• Published 19th Apr 2013
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MLP Time Loops - Saphroneth



Twilight Sparkle has been here before. In fact, she's been here so often she's thoroughly bored. Time Loop stories for Equestria.

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MLP Loops 188

188.1 (Detective Ethan Redfield)


(Pony Fortress)

It started off simple enough. Sunset awoke inside a castle, called up her memories, and went about her business as retainer to Princess Platinum. It wasn't a common loop by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, she would be hard pressed to remember the last time she had replaced Clover the Clever. Since it was such a rare occurrence, she decided to go along with it, see where it led.

The first inkling that something was wrong was when Princess Platinum bounded into her room, filly sized. "Sunset The Bright, come, come! I'm gonna get my cutie mark for sure this time!"

Indeed, Princess Platinum lacked a cutie mark. Sunset smiled and followed after her charge. "What are you gonna attempt this time?"

Princess Platinum gave a big grin, "I'm gonna get my lava swimming cutie mark!"

Sunset nodded for several seconds as she walked out the castle doors. Only for it to hit her a moment later as Princess Platinum jumped off the drawbridge into the lava filled moat, "Wait, what?!"

Her magic managed to catch the Princess an inch from the lava. Platinum gave a sad, "Awww...why did you stop me?"


It was late afternoon as Sunset finally got back from "adventuring" with Princess Platinum. Something was very wrong with this loop. After the attempt to swim in lava, Platinum immediately picked herself back up ran back to the castle, grabbed a sword, and charged out the main gate, declaring that her cutie mark will be troll slaying. Five seconds after that, Platinum flew through the castle window and landed next to Sunset, probably from being punted by the trolls outside the castle. Her enthusiasm was not dampened, as she shouted that she'd be the greatest Cider Brewer in the world.

Her apple cider poisoned half the fortress. Which led to another interesting quirk about this world. When Sunset tried accessing her supply of remedies, she found she couldn't access her subspace pocket. Further, her out of loop abilities proved out of reach. Thankfully, she knew a number of cure spells, which she exhausted healing all the poisoned ponies...only for the ponies, in order to drown out the horrid memory of their poisoning, drank themselves stupid...on Platinum's cider. Another round of spells, and Sunset realized Platinum was gone.

She turned over most of the castle, only to find her underground, digging away alongside the other pony miners. Sunset suggested she try something less dangerous and more akin to her baseline talent...only for Platinum to blow her off. Her next pick strike went into ceiling, only for something orange to start leaking out.

Sunset looked up, and realized Platinum was mining straight up into the lava moat outside. She tried sounding the alarm, only for the vast majority to stay behind as the room started filling with lava. It was Sunset's quick thinking that saved the ponies as she shouted there was free apple cider above. The ponies dropped their pickaxes, cheered, and ran to the exit. The poor looper had to form a shield around the lava, since some of the ponies tried running through the lava to get above ground even quicker.

And once again once everything was sorted out (and the mine shut down), Platinum was nowhere to be seen. Another round of searching found Platinum in a pet store, working the counter trying to sell a cat. The pony buying the cat seemed pleased, and all was right in the world. Probably the only cutie mark mission that didn't end badly that day.

Platinum, however, gave up quickly after selling out another pair of cats since no mark was appearing on her flank. She tried fortress building. Lava started leaking out of every crack hole of the new tower she built...on three different levels well above the magma moat.

It was as Sunset sealed off the tower that she started to wonder why they even had a lava moat to begin with. After this, Platinum grew tired and decided now was the time to take a nap. Sunset felt she too needed a nap after all that and lay on her bed to do just that.

Five minutes later, the door shook on its hinges as an unfamiliar unicorn beat on the door. After the door opened, a stallion messenger stepped in, shouting about how they needed Sunset the Bright immediately to greet the Griffon Army standing just outside their gates.


Sunset was led to a walkway leading over the lava moat, where stood a squadron of Griffons flanking a single griffon decked out in a gem covered robe that would make Rarity's gaudiest outfit during the inspiration manifestation incident look subdued by comparison. Beyond the moat stood several battalions of griffons completely decked out in armor. She gave a short bow. "We greet the delegation from the Griffon Kingdom with harmony. Long may they live under the light of the sun."

Several ponies gave her a confused expression, before Sunset remembered this was not day court in Canterlot. She facehooved at her slip up due to fatigue and muttered, "Never mind. What business brings the Griffon Emperor from Griffonstone to our fair castle?"

The Griffon Emperor puffed out his chest imperiously while his armor bearer stepped forward and shouted, "In the name of Silver Quill the second, emperor of the western mountains, slayer of the tenth goblin siege–"

The titles continued for five minutes. "–And subduer of the kitten menace, our glorious leader has come to conquer the Equis lands."

"You have got to be kidding me."

The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. Within an instant, her diplomatic face returned, "Emperor Silver Quill, perhaps we could discuss this calmly and work things out without fighting or endangering your griffons and the Unicorns? Over a drink maybe?"

Silver's beak turned up in cheer, but the armor bearer shook his head. "The Great Silver Quill will not be bribed so easily."

The Emperor lowered his head sadly, and his underling continued continued, "No, he cannot be swayed by any amount of alcohol, or your delicious Apple Cider."

Silver's beak started dripping and his claws shaking. Yet still the griffon pushed on, "Yes, that famous drink that can only be produced correctly by pony kind, the delicious Nectar of Faust herself...neigh, your incitements of free drinks have no effect-*URG*!"

Silver had clasped his claws on the armor bearer's beak and shouted, "Griffons! This pony has offered us free Cider! Let us drink our fill!"

As one, the griffons flew over the wall and congealed on the brewery.


Several hours and a few mugs of hard cider later, Sunset trudged through the doorway, relieved that the griffons were willing to make peace with a couple wagons full of the ponies favorite drinks. The emperor even declared Sunset a friend of the Griffon Empire, clasping a necklace with a shiny rock around her neck. She crawled into bed, and let her mind drift off...

"Sunset the Bright! There are reports of hundreds of cats overrunning the city!"

Sunset looked up and gave a glare, "This can wait until morning!"

The messenger pulled back the curtains, revealing the sun shining through, alongside a cat licking his coat, "It is morning!"

Sunset groaned and pulled herself out of bed.


The two walked through the city. By now, Sunset's mane was unkempt, her coat unbrushed and an eye was twitching. Surrounding them were a ton of cats jumping all over the place, climbing into boxes and running away with stolen food in their mouths. She spoke to the messenger in a low tone, "You mean to tell me that, in this loop, cats can birth a litter of kittens every thirty minutes, who then grow up in another thirty minutes and can immediately start reproducing!"

The messenger looked confused, "Ah...I'm afraid I don't know what this "Loop" is, but yes. It's a delicate balance keeping them as pets, best not to sell them in pairs."

"And who sold the pair of cats again?"

The messenger looked through his book, "Ah, here we go. It was young Princess Platinum just yesterday."

Sunset blinked, then facehooved. "Great. And you couldn't just teleport them to the forest?"

"While you were dealing with the Griffon Crisis, Platinum tried to get her cat teleporting cutie mark...only to get sending and receiving locations mixed up. It just brought in more cats."

Silence reigned for a second before Sunset said softly, "Of course...of...barking...course."


It took a large portion of the day to get rid of the cats. Sunset crawled through the doorway for her bed. Sleep was the only thing on her mind. She closed her eyes and sighed. A second later, she opened them and said, "What is it this time."

The messenger looked sheepish, "Well, the Griffons returned to our doorstep again."


The Griffon Emperor puffed out his chest imperiously while his armor bearer stepped forward and shouted, "In the name of Silver Quill the second, emperor of the western mountains, slayer of the tenth goblin siege-"

*Snore*

The griffons blinked in surprise, only for something to jab Sunset's side. She snorted and opened her eyes, "I'm cake! I mean, awake."

