//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 139 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 139.1 My Little Argent: Music is Magic Part 2 Ponyville, Saturday. What appeared to be chaos just happened, as Saturday was a good day for abruptness and randomness to occur on the same day, especially if your location was Ponyville. In this case, the abrupt chaos on Saturday took the form of a titan bursting from the ground, a large amount of buildings and foliage sailing into the sky and landing who knows where. The titan rose and rose until it rose no more and formed into a more solid state as it poured from the ground. The titan was a strange humanoid yet legless creature made of the earth the ponies stood on. Red veins of lava were engraved onto its skin, and the same fiery substance formed what could be described as hair. Four angry red eyes stared at the ponies who stared back in awe and fear. Pinkie Pie simply walked between the beast and Ponyville's civilians. "Okay everypony, repeat after me." She took a deep breath before screaming. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" And so all of Ponyville screamed and ran for their lives as the beast roared louder than a dragon and tore into the town with a mighty swing of it's arm. Just as suddenly the ground ripped apart to allow vines and brambles to emerge, hunting the ponies that ran. A mountain Two hundred miles away from Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, Zecora, and Symphonic Void watched in horror as the mountain creature burst from the ground, trees and buildings flying into the sky like they were birds enjoying the freedom of flight. "What kind of creature do I behold, this mighty beast with power untold!??" Zecora asked. "And that would be my nemesis Akash'Bhuta." Symphonic Void replied. "The embodiment of chaos and destruction in nature." With a thud, several of the launched items fell next to the trio. One of the items that had landed was the ruins of Twilight's tree. Twilight begun to shake violently, and Symphonic Void swore by the Virtuoso's that came before him that she was starting to smolder. "Uh, Twilight?" "I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO RELAX AFTER THAT SOAP OPERA LOOP!" She shouted. One Crown of Magic, one ascension and one teleport later, Twilight was gone in a flash of magic. "Dare I ask?" Void turned to Zecora, who seemed to be ready for what was going to happen. As if it happened on a regular basis. "Akash'Bhuta I'd hate to be, for she has ruined Twilight's Tree." the zebra explained. "A fate most dangerous and I know why, for know that beast will now soon die." The gigantic burst of magical energy shaped into a laser beam that tore across the landscape and into Akash'Bhuta explained all Symphonic Void needed to know. The Pits of Tartarus The gaunt red centaur sat in his cell, hunched over and leaning against the wards that kept him in his cell. He turned to his new cellmate, oddly calm in her cell. "So, how did you wind up in here?" The creature roared. "No kidding? Celestia's standards must have fallen far if destroying a tree was worthy of imprisonment in Tartarus." 139.2 (Kris Overstreet) Sing a song of six bits A pony named Pinkie Pie Baked four and twenty cupcakes, Please don't ask me why. They giggle if you're friendly And explode if you are not. Isn't that a silly dish To serve in Canterlot? Rarity, Rarity, quite contrary, How went your fashion show? With rude reviews and hurled horseshoes; To the ice cream she doth go. There was a crooked pegasus With golden crooked eyes She flew a crooked flight path, Each trip was a surprise. Hoity Toity sat on the wall. Hoity Toity had a great fall. Celestia's horses and Celestia's mares COULDN'T CARE LESS. Fluttershy has a little hare, Its fur as white as snow. And what it does when she's not there, You really don't want to know. How now, zebra, have you any brews? Three, sir, three, sir, yes I do; One for the frog, one for his croak, And one to cure fools who walk through poison joke. This is the tree library. This is the dragon who lives in the tree library. This is the owl who aids the dragon who lives in the tree library. These are the books reshelved by the owl who aids the dragon who lives in the tree library. This is the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads the books Reshelved by the owl Who aids the dragon Who lives in the tree library. This is the farmer who lies never speaks Who rescued the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads, etc. This is the swift pony whose tricks are unique Whose rival's the farmer who a lie never speaks Who rescued the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads, etc. This is the pegasus who's really quite meek Best friends with the pony whose tricks are unique Whose rival's the farmer who a lie never speaks Who rescued the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads, etc. This is the seamstress whose designs are tres chic Who spas with the pegasus who's really quite meek Best friends with the pony whose tricks are unique Whose rival's the farmer who a lie never speaks Who rescued the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads, etc. This is the pink pony who acts like a freak And flusters the seamstress whose designs are tres chic Who spas with the pegasus who's really quite meek Best friends with the pony whose tricks are unique Whose rival's the farmer who a lie never speaks Who rescued the unicorn who's kind of a geek Who reads, etc. etc. etc. Twilight the Sparkle Lay down her ink-quill And said this to Rari-ti: "The Loops at this time Made us nursery rhymes, And don't you dare ask me why!" 139.3 (Evilhumour with KrisOverstreet editing skills) Big Mac blinked in surprise as a furious Pinkie Pie stormed into his bar, glaring angrily around. Every looper that had any remote survival instincts fled the bar immediately, with Rapid Hooves in the lead. "G-g-gosh sakes, Pinkie," the bartending stallion stammered, pouring a glass of Pinkie's usual rough-Loop tonic, "what's got you loco all of a sudden?" "I looped into a Hub loop." She muttered, grinding her teeth as she slammed back a drink. "I saw the worst show ever. And it had THIS in it!" She pulled a music player out of her mane and turned it on: Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy, Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy... "That show made a mockery of Laughter and Happiness," Pinkie snarled. "And if I ever loop into that world, they will get full Chaos Goddess of Parties, Fun Lord of Sith, Pinkamena BUCKING Diane Pie!" she roared before storming out of the bar. "Do y'all want your drink?" Mac called after her. The cellar doors slammed shut hard enough to knock one off its hinges. "Eenope," said Big Mac, and slammed the shot himself. 