//------------------------------//
// MLP Loops 198 
// Story: MLP Time Loops 
// by Saphroneth 
//------------------------------//

198.1 (fractalman) (inspired by "zebras don't like supermarkets")

Zecora frowned as she wandered through the shelves of her Subspace Pocket, looking for powdered nordic brittlebush, foxglove, and nightshade.  She spotted some snanium and otrobojeuaf in a stasis field; she supposed they'd work as substitutes...provided she could beg a literal ton of alicorn-grade horn filings from Twilight to process them properly.  She was also almost out.

‘Ah, there’s my foxglove…let me see, Polkadot Polly, Dalmatian Rose…these won’t do, I need the Dalmatian White variety...’

“Ahah! There’s my Nordic brittlebrush! Now I need as much a…bush?” She gazed mournfully upon the meagre coating of powder at the bottom of the jar.

“Time to go shopping; that a store has what I need, I am hoping.” She said, before making a face at the dubious rhyme.








Canterlot, though less used to insanity than Ponyville, was generally more used to foreign dignitaries, so few ponies gave more than a second glance as Zecora passed by.  It helped that only a few ponies were even out at midnight. Zecora muttered as she passed by the stores. "Horsetroms, Rebuks, ahah, Herb Helper! I remember them, they even have a Kelper!"  Herb helper; a supermarket that advertised as having all the ingredients-and if they didn't have the ingredient you wanted, they'd give you a gift card worth a thousand bits.

The lone clerk yawned and waved as Zecora walked through the doors.








Zecora was on her way to check out when she all but bumped into Gilda.

"Oh hi Zecora!" Said Gilda, who was trying to figure out what Cave Fennel was good for.

“Good day my feathered friend.  Do not eat that, it will be your end.”

Gilda hastily put it back. "Well, I'm trying out some new stew recipes and this place is supposed to have all the ingredients, no matter how exotic...say, what do you think would go well with cactus and fish?" asked Gilda as her stomach growled.

"Extract of Sedentary Skunkweed; despite the name, 'tis tasty indeed."

"Hmm...what about spiffing up a dish of caviar and potatoes?"

"A bundle of throsies. Watch your tosies."

"Wait, wh-ouch!" Said Gilda. She glared at the offending can of pickled rhubarb. “What is this thing made of, neutronium?”

Zecora shrugged.

Gilda would probably have continued to pick Zecora's brains for tips on the more exotic herbs, but her stomach decided to stop growling and start roaring at her. "Well, I’m getting hungry. I’m gonna grab some fish real quick and check out.”

Zecora nodded, and made her own way towards the checkout counter.








The pegasus clerk was sleeping upright at her post, head in one hoof, scanner held outwards in the other.

"Excuse me-" began Zecora, as she walked forwards.

*beep*

Zecora turned her head to the left and read the screen.

"Gryphon meal 69.99 bits…really"

She turned her head forwards and sighed.

"Gilda, you're drooling. Your spit will soon be pooling."

Gilda slurped in her saliva. "Well you have to admit, you do look tasty-"

Zecora whipped her head around and glared.

"Aheheheh...shutting up now."





198.2 (Vinylshadow)

"Mail call!"

Twilight opened the door to her castle to see a lanky-legged colt holding a bunch of letters and she took them from him with a nod.

Closing the door, Twilight shuffled through them.

"Bills, junk, junk, zoning warning, death threats..." she muttered, leafing through them. "Ah. Fluttershy! You have a letter!"

Fluttershy trotted out of a door, followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

"Oh? A letter for me? But why was it sent to your castle?" she asked, taking it and opening it.

As she read it, the castle doors burst open and Rainbow Dash flew in with Applejack hot on her heels.

"Twilight! We have a problem!" Rainbow said.

"Sombra's on his way with an army of mind-controlled slaves!" Applejack said.

"Oh," Twilight said. "Well, let's got sort that out. Come on everypony."

Fluttershy looked up from her letter. "Um, girls?"

She looked around the empty room and sighed.





Twilight stared down at the army of crystal ponies with a frown.

"Not entirely sure what's going on, but we have to stop this. Chaaaaaaarge!"

The five ponies threw themselves at the army of slaves and the battle was on.





Fluttershy flew up and looked around.

"Girls?" she called. "If I could have your attention...?"

"Not now, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said, knocking two ponies together with a satisfying clunk.

Fluttershy spotted Sombra in the back of the army and she flew over to him.

"Fluttershy?! What are you-?" Twilight called.

She then gaped as Fluttershy sharply twisted Sombra's neck.

Teleporting over to the pegasus, Twilight shook her.

"What was that for?!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't rushed off, you'd have learned Sombra was on his way here for a massage because the Crystal Empire lacks such things."

"With a mind-controlled, armored army?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

"They're just outfits designed to keep ponies warm," Fluttershy said, kicking a helmet over to reveal heating pads.

"Oh..." Rainbow said. Turning to the ponies she'd clobbered, she apologized profusely.

Sombra got up and rolled his head with a happy sigh. "My thanks to you, Fluttershy."

"It's no problem," she replied. "Come, let me treat you and your subjects to a spa visit."

Twilight watched them go and flicked her wings.

"Well, guess we should learn to look before we leap, hm?"

"I mean, it's been how long since we've had to do that?" Applejack pointed out.

"Too long," Rarity chuckled. "Come on, let's go to the spa."





198.3 (Vinylshadow)

Shining Armor was playing with Flurry Heart, using his shields to make mazes for her to crawl through.

"Shiny?" Cadence called, "Have you fixed the dining room table yet?"

"Cadence, when I said I'd fix it, I meant it. There's no need to remind me every six months," he replied, dispelling his shields, catching his daughter on the way down.

"You're not still sore about the fact I broke your game system, are you?" she asked, taking Flurry from him and cooing at her.

"You shoved crystals into the disk slot," Shining said.

"How else am I supposed to pay for microtransactions?" Cadence asked innocently.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes and gave his wife a kiss.

"Ask me for help, of course," he said.

"Mhh, true," Cadence said. "Now then, shall we drop Flurry off with Twilight and Pinkie Pie?"

"You want to hand our daughter over to Pinkie Pie?" Shining asked in mock horror. "I'd rather not have a Chaos Goddess for a daughter, thank you very much."

"Nonsense, she'd merely come back as a Primarch at worst."

"She was a Noise Marine. I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my hearing into old age."

"Your shields can be made noise-proof, remember?" Cadence said with a waggle of eyebrows.

"Fair enough, but that's still not going to change my mind."

"Fine," Cadence said. "We give her to the CMC."

"They're not Awake. Nor do they have their Cutie Marks thanks to an absolutely incomprehensible series of events, so..."

Cadence winced. "Ah, right. The Tree Sap Incident."

The parents stared at their daughter thoughtfully.

"We could always stay here with her," Shining suggested.

Cadence hummed in thought before nodding. "Fair enough."

Flurry Heart giggled and her parents nuzzled her lovingly.





198.4 (Vinylshadow)

Pinkie Pie walked into Sugarcube Corner, whistling a jaunty tune, ready for another day of work.

Her whistling came to a screeching halt when she flicked on the lights.

The carefully-laid out stacks of pastries she'd spent the last week organizing were all gone.

In their place was a plethora of muffins of all shapes, sizes and kinds.

"Oh dear," Pinkie muttered. "Did I do something when I wasn't Awake?"

Easily knowing who was behind the switch, she turned and left, locking the door behind her.

Making her way to a non-descript house - with a police phone box in the yard, parked on the tulips, no less - she rang the doorbell.

A sleepy red-and-black changeling answered the door.

"Heya Pinkie," he yawned. "What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for Derpy," she answered.

"IT'S FOR YOU, DERPS!" the changeling bellowed over his shoulder. "Come on in," he said, stepping back.

Pinkie entered and trotted into the living room, nodding politely to Time Turner.

"What's up, Doc?" she said.

The Doctor glanced up at the ceiling.

"Cobwebs, a ceiling fan and a very angry spider. Why?"

Pinkie did a double-take and looked up to see a massive spider weaving a web.

"Huh..." she said.

"Heya Pinkie," Derpy said as she trotted into view. "You wanted to see me?"

Pinkie presented a muffin with an apologetic face drawn on it.

"Whatever I did while I wasn't Awake, I'm sorry that it happened," she said.

Derpy blinked before she giggled. "No worries. Getting a pizza chucked at my head isn't the worst thing I've had thrown at me. I was more worried about saving the pizza."

"So replacing all the pastries with muffins...?" Pinkie asked.

"That was more in retaliation for you being a nosy busybody and not giving Maud and Starlight some space to bond," Derpy said.

"Ah..." Pinkie winced. "I've noticed that a lot over the recent expansions. Everyone seems so...different and insensitive. Like the cart race."

"Relax, Pinkie," the Doctor said. "We don't hold what our UnAwake selves did against you or anyone else."

"Yeah," Pinkie murmured. "I'm just glad Starlight and Maud got along. Hopefully we'll be seeing them both grow more over the next few months."

"Hear hear."





(DrTempo and BIOS-Pherecydes)

From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:

The next Loop I visited was that of the Hellsing Loop. In that Loop, the agency with that name, led by a descendant of the legendary Van Helsing, fights vampires and all sorts of creatures of the night. The Anchor there is Seras Victoria, a policewoman who was turned into a vampire after suffering a fatal injury by Alucard, who has no connection to the apparent Castlevania Anchor by that name. In fact, this Loop's Alucard is none other than Dracula himself, whom chose to serve Hellsing after he was defeated by Van Helsing.

Seras is a kind person, but when angered..well, nice knowing you. Despite becoming a vampire, she still kept her humanity in a way, which is something I respect.

I usually am curious as to what the Loopers in the Loops I've visited can do, and thus test my skills in battle against them, in hopes of also learning new abilities; I guess Ranma's love of fighting has worn off on me. But, this Loop is the rare exception. And the reason is simple: Vampires here are way overpowered, even by Looper standards.

Why is that? Simply put, every time a vampire drinks someone's blood here, the vampire basically acquires their soul, and can use it to help regenerate. Alucard, in baseline, had consumed over three million souls. I may be a skilled fighter, but even I can tell if I fought Baseline Alucard, or an Awake Seras, who has been in Alucard's role more than once, I know that I would never do any permanent damage without escalating far beyond what is reasonable. I'll have to look into mid-range abilities in the future. Right now most my options are either melee or planet-buster with very little in between.

