//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 22 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 22.1 “Trixie,” Twilight said, blocking two incoming crossbow bolts, “what the hay did you do?” “Trixie is not sure,” the blue unicorn replied, curving a stun bolt over their barricade. “She was just engaging in the usual early-loop run of sell-out performances to build spending money, and then suddenly a hit squad.” “There must be more to it than that.” “Well, don’t look at me.” Trixie rummaged in one of her hat’s hidden pockets, then waved something around. “This is the only unfamiliar thing I can find…” Twilight looked at it. “What the hay? That’s the Crystal Heart!” “It is?” Trixie rotated it, and Twilight found herself forced to resort to a brute force bunker shield as her friend abruptly dropped everything else to focus on examining the small crystal. “It is indeed,” Trixie concluded after almost a minute. “Despite the size. Well, we would appear to have been dropped right in the middle of a thriller plot.” They shared glances. “Dibs I be the nutty but well armed one!” Trixie shouted. “Well, yeah, that was a given,” Twilight allowed. “Guess I’ll have to be the quiet, bookish one who analyzes things.” “We need a third member,” Trixie muttered. “Hmmm…” “Oi!” a griffin shouted at them. “Are you going to bother paying attention to us, or…” Both unicorns fired stun spells at once. Twilight went for subtlety, weaving in a viral component which bounced between the various other ponies and griffins forming the hit squad, neutralizing them all with minimal effort. Then Trixie’s spell connected, and sent him flying out the window. “Overenthusiastic warlock,” Twilight teased. “Petty efficiency-focused mage,” Trixie rejoined. “You’re right, we do need someone else.” Twilight then blinked. “And I know just the pony.” “You see,” Sombra said silkily, trotting in a circle around the two unicorns, “The Crystal Heart is the most powerful magical artefact known to pony kind.” “Seventh!” Twilight interrupted. “Eighth,” Trixie replied. “I found one of those ones from the Daring Do stories once-” “The prattle of small minds.” Sombra shook his head, and turned away from the manacled ponies. “But I have no more concerns. You are trapped, your magic is blocked, and my triumph is at hand.” Trixie sniggered. “You are asking for it so much.” “Do go on,” Sombra invited. “It’s another minute until the ritual reaches the crescendo, so I can spare the time for a moment’s amusement.” “And again!” The showpony shrugged. “But if you want to keep doing that, go ahead. It’ll just make the irony more funny.” “I’m afraid all the ironic amusement will be on my side,” Sombra gloated, still in that icily smooth voice which sounded so wrong to Twilight. “For nothing can stop me now!” At that point, Luna broke through the ceiling. “Told you,” Trixie said smugly. “WE HAVE ARRESTED HIM!” Luna boomed out. “AGENT T, WE DID IT! DOES THIS MEAN WE ARE NO LONGER PROBATIONARY?” Twilight smirked. It had taken some fast talking with her brother to get Trixie and herself officially enlisted into his Guard unit, and then more to keep them off the books… but the result was that they were basically the Mares in Black. Though it did kind of suck that, since Luna would have to be L, and that left Trixie with T, she had to be content with being agent S. “Yep,” Trixie answered Luna. “Well done, agent Elle.” “So, who’s going to be coming after that thing next?” Twilight asked speculatively, as the regular guard moved in on what used to be Sombra’s base of operations. “Trixie has no idea. And she still can’t get it to go away.” Twilight and Luna both sniggered. Neither of them knew why the Crystal Heart followed Trixie around either (and Twilight hoped it wouldn’t last past the Loop), but it was funny. Especially that time someone tried to steal it, and it had just vanished from his saddlebags to reappear in her hat. “Actually,” Luna said, remembering to keep her voice down this time, “We have heard rumours that the Changelings seek the gem. Again.” “What, really?” Trixie frowned. “This Chrysalis is unusually persistent. This is, what, the seventh time?” “Sixth, I think,” Twilight said. “That lot in Neighagra Falls were just local, part of an emotion smuggling ring. No, I don’t know how you smuggle an emotion either.” “What do you think she’ll send this time?” Trixie mused. “Cut price ninja changelings again?” “Who knows.” 22.2 “Okay, somepony up there’s got to be playing a joke on me.” Twilight surveyed the field from her office window. One absolutely colossal building. A long runway, easily five miles long. A much smaller runway which led to a pair of gantries and a blast trap. And dozens of little green men in spacesuits waiting expectantly for her to tell them what to do. “Right,” she said eventually, and started for the Vertical Assembly Building. “Time to introduce these… Kerbals, to the concept of a wind tunnel.” She felt quite smug, as the enormous rocket was finally moved out onto the launch pad. It wasn’t an SSTO launcher, those would still take a while to perfect, but it should be fine for a moon shot. “Everything ready?” “One hundred percent!” Jebediah said, saluting. “Rocket fuelled and ready to-” Then there was a bang. When Twilight’s hearing returned it was raining bits of rocket, Kerbals in extremely tough space suits, and even large amounts of dirt washed up in the blast. “Oh, come on!” she shouted, as a Kerbal bounced past – he’d be fine, he landed on his head. “What even caused that?” Jebediah shrugged. “Just happens sometimes. Well known fact, one in five fuel reserves just randomly explode if looked at funny.” The Kerbal clapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s just how the world works. Hell, it doesn’t even matter if they’re full or not – I once saw a rocket run out of fuel on the launchpad, then explode hard enough to send the Kerbalnaut into orbit anyway.” “Right.” Twilight shook her head sadly. “Oh, well, back to the drawing board.” “You could always just build a plane with five hundred ailerons,” Jebediah suggested. “Flap them to take off.” “Would that even work?” At his nod, Twilight’s expression turned thoughtful. “I don’t know what you have for physics here, but it seems exploitable…” 22.3 “Huh,” Twilight said, looking over at her ‘sister’. “I have to admit, I’m surprised this one took so long to come up…” Celestia nodded. “I wondered if it was possible at all, given your descriptions of the various other loops with recent alicorns. But here we are.” “Indeed.