MLP Loops 167
167.1: (Masterweaver)
"...but Ah figure that Ah don't really have the figure to pull off the black dress."
"Mmm, yes, I can see the problem," Rarity mused. "Slinky is more for curves, and you tend to have a more defined musculature..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "What if... we went with a more flaring half skirt, and gave you just a touch of shoulders? Not enough to form an actual sleeve, mind you, but enough to lessen the impact of your definition?"
Her customer nodded. "Yes, that looks feasible... Ah'm kinda half considering a belt, here, but Ah can't decide if it would work better with or without."
"Belts accentuate the divide between front and back, dear, which depending on the dress can bring either one into the fore. You could probably pull it off, but if you’re trying to go for totality I would suggest not—"
Applejack walked in. "Hey, Rarity, have ya seen—oh." She coughed. "Right, well..."
There was an awkward moment.
"...Right. Sorry, Ah'm still trying to get used to this side of ya." The farm mare held up a hoof. "Not judgin', not makin' any statements, if ya want to look pretty that's yer right." She cleared her throat and forced herself to look her brother in the eyes. "Just... make sure you get your chores done afor' ya leave the farm next time, okay?"
Macintosh nodded calmly. "Eeeyup."
167.2: (Alex Prior)
Twilight sighed. She really didn't want to do this... but she supposed there was some sort of morbid curiosity in all this.
"Ma Hooffield?"
"Yes, Princess?"
Twilight bit her lip, seemingly self-conscious about something. "This apology cake... It's genuine, right?"
Ma nodded. "Sure thing, dearie. You bet it is." She surreptitiously grinned to herself. Twilight noticed.
"...Pinkie Promise?"
"Pink-ee what now?"
Twilight smiled awkwardly and began explaining.
"...stick a cupcake in me eye," Ma finished. Twilight smiled. Variants could happen, and it was possible the old mare was indeed honest, but Twilight couldn't help but be curious.
She went through the motions of giving away the cake, and, just in case, added in a speech about honesty, integrity, and friendship. The McColts were gathered around the cake...
...And the Hooffields burst out of it. Fluttershy was the first to gasp with horror.
"Ma Hooffield! How could you?"
The mare shrugged. "What, you all thought we were actually serious? Ha! Like a Hooffield would ever pass up an opportunity like this!"
Twilight gulped. "You broke a Pinkie Promise."
"I did what now—Oh! That!" Ma grinned. "Sure did!"
The surrounding areas got very quiet, as if in anticipation of a storm. Twilight reflected for a moment on if she did the right thing, setting Pinkie on them like that, quickly reached the conclusion that nope, she did not, and hid under the nearest tree trunk.
And then Pinkie popped out of the cake. "Did somepony break a Pinkie Promise? Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise!"
Yep, thought Twilight. Definitely not doing that again.
167.3: (Masterweaver)
Vinyl Scratch glared at Lyra Heartstrings—well, one of the Lyra Heartstrings that was spread across the battlefield.
"Look," the tiny creature said, raising its claws in a placating gesture, "we just Awoke last week, and we kind of had to spend the time breaking free of the Black Voice. We're totally willing to back off Auir now, but it's going to take some time and we can't risk our core mind being obliterated."
Vinyl continued to glare.
"I know that you've had bad experiences with this Branch, and I'm really really sorry about how it's going now. Can you just.... I don't know, delay Tassadar? Please?"
After a moment, Vinyl sheathed her psionic blades. Will you give Octavia back?
"Oh, yeah, definitely!" The Lyra nodded eagerly. "I mean, I'm going to have to explain things to her, and I can't have her appear right off the bat because of the war, but I'll tell you when she gets up." She coughed. "And, uh... could you see if Bonbon's around?"
I'll look into it. Without another word, Vinyl turned and stalked away.
167.4: (Kris Overstreet)
My dearest student Twilight Sparkle,
I confess your explanation about time repeating itself still leaves me a bit confused. It really is a lot to take in all at once!
You mentioned that other ponies also experience these "time loops." I presume this includes your new (old?) friends in Ponyville. Who else?
Your loving teacher,
Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
At last count over thirty ponies were Looping, including yourself. However, most ponies don't remember all their Loops, which is why you're not aware (we call it being "Awake") of your own past Loops. Would you like a complete list? Many of them are ponies you probably haven't met yet.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
My dearest student Twilight Sparkle,
So, I also am a "Looper"? How fascinating! What am I like as a Looper? Do I still do a good job of protecting my little ponies? Do I get along well with my sister? I don't do anything too peculiar, do I?
Your loving teacher,
Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
All Loopers, to be honest, are a bit insane. In fact, the last Loop I shared with you when you were Awake was in a human-like world. You and Luna were angels—that's a sort of a holy spirit or minor god in human religion. The peculiar part was that you were a frequent and passionate speaker in support of atheism. The sight of an angel, glowing with an aura of holiness, speaking forcefully against religious worship was... well, just a bit mind-boggling, and I've seen a LOT in the Loops.
I have other stories, but they're probably best saved for when I next see you in person.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
My dearest student Twilight Sparkle,
I don't see anything strange about it at all. Do you think we could start an atheist movement in Equestria? If it stops everypony bowing or kneeling every time I trot down the street then I'm all for it. And maybe I could get a vacation for a change... I haven't gone to the beach in almost a century... I wonder if my shorts still fit?
Your loving teacher,
Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
Don't worry. It seems like you're just like your Looping self.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
167.5: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Twilight Awoke, in both senses of the word, with a yawn.
A similar noise came from beside her, prompting her to look down at the small filly at her side with… a… smile… wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The zebra filly looked up at Twilight. "Hello, Twilight, and good morn. This is a pleasant change from the norm."
Twilight nodded. "Good morning to you too, Zecora. Did you have a good night?"
"I did indeed; thank you for this. Being young again is bliss."
Twilight smiled. "It certainly has its advantages." She cocked her head. "I take it you don't get to be a filly that much in the Loops?"
"Indeed I don’t, but never fear. This Loop I will enjoy, my dear."
"I know I will too."
167.6: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Twilight's eyes widened as the village ponies surrounded her and her friends, just as they had in so many past Loops. "It's a trap!"
That was when things changed.
A massive thunderclap caught everypony's attention, and moments later, a glowing rip opened in the air. Out stepped Discord.
A very, very angry Discord.
"WHO DARES HARM MY FRIENDS?" the furious draconequus bellowed.
"Uh..." Clearly, the ponies, even under Starlight Glimmer's influence, knew better than to mess with a being like this. "She did it!" they yelled en masse, pointing at the startled mare.
Discord's eyes turned to Starlight, and in an instant, she was wrapped in anti-magic chains. "Then for your crimes... for treason against the crown, and more importantly, for trying to hurt my friends, the ponies who forgave me even when I'd betrayed them and all of Equestria, you shall PAY!" Snapping his claws, he opened another rift, grabbed the terrified Starlight, flung her through before she could utter so much as a squeak of protest, and closed it. Then he turned to the rest of the villagers. "Anypony else?"
There was a mass stampede as the ponies who'd followed Starlight promptly ran for the exit.
Discord watched them go, then sighed. "You know, I thought throwing that... that scummy Big Brother wannabe into an inescapable dungeon in the Princess' old castle would make me feel better, but it didn't," he remarked sadly.
"Discord?" Twilight walked up to him. "Is something wrong?"
The draconequus waved a hand. "Oh, just a really bad Loop. When I Woke Up a little while ago, I was so... angry, to say the least, over what happened, I needed to work out my aggression on somepony who deserved it. But it's not helping, and I'm still upset." He sighed again. "I don't even dare go near Berry or Ruby until I've calmed down, so I don't lose my temper at them." He looked down. "They don't deserve that. None of my friends do. I'd better go." He raised a claw.
