> The Time Thief
>  by Reading4HalfMyLife
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday

Astral Plane was not having a good day. 

First off, her mother, Twilight Sparkle, had gone off to Canterlot early in the morning to visit Astral's brother Alchemy. Now, that was not a problem by itself. It would be a little lonely of course, but there was Astral's other mother, Twilight's wife Starlight Glimmer, and they could manage being on their own for a while. 

But Twilight usually woke Astral up so she wouldn't be late to school. And without her . .  

Yeah, Ms. Cheerilee wasn't exactly impressed her. And, since just last week she had forgotten her homework for a third time (she had done it, honest, she had just left it on her desk. Again) she had been given a detention. 

Which meant she hadn't been able to hang out with her two best friends, Apple Jam, Rarity and Applejack's daughter, and Butterscotch, Braeburn and Fluttershy's son. Instead, she had sat in a stuffy room while those two went crusading for cutie marks. 

But mom promised to make it up to me, she thought, and brightened as she rooted around for her saddlebag. It was a sunny week, so Starlight suggested they go out for milkshakes, which Astral appreciated. 

"Astral! You ready?" Her mom's voice rose from downstairs just as she found her saddlebags. 

"Coming!" She called, and flung the bags over her barrel, she gave herself a quick once over in the mirror, just in case she had a comb in her mane (again.)  

She had always been surprised whenever she looked in a mirror. What was on the outside was always so small compared to what was on the inside. She was small, even by filly standards, and took after her mother Twilight in looks, right down to the long unicorn tail, a sign of pure breeding among unicorns.

"Astral!" That time the name has a tinge of impatience in iy. 

"I'm coming!" She repeated, as she hurryied out the door. Trotting downstairs, she joined her mom by the door. 

Starlight gave her daughter a once over, before narrowing her eyes. "You have a scarf in there, don’t'cha?" She deadpanned, gesturing to the bags, and Astral blushed. It was a well known fact that the unicorn had a strange obsession with scarves. 

The trot through town was pleasant enough, though Astral stuck close to Starlight, and kept her eyes on the ground. Most ponies would throw out greetings to Princess Starlight Glimmer and Astral Plane, and Astral has learned to ignore them for the most part. 

Sugarcube Corner was packed full of ponies with the same idea as Starlight and Astral. Thankfully, they had an in. "Heya Starlight," Pinkie Pie greeted, as she came over to the mother and daughter. She tilted her head at Astral. "Heya Astral," she says, adding "wow, you're so small, I didn't see ya' there for a second." And gave a large, exaggerated wink. 

Astral smiled weakly.  In truth, Pinkie's boundless energy and enthusiasm had always scared her a bit, as did her penchant for suddenly bursting into songs. But she was a good friend of both her moms, and always seemed to know when somepony was in need of a good cheering up. 

As if to prove it, she squinted at Astral, then raised an eyebrow. "That's not a smile," she said, looking put out. 

Astral's shoulders rise as her eyes trailed down to the floor. "Astral's had a bad day," Starlight said, putting a hoof on the fillies shoulder. 

Pinkie's reaction surprised Astral, she lets out such a loud gasp that she could see the candles on the tables start to go out, before she pulled Astral up into the air, and spun her around. Frozen, Astral stared into Pinkie's eyes as she plopped her down at a table, with an amused Starlight following behind. 

"Misty!," Pinkie called over her shoulder, and Misty Rose, Pinkie's daughter, appeared at the door. 

"Yeah?" 

"Serve up Starlight and Astral's regular's, will ya?" 

Instantly, the little filly snapped into action."Yes mam! Won't let you down mam!" She fired off a snappy salute, and vanished, leaving a white streak in her wake. 

In less than a minute, one Strawberry vanilla milkshake was slammed down in front of Astral, while Starlight was already slurping up her chocolate cherry milkshake. Quietly thanking Pinkie, Astral took a long sip from her drink, and watched ponies come and go.  





Tuesday

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out!  The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. . ."

As the teacher droned on, Astral focused on finishing her stick drawing of her friends. It was clear she wasn't getting a cutie mark in art, but it was far more interesting than a lecture on responses. "Astral Plane!" Startled, she jerked back in her chair, nearly tipping it over in the process. 

Upon steadying herself, she stared up at Ms. Cheerilee, who frowned down at her. "So glad that you have decided to rejoin the conversation, Astral," she said, and Astral's ears burned at the giggles from the class. Astral meekly nodded her head and let out a relived sigh as the teacher turned back to the board. 

She risked a glance at Apple Jam and Butterscotch, and both of them gave her sympathetic looks. Jam mouthed 'tough luck' at her, and Astral smiled, before she turned back to the board. 





Wednesday

"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!" Under normal circumstances, this might of have been inspiring, but considering this was the end of an hour long speech on Apple Jam's part, it was a lot less so. The yellow earth pony has a habit of rambling when excited, which was a lot. 

Butterscotch, meanwhile,frowned up at the list of things they'd already tried. "I think we've done almost everything there is to do in Ponyville!" He said, dramatically flopping down to the ground. 

"Unless . ." Jam trailed off suggestively. 

"No!" Butterscotch and Astral said in complete unison. "It was a dumb idea, and you shouldn't of talked us into it." 

"Yeah, well, we all agreed that the hydra was perfectly well trained at the time" Jam said, as she rolled up a map and put it away, before she clapped her hooves together. "Now! Who's up for some hang gliding?"

Hang gliding was a bust, as it ended with no cutie marks and a whole load of tree sap. Astral was also officially banned from ever touching another wrench again.




Thursday

"Hello class!" Ms Cheerilee greeted, and a chorus of "hello Ms Cheerilee"'s followed by soon after. "Now, today is Thursday, and you know what that means" she lifted up a stack of paper, "tests." Reactions from the class were mixed. Some groaned, while others realize they did absolutely no studying for the History of the Wonderbolts Test today. Astral had fallen into the second category. 

Once the papers were handed out, Astral turned the page over and glanced over it, ears flopping down as she does so. 

What was the name of the guard formed to protect Celestia after Nightmare Moons Banishment? 

Who gave the Wonderbolts their name? 

Describe, in detail, how they got their name. 

Who's flight choreography do we still use today? 

Who founded the Wonderbolt Academy? 

What were the effects of the Wonderbolts founding? 

Stifling a groan, Astral picked her quill between her teeth- her magic was not yet strong enough for telekinesis, and starts writing. 

As always on a Thursday, Astral's mom Twilight was there to walk her home. On the way, she told her how Alchemy was doing (very well, as he had a fair chance of being promoted) and Astral would tell her about her school day. Nothing that was important, mind you, but it was nice to know that if she wanted to she could talk to her about it. 

Once she got home, she did her homework for the next day, then went to bed, soothed by the sounds of her cat clock and the light breeze outside.
> Loop 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday.

Waking up was always the hardest part of Astral's day. It seemed as if the entire universe was conspiring against her, saying "no, it's totally cool, you should just sleep in." And today was no exception. Upon waking up, Astral's first thought was to go right back to sleep, and, had she not glanced outside her window, she probably would have. 

I'm late! Again! 

She took her steps three at a time, and threw herself off the last six, skidding on the marble floor of the castle. Upon righting herself, she took off once more, and hurried through the kitchen, the quickest way to the exit. 

While going through the kitchen, she saw her mom eating an apple, and reading a letter from her friend Sunburst. "Mom!" Astral yelped as she grabbed an apple and stuffed it into her mouth. "Where's mom? She was supposed to wake me!"  

Starlight looked like she'd been punched in the stomach. "I knew I forgot something," she muttered, facehooving hard. She pulled her hooves away from her face to say "Astral, Twilight's gone to Canterlot, remember? To see your brother?" 

Astral had been nearly out the door at this point, but stopped, eyes narrowed. "Didn't she do that earlier this week?" She asked, and Starlight squinted at her.

"What? No, sweetie, she hasn't seen Alchemy for a month, that's why she's going. It was my job to wake you up. I'm sorry, and I promise I will make it up to you." While delivering this short speech, Astral glanced at the clock, and saw she was five minutes late now. 

"Okaythanksmom,bye!" 

She reached the schoolhouse not five later, sweaty and panting, but was still reprimanded by Ms. Cheerilee, who gave her a detention, again. "But, miss, you gave me a detention yesterday," she protested, bringing out her journal to prove it, only to find nothing.

"Astral!" Miss Cheerilee said sharply. "You know I do not approve of liars! Sit down, now!" 

Confused, Astral did just that. 

Astral grew more and more confused as the day progressed. She remembered doing all these, things, and yet nopony else seemed to! Was this some sort of prank? Or maybe it was just that déjà vu thing Alchemy once lectured her on. 

Well, if it was déjà vu, it certainly grew stronger as the day progressed, with Starlight taking her out to milkshakes, and Pinkie and Misty serving them their two usual's on the house.  

It's not that odd, she told herself. These things can happen all the time. I come here for milkshakes all the time, and that is my usual. It was probably just a weird dream. 





Tuesday.

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out!  The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. In response to acute stress, the body's sympathetic nervous system is activated due to the sudden release of hormones " As she spoke, Cheerilee was starting to draw diagrams on the board, while Astral payed careful attention. She had woken up that day feeling nervous for some reason, and that feeling had never truly gone away. 

So, she was focusing on the diagrams and the teacher with pinpoint precision, trying to ignore the voices in the back of her head telling her something was wrong and to get help, now! Feeling a headache coming on, she put a hoof to her head and concentrated even harder. 





Wednesday.

"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!" Apple Jam cried, waving her hoof in the air as the other two crusaders standing in front of her. 

Butterscotch, frowned up at the list of things they'd already tried. "I think we've done almost everything there is to do in Ponyville!" He said, dramatically flopping down to the ground. "Unless . ." Jam trailed off suggestively. 

"No!" Butterscotch said . "I was a dumb idea, and you shouldn't of talked us into it." 

"Yeah, well, we all agreed that the hydra was perfectly well trained at the time." Jam sniffed, rolling up a map and putting it away, before clapping her hooves together. "Now! Who's up for some hang gliding?" 

Astral frowned, tilting her head. "Didn't we do that last week?" She asked, and the other two turned to stare at her.

"No, last week we tried swimming " Jam pointed to the picture of a duck with a red cross going through it. Astral glanced at Butterscotch, but he was nodding too.

"Oh," Astral said weakly, trying to make sense of it all. Was it some kind of elaborate prank? "In that case, hang gliding sounds great."

Unsurprisingly, hang gliding was a bust, and, also unsurprisingly, the three were grounded for breaking Mr. Whistles window. Astral also had to sit through a two hour lecture from her moms about how fire was dangerous, and next time, run away from the flames, alright? 





Thursday 

"Hello class!" Ms Cheerilee greeted, and a chorus of "hello Ms Cheerilee"'s followed by soon after. "Now, today is Thursday, and you know what that means" she lifted up a stack of paper, "tests." Reactions from the class were mixed. Some just groaned, while others realized they did absolutely no studying for the History of the Wonderbolts Test today.  

The feeling of dread was back, and only grew stronger when she read the questions. 

What was the name of the guard formed to protect Celestia after Nightmare Moons Banishment? 

Who gave the Wonderbolts their name? 

Describe, in detail, how they got their name. 

Who's flight choreography do we still use today? 

Who founded the Wonderbolt Academy? 

What were the effects of the Wonderbolts founding? 

Feeling sick, Astral picked up the pen in her mouth, and started to write the answers she already knew.

As expected, Twilight came to walk her home, and Astral listened to the same stories she had heard before. "Hey, mom, I was, uh wondering" her mother turned to regard her. "Have you ever, I don't know, hadthisrealstrongsenseofdeja-vu?"  

It took Twilight a moment to decipher Astral's words, but when she did, she gave a small smile. "Why yes, of course." She puffed out her chest and pulled out her lecturing voice. " Déjà vu is a very common symptom when you do the same thing, week in week out," she gave her a stern look. "Which is why I think you should try and make new friends." 

Astral opened her mouth to explain the past week, but stopped. How could she describe something she didn't know about? Instead, she just mumbled a "there's nothing wrong with the friends I have." 

"Oh, sweetie, of course not, but  there's also nothing wrong with making new friends."

Actually, there were several things wrong with making new friends. They might expect her to go out to social gatherings or parties, or she might start neglecting her old friends, like her mom did with Aunty Moondancer. Or her friends could leave and never look back, like Uncle Sunburst. 

But she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to get into a fight today, and nodded instead. They walked on in silence for a bit, before Astral decided to change the awkward subject. "So, um, I read the telekinesis section of Newbies guide to Magic and Mysteries." 

Twilight visibly brightened, and a smile appeared on her face. "Really? Any progress?" She asked eagerly, and Astral instantly regretted treading this ground. "Well, I managed to turn a page in the book, but I couldn't do anything more than that," her ears flopped against her head as she remembered the disappointment she had felt.

Despite being the child of not one, but two very powerful ponies, Astral unfortunately had almost no discernible talent for magic, at least from what she could see.

Her mom, however, clearly thought otherwise, as she gently nudged her with her wing. "You know," she said, rolling her eyes skyward. "When I first started, I could only turn a page too." Astral glanced up at her, searching for any dishonesty.

"Really?"

"Really."





Upon kissing both her mom's goodnight, Astral spotted the three marbles on her desk. They were good for practicing levitation, though she hadn't even been able to lift one so far.

She grit her teeth and concentrated, her horn sparking as she stared at a blue marble. Lift! She told it. Lift!

It didn't lift, instead rolling a millimeter backwards, before going back to it's original resting place. Astral felt a headache staring to grow from the amount of effort she had put into it. And all just to move it a little, she thought bitterly.

Without further ado, she climbed into bed, and fell asleep.





This time, she actually woke up five minutes before her mom usually woke her, and decided to lie in bed and wait for her. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but after last week . . 

She shook herself, and glanced at her alarm. 7:12.  Her mom woke her up at 7:15 and Twilight Sparkle was nothing if not precise. 

This was stupid. In three minutes, her mom would walk in, and wonder why she wasn't getting ready if she was up early. 7:15. Any second now . . . 

Nothing. A minute passed, then two, then three, until it was 7:30, but still Astral didn't move. Her chest felt strangely tight, and the sheets constricting as more and more time passed, and still her mom didn't come in.

Oh no.
> Loop 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday.
Astral walked through the castle, and checked her mother's room. Yes, Twilight's suitcase was missing. She hastily backtracked into the kitchen, where Starlight was, as usual. "Morning mom, is mom in Canterlot?" She asked, as she forced down a bite of an apple. "Oh, Astral, I forgot to wake you! I'm so sorry!" She said, then remembered the question. "Yes, sweetie, she's seeing Alchemy, remember?"

Before Astral could say anything, Starlight glanced up at the clock, and levitated the filly towards the door. "You better hurry, or you'll be late!" About to protest, she saw her mothers stern look and did just that, racing through the town as she tried to figure out what was happening. She managed to reach the schoolhouse on time, but she was sweaty and out of breath.

Geez, I am unfit, she thought as she slid into her seat, but discarded that thought for more important ones. Three weeks of the exact same events in the exact same order? Somethings going on here. 

Miss Cheerilee walked in, and her smile widened when she realized everypony was in on time. Astral wasn't scolded this week, and instead Miss Cheerilee got right into putting a math problem up onto he board. Astral hadn't been paying attention the last time, so now she decided to concentrate on it.

At 3:25pm, two trains left Los Angeles.  One train traveled westward at a constant rate of 82 mph, while the other train traveled east at a constant rate of 66 mph.  If they are now 111 miles apart, what time is it now? Please show all steps

Everyone in the class stared blankly up at the board, before turning, as one, to glare at their teacher. Cheerilee, upon seeing the disgruntled expressions, laughed, and shook her head. "No, I do not expect you to solve this equation," and everypony let out a relived sigh. "But," this made everyone tense up once more "sometime in the future, you may be asked a question similar to this one." She waved her hoof towards the board, and raised an eyebrow at her class. "Want to complain about long multiplication now?" She laughed  again at the vehement head shaking.

As Cheerilee wiped down the board, and replaced it with simple adding sums, Astral thought over what the teacher had said. Sometime in the future. But what if this happened again?  She couldn't exactly explain what was happening to her parents if she didn't even know what was happening.

Maybe I could check out mom's library, and see if there's something there?  I could say I'm trying to get a cutie mark in being a historian, or something.

Astral was snapped out of her thoughts by Cheerilee, who wanted her to answer a question on the board. She got it wrong, and, embarrassed, slunk back to her seat. 

Okay, ask mom about teaching me math so this doesn't happen next time.





Tuesday.

Noiselessly, the unicorn slides forwards, eyes intent on her target. Each step is slow and careful, her hooves making no noise against the crystal floor. With a graceful leap, she threw herself through the air and landed not two centimeters from her prey. She smiled. Target acquired.

"Uh, sweetie? Why are you in the dark narrating yourself while you steal one of my books?" 

Sheepish, Astral turned to Twilight, and felt her cheeks heat up. "Oh, hey mom. I was just . . . practicing." Unamused, her mom raised an eyebrow at her, and her cheeks got hotter. "For what?" She sounded like she was scared to know. As she should be! Astral puffed out her chest proudly. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Spies!"

" . . Right" Twilight blinked, before levitating the book in Astral's hooves away from her. "Trainee's guide to Time Travel .  . Astral Plane!"

Flinching, Astral made herself as small as she could at her mothers tone. "I know you told me not to, but-"

"Yes, I told you not to! I told you, and Starlight told you!"  She loomed over her daughter, anger and terror each taking hold of her face. "Do. Not. Mess. With. Time!" 

It was indeed one of the first rules Astral had been told when she first told her parents she wanted to learn magic. Both Starlight and Twilight had a bad run in with time spells, and were always afraid of another pony going back in time, and doing something, be it harmless or not, that could seriously endanger Equestria. 

It was because of this that they locked up any and all time spells, and made it illegal to go back in time. 

Well, all time spells except that one.

"I know! I know!" Astral burst out, leaping to her hooves, tears in her eyes. "It's just, there was this colt in school who told us a story about a filly reliving the same week, over and over, and I was curious and-"

"Oh," Twilight let out a relived breath. "You mean time loops, of course."  

"And I wanted to see if that could actually happe- wait what?" Astral's brain caught up to what her mom had just said, and gaped up at her. A now relaxed Twilight put the book back into it's original place. "Oh yes, it's a fairly common story element."

Story element? Story element?! 

Astral took a deep breath in, and once she had significantly calmed down, asked in a tight voice. "Are there any factual books about it?" Twilight leaned back on her haunches as she tried to recall any factual books. Not that she could recall, but then again, there weren't many factual books about Discord or Nightmare Moon until after their release and-

Oh. Her eyes widened, and she levitated a  book down from the shelves, before giving it to the eager filly. Equestria's Myths and Monsters. It looked like a  foal storybook, the kind with lots of pictures and not enough facts. The fact that it nearly toppled Astral from its size and weight contradicted this, however.

"There might be something in there, but I'm not sure. I'll try and order some new ones from Canterlot if you want," Twilight admitted, and Astral tightened her hold against the book. "Thanks mom" she said, rubbing her head against her moms barrel, before hurrying upstairs.





"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. ."

While she droned on, Astral took out the book, and started to flip through the pages, until she got to the time subsection. There were a couple of paragraphs about Starswirl, and about why and how he made the time spell. Until my mom improved it, Astral thought smugly, before reading on. At the end, there was a simple footnote. See Deities and God's. 

Curious, she flipped through the thin pages until she landed on the subsection.

Once upon a time, there were six powerful beings. These six beings worked together to create the world that we know. 

The six beings were very close, but, over time, they drifted apart. However, they would always stay in groups of two, and each pair would eventually become opposites of each other.

There was a list of the God's and their opposites just below this, and Astral quickly scanned it.

Ebony (darkness) - Ray (light)

Aether (space) - Kronos (time)

Loki (Chaos) - Harmonia (Harmony)


Loki? Shouldn't it be Discord?

"Astral Plane!" Startled, she jerked back in her chair, nearly tipping it over in the process.

Upon steadying herself, she stared up at Ms. Cheerilee, who was frowning down at her. "So glad that you have decided to rejoin the conversation, Astral," she said, and Astral nodded her head, closing her book quietly. She was aware of the sympathetic glances her friends gave her, but she ignored them.

In her haste, she had temporarily forgotten about the book.





Wednesday.

"Look, I'm just saying, maybe hand gliding isn't the way to go."

"Oh?" Apple Jam cocked her head to the side as she regarded her best friend. "Any suggestions?"

Astral pulled herself up to her full height, which wasn't much, and put on her best inspiring voice. "Rock climbing!" She threw a hoof up into the air, and the other two slapped their hooves against hers with a loud "yeah!"

"You girls are going to work me into the ground" Butterscotch said, and a choking sound made them all turn around to regard a wheezing Applejack. "Mom? Ya' good?" Jam asked, and Applejack made a It's good, I'm okay gesure with her hooves.





Thursday.

"Hello class!" Ms Cheerilee greeted, and a chorus of "hello Ms Cheerilee"'s followed by soon after. "Now, today is Thursday, and you know what that means" she lifted up a stack of paper, "tests." Reactions from the class were mixed. Some just groaned, while others realized they did absolutely no studying for the History of the Wonderbolts Test today.

Astral, who already knew all the answers, watched with interest at the faces of the other fillies and colts as they read the questions. It was mostly horror and fear, with only some relief. She snorted, and turned back to the sheet, and started writing.

When Twilight came by to walk her home, she asked her to help her with her long multiplication. As expected, she was thrilled, and the two spent two hours going over it, until Twilight was sure her daughter understood how to do it.  She also explained that the books she ordered would take two days to arrive. Time she didn't have.

Just before going to bed, Astral retried her telekinesis trick, and actually got the marble to lift a couple of inches, before it dropped like a rock onto the desk. She watched it roll onto the floor, annoyed, but didn't pick it up, instead deciding to just head into bed.

I bet Alchemy would be able to help out with the telekinesis.  . 





When she woke up, the first thing her eyes focused on was the little marble on the floor.

I'm out! Joyously, she threw off the covers, and flopped out of bed. She threw on one of her scarves, and it trailed behind her as she sprinted into the kitchen, a wide smile on her face.

Her mother was there, reading a letter with a small grin, but looked up as Astral entered. "Morning sweetie," she greeted, and Astral gave an enthusiastic squeal in return. Starlight covered her ears at the intensity of it. "Wow, you're excited today. You normally hate Mondays," she noted, and frowned when Astral stopped smiling.

"Monday?"

" .  .Yes?"

Without further ado, Astral spun on her hooves, and threw up.
> Loop 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday.

"Hey sweetie," Twilight said as she gently opened the door with her magic. Astral was in a blanket burrito, and all that could be seen were her eyes. As she stepped into the room, Astral pulled the blanket off her head to reveal a terrible bedhead.

"I have to go back to Canterlot. Starlight's going to watch you for a while, I'll be back tomorrow." She pulled her into a hug, wings shielding her from all sides. After hearing she was sick, Twilight had postponed her plans to meet Alchemy to look after her.

An idea entered Astral's mind, and she pulled away to ask. "Can I come with you?" She hadn't seen her BBBFF in ages, and letter writing was a hassle and a half. "Absolutely not!" Twilight said, shocked, before switching on her lecturing voice. "When sick, ponies, young ponies especially, should stay inside and try to get as much sleep as possible so their immune system can grow strong once more!"

Astral considered asking what an immune system, but decided she didn't want another lecture, so just meekly nodded her head, and gave her a list of the books the last loops Twilight had ordered for her. "Can you at least pick up these books for me?"

Twilight scanned the list, then looked up, an eyebrow raised. "You want to read a book?" She asked, doubt clear in her voice.
Astral shrugged, feeling awkward, and decided to fall back on the usual excuse. "Crusading idea," was all she said, and even her mom, the ultimate nerd, knew better then to ask anything else after the great Lupin Outbreak of the Spring Solstice.

"Ah, well, I'll try to find them, but no promises," she said, trotting out of the room, and leaving Astral alone in the room.

Once alone, she rolled out of her bed and over to the marble on the floor. Levitating it up to eye level, she carefully inspected the little sphere with interest.

So, my room is like a neutral area. What if a pony comes in? It's worth a shot, and I don't think I should leave the room around the time it loops . . when does it loop? I'll have to keep an eye on the clock.

Knowing Starlight would make sure she didn't leave her room, Astral looked around bored. She could practice telekinesis, seeing as she could now levitate the marble with ease, but it didn't seem that appealing somehow. Instead, she remembered her Myths and Monsters book, and how she had never finished the Deity chapter.

Flicking through it, she came to the page where she had left off, and continued reading.

Each of these opposites were made to balance each other out, and stop the other from losing control. 

However, there was one God who was more powerful than the others; Ebony, the Goddess of Darkness. She was the oldest and strongest of the six, but also the most arrogant. She felt that only she was deserving of the mortal's admiration.

One day, she attacked her other side, Ray, the God of Light, severely injuring him, and draining half of his magic. She wanted to rule the world, and so wanted to make sure the others couldn't stop her.

But, the other five banded together to combine their powers and seal Ebony away indefinitely. However, all five suffered grievously. Harmonia, weak from the magic she had used up, changed her form and fell into a coma, and Loki, without his balance, went insane. Ray also suffered the same fate, and vanished days after Ebony was locked away.

In comparison, both Aether and Kronos got off lightly, with Aether being severely weakened but still awake and alive, and Kronos getting off completely unharmed.

To this day, Ebony is still sealed away, awaiting her chance to come back and wreak vengeance on the ones that wronged her.


Astral closed the book with a frustrated huff. That told her nothing!

She threw herself onto her back, and crossed her hooves as she stared up at the roof. What was she going to do now?

Well, this is a time loop, she reminded herself. Technically, I can do anything with no consequences for my actions. The idea made her feel uncomfortable, and she squirmed slightly. Okay, I don't have to do anything extreme, maybe try to help my friends get cutie marks and play a few pranks?

The second idea was a pleasant one. Astral was what her mom liked to call a Theoretical Joker, which meant that Astral thought up of pranks, but never actually followed them through, for fear of being reprimanded, or any other kind of unwanted attention. But if she could pull them off with no consequences .  .  .





Tuesday.

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! Now the thing about biological instincts is . ."

Apple Jam stifled a yawn as the teacher went on and on. It was just so boring! She aimed a longing glance outside, where it was sunny and warm, and reluctantly turned her head back around to stare at the teacher. She risked a glance at Butterscotch, only to find the colt staring near the front of the class. Following his gaze, Jam realized he was looking at Astral, who was . . .

Jam blinked, sitting straighter in her desk so she could get a better view, but, sure enough, Astral was mouthing along to everything Cheerilee said perfectly, like it was one of her favorite movies. She even perfectly copied a joke Cheerilee made! 

Astral turned around, and met their gaping with a smile and a wave. 

"Astral Plane!" The two earthponies shared a panicked glance at their teachers stern voice.

"So glad that you have decided to rejoin the conversation, Astral," Cheerilee said, not seeing how Astral was still mouthing along to everything she was saying. But Jam and Butterscotch could, and were baffled. They exchanged a look, and decided to figure this out at break.





"What was that?" Jam demanded once they were outside.

They were under an oak tree, all three of them lying on their backs and looking up through the branches. Astral looked sheepish, and shrugged her shoulders "I don't know what you mean," she said, uncomfortable. 

Jam snorted, rolling her eyes, and wagging a hoof to the way her mom, Rarity, does. "Don't play coy with me!" She snapped, flipping to her side so she and Astral were muzzle to muzzle. "How did you do that?"

For a few brief moments, Astral considered telling them, but then realized that they would either think she was crazy, or not understand, and she would have to give a long explanation. So she went with option three.

"Mom's been teaching me magic" she shrugged. "One of the basic spells she taught me was how to sync up to what someponies saying. Voice actors use it all the time." Both her friends scrutinized her for a moment, and Astral had to make absolutely sure her ears didn't twitch nervously. I am a terrible liar.

Simultaneously, grins spread across their faces, and they tackled their friend to the ground. "Best. Trick. Ever!" Butterscotch squealed, squeezing the little unicorn so hard that for a second she thought she heard her ribs crack.

Despite this, she managed to grin. She had played a completely harmless prank on her friends, and it turned out well. Actually, their faces had been hilarious!

Jam turned to her, expression mischievous, and bopped her on the nose. "Tag," she said, before sprinting off, Butterscotch close behind her. Astral laughed, and started to chase after them, a big, stupid grin on her face.





Wednesday.

"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!"

Astral waited for the fuss to die down between her best friends, before interjecting. "Actually," she said, drawing their attention. "I was thinking, what if instead of doing hang gliding, we did something else?"

"Oh?" Jam was intrigued.

"What if we tried taking care of animals?" In all honesty, Astral wasn't really an animal girl. She had a couple of favorite creatures, but that was about it.

But Butterscotch, Fluttershy's son, looked interested, and Jam was slowly nodding her head. "I do like animals" Butterscotch said slowly.

"Yeah, and can you imagine a Snake Charming Cutie Mark? It would look so cool!" Jam leaped up into the air, and raised her hoof. Well used to this, the others followed suit, and they slammed their hooves together with a cry of

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Animal Caretakers, YAY!"





"I don't think my one likes me," Astral said, as she tried to pick up her fox, who tried to squirm away no matter what. 

Jam was having a similar issue with her badger, and was now trying to coax him out of the corner. "Dumb badger," she muttered, and said badger growled in response.

Butterscotch, on the other hoof, had long since abandoned his bird, and was instead crouching down in front of a three legged dog, holding a hoof out for him to sniff. "This is Lucky," he explained, noticing Astral's stares. "Mom found him in an alleyway, really badly injured. They had to cut off his hind leg 'cause it was so messed up." 

As if he knew they were talking about him, Lucky let out a weak whine, and leaned forwards in an attempt to reach Butterscotch's hoof. "He has to do tons of physical therapy" he continued, taking a small step back, and out of reach. "But he never wants to do it." 

Butterscotch stretched his hoof as far out as he could, and Lucky gave three wobbling, unsteady steps down so that he could press up against the colt. Butterscotch smiled, and gave him a quick scratch behind the ear. "Good boy, oh good boy" he praised, not noticing the flash of light on his flank until his two friends gasped.

"What is it?" He asked, turning around, eyes wide.

Trembling, Jam lifted a hoof to his flank, and Butterscotch bent his head to look at it. On it was a simple barbell, with a heart in the center of it. "Ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmy- MOM!" He squealed, running into his mothers sanctuary. It had only grown over the years, and had many volunteer workers, all of whom stared at him as he sprinted past, shrieking at the top of his lungs.

He found his parents under one of the many apple tree's they had, and skidded to a stop in front of them, panting. Seeing their confused looks, he turned to show them his flank prancing as he did so. "Oh my," Fluttershy said, smiling at her excited son. "What does it mean?"

But before he could say anything, Astral and Jam tackled him into a hug.

"Whooooooooo!" Jam started doing an improvised dance around them all. "You got your cutie mark! WHOOOOOOOOO!" Her cries drew the attention of all the interns and apprentices working at the sanctuary, but she didn't care.

And even that was nothing compared to Braeburn. "Well, knock me down with a feather boy!" He cried, swinging Butterscotch up into a one armed hug. Butterscotch was the tallest in their class, and the strongest, yet Braeburn was holding him as if he was the feather. "Can't wait to tell the folks back home about this!" He added as an afterthought.

Butterscotch, who had started off jubilant, was slowly sinking back into embarrassment. "Ponies are staring" he hissed.

In response, Braeburn lifted him up as high as he could, so everyone could see him. "Look at my son!" He cried, "I'm so gosh darn proud of him!"

"Hoo boy" Jam muttered, and Astral nodded in total agreement.





Thursday.

"Physical therapy!" Butterscotch beamed as he stood in front of the entire class.

After seeing his cutie mark, Cheerilee had invited the earth pony up to the front to talk about it. He got off track several times, and would sometimes talk way too fast in his excitement, but Astral could keep up with him well enough, and apparently, so could other members of the class, as they were able to ask questions.

"What's Physical Therapy?"

"Why a barbell?"

"What's with the heart?"

Butterscotch, who had researched it last night, decided to focus on the first question. "Physical Therapy is kind of like a life coach, in a way" he began, running a hoof against the ground in thought. "Mine is for helping ponies with injuries or disabilities grow stronger." Seeing their blank looks, he elaborated. "For example, you could be missing a leg, which means you would have to strengthen your other legs in return."

More heads were nodding, so he pushed on. "My cutie mark is a dumbbell" he aimed a glance at the kid who had called it a barbell "with a heart in it, to represent how I'm supposed to nurture and look after others." Seeing the unimpressed looks he was being given by other colts, he also hurried to add "I'll also probably be working with ex soldiers too!"