139.4 (Evilhumour) "Are you sure you want to do this Lemon?" Nyx looked around, knowing how much trouble they could get in if someone were to walk in. "Ye-yes Nyx," Lemon blushed, pulling his wings in close as he looked off to the side. "I want to do it and you're the only one that I trust to do it with." Nyx blushed at her boyfriend's praise. Taking a moment to calm herself, she used her magic to lift Lemon above her. Slowly, inch by inch, he came closer to the goal, closer to that treasure pot they both loved. Licking his lips, Lemon reached out with his hooves, his wings beating rapidly almost caused Nyx to cancel her magic out from the breeze. And then, suddenly, the light flicked on as two ponies walked into the room. "What are you two doing?!" Fluttershy shouted, causing Nyx and Lemon to meep loudly. With a startled shout, Lemon grabbed the beloved treasure pot in his hooves, with his wings beating to keep him upright when Twilight's magic grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and carried him over to Fluttershy with Nyx going over to Twilight in the same manner. "Um...nothing momma?" Nyx tried to give her mother her big puppy dog eyes, with Lemon doing the same to Fluttershy. Sadly, neither attempt worked with both mares glaring at their kids. "I told you Lemon, cookies are for after dinner!" Fluttershy scolded the flinching pegasus colt, with Twilight pulling out lecture number three-four-oh-two-dash-one for her daughter. "We are both very disappointed in you two!" That caused Lemon to whimper, proving how much of a mamma's boy he was, with Nyx folding inwards next to him. "Now Lemon, go to your room, I will be in there in a moment to talk to you." "You too Nyx." Twilight was a bit miffed that Fluttershy stole a chance to give her looping daughter a proper scolding. With a sadden look on their young faces, the two foals went to the bedroom and closed the door. Instantly, their faces perked up. Nyx turned to face her boyfriend and smiled. "You still have it?" Lemon responded by pulling the cookie jar out of his subspace pocket and handed over a cookie to Nyx. "My hero!" Nyx happily said, kissing his cheek before taking a bite of the cookie. "So you two wish to be proper thieves, right?" Sly looked at the two sitting on the couch in their hideout, with Murry and Bentley smirking behind him with Camerlita barely holding back her laughter. The two looked at each before nodding. "Just one thing, before I teach you anything, you promise me that your moms won't skin me for this?" Sly asked in a seriously scared voice. They both nodded their heads at this. "Good," Sly smiled at the winged unicorn and wolf sitting next to each other. "Now Nyx, Leman, you want to learn how to steal cookies without getting caught?" Sly smiled at the two kids, sitting down in front of them while rubbing his paws together. "Let's begin with the basics, shall we?" Lemon looked at Nyx. "You know, maybe Pinkie Pie was not the best choice." Nyx nodded her head. "But Nyx, can you tell me what we were thinking in stealing Celestia's cakes?!" "I don't know Lemon, I just don't know." Nyx sighed, kicking a rock away. "But hey, first time out on the moon; you've lasted longer than most loopers in not getting sent here!" Nyx smiled as Lemon chuckled, hugging her with his wing as they looked down at Equestria from their lunar time out together. 139.5 (Detective Ethan Redfield) "Twi', can we talk a' minute." Twilight looked up from her copy of Daring Do and the Filliosopher Stone. Applejack stood in the doorway, seeming uncomfortable. Shrugging, Twilight set the book down and asked. "Sure Applejack. What's up?" "Well, do ya think we're relyin' too much on our outside abilities? Ah mean, if a problem arises these days, we just go Alicorn a'lot and beat the stuffin' out'a anythin'." Twilight shrugged. "Well, we don't want to let any one thing get too stale with time repeating itself." Applejack shook her head. "Ah know that. But still, just the other day, ah saw Fluttershy stop the stampedin' cows by circlin' them up with trees til' they calmed down with her druid powers, Pinkie's been experimentin' with her warp goddess level parties, and Dash has pretty much takin' over running the weather worldwide. Don' get me started on Rarity and her enchanted dress business, 'Bloom snuck up on me with one of her invisibility cloaks. Bark knows Ah can't remember the last time we had a regular, baseline loop without one of us changin' somethin'." Twilight tilted her head. "So...you want a perfectly baseline loop, is that it?" Applejack gritted her teeth. "No! Ah just...can't we have a loop where we don't ascend or use abilities outside Equestria?" "What brought this on?" Asked Twilight. The mare lowered her head. "Mah extended family, every time they visit and see Ah keep hangin' out with ya'll when yah do those out of loop powers, they look at me funny." Applejack looked clearly uncomfortable, meaning this happened enough times that it broke the pony's back, to use a phrase. The purple unicorn nodded. "I'm sure we can do that. I'll talk to the others." After Applejack had left, Twilight sighed and pulled out a picture of her mother and father. A single tear slid down her snout as she slid the picture back into her pocket. Celestia, by this point, was more of a mother to her than even her own mother. However, her parents were still her parents and she still loved them. Silently, she wondered to herself, would they ever start looping? She knew that most of the other loopers in Equestria were in a similar situation...except maybe Dash and Scoots since their parentage were constantly in flux. With such a large family, Applejack probably hurt worst of all since family was the most important thing to her. However, Twilight still hoped that her family start looping one day, even if it was a bit selfish. Maybe after Applejack's self imposed limitation loop, Twilight would quit being Celestia's student after redeeming Nightmare Moon and live with her parents for a loop, re-establish her connection to them. Heck, one loop, she may establish connections with all the other loopers' parents or siblings, whichever they had in the hopes that they start looping too. (Several Loops later) Twilight awoke to an elderly voice saying, "Get yourself up, Twilight Apple! Family reunion's upon us, and Summer Sun waits for no-mare." The purple pony's gaze landed on Granny Smith, felt her head, and sure enough there was no horn. She pulled out a brown cowpony hat, put it on her head and began setting her plan into action. 