that that’s all sorted out…” Twilight said dryly.

“Wait,” Applejack looked questioningly at Fluttershy and asked, “You’ve got one of those permit things? No offense, sugar, but Ah was always under the impression you were a mite too jumpy ta want ta enter there.”

Fluttershy glanced at Ivory with a slight head tilt and answered, “Apparently?” She looked back at Applejack before ducking her head and saying, “I may have visited a few times…”

“Great! You can be our guide!” Twilight said excitedly. “Let’s go! The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters awaits! Now let’s go stop Nightmare Moon.”

Ivory nodded in agreement and said, “Yes. Quite. Miss Shy, after you.”

Fluttershy eeped before nodding firmly and saying, “Right, this way everypony. Just remember not to touch any blue flowers. Um… if that’s ok with you.” She led the way into the dark forest with everypony else following close behind. A moment later she said softly, “But umm… if anypony wants to walk next to me, that’d be ok too.”

Pinkie and Applejack both moved forward to walk on either side of her. Applejack could just be heard saying, “Forgive me, sugarcube, but Ah coulda swore you were a pegasus the last time Ah saw you.”

“Oh no! I was definitely not a pegasus at Pinkie’s party,” Fluttershy answered truthfully before distracting Applejack with a question.

While they were talking, Twilight drifted back to walk next to Ivory and asked quietly, “What was with that permit stuff?”

Ivory smiled and answered, “Bureaucratic humor I’m afraid. I thought it’d be funny as an explanation about why ponies don’t enter the Everfree. Besides, now Miss Applejack suspects there is more to Miss Shy than meets the eye since she’s one of the only ponies with one of those permits. That I will create, backdate and file for her and Zecora in the next few days.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “I know my standards are all over the place recently, but you are a strange one.”

Ivory smirked and replied, “From you, Miss Sparkle, I’ll take that as a compliment.” She lowered her voice and asked, “And why is Miss Tiara following us? Shouldn’t she be up here with the group?”

Twilight answered softly, “She’s going to meet up with us around the fear-trees. That way, she’s too far into the forest for AJ or Pinkie to insist she goes home. She’ll have to stay with us ‘for her safety’.”


Everything went mostly as normal when the cliff collapsed and when the manticore attacked. When they had finished ‘giggling at the ghosties,’ Ivory noticed that Diamond Tiara was standing next to Twilight.

Applejack noticed her too and asked incredulously, “What in the hay is she doin’ here? Wait… Aren’t you Filthy’s filly? Diamond Tiara, right?”

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to answer but Pinkie interrupted her, “Yup! She sure is!” Then changed to a sing-song and asked the filly, “And guess who was just asked to plan somepony’s cutecenera?”

Applejack rose an eyebrow and said, “That still don’t explain why she’s here.” She moved her attention to Tiara and asked, “Well?”

Tiara once again started to reply, but was interrupted by Fluttershy, “It doesn’t matter why she’s here, Applejack. We can’t possibly send her back through the Everfree all by herself.”

“And we don’t have any time to lose,” Twilight spoke up.

“Fluttershy, you’re our Everfree Forest expert. What do you suggest?” Ivory asked.

She nodded and replied, “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to take her with us.”

Tiara decided to ‘explain’ her presence, “I heard you talking about defeating Nightmare Moon and I want to help. I’ve been following you since you left the library.”

Applejack sighed and said in her older sister tone, “Ok, yer stayin’ with us so we can keep an eye on ya. But don’t think Ah’m not gonna tell yer Pa when we get home.”

Tiara sighed and said, “Alright, Applejack.”

“Whoo! This is so exciting! Now we have enough ponies for all the Elements! Let’s go girls! We have to stop Black Snooty!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly before bouncing ahead of them along the path with Applejack following close behind.

The Awake Loopers exchanged glances with each other before Twilight asked, “So does that mean she always knew…” she trailed off into thoughtful silence before shaking her head and muttering, “When will I learn not to try to understand Pinkie Pie? Well, let’s go. We don’t want them to get too far ahead of us.”

