//------------------------------// // MLP Loops 179 // Story: MLP Time Loops // by Saphroneth //------------------------------// 179.1 (Gym Quirk) "Twilight?" *Sigh* "Yes Rarity?" "Know do you why like Yoda are we speaking?" "The Tree I blame." A clearly annoyed Zecora trudged up and passed a note to the Anchor. Twilight gave the zebra a considering look and a sympathetic smile. "Of course. Cover for you we can. Your vacation please enjoy." Zecora nodded, concentrated for a moment and sprouted a horn and a pair of wings. She gave the unicorns a brief strained smile before vanishing in a flash of magic. "Where she was going did she say?" asked Rarity. "Discord's island. A break from speaking with others she needs." 179.2 (Vinylshadow) "Eureka!" Twilight jumped in surprise, her horn flaring instinctively to stabilize everything in her palace as the earth-shaking shout echoed through the quiet town of Ponyville. Her curiosity piqued, Twilight teleported outside and looked around for the source of the outburst. She spotted a grinning Photo Finish and cantered over to her. "What's up?" the Anchor asked. "I have finally figured out how to snout the boop!" Twilight blinked. "For years, we ponies have usually booped snouts, but after many years of research, I, Photo Finish, have found a way to do the opposite!" Twilight stared at the hoof held a few inches in front of her nose. "Now, gently press your nose to my hoof," Photo Finish commanded. Twilight's eyebrow did its best Applejack impression and attempted to secede from her forehead to hide in her mane. Seeing nothing too strange about the scene, she pressed her nose to Photo's hoof. Hint of lilac with a trace of imported soap, hoof filed three days ago and... Twilight's musings were interrupted by Photo removing her hoof from Twilight's nose. "You see, normally, it is the hoof that touches the snout first, but, if the snout touches the hoof first, then it's something different!" Photo Finish declared. "Thank you for your time. I go!" Twilight watched her vanish with bemusement and went back inside to pen a letter to Celestia. Dear Princess Celestia Today, I have learned how to properly snout a boop. Please tell me there's some ancient evil that's due to be released soon, because the ponies are starting to get weirder than usual, even by Ponyville standards. Yours truly, Princess Twilight Dear Princess Twilight Nothing's scheduled to be released/reborn/break out/summoned by innocent foals for another two weeks. Enjoy the weirdness! Surfing on the solar wind, Princess Celestia 179.3 (Vinylshadow) Mayor Mare rubbed her eyes with a hoof and sighed heavily. "Can anyone explain why we're getting swamped with paperwork that's based on an event happening several miles away?" Twilight, Sunset and Rarity looked up from their piles of paperwork, horns glowing and scratching out figures and graphs on the thousands of papers all over the walls, floor, ceiling and everything in between. "Because holding a week-long concert is no small feat and Vinyl and Trixie are determined to make it memorable," Sunset replied. "Um...excuse me, but...there's a small error on this page," Fluttershy replied from within an igloo of papers. A piece slid out and Rarity took it. Fluttershy wiggled out of the den of paper and pointed at the page. "That seven needs to be a three." Twilight glanced at the paper, then at the one she was working on, doing the math in her head. "... Colophosphermum," she swore, stomping a hoof. "Twilight! There's no need for such language. There are children present!" Pinkie chided from her fort of paper where she was holed up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "...We need to start over, don't we?" Rainbow Dash groaned, staring at the pile she had finished. "Seems that way," Rarity confirmed, leafing through the papers. "Since that effect snowballs and changes quite a few things down the line. At least we're only thirty pages past it." "Thirty-seven," Cheerilee corrected. "How badly do the Changelings want the concert?" Twilight asked. "They paid for everything in advance," Mayor Mare replied, pulling out a long list. "Food, entertainment, lodging, transportation; heck, even the instruments and construction of the stage." Twilight looked at the cost and whistled. "Alright everyone. Fifth time's the charm." Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Celestia and Luna stared at the mountain of paperwork that had been delivered and exchanged glances. "...Procrastinate until the last minute?" Celestia asked. "You read my mind," Luna said. "But that would be setting a bad example." Celestia stroked her chin. "...So we outsource to Ponyville?" "Sounds good to me," Luna said, writing up the delivery order. 179.4 (Keywii_Cookies55) Sweetie Belle and Vinyl Scratch witnessed the destruction before them with mixed looks. Rare for her, Vinyl wore a remorseful expression while Sweetie simply shook her head in defeat. "I gave you one rule." Sweetie deadpanned as she watched the 60' tall monstrosity rampage through Ponyville. "Just one." Vinyl shrank at the very rightly deserved scorn. "DO NOT ANIMATE SHEET MUSIC!" 179.5 (BIOS-Pherecydes) "Okay, Just... explain it to me again. One more time," Twilight asked tiredly, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders shifting embarrassed in front of her. -Iä! Iä! Smooze!- "Okay, see what happened was we were trying to get our Cutie Marks like normal, right ?" Scootaloo began. Applebloom nodded, and continued. "An' I was all 'We should try cooking.' It worked for Twist, an' I'm positive I'm at least as good a baker as she is. My apple pie won a secon' place ribbon last year at the fair." -The Flood with a Thousand Faces! Smooze fhtagn!- With an awkward look Sweetie Belle added her own contribution. "It's not like I meant to summon a slime monster thing. I was just trying to make some toast. It was an accident, I swear." Massaging her head gently, Twilight gave an understanding nod. "Alright. I'll take care of it. I think the poor Smooze is just as confused as you all are. Who knew there were so many secret cultists in Ponyville." The three Unawake fillies' faces lit up with relief. "That's Princess Twilight! You're the best!" Scootaloo cheered. -That is not dead which in caldera lie, and in strange aeons even mules may fly.- "Go on girls. I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia, and get this taken care of," Twilight said, shooing the girls out of her castle. "...Uh, Princess Twilight? Ya did know that Princess Celestia was leadin' the cultist ponies outside right?" Applebloom asked hesitantly. Twilight's brow twitched, and her mane frayed slightly. 