Seskii was of a race not known by Merodi Universalis. If one were to ask her what she was, she would say ‘a humble potion seller’ or, if pressed, ‘garilend’. Both were true, but neither were the full truth. The true nature of Seskii is, unfortunately, not something she would like to be revealed. So the discussion of such will be dismissed.
As a humble potion seller she was known rather well across the Hub and Celestia City. Her shop seemed to be everywhere, and yet no one could ever prove she was in two places at the same time. Most people would only buy her potions – they were what was on sale, after all. Potions for just about everything: hair growth, the flu, health, magic, strength, you name it. She could sell things along the lines of love potions, but she only did so if she thought there was truly a need for such distasteful brews.
However, those who frequented her shop knew there was a very large chance she could get you anything you asked for, so long as you didn’t question where it came from. Some of the scientists within the Research Division had learned to exploit this, going to Seskii with their huge shopping lists and leaving with almost all the bizarre esoteric materials they had asked for. She charged a full, fair price for everything, but it was very convenient to have it all in one place. Those who couldn’t just accept what she was offering would find it impossible to find her.
As a garilend, or ‘gari’ in casual conversation, she was one of pink coloration, which was to say she was attuned to the elemental nature of plasma. Not fire – she would always say that was the realm of the red gari – but plasma. She could be seen making pink sparks fly from her fingers, or even occasionally lasers.
Like all members of her race, she had perfectly white skin with angular edges to her limbs. Her face had no nose and her ears had two points at their tips. The lower half of her arms and legs were completely covered in a pink plastic-like substance, giving her natural gauntlets and greaves. Her hair was made of the same substance, though in strands. Where she was from, many gari would take advantage of the nature of their hair and sculpt it into many impossible shapes, but she had a simple hairstyle with short hair with two protrusions sticking out the sides of her head, a swirl at the base of these extensions.
“Finally, I get a legitimate description,” Seskii said. “You had noooo idea how much I hated being in the background and interludes. Every arc, just one or two cameos, not even named all the time!”
“That’s not an explanation,” Allure pointed out. “Spill the beans.”
Seskii pursed her lips. “You know, you’re really putting the Rage in this arc. You’re not even the rage it’s talking about either, you’re nowhere near purple enough for that.”
“Seskii…”
“Fine, fine.” She cleared her throat. “No, I am not looping like you. I’m just Aware, as is probably shockingly obvious right about now.” She held out a gray potion. “A potion to keep your thoughts grounded in reality?”
“Pass,” Allure said. “If you’re not looping how do you keep changing up everything?”
“The same way the Sweetie Belle’s time loop had her Pinkie mix things up all the time. We just know things. Sometimes we can just be random, in Pinkie’s case. In my case it’s an ability to read through what’s happened in the past really quickly to keep things interesting. Tried to keep you from going mad.”
“I shouted at you a few times,” Allure said, her anger softening.
Seskii shrugged. “Hey, I don’t remember, I just read about it. You seemed stressed to me.”
“I was. Sorry.”
“I said I didn’t remember, right?” Seskii shrugged. “You’re forgiven. You’re going through a lot.”
“Do you know why stopping the explosion didn’t work?”
Seskii shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe because it didn’t actually cause the time loop? Maybe because stopping it from happening isn’t the way out? I’m not an all-seeing eye like Twilence, I just get hints and clues like Pinkie. And I sell potions.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Allure said, scratching the back of her head. “But I was so sure saving Celestia City would reset it… Why can’t I get out of this? I worked so hard Seskii!”
Seskii frowned. “I don’t know. There’s probably some other solution. Or maybe the loops just have to reach a certain number before they stop. Maybe someone has to break in from the outside. It has to end at some point because you’ve only got a chapter left, but that’s all I can tell you.”
Allure sighed. “Yeah. You are right… but…”
“Shoosh. I have a recommendation. Go back home and sleep the rest of this loop off. Then take the next loop off. Declare a vacation. Then, after that, try to think of other things you could do to get out of the time loop. Brainstorm some ideas with the League. Try those out. Remember not to work yourself ragged. Come by whenever you need someone who just knows your situation. Kay?”
Allure nodded slowly. “…Kay.” She put her hoof on the countertop. “Sleep potion.”
“On the house,” Seskii said, tossing it over with a wink. “Enjoy!”
“…Actually, before I do. Burnt juice. Why?”
“Ka is looping too,” Seskii explained. “You suffer the same events unless you go out of your way to avoid them because it’s amusing. …The juice is apparently so strong it’ll show up every time you involve juice in your day.”
“That’s stupid.”
“That’s the point.”
Allure rolled her eyes. “Right. G’night then.”
“G’night!” Seskii said with a wave.
Allure went back into her house. She took a breath. “Minna, remember to go to school, okay? I need to go back to bed.”
Minna looked at her. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I hope to soon,” Allure said, calling up Squeaky. “Calling in sick today. The bed calls.”
“Allu-”
Allure hung up and walked to her bedroom. She’d never walked back in here at any point in any of the loops. She’d always walked out of it.
She had made a pretty nasty scratch in the wall with her horn. Its presence made her smile and she didn’t know why.
Crawling back into bed, she levitated the blankets over her. She popped the potion, drank it, and curled up like a caterpillar.
Allure was soon fast asleep.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall of her bedroom. She hissed in pain.
Loop thi-
You know what? No. She was going to stop counting. Counting was stupid and just reminded her of how much she was wasting her own time in this mess. This was loop number whatevermajig. All loops from here on out were whatevermajig.
Today was loop vacation whatevermajig.
She removed her blankets carefully and pranced into the living room-kitchen.
“I don’t like him,” Minna said.
“I know. How would you like to take your mind off him for today?”
“…How?”
Allure grinned. “How about we skip school and go see the sights?”
Minna’s eyes widened. “…Yes.”
Allure flipped out her phone, calling someone she hadn’t called at any point in the loops. “Hey Alushy.”
“You sound spunky today. What bastard did you put behind bars?”
“None. I’m stuck in a time loop. This time I’m going vacationing with Minna. I’d think you’d know the best places to party like there’s no tomorrow. We’ve got four and a half hours and no consequences.” She tried very hard to ignore the burnt orange juice that had spontaneously appeared.
“…Fuck yes,” Alushy said. “All right, there’s this strip clu-”
“Something I’d actually enjoy going too, thank you. Actually why would you even recommend that? You’re a pony! We don’t normally wear anything!”
“Don’t judge me,” Alushy said, coughing. “Are you okay with pushing the bounds of legality?”
“…I’m listening.”
“How far we talking?”
Allure looked down at Minna, biting her lip.
Screw it, she won’t remember any of this.
“Just about anything short of murder.”
“…Satan’s fiery teat, you really need a vacation. All right. I know just the place. Meet me at the Bouncy Donut in an hour, I’ll take you there.” She hung up.
Allure grinned. “Minna, you better enjoy this, because it breaks every rule of parenting in existence.”
“Hey, time loop right? I won’t remember anything.”
~~~
Allure shook her head at where Alushy was leading them. “Alushy, this is the pub where I listened in on a secret conversation! All they’ve got is good nachos!”
Alushy smirked. “See, that’s just the surface of the secret pub, my mother-daughter follower pair. There’s more below – much more, so much more you won’t be able to believe. The level of debauchery we’re about to experience is about as high as you can get.”
Allure raised an eyebrow.
“Without disgusting your delicate little minds, yeesh, what do you think I am, a slut?”
“Yes,” Minna said.
Allure snickered. “Today only,” she told herself.
Minna looked at her, eyes wide. She spoke with a haunted whisper. “…Fuck.”
Allure laughed harder. “Well fuck me, let’s swear like the bastard sailors we are! Lead on, crimson slut! Take us to the land where none shall give any fucks!”
Alushy grinned. “You’re trying too hard.” She pushed a nearby wall with her hoof, opening a secret door. They made their way down a winding set of stairs to a second pub underneath the first one, lit only by red light.
