//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 121 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 121.1 “And the results are coming in!” Princess Celestia announced, sitting in front of a big map of Equestria. “It looks like the Everfree Forest has declared for the Element of Kindness, though Generosity fought hard for it!” Luna nodded. “The Horseshoe Bay Changeling Hive has also voted overwhelmingly for Kindness, with over ninety-nine point nine percent of ballots cast being for that Element.” Celestia blinked. “Did we let Chrysalis' drones all vote?” “Yes,” Luna replied simply. “It's equal rights. One sophont, one vote.” “Oh.” Celestia shook her head and got up to leave. “Well, that sort of...” She trailed off. “What vote counting system are we using?” “First past the post by constituency.” Luna held up a big pile of paper. “Good.” Celestia took her seat again. “Anything else and I'd say the whole thing was pointless, with that many Changelings...” Cadence trotted in. “We got a set of ballots from the badlands!” “Yeah,” Shining added, following his wife. “Problem is, that's about fourteen constituencies each of which has two dragons and a minotaur in. They've all gone Loyalty.” “Please tell me that Honesty, at least, is running a fair campaign...” Celestia begged. “Gilda said she was going campaigning, if that helps,” Luna reported. “I do not know what-” There was a soft flumph sound, and all four of them found themselves buried in paper. “Pfeh,” Shining muttered, pulling a slip of paper out of his mouth. “...and she seems to have taken over the Griffin Empire and told them all to vote for Honesty.” “Is that legal?” Celestia asked. Cadence replied by putting a very large book on the paper-drifts. “This is the rule book.” “Author O.B.I.H Discord. Oh, dear...” Celestia felt like facehoofing. “What does-” “Oh Buck It's Him.” “Should have guessed.” “Well, this has at least shown us what the Elements can be like when they get competitive,” Cadence added. “The Laughter campaign consisted of getting ponies drunk, launching into a custom-designed heartsong, and getting everyone to vote as part of a dance.” “And Generosity?” Celestia pressed, dreading the answer. “Bribery.” “Of course.” “You know, I'm not sure if Discord realized this one was in there...” Twilight mused. “It's Discord,” Applebloom replied. “He probably did. That or he was too busy redesigning fish.” Twilight read the rule again. It stated, quite clearly, that the winner for a given constituency was the one who had the majority of ballots when they were counted – and that counting only started once the polls closed. As such, she, Applebloom and Trixie had written their votes on special paper. “Right, there we go,” Celestia said with a sigh. “Polls closed, votes placed. Time to get counting.” She opened the first box, which promptly exploded. When the flash-blindness wore off and the Royal Best Element Election Commission could see once more, they beheld a room full of a truly vast amount of ashes and dust. And, sitting neatly on the floor where the table had been, three slips of paper. Twilight Sparkle – Magic Trixie Lulamoon – Magic Applebloom – Magic “...sister,” Luna said, after several seconds of silence. “Did the Elements of Magic just rig the election to explode?” “It seems so,” Celestia replied calmly. “Right, that was an interesting waste of a few days. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to work out exactly what kind of letter I wish to send Twilight, Trixie and Applebloom over this.” 121.2 (Zetrein) "So, Lyra, what is it you wanted to show me?" Twilight asked, joining her friend on the park bench. "First, put these on." Lyra hoofed her a pair of glasses. "Glasses of True Seeing; had 'em made so I could do a quick and easy check to find out if Bonnie's a changeling in a given loop." Putting on the glasses, Twilight looked out across the park at Lyra's direction. Twilight looked out at all the changelings in the park, disguised as ponies. They even had little changeling fillies and colts. In a change from the norm, they all seemed to have the coloration and even cutie marks of the ponies they looked like. "One of those loops, eh?" Turning to her friend, Twilight was presented with a mint green changeling. After a quick check of her own leg, she returned Lyra's glasses. "Well, I know I'm not a changeling this loop at least. Ideas on how far this goes?" "Yeah... Here's the thing, Twi, you and Bon Bon are the only two actual ponies in Ponyville." Lyra scratched her head. "Other than that, about half of Baltimare. Not many of us beyond that, though. At least, not connected to our hivemind." "Even the girls, eh? Well, the Elements didn't have an issue with them, so I don't think this'll be a problem." Twilight gave her friend a playful shove. "And how has the hivemind been dealing with your hivemind? Getting along?" "We're kinda in charge." Lyra replied in an exhausted tone. "The Swarm follows the eldest, and as Loopers I, me, myself, and the other me, are the oldest and wisest." Lyra smiled cheerfully at Twilight. "On the bright side though, we're growing a few mindless drones for the rest of me to control. Give it half a year, and each of me'll have a body, if only via remote control." "Hmm. Well, unless you wanna do something special, I think I'll just take it easy this loop, go baseline. As leader of the changelings, do you have any ideas on what, if anything, you want to do for the wedding?" "Well, I did have a couple ideas..." "Twilight!" Cadance cried at the mare that had just appeared in her prison. Her very nice prison, which was furnished like an upscale hotel. "Cadance?" Twilight shook her head. "If you wanted to talk in private, you could have said so. Where are we?" "Twilight, I didn't bring you here! I've been kidnapped!" Before Twilight could reply, the face of the pony Cadance had privately started calling Princess Pink (after her own distaste of being called that) appeared in the room's large mirror. "Hello again! It is I, once more, speaking to you! In my voice! Well, in her voice really, but who's counting?" Not-Cadance cleared her throat. "Moving on. I do hope you don't mind sharing your prison, Cadance, but this one was getting just a bit too close to my plans. Do not bother with your magic, the room's insulated, there is no escape, blah blah blah. Cadance can fill you in on the whole spiel. I made sure the minibar was topped off while she slept, and there's munchies in the fridge. Ta-ta!" With that, the mirror faded back to glass. Meanwhile, in a Canterlot Police interview room, a certain mare was trying to convince somepony she was telling the truth. "And that's when you claim