//------------------------------//
// MLP Loops 20 
// Story: MLP Time Loops 
// by Saphroneth 
//------------------------------//

20.1

“Mua ha ha!” Trixie laughed evilly, horn flaring as she reshaped the land around Ponyville to her whim.

“But… that’s impossible!” Twilight cried, shielding her eyes.

“Really?” Trixie asked, suddenly sounding uncertain. “You sure?”

“Actually, yes,” Twilight said. She got out some paper and wrote equations on it. Trixie moved around to watch, occasionally nodding or pointing at some particularly important clause.

“There,” Twilight finished. “See?”

Trixie perused the paper, lips moving. “You are correct.” The spell abruptly dissipated. “Oh well, worth a try. Do you know a good restaurant around here?”

“I’ve heard good things about the Farrier’s Rest.” Twilight nodded. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.”

Dash blinked. “Wait, what just happened? Did you just disprove Trixie with science?”

“Actually, it was logic,” Twilight replied over her shoulder. “Proof by contradiction.”

“But we saw her! She was doing it!”

“Anecdotal evidence counts for nothing.” Twilight walked off, discussing something or other with Trixie in a low voice.

Dash shook her head again. “Ah, whatever.”





“Nice one,” Trixie said, nibbling on some celery. “The looks on their faces…”

“Yeah.” Twilight frowned. “Hey, tell you what. Want to turn up next time as an alicorn?”

“Trixie likes how you think.”





20.2

“The Night Will Last Forever!” Nightmare Moon finished, and dramatic thunder crashed.

Then it cut off as suddenly as a knife, and a sky-blue alicorn trotted onto the stage from the left. “Mother!”

Nightmare Moon blinked, as things went abruptly off-script. “Pardon?”

“For goodness’ sake, mother,” the newcomer said, shaking her head wearily. “What are you doing?”

Some of the spectating Ponyville ponies noticed that her cutie mark incorporated a moon motif, alongside a wand. Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, tried to avoid giggling.

“Who are you?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“And you don’t recognize your own daughter!” Trixie said, shaking her head and continuing to trot up to her ‘mother’. “You are drunk, mother. Come on, let’s get you home.”

“I am NOT drunk!” Nightmare Moon shouted. “I am the rightful ruler of Equestria, not some two-bit sot!”

“Hey!” Berry Punch shouted from the crowd, putting down her third beer of the night. “Sots are ponies too!”

“And now you’re going to make a scene.” Trixie’s voice had what Twilight judged as an artfully recreated hitch in it. “This happens every week. Is there somewhere I’m going wrong? Some filial duty that I’ve failed in?” A tear rolled down Trixie’s cheek.

Nightmare Moon was by this point completely confused. “Er… what… don’t cry?”

Trixie smiled wanly. “Please, mother,” she said, in a soothing tone. “You’ll feel much better once you’ve slept it off. Come on, now, we can leave these poor ponies to… whatever they were doing, and go home.”

There was a bright blue flash, and both alicorns vanished.

“…okay, what just happened?” Dash asked. “I mean, what?”





Trixie showed up the next morning at Twilight’s door.

“Cured her!” the stage pony said proudly. “Got her drunk for real and we had a heart-to-heart, she got it all out of her system, and then I explained what was actually going on.”

“Huh.” Twilight noted that down. “Guess sometimes all a pony really needs is a shoulder to cry on.”

“Yeah…” Trixie then blushed, and ruffled her wings. “Might not be a good method to try out again, though. Nightmare Moon can be a bit of a fighty drunk. Anyway, if Celestia asks, that’s why Horseshoe Bay is now just … er, Horseshoe. Later!”

She vanished again in a puff of smoke.

Twilight cast a scrying spell. “Whoa. Yeah, that’s a lot of terrain damage. Good thing nopony lives on that bit…”





20.3

“Ah, Cadence. Good to see you. If you’ll just come this way?” Celestia gestured. “There’s just a few matters of administration to work out before the wedding.”

“Of course,” Chrysalis said smoothly. “Not a problem.”

There was a little flicker of anticipation coming from the ruler of Equestria, but none of the rage which would indicate her ruse was discovered… so it was likely to be just looking forward to the wedding itself.

Then she froze, halfway through a pair of double doors.

Sitting at the other side of an ornate table was the real Cadence.

“Hello,” Cadence said frostily. “So, who are you getting married to, and why did you feel the need to hijack my wedding? It’s my wedding, thank you very much!”

“But… how did you escape?”

“Magic.” Cadence shrugged. “Anyway. I certainly don’t have a problem with you getting married – in fact, you can take my slot – but you don’t get my groom. Any preference?”

“But… what?” Chrysalis dropped her shapeshift. “Shouldn’t you be angry?”

“I’m not angry, so much as… disappointed.” Cadence waited a moment. “No suggestion? Right, we’ll just use the best stallion we had booked – a noble from my homeland, I’m sure you’ll like him. Rings… we had a couple of the hoof ring variant made, so you can take them with our blessings. Dresses… oh, no, that won’t do. Shining!”

Shining Armor walked over from behind Chrysalis, shooting her a dirty look. “Yes, dear?”

“Can you go fetch your sister’s friend? The one who’s good with dresses? We need a rush job.” Cadence nodded to herself. “I think I’ll pay for it, too.”

Her boyfriend nodded, and vanished in a teleport.

Chrysalis’s head was whirling, trying to keep track. “What is going on?”

“Food is fine… though I’ll have to handle the catering for the changeling half…” Cadence mused, ignoring her. “Oh, last minute change to the statuettes on the cake. Aside from that, I think that’s everything… no, wait. What music do you like?”

Chrysalis startled. “Oh. Er, not sure.”

“I’ll just guess, then. Right, that’s everything. Rarity of Ponyville should turn up to fit you momentarily.” Cadence disappeared in her own teleport.

“…what the buck?” Chrysalis asked the air.

A pink blur shot into the room, bounced off three walls, and coalesced into a pink earth pony with candy-floss for a mane. “Ooh, okay… definitely liquorice for you!” Five seconds with a sketchpad, and the pony shot off again in another blur.