“WELCOME TO THE BASEMENT!” the vampire pegasus declared, gesturing at the red lights, the endless tables, and the mysterious smells coming from behind the counter. Alushy cleared her throat. “If any of you question these ponies, I will nicely ask you to leave. Which is to say they won’t like it if I kill you so I’ll have to get really, really, creative.” Her eyes flashed a deep red.
The patrons who weren’t too high took one look at Allure, Minna, and Alushy and shrugged.
“Such horrible people,” Allure said with disgust. “Letting a child in here and not batting an eye.”
“Hey, you’re the crazy one,” Alushy said, shoving a snoring Skaian troll out of a nearby chair to free a table for them. “This place can get you any substance you can think of, controlled or not.”
Allure raised an eyebrow. “There aren’t that many controlled substances in Celestia City.”
“I mean with or without a permit, yeesh,” Alushy muttered. “Look, let’s not waste time explaining everything. Just go with it. HEY! GET ME MY BRAINSHOOTER! FOR THE MISS, A LOOSE FIVER. FOR THE TYKE… Eh, just get her some whiskey. It’ll blow her little mind.”
“…Do I get to drink it all?” Minna asked, eyes wide.
“If you think you can,” Alushy laughed.
A drink was teleported to Minna, a blue smoking powder in front of Allure, and a red seed in front of Alushy.
She picked up the seed. “This is the only truly illegal thing at this table.” She threw it into her mouth, bit down, and her brains exploded out the back of her head. It reformed in a few seconds and Alushy let out a satisfied sigh. “You can see why.”
“Fuck yeah,” Minna said, downing her drink.
Allure moved to tell her to slow down – then realized she didn’t have to do that for once. She decided to look down at her blue smoking powder. “So, uh, do I eat it? Smoke it? Snort it? What?”
“You touch it,” Alushy said, chuckling. “Go on.”
Allure shrugged and rammed her hoof into the powder. The powder instantly vanished, absorbing directly into her bloodstream. Her entire body seized up and she fell back out of her chair.
Minna looked at her mother. “…Is she okay?”
Alushy nodded. “Can’t get killed by a loose fiver. Not directly anyway. It’s there to do only one thing – go right to your head.”
Allure shot up, pupils tiny pinpricks. “Everything is colors.”
Alushy smirked. “What do I look like?”
“Birds. Lots and lots of birds. Fucking hell that’s a lot of birds. Just… woooow. Birds. You’re the birdmare.”
Minna took another sip of her whiskey.
“Woah, Minna, you look like… like…” Allure blinked. “…I don’t know. She doesn’t look like she belongs…”
Alushy shrugged. “Hey, she’s your kid. For all I know that does something.”
“Don’t you for one fucking moment tell me you don’t have kids.”
Minna couldn’t keep herself from laughing. “It sounds so stupid when you say it, Mom.”
“I bet it does! Because I’m a cute little unicorn! That can do anything! Alushy, kids. Tell me. How many?”
“Unknown,” Alushy said. “Probably a lot.”
“How can you not know? You’re the mother. That’s not how biology works!”
Alushy smirked. “You don’t want to go there.”
“Oh I do, I do- wait, no, I want to go somewhere else.” She climbed on top of the table and stood tall. “I AM GOING TO GO… TO… TO THE END OF THE WORLD!”
“Celestia city is round,” Minna said.
“Why aren’t you drunk yet?” Allure muttered.
“Dunno. Tastes good though.”
“Said no normal child ever,” Alushy pointed out.
“I KNOW WHERE TO GO!” Allure shouted. “Let’s… Let’s destroy something. Something important. Yeah, there’s this fucking stupid piece of art across the street from my house. Let’s burn it!”
“And this is what loose fiver does, kids. It goes to your head and gives you ideas.” Alushy chuckled.
“Cool,” Minna said. “Are we gonna burn the ‘fucking stupid art’ or not?”
“Oh we’re gonna burn it. I’ll get the fudge…”
~~~
Seskii looked at the bonfire. “Impressive.”
“YOU BET IT IS!” Allure shouted, standing on top of a circular platform made of fudge magically floating above the burning wreckage of the art. “They said metal couldn’t be burned… THEY WERE WRONG!”
Minna was currently ‘dressed’ in what appeared to be Hollywood’s version of ‘savage tribal getup’ and was dancing around the bonfire, singing indecipherable things.
Alushy had lost control of her physical form at some point during the day and was currently a formless black puddle in the ground with the occasional eye, mouth, or lashing tentacle.
“Did you really hate the art that much?” Seskii asked.
“FUCK IT!” Allure blurted. “FUCK IT ALL!”
Seskii turned to Squeaky, Thrackerzod, and Bot, all who had their jaws hanging open. “She’s going through some things,” Seskii explained.
“…I’ve never heard her say ‘fuck’ before,” Squeaky said, blinking. “Ever.”
“I’ve never heard you say it either,” Thrackerzod pointed out. “But for you it’s less surprising.”
Bot beeped. “Error. Does not compute.”
“Should we arrest her, or something?” Squeaky asked Thrackerzod.
“Nope,” Thrackerzod said.
“But she’s destroying public property! And… I can’t even list all the laws she’s breaking!”
“Let’s just not worry about it,” Thrackerzod said. “Let her have her fun.”
“This is not her kind of fun!” Squeaky squeaked.
“HEY! IT IS TODAY!” Allure shouted down. “Hey! Alushy! Get off your sorry ass and tell me where we’re going next!”
“TO THE MOON!” Alushy said, forcing herself to reform, unable to fully keep her pony shape cohesive. “Or not the moon. How about… EXTREME SPORTS DANCING!?”
“WHY ARE WE EVEN WAITING!?”
Minna shouted something incomprehensible. The dark form of Alushy scoped them up and they went elsewhere in Celestia City.
Seskii shrugged. “They look like they’re having fun.”
Squeaky twitched. “I’m going to have a talk to her tomorrow.”
“No you won’t.”
“Yes I- …waitaminute you know something.”
Seskii grinned. “Yep! But I’m not going to tell you. By the way, I have some extra Loose Fiver here an-”
“GOODBYE!” Squeaky squeaked, teleporting away.
A moment later, Thrackerzod casually looked to Seskii. “So did she get possessed or are we in a time loop?”
“Time loop.”
“Ah. She needs this.”
“Yep.”
~~~
Much, much later, all three of them had new tattoos, a few scars, had lost parts of their hair or mane, and had been moving so much their legs were about to buckle underneath them.
“How high are we?” Minna asked. “Space? Space’s space?”
“Space cubed,” Alushy said.
They were currently standing at the edge of a railing that ended over a seemingly bottomless pit.
Allure looked down. She pulled out her phone and checked the time.
12:02.
“I could jump and reset before I hit the bottom.” She realized.
“If you miscalculate your great day is going to end in a painful splat,” Alushy pointed out.
“Have I splatted yet? I don’t remember,” Allure said with a laugh. She looked at her front hoof. “…Why is my tattoo of a dolphin made out of french fries?”
“I thought you’d question how you got a tattoo on fur first,” Alushy admitted.
“Huh,” Allure said. Then she let out a laugh. “Well, this has been fun, but I’m gettin’ the fuck out of here. Goodbye! May this never happen again! Good riddance!”
“Fuck you too,” Alushy said, pushing Allure off the edge. Allure laughed and couldn’t stop.
“FUDGE YOU!” She shouted up. “HOW YOU LIKE THAT!?
“THE FUDGEMOTHERING VAMPIRE THANKS YOU, BITCH!”
“ME? BITCH? YOU JUST DID EVERYTHING I SAID FOR A WHOLE LOOP! YOU’RE MY BITCH.”
Alushy blinked. “…Fudge you.”
Allure knew what she said even though she definitely couldn’t hear it. “COWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAAA-”
She kept the breath going until the explosion of Celestia City fried her.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against her wall. She hissed – but also she giggled. She couldn’t stop giggling. She flopped out of her bed and laughed.
“Celestia, I’m never doing that again,” Allure said, chuckling and blushing profusely. “Oh if anybody knew what I did…” She blinked, remembering Seskii existed. “Shi- WHOOP! Gotta train my mouth back, I guess. Hehehe…” She walked out of her room.
