MLP Loops 136
136.1 (KrisOverstreet, with aid by WildRook)
"Good morning, Fluttershy!" Twilight said as Fluttershy opened the door of her cottage. "I just came by to check on our guest Looper. How's he doing? Enjoying his sanctuary Loop?"
"Er, um, to be honest, not well at all," Fluttershy admitted meekly. "For the first week he ate well, relaxed, and looked happy. He even began to put on weight, the poor thing. And then... he just sort of... tapered... off."
The yellow pegasus led the lavender unicorn off behind the cottage and around the birdhouses and chicken coop to a low grass-covered mound, where a veritable allegory of Want lay sprawled out, head on its forearms. Its forepaws were basically furry hands, and its feet owed more to human clown shoes than anything canine, and of course the muzzle- snout, to give it its due- resembled a canine face more in omission than actual alignment.
Huge yellow bloodshot eyes stared out into nowhere. As the two ponies watched in silence, it took a breath which sounded like a sigh both going in and coming out.
"I've never seen such a bad case of melancholy in a carnivore," Fluttershy murmured. "I was about to bring him to the vet to see about antidepressants."
"Do you think they'll even-" Twilight cut off her words at the sight of a familiar pink mane poking up from a bush directly behind the coyote. The bush sprouted a hoof and made a shushing motion at the other two ponies. This done, the hoof withdrew into the bushes, replaced a moment later by a baby blue cannon muzzle.
"Oh, dear," Fluttershy said.
With massive over-enthusiasm for the act, Pinkie Pie exploded into the air above the bush, hauling back hard on the lanyard of her half-concealed party cannon. The sudden noise shocked the occupant of the molehill enough to send him flying twenty feet into the air, which for land-based carnivores tends to be a somewhat untenable position.
The hard bellyflop onto the grass stunned the visitor for barely an instant. A second later he was on his hind legs, looking around furiously for the source of the shock...
... and seeing a wide-eyed pink pony, which gave him a raspberry that sounded like someone playing with the neck of a glass bottle and galloped off towards the open fields south of town.
Enraged, and full of energy for the first time in over a week, Wile E. Coyote raced off in hot pursuit.
As the dust clouds left by both runners settled, a single sheet of paper fluttered down from the air. Twilight caught it in her magic and read aloud:
"Sometimes it's not what the visitor wants, but what the visitor needs to feel at home. Signed, Pinkie Pie." After exchanging a confused glance with Fluttershy, she continued, "P. S. I'll let him catch me... eventually. PP."
After another, slightly longer glance, she finished, "P. P. S. Keep Derpy away from any and all anvils. - Pinkie." Twilight cringed, remembering the anvil that was dropped on her head in baseline. "I think that's a priority," she said to Fluttershy
136.2 (Leviticus)
Gendo the Looper
"I'LL KILL THAT F*CKER!"
In the dark recesses of Shinji's mind lurked traces, imprints of ancient thoughts and timeless memories. Faint glimpses into the earliest loops. In his dark nights, alone and sleepless, he could see even the faintest of them with clarity.
This probably accounted for the déjà vu he was feeling, as he tried to kill someone while four people held him back.
In all honesty though, this differed from his little attempt to through Asuka overboard in two key respects: everyone grabbing him was a pony, and his target was someone that he could not honestly fathom them protecting. It was, after all, Gendo he was after.
Sitting idly at his table and sipping coffee heavily laced with his favorite bourbon, a ponified Gendo Ikari watched his son (who had used a philosophers stone to shed his pony form) advance. On his feet were Rainbow Dash and Ganondorf, directly in front of him was Toph with a rock wall. Twilight had lasso'd him from behind and was pulling all her might. Against the Fourth Looper though, it only amounted to an inconvenience. Gendo calmly sipped his coffee again.
Most of the bar-goers had barricaded themselves against the walls and corners, watching the drama unfold. No one was interfering, not after what had happened to Naruto. The Third Looper was currently on a one way trip to Andromeda.
Shinji took another step, the force of his feet falling upon the wood shattering it into it's component molecules. Sweat poured down his four barricaders as they worked to slow him down. The assembled held their breath as Shinji approached the one being that no one thought would ever loop. And Gendo simply sipped his coffee and waited.
Finally tiring of the charade, Shinji slammed Rainbow Dash, Ganondorf, and Toph with an AT-field, sending all three flying. A single, burningly furious glare at Twilight dissolved the rope binding him with pure hate. Now free, Shinji marched over to Gendo and lifted him up by one of his lapels. His free hand curled into a fist. A single word fell from his lips; "why?"
The assembled held their breath. A few late comers discreetly moved around the edges, trying to get appraised of the situation. Gendo, for the first time that night, spoke. "Why what?"
Shinji started shaking, tears of fury running down his face. A flurry of alchemic sparks coursed over Gendo's body, reverting him from a pony form to his human form. "Why.... why everything. You made my life hell on earth. WHY YOU STUPID BASTARD!?! WHY DID YOU ALWAYS DO THAT!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME! WHY WOULD YOU KILL TOJI, KILL KAJI, KILL REI! WHYYYYY!?!"
Gendo looked his real son straight in the eye. "Because if I did, then I would have Yui back. If I did, my family would be happy again."
Shinji locked up. Gendo pressed his supposed advantage. "I thought at the end that Rei would give me a choice. A choice to undo everything, fix everything. But instead of me, she gave it to my son. My idiot son who never figured out what was happening and ruined my scenario with his idiocy. I can't fathom why she would do that Shinji. So unless you want to interrogate me for something that I can't explain, for something I can barely even comprehend, I suggest you put me down."
For a moment, near silence filled the air. Tense breathing, the shuffle of skin on fabric, and the minute settling of Mac's bar filled the air. And then it was engulfed with something no one had expected: laughter. Insane, pained, sobbing, gleeful, terrifying laughter. And it was Shinji's laughter.
"You hahaha, you thi-nnnnk that I care what hahahappened to your scenario!?!" A smile the Joker would have been proud of flashed on to Shinji's face. "You're a damn fool, aren't you Gendo?"
In the back, Batman began initiating his "Insane Shinji" plans.
Gendo looked at Shinji. "Boy, let me tell you something. I have no idea what is happening. I only recognize you as the person who is and has been replacing my William."
Billy. It all came down to Billy.
Shinji laughed out loud, long and hard. Ranma and Ichigo started listening in on Batman's countermeasures to Shinji. "You think I don't know that? Well news-flash for you Pops, I'M YOUR SON!" Shinji moved so quickly only a handful of loopers saw his movements in full. The rest merely watched as he slammed Gendo into the ground. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT HUH!?! YOUR SON ISN'T REALLY YOUR SON! HE'S JUST MY REPLACEMENT!"
Gendo reached up and adjusted his glasses even so non-chalantly, even though he was in clear pain. "Honestly boy, I don't know what to think."
That brought up Shinji short.