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she enforced a chaos negation spell. “Any particular plans?” “Yes, actually,” Celestia said. “I want to show you all the tricks of being a ruler that you might have missed.” “…Princess…” Twilight began, “I’ve done loops like this at least a dozen times. I’m pretty much certain that I’m, technically, older than you by now. By quite a lot.” “There’s always something to learn.” Celestia smiled mysteriously. “Oh, knock it off with the Dumbledore stuff.” “I can’t tell if this is a good idea or a bad one…” Twilight mused. “Why not?” Celestia asked, passing Twilight a hard hat (complete with hole for the horn). “I know I’ve never had the time to see what’s at the core of the planet.” “Yeah, it is interesting stuff…” Twilight paused, then pointed. “But just over there is a gateway to Tartarus.” “Eh.” Celestia shrugged. “Alright, get digging!” “Right, that’s another hydra…” Twilight trotted over, the monster bobbing along in a telekinetic field. “Three heads, this one.” “Thank you,” Celestia replied, taking the monster. “But we appear to have a problem. They keep escaping through the hole.” “So we need to rebuild the ceiling of Tartarus?” Twilight asked. “Is that what you’re saying?” “Not quite.” Celestia focused, and then the hydra went flying moon-wards. “Let’s see them escape from that,” she said smugly. “You… kind of like sending things to the moon, don’t you?” Twilight said rhetorically. “Good thing Luna isn’t around right now, I’m sure she’d protest.” “Go find some of those Scylla that escaped,” Celestia instructed. “Try looking in the ocean.” “So, what you’re trying to teach me is..?” “Clean up after your own mistakes.” Celestia replied smoothly. “Which is why I’m making you do it.” “Right, lesson learned, fob off boring tasks on your students…” Twilight shot back. “It’s called postgraduate work.” Celestia winked. 22.4 “Nice to see you, Rarity and Sweetie,” Twilight said, ticking off another pair of names. “Start line’s over there – and no panicking, Rarity!” “Perish the thought!” Rarity said, looking down at her little sister. “We’re going to do as well as possible – and if that dreadful mud looks like being a problem, well, I have designed my outfit to be mud resistant!” “How come you didn’t make mine mud resistant?” Sweetie asked. “You’re not wearing anything.” Rarity pointed out. “Well, yeah… but I could have been!” Twilight watched the unicorns walk off bickering for a moment or two longer. That was another wrinkle that Rarity had learned to carefully smooth over, then. “Alright, who’s next – Princess Celestia?!” Heads turned, some of them with the attached jaws dropping. “Yes?” that alicorn asked, her eyes dancing. “Is there a problem?” “Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight asked, the question having more than one layer. As did the answer. “I wanted to surprise you. Anyway – Luna! Luna?” The black princess trotted over from a table of refreshments. “We particularly enjoy indulging Ourselves in this thing you call ‘toffee’.” Twilight looked sideways at Celestia. “Her too?” “Indeed,” Celestia replied mysteriously. “Now, I and my sister wish to enter.” “…sure, why not. You’re sisters, after all.” Twilight pointed to the two of them. “You know the rules, right?” “Yes.” Celestia rattled them off, and Twilight checked the list. “Well, you seem all set, then. Just one reminder – when it says no use of magic or wings in the foot race, that is a rule. It’s basically for fairness.” “Hah!” Luna said, drumming her hooves on the floor. “I think we shall be fine.” “Right,” Twilight said, as she heaved an incredibly muddy Luna out of a sink hole. “For reference? Spreading wings when you’re tripping into mud just increases the surface area.” “Well, I know that now…” Luna muttered. “This is so embarrassing.” “Well, Celestia’s still down there.” Twilight sluiced Luna down with water. “That should get the worst off. Hey, er… how long can alicorns last without air?” “Indefinitely.” Luna then turned back to the pool. “But it isn’t exactly pleasant. I suggest you extract my sister soon.” “Are you two just denser, or something?” As she spoke, Twilight began to lift the entire sinkhole out of the ground and summoned up a bubble of water to wash Celestia off. “Our hooves are essentially normal size, and we weigh rather a lot more than a normal pony – especially without passive magic to reduce the weight a bit.” Luna went off, presumably to ask for a cloud. “Pfffffeh!” Celestia sniffled. “Not one of my better ideas…” Twilight shook her head, and spoke in a whisper. “I know full well alicorns are more durable than that – no mere dunking will give you a cold.” She paused. “You did that deliberately, didn’t you?” “Mostly deliberately.” Celestia spat more muddy residue out. “But yes, I never really intended to win.” “Can’t blame you…” Twilight replied, watching Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo celebrating. “I know they’re not really sisters, but they both insisted.” Luna came over with eight cups of hot chocolate. “Four for you, Celly. Goodness, but we screwed that one up…” “Speak for yourself.” Celestia drank the first mug. “Oh, I needed that.” “We planned on coming just behind the leaders, not getting sunk into a bog!” Luna hissed. Twilight shook her head, and left the sisters to their argument. Strange how that part of having a sibling worked… 22.5 (more Turning the Tables, from Stainless Steel Fox) “Thanks Rarity.” Twilight said as the group walked towards the Town hall. “That puts my mind at ease a bit.” “Think nothing of it.” The white mare waved her thanks away with a hoof. “I just wish you weren't being so mysterious about it. Is this some-pony a colt-friend? Is he the one you left Canterlot over?” “No, just a dear friend.” Twilight decided it was time to let some of the back-story out, to cushion when she was ready to tell everything. Besides, she felt it was what her in-loop self would do. “And he wasn't the one I disappointed. I had a very responsible position, and I failed in my duties. I thought it was only a small thing, helping my friend out, but clearly I was wrong. “I left something undone for a few hours while I went off, but I honestly thought it wouldn't make a difference. It wasn't time critical, just some