Breaking the Loop
Chapter 7
Breaking the Loop
“Think fast, Sunset,” muttered Sunset worriedly to herself as she paced around just outside the exit-only door out of the festival. “Come on, think!”
“I can’t believe they actually called your bluff,” Pinkie spoke up sadly. “I would’ve totally panicked if I had been on the receiving end of a threat like the one you made.”
“It wasn’t a bluff,” stated Sunset.
“Huh?” asked Pinkie in confusion.
“I was being completely serious about demolishing the festival if it meant stopping the time loop,” explained Sunset. “I could build a giant bulldozer to easily crush anything between here and their tour bus. I could build a catapult to fling flaming boulders over the walls and destroy their tour bus. I could even build massive drilling machine to undermine and collapse everything in the area.” She then sighed and confessed, “But the truth is… I’d rather not have to do any of those things, not only because it would obviously be way too much unnecessary collateral damage, but also because this day turned out so great for both of us that I’d hate to see it end in such a terrible way before everything resets yet again.”
Pinkie was silent for a moment as she considered her friend’s dilemma, then smiled and calmly assured Sunset, “You know, just because you’re the only one experiencing the time loop doesn’t mean you have to figure this out all by yourself. We’re a team, Sunset — members of the LEGO Team, which means we build on each other. If there’s anything I can do to help, then you can totally count on me to make it happen.”
Sunset smiled back and responded, “You’re right, Pinkie. Whatever we have to do next, we’ll do it together, ‘cause that’s what friends do.” She then turned away and muttered, “Now, then… how are we gonna get back into the festival grounds? I don’t really see much of anything around here that we can work with.”
As Sunset glanced around in various directions, Pinkie suddenly caught a glimpse of something sticking out of the pocket on her jacket. Pinkie gasped, then reached over and removed the item as she exclaimed, “Puffed Pastry’s exclusive star-crusted, cinnamon-dipped churros!”
Sunset was briefly confused, then smiled as she chuckled and remarked, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I just didn’t have the heart to throw it in the trash after it turned out to be too inedible for me.”
The two girls suddenly stared at each other, turned their gazes towards the exit door, then turned back to each other. “Like eating a crowbar!” they both said simultaneously in realization.
Pinkie waved the hardened churro around and naughtily whispered, “Churros are magic!”
“I guess those silly things aren’t so evil after all,” quipped Sunset as she and Pinkie approached the door. Once they stopped in front of it, she tapped her chin and muttered, “So how exactly are we gonna make use of it?”
“I say we just go for it,” suggested Pinkie as she raised the churro over her head while pressing her other hand against the door.
However, before Pinkie could make her first strike, the door suddenly flung open, throwing the two girls backwards as security guard Max Steele appeared in the now opened doorway. “Hey! You two!” he firmly spoke up. “I remember you…”
“You do?” asked Sunset worriedly, fearing the possibility of further punishment this guy might unleash upon her and her friend.
“Yeah…” began Max Steele gruffly. His tone then quickly relaxed as he continued, “You respected my security line earlier today. So many of these people just don’t get it.”
Pinkie and Sunset glanced at each other, then they both stood up and smiled at Max. “We get it!” agreed Pinkie.
“So I thought, ‘Hey, self, these gals aren’t crazy fans. They’re just fans,’” continued Max as he turned away. “Plus, not only did you tip me off on that attempted robbery, but I also just spoke with Puffed Pastry and she confirmed you really were making a churro delivery on her behalf, so you girls technically never did anything… illegal.”
“Weren’t about to, either!” Pinkie blurted out as she hid the stiff churro behind her back.
Max turned back to the girls and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t mind her!” Sunset swiftly insisted. “She says random stuff all the time.” She continued grinning at Max as she jabbed her elbow against Pinkie’s torso.
Pinkie flinched from the sharp impact and briefly glanced at Sunset, then turned to Max with a big smile as she held up that stiff churro and spontaneously quipped, “They’re magically delicious!” She bit down on that rock-hard churro, then immediately flinched in pain before she mumbled, “Must’ve been a bad batch…”
Max stared at Pinkie for a moment, then stated, “Anyway, you girls are just big fans of PostCrush, and since security is all about karma…” He smiled and stepped aside to leave the doorway open. “I think it’s only right you should be able to see the show.”
