202.1: (Scorntex)
Rainbow Dash had been calmly and quietly minding her own business, snoozing away on a cloud, enjoying a late afternoon nap, when she heard someone coughing.
Specifically, someone coughing at her.
Lazily, Rainbow Dash opened an eye, and saw Raindrops and Cloud Kicker smiling the awkward, forced smiles of ponies who had jobs they didn't really want to be doing.
"Hey, Dash..." Kicker said, "this is... kinda awkward, but..."
"We're here to repossess your cloud."
Rainbow Dash stared at them, waiting to see if one of them (possibly Cloud) declared it was a joke. Once it was clear they weren't joking, she stared a cool, hard stare at them.
"You're what?"
"My apologies, ma'am." Said the pony at the desk of Ponyville's newly established - you could still see the paint drying - Department of Circumlocution, "but while I'm sure you were using the cloud, without proper receipt of purchase, I cannot release it back to you."
Rainbow Dash began to say she didn't give a dire-rat's behind about the cloud, she cared more about the fee she was being paid, when the clerk cut in. "And without a receipt, I can do nothing about the service charge for public utilities. NEXT!"
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," Mayor Mare said, "but as ludicrous as this law is, it is still the law, and I cannot make an exception for you."
Rainbow Dash scowled furiously. "Well, what idiot made this stupid law a law in the first place? For that matter, what idiot would make this a law?"
"Yup, here it is." Twilight said, after several long, long minutes of going through every source they could find. "Just a few days after we woke up. And it's credited to..."
Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight, who had that particular look she got when she saw something she didn't like.
"Rainbow?" Twilight smiled sweetly, "in any of your recent Loops, did you happen to annoy or antagonise anyone particularly malicious?"
Rainbow Dash sat and gave this some serious thought. "Gee..." she murmured, "I don't think so... why?"
"You don't recall, at any point, antagonising anyone who's name is practically synonymous with petty revenge in some universes?"
Rainbow Dash could only stare blankly. "No?"
Twilight hummed. "Not even remotely?"
Rainbow Dash thought, and she thought, and then she send another thought on to check on the other two, ask them what the spruce was going on and whether they were going to get it together.
Then slow recognition came to her.
"Ah." Rainbow Dash declared.
"Ah?" Twilight repeated.
"I... may have, a while back... kind of tried starting some stuff with..." Rainbow Dash trailed off into muttering. Twilight's disapproving stare did not improve.
"Yes?"
Rainbow Dash repeated her muttering. Unfortunately for her, Twilight recognised some of the syllables.
"You... oh, Rainbow Dash!"
"I was bored!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "And I thought it'd be funny!"
"But why him? Of all beings to annoy, why did you go for him?"
"I didn't think he'd..." Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. "Well, that's okay. I can just... wait out the Loop. I won't rise to his bait. He wants to play petty bureaucrat, Starscream can play petty."
Rainbow Dash's determined expression faded when she saw the incredulous look Twilight was giving her.
"Alright," she admitted, "if I get half the chance I'm gonna try and beat him up. Y'happy?"
***
202.2: (Awesomedude17) (RWBY x My Little Pony)
“I’m going to get over my fear of rabbits.” Ruby said.
“Wait, really?” Yang reacted with shock. “Good for you. How’re you gonna do it?”
“By confronting the worst one in existence.”
“The one from Monty Python?”
“No. The Looper.”
“WHAT! Ruby, you’re insane.”
“We’re all insane, Yang, but this must be done.”
“Ruby... don’t.”
Ruby trotted over to Fluttershy’s pet rabbit, and fellow Looper, Angel. Angel looked at Ruby with confusion.
“Are you Awake?”
Angel nodded.
“Good. YOU ARE A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE RABBIT THAT EVEN RABBIDS WOULD THINK OF AS VILE SCUM!!! YOU ARE AN EVIL JERKFACE WHOSE NAME IS IRONIC AND OUTRIGHT WRONG AS IS YOUR EXISTENCE!!! YOU MAKE GODS, ANGELS AND DEMONS SHUDDER IN HATRED AND DISGUST, AND YOU HAVE BROUGHT UPON MY RAGE BY EATING! MY! CARROT CAKE! COOKIE! SANDWICHES!!!”
Angel blinked for a few seconds, right before clapping in genuine appreciation for her over the top insult.
“Oh... uh... thanks?”
Angel wandered off.
“So, feeling better about your fears?”
“........No.” Ruby replied with worry.
Yang sighed. “Sorry to hear, but at least that insult was epic.”
“Totally!” Rainbow Dash said, flying down. “Recorded the whole thing.”
“You better have copies for us before we leave.”
“What loyal friend wouldn’t?”
Ruby knew that this would take a while, but that recording would help matters.
***
202.3 (Vinylshadow)
Celestia and Luna stood together on the balcony outside Celestia's room as they lowered the sun and raised the moon. Once done, they went back inside.
"Something is troubling you," Celestia noted, gently stopping Luna with a hoof before she could leave. "What is it?"
The younger sister glanced at the elder and frowned briefly before her expression melted into a sour one.
"I'm just...not a fan of some recent expansions, that's all," Luna muttered.
"And not talking about them is what leads to things like getting our Cutie Marks switched," Celestia pointed out. Luna chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"It's amusing to think most of the later expansions are rendered moot by Twilight doing something as simple as going to a party and getting into exceptionally long and complex talks with her friends about their futures. What normally takes years instead takes months or even weeks," Celestia said. "It's quite refreshing and I haven't seen Equestria this lively since the reign of Discord."
"I'm sensing a 'but'," Luna noted.
"Everywhere else seems to be on the edge of collapse," Celestia sighed. "Nor are they too fond of Equestria."
"We don't know how some of the regions feel about us," Luna pointed out. "What Twilight and her friends went through south of the border was...frankly quite astounding and I'm glad we now know more about it."
Celestia flicked her wings and sighed. "If only I'd known what had happened to the hippogriffs, I could've saved Twilight and her friends some time."
"Or at least been quicker in telling me what to do, Miss Queen of the Hippos," Luna teased. "Or at the very least, not bellowed it in front of our enemies."
"Meanwhile, instead of teleporting to safety, you tried to fly," Celestia shot back.
"There are pillows here and I am not afraid to use them," Luna growled.
"Use my pillows and you'll be spending the rest of this Loop on the moon," Celestia hissed, spreading her wings and puffing out her chest, only to be smacked by one. "You DARE?!"
"I dare," Luna smirked, before dodging under Celestia's retaliatory bombardment.
***
202.4 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"Hey, squirt!" Rainbow Dash poked her head out of her Cloudiminium's front door. "Good to see you up here again! Been a while, hasn't it?"
Scootaloo blushed. "Yeah, it has."
"So come on in! Tell me how the Loops are treating you." Rainbow Dash guided her into the living room. "Anything fun going on?"
"Well, I don't know if you'd call it fun or not, but..." Scootaloo took a deep breath. "I think my past might be firming up."
Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment. "Your... past?"
"Yeah." Scootaloo looked up at her. "You know how my parents always vary from Loop to Loop, never quite the same twice. Like Diamond's mom was, before we got our Cutie Marks for real in that one expansion."
"Of course, squirt."
"Well, a while back, this... variant, I guess, happened. And then it happened again. And again. Two or three Loops in a row, skip one or two, then happens again. It's happening more often than not, and I think it's a sign of my past firming up."
Rainbow Dash sat back. "What's happening, Scoots?" she asked quietly. "It's not... they're not violent, are they?"
"No, just..." Scootaloo sighed. "Remember when you finally got your parents back?"
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash smiled fondly. "Sure, they're embarrassing, but they're still great... although I do have to wonder where Rainbow Blaze comes into it, since he's obviously not my dad. A lot of times, he's either my uncle or cousin nowadays, but I'm still not positive."
Scootaloo smiled back at her. "Well, you know I don't have supportive parents - like I told you the first time that expansion happened, when I was growing up, I never thought I'd be the best at anything, because nopony ever told me. That hasn't changed. But in these variants, they aren't abusive or anything - they're just away all the time and aren't interested in what's happening with me. And recently, these two other ponies are staying with me when my parents are gone: my dad's older sister, my aunt Holiday, and... Aunt Lofty." Scootaloo took a deep breath. "Her marefriend."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "Really?"
Scootaloo nodded. "And they're always interested in what's going on in my life. It's so... different."
Rainbow Dash leaned over and swept her up into a hug. "I'm still your big sister though, aren't I?" she asked worriedly.
"Always." Scootaloo hugged her back. "You'll never stop being my family."
"Thanks, Scoots." Rainbow Dash smiled down at her. "Still, it's great to see you've got some decent other family now."
