MLP Loops 160
160.1: (Crisis)
Twilight looked around the utter mess that Pinkie Pie's room had become. In addition to the usual party paraphernalia, there were also charts, beakers, research papers, incomplete blueprints, and devices of varying design and function (not all of which were readily apparent). "I'm going to regret asking this, but what exactly are you doing, Pinkie?"
"I'm trying to figure out how to goof on, silly!" Pinkie chirped back.
"How to...?"
"Goof on! Everyone knows how to goof off, but I want to invent the goofer so I need to know how to goof on as well!"
Twilight blinked slowly as Pinkie continued her explanation, the party pony chanting 'goof on! goof off!' several times; the unicorn then pulled a breathalyzer out of her subspace pocket. She proceeded to breathe into the sensor long and slow before fiddling with the device for a bit using her magic.
"As I suspected."
"As you suspected what?" Pinkie cut off her explanation curiously.
"I am entirely too sober to be having this conversation."
160.2: (Vinylshadow - MLP/Ultimate Hellsing)
Cadence Woke up with a loud snort that would have sounded more appropriate coming from a pig.
"Oh, you're Awake," a voice beside her said. Cadence turned to see Shining Armor looking at her. Meeting her eyes, he winked.
"What's going on?" Cadence asked, yawning.
"Blueblood was replaced by someone from Hellsing. Schnitzel or strudel..." Shiny replied.
"Ah, the Major. Sturmbannführer," Cadence said with a nod. "Uhm...why aren't we murderlizing him?"
"Well, he's not completely sociopathic. He apparently picked up some of Blueblood's traits. And he simply loves speeches. He's been going on for the past four and a half hours."
Cadence could only blink in bemusement. "Bring any popcorn?"
At Shining's nod behind her, she turned to see Alucard and Integra scarfing down popcorn. At her polite cough, the two offered her some.
160.3: (Detective Ethan Redfield)
"Lyra, this is a terrible idea."
Twilight rubbed her forehead as she watched her partner setting up her stargate, which she had pocketed during the Variant where Nightmare Moon was a Goa'uld named Epona. Now, Twilight was learning Lyra occasionally tested the Stargate/DHD to see if they were connected. And this Loop, Lyra managed a successful connection with Abydos. Now, she was insistent on connecting with SG1 and joining the team this Loop.
Lyra scoffed. "Come on, Twilight. Don't tell me you're not a little bit bored with hanging around Equestria all day. Don't you want to get back out there, explore the universe and see things you don't see very often? Everything outside our Solar System changes from Loop to Loop. Explore the stars and you'll never be bored again."
Twilight bit her lip. Admittedly, the idea was appealing. But the method was...questionable at best, "They have the iris protecting their gate. One step through and the Loop will automatically end, painfully."
Lyra waved her off, "Please, I can magic the iris open from this end easily. Come on, have some fun!"
Sighing, Twilight nodded, "Fine."
As they stepped out of the gate, they were met by dozens of soldiers decked out with heavy machine guns, along with a pair of mini guns hanging from the ceiling, all pointed at the two ponies. Lyra was grinning in excitement, while Twilight was facehooving and keeping a shield up in case someone decided to shoot first, ask questions later.
In the control room, Daniel Jackson blinked several times and gave a short wave while Colonel Jack O'Neill mimicked Twilight in facepalming.
160.4: (Vinylshadow)
"Trixie, are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asked, watching the azure-coated showmare make a few last minute adjustments to her plan.
"Yes, Twilight. I've triple-checked everything from start to finish. Now shoo, go have your 'lazer battle' with Tirek and leave the rest to me."
Twilight immobilized Tirek with ease, but she had been too slow to stop the blast that usually leveled the library. She watched as it neared the tree and she winced.
Suddenly, a ring of explosions erupted from the base of the tree and the entire structure sank into the ground with a whumph.
The blast sailed over the sunken tree and nuked Town Hall instead.
Twilight stared and turned to see Trixie grinning from ear to ear.
"See? Exactly as I planned!"
Twilight thought about it for a moment, then facehoofed, much to Trixie's confusion. "Yes, you saved the Library, but everything inside is probably all over the place now."
"...Oh."
160.5: (ORBSyndicate)
Twilight Awoke to the words, "And this is my partner, Twilight Sparkle." She blinked, turning her head to see a man introducing her to... some random person. "We work for the local P. T. Buffalo 'wax your buns off' parlor. Would you like to purchase some scented candles?"
As the random person shut the door in their faces, Twilight blinked. What the buck is this Loop?
She sent out a Ping, hoping to pick up anyone to talk to. She only got one response, presumably from the man standing right next to her, since he tapped her in the forehead saying "PING!" just as she felt it. "Hello, Twilight, I am Shawn, psychic detective. I sense you are baffled, confused, and perhaps need a banana pancake covered in strawberry drizzle. Come with me. I know just the place, my purple-skinned friend."
Twilight followed Shawn in a daze, racking her brain for her Loop memories.
Then they hit. Her name was Berta Sparkle, lifelong friend to Shawn Spencer. They had recently started a psychic detective agency known as Psych and solved cases for the Santa Barbara Police Department. There was just one problem -
"You aren't really psychic!"
"Usually not, but did that ever stop James Roday?" Shawn said, grinning. "Now I suppose I should welcome you to the Psych Loop, say I'm the Anchor, yada yada... But you know what? That's boring. I have something much better planned. My little pony, can you do magic now?"
Twilight tested. "Yep."
"Good. When I yell 'Lassie' and point, I want you to turn whatever I point at into a dog."
"What do I get out of this?"
"A full Loop-long membership in Psych Inc., the best psychic detective agency in the universe." Shawn smiled. "Which, as you have figured out, has nothing at all to do with being psychic."
"You're using your knowledge of the Loops to take advantage of-"
"BWAAAAAP!" Shawn blared, grinning. "Psych existed BASELINE, little princess. I just used my amazing powers of observation and Gus's super sniffer. I was like the Rainman. Now shush, I'm about to scream 'Lassie.' Ready? "
"Um... sure?"
"Okay." Shawn Spencer threw open the doors of the Santa Barbara Police Department. "HEY LASSIE!"
Detective Carlton Lassiter looked at Shawn standing there, pointing at him. "Mister Spencer, I really don't have time for your antics right now. So how's about you hook up with your snobby little purple friend -"
At THAT point Twilight turned him into a dog. He started barking. Shawn cracked up laughing. "Yes! This has gotta be the fifth best time I've turned Lassie into a DOG!"
Twilight briefly pondered this before turning Lassiter back.
He stared, blinking. "What just happened?"
"Berta turned you into a dog, Lassie! Isn't that wonderful? You've got a superpower now... you could be... the SUPERLASSIE! No.... that's not right... the BAT DOG! Copyrighted by at least a dozen universes.... the... Berta give me a hand here."
"Berta's Amazing Pup?"
"As embarrassing as it is, Lassie deserves a legitimate superhero name. No dice. Perhaps something relating to this version's Lassie having an obsession with red socks -"
"I DO NOT!"
"Dude," Shawn said, putting a hand to his forehead. "My psychic vibes are telling me you like red socks. Particularly on dogs. Perhaps the Red Socked Avenger. Or..."
Twilight sighed. This was going to be interesting...
[br]
Mac looked at the brown pony with a nose cutie mark. He looked... really relaxed.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting..." Super Sniffer (more commonly known as Gus) told Big Mac. "I heard about this Sanctuary Loop centuries ago. I've been waiting forever for a BREAK. Have you met my Anchor? Shawn? He's the most immature man in existence."
"I reckon he can't be the most immature -"
"He pranked our entire planet by replacing the world leaders with piles of cow pies."
"Eewhat?"
"Nothing," Gus said, chugging down a drink. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to relax for a few years before I inevitably get dragged back home to be dragged around through who-knows-what."
Another pony walked in, a member of the fluffy pony race with white fur. He shot death glares into the ponies with just his presence.
"Not a word." Lassie said. "Not. One. Word."
