Sweetie opened her eyes, and smiled as Rarity called her downstairs. Leaping out of her bed, Sweetie concentrated, casting the shield spell, eliminating her headache. Wincing as she stumbled under the strain, Sweetie held it for five minutes, before canceling the spell and grabbing her two books.
“Rarity, read this.” Sweetie pulled out the letter, waiting as Rarity read it. Weathering the reaction of her sister as she recovered, Sweetie quickly put the letter away. Forcing herself to remain still, Sweetie opened her mouth to speak.
“I’m going to be gone for this loop, so don’t worry about where I am, okay?” Sweetie held up a hoof as her sister immediately objected, giving a scathing glare.
“Come on Rarity, I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to go before Twilight leaves to go shopping today.” Sweetie waited as her sister bit her lip, and looked away.
“Alright, but promise me somepony will know how to reach you in case you get into trouble.” Rarity hated the fact Sweetie was pressuring her right after that letter, but she supposed it was a side effect of what Sweetie was going through.
“Of course, Twilight will know. Anyways, I gotta go, see ya Rarity.” Sweetie levitated the pancakes off the plate, and waved goodbye to her sister before dashing out the door. Pausing briefly, she quickly made an excuse to Apple Bloom, before dashing off. By luck; Twilight was only just leaving the castle.
“Twilight! Wait!” Sweetie held out the letter as she ran, pausing to catch her breath once Twilight took it. Wiping off the sweat on her brow, Sweetie felt her thudding heart slowly return to normal. Twilight’s reaction was to be expected, and Sweetie waited patiently for Twilight to look over her data.
“Twilight, I was wondering if you could teach me how to defend myself.” Sweetie nodded, narrowing her eyes as she squared her shoulders, determined. Twilight blinked and frowned, and put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.
“Well I suppose I could teach you a few combat spells, but I don’t really know much about defending to be perfectly honest, excluding how to dodge that is. My big brother on the other hand…” Twilight trailed off, musing for a moment. Sweetie bit her lip, wondering if she would have to go to Canterlot for combat lessons.
“Maybe Zecora or Applejack can help you. Applejack has battled the Everfree before, one time being when she saved Spike from Timberwolves. Zecora on the other hand really helped me when I was training against Trixie, despite the fact I used brains instead of magic-brawn to win.” Twilight glanced down as Sweetie nodded, thinking over the information.
“Alright, I’ll try Applejack first. Thanks Twilight!” Sweetie turned and began to trot away.
“Why do you want to learn how to defend yourself anyway?” Twilight waited as Sweetie glanced back and giggled.
“I want to ride a dragon. A full grown dragon at that.” Sweetie watched as Twilight’s mouth slowly opened, and stayed like that. Smiling, Sweetie turned to leave.
"Wait! What if you get yourself killed? Aren't you worried about you know, causing more..." Trailing off, Twilight looked away, causing Sweetie to cringe.
"Twilight, I don't mean now. I mean when I can defeat a dragon. I'm not stupid you know." With that, Sweetie continued on her way. While she really wanted to ride a dinosaur, Sweetie was certain they were extinct, so that left them out as an option, at least for now. If Sweetie tried a time spell, Sweetie wondered just what would happen. Would it go back in time? Back in loops? No matter, it was too risky either way. So that left the dragons that were currently on migration.
’But first, I need to learn to defend myself. From what Spike told me one time when I was at Twilight’s, they’re proud creatures. If I best one in battle, it will either curse me or begrudgingly accept its defeat. Either way, I’ll get a ride out of it.’ Sweetie tilted her head, wondering how long dragons lived anyway. Did the time loop affect them?
“Well howdy Sweetie Belle, shouldn’t you be at school with Apple Bloom?” Applejack greeted Sweetie with a tilt of her hat, blinking in confusion as Sweetie dug out a letter. Applejack quickly read it, and blinked. What this note said sounded absurd, Applejack held it back out to the filly.
'Ahm gonna have to hear ya say it, so Ah can see if you’re lyin’.” Applejack waited at Sweetie nodded.
“I am stuck in a time loop.” Sweetie spoke quickly, seeing the hesitant acceptance on Applejack’s face.
“Fair enough. Ah can tell you’re not lyin’, and the note here backs you up, so what can I help ya’ with?” Applejack didn’t like it, but there was no point in denying the truth. Why, that would be lying to herself now, wouldn’t it?