The armor bearer looked put out, only for the Griffon Emperor to tap him on the shoulder and spin his finger. Clearing his throat, "Yada yada...we're here to conquer your kingdom for the Griffon Empire."

Sunset's eyes were now twitching full force and a manic expression was starting to form. She started grinding her teeth as she asked, "Are you...bucking...serious?"


The griffons stayed in Platinum's Kingdom for the rest of the night, partying, causing all sorts of racket, making a mess. The looper spent the majority of the night putting out fires (in some cases, literally) caused by the carousing griffons. Shortly before dawn, they left with quite a few carts of apple cider. This only caused more work for her as the ruling class expressed their displeasure at parting with their favored drinks. There were even talks of a shortage in the supply.

One of the more vocal members were even now serenading Sunset with a monotone that put Sunset to sleep that was broken up by his voice cracking every other second, locking the poor looper into a waking sleeping cycle every other second.

The cycle finally broke as a familiar messenger burst through the doorway and shouted, "Sunset the Bright! Come quick! A problem has occurred with the Raising of the Sun Ceremony!"


Every Unicorn mage's horn was glowing. Sweat fell down several of their faces, and the few that didn't had only just arrived to give their assistance. Sunset gave a half-lidded expression at the messenger, who gulped in concern. The rumblings of a growl edged its way into Sunset's voice, "The sun...you all broke...the sun!"

Backing up, the messenger replied, "It wasn't the mages, Miss Steward, it was Princess Platinum. She wanted to see if she could get her cutie mark in–"

Sunset facehooved, "Never mind."

With that, she turned and started walking away, only for the messenger to panic. "Miss Steward! We cannot leave the sun to linger below the horizon! Many Unicorns will panic–"

Sunset pulled the messenger around with her magic and had him hover in front of her as she walked towards her sleeping quarters. She pulled him close and said, "I had less than an hour sleep in the last couple days. This can wait until morning."

The messenger looked at her, then nodded. "One more thing before you take your well deserved rest?"

"What?"

He pointed a hoof to the fortress entrance. "The griffons have returned..."

Throughout what would one day be Equestria, the different tribes swore they heard a twig snapping. Sunset's eyes widened, then one of them started twitching. She gave a manic grin as she set the messenger down and made for fortress' entrance.


"In the name of Silver Quill the second–”

Suddenly, the armor bearer was encompassed by a orange glow, then was sent flying across the sky in the general direction of the Griffon Empire. Sunset glared at the Emperor, her voice flat with barely repressed anger, "What will it take for you to leave?"

Silver Quill gave a smart look. "I challenge you to single combat. If I win, the Unicorns will bow themselves to the Empire and serve us for all time...Serve us your Cider, that is." Sunset strained to hear that last bit, but suddenly found herself unable to care. As the one being challenged, Sunset was allowed the chose the method of combat, which she chose the sword.

The griffon took a practice swing and smirked, "You chose poorly, my dear. For I am a grand champion duelist, and strongest Griffon in the kingdom. I am the holder of the title-"

With a running swing, Sunset used the flat of the blade, slamming the Griffon in the midsection and sending him along the same trajectory as the armor bearer. Sunset took several swings and sheathed her blade. Her eyes glanced at the Griffon Army and shouted, "Anyone else?"

The Griffons as one shook their heads in the negative. Moments later, the army was flying away after their long gone leader.


Sunset set herself down on her bed and closed her eyes. She had just started to drift off when the sound of shouting outside her window woke her up again. She jumped to the window and looked out, to see hundreds of ponies of all races there, shouting, begging for her to save them from the scary darkness. With a scream of frustration, she activated her magic, focused on the sun with everything in her, and started pulling in a frenzy. Minutes passed, when suddenly like a pop, the Sun bounced above the horizon and white light burst from her quarters. Within a minute, it faded. Sunset was glaring at the gathered ponies, who had for some reason fallen silent. She shouted, "Don't wake me for the next 24 hours. Good Night!"

With finality, she slammed her window closed as the ponies dispersed.


*24 Hours Later*

Sunset awoke and yawned. For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt good. In fact, she felt downright amazing. She pulled herself out from under the covers and stretched her entire body. She took a few moments to perform some simple exercise to get the blood flowing. She bounded out of her quarters and nodded at ponies as she walked by. They gave her a deep bow, causing her to be confused for a moment. Then her memories of the previous day sunk her mood like a battleship. Her head shook as she smiled. I'll make it up to them all right away, She thought to herself.

She strolled into the nobility's Common House, where many of the upper class gathered. The messenger from before stepped forward and gave a prostrating bow. Sunset tapped him on the chin and smiled. "Stand up. I'm sorry for how I treated you and all the ponies, yesterday. What can I do to make it up to you?"

The messenger smiled, "It's alright, Princess. No one will hold it against you, since it is your Faust given right to yell at your subjects like that."

Something about that sentence was completely wrong. She quirked her eyebrows at the pony. "Uh, I'm not the Princess...Platinum is."

Platinum trotted into the room and looked at her mentor. "I just said I was princess, and they gave me the title, Sunset the Bright. But you, you have wings and everything! You're far more fit to be princess than me!"

Sunset blinked as the words settled over her. A second passed, then her eyes widened in horror. She looked to her sides, and sure enough there were wings there where there hadn't been before.

A minute of heavy breathing passed, followed by a scream that could be heard by every pony in Equestria.


"ANOTHER CIDER," Sunset shouted, accidentally slipping into the Canterlot voice before she put a hoof to her mouth. The owner ran over to the tap, poured a glass and set it down in record time. The alicorn gave a sheepish grin. When the Griffon Emperor gave her that shiny necklace, she didn't realize it was a lump of cosmic stone. She lowered her head and rested on the counter.

Sunset took another deep drink when the messenger approached. "Your highness..."

Sunset groaned, but nodded, indicating the pony continue. "You have a visitor."

Silver Quill approached slowly with a small contingent of guards. Sunset leaped up. She magicked the nearest object (a bench by the way) in front of her in anticipation of an attack, only for the Emperor to raise a claw, and the gathered griffons dropped their weapons as one.

The alicorn narrowed her eyes. "To what do I owe this...unexpected...visit, Emperor?"

The armor bearer stepped forward and coughed a couple time, "In the name of Silver Quill the Second–"

"GET ON WITH IT!" Shouted Sunset.

"Get on with it," the messenger responded.

The entire contingent turned to the armor bearer and shouted, "YES, GET ON WITH IT!"

Silver Quill rolled his eyes and flung his talon towards the bar, where the griffons sat down and ordered cider. The Emperor grabbed a mug himself and said, "Don't worry. We're not here to take over your kingdom this time."

He took a swig and continued, "No, I am no longer Emperor Silver Quill. I am now just an ordinary Silver Quill."

Sunset snorted, "Hope your successor won't keep trying to take over the kingdom just to get at our Cider."

She started downing the drink as Silver shrugged. "That's entirely up to you, Empress Shimmer."

With a sputter from the alicorn, Silver found himself covered in Apple Cider. Sunset coughed several times in an attempt to recover. "Are you bucking kidding me?"

Silver Quill snapped his claws as the armor bearer returned. "According to our most ancient laws, should the Emperor be defeated in single combat, the victor would be named Emperor...or Empress in this case."

The messenger coughed, his gaze contemplative. "Well, if you need someone to introduce you, let me try. In the name of Sunset Shimmer the Bright, Princess of the unicorns and soon to be Princess of ponydom, Empress of the Griffons–"

Sunset moaned and dropped her head on the counter as she waited for the speech to end.


After a few weeks of dealing with requests and setting up someone to regent the Griffons, things started settling into a routine, if you would call stepping in every other minute to save a pony or two from wandering through a lava moat, keep Platinum from accidentally destroying either the Griffons or the Pony race through her attempts to get a cutie mark, or Silver Quill's frequent appearances to have a Keg of Cider...or ten, a routine.