139.6 (Detective Ethan Redfield) "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Twilight awoke to the screeching of one Pinkamena Diane Pie poking her head out from behind the tree she was resting under. Pinkie's eyes were narrowed as she leaned in close to Twilight and asked. "Were you awake my last loop? Were you responsible for that?" Having absolutely no idea what she was talking about, however sensing this was somehow her baseline self's fault, she asked. "What...happened during your last loop?" Pinkie circled Twilight as she began. "I was all set to have a deluxe super party for your arrival in Ponyville, since I haven't had one of those in forever, so when I step into your library to begin preparations, I see you there already getting preparations started. I thought it was weird, but decided to go along with it anyway. I gave the looping code, but you didn't give the right response, so I figure you're not awake. But then it doesn't stop there. After we defeat Black Snootie, I jump back to Ponyville to start preparations for another deluxe super party, when I see Spike finishing up decorations for the party. Cakes are baked, pin the tail pony posters are up, even the hot sauce practical jokes are there! I figure it's just coincidence, but it's like that every party for the whole loop. I even tried setting up parties for people on the other side of the world, Gilda or Chrysy, but lists for party preparations were already sent out a week prior to the party and I just get there when the preparations are complete-" By this time, Pinkie is almost hyperventilating. Twilight pulled her into a hug and patted her on the back. "Shhhh...It's alright Pinkie, it's Ok. No, I wasn't awake for that loop. Maybe one of the others were awake and was playing a prank." Pinkie suddenly pulled away and started bouncing, her good mood restored, "Oh, Oh, you think it was Chrysy? Dissy might have been able to pull it off. Or Dashy like when she disguised herself as future you and appeared in your Castle tree, the day that one loop ended and said to do all those crazy things to have Daring Do write a new novel for the next expansion set for her blackmail collection. Or-" Twilight blinked, then reacted. "WAIT, THAT WAS DASH?!" Pinkie put her hoof to her mouth and muttered, "Oopsie!" The pony ran behind the tree and disappeared, leaving a stunned Twilight behind. A couple strands of her hair popped out. However, she did not once raise her voice, which was the most terrible. "Dash, next loop we spend together, you're getting a lecture you can't sleep through or ignore." [Elsewhere in the Multiverse] A certain blue skinned Turian paused and shivered all over. Shepard noticed this and asked, "Trouble, Darrus?" The turian looked at Shepard with an annoyed glance, "I told you to call me Dash. And I think someone just placed a curse on me..." 139.7 (RowanEx) Twilight opened her eyes, then, looked at the ground. More like, a huge flat solid brick. Sleipnir told her about a new Safe-Mode loop, and Twilight rolled her eyes after realizing that THIS was that loop. She didn't notice Pinkie Pie creating a big cake, and after realizing what she made, Twilight's eyes shrank to pinpricks and her jaw slacked open. "Pinkie, how did you do that?!" Twilight asked. "It's simple!" Pinkie gave Twilight a stamp-shaped object which she picked up, "Use the Stamp Tool! Build everything! It's free!" That last sentence ringed a bit from a hub loop she had before. Twilight looked at the Stamp Tool, Pinkie's big cake, and the flat brick. Then, it was clear. 'Roblox?' Twilight thought, 'I thought it... huh.' Twilight spawned a Roblox version of her house, in front of Pinkie's cake which she began to "eat" by poking it with her nose. This was going to be fun, until Rainbow Dash zoomed by, riding a poptart cat that left a trail of rainbows. She hoped that Pinkie wasn't the owner of the empty Place they're in. At least she let the Stamp Tool in, which means build all the time. And so, Twilight Sparkle, knowing the loop's abilities, built 500 libraries. "And the books aren't the same!" she declared. 139.8 (Detective Ethan Redfield) Twilight stood outside Golden Oaks Library, staring at a changeling resting in a box she had just opened. Said box was delivered for her birthday, which won't take place for the next six months. Her left eye was quirked at the bug. "You're not fooling anyone, changeling." The changeling spoke in a monotone voice, "Please refer to the instruction manual for further input." Rolling her eyes, Twilight removed the paper from the box and started reading. After a few minutes, she started laughing and cast a simple spell. Twilight's horn began to glow a golden hue for a lie detector spell as she said, "Enter registration mode." "Thank you for purchasing your changeling doll. We hope you have an amazing, magical experience with all the adventures the changeling doll will give you." The golden color surrounding her horn glowed red, Indicating that the changeling was lying. Twilight rolled her eyes again. The changeling continued. "In order to make sure your changeling doll isn't stolen or used by unwanted ponies, please insert a D.N.A sample into the changeling doll's mouth. It is recommended to use a strand of hair." Of course, Twilight was curious just how far this changeling was willing to take this farce, so she gave him a strand of hair. She was prompted to give him her name, to which said did so. "Twilight Sparkle, please pick an objective for me. What am I intended for?" Twilight thought for a second, when an evil idea came along, "Research subject." To the changeling's credit, he seemed to adapt quickly, "Error. Purpose not recognized. Please enter valid use for changeling doll. Options include bodyguard, friend, lover, child, parent, servant and slave." Twilight rolled her eyes again, feeling she would be doing this a lot this loop, "How about statue." The changeling replied. "Optional mode accepted. Changeling will now enter statue mode. To exit statue mode, you may say, 'enter reprogramming mode,' and change the purpose as you see fit. In order to choose an appropriate statue appearance, please connect your horn to your changeling doll's horn." This was getting too interesting to stop, so she shielded every part of her mind until the only image accessible was of a stone statue of a royal guardsman. To be extra safe, she removed the image of the spear from her mind, giving him only a set of armor. With that, the changeling took on the requested appearance and stood completely at attention. Twilight smirked as she pulled out several saddlebags and started loading them with bricks, then placing them on the 'statue.' With that finished, Twilight called for Spike. "I need you to bring the others who are awake here. I will stay here and watch our friend." How long have I stood here, unmoving...unending pain of my back and being forced to stand wide awake, The changeling pondered, even now not moving for fear of being discovered. It was Rainbow Dash's turn to watch over him. Every second of every day, he was watched by at least one pony if not more, all of them element bearers. Every time she said an error, Twilight was called in and cast a healing spell, whether it was his feet or back. However his consciousness was even now waning from being awake for so long. He never wrote in an error code for the optional statue mode. He shouldn't have latched onto that opportunity to infiltrate. But what was he supposed to do? Twilight thought about dissecting him. He figured a statue couldn't be any worse. Boy was he wrong. His mental facilities were spent, he was unable to even announce a simple "Error Code," as he wobbled a bit. His eyes were drooping under his facade as the wobbling got worse. Is that the ground rising to meet me, he pondered. The changeling slammed face first into the floor, the saddlebags crashing down and denting the wood beneath. Immediately, the changeling reverted to its original form. Rainbow sipped another Mountain Dew and checked her watch, "Buck, that's some dedication to your act. Two weeks and five hours, much longer than I figured possible. You got my respect, little guy." She pulled off the brick filled saddlebags and picked up the changeling, making for the door and Ponyville Hospital. 