Loops 166
166.1 (165.5 continued)
The Lyracension Chronicle, Part 2
(Written mostly by Masterweaver, with touches by OracleMask and Purrs)
Everfree seemed to be about the same as baseline. Lots of trees and gunk all over. Lyra took the lead, with Thief to one side and Seapony's water sphere rolling to the other. Human and Sweetroll trailed along behind them. They easily bypassed the obvious dangers - timberwolf tracks and Poison Joke - and tried not to look up as the sky continued to brighten and darken at regular intervals.
"Y'know what?" Sweetroll piped up as the path they were following skirted the edge of a cliff, "I think we were worried about nothing. I don't see any traps around at all!"
"They wouldn't work that well if they were easy to see," Human pointed out, "I bet they're magical."
Thief scoffed. "Of course they're magical. The book said Luna put them there, so they're at least a thousand years old! Normal traps won't last for a thousand years...and they wouldn't be able to stop Celestia either."
Sweetroll nodded. "Yeah! I bet they're more like the Tatzlwurm nest we're walking through: sneaky and ready to pounce the instant we let our guards down!"
There was a moment of silence.
"...Sweetroll, did you just say 'Tatzlwurm'?"
Sweetroll nodded again. "Yeah, see?" She promptly hopped over to the nearest tree, took hold of it, and pulled it to the side. Revealing that it was in fact totally hollow and covering a large hole that began to hiss angrily. Quite suddenly the massive pink wurm emerged.
"Eeep."
"Eeep later! Run now!"
The Lyras bolted down the path as the Tatzlwurm roared and charged after them. They didn't get far before another fake tree was knocked aside and a second angry Tatzlwurm rose up in front of them!
"Into the trees!" Human yelled.
The trees she was pointing at began to rattle and hiss.
"Never mind."
"Jump over the cliff!" Seapony exclaimed.
"What?!" Thief bellowed, "You seriously expect us to throw ourselves off a cliff?!"
"Only if you don't want to be wurm food!"
Lyra stomped a hoof. "Everypony! Over the cliff! NOW!"
Seapony didn't wait, rolling her own sphere of water off the edge. Sweetroll and Human clung to each other as they jumped after her. Thief rolled her eyes before following as well. Lyra waited until all her other selves were safely over the cliff, then jumped just in the nick of time as the Tatzlwurms lunged for her, roaring.
Then Lyra was falling, falling, falling -
SPLOOSH!
"Shoo shoo be DOO, it took you long enough," Seapony complained.
Grunting from the effort, the seapony used her hydrokinesis to keep the large floating globe of water they had all landed in from descending too quickly. "I can't exactly keep this trick up all loop, you know? Lucky for us, Tatzls hunt via sound, so I can dampen our presence with water--"
"We get it," Thief grumbled. "You had a plan." She glanced up at the pink wurms writhing on the cliff above them. "Okay, from now on, we have to be more careful. A LOT more careful..."
"...waffles."
Lyra gave Sweetroll a sidelong look. "Pardon?"
"Waffles. Are they pastries or are they just a form of bread?" She looked around at the strange glances her companions were giving her. "What? I can't be the only one who's asked this question!"
Human tapped her chin. "Well, practically speaking the difference between pastries and breads is dinnertime. If it's acceptable to eat them before going to bed, it's a bread. Otherwise, it's a pastry."
"That's only for above-land cultures," Seapony pointed out. "Baking is totally different under the sea, since actual grains are quite a bit rarer—"
"Oh for the love of Yggdrassil, can we table this until after we've fixed the sky?!" Thief groaned. "It's irritating enough for normal eyes, but cybernetically enhanced changeling vision just makes this whole thing even WORSE."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that." Lyra carefully maneuvered around a wayward branch. "So you're a changeling this loop?"
"Hybrid. My cybernetics actually started off when my two biologies started conflicting with each other, and then they just got crazier from there—"
"Right, right. Makes sense... I guess that would explain why you were in Ponyville."
Thief eyed her with a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I mean—Well, if any of us were Celestia's student, or Cadance's in this case, I would have thought it'd have been you, seeing as... well, seeing as you're the original Lyra..."
There was a moment of awkward silence.
Eventually, Thief let out a sigh. "Look... Pony, you're as much Lyra as I am. More, even, you get most of the 'normal' memories—"
She was stopped suddenly when Sweetroll stuffed a hoof in her mouth.
"Wmm—?!"
"Shhhh."
Human turned toward the tableau with a frown. "Sweetroll, what are you—"
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
With utmost delicacy, she removed her hoof from Thief's muzzle and pointed through the trees. Human peered through them and almost — almost — gasped.
Thousands of bats were hanging from the bare branches of a tree. Every last one of them was looking at the group with glowing red eyes. And they didn't look like Equestria-standard fruit bats; if anything, the sheer black of their fur recalled some of the more terrifying variants of vampires out there.
Seapony gulped.
Sweetroll, however, let her hoof point down at Lyra's. She looked, finding a broken twig under it.
One of the bats stirred ominously. They all froze until it stopped moving.
Human, very cautiously, waved her hand in front of one. She frowned, glancing Lyra's hoof and the broken twig. With a wave, she pointed at the bats, covered her eyes, and then cupped her ears.
Thief let out a little annoyed snort, freezing when the bats suddenly all shuffled ever so slightly. The whole group tensed, watching the red eyes nervously, but the bats didn't seem to care to take off.
After a moment, Sweetroll's ears perked. She gestured at herself, pointing off in a random direction. Then she wove her hoof across the other four, holding it up for a few seconds. Once again she pointed at herself, fancily waving up from her head and out from her shoulder. Then, finally indicating the others again, she pointed down the path.
I'll go that way. You wait here. I'll be Trixie. Then you run.
It said a lot about the group that they were able to interpret the gestures so easily.
Nods were had all around, confirming that the plan was acceptable. With a cocky grin and a salute, Sweetroll tiptoed quietly into the swarm of bats. They didn't even notice her pass through them, and soon enough she had vanished.
Human, Thief, Seapony, and Lyra stood completely still, glancing at the red eyes surrounding them. Aside from the constant shifts of the sky, there was no way for them to tell how long they'd been waiting there.
KABLAM!
The bats all snapped around, wings snapping wide as Sweetroll's crazed laughter echoed through the trees. "THAT'S RIGHT, YOU CUT-RATE MINIMOOGS! IT'S PARTY TIME! COME AND GET ME!" The branches grew even more bare as the hoard all flew toward the repeating sounds of cannonfire; soon enough, the group was free to run. And run they did, every once in a while looking back at the swirling storm of dark black with red dots.
"...should we try to help her?" Lyra asked.
Thief shook her head. "She's channeling Pinkie right now. She'll be fine."
THWACKAKOOOM!
Thief winced at the small but sudden blaze of fire in the storm of bats. "See? She's totally—"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'MONFIRE I'MONFIRE I'MONFIRE!" Sweetroll came careening toward them, a small flame atop her poofy mane. "PUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOOOOOOOOOOOUT—!"
Seapony shot a stream of water at her with a roll of her eyes.
Sweetroll let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Hee. So! I have good news and bad news. Good news is, I found my party canon! Bad news is..." The earth pony gestured toward the increasingly panicking and burning bat population. "Well, I had to rig it to blow in order to get out of that mess." She sighed. "They're expensive to replace, you know?"
"You know Fluttershy's going to Stare you into oblivion when she hears about what you did with the bats, right?"
Sweetroll scoffed at Lyra. "One: Those bats were most likely either magical constructs or magically enslaved, in which case killing them was the merciful thing to do. Two: She's not Awake, so there's no reason to tell her. In this loop or any other."
"...eh, fair enough." Lyra shrugged. "If she's mad at one of us, she'd be mad at all of us."
The group walked along, careful to watch the trees to either side for any more surprises. Thief cautiously took the lead, letting her scanners spread out in front of them.
Suddenly, she started snickering. Human turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"Oh, sorry. Just thinking back... remember that loop where we tried to show Bonbon what a human looked like, and ended up all mishmashed?"