Scootaloo nuzzled her. "It's good for me too... kind of weird, because I'm so used to not having any biological relatives who care, but still good."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled back. "I'm glad you have biological family who care," she said. "It means all those ones where they were abusive, racist jerks were aberrations and not the real thing."
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you use words like aberrations?"
Rainbow Dash looked somewhat embarrassed. "Twilight got me a word-a-day calendar as a gift this Loop for some reason. I have to admit, some of them are really catchy."
"Sounds like Twilight, all right."
***
202.5 (Vinylshadow)
Twilight jumped in surprise as she Woke up just as her journal that let her communicate with Sunset vibrated.
Opening it, she did a quick check of her Loop memories, pleased that they'd helped Stygian reunite with his friends and she checked the journal.
Twilight, there's a massive pony of shadows terrorizing the city over here. What the heck did you do?
"...Oh, right," Twilight muttered. "There's that to consider..."
Lighting up her horn, she responded.
Hey, Sunset. I just kinda-maybe-sorta accidentally released yet another ancient evil from a thousand years ago because I let my hero worship of Starswirl cloud my judgement.
Twilight winced as she read her words. Seeing them made it that much worse in hindsight and she rolled her eyes. She'd met Starswirl in Variants before and there were times she wished Baseline used Variants more often, like the newer expansions had been doing...
The book vibrated and she opened it up to see a massive wall of text made up of...
"Seriously, Sunset?" Twilight said as she face-hoofed. "There's no need to laugh at me like that, I know it was stupid."
Relax, Twilight. We've vanquished the pony of shadows over here. Pinkie was involved and...it got weird. I have a feeling your Pinkie swapped places again. I had no idea low-fat, soy-based cupcakes were that deadly.
"Pinkie still manages to find ways to surprise me," Twilight muttered as she wrote back. "I think we should meet here and swap notes. It's been far too long-"
Sunset popped out an inter-dimensional wormhole in a heap, flailing her pony limbs as she got used to them again. Getting to her hooves, Sunset shook herself.
"Heya, Twilight, let's go."
Twilight snorted and trotted after her friend.
***
202.6 (Vinylshadow)
Rainbow Dash Woke up beside a kitchen sink and groaned loudly.
"Haha, I get it," she said flatly. "Hilarious."
"Believe me," Luna said as she materialized out of the ether, "I know that feeling all too well."
"Don't you dare," Dash said, pointing a hoof at her. "I've seen you with that abacus far more times than I've seen Harold."
Luna's eyebrow arched dramatically and Dash facehoofed. "Pretend you didn't hear that."
"Dash and Harold, sitting in a tree! B-U-C-K-I-N-G!" Cadence sang as she hopped around Rainbow's bed.
"You wanna wake me up any time soon?" Dash asked.
"Heck no," Luna said with a smirk. "This is the most fun dream I've seen in a while."
"I'm going to make your dreams miserable once I get a Loop where I'm in charge of the dreamscape, mark my words," Dash growled.
"Rainbow," Luna said with a smirk, "I've seen all manner of dreams from literally trillions of ponies, Loopers and Pinkie Pie, so you finding something to make me miserable will be...amusing to watch, actually, so I'll eagerly be looking forward to your attempts."
"You're on, Princess," Dash said as the two shook hooves.
***
(DrTempo)
From The Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
My next stop was the home Loop of Sonic the Hedgehog. Unlike what most new Loopers would expect, the baseline here isn't based on the games, but on the world where Sonic is part of a group of Freedom Fighters battling a version of Eggman who turns poor souls into robot slaves.
This Loop does have a lot of events that happen, and it's enough to confuse even me. And that's before Eggman uses a device that basically causes a retcon. And this is baseline!
Of course, Eggman was stopped way before that happened by Sonic, so I spent this Loop helping him and his friends out. Sally Acorn, Sonic's love inerest, and I soon became good friends. I also learned a lot about technology from Tails, and had a few sparring matches with Knuckles. Apparently, he recently had a Death Battle Loop against Donkey Kong and lost. He was pretty angry. Luckily, he at least got to let his anger out in those sparring matches.
Most of the villains in this Loop were easily defeated by Sonic, and although I personally wanted to fight a few of them myself, I did need a vacation Loop or two. And once you remember that it was a Fused Loop with this very Loop that saved the Mega Man universe from being destroyed after The Crash, it makes sense that Sonic would want to stop any threats as soon as possible.
And no matter how many times I tried to beat Sonic in a race, I lost every time. I didn't care, though. At least this Loop was peaceful. I still learned some new abilities, but I can appreciate taking a break from fighting. After all Sonic and his friends have gone through in baseline, they deserve a chance for a peaceful Loop. A hero's work is never done, though.
That is something both me and Sonic agree on.
***
202.7 (Vinylshadow)
Celestia poked through her mail, sorting it into bills, census tallies, death threats, assassination attempts, bills, magazine subscriptions - she idly made a mental note to renew Luna's Rustler subscription - and...
She blinked in surprise before taking a peculiarly-wrapped bundle from the pile that smelled like pine.
Carefully opening it, she was rewarded with a letter and she unrolled it with her magic.
She took note as the side door opened and Luna wandered in, half a waffle hanging from her mouth and a stack of donuts on her horn, coffee mug dangling off the tip. Tiberius was curled around her neck, snoozing quietly.
"Mornin', thister," she mumbled.
"Chew your food before speaking," Celestia said absently, turning the letter over as she kept reading. Luna rolled her eyes and sat down beside her before tackling her own mail pile.
"Luna, do you remember King Aspen?" Celestia asked, finishing the letter.
"The Heart of the Forest of Everfree, King of Thicket?" Luna rolled off. "Yes. Why?"
"We've been invited to lunch with them," Celestia said, passing the letter over. Luna read it and raised her eyebrows.
"Been a long time since we've heard from them," she remarked.
"Usually because they don't exist in Baseline and comic Variants are rare," Celestia said sadly.
Luna winced and patted her sister's withers gently before glancing at the letter. "So? Shall we go?"
Celestia shrugged and got to her hooves. "It'd certainly beat sitting around on our flanks listening to the same dreary nonsense from the nobles."
"Savage," Luna said dryly as she gently placed her opossum on the table. "That's usually my gig."
"I promise you can terrorize them when we get back," Celestia said soothingly before flicking her wings out, stretching them.
"Kibitz!" she called, causing the adviser to materialize from the shadows, as he was wont to do. "Hold down the castle while we're away, would you?"
"Of course, my dears," Kibitz said. "Give Blackthorn my regards. And to Bramble as well."
"Certainly," Celestia said. "Shall we fly or teleport to Everfree?" she asked, turning to Luna.
"Fly," Luna said, perking up happily. "It's been a while since we've flown together."
Celestia smiled warmly, wrapping her sister in a hug before the two departed Canterlot.
***
202.8 (Vinylshadow)
Luna paced through the dreamscape, letting its soothing presence wash over her.
However, she did notice a mild strain of misery that permeated the realm and she was mildly taken aback by its intensity. Few ponies could generate such a feeling and she had a nagging sense of familiarity with the sensation. Following it back to its source led her to a familiar dark sphere.
Knocking on it politely, she was surprised when it almost instantly opened at her touch. Usually it took a few minutes - usually from its occupant making the dream more appropriate or something, but stepping inside, she was greeted by a choking field of flame.
Of course, being a dream, it wasn't toxic, but she still reflexively held a wing in front of her face, peering through the feathers as she scanned for the owner of the dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare, she mused.
"Hello, Luna," came a voice from behind her and she turned to see the familiar red-and-black chitin of Changeling Drone 1118.
"Alex Mercer," Luna said with a dip of her head. "Welcome to Equestria." Her eyes swept over the landscape and she frowned. "That explains a great many things, knowing it's you."
Alex shrugged dejectedly, wings limp. "I Woke up far too late to stop it-"
"We all did," Luna said with a dismissive flick of a wing. "The actions of an UnAwake Looper are usually not to be held against them."
"It's exceptionally prevalent amongst the ponies, I've noticed," Alex said, a hint of dryness leaking into his voice.
Luna accepted the criticism without comment, merely nodding before she glanced at the blasted badlands. "I never imagined that a Changeling Civil War would be so...cataclysmic."
"Chrysalis is ruthless when she's got her eye set on something," Alex said.
"Which side were you on?" Luna asked.
Alex merely spread his thin red wings and Luna grimaced. "Right, stupid question. Did you at least make it painless?"
"They never saw me coming," Alex said quietly. "It was a quick victory, but Chrysalis wanted to make a show of it, hence..." He gestured to the smoke and Luna sighed, tucking her wings snugly against her barrel. She noticed them trembling and frowned before dismissing it.
