//------------------------------// // Loop 43 // Story: The Time Thief // by Reading4HalfMyLife //------------------------------// Astral allowed herself a smile of satisfaction as she examined her base. She was deep in the Everfree, having set off right after midnight so as to get a head start. Once deep enough, she had set up camp near a river. It was a simple tent with a campfire, surrounded by cans on wires so she could be warned if predators were coming her way. She had been reading up on Survival Training, and so was keeping all her food in a seperate part of the tent. All in all, it was a very homely campsite. And, as an added bonus, there was a small patch of flat crystals in the corner. When Pinkie Pie told her that crystals could be used as a sort of scrying stone, she hadn't believed her. But, after raiding enthusiastically searching her mothers library, she had found a book that confirmed just that. It was clearer and easier to use if you had Earth Pony Magic, but there was a Unicorn spell you could use as well to the same affect. Thankfully she had managed to grasp that spell quickly enough. The clear stones began to shimmer slightly, before a wavy, slightly blurry picture came into focus. It showed Starlight frantically writing a scroll to Twilight explaining that their daughter was missing, and in seconds Twilight teleported in. Panic was clear even through the fuzzy stones, and Twilight quickly wrote a note to Celestia and Luna before rounding up her friends for a search party. They wouldn't find her though. It took several hours of solid running to get this far, and the entire camp was covered in an illusion spell. Eventually Princess Luna and Celestia called them back in, and a small tremor ran down her spine when she realised that their thrones were made out of crystals. Horn glowing stronger now, she poured all of her magic into blocking any transmissions. It was a bit like trying to top a river with a bucket. Alicorns were taller than other ponies and had large wings and horns so they could handle the amount of raw magic in their system. Try as she might, they easily cut through her defenses. So, Astral pulled up a hastily made illusion of a dirty dungeon somewhere and noticed the concern on everypony present in the room. Okay, this is going to be a bit harder than I thought. The next day, after eating some blueberries, Astral packed up her camp and headed deeper into the forest. They probably didn't think she was in there anymore, but better safe than sorry. All of her combat training and parkour kept her in great health, and she was able to keep up a lively trot for a good two hours before she had to properly slow down and take stock. She wasn't really sure how long she had until she would be found out. She was sure at some point Celestia or Luna would try scrying again, this time when she was unprepared and wasn't aware, and then they would find out she was in the forest. Just this loop, she reminded herself. Just this loop. They came for her on the last day of the loop. An owl, which had been resting on a branch overhead, heard them before she did and had taken off, tipping her off that someone was coming. She had bolted in the same direction of the owl, trusting it's judgement, even as two large imposing shadows appeared on the ground from above. "Astral Plane!" Celestia's voice echoed ominously. "Stop right there!" Astral had been one of the few ponies lucky enough to see the Princesses fly, and knew that there was no way in hell she could outrun or indeed outmagic them. It was just dumb luck that the owl led her to a ravine. Shoving off her hind legs, she jumped the gap, getting almost a quarter of the way there before starting to fall. Hearing Luna's "no!" faintly, she twisted herself around into the proper flying pose. Usually this is when the main character suddenly learns how to do that one trick they have never been able to do up till then. But this is reality so that's not what happened. What actually happened was Astral attempted to transform into a Pegasus, a Pegacorn, an Alicorn, anything with wings really, only for nothing to happen. Well, that's not quite true. For a brief, flicker of a moment, she thought she had something, when she looked up and imagined how that owl must feel, flying free. But that moment was gone, and so was she, vanishing with a flash of light and a pop. Though no longer falling, her velocity was still the same, so midteleport she cast no less than ten healing spells in a milisecond, rolling the second she came out to spread out some of the pressure. Her bones jolted slightly, but she was already up and moving, teleporting again midstride. She was aware of Luna and Celestia following her teleports closely, catching up very easily, and when Celestia teleported in front of her, she cast her Phase spell, sprinting through her without difficulty before teleporting again. This time however, she cast Invisibility, keeping it up while she teleported. It would not make it harder for them to teleport-chase her, but it would be harder to spot her. She chose her location well, teleporting just below a tree and levitating herself up onto one of it's higher branches in time. The owl from before hooted at her as she looked down and watched as the Alicorn sisters both come out of the teleport together, and look around for her. For a brief moment, Luna looked up, and she thought she had spotted her, but, after squinting suspiciously, the dark mare took after her sister into the undergrowth. It was weird, watching the moon rise just as a loop ended. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were going to be rainy to make up for the sunny four days they'd had, so clouds were already starting to roll in. Then, you would blink, and they would be gone. It was weird to watch. Astral smiled up at the cloudless sky. Maybe I'm not being watched anymore.