Human nodded, a small smile forming on her own face. "Heh. Yeah, that was back when we were still trying to be one Lyra. None of us had even really coalesced yet!"
"Well, she kind of did," Seapony pointed out, waving a flipper at the cyborg. "I mean, considering—"
"Well by that argument, so did the rest of you. I mean, first loop I got three other sets of memories." Thief paused, then turned to Sweetroll with an apologetic smile. "Uh, no offense..."
"Nah, none taken. I'm cool with being the young hot one."
"Ooooo!" Lyra grinned. "We just got burned by a pastry!"
"Oven burned!" Seapony agreed.
The group all chuckled for a bit.
"...Oh pines, though. Bonbon was clearly holding back a freakout when we did that." Thief shook her head. "You know, we're really lucky to have her. She's so understanding."
"Caring," Lyra agreed.
"Intelligent," Human pointed out.
"Sweet," Sweetroll sighed.
"Spunky," Seapony purred.
They all shared a glance.
"And those shimmering eyes!" Thief added.
"That incredible voice!" Seapony sang out.
"That luxurious mane," Lyra moaned.
"That tasty tongue," Sweetroll whimpered.
"That tight, plush rump," Human growled.
They all shared another look.
Then they burst out laughing again, Human leaning on Lyra as she wiped away a tear with a finger, Sweetroll suddenly swimming through Seapony's water sphere to give her a hug and a nuzzle, and Thief just grinning.
After a moment, though, Lyra frowned. "Ah, chlorophyll... Girls? I just remembered, there's only one Bonbon this loop."
The laughter died away.
"...well," Human eventually offered, "we probably should explain the entire situation before we pursue her anyway..."
"This is a Mikasa Glitch," Thief pointed out. "No matter which one of us she chooses, we'll all remember it next time."
"Well, assuming she doesn't choose us all," Sweetroll pointed out.
"Or choose somepony else," Seapony muttered.
"My point is," Thief continued with a glare, "we're going to be okay, no matter what happens. I mean, we did just go through that crushing column path together, right?"
There was an awkward moment.
"Uh..." Lyra cleared her throat. "Crushing column path?"
"Yeah, the columns that were rising and falling and trying to crush us... all..." Thief took in the looks she was receiving. "Was... was I the only one that saw that?"
The others all nodded.
Thief sighed, grabbed a rock, and tossed it behind them. After a couple of moments, the rock suddenly shot up into the air and shattered with a sickening crunch.
"...invisible crushing columns," Seapony mused. "Huh. Glad we had you around."
"...so my theory is that our mental connection caused the Ping to reverberate through our skulls like an echo chamber," Thief finished. "Not something I'd want to test, you know, but all things considered—"
"Yeah, it makes sense," Lyra agreed. "Still, you should write down your observations for our next loop, Twilight'll love them."
Human cleared her throat. "Speaking of... so we've probably got a stealth Anchor this loop. Anybody want to bet on who they are and where they're hiding?"
Lyra snorted. "I'll go with the classic and say ol' Kirk is pulling possum duty again."
"Nah, too mundane." Seapony flicked a flipper around. "How about... oh, I dunno... Littlefoot? Out in the badlands somewhere, hibernating like dragons do."
"Ooo! Ooo! I know! It's a newly activated Anchor, but they don't know anything about the loops and are stumbling around in Manehattan!"
Everypony stared at Sweetroll, who was beaming broadly.
Thief groaned. "As if this loop wasn't weird enough!"
"Let's just hope she's wrong," Lyra managed.
"Yeah," Thief agreed. "I'll put my bits on, oooooooh, Twilight, but she's replacing Trixie and won't awaken until after she puts on the Alicorn Amulet."
"Oh, that's a good one," Human quipped with a grin. "As for me, I... wait." She held up a hand. "Do you hear that?"
The other four Lyras paused, their various ears rotating around in confusion.
"...I'm going to say no," Lyra finally replied. "Which is weird, because I know for a fact that pony hearing is slightly better than human hearing in most cases..."
Thief, Seapony, and Sweetroll all nodded in agreement.
"There's this constant... sound," Human explained. "It's oscillating up and down, but I can't tell where it's coming from..."
"You sure you're not just imagining things?" Sweetroll asked.
Human frowned at her. "No, I'm not, but that doesn't mean we should just dismiss this!"
"You know," Seapony mused, "out of all of us you're the least... well, magical. Maybe that has something to do with it?"
Thief perked her ears. "Magical... of course! The sound must be woven into the background thaumic field, fooling our own senses into assuming it's a natural phenomena not worth noticing! So basically we can't hear it for the same reason ponies can use Heartsongs to sneak around unnoticed..."
"...but since I'm from a world with little to no natural thaumic field, I'm more attuned to the subtle differences!" Human finished.
"Right." Thief sat down, adjusting her cybernetic attachments. "I'm going to try to get a read on whatever it is you're hearing. Can you mimic the tune for me?"
"Sure."
Human sat down, took a deep breath, and began to hum a simple tune. Thief nodded as she flicked her ears toward her, adjusting her own audio receptors manually. "Okay... okay, almost... THERE it is!"
She stood, lighting her horn as she began to sing an exact countertune. It wasn't long before the air before them began to shimmer, ripple, and fade away.
Where before there had been nothing, now there was a large dragon glaring at them.
Lyra gulped, stepping back. "Uh... hey! I don't know if you noticed, but the sky is kinda on the fritz right now." She grinned broadly. "There's a way for us to fix it, but we kind of need to get to the ruins of a castle that's in the forest... in order to do that, I mean."
The dragon snorted.
"....so," she continued. "I... we'd like to get through, if you wouldn't mind?"
"...you do not serve the mistress," rumbled the dragon. "Yet you neutralized her gift to me."
"Holy cranberries, Luna made a dragon invisible?" Sweetroll groaned. "Well, this is going to be FUN..."
Human rolled her eyes. "Look, scales, Luna's gone crazy and we're really not scared of you at all, so unless you want to try to kill us, emphasis on try, you'll step aside."
The dragon stared at her for a long, tense moment.
The human stared right back.
The dragon, eventually, nodded. "Very well. I will let you pass, for the moment. But once the sky is fixed, there will be no further bargain."
"Gotcha." Human waved the rest of the group forward. "Come on, gang, let's get moving."
"Okay, I think we're getting close." Thief glanced around the forest warily. "Granted, there's no river this time, but we can chalk that up to Luna and Celestia's little war way back when."
"That means Pony gets the bridge!" Sweetroll singsonged.
Lyra blinked, turning to her with a confused look. "Beg your pardon?"
"For your Element test!" the usually-a-pastry clarified. "The rest of us already did ours!"
There was a moment of contemplative silence.
"...you know," Human mused, "she has a point."
Seapony nodded. "Yeah, I did the tatzlwurms, Sweetroll did the bats, Thief did the columns, Human did the dragon—"
"Does it count if I go in knowing?" Lyra asked plaintively.
Thief shrugged. "To be completely honest, I don't think it matters in this particular case. Baseline Elements require friendship to work, plus attunement. We've all lived in the same skull long enough that I think we'd amount to being friends. Even if this variant has Elements that run on, oh, an understanding of music... that's our special talent, you know? Granted," she added, "you'll probably have to prove yourself worthy of one of the new Elements, but it's really a formality at this point. And we've come to the chasm," she finished, gesturing to the cliffs in front of the group, "so it's your time to shine. Make us proud, Pony."
"Right." Lyra stepped forward, looking across the chasm carefully. "Uh... so both the dragon and the columns were invisible, so..."
She kicked a pebble in cautiously. It fell across the cliff face, clicking and clacking ominously as it went. A few final bounces had it clatter to the bottom, where it rested unperturbed.
The gathered Lyras all held their breath, peering over Pony Lyra's shoulder.
The pebble.... remained completely inert.
Lyra let out a little sigh, giggling. "Of course nothing would happen. She had nests for the first two, then invisible traps. Never repeat a trick!" she cried hysterically. "It's predictable after the second time!"