160.6: (ORBSyndicate)
Gravity Falls: Friendship is Magic
Twilight Awoke on a bus, with all five of her closest friends with her. She could feel the right combination of Elements, guessed that they were all Awake, and waved. They waved back. They were all human, in their Canterlot High forms. (Although they were younger, and Rainbow Dash was wearing jeans instead of a skirt.)
She sent out a Ping, receiving one response other than the Element bearers. The six of them scanned their Loop memories, quickly noticing one odd detail:
"Sextuplets?" Rarity said, eyes wide. "Is that even possible?"
Twilight nodded. "Hub world record for most children born at once that survived is eight. That's two more than six." She decided to examine the surroundings. It was midday, the sun high enough in the sky that the bus' roof completely obscured the ball of energy at all angles. The sky was cloudless, which was standard for a summer day in the Oregon forest. Speaking of forest, there were trees. Everywhere. Gigantic tall pine trees that loomed ominously against the sky, brushing the air with their tips. The bus itself, the Speedy Beaver, was a piece of junk. Torn up cushions, random stuff under the cushions -
"Hey! Let's play treasure hunt!" Pinkie yelled, peeling up a cushion. "Oo! Old gum, a stain that looks like Shawn, a cockroach, and a balloon!"
Twilight ignored Pinkie's antics. Right now, she was trying to figure out where they were. She reached into her Pocket and began to search through Hub fiction, looking for anything similar to their situation. She was stopped by Fluttershy. "Twilight? Can we not try to know what's going to happen? Just… live through the Loop?"
Twilight blinked. "Sure. Why not." She put the Hub fiction device back into her Pocket and sat down, attempting to enjoy the ride. "Where are we going, anyway?"
Applejack pointed out the window at a sign. "Some town called Gravity Falls. Our Grunkle Stan is going to watch us for the summer. My unAwake self was looking forwards to this trip, been a while since we'd been in the country apparently."
Rarity sighed, leaning on her hand in a overly-dramatic pose. "We're going to a back-of-the-woods town in the middle of nowhere. There's not likely to be ANYone who has ANY fashion sense…"
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Back-of-the-woods town? Sounds like adventure! We shall explore the entire town and root out all sorts of mysteries! THE MYSTERY SIX! I shall -"
"Darling…" Rarity said. "The Scooby-Doo Loop wasn't THAT fun…"
"It was fun enough to warrant a name. Mystery Six. We will brave great dangers and discover the mysteries of the town…"
"Yer bein' redundant," Applejack muttered, adjusting her hat.
"Oh, really?" Rainbow said. "I'll have you know I'm an author and I know redundancy. I did not mention danger the first time, and mysteries just needed to be solidified. MYSTERIES!"
Pinkie Pie jumped in, wearing her deerstalker and sugar-bubble pipe. "MYSTERIES!" she yelled, taking a deep breath, springing into a heartsong.
Mysteries, mysteries!
Oh how I love these!
Mysteries, mysteries!
Bigfoot! Mothman! Hunks of swiss cheese!
These are all my big mysteries!
Is it true or is it not?
These are all the questions I've got!
Can you see?
My curiosity?
Mysteries, mysteries!
Oh how I love these!
Mysteries, mysteries!
Halflings! Zalgo's screen! Blue zombie plagues!
There stories are all just so vague!
Big ol' pot of Neglish rot!
Or mutants that like tater tot?
What is truth?
Can we be the true sleuth?
Mysteries, mysteries!
Oh how I love these!
Mysteries, mysteries!
Stargates! Zodiacs! Constellations!
Mysteries from all the nations!
All of them congregate there!
A place which we are so near!
Can you feel?
The great alluring zeal?
Oh look there, here is the place!
The place where gravity falls, and earth becomes sky!
Beware the beast with just one eye!
As the song ended, the Speedy Beaver bus pulled into the small town of Gravity Falls, stopping at the outskirts. The six sisters stepped out, looking at their new surroundings. The town was situated in what appeared to be a gorge, with two steep crevasses towards the northern end of the town, which were connected by a metal wire-frame bridge. Beneath the bridge were two large gashes in the crevasses, giving them the appearance of two Pac-Men staring at each other. The river flowed between them into town, where it met up with a waterfall, creating a small, but deep, lake. The southern edge was bordered by thick, deep, dark forest, the water tower standing up out of the canopy. Several large mansions could be seen lining the higher-elevation areas, looking down on the mish-mashed look of the town itself. There was a mixture of cars and bikes, modern looking buildings such as a mall, old sheds that looked like they'd been there since the days of Lewis and Clark, and other buildings that looked like some unholy combination of the two. The town seemed to be a living contradiction: modern mixed with ancient, fancy cars alongside horse-drawn carriages.
What really caused the six to reconsider was the fact that roughly half the buildings were somewhat familiar. Although there was much less pink dashed around everywhere, there was no mistaking the ice-cream shape of Sugar Cube Corner, the tall and circular design of the Town Hall, the Library made out of a giant tree…
There was no doubt about it. This town was a fusion of two places. Gravity Falls and Ponyville, thrown together in the backwoods of Oregon.
Twilight pondered this. "Huh. Wonder who we'll see here?"
Pinkie grinned. "I can't wait to know EVERYONE and find out ALL THEIR BIRTHDAYS and ALL THE PARTIES and… a whole new town Twilight! Can you believe it? Woohoo!"
Applejack blinked. "Pinkie, every Loop you have a new town. And this is far from the first one that's been at least partly like Ponyville -"
"Hush now, one-who-is-standing-in-the-way-of-party. ALL new places are amazing!"
Rarity spoke up. "Darlings, we should probably check in with our Grunkle Stan first, so we don't upset anything. That is, if we are going to follow this Loop through."
Twilight nodded. "Come on girls, we need to head to the Mystery Shack."
"The mystery whatsis now?" Rainbow said "Sounds lame and run down. I want ADVENTURE!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Let's just get settled in first. We can go searching for trouble later."
[br]
Stan Pines, Mister Mystery, was waiting at the front door like he did every Loop. He was a tall man with a thick figure, and despite his old age he managed to look strong and even full of energy. He wore a red fez, with a strange golden symbol on it that resembled Pac-Man crossed with a goldfish cracker. The Pac-Man fish's mouth was open ever so slightly, seemingly reaching for the golden dot in front of it. Unfortunately, being nothing more than a symbol on a hat, the Pac-Man fish would never, ever be able to eat the dot. Such a shame, really. Stan's face was square-jawed, covered in stubble, and had an eyepatch across one eye. He was wearing what appeared to be a black and white showman's uniform crossed with a tuxedo. It gave the appearance of being fancy, while at the same time looking somewhat cheesy and overdone. Choking his neck was a red cord tied into a knot with four tassels. He was currently staring intently at his watch.
"Five… Four… Three…. Two… One…" he said before opening the door quickly. Twilight, who had been in the process of preparing to knock, stumbled into the front room. "Um… Hi. I'm Twilight. I assume you are Grunkle Stan? You sure must be Loopy to take all six of us for the entire summer."
Stan grinned. "My unAwake self made that decision, as he does every Loop. Come in, make yourselves at home." He generously gestured with a wave of his arm. The six walked into the Mystery Shack, into a large room. There waswere paraphernalia littered everywhere, from T-shirts to baseball caps to snowglobes, all priced at least four times too high. Further along several examples of obviously-fake taxidermy littered the walls. There was a jackalope with three antlers, a horse made entirely of corn, and a squirrel with a duck head. Each of these "exhibits" had a rather uncreative name attached to them: "trackelope," "ecorn," and "squck" just to name a few. There were also "adventuring supplies", such as a grappling hook, rope, a crossbow, and more rope.
"OK - i take the first part back. NOT lame," Dash said. "Some of this stuff is actually pretty cool!" she said as she picked up a crystal eye.
Stan quickly tore the red crystalline eye out of Rainbow's grasp. "That's not for sale. Don't touch that."
"I thought we were living with you - why can't I touch your whatsawagigs?" Dash said.
Twilight sighed inwardly at Rainbow's use of "whatsis" again.
