MLP Loops 178
178.1 (NachoTheBrony)
Pretty much as usual, Twilight became Awake mid-stride, and immediately face-planted. Getting up, she tried to rub her face with her hoof, but came significantly short. Her foreleg had short digits rather than a hoof, and was barely long enough to touch her lower yaw!
And then, her Loop memories finally hit, and she felt like face-hoofing: her name was Twilight Sparkle, student of Celestia's School for Gifted Rhinoceroses, denizen of Tramplelot, citizen of Loxonia, and personal student to Sky Whale Celestia, The White Narwhal, Bringer of the Monsoon. She then inspected herself with a levitated mirror and found what amounted to a turret-basket on her back, and in there (under a sleeping purple/green orangutan that she guessed was Spike) found a book titled "The Legend of the Royal Whale Sisters", wherein Nightmare Drought would make clears skies (and El Niño) last forever...
But Twilight had high hopes for this Loop: given the ping volume pretty much everyone was probably awake, so she would have her friends. Besides, her mischievous side really wanted to make a photo album of a world where Rainbow Dash was a floating hippopotamus that propelled herself by way of flatulence!
But well, she also seriously hoped Pinkie to be a little more restrained than normal: to be jumped by a full sized elephant would never be a laughing matter!
178.2 (NachoTheBrony)
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Rarity?"
"Are we puffer fishes or something?"
"I think more like living blimps. Let's take a good look at one another. "
And they then carefully manoeuvred around each other, taking in that they were basically disk-shaped leathery blimps, with their top halves being dark green and their bottom halves having their usual coat colours, and having there a hanging ring of tentacles on their normal mane colours.
"Can I feel up your dark patch, Twilight? It looks like moss."
"Sure!" Rarity manoeuvred on top of Twilight, and let her dozen tentacles roam.
"The colour seems to be underneath the skin. Do you think we are photosynthetic, Twilight?"
"Most likely, considering that your shadow makes me feel peckish." And Twilight then manoeuvred to Rarity's side. "But now that I think about it, I think Carl Sagan..." and Twilight then produced a book out of her Pocket. Said book immediately puffed and exploded into dust, though, causing Twilight to drop it.
"Oak damn it!" She muttered, as she looked down and saw its small cloud just fall and fall. "And that was a first print, autographed copy of Cosmos!"
"And I'm certain Doctor Sagan would have loved to have seen it in the tentacles of a xeno-organism, even for just one second."
"Guess you're right, Rarity."
"So, what were you trying to show me?"
"Well, Doctor Sagan theorized there of living blimps in Jupiter's clouds. And now I remember that later cosmologists said that life would be far more likely underneath the cloud layer, on what they called 'an endless blue sky'." She then gestured around, and Rarity indeed noted that other than a solid roof of reddish clouds, they were indeed floating in a blue sky, which she now noticed seemed completely empty for hundreds and hundreds of kilometres.
And it was really featureless, crystal clear, that let see hundreds of kilometres around, and not see anything at all other than each other.
Suddenly feeling agoraphobic, Rarity bumped onto Twilight and interwove a tentacle with Twilight, and felt how Twilight began interweaving her own tentacles with hers.
They just kind-of-hugged like that for hours, until Rarity tied four of their tentacles with the most wicked knots she knew of. They then started travelling, looking for somepony... anypony!
And they then travelled this void for a count of nearly five hundred day/night cycles, until they were so extremely stir crazy that they agreed to puncture themselves and die. No Eiken, no Teletubbies would ever be anywhere as terrifying as this horrible, horrible void!
178.3 (Evilhumour)
"Begone foul beast, I care not for your company," Nightmare Moon snorted at the stranger on her moon. She had been banished here several rotations ago by her by the Elements of Harmony themselves. It would be a very long time before she could escape and have vengeance on the ponies that betrayed her.
"Nope," the armored creature said, shaking its head with a low rumbling chuckle from within its grey helmet. "You're going to be here for a while so...company." The figure, male by its voice gave a shrug with its massive arms pushing its pauldrons upwards.
Nightmare Moon gave a snort, shaking her head as she tried to walk away from the figure once again-futile as the creature was easily able to match her with its long legs. With all of her four magic pools locked away, she was unable to teleport, gallop or fly away and what little flight that she did have was easily matched by the strange pack the creature had on its pack that gave hi-it lift. "I will be here for a very long time, creature."
"I've got a very long lifespan," the creature said, looking down at her in the eye. "I can wait around with you."
"At most, I will be here for a thousand years," Nightmare Moon said with a snarl in her voice to the creature. "Do you really think you can just stay here for that long?"
"Don't think, know."
"Why are you so persistent about this?" Nightmare Moon asked the figure beside her, resigned to the fact she was not going to get rid of him anytime soon.
"Because...there's a person I love dearly," the figure slowed down his pace just a bit, to which Nightmare Moon found herself matching. "We don't get to see each other that often, and she is sometimes alone for a very long time and I can see how much it hurts her." Nightmare Moon's ears twitched, hearing a faint, nearly mute hitch in his voice. "So, I see the same in you and decided to keep you company."
"What about your beloved?" Nightmare Moon asked, tilting her head. "Shouldn't you be with her instead of me?"
"She understands," the figure turned to face her and knelt down to stare into her face through his helmet. "Trust me, she understands what you are going through and I'm not going anywhere."
Nightmare Moon looked at her...acquaintance before giving a snort as she looked away. "You'll be gone within the week, I have no doubt of that."
"You silly filly," the figure chuckled as he reached to ruffle her mane, unaware of her helmet being removed previously. "I said I am not leaving you at all so deal with it."
Nightmare Moon's face puffed with indignation and swatted at him with her hoof, the figure laughing at her anger before dashing away from her. "Come back here, and deal with your punishment!" She shouted as chased after him, tossing rocks at him and feeling her spirits rise despite at the lack of respect shown to her.
She would be sure to see him away within the day! And she pitied the poor soul that this idiot called his beloved as she threw a large rock at the back of his leg, causing him to tumble.
Twilight had to admit, this was an odd loop. While there was a mention of Nightmare Moon, when the time came for her to show up in the town hall, it was just Luna that appeared next to a stunned Celestia who clearly wasn't expecting this to happen.
After she excused herself from the celebrations, she walked up to her bedroom to find a smiling black filly she knew all too well.
"Hello Nyxie," Twilight said nuzzling her daughter. "Good previous loop?"
"You can say that," Nyx said blushing as she brushed away her mane from her face, before looking up at the moon where finacé was and her smile grew. "Just reminded how lucky I am that I've got someone who will wait a thousand years for me."
Twilight tilted her head before looking at the moon, and then at her daughter before recognizing that smile. With a tight hug and a kiss to her forehead, Twilight took her leave.
Within seconds, there was a loud pop in the room as a massive figure in moon coated dust appeared in the room. Without waiting a single second, Nyx's magic aura went to the figure's helmet and pulled it off, showing a blond man beaming a smile full of love at her. Growing in size, Nyx flew up into his waiting arms and placed a kiss on his lips to which he shared back.
After shuffling and rocking back on their feet and hooves, Nyx pulled back and nuzzled his face contently. The figure rubbed her mane gently with an armoured finger and said to her with a lopsided grin on his face, "Told you I can wait a thousand years."
With a giggle escaping her mouth, she flicked his nose with her magic. "I know, you dork," Nyx said, nuzzling his face again before pulling back. "I love you, Leman."
"And I love you, Nyx."
And they shared their second kiss in a thousand years.
178.4 (Kris Overstreet)
"No bass cannon of any kind."
"Nope."
"Just one mike, one amp, one sound board."
"Yep."
"All right, proceed," Twilight Sparkle nodded, "and larch help you if something gets destroyed this time."
Vinyl Scratch nodded, slid on her headphones, turned on her system, and gave a high-sign hoof-wave to the Ponytones, who stood around a microphone and looked at their music sheets with confusion. Big Macintosh shrugged, tapped his hoof for the beat, and let out a hearty shout that led into four bars of polyphonic scat-singing before the song began:
Well she sneaks around the world from Detrot to Fillydelphia
She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Cloudsdale to Griffonstone
She's strictly fly-by-night by airship to Mareitania, tell me
Where in the world is-
Big Mac finished the lyric solo:
Carmen Sandiego?