research about old legends. I still don't know what was so important about it... When I was called to answer for my mistake, I couldn't take it. I resigned, left Canterlot altogether, told myself it was better to avoid causing further embarrassment.” She hung her head. “I'm beginning to realise that it was a selfish option, and a cowardly one. I should have stayed, taken my lumps, even if the end result would most likely have been the same, leaving Canterlot in disgrace. After the Summer Sun Celebration I'll go back, find out exactly what was so terrible about what I didn't get done, and face whatever punishment I have coming. I just hope I have here to come back to afterwards.” Applejack looked at her askance and asked, “No-pony got hurt did they?” “NO!” Twilight exclaimed. She felt guilty in that it wasn't exactly true, the whole mess with Blueblood, Spike being left alone, there had been several people hurt. “Not directly, anyway, but I'm beginning to realise that my leaving may have hurt quite a few people. I swear, I never imagined any-pony would get hurt or I'd never have left my library!” That was the truth. Even Celestia would ultimately have come out of it wiser, however much she might be worried in the short term. Applejack looked closely at the pale blue unicorn, and finally nodded her head. “I guess that's fine. Though I'd like to know the full story.” Pinkie bounced up and down. “Oh oh! I bet she's Twilight Sparkle and the princess is the one she disappointed, and that the old legends are some secret for stopping some massive evil thingie that's going to appear...” She came to a halt with a puzzled expression. “No, wait, if that was the case, why would the Princess want to send her to Ponyville rather than keeping her in the library to finish her research? Silly me!” She slapped the side of her head with her hoof as Twilight goggled. Then she gave a sigh. “Well, you got the first bit right.” That managed to produce as fine a crop of double-takes as had ever been seen. She waved a hoof to stop the inevitable exclamations. “But please, can every-pony keep it to themselves? I'm known as Codex here, and I'd like to have a bit more time to be just Codex before I have to deal with whatever Twilight Sparkle has coming. But you're also right, if there was some big threat on the horizon, Princess Celestia would surely have told me right out, given me time to prepare.” Rainbow Dash flew down beside Pinkie Pie. “But how the hey did you figure that out?” “Well, duh!” The pink pony exclaimed. “We get told about a pony who'd vanished from Canterlot mysteriously by Blueblood, obviously it's foreshadowing the big reveal that the pony is our new friend who comes from Canterlot and appeared mysteriously.” “And my friend is a baby dragon called Spike, and blue garnets are his favourite food.” Twilight added. “Oh my!” Fluttershy was suddenly beside her, and beside herself. “You have a baby dragon?” “He was my number one assistant. I take care of him,and vice versa. I'll try and set up a chance to meet him, if Princess Celestia lets me anywhere near him after the way I messed up.” Twilight was surprised when she reached the Town Hall and saw Shining Armour there as part of the Royal Guard detail. Not only was his presence a surprise, but the fact that he his uniform clearly identified him as Captain of the Guard. That shouldn't have happened for several months yet... Then her in-loop memories told her that it had happened, and that she'd just sent a note congratulating him. 'Princess Celestia was right about one thing, I desperately needed to get out and make some friends. Just a note? For my BBBFF? Some LSBFF I turned out to be. I was well on my way to going completely Starswirl!' She took pride in the fact that he didn't give her a second glance as she went in the main doors with her new friends. There were other changes, a couple of small but elegant air-boats and a couple of fancy carriages parked nearby. Blueblood was inside, making small talk with a number of wealthy looking unicorns and earth-ponies, she recognised Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lys among them, and along with Filthy Rich. Events inside unfolded as they had a hundred times before, Fluttershy conducted her bird chorus fanfare, the mayor gave her speech, and Twilight watched out of the corner of her eye as the four stars of the conjunction approached the moon, and vanished behind it, causing the image of the mare in the moon to disappear. Her magical senses were far more acute than they'd once been, and the passive magical detection spell she'd cast didn't hurt. She could feel the bright shining beacon of Princess Celestia's aura, hidden away in the back room behind the curtains, and the surge as it was engulfed and extinguished by the shadowed aura of Nightmare Moon. “...Princess Celestia!” The gasps of shock as the opened curtains revealed the total lack of Princesses or a reasonable facsimile were as nothing to the shock and awe as a cloud of star-shot purple mist appeared on the dias and resolved itself into Nightmare Moon. “Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.” Standard speech, same old, same old... wait, there were more pegasus guards than usual, and they were manoeuvring dark clouds into position in the rafters. “What have you done with our Princess!” Rainbow Dash yelled, charging, and was as always restrained by Applejack. Blueblood of all ponies joined in. “Yes, tell us where she is at once!” The mare no longer in the moon chuckled. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?” “Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!” “Wrong, she's obviously a crazy party-crashing Nightmare Night reject.” Twilight suggested. “Go home! You're months early! And those wings and horn look fake! Get off-stage and let the Princess get out!” While she was calling the villain out, she also scooped up Fluttershy with her telekinesis and brought them down to the main floor. She was about to do the same for Rarity when her brother's horn glowed and swept her down to him. Rarity realised who'd carried her away and looked worshipfully at him. “Yeah! Tell us where the Princess is!” “Boo!” “Spoilsport!” “Lame!” The other ponies started heckling her. The three future crusaders started throwing candy at her. Meanwhile the guards on the ground were clearly moving into position at a signal from Shining Armour. The look on Nightmare Moon's face went from smug to furious, and lightning cracked around her, silencing every-pony. “I will not stand for this disrespect! I am Nightmare Moon! Sister of Celestia and Princess of all Equestria!” “You lost any right to that title a millennium ago, when you turned on your sister and the ponies you were supposed to protect, and tried to bring eternal night!” Shining Armour had stepped forward, horn glowing. Twilight felt the Message spell trigger as he said, more quietly. “Sergeant, clear the civilians out.” Twilight suddenly realised what this all meant. He couldn't be thinking... Nightmare Moon was too wrapped up in her boasting to see the movement in the crowd below her. “And this time I shall! My oh so precious sister is bound in the sun, where she will stay! I control the sun and moon now, and I will do so, forever!” Lightning crackled around her again, but Shining Armour called out, “Not on my watch! Luna, once Princess of Equestria and self-styled Nightmare Moon, you are hereby charged with high treason, the assault and kidnapping of Princess Celestia and making hackneyed villain speeches! Surrender or we will use force!” Oh dear Celestia! Her brother was going to try and arrest her! “Ha!” Nightmare Moon sneered. “You pathetic ponies should be taking my orders!” “Very well, all pegasi fire! Full charge!” A dozen massive lightning bolts jumped from the cloud and enveloped Nightmare Moon. The balcony was splintered in seconds, too fast to even catch fire, and Shining Armour, and two other unicorns of the Royal Guard who'd been standing well back came together and cast a purple containment shield that closed around her. Prince Blueblood charged up a few seconds later, horn glowing, but Shining Armour waved him off with a hoof. “Don't, you'll destabilise it... help get every-pony out of here!”. For a wild moment Twilight wondered if they could actually do it, then felt Nightmare Moon's power surge. This was far more than her usual casual lightning slap to knock away the guards sent to seize her. She was drawing power from somewhere, enough to respond with enough power to burn out their horns, maybe even kill them. The sky outside lightened towards pre-dawn, and she made the connection. Celestia must still be fighting to break free! But it wouldn't be in time to save her brother! Without further thought she jumped in beside him and covered them with a shield of her own, just as the purple sphere enclosing Nightmare Moon shattered and a blast of dark energy surged from her horn to strike at them. It spent it's energy smashing the shield, shattering into smaller streamers and sending the four unicorns sprawling backwards, but Nightmare Moon looked visibly weaker afterwards. She turned her face to the lightening horizon with an expression of fear and hate. Her horn glowed a fierce black, and the sky darkened again, but it clearly exhausted her. Before any-pony could do anything about it, she turned into a cloud of black mist and swept away. “uhhh...” Shining Armour shook his head as he pulled himself up. “Thank you miss... You saved our lives.” Twilight was pony-piled by her friends. “Codex dear, are you alright!” “Whoa! That was awesome!” “Ohh ohh! Do it again!” Twilight lifted herself to her feet with a glow of her horn and shook herself. Her pince-nez glasses were missing and her mane was in disarray. “Cast another shield right now! Expand it out to cover the Town Hall and encompass every-pony.” “Uh... what?” asked the confused unicorn stallion. “Now, please!” She pleaded. He cast the spell and another bubble expanded out from his horn, engulfing the others and expanding. As he did, her horn glowed and she added her own spell to the flow of power. The spell passed through the walls of the town hall, and the sky outside seemed to lighten, triggering gasps of awe from many of the ponies. The mayor had managed to make her way over, glancing up at the dawn light outside the windows. “What did you just do? Did you just raise the sun?” “I'm afraid not.” Twilight sighed. “I just added a daylight effect to the interior of Shining Armour's spell. That Nightmare Moon seemed terrified of the dawn. If she is a creature of night, she should be unable to snoop inside this bubble, for as long as it lasts.” “That was some pretty ingenious spell-work, miss...” “Codex.” That would do for now. To be honest, she was half ready to give up the whole deception, but now wasn't the time for long explanations. “It's only a stop-gap measure, but it's all I could come up with. We need time to prepare, time to research, to figure out how to stop her. Even a unicorn triune couldn't contain her, though it's clear she's using power for something else.” "You know, Miss Codex," the Royal Guard Captain said, "you remind me a lot of my little sister." Rarity wilted a bit. The oh-so-dashing stallion was interested in the librarian instead. "I should. I'd say that I know Twilight Sparkle pretty well." Twilight said. "After all, she spends a lot of time in the library." That perked Rarity right up. This was Twilight's brother? That had possibilities... Shining Armor smiled. "You're one of Twilie's friends? That's great! To be honest, Mom, Dad, and I have been worried that she wasn't getting out much. Even Cadie's worried..." Rarity's defeat was total. She could hear the affection in that pet name... This was just. The. Worst. Possible. Thing.... That was quickly overshadowed by a cry from Applejack. She was standing by an oddly shaped bush, no a pair of bushes, one wrapped around another almost protectively. It was like natural topiary, in the shape of two ponies, a bigger one shielding the smaller one, with a familiar red bow bound into it's branches. “I saw her run back in... Big Mac tried to fetch her, and then they were hit by one of those splashes of magic when it broke on your shield...” The earth-pony was distraught. Twilight was stricken. Things had really gotten out of control. She cast a quick diagnostic spell and heaved a big sigh of relief. “They're alive and aware, just trapped in those forms. Nightmare Moon must have wanted trophies she could gloat over. It should be possible to turn them back...” “Then do it!” Applejack demanded. Twilight could do it, but only by going full alicorn. The best in-loop Twilight could do was... “A unicorn can't overpower alicorn magic, and Princess Cadence isn't a magic specialist. I can give them