//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 190 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 190.1 Twilight Awoke in the library. This was common enough to require clarification. The Library in which she Awoke was not the one which (still) formed the home in which she had lived for the plurality of her experience, nor was it the spectacularly shiny one which had been furnished by the Elements when they made her a castle. It was not one of those from elsewhere in the universe, either, such as the ones where the very density of the stacks made space and time thin and stretchy (though still impeccably well referenced). No, it was the library where it had all begun – the Canterlot Palace Library, mere minutes after she had discovered the Mare in the Moon. One half of her mind going over recent Loop memories to make sure her basic assumptions held, Twilight send out a Ping, checked her Element links (de nada) and was about to call for Spike when there was an almighty crash from overhead. “Spike?” she called anyway. “Ow!” a high-pitched voice responded, echoing down the spiral staircase from the upper floor. “Ch-ya, Twilight! What happened?” Twilight noticed the ceiling above her was creaking ominously, and cantered to one side just before it collapsed. What came through the ceiling was… not a baby dragon. At least twenty tons of something that was a little like a balloon animal made out of midnight black came tumbling down along with plenty of planks and at least one bookshelf, bounced once and came to rest. Twilight's head tilted as she analyzed the surprising deviation from baseline. On second look, the creature rang a bell – but she wasn't sure what it reminded her of. The body was a little bit like that of a normal animal – perhaps a rabbit – but with such a lack of definition that it looked more like a simple plush than a real thing. The dark layers of its skin – or hide – were suffused with a glow of purple antilight, and a pair of green eyes blinked upside-down at her above an emblem of her cutie mark – which looked like it fit on the forehead, if the creature was rotated to be right-side up. Then she spotted the long, flat, incredibly thin tail – and that finally jogged her memory. A Warp-aci! Twilight thought to herself, glad to have found the right entry in the Bestiary of Everything. The next question was- “Hey, Twi, want to get this bookshelf off me?” the 'Aci – Spike, apparently – demanded, crossing its forelimbs. Apologizing, Twilight focused on lifting bits of debris off Spike while she scanned her loop memories for exactly why she had a giant Warp-Aci as a faithful assistant. “Well.” An elderly unicorn stallion levitated his glasses off his muzzle, cleaned them with a cloth and put them back on. “Have any of us worked out how to test Miss Sparkle yet?” The other four examiners groaned. “You know very well that we ran out of material for the third test in the first test,” his colleague pointed out. The unicorn in question, a mare by the name of Magical Method, tossed her head. “We managed to ad-lib the second test, but I'm out of ideas.” “Same here,” agreed the third. “We could just set her a third-year problem.” “That wouldn't work,” the first stallion cautioned. “If we do that we're actually liable to be sued – even if not by Sparkle's parents, by someone else.” “We can't just skip it, can we?” the fourth asked. After a long silence, broken mainly by the susurration of consensus that no you can't just skip a test, there was a flash of silver light. “Yo!” a slender Warp-Aci called. “I got some donuts?” The four other examiners looked at Outside Box. “Really, Outside?” Magical Method asked. “This isn't my Warp-Aci,” Box protested, as the critter put the donuts down in front of him and began nibbling on one of the caramel-flavoured ones. “It has your cutie mark badly hidden by a black marker pen, it's clearly Cardboard,” Method dismissed. Then she paused. “You know… that gives me an idea.” “We can't ask a new student to summon a Warp-Aci,” the oldest of the board members said. “That's graduate work at least, especially without prep time.” “No, but we can ask her to follow some instructions as a practical,” Method said. “We just pretend it's really the instructions to summon a Warp-Aci, when it's just a signalling enchantment and there's some basic mistakes in there – if she can diagnose one of the mistakes in an hour, she passes that test.” The mare spread her hooves. “And we control the weighting of the questions anyway, we can make it so in her case test three is a very small component of overall score.” “I like the sound of that,” the elderly examiner said. “Very well, we'll do that.” Some hours later, Twilight Sparkle was on the verge of panic. The instructions she'd been given didn't look right, and worse of all she didn't know how. Some of the components looked all wrong to be a summoning spell, and she'd already had to mentally correct copying errors – but it had to be right, it was an exam and exams gave you problems to solve. “Miss Sparkle?” one of the examiners said, not unkindly. “How much progress have you made?” Twilight blushed, saying nothing, and glanced up at the clock. It was nearly the end of the test! She had to do something, anything, or they'd fail her and she'd have to do… whatever it was unicorns did when they'd spent all their time preparing for Celestia's Academy but couldn't even pass the tests! Come on! The unicorn willed, charging up her magic for an attempt at a brute-force summoning spell – maybe if she showed she knew that she'd get at least a few points… Then Twilight, already highly-strung, saw an explosion of rainbow light out the window. Then her magic went haywire. Then a very large Warp-Aci indeed appeared, landing on top of three of the examiners and bowling them over like tenpins. Twilight did not feel in control of the situation. Fortunately for her, though, she had passed… with flying colours. “So,” Spike said, dusting himself off of the last of the splinters from his fall through the library ceiling. “How come I suddenly turned so big-huge?” “Well,” Twilight began, turning towards one of the walls and forming an illusion spell to serve as her whiteboard. “When I first summoned you it was a case of magical overload. I didn't properly set the regulator that makes sure you only get a small fraction of my magic – the more you get, the bigger you grow – and it took Princess Celestia's help to shrink you down again.” Her faithful assistant yawned extravagantly. “I may have had a sudden large increase in magical potential, or the limiter might have become a bit frayed,” Twilight went on. “It's actually a fascinating bit of metamagic because it has to base the amount of power that gets through on proportional reserves while allowing for mana expenditure, both on the part of the host when they do… well, anything... and the part of the Warp-Aci when they teleport themselves or someone else.” With a loud thump-badump, Spike hit the floor and began snoring. “I didn't even get to use my whiteboard,” Twilight grumbled. “Right, let's see… new second order of business, get Spike down to a manageable size.” “You didn't let me stay large,” Spike huffed, circling Twilight as they approached Ponyville. “How come you get the massive inexplicable power boost, and I have to stay the same normal Spike?” “Because it's good for you,” Twilight answered him glibly. “Besides, did all that power let you teleport us to where we were going?” The Warp-Aci thought, then shook his head reluctantly. “That's right,” Twilight agreed. “Because you never learned to read a map.” “I can read a map just fine!” Spike protested. “I can read all the words on it, except when it's in Prench or something.” “Not quite what I meant,” Twilight countered delicately. “Well, now… the Princess said that I needed to make friends, so I'd better give it a go.” She nodded at her assistant. “Try not to get too distracted by all the new stuff.” “GAAAASP!” Pinkie Pie declared, pointing a hoof at Spike's forehead. “You have a Warp-Aci! They're really cool!” “They are?” Spike asked, looking at himself. “I mean, I am?” “Yes!” Pinkie agreed. “They're the best non-pony-partiers there are! A box party is the best kind of party – I learned from them for years!” Twilight blinked. Well... that actually explains this iteration of Pinkie Pie pretty well. “Beautiful...” Spike said, jaw dropping. Twilight spotted Rarity hard at work, and smiled. Some things were still normal, no matter the loop- -then Spike dove sideways into Sugarcube Corner and started eating one of the displays. So much for that. “Spike! Put that down, you don't know where it'll be!” She shot the Cakes a