Vinyl adjusted the treble slightly and faded the mid-range as the other Ponytones joined back in:
Steal the saddle from Arabia, snatch the hat off old Manehattan
From Horseshoe bay to Hoofston they'll be down on their heels
Celestia can't allot the wealth she pocketed in Ponyville, so
Where in the world is-
And again Big Mac asked:
Carmen Sandiego?
He then sat out the bridge as the other Ponytones asked:
She goes from Tall Tale to Trottingham, Rainbow Falls to Los Pegasus
Vanhoover to Tenochtitlan AND BACK!
And then, with a little extra vigor, the united quartet swung into the final verse:
She'll sack Yakyakistan and run a pool in Appleoosa
Then she'll make good in the Badlands and then get outta Dodge
She'll put the miss in misdemeanor and get off scot-Everfree, tell me
Where in the world is-
And with a poof of smoke a human figure in red hat and trenchcoat appeared in the middle of the stage, arms wrapped around a large golden griffon statue.
Carmen Sandiego, furious, gave a sweeping look at the assembled singers before fixing her glare at the pony behind the soundboard. "You cheated," she snarled.
178.5 (Kris Overstreet)
"Eleven million, two hundred ninety-seven thousand, four hundred and ninety-three! That's all of Manehattan! Everypony present and accounted for, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said, saluting.
"Thanks, Pinkie," Twilight sighed. "Now have everypony pull whatever spaceships they have in their Pockets out so we're not all floating in space all day."
Baseline Twilight Sparkle couldn't have done it, no way. Looping Twilight, a billion Loops ago, probably couldn't have done it. She herself, this Twilight, right now, wasn't quite sure how she had done it. But in a split second she'd managed to put an enchantment of protection and environmental stability around every intelligent life form on Equus- and just barely in time, at that.
Now ponies, dragons, griffons, minotaurs, changelings, and assorted other creatures numbering well north of a billion floated in deep space around the empty spot where Equus used to be.
Carefully the princess of friendship nudged herself back over to the other princesses. Cadance was taking lessons with Rainbow Dash about how to apply pegasus magic to the fabric of spacetime, while Rarity, Celestia and Luna were looking over advertising pamphlets from Magrathea. "Oh, here's one for you, Tia," Luna giggled. "Cakeworld: a planetary confection with vanilla icing, a thin angel food upper crust, layers of dense red velvet and even denser chocolate beneath, surrounding a cherry core a thousand miles wide."
"Very amusing, I'm sure," Celestia said dryly. "Now please stick to standard M-class options."
"You just wiped some drool from your chin," Luna giggled.
"I did not," Celestia said. "I was removing condensation from my muzzle. My environmental field is acting up."
"If you say so, Tia," Luna replied, still giggling.
Off some distance beyond the sisters Twilight could see Fluttershy, who had gathered together a host of Equestrian animals, including even a family of manticores and a very sad pack of timberwolves. Beyond them the Cutie Mark Crusaders floated by themselves, each holding up a hoofmade cardboard sign. Apple Bloom's read: ALPHA CENTAURI. Sweetie Belle's read: HORSEHEAD NEBULA. Scootaloo's read: ANYWHERE EXCEPT POUGHKEEPSIE, N.J. Beside them Silver Spoon and Discord floated, having transformed themselves into giant disembodied hands, thumbs extended in an almost universal (for a certain group of universes) gesture.
"So," Twilight groaned, "the world's destroyed, but the Loop hasn't crashed. We're going to literally have to rebuild our home from scratch. But at least things can't get any worse."
A fleet of a thousand hideous black cubical spaceships popped into existence around the survivors of Equestria. A voice that matched the ships for repulsiveness echoed through the vacuum of space: "People of Equus, this is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. You are all under arrest for unauthorized planet demolition. You will be detained in high security prison until the galactic courts can review applications for bail in two hundred years. Resistance is useless."
Twilight wished, wished as hard as she could, that just one tree had survived the destruction of her home planet, so she could bang her head against it.
178.6 (fractalman)
The Twilights sighed; all 1000 of them. Then they began to chat.
"This is ridiculous"
"Now let’s not all empty the Pocket all at once."
"Actually, remember that one loop? This isn't the worst Mikasa glitch I/we've had..."
"Hey, it's been awhile since I've done science on myself. I NEED A VOLUNTEER!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Rainbow shockwave after rainbow shockwave filled the air, which went on for a grand total of 16 minutes and 40 seconds. Most of the Twilights only listened to part of it, as a series of soundproof domes sprung into existence, incidentally splitting the massive group into smaller, more manageable groups. A couple teleported off.
It was either going to be a very long loop, or a very short loop.
178.7 (Anon e Mouse Jr, Evilhumour, KrisOverstreet, Masterweaver, NachoTheBrony)
"Okay, so." Twilight wobbled as she held up a hoof. "I... am very drunk. So! This is obviously the time for. Another. Bar talk thingy."
"This ought to be good," Sunset quipped.
"Names!" The unicorn slammed her hoof down. "Names. In Equestria. We're very literal with our names. Nouny verby adjectivey names. And variants... are a thing!" She giggled. "So. So. Weirdest. Weirdest names. For ponies."
Celestia rolled her eyes. "Well, there was this one loop where I was called Molestia, but didn't actually act that way even pre-awake. It just turned out that all ponies had innuendo or flat out blatant words in their name."
"I was once literally named Clothes Horse," Rarity commented. "Although I think I was genetically engineered that loop..."
"Bacon Head," said Sunset Shimmer, groaning. "It was a gender-flipped Loop, and that nickname got so popular that it even made it to my soccer uniform."
"I once had a loop where just about everypony's names started with a color or something similar, and ended with one of their other major traits," Shining Armor commented. "I was White Shield, you were Purple Smart, and Cadance was Pink Love." He shrugged. "I think the closest anypony came to an exception were the two senior princesses. Princess Celestia was Aurora Sun, and Princess Luna was Darkness Moon."
"Pretty Pink Princess," Cadance grumbled.
"Better than Shy Eyes," Vinyl let out a huff before taking off her shades. "I just like them, alright?"
Derpy Hooves raised a hoof. "There was one Loop where I had to quit my mailmare job," she said. "Because, well... aside from those of us here and certain others, there were only a handful of really, really common names. There were nearly three thousand ponies named 'Background' in Ponyville alone. And then there was 'Blank Slate,' 'Flavor Pony,' 'Incidental Pony,' 'Whatever Pony...'" Derpy's expression brightened as she added, "Oh, yeah! And there were my parents, Element Fifteen and Layer Seven." She smiled and added, "Our family reunions were fun. Confusing, but fun."
178.8 (Masterweaver)
"I HEREBY CALL THIS MEETING OF LOOPING SITH LADIES TO ORDER!"
The cloaked but not hooded figure slammed down her ostentatiously red and black horned gavel, grinning at the other two females around the table. "First order of business, introductions! I'm Darth Terror'Anment, fun lord of the sith, but my friends just call me Pinkie Pie. And hey, I'd love for you two to be my galpals! Eh? Eh?"
One of the others sighed. "I already have Ty Lee at home. Do I really have to deal with you too?"
"Do not trifle with this one, hatchling. I have heard tales of her power; she could annihilate us with a thought."
"Or I could get you BURRITOS!" Pinkie whipped out three plates out of her pink mane, each having steaming burritos on them. "I've been on a burrito kick recently. Don't know why. So, like I said, introductions!" She flicked two of the plates to the others and began chomping down on her own.
"...very well." The second figure pulled back her hood and revealed a scaly visage with teeth. "I am Darth Velocious, the hungering blood. No, I do not have a name my 'friends' use." She snorted, slicing open a burrito with a claw. "And while I know better than to defy your whims, Terror'Anment, I feel I should investigate whether you'd be as willing if my physical body were of the opposite gender."
"Nah, you're cool either way Vel."
"Is that even a question?" the third figure wondered.
"Vel's kinda unique. Wasn't meant to start looping, so the personal gender code is wonky."
"Not," Velocious growled, "that I care." She tore into her food with a feral ferocity.