Human flinched. "Uh, Pony—"
"I'm fine. I'm fine, really!" Lyra turned around with a small grin. "I'm sorry, it's just okay we need to run NOW."
She didn't give any other warning, and she didn't need to; the others had seen the sheer panic in her face and instantly jumped away from where they were standing. Lyra herself just barely managed to teleport out of range of the fireblast, ending up on the other side of the chasm.
"AWAY, YOU FOALS!" The evil version of Celestia—and Lyra was really starting to get annoyed she hadn't given out her name—swooped in from above. "YOUR TRESPASS ON OUR SACRED GROUND SHALL BE FORGIVEN ONLY ONCE!"
"BEGONE, SISTER! THIS PALACE IS MINE AND MINE ALONE!"
Lyra's eyes widened as Nightmare Moon charged up her horn, quickly taking in as much of the situation as she could. "Thief, left, now!"
The cybernetic-half-changeling obeyed without hesitation, dodging a bolt of night that turned the ground into sharp grassicles. "Urf! Treedammit, if I had access to the pocket I could end this right now!"
"Yeah, well, that's not going—" Lyra's gaze fell on the grassicles, and she gasped in realization. "Human! Stick close to Seapony!"
"Uh, sure!" The bipedal party member saluted, dodging around another fire blast as she rolled next to the sphere of water.
Lyra nodded. "Good, just stay there... Sweetroll!"
The currently-an-earth-pony snapped to attention. "Yeah?!"
"I need you to keep Evilestia's attention!"
"Evilestia?" The elder alicorn frowned. "Evilestia?! I am CORONA BLAZE, you peasant, and I will not—AURGH!" She flailed her wings, trying to shake off the earth pony that had parkoured up a tree and jumped atop her. "Let me go, you crazed mare!"
"NEVER!" Sweetroll cried. "I AM THE STICKIEST OF PASTRIES, AND I WILL HUG YOU UNTIL I CAN HUG NO MORE!"
Nightmare Moon gave the scene a small look of bemusement. "So..." She turned to the Lyras. "Have you seen truth, then? Do you wish to join me?"
Lyra moved around the chasm edge, flicking her eyes toward Seapony and her sphere of water. "Well, you could say we've seen the truth, miss night pony. But you see, that truth... is that you are a complete and total moron that would doom the world in a hissy fit."
The black alicorn blinked, staring at her.
"...also," Lyra added, "You're ugly. Really really ugly."
"...Art thou trying to provoke—"
"Ugly as the night sky," she continued. "Which is really saying something—"
"OH THOU DIDST NOT!"
"SEAPONY, SPRAY ME NOW!"
A stream of water hit Nightmare Moon's magical blast in midair, freezing almost instantly. In mere moments, Seapony's entire sphere of liquid had been solidified, falling into the chasm and forming a makeshift bridge of ice. This did have the unfortunate side effect of leaving the aquatic pony helpless... but Human was already scooping her up and running for the new crossing.
"What--?! TRICKERY!" The black alicorn lit up her horn, intent on blasting the running primate. At the last moment, a stick flew into her face and her shot went wide.
Thief was already grabbing another rock from the ground, grinning. "Forget about me, princess?"
Nightmare Moon turned to her with a glare. "Thou wilt pay for thine insolence, abomination of nature!"
Lyra turned to Human as she finished crossing the icy bridge. "Throne room, I'll meet you two there."
"Gotcha!" Without missing a beat, the young woman turned and rushed up the castle's stairs, Seapony tightly clutched to her chest.
Thief rolled out of the way of another blast of freezing night. "Okay, seriously, I get the yin-yang thing," she snarked, "but do you have to use ice all the time?!"
"Thief!" Lyra waved at the ice bridge. "This won't last long!"
The cyborg glanced at her incredulously. "Did you miss the crazy bitch shooting freeze rays at me?!"
"Ugh!" Lyra rolled her eyes, lit up her horn, and teleported onto Nightmare Moon's back. "GUESS WHO!"
"REMOVE THY HOOVES FROM MY GAZE, WHELP!"
"Whoa!" The unicorn just managed to keep her grip as the black alicorn tumbled in midair. "Get a move on!"
Thief saluted, rushing across the melting bridge. "See you two soon!"
"Right!" Lyra gripped Nightmare Moon's barrel between her rear legs, looking across to where Sweetroll was still clinging to Corona Blaze. "YO EVILESTIA! THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ARE IN THE THRONE ROOM!"
"WHAT?!" two Royal Canterlot Voices cried.
The unicorn pulled her hooves back as the pair of princesses rose into the air. "Hang on, Sweetroll, this is going to get rough!"
"...and that's the last of them!" Human cried in triumph, dropping the final stone sphere. "Good tree, these things are heavy."
Seapony rolled her eyes from her position against the base of the sphere-holding structure. "Sorry I couldn't help you, but..." She flicked her flippers meaningfully.
"Nah, your thing with the ice bridge was good enough. I'm a little worried that the sixth Element won't turn up, though..."
Seapony nodded in sympathy. "Yeah... do you think we could summon the Element of Laughter?" she asked. "I mean, it's soulbound, not Pocketed—"
"Normally I'd be all for experiments," Thief quipped as she galloped in, "but somehow I suspect we're locked in abilities as well as tools."
Human waved. "Got the globes ready! Where's Sweetroll and Pony?"
"Last I saw them, they were wrangling alicorns." Thief shrugged. "But I'm sure they'll be here soon enou—"
Two forms, one wreathed in flames and the other in ice, abruptly smashed through the wall, each skidding across the cobblestones as they slowed down. A pair of smaller green forms were thrown from their back, bouncing to the feet and hooves and tail of the assembled Lyras.
"AAAA FIRE!" the blazing one shrieked. "STOP DROP AND ROLL! STOP DROP AND ROLL!" It spun back and forth on the dusty surface.
"Sweetroll!" Human cried, quickly pulling off her shirt and smothering the earth pony as best as she could. "Birch and pines, how many times are you going to get set on fire?!"
Thief was already helping the shivering Lyra to a standing position, chipping away at the ice frozen to her skin with her cybernetic hooves. "Well, you got in, and you're only halfway dead."
"Y-Yeah," Lyra replied, her teeth chattering through her smile. "N-not one o-of my brrrrrr-brighter ide—chooo!—ideas, I'll a-a-admit...."
"Still pretty awesome," Seapony pointed out. "Hey, Sweetroll! You okay there?"
The usually-a-pastry coughed up a cloud of smoke, but managed to grin brightly as Human put out the final flickers of fire. "Well, my mane's totally ruined. Oh, and I'm covered in third degree burns. On the upside, Trixie's going to be totally jealous when we tell her about this."
"Yeah, riding a flaming alicorn through a wall... don't think she's ever done that." Human lifted her shirt off Sweetroll and pouted. "This is a complete wreck now! Mac's going to be so disappointed I ruined another great piece of clothing..."
"Then you should be glad you are not long for this world."
The Lyras all turned as Corona Blaze stepped forward, fury in her eyes. "You have entered our sacred home, and for that you must die. However..." Her gaze darted to the rocks at their feet. "Should you give me the Elements, I will ensure that your demise is swift and painless."
Nightmare Moon growled, almost charging at her sister then and there... but her own eyes fell on the stones, and she held back. "Nay, fair fillies. Though you have... vexed me greatly," she hissed, "I will let you live should you hoof them over to me, and me alone."
Corona Blaze snarled, turning on the black alicorn. "Stay your tongue, foul deceiver! You would break them as soon as the elements were in your hooves! I at least am truthful in their fate, one better than the one you would promise!"
"You promise death! What sane mare would agree to that?!"
"And your promises are as void as—!"
"H...heh, choo!, heh heh..."
Corona and Nightmare stopped in their bickering, turning their gaze to the laughing pony.
"Y...You two really don't get it, do you?" Lyra shook her head, smiling up at them. "You think these rocks are ac-actually the Elements. It's—choo!—It's a bit more com-complicated than that... They're just husks, d-devices for the true Elements to focus their power."
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. "You lie. My stars tell me the Elements are here, in this very room!"