"Boy, I've been through third impact three times. Time has reseted twice for me, and both times I saw you instead of my son. William Ikari may not have been the brightest boy, but he was still mine. I didn't realize how much I hurt him. When everything had changed back but with you in his place, I was horrified. I stuck to my scenario though: perhaps their was some way to replicate the results and bring back my son. You foiled it both times. So, Shinji Ikari I don't know who you are, so let Me Go And FIND MY SON!"
Silence came crashing down on to the Ikari's. Finally Shinji stood, and spat on Gendo. "Fuck you."
Gendo sat up and glared death at Shinji. "Fuck off boy. You're not my son."
Shinji turned, and left the building. Gendo staggered to his feet, grabbing his side in pain. A buttercup yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, trotted up to him. "Do you need any help Mister Ikari?"
Gendo nodded, and looked around. "Well? WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?"
The many patrons of the bar slowly returned to their positions, throwing more then a few glares and glances at Gendo. Fluttershy began dressing his wounds. Gendo glared at anything that looked at him funny, and silently worried about his real son, Shinji.
And outside? Shinji walked into the dark. He would not return; he had no need to. Gendo, his Gendo, would never be alive in the same sense he was.
It was strange... and for the first time in millennia, Shinji felt his heart ache. "Bastard. If can't remember me... then fine. I don't need a father anyway."
Inside the bar though, Twilight made her move.
"I know what I'm staring at..." her dangerous voice spoke up, "Even someone who's as skilled at lying as you are can't contradict the facts." Twilight Sparkle strode up to Gendo, matching his expression.
"And what business is it of yours?"
"I set up this sanctuary," the anchor said with a glare, "And while we welcome everyone who wants it, we don't look well at deliberate sabotage."
Gendo wore a mask of hatred, but not even Fluttershy was willing to take his side now.
"If you want to see Billy again, good luck. It seems he's been showing up all over the place these days," Twilight said casually, "But keep three things in mind. One: we all know what kind of man you were originally. I agreed to help you move past that, but if you don't want to change, we'll keep treating you like the monster you admitted you were not five minutes ago. Two:" She bent down to whisper in his ear, "Shinji is the one keeping your universe stable. No other Anchor can take his place for long, and he's among the most powerful entities in existence as we know it. You do NOT want him as an enemy."
Twilight turned away, defenses active in case he tried violence. "Take as long as you need to think it over, Gendo. But there's only one conclusion there to reach for you."
Gendo watched the mare plod away, before doing something quite strange: he removed his glasses. "Twilight Sparkle... You have seen the atrocities I have committed in my quest to reunite myself and my son with Yui. So let me ask you something: would you like to see me as an enemy?"
Twilight spun around, a thoroughly annoyed and confused look on her face. "What the Oak is that supposed to mean?"
Gendo fell heavily into his chair, the weight of his conscious seemingly dragging him down. He wrapped a hand around his bourbon laced coffee cup and drank deeply, never breaking eye contact. "I'm asking you, Twilight Sparkle, if you would rather seem a being who committed such acts as I have, as your father?"
The room was silent.
"Would you rather me be intrinsically linked to you, in a manner that many would see as inescapable, to know that I was, ineffably, your father? Or would you wish me to be a foreign force, a thing, not a person, but a thing separate from you, apart from your circle, apart from your very self? Someone you can demonize, hate without guilt, call "other"? Because if Shinji needs to..." Gendo's shaking hand dropped his cup. "Because... because... be..." Resolution firmed begun Gendo's eyes, force coalescing into action.
"Because if I must become the perfect demon that Shinji sees me as, if only to allow him peace of mind, then so be it. And if that particular fact ever leaves this room..." Gendo allowed his sheer presence to take over, impossibly, but thoroughly, cowing thousands of the Multiverse's most ancient inhabitants. "...Then I won't be responsible for what happens to you."
Silence caught, and stuck within the room
136.3 (JustTheBast)
Twilight sat confidently before the desk of principal Celestia. She had transmogrified the girlish clothes that the portal had seen fit to put on her into a flattering skirted ensemble that made her look much more like the young adult she actually was. Her attire, her confident and reasonable manner, and the fact that she had been able to present the actual Fall Formal crown had been enough to convince the high school principal to take her seriously and produce the crown currently in the school's possession.
"As you can see, Ms. Celestia," said Twilight, gesturing at the two crowns lying side by side, "this one is made of cheap brass and coloured glass, while the other one is actual gold inset with jewels. Given last night's break-in and attempted substitution, I believe it is highly likely that the design process for this year's Fall Formal crown was rigged specifically to produce this facsimile of my heirloom. You may wish to look into how exactly this design was chosen and who might have influenced the decision for their own purposes."
She steepled her fingers - a trick that had taken her several loops in human form to master convincingly - and looked the principal in the eyes. "I have no interest in causing any sort of scandal for your school. If my property is restored to me, I see no need to involve the authorities. Let us just write it off as a teenage prank gone out of hand and say no more about it, shall we?"
Principal Celestia nodded agreement. "That is very generous of you, Ms. Sparkle. Clearly the crown is yours - if you wish to take it back and let that be the end of it, I am in your debt. Rest assured, though, that I will look into the matter and find the ones responsible." Her face clouded with righteous anger. "I do not look kindly on students using school funds to create props for criminal activities."
"Thank you, Principal Celestia," said Twilight, rising from her seat. She took the true Element of Magic and put it in her bag. "I'm glad that we could sort this matter out amicably."
The two women shook hands, parted, and went their separate ways - one to oversee the running of her school, the other to return to a land of magical ponies.
As Twilight walked along the school corridors on her way out, she shook her head to herself. It was always sad to see an unawake Sunset Shimmer, when she came to steal the Element of Magic, but at least it was quite easy to head off her plans, if one only approached it rationally.
*I don't know what's crazier,* she thought, *the fact that I let myself get dragged into a high school popularity contest in baseline, or that a normal high school had the funds to make a crown of real gold and jewels for their yearly dance.*
136.4 (Scorntex)
It was rare, even in the Sister Loops, that Twilight ever got a chance to see the Crystal Empire up-close and personal, and in all its splendour. Usually she only got the chance when Sombra decided it was a sensible idea to aggravate two Alicorns, and a lot of those times ended with the beautiful city gone before she could inspect it, with most of its culture lost after Sombra was through with it, burnt or blasted or smashed or buried forever.
So under normal circumstances, she might actually have been happy to wake up in the Crystal Empire (and as she would later note, despite being a Crystal Pony, she still had the same old starburst on her flank).
Under normal circumstances, which she seriously doubted her current situation qualified for.
As her Loop memories kindly filled in for her, she had been born ever-so-slightly before Sombra had shown up in the city, before he'd risen to power and killed anyone who might have dared object. In this Loop he was playing the role of kindly benevolent rescuer to the faltering Empire, with the horrific nasty monstrousness just barely percolating underneath. And she was his increasingly nervous protégé, evidently approached as a child because he "recognised something in her".