The third figure sighed, pulling back her own hood and rolling a golden set of eyes. "I suppose it's my turn then. Darth Synerate, the cold fire. Although princess Azula will do as well." She delicately rose one of the burritos to her nose and sniffed. "Hmm, not... displeasing. Is this a common foodstuff?"
"They crop up in a lot of loops," Pinkie confirmed. "Try it, it's good!"
After a moment, Azula took a bite. "...It's adequate."
"Girl, we're all force users. Don't try to hide your emotions from us."
"...what is the purpose of this meeting?" The princess put her burrito down. "I've heard the others talk about ponies as some sort of miracle workers who handle all forms of insanity. Are you trying to cure me?"
"Nah, I'm not really the pony that handles that. At least not solo." Pinkie started taking lightsabers out of thin air, turning them on and juggling them. "I'm completely crazy myself. But I figured, there's a lot of people who don't really understand what the dark side actually is, so why not start a club for the ones that do?"
Velocious looked up, grabbing her plate and backing off. "Feh. Perhaps you can help me train that hatchling from the old galaxy's new expansion."
"Oh, him?" Pinkie stuck out her tongue. "He's a complete moron. Totally doesn't get it at ALL."
"...that's seven lightsabers," Azula noted.
"Yeah, all I can do with just two hooves..."
178.9 (Masterweaver)
"...so usually, the ponies you're replacing and me form this club," Sweetie Belle finished. "Baseline we called ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, looking for our cutie marks, but loopwise we're sort of just 'plan out crazy schemes and roll with them.'" She gave the pair a once-over. "I'm kind of thinking you're looking for that sort of thing."
"Darn tootin'!" The purple pegasus grinned, showing off oddly large braces. "Gotta say, for a pansy-bunch of ponies this world ain't half bad."
"Just to be clear, though: Equestria is a sanctuary loop." Sweetie Belle gave her a pointed look. "No casual murder, or torture, or robbery, okay?"
The pale, emaciated earth pony slipped a hoof around the pegasus and smiled gently. "Don't worry, I'll keep Peacock in check."
"Watcha talken' bout, Marie? There's a whole forest of monsters right next door!"
"Patricia..."
Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I guess we could let you go monster hunting if you really wanted to. Just don't kill any of the good monsters, okay?"
"Fine, alright, I'll play nice." The pegasus whipped out a cigar, took a draw--and ended up coughing and wheezing. "What the hell--?"
"Pegasus," Sweetie said. "High flyers. Delicate lungs."
"...well tie me up and call me a turkey. Can I at least still get plastered?"
"Mac and Berry serve loopers, but it's bar policy to age the body up to adulthood before you get booze." She shrugged. "Plenty of other drinks, though--Berry's a whiz with all kinds of beverages."
"So it's get old, or stay dry?" Peacock groaned. "Why is life full of hard choices?"
"Look on the bright side," Marie suggested. "You've got all your limbs." She reached up to turn the pegasus's gaze on her with a gentle smile. "And a pair of incredibly lovely eyes."
"What, nothing about my pearly whites?"
"I could investigate those if you really wanted," offered the other filly, leaning in.
Sweetie Belle coughed. "I'm not going to say no kissing, but just remember most ponies are going to see you as children. Anything adult, keep behind locked doors okay?"
The pegasus glowered at her. "Any other rules ya wanna bring up?"
"Not really," Sweetie Belle quipped. "Like I said, this is a sanctuary loop. We try our best to help out everyone who drops by, be it by letting them relax or giving them a dose of therapy."
Marie gave her a wry smile. "Somehow, I don't think therapy is going to deal with all our issues."
"Hey, we helped out Leah."
The two stared at her blankly.
"Leah Clearwater? The Twilight loops?"
They continued to stare.
"...Okay," Sweetie offered, "how about Warhammer 40K? One of my friends is actually engaged to the anchor--"
"I'm afraid we are unfamiliar with that reality," Marie explained.
"Naoki? The Persona Loops? I mean, we didn't completely screw that one up--"
"Never heard of him," Peacock stated.
"Look, the point is we want to help and we don't care who you are. We're not going to force you to lie on a couch, but if you ever want to talk we're here for you."
"We appreciate the offer," Marie managed, "but... we've been coping fairly well as is, all things considered."
Sweetie Belle rose an eyebrow. "You apparently take having limbs, eyes, and teeth as unusually fortunate."
"Nah," Peacock replied, "that's just me. Marie's more the 'having flesh at all' kinda gal."
"What Peacock means to say," Marie interjected, "is that we've adapted to the horribleness of our universe."
The unicorn took a breath and let it out slowly. "Alright. I'll drop it. I don't feel right, just letting this be, but I'll drop it." She shook her head. "Your anchor must have a heck of a time with you two..."
"Actually, I'm the anchor for my world toots," Peacock said with a roll of her eyes. Then she paused, and rolled her eyes again. "Woo. That's a sensation!"
Sweetie Belle blinked. "...wait, what?"
"The eye-rolling. I mean, it's rare enough I get to do it, but you ponies have such BIG eyes--"
"No, you said you were the anchor of your world."
"Sure as shootin'!"
"That... That doesn't make sense!" Sweetie Belle insisted. "I, I mean--I don't know what your baseline life's like, but it probably drove you insane!"
"Yeah, so?"
"Anchors are explicitly chosen for their mental stability! It's literally their job description: to stay sane enough that the rest of the world has a consistent point to refer to!"
Marie blinked. "...Are you... absolutely sure about that?"
Sweetie Belle nodded firmly.
Peacock stared at her. "Wait.... if I'm not the anchor... who the bloody hell is?!"
178.10 (fractalman)
Twilight awoke just in time to see a mountain land on her treebrary. Resigned irritation turned to confusion, however, when her tree proceeded to fling said mountain over the horizon.
"Okay, what?"
On a distant rock farm, Maud Pie sniffed the air.
She turned around and opened her mouth wide. Really, really wide. A couple very literal miles wide, in fact.
The mountain fell in, and Maud began to chew; it sounded like an earthquake. "Hm. Unusually high in marble. Tastes like it’s from near Canterlot. "
Mountain rain had changed to laser rain by the time Twilight's loop memories kicked in.
"Oh. I see. We're in gourmet world. No wonder there's mountain rain and laser rain and lakes made out of sharp objects and a couple of hydras using our buildings as pillows. Note to self, avoid Pinkie's cupcakes this loop, they're not vegetarian and of dubious ethicality".
"HI TWILIGHT!" yelled Fluttershy from above.
Twilight looked up and had to suppress a shiver of fear: there was a giant snake with a tiny yellow dot on its forehead looking at her and flicking its tongue out. "Hi Fluttershy!" said Twilight with a forced grin. "Hey, quick question, how loopy are you feeling?"
"Wide Awake!" said Fluttershy. "I'm really surprised my unawake self managed to make friends with the 8 kings of gourmet world, though."
178.11 (Anon e Mouse Jr, with additions by vs21, Reader238, Evilhumour and Masterweaver)
Scootaloo yawned and stretched as she Awoke, then looked around. Bedroom at the Golden Oak Library… don't Wake Up here too often. As she waited for her Loop Memories to come in, she summoned her Intelligent Device, and focused on their bond. Pansy?
Right here, the founder reassured her.
Oh good.
And there… went… the memories. Huh.
Scootaloo?
Scootaloo sighed. Apparently, UnAwake me asked Twilight for help in finding her biological parents about a month ago. Twilight did a DNA test, freaked, and invited me to stay with her while she confirmed the results.
Well, at least it means you have a good home this Loop, Pansy told her.
I know, and it's not the first time I've done it, but… Scootaloo wrinkled her nose. Seriously, I wish the Loops would hurry up and give me a stable set of parents! I've had a lot of good ones and even more bad ones, but… when am I going to get a permanent home, Pansy? When?
The Intelligent Device was silent for a moment. I don't know, Scootaloo. I really don't know. But you should be careful what you wish for. Remember how Diamond Tiara felt when her mother stabilized.
Scootaloo winced. Point.
Behind her, a voice cleared her throat. "Hey, kiddo. Feeling bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and wide Awake?"
About half a second later, Scootaloo was bolt upright and several feet into the air, having jumped straight upward (and about out of her skin) at the sound. Fortunately, she calmed herself enough to do a midair twist-and-flip and landed facing the source of the voice, an amused-looking Sunset Shimmer, who waved. "Morning, Scoots."