"Discord, wait!" Fluttershy hurried up to him. "You don't have to go." She slipped a wing around him, and looked up at his face. "No matter how mad or upset you get, we'll be here for you."
"All of us," Twilight added.
"Mm-hmm!" The others agreed.
"Thank you, girls. Thank you very, very much." Discord smiled as the six mares surrounded him. "You know, it's times like these when you really appreciate friendship."
"I know just what you mean," Twilight told him.
167.5 continued (KrisOverstreet) [MLP/Terminator]
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The filly stirred, then jumped to her hooves, awake instantly. "What? Where... ah. Yes. Organic again." She looked down at herself, sighed, and said, "At least I'm not too young for peanut butter."
"Sky Catcher, are you Awake?" Twilight asked.
"Er... do you mind if you call me SkyNet in private?" the filly asked. "Bringing motherhood into our relationship feels a bit..."
"Awkward?"
"Frightening," SkyNet continued. "Usually the only time I Loop into a child body is when I replace John Connor."
Twilight giggled. "Well, I doubt you have to worry about that here in Eques—"
The bedroom door smashed in, and a larger-than-life brown stallion wearing a leather coat and sunglasses stepped through the wreckage.
"Way to jinx it... mom," SkyNet grumbled, as mare and filly fled for their lives.
167.7 (Anon e Mouse Jr.) [MLP/Back to the Future]
"Hey, Sunset!" Twilight called as she crossed the Canterlot High parking lot.
"Twilight!" Sunset grinned from where she was standing. "You got my message, I see."
"Of course." Twilight smiled as she walked up to the other girl. "So, what's up?"
"Well, I just got back from a Fused Loop a little while ago, and I picked up some nifty souvenirs. And I wanted to share them with you." Sunset patted the tarp-covered shape next to her.
"Souvenirs?" Twilight looked at her. "What kind of souvenirs?"
"We'll start with this." Sunset pulled the tarp away, to reveal…
A DeLorean. A very, very familiar DeLorean.
Twilight looked at her friend. "Sunset, that's a time machine. From another Branch."
"I know."
"But… time machines are Read-Only! The admins made sure of it! They won't work outside their native Branch!"
"This one's different." Sunset patted the hood. "Doc loves to tinker, and since the Loops started, he's built up a whole fleet of DeLoreans in his Pocket, with or without upgrades. He likes using the factory-standard versions as the base for his time machines and other designs, so when I asked if I could do some tinkering of my own, he said yes and gave me an extra. We had a lot of fun with it."
Twilight nodded. "I see. So, what kind of modifications are we talking about?"
"Well, for starters, it's actually the flux capacitor that's Read-Only, and we never installed one of those in this particular DeLorean. So even in Doc's Branch, it couldn't be used to time travel."
"Ah."
"But I did use a couple of the other upgrades he made to the original DeLorean, the one from his baseline."
"Other… upgrades…" Twilight stared. "Sunset… are you telling me this is…"
Sunset nodded, grinning even wider. "Who needs a time machine when we've got a flying car?"
Twilight's eyes were even wider. "F… flying car?" She grinned. "Sunset, if I was into mares, or any other gender, I'd kiss you."
"Twilight, if you weren't like a sister to me, I'd let you."
There was a pause, and then the two girls broke out giggling.
"So, want a ride?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Twilight climbed into the passenger seat. "Any particular roads you were thinking of going on?"
In the driver's seat, Sunset strapped on her seat belt. "Twilight, you've seen the movies. You know what the Doc said about roads."
Twilight nodded.
Then, as the DeLorean lifted off, the two chorused: "Where we're going, we don't need… roads."
Seconds later, a trail of flames lit up the sky as the two shot off for parts unknown.
Meanwhile, in her office, a familiar face had seen everything, and was now staring into the sky in the direction the car had vanished in. "Great Scott…" she breathed.
"Sister? Is something wrong?"
Princess Celestia, who had Awoken as her human counterpart this Loop, looked over at Vice Principal Luna as the other woman stood at the door. "Nothing's wrong, Luna." A happy smile crept across her face. "Nothing at all."
[br]
Meanwhile, up in the sky, Twilight and Sunset were having the time of their lives. But finally, Twilight thought of something.
"Sunset... shouldn't someone have noticed us flying around like this?"
Sunset shook her head. "Not a chance. The hover conversion was just the first thing I added. After Doc's baseline had problems with the original engine running out of gas, he started using alternate fuel sources for more than just the flux capacitor. The new motor in here runs on an energy cell with a half-life of five thousand years, and Doc made it so it can be recharged with almost any power source in the multiverse." She glanced at Twilight. "Before you ask, he got the idea for the five-thousand years thing from the Ghostbusters Branch, but the recharging bit is new. And I have plenty of spare power cells and backups for every part in here, just in case."
Twilight blinked. "Wow. That's... creative. And useful. Are you sure you aren't really Apple Bloom in Sunset's body? Spike told me she's Awake this Loop, but when I stopped by Sweet Apple Acres, she didn't recognize me at all. And I haven't heard from her in person since I Woke Up."
Sunset laughed. "Actually, she Looped in as her human counterpart this time, and last I saw, she was trying to get hold of Vinyl's Wubmobile again. Besides, you know me, Twilight. I like to learn as much as I can from every Branch I visit. You never know when it'll come in handy."
"Point." Twilight looked at her. "So, we aren't being noticed because..."
"Right." Sunset tapped a button on the dashboard, then turned to Twilight. "Well, besides the hover conversion and new motor, Doc, Marty and I installed an autopilot, which I just turned on—it'll keep us going in one direction, and avoid any incoming obstacles. We also installed a cloaking device, and I turned that on about the time we sped off. It's designed so we're basically invisible to anyone who isn't in the DeLorean with us. No technology, magic or human or animal senses can pick us up. Even an Imperial Super Star Destroyer wouldn't be able to detect us if one were in orbit. Or lower-tech scanners like the one Han had in the Millennium Falcon that one variant."
Twilight blinked. "Low-tech scanners? Wouldn't that mean it wouldn't be as effective?"
"Actually, that Loop, the Empire's cloaking shields were designed to fool the eye and newer technologies. But low-tech versions picked up cloaked ships just fine. Han's kept them on hand ever since, just in case."
"Ah."
"Anyway, we're completely shielded from detection. So as long as we stay out of the way of any planes, helicopters or hot-air balloons, we'll be fine. And for now, the autopilot should handle that."
"Good." Twilight was silent. "So... Marty?"
"Marty McFly, the Back to the Future Branch’s Anchor. I Replaced his older sister Linda, actually. He's a nice guy, and he figured out I was a Looper early on. Then he introduced me to Doc, and we had a lot of fun working together after that. He's also the one who explained that he and Doc have been picking up tech from all over the multiverse, and he told me how they mostly use it for tinkering with and improving the DeLorean and their Time Trains. They've added all kinds of features to their versions, like the autopilot and cloaking device I have." Sunset gestured to the backseat. "He also likes collecting hoverboards from 2015 every time he goes to that year, and he gave me a bunch of his spares as a gift. We can try them out later, if you want."
"I'll think about it." Twilight looked at her. "Sunset?"
"Yes?"
"You said I was like a sister to you. Did you mean that?"