"Where are you now?" Luna asked.
"That secret stays with me," Alex said. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Derpy about this. I'll do it myself...at a later point. Once I've sorted this all out."
"And Chrysalis?"
"..."
"I see."
Luna gently hugged the changeling before stepping back to look at him. "You have friends here. You have sanctuary here. Always remember that."
"Thank you, Luna. That means a lot. Really."
Luna couldn't think of anything else to say and left him to his devices.
***
202.9 (Evilhumour)
"You need to go to sleep," Luna said to the mare.
"No, I am almost done!" Vinyl shouted, waving the alicorn away.
"Vinyl, you are about to create a song that creates chaos magic for Discord's birthday and he is unAwake!" Luna shouted. "Does that sound smart to you?"
"No smarter then creating a song that destroys every cake in existence," she muttered under her breath.
"WHATWASTHAT!?" a voice boomed out from the sky.
"Oh great, now Tia is coming after-oh now you fall asleep!"
***
202.10: (DrTempo)
Shining Armor was in a good mood, and Gilda, who had been planning to visit Rainbow Dash this Loop to plan a few pranks, flew down, and landed beside Shining Armor.
Gilda, blunt as always, asked, "So what's got you in a good mood lately?"
Shining Armor chuckled. "The most recent baseline expansion."
Gilda chuckled. "The one where Iron Will did that cruise where everyone there was wanting to meet Twilight?"
Shining Armor nodded. "That's the one."
Gilda then realized why Shining Armor was happy, and said, "Due to your parents having been with you and Twilight on that trip, right? So, what are try like?"
"Turns out my dad, Night Light, is just as much a fan of organizing things as Twilight."
Gilda chuckled at this; that she was not expecting. "And Twilight Velvet?"
Shining Armor laughed. "Turns out she's a thrill seeker. I never expected that."
"Maybe that's where you and Twilight get your sense of adventure from. So, what happened to Iron Will after he ran for it?"
Shining Armor replied, "Fluttershy was Awake that Loop, and she complained to Iron Will about his no refunds policy. Iron Will eventually gave everyone refunds."
Gilda laughed manically. "Now that is funny!"
***
202.11 (Evilhumour)
"Oh yeah!" Dash shouted as she flew through Twilight's window, causing the mare to sigh as the books in the library were now all over the place. "I did it!"
"Did what Dash?" Twilight asked as she began to put all her books back in order.
"I've been shipped with everyone and everything on this planet at least once!" Dash preened, holding out a list and a rather large amount of stored memory.
"I'd rather not-" Twilight began to say when the pegasus tossed her both items, causing the unicorn to catch by instinct which activated the memories to play through her head. After some considerable amount of time had passed, Twilight was able to pull herself out of Dash's memories of past loves and direct a very powerful glare at her grinning friend. "Okay, first off, that was disgusting and it never happened, okay?" Dash gave her a nod and an embarrassed apology. "Second off, what was with you being paired off with Barbun's bathroom sink?"
"I've got no idea Twi," the mare shrugged her shoulders.
"Thirdly, Cadance already beat you to this about a trillion loops ago."
"Aw man!"
***
202.12 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"Applejack?"
Applejack looked back from the hay bales she was tossing up into the upper level of the barn to see a familiar pink filly at the doorway, looking nervously at her. "Howdy there, Diamond. What brings you to the Acres today? And shouldn't you be in school now?"
"It's complicated." Diamond Tiara walked up to her, and began rummaging around in her saddlebags. "Dad called the school and got me out of class so he could talk to me before he had to go into the hospital for a while... that's when I Woke Up, right as he was giving me something important. He told me that I should read it and then go talk to you about it, and... well, he wanted to make sure I'd be taken care of while he was recovering."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Well, sure, you're more than welcome to stay here while your dad's healin' up. We are friends, even if you an' I don't spend as much time together as you an' Apple Bloom."
"Yeah... the thing is? This loop, you and I are more than friends." Diamond held out the paper from her saddlebags.
Raising an eyebrow, Applejack accepted it and began reading it. "Sugarcube, this is your... birth certificate..." Her voice trailed off as she reached one line.
Diamond quirked her head. "You see what I mean, Mom?"
"Oh dear spruce and pine," Applejack looked down. "Ah am so, so sorry Ah didn't talk to you about this before Ah Woke Up this Loop."
Moving closer, Diamond nuzzled her. "What I want to know is, how and why?"
"It's a... long story." Applejack sat down. "Accordin' to mah Loop Memories, back around the time your pa and Spoiled were first engaged, he was... not happy with the whole thing. It was an arranged marriage, somethin' his folks and hers set up as part of a business merger of some kind. He didn't want anythin' to do with her, but he couldn't disappoint his parents by sayin' no. He came to me, we talked an'... an' he admitted Ah was the one he'd always wanted to marry."
Diamond looked at her. "I wish he had," she said in a small voice.
Applejack smiled. "Ah don't blame you, sugarcube. But anyway, one thing lead to another that night, and... well. You've had biology classes, you can probably guess."
Diamond nodded. "Yeah, I know... and on that subject, I can understand why Artemis took her oath of chastity, after what her Mom had to deal with because of that kind of stuff, with or without the giant snake chasing her around during the whole thing."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "You been studying Greek myths or somethin' recently?"
"I Woke Up as one of her Hunters in a Percy Jackson Loop a while back - I was a gifted mortal, not a demigod or anything like that, before you ask. And since the gods there are all Loop-Aware, she knew I was a Looper and released me from my vows a few minutes before the Loop ended."
"Huh." Applejack shrugged. “Can’t say as Ah’ve ever been one of hers, but Ah have visited that Loop at least once.”
Diamond nodded. “It was an interesting experience, that’s for sure.”
Applejack nodded. "We’ll have to talk about it more at some point. But goin’ back to me and your dad… Ah started gettin' sick in the mornings a while after that night, an' when the doctor told me what was causin' it, Ah went to Filthy and talked to him. We agreed to keep it secret from everypony - he an' Spoiled would speed up their engagement, go off on a long honeymoon together, and Ah'd keep mah pregnancy hidden until it was time, then... then Ah'd let them take you an’ pretend you were Spoiled's foal. We also agreed that if somethin' ever happened to Filthy an' he couldn't be there for you for a while, he'd send you to me. An' Spoiled promised that if you ever found out about me bein' your ma on your own and you decided you wanted it, Ah could claim you and she wouldn't make a fuss or nothin' about it."
Diamond nodded. "I see... I just wish I'd known about it earlier."
Applejack laid a hoof on the younger Looper's shoulder. "Ah really wish Ah could've said somethin' before now... but between what Ah promised Filthy an' Spoiled back then about keepin' it between us three and Granny, an' maybe Mac - Ah think he might figured the whole thing out on his own, but he never said anythin' about it durin' the time this was all happenin', or since - an' the fact that Ah didn't Wake Up until earlier today an' was still sortin' mah memories when you showed up... well, Ah was actually goin' to talk to Filthy about tellin' you the truth this afternoon, once Ah had everything straightened out."
Diamond smiled. "In that case, it's okay."
Applejack pulled her into a hug. "You know you’re always welcome here, mah foal or not," she said softly. "Any Loop, if Spoiled is ever givin' you a hard time about anythin'... we'll always have a place in our family for you."
Diamond hugged her back. "Thank you, Mom. Er, Applejack."
Applejack smiled. "You can call me Mom this Loop if you want to," she said. "Ah don't mind."
Diamond looked up at her gratefully. Then she tilted her head. "So... how do we tell Apple Bloom she's my aunt this Loop?"
"Good question." Applejack sighed. "Depends on if she's Awake yet or not."
"If the blueprints my unAwake self saw her scribbling on during class earlier were anything to go by, she is. But I didn't know what it meant then."
Applejack nodded. "That should make things easier."
“Eeyup.”
Applejack started, then shook her head and looked down at the grinning filly. “How many Loops have you been waiting for the chance to do that impression of mah brother?”
“Would you believe I just now thought of it?”
Applejack considered. “Yes. Yes, Ah would.”
“Good.” Diamond hugged her again.
Smiling, Applejack hugged her back. Ah meant what Ah said, she thought to herself. Mah foal or not, you’ll always have a home with the Apple family.
And as she sat there holding Diamond, an elderly green mare snuck away with a satisfied look on her face, content in the knowledge that after nearly ten years away from them, her great-granddaughter had finally found her way home.
***
202.13: (Vinylshadow)
"Do you think we should do anything?" Human asked Pony.
