• 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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Loops 6

Caution - this loop (6.1) is probably the worst in the entire compilation, almost certainly the worst by me. It's poorly done, has misconceptions, has outright mistakes, and generally speaking is rubbish. Do NOT rely on it for an accurate impression of the setting it crosses with; indeed, go read that setting and decide for yourself.

I'm keeping it here only to remind myself, in the future, that I can write absolute tat. So I should try not to.

6.1


Twilight blinked awake. “Oh. Hmmm, large wagon stuffed with books… ooh, maybe I’m replacing Trixie this Loop. That might be fun-”

At that point, the Loop memories arrived.

“WHAT?” The shout almost shook the wagon. “Okay, no. No way in Tartarus am I going along with this loop.”

Luna being the reigning Princess? Fine. That had happened before.

Trixie, not her, being the Element of Magic? Entirely sensible. No problems there.

But her being obsessive about the technical definition of magic? Having grown up nearly friendless, with Shining apparently having taken no hoof in her life?

Like. Buck.


“Hi.”

Trixie, Element of Magic and Student of Princess Luna, turned. “What is it?”

“Oh, well, I’m Twilight Sparkle. Kind of a fan, actually, but anyway – I had a question. Those Elements of Harmony? Ever tried setting them to broad beam?”

Trixie frowned. “Do what?”

“Broad beam. As per the paper by Lucky Strike in seven-thirty-four, any harmonic effect spell can be set to a number of modes from narrow beam to continent cleanse, as they’re refinements of the original area-burst effect made use of by Clover, Pansy and Cookie at the Founding.” Twilight rattled off magical formulae, parading out academic papers in front of the increasingly bewildered Trixie. “…so if you induce a deliberate harmonic of 14 hertz on the primary element and 15-20 inclusive on the others, it should produce a cresting-wave form which spreads to cover an area of reasonable size, and hence catch any quiescent or otherwise unnoticed corruption of any type in the area. And, well, better safe than sorry and all that.”

“…sorry, did you have a point?” Trixie asked. “I lost track less than half way into that.”

“But I thought you were Princess Luna’s special student?” Twilight asked, puzzled. “This stuff is final year optional material at the academy, admittedly, but I read the syllabus and it’s on one of the most often taken secondary modules. You… didn’t take it?”

“No.” Trixie replied. “I focused more on practical applications of magic, thank you.”

“Huh.” Twilight frowned. “That’s actually very disappointing. Well, sorry to trouble you.” With a flash, Twilight disappeared, leaving her notes and papers.

Trixie blinked. I didn’t even feel a magical signature from that teleport… it just happened.

Maybe this Twilight was onto something… it couldn’t hurt to look, she supposed…


“…so, long story short, there’s a big difference between working hard and actively trying to push out all competitors.” Twilight explained to Applejack. “It’s just not conducive to good will, if nothing else.”

“Well, that explains a whole lot.” Applejack said, looking into the middle distance. “If they’d only gone and told me that instead of carryin’ on about that ah was wrong, ah’d have had a lot better idea what they were after tryin’ to say.”

Twilight shrugged. “Glad to help.”


“What the hell are you doing asleep!”

Dash jerked awake, and looked over to see a purple pegasus with her forelegs crossed, hovering next to the cloud.

“Who are-”

“You’re Rainbow Dash, right?”

“Yes!” Dash replied, confused. “Why?”

“What did you get your cutie mark for, sleeping? You’re an athlete, not a lazybones!”

Stung, Dash made a grab for her tormenter, who slipped easily out of the way. “Hey, get back here!”

“You’re supposed to be fast.” The pegasus stuck her tongue out. “Make me.”

Seeing red, Dash launched herself forwards.


Twilight grinned, pumping her wings hard. This version of Dash was a layabout, which made frankly no sense given she still had the rainbow-thunderbolt cutie mark indicating that she’d broken the sound barrier in the past. Twilight had the sense her friend had slipped into a destructive spiral at some point in the past, like Applejack and the others.

And when Dash went into a destructive spiral, there was precisely one way to get her out of it.

Going into a spin, Twilight shaped the weather magic around her, then flared her wings and dropped abruptly out of the chase. Dash, startled, overshot and kept going – into a horizontal tail wind Twilight had set up.

BOOM.

“My work here is done.” Twilight grinned, transitioning through alicorn and back to unicorn. “Now, where’s Fluttershy…”


“Why are we doing this?” Lyra asked.