Sunset and Pinkie both smiled as they could hardly believe just how incredibly lucky they suddenly were in that very moment. They had only minutes left to go to put a stop to the latest abuse of Equestrian Magic, and the security guard who was supposed to keep them out was instead allowing them to simply walk right back into the festival grounds.
“Max Steele, you are the best security guard ever!” praised Sunset. “I swear, if tonight works out for all of us, I’ll give you something tomorrow that I know you’ll appreciate!”
“Oh, gosh, you’re too kind,” responded Max, absolutely flattered by the appreciation. He gestured at the open doorway and politely stated, “Just go on in.”
With that invitation, Sunset and Pinkie rushed past the security guard and headed straight towards the area of the main stage. Once they were far enough away from the guard, Sunset spoke up with determination, “Final objective — get the Time Twirler from K-Lo’s hair and turn it— twirl it off, or— whatever! Just make it not work anymore!”
“You got it, Sunset!” agreed Pinkie. “Time to shut it down!”
“Shut it down…” muttered Sunset, suddenly feeling a little remorseful. As the two girls continued running, Sunset spoke up, “I just realized that I’ve already watched PostCrush plenty of times, but you haven’t experienced any of these time loops. If we go through with this, we’re not only gonna ruin their reunion show, but also your only chance of seeing them perform live on stage.”
Pinkie immediately scoffed and furiously retorted, “Are you kidding?! They trapped my best friend at a super fun music festival without me for months! They are so going down!”
“In that case, I’ll let you have the honors of blasting the door open,” responded Sunset with a smile. “I may not have met them personally on any of the previous loops, but I did get to see the room where they’re gonna be getting ready just before the show starts.”
“Lead the way, Sunset!” declared Pinkie. “Let’s stop this time loop, once and for all!”
A huge crowd had gathered at the main stage, nearly all of whom were excitedly anticipating the start of PostCrush’s live concert that was now only minutes away. They knew this show would be very special because it would be the first time in quite a while that the popular duo would be performing together, and since it was likely this would be the only time in the foreseeable future they would be willing to do such a show, this was something that any fan of PostCrush absolutely did not want to miss for any reason.
In the room below stage, K-Lo and Su-Z were making final preparations just before the start of the show. After going through the same routine over a hundred times already, they had practically memorized every step of the process. But while they were confident with the upcoming show, their recent encounter with Sunset and Pinkie had left them feeling a little on edge.
“I’m getting tired of living the same day over and over,” complained Su-Z with a sad sigh as she applied the last of her makeup. “Can this please be our last performance?”
“We’ve been over this, Su-Z,” scolded K-Lo. “We don’t stop until we get it perfect.”
“Just don’t like watching live TV knowing exactly what’s gonna happen on every channel,” whined Su-Z. “I’m really starting to miss not being able to predict everything around me.”
“And we will go back to regular time, once we finally get our perfect show,” assured K-Lo.
“More like your perfect show,” grumbled Su-Z under her breath. She then spoke up again, “Besides, now that Sunset Shimmer of all people is on to us, I don’t think we’ll have many chances left anyway. Everyone knows that a threat from Sunset Shimmer should not be taken lightly.”
“We’ve already had security kick them out,” insisted K-Lo. “They can’t bother us anymore. It’s not like they’re just gonna suddenly break the door down at the last minute.”
Boom!
K-Lo and Su-Z both immediately turned to see the only door into the room suddenly get blown off its hinges and tumble to the floor. The pink smoke from the blast cleared after only a few seconds, revealing none other than Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie as they stepped into the room.
Pinkie giggled and remarked, “Now that’s what I call a cherry bomb.”
Sunset glared at PostCrush as she crossed her arms and stated, “Sorry to barge in on you like this, but your abuse of Equestrian Magic ends right here, right now.”
Su-Z gasped in shocked and furiously asked, “Who let you two back in?!”
“Let’s just say a little bit of kindness and respect can go a long way,” responded Sunset. “I’m only gonna say this one more time. Make this easy on yourselves and hand it over. Don’t make us have to do this the hard way.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” K-Lo shot back aggressively. “If you were real fans, you’d want this show to be perfect!”
Sunset simply shrugged and quipped, “Eh, nothing’s ever gonna be perfect. Right, Pinkie?”
“You said it, Sunset!” agreed Pinkie eagerly. “As Master Builders, we know better than to ever expect total perfection. Instead…” She reached into her hair and pulled out the rock-hard churro. With a bit of effort, she then bent it into a ninety-degree angle. “You just gotta make the best with what you’ve got!” She then tossed the bent churro directly at K-Lo.
K-Lo saw the bent churro fly right at her face, so she and Su-Z quickly ducked. Once the bent churro flew over their heads, they both stood up again and smirked at their opponents. “Ha! You missed!” taunted K-Lo.
But behind the PostCrush duo, the bent churro reversed direction in midair just before it could reach the wall on the far side of the room, then began to rush right back towards them. While K-Lo was gloating, the bent churro smacked her in the back of the head, knocking the Time Twirler loose from her hair piece and flinging it up into and air on a trajectory towards where Pinkie and Sunset stood.
Pinkie ended up catching the Time Twirler. Once it was in her hands, she dangled it teasingly and playfully retorted, “Ah-ha! Now who’s laughing?”
“LEGO!!” screamed Su-Z furiously as she swiftly tackled Pinkie to the floor, causing the Time Twirler to fly out of her grasp.
Sunset quickly caught the magical artifact as it came back down, only for K-Lo to rush over and also grasp onto it.
“Give it back!” demanded K-Lo as she tugged on the Time Twirler.
“Never!” Sunset shot back as she also tugged on the magical artifact.
The two girls continued tugging on the magical item until K-Lo accidentally rolled her foot on a microphone that was lying on the floor. She quickly lost her balance and fell over backwards, creating a sudden tug that was strong enough to fling the Time Twirler out of both of their grips.
The four girls in the room watched as the Time Twirler flew through the air, bounced off the edge of a large amp, landed in the clamp of a boom stand where a microphone would typically be held, spun around on that boom stand a few times before being flung off, then bounced off a drum — producing the noise of that drum’s beat in the process — and landed inside a toaster, which then dinged and shot it straight up at the ceiling, where it deflected off a support beam, bounced off a guitar — producing a sharp twang noise of one string in the process — landed in the open tray of a CD player which then closed, quickly followed by the other tray on that player opening and shooting it out, and finally landed on a purple square platform in the middle of the room.
All four girls briefly glared at their opposing side, then simultaneously dove at the Time Twirler resting upon that platform. There was a mad scramble between all of them as they each tried to grab the artifact and smack away anyone else who tried to do the same. The four-way tug-o-war between them became so fierce that they failed to even notice a square hole opened up in the ceiling and the platform they were struggling on began to slowly rise up towards that opening. They were so focused on taking possession of that magical item that none of them seemed to notice the change in their surroundings, such as the surrounding pink fog, the dark sky and bright stage lights, or even the noise of the cheering crowd.
“Let me hear three big cheers for two best friends who got back together for one incredible night!” an amplified voice shouted out across the stage and the gathered crowd. “PoooooostCruuuuuush!!”
The cheer and applause from the crowd began to roar loudly, but then quickly silenced as the fog cleared, exposing PostCrush and two other girls seemingly in the middle of a fearsome brawl.
The swift change in their surroundings finally snapped the four girls out of their massive fight as they turned their attention out to the huge audience gathered around the stage. All four of them practically froze in whatever tangled pose they had been in as they stared out at so many different minifigs staring back at them.
“Awkward…” Pinkie quietly sang with embarrassment.
Sunset managed to recover from the shock only a brief moment before any of the others, but that was all the time she needed. With her left arm occupied with shoving Su-Z away, she released her grip on the Time Twirler with her right hand so she could clench a fist and swiftly smack the artifact out of the collective grasp of the other three girls. When that object landed right beside her feet on the stage floor, she did not hesitate to swiftly and firmly stomp her foot on it, shattering the magical artifact.
As soon as the object was broken into fragments, the Equestrian Magic contained within unleashed light so intensely bright that the four girls surrounding it were forced to close their eyes and take a few steps back. A thick, dark cloud of energy slowly rose up from the shattered remains of the Time Twirler, then burst into sparkly vapor as it released a bright shockwave that spread across the stage, the audience, and ultimately all over the festival grounds. The time loop was finally over.
The four girls on stage stood still in shock as they watched the last of the magical vapor fade away. Eventually, K-Lo dropped to her knees as she looked down at the shattered remnants of the Time Twirler and began to sob. “Our legacy is destroyed!” she cried out furiously. “Everything was riding on this show!” She turned to glare at Sunset. “And you ruined it!”
