//------------------------------// // Loops 18 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 18.1 Twilight grinned. “Do you like it?” Princess Celestia blinked in shock. “This is… I don’t even know what this is.” “Oh, that’s easy!” Twilight said. “I worked out exactly what you meant. I had to make some friends so that my plan for fighting back against Nightmare Moon would be safe!” Celestia looked at the padlocked fridge. “So…?” “So, this is my plan.” Twilight opened the door a crack, and grabbed at something with her telekinesis before slamming the door and repadlocking it in a trice. “Twilight… there is a Windigo on a leash in the room,” Celestia observed, beyond shock into a kind of glassy coolness. “Yep! That’s my plan.” Twilight held up the leash, easily corralling the thrashing monster with it. “It has double-code release authority – look, two leash handles!” “So your plan to deal with Nightmare Moon is…” “…to freeze her solid!” Twilight grinned earnestly. “It should be completely safe, my friends and I can do that whole friendship-blast thing from the Hearths Warming myth – we spent the whole afternoon practicing!” “…right.” “I call him Polaris!” A pink pony skidded into the room. “Isn’t he cute?” “Pinkie,” Twilight said with a groan. “Stop using puns that the Princess has no hope of possibly getting.” “But it’s a good pun!” Pinkie protested. “It’s totally high-brow satire! Look, he is a deterrent that would cause a winter and he’s called Polaris! Oh, oh! And just in case he does somehow get off his leash and decides to be a meany meany pants, Twilight here got Applejack and Rainbow these neat toasting forks to poke him with! Fire beats Ice!" "They’re not toasting forks, Pinkie…” Twilight said wearily. “They're tridents." "Hey,” Pinkie looked upset. “Why do you get to make puns if I can't?" "I don't know what you mean, Pinkie,” Twilight said loftily. “The Night Will Last Forever!” “So, then…” Twilight said, raising a hoof. Her other foreleg was still under the table. “Would you say you’re… angry at Princess Celestia?” “What?” Nightmare Moon laughed. “Anger does not even begin to encapsulate it!” “And you’re full of rage, pain and hatred?” “YES.” The alicorn stamped her hoof. “Y.E.S. I am angry. I am pained. I wish to make Celestia suffer on her sun for as long as I suffered on my moon, and then a thousand years more for every insult!” “Right.” Twilight nodded. “Rarity?” Rarity nodded. Together, they said, “Sic ‘em, boy!” And then there was a kind of howling roar and snow everywhere. When Nightmare Moon refocused, she was inside a comically large icecube and there was a thrashing monster being forced backwards by two tridents and a leash. Pinkie beamed. “Looks like you need to… chill off.” “YYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!” Everyone jumped. “What was that?” several voices asked. Twilight blinked. “…huh.” Discord petted the Windigo. “Oo’s a good boy? You are! You’re such an entropic little cutie, aren’t you?” The monster rolled over onto its back, tongue lolling out. “Can I keep him?” Discord pleaded. “I will hug him and call him Polaris and-” “Wait, why Polaris?” Dash asked. “That’s his name, duh.” Discord indicated the tag. “Huh. Was that Pinkie’s doing?” “Probably…” Twilight said. “Alright, if you’re good. But we might need him on occasion.” “You eat emotions?” Twilight said. “Interesting.” “Why?” Chrysalis asked. “Well, Discord’s pet invited friends over.” Twilight dove for cover. “What?” Chrysalis looked dumbfounded. Then there was a chill wind, as a thousand ghostly shapes came over the walls. “So, what happens next?” Pinkie asked over the howling and buzzing. “One side feeds on love, the other side feeds on hate… who wins?” “Us,” Twilight said with a certain smug air. “…yeah, this feels unfair.” The Crystal Empire promptly turned to ice. “Right,” Twilight nodded. “Let’s go remove the Sombricicle and get them thawed out again.” 18.2 Spike grinned. “Don’t worry, it’s safe. They have pegasi paralleling the jump, and they catch us if we’re too close for a safe open.” “So you said,” Rarity admitted, looking out the open bay door of Jack of all Trades. The airship’s engines were humming gently as they countered the wind, but otherwise holding them stationary over a plain south of Trottingham. “It’s the main reason you managed to talk me into this…” “Well,” Spike adjusted his parachute unnecessarily. “I do love this kind of thing, and you did say you wanted to see what I enjoyed. Just one jump, okay?” “I should hope so!” Rarity looked uncertain, then her resolve firmed. “Alright, I’m ready.” “Good.” Spike glanced over at the others – unicorns, earth ponies, even the odd pegasus with wings strapped or with wing injuries. Fellow thrill-seekers. Oh, he’d flown before – even if his ponderous flight as an adult dragon couldn’t compare to that one loop as a quicksilver pegasus – but somehow falling out of the sky was… more. At least he got a lot of fall time. They were high enough it would take something like two and a half minutes total to reach parachute-open time. “O-kay,” the jump master said. “On my count. Three. Two. One. Go!” Spike grinned, feeling the air rushing over his scales. Now this was what he called fun! There was a faint itch where his wings would be growing shortly… probably the instinctual reaction to being in the air. It was part of why he did this, really, the ability to get close to his species in a whole new way. Then he glanced over at Rarity, and saw something that worried him. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing fast. It was a moment’s half-formed thought for him to steer over to her and grab on. “Rarity! Are you alright?” “No,” Rarity said, her voice catching. “I… sorry, Spike, but… I…” “Don’t worry. You’re safe,” Spike reassured her. “You’re wearing a parachute. It’s at least another minute until we need to open them. This isn’t the Young Fliers’ competition.” He kept talking, pitching his voice low, talking without really caring what he was saying so long as it was reassuring. Rarity started sobbing, clinging to him as if to reassure herself that he was there. “Ten seconds,” one of the pegasi said, as she began to quieten down. “Are you two alright?” Spike nodded back, and pulled his cord. His extra-sized parachute bloomed overhead, jerking them both back “up” – really a simple slowdown – but they were still moving quite fast. He adjusted his grip on the white unicorn as the grassy field below rushed up, and bore the brunt of the ground impact with a suppressed shout of pain. “I’m so sorry.” Rarity shook her head. “I didn’t think I’d go to pieces like that.” “No problem,” Spike assured her, scratching a spot on his back. Dragon scales were tough – he’d only bruised. “Wasn’t your fault.” “But I feel like it is. That’s a weakness, and…” Rarity trailed off, blinking furiously. “I… deplore feeling weak.” Spike spread his arms. After a moment, Rarity shook her head. “No thank you, Spike. Later, I think… maybe yes. But… not now.” “Alright.” The dragon nodded. “Kinda makes sense, anyway. Cadence told me once that you often second-guess actions you take when you’re stressed… especially things to do with, er… relationships.” They sat there for a bit. “Tell you what,” he said, suddenly. “I’ll ask Twilight if we can have the Gala tickets next time. Have it to ourselves.” “Isn’t that terribly selfish?” Rarity asked. “Nah.” Spike shrugged. “Well, maybe a bit. But I am a dragon.” Rarity giggled. “The great dragon Spykoranuvellitar, no less!” Spike puffed out his chest, knowing full well that he looked absurd. “Who could begrudge two tickets for his hoard, especially since at the moment it consists of two autographed books, a piece of cheese, and a wind-up toaster?” “…pardon?” “Yeah,” Spike looked shifty. “If you’re a dragon, midnight snacking is kind of expensive.” This time Rarity’s giggles lasted longer, and she was smiling at the end of them. “Thank you, Spike. I feel better now.” “No problem.” Spike paused, wondering if he should risk bringing the matter up again. “Er… have you considered asking Princess Luna to help with that fear of yours?” “No, actually.” Rarity frowned. “That might be a good idea. Thank you for suggesting it, Spike.” “No problem,” he repeated. 18.3 “Girls?” Twilight said, and the five other Elements turned to her. “There’s somepony I’d like you to meet.” “Who is it?” Pinkie asked. “I like meeting new ponies!” She looked a bit dour for a second. “Especially since it’s been getting kinda rare…” By answer, Twilight stepped back from the door. “…hello,” Trixie said. “Tr- I understand that you are the Looping versions, then?” “Yep,” Applejack replied simply. “Then it is nice to meet you.” Trixie sketched a bow. “I understand that my… well, my normal self has acquitted herself less than well on a few occasions with you.” “Pretty much.” Dash nodded. “Does this mean you’re Looping too?” Trixie nodded, looking nervous. But she swallowed hard, and stood tall. Suddenly Applejack stepped forwards and took her hoof. “Then it’s nice to meet y’all. How long you been Loopin’?” “Oh. Er… only four so far.” Trixie waved a hoof. “I’m still rather new to all this.” “Full barrage, party close, immediate effect!” Pinkie said into a radio, and dove for cover. Trixie blinked. “What-” SPLUT. “Trixie does not even particularly like lime,” the unicorn said, treading icing. “What just happened?” “Oh, right.” Twilight shrugged. “I think Pinkie set up an autoloading party howitzer with voice activation earlier today. I don’t know why.” “Can you please teach Trixie two things?” At Twilight’s nod, Trixie continued. “First, that icing-walking spell you are using. It would be most useful.” “Sure.” Twilight nodded, hoisting the magician out of the impromptu torte. “And the second thing?” “How to subscribe to that party pony’s news letter.” Trixie’s eyes shone suddenly. “She thinks in a way that I find very interesting.” “…what have I done?” Twilight asked rhetorically. 18.4 “So, let me get this straight,” Spike said carefully. “I’m a pathetic excuse for a dragon because I was raised by ponies. Specifically, by a ‘namby pamby pony princess’.” Garble and his two bookends nodded. “Right. And you don’t know what kind of dragon I am?” “Like it matters!” the one on the left said. (Spike still couldn’t really tell them apart.) “Okay.” Spike nodded. “Got it. So, what’s your special power?” “Huh?” Garble said. “Why would we need special powers? We’re already, you know, dragons. Is this some pony thing?” “Oh.” Spike shrugged. “’cause one of the namby pamby pony princesses I know kinda helped to raise me. And she taught me three main things. Number one: how to read.” The teens looked singularly unimpressed. “Number two, how to make friends.” If anything, they got more apathetic. “And number three: How to do this.” Spike stretched, and went on stretching. There was a brief period of morphic confusion, and then he tapped a claw on the ground. Boom. Boom. Boom. “Kinda cool, huh?” he rumbled, now at least Wyrm in size. Luna opened her door. “Whom is knocking at this late hour?” Three dragons prostrated themselves on the floor in front of her door. “Teach us awesome stuff, pony princess!” She blinked. “…very well, then. You shall be inducted into my Night Guards, and thence be taught the ancient power of balefire. The flame that burns cold.” Meadowlark grinned beneath his wing. He’d just been thinking the Night Guard needed a bit more… oomph. 