Then a white unicorn appeared with a tape measure and three metric tonnes of raw material. “Ah, a challenge! Goodness, though, the colour will be a sticking point… how do you feel about turquoise? It’s not done to have a wedding dress that isn’t white, but then that’s only a custom in any case.”

Chrysalis was now beyond words. Rarity took the silence to mean agreement, and began lifting up bolts of dyed silk to compare with Chrysalis’ mane.





“I can’t help but think that we might be storing up trouble for later this Loop…” Celestia observed absently to Shining.

“Maybe,” Shining allowed, watching as his sister, his basically-a-little-brother, and Princess Luna bamboozled King Sombra into a tuxedo. “But, well, they do tend to be actually rather good for each other. Besides, this way we don’t have to either change the arrangements for the wedding or have another one exactly the same as our normal one.” He shook his head. “Weddings are nice, but my lovely wife is a bit… obsessed with them. Just don’t tell her I said that.”

“My lips are sealed,” Celestia assured him.





20.4

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, frowning. “This is where we turn you into an awesome pegasus.”

“…alright,” Fluttershy replied. “But, didn’t we already do this?”

“Yeah, kinda.” Dash shrugged. “Though I don’t intend to settle for good this time. I want to see awesome!”

“What does that mean?”

“Sonic. Rainboom.” Dash punctuated the words with hoof-beats… then stopped, looking into the distance. “But, wait, would yours even be a rainboom? I mean, it’s my weather magic signature that makes it be a rainbow. Ah, who cares.”

Fluttershy blinked. “You think I can do that? But… you’re the only pony to ever do a sonic rainboom.”

“Yet,” Dash replied. “Now, come on! Where’s that tow rope and those butterflies…”





“Come on!” Dash urged. “You can do better than this!”

“I really can’t,” Fluttershy panted. To her credit, she’d just managed a three hundred mile an hour burst in a dive. Impressive enough that the Wonderbolts would probably have at least given her consideration, which was a huge improvement for the pegasus… but nowhere near Dash’s goal.

“I’m just not strong enough to. I don’t know how you manage to push yourself so hard with just your wings.”

“…wait,” Dash said, looking suddenly guilty. “What do you mean, just my wings? Most of my speed is weather magic. Didn’t I mention that?”

“Er… no,” Fluttershy replied, then waved her hooves. “But I’m sure you meant to! It isn’t your fault…”

“Right.” Dash shot off, and teleported in with Twilight a few seconds later.

“Okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, smiling. “Now you get to have us teach you about weather magic!”

“Yay,” Fluttershy said softly. It wasn’t quite clear if that was sarcasm or just… Fluttershy.





“Come on, come on…” Dash murmured, watching the speck of yellow plunge out of the sky. “Just a bit faster…”

The cloud formed, narrowed… and broke.

It wasn’t a Sonic Rainboom. It wasn’t a boom, there was no rainbow colouration, and it wasn’t even very loud. Fluttershy’s magical signature merged with the transient cloud from breaking the sound barrier, and rolled outwards like a comforting pillow.

And a swarm of butterflies, bees and birds rose to meet it.

Twilight noted that down. “So they are personalized. Interesting. Maybe the original sonic rainboom was done by another pony with a rainbow signature…”

“Sounds about right,” Dash agreed. “Maybe I should look that up. Oh, can you let Pinkie know it’s time for a ‘Fluttershy is super awesome’ party? She deserves it.”





20.5

“Ah, it’s good to see you, little mother.”

Fluttershy eeped. “Can’t… breathe…”

Leman Russ released her, ignoring the gobsmacked expressions of his honour guard. “And these must be Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash!”

“Ah, you remember us!” Twilight said, smiling. “I hoped you would.”

“I could never forget you.” The Primarch tapped a massive finger absently against his sword hilt. “Now, what’s first… of course! A feast!”

Pinkie grinned. “I like the sound of that!”

The Space Wolves thought it over, and decided – en masse – that they did as well.





“So, what brings you to my humble corner of the universe?” Russ asked that evening. The two Fenrisian wolves he always raised lounged around him, all three dwarfing the six Equestrian visitors quite handily.

“Well… we just, turned up here.” Twilight shrugged. “Loops are fairly random, after all. Though, actually, none of us have much idea what a normal Dark Millennium Loop is like. Anything you can tell us?”

“Oh, don’t get me started!” Russ shook his head. “Bjorn can tell you all about it, he usually lasts quite a while even if I get thoroughly lost to the Warp.”

Bjorn made what was almost certainly a rude gesture. “I always end up in a damned dreadnought, you mean. Boring as hel.”

Russ grinned back. “Yeah, whatever. Anyway, what usually happens is that things get really nasty. I can never seem to stop all the Legions falling to Chaos – I saved the Thousand Sons, and the Raven Guard fell. Then I tried keeping the Death Guard pure, and that was it for the Ultramarines. Even tried killing off Horus, and that’s when I found out the whole thing got started by a Word Bearer! And as for trying to handle the Alpha Legion, I can never tell if I’m coming or going.”

Twilight pondered that. “I guess Pinkie really did do a lot of good when she replaced Slaanesh.”

“Wait, she did what?” Bjorn laughed out loud. “That must have been hilarious!”

“It was super fun!” Pinkie’s eyes glowed. “I had all the parties!”

“…actually, now I’m scared,” the Space Wolf looper muttered. “Wonder how Ciaphas would take that.”

“Ciaphas?”

“Oh, I remember him!” Pinkie beamed. “He was awesome! Kinda nervous, though.”

“I don’t blame him,” Leman said, sotto voce. “Little mother, your friends are sometimes a little unnerving.”

“I know, Lemon – Leman, sorry.” Fluttershy exhaled sharply. “But they’re friends, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything.”

“Aye, I know the feeling.” Russ scratched Geki behind the ear, looking into the distance.