And heck, their healing factor alone has allowed Alucard and Seras to give much more powerful Loopers a very difficult fight. It doesn't help that neither of them care very much about collateral damage; though Seras does at least try and avoid it when possible, Alucard practically revels in it.

Anyhow, as for Alucard himself, he does have a sense of honor. He faithfully serves the leader of Hellsing, Integra, without question. And he does respect Seras as well. Luckily, he was Awake this Loop, so I didn't have to worry about angering him. Or worse, catching his interest. When Unawake, Alucard has a death wish and any opponent that looks like they have a chance of fulfilling that wish tends to gain his... personal attention.

I'll admit, Alucard scares me. I don't like him, he's the kind of person who in any other Branch I've visited would be the main villain, but there isn't very much I can actually do about him. Awake or not, he's an entirely different kind of opponent than the kinds I usually face. He's not the Big Bad, even though he acts like one sometimes and he's definitely got the threat rating you would expect from one, and I can't justify going after him full-force because without him things would actually be worse.

Seras is a lot easier to deal with. She has all the same powers, and thanks to the Loops is actually even stronger than her sire, but she still manages to retain her original outlook on the world and is a generally friendly person. Though when she's serious I still don't want any part of that, thank you very much.

As for the villain here, the main bad guys are Millennium, a group of artificially created vampires led by The Major, a man whom only seeks war. And in Baseline, he got it: London was destroyed, and millions killed, before he was stopped. I wanted to help, but Seras and Alucard told me not to worry, as the two of them can easily defeat Millennium. I did help rescue many lives when the Major launched his attack on London, though; as Seras told me, whenever she tried to stop Millenium before that happened, they altered their plans enough so that even more innocent lives were lost.

This Loop, I saw just what kinds of bad things can happen in the Loops. I may not like it, but many Loops tend to be as dark as this one. But seeing that just makes me even more determined to prevent such evil whenever I can.

All I can do is get stronger, so that next time I'll be more prepared.





198.5 (Evilhumour)

"Engarde, you swine!" Royal Pin shouted at his opponent, bringing his horn on an angle to block the rubber chicken swiped at him.

"Ha!" Cheesy Sandwich barked out a laugh, moving deftly to the side of the road to launch another barrage of attacks against his foe. "That is almost as funny as thinking that you will be picked!"

That made the unicorn snort in anger, the battle between the two stallions picking up steam once more.





Twilight, taking her eyes off the fight, turned to one of her best friends and frowned internally as Pinkie Pie seemed off. "Pinkie Pie, what's going on?"

"Well, you know how in some variants I am paired with Cheesy and some I am paired up Royal Pin?" Pinkie asked, her eyes still on the fight and her face looking so weird but familiar at the same time. If only Twilight could put her hoof on it... "Well, this time both want me and they're fighting to see who gets me."

"Okay, I see," Twilight already had several plans forming to deal with this but it was Pinkie's problem and she should, and did, ask, "You want to go stop them?"

"In a few seconds Twi," Pinkie trailed off, her face getting a bit brighter and then the other shoe dropped.

With an amused gasp, Twilight asked, "Are you blushing?"

Pinkie Pie simply turned her head to the side and ran her hoof across her face, her smile and blush growing. "Twilight, I may be the best party mare of all Yggdrasl but I am still a mare and..." She waved a hoof at the two stallions fighting over her and let out a giggle that was not her usual giggle.

Shaking her head in wonder with a smile on her face, Twilight replied, "You still can surprise me Pinkie." Reaching over to hug her friend, she inquired, "So who are you going to pick?"

"Both," Pinkie answered her with her normal wide smile, although for a split second it was a normal smile and then pronked over to the squabbling stallions to tell them the good news.

Twilight stood there for a few seconds to make sure everything okay before walking away, happy for her friend and happy to know that she still had much to learn about her friends so they could become even closer.





198.6 [D&DC/MLP:FiM][katfairy]

“Hank, have we ever done this before?” Diana asked, trying to catch her breath.  Hank shook his head carefully, still not quite sure of his balance.  Using the Elements wasn’t a physical exertion, but he still felt somehow drained and jazzed up at the same time.

“It’s a first for me too,” he said.

“So I won’t yell at you for not warning us that Venger was hot when he isn’t all evilled up.”

“…What.”  Hank turned to look at the tangled heap of alicorn and mage.  Luna was already getting to her hooves and staggering away, looking more than a little drunk, eyes at full-Derpy, muttering something about figgy duff.  Venger, on the other hand, was… different.  Still tall, still robed, but the hood was gone, as were the fangs.  Hank squashed the thought that he looked like an anime character, but he couldn’t deny that it was nothing but the truth.  The unconscious mage (was he still a mage?) now had gentler features, although the slightly squared chin kept him from being properly bishonen.  Other than that, he had the long raven hair, alabaster skin, flowing white robes, and all that other crap.  Hank, suspecting he was being overly cynical, made a silent bet with himself that when Venger opened his eyes, they would turn out to be violet.  “Okay, yeah, I guess.  Twilight?  Any theories from the Element Expert?”

“Well, if history is any indication, and it usually is, you’re about to meet Venger as he was before he got corrupted by whatever.  Expect a lot of moping and general emo behavior before he realizes that the people who matter have forgiven him.”

“I heard that,” Luna quavered, flopping onto Tiamat’s tail.

“Am I wrong?”

“Di’n’t say that.”

“I am not a chaise longue, you know.”

“Sooooo comfy….”

“I think the Elements may have interacted strangely with the spell Venger used to control her.”

“Noticed that,” Hank said, stifling a grin as he watched Luna try to curl up on a tail that wasn’t big enough for her to curl up on.  “I think she’s plastered.”

“Does that mean Venger will be too?”  Eric didn’t even try to stifle his grin, and Hank lost his battle as the mental image popped up.  He sent it over to Tiamat, who snickered.

“I would pay to see that.”

“Looks like you might get your chance for free,” Presto said.  “Guys, he’s waking up.”

Hank glanced over; Presto was right.  And yes, Venger’s eyes were violet.

I could have told you that, had you asked.

Didn’t really care, to be honest.  Hank felt a wave of amusement from Tiamat, then shook his head as he realized what he’d said and that whether or not his Element stuck after this Loop, Tiamat was never going to let him forget it.  “Okay, Venger, welcome back to what passes for sanity around here.  Skip the apologies; you’re forgiven already.  Just don’t let it happen again.  Oh, and when Dungeon Master shows up, which will probably be about… now, don’t pretend to be surprised.  Guys, let’s give them some privacy.  And Luna, let’s get you sobered up.”

Hank corralled the others and hauled them into the corridor, shutting the doors and clearing the way for Tiamat to block them.

“Hank, have you ever managed to reform Venger before?” Twilight asked, taking notes.  “I know you’ve said it’s supposed to be possible, but I’m not sure if doing it with the Elements will have any long-term effects.  It shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything if the tree decides it likes the idea.”

“You know, it’s a little unnerving that the state of reality depends on the sense of humor of a hyper-dimensional computer/tree,” Presto said.

“Welcome to my world.  But as for Venger being reformed, well, if you don’t count the Variants where it turned out he was never really evil in the first place for whatever reason, then, yeah, this is the first time we’ve managed more than a temporary fix.”

“How do we know this isn’t temporary?” Eric asked.  “I mean, no offense, Twilight, but who knows how many years of working for a world-destroying evil getting cured by a rainbow nuke?  That’s… okay, for this place, it does make sense.  Back-asswards sense, but sense.”

“Right now, there isn’t a single negative emotion in him,” Twilight said.  “That won’t last, of course, nopony’s that much of a saint, but as near as I can figure, one of the effects of being zapped by the Elements is that you get a soul-deep understanding, one that’s beyond words, of what friendship truly is.  I’m not saying some can’t reject it, but if that had happened, I’m pretty sure Venger wouldn’t have transformed like that.  And speaking of transformations, have you guys looked at your Elements?  And your clothes?”

“Whoa, cool!”  Bobby hefted his club, which now looked like it had been made with intent rather than just plucked off the ground.  All of their weapons had undergone similar transformations: Diana’s staff now looked suspiciously like Minbari work; Eric’s shield showed finer details in the painting and the shape was subtly different; his own bow was a work of art and was absolutely going in his Pocket if only to show off to his fellow Looping archers; Presto’s hat, like Sheila’s cloak and all of their clothes, now looked like bespoke tailoring rather than the end result of Wal-Mart entering the Renfair market.  Both materials and craftsmanship of clothes and weapons were outstanding.  And Tiamat was craning all five heads to look at the gleaming torcs that circled her necks, polished scales of the appropriate colors capping the ends.

“Uh, Twilight, really not complaining, but did we switch rulebooks?  Because these look like Masterworks, and those weren’t in the editions that were out in baseline.”  Hank turned the bow over in his hands, noting the subtle bronze inlay tracing an elegant vine-and-leaf pattern down its length.  “I know we’re considered a more-or-less Dungeons & Dragons Loop, but the rules are usually more like Advanced, and Masterworks didn’t show up for at least another generation.  Maybe two.  Think it’s got something to do with being Fused with your Loop?”

“Could be, or maybe we just hadn’t run into anything that made the different rules noticeable before.  It’s hard to tell.  But to get back to my earlier question, was there any indication of how Venger was supposed to be reformed in baseline?”

“…Sort of.  Well, not in baseline, but in the Hub-like Loops I’ve visited where we’re a cartoon, I’ve checked for the last episode that was never aired.   It’s been a few Loops since I’ve read the script, but I think it was one of those soul-in-a-jar deals.  I’ve never managed to get to that point in the Loop though, and believe me, I’ve tried.  For Dungeon Master’s sake, if nothing else; I mean, Venger’s his son.”

“The little guy might be really annoying sometimes, but even I know he’s trying to help us,” Eric said.  “So if trying to help him means trying to turn Old Hornhead into a good guy, I guess that’s going to be our ongoing project, right?”

“I’m good with that,” Presto agreed.  “You’ve mentioned it a couple of times before, but I never thought to ask about details.  Um, maybe when I finally end up in one of those Hub-like Loops, I could do some research?”

“That would help a lot,” Hank said.  “I know I’m not dumb, but I’m not as smart as you.  Certified genius, right?  And Eric, you’re pretty bright too.  I’m not saying you should spend every Loop doing nothing but trying to figure out ways to redeem him, but any time you come up with something, make a note of it.  Together, we should be able to figure this out.”