glance. “I'm sorry about this...” “That's fine, we do understand,” Mrs. Cake assured her. “Though… did you just say that your pet didn't know where something would be?” “Warp-Aci don't actually consume what they eat,” Twilight provided, using her magic to snag Spike by the tail and pull him back. “They teleport it somewhere random. I once had to find a book he'd eaten in class, we needed to go to Baltimare.” “Tremble in fear!” Nightmare Moon boomed, wings flaring out. “The Night will Last For-” There was a flicker of blacklight, and the mighty alicorn vanished. In her place, Spike hovered on the stage. “Spike!” Twilight hissed. “Get back down here!” “Ch-ya, Twi!” Spike replied. “I just teleported Nightmare Moon!” He put his paws on his hips. “And I did a super heroic thing, so I will accept payment in munchies.” Another paw tapped him on the shoulder. “Munchies? There's munchies going? I will take some of those munchies!” “Hey, they're my munchies!” Spike replied, spinning to face what turned out to be another Warp-Aci. “You want your own munchies, teleport a super evil alicorn!” “I did!” the other 'aci replied, sticking his tongue out. “So there!” Spike noticed the stars-and-moon emblem on the other 'aci's forehead. Then he saw the large and angry Dark Goddess of the Night behind it. “...wuh oh...” Twilight decided to leave Spike back at the library while she got the Element team set up. It would be a little too much effort otherwise, especially as she'd have to coax him out from under the bed. “I don't know,” Twilight sighed, looking at the pair of Gala tickets. “Princess Celestia only sent me two, but I can't decide which one of my new friends to take...” Sometimes, when something was odd about the baseline, it was interesting to just go with the flow. See where things ended up. On occasion, that had led to some very interesting results. Like- “I know!” Spike said brightly. “You do?” Twilight replied, looking towards him with the manner of one saved from an impossible dilemma. “Yep!” Spike agreed. Then he ate the tickets. “Done!” he told her, swallowing with a flicker of magic. “Problem solved.” Twilight gave him a look. “What?” Spike demanded. “I solved it!” “No, you teleported two Gala tickets to a random location somewhere,” Twilight countered. “Right, get ready for a Canterlot teleport – I'll have to try explaining to Princess Celestia myself.” “Okay, what d' we do now?” Applejack asked. “I know!” Spike announced. Twilight grabbed his tail in her magic. “Nope, you don't get snap-teleport privileges any more – explain how this will fix things.” “But Twiiii,” Spike whined. “I could just teleport the whole train to Appleloosa!” He crossed his arms, huffing, and floated in midair next to his summoner. “Besides, when I teleport things it totally works.” “Really?” Twilight asked. “Yeah!” Spike reiterated. “Ch-ya! Name me one time it went wrong!” “You teleported Dash's friend Gilda into the middle of a lake,” Twilight began. “That was totally a prank,” Spike replied. “Really. Totally a prank.” “You dumped a confused Ursa in the middle of Manehattan.” “No ponies got hurt. And they wanted to replace that skyscraper anyway, didn't they?” Twilight shook her head. “That dragon?” “We needed to get rid of him!” Spike said. “I just got rid of him, without disturbing him!” “While technically true,” Twilight conceded, “you did teleport away an Area of Outstanding Natural Wonder and dropped it a mile outside Horseshoe Bay.” She gave him a firm look. “And that doesn't even begin to count the mess you caused when you deposited a dozen Diamond Dogs directly on top of Princess Celestia in the middle of court. Now, let's try to get this done without too much property damage.” “Huh,” Twilight nodded to herself, seeing Princess Luna queueing just ahead of them. “That must be where one of the tickets Spike ate went.” “Why do you think that, Twi?” Spike asked, self-consciously patting his outfit. Rarity had long since despaired of trying to get a creature with a razor-sharp tail making up half his body to wear a normal suit of clothing, and for tonight's Gala she'd simply dunked him in glue and then in a small bag of crushed gemstones. It was actually pretty good, considering the circumstances. “Oh...” Twilight shrugged. “Probably nothing.” “Wow!” Spike said, tail coiling. “You got me my favourite! Thanks Pinkie!” “No-problerooni!” Pinkie replied with a grin. “Only the best premium boxes for a friend like you on his summoning-anniversary-birthday-thing!” There was a rustle-and-crash as Spike dove in, and Twilight chuckled. This Spike, at least, was easier to shop for than the normal dragon was. You just ordered something for yourself, and kept the box. “Hey, Twilight?” She looked up, spotting the Warp-Aci hovering by her ear. “I was wondering...” he said, looking bashful. “But, uh… can you increase my energy budget by a bit? I kind of want to feel like I'm growing up.” “That sounds fine,” Twilight said, touched by the idea. Then she turned his mana feed up a bit. “I deserve this,” Twilight said, as a gigantic warp-aci ate her tree. “At least I just need to track down wherever he sent it.” Several hundred miles away, Trixie Lulamoon picked up a sign. “Public library,” she declared. “Open 8am to 5pm.” Putting it down, she contemplated the heap of debris across her path. Even as she watched, there was a purple flash of unlight and half a clock tower landed, followed by a confused looking pegasus with bubble cutie mark and a lazy eye. “Hiya!” the pegasus announced brightly. “Trixie bids you greetings,” Trixie said courteously. “Now, where has all this stuff come from?” Ditzy shrugged. “Hmmm...” Twilight mused, re-reading an entry in the Loopers' Bestiary Of Everything Baseline. (It was a comparatively short work, which meant that it could actually fit in a reasonably sized pocket.) “That one has some potential...” Shutting the book and checking the calendar – still a few weeks until the Changeling attack – she raised her voice. “Spike?” The warp-aci blurred through the library, then halted to hover in front of her. “Yeah?” “Can you – are you eating donuts?” Spike looked down at the half-empty donut box. “No?” “Whatever,” Twilight decided. “Can you still do that turn-into-paper trick?” Spike's expression became one of deep pondering, then he turned into a poster. The box of donuts hit the floor, and one of them bounced out. Twilight caught it, and inspected the glaze. “Thanks,” she told Spike. “Just don't eat all the rest of the donuts at once.” “What do I do, Spike?” Twilight asked. “I feel so awful about this – I actually accused Princess Cadence of being an imposter!” “I dunno,” Spike replied. “Maybe you could make an apology cake?” “If I did that it'd taste awful,” Twilight countered, walking in circles – the very picture of a mare lost for ideas. “My talent isn't cake making.” After a moment, she paused. “Wait – I know! Quick, turn into an apology letter – and don't turn back until I tell you, I want to have time for her to read it!” Spike drooped. “Awww… I was hoping for cake.” Sighing, the 'Aci folded himself into a letter. Twilight gave a quick proofread – because of course she did – and corrected a few spelling mistakes, then put Spike in an envelope she had handy and went off to speak to Princess Cadence. Thirty seconds later, deep within a mine, Twilight nodded to herself as the teleport flash faded. “Right. Right.” She ripped open the envelope, and her faithful assistant emerged – rolling his neck and grumbling. “Sorry,” she said softly. “I thought I was wrong about her being evil.” “Evil?” Spike repeated. “Who's evil? Ch-ya, Twilight, you folded me in half!” “...sorry,” Twilight said again, less hastily this time. “But it's worked out well, right? Now we can teleport out!” She snagged his tail. “And no, not yet. Princess Cadence must be down here too!” Spike looked completely baffled, then shrugged. “Whatever, Twi.” After a moment's silence, he raised a paw. “Can I-” “Yes, I will buy you donuts. And the box.” “...for you see, my dear Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia explained. “By completing Star Swirl's spell, you have achieved a feat that few others could have approached.” She spread her wings. “You have passed beyond being a unicorn, and...” Her voice trailed off as Twilight raised a hoof. “What is it, Twilight?” she inquired. “Well… Princess...” Twilight began, loath to interrupt a new phrasing of her ascension but wanting to ask a critical question. “This means I've become a lot more powerful, right?” “Of course,” Celestia said. “Though I must admit, Twilight, I did not expect you to ask about something so mundane as your amount of magical power.” “It's