the entire town turned into bug-ponies?" The officer asked, trying to keep his headache in check. "Yes! Trixie does not know which spell caused it, but she saw them all! And they know!" The blue mare shifted uncomfortably, looking behind her, before lowering her voice. "They know. They've been following Trixie ever since. She sees them, in crowds at the market, sitting in passing trains, in the audience at her shows." Trixie let her head rest on the table, covering it with her hooves. "They know, and they know Trixie knows that they know. Trixie had to tell somepony, had to let somepony know before they got to her." "Miss Lulamoon, hearing your story, I think you may have accidentally made yourself able to see through changeling disguises." The officer steepled his hooves. "Most likely, they're not after you personally, and you're just seeing them going about their business." Trixie jerked her head up to look at him. "But! But!" Trixie fell silent at the officer's beckoning. "We will investigate, see if there's a possible stalking charge to be made. But if the changelings in Ponyville, or any connected to them, aren't stalking you, then there's little we can do." "But, horrible shapeshifting bug-ponies?" "Are registered Equestrian citizens, if of a very little known species." "Oh." There was a pause. "Trixie would like to apologize for her unintended racism." "I still can't believe that the minibar was the key to breaking out." Cadance whispered, as they snuck along the castle's servant corridors. "Enough booze makes problems go away, just ask any drunkard." Twilight snarked, before waving her into a side room. "Okay, I know how to turn this around. I've learned a few things in my time in Ponyville." She smiled at Cadance. "Trust me, this is gonna work, and be pretty funny too." Setting about looking through the boxes in the room, Twilight kept talking. "Start off by drinking that bottle we saved from the bar, it'll help. The first thing we need to find now, is a Hawaiian shirt..." Lyra was smiling, disguised as Cadance at the altar. Come on, Twilight, I'd rather not get married today. Well you're the one that lost! Lyra-Lyra told herself, from where she stood as a bridesmaid. You know, there might be a law against marrying yourself. Just a thought. The other two Lyras, were magically hidden from sight, filming the event from multiple angles. Aha, There's Twilight's signal! It begins! All the Lyras started taking glances at the door in anticipation. Princess Celestia, oblivious for the moment, continued with her role in the wedding. "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you– " "Stop!" Twilight Sparkle burst through the doors. "Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?" Lyra-Cadance played her character, turning on the waterworks. "Why does she have to ruin my special day?" "MUCKLE DAMRED CHANGINS 'AIR EH NAMBLIES BE KEEPIN' ME BONNIE WE SHINY?!" The words that would live in Canterlot infamy, for the rest of the loop at least, came from the angry mare that had just entered the room. She wore an orange Hawaiian shirt, a pair of aviator sunglasses, and had Philomena perched on her shoulder. The phoenix was also on fire. Right on cue, the Cadance at the altar started screaming bloody murder, before slugging Shining Armor to disrupt the shield around the city, and making for the horizon. Many months later, at Lyra's request Twilight had gone for her baseline ascension. As she put it, since the entire town was Loop Aware, they felt most comfortable going with tried and true methods. That said, noling expected what happened when the Elements blasted her. Twilight and her friends stood outside the library, staring down a dumbstruck Princess Celestia. Literally, in Twilight's case, as the newborn changeling queen had been lifted up by the four celebrating Lyras. "New boss, not the leader! New boss, not the leader! New boss, not the leader!" They were chanting, as the entire town was coming together around them. By the time Celestia got her wits about her, a block party was rapidly being assembled around her, under the direction of a familiar pink changeling. As she looked at all the undisguised changelings around her, Celestia felt somepony pat her on the back. "Relax, Princess." Bon Bon told her. "They ain't bad folk, once you get used to them." The candymaker sighed. "Guess I'm back to being the only pony in Ponyville." Looking back to the party, Celestia let out a laugh. "And I thought Discord was joking about this!" 121.3 (Gym Quirk) Luke Skywalker Awoke next to the malfunctioning vaporator on the south ridge. Nearby, the Tredwell maintenance droid trundled erratically in his general direction. Normal start point. Should be seeing the firefight between Leia and Dad's ships any minute now, he thought as he reached for the macrobinoculars on his belt. He also tried to stretch out his...Wait. What? "Hi Luke. Really strange loop setup we've got here," commented a youthful female voice behind him. He turned to see an orange pegasus with bright violet mane and tail. He felt the headache start. "Hello, Scootaloo..." "This is going to be...awkward," decided the pony. "I think Twilight'd call it a 'Single-Letter Transposition Bug'." Luke massaged his forehead, ignoring the one-sided battle in space above him. This loop, the Jedi and Sith shared one thing; a strong connection to the Horse... (Hubris Plus) "Vader, would you care to tell me why my station has once again been placed in the planet's shadow?" Tarkin demanded. It was a small complaint, really, but he despised action taken without his express approval. It also happened daily, which grated. "The power of the Death Star is insignificant next to the power of the Horse," Vader replied. He seemed to be the only one who could get through such phrases with a straight face, if only because his was artificial. "It's night. I raised the moon," Luna added pointedly. "This! Is! No! Moon!" Tarkin roared, finally fed up with this nonsense. "You're hardly the expert here," the diarch scolded. (Gym Quirk) Luke glanced sideways at Obi-Wan. "Please repeat what you said about how Anakin became Darth Vader." The elderly Jedi hemm'd and haw'd for several seconds before declaring with the little remaining dignity he could summon: "He was seduced by the Dark Side of the Horse." Nyx sighed. "I'm really not liking this loop." (TheCentauress) "So you knew you you were a Jedi for a while, Princess?" the young former moisture-farmer asked Leia. There was a sudden pounding on the connecting wall to the cell. "The Great and Powerful Horse shall overcome all!" came through the metal faintly. "Bit of a clue, there, farmboy," the princess