Loop 3
Monday.
"Hey sweetie," Twilight said as she gently opened the door with her magic. Astral was in a blanket burrito, and all that could be seen were her eyes. As she stepped into the room, Astral pulled the blanket off her head to reveal a terrible bedhead.
"I have to go back to Canterlot. Starlight's going to watch you for a while, I'll be back tomorrow." She pulled her into a hug, wings shielding her from all sides. After hearing she was sick, Twilight had postponed her plans to meet Alchemy to look after her.
An idea entered Astral's mind, and she pulled away to ask. "Can I come with you?" She hadn't seen her BBBFF in ages, and letter writing was a hassle and a half. "Absolutely not!" Twilight said, shocked, before switching on her lecturing voice. "When sick, ponies, young ponies especially, should stay inside and try to get as much sleep as possible so their immune system can grow strong once more!"
Astral considered asking what an immune system, but decided she didn't want another lecture, so just meekly nodded her head, and gave her a list of the books the last loops Twilight had ordered for her. "Can you at least pick up these books for me?"
Twilight scanned the list, then looked up, an eyebrow raised. "You want to read a book?" She asked, doubt clear in her voice.
Astral shrugged, feeling awkward, and decided to fall back on the usual excuse. "Crusading idea," was all she said, and even her mom, the ultimate nerd, knew better then to ask anything else after the great Lupin Outbreak of the Spring Solstice.
"Ah, well, I'll try to find them, but no promises," she said, trotting out of the room, and leaving Astral alone in the room.
Once alone, she rolled out of her bed and over to the marble on the floor. Levitating it up to eye level, she carefully inspected the little sphere with interest.
So, my room is like a neutral area. What if a pony comes in? It's worth a shot, and I don't think I should leave the room around the time it loops . . when does it loop? I'll have to keep an eye on the clock.
Knowing Starlight would make sure she didn't leave her room, Astral looked around bored. She could practice telekinesis, seeing as she could now levitate the marble with ease, but it didn't seem that appealing somehow. Instead, she remembered her Myths and Monsters book, and how she had never finished the Deity chapter.
Flicking through it, she came to the page where she had left off, and continued reading.
Each of these opposites were made to balance each other out, and stop the other from losing control.
However, there was one God who was more powerful than the others; Ebony, the Goddess of Darkness. She was the oldest and strongest of the six, but also the most arrogant. She felt that only she was deserving of the mortal's admiration.
One day, she attacked her other side, Ray, the God of Light, severely injuring him, and draining half of his magic. She wanted to rule the world, and so wanted to make sure the others couldn't stop her.
But, the other five banded together to combine their powers and seal Ebony away indefinitely. However, all five suffered grievously. Harmonia, weak from the magic she had used up, changed her form and fell into a coma, and Loki, without his balance, went insane. Ray also suffered the same fate, and vanished days after Ebony was locked away.
In comparison, both Aether and Kronos got off lightly, with Aether being severely weakened but still awake and alive, and Kronos getting off completely unharmed.
To this day, Ebony is still sealed away, awaiting her chance to come back and wreak vengeance on the ones that wronged her.
Astral closed the book with a frustrated huff. That told her nothing!
She threw herself onto her back, and crossed her hooves as she stared up at the roof. What was she going to do now?
Well, this is a time loop, she reminded herself. Technically, I can do anything with no consequences for my actions. The idea made her feel uncomfortable, and she squirmed slightly. Okay, I don't have to do anything extreme, maybe try to help my friends get cutie marks and play a few pranks?
The second idea was a pleasant one. Astral was what her mom liked to call a Theoretical Joker, which meant that Astral thought up of pranks, but never actually followed them through, for fear of being reprimanded, or any other kind of unwanted attention. But if she could pull them off with no consequences . . .
Tuesday.
"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! Now the thing about biological instincts is . ."