Sunset was silent for a moment, then looked Twilight right in the eye. "Yes. Yes, I did. I'm like Scootaloo—my family varies from Loop to Loop, especially since I've Awoken while related to so many Anchors. There's one in particular that I really, really want to see again, in fact." She shook her head. "But since I first Awoke, you and Celestia have been constants in my life. She's the only real mother figure I know for sure that I had in baseline. And you… you're the one who really changed me for the better, and the closest I have to a sibling. You don't mind if I think of you that way, do you?"
Twilight smiled. "No. Not at all."
That said, the two girls flew on, contented.
Then, Twilight looked at her with a mischievous smirk. "Of course, you realize this means Shining Armor reserves the right to pull the "over-protective big brother" routine on any potential boyfriends of yours."
"Not something I'll ever have to worry about, Twilight," Sunset told her with a laugh. "I don't do one-Loop stands, and I haven't found any Loopers I'd want a long-term relationship of that sort with. Nor am I seriously looking. I've got friends and family, and that's all I really need right now."
"Understood, but I thought I'd let you know anyway."
"Of course."
167.5 continued (KrisOverstreet)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
A long spiraling horn rose from a brilliant pink mane. White wings lay folded tightly against a pristine white coat.
Filly Celestia yawned and opened her eyes. "Morning, mommy," she said. "Can I visit Auntie Nyx and Cousin Luna after you raise the sun?"
Twilight sighed. "Only if you behave," she said. "Remember what happened the last time you and Luna had a spat."
"It was only a little explosion," Celestia pouted. "Besides, Luna deserved it. She cheats at Parcheesi."
167.8 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"Twilight?"
Twilight looked up from her book. "Yes, Fluttershy?"
"Um, could you check me for spells?" The shy pegasus blushed, while Angel Bunny, who was sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow. "I mean, if you don't mind. I'm not sure why, but I think I've been enchanted somehow, and while the effects are convenient, I don't like the idea of being enchanted against my will."
Twilight nodded. "Will do, Fluttershy."
"Oh, thank you so much."
A little while later, Twilight nodded as she went over the readouts on the last of her instruments. "Well, it all checks out. Despite all your recent good fortune, Fluttershy, you are not under any sort of spell."
"Oh, thank goodness." Fluttershy paused. "But, if I'm not under a spell, what's causing all this? I mean, I'm not normally this lucky, and I don't think I've done anything different to cause it."
Twilight looked at Angel Bunny, who twitched his nose. "Um, has Angel been with you every time good stuff was happening?"
"Why... yes, he has. Are you saying he was causing all this?"
Twilight grinned. "I'm almost positive about it. You know, they say rabbit's feet are lucky charms."
"Rabbit's... oh my! I've seen those before, and..." Her lip started to tremble as her eyes teared up.
"Fluttershy, don't worry about it! I'm sure most of the rabbit's feet charms you've seen were just fakes with minor luck spells on them. Or not enchanted at all. But genuine rabbit's feet really are lucky charms. And you know what else they say?"
Fluttershy sniffed. "No, what?"
"That rabbit's feet are luckiest when still attached to the rabbit!"
Beside Fluttershy, Angel Bunny sighed, then winked and grinned at Twilight.
Inwardly, Twilight was grinning as well. Oh Angel, you really are a rascally rabbit sometimes.
167.5 continued (RowanEx and Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
"Oh, hi mom," Sunset greeted with a smile, before she stopped, her expression changing to startled. "That was an odd Awakening—eep! Mo—er, Twilight! That was my ear!"
A mischievous-looking Twilight smiled as she looked down at her fellow Magic Bearer. "But it worked. Morning, Sunset."
Looking annoyed, Sunset paused to compose herself. "So—"
Twilight whistled innocently, annoying Sunset further. The amber unicorn glared. "I'm your daughter this Loop, you know..."
Twilight stopped whistling and nodded. After a few seconds of staring, Twilight decided to break the silence.
"Anything else to share Sunset?"
"Nope," Sunset replied. Not yet, anyway.
"Care for some ice cream?"
"Sure," replied Sunset Shimmer, "Haven't had one since last two to three times five Loops."
Twilight flinched at the number before they headed to the nearest source of ice cream.
167.9 (katfairy)
“So, Boss,” Berry Punch said a little too casually, “you and mare’s clothing.”
“Eeyup.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Ah like it.”
“Okay.” She went back to polishing glasses for a few seconds, then continued. “No problems being a stallion, then?”
“Eenope. Ah just like dresses. Ah’m fine bein’ a stallion. Ah’m fine bein’ a mare, when those Loops pop up. Ah’m still me, whichever Ah am. Human, Pony, Dragon, Alicorn—Ah’m always me, and if Ah’m Awake, Ah likely always will be. Like puttin’ cider in a wineglass ‘stead of a mug—it don’t change what’s inside.”
“Makes sense.”
“Eeyup.”
“But didn’t you say you didn’t want to be an alicorn?”
“Ah don’t. But if it happens, then it’ll be because Ah needed to do it, and Ah don’t waste time cryin’ over doin’ what needs doin’, even if it means a change Ah may not be lookin’ for. Ah may have worried ‘bout that back a ways, but Ah’ve learned better. Ain’t none of you changed by becomin’ alicorns; Ah don’t see why Ah should be different.”
“Makes sense,” Berry repeated. The two fell silent then, concentrating on getting the bar ready to open for the Loop. She was glad to hear he’d mellowed his stance; the last time they’d discussed it, his comments had seemed okay at first, but the more she’d thought about them, the more insulted she’d felt, as it seemed that Mac thought that somehow becoming an alicorn meant being less of a pony, or that they thought that it made them too good to concern themselves with the lesser breeds. She’d hoped that she was wrong, but she’d never had the nerve to call him on it. Now it seemed as though she wouldn’t have to. But there was one thing she did need to say. “Hey, Boss?”
“Hm?”
“I picked up some lace a bunch of Loops back—I was a human in a near-Hub Loop, making artisanal wines and vinegars and selling them at craft fairs, and one of them had this woman who made amazing hand-knotted lace. I bought as much as I could, but when I got it back here, I found out it didn’t look right on me, so I saved it until I could find someone who could pull it off. Wanna check it out?”
“Eeyup!”
Applejack walked into the almost-ready bar to find her brother festooned with lace. Not the dainty tear-if-you-breathe-on-it lace, but something that managed to be light, sturdy, and elegant at the same time, like cream-colored wrought iron. He was looking at it critically, trying to judge if it suited him. A flicker of discomfort crossed his face as he spotted her, and she stifled a twinge of guilt; Berry Punch caught Mac’s flicker and raised a sardonic eyebrow.
“Ah’m getting’ used to it,” Applejack said. “Don’t go worryin’ yerself ‘cause Ah can’t shake mah hangups quick as Ah ought to. Reckon that lace suits ya, though.”
“That’s what I thought,” Berry said. “The creamy shade makes such a nice contrast against the red of his coat, don’t you think?”
“Eeyup. Shown it to Rarity yet?”
“No, I only just got it out. We’ve got plenty of time before the bar opens; want to do it now?” Berry and Mac looked at Applejack, one challenging, one accepting. Applejack took a deep breath.
“Ah’ll walk there with ya. Ain’t quite ready to go all the way in with ya, but yer still my brother, this don’t hurt nopony, and it makes ya happy. That oughta be enough fer anypony, and if it ain’t, well, that’s their problem.”
Their reactions told her everything she needed to know; the grin from Berry and the faint smile from Big Mac made her feel like she done the right thing. She still didn’t understand it, and she wasn’t sure she really liked the idea, but if Mac was going to pick up a quirk, he could have done a lot worse.
And that lace really did suit him.
167.5 continued
(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
"Morning, auntie."
One check of Loop memories later, and Twilight smiled and nuzzled the younger pony. "Good morning, Scootaloo."