“I don’t like him.”
Allure walked over to Minna and kissed her on the head.
“Ew, Mom!”
“You’re going to school today. No buts.”
“…Okaaaaay…”
Allure giggled. “Butts.” There’s no way any intoxicants are still in my system, but the emotions just aren’t going away. And yet, I’m not worried. “Would you like to make breakfast today? Use anything you want.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
Minna beamed and ran to the kitchen.
Allure took out her phone. “Squeaky, gather the girls. We’re going to have a brainstorming session after I finish breakfast and get over there.” She hung up, and allowed herself to have breakfast with her daughter. She laughed when she saw the burnt juice already on the table.
She left the house a few minutes later, a spring in her step.
“Enjoy yourself?” Seskii asked.
“You bet! See you next time!”
Seskii nodded. “Of course!”
~~~
“I call it Operation Groundhog Day,” Suzie said, pointing at the projection with a laser pointer. All the other Sweeties in the room nodded. “The solution to getting out of the infinite loop in what is argued to be the ‘progenitor’ of the time loop idea is simply to accomplish a perfect loop. To treat everyone great and do everything for everyone you can along your day. Lucky for you, Allure, this only involves four and a half hours of time.”
Allure nodded. “So just create a perfect day. Hrm… Well I’ll have to stop Celestia City from exploding to do that, and help everyone involved that I would encounter in my day. So…” She pondered this. “I’d probably have to deal with all the problems on the phone line in some way or other, help Blumiere with his secret, help Nae understand what we are… Keep the riot from happening…” Allure blinked. “We’re gonna need a flowchart. And I’m probably going to have to loop a few times to see how the best way to deal with things is.”
~~~
Many loops later…
Suzie took a breath. “And at this point Allure will use the duplication spell three times over so she can continue manning the phones while going to deal with all the problems given by the phone calls, and going to Nae.”
Allure looked at the branching paths of the flowchart. Who knew planning out the perfect four and a half hour ‘day’ would take so long?
With duplicates, her mind was only going to get more disoriented, but she was willing to do it if it meant escape.
“All right,” Allure said. “I think this is it. I’m ready to go for the perfect loop. Thank you, Suzie. You’re really good at flowcharts.”
Suzie smiled. “I have an entire team at my disposal who’re itching to get back in the field. Apparently being stuck in a time loop is ‘wasted time’ for Nira and Swip, even though they have no way of knowing about the wasted time.”
“Need me to reset you?” Thrackerzod asked
Allure shook her head. “Nah, I’ll just wait. Relax a bit.”
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
Then she fell out of bed, flat on her stomach.
She fished out her phone and called Thrackerzod. “Hey, I’m looping in time and I need a restart…”
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall. She carefully removed her blanket so she wouldn’t trip this time.
“Right. Let’s actually do this.”
She walked out of her room.
“I don’t like him,” Minna said.
“I know, but sometimes we have to deal with scary people in our lives,” Allure said, hugging Minna close.
Minna nodded, accepting the embrace.
“How would you like to make breakfast today? Anything you want, use any ingredient you can find.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
Minna leaped up from the couch and started making breakfast.
The best part about this was the burnt juice never showed up. Take that, ka. I won. No more burnt juice for me!
The two of them had breakfast and enjoyed several laughs together. Minna went off to school without complaining, and Allure waved her of.
Allure set off to work. “Good morning Seskii!”
“Today’s the day?”
“Yep! Hope you sell a lot of potions!”
“I always do! Here’s yours!” Seskii tossed Allure two duplication potions, which she caught in her telekinesis.
“Thanks! The payment’s under my rug!”
“Already got it!”
Allure whistled to herself a chipper tune to improve the moods of those she passed. She moved in such a way so she would never interfere with anyone in a hurry. She purchased a lollipop from a street vendor and handed it to a crying child. “This should keep him satisfied for a little while.” She went to the teleporter platform with a smile, greeting those she came into contact with.
She walked into the League of Sweetie Belles and moved the ‘wet floor’ sign to a place it was easier to see.
“Allure reporting in!” she told Squeaky.
“Wow, you’re chipper,” Squeaky said. “Sorry to put a downer on your mood, it’s your turn to manage the phones.”
“I don’t mind!” Allure said. “Someone has to do it, right?”
Squeaky blinked. “Huh. I wish I was as upbeat as you are right now.”
Allure but a hoof on Squeaky’s shoulder. “You can be. Just smile and it’ll do wonders.”
Squeaky thought about this for a moment. She brightened considerably. “Thanks!”
Allure nodded. “Don’t mention it!” She left Squeaky, making her way to the phones.
When she first arrived she quickly drank the duplication potions, creating two more of herself. They already knew what to do. One left to call Nae, while the other was going to clean the flies out of the ventilation before they became a nuisance. After that, the second Allure would go take care of all the problems the phone callers were reporting in. All of them.
Jade came in. “Do you mind if I keep you company?”
“Not at all! You have to agree to keep a secret though.”
“Oh?”
“I have a duplicate of myself running around so I can actually help the people in these calls. Don’t let anyone know, shhhh.”
Jade grinned. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“In the meantime, what’s up with you?”
“Well, I’ve been missing Davesprite lately…”
Allure put an understanding hoof on the Skaian’s shoulder. “It’s painful, isn’t it?”
Jade nodded slowly.
~~~
“Do you understand?” Allure asked Nae.
The Ga nodded and smiled. “I can’t thank you enough, Allure.”
Allure smiled. “Eh, it’ll be a cinch. But we’re going to have to play hardball to get Blumiere to play nice. It took me a million loops to figure out how to get him to open up without being especially cruel.”
“Oh?” Nae said.
“Those books of his are apparently so powerful nobody’s supposed to know about them.” Allure pulled a gun out of her mane and handed it to Nae. “So I’ll need you to be able to hold a gun to my head while we do this.”
Nae nodded. “I understand.”
“Let me do all the talking. I know exactly what to say.” Allure stretched her limbs. “Here we go.”
Nae and Allure walked out of the pub and across Celestia City. As they passed, Allure made a call to the regular law enforcement. “Officer, I’ve seen some unsavory types outside the Mayor’s residence. Could you send some people? …I think Officer Kurloz would be best, but do whatever you think works.” She hung up.
“That takes care of the riot?” Nae asked.
Allure nodded. “Kurloz is a Skaian. As the Prince of Rage, he can destroy almost anyone’s desire to fight just by walking into a room. It’s good for us he’s there, because dispelling the riot peacefully would have been a nightmare.”
She knocked on Blumiere’s front door. He opened it. “Hm?”
“Can we come in?” Allure asked. “It’s important.”
“Oh, by all means,” Blumiere said, smiling warmly. “Sit – if you have time, that is.”
“I do,” Allure said, sitting. Nae stood to unicorn’s side, standing with her hands behind her back. “So, Blumiere, I’ll cut to the chase. I’m stuck in a time loop. I am currently trying to end this time loop by going through a perfect run.”
Blumiere raised an eyebrow. “Akin to Groundhog Day?”
“Yeah,” Allure said. “One of the things I need to do for that perfect run is stop Celestia City from being destroyed. It’s easy enough – but I have died and reset innumerable times figuring out how to do it. The only real problem in doing so for a perfect run is you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You.” Allure nodded to Nae – who placed the gun to Allure’s head.
Blumiere blinked. “…Why are you threatening me with a reset?”
“Because you threaten to erase my mind whenever I tell you what I need to save Celestia City. Every time I have to make Thrackerzod or someone else reset me so you don’t destroy the knowledge. So, please, don’t act out of brash trained anger this time. Realize that I can reset at any time and try this again, and again, and again until it works.”
Blumiere nodded slowly. “Yes…”
“The way to save Celestia City is to either give Nae here the Dark Prognosticus and use it to destroy a universe, or to use its power yourself and destroy a universe. The destruction of this universe prevents a weapon from going off that destroys the entire city. The universe itself is uninhabited, so you do not need to worry about collateral damage.”