“Uh, guys, not to be a wet blanket or anything, but… what exactly will redeeming Venger do?”  Diana raised an eyebrow at them, and the other non-Loopers turned to Hank.

“Well, if we can figure out how to do it, we might be able to get it done pretty quick, then decide if we want to stay here and fix the rest of the problems or go home.  And before you ask, I have no idea if that’ll end the Loop early.  But it will at least make the Loop a little less predictable, and trust me, when you start Looping, you’ll understand why that’s a good thing.”

“No, I get it,” Diana said, shaking her head.  “I mean, maybe not on the level you guys do, but it makes sense.”

“Hey, I’m just a kid and I get it,” Bobby agreed.  “Who’d want to spend thousands of years doing the same thing?  Bo-ring.”

“Especially if it means we have to repeat our mistakes,” Sheila said quietly.  An awkward silence fell, only to be broken by a drunken snore.  Even Sheila giggled at that.  “Well, I like the idea of reforming Venger when we can.  And when we can’t, at least you guys know how to handle him.”

“Unless it’s a Variant,” Presto pointed out.  “But, yeah, you’re right.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re planning on doing this, but I have an unrelated question,” Twilight said.  “Presto, how did you come up with Bobby’s Element?  That’s not one of our Elements in Equestria.”

“It just made sense.  I mean, it takes courage to really be a friend, doesn’t it?”

“…Huh.  I guess it does.  Well, Variant Element or not, it’s a thing in this Loop.  I wonder if it’ll be the same in Equestria?  I’ll have to ask Luna once she’s awake and sober.”

“You’ve been recording this, haven’t you.”  Hank grinned at Twilight, who just smirked in return.  “Thought so.  You know, I think we’ve pretty much settled everything we can for the moment, so why don’t we—“

And for the second time that day, Hank broke off as he was blindsided by an attack; he fell to the ground, frantically scrambling for a non-verbal spell that could keep the enraged Shadow Demon from crushing his windpipe.





198.6 continued [D&DC/MLP:FiM][katfairy]

Twilight jumped as a streak of shadow flew out of the wall, latching claws around Hank’s throat and knocking him to the floor.  Tiamat roared, but held back from attack; any of her attacks would do more damage to her Dragonkin than Shadow Demon, Twilight suspected.  Eric dashed forward and tried to help Hank, but apparently Shadow Demon could control which parts of him were corporeal and Eric’s hands passed through it with no effect.  Twilight readied a Holy Light spell, but before she could fire it off, Eric tried another tactic: he swung his upgraded shield and knocked Shadow Demon right upside the head with an echoing clang.  It dropped Hank, turning on the Cavalier.

“Guys, check on Hank; I’ll deal with this jerk.”  Eric’s expression didn’t allow for argument, and since Twilight was more worried about Hank, she let him do what he would have done anyway.  She ignored the screech of claws on metal, instead casting the spell she’d had ready; if nothing else, Holy Light would keep Shadow Demon away from Hank and it could heal some of the damage that had been done.

“Hank, don’t try to talk,” Sheila ordered, pillowing his head on her lap.  “Twilight?  It doesn’t look good—I think his throat is swelling shut!”

Hank’s throat was looking bruised already, and his breathing was raspy.  Luckily, a quick healing spell  was all that was needed with her other spell already in place.  She’d studied up on Shadow Demon, expecting something like this.  And she wasn’t really surprised it had gone straight for Hank; aside from the target Yggdrasil had painted on his back lately, she had noticed in her visits to the Realm that Venger and Hank had a particular rivalry.  Maybe it was because Hank was the leader of the kids.  Or maybe Venger had a thing for Hank.  Actually, in some Loops, he had; Twilight had heard Hank growling about that more than once.  The real reason probably varied from Loop to Loop, but whatever it was, it meant that if Venger went down, Shadow Demon would immediately focus on Hank as the reason.  Occasionally he’d suspect Tiamat, but only if Venger showed obvious toothmarks.  That wasn’t the case this time.

“Ow,” Hank said again, eyes slowly opening.  “Can I not get sneak attacked again today?  It’s getting old.”

His voice started raspy, but improved with each word; the spells had worked.  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief  (Tiamat aimed hers towards Shadow Demon, Twilight noticed with some amusement), and Hank sat up carefully.

“You okay now?” Twilight asked, just to be sure.  “Because Eric’s holding off Shadow Demon by himself and I thought you might like to try your new bow.  If you still need a moment, I’ll take care of him.”

“…Or maybe we should stand back and let Luna have her shot.”  Hank’s expression wavered between “oh, crap” and “this is gonna be epic”; Twilight turned to see Luna unsteady but on her feet, looking hungover and Not Happy.

“Oh, Vinca minor, everyone get out of her way.  This is not going to be pretty.”  Twilight yoinked Eric back to relative safety.  Shadow Demon, not expecting its target to move so quickly, overbalanced and half-disappeared into the floor before righting itself.

“Right.  I am not in a good mood.  I have a pounding headache.  And you are making noise.”  Luna walked toward Shadow Demon with slow, deliberate step.  Twilight quietly put up several layers of shields, not wanting to trust to Eric’s shield alone even if it had just gotten more powerful.  Shadow Demon failed to look impressed; he would learn.  But Luna wasn’t done talking.  “You are also trying to re-corrupt Venger and further damage the Realm.  I realize that you are a creature of evil, but did it ever occur to you that trying this while you were so badly outnumbered might not be a good idea?”

“I almost got the Ranger, and next time I will succeed.  You have destroyed my master—I will get revenge!  I can hide in even the smallest scrap of shadow and am invincible at night—“

“Ee-nope.”  Luna’s smile began to look more like one of Tiamat’s.  “I rule the night.  You?  Are not a challenge.”

Shadow Demon responded by firing a blast of darkness at Luna.  It surrounded her, but Twilight wasn’t worried this time.  The shadowy sphere lasted for just long enough for Shadow Demon to begin to look smug, then Luna simply walked out of it.

“Impossible!”

“You really don’t know who I am, do you?  I am Luna, Princess of the Moon, the Night, dreaming, etc, etc, etc.  I don’t usually make a big deal about it, but I am basically a goddess.  So go ahead.  Attack me again.  I’ve been more than patient with you so far, but that’s over.  Leave now or I will end you.”

To nobody’s surprise, Shadow Demon attacked again.  This time, Luna just dissipated the attack before it went more than a few feet.  Her horn lit, her wings flared, and her eyes started to glow.  Hank winced and put his hands over his ears; Twilight did likewise, and after a beat the others followed suit.  Except, of course, for Tiamat, who sat back on her massive haunches, draconic grins on all five faces.

“BEGONE, THOU UMBRAGEOUS QUOCKERWODGER, OR I SHALL TURN THEE INTO A RAG WITH WHICH TO CLEANSE MY HOOVES AFTER A STROLL THROUGH THE BOG OF ETERNAL STENCH!!!”

For the life of her, Twilight would never be able to say for certain whether it was the Royal Canterlot Voice or the bolt of magic that blasted Shadow Demon through the window.  Either way, it was eminently satisfying.





198.6 continued [D&DC/MLP:FiM]

The doors flew open, revealing Venger and Dungeon Master both ready for trouble.  The two looked at the hole in the window, then at the glowering Luna and the laughing everybody else, and lowered their glowing hands.  Venger raised an eyebrow.

“I would ask what happened, but someone has taught you children the art of answering questions in a fashion that leaves one no wiser than before they asked.”

“I cannot claim responsibility for that,” Dungeon Master replied.  “By the time I met them, they were already doing so.”

“The Ranger, Cavalier, and Magician are time travelers.  You could have taught them in a past that no longer exists for us.”

“Ah.  Yes.  That is true.”

“Shadow Demon,” Hank said.  “Plus Luna with a hangover.  It ended beautifully.”

“I see,” Venger said in a tone of voice that indicated that he didn’t and didn’t want to.  “He could be troublesome in the future; I shall have to keep watch for him.  But for now, I feel I must apologize for all that—“

“Venger.”  Hank was shaking his head.  “I already said I forgive you, and I’m pretty sure the others do too.”

“Well, as long as you don’t turn evil again.”

“Thanks, Eric.  But there’s something pretty important we still need to deal with if it actually happened in this Loop.  Did you seal away part of your soul as part of your arrangement with your boss?”

“You have dealt with this before, I see,” Venger nodded.  “Yes, I did.  Retrieving it will be dangerous, but it must be done.  I hesitate to ask for your assistance, but I do not believe it would be wise for me to attempt it alone.”

“Hank says we haven’t yet, but he read the script in a Hub-like Loop where we’re cartoon characters.”  Diana grinned at Venger’s lifted eyebrow.  “Hey, Hank, I’ve been meaning to ask—did you ever go to a convention dressed as yourself?”

“Maybe a few times.  But no more costume competitions, thanks.”

“You too, huh?”  Twilight grimaced in sympathy.  “I felt a bit guilty winning, since it is kind of cheating.”

“Well, I don’t have to feel guilty about that, since I came in third.”

“…Ouch.”

“How do you—never mind; I probably don’t want to know.”

“The winner was a thirteen-year-old exchange student from Japan.  Named Natsumi Ishimura.”

“Are you seriously telling me you got beaten in a lookalike contest by an honest-to-fern Japanese schoolgirl?” Luna’s eyebrows were practically levitating.  Hank just shrugged; even at the time, it had made so little sense that he could only be amused.

“It was that kind of Loop.  Anyway, we can probably get you guys home now, although the castle’s probably stuck here, right Dungeon Master?  Yeah, thought so.  So you want to head back to Equestria or stick around for a while to see what happens?”

“I’m good either way.  Twilight?”

“I think we should stay until we’ve got Venger’s soul back together; I have a feeling if we don’t, it’ll blow up in our faces.”  Twilight sighed.  “That’s how these storylines usually play out, anyway.  I could be wrong, but I’d rather spend a few more weeks here unnecessarily than end up in Eiken because we blew off a problem we could see coming.”

Hank nodded.  Twilight was right, as usual.  From what he could remember of that script, there were any number of obstacles between them and where Venger’s soul fragment was concealed, and even with Venger on their side now, getting there wouldn’t be easy.  Although he wasn’t likely to have the problems with Eric, Dungeon Master, or the erupting volcanoes, so there was that.  It wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t be the hardest thing they’d ever done, either.  Nothing like the times they’d had to deal with—

“Oh.  Shit.”  Hank could feel himself paling as a thought occurred to him and the echoing alarm from Tiamat as all five heads whipped around to face him, eyes huge.  Everyone else froze, watching them.

