Sweetie ducked under the fireball, sweat beading down her face as she maintained her balance on the rock in the middle of the pool of lava. The Dragon teenagers hovered around her, trying to find the chance to attack her. Biting her lip, she resisted the temptation to use her magic, keeping the wings on her back poised to take off.
The rules for her training were simple; she was allowed wings and a shield, but no attack magic. Sweetie leapt upward as one of them dived toward her, and dove down, avoiding another as she landed on top of the first. The third one, a Dragon named Garble, had guessed her action, and sent a fireball.
‘Oh manure-’ Reacting off instinct, she slipped behind the Dragon she was standing on, watching the fireball pass by. But now she had a face of Dragon to deal with, and the teeth opened wide. Gritting her teeth, Sweetie flared her wings and back-flipped away. Below her, the lava pool began to creep closer.
Using her wings precisely, Sweetie managed to steer herself back to the rock, her back slamming into it and knocking all her breath out. As she tried to catch her breath back, all she could do was widen her eyes as the Dragons flew toward her, claws outstretched, victory on their faces.
“Stop,” spoke Thorak, and the three veered away. Catching her breath finally, she sat up, and gave Thorak a grateful smile. Grunting, she tried to stand up, and fell back on her flank as her bruises kept her grounded. Casually, she ended the spell keeping her wings. Thorak extended a talon, carefully picking her up in the palm of his hand.
“You have done well, these past few days and nights. After nine days, you are able to last nearly an hour before you succumb.” Thorak’s voice had no tone, but Sweetie still looked away in irritation. An hour was not good enough, she had trained super hard for a measly hour? Sighing, ears flopping down, she discarded it, and gave a grateful smile to Thorak.
“Thank you for the help, and thank you for rescuing me.” Giving a bigger smile, Sweetie knew if Thorak hadn’t come for her, she would have likely spent days just waiting around in boredom. Levitating out some food from her saddlebag, she began to munch on it, hungry after her exertion.
“What will you do now?” Thorak had no doubt that Sweetie was planning on moving on after this Loop. He could see her itch, even as she expended most of her energy to grow her endurance. Looking toward the sky, he breathed in, checking that there had been no changes to the flock while he had been distracted. There hadn’t, which was unsurprising.
“Well, I really want to explore Equestria. I’m planning on going to The Crystal Empire next Loop, and then maybe spend the Loop after just flying around and seeing everything.” Smiling, Sweetie marveled at her chance to finally get a good look at The Crystal Empire. Sure, she’d been there before, but not with a week to just explore every nook and cranny.
“Very well, I shall give you a lift there tonight, so as to prevent any panic ruining your experience. I do have one request, if you may.” Bowing his head slightly, Thorak motioned over the red teenager Dragon. Sweetie had learned his name was Garble, and he seemed surprised to be called over.
“Garble had reached the age where he is immune to the spell, roughly three of your pony weeks prior. I want you to take him with you.” Thorak watched as both glanced to the other, and then looked to him.
“What?”
“Hell no! I’m not hanging out with a Namby Pamby Pony, even if she’s a pretty good fighter.”
Thorak said nothing, merely looking to the two. Glancing toward Garble, Sweetie sighed, ears flicking back as she considered her choices. Either she walked/flew all the way to the Empire, or took a quick Dragon flight. On the others mind, Garble was considering what punishment he might receive if he didn’t respect Thorak’s request.
“Alright,” they responded in union, and both shared a glance. Neither was looking forward to the others company. However, Sweetie didn’t mind as much as Garble, considering it would be a new experience. And new was something she thrived on. Wincing slightly, she felt a pulse of pain from her headache.
‘I’m gonna have to strengthen that.’ Concentrating, she did so, and smiled as the pain faded. Thorak gently placed her down, and traced a path to the gray Dragon. Watching them, Sweetie looked toward the Dragon egg, knowing it wouldn’t be coming. While she knew Thorak was disappointed about this, he had agreed she couldn’t carry it across Equestria.