“Alright, girls,” Twilight said, beating her wings soundlessly to hold station in the immaterium. “Three, two, one..!”

A bolt of rainbow light sizzled across the howling wastes of the warp, and impacted dead centre on the Eisenstein.

Twilight nodded briskly, as Nurglite daemons fled from the huge ship. “Five down, fourteen to go.”

“This is getting tiring, though,” Rarity admitted. “You know the Elements never work so well outside Equestria.”

“Yeah, I do.” Twilight let her magic build up for a gigantic teleport. “But we’re handling so much chaos I think we’re getting a fair performance out of them anyway. Right, next stop Ultramar.”

Her power crested, and in an eyeblink they were a long way away.





“And… done!” Twilight ticked off another item on her list. “Webway access acquired, Webway fixed, and Commorragh cut off from the network. What’s next?”

Sifting through the paper, she answered her own question. “Here we are. Necrons. Any ideas?”

Dash raised a hoof.

“Apart from too many cyclonic torpedoes.”

Dash lowered a hoof.

“I know!” Pinkie said, suddenly. “I’ll go chat with Trazyn! He’s fun.”

“Fun? Fun?” Russ goggled. “He once stole my thirteenth company!”

“Eh,” Pinkie said, grinning. “Unlucky for some.”

“Right, Pinkie’s handling that one.” Twilight pencilled that in. “Oh, how’s the Emperor doing? I haven’t seen him in a week.”

Russ grinned uneasily. “I may have sucker punched him after he questioned Mother’s presence.”

“May?” Fluttershy asked warningly.

“Alright, I did sucker punch him.” The Primarch shrugged. “Turnabout is fair play – and at least I wasn’t wearing a power fist.”

He sobered. “I don’t know how to thank you enough. I mean, there’s still problems turning up all over the place, but the Emperor and my brothers are all still alive and… mostly… sane.”

“Alpharius is the most fun one, silly!” Pinkie grinned. “Well, apart from Omegon.”

“How do you even tell them apart?” Rarity asked absently.

“Guesswork!”





“…and so, in the name of the Emperor of Mankind, ruler of the million suns, and in the name of his Empire of Man, and his tributaries, we welcome you to the stars. May you live long and well amongst the heavens.”

Guilliman stepped back from the com system. “How was that?”

“Laying it on a bit thick, there, don’t you think?” Fulgrim asked. “I mean, come on. They’re explorers, not politicians.”

“Well, I happen to think you made the right choice.” Dorn shrugged. “I mean, it’s not every decade that an out-system power turns out to have discovered antigravity and artificial intelligence before even launching a moon mission. And five thousand years ago they were nomadic hunters.”

“Still are.” Magnus the Red nodded. “Not one of them has a flicker of magic. That’s superstitious and backwards to my reckoning.”

“I agree with Roboute,” Twilight said before the brothers got into too major an argument. “And I’ll just remind you that it kind of is my ship.”

She felt a bit of a guilty thrill of pleasure at the thought. Russ had insisted, the Emperor had been interested, and she hadn’t felt she could turn it down… and the huge battlecruiser had turned out to be very useful, especially packed to the gunwales with scientific equipment and experiments.

Jetbikes were pretty flippin’ cool, for example.

But this was only the third time she’d managed to have the embarrassingly-titled Saviour of Prospero in position to make an official First Contact.

All in all, she reflected, a 40K Loop could be quite pleasant. Well, if you headed the whole ‘only war’ thing off as soon as possible, and took measures to keep it well contained.





“Get OFF me!” Khorne growled, snatching at the bubbly pink blur.

“Nope!” Pinkie said, jumping from him to Tzeentch. “Ooh, what’s today’s plan?”

“Get rid of you!” the Chaos God replied, scowling.

“Ooh, just like all the other times!” Pinkie paused, pondering. “Ooh, alliteration. Anyway, you’re really not very creative at this kind of thing.”

“Just GO AND BOTHER SLAANESH OR SOMETHING!” Khorne bellowed.

Pinkie considered it. “Nah. Ooh, is that a doggy?”

“That is not a doggy. That is a hound.”

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-toe.” Pinkie threw it a dog biscuit, and it panted happily. “Dog. See?”

“Why can’t we kill her?” Khorne asked, sighing heavily.

Tzeentch kicked something. It turned out to be a flatfish. “She’s more chaotic than we are right now. And that flippin’ Laughing God and the Deceiver are both helping her.”

“Figures.”





20.6

“Hmmm…” Magnum muttered, trotting around Spike in a circle. “So, you’re a dragon.”

“Yes,” Spike said, confirming the screamingly obvious.

“Didn’t know she was the type,” Pearl added. “It’s certainly… exotic.”

Spike bushed to the base of his scales, holding his tongue by dint of long experience.

“Motehr!” Rarity said, shocked. “Stop terrorizing my boyfriend!”

“That’s not decided yet, dear,” Magnum said absently. Finishing his inspection, he trotted around to in front of Spike. “So… tell me. You much of a stallion for sport?”

“Stallion, no. Sport… yes,” Spike answered, thinking it over carefully.

“Hm. What kind? Hoofball?”

“No.”

“What about Trottingham hoofball? I mean, it’s the boring kind, but-”

“No, not that either.” Spike shook his head, an displayed his claws. “I’d go through too many balls.”

“What about a bat sport? Baseball? Rounders?” Magnum sighed. “Not poncy cricket, is it?”

“None of the above.” Spike was starting to grin, now.

“Volleyball? Basketball? Netball? Tennis? Table-tennis?”

Rarity giggled as her father tried out every sport he could think of.

“All right, I give up.” Magnum pointed a hoof. “Okay, wise-guy, what sports do you play?”

“Play isn’t the right word.” Spike raised a hand and began ticking off. “Archery – though Rarity’s edging me there nowadays; three martial arts; Chess-”

“Chess?” Magnum interrupted. “That’s not a sport!”

“It is when Twilight animates twenty-foot chess pieces who don’t know the rules. Anyway, where was I…”

“Martial arts and chess,” Rarity supplied promptly.