mobility, alter the transformation. It shouldn't affect turning them back when we have the power available...” Her horn glowed and the two tree shapes shifted, twisted. They fell apart, then got to their hooves, or rather paws. Two timber wolves stood there, one taller than Shining Armour, the other just a puppy with big mossy feet, but still as big as most of the ponies there. However, both had glowing green eyes, and a full set of thorny claws and sharpened stakes for teeth. Applejack scrambled a few steps back, falling on her rump, and she wasn't the only one. “Big Mac? Is that you in there?” “Eyup!” The voice was the stallion's. He shook his head, which had a thatch of yellow grass. “At least I reckon so.” The littler timber wolf spoke in “Oh wow! That was so neat!” She plucked at her head which had a coating of reddish orange leaves, emulating her mane style. The two bigger members of the Apple family galloped over to grab her in a three way hug, which resulted in several scratches for Applejack. Twilight shook her head. “I'm sorry, I was going for tree-ponies, but the existing magic fought me.” “Of course it would, there are only two of them, silly!” Pinkie Pie interjected. “This was the best I could do. Applejack, I am so sorry...“ The earth-pony looked back at her, but her expression wasn't angry. “It's okay Twilight, you couldn't know this would happen, and you've done your best to fix it.” “Twilight!” Shining Armour exclaimed. “Oh, horse-apples.” Twilight turned to her brother and let her disguise drop. “Yes, it's me.” “But what are you doing here?! Do you know how worried every-pony's been about you? Why were you disguised as somepony else?” “Because Codex never failed her princess, either by being less than the perfect student Princess Celestia wanted me to be, or running away rather than facing the music when I eventually fell short of her expectations. Codex isn't going to be spoken of in the same tone as Sunset Shimmer! Twilight Sparkle is going to have to face Princess Celestia and be formally dismissed as her personal student, and all because I took Spike to that party! “Maybe you and the rest of the family were worried about my not making any friends, but Princess Celestia clearly thinks differently. Though if those old legends were about the return of Nightmare Moon, I can see why they were important. Even so, if Princess Celestia had given any indication of their importance, I'd have stayed in my tower and get some-pony else to escort Spike! Though a couple of hours wouldn't have made much difference, I could have stayed for the whole party and still read all those books before today!” “Hold on a second!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That's why Princess Celestia was going to dismiss you? Because you took a couple of hours off to go to as party?” “Yes!” Twilight exclaimed. “Her previous student, Sunset Shimmer had the talent, the ability to be a great mage. But she wasn't willing to work for it, and bailed on the Princess when she wasn't allowed access to all the high level magics before mastering the lesser ones. Then she took me on, and I'd been fascinated by magic ever since the Summer Sun Celebration when I was a foal, where I first saw the Princess raised the sun. It was about the biggest honour imaginable, and I swore never to let anything get in the way of studying, never to become another Sunset Shimmer. “I'd already built good study habits, and I stuck to them, not letting anything distract me, such as a social life, or making friends. I had Spike, and Cadence, and my BBBFF... Big Brother Best Friend Forever. And of course Princess Celestia herself. I didn't think I needed any other friends, and Princess Celestia agreed. She never suggested I try and make any, at least. “Then I went to that party Moondancer was holding, because Spike had a crush on her and I wanted to see him safely there. I only meant to stay for a few minutes, see him settled, but I got talking to ponies and I found out I was wrong. Ponies I'd only ever known as exam scores were suddenly real to me, and finding out about them was fun! I could even help them with their studies, and actually using my knowledge felt wonderful too! “Then I got the letter, right in the middle of the party, summoning me to her at once, none of the normal pleasantries she always puts in. She wouldn't have done that unless she was displeased with me. I realised that she must think I was starting down the path Sunset Shimmer had, and that she probably wasn't going to take chances.” She sighed. “I lost it, I can admit that now, but at the time all I could think of was that I'd failed, and all I wanted to do was hide in a hole somewhere and pull the hole in after me. That's what Codex was all about, finding out about this library job in Ponyville on the train seemed perfect, but I needed to be some-pony who didn't have Twilight Sparkle's baggage. Who was still allowed to make friends. So I hid...” “I don't believe it!” Blueblood had arrived back inside and had stormed up. “So all the time it was you?! She was probably just summoning you to send you to oversee the Summer Sun Celebrations!” “How could I possibly have thought that?!” Twilight shouted back, then stopped herself. “I'm sorry, I know it affected you... but to be honest, you make more sense as Overseer than I do. I've never performed any kind of official function before, my strength is research, not socialising with ponies, I am in every possible way one of the least likely ponies in Canterlot to be picked for it. Maybe she did, but that was before I messed up.” Astoundingly Blueblood cracked a smirk. “And yet, in a single day, you manage to insinuate yourself into this town, bring together a group of ponies and get them to follow you, even face down a Prince. I've heard auntie talk about your organising abilities too.” “That's just, I mean... I didn't...” Twilight gave up, and rolled her eyes. “Okay, so you have a point. But look at it from my point of view, I get interrupted and called up on the carpet after abandoning my studies to make some friends, the last thing I'd expect would to be told was to abandon my studies, go to Ponyville to be Royal Overseer for the Summer Sun Celebration, and make some friends. It makes no sense!” In loop that was absolutely true. Indeed, that was the whole point of everything she'd done this loop. “It all makes sense, if you knew what everything