“I want to learn how to defend myself if I get into a fight.” Sweetie wondered just how much of her plan she should reveal. Better to just say she wanted to know how to defend herself.
“Well, Ah dun know much about it to be perfectly honest. But Ah guess I can help ya learn how to be stronger an better at dodging. Ya see’, I do rodeo shows occasionally, good way to earn some extra money for tha’ family. If Ah had to guess, that’s why Ahm a decent fighter. Ah could probably take you through the course, Ah normally run it once a day.” Applejack motioned toward a round circular track Sweetie recognised from the sister race. However, it looked a lot more advanced than just going over a puddle of mud.
“Alright, I was hoping for some karate moves or something, but it couldn’t hurt to get stronger in both my body and my magic.” Sweetie nodded, it sounded solid. Her body wasn’t very strong, a by-product of being brought up by Rarity, but she wasn’t afraid of a little manual labor. In fact, if Sweetie was honest, it excited her.
“Alright, follow me an’ we can go through the course before I go apple-bucking. Just remember, Canterlot wasn’t built in a day.” Applejack walked toward the starting line. Sweetie took place beside her, and they took off. Applejack slowed her speed to match Sweetie’s pace, and began to show her through the course.
First up was the mud pit. Above it was a tarp, and Applejack dived underneath, crawling through it quickly. Sweetie did the same, knowing that while she was small enough to actually stand up underneath it, that would make the obstacle moot. Shaking some of the mud off after coming back up, Sweetie felt herself begin to sweat.
Next up was the barrels. However this time they were arranged in a haphazard order. Applejack weaved through them, one almost toppling as she spun around it to get past an awkward barrel easier. Sweetie followed though slower, making sure to not miss any barrels.
Third up was a bale of hay. Applejack tossed it forward, nodding as it landed on the target. Sweetie tried to lift it, but failed. Trying with her magic, she grunted under the weight and was able to toss it a very short distance. Despite her failure, Applejack only nodded encouragement. Sweetie felt her muscles burning as they rounded the corner to the final hurdle.
Sweetie slowed down drastically as she approached the sharp incline to climb up. Using the rope, Applejack went from hoofhold to hoofhold, sometimes gripping the rope and tossing herself up the incline. Sweetie felt her strength leave her halfway up, and blinked as Applejack grabbed her hoof and carried her the rest of the way.
“That*hah*. Was*huff*. Hard*Wheeze*.” Sweetie saw the sweat glistening on Applejack's face, the gasping breath coming from her as she calmed down. Sweetie could tell that while Applejack was tired, she was still going to recover quickly. Sweetie on the other hand, was exhausted.
“Sorry hun, that course is designed for me an’ Big Mac. But yer free to use as much, or as little of it to get stronger. Just remember, it ain’t going to happen instantly. Took me five years to get strong enough to earn a bronze medal.” Applejack tilted her head, and brought over a cup of ice cold water, letting Sweetie guzzle it down.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Sweetie closed her eyes, too tired to move. So she could do almost the entire course, excluding the last one. If she worked at it, she’d be able to at least increase her endurance a lot. Sweetie sighed, getting stronger was hard.
But fun, that was for sure.
Nice, but if she decides to get strong enough to wrestle a dragon before moving on, she'll be as old as a granny by the time she gets out.
That art is great! I feel like it should be the cover.
Sweetie must learn a grow spell so she can ride Spike through town, firemailing everything to Canterlot
I feel like Rarity and Applejack believed it too quickly. They seem like they should be more hesitant... eh idk
5363419
Agreed, that art is great.
If she wants to learn to fight, I do believe that Rarity knows karate. Not that she'd be a qualified instructor, though. Heh. Maybe Sweetie can learn Gun-Fu.
Ah'm
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remove the ' on bolded words.
Ah is treated like you would I. Always. Ah=I; Ah'm=I'm; Ah've=I've; ect.
Ya see
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Go through this fic and Ctrl+F: ah
Capitalize it and follow the above rule posted above the Yesee fix.
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yer works fine since it can stand for your or you're. But not yer're [your're / you're're].
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I'm offering my help for when you do southern dialects PM me the lines. I'll make them readable / proper and PM you back the fixed product.
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Other than that, not a bad chapter. I really want to see Sweetie ride a dragon.