139.9 (Detective Ethan Redfield) What if the Wibbly Lever was the Wrong Lever? It was not one of the doctor's best days. First, Rory drops the thermal coupling causing the Tardis to crash land inside herself resulting in a space loop. Then when things can't possibly get worse, a second Amy Pond steps through the door of the Tardis, declaring things just got more complicated, and starts flirting with Amy 1. Now, he was trapped in a space AND time loop. With the departure of Amy 1 into the police box, Pond Couple 2 exited the Tardis doors. Resisting the urge to rub his forehead, he shouted at the flirting Ponds, "Stop...that...you two into the police box NOW!" With their departure, he prevented any further Ponds from entering his craft by ordering them to stay still, "I'm setting up a controlled temporal implosion, it's the only way to reset the Tardis-but unless I find exactly the right lever to control the implosion...we're all gonna die!" The Ponds winced, Amy deciding to speak, "You don't know...which lever..." The doctor's concern started fading as he almost rubbed his hands together, "No...but I'm about the find out." The Tardis door flew open with a flourish, a triumphant doctor shouting, "The Wibbly Lever!" The doctor raced to the console, "The...Wibbly Lever, thank you!" Lifting the oddly designed lever up and slamming it down, the device made several beeps reminiscent of a classic arcade game. His task finished, he raced across the control room and into the TARDIS doors. The light from the TARDIS Exterior Shell started flashing white, a grinding noise resounding through the room. And then the tardis started shaking violently, the cloister bell ringing. The doctor ran to the levers, a panicked expression on his face, "Oh dear!" The TARDIS central console glowed brilliant yellow for a second, then erupted into an ever expanding fireball which consumed everything. The doctor's eyes opened as he jerked backwards, "What?!" His head turned from side to side, his eyes scanned the immediate area, confusion evident on his face. Apparently, he was in an apple orchard, in a strangely vibrant world where everything was slightly off like he was in a cartoons. His mind immediately asked where was his TARDIS? If the TARDIS did explode like he remembered, why wasn't he dead? If it had all been a dream, where was he? His hand withdrew his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the area...only for his eyes to finally land on the screwdriver in hand. It was the one he held from his 10th incarnation that had been destroyed in an earlier adventure. Still, it was programmed with the function to locate his TARDIS so he switched to the appropriate setting. A second later, he asked again, "What?!" His screwdriver could not find the TARDIS anywhere on this world. A second after that, the screwdriver didn't even recognize the world he was on. His mind started racing, thinking up reasons for why he couldn't recognized neither the time period nor the world he was on. His musings were halted a few minutes later when a small voice spoke from deeper in the orchard with a southern accent, "Yer not from these parts, ain't ya stranger?" His head turned and mouth dropped, "What..." Standing in front of him was an orange coated small horse, pony he recalled from his knowledge of earth animal life, with three apples on her flank, "No, sorry, I'm the doctor." The pony tilted her head, "Doctor? Where ya from, stranger?" The doctor shrugged, "Oh...here and there, well, I travel a lot." He blinked for a second...something was wrong. He wasn't speaking like he usually did...almost as if... His hand dipped in his pocket and pulled out an oversized mirror, which confirmed his suspicions, "What?!" Staring back at him in the reflection was the image of the 10th doctor. He was the 10th doctor, his predecessor. Maybe he absorbed some of the Time Vortex, causing his body to regress to an older regeneration, well whatever. His mouth curled into a grin regardless, "Oh...brilliant!" The pony looked at him quizzically, "Are ya alright, Doc? And how'd ya pull that mirror out a' yer pocket?" The doctor looked up, surprised, "Oh, yes, sorry, just got a pocket that's bigger on the inside. What's you're name, miss?" She tilted her hat up, "Name's Applejack." Applebloom sighed as she slammed her head on the desk, throwing away another failed version of the sonic screwdriver. She couldn't even get the screwdriver function to work on it, and her special talent usually involved building machines. With a sigh, she withdrew several new parts and started working on it again. She hardly noticed the door open and Applejack greeting everyone. She muttered a greeting before being absorbed in her work again. It was several minutes later that someone spoke to her, not that she noticed, "Oh, I see you're working on a screwdriver." Applebloom nodded, "Yeah." The stranger continued, "Seems like your frequencies are all wrong. Have to tune things just right, or all you get is a vibrator. Though, your model doesn't seem to have certain crystals that would make it work." Applebloom muttered in frustration, "Ah can't get them items, they're from a read only universe! And apparently Ah'm tone deaf, else Ah would have this figured out already!" "Oh...sorry." A few minutes passed in silence before he spoke again, "You know, you could try for a laser screwdriver instead." "If Ah wanted a weapon, sure," the looper muttered in a surly tone. "Well, laser can be applied non-lethally. One of my companions used one as a power source to pull me out of a riptide in time." Applebloom blinked, her attention and curiosity picked. She turned to the voice, only for her mouth to drop completely. The doctor waved, "Hello! I'm the doctor!" The filly's eyes widened a great deal before she rose from her seat and raced out of the house, screaming "TWILIGHT!" The doctor watched, slightly confused. Applejack shouted out the door. "'Bloom, get back here! 