Stan glared. "My shack. My rules. I say what happens and what doesn't. Also, I'm the resident Looper here. I know things."
"Oh, well, good for you, Mr. Protective," Dash sarcastically muttered, rolling her eyes as she picked up a multi-colored geode.
"You touch it, you buy it," Stan said, gesturing to Dash to fork over some money.
Rainbow Dash quickly checked her wallet, then proceeded to give Stan a five dollar bill. Stan stared at her in disbelief. He had obviously not expected her to actually pay him. "Er… okay then. Listen up! You six, are going to work for me at the mystery shack -"
"So I get my five bucks back?" Dash asked. "As payment?"
Stan twitched. He was not in the mood to be interrupted. "Your payment will be your rooms. No, you won't get paid. You know what, just for that?" He turned to look at all the sisters. "I'm not telling you anything. You all have to figure this Loop out for yourselves. Have fun; this place is a real pain in the back when you don't know what's going on. Your room is up the stairs, down the hall, first door on the left. Work begins tomorrow."
The six element bearers stood in the Shack, staring at the place where Stan had just been. Applejack was the first to recover, shrugging. "I say we go an' get our room together. Then we figure out what we're gonna do."
The others nodded, and they walked up the wooden stairs to their room. The ceiling of the room was slanted, indicating the rooms position in relation to the roof. The room had a single triangular-shaped window, a lot of power outlets, several old wooden dressers with lamps on them, and two beds.
Only two beds.
Twilight twitched. "Girls, who carries extra beds in their pockets?"
Pinkie Pie grinned. "I do! I always carry them around in case of a bed emergency!"
Rarity looked around the room. "Are you sure there's room in this little room?"
Pinkie Pie produced two bunk beds, setting them in between the two other beds, taking up most of the space in the room. "Just barely!" Pinkie grinned. "But it works!"
"Hrmmm… it needs to be about twenty percent roomier." Dash said "'Cus reasons."
Fluttershy smiled. "I don't mind a cramped place. It'll let us bond more."
"Fluttershy…" Twilight responded. "We've had billions of years to bond. I think we've got it down."
Pinkie Pie dropped down from the ceiling, somehow. "Oh really? Riddle me this: what am I thinking about right now?"
"Fooling me?" Twilight guessed.
"Nope! I was actually thinking of croissants. I'm hungry." She pulled one of the crescent-shaped pastries out of her pocket, digging in like a rabid squirrel.
Twilight shrugged. She wondered what this world would have in store for them. The town was brimming with magical energy, flowing in and out around her. She would have to study it in detail. It looked like she might get to have a genuine adventure with her friends for once. It had been quite a while since she'd been in a place with all five of her friends that none of them had been to before. And they were sure as aspen going to have fun with it.
Twilight considered thanking Stan for not telling them what was coming. It was always more interesting that way.
Stan sat back in his room, pondering life. He took off his fez, studying it deeply. It was his symbol, that strange fish thing. It was who he was. It was his destiny. It represented his baseline self. Which, admittedly, wasn't altogether that different from him now. Millions of Loops hadn't changed his core self that much, but that was probably because he'd already been old when he started.
Would he be able to go through a baseline run again? It would be a challenge, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As fun as it was to watch visiting Loopers go through the mysteries completely baffled, he usually stepped in at some point, to change what was going to happen.
It had been a really, really long time since he had seen it through all the way to the end.
Maybe this was the time he'd face it. Maybe. Maybe not.
He sighed, taking a picture of his niece and nephew, Dipper and Mabel Pines. Anchor and Looper for this branch of the great world-tree Yggdrasil. His frown deepened. They had changed so much, and he was still the same old man he had always been.
Maybe… maybe this would be the Loop.
Just maybe.
Outside time, and outside space, a creature of nightmares stirred. His single eye flipped open, and he knew everything. He laughed.
"This is going to be fun!"
160.7: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"Afternoon, Mac."
"Afternoon, Mayor."
Ivory Scroll chuckled as she settled in on her stool. "I just had a really, really weird Bureau Loop, and I know we don't like to talk about them… but I need to get this one off my back."
"How so?"
"It was a LITERAL Bureau Loop. As in, I was a chest of drawers in someone's house."
Mac raised an eyebrow as he slid a drink her way. "Now, this I have to hear."
Ivory chuckled. "Well…"
Ivory Scroll, sometimes known as Mayor Mare, Awoke feeling very strange. Curious, she tried to move and found she couldn't.
Frowning (such as she could), she triggered a Ping, and several responses came back almost immediately.
Tapping the Force abilities she'd gained from one Loop, she stretched out her senses, and began picking up other voices.
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Rarity?"
"I think I'm a sofa."
There was a pause. "I know how you feel."
Ivory sighed in relief. "Twilight?"
"Ivory?" Twilight's mental voice came. "Oh good, we aren't alone. I felt the ping, so I knew there had to be more of us here, but I couldn't tell who."
Ivory chuckled. "Yes, I'm here. Anyone else?"
"Shiny and I are," came Cadance's voice. "I appear to be… a credenza? And Shiny's an armoire."
"And here I thought I had it bad the time I Looped in as literal armor," a grumpy voice added.
"At least you aren't a bureau like me," Ivory told him.
There were several shudders at that. Including one from an actual pair of shutters. "I have to admit, this is definitely among the stranger things I've been," Sunset Shimmer commented.
"Yes," Twilight replied. "Yes, it is." There were several chuckles in response.
"It's a good thing we could still talk with one another like that," Ivory concluded. "Otherwise, it would have been a very boring Loop, just having to stand there all day and do nothing."
Mac chuckled. "Eeyup."
160.8: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"Ah, literature, literature," Mrs. Twilight Sparkle sighed as she studied the shelves of her mansion's library. Around the room, her maid and their five guests were each contently reading one of the books from her vast collection.
Then she and the others all blinked Awake at the same moment.
Looking around, Twilight blinked. "Um, girls? Are we in Boddy Manor? The real one, not just a copy we made for a game Loop?"
"Yep yep yep!" Miss Charlotte "Pinkie Pie" Scarlet bounced in her seat. "But I think you mean Sparkle Manor, this time."
Colonel Martin "Rainbow Dash" Mustard raised an eyebrow. "And I see you're the only one reprising your old role, Pinkie."
Next to her, Mrs. Wilhelmina "Fluttershy" White nodded as she set her copy of Make Way for Ducklings down. "I don't mind being in this role, actually."
"Well, ah do mind this one," Mr. Gerald "Applejack" Green remarked. "Why in tarnation am ah the corrupt businesspony? Do ah look like Flim or Flam?"
"No, but your family does run a successful business," Mrs. Patricia "Rarity" Peacock commented. "So excluding his criminal activities, you are the closest to the character's background."
Applejack reluctantly conceded the point.
"I just have one question," Professor Paul "Spike" Plum threw in. "Why am I the absent-minded professor this time instead of Twilight?"
"Because you're purple?" Twilight suggested. "At any rate, I think this is the book version. And unlike Mr. Boddy, I have no intention of being murdered or robbed blind. So... Vacation Loop?"
"Vacation Loop," everyone else chorused.
160.9: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"TWILIGHT!" a panicked-looking Rarity shouted as she burst into the library.
Rolling her eyes, Twilight looked up from her book. Even the unAwake versions are getting into it now... "Yes, Rarity?"
"Come quick! We've a situation, and Fluttershy isn't here to help with it!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but followed her friend out the door. "Animals where they're not supposed to be?"
"Yes! In the swimming hole! Where my sister and her friends were playing!"
"And... what kind are they?"
"See for yerself," a much calmer Applejack put in as she walked up to them. "Ah've seen 'em and they aren't causin' any real trouble, but Mac's watchin' em anyway, so everything's jist fine. And Rarity, I know you can get a little worked up at times, but did you really, really have to run screaming like that?"
"Our sisters are in danger and you think I shouldn't be 'worked up'?! Why, you..."
Ignoring the frantic Rarity as she continued to rant at an obviously exasperated Applejack, Twilight sighed. Why, oh, why did Rarity have to be such a worrywart this Loop?