You are probably thinking of a bale of hay.
sweetie held it for five minutes
of what Sweetie was going though
saw the sweat glistening on Applejacks face
1. Forgot to capitalise.
2. Through.
3. Applejack's.
5363584 Depends on what their letters' contents were. Rarity's is probably something about her childhood that was embarrassing, along with an "oh, and Sweetie's in a time loop of some sort; Twilight's been helping her, the dear. She's already done the homework five times, so remember to keep her happy and sane. Oh, almost forgot! I've included designs for a dress I was making for Sweetie, would you be a dear and finish it when you get the chance? Is it weird imagining myself speaking to myself? This is all getting rather silly, isn't it?"
Where is this story going? Seriously this is weird. It feels strange for everyone to agree to do what she wants just because she's in a time loop. I DUNNO OK? IZ WEiRD
Title card is amazing!!!
Dude! I absolutely LOVE the new title picture! It's so beautiful..
Holy Hell that new pic~ I LOVE IT~!!
'Fair enough. I can't tell your lyin'"
Applejack, stop the act. We all know Applejacks don't give a fuck.
Curiosity: what was the picture before this one?
hoofhold
So...if Sweetie Belle theoretically kept on practicing with Applejack for five straight years in loops, she would get good enough to win a medal, and eventually beat Applejack?
I mean, she technically has an infinite amount of time. By the time she gets out of the loop, she could have had the time to become an expert at ice-carving, or piggy bank making, or competitive salami eating. I wonder what everyone would think, that one day Sweetie Belle woke up and was suddenly awesome at everything.
5578306
Not if she is aging. She might only have a normal life span that she can only live out in loops.
5395522 the same as this story.
I can't say if I'm either amazed or annoyed by Sweetie Belles naivety. On one hand it feels genuine and adds to her character being still so young to get such ideas as to "ride a dragon". On the other it also makes me face palm and I want to chide Sweetie Belle for getting such an redicoulus idea, specifically because there is a lot wrong with it.
Dragons are pride creatures, in this world not only feral but sapient, meaning they have their own personality, which makes them even more dangerous. Taming a full grown to ride on them is both a great shame and insult to a dragon, as well as it is impossible unless you have the power level of either the princesses or some nature cheating mental ability like Fluttershy has.
Dragons are highly dangerous, especially if you want to do something insulting as riding them without consent.
Thus, does she not think of the possibility of dying again, when she is going up against full grown dragons? Killing off yet again all of her friends? Shouldering herself with more guilt?
In the loop where she brought her friends with her, and they turned to dust, one can indeed excuse her, at least partially, for having done this on accident, since she really wasn't aware this would happen.
Now though, she is well aware that when something happens to her, as Twilight has indicated to her, they all fall to dust again, yet she deliberately chooses out of the blue for no darn good reason , to put herself in lethal danger, thus endangering the others to die again that horrible death, even if they re-spawn afterwards.
Why would Sweetie Belle do that? For all the naivety she presents dear author, after having gone through her friends death, and her own, I am very skeptical as to why she'd suddenly get the idea and try something so dangerous, especially after being made well aware of the consequences if she dies.
It doesn't make sense at this point. Perhaps in a much later future loop, but not now.
just going to mention that ice water after heavy exertion is bad for you in general (assuming ponies have similar physiology to humans). Too much on a hot day can actually freeze/crack your throat. Cool water or something with lots of electrolytes is probably better. This is something AJ would probably know being a rodeo pony.
Sorry if that sounds nitpicky.
6113091 Calls somebody young, can't spell ridiculous
10/10
I'm not really sure I understand how Sweetie Belle's body resets work. Twilight said she kept her cutie mark either because she knew how she got it (instantly obtained at loop) or because she is still aging. Yet that wouldn't apply to muscles unless she is indeed aging. But if she is still aging and her body keeps its changes, then what the heck happened to her body when she died? Did it reset to default body conditions from the start of that particular loop?
It would be interesting if her body aged, yet reset to pre-looping conditions after each death. Then she would lose muscles/height when something catastrophic happens. Kind of makes me think of the end of "School of Hard Knocks" by Hoopy McGee...
6113091
Null and void by now, since you first commented, but I believe this is the early stages of her insanity cycle. It would only make sense that we see early warnings for it.