Everypony clapped as he went back to his chair, and Astral and Jam grinned at him, before giving their infamous three way highhoof.

Cheerilee cleared her throat to get her classes attention, and, after they settled down, gave them all a huge smile. "Now today is Thursday, and you know what that means, test." Hearing the groans, her smile enlarged, and she held up a hoof. "But-" that got everyone's attention. "Since this day is very important to Butterscotch .  ." she put the test papers away. "No test!"

The schoolhouse had enlarged over the years, and now had several classes and teachers, which meant that they all heard the screams and cheering even from across the school.

Later, when Twilight came to pick up Astral up from school, she congratulated Butterscotch on getting his cutie mark, much to the colts joy.

"Oh, and Astral, I got those books you wanted", she said, before levitating three books into Astral's saddlebag. 

Astral gave her a quick hug. "Thanks mom," she said, as the two started back for the castle.

"Don't mention it. Though why you would want a time loop book is beyond me, they're so overdone."
> Loop 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday

At 3:25pm, two trains left Los Angeles. One train traveled westward at a constant rate of 82 mph, while the other train traveled east at a constant rate of 66 mph. If they are now 111 miles apart, what time is it now? Please show all steps

Everyone in the class stared blankly up at the board, before turning, as one, to glare at their teacher. Cheerilee, upon seeing the disgruntled expressions, laughed, and shook her head. "No, I do not expect you to solve this equation," and everypony let out a relived sigh. "But," this made everyone tense up once more "sometime in the future, you may be asked a question similar to this one." She waved her hoof towards the board, and raised an eyebrow at her class. "Want to complain about long multiplication now?" She laughed again at the vehement head shaking.

Turning, she began to write up long multiplication sums on the board, and chose ponies at random to do them. Her eyes honed in on Astral Plane, who seemed to be doodling.

"Astral!" She called, holding a piece of chalk in her hooves. "Can you come up here and do these questions for me?" She expected the unicorn to freeze up and sheepishly ask what question they were on. Instead, she got to her hooves, and telekinetically held the chalk up, before starting to answer the question.

Huh, her magic has improved, Cheerilee thought, eyeing her critically, before raising her eyebrows. As has her math.

Astral underlined the correct answer twice, and quietly made her way back to her seat, trying to ignore the stares she was being given.





"You're really good at magic now!" Butterscotch gushed, and Astral tried not to flinch when she saw his blank flank. Time had reset, so his cutie mark was lost.

Jam nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah, I thought you said you were struggling at magic."

Astral shrugged, smiling slightly as she said "I guess I've had a . . breakthrough, really." And it was true enough. While not amazing, she could now lift all five marbles if she concentrated really hard. She wasn't really sure what caused it, maybe it had something to do with stress?

Besides, she had bigger things to worry about. She had read all three of the looping books her mom gave her in a day (wow, this is what her mom must feel like all the time) and the results were very . . disheartening.

Most ponies trapped in a time loops either went insane, or became super depressed. The last book in particular bothered her, as the ending was about how the protagonist killed themselves to get out. She had long since decided to save that for an absolute last resort.

All the books did was leave her with more questions and more worries.

"Earth to Astral!" Jam yelled, waving a hoof in front of her face. 

Astral flinched back, before realizing both her friends were looking at her strangely. "Uh, sorry, what?"

"I said," Butterscotch said in a slow voice. "That maybe you should try some other spells. You might be especially good at a certain branch of spell, instead of just magic in general.

Astral stared at him. "That just might work!" She chirped, bouncing on her hooves slightly in her excitement.

Before they could continue onward, the school bell rang, calling them back into class. Astral remembered all the magic books in her moms library, and grinned.





"Oh, sweetie, it's so nice to see you so eager to learn!" Twilight gushed as she levitated books down from their shelves.

Behind her, Astral Plane laughed awkwardly. "Oh, you know me, always eager to learn," she gave a big toothy smile, but, thankfully, her mom wasn't paying attention, searching for the perfect book for her daughter.

At last, she levitated a light blue book with an explosion on it down, before handing it to Astral. "Guide to Magic and Sorcery," she beamed, and Astral flicked through a couple of pages, and checked the table of contents.

Beginner
Telekinesis
Illumination
Reverse-Illumination (making everything dark)
Heat
Sound

Intermediate
Teleportation
Phasing
Laser
Shield
Undoing spells

Advanced
Reverse Gravity
Time Spells (the pages were ripped out for this one)
Transfiguration

"When your done with each of those classes, I will have to test you to see if you're ready to move up to Intermediate or Advanced," her mom warned, and Astral nodded, not looking up. "If you pass the Advanced Test, you are registered in Equestria as a mage!" She added, and Astral perked up at the thought of her wearing the traditional Mages Robes.

"Thanks mom," she said, before reaching up to nuzzle her.




Tuesday 

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction . . ."

Astral, used to the lecture, instead decided to focus on her book. She was smarter this time, putting it under the desk to read it. She wanted to start off by trying illumination, but it would have to be dark to do so.  

"Astral Plane!"

At the sound of her name, she looked up to meet Cheerilee's eyes. Upon seeing that her pupil was now engaged once more, she turned back to the board, throwing a "So glad that you have decided to rejoin the conversation, Astral," over her shoulder.

Astral remained impassive while everypony else snickered. It had been done so many times at this point, she couldn't even be ashamed or embarrassed. Slowly, she turned back to her spell book.





Wednesday

"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!" Jam said, only to stop when Astral held up a hoof.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could sit this one out," she said, giving a tired smile, and unconsciously glancing towards Butterscotch's flank. She didn't want to do the same same thing over and over again without fail.

Jam stared at her, ears pressed against her head. "But . . we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We crusade for our cutie marks. Together."

Astral shuffled uncomfortable. "I have a headache," she lied, and Apple Jam's eyes narrowed.

"No you don't. I know when you're lying," her lips trembled dangerously as she continued. "If you don't want to hang out with us, you can just say it."

"I-" Astral shook her head slowly. "It's not that, I'm just not feeling it today." It was feeble, and going by the incredulous stares she was being given, they knew it too.

"If you want to leave, you can leave," Butterscotch said, sounding truly miserable now.

Astral looked between her two friends. Jam was scowling in an attempt to cover up her tears, but a couple were already trickling down Butterscotch's cheeks. It was no use trying to explain herself.

Astral walked out of their tree house.





The rest of the day passed by very slow, but Astral tried to make the most of it by writing out some goals. From what she could gather from her time loop books, boredom led to apathy which led to killing others for fun. So, she just wouldn't get bored. Easy,right?

1. Get cutie mark

2. Learn Magic

3. Help friends get cutie mark

4. Find out what time I loop at

5. Bring another pony in with me to see what happens

Sadly, the list only took ten minutes to make, so Astral was bored almost instantly after.

She tried to focus on magic, and, to her surprise, she found she could do a weak illumination spells. It was hardly more than sparks, but she hadn't been expecting it to work at all. She filed that away for later.





Thursday


"Hello class!" Ms Cheerilee greeted, and a chorus of "hello Ms Cheerilee"'s followed by soon after. "Now, today is Thursday, and you know what that means" she lifted up a stack of paper, "tests." The class groaned as usual, while Astral just stared down at her desk, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. It had been awkward, walking into class with Jam and Butterscotch ignoring her.

The tests were handed out, and Astral filled out the correct answers. When she was done, she took out a blank sheet of paper, and started folding it up. Her uncle Spike had taught her how to create a paper frog before he moved to help relations between Equestria, Dragons and Changelings. Once she was done, she pushed on the frogs back, causing it to hop around the desk. 

When her mom came to walk her home as usual, she walked by Jam and Butterscotch without the usual goodbyes. Seeing her mom's questioning look, she gave her the frog as a diversion. 

It worked for a couple of minutes, with her mom's squeals of "how cute!" and "oh I just love origami!" filling the air for a second, until she carefully tucked them away in her saddlebags, and turned to Astral, face serious.

"Is something wrong sweetie? Did you and your friends get into a fight?" She asked, concerned.

Astral shrugged. "Yeah, but don't worry. It'll all be cleared up by tomorrow."

Her mom gave her a confused look, but didn't say anything else.
> Loop 5 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday

"Butter? Jam? Can I talk to you two for a moment?" Astral called her friends to the side just before school started. Both turned and nodded, and Astral bit her lip as the three got into  a group huddle.

"I was thinking, instead of seeing if we can find our cutie marks, how about we explore the Everfree?"

Apple Jam frowned, confused. "You want to explore the Everfree? I thought you were terrified of that place!"

"I realized how stupid that was. I mean, it's just a forest. Besides," she said, going in for the kill "there might be cool treasure in it!"

There we go.

Jam leaped about a mile into the air, and, upon landing, pulled Astral into a one armed hug. "Now you're speaking my language, Assie! Buried treasure! Exploring the unknown! Facing down deadly monsters!"

"Yeah!" Butterscotch said, before double taking. "Wait, what?"





After this, the day followed the same way as it always did. Cheerilee was writing up the train equation up on the board when an  idea came to Astrals head.

Hmmmmmmm . . . this could be fun

Carefully, she wrote out the question into her notebook before Cheerilee could rub it out.  She was called up to the board to answer the math question, which she did, before returning back to her seat.





"You're really good at magic now!" Butterscotch said, and Jam nodded enthusiastically.

Uh-oh.

"Thanks, but we should probably focus on the Everfree," she deflected, and Jam brightened even more.

"Right,okay! We're going to need a med bag, water, rations, rope, a map and possibly a small knife" she fired off in rapid fire order, and only stopped when she saw Astral and Butterscotch staring at her. "What?" She asked defensively.

"Nothing," Butterscotch said, still staring. "I just didn't expect you to be so  . . ."

"Responsible," Astral finished, and Jam scowled.

"Hey, I don't play around when it comes to adventures, and this has the potential to be the best adventure ever!"





Tuesday

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while  most of the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. ."

Neither Astral, Jam or Butterscotch, however, were paying attention. They had moved their seating positions so they were all beside each other, and all three were looking at the only map of Everfree. It was messy and incomplete, but it would have to do. Unless her mom had a spare?

"Astral Plane! Apple Jam! Butterscotch!" Jam and Butterscotch both jerked back, while Astral just looked upwards, and, in one move, rolled up the map, and place it back under the desk, focusing all her attention on Cheerilee.

"That's better,now," she continued to go on about Flight or Fight, and Astral quickly tuned her out once more.





Wednesday

The three Crusaders slowly made their way through the dense forestry, careful as to not accumulate more scratches, bruises or burrs in their fur. They had gotten lost almost instantly, and, though they could only see brief flashes of the sky through the leaves, it looked like they'd been walking for an hour or two.

Despite this, Astral didn't feel nervous. In fact, the new and interesting scenery made her feel calmer than she had been in the last few days. Maybe it was just the fact that there were ways to find new things in the loops, and she didn't have to stay in one place.

"It's amazing." Clearly Jam felt the same as she did, as the earth pony stood on her hind legs, and spun in a slow, small circle as if she was trying to take it all in. Meanwhile, Butterscotch, who lived close to the Everfree, wasn't as amazed as the others, though he did seem to enjoy the quiet that nature brought.

"So, what do we do now?" Jam asked, turning bright eyes to her friends, both of whom looked stumped.

"Uh, oh, I know! Why don't we try to find the Castle of the Two Sisters! There's all kinds of secret passages there, so he  Princess probably hid some cool treasure there somewhere!"

Butterscotch's suggestion was met with much enthusiasm, and Jam jumped up onto a  fallen tree, and pointed in a random direction. "Onward, my friends! To adventure and jewels!" With that, she slid down the log, and took of racing into the undergrowth, Astral and Butterscotch on her tail.





"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Astral asked as Jam visibly hesitated once more.

Jam shot her a look over her shoulder. "Do you want to lead?" She challenged, gesturing ahead, and Astral shook her head ,nervously glancing around the landscape. What had originally been an idea to stave off boredom had quickly deteriorated into the likely odds of her friends getting into serious trouble.

Well, it could be worse.

Then, like the Gods themselves answered her call, rain began to splatter down through the tree branches. But, it was sunny all week, so why . . .

Oh yeah, the Everfree has it's own unique weather patterns.

Because why not?

The trees helped stopped most of the rain, but it was such a downpour, that in just a couple of short minutes, Butterscotch, Astral Plane and Apple Jam were soaked, and with the strong breeze coming in, they started to shiver as well. "We need to find shelter!" Jam had to scream over the sound of the wind and rain and . . . thunder?

Brilliant.

Astral aimed a desperate glance around, and saw, halfway hidden by vines and moss, a small cave opening in the ground. She lunged at it, and used her magic to clear the way. 

In seconds, she and her friends were in a very,very large cave. It was easily the size of a stadium, and a part of Astral wondered how the earth above had managed to stay stable without Earth Pony Magic. The only source of light was from the now big hole above them.

They moved away from the hole, and Astral cast her Illumination spell, instantly filling the room with a violet light. "Nice work Astral!" Jam said, enthusiasm returned now that they had a cave to explore. The light managed to reflect off what looked like a shiny object, and Jam barely held back a gasp. "Treasure!" She exclaimed, before racing towards it.

Butterscotch and Astral raced after her, but the other filly had grown up working on a farm, and easily outpaced them, before coming to a sudden and extreme stop, causing the two to run into her. The combined force knocked them all down to the ground, and also gave Astral a first hoof experience of what caused Jam to stop.

A manticore, towering in front of a golden ring, spitting and snarling.

Astral's light went out.
> Loop 5 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instantly Astral realized her mistake. Being stuck in a cave with a manticore was bad enough. Being stuck in a cave with a manticore in the dark was much worse.

Something pulled her by the tail, and Astral let out a muffled scream, flailing her hooves in an attempt to get away.

"It's just me," Jam whispered into her ear, and Astral relaxed a bit. "We need to get out of here," she continued, "can you see the entrance?" Slowly turning her head, she saw the shafts of light on the other side of the gave, and gave a quick, jerky nod. "Good. Light your horn and run when I give the signal, okay?"

Then she was gone, leaving Astral to squint into the murky darkness, trying to see the manticore once more. She heard Butterscotch breathing beside her, and Jams hoofsteps as she cautiously navigated the dimly lit cave. 

The only signal Astral was given was the battle cry Jam screamed, and instantly she spun on her hocks, and was racing towards the light, making her horn light up the cave as she did. Butterscotch had already surpassed her, with his longer and stronger legs carrying him further, and Jam-

Jam wasn't with them.

Astral snapped her head to look behind her, and her magic perfectly caught the scene. The Manticore, rearing up and snarling as Jam clung to his back.

Oh, you're joking. "Jam!" She screamed, and the sound of her name must of have surprised her, as Jam slipped, and the manticore threw her over it's back. "NO!" Astral felt the blood drain from her face as she stopped dead in her tracks.

Apple Jam landed in a roll, and instantly pushed off running at full throttle. The farmfilly quickly passed the unicorn by, and as Astral struggled to keep up with her more athletic friends, she was aware of the sound of the manticores paw steps as it chased after them.

The feeling of fur brushing against her tail made Astral throw herself across the cave, scrambling through the cave and back into the pouring rain where her friends were. They didn't stop running, racing through the forest, and tripping over roots and vines as they did.

They finally came to a sudden, halting stop in a clearing, and Astral shifted as the stitch she had gained from running seemed to grow more painful.

While she and Butterscotch tried to catch their breath, Jam was already refurbished, and, much to Astral's horror, bleeding.
"Oh Gods!" She fretted, racing over, and trying to stop the slow trickle of blood that came from Jam's chin. 

Not that the light orange earth pony made it easy for her, she was currently prancing in place. "That was soo cool!" She exclaimed, eyes glowing. "I was all like" she puffed out her chest, and tried to do the best example of a heroic pose, or as close as one could when a unicorn filly was glaring at them, "and it was like 'raah'" she said, baring her teeth and letting out a cute growl. "And, I got a scar! How cool is that?"

"That's not all you got," Butterscotch said, pointing to her flank. Astral leaned back to see what he was pointing at and gasped, dropping to all fours.

"No way. Nowaynowaynoway," Jam spun on the spot, trying to get a better look at her butt. When her eyes fell on the map with an X in it emblazoned onto her flank, she let out the most ear piercing shriek Astral had ever heard.

"Igotmycutiemark,Igotmycutiemark,Igot-" she was silenced by Astral's hoof entering her mouth, shushing her as she glanced over her shoulder to see if the manticore would come running by her noise. 

"Uh, guys?" Buttercup said, peering over a bush. Knowing that tone, Astral and Jam joined him, and saw the castle of the two sisters looming overhead.

"Are. You. Kidding. Me," Astral deadpanned, which sent Jam off into a fit of giggles, causing the other two crusaders to break down in laughter. "It was right here!" Astral gasped as she lay down on the floor. "I- what- WHY?!" The shrill exclamation made them all laugh even harder, not even noticing the shadows looming over them until they saw the legs inches from their heads.

"That," Apple Jack said, with her wife Rarity and all their friends behind them. "Is exactly what I want to know."





There was a lot of screaming (Apple Jack) and crying (Rarity), but by the end the three had perfectly relayed their story to their parents and their friends. And, if looks could kill, all three would be incinerated.

The walk back to Ponyville was silent, until Pinkie asked "so, what does your cutie mark mean?"

Apple Jam, who had been looking downcast for most of the journey, perked up once more. "Adventuring!" She attempted to rear up on her hind legs, but, as she still walking, she fell forwards, and got all mud all over her coat. Ignoring Rarity's shriek, she hopped back onto all fours and bounced around her mothers.

"Bravery! Exploring the unknown! Finding treasure and trinkets!"

"Treasure!" Rarity perked up, but Apple Jack gave her a look.

"Uh, Rares?" She said gently, and instantly her wife pulled an over the top angry look that had Astral stifling giggles.

"Oh! Right, I am very disappointed in you three!"

It wasn't very convincing, but it did set Twilight and Fluttershy off. The alicorn spun around, and cuffed Astral behind the ears. "What were you thinking?!" She shrieked, wings fluffing out in an attempt to make her look more intimidating.

"I-we- I" Astral hung her head. "I wanted to see the Everfree, and convinced the others to come with." She bit her lip, and awaited the retribution that would undoubtedly dished out.

And, oh boy, it was. By the time they reached Ponyville, Astral, Jam and Butterscotch's ears were burning, and they were all fighting the very strong urge to find a rock to crawl under and die in. But, just before they all separated, Jam mysteriously perked up.

"I got my cutie mark!" She said, turning to her mothers, "you can't ground me on the day I got my cutie mark!" She jabbed a hoof into her moms side. "It's like, the biggest day of my life!"

The adults all stared at her for a moment, before Pinkie Pie pulled out a book and started flipping through the pages, before coming to a stop. "She's right," she began to read from the book "rule 2,981 of Party Planning; the recipient will not have chores, be grounded or otherwise have to do something potentially dull on her party day." She shrugged, and threw the book over her shoulder. "Sorry girls, I don't make the rules, I just follow them."

"Uh, Pinks?" Rainbow Dash, Pinkie's wife, said, staring at her. "You did make the rules. You wrote that book."

Pinkie made a pshaw noise, and waved her hoof. "But, you two can't ground Jam until she's had a party!" 

Apple Jack made a little growling noise at the back of her throat, before shaking her head. "Well, fine, we'll ground her after then." Jam, who had been smiling triumphantly, gulped at this. 

"Well, in that case," Pinkie's smile grew sly, and Astral felt her eyes widen in horror. Nonononno she's not, she wouldn't-

Pinkie pulled out a very familiar cannon, and slammed the button down, and instantly the town square was covered in decorations. There was even a banner congratulating Jam on her cutie mark. Oh, she's good.

As ponies filed out the houses to see what the fuss was about, Astral stood shoulder to shoulder with Butterscotch and Jam. "Godspeed, friends," Butterscotch said, nuzzling them quickly, before vanishing into the crowd, who were only just noticing Jam's new cutie mark.

As they all gathered around the earth pony, Astral drifted away. She had always hated parties, with their loud music and too many ponies. She should probably find a corner to hunker down in.

Instead, she came across Fluttershy, softly singing to one of the birds in the trees. The pegasus had always had such a soft and gentle voice which made her songs a beautiful thing to listen to. Secretly Fluttershy had been Astral's favorite aunt, for her softspokeness and her kindness. If anypony else were to be uncomfortable at this party, it would be Fluttershy.

"How do you do it?" She asked, approaching her aunt.

"I'm sorry?" Fluttershy said. "How do I do what?"

"Sing. Socialize. Save the world. Take your pick."

"Well," Fluttershy quietly pawed at the ground. "I like singing, and I like being out with my friends. Besides" she added as an afterthought. "I was chosen to save the world, and it would be awfully rude of me to turn that opportunity down."

"But doesn't it bother you? That everypony is so" she floundered for the right word for a moment "social?"

"Well, umm, it used to, but I've been getting better. You can't really run a sanctuary without consulting others. I usually just try not to think about it so much, it only gets me more worked up. "

"I wish I could do that," Astral confessed, shifting from hoof to hoof. "I just get so nervous."

"Oh, that's a shame," Fluttershy turned to fully regard her niece. "Twilight and Starlight tell me you're a wonderful little filly, and Butterscotch practically sings your praises. There's no need to be nervous."

"It's just, sometimes ponies will try to get to know me just so they can meet Princess Twilight, and it's so, so annoying, ya' know?"

"You have Butterscotch," Fluttershy pointed out. "And Apple Jam. They're not trying to use you."

"Yeah, I know, but mom wants me to get out more and make new friends, but I don't want to! I like my friends! And how would I even make new friends? I'm not the best at small talk."

"Well, what if I taught you a few things?" Fluttershy suggested, catching Astral's attention. "About socializing and being confident?"

"That would be great!" Astral said excitedly, before her ears flopped down. " But I can't really pay you or anything."

"Oh, I don't need your money, I already do this for a living, at the School of Friendship, remember? I get enough money for that already, and I wouldn't feel comfortable taking my niece's money in exchange for something that would benefit her."

"Are you sure?" Astral looked up at her.

"Of course! Come down any day you want."

Astral raced forwards and tackled her aunt into a hug, rearing up to wrap her hooves around the pegasi's neck. "Ooh, thank you so much, Fluttershy!"





Thursday

As like the time Butterscotch got his cutie mark, Apple Jam was walked up to the front of the class, and explained how she got her cutie mark, and what it meant.

The entire class seemed enraptured by the tale, especially when Jam proudly showed off the scar on her chin. "It needed stitches!" She proudly exclaimed, and the boys in particular seemed amazed at a filly having a 'battle scar.'

After she was finished with her tale, Miss Cheerilee announced that they would not be having any tests today. As the class cheered, however, Cheerilee's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Instead," she said, shoving the papers on her desk to the side. "We are going to talk about why you shouldn't enter dangerous areas without parental or adult supervision."

The class snickered as Jam, Butterscotch and Astral all sunk in their seats, faces already growing hot, as the teacher began the lecture.






"I have to do twice the amount of farmwork for the next month," Jam said as they all laid out their respective punishments.

"I have to reorganize mom's entire library." Seeing their blank looks, Astral elaborated. "That's almost eight thousand books."

"Hey, you're lucky, I have to clean all the animal poop off of any walls of fence posts."

"Okay, that's just Child Cruelty."





It was only as Twilight came to the school to walk her home that an idea entered her mind.

"Mom! Can Jam and Butterscotch come down for a sleepover?"

The audacity of the request had Twilight raising an eyebrow, so Astral hurried to explain. "I didn't get Jam a present on her Cutecenera, and this would be a great way to make it up to her!" Still seeing her mom's hesitation, she rushed on. "And we'll be in the castle all day, away from the Everfree, and wewon'tleaveandI'msosorryaboutthat,socanwepleasehaveone?"

She pulled out her best puppy dog eyes, and Twilight sighed. "I'll talk it over with Fluttershy, Rarity and Apple Jack" she said, facehooving as Astral almost instantly brightened. "Thanks mom! Hey guys" she screamed over her shoulder at her two startled friends. "You're coming over to mine for a sleepover!"

The filly and colts brightened, and seemed to instantly teleport over to her. "Thank you Aunt Twilight!" They said, in perfect unison, before trotting off after Astral. 

Twilight watched them leave. "Ho-boy," she muttered, before walking after the three giggling friends.





"Come on, I want to show you something," Astral whispered to her two friends.

It was almost midnight, which meant, if she was right, time would be resetting soon. Both Butterscotch and Apple Jam were in the room with her, giving her a weird look as she stared at the little watch in her hooves. 

"Uh, what are we supposed to be looking at here?" Jam asked, stretching. "I do have farmwork in the morning, just s you're aware."

"Just wait."

And, before her very eyes, the clock went from 11:59 to 00:00.

Quickly spinning around, she let out a breathless laugh of surprise when she saw Jam and Butterscotch still sitting behind her. The laugh dissolved into full blown giggles. Yes! She could bring others through the loops! This changes everything.

"Uh, Astral?" Butterscotch asked, but Astral was still laughing too hard to listen. She had her friends! They could do this!

"I don't feel so good." 

It was Jam's quiet admission that brought Astral up short. Looking up, she saw that blood was starting to run from Jam's mouth, and Butterscotch was starting to collapse.

She reached out, maybe to grab him, maybe to call for her mom's, but, before her eyes, cracks began to appear on Butterscotch's and Jam's skin. These cracks glowed, brighter and brighter, as Jam and Butterscotch screamed in agony.

And then Astral watched as her friends, her best friends in the whole world, evaporated before her very eyes. 

The clock went to 00:01.

And Astral screamed.
> Loop 6 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight Glimmer awoke to the sound of her daughter screaming. 

Beside her in bed, Twilight , who was about to leave to see Alchemy, had already started towards the door, but by then Starlight had already teleported across the castle into Astral's room. In the millisecond between crossing from one room to the next, the unicorn ran through all potential scenarios, from nightmare to intruder.

When she got there, however, she had to slam her hooves over her ears at the loud wails coming from Astral. She was lying down, and screaming as tears fell down her face. Her legs were bent, and she looked seconds away from collapsing.

"Astral, sweetie, what's wrong?" As soon as Starlight spoke, Astral straightened up, and stumbled into her mothers body, throwing her hooves around her barrel, and burying her wet muzzle in her neck. When Starlight wrapped her hooves around her, she saw that the fillies sobs were shaking her whole body.

"I killed them." It was whispered at first, until it gained in volume, and suddenly Astral was shrieking "I killed them!" As loud as she could. Starlight wondered who 'them' was, but decided to ask that later. Comforting her daughter came first.

"Ssssh," she said in her best 'Mama' voice. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here now." Starlight gently nuzzled Astral's neck, and the crying intensified. 

The sound of hoofsteps signaled the arrival of her wife, and Starlight shot her a desperate look over her shoulder. Twilight mouthed 'what's wrong?" At her, and Starlight helplessly shrugged in response. Twilight's long legs carried her across the room, and she wrapped her soft wings around her family.

"No school today," Starlight said, staring at Twilight defiantly, and the alicorn nodded quietly in response. Staying where she was, she penned a quick letter to Cheerilee explaining Astral was sick.





Their bodies glowed pure white, but even then Astral could see the blood pouring out of their eyes, nose, mouths, forming a puddle in the ground. 

"You killed us! I thought we were friends!" Somehow Jam managed to speak around the mountain of blood clogging up her throat. 

"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Astral screamed, curling up into a ball as her two best friends surrounded her. The puddle was now a river, a river of blood, staining her coat and making it hard to breath as it went into her mouth.

"Don't come near us again, murderer!" Butterscotch said, as both his and Jam's legs gave out, and they crumbled into dust, leaving Astral alone with the blood staining her hooves and iron in her mouth, and no friends.

"I'm sorry!"

"Assie, I made you pancakes," Starlight said, opening the door once more to find Astral curled up in bed, blankets tangled around her as tears streamed down her face once more. "Oh, sweetie," Starlight scooped her up and hugged her close again as Astral wailed.

This went on for a few minutes, and when Astral's voice started giving out from all the crying, Starlight decided to get to the bottom of all this.

"Astral, I need you to tell me what's wrong. It might help," Starlight put a hoof under her daughters chin, and tilted it up so they were making eye contact.

"I killed them! I thought it would- but it didn't- and then they started glowing and-and oh Gods no!" Starlight realized she had no idea what Astral was talking about, and the only clue she had was that she had apparently killed her friends.

"Astral, sweetie, listen to me, okay?"

Once she was sure she was listening, Starlight pushed on. "Did you mean to do it?"

"No! I-I thought- I don't know what I was thinking- I just- Gods" Astral screwed her eyes up tight at the memories.

"Then it wasn't your fault. You didn't murder anyone."

"It wasn't my fault. I didn't murder anyone," Astral repeated, futilely trying to wipe away her tears.

"Don't you dare forget it."





"Mom, shouldn't you be with Alchemy?" Astral asked upon seeing Twilight Sparkle in the kitchen.

"Oh, I had to cancel. He had different plans," Twilight lied, attempting to look casual. Astral just leveled her with a bloodshot stare.

"You can go, you know. You haven't seen him in ages."

Twilight bit her lip, obviously conflicted. She hadn't seen her son in so long, but her daughter needed her. "But what if you need me for something?" She blurted.

"I have mom," she reminded her. "And you're only a couple of hours away, and she knows the letter spell." Twilight trotted over, and pulled Astral into a hug, before letting go to turn to the door.

"Star!"

"Yes, Twily?"

"I'm going to Canterlot to Al! Look after Astral, won't you?"

"Will do!"

This entire exchange took place by Astral's two moms screaming at the top of their lungs across the castle. Astral wished she could say this was out of the ordinary, but, sadly, it wasn't.

Later, after she and Starlight had kissed Twilight goodbye, and had eaten their pancakes, the two sat on the couch in front of the fireplace in the sitting room. "Want to do some origami?" Starlight asked, choosing one of the few things Astral enjoyed.

Astral just shrugged. "Okay," she said listlessly. Starlight bit her lip. I have to find a way to cheer her up.

"Hey mom, can I ask you something?" This surprised her, and Starlight straightened up.

"Of course sweetie. What is it?"

"I'm doing an. . experiment, and I'm not really sure how to go about conducting it," Astral admitted, rubbing her hooves over the blanket on the couch.

"Oh" Starlight's face fell slightly. "That's more Twilight's area of expertise then it is mine." At Astral's disappointed face, she hastened to add "though you should probably start with an hypothesis."

"What's that?"

"It's like a theory of what you think it going to happen. Then, when you test it out, you can see if it's true or false."

A small smile graced Astral's face, but Starlight called it a win. "Oh, um also, I've been trying to improve my magic," Astral added. "I can do telekinesis and the illumination spell, and I'm making progress on the reverse illumination spell, but I can't do the heat or light spell."

"Hmmm," Starlight said, studying her for a moment. "How do you feel when you do these spells?"

" . . . what?"

"I said how do you feel when you do these spells?"

"Why should that matter?" Astral felt bewildered, while Starlight just smiled knowingly.

"Sweetie, magic is powered by emotions. The stronger they are, the stronger the spell will be. I bet you just did the spells just to see if you could do them, am I right?" At Astral's embarrassed look, she smiled. "Next time, try to focus on your emotions, yeah?"

" . . Thanks mom."
> Loop 6 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Remember, increasing or decreasing the room temperature will effect you as well unless you have a shield spell, which I know you don't." Starlight watched Astral carefully as she made the living room go from freezing to boiling within seconds.

It was Tuesday, and Astral had already missed two days of school. Starlight and Astral had spent those two days going over Astral's magic. Her telekinesis and illumination spells had greatly improved, and she had already mastered the sound spell.

Starlight smiled, her daughter was proving to be quite a natural with magic. She just hadn't realized it because she had tried to follow Twilight's method of non-stop studying instead of the more hooves on approach.

"You're doing great!" She praised, getting a blush from Astral as her horn finally stopped glowing.

"Thanks!" Astral said, wiping away some perspiration. 

Over the course of the two days, she had come up with a hypothesis, that if she left her bedroom at the same time the loops reset, she might be able to escape the loops.

Of course, there was a number of ways that could go wrong- she shut her eyes tight at the picture of her friends evaporating before her- but, at this point she was desperate to get out and get on with her life.

From what she could gather she would either;




Break the loop (what she hoped to happen)

Suffer the same fate as her friends (she shuddered just thinking that)

Have her memories erased (that's what happened in some of the looping books she read)

Something else would happen (she couldn't be sure as to what)



Out of all four option, she only wanted option one. But she had no way of controlling the odds, however much she wanted to.





"I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't miss three days of school," Twilight said firmly, flattening her ears at her daughters horror stricken look.

"Bu- please!" She begged, feeling tears prick at the corner of her eyes. They couldn't make her, she'd run, run far and run fast, they'd never catch her-

"Your friends miss you," Twilight told her gently, only for Astral to flinch away. "They tried to talk to you yesterday, but you made me send them away," she reminded her. "You need to go to school, sweetheart. It's the law."