“Thanks. Anyway, as well as those, fencing and swimming… oh, and extreme sports.”

“Extreme?”

“Come on, I’ll show you!”

Rarity was torn between laughing and sighing. In the end, she just giggled into her sleeve. “Oh, dear.”

“Well, he seems nice enough,” Pearl observed, as Spike led an unwary Magnum off for an afternoon’s male bonding. Or possibly abject terror.

“He is.”

“You’re sure about this?” she pressed.

Rarity gave a huge, happy sigh. “Very,” she answered, with a diamond certainty that matched her cutie mark.

“Right, then,” Pearl said. “I approve of him, then.”

“…just like that?” Rarity asked. “I mean… not that I-”

“Don’t worry!” Her mother laughed. “It’s all about you, dear – the whole point of meetings like this is to see if you’re really happy, and to give you an out if you’re not. But you haven’t had that silly grin on your face since you first got your cutie mark, so I certainly don’t mind.”

“Thanks, mum.” Rarity hugged her.

After a minute or so, Pearl pulled back. “So, details.”

“He’s a great musician, as well – piano, mostly.” Rarity sorted through details in her head. “He actually listens when I explain how my dresses and artifacts work, which is nice. He cooks well – though admittedly, as a dragon, he’s had some very strange ideas…”

“How bad?”

“Melon and trifle curry.” Rarity stuck her tongue out. “Bleah, quite frankly.”

“I can see why…” Pearl said, covering a grin.

Magnum materialized with an expression frozen into shock.

Pearl frowned. “Dear?”

“…I have no problem with him can we go now please dear?” the stallion rattled off in one breath.

“Well, I suppose so, but-”

“Okay bye nice seeing you Rarity!”

Magnum disappeared in another teleport, taking his wife with him.

About a minute later, Spike came into view on a hang glider. Dropping to the floor and slowing himself with the Force, he looked around. “Did I miss them?”

“Well,” Rarity said to herself, stifling a giggle, “looks like Dad hit his limit. I didn’t know he could teleport that far…” She looked up at Spike. “We might want to try a different angle next time, though, Spiky-wikey. Something that doesn’t traumatize my father.”

“Sure,” Spike nodded readily. “And, er, sorry for overdoing it.”

“Don’t be.” Rarity shrugged. “The ‘meet the parents’ thing is supposed to be scary… although that is meant to be for the colt.”





20.7

“Ready?” Shining asked.

Cadence nodded, and grinned. “One, two, three!”

The music started, with heavy use of pan-pipes. The couple – both alicorns – pranced down the steps of a Mesoamerican-style pyramid.

Pinkie might have been at least slightly bonkers to have come up with this as a wedding celebration opener, but… well, it was novel.

“I hardly think I’m qualified,” Shining sang, “to come across all sanctified.” He shrugged as they reached the bottom steps. “I just don’t cut it with the cherubim-”

“Shiny, what are you talking about?” Cadence interjected.

“There again,” he continued, in a less sceptical tone, “They’re on their knees. Being worshipped is a breeze, and rather suits us in… the interim…”





“It’s tough to be a god!”

“You know,” Twilight mused, as her brother and sister-in-law reached the chorus, “I can’t tell if they’re serious or not.”

“It is tricky,” Luna agreed. “And they, like you, both ascended.”

“Indeed.”

After a moment, Celestia joined them.

“I hope that the ponies attending won’t take that song the wrong way…”

Twilight shrugged. “Canterlot can take a joke. Besides,” she added, as the couple started literally walking on the air, “it’s not as if they’re really pretending.”

Celestia crossed her eyes. “Now I’m confused. Can you really pretend to be pretending to be real?”

That got a giggle from her sister and her erstwhile student.





“Oh, come on!” Twilight said, mouth hanging open.

“And therefore,” Blueblood droned, “It falls upon the sole member of the royal family never to have had pretensions to divinity to take up the mantle of rulership until such time as the crisis of confidence has passed.”

The Anchor contained her anger. It wasn’t easy, though, since she was well aware that the ‘crisis of confidence’ consisted entirely of Blueblood feeling a bit ambitious.

“Alright,” Celestia said, surprising Twilight. “Go ahead.”

“Princess!” Twilight hissed. “What the-”

Celestia winked. “Come on, now, Twilight, you heard him. A crisis of confidence is something we must avoid provoking further.”





“We are in awe,” Luna said, reading Blueblood’s latest letter. It was a mixture of abject begging for his aunt to please come back and save him from the paperwork monster, and angry orders that she not abandon her subjects now that the crisis of confidence was over. “How did you manage this?”

“That’s ‘didst thou’, Luna,” Celestia corrected.

“No it isn’t,” Twilight disagreed. “I am as well. That’s where the plural comes from. Now spill!”

Celestia looked mischievous. “I may have told everypony in the castle and bureaucracy to make sure Blueblood was fully involved in the exciting work of running the nation.”

“…so every pony who needed anything signed went to him,” Twilight finished. “Oh, that’s almost evil.”

“Wait until you see my next trick.” Celestia replied, eyes sparkling.





“You?” Blueblood said, looking at the sick phoenix. “You are Auntie’s personal representative?”

Philomeena nodded, and gave a hacking cough that covered Blueblood in soot.

“Faugh!”

She giggled behind a wing, hiding it as soon as he’d managed to get his eyes clear.

After a moment, a green flame appeared overhead and coalesced into a letter. Warily, Blueblood opened it.

“You have won a free subscription to ‘Friendship’ magazine,” he read slowly. “We will send you a free binder and all the back episodes in just a moment.”





“You didn’t mean it, did you?” Luna asked. “Not all of them?”

“No,” Twilight admitted. “That would be several tonnes. No, just the ones relating to how you can have too much of a good thing, and so on. The lessons he needs. Who knows? Maybe he’ll pick something up.”





20.8 (elmagnifico)





“Macintosh, are you awake?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight's face fell as she realized that was technically true whether the stallion was looping or not.

“Are you awake-awake?”