'So that's why she wouldn't stop giggling after she Woke Up earlier.' "Right, of course she is. Princess Luna then. Don't worry you three, I'll deal with it." Watching the three fillies run off again, Twilight huffed. She and her mentor were going to be having a long talk later. Twilight would have made a much better Smooze Priestess! 179.6 (Anon e Mouse Jr.) Knock knock Fluttershy blinked Awake in confusion at the sound of knocking. Oh my… where am I? And what was I doing? Shaking her head, she took a closer look at her surroundings. Twilight's castle… I'm in Ponyville, visiting a friend. Oh good. Then, the Loop Memories hit, and a big smile came to her face. Mostly baseline Loop so far. Lemon's Anchoring, and I'm pretty sure he's the only one Awake… and it's Nightmare Night! She giggled. I can finally try out something special! Knowing Spike would come to answer the door shortly, she immediately began pulling a costume out of her Pocket. I am going to have so much fun this Loop, she thought to herself. "And then it got very, very quiet and suddenly they realized the balloons had never been inflated!" "AAAAAHHHHHH!" Pinkie Pie laughed as her friends shrieked in mock terror, then joined her in laughing. She loved this holiday! "Um, excuse me, everypony." Five costumed ponies looked up in surprise, and Twilight blinked. "Fluttershy? Is that… what are you wearing?" "Oh, just a little something." Fluttershy smiled softly as the others eyed her costume. It was a long red trenchcoat, a wide-brimmed red fedora and orange, wire-rimmed sunglasses. In short, she had dressed as Alucard. Minus the weapons, of course. "I'm surprised to see you out on Nightmare Night," Twilight told her. "Don't you normally hide under your bed until it's over?" "Normally. But I decided, just once, to give it a try." Fluttershy smiled shyly. "And I even found a couple of good scary stories to tell, if you don't mind." At this, Rainbow Dash grinned. "Oh, this I've gotta hear. What've you got?" Fluttershy settled in next to her. "Well… a long time ago, there was an old mare. And she lived all by herself in a small town. One day though, she got a mysterious letter. And it said just four words: I am the viper." Rarity shivered at this, and Fluttershy looked up at her friends. "The old mare thought it was just a joke, so she put the letter aside and went about her daily routine. Then, about an hour later, another letter showed up. Except this one was enchanted so it would speak the words written on the paper: I am the viper." Twilight's ears pricked up at this, and Fluttershy grinned. "She was a little scared now, but she still thought it was just a joke. Then, another hour passed, and there came a knock at her door." "Oh my…" Rarity murmured. "She went to the door… she opened it… and she saw a unicorn stallion, carrying a bucket. And he spoke to her in the same, creepy voice from the second letter." By now, all five of her fellow ponies were looking exceedingly nervous, so Fluttershy continued. "He said… "I am the viper. I've come to vash and vipe the vindows."" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" five ponies shrieked. Then, they paused, and burst out laughing. "I gotta tell you, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash finally said when she'd calmed down. "That was a good one. I never knew you had it in you." Fluttershy smiled. "Like somepony I know once said, you'll find I'm full of surprises." With that, she looked at them. "So, who's next?" "I am," Twilight said. And as Fluttershy settled in to listen to the next story, inwardly, she was chortling. I must remember to thank Princess Luna for giving me that one book of spooky stories she got. 179.7(Vinylshadow) "Twilight? You alright?" Twilight's eyes snapped open to meet the worried gaze of her number one assistant, who was gently dabbing her face with a damp towel. "What happened?" Twilight asked blearily. Spike shrugged. "I was upstairs writing when I heard and felt the entire castle shake. Came running to find you lying unconscious amid a sea of books." Twilight looked around, the memories coming back. "Oh, right." "What?" Twilight took a deep breath. "You know how the way magic works isn't always the same between Loops, right?" "Right..." "Well, I was still in the mindset of levitation magic making the items being levitated completely weightless, so I tried grabbing every book at once." Spike winced. "That wasn't the case?" Twilight grinned ruefully. "Strained my horn and the backlash must've knocked me out. Just goes to show it's usually a good idea to make sure you know how magic works in a loop before trying anything too complicated." "If you're still having trouble manipulating large quantities of objects simultaneously, you can always ask Rarity for tips," Spike said, placing a glass of water to Twilight's lips. She chuckled and sipped the liquid. "Believe me, I do and I'm still learning so much from her, even after all this time. She's an amazing mare. I can usually just brute force my magic to lift multiple objects, especially as an Alicorn, but I've never had her finesse..." Spike smiled. "You can do things she can't, and vice-versa. Makes having friends one of the best things anyone could ask for." "C'mere." "Why?" "Because I'm going to hug you and I can't move." Spike chuckled and gave his mother, sister and friend a warm hug. "Thank you, Spike, for everything." "Likewise, Twilight." 179.8 (Anon e Mouse Jr.) Dear Princess Celestia, Long story short, the Nightmare Moon situation has been… resolved in a suitable manner (she's currently sound asleep and cuddled up to me, in fact), and a day early too. Since that's been taken care of, some dear friends of mine and I have gone to deal with another big problem elsewhere in Equestria. I'll write again when we have more news. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle P.S.: Luna and Sunset are here with us too, and they send their love. Celestia blinked as she read Twilight's letter, which had just arrived via dragonfire. "Oh my." Then, looking up at the now bare moon, and back at the last line of the letter, she blinked back a tear of happiness. Two weeks later, Princess Celestia was waiting at the train station in Canterlot. The Friendship Express had just pulled in, and according to the letter she'd gotten the day before, Twilight and her companions would be on it. Finally, the door opened, and two unicorn ponies emerged. "So then she ate the whole cake, which was bigger than her entire body, in one bite!" one exclaimed. "Really?" the second unicorn asked with a laugh. "I'd pay bits to see that." "I'm sure we can arrange it for free at some point," the first told her, before looking up. "Princess Celestia! You're here!" "Yes," the white alicorn replied as she pulled her student in for a hug. "Oh Twilight… I missed you. And I'm so glad you're safe." "I know," Twilight told her as she hugged back, and finally pulled away. "I missed you too. And so did a few others. Come on out, everypony!" Grinning, one Changeling Queen emerged from the train car, a blue unicorn by her side. They were followed by an amber unicorn, a cream-colored unicorn with a familiar dragonling on her back, and two alicorns, one adult and one filly. "Princess Celestia, I'd like you to meet some of my closest friends," Twilight told her as she began pointing to each of them in turn. "Next to me is Starlight Glimmer, whom I've been teaching about the magic of friendship." "Um… your majesty," the nervous-looking and pinkish unicorn said as she bowed. "Trixie Lulamoon and her marefriend Queen Chrysalis." "Charmed," the Changeling Queen said dryly. "Long time no see, Celestia." "Eh-hem… it's an honor, Princess," Trixie added. "Twilight has told us so much about you." "Indeed," Celestia managed. "Miss Lulamoon, I am pleased to meet you. And Chrysalis… how long has it been?" "About a hundred years since you left me in that volcanic prison," Chrysalis retorted. "And one year since I managed to get out. I'm not bitter though. If I'd spent all that time free, I'd probably have never met my dear Trixie here." She looked at the shorter mare lovingly. "Right," Celestia managed, before turning and looking at Twilight questioningly. "Er, how well do you know these two?" Twilight sighed. "They'll be good, I promise." Behind Celestia, Trixie and Chrysalis glanced at one another and winked surreptitiously, then giggled. Rolling her own eyes at the pair's antics, Twilight continued. "I'm sure you know my classmate and dear friend Moondancer, and of course Spike." Moondancer bowed, while Spike waved from where he was sitting on her back. "Hi, Princess!" "Spike. It's good to see you're so well. And Moondancer, I was wondering where you'd gone. Headmistress Clover said you'd asked for a temporary leave of absence from your classes." Moondancer blushed. "Twilight asked me for help with a major project. It was a chance to spend more time with somepony important to me, how could I say no?" "I see." Celestia turned to the next unicorn, and froze. "You said she was there… but is that really…" Twilight nodded. "My sister in all but blood, Sunset Shimmer? Yes." "Hi, Princess," Sunset added. "Erm… long time no see, and I'm really sorry about how I just took off like I did." "I… you…" Celestia dove forward and pulled the younger mare into a hug. "Oh, Sunset!" Sunset smiled as she returned the embrace. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do." "You're back and safe, and that's what matters," Celestia told her. "The how part can wait until later." "And she's not the only one," Twilight added. "Right, Luna?" Celestia froze again as she saw another, familiar face. "Luna…" "It's been a thousand years, big sister," the smaller alicorn replied. "But I've finally come back to you, and I promise I'm here to stay." Celestia's vision blurred. "Sunset and Luna both… Twilight, you genius little miracle worker, come here!" And then there was a big group hug as Equestria's eldest alicorn pulled her sister and students into a tight embrace, crying tears of joy. Watching them, Starlight looked wide-eyed at Moondancer and Spike. "Is she always like this?" "Only when she meets long-lost family members," Spike replied. "Which Luna is, and Sunset's as good as." "I see." Starlight turned back to the hugging quartet, then down at the small black alicorn filly who'd stepped up beside her. "Wonder how she'll react when she meets you." Nyx shrugged. "As long as it doesn't involve physical or magical attacks, or calls for law enforcement, I'm good." Starlight decided she didn't want to know. Several minutes later, the hug finally broke apart as Celestia pulled back. "I don't know how you managed this, Twilight. But I am eternally grateful." Twilight blushed. "It was the least I could do. Oh, and you missed somepony." "Oh? Who?" "Hi, auntie!" Celestia blinked as she saw the filly sitting next to Twilight (in what she could have sworn was empty space just a moment ago) and waving. "Um… hello, little one. And you are?" Twilight grinned. "My adoptive daughter, Nyx. Luna's smaller, fuzzier half." Nyx giggled at that, while Luna rolled her eyes. But she was smiling when she did it. "Zah?" Celestia blinked again, and shook her head. "How…" "Dark magic and negative emotions are surprisingly easy to tame when you have a ritual circle that uses comfort food in the setup." Twilight shrugged. "I managed to split Nightmare Moon off from Luna and give her her own body. She took one look at me and started calling me "Mama". Things kind of evolved from there." (This was actually something she'd done in a past Loop. She was still amazed it had worked.) Celestia looked at the small filly again. "And you're sure she's harmless. Because if you ask me, those eyes look like they need to be registered as deadly weapons." "You mean these eyes?" Nyx opened them wider as she looked up at Celestia, and the older alicorn nearly went into sugar shock from the sight. "Nyx…" Twilight looked at her. "What did I tell you about doing that?" "Aww…" Nyx pouted. That was too much for Celestia, and she finally fainted from cuteness overload. Twilight sighed as she began levitating Celestia onto Luna's back. "Girls? I think we'd better get her back to the palace." "Shouldn't we be calling a doctor?" Starlight asked. "She'll be better soon," Twilight reassured her. "This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to her. Remind me to tell you about the time I hatched Spike and everypony around us suddenly needed insulin shots." The six Loopers with her, all of whom had been told about the Loop in question, exchanged amused snickers while Starlight and Moondancer still looked concerned. "If you're sure," the cream-colored unicorn finally said. "But I've never heard of an alicorn fainting." "Trust me, this is nothing compared to how she reacted to the great sponge cake migration of 947," Twilight replied. "… I don't even want to know." 179.9 (Keywii_Cookies55) Applejack Awoke sitting on a basically empty bus heading through the countryside. Looking down at herself, she noted she was a human with light-skin, so she wasn't her Canterlot High self again. As she felt her stetson on her head and saw that she was wearing faded overalls, the bus pulled up to a stop. She thought about checking through her Loop memories, but decided against it, wanting to go in surprised this time around. "Been a while since Ah've been away from Equestria, might as well enjoy some surprise." Figuring this to be her stop, she got out of her seat and walked to the open