"Oh, they're r-right," Lyra replied, before sneezing again. "'Scuse me... But they're not the rocks. The p-power of the Elements lies w-within us."
"You?" Corona Blaze scoffed. "A burnt earth pony, a dried up seapony, a half-dressed apething, an abomination, and a frost-bitten unicorn? Surely you cannot hold any power like the Elements!"
"O-Oh, can't we?"
Lyra drew herself up, pointing at the base of the element-holding statue. "The Seapony, who used her water to hide our voices from the tatzelwurms, has mastered the Element of Timbre." Her hoof shot towards the burnt pony. "The Sweetroll, who kept us silent and released a loud burst of sound, has mastered the Element of Dynamics." She swung her limb toward the cyborg next to her. "The Thief, who led us through a row of crushing columns, has mastered the Element of Rhythm." Then at the shirtless girl. "The Human, who heard something the rest of us could not, has mastered the Element of Pitch." And lastly, she gestured at herself. "The Pony, who directed the speed of our battle with you, has mastered the Element of Tempo."
Nightmare Moon laughed. "Such a bold speech! And yet you lack the final Element, so all your struggles are for naught."
"A-Actually, I have to correct you there." Lyra smirked. "As a-any musician knows, the most important part of harmony is the melody, the series of notes that form into a singular entity. Each of us, all f-five of us, can provide one such note, and if we want to use them together? There's nothing stop...."
She almost, almost sneezed, but managed to hold it in.
"...ping us," she finished.
The other Lyras all widened their eyes in realization.
Corona Blaze glowered at her. "...Then it seems that we have no choice but to end your lives here and—"
"NOW!" the unicorn cried.
When only one of the Lyras pinged, the sound bounced through their collective mindscape like an echo chamber, making only so much noise.
But when all five of them pinged in unison, the result reverberated, resonated, resounded through their shared intelligence, building and connecting and becoming something more.
Their inherent magic fell into sync with the tune only they could hear, the stone spheres rising and circling each of them as they began to lift slowly into the air. Each one of them started to glow, brighter, brighter still, orbiting ‘round a center point as their mouths opened and released a song of unity, a wordless music that tugged even at the hearts of the two alicorns who were forced to look away as the light grew into a blinding shine. And then, with a crescendo, the light burst out, fading away in wave after wave of grandeur.
When Nightmare Moon and Corona Blaze managed to look back, they were shocked to see not five individuals with a single sphere spinning round them, but one backed by a slowly rotating collection of five. And what an individual it was; a curled scaly tail hovering just above the ground, hanging from a skirt that resembled nothing more than a cupcake liner, a torso like a minotaur woman wearing only an open-backed leotard emblazoned with the image of twisting rolls, a set of ragged insectile wings flickering and fluttering from the bare back, a pair of arms that ended in mechanical gauntlets covered with odd little lights... and the head and face of a unicorn, one at peace with herself as her mane rippled and twisted away from an odd tiara in a hypnotic fractal of light and sound.
"What..." Corona managed. "What monstrosity is this?!"
The green creature opened her golden eyes. Its gaze fell on them, first one, then the other.
"The eager heart of Sweetroll, so desperate to be.
The fervent will of Seapony, from which so many flee.
The clever mind of Human, that dreams ideas with glee.
The layered soul of Thief, which forms our central key.
The loving song of Pony, source of epiphany.
These five form one being, for these are always me!"
Nightmare Moon growled. "Your speech means nothing, creature! Submit to the night or perish!"
She stared at her.... and laughed, a laughter that sounded like nothing so much as the joyful strings of an orchestra.
"You dare to mock me?!" The black alicorn pawed at the ground. "SO BE IT!"
Corona Blaze gave her a look, cautiously sidling away.
A burst of pure night shot forth at the creature, as potent and dangerous as Nightmare Moon could make it—and Lyra merely raised a metal hand, catching the magic in her grasp before letting it dissipate harmlessly.
"Do you not understand, princess, nor know what I can hear?
I hear the song of everything, the world, I should say.
So if you wish to thwart me, you should know something, my dear:
It's not me, but all of magic, that stands now in your way."
The figure floated forward, her arms outstretched to the wary alicorns.
"I don't see you as enemies, but merely long lost friends
Consumed by envy, greed, and by the silence of the soul.
Please, let me assist you, let us all now make amends
For I can tell what you've been through has taken quite a toll.
Celestia, becalm yourself, remember your own creed!
The ponies who adored you for your wisdom and your heart.
So go and take no more, for you've got all you could need,
Just relax so I can help you make yourself a brand new start.
And Luna, please, I know you simply want your subjects' love
And I can see how you would soon defend them with your might.
Now scores of ponies all adore the stars that come above,
Perhaps you can join them in joy once on a peaceful night?
This duel of yours, this battle grand, must end right here and now.
And I will force its end, but I give you the choice of how.
Forgive each other, be the sisters that I've heard about
Or once more be subject to the power that put you in time-out."
Corona Blaze frowned. "So you would force peace at the end of a spear? You are as much a mockery of peace as Cadance was!"
"And your singing voice is terrible!" Nightmare Moon added.
Their opponent narrowed her eyes.
"One chance I gave, and you denied, and then you insult my voice?
Very well, princess, but know this, what follows was your choice!"
She raised her hands, various vents on them opening as the orbs behind her began to spin faster.
"And just so we're all clear, I want to make sure that you know,
It was Lyra Heartsong that made you taste the rainbow!"
Beams of spectral light shot from the rapidly spinning rocks to the tiara on her her head, gathering and swirling in an increasingly large multicolored sphere. Lyra wrapped her hands around the globe, spinning it in her grasp until it was cleanly divided in two—and then launching both rainbows at the faces of the shocked alicorns.
The great battle in the sky ended abruptly, both sun and moon setting and leaving behind a vast void. To the ponies of Ponyville, the silence seemed to last ages; in reality, though, it was mere moments before the sun peacefully crested into sight; a soft, warming sun, more familiar than the red fireball that had dominated the battle before. Across the world, many children slowly crawled out from under their beds, parents gathered their families back together, and governments set to work assuring everyone that the situation would be investigated and an answer was coming.
In a short time, the pink alicorn that descended toward a long forgotten building in a forest of horrors would join them. For now, though, she simply landed, ready to congratulate her student on her momentous accomplishment.
"Greetings, dearest teacher mine,
might I say you look quite fine?"
Cadence's words died on her lips as she stared at... well, what might once have been Lyra. The face was right, and it was the right color, and.... and absolutely nothing else matched up with what she was expecting.
Lyra Heartsong rolled her eyes. "Would it help if I wasn't singing? I mean, I thought the singing was nice and dramatic, but if you'd like me to be more casual—"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I just did not anticipate...." Cadence visibly gathered herself, clearing her throat. "Well! I suppose I must congratulate you, Lyra Heartstrings—"
"Heartsong."
Cadence blinked. "You... changed your name?"
"Kind of sort of." Lyra gestured at herself. "This isn't just one Lyra, but... well, it's five Lyras united to make an essence of Lyraness, if that makes any sense. Heartsong just felt... right."
"Five Lyras...?"
"It's a long and complicated story," Lyra began, absently pulling a pamphlet out of thin air. "I could explain it all, but this—wait a minute."
She peered at the pamphlet in shock.
Then she facepalmed. "Of course! The crosslinkage that connected us during the ping also resulted in a distorted connection with our subspace pocket preventing access, but our unification resulted in the cause of the distortion being removed and therefore—"
Cadence winced as Lyra Heartsong... well, exploded was perhaps the best way to put it. Five separate forms fell to the ground, each of them grunting in pain as they landed.
"Thief, really?" The seapony rolled herself to her belly, wrapping her tail around one of the stone spheres as she glared at a strange pony with metal parts. "We were so in sync, and then you had to go spouting theories—"
"Well, now we know we've got to keep working together to keep Heartsong going." A strange ape stood up, brushing her tunic off. "Oh, hey! Got my shirt back undamaged. Neat!"