Trixie sighed, rubbing her temples. “Look, some unicorn came up to me and handed me this ridiculously detailed – like, thesis length – documentation on how harmony based effects work, and she seemed really disappointed I couldn’t follow it. Like I’d let her down, or something. I just thought I… I didn’t want all her work to be in vain, okay?”

Ditzy nodded. “Makes sense!”

“Right.” Trixie focused, pulling gently on the thread connected to the Element of Magic. It responded, slightly wilfully at first – then there seemed to be an almost audible click and it fell into place.

Concentrating hard, she worked in a frequency flutter to each element as it activated. Right, that’s all of them, now what-


Rainbow light chased across the country. Misty shapes, like horses, fled as it approached.


Princess Luna blinked. “What the buck was I thinking? Of course hereditary nobility is a bad idea if you don’t give them oversight and let them punish entire towns for a slight! Gaah!”


Twilight nodded to herself – job well done. “I thought so. Celestia’s magic is kind of important in keeping the northern barrier intact, so without her we had a serious case of Windigo.”

Rarity and Fluttershy were a little more shocked – having just got at least a bit used to a Pinkie Pie Party, the rush of strangely familiar magic had caused them to drop their cake.

“Oh, that reminds me.” Twilight levitated out an orange-chased egg. “This is a phoenix egg I found. Would you mind taking care of it, Fluttershy? I’m sure you’ll do fine.”


6.2


“Marvellous work, Rarity.” Sapphire Shores said, looking her new dress over. “I must say, you did excellent work.”

Rarity nodded. Every time, the dress for Sapphire was different. No coasting for this fashion designer!

“Oh, that reminds me,” the diva continued. “I was having a talk with one of your friends outside, and she made the most marvellous suggestion. I’d like to have at least fifty-two dresses, please. By next week if possible.”

Rarity’s eyes bulged beneath her mane. “How many?”

“Fifty two. Oh, and they each have to be made of a single, different material. Must rush, so I’ll be back for them in a week.” Sapphire said, and left before Rarity could close her gaping jaw.

Twilight came in, looking over her shoulder at the departing fashion icon. “Sorry, Rarity. I didn’t think she’d actually do it.”

“No, this is… is… perfect!” Rarity gasped, and began moving things around. “Right, I need… let’s see… I need the element of Generosity. Magical healing does away with the need for sleep, right?”

“I-” Twilight cut off her own sentence, as she watched Rarity dashing around and picking up more and more objects in her TK. “Did she say how much she’d pay?”

“Well, no…” the levitating tools slowed for a moment, then accelerated again. “But who cares! This shall be my crowning achievement!” Rarity summoned the Element of Generosity, and activated its secondary healing power. “To work!”

“Right, you seem to have things under control.” Twilight said brightly, backing out of the door. “Let me know if you need anything.”


“Okay…” Rarity ticked off, eyes shining. “Silk, cotton, flax, linen, satin, velvet, lycra, hay, that newfangled nylon… oh, of course, wool! I must not forget wool!” Two knitting needles levitated into the air, and got to work knitting a dress. “I have to emphasize the unique qualities of each material, not downplay them…”

She frowned. “Does Cashmere count as a kind of wool? I don’t know, how frustrating! Oh, it must be, I’ll make it very distinctive!”


Sweetie Belle held her pillow over her ears. Rarity was still going! It had been three days!

Eventually she reached a decision. “Hey, Sis, I’m going to go sleep over at Applebloom’s house!”

“Okay!” Rarity replied, distractedly. “Ask Twilight to take you!”


“Thirty-one.” Rarity said, eyes drooping. “And I can’t think of any fabric I’ve missed.”

Then an idea came to her. “Unless… it doesn’t have to be fabric, exactly…”

She turned the taps on in the bathtub, letting them run with the plug in while she cleared more space in the central room of the boutique. Once there was most of a tub full of water ready, she drew it out in a shimmering sheet and applied Oerth magic to it.

Shrink Item.

The tub full of water compacted to a small sheet of glittering, deep blue, translucent cloth. It gradually grew as more water was directed into it, and Rarity pondered if maybe she could mix in fresh water and salt water into the resultant outfit.

“Oh, and if there’s water, then there simply has to be fire!


Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, kicking water down on the fire. “Rarity, you could have at least put the thing out before you left…”

“Be fair.” Twilight replied. “She’s not slept in, what, five days? Even the Element of Generosity can only do so much to prevent tiredness.”


“…Rarity?”

Twilight knocked on the door. No reply.

“Rarity!”

Eventually, she decided there was nothing for it and opened the door telekinetically. There was a flumph as a dozen outfits landed on her, driven out by the sheer pressure.

“Pleh.” Shaking her head, she kicked herself free, rolled upright and teleported into the boutique.

“Rarity?”

A mumbled reply came from upstairs. Twilight followed it, stepping over the piles of clothes. They started off fairly normal, but got more and more outlandish as she moved into the building. Just in the ones Twilight stepped over, there was a translucent ball gown that looked like it was made of water – and, it would seem, was… a piece made of condensed moonlight, and how Rarity had pulled that off Twilight had no idea, and a… a…

Twilight stopped. “That’s a barrier jacket. Those are made of solid magic. Wow, she really is pulling some special stuff off. Ooh, diamond chain mail…”

Shaking her head, she got back on task. She’d counted fifty-three on the ground floor, and another two on the stairs (extruded sapphire scales bound together by wafer-thin sapphire sheets, all with an ocean motif, and a glittering gold foil outfit that had to be held together by magic.)

“Twilight.” Rarity’s exhausted voice came from her room. “Would it be proper for me to make the last one out of my own feathers, or is that a bit gauche? I can’t tell any more.”

Rounding the corner, Twilight looked in. Rarity was staring at herself in a mirror, deep bags under her eyes and mane unkempt. And she had wings.

“Rarity, how long is it since you slept?”

The alicorn blinked slowly. “…I don’t remember. I think it got dark six times but I didn’t go to sleep. Too much work. Too many ideas. Just one left.”

Twilight facehoofed. “Rarity, you’re an alicorn.”

“Am I?” Rarity said, looking back at herself. “Huh. Wings. Must be where the feathers came from.”

“Get some sleep, Rarity.” Twilight said gently. “You lost count – you’ve done fifty-five. More than enough.”

“…oh. Okay.” The couch zipped in out of nowhere, and Rarity collapsed onto it.


“Well?” Dash asked.

Twilight shot her a grin. “It worked, all right.”

The two sat in companionable silence, watching as Sapphire Shores and her assistants went ga-ga over every single outfit they got out of the building.

After a while, Fluttershy joined them. “I heard from Applejack. Rarity really is something, isn’t she?”

“You all are.” Twilight countered. “I’d say I was, too, but that’s boasting.”

“I’ll say it for you!” Dash volunteered. “So long as you do the same for me.”

“Sounds like a deal.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “Uh… how long is Rarity going to be asleep? Shouldn’t we be there when she wakes up?”

“Don’t worry.” Twilight replied, with a grin. “I think we’ll know.”


“…eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEE! OH. MY. GOSH!”

Applejack looked up from her work. “Yep, ah’d say she’s awake.”


6.3


Pinkie looked around. “Ooh, wow, human people. Only, not human people. They’ve got pointier ears. Hi!”

A harsh-faced humanoid looked her over. “…okay, what am I on?”

“Silly, you’re not on anything! Except a planet. But I know what you’re going to be in!” Pinkie reached into her mane, and pulled. Out came a large, cartoonish bomb with a fizzing fuse. “Party petard armed! Firework in the hole!”


Twilight stumbled, having Awoken mid-trot. Getting back into the rhythm of things, she reached out with her supernatural senses. “Okay… habitable planet, unoccupied… hugely stormy space, lots of psychic-magic energy everywhere… wow, but I can’t really tell where I am…”

There was a small positive signal on her Element, though. The Element of Laughter was active, and it was Pinkie’s one. “Wonder where she is,” Twilight said, sitting down on the surface of the world that would later be known as Macharia.


“No, no, no!” Pinkie said, shaking her head. “That is NOT how you do a party!”

Two of the figures looked belligerent, and the third turned from a (thankfully as-yet unused) set of knives. “Oh? What would you know about it?”

“Let me show you!” Pinkie grinned. “Hey, hand these out.” Reaching into her mane again, she pulled out a huge number of sealed envelopes. “Use that cool glowy-walky thing!”

“The web way,” one of them deadpanned.

“Yeah, that!”


Eldarad Ulthuan tripped over his own cloak and fell face down on the floor.

That was when he realized two things. The first was that being the butt of a joke wasn’t very fun. And the second was that it was time to get out of Eldar space right now.


The Emperor looked to the heavens. By fire and blood and steel he had unified humanity, and then the three Chaos Gods had cast his sons into the depths of space. But there were ripples in the Warp. The long storms were about to clear, and-

Everything went pink.


“Hiya Twilight!”

Twilight startled awake. “Wh… Pinkie!” Her friend was standing upside down on thin air, looking at her with a big grin… and a horn… and wings.

Oh, buck. Her mind calmly delivered. Pinkie’s ascended.

“Yeah, it’s me! Hey, I ran into some nasty stern people who didn’t know how to party. But I showed them exactly how to party!” Pinkie bounced upside down. “They all really, really liked my party!”

Twilight counted under her breath. She’d turned up in this Loop about two years ago, so… and it all looked horribly familiar all of a sudden…

“Pinkie,” she asked, carefully. “Did you just hold a year-long party for an entire starfaring civilization?”

“Yep!” Pinkie replied.

“Great. Well, I suppose that makes sense. Congratulations, you have actually topped the list of strangest things we’ve ever replaced in a Loop.” True to form, Twilight got out a list. She went past things like Rarity – Marigold Heavenly Nostrils and All of us – The Power Rangers, and then slowed down at the very end of the list. Plucking a quill and ink out of the air, she wrote on a new entry. “Pinkie Pie – Slaanesh. Right. Well, this universe is FUBAR now… feel like messing with the Chaos Gods?”

Pinkie’s smile shone. “DO I?”


**from the memoirs of Ciaphas Cain** (via Nikas)

"Jurgen, were did you get that cake?"

My aide pointed behind me, "The pink pony brought it for the party."

"What part..." I turned and beheld it, her. A pink, or rather PINK hide that would glow in the deepest starless space. Incredibly wide blue eyes. If one could be said to drown in eyes, these could sink Holy Terra without a trace. The Xeno had a form that could be considered Equine, if only in a child's scribblings. Crowned by wings and a spiral horn there was no doubt, she was Pinkamena Diane Pie, Warp Goddess of Laughter and Celebration.

Once again poorly imitating a proud Commissar of the Imperium I did my duty, and accepted the plate with a piece of cake upon it from her forelimbs. (1) She gave a sudden gasp as I saw recognition in her alien eyes.

"I know you!" she accused, pointing one flat ended forelimb at me, her wings flapping to get her to eye level with me. I readied to do my pitiful best to sell my life dearly for the Emperor. I was completely taken by surprise by the form of her attack.

Her eyes glittered with twinkling stars as she blurted out "You're CANDY CANE, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! Oh, I never got to throw a Megabestest hero ever party! Just a minute, I have to call in the orbital party support!"


(1) How a Xeno without grasping appendages managed to hold the plate is best left unconsidered. Several Inquistors of the Ordo Xenos have gone mad trying.


6.4 (from Mandemon)


"And here comes Sovereign!" Shepard said, just as the massive Reaper's hologram appeared. " Seriously, I can't believe you didn't meet him during your turn."

"Wow, so you are dealing with this thing?" Twilight asked, looking up to the Reaper. "And yeah, we never even heard of him. Only thing weird in that loop was that we never found Pinkie."

"Him and several thousand more.” Shepard scratched the back of his neck. “Though he's kinda cool dude once you get to know him, actually. Yo Sov, how are the bitches?"

"Wazzup Shep... OH FUCK NO!" Sovereign’s voice, while originally a menacing yet relaxed tone, suddenly devolved into panicked screams.

"Oookay... that was new." Shepard said.

"NO! NO NONONONONONONONO! NO! IFYOUAREHERETHEPINKONEISHEREANDIFTHEPINKONEISHERESHEWILLOHGODIAMSOFUCKEDFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK-"

"Oh! Hey Sovvy!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully and waved her hoof, climbing from the ducts.

"FUCK THIS SHIT!" Sovereigns voice boomed and the hologram disappeared.

After a startled pause, Joker contacted Shepard. "Uh, Shepard, I don't know what you did, but the big dreadnought? I think it just beat the speed of Mass Relays. It pulled an impossible turn and sped away."

"Right Joker, stand by." Shepard said to the comm before turning to Pinkie Pie. "Want to explain?"

"Oh, there was this one loop, you remember, where we replaced Shepard and co, and you became Twipard and Dash became Darrus and I ended up in Geth space and I met Sovvy and I talked with Sovvy and Sovvy said it was ancient and never had a birthday party and it was really sad and we had parties and Geth were really nice and then he mentioned his friends and-"

"Oh... that one." Twilight said. "I was kinda wondering why the heck you were so worried about these Reapers, since we never met them during our loop…"

"...Tali, can you figure out a way to clone Pinkie? We could use her to blackmail Sovvy next time." Shepard said, turning to Tali who was barely holding her laughter.


6.5


“Twilight?” Pinkie said, suspiciously.

“Yes?” Twilight replied.

“How come you aren’t freaking out?”

Twilight shrugged, squashing to an inch’s thickness under a colossal anvil and bouncing back moments later with a sproi-i-i-ing. “Maybe I’m just a natural.”

“Nice work, guys!” Bugs Bunny said. “Especially you, Twilight.”

Pinkie simmered.


“Aha!” Pinkie shouted. “I know what’s happened!”

Twilight looked innocent. “Yes?”

“You’ve been to Toon University before!”

“…alright, guilty as charged.” Ten thousand volts ran through both of them, causing an interesting light display. “Strange Loop, that was, actually – the Toon university was run by Discord out of White Tail Woods.”

Pinkie looked sad. “I’d have loved that one!”

“Yeah.” Twilight tossed her head. “At least the non looping you graduated top of the class.”


6.6 - Disney (from Stainless Steel Fox)


Okay, this was a weird one, definitely a wild solo loop. Twilight’s memories told her she was apparently a feral unicorn who was wandering the world after her old home had been destroyed, a world which apparently contained humans. She was in a forest, which thinned out ahead, and animals were fleeing past her. There was also the sound of what she could now identify as gunshots.

She ran forward to the edge of the woods, which opened out onto a snow-covered meadow, with grass just starting to peek through. Deer were fleeing, and even as she watched, one of them fell, her young foal racing ahead without seeing it happen. Seeing the hunters getting closer, led by an arrogant looking human with a cleft chin and bulging muscles, she reacted instinctively.

A massive illusion of Spike in his Nightfury form swooped down on them, sending the group fleeing, and under cover of it, she teleported out, reached out to encompass the deer in her teleport, and warped back, deep into the forest. Drawing on her loop as a nurse, she examined the wound. It wasn’t fatal, but soon would be.

Fortunately, her fine telekinetic control allowed her to withdraw the bullet, and healing magic cleaned and healed the wound. A foal stumbled across her a few moments later, calling out.

“Mother, where are you?” He came to a splay legged stop on seeing his mother, who was just starting to stir. He dropped down by her and snuggled up, crying.

“Bambi… you have to get away…” She said weakly.

Twilight realised that they weren’t actually speaking in the normal sense, and that this version of unicorn apparently came with the gift of tongues. That was a keeper. “It’s alright, you’re deep in the forest. I don’t think any of those hunters will be coming in here any time soon.”

The snow had started up again, but Twilight just put up a low level shield to guide it away. The older deer just looked at her curiously, but the foal, Bambi spoke out. “Gosh, you look funny.”

That got Twilight conjuring a mirror to get a first good look at herself. She was her normal colouration, but her body was shaped more like a horse, and scaled as one if the deer were anything to go by. “I’m a unicorn. Your mother was hurt, but she’d going to be alright. You should stay with her. “

Noticing that they were both quite thin, she pulled a bale of hay from her subspace pocket and dropped it by them. She heard rustling, and saw another deer, a stallion with magnificent antlers approaching and decided that she could leave them alone. Besides, she’d thrown out an alarm spell, and it had just tripped. It appeared one of the hunters hadn’t been scared off, at least not far enough.

She teleported to near his location and stepped out in front of him, glaring.

“I thought I saw something in the meadow. What a magnificent beast! You will make a fine trophy for the wall of the inn!”

Whatever else was wrong with him, there was no problem with his reflexes, and he brought his musket up to his shoulder and fired in a single smooth motion.

The bullet came to a dead stop three inches in front of Twilight’s chest. “No, I won’t.”

Her telekinesis lifted him off the floor and held him immobile as she pried the weapon from his hands.

“Hmmm. Muzzle loading, flintlock action, rifled barrel. Basic but useful.”

“Give that back! I am Gaston, the finest hunter in the village, and demand you return it, creature!”

A small application of energy made the barrel glow red hot, and her telekinesis quickly twisted it into a pretzel. Cooling it equally quickly, and wrecking the temper of the metal in the process, she dropped it back in his hands.

“There you go. Now, we’re going to this village, and I will discuss the proper way to treat a unicorn.”

With him still floating along behind her like an impatient balloon, she trotted through the snowstorm in the direction of the other hunters. Gaston kept up a litany composed in equal parts of how awesome he was and what he’d do to her when he got free of her sorcery. He even started singing about it.

She could have shut him up with a silence spell, but his discourse was so illuminating, she let him carry on. He sounded across between Rainbow Dash at her worst, and the Trixie in full boast mode. His musical enumeration of his many ‘virtues’ confirmed her initial opinion that he was a brutal, bullying thug, with all the grace and charm of a slug… no that was being unfair to slugs.


6.7 (via Filraen)
(The Ranma loop that used to be here was incomplete, and has been removed at request of the original author. This is also one of his, which I erroneously concatenated with another of his loops earlier on.)


Dear Princess Celestia,

Thanks for letting me know you are awake this loop. As usual, this is my Friendship report for the loops you weren't awake.

I learned Friendship can come in many shapes and forms. Not long ago I met one of those "human" creatures, another looper, who showed me her ways to do Magic of Friendship. And while I was bit sceptic of the methods at first the stories of the results she told me and the pictures she showed me of how her friends had lived after put my fears to rest. I'd like to request a meeting with you and Princess Luna to compare and contrast the Magic of Friendship used by the human Nanoha Takamachi.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

PD: I'm sorry for this report being so short, but as result of a practical test of her Magic of Friendship the loop ended suddenly, leaving me in that strange pony land (please don't ask me about that loop, I'm still trying to recover from it).


6.8 (from Mandemon)



------------------------------------

Trinity, New Mexico, 1946

------------------------------------

"Well, let's see if this works. I was quite surprised to see you here. Perhaps this time everything will go well." Einstein said as he made final adjustments to the time machine.

"Don't worry, it will work. I had practice. Let's just hope everything goes well." Twilight replied, standing on the platform..

"Alright, here we go. On 3... 2... 1..."

A flash and Twilight disappeared.

------------------------------------

Landsberg, Germany, 1924

------------------------------------

Twilight watched as a man walked out of prison, looked and whistled, before heading off.

"Herr Hitler."

"Ja? Was ist loss? Ich ha-" The man fell silent when he saw who, or what, had spoken to him.

"Ja... Ich verstehe..." A bright flash of pink light later, history was changed. Again.

------------------------------------

Trinity, New Mexico, 1946

------------------------------------

Another flash and Twilight reappeared.

"Did it work?" She asked right away.

"Yes, and no. Take a look." Einstein said and turned the television on.

"As the chancellor of European Confederacy declared war against United Soviet Socialist Republics to be over, United States has requested aid from EC to aid against the invasion of The Empire of The Rising Sun. After Empire deployed it's Super Fortress on Pacific, United States have been on defensive. However, recent discoveries indicate, that The Empire is trying to deploy another fortress on Atlantic. Chancellor Hitler had declared that Confederacy would not stand for any attempt to demean human life or freedom and has vowed to bring the Confederacy into the war. Latest polls however, indicate war weariness among-"

Einstein turned off the TV.

"Well, we did succeed in making Europe resist Soviets, quite successfully, but we ignored whole other problem, the Japanese. With nobody to stop them, they took quite a large part of East-Asia and are currently trying to knock out United States, who have been preventing them from expanding to Australia or anywhere else."

"Sorry it didn't work so well, I was sure we could prevent a world war." Twilight said, sadly.

"Oh, I've seen worse. The loop where I tried to establish MAD situation among every side went a lot worse. However, I did learn something. Nuclear Winter does not actually happen."


6.9


“Okay, this is strange.” Twilight said, tapping away at a PADD from her pocket universe. “We’re on Earth, in the early twenty-first century, and… guys, I think this is the hub universe.”

“What’s that?” Dash asked, peering over.

Twilight hit three more buttons, and levitated the display so all six of them could watch.

“I used to think…”

“Huh.” Applejack eventually said, as the video of Elements of Harmony, part 2 ended. “So we’re a TV show here?”

“I think everyone is.” Using telekinesis this time, Twilight used the Trek-loop computer to bring up a dozen web pages. How To Train Your Dragon, Naruto, Power Rangers, Neon Genesis Evangelion… they were used to the idea that some Loops were fictional material in other Loops, but this was a lot more than usual.

“Okay.” Rarity said, tapping her hoof. “What do we do now?”

“I have an idea.” Twilight said.


“…by a cosmic coincidence it would take too long to explain, we have ended up here on your Earth. We only have a relatively short time here before we must depart anew, but we feel that we owe it to you, if none other, to tell us how grateful we are.

In a way we cannot understand, you may have created us. If that is not the case, then you faithfully recreated us and told our story to millions. So thank you.

Yours,

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack

P.S. please find enclosed some photographs. We’re sure you’ll like them.”


Twilight sealed the envelope. “There we go. I’ll send it to her in a minute. Anything else we want to do?”

“Ooh!” Pinkie said. “Let’s go to fan conventions and pretend to be cosplayers!”

“…actually, yeah, that sounds cool.” Dash weighed in.

Grinning, Twilight shook her head. “I heard that when Naruto and Sasuke turned up here, they tried to interrogate their own author to force him to answer some tricky questions. Wonder what the other Loopers will think when they heard our main response was a thank-you letter?”


6.10 (from Stainless Steel Fox)


The power of love

The shopkeeper complimented his client. “Ah, you have a keen eye. The Alicorn Amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms. Uh, ah- I'm afraid this is… far too dangerous.”

A bag of bits only slightly larger than his head landed on the counter.

“Would you like that gift-wrapped?”

Twilight Sparkle just grinned evilly.


‘Dear Cadence,

I suppose I should be calling you Princess Mi Amore Cadenza now, but I hope you don’t mind that I always think of you as Cadence, my foal sitter and one of my favourite ponies in all of Equestria. I should have written before now, but I’ve been crazy deep in my studies, and I know you’re really busy too. I’m ashamed to say this isn’t just a social letter, I need your help really badly. I found an ancient legend about Nightmare Moon. From my research, she isn’t just some fantasy figure to appease with sweets on Nightmare Night, she really existed!

The legends say she was Princess Celestia’s sister, and once controlled the moon and night, but she turned evil and Princess Celestia locked her away using something called the Elements of Harmony. I haven’t been able to find out anything more about these, but they appear to have been a really powerful magic artefact.

Why am I telling you this? Because the same legends say Nightmare Moon will return on the longest day of the thousandth year, the day after tomorrow. There’s a superior conjunction of minor moons which will align with our primary moon, and cause an amplification effect. The legend refers to it by saying ‘the stars will aid her escape’. Her stated goal was to bring eternal night, so her first action will obviously be to attack Princess Celestia.

I’ve passed my findings to Princess Celestia, but she’s just told me not to worry, and is sending me to oversee the Summer Sun Celebrations in Ponyville. I know I should trust her judgement, but I’m worried that without the Elements of Harmony, and with Nightmare Moon’s powers amplified by the conjunction, she might not be able to handle Nightmare Moon on her own.

That’s where you come in. I know it’s asking a lot, but if you can find a way to visit Ponyville tomorrow and stay for the Summer Sun Celebration, you could be on site to help. In my studies, I’ve located a magical amplifier called the Alicorn amulet that would boost your powers. It has the side effect of corrupting the user, but I’m certain that with your power of love, and my wide knowledge of spell-craft we can purify it before you use it.

I’ll continue to research other avenues as much as my duties allow, but this could be the one chance we have to defeat Nightmare Moon, not that it wouldn’t be wonderful just to see you again. Maybe the library in Ponyville has something on these Elements.

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. Please don’t tell Princess Celestia, I am kind of disobeying her. I only hope she’ll forgive me.’


6.11


The background murmur of voices died away as Princess Twilight, Princess of Magic, stepped up to the podium.

“Equestria is an idea,” she began without preamble. “A bold, daring idea, by three ponies long ago. They decided to see if it was possible that a society could last built not upon pragmatism and wariness, but upon trust and friendship.

“Five hundred and fifteen earth ponies, four hundred and ninety-two unicorns, and five hundred and six pegasi first founded this country. They made it a haven for all, regardless of race, breed or species.”

Everyone in the plaza already knew this, but such was the reputation of the Princesses that her voice was the only sound in the whole massed square.

“When I and my sisters first came across Equestria, we joined as any other – farmers, shopkeepers, students. We were asked to become the rulers of the country three times. Twice, we refused… and the third time, of course, we accepted. But only on condition that we be princesses, never queens, for the people of Equestria are her true rulers.

“We have ruled long, and – we hope – well, but nothing can last forever and it falls to us all to make plans for the future, even if that future may never come. Accordingly, my sisters and I have discussed the matter at great length, and have decided to each select one champion to bear our symbol.”

Twilight stepped back, and Pinkie Pie, Princess of Laughter, replaced her.

“I pick Dissy! Oh, er, Discord of Wizard’s Peak!”

A rather startled dragon jumped. “Er… me?”

“Yes you, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “Unless you’re just pretending to be Dissy, because if you are then no.”

The indicated dragon, still looking a bit shocked, walked numbly up to the stage.

Pinkie levitated her Element necklace off her neck and onto Discord’s. “There ya go!”

Applejack had already taken the stand. “Ah think the best representative of me’d be Cadance.”


One by one, the six Princesses picked their ‘champions’. Discord for Laughter, Cadance for Honesty, Celestia for Loyalty, her sister Luna for Generosity, and Chrysalis of the Changelings for Kindness.

Finally, Twilight retook the stage. “And for my own symbol, the symbol of magic… I hereby select Sombra of the Crystal Empire.”

Chrysalis looked elated. Not surprising, Twilight thought. For some reason, Sombra and Chrysalis just kept being in relationships…

It would be interesting to see how this loop played out. All six of those they’d chosen were only about twenty or so. The same age they had been the first time they’d taken up their own Elements, in the original Equestria.

Actually, engineering a completely cosmopolitan Equestria had been a fun enough challenge.


6.12 (via Nikas)


Usagi wanted to cry. She went on this trip with Mamoru to get away from this! Though the locals seemed rather blasé about things as the police evacuated everyone from the monster. A flash showed why as to the crowd's cheers the local senshi showed up. Her outfit lacked the bows of her own, and the frills were a western fringe, more Annie Oakley than Idol Singer. Complete with a small arsenal of guns which the American Magical Girl quickly employed.

The situation was stalemated, and Usagi and Mamoru where looking for a discreet place to change when a pony in a western dress and cowboy boots nudged her aside with a muttered “excuse me”. Whirling a lasso she roped the monster, pinning it in place. "Now sugarcube!" the magical mascot yelled.

With a smile Megan shot the current monster with a rainbow charge out of her Winchester to disperse it. She waved to the crowd before she and Applejack shot off. Leaving behind Usagi, who was ranting to her fiancée: why did the gaijin get a useful mascot, while she was stuck with a lazy cat!


“You realize that I haven’t had to do anything?” Twilight asked. “Admittedly, being a spiritual advisor is kind of neat…”

“Just shows Megan’s up t’ the job.” Applejack replied calmly.


Applejack lowered her hat, and spat out the wheat stalk she was chewing. "Mount up Megan, time to show this here badguy how we buck the apples."

Rummaging for a moment, Megan got out a Springfield Carbine and slapped in a round. “You got it, Applejack.”


6.13 (from Namar13766)

Twilight looked around. "Okay, it's the day before Luna's first Nightmare Night. Any suggestions so that she enjoys it from the get-go instead of canceling it first?"

Fluttershy gave what would have been an uncharacteristic smile for her pre-loop self. "Pinkie and I had an idea..."


Pinkie nodded to Vinyl, who put the record on, and then started cuing in the dancers. If she got this perfectly, it would hit the chorus just as Luna broke the cloud layer.

“It’s close to midnight…
Something evil's lurkin'in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

'Cause this is thriller…”


“How did your night out go, Sister?” Celestia asked, as Luna walked up the steps.

“BRILLIANT!” Luna boomed, then flushed and lowered her voice. “The pink one played a song that could have been written for Nightmare Night! And I got so. Much. Candy!”

“She’s right, you know.” Meadowlark muttered around a mouthful of toffee, the guard not missing a step as he followed his principal. “I didn’t know there was that much sugar in Equestria.”

“Oh, dear.” Celestia said, stifling a grin. “That explains the letter I got.”


“Dear Princess Celestia.

I think I’m having a sugar rush. This is a bit strange because I haven’t eaten anything yet, so it must be all the sugar in the air!”

Author's Note:

Sadly, the formatting on this one (specifically, the signatures on the letter) can't really be done in BBcode...

At least the text itself is fine.

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