that was going on.” Shining Armour had been listening the whole time, rather than jumping in. He wanted to get Twilight's side of things. It was clear Princess Celestia had been pretty much on the money, as usual. “Those old legends you were supposed to read, they did explain about Nightmare Moon. They also explained how Princess Celestia used some artifacts called the Elements of Harmony to seal her in the moon.” He gave the story the Princess had told him, including the belief that Luna had been turned into Nightmare Moon by some sort of corrupting entity. Rainbow Dash gave forth her two bits worth. “So why didn't the princess just haul out the Elements again and zap her when she got back?” “Because using the Elements like that wrecked them, the books just say they were lost, but before then the two sisters always worked together to wield them, and their bond of friendship was one of the things that made them work. Turning them against Luna meant she could only use them at a fraction of their full power, meaning she was only able to banish her rather than heal her. “Even doing that much wrecked them beyond repair, leaving husks, a set of plain rocks. Also, from the way she acted, I think she and Luna were as close as Twily and I. Banishing her must have been like ripping her heart in half. Even if she could, I don't think she would.” Twilight mused. “Presumably there's some way to restore them to full power, and she believed I could find it, though what I can do that a full powered alicorn princess couldn't escapes me. Wait... there was a book I found when I was cleaning up the library, 'The Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide”. Some-pony has filed it under 'E' in the fiction section. I put it in it's proper place in the reference section, under 'Myths and Legends'.” Shining Armour chuckled. “I should have guessed you'd figure it out. Apparently, on the day you got your cutie-mark, when you went all super-Starswirl, she sensed that the elements had been reborn and that you had a connection to them. Did you read the book?” “No, I just filed it, if I'd started reading the books I'd have never gotten anything done. How's the spell holding up?” Shining Armour looked surprised at the question. “At this size, I can keep it going for hours.” “Then we should get over to the library with you keeping the spell over us.” &&& In practice, they couldn't get to the library right away as they had to calm down a large heard of frightened ponies. But with the mayor to calm the Ponyvillians and Blueblood to deal with the Canterlot group, they managed to convince every-pony that a solution was being found. To reassure them, Twilight ended up having to create a ward matrix for Shining Armour to transfer the original shield spell to, powered by the other two unicorn guards to maintain a shield over the town hall, while the pair duplicated the spell to cover the smaller group. Shining Armour found he couldn't maintain the shield while moving, and they had to redo it when they reached the library. 'There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. When when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.' That got almost universal shudders from the Ponyville contingent, but Twilight looked confused. “That's it? I mean if the final confrontation took place there then, yes, that makes sense, but logically, the only pony who could have written this was Princess Celestia herself. How could any of it be a mystery to her? Why hide all the clues so cryptically?” “She didn't want some-pony unworthy to find out all the information, and learn how to use the elements. In the wrong hooves, they could be as big a threat as Nightmare Moon.” “But if only I have the connection needed to reawaken them...” “She didn't know that until long after these books were written.” “So she was going to send me to Ponyville as it's the closest town to the Everfree Forest, and hope I'd join the dots. I can see why she wanted some-pony who'd rather be with books than friends... at least till recently.” She looked around at the five ponies who'd followed her. Plus Blueblood, and Applejack's family, who she refused to leave alone. “She admitted she'd made a mistake, several mistakes in how she handled this situation. She was going to summon you, and tell you some of this herself. In fact, she decided to tell me the rest of it, so I could pass it on to you when I found you.” “That sounds more sensible, but then why did you pull that stunt in the Town Hall?” “I hoped we could contain her, force her to release the Princess or at least keep her from doing any more damage until you had the Elements ready to use.” “So what is the other part of what I needed to work out?” “The husks in the old Royal palace are only half of the equation. The spirits of the Elements were reborn in the souls of five ponies, who she believed now live in Ponyville. But how you're going to find them...” “Oh, oh! I know, maybe the five of us are the five elements!” Pinkie called out. “Sugarcube, that'd be neat and all, but what're the chances?” Applejack replied. “I mean ain't none of us ever met her before yesterday. You heard her brother say she had to have some kinda connection from when she got her cutie-mark...” Twilight looked around. “Did any of you ever come to Canterlot when you were fillies? When I got my cutie-mark, it was the day I was doing my entrance exam for Princess Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns. And failing, the magic just wouldn't come, until I saw a rainbow light in the sky. It unlocked something inside me... Dash, were you flying overhead...? No it looked more like an explosion.” “Never flew to Canterlot before today, though when I got my cutie-mark I did a Sonic Rainboom. Could that be the explosion you saw?” “Ohmigosh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I saw a rainbow coloured boom when I was working on my family's rock farm. It made me feel all happy and light, and I wanted to share that feeling, so I threw my first party and got my cutie-mark!” “I discovered my talent for creating fabulous designs when a rainbow shock-wave broke open a geode full of gems.” Rarity interjected. “And I was in Manehattan, tryin' to be a fancy pony when I saw a rainbow from the direction of Ponyville. It made me realise where I belonged, right back on Sweet Apple Acres. I guess you were right Pinkie, if Fluttershy can say the