not that,” Twilight clarified. “It's just… Spike.” Celestia paled – an impressive sight on a white pony. “Oh dear.” Princess of the Sun, Princess of the Moon, Princess of Friendship And Stuff and Princess of Love stood side by side, looking up at the colossal bulk of the antipurple Warp-Aci. There were hints that Ponyville was underneath somewhere. Mostly the general shape of the terrain. “Princess Sparkle,” Luna began. “Thy first task as a Princess of Equestria is to shrink thy butterball of a familiar.” “Yep!” Spike said, nodding. “Totally a royal command! Her highness Princess Sparkle also told me that, uh...” He frowned, putting a paw to his chin. “I think it was something like… oh, yeah! She demands cupcakes!” “Are you sure that was Twilight, Spike?” Cadence asked. “It sounded more like it was me!” Pinkie giggled. “Maybe I'm a secret Princess!” She raised a hoof to her chin. “But… hmmm… we're in the same place at the same time, and I don't remember being Princess Twilight… so it must be that she's a time traveller!” Cadence gave Pinkie a look. “Excuse me?” a unicorn asked. “But there's a delivery of eight hundred shiny things for the Royal Stores?” “Oh!” Spike perked up. “Yeah, just put 'em round back!” After the unicorn had left, Cadence transferred her look to Spike. “Ordered by Twilight, right?” “Totally!” Spike agreed, nodding. The star-of-magic cutie mark on his forehead flared slightly. “One hundred percent legitimate and not at all a minor case of abuse of delegated power!” His tail curled up into a spiral. “Though, uh… question?” Cadence waved a hoof, indicating that Spike should get on with it. “Impressive hoof-waving sign language!” Pinkie informed her with a grin. “It's non-vocal-tastic!” “Well, it's just...” Spike floated upside down, and his tail turned into a question-mark. “How come you're making me make all the decisions while Twilight's in bed? I'm a hyperactive summoned critter with no sense of proportion or timing and so little attention span that I can't even – hey, look, boxes!” As the Warp-Aci dove off to go and frolic, Cadence raised a hoof to her chin. Spike kinda had a good point, actually… “Well… so much for feeling annoyed at him for all this,” she said, shaking her head. “Maybe I should have just asked Shining to handle things here for a day or so...” Twilight had to admit, she felt no small sense of trepidation. Thus far, whether a given baseline dragon was still a dragon or had been turned into a warp-aci by the loop was… somewhat up in the air. This Spike hadn't gone off to seek his people (though he'd still obtained a phoenix as a pet, largely by way of a random teleport), so – really, it was an open question whether Ember, Garble, or any of the other dragons (even Dragon Lord Torch) was still a dragon at all. Still – it was time for the Gauntlet, so off they went. “Now,” she said. “Spike – I want to make sure this is properly understood. We're going here.” Spike nodded vigorously. Twilight tapped the Cutie Map. “I know we've been working on map reading, but I want to make sure that we're not going to end up inside a volcano or something.” “We're aiming for a volcano, darling,” Rarity pointed out. “Right, but… not one of the hot bits,” Twilight replied. She paused. “Okay, new plan.” There was a flicker of light as she encased both herself and Rarity in phenomenally powerful protective spells. “Go ahead,” she told Spike. Pouting slightly, the antipurple Warp-Aci wrapped them in teleportation magic and took them across the face of the world. “...huh,” Twilight said, with all her experience behind her. “This is new.” Dragon Lord Torch craned his neck down to look at her. “Ah. The Pony Princess we had been informed was to come.” He drew his head back slightly, then gave her a contemplative look. “Tell me. How good are you at taking care of Warp-Aci?” “The only one I currently have is a bit of a hoof-full,” Twilight replied. “Handful, you would say.” “Clawful.” “Come on, Dad,” Ember said, crossing her arms. “I'm the obvious choice.” “Ember...” the Dragon Lord replied. “This is not merely a massive responsibility, but also an extremely taxing task.” Twilight had to admit, looking out over the gathering, that… Torch was right. Over three thousand hyperactive warp-spirits bounced back and forth, appearing in and out of the interstices of a pile of cardboard boxes bigger than Ponyville. Pinkie suddenly dropped out of the air next to them. “Hiya!” Rarity pointed at her. “...Where did you come from, darling?” “There's a Box Party going on!” Pinkie announced, tossing her curls. “And it's a really big one! So of course I'm here!” “Whatever,” Twilight said. “I guess I should have expected this would just get sillier.” It had been a fun break, but she was looking forward to her assistant being… less hyper. And more dragon. The world reset around Twilight Sparkle, and she spent a moment to reorient herself. She was in the library again. Interesting! The library was… also a lot bigger than normal. “TWILIGHT?” a voice boomed from behind her. “YOU STOPPED DICTATING.” Twilight spun on her hooves, and was confronted by the sight of her faithful assistant – Kurama, the hundred-foot-long nine-tailed fox. “...never mind,” she announced. “I'm going to take the rest of the day off.” 190.2 “One of these again...” Princess Celestia said, with a sigh. Sometimes mirrors had good things on the far side. This one, however, was showing signs of… problems. It's a pity Twilight's not around, she thought to herself. Ever the realist, Celestia knew her student had long since surpassed her in skill… but this was something she would have to deal with herself, merely a decade after Luna had been trapped in the moon. Perhaps it was for the best… Celestia shook away her reverie as the mirror rippled, and focused herself. Then – as if stepping through a door – herself came through. “You're late,” Princess Celestia said, putting her teacup down. The Conquering Sun – her dark self, from the other side of a reflection – shrugged, wings flaring for a moment. “So,” Celestia's bright mirror began. “You're still a Princess.” “Of course,” Princess Celestia replied. “While my sister is gone, imprisoned in the moon until her return, she is still my co-ruler. To crown myself as queen would be to declare her truly gone.” “But she is,” Queen Celestia countered. “If the events of this world were so opposite my own, then your own sister rebelled against you – while my own tried to stop me, the fool.” Princess Celestia shook her head. “If there was one thing that declared how different we are, it is that.” “Perhaps,” the Queen replied. She lowered her head, pointing her horn at the looper. “So, my foolish counterpart. Will you surrender, and spare the lives of your ponies, or will you fight me and force me to take your world by force?” The Princess raised her own head, and let out a sigh. “It's a pity,” she pronounced. “How you think that, just because you rule by force and fear, you're the strong one.” She gestured around at the stone walls of her castle. “So, go ahead – try and fight. You won't harm a single one of my marvellous, precious, independent little ponies.” Queen Celestia's horn blazed, and- She became the sun incarnate. The cataclysmic explosion blew the room apart, and radiant energy dug four hundred feet into the ground and melted everything in direct line of sight before fading gradually away. Queen Celestia frowned, turning her head and seeing steam in all directions – then water, hissing and smelling of salt as it boiled off on the molten rock below and submerged the undamaged mirror. “Where is Canterlot? Where is my new second city?” “Well,” Princess Celestia replied, wings shaking off the soot and scorch marks that the solar flare had left as they both hovered in mid-air. “Only a fool would think that I would willingly give you thousands of hostages. We're a long way out in the ocean, there's no inhabited land within a thousand miles and more, and-” Queen Celestia's horn burst in light, and she winced suddenly. “-the seaponies just consider this to be a spectator sport. And there's a teleport anchor,” the looper added. “Really, this is the problem. You assume that I'm weak and foolish just because I'm nice.” Light glowed around her, and armour formed – around the leading edges of her wings, her head, down her spine and joining with her regalia. Made of nothing so much as condensed sunlight, it looked far too ethereal to actually offer any protection. Queen Celestia felt a flicker of light play over her, and sneered. “Was that supposed to be an attack? Your preparation masks your weakness, counterpart of mine.” “Again, and again,” the Princess countered. “You assume without