"And I'm not burned anymore!" cried a bouncy earth pony with a fluffy, curly mane. "And Pony's not a walking ice cube! Everyone wins!"
The final form—her student, Lyra Heartstrings—rose with a small groan. "Yeah, all's well that ends well. Oh, hey princess! How about you check on Celestia and Luna, and after you've got them all settled in we can explain all this?" She waved a hoof at herself and her companions.
"Your... yes. That seems like a good plan," Cadence admitted, warily backing up a step. "I take it you managed to utilize the Elements of Harmony on them?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, that! We did that."
"Very good. I'll just go... check on my aunts then..."
"...and after the usual Princess party we explained everything to her," Lyra finished. "Even convinced her to let us keep the Elements of Musical Harmony in our pocket, eventually. Of course, we had to pull out Heartsong to deal with all the usual Harmony shenaniganery—"
Twilight Sparkle was rubbing her forehead. "So, let me get this straight. How did you ascend?"
"Well, even if they weren't the baseline set, the EoMH are still potent magical artifacts," Lyra pointed out. "And my talent is, generally, something about harmonics. Pulling off a heartsong to bond with an entire set of Elements, I think, pretty much qualifies."
"Yes, alright, I can see that, it's just..." Twilight waved a hoof at Lyra. "This! I mean, it's weird enough that Silver's a draconequess, I don't even know what to call this!"
Lyra smiled, wrapping her tail around the barstool as she casually gripped her mug in a robotic hand. "I'm Lyra's Heartsong. Lyra Heartsong. That's what I told Cadence, and that's what I'm telling you."
She frowned. "I just hope Bonbon is as okay with it as she was last loop...."
166.2 (Awesomedude17) (Mario Bros x MLP)
"BWA HA HA!!! Mario, it is time to release my latest weapon that will destroy you for good!" Bowser yelled out, confident in his plan.
"And what is it?" Luigi replied, standing near his brother, determined as he was.
"My old college roommate! MWA HA HA HA!!!"
"Your college roommate?"
"Yes. Come on over to the party!"
"YAY!!!" Pinkie Pie cheered, dropping from the ceiling.
Luigi screamed in terror, already aware about the Looper's skills.
Mario elbowed his brother, and with a stern look, calmed down his brother. Shortly after, he reached into his subspace pocket and took out a cupcake.
"Oooh..." Pinkie's eyes followed the delicacy.
"You want?"
"Yeah."
"Then go to our side then."
"But what if I don't want to switch sides? I like my old friend, Bowser."
"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome!" Bowser grinned.
"I'll-a offer a baker’s dozen."
"I don't know. Can we negotiate?"
"Why are you doing this? I could bake you a dozen cakes, times infinity!" Bowser yelled.
"Now now, let's be civil now." Pinkie said.
*Several hours of boring debating later*
"So, Pinkie Pie will be an outside party and receive a monthly fee of 40 cakes from both sides so that she doesn't intervene, correct?" Bowser read the contract being written.
"Sounds-a good. Luigi?"
"I can live with it."
"Good! Let's shake on it!"
"YOUR NASTINESS!!!"
"WHAT IS IT?!" Bowser yelled at his subordinate.
"The Princess, she escaped!"
"WWWWWWWHAAAAAAAT!!!!!!"
"Oh, so that was what that woman in the pink dress was? Oo, I better go meet her then! Bye!" Pinkie pronked off, singing to herself, leaving behind the three dumbfounded individuals.
"Forget the contract!" Bowser yelled. "I'm done for this loop! If you want me, find me in Isle Delfino!" Bowser stomped off.
"D-Did we win?" Luigi asked.
"No idea." Mario shrugged.
166.3 (Masterweaver)
Twilight's eye twitched as she entered the bar, wearing blinders. "For the sake of my sanity," she announced to the whole room, "I am temporarily ignoring all baseline bearers of the Elements of Harmony plus Discord." She stormed up to the bar, giving Macintosh a wide smile. "I need something that can convince me the world isn't crazy, please."
The stallion frowned, pouring a drink cautiously. "Somethin' happen between you lot?"
"Between me and the looping versions? No. But this last expansion—nnnnrgh..."
She sighed, taking the drink in her hoof. "Okay, first time round, I decided to sort my books for a weekend. I mean I was kinda wondering what would happen, but you know, I figured the plot would find me. So it turns out Discord—an unawake Discord, I checked!—decided to spend the time bonding with the other bearers, and so I leave the palace and they're all buddy-buddy with in-jokes and whatnot. And I figure, hey, that's a titch odd, but whatever. No reason to fret. I figure I'll join them next loop."
Twilight took a sip of her drink. "Except—well, the next loop when that weekend rolls around, I come up to join them all—but I don't make it. I'm caught up in an incident with Bonbon, sorry, Agent Sweetie Drops, and by the time I've resolved it, the whole thing happens again—but the in-jokes are completely different! And I'm a little annoyed, but it's not their fault, it's just a fluke...."
She sighed.
"But then the next loop rolls around and it happens again. And again. And then Pinkie's awake and she tries to make sure I'll be there, but somehow I get caught in a time lock that, guess what, takes the whole weekend to open! So the next time, I head over to Sweet Apple Acres really early and plant spy cameras everywhere so I'd at least know what happened—except just as the weekend starts, the group decide to hang out in Rarity's boutique instead because AJ is doing... something, I don't remember, with the farms. I have determined that my presence—or rather, my absence—is as much a narrative event as my tree being destroyed. And that's not the worst bit, oh no. The worst bit: The in-jokes change every loop." She took another swig of her drink. "Do you know how that feels, Mac? Knowing that your friends are always off with crazy shenanigans, and you just can't join them ever...?"
Macintosh let out a little sigh. "...Yeah. Ah do." Without any other word, he refilled her glass.
166.4 (Evilhumour)
"OI!" Vinyl shouted, trying to dislodge the person on her back with every flap of her wings and pulse of her wub hooves. "I said get off hours ago!"
"Nope, this is so much fun!" Her unwelcome rider said with a grin. "Human wanted to do this for ages, Seapony is having a blast with how fast you are going, Thief is just plutzing with all the technical stuff, Sweetroll and Pony are enjoying this so I am perfectly content with this." With a shout, Heartsong slapped Vinyl's side. "SHOO BEE DOO SILVER, AND AWAY!"
"Gaaaaaah!" Vinyl shouted, trying to get her friend off her back.
166.5 (Evilhumour)
Lyra Heartsong was happily nomming on a sandwich when a newspaper boinked her on the nose.
"No, bad Lyra. Bad," Sleipnir playfully lectured, thwacking her on the nose again. "Stop causing us to create new definitions and guidelines to go over. Do you know how much paperwork I've got since you did...this?" He gestured with his two left forehooves at Lyra, who was rubbing her snout before frowning and looking at her Admin.
"Nope, and are you okay buddy? You look tired as all spruce," Lyra leaned over and placed a metal hand on the closest hoof available.
"I'm fine..." Sleipnir sighed, shaking his head. "It's just our kid is growing up and she is getting close to a hard stage of growing. Me and Epona are worried about her and—"
"Sleipy, listen to me," Lyra smirked, "All kids have the 'hard' stage. You two just need to make sure she has a good..." Lyra paused, trying to think of a word that would have all the Lyras in agreement. "Guiding direction."
"Try doing that when you work long hours and in a place like ours," Sleipnir grumbled, taking a bite of the sandwich. "I just hope I am doing a good job at being a dad, you know?"
"Well, if you need any help, just ask us, we'll be glad to lend a hand/flipper/hoof/other," Lyra blurted out, shimmering for a moment before solidifying again. Frowning, she pointed a finger at her Admin, her wings buzzing angrily. "Hey that's my sandwich!"
"It was your sandwich," he corrected, finishing it off with a loud gulp. "Thank you for the offer and please promise me no more craziness, okay?"
With a grin on her face, the strange being flashed away to leave a pouting seapony. "Sorry girls!" Seapony Lyra said to herself, blushing as her Admin left.