In other words, he had noticed her talent for magic and saw her as a useful tool and instrument, and going by those memories not one worth treating much better than he did everyone else.
"Yeah" Twilight thought to herself, "Buck this. Moon time for Sombra."
(The following excerpt from The Reign of Her Highness, Queen Twilight, Ruler of the Crystal Republic, translated. Third edition.)
It had all happened so quickly. One moment, Viceroy Sombra had been calmly giving a speech to the members of the imperial senate, on the need for increasing control of our nation's exports and imports, and dealings with the new-born Equestria, and in another... he was gone.
There had been a loud flash of light, and a burst of sound, and the curious cry of "buck this". And then there was stillness, and silence, with only the clattering of his ceremonial headgear, followed by a loud crunch.
And then the light dimmed, and Her Ladyship was standing there, her sudden wings (and the sudden rash of question marks after that word is a genuine article of the original text) flapping with irritation. And she said unto us: "Does anyone mind if I take over? No. Good."
In the interest of fairness, she did turn out to be our most benevolent and enlightened leader, long may she reign. But given she had just banished the Viceroy, you could forgive some members of the Senate for their immediate screaming and running away.
Twilight sat on the carved throne of the Crystal Empire as she calmly read through another ancient scroll, a wide grin on her face. It turned out that this Loop, Sombra had been quite the hoarder of knowledge. It almost made up for the unpleasant memories of his treatment of her un-Awake self.
A quick message to Celestia and Luna (neither were Awake, it seemed) had been sent shortly after her "ascension". Apparently Sombra had already been working on distancing the Empire from Equestria, and everyone else, for some time already. Fortunately, both of the royal sisters were concerned as to what was transpiring in the empire, and were all too glad to help out with their current "succession crisis".
And maybe in a few years she'd get to see what effect the Crystal Empire's art and culture would have on the world.
But for the moment, she told herself, reading. And a bit of politics later. There was a lot of damage to fix, not all of which was Sombra's fault. And she had wanted to see how quickly she could institute a constitutional monarchy in a non-Equestrian setting...
136.5 (Evilhumour)
Twilight placed a hoof against her face, shaking her head and slowly counted from ten to one in the vain hopes that by the time she finished things would not be crazy.
"So Twily, are you really ok with this?" Her foal sitter asked her, the day before she would go on her honeymoon after her wedding with her husband and wife.
Nope. Things were still wrong.
"Look Slaneesh, I do appreciate you asking me this, I really do." Twilight muttered, staring at the alicorn of love and lust that was sitting uncomfortably across the unicorn. The other alicorn in the room was also shaking her head at the whole thing.
"Cheerilee made it clear that I need to ask to do this sort of thing, otherwise Empy here will rat me out to Leman and then I won't be allowed to have fun in the loops anymore," the pink alicorn grumbled, looking up at the white alicorn, who was wearing a gold inline white dress that an unAwake Rarity had spent a long time making. "Aren't I right, Auntie Empy?"
Empy could only groan in agreement, likely wondering why she was dealing with this brand of insanity.
"As I was saying," Twilight stared at Slaneesh, causing the Chaos God to shrink back. "These things are normally fine, as long as you remember the rules."
Slaneesh rolled her eyes at this. "Yes yes, I know. Don't let you see it, don't show you the tapes unless you pay for the blackmail, if they Wake up I should take a step back-"
"If Shinning Wakes up, yes," Twilight glared. "Unlike Chryss, he is in a monogamous relationship with the mare you are replacing right now. If I find out you took advantage of my brother, I swear that I will make Empy here look like an unAwake Fluttershy! Do you understood me?" She barked out, her magic pressing onto the alicorn, showing the power and might she held against the squirming pony.
"I-I understand." Slaneesh meeped in fear. "I'll even Pinkie Promise!" The pony began to do the motions, saying "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
"Good." Twilight released the pressure on the mare. "Now, I can't believe I am saying this, but have fun on your honeymoon with my brother and the changeling queen."
"Will do," Slaneesh leaned in to hug Twilight. She then whispered something into her ear before teleporting away. "Sister."
Twilight and Empy could only facehoof at the fading giggles as the three equines departed on chariots for parts unknown. Twilight looked at the mare next to her and Empy looked back.
"Dress shopping and then booze?" Twilight offered.
"Sounds wonderful to me."
136.6 (Crisis)
Twilight felt very strange as she woke up. There was something off about her surroundings... Something she couldn't quite put her hoof on...
Looking around her room yielded nothing out of the ordinary... save for that lump under the covers of her bed that she was certain hadn't been there when she went to sleep.
Despite the sinking feeling, she lifted the covers to take a look, and started screaming bloody murder when she saw the empty violet eyes of the severed unicorn head staring back at her from under an indigo mane with rose and violet streaks.
"Twilight!" the head suddenly spoke to her fiercely. "Twilight! Wake up!"
Twilight shot up in bed, sweating and breathing heavily, her pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
"You okay, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "Y'all were tossing and screaming somethin' fierce and all. Molestia nightmare again?"
"No..." Twilight started getting her breathing under control. "Somepony take a note: No more watching The Godfather right before bed."
"Ah," Applejack nodded knowingly. "Yep, that'll do it."
136.7 (DrTempo)
Sunset Shimmer, who looked like a humanoid unicorn, stood next to a grave in an old garden, with the names "To Iris and the Colonel" engraved in it. Wearing a Repliforce beret, the Looper saluted at the grave, not noticing Zero was next to her.
"Hello, Sunset." It was a testament to Sunset's experience that she didn't instinctively attack.
Frowning, she sniffled. "Hello, Zero. Come to pay your respects as well?"
"Who do you think made that gravestone? It's not like anyone would do that for Reploids considered Mavericks."
Sunset broke down, crying, "How do you do it, Zero? Having to basically kill the one you love time and time again? I befriended Iris, and I knew her fate. I wanted to save her from that fate, but not just because it's the right thing to do, but because she truly was my friend. I saw her like a little sister, Zero, but I could do nothing!"
Slamming her fist into the ground, she lamented, "I tried to convince her not to fight you...told her she could likely get killed. But, she insisted. She wanted answers. And in the end, for all the strength I've gotten throughout my time as a Looper, I failed to save a friend. I should've just stopped her by force."
Zero put his hand on Sunset's shoulder. "She'd never forgiven you, Sunset. Trust me, I never want to have to end her life. I've tried so many times. I tried everything, but it seems like no matter what, I fail. This is my greatest failure, Sunset. When it happened the first time, I wondered what it was I had to fight for. But I realized that I fight to protect those I cherish. I never considered myself a hero. I always fight for those I believe in."
Sunset smiled. "To me, that's what heroes do. I fight to protect those who need help. From my Awakening, I always have done that. My home Loop may be the biggest Sanctuary Loop around, but my earliest Loops were in places like Soul Society, the Elemental Countries...places where I had to fight. I'm willing to do what I have to-no more, no less- to help others, and I've never killed unless it was the only way. But, that just makes those I fail to save hurt even worse."