evidence that I am weak – simply because I do not meet you straightaway with strength.” Her horn glowed gently, and she slammed her hooves down on thin air – making a tchack sound as if they were striking a marble floor. “Queen Celestia, despot of Equestria,” she began formally. “I name you as a criminal, and a tyrant, and charge you with crimes both secular and temporal, beginning with an unspecified but considerable number of cases of abuse of power, torture, imprisonment without warrant or trial, property damage and trespassing.” The other royal alicorn had begun to scoff, but the last brought her up short. “Trespassing? Property damage?” “It's my island,” Princess Celestia informed her. “Or was.” Queen Celestia considered that, then launched a piercing spell of fantastic power directly at her not-so-evil counterpart. The Princess flicked her wing up to block, the filigree flaring like Celestia's sun as she did so. It formed an incandescent curtain along the whole of her white-feathered wings, blocking and incinerating the spell instantly. Taking that as an indication hostilities had begun, Princess Celestia dove forwards – slamming a spike of her own solar heat into the bubbling water below. The water exploded into steam, and Celestia rode the bubble of superheated vapour down to the level of the ground beneath. If her first solar spike was powerful, the second one she drove in was world-shaking – pure heat, cutting a hole two inches wide clear down to the mantle before dissipating and turning the whole column into molten rock. A volcano erupted instantly from the hole, sending tephra showering in all directions – principally upwards – and Princess Celestia vanished into the eruption column. Queen Celestia had no time to capitalize on it, backwinging hastily, and by the time she had gotten herself clear of the continual volcanic explosion she had lost sight of Princess Celestia's position. Then an adamantine surfboard hit her on the back of the head. Forming an instant shield of magic that could have supported a small castle, Queen Celestia flung her doppelganger away. “This is a mockery!” “No, this is surfing,” Princess Celestia countered, damping her tumble with her wings and kicking the board away – letting it dangle from a strap. “Do you seriously not have any hobbies?” Her horn glowed gently, with the same soft light that had been going on the whole battle, as she brought the photosphere-capable surfboard around and deflected a jet of hot plasma from her Queenly foe. Then a hundred-ton meteorite slammed into Queen Celestia, piledriving her into the sea just near the volcano and sending up a mighty plume of smoke and steam. “By the way,” Princess Celestia added. “The attacks always come out of the sun.” Diving, she fired off a scan spell – checking on how the Queen was doing. It had been hard to judge, as too much force would prove fatal- -then the sea surface erupted, rising up like a vast bubble before collapsing back as Queen Celestia rose into the sky. “INSOLENCE!” the Queen bellowed, her feathers askew and streaks of molten metal down one flank. “Your trickery will not save you, imitation!” Princess Celestia faced her down calmly, not paying attention to the ash and rock raining down from her volcanic island. “You come to my Equestria, seeking conquest,” she pronounced. “You rage and snarl, prepared to destroy thousands as a weapon against one mare, and you seek power for the sake of power.” Her horn-glow brightened, and the whole of the nearby ocean lit up in response. “Do not call me an imitation, Queen Celestia,” Princess Celestia said. “For it is abundantly clear to me that you are no more than another petty tyrant – of a kind which the universe possesses in great number and dreary similarity anyway.” And the sea rose up in curtains of turquoise and deep blue. “What is this?” Queen Celestia asked, looking around herself – and firing three lances of sunlight, one of which was blocked by Princess Celestia's fire-wing as the other two hissed into the water – spending their energy without doing anything of substance to the vast quantities of water. “That – that is not our element, but the reverse!” “Indeed it is,” Princess Celestia confirmed, as the water rushed skywards in immense quantities. “The only way I can think of to confine one such as us for trial is to use an element to which we are opposed.” Queen Celestia became solar in form once more, and the light drove away everything but brilliant white – but there was simply too much water, now in the gigatonnes, and her strength flagged before even half of it had been burned away. Even as her glow dimmed, the sound of water began to fade as well – not because of any reduction in the amount of telekinetically lifted sea, as more yet was following them heavenwards, but because the air itself was thinning out. “Your trial date,” Celestia said, speaking with the Royal Canterlot Voice simply so she could be heard, “is three months hence. You are entitled to a lawyer.” Then the watery shield closed up, and the force of Celestia's magic suffused the gargantuan weight with spells of strength and warding and binding. “...so that's why we have a normal moon and a shiny moon,” Celestia told her student. “It was a pain to free the other Luna from her own prison on the other side of the mirror, but now she's running the place quite nicely.” “That explains why the sea level's so low... how long did your counterpart get?” Twilight asked. “And what about… I remember this variant.” She raised a hoof to her chin. “Wasn't there an alternate Sombra?” “Yes, about that,” Celestia coughed. “It's a long story. Anyway, Queen Celestia is up for parole in four years – she's been sullen but cooperative, so the parole board may grant it.” She was startled by Twilight nuzzling into her neck. “Princess?” Twilight began. “I'm proud of you – well done.” “Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia replied with a smile. “I'm glad you approve.” They shared a moment of happy silence. “So… about that Sombra,” Twilight began again. Celestia sighed. “Very well...” 190.3 “Twilight?” Spike said. Twilight looked up. “Yes?” “I was wondering if you had a top ten list of your favourite Loops.” “Of course not, Spike,” Twilight answered. “Why would I categorize Loops – or anything else – in a way which meant I had to pick only ten to list? That's frankly a recipe for disaster, and one I'd never get involved with.” Spike nodded to himself. “You totally did, didn't you?” “Gave up trying not long after I started Looping,” Twilight replied. The young dragon accepted that answer. After a few seconds of thought, he cleared his throat. “You realize it's possible to make a top ten list of top ten lists, right? You could rank everything that way.” Twilight went rigid, wings flaring up. “...Spike,” she said, softly. “I hope you realize I blame you for how I now want to list everything in the multiverse in fractally nested top ten lists.” “Well… now I do,” Spike said, tugging the scales at his neck as if they were a collar. “Uh… I think I have an urgent sock appointment!” “You don't wear socks.” “That's why it's so urgent!” Spike called back, making a beeline for the door. 190.4 “...think the point is, Miss...” Mayor Mare paused. “Actually, I'm not sure I heard your last name.” “Let's go with The Griffin for now,” Gilda said, tossing her head. “What was it you were saying?” “Well, Miss The Griffin,” the Mayor went on, “Miss Belle was raising the issue of size.” “Size?” Gilda asked, taking a step back. “Size? What's the problem with my size? Is she saying I'm fat?” The Mayor sighed – this had been a long week already, what with their new librarian spontaneously developing a bad case of Royalty and the subsequent transformation of the small oak tree in the town square into a de facto centre of Equestrian governance. “Miss The Griffin, it is self evident simply from looking at you that you are well proportioned and in good condition. The problem is the magnitude of the proportions in question.” Princess Sparkle had helpfully provided some documentation, and Mayor Mare looked it over. “As you can see, you fall afoul of the town's weight limit – the one set up to keep out dragons.” Gilda rolled her eyes. “Well, fine then. But don't come running to me if Rainbow Dash talks your ear off about this.” She spread her colossal wings, with a mighty wingbeat the super-sized griffin left the ground. Mayor Mare sighed as her paperwork went flying. “So, what brought this on?” Twilight asked, some hours later. “Oh, it was this kind of cool variation on Leman's loop,” Gilda explained. She leaned back on a tree, which broke, and muttered a curse. “Kinda inconvenient, though… anyway, basically, Leman was this guy with a cool sword and a huge city, his dad was a guy with an enormous hammer who ran the place, and I'm pretty sure I spotted that Vulkan guy running a city covered with cannon further south.” “So, what were you?” Twilight asked. “Empy had a griffin mount the size of a large elephant,” Gilda told her. “And that would be… moie?” “Moi, Gilda.” “You too?” Gilda countered, then chuckled. “Zing! Anyway… yeah, so we hit a lot of zombies with a hammer, then we hit a lot of Chaos guys with a hammer, then I'm pretty sure we ran out of things to hit with hammers. There might have been some other hammering in the middle though.” She shrugged. “Not sure when this is going to wear off, though. I hope it ends at the end of the loop, being taller than a house is kinda cool but it means it's much more expensive to buy cakes and stuff...” 