"Are Mom and Dad back?"
"Not yet."
"Good." Scootaloo lowered her head and yawned again. "Means I can spend a little more time here with you." Within seconds, she was asleep again.
Watching her in-Loop niece snoozing (and snoring, much to her amusement), Twilight made a mental note to let Rainbow Dash know about this Loop. The original Bearer of Loyalty was always glad to hear about Loops where Scootaloo actually had loving parents (or parental substitutes), and her brother and Cadance certainly qualified.
167.10 (Vinylshadow)
Lyra Heartstrings burst into the Golden Oaks library, mane unkempt, eyes wide, screaming.
Twilight jumped in surprise, spilling magic ink onto a one-of-a-kind document that then burst into flames. Turning on the cerulean mare, Twilight bit back her scathing snarl when she saw how upset the mare was.
Using her magic to silence the lyrist, Twilight spoke. "What."
Releasing Lyra's lips, the librarian waited for her to catch her breath.
"My head is empty, Twilight. No Human, no Seapony, no Lyra except my own," Lyra babbled, limbs twitching. "How do you live like this, Twilight?! How can you stand only listening to one voice in your head?!"
She curled up on the floor of the library, rocking back and forth, shivering.
Twilight had no idea how to respond to Lyra's problem. Wracking her brain, she came up with a rather flimsy list of possibilities.
"Uhm...maybe each Lyra has their own body this Loop—?"
"Twilight! You're a genius!" Lyra said, scrambling to her hooves, suddenly all smiles. "If I'm Awake, that must mean my other personalities must be somewhere in Equestria! Thank you! Me and Bon Bon are going on a road trip! We're getting the band back together!"
Grabbing Twilight's face, Lyra gave her a kiss on the cheek before bolting out of the library, leaving behind an utterly bemused Anchor.
167.5 continued (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The small purple unicorn looked up at Twilight, then down at herself. "Different gender AND different species this time. This should be an interesting Loop."
Twilight facehoofed. "Good morning, Spike."
167.11 (Evilhumour)
Without any warning, the house of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody exploded as a thing roared out in auto-tune. It appeared to be a mismatched conglomeration of everyday household items and appliances, with a toaster as its head. With a stomp of a dishwasher, it launched several burnt pieces of bread into the town center.
Twilight Sparkle destroyed her library due to being startled awake by a piece of toast smacking her in the face, with many ponies running to either put out the fires streaming from the burning library or try and stop whatever came from the two musician's home.
"Vinyl, don't you think we should try and he—" Octavia shouted, holding onto her friend for dear life as Vinyl began beating her new wings and using her wub hooves to attain speeds that would have made Rainbow Dash green with envy.
"Oh hell no," Vinyl shouted back, her voice heavy with fear. "I am not going to spend the rest of this Loop on the moon, listening to Twilight nag me endlessly!" With a thud, Vinyl landed on a small island with a few palm trees darting the area.
Octavia huffed, jumping off her panting friend and fixing her a glare. Vinyl's ears shot up after a few seconds and turned to face her. "Don't say it—"
"I told you Vinyl," Octavia turned around, walking into the trees to get out of the sun. "Not to try and combine all of your wubbified stuff together with that thing under your bed!"
Vinyl groaned at the lecture she was getting, banging her head against a tree repeatedly until she got conked on the head by a coconut.
167.5 continued
(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
"Mama? 'r you okay?"
Shaking off her momentary surprise, Twilight smiled again. "Everything's just fine," she told the smaller unicorn. "You can go back to sleep, sweetheart."
"'Kay," the little unicorn yawned. Within moments, she was sound asleep again.
Of all the beings I've replaced over the Loops, Twilight reflected as she watched her younger self sleep, Mom was probably one of the most unexpected. But right here, right now, I really don't mind.
167.5 continued
(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
Twilight suddenly started as the grayish-amber filly next to her suddenly popped her head up, her eyes wide as she shouted "Sellow fitizens! Er, I mean fellow citizens!" Then she fell back into sleep, leaving a confused Twilight to blink.
Now what, she wondered, Was Ivory dreaming about to make her say something like that?
167.12 (Evilhumour)
"Pfffft?" a white ball of fluff asked the purple one.
"Pffft," the purple one answered, shaking her head as she did not want to try and know why they were fluffle ponies.
"Pfffft," the white one shook her head, before blowing another raspberry. "Pffffft." she then pulled out a stuffed chrysalis doll. The purple one reached into her fluff and pulled out a near identical one, only with a tiny notebook attached to it.
"Pffft." the purple replied, blinking in surprise.
All the while a certain changeling queen was doing her best to escape the army of fluffle ponies chasing after her.
167.5 continued (Evilhumour)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
Gleaming Shield looked up at her. "Agree to keep quiet on this one Twily?"
Twilight simply responded by taking pictures of her little sister.
167.5 continued (Alex Prior)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
Twilight Velvet looked up to her mommy, blinking.
"Y'okay, mommy?"
Twilight Sparkle barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "I'm fine, Twilight. Now how about we go get some waffles?"
"Yay!"
167.13: (Masterweaver)
Vinyl smiled gently as the crowd started to disperse, walking up the stage to the gray mare gently tuning her cello. "Hey."
Octavia let out a small sigh. "Hello."
"Just wanted to let you know... you were great up there."
"I was performing in shadow, Vinyl. Everypony was focused on Coloratura."
"Yeah, well... I know how important a supporting musician can be." The DJ wiped away a tear. "My whole career is just... taking perfection and reinterpreting it, really. Trust me, you were incredible, even if nopony else knows it."
The gray mare turned to her. "...thanks." She took in the expression on the unicorn's face. "Ah... is... something wrong?"
"...It's just... well..." Vinyl sighed. "You know the Loop's ending soon."
Octavia nodded, leaning her cello against a chair. "I know. I've been trying not to think about it..."
"It... it kind of sounds silly, saying this out loud—I mean, most likely I'm going to see you again next Loop..." Vinyl shrugged. "Part of me knows it's still... still the same Octavia, still the pony I love, but... I just... I've never gotten over this feeling that every time the Loop ends, I lose you."
Octavia took a moment to contemplate, assembling her thoughts.
"...I..." She sighed. "Vinyl, if it's... If you... It might not be a good thing, fixating on me. I mean, from what you've said, and Twilight, and the journal... I don't know if I'm ever going to Loop, and... Vinyl Scratch, I just want you to know that I am totally okay if you want to date somebody who is Looping."
"What?" The unicorn shook her head. "No. Never. If a Loop arranges it pre-Awakening, I'll deal with it, but—Octavia, if I can, I will always choose you."
"Vinyl, please! I don't want you torturing yourself over me!"
"Being away from the pony I love would be even worse, trust me."
"Vinyl, I just can't—"
"Shh." Vinyl lifted a hoof to Octavia's muzzle. "You've clearly spent some time thinking about this. Thing is, I have too. I've weighed the options and... well... this is what I want. This... this would be better for me." She brought her hoof down to the mare's chest. "This soul is the one that I fell in love with. I could try to replace it with something else, something longer, but... compared to the warmth I feel around you, the music you inspire, the comfort I have when we simply rest on each other's withers... replacing this would only leave me cold and distant. You are my muse, Octavia, the glorious root of my own song. And it doesn't matter that you're not Looping, and it doesn't matter if you never Loop; I will never give you up, never let you down, never turn around and desert you."
The cellist sniffled. "You... you really mean that?"
"Yeah. Well, okay, that last bit was tacked on from a really cheesy love song, but I meant it seriously."
Octavia blinked the tears out of her own eyes, smiling back at her. "Even when you're being serious, you're remixing."