166.6 (Evilhumour)
"Hey, Octy, can ya come here? I've got something wicked to show you that I know you will love!" Vinyl's shout through the house aroused the earth pony’s attention and she made her way out of her Vinyl-soundproof room. Walking down the stairs, her jaw dropped at the object in her roommate's hooves.
"Is that what I think it is?" Octavia licked her lips, her eyes roaming the object with raw lust.
"Eeeyup," Vinyl nodded her head, her horn glowing as she lifted the item over to Octavia, which she pulled close to herself before letting Vinyl take it back to insert it in her.
"Vinyl, I know that you can do this but it is so big. Are you sure it is safe?" Octavia said with a bit of a worried tone, seeing what had happened last time Vinyl did it with the eggwubbeaters she made; the mess to clean up after that was a true nightmare.
"Oh yeah, it's perfectly safe!" Vinyl flashed her a honest smile as she eased the wonderful object into her body, biting her lip as it was slightly rough going in. Octavia leaned over, dabbing the blood up from the insertion before looking at the mare again. "I've done this before Octy, with far bigger ones. You know that little filly Apple Bloom? I did it with hers first and hers are massive."
"Okay Vinyl," Octavia said, still eyeing the object before reaching over and strumming it. Vinyl let out a bit of moan of sound before her horn glowed again, dragging over what Vinyl called her wonder-maker machine and then the two mares made beautiful music all day long.
Panting, Octavia and Vinyl looked at each, smiling broadly at each other. Octavia trotted over to Vinyl's face and gave her an affectionate nuzzle before placing a soft kiss on the unicorn's face. "That was wonderful Vinyl, just wonderful," Octavia helped ease the object out of Vinyl's body. "Are you okay?" she asked instantly after watching Vinyl flinch in pain, not caring about the blood falling onto the floor.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine Octy," Vinyl flashed her ruby eyes at her, beaming with joy and pride. "I've suffered a lot worse than something like this!" With a goofy grin, Vinyl leaned for light kiss on the lips, causing the earth pony's ears to fall back in bliss. "Besides, I heard how happy you were and that's all I need to make it worthwhile.
"Well thank you dear," Octavia said as she moved to get the case. "And thank you for getting me this beauty."
"Well, Octy, I had to get you this electric cello once I saw it and if you ever start looping, I'm sure you will enjoy having it all to yourself," Vinyl said healing her neck from where the plug was in all day. "It took me so long to find one for a pony to play and I wanted to make I could make the sound come out just right and I-"
Vinyl was silenced when she was kissed on the lips again before Octavia whispered something into her ear, causing the unicorn to blush madly.
"Y-you mean it?" she asked hopefully, to which the earth pony nodded her head and headed up the staircase. Placing the cello into her pocket, Vinyl quickly wubbed herself up the staircase and into the bedroom Octavia just walked into, closing the door behind her.
166.7 (Evilhumour)
"Hiya Vi," Rainbow Dash landed next to the mare, causing the mare in question to look up from her lunch. "How are ya?" she asked with a large grin growing on her face.
Slurping her noodles into her mouth and wiping it clean her wing, she answered "Pretty good," she blinked, cleaning her shades with her magic. "Being an alicorn is neat, I guess." Letting out a burp with a hasty apology, she then tapped her chin in thought. "Not much different to be honest. Flight is kinda the same, magic is normal and being suddenly strong as Octy is nice as she can't really buck me through a wall anymore Dashie." Vinyl winced though, reminded of what happened when she surprised the mare about her ascension in the morning. Worst Hearts and Hooves Day ever.
"That's not what I heard," Dash said, sliding in close to Vinyl's side. "About your flight, I mean."
"Ah, I see. Twi told you about that eh?" Vinyl chuckled weakly, a bit worried how large that smirk on the pegasus face was.
"Yes she did, and I thought I should help you!" Dash then leaned close Vinyl's ear. "Remember our friend when we were teaching you to use your wub hooves, the Dizzitron?"
"Ohappletreesno," Vinyl whimpered softly, already trying to fly away when she realized that Dash had wrapped a strong wing around her side. "Nonononnononono!"
It was roughly an hour later that the sky exploded in rainbows, music, swears, and two mares that crashed into a certain tree in Ponyville. Luckily for them, the owner was visiting her sister-in-law to help with the changeling invasion in Crystal Empire.
166.8 (Evilhumour)
"I...what?" Twilight blinked, looking at the two blushing ponies—or at least one blushing pony as the other one was so bundled up in clothing, all she could see of Vinyl was her eyes. With a heavy sigh, Twilight asked a question she knew she would not want to remember later on. "What are you two doing?"
"Whmmhmmh," Vinyl mummbled through her scarves before she realized she was being muted. Using her hooves to push them down and spit out some fluff, Vinyl gave a weak chuckle. "Well, Octy and I wanted to play a little game, and after I told about some we've played in other loops as humans, she got interested but only to a variant of our usual game," Vinyl then gave a small playful frown. "Then I learned that this Octy is a baobab card shark!"
"It's called bluffing, Vinyl," Octavia smirked to herself. "And you cannot bluff. Now either admit defeat or we can find some more clothes for you to put on when you lose the next hand."
"We'll see about that!" Vinyl shouted, laying her cards down on the table. "A straight flush, beat th—"
"Royal straight flush, dear," Octavia purred out, walking over to place a hat on the unicorn. "Anyways, Twilight, what brings you over- where did she go?"
Vinyl shrugged her shoulders before tapping on the table for another round.
166.9 (katfairy) (D&DC/MLP:FiM)
Tiamat sat in her cavern, thinking. Just as she had done for all of her other Loops so far. There were many who would be surprised to learn that she thought at all, but as a creature of eternity, or at least what she’d thought had been eternity, she spent almost as much time pondering as she did napping. And she did love her naps; it was satisfying to know that, when the mortals were particularly dull or annoying, she could simply sleep for a century and awake to find that the problem had self-corrected.
This Loop was different, though. The young Dragonkin had told her of these, so it did not come as a surprise, but it was vexing. She had not yet come to a firm decision on how she would deal with these Loops, and finding herself in the wrong reality was a distraction that she did not appreciate. Still, this was a very pleasant cavern, as such things went, and she had spotted prey animals should she wish to eat. She had heard several Pings, but had not responded. She did in her home Loop, out of courtesy to the Dragonkin, but until she knew such existed in this place, she had no interest in speaking to anyone.
It was not often that she spent so much time on a single subject, generally preferring to consider matters within their context of the greater world, but if she had become of any importance to the survival of all planes, even in a minor role, that was worth thought both long and deep. Even moreso when a threat to that survival existed at all. She would have preferred to believe the Dragonkin was deceiving her, but she knew he was not. She was a god in her own right, beyond Dungeon Master and certainly beyond his foolish and fallen offspring; the Dragonkin merely gave a name to something she had not even realized she was aware of. And now that she was aware of it, she had to give it all the consideration it warranted. To do less would be unworthy of her.
If nothing else, it was considerably more interesting than waiting to see what that daft fool Venger would attempt next.
“Um, hello? Yeah, this ain’t normal.”
Tiamat growled; it was usually enough to scare off the average mortal. To her surprise, she heard the footsteps of a small creature approach. She would give it credit for nerve, but if it persisted, she would still obliterate it.
“You are really not our usual dragon. Five heads, five heads… why is this familiar?” As it approached, she could hear the click of claws on stone. So this was an intelligent creature, and not one of the Races of Man. That was a slight improvement; they frequently had different perspectives on the world. Perhaps she would not destroy it after all. Then its words penetrated beyond the small portion of her thoughts that she allowed to deal with distractions and she turned one head to look.
“A hatchling?” As dragons went, it was barely bigger than the fairy dragons, but it was unmistakably of her kind. “A hatchling and a Looper assss well. You have my interesssst.”
“Oh, good,” it replied with a cheerful grin. “You’re Awake. And you know what the Loops are. Were you trying to stealth through this Loop? ‘Cause this cave always ends up with a dragon in it, and most Loops we have to convince it to go somewhere so we can, y’know, breathe down in Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? Then the prey animalsssss are more than I believed. Foolisssshhh of me to not look clossssser at the town. Jussst assss well I have not yet eaten.”