Zero simply said, "That's all we can do. We can't save everyone. But, we can do the best we can...every single Loop."
The two looked at the grave, and saluted.
Sunset then said, "Goodbye, Iris. I will never forget our friendship."
136.8 (Evilhumour)
Celestia looked at Luna who was standing with her on the shoreline.
Luna, Awake with her sister, looked back in the same awe and disbelief fashion.
The two of them looked down at the three fillies who were trembling and trying to hide between each other, the tree-damn book lying in front of the three of them.
Celestia, shaking her head, asked the three unAwake loopers a question she never asked before. "Where did you three find the Necronomicon, and why did you read it?!"
"That's what it is?" Applebloom asked, looking up from the huddle, only to cower back as an earthquake made the shoreline vanish. The girls were scooped up by the princesses magic. "We're just trying to see if we could get our cutie marks from some old spells!" The fillies whimpered as a city began to rise from the ocean.
With a sigh, the two alicorns threw themselves to the sky, ready to deal with Great Old Ones that were waking up from their ancient slumber. As they flew and pulled out their magic might to protect their ponies, Luna grinned at Celestia, which caused the mare to sigh.
"Fine, you're right, the girls would summon Cthulhu, Hastur, Tirek and the rest before getting their cuties marks! I'll give you the bits later Lulu, alright?" She snapped, watching Luna only to chuckle. "But I will not do the other thing!"
"But Tia~!" Luna whined as the horrific, mind defiling monsters rose from their ancient prisons and began to breath in their unholy power for the first time in eons. "You promised! Need I get Pinkie Pie to hold you to your word?"
"Luna, we're about to do battle with the Great Old Ones and you're holding Pinkie Pie over me now!?" Celestia snapped as uncountable armies of Deep Ones began to clash with the sea ponies without too much concern, knowing that the fifteen score warriors would be more than enough to hold the line just fine until King Helix came with the rest of the sea pony army.
After all, they were lead by their fearless leader, who admittedly was somewhat constantly stoned and looking for his seagnomes that he had gave to his daughter on her wedding day to her candy making wife, and he had defeated Discord all by himself without too much assistance.
Though she did miss the old North pole...
"Of course Tia," Luna smiled as she began to send meteors into the awaking Great Old Ones, hitting several blow their many belts. "Otherwise, you would weasel out of it like your paperwork."
"Fiiiiine!" Celestia pouted as she sent a massive solar strike into their midst, blowing several weaker ones into fine unnaturally coloured mists. "I'll do it!"
"Huzzah!" Luna said with a smile as she flew in close for combat, using her magic to smack Tirek across the entire planet, where he would end up crashing into the domicile of a lavender mare with an adoptive filly. "We shall greatly enjoy seeing you in the most pinkest of fru-fru, dear sister!"
With a sigh at the silliness of her sister and what she will be suffering for the next hundred loops they were both Awake for, she too entered the battle of Great Old Ones, ducking as a confused centaur came flying back towards them.
136.9 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
Twilight stepped through a pair of doors of a ruby colored mansion that had replaced Fluttershy's cottage. The unicorn's ears were sharp enough she caught the sound of ice cubes in a glass and a page turning from down the hallway behind another set of closed doors. Curious, Twilight tapped on the door, to which a gruff, but familiar french voice echoed from within, "Go away."
Twilight blinked, then gripped the door with his telekinesis, "Hey are you awake? I feel like I've been thrown for a loop trying to find you."
She gazed upon a yellow pegasus with a suit covering his cutie mark and a red mask over his head which also covered his mane. The pegasus looked up, his expression already brightening, "Ah, Miss Sparkle. I knew you would loop around to visit me. Been awhile since you replaced the Administrator of Mann Co."
Twilight blinked, then brightened, "Spy! How are things with Red team?"
Spy flapped his wings, bringing him over to his alcohol cabinet. He chuckled and poured Twilight some scotch, "It's Flutterspy this time. You'd call it, single letter transposition or something I'm sure. As for the others, you know Dell, he likes turning our war on its head. Scout's been making a nuisance out of himself as always."
He continued sharing everyone while handing her the glass, then came to medic, which he just gave a small frown, "He's descended into Sakura Syndrome, almost as bad as Sakura at her worst."
He shrugged as he took a sip of his own drink, "Well, it's not much worse than his baseline self though, since he was something of an insane quack to begin with."
Twilight shook her head sadly, "Sorry. Hope he manages to snap out of it."
Spy looked at his glass, "Maybe Sakura will loop there soon. I feel she might be able to snap him out of it...-" his expression darkened briefly, "-or she'll regress."
Setting down his drink, he tried smiling, though only succeeded in a rueful grin, "I hope not. But enough about my group of misfits. Surely you have questions."
Twilight tilted her head in curiosity, "You think Fluttershy has replaced you this loop?"
Spy gave a wry grin, "Undoubtedly."
136.10 (elmagnifico)
Macintosh fought.
Unlike those rare occasions he felt the need to call back to that fateful loop and plumb the green-tinged depths of his determination and will, this was not a physical fight.
Nevertheless, he was losing, and had been since he'd Awoken.
A voice cut through the background chatter, piercing his defenses and drawing his attention.
"Hey Macintosh!"
Another blow, and he winced inwardly. His face showed the pain as plain as day, which meant he still wasn't fighting hard enough. Normally, he could hide behind a stoic face and monosyllabic responses when his mind was troubled. Between keeping the current batch of loop memories suppressed, out of respect for the pony they usually belonged to, and the difficulty of changing his routine to something so close to normal, his reactions were floating nearer the surface than usual.
“Eeyup?”
Hearing his own voice respond - from another body - just made the fight still harder. He shuddered slightly, causing the brown stetson to fall forward in front of his eyes. A push from an orange hoof, one that was his and not his, more properly hers, but responded to his commands, put the headgear to rights. This action revealed a concerned-looking Applebloom. The bustle of the Apple Family Reunion almost drowned out his little sister's repeated question.
“Ah said, you okay sis?”
Macintosh shook the head he was inhabiting at the moment. He mentally groped about for a response. Having trouble with being in your sister's brain was no excuse for being rude. Not like it was a malicious question or anything of the sort. Just the genuine worry of a younger sibling for their older kin, typical of both the looping 'bloom, and in this case her unawake counterpart.
In a less busy setting, his siblings might show their concern in other ways, like make his favorite breakfast, or get out a photo album full of pleasant memories. He'd do the same if he were worried about one of them. Questions were also used, it wasn't like any of them were shy about being blunt when the need came, but in either case it was just how they cared for each other.
“Eeyep, jus' Woke Up on the wrong side of the bed, is all.”
