“Rarity, could you teach me cooking?” It was a Tuesday, having had to give all of the main 6 time to come to terms with the fact she was Looping. As Rarity turned, Sweetie could see the trepidation, and sighed, opening her Looping notes again. Specifically, the one where she made Coffee.
“Come on Rarity, I’m not going to make it blow up, even if it turns out bad.” Convincing Rarity would likely be the hardest, which was why she had chosen to do her first. Looking at it, Rarity sighed, and began levitating out pots and pans. Smiling, Sweetie realised what the answer was.
“Alright Sweetie Belle, just this once. We’ll be making pancakes.” Giving a small smile, Rarity noticed the slightest cringe come from Sweetie. Did she not like pancakes anymore? That was unusual. Shaking it off, she pulled out a piece of paper, beginning to write down the instructions.
“Alright, follow this recipe. I’ll be here to help guide you.” Smiling, Rarity forced herself to stand back and let Sweetie try. As her sister followed it, Rarity was surprised by the ease at which she did it. Once more, the nagging feeling passed through her. Shaking it off, she nodded when Sweetie looked over for confirmation.
“Alright, now the batter’s made, I...set the stove to medium, put a pan on top, and measure out-” Repeating the recipe to herself as she did the actions with her magic, Sweetie was entirely focused on her actions. She needed to get this right, she had to prove to herself she could do this.
“Alright, done.” Taking the pancake out of the pan, she placed it on a plate, and turned the heat down as she served it to Rarity. Looking at it, Rarity noticed how normal it looked, and risked a bite. Cringing, she swallowed it, and shuddered. Ears flopping down, Sweetie realised she had failed.
“It’s a bit lumpy, you didn’t stir the mixture enough to get the ingredients together. But it’s edible, which is a big step up.” Turning toward her sister, Rarity winced at the disappointment, and put a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder.
“Cheer up Sweetie, you can’t learn to cook in a day.” As Rarity spoke, Sweetie noticed a strange look in her eyes. Sure enough, Rarity glanced away, and pursed her lip.
“Say Sweetie Belle?” Turning, Rarity looked to Sweetie, who waited for the question. After a moment, she shook her head, faking a smile.
“Nevermind, it’s not important.” Before Sweetie could comment on it, she suggested she go to Applejack and see what Sweetie could learn to make there. As the front door closed, Sweetie frowned, eyes going serious for a moment. Pretending to walk away, she hid in a bush and waited. Sure enough, Rarity soon left, heading for Twilight’s.
‘Ten loops ago from their perspective, Twilight said the same thing.’ Suspicious, she trotted toward the river running through town, and levitated out some of the water. Finding a secure location, a back alleyway, she scooped out a shallow puddle with her magic, and placed the water in it. Concentrating, she cleared it slowly, and used a second spell to allow her to hear them.
‘I can do this for about five minutes. Good practice though.’ Steadying her breath, she tried to pace herself as the conversation began.
“I’m telling you Twilight, something is seriously wrong with Sweetie Belle, tell me you haven’t seen it.” Rarity was looking at Twilight, so Sweetie couldn’t see her expression, but Twilight’s was in full view. Looking away, Twilight’s ears flopped down, and she sighed.
“I know Rarity, she’s changed. I can see her trying to pretend she hasn’t, but it’s painfully obvious how untrue that is. But what do we do?” Twilight’s voice was strained as she looked to Rarity with desperation. Looking on, Sweetie couldn’t stop watching.
“Listen Twilight, I think I’ve figured out why. What if that isn’t Sweetie Belle?” Both Twilight and Sweetie were taken aback by Rarity, and unable to respond.
“Listen to me, what if this Loop thing is so she can get to know us better before she fully assumes Sweetie’s identity? Don’t you see, she’s trying to find weakness in the Elements of Harmony!” Rarity at this point was breathing so loud it was coming through the link. Twilight took a few moments to allow Rarity to calm down, and then spoke calmly.
“Nonsense, if that was the case there would be proof. Sweetie’s just a little emotionally unbalanced from the-” Cut off, Twilight didn’t forgot her annoyance.
“No! Twilight, this Sweetie can cook! The old Sweetie could never cook, even with a recipe!” Come on Rarity, just because she had burnt everything with a recipe one time doesn’t mean she couldn’t learn from her mistakes. Sweetie pursed her lip, feeling annoyed and uneasy. Twilight opened her mouth, but was once again cut off.
“Twilight, there’s a huge dragon egg in her room! We both know Sweetie would never be able to beat a dragon, let alone steal an egg.” Oh darn, Rarity was right. Sweetie inwardly swore. Why hadn’t she hid the egg?
‘Mainly because I wanted to make sure it didn’t move while I Looped somewhere else,’ she admitted. Shaking her head, strain reminding her of the conversation, she returned to her peeping.
“I’ll admit, that is strange, but didn’t you learn from Zecora not to draw conclusions? I am sure if we ask Sweetie she can clear up any-” Once again, Twilight was cut off.
“Queen Chrysalis,” was all Rarity said, and Twilight narrowed her eyes. Looking away, Twilight sighed, ears flinging back as she remembered how no one had believed her, even when she had been one of the few to really know Cadance.
