//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 129 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 129.1 Silver looked across at Diamond. "Okay. I get that we're in another world." Diamond nodded. "That's right." Silver held up the red and white ball. "These creep me out, though. I mean - they creep me out. I've been almost everything these balls are supposed to catch." Diamond shrugged. "At least you're not a comedy character." Silver gave a reluctant nod. "Fair enough. Right, any ideas?" Diamond tapped the ground with a foot. "Have you still got that big spoon? Fighting Mewtwo with it would be neat." 129.2 (Dalxein) "Sooooo..." Twilight started, looking around at the 'basement' of the building Trixie and Chrysalis had erected just outside Ponyville. It was really more of a large lab, the walls lined with tubes and the floor covered in vats, some of which were woven into the web of tubes and receptacles. "What're you up to?" "Trixie is bored and curious," the blue mare herself responded as she fiddled with diodes. "She has decided to experiment with amino acids and proto-life." Chrysalis piped in, "We want to know if we can make simple self-replicating RNA strands and such in the loops." The Anchor nodded, it was rather fascinating stuff, but- "You're doing the third-person thing again." "What?" Trixie asked, breaking herself away from her tinkering. "I was not." Chrysalis giggled. "She gets so adorable when she's hyper-focused on her work." Her marefriend blushed with an unintelligible noise, turning back to connect some electrical circuitry while muttering something along the lines of 'am not'. "Still, this does seem a bit further out of your regular experiments than normal..." Twilight handily broke the mood, causing her former rival to grin. "Now, now, you know I'm first and foremost a chemist. This is chemistry." She raised a hoof to a comically large switch behind her. "And I do love a challenge." She flipped the switch and electricity flared, the lights dimming as their power was shunted into the experiment. Twilight watched as Trixie cackled and Chrysalis swooned, before there was a loud pop and the sparks faded. The lights did not come back on. "...Trixie can fix this." 129.3 (Bardic Knowledge) It had been a pretty normal Loop for Twilight. Just a simple, lonely, baseline run. She could practically do them in her sleep at this point. Hmm, that could be an experiment for a later Loop, actually. But things took a turn for the interesting when it came time for the princess summit in the Crystal Empire. Going to bed the night she arrived, as normal, she stayed awake to listen for Sunset Shimmer to come in after her crown. She heard her door open softly and prepared to catch Sunset in the act when she suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to fall asleep, as if a soft voice was telling her she didn't need to stay awake, the bed was so comfortable, things like that. If she hadn't been a Looper, let alone an Anchor, she probably would have fallen asleep. As it was, she barely noticed that the pony in her room had made it to the door before she snapped to attention and called for help, as in baseline. Chasing the mysterious replacement didn't change things too much from the chase of Sunset, including the teleport that got her a cloak in the face. Upon reaching the mirror room and tackling the mare, though, she finally managed a good look at her quarry. The mare was silver-grey in colour, with a very plain-looking brown mane in a bun. A smirk seemed almost permanently affixed to her face. “My crown!” said Twilight, still trying to stick to the script, “What did you do to my crown?!” The mare teleported in front of the portal, giving Twilight a chance to see her cutie mark. It appeared to be a pocket watch, skewed so that noon was pointing south-east instead of straight up. The minute hand was on twelve, the hour on three, and the second hand between one and two. Then the mare said something that threw Twilight off a little. Instead of Sunset's “Sorry it had to be this way, princess,” this mare said, in what sounded like a Scottish accent, "It's been fun, dears, but I've got a date to get to. Ta ta!" and jumped into the portal. The interesting change continued from there, as Princess Celestia revealed that her former student this time was a young mare named “Mistress,” which set off a few alarms in Twilight's head, though she couldn't yet put her hoof on why. Entering the portal as normal, Twilight carefully made her way into the school, and headed on her path to Fluttershy. As she arrived at the hallway, she saw “Mistress” talking calmly to Fluttershy, staring intently into her eyes. “I know, dear. You didn't know that I had lost the crown everyone made for me this year, and it's only right that you returned it. But you really should have returned it to me, you know, rather than-” “Leave her alone!” Twilight shouted. This seemed to startle the girl slightly, before she turned. And smiled brightly? “Oh, hello, dear. I don't think I've seen you around the school before.” Not only did that strike her as odd behavior for almost any Sunset replacement, but as the Mistress spoke, Twilight could feel something strangely alluring about her voice. “I-I'm Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight replied without thinking. Then she blinked, who could this girl be? A new Looper? Twilight sent out a ping, but received no reply at all. The Mistress smiled softly. “Twilight, such a lovely time of day. And you-” Before Twilight could identify the strange feeling the stranger's voice was giving her, the Mistress was interrupted by Rainbow Dash's voice. “Oi! Missy!” the CHS version of Rainbow Dash stood at the end of the hall, across from Twilight. “Get away from them!” The Mistress, or “Missy” apparently, rolled her eyes and looked in Rainbow Dash's direction. “Hello, Rainbow Dash. I was just getting know the new girl, that's all.” Dash's glare only seemed to intensify. What had this girl done to make her so hated? “Well, maybe she doesn't want to know you, you snake. New girl, Fluttershy, we're leaving!” Knowing that she had to find out what was going on, Twilight followed her once-and-future friends down the hallway. “Thank you for getting me away from there,” said Twilight. “I don't know what was going on, but-” “That was Missy,” said Rainbow Dash. “She showed up at the school a couple years back and in months she had practically every student eating out of her hand. Some of us are immune to her so-called 'charms,' but there aren't very many.” Dash then turned towards Fluttershy. “But why was she harassing you, 'Shy? She already knows you're immune.” “Well, I was outside by the statue trying to get volunteers for the animal shelter.” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth. “It may not be likely, Rainbow Dash, but I have to try.” Dash's mouth closed again. “Anyways, I was just passed by by the fourth person when something hit me in the back of the head. And when I looked it was the Fall Formal crown for this year. So I took it to Principal Celestia. Missy was apparently looking for the crown as well for some reason.” Twilight nodded. “I think I know why. The others who resist Missy, can you get them all together? I have something important that I think you'll all want to hear.” Rainbow Dash looked skeptically at Twilight for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, we typically meet up in the courtyard at lunch. Just try to steer clear of Missy while you can, okay?” “Right.” After that, Twilight separated from Rainbow and Fluttershy. She immediately headed for the courtyard Dash had mentioned, since she didn't have any classes to attend anyways. “So, Twilight,” asked Spike from her backpack. “What's the plan?” “Well, Spike, I know we left Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash back home in our world, so that must mean that this world has counterparts of our friends. I have a feeling that everyone who's resisted 'Missy's weird hypnosis or whatever is one of those counterparts. So, we're going to explain everything to them.” “Whoa,” said Spike, hopping out of the bag as they stepped outside. “Are you sure? Why would they even believe you?” “Well, for one, I have a talking dog with me.” Spike scratched his head sheepishly. “For another, if they really are counterparts to our friends in Equestria, then I can use their names before we're introduced. That should help, too.” “Wow, you've really got this all planned out, huh?” “Well, mostly. I want to hear from them what it feels like when Missy's doing whatever it is she's doing. That should help me figure out some way to break it.” Twilight paused for a moment. Oh, yeah, she was here for her crown, too. “After that, if they can't help find the crown, I'll try entering this 'Fall Formal' thing to see if I can win it.” Just over a half an hour later, Twilight heard the bell ring to signal the end of class and people slowly started coming out to the courtyard. A few gave her odd looks, until Rainbow and Fluttershy started talking to her. Aside from the rest of the Elements of Harmony, there was also about six other people, not all of which were versions of her fellow Loopers. Looking over the crowd, Rainbow turned to Twilight and nodded. “Excuse me, everyone,” Twilight started. Everyone turned to look. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm here because Missy stole something very important from me, and left this in its place.” And with that cue, Spike handed her the fake crown she had brought along this time. “But that's-” started Flash Sentry. “The Fall Formal crown, yes. I came here today to try and get my crown back, but there's a problem: the crown has been hidden by Vice-Principal Luna, and I don't know if she'll accept my story the way I'm hoping you will, which means that I will probably have to win the event myself to get my crown back.” “But just us wouldn't be near enough to win you your crown. Not against all o' Missy's followers.,” said Applejack, who then frowned. “Wait, why would you have a crown in the first place?” Pinkie grinned. “I know, I know! She's from an alternate world and she's a pony princess there and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements, and without it they don't work anymore, and she needs them all to help protect your magical world! Right?” The others were staring at Pinkie with varying levels of incredulousness. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, “Pretty sure that's not it.” “Actually,” added Spike, “she's pretty much spot on.” Every gasped and stared at Spike. Fluttershy grinned extremely wide and scooped him up. “Hold on a moment, Fluttershy, before we get too far off track,” said Twilight. “Now, from what Rainbow Dash tells me, Missy has tried to do something to everyone at this school, practically ruling it with their approval. But all of us here are immune to whatever she's doing, which I think is some kind of hypnosis. Can anyone tell me what they felt when she's tried this on them?” For the most part everyone agreed that there was just something about her voice that sounded inviting, but it was so sickly-sweet that it turned them away. Except one story had something a little different. “I listen to my music all the time, sure,” said Vinyl Scratch. “So Missy'd never had much chance at getting to me until one day when Principal Celestia took my headphones for wearing them in school. It was then that Missy caught me and tried her little voodoo. Well, not only did I hear what everybody else did, but under that I could hear a strange four beat. After she failed to turn me, I started noticing all around the school... That everyone under Missy's spell was unconsciously tapping out that beat.” “Strange four beat?” asked Derpy. Vinyl nodded and tapped it out, sending shivers down Twilight's spine. She recognized that beat from her time travelling with the Read Only version of the Doctor. That was the Master's drumbeat. That meant that Missy was apparently a gender-swapped version of the Master. The name “Mistress” started to make sense, now. Twilight nodded. “Okay, if Missy's controlling the school with this beat, we need to figure out a way to break that rhythm. Something to get everyone to realize what she's been doing this whole time. First we'll need a time when the students will be all gathered in the same place. Then, we'll need a song. One that doesn't match that beat and is about being free...” “I think I know one,” said Rainbow Dash. “It's by this band called 'Rush.' They're pretty old, but their stuff is amazing. The song is even called 'Freewill.'” “And pretty much everyone outside this group is in the cafeteria for lunch every day,” said Rarity. “So we just need to use the song while everyone is eating lunch tomorrow.” “But how do we use the song in the first place?” asked Applejack. “Pretty sure just playing it ain't gonna cut it.” “You're probably right, Applejack,” said Twilight. “But we won't just be playing it. We'll be playing it with magic.” At everyone's confused look, she elaborated. “While the portal to my homeland of Equestria is open, there's magic from there leaking into this world. It's not very much, but if we let the instruments soak it up overnight, we should be able to use it on the school.” Well, that's what Twilight wanted them to think was happening. In truth, when they played the song she was going to cast a mass-dispel type spell to just snap everyone out of it. Real magic music wasn't going to be present at CHS until the Sirens arrived. Speaking of, she'd have to see how the Sirens