18.5 “…I can’t run this!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “It’s inconceivable! Incomprehensible!” “Why not?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s what happened.” “That’s as may be…” Diamond said, sighing. “But it would destroy the credibility of the paper if we printed it without evidence.” “We have credibility?” Sweetie asked. “Sssh,” Applebloom admonished her. “Ah well. I suppose we have a civic duty.” Diamond slid the copy over to the typesetter. “…pardon?” that colt asked, looking at the paper. “Princess Luna is the one ambushing ponies with tennis balls?” “Yeah,” Scootaloo said, shrugging. “I didn’t have time to take a photo before she saw me, though.” Princess Luna grinned as she read the headline. Luna-tic Princess? “Ah, I do so enjoy creating bizarre headlines… let’s see, what next?” Celestia spat her tea out. Moon used for advertisement! Is the Princess of the Night hard up for cash? She ran to the window and looked out. The slowly sinking satellite had the words Eat at Joe’s! written across it. “…hm. Well, not my problem.” Celestia firmly put a lid on the issue, and decided to leave things to Luna. Local pony breaks sound barrier! “That’s not a headline…” Twilight muttered. Then she read further. No, seriously, we mean she broke it. As in, nothing has gone supersonic since. “But…” the anchor blinked. “How? She’s not even Looping!” Pinkie Pie declares independence, establishes republic of Sugaria Guard captain caught with Celestia’s niece! Luna rules, Celestia drools! “Explain,” Twilight said flatly. “Alright…” Luna blushed. “I may have started bribing them.” 18.6 (The Bill, perhaps?) “…I don’t believe that scum like you could possibly exist! To betray your people, your family… you make me sick, and if I was the one in charge of sentencing you I’d have you in a hole so deep you’d have to tunnel up to Tartarus!” Someone knocked on the door. Inspector Dash stopped shouting, and moved away from the relieved criminal. “Ah, my shift’s up. I’ll get my partner to chat to you.” The door opened, and Dash slipped out. Inspector Gilda came in. “Yeah, Dash can be like that.” “Oh, I see!” The unicorn grinned. “This is good cop, bad cop! Well, it ain’t going to work!” Gilda grinned. “Yeah, you got it right. Except for one thing… Dash always was a softy.” The unicorn paled. “Yep. She was the good cop.” “Now that’s professional,” Twilight said critically. “No marks – not even real injuries – just a shave. And he did need one.” “Yep,” Dash replied, sitting down in the interrogation room. “Gils is good with those claws. Hell, I’ve seen her cut a feather in half – while it was falling.” “Oh,” Twilight held up a hoof. “…aaand he’s confessing. How long was that?” “Four minutes, seven seconds.” “Hmmm…” Chief Twilight Sparkle wrote it down. “Unusually resilient one, that one…” 18.7 “Hey, this is cool!” the alliteratively named Princess Pinkie Pie said, gazing around. “Discord’s in charge, right?” “Right now, yes.” Twilight nodded. “This is the Discordian era. I’m surprised your one of these got deferred by one loop, actually – probably it was because of that nice colt who Fluttershy helped. You know, the guy from Fenris.” “Yeah!” Pinkie nodded back. “Lemon Rush was so nice – well, except when someone threatened Fluttershy, anyway. So what happens now?” “Basically, we seal Discord and run Equestria.” Twilight frowned. “Which Elements do you want?” “This is the best job ever!” Pinkie said, beaming. “Where’d you get the idea of a Quaestor, anyway?” The brightly coloured robes shifted a little. “Rome,” Twilight replied. “I knew you’d enjoy that kind of thing, so I made it so there’s no weekends. Just about a hundred and eighty celebration days a year.” “All individually themed?” Pinkie’s eyes shone. “I certainly tried.” Twilight smiled, enjoying Pinkie’s obvious enjoyment of her new position. It had been tricky to work out how to divide their responsibilities, but this seemed to be working out fine. “Okay, Pinkie…” Twilight rubbed her temples. “What have we learned?” “Uhhh… oh! Mortals can’t cope with a blood sugar level in excess of eighty percent!” Pinkie said brightly. “…Okay, what things, plural, have we learned?” Pinkie frowned. “Don’t try to summon a daemonette outside the forty-kay loop, cuz it doesn’t work and I don’t run them any more. Don’t invite crocodiles to parties, at least not adult ones. And don’t bake a special caramel cake shaped like floor and then startle the dragon ambassador with a bursting-paper-bag gag, cuz if he breaths fire then the whole thing explodes.” “Right,” Twilight nodded. “That’s better. Now, I have to say, this is a new one on me for these Loops.” Both of them turned to look at Equestria below. “How long until the Elements let us go back down?” Pinkie asked. “Not sure.” Twilight shrugged. “I hope they can handle themselves down there.” She had to wonder why she’d been included in the lock out. Possibly it was because of the botched and overpowered daemonette summoning, which had instead finally produced a very confused Changeling in the instant before the explosion. “…okay, then.” Chrysalis looked around the smouldering crater. “Hmm… I wonder how much gratitude ponies would have for a nation of changelings that helped them rebuild their capital city?” “We’re back!” Pinkie shouted. “Now, who wants some chocolate?” “Me, please.” A Changeling hovered over and took one. “Very nice. Thank you.” Twilight blinked, watching the insectoid critter buzz off and go into a furniture shop. “What happened while we were gone?” “I dunno, but I like it!” Pinkie bounced into the air and stayed there, beating her wings. “Hey, look, free daily concerts!” “Oh, those must be so that Changelings can get their fill of love,” Twilight realized. “Well, we seem kind of superfluous. Shall we just go to the concert?” “Yay!” “Should have known,” Twilight muttered to herself. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash worked their bass and guitar respectively on stage. Applejack drummed away in the background, Rarity was doing rather well on piano, and as for the singers… “I'll give you all I've got to give If you say you love me too I may not have a lot to give But what I've got I'll give to you I don't care too much for money For money can't buy me love Can't buy me love Everybody tells me so Can't buy me love No, no, no, no!” Celestia and Luna sang together, trading off on alternate lines with the ease of long practice and longer association. “They’re really good!” Pinkie enthused. “Yeah,” Twilight said, nodding along. “Wonder if they’re going to even need the Elements…” 18.8 Hiccup looked around. “Toothless? Where did you go?” Seriously, he added over their telepathic link – courtesy of a Pern loop so long ago it felt like they’d never lacked that closer-than-brothers relationship, what happened to you? A purr came over the link, and a side-bleed of the dragon’s emotions. They were so strong – and so sleepy – that Hiccup nearly tripped. Hey, Hiccup, Toothless eventually said, in the telepathic equivalent of a lazy drawl, I defect. I’m working for this girl now. Hiccup finally reached the clearing he’d originally met Toothless in – all those loops ago. However, there was a girl there already with flowers in her hair… and a rather grumpy looking bunny on her shoulder. And she was scratching Toothless under his chin. “You’re a nice one, aren’t you? So this is your home loop?” Toothless nodded happily, begging for more scratches. “You must be Fluttershy, then?” Hiccup confirmed. “It’s been… whoo, a long time since I last met you guys. Bit more experience with the multiverse since?” “Yes, thanks.” Fluttershy Hofferson stroked Angel Bunny, who waved a carrot warningly at Toothless when he tried to sidle closer. “Twilight told us she met you a few times.” “Yeah…” Hiccup shrugged. “Strange thing, she tends to be my sister. Anyway, you seem to have subverted my dragon.” I’m not yours! Toothless replied huffily. We have a contractual relationship, remember. And there’s nothing in there precluding additional riders. “Yeah, yeah…” Hiccup said, stretching. “Man, I’ll miss Astrid, though. She’s a good girlfriend… if scary.” Fluttershy giggled. “All right. This is your home loop, so how does it work?” “Basically, we have to teach the village how to become dragon riders. Step one: catch your dragon.” Hiccup nodded towards Toothless. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, they’re suckers for fish, catnip, scritches or just generally anything that works on a cat. Or a dog.” I prefer to think of it as cats liking what Night Furies do. Toothless rolled over on his back. Speaking of which… Hiccup got up and gave his friend a rub. “They are kinda high maintenance at times, but if you get a dragon as a friend they’ll last you as long as you deserve. Longer, even.” “Okay…” Fluttershy got a speculative look in her eye. “I’ll see if I can find a dragon to befriend for myself.” “Should have guessed…” Hiccup shook his head, as the humanized pegasus gave a chin scratch to the latest in a relay of over four hundred dragons. One of the nadders tried to jump the queue, and an expertly aimed carrot from Angel sent him sprawling backwards to meekly retake his place. “This is going to look bad at the exam…” “Hi, I’m Astrid. The name means beautiful, which I am, and these are my animal friends.” The pegasus gave a sweet smile. “They like me.” Stormfly nodded enthusiastically. The manticore, hydra, cockatrice and ursa major exchanged glances, felt their bruises and decided to play along. “…well, that suggests a way of dealing with Nightmare Moon,” Twilight said. “Er… what’s with the axe?” “It helps me be friendly,” Astrid said. 18.9 “Twilight.” Twilight stepped into the audience chamber, half her mind on what she planned to do to handle Sombra this time around. The idea of getting him into an eating contest with Spike seemed to be a fun one… Celestia looked her in the eye. “Twilight Sparkle. You are to take your friends, the Elements, your brother, his wife, my sister, half the army, as many large monsters as you can obtain, and Trixie Lulamoon, and beat self-styled King Sombra like a test your strength machine.” The anchor’s thoughts swerved wildly, as Celestia went off-script. “Er… pardon?” “Did I stutter?” Celestia frowned. “No, you’re right. Also take the Wonderbolts, a regiment of expeditionary forces from the Griffins, every dragon we have treaties with and, if necessary or desired, an asteroid strike.” “…wait, are you Looping?” Twilight asked. Celestia looked grave for a moment. Then sniggered. After a game attempt to recover her composure, she finally burst out laughing. “Got you!” Twilight shook her head, a grin stealing over it. “You did that.” 18.10 (C.S.) (by Zulaq) It was another regular base loop for Twilight, and she was playing it as the first time, because she had a new plan in mind for dealing with Discord. She had just finished finding the information on Nightmare Moon’s imminent return and sending her letter to Celestia. 5…4…3…2…1… Spike burped up a scroll. Twilight listened with only half an ear as Spike started reading, “My dearest, most faithful student Twilight, please come to my chambers immediately.” Spike dropped the letter with a gasp, “Wow, she must be really concerned about this Mare in the Moon thing. Don’t you think Twilight?” Twilight didn’t respond, as she thought about what the summons meant. If Celestia was awake then she’d have to change some of her plans, but then again, loops with just her and the princess could be fun. Turning to Spike, she spoke, “Don’t worry, Spike. I’m sure the princess is just wants to confirm my findings. I’ll go see her right away.” “Wait,” Twilight asked incredulously, “you’re telling me somepony’s stolen the Moon!?” Celestia definitely wasn’t awake, but Twilight had no clue what was going on. Maybe Luna was awake, and was messing with her sister again? “Yes,” Celestia stated gravely, “Two hours ago, I noticed was no longer under my power. I attempted to ascertain its status, and my spells say it’s not where it should be. The only clue that came up was this.” She lifted green metal curved band, with seven spikes jutting out of it. Curious, Twilight used her magic to bring the object to her for a closer examination. “It appears to be a tiara. Albeit, a rather uncomfortable one,” she mused, “It’s made of copper, the green is just oxidation. This definitely reminds me of something. But what?” She thought for a moment, before her eyes widened in realization, “It’s a miniature of the crown on top of the Statue of Leighberty in Manehatten!” Celestia looks relived for a moment, before donning a resolute face. “Twilight, I want you to go to Manehatten and investigate the Statue of Leighberty. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find some more clues there.” “Wait a minute,” Twilight protested, “Shouldn’t the guards handle this, maybe the police? Or even you, I mean whoever did this was strong enough to steal the moon!” “I’m afraid that won’t work,” Celestia sighed, “I cannot inform anypony else. If the people were to learn that the moon is missing, panic might ensue. I cannot go myself, because I’d attract far too much attention, and arranging royal visits is an extremely involved process that we just don’t have the time for.” She sighed again, “Fortunately, even though it’s not the longest day of the year yet, days are still far longer than normal this time of year, so it’ll be most of the day before I have to raise the moon. I might be able to buy some more time, pretend I’m keeping the sun up a bit longer than normal due to some unusual solar activity I want to observe, or some such, but I have to be here in Canterlot to do it.” “I guess I understand,” Twilight replied, “But how am I going to get to Manehatten in time?” “I’m going to teleport you there directly,” Celestia stated, with her horn beginning to glow, “So good luck, Twilight Sparkle!” In a flash of light, Twilight disappeared. Twilight Sparkle appeared in a burst of light and shook her head. That was not a normal teleport, she thought to herself. It felt almost as if moving through a tunnel, which had screens on it showing various scenes from around Equestria, instead of the instantaneous transportation she was used to. But Twilight had no time to contemplate the strange teleport, as the scene before her stunned her. She was standing at the base of the Statue of Leighberty, and far above her, she can see twelve grey and red pegasi securing ropes to the crown atop the statue’s head. Quick to act, Twilight teleported herself to the statue’s head herself. Thankfully, teleporting under her own power seemed normal, and Twilight arrived only to find an even stranger scene than she thought. The twelve pegasi were still fliting about, attaching ropes, but there were also five other ponies on the roof. Four were grey and red unicorns, using magic to cut the metal of the tiara away from the rest of the statue using magic. But the fifth was the strangest, a mare wearing a huge red fedora, a long yellow scarf and a red greatcoat, which covered almost all of her body aside from her head and long black mane. Twilight wasn’t certain what type of pony she was, given her clothes covered up the areas where wings or a horn might be. The strangely dressed mare was the first to notice Twilight’s presence. She turned to face Twilight, and smiled. “So the Princess figured out my clue did she?” she spoke, with a faint smile on her face, “But then again, it was such a simple clue. And who does she send as her emissary?” She examined Twilight with a simple, dismissive, glance. “Obviously nopony of import.” “Hey,” Twilight protested, feeling odd that she’d been so causally dismissed, “I’ll have you know that I’m Celestia’s personal student! And I was the one who figured out your clue.” Twilight reigned herself in a bit, it wouldn’t do to get worked up on a mission like this. “Who are you? And why did you steal the Moon?” “Oh,” the mare questioned in an amused manner, “we might have a little detective here, asking so many questions. I’m sorry I won’t answer your questions yet, but you’re not quite the detective I want. So what do you say that you return to Celestia, and I continue my little plan.” “I’m not going anywhere! You’re going to stop this, and return the Moon, right now! Or else!” “Or else what my dear?” the mare questioned, “You’re still a child compared to me.” “Or this!” with that, Twilight shot a beam of stunning magic from her horn, but the strange mare merely sidestepped it. “Oh, so you do have some spark,” the mare chuckled to herself, “But I don’t have the time to spend playing games with you. After all, I do believe I’m done here.” As she spoke, a loud metallic groaning sound erupted from the statue, as the unicorns finished detaching the tiara and the pegasai began lifting it into the air. The unknown mare lifted her right forehoof, and Twilight could just see some sort of advanced bracer just under the edge of her coat. The