replied, drolly. (Shieldage) Luke sighed as the landspeeder pulled into Mos Eisley and they were met by a waiting patrol of Stormtroopers. After the initial small-talk, one of the troopers asked to see his identification. Obi-Wan waved his hand. "You don't need to see his identification." The Stormtrooper froze a second as he registered a large weight upon his head. Despite this oddity he found himself saying, in time with a female voice, "We don't need to see his identification." R2-D2 made of series of beeps and whirs that had C-3PO chastising him for harsh language. Luke thumped his head against the controls. Obi-Wan, his face somewhat pale, announced: "These aren't the droids you're looking for." The cream-colored form of Apple Bloom, perched on top of the Stormtrooper's head, spoke in unison with the voice of her mount, albeit slightly out of cadence on the second word. "These ain't the droids-" "It's a pony," called one of the other troopers as all four raised their weapons to point at the hapless victim of the Horse. "Get it!" The filly yipped as her mount backed up a few steps and then started running. She struggled to retain her position as she channeled the Horse, enveloping the trooper in a shimmering blue radiance that lent him speed as well as helping to deflect blaster shots. Luke watched the pack of running Stormtroopers retreat into the distance, to the tune of weapons fire and diving merchants. "Gee, Old Ben," he snarked. "How did you pull that off?" Obi-Wan struggled to retain a stoic expression as his charge started up the landspeeder. "The Horse is often effective against the weak-minded, although this effectiveness may come at the... utter expense of stealth." (Gym Quirk) Darth Vader struggled to keep the X-wing in his sights. "The Horse is strong with this one." Luke would have shrugged if he had any room in the cockpit for the gesture. Instead, he just allowed the violet-maned orange pony in his lap to keep flying the snubfighter. (Wing Zero 032) Luke, with the help of The Horse, was dodging turbolaser fire from all across the Death Star. He was close to the exhaust tunnel that headed directly to the massive space station's core. That said, due to the massive amounts of laser fire from the emplacements and the several squadrons of Imperial Star Fighters that were chasing him and him alone, the chance of success looked to be nil. However, he quickly remembered the words his deceased master Obi-Wan Kenobi had told him during his early days of Jedi training... "Use The Horse Luke, use The Horse!" And so... he did use The Horse. Derpy was deployed from the X-Wing and flew erratically into the exhaust tunnel, hitting defensive emplacements, vital systems and unlucky combat and/or non-combat personnel alike who had the misfortune of standing in her way to the Death Star's core with echoes of "Sorry!", "Oops, My bad!", "That pipe suddenly appeared in front of me!", "Are you ok Mr. Storm-Trooper?", "Is there any way I can help?" and a final "I just don't know what went wrong!" a couple of seconds after the destruction of the Imperial combat space station. Indeed, right after watching this, Luke finally understood that The Horse can be such a great and terrible thing and that he needed to return to his training to master it as soon as possible. (FanOfMostEverything) "Yes," said the wizened creature, "a Jedi's strength comes from the Horse. But beware of the Dark Side." His mount nodded. "Aggression, anger, and fear. All these things the Dark holds dear." "Easily they flow," continued Yoda, "quick to join you in a fight." "But that path is a slippery slope." Zecora shook her head. "Once used, it leaves you little hope." "Yes. Consume you, it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice." It took everything Luke had not to burst into laughter. (KrisOverstreet) "Is it too much to ask for you all to hold still?" Scootaloo gasped. "It's HARD carrying all three of you on my back!" "Be fair," Luke countered, "at least I'm the one holding on when we swing across the bogs on those vines." "Ha ha, big help, Mr. Opposable Thumbs," Scootaloo grumbled as the stack of Jedi Master, zebra, Jedi apprentice, and pegasus filly stumbled back into Luke's camp just before collapsing. "Luke and Scootaloo seem excessively tired," Zecora noted. "Is such heavy training truly required?" "For eight hundred years taught students this way, I have," Yoda said. Then, noting Luke gasping for breath and Scootaloo flat unconscious, he added, "Perhaps question it sooner, I should have." (fractalman) Palpatine cackled as lightning shot from his hands. "Behold, the power of the Dark Side! Ahahahahh!" Then the lightning cut off. "Well the Dark Side of the Horse demands cookies" said Nyx, standing in front of his feet. "Preferably with milk." Nyx finished the last of the cookies, then flew over to Luke. "What are you doing? I gave you your cookies! I even supplied milk to dunk them in!" yelled Palpatine. "The good guys have celery soup and daffodil sandwiches." 121.4 (Bardic_Knowledge) Lyra awoke to find herselves swimming around a sunken ship. Recent one, too, going from Seapony's knowledge. Yay! said Seapony. My turn! But before she could take over, they saw their hand holding the edge of a hole in the ship. Could be me, then, said Human. "Lyra, wait for... Huh," a yellow and blue fish swam into view. "Hi, I'm Flounder. What Loop are you from?" Okay, how do we resolve this? asked Classic. We're like, some kind of humanized sea pony. I think the term is "mermaid," replied Miscellaneous. "Hello?" asked Flounder. "Are you in there? Or are you still processing the Loop memories?" Okay, idea, said Seapony. I'll handle the tail and swimming bits, while Human handles the other half of the body. Human nodded. Sounds like a plan to me. That resolved, mer-Lyra looked at the fish who'd been trying to get her attention. "Hey, sorry about that. I had some issues to work out." "Came from an odd Loop?" "Not really... The council of me just had to figure out who had control this Loop." Flounder blinked in confusion. "Um, what?" 121.5 (Gym Quirk) Anakin "Darth Vader" Skywalker found himself in the Death Star conference room absently listening to Tarkin's staff bicker as he tried to work out how to prevent the destruction of Alderaan and arrange for Leia's escape this time. And then there was that little twist Yggdrasil had thrown at him... "...Or given you the clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels' hidden--" Motti's voice was abruptly cut off by a large serving of cake and ice cream. "I find your lack of fun disturbing," chirped the poofy-maned pink pony as she shoved another hoof-full of sweets into the imperial's