“Alright, you’ve made your point. I’ll go get everyone together so we can apprehend her, and get this sorted out. I just hope you’re aware of what you’re going to be doing to her if this turns out to be wrong.” Looking Rarity straight in the eyes, Sweetie could see the pool ripple as Rarity flinched. Striking at the pool, she cancelled the spell and scowled.
‘So this is how it is. I can’t rely on them any more.’ Teleporting back to her room, Sweetie quietly packed her things. Looking to the dragon egg, she began to levitate it, struggling to keep a grip on it with her magic. Puffing, she began to carry it downstairs. Finally outside, she rested for a moment, looking toward Twilight’s castle.
‘Where do I go though? I can’t take this everywhere...I guess my best bet is asking the Dragons to hold onto it until I find a place.’ As she considered this, she was levitating food and water out of the pantry for the long trip. Taking the egg with her, she was expecting it to take most of next loop, as well as this one. Beginning to roll the egg toward the end of town, she wasn’t surprised when the Elements found her.
“Stop right there Sweetie Belle!” Twilight was at the front, a binding spell on her horn. Bringing the egg to a stop, she turned and faced them, not even bothering to hide her contempt as they looked to her with anger.
“Where are you going.” Twilight narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and the others prepared for a fight.
“To a place where I’m not bothered by ponies constantly second guessing me.” Sweetie did not bother telling them she had been listening in, Twilight would be able to guess.
“Sweetie, hand yourself in or we’ll be forced to fight you. There’s a simple test we can use to prove you are who you say you are, please stand down.” Twilight pleaded honestly with Sweetie, and she narrowed her eyes, looking to Applejack.
“Ah know ya are telling tha’ truth, but ah want ta’ be sure too hun.” Applejack looked away, and Sweetie turned to her sister. No love was in those eyes, only anger. So Rarity had already made up her mind. Sighing, Sweetie closed her eyes.
“I have nothing I need to prove to you.” Opening her eyes, her horn sparked to life, and she placed her saddlebags beside the egg. Shield forming around her, she approached them. Wings formed on her back, much to Twilight’s surprise. Lowing her horn, she took a battle stance, and concentrated.
Sweetie cast five missiles, watching them home in on all but Twilight. All were deflected by Twilight’s shield, even as lightning struck it with surprising force, sending her sliding back slightly. Concentrating, Sweetie made a blade out of ice, releasing the spell holding her height. Growing slightly, she was now only slightly shorter than them.
Charging forward, Sweetie sent her blade slicing through the shield, knocking Twilight back even as a stun spell impacted on Sweetie’s shield. Rainbow Dash dived forward as Fluttershy cowered, and Sweetie used the broad side of her sword to knock Dash out without too many problems. Rarity began picking up rocks and throwing them at her with top speed, Sweetie ignored it.
Charging forward, Sweetie and Twilight’s horns met, sparks flying as a powerful wave blasted Applejack and Pinkie Pie away. A ball of energy surrounded them, and they both exploded backwards, hovering in the air and glaring at the other. Raising their horns, raw magic met with Sweetie’s flame shield, and was easily deflected.
Forming spears of ice, Sweetie rained them down at Twilight as she dove high into the sky. Twirling around, she formed a flame shield once more, and dove down, forming a spike of fire. Both attacks met Twilight’s shield head on, and Sweetie was deflected, crashing into the ground. Back-flipping out of her crater, she looked up at Twilight, and changed gravity around herself, rocking upwards with great speed.
Reversing gravity once more, Sweetie fired lightning down at Twilight, who was rocketing upward at Sweetie. Once more, the shield deflected everything, and she was knocked away by the pachinko ball. Gritting her teeth, Sweetie felt her strength wane, and hovered for a moment. It was then that Twilight went on the offensive.
Raw magic being fired at Sweetie, she deflected it with her own shield, and wiped the sweat off her brow. As the magic met her shield, Sweetie began to see the main difference between her and Twilight, and a twinge of fear passed through her. The shield she was using took time and magic to cast, but the one Twilight used was just raw magic given shape. Sweetie knew she could never work magic like that, and she gulped as a crack formed in her shield.
As they flew higher and higher into the air, Sweetie focused all her energy on trying to keep the shield up. Twilight was unrelenting, even copying the attacks Sweetie had showed off. Sweating, Sweetie began to wish she had just done what they asked. Sure, it would have meant giving in to their demands, but this was nearing her limits.
‘And here I thought I was ready to take on a dragon, how naive.’ Flying higher and higher, Sweetie neared the cloud barrier, and for a small moment, she was distracted by memories. Twilight took the moment, shattering her shield and slamming her with the full force of a magic blast, gasping for breath.
As Sweetie began to fall, she tried to muster the magic for wings, as they had vanished the moment she’d lost. Falling as she was, she saw Twilight diving to catch her. Sweetie felt her horn spark, and sighed, giving a laugh as she closed her eyes. Twilight would get to her in time, and then she’d have to explain herself.
Suddenly, something large swooped down through the cloud layer, scooping her up with a large claw as it landed on the ground. Picking up the egg, the Dragon grabbed Sweetie’s saddlebags as an afterthought, and flared his wings. Taking off, They were above the cloud layer in an instant. Glancing down through the hole they had made, Sweetie saw Twilight, half frozen, before the cloud closed around the hole, sealing them from the surface.
Settling into a glide, the Dragon brought his hands together in front of him, and looked down upon the filly. Sweetie took one look at him, and broke into a smile.
“Thorak!”