//------------------------------//
// Loop 12 
// Story: The Time Thief 
// by Reading4HalfMyLife 
//------------------------------//

Astral Plane woke up.

She was in her bed, in her home, like nothing had happened. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she could still smell smoke, she would've thought it was all a dream.

Scrambling out of bed, she gave herself a frantic once over, but there were no marks or bruises on her body. Save for a curious stiffness, she felt fine, there was no sign she had been killed-

She had been killed. Astral breathed in sharply, shock running through her body as she remembered what happened. Curling in on herself, Astral sobbed like a toddler on the verge of a breakdown, both from the memories of her dying, and now knowing dying was not the way out of the loop.

"Okay, okay, get a grip. Concentrate." From looking out the window, Astral could see it was indeed Monday, which meant the loop reset after her death. Next up, had her magic increased? Focusing on her saddlebags, she attempted to levitate them closer, only to send them flying through a window. It seems that dying also increased my magic more than usual. 

"Astral! What was that noise?" Starlight poked her head into the room, only to gape at the broken window. Turning to glare at her daughter, she instead froze when she saw her expression. "What happened?" She asked, entering the room to crouch in front of her.

Astral wordlessly handed her the note, before getting up and trotting out of the room to find Twilight.





"So, when ponies are in the same room as you . . "

"They die, yes," Astral pointedly ignored the pitying looks she was being given by both her parents, instead focusing on a small spot on the wall.

"So then ponies are being given too much magic," Twilight muttered, deep in thought "but where is the magic coming from? It can't just appear."

"I wish I knew. I wish I knew why I am in a time loop. I wish I knew why I am being given magic," Astral sobbed, wrung out. How many ponies had she murdered? Did they feel anything before they died, or was it peaceful? No, she knew the answer to the last one; it had been painful, she knew that from Jam and Butterscotch- and now she was crying in earnest.

"I'll run some tests, and see if anypony is feeling any different, though so far I've noticed a strange uptake in magic between Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. Maybe they still retain some of the magic after they've been- after they loop?"

Seeing the dejected look on her daughters face, she crouched down so they were eye level. "I think you should spend these next few loops trying to relax. Learn some magic, hang out with your friends, play some pranks, anything that may help you heal." She pulled the filly into a hug and Astral smiled warmly.

Mom was right, of course, she would need to take time to heal from the last loop if she wanted to focus. Even now sobs racked her small body as she thought of Jam and Butter, and anypony else she may of have harmed. 

Some time off sounded good.