Apple Jam stifled a yawn as the teacher went on and on. It was just so boring! She aimed a longing glance outside, where it was sunny and warm, and reluctantly turned her head back around to stare at the teacher. She risked a glance at Butterscotch, only to find the colt staring near the front of the class. Following his gaze, Jam realized he was looking at Astral, who was . . .
Jam blinked, sitting straighter in her desk so she could get a better view, but, sure enough, Astral was mouthing along to everything Cheerilee said perfectly, like it was one of her favorite movies. She even perfectly copied a joke Cheerilee made!
Astral turned around, and met their gaping with a smile and a wave.
"Astral Plane!" The two earthponies shared a panicked glance at their teachers stern voice.
"So glad that you have decided to rejoin the conversation, Astral," Cheerilee said, not seeing how Astral was still mouthing along to everything she was saying. But Jam and Butterscotch could, and were baffled. They exchanged a look, and decided to figure this out at break.
"What was that?" Jam demanded once they were outside.
They were under an oak tree, all three of them lying on their backs and looking up through the branches. Astral looked sheepish, and shrugged her shoulders "I don't know what you mean," she said, uncomfortable.
Jam snorted, rolling her eyes, and wagging a hoof to the way her mom, Rarity, does. "Don't play coy with me!" She snapped, flipping to her side so she and Astral were muzzle to muzzle. "How did you do that?"
For a few brief moments, Astral considered telling them, but then realized that they would either think she was crazy, or not understand, and she would have to give a long explanation. So she went with option three.
"Mom's been teaching me magic" she shrugged. "One of the basic spells she taught me was how to sync up to what someponies saying. Voice actors use it all the time." Both her friends scrutinized her for a moment, and Astral had to make absolutely sure her ears didn't twitch nervously. I am a terrible liar.
Simultaneously, grins spread across their faces, and they tackled their friend to the ground. "Best. Trick. Ever!" Butterscotch squealed, squeezing the little unicorn so hard that for a second she thought she heard her ribs crack.
Despite this, she managed to grin. She had played a completely harmless prank on her friends, and it turned out well. Actually, their faces had been hilarious!
Jam turned to her, expression mischievous, and bopped her on the nose. "Tag," she said, before sprinting off, Butterscotch close behind her. Astral laughed, and started to chase after them, a big, stupid grin on her face.
Wednesday.
"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!"
Astral waited for the fuss to die down between her best friends, before interjecting. "Actually," she said, drawing their attention. "I was thinking, what if instead of doing hang gliding, we did something else?"
"Oh?" Jam was intrigued.
"What if we tried taking care of animals?" In all honesty, Astral wasn't really an animal girl. She had a couple of favorite creatures, but that was about it.
But Butterscotch, Fluttershy's son, looked interested, and Jam was slowly nodding her head. "I do like animals" Butterscotch said slowly.
"Yeah, and can you imagine a Snake Charming Cutie Mark? It would look so cool!" Jam leaped up into the air, and raised her hoof. Well used to this, the others followed suit, and they slammed their hooves together with a cry of
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Animal Caretakers, YAY!"
"I don't think my one likes me," Astral said, as she tried to pick up her fox, who tried to squirm away no matter what.
Jam was having a similar issue with her badger, and was now trying to coax him out of the corner. "Dumb badger," she muttered, and said badger growled in response.
Butterscotch, on the other hoof, had long since abandoned his bird, and was instead crouching down in front of a three legged dog, holding a hoof out for him to sniff. "This is Lucky," he explained, noticing Astral's stares. "Mom found him in an alleyway, really badly injured. They had to cut off his hind leg 'cause it was so messed up."
As if he knew they were talking about him, Lucky let out a weak whine, and leaned forwards in an attempt to reach Butterscotch's hoof. "He has to do tons of physical therapy" he continued, taking a small step back, and out of reach. "But he never wants to do it."
Butterscotch stretched his hoof as far out as he could, and Lucky gave three wobbling, unsteady steps down so that he could press up against the colt. Butterscotch smiled, and gave him a quick scratch behind the ear. "Good boy, oh good boy" he praised, not noticing the flash of light on his flank until his two friends gasped.