“What?” Twilight asked, horn starting to glow slightly.  Hank tried to answer, but Tiamat beat him to it.

“Venger, you must answer this quickly and succinctly: Does Shadow Demon know how to contact your former overlord?”

Venger and Dungeon Master both paled as Hank had; Eric let out a squeak and Presto swallowed nervously, clutching his hat.

“I… do not know.  He may.  I do not know where he came from, merely that he appeared one day claiming he wished to follow me.  I have never been entirely sure that he was not sent by my former master to spy on me.”

“Then we must move, and quickly.  Should he prove to be what you fear, we may have little time.  Even now, I would not care to try my strength against his.  I can carry you and four of your friends.  The Equestrians must swallow their pride and allow the other two as well as Dungeon Master and his son to ride them.”

“This is that serious?” Twilight asked, already increasing her size to make Tiamat’s suggestion feasible.  Luna looked more dubious, but was doing likewise.

“Yes,” the Realm Loopers chorused, along with their mentor and former enemy.

“Then let’s get moving.”








They flew as quickly as they could, only stopping when absolutely necessary; the journey would take hours if not more than a day, and certain details could get messy when attempted in mid-air, even if they didn’t mind the lack of privacy.  There was no sign of any sort of attack being imminent, but all agreed that it would be best to get there without delay and rest when and if they had the chance later.

Hank was frequently annoyed, sometimes amused, and occasionally worried by events in baseline, but only one still had the capacity to scare the everloving shit out of him: Venger’s boss.  Effectively a god/eldritch abomination, as far as he could tell it wanted nothing less than the complete destruction of the Realm if it couldn’t completely control it.  Even Venger and Dungeon Master had run scared when it showed up in baseline, and on the few occasions Hank hadn’t been able to prevent a repeat, the best they could do was hold it off until they got to a safe place, one beyond its reach.  In other words, do what they had in baseline, only more efficiently.  The last time it had happened, he’d managed to get Dungeon Master and Venger to work with Tiamat to try to fight it; that had ended in Eiken and long harangues by both Tiamats.  Granted, that had been a long time ago even by Looper standards, but the fact was, Nameless was on a level they hadn’t dealt with since the Wedding—and Hank and Tiamat had only been a small part of that.  It was on its own and each Looper had added to their arsenal since then, but the odds were still very much not in their favor.

Dragonkin, should this end in Eiken, I will not hold it against you this time.  However, I believe that we must find ways of combatting this enemy, especially if you wish to continue to redeem Venger in future Loops.  I retain my hope that we are simply being cautious at the moment, but I must admit I do not relish the thought of confronting him again, even with the allies we currently have at hand.

That makes two of us, Hank thought back at Tiamat.  I don’t really have any plans right now.  Okay, run screaming and hope we can hide until he’s gone, but that’s not really a plan.  And I never thought to ask—Dungeon Master said he shouldn’t be named, but that doesn’t mean he—it really is he?  I hadn’t thought to ask about that, either—anyway, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one.

He does, but I am not sure you could pronounce it.  It is more of a concept than an actual word.  Or do you refer to a name that mortals use in place of his true name?  Because there are many of those, and they vary from Loop to Loop.  The one most frequently used in this Loop is so lacking in originality that I ate the one responsible for it: Armageddon.

…Okay, I’ll give you that one.  Wow.  So you Woke up early too, then?

Yes.  There is not much more to tell about the interim between that incident and your arrival.  And no, I did not sleep through the entire time.

Just most of it.

Only half.

Sure.  So what is his name?

For a moment there was silence; Hank could feel Tiamat debating the wisdom of telling him.  From what he was getting, her hesitation was because she wasn’t sure if his Looping status would be enough to overcome the fact that he was technically a “mere” mortal.  Whether his mind could handle the burden.  Whether his physically mortal body or his immortal Looping essence would be the deciding factor.  Hank hadn’t considered that the name could be any more than just a name, but apparently, this time it was.  And that was not a good sign.

No, Tiamat finally decided.  Should you remain curious later, perhaps I shall tell you, but at the moment, I do not choose to risk your life and sanity for this Loop.

Hank didn’t argue.  He’d had the vague idea that maybe using Nameless’s True Name™ might be a way to fight him or even bind him, but apparently not.  Or at least, not this time.  It might work in future Loops; he’d ask again then.  Tiamat didn’t often flat-out refuse to answer questions, after all, so if she was now, there had to be a good reason.

He looked over to where Venger and Dungeon Master rode on Twilight’s back; the two humanoid mages looked equally grim.  Neither Equestrian did, but then, this would be their first encounter with Nameless and while they were taking it seriously, they just didn’t have the local knowledge and none of their baseline enemies were really comparable.  Discord was the only one with the raw power, but even in the worst Variants he wasn’t interested in wholesale destruction.  Sombra and Tirek might have tried something similar if they’d thought of it, but lacked the sheer power.  Nightmare Moon was interested in world domination, so it really wouldn’t be her thing.  He knew Twilight and Luna had encountered the problem in outside or Fused Loops, but it wasn’t the same.  He just had to hope that the admittedly subtle difference wouldn’t be an issue.

Venger was pointing at something in the distance; from the look of relief on Twilight’s face, he must have pointed out where to land.  The area looked like what Hank remembered being described in the Hub script; hopefully that meant they were almost there, not that Venger had found a good place to stop for the encroaching night.  Everyone circled in to land, taking a few minutes to stretch travel-sore muscles before embarking on the next stage.

“This is the entrance to the cenotaph where the missing part of my soul lies concealed,” Venger said.  “There is another way to get to the top, but it involves flying over an endless abyss—“

“I am familiar with this abyss, and while the Princesses and I could manage, fighting the updrafts, downdrafts, and incessant crosscurrents would be much more tiring than fighting the creature you set as guardian,” Tiamat interrupted, chibifying herself once her riders were clear.  “And as this is the only way I can fit through your ill-chosen door, I do not wish to hear your commentary on the matter.”

“Guardian?”  Eric looked about as thrilled as could be expected.  “Of course there’s a guardian.  Catoblepas?  Tarasque?  Smurf?”

“Blob monster,” Hank said.

“Blob monster?”

“Magic-eating Blob monster.”

Eric glared at Venger, who looked faintly embarrassed

“Okay, no using magic around the blob monster,” Twilight said.  “Does it eat passive magic too?  Did the script go into that kind of detail?”

“Sorry; I don’t think it did.  Give me a second while Venger gets that melodramatic door open.”  Hank rolled his eyes at the door in question, which was shaped like a dragon’s head, fangs and all, before stepping into his Pocket.  He grabbed his favorite wand, always kept close enough to grab without having to search, and looked around.  His Pocket had come to look like the inside of an old Adirondack-style cabin crossed with a Viking hall, with items hanging off wooden pegs, draped across beams, sitting on open half-log shelves and tables, and generally making a bit of a mess.  He made yet another mental note to spend the next quiet Loop tidying up, with yet another brief moment of wondering if he was ever going to have another quiet Loop.  “Accio Requiem script.”

Script in hand, he put the alder wand back in its usual place and stepped back into the Realm, smiling at the expressions on the non-Loopers’ faces.  He didn’t usually do more than reach a hand into his Pocket, mainly because most of what he needed was kept near the entrance like his wand.

“We have told you of the Pocket; perhaps we should have told you that they increase in size with the Looper’s experience.”

“I am not used to seeing one so young step so casually into another plane of existence and back again,’ Dungeon Master said, looking uneasy.

“Well, I’m not really that young anymore,” Hank pointed out.  Dungeon Master considered that, eventually nodding agreement.    That might have led to a deeper conversation, but Venger opened the door before it could get started.  He let the others keep watch as they walked, trusting Twilight, Tiamat, and Luna to keep an eye out for problems so he could check for the forgotten details.

It wasn’t a pleasant read for him, knowing that at some point, it had probably happened and he just couldn’t remember it because of the damage to Yggdrasil.  The seeming betrayal by Dungeon Master, the argument with Eric, the volcano… although he was just as happy to not remember falling into that abyss, even if he did manage to keep from falling too far.

“Anything important we should keep in mind?” Twilight asked, falling in step beside him.

“Just that I was right about the blob monster eating magic.  I don’t know if it does what Tirek does, but you and Luna should try to keep clear, just to be safe.”

“Think we could overload it?”

“…Maybe.  But make sure you keep plenty in reserves for when Nameless shows up.”

“You’re pretty sure it’s going to happen.”

“Well, I don’t have Terry’s knack for sensing when a Loop’s about to go ass over teakettle, but yeah, I am.  And when he does, keep an eye on Eric; when this happened in baseline, he actually looked at his face.  He didn’t mean to, it was one of those instinctive reactions, but it could have some nasty side effects when Nameless shows up.  I hope I’m just being paranoid, but…”

“Has he said anything about what he saw?”

“He won’t talk about it.  You’ve just spent a few weeks with him, so you have some idea of what a big deal that is.  And did you notice how quiet he was until we got here safe?  I’ve warned him that the tree has a way of forcing people to deal with their hangups, and I’m really hoping this Loop isn’t about to turn into a cosmic therapy session.”

“It does seem like overkill, but I’ve seen how the tree deals with issues and believe it or not, this would be pretty tame.”  Twilight grimaced, clearly remembering something unpleasant.  Hank decided he probably didn’t want to know.

“Sad thing is, I do believe it.  Okay, so we’re probably facing an evil god who travels across the land in a thermonuclear tornado that turns all it touches to molten slag.  Just so you know, there’s a very real chance we won’t be able to beat him.”  Hank met Twilight’s eyes, hoping he could convince her of just how serious their situation could be.  He knew they were taking it seriously; he just wanted to be sure they weren’t being over-confident because of their great power and experience.  Aside from the death and destruction that would ensue, they’d be pretty embarrassed if they screwed up because of that.  But Twilight was nodding agreement.