He managed to assuage Applebloom's doubtful expression with an easygoing grin. Or perhaps she could sense the tension just beneath the surface and decided not to inquire about the grimace. Either way, she moved on.
Macintosh sighed.
At least there was still work to do. After that first few minutes of paralysis, he'd been able to throw himself into the preparations for the Celebration, as well as the Reunion. His duties were different in this body, but he could recall the schedule that he and Applejack had worked out together. That was still fresh in his own memories, like they'd only made it yesterday. Right now, for instance, there was a bushel of Red Russets that needed to come down so they could be set out fresh-as-possible.
Russets were grown in the South Orchard, out by the road to Ponyville. Macintosh ambled up to one of the trees, Bertram was what his sister had named it, but his mind was elsewhere. Not like this was particularly cerebral work. A quick, businesslike buck was all that was necessary. His mental capacities were focused on inward battles though, so he almost jumped when the low, steady voice spoke from his immediate left.
“Sis, you sure you're alright?”
He could hear the concern behind the question, and it wasn't just because he had inadvertently left his mental Voice talent open.
“Ah'm good Mac, just a toucha headache.”
He'd settled on calling his unawake counterpart Mac. It was an abbreviation he had no particular attachment to, so attaching it to somepony else held no self-identity issues.
The face he was only used to seeing in a mirror gave him a half-lidded look then. He tried to brush aside with that ironclad confidence his sister could employ with infuriating ease. A pang of guilt put an end to that as it stabbed at his already-tender mental spaces.
On the other hoof, he didn't particularly enjoy it when somepony else used it on him.
“Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
Ah, there was the anchor, and right on time.
He'd seen this encounter from afar enough times to know what came next. Provided she didn't do something to knock the timeline too far off kilter, Twilight would show up to inspect the preparations, and in the process get whirled into trying a bit of everything, winding up overstuffed and uncomfortable. In the old days he'd just gone through this tableau on autopilot, trusting instinct and inconspicuousness to keep anything from drawing her attention to the stallion who was experiencing time in a loop.
These days, even when she or somepony else messaged him that they wanted things strictly baseline, he made a point of cutting anything that passed his hooves into smaller portions. Since he'd received no such indication, he mentally started dividing the strudel into eighths instead of fourths.
“Well howdy there, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres.”
Cousin Fritter's voice served as perfect punctuation to his grabbing the basket of Russets and heading for the serving table. On the way there, he almost stumbled over the small purple dragon that had accompanied the unicorn.
“'Scuse,” he intoned, skirting around Spike, but taking the chance to catch the slitted, green eyes. He was taking in the sights of the farm, the traffic of Apples of all shapes, sizes and ages. The light in those eyes was shimmering with curiosity, and there was only wonder at unseen sights, no recognition in the young drake's gaze. Macintosh drew upon his time as an empathic Voice and sent a mental probe at Spike just to be sure, and got no push back.
Unwake, then.
And so the scene went without too much incident this time around, although it was Fritter that did the whirling. Odd, she'd never done that before. Of the other relatives it was usually Fuji Junior or Golden Delicious who took Twilight for a tour if the scene went off script. Macintosh, for his part, managed to moderate his influence to reducing the glass of apple-whiskey that got passed to her and narrowing the slice of pie to something less mouth-damming.
As Twilight moved away, apparently satisfied in the thoroughness of the culinary preparations, he trotted after her, business-like. Also trying all the while not to trip over the unfamiliar hooves and different center of gravity.
He caught up to the anchor just around the first bend, where she'd apparently been waiting.
“I knew you were off your game. What's wrong Applejack?”
His eyes screwed up in concentration.
“Not Applejack. 's Macintosh in here.”
He heard her straighten in shock, although it wasn't as abrupt as he might have expected. That was right, she'd spoken of loops like this, where you were some other pony altogether.
“Shows me for thinking I can get away with just pinging rather than checking the elements. I can handle things solo if you like.”
“Mah thanks.”
The rest of the Reunion passed in a blur. Relatives that were instantly familiar and friendly as ever, interacting with him in ways he'd never seen. For instance, Fourth-Cousin Maldahyde, with whom he rarely shared a conversation, was apparently on good terms with all the mares of her generation, and quite worried by her cousin Applejack's restiveness. About the only normal thing that day was the pie, which was good as always.
He had just finished sweeping the last of the dust and debris onto the compost heap, amid talk of an ancient vengeful princess being defeated using some party balloons, three irate mustelids and a pound of spaghetti. He'd been mostly successful in getting his duties done and averting too much suspicion, although Fiddlesticks was still wondering about the string when she left.
His reverie was interrupted by his unawake counterpart giving him a glass of something cool and nice-smelling.
“Cinnamon Sweet Cider. Y'alls favorite.”
It wasn't, but there was no way Mac could know that. The corners of Macintosh's vision blurred as the voice that was normally his continued.
“Ah don't know what's wrong. Just that it's there. If'n' y' wanna talk about it, ah'm here.”
The features that were not normally his stretched into a genuine smile, and he followed his brother into the house.
Maybe he could do this, after all.
136.11 (RowanEx)
Twilight Awoke in blackness. She checked her loop memories. She then checked her subspace pocket. And then, she noticed she was in HER subspace pocket.
Oh. New looping universe...?
She looked at herself carefully. She's a scientist, with a glove on her left, and a watch connected to the intercom to her right arm. She too had a goggles she doesn't wear as always, and wears it. She checked who was at the manor.
Is Nyx solving puzzles- wait, how did she do that?! All things tu- Oh, wait, it turned into metal. The- what the buck?! She's flying?! Oh. She's just wanting to get into the next room...
After realizing what she remembered, she facepalmed. Dimensions. That's what the loop's speciality.
Quantum Conundrum loops are very tricky...
Prof. Quadwrangle, or Quartet Wrangler, a unicorn, walks around the Golden Oak Library, and only to be met by a confused and Awake Rainbow Dash.
"New looper?" Rainbow Dash asks.
"No, no I'm not! My loops tend to place me in a pocket dimension, and when fused loops, things are different." Wrangler replied. "But this experience is new. And my loop memories... tell me that I'm the overseer for the Summer Sun Celebratio- wait."
"What?"
"I remember now. I'm replacing your Anchor."
Rainbow Dash stood in silence. "H-how did you know?"
"She... um... looped in once, replacing my nephew. She told her baseline while solving puzzles..."
Awake Spike faceclawed. Better than spending a loop with Ike, he thought. But, is he looping?
136.12 (Evilhumour)
One Crazy Week part three
Twilight smiled to herself as she settled herself down on the isolated beach, sprawling out on her towel. Normally, she did not just run off from things like what happened today but dealing with the snake incident and having to deal with paperwork over her tree that had somehow caused the financial collapse of Equestria was a bit much.
As such, Twilight decided that she would take this day off. Checking internally, as from a numerous amount of loops where she had raised the sun and moon gave her a very precise estimation as to what hour it was supposed be, and a watch she pulled out from her subspace pocket, it was Wednesday now. Acting on an impulse, she brought out an inflatable beach mattress from her pocket, the latest book ‘Iris Drake’ wrote and decided to herself that today would be a simple reading day.