190.5 “Okay, girls!” Diamond Tiara said brightly. “I see we have all of us here today-” “Tonight,” Nyx corrected. “It's night.” “...tonight, then,” Tiara clarified. “And I wanted to raise a possible variant approach for how we handle Gabby in a few months.” “Isn't it kinda leaving it a bit late?” Scootaloo asked critically. “We didn't loop in yesterday or anything.” “Oh, sure, blame me for raising it late,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Just because I'm the one who eventually did it...” “So what is your plan?” Nyx asked. “Well...” Tiara raised a hoof to her muzzle. “It's more like two related plans. Plan one: Silver turns her into a Pegasus.” Silver's tail flicked, sending squirrel-fur everywhere. “Sorry,” she apologized, snapping her fingers. “Shedding.” As the fur wove itself into a little tea cosy, she shrugged. “I can do it, and she'd probably be able to earn a cutie mark. But it might be a bit drastic… and I don't think she'd keep it when I turned her back.” “That's a separate problem, approachable with tattoos,” Tiara waved off. “Anyway. Any objections to that plan?” “I've got one,” Sweetie said. “It's bonkers.” “A very cogent point,” Tiara replied, a little sarcastically. “Would it help if I suggested turning her into a unicorn instead?” “This sounds like it'd all end in tree sap and a letter to Princess Celestia,” Scootaloo volunteered. “I'm all for it!” “Well, if Gabby's delivering the letter, it's sure to arrive,” Tiara noted. “Perhaps that should be how we handle it… anyway. My other suggestion. This is one that would require your help, Applebloom.” “It is?” Applebloom asked. “An' how's that?” “Well,” Tiara began. “I was wondering if you could set up another nanofabbery, and we could play Battleships with her.” “That's a point,” Scootaloo agreed. “We've not played that in a while.” “Sure, be fun to have a game,” Applebloom mused. “We can blame it all on Silver – hey, Silver, you got a justification for all your magical stuff this loop?” “Discord's adopted aunt,” Silver told her. “Don't ask, it's Discord, we're lucky I wasn't a male relative.” “Sounds good t'me,” Applebloom nodded. “Right, what period should I set it for?” “Well, I don't want to go too overboard on ridiculousness,” Tiara said seriously. “Not unless the ship capsizes. So let's say… hub 1860s.” Applebloom blinked. Then she sighed, took a drink, and sprayed it out. “You what!?” “What's wrong with it?” Tiara asked. “It's not too far past-” “It's such a generic term it's almost meaningless!” Applebloom said, stamping a hoof on the floor. There was a flash, and a holoprojector dropped out of her mane before clattering to a halt on the table and activating. “This!” she announced, pointing at the wooden battleship shown. “This is the HMS Defiance! She was launched in 1861 after a year and a half under construction, and had sails and steam engines! Her side was made of wood, and she carried 32 pounder guns and 8 inch shell firing guns designed for use against wood!” As the others backed into the corner, away from the angry engineer, Applebloom struck her hoof against the ground again. This time the ship that appeared was very different – a low slung, predatory monster with no sails at all and two enormous turrets. “This is the HMS Devastation!” she went on. “Laid down in 1869, launched one and a half years later! No sails, no wood, a pure steam ironclad with four 35-ton 12-inch rifled muzzle loading guns that would go right through a wooden ship the long way!” “Question?” Scootaloo said, raising her hoof. When Applebloom nodded at her, the pegasus went on. “Did you set these slides up ahead of time?” “Neural lace!” Applebloom answered, and struck the floor again. This time, the image shivered into hundreds of different ships – some high-sided wooden battleships, some low-slung ironclads, some turret ships, broadside ships, ram ships, nearly-underwater monitor-type ships, at least one actual submarine and something that could best be described as a floating barn with gun ports. “This is kind'a the most crazy period in ship design of hub history,” Applebloom concluded. “It's like if y'all had asked me to set up a battle usin' trains. Nothin' specific, just… trains.” She subsided. After several seconds, Nyx raised a hoof. “I move that we have a train fight instead.” “Seconded!” Tiara and Sweetie said, almost at the same moment. Applebloom chuckled. “All right, girls… I'll find some place the buffalo don't mind us rentin' for the month and plan giant cloverleaf snarls of track.” 190.6 "Okay, hit me." Sunset sorted through her pile of equipment, the legacy of a bewildering variety of different loops, and looked up. "You sure?" "Of course," Twilight confirmed. "It's better to practice than be caught unawares." "If you say so," Sunset replied, then snatched at the air. A Keyblade formed out of nowhere, and Sunset poured energy into a bolt of yellow-black plasma. The bolt got halfway to Twilight, then collapsed as she decompiled it. "Basic Lightning Bolt, Maximized. Next?" Sunset switched her keyblade for a staff, and slammed her free palm into the staff about a foot below the crown. Over two hundred bolts of force burst forth in a single overwhelming wave, and Twilight's horn glowed as the storm came rushing towards her. There was a crackle-BANG as the bolts struck a wall of solidified force, and Sunset lowered the staff. "Well, so much for four hundred thousand gold of mana..." "I'll recharge it later," Twilight promised. "Magic Missile? Really?" "There were over two hundred of them," Sunset pointed out, a little hurt. "Whatever. Try this one on for size." This time, she pulled a wand out of her pocket and levelled it. The tip glowed, then unleashed a bright red flash of light. Twilight was about halfway through collapsing that spell when the invisible one hit her. Very, very hard. "Sorry about that," Sunset said, as Twilight hauled herself out of the crater. "I wanted to land a hit, and... yeah." "No kidding," Twilight agreed, turning to look back at the cliff she'd ended up inside. "I suppose that's more of the had-to-be-sharp thing?" "Hey, I'm the one who has to work for a living, your highness," Sunset muttered. "Don't you usually spend time in high school?" "Point," the erstwhile unicorn agreed. "Okay, are we done for now?" "We are," Twilight confirmed. "I'll see about setting up some better mana sight, I should have something soon and we can see if that invisible spell is still invisible." "Sounds good," Sunset nodded, and cancelled the charm which had kept her in human form. "Now, since I don't need to be in top fighting form any more... I wonder how Princess Celestia would react if I asked her to go out for a donut." "Invite Luna first," Twilight advised. "Remember, Celestia doesn't know you're back to sensible." 190.7 "Okay, Trixie, let's hear it," Twilight invited. "What's your presentation?" Trixie reached into her cape, and produced a device covered with warning labels. "Trixie is glad you asked! She has invented a new element, Trixium! It is highly-" "-Impossible," Apple Bloom stated flatly. Trixie deflated. "How did you know?" "You said element," Twilight pointed out. "We'd believe molecule, compound, mixture or exotic matter state. Isotope in a pinch." 