doors, nodding goodbye to the driver. Stepping off the bus she found a redheaded woman in a yellow hoodie waiting for her. "Hello! you must be Applejack." the woman cheerfully greeted, "I'm Robin, the local Carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He's there right now, tidying things up for your arrival." "That's mighty kind of ya," Applejack returned, "Can't say I expected someone ta' meet me though." Robin just laughed lightly, "Well this is a small town, you showing up is the most exciting news this season." Applejack knew the feeling of small town life, though she suspected that wherever she was now was quite a bit smaller then Ponyville. Robin motioned behind her, "The farm's right over here, if you'll follow me." she said before turning and walking towards the ocean town. Applejack followed without missing a beat. "Farm, huh?" She thought as she absorbed her surroundings, "Shoulda' figured." She loved who she was, but Yggdrasil could see fit to put her in a different role a little more often. Reaching a T-split in the path, Robin turned right, passing a directional sign. The path, Applejack noted, was lined on either side by wooden fence. Looking left, AJ spotted what must have been 'Downtown' considering the ground was paved in stone. Deciding to investigate later, she turned right, after the red-haired woman. Coming up ahead of her was what looked to be a farm of sorts. But with natural debris coating the ground, trees ordered in a way closer resembling a forest, and a small house a hole in the porch. Applejack knew that this plot of land would require a significant amount of TLC. Of course she could always alicorn up and clean it up instantly, but that was cheating. And if Applejack was anything at all, it certainly weren't no low-down no-good cheat. Coming up to the mailbox Rabin stopped and turned to look on at the mess before her. "This is the Apple Farm." But Applejack just shook her head slightly in amusement. "Never seen an apple farm that weren't growin' no apples befor'." She thought, but Robin seemed to have missed the slight smirk on her face. "What's the matter?" The woman asked, "Sure, it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication you'll have it cleaned up in no time." "There's no doubt a Loop or two around the field'll have this place work ready by weeks end." Applejack boasted, though Robin didn't seem to catch the double meaning and just laughed, walking up to the door of the small house. "Thought she might be a Looper," Applejack thought, stepping up to the porch stairs, "Wonder who is around here." "And here we are, your new home." But before AJ could respond, a greying gentleman in a green shirt and brown cap stepped out of the door. "Ah, so you're the new farmer." He said in a voice that spoke of experience. "Welcome to Pelican Town! I've been the mayor here for over twenty years, some might say I'm Anchored to this town." Applejack nodded lightly in understanding. She could hear Robin laughing behind her, "I don't think anyone has ever said that Mayor." Applejack couldn't help but smile at the lighthearted laugh of the redhead, "Ah can't imagine bein' mayor fer that long, Ah'd've gone Loopy by now." Robin laughed a little harder at that. But AJ could see Lewis nod his head in return. "You look a bit tired from your journey, so I'll leave you to get settled in your Grandpa's old cottage, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. And be sure to introduce yourself to the townspeople as well, they'd appreciate that." And without another word, Lewis began to walk away. Without a reason to stick around herself, Robin smiled at Applejack and followed the mayor. Leaving Applejack to stare out at the debris before her and smile. "An apple farm that don't grow apples, an' a small town fullah people to meet, should be fun." 179.10 (Keywii_Cookies55) This Loop was REALLY getting on Scootaloo's nerves, not just due to her being the only crusader that was Awake. That was always boring, but she was well beyond used to it. No, what frustrated her was what Unawake Applebloom, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon were doing. Again. AGAIN. "What's happnin' right now?" Applebloom asked to the sky, confused. "It's snow." Scootaloo deadpanned, eye twitching ever so slightly. "It's like cold sugar fallen' from the clouds!" She had no idea what was up with Earth Ponies in this variant, but she wasn't happy about it. "This is literally the third year in a row you've done this." 179.11 (Vinylshadow) Lyra burst into Sugarcube Corner. "NOPONY MOVE!" Ponies froze in surprise, heads turning to stare at the aquamarine unicorn who jabbed a hoof at the counter. "STEP AWAY FROM THOSE SWEET ROLLS!" "Hiya Lyra. What's up?" Pinkie asked. Taking several breaths, Lyra panted harshly. "I've been searching for Sweet Roll and so far, I haven't found her in Appleloosa, Manehatten, Crystal Empire or Canterlot. Heck, I even went to Yakyakistan and Griffonstone to look for her. She's vanished!" "Lyra," a quiet voice murmured in her ear, "Pinkie isn't Awake." Lyra blinked in surprise and turned to see Twilight standing behind her, a box balanced on her back. "I found Sweet Roll though," she continued, handing the box to her. Lyra took it and opened it to see a slightly disgruntled Sweet Roll staring at her. "Where'd you find her?" Lyra asked, relief flooding her voice. "Bon Bon's Sweetie Drops Confectionery," Twilight said in amusement. "Getting rather cozy with Bon Bon before I popped in and asked to borrow Sweet Roll for a national emergency." Lyra glared at Sweet Roll, who had the decency to look sheepish. "Would it help if I said I didn't mean to make you worry?" Sweet Roll asked. Lyra huffed and hugged the pastry. "Sorry, sorry, went a little overboard with worry..." "Aw. You're certainly not alone in that regard. We've all had similar scenarios over the Loops. It happens to everyone." Twilight coughed politely and Lyra placed Sweet Roll on her head and turned to face the Anchor, who held out a dozen letters. "What're these?" Lyra asked, taking them. "Bills for property damage," Twilight replied. Lyra opened one and balked. "That's...a lot of zeroes..." she squeaked "Have fun," Twilight said with a grin. 179.12 (ORBSyndicate) [MLP/Gravity Falls] Twilight was rudely awakened by Lyra and Ford bashing down the door to her bedroom. “We know what you’re up to!” Lyra yelled, holding up a corkboard with images Twilight recognized as being taken from many different Loops. Most of the images were accompanied by pins connected together with color-coded string, as well as many handwritten notes, half of which were in Ford’s penmanship. Twilight yawned, blinking. “What on earth are you talking about.” Ford