Macintosh just tilted his head at her. This probably wasn't him, but there was one way to be sure.

“ETERNAL TWILIGHT, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Twilight facehoofed as Big Mac gave her a look like she'd gone slightly insaner than normal.

“Right. Not looping. Could we just pretend this never happened?”

Mac nodded his head, not commenting on the muttered comment he overheard as the purple unicorn left.

“I *really* need to work out a system with him next time he's awake...”





20.9

Once upon a time, many years ago, Nasrudin was condemned to death. It is said he had poached one of the Kings rabbits to feed his starving children.

His case was hopeless but he nonetheless took the only avenue open to him. He appealed to the King to have the death penalty lifted. This was so unusual that the King (perhaps out of boredom) granted the man a one minute audience.

Nasrudin appeared before the King and said, "Your Majesty, I have been found guilty of a crime and the penalty is death. I have a unique gift and my death would be a great loss to the world, so I ask you to spare me."

"What is this gift?”asked the King.

"I am the only person in the Kingdom, perhaps the whole world, that can teach horses to sing."

The King laughed. "And, for this outrageous claim, I should let you go?" he asked.

"It is not outrageous," replied Nasrudin. "It takes time, a lot of patience and the gift that only I possess, but I can teach your horse to sing."

"Very well," said the King, "you shall have a year. You will be taken each day from prison to the Royal Stables. If you can teach my horse to sing I will spare you. If I find that you have lied to me you will be tortured before you die. Now, take him away."

As Nasrudin was being led away the jailer asked him, "What was the point of that? In a year you will be dead and now you will have to suffer first. You will not escape."

"You may be right", replied Nasrudin, "but I have bought time." I now have a whole year and in that time a great deal may happen. The King may die, his horse may die or, who knows, the horse may learn to sing".





Nasrudin blinked. “I honestly didn’t see that coming.”

The mare winked at him, tossed her purple-curled mane, and launched into Siegfried and Kriemhild from the Nibelunglied.





20.10 (Elmagnifico)

Macintosh went about his chores, savoring the simplicity of the tasks. Things like bucking trees, plowing fields, and preparing the farm for the reunion were all straightforward. He could look at the problems and see quite clearly what he needed to do to accomplish them.

Making amends with the members of his family that were looping? Not so straightforward.

Applejack had been outraged. The bond between Apples was not shallow, and the fact he hadn't trusted her had nearly cut that deep. Nevertheless, that was over with.

Now, all that remained was to explain to the filly humming around his feet as they brought in the day's harvest.

Applebloom had always been his “little” sister. He and Applejack were more or less equals nowadays. They split the adult tasks between them, with Granny Smith intervening when necessary. Applebloom, on the other hoof, was the one who needed a shoulder to cry on, lunches for school, and a bit of attention now and then to keep her from going completely bonkers.

Even more than Applejack, little Bloom had been the sibling he'd helped raise. He'd watched her grow from a little sprout that did little more than eat, sleep and cry to the filly she was now. She'd kept on growing, making friends, learning so much, slowly but surely moving toward adulthood. He had seen it happen to the filly umpteen times.

But this was not that filly.

The signs were more subtle than with Applejack, but they were there sure enough. She moved with a practiced ease. The adorable little mistakes she'd make from time to time were not there, or looked scripted to his eyes. When he spoke to her, he could tell she was listening, but the gears behind her eyes were obviously turning with something more than the impish schemes of a schoolfilly.

This was the looping Applebloom.

Applejack, thank the Princess, was not awake, and neither was anypony else aside from Applebloom and Twilight, if his earlier visit to town was any indication.

He stopped, the cart straining against the harness as its momentum tried to keep going despite him. Directly ahead and slightly down, there was a pair of huge sparkling eyes and and the wide smile she likley thought would get her what she wanted.

He tilted his head. What was that?

“Ah said, ahm' super excited for the fam'ly reunion! Ya think we'll get any of the Manehattan cousins down this year?”

He shook his head, both answering the question and searching his memories for the reason. Might as well keep up appearences a little longer.

“Eenope. They're on hard times out there, got ta run their bakery ta make up fer last year. Y'll meet yer cousin some other time.”

“Awww...”

He was reasonably sure the ensuing pout was genuine. Those two had really hit it off after their initial meeting. He wondered if Babs had started looping...

And so, the two Apples went on, Applebloom chattering ceaselessly at her brother, Macintosh just enjoying the company of his sister, albeit an alternate version thereof.

They were almost back to the farm before he finally decided to end it.

At first, he was worried she'd have the same reaction as Applejack. It turned out his fears were misplaced. Perhaps the implications hadn't sunk in yet, but Applebloom just seemed to be happy to see him.

“An' we can go on all sorts of adventures, an' we can work on gettin' you powers!”

Mac winced as Applebloom continued.

“ooh, ah wonder when you'll become an Alicorn, ah mean, me an' mah friends haven't yet, but all the adult loopers have.”

Another wince. That had been an awkward conversation. Applejack's sense of humor had apparently changed for the sarcastic.

“Would ya need an element of harmony, or would ya be able to do it like Caden-”

A large red hoof cut off the tirade. Gently, like a massive plush muffle. Two huge doe-like eyes looked up into Macintosh's, and he couldn't keep himself from smiling.

“Ah appreciate th' thought Bloomers, but ah don't need no fancy unicorn princess powers. Me an' Ms. Twilight already had a talk 'bout that. Ah just want to keep on keepin' on. If the situation comes up where ah need to be somethin' like that, we'll deal with it then.”

The doe eyes continued even as the hoof left her mouth.

“We'll still have adventures an' hang out an' all that, won't we?”

Macintosh felt his smile widening as he replied.

“course we will. Ms. Sparkle gathers trouble lahk a lantern gathers moths. Ah'm sure we'll hit mor'n enough interesting adventures.”

The sparks were dancing behind her eyes again, and her smile reached from ear to ear.

“An' we'll face 'em together, right?”

Macintosh winked. The answer went without saying, but a bit of reassurance wouldn't go amiss. This was his little sister, after all.