A few minutes later, as the three mares walked up to the swimming hole, Twilight raised her eyebrow even higher. Okay, even in the mostly baseline Loops, I can still be surprised.
A family of bears, one adult and five cubs, were happily splashing around with the Crusaders, while Mac kept a careful eye on the group from where he was sitting. Concentrating, Twilight sent a Ping, to see if any of the bears would react. They didn't, though Applejack (whom Twilight already knew was Awake) quirked one ear. Not visiting Loopers then. Huh.
Walking up to the water, she coughed to catch their attention. "Room for one more?"
"Twilight!" Three happy fillies chorused. "Come on in, the water's fine!"
The mother bear looked up too, shrugged, then went back to resting on her side of the swimming hole.
Smiling, Twilight waded in and joined the group in their playing. Ah... I needed this.
Several hours later (Rarity having stormed off in a huff at some point, and Applejack having returned to her farm, knowing Mac and Twilight had things well in hoof), the last of the group finally left the water and shook themselves dry. Watching the six bears lumber off, Twilight turned to her three younger friends with a smile. "Thanks for letting me join you, girls."
"Oh, it was no problem!" Scootaloo chirped. "So... same time next week?"
Twilight smiled. "Works for me."
160.10: (Anon e Mouse Jr.; with one line by Masterweaver)
Diamond Tiara stuck her nose in the door of the Golden Oaks Library. "Hey, Twilight? Spike said you wanted to see me?"
Twilight nodded from where she was shelving books. "It's about your unAwake self last Loop."
Diamond groaned as she walked into the room. "Oh no. What'd she do this time?"
"Nothing bad," Twilight reassured her.
"Oh. Phew." Diamond sighed.
"She just acted exactly like Maud normally does."
Diamond stared. "What."
Twilight nodded. "She looked just like you, and had the same basic voice, just with Maud's personality. Deadpan expression, always speaking in a monotone... she even had the same obsession with rocks and gemstones. And she was about as protective of Silver Spoon as Maud is of Pinkie."
Diamond smiled at that. "Nice to know some of my other selves can be decent ponies too."
"Yep." Twilight crinkled her forehead. "The only problem... it was a little disturbing to see Maud's "Look" on your face. Promise me you won't start doing that?"
"Only in emergencies," Diamond assured her.
"Good." Then she cocked her head. "....soooo, does this mean the Maud of that Loop acted like my unawake self or--?"
"Fortunately, no. And even more fortunately, you two never met when she came to town at the usual time."
"You don't mean..."
Twilight nodded, and shuddered. "Trust me, the universe is not ready for Maud in stereo. I'm just glad they were different enough from one another for it not to be a problem in that Loop where there were six of her."
160.11: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Twilight Awoke in the chariot on the way to Ponyville. A quick check of her Loop Memories told her this had been a mostly baseline Loop for her so far, and two quick Pings, one with the elements and one without, told her only one of her friends - specifically, a bearer of Loyalty - was Awake. Then, she felt a tap on her leg.
Standing beside her, Spike looked up. "Hey, Twilight. Feeling Loopy?"
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. You just Woke Up too, huh?"
"Yeah. So, what's the plan for this Loop?"
"Nothing in particular, I..." Twilight stared. "What the birch?"
Their chariot had landed in Ponyville while they were talking, and an unusual sight lay before them:
Every single pony had a miniature version of Derpy Hooves sitting on their head and looking cute.
Spike facepalmed. "Okay, what."
As one pony walked past them, the pegasus mare on her head waved to the pair.
Twilight, still looking around in surprise, nodded to the pegasus and then glanced at her dragon assistant. "Something tells me this is going to be an odd Loop, Spike."
A little while later, Twilight and Spike were still walking through Ponyville, and still wondering about the miniature pegasi that everypony, be they adult or younger, had. The youngest ponies had proportionally smaller ones, while one elderly pony Twilight saw had a very aged-looking Derpy on his head. Even Pinkie Pie (who'd done her usual "gasp and run" routine with them) had one on her head, though hers was apparently wearing a small party hat. (It took everything Twilight had to keep from squeeing at the sheer adorableness of the sight.) As the two approached Sweet Apple Acres, they could see all the ponies there had the miniature pegasi as well.
A familiar Earth Pony walked up to them. "Howdy, y'all!" Applejack called. "Welcome to Ponyville, miss..."
"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. And, um... how could you tell I'm new here?"
Applejack chuckled. "Your head's bare, that's how! Everypony around here's got one of these little darlin's on their head, so of course anypony without 'em's gotta be new." As she gestured, her own miniature pegasus popped out of the brim of her hat and waved.
Twilight waved back. "Okay... now, I have to ask. Why does everypony have a tiny pegasus on their head?"
"Cute, ain't she?" Applejack chuckled. "This here's a Derpie. Near as we can tell, they're an offshoot of the... Breezies, I think Fluttershy called 'em. They're supposed to be kind of a mix between ponies and butterflies, but this kind look like normal Pegasi, 'cept for the size an' all havin' the same color scheme. Anyway, whole bunch of 'em moved into town a few years ago, an' since they don't cause any trouble, we let 'em stay."
"So, why is she on your head?"
"That's what Derpies do," Applejack replied. "They settle down on folks' heads and look cute. An' we found out they make good lookouts too, since they can see in every direction at once. Don't ask me how, they just do it."
"Don't you have to feed them?"
"Nah, they just pull some of the ambient magic out of the air an' eat that. Though for some reason, they always make it look like a muffin before they eat it."
Her Derpie giggled and demonstrated.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's... interesting. So, Spike and I are here to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration?"
Nearly twelve hours later, Twilight was seriously wondering about this Loop. Aside from the Derpies sitting on pony's heads, it was effectively the same as baseline. Applejack and her family were still friendly and welcoming, Rainbow Dash was still just as good at handling the weather (though Twilight had to wonder how her Derpie held on when she was moving at top speed), and Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie were the same as well. Nightmare Moon had shown up right on time, and Twilight had led her friends through the Everfree to get the Elements and purify the corrupted Alicorn. Now, Princess Celestia was there and speaking to them.
"Spike, take a note, please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."
As the others cheered, Twilight blushed. "Thank you, Princess. Staying here with my friends, making Ponyville my new home, it means the world to me."
Just then, a Derpie flew in out of nowhere and settled on her head, a big smile on its face as Twilight looked up at it. Another flew in to settle on Spike's head, making him grin.
Applejack chuckled. "Well, lookee here, Twilight! Guess you really are one of us now!"
As the room filled with laughter, Twilight just smiled. This was going to be an interesting Loop.
160.12: (Evilhumour, Gamerex27)
The Question, part four of four
Nyx flew through space, with eyes narrowed as she made her way to the unoccupied moon. Sleipnir had informed her of the location during the last Loop, to where she could meet him.
She braced herself both physically and emotionally as she flew up to the lunar rock and landed in front of the giant in gleaming power armor trimmed in fur. His helm was resting on the surface, and he sat on a raised ridge.
Nyx knew his physical appearance very well, to the point she was certain that she could draw all the lines in his face without a reference.
Yet the mournful lines were a new addition to the face…
He looked up at her and caught her eyes with his.
They were heavy with sadness and regret, shame and remorse as he looked at her. Yet there was a spark of determination and hope, of resolution and joy in his eyes as well.
There was an awkward silence as the two beings looked at each other. The man finally sighed, eyes darting to the side.
"Hello, Nyx." Leman spoke softly, unable to look at her anymore.
"Hello, Russ," Nyx responded curtly, letting a small bit of anger and hate that she still had out onto the man that had hurt her.
"Nyx, you -" Leman began before shaking his head. "Nyx, I cannot begin to say how sorry I am, how much I regret saying that to you."
"Try," Nyx said, far harsher than she had planned. "Actually saying the words 'I'm sorry for being a hurtful jerk' would be a start!"
The powerful Primarch winced at that, folding inwards slightly. "Nyx, I want to say I am sorry - I am sorry for everything that happened, believe me - but just saying I am sorry feels like I am understating what I did to you. It doesn't feel enough!"