mare pointed her hoof at the flying tiara, and a grappling hook shot out of the bracer and began pulling her up into the air. She twisted about to speak to Twilight once more, “We shall see if you are a good enough detective to challenge me, Twilight Sparkle. So I give you this clue; apples to apples, I think I’ll just take a chip off of the old block.” Twilight was stupefied by the scene before her. There was no way that a dozen pegasai could lift something as heavy as the tiara, but they were not only lifting it, they were flying at a decent pace, and only getting faster as she watched. She watched as the group of criminal ponies disappeared into the distance, and all she did was shake her head. Twilight knew that there were literally dozens of things she could have done to change the situation, but the sheer audacity (and implausibility) of the crime being committed had her off balance. Even now, she could probably magic up some solution, but instead, Twilight broke out into a grin. This just might be an interesting loop. 18.11 (elmagnifico) Big Macintosh sighed. It was the day of the Apple Family Reunion. The one where he'd first seen Twilight Sparkle. All around him, he could see the other Apples doing reunion things, at this stage mostly standing around and sipping cider saved for the occasion. From over by the buffet table, the Element of Honesty took a moment from helping Granny Smith with the salad to give him a look. "Y' okay Mac? Ye've done nuthin' but mope since breakfast." Macintosh paused. This was the other mare, the one that was sometimes there instead of the Applejack he had watched grow countless times before. She hadn't said as much, but the signs were there. She carried herself differently. Subtle motions. She'd sometimes flex her shoulders like he'd seen pegasi do. Her stepping was more careful, calculated. After years and years being around his sister, it had put him on edge. Acting and lying were different things, and she was better at the former than the latter, but an astute observer could pick it out if they tried. After so much time, small things were bound to change. He supposed somepony looking at him might see similar differences between his Looping self and his counterpart. On the other hoof, he'd spent most of his Loops hiding from one pony or another, which might have masked the tells. He wasn't sure. All he knew for sure was that it was his effects, how he'd changed the ponies around him, rather than anything he'd been directly observed doing, that had finally tipped Her off. Of course, now he knew that Twilight Sparkle was just the victim of boredom and a mischievous demeanour, not an evil dusk-bringing eldritch abomination. He didn't really approve of the pranks. One had nearly given that loop's version of Granny Smith a heart attack when she'd noticed. Even if she still would have been there next time the world reset, she was still his grandmother. Watching her die would still have hurt. It would have hurt his sisters too. He sighed again. He didn't want to keep this secret any longer. "Ah've got somethin' to tell ya." The barn, cleared to accommodate the festivities in case of rain, had proved the perfect place to explain things. "So ye've been loopin' for a while now, but Twilight only noticed when ya changed enough stuff?" It had been so easy this time. Instead of cutting him off at the first mention of time travel, like Applejack had in loops past, she'd listened. Right up until he'd mentioned she had been there for some of those loops. "Eeyup." She seemed angry now. Ranting full blast. "An' ya didn't tell her about the loops 'cuz she turned into Eternal Twilight right in fronta ya?" It felt good, in a strange way. Calling him out on stuff he'd been hiding was something his sister did. "Eeyup." She looked him in the eyes. "And ya kept me in th' dark, not trustin' yer own kin ta have yer best interests at heart?" He shook his head. "Ah told ya a few times, in some of th' early loops. Y' either didn't believe me, or ya wanted to go ta Twilight immediate like. Ah managed to convince ya that was a bad idea. Didn't feel lahk it were safe after thatn'." The green orbs staring into his narrowed. "You know that's different. That weren't the loopin' me." "See, that's the thing.” Mac groped for words. “Y'all aren't the sister ah know. Ya got her body, ya got her voice, ya got her eyes. But y' ain't the same pony." A stomp of anger. Frustration. So very like Applejack. "That didn't stop me from bein' yer sister before! What about when ah went off to Manehatten, ah wasn't the same pony when ah came back!" "Y' didn't start hangin' out with Eternal Twilight an' turnin' into no goddess after y' went off to Manehatten! Fer all ah knew, y' were some time warpin' changeling in league with th' eldritch abomination!" Mac realized his voice was riding, and tried to calm down a little. "Twilight's no abomination!" "AH KNOW THAT NOW!" Silence fell. It was broken by the receding clatter of tiny hooves outside the barn door. Instinctively, his eyes shifted to the red barrier. Applebloom. Ah, Fewmets. "Ah, horseapples." The whisper was quiet, and likely meant for no ears aside from hers. His eyes widened. When he looked back at his sister, she was scowling at him. She spoke, barely louder than her swear. "How many?" He tilted his head. How many what? "How many loops did y'all lie to me?" Recognition dawned at his eyes, but he kept his reply quiet. "Four." She paused for a second before continuing. "We ain't done mister. Ah got a shindig to run, an' you've got duties to attend, but after that, we're settlin' this." She trotted out to find Applebloom, leaving Macintosh alone in the barn. He sighed, before quirking the corners of his mouth just a little. It would be hard, but he would try his hardest to fix things. After a minute or so, he followed his sister. It would be a good reunion. 