"Morning, Sunset." Scootaloo felt embarrassed. "Twilight asked you to keep an eye on me, huh."
The amber unicorn shrugged. "We decided to spend this Loop doing some sisterly bonding. Then when you asked for her help, she asked me to watch over you, and the library, until she got back."
Scootaloo nodded. "So… any idea what she could have found?"
"Not sure. But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
A few days later, Twilight finally returned, a gleam of triumph in her eye.
"Hey, Sunset. Scootaloo, are you Awake?"
Scootaloo nodded. "A few days ago. So, what's my family situation this Loop?"
Twilight looked at her. "This Loop, I had an older sister I never knew about. And I never knew about her because of some…" She broke into an unfamiliar language, but judging by the expression on her face, it would have made Tirek blush had he been there. "Sorry. A bigoted doctor stole my older sister when she was a newborn and gave her away because she was a pegasus and our parents were unicorns. And no matter how many times I run into that kind of…" She trailed off into another round of unintelligible cursing. "Sorry, but, it still makes me so mad!"
Nearby, Sunset winced. "Ouch. Had that happen to me once. Except my parents were pegasi and I was the unicorn foal who was taken from them and put in an orphanage somewhere, until Princess Celestia found me and made me her student. My bio-parents and I got back together eventually, but it didn't happen until near the end of the Loop, so I didn't have a whole lot of time with them."
"Sorry to hear that," Twilight told her.
"It's okay. I'm… kind of used to it. Besides, I have you, remember? And I'm guessing Scoots too this Loop."
Twilight nodded. "My birth sister and her husband died about ten years ago, the same day their daughter was born." She looked at Scootaloo. "They put her in an orphanage for the first ten years of her life, but now, she's finally back with her family."
Scootaloo pondered this. "So I'm your niece again, huh?"
"Yep."
"Cool." Scootaloo shrugged.
"Scootaloo…" Twilight was silent for a moment. "Is there something wrong?"
Scootaloo sighed. "It's… well, like I told Pansy when I first Woke Up, I never have the same family two Loops in a row, and I'm tired of it! I'm glad you're my family this Loop, but still!"
Twilight was silent for a moment, then looked at the filly and Sunset. "Come on. There's a bar with our name on it. And most of us are Awake this Loop, so we should be able to have a good round-table discussion about this." She hugged her in-Loop niece. "No matter what happens, you'll never be alone, Scootaloo. You'll always have at least one of us to be your family."
Scootaloo flushed. "Thanks, Twilight."
Not too long after, the resident Loopers were at Mac's bar. "So," Twilight concluded. "We know Rainbow Dash has adopted Scootaloo or had her family adopt her more times than we can count, and even been her biological sister a few times. And I know I've adopted her, or had her as my niece more than once. What about the rest of you? How many of you have had her as family?"
"She was my biological daughter one Loop," Luna commented. "And her father was Alucard."
Everypony went wide-eyed at that, including Celestia. "You too?"
Luna raised an eyebrow at your sister. "I take it I'm not the only one whose UnAwake self fell for him."
Celestia blushed. "Yes. And as it happens, Scootaloo was my daughter by him that time. Fortunately, Alucard himself wasn't Awake for that Loop, or our encounters since then would have been… very awkward indeed."
"The same goes for me," Luna told her. She cleared her throat. "So. Next?"
Cadance and Shining Armor exchanged glances, before Cadance spoke up. "She's been… my biological daughter too a few times. Always by Shiny. We loved and raised her together, but there were times we arranged, at her request, for her to go to school in Ponyville so she could just be another student instead of being constantly surrounded by ponies who only wanted to suck up to one of the royal family."
Next to her, Shining Armor nodded. "And I'm not proud of it, but I know a few different Loops where… well, my UnAwake self had a drunken one-night stand before Cadance and I started dating. One Loop it was with Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, another time with a pegasus friend of Cady's and ours who had a thing for me. Scootaloo was the result both times, but we didn't find out until years later. I took responsibility as soon as I found out, and Cadance was very happy to take her in. Almost thought it had happened again this Loop when Twilight showed up with a DNA test for me, but now we all know what really happened." He fell silent as his wife nuzzled him.
Seeing their subdued looks, Derpy raised a hoof. "I've had at least one Loop where she was my niece, and lived with Dinky and I while her mother was off on her expeditions."
Apple Bloom pondered for a moment. "Was that the Loop where your sister was Daring Do, and you were the one who wrote the books, but… exaggerated a lot of the details to make them into adventure stories? 'Cause I was there for that one."
"Exactly," Derpy told her.
Rainbow Dash grinned at that. "Wish I'd been Awake for that Loop then! Exaggerated stories or not."
Nearby, Applejack raised her own hoof. "Our family adopted her at least one time after we found her sleepin' in the clubhouse. An' I know there's at least one where Rarity took her in."
Rarity nodded. "Indeed I did."
Nearby, Fluttershy looked down. "I… er, I had a few Loops where she was my daughter, but I had to give her up because I was too young to care for a foal. I always watched over her from a distance when I could though, and eventually admitted the truth to her and took her back. And if I hadn't done it before I Woke Up, I always made sure I did it as soon as possible afterward," she told the younger pegasus.
Scootaloo cracked a smile. "Thanks."
Nearby, Diamond Tiara looked at Scootaloo. "I got my dad to take you in at least one time, back before Mom stabilized."
Scootaloo glanced at her. "Really?"
"It was a few Loops after that expansion where my baseline self was really nasty about your not being able to fly, and I felt guilty. I wanted to make it up to you somehow, so…" She shrugged. "I kept hoping you'd Wake Up that Loop so I could explain it, but you never did."
Scootaloo nodded. "I understand. And thanks… that means a lot."
"I took both of you in once," Cheerilee told them.
She was met with two pairs of raised eyebrows, and coughed. "It was… mostly our Equestria, but there were a few details from the G3 version, such as Scootaloo being my little sister. I took her in after our parents passed," she explained to the others. "Later on, our cousin Toola-Roola named me her daughter's guardian in case something ever happened to she and her husband, and… well, it did, and I wound up with Diamond as well. You were a lot nicer that Loop, so I didn't mind," she told the pink filly.
"Good to know," Diamond replied.
Sunset raised a hoof. "I've had a couple of Loops where I was the only unicorn in a family of pegasi. One of those times, Scootaloo was my younger sister, but she was born around the time I ran away to the human world, so I didn't find out about her until after Twilight brought she and our dad to meet me after the Battle of the Bands." She reached out and ruffled the other Looper's mane, prompting a grin from her. "Both of us were surprised, but happy, when we found out."
(vs21; edits by Anon e Mouse Jr.)
"The Great And Powerful Trixie does indeed have a story in which she had adopted Scootaloo! Trixie had Awoken after the Ursa Minor incident and decided to go back on the road performing, when the sheriff of a nearby Earth Pony village talked her into searching the Dusky Dale woods for two foals..."
"You wound up finding Scootaloo and Dinky in timberwolf-infested woods, didn't you?" Derpy asked, both eyes intently focused on Trixie. To the others, she explained. "I've had that one as a variant a few times. Every time, Dinky and another foal go missing, and Trixie finds them, but the other foal's identity always varies. I've been meaning to thank you for saving Dinky during those variants, by the way."
"Trixie appreciates that. And yes, she wound up ripping the Sheriff and his town a new one once she found out they were willing to let both of them die just because they were born with either a horn on their head or a pair of wings on their back!" Trixie took a breath before continuing with, "Trixie wound up adopting Scootaloo, who made quite an enthusiastic assistant that Loop."
(Reader238; edits by Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other. "Well, ah remember this one loop where I was male, and me and Sweetie Belle were your parents," Apple Bloom said as she and Sweetie Belle gave their pegasus friend a hug.
"I had a similar loop," Silver Spoon added. "Diamond was male, and we were married."
Diamond Tiara facehoofed. "Right, I remember that one too." She and Silver Spoon moved to join the hug.
(Evilhumour; heavily revised by Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Lemon looked at his future wife. Nyx looked at her fiancé.
They looked at Scootaloo.