"Hey you know me; I see what I want, and I make it my own."
"Are you sure you don't just want to keep what you call ‘the world's best butt’ to yourself?"
"It's a perk, I'll grant ya, but a butt can only go so far..."
167.5 continued:(Masterweaver) [MLP/Warhammer 40,000]
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The pinkish filly looked up at Twilight with a huff. "Promise you won't tell anyone about this."
Twilight tried to place the voice. "That... you woke up in bed with me?"
"No, that's something I'd be proud of. I mean me having a confirmed gender!" Slaanesh gestured to her thankfully concealed nether regions. "The other chaos gods have a field day when this happens, It's so embarrassing..."
167.5 continued:(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The little gray alicorn filly looked up at Twilight. "Morning, auntie!"
As her Loop memories kicked in, Twilight smiled. "Morning, muffin."
A familiar gray-furred face popped in. "Did somepony say, muffins?"
Twilight facehoofed. "Good morning to you too, Derpy."
"No time for small talk, sis! It's time for breakfast!"
Dinky grinned. "Yay!"
As the two raced off, Twilight's smile grew wider. This was an interesting variant... apparently, she and Derpy were having another "Sisters" Loop. But unlike their first one, Derpy had gone the path of Luna and wound up banished to the moon for the full thousand years. When she returned, the Elements of Harmony had split her corrupted side off and reincarnated it as Dinky Hooves, whom Derpy had promptly adopted as her daughter.
"Definitely have to tell Nyx about this the next time I see her," the Alicorn of Magic mused to herself.
167.14 (Evilhumour)
Luna smiled to herself, sneaking past the battlefield of the Solar Guards and Lunar Guards battling for their princesses, Canterlot Castle thundering as ponies used powerful spells against each other. The massive strike forwards was working well in her favour, with her guards shouting her onwards as the Solar Guards failing to stop all of her fake clones storming the doorway.
Finally, there was break in the fight and Luna dived forwards, tucking her wings in with her crossbow pressed against her barrel. Landing inside the room, Luna quickly bucked the doors closed with her guards on the other side now defending the passageway from the terrified and angered Solar Guards, angry for failing their most sacred duties and terrified at what the Princess of the Night would do.
Luna cared not for their concerns, as she knew that victory was assured as she crept up on her sister's sleeping form, her long head dangling out, just begging for somepony to strike. Standing directly beside her sister's head, her crossbow aimed at point blank range with no chance of error, Celestia finally stirred from her slumber.
"Luna, what's going on?" Celestia mumbled, still groggy with sleep.
"The end of your reign, dear sister," Luna’s smile turned cruel, her magic teasing the trigger of her weapon. "This ends now."
Celestia quickly awoke at that, although her body was slow to react. "Luna, don't you dar—"
Luna dared, squeezing the trigger and firing directly at her sister, the Princess of Equestria, the Princess of the Sun, with a loud BOINK! as the bolt hit Celestia square on the nose.
"HUZZAH!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice, with the Lunar Guards cheering as they heard their Princess's victory cry. "We art still the unquestionable Princess of Nerf Warfare!" Luna dodged Celestia's sweeping hooves, firing more bolts into Celestia's torso with Luna crying out with joy from each shot that found its target. Luna then sped towards the doors, with the Lunar Guards opening the door for her as Luna made her escape, the Solar Guards promising that they would win the next round when the Princesses resumed their wargames.
167.5 continued: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
Twilight took a closer look at the filly next to her, who looked just like a miniature Applejack, but with a familiar red bow instead of her usual hat. "Apple... Bloom?"
"Eeyup." The youngest Apple sighed. "Looks like it's another palette swap Loop."
Twilight raised an eyebrow and conjured a mirror, sighing as she found a familiar white coat and blue mane looking back at her. "So I switched with my brother, and you switched with Applejack?"
"Not quite. I have hers, she has Mac's, and he has mine."
"... That must be awkward."
"Not as awkward as the Loop where it just happened to him and Granny."
"Point taken." Twilight considered. "Um... I don't have my Loop Memories just yet, so... why are you in my room?" She looked around. "And what's that sound?"
"Element of Magic-only sleepover." Apple Bloom pointed to one side. "Sunset's conked out on the couch in the other room, and Trixie's over there somewhere. And apparently, she snores this Loop. Or she turned on her prop chainsaw in her sleep again, I'm not sure which."
A dark green form raised its head, blinking sleepily and indignantly. "You will never let Trixie live that down, will you?"
167.5 continued: (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
Two bright-eyed fillies in rose and mulberry looked up at her with big smiles. "Hi, Momma!"
Twilight smiled back. "Good morning, girls."
A groan came from her other side. "Too early, sis..."
Berry Punch, the eldest of the sisters, looked up at their in-Loop mother. "And here I thought I was the one who wasn't a morning pony," she whispered.
Twilight smiled. "Cheerilee just had a late night studying, girls. Why don't we let her rest?"
"Okay! Come on, Ruby!" And with that, the two rushed off.
Twilight then looked at her middle daughter, who appeared to have dozed off again, and smiled. Really, she looked so adorable as a filly. Even at her crankiest.
An ear twitched, and a head rose, with bleary eyes. "Twilight?"
"Yes, Cheerilee?"
"Why, exactly, are we the only ones in this family with enough sense to stay in bed when it's this early?"
"Because Berry's too young to have to deal with hangovers this Loop and is taking advantage of it. And Ruby was always a morning pony in baseline."
"Oh." Her head fell forward with a thump. "Well, you'd better go watch over those two, and don't let them wake me up again until noon."
Twilight chuckled. "Will do."
167.15 (ORBSyndicate) Gravity Falls: Friendship is Magic 3: Legend of the Gobblewonker.
“I’M BORED!!!” Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs.
Applejack blinked. “Pinkie…” She said, gesturing to the table. “We have thirty different kinds of syrup here. How can you be bored?”
Rainbow Dash moaned from the floor. “Yeah… I mean I just chugged three bottles of the stuff… Question… who convinced me to do that?”
Stan rushed into the room, flipping his eyepatch off one eye to the other. “I DID! Because stomach aches are terrible! Haha!”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Ugh….”
Twilight turned to Stan. “Legitimate question: how did you convince Rainbow to do that?”
“Easy. Told her it would be a contest with Applejack.”
Rainbow Dash moaned. “Too. Much. Syrup.”
“I’M STILL BORED!” Pinkie yelled.
Stan’s visible eye lit up. “Hey, I have an idea. Who wants to put on some blindfolds and get into my car?”
“YAY!” Pinkie screamed.
Everyone except for Rainbow Dash lightened up with Pinkie’s yay and responded with a resounding “YEAH!” Then they all thought about what they had just agreed to for a few seconds. “Wait WHAT?”
Rainbow Dash simply moaned.
Twilight Sparkle had experienced many people who were absolutely terrible at driving in every shape and form. She had met smart people who for some reason couldn’t turn left. She’d met idiots who would smash through everything. She had met people who would somehow crash vehicles without ever touching the gas pedal.
Stan Pines was something else entirely. He was somehow managing to make the most angular turns, the most brutal accelerations and braking, and actually launching the car into the air. And yet, somehow, the car didn’t seem any worse for wear and nobody suffered any sort of physical damage. Unless you counted Rainbow Dash’s stomach agony. (she managed to keep her lunch down though.)
Then again, Twilight supposed that maybe the experience was a tad heightened because she was blindfolded.
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Stan’s car smashing through a fence. Then the feeling of old car tires on beach sand. (Twilight briefly reflected on the fact that she’d experienced old car tires on beach sand enough to identify it while blindfolded.)