'BLOOM!" The pony sighed. "Sorry about that, Doc. Ah'll see to her. Ya'll should head to the cellar. Ah heard he's startin' a new hobby as a bartender." The doctor took her up on that and made her way to the cellar, only to see a red massive pony standing behind a bar. His eyes widened a bit for a second, then returned to his passive expression. The doctor waved a bit. "Hello, I'm the doctor." The red stallion nodded. "Big Macintosh. What'll ya have?" The doctor thought for a second. "Lime Soda." 139.10 (Evilhumour) Luna blinked as she Woke up while flying. Over mud. And then in mud. Groaning as she went fairly deep within the mud, she shook her head as her loop memories beg- "LULU!" Tia's voice caused her to snapped her head around as a galloping white mare came right up to her-oh Tree, not this again! Before Luna had any chance to respond, her 'sister' picked her up in her magic and held her up in the air. Blushing, Luna tried to escape but she was just a filly this loop against the adult white mare holding her in golden aura. "I know you are eager to try flying, and using your magic, but you mustn't scare me like that! Jumping out of the window?" Tia tsked as she carried Luna beside her, still covered in mud. "Didn't Miss Rainbow Dash teach you better then that?" "Well, she did say going fast was good..." "No Luna, I know she didn't," Tia leaned over and sniffed. "Goodness, my little Lulu, somepony needs a bath." Smiling, Tia tapped Luna's nose, teleporting them into Luna's bedroom. It was filled with stuff toys, castles, dollies, knights, a couple of play swords and a seemingly sleeping possum called Tiberius on her pillow. "Do you want to take a bath with mommy again?" Luna's ears folded against her head, blushing as she nodded her head. As humiliating and awkward these loops were for Celestia and herself, Luna greatly enjoyed the times she could be a filly again with an actual mom this time. With a hum and silly song, the Queen Celestia of Equestria and Princess Luna had a very fun, very bubbly bath together. 139.11 (Kris Overstreet) Ryu had learned, long ago, the bartender's sixth sense of when to ask questions and when to stay the hell out of a customer's affairs. So, when a slim woman apparently just out of her teens, with purple skin and pony ears and tail, sat next to a giant of a man who looked like his hair had never been cut, combed, brushed, or possibly even washed since the day he was born, and each matched the other shot for shot, Ryu just served the drinks and turned his attention to less potentially disruptive customers, like the evil god with the flaming eyebrows holding a heated discussion over the nature of inverse morality with the Monarch. "... and that's when I threw myself into the volcano," Twilight Sparkle said. "For which I spent a Loop in Hyrule's CDi-variant, and after that here." She slammed back the remainder of her drink, banged the bar with her fist for more, and said, "So what's your excuse?" "You remember that Loop you crashed with your fleet of Elements of Harmony cannons?" Leman Russ quaffed his tankard and slammed it down. A refill appeared next to it almost immediately. "Well, something like that happened again, except I was the only one Awake. My father and the Chaos Gods were all at their absolute worst. And one of Father's most intolerant Inquisitors decided to invade planet Equus. Twice. And failed catastrophically both times." "Well, good," Twilight nodded. "I'm not done," Leman warned. "You and Celestia and pretty much every pony on the planet decided that their world would never be safe until all the warring races of the galaxy were converted into ponies. And the Elements of Harmony could do that in that Loop." "WHAT?" Twilight knocked over her fresh drink. "We never did any of that! In our Loop we just used the Elements to purge the corruption of the Void and its accompanying hatred! Humans stayed human! Eldar stayed eldar! And orks... well... that was a bad idea all around," she admitted, picking up the fresh drink which had replaced her spilled one while she talked. "I know," Leman nodded. "I was there. But this time the Elements had more than a turn-to-stone or exile-to-moon setting. They had a bam-you're-a-pony-now setting. And nothing could block it- shields, armor, whole planets, nothing at all." "That sounds terrible," Twilight said. "How did you stop them?" "Stop them?" Leman asked. "Whose side did you think I was on?" Twilight's jaw dropped as Leman chugged down his drink. "To be fair," he added as he set the tankard down again, "I ended up flipping a coin to decide. The Imperium was really that bad, that Loop." 139.12: (Evilhumour, with little add-on by Detective Ethan Redfield) There was a chorus of snickering, causing the colt's ear to twitch. "Brothers, we can be mature about this," The colt said with a strained voice, looking upwards at three ponies around him. One was a red unicorn with a strange sun circle for a cutie mark, one was a green earth pony with a dragon's head as a cutie mark with the last pony, a bat-pony, with a skull withered wings coming of the sides for his cutie mark. They were at that odd stage between colt and stallion, gangly and awkward with their new long legs but still at that age where they loved to tease those closely related to them and younger than they were. "Isn't that what you're always complaining about Maroon?" "Maroon!" The red unicorn shouted, falling onto his back while laughing his head off. The green earth pony and the bat-pony snickering were getting louder. "Oh by Father, this is too rich!" He continued to laugh. "What's your name, wittle brother? Fierce Fang? Mighty Bark?" The red unicorn managed to get on his hooves, still chuckling. "Well," the colt blushed, rubbing the back of his head and looking around Ponyville. "GAAAAAAAASP!" All four of them snapped their heads towards to the pink pony. "Your brothers are here Lemon Rush?! Oh I have to plan for so many parties!" With that Pinkie Pie vanished in with a squee. All three heads of the teenage stallions turned slowly to the blushing and frowning pegasus colt. "Don't you dare laugh, any of you!" "Awww," Big Maroon cooed, mockingly rubbing his brother's mane. "Is our wittle bwother cranky?" He laughed again, ignoring Lemon slapping the hoof away. "What do you say, Vul-I mean Forging Fire and Corn Curse?" "Maroon, I'm warning you, I am this close to bucking you in the face!" Lemon snapped, shoving his face into the unicorn's, with the earth pony sharing a concerned look with the threstal. They were no longer laughing, but looked around nervously. "BUCK!" Maroon laughed again, before using his hooves to pinch Lemon's cheek. "Oh this far too fu-GAH!" He shouted as he was suddenly kicked in the chest, sailing through the air and into a building. "I TOLD YOU TO STOP YOU DORK!" Lemon shouted, flying into the building with Forging and Corn leaping towards to the building to stop their brothers from fighting in the odd tree building. Ducking as books flew through the sky as their two brothers wrestled around the library floor, both of the other Primarchs tried to pull their brothers apart when a loud voice roared: "WHAT THE BIRTCHING SAP ARE YOU DOING TO MY LIBRARY?!" All fours head snapped towards the furious purple pony standing on top of the staircase, magic flowing from her body. This caused Forging Fire to drop Lemon back onto Big Maroon's chest with Corn Curse trying to get his hooves out from his brother's armpits. "Lemon, are