“…Wow. Okay, I’m guessing you got The Speech from somepony, but not the Looper’s Guide. Or whatever it’s being called right now. You’re in Equestria, ponies are really, really not food, and anyway, dragons here aren’t meat eaters.”
The name was familiar. And even though this was merely a hatchling, it was still a dragon; she gave him the courtesy of her full attention, turning all the way around to face him. Through the door of the cave she could see six of those oddly-colored equines: two unicorns, two pegasi, and two that would have been normal mortal ponies if one was not bright pink and the other a soft golden-orange. She afforded them a closer look, and immediately revised her opinion of them; she knew power when she saw it, and all six had it. As did the hatchling.
“Sssso. I ssssee that I have been uncharacterissstically foolissssshhh. Yessss, I am a Looper, and still new to being Awake, even by mortal sssstandardsss. Thissss isss why I did not ressspond to your Pingssss; I am sssstill unsssure what role I will choosssse in thessse Loopssss. I am eternal; I do not russshhh mattersssss.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Look, Equestria is a Sanctuary, and we take that pretty seriously. Since you aren’t smoking up the town, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like. We’ll make sure nopony bothers you. Well, as much as we can, anyway.”
“A generoussss offer. I accsssssept, and offer my name. I am Tiamat, Mother of All Dragonsssss. In my own world, of courssssse.”
“Tiamat!” The hatchling smacked his forehead in the way mortals did when they knew they had been foolish. “Right; you’re from one of the Dungeons & Dragons Loops. Didn’t know any of their Tiamats were Looping yet. Who’s your Anchor? Oh, and I’m Spike. Well, Spykoranuvellitar, but unless I’m using my full size, I like having a name that isn’t bigger than I am.”
“That isss not unreassssonable,” she acknowledged. She had known other hatchlings to forgo using their full names until they felt worthy of it. “My Anchor is Dragonkin.”
There was a murmur of confusion back amongst the equines, and the purple unicorn pulled a book out of the air and began to page through it, using magic to turn the pages. So there was at least one scholar in this Loop; good. Perhaps this was the right time to truly enter the Loops.
“Dragonkin? I know of a Dragonborn, but he’s from Skyrim. Sort of. When he isn’t she. Or from somewhere else. Or… yeah, that Loops kind of a mess, and not too dragon-friendly.” Spike scratched his head, thinking, and Tiamat realized that her description might have been too vague.
“That issss hisss title, and I do not know if he hasss claimed it. But he hasssss sssspent at leassst one Loop assss a dragon, and issss therefore Dragonkin in my eyessss. He wassss once mortal, and hasss a mortal name. I do not know what it issss, for mortal namessss are too transsssient for me to remember. He bearsssss the golden bow gifted to him by Dungeon Masssster.”
“Oh, Hank!” the orange pony exclaimed. “Shoot, ya mean he finally got a new Looper and it wasn’t one of his group? No offense, ma’am, but that don’t seem quite fair to him.”
“None taken,” Tiamat shrugged. The orange pony was right; it was hardly just that the first to join the Dragonkin in these Loops was one who was no friend to him. But that was what had transpired, and they all had to live with the consequences.
“Well, if Hank gave you The Speech, he probably didn’t give you the Guide, mostly because he didn’t have one for a while. It got eaten by a rabid flobberworm in that messed-up Hogwarts Variant,” the purple unicorn said, trotting forward. “I’ve got a dragon-friendly version of it, and I always have extra copies around. Here you go. Oh, I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way, and I’m the Anchor for this Loop. My friends are Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. There a lot of other Loopers around, but we’re the only ones who come up here most Loops.”
“I have heard of you,” Tiamat acknowledged, now impressed. The Dragonkin had told her many tales of the Loops, both his own experiences and what he had heard, and many involved those names. She truly had made a grievous error in not exploring this world from the start. No matter; she did not err often, but when she did, she lost no time in rectifying the matter. “Twilight Sssssparkle the Wisssssse, whose love of learning knowsssss no boundssss. Rarity the Fair, who won the heart of a dragon, firssssst by her beauty, and then by her sssstrength. Flutterssshhshy the Kind, who can be fierssssce assss any dragon when protecting othersssss. Rainbow Dasssshhhh the Sssswift, the bessst flyer in all of the Loopssss. Applejack the Bounteousssss, who turned a dessssert planet into a paradissssse. And Pinkie Pie the Joyousssss, whose wisssshhhh isss for all to be assss merry asss they may. And Ssssspike the Noble, who commandsssss great power and yet doesssss not wield it. I am honored to be in sssssuch company.”
“Um, that’s a good thing?” Spike said. Tiamat met his eyes, both young and as ancient as her own—moreso, in fact; if the Dragonkin’s tales were even half true, then in comparison, she was the hatchling. It was a humbling thought, and she was not accustomed to being humbled. But she was also not in the habit of deluding herself.
“Any fool may acquire power, and many do. To have great power, and yet not wield it sssssave when there issss need—that issss the mark of wissssdom. There are thosssse who would tear their own worldsssss asssssunder for the ssssake of gaining power, but once you have ssssundered your world, what then? That issss evil, and worssse, it isss foolissshh. I may be called evil, but only becausssssse mortal mindsssss rarely comprehend true evil. No, I am sssssimply other. Ssssso I watch, coming forth only when matterssss require my presssensssce. Or sssssome fool dissssturbssss my nap.”
“So waking up cranky really is a dragon thing,” Rainbow Dash snickered. Tiamat nodded one of her smaller heads; she could not deny it. Then she recalled something Spike had said earlier.
“If dragonssss do not eat meat here, what do we eat? I rarely need to, but that doesss not mean I do not occasssssionally enjoy it.”
“Gems and minerals,” Spike said, pulling a large sapphire from his Pocket. “Try this and see if you’ve adapted; if not, we’ll see if we can find something you can eat without killing anypony.”
“I only eat those who may converse with me when they annoy me,” Tiamat said, but took the gem. She examined it for a few seconds, noting the size and clarity. In The Realm, this would be a priceless treasure. Judging from what she saw studding the walls of the cave, this was simply one of thousands, if better quality than many. She was surprised to find that it actually smelled good, like that lavender mead she’d once taken from the cellar of a wizard she’d eaten. The mead had tasted far better than the scrawny mortal. But the sapphire had a similar cool yet heady fragrance, and she took a cautious nibble. Then popped the whole thing in her mouth; it had the cool, clean taste she’d expected, with hints of other herbs like fennel and wintergreen. Yes, she would be quite willing to forgo meat for this Loop if this was an available alternative. She said as much, and the ponies relaxed. She was not offended; had their positions been reversed, she would have felt the same. “Can we eat all rocksssss?”
“Some are better than others,” Spike said. “Sedimentary rocks tend to be kinda blah, although there are a few exceptions. Oh, and you don’t wanna eat a lot of marble; it’s really fattening. But it’s pretty rich, too, so most dragons don’t eat a lot of it anyway. Granite and basalt are best if you want a good hearty meal. The metamorphics get kinda complicated, but there are some that are really amazing! You’ll have to try—“
Tiamat listened to Spike lecture, genuinely interested. She still did not know if she would find anything of worth in the other Loops, but this one she would enjoy. There was much to be learned here, and she had to find a suitable gift with which to repay Twilight Sparkle; a book designed for dragons to read, on such an important subject, was a gift of great price, and she could not leave the scales unbalanced. And the Dragonkin had told her that Pinkie Pie threw everyone a party on their arrival in the Loop; she had never attended such a mortal affair as a party, but one thrown by a goddess could not help but be worth experiencing. And perhaps Spike could teach her to speak without hissing; that alone would make these Loops worthwhile.
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Another batch of awesome loops.
Will we see loops concerning Starlight Glimmer in the next chapters?
Well.
That was an experience.