took out a holographic projector. “We first discovered something was up during the last Loop in Gravity Falls. We discovered you sniffing a patch of cottage cheese flowers that you’d seen a dozen times before. We thought nothing of it at the time…” “…but I saw you sniffing strange and unusual cheeses at the Star Wars market, drawing an unusual connection. You were also inquiring about Kyubey at that time, for an unknown reason. It was a minor coincidence until…” “…I spotted Kyubey himself sniffing cheeses in the Ninth World, complaining about how his back had been hurting lately. He had found a large collection of back-pain healing cyphers, though we wondered why on earth he needed them…” “…and we also noticed the exact same cyphers in the Minecraft Loop for some reason, a Loop where we found an image of you and Applejack building a town in ancient times. The cyphers were also located in the arrangement of a perfect triangle…” “…which led us to Bill, who after much questioning did halfway mention that he had provided you with information about the structure of the Gurren Lagann Loop in exchange for allowing him to turn an entire planet into a playground for one day…” “…On the said playground, the dream-construct known as Littlepip came into existence and mentioned something about how she felt the world was about to suddenly turn pink without warning…” “…and with the spiral information from Gurren Lagann we were led to Pinkie, who we discover has been talking about a great cheesy party for an exceptional long amount of time.” The two of them pointed directly at Twilight. “YOU ARE PLANNING A MASSIVE PRANK ON PINKIE!” Twilight was silent. Outside, an owl hooted. She blinked. “How…?” “Do not question the conspiracy theorist team of grandpa and granddaughter.” Lyra said. “But you aren’t really-“ “DO NOT QUESTION!” Twilight sighed. “Well, I’ve been found out. What exactly is your plan?” Lyra grinned like a madwoman. “We want in. It’s not easy to prank Pinkie.” Ford cracked his knuckles. “I’ve been working on many inventions to keep her attention away from her Pinkie Senses…” Twilight shrugged. She didn’t see why not. Though she did wonder how they came to this conclusion from the Minecraft world… that had nothing to do with it… 179.13 (Keywii_Cookies) Twilight walked up to Spike, ready to run her latest prank past him, he being the only other Awake Equestrian this Loop. "Bahahahaha!" Spike laughed, looking at his sister/mother/friend. Falling to the floor and holding his sides. "What?" The Anchor asked, ever so slightly irritated, "what's so funny?" "You better- keeee- see for- fiii- see for yourself." He just managed, handing her a mirror from his Pocket. Taking the mirror in her magic and seeing her face, Twilight was shocked, SHOCKED. Well, not that shocked. She did however spot her yellow-and-magenta plaid mane and stop for a second. Turning her head she spotted her matching plaid tail. In truth Twilight wasn't too surprised, when faced with infinity, everything was going to happen eventually. But it was the enormity of her life to date that made her question how things like this hadn't happened yet. A quick scan of her Loop memories told her that apparently everypony's mane was a type of plaid this variant. A smirk enveloped her snout. "Well the best thing to do in situations like this is to take pictures of Rarity and use them against her later!" 179.14 (Evilhumour) "Excuse me, are you currently, formerly or will be, Twilight Sparkle and/or Dusk Shine, currently, former and/or yet to be owner the Element of Magic/Friendship, potential princess and/or prince of Magic/Friendship, and the...all time owner of one Golden Oaks Library?" The police looking stallion peered at the sheet of paper in his hooves, which turned into a stone tablet and then a holographic tablet, before looking at the pony in front of him. Twilight blinked before slowly nodding her head. "Good, then by the time travel laws of the year five oh oh oh three two, you are hereby under arrest for traveling through your own timeline without a permit," the stallion pulled out a pair of hoof cuffs from his pocket, causing the mare to sigh. "Not this again," she grumbled before reaching into her pocket to pull a permit from her subspace pocket. "Here you go." "Hm," the stallion examined the paper with his magic before running it against some of his devices. "My mistake then, all things seem to be in order." "It's okay, happens a lot to me," Twilight said with a shrug before levitating the tray on the table over to him. "Want a treat before you go back?" "I don't know..." the stallion said, biting his lip. Clearly accepting food on the job was not allowed but he was clearly weakening at the display of it all. "My friend Pinkie Pie and/or Bubble Berry made them and-" "Wait, the legendary party pony made them?!" He squeaked out in obvious wonder before coughing into his hoof. "I mean, I will need to confiscate one of these muffins before I go back, ma'am." With a roll of her eyes, Twilight waved the time police stallion off before looking at her friends who were not Awake this loop. "Umm....I can explain all of this, I swear." 179.15 (Vinylshadow) Celestia Woke up in her room in Canterlot. A quick scan of her memories revealed that Twilight had already taken steps to set up a vacation Loop by settling all of Equestria's problems before they even started. Getting out of bed, Celestia donned her peytral, horseshoes and crown before exiting her chambers. She swung by her sister’s room and paused, listening. She could definitely hear crying and she was torn between giving her sister her privacy and wanting to be there for her. Before Celestia could decide, she heard her sister’s voice. "I can feel you there, Cellie. If you're feeling Loopy, so am I." Celestia hesitated before entering. Luna was curled up on her bed, her back to the door. Celestia entered and closed the door before joining her sister, draping a wing over her. Gently stroking her back, Celestia simply offered her presence to her sister, who snuggled against her. "I despise Loops that give me a student who then manages to worm their way into my heart. I know I'll probably never see them again and the end of the Loop fills me with dread," she mumbled. "I've had similar ones," Celestia replied quietly. "I suppose I could offer the tired old "They'll always be with you," but it still stings, knowing someone loved every part of you and only wanted you to be happy." Luna looked up at her suspiciously. "You were Awake?" she asked. Celestia was the picture of innocence and Luna scowled at her. "So you were playing matchmaker." "Not at all," Celestia countered. "I was just giving you a student with amazing potential who could also help you acclimate to modern Equestria." Luna covered her face with her hooves. "Felt strange having to learn to speak normally again, but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless." "Well, it's not every Loop where someone uses primal star magic to corrupt a princess and obliterate Canterlot because they lost someone precious to them, even though they had plenty of warning to evacuate," Celestia pointed out. "I actually liked the theatrics and visual of a meteor bearing down on the castle. Very pretty." "I worry about you sometimes," Luna said tiredly. Celestia nuzzled her lightly. "Well, Twilight's already done everything interesting, so we have a free Loop. Anything you'd like to do?" Celestia asked. "Find the largest tub of ice cream and moon cakes and eat my weight in both." "Excellent, I had something similar in mind. Except with the superior Cloud Cake." "Well now you’re speaking heresy." "First one to the dining hall gets a ten second head start on constructing their defense." 