After all, she thought to herself, what could go wrong on such a pleasant and peaceful day?
With a mighty splash of water, Twilight woke up with a start. Shaking her head, she saw she was still on her mattress in a massive storm, the sea heaving her around without mercy or a chance for to really collect herself.
Sighing, she started to gather her magic when a lightning bolt crashed right in front of her, startling her as it popped her mattress and sent her rocketing through the storm. Holding onto the flying mattress, Twilight strained to keep her eyes open as more bolts of lighting landing near her, almost if they were trying to actually hit her.
Once more, she tried to bring her power together when suddenly her mattress stopped rocketing forwards. With a meep, she was flung head over tail with the inertia from the sudden stop, and landed in the water with a mighty splash. Sputtering, Twilight forced herself to break the surface and paddled on the ocean sea as she tried to get the water out of her lungs. Turning around in attempts to spot her mattress, she saw that the sudden storm was now gone and the sea was definitely warmer than it should have been if she was still in normal Equestria. Finally, she spotted her mattress as it began to sink into the waters below before she used her magic to grab it.
Or she tried as her magic shot out with tremendous speed and power that destroyed the floating device and caused the looper to mutter things under her breath as she continued to tread water.
Still, Twilight’s mind was trying to behave normally and that meant analyzing everything that had occurred so far.
She knew that this was some fused loop now and not some weird variant as she thought with the whole deal that happened yesterday; and someone was pulling a prank on her, one she intended to get even with very quickly.
She knew she had sent out a ping early in the loop with only her friends responding back but maybe she could get whoever was doing this to trip up by pinging back by instinct as she once did to some of her friends. So on that logic, she sent out a normal ping.
Twilight instantly regretted doing the action as the ping had become equivalent to the sound of a low level Trixie explosion going off in her head, with her body shaking due to the raw magic rebounding from her ping. Clutching her head as she kicked with her hind legs, she let out curses as she tried to clear her head of the pain and get a control of her magic that was both sprawling out of her and building a pressure in her head, while being faintly aware it was pulling on her body outwards in some fashion.
Sometime after her twentieth swear involving some she just invented that involved bees, a duck, a brand new tree hybrid and her Admin given corporal punishment, she felt someone grab her by the armpits and lift her out of the water, only to drop her on a wooden floor.
She heard someone muttering about helping her and another person responding back, but the pain from her own building magic prevented her from paying attention as it was still out of her control. Without warning, she felt something shoved onto her horn and began to feel some relief from the pure magic overload. While she felt her magic starting to slow down thanks to whatever had been placed on her horn, her magic was still out of control and was still concentrated in head to be painful enough to force her eyes shut.
“Oh dear, the mortal is still leaking magic,” the second voice responded with some worry in his voice. “Mister Sunscorch, if you can hold her steady please while I get out my more advanced magic blocker out.”
“Aye sir,” The first voice responded above her, placing one arm around her chest, pinning her legs and wings to her chest. She then noticed that she had her wings out, although they would be useless until she could dry them out. “Oi, lads, hand me a towel. She’s going to be shivering something terrible once Dr. Scamadros helps block her magic flow properly.”
Slowly, Twilight forced her eyes open when she felt a heavy towel dropped onto her back and sides, with a strong hand rubbing her sides dry. Twilight bit her lip to not only fight the lessening pain but also the sounds of bliss she felt from such an action.
As her eyes finally opened, she heard a shout of victory from Dr. Scamadros and then something shoved around her head, blocking off her magic completely and finally allowing her to think clearly without the overload of magic within her skull distracting her.
“Oooo, that’s so much better,” Twilight smiled, reaching with a hoof to rub her head when something blocked her hoof. “What the?” Twilight frowned, noticing a faint white circular outline around her field of vision.
“Oh, you mustn’t touch the magic inhibitor miss…” Dr. Scamadros, a strange looking man with moving tattoos of a doctor treating a patient moving into a parent telling their child a lesson, or at least that’s what it looked like to her.
“Twilight Sparkle and what do you mean exactly?” Twilight, by nature, was uncomfortable around magic inhibitors and she had spent some loops figuring out how to escape nearly all kinds with some success. Most of the time she just overloaded the inhibitor to the point where it either exploded, melted or most rare of all, burnt herself out completely and thus negating the ring completely.
“Ah, well miss Twilight Sparkle, I had first thought the Absorbing Cork would suffice by cancelling your outflowing magic from your horn, but your continued transformation into this new state proved to me that a stronger inhibitor was required. As such, I had just redesigned an old project of mine that would act as a more discreet inhibitor but due to your body figure, the intended portion was lost.”
Blinking Twilight turned her head away from the doctor and to the water to see what he meant.
Twilight was beyond relieved that no one was around to see her like this. The top of her horn had a cork shoved on it yes, but what was worse was the collar that she had around her neck. It was a tall, white circular thing that she only seen on a pet that just had surgery and was placed to prevent the dog or cat from biting the stitches.
She was also very tall now, taller than Celestia and just under Sleipnir by a few feet, and her mane glistening in it’s completely ethereal state. Her coat was immaculate, her hooves were solid and shone like they had several layers of polish on them. Her teeth were perfectly straight and her bangs were at the exact proper length, a fact she knew by heart and would die if any of her friends knew that she had looked up that bit of information. Her horn had more ridges then Celestia’s did and her wings were larger than Celestia’s as well, perfectly swan wings that were on the perfect edge of being usable and unusable.
In short, Twilight looked like an alicorn made perfect except for having an Elizabethan collar and cork on her horn.
Before she could lament the sad fate she was in, she heard Mister Sunscorch shout from behind her.
“Ah there we go, found your realm little one-er, big one.” The sailor behind her laughed a bit, Twilight unable to move due her sheer size. “We’ll have you back in no time.”
“Wait, what? What’s going on here?” Twilight turned her long neck around to look at the sailor over her shoulder in a one-hundred eighty degree turn, realizing she could do that now with some unease.
The sailor shrugged, as several more people behind him continued to row the boat forwards.
“To be fair Lady Twilight Sparkle, I don’t know.” Sunscorch responded, causing Twilight’s eyebrows to arch at the lady part. “I don’t know how you made it through the Line of Storms, but Dr. Scamadros here has a means to send you right back.”
“Yes, Lady Twilight Sparkle,” Dr. Scamadros smiled, with his tattoos now showing a carpenter patching up a roof for some reason. “We will have you back home in no time; you will just need to wear the collar and cork for a few days until your magic ebbs off enough so it will not overwhelm you again.”
“Wait a second, who are you peo-” With a lurch, the rowboat hit a rough patch of water, causing Twilight to flap her wings out of reflex to steady herself. Twilight noticed the sun that was just overhead before was now replaced by a moon.
“There we go, Equestria on Wednesday night, just when you left.” Dr. Scamadros said with a smile that changed into a smirk when he noticed Twilight’s frown. “Oh yes, Lady Twilight Sparkle, times runs true in the House. One day in the Secondary Realms might be twenty years in the House, or an hour inside the House might last for a day within the House.”
“Wait, that doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight exclaimed as they pulled up to the beach “How can time be both longer and shorter at the same time?” The people in the boat shrugged as they started to disembark from the boat with Twilight shaking herself dry of any remaining water off her coat.
“Time is a tricky thing within the House, Lady Twilight Sparkle,” Sunscorch spoke as the people began to climb back into the boat. “We once left a tavern for a year, came back to only to find the tea still warm.”
“Huh?” Twilight blinked as she tried to process this with her tired mind before she realized two important things. One, the people that saved her were already out sight and most likely gone. And two, she was not on the same beach she woke up on this morning and she could see a number of islands in the distance meaning she was more than likely on an island herself, meaning the people had stranded her on a deserted island without any way getting home besides flying. She could already begin to pinpoint where she was, using the stars to guide her home.
It was then she realized something else. It was no longer Wednesday.
It was Thursday, and if things were going to be like the last three days, then whatever was going to happen today was not going to be fun at all.
136.14 (Gamerex27)
Spike Awoke as he was re-arranging one of Twilight's book shelves. Looking down, he noted that a great deal of the books had been knocked to the floor.
As he was puzzling over these strange circumstances (Twilight would never treat her books so poorly in a normal Loop), he heard hooves banging at the closest door. "Spike!" Twilight's voice cried. "Open the door!"
Raising his brows, Spike twisted the doorknob open with the Force, and a disheveled-looking Twilight walked into the room. Her mane was frazzled, and the frown on her face clearly showed that she was not having a good Loop at all.
"Bad Loop?" he asked, picking up a few more books.
"Not the last one," Twilight said, exasperated. "The last one was another one where I was Star Swirl's assistant: tons of fun. It's this one that's...argh."
She trotted over to the bookshelf, and angrily swatted her forehoof at the rows of textbooks and non-fiction. "Ponies...can't grab anything in this Loop. You know how we can just pick things up with our hooves?"
"Touch-based telekinesis, right?" the dragon asked, placing the last book back on the shelf. "All ponies have innate magic, even though it comes out in different ways, and you said way, way back when these Loops started that it was one of them."
"This Loop, it doesn't exist!" Twilight's horn glowed, and the book detailing Celestia's fight against Nightmare Moon slowly floated off the shelf. "I have to use my horn for everything! And even then, it can't work for everything!"
Spike checked his Loop memories: sure enough, Unawake him was less Twilight's assistant and more her caretaker. In fact, nearly every pony had either an assistant of some kind to do things like preparing and serving food (and for the exceptionally lazy, opening doors like Unawake Twilight), or had prosthetics paws/hands installed in place of their forehooves (mercifully with painkilling spells).
"Oh, no. Is this that Slavequestria variant you guys are always talking about?" Spike asked nervously, checking himself over for any binding runes or slave brandings.
"Thank bark it's not," Twilight said, flipping through the book and looking for any changes. "They're usually not too different that what you did in Baseline: just a bit more work, and better paid. And Celestia put a lot of laws in place to make sure abuse didn't happen. Wait, Luna's assistants went to the Moon with her too?!"
"Still really not liking the implications of all this," Spike muttered, looking out the window. "Is...is Gummy doing the baking for the Pies? Shouldn't he get paid for that, then?"
"Yeah, it's...still kind of messed up," Twilight agreed. "I think Celestia was also offering big rewards for anypony who came up with mass-marketable prosthetics. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend the festival trying to figure those out. Could you take care of Nightmare Moon this Loop?"
"Only if you pay me overtime for that," Spike joked. "Seriously, though, something tells me that it'll take care of itself. I don't see any 'assistants' taking being banished to the Moon for a thousand years just because of something stupid their boss did well."
"I...still don't get why Celestia did that," Twilight muttered, carefully putting the book back. "And how did Equestrian society even form if no one can pick anything up?!"
"There are some pretty big things wrong with this Loop," Spike agreed. "How can everypony here afford an assistant for every single pony in the family? How did any of this get started in the first place?"
"And why did Unawake me have so many books when she was too lazy to open doors?!" Twilight exclaimed. "And why did you put up with that?! It doesn't make an se3N238R8377@%@%$&$%#%@%-"
Sleipnir blinked, checking his monitor again. No, he wasn't imagining it: the Loop really did just crash because Twilight and Spike were, of all things, pointing out lore glitches in the Loop.
"Going to have to patch that problem out," he muttered, hooves clattering all over his jumbo-sized keyboard. "This seems way too problematic to just leave in."
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Y'know, all this stuff about Twilight Sparkle's daughter and Fluttershy's adopted son dating feels... weirdly familiar for some reason.
But I can't quite put my finger on why.
If you thought Wednesday was bad, Thursday is going to be even more colourful in tormenting poor Twi.
5553508 Even thought this wasn't one of mine:
Mawhahwahah!
5553724 Thank you.
Another awesome batch of loops.
5553864
What happened?
The Box Ghost happened!
But f#$ Gendo. Seriously. All sorts of rationalizations for his evils, not one crumb of penitence. Put him through true hell until he repents he was ever born.
>> 136.8
Lost it here.
Also, should be led, given, candy-making, and either all by himself or without too much assistance. Can't have both. The phrasing and sentence structure could use some work, too.
>> 136.11
Not sure what this is looping with, and the terrible grammar doesn't make it any less confusing.
Augh. So very many grammatical and structural errors over the past few chapters. I'm too tired to deal with it very effectively.
>> 136.12
This one just confuses me.
5554901 Heh, just got the most recent expansion too. Captain Cosmic is really interesting.
5554855 .12 Keys to the Kingdom, a continuation snip where someone from the House is pranking Twilight.
5554837 Um, this came from me and way before I even knew of TF2.
5553219 *Mutters something about anarchists*
Cool to see the TF2-niverse looping (poor Med),though when did Twilight meet them before? Or was that not written yet?
When was Twilight in the Team Fortress universe???? DId I miss a snippet??? I'm loving the Empy snippets, they're amusing and good for character development, especially the romance between Lemon and Nyx, which is adorable.
As for Gendo... I would not be surprised if the Admins made a little personal Hell for him where he has to watch Yui and Shinji living together happily and not be able to influence anything in the world and only observe.
Re: 136.1 - that's actually really sweet of Pinkie. Unexpected d'awww.
5555621 thank you, I try. Also, Auntie/Uncle Slaanesh Pie is best Auntie/Uncle!
5555311 I think it's safe to say that Jareth is done messing with ponies.
5555189 There may be a sequel at some point to the Diamond Nightwing bit, featuring the CMCs being trained by various Justice League members... or not, depending on motivation.