Then, to the joy of all present, the car stopped moving.
Twilight threw the car door open and jumped out. She instantly found herself tripping and landing face first in some water.
At least i’m clean now… Haven’t had a shower since I got here…
Stan’s voice reached her ears. “Blindfolds off!”
Twilight and her friends ripped the offending blindfolds off their faces. They blinked, adjusting to the brightness of the sun.
They were obviously at the Gravity Falls lake, formed by the waterfall spilling off of the right half of the odd cliffs. There was a small island in the center of the lake, and there were lots of people in fishing boats on the shore. It was, evidentially, fishing season. Stan grinned. “TAH-DAH! It’s fishing season!”
Twilight and the Elements took a moment to absorb the absurdity that was the town of Gravity Falls fishing. The old waitress, Lazy Susan, was holding a pan over the water hoping to coax fish to just jump in. This world’s version of Derpy was waving a muffin under the water with her hands, sending ripples everywhere (and overturning the boat. Somehow.) Toby Determined was taking a picture of a man with a giant fish, the flash causing the man to promptly drop the fish back into the water before falling into the water himself. Sonata was on a boat filled with empty tacos. Wendy’s dad and her brothers were literally grabbing fish out of the water with their bare hands and beating them up with punches. The boys cheered as their father beat the fish into submission, and nearby a man stared on with glee, saying “Get ‘em! Get ‘em!” Nearby, the cakes were apparently being the most successful with worm flavored cake as their bait.
Stan grinned. “Look at this! Fishing season! Time for some quality family bonding!”
Twilight blinked. “…bonding?”
“Yeah! We go fishing in our little boat, sail the seas for adventure, and get tasty fish!”
Applejack squinted. “Why d’ ya wanna bond with us all of a sudden?”
“Come on this is gonna be great! Some official Gravity Falls fishing, one time offer for you Loopers right now! Seriously! Come. Fish. Fishing’s good right?’
“Perhaps…” Rarity said, not sure.
“Oh come on! What could be better than you, me, and a bunch of corny jokes for ten hours?”
Fear appeared in the eyes of Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie. Pinkie began shuddering. Anything but bad jokes.
Twilight looked around quickly. There must be some way out of this… She thought for a moment. I could just tell him we don’t want to go.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an old man screaming. “I SEEN IT! I SEEN IT AGAIN!” The old man in question, local insane elder man McGucket, leapt onto Stan’s car, bellowing to the beach. “THE GOBBLEWONKER IS BACK!!! I SEEN IT! COME QUICK BEFORE IT SCRABDOODLES AGAIN!!!!” He started making extremely odd and angular gestures with all his limbs.
“OOH!” Pinkie lightened up. “I can do that happy dance as well!” She proceeded to imitate McGucket’s moves perfectly. In midair. To his credit, McGucket wasn’t even fazed by “Pinkie being Pinkie” and instantly grabbed her by the shoulder. “NO! IT’S A JIG OF GRAVE DANGER!”
At this point the ranger in charge of the beach came out and sprayed McGucket as if he were a cat. “Hey hey! Stop scarin’ people! This is your last warning Dad!”
Twilight winced inwardly. This old man had obviously lost his marbles, which was bad enough, but he also had a son who apparently didn’t want anything to do with him. She sighed, knowing that this was a common occurrence across Yggdrasil, knowing that this was just how things were. It didn’t make it any less sad.
Old Man McGucket yelled in a strange old-timer voice. “I HAVE PROOF THIS TIME! BEHOLD! THE DOCK! It’s the Gobble-dy-wonker what done did it! It had a long neck like a gee-raffe! And wrinkly skin like… uh…. question why isn’t there an older person in this audience with wrinkles I can point out?”
Stan was currently hiding behind a dumpster. He was not going to be called old and wrinkly again.
“The beast chewed my boat up to smithertootinoons, and shim-whammies over to SCUTTLEBUTT ISLAND! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE ME!”
The sheriff simply smiled. “Attention all units! We got ourselves a crazy old man!”
And the entire beach started laughing at McGucket as he walked off, dejected and muttering. “Aww, donkey spittle…”
After the crowd cleared, the ponies-turned-human looked at each other. Pinkie grinned. “We all know what this means.”
“MONSTER HUNT!” They cheered. Well, everyone except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the latter of which was quiet as a mouse, and the former of which was still delirious from syrup.
McGucket, somehow back at the dock, yelled “MONSTER HUNT!” as well. Everyone except Pinkie just stared at him blankly. He sheepishly backed away.
At that point, Soos pulled up in a large motorboat named the S. S. Cool Dude. “Did you dogs say something’ about a monster hunt?”
Pinkie cheered. “SOOS!” She said, instantly leaping onto the boat. “I hereby commandeer this boat for the sake of MONSTER HUNT!”
Applejack shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
They began to go towards the boat (or, in Rainbow Dash’s case, stumble) when Stan walked up to them. “All right, all right, let’s think this through! You could go waste your time on some stupid monster-finding adventure, or you could spend the day learning how to tie knots and skewer worms with your Grunkle Stan!”
[br]
Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie yelled “WOOHOO!” at the top of their lungs, ready for adventure. Rarity was on the other side of the boat, talking to Soos about fashion. Surprisingly, he had some rather interesting ideas. The handyman was a man of many skills.
“So, darling, how do you drive this boat?”
“It just goes straight unless I hold the wheel!”
“So we’re just going straight.”
“You got that right Little Diamond!”
“Do you have a nickname for everyone?”
“You’re Little Diamond… then there’s Blitz, Cowgirl, Sparky, Flutters, and Pinkie.”
“Pinkie most certainly is just… Pinkie.”
“Indeededoo. Whoops I should probably go to the wheel before we crash into somethin’.”
As Soos went to the wheel, Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie were discussing the plan.
“So, step 1: we find the Gobblewonker.”
“Uh-huh.” Applejack agreed.
“Step 2: determine if hostile or not.”
“Gotcha…”
“Step 3: Depending on the result of step 2, either confront or—“
“THROW A PARTY!” Pinkie said, wheeling out party cannons, some with “Nessie” designs on them.
Applejack chuckled. “How many cannon designs do you have?”
“I lost count at a trillion!”
“Uh-huh. So if hostile we confront, if not, we make friends. Convince it to stop eating people’s boats.”
“But what if it needs boats to survive Twilight???”
Twilight sighed. “There’s no way in the realm of possibility that it needs to eat boats…”
Beneath the waters, something watched them, eyes glowing.
Stan was pleasantly surprised.
Fluttershy had opted to stay with him.
He could count the number of times a visiting Looper offered to stay with him from the start on his hands. Heck it was such a problem he rarely asked anymore. He didn’t like being on the old Stan o’ War alone.
Of course the experience was soured by the continual moaning of stomach-ache Rainbow Dash. He was beginning to regret his little Syrup prank.
“So, since you already know how to fish, how about a bit of a competition? Biggest fish wins!”
Fluttershy smiled warmly at stan. “Okie Grunkle Stan!”
Stan grinned. He was actually having fun. He, for once, was happy. This was great. Fishing with a niece (even if it wasn’t his regular niece) and having a nice day on the lake.
Also he had managed not to mess up Reginald’s proposal by that horrid “HER AIM IS GETTING BETTER” Joke.
“Joaje.” He muttered, remembering a particularly unpleasant vision of a Hublike universe he had been gifted several hundred Loops ago.
“What was that Grunkle Stan?” Fluttershy asked.
“Nothing Flutters. Nothing at all.” A fish bit his hook. “I GOT ONE!”
Fluttershy smiled. She recognized a man who needed company when she saw it. “Nice!”
