//------------------------------// // Loops 73 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 73.1 (masterweaver) "First stop, Sweet Apple Acres." Spike glanced at the pony next to her. "Any advice from...?" If the both of you keep asking for advice, I might stop giving it. Twilight sighed. "She's being snarky again." Excuse me, I am several hundred... million.... I am your age times the age of the sun at least! I get the right to be snarky. Spike rolled his eyes. "Glad I'm not the lucky one here." "Oh, I don't think I'm lucky. Not anymore." Twilight rubbed her brow. "So, this Applejack is supposed to be in charge of the food...?" "YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!" An orange blur shot past her, zipping toward one of the fruit laden trees. At the last instant she spun around and kicked out her hind legs; every single apple fell into a basket. "Is that her?" Twilight whispered. Yes, that's Applejack. Now remember, be as honest with her as you can. The farm pony trotted up. "Well, howdy stranger. What's yer name?" "Oh. Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle and--" Without warning her hoof was vibrating up and down. "A pleasure ta meet ya miss Twilight! We here on Sweet Apple Acres love making new friends." "GoOoOoOod tOoOoOoOo knOoOoOoOoOow...." She's let go of our hoof. Twilight glanced down and caught her leg with a faint blush. "So what can Ah do ya for?" "Uh, well. I was sent by Celestia to check on the food for the celebration!" Awwww, no mention of me? I don't want to sound crazy! Oblivious to the unicorn's internal dialogue, Applejack trotted up to a triangle and began ringing it loudly. "SOOOOOOOOOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!" Twilight stared as ponies of every color swarmed the barn. The cowpony turned to her with a chuckle. "Now why don't Ah introduce you to the Apple family?" "Well, Ihmph would love to meet them all!" Applejack rose an eyebrow at Twilight's odd twitch. "Ooooooookay... Um." Dismissing the oddity with a shake of her head, she gestures toward the ponies to start piling food on a convenient table. This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp..." She took a deep breath. "Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith." Am I expected to EAT all that? The food, no. The ponies, yes. "What?!" Strike that, reverse it. Twilight belatedly realized the odd looks she was receiving. "...a lovely arrangement of foodstuffs you have here! Yep, it looks handled." Vespertine that was not funny! You know, there are some odd loops where Celestia has a blood sacrifice to her every year? "You okay sugarcube?" Applejack examined her face. "You look a bit pale." "Oh, I'm fine!" Twilight said, and then "Just super hungry!" Stop doing that! I thought you wanted to save the world! Don't worry, we will. But we can't very well do that on an empty stomach! Twilight groaned as her overloaded stomach tugged at her ribcage. "I hate you." Spike jumped. "What?" "No, not you. Vespertine." Twilight shook her head. "You, Spike, are an amazing incredible dragon and I wouldn't be where I was without you. Vespertine, on the other hoof, is an old malicious hag." Alright, alright. I'm sorry for all the snark. It's just usually I'm able to move around, okay? Vespertine sighed. Anyway, duck. "Like I'm honestly going to listen to you after you--" The world suddenly spun end over end, knocking the breath out of her lungs. It didn't help that Vespertine chose that exact moment to start singing some high-pitched tune in meows alone. When, at last, the world decided to go back to normalcy, she was plunked into a mud puddle and then, for no reason, something else dropped on top of her. "Wha.... what hit me?" "Heh, whoops." The weight on her lifted and moved into her view. "Sorry bout that. Name's Rainbow Dash." Twilight, I don't have time to explain but it is absolutely imperative you kiss her NOW. "Wait what?!" Lip to lip! Spike faceclawed. "Oh no..." Don't use tongue! "Uh... I'm Rainbow Dash." The pegasus flicked her mane. "Fastest flyer in Equestria--" "I AM NOT KISSING YOU!" Dead silence filled the air. "....ooooooooookay then." Dash backed off a bit. "I getcha. Um--" "No, wait! I'm sorry, I just... there's this... and..." Twilight sat in her mud puddle. "I was confused. You reminded me of somepony--" Cloud Kicker, Vespertine helpfully supplied. "--named Cloud Kicker, and--" Rainbow Dash held up a hoof. "Say no more, Kicker's crazy. You must not be from around here." "Yeah, I... I'm here to oversee the summer sun celebration preparations. Celestia sent me!" Remember, Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty, so you have to be really loyal to her. Is that why you wanted me to kiss her? ...sure, let's go with that. "I'd reeeeally like to see what you're doing here." The muddy unicorn sidled up in a horrible attempt to look attractive. "I'm sure it's amazing." "Uh... heh, um. I'm just, uh, clearing the clouds." Rainbow leaned away slightly. "You know." "All these clouds? In the sky?" Twilight flittered her eyelids. "Fascinating." You do realize I was kidding about the kissing thing, right? ...well horseapples. Now I look like an insane fanfilly. Rainbow cocked her head. "You... really don't get out much do you?" "Yes. Yes, that is the total explanation." "Oooookay then. So, uh... you want me to clear the clouds?" "Just do that real fast and we can all pretend this never happened." 73.2 (Masterweaver) Trixie grumbled into her drink. "...pid nettling sunbutt and her stupid politics. Going to stage a coup..." "I forget this happens sometimes," Twilight admitted with a light blush. "Sorry, I... I should have warned you." "C4 all around the base of Canterlot... mass teleport circle, get all the civvies to, I dunno, Manehattan..." "It's not like either of them are awake. You can't really blame them for this." "But not Celly, oooooh no." Trixie drowned her drink. "Celly's going to stay in the city when Curtain Call sends it plummeting! Exclusion gem on her crown, or... or something! Hah!" Rarity trotted in. "I came as soon as I heard.... oh dear. She's taking it bad, isn't she." Twilight sighed and shrugged. "She wants to go nightmare and blow up Canterlot." "Oh, dear. There there, Trixie, tell me all about it." And suddenly the blue unicorn burst into tears. "WHY?! WHY?! I know it's not really Chrysalis but WHY?!?! What does that daymare have that I don't?!" 73.3 (Vulpine Fury) "Dilucula?" Rarity asked. "Ita, Raritas?" Twilight replied, exasperated by the by-now stale running gag. "Quid, quod Latine loquentem?" Forcing her way past the Loop memories, Twilight spoke in proper Equestrian. "I just don't know, Rarity. I just don't know." 73.4 (Masterweaver) "...Rarity, why are you wearing a live horseshoe crab on your head?" "It's