would react to “Freewill” being played during the battle of the bands. As lunch wound down, Twilight officially signed up for the Fall Formal, after confirming that the rules actually said the students elect “one of their peers” rather than “one of the students.” That sort of detail was important when dealing with someone of the Master's calibre. Even though he wasn't Awake, the renegade Time Lord was a dangerous man. Or woman, in this case. On her way to lunch the next day, Twilight was being stared at accusingly and maliciously whispered about behind her back, which was starkly different from the barely-veiled laughs of Sunset Shimmer's humiliating video, but Twilight managed to take it in stride. Once everyone (save for Missy herself) was inside, as confirmed by some of the people who didn't have an instrument to play for the song, the future Rainbooms pulled out their instruments from behind the lunch counter (hidden there by Granny Smith, who had taken the whole thing in her stride) and started playing. It was amazing, seeing people snap out of the hypnosis and suddenly realize just what they had been doing. There weren't many horrified looks, since Missy never had them do anything truly awful, but just the fact that they had been manipulated so easily with some honey-coated words seemed to shock them into totally turning against Missy. It was only slightly surprising to Twilight that the gym and Pinkie's hard work wasn't destroyed, but getting together to rebuild the Fall Formal wasn't needed with how Twilight had revealed what Missy had been doing. She left out a lot of details, such as her hypothesis on who Missy really was and why Twilight had been there in the first place, instead just saying that she had seen Missy's handiwork before at her “old school” and she wanted to help. So, of course, she won her crown back (for the nth time) by a landslide. And, also of course, Snips and Snails dognapped Spike. Arriving in the front yard of the school, Missy, Snips, Snails, and Spike all stood before the portal. "Hello, Twilight. I haven't much chance to speak with you since you arrived. How areyou finding my school?" "It's not your school any more, Missy!" Twilight declared. "We've broken whatever spell you had over the students here." "Oh, I know. But you don't really think I'd have left everything to chance, do you? I have had years to plan this out, after all." Missy smiled and she pointed behind them. Twilight spared a quick glance in that direction, expecting some unknown player to attack, only to see nothing there. And then her crown was ripped right off her head. Missy rose up into the air, a blast of golden light, very similar to a Time Lord's regeneration energy, flowing around her. Her body mutated, taking on a truly reflective silver sheen, her hair coming loose from its bun and shaping itself into what looked like a Cyberman's head-handles. A pair of silver bat wings and a sharp-looking tail emerged last, and when the light faded, Missy glanced at the changes. "Oh, very nice. Very fitting for the Queen of Evil, wouldn't you say? Now, then, with the power boost granted me by this lovely crown..." Missy gave a flap of her wings, landed on the statue and looked into the school. Twilight could feel the power Missy was drawing from the crown. "I AM THE MISTRESS!" she shouted, waves of magic coming off her. "AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!" The force of that command and the hypnotic drumbeat behind it were so powerful that Twilight might have had trouble with it if it weren't for two facts: 1. She was an experienced Looper, capable of shrugging off suggestions that didn't come from god-level beings without much trouble. 2. The command was augmented with her magic. And as such, she could grab hold of it and keep it from affecting the human Elements of Harmony beside her. "Sorry, Missy," said Twilight, a look of determination on her face, "but not today! Just like we discussed, girls!" Just before the Fall Formal proper, Twilight shared her suspicion that Missy would have a back-up plan for getting the crown, and informed the girls that she would be able to harness any magic of the crown that Missy tried to use against them. And when that happened, they were to hold hands and concentrate on their Element. This was, thankfully, enough to create the transformation from baseline that let them defeat Sunset Shimmer. The first beam of Harmony they sent out was dodged by the barest of margins, taking out the Canterlot Wondercolt statue, but leaving the pedestal itself intact. Frowning in concentration, Twilight switched the pseudo-Elements' power into a wide-beam setting, which Missy fortunately failed to dodge. Once the crown was returned to her, Twilight turned to Missy, who was laying on the ground and back in her human form. “Your reign is over, Missy,” Twilight said. It would have been nice, she reflected, to have done this to the actual Master, but she supposed turning this instance of him would be a nice consolation. Maybe next time she Looped with the Doctor she could share this story. “Yes,” said Missy, looking up at Twilight with weary eyes, her hair a mess around her head, “you're right. I... I don't know what I was doing. You... don't need to rule to be recognized.” Missy shuddered as she started to sob, looking away in attempt to hide her face. “All you need is some good friends.” Twilight couldn't see it, but Missy wasn't crying at all, but rather looking incredibly disgusted at what she was saying. But without knowing that, Twilight said that the other Elements would be willing to help her with that (which they looked at her skeptically about, except for Pinkie) and they all returned to the school to enjoy the dance before the portal closed. Missy stayed behind for a moment and sighed, before smirking slightly. “Sorry, dears, but it will take far more than that to change my tune.” And with four quick little taps against the pedestal, Missy schooled her expression and followed everyone else. 129.4 (Vulpine Fury) "Here you go, Mees Fluttershy, your LAMB-inator!" Heinz Doofenshmirtz said as he handed over a bizarre raygun. "Anything you want can now be transformed into a soft and fluffy little lamb!" "Um." Fluttershy twiddled her fingers. "That's... nice..." She latched onto the ray gun with both hands and smiled so broadly her teeth squeaked. "But I needed to protect my posters for the Tri-State Area Animal Shelter by laminating them... between sheets of plastic." "Oh, is my face red!" Heinz smiled. "And the first time I ever succeeded at delivering one of my '-inators' without being stopped by..." The mad scientist's voice caught in his throat as he noticed the baleful glare from Miss Fluttershy's teatime companion. "... Perry the Platypus?!" The fedora-bedecked monotreme leaped at his nemesis. Unnoticed in the fray, Fluttershy gave the Lamb-inator a considering gaze before she stuffed it into her Pocket. 