Nyx huffed, silently agreeing that if Leman had simply apologized, she would have thrown it back into his face. She didn't want to agree with him right now, but he was right; a simple conversation would not be enough. "Then what do you propose then, Russ?" She watched him wince again, and she was surprised at herself that she did not feel guilty at doing this to him. But she was relieved that she felt guilty for not feeling guilty about hurting him.
"Nyx, I," Leman started before shaking his head. "I don't know if we can go back to what we had, but we need to talk about -" He broke off, looking into space. "Did you feel that?" He frowned, tilting his head.
"What are you talkin-" Nyx blinked, ears twitching around as she felt something that was like nails on a chalkboard in the magical aether. It was a very unpleasant feeling, and as she listened into it, she could hear the screams of people and the screech of metal against metal.
"Damn it all to hell!" Leman swore, racing towards an assault bike parked against another ridge. "Those daemons will kill those people!" Throwing himself onto the bike, he started the machine when Nyx placed her hooves on it to stop him.
"What are you doing? You can't drive that -" Nyx reared back in surprise as Leman took off and began to head to the people in trouble. "How are you doing that? I thought you couldn't drive anything smaller than a tank!" Nyx shouted at him as she flew alongside him, keeping one eye on the direction they were heading to make sure they were still on track.
Leman snorted, shaking his head. "Nyx, that's a lie, a self lie." Stealing a glance at her, Leman ran a massive hand through his hair while letting out a sigh. "Everyone, especially Anchors like me and your mother who are always Awake... We need something to keep ourselves and others occupied during the Loops, and sometimes the silliest of things amuses others, so we keep to it no matter what. You really think your mother, whose special talents are Learning and Magic itself, would be unable to save her home time again and again with her vast experiences and knowledge?"
Nyx blinked at that, feeling a bit uncomfortable with how much sense that made. "So your cooking skills are another self lie?"
"No, I really suck at cooking." Leman blushed. "I still don't know how I made a warp storm with just a toaster and toast."
Nyx couldn't help but giggle at that, with Leman smirking at her before frowning as they came upon the escort ship under siege by three odd-looking daemons. One of them was a black-robed figure riding inside a wheel made of fire - no doubt one of Khorne's. The second was a teal-ish transparent blob of a being, with its sole, heart-shaped organ visible and covered with black tumors. Nurgle's, obviously. The third was a feminine figure, white wings flapping as her only articles of clothing - Slaanesh type chains and leather that just barely covered her decency - whipped about in the nonexistent breeze of space's vacuum.
"How should we handle this?" Nyx looked at Leman for a bit of guidance, eager to swoop in but aware of how foolish that would be.
"You take care of the ship; I'll distract the daemons." Leman stared at her, holding a finger to silence her protesting. "If we do it the other way, I'd be too worried about you and more than likely abandon them to get back to you."
"Oh." Nyx blinked, feeling at odds with the unspoken words that they both knew Nyx wouldn't be tempted to go back to aid Leman.
"Let me give you some coverage, Nyx, and tell the Imperial Guards on board that page six hundred twenty one of the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer goes double for you if they try anything." Leman smirked before firing at the daemons and hollering on the top of his lungs at the daemons that Nurgle's own abominations and daemons were far better on the eye. Roaring in outrage, the trio flew after him as Nyx teleported herself onboard, already feeling the stares and weapons locked onto her.
"I am Nyx Sparkle, and Lord Russ has stated that page six-two-one of the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer goes double for me, whatever that is!" It was telling that a few Imperial Guards actually blanched at that, most dropping their rifles to standby positioning. "I'm going to create a shield around this ship so those daemons won't attack you while your pilot gets this ship back into safe space." As she took a step towards the enclosed command bridge, the Imperial armed forces raised their weapons back up.
The Commander frowned at this, but bade his men allow her forwards and drop their arms. "We shall use the coverage that Lord Russ gave us until we can regroup with the others." Raising an eyebrow, the Commander looked Nyx square in the eyes. "You claim that you are able to produce a shield that will protect us?"
With her horn glowing, she summoned a basic shield around the ship that eased the blows against the hull. Raising an eyebrow back at him, Nyx did her best not to smirk, as it would be pushing her luck.
With a nod of his head, the Commander stepped to the side, allowing her inside the bridge; the door slammed shut behind them.
Nyx quickly used the view of space around them to modify her shield, acting as a camouflage as Nyx matched the night sky with the ship. The Commander's frown briefly turned into smirk. "Nearly invisible, Sparkle," he remarked, ordering the crew of four inside the bridge to travel faster. "You and Lord Russ have saved us this day."
"It was nothing special." Nyx brushed off the praise, trying to concentrate on the spell. "Leman and I were nearby when we heard you in distress."
"Oh?" A black haired officer in front of her spoke up, turning to face her. Looking at the second-in-command, Nyx stared at him before he continued to speak. "If I may ask, Lady Sparkle, why were you and Lord Russ nearby?"
Nyx sighed slightly, keeping her attention on the man. "Long story short, multiple usages of time travel allowed us to kinda find each other and we started to go out. Recently, we broke up due what that bucking idiot said, and this was our first chance to really talk to each other when the daemons attacked."
"That sounds oddly familiar." The man chuckled dryly, an odd look on his face for a moment - one that belonged to a much older person. "If I may ask further, Lady Sparkle, what are your plans with Lord Russ?"
"I... I don't know." Nyx bit her lip. "I do still love him, but what he said really hurt me."
The man gave a short bark of laughter, pushing his purple lips together. "It's a good sign, then, that you're this hurt." Holding a finger up to halt her, he smirked at her. "The ones that love you the most know you better than anyone else. It stands to reason if they love you so much, that by turning that love on its head they'll be able to hurt you so much." Scratching his head, the man gave an awkward, stilted laugh. "Unless he had been faking the love for so long and did this on purpose."
"No, that's impossible!" Nyx shouted, before remembering to concentrate on the spell as it was starting to wax. "But I am still hurt by what he said and I don't know if I can ever forgive him for saying that to me."
"What did you two do in your last fight, by the way, before this one?" The man arched an eyebrow, smile briefly lapsing into a deep frown, his face falling in concern.
"This is our first real fight." Nyx blushed, keeping the man in her line of sight. "We usually don't have much time together, and it's liable to end at any point, so we resolved to keep things as pleasant as possible."
"That doesn't sound too smart to me, handicapping your relationship like that." The man pointed out the fact that Nyx had been regretting ever since it had been pointed out back at home. "But regardless, if you two do love each other, then let him prove it to you and accept what Lord Russ said as a horrible mistake."
"I -"
"Lady Sparkle, we're here." The Commander caused Nyx to snap her head toward the fifth man in the room. "Thank you for the support and coverage."
"You're welcome, sir." Nyx smiled at the man, pleased at how the trip went, although it had been a bit too quiet for her liking. For some reason, though, Nyx felt a lot better about her relationship with Leman now. "If you do not mind, I will be returning to aid Leman."
Before the Commander could respond, Nyx left him and the four-man bridge crew with a pop as she teleported away.
By the time she entered the space where she had left Leman before, the fight had tipped heavily in the favour of the daemons. Leman was using the blade Vulkan made for him against the daemons', but he was off balance - the assault bike had been destroyed at some point, and the primarch was left floating in space.
"LEMAN!" Nyx shouted, her voice carrying out in space and into Leman's helmet. As he turned his head to look at her, Nyx realized she had made a horrible mistake. She had distracted Leman from the fight and allowed one of the daemons an opportunity to slice his head off.
Snapping her wings and using her magic to propel herself forwards, Nyx used her horn to block the blade leaning against Leman's massive form. Another daemon roared in anger, its chain-blade poised to chop her neck in half. Within a second, Leman switched the massive frostblade to his left hand and caught the daemon's blade with his right hand; the weapon dug past the protection of the ceramite as blood oozed out of his wound. Then the third daemon attacked, swinging at Nyx's unprotected left side with its fiery blade. Without any hesitation, Leman brought his left arm upwards to block the blade with his own.