Blumiere tensed. “Allure, those books must never…” He took a breath and calmed himself. “You’ve known about them for a while.”
Allure nodded. “Nae here found out through the rumor mill, based on people who’ve seen that chest and know about your source material.”
“Allure, if anyone knew…”
“If this gets me out of the loops I will come here after it’s over and allow my memory to be erased. Nae has agreed to these terms as well.”
Nae nodded in affirmation.
Blumiere stopped. “When does the loop end?”
“12:04,” Allure said. “After that, we’ll know if this is really the solution.”
Blumiere let out a sharp breath. “…All right. But I will hold you to that promise.” He snapped his fingers, bringing the chest to the main room. He popped it open and took out the Dark Prognosticus. He held his eyes closed shut the entire time, ensuring he would not gaze upon any of the actual pages. He held out his hand. “Open the portal.”
Allure’s dimensional device was already set. She did as he asked. He sent the darkness through the portal, destroying the Navir once again.
“It is done,” he declared, locking the books away again. “Return before 12:20 today.”
Allure nodded. “I promise.”
Nae lowered the gun. The two of them walked out and Blumiere didn’t try to stop them.
Allure let out a breath. “Sometimes I get the inflections just wrong in that speech and he jumps me anyway.”
“You have had to use the suicide capsule then?”
Allure nodded. “I’ll keep it in, just in case he thinks he’s being clever. One of the more pleasant varieties of death I’ve experienced on this journey, I have to admit.”
Nae nodded. “So, what now?”
“We go to the League of Sweetie Belles.”
~~~
Allure appeared on Gregory’s doorstep with a twittermite catcher. He lived in one of the districts of Celestia City that didn’t repair its buildings, but the citizens stayed because they didn’t want to move no matter what the government offered them. It was for the stubborn people.
Gregory himself was an overweight greasy man with an unpleasant expression plastered on his face at all times. “About time.”
Allure shrugged. “We’re here to serve.”
“I take it my flies hatched early?”
“Huh? Oh, no, I found those this morning and cleaned them out before they became a nuisance.” Allure smiled innocently. “Figured I’d bring my skills here! Where are they?”
“Everywhere in the house. Just get them.” Gregory opened the half-broken door and let Allure inside. The house smelled like urine, flies, and rotting food. Luckily Allure remembered to bring a gas mask – and it didn’t insult Gregory because it matched her full exterminator garb. He didn’t have to know the twittermite catcher definitely wasn’t necessary.
She knew where every fly in the house was – all one hundred and nineteen. She slurped all of them into the tank over the course of a few minutes using her magic. She walked out. “All done!”
“Why didn’t you just come and do that sooner?”
“Because there are exterminators whose job it is to do that,” Allure said. “It puts them out of work.”
“Pff. I don’t got that kind of money.”
Allure didn’t believe a word of that. The base-income was more than enough to pay for simple fly exterminators. “You can petition the government for a service you can’t afford, you know. There’s even terminals outside the Oversight Division headquarters to help you with that.”
Gregory blinked. “Huh…”
“I’m sorry we weren’t able to tell you that in our phone conversations,” Allure said. “We will try harder next time.” Celestia I hate talking to this guy. But I have to get him to learn without triggering his ‘oh so sensitive’ anger problems. Gah, it’s like walking on eggshells with lego bricks strewn around.
“Anyway,” Allure said. “I’ve got more calls to take care of! See you around!”
Making note that he was no longer looking at her, she ran off, removing the mask from her face. She just had one more to do – the cat woman – and then she needed to bolt for the nearest teleporter so she could get back to the main Allure in time. A perfect run wouldn’t be perfect if they didn’t all join up into one body at the end. Even if it didn’t cause any problems in her besides memory confusion if they didn’t meet up, this still needed to be clean.
She skidded to a stop in front of a suburban house with inverted gravity.
“Oh you’re so fast!” the old woman shouted. “My cat i-”
Allure levitated the cat down and gave the feisty critter to the woman. She didn’t care at all that it was trying to claw her skin off. “Oh thank you thank you! You’re such a hero!”
Allure saluted. “Glad to help! I have to get back now – more to serve!”
“Oh! Yes, yes, of course, of course. Bye!”
Allure raced off to a teleporter, but she still had to keep on that smile and make sure she stayed out of everyone’s way.
Perfect.
~~~
“…and I’ll be right over,” Allure told the cat lady, pressing the phone down. She let out a breath. “And that’s it.”
Jade stared at Allure in awe. “I have never seen anything so well orchestrated in my life. And I knew Dave.”
“It took a lot of planning to get this to work. But there’s a few more things to take care of.” She jumped out of her chair and walked to the break room, Jade in tow.
Then the two arguing Sweeties arrived.
This had been the hardest problem to find a solution for. Out of all the problems – Nae, Gregory, Blumiere – these two Sweeties were the worst. Stingy, lovesick, bratty, and uncompromising.
The solution ended up being decidedly simple and very disheartening.
“Hey, hey, I can help you,” Allure said. “I know Cadence personally. I can get you two into her ‘lost love’ program and find you someone you’ll both really want to be with.”
The two Sweeties forgot about the guy they were arguing about in an instant. “YES!” they both shouted.
Luckily for Allure the stallion they were fighting over wasn’t in Celestia City, so he wasn’t part of the time loop. There was no way she could create a perfect ending for him. ...Though frankly if these two mares were willing to give him up that easily, Allure would be willing to argue it was the best possible result for him.
Allure told them to call her later about getting to Cadence, and the two walked away like great friends.
“Huh,” Jade said. “That was…”
“Question it later,” Allure said. “Right now you’re going to have a bit more to think about.”
The two other Allures ran into the room, Nae close behind them. The two Allures touched the main Allure’s front hooves. They all fused back into one being. Allure took a deep breath. “Ah, so far so good. Just one thing left.”
Jade blinked. “One?”
Nae nodded. “Yep. One more thing.”
Allure opened the fridge. “Want some super-special ice cream for lunch?”
Jade grinned. “Yeah!”
Allure took a sandwich as well. “The way to end the perfect loop – actually get to finish lunch.”
It was a great feeling. The ice cream… the sandwich… she barely noticed the last bits of time passing.
Next thing she knew, it was 12:03.
Allure put on a content smile. “Here we go…”
Jade and Nae smiled, prepared to give a celebratory cheer.
12:04.
Allure held up a hoof. “Not yet. Give it a few seconds.”
They waited. The end of the perfect run drew to a close…
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
She stared at the mark she made in the wall. Taunting her. Telling her she was trapped.
She placed a hoof on it, covering it up. The wall almost looks normal now. Like, maybe, I’m not trapped here. Not stuck in an unending swirl of my own life…
Tears began to form at the edge of her eyes. Her hoof slipped, letting her see the offending scratch again.
She let out a deep, agonizing scream. She punched the wall with her hoof, creating a hole in the drywall. She flung herself back and buried her head in her pillow, crying bitterly into the folds of its fabric.
She did not leave her bed that loop.
Or the next.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
She flopped out of bed onto her stomach and walked out.
“I don’t like him,” Minna said.
Allure didn’t respond. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice. She downed the burnt juice, uncaring. She ate half the cereal and left without a word to Minna.
“Sup?” Seksii called. Allure didn’t even raise her head.
She walked to the League of Sweetie Belles. She slipped and fell on Squeaky. With a sigh, she got up and went to man the phones.
She answered every call with “Mhm. Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”
Jade eventually left because she was so depressed by Allure’s aura.
Allure walked to the lunch room. She pulled a sandwich off the shelf and sat down, watching the news of the riot.
Celestia City exploded.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
Flopped out of bed.
“I don’t like him.”
She poured a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice. She downed the burnt juice.
“Still?” Seskii asked.
She flipped and fell on Squeaky. She tore herself off.
She answered every call.
Jade left.
Allure pulled a sandwich off the shelf and sat down.
Celestia City exploded.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
“I don’t like him.”
Burnt Juice.
“Again?”
Slip onto Squeaky.