“Nopony’s unbeatable, and that includes us.  We aren’t gods; we’ve all been careful to avoid that.  Well, except for those Loops where becoming a god is just a thing that happens, but this isn’t one of those.  I’ve been going through some of the plans I’ve had to make in other Loops where we’ve had to fight gods—not counting That Incident, since you said Nameless doesn’t have an army of minions and we don’t have the numbers we did then either.  But we do have two alicorns, two ancient and powerful mages, an even more ancient and powerful dragon, you, your friends, your Elements of Harmony…  I think our odds aren’t too bad for at least fending him off; a defeat would be nice, but I’ll take what we can get.  You’ve been worrying about this, haven’t you?”  Twilight didn’t seem insulted by that; she was even smiling a little.  “I know I would have if our positions were reversed.  Our baselines are so different, after all, and Looping experience doesn’t always account for habits of thought formed by baseline experience.”

“Either you’ve been reading my mind, Tiamat tipped you off, or we’re really thinking on parallel lines.”

“I don’t read minds without permission,” Twilight said.  “Actually, I don’t do telepathy all that much, period.  But Tiamat did say something that got me thinking, and it just made sense that you’d have thought of it already.  You’re in the habit of having to think of the strengths and weaknesses of everypony you’re working with, and while you have gotten better at not assuming you always have to be the responsible one, it’s always going to be part of you, if only because for so long it was true.  You’re right to worry that we might not grasp just how serious this is, because we have dropped the ball more than once.  But you need to start keeping in mind that when you have allies, you can share your burdens.”

Hank didn’t say anything, mainly because she was right.  He knew he couldn’t have been too much of a jerk about it—between Eric, Diana, and Tiamat, he would have had that pointed out very quickly—but he suspected that going so long as the only Looper, and then as the guy who had to keep Tiamat from eating everyone who annoyed her, he had developed some bad habits that were less obvious.  He’d have to do some thinking about that.  Later, though; that blob monster probably wasn’t too far away.




It wasn’t, but knowing it was there meant they could evade it easily.  It followed, of course, but outrunning it was just as easy, and by the time it caught up with them, they would have restored Venger’s missing Horcrux—soul fragment, Hank reminded himself.  Although the mental deterioration that resulted from making a Horcrux could account for some of Venger’s less sensible decisions; he decided not to mention that out loud while Venger was around.

A wise decision, Dragonkin.  That is a task best left to one such as myself.

You just want to steal the credit for the look on his face.

Of course.

Hank snickered, pointing at Tiamat when the others looked at him.  They just nodded and continued running up the stairs until they reached a huge room.  Hank noticed that it did look like a cathedral, just as described, with a sarcophagus in the center, a vault at one side, and opposite that, a huge hole in the wall that showed a gaping abyss with stars far below them.  At least, Hank assumed that last was true; he’d read the script too many times to want to get close enough to that hole to see for himself.

“Before anyone takes too close a look around,” Venger said, “I wish to point out that I had no influence on the appearance of this chamber.”

“Sure you didn’t,” Eric snickered, looking at the ridiculously heroic likeness of Venger—yep, he was a knight, just like in the script—on the sarcophagus.  “Okay, now what?”

“Open the sarcophagus, take the key, and open the vault.  It would be best for one of you to do it, as I am not sure it would be wise for me to do so.”

“I am quite sure that it would not be.  Without that piece of your soul, you are still vulnerable to your former master.”

“Speaking as somepony who has done the split-soul thing and had an outside presence interfering with my decision-making, I’ll second that,” Luna nodded.  “Granted, that was not my baseline, but it has happened, and the side effects can be unfortunate.  Not always, but often enough to be a concern.”

“I will bow to your wisdom, then,” Venger said, doing just that.  “I have no wish to return to the man I was only this morning.”

Eric shoved at the lid of the sarcophagus, and Hank came over to help.  It was heavier than the script had implied, but between the two of them, they got it open enough to reach the key.  Hank, who could reach it more easily, picked it up and handed it to Eric.

“You did it in baseline,” he said, “so you should get to do it when you have a chance to remember doing it.”

“…Thanks.”  Eric had no snarky comment for that.  He looked nervous, a little awestruck even; Hank guessed the magnitude of what they were about to do was hitting hard.  But the Cavalier squared his shoulders, walked up to the ornately carved vault—and hesitated.  “Uh, guys?  Where’s the keyhole?”





198.7 (LadyStina2)

Shining Armor blinked and found that he was a human again and sitting in a classroom. While sending out a Ping and getting only one response, he glanced around and noticed that the kids sitting next to him were staring at the clock. He realized that he started this Loop at the end of the school day.

Before he could check his Loop memories, the teacher stood up and said, “And I just want to remind you all that I will be teaching summer school this year, and it's not too late to sign up!”

Shining silently scoffed. He had apparently Looped in at the end of the last day of school. And when has that line ever worked in the history of school? Except maybe for his sister…

The bell rang, saving the teacher from any potential embarrassment as the class jumped out of their seats and rushed to the door. Shining got swept up in the flow and also headed to the door.

“Benjamin?” The teacher called. Apparently she didn’t get a reply because she called out, “Benjamin Armor!”

Shining stopped and glanced over his shoulder. His Loop memories were just starting to come in and he realized that she was calling on him. The teacher held up a paper airplane and asked, “Could I have a word with you before you go?” Shining gulped as he remembered what he’d done before he Awoke and went to face the music.

He left the school a few minutes later after listening to a lecture about respect and taking learning seriously. Typical chastisement towards a bored kid. Nothing he hadn’t heard and given several times himself. Shining looked around for his grandfather-for-the-Loop. He was supposed to come pick Shining up for them to spend summer vacation together.

“Normally, we'd take your money and beat you up. But since it's the last day of school, we're going to give you a break. Now fork over the cash so we can get out of here,” a voice said threateningly. Shining looked in that direction and saw two bullies picking on another kid. That wasn’t going to stand.

Shining approached and called out, “Leave him alone!” Human form, magic isn’t a thing in this world, so no spells. Two opponents, both taller than his current form. He studied them both looking for potential weaknesses.

Shining’s quick analysis of the situation was interrupted by the shorter bully saying, “Get lost, shrimp.”

His battle-plan firmly in mind Shining commanded, “I said, leave him alone!”

The taller bully replied, “Oh, looks like we got us a hero. Suppose we don't wanna leave him alone?” They both walked away from the kid they were picking on and approached Shining.

“What are ya gonna do about it, Armor?” Short-Stuff leaned towards Shining’s face and asked.

“I’m going to suggest that you go home,” Shining replied, not backing down an inch. “Before a teacher comes outside and forces us to go to summer school!” He only just kept himself from pointing up into the air triumphantly.

The bullies backed up in surprise and looked at each other worriedly.

“They… they can’t do that, can they?” Short-Stuff asked Lanky.

Lanky looked around and answered nervously, “I… I don’t know…”

“Totally happened to some kids a few years ago,” Shining lied with absolute conviction in his voice. He nodded along to give some gravity to the statement.

“Let’s get out of here. Three months off is better than none. We can catch up with these losers later,” Lanky replied as he started to back away.

“Yeah. Alright,” Short-Stuff agreed and followed Lanky.

Shining smugly watched them walk off. The best fights were the ones you could talk your way out of, after all.

“Whoa, Ben. That was pretty cool. Thanks,” the kid Shining just saved said. Shining hadn’t finished sorting his memories so wasn’t sure of his name.

“Heh, no problem. You better get on home before they circle back around for ya,” Shining suggested.

The kid nodded and said, “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t even have any money to give them today. That always ends in wedgies. See ya around, Ben!” He hurried off in the opposite direction the bullies took.

Shining smiled and waved as the boy… Jaime, that was it!...ran off. His Loop Memories were finally getting sorted. He was hoping the other Looper that Pinged earlier would show up soon. Just his luck he would end up in an unfamiliar Loop and nopony was around.

Before he could get bogged down in brooding, a familiar RV pulled up and an over-weight older man, his grandfather, said, “Come on, Ben. Let's go. We're burning daylight. I want to make it to the campsite by nightfall.”

“Coming, sir,” Shining answered and hurried to the door. Once he was inside he said, “I love camping! I’ve been looking forward to this!” He noticed a red-haired girl maybe a year older than him sitting at the table inside the RV and stopped in surprise. As far as he knew, this trip was supposed to just be him and his grandfather. “Hey, Gwen,” he was surprised he remembered his cousin-for-the-Loop’s name that quickly. “What are you doing here?”

Gwen replied, “Take it easy, Dweeb. This wasn't my idea. Somebody convinced my mom that going camping for the summer would be a good experience for me.”

“Really?” Shining asked. His memories said she wasn’t a very outdoorsy person, so he knew it wasn’t her idea. He sat down in the seat opposite of her.

Grandpa started driving again and chimed in, “I thought it would be fun if your cousin came along with us this summer.”

Shining and Gwen shared a look, before Gwen huffed and stared out the window next to them.

Shining, not really liking jumping into things blind, decided to try to get Gwen talking. Maybe he could figure out some things about this Loop. At least he was remembering names and relationships now. “So… Aunt Natalie made you come, huh?” he asked.

Gwen sighed melodramatically and said, “Yeah. At the last minute too. I already had my vacation all planned out.” She pulled a colorful chart out of her bag and said proudly, “Each activity is color-coded so I never did the same thing two days in a row. Now, I'm stuck with my geekazoid cousin going camping for three months.”

Shining blinked and sent out another Ping. Once again he got one response. He leaned in and asked quietly, “Twily?”

Now Gwen leaned back and said, “No. Excel.” She looked at her chart, then back to Shining. “Is ‘Twily’ a new spreadsheet program? I haven’t heard of it.”

“Oh… uh…” Shining stuttered and said, “It’s…uh… still in Beta. Lots of bugs. Really loopy. Probably won’t make it to market. I just thought since you’re usually on the cutting edge of that tech stuff that you might have been using it.”

Gwen rolled her eyes and looked back out the window sulkily. “Dweeb,” she muttered.





They had made it to their campsite for the night. It was still evening and Shining and Gwen were outside the RV stretching their legs. It had been a long drive.

Grandpa came out of the RV holding a bowl and said, “Chow time.” He put a bowl containing... things... that looked to still be moving.

Upon closer inspection, they were still moving. Shining looked up, pointed at the bowl, and said, “Okay, I give up. What is that?”

Grandpa replied, “Marinated meal worms. Hard to find them fresh in the States. You know, they're considered a delicacy in some countries.”

Gwen commented, “And totally gross in others.” A worm then escaped the bowl and started crawling off. This made both Gwen and Shining turn a little green.

Grandpa offered, “If these don't sound good, I've got some smoked sheep's tongue in the fridge.”