Sunset was momentarily stunned by the accusation, but then as she listened to the crowd of fans gathered around, she began to smile. “Are you sure about that?” she asked slyly as she gestured out towards the gathered crowd.
Following Sunset’s example, Pinkie gently turned a saddened Su-Z around to face the crowd.
Much to the astonishment of both members of PostCrush, the massive audience was cheering loudly and excitedly chanting the name of their band over and over. “I… I-I-I don’t understand…” muttered K-Lo breathlessly.
“Your fans don’t want perfection,” explained Sunset with a friendly smile. “They just want to see you rocking out and having fun.” She gazed out towards the audience as she walked across the stage. “Sometimes, the flaws and silly mistakes are what makes the experience perfect. That’s the best part about seeing live music.” She stopped beside Pinkie and placed an arm around her shoulders. “And it’s the best part about being friends.”
Su-Z was so touched by Sunset’s words and gestures that when she glanced over at K-Lo still down on the stage floor, she decided to walk over to her bandmate and kneel down on the floor beside her.
K-Lo glanced over at her bandmate and shamefully acknowledged, “We did used to have a lot of fun.”
Su-Z sadly confessed, “I guess we got so wrapped up in the pressure to be perfect…”
“…we forgot how to be friends,” finished K-Lo as she and Su-Z both turned to Sunset and Pinkie.
“So what do you say?” asked Sunset contently.
“I don’t know…” muttered K-Lo as she wiped away her tears. She began to smile as she replied, “I guess… this one’s for real.”
Su-Z let out a sigh of satisfaction as she held hands with her old friend and declared, “Let’s do it, then. For real. It’ll be you and me, just like old times. Whatever happens, happens.”
The two bandmates continued to smile and hold hands as they stood up. When they both turned their attention out to the large crowd gathered before them, they shared a brief nod before they turned away from each other and struck their iconic PostCrush pose — K-Lo in a cool pose, Su-Z in a zany pose, both while standing back to back.
The cheer and applause from the audience roared significantly louder as they witnessed that iconic pose.
While K-Lo grabbed her guitar resting nearby and Su-Z sat down at her drum set nearby, Sunset and Pinkie moved over to stand aside on the main stage. As excited as they were to watch PostCrush from a place that any fan could only dream of, the two Equestria Girls were respectful enough to leave the stage clear for the intended performers.
Finally, all of the various stage lights dimmed, and the audience soon quieted their cheers. With their instruments at the ready, the PostCrush duo began playing the opening notes of their famous song. The stage lights flashed with every beat of the tune. After a few seconds, the display panels along the back side of the stage lit up, illuminating the girls on stage with flashing displays of pulsing hearts. While Su-Z continued with the opening beats, K-Lo turned to face the audience and sang the opening lyrics.
Always first place… never second best…
Only high stakes… we aim to impress…
And there’s no room for mistakes…
Yeah, we’re flawless… everyday, ‘cause…
Su-Z joined in with K-Lo for the next part of the lyrics.
We’re all about perfection,
Projecting the pure reflection,
Exceeding your expectations,
Yeah…
The PostCrush duo performed with all their heart into the music and the audience cheered louder as the song reached its chorus.
Be the true… true, true original!
Dare to be what you are meant to be!
Working hard, that’s our thing!
All this way, we’re perfect, perfectly true!
As PostCrush performed, Sunset and Pinkie danced to the music off to the side of the stage. K-Lo and Su-Z watched them enjoy themselves, then glanced at each other and shared a nod of agreement. Su-Z kicked one of her drums to slide across the stage and stop right in front of Pinkie.
The two Equestria Girls stopped dancing when they noticed the drum sent towards them. They both turned to PostCrush and smiled as they watched K-Lo pick up the spare guitar on stage and tossed it over to them. As Sunset eagerly caught the guitar, Pinkie swiftly pulled her drumsticks out from within her hair piece, and soon, the two fans of PostCrush were performing right alongside them.
True, true original…
True, true original…
True, true original…
We’re perfect, perfectly true!
As K-Lo enthusiastically vocalized throughout the instrumental part of the song, Sunset and Pinkie looked out towards the audience as they continued playing. They were pleasantly surprised when they saw the rest of their friends make their way into the crowd. Rainbow Dash pointed up to them on stage and waved at them, followed by the rest of the group of friends waving at them. Sunset and Pinkie spared a brief moment to wave back at their friends in the audience as they continued playing along to the music.