“Hello, Diamond. It’s good to see you again,” Fluttershy greeted as they started moving after Twilight.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” the Diamond Tiara replied. “You’re an earth pony this Loop? I thought it was baseline.”

Fluttershy smiled and replied, “Oh, it was. Twilight thought it would be interesting to do an earth pony run this Loop. And I don’t mind. I’ve never been that strong of a flyer anyway.”

Tiara rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah pull the other one, Miss Sonic Flutterboom. Don’t think I haven’t seen a couple of those. And heard about others.”

“Oh, um… those… that’s a pretty rare occurrence. And most of the time Rainbow is right there with me…” Fluttershy blushed and stammered.

Tiara blinked then looked over at Twilight speaking to Applejack and Pinkie then back to Fluttershy. She muttered, “So… the Element of Magic… I didn’t even notice. But then, I guess Bloom can pull it off…”

Ivory decided to share her opinion and said, “I’m afraid that’s my fault. I mentioned that her proposed lineup was earth pony heavy and she decided to make it a challenge. I think she’s just gotten out of a long run of lonely Loops. And you know how she gets then.”

“Oh my, yes. We’ll have to visit Mac’s bar when we’re finished with Luna’s reformation. And then perhaps the spa,” Fluttershy commented.

Tiara smiled and said, “I’ll so join you for both. My last Loop was a rough one.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy politely asked.

They could hear some wailing coming from ahead of them. “I’ll tell you guys at the bar. Sounds like I’m up.” They all hurried to catch up to Twilight who was already asking Steven Magnet what the problem was.

The sea serpent answered, “Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid!” He started sobbing again.

Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and commanded loudly, “Pull it together, soldier!” Everyone looked at the small filly in shock. Including the sobbing serpent.

“But… but…” he stuttered while trying to get a handle on the situation.

“Are you trying to tell me that your biggest problem is some cut hair?” she demanded. “It’ll grow back! Now aren’t you here in the river for a reason?”

“Well, I’m helping out a friend…” Steven Magnet admitted sheepishly.

“And are you helping them with all that crying?” Tiara asked sternly.

“No, I’m not,” he admitted then took a deep breath and said determinedly, “You’re right! Cranky is counting on me, and I promised I wouldn’t let him down. Thank you little pony! Let me help your group across, then I really should be on my way.”

Steven Magnet stretched his body across the waterway to allow the group of friends to cross. Ivory blushed rosily as she approached Steven. She may not be one to make romantic attachments, but she still hazily recalled the night before Rarity and Spike’s wedding. And clearly remembered the morning of. And a few other nights that particular Loop. It had always made being around Steven a little awkward for her in the Loops afterward. She tried hard to push those thoughts away as she crossed the river.

When she got across and they started moving again, Applejack asked her, “Are ya feelin’ ok, Mayor Mare? Yer lookin’ a little flushed.” That caused both Diamond Tiara and Twilight to quickly stifle their sudden giggles. Somepony's been telling stories. Tiara wasn't even Awake yet during the Wedding.

Ivory shot them a glare before answering, “I’m fine, Applejack. And please, my friends call me Ivory Scroll.”

Applejack smiled and said, “Well now. Don’t ya be over-exertin’ yerself none, ya hear, Ivory.”

Ivory returned her smile then gave a salute as she said, “Yes ma’am.”

Applejack laughed and replied, “Ah think the one of us you should be salutin’ is our little stow-away. Where’d ya learn to talk like that, DT?”

Diamond smirked slightly and answered, “I dunno. Here and there I guess. I just thought that I should remind him of what needed doing, Applejack.”

“That was some right fine thinkin’ there, and just in the nick of time. You know… mah sister is about yer age. Why don’t ya come on by sometime and Ah’ll introduce ya?” Applejack suggested.

“Apple Bloom, right?” Tiara asked. “We’re in the same class, but we’ve never really hung out much,” she admitted. Then she glanced slyly at the older pony and said, “Besides, once you tell Daddy that I was out in the Everfree I’ll be grounded for months…”

Applejack returned a smirk and said, “Well Ah can tell which of yer parents ya take after ya little dealmaker. Fine. Ah won’t tell Filthy. But it ain’t mah fault if he finds out some other way.” Tiara smirked back at her before drifting over to Fluttershy.