"Okay," Astral whispered, hanging her head as she tried to control her shaking. If they were alive, it might be good to see if . .  if that last loop affected them in any way. But, Gods, what was she going to say to them?

She swallowed nervously, and started heading towards the school.

I can do this, all I have to do is give a quick wave and a nod, and I can get on with my day. They probably don't even remember, I mean- she stopped dead in her tracks upon entering the schools playground.

There they were, Jam and Butterscotch, deep in discussion, like nothing happened. Because nothing had happened. From their perspective, everything was fine and dandy, other then their sick friend.

Oh gods, no.

"Astral!" Butterscotch's sweet mellow voice actually brought tears to Astral's eyes, and she blinked rapidly to expel them.

"Are you . .  feeling better?" Jam asked, biting her lip and shuffling awkwardly onto her haunches. She never was good at feelings.

"Yeah, I'm good, I just felt really sick!" Not a lie, and Jam seemed to sense this, relaxing slightly. "But I really missed you guys" she added, still not a lie. 

Butterscotch opened his mouth to say something, but Cheerilee's voice rang out through the playground, calling all fillies and colts back into class.  He and Jam started to head inside, but Astral stayed exactly where she was, staring after her very much alive friends.

Cheerilee, worried about the pale, shaking figure that was her student, called Starlight and Twilight to come pick her up. They brought the little filly back to the castle, whereupon she broke down crying for some unknown reason.





It was Thursday, the last day of the loop, and all Astral was doing was curling up in bed under the covers, waiting for it all to end.

The sound of the door opening made her ears prick, but she did not look up. "Sweetie?" It was Twilight, sounding sheepish. Uh oh.

She threw off the blankets with her magic, narrowing her eyes up at her mother. "Yes?" She asked, suspicious.

"I- I came to apologize for making you go to school. I am so sorry."

You should be. The vindictiveness of the thought shocked her, so instead she shook her head and said "it's okay, it's not your fault." 

Her mom pulled her into a hug, and subconsciously Astral breathed in her familiar lavender scent. "I have an idea. How about tomorrow we go to Canterlot to see your brother. I'm sure he would love to see you!" 

A sad smile crossed Astral's face as she buried her face into Twilight's chest. "I would like that. I haven't seen Al in ages." She remembered her idea to go outside her room when the loops reset, but decided to save that idea for later. It's not like I can't wait one more loop.

A part of her wondered when her parents hugs became less comforting then they used to.
> Loop 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral woke up and realized three things;




Time had once again reset

She would be going to school once more

She did not want to go to school 



She lay there for a moment, joints aching as she mulled over these three facts, and slowly, an idea began to form in her mind. Could I skip all four days of school? She sat up, and seriously considered it. I can probably get two days off, but any more than that and mom will be mad.

She shuffled awkwardly at the thought. Unlike Jam, who seemed to enjoy being grounded, Astral hated it when her mom's became annoyed or exasperated at her. Goody-hoof-shoes, Jam had called her, and it was true enough.

But . . . she really didn't want to see Jam or Butterscotch again. She wasn't ready yet. Probably would never be ready.

She glanced at the clock. She had seven hours before school actually started, and as that time passed, the idea in her mind of just skipping grew and grew until it seemed completely possible and reasonable.

It's not like I'll get in any real trouble, everything will just reset by the end of the week.

The thought didn't disturb her like it did the first time it had appeared in her head.





"I don't feel so good mom," she admitted, putting on her most pathetic sounding voice. Starlight frowned at her, and put a hoof to her daughters forehead. Quietly, Astral cast her temperature spell, and her body temperature skyrocketed.

"Wow, you're burning up! Hang on, you get up to bed, and I'll tell Cheerilee," Starlight watched her daughter trot up the stairs, before quickly writing a letter to Cheerilee and sending it.

Astral shut the door, and breathed out a sigh of relief. Did not think that would actually work, she admitted as she climbed into bed.

During the last loop, she had put together several notes and lists, all to do with her current predicament.

Time Loops

Ways to get out;




Death (NO)

Leaving the room where you loop

Finding the right sequence of events

Killing the culprit of the time loops (is there a culprit?)

Time magic (Forbidden, and I'm not strong enough to use those)

Bringing someone in with you (Don't do this)




Tested

 Bringing someone in with you - Failure 

Goals




 Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate





Reading over the list, she once more let out a sigh, shaking her head.

Okay, I'll test being outside my room next time. Although, will my notes vanish if they're not in the same room as me when I loop? A troubling thought, but she pushed past that to focus once more on her magic. She was decent at all the Beginner spells now, but they still needed refinement. Or so said her mom.

She puffed out her cheeks as she concentrated, using the temperature spell to make the room slightly colder. Instead, her magic shot out like a crashing wave, and for a brief moment she was blinded by light. Once she could see again, she let out a sound that was a gasp mixed with a groan.

Her bedroom floor was covered in snow.

What the- how?!

She refocused on the temperature spell, and the room heated up instantly, making her feel uncomfortable in her own fur. But the snow melted almost instantly, and the water evaporated.

She brought the temperature back to normal room heat, and sat down, stumped. How did I do that?





"Sorry sweetie, but you can't miss three days of school." 

As expected, when Wednesday rolled around, both Starlight and Twilight insisted Astral go to school. "Missing out on valuable knowledge!" Had been Twilight's words, while Starlight just rolled her eyes and shoved Astral out the door.

She walked down the road to the schoolhouse, but, once she was sure nopony was around to see her, she dived into the bushes, and started heading out towards the Everfree. She remembered a small clearing Aunt Fluttershy had shown her once, and it seemed as good a place as any to hide from her mom's and their friends.

Quickly looking around to make sure she was alone, she pulled out the Hippogriff Games. She wasn't that much of a reader, but the Hippogriff Games would always have a special place in her heart. 

She had just finished the second part of the book when she heard the school bell ring, signalling the end of classes for the day. Quickly shoving her book back inside her saddlebags, she stood up, and started back towards the castle.

She was greeted by the sight of Miss Cheerilee sitting in the kitchen, flanked by both her parents.

Astral's eyes widened infinitesimally. Ah, hell.

"Astral Stellar Plane," Twilight Sparkle was certainly living up to her Princess title, somehow looking both regal and disappointed at the same time.  Full name, oh Gods. 

"Care to explain where you've been?" Starlight asked, placing her hooves on the table as she stared at the frozen filly.

"I- uh got lost?" Wow, just, just wow. 

"Uh-huh," Starlight said, raising an eyebrow, before turning to smile at the other two mares. "Well, how about one of us walks Astral to school tomorrow, to stop her from getting lost again." The smile the three adults gave her were saccharine, and Astral gave them her sweetest smile in return.

"Of course, mom."





On Thursday, Twilight stood by the door, waiting for her daughter to appear. After a couple of moments, she frowned, and started up to the bedroom, throwing open the door, only to find an empty bed.

Starlight couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her wife's bewildered face. "Oh, she is so grounded," she said, smiling with all her teeth.

Astral, meanwhile, was cantering down the path to the clearing, saddlebags tied tight around her barrel. She became aware of the smile on her face, and frowned as guilt pulsed through her. Get over it, unless you want to see your friends again? She shuddered. 

I'm going to have to learn how to get a thicker skin if I want to keep doing this. 

She curled up in the clearing after finding her page in the book. Her mom's would undoubtedly send out search parties to look for her, but only Fluttershy, Jam and Butterscotch knew about this place, and even then the clearing was so out there that she was certain her aunt wouldn't think of it.

When she was sure school was over, she went back to the castle and climbed through one of the open windows. Falling gracelessly to the floor, she carefully picked herself back up and make herself look presentable, before trotting out into the throne room.

All her aunts were there, no surprise really, and when she walked in, they all turned to her with varying degrees of confusion and annoyance. "Where have you been?" Twilight asked, wings and eye twitching. Astral schooled her features.

"In the library, why?" She tried to infuse as much innocence as possible into her voice.

"Why were you in the library?" 

"You said you would walk me to school," Astral reminded her. "I was waiting, but you never came up, so I went down to the library to find a coloring book." She made her eyes as big as possible, and good actually feel the halo forming above her head.

Twilight's mouth twisted to the side as she glanced at Applejack, who frowned at Astral. "Ah know when you're lyin', ya know." She said, raising an eyebrow at the filly.

"Aw, shoot."

She looked up to see her moms looming over her, and laughed nervously. "Uh . . . okay, this looks bad but . . . I've got nothin'"





Grounded for two weeks and having to be walked to school, can't believe I'm saying this, but thank Gods for the loops.

Astral was lying in her bed, with a digital clock beside her and her notes levitating in her magic. Once the clock got closer to twelve, she threw off the covers, and trotted just outside her door. 

She levitated the clock close to her, and put her hooves over the notes as she carefully watched the room and her clock.

11:58

Nothing

11:59

Still nothing

00:00

Movement!

Before Astral's very eyes, the marble which had fallen off her desk so many loops ago flew back up onto her desk. At the very same moment, however, her little alarm clock was crushed in her telekinetic grip. 

Astral jerked backwards, and the clock fell into ruins at her hooves. She shoved her muzzle close to the wreckage, cautiously inspecting it. Her notes where still there, that was a relief, but still,

What just happened?
> Loop 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral grit her teeth as the birds chirped outside. Many other ponies would find their song to be beautiful, but after hearing the same song over and over again, her love for nature was starting to be worn a bit thin.

She was still reeling from her discovery of last night. Only items on her or around her would stay where they were. Well, she had already guessed that. But what was with the sudden surge in telekinetic magic?

And, just to be sure she wasn't imagining it, she had tried to lift her own bed, and had done so with ease. Her magic had improved during the loop.

There has to be a logical explanation for all of this, she reasoned. But nothing sprung to mind. Mom would know  . . . but she doesn't even know I'm in a loop. Astral frowned, before a look of determination crossed her face. It was time for the parents to be brought up to speed.

She trotted out of the bedroom.





Twilight was just preparing to leave for Canterlot when Astral appeared behind her, face grim and serious. "Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked, and Twilight stopped packing for a moment to turn to her.

"Of course, sweetie, what's wrong?"

Astral hesitated as she tried to think of a good way to articulate this. It would take confidence, class and subtlety to get this across to her mot- "I'm stuck in a time loop, endlessly repeating the same four days over and over again" she blurted out.

Or there's that.

Amusement crossed her moms face, and she puffed out her chest, going into lecture mode. "Sweetie, you know that Time Looping is just a myth, right? I enjoy playing make believe with you, really, I do, but you shouldn't be up in the morning so early for it."

"But I am in a time loop!" Curse her habit of playing make believe.

Twilight cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Can you prove it?" At Astral's silence, Twilight sighed, rubbing a hoof over her face wearily. "Tell you what, I'll write out a note, and give it to you. And, if you are looping, you can give that note to me as proof. That okay?"

At Astral's nod, Twilight quickly scribbled down something on a piece of paper, and passed it over to Astral, who scanned it;

I was the one who broke into the Canterlot Archives just to reorganize them

and gave her mom a blank look. Twilight blushed, then shoved Astral forwards with one wing. "Go on then! Back to bed with you!"

Astral groaned and did just that.





Astral watched at Apple Jam and Butterscotch bounced around like Pinkie Pie on a sugar high. "What's with you two?" She asked, pulling away from them.

She had accepted now that she would eventually have to meet them unless she convinced the adults she was in a time loop.

"I don't know!" Jam said, a big grin on her face. "I woke up today feeling, I dunno, energetic?" Butterscotch nodded rapidly beside her, and Astral stifled a groan, only to hear a muffled gasp from behind.

She turned to see Misty Rose standing stock still behind the three friends, her pupils so blown out her blue iris' were just pale bands. Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at Jam and Butterscotch, and even when Cheerilee called, she did not move an inch.

Astral kind of knew Misty, their mom's were friends after all, and she was best friends with Anarchy, Luna and Discord's daughter, before she and Pinkie had moved back to Ponyville. Since Astral was quite close to Anarchy's brother, Eclipse, the two had crossed paths from time to time.

So, she swallowed down the nausea that was rising in her throat from the thought of socializing , and approached the frozen figure that was the filly. "Hey, uh, Misty, are you alright?" She asked, and hesitated before reaching a hoof out to touch Misty's shoulder.

The other filly turned to her, looking caught between awe and horror. "What is wrong with Butterscotch and Apple Jam?" She whispered, and Astral's heartbeat skyrocketed. 

She knew Misty was observant, to the point where Twilight Sparkle herself admitted she was like "a mini Fetlock Hooves" and "a bona-fide genius," but was it possible she knew about the loops? About Jam and Butterscotch's deaths?

"W-What do you mean?" Astral cursed herself for stumbling at the start, and, by the fact that Misty's eyes narrowed, the filly caught it.

"I mean, why do they have so much earth pony magic?!" Misty reared up and flailed her hooves dramatically. "Where did they even get so much of it?"

"Wait," Astral frowned. "Is that why they're so energetic?"

"Probably. Gods, it's like looking at the sun. I hope it wears off soon!" With that, the earth pony trotted inside, Astral at her hocks as she mulled this over.

Jam and Butterscotch both have a surge in earth pony magic not two loops after they .  .  died? That can't be a coincidence. She hadn't been in on the Monday they had been killed, so she wasn't sure if they had an increase in energy then, but it was starting to look like it.

I need to get mom in on this . . 





"Hey, mom?"

"Yes sweetie?" Starlight looked up from the book she was reading.

"I'm uh, trapped in a time loop, and I need something from you to prove to future you that I'm actually in a time loop."

Seeing her mom's blank look, she scowled slightly. "Just, roll with it."

Starlight looked at her daughter for a moment. Stuck in a Time Loop sounded impossible, but, well she had also done the impossible by improving Starswirl's Time Spell. Just to be safe, she told herself, and smiled. "Okay, here," she levitated one of her favorite kites down from the roof of the castle (after she and Twilight got married, she insisted that kites be part of the decorations) and gave it to Astral.

Astral put it on the flat part of her back, and smiled. "Yeah, that'll do. Thanks mom."

"No problem, Assie."





It was the last day now, and Astral was once more in her room, with the note and kite laid out in front of her. She closed her eyes and breathed out as time once more reset, before opening them again and smiling.

Showtime.
> Loop 9 part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Giddy with excitement, Astral trotted through the halls of the castle until she reached her mom. Just like the last loop, Twilight was surprised to see her daughter up and about this late.

"Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, sweetie, what's wrong?"

The conversation was going much the same way as it did last time, but it was important for Astral to let this all play out. Any slight deviations could mean a different note.

"I'm stuck in a time loop, endlessly repeating the same four days over and over again." She waited for her mom to get annoyed at her for 'playing make believe,' before saying "but I really am in a time loop!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. "Can you prove it?" Astral almost showed her the note, before realising she would have to wait for her mom to write the note itself, and kept silent.

"Tell you what, I'll write out a note, and give it to you. And, if you are looping, you can give that note to me as proof-"

Before she had even finished her sentence, Astral pulled out her note, and passed it to her. 

Twilight gasped, face draining of color, before shoving some glasses onto her nose and carefully inspecting the note. There was no doubt about it, she had written it. And that meant-

Her legs gave out, and the alicorn stumbled sideways to lean against the wall, eyes wide as she stared at Astral is disbelief. Oh, her poor,poor little filly. She leaned forwards, making grabby motions with her hooves, and Astral obediently trotted up to be enveloped in her moms wings. She squirmed uncomfortably as she felt tears land on her neck.

After a few minutes of this, and Twilight still showed no signs of letting go anytime soon, Astral carefully placed her hooves on her moms chest and pulled away, staring up into watery purple eyes.

"Uh . .  mom?" She asked gently, and her mom stifled a sob, before pulling herself together.

"Right . . I'm just . . so sorry," she sniffled, before a decisive look came upon her face, and she said "we need to tell Starlight; she knows more about time magic than any other pony I know."

Starlight was a little surprised to see her wife at the door, considering she was supposed to be on her way to the train station, but that was almost immediately blown away by the concern she felt by her bloodshot eyes and tear stains on her face. Something was wrong.

As if to confirm that, Astral shouldered her way into her room, and took out one of Starlight's many kites. After a few beats, she also levitated a very similar kite out of the living room, and handed them both over to the confused mare.

"I am trapped in a time loop, reliving the same four days over and over again. In the last loop you gave me proof so I could show you I was being honest, and here it is."

Starlight levitated the two kites closer to her, and felt her jaw drop and eyes widen. They were exactly the same! She looked at Twilight, and saw the somber look on her face. This was no joke.

She spun on her hocks so she was directly facing Astral, and summoned some parchment and paper. A voice in her head mocked her for acting so much like Twilight, but that was quickly overshadowed by the genuine terror that exploded from her chest and made her vision blur for a moment.

She closed her eyes, and teleported the three into the castle's library, where they all sat on a plush purple couch. She took a deep breath in to collect herself, before smiling at her daughter.

"Tell us everything."





It took Astral a good two hours to explain what was happening, not because her summary was particularly long, but because both her moms would interject with questions or condolences. It all became rather tiresome. At some point, the elements of harmony had been called in, and then she had to start all over again.

But, finally, they were all caught up, and Twilight leaned back in the seat. "Alright, while you've been explaining, I've taken some measures myself. The first thing is this note, from me, explaining that you are in fact in a time loop. You can use them for future loops." Astral took the note and carefully folded it up, wincing slightly at the pain blossoming in her joints once more.

"Secondly, I will also be giving you notes to give to me in other loops explaining any and all solutions we have tested, and their outcomes. These will have to be carefully looked after, as to be sure you won't lose anything.

Finally, I am lending you a book called Memory; Recollection and Remembrance. There's spells in there for enhancing memory and whatnot, so it would be interesting to try and see if we could remember past loops. While you try and learn that spell, I am going to spend the day setting up a proper research station. Oh! And don't worry, you don't have to go into school today."

"Ok, thanks! See you later everypony!" Astral smiled at the older ponies before trotting out of the room. She was already planning to try out the memory spells in the book, and so missed the worried glances being sent her way. The second she was out of earshot, the conversation took a somber tone.

"Okay, girls, how do we stop her from losing her mind? Studies have shown that repeating the same things over and over again can have hazardous effects on your mental health." Twilight looked around at her friends, serious. This was her daughter's sanity on the line, who knows how badly this may turn out?

"Maybe she could have something, like a, like a" Rarity gasped, pressing her hooves to her cheeks. "Like a scarf! She loves scarves! And it can be made of the softest material I have and-"

As the unicorn rambled on about color, the other six all shrugged. It was better than nothing. "Oh! Inspiration! I need to get started right away!" Rarity galloped out of the room, mane and tail flying straight behind her in her haste.

The others stared after her for a moment, before Twilight shrugged. "Alright then, I'll start setting up the lab. Starlight?" Her wife nodded, and the two trotted out to find an empty, unused room to turn into a lab. The rest of the elements of harmony dispersed.

"Hey Twi?"

"Yeah Star?"

"Do you . . do you think Astral's going to be alright?"

" . . I hope so Star."
> Loop 9 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was not what Astral had been expecting.

When Twilight told her she would be running some experiments,  she had imagined beakers and explosions. Instead, she was sitting on a cold metal table while machines around her measured her vitals, magic and other, more complicated things to name.

"Well, you weren't wrong about the increase in magic. It's spiked by a good twenty percent," Twilight was looking at a graph which showed her magic greatly increasing. Astral resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They had already gone over this in great detail, and she didn't want a repeat.

"So, are we done here, or?" Astral glared as Twilight blushed. Finally allowed to get down from the table, Astral landed and shook out her hind legs, which had fallen asleep. 

"Alright, here's all the notes I took down. Hopefully you can give them to me in the next loop. Anything else you want to discuss before you head out?"

Astral hesitated a moment, before saying "actually, yeah. I was checking out the memory spellbook you gave me, and I'm not exactly sure how to do the Memory Sharpening Spell?" The book was full of interesting spells, though the amnesia spell in particular had caught her eye. Erasing someponies memories was a strange spell to have in a book.

She watched with no small amount of horror as her mom levitated out a blackboard.

"First, you are going to have to understand how the memory works, and to do that we're going to have to delve into the pony brain . . ."

Gods help me.





"Morning Astral Plane," Starlight greeted, as she shoved a plate of pancakes over to the filly. Astral's eyes lit up at the golden , fluffy discs.

"Thanks mom!" She chirped, digging in. The sounds of hoofsteps alerted the two to a new addition, and Rarity appeared, smiling triumphantly as she held up a little blue box, which she gave over to Astral. The sound of the lid being opened and the rush of hooves was the only warning Rarity got before being glomped.

"Oh thank you!" Astral held the scarf in her magic. It was so fluffy and soft, and was made with that blue sparkly wool that Astral loved so much. 

"Oh really it was nothing. If anything, I should thank you for giving me this- this bolt of inspiration! I already have an entire clothes line in mind thanks to you." Rarity looked behind her at the clock on the wall, and sighed. "Well, I must be going. Jackie gets annoyed if I try to get out of the daily chores. Ta-ta!"

Twilight gave Rarity a nod as the two crossed paths, before the alicorn focused on her daughter, levitating what looked like a glass ball with electricity in it. "Astral, I've gone over what you've told us, and I have an idea. I put some of my magic into a ball. If you have this with you when you loop, and the magic in the ball increases, then we know how-" she visibly hesitated for a moment, before pushing on "we know how Jam and Butterscotch died. The magic overloaded their bodies, and they-um- evaporated."

There was silence as everypony processed this. Astral blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the tears and the memories threatening the edge of her vision, and tried to think rationally. If this was how Jam and Butterscotch died, why didn't she die too?  Did it have something to do with her increase in magic? 

"So, do you want to go to school?" Twilight asked, and Astral shook her head furiously.

"No. Noooo. Nope, not happening."

"Alright sweetie," Starlight hid a smile at her daughters childish response. It was good she hadn't completely lost that overdramaticness that came with being a child.





Thursday rolled around, and Astral was waiting on the bed, hugging the glass ball and notes close,her new scarf on her shoulders, when both her moms came in to give her a hug.

"Remember sweetie, even if we don't completely understand, you can always talk to us" Twilight said. Starlight didn't say anything, instead just burying her head into her daughters shoulder. Astral felt tears slid down her fur, and more pricked at her eyes. It was strange, to grieve for two ponies she would see the very next day, but here she was.

She glanced at the clock. 11:56. "You need to get out of here," she told them. Bad enough she had watched her best friends die, she didn't need to see her parents die too. The two nodded, and headed to their rooms, eyes red from crying, and Astral switched between watching the clock and watching the ball.

11:59

00:00

Instantly, the glass orb, which had been cool to the touch, became unbearably hot. Astral let out a small scream, but didn't let it go. The orb glowed brightly, and exploded outwards, slicing Astral's hooves open and sending glass across the room. The sheer magical force sent Astral onto her back, where she lay to try and regain her breathe.

After a couple of seconds, she hesitantly sat up, and looked around. Her notes were still locked firmly in her telekinesis, and her scarf was still on her shoulders, but the glass ball was completely gone, leaving only glass shards behind. Astral  winced as she inspected her hooves. The wounds were not deep, thankfully, and she knew were the first aid kit was. 

After bandaging up the soles of her front hooves, she went off to find her mom, wincing slightly from the dull ache of her cuts. "Read this," she handed the note to Twilight, and waited for her to process what was happening. 

So, what now?
> Loop 10 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And you're saying I wrote this?" Starlight looked at the note suspiciously. But both Twilight and Astral were completely serious as they watched her. Everything Astral said checked out, and there was no way she could of have forged this note.

"So, you said the ball with Twi's magic exploded? That's weird, the magic balls are usually built to prevent that from happening. The amount of raw magic needed to break through the glass- it's- it's" she sighed and shook her head. "It's mind blowing. Thank Gods no ponies were in the room, or they would of have instantly overloaded on magic." She paused when Astral flinched, but decided to ignore it. If she didn' want to talk about it, then she didn't have to.

It was then that Twilight decided to join in the discussion. "From what I can gather, the rules of the loops are as follows; whatever room Astral's is in is a safe zone, and everything outside it resets, npony can join Astral, every loop Astral's magic increases for . . . some reason, and Astral has to keep any objects she wants close by." She paused for a breath, and glanced at the filly. "Did I get everything?"

Astral shrugged. "More or less."

"Okay then," Twilight collected her thoughts for a moment. "I'll be honest sweetie, I'm not sure how to solve this one, at least right now. The odds of you getting the right loop are infinitesimal at best, so I'm writing a letter to Celestia and Luna asking for help. Maybe they'll know something about all this that they've decided to keep from the public" she shook her head. "Again."

Seeing her daughters crestfallen look, Starlight interjected. "Hey, I have an idea, why don't you play a prank on your class? I mean, I know you've thought about it a few times."

Astral hesitated, thinking. It's not like I can actually face real consequences, she reminded herself. And it doesn't have to be a harmful prank, it could be a simple one. 

The deciding factor was the growing feeling of boredom that had been festering in the background recently. Relving the same moments over and over again was nothing if not boring, and she hated it.

"Yeah, yeah okay."





The sound of trumpets caught the attention of everypony in the classroom, and Cheerilee paused in her writing, turning to face the door just in time to see pure white stallions dressed in the Royal Armour file into the room and line up on either side of the door. One of them stepped forwards and pulled out a scroll. "All rise for Princess Astral Plane, heir to the throne of Friendship and Magic!"

The students, which had been scrambling to their hooves at the word 'Princess' stopped dead in their tracks, and watched with mounting disbelief as Astral Plane came prancing in, nose stuck high in the air. She came to a stop just in front of the entire classroom. "Hello subjects!" She said, using her sound spell to give her the Royal Canterlot Voice effect. "We have just returned from a lovely meal with Princess Luna, and as such have decided to grace you all with my presence. We presence. O- Our presence. Ahem."

"Oh, bear us no mind," she continued on to the flabbergasted class. "Just treat us like thou would if we were any other pony who will just so happen to grow up to rule over you."

The flash of a camera was all the warning the class got as one of the royal guard members pulled out a camera and took a picture.
> Loop 10 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say that Astral was surprised when her mom slammed open the door and dived for her was an understatement. She let out a squeak and fell out of her chair, but Twilight was already scooping her up and planting her back on her hooves. "The queens want to see you!" She said as she dragged her daughter down the halls. Starlight walked behind them, expression caught between pity for her daughter and amusement for her wife.

"Wait, why do they want to see me?" She knew the princesses, or queens, that term was gaining currency now, well enough, but the tall regal figures had always intimidated her. Twilight spun around so they were muzzle to muzzle, before Astral gently pushed her away, and the alicorn handed her a letter.

Dear Twilight,

If what you tell us is true, Astral must come to Canterlot immediately. We have already sent for a chariot, which should be arriving just outside your door at two o' clock.  We need to speak to Astral.

Sincerely,

Queen Luna & Celestia


"Immediately?" Astral repeated, starting to trot back to her room. Quickly pulling on her scarf and saddlebags, she spent some time brushing back her mane in an attempt to make herself look presentable. Giving herself a quick once over, she walked out to see both her moms wearing the royal regula that came with being princesses.

"Ready sweetie?" Starlight asked, and Astral checked her saddlebags to make sure any and all notes were still inside.

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go!" The two shorter ponies had to trot to keep up with a giddy Twilight. The carriage was as comfortable as always, and ponies stopped to stare as they took to the sky. Glancing around, Astral nearly had a heart attack when she saw Jam and Butterscotch waving cheerfully from below. Hesitantly, she waved back, before turning around to look at the ever growing castle.





"Hello again Princess Astral Plane" Queen Celestia said, bowing to the young filly as she entered the room. Behind her, Queen Luna gave a warm smile.

Astral bowed as low as she could, before saying. "Hello your highness's. You called for me?" She asked, and saw Twilight give her an approving look. Those etiquette classes really payed off.

"Yes, we have heard about your predicament, and of the little prank you pulled yesterday. I assume you have pictures?" Celestia waited as the filly pulled out the pictures the guards had taken from yesterday, and handed them up. Luna stifled a giggle at the classes shocked look, and Celestia's smile grew wider as well.

"Would we be able to keep one of these? For- uh- sentimental value?" Luna asked, and Astral giggled and nodded. Quickly stuffing the picture under the cushion, Luna nodded to the guards, and they shut the door behind Astral. It shut with a loud thud, and it suddenly seemed as if the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. The little filly gulped.

"Astral Plane, this is very important, if anypony were to find out about this," Celestia shook her head slowly, and out of the corner of her eye Astral could see Twilight and Starlight straighten up in concern. "If you would please follow us. Twilight, Starlight, if you two could be so kind as to wait here." 

Both she and Luna led Astral down several long, winding corridors, each one getting darker and colder with each turn. They finally came to a stop in front of what looked like a shrine. 

Made from shining marble with flowers and candles lining both sides, it was easily the most beautiful thing in this section of the castle. Carved into the stone were six symbols; an infinity symbol, an explosion that looked scarily similar to Misty Rose's cutie mark, an upside down moon with a sun like object above it, a circle with arrows pointing to every direction, a spiky star with a hole in the middle and a strange upside down triangle thing. The last one was especially strange, as it appeared to be completely scratched out. 

"Before there was anything else, there were six very powerful beings," Celestia said, bowing to the shrine. "Kronos, Aethar, Ebony, Ray, Loki and" she visibly hesitated before saying "Harmonia."

"When Ebony turned against the other Gods, she first tried to absorb their magic. She didn't get all of it, obviously, but she did take enough that it took all five of them to finally take her down. The fight alone lasted six centuries, and thousands of species were killed off in the resulting battle. But, finally, the five managed to seal Ebony away.

However, the repercussions for doing this were devastating. Ray, lost his opposite, and as such, went insane. Creatures were going blind and plants were dying off from the excess heat and light. Thankfully, Harmonia, the God of Balance and Harmonia, realized they needed something to level out light and darkness. So, she created the day and night, and later, after Equestria was founded, she created two ponies to look after each one."

"Wait,wait,wait" Astral said, waving her hooves to garner more attention as her brain caught up to what they were implying. "Are you saying you two are-"

"Harmonia's daughters? Indeed," Luna confirmed. "We're not God's, of course, we're not nearly that powerful. The term Demigod is a more appropriate one for us."

"Anyways," Celestia ignored the gaping filly, instead choosing to focus on the story. "In creating us, the day and the night, Harmonia used up the last of her magic reserves, and was starting to fade away. And, since she had nopony to give her powers to, if she died, then all of Harmony and Friendship would vanish, leaving only chaos in it's wake.

So, she used the very last of her powers to turn herself into a tree. The tree of Harmony, to be more precise. She waited for us to find her elements, and, when Twilight and her friends were born, chose them to be her successors.  But, with Harmonia out of the picture, Harmonia's opposite, Loki was driven insane, like Ray. However, unlike Ray, who just vanished off the face of the earth, Loki spun out of control.

Nonetheless, this is more of a detailed summary than anything. You don't need Loki or Harmonia to get out of the loop, you need Kronos," Celestia pointed to the infinity symbol in the marble. "God of Time. She'd know what to do, or, failing that, have some ideas."

"Great!" Astral jumped into the air, gleeful. "When am I meeting her?"

The two diarchs visibly hesitated, before they both lowered their heads. "Astral, we do not know where Kronos is. She and her opposite, Aethar, the God of Space, vanished after the war, and have not been seen or heard of since."

Astral's ears dropped, and tears stung her eyes. What was the point of telling me this if it wouldn't do anything?

"However," Celestia said, making Astral look up sharply,"we do have some notes telling of the Gods time during the war. Maybe there is something in there that can help you." She carefully levitated out a box full of paper, and handed it over to Astral's eager magic grip. 

"Thank you!" Astral said, clutching the box close to her chest. This could hold the key to her escape! Oh, she couldn't wait to get her moms all over this. Turning around, she started walking back the way she came.
> Loop 10 Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keeping the chest close, Astral trotted back into the throne room, meeting the concerned stares from her mothers. Smiling in an attempt to alleviate their worry, and gave them both a quick hug before all three walked out of the throne room.

"Sweetie, I know you probably have bigger things on your mind right now, but I was thinking that if you wanted to meet Alchemy, now would be the right time," Twilight looked eerily similar to a bashful schoolfilly when she pawed the ground nervously.

"Of course I'll come. I miss Al, and he might even be able to help me find my cutie mark!" Astral squealed a little at the thought, and her parents smiled warmly at her enthusiasm.

"That's great! I've already set up a day plan and everything! I was thinking we could go to the zoo together!" Twilight pranced in place, garnering a lot of weird looks from the guards in the room.

Starlight snorted, before trotting out of the castle and into Canterlot itself. "Come on then! Al should be finished his experiments around now!"