"There was... a Loop in the Dark Millennium where, back when Nyx was just a child, her entire family was cursed by an enemy of theirs, who wanted to ensure their line would die out. He made it so that any time one of their line lay with another being, that being would die. Even after we killed him and supposedly broke the curse, Nyx didn't want to risk it being possibly still active and killing me." Leman winced at the memory.
"After that, I took over my father's throne and married the woman of my dreams. But soon after, our advisers started nagging me about producing an heir. And since it couldn't be done in the traditional way, necessity meant that Nyx and I had to take a page out of my father's book. We used the same genetic engineering methods he did when he created myself and my brothers. But in our case, the template was for a daughter." He looked almost wistful as he remembered.
"Our daughter was intended to be the first in a new generation of Primarchs, and unlike my father, who apparently created all of us at once, we started with just one, planning to create more after we made sure the first was a success. In the end, that didn't happen, because we Awoke around the time our daughter came out of the cloning tanks, and we recognized her as... well, you." He looked down at the pegasus filly, whose own eyes were wide.
"It was awkward, to say the least, for all parties involved," Nyx added, blushing. "But we took care of you as we would any naturally conceived child. And you still wound up becoming a warrior and leader we could be proud of, even taking the throne after Leman and I followed in his father's footsteps and retired from direct leadership, spending the rest of the Loop as ambassadors to the rest of the Imperium." She smiled as the two joined the group hug.
(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
After a moment, she pulled away slightly. "There's one more where it was just me," she added. "It happened during a variant of the Loop where I first came into existence. When you and the others snuck into her palace, Queen Nightmare Moon sent messengers to inform all your families about what you'd done and why you were having to stay there as punishment. That's when she found out you were an orphan and decided to adopt you as her daughter and royal heir. I Woke Up a little after that, and… well, it was a little awkward at first, but it worked out in the end." She looked amused. "Though your unAwake self probably had a little too much fun referring to Twilight as her grandma."
Twilight, upon hearing that, facehoofed, while Celestia nickered with amusement. "I remember the end of that Loop," she commented. "I Woke Up around the time Nyx released Luna and I from our prisons, and I heard Scootaloo calling you her grandmother. I never did find out why, because the Loop ended soon afterward, and I've been wondering about it ever since."
There was a brief pause as she took a drink, so the next pony spoke up.
(Evilhumour)
"There was this one time that Octy and I got married and wanted to have our own kid so after some big magic, Scoots was born," Vinyl smiled fondly.
"I remember that one," the filly in question said, causing Vinyl to start sweating. "It was after you had a midlife crisis and turned yourself mentally back into a teenager. Momma Octavia was not happy about that one!"
Vinyl simply faceplanted into the table before realizing that doing so with a horn was a bad idea.
(Masterweaver; edits by Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Angel grinned.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Yes, I remember that loop too. But you are NOT getting out the baby holos," she added firmly. "That cyber-womb just looked hideous."
He frowned at her.
"Of course I kept my coming-of-age axe!"
The other bar patrons universally decided they did not want to know.
Nearby, Chrysalis sipped her drink. "Well, of course there are the plenty of times you are actually a changeling. And the numerous times you're actually a 'princess' changeling and my direct heir. But one of the fondest versions, I think, was when I found you as a foal in the Everfree next to two horribly shredded corpses--yes, tragic, I know, but I got the pleasure of raising you up as a pony."
(Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Discord snapped his fingers. "I remember two times. The first, Berry and I Woke Up early and took you in after we found out your… progenitors were less than decent ponies."
Berry nodded. "Ruby liked having a sister that Loop. And since Rainbow Dash took both of you under her wings later on, she became a part of the family too."
There was a round of "awes" at that, before another voice spoke up. "Ooh! I know one where Mac and I were married, and you were our filly!" Pinkie exclaimed. "My whole family was so happy when they saw our new little foal was a pegasus. They said it was like Great-Grandma Surprise had come back to them. Even if she had different colors."
Mac took a drink from his own tankard. "Eeyup."
Nearby, Zecora raised a mug. "Little filly of orange and cerise, there is a time you were my niece. It was interesting, in more ways than one. And having a family was quite fun." She smiled. "That Loop had about it many interesting things. Like a zebra filly with cute little wings."
Scootaloo blushed at that, before another voice cut in.
"Hey. Fun size."
Scootaloo glanced up. "Yeah, Gilda?"
"There was one Loop where I laid an egg, that hatched into you." Gilda shrugged. "Fluttershy was really surprised - said she'd never seen one of our kind with those colors before."
At that, Scootaloo's eyes narrowed. "Gilda. Please tell me this was not another "Scootaloo's a chicken" Loop, because I'm really tired of those."
"It wasn't."
"Good."
"She raised cockatrices that Loop."
"That…" Scootaloo's voice trailed off. "Cockatrices? Really?"
Gilda nodded. "Really. Swear on pine it's the truth."
"Cool. Now I almost wish I was Awake for that one."
Lyra cleared her throat. "Ahem. There's at least one Loop where Bon-Bon and I adopted you. And there's a couple more I know of where we weren't a part of your life, but you did have a loving family, including somepony you've probably met in passing."
Scootaloo looked interested. "Really? Who?"
"Well… in a couple of Loops I was Awake for, Flash Sentry was your older brother."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash quirked their ears. "Flash?" they asked simultaneously.
Lyra nodded. "He wasn't around too often, what with being part of the royal guard and all, but he always made time for her when he could."
"Huh." Rainbow Dash considered. "Yeah, I can see it."
Nearby, Twilight nodded. "Especially since you have similar Cutie Marks - they're both a lightning bolt on a shield. Of course, yours has a wing on it too, but they're similar enough otherwise..."
Scootaloo thought for a moment. "We do, don't we?"
Twilight nodded. "And his Equestrian version is usually a nice pony. Except for that one Loop where he was… more than a little overbearing and obsessive when it came to his job." She rolled her eyes. "He'd been appointed my personal bodyguard," she explained to the others. "I could barely go two steps without him following me, even in my own house. It's about the only Loop where I didn't like having him around. But most Loops, I can see him being a good big brother for you."
She then looked at Ivory. "So… what about you? You're about the only one who hasn't spoken up."
Ivory looked at her drink. "I had a Dresden Files Loop once, where I Replaced Charity Carpenter." She turned at Scootaloo. "You weren't Awake that Loop, but you Replaced her oldest daughter Molly. And I was just as willing to fight and die for you, even a non-Looping you, as Charity was for Molly in their baseline."
Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "I take it this lady was super-protective of her kids."
Ivory nodded. "Charity's baseline has her as part of the team who invaded a fortress in the Nevernever, and that realm is one of the most dangerous in the multiverse. It's right up there with Percy Jackson's version of Tartarus."
Pretty much everyone in the room shuddered, and Scootaloo's eyes widened. "And you went there to save me? Well… another me?"
"I did," Ivory replied.
Scootaloo looked at her in awe. "Remind me never to underestimate you again."
Ivory smirked. "Well, you know what they say about silk hiding steel."
There was a round of nods and various sounds of assent, then somepony coughed. "Ahem."
Scootaloo looked down at her necklace. "Pansy?"
"Yes." The Intelligent Device made a sound like she was clearing her (nonexistent) throat. "There was a Loop where Clover, Cookie and I, back during the time of the great migration, found you wandering through the wilderness. We rescued you from the Windigos, and our mutual care for this lost, innocent filly became the spark for the Flame of Friendship that drove them away for good and caused the first Hearth's Warming."
There was much cheering at that, and lots of blushing from the pegasus filly. Then she quirked her ears. "Don't know as I can top that, but I do remember a couple of Fused Loops where a non-Equestrian Looper took me in. The first one, it was just us Crusaders and a relatively recent Anchor. Remember Baloo Von Bruinwald, from that Talespin Loop?"
Diamond smirked. "Do I ever. "Higher For Hire" was one of my better business investments, if I do say so myself."
Scootaloo nodded. "That Loop, I was filling in for a local that he treated like a son in his baseline," she explained to those who hadn't been there. "The other one was here in Equestria, and it was just me and two visiting Loopers who were Awake that time. One was a Stealth Anchor. The other one found me on the streets of Manehatten and eventually adopted me. Fortunately, his other kid wasn't here."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who was it?"