The two Lyra watched as a little girl walked away with a loudly (to the Loopers, anyway) protesting seahorse, having won it from one of the fair's many attractions.
Pony shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be fine. It's hardly the first time one of us has been separated from the others and subjected to unimaginable horrors."
Human glanced at her and stroked Pony's neck. "Ah, one of those 'Waking up as a toy' Loops? Unless you're in Buzz and Woody's universe, those are rarely ever fun."
Pony grunted, shifting under Human's pets. "And there was the time I had military-grade chips installed in me and I waged war against other toys, or that magical cabinet that brought toys to life."
"Out of idle curiosity, were you a Gorgonite or Commando Elite?" Human asked.
Pony leveled a flat stare at them. "Guess."
"What's wrong with being ridden into battle with a howling marine on your back with guns at full auto?"
"MY EARS!"
Human blinked, wiggling a finger in one of theirs and chuckled. "Fair point... So, should we go and help Sweet Roll before she gets gobbled up again?"
Pony let out a huff, stomping the ground. "Eh, she'll just have her personality moved to another pastry and probably cause severe indigestion, so I wouldn't worry about her."
Human nodded before looking around, scratching her head. "So that's most of us accounted for. Where's Thief?"
"Whooooooo!" a streaking blur shrieked as it flew by, hotly pursued by Fairground Security.
"Not a word," Human said, as Pony stifled a snicker.
***
202.14 (Evilhumour)
"Get off of me!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew past the diarchs window, causing Luna and Celestia to blink in confusion.
"Sister," Luna began as she peered out the window. "Do you happen to see Twilight, her friends, that magician, that zebra witch doctor and our niece dyed pink and dancing on Rainbow Dash?"
Celestia tilted her head to side before replying in the positive.
"Oh thank Yggdrasil," Luna let out a sigh of relief. "I thought someone had spiked my coffee with something extra hard when I saw that."
"What's Yggdrasil Luna?"
Luna blinked as she realized her sister wasn't Awake. On one hoof, she could spend several hours explaining the truth of the existence to her sister or...
With a grin on her face as her sister cast a spell on her coat to make it pink and teleporting over to the shouting pegasus, Celestia turned her attention back to the breakfast cake her sister left unattended. "I just love it when a plan comes together," Celestia chuckled to herself as she began to gorge on the cake.
***
202.15 (Scorntex)
There were things Twilight Sparkle had seen. Things she wished she hadn't, things she wished she'd seen sooner, things she wished she could've seen more of.
What she was seeing at the moment... was none of those things. It was worse.
"Well, haw-dy Twalaght!" 'Applejack' drawled, in as astoundingly unconvincing an attempt at mimicking Applejack's accent as ever she'd heard from anything sober. "What ken ah do you for?"
It was only because of years upon years of training (and a few easily disguised spells) that Twilight managed not to show any signs of discomfort at the imposter's crimes against language.
"Just came to investigate something." She smiled sweetly, holding up the small device she'd brought with her. "I thought I detected a temporal surge on this, somewhere in Sweet Apples Acres. You haven't seen anything suspicious, have you?"
'Applejack' sweated, as she glanced about nervously, causing some of what was either paint or dye (and Twilight had a suspicion it was the former) to start running. "Nope, Ah shuyure as sugar haven't."
'Applejack' coughed. "Because ah've been busy. Buckin' ahpples. 'Cuz A'hm Applejack. An apple farmer. An' it's Applebucking Season."
"I'm glad to hear it." Twilight continued smiling, "well, you keep up the good work. I'll just poke around, see if I can find anything that might've caused that surge."
"Please don't!" 'Applejack' yelped. "Uh, I mean... there's no need, Twalaght. Pretty sure Ah would'a noticed summint if'n ya had."
The not-Applejack grinned nervously, her blue eyes wide with alarm.
As far as disguises went, Twilight had to admit, it was, and this was with the full weight of her knowledge taken into consideration, truly awful. For one, there was the accent (and that was being very generous). There was the fact she sounded nothing like Applejack even without that previous hurdle, or that she was the wrong height, and build, or the way her coat was obviously running, or that it was possible to see her horn poking, even with the wig barely covering it.
Twilight momentarily felt a brief surge of unimaginable pity for whatever had prompted this Loop's version of Starlight Glimmer to try such a thing.
She sighed. "Where's the real Applejack, Starlight?"
"'Round the back of the barn." Starlight said, before realizing what she'd said. "Wait... aw, for..."
The mare collapsed into the dirt.
"Can I ask..." Twilight began, "what were you even trying to accomplish?"
"Well... originally, I had this plan to get back at you by going back in time and ruining your friendship, and then I figured I needed to study you at length, so... I travelled back to now to replace Applejack and see what made your friendship so special."
Twilight nodded with the patient calm of someone who truly had heard every ludicrous idea under the sun. "And it didn't work."
"I'm not used to tying ponies up." Starlight murmured. "She got out while I was still working on my disguise. And then she said..."
"Ah said "if ya wanna be me so much, be me"!" Twilight turned to see Applejack approaching. "Now, why're you slackin' off, Glimmer? Back to work. Apples ain't gonna buck 'emselves."
"Yes'm!" Starlight said, quickly hurrying off. Applejack just shook her head.
"That girl ain't right." The mare commented. "Still, what's the harm?"
Twilight looked at the rapidly retreating form of Starlight Glimmer. "Does she know what this is like for you in Baseline?"
"Nope." Applejack said. "Put her t' work, told Big Mac and Apple Bloom what was what, an' then Ah figured, "hey, might as well give her the whole baseline experience while we're here." Ah was just off to ask around if everypony could treat her like me for the Loop."
"She needs to work on the accent." Twilight commented.
"See, now Ah told her not to even bother. Just gonna make a fool of herself. Then Ah realised we were way past that."
It was then Applejack noticed the device Twilight was carrying. "Hey, what's that thing for?"
"It tracks temporal anomalies." Twilight replied. "Just in case Starlight tries ambushing me in the library with a bag of clams. Again."
"Ah was wondering what that was she hit me with..." Applejack murmured.
***
202.16 (Scorntex)
Cadence found herself jolted into awakening by Shining Armor. Rolling over, she saw him sitting there, the same panicked expression on his face as usually used by Twilight when she was seriously worried about something.
"What is it, honey?"
Shining winced. "I just had this bizarre dream... Loops where Flurry kept coming back in time, trying to get revenge on us because she didn't like her name."
Cadence blinked. "Oh."
"I know," Shining sighed, "just a silly dream, right? I mean, it's not like that wou-"
Shining stopped, and clamped his mouth shut. The two checked around the darkened bedroom, just in case. After several minutes of nothing remotely sinister happening, the two got back under the covers, and quickly got back to sleep.
"Excuse me?" Shining said to the pony sitting at the counter, "this coffee tastes..."
The words faded into nothingness as he saw the young pony standing there. She looked almost exactly like a younger version of Cadence, save for the slightly lighter coat, and the mass of purple and blue curls.
"Is something the matter, sir?" she smiled innocently, in the exact same way Cadence did.
"Uh..." Shining Armor considered the situation, and his options, and the smiling pony standing in front of him, wearing a barista's outfit. "Never mind. I'm good."
And with that, he turned around and headed to his booth.
"HA! SUB-PAR COFFEE! HOW'D YA LIKE THAT, DAD?! FEEL MY WRATH!"
"Flurry!" Another voice cut in, "stop weirding out the customers!"
Shining Armor shut his eyes, and continued walking. "Go away, Loop. I'm not listening... you can do whatever you like, I'm not listening..."[/hr]
***
202.17: (Scorntex)
Twilight watched as Starlight Glimmer began powering up her time-travel spell. Twilight watched as the portal formed, and then noticed to her alarm something wasn't right. The portal was glowing with the wrong colours.
As Starlight began to ascend into the portal, Twilight reached out a hoof.
"Starlight, stop! You don't want to do this!"
The mare just grinned smugly. "Oh, I think I do. Say goodbye to your precious friends, Twilight Sparkle!
And then, with a flash of light, she and the portal vanished.
"Uh... Twilight?" Spike asked, as he saw the terrified look on Twilight's face, "what just happened?"
"She reversed the spell. Instead of taking her into the past, like it's supposed to, it'll take her into the future."
Spike looked around nervously. "So, shouldn't we go after h-"
There was a noise, as space and time ripped apart above them again, and Starlight Glimmer fell out, landing with a solid thump onto the crystal map.
As Twilight looked at the portal, a yellow furred head, covered in a mass of pink curls, popped out, staring dispassionately at Starlight.
"And stay out." The pony declared, with all the energy of Maud Pie talking about chalk, before disappearing back into the portal, which promptly disappeared.