Canterlot University was a huge building, made mainly out of red bricks. While it's main function was teaching students, there were also laboratories that scientists could use to run experiments, and offices for said scientists. 

As the three ponies trotted down the halls to Alchemy's office, Astral realized how out of place they looked; an alicorn, a mare dressed in royal regula and a filly. Still, upon reaching his office door, she cheerfully pounded on it with both hooves. The door swung open, and Astral came face to face with her BBBFF. Not that anypony would think they were related.

Alchemy was an earth pony, tall and well built with draft horse heritage shining through. His cutie mark, an atom with a stem attached, represented his genius intellect and his gifts at potion making. One of the first things one noticed about him was his iron clad ego, his obliviousness towards modern slang and sarcasm and his apathy to pleasing others. He never tried to pretend to be anypony else to please somepony, and, ironically it made him very popular. He had strict rules that had to be followed; the main one being no hugs allowed.

But, even his rules had exceptions as he accepted a hug from his little sister and mothers without complaint. "Hello mothers," he said, expression neutral. "I did wonder why you didn't visit on Monay, but I suppose this is adequate."

"Love you Al."

"And I you. Now, I assume you have some plans for today?" Twilight's face lit up at the question, and she pulled out the chart. The two nerds got lost in the world of planning and highlighters while the two unicorns stood by, pretending not to know hem.

"Ahem," Twilight awkwardly gathered her wife and daughters attention once more. "Right. So. To the zoo!"

Alchemy smiled as he fastened his saddlebags on. "I would like to learn more about the rhinoceros. Did you know rhinoceros means nose horn?" Seeing Astral's grin, he tilted his head to the side, confused. "What?"

"Nothing. Just glad to see you again."





Thankfully, the zoo wasn't that crowded, despite it being quite a nice day. However, both Alchemy and Twilight insisted on reading every information card on every animal, and taking notes, which meant that it took four hours to traverse the area when it should of have taken two.

They were heading towards the exit, Astral levitating a plush snow leopard over her head like a trophy, when they passed the tiger enclosure. As if on cue, a stallion galloped past, accidentally shoving Astral to the side. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Astral lose her telekinetic grip on the toy, and send it into the tiger enclosure.

Instantly stopping in her tracks, she let out a squeak as she saw one of the tigers start to approach the toy. He sniffed the teddy, before picking it up in her teeth. Astral saw fluff start to appear as the tiger started to tear into it, and she shrieked, tapping into her magic.

The tiger let out a soft wail as it was suddenly lifted into the air and away from the teddy. Gritting her teeth at the very heavy weight, Astral nonetheless also picked up her snow leopard and levitated it into her hooves. By now her horn had taken on an extra aura, which vanished when she had the toy back, and only then did she levitate the tiger back down to the ground.

By then quite a crowd had appeared, and started to clap their hooves at the magic shown. Normally Astral would be freaking out at being the center of attention, but she had bigger things to worry about right then.

Or, bigger things to celebrate.

She got her cutie mark.
> Loop 10 Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Elemental Spells for Elementary Students?" Astral read the cover before turning to look at her mom with a raised eyebrow. After getting her cutie mark, an ecstatic Twilight and Starlight had taken her magic book shopping, dragging Alchemy along for the ride. This book was one of eight they had bought.

"These are all books anypony needs to know if they want to start on the path of being a mage!" Twilight assured her.

Being a mage was a big deal in Equestria. After passing your test, you were given the Mage Robes and License, which meant you were allowed to submit your own spells, and try out some of the more dangerous ones. Many Mages offered their own magic as a service to others, like plumbers or electricians. Just the thought of being one them made the fur on Astral's back spike up in excitement.

"Thanks mom," she said sincerely, giving them both a quick hug and kiss. 

The four walked back to where the carriage was waiting, and they said their goodbyes to Alchemy. "Bye, Assie," he said, leaning down to nuzzle his baby sister. He wasn't sure what was happening, but something told him that something was going on, something big.

"Bye Al," she had to rear back on her hind legs to wrap her hooves around his neck even as he leaned down, but she didn't care. "Say hi to Jewell for me, and say that Jam misses him," she was referring to Apple Jewell, Jams older brother, who was Al's roommate and a very famous model. 

"Of course." It was always nice saying goodbye to Al, there was always an undercurrent of we're going to see each other again, we have unfinished business with him.

While on the way back to Ponyville, Astral decided to use the journey as an opportunity to read the contents page of the spellbook. As expected there was a list of spells

Beginner
Water
Ice
Smokescreen
Fire

Intermediate
Lightening
Cloudwalking Spell
Stun
Air

Advanced
Weather Control
Phase
Mind Magic
Earth

She recognized a lot of the spells from watching her mothers, but she didn't know unicorns could manipulate the earth or the weather. She knew Earth Ponies and Pegasi could do so naturally, but she had never seen a unicorn do it. However, if she wanted to do this, she would have to start at Beginner, then take the test to pass to Intermediate.

Upon arriving home, Astral quickly went to an empty room to practice. First going over the spells she already knew; telekinesis, illumination, reverse illumination, heat and sound and she was pleased to note that she had dramatically improved in all five of the spells.

Then she tried the new spells. That was less successful. Instead of a steady stream of water, only a couple of drops dripped from her horn. She did manage to freeze the drop midair, so she had better look with the Ice spell. She didn't particularly want to do the fire spell while inside her house, so instead she decided to focus on Smokescreen Spell, only to watch in dismay as a couple of puffs of smoke rose to the ceiling.

Definitely need to work on these . . 





11:58

This loop was almost over, and all of a sudden it hit Astral that she could lose her cutie mark. So she was staying up, anxiously checking her flank and the clock every two seconds.

11:59

00:00

Nothing. She still had her cutie mark. She breathed out a sigh of relief, and imagined showing it off to Apple Jam and Butterscotch as she crawled into bed. Maybe all three of them getting their cutie marks could be the key to her getting out of the loop.

I can hope.





Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

> Entry #1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She's lost it.

I always suspected she would turn against us one day, but nobody would listen. Ha! Paranoid my ass! Now look, Ray has been drained of power and Ebony is hunting is down.

Well, she's not taking my powers. She comes near and I will not hesitate to smite her. 

My opposite is in shock. Well, Harmonia always did try to see the best in others. Idiot.
> Loop 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Astral! You got your cutie mark!" Apple Jam was jumping for joy, and Astral smiled, amused by her friends enthusiasm. Astral had asked to walk to school with Jam and Butterscotch. It wasn't like she could avoid them forever or anything.

Butterscotch got so close his muzzle was practically touching her flank. "What does it mean?" He asked leaning away to look at her. 

"My talent is my magic and my fast reaction times" Astral said, nodding her head proudly and puffing out her chest. However, seeing her friends confused looks, she sighed. "My talent is using my magic," she said, and watched as their faces cleared up.

"Oh!" Jam and Butterscotch said in unison, nodding in unison. 

"Well, I can't wait till I get my cutie mark. I bet it will be awesome!" Jam said, staring up at the sky with a dreamy expression as they started walking to school. Astral smiled sadly as she stared at her best friends.





"Bye guys!" Astral waved goodbye to her friends and started trotting home. Standing in front of the class and telling them (the abridged version) of how she got her cutie mark had been nerve wracking, but not as anxiety inducing as it had been. Thankfully, her mom had returned from Canterlot. She waited for her to stop gushing about her cutie mark, before handing her the note.

"What the-!" Twilight stared at the note before rubbing her forehead wearily. Astral held out all notes she and Twilight's past self had written over the course of the loops. Twilight recognized some of it as her own writing.

"My cutie mark stayed with me through the loops. Does that mean I'm ageing?" That thought bothered her more than anything else; growing older while everypony else stayed the same.

Twilight must of have seen the fear on her face, as she hesitated before nodding sadly. "Yes, it looks that way. Eiter that, or the loop is letting you keep your cutie mark for some reason."

Astral shuddered and headed up to find her spellbooks. She wanted to practice some spells.





If she had any doubt Jam was a persuasive pony, then today knocked any of said doubts out of the park. The farmfilly had begged Astral to show some of her magic tricks, and the unicorn had broke under the pressure of Jam's puppy eyes.

Now, she, Jam and Butterscotch were back in the clearing in the Everfree. The weather was nice and sunny. Actually, everyday in the loops was nice and sunny, it was annoying.

"Go Astral!" Jam said, waving her hooves like she was a cheerleader. Both she and Butterscotch were a couple of feet back to avoid any backlash from spells. 

Astral bit her lip and shifted awkwardly. It would be really embarrassing if she screwed this up right now . . .

Trying not to focus on that, she chose to instead close her eyes and concentrate. A light aura surrounded her horn as she cast her spells. Deciding to start of easy, she used telekinesis, a normal enough thing for a unicorn to do. She was surprised to find how easy it was to lift her two friends, although she almost dropped Jam when she squeaked in surprise, they felt very light in her magic.

She felt her mane start to bristle with the mana in the air as the lowered the temperature enough to freeze the moisture in the air, creating snow. It wasn't on par with a weather spell, but it would have to do. She dropped both Jam and Butterscotch back onto the ground as gently as she could.

Ignoring their shouts of delight, Astral instead decided to try out reverse illumination. Almost instantly, the clearing turned pitch black. Her horn gained a second glow as she also pulled out an illumination spell before turning everything back. 

Astral sat back on her haunches, panting as her friends glomped her. "That-was-awesome!" Jam squealed, shaking the unicorn back and forth. "I can't believe you know all that!"

"I can do more," Astral admitted sheepishly. "Smokescreen, Sound, Water, Ice, Fire-"

"Fire!" Jam interrupted, squishing Astral's cheeks between her hooves. "Ooh! Show us, show us!"

"Uh, I don't think I should do it right now," she scuffed the ground carefully. "I don't want to accidentally burn this place down-"

"Just a small one," Jam begged. "And you can put it out with your water spell."

Astral hesitated. She didn't want to tell them she hadn't mastered the fire spell yet, especially after she said she knew how to do it. Instead, she just nodded and bent her head, concentrating.

Before Jam and Butters enraptured eyes, small sparks came out of her horn, dropping onto the ground. Astral grit her teeth as she imagined a small fire . . only for an inferno to explode from her horn. The force of the fire actually sent her flying backwards for several feet, slamming into a tree and being knocked unconscious.

"Astral!" She heard her friends screams as they tried to reach her. But the fire cut them off from her, and it was only growing. Her muscles felt like liquid, and her thoughts sluggish, but she was aware of the tree she had slammed into catching fire and the branch that fell from the fire that was pinning her down.

If she could just use her magic. . .  she attempted to reach her magic reserves but nothing. The smoke was making everything hazy for her. She was sure she was in pain, but she couldn't feel anything. She was dying, she knew it, but felt nothing. She closed her eyes.

Astral Plane's death was a peaceful, just like going to sleep, and that was all one could ask for.





Around Equestria, ponies on the outside began to feel weird. It started as a slight dizziness, only to grow into nausea and pain as the began to glow brightly. And then, all ponies that were outside, turned into nothingness. Screams rang through the skies.

And then Astral Plane woke up.
> Loop 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral Plane woke up.

She was in her bed, in her home, like nothing had happened. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she could still smell smoke, she would've thought it was all a dream.

Scrambling out of bed, she gave herself a frantic once over, but there were no marks or bruises on her body. Save for a curious stiffness, she felt fine, there was no sign she had been killed-

She had been killed. Astral breathed in sharply, shock running through her body as she remembered what happened. Curling in on herself, Astral sobbed like a toddler on the verge of a breakdown, both from the memories of her dying, and now knowing dying was not the way out of the loop.

"Okay, okay, get a grip. Concentrate." From looking out the window, Astral could see it was indeed Monday, which meant the loop reset after her death. Next up, had her magic increased? Focusing on her saddlebags, she attempted to levitate them closer, only to send them flying through a window. It seems that dying also increased my magic more than usual. 

"Astral! What was that noise?" Starlight poked her head into the room, only to gape at the broken window. Turning to glare at her daughter, she instead froze when she saw her expression. "What happened?" She asked, entering the room to crouch in front of her.

Astral wordlessly handed her the note, before getting up and trotting out of the room to find Twilight.





"So, when ponies are in the same room as you . . "

"They die, yes," Astral pointedly ignored the pitying looks she was being given by both her parents, instead focusing on a small spot on the wall.

"So then ponies are being given too much magic," Twilight muttered, deep in thought "but where is the magic coming from? It can't just appear."

"I wish I knew. I wish I knew why I am in a time loop. I wish I knew why I am being given magic," Astral sobbed, wrung out. How many ponies had she murdered? Did they feel anything before they died, or was it peaceful? No, she knew the answer to the last one; it had been painful, she knew that from Jam and Butterscotch- and now she was crying in earnest.

"I'll run some tests, and see if anypony is feeling any different, though so far I've noticed a strange uptake in magic between Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. Maybe they still retain some of the magic after they've been- after they loop?"

Seeing the dejected look on her daughters face, she crouched down so they were eye level. "I think you should spend these next few loops trying to relax. Learn some magic, hang out with your friends, play some pranks, anything that may help you heal." She pulled the filly into a hug and Astral smiled warmly.

Mom was right, of course, she would need to take time to heal from the last loop if she wanted to focus. Even now sobs racked her small body as she thought of Jam and Butter, and anypony else she may of have harmed. 

Some time off sounded good.
> Loop 13 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sweetie, what are you doing up?" Twilight asked, puzzled that her daughter was up at this time. In response, Astral gave her the letter and the notes, which she quickly read. Eyes wide,she turned to Astral.

"I need your help with something," Astral said, pulling out a small, crumpled note and handed it over.

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she skimmed the younger ponies messy writing. "You want my help with a prank?" She asked, and Astral nodded.

"Yeah, well, you and mom really."

The alicorn didn't try to suppress her grin at what the unicorn had in store.





The Canterlot Court simultaneously did a double take when Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Starlight Glimmer burst into the throne room, a small band behind them being led by Pinkie Pie. Twilight was wearing an old, ratty robe, much to the Elite's clear disgust.

Their daughter Astral was also wearing a cloak, though this one was white and fur lines. She was also walking the royal way, nose and legs high, steady pace and eyes straight ahead, much to the rooms clear approval.

Celestia and Luna were both sitting on their respective thrones when Twilight mounted the steps and turned to face the room. Their faces were caught somewhere between confusion and anticipation. 

The purple mare cleared her throat while her wife and daughter lined up behind her. "Good morning, everypony," she said, and waited for the murmurs of sycophantic responses to die down. "As you all know, I am the Princess of Friendship, and as such it is my job to keep harmony throughout the land. It is an honour to watch friendships new and old flourish, and I have loved every minute of it."

"However," she paused for dramatic effect, waiting until she was sure she had the whole courts attention "I hate doing paperwork, it keeps me from spending time with my family and friends. So, effective immediately, I am abidicating from the throne," and, with a theatrical flourish that Rarity would be proud of, Twilight threw off her tattered robe to reveal her wingless form. She was a unicorn once more.

Gasps rang through the throne room, and Twilight resisted the urge to look around at Celestia and Luna. Thankfullly, she could see their reflections in the gaping guards armour. Celestia's eyes were on stalks, and she looked seconds away from an anuerism. Luna on the other hand looked like Heartswarming had come early.

Especially when the now unicorn announced "and since I am stepping down, I have chosen a new heir to the Friendship Throne."

Remembering her mom's lessons, Astral took a couple of graceful steps forwards, back and legs ramrod straight. "My daughter, Princess Astral Plane," and with that, Astral's cloak was also ripped away to reveal a pair of lavender wings.

Thump.

The Princess of the Sun slumped to the ground in a dead faint.





Lucky mom knows a simple transformation spell, Astral mused as she watched the ponies around her, preparing for her coronation. It would take place in three days time, which meant the day the loop ended she would be crowned Princess of Friendship.

She had very specifically asked for her Aunt Rarity to make the dress, but others were bustling around with fabrics or equipment, and the rest were more focused on her physical appearance; her mane, coat, tail and hooves to be precise.

Wow, I can see my face in my hooves! Astral realized as she stared at her newly shined hooves. "Thank you," she told the maid, who simply bowed and backed away. She wondered whether she could get a masseuse in; her joints felt weirdly creaky.

Her parents entered the room, and everypony froze, seeming caught between bowing or treating them like normal ponies. Their new Princess took pity on them however. "Everypony clear out please," she requested, and they all filed out, shooting the two mothers looks out of the corner of their eyes as they did.

The second they were alone, Astral used her wings to propel herself into their arms. "This is so much fun!" Pranking wasn't nearly as panic inducing as she thought it would be. Her moms were also turning out to be great prankers, a useful thing to remember for the future.
> Loop 13 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Somethings wrong here," Celestia said, squinting at their newest sister, who seemed to be in deep discussion with her parents.

"Yes, I think that became clear when Twilight turned herself back into a unicorn because of paperwork," Luna said dryly as she herself levitated several pages in the air "I knew asking her to make sense of the tax system would break her," she mumbled shaking her head slowly.

"No! I mean, yeah we probably shouldn't of have asked that of her, but I mean that I don't think Twilight actually stepped down from the throne!" The Diarch of the Sun awkwardly flailed her hooves to make her point, much to the guards bemusement.

Luna's eyes narrowed. "You don't think . . "

"They wouldn't . . ."

As one the two turned to scrutinize the three ponies.





"They're on to us," Twilight hissed, a smile frozen on her face.

"Relax, they've got nothing on us, just act casual," Starlight hummed as she straightened a lock of her wife's hair. 

"Oh boy, they're coming over," Astral shuffled on her haunches awkwardly, biting her lip as the two alicorns glided over to join the conversation.

"Twilight, I have to say, this is a surprise." Celestia's voice was like honey, and Starlight and Astral exchanged a panicked look.

"Well, the tax system was just too much for me" Twilight said flatly, glaring at her slightly.

"That's fair, I can't wait to see how this unfolds" with that, the alicorn of the sun turned around and walked away, Luna at her heels.





"What was that?!" Luna demanded in a hushed voice. "I thought we were going to confront them!"

"I don't think it's a prank."

". . . .What?"

"If it was a prank, Twilight would of have fallen apart if I showed any sign of being suspicious, she can't handle being under pressure or even the thought of being doubted. They're serious."

Luna gaped at her for a moment, before eloquently summing up their situation. "Fuck."





It was dusk when Astral sought out her Aunt Fluttershy. She had been called in for the music aspect of her coronation and was currently out in the Canterlot Gardens, training her birds.

"Hey Fluttershy," she said when the pegasus noticed her, barreling on before she could respond "I was wondering, my coronation is in two days, and I'll have to give a speech in front of all of Equestria. I know you used to be really nervous when it came to singing in front of crowds so I was wondering if you could help?"

It took her a few seconds to make sense of Astral's rushed words, but once she did, Fluttershy smiled. "Of course, when do you want to start?"

"Right now?"

"Of course! Just let me finish up her first, alright?"

"I've got time to wait."
> Loop 13 Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Wednesday afternoon, Astral Plane became a Princess. But first came the parade.

Yesterday had been a day of preparation for her big speech she was supposed to give to her adoring subjects. She and Fluttershy had gone over every single trick to see which one worked best.

"Why don't you try focusing on somepony you know?" Fluttershy suggested, but Astral shook her head.

"That only makes me more nervous, I don't want to embarrass myself in front of somepony I know" the filly slumped on her back dramatically "let's face it, I'm never going to be able to do this!"

The pegasus frowned. "Don't do that. Don't give up yet" she scolded lightly. "You can't just ignore the problem, eventually you're going to have to talk to other ponies, whether you like it or not."

Silence fell between thee two for a moment as they tried to think. "What if you focus on an object instead?" Fluttershy said at last.

Astral lifted her neck to see her better. "What?"

"Focus on the horizon, or an object, and then speak. Pretend noponies there. Would that work?"

" . . Maybe."





The streets were packed with ponies coming to see their new princess, and Astral felt the familiar twinge of nerves. She banished them with a shake of her head, this wasn't the hard part. All she had to do was sit on the carriage and look pretty.

Behind her the marching band struck up the same song that had played at her mothers coronation. She relaxed at the sound of the chorus' beautiful singing voice, just as they turned the corner into the thickest part of the crowd, and the music was almost drowned out by the cheering.

Astral resisted the urge to wince, instead choosing to do the 'regal wave' as her Aunt Rarity called it. This caused the cheering to grow even louder. Most fillies wished to be an alicorn, and she guessed she was a sign it could happen. It was a false sign, obviously, but still. Nice to see she gave others hope.

The adoring stares were getting to be a bit much, however, so she focused on a little cloud in the horizon, and stared at that instead, smiling slightly.

The chariot came to a stop just in front of the steps that led up to the castle. Luna, Celestia, Cadence and Twilight all stood there. From here, Astral could see her mom's smile, and she couldn't tell whether it was from the prank or her daughter's coronation.

The three alicorns and unicorn mares bowed in perfect unison, and, once they straightened up, Astral did too. Once her head was bowed, she felt a cool metal crown being placed on her head, just in front of her horn. This actually feels really good. The sounds of cheering deafened her as she turned to face the crowd.

Instantly, her stomach dropped to her hooves at the square that was packed full of ponies. Feeling her throat starting to dry up, she swallowed nervously and met Fluttershy's eyes. The pegasus nodded, and she nodded back,  before turning to focus on something other than the mob.

Her eyes found an old flower pot almost instantly. Straightening up, eyes fixed firmly on the ceramic pot, she called up her sound spell, using it to make her voice boom throughout the square.

"Attention everypony. I have something to say." Don't look away, don't look away. When all noise dimmed, she continued.

"Before this week, I was just a regular filly" not a lie "I played with my friends, went to school, did my homework, normal things. But, what is normal for us ponies is not normal for other species. Other species are more solitary than ponies, who like to stay together."

"But" she said, a warning note in her voice "other creatures, like all creatures, love and treasure friendship just as much as ponies. They just have weird ways of showing it at times."

"I know the relationship between species have grown considerably recently, but I believe that we should be trying harder to extend the hoof of friendship to others. After all, what do ponies desire most?"

"Friendship" she answered her own question, nodding to herself. "And, as your new Princess, I believe that everyone has the right to friendship. For as long as I'm your ruler, I will not let disharmony fester in our land, any land!"

Speech over, she tore her eyes away from the pot to stare out over the crowd, which was still silent. Feeling her legs beginning to wobble dangerously, she bowed low to the mass of ponies.

And they bowed back.

This time the cheering actually sent her stumbling backwards into her mom, who nuzzled her proudly. Astral stared out across the sea of ponies chanting her name, and felt tears prick her eyes.





The after party was amazing.

Aunt Rarity had made her a dress with layers of blue. It made her feel like a real princess.

All of Astral's favorite food was put out on tables for guests to eat, her favorite songs were being played, and all her favorite ponies were there.

"Astral!" Butterscotch and Jam pounced on her. Butterscotch was wearing a simple tux, while Jam was wearing a sparkly red dress. "I can't believe you're a princess!" Jam squealed. "An actual princess!"

"Does the castle belong to you now?" Butterscotch asked, and Astral gained a thoughtful look.

"Absolutely not" Twilight said, coming up from behind her, and Astral deflated while her friends giggled.

"You wanna' see the gardens? They have a pool" Astral tempted, and the other two lit up. Before Twilight could tell her not to ruin the dress, the three friends sprinted out of the ballroom, cheering.
> Loop 13 Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thursday morning, Astral Plane woke up wingless.

It was weird, losing something like that after you had it for a while, she kept tensing the muscles on her back to flap her wings only for nothing to happen.

She hopped out of bed, and glanced at the clock. It was fairly early in Canterlot Castle, where she had decided to stay after her coronation after realizing how late it was. 

Trotting out of the guest room, Astral saw her mom, now with her wings, waiting for her patiently. They fell into step, a companionable silence settling between them as they grinned at each other. 

Twilight opened the door with her magic, and the two trotted in to find Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Starlight and the Elements of Harmony all digging into pancakes and fruit. "Good morning, As-tral?" Cadence blinked at the wingless filly, then the winged Twilight.

Behind her, Starlight hid her smile by taking a sip of her coffee (black, like her soul.)

Acting quick, Astral pulled out a camera, and took a picture of the mares shocked faces. "What happened?" Rarity asked faintly.

Astral shrugged as she slid into her seat."We switched back. I couldn't handle the paperwork."

"You didn't even get any paperwork yet!"

"It's the principle of the matter" she said, clinking her cup of hot chocolate against her mom's coffee. 

"Thank the Gods!" Luna screamed, throwing her hooves up in celebration.

Dead silence followed that sentence. Starlight, Twilight and Astral stared at the princess blankly, and the others exchanged nervous looks.

It was Twilight that let out the first snort of laughter that set the two unicorns off. Gasping for breath as she slipped off the chair, Astral laughed even louder when Starlight spat her coffee out.

"You pranked us!" Pinkie said, sounding proud, before breaking down in giggles herself, Rainbow Dash quickly following, and soon the whole table was laughing uproariously.

"You do know there will be retribution for this" Luna said, eyes narrowing dangerously. Silently, Astral handed over the note. For a brief second, the two princesses face's sobered, before they smiled once more. "Then we shall team up next time to rain hell down on your unsuspecting parents!"

"Deal" Astral shook their hooves, ignoring her parents betrayed looks.

"Wait, what's happening?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking between them with a confused look on her face.

Astral sighed.





Canterlot was fun, but it's good to be home.

Astral snuggled under the covers of her bed, and fell asleep, dreaming of herself participating in the Equestrian Games.
> Entry #2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I may of have underestimated just how dangerous Ebony is.

She attacked Kronos and Aethar today. I don't know how she got the drop on space and time, but she did. And the two were also drained of power. Had Aethar not teleported them out, Ebony would of have gotten their powers as well.

They met up with me, Ray and Harmonia. Thankfully, being Gods means regeneration, but without their main powers, the most powerful of us are now me and Harmonia.

She'll be coming for us next
> Loop 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shining Armour wasn't really sure what he was expecting when he heard the knock on his door, but it sure as hell wasn't his young niece, wearing a scarf and saddlebags, and staring up at him expectantly.

He let out a manly squeak, and peered out, his horror growing when he realized he couldn't see his sister or Starlight anywhere. Grabbing her with his telekinesis, he pulled her into his room.

Cadence, who was just waking up, did a double take at the sight of her niece. "Astral! What are you doing here?" The situation sunk in pretty quickly, and the pretty pink princess' eyes narrowed "where are your parents?"

"They're meeting up with Uncle Sunburst and Uncle Sentry" at this, the two relaxed, and a smile crossed Shining's face.

"Then what can we do for you, kiddo?" The stallion affectionately mussed up her mane, and Astral's smile grew even bigger. She levitated a three of books out of her saddlebags. The first was Sword Fighting for Dummies, the second was The Art of War and the last one was just called Bladecasting.

"I want to learn how to Fence and Bladecast" Astral said simply. Seeing their horrified looks, she rushed to elaborate "I want to learn how to defend myself if I get into a fight, that's all!"

If anything, their faces darkened even more "you're not being bullied, are you?" Cadence's tone was as cold as the ice outside the Empire.

Astral snorted."Who's gonna' bully a princess? No, I just think it would be a good thing to learn in the future."

The two adults exchanged a glance. On one hoof, it would be good for the unicorn to know how to defend herself, especially considering she was royalty. On the other, it may encourage her to become more . .physical in her confrontations. 

They took a minute, whispering to each other in hushed voices while Astral waited patiently behind them. Eventually splitting apart, they turned to face her. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. I am going to teach you Bladecasting and Cadence is going to teach you Swords. However, if we find out you have been abusing this opportunity, we will immediately stop. Understand?"

Astral jumped a little, before pulling off a snappy salute.





"Bladecasting is an art, and just like any art, it takes skill, dedication and concentration to work" Shining sounded amazingly like Twilight while he was lecturing. The Captain and his niece were sitting in the middle of a sandy arena as he introduced her to the Guard's main form of fighting.

"Back in ancient times, unicorns discovered that they had the ability to . . solidify their magic, for lack of a better word. The magic would solidify into what looked like gems, or shards, as they're called. These shards could be moved around telekinetically at amazing speeds, explode or be turned into one sword. They can also be banished from the physical realm and recalled at a moments notice."

"Wait, so magic can be solidified?" Astral asked, eyes and jaw wide.

Shining chuckled "amazingly, yes. The more powerful a unicorn, the more magic they will be able to solidify. For example, a normal guard member usually has eight shards, I have twelve and Luna and Celestia have twenty five. In fact, as Alicorns, they can also add in Pegasi magic to make it faster and infuse it with lightening, and Earth Pony magic to make it stronger and sharper."

"Wow! How many do the Gods have?"

"Oh, they could do much more than that, the Gods could make armor out of their magic. The Armour of the Gods, it was called."

Astral tried to imagine being that powerful, but couldn't. Still, Armour of the Gods, cool! 

She gave herself a quick shake. "How do I make my first shard?"

"Right; tap into your magic, but instead of using it for a spell, just try to channel it through your horn. It might take a while, and you may feel a little drained afterwards, but that's completely normal."

Squeezing her eyes tight, Astral's horn glowed magenta, and a strange pressure began to build up behind her eyes. It was starting to develop into a full blown headache, when, suddenly, all the discomfort vanished. She opened her eyes, and squealed when she saw the glowing, elongated polygon.

Shining looked surprised, and a little impressed. "That was fast!" He praised.

They spent the next hour and a half going over the blade, binding it to her magic, learning how to banish and recall it, and going over basic maneuvers. 

By the end of it, Astral could swing the blade around the room without stabbing anyone in the eye, which she absolutely counted as a win. 

"Thanks Uncle Shining!" She gave him a quick hug, before trotting off to meet Cadence.





"Woah!" Astral took a small step back in an attempt to avoid her aunts attacks. She was not holding back in the slightest. Astral had suspected that something like this would happen when Cadence suggested they start with Classical Fencing.

"It's a good baseline for any other sword fighting, and teaches you how to defend yourself" she had explained, before thrashing the little filly.

Apparently starting with the Sabre blade, a blade considered for it's agility and speed based attacks, they were wearing their blades on their hooves, and Astral was finding it a bit difficult to balance on three legs.

Cadence had briefly explained how you only scored a point if you hit the intended target, in this case, the opponents hooves, so Astral had developed the brilliant tactic on falling onto her butt every time she came near.

Eventually, the Alicorn paused, taking off her mask to stare at the unicorn. "Your stance is all off" she said, in a voice quite unlike her usual sugary-sweet tone. Astral hastily copied her aunts posture, almost tripping over her Sabre.

Sighing, the adult patiently corrected the child's form, before flipping the mask down.

"Again."





It was an infinitely more exhausted Astral that met up with her parents. 

Her saddlebags were also noticeably heavier too. Though she had banished her shard, she now had her fencing gear, as well as several fencing and Bladecasting books in her saddlebags.

Her limbs ached, and, upon reaching home, she crawled into bed and fell asleep, ignoring how it was dawn.
> Loop 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You want me to what?" Rainbow Dash was staring blankly down at her niece.

"Teach me karate! I know you're a black belt, and I want to learn!" At Rainbow's hesitation, Astral's lower lip trembled dangerously "pwease?"

Rainbow groaned, burying her face in her hooves. "Okay, but I have to warn you, I am not exactly a patient teacher." She began to clear the room of her and Pinkie's house, before turning to face her, and rearing up on her hind legs.

"Karate is almost always done on hind legs, so you're going to need to learn how to balance on two or even just one leg."

And I thought balancing on three hooves was hard, Astral thought as she toppled over for the tenth time in the past half an hour.

Rainbow sighed and helped her stand, before brightening considerably "I know! Pinkie!" At the sound of her name, Rainbow Dash's wife appeared in the doorway.

"Yes Dashie?"

"I'm trying to teach Astral karate, but she can't balance yet" Astral's ears flopped down in embarrassment "so I thought you could show her some things as well."

Pinkie's smile grew to unsettling levels, and she scooped Astral up without a second thought, tucking her under one hoof while she sprinted out of the room.

"Thanks Dashie!"

Rainbow stood alone in the room, before shaking her head slowly. "Good look kid" she muttered, grinning.





Astral only had two hours left before she had to go home, and was unsure what Pinkie Pie could teach her in that measly time frame, but she had her working down to the last second.

Turns out Pinkie knew parkour, and they spent those two hours practicing and revising moves for balance, agility and speed. She even showed Astral how to scale a flat, vertical wall. How cool was that?

By the time the two hours were up, Astral's body ached and she stumbled out the door, thanking Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on her way out.





She sat on her bed, going over everything. If her magic was going to increase every loop, then she should at least build up some other ones as well.

Karate is actually pretty easy once you take away the whole balancing thing, she mused. It's like a routine.Same with Bladecasting. Parkour and fencing were going to take some more time but she had plenty of that.