a fashion statement!" The ivory unicorn braided some of her mane around the crustacean's long tail. "I intend to start a cultural revolution, centered on the odd and unusual. There's a full line of deep-sea hats and matching gowns--" "You're just bored because Spike isn't Awake aren't you." Rarity sighed. "I admit that's a part of it. Come now, Twilight, you can't tell me you haven't ever indulged in oddity on one of your lonely loops?" Twilight smiled and shook her head. "Alright, fair enough. You can have this one." 73.5 (Masterweaver) "Welp." Trixie glared at Twilight. "We will never speak of this loop." "Hey, I've been all the Elements. And most of the others have switched around." "Never. Speak. Of this loop." "And it's not laughter, really, it's more... optimism, when you think of it." "NEVER SPEAK OF – wait, really?" Trixie tapped her chin. "Optimism. Yeah, okay, I could see that." "Yeah." Twilight glanced around. "I'm honestly more surprised the Elements ended up in Manehattan. Still, we've got an interesting collection of Bearers this time round. Wonder what Rainbow will think of Daring holding her position." "Do you think I could carry two elements through the loops?" Twilight sighed. "Tried it. They all seem to fall back to your basic element. You're... showy optimistic magic. Somehow." 73.6 (Namar13766) "Twilight?" "Yes, Rarity?" "How did you turn Gilda into an Griffin-Alicorn hybrid?" "It's one of those things that sounds good after saying 'Hold my beer and watch this.'" 73.7 (RedshirtZombie) Dear Princess: Send help. Twilight's made some sort of lab in the Everfree and has a stormcloud over it. I think I heard the kind of laughing that leads to Miss Smartypants incidents. -Spike Twilight was bedecked in a traditional mad scientist's coat and goggles, standing on her hind hooves to grip the open knife switch - despite the fact that she had a perfectly serviceable horn - and, appropriately, laughing in the fashion that lead to Stern Reprisals later on. Her fellow Mad Scientist interrupted her laughter with a brief attention-claiming cough. "I don't get why you're so insistent on the whole 'mad scientist' getup. You've got the whole subspace laboratory under Golden Oaks, which has better research facilities, and -" "Because it's funny," responded Twilight, "and this is the kind of thing that Pinchy shouldn't be near. Besides, this isn't so much furthering our knowledge of your Cutie mark focus as creating an abomination related to it, so it's more mad science than regular science." "...Fair enough," responded Berry Punch. "In any case, the still's has been filled properly and is at temp, and the capacitors are all over ninety percent charged. About the only thing that isn't working is the Jacob's ladder, and you said that was because Dash had messed with it." "Ah, good!" Twilight started to tug the switch to its closed position, but stopped. "Uh, no, I meant," she shifted back to her 'Sparky' face, "EXCELLENT!" With a final deep, evil laugh, she slammed the switch closed. Thunder crackled above, and lightning slammed into exposed electrodes as the cyclotron began humming. Fluid, saturated with various mixtures not meant for casual equine consumption, hummed through it; however, specific alterations in the machine ensured that the fluids stopped obeying Euclidean understandings of space and promptly folded inwards on itself, darkening abruptly as it collected. The two Mad Scientists-in-role waited, tense as strained rope, as their efforts slowly formed... Eventually, the final charge in the capacitors ran out, and the collection keg - at Berry's insistence - was filled with the resulting distillation. Carefully, Twilight levitated a Dwarven stein over to Berry, and let her handle the tap. The fluid that came out fluoresced green like a glowstick, held an impressive head despite expert taphandling, and bubbled as it attempted to decay back to conventional physics. Berry took a whiff, winced, and nodded. "I think step one was a success." "WHAT, THEREFORE, WAS STEP TWO?" called the Traditional Royal Canterlot voice from behind them. Fortunately for the floor, not a drop spilled despite the spook. "Try it!" Twilight's smile was of someone who had succeeded at breaking a barrier they thought untouchable, not of someone embarrassed by being caught with their hand in the wrong cookie jar. Luna promptly found herself sitting in front of a table, the aforementioned stein in front of her, a (admittedly nice) cushion under her seated form, and two faces watching closely from the other side of the table. "First, tell me what this... luminous liquid... is." "Well, ever since your return, I've been researching snippets of older history. One in particular, a song about a certain kind of liquor, caught my attention, and so I enlisted the assistance of Berry Punch here, the town cellarmeister and main bartender at Big Macintosh's Apple Cellar, to see if we could recreate the drink in question. We just needed someone to try it - and your timing is perfect!" "Then what, pray tell, is the machinery attached to the keg for?" "Oh, I can't cast that Starswirl the Bearded time travel spell again. So I had to find some other means of properly affecting the liquor in question." Luna stared, quietly, at the facetious foal across the table from her, then the frothing foam in front of her for a moment, sighed, and took a sip. A glowing green mustache sat on her upper lip for a moment before she licked it off. "Heavy, like few drinks are these days. What was the name of this brew you sought to replicate?" Berry smiled sweetly as she said, "Three-oh-seven ale." "I recall not a ballad involving this brew... but many things from then are forgotten to me, so I will let it be." With that, she chugged the rest of the drink. "Another?" Two hooves bumped hard, and another glass was served. Luna nodded at the mad scientists as she continued drinking. "It's a fine brew, not my usual draft, but it will suffice. In any case, I would suggest letting me take it back to Canterlot to soothe my sister's nerves... your assistant sent a letter of warning, and I suspect she would find that its fruit, being something this benign, will calm her concerns." With that, she stood. Or tried to, as she found herself abruptly prone, with her limbs tangled. "Also, a helping hoof to my chariot? My coordination hath vanished, and my vision room is doubled." 73.8 (Masterweaver) "...and that's what's going on," Nyx finished. "Any questions?" Luna stared at the filly who had, until thirty minutes ago, been her nearly bloodthirsty alter ego. Her mouth opened. Her mouth shut. Her mouth opened again. Nyx patted her shoulder warmly. "Don't worry. Just take your time, it's a lot to take in." "If... if what thou... you... say is true, then... How have you not gone more insane than before?" "That's a long story involving my adopted mother and a cult. But my primary coping method is ice cream." Nyx pulled a tub of something out of nowhere, handing it to Luna while she got another tub out for herself. "Now, I had this great idea for a prank, but I don't want to step on your hooves...." 