Leman grunted loudly in pain as the force of the daemon's attack, as well as the poor angle that Leman used, knocked the Primarch's left arm out of its socket with an ugly snap. It was only through sheer force of will that Leman kept his arm upright to protect Nyx.
"Go, Nyx," Leman grunted. "Teleport away and I -"
"Are you insane? They'll kill you!" Nyx shouted, pushing more magic into herself to keep the blade from breaking her horn in half.
"But you'll be alive and that's what matters!" Leman shouted back, leaning more into her side. The daemons' blades were getting harder to repel.
"I've got an idea, but -"
"Good. Let's do it!"
"Do-don't you want to know what it is?" Nyx looked at him, wondering what was going on through Leman's head.
"Why?" Leman blinked in honest confusion. "I trust your judgement completely, Nyx. You know that."
"I -" Nyx blushed at that, trying to get her mind in order. "When I give the signal, push and toss, then get ready for some light jousting, do you get it?"
"Ye-yes, I believe I do," Leman responded before closing his eyes to concentrate on the Warp powers he had. "I got something ready, Nyx, whenever you're ready."
With a grunt, Nyx let a build up of magic flare out in a blinding light to knock the daemon in front of them away; Leman pushed the blade in his right hand away and tossed his frostblade at the daemon to the left. Nyx swooped down and then up to get Leman onto her back as Leman summoned some solid Warp-constructed armour for her entire body and a makeshift chainsword for himself.
As he swung the blade to block one strike from the daemon on the right, Nyx summoned her own weapon, a sickle, with a kite shield to defend against the daemon on the left. With his legs squeezing her sides lightly, Nyx began to exploit the extra dimensions that space offered and the fact that space was her domain. Pulling at the fabric of the void, she knocked the Khornate daemon out of its wheel and flung it towards them. As Leman blasted the Slaanesh-spawn back with a Warp blast, Nyx swung at the fiery monster with her sickle, cleaving its arm clean off.
Swerving at a right angle, Nyx allowed Leman to stab the Nurgle-like daemon's wings in place while Nyx plunged her sickle into the heart-shaped organ, then channeled some burning magic throughout the daemon's entire body. It broke down and dispersed into dust, more than likely returning to the Warp.
However, it was not enough. The Slaanesh-like daemon's chain grabbed Leman off of her, the Warp blade in his hands vanishing as his concentration broke. Nyx's eyes flicked back from Leman towards the Khorne-like daemon, its flaming blade angled to slice her head open. Raising her shield, she managed to deflect the strike, although it did cut through the top of her horn, sending a massive surge of magic back at Nyx and forcing her into blackness. As her vision faded, she could see her reflected blow smashing the Khornate daemon's head into an ethereal mess, followed by Leman's fading scream of rage and the faint sound of a wolf's howl.
With a start, Nyx woke up to find herself in a massive bed. Looking around, she saw that she was inside a massive room, befitting someone of Leman's size. There were no windows in the room; Nyx's pegasus magic told her she was deep underground. Looking around the room, she saw that on the nightstand next to her was a light blue version of the vest she usual wore and her headband.
"Ah, you are awake, Lady Sparkle." An Adeptus Custode spoke cleanly, drawing her eyes towards the doorway. "How are you feeling, my lady?"
With a twinge of pain, Nyx was aware of her injuries. Her sides had a slight soreness to them; her right wing felt a bit heavier than it was supposed to be, and then there was the uneasy numbness of her cut horn, although it seemed that someone that had sanded it down so the bone wasn't exposed to the air.
"I am fine, thank you," Nyx said politely enough, using her magic to put on the headband as the golden soldier offered a brush.
"Thank the Ordo Xeno for your survival, Lady Sparkle," the Adeptus Custode responded. "Lord Russ made it clear that you were to be treated with as minor modifications as possible. A waste, if you ask me, but he was clear that you were not to be altered in any fashion and were to be provided with those items next to you."
With a nod of her head as she brushed her mane and coat in place and placed the vest on herself, Nyx's eyes darted around the room. "Where am I currently, if I may ask?" She was trying to wrack her mind as to where this could be, but nothing came to mind.
"We are in Lord Russ's chambers, underneath the Imperial Palace, Lady Sparkle. After you and Lord Russ dispatched the first two daemons, you were rendered unconscious by the third one. Luckily, the Space Wolves were nearby and were able to fight off the daemon, rescue both you and Lord Russ, and bring you back to Holy Terra for treatment. That was a week ago."
Nyx blinked in surprise at the length of time, but before she could really digest that, her stomach growled in hunger.
"Ah, if you will follow us, Lord Russ has ordered a meal made to your preferences for when you awaken," the man said, leading her out of the bedroom where it seemed that the entire company of the Great Wolf was guarding the room, with massive Fenrisian wolves stalking along her side as extra determent against anyone that dared to raise so much as a combat blade, guiding her upwards. "Despite Lord Russ's orders of a light honour guard, they refused to leave their post."
"You have brought back Lord Russ to us," a man that Nyx recognised as Logan Grimnar growled out, sending glares at those lesser people that went past their escort. "That alone speaks volumes with our packs; considering how much Lord Russ treasures you, that we shall guard you with our lives."
"And what did Leman say about all of this?" Nyx raised a brow, keeping a low burn of magic on hoof if she needed to suddenly flee or fight. "Call you silly or something? I do appreciate this gesture, but I can defend myself, Old Wolf."
There was a trace of a smirk on the Great Wolf Lord's face as he slowly shook his massive head back and forth. "'Foolish pups that are guarding the slumbering she-wolf after a tumble down the hill.'" With a trace of a blush, the Chapter Master's eyes darted upwards. "Lord Russ's original words were a bit more crass, but he ordered us to never speak them in front of you and use those lesser words."
With a dry chuckle, Nyx was amused at how Leman was still light-footed in regards to her despite everything she had don -
'Or, it could be that Leman is doing his best to think before he speaks, and trying not to offend you again by calling you a she-bitch.' The thought snaked through her head, causing her to pause mid-step, with all the men around her giving worried and concerned glances at her.
A flash of smile eased them as they brought her out onto one of the many balconies of the Imperial Palace. The air felt nice on her coat, and her wings opened slightly to catch the breeze, although the heavy presence of Vlka Fenryka was slightly off putting. As she walked up to the balcony, her escort breaking apart to let her pass, she saw that a simple table was placed in the center. A metal tray was on one side and Leman Russ, looking almost everywhere but her direction, on the other.
As she approached her seat, Leman seemed to notice her at long last, rising up and move over to pull out her chair for her. As she let herself be pushed in, Leman pulled the lid up to show that there were a large number of daisy sandwiches and a big bowl of celery soup.
"It was a bit of chore to find daisies, to be honest." Leman chuckled as Nyx lifted one up to her mouth. "Kinda sad as well. I've seen Terra in the early days, well before the first millennium, and it was always so beautiful with how green the land was, the flowers of all colour and size."
Nyx was unsure how to respond to that, deciding to chew on the first sandwich to give herself some time. With a light smile, she gulped the food down and placed the remainder of the sandwich back onto the platter. "Well, wherever you found it, the land should be greatly admired. This tastes wonderful. Did you make it?"
Leman let out a snort of laughter. "Nyx, you just recovered from fighting several daemons; you really think I'd be willing to poison you so quickly with my cooking?"
Nyx giggled at that, placing a hoof to her lips to halt it. "I suppose that is true, Mister I-can-summon-warp-storms-with-a-slice-of-bread."
Chuckling again, Leman raised his hands in defeat. "I'll never live that one down, will I?"
Giving him a smirk, Nyx leaned into the table. "What do you think?" As she flashed her eyelids, Leman let out a playful grunt.
"My mouth never stops flapping, does it?"
"No, Leman." Nyx leaned back into her seat, a content smile on her face. "It's like your mouth is its own entity."