179.16 (Trumpet of Doom) [MLP/40K] In a cottage outside a village near a forest, a pony was giving a bear a massage. On the one hoof, this was not terribly unusual, considering the pony in question. On the other hoof, this was unusual by any standard, for the bear had reason to consider the pony his grandmother. "All done," said Fluttershy. "Are you feeling better?" "Much," replied Bjorn. "Thank you." "Oh, it's no trouble at all." Fluttershy silently offered to help Bjorn stand, but he waved her off. "I always enjoy the time I spend here," he said. "Equestria, I mean. Whenever I Loop in here, it means a few years where I don't have to be a transhuman killing machine — not that I'm not good at it, and it's certainly what I was made to do, but every now and then I want to do something else. And Dark Millennium Loops where I don't get selected as a Space Marine are vanishingly rare. It's not always Russ's Legion, it's not always the Sixth, it's not always the Wolves of Fenris, but it's always something." He slowly rose to his feet. "Here, I don't have any of those responsibilities. I don't have to keep track of Hawser, I don't have to worry about losing a hand or a paw, I don't have to tell the stories of the Legion's history to the Blood Claws. I can just... relax. And take some time off." Fluttershy nodded. "We take our sanctuary status very seriously." "And the rest of us thank you for it," Bjorn said. Then he grinned. "Also, this is one of the only times I get to be larger than Russ. It almost never happens back home, and I do love being larger than my father. Especially when he's Awake, but can't grumble about it." Fluttershy smiled. "Take care of yourself, Bjorn." Bjorn nodded, waved goodbye, and started walking back into the forest. "You too, Little Grandmother." 179.17 (Vinylshadow) Twilight Sparkle emerged from the pages of the book she had magicked herself into as loud knocks echoed through the empty Library. Spike was off on his latest honeymoon with Rarity and Twilight had used the opportunity to practice her book spell. She opened the library door to see Vinyl standing on her doormat. "What is it, Vinyl?" "I'd like your help with something. I've been practicing with the whole "hearing the beat of the universe" thing and...well, you'd have to see it to believe it." Twilight tilted her head, intrigued before nodding and used her magic to seal the library, flipping the "open" sign to "closed." Vinyl led her to the center of town, where ponies bustled about, shopping and interacting with one another. "Alright, perfect. Applejack's usually here selling apples, but they're all busy..." Vinyl muttered, horn lighting up. "Now, watch that space carefully." Twilight watched, then felt her jaw drop as a ghostly Sweet Apple Acres stall faded into view, complete with Applejack and Apple Bloom. "Wha...?!" Twilight gaped. Vinyl took a deep breath. "Yeah. Apparently one aspect of being able to hear the heartbeat of the universe is the ability to see...echoes of the past, events that have happened. You can't interact with them or change the events, but it's interesting if you want to see what happened at a particular point in time. Although I'm not entirely sure how to pick a specific scene to see. It's random depending on where you are. I chose this spot because it's usually the Apples selling their wares." Her horn dimmed and the ghostly echo faded away. Twilight stared at the DJ and shook her head. "You never cease to amaze me," she said with a smile. Vinyl blushed. "Thanks, Twilight." 179.18 (Keywii_Cookies55) "And that concludes roll-call." Surrounded by a deep haze sat a single room among an infinitely ominous void. In this room was a large conference table and a small assortment of six ponies. One such pony, who had been sitting at the end of the oval table, rose and began to speak. "We call this meeting of the Council of Precognition because we fear somepony may be attempting to play a prank on us." The imposing pony at the head of the table spoke. "Second Lieutenant of Pranks, what word do you have on this?" Another pony, looking shockingly identical to the first, stood and addressed her notes. "Ma'am, it appears Twilight Sparkle is attempting to do what we previously thought impossible through a convoluted method of mysterious and seemingly unrelated actions. As well as several different Loop Branches." The first pony took in this information and nodded slightly to a mare in the corner taking minutes, who nodded in return. "And how did you obtain this information?" The first mare asked, her curly mane lightly bouncing as she sat back down. "The Secretary of Memories filed the paperwork and left it in my inbox today, Ma'am." The Lieutenant swiftly stated. The first mare leaned forward, "Secretary?" The mare, looking again identical to every other pony in the room, stood with an air of professionalism about her. "Yes, Advisor," She began to pass photos around the table. "Two hours from now, an Awake Lyra Heartstrings and one Ford Pines of the Gravity Falls Branch will be seen conversing with Twilight Sparkle on the matter." "They will describe Twilight's step by step process to her in a roundabout way of asking if they too can be involved with the prank as well. Several of these steps include, but are not limited to: Kyubey of the Puella Magi Loop, an Awake Applejack in the Minecraft Loop, Bill Cypher, also of the Gravity Falls Loop, and Pinkie's very own mentioning of cheese related partying." The Advisor took in this information and motioned to the mare at the far end of the table. "Chief of Relations, can you confirm that Kyubey and Bill were involved in Twilight's plan." "I can confirm that Lyra and Ford were questioning Bill about Twilight's actions