Twilight and Spike exchanged a look, decided it was probably better off never asking, and looked over at Starlight, who was curled up into a ball.
"Future... future... future... future..." The mare was murmuring, as she rocked back and forth.
"Well..." Spike shrugged, "guess she won't be doing that again, huh?"
"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "I'd say so."
She decided not to add she hoped so, as well. As curious as she was about the potential, not just for seeing what a potential future looked like, there was no way in Tartarus Yggdrasil would've let her get away with it.
They continued to stare at Starlight, as she muttered incoherently to herself. "Could you go fetch Fluttershy, and Berry? I think we're going to need them."
***
(DrTempo)
From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
My next Loop had me meet the Samurai simply called Jack. In this Loop, Jack is destined to face a great evil named Aku, having had to train nearly his whole life to do so, but when the time came at last, despite Jack's immense skill and the magic sword made to destroy Aku, Aku would cheat when on the verge on destruction, and create a portal in time that sent Jack thousands of years into the future, where Aku ruled the world.
Having decided to call himself Jack, the samurai has since been traveling the world searching for a way to return to his time and undo the future that is Aku. I met Jack shortly after his arrival in the future, and after showing my skills, he decided to have me become a student of his. Jack is a master of many combat styles, but he tends not to rely on any out of Loop abilities he wouldn't be able to use in Null Loops. As the events of baseline(which, tragically, isn't complete yet for some reason) happened, I saw many interesting things, including robots, ninja, and all sorts of crazy things.
Along the way, met the Scotsman, a fellow Looper in this Loop alongside Jack, and the nearest thing to a friend Jack has in baseline. The Scotsman is pretty hilarious, but he is nearly as strong as Jack is in baseline.
I also had the displeasure of meeting Aku, who is Looping as well. Aku has kept his rivalry with Jack going all these years, but Aku knows very well that if he and Jack ever clashed, that Jack would destroy him. Aku did try to fight me, but when I summoned my Keyblade, he didn't want to see if my Keyblade could destroy him, and ran.
Jack told me that happens a lot.
Either way, I hope Jack's baseline is completed one day, and if it is, I wonder how Jack's journey will end...
***
202.18 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Vinyl frowned as she searched through the chest she'd just withdrawn from her Pocket, examining the contents of various small cases inside it. "My normal sunglasses, Renji Abarai's style of sunglasses, yellow sunglasses from Alucard, yellow sunglasses from Vash, triangle shades, Cyclops-style visor... when did I pick that up? Ooh, authentic Blues Brothers sunglasses!" She set them back in their case, then checked the next one. "Horatio Caine's sunglasses that he gave me... nope... nope... not that one... drat, it doesn't look like they're in this chest."
Nearby, Twilight looked up from her book. "Vinyl, what are you doing?"
"Looking through my sunglasses collection," Vinyl said nonchalantly. "Trying to find one specific pair."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I see. And why are you doing it here?"
"Octy's having our living room carpet steam-cleaned, so she told me to go out and find something to do elsewhere in town today," Vinyl said as she pulled out a second chest and began examining it. "And I figured your library was a safe place to check some of the stuff from my Pocket without curious non-Loopers panicking and calling the cops... ah-hah!" She held up a pair of sunglasses triumphantly. "Knew I had a few of these!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow even further. "And what kind of sunglasses are those?"
"These," Vinyl said, "Are a pair I got from Commander Kevyn Andreyasn one Loop when I was part of his captain's crew - didn't find any other confirmed active Loopers there, but I think that amorph of theirs was looking at me curiously. Of course, he could have just been hungry." She shrugged. "Anyway, when I have them on, I can see in infrared, ultraviolet and backscatter X-ray, and there's a way to do a frame by frame replay of things I've just seen."
"They sound like handy things to have," Twilight said.
"They are. Especially if you're in space."
"Oh?"
Vinyl nodded. "The view of the background cosmic radiation is surprisingly soothing."
Twilight's eyes widened. "You like that too? I thought Celestia, Luna, Nyx and I were the only ones!"
Vinyl grinned. "Want to see if we can get a moonbase set up so we can just sit back and enjoy the view for a few hours?"
Twilight grinned back. "Now you're talking!"
***
202.19 (Vinylshadow)
Twilight Woke up just as a haggard Rarity trotted by her in the Ponyville Marketplace.
Putting a hoof out to stop the fashionista, Rarity kept trying to walk until it registered that she was bumping against someone and Rarity blinked slowly, looking around.
"Hey Twilight," she said with a yawn. "What's up?"
"You doing alright? You look awful. What's going on?"
"Long story, but magic," Rarity said tiredly, trying to push past her. Twilight didn't budge and narrowed her eyes.
"That's not an answer, Rarity," Twilight said. "Let's get you something to wake you up properly and you can tell me all about it."
Ignoring Rarity's protests, Twilight sat her down at a nearby cafe and ordered a few dozen cups of tea. Rarity glowered at Twilight for a moment before she pulled out a half-made dress and started working on it. Twilight was mildly impressed that even in her tired state, Rarity didn't miss a stitch or cause any problems with the dress - a lovely little black and silver thing.
"Who's that for?" Twilight asked, watching as Rarity's horn lit up, pulling a cup of tea to her mouth. Sipping it, Rarity twitched, grimaced, and continued working.
"Luna," Rarity said, flipping the dress over. "She wants to look good for the Gala."
"You've been working yourself to the bone on a single dress?" Twilight asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Twilight, dear, making a dress that perfectly mimics the movements of the stars in the night sky is no easy task," Rarity replied. "I've been doing enough studying of the night sky to make you - well, Baseline you, anyway - green with envy and it's a very complex piece of self-sustaining magic." Idly blowing a strand of mane out of her face, Rarity grinned slightly. "Would probably be easier if Luna was Awake, and nobody else answered the Ping, so..."
"Ah, so you couldn't ask anyone else for help," Twilight said.
"Correct," Rarity grumbled.
"Well, I'm here now, and I have a few spare perpetual magical matrixes I can part with, if that'll help," Twilight said, pulling them from her Pocket. Rarity took them with a sigh of relief before smiling ruefully.
"Thank you; I used my last one on something for Trixie and Chrysalis. They go through them like...something-or-other."
"Nice to see your Rarity's Secret clothing line is flourishing," Twilight said.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your commissions," Rarity said with a smirk. "It's just a matter of-"
"Thank you," Twilight said, cutting her off, ears burning. "That's...fine. Take your time."
Rarity stuck her tongue out at the purple mare and returned to her work.
***
202.20 (Wixelt)
Big Mac knew a new visitor to the Equestria branch when he saw one. Putting aside the obvious differences in memories, his eons of experience with the various patrons of his bar had led him to pick up on certain visual ticks that gave folks away, especially when they were on edge.
The brown furred pegasus slumped on the bar stool opposite was no exception, his forehooves twitching nervously as he stared down at them.
“Drink for yer thoughts?” Mac said after a long moment, as the newcomer finally looked up at him, “Or did you just want the company?”
“Depends.” The pegasus shifted absently, rolling his shoulders, “You got Sidewinder Fang?”
“Can’t say ah have, ah’m afraid.” The orange-maned bartender shook in the negative, “That a drink from your loop?”
“The best there is.” the visitor affirmed, before sighing, lamenting forgetting to pocket any of his favourite beverage, “I guess company will do, then.” He awkwardly held out a hoof, taking several moments to get the gesture right, “Name’s Edison Trent. Anchor for the Sirius Sector branch.” There was a brief pause, before he added, “But just call me Trent”
“Big McIntosh.” Big Mac nodded as he returned the shake, then considered the patron for a moment, “Ah’ve got no loopin’ memories of ya’ll. You replacin’ anyone?”
“Not as far as I can tell. Just a travelling trader. Principal Flier, I think.” Trent frowned, then chuckled, “You know, when Gordon told me there was a pony universe, I didn’t believe him.”
“The multiverse ‘s a big place.”
“To be fair, he was drunk at the time. And he did forget to tell me about…” the freelancer paused, sparing a glance at the blue, circled spacecraft silhouette on his flank, “…some things.”
“Ee’yup. We’re certainly unique among the branches.” Mac offered a smile, absently cleaning a glass, “But we’re a sanctuary for a reason.”
“I could tell.” Trent mused, before righting himself, “Sorry, I like to think I’m better to talk to than this, but…” he laughed emptily, “This is my thousandth loop. Don’t know why I kept track, but…”
“…You’re alone in your home branch, aren’t ya’ll.” the bartender’s statement was half question, half realisation, but still cut through Trent like a knife through butter.