Shining averted his eyes from the crawling mass of grossness and asked plaintively, “Didn’t I tell you that I’m a vegetarian now?” He could usually handle some meat while in human form, but not if he thought about it. Much less if it was moving in front of him.

“Me too!” Gwen quickly chimed in.

Grandpa said, “Nonsense. This summer's gonna be an adventure for your taste buds. I'll grab the tongue.” He turned and went back into the RV.

Shining looked over at his cousin and said, “Okay, I have half a bag of corn chips and a candy bar in my backpack. What rations do you have?

Gwen replied, “Some rice cakes and hard candy.”

Shining sighed and said, “That’ll last a day. Maybe two…”

Gwen sighed in agreement and said, “I know…”





An hour or two later, Shining decided to go for a walk. Gwen was sulking over her laptop and Grandpa was attempting to engage her. He looked up at the night sky and starting thinking how strange Newtonian physics were when your home-Loop had Luna to control it instead. Suddenly a meteor crossed above the trees overhead. Pines forbid that Discord ever hear him, but the randomness of Newtonian physics could be quite beautiful.

But maybe not when the meteor makes a ninety degree turn and starts heading right for you! Shining gasped and started running. It would be terrible if he couldn’t even make a whole day in this Loop.

The meteorite crashed right behind him and knocked him off his feet. Well at least he wasn’t crushed.

Shining stood and walked to the edge of the crater, curious about what was there. His lifetimes of experience told him it would probably be something more interesting than just a meteorite. And if not, then Twily or Spike might like it. For research or a snack respectively.

He couldn’t make it out from the edge of the shallow crater, but then the ground beneath him gave out and he slid into the hole. He sighed as he stood up and grumbled, “Figures. I sure hope this isn’t a railroaded plotline.”

He noticed that what crashed was a metallic ball and definitely alien in origin. He reached into his subspace pocket and pulled out a pool cue. When in doubt, poke it with a stick.

Before he could poke it, the metal ball opened revealing a glowing, watch-looking thing. Not wanting to touch something he didn’t know exactly what it was, he poked it with the pool cue.

Nothing happened.

He got a little closer, then the watch thing jumped up and latched onto his wrist. Shining jumped back and definitely didn’t scream like a little filly.

He struggled with it for a few minutes before realizing that the watch, which covered most of his forearm, wasn’t coming off. He sighed and looked around to make sure his grandfather or Gwen wasn’t nearby, then pulled out a magic wand he acquired the last time he visited Hogwarts. He cast a few spells with it to try to get the watch to unlock itself, but it wasn’t working.

Most of the unlocking spells he knew were for doors, so maybe that was why it wasn’t working for him. He put the wand back up and decided to examine the watch. Maybe there was a release he overlooked. As he poked around at it, the center of the watch rose up. The geometric designs in the middle of the raised portion suddenly changed and an alien silhouette appeared. Perhaps that was the race this watch was designed for?

Shining shrugged and pushed the center of the watch back down with the intention of heading back to camp. As soon as the center was depressed, Shining started morphing. He’d had enough experience as a changeling to know what that felt like.

Once the change was complete, Shining looked himself over and was surprised to see that he now had the body of a large, molten lava creature. With fire surrounding his head and hands.

“Huh. This is new,” Shining mused as he flexed his hand looking at the fire surrounding it. He started absentmindedly heading back to camp while checking out his new form. And while he was distracted, he tripped.

He instinctively brought his hands out in front of him to brace for impact. What he wasn’t expecting was for a fireball to shoot from his hands. The fireball blasted a limb off a tree and caught the limb on fire. Shining looked back behind him and saw a line of fire from where he was walking.

“Oh, chlorophyll,” he swore. He tried stomping out some of the flames, but his fiery body wasn’t helping his efforts. His fiery body was also why he didn’t want to reach into his pocket. Not everything in there was fire-proof. He wasn’t nearly as good as Twilight as casting a spell while not in his unicorn form and needed a focus. Which would instantly burn right now.

“Of all the dogwood situations,” he muttered as he attempted to draw the flame back into himself. That didn’t appear to be working. In fact, he shot out another fireball. Which started another fire. This was getting majorly out of hoof. “Aww, geeze…” Shining put his hands on his head and stared at the fire raging all around him.

Suddenly his head was uncomfortably cool. He turned to see his cousin standing there with a fire extinguisher. Gwen stared up at him in shock before screaming.

“Wait, wait!” Shining said desperately. “It’s me! I know I look different, but there's no reason to be scared of-“

Gwen swung at him with the fire extinguisher, but he was able to jump back to avoid it. “Come on, Gwen, stop. I don’t want to hurt you. What would Aunt Natalie say?” He stayed just out of her reach while she was swinging the fire extinguisher.

Gwen stopped and stared. She asked disbelievingly, “Ben? Is that you? What happened?”

Shining said, “Well, the short version is a meteor fell and almost hit me. When I examined it, this watch thing attached to my wrist and when I tried to get it off, I suddenly morphed and then started this forest fire. We need to put it out before it gets worse and I don’t think your fire extinguisher will be enough. I need to figure out how to turn this off…”

Their grandfather ran up from behind Gwen and started to ask, “Gwen, are you alri...” he trailed off as he caught sight of Shining’s current form and muttered to himself, “What in blazes?”

Gwen looked over at him and answered dryly, “Hey, Grandpa. Guess who.”

Shining gave an embarrassed wave and said, “It's me, Grandpa.”

Grandpa blinked and asked, “Ben? What happened to you?”

Shining answered hurriedly while looking around at the fire, “I’ll explain later, Grandpa. We’ve got to do something about this. Any ideas?”

Grandpa suggested, “Backfire. Start a new fire and let it burn into the old fire. They'll snuff each other out. Think you can do it, Ben?”

Shining nodded and answered, “Yeah. Backfire, that’s a good idea. I can do that. You two get somewhere safe. I’ll take care of this.”

He turned and ran through the flames to get ahead of them. Once he got well ahead of the raging fire, he turned to face the trees in front of him. He raised his hand and shot flames out from them again and created another fire front.

“There. That should do it,” Shining muttered to himself. He really should have thought of this himself. He was more of a shielding kind of unicorn though. And also usually Looped in as a guard or a cop or similar. Not much of a call for fire management in those types of jobs.

Speaking of authorities, he decided to head back to their campsite to keep anybody from seeing him as a fire-creature in the middle of a forest fire. No need getting captured and locked up this early in a Loop. He ran back towards the campsite, glancing back occasionally to ensure he wasn’t setting any new fires.





Shining, still on fire, was sitting on a non-flammable rock at a campfire across from his cousin and grandfather. He had just finished telling the story of what happened to him in the woods. And Gwen kept staring at him. He couldn’t blame her. If he wasn’t a Looper and used to strange situations and bodies, he’d be staring at himself too.

His grandfather asked, “And you say that this watch just jumped up and clamped onto your wrist?”

Shining nodded and replied, “Pretty much, yeah. I tried to take it off, but it’s locked or something.”

Gwen, still staring at Shining, thoughtfully asked, “Think he's gonna stay a monster forever?”

Grandpa protested, “He's not a monster, he's an alien!” Both Shining and Gwen turned and stared at him silently. He stuttered and covered for himself by saying, “Uh, I mean look at him, what else could he be?”

Shining sighed and looked down at himself, “I just wish I knew how to turn it off. I can’t be on fire all the time.”

“Don't worry, Ben. We'll figure this thing out,” Grandpa reassured him.

Just then, there was a beeping coming from Shining followed by a bright flash of light. Shining glanced down at himself and saw that he was a human boy once again.

“Huh. I guess it’s on a timer. That’s good to know,” Shining mused as he looked down at the watch. He started trying to pry it off again.

Gwen said teasingly, “Aw, too bad. I liked you better when you were a briquette.”

Shining ignored her and muttered, “It still won’t come off.”

“Better not fool with it anymore until we know exactly what we’re dealing with,” Grandpa suggested. “I’ll go check out that crash site. You guys stay here until I get back.” He turned on a flashlight and started into the woods.

Gwen and Shining watched him walk off until they couldn’t see his flashlight any more. Shining sat back down by the fire and started examining the watch stuck to his wrist.

“Grandpa said not to mess with that thing, Dweeb,” Gwen chided as she sat down opposite of him.

“I’m just trying to figure it out. It could be helpful,” Shining responded while poking at the different buttons.

“Helpful, how?” Gwen asked. “Setting the forest on fire sure didn’t help things.”

“I just need to figure out how to control it,” Shining said. The center of the watch popped up after he pressed one of the buttons. The silhouette that appeared was that of the fire creature he previously turned into. He twisted the watch face and the silhouette changed. “Huh. I think I figured it out,” he noted as he scrolled through different images. He stopped on one that looked suspiciously like him as a unicorn. That would be incredibly useful. He put his hand on top on the popped up part of the watch and looked up at Gwen with a smile. “Think I should try it again?”

She scoffed and said, “I wouldn’t.”

Feeling mischievous, he replied back, “Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got the watch then.” He pushed down on the watch face. There was a moment of morphic uncertainty, then he was his usual unicorn self. He looked himself over and found his normal white coat, blue hair, and cutie mark. He was even wearing his usual armor.

He smirked at Gwen and was surprised to see her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. “What?” he asked in confusion. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and collapsed with laughter.

And that’s when he remembered that most humans in this general time period considered unicorns as something “little girly.” He rolled his eyes in annoyance and levitated his so-called cousin about five feet up in the air.

“Oh, ha. Ha. Ha,” he said drily. “Let’s make fun of the unicorn with all the magic. Oh, and don’t look down.”

“You… you…. Unicorn!” Gwen gasped out before collapsing into more laughter. Shining continued waiting until she noticed that she was floating. She finally caught her breath and noticed that she was no longer on the ground. “What… what’s happening? Ben! Are you doing this?”

“I did mention the magic, didn’t I?” Shining asked insincerely. “I’m pretty sure I mentioned the magic,” he reiterated.

“So… your magic is pink?!” Gwen asked before collapsing into giggles again.

“It’s magenta!” he retorted. These humans and their prejudice against anything in the light-red spectrum. And unicorns. “And I thought girls were supposed to have a better eye for colors,” he teased.

“Ok. Ok. Put me down,” she commanded.

He smirked and started to lower her to the ground when he heard something from the direction their grandfather went. He held his cousin still and cocked an ear in that direction. It didn’t sound like a forest sound. It was more metallic.