“Eeyup!” 





20.11

“We need to find a good Earthbender,” Katara said, looking around as though one would appear up out of the ground.

Sokka nodded, half his mind on something else. Specifically, how Toph was doing.

She’d had it hard for the first few loops after she awoke, he knew, but by now Sokka knew exactly how to manipulate events to make sure she got away from her parents every time – and without letting on that she had Metalbending, either.

Ah, the life of an anchor, he thought. And I don’t even have Bending. Whose idea was it to put me in charge of these guys?

“’scuse me,” a voice whispered next to him. Absently, Sokka moved aside.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” the Anchor replied… then spun on one foot and stared, as a small orange horse surfed casually up the street on a wave of earth.

And was it him, or did the horse have milky white eyes?

“Wait a second,” he said. “Toph?”

The horse shook its head, still moving.

“Are you a Replacement?” Sokka asked, remembering what a crazy fellow Looper in an orange jumpsuit had told him, that time Aang… wasn’t Aang.

The grinding sound of earthbending died away, and the horse turned to look almost towards him. “Well, shucks. Looks like ah found me a local Looper… at last…”

“Nice to meet you,” Sokka said, ignoring the increasingly bewildered looks of his friend and sister. Oh, and the whole street. “I’m Sokka.”

“Applejack,” the horse replied. “I ain’t usually blind, but ah got to admit that this whole earth movin’ trick is kinda neat.”

“And are you usually… a horse?”

“Nope. Pony.”

“Right.” Sokka thought wistfully of the alcohol he probably wasn’t allowed to buy in the Earth Kingdom, then shrugged and turned to the gathering crowd. “Thank you for watching our rehearsal! We’re part of the Ember Island Players, touring to raise awareness! Come see us some time!”

Sokka had learned from long experience that there was literally nothing that he couldn’t pass off as Ember Island Players rehearsal. Their production from the first time around had actually been relatively accurate…

“What is all this about, Sokka?” Katara hissed.

Sokka shrugged. “I found our Earthbender.”

“But… horse?”

“Pony,” Applejack corrected firmly. “And ah know Earthbendin’!”

“Can you teach someone?” Aang asked. “Like, me?”

“What the hay, let’s give it a try,” Applejack said. “Ah got to admit it’d be neat t’ know more about how bendin’ works myself, but ah learn by doin’ anyway.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Katara muttered.

“Hey, the Firebenders learned from dragons.” Sokka tossed his boomerang in the air. “Nothing actually wrong with it.”

He tossed the boomerang again, and a lasso snagged it from the air.

Turning, he saw the newcomer had the lasso firmly in her… mouth?

“How did you aim that?” Aang asked, staring.

“Earthbending.” Applejack’s voice was just a tiny bit smug.

Katara nodded. “Okay, that is pretty cool.”





20.12

“Are you certain this is going to work?” Diamond Tiara asked, frowning at a rather unusual version of her customary headgear.

“Well…” Sweetie grimaced. “Not certain, no. But pretty close. I mean, we’ve seen this loop type once before, and my sister went over these things with a fine-tooth comb.” So saying, she slipped on her necklace and its golden pendant.

“Right.” Diamond gulped, then put on the tiara. When she unaccountably failed to explode, she tried to pretend she’d never been nervous at all while still keeping a close eye on it.

“Where’s Silver Spoon?” Applebloom asked, her own copper-apple bracelet already firmly around one hoof.

“Dunno.” Diamond touched the tiara gingerly. “How do these work?”

“I think sis said she’d made it so they were voice activated?” Sweetie thought for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. ‘Harmony power, make up!’”

There was a flash of bright gold light, and when it faded Sweetie was wearing what looked like a cross between royal regalia, a filly’s dress and battle armour.

“Okay, that is kind of cool,” Diamond allowed. “The armour is enchanted and collapses into the necklace, or whatever. But… what was the command phrase?”

“Rarity said the only way we’d say it by accident was if somepony came out with a makeup line called harmony power.” Sweetie giggled. “Actually…”

“Next time,” Applebloom chided her. “We have enough to be going on with this time.” She looked at her bracelet. “I still wish I knew how this thing worked, but Rarity is still better than me at seal script. Anyway, Harmony power make up!”

“What name did you choose?” Sweetie asked, as Applebloom’s own fuku-armour materialized.

“We choose names?” Diamond said. “Why wasn’t I informed?”

“Because you don’t need to choose a name,” the other two chorused.

“Seriously, Diamond Tiara is good enough already. Same for Silver Spoon,” Applebloom added. “Though ah do need one, and I’m leaning towards Copper Apple.”

“Golden Voice, for me,” Sweetie replied.

There was a skidding sound, as Scootaloo arrived outside. “Hi, less-cool ponies – oh, wow, I take it back. Hi, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.”

Diamond waited. “What about me?” she asked, after several seconds of silence.

“Nah, I already said hello to you.” Scootaloo winked

Diamond stuck her tongue out, before coughing and pulling it in again.

“Anyway,” she said, trying not to blush at her sudden loss of dignity, “what’s Scootaloo’s new name?”

“Bronze Wing.” Scootaloo showed her own power trinket, this one an amulet, then activated it.

“Come on!” Applebloom said, nodding at her. “Your turn.”

“Okay,” Diamond said. “If you say so. Er… Harmony power make up?”

Another flash of light, this one a brilliant rainbow colour.

“Right. Marvellous. Excellent.” Diamond looked herself over. “What now?”

“Well…” Applebloom frowned. “Ah’m not actually sure. Ah seem t’ recall that when you had this last time, you kinda… threw the tiara?”

“What about you, then?” Diamond pressed.

“Sonic powers.” Sweetie posed. “I can sing loudly enough to send monsters flying!”

“And I can-”

“No, never mind that now!” Ignoring Scootaloo’s hurt look, Diamond pointed at Sweetie. “You didn’t mention the monsters!”

“…oops?” Applebloom tried.