It was when she made her way to the roof to raise the moon for the night that things were shaken up once again. Sunset stepped to the door and opened it...in time to see Platinum casting a spell in the direction of the moon. On her neck hung a familiar lump of cosmic stone. Sunset blinked before stepping forth to stop her...only for the moon to fly into the night sky and light to explode from Platinum.

She held up a hoof to ward off the light, only for it to fade a moment later. Sunset blinked several times to allow her eyes to adjust and once they did...her eyes started twitching. Platinum stood there with an emerald crescent moon on her flank and a pair of wings adorning her back.

Platinum looked to her back, gave her wings a flutter and shouted, "Princess Sunset, I did it! I raised the moon. And now I'm a princess like you!"

She opened her mouth and closed it several times in rapid succession. After a moment, she squeaked out, "How...?"

Platinum beamed at the older Alicorn, "When I was trying to get my mark in lava engineering, a spirit naming himself D. Cord suggested I try raising the moon and gave me this! Said something about turning the moon's core to platinum or something."

She pointed at the stone. After sinking in, Sunset's eyes widened as she screamed out, "DISCORD!"

A disembodied laugh echoed from nowhere.


(1000 years later)

"And the two princesses ruled the land until this day–"

Twilight blinked as she awoke mid speech. She looked at the book again, only for Princess Sunset Shimmer to appear, her eyes twitching furiously. She pulled off the crown and flung it at the anchor, "Buck this, I'm taking the rest of the loop off."

With that, Sunset teleported away. Twilight blinked several times, confused at what brought that on.


188.2 (Vinylshadow)

Twilight stared forlornly at the smoking crater that used to be Golden Oaks Library.

She was joined by an UnAwake Pinkie who gave her a tight hug.

"I know this might be a bit sudden, Twilight, but I have a gift for you," Pinkie said, taking a few steps away from Twilight.

The lavender-colored alicorn's eyes went wide as Pinkie Pie pulled a fully-grown tree out of her tail and plonked it where Golden Oaks once stood.

"...What." Twilight said blankly.

"Well, a long time ago, I got this weird Pinkie-sense, which told me that I needed to plant an oak seed in my tail and let it grow over the next couple decades. And now I understand why!"

Twilight stared at the exact replica of the library in disbelief.

"I mean, it doesn't have any books or other things, but I'm sure we can replace those easily enough, right?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight remembered she hadn't taken many of her own personal belongings from Canterlot and nodded.

"Right. Um...thank you, Pinkie. Really," Twilight said with an awkward smile. "This means a lot to me."


188.3 (Tangent)

"Okay, from what Twilight said, we know that our unawake selves asked our older sisters and Rainbow Dash for help with our derby carts," Applebloom began as they left the schoolhouse.

"Yeah, and as much as I like her, that's likely to happen again this time since they aren't Awake," Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Well, to be fair, Miss Cheerilee did say to be careful when selecting which adult ponies we want to help us," Sweetie Belle pointed out. "She never said we had to choose our older sisters."

"If we didn't have to ask an older pony to help, I'd say we just make the carts ourselves," Applebloom halfheartedly suggested.

"We could just ask different ponies to help," Sweetie Belle pointed out.

The three Crusaders looked at each other and smiled...


Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash just stood there with their jaws agape, along with most of the rest of the spectators, as they watched the derby carts pull up to the starting line. And who could blame them, with three of the four princesses riding in the carts they helped with.

Princess Cadance rode with Sweetie Belle, who was happily driving a nicely traditional cart very much following the design ethic of the very first derby carts.

Princess Luna rode with Scootaloo in an undeniably creative cart that looked like something out of a dream. Not that it was, of course, as that wouldn't have been within the build restrictions.

And Princess Celestia rode with Applebloom, in a sleek, streamlined cart that just seemed to exude the very concept of speed. She was also grinning like a loon, thoroughly enjoying the fact that one of her little ponies had asked her to participate in something fun like this.


188.4 (Gym Quirk)


"So how's that homebuilt cloaking device project going, Apple Bloom?" asked Scootaloo.

"I... um... hit a small snag a few days back," said the yellow filly with an uneasy smile.

"Oh?"

"When I turned it on for a smoke test, it disappeared."

"Isn't that what's supposed to happen?"

Apple Bloom sighed. "And I can't find the switch to turn it back off."

Scootaloo blinked, then started to chuckle.

"Yeah. I think I may have outsmarted myself," Apple Bloom admitted with a rueful shake of her head. "I went ahead and upgraded the specs to include intangibility–"

"Huh?"

"Ghost Mode."

"Ah. How about cutting the power?"

"I gave it a backup power system."

The pegasus shook her head. "How long?"

"For something that small, at least six months. The best sensors I got show that there's something in the lab using power, but I can't localize it worth beans."


188.5 (Gym Quirk)


"Um, Barry?" asked Superman.

"Yes, Clark?" responded the Flash.

"Does this sort of thing happen to you often?"

"First time for me. Hal once told me that the Skywalkers get hit with something similar every now and then."

"I'm standing right here," muttered the cyan pegasus.

"Sorry. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this," apologized the scarlet speedster.


"Hey, Dick."

"Wally."

"Look. I understand that it's unusual, but I think I'll have to change my living arrangements here at the tower."

"Yeah. I can see that. We should probably wait until Starfire calms down," suggested Robin.

Kid Flash nodded. The Tamaranian princess was fussing over his loop-companion, much to the latter's extreme discomfort.

"So how is this supposed to work? You, Barry, Thawne and Zolomon have to share?" asked Beast Boy.

"Not entirely sure. Barry tells me that he has Rainbow Dash, I've got Scootaloo, and there are hints that Lightning Dust is around for one of the Zooms."

"Don't look at me," protested Raven's replacement. "Do you think the Tree bothers asking us when it wants to do the 'Speed Horse' shtick?" grumbled Twilight Sparkle.


188.6 (DrTempo)

Twilight Awoke in a familiar situation; she was in the era where Discord ruled Equestria, and she was an Alicorn, and had the Elements of Harmony. This meant a Sisters Loop, and if she remembered right...

"Hi, Twilight."

Sunset Shimmer walked over to Twilight, and Twilight could see that, as she expected, Sunset was now an Alicorn. Twilight smiled.

"So, it finally happened, Sunset. You're an Alicorn now."

"Thanks, but...I'm still scared. I was afraid becoming an Alicorn would mean I would go power mad all over again, and now, I find myself in that position."

"How did you become an Alicorn, anyhow?"

"I'd rather had it happen fighting an MLE, myself, but...."

After Sunset explained what happened, Twilight chuckled. Before Sunset could say anything, Twilight said, "Calm down, Sunset. Considering the kind of craziness that version of Equestria seemed to have happen to it, you managing to keep it from being destroyed is worthy of becoming an Alicorn."

Sunset thought about it, and nodded. "You have a point. So, let's get down to business, shall we?" The two Alicorns nodded, and headed off to face Discord...

A few months later

Twilight grinned as the two Alicorns watched as Sombra was slain, and without the Crystal Empire being sealed away this time. Looking at Sunset, she saw her friend frown.

Sunset sighed, and said, "It's only a matter of time now. What happened to Luna in baseline is about to happen to me."

Twilight grinned. "I had a feeling that was going to be the case."

Sunset nodded, and as Twilight cast a spell, she said, "See you in a thousand years."


Sunset opened her eyes to find herself in a place not unlike the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from the Dragon Ball Loop. Sunset noticed a letter, and read it:

Dear Sunset,

I had a feeling you'd become an Alicorn sooner or later, so I prepared a place where you can train during your millennium away. Hopefully, it'll be of use.

See you soon,

Twilight Sparkle

Sunset smiled. "Thanks, Twilight. Very well, time to get to work."