As she picked up these skills, a goal was starting to form in her mind, and she scrambled to write it down.

Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel


She smiled down at the list, before shaking herself briskly. No playing around next loop, she told herself firmly.
> Loop 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I've done karate, fencing and Bladecasting practicing, so all that's left is magic. Astral screwed her eyes shut and concentrated. As always, her magic had improved after the last loop, and her control had also lessened; she almost blew out the windows going over the sound spell.

Once that was done, she trotted downstairs to meet up with her mom. Once more, Twilight's reaction were exactly the same as in previous loops. Astral briefly wondered if there was a way to speed up her reaction, but banished that thought. 

After making sure her mom had caught up with all the relevant data, she asked "why is it that when my magic increases, my control lessens?" 

Thankfully, that was actually a very common question, one Twilight knew the answer to. The alicorn thought of how to describe it to her daughter, before brightening. "Think of a tap. If you have a tap where there isn't that much water,you have to turn the tap all the way for water to come out. And if you use somepony else's tap with a stronger source of water, you can accidentally overshoot, and end up splashing yourself."

"So, my magic is the tap?" Astral squinted, tilting her head slightly.

"Your magic is the first tap, the weaker one. Someone, or" her face darkened "something, is giving you magic."

"Wait, this magic isn't mine? I didn't even know that could be done!"

"It can't, but it's the only explanation. Somepony is giving you their magic at the end of each loop, and is increasing the amount every time as well; that's why the others are . .overloading, while you're okay, your body is used to the input." Twilight paused, before squinting at Astral. "Sweetie, are your joints starting to hurt? Any headaches or jittery feelings?"

"Actually, yeah, my joints felt weird when I was a princess" seeing her mom's weird look, she waved a hoof "long story. Is that a bad thing?"

Twilight placed her front hooves together and breathed out. "First off, I don't want you to panic" she said. Bad sign, Astral thought, dread starting to form a pit in her stomach.

"But?"

"But a unicorn body can only hold so much magic before it starts to break down" the words were rushed, like she didn't want her daughter to hear them, but she did.

"I'm dying?!" Astral shrieked, stumbling backwards in terror.

Twilight scooped her up in her magic without a second thought, hugging her close. "Sssh, it's okay, there are ways to fix this" she said, nuzzling her gently. "You just need stronger spells to take up your magic."

"You mean the intermediate level" Astral sniffled.

"Yes, you can practice for this loop, and take it in the next loop" Twilight messily wrote something down on an envelope, and handed it to Astral. "Just give this to me next loop."





Alone, Astral contemplated her mother's words. 

Someone is giving me their magic, but who? And why?
> Loop 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh Gods, this is my fault! How did I not think of magical overload before?" It was becoming clearer that the comforting, calm Twilight of the last loop had been nothing more than a mask. Without it, the purple mare was clearly panicking and guilt ridden.

"It's fine mom, there was no way you would jump to that conclusion. Besides, it's not the first time I'll die, it'll probably just reset all over again" Astral shrugged her shoulders. After thinking it over, she realized she had been over reacting.

Twilight turned to stare at her daughter, eyes wide. "Are you apathetic to your death?" She asked, concerned.

Astral tilted her head, and shrugged again "I mean, yeah. Whenever I die, I'll just come back here, so it's not like it's permanent or anything." 

Twilight bit her lip, and turned away to concentrate on the data. "It says here that apparently for two loops after the death loop, the ponies who were outside had extremely powerful magic, before it faded away." 

"So somepony is giving everypony in the same room as you magic, and is turning it up" She mused, before shaking herself briskly. "That means somepony is on the outside giving you their magic. They're either the cause of the loops, or are the solution. Possibly both."

" . . What?" Astral asked, baffled.

"It's possible that someone put you in these loops by accident, and are giving you their magic to try and get you out, since for some reason they can't do it on their own, or one creature put you in the loop, and another is giving you their magic so you can leave."

"What would be that powerful?"

"I have no idea." Seeing her daughter disappointed look, she put a hoof under Astral's chin and forced her to meet her eyes. "Hey, why don't we start on your Intermediate test?"

The reaction was immediate. Astral's face cleared up and she flung herself at her mom in a quick hug, before bounding around the room, all the while screaming "yes!" Over and over again.

"Well come on then, your dueler is waiting for you."






When a pony goes from a Beginner to Intermediate, they had to take a test.

This test, or a duel as it was called, was basically a magic fight between a Beginner and an Intermediate.  Both were only allowed use Beginner spells, and whoever either tapped out or was marked with the opposing colors paint.

Which meant the opponent would have to get close enough to mark the other.

Astral stuck a hoof into the ring, only to see Aunt Trixie waiting for her. "Please tell me you're joking" she muttered.

"Nope, go get em tiger" Starlight shoved her into the circular arena, which was, thankfully, only ringed by her parents and Trixie's husband Pharynx. 

She turned to stare at her moms. "Is Bladecasting a beginners spell?" At their nods, she summoned her blade. Most ponies named theirs, but she had only just got hers, and hadn't had the time.

At the same time, Trixie pulled five blades out of thin air, and readied herself. Astral audibly gulped, before getting into her battle pose, as she waited for the bell that signified the start of the duel.

It went off, a shrill sound that hurt her ears, but she was already rolling to dodge the blades that were moving towards her. Thankfully, all shards had been dulled before the duel, so the worse that would happen was bruising.

Still, she couldn't exactly stave off five shards with one.

Coming out of the roll, she frantically leaped over the shards, landing clumsily behind Trixie and sending her shard towards her, which was quickly knocked out of the air. Trixie turned to face her, only to find Astral had used the ice spell right under her hooves.

Seeing her opponent fall down with a grunt, Astral reached out to tap her shoulder, only for the mare to roll out of the way, and send two of her shards at the filly to get her to retreat.

I need to get these shards off me. Her horn glowed, and she cast the reverse illumination spell.

Instantly, the room was bathed in darkness. Trixie took a small couple of steps back, before casting her illumination spell only to find . . nothing. Astral wasn't anywhere in her weak light.

Trixie frowned, turning a tight circle, looking for a flash of magic, but nothing showed.

It occurred to her too late to look up.

Astral canceled the telekinetic hold that was keeping her up, dropping onto Trixie from above, and slamming her paint hooves onto her back.

Twilight rang the bell to signify the match was over, before she, Starlight and Pharynx raced into the ring, where Astral was gingerly stepping off her Aunt.

"I think you broke Trixie's back" Trixie complained as she stood up, rolling her shoulders.

Starlight nudged her friend, and Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, you did well to take down Trixie, and for that, I give you the license of an intermediate." 

Astral looked at the slip of magic-proof paper doubtfully. "Just give that to shop owners, and they will give you Intermediate books from now on" Twilight explained, and Astral brightened.

"Can I buy some new books now?"

Twilight and Starlight exchanged a look, before shrugging. "Yeah, sure why not?" Starlight said, and Astral's grin grew even bigger.

"Yay!"

Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

> Loop 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon finding out that she could now do teleportation spells, Astral got very excited. She had showed the note and license to Starlight before asking her to teach her how to teleport. 

She also planned to have separate loops dedicated to all the new spells she could do; phase, shield, laser, lightening, cloudwalking, stun, air and undoing spells, but this loop was all about teleportation.

The two came to a stop in front of a small pond, with a series of lily pads resting on the clear surface. Astral could see little fish in the pond swimming to and fro, and some small shiny shells at the bed. No supplies or anything indicated a lesson was about to begin.

"Uh, I thought you were teaching me how to teleport?" She asked.

"You know the basics of teleportation, right?"

Astral shrugged, nodding "I've seen you and mom do it, but nopony else seems to be able to."

"That's because magically punching a hole in space then flinging yourself through it takes up quite a bit of power" Starlight said wryly. "Teleportation takes a lot of power and concentration to achieve, so don't be disappointed if you don't get it right first time."

"How do I do it though?"

"Well, first you have to picture the place you want to go. If you don't you will come out . . burnt- don't ask, trust me you don't want to know. You can also come out facing the wrong way, or even upside down, so remember, planning is key. You have to ignore everything, so you don't teleport somewhere else entirely. Then you use your magic to shove yourself forwards, like you're jumping into the air. The farther you go, the more magic you need."

Starlight turned to face the small pond, and took a deep breath. She vanished in a flash of light blue, and reappeared on one of the lilypads, where she stood on one hoof for a brief second, before her horn glowed once more and she was now balancing on two hooves on the next one. The third flash brought her to a stand right in front of Astral, whose eyes were wide and jaw dropped.

"Rapid teleportation is harder" Starlight said, wiping away a small bit of sweat. "You have to be thinking several steps ahead, and the second you get out, you should be imagining the next place you want to be. But we're not going to be doing that today. Today we're going to be focusing on teleporting from one place to another. "

"Okay!" Astral said, straightening up, excited. She had always wanted to teleport. "So I just build up my magic, ignore everything, focus on where I want to be and use my magic to shove me there?"

"Yup! And I recommend you try and keep things simple; don't go too far or anything."

Astral looked around for something nearby to focus on, and her eyes fell on a flat stone that rose out of the ground by a couple of inches, like a soapbox. Perfect, she thought, closing her eyes and imagined herself standing on the stone. Power built up in her horn, giving her a headache and making her teeth hurt. Any second now and she would let it out, and be pushing through space.

A squirrel's chirp interrupted her thoughts.

Astral felt weird, like she had been pulled roughly by an invisible hoof, and had left her stomach behind on accident. She found herself face to face with a very confused squirrel.

She was confused too, until she started falling. Her eyes widened as the wind pulled at her mane. Just before she could hit the ground, her horn glowed and she caught herself midair, just as her mom did the exact same thing. The blue and purple aura's mingled, and she realized she could feel her mom's power. 

Holy-

The raw power coming from Starlight made Astral feel tiny by comparison.

She cancelled her own magic, and let her mom drift her back down to solid land where she awaited. "Are you okay sweetie?" She asked, nuzzling her daughter anxiously "you're not hurt, are you?"

"I-I'm fine, just a bit startled" Astral admitted, scratching the back of her head sheepishly, before staring up at her mom in awe "you are really powerful."

"Oh, you don't say?"

"It was- I could see your power when we both were levitating me! What was up with that, by the way?"

"Well" Starlight puffed herself out in a spot on impression of Twilight " when unicorns combine their magic, they share their magic for a brief period. For that brief period- until the spell is cast- the unicorns can sense each others magic." She paused in her lecturing to stare down at Astral "you're pretty powerful as well, you know."

Astral blushed, and scuffed a hoof against the ground. "I messed up the teleportation thing though" she admitted, ashamed. "I made a mistake."

"The squirell distracted you, didn't it?"

Nodding, Astral's cheeks flushed even more so than before. "I heard it right before I 'pushed off' and that distracted me."

Starlight tilted her head slightly "remember what I said about ignoring everything?" She asked.

"I do."

The older unicorn observed the girl for a moment, before looking around, and smiling. "Okay, where did you want to go?" Astral quietly pointed towards the stone, and Starlight walked up and tapped on it. "Get on."

"What?" Astral jerked backwards, confused, before trotting over to hop onto the stone. "Why am I on this?"

"Look around at your surroundings, then it should be easier to imagine" Starlight said, and Astral nodded, before obediantely scanning the area.

There were a couple of birds and squirells perched among trees, that were heavy with beautiful green leaves. Some of the trees had ivy crawling up the trunks, and thick grass carpeted the ground. Satisfied that she got the picture in her mind, Astral stepped off the stone, and took a couple of steps backward.

"Okay, here we go" she scrunched her nose up as she closed her eyes, remembering how the environment around her had looked. She started storing up her magic as she kept the picture in her head, tuning out any outside noises as she imagined being on the stone once more.

A strange shiver ran down her spine, and for a very brief moment, her eyelids turned violet. When she opened them, she found she was standing on the stone.

Her heart was racing, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She turned to face her mom, who was beaming. "Did I just-"

"You did."

"I did?"

"You did."

"I did!" 

Astral bounced in place, as if to test she was really there, before scrambling over to her mom and pulling her into a hug. "I did" she whispered.

"Yeah, you did" Starlight mussed her mane affectionately "well done sweetie, I knew you could."

Astral pulled out of the hug to spin around her hind legs, beaming. "This is so cool!"

"Yup. Now lets do it again."

Astral froze at her mom's word, dropping to all fours in shock. "Wait, what?"

Starlight rolled her eyes. "You can't exactly walk up to the place you want to be and memorize your environment now can you? This was just for you to get a feeling of teleportation and how it works." She picked her daughter up with her magic and set her down further away from the stone.

"Again."
> Loop 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 3:25pm, two trains left Los Angeles. One train traveled westward at a constant rate of 82 mph, while the other train traveled east at a constant rate of 66 mph. If they are now 111 miles apart, what time is it now? Please show all steps

The class stared up blankly at the board, and Cheerilee grinned, only to pause when she saw Astral's hoof raised in the air. "Yes Astral?" She asked, expecting a funny comment or an annoyed question.

What she got was "ten past four."

She stared blankly at the student, who stared back expressionlessly while the rest of the class gaped. "I'm sorry?" Cheerilee asked after a few beats of shocked silence.

"The answer. It's ten past four" Astral repeated, and the corners of her lips twitched dangerously at everypony's expressions. 

Cheerilee checked the answer book and saw that it was indeed ten past four. "V-very good, Astral, can you, uh, show us how you solved it?" How did she solve it? Astral Plane was an average student, usually getting C's and B's in most of her subjects.

Astral jumped out of her chair and trotted to the front of the class, ignoring the nonplussed fillies and colts. Picking up the chalk with her magic- and since when could she use magic? - she started writing on the board.

Rw * T + Re * T = D, where Rw is the rate of the train heading west, Re is the rate of the train heading east, T is the time of travel for the trains, and D is the distance they are apart.

Substitute and find the value of T:

82 * T + 66 * T = 111

148T = 111

Divide both sides by 148:

T = .75, or the trains have traveled for .75 hours, which is 45 minutes.

3:25 PM + 45 minutes is: 4:10 PM.

She circled the answer twice and trotted back to her seat, but not before taking a picture of her classes shell shocked looks.





That was so worth the two hour lecture from mom about the Distance, Speed and Time formula, Astral thought as she sat down at one of Sugarcube Corner's many booths and ordered a milkshake.

She pulled out a folder, and added the pictures to it. Her mom had come up with the idea of keeping the binder so as to not lose her notes, and she had taken to adding in all the pictures she had taken of her pranks.

"Aw shit" a voice rose through the usual hustle of the bakery, and Astral turned to see a stallion she had never seen before frowning down at his newspaper. It seemed he had spilled his tea on it, and could no longer read it. "Fuckin' great" he groaned, putting his head in hooves.

Astral frowned, brow furrowing, but before she could say anything, Pinkie slammed a milkshake down in front of her with a wide smile. "Here ya go Assie!" She chirped "anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah, what does shit mean?" The filly asked, not noticing Pinkie's smile drop into a frown. "And fucking?" She added as an afterthought.

She yelped when the baker grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in close. "Where. Did. You. Hear. Those. Words?" Pinkie bit out in a cold voice. Surprised, Astral pointed a shaking hoof at the stallion, and a smile that had slightly too much teeth was back on Pinkie's face. 

"Excuse me" Pinkie said, before trotting over to the stallion. Astral watched the two out of the corner of her eye as she slurped up her milkshake.

And then Pinkie said some things, and then the stallion at the table cried, and then Astral finished her milkshake and decided she should go look up these new words.





It took a while but she eventually found the definitions in her mom's dictionary.

Shit
exclamation



1.
an exclamation of disgust, anger, or annoyance.


Fuck
exclamation



1.
used alone or as a noun or verb in various phrases to express annoyance, contempt, or impatience.


Oh, so these must be words that grown ups use, Astral thought, brightening. I have a cutie mark, that makes me an adult too!

"Fuck" she said out loud, and giggled from the sound of it. It tasted weird in her mouth, but she kind of liked it.





"Fuck" Jam repeated, and giggled like the filly she was.

"It sounds" Butterscotch squinted up at the sky, looking for the right word "I dunno . ."

"Fancy!"Astral said proudly, chest out. "Adults probably use it to make their words sound flashy." Butterscotch nodded thoughtfully. The word did sound fancy.

"I have to go to help mom feed the fucking animals" he said, and grinned "hey! You can put it in anywhere!"

"I was a bit confused as to why you called a Crusader Meeting for this, but I get it now" Jam said as the three went their separate ways.





Astral trotted back into the castle, trying to keep her hoof steps as quiet as possible. In the vast, empty castle, every sound would be magnified a hundred times over.

"Hello sweetie!"

Astral turned to look at Twilight, who had just returned from Canterlot, not knowing anything about Time Loops. "Hey mom."

"How was school?" Twilight asked as she fell in step alongside her daughter, who shrugged.

"Eh, schooly. But I did manage to solve this really complicated math problem. You should of have seen their fucking faces!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mom come to a dead stop, and turned to see her staring blankly at Astral, who hurried to elaborate "they didn't think I was stupid, it's just it really was a hard fucking question. Don't worry mom!"





Buying a drink in a desperate attempt to get the taste of soap out of her mouth, Astral ran into a confused and upset Butterscotch and Apple Jam. "Hey guys" she said "what's up?"

"I don't know!" Jam wailed, tugging at her hair dramatically.

Butterscotch looked miserable. "Our parents made us wash out our mouths for some reason" he explained, and Astral gasped.

"So did mine! What was up with that?" 

Jam straightened up, a determined expression crossing her face. "We need to figure this out" she said, and the other two nodded, setting off to find answers.





Two hours later, and they were exhausted. They had scoured the town, asking around, looking for answers, only to get nowhere. Finally, giving up, they three headed back to their respective homes.

It was on the way home that Astral heard a very familiar voice. "Oh, you bitch." Turning, she saw the same stallion from Sugarcube Corner, reading the newspaper.

Astral frowned. "What does bitch mean?"
> Loop 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral screamed.

But not in fear, or pain, or even anger. It was a shout of frustration as she once again danced out of the way of her Uncle Shining's Shards. Weeks of training at agility and karate had made her more nimble, but even though she now had three Shards she was still woefully unprepared to fight her uncle, let alone the Princesses.

Shining's twelve Shards reformed to make his sword, Sentinel, a very sharp glowing blade that Astral just managed to deflect with her Shards, the effort sending her skidding backwards against the slick floor. 

She had yet to pick out a name for her Blade, nothing seemed to fit, but she turned her Shards into it anyways, a curved light purple blade that she used to try and get past Shining's guard. 

No use, the stallion quickly sidestepped, and divided Sentinel back into twelve shards, and sent them all at Astral from all sides. Sending out a quick thank you to Pinkie, Astral jumped, twisting midair to land safely on all four hooves and sent all her shards at him.

She was surprised when he pulled up a shield; he never had to do that before. She was improving!

Astral didn't have time to bask in this however, she rolled out of the way to avoid the Shards, leaping to her hooves and throwing herself backwards, hooves skittering awkwardly as she tried to concentrate.

Now an Intermediate, Astral had learned how to undo spells. It was, she had learned, kind of like undoing a knot, you had to tug on several strings, but if you tugged on the wrong one you would just end up tightening the knot itself. Hard enough on it's own, but she also had to dodge several Blades at the same time.

She dove just as Shining's shield shattered like glass, rolling under a horizontal Shard swipe from him and stabbing upwards, but Shining just sidestepped easily, and recalled Sentinel.

Astral was laying on her back, stomach and throat exposed with Shining's Blade pointed directly at her jugular. She went cross eyed from staring at it, and Shining sighed before pulling his niece up.

"You need to learn how to multitask, I could of have slit your throat when you were taking down my shield."

"Yes sir."

"And you have to be more aware of your surroundings! You keep going into things half-assed, and it'll get you killed."

"Yes sir."

Shining sighed once more, heavier this time. "Have you put any more thought into your Blades name?"

Astral looked down at the floor. "I tried, but nothing seems to fit" she said, ears flopping down.

"Well, please try and decide. Naming your Blade can go a long way into bonding with it."

"Yes sir."

"Let's take it from the top."





It was a thoroughly battered and beaten Astral that stumbled out of the arena. Why she had willingly chosen to spend her week getting thrown around like a rag doll, then getting verbally humiliated was beyond her.

But hey, at least there's a spa, she thought, brightening. Maybe that could help-

"Sparkles?"

Astral froze. She had a lot of nicknames in her life; Astral, Assie, Trail, Plane, but none of them made her respond the same way she did to Sparkles. It made her want to punch the owner of the voice and then hug him.

Instead she turned to face him. "Moonie?" She asked, expression torn between joy, disbelief and disapproval.

Because, standing in front of her, in all his hybrid glory, was Eclipse, Discord and Luna's arrogant, loud and eternally up to no good son. Who also happened to be one of Astral's best friends.

"Sparkles!" He repeated, floating up to meet her. ("'Cause Eclipse doesn't do walking.) "What are you doing here?" He asked, pale blue eyes like moons.

"Training" Astral shrugged, and Eclipse tilted his head, confused. "Bladecasting and fencing" she elaborated, and Eclipse's smile grew sly.

"Going to stab some bullies? If you want, I can just turn their manes into spaghetti or something."

"Nah I'm good. I'm done with training anyways, and it feels like I haven't seen you in ages."





They were in the Canterlot Gardens, with Astral laying down on the soft grass while Eclipse stretched out on one of the branches above when he noticed it. "Sparkles, you got a cutie mark!"

"Huh?" Astral twisted her head around on reflex. "Oh, yeah, that."

"Well, don't keep me waiting!" Eclipse eagerly scrambled down the tree to land beside her. "What happened?"

Astral replayed the story to Eclipse, making sure to leave out details about the loop she is in. When it was over, she waited for the usual congratulations. Instead what she got was "are you okay?"

She blinked at her friend, confused. "What?"

"I would think you would be jumping around with a giant grin on your face. Instead you're just sitting there, telling the story like your Maud frickin' Pie."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Wanna bet?"

Astral turned to look at him. Prince Eclipse, son of Luna and Discord. Pale blue fur with zebra backlegs and fluffy front paws. The crescent moon birthmark on his chest, the dragon tail and the antlers that were no bigger than buds on his head completed his look.

Here was the son of not one but two reformed villains, who was the very definition of mix and match. When he was three months old, he had gotten a cold, and ripped a hole in reality. When he was five he teleported through space to another dimension to find a cookie. When he was ten, he made all toothpaste taste like soap. He lived and breathed weird.

If anyone were to believe her, it would be him.

It took a while, but Eclipse was oddly quiet throughout the whole thing, nodding along as she explained what was happening. When she had done, he just said "huh."

"Huh? That's all you got?" She demanded, incredulous.

"Well, you're clearly telling the truth, you aren't this creative." She scowled and he smirked, before frowning. "I can try and see if I can do anything" he suggested, and Astral brightened up.

"Really?" Eclipse was one of the most powerful creatures she had ever met.

In response, he summoned magic from his core, and the air began to charge with energy, humming from the power behind it. Eclipse's blue eyes glowed pure white as the dark grey fluff on his chest gained pinpricks of lights. His short, slicked back mane began to wave in a wind that only it could feel.

Around them, thin little strings began to appear, all leading into Astral Plane's chest. The humming in the air grew even louder as Eclipse's front paws began to glow a pale blue. As he snapped one of them, the hum grew to a screech, and his magic exploded out in an explosion of chaos magic.

Astral blinked rapidly to try and get the tears out of her eyes. Chaos Magic tasted fruity. She saw a disappointed Eclipse, sitting there, shoulders slumped. "Didn't work?" She asked and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Sparkles, it's just . . too weird."

"Weird? Weird how?"

"Like, my magic just slides off of whatever is going on with you. It's so subtle that it's barely noticeable, but it's still very powerful magic, much too powerful fore me to undo" he looked miserable. "I'm sorry."

Astral sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily. "It's not your fault" she said, and the two descended into silence.

"I can't help you with the time loops, but I can help you with Bladecasting" he said at last. "Mom taught me a couple of tricks that will help you out."

Astral leaned against him, their version of a hug. "I would like that."





Eclipse puffed himself up- literally, the fluff on his chest fluffed up, as he began his lecture. He was standing on his hind legs, jabbing one paw into the air as he spoke.

"Bladecasting is much more than just levitating magic around; it's an art in and of itself. The Blades are made from your magic, and as such are extensions of yourself. This is why nopony else can levitate them, they belong to you and you alone. The first thing you need to do is stop seeing your Shards as objects and instead see them as a part of yourself. Your soul. The first step to do this is to name it."

Astral pondered over it, trying to think of something that was fitting. All the words that came to her had to do with brutality or just seemed to offensive. She didn't want to use it to hurt somepony, she wanted it for self defense.

Defense . .

"Aegis" she blurted out. Eclipse raised his eyebrows, not understanding. "It means to support or defend somepony" she explained.

Eclipse nodded, pleased. "Good. It's a fitting name, and it will help you bond with your Blade."

They worked with the Blade, bonding it to Astral's very being. When they were done, the difference was obvious. She didn't have to concentrate on Aegis as much anymore, and it now felt like she had gained a new limb. It responded to her intent rather than her magic or mind.

They went over the basics again, and this time, tears actually sprang up in Astral's eyes from the beauty of it all. All anypony else saw was a little unicorn dancing with three bobbing Shards.
> Loop 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sweetie" Starlight said, gaping as her daughter entered the kitchen. "You look . .different."

"What?" Astral froze, before spinning on her hocks to race up to her room. Skidding to a stop in front of her mirror, she shamelessly gawped at her own reflection.

Sometime between the last loop and this one she had a growth spurt, not that noticeable if you didn't know her, but she had gone from being extremely small to only being a little under the height for a filly her age.

Her age . .

She bit her lip, deep in thought. How old am I really? I haven't been keeping track of time in here. She made a mental note to try and keep a record of how much time had passed from now on.

As well as her height, her mane was starting to grow longer as well, and her fetlocks were starting to grow excessively fluffy. Sighing, she levitated her scissors over and snipped the excess hair off her hooves before trotting out the door. 

She had been going over her spells; though she struggled with lasers, cloudwalking, lightening and stun, she now knew how to phase, use air, teleport, undo spells, summon a (shaky) shield and make basic illusions. And, armed with that knowledge, she marched out the door to face the world.





Celestia and Luna were in the middle of court when she teleported in; a six winged, black and red Alicorn with a curved horn. She easily towered over the two Alicorns, and cackled madly as she used an air spell to knock the ponies back.

"Your souls are mine!" She boomed, shaking the windows from the intensity of her voice.

Celestia and Luna seemed to be caught in a permanent state of shock, jaws dropped with pupils for pinpricks. A strange squeak was coming from somewhere inside Celestia's husband, Sunburst. Luna and Discord's youngest child Anarchy rolled her eyes while Discord himself just calmly sipped at his lemon flavored orange juice.

The dark being whipped out a camera to take a picture of them all, before Astral broke the illusion on herself.

"Too much?" She asked.





It was on her way back home, after getting an earful, that Astral spotted it.

Tacked onto the walls on the inside of the train was a map of Equestria. It wasnt' very detailed, but even so Astral could see places like Griffonstone, Yakyakastan and Mount Aris.

I could travel one loop! The idea of not being surrounded by the same ponies doing the same things was appealing. It would probably take a whole loop to do all that though.

So, for now, she wrote it down in her notepad.

Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel

> Entry #3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a little talk with Kronos today. I thought, being the God of Time, she would tell me how this would all work out. But, as usual, super serious supreme being had a stick up her ass, and refused to say, claiming that it would "mess up the timeline."

Sometimes I wish the girl would lighten up a little.

Speaking of Light, Ray seems to be improving, though he appears to be in a state of shock. I don't know how helpful he's going to be in the fight.

Hopefully this will at work out so we can-
> Loop 22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Astral!" A very familiar voice cried as the unicorn walked down the street. Astral suddenly found herself in a very tight hug, her hooves being lifted off the ground.

"Mimic?"

Spike and Thorax's daughter let out a little squee as she choked her Aunt even harder. Astral's eyes bulged before she dropped her. Gasping for breath, she also saw Spike and Thorax's son Dragonfly hurrying over, a scowl on his face.

"Mimi! Dad said no wandering off! You could get lost!" The hybrid snapped, pulling his sister away. "Hey Astral" he said in a much more civil tone, giving her a fanged smile.

"Hey Mimi, hey fly" she greeted, nuzzling the two. "What are you two doing here?"

"Granny Twi called, said it was important" Mimi chirped- literally. "Daddy and Pa came down here, and so we decided to join them."

"Gems, I always forget how bright it is here" Fly scrunched up his face and blew out a light blue flame out of his nostrils, frustrated.

"Wait, Uncle Spike and Thorax are here?"

"Yeah, at the castle- where are you going?"





Astral's hooves skidded against the slick floor as she raced down the halls of the castle. Turning a corner, she saw a purple dragon the size of Celestia deep in coversation with her mom. Beside him, a brightly colored creature with antlers was admiring the palace.

"Uncle Spike!" She squeled, surprising the dragon by throwing herself at him and throwing her hooves round the back of his neck. She springboarded off him into the other creatures outstretched arms. "Uncle Thorax!" 

Thorax swung her around, before gently placing her back onto the ground. "Hey kid" Spike greeted her, bending low so they were muzzle to muzzle. "What's new?"

"Nothing much. Oh! I got my cutie mark!" She twisted around to show it off, preening at the excited noises her uncles gave. The sound of hooves alerted her to her niece and nephews arrival. Dragonfly and Mimic turned the corner and trotted over to join her.

"Next time, can you give us a warning before shooting off like that?" Fly asked, tail thrashing.

"Hey Granny Twi, hey Granny Light!" Mimi said, waving a claw cheerfully.

"Gods, I feel old" Starlight muttered, before brightening "hello Dragonfly! Hello Mimic! It's good to see you bot again. How's everything?"

Mimi's smile grew even larger somehow. "Great! Uncle Pharynx is still teaching me how to fight 'the Changeling way' , and Fly is coming along really far in his Ambassador training!"

Oh yeah, Mimi is training to be head of the Changeling Guard, Astral remembered.

"Okay, why don't you kids go off and play while the grown ups have some serious talk?" Spike ushered the three out of the room.





The problem, she found, with walking around with her niece and nephew was the attention it brought.

While a Princess drew enough attention in it's own right, having two brightly colored, dragon-changeling hybrids was practically a neon sign. Especially when one of the hybrids wouldn't sit still for two seconds.

"Oooooh, a new ice cream stall! When did they get that?" Mimi babbled as she zipped around, Fly and Astral plodding behind her on foot.

"Two years ago, we were there when it opened" Fly said, wincing like he had a headache.

"Oh yeah! It looks so different now! Did they renovate it?"

"They painted the door blue" Astral rolled her eyes.

"What's that?!" The girl zipped off again, stopping in front of a weathervane and inspecting it with great enthusiasm.

"Oh for fucks sake" Astral grumbled, before raising her voice. "It's not for eating! Now come on, let's go to Sugarcube Corner!"

"I don't know why you're complaining" Dragonfly snarked "I grew up with her."





"One strawberry vanilla milkshake, one vanilla milkshake with whipped cream and crushed gems and" Pinkie took a deep breath in "one caramel milkshake with whipped cream and crushed sapphires and rubies, two dollops of chocolate ice cream and two pints of bourbon."

"Thank you very much, Miss Pie" Dragonfly said as he took his drink. Astral could smell something strong coming from it, and after taking a couple of sips, he blew out bright green flames.

"The bourbon" he explained, seeing her staring. "Alcohol and flames don't mix. Sure is fun though."

Astral nodded, though she had no idea what alcohol was, besides a beverage she couldn't have ,though there was a pub in Ponyville now. Starlight had gotten very excited when she found out.

Wonder what it tastes like, she mused, sucking on her straw thoughtfully.





Fly was in the middle of telling Astral about the time he accidentally swallowed a rock when they entered the throne room.

Their parents faces were somber, as if they had never seen true joy before. Spike, upon seeing Astral, let out a little sniffle. "Kid . ."

"Don't do that" Astral pointed at him. "Don't you dare pity me. I get enough of it as it is, I don't need more."

The adults faces crumpled, and Astral winced at the sharp twang of guilt in her stomach. Dragonfly and Mimic gave her confused looks, but she was already dragging them away.

I've had to comfort others too many times for my liking, I am not doing it again.





She had just said goodbye to her niece and nephew when she spotted it; a book on invisibility.

Astral ran her hoof over the cover, thoughtful, before grinning.
> Loop 23
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dying, she discovered, was actually very interesting.

Oh sure, it was painful, but some ways were always more painful than others.

Like, the first time she had died, from smoke inhalation and fire, it had been more like going to sleep, save for cramping in her lungs.