Answer the phone.
Sandwich.
Celestia City exploded.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
“I don’t like him.”
“How much longer are you going to do this to yourself?”
Answer the phone.
Celestia City exploded.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall.
“I don’t like him.”
“I can’t help you.”
Celestia City exploded.
~~~
“I don’t like him.”
“I don’t like him.”
“I don’t like him.”
Something in Allure’s mind turned on. Who is him? For the first time in an innumerable number of loops, she registered the burnt juice in front of her.
Skarn. She doesn’t like Skarn.
Who is Skarn?
“Minna? Who is Skarn?” Allure asked.
“Skarn the Shaper,” Minna said. “New guy in the multiverse. Just made contact with us. I don’t like him.”
“Why not?”
“Dunno.”
Blumiere is going to have a meeting with his daughter, Brell…
Allure’s mind fully activated. “I… I have an idea.”
Minna blinked. “You do?”
“Yes! I do! Minna, uh… I have to go, make yourself breakfast with anything you want!”
“Anything?”
“Anything.” Allure smiled. “…And I’m sorry.”
“…For leaving?”
“…Yes,” Allure said, scrambling out the door.
Seskii was playing with a ping-pong paddle. “You’ve been in that headspace of yours a while.”
“Did… did I actually go insane?” Allure asked, still struggling to process everything again.
“Depends on your definition,” Seskii admitted. “You turned your mind off, best I can tell. But something in you wasn’t done quite yet, so it pushed its way out and turned the lights back on.”
“I never looked into Skarn,” Allure said. “I never looked into Brell. Didn’t even think about it.”
“And what if that’s not the answer?”
“If there was one thing I didn’t think about there’s bound to be others!” Allure said. “There’s a solution here! I know it!”
Seskii smiled. “You go girl. If you need anything, remember, I am here. Sorta. In a semi-aware meta way.”
“I’m not going to try to parse that right now!” Allure said with a dumb smile. “What I am going to do is go to the League of Sweetie Belles and then, later, get a recording of the meeting Blumiere went through. Since being perfect doesn’t matter… Let’s mix some stuff up.”
“Have fun.”
Allure ran off to the League of Sweetie Belles. She purposefully let the wet floor get her and make her fall on Squeaky.
She waggled her eyebrows. “Hey there.”
Squeaky rolled her eyes. “Allure, just get o-”
Allure pressed her face to Squeaky’s, forcing her to stop mid-sentence. When she removed herself ten seconds later, she had a mischievous grin on her face. “You. Me. Dinner. Eight. Be there.”
Squeaky blushed profusely. “O-okay,” she whispered.
Allure leaped off of her and went to man the phones. Of course everything resets before eight, so I won’t have to deal with that later. Not to mention I just broke the ‘no dating yourself’ policy in a public place… I should probably avoid Suzie for the rest of the day. Still, it was pretty sweet to see Squeaky’s face like that. I’ve never seen her that flustered.
She sat down in front of the phone and leaned into her hoof. She had a while before Blumiere was done – might as well enjoy this.
The phone rang.
“Hello, this is Playpony magazine, you’re our 100th caller of the-”
The other side hung up.
Allure rubbed her hooves together. This was gonna be good…
The phone rang again.
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid you have the wrong number, because this number doesn’t exist.” She hung up. Then she snickered.
Screw all these people. She already spent all her energy making their lives perfect.
She was done with that.
~~~
Allure sat with Blumiere, watching the recording of his discussion with Brell. A shadow being in a top hat and a feminine anthropomorphic bear talking politics. It was boring.
Allure had learned a few things from watching it though.
Skarn the Shaper called his nation the Congeries. He had three kids. His society was built around an appreciation of art on a grand scale.
Otherwise everything was useless. Nothing about messing with time, loops, or anything that could have been causing her predicament.
“Are you sure there’s absolutely nothing here?” Allure asked. “Did she have time to do anything else while she was here?”
“She never left places cameras could see her,” Blumiere said. “And she showed no hostile intent. She’s also gone, so she couldn’t have done anything at the time Celestia City explodes. I’ll call you if I get word that she or any of Skarn’s have come back, but I don’t think there will be.”
“Did any problems occur in the meeting? Something I might try to… fix?”
Blumiere shook his head. “Everything went fine. Better than it usually goes, to be honest.”
Allure sighed. “Thanks anyway. Guess I’ll have to think of something else…”
~~~
Allure actually captured Brell and forced her to talk with truth serum before admitting Skarn had nothing to do with what was happening. Allure let Brell kill her in rage to end that particular loop.
She scraped her horn on the wall. She did a double backflip off the bed and onto the floor. “TEN OUTTA TEN! THE CROWD GOES WILD!” She created her own cheering noise with her hooves cupped to her mouth. She stretched her legs and walked out.
“I don’t like him.”
“Well, he isn’t a problem,” Allure commented. Then she stopped for a moment, turning to look at Minna. “…Minna, come here.”
Minna walked up to Allure, eyes concerned. “Yes, Mom?”
Allure put her hooves on Minna’s shoulders. “Minna, answer me honestly. Did you have anything to do with this?”
“No,” Minna said, absolute certainty in her voice.
Allure smiled. “Thank you. You can make breakfast today.” She rubbed the back of her head, more than glad that Minna had answered in her ‘I know things’ voice, expelling all of Allure’s doubt. She also felt more than a little ashamed she had suspected her own daughter for even a minute.
They had breakfast and then Allure went outside.
“Dead end?” Seskii asked.
“You know it is,” Allure said, leaning on the top of the stand. “Seskii, what else do I have besides wait at this point?”
“I don’t know,” Seskii said. “I do know that if you’re resolving yourself to wait it out, you have to work to keep yourself sane.”
“I can talk to you. You aren’t just a dialogue tree for me to exhaust.”
Seskii smirked. “True. But I can’t be someone intimate enough to make up for an entire life. I am sorry.”
Allure nodded. “Yeah. Not what I’m looking for, anyway. But what do I do? There’s nothing to save, and running the perfect loop every time would just be utterly exhausting.”
“Try something new,” Seskii suggested.
“…I never did learn how to crochet. Or professionally sing anything.”
“There, you can try those things. Get excellent at singing, crocheting, anything you want. You have all the time in the world. Improve yourself with it.”
Allure grinned. “That’s… a great idea! And if I think of a new angle while exploring every part of this City, I’ll act on it. If not… there’s enough variety in this City alone to keep me occupied for decades. And then there’s the planet of Inchari Libera if I run out there. Or the rest of this universe’s space!” Allure spread her hooves. “Why in the name of the Tower was I staying in my life this whole time when I could have been going anywhere?”
“Why indeed?” Seskii asked.
~~~
Allure was doomed never to be good at magic – that was her curse.
Allure also made a conscious choice never to carry weapons. She wanted to appear friendly and comforting at all times to help diffuse a situation, which was why her fighting style became that of a martial artist who used small amounts of magic to enhance the motion of her limbs.
But there was one power of hers she had yet to even try to master.
That of the Knight of Heart.
There were only two Heart players she could access – the Meulins, who were Mages of Heart and not very useful in the powers department, and the Nepetas, Rogues of Heart.
She found the only god-tier Nepeta Skaian in Celestia City and bowed. “Teach me.”
“…Mew? What?”
“Teach me,” Allure said. “I am the Knight of Heart, and I wish to know what I can do.”
Nepeta blinked. “Well I’m not sure how much I can teach you…”
A glint appeared in Allure’s eyes. “Trust me. You’re better than you think you are.”
~~~
“Why did mew need me to teach mew anything!?” Nepeta blurted. “Mew’re not even a god-tier and mew can beat me with mewr mewstery over mewr powers!
“I’m stuck in a time loop,” Allure said, smirking. “I’m also a Knight – more suited for combat than a Rogue. All you can do is move things around between people. As you’ve seen, I can attack with my very soul. I’m going to go find a Stand user, see what this does against them. Wanna watch?”
Nepeta blinked. “…Sure!”