"Let me put it this way. You replaced his baseline daughter once, before his Loop came online. And she's the reason he keeps quiet in most Loops, because everyone always pities him for it and he doesn't much like that."
Some of the Loopers present traded glances. Then, Twilight's eyes widened. "Wait… Chief Swan was here, and I missed it?"
"You know he's Looping?"
Twilight nodded. "Leah told me a while back. Also called him "Chief Swanna" for some reason. I've been wanting to meet him since then, but we haven't crossed paths yet."
"Ah. Well, he was a pretty cool dad." Scootaloo smiled at the memories. Then, she felt Twilight pulling her into a hug, and Rainbow Dash and Sunset joined in moments later.
"You see," the lavender mare told her, "No matter what happens in the Loops, if you want family, just come to any of us. We'll be there for you." The others all nodded or gave other signals of assent.
By this point, the pegasus filly's smile was much brighter. "Thanks, everypony. I really, really do appreciate all this."
Then, she grinned mischievously. "So… the least I can do to thank you all is this! Hugs for everypony!"
There was a mixed chorus of cheers and laughter as she proceeded to glomp everyone in the room all at once. Somehow.
Afterward, as Mac passed around another round of drinks, Scootaloo turned to Discord. "You know, you said you had two Loops to talk about, but you only told us about one. What happened the second time?"
Discord winked. "The second time… well, it's best if you see it for yourself."
With that, he conjured an illusion of two ponies. One was recognizable as a young Scootaloo. The other, aside from being an adult mare, looked exactly like her.
Scootaloo, seeing that, facehoofed. "Bucking. Mikasa glitch." She sighed. "I think the game next time is probably going to be, how many of us have parented our own younger selves."
Thirty-one appendages promptly rose, and Scootaloo blinked. "Really?"
"It happens a lot more often than you'd think," Sleipnir's voice sounded from directly behind her. "And Epona usually thinks it's adorable."
Scootaloo about shot out of her seat, her eyes wide. A chuckle could be heard. "Sorry for startling you," the Admin's voice said. "I'm kind of busy at the moment. But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and just thought I'd put my two bits in. See you all later!"
With that, the projector he'd been using shut off and vanished, leaving a room full of wide-eyed Equestrians. Finally, Twilight shook it off, and turned to the rest. "So. I know I've Woken Up in Mom's place. How did all of you wind up parenting your own younger selves? And no, Luna, you raising Nyx doesn't count. Or vice versa."
Luna pouted, much to everyone's amusement.
178.12 (Masterweaver)
Dark Clouds gave the assembled... well, squad would be the best word, a sardonic look. "Are you actually trying to go through with this farce?"
They all nodded in unison.
"And just how, exactly, do you think you can help me? I doubt any of you have any comprehension of how I think."
"I know what it's like to have loved and lost," Derpy pointed out. "I know what it's like to have a husband--and yes, sometimes a wife--who I love and adore, only to lose them forever. Dinky's father is in constant limbo, after all. And because of my Dreaming, I know what it's like to look into my little girl's face, see her hatred for me, and know I deserve it. I know how that can tear a person up inside... I've spent so much time staring at myself in the mirror after all I remember having done to my own blood, to my own family." She stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "But I don't... I don't let that darkness weigh me down. I don't let what I did, what I remember, make me fall further into destruction. I don't forget it, I don't ignore it, but I learn from it. I choose to become better... and you can too."
"As I understand it, your daughter isn't looping. So you do, in fact, have that luxury."
"You think you're the only one that had a disconnect when you started looping?" Silver Spoon snorted. "I told my best friend we didn't know each other. And after that, well..." She waved a starry paw at her squirrel tail. "It took me a while to figure out who Silver Spoon is. Who I am. I look at my baseline self, and I'm ashamed of how she acted--ashamed that I was ever anything like that. But that doesn't mean I let it define me. I moved forward. I chose to become something better than what I was. I reconnected with my looping friends, the ones that would have liked me and the ones who wouldn't, and I forged a new family with them. And I know I'm not the only one like that--not the only one who started out doing bad things to good people and ended up joining them and becoming friends. Not even counting the loops, that's pretty common.”
"You were a schoolyard bully," Dark Clouds pointed out flatly. "I was the leader of a military installation."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "You know, the changeling swarm is not a happy-go-lucky place. Usually, I either wake up with tens of thousands of starving children or as the ruler of a bigoted army, and it's not unusual for both to happen at the same time. And that's not even factoring in when there are politics involved--I've had to put down countless power-hungry sisters, mothers, and daughters for the good of my people, and often I can't rely on my out of loop abilities to do it. Horrible actions in favor of a better future? Committing dark acts to prevent atrocities? Just another day in the life of the Changeling Queen. Everything you do baseline, and I mean everything, I've had to pull at least three loops before I even got out to start talking to other Equestrian loopers." She sat down. "So none of this 'eviler than thou' crap, I know exactly what making evil decisions for good reasons is like."
The stallion turned his shining glasses to the unimpressed black neomare. "And I suppose the fact they feed on love doesn't affect your choices at all."
"I believe you're missing the point," Fluttershy interjected. "Deciding what you do is evil--that what you are is a monster--is not a mentally healthy choice. We're a sanctuary loop, and no matter what you think, that means we care about other loopers. You tried to deliberately burn your bridges with Shinji--don't even act surprised, mister, I was there--but the fact is you and him have a connection, and you can't ignore that. Maybe you can't be his father. Maybe you shouldn't try. But at the very least you can be a friend. I don't doubt it will take eons for him to forgive you, and that's all on him. That doesn't mean you can't try to atone though. In the long run, you have to do this, for him and yourself. You have to change from being a cold, calculating monster to being a cold, calculating companion. And the only way to change is to stop letting the past define you. The only way to change is to forgive yourself."
"...are you trying to make up for your failure with that Naoki person I hear about?"
"Gendo, you suck," Fluttershy deadpanned. "Now shut up and get on the therapy couch."
Chrysalis stood in shock, but Silver Spoon held out a paw to stop her. Derpy just rolled her eyes.
The stallion, after a moment, rose a thick eyebrow over his shining glasses. one corner of his mouth twitched, not quite turning upward. "....hmmm."
That was about as close as he ever got to actually laughing.
178.13 (Evilhumour, BIOS-Pherecydes)
"So...you are just a musician this loop?" Twilight asked Lyra, currently an unicorn.
"Yup," Lyra answered, bobbing her head as she tuned her lyre. "I can't exactly remember why but I know that I have zero desire to go out exploring for hu-OH!" Lyra beamed as her magic carried a framed sheet of paper over. "Loop memories just kicked in!"
Twilight looked at the paper and read it at once. Then twice. Then a third time. She then facehoofed, and gave a look at her friend.
"How, Lyra Heartstrings," Twilight made sure she said the whole name to show how annoyed she was right now. "Did you get a restraining order from an entire species?!"
"Well..." Lyra stopped from what she was doing and got a faraway look in her eyes. "Let's just say that the U.N doesn't appreciate having a hundred Mirror Pool clones interrupting one of their meetings. On live television."
178.14 (Vinylshadow)
"I'm sorry," Pony replied to a sulking Sweet Roll.
"I can't believe you did that."
"It was an honest mistake!"
"I am a four-foot tall cinnamon bun, Pony," Sweet Roll replied dryly.
"Not every day you see someone try to eat themselves," Human replied, peeking over her newspaper.
"Or dunk them in somepony's bucket of coffee," Seapony piped up from inside her bucket of coffee.
"What'd I miss?" Thief replied, walking up with a tray of cinnamon buns.
The others gave her a look before Human cracked up with laughter and Seapony sunk beneath her coffee in a cloud of bubbles.
Pony and Sweet Roll exchanged glances before shrugging.
"Just the usual," Sweet Roll replied, devouring a bun with relish.
Pony arched an eyebrow at her choice of garnish and shook her head.
"This never gets old," she said fondly. "Dunno what I'd do without you lot."
"Conquer Equestria and set up the Lyracorn Empire," Thief replied, which sent Human into a fresh bout of laughter and Pony's ears went red.
"One time!"
178.15 (Vinylshadow)
"Pinkie?"
"Yes, Sweet Roll?"
