Finding his address wasn’t hard. It was time-consuming, certainly, what with Equestria’s extensive records on its residents, but it wasn’t hard. That room of the library, normally watched over by sharp-eyed guards, lay abandoned, letting Pinkie practically waltz into the place. Where the guards were now, she wasn’t sure — maybe setting out to meet the dragon, or maybe starting on a Canterlot patrol to keep the damage at bay, or maybe heading off elsewhere for some other crisis. It was telling that these were the more optimistic possibilities that occurred to her.
Eventually, she made her careful way through the streets of Canterlot. The afternoon sun hung red in a smoky sky. As she went on, working her way down from the palace, the buildings grew less and less opulent — though of course this was hardly to say they weren’t opulent at all — and the ponies seemed less and less keen on spending more than seconds outside. Though Pinkie had rarely ventured outside since arriving, the streets looked especially unfamiliar. If not for the direction of a helpful blue unicorn, she doubted she could have found her way at all.
As it was, she found herself in front of a box-like, single-story building nestled right against the side of the mountain. The roof was in tatters, the walls were worse, and Pinkie had to triple-check the address to make sure she was in the right place. Slowly, as if the house might bite her, she leaned in and tapped on the door.
A wheezy voice called from within. “Trixie? ‘Zat you? … C’min, ‘s unlocked …”
Inside sprawled a maze of possessions. Loose boards formed makeshift shelves for a variety knickknacks, most of which were unidentifiable, though many of them sparkled with glitter. Pinkie picked her way through the relics of past decades, taking care to avoid the stuffed bear head mounted on the ceiling.
“Nice o’ ya t’ drop in on yer ol’ stallion,” the voice said plaintively. “D’you bring any of ‘em ca-ra-melized carrots? ‘M hopin’ t’ get a li’l more mileage outta these teeth.”
The stallion lay curled up on a couch, facing the wall. His unkempt gray coat hinted at a past of youthful green, and his mane was a few strands of wispy hair. As Pinkie watched, his horn lit up, and the glass of water on the upside-down box next to him floated shakily toward him in an aura of yellow.
Pinkie cleared her throat. “You’re Double Whammy?”
The glass paused. “Yer not Trixie. Sound like one o’ the other grankids — wossername, I think. ‘Aven’t seen ya lately, Butterfly. This about the huntin’ trophies agin?”
“Uh … no. I just wanted to ask … do you know anything about time loops?” She winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Nice going, you social klutz. Whatever happened to subtlety?
“Whazzat?” The stallion pushed himself onto his front hooves, trembling as he began to turn. “Girlie, y’mind talkin’ sense? Whaddya even—”
Their eyes met. Silence fell, and Double Whammy went very, very still. His eyes bored into her, and then, unblinking, they flickered like camera shutters from yellow to blue.
Pinkie stumbled backward, overturning a sizable collection of bizarre items. “What—” Her hooves flailed for a moment before finding the floor. “You’re the … must be … magic pony … moved the books …”
“Yes,” said Double Whammy. “And more importantly, no.” He stood up, disregarding his delicate bones. “However did you figure it out?”
She swallowed. “Well, I, um. If somepony was pulling the strings somewhere, then they’d know what’s happening to me, which means they’d know the events going on in my life, which means they’d know I’d be able to figure out a vague clue like that based on recent events … I don’t know what I just said.”
“Clever girl.” It was impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic. The shift in voice, strengthened from quavery to firm, was disconcerting enough. “I knew you’d realize that it wasn’t a coincidence that Fluttershy and Trixie are related. Clearly you figured some changes had been made.”
In fact, Pinkie hadn’t thought about that mystery too deeply, but she decided not to mention that. “Who are you, exactly?”
“Call me a friend you haven’t met yet. Double Whammy is just a go-between, really.” He cracked a half-toothed grin. “This must be what it feels like to be you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.” His smile faded. “We don’t have much time. I’m supposed to give you a message.”
“A message? From who?”
“Mm, that doesn’t matter yet. And, well, it’s not all at once. More will come later.” He beckoned her closer. “Are you ready?”
Logical response was clearly not an option at this point, so Pinkie simply nodded.
“First: find a chronomancer. Second—”
“But there aren’t any more chronomancers!” she blurted. “The book said the council was—”
“The council is gone, not the chronomancers themselves. They’re out there,” he said. “And by ‘out there,’ I mean not too far off. They’re not all that hard to find when you know to look at their cutie marks. Though by 'chronomancers,' I mean ponies who are conscious of using chronomancy to even the smallest degree. Not exactly Star Swirl the Bearded material.”
“I … oh.” Pinkie thought of the residents of Ponyville, most of whose cutie marks had been a blur to her. “That does make sense. Time-related cutie marks; got it. What’s second?”
“Second: don’t worry.” He nodded sagely, as if he’d imparted a state secret.
She blinked, then blinked again. When nothing else was forthcoming, she said, “What else?”
“That’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
“‘Don’t worry’? Are you serious?”
He rubbed his chin, and a faint, unpleasant creaking filled the room. “Well, as a bit of personal advice, I’ll add that you should stick close to your friends unless the situation absolutely calls for it.”
She almost snorted. “I think ‘get out of a time loop that’s killing you’ counts as calling for it.”