“Yeah, basically, Nightmare Moon ain’t going to be cured like normal, or something,” Scootaloo explained, “and we have to kick monster butt until we can purify her or whatever. Anyway, as I was saying, I can-”

“But I’ve never got in a proper fight in my life!” Diamond wailed.

“Easy enough to fix.” Applebloom nodded firmly. “Ah’ll get Dash and we kin teach you martial arts.”

“Martial arts?” Diamond shook her head. “How vulgar. Oh well, if there’s no choice.”

“Oh, there’s a choice,” Sweetie said, grinning. “You could just throw the tiara at monsters.”

“Sign me up,” Diamond directed Applebloom without a moment’s hesitation. “Actually, can we start right now?”

“Doesn’t any pony want to know what my powers are?” Scootaloo asked plaintively.

“I’m sure Silver Spoon will,” Sweetie comforted.





20.13 (Stainless Steel Fox)





Turning the Tables continued





Twilight Sparkle woke up the day before the Summer Sun Celebration in what she considered her own bed. Golden Oaks library had been her home for accumulated centuries of loops, and it was one element of the familiar she wouldn't have wanted to change. She'd manifested a spare bed for Applejack and Rarity during that sleepover, so creating a cot to keep up appearances wouldn't be any hardship.

She decided to have apples for breakfast, and in the process reconnect with another of her friends. To be honest, she was leaving the two hardest till last, Rainbow Dash since she moved around so much, and Fluttershy… well shewould be a challenge. Without a baby dragon to 'spike' her interest, she would be very hard to approach.

Using the washroom and casting a few spells to complete her morning ablutions and shore up her cover identity, she headed out for Sweet Apple Acres. She'd covered finding out about it in-universe by asking the right questions of Rarity, so visiting to see the place for herself and buy some breakfast apples right from the source was completely ordinary.

From the carts and carriages around, even a small air-boat, it appeared the impromptu Apple family reunion had already begun. Dozens of Apple relatives were visible, helping out and generally getting on with things. But she needed to find Applejack. Ah, there was Apple Bloom. She would have to see if she could help the poor filly figure out her cutie-mark this loop. Twilight was certain her talent was for building and repairing stuff, but for some reason it never seemed to result in a cutie-mark.

"Pardon me young lady, but I'm looking for Applejack? I wanted to buy some apples for breakfast, and Rarity told me she was in charge here."

"Uh, big sis is probably in the orchard bucking apples for the festival, but she's awful busy right now. Who're you?"

Twilight had to smile at the filly's directness. "The name's Codex, I'm the new librarian. I just got into town yesterday, and I'm still finding my bearings. So what about you?"

"I'm Apple Bloom. Pleased to meet you Miss Codex." The filly head out a hoof, and Twilight took it.

"Why not drop in the library some time? We have plenty of books for fillies and colts."

"Ah, don't really read that much." Apple Bloom admitted. "I'm more interested in trying to figure out my cutie-mark."

So that particular trait had preceded Diamond Tiara's little party. Not that it was surprising, a lot of unmarked colts and fillies started to get worried when their friends started getting their marks and they didn't.

"Well, I'm not just going to hoof you the old saw about it coming in its own time. Though it will, I'm sure." Twilight liked the little filly, and wanted to do something nice for her.

"Maybe if you come to the library, I can find you things to read on cutie-marks. If you know more maybe you'll figure out what your special talent is. And remember, that isn't your only talent. You can be good at things without having a cutie-mark in it."

The filly looked at her lopsided, with a querying expression.

"Okay, take myself. I'm a librarian, but I'm also good at astronomy, and I've learned quite a bit of magic. I'm willing to bet you know some-pony who's good at something that isn't part of her cutie-mark." Twilight was willing to break cover slightly to prompt her with one example, but Apple Bloom was quite smart enough to think of it on her own.

"My sister Applejack! Her cutie-mark is apples but she's really good at rodeo stuff, herding critters and using a lasso. She's won blue ribbons in every rodeo in Ponyville for years!"

"There you are then." Twilight nodded approvingly, getting some-pony to come up with an answer themselves usually made the lesson stick better. "Your cutie-mark talent is important but it isn't the only thing that makes you special. Always remember, you are defined by what you believe and how you act, not the mark on your flank, and don't let any-pony tell you differently.."

Twilight realised she was lecturing, but she really did feel for the filly's predicament after seeing her work so hard for no reward in so many loops.

"Huh, I never thought about it like that…" Apple Bloom said, and then she smiled up at the unicorn. "Gee, you're smart! Maybe I will come and read some books."

"I'm happy to help." Twilight said with a feeling of satisfaction. Hopefully, she could help the filly cope more effectively with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when they started acting out.

"Apple Bloom! You've still got some chores that need doing!" A familiar voice called out. Applejack was coming up to the gate.

"Okay sis! I was just resting for a bit." Apple Bloom turned away, then said over her shoulder, "Goodbye, and thanks!"

"It was my fault, I got chatting to her." Twilight said.

"Shucks, it ain't a problem. I overheard what you were saying, that was a right decent thing you did. Lil' Apple Bloom has been getting kinda antsy since her class started coming into their cutie-marks."

"I thought as much." Twilight shrugged. "I meant every word. I've seen it before, fillies who obsess on finding their cutie-marks and forget that they're more than that. Not to mention bullies who think no cutie-mark means they're a loser."

What she didn't say was that Apple Bloom was chief among the first class of aforementioned fillies.

"I hear ya! I was late coming into my own cutie-mark, so I got some of that myself. I even went sky-hooting off to Manehatten, but I finally figured out this was where I belonged. " Applejack shook her head. "Anyhow, I'm Applejack, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!"

"I'm Codex, the new town librarian. I just arrived here from Canterlot. As for finding where I belong... Never mind." Twilight held out her hoof and prepared for a shaking.

"Well howdy do, Miss Codex, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance!" Applejack finally released her hoof and dropped hers down, crossing her other fore-leg. "So, what can I do you for this fine day?"