But one time she had been using the cloudwalking spell, only to accidentally cancel it. She had fallen for a bit, before smashing into the ground. The agony had been terrible, she very clearly remembered seeing a bone sticking out of one of her hooves, and she had swallowed a couple of her teeth. She eventually died of internal bleeding, only to wake up again, perfectly safe.

She had taken to wearing saddlebags on at all times, with everything she needed in them, so when she reset she had everything.

A part of her wondered what it would be like to inflict this sort of pain on others, but it was a small, ignored part in the very back of her head.

It gets . . . . not easier but manageable.

She no longer wakes up bawling her eyes out, instead she just goes on with her day.

(She still has nightmares though, dreams filled with the sounds of her friends screaming in agony.)

She is aware, of course, that she is no longer the same filly as she once was. At times, she felt like more of her mom's villains than anything. She was anything but Astral Plane.

Astral Plane was a sweet, shy and anxious little filly, who burst into tears if she even thought of doing a bad thing. Astral loved her friends and family, and would do anything for them. Astral Plane had her heads in the clouds, and was always scared of what others thought of her.

She was just trying to be that girl, to be Astral Plane.

She didn't know what to do; she wasn't smart like her moms. She wasn't brave like her Aunts. She was . . she didn't know what she was.

She was a simulacrum of the Astral the others knew, a twisted warped version of the original, with her callousness and selfishness.

(The old Astral never had hallucinations or nightmares, had never been as paranoid as she was, scared of something she couldn't name.)

She mourned her, the old Astral, mourned her for she had died, with an impostor taking her place.

(She wished she had died instead.)
> Loop 24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was outside her door, waiting for her; a little ornate wooden box.

Astral had almost missed it, she was planning on teleporting straight into town, but her door had swung open, and she had seen it.

It was no bigger than her hoof and was a deep mahogant color, save for the light sandy brown rectangled on the lid. On the lighter piece of policed wood, was a carving of an infinity symbol.

Kronos' symbol.

Astral's breath caught in her chest as she snatched the box up, looking around frantically for whoever may of have left it there. But the halls were empty.

Retreating back to her room, she opened the box, to find a simple piece of paper, no bigger than a study card, made out of sturdy, writing card. On it, in messy, scrawled handwriting, was absolute nonsense.

R3lvZyBvam8gcGNoIEt6aSByZnIgbWdlIE52bC0KCkt6aSB6ZyBmdncgbmZ3YXUgbHJ6ZyBnYyBxeWw/IEt1YyBzYnYgbWJpIGx5IHlzZT8KCkN6IFFmcmYsIERkb3JnciwKCk9qbyBwY2ggaHpvIEJzcmR3Yj8gS3ZyIFZnY2s/IAoKVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaw==

Her heart sank, and she resisted the urge to rip the paper up into tiny shreds, light the shreds on fire and piss on the ashes. This does tell me something, she reminded herself. Somepony had to put this here, which means somepony is either aware I'm in a time loop, or is the cause of it.

She stuffed the note back in the box, and put it into her saddlebags. Just in case.





Astral decided not to teleport into town, as she had to check up on something.

"Hey mom?"

"Good morning Astral" Starlight said, lifting a mug in greeting.

"Did you see anyone enter the castle?" She asked bluntly, ignoring her mom's raised eyebrow and concerned look.

"No, why? Did something happen-" Starlight cut herself off, watching in amazement as her daughter teleported away with a slight pop.





"Misty Rose!" 

The little white Earth Pony, on her way to school, turned, confused. Standing behind her was Astral Plane, looking frantic and stressed. "Oh, hey Astral" she greeted, walking up to meet her. "What's up?"

The Unicorn gave a bitter laugh, slowly shaking her head. "You have no idea" she said, before unceremoniously thrusting a note at Misty. "What can you tell me about this note?"

Misty leaned back to stare at the small sheet of paper. Slowly, she put it up to her face and sniffed it, before taking a small bite out of it. She examined it for a couple of seconds, before handing it back.

"The writer of the note is panicked and afraid, of something or other. Their writing is messy, but they are writing on quality grade writing paper, suggesting somepony of a high status. I smelled the barest hints of fruit, maybe kiwi's? I dunno, like I said it was pretty faint, but, going by that, this pony works around fruit."

The entire observation was done at rapid fire pace, and all in one breath. 

Astral stared at the card, then back at Misty.

"You got all that, from biting and sniffing the card?"

Misty bristled, hearing the incredulity in her tone. Most ponies tended to disbelieve her because she was Blueblood's daughter, forgetting that Pinkie and Blueblood divorced when he cheated on her, and she wanted nothing to do with her so called 'father', or her backstabbing twin.

Putting on her best snobby accent (which she had learned listening to her 'father') she said "the writing at the end of each letter is sloppy, like somepony was in a rush, so they are panicking over something. I bit the card to test to see what grade of paper it was, it was card by the way, a heavy one, usually used by Canterlockians for Wedding Invites. And I smelled it to see if I could get anything off it, and I could; it was faintly fruity."

She rounded the lecture off with a glare, and Astral held up her hooves, intimidated. "Okay, okay, sorry if I sounded suspicious, you're the expert here. I don't suppose the writing means anything to you?"

Misty shook her head. "No, sorry, just a bunch of gobbledygook."

"Right, well, thanks anyway. I'll tell Anarchy you said hi."





She tried giving it to her mom, with the same effect; nothing.

Twilight Sparkle was one of the most supremely gifted ponies in the world, and was considered to be a bonafide genius, and she couldn't find anything.

She did, however, uncomfortably point out a very possible theory.

"It's possible the pony sticking you in here is toying with you, trying to drive you up the wall, so to speak."

Seeing her daughter's face, she hurried to add "it's also possible that another, second party is trying to help you, but is scared of getting caught."

"And so they write down nonsense?" Astral asked, scowling.

Twilight shrugged, uncomfortable.





Astral sat on her bad, thoughtfully running her hoof over the heavy card as she stared at the wooden box. Who sent her these things? Her eyes kept coming back to Kronos' Symbol on the lid.

Does that mean it's from Kronos? Or somepony who knows Kronos? Was Kronos the one who put her in the loop? Or was she trying to get her out of it?
> Loop 25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Eclipse,

Astral here. I'm bored as hell, so I wondering if you wanted to come over? I know you're probably super busy, pulling wigs off of unsuspecting snobs, but Misty Rose is missing Anarchy, so I thought you two could drop by.

Unless you're too scared?

~ Astral Plane 

Astral sent the spell off to Luna and Discord's two children, and turned back around to continue reading her book. Before the loops, she wouldn't have even touched a book, let alone a horror, but, well, boredom was a strong motivator.

She hadn't even finished reading the next sentence when the air became charged. She breathed in the familiar mango scent as she turned to face Anarchy and Eclipse. They were in their pony forms, but she would recognise them anywhere.

Anarchy, the younger of Luna and Discord's two kids, was watching her impassively. Her pony form- a navy unicorn with a white mane that went by the name Night Light, towered over both  her older brother and Astral easily. 

Eclipse's pony form was, oddly enough, a pegasus. He was still very tall and fluffy, with the same light blue coat and two toned grey mane. He grinned at Astral, and waved a very fluffy hoof. "Hey Sparkles! Long time no see!"

Astral was cut off from replying by the door slamming open.

Misty Rose flung herself into the room, and, in a single leap, crossed the room to tackle Anarchy into a hug. "Annie!" She all but squealed, a huge grin on her face.

Anarchy smiled, which for her was giddy delight. "Misty!" She said, leaning down to nuzzle her best friend. "Did you two plan this?"

"Uh, no, inviting you two was kind of a spur of the moment descision" Astral admitted sheepishly, before narrowing her eyes at the estatic Earth Pony "how did you know they were here?"

"I sensed it!"

Eclipse and Astral blinked at eachother, confused, while Anarchy just nodded. "That sounds about right."





The four where hanging out in the town square when Astral filled them in as to what was happening. An intruiged Misty instantly demanded to see the note, which she handed over without a complaint. Maybe this version would see something the last version didn't?

Misty dragged Anarchy off to the side for a discussion while Astral and Eclipse talked.

She half expected the hybrid to make some sort of joke about her situation, or try and lift her spirits in one way or another, but instead Eclipse's pale blue eyes were solemn as he awkardly scratched his neck. "I- I'm not good at this" he admitted, and Astral's brow furrowed.

"What?"

"Empathising. Being nice. I'll do my best, though."

"Yeah?" She felt distinctly amused at her friends hesitance.

Eclipse took a shaky breath, before blurting out "I think you need to see a therapist."

"What!?" Astral pulled away from him, affronted, not caring how she drew the attention of ponies nearby.

"I think you need to see a therapist" he repeated, oddly patient.

"I, you, uh" she spluttered, the down on her chest fluffing up indignantly. "I am not crazy!" She finally managed to get out, gritting her teeth.

"I never said you were" Eclipse soothed, lowering his head so they were eye level "what I am saying is that this" he gestured around him vaguely "seems pretty damn traumatizing, and it might help to talk to somepony about it."

"I can just talk to my moms!"

"Have you though?" At her silence, Eclipse pushed on. "I know I'm not exactly the posterboy for mental health myself, but this seems pretty disturbing, so maybe it will help?"

Astral's lip curled, and she was about to shoot it down . . until she remembered the worsening nightmares and hallucinations, as well as the paranoia following her everywhere, like somepony was always breathing down her neck.

It was worth a shot.

"Okay" she breathed, rolling her eyes. "I'll try it."

Eclipse brightened and leaned against her, using one of his fluffy wings to pull her into a side hug. Their friendship wasn't a very physical one, but this seemed appropriate somehow. 

"A code!"

Misty's exhilirated voice ruined the moment, as Astral broke up the hug, she saw the filly and Anarchy racing over, giant grins plastered over their faces. "It's a code!" She all but shoved the paper into Astral's face, still grinning.

Astral almost fell off the bench. "A code?" She demanded, scanning the paper. "How do you know?"

"What else could it be?" Misty was prancing with excitement. "After all, what do spies do when they don't want their code to be read?"

"They use a code, yes, I've read spy books" Astral rolled her eyes, her lips curling up into a smile. "What does it say?"

"No idea!" Misty said cheerfully, and Anarchy stepped in.

"We need to go through certain code styles to see if one matches up" she said in her quiet voice. "It could take a while" she warned, and Astral jumped to her hooves, Eclipse behind her.

"I am caught continiously repeating the same four days over and over again. I have time." Seeing Eclipse's face fall, she hurried to say "but it probably won't come to that. There are four of us, so we can split up all the codes between us. It can't be that long."





"I may of underestimated this just a tad" Astral admitted three hours later when they weren't even halfway through the codes.

"I thought Base 64 was going to be it" Anarchy said mournfully rolling a pencil between her hooves. But it led to nothing.

Misty slammed her hoof down on the table. "There has to be one of these that works!" She said, determined. 

"Unless it's not a code." This came from Eclipse, who was resting his head on the table.

"It has to be!" Misty insisted, sounding slightly desperate. "There's no other explanation!"

"I can think of one; someone is messing with me" Astral pointed out the obvious, and Misty's expression dropped.

"Fine! But I want copies of the note to see if I can't do something with them."

"Deal."

Misty was considered to be one of the smartest fillies of their generation, maybe she could figure this out. Astral wasn't holding her breath though.

"So, you guys wanna blow up a watermelon?"

"This is why we're friends."
> Loop 26
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral stood nervously in the hallway, trying not to pace, the sound would only echo in the empty halls of the psychologist office. She really didn't want to be here, but maybe it would help? Still felt weird to be telling a stranger all her feelings and emotions.

Her parents knew she was here, but she insisted on coming alone. She didn't want to have to look them in the eye  when she said she killed their daughter.

At last, a soft "come in" drifted through the wooden oak doors, and she entered the room.

She was kind of dissapointed, to be honest. She had expected an old mare, her hair tied neatly back into a bun and wearing old fashioned glasses, with one of those long couches for Astral to lay down in.

Instead, a young Pegasus mare with long, wavy hair sat on a simple chair opposite a green sofa. "Hello Astral Plane" the psychologist said, motioning for her to sit on the green couch. Once Astral was seated, she said "my name is Red Cross. How are you today?"

Astral shrugged, waving her hoof in a meh gesture. "Been better, I suppose."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Be honest. She has to know to help.





It took over an hour to explain everything that was happening- from the loop itself, to the notes to prove it was real, to the trauma she had gone through, to the paranoia and nightmares- but by the time she was done, the room was dead quiet.

Red Cross nodded solemly as she chewed the end of her pencil. Over the course of Astral's explanation, she had been taking notes, and Astral was kind of annoyed she never learned how to read upside down. That would be helpful right now.

"Astral, I am going to be completely frank with you."

Then can I be George? She bit back the joke, getting the feeling it 'wasn't appropriate.' Instead, she nodded her head, and gestured for the mare to continue.

"You seem to be suffering from PTSD, depression and hypervigilance. The baseline for the later two could be attribued to your mild anxiety, but I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to reccomend you the right medication."

Wow, okay, really frank.

"There's medication for vigilance?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Red Cross shook her head, placing her front hooves together while she thought of a way to explain it. "It's more like extreme paranoia" she said at last. "The PTSD isn't helping."

"Right . .  . . so, medication? Is there even medicine for these things?"

Red Cross smiled. "While Equestria isn't as scientifically advanced as it's neighboring countries, we don't need to be, we have magic. Some ponies put a magic spell into little pills for these kinds of things. Don't worry" she said, seeing apprehension cross Astral's face. "It doesn't hurt or anything. It just balances things out in your body."





Two hours later, Astral was holding a little bottle, filled with Zebraloft (it originated in Zebrifica).  She was supposed to take one a day for the next six months to see if anything improved.

She made a quick mental note to keep the bottle in her saddlebags at all times, just in case.
> Loop 27
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last loop had been  . . interesting.

She had gone three out of the four days in the loop, and found that Red Cross did not say things like "I know just how you feel" or "I've been there" probably because she hadn't.

And so, it was with a slightly healthier mindset that Astral trotted up the steps to Canterlot Castle. She had already took her medication, and was ready for a day of pranking.

It was easy enough to find Celestia and Luna, and prove to them that not only was she in a loop, she and her moms had pranked them loops back. Both sisters were up in arms, of course, and were instantly open to the idea of a revenge prank on Astral's two moms.

The grins on the Diarchs only grew as Astral explained her plan,





Canterlot Square was packed; Princess Celestia and Luna had called an open court meeting, and everypony wanted to be there to see what was happening. The last time this happened, Celestia blatantly threatened Discord in front of everyone after he impregnated her sister. 

They hoped this time there would be less solar flares.

Twilight Sparkle and her wife, Starlight Glimmer, were not on the stage with the Princesses, instead they were in the front of the crowd with their friends, looking worried as they waited for the announcement.

The murmuring of the crowd stopped when Celestia flung open her wings, the sun casting a shadow behind her. "Thank you, my little ponies. It warms my heart to see how many of you are here, but we don't have time for ancedotets." She let the words hang in the air for a moment before Luna took it up.

"Equestria is in terrible danger, from a problem we have overlooked." She raised her voice to be heard over the mumuring and the flashes of cameras. Oh, the press was going to have a field day. "We have turned a blind eye for too long, but today that will change."

The two sisters waited for the cheering to die down a little, before Celestia took a step forwards to stand right at the edge of the stage. "Effective immediately, all magic and magic books are hereby banned from Equestria. If any are found by tomorrow, you will be put in jail, regardless of age, height or . .  social status."

The crowd had fallen dead silent, and Astral sneaked a peak at her moms. Both of them resembled fish rather than ponies, with their bulging eyes and the way their mouths would open and close. Discreetly, Astral whipped out her camera, taking two pictures of the surprised couple. She stored it away in her saddlebags, and nodded at the Princesses.

Instantly, a large grin settled on the Diarchs faces, and they burst out laughing. The crowd grew even more confused when their two noble rulers high hoofed. "Y- Your faces!" Celestia got out, before collapsing into giggles yet again.

Twilight caught on first, and this time the guards caught the picture; the purple Alicorn's expression caught between bewilderment, annoyance and humor. "It was a trick!" She cried, jabbing a hoof at them accusingly.

"Indeed!"

Astral's mom stood stock still for a moment, just long enough for Astral to worry, before she broke down in giggles, the rest of the crowd joining in. 

Astral on the other hand, did not laugh. Instead she just stood, basking in the warmth of the sunny day, and smiled.
> Loop 28
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It occurred to Astral how distant she had become from Apple Jam and Butterscotch, but she didn't care.  Every time she looked at them, all she could think about was that night.

So, she did the logical thing; she avoided them like the plague.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best solution, but this wasn't something that could be solved with 'the power of friendship' or whatever. It would take time to be able to look her friends in the eye once more, if at all.

At least she had Eclipse, Anarchy and Misty. Over the time of her loops, she had actually managed to befriend both Anarchy and Misty, and quickly found that they were actually very good friends.

Anarchy, who was a lot quieter and more sensible than her older brother, wanted to be a medic. Unlike her brother, she didn't use her chaos magic to get back at the Elites, which in turn caused said Elites to be more . .  vocal in their complaints about Annie. Which was weird, because Anarchy was actually a lot more powerful than Eclipse (much to his annoyance and Astral's delight). Sadly, she could not undo the Loops either.

Misty Rose was just as crazy as always (seriously, she found the idea of a murder in Ponyville to be a great way to pass the time, and viewed Manticore Wrestling as an acceptable hobby) but she found out several other things about the white Earth Pony.

Like how she was estranged from her father Prince Blueblood. Like how she and her twin sister, Rose Quartz, who happened to be a musical prodigy, were separated after the divorce, with Blueblood getting Rose. Like how she hadn't had contact with Rose since the divorce four years ago.

Most of the time they just spent their days hanging around, or Astral and Anarchy were being dragged into some wild scheme orchestrated by the enthusiastic duo that was Eclipse and Misty. They usually found themselves exchanging resigned expressions over their friends shoulders.

But, despite all this, she knew she couldn't avoid her friends forever. Her parents would make her go to school at some point or another.

She had a plan though. She was going to find a way to avoid school without using the notes, which took too long and made everypony walk eggshells around her.

Thankfully, Astral had experience in the art of avoidance.





Astral managed to get off Monday and Tuesday by pretending to be sick, but, just like last time, Wednesday was where Twilight put her hoof down.

"Sorry sweetie, but you can't miss three days of school. You seem to be better, but don't forget, if you feel sick, then get the school to message us" Twilight said as she fastened Astral's saddlebags and shoved her out the door.

Just like last time, when she was sure nopony was around, she went to the clearing to practice some magic. When the school bell rang, she went home to find both her moms and Cheerilee waiting for her.

"Astral Stellar Plane," Twilight said sternly, and Astral lowered her head, making her ears fall flat. She wasn't sure if she got it exactly right, but it must of have been close enough, since Starlight continued.

"Can you tell us where you've been?"

"I got lost."

Same reactions and outcome. It was decided that Twilight would walk Astral to school. 

She had originally planned on waking up early and just avoiding her parents, but she enjoyed a challenge. Let them chase, she knew Ponyville and it's surrounding area like the back of her hoof by now.





Both Twilight and Starlight relaxed when they saw their daughter sitting on the bed, waiting for them, saddlebags on. It seems that she was adhering to the new regime of being walked to school.

Upon seeing her moms in the doorway, Astral's horn glowed, before she vanished with a flash of light.

Starlight and Twilight stared blankly at the bed for a moment, before Twilight snapped out of it and cast a tracing spell. "Did you teach her to teleport?" She asked, and Starlight shook her head.

"No, I thought you did. Though, she did get her cutie mark in magic."

The two looked at each other, worry and unease visible on their faces. Most fillies should just not know how to teleport. 

After figuring out where she was, the two mares teleported in unison outside into one of Ponyville's many back alleys, just behind the fleeing Astral.

Upon hearing the telltale pop that signaled teleportation, Astral glanced behind her at her fleeing parents, and grinned, just before she cast the phase spell and disappeared through a wall. 

Starlight and Twilight exchanged bewildered looks. Teleportation and phasing? What was going on?

Twilight's tracking spell went off, telling them she had teleported once more. Following the teleport, they found themselves in Cloudsdale, with no sign of the filly. 

"Where is she?" Starlight questioned, trotting in a small circle, trying to catch a familiar flash of purple.

Twilight meanwhile narrowed her eyes, trying to think, before they widened in realization. Of course!

Astral stifled her giggles as she watched her baffled parents. I knew learning that invisibility spell was a good idea! She was so busy congratulating herself she almost missed the glowing gem speeding towards her.

Panicking, she teleported away, accidentally breaking the cloaking spell. Too late she realized the Shard was dulled to do no damage, and that her parents were closing in.

Well, two can play at this game . . .

In a split second, all six shards of Aegis formed in the air, hovering menacingly overhead as Astral fell back into the traditional battle pose.

Her parents quickly followed, both summoning fourteen shards. Astral gulped nervously, and her parents saw. "Give it up sweetie, you have to go to school!" Twilight said. 

Wrong thing to say.

"No! I am not going back in there!" Astral's resolve strengthened as she readied herself for a duel.

It would be her first real magic duel, the Beginner to Intermediate was designed to be fun for kids. In real duels, two unicorns would exchange magic spells until one of the forfeited, ran out of magic, was seriously injured or died. She should be afraid, but all she felt was exhilarated. After all, how many ponies could say they went up against two of the most 
powerful Mages?

"Sweetie, if someponies bullying you, we can talk about it! Where did you learn all these spells anyways?" Starlight tried to reason, but Astral wasn't having any of this. She wasn't going in. Period.

She embedded two of her Shards into the clouds a couple of feet in front of her moms, and made them both explode- low level explosions, but enough to send the two flying back a bit. At the exact same time, Astral flipped over the epicenter of the explosion, landing in front of her parents on her hind legs in the traditional karate pose.

Recovering quickly, Starlight cast a simple bind spell, aiming for her daughters back legs, in an attempt to trip her up, but Astral just jumped over the magical rope, twisting out of the way of one of her moms dulled Shards and landing in a crouch.

Quickly casting a wind spell, she sent the two flying back, and attempted to teleport away, only for Twilight to undo the spell while midair. Recovering quickly, Twilight flapped her wings, dive bombing her daughter, eyes narrowed, only for said eyes to widen when Astral canceled the Cloudwalking Spell and fell through the clouds.

While free falling, Astral wiped away a couple of beads of sweat. Dueling with Twilight and Starlight was a lot harder then she imagined. They were both stronger than her and had more precision and spells. She would have to be creative if she wanted to get out of this.

She had never truly pushed her teleportation before; she really only used it to scare the locals. But Eclipse and Anarchy could teleport from Canterlot to Ponyville in an instant . . . 

Seeing her mom gaining on her, Astral acted fast and flipped round so she was facing the ground. It was common knowledge that while your location changed when you teleported, your weight, mass, speed and velocity didn't. Which meant that when she teleported, she would still be moving at the same speed she was currently falling.

Astral was very aware of the fact that it wasn't the fall that killed you, it was the sudden stop.

So, she strained to remember every single lesson Pinkie had ever taught her, and vanished.





Her body jerked painfully as she cast the spell- it was a panicked, messy spell and as such the second she got out of it, she was briefly overcome with nausea and a head splitting headache.

Briefly because she hit the ground.

It wasn't as painful as the time she died from the fall, but it was painful. Her teeth cracked from it, and she was pretty sure she broke her leg and at least three ribs. 

She rolled her eyes. I really need to learn some healing spells, she thought. Oh well, dying gave you a higher pain threshold, this was fine.

It appeared she had accidentally teleported herself into the throne room of her moms castle. Not quite the distance she was going for, but she would take it. She could try longer distances later.

She levitated herself off the ground to relive the pain before her moms showed up. When they came out, they found her sitting on Twilight's throne, with the rest of the Elements in the doorway, staring at her.

"What's going on here?" Applejack asked, glancing between the disheveled couple and their bored looking daughter. Twilight, not taking her eyes off of Astral in case she teleported again, explained what happened.

"Why would you want to skip school?" Rarity asked, tilting her head.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, and waved a hoof. "No, actually I can understand that, but why did you attack your moms?"

Astral didn't look in the least bit apologetic, instead she just handed over the looping notes. When they were all done, she said "I wanted to see if I could go a week with missing school."

"Why?"

Here Astral hesitated. Even if it was the end of the loops, she really didn't want their pity. "Because I've been going every day for every loops, and it's always the same" she lied through her teeth.

Everyone turned to Applejack, clearly expecting her to refute it, but, after a couple of tense seconds, she nodded. "She's tellin' the truth" she announced, and the others relaxed.

"Okay" Twilight relented before pointing a hoof at her daughter. "But only this once" she cautioned.

Astral smiled. "Of course." Deciding that showing them just how injured she was a bad idea, she instead teleported away, into the library to find a book on healing spells before teleporting once more to her room.





It seems that I'm weaker than both my parents, at least for right now. It also looks like I'll have to give them a note at the start of every loop. That'll be fun.

On the bright side, I learned a healing spell, and I've clearly improved at fighting. Couple of loops, and I can challenge Uncle Shining.
> Loop 29
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey mom?"

"Yes Astral?"

"What's Pegasi and Earth Pony magic?"

Astral had heard of both of these before, but only with vague words and abstract hoof waves. But since her mom was not only an Alicorn, meaning she had all three types of magic, she was the biggest nerd this side of anywhere.

Twilight let out a small squeal of delight at the question, spinning around to fully face her daughter, and bringing out a chalkboard, getting into lecturer mode.

Oh crap! 

Well, I haven't been to school in months, I can't really complain about this, she reminded herself, settling herself in for the lesson.

"First off, lets start with Pegasi magic. To do that, we're going to have to start off with wing sizes-"

"Wing sizes?" Astral interrupted, baffled. "What do they have to do with all this?"

Twilight smiled, seeing her daughter was interested, if a bit naive. "Well, that's just it. They do almost nothing for Pegasi."

"But I thought the bigger the wings the faster you go" Astral protested, brow furrowed.

"Okay, let's put it this way. Who's faster, me or Rainbow Dash?"

Astral hesitated a moment, sensing a trick of some sort, before saying "Rainbow Dash, obviously."

"Even though her wings are smaller than mine?" Seeing her daughter's baffled expression, she laughed loudly. "Yeah, that was my reaction as well, but . . well, have you ever seen a picture of a Griffon?"

"Yeah, I've seen the picture of the opening day of your school" Astral pointed to the framed photo in the throne room, in a place where everypony would be able to see it.

"Good, now do you see how big their wings are?"

"Yeah! What's up with that?" Astral wondered.

"That's because Griffons don't have magic, and as such have evolved over time to grow bigger wings to fly. Hippogrifs have a much lighter frame than ponies to be able to fly, and I know for a fact that Changelings have magic, which is why they could fly with holes in their wings- I always wondered how they did that."

"Wait, wait, wait" Astral waved her hooves about in a 'timeout' gesture. "Are you saying the only reason Pegasi can fly is because of Pegasi magic?"

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, surprised me too" she admitted. "I thought more ponies would be aware of it, especially after Tirek, when he took Pegasi magic and they could no longer fly, but I suppose nopony bothered to think about it."

"So Pegasi magic is what makes Pegasi fly" Astral thought aloud, but something occurred to her. "Wait, doesn't that mean that the Sonic Rainboom is magic? Is Rainbow Dash the Pegasus version of you?"

"I - uh- huh" Twilight stammered. "I suppose she is. Weird" she said as an afterthought, before bringing out a couple of notepads. "This may need some further study" she admitted, already starting to scribble into the notepads.

Great, I'm sure Rainbow will love being stalked.

"So, what else can Pegasi magic do?" She asked, before Twilight got lost in her new experiment.

"Hmm" Twilight looked up, and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right! Sorry about that. To answer your question, Pegasi can walk on clouds, manipulate air particles and summon storms. Oh! They are also very durable when it comes to weather- lightening, hail, wind, none of it really bothers them."

"Huh" Astral sat back on her haunches and processed all this, before asking "what about Earth Ponies?"

"Earth Pony magic is more subtle. I didn't even notice it at first to be honest" Twilight shrugged. "It's mainly agriculture based, though it can vary. Applejack, for example can channel her magic to be stronger than usual, and kick all the apples out of trees, while, say, Daisy, can grow flowers overnight. They can heal way better than unicorns can, and are stronger and more durable than the other two species."

"What about Pinkie Pie?"

Twilight's face gained a shifty look, as she leaned in surreptitiously, pulling Astral in and lowering her voice to a whisper. "Okay, what I am about to say cannot leave this room, do you hear me?" She asked, voice serious. Astral nodded, eyes wide.

"Pinkie doesn't have Earth Pony magic."

Astral blinked, uncomprehending what her mother just said. "You mean she's a half breed?" She asked. Half breeds were ponies that had lineage in two or more different pony races, and had clear crossover between them. Pumpkin and Pound Cake, for example, were a Unicorn and a Pegasus respectively, but they had Earth Pony strength from their parents. Rarity was a half breed, and could use her mixture of Earth Pony and Unicorn magic to sense gems from far away.

"Is she half Pegasus or something?"

"No!" Twilight said, agitated. "She doesn't have any magic that I've ever seen!"

"  . . . .what."

"That's what I said! I've done research and it's not anything I can find!"

Astral furrowed her brows, thinking. "But she has magic. And Misty at least had Earth Pony magic."

Twilight sighed, and stepped away from her daughter. "Yes, she has magic. And so does Misty. I've tried figuring it out, but I just keep coming up blank. 'It's Pinkie Pie' seems to be the only logical explanation nowadays" she let out a quick chuckle, and Astral raised an eyebrow.

"It's killing you isn't it?" She deadpanned, and Twilight's chuckle broke off into sobs.

"You have no idea."





Astral sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. She had originally asked to see if she could change the weather for a loop, but it seemed even if she learned a weather spell, Pegasi magic would just overpower it.

Oh well, worth a shot.
> Loop 30 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Court was in session when it happened.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Starlight Glimmer's daughter, Princess Astral Plane, walked through the giant doors and into the throne room, with no parents in sight.

Her uncle Shining was thrown, to say the least. And maybe a little worried. "Assie? Where are your parents?"

Okay, maybe a lot worried.

Instead of answering, Astral trotted up the steps to stand in front of Cadence, Shining Armour, Flurry Heart and Pupa's thrones. When she was only a couple of feet away, she stopped and cast her sound enhancing spell.

"I, Astral Stellar Plane, do hereby challenge Emperor Shining Armour to a Bladecasting duel- magic and other combat areas allowed."

Shining almost fell off his throne. Wait, what? This was some kind of joke, right? Astral didn't even know how to Bladecast! Twilight would kill him if he hurt her daughter, and that's not to mention Starlight or- he shuddered- Spike.

Snickers rebounded across the room, as ponies tried to imagine the small little filly going up against the fully grown stallion.

Sensing his hesitation, and hearing the laughs, Astral narrowed her eyes and swished her tail in annoyance. "If you do not comply, while we are both in good health and mind, it is an automatic victory in my favor" she paused to let that sink in, before giving a full toothed smile "which means that, by law, I could become the new Captain of the Guard."

At this, everypony broke down in laughter, but Pupa, the accidental child of Shining and Chrysalis and the adopted child of Cadence, raised a hood for silence. "Technically" they said, once it had quieted down "she is completely right. If my father refuses to accept the challenge, then it would be a win in her favor. And, since she has a cutie mark, well . . ." they trailed off, but everyone got the implication.

A child running an army.

Shining Armour stood and stretched, smiling down at his niece. "I accept your challenge" he said amicably, and Astral smiled at him, before turning to the crowd.

"The duel shall take place in two hours, in the Crystal Empire's official dueling arena. Come and watch if you want." Ponies began whispering among themselves. They clearly expected to watch dear sweet kind Shining put up a valiant show, before gracefully stomping his niece into the dirt.

Astral gave another shark like grin.

Idiots.





With only ten minutes to go until the duel, and in the safety of one of the castles many, many spare rooms, Astral breathed a sigh of relief as she undid the illusion spell she had done to make herself appear shorter.

I really need to cut my mane, she thought as she ruffled her hair thoughtfully, biting her lip. The thought was strangely unappealing.

She wasn't wearing armor, as she was not trained in it. If she managed to beat Shining Armor, then she would begin training in some light armor for her duel with the Princesses- maybe leather? She would have to have a talk with Aunt Rarity.

She knew her parents had come upon hearing the news, and had brought their friends, probably in an attempt to stop the duel. Too late now.

Since this was going to be allowing other magic and fighting styles, she would be able to use her other spells, parkour and karate, which was nice.

The bell chimed, signalling for both the contestants to get their sorry asses into the arena now, thank you very much. 

Astral teleported to her side of the arena, ignoring the shocked looks she was given by the ponies around her.