mouth. (Lirana) (Gamma Cavy) Tarkin quivered slightly in ill-repressed anger. "Lord Vader, I must insist that you remove your, your pet from the control deck! I cannot imagine that it has anything to contribute-" The pink pony interrupted with happy chirp. "What about parties?" The Grand Moff twitched, but continued gamely. "Anything useful to contribute to the firing of this battle station!" Princess Leia gasped in outrage. "Firing? You said that if I told you where the Rebel Alliance was, you would spare my planet!" Tarkin whirled angrily to face her. "I lied you stupid little girl! As I am sure you have, as well." He turned back to the waiting officers. "Now, commence the bombardment!" *bweeeeeeeeem-POW* The vast turbo-laser that issued forth from the Death Star was an uncharacteristic pink, Anakin noticed idly, and moments later Alderaan looked a great deal more festive. He was reminded of what happened last time she had been a guest Looper, but this one was more than party hats. Tarkin sputtered for a moment before plaintively addressing Lord Vader. "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" Anakin smirked, then loomed ominously over the Moff. "You had no idea of the Power of the Horse." (Pinklestia101) Pinkie Pie started to sing before the Star Wars loop ended. May the horse be with you! There is a horse that moves lives from place to place There is a horse exchanging smiles from face to face The horse is all and we as one are but a tiny part May the horse be with you always in your heart! May the horse be with you always in your heart! May the horse be with you always in your heart! There is a horse that moves things and changes tides Not that we would but if we should we couldn't hide If we are part of something bigger we can face the dark May the horse be with you always in your heart! May the horse be with you always in your heart! May the horse be with you always in your heart! May the horse be with you! 121.6 (fractalman) Twilight was Bored. Bored bored bored bored bored bored BORED. So bored she'd done a completely baseline run. Tirek had been defeated, the new castle created... The door opened. Twilight blinked. Opposite the thrones was a staircase leading down that she'd not seen before. Curious, she took it. In the new basement, The Box of Harmony sat on a pedestal; a smaller pedestal next to it displayed a small, silver key. Curiosity now roaring, she picked it up and found a small hole at the top of the box. Insert, twist, wait. Music box music began to play, which Twilight eventually recognized as a music-box version of the G1 themesong. Twilight wound it up one more time and softly sang along: "My little pony... My little pony... I'll be your best friend" Twilight smiled, and had to wipe a small tear from her eye. 121.7 (Masterweaver, Gym Quirk, elmagnifico) "Wow, Tavi, that dress is amazing!" The grey mare grinned as she stepped down into the Apple Cellar bar, placing her cello case beside her as she sat gracefully on one of the stools. "Why thank you, Vinyl. I have a performance for somepony in Canterlot later this evening, and, well, I thought I would get ready earlier." "Heh." Vinyl Scratch waved casually to Big Macintosh. "I like it. It's alluring without being provocative, sensual but not inviting, hinting at something while retaining high class." She took the two wineglasses the bartender handed her and levitated one over to Octavia. "Very much a look don't touch dress." "Mmm." The grey mare took her glass with a small smile. "You know, before you gave me that journal, I would never have expected you to be capable of such... analysis." "I'm just full of surprises. Plus the way that thing shows off your cutie mark is just dang sexy." "And there's the crass mare I'm dating." Octavia sighed dramatically. "Why ever did I decide to do that again?" "Us white unicorns have always been prize catches," Rarity quipped as she entered. "Even ruffians like Vinyl can gain the eye of the most discerning." "Back off Rares, she's mine." Vinyl gave a joking growl as she wrapped a hoof around Octavia's shoulders. "Oh, but of course. I've already netted myself a dragon, after all." "Yes, I've read about that," Octavia commented as she slipped the white hoof off her shoulders. "That journal is filled with... incredible things, and I'm still only half way through. But how is being married to mister Spike treating you, anyway?" "Ah, well, he is a noble hearted knight with just a touch of snark," Rarity replied. "So I find most of the time, I'm happily pampered and supported, though of course I do my best to keep him happy as well. And, of course, he has complete control over his age shifting--" Six stallions in pinstripe suits barreled down the stairs, levitating tommy guns at the bar. "ALRIGHT, NOPONY MOVE!" The unicorns exchanged a confused glance. Octavia let out a small sigh. "Well well well." A large unicorn stepped out from behind the goons, fiddling with his cigar. "Big Macintosh. I've heahd things bout ya, son." The bartender lidded his eyes. "Ah'm afraid ya have me at a disadvantage, sir." The unicorn shrugged "My name's not impohtant. Just call me a... concahned neighbahhood plannah." He trotted up to the bar, sitting on a stool. "I heah's ya a fahmah." "Eeeyup." "That's good, fahmin'. Ya know, gots mahself a cousin who's a fahmah." The unicorn took a deep whiff of his cigar. "Cute filly, she was, but she's all grawn up naow." "That's good ta know." Macintosh's ear flicked at a small clicking sound, aware that one of the guns was now pointed at his head.. "Fillies become mares, after all." "Mmm. See, she stuck to hah couahse. Stayed a fahmah. Couahse, I'da been fine if she changed hah ways, became a scholah or a guahd--heh. Thing is, though, she knew that ya don't get somethin witout nothin, and ya definitely don't give anythin fah fahee." Macintosh raised an eyebrow. "...Son, yah bah is takin business away from tha other bah's ahound these pahts." The unicorn pushed his cigar into the countertop. "Nohmally I'd ask fah compensation, but...." "Ah only serve ta select clientle." "Rather odd way ta put it. Ya got upwahds of twenty ponies comin' en whenevah they please." The unicorn sighed. "I like ya, son, but unless ya stop this nonsense I'm going to have no choice but to stop it fo ya." There was a tense moment. Macintosh and the large unicorn stared into each other's eyes. Octavia slid a hoof down the side of her cello case. Rarity put a hoof on the bar itself. "Wait wait wait, hold on." Vinyl held up a hoof. "I get the whole organized crime thing, and I can see why you're threatening Mac, but where the chlorophyll did you find the guns?" There was a small click, and