129.5 (Detective Ethan Redfield) Scootaloo slurped down her firewhiskey shot and set it on the table, "Alright. Craziest flying story. Go!" An orange pegasus with the symbol for an X-wing on his flank and chocolate brown mane raised his hoof, "Flying a ship or as a pegasus, griffon or other creature capable of flight?" Scootaloo shrugged, "Eh, whichever you want, Wedge." Wedge gave a grin, "I had previously replaced Murdock from the A-team. Ended up flying a tank across the Atlantic Ocean on nothing but a parachute and an infinite supply of tank rounds." Twilight slammed her face onto the table, "Tree-damned movie physics." 129.6 (Hubris Plus) "Alright, I give up," Twilight admitted after long minutes of contemplation. "What am I looking at here?" Trixie and Chrysalis were dressed in full hazmat suits, large tanks strapped to their backs with hoses leading to spray nozzles held in their magic. Thin streams of mist poured from the tips, pooling on the ground and leaving a thin layer of frost. The pair were enclosed in a dome of protective spells that Trixie typically employed when dealing with her more unstable experiments. Naturally, they were more focused on keeping things in than out. This was not, in itself, odd. Chrysalis enjoyed involving herself in her marefriend's hobbies, which frequently involved heavy shielding and an excess of coolant. The strange part was the way one of the two would vanish for several minutes at a time before returning with a frozen lump off greenish goo. "Ah, well, you remember how Trixie synthesized primitive microbial life?" Trixie asked, scuffing a hoof in embarrassment. "I think so," Twilight acknowledged, face scrunching in thought. "That was awhile ago." "That's the problem," Chrysalis noted. "Huh?" "Trixie may have stored a live sample with her other experimental results and..." The magician blushed. "Forgotten about it." "Most of her 'other experimental results' were naturally rather energetic," Chrysalis added before vanishing again. "I think I can see where this is heading," Twilight said, levitating a pad of paper as she started making notes. "When you say 'energetic', do you mean radioactive, or magical leakage?" "Yes." "Should have expected that. So, left to their own devices for untold eons, bathed in high background levels of miscellaneous energies, your microbes evolved into..." She squinted at one of the frozen lumps. "What appears to be an expansive slime-mold, which I assume has started spreading to other parts of your Pocket." "It's also a thaumovore," Trixie added. "Of course it is, had to eat something to get this big," Twilight mused. "I heard Naruto once had a similar problem with a carton of spoiled milk. He killed it with fire, which obviously isn't an option given the contents of your Pocket." "That about sums it up," Trixie agreed. An instant later, Chrysalis reappeared. A lumpy humanoid the same color as the mold clung to her, waving a makeshift rocket launcher made of scrap metal and fireworks. "It also seems to have eaten a few Ork spores," the changeling told them drily, lifting the creature away in a field of green magic. "I'z gotz all the dakka!" It shrieked. 129.7 (Evilhumour) Fluttershy was watching the bear stand in the doorway with one eye and keeping another on the time. She desperately wished for it to tick over, and be done with this week. Suddenly, it was 6 AM. "YES!!" She shouted. "I AM THE QUEEN! OF FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY! YAAAAAAAH!" She then blinked, looking at the terrified animatronic bear in the doorway. "Oops." She squeaked out. "Sorry." 129.8 (Kingofsouls) "Dare I ask?" Twilight deadpanned as she entered the bar to the sounds of Pinkie Pie, Big Mac and Ivory Scroll laughing up a perfect storm. Ivory was the first to recover and pointed to a white stallion with a short black mane. His cutie mark was a sigil of a human knight in armor riding a warhorse. His expression was neutral as Twilight approached. "I take it you're new." "I am. My name is Seijuro Shin, though here my name is White Knight." The stallion spoke. "I'm not sure why they are laughing so hard." "Well what happened?" "I encountered something they call...CelestAI." Shin replied. "This CelestAI wanted something about satisfying my values through friendship and ponies..." Twilight groaned, her eyes tightly shut for a brief moment. "Yea....she's something we don't like to talk about. We're afraid of what might happen if she gets out of her loop." "I wouldn't be too worried about her trying to convince me to help her then. I do not rely on shortcuts and underhanded schemes to overcome a challenge." Shin then took a drink of water through a straw. "I politely refused her offer, to which she politely declined my refusal. It was then she told me that she was a computer." "I didn't want to hear anymore of what she had to say, so I looked for an off switch." "Last I checked CelestAI doesn't have one." Twilight pointed out. "That is when things got....strange." continued Shin. "A football field appeared out of nowhere, and I went to go look for the off switch. For some reason every step I took created cracks in the floor, CelestAI saying stating something about data and memory overload. Then when I tried to open a nearby door, everything around me started to erupt in flames. When I went through it and closed the door, CelestAI was yelling something about universal heat and death, and after that I found myself back at Ojo." It took a moment for Twilight to process all of that. "I'm sorry, but did you just say you somehow managed to cause CelestAI to overload, overheat, and cause the Heat Death of the Universe....by walking around inside of Equestria Online!?" Shin shrugged the best a pony could. "Technology is something I have trouble with." Twilight joined in on the laugher. 129.9 (Bardic Knowledge) Vinyl sighed, wishing that Big Mac was Awake this Loop, because she could seriously use a drink. Berry would have been nice, too, but Big Mac had the bar. Loops of this kind didn't happen often, but when they did it was always annoying. "Hey, Vinyl, what brings you by the farm?" asked Applejack. -Just wishing Big Mac was Awake,- she wrote with her magic. "Had a bad... Wait, why did you write that instead o' saying it?" -Mute Loop. Can't actually talk.- "Yeah, I can see why you might want a drink." -Gives me a chance to work on a thought-to-speech spell, though, so I guess there's that.- Applejack smiled. "Always good to find a bright spot in a bad Loop." Vinyl just nodded. 