It didn’t take long at all for them to find a Stand user. A man named Okuyasu stepped up to the challenge. “The Hand will wipe anything away into the void!”
Allure smirked. She could definitely see his Stand now. Not as another Stand user would, with colors and features, but as an extension of his soul.
This poor sap was going to be in for a surprise.
Allure allowed Okuyasu to make the first move. “ZA HANDO!” he shouted, erasing space between them with his Stand. He pulled the Hand’s arm back, preparing a punch.
Allure caught the punch with her soul, an energy Okuyasu could not see for it had no appearance – but an energy that could definitely affect a Stand. Allure crushed the Hand’s hand, breaking Okuyasu’s own. “N-NANI!?”
And then Allure pulled her dirty trick. As the Knight of Heart, it was not just her own soul she could manipulate in combat.
The Hand turned around and, with its free hand, punched its master in the face. The shock to Okuyasu forced him to recall the Stand. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Allure smirked. “Gotcha.” Who needed to have god-tier level control when a little bit of precision could go a long way?
Nepeta applauded. “Mewmew! Go Allure!”
~~~
“And the winner of today’s bake-off is… Allure Belle with her saffron chowder!”
Allure bowed, grinning like a filly.
~~~
Allure placed a computer on the desk in front of the CEO of PlusTech, the largest tech company on Celestia City. “I designed this game from the ground up in four hours. Hire me.”
The CEO blinked. “Four hours!? If you have proof-”
“Everything was videoed,” Allure said. “Start to finish. No cheating.” Woke up, decided to do it. Victory at programming.
“Assuming this checks out, you are hired!”
“Good to know!” Allure said.
~~~
A Rarity walked into Allure’s fashion studio. “…My word… all these outfits are gorgeous!”
Allure beamed. “I had a lot of practice. Been keeping these hidden for a while. But I think it’s finally time to make myself known to the fashion world.”
“I’ll get these out on the runway stat!”
~~~
Allure stared at her computer, eyes focused on the text that was flying by on the screen. She had bothered to learn a ‘reading comprehension improvement’ spell to make what she was doing more worthwhile.
“Mom? What are you doing in there?” Minna asked.
“Reading all of Wikipedia.”
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
“Have you been hanging around Vriska?”
Allure blinked. “No, actually.”
~~~
“Hello, my name is Allure Belle. Can I say that I wasn’t expecting to give a lecture at Celestia University when I woke up this morning! But, well, seeing as Professor Hale is sick, I’ll be taking over. Today we’re talking about the underlying quantum state that links magical systems to the physical matter of universes…”
~~~
Lyra wailed. “Bon Bon, we’re lost! Completely lost!”
“Don’t worry, we’re not completely lost, we’re still in Celestia City,” Bon Bon gulped. “I’m sure if we keep walking we’ll find our way out.”
“No ye won’t…” Allure said in her best creepy voice – which she had gotten really good at over time. “But I can tell ye how to get out of here… See, that way lies the ol’ sawmills that might activate and chop ye up, but over thar lies a stairway to Sector U-J, which specializes in peppermint candies and other sweets.”
Lyra grinned. ”Thank you, miss!”
“It’s my pleasarrr,” Allure said, dialing the hamminess to eleven. “I can also tell ya the life stories of almost every single person in that sector, if y’ want.”
“...No thank you,” Bon Bon said.
“Suit yerself. Yer passin’ up access to the most knowledgeable pony in Celestia City.” Allure was pretty sure she wasn’t exaggerating.
“…Lyra, lets go.”
“Aw but I like the creepy little unicorn!”
“DID YE JUST CALL ME LITTLE!?”
The two mares ran off in a panic.
Allure chuckled.
~~~
Allure walked in the front doors of one of Celestia City’s many technical workshops. The things were common since Merodi Universalis actively promoted scientific research and experimentation in virtually all ethical forms, and many people were of the mind that you could never know enough given the variety in the multiverse.
There were full-blown laboratory productions elsewhere in Celestia City’s streets, but Allure wasn’t here for a team. She had come to a personal tinker-shop to see one particular individual she knew could help her.
Allure had come with a very specific purpose in mind.
She trotted up a large, dead mech from Galaxus Immaterium that had been gutted. At the top was a small woman in a white armored suit with green highlights. She was sleeping on a high-end toolbox, somehow oblivious to the cold hard metal pressed against her face.
Allure cleared her throat. “Ahem.”
The woman shot bolt upright, her round glasses flying off her face. Allure caught them with her magic and raised an eyebrow.
“Uh… thanks.” The woman put her glasses back on and tried to get her unruly brown hair to stop sticking straight up in the air. “So, Allure right? What can I do for you?”
“Technician Pidge, I need you to make me a giant mecha within four hours.”
Pidge blinked. “What?”
“I decided I wanted a giant mecha, and after some digging-” Several loops of digging… “-I found that you are the best expert on those things in Celestia City.”
“You? Came looking for me?” Pidge blinked. “Wow, just, uh…” Pidge rubbed the back of her head. “I’ve been alone here almost ever since I arrived, I was beginning to think my work wasn’t appreciated.”
“You don’t put yourself out there. Or make yourself easy to find…” Allure observed. “Tell you what, if you can get me this Mech, I’ll direct you to Expeditions or Research. I hear Renee’s looking for a new primary technician for the castle.”
Pidge blinked. “I mean, thanks, but I don’t know, I have a lot of work here… The capacitor network I’m working on right now, for instance, coul-”
“You’re bored,” Allure said, smirking knowingly. “I bet you secretly miss what you used to do. You had a mech of your own, flying around, saving the universe. I’m sure as an Expeditions Technician you’d get to do that again, with a new team.”
Pidge looked into the distance, forlorn.
“Hey, trust me, you’ll like working for Renee. She’s great. And you could get access to the Map. Bet you’d like to know how that works!”
“I would… I have several working theories involving the connections of the Tree of Harmony to the ka-slash-fate signatures of those chosen, but that’s outside my field of expertise…”
“Who says it couldn’t turn into your field of expertise?”
Pidge smirked. “Heh. All right, fine, I’ll take your offer. One mech in four hours? I can’t do that by myself. I hope you’re ready to get very, very dirty.” She rubbed her hands together. “This is going to need a lot of Pidge’s secret special gear oil…”
And so they set to work. using all the parts Pidge had available to create the most haphazardly slapped together mech of all time. Three hours later, they had a result. It wasn't pretty - two legs of different sizes, an arm without any sort of covering, and no head to speak of. But it moved. Allure laughed from the open cockpit. “Look at me! Woo-hoo! Awesome”
Pidge adjusted her glasses. “That leg will give out after less than an hour of work, the weapons will tear the arm off as soon as they fire, you definitely don’t have enough hydraulic fluid, this thing is going to rust the moment someone even breathes on it, and that sword isn’t even sharp.” She grinned. “But otherwise, yeah, awesome.”
“Eh, I only need it for… a little over an hour! It’ll work that long right?”
“So long as you don’t try firing any weapons. Or flying. Or, really, doing anything other than walk.” Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Why only an hour? We had four hours to build the thing, that’s exactly as much time as you gave me…”
“Oh, I’m stuck in a time loop.”
Pidge’s eyes widened. “That’s how you kn… How does the loop work? What caused it? How many loops have you gone through? Is it due to the quantum entanglement of time states? Do we have a personal temporal connection? What’s the exotic tachyon concent-”
“Maybe you’ll be able to tell me once I get out!” Allure said. She winked and ran out of the warehouse with the mech.
“HEY! GET BACK HERE! I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS!”
You’ll do just fine at Renee’s. Allure made a note in her mind. She should offer Pidge that job once she was out. Forgetting simply wouldn’t do.
But now, she needed to have fun with this mech.
“AHAHAAH!” She fired the weapons at a wall. Her arm flew right off.
“...Huh. Guess she wasn’t joking.” She smirked. “This’ll be a fun challenge…”
~~~
“So, I think I’ve been everything. Griffon, dragon, Skaian, Gem, Ga, carapacian, consort, human, troll, dog…”
“Stallion?” Seskii asked.