6732948 Yes, you got it right.
6733011 I think for that loop, Leman pulled out the Nomanomicon instead of an actual cookbook...
I've got to wonder if a Mikasa glitch on Tiamat would split her into five different Chromatic dragons. I also have to wonder how Smaug matches up against her, just for the sheer interest of how a fight would go.
Lyra's ascension was awesome!
We need to have Slepnir and Epona's daughter end up in Equestria, just the baseline show will teach her lots of good life lessons.
6733167
Ha...
haha....
haHAhaha....
HahahaHAHAHAhahahaHAHAAhHahHAahhAHaHhAhAHAHAHAHAHhAhAhAhAhAhahHAHHAHahhHHAHHahahHaHahaHAhahAhAhAHhaHAHAHaHahahahaaaaaAAAAAAAaAaaahhahahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahaa!
Are there other world trees? Like can a traveler from some other tree come by and go "HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?!?" upon seeing the massive amounts of looping?
6733215
The answer is a definitive maybe.
In universe, that question has been asked, but nobody has the time to try to investigate since they're busy fixing the multiverse.
Out of universe, we have decided not to write about that possibility since it could be setting-breaking.
6733185 Come on, you know at some point they won't be able to get a foal sitter, have to bring her to work while they deal with an emergency, and she'll see the ponies on her daddy's work station and want to go join them. It will be like the Cutie Mark Crusaders trying to get their Cutie Marks times 100. But she'll make friends, they'll be there for her when she needs someone to talk to, and it will cause Zeus massive headaches. What's not win about it????
6733225
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahhahahahahahahhashahahhahahakahdakhahhahahahaihqowhahhahahahahhaahhahahwhashahihshahahahahhahahwihahqwhhahahaahhahahwhahhahyqhhahhayahayahhayhwhzhahhHhahhahahahahahahahahahahhaahaaaaa....
ha...
haaaaa.
Heh.
More Loops!!!
So, dolphin-tailed, diaphanously winged, unicorn-headed, cupcake-holder-skirted cybernetic centaur?
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm actually not that surprised.
In any case, a fun batch.
6733325
Not a centaur, she has no legs at all. And it's a seahorse tail.
6733340
Wow. That's...
Actually, if you remove the legs, I'm not sure if that's even weirder or a more elegant design. And I have no idea why I thought she had a dolphin tail.
6733352
Thanks!
6733225 Lyra did volunteer them to do such a thing, after all!
6721292 The conflict was primarily between business success v. happiness of the business owner. It doesn't matter how much money you're making if you have to be absolutely miserable to do it- doubly so if it's a short-term gain that destroys your long-term prospects.
166.3 would be cruel and oblivious if said to a baseline Mac, but the bartender's had more than enough opportunity to join in the madness. No, he doesn't know what it is like to want to be a part of something he can't, he just knows what it's like to not be a part of something he doesn't want to be part of.
I love this Tiamat; evil (mainly because she considers herself above mortal morality), but not inimical for the sake of random cruelty. It annoys me to see a villain who has nothing better to do than step on puppies all day long; it's like they can't sit back and read a book or something...
The new chapters always seem to get posted right about the time we've written another set's worth of snips. It's always fun to look through the comments here, already knowing exactly what's coming up. Sometimes people are right. Sometimes people are wrong. Sometimes people have no idea what they're in for and you just snicker evilly to yourself...
6733167 They are already up on the forums. And it will soon cause another to ascend.
I feel like the parts concerning the season finale were deliberately withheld to make us wait longer.
6734079
Please don't spoil things.
Quite.
We get it.
I'm, not, sure actually.
Right, right.
Oh shit.
Yep.
Point taken.
Point taken.
Same.
Not impossible.
Impressive.
Oh dear.
You OK?
Oh dear.
That's, fitting.
I think she's got a cool design.
Oh yes she did!
Yes.
Yep.
Oh no?
Well played...
Of course!
What IS that?
Oh you did NOT!
And there's the line.
Gotcha. I think.
... THat happened.
I see.
Oh you monster!
He really is.
Apparently.
Why?
Ah. I getcha.
I getcha.
It's not what I think it is at all.
Wonder-maker machine?
I knew it was something innocous.
Hey Vinyl? Run.
She's good.
I see.
Spike and the Mane 6.
Impressive titles.
6734354
Actually it's because - with the exception of the edited-last-minute fugutive from 162 - this is about a month back. I'm kinda overworked.
So Mother Chroma herself is Looping now?
That oughta get interesting. I wonder how long before Bahamut joins Tiamut in that regard. After all, if she's begun looping, it's only a matter of time before the Metallic All-Father starts.
I be more'n a bit impressed tha' Lyra an' her glitched selves are 'scended. Means now we got us th' Melody t' go 'long with th' Beat an' th' Lyrics. Jus' imagine if'n Lyra, Vinyl, an' Sweetie got t'gether t' perform.
Yeah, that'd be one willow of a concert!
6735384 Ah. I'm sorry I didn't give you the benefit of the doubt then. I hope you work schedule lightens up soon!
Loved it, great work!
Oh, Jeeze! I just envisioned Tiamat getting a EoH Loop.
Well, after learning Spike's 'dial-an-age' trick.
And using it later in a fused MLP/AD&D loop. Against Tirek.
While the M6 and AD&D party are MST3K-ing off to the side....
OH MY BIRCH I am finally finished reading this from start to now and it only took me 2 weeks and 5 days and the only thing I can think of right now is that I feel sorry for cadence once the expansion hits where she has her child, she will have to go through being pregnant as well as child birth countless times before the loops are fixed
6734524
No, Adagio is not Looping, Poly just had to be a bit firmer in getting her to agree
6758292
It's a reference to a book series, "Family Skeleton Mysteries", from Leigh Perry (pseudonym of Toni LP Kelner), in the "Cozy Mystery" genre. The series (which is not Looping and has its own TVTropes page - heavy spoilers, so be aware) currently consists of three books: "A Skeleton in the Family", "The Skeleton Takes a Bow" and "The Skeleton Haunts a House". Part 4 has been announced as in the works, and is probably due out fall 2016.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
1,267,069. That's how many words are in the world's longest book ever written, when it comes to word count. Yours is almost half a million words longer, thus we have a new record :D
6760477
There are other - longer - fics, so sadly this doesn't hold the record.
The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest has a shade over four million words.
6760797 Ah, man, that sucks. Is it on fimfiction?
6760827 No, it's not an MLP fic.
I believe this is the longest, or one of the longest two-three, MLP fics in a single story. (There's the Pony POV series which is I don't even know any more)
6761228 so i see :D Say, what gives you the inpertion to work on single story for two or three years?
6761329
MLP Loops has help from others to increase the wordcount.
But Ashes of the Past, my current main project and which I've done 700,000 words for in the last fifteen months, is basically just (1) strict daily routine, (2) considerable amounts of feedback and (3) possibly insanity.
6761497 i can only do about 2k words per day :( I used to be able to do 6k
ya know with Twilight's need for new reading material I am surprised that she doesn't download all the fanfiction databases from the hub world
6765027 It isn't always the same every time. And if you act as though you're in fanfic X when you're really in a parody of fanfic X, then things will come unstuck.
Best to just work it out as you go along.
6770431
No, no, I know how impossible it is, but like I said: anyone who can do the impossible is suitably impressive.
6765806
Don't really know how long it took me, but this AWESOME fanfic absorbed my free time all December. Time well spent.
How could I collaborate to this beautiful undertaking?
6783941 Come to Spacebattle, this thread in particular, and write a snip
Read the rules, and have fun
6784723
Thanks!
Would love to see more of Tiamat amongst the ponies, it was a well-written segment.
oh, that made me think of the classic comic book "kingdom come", where Batman insulted Wonder Woman by saying that trying to "force peace" was like "spreading love and understanding with your fists." (i paraphrased a bit)
You should do some stuff with The Expanse, considering the origin of the name Rocinante there could be some good puns in there.
6790751
Ya know, first place I encountered the name Tiamat was actually when I was reading the back of the book Leviathan Wakes, the eighth book in the expanse series is called Tiamat's Wrath. I've only read the first two so if anybody else has read them NO SPOILERS