A thousand years later

"...And as Princess Sunset watched the evil King Sombra fall, she could sense that his evil had left a corrupting mark on her. Not wanting to succumb to this evil, she had her sister Twilight seal her away for 1000 years to ensure that the evil would be purged."

As Celestia, the unicorn student of Princess Twilight, finished reading the book, she Awakened.

Celestia smiled ear to ear.

You finally did it, Sunset. I'm proud of you.

As the sun set, Celestia ran to the throne room, and saw every Equestria Looper looking at a white door that appeared.

Twilight smiled, and as Celestia used a Ping, everyone else did the same. Twilight then grinned.

"Before you ask, Celestia, the bit about Sunset being corrupted in the story was just something I came up with. Sunset knew she needed to train on not going power mad."

"Someone mention me?"

Sunset Shimmer walked through the door, and the door disappeared. Twilight ran over and hugged her friend.

"So, how was your thousand year training trip?"

"Not as bad as I thought, actually." Looking around, Sunset asked, "Is everyone here Awake?" A chorus of Pings answered that question, and Sunset smiled.

"I'm glad you could all be here. Well, here's how my training trip went..." Everyone sat down as Sunset began her story.


The first thing I did was focusing on ensuring that the power that comes with being an Alicorn wouldn't drive me insane, as I feared for a long time.

It barely took me a month to do so.

I soon realized that all I've experienced had been more than enough to ensure I was able to handle the power. I was scared for nothing, it seems.

But, I still had a millennium before I could return, so I decided to train my butt off.

First, I decided to figure out how much my power was multiplied compared to my normal form. I know it tends to differ, but I figured that it was likely a 10x multiplier most of the time, and the next few decades proved that. I also was able to transform into an Alicorn style form while in human form as well.

I then spent the next hundred years improving my magic skills, knowing I had much to learn. Luckily, some books had been left behind by Twilight to help me there.

After that, I honed my combat skills to a sharp edge, and managed to improve my abilities that I've acquired over the Loops.

I had just finished a ten year training regimen based on what a certain guy who can beat about anyone with one punch used to become so strong when I saw that my thousand years of training was almost up, and I prepared to greet Twilight again...


"...But I never thought you would all be here. Thank you all for believing in me." As Sunset finished her story, Celestia smiled.

"We're all proud of you, Sunset. We knew you could get past what has been bothering you for so long."

Pinkie, who had been listening to the story, cried out, "Enough chit chat! Let's celebrate!"

As the party began, Sunset smiled, and started singing to herself. It was a song that she had sang to herself many times, but it was truly fitting here.

Power was all I desired...


188.7 (Vinylshadow)

Twilight flared her wings as she popped out of the time bubble, casting a shield spell to counter Starlight's attack that she'd long ago learned the pattern for.

"Starlight, this is pointless!" the Anchor called, landing on a cloud across from the unicorn. "This time loop will never end and we'll be stuck doing this forever."

"Relatively speaking," Twilight added under her breath with a tired sigh. Starlight laughed.

"Foolish Sparkle! I've deciphered more of Starswirl's spell! Not only does it travel through time, but dimensions as well!"

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wait!"

Starlight's horn lit up. "Oh no you don't! Not this time; not when I'm so close!"

Her horn flared as Twilight lunged towards her. Twilight's hoof touched the unicorn and they were both sucked into a dimensional tear.

Twilight watched the colors fly by and then closed her eyes as everything went white.

After a moment, she opened them to see Starlight staring at her hands in a mixture of horror and fascination.

"What...what's going on?! What is this place? What happened to me?!" Starlight asked, starting to panic. Twilight got to her feet, brushing herself off.

"This is another dimension, just like you wanted. One without magic," Twilight replied.

"How do you know that?" Starlight snarled, flicking her fingers uselessly at Twilight, who rolled her eyes.

"Because I've been here twice before. And here come some friends of mine," Twilight said, waving to the counterparts of her friends and Sunset Shimmer.

"What's up, Twilight?" Sunset asked. She glanced at Starlight and blinked in surprise. "Ah..."

"Yeah. She learned dimensional travel this time," Twilight said, crossing her arms.

"Want me to explain things to her?" Sunset asked. "She's basically a carbon copy of me with a different coat of paint anyway, so I'm sure we'll have many things to bond over."

"Congratulations, you have your first Friendship Student," Twilight said with a grin. Sunset shooed her away before turning to Starlight.

"Hey there. I see you've met Twilight and probably hate her because she ruined your life. Well, don't worry, she does that a lot. Anywho, come with me; we have a lot to talk about."


188.8 (Masterweaver)

"Good oak I hate Quibble sometimes," Rainbow grumped.

Twilight blinked. "You're... not supposed to meet him for another few months–"

"I published some Iris Drake novels," the pegasus explained. "They got popular enough that a convention formed. And I was having fun until, guess who, QUIBBLE PANTS came along and started nitpicking every detail about the story! He went on a rant about how I used gas planets wrong, how physics just didn't work like that – something something, I don't really care! If it fits the story, it should just..."

She sighed.

Twilight patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Some people get so bogged in the details they miss the point. It's okay, Rainbow. I still think your books are incredible."


188.9 (Masterweaver, Vinylshadow)

"I have a son," announced Derpy Hooves, slumping onto the bar. "Or possibly a nephew... actually, he could maybe not even be related and just have asked for my help. That's not firming up anytime soon."

Macintosh adjusted his blouse, putting a glass before the mare.

"New expansion. Ponyville derby. The kid I help is a colt." Derpy sighed. "I don't know, Dinky wasn't interested in it for some reason? It's just confusing..."

"Glitched loopers get glitched backstories," Lyra muttered, waving a hoof. "Sorry bout that."

"And I was a cheerleader, cheering on my hardworking students," Cheerilee said cheerfully.

"Yeah... yeah, you were." Derpy snorted. "Kinda cute, that..."


188.10 (Masterweaver)

"Miss Cheerilee, what if we want to make the cart ourselves?"

Cheerilee gave Apple Bloom a flat look. "While I don't doubt you can do that, miss whirl-a-pult, it wouldn't be fair to the other competitors if we waived the usual restrictions. You are going to find an older pony, and you are going to make your cart out of a block of wood, and you are going to ensure that it follows basic physics!"

"But–"

"No. You're brilliant, and incredibly talented, and I am not going to deal with the Royal Guard again miss Bloom!"

"...Okay, but what if we had a separate race–"

"You'll have to organize it on your own!"


188.11 (Masterweaver)

Twilight's eyes roved over the chalkboard, the cartoonish yet clear sketches detailing a plot that required quite a bit of advanced setup and the willing participation of the whole town. It was impressive, subversive, and utterly, completely insane.

She hesitantly turned to the beaming pony standing next to her. "Pinkie, does the word Yggdrasil mean anything to you?"

"I know it's a word you say when you're super-duper mad!"

"Have you... time traveled?" Twilight continued, letting out a hesitant ping. "Like, at all?"

"Well, not relative to my personal mental timeframe. I suppose my future self could have gone into the past, but for me that hasn't happened yet!"

After a moment, Twilight turned to the crowd that filled the Town Hall, releasing another series of pings. "What about all of you? Yggdrasil, time travel! Any of this ringing a bell?"

There was a general murmur in the tune of negative. Spike frowned. "Twilight, why are you asking these weird questions?"

"Oh, you know... read it in a book somewhere," the alicorn chuckled dismissively. "Okay! Cookie zombie prank. If we're doing this, we're doing this right!"


188.12 (Masterweaver)

"Who's an adorable little demigoddess?" Chrysalis cooed, nuzzling the giggling Flurry Heart. "You are, yes you are!" She let her tongue waggle out, making an utterly ridiculous face, which only furthered the stream of innocent baby laughter coming from the cradle.