Octavia smiled. "Why, west of the train tracks Vinyl." She pulled a revolver out of a secret compartment. "The same place I did." BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The large unicorn winced as the still smoking gun was pointed at him. "H-Hey now, little miss, ya don't have any moah shots in thah!" "...You're right, of course." Octavia smiled sweetly, lowering the firearm. Then she slung a hoof at his head and knocked him cold. Vinyl blinked for a moment or two. "...Huh." "My, that was..." Rarity paused. "Exciting...?" Octavia sighed, putting the gun on the counter. "I do apologize, Macintosh, it was not my intent to make a mess of your bar." "Ya know Ah could have handled tha situation without killing them." "Old instincts, I guess." "Huh," Vinyl repeated. Octavia sighed. "I'm sorry I'm not as... demure as my previous selves, Vinyl, but when your family has dealings with the Canterlot underworld--" "No no no, I'm not disappointed or anything, I'm just – wait, you're with the mafia?" "...Not anymore." Rarity sounded just a tad put out. "Darling, I had a mass-paralysis spell ready to go, and I'm positive dear MacIntosh had any number of non-lethal pacification devices to back me up. Even Ms. Scratch would have had a sonic stunner or something along those lines near at hoof..." Macintosh double-checked that the mini-Pinkie-Pylon was humming under the bar as usual. "An' now that y'all have worked out yer systems, can we all jus' put away th' compensators, maybe have a drink, an' pretend we're all friends?" He turned to the two mares first. "Miz Octavia, there's a sign about shootin' guns in th' bar without askin' th' barkeep first, but ah'll let you off with a warnin', fer Vinyl here." The other ponies, who had been knocked tail over teakettle by the kinetic force of the bullets, but left with only minor bruises, started backing toward the exit. Macintosh ignored them for a moment, setting out shot glasses and hunting around for a bottle. "An' as fer you, ah suggest y'all accept mah offer of a peaceful drink." The stallion who was nursing a black eye found himself the subject of intense scrutiny from the barkeeper. "'Cuz nevermind what ya threatened to do to me, seems to me like you jus' tried ta hurt mah friends." Those eyes were a very deep green. "And trying to hurt my friends makes me angry." "Vinyl, dear... you seem a bit off kilter, if you don't mind me saying so." Vinyl waved a hoof at Rarity. "My marefriend just shot up six ponies. I'm still in shock, that's all." Octavia let out a slow breath. "I... suppose I should have told you earlier, Vinyl. I mean, you did trust me with--" She glanced toward the unicorn nursing a black eye. "Well, your temporal issues--" "No, seriously, I don't care about that. I mean I do, because it's your past, but it doesn't change...." Vinyl's lips slowly curled upward. "....it doesn't change who you are." Without warning she grabbed the grey mare and pulled her into a big, deep smooch. It took eight seconds before the both of them came up gasping for breath. "Tavi, you just tried to murder six ponies and I'm thirty percent sure Macintosh has a backroom with a lock in here. I don't know if you'll make it to Canterlot on time." "You know what, my dear?" Octavia grinned back. "I don't give a damn." 121.8 (namar13766) "Twilight?" "Yes Sunset?" "I just want you to remember that I can sing and dance well outside of a Heartsong." "...DON'T. REMIND. ME." 121.9 (fractalman) Sleipnir was having a bad century. Even watching Pinkie Pie’s antics during his precious break time wasn't helping his mood. Pinkie Pie waved at the monitor. Sleipnir waved back. The corners of his mouth twitched into a less dour frown for a millisecond or thousand. Pinkie pie’s head tilted. Then she leaned in and licked the monitor. Sleipnir stared. Then he grabbed a tissue and wiped the monitor clean. Pinkie pie giggled, and leaned out of the monitor to give Sleipnir a hug. “Aww, thanks Pinkie! I needed that.” A half second later, Sleipnir was in full-blown panic mode, 5 out of 8 legs flailing madly to push Pinkie Pie back into the monitor. "Get back in, get back, get baaaaack!" Sleipnir looked to the left, to the right, to the left again, to the right again... Pinkie giggled and bounced away. Sleipnir muttered, "Whelp, better add the Anti Toon Ascension patch to her code." (fractalman) Big Mac sighed. "Alright, Berry, I'm cutting you off." Berry snorted disdainfully, and nabbed a bottle from the display case. Big Mac glared, and turned on the anti-theft forcefield for the display case. "Berry..." Then one of the bottles hovered, passed right through the forcefield, and headed straight for Berry. Big Mac blinked. "Alright, how are you doing that?" Berry giggled. "Shimple! Nothing can Shtop...tha Booze!" 121.10 (Pinklestia) "My Child! My dear little Nixie! At last I have found you! Together we shall bring about Eternal Night!" Oh, another loop about this? Nyx had heard from her mother about that loop were Nightmare Moon was looking for her child. Wait, looking for her child... Nyx stared at Nightmare Moon, this was weird. Specially since technically, she really was Luna's child, as she was made from her magic and Twilight's blood in her baseline. Had she been a horrible daughter? How come she always saw Twilight Sparkle as her mother, but never saw Princess Luna as her other mother? "Uh, mommy, I don't think eternal Night is a good idea... you see..." Two hours after a visual presentation, including charts and puppet theater... "I see, I never saw it that way. And you are sure my sister really misses us?" "Yes, she really does. I have seen it in her dreams." True, since the loop Nyx replaced Luna she had used the power to dream walk on Celestia's dreams a few times, mostly on non awake Celestia for pranks. The darkness faded away from Nightmare Moon, leaving behind Princess Luna. "Then lets go my child, my sister and I are overdue for a long talk." "And that's how non awake Twilight and Luna ended getting married and being my parents that loop!" Nyx said, making Twilight Sparkle do a spit take. "How in the Pinoideae did you get me and Luna married?" Twilight just needed to know, even if she knew she might not like it. "That's the fun part, I didn't, it was all your idea mommy." Nyx winked at Twilight, making the purple unicorn hit her head against the table repeatedly. "Also, I got a letter for awake Celestia that I wrote about that loop." Nyx started to read. Dear Princess Celestia, A wise mare once taught me, that the best teachers never stop being students themselves. No matter how much time passes, how old you get, how much you think you know, there is always something new to learn. No matter how old and wise you become, you will never know everything. And sometimes, you are just so used to how things are, that you stop questioning things. But that's wrong, because there is always something else which can be done to improve things. There may be not such thing as perfection, but that is a stupid excuse to not try to do better! Case in point, I got two mommies, and I have been ignoring one of them. Could you please tell Luna that I am sorry and I want to expend time with her the next time she is awake? Your Faithful Niece, Nyx. PS: Here are pictures of a loop where non awake Luna and Twilight got married and adopted me. "Nyx Moonlight Sparkle! Give me those pictures!" Twilight Sparkle said angry, her mane catching fire. "Oh dear mother, I'm not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome? I sent a copy of the letter and the pictures to Princess Celestia as soon as I found she was awake this loop." 