"What is it?" He asked, turning around, eyes wide.
Trembling, Jam lifted a hoof to his flank, and Butterscotch bent his head to look at it. On it was a simple barbell, with a heart in the center of it. "Ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmy- MOM!" He squealed, running into his mothers sanctuary. It had only grown over the years, and had many volunteer workers, all of whom stared at him as he sprinted past, shrieking at the top of his lungs.
He found his parents under one of the many apple tree's they had, and skidded to a stop in front of them, panting. Seeing their confused looks, he turned to show them his flank prancing as he did so. "Oh my," Fluttershy said, smiling at her excited son. "What does it mean?"
But before he could say anything, Astral and Jam tackled him into a hug.
"Whooooooooo!" Jam started doing an improvised dance around them all. "You got your cutie mark! WHOOOOOOOOO!" Her cries drew the attention of all the interns and apprentices working at the sanctuary, but she didn't care.
And even that was nothing compared to Braeburn. "Well, knock me down with a feather boy!" He cried, swinging Butterscotch up into a one armed hug. Butterscotch was the tallest in their class, and the strongest, yet Braeburn was holding him as if he was the feather. "Can't wait to tell the folks back home about this!" He added as an afterthought.
Butterscotch, who had started off jubilant, was slowly sinking back into embarrassment. "Ponies are staring" he hissed.
In response, Braeburn lifted him up as high as he could, so everyone could see him. "Look at my son!" He cried, "I'm so gosh darn proud of him!"
"Hoo boy" Jam muttered, and Astral nodded in total agreement.
Thursday.
"Physical therapy!" Butterscotch beamed as he stood in front of the entire class.
After seeing his cutie mark, Cheerilee had invited the earth pony up to the front to talk about it. He got off track several times, and would sometimes talk way too fast in his excitement, but Astral could keep up with him well enough, and apparently, so could other members of the class, as they were able to ask questions.
"What's Physical Therapy?"
"Why a barbell?"
"What's with the heart?"
Butterscotch, who had researched it last night, decided to focus on the first question. "Physical Therapy is kind of like a life coach, in a way" he began, running a hoof against the ground in thought. "Mine is for helping ponies with injuries or disabilities grow stronger." Seeing their blank looks, he elaborated. "For example, you could be missing a leg, which means you would have to strengthen your other legs in return."
More heads were nodding, so he pushed on. "My cutie mark is a dumbbell" he aimed a glance at the kid who had called it a barbell "with a heart in it, to represent how I'm supposed to nurture and look after others." Seeing the unimpressed looks he was being given by other colts, he also hurried to add "I'll also probably be working with ex soldiers too!"
Everypony clapped as he went back to his chair, and Astral and Jam grinned at him, before giving their infamous three way highhoof.
Cheerilee cleared her throat to get her classes attention, and, after they settled down, gave them all a huge smile. "Now today is Thursday, and you know what that means, test." Hearing the groans, her smile enlarged, and she held up a hoof. "But-" that got everyone's attention. "Since this day is very important to Butterscotch . ." she put the test papers away. "No test!"
The schoolhouse had enlarged over the years, and now had several classes and teachers, which meant that they all heard the screams and cheering even from across the school.
Later, when Twilight came to pick up Astral up from school, she congratulated Butterscotch on getting his cutie mark, much to the colts joy.
"Oh, and Astral, I got those books you wanted", she said, before levitating three books into Astral's saddlebag.
Astral gave her a quick hug. "Thanks mom," she said, as the two started back for the castle.
"Don't mention it. Though why you would want a time loop book is beyond me, they're so overdone."
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I'm gonna be sad when the time loop removes butters cutie mark
8960475
Oh, so will Assie.
Well, I've read Hard Reset, A Little Loopy, and 3:14 PM (all on FIMFiction); so this is only the fourth time loop story I've read.