"Well, I can see you two are having fun," Cadance quipped with a smile as she stepped through the door. "Thanks for looking after her, Chrysy."

"Ith wath mah pwethure, Cadenthe." The changeling queen gave Flurry an amused but stern look. "Leth go oth mah thongue, pleathe."

Cadance shook her head as Flurry gripped the reddish ribbon tighter. "She's an infant, you have to distract her with something more interesting. Here." A shiny egg-shaped thing was levitated in front of the foal, who gurbled as it rattled.

The moment she reached out for it, the changeling queen retracted her face and all its components. "Thanks for that. Why is she so fascinated in my tongue anyway?" She gave the elder alicorn a sly look. "Have you been reading her some interesting bedtime stories?"

The pink pony princess flatly stared at her.

"Okay, too far." Chrysalis held up a hoof. "I get it."

After a moment, Cadance shook her head and chuckled. "You know, we've got one of the weirdest friendships in the loops. I mean here we are, joking about accidentally reading adult literature to my firstborn... and in baseline..."

She sighed.

"Chrysy I.... this latest expansion. Twilight, she mentioned... a rogue changeling, in the Crystal Empire."

Chrysalis's ears stood to attention, her expression growing somber.

"And how... how me and Shining and... honestly, everypony except Spike treated Thorax... I just want to say I'm–"

"You don't need to say anything."

"But, Chrysalis–"

"No." The changeling queen held up her hoof. "I know... firsthoof, I know the difference between looping and unawake is a gulf that stretches far and wide. Whatever your unawake self said, whatever she did, it wasn't you."

"It could have been me," Cadance mumbled.

Chrysalis took a breath, stepping over to her. "You remember when I first... revealed I was looping to you? How I was nervous and panicked, and... even after you realized I had been Awake that one time, you held back. You didn't lash out. You were frustrated, but... you tried to help me." She chuckled wryly. "What was it you said? You had literally thousands of loops to deal with the emotional baggage of the invasion? The unawake you, she's had far less time, so I can understand her reluctance. It is a little hurtful, even if it is justified, and it isn't you."

"But... it could have been."

"Yes. And I could have never started looping and ended up just being an evil queen for the rest of you. And Starlight could have broken the world with her time spell, obliterating all of Equestria. And Yggdrassil could have, perhaps, never been damaged, and we'd never have been able to have this conversation." Chrysalis shook her head. "I don't give a twig about could-haves. What I care about is what is here, now. And here, now, we are friends – sometimes friends who poke at each other, and I might worship you as a god regularly, but beneath all that we are friends, and I know. For a fact. That you, Mi Amore Cadenza, looping lovegoddess of Equestria, would never turn away any changeling that wandered into the empire."

She wrapped a hoof around the princess's shoulders. "So stop worrying about making things up to me. There's no reason for you to feel guilty about this. After all, if a changeling can change... then your unawake self can too."

Slowly, a soft smile formed on Cadance's face. "...Well... thank you. For... not making this an issue."

"You're quite welcome. I'd rather make an issue out of the fact your daughter just flew out the window."

"Oh spruce." Instantly the pink alicorn was on her hooves, galloping out the door. "Not again!"

Chrysalis chuckled, shaking her head as she rounded the corner. "Sometimes, mares can be so emotional..."


188.13 (Vinylshadow)

Discord strode through the doors to the Cutie Map room, slamming them closed behind him.

"Spike, Big Mac, hello. I see you're playing a silly tabletop RPG, using boring things like pen and paper."

He swept it all off into a portal to Tartarus, where it's denizens picked it up and became pro players, but that was a story for another time.

"Today, we're playing my game," Discord said, pulling out a deck of cards. "Unfortunately, neither of you are Awake, so I suppose I'll have to tell you the rules. Rule #1: Use your imagination. There, rules established. Let's play Chaos."

He paused, frowned, and counted the players.

"We need one more..."

Snapping his claw, the door opened, revealing Shining Armor, who whirled around, rose clenched in his teeth.

"Cadance, your knight in Shining...oh buck," he squeaked, face going crimson. Discord arched an eyebrow.

"You. Sit. Play," he said, steering the Captain of the Guard into a chair.

"But...this is my only night when I can spend time with Cadance!" Shining Armor replied.

"I'll send her an apology. This is more important," Discord said, waving a paw.

IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE

Cadance jumped in surprise as a loud booming voice spoke out of nowhere. Shining Armor had vanished without a trace and she was slightly irritated.

"Wore his favorite saddle and everything," she grumbled.

"Sorry to borrow your husband," Discord said from his perch on her back. "I needed a fourth player."

"Oh. Try not to traumatize him too much, alright? He's–"

"Not Awake, I know. I'm not cruel, Cady," Discord said, rolling his eyes. "Oh good, a seven for Charisma. Enjoy your evening."

BACK INSIDE TWILIGHT'S UGLY CASTLE

"It's not that bad," Spike grumbled.

Shining Armor glanced at his cards thoughtfully as Big Mac sat upside down, reading his hoof.

Discord materialized on Fluttershy's throne and waved a flag.

"Let's play!"


Twilight and her friends returned a few hours later to find the four Chaos players locked in mortal combat involving pudding, the moon, twenty-eight-and-a-half dead fish and a thoroughly confused used car salesman.

"...I don't want to know," Applejack declared. "See you back at the farm, Big Mac."

"Heya, Twilight. How was Yakyakistan?" Spike asked, fending off Discord's assault with a stalk of celery.

"They declared war on Griffonstone, so Gilda is currently rearranging their faces. Other than that, it was your usual meeting," Twilight said with a yawn.

"Make sure you clean up when you're finished," Fluttershy called to Discord. "I'll leave some tea on the stove for you when you're finished with your game."

"I'll brought back some of those gems you like, Spike," Rarity said, levitating a bulging sack of jewels to the drake.

"Thanks, Rares. Should be done in...?" Spike shot Discord a questioning look.

"Ten minutes, if Big Mac stops cheating," Discord grumbled as half his army turned on him.

"I'm not cheating; Shining Armor found the Blank Card," the stallion replied.

"Oh...is that what that was?" Shining Armor asked. "The accordion death metal confused me. I thought that was a Wild Card."

"Wild Cards are banjos," Discord replied.

"Why do we use Discord's Chaos Deck?" Spike asked as he conquered Big Mac's fast food chain.

"Because his is one of the best-balanced decks," Big Mac replied. "And the victory goes to..."

"The Derpie. Again," Discord said, throwing down his cards. "How does it keep doing that?!"

The Derpie sitting on Shining Armor's horn pulled a muffin from the stallion's ear.

"Derp!"


188.14 (OracleMask)

"Twilight?"

"Yes, Sunset?"

"Why are we covered in sequins and glitter?"

"I don't know, but if this is another pun loop about me 'Sparkling', I'm going to spend it on the moon."

"...Save me a spot up there, please."


188.15 (OracleMask)

Shining Armor sighed as he heard a distant 'SIZZLE-ZAP' from high above, then stepped to one side in a practiced motion. A moment later, a smoking and twitching Changeling landed on the ground where he'd been standing.

"Another one, sir?" one of the Crystal Empire guards asked him.

Shining nodded.

"Just throw him on the pile with the others," the unicorn said, nodding towards a fenced-off area on the edge of the Empire.

The fence contained a large pile of twitching, stunned, and slightly roasted Changelings. Returning the salutes of his guards, Shining sighed again and trotted off. The 'Crystal Bug-Zapper Empire' wasn't a bad variant by any means, but that didn't make it any less annoying.


188.16 (Evilhumour)

Celestia was enjoying herself, been far too long since she had surfed on the sun. She let out a happy sigh, basking in the cosmic rays, feeling all the tensio–

WHEEEEEEEET!