“So what made you decide to come on out into the Everfree with us, Ivory?” Applejack asked, just to make conversation.

Ivory looked over at Applejack, smiled and said, “I imagine it’s just about the same thing that brought you out, Applejack. Fluttershy’s guest passes on her License of Magical Wildlife Preservation.” Then she said more seriously, “Plus, I have a responsibility to Ponyville and everypony who lives there. If I can help protect my town, then by Azalea, I’m going to do it!”

“Well, that’s right honorable of ya, Ivory. And now Ah’m a little ashamed ah voted against ya in the last election,” Applejack admitted.

Ivory waved a hoof and replied, “Oh that was millions of years ago, Applejack. We can only do the best we can at the moment and look towards the future.”

“Well, that’s a right fine philosophy to have,” Applejack commented.

Before Ivory could reply, they heard Fluttershy softly exclaim, “Oh my! How are we going to get to the other side, Twilight?”

Ivory and Applejack hurried and joined the rest of the group standing at a ledge with an ancient rope bridge disconnected at the far end. Ivory knew that it was her turn to defeat the upcoming challenge and started looking for a way for everypony to get across. She spotted a tree near the ledge that had recently been hit by lightning and looked tall enough that it would stretch to the other side.

Ivory nodded to herself and walked purposefully over to the tree and examined it with a critical eye. Deciding that it was tall enough and wide enough that everypony should be able to make it across safely, she used her natural earth pony magic to ensure that when she reared up and bucked the tree, it fell with just that one kick. There was a sharp crack as the tree finished breaking where the lightning had previously weakened it. Then a huge crashing sound as the tree finished falling and shattered the limbs that suddenly impacted the ground on the other side of the gorge.

Ivory adjusted her glasses, then looked back at the stunned group with a smile and said, “I think that worked. I’ll go ahead and make sure it’s safe.”

“Wowzers! Applejack, does the mayor work on your farm? She’s super-strong!” Pinkie broke the stunned silence.

“Ah should hope not, Pinkie. Ah don’t think we’d have any trees left standin’ if she did,” she answered. Then she trotted over to the tree and got Ivory’s attention. “Hey, Ivory! Ya sure ya don’t want me to go across first? Not to be rude or nothin’, but Ah think Ah may be just a mite more athletic than you are.”

Ivory smirked and replied, “Don’t let the grey hair and the glasses fool ya, dear. I used to be a ninja.” She winked at the confused mare and continued along the fallen tree, removing any debris or branches that could cause somepony to trip.

She was still in earshot when she heard Applejack comment, “Ya know, Ah can usually tell when somepony is pullin’ my leg, but that’s got to be the second tall tale she’s told me tonight and Ah didn’t get nothin’.”

Twilight answered, “It probably has something to do with her having been in politics so long. Or she might have been telling the truth.”

Ivory couldn’t hear what might have been said after that because she had gotten too far away. She was also concentrating on not falling way more than on eavesdropping. Particularly when the fog started rolling in. And that fog rolled in fast! She couldn’t see behind her at all.

She made it to the other side and stepped off onto solid ground and was glad for it. When s
e looked around she was confused though. Instead of a creepy forest, there was a stage and two podiums set up.

“Ivory…” a disembodied voice whispered.

Ivory rolled her eyes at the theatrics and spoke to the air, “You may as well come out. I’m a politician. I’m not going to get scared by voices.”

In answer, two identical mares dressed in identical business wear stepped out of the fog. Ivory snickered and asked before they could say anything, “What? Was there a glitch in the Matrix? Some sort of duplication error?”

The identical mares exchanged identical looks before looking back at the mayor and the one on the right spoke, “Ivory Scroll. We’ve been looking forward to helping you run your election campaign.”

Ivory felt the smile from her joke earlier leave her face as she asked seriously, “So I can assume you have filled out the proper forms?”

“We were merely waiting for your agreement,” the one on the left stated in an identical voice as the other one.

Ivory adjusted her cravat and pulled a pen from its slot in her collar and said, “Well then let’s get started. I don’t have the proper forms with me, but I assume you’ve brought them. Wanting to be my campaign managers and all.”

“Do we have your agreement?” Righty pressed.

Ivory adjusted her glasses and gave them both a condescending look before saying, “My dear Matrix Glitches. I never agree to anything until I see it in writing, in triplicate and with your legally binding signatures. And frankly, the way this meeting is going, I demand that the forms are notarized by a fully licensed notary public. Now I must insist that I see the Statement of Candidacy, form EEC 2 and also the Statement of Organization, form EEC 1.”

There was a slight confused silence before lefty said, “Our names are not Matrix Glitches.”

“That’s the wrong point to be focused on, Lefty,” Ivory replied while shaking her head in disappointment. “Now are you actually ready to manage my mayoral career, or should I inform Inkwell that his position is secure for the foreseeable future?”

Righty spoke up then and said, “Now I’m afraid you misunderstand. You can be so much more than a mayor of a small town. We want to help you be the Speaker of the House of Commons!” Right finished triumphantly.

“I see,” Ivory replied primly as she adjusted her glasses then slipped her pen back into its position in her collar. “Then I’m afraid we can’t do business together. I’m happy being the mayor of Ponyville and won’t abandon my citizens simply because the grass looks greener on the other side of the paddock.”

Righty and Lefty both hissed then they, the stage, and the two podiums disappeared into a dark purple mist. Once the mist had vanished Ivory sighed and muttered to herself, “I was hoping that confrontation would have delved a little deeper into red-tape territory. It’s been awhile since I’ve had that kind of battle of wits…”

“Ivory!” she heard her friends calling from the tree she had felled earlier. She turned and waved at them to let them know she was fine and that they could continue on.


Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... Honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of...Kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... Laughter! Diamond Tiara, who calmed a serpent by giving him a purpose represents the spirit of... Generosity! And Ivory Scroll, who could not abandon her town for a chance to further her political career represents the spirit of... Loyalty! The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us. And I realized that the spark of friendship these ponies ignited within me is the key to the last element. Because Friendship is Magic!” Twilight Sparkle declared triumphantly as the Element of Magic appeared as a tiara on top of her head and all of their Elements activated into a beam of rainbow light that surrounded Nightmare Moon.

A moment later, Ivory blinked and sat up from where she was laying on the floor. She noticed the other Loopers were also starting to stand. Twilight looked over at her and said, “Give AJ and Pinkie just a minute. It really takes it out of baseline us.”

Diamond Tiara stood up and muttered, “I’ll never get used to that.” It was only when she was standing next to Fluttershy that Ivory noticed her sudden height.

“Tiara... why are you an adult now?” Ivory asked slowly.

Tiara smirked and replied in a monotone voice, “Oh no. What have the Elements done to me? I’ll never finish school now.” She shook her head and explained, “I aged up. I thought using the Elements would give me a good excuse. And honestly, if I’m going to fill in for Generosity for the Loop, which I want to do! Then it’s easier if the team is all one age group.”

Twilight nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. Particularly when the rest of us would have to deal with non-Looping parents.”

“Well, it was either this or do a magic-girl transformation whenever I wore the necklace. But that’s just exhausting,” Tiara admitted.

Applejack and Pinkie started to sit up and then the sun started to rise and a bright ball of light approached one of the destroyed windows. The ball of light faded into Princess Celestia and everypony bowed. Celestia made her speech, thanked Twilight, and reunited with her sister.

When they were through and all heading back through the Everfree to Ponyville, Celestia did a double-take of her faithful student before asking in confusion, “Um, Twilight Sparkle? What has happened to your horn?”

Twilight just shrugged nonchalantly and replied, “It’s being held as a residency tax lien.”

“A residency tax… I thought all of that was taken care of when I arranged for you and Spike to stay in the library?” Celestia asked.

Twilight smirked and said, “Hey don’t ask me.” She pointed a hoof at Ivory and said, “She’s the Mayor.” Twilight then shot Ivory a wink.

“Your Highness,” Ivory adjusted her cravat and said, “There appears to have been some discrepancies on the filed paperwork. If I could have you come by my office, I’m sure we can have this all cleared up in no time at all.”