When the time came for the next verse of the song, K-Lo moved aside and pointed towards Sunset and Pinkie, signaling for them to take the lead for this part of the song. After the experiences those two had been through today, they decided to slightly change the lyrics to reflect the lessons they had learned.
But… it’s not about perfection,
Set off in your own direction,
Shake off the expectations…
With her duet with Pinkie complete, Sunset walked over to stand beside K-Lo on stage. K-Lo smiled and nodded in approval, and then all four girls performed the chorus with slightly modified lyrics to reflect the lessons they had all learned tonight.
You’re the true… true, true original!
Dare to be who you are meant to be!
Free yourself, do your thing!
All your way, you’re perfect, imperfectly you!
The audience continued the cheer as they seemed to absolutely love the improvised new version of the song. Pinkie decided to throw in some special visual effects by pulling two handfuls of hard candy out of her hair piece and tossed them high up into the air. Thanks to her magical power, those pieces of candy exploded like fireworks when they reached the apex of their flight, and the crowd continued the cheer.
True, true original…
True, true original…
True, true original…
You’re perfect, imperfectly you!
Just as she had done over a hundred times before, K-Lo finished the song by tossing her guitar pick into the air, this time intentionally flinging it backwards to ensure it would be caught by the two Equestria Girls who helped make this their best show ever.
Sunset ended up catching the pick, but as soon as she glanced over at Pinkie, she quickly decided to hand it over to her friend.
With the song finished, the audience roared with excitement and enthusiasm as they chanted the name PostCrush over and over.
Sunset and Pinkie turned to each other with thrilled expressions as Sunset excitedly remarked, “I can’t believe we just played at Starswirled!”
“You sure did!” agreed Su-Z as she and K-Lo waved over at them.
“Get over here and take a photo with us!” suggested K-Lo with enthusiasm.
Sunset and Pinkie glanced at each other with huge smiles on their faces, then immediately rushed over to join the favorite band out on stage.
As Sunset pulled out her phone and prepared to take a group selfie, she excitedly remarked, “Now this is a perfect moment!”
Pinkie giggled excitedly as the four girls pressed together and posed for the photo. Once they were all together within view of the phone’s camera, Sunset took the picture.
Sunset had a huge smile as she looked at the new picture on her phone. “I am so gonna make this my phone’s new background!” she excitedly declared as she tapped her phone. “If anything, at least it’ll prove to me tomorrow morning that this time loop is finally over.”
“Yeah, sorry you had to go through all that,” apologized K-Lo. “We never meant for anyone to get caught in the loop with us.”
“Eh, I won’t take it personally,” assured Sunset. “I was pretty much just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“More like the right place and time,” corrected Pinkie cheerfully, “because if you didn’t get caught in the time loop with PostCrush, you never would’ve gained all that experience to make this the best day for all of us!”
“I guess that’s another way of looking at it,” admitted Sunset with a smile.
“As great as this show went, we’d better get off stage before the fans start asking for an encore,” stated K-Lo as she gestured for the girls on stage to follow her. “Just this one show was stressful enough.”
“Tell me about it,” remarked Su-Z with a scoff as she rolled her eyes as she, Sunset, and Pinkie followed K-Lo backstage. She glanced back at the other two and added, “Believe me, after repeating this day so many times, I was getting very close to just walking out on K-Lo until she’d agree to finally stop using that stupid thing.”
K-Lo let out a sigh of disappointment and acknowledged, “I should’ve expected that would eventually happen. It was practically the same issues that drove us apart in the first place.” Once the four girls arrived in the secluded backstage room, K-Lo smiled and noted, “I’m just glad it didn’t have to come to that again, thanks to some special insight from a couple of special fans. That improv you two came up with went so great, I dare say that even if I still had that time resetting artifact, I probably would choose not to use it again tonight.”
“Wow,” remarked Pinkie. “Who’d’ve thought that you became so obsessed with using that Time Twirler over and over again, and yet the moment you suddenly couldn’t use it anymore just so happened to occur on the very same loop where you decided everything went super-duper enough that you didn’t even need it anymore, anyway?”