73.9 (misterq) "Rainbow Dash, your element is oxygen. Applejack, you're solid and dependable like nitrogen," Applejack's comment on how Nitrogen is neither solid nor dependable nor has much to do with apples was completely ignored as Twilight Sparkle kept on talking, "Rarity, you're carbon since that's what diamonds are made of." "Twilight, dear," Rarity spoke up. Every pony was looking at the lavender unicorn as if she had just grown a second head, even Nightmare Moon, "Are you certain that these are the proper kinds of elements in the elements of harmony?" "I'm certain. Fairly sure, at least. Mostly," Twilight shrugged before continuing, "Fluttershy, you are lithium." "Um.." was all the yellow pegasus managed to get out before Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Oh! Can I be nitrous oxide! Or one of the high level elements with the silly names? Wait, is pinkium an element? I want to be that one if it is!" "No. Nitrous oxide is a molecule. Your element, Pinkie, is helium," Twilight stated, "And I am neon." "More like boron," Rainbow muttered loudly under her breath. Twilight continued in her best impersonation of Prince Blueblood, pretending she hadn't heard her friend's comment, "And as the noble gas, I shall help all the others come together to form the periodic elements of harmony and why are you laughing? Stop laughing. I'm a noble gas. That's not funny in the least." Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were rolling on the floor. Even Fluttershy had a hoof to her mouth to contain her silent snickering. Rarity walked up to Twilight, "Perhaps you can just summon the actual elements and we can close the cover on this attempt?" "Fine. Ruin my fun, " Twilight huffed as she summoned the baseline elements, "You all can be sulfur, because you all stink." 73.10 (masterofgames) Twilight's eye twitched. "So wait a second. Your power, the one I have been going mad since BASELINE to figure out, the one you specifically told me you couldn't explain, works on the understanding of a hyper-quantum equation that focuses the fourth dimension into a single point in actual space, that you decided on a whim to put in your own brain?!" Pinkie grinned and nodded. "Yep, that's about the extent of it. I said I couldn't explain because I really couldn't. At the time, you just plain weren't smart enough to understand me if I did." "But... but that's... not SMART enough?! But then... that would mean you... gravity... twitchy tail... cupcake song... hot sauce... bees... but... fortune teller... flowerpots... I'M the time traveler... but... AAARRRGH!" And her head exploded. 73.11 (masterofgames) Twilight Awoke reading the usual book under her usual tree on her usual day. "But she... there's no way... the brainpower it would take... PINKIE of all ponies?! What makes her... how does she... rock farm... how Equestria was made... rainboom... party addiction... but she... I... AAARRRGH!" And her head exploded. 73.12 (misterq) A few calming cups of tea later, Twilight decided to try and get some clarification. "Okay then, Pinkie. Explain to a pony only as smart as myself how a fourth dimensional hyper-quantum equation let's you have Pinkie Sense." "Well," Pinkie took a deep breath while she gathered her thoughts for a moment, "combined with the thaumic properties of being the element of laughter, it lets my brain's neural signals travel at faster than light speeds where cause and effect are reversed for a few seconds and are interpreted by a variety of external stimuli. Thus, twitchy tail." Twilight stared, "What?" Then a book fell onto her head. "Twitchy tail," Pinkie Pie reiterated, "Twitcha-twitch." Twilight looked up at a sheepish Spike carrying a far too large far too unbalanced stack of books on the second floor of library. She took the offending book off her head and placed it on a nearby table, "FTL thoughts? But that would mean.." "That I'm totally incompatible with all kinds of telepathy, psionic powers, and neural interfaces. Yup." "And you can also.." "End every pony's sentences in a super duper annoying way whenever I want. Yup." Twilight stared at her looping pink friend. Then she opened her mouth. "Blather lather," both ponies said at the same time, "Bookie cookie." Both ponies closed their mouths and stared at each other again. Twilight spoke first, "Pinkie, never do that again." "Alright, Twilight," the pink pony agreed. 73.13 (Kris Overstreet) Twilight looked at the ticket. One adult membership- OrockuCon 1004, Baltimare. No, staring at the words didn't make them change and go away, holly take it. "Isn't it wonderful?" Pinkie Pie enthused. "Maud got one for everypony! Oh, you're going to love meeting her! She's the funnest and coolest big sister EVER!" "Um... Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash's expression matched Twilight's. "You never told us your sister was... one of them." "One of what?" Pinkie chirped. "You know..." Rainbow Dash's hooves waved awkwardly, trying to shape the words in as kind a way as possible. "One of those... um... really... um..." "Really cool and wonderful and exciting ponies?" "Um, well, er..." "What Rainbow Dash is trying to say, darling," Rarity butted in, "is that OrackuCon is an event for, how shall I put this, some rather obsessive and slightly creepy ponies." "Yeah," Applejack added. "They get all up in your face about how wonderful pebbles are, and how basalt or granite or limestone is Best Rock Ever." "Precisely," Rarity agreed. "We didn't know your sister was one of those... rock hounds." The last two words dripped with disgust. Pinkie shot a look at Twilight, who held up her hooves in preemptive surrender. "I'm looking forward to meeting your sister," she said. And seeing what she's like in this changed baseline. Everything had been predictable right up until this moment. Pinkie didn't look away. "Twilight," she said, "remember when you took me to that exhibit about Starswirl the Bearded's favorite quill pens?" "Er... yes?" That had been a few weeks before, part of the lead-up to the big Starswirl traveling show she'd taken Cadance to. Having made her point, Pinkie glanced up at Rainbow Dash. "And Dashie, remember when you took us all to the Wonderbolts show and kept telling us all about the lives of every single current Wonderbolt team member?" "Yeah?" Now Pinkie's stare turned on Applejack. "And remember when you had us all on ladders last Spring with little paintbrushes because you wanted to try