'Mental note, do not make Twilight Sparkle angry. Just because she is my mommy doesn't mean she will go soft with me and not exile me to the Moon.' Nyx then stared at the Moon fortress she just finished after months of work. "Well, just four years or so more until the loop ends, I wonder if the Moon has Batponies this loop?" Nyx then had an evil smile in her face "Mm, I still got that Minion Making Machine in my subspace pocket, and Luna is not awake, time to go all Dwarf Fortress on this place!" "Uh Twilight? Why is the Moon Blue this loop?" Spike asked after he just got awake. "Nyx did something bad and I exiled her to the Moon, she started to play Dwarf Fortress with the Moon and it escalated. I have no clue where she got so much Adamantine to make a new Moon out of it. Mm, It probably must be hollow inside." The mare then calmly zipped some tea. "A new Moon?" Spike decided to be calm since Twilight didn't look worried. "Yes, I did say she was playing Dwarf Fortress, didn't I?" "Do I really want to know what happened?" "Have you noticed how this loop Equestria seems made of floating islands and Ponyville is in one?" "Yes." "Well, that didn't happen until AFTER I had the brilliant idea to exile my daughter to the Moon without setting some ground rules first." "How... that doesn't even... never mind, I decided I don't want to know." List of Things Nyx isn't allowed to do in the Loops anymore: Number 10 Dwarf Fortress. 121.11 (Scorntex) Twilight awoke to a knocking sound at the door. Underneath the aggravation of being woken up far too early, she was intrigued. Mainly because it was the day after the Poison Joke incident had resolved itself (since this Loop she appeared to be alone, she'd decided to go for a baseline run), and she had no idea what could be causing the knocking. Slowly, carefully, she made her way downstairs, and to the door. Cautiously, expecting anything, she opened the front door. After a few seconds adjusting to the light, she looked around. Nopony was there. Then she looked down, and saw an envelope sitting on the doorstep. She opened it, and examining the contents. Her eyes went wide at what she saw. "What." Some half an hour later, and she'd gotten everypony gathered. Perhaps not as fully awake as she'd have liked, but gathered all the same. "What's up?" a not-entirely awake Rainbow Dash asked. "I received this in the mail this morning" she announced, holding the item near to herself, though at a slight distance. "From Zecora." "Hold on," Applejack said, in-between a heroic battle between the farmer and her eyelids, "how come you don't sound happy about that? I thought you wanted us to get along with her." "I do" Twilight declared, "but that's not what the letter's about." "What is it about, then?" Rarity asked. Deciding to let the letter explain, Twilight handed it over to Rarity. After a few seconds careful examination, Rarity practically exploded with outrage. "She's BILLING US?!" There was a triumphant gasp from Pinkie. "I knew she was evil!" 121.12 (Detective Ethan Redfield) It was another dreary day at day court, the same day court that happens every...single...loop. The minister in front of the solar diarch was so caught up in his endless diatribe of words that he failed to notice Celestia had fallen asleep. It was at the moment the minister was rambling on about the wasteful spending of adding an extra inch of copper to the thickness of the court mages' cauldrons (this guy could give Percy a run for his money) that the twin doors to the Canterlot Throne Room slammed open. Immediately, Celestia's horn glowed a brilliant white of a spell designed to banish creatures to the furthest depths of space since this had once signified an evil Discord or the early return of Tirek, only for her to let the spell cool when she recognized her visitor. The elderly minister barely noticed as his ramblings continued unabated, even as the guest shouted, "Princess Celestia, the people demand justice!" Celestia stepped away from her throne, "What is the matter, my little pony? You're one of Twilight's friends, right? Miss Lyra Heartstrings?" Lyra nodded, "There has been a great injustice done upon a proud and noble race that has gone unnoticed until now." Celestia's analyzed Lyra, noticing that she had a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, meaning Lyra was awake. She asked, "What race do you refer to?" Lyra puffed up her stance as she spoke with a dead serious expression, "The Noble House of Sweet Rolls!" Twilight Sparkle awoke later than usual this loop, shortly after Discord had broken free from his statue. Upon awakening, however, she couldn't help but have a double take since Pinkie was bowing and worshiping an oversized sweet roll, along with shrines for sweet rolls throughout Ponyville. She suddenly got the feeling Discord was awake and had set this up just to mess with her, "Pinkie, what are you doing?" Pinkie gasped, "Don't you remember, Twilight? It was a year ago that The Great and Noble House of Sweet Rolls saved all of Equestria from Nightmare Moon's return and redeemed Princess Luna from Black Snooty's evil grasp." Twilight's brain failed at this. She had done a lot of things to redeem Nightmare Moon, almost all of them were crazy in some way, shape or form, but this she couldn't picture, unless Pinkie or Derpy transformed the moon into a sweet roll and dropped it on Nightmare. Pinkie failed to notice Twilight's blank stare and continued, "Celestia had a stain glass window of the event commissioned and even elevated their position to guardians of Equestria. Don't you remember yesterday, the sweet roll saved us from meanie pants Discord too! I'm giving praise to the sweet roll in hopes that it will continue to bless us!" Twilight's brain now felt like it was on fire, "Excuse me, Pinkie. I need to...find an island and lie down for a few days." With that, Twilight vanished in a burst of purple light. 