Allure flushed brightly. “Uh… Yes. Once. Never again.”
“Not going to tell me about it?”
“No.”
~~~
Allure walked up to the microphone and cleared her throat. “I wrote this song recently. It might not make sense to a lot of you, but it comes deep from the heart. I’ve titled it ‘The Allure of Time’. A bit cheesy, but I think it fits.” She took in a deep breath and began to sing.
“We always talk ‘bout how we need more time,
To ensure that our lives will turn out fine.
We fret and worry, wishing for the clock,
To slow the boat ever nearer our dock.
But time is a beautiful thing in truth.
The fact that it passes is quite divine.
We all wish for the lost days of our youth.
But if we were still young, it would confine.
If the children don’t grow, cursed are we.
If we do not change, we won’t drop our knives.
If the old do not die, none feel their lives.
If time does not pass…
Then what are we?”
She fell silent. She was unsure what they would think – she said some things that would make Merodi uncomfortable. Challenging the beauty of Corona’s immortality serum… Attacking those who wished to bend time… It was going to hurt some people.
But she loved the song. Of all the things she had done in these loops, it was the thing she was most proud of.
The fact that the crowd erupted into applause did nothing to change her opinion of herself or her music.
She saw Minna, Seskii, and Nae in the audience, clapping as well.
Their clapping made her feel better.
~~~
One loop, Allure woke up in a particularly foul mood. She didn’t know why – she had been enjoying herself before the last loop ended, having taken a ship into deep space and found a black hole eating another black hole.
But something about the horn scraping the wall set her on edge. The flopping out of the bed didn’t help either. It irked her considerably to be in the situation she was in, and she stormed out of her room in a huff.
“I don’t like him,” Minna said.
Allure lashed out. “DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE!?” Her spirit lashed across the room, tearing into Minna.
In an instant, the girl’s soul was ripped from her body. It was somehow weaker than all other souls Allure had encountered. She slumped to the ground, dead.
“W-wh-wh…” Allure ran to Minna, touching her with her hoof. “Minna?” She reached out with her Knight of Heart powers, looking for Minna’s soul, but she found nothing to latch onto. It was like it just dissipated as soon as it left.
That’s not how that is supposed to work. Souls always want to go back to their body. They seek it out. Even children don’t have souls that weak…
“Minna…” Allure said, tears in her eyes. “M-minn…” Allure choked down her tears, pulling out her phone. “T-thrackerzod?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m in… A… Time loop. I need to be r-reset. C-come and kill me.”
“…Okay.”
Allure moved over to Minna, stroking her hair. “There there… I’ll be back with you soon…”
Thrackerzod appeared and saw the scene. She grimaced. “Oh…”
“Just do it. It’ll be over quick.”
Thrackerzod didn’t move.
“…Thrackerzod?”
“Allure… I’m not sure if you’re telling the truth about the time loop.”
“IF I WAS GOING TO KILL MYSELF I’D GO FIND A BRIDGE!” Allure shouted.
Thrackerzod glared. “I’m sorry, I-”
Allure ran outside. “SESKII!”
Seskii sighed. “One death potion, coming right up…”
Thrackerzod teleported outside, between Allure and Seskii. “I can’t let you go over there.”
“Look into my mind, Thrackerzod!” Allure shouted. “I. Want. To. Go. Back. To. Minna! I don’t want to be in this loop anymore!”
Thrackerzod did – and she pulled back, surprised. “How… how long…?”
“I don’t know,” Allure said. “I don’t know. Just… Just reset me. Please.”
Thrackerzod took a breath – and vaporized Allure.
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall. There were tears in her eyes.
She could feel it. The encroaching feeling of hopelessness. It was coming back.
She struggled – falling out of the bed onto her stomach.
Allure told herself she would fight it. That she would resist the urge to just go through the motions.
Her body didn’t listen to a thing her mind was saying.
“I don’t like him.”
Allure said some things back to Minna, but she didn’t listen to them. She burned the pancakes and cried out in fear, but it didn’t really register with her. She freaked out about the burnt juice, except that was only on the outside.
She stepped out the door.
“Hey, watch yourself, okay?” Seskii said.
Allure nodded. She tripped over herself as she walked to the League of Sweetie Belles. She entered the doors and slipped on the floors, landing on Squeaky. They exchanged some words – the standard words – as Allure went to the phones.
She talked to Jade normally enough while she performed her duties. Jade didn’t notice anything off about her. Allure didn’t notice anything off about herself either. She completed her shift and went to the break room.
She ignored the arguing Sweeties. She opened the fridge, only to see flies on the ice cream. She sighed, moving to take a sandwich. Then she noticed the news report.
“The Ga of Inchari Libera have begun to riot outside the Mayor’s residence. As of this report their intents are unknown, but it is expected the demonstrating group is protesting to Inchari Libera’s application to join Merodi Universalis…”
She got an idea.
Have I ever done it the exact same way I did it the first time? Have I ever told Jade to take us there again?
No. No I haven’t.
“Hey, Jade,” Allure said. “I think we should go over there and help. You can teleport, right?”
“…You guys didn’t tell me the Ga were Gardevoirs.”
“What?”
“From the Pokémon games.” She pointed at the news feed.
“Huh, really? I always thought they were a variant of Seskii’s race or something – but as Seskii will tell you, she’s a humble potion seller.” Allure smirked. “That’s not the point. Just teleport us there.”
Jade did. They appeared on the front steps of Blumiere’s house, right in front of a riot of Ga. It was the exact size Allure remembered.
Thrackerzod was the only one there, using an eldritch wall to keep them back.
“Where are the other Sweeties?” Allure asked, even though she knew. She was just playing along, intentionally now.
“I don’t have any idea,” Thrackerzod muttered. “All I know is that I’ve got th-” One of the Ga used a psychic power to punch Thrackerzod from the other side of the barrier, tossing her to the side with surprising ease.
“CHARGE!” Utar shouted, rushing forward.
Allure readied herself to knock Utar down. She didn’t get the opportunity – Blumiere stepped out the front doors of his home, dark energy billowing off his back. “What is the meaning o-”
Gunfire rang out. The Ga in the riot quickly forgot their anger and started scrambling to protect themselves from the shots. Blumiere easily defended himself using dark magic, while Jade’s ghost body couldn’t take any permanent damage unless one of the bullets hit her reality bracelet.
Allure, however, took one to the leg. She yelled out in pain – but she was more annoyed by the fact this had to happen than from actually suffering the wound. “This is stupid,” she muttered, limping backward.
A psychic blast from Nae sent her flying into the air. Allure locked eyes with her, giving her once-friend a soft smile.
Nae looked at Allure in confusion, using her free hand to keep Allure in front of her. “…Who…?”
And then all of Celestia City exploded. A white light shot out of the center of the Merodi’s pride, tearing the ground beneath them to shreds. Allure was aware enough to feel the white light burning her skin away.
And then she felt something else in the whiteness. Something else here – something she had a connection to. A soul. A powerful soul that was screaming in the whiteness just like her.
She used her Knight of Heart powers to grab onto the soul. “WHO ARE YOU!?” she shouted with her soul, seeing as her body was pretty much gone at this point.
“ARADIA.”
~~~
Allure scraped her horn against the wall, but maintained her focus despite of it. She could feel the soul that had come back with her still in her grasp. She wasn’t going to let it – the Aradia – go. She slowly sat up and looked at the foot of her bed.
One of the Skaian Aradiabots was there, staring at her with intent eyes. She spoke with a monotone. “I thank you for freeing me from that endless existence of fiery pain.”
Allure blinked. “You… You were causing the loops!?”
“Correct. When the surge hit my systems, my control over Time faltered. You were the closest entity of power to me at the time of the explosion. It latched onto you and decided, by pure luck, that you would remember every time a loop occurred. If that had not happened I would have been trapped forever.”
“Are… Are the loops done?”
“Yes. They are done.”
Allure grinned – then her grin fell. “There are things I have to do.” She scrambled into the next room.
“I don’t like him,” Minna said.