"I fancied some apples to go with my breakfast, and Rarity said you had the finest apples in Ponyville."

"Heh! Try finest in Equestria!" Applejack looked back over her shoulder at the mass of ponies. "Well some of my family from out of town might have their own opinion..."

"I thought there were rather a lot of ponies for just one farm."

Applejack gave a whinny of amusement. "Yup, these are my kinfolk from all over Equestria. I asked them to come help getting together the food for the Summer Sun Celebration, and they came. It ain't every-day you get to see the Princess raise the sun in person."

Twilight gave a slight flinch, just enough to be noticeable. She saw Applejack notice it, but the mare wasn't likely to pry, at least not until she knew Twilight better. She schooled her expression to pleasantness, and asked, "So anyway, how much for a half dozen apples?"

"Don't worry about it, I guess since you're new in town, you can have a free sample. Matter of fact, we're just starting to get some samples ready for when that Royal Overseer comes to check on things. I guess you could give us a second opinion."

"I really shouldn't…" Twilight said, though she wanted to, and not only to have more chance to restore her friendship. Some of the smells coming from the farm-house were making her stomach growl. "… but yes, I'd love to!"

There followed a series of introductions startlingly similar to the events of the prime time-line. But this time, Twilight took the trouble to memorise the ponies as she was introduced, though it had been made easier by repeated introductions in prior loops.

She got Applejack talking about her rodeo successes, and Apple Bloom about her school work, and did her best to get to know something about every-pony there. As with the party in Canterlot, she knew exactly how to get the other ponies talking about themselves, and as she'd learned from Pinkie Pie, remembering things about ponies wasn't hard when you thought of them as your friends.

She ended up eating rather more of the samples than she'd intended, and making entirely honest complements about their excellence, and decided she needed to balance things. "I really should help out some, after all of your hospitality…"

Applejack waved it off. "Don't worry about it! I reckon you're practically a part of the family! It's a pleasure to meet a pony who appreciates…"

"I say! Where is the pony in charge of this… shambles?"

Twilight froze up. No, it couldn't be! Had her disappearance sent Princess Celestia completely insane? She should have realised that the Princess would have to pick a replacement Royal Overseer, but out of all the ponies in Canterlot, to select Bluebloodas her representative?

She trailed Applejack back to the gate, hoping she was wrong. No, there he was, dressed in a stylishly cut tweed jacket that he must fondly imagine made him look like a rugged pony of action. He was flanked by two Royal Guards, probably the ones who'd flown him here, presumably to highlight how important he was. Though considering his penchant for annoying ponies, maybe he actually needed bodyguards. While she'd had little to do with the Prince in her original time-line, she'd run across him several times in the loops and he'd never made a positive impression.

The fact that he'd clearly considered her achievements in both magic and academics as worthless compared to the all-important noble title and wealth he'd gotten by being born, and had been heard to refer to her as that 'jumped up little academic who subsists on my great aunt's charity' did nothing to endear him to her. She suspected he'd had designs on Cadence in more than one time-line, and her brother's romance with Celestia's adoptive niece had hardened his attitude to her family in those cases, and made him even more unbearable, something that she'd have originally believed impossible.

She pushed down her personal dislike of the stuck-up narcissistic prat, and tried to remind herself of his few positive points. He was also loyal to his great aunt, and a competent organiser. Also, while much of the Canterlot social elite were just as pleasant as any-pony else, there was a proportion of toffee nosed egotists, and Blueblood was the perfect foil to keep them in check by being even more top-lofty and superior than they were. If Celestia had been forced to deal with some of the more interesting examples of the dangers of inbreeding that Canterlot produced, she'd probably have gone Infernal Blaze long since.

However, Celestia normally kept her nephew in a close check rein, and sending him to somewhere like Ponyville to interact with normal ponies demonstrated a level of ineptitude that bordered on the imbecilic. However, that probably meant Celestia had nothing to do with it, she had probably handed off the task to some subordinate who lacked her keen appreciation of the level of disaster the arrogant clothes horse could engender simply by being his usual unbearable self. Not to mention his first port of call was the Apple homestead, which just about put the dollop of cream on this choice slice of disaster apple pie.

"I'm Applejack, and this is Sweet Apple Acres, not a 'shambles'. Are you the fella who's supposed to be checking on the vittles for the Summer Sun Celebration?"

Blueblood gave a sniff of distain. "Iam Prince Blueblood, Royal Overseer for the Summer Sun Celebrations, and you will address me with the courtesy due to my rank!"

Twilight winced. Yup, Blueblood still had it, not that any-pony else would wantit.

Applejack's voice took on an edge. "You can be sure I'll treat you will all the respect you deserve."

"Very well. Bad enough that Celestia's precious little charity project has run off to hide somewhere, leaving meto clean up the mess, but you could have at least made sure there was a carpet or something to keep my hooves clean while I crossed that yard full of dirt. It was bad enough having to walk up a dusty road, do you know what this will do to my hooficure?"

"Why I'm right sorry yer royal annoy… highness, I'll just get my kin-folk to lay down in a line so you can step from pony to pony without getting your hooves dirty."

"Don't be silly!" Blueblood exclaimed. "Look at them. They're so scruffy there wouldn't be any advantage to it. No, I suppose I will have to walk across the yard myself. The things I'm forced to do in the name of my Great Aunt…"

He walked in, trailed by the two guards who had the good grace to look at least slightly embarrassed, and the death glares of the entire Apple family. Twilight could have put a stop to it, popping wings as well as a horn in front of the idiot usually shut him up, but base-line Twilight wouldn't head for an immediate confrontation, and neither would Codex. Going alicorn would break her cover about as badly as possible and leave her with a lot of explaining to do.

On it's own, that wouldn't have stopped her, her friends were more important to her than that, but even without massive alicorn powers and the advantages of a hundred loops of study, neither base-line Twilight Sparkle or her alter ego was a push over. She could salvage this the smart way, without simply throwing power at it. It was a close thing though, she'd had no intention of making things harder for her friends, and she felt responsible.