these your brothers?!" "Um....yes." Lemon squeaked, hunching down on Maroon's chest in fear. "Look Twilight, I'm really sorry, it's our first time all together here in Equestria and please don't send us to Lunar time out!" "Lunar time out?!" Twilight laughed a bit crazy, her magic reaching out for the four of them. Before any of them could react, she grabbed each of their ears and began to tug as she stormed her way out. "Oh no, I doing something far worse for you lot!" Fluttershy was awoken by loud banging on her front door. Flying down as quickly as she could, she opened the door to see her friend and Anchor furious. "Oh dear, what's wron-" "Your boys," She snapped, her horn's glow twitching and four sharp yelps of pain were heard. "Destroyed part of my library!" All of a sudden, three stallions and a colt were thrown into her cottage. "Deal with them!" She snapped before teleporting away. "But.... I only raised Lemon." Looking down she saw the four of them look embarrassed by the whole situation, with Lemon trying to hid behind the green earth pony. "Lemon, who did you fight with?" She asked sharply, using the Stare on her son. Meekly, he pointed a hoof at the red unicorn who was grumbling at the whole situation before turning to face her. Maroon, or Magnus, had face a lot of strange and odd things in the loops that only strengthened his resolve and will power. Looking into those eyes, however, made him feel incredibly small and naughty, with the humble words of an apology was muttered from his mouth to her. "Good," Fluttershy smiled, "Magnus, Vulkan and Konrad?" She asked the three of them, with them nodding in response. "Big Maroon, Forging Fire and Corn Curse." The green earth pony answered with a weary smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you ma'am." "Thank you," Fluttershy smiled. "I'm glad we could finally meet." "Indeed," Forging Fire smiled, pulling a series of books out of his Subspace pocket. "I've been waiting to give you this." "Oh?" Fluttershy asked, taking the books, looking at the title. "'The Stupid Things Leman Russ Did Whilst Unsupervised, Vol. 1'." "You actually wrote it!?" Lemon squeaked in surprise, with Maroon snickering before being cut quiet by Fluttershy's glare. "Oh Lemon, I'm sure it can't be tha-" Fluttershy stopped herself as she began to read. "FTL?" Flipping a page, one of her eyebrows arched upwards. "Stuffed animals?" With another page, the other eyebrow joined the first one. "Leman Russ, we are going to have a long talk afterwards." "Awwwww." Lemon pouted, glaring at his snickering brothers again, knowing it would be a mortifying loop to deal with. The door to the small cottage slammed open, causing Fluttershy, Forging Fire and Corn Curse to jump up from the sofa, with their tea cups rattling after jostling the table. Big Maroon looked furious, before wilting under Fluttershy's glare as he used his magic to close the door quietly. "Where is my little brother?!" He snapped, twigs and leaves falling from his body, still covered from head to hoof in tree sap. "What happened Maroon?" Forging Fire asked, biting back a smirk. "Our brother," Maroon's ear twitched in anger. "Introduce me to his girlfriend." At this, both of Forging Fire and Corn Curse ears perked up at the mention of their Anchor's famous girlfriend. "She's the daughter of this loops Anchor, that Miss Twilight Sparkle," He switched his tone as Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him, reminding him the terror that was the Stare. "She was a perfect lady, or so I thought." He grumbled loudly as he paced across the hallway, itching to shake his body but the yellow pegasus would not like it and he did not want to make her angry. Ever. "She wanted to show me around with her friends, to introduce me to some interesting concepts that she wished to test without Lemon." He pawed the ground, his horn glowing for a brief moment before going out. "These little girls took me to the top of a hill, and wished to see if a person who joined one of their crusades would incur the same results they do." "They took you on a Cutie Mark Crusade?" Fluttershy asked, holding back her laughter perfectly. Forging Fire and Corn Curse, on the other hoof, were not doing so well, being loud in their laughter. "Yes." "And by that, they pushed you down a hill in a wagon to see if you would get covered in tree sap-" She turned her head to her other ...sons. She was warming up to the idea of calling them hers like she had done for Leman Russ so long ago. "No matter what the girls do for their crusades, they always get covered in tree sap." "BUT THERE WERE NO TREES!" Sitting on a cloud above the cottage, the two foals were joined in the laughter by the other stallions inside the small house. Lemon turned his head to face Nyx, tears running down her face. "You were right," leaning over, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for dealing with him." "Like there was any doubt." Nyx fluffed her chest out, snickering loudly. "Only I get to decide who torments my favourite stallion!" Lemon was giggling loudly before managing to stop himself. "My hero!" He swooned himself into her arms before she let him go onto the cloud, both of them giggling like loons and happy as could be. A voice shouted from below the cloud, "I thought I was your favorite stallion!" Nyx looked down to see Shining Armor, resting comfortably against the side of the cottage. Nyx blew a raspberry at her uncle. Shining chuckled and shouted, "I heard that!" Rolling her eyes, Nyx looked back to Lemon and muttered, "Barking chaperones." 139.13 (Detective Ethan Redfield) Twilight rested her chin against the countertop of Donut Joe's restaurant. Nothing she did helped. She had taken a dozen loops worth of lessons trying to eliminate one of her major weaknesses: Dancing. She couldn't dance to save her life. Literally, when asked to out dance cockroach on a DDR machine, the cockroach had won. It was a second later that another pony, male, sat next to her. Her eyes turned to the pony, and she recognized him immediately from the N7 emblazoned on his flank. "Why didn't you ping us when the loop began, Shepard?" The pony held up a hoof for a glass of tea. "Wasn't awake at the time. Woke up about a month ago and went on an intensive training trip. Only came back a couple days ago. What's got you down this time, Twilight?" "Can't dance." The stallion chuckled as he held the glass up in his hoof and gulped it down. "Neither can I. Doesn't stop me from having fun on the floor." He set the glass down and turned to face her. Twilight scoffed. "At least you can probably out dance a cockroach." Shepard had the glass up to his lip at that, and he gagged on the drink, spraying it out in a burst of laughter and coughing, "You...danced against Dr. Cockroach and you're upset? He...