“…Yeah, yeah.” The visiting looper gave an affirmative nod, before grimacing, “In my first fused loop, I told Gordon I didn’t want anyone to suffer with me, but now…”
“It makes sense, ya’ll know, not wanting to be alone.”
“…you sure?” Trent blinked, uncertainty masking his features.
“Without a doubt.” Mac said, “We Loopers are meant to keep t’ Anchor stable, after all.”
“Guess that explains Gordon.” Trent shuddered, recalling how the scientist and resident nutjob had only one fellow Looper to his branch, “Though I got the feeling he wasn’t right to begin with.”
“I doubt ya’ll end up like that, of course.” Mac said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s sooner or later, you won’t be alone for long.”
The foreign Anchor stared at Mac for a few seconds, before giving the first full smile he’d managed since he’d arrived.
“Thanks. I think I needed to hear that.” Trent’s hooves finally ceased their movement, his nerves largely soothed. A new good mood forming, he finally took a glance at the drinks behind the bar.
“I can still make an order, right?”
“Ya’ll are free to.”
The Anchor grinned. Maybe he had something to look forward to after all.
With a reluctant chug, Trent downed a glass of Liberty Ale, cringing slightly at the taste. Setting the drink down, he gave a false smile to the bartender, who simply nodded and took his glass away.
The freelancer frowned. After Big Mac’s selection, a small taster of which Trent was keeping in his pocket for a special occasion, his local hydrogen waste filled death-brew was even less appealing than it already hadn’t been. That said, whilst his home loop had its downsides, such as there being only one decent drink in all charted space (in his opinion, anyway), there were upsides.
“I thought I’d find you here, boy.”
Trent blinked in surprise, looking across at the familiar thick, grizzled Bretonian accent, being greeted by an older, dark haired man in a red and white tradesman’s uniform. In other words, he was met with the unmistakable sight of his friend, mentor and father figure, Richard Winston Tobias.
“Tobias…” Trent’s exclamation was genuine, for once, his shock evident. In all the loops that he’d been through, many things had been constant, whilst others had changed. But not once, not even briefly, had Tobias ever come to the New York system, all the way from Bretonian space, to see if he was alright after the Freeport 7 incident.
In fact, Trent was sure he’d only told the man who’d raised him about his presence there after the war was over, the first time around, and intermittently after that.
“It’s good to see you, lad.” Tobias clapped Trent on the shoulder, a look of relief on his face, “When I heard about the freeport…” he shook his head, glancing back and forth warily, before fixing his former apprentice with a sharp gaze, “Look, my boy. There’s some things I need to discuss with you. Important things.”
“Such as the impending Rheinland invasion attempt?”
The look of surprise on Tobias’ face was priceless, and Trent mentally cursed himself for not having a camera on hand.
“Well then…” the Bretonian equipment dealer raised an eyebrow as his initial shock faded, a thin smile escaping onto his features, “It seems we both have a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah, so…” Trent gestured to the bartender again, who began to pour out another round of drinks, despite their taste, “There’s a lot going on here. Where do you want me to start?”
“The basics would be nice,” Tobias raised an eyebrow, before chuckling lightly, “But I suppose I’ll make do with whatever you hand me. If I’m guessing correctly, I’m addressing my senior.”
“Please don’t call me that, Tobias.” The Anchor sighed, before shrugging, “Alright, the basics. So, uh, there’s this thing call Yggdrasil…”
***
202.21 (Wixelt)
“This has been something of an odd loop, has it not?”
Spike blinked several times, before he looked across at his wife in consideration, noting the thoughtful look masking her features.
“Well, I hadn’t really noticed.” The dragon mused, absently running his claw along the edge of the picnic blanket the pair were sat upon, “Given all the stranger stuff we’ve seen…”
“Noted, dear.” Rarity lifted a fresh scone in the pale blue glow of her magic, turning it over and over, “I stand by my words, though.”
“Princess Mi Caos Discordia was kind of weird, in a way.” Spike reached into the basket beside him, retrieving a rather large, red gemstone, specially selected for his tastes, “Wouldn’t be the first time, though.” He paused, then added, “Awake or not.”
“And despite all that, I believe it was worth it for the blackmail material.” The white unicorn answered smugly, thinking back to the veritable album of photographs of Discord in a dress that now sat in waiting in her pocket, “Although…”
“What?”
“…I can’t help but wonder where Cadance is, since this loop seemingly has no God of Chaos.” Rarity frowned, before shaking her head, “No matter. It’s a mystery for another time.”
“Speaking of which,” Spike grinned, “How are you enjoying the ambience?”
“Very much, thank you.” The fashionista nodded, “A night-time picnic was just the ticket.”
“Good to hear. Anyway, now that it’s just me, you and the moon,” Her husband retrieved what seemed to be a rather expensive looking bottle from his pocket, “Would you care for a glass?”
“What a gentleman.” Rarity beamed, “Well, I don’t see the ha-“
“HEY!”
The pair jumped out of their skin as a booming voice echoed through… well, everything.
“What in the world…?” Rarity’s head darted back and forth, before something occurred to her, “Wait, did that, perchance, sound familiar to you?”
“Yeah, actually,” Spike’s brow furrowed, “It almost sounded like Cadan-“
“UP HERE!”
The couple shared a confused look, before glancing upward.
“Well…” Rarity’s surprised expression, equally mirrored by her significant other, told all, “That certainly explains her absence.”
“How did we not notice the moon being a giant ball of living crystal before?”
“I don’t think that’s the main issue right now, love.”
“HEY! YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!”
***
202.22 (dragonraptyr - from Pokémon Loops 13.4)
Phil grimaced. Here he was, once again, back reporting Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. Lately, there'd been a change in his endless repetitions, though. He'd gone to bed after a wonderful day, and woken up to find himself heading back to Punxsutawney. He had woken up a whole day early. He hadn't been thrilled, of course. He'd thought that he was out of these ridiculous time loops. He'd tried not to let it bother him, though. He'd been absolutely polite all day. He'd treated his coworkers (and sometimes girlfriend) to a nice meal, and bid them goodnight. He hadn't gone back in time the next day.
He ended up waking up the day before Groundhog Day again. In a bad mood, he'd been snappy all day. And woken up the same as the other times.
There was a pattern here, he was sure of it. So, he'd experimented. He would always "Start" the day before Groundhog Day. If he hit all of the high notes, Groundhog Day would pass, he'd get a third day, and then wake up back at the start. If he missed even one note during the whole thing, he'd end up the same as the first time, until he got it right.
He'd decided to start fresh, this time around. There was never anything new, but the novelty of two extra days that weren't the same was addicting. Things happened differently.
"And here we are in beautiful Punxsutawney, waiting for Phil the Groundhog to make his annual prediction" He put on a big smile for the camera, and looked at Phil's hutch. The caretaker opened the door...
...and a large yellow decidedly-not-a-groundhog Pikachu stepped into the sunlight, blinking. "Er, hello?" it asked. "Does anyone know where I am?"
Phil blinked. "That is not a groundhog." he muttered to himself. Bending down, he held the mike up to the Pikachu. (He thought it was a Pikachu, at least. It had been a while since he decided to watch every single program on every single channel again.) "Hey there, little guy. You alright?"
The Pikachu shook its head. "Yeah," it muttered. "I'm fine." It looked at him, blinking for a second. "You're that Groundhog Day guy, right?"
Phil shrugged. "I'm A Groundhog Day guy. Why?"
The Pikachu slapped its forehead. "Oh. First fused loop."
"Fused...?"
The Pikachu sighed, and hopped onto Phil's shoulder. "Six more weeks, folks. If I'm wrong, bonus!" it shouted into the mic. It turned to Phil. "C'mon. Let's find somewhere quiet, and I'll explain everything."
(Shieldage)
Applebloom Awoke as a little human girl falling off a tree branch. She had a split second to roll her eyes and half-consider checking her subspace pocket for something soft to land on, before a larger figure swooped in to catch her in his arms.
"Thanks, mister," she said as he set her on her feet. "That could've broken one of mah legs or worse."
"Glad to help. My name's Phil Connors. Have to say the ginger pigtails threw me off a bit, but the little tyke that normally falls out of this tree never actually stops to thank me before running off."
"Ah, that happen often?" Applebloom shook her head as her Loop memories started filling in.
"Nearly every day. You wouldn't happen to know a little yellow electric rodent by any chance would you?"
"You mean Pikachu or the Pichu brothers? They rolled though Ponyville with a song and dance number last time I was there. It's called that as we're all normally ponies, although you couldn't tell just by looking at me."
Phil blinked and turned his head to the side. "Er..."