regarding strange and unusual cheeses. I can also confirm the Kyubey was investigating those same varieties of cheeses." "Thank you Chief," The Advisor said before turning her attention to the photos in front of her depicting Lyra and Ford holding a cork board several inches from Twilight's face. "Secretary, you may continue." With a simple nod, the Secretary of Memories continued, "We're still investigating the full scope of Twilight Sparkles prank, but it appears to be of massive scale." "Thank you as well Secretary. Now, do we have any ideas as to how to stop this from happening?" "Are you sure you really want that?" There was a brief moment of silence as everyone at the table tried to discern the voice. A previously non-existing door slowly opened to reveal a pink mare identical to the other six. "Overseer of Chaos," The Advisor regarded with a hint of annoyance, "So good of you to join our meeting." "Come now, Advisor, surely you more than any of the others here would appreciate being the victim of some wholesome fun." The Advisors left ear twitched. "The rules are in place for a reason Overseer. You may be in charge of your department out there, but in here you're to be cooperative so that everything runs smoothly." Shaking her head slightly, the Overseer took her appointed seat "I'll get through to you one of these eons." She plainly stated with a content sigh. "Now explain your idea Overseer, why do you want to fall victim to a prank?" The Overseer of Chaos lightly laughed, "The idea isn't to 'fall victim' Advisor, it's to keep them guessing. What do Pinkie's friends think can't happen?" she said without pause for an answer, "It's to be caught off guard, Silly." "Don't call me that," the Advisor returned almost without thinking, the Overseer continued. "And how does one obtain a reputation for never being caught off guard? Surely it's not by remaining consistent; if you stop to develop a pattern of actions, you become predictable. And always being Omniscient and unprankable is considered a comfortable pattern for everyone that Pinkie knows. That'd just be a crime against all things silly, wouldn't you agree Advisor?" The mare, sat at the head of the table, remained silent. "So I propose we keep up with how things progress, and not show any awareness. And then, come time for the prank, we surprise everyone by letting it happen anyway, letting them believe they succeeded in finally figuring out a way to sneak past Pinkie. Follow it up with a hint to Twilight afterwards that we knew it was going to happen all along. Viola, Twilight is instantly reminded that she can't outsmart the likes of us." The Advisor sat for several moments contemplating this until finally she stood up and addressed everypony sitting at the table. "We'll take a vote on the matter." "All in favour of letting the prank happen as scheduled?" Two hooves swiftly raised into the air from the Lieutenant of Pranks and the Secretary of Memories. Followed by a third from the until now silent Director of Parties. A cocky grin from the Overseer of Chaos accompanied the fourth raised hoof. "All opposed?" Hooves raised from both the Chief of Relations and the Head of Physics respectively. "Then I, the Advisor of Silliness, state that we will go forward with allowing Twilight Sparkle to prank us. And so, with no other points of order, I do hereby call this meeting of the Council of Precognition to a close. May the world stay fun." "May the world stay fun." All others in the room repeated. "Get this information translated into thought, meeting adjourned." 179.19 (Vinylshadow) Twilight wiped her brow and sat back with a triumphant grin. "Done!" "With what?" Spike asked. Twilight grinned. "Using Mewtwo's Unabridged Loop History, I've calculated the age of several Loopers!" "So, something other than "really old"?" Spike asked, perusing the chalkboards, scrolls, walls, ceiling and floor covered in equations. "Uh oh..." he muttered. Twilight frowned. "What?" "Uhm...this one here...you forgot to carry the forty-eight." Twilight's eye twitched. Cadance put the finishing touches on her carefully-constructed ice sculpture of her and Shining Armor. Stepping back, she let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, it's done. After several Loops worth of work..." she said happily. From over the tundra and through the mountains came a high-pitched shriek of outrage. Cadance heard a crack from her sculpture and her eyes went wide. "No...nonononononono..." she said, horn erupting with magic. But she was too slow and the sculpture shattered. Cadance's eye twitched. Twilight pricked her ears. "Did you hear something?" Spike fiddled with his ears and shrugged. Sighing, Twilight erased her work. She was probably better off not knowing how long or old the Loops were. Better to focus on the here and now. 179.20 (Evilhumour) "Hey Berry, Ah need a drink and Ah can't ask mah brother," Applejack said as she walked into the mare's shop. "Oh?" Berry tilted her head as she produced two glasses of her stronger stock out of her pocket. "Awkward loop?" "Ya'll can say that," Applejack grumbled as she swiped the glass from the counter and chugged it down. "Mac was in this...corset and-" "AJ," Berry whined as she picked up her own glass. "I thought we went over this." With a sigh, the purple mare began to drink before thinking of how to deal with this headache. "He was Frank N Furter, Berry," Applejack said deadpan, moving to the side to avoid the spit-take from the mare across of her. "What really annoyed me was that he pulled it off better than me!" She huffed before looking off to the side. "And... I was able to swipe some of the clothes from that Loop. Mac might like it." "He-he might," Berry said as she did her best not to think of her boss dressed like that. "Um..." "Yeah, Ah've got pictures." Applejack said before smirking a bit. "But Mac gets first cracks. Family before friends." 179.21 (HarmonyChaos) "Fluttershy? Are you home?" Discord asked as he knocked on the door, adjusting his mailpony's cap so that it was leaning at a 16.784° angle as Fluttershy opened the door. "Oh, Discord, how is your job hunt going?" she asked. "Oh the usual. Anyway I have a letter for you." he said as he got out a package. "Nope. That's for the Cakes." He tossed it over his shoulder and it suddenly grew wings and flew off. "Nope. That's for Doctor Whooves." The little box he pulled out turned into a cylinder and rolled away, then he pulled out several letters and was going through them. "Bill, bill, eviction notice, bill, bill, bill, coupon for Sugar Cube Corner, bill, bill, invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala, bill, bill, bill, bill, ah here we go! One letter to Fluttershy from Derpy Whooves." he then gave her the letter. "Well, see you at 7'o clock?" Fluttershy nodded as he snapped his fingers and teleported away. She then gently closed the door, opened the letter, and began to read. "Dear Fluttershy, I, Derpy Whooves, want to challenge you to an Adorable Villain competition. The rules are as follows: 1. No using Discord or Angel Bunny for help. 2. We must be ponies for it to count, if we aren't ponies when we Wake up we do it in whatever species we are when we Awaken. 