//------------------------------// // L16.1 // Story: A little loopy. // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// Sweetie opened her eyes, and smiled as Rarity called her downstairs. Leaping out of her bed, Sweetie concentrated, casting the shield spell, eliminating her headache. Wincing as she stumbled under the strain, Sweetie held it for five minutes, before canceling the spell and grabbing her two books. “Rarity, read this.” Sweetie pulled out the letter, waiting as Rarity read it. Weathering the reaction of her sister as she recovered, Sweetie quickly put the letter away. Forcing herself to remain still, Sweetie opened her mouth to speak. “I’m going to be gone for this loop, so don’t worry about where I am, okay?” Sweetie held up a hoof as her sister immediately objected, giving a scathing glare. “Come on Rarity, I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to go before Twilight leaves to go shopping today.” Sweetie waited as her sister bit her lip, and looked away. “Alright, but promise me somepony will know how to reach you in case you get into trouble.” Rarity hated the fact Sweetie was pressuring her right after that letter, but she supposed it was a side effect of what Sweetie was going through. “Of course, Twilight will know. Anyways, I gotta go, see ya Rarity.” Sweetie levitated the pancakes off the plate, and waved goodbye to her sister before dashing out the door. Pausing briefly, she quickly made an excuse to Apple Bloom, before dashing off. By luck; Twilight was only just leaving the castle. “Twilight! Wait!” Sweetie held out the letter as she ran, pausing to catch her breath once Twilight took it. Wiping off the sweat on her brow, Sweetie felt her thudding heart slowly return to normal. Twilight’s reaction was to be expected, and Sweetie waited patiently for Twilight to look over her data. “Twilight, I was wondering if you could teach me how to defend myself.” Sweetie nodded, narrowing her eyes as she squared her shoulders, determined. Twilight blinked and frowned, and put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Well I suppose I could teach you a few combat spells, but I don’t really know much about defending to be perfectly honest, excluding how to dodge that is. My big brother on the other hand…” Twilight trailed off, musing for a moment. Sweetie bit her lip, wondering if she would have to go to Canterlot for combat lessons. “Maybe Zecora or Applejack can help you. Applejack has battled the Everfree before, one time being when she saved Spike from Timberwolves. Zecora on the other hand really helped me when I was training against Trixie, despite the fact I used brains instead of magic-brawn to win.” Twilight glanced down as Sweetie nodded, thinking over the information. “Alright, I’ll try Applejack first. Thanks Twilight!” Sweetie turned and began to trot away. “Why do you want to learn how to defend yourself anyway?” Twilight waited as Sweetie glanced back and giggled. “I want to ride a dragon. A full grown dragon at that.” Sweetie watched as Twilight’s mouth slowly opened, and stayed like that. Smiling, Sweetie turned to leave. "Wait! What if you get yourself killed? Aren't you worried about you know, causing more..." Trailing off, Twilight looked away, causing Sweetie to cringe. "Twilight, I don't mean now. I mean when I can defeat a dragon. I'm not stupid you know." With that, Sweetie continued on her way. While she really wanted to ride a dinosaur, Sweetie was certain they were extinct, so that left them out as an option, at least for now. If Sweetie tried a time spell, Sweetie wondered just what would happen. Would it go back in time? Back in loops? No matter, it was too risky either way. So that left the dragons that were currently on migration. ’But first, I need to learn to defend myself. From what Spike told me one time when I was at Twilight’s, they’re proud creatures. If I best one in battle, it will either curse me or begrudgingly accept its defeat. Either way, I’ll get a ride out of it.’ Sweetie tilted her head, wondering how long dragons lived anyway. Did the time loop affect them? “Well howdy Sweetie Belle, shouldn’t you be at school with Apple Bloom?” Applejack greeted Sweetie with a tilt of her hat, blinking in confusion as Sweetie dug out a letter. Applejack quickly read it, and blinked. What this note said sounded absurd, Applejack held it back out to the filly. 'Ahm gonna have to hear ya say it, so Ah can see if you’re lyin’.” Applejack waited at Sweetie nodded. “I am stuck in a time loop.” Sweetie spoke quickly, seeing the hesitant acceptance on Applejack’s face. “Fair enough. Ah can tell you’re not lyin’, and the note here backs you up, so what can I help ya’ with?” Applejack didn’t like it, but there was no point in denying the truth. Why, that would be lying to herself now, wouldn’t it? “I want to learn how to defend myself if I get into a fight.” Sweetie wondered just how much of her plan she should reveal. Better to just say she wanted to know how to defend herself. “Well, Ah dun know much about it to be perfectly honest. But Ah guess I can help ya learn how to be stronger an better at dodging. Ya see’, I do rodeo shows occasionally, good way to earn some extra money for tha’ family. If Ah had to guess, that’s why Ahm a decent fighter. Ah could probably take you through the course, Ah normally run it once a day.” Applejack motioned toward a round circular track Sweetie recognised from the sister race. However, it looked a lot more advanced than just going over a puddle of mud. “Alright, I was hoping for some karate moves or something, but it couldn’t hurt to get stronger in both my body and my magic.” Sweetie nodded, it sounded solid. Her body wasn’t very strong, a by-product of being brought up by Rarity, but she wasn’t afraid of a little manual labor. In fact, if Sweetie was honest, it excited her. “Alright, follow me an’ we can go through the course before I go apple-bucking. Just remember, Canterlot wasn’t built in a day.” Applejack walked toward the starting line. Sweetie took place beside her, and they took off. Applejack slowed her speed to match Sweetie’s pace, and began to show her through the course. First up was the mud pit. Above it was a tarp, and Applejack dived underneath, crawling through it quickly. Sweetie did the same, knowing that while she was small enough to actually stand up underneath it, that would make the obstacle moot. Shaking some of the mud off after coming back up, Sweetie felt herself begin to sweat. Next up was the barrels. However this time they were arranged in a haphazard order. Applejack weaved through them, one almost toppling as she spun around it to get past an awkward barrel easier. Sweetie followed though slower, making sure to not miss any barrels. Third up was a bale of hay. Applejack tossed it forward, nodding as it landed on the target. Sweetie tried to lift it, but failed. Trying with her magic, she grunted under the weight and was able to toss it a very short distance. Despite her failure, Applejack only nodded encouragement. Sweetie felt her muscles burning as they rounded the corner to the final hurdle. Sweetie slowed down drastically as she approached the sharp incline to climb up. Using the rope, Applejack went from hoofhold to hoofhold, sometimes gripping the rope and tossing herself up the incline. Sweetie felt her strength leave her halfway up, and blinked as Applejack grabbed her hoof and carried her the rest of the way. “That*hah*. Was*huff*. Hard*Wheeze*.” Sweetie saw the sweat glistening on Applejack's face, the gasping breath coming from her as she calmed down. Sweetie could tell that while Applejack was tired, she was still going to recover quickly. Sweetie on the other hand, was exhausted. “Sorry hun, that course is designed for me an’ Big Mac. But yer free to use as much, or as little of it to get stronger. Just remember, it ain’t going to happen instantly. Took me five years to get strong enough to earn a bronze medal.” Applejack tilted her head, and brought over a cup of ice cold water, letting Sweetie guzzle it down. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Sweetie closed her eyes, too tired to move. So she could do almost the entire course, excluding the last one. If she worked at it, she’d be able to at least increase her endurance a lot. Sweetie sighed, getting stronger was hard. But fun, that was for sure.