"I hope I can control it better in the future around you." Leman's smile started to shrink as he looked off to the side. "If there is a future with you, I mean…"
"Leman," Nyx sighed, leaning over to caress his rugged face, which forced him to look at her. "A major problem in our relationship was that we were not honest with each other, and we didn't let ourselves experience the low times that a relationship needs to grow into something stronger." Letting go of his face, Nyx folded into herself. "I don't know if we can get back to what we had, but I think it would be a good start for us to be completely honest with each other."
Leman nodded his head, tapping his fingers against the table. "That seems reasonable to me," Looking back at her, he stared her straight in the eyes. "What do you want to know first?"
"That's one hell of a terrible nightmare Loop," Nyx conceded, shuddering at the description of the Chaos God Emperor of Mankind. "I can see why you never brought it up before."
"I never wanted you, or the others, to be worried about what we had to endure, so I never brought it up," Leman told her, feeling lighter than he had in eons. "That, and it rarely happens without warning. Fenrir told me ages ago that for some reason whenever he tries to pull together the information about my lost brothers, the next Loop is always that Variant, so he takes upon himself to warn me about it." With a distant look, Leman followed up with, "I think he has given up on trying to fix them, to be honest."
"Well, I'm sure one day they'll be found and their data will be fixed." Nyx patted his side, trying to comfort him.
"One day, perhaps," Leman agreed before looking at her. "Do you wish for a blanket, Nyx? It's getting late, and it does get cold up here."
Nyx looked up at the sky, the sun nearly setting on them, before shaking her head in the negative. They had spent nearly the entire day talking to each other, revealing secret after secret to each other. While it had been unpleasant to reveal personal secrets, the two felt better about everything that had happened so far. They felt closer to each other now, and what they had now had more meaning than what they had had before.
"So is that everything, Leman?" Nyx raised the glass of water to her mouth.
"Ye-yes," Leman's eyes darted to the side. "That's everything Nyx."
"Leman..." Nyx dragged out his name, frowning at the man opposite of her. "We just had a long talk about being honest and -"
"I know, I know. Leman held his hand up, halting her. "It's just that this is kinda of embarrassing and awkward now, considering everything that has happened between us."
"Well I've got to hear it now." Nyx grinned, placing the glass down. "Go on, tell me. Or do I need to bring out the big guns?" Nyx started to widen her eyes, at which Leman placed a hand on his chest in mock defeat.
"Okay, you twisted my arm Nyx. Promise not to laugh?" Leman asked as he rose to his feet.
"I promise nothing, Leman." Nyx chuckled, leaning comfortably in her chair. "Stop stalling and tell me."
"Alright, alright," Leman paced back and forth, trying to build up his nerves. "Nyx, I -"
"Yes?"
"Nyxie!" Leman moaned, blushing now.
"I'm sorry, I see that you prepared for whatever this is and my little comments aren't helping your concentration."
Rolling his eyes, Leman took a deep breath before turning to face her.
"Nyx, you know me. You know that I am not one for much words, letting my actions speak for me instead." He paced in front of her, keeping his eyes on her. "I do love you, a great deal, Nyx. I wanted to show you this for a long time and at a time, I felt I had got it right." Pausing in front of her, Leman reached into his subspace pocket for something. "I then realized that I was not thinking enough for you and restarted it. The second time around took me far longer; learning how to cast the spells and attach them to it, and then place them within the project, took me eons, but it was worth every second spent."
What Leman did next caused Nyx's brain to come to a screeching halt.
He dropped down to one knee, holding in his hands the object he had taken out of his Pocket: a small, common-looking box.
Her heart leaped into her throat as Leman opened the box to reveal a horn ring inside with a gem on top.
"Nyx Sparkle, will you marry me?"
As she used her magic to examine it, processing every aspect of the ring in front of her in an instant, her conscious mind barely comprehended what she saw. The gem was made of polished onyx, common and modest-looking, but there was something inside of it. Delving deeper into the ring, she saw that it held a depiction of her cutie mark made of shining lights that looked like stars.
Because… because they were stars. Beautiful stars that were lovingly created and shaped by mortal hands, each one different from the other with unique details that made each stand out to her.
Then she was aware that each star had a bit of a magic spell attached to it - a memory spell. Letting her magic brush against them, her heart thundered in her head as she saw countless moments of her and Leman together, doing both the amazing and the simple, having a grand adventure and snoozing in front of a fire together. She saw the first time they met, the dates they went on, the simple talks they had, the pranks they played, all the other special times they had done together when they were dating.
Blinking through her tears, she broke her magic away from the stars and the onyx gem and looked at the silver band, which had both an alicorn pony and a wolf emblazoned on the side, reaching towards each other at the bottom of the ring. Peering inside, she saw that was an inscription.
'Nyx, like you, this ring's modest exterior barely hides the unimaginable beauty that lies inside. Leman'
Leman sighed, pushing himself upright and letting Nyx look at the ring. "I told you it was foolish, and I know how awkward it is to hear me say that after everything that has happened. But I hope to one day, if we can -"
"Yes." A whisper behind him caused Leman to turn around.
"Yes?" he repeated in confusion, looking at Nyx holding the ring in her magic with a dazed look on her face.
Smiling, Nyx lifted the ring up to her horn and placed it on. Tears running down her face, Nyx nodded her head and repeated the soft, "Yes."
Realization slammed into Leman, cutting his legs out from under him. Falling to his knees, he reached out towards the mare, a hand trembling. "Y-yes?"
Throwing her hooves around his neck, Nyx rubbed her face against his, laughter and tears of joy escaping from her. With certainty and steel in her voice, Nyx answered his question with a solid, "Yes."
Leman quickly wrapped his hands around her withers, tears running down his face as he leaned into her. He started to rumble with joyous laughter, letting out a bellowing "YES!" to the sky.
As the two held each other, warming each other with their bodies and tears, their laughter started to ebb and they looked at each other.
Without any words spoken and with eyes locked on each other, the two leaned in for a kiss. It was not the most romantic of kisses, it was not the best of kisses, it was not even a very comfortable kiss.
But for Leman Russ and Nyx Sparkle, a simple kiss was all that was needed.
Because they had each other and that was all that mattered.
They had each other and everything was going to be just fine.
Stats
Page generated in 0.046 seconds
Total duration
919 users online
476,221 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I am happy for what I did here for 160.12
6588772 Like others have said, the snip that would have explained Naoki's side was cut from the MLP compilation. It will be explained in the eventual SMT comp but long story short, Naoki was given a very rough hand -being in his own loop with little to no Fused Loops, being alone without his friends ever awake despite all his efforts, killing said friends due to the SMT events, being alone without any one really Awake with him, unable to save his world as it always gets destroyed, stuck with a Shadow that is his worst bits put together that purposely wants to him to be miserable as the Shadows knows that since he cannot kill Naoki permanently the next best option would be make Naoki as miserable as possible by destroying any chance anyone would ever help him again as being labeled as MLE by attacking the ponies and have them tell everyone else about the new dangerous MLE.
Again, long story short, Naoki was given a very bad hand and once he did get better, he did try and make amends for his actions, to which the ponies accepted without an issue due to their forgiving nature. Leman, despite knowing this, held onto this grudge and attacked Naoki anyways because Naoki attacked his family-even though it was not his fault.
Yes, a lot of this could have been avoid if we got the full story but we did not. Once Gamerex27 has the compilation up, hopefully that will solve some issues people have with Naoki
Well, this was a pleasant surprise... seeing five of my snips published on my birthday.
Incidentally, a little trivia on three of them:
160.08 - This loop was entirely an excuse to let Fluttershy read Make Way For Ducklings. I figured she'd like it.
- Regarding the board game Clue, the playable characters always take their first turns in a specific order, and I wrote this Loop so they'd speak their first lines in that same order.
- Save for Mrs. Peacock, all of their first names come from the 1990s book series (Twilight's first line comes from book #5 of that same series, where it was spoken by Colonel Mustard). Said series didn't give Peacock a first name, so I used the one from the 2002 version of the game (and the two books that use the same setting) instead, since it fit the general naming pattern from the 1990s books.
