//------------------------------// // L22 // Story: A little loopy. // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// Sweetie was currently back practicing her spells, however this time she was getting a lot of magical explosions in her face, instead of just a weak spell. Sweetie’s water spell had blown Twilight sky high, and the fireworks were exploding right in front of Sweetie’s horn, earning her some very light burns. Thankfully, the spell was designed to prevent injury for the most part. Sweetie had spent the rest of the loop training with Twilight, and had decided to continue it in the mornings. Sweetie concentrated, trying to teleport again. Twilight watched as the filly blinked, coming out at the other side covered in soot. Wincing, Twilight thought back to her first tries, when she had used too much energy to teleport. Sweetie dusted herself off, and then smiled at Twilight. “I gotta go now. I’ve been secretly organising something for a few loops now.” Sweetie smirked as Twilight was instantly curious, and followed Sweetie into town toward a very poorly made stand. Twilight wondered if Sweetie was going to sell Lemonade, but as she looked toward the sign she narrowed her eyes. “Fortune teller?” Twilight watched as Sweetie sat down and flipped a sign to open. Slowly, people began to crowd around. Sweetie shrugged nonchalantly in response. “Granted I don’t have a lot of information about what they will be doing, I can learn it for the next loop using this sign right here.” Sweetie levitated up a sign saying ‘Accurate predictions or your money back!’ Twilight snorted, and took a seat beside Sweetie. Sure, she was going to read the new Daring Doo book that Rainbow Dash had lent her, personally signed too. But that could wait, this was much more interesting. The first customer was Lyra Heartstrings, ever the believer in strange and kooky things. Sweetie watched as the bit was dropped into her jar, and closed her eyes, pretending to concentrate. “Ask your question about the future,” she spoke, making her voice waver. Sweetie hoped she was doing a decent job of selling the ‘fortune teller’ look as well, despite her lack of clothing. Sweetie was silently hoping nopony would ask any questions she wouldn’t know for another loop, but it was always a possibility. “Is it going to snow tomorrow?” Lyra glanced to the crowd, deciding on a simple question. Lyra knew that the weather ponies were planning to bring snow, what with Winter coming soon, so it was a prediction she could actually use. After all, it was quite easy to bundle up. Lyra would return for some harder questions later. “No, but it will on Thursday.” Sweetie smiled warmly, closing her eyes and tilting her head. She was lucky Lyra had asked such a simple question. As she moved along, Sweetie looked to the next pony. It was Applejack. Tossing a bit into the jar, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “How many apples will I pick tomorrow?” Applejack smiled, knowing if Sweetie was going to try and guess, she would know instantly. Sure, being able to tell lies didn’t come in handy very often, but when it did it always payed off. “Alright, what I’m going to do is write a number on a piece of paper. Tomorrow after you finish, come here and I will show you the number. If it is wrong, you get your bit back.” Sweetie quickly scrawled a number, hiding it with her hooves as she quickly folded it up with magic. Silently, she wondered if it would be wise to learn to write horizontal while using magic. The next pony stepped forward, barging Applejack out of the way. “Can I take tomorrow off work without any repercussions?” As the bit flew into the jar, the pony was pushed out of the way. “Will my door be repaired in time for the bad weather?” Sweetie watched another bit fall into her jar. “Should I go to the hospital about my infection?” Shrinking back slightly as he leaned over her stall, Sweetie whimpered. “Should I do my job and repair a stallion’s door before this week?” Sweetie closed her ears, holding them down with her hooves. “I’m having trouble in bed, should I take some meds to help me sleep?” The sound carried into her ears despite them being held closed. Voices crying out for questions to be answered. Sweetie realised this was a very bad idea. She was regretting it immensely. “SILENCE!” Twilight raised her voice, flaring her wings. As she shouted, the crowd grew silent. Sweetie blinked her eyes open, and sat up properly again. Twilight sat down and stared sternly at every pony. “One at a time, no pushing. Anyone caught cutting will be moved to the back of the line.” Twilight looked toward Sweetie and bowed her head. Smiling gratefully, Sweetie looked to the crowd as they quickly got organised. “To answer the first five questions; no, yes, yes, yes, and no those won’t help what you need to do is flip the mattress upside down. Next!” Sweetie smiled sweetly, hiding her satisfied smirk behind an innocent smile. The ponies were asking stupid questions, questions she couldn’t get called out on. Really, this was going way too well for her liking. “Uhm, my mother has always had problems with losing her job. And she recently got fired again. I was wonderin’, does she get a job today? Cause I dun wanna go hungry…” It was Dinky, the daughter of Ditzy Doo, sometimes called Derpy. Sweetie bit her lip, and then smiled warmly, and tapped the jar. “Don’t worry, she’ll find a job. And if she doesn’t, all my earnings from today are yours.” Sweetie saw the tears as they left Dinky’s eyes, and felt her heart melt. Even if Derpy didn’t get a job, Sweetie would make sure her classmate didn’t go hungry. Sweetie wondered if she should feel guilty because she hadn’t realised this was happening in previous loops. After a long day, Sweetie greeted Dinky as she slowly approached. Looking down, there were heartbroken tears in the filly’s eyes. Sweetie quickly realised her prediction had come wrong. Levitating her jar of money up, she took out the majority, leaving a little in case some ponies came back, and quickly put it in Dinky’s saddlebags. “Don’t worry, somepony will give her the chance she needs. Ditzy just needs to find her place.” Sweetie gently lifted the chin of Dinky up, and looked her seriously in the eyes. Surprised, she fell backward as Dinky jumped at her, bringing her into a hug. Feeling the silents sobs Dinky was giving off, Sweetie gently patted her. “Th-Th-Thank you.” Dinky ignored her growling stomach, knowing it would soon be filled to the brim. Sweetie smiled sadly as she returned the hug, feeling a gnawing guilt slowly eating her up. How long had this been going on behind her? Why did she feel like it was her fault? Narrowing her eyes, Sweetie solemnly swore to make sure Dinky was cared for each loop from now on.