Snapping her eyes open as she fell off her board and into the plasma sea of her sun, she looked up at the average looking pony sitting in a typical lifeguard stand, completely made out of wood, who was glaring at her.

"Your majesty, I'm going to have to ask you to leave that part of the sun," he then tilted his head towards a floating wall that had writing on it. "As you can clearly sea, the sun is not open for surfing right now."

"But..." Celestia treaded the liquid fire as she rested half on her surfboard, speaking confusedly. "This is my sun, my little pony."

"Be as that may, Princess Celestia, rules are rules," he said sternly before nodding his head towards where other ponies were playing, creating sand-like castles out of the fire.

Pouting sadly, Celestia took her board and went to where the other ponies were gathered, counting the seconds until she could go back and surf.


188.17 (Evilhumour)

"Okay, this doesn't seem the safest way to get ya off the ground, Scoots," Apple Bloom looked over her friend's design to help soar into the sky.

"Relax, Apple Bloom," the little filly said in her makeshift catapult, harvested from a spring and a cylinder chip container. "I've got everything perfectly under con–"

SPRUNG

CRASH

"Scoots!" Apple Bloom dashed over to her friend who was holding her head after she crashed into the ceiling. "Are ya okay?"

"Yeah," she whimpered, biting back some swears. "Let's go to Redheart anyways, I don't feel too good."

As the two fillies left, they both made a vow to do their experiments outside.


188.18 (Evilhumour)

"Say Quibble, these points you're making..." Rainbow Dash frowned as she leafed through the fifteen page essay he brought in. "They're all based from fanfictions..."

"What?!" Quibble shouted, looking over his information. "My assistant swore he had obtained this from new stories of Daring Do!"

"Your new assistan–Oh come on!" She shouted as Fluttershy's brother waved meekly at her and Quibble, blushing badly.


188.19 (Evilhumour)

"Excuse me, señorita Dash?" A voice caused the mane six to turn their heads towards the group of guards standing in front of their booth at the Sugarcube Corner. "Is there a señorita Rainbow Dash here?"

"Uh..." the rainbow maned mare blinked slowly before raising a hoof. "I'm Dash but why are you–"

"According to an investigation into your background prompted by a random complaint, it was brought to our attention that you are not legally a citizen of Equestria as you were not born in this nation and no paperwork was ever filed to make you one. As such, on the behalf of the Equestrian Immigration Agency and the Princesses we serve, we are asking to you vacate this city and return to your country of origin by the end of the week."

"Are you seriously?" Twilight asked, placing her hooves onto the table. "She has saved Equestria a dozen times over and she is the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty!"

"Be as that may, your majesty, it does not give her the right to live in our country illegally," the guard rebutted her, with the other guards moving to secure the area, with one young guard starting to panic as he alone noticed something very important.

"Then by the powers invested in me, I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, hereby grant Rainbow Dash full citizenship!" Twilight snapped back.

"As much power you do have, your highness, this is out of your jurisdiction and you clearly have basis feelings toward this illegal alien," he sneered, leaning in close to her face. "Now sit down or else."

"Or else what, my little pony?" Princess Celestia asked sharply, moving out of her booth to loom over the guard with her eyes narrow. "Let us have a nice conversion about harassing the ponies that have saved our dear nation more times then I can even imagine."

With a meep, the guard was dragged over to Princess Celestia's booth with the other guards wisely fleeing the area, with Celestia suddenly appearing over the top of the booth. "Oh, Dashie, don't worry about this paperwork nonsense," she said as she lifted the plates covered with cakes over to her. "I promise to have it all sorted out for you in no time."

With a nod of her head, Rainbow Dash had to remind herself that this was not the worst thing to happen to her as Zephyr Breeze hadn't tried the green card scam on her yet.


188.20 (Evilhumour)

"And what do you think you can do to stop me, little pony," Tirek spat, gloating as he held near dominance over this pathetic land, standing tall in the pristine farming town.

"Nothing, but I have a proposal," the purple alicorn said with determination in her eyes, clothed in her finest dress. "Complete it, and you can have all of my power and I know you can see how vast it is, Tirek."

The centaur did indeed see how vast her magic reserves was and if he could take it, he would be a god! Deciding to humour her, he leaned down to her and said, "Very well, pony. What is your proposal?"

"One dance, you and me," Twilight answered as her friends were already retreating to a safe distance away with various numbers of recording devices left in their wake.

With a chuckle, Tirek held out a hand to her. "Very well, pony. One last dance and your magic will be mine."

FIVE MINUTES LATER

Tirek panted, looking through the wasteland as he held his side. "N-no more, I yield!" he shuddered, his right hooves bleeding with pain. "You can keep your magic, I care not for it anymore."

"But Tirek," the monster in pony form called out in a false sweet tone, the hair on his neck raising in instinctual fright. "As the soon to be new ruler of this land, we have ten more minutes to our little dance. Unless you wish to cancel our deal and give back what you took?"

"Take back your land's magic then!" He shouted as he glimpsed her, returning all the magic he gathered in the land and started to sprint as fast as he could back to the safety of Tartarus.

Twilight waited a few minutes before letting out a sigh as she singled the all clear sign. On one hoof, she not only scared off Tirek but saved her tree for once but on the other hoof, she had to unleash a fraction of her dancing skills to do so and with all of her friends watching her dance.

Taking it up as a wash, she began to walk back to her library as she had a lot of books to reorganize.


188.21 (Evilhumour)

Nyx looked over her shoulder, ears pressed flat against her head.

She felt horrible about all the damage she had cau–

Without warning, Twilight Velvet picked her up and started to snuggle her, giggling as she held the alicorn close.

"Well dear," she said to a snickering Nightlight. "Our granddaughter is truly a Twilight."

"Only a Twilight could cause fifteen cabbage carts to knock a bridge out of place by dancing," he said, ruffling her mane.

Pouting in her grandparents hooves, Nyx was still a bit embarrassed about causing Celestia, Luna and Blueblood to fall into that big mud puddle.


188.22 (Star Peridot)


Twilight Sparkle awoke as a princess, reading a book about Equestrian politics. And when she saw what it said, she slammed her face into it. She didn't need her loop memories to tell her that this loop would be trouble. But when they did kick in, they provided some detailed background on why:

In this loop, Equestria was ruled by dance. Not the literal concept of dance (as had happened in previous loops), but in the sense that all the princesses were dancers, and all of their power was through dance. Celestia had defeated Nightmare Moon by challenging her to a dance-off until she fell to the ground exhausted, at which point Celestia carried her to the moon so she could spend a thousand years sleeping it off. Celestia had attempted to defeat Chrysalis with disco, and was foiled by ballet. Cadance and Shining Armor had defeated Sombra with a waltz.

Twilight Sparkle, anticipating the horror to come, said one sentence that summed up what the loop would be like:

“Oh, this is going to suck.”


One loop later, at Mac's bar, Applejack prompted Twilight:

“And what happened during your reign, Twilight?”

“Well, it took me less than a year to become Equestria's evil overlord. I was exiled to Tartarus by the new Elements of Harmony, and when I cast a scrying spell to see what was going on outside, I found out that people had temples to me, where they gave me gifts of books so that I would be so occupied with reading that I would never return.”

Applejack asked: “And this was all within a year of your Awakening?”

“Eeyup. Equestria works fast.”


188.23 (ToaMataNui5000)

"Well then," Twilight finally found some words to say, after taking in the sight before her...

...Said sight being a plethora of ponies-turned-human conversing with their alternate universe, always-human counterparts. It explained why a good number of citizens were missing from across Equestria, her friends included. The thing that tipped her off though was why everypony/everybody was being so casual about it. Shrugging, she decided to simply take a walk through the controlled chaos, curious as to what she would spot.

Her first exhibit: A nearby picnic table displaying both Applejacks and Rainbow Dashes, the blue sports girls each sipping away at a mug of cider. Setting their mugs down with a duo of lip smacks, they turned to each other, with both farmers seeming interested at what they were about to say.