160.09 - This Loop was inspired by a bit on the news about bears in someone's backyard swimming pool. I figured Ponyville's local population was tame enough (courtesy of Fluttershy) to make them safe to spend time around.
160.11 - This Loop was inspired by events in a different Loops thread, and by the Head Pet trope (which also inspired Loop 155.13).
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
... I want the ability to shoot death glares without looking too...
Huh... You put Sweetie Belle to shame on that front...
Behold the Pink One! Her party shall not be denied!
Also:
6589319
Not the point of the snip; just thought Rarity would have much better insight to this problem then Twilight.
I sense another HUGE marriage loop coming.
6589470
Oh yeah. Roughly going to take a year to write and the word count is going to be very high.
160.12: (Evilhumour, Gamerex27)
To be honest, I was never really invested in this relationship, but that was mostly because everything surrounding Leman Russ was a universe I wasn't even remotely familiar with, and none of the stories in this looping series ever made it more than marginally interesting. The fact that it (meaning the world Leman is associated with) once again got in the way of the resolution to his and Nyx's first big argument was more exasperating than dramatic. Considering the way the loops are structured, it felt like a needless interruption.
One of the problems of these loops in general is that it's really hard to get any sort of drama out of fighting, since there aren't really any downsides to losing. The huge fight Leman and Nyx had was one of the first real signs of drama these looping stories has had in a while, and even though I wasn't really pulling for the relationship, it felt like there were actual consequences on the line for once. Then, what was supposed to be a bittersweet and emotional scene got interrupted by a completely meaningless and pointless battle with essentially no consequence.
And frankly, the marriage proposal just didn't work. They only ever seemed to have this one real fight and everyone around them was saying that it wasn't terribly healthy to let their grievances simmer, and when their respective tempers have a combined power that can destroy planets and crash loops, it feels like this marriage should (realistically) be a ticking time bomb waiting to go off again.
I know it isn't exactly fair to put this proposal next to the relationship and subsequent marriage that had been building between Spike and Rarity for hundreds of loops, but assuming that having to work together in a fight (again, with no real consequences for losing) is going to repair their relationship to the point where Leman is comfortable in proposing marriage is kinda silly.
6589991
Oh. I suppose the author found it even more hysterical once we got Big Mac in a dress canonically.
Huh?
I, see...
Ah.
Good question.
Well, he can give a good speech, mad or not.
Alucard and Integra are Looping. We need Hellsing Ultimate Loops so badly.
Oh dear.
Well, better than being destroyed?
Oi...
I think, just really rare.
Because reasons are the best reasons.
So, Mi Amore Credenza and Shining Armoire.
I'm not apologizing.
Good to know she can be decent unAwake.
Agreed.
Huh. Neato.
Neither do I.
I like this guy, he may be nameless so far, but he's pretty smart.
Oh dear.
Point taken.
Never.
Whoa.
Daaw! That's so sweet!
Yes.
Daaw!
Corner. NOW.
160.12
A ring like tha' be a righ' fine sight t' behold. We be lookin' forward t' th' wed'n, Lad.
6590327 I'm British, but didn't have the impetus to convert it to Wally.
It'll certainly be a complicated relationship, but it's just so darn cute. I can only imagine the pageantry and splendor of the wedding.
6590370
Uhh, you missed a number.
6590468 I don't do all of them any more. Notice I didn't do .2,.3,.5,.6,.7,,.9 either.
6590131
Thank you, and everyone else, for their kind words for the outcome of the Question, with Leman and Nyx being engaged and soon to be the first InterLoop Couple.
The actual Wedding will take a while; maybe a year or so to write everything I have planned for it, but I hope that it will be worth the wait.
...
excuse me there's a lot of chocolate i need to go eat.
40.media.tumblr.com/514f1c6fb5de9f1021c9c0efd000d8e7/tumblr_nx5s4maB8G1tafz1bo1_1280.jpg
So now we have an idea as to how those 5 appear in Equestria :)
6590131
Sometimes minor characters can have a big impact in the setting-this is very much true in 40K. There was this one puny guardsman that stood up against Horus, and his getting annihilated convinced the Emperor that Horus had to be stopped.
This is not the same guy, but Purple Lipped Man (not to be confused with Fn@F's Purple Guy) is roughly as important for a different reason.
Mind you, the actual plot of this reconcilliation is far more important than this stranger, so put your focus onto that for now.
Also, for those...well, dozens of you who seem to loathe the SMT3: Nocturne ongoing plotline, fear not: that plotline is mostly resolved as of these recent chapters. It'd be pointless to debate what went on or who is at fault (though it was 100% Naoki's fault, and he outright admitted as such in his first scene when he was burying the hatchet), and we should turn our focus back to the stars of this story: the ponies. Perhaps I put too much focus on people not part of the setting in the first place: again, that's my fault.
Great chapter. Hope to see more of the Gravity Falls loop.
6590485
I'm sure it will. A whole year to write, wow, then again, Rarity and Spike's wedding was huge and that was just between people from the same Loop, so I can only say Ka'pla. It¡s Klingon for Success.
*sigh* More Warhammer, well I guess now we will be stuck with it even more, God I hate these. Your a very good author, ever thought about taking a break from those loops? I really miss when pony was the focus of the mlp loops, and would love to see you branch out Evilhumour. I'm not saying quit them, but I can't be the only one who doesn't like Warhammer.
6592321 Um I have written a lot of other things for the loops besides Warhammer, even though I am the thread head
6592261 You seriously do not want to know how many words I am aiming for a minimum, it's quite frankly insane
6593229
How insane are we talking here, Joker insane, or closer to Kefka from Final Fantasy insane?
6593232 It will make up a tenth of the word total once it is complete
6593290
Of all the loops in that "update", it'll be a tenth, that's, definitely Kefka crazy. Godspeed, Evilhumor.
6593268 There already is an explanation for that: loopers cannot get pregnant unless they get pregnant in baseline. Cadence is pregnant in baseline, so now she can get pregnant in the loops.
Well, technically there's one or two exceptions, but they don't come into play here.
6592321 And I have decided to take a break from the loops, just finishing what I have started before I go for a bit
160.7 - The most embarrassing thing about when you're furniture is having to spend an entire loop in a room with your one nightstand.
6594797
That was a horrible joke and I loved it!
6593291
No, just for the MLP compilation word count
6595307
That's still a lot.
6594797
Believe it or not, you're not the first to have made that pun.
160.3 suggests that SG1 are also Looping, based admittedly solely on Jack's somewhat OOC reaction. If so, doesn't that have far-reaching implications for the Loop cosmology? Are there any SG1 Loop stories being written (aside from the canon loops, of course)?
6596220 I wouldn't imagine Stargate having any larger impact to the universe than when Star Trek, Star Wars, and (I think) Mass Effect have all considered Equus (Equestria) as another planet in the vast expanses of space; Anakin/Vader has flown down at least once after finding it not listed in the Jedi Archives, and not only has the Enterprise had Dash go flying by at least once or twice, but actually found a NMM-has-won frosted over Equestria with predicable results.
The big question: will Leman and Nyx's wedding be as big as Spike and Rarity's wedding was??? And is this the first wedding between loopers from different loops??? I can't wait to see it, this will be awesome!!!
6598379 Bigger; it will take at least a year for me to write everything I have planned and yes, this will be the first Inter-Loop Marriage.
6590196 Thanks but you will be left waiting for a while; it will take me about a year at least to write all that I want for it
6598401 if it takes that long.... well the wedding will be awesome!!!!
6598595 Oh that is going to be a given if I get everything I want out just right
Damn, I love the loops so much. I actually cried during the last bit of 160.12 (not spoiling it here, for those who see this before reading).
6595882 Oh, very true. There was an entire fic where that was the punchline, for starters.
6599730
You read it too?
6599717 That's wonderful to hear
Now all we need is a series of events that lead to my eventual marriage with Adult!Sweetie Belle.
Other than that, great job guys! Keep those creative juices running!
6590482 You should. At least tell us what crossovers they are, I have no idea for most of them.
6600733
Come and join us at Spacebattles then, and write your heart out!