190.8 (elmagnifico) Macintosh Apple fought. Unlike earlier this loop, set in Equestria's bipedal reflection, he was not fighting a physical or magical fight, set against an un-awake version of one of his friends, still in the throes of a kind of power-madness that exceptionally talented unicorns seemed to get from time to time. Nor was it a mental battle, like the time he'd used his determination, channeled through the conduit he'd learned all those Loops ago replacing Bruce Banner, to suppress a set of loop memories that belonged to somepony else, whose privacy he'd broken his own mind to protect. The battle he fought now was simply one with self-recrimination, for letting his guard down when he shouldn't have, and allowing concern about prank-happy loopers to distract him. In so doing, he'd given what could only be called a villain access to Banner's power, which she could use to conquer. And, given it was an ability he'd used on occasion to battle threats up to and including Nightmare Moon, Tirek, and an insane version of the Sun Princess herself, said villain might succeed, even if he opposed her directly. Still, at least he knew how to make up for his error, and the process was already set in motion. The first thing he'd done was notify the authorities. They at least knew the general kind of threat, having encountered and defeated the Sirens at his instigation, and triumphed thanks to a tone-deaf police officer he'd guided to the scene. Even if they couldn't throw around the kind of power needed to take on Sunset Shimmer, they could minimize collateral damage, and more effectively now that they'd been forewarned. The second was to contact the maker of the device that had started all this trouble. That was another thing that he was trying not to kick himself for. It seemed so obvious in hindsight. She was the only equivalent Element of Harmony missing from Canterlot High, with the mirror portal taken out of commission. Just as there was a human version of Sunset Shimmer here, to accuse the pony exile of identity theft if brought to light, it followed that there was a human version of Twilight Sparkle. That the keen intellect that he'd known of peripherally since baseline would still be there even in the absence of magic was clear in the corresponding similarities between the other Element bearers and their bipedal reflections. Her responsibility for the device was an easy logical leap he'd only made when Sunset mentioned the crown that would have been stolen in baseline. Which brought him here, to an annex of a science lab at another local high school, surrounded by beeping electronics and who-knows-what-else, getting scowled at by a blue-haired human stallion. "So let me see if I've got this straight. You're some kind of interdimensional alien from a parallel universe, who happens to look like a football player I remember trying to sack me three years running in the Friendship Games." "Eeyup." That was the story Macintosh had given the two not-unicorns-this-time, as it seemed simpler and easier to swallow than a full explanation of the Loops. "You have weird powers that Twily has been picking up on her machines, one of which accidentally got stuck to you as she was trying to track them to their source." "Eeyup." It was even all technically true. "To get it un-stuck, you turned to the only other one of your kind on the planet, and she betrayed you, copying your most devastating power in the process, and now you need my sister's help stopping her?" "Eeyup." Turned out some things never changed, one of which being Shining Armor's defensiveness around his sister. "And proving all this involves this pot of soil and a wilted tomato plant?" "Eeyup." Macintosh shrugged mentally. If there was one thing in the multiverse he would never have trouble sympathizing with, it was familial love. Which naturally involved protecting the object thereof from getting swindled by strangers. That he himself was the stranger in this situation was immaterial. "Pull the other leg pal, it's got bells on it. That's the plot of Power People #347, Attack of the Plant People From The Negative Zone. I'm sorry, Twily, but this is clearly some kind of sca-" Twilight, who was fiddling with something that pointed in Macintosh's direction, held up a hand to her brother, cutting him off. "Sorry BBBFF, this equipment's sensitive. Alright Mr. Apple, you can demonstrate your paranatural quantum entanglement potential." Macintosh nodded, poking an index finger into the potting soil and reaching out with his magic. He could feel what a different Twilight had taught him was the plant's aura, seeking sun, air and water in equal measure, and he coaxed it, reassuring the vine it would have all those things in abundance now. It wasn't mental connection, like what he'd done as a Voice on Sharona, or even quasi-communication like Fluttershy did with her animals. The plant was just too simple for that. But this was how his earth pony magic had worked from the start, doing all this subconsciously. Now that he knew what to feel for, he could identify the steps that caused leaves to unfurl under the hothouse lamp with an almost-audible sigh, and roots to absorb the water he'd sprinkled on the loam. He even let the plant taste a bit of his magic directly. Doing that too much would burn the poor thing out on a cellular level, and he couldn't repair it like he could himself using the incredible power he'd picked up in one gamma-infused loop, but one little jolt of power wouldn't hurt it, and it'd add just a little zing to assuage Shining Armor's doubts. Twilight's equipment went nuts, meters measuring, dials dialing, alarms beeping, and scanners approaching ten thousand as the tomato plant went from shriveled to healthy in less than ten seconds flat. Its one faded flower even turned into a fat, ripe tomato. As this world's Twilight turned away to adjust something, Macintosh fixed her brother with a quick, questioning gaze. Shining in turn gave him a look that said "I'm watching you," which Macintosh acknowledged with a nod. Further nonverbal conversation was interrupted by Twilight turning back to face the both of them, looking like she'd hooked the biggest plush elephant in the claw game. "Yes! Now that I can examine the effect in a controlled environment, it's so simple. In designing an at-range detector to track such a sporadic signal, I actually made a directional siphon." An emotion ran through Macintosh's head, and he took a mental step back to examine it as Twilight went into the technical details. Was that pride he was feeling? He shrugged inwardly. A little familial pride never hurt anypony; and taking into account some loops he'd shared with his world's Anchor, this was, in a way, just another un-awake sister. So he indulged in a bit of extended familial pride, listening without understanding as she expounded her theories, until she got back around to the practical applications. "And, now that I know what the siphon is doing, if I can get close enough to connect with it wirelessly, I can deactivate it." If Macintosh's ears were mobile, they would have flattened. “How close do ya need to be?” “Well, the device wasn't designed for remote functionality, so the range would have to be short.” Shining Armor's face was a mix of dismay and discomfort. “How short?” “Very short. Three meters is the projected median.” “An' this ain't something you kin just hand off to anyp-body, is it.” “Not without a week or two to craft a user-friendly deactivator, no. And from the sound of it, we don't have that kind of time.” Macintosh winced inwardly. They really didn't. He'd heard what Sunset Shimmer could do with just a day or two's access to the Element of Magic. The power she'd stolen from him was different, but potent in its own incredible way. Time was of the essence. He looked to Twilight, and didn't need an empathic Talent to read her determination. She'd do it. That left Shining Armor. It was clear the human stallion didn't like the situation. Macintosh wished momentarily that he could share his perspective telepathically, but that wasn't how the Sharonan Voice worked. Other minds couldn't “hear” by default, only other Voices, or someone with another ability that let them “listen”, would receive what he sent out mentally. Certain bonds could get around that, but forging something like that would take time none of them had. Plus this Shining was engaged. Nothing for it but to convince him the old fashioned way. So he addressed them both. “Ah was worried it'd be that way. Ah don't like puttin' any of y'all in danger to fix mah mistakes, but ah've got a plan that should bring most of th' peril back on me." A blue eyebrow quirked. That was good. It meant he'd at least listen. Macintosh continued. "Seems what we all need, is a distraction...” 