Shining, meanwhile, was very worried.

He had accepted this duel since his niece had forced his hoof- but- Gods forbid- if she was hurt.

Twilight had stormed in not ten minutes ago, threatening him and demanding they call the duel off, Starlight resembling an angry Manticore behind her. It took six guards to pry them away.

They were with their friends now, on the stand with the best view in the arena, glaring daggers at Shining, who patiently waited for the doors on the other side of the field to open.

When they did, with a soft creak, the crowd broke out into cheers at the filly standing there. Instead of curling up and dying on the spot, Astral took it all in stride, keeping her gaze focused on Shining Armor.

The main fighting area was a sandy circle approximately twenty meters in diameter. If an opponent left the ring, they would be disqualified. The two stepped into the rings at opposite sides, and recalled their blades.

Twelve, light blue pentagon shaped gems shimmered in the air around Shining Armor. Shining had a heavily defensive kind of fighting style, and his magic had responded to that by making his Shards and the sword itself tough and durable, if a bit on the slower side of things- but then again, that was the upside of having so many Shards, you could be as fast as you want, you can't fend them all off.

Then he looked over at Astral.

She also had twelve Shards.

Twelve light purple polygons hovered around Astral Plane as she waited for the starting bell.

Where did- how did-I-WHAT?!

This clearly changed things. Shining's eyes narrowed.

Firstly, he was looking at an experienced and well trained Bladecaster- when had Astral even learned Bladecasting? When did she even get a cutie mark? Secondly, she appeared to be his equal in the summoning of Shard. And, thirdly, now that he was actually looking at her, he could see she was settling into a traditional battle crouch.

Time to get serious. He only had seconds to process.

Astral's twelve (twelve! How did she get those?) purple Shards were smaller and thinner than Shining's, good for high speeds and fast turns; which meant her style was based off speed and agility, and not very defensive. Probably one of those hit hard hit first types.

He was bigger than her though, and stronger, at least physically. He thought Astral's magic was actually quite weak, but clearly he was wrong.





Astral was loving every moment of this, the adrenaline that mane her fur stand on end, the anticipation that made her muscles tremble, the surprise she was being shown for her twelve Shards.

She recalled, vaguely, how before the loops, Aunt Fluttershy would talk about how the attention could be nice once you got used to it. Now she finally knew what she meant.

She was crouched like a cat, ready and willing to pounce at any moment.

The crowd fell silent.

The bell sounded.

And Astral charged.
> Loop 30 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the sound of the bell, Astral pounced, throwing herself up and over two of Shining's Shards, twisting awkwardly to avoid the other three. While all this happened, she aimed four of her Shards at her uncle, distracting him long enough for Astral to land and start running.

Seeing Shining's Shards zooming over to her, Astral sent out hers to counter them while she lunged at him.

It was a straightforward tackle, and once he hit the sand, Astral used his stomach as a springboard to get off, smiling slightly when she felt two Shards cut off a millimeter of her mane. She landed on a smooth, polished surface with a light thud.

Looking down, Astral realized she was standing on Shining Armor's shield, which he had put around himself. Quickly she attempted to scramble down, but it was too late. Shining used his magic to overload the bubble, causing a small, outwards explosion that threw the filly.

Hitting the sand with an ungraceful thud, Astral spat some of the yellow substance out of her mouth in disgust. She had a couple of small cuts from the blast, but nothing a good ol' healing spell wouldn't fix. Dazed, she attempted to get a hold of things, only for a shadow to fall over her.

Shining Armor stood over her, pointing Sentinel down at her with a cool expression. "Forfeit?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. 

Astral spit the rest of the sand out of her mouth, and gave a small, mocking laugh. If that was all he could give, it was a wonder Equestria was still standing. 

Instead, she pushed off the ground with her front hooves, disappearing in a small flash of light. Shining reacted quickly, spinning a full circle, only to find her on the other side of the ring, completely healed from the blast- Twilight would kill him for that, he was sure. 

He also noticed the twelve Shards racing towards him, and he put up another force shield in protest, grunting as the solidified magic cracked the shield and sent him back a few steps.

When he refocused, a chill ran through him. Astral Plane was missing. He aimed a frantic glance around the ring, before throwing himself backwards to avoid a punch from above. Not missing a beat, he charged at her.

She was a good fighter, he noted, karate if he was right. But her style was very . . unorthodox. Instead of simply stepping out of the way, she would cartwheel, and she had a habit of somersaulting out of the way. It was oddly agile for a unicorn.

Like right now, when the filly landed on her hind legs, using her front hoof to brush the hair out her eyes. He barely had enough time to fully realize what was happening before he was punched solidly in the face. He rolled backwards and sent out his Shards to knock hers out of the sky.

He jumped up, and punched back, only for Astral to catch it in a block. Her hind legs were pushed back from the lack of strength in her body, but she grit her teeth and continued on. She managed to catch the next one as well, and trip Shining up by kicking the joint of his back leg.

Shining rolled backwards, falling back into a crouch, and expertly blocked a kick from Astral. He caught her punch with one hoof, and summoned Sentinel to block Aegis, before throwing Astral towards the circles circumference.

He waited for her to teleport, only to watch as Aegis separated once again, with eight Shards working together to hold back Sentinel while four went racing to Astral. Shining separated Sentinel and easily knocked the Shards out of the air, only to turn and recoil.

He looked in time to see Astral standing on her Shards, using one for each hoof.  She was standing almost completely vertically, so he had no idea she did it. Their eyes met, and Astral's expression was one of determined concentration. His probably resembled disbelief.

The other eight Shards zoomed over, and she started using them as a walkway, pushing off at the last ones to throw herself back onto the ground.

She rolled and came out of it by cartwheeling over Shining. Aegis went swinging down, but Sentinel went swinging up, blocking it almost immediately. Shining took a couple of measured steps backwards to get distance between them, with Astral closing the distance almost immediately. 

He narrowed his eyes. Defense was usually his preferred strategy, but this girl was clearly just as well trained in the offense. He needed to stop playing around.





He is not playing around!

Of course Astral knew he wasn't exactly going to go easy on her, but she also never thought it would be this hard. She had practiced that walking on Shards thing, dammit, but no go, he still managed to stop most of her attacks.

Shining Armor stopped backing away. He separated Sentinel.

Oh crap!

She jumped backwards, using two of her Shards to knock three of his out of the sky. While distracted, Shining spun around on his front hooves, and, in a move that would make Aunt Applejack proud, kicked her straight in the chest.

She flew- almost literally flew. She was also pretty sure she might have internal bleeding, but that was just a guess.

Astral used levitation to stop herself from leaving the ring, and quickly dropped to the ground, rolling as she did so she could avoid the Shards being sent her way. She jumped up just in time to be put in a headlock courtesy of Shining.

Shining Armor shoved off with his hind legs, and slammed Astral into the ground. The filly headbutted Shining, not enough to make him let go, but enough to make him recoil slightly. Enough that Astral could place her hind legs on his stomach and shove, sending him stumbling backwards, and she pushed off into a teleportation spell once more.

He didn't even have time to search for her before he was hit by a lightening bolt. 

Oh, she knows the lightening spell.

Shining Armor didn't even have enough time to pull up a meager shield; the lightening seemed to come from everywhere at once. He could actually feel his blood boiling as his fur started to singe.

When it was over, he didn't even have the strength to cast a healing spell, instead he attempted to block Aegis with Sentinel, only for Sentinel to shatter into nothingness. 

Ah, hell.

Astral came out of a teleport by rearing onto her hind legs, and aiming a front kick for Shining's jaw, putting all her strength into it.

It wasn't as powerful as Shining's kick, but it was enough.

He stumbled back, over the edge of the circle.





Instantly the crowd, who had been watching all this in shocked silence, broke into loud and spontaneous applause.

Rainbow Dash patted the gobsmacked parents on the back. "I didn't know you guys taught her Bladecasting!" She said, impressed.

"We didn't" Twilight said, eyes wide.

"Maybe she learnt in secret" Fluttershy suggested, after uncovering her eyes.

"Probably that" Starlight said faintly.

"Huh" Pinkie contemplated this for a moment, before brightening. "Hey, you know what that means?"

"A party?" The others asked, completely monotonous.

"What? No, I was going to say we should go congratulate them. Why would we have a party?" She shook her pink head. "You guys are just so silly!"

"Uh . . ."

"Yeah, let's not go there."

"Agreed."





It was quite the exhibition later.

Ponies would gather around, asking questions like, who trained you, where did you learn that, are you taking over as the head of the Guard?

Finally, Astral stomped up the steps to the balcony that overlooked the Crystal Empire. There was already a crowd of ponies
, all wanting to see the young filly who beat Emperor Shining Armor.

The last time she had done something like this, Astral had been a nervous wreck. Now she just nonchalantly straightened her scarf before casting her sound spell.

"Attention everypony!" As if she didn't already have their attention. "Thank you for letting me duel your Emperor, it truly was an experience I cannot forget! Sadly, I will not be taking over as the head of the Guard. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and be grounded by my parents."

With that, the filly turned and marched back into the castle, leaving a bewildered crowd behind.





After getting an earful from her mothers, Astral said goodbye to Uncle Shining.

"Good duel Uncle Shining" she said, holding out a hoof for him to shake.

His large, hairy hoof completely dwarfed hers. "Good duel Astral" he said warmly, smiling, and had it been anypony else, she might of have missed it.

The fear in his eyes.

Shining Armor was scared.

Uncle Shining was scared of her.

She smiled, a huge smile, all teeth.

Good.





Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel

> Loop 31
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Astral,

Is this what they're teaching you in school now? I wish I was that lucky, I couldn't even begin to crack this.

Thankfully, I know this brilliant mare, Binary Ink, who specializes in coding and uncoding texts and totally doesn't work for the Equestrian Secret Service, why would you even think that? It took her a good two hours,which is long for her, but she cracked it.

She used that Base 64 thing you used last time - apparently it's used by spies to hide messages-not that Binary Ink would know such a thing of course- and she ended up with the strange text you did;

Gyog ojo pch Kzi rfr mge Nvl-

Kzi zg fvw nfwau lrzg gc qyl? Kuc sbv mbi ly yse?

Cz Qfrf, Ddorgr,

Ojo pch hzo Bsrdwb? Kvr Vgck? 

Urh gek, Urh gek, Urh gek, Urh gek

That looked, to her at least, like somepony had written a sentence, encoded it, and then encoded it again. You told me that the Kronos symbol was on the back of it, so, after a bit of brainstorming, she tried out a vigenere cipher, where you swap the words around with a certain keyword. She used Kronos for this so;

What are you Why are you Why-

Why is she doing this to you? Who are you to her?

Oh Gods, Please,

Are you the Keeper? The Host? 

Get out, Get out, Get out, Get out

Weird, for a school project, but if you have any more, be sure to send it over, Binary would love it.

Yours faithfully, Alchemy
> Loop 32
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Had you asked Astral Plane before the loops if she wanted to go to school, she would have probably had said no, or just pulled one of those 'are you crazy' faces that kids seemed to enjoy using so much.

But now she felt stagnated.

She was starting to train in light leather armor for her duel with the Princesses, and was toying with the idea of asking Aunt Rarity for help in making new armor, but outside of that, she had no real goal. She would need to save up money for travelling, and she didn't have an allowance.

Her mother, unknowingly explained the solution.

"Your brain isn't getting enough stimuli" Starlight said to the filly. "It needs to learn new things. This is why you should pay more attention in school."

Later that night- for it was only Monday- Astral lay in bed and mulled that over. She had gotten out of school again by pretending to be sick, and she was still planning to get out of the next few classes by giving her parents the note.

But.

She was starting to miss school. Just a tad. It kind of felt like the end of the holidays, when you were bored and were more apathetic towards school. 

But.

She didn't want to go back to school. That would mean seeing and talking  to Apple Jam and Butterscotch, and she just, couldn't.

But.

She was slowly starting to grow more and more bored, and she was no idiot, she had seen the things that the characters in the Groundhog Day loops did when bored.

With a sigh, she turned over in her bed, and fell asleep. It was a problem or another day, or even another loop.





It turned out, it was not a problem for another loop, because the answer caught her eye when she was walking down the street. It was the town bulletin board.

She had looked at it before, but it mostly included things like lost and found flyers or babysitting offers. Now though, her eyes honed in on a brightly colored flyer reading: Germane Lessons! With an address underneath. She stared up at it, thoughtful, before, in a decisive move, taking the flyer down with her magic and following the address.

It led her to the home of one Billingual, a brown earth pony she had seen around town. He seemed surprised to see her.

"Astral" he greeted, opening his door to stare down at the filly. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

In response, she held up the flyer, and he smiled. "Did you know" he said, peering down at her "that you are the very first pony in all of Ponyville to express an interest in learning Germane?"

Not really. "Really?" Astral cocked her head, eyes wide. "Wow!"

The stallion chuckled. "I suppose our first lesson can be right now. Do you know any Germane?"

Astral shook her head bashfully, and the stallion chuckled again as he opened the door to let her in.





Two hours later, Astral left, head spinning, with a book called Germane for Beginners grasped in her magic.

Everything sounds angry in that language, she thought. Her brain was a little rusty from the lack of use, so she was struggling to get even the most basic ideas of the language.

Well, at least I'll have time to catch up.
> Loop 33
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, let me get this straight" Rarity said slowly. "You want me to make you . . . armor?"

Astral sighed. She had been expecting this reaction.

"Yes" she said, just as slow. "I picked up Bladecasting and I need armor for a duel. But all the armor I could buy would be too heavy for me, which is bad since my style is agility based. So, I thought, why not find somepony who could make an entirely different type of armor." She finished off the rather long winded explanation with her best 'I'm an innocent filly' smile.

"Well . ." Rarity tried to think of a way to refuse to make armor for a filly, but already her mind had grasped onto the idea, this new exciting concept of creating something she had never done before, and she was already invested. "Alright" she said after a pause. "It will take a bit of research of course" she added as an afterthought.

"Thanks Aunt Rarity!"

"Hmm . . . oh! Yes, you're welcome dear!"





Astral winced at the pain in her joints. She had already mastered the Intermediate spells, and they now did nothing to curb her magical input. She was already preparing for her Advanced Test, hopefully that would stave off the pain for a bit.

She had just entered her room- or, as she was starting to think of it, her home base- wondering about the strange note that had just been deciphered. She pulled out her well worn notebook and started to write in it.

The writer of the note expresses confusion about who I am and why I am in the loops. That seems to imply they are not the one who put me in the loops, or the one giving me magic, but are a spectator of some sort. 

Is it possible that somepony else was just brought into the loops and realized I was stuck in one as well?

But the writer seems to express some sort of experience, and at least suspects who the pony behind it all is.  Who is the she they are referring to? They also seem to believe I should get out. Get out of where? The time loops? I have no power over those. Ponyville? My home?

Note to self; find out what a keeper and a host is.

A knock at the door made Astral slam the book closed, turning around to see her mother in the doorway.

"Astral" Twilight said, trotting into the room as her daughter hopped down from her desk. Thankfully, Astral had her illusion spell up, so she looked like the same old blank flank. "Rarity told me you had taken up Bladecasting" her mom told her, eyebrows raised, and Astral valiantly fought off a scowl.

Stupid Rarity, and her stupid marriage to the stupid Element of Honesty. 

In response, Astral summoned three of her Shards, smiling at her mom's obvious surprise. "When did you start training?" She asked, reaching out to touch one of the Shards.

"At the start of the week" Astral said - quite truthfully.

"Wow! You're really good! You might even get your cutie mark in Bladecasting" Twilight praised, before sobering "but a duel? Are you sure?"

Astral smiled condescendingly. "It's just a mock duel mom, to show me the basic rules. But they recommend I bring armor so I can learn how to maneuver around in it."

Twilight was still frowning. "I want to be there for the duel" she insisted, shaking her head. "When is it?"

Shit.

"Saturday" Astral lied smoothly, before adding "but I would need my armor a couple of days before that, so I could properly break it in."

Her mom nodded, relaxing at the idea of being there to protect her harmless little girl. "Okay, Saturday. It's a date" she added with a wink as she left, and Astral giggled a little.





Between waiting for the armor, learning Germane, avoiding Jam and Butterscotch and trying to lessen the pain in her joints, an idea occurred to Astral, and she hurried to add it to the list.

Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel


 Spend a night away from the castle (treehouse maybe?)





On Thursday evening, Astral was summoned to Sweet Apple Acres to see her new armor.

To be honest, she wasn't a hundred percent sure what she was expecting. She had done her research, and found that most materials that could handle Pegasi lightening, Earth Pony earthquakes and Unicorn's spells were extremely heavily built. While some ponies got light clothing and cast protection spells on it, it was fairly easy to undo said spells.

A part of her had expected Rarity to do a similar thing; make a silk outfit and cast a protection spell on it. That would probably be for the best, and Astral could add to the protection spells, making it fireproof, waterproof, and so on.

What she was not expecting was armor that looked to be made out of light purple metal, covering her chest, barrel and legs. There were flickers of white light in the armor, and, when she tried it on, it was incredibly light.

Seeing her surprised look, Rarity's self satisfied smile grew even larger. "When I did my research on armor, I discovered that all armor is based off armor of the Gods, which, apparently, has no metal on it's stomach, legs or head, since the Gods are seen as indestructible. Since that seemed rather foolish to me, I deigned to cover the stomach and legs, but leave the head open.

There is no metal that would be light enough for you to move around it, so instead, I got Twilight and Starlight's help to solidify the astral plane."

"The astral what?" Astral jerked back, surprised.

"Oh, yes, your namesake. It's also where your mother ascended, and is said to be the Gods old 'hangout' as Rainbow Dash would say. Like magic, you can solidify the astral plane if you can access it, so that's what Twilight and Starlight did. It is incredibly light, sturdy, and can absorb some magic and be used for physical attacks."

Well, I'll be damned. . . .

"That's amazing!" Astral said, genuine, and Rarity acted modest.

"Thank you dear, it's what I do, really. Now, why don't you test it out?"

It worked like a dream, pun aside. It felt no different than having the CMC cloak draped over her shoulders. It also, she noticed, matched her Shards, which was nice.

But while she put her armor through it's paces, her mind was elsewhere.

The astral plane was the hangout of the Gods, huh? Maybe I should visit sometime. . . 






> Loop 34
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sighing dramatically, Astral slammed another book down onto the table. She had spent the last few days pouring over the books in her moms library in an attempt to find out just what a ''keeper'' and a ''host'' was. The closest thing she had gotten to was the definitions of both in the dictionary;

Keeper


noun

a person who manages or looks after something or someone.


1

Host

Noun
a person who receives or entertains other people as guests.

2
Biology 
An animal or plant on or in which a parasite or commensal organism lives.

Neither of which was particularly inspiring. She had even gone so far as to go to Canterlot to request any books from there. Whatever the Keeper or the Host seemed to mean, it looked like it was tied to the Gods somehow, but even that was starting to look like a false lead.

She sighed again, heavier and louder this time, and instead found her gaze being pulled to a different book. Hmm . .





Astral trotted through the streets, looking for Highkick's Self Defense Studios. It was a small place, located down a dark alley, which was kind of ironic when you thought of it.

Highkick was getting on in years; with silver peeking through her dark mane and frown lines becoming etched onto her face. But when Astral told her she wanted to learn Krav Maga, she noticeably brightened, and looked a bit like a schoolfilly.

"Do you have any experience in fighting?" She had asked, once they entered a room the size of a warehouse full of ponies around her age. The building was three stories high; the ground for beginners, the middle for intermediate and the top for experienced members.

"I've done karate, and I am very good at Bladecasting" Astral said, looking around.

Without warning, the unicorn was thrown into the air. Surprised, she only just managed to turn herself around to land on her back hooves, falling into the traditional karate pose.

Highkick just looked fascinated, walking a tight circle around Astral, who kept standing as a preemptive measure. "Well, you're certainly incredibly balanced. Who taught you this?"

"Pinkie Pie."

" . .That sounds about right. Rainbow Dash teach you karate then?"

"Yup."

"Talkative, aren'tcha?" The old mare grinned wryly, before settling into business. "Krav Maga is a mixture of a lot of fighting styles; kung fu, karate, aikido, basic parkour, street fighting and kickboxing. You already have a it of a leg up from others, considering you know karate, and, knowing Pinkie, parkour. But that does not mean it will be easy."

She took a step forwards, and looked up at Astral, smiling a slightly feral smile. "Brace yourself sweetheart. I am going to break every bone in your body."

Yeah right, like she could really- WOAH!






She had stumbled home at the very end of the week, muscles weak and tired in a way they hadn't been for years. She had fallen into one of those deep sleeps, the ones it's hard to wake up from.

The box was on the foot of her bed when she woke up.

Astral almost mistook it for the box she already had, but then she remembered that that box was in her saddlebag. This was a new one.

She bolted upright, and telekinetically brought the box up to her, letting out a little "oof" when she overshot her magic and it slammed into her chest.

She whipped out the new note, and scanned it, feeling a smile pull at her cheeks;

R3lvZyBvam8gcGNoIEt6aSByZnIgbWdlIE52bC0KCkt6aSB6ZyBmdncgbmZ3YXUgbHJ6ZyBnYyBxeWw/IEt1YyBzYnYgbWJpIGx5IHlzZT8KCkN6IFFmcmYsIERkb3JnciwKCk9qbyBwY2ggaHpvIEJzcmR3Yj8gS3ZyIFZnY2s/IAoKVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaywgVXJoIGdlaw==

As a precaution, she had had Binary Ink, the totally not a secret agent, send her a decoding spell for both Base64 and the vigenere cipher. Using Base64, she got;

Gyog ojo pch Kzi rfr mge Nvl-

Kzi zg fvw nfwau lrzg gc qyl? Kuc sbv mbi ly yse?

Cz Qfrf, Ddorgr,

Ojo pch hzo Bsrdwb? Kvr Vgck? 

Urh gek, Urh gek, Urh gek, Urh gek

Finally, she used the vigenere cipher with Kronos as the key, and, sure enough, the real message came up. 

Sudden, stark terror, as an ice cold bolt of lightening shot down her spine;

Kronos or Ebony? Kronos and Ebony? 

You are being watched.

Get out.
> Entry #4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is bad, very very bad.

Ebony has Kronos' time magic, which means it's only a matter of time (pun intended!) before she decided to change history. We are going to have to strike before then.

The problem is, will our magic return to us?
> Loop 35
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was early on a Monday morning, just after twelve o'clock in fact, and everything was quiet.

Or it was until Astral Plane slammed the castle doors open and sprinted through the town, ducking through streets and alleys in a crazed attempt to get out.

Get out of where? Ponyville? My home?

She came to a stop at the edge of the Everfree, and for a moment, she just stared up at it, before the warning echoed in her ears and she sprinted into the thick undergrowth.

The last time Astral had been in here, she had been young and inexperienced, scared by everything, and not that physically fit.

Now though she was a brown belt, one of the best Bladecasters there was and enough magic that her joints ached from the strain of it's power.

Though said aching made it quite hard to navigate, especially as she had not been in here for a long time. A hydra roared as she passed, and she shot a laser into it's mouth, startling it even as she climbed a tree, and started using branches as stepping stones. 

She should of have taken that stupid Advanced test when she had the chance.





Eventually Astral came to a breathless halt on the branches of a mighty oak. She leaned against the trunk as she tried to catch her breath, and looked up at the sky. Everypony was definitely awake now, and probably looking or her. Search parties had probably been sent out, and Pegasi were probably scanning the Everfree from above.

But she had a good two hours on them.

Swallowing at the dryness in her mouth, Astral leaped down to the ground, rolling to break down the shock, before breaking into a light jog. She would be running for a long while.





A 'long while' actually translated into ten minutes of running, because she came across a little spring of fresh water, and stuck her muzzle into the cool liquid for a long drink.

She relaxed for a moment, listening to the sound of an owl hooting and staring up at the bright blue sky overhead. Until she heard the sound of wings flapping. Pegasi wings.

Rainbow Dash would be crying tears of envy at how fast she sprinted away.

That is, of course, until Rainbow Dash herself landed right in front of her. Startled, Astral ran into her chest and stumbled back with a squeak, landing on her butt.

Behold, the graceful unicorn.

Rolling backwards to stand back up, she rose onto her hind legs, watching the Pegasus warily. The owl's head swiveled between the two, playing spectator in the strange showdown.

"Astral" Rainbow said, cautious for once. She knew the standard Karate pose, and her niece had it down. "What are you doing out here? Everyone was really worried."

Astral kept her eyes on Rainbow. Running was not an option, that much was clear, Rainbow Dash's title of 'The Fastest Pegasi' did not come from nowhere, and she would be on her if she even tried to run.

Kicking her ass it was then.

She could use Bladecasting or Karate, but time was of the essence. So, instead, she used the air spell to knock Rainbow into a tree, where she slumped to the ground.

Without hesitating, she stepped over Rainbow and made a break for it, only for a hoof to grab her hind leg and flip her backwards onto the ground. The wind knocked out of her, Rainbow put both her arms around Astral's chest, and took off, breaking the sound barrier almost immediately.

The wind blew her mane back and made her eyes water, and her stomach felt like it had been left behind on the ground.

Teleport, now!

Frantic, Astral reached out, somewhere, anywhere, and vanished with a pop . . . only to reappear in the air a lot further away from Rainbow. 

Instantly plummeting, Astral's scream got caught in her throat, even as she watched Rainbow Dash spin around, eyes wide, to try and catch her.

She hit the forest floor.





Astral Plane woke up at home.

She had no marks on her skin, nothing to show she just died. But she did. It was the beginning another loop.

And her body was in agony. 

The aching in her joints had evolved to full on suffering.

Underneath the haze of pain that clouded her mind, one thought was very clear, she needed more Advanced spells. Maybe her moms could be convinced to let her take the test?

But when she tried to get up, the pain grew all encompassing, and she flopped down under the covers.

Panic clawed at the edge of her pain. She was trapped, stuck in her room, being watched by something and if she couldn't get up, even more magic would enter her system.

Unbidden, tears flowed down her cheeks.

What do I do now?
> Loop 36
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She lies in bed, immobile, as worried adults hover over her. Magic dances across her skin, unbidden, but her mind is too foggy to even contemplate casting a spell.

Voices drift overhead-

" - tried to put her magic into a ball, but it just exploded-"

" -ow is that even possible?"

" Not sure"

"-Need to call a doctor"

"-ey say nothings wrong with her"

"They're wrong!"

- but they sound very far away, and she just wants to sleep.

Her bones ache and her mind feels heavy and covered in cotton, making it hard to think. The pain registers though, a never ending throbs that blazes into agony if she so much as twitches. So, she lays still, taking small, shallow breaths.





She doesn't know how much time has passed, she has spent most of her time drifting. But a small part of her is aware that at least two loops have passed, and is very aware the longer she's like this, the worse it's going to get. But it's a very small part in an ocean of muzziness, so she ignores it.

Sometimes she's awake, and she listens to her mothers crying, feels them stroking her mane as they tell her stories she had heard a hundred times before, and sometimes she even talks back. She asks them to tell her a certain story, or asks them if they could do anything to help her, or ask for pain medicine (it doesn't do anything)

Butterscotch and Jam visited a couple of times, and it wasn't just the pain that made her cry. They ended up all sobbing together, likes babies. Misty visited once, pulling up a chair, and watching her silently for a moment, before brushing away her fringe and putting a small teddy beside her bed.

Eclipse comes in the most, begging her to not do this, and get better. He tries to use Chaos Magic, but it just slides off her, leaving him even more frantic.

The doctors had taken away her saddlebags, but, after checking it for curses, she was allowed to keep wearing her scarf, especially after, in an attempt to get it back, she had braved the pain to pathetically paw at the air and whine until it was once again wrapped around her.





"Am I dying?" She asks Eclipse, not her parents. Had she been clear of mind, she would of have known the answer, yes she was. She was going to spend the rest of her life in this bed, repeating the same agony over and over and over . . .

"You're not dying" Eclipse insists, resting his chin on a mound of what looks like fluff. Her vision has been going hazy around the edges, a fuzzy white creeping in. His words are distorted. "You're gonna' be fine, Sparkles."

"Oh, okay then" she doesn't believe a single word. Her body no longer aches, instead it feels like she's floating. Nerve damage, she remembers the doctors saying. Or, at least, temporary nerve damage, because in a couple of minutes, the damage would completely heal, only for the nerve damage to start all over.

It turns out at least some of the magic being pumped through her veins was healing magic. When the overload of magic gave her nerve damage, the regeneration magic would just heal it, and the cycle would start anew. 

She preferred it when she felt nothing, no pain, just a light dizziness.

"You can't die anyway" Eclipse carries on. "I have to kiss you in front of the Elites."

"That'd be nice. We should do it in front of Blueblood" she said, referring to Misty's asshole father, and ignoring how these dreams were just that, dreams.

"I bet he'll do that thing where he squeals and laughs at the same time."

"Ten points if he pulls that constipated face that Misty says he pulls when he realizes he's around somepony with better connections than him and they're being dumb."

"Oh! Ten points if we can get Misty's twin Rose Quartz to laugh!"

She lets out a laugh at that, only for the laugh to turn into a whimper at the sudden pain in her body once more. "I'm up for it."

"You're still tired?" Eclipse tried his best to not sound concerned. "But you just woke up, lazy bones!"

"M' not lazy" she defends, closing her eyes. "M'sick"

"Yeah" Eclipse sounds devastated. "I know Sparkles."





She dreams of drowning, of suffocating on her own blood, and often times wakes up gasping with one of her mothers standing over her, ears flat and eyes wet as they do their very best to comfort their very sick daughter.

"You're alright" Twilight soothes, placing her front hooves on the bed. 

"You with us, sweetie?" Starlight asks, reaching out, but touching the little unicorn. "Breathe, sweetie, c'mon, breathe."

She did her best, but it was like her lungs were frozen and refused to move in and out. Instead, she let out a choked gasp as she desperately tried to suck in more air.

"Breathe" Starlight repeats, sounding panicked now "you gotta breathe kid."

But she can't. A basic, fundamental thing that all ponies can do, and here she was, choking and gasping. Her chest felt like somepony had just dropped a rock on it.

For a brief, brief moment, there is a moment of clarity, and she manages to take a deep, greedy breath of the air that is coming through the window. In that moment, her mind makes and discards several plans and ideas for how to get out of her situation. There's only one thing that jumps to mind, but there's no way in hell her parents will allow her to do it, and she can't travel on her own.

Then the agony returns, as does the fuzziness, and she collapses back onto the cushions once more, managing a small smile for both her parents.

"It's okay" Twilight comforts, and lies. 

Starlight looks at their daughter with a worried frown. "You're getting worse."

She nods her head, waits until she can catch her breath, and then says.

"Mom, I need you to do something for me . . ."





"No!" Twilight storms out of the room without a second thought.

"Twi!" Starlight follows her wife out of the room, only to skid to a stop when Twilight spun around suddenly, teeth bared.

"No! We are not doing it! It's too dangerous!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

" . . I'll think of something."

"Twi, please" Starlight begged, desperate. "It makes a certain amount of sense! It does look like magical overload, and you know how you get rid of that?"

"Learning harder spells?"

"And  . . . ?"

Twilight sighed, rubbing her face wearily with a hoof. "You're right" she admitted, before narrowing her eyes and jabbing her hoof in the direction of the door. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it!"

"And you think I do?"





It took quite a bit of convincing from Starlight and Twilight's part to get the doctors to take their daughter outside, let alone so far away. But, once they explained the situation to them, they reluctantly agreed that is was probably the best bet. They still insisted on coming along in case things go wrong, a demand the parents were all too happy to agree to.

They took a flying chariot consisting of the sick filly, her parents, the medical team, the Princesses and Eclipse to their location, the thickest part of the Everfree Forest. 

Her ''sickness'' made it impossible for her to walk, so instead she hung limply as Twilight levitated her onto the forest floor. She didn't try to move from that position, staying in the strange kneeling position. She didn't so much as twitch.

Then, just when it looked like they had trekked out here for nothing, her horn glowed. First a simple spark, then an inferno.





When one is in the midst of a very bad magical overload, they can either learn new spells in an attempt to drain the magic, or they can actually just force the magic out as raw power.

The problem is just how destructive that kind of power can be, especially as it is a kind of unpredictable magic. The bigger the overload, the more dangerous it is.





She didn't really have an exact direction for her magic, no spell, she just wanted it out of her now. She pushed as much of her magic as she could into the discharge, but even that wouldn't be all of it.

The spectators backed away from the filly with the glowing eyes and horn, from the unrefined substanstial power. 

Then, in one motion, the filly let out a sharp scream, and the world seemed to explode.





Anypony flying overhead would just see a bright white light exploding outwards. In the middle of the thick forest, there was now a bare circle of burned ground of about twenty miles in diameter.