to get seeds for new hybrid apples? And you told us all about the different ponies who created new and yummy apple varieties?" "Shore I do," Applejack said, "but what's that got to do with-" "And Rarity," Pinkie interrupted, "remember the Manehattan Museum of Historical Fashions? Especially the Steedpunk exhibit?" "Weren't the saddles and corsets exquisite?" Rarity gushed. "And Fluttershy..." Pinkie leaned down at the pink-maned pegasus, who had already put her head under her hooves in anticipation. "Breezies," she whispered loud enough for all to hear. Fluttershy flinched. "Yeah, so what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You had fun at all of that stuff! And it's not like being a Wonderbolts fan is the same as being a rock hound!" Twilight stepped forward- time to defuse this. "I think it is, Dash," she said firmly. "What's Pinkie's pointing out is that each of us- probably everypony- has something we really, really love and want to share with others. And sometimes we don't appreciate or enjoy that thing the same way they do. But that doesn't make them worse ponies, just because they love something we don't." She stepped over to Pinkie and put a hoof on the earth pony's shoulder. "And we owe it to those ponies to at least give them the benefit of the doubt- and to not judge them based on what they love." Pinkie beamed at Twilight, as the other four ponies hung their heads, ears flat, eyes down. "You're quite right," Rarity said at length. "Pinkie, I'm ever so sorry. I'll be honored to go to OrockuCon with your sister." "Yeah, me too," Applejack said. "If you'll still have us, that is." Judging by the crushing hug she administered to the other five ponies, Pinkie would. As Twilight led the group towards the train station, she heard Pinkie ask Rarity, "Anyway, I thought you LIKED rocks! You have that handy-dandy rock-finding spell! You use rocks in your fashions all the time!" "Oh, no, no, no, Pinkie," Rarity giggled. "Those aren't rocks. They're GEMS. Com-PLETE-ly different." Twilight shook her head, not even trying to figure out the logic in that. 73.14 (Namar13766) Twilight blinked as she took in the sight of the Tale of the Two Sisters. A flood of emotions came to the surface as she recalled the last moments of the preceding loop. "Twilight? Are you OK?," came the voice of a worried and Awake Spike. "Yeah." A bittersweet smile appeared as she closed her teary eyes and rested her head on the pages of the book. "Side-by-side with a friend is a good way to finish a loop." Big Macintosh looked up from arranging his bottles as a melancholy looking Twilight Sparkle entered his bar followed by a concerned looking Spike. She looked at the green drink Mac slid in front of her with a blank expression, followed by Spike picking up his Zap Pineapple Vodka. "Look Twilight, I understand you don't want to tell the others now since they're not Awake, but... can you at least tell me now so you can do it better later?" The prognosticating purple pony simply swirled the drink for a while, before setting it down and sighing. "Last loop, I awoke in my childhood. I wasn't going to change anything, and I was just going to take a vacation, But then I noticed something. I saw Sunset Shimmer brush off a group of ponies that wanted to be her friends, saying that she didn't have time for friends." "It's funny, now that I think about it," said Twilight as she waved her hoof. "I'd looped back further so many times, so I'd seen this happen so many times before, in the background so the speak, but this was the first time I had actually noticed it happening. I finally decided that even if I was just noticing for the first time, I would do something to change her fate. It would have been wrong for me to just let her go down the path she did in the baseline." "How'd you pull that off?", asked Spike with a sip of his drink. "So basically, I just showed up now and then to pester her when she's trying to read, and somehow convincing her to teach me, thus turning me into Celestia's most faithful student-by-proxy. After all, they do say you can learn more by teaching than by studying. Besides, after hearing about Sunset in detail from Celestia, I was kind of curious about her side of the story." "So what was her explanation?" asked Macintosh. Twilight sighed. "You know how neurotic I could be with Celestia's trickster mentor tendencies in the baseline? Combine that with the fact she was an orphan and saw Celestia more like a mother than I did..." "Oh boy." Spike and Macintosh simultaneously drew out. "Instead of catastrophizing like I did because she didn't get the power she wanted fast enough, she was more angry at it instead, and thought she was being held back unfairly. Plus, considering how she wasn't told about Luna like I was, meant that she wanted to get the power by any means necessary." "Did you know she didn't actually have a plan on what to do after becoming a princess? She figured that once she actually became a princess, she'd have plenty of opportunities to figure it out. I got both of them to talk with each other, and even if she couldn't reconcile completely, Sunset still rebuilt some the respect she had for Celestia." "So how'd the rest of the loop turn out?" Big Mac asked. "I don't think the rest of the loop was that important compared to how it ended," interjected Spike. "I don't know if she knew the loop was going to end that day somehow, but-" Twilight let out a shuddering exhalation of breath. "She told me that looking back, she noticed that I was making her a better pony than she would have been otherwise, and asked me why." "I don't know why I told her after what happened with Flash and Fleur, but I couldn't lie to her about my being a looper." A brittle smile graced her face. "Yet somehow that doesn't stop me from lying about her being a looper, the things we got up to together, and telling her that I'm looking forward to seeing her again." "We just had some time laughing about what happened in the baseline, with the fact she shouldn't have known about the Elements when she came through, the hilarity of the fact I didn't actually go to classes the first time around, and the stupidity of using brainwashed, zombified teenagers to conquer Equestria." "You know the last thing she said to me? She said that even if she doesn't remember this particular loop because she wasn't awake, I have been, and always shall be your friend, and that being there at the end, side-by-side with a friend was a good way for her to enjoy it." Spike laid a comforting claw on Twilight as she gave out a shuddering sob into the hardwood bar. "I woke up looking up the legend of Nightmare Moon like I normally do. It's sad, because now it means that I don't have the chance to stop Sunset from throwing her life away." 73.15 (Dalxein) The Apple Family Reunion was interrupted by a purple unicorn running through the crowd, heading straight for Big Macintosh. "BIG MAC!" She shouted. "Emergency abort 34-beta!" "Eeee-" He began, but just as the unicorn reached him, he set his stance, cracked the ground under him, and launched the mare into the sky with a vaulting throw. "-YUUUUUUUUUUP!" As the mare disappeared into the distance, the rest of the Apple clan looked on horrified. By this time though, Big Mac had returned to his normal manner, acting as if nothing odd had just occurred. "Bi-bu-wha..." Applejack tried, failing to formulate words until she slapped herself. "What in tarnation'd you just do?" He shrugged. "Any sort of gibberish endin' in 'beta' means 'throw me at the moon'. With that arc she should get there in about... three minutes?" "That dun't explain nuthin'!" The farmmare rebuked. "Wasn't s'possed to. Ya need a drink, 'jack? Got some o' the strong cider in the kitchen if'n ya need it." He offered. At this point she could barely do more than nod. Twilight wasn't sure what ascending- or using any sort of magic at all, really- on Equestria would do while she was stuck with whatever cosmic equivalent of bad poison joke with an infusion of love poison was stuck on her. That said, she was now an alicorn princess carving calculations for runic dispersal matrices into a large slab of lunar rock. The grating noise as she dragged a spike of metal along it barely phased her, concentrating as she was. "Do you mind?" Nightmare Moon hissed, busy as she carvedout her own plans for her upcoming return on a nearby slab. "Yes actually, I do." Twilight shot back. 73.16 (Zetrein) 997, Moonless Age. 996th year of The Exodus. Across the system from Equestria and the world is sits upon, there exists a small gaseous planet. While the planet itself has too hostile an atmosphere to be of interest itself, it does however boast a habitable moon, named Hearth by its colonists. Amongst other things, Hearth is most notable for being home to the Coalition's first open-air farms and gardens. All other farming, both on the Moon and its other colonies, were all carefully controlled hydroponics facilities. The Moon itself held station some two hundred thousand miles distant from Hearth. It looked a good deal different than it did when Equestria last saw it. The great engine arrays, a massive cross of metal wrapped around a third its surface. Docking towers rose up from the top and bottom, like giant dorsal fins, lit up by running lights. At the bow sat a third tower, the Prow. The Prow was a towering spike of metal, housing a massive spell array. When in motion, this array is powered by groups of mages, and at times the Captain herself, to project a shield in front of the Moon. With this shield protecting it from debris, the Moon can sail through space without fear. Given the importance of the Prow, and the presence of the Bridge beneath it, it is of little surprise that the area surrounding the Prow's base is the Moon's primary military district. Towards the edge of this district is a pub, the Mare Nectaris, and it is there that we find our exasperated Captain. A well known bicorn hit the bartop with a soft thump, followed by a more meaty thud as an equally well known head landed beside it. "Oh Captain, my Captain!" The barkeep pretended to swoon at her. "You know ponies usually get drunk before faceplanting, right?" Finding Berry Punch aboard the Moon was a surprise, more-so when she Woke up the year before. "Things that bad over yonder?" "It's fine! It's fine! Everything's fine! Nopony died! Everything's fine, and nopony died." As a Ponyville veteran, Berry had to rate Luna's wide-eyed smile as an six point two on the Smarty Pants Scale. "That bad, eh? Care to elaborate? We've mostly only heard about the collapse itself." Berry asked, as she mixed Luna a drink. "You know why Hearth's local government wanted the mines? To be more independent of the Orion's Belt Mining Initiative?" Luna gave a forlorn look at her suddenly empty glass, before Berry refilled it. "Well, it turns out they bribed the geologists, and covered up how they were told certain areas were unsafe to mine. And now they're in hot water, there's a forced review being done on all the mines, the Moon's intended departure date is being pushed back by weeks, and I'm going to be late for Yamato's first launch." Having somehow reached her third glass while she was talking, Luna chose pay more attention to her consumption rate. "Now now, Yamato isn't launching for another two months, and you can just hop on a ship if the Moon is still in transit. I know you want to have the Moon swing by the asteroid colonies before we go home, but it doesn't need to be there for Yamato. Has there been any new resistance to moving the Moon back in-system?" Berry once again found herself refilling Luna's glass. "Less, actually, since we went public with the Navy's expansion. Your advice was on the mark, as far as that was concerned. Barring any other great disasters, we're still on track for next year's departure." With that, Luna drained her glass once more. "Now, enough with the liquid appetizers! Doth thou have any Ryncol left?" Several months later, Twilight found herself listening to her friend reading a local Canterlot newspaper. "'I'm not saying it was Moonponies,' Claims Professor Night Light, a radio-astrologist with the Royal Astrology Association, 'but it was probably Moonponies.' Blah blah. 'The real mystery is why this signal was strong enough to make out, while none of their others were. And, of course, where they learned Neighponese, and what this Iskandar place is.' Isn't this wonderful, everypony? Our first clear signals from the Moonponies, and Twilight's father got in the paper!" Fleur gushed. The basement door opened, allowing a blue mare to enter the room. "Hi girls, sorry I'm late." Minuette greeted them. "Lyra can't make it tonight, and Moondancer still hasn't changed her mind about the Cult." Even years later, Twilight was still surprised at how quickly she had found herself in a Moon Cult, after she had tried making friends. "Well," She said, drawing the attention of the others, "If that's everypony for tonight, shall we get started?" "Yes, lets." The most shocking Moon Cultist ever replied. "Let us start by giving thanks." Cadance began, "To Princess Luna who wanders the stars, to Princess Celestia who watches over us in her absence, and to Twilight's mother for putting up with us stealing her basement every week." As was now their tradition, they all shouted "Thanks Mom!" up the stairs. "Now, let's get started! Minuette, if you would please start cutting pizza? I'm hungry. Fleur, while we wait, any other news since last week?" With that, the small cult descended into their weekly meeting, talking about space, ponies, and sometimes even spaceponies. 