That observation pointed out by Pinkie made Sunset suddenly remember a certain detail from when she had viewed K-Lo’s memories earlier. “The curse has been lifted…” she muttered.
“Huh?” asked Su-Z in confusion.
Sunset turned to K-Lo and spoke up, “That guy who sold you the Time Twirler… the moment you bought it from him, he said something about a curse being lifted.”
“He did,” acknowledged K-Lo, “but I never believed in any curses. At the time, I thought he was just spewing some nonsense from being out in the desert for too long.”
Pinkie gasped as she grabbed Sunset by the shoulders and asked, “Are you saying the Time Twirler was cursed by making whoever uses it for whatever reason be always unable to actually achieve that thing they were using it for, thereby forcing them to keep on using it over and over and over again for all of eternity?!”
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess that might explain a lot,” noted Su-Z. “I mean, it did seem kinda weird at times how we always seemed to find all kinds of new ways to mess up our show.”
“I’m not sure,” answered Sunset as she gently pried Pinkie’s hands off her. “When Princess Twilight of Equestria sent me those notes about the Time Twirler, they never said anything about a curse. Then again, the guy who sold it claimed that it was plundered from a tomb, so maybe there was something about being in that tomb that put a curse on it.” She waved her hand dismissively and added, “Either way, I’ll need to send a message to Princess Twilight to at least let her know the Time Twirler has been destroyed, even though she technically won’t remember anything about it since she did all that research in an earlier loop.”
“Uh, quick question,” Su-Z spoke up hesitantly. “Since we messed around with Equestrian Magic, does this mean we’re gonna get in big trouble for what we did?”
That thought caused K-Lo to look at Sunset with a very worried expression, suddenly feeling very concerned about the impact this incident might have on the reputation of PostCrush.
Sunset thought about it for a moment, then smiled and replied, “Well, thanks to the extensive use of time travel, technically the only one to have been affected by all of this was just me, and since I’m a rather forgiving person, I promise to not press any charges.”
Both K-Lo and Su-Z let out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing that statement.
“But as a member of the LEGO Team, I’ll still be obligated to submit a report on this incident,” added Sunset. “I’m not sure what kind of judgement they’ll have for your actions and behavior, but I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you.”
“Oh! I just realized something!” Pinkie suddenly spoke up excitedly. “Since you’ve been using Equestrian Magic in a not-so-nice way and later apologized for hurting everyone affected by it, that means you could be invited to join the Redeemables! It’s this group of former enemies of ours who are gonna be working together to make themselves better and to help prevent any other would-be bad guys from becoming bad guys in the first place!”
“That does sound kinda interesting,” admitted Su-Z.
“But I think we’ll decline that offer,” stated K-Lo as she shared a smile and nod of agreement with her bandmate. “We have no interest in becoming heroes, and would much rather stick with what we’re already famous for.”
“In fact,” added Su-Z, “now that we’re no longer disagreeing about so many things, we might actually stick together this time and go on an extended tour.”
“That sounds like a great idea!” agreed Sunset. “I’m sure your fans will be thrilled to hear about that.”
“We’ll be sure give credit where it’s due,” assured K-Lo. “We’ll make the announcement tomorrow and tell everyone it couldn’t have been possible without a little help from the Equestria Girls.”
“Did you hear that, Sunset?!” exclaimed Pinkie excitedly. “We helped PostCrush stay together for more than one night!”
Sunset giggled in amusement, then turned back to the PostCrush duo and said, “Well, this night sure has been eventful, but it’s getting pretty late, so I guess we’d better get going.”
“Yeah, I’m sure your friends are waiting for you back at the campgrounds,” agreed Su-Z. “Not to mention, now that we’re no longer gonna repeat this day, we gotta figure out what we’re actually gonna do tomorrow.”
K-Lo chuckled and acknowledged, “Yeah, I guess I never really thought about what we’d do once the show was done, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
“Either way, if you ever change your mind about the Redeemables, I’m sure the invitation will always be open,” stated Sunset as she held out her hand.
K-Lo and Su-Z stepped forward, but then hesitated as they suddenly remembered what happened the last time Sunset had requested a handshake.
Sunset quickly understood their reluctance, so she giggled and assured them, “Relax, I’ve got enough control over my magical power that I don’t read minds every single time I touch someone.” She leaned close to them and discretely whispered, “If I didn’t, I’d go mad from exposure to Miss Sugar Bomb over there.”