"The flavor is certainly superior, though I bet that's because of Earth Pony Magic enhancing the growth of the apples. Or something like that..." One Rainbow Dash critiqued. In response, one of the Applejacks smugly smiled, the other rolling her eyes in retaliation.

"That may be true," the second Rainbow Dash, this one wearing a Wonderbolts-themed air force jacket, spoke up. "But you can't deny the harder work that human hands have put into making great tasting cider. I say this one has better consistency, while pony-made cider isn't always mixed well. Then again, the mixers weren't built for hooves to easily use..." The Applejacks traded their facial expressions.

"Either way, Flim and Flam ain't got nothin' over Apple Family-made cider." Both Rainbow Dashes chorused.

"Darn tootin'! And they never will!" The four girls fell into shared chuckles, with Twilight shaking her head while giggling along. Continuing her trek, she passed by both trios of Cutie Mark Crusaders, their clothes dirtied from a fun-filled romping through the nearby woods. Thankfully, the amount of tree-sap wasn't apocalyptic-levels of ridiculous. Though they did accidentally cause Derpy to stumble, dropping her muffin as she steadied herself.

"Aw, now it's bird food," the gray girl sighed disappointingly.

"Hey, Derpy! Catch!" A second muffin soared towards her, which she barely caught in a series of hand flails. Taking a bite, she smiled in satisfaction.

"Thanks, other me!"

"No problem!" Adjusting her view, Twilight tracked the other Derpy, who was comfortably sandwiched between both Flash Sentrys, a basket of pastries nested in her lap. One Flash strummed away at his guitar, while the other tapped his armor to the beat, whistling unknown lyrics...

"Twilight," The guitarist Flash nodded, stopping his secession to do so.

"Flash," she answered back, granting him a grin.

"Addressing a princess so casually," The second Flash started. "Shame on you, soldier..."

"Oh, don't act so high and mighty, Colonel!" Shining Armor's voice came from a picnic table just ahead. "We all know you're crushing on my sister like your counterpart used to!"

"Uhh..." The usually-a-pegasus guard's face heated up in response. "That was a rumor started by my unit and fellow colonels..."

"Lying to a school counselor and her counterpart that serves as the princess of love," Cadance voiced, shaking her head. "Shame on you, soldier..."

Human-Flash struggled to hold straight. "Thanks for bruising my ego, ma'am! You've guaranteed the Shadowbolt's victory next Friendship Games!"

"Better Crystal Prep's Shadowbolts than Nightmare Moon's Shadowbolts!" the other Cadance, this one dressed much more regally and cuddling Flurry Heart in her crooked arm, voiced.

"Thou has summoned us?" Princess Luna's voices echoed across the park.

"Nah, just reminiscing on your rebellious phase, Auntie!" The other Shining Armor shouted back.

"I still have pictures from way back when!" Principal Celestia rang out. "You'll all get a good laugh out of how much leather and piercings she tried to wear!"

"Seriously, 'Tia! You said you burned those pictures! Why must you keep bringing it up?"

"Because it's hilarious!" Princess Celestia responded to Principal Luna. "Plus we're just doing our jobs as siblings!"

"Don't push us! We'll chuck the rest of the cake into the nearby lake!" the younger, lunar sisters declared.

"You wouldn't dare, Lulu!"

"Could you four please not!" Twilight finally shouted back. "I think the rest of the planet would greatly appreciate both the sun and moon not going insane and crashing into each other!"

A moment of silence encompassed the entire park until the high school principles and alicorn hierarchies answered back. "Sorry, Twilight!"

"I so wish I was over there with a video camera..." Counselor Cadance lamented.

"Save the film for when you two finally get married, as well as for baby pictures of your own Flurry Heart." Princess Cadance put a reassuring hand on her counterpart's shoulder.

"Should be a lot less crazy than our photos, on top of that..." Prince Shining Armor added on. "Your Flurry Heart won't sneeze lasers. Nor do you have a Changeling horde lead by Chrysalis to crash your wedding..."

Counselor Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Where would my parasitic, ex-girlfriend even get an army of shape-shifting bugs from?"

"Wait! What?" Both pink adult women double-taked simultaneously.

"Twily? You mind taking your niece away from the inevitable storm that's brewing?"

"No problem, Shiny," The purple pony princess agreed. Snapping his fingers, Shining Armor threw a shield around his table, censoring all noise. Wordlessly, Twilight waltz off, letting Flurry play with her fingers while the baby princess teethed away at a pacifier.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the park...

"Why did you dye your hair?" Lightning Dust and Indigo Zap asked each other. "As well as somehow change your skin tone..."

"At least we aren't the only ones having trouble with our counterparts," Starlight Glimmer commented.

"How can you tell? We can't even find them in the first place..." Sunset Shimmer lampshaded.


188.24 (Wildrook)

(MLP)(Sonic the Hedgehog)

"So," Sonic said, noticing Rainbow Dash a little dazed at Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park, "what have you learned today?"

"That Wisps are volatile when they're inside you," Dash muttered, dizzy. Sonic then gave her another look. "And when you're in the outer part of the atmosphere, do not attempt to Rainboom, or else it's a bit unstable."

"Yeah, that would sum it up," Sonic said, helping Dash up. "But really, it's not often the Wisps take a liking to anyone other than myself. Must be the mane."

Dash groaned as she stabilized herself. "From what I saw, Twilight's not exactly taking the whole 'chained planets' thing well."

"Not taking it well!?!" a voice yelled, revealing Twilight and Tails, with a white Wisp trying to calm her down. "How can you even chain a planet? For that matter, doesn't the man responsible realize the kind of cataclysmic destruction this could cause to the nearby celestial bodies?"

Tails just gave her a stare. "They're small planets, Twilight," he said. "Besides, he's done this before. The Little Planet tends to appear and disappear near Never Lake every now and again."

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. "At this point, I'm not going to question this. Instead, I should be thankful Fluttershy isn't here."

Dash shivered. "She does not take creatures being forced against their will well," she said to Sonic and Tails. "Even if they are alien in origin."

Sonic shrugged. "Well, the only thing I find amusing about this place is Eggman's PA announcements," he replied.

Twilight gave them a look before static was heard.

"Would the owner of a white hovercar shaped like an egg please report to security?" Eggman said into the microphone. "Your vehicle has been broken into. I repeat, would the owner of a white hovercar shaped like an egg please report to security? Your vehicle has been..." Then he realized something. "Wait a minute, what the heck?"

Now the visitors gave Sonic a strange look as he shrugged.

"Wasn't me," Sonic replied. "I was just dealing with a giant robot while you were gallivanting with a Green Wisp."

"That just raises so many questions," Twilight muttered. "Aren't we the only ones here? And that includes the Wisps, the giant talking egg, and the robots shaped like an orb and cube?"

"Not all the time," Tails answered. "The others sometimes show up doing their own investigations, and yes, that includes Silver and Blaze." He then looked at Sonic. "You get the map?"

Sonic nodded as he brought it out. "So far, we can go to the planet full of sweets and the armada he built," he said. "Oh, and in case you're wondering, when we get to the aquarium, do not try the Bucket o' Sushi. Tails tried it, and he kind of looked like he had some bad fish."

"This I can vouch for," Tails muttered, shivering. "His cruelty knows no bounds."

There was an awkward silence between both Mobians, both Ponies, and the Wisp as they mentioned that.

"So," Twilight said, changing the subject, "what was that about a planet of nothing but sweets? Sounds like a place Pinkie Pie would enjoy."

They knew one thing...this was NOT a good place to recommend for a vacation to everypony they knew.


188.25 (masterofgames)


Twilight scowled at nothing in particular as she marched down the shelves in her library, skimming the book titles. "Ugh, I could have sworn I put it here..." she groaned, before turning to call to Spike across the room. "Spike! I'm doing a quick project and need to check something. Have you seen my copy of The Horse Whisperer?"