129.10 (Evilhumour) Twilight was resisting every instinct in her body to stop herself from strangling the blue mare in front of her. "So you see, Trixie only realized that during the week after that we defeated Nightmare Moon with silly string, yodeling and three pounds of fruitcake that Trixie remembered she had took out the book on knot tying." The blue mare had the decency to blush, looking away from the mare next to her. Said mare decided to tease her marefriend by nibbling on her ear, which caused the Great and Trembling Trixie to shudder. "So she decided to put it off for next week, and then next week and before Trixie knew what happened, the loop restarted." Chrysalis smiled, nuzzling the traveling magician and the Mistress of all Explosions, a title she gained over a very dangerous fused loop, and then looked at the fuming and twitching librarian. "So we figured that since the loop restarted, the book is no longer overdue, right?" Chrysalis flashed Twilight a smile, hoping to please the mare whose mane had caught on fire. When Tirek came to attack this loop, he had fallen into the massive canyon with a yelp, pulling the lone tree on the isolated island out of the earth. Turning his head, the last thing he saw was a flaming hoof and the shout of what had to be an insane monster that also escaped from Tartarus. 129.11 (namar13766) Twilight Sparkle looked at Sunset Shimmer. "So what did you need to talk to me about?" Sunset just pulled out a sheet of paper from her subspace pocket and showed it to Twilight, who froze as comprehension dawned. It was just a piece of construction paper, with scribbles only a child could make. The words "Best Sista 4Eva" were scrawled across the top with three disturbingly familiar smaller figures surrounding a central one. "How long did it take you to decide to try to become friends with me?" Sunset quietly asked. "...To be honest, it took me several loops before I got it right." Twilight admitted. She looked up. "Do you really think you can reform the Dazzlings?" "I can certainly try." 129.12 One crazy week , part two It had been an insane, crazy day for Twilight Sparkle and she was glad it was nearly over. She was also glad that Luna wasn’t Awake as she had been a bit excessive in defeating Nightmare Moon to burn off the anger of losing all of her books after that creature destroyed them all. Although she was sure that Luna wouldn’t be coming to her for advice this time around, as the mare had ran straight for Celestia and clinging to her legs in complete fright. She was sure that her friends would not let it go for a long time, since they had taken many pictures of her destroying the old castle, using Nightmare Moon as a wrecking ball. Thankfully, Fluttershy had taken care of it, allowing her to take stock of her ruined library and see what she needed to order, and to ask Celestia if Discord was actually Awake and trying to play a cruel prank on her. She had then remembered that snake creature had not only destroyed her library but all of her inkwells as well. Walking up her staircase alone, Spike having abandoned ship to sleep over at Rarity’s after she blew the second hole in the wall trying to get the snake, she opened her door to her bedroom and climbed up the staircase She smiled as laid down on her bed, still the most comfortable thing despite all of her travels and loops she had done. As she started snuggle down on her bed, she looked at the clock. It was eleven fifty-nine on this Monday night. She watched the clock for a moment and closed her eyes, falling asleep as the time changed over to the next day, twelve-o’clock. It was then she heard the loud pounding from outside her window. Springing upright in her bed, she teleported down the staircase to see who was knocking on her door at this time of night. She threw open the door to see a stallion next to the door pound in a sign into her lawn. “Oh, good morning,” The somewhat tall stallion gave her a phony smile, wearing an apron that had an enchantment on it to appear like a fine business suit. He seemed to have sunken in blue and green eyes, with a dirty coal colour coat and a mixture of pink, red and black mane. For some reason his nose looked as if it had been broken and then fixed- rather poorly- by magic. She also took notice of the hammer, tongs, and a small clear dagger along his apron that was hidden. “Oh dear, I forgot that Grim Tuesday told us you could see that.” He then opened his mouth and breath a blue colour gas at her. “Now you will not remember seeing my tools, will you Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight blinked, shaking her head as her memories were almost stolen from her, and looked at the pony that just greeted her at this insane time, deciding to go along with what this loop was doing.. “Can I help you, and why are you putting a sign into my front lawn?” “Before we start, may I ask if you are the legal owner of this library?” He pulled out a paper seemingly out of thin air, held with his magic’s dusty aura. “One Miss Twilight Sparkle?” “Yes…?” She blinked at the stallion as he pulled out a small stack of papers seemingly from thin air again. It was not like the Pockets, but like it was slightly off to a degree. “Who are you exactly?” “I am Yan of the Grim’s Bank, miss Sparkle,” the stallion nodded at her, giving her the papers. “The previous owner of the Golden Oaks Library had some business with us, and due to several circumstances with the previous owner’s control, the sum debt was placed into the ownership of this fine library.” Twilight Sparkle blinked. She was getting woken up for a bill? At twelve in the morning?! “You haven’t explained why you have placed a sign into my lawn…” She frowned, walking around to see the front of the sign, her eyes starting to go over the stack of papers. The sign proudly claimed FOR SALE. Please contact the Grim’s Bank for purchase at - “You’re selling my library!?” She shouted, shaking the papers in her magical aura. “I- that- it’s public property!” “Yes, as you can see on page fourteen, form three, section five clearly explains that previous owner had signed several agreements and arrangements with us that allow us to take the Golden Oaks Library as collateral.” “But this is my home, Ponyville needs to have a librar- wait, collateral!?” Twilight squeaked out, her eye-twitching as the meanings of the word trickled down her brain. “Yes, as the debt that the previous owner, and now you, owe us is quite severe.” Yan answered her, tsking ever so slightly. “I will need to examine the property to check for any damages that have occurred during your tenure here.” “Wait, how much do I ow-OH MY BIRCHING TREE!” Twilight shouted, her eyes opening to the size of dinner plates as she looked at the final page; with the insane amount charged to her. “Please miss Sparkle,” Yan tutted at her, frowning as he pulled out a notebook and quill, writing down something. “It’s quite early today and there are