“Yes,” he said dryly. “Because that worked so well this time.” When her ears drooped, he added, “You might not believe this, but right now friendship is all you have. Don’t let that be taken away, too.”
“Please, Mr. … whoever you are. Can’t you be more specific?”
“There’s no time. Sorry.” His eyes roamed over toward the clock on the wall, then to the window, and he bit his lip. “3:06. If I don’t act now, all of this will be set in stone. Do you trust me?”
“Not really.”
“Oh.” His face fell. With a little concentration, he cast his horn in a blue glow, hardly sputtering the way it had before. “Well, in any case, we have to set things right. Pinkie, I’m very sorry. I want you to know that before we meet again.”
And he snapped her neck.
∞
“Oh, my! You’ve certainly been productive, haven’t you?”
The muffins steamed. The building stood. The clock read 3:14.
Pinkie stared. She rolled her head around, testing and then savoring the sturdiness of her spine. Then, slowly, her face broke out in a fragile smile. “W-what the hay just happened?”
“Pinkie? Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Wow, um. Everything just reset itself already? Would it have not reset if he hadn’t killed me?” Would that have been so bad, though?
“Pinkie, do you need to lie down?”
“Can’t do that, Mrs. Cake! I need to bring some ponies together.” She rubbed her chin. “And maybe a little something on the side …” And, mulling over the bizarre advice she'd been granted, she tried to distract herself from the horrible, horrible implications of being deliberately killed by someone — or something — that looked like a pony.
Fun fact: Pinkie is now on her 42nd loop.
6201380 Did you actually count, or are you just making that decision? I'm genuinely curious
6201428
I counted. I have a doc listing what happens in each loop, for reasons.
I don't envy Pinkie right now, but it's kind of a relief to have that loop over.
At this point I'm not even trying to understand what's going on, just going with the flow. And if Pinkie ends up doing the same, that would explain a lot.
What he said
6201478
6201380
And you somehow resisted the urge to have the mysterious mentor say "Don't panic" instead of "Don't worry"?
6201620
Sage advice!! Now quickly edit it before anyone else reads it!!
And just before her forty-second loop, Pinkie gets a small hint of the meaning of it all.
Also, it sounds like there are... call them "save points" along the way. Milestones that Pinkie will go back to once she passes them. And, of course, they come at 3:14 PM.
Whatever possessed Double Whammy clearly knows far more than it's letting on. It even seems to know something about what Pinkie will become. And what's this about changes? Most curious, and most intriguing.
Oh, and nice voice actress joke with Whammy mistaking a nervous Pinkie Pie for Fluttershy.
6201982 MIND = BLOWN.
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About to start reading chapter. Gotta say this first though... Last chapter ended on the note "Find DW" and the following chapters initials are "DW". Can't help but wonder if that was intentional.
Edit: Finished reading chapter. I'm going to assume that the DW was in fact referring to Double Whammy.
6203386 I think that's a pretty safe assumption. Unless it's the off chance that Double Whammy's initals are a coincidence and it was really referring to Doctor Who.
The mystery here continues to horribly intrigue. That is a good thing.
The glass paused. “Yer not Trixie. Sound like one o’ the other grankids — wossername, I think. ‘Aven’t seen ya lately, Butterfly. This about the huntin’ trophies agin?”
Narrows eyes does this have anything... anything at all to them being played by the same voice actor? Maybe?
6203665 I am pretty sure 99% of the time he is called Doctor Whooves in this fandom, or something like that. And either way his name is just Doctor, the show just likes to title drop every single episode.
6210271 Yes, I'm aware of who is the Doctor, both in pony form and not. I was just making a joke.
I have to admit I now have no theories as to where the plot is going. Thats a good thing!
6210331 *fwoosh* I had no idea, sorry about that >.< I get rather pedantic about the shows I like.
6201432 When this story is someday finished, could you link us to the document? That would be cool to look at!
6217927
It'll take a little cleaning up, since it's organized by chapter rather than by loop, but sure!
It took me about 14 chapters to realize this, but this fanfic doesn't actually explain Pinkie Sense. In this story, it wouldn't have started until after NMM's defeat, yet in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" Applejack and the other Ponyville citizens acted like she had it long before then. But I still want to see where this fanfic is going. Will Pinkie finally figure out that she mixed up the EoH? That could be the main reason the other M5 are falling apart: maybe they're trying too hard to live up to virtues that aren't their strongest.
At first it seemed random to make Trixie and Fluttershy cousins, but now it looks like you're going somewhere with it, although I can't guess what direction that might be.
I'm sure the chronomancers are behind the time loops, and I'm betting Apple Cobbler is a chronomancer, despite her innocuous cutie mark. Minuette and the Doctor are obvious candidates. I'm also guessing they're behind most of Pinkie's gruesome "accidents." It was jarring when Double Whammy snapped her neck, since this is the first time a pony directly killed her on purpose.
well I guess I stand corrected
Wait... By this point I've thought, Nightmare Moon was the level's boss , so common sense suggests, whenever the loop repeats, it does so from the save point, that is from the start of the next level...
Apparently, no... What ?.. What is the purpose of the looping, then?? Quest 1: defeat NM. Quest 2... reach the goal without dying. Quest 1 completed, why repeat it???
Well, by now the quest seems to be: maintain friendships. Okie-dokie!.. Still: where in the name of hecks are save points??!
So maybe not Laughter, but her alternate self?