The PostCrush duo glanced over at Pinkie, who eagerly waved at them with a huge grin on her face. “Point taken,” remarked Su-Z before she shook Sunset’s hand.
“Have a good one,” said K-Lo as she shook Sunset’s hand.
“Same to you,” responded Sunset.
As the PostCrush duo next turned to Pinkie, the party girl rushed towards them and wrapped them both in a tight hug as she squealed and exclaimed, “I’m sharing a hug with PostCrush! This really has been the best day ever!”
“And this is why we don’t interact with fans very often,” muttered K-Lo and she and Su-Z strained against the tight hug.
Upon hearing that, Pinkie quickly released them and giggled in embarrassment.
Sunset chuckled and politely declared, “All right, Pinkie, let’s get going.” She then began to make her way out of the backstage area.
Pinkie nodded in agreement and followed after Sunset.
The two Equestria Girls paused at the exit and turned back to wave at PostCrush, who waved back at them. With that final exchange, Sunset and Pinkie left the main stage area and began to make their way back towards the campgrounds, feeling very pleased to have such a great ending to such a great day.
Later that evening, Sunset and Pinkie returned to their RV in the campgrounds, where the rest of their friends were seated around the heating table and roasting marshmallows over it. Both girls had big smiles on their faces as they walked together beside each other.
Rainbow Dash placed her roasted marshmallow on a graham cracker and removed it from the skewer she held when she noticed the arrival of Sunset and Pinkie. “There they are!” she spoke up eagerly as the others also turned to their two friends. “We saw you two play on stage with PostCrush. I don’t know how you got to do that, but it was awesome!”
As Sunset walked over to grab a skewer and placed a marshmallow on it, she chuckled and stated, “I’m glad you girls got to see that. I honestly never could’ve imagined this day would turn out like that.”
“And after everything you’ve been through, that’s really saying something!” remarked Pinkie cheerfully as she grabbed the last available skewer and stabbed a handful of marshmallows onto the end of it.
“Oh? How did your day go, Sunset?” asked Fluttershy with curiosity.
As Sunset and Pinkie sat down around the heating table to join their friends in roasting marshmallows, Sunset sighed and admitted, “It’s a long story.”
“More like a long four months, if what you said was true,” quipped Pinkie. She turned to the rest of her friends and swiftly explained, “You see, there was this other magical thing from Equestria that ended up in our world that could make a day repeat for someone over and over, and Sunset somehow got caught up in its effects, leaving her trapped on this day and in this place for a really really long time and had no idea what was going on until she eventually sent a message in her magic journal asking Princess Twilight for help, who then told us about that Time Twirler magical thingy, but Sunset was never able to find out who had that thingy until right on this loop when both of us were shocked to discover that it was actually PostCrush who had been using it all along!”
Everyone besides Pinkie and Sunset gasped at that revelation. “No way…” muttered Rainbow in shock and disbelief.
“It’s true!” continued Pinkie. “They were using it because they were so super-duper obsessed with performing the perfect show but some little things always kept going wrong for them, forcing them to keep using that Time Twirler over and over and over, kinda like hitting the reset button on a video game, except this was happening in real life! Thankfully, we managed to catch up to them and Sunset was able to smash the Time Twirler, but it was while we accidentally ended up on stage with them that we helped them realize they didn’t need to be perfect to put on an awesome show, so they agreed to finally just go for it, and they even allowed us to play alongside them as a way of thanking us for helping them solve their problems, encouraging them finally reunite for real this time!”
“Wow,” muttered Spike. “That really was a long story.”
“So, in other words, you’re saying this magical artifact from Equestria caused Sunset to experience a perpetual temporal loop?” asked Twilight.
Sunset smirked and replied, “To quote you word for word, ‘It’s possible that a snag in the fabric of spacetime could cause a temporal point — i.e., this day — to fold in on itself and thereby repeat.’”
Rainbow chuckled and quipped, “Yeah, that sounds like something Twilight would say, alright.”
Rarity glanced away and quietly muttered, “I suppose that would explain a few things.”
“Like what?” asked Pinkie.