5555395 SkyNet understood Sufficient Velocity even before she attained sapience. Her problem has always been in comprehending Excessive Velocity (a concept also difficult for most SpaceBattles users).
5553671 Statler and Waldorf agree with you.
OMYGOSH OMYGOSH OMYGOSH! NEW TIME LOOPS
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/131327147782.gif
5556319 Who do you think Gregor picked it up from? She was pretty much his foster mother, remember.
136.10 is quite an innovation. Let's see if there's more .
Does anyone know if Stainless Steel Fox is okay? He hasn't contributed for a long while now.
Drinking game idea: Most impressive way to cause a loop crash.
136.1: You never forget the classics n_n
136.2: Nah, sensible.
136.3: pfft, soe schools just have bad priorities n_n
136.4: It's hard to argue when you're in orbit.
136.5: Best policy
136.6: It's all down to species
136.7: That's....bad?
136.8: Best policy.
136.9: Yay?
136.10: Ouch
136.11: Pfft. bravo
136.12: I'm the same with Tuesdays. Assuming more Guy Gavriel Kay Stuff?
136.13: Ask all you like just accept you might break things.
5557631 Oh derp.
5557306 MLEs? and he did? When? Or is this a forum only thing?
5557678 Malicious Looping Entity: some of the worst and most dangerous beings around the multiverse. What Billy did will be posted in the Nick/CN compilation page soon enough; maybe April or May.
5557678
As an addendum to what Evilhumour said, MLEs are potential dangers to Yggdrasil itself (if they are dangers to other loopers is irrelevant here)
With all the facets this fic touched upon, I still wonder why any famous OC besides Nyx is never used? What about a loop with Snowdrop? Or a series of shorts with an unawake Button Mash winning against all Loopers in any chosen videogame? Are these two completely forgotten or just not liked well enough?
Another loop idea - put awake Derpy (or whoever the most militaristic of the MLP loopers actually is) and Spike into a Mulan loop (instead of Shang and Mushu respectively) and have them derail things for fun.
5558757 Because Nyx is a loophole excuse looper. She's technically Nightmare Moon that Twilight raised from a Past Sins loop. Snowdrop does not exist in the show and while the Button Mash idea is cute, it's very unrealistic considering all the time they have had on their hands. And besides, there is a list of other ponies people want to have looping first and they're nowhere the bottom of that list.
For your second idea, come to the SB forum and pitch the idea.
5558094 Definitely. Risk to loopers sort of pales in comparison to something that threatens the entire system.
5558132 *Grins* As we all should. But sometimes it's hard to remember when you start making the reed vibrate
So, plotholes can crash a loop? Awesome!
5557667 .12 Keys to the Kingdom from Garth Nix.
Saph. there's a number mistake
There's 136.14 instead of 136.13
The questions "How do ponies hold things with their hooves" and "Why do they have items obviously designed to be used with hands" are usually best ignored. Saner that way.
Is there a forum with all different looping stories?
5563065 The Mouse That Roared.
5562845 Spacebattles.
5563049 I believe you're right.
5563065 It's a reference to an old novel and film called "Th Mouse That Roared" The movie is especially hilarious as every character is played by the amazing Peter Sellers.
5579518
That's where the idea came from. I thought I'd go for "elaborate sculpture made of nothing but N atoms"
136.11 Terrible grammar, tense errors and maybe dropped words.. not sure as the grammar and tenses are such a mess. This kind of "quality" usually means that I will drop the story instantly, but as this is basically collaboration with random people.. Oh well. But I would prefer a bit tighter controls on the quality, if I want to read MLP Loops drivel, I can always read the thread itself.
Also, on the subject of new loopers.. I think that would be a mistake, as it seems only about half of the current loopers are actually used with any frequency. Don't really see why you must make background ponies loop if they don't actually stop being background ponies. And the less I say how about 20% of all the loopers basically amount to comic reliefs in a story that's mostly comedy, the better.
5580298 First complaint is fair - I do try to get people to check grammar, it's just that there's often fifty thousand words to check, which is a novel - and I'm not paid for this...
Second one... yeah, there's a moratorium on new loopers because the extant ones aren't used enough.
5580587 Oh, I know it's not your fault. It's actually one of the reasons I prefer to avoid loosely collaborative stories. As no-one has any true control on what's being written, and the guy with the original idea can hardly be expected to be an editor for every single contributor, the result seems to always be more-or-less messy. This one has managed decently well so far, probably partly because it's not even trying to tell one coherent story.
I think it's just me hoping there would be more critical attitude towards the snippets from the contributors themselves. Or some easy way to point out that some snippet really doesn't belong in the compilation thread. (I actually think I saw that specific snippet there, and tried to figure out how to point it out..) Oh well, hopeful attitude is supposedly good for you.
5582950 It's hard to write for some characters: Zecora is very tricky if you are not able to write in rhythms for example
I love this story. I should stop procrastinating and actually try my hand at writing a segment or two.
Either that or invent time travel so I can get the next batch early.
5594071
Yes and no. Iceman never wrote it out that far.
The most widespread rule of thumb accepted by the community for one reason or another is that anything sapient we would ever be able to interact with in a positive manner shares enough of our mental wiring to be considered ''human" by her standards. There have been numerous side-fics written on the subject.
I agree that Iceman's intent was more horror than was received, but fundamentally, it comes down to Death of the Author and whether writers draw only from him, or from the surrounding 'verse as well.
That said, the similarity with which FiO and TCB is dealt with ("oh god, oh god, kill it with fire, and then brain bleach") to the extent where the reactions alone could not distinguish one from the other strikes me as odd, considering how different the two are. I think it may have more to do with violation of free will / alteration of the human condition than fearing AI or staying true exclusively to the author's original.
136.3: Twilight lied to Principal Celestia about the crown? Or was her own the one made of brass?
5594343 Yeah, for my gut reactions it's the free will thing. Free will and informed consent shalt be the whole of the law (or most of it) as far as I'm concerned...
5595399
The whole of the law for everyone?
What about for children? Should a baby not be stopped from touching a fire, or a toddler not be stopped from wandering the streets alone? There is no real line between minor and adult beyond what we create - it's all a continuum. In the cases of both FiO and TCB, someone more senior/responsible than any human comes along and says "No, don't do that, you're killing yourselves." and takes the appropriate action to prevent death and suffering.
I don't blame the child for being upset at being controlled, but I still think it's for the best.
5595438
That's why I said informed.
Give as much information as possible - and you can't write a story in which the reason is ineffable to humanity - and allow consent as much as is at all even remotely feasible.
But I don't want to have this gods damned argument again, I just got out of one that was near-identical. I'll simply point out that "they're like children and we know better" is an argument which was often used to justify colonialism.
5595565
Fair enough, I won't force you to have the argument again.
I'll just point out that 'informed' is relative.
5601774 Dunno. Its ineffable or something.