190.9 (ShadowWriter5) Twilight Awoke and quickly cast a bubble of silence around herself. She screamed and cried and collapsed to the floor for several minutes until she'd cried herself out. Then she stood up and took a few deep breaths. That last loop...No, don't think about it, that'll just lead to more screaming. I need a vacation. Twilight finally looked at her surroundings. Right, book with the Legend of Nightmare Moon. Check. Spike not here yet, check. Rotary phone in the corner. Check. She paused for a second. Wait what? Quickly cataloging loop memories told her that this loop, they had the usual low level technology of baseline with a few higher level ones like electric street lights and telephones. However, the inherent magical field around Equestria, and unicorns especially, caused extremely advanced technologies like computers and cars to break down almost constantly. Even as she absorbed this she sent out a ping and to her relief she received several pings back. Even as she pulled out her PADD (thankfully Albus had been kind enough to show her how to shield it from such effects in one of her Hogwarts loops) to see if this was a fused loop, Spike came in. "Well Twi, what do you want to do-" Spike stopped to take in her disheveled mane, red puffy eyes, and tear tracks down her face. He grew to pony sized, rushed over, and swept her into a hug. At this, the tenuous control she had gained snapped and the floodgates opened again. She clutched at him desperately, staining his shining scales with her tears. He started a comforting rumble in his chest while increasing his body temperature a bit. A combination he'd found worked well to soothe Rarity and Sweetie Belle when they were upset. "Shh, shhh, it's ok now, everything's going to be fine." Spike spent a while trying to calm her down, and when she finally cried herself out she fell asleep against his chest. After he was sure she was asleep, he was just about to send a note to Celestia when she walked in the door. "Spike, have you seen Twilight around, she hasn't sent me her letter yet and-" She took in the state of the room in a second. Spike was larger and hugging Twilight, who had obviously been crying and was now asleep. She conjured a blanket and pillow and gently lifted Twilight out of his grasp, placing her in a comfortable spot. After they both saw to it that she was settled they moved to another section of the library. "Bad loop?" Spike sighed, "From what I can tell, it was a lonely null loop, and it was a bad one." Celestia thought for a few seconds. One does not get to be a successful monarch of her caliber without being able to not only make fast decisions, but make the right ones as well. "We'll need to get someone else to handle the celebration this loop. She'll still need to go to Ponyville to be with her friends, but I don't want her stressed this loop." "And you think sending her to Ponyville will be a stress free environment because...?" "A fair point, and thus she won't be sent there until after Nightmare Moon has been dealt with. Which Bearers are Awake? " "One moment." Spike concentrated on his Element and then said "Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy are all Awake." "That's good, Twilight will need them." Spike nodded at this and continued, "Chrysalis, Trixie, and Zecora are also Awake." "A full set of Elements. Well at least there's that. Unfortunately I still need someone to oversee the Celebration." "I'll do it." Spike volunteered. "No, I need you here with Twilight. As it is we might need to bring one of the Kindnesses here, preferably Fluttershy since she has the experience as a psychologist." "Hmm..." Spike looked around in thought, and noticed Twilight's PADD. He used the Force to float it over to him. "I think Twilight had a pretty good idea." He help it up to show her. "Yes, that is a very good possibility. Though the only way to know is to check the phone book." Spike grabbed the Canterlot Phone Book Second Edition from the nearby table and opened it up to the appropriate page. There it was. It was a few moments work with the rotary phone to dial the number. (312) 555-0199. A few more seconds of dial tone and then a response. Spike handed the receiver to Celestia. "Hello Mr. Dresden, I'd like to hire your services." Spell Circle: I tossed another paperback into the "read" box. Even in a pony body, completely lacking fingers, I still somehow managed to bend the spines. I leaned back in my chair, the frame creaking in a comfortingly familiar manner. "Another boring loop in Equestria." Seconds after I said that my phone rang. I reached out with my telekinesis and picked up the receiver. Supposedly these things didn't get messed up by magic this loop, but I've never trusted the things. "Spell Circle." "Hello, Mr Dresden. I'd like to hire your services." "Why hello, Princess Celestia. Wonderful to hear from you." Not the most eloquent thing to say, but I fall back on snark and anger when I am surprised. And anger would not be a good idea with a Goddess. Capital G. Don't look at me like that, I've heard tales of those loops where she tossed planets into the sun. A chuckle came from the other side of the line. "Mr. Dresden, I wish to retain your services to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration." "Isn't that your student's job?" "Mr. Dresden," I can tell there's a noticeable level of annoyance with me now, "I understand that you are available for hire at the moment, and I wish to employ you for a simple job." Now a bit of worry came into her voice, though with these age old entities, it might have been carefully inserted. The annoyance wasn't faked. I'm just that good at inspiring it in people...and ponies apparently. "Twilight is....unable to perform her duty at the moment." "Is she ok?" Twilight is one of the strongest spellcasters in the multiverse. There are casters who are more experienced, and casters with more raw power, but Twilight is one of the most read. Her versatility is leagues above mine. If something managed to take her out... "Twilight is physically unharmed. She had a bad loop and needs to... Spike is handing me a note. It says 'Code: Red Psi'. Does that mean anything to you?" My blood ran cold. "I'll be right over." Red Psi. I grabbed my duster (faux leather but still spell warded), my staff, my blasting wand, and a few more magical surprises. I was going in loaded for bear. The last time we had a loop where all the Multiverses Looping mages were together, we came up with a code system to let other mages know when something specific to just the mages was going on. A code Red meant that the mage or the mage's magic was unable to deal with the present danger and many lives are at risk. A Psi (the Greek letter, not the abbreviation for psionic, which was it's own suffix) meant that the loop itself was in danger of destabilization or crashing (lower case C). Thankfully no magus had ever called in an Omega threat, which meant that a Crash (capital C) was imminent. That Spike knew the code meant that Twilight trusted him enough for anything he said to carry the same weight as if she had given it. More disturbing still, was the fact that Twilight herself couldn't get on the phone long enough to give me the code herself. Spell Circle: I yanked open my office door. And of course, someone was in my way. Typical. I'm in a rush and someone needs my time. Good to know it's a multiversal thing rather than just a quirk of my Loop. The unicorn in my doorway gave me an undisguised once-over and, having taken in my armory of magical trinkets, said, "Mr. Circle, glad I caught you while you were in." Annoyed at this delay I responded a bit more snappishly than I should have. "Mr. Harmony, lovely to see you I'm sure, but I really don't have the time." His two hulking brick walls on legs which claimed to be earth ponies on their birth certificates stepped to either side of the doorway, blocking my ability to simply brush by him. He raised a hoof and waved them off. "Now now gentlemen, I'm sure that Mr. Spell Circle has a very good reason to be rushing to wherever he's going." He turned his attention to me, "Just a moment of your time Mr. Circle, I promise." I snorted inwardly. Do I have a choice? I swear I didn't say that out loud, so perhaps it was written on my face because the two mountains of muscle moonlighting as bodyguards tensed. They didn't concern me though. I could easily have tossed them around like rag-dolls with my current equipment given a few seconds prep time. The bodyguards were for show. No, the one that concerned me was the unicorn in front of me. Perfect Harmony, on the surface, was a wealthy unicorn businessman. To the everyday pony he was the founder and CEO of Treble Clef Industries, a wildly successful business that specialized in importing and manufacturing of high quality musical instruments. Underneath that, though, was his true source of income. Perfect Harmony, if the rumors were to be believed, was the leader of a coven of vampires (vamponies?) that claimed the entirety of the Canterhorn and the surrounding countryside as its territory. So far, Perfect Harmony had lived