same thing.” The yellow pegasus cringed under the attention, but managed to get out. “Well, I did discover my talent for understanding animals when a rainbow explosion in the sky scared the poor things. Is that what you meant?” Twilight grinned inwardly. If only they'd made this kind of connection the first time round. She gave a date, and they all agreed with it. “Then I guess we've got the beginnings of a plan. It's even obvious who's who. Pinkie Pie, who cheered me up when I was about as low as I could go is the spirit of laughter. Applejack, the pony who wanted to do things the right way rather than cheat, even against an unfair opponent, has to be the spirit of honesty. Rarity, who took in a pony off the street and made her welcome, and used her own gems to make the celebration shine is the spirit of generosity. Rainbow Dash, who leaped in to protect Fluttershy and would have charged Nightmare Moon to protect her friends is the spirit of loyalty. Finally, Fluttershy, who cares for all the animals is the spirit of kindness.” “So all you need is the husks and a lightning spell, and you're set!” Shining Armour said with a relieved expression. “That's awfully literal.” Twilight thought out loud. “Maybe it's a spark of inspiration, of friendship, as they gave me their friendship, inspired me to stop feeling sorry for myself and try and make up for the mess I made... we are still friends, aren't we?” “Yes! Awesomest best friends!” Pinkie bounced around. “Then that makes me the sixth element bearer, whatever it is. I guess all we have to do is get to the husks, and that should reunite them with the spirits and create the sixth element.” “Uh, what happens to us?” Rainbow asked. “Not that I'm worried or anything...” “No, good question.” Twilight replied. “They won't suck you in or anything like that. Best guess, you'll get a new piece of jewelry or something similar. You are now the spirits of the elements and the husks will bond to you, not the other way round.” “You're forgetting that those things are halfway across the Everfree Forest.” Rarity shuddered. “Having to walk all that way through the creepy forest at night, not to mention the muck. Well, if we must, then we must.” “I believe I can supply a solution.” Blueblood offered. “My private and exceptionally luxurious air-yacht is moored by the town hall. And my talent is navigation.” He pointed his horn back along his flank at the compass rose cutie-mark. “Twily, I think you should have me along too.” Shining Armour said. “If you're going to be working on the Elements, you won't be able to protect yourself. I can provide you with shield spells.” Big Mac rumbled. “I reckon if Prince Blueblood's ship can carry us all, I should come along too. I don't know this magic stuff from a bushel of apples, but I can protect Applejack, and all of you fillies.” “Oh, oh! Me too!” Apple Bloom piped up. “Uh huh, you young filly are going to plant yourself right here!” Applejack replied. “Awww!” The earth-pony turned tree-puppy pouted, which looked really odd on a timber wolf face. Twilight hadn't expected the offers of help, but she wasn't going to turn them down. All she really wanted to do was get the quest over with as quickly as possible. From what her brother had said, her plan had succeeded perfectly, which didn't explain why she felt so rotten about it. When this was all over, she was going to have a long talk with the Princess. She still considered the way the princess had handled things wrong, but that didn't mean that Twilight's response was right. Maybe if she'd just discussed her concerns, that might have been an alternative solution. But she was set in this course, and if she couldn't go back and do things differently (at least until next loop) she could make sure this adventure would have a happy ending. “Okay, then!” She said, looking around the expanded fellowship of the elements. “Let's go!” Omake (with polish from Capt Crysallid) “You have my air-ship!” declaimed Prince Blueblood. “And my horn!” Shining Armour added. “And my claws!” Big Mac finished. “What? You were expecting an axe?” Omake 2 (by Capt Crysallid) “One does not simply trot into Everfree,” Blueblood tried to explain, only to be shot by arrows out of nowhere. “Good lord! This isn’t even Act Three yet and already with the arrows?!” 22.6 “Okay,” Rarity said, nodding firmly to herself. “Here we go.” She trotted forward, broke into a run, ascended on the move, spread her wings… and leapt. There was a moment of fear, as she felt herself free-falling, but she’d already begun the first wingbeat and felt the new-yet-familiar appendages push her bodily skywards. Again. Again. And then some invisible connection was made in her mind, because the next wingbeat used a healthy dose of weather magic and sent her soaring. The feeling was so incredible that she repeated it three more times in a row, before settling into more of a glide. Looking down, Rarity felt another momentary stab of terror, as she realized just how high she was. But a familiar pair of leathery wings below her banished the fear in a rush of warmth, and of love. Spike gradually climbed to her height, coasting on a thermal. “Not so bad after all, is it?” “Not when you’re here,” she replied. “Just knowing you could catch me, it… puts my mind at rest.” He gave her a quick smile. “Shall we head over there? I packed lunch.” Following his pointing finger, Rarity saw a clearing a few miles off with a rock formation in the middle. “Yes, that looks nice.” Her landing wasn’t precisely perfect, but nor was it the crash she half-dreaded. It just felt easier to let her wings and her new weather magic do the work, and so she wasn’t moving fast enough to do anything more than stumble. Spike made a far more dramatic four-point landing, dropping straight down the last few metres to end in a crouch balanced by tail and one hand. “Show off,” Rarity twitted him, not concealing her relief at being on solid ground again. And yet, as they ate lunch (mica sandwiches for Spike and chestnuts for her), Rarity found herself tempted constantly to rush the meal. Once she was done, Spike gave her a knowing grin as she impatiently waited for him to finish. “Anxious to get back up there?” he asked. “I… yes, actually,” Rarity admitted. “Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards; for there you have been, and there you will long to return.” “That’s nice. Who’s it from?” “What, you