*cough*...got his PHD in dance!" Twilight's eyes widened, "Wait...what?" Shepard pulled out a PADD of his own and showed her a wikipedia entry on Monsters vs. Aliens. Twilight rubbed her horn and moaned. Shepard patted her on the back, "His universe has only recently started looping, probably why you never heard of him." A minute of silence passed, then Shepard asked, "What are your plans for the Gala this loop?" Twilight sighed, "Not going. The others are putting together a dance party and I don't want to give them more blackmail material." Shepard thought for a second, then his mouth formed a smirk. "Want to turn their party on their heads?" Celestia, the only other pony besides the elements that was awake, stood a short distance from the specially designed dance floor. Her usual spot was occupied by an illusion of Celestia that would greet all well wishers and nobles without them any the wiser. She herself was under a notice-her-not charm as well as a compulsion charm to avoid her area. She was resting on a bench, waiting for Applejack and the others to begin their dance off. Dash and Pinkie stepped onto the floor first, strutting their stuff. Dash seemed more into the robot and electric slide. Pinkie initiated a very impressive break dance. Applejack took to line dancing while Rarity performed the tango solo. Fluttershy danced a slower waltz. A crowd had gathered around the dancing mares, all wondering what the buck they were doing. Suddenly, a disco ball dropped from the ceiling as every spotlight on the floor came to rest on the orb. This threw off all the others as the floor started lighting up. A snappy beat started up, Shake it, Shake it. Celestia blinked as a familiar tan coated stallion stepped onto the floor dressed in a white jacket and blue ascot. The stallion gripped his collar and allowed the beat to take him. A familiar purple unicorn stepped out of the crown as well, wearing a green shoulder-less dress that went down to her ankles. The music still played in the background (Shake it, shake it) as the five elements and Celestia's jaw dropped in unison. The unicorn held up her front hoof and beckoned the stallion forth. Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah. Show 'em how they do it now. Dash asked Pinkie, "What's going on? Is that Twilight? I thought she was staying at home?" Pinkie held up a video camera as she muttered, "Thought I felt a doozie coming." The stallion and mare stepped forward towards one another, in unison bobbing their head at each other. Once they were a foot from each other, their disco began, as they proved themselves quite good at it. Dash leaned in to Pinkie and asked, "Was Twilight replaced by a changeling or something? She's doing really well here." A couple other ponies stepped around them and joined in. Dash finally managed to get a glimpse at the stallion's cutie mark and her jaw dropped again, "That's Shepard! Ok, those two have to have been replaced by changelings." Applejack gave Dash a quirked expression, "Dash, ya think anythin' baseline could kidnap those two and replace em'?" Dash opened her mouth, then thought better of it. "No." By the end of the song, the entirety of the nobility had joined in on the strange dance. Twilight and Shepard managed to extract themselves from the dance floor without the other elements catching up. After exiting the building, Twilight teleported the two of them back to her library. Once they arrived, the two burst out laughing, Twilight asking, "Did you get their reaction on camera?" Shepard rubbed a tear away, "Sure did, and the expressions of everyone else, including your mentor." Another moment passed as Twilight asked, "How long do you think it'll take them to figure out we artificially induced a heartsong?" Shepard shrugged, "Give them a couple days. Still, that was fun." 139.12 continued: (Evilhumour) Twilight paced back and forth with Forging Fire, Big Maroon and Corn Curse watching her with fear. Fluttershy was sitting in the middle of them, watching her friend and preparing some tea as Twilight tried to deal with what happened when they all Woke up. Luna was also pouting in the corner of the room, grumbling about how her daughter/sister stole her/their moon to go on a thousand year date with her boyfriend. Twilight was ok with the thought of her daughter dating, knowing that their two kids were more than capable to defend themselves and her Nyxie was beyond capable to defend herself if Lemon tried anything. This wasn't the first time the two of them have gone off for an adventure, but it was the first time the two of them did so as alicorn teens. Even though they were both ageless, all of them were ageless but Nyx was still too young to go on a date with a teenage boy and she was growing up too fast and she knew what teenage boys were interested and she knew how sav- Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, causing Twilight to jump. Teleporting over and opening the door, she saw an armoured unicorn stallion glaring at her, his horn glowing as he held up two red face ponies. "Ma'am, we found these two on a moon reported stolen over a thousand years ago." He moved a dark coated mare, her long purple mane hiding half of her grinning, blushing face. "After making them pull over, discovering the stolen property and finally producing evidence, we do believe she lives here; is this correct?" "Yes, this is my daughter." Twilight said calmly, eying the mare that was holding the yellow coated stallion's hoof, both of them in mid snickering. Said mare noticed the glare the purple unicorn was giving her and meeped softly, hiding behind her mane like the stallion next to her mother once did. "Sorry ma-" "Later Nightmare Moon Sparkle." She said equally calm, causing her daughter to squeak and the stallion next to her to gulp loudly. The stallion holding them coughed, causing Twilight to throw her calm glare at him. With nary a flinch, the stallion looked into the room and eyed Fluttershy. "Ma'm, are you the mother of this stallion he-" "Yes, he is one of my boys and I do hope he did not do anything wrong." Fluttershy blinked, looking at the table before glancing at the trembling, pale alicorn stallion. "I trust there is a record of events?" "Yes ma'am," He said, pulling out a pamphlet to both mothers. "This is when they are due to appear in court, the cost of the damages, the fine of driving a moon without a permit and several other details." Placing the two alicorns down inside the library, he nodded his head. "I do need to find one miss Princess Luna; we need to know what to do with the remains of the moon." "I am she and what did they do my moon?" Luna asked with a bit of fear and a bit of steel in her voice. "This was ma'am, and I do apologize as what you see may be a bit uncomfortable." He lead Luna out of the library, closing the door. Twilight eyed her blushing, teenage daughter cuddling up against the tall, rugged stallion, his wing holding her close. Grinding her teeth and pulling her wings in tight to her side, she took a step forwards to give a brand new lecture that she just invented that would last at least two loops when Luna suddenly cried loud enough to cause several glass planes to shatter, with the others gaining spiderweb cracks. Twilight blinked, turning her head to see a weeping Luna latching onto the armoured stallion before turning back to look at the two teenagers, only to find the door open and a note where they just sitting. Picking up the note, she started to read it out loud. 