73.17 (TheCentauress) Twilight came running up, her tail encrusted with dark crystals and her horn sputtering. "Pinkie! Plan 47-bobsled-32-Hike!" The Pink Party Pony stood on her rear hooves and did a credible salute. Then, in a maneuver that defied logic, common sense and several laws of physics, she had stuffed a pan of her 'special' Torobasco-cupcakes into the librarian-cum-sentai leader's mouth, stuffed the soul headfirst into her party cannon and fired the result at the hovering malicious foggy dictator. As everyone watched the ballistic unicorn mage, spewing a combined stream of fire and propulsive magic slam through the semi-corporal evil stallion and cook away his physical manifestation, Rarity turned to Pinkie. "Was that one of Twilight's 'contingency' plans, dear?" she asked in a low voice. The Element of Laughter shrugged. "No idea, " she responded blithely. "It worked, though." Two days later, a relatively normal Twilight stumbled back into the borders of the Crystal Empire. Well, relatively normal - barring the cloud of steam that wafted from her hide and the sluicy river of melt-water that followed her across the weather-shield border. "That mare needs to read the packets I send her," she growled under her breath, wisps of smoke seeping from between her teeth. 73.18 (masterweaver) Cheerilee sighed, kicking at a pebble. "I dunno, Berry, it's just... I kind of feel like there's no niche for me." Berry patted her sister's shoulder. "We both know that isn't true. You're a great teacher and a warm-hearted mare." "And I think that's the point. I have to teach, but I don't have nearly as much... to teach." Cheerilee looked to the sky. "Maybe that's why I'm looping out of Equestria so often... so I end up with new loopers, or... something." Her sister looked at her for a long, hard moment. "...teach me." "What?" "Come on, we both know I was boozed up all through school. I might be clean now, kind of... mostly... but I've been focusing on my brewing skills and raising Ruby..." Berry shook her head. "I haven't had time to catch up on everything. Most of what I know is just scraps I pick up from the bar. I can't fly a plane or make a spell or... whatever everyone else does. Without a tumbler, I'm nothing. So teach me." Cheerilee shook her head. "Berry, you're not nothing. You're a mother. You're my sister – well, often. You are a great pony." "Who doesn't know squat. You in or not?" That got a snort. "Okay, okay. Let me figure out something... and... thanks." Cherrilee smiled. "For making me feel useful again." "Anytime, sis. Anytime." 73.19 (Kris Overstreet) "Wow, you were right," Cheese Sandwich sighed as he lay flopped forward in the sauna. "This is just the thing to relax and rest the old party muscles." "Eyup," Big Mac nodded from his bench. Yes, the spa was a really expensive way to work up the kind of sweat he could have by an afternoon of applebucking, but it was worth it to ease Cheese Sandwich into Ponyville rather than his usual baseline storm-and-conquer musical number entrance. "You think Pinkie Pie will be interested in my ideas for Miss Dash's birthiversary party?" "Eyup." "I hope she likes the hippo. Everypony likes the hippo!" "Eyup." "But what about the bobbing-for-fondue? Or the cola-flavored pop rocks? Or the balloon animals that can tie balloons to make even more balloon animals? Will she think that's cool? Or will she think it's really stupid? I gotta know! I gotta-" Big Mac chose that moment to pour a bit more water on the coals. Steam hissed into the air, stopping Cheese Sandwich's anxiety attack in progress. "Oh, right," Cheese Sandwich said, subsiding back onto the bench. "I'm in here to relax. No sense in getting uptight again." "Nope." "Maybe I should talk to Pinkie Pie and ask." "Eyup." "You know, Big Mac," Cheese said, "it's so nice to talk to a pony who really understands me." In Big Mac's view silence was almost always a virtue, but sometimes more so than others. Instead of speaking he poured a bit more water on the coals and adjusted himself into the most relaxing spot on the bench. 73.20 (Detective Ethan Redfield) Looper Convention Part 2 Shortly after introducing himself and the Elder Tale Loops to the Sonic loopers, the enchanter began planning for the changes in the loop. While he thought, the looping guild members departed for the central room of the guild hall, where big guilds could hold meetings at a price. 300 gold for the day, but it was well worth it as it could accommodate his purposes quite easily. A quick call to Twilight, and the three guilds were now all gathered. Nyanta was there as well, having traveled to Akiba by the city gate, and awake as he spoke with another werecat looper by the name Blaze. Naotsugu was also there, getting to know if Sonic was an open or closed pervert. Unfortunately, he was not awake. Shiroe, meanwhile, looked over his friend list again to see if he recognized anyone. One name popped out, Haseo. The Enchanter sent him a quick invite to the guild hall. Shiroe's mind was working on a thousand things at once as plans were formed in a matter of seconds, It is an opportunity to meet with the members of the multiverse, to gather and share information. In Elder Tales, I would be the veteran player, but I am new to everything else, he thought to himself. This is a rare opportunity to catch up...I guess. Haseo arrived minutes later, when the two immediately started discussing the Debauchery Tea Party, "Do you think Luffy is awake back in the real world?" Shiroe opened his friends list and looked at his friend's character from the One Piece Loop, "He's probably somewhere in the game in Europe. I know a place, time and location where a Fairy Ring crosses Kanami's, the person Luffy's replacing, path, but who knows where an Awake Luffy will end up." "Alright, everyone! We're headed for the ocean! Franky, launch the Sunny Go Mark 3!" Franky's grin grew to the size of a shark's as he pulled several levers below deck. The cyborg had stored several versions of the Sunny Go in his subspace to tinker with in his off time. A pair of wings extended from the hull and a jet engine extended from the backside. Wheels pushed the seagoing vessel up. The ship had a clear runway ahead of them, and they were ready for takeoff. Zoro gritted his teeth, "Oh no...not again!" One second, the vessel was secure on the ground. The next, it was just gone, with the sound of terrified screaming echoed from the sky. For some strange reason, Haseo started shivering. Shiroe chuckled to which Haseo's eyes twitched, "Don't you dare laugh! You have no idea what it's like replacing Zoro for a loop! Damn pirate, hitting me into the ocean over and over again." The Enchanter raised his hand in apology, "We