“Do you remember those secret messages Sunset distributed to us at the start of the day?” responded Rarity. “The one I received warned me to stay clear of the public restroom area shortly after making a significant purchase. Sure enough, as soon as I bought myself this fashionable faux suede jacket with excessive fringe,” she spoke as she gestured at the new jacket she was wearing, “I was curious enough to inspect from a distance why I should stay clear of that area, and it turns out there was a group of children playing with squirt guns and super soakers, which would have surely ruined this jacket had I been unfortunate enough to end up in the crossfire of that playful conflict.”
“That’s interesting,” noted Twilight as she turned to Sunset. “My message warned me to watch where I was going while holding my phone. There was a moment I would’ve tripped over an old music player on the ground and possibly could have accidentally tossed my phone into a nearby barrel of water, had I not heeded that advice.”
“Ah was careful enough to avoid all the pushin’ an’ shovin’ that was goin’ on when Dirk Thistleweed came on, which ya warned be about,” Applejack pointed out as she also turned to Sunset.
“I was able to convince Fluttershy to try singing at that karaoke place by building a little privacy booth around her,” added Spike.
“I still can’t believe there was a food truck that actually sold those so-called lasagna pops, but Spike sure seemed to really like it,” added Fluttershy.
“And the manager of this festival told me that if I could get permission from all of you, he could arrange to have a rental van pick up our instruments so we can perform some of our songs on stage tomorrow night,” Rainbow Dash finished.
“Wow, Sunset!” remarked Pinkie cheerfully. “Looks like all those secret messages you gave to everyone really did make this day better for all of them!”
“Glad to hear that,” responded Sunset. “Personally, I’m just happy this whole time loop is over, which means we can finally move on to the real tomorrow.”
“Well, I guess it’s nice that everything turned out great for all of us,” remarked Spike. Just then, the marshmallow he was roasting suddenly caught on fire. He yelped in panic and prepared to start waving his skewer around, only to have it suddenly slip out of his hand behind him before he could fling it forward. He looked around in confusion and soon discovered that Sunset had yanked it out of his grasp.
Sunset strongly blew on the flaming marshmallow, quickly putting out the flame. She then passed the burnt marshmallow back to Spike and quipped, “And now, everything has turned out great for all of us.”
The other girls all laughed and giggled at that remark.
“You know,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, “I just realized that we just stopped yet another force of evil magic, only this time we didn’t even need to use our rainbow lasers.” She smirked and added, “We must be getting good at this.”
Sunset chuckled and admitted, “Now that you mention it, I’m kinda glad we didn’t upstage PostCrush’s show by ponying up. Now there’s something I don’t think I could ever live down.”
“Yeah, me neither,” agreed Pinkie. She then promptly shoved her wad of toasted marshmallows into her mouth and ate them straight off the skewer.
Sunset smiled and stated, “Still, all things considered, I couldn’t have asked for a better day than this.”
Sunset and her friends all continued to share friendly conversations with each other as they toasted marshmallows together over the heating table. Eventually, they all agreed to turn in for the night and entered the RV. As she and her friends changed into their pajamas and climbed into their sleeping bags, Sunset had to admit she was definitely looking forward to what tomorrow would finally bring.
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Good thing teh clear LEGO peices, for gems etc, are a weaker material than the bricks themselves. .or at least a far more brittle material.
Now that the Loop is out the way, the girls can actually enjoy what teh festival is all about. and Kitty.
Wait, if that guy was cursed to keep using the Time Twirler over and over again, how did selling it to K-Lo break the curse?
Also, this was a good ending. I'm looking forward to the epilogue. By the way, Sunset and Pinkie are going to hook Max up with that cat, aren't they?
And another story almost done, what gonna be next by the way? I already kinda forgot eqg timeline.
10401686
Well you still need to activate it by pressing a button or something since he don't have it anymore he can't do this and the day won't repeat itself so the curse is also broken.
10402346
The next one will likely be Holidays Unwrapped since it's the next one after Backstage Pass.
10401686 I did say the "curse" of the Time Twirler would be only partially explained. The full explanation won't be revealed until much later on in the series. Most likely, it'll be one of the "side stories" I plan on writing alongside the last three remaining main stories. (Interestingly, somewhat thanks to you pointing this out, I've just recently started coming up with ideas for how that particular short story might be written. No spoilers for now, of course.)
10402346 If you need a reminder of my full plans for the rest of this fanfiction series, just take a look at my recent blog posts. (Specifically, the one I wrote back in November last year. The plans I outlined there still remain unchanged.)