'Sorry momma, but we were only halfway done with our date! Don't worry, we'll be back in time for our court day and tell Auntie Luna we're really sorry! Love, Nyx & Lemon' Twilight blacked out after reading that, later learning from Fluttershy that she blew up the Golden Oaks in a fit of rage. Oh she would need a special lecture for these two! 139.14: (Detective Ethan Redfield) A vacationing police officer and his niece sat on a plane. The plane was destined for Austin, Texas. However, these two weren't ordinary vacationers. The younger one was giving funny looks at her uncle, "Uncle, stop being so coy and tell me why you kidnapped me-" Shining looked affronted, "I have not kidnapped you." Nyx gave him a flat stare with her eyebrow quirked, "So what do you call coming into mommy and my house at two in the morning, hold your finger to your mouth in an attempt to shoosh me, then picked me up and a pre-prepared suitcase, and then finally walked out the door?" Shining looked sheepish, "I left a message on the kitchen table explaining everything. Besides, we haven't spent uncle/niece bonding time in...a three million loops or so." Nyx's expression somehow turned more skeptical, "And you think mommy will react like a normal human when she finds me gone from my bed tomorrow? She probably won't even look at the table." Several rapid fire pings washed over them in rapid succession, causing Shining to flinch. Nyx chuckled, "She's probably torn the entire neighborhood apart looking for me. You're so dead when she finds out." The house hovered mid air, broken down into its individual pieces down to the bare nails. Twilight was frantic, stepping between the pieces looking for any sign of Nyx. Could this loop not be a hub loop? Had a supervillain kidnapped Nyx? These and many more thoughts flew through Twilight's head as she grew more and more panicked. Why hadn't Nyx Pinged by now? Sure, she can handle herself, but what if it were Dio, or Kyubey, or some other villain looper they haven't met yet appears? Suddenly, her cell phone started ringing. Shining gulped as Twilight picked up, "Twiley? Yes, I'm awake. I know Nyx is missing. Look, I have her with me now." Dead silence reigned for a second. Sweat started dripping down the officer's head, "I just wanted to have some uncle/niece bonding time-" He held the phone away as the phone somehow managed to convey the Royal Canterlot Voice, "AND YOU DIDN'T THINK IT A GOOD IDEA TO TELL ME BEFORE PULLING THIS STUNT! WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK TO TAKE HER WITH YOU?!" With a wandless muffliato, he weathered the diatribe of words, "There was a note on the kitchen table. It should still be there. It even outlines the places I'm going, alright?" Twilight's voice cut off for a second as, presumably, the note floated over to the anchor. After a full minute passed, she growled out the rest, "I expect her back in a month. Aspen Birch Bark help you if she isn't back by midnight on the 28th day. And if she doesn't say this was the best hub world adventure she's ever had, I won't be held responsible for my actions. Now put Nyx on." Shining passed his niece the phone. Twilight said, "Nyxie, let me know if Shining causes you any trouble. And do have fun!" Nyx replied in an enthused tone, "Will do mommy! Love you!" Twilight said the same, then the line cut off. Nyx handed back the phone to Shining and asked, "So, what's in Austin anyway?" Shining shook his head. "That's not our final destination. We're catching a connecting flight to New Braunfels, Texas." Nyx quirked her eyes again, "And there?" Shining chuckled. "That's a surprise." After arriving in New Braunfels and a short trip through the town, they arrived at their destination, a massive water park named Schlitterbahn. Nyx muttered, "This is definitely new." Shining chuckled, "Never been to a water park before?" "I've been to garden worlds in Warhammer, Aquilaris during its time as a resort world in Star Wars, ridden the space Titanic in the Whoverse among many others, but no, I haven't. Now I'm curious how it will stack up." Shining ruffled Nyx's hair. "You can't compare one universe's adventures to another, otherwise you'll just long for times that have passed an won't come again for billions of loops. Let's have some fun." Nyx could get behind that. As the day progressed, Nyx couldn't help but admit she was having fun. There were dozens of rides to partake in, plenty of tasty food to eat, and excellent company to enjoy. Even though she had been through life and death situations, her heart still went to her throat as she slid down the 168 foot water slide. She played a pirate as she defended Han's Hideout from the one man army of Shining Armor. Her mind imagined herself flying like her Alicorn self as she was launched into the air in the Skycoaster. As the day wound down and Shining took her to the hotel, Nyx wondered what would be next? Twilight did say Shining would have her for a month, so where else would the two travel? 139.15: (Kris Overstreet) "So, what did you call me over for?" Skuld asked. "You know how that tree library almost always gets blown up in the Equestria Loop?" Sleipnir asked. "I've been going over the logs, and that library was getting destroyed at above-average frequency even before the Tirek expansion began." "Your point?" Skuld said pointedly. "I ask because there are a dozen acts of divine idiocy happening right now, and I need to administer the mighty hammer of debugging." She gently rapped Sleipnir's desk with said hammer. It went squeak. "Maybe Yggdrasil's trying to tell us something." Skuld blinked. "Continue." "Library. Tree containing lots of knowledge. Gets horribly damaged." The horse spread its four forehooves to indicate the whole of the Admin offices. "Yggdrasil. Tree containing all that is knowable. Gets horribly damaged." Lowering his hooves, he pointed one to his terminal and concluded, "Maybe if we study the various incidents that destroyed the library in Ponyville, we'll gain insight into the Event, and thus to a final workable repair that brings Yggdrasil back to full capacity." Skuld raised an eyebrow. "So, what you're saying is, Yggdrasil is trying to point on the dolly where the bad man touched it." Sleipnir looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Er... could you please pick a different metaphor?" "The bad, bad centaur man with horns," Skuld pressed on. "I'll just tell Tyr that we all need to be on the lookout for a malevolent centaur about fifty thousand parsecs tall? Or maybe larger? Be kind of hard to miss. And we'll have to question Chiron very closely, make sure he wasn't-" "All right, I get it," Sleipnir sighed, slumping over his terminal. "The theory needs work."