up to his name. The number of ponies that disappeared was always the lowest in the country, and always those who wouldn't be missed like muggers and thieves. My loop memories told me that I'd even seen the statistics to prove it. Hell I'd calculated some of them myself. The rest of his considerable wealth came from his brutal stranglehold on any and all illicit shipping going on in the Canterlot area. If it was being smuggled, he either had his hooves in it, or that person soon walked into a dark alley and never came back out. Mostly this facilitated his importing massive amounts of smuggled blood packets to keep his coven happy. It didn't hurt that the profits from the rest of the smuggling going on were substantial. His iron grip on smuggling, and through his covens feeding, a large portion of the criminal population had earned him a very...unique title. I plastered on a smile that wouldn't fool a foal. "What can I do for The Ferryman?" For just a brief second, his facade of fatherly kindness dropped, and his red eyes glowed with suppressed irritation (See, what did I tell you? Nobody can upset others like I can. It's a knack.). Then the second was over, and the mask of civility was back. "Well Mr. Circle, I was hoping that I could hire you for a job." "Sorry, I'm already on my way to an important job." I made to go past him. Regardless of his body guards or his own power, I had dealt with worse, and Twilight needed me. "Ah yes, that little job for the Princess. Overseeing the Summer Sun Celebration I think?" That stopped me dead in my tracks. There is no way that any being (fae, vampire, mortal, or otherwise) should have known about that. Hell I'd only just found out about it, and I'm the one involved. "How do you know about that?" "Please Mr. Circle, imports and exports are my business. It behooves me to know when important ponies are coming and going." I could blast him. I could fry him and his flunkies to cinders on the spot, conjure up a brief wind, and the evidence would disappear. But despite everything horrible he did, despite how much I despised everything he and his kind did and stood for, I couldn't bring myself to do it. As a crime lord he was not quite on the level of Johnny Marcone, but just like The Gentleman, The Ferryman was a good influence on the crime rate here and in the neighboring countryside. As Marcone would say himself, letting the local crime scene run rampant when you have a coven of vamponies to keep hidden "isn't good for business". And as I said before, I'd seen the statistics. Resigned to hearing him out, I leaned against my office door frame and said, in a voice far more charitable than I felt. "You have my undivided attention." He smiled like we were buddies and he wasn't almost blatantly threatening me. "See gentlemen, Mr. Circle is a perfectly reasonable individual. Now Mr. Circle, I have a few interests out in Ponyville and since you are going that way-" "I'm not smuggling anything for you." I interrupted him. (What is the pony version of a drug mule? Did they use actual mules?) Hell's bells what was it with the loops and setting up crime lords to try to buy me? I expected fury and indignation. I did not expect him to burst out into laughter. "And integrity to match your reputation. I do like that in a stallion. No Mr. Circle, I want to hire you to find my daughter." "Your daughter? You have a daughter?" He grimaced, "Yes, it's not a fact I make publicly known. Otherwise my enemies might get..." his eyes did that glowy red trick briefly as he said the next words, "foolish ideas." "So all I have to do is find her? You don't want me to, oh I dunno, drag her back here?" "Of course not Mr. Circle. I have heard a rumor from one of my sources in Ponyville that my wayward daughter has settled down there. I'd like you to, while you're there, confirm it. If you do find her, please give her this." He pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "Your contact in Ponyville's name is a Mr. Davenport." He turned and started to walk away. Over his shoulder he added. "And Mr. Circle, I trust your professional integrity to not open the envelope." As he walked away, I stood there staring at an envelope in my hoof. Great. Now I have one more problem on my plate. Spell Circle Finally! It seemed like everypony in Canterlot needed to get in my way. What with Perfect Harmony and then the four cart pileup on Main Street and the one merchant who just had to sell me some cabbages....some days I wish I could swing from the roofs like Spiderman. Of course, given the infinite nature of the loops, that may end up happening one day. Where was I? Oh right. Finally, I got to the main gates of the castle. The guards must have been alerted that I was coming. Either that, or they were awed by my very presence and in that awe they couldn't possibly bring themselves to stop me. Probably the former, I don't think anyone has ever done the later. my luck isn't that good. As I got into the main hall, I realized that I had no idea where they were. I stopped a maid and asked for directions. Normally maids in big castles like this are trained to not give directions to any old pony who walks in, but to be fair, I must have looked more than a little unstable. I was extremely upset about all these interruptions in my important task and I was armed to the teeth with magical accouterments. In my dark clothing and (faux) leather duster I either looked like a madman or a heavily armed member of a secret society. I almost literally vibrated with power. She quickly pointed me in the correct direction before rushing off. Likely to warn some guards about the madpony dashing around the castle. Crap. The same scene played itself out a few more times, and by the time I was in the final hallway I was being pursued by at least a dozen guards. As I neared the door I heard them cry out "Don't let him near the Princess!" So the Princess was here? All the better. Celestia wanted me, so she could explain to these nice burly stallions that I was supposed to be here. That thought in mind , I put on a burst of speed. This was apparently the wrong thing to do, as they came at me even more ferociously. Just as I pushed open the door I was dive tackled by two guards and ended up on the bottom of a dog (diamond dog?)-pile. The Princess looked on in shock as they guards manhandled (ponyhandled?) me to the ground and started trying (and failing) to divest me of my gear. Then she looked on in amusement as they continued to fail to do so. Thank you Atticus O'Sullivan for teaching me how to craft bindings. Still, there I am, under about seventy billion tons of burly guard, everything but my head covered in the pile, and the Princess is doing her best to not laugh. You see, it's times like this that I think that an Admin has it out for me. Seeing the Princess not making any effort to help me really burned my biscuits too. Thus, my next words were perhaps not the best chosen. "Well Sunbeam, if you're done laughing at my expense, get your hired thugs off me before I blow them through a wall." This immediately sobered up the Princess, and she must have seen how close I was to snapping because she made one of those grand regal gestures that you just can't learn from a book. She must practice in front of a mirror. "Thank you my loyal ponies, but I asked this..." she looked down at me, "stallion to come here." "Begging your pardon, but we didn't receive word of his arrival your majesty." She frowned, "I am certain that I sent word of Spell Circle's arrival down to the front gates." "Ma'am we were told that the stallion in question would have a very distinct cutie mark-" Celestia cleared her throat and used a tiny tendril of telekinesis to lift the edge of my duster, showing everyone my butt, thanks a bunch there, Princess, but also my cutie mark (god just thinking that phrase makes me want to drink a beer, get into a bar fight, and go out and blow something up to affirm my masculinity). At least the lead guard had the decency to look embarrassed. I stood up and did my best to collect what shreds were left of my dignity together and scowl at the world in general. Taking a deep breath I drew upon years and years of training to keep my temper in check (I know, I know, I still fail a lot but I'm working on it. Honest.) and tried to adopt a professional look while Celestia dismissed the guards. Once the door had closed behind them I looked her right in the face (not the eyes, Celestia has asked me not to Soulgaze her and I respect a lady's wishes, even if she is a magical talking pony Princess Goddess) and said, "Well I'm here, take me to her." She turned and gestured with a wing towards the back of the library.