ponies sleeping, I would not wish to notify the authorities about a noise complaint.” “But-tree-cost-paperwork-money-” Twilight stuttered, the obscene number threatening to break her mind. The cost could cover the budget for the repairs for Ponyville over a number of baseline loops and he was threatening to take her tree awa- “Wait, wait. I never- I mean,” Twilight stopped, forcing herself to take a deep breath in and out to steady herself. She had dealt with far more crazy and insane stuff then a retail agent coming after her home. “I will need to look at these papers, but I will certainly not let you into my-” “Excuse me, Twilight,” Ivory Scroll walked over with a concerned look on her face. “Is everything all right?” “Hello there Miss Ivory Scroll,” Yan flashed her a smile, bobbing his head. “I was merely explaining to Miss Twilight Sparkle here about the debt the previous owner of the Golden Oaks Library had left her and informing her the Grim’s Bank is seeking to reclaim their investment.” The mayor frowned at this. “May I see your paperwork, Mister…?” “Yan, the first in charge after the Grim himself.” He responded smoothly, flashing her another smile as he levitated another bundle of papers towards the mare. “I did bring a copy of the paperwork along.” The mayor looked at the forms given to her with a smile of her own and started to leaf through them at a respectable speed. She paused and then frowned. “Page five, section two clearly states the charges against the owner of the library would dissipate if they did not have the means to pay for it. Twilight Sparkle’s only source of income is covered by the crown, as she does not pay rent nor does she collect any payment outside of late books, which she would not have as she was just installed as the librarian.” There seemed to be a sparkle in Yan’s eye, licking his lips ever so slightly. “As that may be, according to my information, she is given an monthly allowance from the crown, to which I am sure is more than enough to cover simple luxuries as well as build up a nest egg. Also, as per the case of Sunset verse the citizens of Manehattan, the protection clause is invalidated due to a student teacher relationship with the Princess.” Ivory Scroll looked at the stallion with a strange, predatory look on her face. “Twilight, may we use your library so we can discuss these charges?” Yan returned the look, his tail twitching ever so slightly. “I have no problem going over the charges and paperwork with you, Miss Ivory Scroll, but miss Sparkle will be charged a hundred bits per hour we discuss this.” “Wha-” “Don’t worry Twilight, I will get this straightened out so you don’t need to pay, and I only charge fifty bits per hour.” With a strangled gasp, she let the two in and closed the door behind them. It was nearly midnight when the group finally came to a close. Yan, smiling happily, was followed by his six fellow business employees, Tan, Tethera, Methera, Pits, Azer and Sethera as he stepped out of the library, each one with a smirk on their near identical faces, which only grew as he made sure to hold the door open for the mayor. Ivory Scroll looked at the leader of the group, flashing him another smile. “I must say Yan, today was simply wonderful.” She blushed, batting her eyes at the stallion. “The pleasure was all mine, Ivory.” He lifted her hoof to his mouth and gave it a kiss which deepened the blush. “It is rare that I find someone as well versed in legal matters, enough that I would have to call in my fellow partners.“ The rest of the colloquially known group called the Grim’s Grotesques nodded their heads in agreement. “You and your friends did have me on the ropes a few times.” She chuckled, brushing against Yan. “Likewise, my fair lady,” His smile did not change as he leaned in close to the mare, and then looked at the rising moon with a sad look on his face. “Unfortunately, we must head back to the bank now, and we will be busy for an entire week.” “Now now, I was under the impression you are made of a stockier, more uncaring mould then that.” She chuckled, as she leaned against the for sale sign. “As we were unable to come to a final agreement with the papers, I think it would be best we made another appointment to discuss the financial circumstances of the Golden Oaks Library as well as the other matters brought up today.” “I think that would most acceptable Ivory.” His smile returned and then looked at the frazzled looking unicorn mare standing in the doorway. “Do not worry Miss Sparkle, we will put a freeze on your fees tonight until we meet again in a week’s time. I suppose that we can schedule in a time that we can meet with you to discuss both business and other matters, Ivory.” “I think that would be wonderful as I am sure a certain pink pony will love to throw you a party now that she knows she will not be interrupting a business meeting.” “YUP!” Pinkie Pie pronked over with a grin on her face. “Next time here, you will all get a Super-Duper-Welcome-To-Ponyville-Party! Maybe you can even bring in Tuesday? I promise that I won’t say anything about his eyebrows.” “That would be wonderful, Miss Pie, but the Grim is quite busy at his workshop when he is not at his bank.” He nodded his head to the mare, and then looked at Ivory again. “Until next time, Ivory.” “I will be counting the days.” She smiled back, brushing away some of her mane that fell over face. With a happy tune, the group of ponies started to head out of the small town. Ivory watched the group with a happy smile on her face, fanning her face with a hoof. Rarity was already running over to get the details. Spike walked over to Twilight who was rubbing her head, trying to get rid of a building headache that she’d gained over an entire day of hearing legal jargon mixed with subtle flirting over the future of her library, and the massive debt she now had. “Hey Twilight, you got this from Celestia today,” he held out a scroll to her, with she tenderly took. “She’s wondering why a Grim’s Bank has given her proper paperwork to foreclose on the castle due to your debt.” Twilight looked at the scroll and her assistant. She then decided to say spruce tree this, and teleported away to a secluded beach to hide out on for the next day. 129.13 (Gym Quirk) Apple Bloom took a step back from the slowly spinning Crystal Heart, put away her ersatz sonic screwdriver, and turned to look at Cadance, Twilight, and Shining Armor. "Well, the reason why it looks so strange this loop is that it's a dilithium crystal." The anchor nodded. "I thought so, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks for double-checking me, Bloom." "The architecture's pretty different 'round here as well," the earth pony filly observed as she looked at the crystal palace speculatively. "Is it me, or do the north and south towers of the palace look like warp nacelles?" She pulled out a tricorder and started making visual scans. "...and I could build an intermix chamber right here in the plaza..." she continued in an absent mutter. Shining shot a worried look at his sister. "Do you know if Trixie's been stockpiling antimatter again?" 