Spike shrugged in his beanbag chair. "Nope, sorry." he called back, before glancing down at the book in his claws and holding it up. "I have Owl Yeller though!"

"Thanks, but I don't need that one." Twilight sighed, going back to searching. Skimming another full shelf, she started her walk to the next one, before her pace began to slow, quickly grinding to a halt with a single leg in mid-step in the air.

Her eye twitched.

Moments later, Ponyville was treated to the sight of a giggling dragon sprinting out of the library and across town as flying pads of sticky notes bounced off the back of his head.


188.26 (masterofgames)


Nicknames.

Nicknames were a big thing this loop. In some unknowable leap of logic on the Tree's part, Twilight Awoke to find herself in a most unusual variant. When you met somepony, their first impression inspired a nickname, and even if introduced properly, that nickname was all you could ever refer to that individual by. It was a small miracle that everypony just seemed to know who was being spoken about each time, no matter how many nicknames they had. Still, things could get pretty awkward,

"More tea, Classy Accent?" Twilight asked.

"Oh! Yes please! It's simply to die for! Thank you for inviting me Fixer Upper." Rarity smiled, accepting the teapot as Twilight floated it over.

"It was the least I could do after you helped me deal with my mane yesterday." Twilight giggled. "I was a mess."

A loud crash from a breaking window interrupted their conversation, a certain blue and rainbow individual bouncing off a bookshelf and rolling to a halt as the shelf collapsed.

"Thunderbutt! I just fixed that!"

Rainbow Dash just shook her head and waited for her eyes to uncross. "Oh... hey Book Horse. Clothes Horse. Sorry. Made a bet with Apple Horse. Race across Ponyville while dizzy from a tornado." she explained woozily, before tilting over as she over-judged the stability of her hooves, and face planting to the floor again.


188.27 (masterofgames)


It sadly happened every now and then. It was inevitable that it would, really.

The ponies got existential.

Twilight lay on her back in the grass with several of her friends, watching clouds. With a sigh, she turned to the others. "You ever wonder if it's all worth it?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "I'd certainly like to think it is. If not, why would anything happen in the first place?"

Applejack forced back a giggle. "Well, can't argue with that. 'Course, 'worth it' is a mighty subjective viewpoint. An' it's hard to be able to tell before it all actually ends an' ya' can look back on it with a complete set 'a information. Still," she sighed. "sometimes when ah' close my eyes, ah' picture the big choices I could'a made, but didn't. All those paths that could'a led to a completely different me over the loops, and ah' wonder if ah' would'a liked that me better."

Rarity nodded knowingly. "Who can tell? Sometimes when I close my eyes, I think of chain reactions, and how one small change can alter everything, and it's hard to resist the urge to change things just to see what happens."

Spike thought for a moment. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I try and picture what the multiverse might look like from outside it, and what the Admins really might look like, without taking a form we can comprehend."

Pinkie shrugged. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can't see."

Nopony really had a response to that.


(DrTempo)

From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:

My next Loop was the home Loop of Commander Shepard. In this Loop, a threat called the 'Reapers', a species that appears every fifty thousand years to destroy all advanced civilizations in the galaxy in order to prevent a war between artificial life and organic life (trust me, I facepalmed when I heard of this), were about to arrive and basically bring about the apocalypse.

Shepard, who commands the starship "Normandy", found himself (or herself; Shepard's appearance and past change from Loop to Loop) as the leader of the fight against the Reapers. And I found myself in the role of Ashley Williams (no connection to a certain one handed chainsaw wielding monster killer). I joined Shepard and his companions on their quest to stop Saren, a rogue Spectre (basically an elite soldier who protects the galaxy) from allowing the Reapers to arrive. Since this is an era of laser blasters, my training during the Metal Gear loop was quite helpful. Shepard has served under Big Boss before, so he recognized my skills almost instantly.

Among the companions I mentioned were Garrus, a former cop and expert marksman, Tali, the master engineer, Liara the archeologist and biotic (think psychic powers), and Wrex, the Krogan warrior. I got to know each of them throughout the mission (all of them were Awake), and despite the tragedies we experienced, Saren was defeated, and the Reaper called Sovereign, which had been controlling Saren, was destroyed.

Soon after, Shepard's ship was attacked by the Collectors, an alien race controlled by a Reaper, and met his death. Before you ask, this wasn't the Loop's end, as Cerebrus, a group dedicated to ensuring humanity is the strongest species in the galaxy, spent two years to revive Shepard. And they succeeded. During that time, the guns I had gotten used to changed from overheating when fired too much to a system similar to old fashioned ammo. And even I don't understand that.

Anyhow, I tracked the galaxy until the time for Shepard's resurrection came, and during that time, I met another Looper: Mordin, the motor mouth scientist. Eventually, Shepard and I reunited as Shepard was building an elite team to attempt to stop the Collectors. I reunited with Garrus and Tali, and eventually, despite the odds, we defeated the Collectors in a mission that was thought to have no one survive it.


Shortly thereafter, Shepard found himself on Earth when the Reapers finally began their assault on the galaxy, with Earth as their first target. Apparently, Shepard had angered the Reapers so much, they realized he was their biggest threat.

Shepard had to unite the galaxy to fight the Reapers, and considering all the drama the various species have, that is no easy task. We managed to build the Crucible, a weapon created by the combined knowledge of all the other civilizations who had tried and failed to defeat the Reapers, and in the end, Shepard had to face the Catalyst, the AI that commanded the Reapers.

Shepard hated the choices he was given in baseline (destroy all artificial life alongside the Reapers, take control of the Reapers at the cost of his life, or cause all life in the galaxy to basically become cyborgs), especially since he had proved that artificial life and organic life could work together in the quest to defeat the Reapers. Thankfully, he had a device that would cause only the Reapers to be destroyed prepared a long time ago, and the Crucible sent the Reapers to their end.


In this Loop, I made many new friends, and found myself in a conflict that had major consequences. I admit, to think that if Shepard failed, it basically meant the end of everything....

But we never gave up, and despite losing many friends in the struggle, we succeeded. It was difficult, but it was worth it in the end. Wonder what my next Loop will be..


188.28 (Anon e Mouse Jr.)

"Hey, squirt."

Scootaloo looked up. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! What's up?"

"Well, I... kind of heard about your latest expansion, and I wanted to say..." The rainbow-maned pegasus looked embarrassed. "I'm really sorry about how my unAwake self acted there. She should have known better."

Scootaloo hugged her. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I don't blame you."

"Thanks, squirt." Rainbow Dash hugged her back. "But I still want to make it up to you. Next couple of times that event happens, what say I try to help you and the other Crusaders win all three ribbons each? Knowing you girls, it'll only take us about three go-throughs total."

Scootaloo smiled. "If the others say it's okay, I don't see why not."

"Cool. By the way... why'd you keep putting chicken parts on that first racer? I thought you were tired of being called a chicken."

Scootaloo shrugged. "There was a loop where I met a pony in a mixed pony-griffin society... he told me how the griffins used to use a certain word as a slur against ponies, until they took it back and made it their own. I decided to do the same with "chicken" so it wouldn't bother me anymore."

"Ah. So, what was their slur word for ponies?"

"Herbivore."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Oh-kaaaay... I've heard stranger, I guess. But I'm proud of you for that, Scoots. It takes a big mare to take an insulting name and make it something to be proud of."

Scootaloo just smiled and nuzzled her. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

"You're welcome."

Author's Note:

188.1: Honestly, that one was kind of deserved.
188.5: (speed) horse sense.
188.8: Sometimes he even complains about things Dash actually personally experienced.
188.13: Do not mock game night.
188.18: Him again.
188.20: Dance, dance - retribution.

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