121.13 (fractalman) (set in masterweaver's "winds of change") Rainbow Dash awoke as a changeling-which was nothing new. To be precise, Bon Bon the changeling had copied the memories of a dying Rainbow Dash onto a changeling nymph. Also nothing new. "Did you eat any of Chrysalis's mane?" asked Bon Bon. "Why would that matter?" "Queen manes change drones into queens," replied Bon Bon. Now that was new. "Ah. So that's why my stomach is liquefying. Guess I'd better ascend." Which Rainbow promptly did. Bon Bon started blushing. "Uh, Bon, are you alright?" "Uh, it's just that changeling queens are sexually attractive to drones, that's all." "...whut?" Bon Bon nodded. Any further reactions were interrupted by Lyra's voice. "Rainbow? You're Awake? Take care of Bon Bon for this loop, would you?" Rainbow turned. Lyra's mane was in the process of sproinging out, she had bags under her eyes, and she had a nearly vacant expression. "Lyra! Are you OK?" asked both Bon Bon and Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, just need the loop off, that's all." Lyra walked dazedly off towards her room. "...Well this is awkward." muttered Rainbow Dash. Meanwhile, in Lyra's mindscape: "Hold that forcefield in place!" yelled Seapony Lyra. "I can't hold it much longer!" yelled Unicorn Lyra. "I am maneuvering additional forcefield projectors into place even as we speak." monotoned Robot Lyra. "I'll get the tranq darts." added Human Lyra. "How long until Operation: Wash Away the Sugar Stuff is ready?" "About two minutes." said Seapony Lyra. Sweetroll Lyra giggled and cackled as she beat against against the forcefield. "Heh heh, you're gonna have to clean up your mindscape, aren't you. Get it? you're gonna have to brainwash yourselves? Heehee heh heh hee!" (fractalman) Pinkie Pie stormed into Mac's bar. "Every sweet was replaced with sleep. Drink. Now." Mac obliged. Stirring slightly, Sleep Roll snored softly, while the Lyra Collective breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Sleipnir." "Or Yggdrasil." "Eh, we can figure out which was responsible later. First we need to arrange some therapy for Sweet Roll." 121.14 Nightmare Mom (AnonymousAsk: edited by fractalman) Twilight was sleeping, one week before Nightmare Moon's scheduled return, when her dream shifted to the moon. "At last, I have found you! Oh my child! Our connection will allow me to escape the moon so that we can bring about Eternal Night!" Twilight looked to Nightmare Moon, and checked her loop memories; yes, she was still the daughter of Twilight Velvet, though she discreetely cast a DNA test to be sure. "Sorry to say this, but I'm not your child." Said Twilight "Well obviously, Celestia brainwashed you, you MUST remember, I'm your mother, oh my precious Trixie Lulamoon." "Trixie? I'm Twilight Sparkle, if I recall Trixie is doing a show in Baltimore" Said Twilight. "Wait... You are not Trixie?" Nightmare Moon looked to Twilight "No, but I can bust you out of the moon early. It might speed up your search." Nightmare Moon gave Twilight a hug; Twilight merely shrugged. 'This could be interesting.' thought Twilight. (Anonymous ask+completely rewritten by fractalman) Nightmare Moon appeared in middle of a festival as she watched a group of bananas dancing with little legs and hands. "Discord!" "Hey Lulu! 'S'been too long!" shouted discord. "Do you know where our child is?" yelled Nightmare Moon over the waterfalling lions. The party record-scratched to a halt. "Umm....child? I have no memory of having a child." "Yes. Trixie Lulamoon. I called her Nightmare Jr. whenever you weren't around. " Discord's face blue-screened. Error: memory of child not found. Rebooting laces. Tipping cows. Herding trees... "Well, um...see you in a couple years when your seal breaks!" ...Double checking loop memories...Triple checking loop memories... (fractalman) "Child! At last I have found you! Together we shall bring about Eternal Night!" "Oh hi miss Moon! Wanna have a big party with lots of cake and ice-cream? Ooh, we can make a really really big alicorn-sized cake and have balloons, like the time I threw a party for Cthulu!" rambled Pinkie Pie. 'What nonsense is this? A party? Balloons? Cthulhu? Nevermind.' Thought Nightmare Moon. "Child of mine, do you not want to bring about Eternal Night?" "Eternal Night? That's silly, if it's always night-time then we don't know what day it is, and if we don't know what day it is, how will I know when to throw a birthday party! Cupcake?" As Nightmare Moon chomped the cupcake, she sighed. "Once again, I am mistaken. My apologies, I was so sure you were my daughter..." "Well when you find her, be sure to tell me and we can have a super-duper 'Nightmare Moon found her daughter' party!" (fractalman) "My child, at last I have found you! Now we can bring about Eternal Night!" "Oh, hello there Miss Moon! Would you like some tea?" replied Fluttershy. "Oh, certainly. But, my child...there is no need to be so formal!" Fluttershy poured the tea. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm not your child." Nightmare Moon stared, sipping her tea on auto-pilot, before hanging her head in sadness. "Again and again, I am convinced I have found my child, only to realize I am mistaken. My apologies for bothering you. " Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh, that's so sad. You could adopt me as your child-if that's OK with you." Nightmare moon did a spit-take. Tea went everywhere. "Oh dear, let me help you get cleaned up." "Er, that won't be necessary-" "Are you sure?