3. We must both be Awake for it. The time in between will be used for preparation. "Well, she never said that I couldn't use Angel Bunny AND Discord," she thought, with an evil grin on her face. 179.22 (Vinylshadow) "You have gone too far this time, sister!" Celestia bellowed. "I can say the same for you!" Luna retorted. "Well, if that's the way it's gonna be, take this!" Celestia flipped a switch and a series of catapults activated, sending their heavy cargo hurtling towards her sister. Luna ducked behind her wall as the cakes slammed into it. Reaching for her own ammunition, she popped up and flung her own cake back. Celestia was too busy cackling and took it to the face. Spitting out the delicacy, she glared at the Nightbringer, who stuck her tongue out. "How dare you use soy products! That's an affront to cakes everywhere!" Celestia growled, her horn glowing as a tidal wave of cake batter rose up behind her. Luna’s horn blazed with power as her own wave of ice cream rose up. "Bring it!" Twilight peered at Canterlot in bewilderment. "Spike, any idea why the castle is mimicking a fondue fountain?" "Not in the slightest and I have no desire to find out. Besides, fondue is a pain in the plot to remove from between my scales." "Not sure I want to know how you found that out…” 179.23 (Vinylshadow) "Twilight?" The aforementioned pony turned to regard her draconian assistant. "What's with all the creepy wax statues?" "Creepy? They're not creepy," Twilight replied defensively. "I've spent many Loops trying to make them as lifelike as possible." "Who gave you sculpting lessons, Rukia?" "Hey, she's gotten a lot better," Twilight warned. Spike raised his claws to head off the irritation. "I was joking. It's just that these kinds of ideas never end well." Twilight rolled her eyes. "What's the worst that could happen?" "Nothing," Twilight said hollowly. She had spent most of the entire baseline hoping for something to happen. Nothing did. No night of the living wax. No decapitated heads living in the vents. Just a whole lotta money from gullible tourists. Twilight sighed. "Alright. Let's go." The duo turned and left the building, closing the door behind them. A few moments passed. "Clear!" The wax statues all collapsed with varying grunts of relief. "Sweet mother of Luna," groaned a replica of Berry Punch. "I thought she'd never leave!" "She's stubborn, that's for sure," an Applejack agreed. "Paranoid," said a Twilight. "So...who wants to go on a cruise?" asked the Vinyl Scratch. "Ship sinks off coast of Manehatten," Twilight read in the paper a week later. "Several wax statues recovered from wreckage. Hm...interesting." 179.24 (ORBSyndicate) Starlight recognized the look in Twilight's eyes. It was a tired look. A look of someone who had been through the same thing dozens of times. The alicorn was putting on a good facade, but Starlight could see it: the feeling of monotony. The feeling of never-ending time recursions. She had seen it numerous times during the fight across time, and she had even felt it herself a few times as the situation kept repeating itself. She could see it, see that Twilight knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. She couldn't shake the image of Twilight as a filly, getting a new toy and playing with it a few dozen times before growing bored with it. She wasn't entirely sure why though. Starlight knew Twilight wouldn't want to explain anything: the princess had probably explained it a dozen times already. And plus, that would ruin the fun of trying to piece out what was going on. But she was going to do one thing. "Twilight?" "Yes Starlight?" "Just wanted to remind you that regardless of how time flows, there will always be growth, change, and hope. That's something I learned recently." Starlight trotted off, with the Anchor staring after her a little dumbfounded, but comforted nonetheless. 179.25 (ORBSyndicate) Flurry Heart began to wail. Suddenly, The mane 6, the princesses, Shining Armor, and Starlight appeared from a magical construct resembling a bowl covered in gears. The unicorns and alicorns in the group all put all the power they had into containing the power of the beam. Starlight let out a breath. "Well that's a relief, I'm glad the time spell was able to function-" Starlight stopped, staring at Starlight. The past versions of everyone stared at their future selves. Starlight blinked. "This... this is safe right?" Something exploded outside. Screams of crystal ponies were heard. Twilight took a phone out of her pocket and called the Doctor. 179.26 (Vinylshadow) "Library...library...where on Equus is the Library?" Twilight grumbled. The interior of her castle seemed to change every Loop and she was trying to make a map. She had enlisted the help of her friends to help and they had each taken a wing of the castle, labeling rooms as they went. She spotted Pinkie crossing the hallway ahead of her and galloped after her. "Pinkie!" The Looper turned and grinned at Twilight. "Have you found the library, by any chance?" Pinkie giggled and nodded. "Third door on the left two left turns that way," she replied cheerfully, pointing a dripping hoof back the way she came. Twilight did a double-take. "Pinkie, you're soaked! What happened?" "I found the library." "But...you're soaking wet..." Twilight sniffed the air. "Is...that chlorine? Where's the library?" Pinkie grinned and it took Twilight a moment to catch on and she let out an aggravated groan. "It's in the swimming pool, isn't it?" she sighed. Pinkie giggled. "You've traveled with the Doctor, I'm surprised you didn't guess." Twilight rolled her eyes. "i'll go get my snorkel and goggles then. Thanks, Pinkie." 179.27 (Vinylshadow) Pinkie Pie and Rarity trotted through Rainbow Falls, marveling at all the things to see and do. "Well, there's the campground, shall we race back to the others?" Rarity asked. Pinkie peered through the tents with squinted eyes. "You mean run past them?" Rarity tilted her head, confused. "...Yes?" she replied warily. Pinkie Pie snorted. "You can't run through a campground." "What?" "You can ran past them," Pinkie explained. "That...I don't follow," Rarity admitted, confused. "Because it's past tents!" It took Rarity a minute to get it and she groaned loudly.