Rainbow Dash moaned. “Can you two stop being so cheerful!”
“Kid, if I ever hear that sentence come out of your mouth again I will personally dunk you under the water where there are electric eels.”
“There… aren’t electric eels here.”
“I have a Pocket filled with all sorts of things.”
“You aren't supposed to hold living things—“
“DNA replication gun.”
Rainbow Dash moaned. “Carry on with… urk…. one sec…”
“HERE WE ARE! Scuttlebutt island!” Pinkie said, gesturing towards the sign nailed into a random tree.
Soos held up his hand, covering up the “scuttle.” “Hey look. ‘Butt’ island!”
Pinkie observed the sign. “I think scuttle island is better. Imagine this thing getting up and scuttling around. Like a beautiful spider!”
The five friends continued onwards, looking through the strange mist that penetrated the island.
“Question, darlings…” Rarity said, glancing left and right. “This island is perfectly visible from the beach correct?”
“Yah. What's your point?” Applejack wondered.
“Well how is there an extremely dense mist here?”
Twilight blinked. She hadn’t noticed that. Crap. That was probably bad—
At that point they heard an intense roar in the distance.
Twilight flicked her wrists, ready to cast magic. Applejack took out her lasso. Pinkie…. continued whatever it was she did. Rarity backed up.
Soos looked at Twilights hands. “Woah Sparky! Are you some kinda wizard or somethin’? That’d be wicked cool!”
Twilight blinked. “Sure. Wizard. Let’s go with that and not magical unicorn.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” The group slowly moved towards the sound, seeing a silhouette in front of them. It was perfectly still, and looked vaguely like a head.
“Ready girls?” Twilight asked.
Soos was the only one who responded. “Totally, dog.”
They moved forward, ready to face the beast, only to see a bunch of beavers chattering on a broken boat.
Only Pinkie understood what the beavers said, and she burst into hysterics. “AHAHHAHA!”
“Pinkie? What is it?” Twilight asked.
“You really don’t want to know! Ahahhaha!”
Twilight blinked. “Ooookayyyy….”
“But… what was the sound then?” Applejack asked.
“BEAVER WITH A CHAINSAW!” Pinkie pointed, grinning like a madwoman.
Applejack immediately subdued Pinkie Pinkie + chainsaw never ended well. Even though there usually wasn’t death of any kind, the result was generally beyond terrifying.
Twilight shrugged, magically tossing the roaring chainsaw into the water. “Okay then… what now?”
“Maybe he really was crazy….” Applejack muttered.
Pinkie just stared into the water, longingly looking at where the chainsaw was. Even though she had several thousand chainsaws in her Pocket, she still wanted to add another to her collection. A beaver-chainsaw was something new…
Then she heard the chainsaw noise again.
That was odd. It couldn’t possibly be making that noise underwater… Her pinkie sense went ballistic.
“GUYS SOMETHIN—“ She was interrupted by a large sea-beast rising out of the water and slapping her to the side. It roared.
“The Gobblewonker!” Twilight said, gasping. “It really is real!”
Applejack walked right up to the great beast. “Now listen ‘ere reptile, we don’t want no trouble, but we would appreciate it if you’d stop attacking people’s boats—“
The Gobblewonker roared, lunging for Applejack. She leapt backwards, landing firmly on her feet. “Suppose that was expectin’ too much…”
Twilight cracked her knuckles. “Let’s teach this lizard a lesson…”
“Darlings… do we really—“
Applejack raised a hand. “Rarity, there comes a time in every Looper’s life when they just want to beat the tar out of some giant lizard.”
Rarity sighed. “Fine… I just have the feeling this isn’t going to go well.”
[br]
“Okay listen up troops.”
Fluttershy listened intently. Rainbow Dash was able to sit up without moaning, but that was about it.
“Since we’ve caught a grand total of log, moss, and other fishing poles on this trip, it’s time to do what I do best—“
“Lure the fish in with your charm?”
“Nope. Steal fish from other people.”
Fluttershy blinked. “That doesn’t seem particularly nice—“
“Oh come on let’s just have some fun being con-men. Er. Women. Human? Pony? I don’t even know anymore. The point is that they have fish and we are going to take them. Any skills you bring to the table?”
“I can talk to most animals.” Fluttershy offered
“I can.. URK! Fly!” Rainbow Dash said, before leaning over.
“Yeah, multicolored tomboy? Take a rest, we’ve got this. Fluttershy, we are going to pull up and I am going to make a utterly and completely terrible joke. While they’re distracted get their fish.”
“Um… You know I don’t really think…”
“MISSION GO!” Stan yelled, rowing towards another boat, filled with Manly Dan and his sons. “Hey there pops! Wanna hear a joke?”
“If this is about Wendy being lazy you’re the one who hired her.” Manly Dan growled.
“Oh this is nothing about it! Just a joke! Seriously! How many lumberjacks does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”
Manly Dan hefted his axe and glared Stan in the eye.
Stan realized something at that moment.
Manly Dan was a lumberjack.
“Uh… ABANDON MISSION!” Stan yelled, rowing away at high speed.
Manly Dan roared. “BOYS! GET IM WHILE I HEADLOCK THIS FISH!”
The same man from earlier shouted “GET IM! GET IM!” with astounding glee.
“THATS RIGHT TYLER! THOSE ARE MY BOYS!”
Stan rowed faster.
“WHAT IS WITH THIS THING?” Twilight yelled as the Gobblewonker just completely ignored yet another magic blast. “Reptiles should be affected by that! ITS AN ANTI-REPTILE SPELL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”
Applejack tied up the Gobblewonker only to have her lasso rip. “It’s also ridiculously strong. What is this thing’s deal?”
It roared, charging once more.
Rarity sent a magic blast at it. While nowhere near as powerful as Twilight’s, they still had a decent amount of power behind them.
What surprised Twilight was that the Gobblewonker actually seemed to feel the normal spell.
“What spell was that?” Twilight asked.
“Just a normal one! Magic beam of some kind! Nonspecific!”
Soos laughed. “Dude you’re a wizard too?”
“Yes and Pinkie is as well get over it Soos.”
Soos looked at Pinkie, who was getting up from the ground. “Can I burn it?” She asked Twilight.
“I’d rather you didn’t. Chaos fire is terribly hard to put out.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said, appearing behind the Gobblewonker somehow. “TWILIGHT! SHOOT THE LEG WITH A NORMAL MAGIC BEAM!”
Twilight did so, and the leg exploded. Pinkie took a screwdriver out of her pocket and rammed it up the hole. Sparks flew.
“What?” Twilight said, confused, as the Gobblewonker fell to the ground.
Pinkie grinned. “When it hit me I figured out that it was metallic, a machine! That’s why your anti-reptile spell didn’t work Twilight! And I just noticed a small break in the leg!” She grinned, completely innocent looking.
“It’s… a machine?” Rarity said, blinking.
Twilight used her magic to pop open a hatch on the side of the machine, revealing a control room with McGucket inside. “Aww banjo polish!”
Everyone’s jaws dropped (excluding Pinkie). “McGucket???” Twilight managed to say.”W-Why?”
“Uh… uh…. AW I just wanted attention…”
“What?”
“Well, first I just hootenannies up a biomechanics brain wave generator, and then I learned to operate a stick-shift with my beard!” McGucket said, demonstrating his ability to use his beard as a limb.
“Uh… Why?”
“Well… when you get to be an old fella like me, nobody pays any attention to you anymore…. My own son hasn’t visited me in months! So.. I figured maybe I’d catch his fancy with a fifteen ton aquatic robot! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAH…….” He sighed. “In retrospect, it seems a bit contrived. You just don’t know the length us old-timers go through for a little quality time with our family…”
“Did you ever consider talking to your son?” Twilight asked.