“So what is this ‘Crystal Empire’ anyway?” Glaring at her, Garble was in no mood for jokes. Deciding to answer honestly for now, she to gave the Dragon a big bone.
“It’s just a city made out of crystal.” Seeing the Dragon’s mouth begin to water, Sweetie giggled, smiling as she watched the sun set.
Today on URL watch:
http://tinyurl.
Yay update!
And it wasn't too Garbled for my taste either! Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
You have done well, these past few days and nights. After nine days, you are able to last nearly an hour before you succumb
“Alright,” the responded in union
1. Wait... Nine days? How is that possible? Did she stay there for more than one loop? *checks title* Hmm... Possibly so since Sweetie did try to make a non-burnt pancake on Monday and all things went to shite.
2. They.
I just hope Garble is crystal clear on the messaged of not being able to eat Crystal ponies. Or maybe the message got garbled up somewhere when Sweetie mentioned Crystals in general.
*ships it*
6077610 oh gawd... The shippers are coming! THE SHIPPERS ARE COMING!
FAUST HAVE MERCY ON US ALL!
Ah! This is going to be so exciting!! Sweetie is finally going out in the world!! And she'll finally have a companion who will be aware of her time loop too! Oh I love this story!!! Can't wait to see what's next!
6077759
*whispers* we never left.
6077610
GarBelle?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/4/28/310940__safe_animated_sweetie+belle_cute_smile_upvotes+galore_alicorn_happy_adorable_crown.gif derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/1/30/817617__safe_solo_older_dragon_garble_artist-colon-queencold.png
6077959 You know, it does have a nice ring to it. But I'm going to have to say no. For some reason I just don't see it happening. Also I think the author is still committed to SweetieSnails.
6077533 The puns, THE PUNS33.media.tumblr.com/a4f238a677d1f96abb9f293e90c62419/tumblr_mngnwfrDIb1qiaxzfo2_500.gif
Yay man these updates are coming quick. In a way I hope there's a sequel because when this end's I gotta find something else to read.
“Hell no! I’m not hanging out with a Namby Pamby Pony, even if she’s a pretty good fighter.”
<Me as Sweetie> "Garble, I could kill you where you stand; and your death would not bother me. What Would bother me, is Thorak's resulting disappointment at my actions."
Garble shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Thorak, who merely raised one brow in question to Sweetie.
Wow, that was weird...
6077530 And there's about twelve more characters to the url in question...
If we assume there's a 'com' after that period, that makes http://tinyurl.com, which is actually a real site. I don't understand what it's supposed to mean, though, considering what the site itself is for.
blacktelephone.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/tinyurl.jpg
6079123 ...what period?
6079704 at the end of the Author's Note, just after the "l" was a "."
6077530
CALLED IT!
Just to clarify: Crystal is not the same as gems. Spike can demonstrate that simply by tasting both.
1) you used gave instead of give in the semilast paragraph.
2)I still have to post my comments for the last two chapters.(I will do it later)
3) why not Thorak just pick Sweetie up at the end of each loop so that the egg it's not reset?
6078638 there is alot more to read.
You can start by looking at the also liked section for this story and if have read or have not desire to read each of them then there's a very extensive anthology of time loop stories among the longest stories on the site.
Not to mention The Best Night Ever (best time loop story on the site in my opinion) and Hard Reset (most popular time loop story in the site) with all that you should have your hands full at least for a while. XD
~Leonzilla
Space dialog.
_____________
Hopefully she gets the egg back after her little sojourn.
Tick...
There are many things that can go wrong with bringing Garble to the Crystal Empire.
6089432
Semilast is not a word. Semi- means half, and finality is not something you can half.
The prefix you want is ante- (previous; do not confuse with anti- : opposite, reverse, undo). The last thing in a collection is the ultimate thing, the next-to-last one is the penultimate thing, the one before that is the antepenultimate thing.