129.14 (Evilhumour) It seemed to be an average baseline, Twilight thought to herself, as she looked at the ceremony that would have an unawake Luna coming in at any moment. Her friends had decided to have a pleasant loop this time, sticking mostly to the script. Mentally blocking Nightmare Moon's usual speech of about no one recognizing her crown or the signs of her return, Twilight opened her mouth to say her part when somepony shouted: "WE DID!" Snapping her head, she saw Vinyl standing in the doorway after blasting them open. "HIT IT LYRA!" Looking upwards, the entire roof the town hall lifted upwards and fell to the side with the glow of a certain unicorn mare who stood on the side of the roof, flashing Twilight a grin. "CHECK VINYL!" Lyra shouted back, turning her head to the open sky. "NOW!" Out of nowhere, a ship seemed to flow out of the sky with a flock of much smaller ships beneath it. The first ship, larger than the smaller ships that flew below it, was light blue and silver, shimmering like the stars with smooth angles and along with sharp spikes, proudly carrying Luna's cutie mark on the sails. Alongside the large ship was another; much larger than the first ship. It was painted white and gold with completely smooth angles and flew with a sun on its sails, clear of who it was meant to be. Accompanying the ships was what seemed to be the Ride of the Valkyries but with a much more somber tone behind it, clearly building into something almost absolutely sad. The two large grand ships in the sky circled each other in wide breadths, the second ship beginning to shadow the first one while flying above the growing flock of smaller ships; many of which had changed from their sails from random colours to match the sun marked sails, with only a hooffull raising their sails to the first ship. The music grew to a climax as the two large ships circled each other faster and faster, tightening the space between them until there was no space at all and a crash seemed to be imminent! Without warning, the second ship pulled upwards as the music exploded in a fiery scream of pain, anguish, and anger. The first ship seemed to shed it's skin, the colours became much darker, the spikes and angles grew sharper as the symbol of the ship changed from Luna's cutie mark to Nightmare Moon's cutie mark. Out of the sides of the changed ship spilled out what had to be thousands of thestrals, flying down to the smaller ships, from which bright ponies popped out as the dark shapes descended. The music matched the frantic pace as bright white pegasi flew down and performed a mock battle with their counterparts, with the two large ships flying at each other, dipping lower to the ground. With a loud shout, everypony threw themselves to the ground as the two ships, truly massive now that they could see them properly, flew close overheard. The music started to die off, and the frantic scream of a violin was heard as the two ships made passes at each other again, before the dark ship pulled up and above the white ship, angling to strike it down. A crash of trumpets heralded a massive white beam that struck the black ship, encircled by the colours of the rainbow, pushing the black ship towards the moon, emanating from the white ship. The smaller ships flocked around the large white ship, with music of joy, pride and life following their arrival. Then, it started to die away as the white ship pulled, upwards, and away from the small ships. And then, it was suddenly alone in the night sky, and the sails began to sag as a hauntingly sad melody produced from a cello followed it. The paint flaked and chipped, the cracks in the hull becoming obvious, and the smooth angles become marked and crooked as the ship flew around in a depressing circle, clearly missing it's partner. The music seemed to hold it in place with the sound of sobbing was heard from the crowd below. "Luna," Vinyl's soft voice brought Twilight back to focus, brushing away tears from her own eyes. She looked at the wide eyed Nightmare Moon, whose lip was trembling at the sight she just saw. "We did not forget you. Some might call this the one thousandth year of Celestia's reign but it has also been called the era of sadness, the era of false smiles, the era of broken dreams, the era of halfness, the era of our lost princess." She walked over to the alicorn of the night and placed a hoof on her shoulder, placing her glasses to the side with tears running down her own face. "This song is called Luna's Departure. It has two endings but has never been played to either end. Please, tell us how you wish to end your song." With a choked sob, Nightmare Moon hugged the unicorn, her body shrinking in size and her colour lightening as the nightmare force was drained from her body. "Oh thank thee, thank thee." She hiccuped, burying her face into the mare's shoulder. "There there Luna." She said softly, rubbing the alicorn's back, looking up at Lyra who had somehow managed to secure a weeping Bon-Bon during the whole musical. "Lyra?" The unicorn nodded her head, her horn glowing. The music began again, slow at first. From a distance, the black ship of Nightmare Moon flew back to the earth, seemingly coming to attack the white ship once more. But as it grew closer, the music picked up with trumpets and drums signaling a sense of joy and wonder. The black ship began to shed it's skin once more, taking on it's former light blue and silver colours, the spikes vanishing as it raced to meet the white and gold ship. Said ship flew upwards as well, the body repairing and the sails filling out as it flew, with the flock of smaller ships flying beneath it, now showing split sails; half showing the symbol of the blue ship and half showing the symbol of the white ship. Thestrals and pegasi flew out to meet each other again, but this time it was a delicate and beautiful dance with each other in the sky above. There was a tense moment, a rumbling on the drums to show the moment of the two grand ships. And then, a simple lyre melody was heard as the two ships began to circle each other again in slow circles, relief and joy flowing from the scene from above before they started to descended to the ground. With a roar of cheers and hoof stamps of approval as the ships landed on the ground, Twilight watched a white alicorn walk out from Luna's ship, tears flowing from her pink eyes. She seemed to have trouble walking as Celestia's eyes focused on her sister. Luna ran over to the white alicorn with a