• Published 31st Jan 2017
  • 2,059 Views, 212 Comments

One Thousand One Ways to Thwart a King - enigmaMystere



What would happen if ponies were not only prepared for the Caribou, but were able to ask across dimensions for help? Now, what if they were stuck in a time loop?

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Apples Are to Me What Cigarettes and Alcohol Are to Humans

"What did you do?!"

"Me? Why are you asking me that? You should ask that beast you sent at me, you slut!"

The two magical beings are right in each other's faces, pointing the blame at the other and at beings not currently there. Despite their outrage, neither one touches the other, concerned that they might get violent… or, worse, prove by the touch that they aren't imagining things.

This stalemate was broken by the mare trying to do the same to his nose, aided by her fist.

"He was not a beast, he was a human!" Twilight crosses her arms as she takes a few steps back, having realized just how close she had gotten to the caribou in the last couple moments. "Besides, his specialty seemed to be enhancement, not time control."

"Does that make a difference?" His eyes narrow and he takes a step closer to the retreating mare. "We're here now, and I'm no longer dead. I'll have to find and thank him for that."

"...actually, I think he was breaking your horns." She sheepishly smiles. "I sent that blast through your head."

"...maybe I should've considered you for a battle bitch." He sneers at her. "Maybe I can if you give in… and stop ignoring me, you who-"

A magical muzzle clamps his mouth shut. "You talk too much. I need to concentrate to figure out just what these spells did. Now let's see…" She mutters to herself as she looks over the two incantations. "...Hero brings one being to the aid of the caster, in addition to anything he, she, or it may be carrying with them… the result is random. Great. I guess it's gonna be difficult to bring Shazam back here…" She sighs, then turns the pages back. "Let's see… Zero… Zero… uh oh."

Dainn's eyebrow raises at this, unable to voice his curiosity at the moment. Thankfully, she goes ahead and gives him the answer to his unspoken question.

"Zero is a spell that locks ponies into a single space and time until they come to an agreement. It will rewind time to the point it was cast if any of the ones present when cast becomes… incapacitated… with their health restored." She lets out a breath, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "Wow, you actually surpassed Starswirl, Smart Cookie…"

Horns glowing, the king breaks the muzzle, working his jaw a moment before looking at her skeptically. "So what you're saying is that we're stuck here until you agree to become my slave."

Her eyes narrow dangerously. "No. We're here until you agree to leave Equestria alone!" She raises up her hand, pointing at him as she casts the spell she did not too long ago.

"HERO!"

In a blur of black, a journal falls from the sky, impacting the ground with barely even a sound. Confused by this, Twilight reaches down and touches the journal, then promptly shrieks, jumping up and away from it, staring at a spot above it in shock.

There before her was another being, not quite like the human from before. For one thing, his skin was an ashen gray, nearly blue. His limbs were gangly, and he was floating off the ground before her. He gives a sharp-toothed grin as his red eyes focused on her face, reminding her a bit too much of Discord before he was reformed.

"So, you were the one who found the Death Note." He glances over her, raising a hand to his chin as he does so. "...not exactly what I would've expected, but you're probably just as interesting as Light was."

Twilight's mind was shifting into overdrive, nearly overheating from the combination of the bizarre creature and the sudden onslaught of information. "W-who are you talking about? Interesting? Death Note?"

"Are you going insane over there?" Dainn speaks up, causing her to flinch and look at him. "If that's what you summoned does to ponies, keep it far away from me."

"N-no! Don't you see him?" She gestures to the being. "It? Whatever it is?"

"I am the shinigami Ryuk." He chuckles deeply. "And I want to see how this all turns out."

"What!" She glares at the being, her fury rising. "Don't act like that! I summoned you to help! So please, help!"

Ryuk stares at her a moment, then looks at the caribou just as he fires a blast towards him, trying to hit an invisible enemy that he assumes is there. The bad news for him is that it does nothing but phase through his body. "...you actually disappointed me faster than Light." He picks up the journal, flipping it open so only the unreadable title is seen before writing in it.

Twilight can only stare at him in dumbfounded shock, unable to believe what she is seeing. Then he turns the book to her, and she feels a sharp pain in her chest as she reads.

Twilight Sparkle 10:02 am, shot through the heart


"Zero."

As soon as the word is spoken, Twilight grasps at her chest, gasping for air like it was the sweetest delicacy she's ever tasted. The king looks at her, eyes narrowed in anger. "How does it feel to be the one who died, bitch?"

She shudders. "I saw Smart Cookie… she was shorter than I imagined..."

"I was being facetious, you dumb bitch! I don't care if you die!" He points a finger at her. "There's a chance we'll be stuck doing this for eternity!"

"...we actually might." She looks up at him, frowning deeply. "But if that's what it takes to protect my friends, protect Equestria, then I'll gladly do it." She points at him, shouting in fervor.

"HERO!"

Author's Note:

I honestly did not expect this many replies. I can only hope that what Twilight said will help establish the rules for suggestions.

Also, there's one or two more pre-planned chapter before we start using suggestions. I'll need that extra time to research the suggestions that you send us. This should be the only one with such a short battle, and that's only because of how the battle had to go.

Thanks for reading! :twilightsmile: