Loops 38
38.1
“You know,” Sweetie Belle said into the air, “I really appreciate how you've... tweaked your Modes to fit my theme.”
Oh, you noticed? Clover asked, gratified.
“Yeah. Took a while, but...” Sweetie shrugged. “Like I say, it's cool of you.”
Think nothing of it. It was an interesting little exercise.
“Right. Anyway, I think I've got an idea...”
Scootaloo walked around the... thing. “Sweets... what is that?”
Sweetie looked over, with affected casualness. “Oh, that's mine. It's what's called a bicycle.”
The pegasus filly looked dubious. “How do you use it?”
“Oh, it's sort of like a scooter...” Sweetie slipped her right forehoof into one of the grip loops. “You have to have a kinda strange posture when using it, but it's really fast!”
“Okay, this I gotta see.” Scootaloo unhooked her scooter from the cart they often used. “Betcha can't beat me!”
Sweetie just smiled, slipping the other forehoof in and latching one of her hind legs to a pedal. “Ready when you are.”
“ThreetwooneGO!” Scootaloo rattled off, and kicked – hard.
Thirty seconds in, Scootaloo felt quite good about the impromptu race.
No way was Sweetie going to beat her at what she was best at!
Ring Cycle.
“Eh?” Scootaloo risked a glance back. That hadn't sounded like Sweetie's voice...
Then what was Sweetie's voice rose above the rattle of wheels, singing something in a language Scootaloo didn't know.
And where was the musical accompaniment coming from?
Then Sweetie blew past her in a rush of wind, still singing and with the wheels of her... bicycle... blazing a bright gold that almost hurt to look at.
“You cheated!” Scootaloo accused, as she skidded to a halt outside the Carousel Botique. “That had to be magic!”
Then she blinked. “Wait, where'd the bicycle go?”
Sweetie lowered a silver flute from her mouth. “Pardon?”
“Where'd it go?”
“I put it away.” Sweetie grinned. “Though, yeah, it did use magic. So does this.”
Scootaloo looked at the flute, still panting. “A magic flute?”
“Exactly.” The unicorn giggled.
“I don't get it...”
38.2
Dear Sir,
I hope that this letter finds you well.
Actually, I don't really. But it's a polite thing to write nevertheless. I simply make this clarifying remark in case you come to the wrong conclusion from the first remark.
I have, over the last few months, been a profligate spender on the products of your establishment. The variety of your product line, and the speed of delivery of your experienced delivery staff, know no equal.
Sadly, the user friendliness of your products does not live up to the same standard. In fact, the user friendliness, ease of use, and quality of the purchases I have made from your company are all so very low that they compare unfavourably to having one's hoof shut repeatedly in a drawer. Which is on fire. And full of rabid, flesh-seeking weasels.
To this end, I wish to inform you that I will be filing paperwork on the morrow to attempt to gain compensation from you and your company for the many burns, contusions, lacerations, blunt trauma, sharp trauma, general maiming, and sheer embarrassment brought about by my use of the products you supply.
I hope to see you in court,
Trixie Lulamoon.
“Look, Trixie,” Twilight said, as she finished taking the dictation. “Nobody ever catches him.” A thought struck her. “And why do you want to anyway?”
“The challenge!” Trixie announced from her hospital bed. “Now, put the address of Acme Corporation on the envelope and send it! Then get to drawing up the court case.”
“You're still not going to leave it?” Twilight asked.
A dark blue blur shot into the room, paused, selected a book from the nearest bookshelf and shot off with a cry of 'Meep meep!'
Twilight stared for a moment.
“Trixie?”
“Yes, Twilight?” Trixie replied, with a hint of triumph.
“I am sorry I ever doubted you. That road runner needs to go down.”
38.3 (Bobnik)
The door of Big Mac's bar slammed open, and an agitated alicorn came through it.
“Hoofrot, poxes and mange upon budget meetings! May the inventor of the committee rest unquiet in Blessed Lands forevermore!” cried Princess Luna.
Celestia came through the door behind her sister, and while she was quiet and seemingly serene, Big Mac could tell she was as upset as Luna. It had taken him a long time to get over his own awe and learn to read the Sun Princess, but her eyes were empty, not just calm, a sure sign she had locked her emotions inside herself.
Luna stomped up to the bar. “Sir Macintosh, please, give us a beverage from far beyond. Something new and different to chase away the memory of tax proposals we have heard a thousand times and more.”
“It is rather trying, but we can't get in the habit of just ignoring them all the time,” said Celestia, “but something fresh and different would be just the ticket.” She shuffled her hooves and sighed, replacing false calm with genuine weariness.
“Ah know just the thing. Have seat, and I'll bring it out.” replied Mac.
When he returned with a large bottle and two glasses, the sisters had taken up seats in a corner booth, side by side. The looping bartender put the glasses on the table, and carefully poured a measure into each one.
“Rarity gave a couple of cases of this to me just a day ago, 'parently she picked it up when she was Queen of England for a loop. Supposed to be made by giants, haven't heard the whole story yet. Apart from the Bearers and Spike, you're the first to try it.” he said as he poured.
The liquid was a pale transparent green, and the noise as it was poured indicated it was fizzy. It had a scent like summer just shading into autumn. Oddly, as it was poured, an opaque layer formed on the bottom of each glass.
“Giants, you say? Perhaps 'twas Harry Potter's Loop?” asked Luna, as her horn glowed and the glass rose to her muzzle. “Up with novelty, and down with boredom!” The glasses clinked together and both sisters took a hefty slug from the large tumblers.
The flavour was redolent with berries and cream, but had none of the texture of a dairy product, and the bubbles chased the flavour down the throat with remarkable speed. There was no burn of alcohol, but a faint tingle showed there was some manner of magic in the drink.
“Oh, I do like that,” said Celestia. “Very refreshing, and it's chased the cobwebs right out of my head.” She raised the glass higher to peer at the liquid. “Why, the bubbles are moving downwards!”
It was true. The layer at the bottom of the glass was actually a head of froth, and the fizz descended through the glass to meet it. As Luna began to shift uneasily in her seat, Celestia noticed that Big Mac had retreated behind the bar at speed. She knew a pony taking cover when she saw it.
Before she could open her mouth to inquire, the natural consequence of the downward-moving bubbles hit both sisters simultaneously. The noise was indescribable, and so loud as to shake the building. Mac's wisdom in sheltering behind the bar became apparent as loose objects were hurled about the room like a tornado had been let loose inside.
In short, the Diarchy of Equestria farted so hard it blew them out of their seats.
Luna scramble d backwards off the table where she'd been blown as Celestia staggered back across the floor. Both of them stared incredulously at the miraculously intact drinks, then at each other, and finally accusingly across the room at the bartender.
“Eeyup, frobscottle will do that.” said Mac, as he shook his head to clear it. “Y'all still bored?”
“Indeed not!” cried Luna, as she swept up her glass once more. “A toast, to the Equestrian Revenue Department. May their anthem resound eternal!”
38.4
“Hey, Twilight?” Pinkie said, grinning.
“I dread to answer... yes, Pinkie?”
“I worked out how I'm gonna beat Nightmare Moon!” The pink pony held up her Ring. “Oh, can you put that shield spell on me, though, 'cause I'm not all that practised with this and I'd prefer to find out I can't do a shield in a learn-from-this-and-keep-going way, not a whoops-back-to-the-loop-start way.”
Twilight waited a moment, to be sure Pinkie was done with that sentence. “Yes. I'm doing it for everypony, -ling, and so on... though it does of course count as points against you if the mountain gets too damaged.”
“Sure!” Pinkie concentrated, and the Ring flared, then settled back to her coat colour.
“Wait...” Twilight pointed. “Did you just-”
“One hundred percent recharge is go!” Pinkie winked. “I just need to think of yay-I-can-do-the-same-birthday-party-over-and-over!”
After a long minute, Twilight threw up her hooves, staggered for a moment and dropped back down onto all fours. “You know what, fine. You invented it, so presumably you know how it works.”
“Yep!” Pinkie's grin flashed as bright as her Ring had.
“...last forever!”
Pinkie trotted in through the stage entrance. “Hiya moonbutt!”
Nightmare Moon's expression was a sight to behold.
“Insolence!” she shouted, turning, and lighting up a spell on her horn. “Give me one good reason I should not simply destroy you now, and spare myself further insult!”
“Hmmm...” Pinkie rolled her eyes up, pondering, and tapped her chin with one hoof. “Nope, can't think of one.”
Nightmare Moon unleashed a bolt of black fire, which narrowly missed Pinkie and set the wall alight. “There will not be another warning shot, peasant.”
Pinkie grinned. “Oh, you know my family?”
“...pardon?”
“Momma Pie and Daddy Pie are certainly peasants – though, more of smallholders, I suppose, so I don't know if that's the right term. But you must have met them, 'cause otherwise you wouldn't get it right?”
“No, it's an... insult...” Nightmare Moon mumbled, then remembered herself. “Trouble me no more, and you may keep your life.”
“Okie dokie!” Pinkie nodded. “Hey, Nimmie?”
The dark alicorn had only just turned back to the rest of the town. Her eye was seen to twitch as she turned once more. “What?”
“Think fast!”
Something glowing pink shot out from behind Pinkie's back, and fired a blue globe at the floor.
Then, with a bwuum noise, a two-meter diameter hole appeared in the stage. On the other side was space.
And quite a lot of escaping air.
And, within a second or two, Nightmare Moon.
In both a literal and metaphorical sense, it was simply not her day.
Pinkie let the construct vanish, and it took the portal with it.
“Ta-da!”
In the crowd, Twilight shook her head with a wince. So, Pinkie could use her Ring to create a portal gun.
That was going to be... interesting...
“Cryyst-”
vwum
Pinkie counted. “Four, five, six-”
“taaaaaals!”
vwum
Twilight followed Sombra as he fell through the blue portal, then came sailing down through the air from the orange one hundreds of metres up.
For about the fiftieth time.
“How long are you going to keep doing that?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Until it isn't funny any more.”
“Is that by your judgement or mine?”
“Theirs,” Pinkie replied, pointing to a number of Crystal Ponies.
By now, some of them were making popcorn.
38.5
Fluttershy lay back in bed and sighed, an all-too-familiar melancholia stealing over her.
A Fused Loop was over, and now it was back to Equestria.
Nice, safe Equestria. Same old Equestria.
Twilight had mentioned this to them, back after the first couple of fused loops. It was sometimes hard to maintain perspective after seeing the multiverse like that.
They'd gotten used to it, after a while. Friends helped – though Twilight often had loops alone, being an Anchor was awful sometimes – and so did the perspective that came with age.
But sometimes... it was worse than normal. Sometimes she'd lost close friends, so recently made. All Loopers prepared for the possibility, she'd known it was coming, but...
Angel Bunny cut into her mope by kicking her bed hard enough to leave a dent.
“Naughty rabbit!” Fluttershy scolded, rolling off the mattress and giving him a tolerant look. “Keep that up and I'll make you dust the bookshelf!”
The threat bounced off Angel's armour like a rubber ball. He shrugged and bounced off to... well, probably threaten a songbird or something.
A moment's check on her Loop memories reassured Fluttershy that this Loop had begun at the normal time. That meant that the Summer Sun celebration was just around the corner.
Now, was there a song she hadn't taught her bird friends?
The doorbell tinkled.
“Come in,” Fluttershy called softly. “It's unlocked.”
Cheerilee pushed the door open, smiling. “Hello, Fluttershy. Sorry to intrude – I know you must be busy with the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration...”
“Oh, it's no problem,” Fluttershy replied. “I was just making some tea. Would you like some?”
The teacher frowned, considering it. “Maybe later.”
“All right.” Nodding, Fluttershy put the kettle back on the stove, just to one side to keep it at the right temperature. “What brings you out here?”
Now that was the real question. Cheerilee certainly never came out here in a normal loop, so...
“Well, it's quite a puzzle, actually,” Cheerilee admitted. “You see, there's a child who Nurse Redheart and I found wandering around Ponyville this morning. He seemed quite confused, but was insistent that he meet you.”
She stepped fully into the cottage, and turned to the door. “Come on in, Lemon.”
A bright yellow earth pony colt walked in, a little unsteady on his legs, and his eyes locked onto Fluttershy.
Fluttershy blinked, then gasped.
“Leman?”
“So you do know him?” Cheerilee asked, satisfied. “I'll want to hear all the details – but later. Can I leave you to take care of him for today? I'm afraid I've got work to do for the festival as well.”
“That's fine,” Fluttershy said absently.
The moment Cheerilee was out of the house, she let her happiness off the leash. “Leman! I thought I'd lost you.”
She knelt down, spreading her forelegs, and the colt stumbled forward into her embrace.
“I still don't know what's going on...” Lemon Rush said, looking around the cottage. “The last I remember, we were on Fenris.” Preparing for a delegation from the Light Eldar Empire to arrive, actually.
“Well...” Fluttershy thought for a moment as she poured the tea. “Okay. There are things called time loops, and people from one sometimes end up in another. This is my home one.”
“It certainly looks more peaceful than mine,” the colt said, glancing out the window. “And warmer.”
He paused. “Didn't you used to have a horn, little mother?”
“Oh, of course.” Fluttershy closed her eyes, let the Element of Kindness flash into being, and Ascended. “I forgot, you've only seen me like this.”
“Neat trick. Can we all do that?”
“No, sorry.” Fluttershy shrugged, reverting the transformation. “It's... complicated. Come on, I'll introduce you to Twilight, and she can tell you what you need to know about the Loops.”
“That works for me.” Rush stood up, and nearly fell over.
Fluttershy's hoof swept out to steady him, and he gratefully used it to stand back upright. “This is humiliating...” he muttered, face burning beneath his coat.
“I had just as much trouble with walking on two legs,” Fluttershy smiled. “And with flying, actually. I still have a preference for walking where possible.”
She nuzzled him affectionately. “It's good to see you, Leman.”
“And you.” The normally-a-primarch laughed. “At least I didn't make too much of a mess when I arrived! If I'd acted more like the Emperor would have then I'd have thought this was some sorcerous trick!”
Fluttershy winced internally as she bumped into Gilda. Normally she was able to adroitly avoid the belligerent griffin, but she'd just... forgotten. Too much else to think about.
“Hey!” Gilda said, scowling, and then roared.
The roar was cut off within about a second, as two bright yellow hooves thudded into Gilda's torso. Air wooshed out in a strangled squawk, and the impact sent her beak over tail onto the road some distance away.
“Let me make one thing clear,” Lemon said, sounding more predatory than the griffin he was standing on top of – in spite of his high-pitched colt's voice. “You can challenge anyone you like to a fight. I don't mind that. But you force a fight with someone who can't protect themselves, and you answer to me.”
“Lemon!” Fluttershy said, sternly. “I know she's a bully, but that doesn't mean you can bully her back.”
“Sorry, little mother,” he said, shaking his head and stepping off Gilda. “I don't like seeing you hurt.”
“I know you don't,” Fluttershy replied. “But still.”
He nodded.
Fluttershy bent down to talk more privately. “When did you learn to fight like that?”
The colt smiled. “I'm a primarch. We're made good at fighting.”
38.6
“Sleipnir?”
The horse deity turned from his keyboards. (Yes, keyboards. Eight legs is helpful if you can multi-task.) “Yeah, mom?”
Loki winced. “Stop-”
“-calling you that,” Sleipnir finished. “Did you expect that any of your children would lack a sense of humour? It's hilarious how you react.”
Shaking his head, the trickster held up a hand. “A very good point. Though, speaking of my children, I've got a... request, from Fenris.”
It was Sleipnir's turn to wince. “I haven't forgotten when he chased me all around the room at his party.”
“You're a horse, he's a wolf, it's natural.” Loki's grin was back on his face. “Anyway. One of the Loopers he keeps an eye on needs a break. Badly. Is there a slot in one of your worlds you can drop her into?”
“Well...” Sleipnir turned back to his computer, and started typing away. “There is one relatively controllable fused loop opportunity coming up for Equestria, so I can drop her into that when her next out-loop slot comes in.”
“As soon as possible.” Loki paused. “Fenris is going to spend a lot of power on giving her this.”
“Well, if it's that urgent...” Sleipnir tapped a few more controls. “There, done.”
“Thank you.”
“Twilight...” Spike said, slowly reaching for his 'saber. “You might want to see this.”
His tone of voice was warning enough. Twilight stepped quickly up to the window. “What?”
All she could see was a fairly normal market day in Ponyville – the first following the Summer Sun celebration, true, so a little more nervous than normal, but nothing major.
Spike pointed, indicating a pale blue earth pony mare. “Her.”
Twilight squinted. “I still don't see it... is she a Looper?”
“Must be. And not a local.” Spike shot a glance at Twilight, then his eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry, I keep forgetting you're not an empath.”
“Just experience, that's all I have,” Twilight said with a shrug. “So, what is it?”
“That mare is about a hoof-length short of snapping. The Force feels like... like lightning's about to strike.” Spike's expression clouded. “The last time it felt this bad was... well, suffice to say force psychosis was involved.”
Twilight winced, wondering if he had been the one involved. She knew Spike had had the occasional issue with control – every Looper had – but she hadn't pried. Courtesy.
“So...” she mused. “What do we do?”
“Well...” Spike cracked his knuckles. “I'm the one with battle precognition, so I'll go talk to her. You send for the others and then hang around in case I need support.”
“Excuse me?” Spike said, as calmly as he could with his reflexes on high alert.
It was strange, feeling the fury and despair roiling from the mare's mind as she turned to him with a polite “yes?”
Whatever else, she had impressive emotional control.
“Well, I was wondering...” Spike considered, then went for broke. “Are you new to this loop?”
Her eyes widened. “Loop? Do you mean-” The question went unfinished.
“Time Loops, yes.”
“Are there such things as vampires here?” she asked, the words almost tumbling over one another.
“No,” Spike replied firmly.
“Are there such things as werewolves here?”
That one took a moment more thought. “No true werewolves, one hobbyist.” Fluttershy was Awake, after all.
The mare exhaled. “Right. Right. Thank you for the help.”
“Hold on,” Spike added, before she turned to go. “What's your name?”
“Clear Water,” she answered, and left at what looked like a cross between a canter and a lope.
“...so, any ideas?” Spike said, having finished reporting the conversation to the rest of the local Loopers.
“I think I know.” Twilight winced. “And if she's who I think she is, then she is in serious need of help.”
“Well, don't keep us in suspense, dear,” Rarity admonished.
Twilight reached into thin air, rummaged for a moment, and plonked a set of books down on the table.
“Oh, me,” Dash muttered, as they all looked at the front covers of the Twilight books.
Leah Clearwater sat back on her hind legs in the forest, not far from where she'd... appeared.
No vampires. No werewolves.
For once, she was safe.
Bending down, she bit off some grass. It tasted... bland, really.
She could live with that. Boring was something she needed.
Every rustle of a twig, every errant breeze... they set her off. Made her fine-tuned instincts scream warning, after hundreds of years of living on a knife-edge.
It was a simple equation.
Meet Edward Cullen when in human form, he finds out about her having travelled in time – and about her deep and abiding hatred of him.
Get too close to the pack when in wolf form, they find out the same thing – and a less bitter but still intense dislike.
Mistakes had gotten her killed before.
But she was safe here.
“Safe,” she murmured. Willing herself to believe it.
It would take some doing.
“Okay,” Twilight finally said, some hours later. “I think that's everything.”
Fifty or so suggestions had been pared down to the more realistic ones, and then again to the most important ones.
Equestria was a sanctuary loop, but technically their responsibilities ended there... but none of them felt comfortable not helping someone in that much trouble.
Stretching, the Anchor peered out the window at the long shadows of evening. Then blinked, and looked at a clock.
“Your Highnesses...” she said, weakly. “You're late.”
Celestia and Luna sat bolt upright in their chairs, exchanged a look, and changed day to night in seconds.
“Sorry,” Luna said with a wince. “Lost track of time.”
Twilight nodded. “Happens to all of us. I think I forgot the first time I was a Royal Sister... something about a research binge, and then the guards started asking why it was still Tuesday.”
Scattered chuckles greeted that remark.
“Anyway...” Twilight turned to Spike. “Can you check?”
He nodded, and closed his eyes. Three long, deep breaths, and they opened again. “I think she's asleep.”
“Right.” Twilight nodded at the princess of the night. “You're up.”
A pair of ice-cold eyes were staring down at her.
She ran, but nothing she could do got them off her. They were digging into her, revealing all her secrets to a man who had killed in the past and would kill in the future if he felt it to his advantage.
In a panic, she phased to wolf. The eyes closed, but nine other sets of pitiless golden eyes opened, all around her.
A kind of pitying dislike battered her thoughts. Contempt for her skills. Fear of the outlier – the female werewolf. Resentment that she dared to phase in front of them, coupled with lingering images of her own body – attached to an unmistakeable emotional overlay that made her feel dirty.
Hard to tell her thoughts from theirs. Impossible to keep secrets.
Her father, dying of shock from seeing her change shape. Her brother, upset to see her. Her boyfriend, with eyes only for another – again, and again, and again.
Self-loathing. What was wrong with her body? Why didn't it just work? Even when she didn't phase, it never... worked.
Then the flood of memories... stopped, as though cut with a knife.
A full moon shone gently down on her, in a calm and quiet forest.
The images, wolves and vampires, melted away.
“Leah Clearwater?”
She raised her head, looking for the speaker, and shifted back to human. “That's me.”
From a pool of moonlight, a... well, a winged unicorn... faded into view. “This is a dream – it was a nightmare, and a bad one. Are you alright?”
She chuckled. “I've been worse.”
The unicorn nodded. “You are currently in Equestria's time loop, not your own. I have the ability to walk in dreamscapes, and wished to come here to extend an offer to you.”
Leah blinked. “Okay. Sure.” She shook her head, as memory returned. “I'm in horseland at the moment.”
“Equestria,” the unicorn stressed slightly. “I am Princess Luna, younger of the diarchs of the nation you are in.”
“Luna,” Leah repeated. “Well, you know who I am... so, why?”
Luna pursed her lips – an interesting sight, on a horse. “We are familiar with the world you are from. Frankly, we feel sorry for you.”
“I don't need pity.” Leah's response was instant.
“An admirable trait... but only if not taken too far.” Luna shook her head. “It is not pity, so much as...” she paused. “I have no personal experience with your world. But from what I have been told, that you are still sane is quite the accomplishment.”
“You're not convincing me,” Leah said, frowning. “Sorry, but...”
Luna clamped down on what she was about to say, and mulled over her words for some time. Finally, she began again. “Please, consider it. Though I would not presume to bribe you, nor to offer you coercion, I think it would be good for you. And...” another silence. “One of our number, one of the younger loopers, has experience with how to construct a mental shield. One which remains operative no matter your form.”
Leah tried to damp the incredible spike of relief which those words woke, remembering all the other times things had gone wrong. “That's a powerful incentive.”
Silence returned, stretching for several more minutes.
“Where would I find you?” Leah eventually asked.
Luna sighed with relief. “In the town you were in earlier this day, there is a tree with a house built into it just off the main square. Two of us may be found within... along with a selection of library books.”
The werewolf surprised herself with a chuckle. “Okay. I'm not promising anything, but...”
Luna bowed, then smiled. “Confine when you go to sleep to the hours of darkness, and I will do all I can to keep you from nightmares. That is a gift.”
With that, she slowly faded from view.
Now alone in the dream-scape, Leah shifted back into a wolf.
Then she lay with her muzzle on her paws, and cried.
Mac walked into the Books and Branches, carrying a satchel of books on each flank. “Afternoon, Twilight.”
“Hello, Mac,” Twilight replied with a smile. “Harvest done?”
“Yep.” Mac started unloading the books – mostly reference books about alchemy, along with something about liquid rocket fuel. “AJ got lazy and did 'em with telekinesis. Thanks fer th' loans.”
“It's no trouble.” Twilight shrugged. “What were you doing with them, by the way?”
“Tryin' to come up with somethin' potent enough fer a dragon.” Mac shook his head. “No go so far.”
Twilight picked up the rocket fuel book and opened it at the first reference tab. “This is about hydrazine.”
“Spike didn't even burp.” Mac chuckled. “One o' these days ah'm gonna invent a tumbler material that can handle Chlorine Triflouride. That should do it.”
Twilight winced.
The bell jangled as she flipped through Mac's notes. “Come in.”
“Is this a bad time?”
She looked up, and saw it was a somewhat-familiar blue mare. Leah.
“No, it's fine. Mac knows.” Twilight flared her horn, flipping the door sign to closed. “Okay, let's get this sorted out.”
“How much do you know about the loops?” Twilight asked, offering Leah her choice of benches in the underground lecture room.
(She had an underground lecture room this loop. Trixie had insisted on a suitably elaborate underground base.)
“Not much,” Leah admitted. “I know I'm – I was – stuck in some kind of sick Groundhog day thing, but years long.”
“Okay.” Twilight nodded, levitating a thin wooden stick and clicking to the first slide. “The Time Loops started when the computer that basically underlies all reality – Yggdrasil – got badly damaged. The Loops are a kind of fail-safe mode, which is how reality is being preserved as it's worked on and fixed.”
She clicked to a second slide. “At first, just five worlds started looping, and the rest were static. Time passed, and the area being stabilized expanded – resulting in more looping worlds. We're in my home world, Equestria, several steps down the line. Yours is at least six more, but we haven't done a precise count – the idea of 'at the same time' kind of blurs in this situation.”
Twilight paused. “Oh, feel free to stop me if you have any questions.”
Leah just nodded.
“Now, each looping world has what's called an Anchor. They're the person who keeps it stable. Other people loop, but the Anchor is the one who always does – others may or may not.”
“Does that mean that I'm one of these Anchors, then?” Leah asked.
“I'm almost certain you are,” Twilight replied. “I'd be surprised if you weren't. Now, the reason you're in my world is what's called a fused loop. These are a bit more complicated...”
After the lecture was over, Leah remained silent for a few minutes.
“I see,” she said eventually. “So... does that mean the reason I can't have children...”
“It might be partly due to your phasing,” Twilight hedged, “but no looper can have children anyway unless they did the first time around, as I understand it.”
“Good to know I'm not that much of a freak...” Leah muttered to herself. “Right. Okay. Just one question – how do you all know so much about me?”
“That's... one of the stranger things,” Twilight said, picking up a set of books on a sideboard with her magic. “Every world we've ever discovered in the loops, bar one, is like a version of some fictional material from another world. Yours isn't the lone exception.”
She deposited the books in front of Leah.
“Sorry to say, they're mostly from Bella's point of view.”
Leah picked the first one up. “Twilight?”
“Yes?” Twilight said, then winced. “Oh, that's going to happen a lot this loop...”
“Wait, your name's Twilight?”
“Twilight Sparkle. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before...”
Leah blinked, then burst out laughing. It was a slightly hysterical, desperate laugh in character – but it was laughter.
“Oh, my sides...” she said, panting, as the fit wound down. “That's bad.”
“I'm not usually a walking pun!” Twilight protested. “Just when this universe comes up.”
“Mine, you mean.” Calming down, Leah opened the first book. “Ew... sparkly vampire.”
She looked up. “Edward's a lot scarier than this in reality, though.”
Twilight nodded soberly. “I can barely imagine. I've actually been to your world, once, though I was actually in Bella's place – I don't think your world had started looping yet. I neutralized the Cullen's magic and had them arrested.”
Leah's jaw dropped. “That's... that's perfect. That's the best revenge I could have come up with!”
The unicorn shrugged, embarrassed. “I don't like killing.”
“Neither do I,” Leah said, then shrugged. The gesture carried a deep weariness. “Not like I have much choice sometimes, though.”
The silence stretched out after that.
After a few minutes, they heard the library bell tinkle again.
“That must be the others. I'll go tell them where we are.” Twilight stepped to the door, then paused. “If you want to, you can read those books to get some sense of how your world works from the point of view of Bella. I won't force you, though.”
“Okay.” Leah nodded.
“And – I want to make one thing clear, Leah. If we're making you uncomfortable, say so and we'll stop. If you want to go, we'll let you. We won't force you to do or think anything, and we'll make clear what we can do so you can make a judgement call.”
For a moment, Twilight's eyes seemed to harden. “Equestria is a safe loop. And that's one thing we all know you need.”
Twilight waited until the others were seated, then sat down herself.
“Everything going all right?”
“Fine,” Spike replied.
Diamond Tiara and Fluttershy nodded their agreement.
“There's more of us than this,” Twilight added to Leah, “but these three are probably the ones you'll get the most help from first. Okay, guys, full disclosure.”
Tiara spoke first. “My name is Diamond Tiara. I am a P-2 telepath and telempath thanks to a rather strange fused loop, though I'm deliberately not trying to receive right now. I'm trained in how to teach others to shield.”
Leah nodded. “Yeah, that's going to be immensely helpful. That jerk Edward...”
“And the pack,” Twilight added gently. “Shielding works both ways – project and receive.”
The visiting anchor looked down for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was slightly raw. “Keep going.”
Spike cleared his throat. “I'm Spykoranuvellitar – I usually go by Spike. I'm a dragon, and since one of my first fused loops was in the Star Wars world, I'm basically a Jedi. That makes me a receiving empath by default, though again I'm maintaining your privacy as far as I can.”
Leah shook her head. “This is just...”
“Overwhelming?” Twilight suggested. “I've had that myself. We actually corresponded with the team who were our own sort-of creators once.”
“I'd like to give mine a punch to the jaw,” Leah said sotto voce. “What about you?”
“Um... I'm Fluttershy. I specialize in animals and vetinary work, and I'm... sort of a shapeshifter.”
“Huh. Well, fair enough.” Leah looked around. “What about... Luna, was it?”
“She's asleep right now, I think,” Twilight said, checking the time. “She said she was helping you have dreamless sleeps.”
“Yeah. I'd... like to thank her, if I can.”
“Shouldn't be a problem,” Twilight said confidently. “Our loops tend to last several years, you'll have the time. Now, I'd guess that you'd like to learn from Tiara first. Is that correct?”
Leah nodded. “Yes. I'd... really appreciate being able to keep my thoughts mine.”
Spike stood up. “Okay. D.T, do you want me as the other side?”
“Sounds good.” Diamond Tiara stood as well, and frowned. “Wait, where's the side rooms in this place? I lost track of the corridors, I've never been down here.”
“We've never had this before,” Twilight replied. “Trixie built it. I'll show you the route.”
“Right, gotcha. Suppose we're lucky she didn't build a space station...”
“Okay, not bad. Now, try and hold it for a few minutes.” Tiara looked across at Spike and nodded.
Spike reached out a hand, closed his eyes, and focused.
There were a few seconds of silence, then Leah winced. “Ow. Who did that?”
“That was me,” Spike admitted. “Tiara wanted me to test if you could pick up an attempt to read you. Looks like you can.”
“Well, that's something...” Leah rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “I'm guessing you still got in, though?”
“No, actually,” Spike said. “The shield held until you started talking. You're doing fine.”
“It's been a week...” Leah said. “I know you have school and stuff, Tiara, but I feel like this is taking forever.”
The filly thought about it. “Actually, taking into account all the meditation I've been getting you to do when I'm at school or at home, you're about average.”
She made a face. “I know Bella takes, what, three hours to get her magical anti-mind-reading shield to cover an entire platoon's worth of people, but that's not normal. Hay, I've got an advantage at this sub-field, and it took me ages to manage a group shield.”
“Advantage?” Leah asked, trying to form a shield again.
“You've seen my cutie mark?” Leah nodded, and Tiara went on. “Well, one of the things we've noticed in the loops is that they have a lot of interpretations. Mine's got a diamond in it, so... hard shields is the aspect of psionics I'm especially good at.”
Spike chuckled. “That and being a diamond-hard hard-assed b-”
“Aren't Jedi supposed to be above name-calling?” Diamond Tiara asked archly.
“Not that I'm aware of!” Spike replied cheerfully.
Leah chuckled, still concentrating.
“Sorry, guys,” Tiara said, getting up. “I've got to head home now. Dad gets upset if I'm out too late.”
“That, right there.” Leah shook her head. “It's so... strange, I suppose. I mean, I've been through hundreds of years and all that, but... it's strange to think of a kid doing that.” A shadow passed across her face. “Apart from that half-vampire one from my home.”
“You think it's strange to think about?” Tiara asked. “Try living it. I've been in charge of armies before, and now I've got a bed time...”
“Is that common?”
“Well, I'm about Tiara's age, in one sense.” Spike shrugged. “But dragons can grow with strong enough emotion, and Twilight and I reverse-engineered it so I can basically change physical age at will.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah, that's about how everyone reacts.” Spike opened the door for Tiara to leave, then glanced back at Leah. “Should I get Fluttershy to come down?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Well, what helps me is that... I don't think of it as being 'me and the wolf'...” Fluttershy paused. “Or me and the panther, or me and the budgie, or... well, any animal – they're just me. I'm sort of comfortable-ish in a lot of forms, but that's because of practise.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean in one way.” Leah lay back against the wall. “But... well, every time I see Imprinting, every time I get given an order by an Alpha, it frightens me. My wolf side has instincts – powerful ones – that it feels like could take over at any time. Stop me from being me.”
“Right.” Fluttershy nodded. “Okay, let's have a look at this from a different direction. Could you transform for me, please?”
Leah nodded, and erupted outwards into her lupine form. At a gesture, she padded out to the centre of the room.
Fluttershy walked around her, muttering under her breath and occasionally casting a small spell.
“I think I see,” she said, a few minutes later. “You're not quite a natural wolf – but we already knew that. The unusual thing about it seems to be linked to how you got the form in the first place... and yes, your instincts are misfiring. They're originally from a male wolf, and the conversion to female didn't go quite right. I think we can sort it out with a few weeks' time.”
Leah shifted back to pony. “Will that last?”
“It should do. They're already trying to snap into the right shape, they just don't know what the right shape is... for an unusual interpretation of 'know', of course.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“It's no trouble at all,” Fluttershy insisted. “Though I'd like to get my hooves on the shamans who cast this spell. I'd... give them a big telling off.”
Leah laughed.
“As for the two things you mentioned – neither of them is natural. They're like... some stupid idea of how wolves actually work.” Fluttershy frowned momentarily. “Wolves mate for life, but they don't instantly lock onto a mate. That's... silly. And if a wolf doesn't want to listen to the pack alphas, they just leave.”
“You seem pretty angry about it,” Leah ventured.
“I am. Well,” the pegasus backpedalled, blushing. “Cross. I'm cross, because wolves don't behave like that and because all these changes do is hurt people. They're almost like curses.”
“Now that I can believe.”
“Though...” Fluttershy paced in a circle. “No, I can't be sure enough. I'll let you know if I get anything.”
Leah nodded. “Sure. Now, what's for lunch?”
Fluttershy rummaged in a set of saddlebags. “Here we are. Watercress sandwiches.”
“Sorry I'm late,” Spike said, pushing the door open. “I had to help Twilight and the others with the Nightmare Night preparations.”
Tiara nodded, and gestured to Spike's seat. As he sat down, she gave him a meaningful look and then pointed at Leah.
He closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force. Gently at first, then with more and more power behind it.
“Well?” Tiara asked some minutes later, when he sat back.
“Couldn't get anything. In or out. You?”
“Me neither.” Diamond Tiara grinned. “Well done, Leah. That shield should hold up against anything, so long as you can hold it.”
Leah looked at them, still holding the shield. “What's next?”
“Next, we make sure you can hold it when you're under stress.” Tiara tapped a hoof on the floor. “I was going to ask how we stress-test her, but the answer's simple. Trixie.”
“...yeah, that'll work if anything will,” Spike agreed. “I'll let her know.”
“Still, she deserves a week or so off,” Tiara mused. “What about Nightmare Night itself?”
“Which is?”
“I think the earth equivalent is an American-style Halloween. Lots of costumes, that sort of thing – and trick-or-treating.” Spike grinned. “I'm going as Captain America!”
Leah blinked. “Why?”
“Because it is hilarious to watch everypony trying to work out what the costume is,” Spike answered. “Want to join us? I'm going around with Tiara, her friend Silver and the Crusaders, because they need someone to look after them.”
“I could kill you with my mind,” Tiara said blandly.
“Yeah, but then Rarity would avenge me.” Spike shrugged. “How about it?”
“So I'd just, what, phase to wolf and spend the evening getting candy?” They nodded. “Sure.”
“Let's see...” Fluttershy said, pacing in a circle around Leah just outside a thin circle of wolf fur. “I think that's everything...”
She looked at Leah. “If you want to back out of this, then now is the time. It will be... painful.”
“I'm ready,” Leah said promptly. “Do it.”
The pegasus nodded, then erupted with light.
Leah clamped down on her instinctive reaction to flinch, and forced herself to keep looking.
When the light died down, there was a glittering necklace hanging from Fluttershy's neck – and she was an alicorn.
Silently, her horn began to glow.
The yellow fingers of magic spread out to fill the room, then concentrated into the fur circle. It took on a golden lustre, rose into the air-
Pain lanced through Leah. Unbidden, she phased to wolf, and the magic jumped across from the fur to her.
Foreign thoughts invaded her mind. Simple thoughts – the behaviour of a normal wolf. There was some sapience there, some ability to reason – some language – but not much.
Then her own, old instincts awoke, rising from the depths of her mind to take over.
She screamed as the two sets of instructions clashed, with a sensation like fire running down her spine and up through her head. Her personality – what made her her – was shunted aside, only able to observe. And hurt.
For a moment, she seemed to be entirely outside her own body, looking down on it as it flailed in agony. Then everything went black.
“Are you alright?” Fluttershy's voice woke her.
Leah opened her eyes, and wished she hadn't. A migrane stabbed her in both eyes, and she closed them again with a yelp.
“Oh, dear...” Fluttershy said sadly. “Hold on, try this.”
Soothing warmth spread through her. “There.”
This time, opening her eyes just got her a headache. She tried to stand, and fell over when her paws didn't want to work properly.
“Don't worry. You'll be fine in a minute.” Fluttershy's next sentence sounded apologetic. “I had to sort-of rebuild your instincts from the ground up, so they're still calibrating.”
“Ow...” Leah muttered... then blinked. “Dihd aye jussst-”
Fluttershy eeped. “Oops. I think this means you got the optional extra...”
Shaking her head, Leah tried again. This time, it came out a little closer to intelligible. “How cahn I tallk?”
“I might have made a mistake,” Fluttershy admitted. “I've had to cast Origin of Species a few times before, but usually speech is just part of what goes into it. I think I included it out of habit.”
“Well... no harm done, I suppose,” Leah said, feeling her jaw. “Man, but that's going to confuse the rest of the Pack.”
She sniffed the air.
“Oh, you must be hungry.” Fluttershy trotted over to the door, left for a minute, and came back in as Leah was trying to stand up again. Something big dragged on the floor behind her. “Here. It's venison.”
“Are... you okay with that kind of thing? Hunting?”
Fluttershy shrugged. “I fill up half my subspace pocket with ethically sourced meat whenever I get a chance, because – yes, animals here do tend to sapience. But this is fine. Roast, actually.”
Leah needed no further instructions.
“Okay, so... how long did that take?” Leah asked, still slightly startled by how much food she'd put away.
“The magic?” Fluttershy checked. At Leah's nod, she went on. “Three days.”
“...okay, wow.”
“Epic-grade magic is like that.” Fluttershy shrugged. “I can't cast it very often, either, it drains me in ways which are permanent. But-” she held up a hoof, forestalling what Leah was about to say. “I don't mind.”
“Well... thanks.”
Fluttershy smiled.
“Seriously,” Leah went on. “You guys have been great to me. I was a wreck when I got here, and...”
“Don't worry about it.” Fluttershy stood. “Now, you still need to finish recalibrating your instincts... want to go for a run?”
Leah stood, finding it much easier than even ten minutes ago. “Sure.”
Two shapes, one larger than the other, loped through the uncertain light beneath the boughs.
The smaller one changed course, bounding off a tree trunk to turn, and the larger one threw up divots of earth as she matched it.
They emerged into a clearing where a tree had recently fallen, and the smaller one gathered herself before leaping at a startled bear. The impact bowled the bear over entirely, and the smaller wolf licked his throat before jumping off.
“So...” the larger wolf said, amused. “Counting coup?”
The smaller one nodded, with a trace of embarrassment. The bear, meanwhile, headed home in confusion.
“Anywhere I can give that a go?”
The smaller wolf nodded again and turned, tossing her head to tell the larger one to follow.
“So, this is it, huh?” Leah said.
“Pretty much,” Twilight replied. “Our loop normally ends tonight.”
“Well, in case I don't get another chance... thanks, all of you.” Leah smiled. “You've been lovely.”
The various loopers of Equestria shuffled, embarrassed.
Leah looked again at the small bracelet she'd been given. Well over a dozen silver charms dangled off it, most of them styled for cutie marks of those she'd met here. (The rest were a little more allegorical – Spike, for example, was represented by a silver flame.)
Then she dropped it into her new subspace pocket, where it wouldn't get lost. She could only keep one thing in it at the moment, but – well, one was enough.
“How are you going to spend the last evening?” Twilight asked.
Leah shrugged. “Not got a particular plan, really. Why?”
Twilight grinned. “Good. Pinkie?”
Then a hundred party poppers detonated at once.
Leah's eyes opened, showing her the ceiling of her room.
Her room at La Push.
For a moment, she wondered if it was a dream – then she concentrated, and the bracelet appeared in a little flicker of light.
She smiled happily, then put it away again. Not a dream.
Standing up, she contemplated exactly how to do things this time.
As the three new vampires emerged from the treeline, they arrayed themselves so that one of the males was in front of the others. Clearly, Bella reasoned, he must be the leader.
And their eyes... were red. Sinister red.
Then something very large and silvery-grey shot past her, cannoned into the other male, and tore him apart.
Bella could hear Alice's exclamation of surprise, and tried to work out what that could mean. Could it be that Alice hadn't seen this?
Beside her, Edward muttered something about being unable to 'read' the newcomer.
While that had been going on, the enormous thing – creature – wolf turned whiplash-fast and pounced on the female vampire.
Glittering venom and chunks of vampire went flying.
Several crowded seconds later, and all that was left of the newcomers was debris.
Then the wolf snorted in satisfaction, and... flowed into the form of a young adult woman. Wearing nothing at all.
Bella gasped. Esme put her hand over Edward's eyes.
“Hey!” the woman shouted – by her features, she was one of the Quilettes. A werewolf? “Can one of you burn these tossers? I don't have a lighter.”
With that, she blurred again, and loped off.
Bella could swear she was laughing.
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I had the feeling you were going to update today.
Stand by for the Season 4-based loops!!
I really like the loops with the Road Runner (but does that mean Warner Bros' characters can also enter Equestria? Can you imagine Yosemite Sam or, worse, Pepe Le Pew in Equestria?); the Green, er, Pink Lantern; Lemon Rush visiting his mom Fluttershy (bet he grew up to join the Royal Guard); and the one with the poor werewolf gal.
Huzzah! I remembered a problem with my own loops, so I'll have to fix that before I submit it.
(Random question, though. If it's a fused loop outside of Equestria, at that point Twilight doesn't have to be awake only if she isn't in that world, yes? (Like, she'd be awake that loop, being an Anchor, but on another world.))
3531645
There has to be AN Anchor Awake. It can be the local one, or even a completely different one (see the Loop where Spike and Rarity were Eragon and Saphira respectively - Hiccup was there, and he was the Anchor for that particular iteration of loop.) It is indeed possible for someone who is normally an Anchor to not be Awake, so long as there is an Awake Anchor present.
3531698 Alrighty, thanks! Think I've figured out how to fix my mistake with just a few edits, so that shouldn't be a problem. Woohoo!
38.1 Does it gotta be classical? Has Black Dog already been suggested? At least that's what I immediately thought of.
3531832
Not sure that's an object...
“A magic flute?”
This reminds me of two things, and both have to do with band camp, and the second is referencing the first in either event. Now I know what I want to do for a Loop.
38.1 - Where do I begin?
there is the Nutcracker;
Than we have Mignon (though that can be a bit meta);
ride of the valkyries?
The Beauty Stone?
La púrpura de la rosa (The Blood of the Rose)?
Oh. oh - The Mask of Orpheus;
The Lighthouse;
The Medium (meta again?);
Arlecchino (Harlequin) the iconic costume is sometimes referred to by the same name;
Fedora;
Queen of spades;
and that's only classical pieces.
Which universe isn't a fictional sorce here?
3532276
It's known as the "hub" world because so much of the rest of the multiverse is fiction there. Basically, it's ours - but the unique thing about it from the point of view of people from elsewhere in the multiverse is just that it's not a setting of fiction. And that it's the "default" world.
3531921 Make it a small ebony/onyx/obsidian figurine. When activated it calls forth a traditional British ghost dog complete with glowing red eyes. Spooooooky.
Edit: Marty Robbins offers a hand cannon with his famous Big Iron.
Edit again: Dick Dale has a Taco Wagon for all your snacking needs.
38.1: Obviously Misho's bike.
38.4: Pinkie with a Lantern? AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH *runs away*
38.5: Lemon Rush's first time in Equestria? ALL OF MY YES!
38.6: I never thought I'd enjoy a Twilight (sparkly, not Sparkle) centric loop. Good job proving me wrong.
3532515
I will freely admit that at least half of my train of thought when planning out the Leah loop was "Okay, we know that there are good ideas and good characters in Twilight. That's what makes it so frustrating how mishandled it was".
So I decided to save Leah, and get in some more Flutterwolf for a bonus.
3532662
So yeah, win.
Oh, right. Forgot to mention.
Steel or copper will do (or aluminum, but that's probably expensive as hell in Equestria)*. You're welcome! (The more pressing problem is keeping it in the tumbler, since it is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure)
*Source: Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants, by John D. Clark. It's a great book, I can't recommend it enough.
3533753
That's actually the book that Mac was returning.
And since the book contains an example of the cryogenically cooled liquid in a steel container making the container brittle and causing a rupture... well, a glass which dumps the liquid onto your lap is bad enough for a normal drink...
Once again a good set of loop's. I love this story.
3532662 i loved the Leah loop too but i have to say something, twilight is at heart trashy romance novel the differnce betweean it and thousands of others is that it just got really popouler
Nice, I loved the references in this loop set! Also one more thing. Do you still take story loops from other authors?
And one more thing. I am going to add this in the perpetual discussion group, It has great material that can be discussed.
And one more thing. Have a great day.
As someone who also reads Das_Mervin's sporkings, thank you so much. This whole Leah loop just made me so happy. Just seeing her get a nicer life...it just filled me with all kinds of warm fuzzies. Friendship really is magic, Leah!
The best tumbler material I can think of for Mac's drink idea would be fluorite, a not-too-uncommon mineral. As it's already a fluoride, it won't react to the drink, and gem-quality fluorite would make a nice snack afterwards.
You'd have to flood the bar with argon to serve it safely, though, and chill the glasses ahead of time (it boils at "cool fall evening" temperatures). Good luck!
Right now that sounds delicious. But that means I have to go to the store to buy Watercress (always thought it was spelled Watercrass, pronunciations why you so silly?), bread and perhaps some cheese. Cheese and Watercress is a surpringly good combination.
Random question, do the Looney Tunes loop? I remember Bugs back in the earlier ones but not sure he was looping.
4026741
If you do, PLEASE do one, it will be hilarious to see the Looney Toons get in trouble in Equestria.
3532307 the "Hub" World...
IC What U Did There...!
/) 
Woo doggie
That Loop with Leah was actually nice and well deserved with how her normal loop is.
And I finally get that one weird loop in the HTTYD Loops which had her in it.
Praise the Sun about that cause that loop with a middle earth with dragon dwarves was epic.
Ah yes, you fixed Leah, thank you.
3531764 Fixed yet?
As I'm reading over Leah's entrance into the Loops, I'm once more trying to figure out all of the vitriol that ponies on this site spew at the Twilight novels.
I never really thought that they were that bad. From a story-telling perspective, they're actually fairly decent.
From a literary perspective, they're a fucking quagmire. Meyers made many of the mistakes common to waspish teen romance novels. What's bad is when you put those against some of her technical decisions concerning the supernatural characters she used.
First off was how she treated the main character. For three-fourths of the series, Bella Swan was a whiny, wimpy, emotional teen that waffled about which one of the boy toys trailing after her she wanted to jerk around this week. She had no magic, no real strength, and no real redeeming qualities outside of her ability to buck up when it came to what happened to her outside of her own control.
Then there's what she did with her vampires. Setting aside the fact that modern use of vampiric lore is a mixture of genres for the moment. Meyers basically threw everything except for those few historically confirmed legends concerning vampires. However, she really hurt herself by making her vampires sparkle of all things. Add to this her quasi-magical quasi-not magical special talents, and you have a horrid mix of genres. Edward being the tragic anti-hero that falls for the human doesn't work in this mix simply because you can't classify Meyer's vampires as vampires.
Them we get to the werewolves. First, we have the fact that they're not even werewolves. Then there's all that stupid imprinting shit, not to mention all of that Alpha pack nonsense. Wolves simply don't work that way.
What this all boils down to is that Meyers created a teen romance series wrapped up in a poorly thought out supernatural setting. It was essentially a shot-in-the-dark, and worked with teen audiences mostly because of the teen drama, and not because of the supernatural aspects. I do think the author has something that could be considered ground-breaking here; however, she really needs to distance her creatures from the standard tropes more than what she has. Many of the scenes she set in place really work from a story-telling perspective.
She failed in the literary perspective though.
So, while I do understand why ponies hate the Twilight novels so much, I won't admit to the same feelings. Why? Because a solid forty percent of what I consider really good fiction fails from a literary standpoint, often because those standards are simply too fucking high. I read stories for their story-telling value, and as a form of escapism. The last is why I despise grimdark and horror for the most part; I like to see the hero win, not get fucked in the end. There's already too much of that IRL as it is.
This is just my thoughts. I'll still laugh at the occasional Twilight joke though; after all, sparkly vampires is just silly.
that part with Pinkie and the Portals made me think of this:
7649115
…that looked painful
7356119
Did...you just logically explain why Twilight (the book series) is terrible?
38.6
Loki: Oh, and be sure to tell your Uncle Thor that I can’t make lunch with him tomorrow like we initially planned.
Sleipnir: Did Feige call you in for more Infinity War reshoots?
Loki: Actually, no. Remember what’s going on with 20th Century Fox recently?
Sleipnir: Ar- are you going to meet the X-Men?
Loki: No... but I AM seeing Deadpool. And yes, I’ll get you an autograph
Sleipnir: ..... EEEEEEE!
I, for one, do not appreciate this portrayal of the Twilight Saga. Sure, the execution could've been better, but Stephanie did a good job of painting Bella's world. And besides, who says Edward grew up at all post-bite. He might still be that same teenager for the last 90 years. Teens can get a little cuckoo, but we grow out of it (and have regular human lives, experiences, limitations). His brain, hormones, all of it, may not have changed; not grown, Only stagnated. In short, just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you should trash it. Hay, I don't even like it. But I also have a hard time stomaching it when torches are being lit.
I get a little nervous at the way fluttershy talked about permanent cost for the epic grade spell. Is that through the loops ore just this one loop?
9678071
Through the loops, but it's "Experience" - she can earn it back.
Where can I read this...
Want to know what exactly was written.
10751226
The community's TVTropes page is here.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Blog/DasSporking
oh, 38.2 reminded me of a crazy old comic book i have, where Wile E Coyote decided it was ACME's fault he alway failed, and stopped paying his bills, so they sent their best bill collector after him...
Daffy Duck!
Daffy eventually tricked him into buying a bunch of feathers from "the Amalgamated Chicken Merchants Emporium-you can just use the initials."