Applebloom looked down and realized she was wearing purple overalls with pictures of her pony self plastered all over them. She shook her head. "This is beginning to be a really weird day."
"Tell me about it. So, you-" Phil was interrupted by a driverless VW bug edging up onto the curb and letting out a single petulant honk as it flashed its lights at them.
"Well, looks like I won't be sticking around here long myself." Applebloom shrugged. "This here's Herbie. He's apparently sort of being my 'dad' this Loop and... Doesn't like me talking to strangers."
"Oh, well..." Phil shrugged, realizing that his wishes for something new to happen outside the relative monotony of his short Loops really could've been better phrased. "Maybe we'll see each other around? Happy Groundhog's Day."
Applebloom frowned as she shared a biscuit with Ash's Pikachu at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The Pokemon was replacing the Dormouse and Wonderland had been Fused with the Everfree Forest. Apparently this Ponyville had a long-standing relationship with its nonsensical neighbors including designating one pony during the Winter Wrap-up to collect all the wackiest odds and ends that had leaked across the forest border during the year and return them to where they belonged. This season's festival had 'elected' her as 'the Alice', so there she was enjoying an only slightly stale biscuit and trying to ignore the off-key singing, not being helped by the table's attempts to join in with three-part harmony.
"Wait, ya say he normally has a three day Loop with the middle part repeating permanently unless he reaches a certain massive level of achievement? That's just not fair."
Pikachu twitched his ears as he met the gaze of the little pony. "I'd been sort of hoping he was just overdue for another expansion, but if you were there for the end of the Loop..."
"Ah spent two night's with Herbie's radio singing me to sleep and Woke up the next day hangliding with Thor." Applebloom reached up to nudge her bow back into place and gently nudge away the flying pair of glasses that had been trying to shape it into a nest. "Fortunately the local Admin keeps track of my brother's bar when it's set up and sometimes lets us know when he's free to drop in on story-swapping nights. We'll finish up here and head over. Seems ya found a bug in serious need of a coder."
Pikachu smiled. "I have weirder merit badges than that in baseline."
Phil Connors, weatherman extraordinaire, woke up one wintry morning to find himself in pajamas he'd never worn to bed before.
He'd bought them yesterday, after the roads had been cleared from the snowfall left over from the longest day of his life. He'd been cursed or blessed to repeat Groundhog Day 1993 over and over again until he did things right by himself and his town and the woman he loved. Finally having found the path through, he'd had one perfect day and the spell had broken. Except... 6 AM February 4th rolled around and he found himself in bed again, by himself, on February 1st, hours before his fateful road trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
He'd long mastered the art of working through his first two days and making the most of each of his hard won third days by the time something finally changed. Phil the weather-predicting groundhog had been switched out for a reality-hopping Pikachu. The yellow Pokemon had told him that he'd been Chosen as an Anchor for his home timeline, snarled as it was. Apparently the multiverse was going through repeated iterations of dimensions, most lasting months, some lasting millennia, and he was simply unlucky enough to be in one of the shortest ones.
Pikachu had told him to keep an eye out for small changes that could signify a fused Loop. Some had come and gone, including televised reports of robots fighting in the streets of New York and a random third of the people he knew being replaced by Muppet versions of themselves. The new twist that had broken him out of his most recent mood swing and launched him into action had been all of the calendars jumping ahead three years to '96. Seems like it's been much longer than that, he had thought. Hopefully being in the future means, this time, I'll actually have one.
One of his rituals on his 'bonus days' was to purchase a new pair of pajamas each time through and the available selections within easy shopping distance was getting pretty slim. Rita had questioned his current purchase of Australian flag pajama pants and scoffed when he tried to pass it off as Phil the Groundhog having always reminded him of a wallaby...
Rita... Phil smiled as he turned over to find her next to him again, on the first day of the rest of their lives.
A few months of legwork and planning later, the newly married couple leased an apple orchard near Punxsutawney. After their first full night in the house, Phil and Rita awoke to hear pawing at their new front door. He opened it, broom held and ready, to find a cream-colored horse with a rolled newspaper resting at her feet.
A Philadelphia newspaper.
"Did you bring this?" Phil asked, not expecting an answer as he slowly picked up the newspaper, noticing it definitely wasn't one that should've been delivered anywhere that day...
"Whinny," said the horse.
Rita walked up behind him, confused. "Phil, why is there a horse at the door? Also, did she just say 'Whinny', or was that you throwing your voice badly..."
"Er... Rita..." Phil caught a glint of something in the horse's eyes and decided to change the subject. "Is this tomorrow's newspaper?"
"Seriously? Huh. Looks like it. Hold on," she said, grasping the paper firmly as she walked over to turn on the television and shift it to the news. Conveniently, a breaking story matching an article from the suspiciously well-informed paper was already playing. "I need to make a few phone calls."
Phil leaned in close to the horse and asked, "What's going on?"
"I'm Applebloom."
"Oh. Huh. You weren't joking about being a pony."
She snorted with muffled laughter. "I'm normally smaller and cuter, but this will do. Anyway, this big and complicated thing called the Crash jarred you Awake. Your reality was never meant to have an Anchor, which is why it took them so long to notice what was going on. Fortunately, my Admin is one of the more accessible ones and was willing to work up some helpful code. This Fused Loop and a few others should pop up much more often than your baseline, although it will need to be run through the normal paces every now and then to keep things stable."
Phil breathed a sigh of relief. "I'd been waiting for the shoe to drop and this extended Loop to end. Good to know it won't be so long until the next one. What's up with the paper and where does it come from?"
"The spirits of cities tend to sponsor Champions here and help them save people through future knowledge, although their animal messengers for the 'Early Edition' are generally a lot smaller. I hear the local Anchor, Gary Hobson, has a cat. And, er..." She turned her gazed down, looking sheepish, which was an odd expression on a small horse. "A new one is going to show up everyday wherever I am, but if you mean how it arrives, I have no idea. I can't look directly at whoever drops it off, there's just some sort of pressure that pushes my attention away."
"Weird. So, I've been passed on from one city to another?"
"What can ah say? They just seem to like you."
Neither Phil nor Rita Connors had never really set out to be a hero, but it seems like his short Loop had provided him with enough skills and ideas on how to train and organize people for them to be fairly successful ones. After a few years of action and relative peace, Phil awoke to find himself on that February 1st again. This time, months later, when he leased the orchard, Phil the Groundhog showed up with his Philadelphia paper.
"Well." Phil Connors sighed. "At least you're easier to explain away when you show up on a plane."
***
202.23 (Awesomedude17)
Twilight coughed up a storm. She might have been an Anchor, but even she cannot avoid the dread of illness on occasion.
A bowl of turnip soup, some orange juice and lots cough syrup were making things easier, but it was during these times that she was at her most annoyed, even with the latest Iris Drake short story at hand.
“Hello Twilight.”
“Discord.”
“What’s wrong Twilight? Your voice is a bit hoarse?”
Twilight shot Discord a dirty look.
“I regret nothing.” Discord ran off, whooping like Curly from the Three Stooges.
I’ll have to figure out how to pay him back later.
***
202.24 (DrTempo) (Fused Loop involving a character from the Zelda Loops)
Zecora yawned. It was yet another Loop, and since Twilight was Awake, the incident that occurred when Zecora had first met Twilight and her friends hadn't happened this time. Zecora had been thinking about the upcoming wedding of Nyx and Leman, and smiled to herself. That would be an interesting event. Suddenly, somepony knocked at the door.
"Come in please. I was just thinking about something."
A green colored unicorn with green hair walked in. Her cutie mark was a green medallion with a symbol she soon recognized. Zecora chuckled, and said, "Nice to meet you, Saria."
The aforementioned Saria, the Forest Sage from the Hyrule Loop, blinked. "My cutie mark gave it away, right?"
"Indeed. If I may ask, what name do you have this Loop?"
Saria chuckled. "Forest Sage, oddly enough." The two laughed at the irony of that name, and Zecora inquired, "What is the reason you are here?"
Saria blushed, and replied, "Naruto told me of the Loop where you were the Hokage, and had mastery of the signature Mokuton style the Senju clan uses. My first Loop was as a member of that clan, and I use use that style of Jutsu as well."
Zecora raised a hoof, and Saria stopped speaking. Zecora then said, "I see. So, you wish to master the Mokuton style of Jutsu, and realized I would be a perfect Looper to teach you, am I right?"
Saria nodded. "If you do not mind, of course."
With a smile, Zecora said, "I do not mind at all, Saria. Shall we begin training immediately?"
Saria nodded, smiling. "Of course, Zecora-sensei!"
"Then, we begin!"