“Did you hear that?” he asked tersely. He scanned what he could see of the forest and gently set Gwen down.

“Hear what?” Gwen looked around with him.

“Stay here,” Shining commanded and galloped towards the noise. He had to protect their grandfather from whatever it was.

“Ben? Get back here,” he heard her yell after him. “Ben! I'm gonna tell Grandpa that you turned into a unicorn and went galloping around the forest when he told you not to!” Her voice faded into the distance as he got farther away.

As he was galloping, his finely-tuned instincts commanded him to dodge to the side as he was passing a tree. Knowing they were finely-tuned for a reason, he dodged to the side just as a laser hit the tree causing it to explode. He continued weaving as three more shots narrowly missed him. He instinctively threw up a shield. Some of those shots were pretty close.

He finally caught sight of a strange-looking flying drone that was shooting the lasers at him. So he returned the favor. He shot a blast of magic at it from his horn. The impact caused it to explode. He quickly searched around for another possible drone.

He spotted one heading his direction just as he heard the same beeping from before. His eyes widened as he realized he was about to turn back into a “defenseless” preteen boy. There was a flash of light and he was back into his human form. He reached into his sub-space pocket just as a shovel came down onto the drone, making it crash to the ground.

“Ugh! Back off, sparky. No flying tree-trimmer is going to hurt my cousin.” Gwen was wielding the shovel and proceeded to beat the drone into smaller and smaller electronic parts.

“Nice! Thanks for the save, cuz!” Shining congratulated Gwen as he slipped his hand out of his pocket. He had everything under control, but it was always nice to have back-up.

“I swear, we can’t let you out of our sight for a single minute!” she griped. “Come on. Grandpa is probably back at the RV by now.”





Back inside the RV, and Grandpa was busy giving a lecture. Not a Twilight-style lecture, but a lecture none-the-less. “I was worried that you might get popular with that thing on your wrist. That's why I asked you not to fool around with it until we know what the heck it is.”

Shining apologized and said, “Sorry, Grandpa, but at least I figured out how to make it work. All you do is press this button, then, when the ring pops up, just twist it until you see the guy you wanna be, push it down, and - wham! - you're one of ten alien beings.”

Gwen snarked, “What about STAYING an alien being and not transforming back into plain old pizza face?”

Shining admitted, “I haven't quite figured that part out yet.” With the watch anyway. He knew enough spells where he could at least hold on to his unicorn form. Assuming he had enough time to prepare. And that timer thing didn’t screw up his spells… He’d have to experiment. Too bad Twilight wasn’t here. She always was good at experimenting. Heck if this watch showed the forms of aliens in this particular universe, then that meant Equuis had a space-faring civilization this Loop. And there was a good chance that Ping he kept receiving was Twily as the Anchor. He’d have to ask the next time he saw her.

While Shining was thinking, Grandpa was saying, “With a device as powerful as that watch clamped on you, my guess is we better help you learn... fast.”

“Thanks,” Shining replied. “I bet Gwen would be good at helping document everything. She brought her computer and is good at spreadsheets.” Ben and Gwen obviously didn’t get along great pre-Awakening. Shining didn’t want to spend the entire Loop fighting with what was his family this go-around. So he thought he’d try to get on her good side. With the obligatory teasing. Can’t get away from that.

Gwen opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the CB radio, “Mayday. Mayday! Somebody, help us! We're under attack by some sort of, I know you're not going to believe me but, robot.”

Shining gasped and said, “Sounds just like those drones that attacked me. They must be looking for the watch. Those people are in trouble. I need to help them!”

Gwen stood up and asked, “Uh, you? What are you gonna do about it, Armor?”

Shining gave her a flat look and said, “You do know that’s your last name too right, Armor? That just sounds silly when you call me that.” He then pointed to his wrist and answered her original question, “And, uh, duh.”





Shining, Gwen, and Grandpa ran up to the campsite that issued the distress call. They stopped before they got into view and exchanged looks. His grandfather gave him an approving nod and Shining activated the watch. He scrolled through the silhouettes and tried to decide what to pick. He couldn’t go into a fight without knowing what strengths or weaknesses each form has. So that narrowed it down to two. The fire-guy or his unicorn-self. And there were civilians down there that needed defending.

There really wasn’t any choice then.

He selected his normal form and pushed down the watch.

After the moment of morphic uncertainty, he was standing on four hooves again. Grandpa blinked at his choice. Gwen just groaned and complained, “The unicorn?! Again? I thought you had like ten guys to choose from? Why pick the lame-o unicorn?”

Shining smirked at the both of them and said confidently, “Just a feeling I have. Let’s go!”

They arrived at the campsite and immediately witnessed two RVs exploding after getting hit by lasers. Then they saw a tall robot striding through the debris and causing all the destruction. It was very similar in design to the drones Shining defeated earlier.

“Looks like the Daddy-robot this time. I’ll keep him busy, you two help get the civilians to safety,” Shining commanded. Gwen and their grandfather nodded and hurried off to help.

Shining smiled and cleared the cricks in his neck. This was going to be fun. He used his magic to draw one of his sturdiest swords out of his pocket and charged into the fray.

As he approached, he saw the robot reach its right claw down to grab a park ranger that was helping a civilian. Shining immediately cast a shield over the two of them. The claw impacted the magenta shield and bounced off.

Shining sent his sword flying towards the robot and taunted him by yelling, “Over here, you over-grown bucket of bolts!” The robot turned his attention away from the shielded civilians and towards Shining. The hurtling sword was deflected from the robot’s neck by its left claw. Shining still had control of the sword and sent it back towards the robot’s neck. He dissolved the shield around the ranger to allow them to escape. The robot shot a laser at Shining with its right claw while still sword-fighting with his other one. Shining put up a shield around himself just before the laser hit him.

And the laser was stronger than he expected and it blew him back, shield and all. He saw he was heading for a vehicle and immediately levitated it out of the way of his crash zone. Once he stabilized, he set the vehicle back down and charged the robot again. All this time, his sword was providing a distraction to the robot. Enough where it wouldn’t focus on the civilians anyway.

He sent a magic blast at it, but it dodged by jumping straight up in the air. The robot’s legs suddenly started to spin like a weed-eater before it dropped straight down on top of where Shining was standing. Once Shining was relatively sure the robot lost sight of him, he teleported to right above the its head. He cast a quick floating spell on himself and quickly found a vulnerable-looking wire. He blasted it with magic from his horn as the robot hit the ground. The wire severed and its left arm suddenly went limp.

Not exactly what he was hoping for, but it was progress.

The robot looked up and Shining teleported to the ground behind it. He sent his sword to another vulnerable spot and blasted it elsewhere with another magic beam. The robot sent a reflexive laser blast towards the crowd of onlookers. Shining concentrated and was able to erect a shield around all the watching humans before the laser connected.

The robot was turning to face him again. This time, Shining levitated the entire robot and flung it to the ground on its left side. Without the control of that arm to catch it, the robot crashed to the ground. Shining sent his sword straight into its neck and simultaniously blasted into the joints between its body and legs. He must have found a fuel line, because just then the robot exploded.

Shining quickly threw a shield around the robot to contain the explosion and to damage its systems even further. And to help prevent collateral damage. There were a couple more explosions from the robot before it was reduced to non-moving, smoldering parts. His shields were usually air-permeable, but just to be on the safe side, he opened a vent on the top of the shield containing the robot’s remains. Once he was sure the flames weren’t going to reignite, he dissolved that shield.

He retrieved his sword before galloping away. He made sure he was hidden before he released the shield around the humans. No need for one of them trying to catch the “elusive unicorn.”

He smiled. Let Gwen tease him for being a unicorn now! He chuckled and then teleported himself back to their campsite. His family would catch up soon enough.





The next morning, Shining woke up before either of the other two occupants of the RV. He quietly snuck out and decided to test his watch. He wanted to know what each of these beings could do, and the only way to do that was to test them out. He activated the watch and picked a different silhouette than before.

This time, he was still bipedal, but had a tail. He also looked vaguely reptilian. “Ok, what can you do?” Shining mused. He started to jog into the forest for testing, but got there quicker than expected.

Way quicker.

He wasn’t even sure if he blinked.

“Hmmm… Super speed?” he asked himself before testing it out. “Ok, to the highway and back.”

And he ran.

It seemed like time was standing still as he ran to the highway and back. Once he stopped, he wasn’t breathing hard at all and time seemed to start again. Having a life-saving idea, he ran to fetch some essentials.

Once he came back to the campsite, he found Gwen and their grandfather packing up. “Ben?” Grandpa asked as he skidded to a stop.

“Well, I’m not Rainbow Dash,” Shining joked mostly to himself as he adjusted his backpack. “Although I’d be up for a race. Here, let me do that, Grandpa.” Shining ran and put everything up into the RV nearly instantly.

The watch started beeping and Shining changed back into ‘Ben.’ Shining asked with a grin, “Think that’s fast enough?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty fast there, Ben,” Grandpa agreed.

“This summer is going to be interesting, that’s for sure,” Gwen muttered. “So where did you go anyway?” she asked Shining.

Shining leaned towards her conspiratorially and opened his backpack to show her it was full of packages of dried fruits, jerky, nuts, and candy. “Rations,” he whispered. “Lots and lots of rations…”





198.8 [katfairy]

Twilight would have facehooved, but in accordance with the laws of drama, the blob monster chose that moment to catch up with them.  Because of course it would.  Everybody scattered, and without discussing it, began using whatever magic was at their disposal to keep its focus away from Eric.  She couldn’t blame him; all that carving on the vault made finding a keyhole much harder than it needed to be.  She was glad to see Sheila, whose magic cloak wasn’t useful for this, run over to help search, but turned her attention back to the blob.  Tiamat, true to form, had tried biting it with a few of her heads, and was now spitting the results out into the abyss; all heads were looking a bit green.

“I have not tasted anything so foul since the youngest Tendo and that fool Lister faced each other in Kitchen Stadium!”

Twilight winced; she’d heard about that.  In fact, she’d helped the Chairman get drunk at Mac’s in the subsequent therapy Loop.  The phrase “wanton cruelty to the common curry” had featured heavily in the intoxicated diatribe.