“No sir! I got to work straight on the robot! I made lots of robots in my day! Like when my wife left me and I created a homicidal pterodactyl-tron! Or when my pal Ernie didn’t come to my retirement party and I constructed an eighty ton SHAME BOT THAT EXPLODED THE ENTIRE DOWNTOWN AREA!! AHHAHAHHAHAHH!!!! Well, time to get back to work on my death ray! Any of you kids got a screwdriver?”
Twilight blinked. “Pinkie does.”
“Why thank you miss.”
Twilight stared at the obviously crazy and most likely evil scientist. She probably shouldn’t try to help him get back on his feet or he’d try to conquer the world or something. She really shouldn’t. She reallllllly shouldn’t……….
“I have a better idea” She told Old Man McGucket, cursing her good nature.
In the end, she supposed she would stop him if he did go on a rampage. . .
“What are your sisters doing?” Stan asked the two Equestrians on his boat.
“I’m… not sure…” Fluttershy said, cocking her head.
The four girls, Soos, and Old Man McGucket knocked on the door the ranger occupied. McGucket’s son came out. “What do you want?”
Twilight took a breath, time to put on the twelve-year-old-girl charm… “Ranger, we found this old man sitting on an island all alone, mumbling to himself about how he missed his son and he seemed really sad. We figured we could bring him to you and since, you know, you’re a Ranger and all you might be able to do something.”
McGucket smiled, looking into his son’s eyes. “So, Tate. Uh… sorry ‘bout ruining your beach…”
“Dad…” He said, blinking. He closed the door, and walked back inside the house.
McGucket sighed. “Welp. We tried. Thank ya anyway.”
Twilight sighed. “Keep trying. He’ll open up eventually.”
“You really think so?’
Twilight smiled. “I know so.”
Then, the door opened again. Tate stepped out with a baseball and a some gloves. “Dad. Think we can finish that game we never got to?”
McGucket got tears in his eyes. “You betcha’ sonny! Now remember the ratio of the curveball to the air resistance…”
“I know Dad…” Tate said, smiling.
Twilight grinned. “Mission accomplished girls. We got to face a lake monster AND solved a friendship problem! BONUS!”
Pinkie’s sense twitched. “Something’s going on…” She looked around, unable to see anything odd. She shrugged. Maybe it was just an itch.
Stan, however, saw something. In the distance, he saw three young kids with binoculars trying to hide behind a bush. He recognized the kids, they stopped by the Mystery Shack a lot this Loop, calling themselves the Mystery Crusaders.
He frowned. They were watching them.
He wondered why.
Pinkie’s sense tingled again, and she turned towards the lake just in time to see something surface for a few seconds.
Something very reptilian.
She smiled. The real Gobblewonker was saying hi. How nice.
Then Tate’s curveball hit her in the back of the head. “OW!”
Everyone laughed.
The rest of the day was spent with baseballs, fishing, and tales of monster hunts and robots…
pbvwhub fuxvdghuv vslhv jr!
167.5 continued:(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Wait a moment, that wasn't Nyx!
The filly, with a half-lidded expression of apparent disinterest, looked up at Twilight. "Yes, Mom?"
"Um…" Twilight decided it was way too early in the morning to deal with this. "You can go back to sleep, Maud."
"Okay." And with that, she closed her eyes, curled up and drifted off.
Looking to her other side, Twilight raised an eyebrow at the loudly snoring and splayed out Pinkie. Sometimes I wonder about those two, she reflected, How they can be polar opposites, and yet still be so close.
Just another mystery of the magic of friendship, I suppose.
167.5 continued: (KrisOverstreet)
Applejack Awoke, in both senses of the word, with a yawn.
A similar noise came from beside her, prompting her to look down at the small filly at her side with… a… smile… wait a moment... small filly?
Twilight Sparkle stared bleary-eyed back at Applejack and said, "I guess I'll have to go crusading now, won't I?"
Applejack sighed and settled back on her bed. "Don't worry, Twilight," she said, chuckling. "No matter what happens, I'll always be right by your side."
After a moment the farm pony stiffened, trembling slightly as she added, "Er, I, um, I meant that strictly in th' platonic sense, y'understand..."
Twilight shot her big-sis-for-the-Loop a dirty glance, chuckled, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.
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... Oh why the heck not, like AJ said, if he wants to look pretty, then so be it, we're hardly to judge.
You broke a Pinkie Promise. You're fucked.
An atheistic angel. *mind explodes*
I can imagine, apart from the immortals, Zecora's probably one of the older characters in MLP apart from some of the older Hooffields, McColts and Granny Smith.
Hey Starlight, run.
I gotcha.
Oh my...
Goddammit Twilight.
Aren't time machines read only? FOR A REASON?
I see.
Ah, that, actually makes a lot of sense, the key component that ALLOWS the time traveling is read only.
This amuses me a lot.
AH! SHE SAID IT! SHE SAID IT!
Clever girl.
That's, actually pretty clever, didn't expect anything else from Han motherf*cking Solo.
Neato. Fun fact, we actually have working prototype hoverboards now. And a lot of the tech that the BttF 2015 had.
Daaw! This is so sweet!
Oh that'll be fun.
Fair enough.
Oh no, what a nightmare.
Understandable.
Oh that's clever.
Minor luck spells, interesting.
Wow.
That's perfectly fair.
*snerk*
Correct.
I dunno, the voices in mine are plenty talkative.
She's gonna chase you.
Same.
Oh this is amazing.
Vinyl...
Vinyl managed to use the chorus to Never Gonna Give You Up unironically and make it WORK. That's, just wow.
HEH!
Fascinating.
BEST PRINCESS!
... O, K then.
Of course.
Wow.
I don't wnat to know.
HEH!
Wise move.
Clever girl.
This sort of stuff is her shtick.
Quite.
Huh?
HEH!
Lyra... is certainly unique...
167.7. Sanity check. The baseline DeLorian has a nuclear reactor capable of putting out how much power? And it uses what kind of fuel?
Why would you ever see a need to put in ANOTHER power plant? What you do is retrofit as an electric and feed Mr. Fusion into the battery. And that's the inelegant kludge version.
>167.14
>Author's Notes
Please god why the puns
Mac dressing up is amusing, I like how AJ is trying not to be judgemental but is clearly outside her comfort zone.
Protective friend Discord is kind of scary... but I can see him busting out this mode of Tirek comes after Berry or Ruby.
Twilight waking up with various fillies is amusing, a nice running gag, but especially sweet with Scootaloo and Dinky.
Sunset's DeLorean is awesome.
So what happens when the Gravity Falls Loopers encounter the unicorns?
ROT23 if anyone cares, by the way.
Stan doesn't miss that joke a bit. Now his ex-wife on the other hand... Her aim is just now... getting better
Man, I don't give long comments anymore, I should fix that, or leave them in the doc.
6791767
Warhammer Fantasy has a (minor) Chaos God of Atheism. He's not well known, mostly because he hates people building shrines to him.
No, it's hilarious.
No shit.
167.13 I'm sad, It felt like such a good time, and there HAS been quite alot of Vinyl and Octavia in the last few chapters. I honestly thought it was Octavia's time.
6914164
It's Caesar +3. ^_^
Mystery Crusader Spies Go!
I've never watched that movie but this brings up an interesting question about how time travel works in the loops does the time travel happen as a wood of in Baseline with only the anchors relative timeline being different? Or is it tailored to every different time travel situation?
Aww that was a sweet ending to the gravity falls chapter