Saria and Zecora walked to a nearby lake, and Saria quickly realized what the lesson was.
"Water walking, right Zecora-sensei? I've already mastered this."
Zecora grinned, saying, "But you've never used that technique in Equestria, right?"
Saria frowned, and focused her Chakra to her hooves, and easily performed the water walking technique, standing on the lake.
Zecora clapped, and said, "Good. I wanted to be sure you could use Chakra in your current form first. That way, we do not have to head to the world beyond the mirror to train. Now, let us see you use the Mokuton. You have learned to use Jutsu without needing to use hand signs, I suppose?"
Saria focused, and in a matter of moments, a giant tree appeared. Zecora grinned. "Impressive. You understand the basics, at least. This will make things much easier. Now, it is my turn."
Zecora focused her Chakra, and like what Saria did, a large tree appeared, but this tree was a lot taller than what Saria had created. "As you can see, I have learned to focus the amount of Chakra I put in that Jutsu to make it more powerful." Before Saria could reply, Zecora used a Jutsu to create a fist made of wood, and attacked Saria, who barely dodged.
"But remember this, Saria. Never let your guard down. Now, let us see how good a fighter you are. We will only use Mokuton style Jutsu. Consider it a lesson as to what a true master of that kind of Jutsu can do. Now, we begin!"
In the ensuing sparring match, Saria could never land a single hit, as Zecora used the Mokuton Jutsu style in ways that Saria had never considered, and although Saria was barely able to evade most of the attacks, a few attacks had hit.
As Saria caught her breath, Zecora smiled. "Enough, Saria. You are good, I will admit."
"But you are a lot better at using the Mokuton style of Jutsu, Zecora-sensei. "
Zecora smiled. "I have kept up my training whenever I could. I do believe you have potential, though. Shall we continue?"
Saria nodded, and the two began sparring once again. Saria chuckled to herself, thinking, 'When my training is complete, I'm sure I'll be almost as good as you, Zecora-sensei!'
***
202.25 (Vinylshadow)
Sunset Shimmer came through the mirror in Twilight's castle and took a moment to get used to having hooves again before making her way through the labyrinthine corridors, following the signs leading to the Cutie Map room.
"Hey, Sunset," Spike said absently as he trotted by. He did a double-take and looked at her again.
"Hello, Spike," she said. "Wake up recently?"
"Feeling rather Loopy, yeah," he said. "What brings you here?"
"I got my license," Sunset said, pulling it out.
"Again?" Spike asked. Sunset rolled her eyes.
"Baseline," she corrected. "Which I guess is nice, although Waking up in the middle of parallel parking was...memorable."
Spike winced and chuckled. "I can imagine."
"What's new with you?" Sunset asked.
Spike shrugged. "Eh, same old, same old. Went through the typical betrayal Loops, Canterlot Wedding Variants, and Conversion Bureau. There was a lot of things on fire by the end of quite a few of them."
"You're talking to someone who turns into a flaming she-demon regardless of whether she's good or bad," Sunset said dryly. "A lot of my more irritating Loops tend to end the same way."
She and Spike shared a fist-bump and a grin.
***
202.26 (Vinylshadow)
"Come on, Applejack, we don't have all day!"
Pinkie Pie hopped in place as Applejack trotted sedately along the path.
"Hold your horses, sugarcube," Applejack said, shaking her head. "Some of us like to take our time."
"Wait, are you telling me to be stable?" Pinkie asked, dropping to the ground. Applejack stared at her for a moment before she got it and let out a growl before chasing after the cackling pink mare.
***
202.27 (LadyStina2)
Ivory entered Carousel Boutique with a small bell announcing that she opened the door. She looked around and immediately noticed that the showroom was empty of any other ponies. Including the Awake proprietor whom she was here to see.
“Coming!” a melodic voice drifted up from the freshly built basement slash materials lab. A moment later, there was the sound of hoofsteps on the stairs and then Rarity entered the room. “Oh!” She started in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Mayor Mare. Is there something wrong with the decorations? Granted, I still have some finishing touches to see to, but I am open to suggestions.”
Ivory smiled slightly and replied, “Ivory, please. And your decorations are simply lovely every Loop. However, I’m here on a more personal matter.”
Rarity smiled and laughed lightly, “Dear me, we really need to come up with a way for you to tell the rest of us you’re Awake.
“Well, I’m not quite as apt to go galloping off looking for adventure as the rest of you lot. I’m more of a home-town filly,” Ivory replied with a smile. “That’s not to say that I don’t have my moments. Which is actually what brings me by.”
Rarity gestured to a couch she had set aside for clients and said, “Yes? What can I help you with, darling?”
Ivory took a seat and replied, “I’m afraid it’s rather short notice, but I was hoping you could teach me that mane-styling spell you sometimes use. I’ve Looped as a unicorn often enough to know the spell to change my mane-color, finally, but I’ve never picked up the one for styling. I’d also like to commission you to modify an outfit from a human design to fit a pony. Preferably all before the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow.”
Rarity sat across from her and said, “My. That sounds like a tall order, but I don’t want to dismiss anything out of hoof. What design do you have in mind?”
Ivory reached into her subspace pocket and pulled out her reference material before hoofing it over to Rarity with a slight blush. Rarity lifted the item with her magic and brought it towards her before lowering it and looking at Ivory with a raised eyebrow.
“This… is a Sailor Moon DVD,” Rarity stated.
“Well, yes,” Ivory admitted. “I’ve been watching a lot of anime recently, and I thought it would be fun to do a magic-girl type thing this loop. I know it’s been done before, but I’ve never been Awake for it.”
Rarity smiled and replied, “I think you’re one of the few that’s missed it then. Are you sure you want to do this solo? Generally magic-girls work better as a group. You could go on the Element run instead of Rainbow Dash while the rest of us brush off our own outfits and join you.”
Ivory thought about it before replying, “That sounds like fun actually. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not, darling!” Rarity replied while lighting her horn. “I’ll let the girls know what’s going on and get started on your outfit.” A tape measure came floating over held in Rarity’s magic field. “Let me get your measurements and I’ll get started. I’m afraid it’ll be a rush job and I may need to refine it later. Stand over here please.” She stood and gestured to a clear area of the room.
Ivory smiled and stood for her fitting.
The group stood staring down Nightmare Moon in the Castle of the Pony Sisters deep in the Everfree Forest.
Twilight announced to the menacing mare, “You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here. Sound off, girls!”
“Honesty.”
“…kindness…”
“Laughter!”
“Generosity!”
“Loyalty!”
“Magic!”
As they each shouted out their Element, they magically lifted into the air. There was a bright flash of light and they each ended up in a magic-girl fuku, their mane in pig-tails, and their Element necklace around their neck. Or tiara in Twilight’s case.
Nightmare Moon didn’t get a chance to say anything before she was hit by a harmonic rainbow.
***
202.28: (Wixelt)
“…THIS NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!”
“Nope.”
“WHAT?” Nightmare Moon blinked, freezing mid-departure in surprise, not having expected any kind of back-talk after her declaration. Scowling, she turned back toward the offender, “ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY AUTHORIT- aghh!”
The corrupted alicorn flinched in pain as a tablespoon sailed through air and hit her square on the nose.
“HOW… HOW DARE YOU!” The night ruler roared, eyes blazing with magical rage, “I’LL HAVE YOUR MANE- Guh!” Another spoon declared its presence, this time impacting her gut, “STOP THAT THIS INSTAN- Umph!”
Knees wobbling, the Nightmare rose from having her legs swept from beneath her. Desperately, she rapidly glanced back and forth at the crowd of still cowering ponies before her, hoping to find the defiant foal who was making a mockery of both her and the cause she stood for, but found no-one who fit the bill.
Then she felt a hoof tap her on her shoulder. With movement faster than even a trained eye could follow, the pony formerly known as Princess Luna spun around, horn flaring as she prepared to render the interloper into moon dust.
…only for another spoon to bounce off her magic conduit, its light flickering and fading even as the blue furred unicorn that now stood before her pulled yet another piece of silverware from… someplace.
“…WHY?!” the lunar mistress complained, quickly being reduced to a wreck by the sheer incredulousness of being repeatedly blindsided by cutlery. The white maned mare seemed to tilt her head to one side for a moment (somewhat offsetting her otherwise composed stature), seemingly giving the question some thought. Slowly, she tilted her head backward, looking the normally imposing pony in the eyes.
“Would you happen to believe that I’m practising for a bet?”
“…BUT… BUT- B- ….ARRGH!!!” Luna’s scream of undirected angrish, as the sheer madness of Weiss Schnee’s response caused all corruption to flee from her body in fear, could be heard as far afield as Appleloosa.