“I keep telling you not every problem can be solved by eating it!” Hank yelled, dodging a pseudopod.  He was getting a bit too close to that hole in the wall, but there wasn’t much she could do about that at the moment.  She fired off a minor stinging spell that drew the blob’s attention to her; to her relief, Hank used the distraction to edge away from the hole.  Luna flared magic from her wings, distracting it even further, but a random flail nearly hit Diana and the necessary use of her magic staff attracted the blob, forcing Hank back.  Hank was being driven toward that hole, and she could see that he knew it too.  She wasn’t as good at reading human lips as she should be, but she suspected his comments were probably somewhere south of polite.  Dungeon Master and Venger fired off shots simultaneously, allowing Hank to move away, but an unlucky ricochet had the opposite effect.

“This Loop got off to a slow start,” Luna said, “but I must admit that once it got going, there hasn’t been a dull moment.  Which I would appreciate much more if I were curled up watching it with a mug of tea and some moon pies.  I was not expecting to need to help fend off an apocalypse this Loop.”

“Me neither.  But that’s the Loops for you.  Whoops, let’s draw Blobby back this way again.  I swear, this thing is determined to knock Hank into the abyss.  Tiamat better be ready to move when it does.”

“Well, it is in the script, and you know how the Loops can get with expansion material.  If this truly is a part of their baseline, then it may be that the tree is determined to have it play out as close to that original event as possible, despite all the other differences.  Or maybe Hank simply is having a colossal run of bad luck.  Ha, thou amorphous pustule, have at thee!”

Twilight snickered as Luna conjured up a shop vac to suck up bits of blob monster; it worked surprisingly well for a few minutes, during which Twilight debated whether or not she should tell the Princess that Blobby probably didn’t comprehend language at all and probably wasn’t distracted by the deliberate use of Ye Olde Butchered Equestrienne.  She decided against it; Luna slipping into it was amusing enough, but when she did it deliberately, it was usually comedy gold.  And it gave Twilight an idea for dealing with Blobby once Hank was inevitably knocked through that hole.

As it happened, she didn’t have long to wait, which she’d more or less expected.  Once they’d entered the cenotaph, events had been predictable, and there was no way Hank should have had so much trouble getting clear of the hole.  She didn’t know why they were suddenly being railroaded, but why didn’t matter.  It was happening and they had to deal with it.  Without using too much magic, just in case.  When Hank finally missed a dodge, getting smacked in the face with a large pseudopod with enough force to knock him into the air and through the hole, she was tempted to haul in some out-of-Loop tech to solve the problem, but instead let Tiamat deal with it by regaining her proper size and forcibly enlarging the hole on her way after her Dragonkin.  With them out of harm’s way—well, sort of—she turned to Luna.

“Luna, use the Royal Canterlot Voice!”

Luna grinned, taking a deep breath.  The kids hit the ground, covering their ears, while Venger and Dungeon Master stared at them.

“OUT OF MY SIGHT, THOU MALEVOLENT BLANCMANGE!!!”

It worked.  Blobby was knocked through the enlarged hole, quickly plummeting out of sight.  Moments later, Tiamat reappeared, the teeth of her white grasping Hank’s collar; she laid him down on the floor more gently than anypony would expect of her.  Twilight headed over to him, readying another healing spell, but not before shooting a look at the two local archmages.

“That wasn’t a load-bearing wall, was it?”

“…No.”  It was probably the only time in his life that Dungeon Master had been monosyllabic; the first exposure to RCV took some that way.  Venger was pounding a fist against one ear, looking dazed, muttering about being deaf; another common reaction.

“Oh, good.”  She trotted over to Hank, who was conscious and annoyed as well as bleeding heavily from a visibly-broken nose.  Once again, it was a simple fix; she hoped that, if the pattern continued, that would stay the same.  “So, Hank, speaking of habits that need breaking…”

“Very funny.”

“I thought so.”

Hank shook his head, looking slightly relieved that he could do so without it falling off now that the spell had taken effect.  Eric and Sheila, who had run over to make sure he was all right, returned to searching the door.

“Well, we’re two out of three so far,” Hank said.  “Think that’ll work on Nameless?”

“One way to find out.  Luna?”  Twilight was relieved to see that Hank was already joking; even an experienced Looper would be nervous about falling into an abyss deep enough to involve looking down at stars, but now that it was done with, it didn’t seem to have caused any lingering trauma.

“If he shows, I’ll try it.  I’ll laugh myself sick if it works, but I’ll try it.”

“If it works, I’ll…” Hank trailed off, thinking.  “Nah, I got nothing.”

“Shouting will not deter my former master,” Venger said grimly, before a faint smile appeared on his face.  “However, I must admit that the idea has some appeal.”

“Hey, there it is!”

All conversations halted at Sheila’s excited yell.  They turned in time to see her step back and let Eric insert the key and turn it.  The door to the vault opened, blinding yet not painful light streaming from it.  Venger stepped forward to meet it, bracing himself.  Everyone else stood and watched; this was his moment now.  The light engulfed him, blotting him from view, rapidly intensifying until no shadows at all were left in the room.  Twilight could sense powerful magic, as pure and as strong as the Elements, at work.  The light flowed through all of them, which wasn’t in the script, but since Twilight had already detected the purity of it, she wasn’t concerned.  Yet.  It didn’t feel like it was changing her in any way, at least.  But when it finally burst in a soundless, shockless explosion, she could see that it hadn’t been the same for all of them.

She’d expected Venger’s completed transformation; after all, the image of the magic knight on the sarcophagus had to come from somewhere.  Sure enough, the few remaining marks of the evil mage were gone.  He was now wearing a set of armor so beautifully made that the Elven and Dwarven smiths of Arda would be jealous, his wings were gone, and he seemed at peace with himself.  Good; one less worry.  Dungeon Master was also different: slightly taller, although still shorter than human, his robes more tailored for adventure, and younger, although still on the far side of middle-aged.  Out of the corner of one eye, she saw Hank grab his script, check the last few pages, then shrug and toss it back in his Pocket.  But there was one more change, and that had her scratching her head.

“Well,” Tiamat said, examining her new diamond talons set into claws covered with deep, jewel-like scales, “that was unexpected.  But palatable; I would have been most displeased had I become one of those insipid metallic dragons.”





198.9 (fractalman)

"Kites?" Maud asked.

"Mmhmm." said Starlight. "Oooh, I feel a song coming on...you don't mind if I sing, do you?"

"Go ahead."

Starlight cleared her throat and began.

With two bits for paper and string.

You can have your own set of wings

With your hooves on the ground

You're a bird in flight

With your grip holding tight

To the string of your kite

the rest of Ponyville joined in, kites of all sorts from all over town streaking into the air to join Starlight's box kite.

Oh, oh, oh!

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the highest height!

Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring

Up through the atmosphere

Up where the air is clear

Oh, let's go fly a kite!

Starlight blushed a bit.   "So, yeah. Kites."

Maud raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I could try."

Not too far away, Vinyl grinned; she was glad she'd decided to practice with some of the subtler music magic.





198.10 (Vinylshadow)

Derpy stood behind her muffin stall in Ponyville's market, enjoying the pleasant spring weather.

She perked up as Rainbow Dash trotted up, saddlebags on her back.

"Heya, Ditzy "Derpy" Muffin Bright Eyes...uhm...was it III or IV?"

"Depends on the Loop. I'm IV today. What's up?"

Rainbow Dash took an album out of her bag and Derpy cleared out a batch of vegetable-flavored muffins (weren't selling very well, but she knew Fluttershy and Angel liked them) to make room for it.

Rainbow opened it to show a series of photographs of several young pegasi posing on the victors podium at the Flight Academy.

"Here, you're top of the class," Dash said, before pointing to another picture several down from the first. "And here, you're at the bottom. What happened?"

Derpy stared at the pictures carefully, stoking her chin. "Hm...my guess is that in Baseline, my eyesight started deteriorating, which hampered my ability to fly, which caused poor performance. Or maybe I'm not as good a flier as the likes of Spitfire, Soarin', Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash," she added dryly.

"Yeah," Dash murmured. "Have you ever had...well...Loops where you got pregnant and were forced to drop out of the Academy?"

"Yup," Derpy said. "And they often include battles for custody of Dinky and Amethyst. If I Wake up early enough, I can easily prove I'm more than capable of raising a family, but..."

She sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. Dash leaned over the counter to hug her gently.

"I've had some similar ones with Scootaloo. Heck, I'm pretty sure everyone who's Looping has been through them," the polychromatic mare said. "If you ever need someone to talk to after such a Loop, don't hesitate to do so, alright?"

"Only if you make the same promise," Derpy replied with a smile.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a muffin in my eye," Rainbow said.

"That's not how it goes, but I'm still counting that," Pinkie Pie said as she rose out of a bushel of muffins.

Rainbow pushed her back down into the basket with a scowl as Derpy giggled.





198.11 (Awesomedude17) (Winx Club x My Little Pony)

"-And so, you're now one of us, sister. How does that feel?" Icy explained.

"...Trixie is going to enjoy being so bad." Trixie grinned.





Many Loops later

Flora and Twilight downed another two vials of whatever indeterminate drink they needed to get drunk.

"Hey, Mac! Remember when we all made that list of things Loopers shouldn't do?" Twilight asked.

"Eeyup. Added it myself."

378) Trixie and the Trix should never do a sisterly outing.

"Thank you... you big red *hic*!" Flora passed out.

"Pff, lightweight." Twilight passed out too.





198.12 (Vinylshadow)

Big Mac placed a barrel of apples on his cart and put the back gate up.

"Heya Big Mac," Apple Bloom said. "You heading out?"

"Eeyup," the stallion replied, hooking himself up.

"Where to?" Apple Bloom asked, keeping up with him as he started moving.

"Starlight Glimmer's village," he said.

"Hold up, she's not been dealt with. You go there now and you risk getting your Cutie Mark removed," Apple Bloom said.

Big Mac turned his head to look at his sister with a simple smile. "I'd love to see her try," he said darkly.

"Ah. So you're taking care of it before it becomes a problem?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Correct," Big Mac said.

"Want me to go tell Twilight?"

"I already informed her."

"Does she want you to bring Starlight back to her or...?"

Big Mac was silent for a moment as the cart rumbled along.

"She didn't give me any instructions, so...whatever happens, happens."

Apple Bloom watched him for a moment, stroking her chin. "You do have a plan, right?"

Big Mac snorted. "Of course I do. What kind of idiot would I be if I didn't?"

"Someone who follows the ideas of ponies fifteen years or more your junior when it comes to matters of the heart," Apple Bloom said dryly.

"Touché," Big Mac said with a smirk.