don’t think I came up with it?” Spike raised an eyebrow. “No.” Rarity replied flatly, hoof to her mouth to hold in a snigger. “Some human called Leonardo. He invented flying machines in their world… or something? I can’t remember the details. What I do remember is that he never flew in his life.” Spike polished off the sandwich. “He was spot on, though.” “Yes, he was.” Rarity rolled the words around her head. She was still scared of flying, but somehow the fear had… changed. It wasn’t the fear of death any more. It was the kind of fear you got when going on a roller coaster. The kind of fear that shivered down your spine when you were reading a scary book. The kind of fear that only made the enjoyment sharper. “Catch me if you can!” she said suddenly, and leapt skywards. Spike’s shout of surprise followed by laughter chased her up, and then she heard one of his own slamming launch wingbeats. Just maybe, Dash had the right personality for flying, as well as the talent. Grasp the moment with all four hooves, and hang the consequences. Rarity turned aside, dodging a rapidly ascending Spike. Now, how to keep away from a large and determined dragon… at least until she could get him to take a dunk in the lake… Best to wash down your lunch, after all. 22.7 “Spike!” Twilight said, turning. “Yeah?” The dragon barely looked up from his book. “What is – whoa!” His threat sense abruptly jangled, and an outflung hand stopped the flying ball an inch from hitting him on the forehead. “What gives, Twi?” “More evidence for one of my theses!” Twilight answered, grinning. “Excellent data point, by the way.” “What did I even do?” Spike picked the ball out of the air. “Easy. Your reflex action was to use the Force.” Twilight bounced another ball on the ground. “So?” “As far as I have been able to prove, the first few loops – and especially the first few fused loops – of a recently awakened Looper could be called ‘formative’.” She lobbed the ball out of the window, and Scootaloo pinged it back with blurring speed. “Basically, one of your first loops was the Jedi loop, and so it’s one of the ones which had an unusual impact on you.” “Okay…” Spike nodded slowly. “Well, there are worse loops to have that happen with.” “Yes, true.” Twilight paused, imagining what Spike would be like without the moderating influence of a life trained as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though it had still taken him decades to properly get the impulse control side of it down pat. 22.8 Twilight looked around, then concentrated. There was something on the edge of perception… With an almost audible click, words and images appeared. A list, and: Select class. “What?” She looked along the list. Some of them were greyed out, others lit up. “Er… I guess… wizard?” Wizard selected. Statistics flowed past, too fast to properly perceive, then she was standing in an inn and wearing a pointy hat and long robes tailored for the unicorn she still was. A further check revealed she had a book of spells, an owl for a familiar, and a couple of dozen gold pieces. The doorbell jangled, and Twilight felt a smile steal over her as Pinkie Pie bounced into the inn with a balalaika slung over her back. “Ooh, hi Twilight!” Pinkie said, grinning back. “What are you this time?” “Er… a Wizard, I suppose.” “I’m a Bard!” Pinkie demonstrated by playing some chords on the instrument… somehow. “I don’t just play music – here, it’s magical music!” “That sounds useful.” Twilight frowned, struck by a thought. “Any idea what’s going on?” “We~ll, I think we All Meet In An Inn!” Pinkie spun back towards the door as it opened again. “Wonder who this is!” It turned out to be Fluttershy, with a bunny rabbit sitting on her head; presumably Angel. Part of Twilight’s loop memories told her that the cream-coloured pegasus was a ‘Druid’. “All of us?” Twilight asked, as she waved Fluttershy over. “Hi, ‘shy. Nice to see you.” “T…thank you,” Fluttershy replied. “Are the others here?” “Don’t know yet, but I suspect so.” Twilight looked Fluttershy over closely. “Are you a spellcaster as well this time?” “Druids use plant magic!” Pinkie answered for her. “And animal magic. So, kinda what Fluttershy does anyway! I wonder what Applejack’s going to be?” As it happened, despite the obvious cue, it was Dash through the door next. She had a slim knotted rope around her forehead and was wearing a simple gi. “Monk? Really?” Pinkie said, then shrugged. “Guess they are the fastest.” “Yep!” Dash reared back and did a few demonstration moves. “Nothing better for the fastest pegasus in Equestria!” “But we’re not in Equestria,” Twilight pointed out. “Same difference.” Dash landed back on her hooves. “So, what’s going on?” The door slammed open again, and Rarity swanned in followed by a very ill-tempered cat. “Sorcerer,” Pinkie noted. “Ooh, she’s got a familiar as well!” Angel Bunny locked eyes with Opalescent and made quite clear what the price of provoking him would be. He was quite eloquent with his hand gestures. “This world seems wonderful,” Rarity said, lights dancing around her. “I’ve already learned three new spells, and I can just feel more waiting to be learned!” “That’s how your class works, yep,” Pinkie nodded. “How do you know all this?” Twilight asked. “Bardic Knowledge!” she answered, with a huge grin. “In practice, it just means I have this with me!” The pink pony rummaged in her mane and pulled out a large, thick, hardbacked book. It made a slam when it landed on the table. Twilight picked it up. “Player’s Handbook?” “It’s a great read!” The door swung open one final time, and Applejack joined them. “Ooh…” Pinkie looked her over. “Barbarian? Interesting choice.” “Don’t you be makin’ any jokes about book learnin’,” Applejack warned Pinkie, “or we see how angry ah can get.” “Right!” The pink pony brushed off the threat. “Now we’ve All Met In An Inn, we need an Adventure Hook.” What looked like a human – but with pointy ears – handed Pinkie an envelope. “Thanks, NPC! Oh, guys, this is Nathan Percy Chapham. I talked to him before the rest of you turned up – he knows everything that’s going on around here. He’s an elf!” Twilight could feel a headache coming on. “There’s this whole set of rules here that I’m not getting, right?” “Yep!” Pinkie gave her a kind smile. “But just read that book, you’ll start to understand. Come on, everypony, apparently there’s treasure and stuff at the Keep on the Borderlands!”