"Why is there a protractor in the oven?"
"Well it said to bake the bread at 120 degrees-"
Sweet Roll banged her head on the counter with a groan.
"Such a crumby job, but I knead the dough," she grumbled while Pinkie giggled.
178.16 (Masterweaver)
"Oy!"
Applejack looked up just in time to catch the bottle that Berry Punch tossed. "Uh... Hey there, Berry. What're ya doin' out here?"
"You and I need to talk. The kind of talk where you probably need to get drunk."
The farm mare snorted. "Can't it wait till Ah come to tha bar?"
"Well, since it's Mac we need to talk about, I don't think so." Berry sat down and leaned against an apple tree, patting the ground next to her.
Applejack winced. "Is... this about the, uh... the dresses?"
"He likes dressing up. He doesn't like making you uncomfortable." Berry sighed. "Look, AJ, the guy has... he's the kind of pony that ignores his own problems by helping others. If he feels wrong doing something he likes--"
"Ah'm trying, alright?" Applejack snapped. "Ah'm tryin' ta be supportive and all, it's just...."
She looked at the bottle in her hoof for a moment.
Then she trotted up to the tree, sagging down next to Berry as she popped the cork. "Okay. Look. Stereotypes exist, no point in denyin' it. And Ah ain't talkin' about 'drag queen' stereotypes, before ya go off on me. Ah mean..."
She took a swig of the bottle. "Whew, this is strong stuff."
"I thought this might be a whiskey conversation."
"Huh. Okay. So... used ta be, that... when ya said 'unicorn,' ya thought 'scholar,' right? But nowadays when ya say 'scholar' ya think 'unicorn.' Same with pegasus and warrior, same with earth pony and farmer. There's this... abstract cultural ideal for each tribe, this concept of the Unicorn, the Pegasus, the Earth Pony." Applejack pushed herself up against the tree. "Now, growin' up, Ah... Ah always saw Mac as bein' that abstract. He was big and strong and... Ah don't wanna say tough, cause that implies he got into fights... sturdy's a good word."
"And he was a farmer?"
"Darn tootin'. A very good farmer, at that. And he loved his family, worked hard ta make sure his granny was taken care of, always had time fer his two lil' sisters...." The orange mare made a vague, all encompassing gesture. "And he didn't waste words. Ah mean, besides Eeyup and Eenope, he never said anythin' unless he had some deep words of wisdom. And... well. Whenever Ah was confused, whenever Ah didn't know what it would mean ta be an earth pony or just wanted ta figger right from wrong... he was mah model fer that. I'd look ta him for direction, ya know?"
Berry nodded. "I remember having loops where I held Cheerilee in high regard. And to be honest I still do."
"Yeah, but you see, it's kinda different. Cheerilee is still... Cheerilee. But... okay, when Ah started loopin', Twilight had already figgered how to avoid the Smarty-Pants thing, so it took me a bit afor' Ah realized that was baseline. And ya know, Ah found that a mite strange, but Ah pegged it down ta either him being easily magically susceptible or, ya know, just soft-hearted. And there was that one time that Twi put the Want-it-Need-it on Nightmare Moon, and... well, he just up and jumped her, so Ah kinda figgered that he really was magically susceptible. Or had a crush on Luna." Applejack took another swig of whiskey. "You know, the loops pair him off a lot. Maybe less than Ah'm thinkin', but... anyway, so Ah thought Ah had a good grasp on things and then one day, he walks up and says he's been secretly loopin' for four loops."
"Oh. Yeah, I heard about that..."
"It stung, ya know? Right fierce. This was mah brother, and he lied ta mah face. Took me a while to get over that, but Ah did get over it. Thought Ah understood why he did that. And when he opened tha bar, well, Ah just thought he was extendin' his wise ways ta make him more approachable. Cause, ya know, apple cider, in vino veritas, it just made sense." She cricked her neck. "But then the expansions started."
The purple mare gave her a confused look. "You... don't like the expansions?"
"No, Ah'm fine with them, it's just... all of the sudden, Mac's part of the Ponytones. Silent ol' Big Macintosh, singin' up there with Rarity. Baseline, even. Ah had ta do a double-take, first time Ah saw that. And then later, durin' our trip with Pinkie, she and him start discussin' philosophy. Now, Ah always figgered Mac was wise, don't get me wrong, but---Ah kinda thought he was an earthy-sort of wise, ya know? Not all this fancy high-falutin' Haycartes or Socrates stuff. And then there was that shared dream with the Tantabus--he was walkin' around with a horn! A horn! And then he goes all Sailor Moon--!"
"Jupiter."
"Whatever! Mah point is, this baseline Mac was just... being less and less like Ah remembered him. But Ah sorta clung to this idea, right, that maybe the loopin' Mac, mah Macintosh, was still the stoic, kindhearted wise pony Ah remembered. And then one day, he starts wearin' dresses--which he did afor' the Orchid Blossom thing, ya know..."
Applejack sighed. "It's just... Ah... Did Ah ever know mah brother? Like, really know him? Ah look at him now, and Ah feel like he's a stranger. And Ah know that ain't right, and Ah know that Ah can't just categorize ponies, and Ah know that Ah should be supportive and Ah'm tryin', Ah really am. It just feels like... like this core part of how Ah see the world is different, somehow."
Berry Punch nodded slowly. "You know... I kind of get what you're saying. You know how I'm... kinda sorta a regular alcoholic preAwake? Sometimes, that's because of Cheerilee."
The farm mare turned, raising an unbelieving eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know, it seems crazy, but... there's this period in her life where she's a disco fiend, you know? Partying down with the best of them, going to some of the first raves... and in these loops, I followed my big sister's example and went out to be this wild party mare. And then Cheerilee suddenly takes up teaching. And my pre-awake self, in these loops, doesn't get it. Sometimes she feels betrayed, even. She thinks the parties are the best thing and that her big sis, well, her big sis just isn't her big sis anymore." Berry sighed. "It can hurt, Waking up and remembering that. Especially when that generally leads to Drunken-Fling Ruby...."
"But... Cheerilee and you... well, ya seem kinda close nowadays."
"Well, yeah. I guess I just... It's a little bit easier, since that break is usually preAwake, but I don't focus on what we used to have. I try to connect to Cheerilee like she is now. I think that might be what's holding you back, actually," she offered. "You're remembering this Macintosh that you built up since you were a little filly, and now that he isn't that pony you're... having some sort of cognitive dissonance. Just... stop thinking about the past, and try talking to him now, as he is now. Dresses and all. You think you can do that?"
Applejack shrugged. "Ah... Ah think Ah can try."
178.17 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)
Twilight blinked as she Awoke, sat up, and glanced around the room.
Hmm. Human again... and in bed... must be early morning. I think I feel wings on my back and a horn on my head too. Don't have this level of pony-anthro form very often.
Just then, she became very aware of a set of arms wrapped around her, and looked to her left, blinking at the sight of the small blonde-haired, gray-skinned girl holding onto her. A set of small, filly-sized wings were visible on the child's back.
"Mama," the young Derpy Hooves murmured as she snuggled up closer to Twilight.
Looking down at her bedmate, Twilight smiled. Ah, one of these Loops again. Stroking her temporary daughter's hair, she laid back down and closed her eyes. Rest easy, my friend. I'm here for you.
178.18 (Evilhumour, Anon e Mouse Jr. )
Twilight was sitting in her bed, reading the newest book that Rainbow Dash had written, when there was a horrid crash from down below with shouting and strange cries.
Teleporting downstairs, she was able to see a dustfield of retreating pranksters that had just tossed a blindfolded and very disorientated Steven Magnet into her library.
With a hoof to her face, Twilight began to help her friend only to be clotheslined by someone tossing in Discord.
Then Celestia came through the wall with Luna holding onto her back for dear life.
Shaking herself off, Celestia blinked. "Twilight?"
"Princess!" Twilight rushed up to her. "Er, Princesses. Are you okay?"
"I am confused, but unhurt. And I seem to have my sister hugging me. Not that I mind." Celestia blushed.
"Indeed," Luna told her as she managed to pry herself loose. "I feel the same way. But as much as I like being close to you again, I do not appreciate being stolen out of my own bed and tossed somewhere without my permission! How they even did it is beyond me."