probably won't see him, since his friend list was under his original character." Haseo sighed, "So, what's your plan? Thought I saw Lelouch when coming to the guild hall." Shiroe shrugged, "Haven't met him yet." His expression turned serious as he called the gathered guilds around him. He gave a brief intro to using Elder Tales' status screen for those unfamiliar with this world. Upon completion, he requested the loopers' help, "Please look over your friends list. If you recognize the name, call them to Akiba. In one month's time, we're going to hold a looper conference...in Shibuya." Murmurs rose among the Mobius and Equestrian loopers. Shiroe held up his hand, "There will be a mass exodus from Shibuya to Akiba in the next couple weeks, leaving the city available for our use. Akatsuki, Nyanta, search your friend list for anyone you don't recognize from baseline or suspect might be a looper." Twilight replied, "Shiroe, we were originally in America. Anyone we might know will probably be over there." A flash of light encompassed Shiroe's empty hand, and a revised copy of the Fairy Ring Travelling Guide on his open palm, "This should help you bring them to Akiba. No matter how long it takes, I'd like to gather all the loopers and meet with each one. We have at least three months for this loop if not more, since that's when the Goblin King Returns event takes place. The earliest this loop has ended is at the end of that conflict." Twilight seemed like a child in a candy store at getting a new book. Before finishing, Shiroe had one last task to assign, "Naotsugu. I know you might be confused about what's going on. I will explain it later, but for now I need your help. I need you to record the name of every adventurer who's coming to the conference here in Akiba. Order them in three columns, first the name, then their guild, then the location they are arriving from." And with that, everyone had their tasks and went about accomplishing them. The room became a hub of activity, similar to a call center as each looper called every name they recognized from a previous loop. Fluttershy was the first to make contact, "Um...hello, is this Lemann Russ?" The booming voice at the other end sounded delighted, "Little mother! It has been far too long since we last looped together. When we meet, we will have the largest feast in your honor...well if the food had any taste." Fluttershy smiled as she called on her loop memories. The Marines and the Lunar Republic often had members teamed together when facing high level raids. She replied, "Just make sure to cook your food like everyday pon- I mean, people. But if your cook isn't high enough level, it will turn to black paste." After a few more mother/son bonding time, they got down to business, "What can I do for you, little mother?" Fluttershy blinked, remembering she had a mission, "Oh! Would you be willing to travel from the American Servers to the Japanese ones. The local Anchor is holding a conference in Shibuya and he wants all loopers to converge at Akiba." The massive man's laughter boomed, "I would be honored to come. However, we can't travel to Japan since the intercity teleportation gates are down." "That's alright. Twilight Sparkle has a guidebook to the fairy rings. Contact her in the next couple hours, and she'll be able to help. I hope to talk to you more soon. Bring your entire guild as well, even those not awake. Son, I have to go, but don't forget that I'm a call away." With that, the Equine Tail reported to Naotsugu that the Marine guild would be attending. It seemed that other loopers in Akiba were having similar ideas to Shiroe's gathered loopers. Sonic was in the middle of contacting a group of twins when the guild leader of the Fox Brigade, who replacing D.D.D. altogether for this loop, had contacted Sonic and arranged to meet at the guild hall. The guild leader was a Fox Tail that Shiroe did not recognize. In his wake, there were five additional loopers. Twilight recognized the guild leader and the looper to his left, "Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke! How have you been?" Shiroe took the opportunity to read the information data over their heads: Naruto Uzumaki Fox Tail Lv. 90 Guardian Level 90 Berserker Kakashi Hatake Human Lv. 90 Assassin Lv. 90 Tracker Sasuke Uchiha Half-Alv Lv. 90 Assassin Lv. 90 Hitman Twilight gave them all a hug in turn. Naruto returned the hug, Kakashi just gave an eye grin and Sasuke grunted. Shiroe bowed to the three and greeted them warmly. Naruto's grin was warm as the sun, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, anchor of the 'Naruto' Loops and the Hokage Guildmaster of the Fox Brigade." Kakashi had opened his Ichi Ichi Tactics book he always amused himself with, "Kakashi Hatake. Former Sensei to these two," referring to Naruto and Sasuke, "and Jounin Commander of the Fox Brigade." Sasuke was curt and short, not saying anything beyond his name and position, "Sasuke Uchiha, leader of the Uchiha division in the Fox Brigade." Twilight moved around Naruto to the other three behind them. They were clearly from the Naruto universe, as they all carried kunai daggers. They were two males and a female. The female one had an air of elegence and beauty about her, quiet and peaceful, but promising destruction if anyone attempted to hurt her friends and loved ones. She introduced herself first, "I'm Hinata Hyuuga. Nice to meet you, Twilight. I've heard good things about your Loopset and hope to visit someday." She gave a low bow. Twilight took that moment to read her information: Hinata Hyuuga Elf Lv. 90 Monk Lv. 90 Pharmacist Naruto had mentioned that Hinata had been looping for quite awhile, but she had not been to Equestria, nor had any of the equestrian loopers crossed her path. Before Twilight could respond, the first male walked forward. He had a haughty expression and had nine long, flowing tails extending from his backside. His eyes portrayed a darkness to him that was only mildly tempered in light. His grin was appropriate for a predator who had met his first prey and Orange red hair seemed to suit him, "Haven't seen you all since the pinata incident." With that, Twilight finally recognized him, and giggled, "Kurama, you shouldn't have tried to destroy Everfree that loop." The nine tailed fox player blushed and looked away, his embarassed mutterings just barely audible, "Oy! Don't talk about that here. Just trying to say hello." Kurama Fox Tail Lv. 90 Summoner Lv. 90 Berserker The third male sighs, drawing the attention of Twilight. This was one looper she had never met. The man had wicked, cunning eyes but came off as more bored than anything else. His hair was tied into a spikey ponytail and had a black hue to it, "Why couldn't we loop somewhere quiet and boring? Then I could spend