blessed look on her face and hugged her tightly. There were no words spoken as the two sisters hugged each other, tears flowing from everypony's face. And then, Celestia opened her mouth to say three words, "Welcome home, Luna." 129.15 (Evilhumour) Tigress grinned and clapped her hands together with glee. "SEE?" She pointed at the destruction of the Valley of Peace with a wide grin. "I was right! I told you that the mailman was up to no go-GAH!" Master Tigress fell to the ground as Master Shifu hit several pressure points on her back to mobilize her. "Master Tigress, I am shocked and displeased at your actions!" He glared at his adoptive daughter's face. "First off, this was his replacement for the lo-day, so your crazy theories are ungrounded! Secondly, she did not plan to do any of this and is clearly distraught by all of this!" He huffed, walked over to the shocked mailwoman. "You have great skills, one that someone Awake can clearly see." He saw the gray mares wall eyes go wide at his words. "I believe I can train you to use your destructive force in a much more harmonious fashion." "Really?" She asked, placing the muffin she had been eating down. "Yes, but only if you are truly willing to put in the effort that takes to be a true Master of Kung Fu!" The pony grinned and bowed her head. "Sure do!" "Then let us train..." He blinked, having not caught the name of this looper. "The name is Derpy, Master Shifu." And that's how Derpy became the Kung Fu Master of the Drunken Fist/Hoof. (wildrook) Naruto, Po, and Twilight were looking at the carnage Derpy and Rock Lee made when intoxicated...for once, not involving Twilight's library but, much to Po and Naruto's displeasure, Ichiraku Ramen. Twilight, however, was backing away from the two. "Kung-Fu Master or friend," Po muttered, "there is a LINE CROSSED HERE!" "Agreed," Naruto replied. "You mess with the first people who actually GAVE a crap about me before the Loops started, YOU'RE ASKING FOR TROUBLE!" "TAIJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!" they both yelled, most of Konoha being filled with Shadow Clones. Really, messing with Naruto’s food isn't exactly the smartest thing to do. 129.16 (Hubris Plus) "You really think this'll work?" Sunset asked as they approached the stage. "I think it's worth a shot," Gilda shrugged. "I dunno, these things can go pretty off the rails, and your song choice doesn't fill me with confidence." "Hey, you wanna try reforming these guys, right?" "Well, yeah..." "Then take it from the carnivore, the first step to integrating predators into society is finding an ethical food source." Gilda's eyes glazed over a little as she settled into the brief lecture. "It worked for griffons way back when, it works for the changelings most Loops, and I'm pretty sure it can work here." "Alright, alright, give it a shot," Sunset relented. "Worst case scenario, I drop the noise canceller Vinyl cooked up." "That's the spirit!" She clasped an arm around the other girl's shoulder. "And if I pull this off, you try my other idea." "It still sounds like a terrible plan, but I guess if this works..." "Yeah, just think of it like a testing ground. We're doing science!" "Oh, sure, science," Sunset rolled her eyes before shrugging off Gilda's arm and shoving her towards the steps. "Go on, knock 'em dead." Gilda strutted out onto stage and took a moment to compose herself and search out the Dazzlings in the crowd. Locking her eyes on them, she offered a predatory grin. "~I know that your powers of perception ~Are as wet as a warthog's backside..." "No King, No King, hahahahahaaaaa!" Sonata crowed, clapping in delight. The Dazzlings had found themselves drawn to the stage by the power of the Heart Song, and were gathered just in front of it. "Fools!" Gilda spat, glaring down at them. "There will be a King... Or a Queen." "But you just said-" "I will be Queen!" She roared before striking a regal pose. "Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again!" Adagio's eyes lit up at that and she found her lips curling into a smile. She wasn't a fan of playing second fiddle to anyone, but with a promise like that... "Long live the Queen!" The three chorused. "~Yes our teeth and ambitions are bared!" Gilda was perched on a teetering stack of speakers and amplifiers, the Dazzlings placed below her on the precarious tower. "~Be prepared!" "Cousin!" King Godfrey pleaded, claws scrabbling at the cliff side. "Help me!" Gilda closed her talons around his and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Long live the Queen," she purred before flicking her wrists and sending him tumbling. Rearing up, she cackled and, feeling dramatic, added a flash of lightning with a brushstroke from her tail. "Yes, yes, you're hilarious," Godfrey grumbled, flapping back to her level with his talons crossed before him. "The kingdom is yours by the ancient rites of blah-blah-blah. Your word is law, your will immutable, your wings the storms themselves and whatever. The vizier does poisons on the first Wednesday of the month, palace garbage collection on alternating Thursdays. Come along, Gwendolyn, we're staying at the summer house." "You're a big meany head!" The pint sized former princess told Gilda before delivering a raspberry and fluttering off after her deposed father. "Yeah, yeah, come challenge me when you're older," Gilda answered and turned to the spectators. "So, what do you think?" The last of the green mist that had covered cliff top drained away into their amulets, and the three sirens looked blissfully satisfied. "Your whole government runs like this?" Adagio asked. "That was actually pretty tame. Godfrey and I get along okay," she shrugged. "Parliament has a fight pit and a betting pool. So how 'bout it? You wanna be my court... Did you settle on magicians or musicians?" "How about Magucians?" Sonata asked, scribbling portmanteaus on a pad of paper. "Names aside," Adagio mused. "I think we've got a deal." 129.17 (Gym Quirk) "I know that we've not been on the best of terms in the past..." "Answer is still no, kid." "Aw, c'mon." "Aren't you a little young for a car?" "Technically, I'm like a few thousand times older than you." "Not the point." "Besides, I don't wanna drive it, I just--" "--want to take it apart to see how it works. Not happening." "Look, I'll Pinkie Promise that I won't touch the audio gear. All I want is to git a good look at the transformation systems, maybe run a few non-intrusive scans. Is that too much t' ask?" Scootaloo tuned out Apple Bloom's pleading and Vinyl Scratch's refusals and sub-vocalized to Pansy, "Bloom really wants to examine Vinyl's Wubmobile." I can't exactly blame her, responded the Founder. CHS tech level shouldn't be able to do that sort of thing. Cookie's almost as curious as Apple Bloom about how it was done.