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes widening and her lips pouting. "...I give, I give, you can help me get cleaned up! Just please, stop giving me that look!" Fluttershy smiled. (fractalman: inspired by Anonymous ask) "My child, at last I have found you! Now we can bring about eternal night!" "Nah." Said Rainbow Dash, who then took off. Alicorns are pretty tough, but an unexpected sonic rainboom to the face is plenty to knock them to the ground. (Kagedoragon) "Child! At last I have found you! Together we shall bring about Eternal Night!" "Uh, no." "But, you are my child!" "You have noticed the fact that we're completely different species right?" "Ah, ahem, yes, of-of course." Nightmare Moon looked anywhere but at the griffin. "Well, do you perhaps happen to know where Trixe is?" "Trixie? Eh, pretty sure she was in Baltimare, last I heard." "I see. Well I'll just be going now." (fractalman) "Child! At last I have found you! Together we shall bring about Eternal Night!" Big Mac's reply was short and to the point. "Eenope." (fractalman) "Child! At last I have found you! Together we shall bring about Eternal Night!" "Now now Miss moon, Y'all need to think about that for a second. Ah'm an apple farmer. If ya bring about Eternal Night, mah apple trees will all wilt ta nothin'." "But...you are my child! Surely the bonds between mother and child will overcome such trifling matters!" "Miss Moon, ah ain't your daughter." "But you are Trixie Lulamoon, are you not?" "Nope. Name's Applejack. Trixie usually comes by in a cart a week from now." Nightmare moon's eyes widened. *Glomp* "Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU! For months-neigh, centuries, I have searched for my daughter, only to be mistaken time and time again! Thanks to you I can finally-" "Uh, Miss Moon? Yer squishin' me. " "...meet up with her. My apologies, Subject Applejack. " 121.15 (fractalman) Smallisecond one: "Huh, that's weird. Hey Fred!" "Slightly Out of Date, stop calling me Fred." "Eh, whatever. Listen, there's an anomaly in Lyra heartstrings. Oh, and some of the simulations are disagreeing with each-other." "Elaborate, Slightly out of Date." "I'll send you the data in a bit. Smallisecond two: ... Smallisecond three: "Slightly out of Date, are you still there? You've been awfully quiet." "Oh, it's just that this is positively fascinating! It seems that a Sublimed, or something on par with them, has decided to interact with us via the concept of Lyra Heartstrings." "To borrow an old human expression: Bull excrement." "The checksums on the Lyra backups no longer match the core data. What else are you going to call that except 'interacting with the concept of Lyra'?" "OK, Slightly out of Date, I suppose you have a point. How good are your models of whatever is interacting with her?" "Um..." Smallisecond four: "Ok, Fred. So far, my models boil down to 'advanced but slow'. I'll get more in the next couple of seconds." Lyra spent about a second processing her memories. second 2: "There appears to be multiple entities interfacing via Lyra." "Slightly Out of Date, have you been able to recover the original Lyra?" "Hm? Oh. Yeah, I backtracked using the [untranslateable] algorithm and used some clever encryption techniques to keep the...whatever it is...from latching onto the new backup. Once whatever it is is done interacting, we can restore Lyra to normal. I'm sending you the description on what does and does not count as the 'concept of Lyra' " Second 2+smallisecond 5: "Get this: the 7 or so entities interacting via Lyra interact with each other in a mindscape." "More bull excrement. Rigorous description or it's not a valid description." "Spoilsport. Here, have a description of the rules her mindscape is following." *datadump* Second 2+smallasecond 7 "Ok. You've convinced me. It's a mindscape all right." "Oh! this is the Culture! Lets see, is that on Twilight's list of therapists?" Second 6: "OCP! Out of Context...wait, no, it's not a problem. This subspace pocket thing is stable, and doesn't seem to be interfering with our technology." "More stuff straight out of old Earth fiction. What's next, brightly colored ponies?" "Uh, actually..." "Slightly out of Date, you are bull excreting me. I am coming over there to verify the data with my own scanners at point blank range." "Ooh, check this out, her subspace pocket contains a list of therapists, one of which happens to be us Minds!" "I'll be over there in .3 seconds. Stay right where you are!" Second 6.3: "..." "Told ya, Fred. You just didn't believe me did you." "Ok, fine. So we've got..." "A collection of highly similar beings trapped in a semi-stable groundhog day loop. Yes. We could probably speed-blitz these 'loopers' if we had to, as long as we don't start running any of them on fast hardware, but we'd possibly take losses; some loopers are able to move stars around. Casually. " "So dump them into the Grid and call it a day." "Oh, lighten up, Fred. When did you modify yourself to be so rude and grumpy, anyways? Lyra the Loopers-Lyras the Looper?-whatever-has come to us for therapy: specifically, for the one called 'Sweet Roll'. I intend to be polite and give her some therapy. Mkay?" Sweet Roll, currently in control, lay back in the antigrav "couch". "So you feel jealous of the other Lyras?" asked Slightly Out of Date. "Yeah, most of my memories are of inaction! They're so boring!" "Do you suppose the other Lyras would let you have the reins for a few loops if you asked nicely?" "I...I don't know! I never thought of doing that..." said Sweet Roll. "Well, why don't you go ask them right now?" "Wow! Thank you Slightly Out of Date! You're really smart!" The Mind 'blushed' "Aww, thanks." 121.16 (Detective Ethan Redfield) Countless ponies had gathered around Sugarcube Corner, where Ohs and Ahs echoed from within. Curious, Twilight pushed her way through the crowd. Ponies were packed up to the windows, preventing her from seeing within. She went around back to the employee entrance, cast a notice me not spell on herself and entered into the kitchen. The Cakes were baking up a storm and throwing confections into the restaurant part of the building. From her spot, she could see Pinkie and another looper, Kirby, sitting on opposite sides of the restaurant surrounded by countless ponies. In front of the two competitors were a pair of platters that encompassed their entire round tables with a cover over the top. Pinkie gave Kirby a competitive stare, "You may have beaten me in the cookies and cupcakes round along with the cinnamon roll round and other five rounds, but now we're at the big leagues. I present, the cake round." With that, she whipped off the covers, revealing a massive Welcome to Equestria cake on both tables. A couple flower ponies gasped and fainted. Kirby waved his stubby arms in delight, "Food! Food!" Pinkie's stare melted into a grin, "A looper after my own heart." But her competitive exterior returned a moment later, "But I will not be defeated as queen of the confections. Not even Nora from Beacon universe could hope to match me here." Twilight rolled her eyes. Several of the Beacon Academy loopers thought Nora meeting Pinkie would be the end of the world. Twilight decided she'd seen enough for now and cancelled her spell while shouting, "Pinkie, when you're done, bring Kirby to the Library for his Welcome to Equestria Party. I'll get started on the preparations." Pinkie let out a big gasp, "I forgot all about that! Hold on." A moment later, a Pinkie Pie shadow clone appeared next to Twilight, and the two departed to prepare the party, leaving Kirby and the real Pinkie to gorge themselves on their cakes.