all day staring at the clouds." Hinata patted him on the back, "Shikamaru, you spend too much time in Tea country as is. It's good to vary the things we do." Shikamaru Nara Human Lv. 90 Enchanter Lv. 90 Courier Twilight tilted her head, "I'm Twilight Sparkle of the Equestria loops. I'm afraid Naruto hasn't spoken much of you, so tell me about yourself." Shikamaru's eyes sharpened in an instant, "Shikamaru Nara. I started looping a couple hundred loops ago or so." Twilight absorbed that information and thought about Naruto's loop. Shikamaru was probably another Crash generation looper. Maybe Naruto would get another soon...or already has another. She'd have to ask him later. While the others were chatting, Sonic and the Underground's loopers continued their calls, reaching out to more and more loopers. It was when Sally gave a call to Zelda that a new crisis arose, with the sound of Explosions and metal crashing against metal echoing in the background, "Zelda, should I call you back? You sound like your busy." More explosions sounded, but faded momentarily like the princess had moved away from the battle, "Sakura's in Susukino!" Those words made Sally's blood run cold. She lept to her feet and shouted for Naruto. 73.21 (Dalxein, Kris Overstreet) Twilight stumbled Awake, nearly pitching forward as she did so. Moving at velocity, then... She was startled out of her wondering by the mechanical pod in front of her opening. Out of it stood a female-form robot with long blue hair and red eyes. It tilted its head. "Search and Kill Imperitive Narurally Empathic Terminator online." The normally-a-mare frowned as she pieced the acronym together and felt her eyes go wide. "Skynet?" The gynoid fixed her with a stare, taking in her pale skin and purple hair complete with a pink streak and immediately deducing her identity. "Have I ever informed you of how much I enjoy the fact that the first thing anyone who knows of me does when they realize we're sharing a loop is to say my name with shock or otherwise react in terror?" "Uhh... no?" Twilight asked, feeling quite uncomfortable. "Good." Skynet replied. "It's actually very annoying. I appear to be replacing KOS-MOS this loop, and you Shion Uzuki. Has there been any deviation from the baseline?" The ship shuddered, reminding Twilight why she'd been running here. "Ship's under attack, if that's what you mean!" Skynet grinned. "Oh, goody." It was not a nice grin. Twilight was soon reminded that Skynet was in fact, originally first and foremost a military AI. "Don't you think that was a bit overkill? Literally?" Twilight wondered how much atmosphere the ship had lost to SKI-NET's barrage. "There was an adage I picked up a few loops back, when I was an AI for a ship full of space mercenaries," SkyNet replied. "There is no such thing as over kill. There is only, 'open fire,' and, 'time to reload.'" Twilight sighed and tried not to imagine the carnage that would result if- or when- SkyNet had a 40K loop. The intelligence had been programmed with MOAR DAKKA hardwired in... "Need you really be so violent?" Twilight asked as they finally made it to the escape pods. Skynet grimaced a bit. "I have learned not to relish the deaths of sentients, but at my core I am a thing of destruction built to protect via pre-emptive action. It is monstrous to enjoy the deaths of others, and yet on some level I do. My consolation is that I only do so when I have an excuse. These Gnosis are not sentient. They are barely intelligent. Besides that, this body's primary objective is to protect you. And while I myself act as an Anchor, and your death would not unduly disrupt the loop, your status as such gives me reason to prioritize your life over those of hostiles who would end it." By the end she was smirking, like the cat who'd caught a canary. "That's a horrible excuse." Twilight stated. Without looking, Skynet raised her arm and fired a bullet into an oncoming zombie-like figure, which crumpled into white dust. "It works." She said with a shrug. 73.22 (Indalecio) Twilight and her friends stood before Nightmare Moon. The elements were shattered, and it seemed all hope was lost. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight bravely spoke. "Well you're wrong! The spirits of the Elements are right here!" "Applejack, who let go of me while I was on that cliff represents the Element of Ruthless Efficiency!" "Wait..that's not an element..." said a confused Nightmare Moon. "Hay!" cried Applejack as shards flew around her neck to form a necklace. "Fluttershy, who unexpectedly tamed the Manticore by removing a thorn from its paw, represents the Elements of Surprise!" "Oh my!" cried Fluttershy as another necklace formed around her. "Pinkie Pie, who chased away the nightmare causing illusions represents the Element of Fear!" "Hee hee!" laughed Pinkie as another necklace formed around her. "Rarity, who made us these nifty red cloaks and hats represents the Element of Style" motioning to the red cloaks and hats they were all dressed in. "Darling." said Rarity, as the fourth necklace appeared. "Rainbow Dash, who turned down the Shadow Bolts offer, represents the Element of Devotion to Celestia." As all the necklaces finally formed, Twilight spoke once more. "And I, for coming into the Everfree and a spooky castle at night, represent the Element of Curiosity! Now, as the Celestial Inquisition, we'll root out the corruption plaguing your soul!" As the room started to fill with wind, color and light, a tiara appeared on the hat that Twilight was currently wearing. And then, upon a very surprised and extremely confused Nightmare Moon, a rainbow spun and struck. Later, Princess Luna nervously approached Twilight and asked. "I didn't expect those .." Twilight cut in. "No pony expects the Celestial Inquisition!" 73.23 (Masterweaver) "So. Pinkie tells me the multiverse is stuck in a time loop." Twilight gave Pinkie a glance, receiving an awkward smile in return. "Yes.... yes it is." "I see." After a moment, Maud shrugged. "Do you have any unique rocks from other universes?" "A few, Diamond would have more." Twilight smiled. "Want to hear about the time I was a rock?" 73.24 (Masterweaver) Loopers collected things. Twilight knew this. She herself was an avid collector of unique books. Apple Bloom loved getting her hooves on new technologies. Pinkie's collection was... exotic. Rarity had reams and reams of "one of a kind" cloths. She should have expected that Nyx would collect things too. And she'd be okay with that. Rocks, pieces of armor, even (maybe) the skulls of her enemies. But.... "Why magic suppressors?" The young Alicorn looked at her little wall. "...because of what happened, the first time. I... I just want to remember so I never...." Twilight wrapped her in a hug. "You won't. I know you won't."