Allure hugged her daughter. “I know. He’s a big mystery. You can make breakfast today – use anything in the house you want.”
“Anything?”
Allure thought for a moment – could she really do this when there were consequences involved? …Yes. Yes she could. “Anything.”
“Who’s the robot ghost?”
“This is Aradia. She’s the reason I need to make a lot of calls. …Actually…” Allure poked her head out her front door. “HEY SESKII! CAN I BUY A SKAIAN GHOST RING!?”
Seskii smiled. “Sure thing!”
Allure ran out, dragging the Aradiabot with her. She quickly paid for the bracelet and put it on the Skaian, ensuring she wouldn’t just vanish as soon as Allure dropped her control over Heart. “There you are… good as new!”
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” she said.
Allure took a breath. “So, you have full control over time again?”
“Yes. But the loop needs to complete one final time before I want to risk using it.”
“Right, right…” Allure bit her lip.
“Considering the perfect run?” Seskii asked.
“Yes. But… I don’t think I’m going to do that. A lot of things about the perfect run were superficial. Cookie-cutter perfect, almost childish.” She shook her head. “There are some things I need to do. Ensuring the League of Sweetie Belles answers every phone call for a day isn’t one of them.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
Allure pulled out her phone. “Hey Thrackerzod, I got a couple of books we need to steal…”
~~~
The loop Allure chose was almost identical to the one where she first stopped Celestia City from exploding. She opted not to interfere with the riot at all – it needed to happen so Blumiere was made aware of the unrest in the Ga. She doubted it would change their inclusion in Merodi Universalis, but it would raise awareness at least.
Thrackerzod and Allure stole the Prognostici, gave them to Nae, and then put them back in the chest without Blumiere knowing. Allure never wanted to have her memories of the books wiped. She’d never let Blumiere know she knew. As far as she was concerned, the information did not need to leave her, Zod, and Nae.
She spent the rest of the day with Nae and Zod. Allure wanted to make sure her friendship with Nae would be solidified after this was all over. It was one of the few things she felt she truly gained from this whole debacle. So she took her out to lunch with Zod again.
Nae, Thrackerzod, and Allure stood in the League of Sweetie Belles, staring at a clock again. 12:03. Jade and the Aradiabot were with them this time.
“…What are you girls doing?” Squeaky asked.
“Staring at a clock,” Thrackerzod deadpanned.
“Uh-huh. Allure, I needed you on the phones.”
Allure didn’t shift her gaze. “Squeaky, I’ve been stuck in a time loop for Celestia knows how long, and I’m finally sure I’m getting out. Please, don’t ruin the moment.”
“…Okay.”
“We’ve been in a time loop!?” the dark Sweetie known as Nira shouted, stopping her and Suzie from walking across the League. “How much time have we been wasting!?”
“Noooo idea,” Allure chuckled, dismissing the dark mage. Suzie managed to drag her away without too much of a fuss.
A handful of seconds later, it hit 12:04.
There was no explosion.
“YES!” Nae cheered. “WE WON!”
Allure waited a couple seconds before letting out a contented sigh. “It’s over.”
She pulled out her dimensional device and dialed the Gem Vein. An actual universe appeared on the other side.
The loops were over. She beamed brightly.
The emotions went straight to her head and she fainted.
~~~
Allure woke up in a hospital bed. Her horn did not scratch a wall.
“…I’m actually out…” Allure muttered.
Renee put a hoof on Allure’s head. “Yes. Yes you are. …Finally.”
Allure opened her eyes. “How long was I out?”
“You mean from the fainting? A couple hours. Trapped in that time loop? …I haven’t seen you in over a year.”
Allure let out a bitter laugh. “I can tell you right now I’ve been in there a lot longer than that. You don’t learn the secrets of almost every person in Celestia City in just a year.”
Tears came to Renee’s eyes. “I’m… so sorry…”
“Yeah… It sucks. I’m not going to be the same.” She let out a slow breath. “I went insane, Renee. I was gone. If it wasn’t for Minna, I… I don’t think I would have come out.”
Renee pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay now. You’re free. And you’re not lost in your mind.”
Allure smiled. “That’s right. I can also design clothes better than you now.”
“Wh-”
“Or at least the Rarity I could find,” Allure muttered. “Sorry, sorry, now’s not the time to brag.”
“I would say not!”
Allure chuckled, sitting up. “…I’m going to sell my bed and get me something completely different. A hammock, maybe. I’m sick of the way it feels. This is… a nice change.”
Renee smiled. “Whatever you want.”
“Oh, by the way, before I forget, you still looking for a Technician?”
“...Actually, yes, the last year has been… disastrous in that department.”
“Technician Pidge. She’s in Celestia City. She’ll do great.”
“I’ll go check her out as soon as I’m done here.”
Allure nodded, smiling contentedly. “…Is Minna here?”
“Right outside,” Renee said, opening the door. Minna came in, riding on Frigid – a stallion clearly a year older than when Allure had last seen him. She worried for a moment that it would strain the friendship between Minna and Frigid, but she remembered that ponies aged slower than humans. If it did anything, it evened them out. “Minna…”
Minna jumped off Frigid and into Allure’s hooves. She said nothing – she didn’t need to. The mother and daughter just held each other, as they had so many times before.
Eventually, the embrace was broken. Allure noticed Nae standing at the foot of her bed.
“Renee, this is Nae. You should employ her as well, as an Agent.”
Renee blinked. “Allure, Inchari Libera has-”
“You should employ her, Renee. Regardless of if Inchari Libera ends up joining or not.”
Renee looked at Nae with scrutiny. Then she smiled. “That’s good enough for me. Welcome to the party, if that’s what you want.”
Nae stared at Renee dumbfounded. “I… I think so.”
“Good.”
“Can I just talk with Nae for a moment?” Allure asked.
Renee nodded, shuffling everyone out of the room.
“…What does ‘Indigenous Propaganda’ mean?”
Nae smiled softly. “It was the last thing my lover said to me, whispered in my ear one night, barely remembered. War broke out the next day. It… It got me where I am today. The idea that our own society tries to convince itself of things, but the society itself is controlled by things they can’t understand. It’s… a complicated idea. Why I originally joined Sights Unseen… And why I betrayed it in the end.”
Allure nodded. “Nice to finally know… that’s been bugging me.”
“You could have asked. I probably would have told you.”
“Didn’t feel right until now,” Allure said. “Glad to have you here.”
“…And here I stand at a disadvantage. I barely know you. But you seem to know everything about me.”
“Give it time,” Allure said. “Just give it time. That’s a thing we actually have, now.”
Nae smiled. “I guess so.”
~~~
Pinkie found Seskii’s potion stand outside the hidden pub. “Hiya!”
“Hey,” Seskii said, waving.
“So, question, how come you got to be the ‘knower’ instead of me this time?”
Seskii shrugged. “I was there. You weren’t.”
Pinkie furrowed her brow. “Just chance?”
Seskii smirked. “Eh, I was more mysterious. Needed a role in this arc. Finally was fed up with being a backgrounder, even though that’s probably what I’m going back to.”
Pinkie giggled. “You were probably the better choice. More grounded than me by a looooooot.”
“You are rather off the walls. But I enjoy a good party too.”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Allure’s going to keep thinking back to that day with mixed feelings.”
“She needed to cut loose at the time. Sometimes we could stand to do the same.”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah…”
“So, what do you think about the future?”
“It’s sad. And cloudy,” Pinkie said, frowning.
“That’s all I’ve got too,” Seskii admitted. “Wonder if Twilence would be willing to shed some light on what the Rage is going to bring about...”
“No. She’s not ready for that yet.”
“Yeah…” Seskii rubbed the back of her head. “Want a potion?”
“DO I!?”
“Full price!”
“I have infinite doubloons.”
Seskii laughed. “That you do.”
Pinkie swiped the potion and paid for it. “G’night Seskii!”
Seskii nodded. “Good night.”
“And good night to all of you out there as well!” Pinkie declared. “Don’t go getting yourselves stuck in any time loops!”
Wise advice, wouldn’t you say?
I know I would.