A groan could be heard from behind them. "Oh, don't mind me," Discord grumbled. "I'm just the one who was having fun with his daughter when he was suddenly snatched up and thrown through a wall!"
"Sorry, Discord," Twilight apologized. "I really have no idea who or what is-"
And then she was cut off when a screaming Silver Spoon, currently in sea serpent form, collided with her.
Growling, the silver polymorph looked back through the wall. "Uncle Steven and I are going to get that guy!" She gestured to the window, where an overweight colt with a red beanie and a red puffball on top was standing. He had a nasty look on his face.
"Ha! Suckers!" he yelled.
Discord narrowed his eyes, then snapped his fingers.
"What the-" was all the colt managed to get out before he was swarmed by miniature Flutterbats, who proceeded to drag him away screaming.
Looking at the chaos, Twilight sighed. "It's going to be one of those Loops, isn't it?"
178.19 (Kris Overstreet)
"I surrender! I surrender!"
Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped. In so many repeats and variants of this moment that she couldn't keep track of how many times she'd given up keeping track, she couldn't remember Nightmare Moon folding at this precise moment... well, not more than four or five times before, anyway.
"I'll release my sister!" the demon pony screeched. "I'll go quietly to my dungeon! I'll go quietly into exile! I'll go quietly into the dungeon in wherever you send me in exile! But please don't hit me with the Elephants of Harmony again! Once was enough!"
Behind Twilight and her friends the six stone elephants which, until moments ago, had been nothing but statues shifted on their feet. One snorted through its trunk, which produced quite a lot of snort.
"But aren't you even curious about how we awakened them?" Twilight asked. "Applejack here embodies Honesty-"
"Don't care," Nightmare Moon said, "still surrendering."
"Fluttershy is Kindness-"
"Doesn't matter, I give up."
"Rarity is Generosity-"
"King's X, olly olly oxen free!"
"Pinkie Pie is Destroyers-"
"Please no make with the thing of- wait, what?" Nightmare Moon eased out of her terrified cringe. "I don't remember that one."
"Well..." Twilight hadn't believed it when she first worked it out, but she wasn't going to admit that to Nightmare Moon. "By using her multiple party cannons to destroy the zombie trees who were advancing on us, she demonstrated the value of superior firepower. That makes her the embodiment of the Elephant of Destroyers."
"Because reasons," said the smallest of the six formerly stone elephants, touching her trunk in salute to her sailor's cap. "Got a problem?"
Nightmare Moon cringed back behind her forelegs, shaking her head in emphatic, terrified negation.
178.20 (Kris Overstreet)
Applejack looked around herself at the desolate, dusty surface of Mars.
Well, she thought, I've terraformed monoclimate planets into forest worlds. I've taken trees from seedling to old-growth-forest overnight. I've made apple trees produce oranges and vice versa. But not pears, because buck pears. I have planted million-year-old seeds and raised the resulting plants to maturity, because I am Applejack. I am the supreme farmpony in the Loops. Give me dirt and water and a plant and I will make it grow.
She looked around at the wrecked, half-buried equipment through the visor of her space suit. She stamped a suited hoof on the ground, feeling nothing except the reinforced soles of her boots. She contemplated the air around her, one-one-thousandth the density of a normal Earth-type atmosphere and slowly dwindling under the solar wind. She kicked up a bit of dust, half silicon, half rust, and scarcely a bit of carbon- and zero nitrogen- in the lot.
On the other hoof, she admitted, this is definitely a bit of a challenge…
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I'm afraid I don't recognize the reference in 178.9. Little help?
7435665 Yeah, I don't get it either. Research suggests it might be Skullgirls, I dunno.
7435665
Skullgirls.
If I had to take a guess (who the anchor is), Filia or Big Band. Miss Contiello might be an option as well, considering how long she has been in the story.
At least there there's something, even if it is annoying, here, there's nothing, just endless blue sky, and each other.
Right here.
You should have known better.
That's, unfortunate.
Trust me Azula, she's FAR worse than Ty Lee could ever be. At least Ty Lee obeys physics. BASELINE unAwake Pinkie Pie has made physics her bitch.
You're not wrong.
That is a freaking cool name.
Kylo? He's not a Sith, he's nowhere near the level of the Sith. Surprised Anakin's not here, but, to be fair, while the three of them don't mind or are proud of being Sith to an extent, Anakin is really not.
You're not wrong.
Seeing as I don't even know where you're from, no clue.
... No comment.
This is so sweet!
Ooh! I remember that fic, TONS of fun.
I do!
Hey, Zecora, been a while since we last saw you.
Huh, worse ponies to have I guess.
Wow, she ain't having any of his shit.
Goddammit Nappa.
You realize you just annoyed at least 2 casual reality warpers, right?
It took me a while to get it, but when I did I was very amused. It makes sense that those two would be used to oddities. And I've only seen Peacock's campaign.
That last loop is The Martian?
Approved.
For a second I thought she had awakened as Trump, given the running joke about his hand size, but she would probably crash that loop immediately.
I don't get the red beanie-with-red-puffball colt.
7438235
Also, an old Soviet space program meme, of apple trees blooming on Mars.
178.19
Elephants of Harmony? Wasn't there a reaction video featuring SWAG.MOV that mentioned something like that?
178.9: So Peacock and Marie are in a relationship? I dig it, Peacock is my favorite.
178.10: Man, it's so rare to see anything referencing Toriko that I love it everytime it happens.
7435881 from what I recall, it's Annie, and she's very much a stealth anchor. Possibly because she's been warned of the potential for Madoka Cascade
7451194 It was SHED.MOV, and Spike said "Helliments of Armory", if I remember correctly.
7435798 I too have no clue
raised
reminds me of this story:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/335425/the-wedding-aftermath
8518088
As the one who wrote that particular paragraph of that Loop, I can confirm it was actually inspired by the main character repeatedly referring to Twilight as "Purple Smart" in a fic called "I Am The Night(mare)! And so is Luna?". (The other names I did were just to fit with the theme.)
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
Who is Velocious meant to be, and what hatchling is she talking about?
Fluttershy dealing with Gendo made me chuckle.
8772650
Darth Velocius - a Force-sensitive Velociraptor, s/he originated from a Loop where Bariss Offee had Looped in on Isla Sorna/Site B and discovered the local dinosaurs were Force-sensitive, and took it upon herself to train them. When she was killed by the Spinosaurus, one of her students fell to the Dark Side… and somehow, began Looping.
And I'm pretty sure "that hatchling from the old galaxy's new expansion" is Kylo Ren from the sequel trilogy.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
7440967
I'm pretty sure it's Eric Cartman from South Park.
8839986
Nope. A pony version of Sperg (who is NOT Looping) from "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy", inspired by his appearance in the episode "Billy and Mandy Save Christmas".
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
178.20
Kris Overstreet might just have called the Apple-Pear feud without realizing it!
Original or Abridged?
9384321
If the story is the one I’m thinking of, then I believe it was Abridged.
Big mac reminds me of rocky horror picture show but I've seen it
somehow this made me think of the "heartstrings" comic on Deviantart, where Bonbon is the only earth pony in a family of unicorns...and her SISTER shows up!
https://www.deviantart.com/tritebristle/art/Heartstrings-ch6-p03-Teenage-Horse-Problems-529608406
10560726
Hmm, haven't seen that version... but as the person who wrote this particular scene, I admit it was inspired by the late MythrilMoth's fic Scootaloo's Sunrise Surprise.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
oh, the last one reminded me of "the Maretian", an amusing crossover story where 5 equestrians accidently wind up on Mars WITH Mark Watney:
-Fireball, a dragon
-Dragonfly, a Changeling
-Cherry Berry
-Spitfire
-Starlight Glimmer
Yep definitely in a fanfic (The Great Alicorn Hunt) by RHJunior, not sure if it is from another one.
If it is can someone point me to it ?
11010645
Mix of both, actually.
The plot comes from the fanfic A Great and Powerful Heart, which got co-opted for Trixie's history in The Great Alicorn Hunt and for the Loops that Trixie describes here. (Though for reasons, Jasper always gets replaced with another character in this setting.)
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
11010887
Thank you.
i cant wait for when this fic covers That episode