18.12 (Stainless Steel Fox) "I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!"Twilight exclaimed, focussing most of her attention on quietly completing a dimensional ward spell to cover the entire area around the town hall. The wicked mare of darkness (TM) gloated. "Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here." Twilight put on a bored expression and spooled a hoof. "Yeah, I know eternal night, never see the sun again, yadayadayada. I still think it's one of the most moronic villainous plots ever." "How dare you mock me!" Nightmare Moon crackled with lightning, and her aura flared. "I have all the powers of the night!" "And I have a Jim." Twilight returned. "No amount of physical exercise will save you!" "Not gym. Jim. JIM!" the last was called out in a loud voice. A big grey hand came smashing through the wall behind Nightmare Moon and grabbed her. "Pretty Pony Princess!" "Arrrghh! You have a cave troll?" NMM squirmed in the grip of the massive grey slab of humanoid, who was hugging her and saying how he would cuddle her and call her George. "I promised him a pretty pony princess of his very own. Good luck escaping, cave trolls are highly resistant to magic." "Urh! Little foal, I can simply..." Her aura flared and nothing happened. "Oh, so that's where I put that area ward against dimensional travel. Kinda knocks over your ability to teleport or turn ethereal. Ooops!" Twilight smirked. 18.13 “Lady Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity, of Ponyville! Mister Spykoranuvellitar, of Canterlot.” A few heads turned as the dragon and the unicorn entered Canterlot Castle’s largest dance hall, but most of the guests were otherwise occupied. The Gala was the premier social event… though that also made it where everyone checked their current score in the great game of status. And a fair fraction of the nobility of Equestria were engrossed in trying to calculate the current leaderboard. “Of Ponyville?” Rarity asked in an artfully concealed whisper, her lips barely moving. “And I wasn’t aware I was a lady.” “Well, normally you’re not.” Spike’s whisper had a little less skill behind it, but ponies would have a lot less opportunity to learn to lip-read dragons anyway. “I asked Celestia about it, and she agreed to grant that title to element bearers as a minor mark of respect. And the ‘of’ is just where you live, when you have a title like that. For me it’s where I was born.” He looked around the room. “My, all the notables are here.” “How cunning of you,” Rarity said, then broke off their conversation. “Oh, Rich! Fancy seeing you here!” “Rarity.” Filthy Rich bowed gently, his eyes flicking to Spike. “And Spykoran as well. You’re certainly dressed for it.” Rarity made an elegant gesture in token of disagreement – which neither pony took seriously; it was just part of the way one did things. “One tries.” Spike let his own gaze wander to Rarity’s dress. They’d spent three days working together on it and on his tuxedo, and both were filigreed with gemstones ordered by refractive index. Light that struck them curved and came out somewhere else, splintered into a rainbow of colours, and the gems were so fine they looked like mere glitter unless seen closely. But to him, the real reason Rarity looked good wasn’t the dress. She made it look good, and not the other way around. “So, tell me,” Rich asked, addressing the dragon directly, “what is it like living with the highest-scoring graduate of Celestia’s academy in history?” Spike smiled slightly. “Well, she does her own taxes…” Rich quirked his mouth, and Spike went on. “She’s… brilliant, is the only word that applies. I’m probably something of a biased source, but I really don’t think the Element of Magic could have a better bearer.” “And, of course,” Rarity added, “you do help her out when she forgets to eat.” Spike raised a hand. “A touch, I do confess. Well, cooking is something I don’t mind doing – I even think I may have some skill at it, though being a dragon I can’t simply tell that from how my own creations taste.” Rich nodded understandingly. “What about…” The two of them spent about an hour doing a turn around the hall, engaging in dozens of short, varied conversations on a wide variety of topics. Their Looping experience served them well, letting either or both of them at least have a reference and a comment or two about nigh on any subject. Particularly interesting was when Princess Celestia managed to get a few minutes away from the receiving line and speak to them. Her knowing expression told Spike that she had at least some intimation of how close they were, but she confined herself to small talk… and one embarrassing story about the time when Equestria’s court including a dragon was still a cause of terror for ill-informed petitioners, leading to five ponies hiding behind a pillar from a two-year-old Spike with an ice cream. Ultimately, the music began. With no Pinkie Pie, the orchestra were able to perform a more normal set, and the first piece was a moderately paced quadrille. “Don’t look now,” Spike said quietly on their second dance (a slow waltz), “but I think that Blueblood’s been glaring at us for the past five minutes.” They slowly changed places, Rarity following the traditional dance and Spike moving in a variant that they’d worked out some time ago to compensate for his different body shape. “Yes, I see what you mean,” Rarity replied. “Goodness, but I feel rather better than I should about him being jealous of you.” “You think that’s what it is?” “For my sins,” Rarity gave a tiny grin, “I happen to know him rather well. I do feel some sympathy for the prince… after all, he’s grown up under rather a lot of pressure… but, then, other royals had the same situations and they handled it much better. But yes, that rather appears as though he’s jealous.” “With good reason,” Spike replied, executing a complicated step which had been designed with a low centre of gravity in mind. He managed it without stumbling, but it was a near thing. “I feel like I’ve got the best dance partner on the floor.” “You flatterer.” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes, eyes laughing. “I – oh!” The waltz had come to an end, and without missing a beat Octavia and her quartet changed into a fast arabesque. Spike and Rarity exchanged glances, grinned, and threw themselves into the physically demanding dance. Dragon and unicorn only came off the dance floor three times that night. The first time was when Rarity laughingly asked for a break, and the two of them headed over to the buffet for some food and – especially – water. Octavia was outdoing herself tonight, which meant lots of physically demanding dances, and they needed it. The second time, Spike disappeared backstage for a few minutes, and came out again onto the orchestral dais itself. Sitting at a piano, he proceeded to rattle off the hardest pieces Twilight had been able to find him – starting with a Bach piano concerto, following that up with the Hammerklavier, and finishing with something simply called “Study in A flat major after op.25” which was essentially written for four hands. Though that earned him a round of applause, he waved it off and vanished backstage again to change from waistcoat and tails back to his tuxedo. While he was gone, though, Rarity found herself approached by Blueblood. “Might I beg the honour of the next dance, my lady?” he asked, and Rarity had to admire his skill. If she hadn’t had several dozen loops’ worth of disastrous Gala attempts of one sort or another to remember, she’d have thought this was her dreams coming true. “My apologies, your highness,” she replied, affecting a slight air of distraction, “but I have already promised mister Spykoran the next dance.” “It rather seems as though you have promised him all the dances,” Blueblood muttered. “Though he is, it would appear, a lucky fellow – all our local mares are rather disquieted by your presence.” A dazzling smile. “They’re not used to competition, especially not competition with such grace.” “I would hardly describe myself as competition,” she began, and he interrupted her. “Nor would I, my lady… because that implies that they are within shouting distance of you.” “I really must get on.” Rarity turned half-away from him, looking to see if Spike had already come back in, and then saw a look of pure venom flash across Blueblood’s face before his training reasserted itself. She gave him a sardonic look which told him that she’d seen his momentary loss of composure. “Ah, dear Spykoran must have returned. Thank you for letting me know.” As Rarity trotted briskly over to the dance floor once more, she fancied – deep in her core – that she could hear the sound of grinding teeth. “Spike,” Rarity asked, halfway through the latest in a litany of dances so long she’d begun to lose track, “do you remember that letter you sent me, before our dinner at Blue Cordon’s restaurant?” “Er…” the dragon frowned. “The one last loop, about getting hold of lightsaber-quality crystals?” “No,” she shook her head. “The first one. That very first letter you sent me after we turned up in a Loop together.” Spike nodded. “Yes, I do.” “Well, by my count we have had approximately a hundred and eleven years to think about the subject,” she continued, still placing her hooves with faultless care. “And I would like to ask you if you think anything’s come up.” “…goodness.” The dragon thought for perhaps five seconds. “No, I can’t say I’ve noticed anything major… you’ve only improved, from the pony I first had a crush on.” “Good,” she said, and then as the waltz ended reached up, pulled his head down, and gave him a fiery kiss. “That’s about what I think, too,” she said softly, as her lips released his. Spike’s eyes were suddenly wet with unshed tears. “You… really?” “Yep.” She winked, suddenly and irreverently. “It took me a long time to be sure, and I’m sorry for that. But I really have fallen for you.” Suddenly, both of them noticed that the sound in the room was ebbing away. Looking away from one another, they saw the various ponies present were clearing the dance floor. “Should we-” “Of course not,” Princess Celestia said, startling them both as she spoke from within a few metres. “This is yours, and yours alone.” With that, she withdrew, and Spike and Rarity were alone in the middle of a cleared space at least twenty metres in every direction. Then the musicians started playing again. It was concert music, not dance music, and as a general rule one simply did not start with a finale piece. But that didn’t matter. And as the finale of the Rebirth of the Phoenix began to swell around them, going from strings alone to horns to drums and flute, and swelling into one of the great triumphal musical pieces, the young-old dragon who was a mage’s assistant and the unicorn who had always dreamed of creating beauty simply danced. The third time they left the dance floor that night, no other pony replaced them. It would have been a cheapening of what they had just witnessed. “So?” Twilight asked. “How did the Gala go?” Spike beamed. “As well as it possibly could have gone. Unquestionably,” and here he gave Twilight a wink, “the best night ever.”