The channeler of the blast would of have been burned alive from the strength of the blast. But, perhaps it was best to put them out of their misery? They would of have been in agony otherwise.





And Astral Plane woke up
> Loop 37
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well done sweetie!" Twilight praised as she fell into step alongside her daughter. "You are now an official Mage!"

Astral smiled as her cloak settled around her shoulders. Passing the Intermediate to Advanced test was childsplay after beating Shining Armor in a duel, even if her magic was a bit dried up from the last loop.

She felt like she had shed several hundred pounds, and the aching in her joints was gone now that all the built up magic was gone . . . for now.

Her cloak was beautiful, ordered by her mothers to celebrate the occasion, a light lilac blue with a darker shade around the edges. It was held in place by a star resembling her cutie mark, and attracted quite a bit of attention from the Unicorns of Ponyville, unused to a filly Mage.

I'm a Mage!

She had to physically restrain herself from singing to the heavens. This was just her loop. She was now allowed to tackle the harder spells, which would reduce the aches in her body, and she wasn't dying anymore. Huzzah!

"We should celebrate" Starlight mused as they walked through town. "Milkshakes are on me. I heard that Pinkie's expirementing with a new, fruity mango flavor, Twi, if you want to give it a shot?"

Twilight shuddered dramatically. "No, thank you" she said, lips curling. "Discord's magic is fruity, and everytime I drink or eat anything citrus, all I can think of is that one time he turned everything pink."

Astral stopped dead in her tracks.

" . . Say that again."

" . . Discord ruined fruit for me forever?"

"Yes, but why?"

"You know why, Assie. You've complained about Eclipse's magical explosions tasting fruity yourself - hey! Where are you going?"

Astral had spun on her hooves, and was taking off in the opposite direction. "Don't worry about it!" She called over her shoulder, making her parents offically worry. "I'll be back in time for lunch!" And, with that, she teleported away in a flash of violet light.





Even at the height of her power, Astral had never been able to teleport to Canterlot in one go, so for now she did it in short bursts, taking quick breaks between them to catch her breath.

Needless to say, when she did eventually teleport into the Canterlot Gardins, she was sweating profusely, and her mouth was very dry.

Now, at this point, she would pull herself up, dramatically point and scream out his name.

But this was real life, so instead she collapsed to the ground and just weakly said "hey Loki."

Discord laughed.
> Loop 38
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You wrote the notes that appeared in my bedroom. Don't try to deny it, they smelled fruity like your magic."

". . Misty Rose?"

"Misty Rose. I have to ask, out of all the aliases you could of have used, why Discord?"

"Why not? What alias would you chose if you're going into hiding?"

"If this is what you call hiding, I'd hate to see you trying to garner attention."

"Lucky for us all I am but a modest draconequus."

"Yeah. Lucky. So."

"So?"

"Can you undo the loops?"

"What do I look like? A God? Oh, right. But, uh, no, no I cannot. I have no power over Time. The only two ponies who can help you are Kronos or Ebony."

"Ebony? What does she have to do with this?"

"You have read my totally not diary entries right? You do know Ebony stole our magic, right?"

"Yeah, but you got it back."

" . . ."

". . ."

"You didn't get it back."

"Nope."

"So, a psychotic God is running around with Time, Space, Chaos, Harmony and Light magic?"

"Gee, when you put it like that, it really sounds bad. . . did you just snarl at me?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, okay fine! Here's the thing; Ebony is locked up somewhere where I can confirm she hasn't gotten out of. Even if she had access to her Time magic, she wouldn't spend it trapping you in a loop. That only leaves Kronos who's been MIA for a long while, and is such a straight arrow that she made Harmonia look like, well, me, in comparison."

"But, you think one of them is responsible."

" . . I do. I sensed some strong Time magic, and traced it back to here. Upon finding out the cause, I gained all memories of past loops. There's only two beings that are capable of that amount of raw Time magic, and, hint, it's not your mom."

"Okay . .what did you mean by I was being watched?"

"I meant you should go frolicking in a field of daisies. What do you think? Either Kronos or Ebony- or both? Who knows?- is watching you."

"Is there a way to get them to back off?"

"Probably not."

"Gee, thanks. Absolutely useles."

"Hey! If you can find a way to find what form they're taking, you might be able to confront them. You will probably die. You will almost certainly die."

" . . . I like my odds."

"Thought you would now- wait. You hear that?"

"Ponies?"

"No."

"The wind? Birdsongs? A cat-"

"Goobye Astral."

"No,wait!-"
> Loop 39
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Never Have I ever is a popular drinking game?" Astral asked, intruiged as Dragonfly nodded sagely.

"Oh yeah. You can't do it though" he hurried to say. "You're too young."

Astral smirked at that, turning her head away so he wouldn't see it. "Does Uncle Spike approve?"

Fly burst into laughter, a highpitched, chattering sound that sounded like thousands of bettles clicking their mandibles at once. "Oh Gods no."

"But that hasn't stopped you."

"Hey, if I didn't do anything my dads forbid, I would get nowhere in life, right?" He winked at her, and she giggled a little.

Note to self, find adults to play drinking games.

"So, you're a mage now, right?"

"Yup!" Astral beamed with pride, puffing out her chest. "I've got my cloak and everything!" Her face sobered "I wanna' learn the weather spells to make it rain, but it's ''really delicate'' or so my moms say."

"Parents" Dragonfly says like it's a curse.

"Parents" Astral agrees
> Loop 40
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced magic was hard. Even the most simple of them, Reverse Gravity, was challenging. 

Mind and Transfiguration Magic, were, without a doubt, the worst of them. When she tried Weather Control, she almost formed a little wisp that could be part of a cloud, and when she tried phasing her hoof got partway through the walls.

But Mind and Transfiguration were so much worse.

Mind Magic seemed to be more based around sheer force of will than anything. It was all about practice, and, okay Astral could usually do that, but she just couldn't do it. She struggled to block out her thoughts and reading minds was just a dream at this point.

Maybe she just couldn't do it. Maybe her mind was so broken it couldn't fathom the thought of reading a whole ones. Or maybe she just sucked.

She really needed to refill her prescription.

She had the exact same problem with Transfiguration. Even just changing mane colors was a challenge. And, sure, she could just cast an illusion spell, but that was just so . . . boring.

Maybe she could ask her moms for help? But, no, that would mean she had to explain everything to them, and they always got so sentimental. Especially when she brought up her depression.

Astral shuddered and discarded the idea. She would just have to try again.
> Loop 41 Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry, you want us to what?" Celestia asked as she stared down at Astral.

"I want you two to help me out with a prank" Astral repeated slowly. She had gotten nowhere in Tranfiguration and Mind Magic, and had yet to make much progress on the others as well. It seemed to be more finesse than raw magic.

And as such, she was bored. And when she was bored. . . .

Pranks shall be played.

"I think we should take this somewhere else" Celestia said, with a cautious glance around the room as she and Luna stood up.





'Somewhere else' turned out to be a secret war room hidden away from prying eyes. A small part of her was worried about how this was called ''the Prank Room'' with a picture of a fiery explosion scribbled on the walls in crayon, but for the most part, Astral was a little caught up with the plans on the table in front of her.

"Okay, so the last prank we did, 'Operation No Magic' was a resounding sucess. It seems that ponies will take your word as gospel, which in this case is a very, very good thing" Astral said and the two Princesses nodded.

"So, are we all clear on the plan? You're gonna' have to be in several places at once" Astral smiled as she rubbed her hooves together. Luna and Celestia gave eachother matching conspiratoral grins, and gave the Unicorn a snappy salute, teleporting away.

Astral wiped away a pretend tear.

"March on, brave soldiers."





The first location was Canterlot itself, on one of the largest platforms in the city. Astral Plane stood aside with a magical mind link attatching her to the Royal Sisters. A small part of her was jealous of how skilled the Alicorns were at Mind Magic, but she had bigger things to worry about right now.

Celestia. Hope. Excitement.

Yeah? Anticipation.

You're on. Make it . . flashy. Amused.

Instantly, the temperature rose from being slightly higher than average to sweltering. Ponies staggered from the sudden change of heat, with some even gaining headaches. The weather was arranged to be perfect this entire week, so what was going on?

As one, Canterlockians turned to face the sun, which was glowing hotter than usual. But that was overshadowed by the strange comet heading for the stage.

Panicking, the crowd ran away as the comet hit the stage hard enough to hit the ground, before curiosity overcame them, and they stopped to stare.

It was a white Alicorn, with flames for a mane and tail and sharp teeth, towered over the cowering crowd. Throwing back her head, she let out a mad cackle at their terrified looks, and the tips of both her ears caught on fire.

"Subjects!" She cried out in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing everypony save for Astral to back up. "Behold the majesty, the beauty of-"

She smiled a smile of all teeth.

"Daybreaker."
> Loop 41 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight! You have to help us, please! Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker are . . working together!"

"Meh."

The crowd did an obvious double take at their Princesses blase reaction. Her friends weren't anymore concerned than she was. In fact .  . it looked like Applejack was snoozing. 

One of the ponies in the mob, a pony called Broadside pushed his way through to jab a hoof at the Elements of Harmony. "T-they must be rogue Changelings" he hissed, and the crowd flinched back, terrified.

Twilight rolled her eyes, and held up a quill in her familiar aura. "Changeling Magic is green, remember?" She reminded them all, and let them all have a moment of relief, before she told them "I'm just not going to intervene."

And if that didn't set them off.

"What do you mean-"

"-are you sending in your place-"

"Why?"

Twilight had sudden, vicious flashbacks to the Friendship Book. She wondered if she should sing a song about how she and her friends didn't care about any of this.

Celestia had promised to buy out an entire bookstore if she helped her out with this prank, so there was no way she was saying no.

So she held up a hoof for silence. "Thank you. What I meant to say is that me and my friends will not be standing up against Nightmare Moon or Daybreaker, and we will not be sending anyone in as a replacement. You're on your own." She turned to head back inside, but stopped, turning to flash them a Rainbow Dash like smirk. "I recommend you get some suns cream. It's gonna' get hot."

With that, the six, smiling, giggling friends left the hyperventilating mob to their panicking.





"Phase two was a resounding success, boss" Rainbow Dash said, saluting at the strange cloaked figure. 

Astral had decided that it was probably best her parents never realized she was the mastermind in all this. It would be hard to explain why she wasn't such a 'goody two shoes' anymore.

"Good, move onto phase three" she commanded, before teleporting away. Alone, Rainbow Dash rubbed her front hooves together and giggled.

"Best. Week. Ever" she sang quietly.





Whenever Nightmare Moon or Daybreaker sat down on their thrones, a horde would always spawn spontaneously around them. Most of the time, it was angry exclamations to bring back their Princesses, though there were a few sycophants who decided sucking up to the new Princesses was the smart thing to do.

Like today, where two mares had given Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker a basket of fruit and were rolling around on their stomachs in 'a grand gesture of humility and respect.' Or at least, they were, until a loud boom shook the sky once more.

Hitting the platform just in front of the two Alicorns were six ponies.

Six very familiar ponies.

"Sisters!" Daybreaker said, pushing herself up with a smile. "How goes it?"

The mare that had once been Twilight Sparkle bowed her head. "We had successfully converted the Griffon Kingdom. They are now part of Equestria."

"Praise!" Cheered Nightmare Moon, before turning to her sister, solemn. "It is time to initiate the final phase of our plan, sister."

"Indeed" Daybreaker said, striding forwards until she was outlined by the blazing, white sun. Horn glowing, she maneuvered it so that it was resting directly overhead. Nightmare Moon did the exact same thing with the moon, until the two celestials met, creating an eclipse that covered the lands in a hazy darkness.





Ponies were too busy screaming that it took them a second to hear the laughter.

It was loud, and merry, and came from more than one pony.

To their bewilderment, the sun and moon began to separate, with the sun back to it's normal yellow color. With the lights back on, the crowd could clearly see eight laughing, non corrupted ponies.

It took Twilight Sparkle herself crying out "gotcha'!" For the penny to drop, and the crowd began to giggle along with them.

"Wow, you really got us!"

"How long did it take you to plan this out?"

"You scared the pee outta me!"

And, in the back, Astral Plane pulled out a picture of the Canterlockian's shocked faces.
> Loop 42
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Astral woke up, she woke up with a plan.

In the next loop, she was going to spend the entirety of it hiding from everypony in the Everfree. Of course, that would take a lot of preparation.

Thankfully, most of the looks she garnered from walking down the street with a wagon was not suspicion but all consuming terror, as the residents of Ponyville were by now used to the Cutie Mark Crusader's shenanigans.

The stallion in the stall visibly quaked when she walked up to him. "Could I have a tent and some of your dry food please?" She asked of him, pretending to ignore the whimper he let out. "Oh, and a sleeping bag! That would be nice!"





On the way back home, Astral smiled at Billingual, who was just passing after getting his groceries.

"Wie geht es dir?" She greeted as she passed, watching as he smiled and nodded at her, only to stop dead a few paces ahead and turn to stare at her.

Smothering her giggle, Astral instead decided to focus on the task at hand. It was going to be hard to carry all these things with her through the next loop, but she was pretty sure her mother had one of those big travel bags with her somewhere. 

This could work!
> Loop 43
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral allowed herself a smile of satisfaction as she examined her base.

She was deep in the Everfree, having set off right after midnight so as to get a head start. Once deep enough, she had set up camp near a river.

It was a simple tent with a campfire, surrounded by cans on wires so she could be warned if predators were coming her way. She had been reading up on Survival Training, and so was keeping all her food in a seperate part of the tent.

All in all, it was a very homely campsite. And, as an added bonus, there was a small patch of flat crystals in the corner.

When Pinkie Pie told her that crystals could be used as a sort of scrying stone, she hadn't believed her. But, after raiding enthusiastically searching her mothers library, she had found a book that confirmed just that.

It was clearer and easier to use if you had Earth Pony Magic, but there was a Unicorn spell you could use as well to the same affect. Thankfully she had managed to grasp that spell quickly enough.

The clear stones began to shimmer slightly, before a wavy, slightly blurry picture came into focus. It showed Starlight frantically writing a scroll to Twilight explaining that their daughter was missing, and in seconds Twilight teleported in. 

Panic was clear even through the fuzzy stones, and Twilight quickly wrote a note to Celestia and Luna before rounding up her friends for a search party. They wouldn't find her though. It took several hours of solid running to get this far, and the entire camp was covered in an illusion spell.

Eventually Princess Luna and Celestia called them back in, and a small tremor ran down her spine when she realised that their thrones were made out of crystals.

Horn glowing stronger now, she poured all of her magic into blocking any transmissions. It was a bit like trying to top a river with a bucket. Alicorns were taller than other ponies and had large wings and horns so they could handle the amount of raw magic in their system. Try as she might, they easily cut through her defenses.

So, Astral pulled up a hastily made illusion of a dirty dungeon somewhere and noticed the concern on everypony present in the room.

Okay, this is going to be a bit harder than I thought.





The next day, after eating some blueberries, Astral packed up her camp and headed deeper into the forest. They probably didn't think she was in there anymore, but better safe than sorry.

All of her combat training and parkour kept her in great health, and she was able to keep up a lively trot for a good two hours before she had to properly slow down and take stock.

She wasn't really sure how long she had until she would be found out. She was sure at some point Celestia or Luna would try scrying again, this time when she was unprepared and wasn't aware, and then they would find out she was in the forest.

Just this loop, she reminded herself. Just this loop.





They came for her on the last day of the loop.

An owl, which had been resting on a branch overhead, heard them before she did and had taken off, tipping her off that someone was coming.

She had bolted in the same direction of the owl, trusting it's judgement, even as two large imposing shadows appeared on the ground from above.

"Astral Plane!" Celestia's voice echoed ominously. "Stop right there!"

Astral had been one of the few ponies lucky enough to see the Princesses fly, and knew that there was no way in hell she could outrun or indeed outmagic them.

It was just dumb luck that the owl led her to a ravine.

Shoving off her hind legs, she jumped the gap, getting almost a quarter of the way there before starting to fall. Hearing Luna's "no!" faintly, she twisted herself around into the proper flying pose.

Usually this is when the main character suddenly learns how to do that one trick they have never been able to do up till then. But this is reality so that's not what happened.

What actually happened was Astral attempted to transform into a Pegasus, a Pegacorn, an Alicorn, anything with wings really, only for nothing to happen.

Well, that's not quite true. For a brief, flicker of a moment, she thought she had something, when she looked up and imagined how that owl must feel, flying free. But that moment was gone, and so was she, vanishing with a flash of light and a pop.

Though no longer falling, her velocity was still the same, so midteleport she cast no less than ten healing spells in a milisecond, rolling the second she came out to spread out some of the pressure. Her bones jolted slightly, but she was already up and moving, teleporting again midstride.

She was aware of Luna and Celestia following her teleports closely, catching up very easily, and when Celestia teleported in front of her, she cast her Phase spell, sprinting through her without difficulty before teleporting again.

This time however, she cast Invisibility, keeping it up while she teleported. It would not make it harder for them to teleport-chase her, but it would be harder to spot her. She chose her location well, teleporting just below a tree and levitating herself up onto one of it's higher branches in time.

The owl from before hooted at her as she looked down and watched as the Alicorn sisters both come out of the teleport together, and look around for her. For a brief moment, Luna looked up, and she thought she had spotted her, but, after squinting suspiciously, the dark mare took after her sister into the undergrowth.





It was weird, watching the moon rise just as a loop ended. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were going to be rainy to make up for the sunny four days they'd had, so clouds were already starting to roll in.

Then, you would blink, and they would be gone. It was weird to watch.

Astral smiled up at the cloudless sky. Maybe I'm not being watched anymore.
> Loop 44
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright Astral, ready to transform?" Starlight asked from below the baseball cap she had borrowed from Rainbow Dash. Astral had given her mother the looping note and asked her how to transfigure.

Because Astral was in the forest when the loop ended, she had to track all the way back to the castle before her mother's woke up, which meant that she was already pretty tired. But she thought she had something there while running away from the Princesses.

So she gave a sharp and snappy salute, ready to whatever it took to drain her already growing magic.

"Now, I know you read the basic spell of Transfiguration, but it's actually a bit different than that. While most ponies can just read the spell and choose whatever changes they want, others may find it a bit harder. It's a bit like studying, everypony has a different method, you just have to find the one that's right for you."

Astral's brow furrowed in frustration. That didn't help her at all! "How do you learn spells?" She asked, and Starlight smiled, pleased.

"Most of the time I can just look at a spell and understand what to do" she boasted, wilting under Astral's scorching glare and hurrying to add "but Transfiguration was different. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to get it." Even now, after all these years, frustration was clear in the mares voice.

"So, how did you do it?"

Starlight laughed a little awkwardly. "It's kind of embarrassing" she admitted, scuffing the ground like a schoolfilly. 

Astral's interest was peaked. "Ah, go on" she encouraged "it might help me."

"It really won't."

"You can't say that for sure."

Starlight's jaw worked uselessly before she let out a little muffled scream. Yeah, me too, Astral thought. Her mother muttered something under her breathe, but Astral couldn't properly hear it.

"What?"

"I was startled by a dog and turned into a cat, okay?!" She yelled suddenly, causing Astral to leap backwards, startled, only to burst out laughing.

"Yeah,yeah, laugh it up" her mom murmured, turning her eyes heaven wards,"I only did it because the first thing my mind jumped to was that I understood why cats hated dogs so much." She looked down sharply when Astral abruptly cut herself off. 

"Wait a minute" she said slowly, deep in thought. "You turned into a cat when your imagined being like a cat, and I almost turned into a bird when I imagined what flying was like" she slapped her head, suddenly so annoyed at herself. "Oh, I'm an idiot! I can only do the spell if I imagine being the change I want!"

Starlight's smile grew as she took a couple of steps backwards, gesturing towards Astral to give it a try.

Settling into a ready stance, her horn charged as the air became charged with her magic. She shut her eyes as she tried to imagine having wings, of flying into the sky without a problem. She cast the spell opened her eyes, twisting around to stare at her wings. Nothing.

Seeing her daughter's disappointment, Starlight spoke up. "Try again, and this time try to imagine more details" she encouraged. "And remember, you don't have Pegasi Magic, so you're going to have to have pretty large wings if you want to fly."

Taking a deep breath, Astral did just that.

More details, more details, more details . . .. 

She wondered what it must be like, having soft feathers brushing her sides as her wings folded against her barrel, what the wings might look like and how big they would have to be . . . .

She imagined running a hoof through silky feathers and opened her eyes.

Nestled against her back were a pair of wings.
> Loop 45
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After another loop of nonstop practicing, Astral had the Transformation spell down. She found that flying was especially hard when you didn't have Pegasi Magic, and so she had to furiously flap her wings until she achieved lift off. She was starting to get somewhere with the weather spell too, an actual cloud was starting to form!

She was sad to say that was the end of her progress though. All of the other spells either crashed and burned or just didn't work, and not even her mothers could help her.

"Sorry sweetie, but I am counting that as a fail" Twilight said as she ended the mind reading spell. They had been doing a simple supersize, where Twilight went into her mind while Astral tried to block the information she wanted, but her mom had just sliced through her defenses.

Astral let out a groan, leaning backwards slightly to give it a more dramatic effect.

"Why are you so determined to rush this?" Twilight asked curiously, and Astral paused a moment before answering.

"I want to duel the Princesses. If I'm going up against two full grown Alicorns at once, I want to have everything I can get." She had already learned how to maneouver herself around in her new armor, and she was getting along great in Krav Maga, so now it was just the magic that needed improvement.

She snapped out of her thoughts to realise that Twilight was staring at her blankly. Meeting her mom's gaze, she tilted her head slightly, and Twilight shook herself.

"If you are serious about duelling the Princesses, then you'll need a book on Battle Magic. Come on." She teleported the two to the library, and pulled a couple of books from the very top shelf, handing one over to Astral.

It was a thin book, looking more like one of those ones you read to children. Astral flipped it open and scanned down the list:

1. Missile
2. Inferno Blast
3. Concussive Blast

She looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Not a lot in here" she commented.

"No" Twilight allowed. "But that's because the spells that are in there are very dangerous. You're already pretty strong- magically and physically, these will just give you a boost."

"Thanks mom!"

"Astral." She looked up, eyebrow raised, but her mom shook her head and pulled her into a hug. "Nevermind."
> Loop 46
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sorry sweetie, there are no shortcuts on battle spells. You'll just have to go over them again" Twilight told her daughtr regretfully.

Astral stifled a groan. She had been going over her new spells, but they never seemed to work. Whenever she tried the Maggic Missiles, instead of small balls of energy curving into the target, her magic would just sputter out at the last moment. The Concussive and Inferno blast, on the other hand, had the opposite affect; she would often overshoot and seriously damage anything nearby.

On the bright side, my magic is pretty drained, so no aching- for now.

"I know mom, it's just . . . I only had these kinds of problems . . . before the loop. Up till the Advanced, I could usually get the spells down within a few weeks, but, with the exception of Transformation, I can't do any Advanced Spells!"

Twilight sighed, walking over to place a hoof on Astral's shoulder. "Sweetie, not all magic will come easy to you. Some spells you are going to struggle at, while you'll be better at others. But you can't give up just because you find it hard. You have to keep trying."

"I know, I know" Astral sighed, running a hoof through her mane and giving a weak smile. "Back to the drawing board?"

"Back to the drawing board"
> Loop 47
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord watched as the little filly ran by, giggling slightly maniacally.

He had sensed God Magic originating from Ponyville, and had hurried to get there, sure that one of the others had resurfaced after millennial.

It took him a bit, but he finally realized what was going on.

A time loop.

Starlight and Twilight's daughter was stuck in a time loop, had been for ages. He wondered how many times this exact situation had played out, with him sensing the magic and following the threads to the young mortal.

It was clear that Astral was playing an unwitting host, an unfortunate role if there ever was one.

Discord sighed.

I may need to have a little talk with Kronos.
> Loop 48
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tree of Harmony glowed overhead as Astral sat beneath it. 

She wasn't really sure why she had come here exactly, it's not like it cold help, she would know, she asked Discord about it.

"So your opposite is a tree?"

"I always thought of Harmonia as a stick in the mud, looks like she just had to go and prove me right" despite his words, the God looked sad at the thought of his lost friend.

"Is Harmonia . . . . "

"Conscious? Very. She needs to be, to pick the elements of Harmony and keep the Everfree at bay."

"Do you think she would be able to help me?" 

"No, like I told you, the only two who can undo these loops are Kronos and Ebony."

Still, she had never seen the magnificent tree that had chosen her mother all those years ago, and she had to admit, it was beautiful, glowing silver in the dark woods.

After a couple of seconds of silent staring, Astral rose to all fours and trotted back along the path she had come from. Her teleportation was good enough to teleport right back into town, but she very rarely explored the Everfree, so instead she had set up a tent deep in the forest.





11.58

Astral stood outside, just under the tree, once more. Before she finished this expirement, she wanted to see if anything happened when the loops reset.

The only sound in the forest was her watch ticking and an owl hooting. She couldn't even hear her breathing. But she kept her eyes focused on the tree above her.

12.00

The effect was almost immediate. The ground around the tree's roots began to glow a bright silver, causing Astral to screw up her eyes in an effort to adjust to it. 

Before she could see what was going on, however, she was enveloped in magic, and thrown backwards into a tree. 

Hitting it hard enough to break a rib, Astral's eyes shut completely in a wince.

When she opened them again, the loop had reset.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
> Loop 49
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral leaped, twisting out of the way of the beasts claws as she sent out an Inferno Blast, one of the new battle spells she had learned. Screeching, the Manticore spun in a circle, trying to put the fire out. 

With it out of the way, Astral teleported behind two timberwolves and telekentically threw them into the trees, where the evaporated into splinters. As this happened, she summoned Aegis and with a loud crack sent it through the Chimera's heads. Though it was behind her, she could hear the sound of it falling to the ground, and she had to smile.

What a way to work off some of this frustration.

After trying to go to the Tree of Harmony and failing, Astral had found her magic spiking once more. The pain now extended to headaches that made the edges of her vision blur and her stomach turn.

She needed to find some way of getting some of the power out, and this seemed like the most reasonable. The battle spells were fairly easy actually, much easier than the Advanced Spells, and they used up a lot of magical energy.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she jumped, growing wings midair to give her more lift as she leaped over a cockatrice, landing on a flat shield she had placed midair and severing it's neck like a chicken.

Finally she stood, alone, in that area of the forest, a feral grin on her face. She had done it! She had taken on creatures most ponies blanch at, and won!

With a little more practice, she was sure she would be ready to take down the Princesses!
> Loop 50
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huh" Astral mummured disbelievingly. "Didn't see that one coming."

The 'that one' in question was, in fact, a sphinx. A baby sphinx.

Just . . . laying in the middle of the Everfree, glaring up at Astral like she had just woken it up from a nap.

"Huh" Astral repeated, bending low to examine it.

She had heard of Sphinxs before, when Rainbow and Pinkie told her about Somnambula and the Sphinx she had faced. In the legend, the Sphinx was giant and purple, with strange markings under her eyes and a crown on her head.

According to Discord, those markings meant that that Sphinx had actually been blessed by Ray, the God of Light. "Maybe Ray-Bae wanted her to protect something" he had shrugged carelessly, "a Sphinx's job is to guard treasures after all, and sice they are immortal, they're basically the best bodyguards you can get. I prefer to go the personal route, turn someone into a bannana, make them hear the Nyan Cat song on loop, you know, drive them crazy."

But even the myths agreed that Sphinxs were powerful, perceptive creatures that should not be trifled with.

This Spinx did not look like an immortal, powerful being. It actually looked kind of pathetic. It's silvery blue hair hung in curls around it's face, while it's pale grey coat looked thin and raggedy. The only sign of some sort of intelligence was it's pale yellow eyes, which stared up at Astral, curious.

Where was this things mother? Astral looked around, but there seemed to be no sign of it anywhere. Actually, it looked like she hadn't been here in a long time, the baby Sphinx looked terrible, all things considered. No mother would allow their child to look like that.

Still, it's not any of my business, she reminded herself, starting to back away. Gods know how this thing got here, but I can't do anything anyways. She slowed down slightly, but shook herself, and purposefully turned her back on the creature. It's best to let mother nature do her thing. It would only hurt it in the long run if I tried to keep it alive.

Overhead, she heard the very familiar sound of vultures.

"Oh fuck no!" She said, spinning around just in time to blast one of the annoying creatures out of the sky. Surprised, the Sphinx let out a squeak as it pushed itself as far back as it could go.

Astral bent down to it's level, and carefully picked it up by the scruff.

I slaughtered five creatures last loop. This is just . . . making up for it.





Kids were the absolute worst.

Astral wasn't sure how her parents survived it, she had just set down the beast for two seconds, and it was already stumbling towards the river, little paws unsteady. 

And when Astral had saved it's life, it just mewled, and batted said little paws against the Unicorn's chest. 

Did she happen to mention that said little paws have some not so little claws?

The beast let out a little high pitched squeal that actually hurt Astral's ears and made her want to teleport the thing as far away from her as possible.

Oh wow, would you look at that? Her headache had returned! Rejoice!

"I- is it- do you eat fish?" Astral asked, finally realizing what the brat was whinging about. "You're hungry! Right, right. Okay, well wait here and-"

Except that it decided that even though it was hungry, it also didn't want her to leave, so it let out the most ear piercing shriek that Astral had ever heard, and she had heard some shrieks in her life.

She stared down blankly at the tantrum child, before muttering "okay kid, it seems we're at an impasse."

The beast smiled.





Let it not be said that I didn't know how to multitask, she thought, smug as she watched the brat nibble on some fish. Thank Gods for magic. Had she not have been able to levitate a fish out of the water and snap it's neck, then there was no way the brat would be getting fed tonight.

Speaking of which, now that the brat was apparently full, it had decided to focus all it's attention on Astral's unicorn tail. She supposed it did look a bit like Sphinx tails, being long and thin with fluff at the tip, but it shouldn't be that fascinating.

Still, a petty part of her did admit to feeling incredibly amused by swiping her tail out of the way of the brats oncoming paws. Again, she had to wonder what a Sphinx, a creature native to hot, desert areas, was doing in a lush green forest without parents.

It occurred to her that maybe the brat was wondering the same thing about her.






The brat was a girl, which, of course she was.

Astral wondered how her mom would react when she saw her. Twilight had always been fascinated by Sphinxs and their close relationships to the Gods. "Some even say they can sense them!" She had told her daughter.

Most Sphinxes that had a special relationships with Gods seemed to have markings on them. The brat did not have any. The only change to her coat was the lighter grey muzzle and stomach and the blue wings.

Her mood, on the other hand, changed all the time. She went from somewhat complacent to downright unruly halfway back to Ponyville. 

Astral knew you were not supposed to teleport newborns, but she was severely tempted when the brat kept chewing on her ears with a needle sharp teeth.

Once more she swung her head around to glare at the creature, only for the creature to-to dribble.

"Have mercy on me, please."





She was suddenly, consciously aware, of the fact that this was the last day of the loop.

Her last day with the brat.

She rolled a papaya fruit out to her, and watched as she tried to attack it, only to fail and roll onto her back and stare up at the moon that was almost directly overhead.

Astral shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, the brat was gone.

Inexplicably, her eyes started to fill with tears. 

The stupid, stupid kid.

Astral started to cry.
> Loop 51
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the loop ended, her magic grew once more. But for once, Astral did not want to try and use her newfound power boost to see if she could finally do an advanced spell.

Instead she lay, curled up in blankets, while her mother read her a bedtime story.

She had missed this, she realized. Just being a kid again.

The story was one of the old ones from when she was a baby, about a young mare, a hybrid, who traveled through time and space, helping whoever she came across.

It was one of the oldest fairytales ever told, and even now, throughout everything that happened, Astral loved to hear it.

 . . and everypony who saw the strange pony would be filled with such joy! Such hope! Just as the young mare dreamed it would.

Soothed by her mom's voice, Astral fell asleep.
> Loop 52
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pony had been watching her for several minutes now.

Astral had been to Sugarcube Corner enough times to know exactly who sat where on each day.

And this mare had never been here before.

Sure, it could be butterfly effect, maybe Astral had done something this morning that made this mare come to this cafe, but she had been staring at Astral since she had first entered.

Astral had never seen this mare before.

She had a golden brown coat and amber eyes and a two toned redish pink mane. She didn't look much older than Astral, and her cutie mark was completely hidden from Astral.

And she wouldn't stop staring.

Eventually, Astral got up, though she wasn't sure whether to leave or to confront this stranger. Before she could decide, the stranger got up and walked past her, slowing down just as she passed in time to say, so quietly that Astral had to strain to hear "giving you magic means she's loosing her own" and trotting out the door.

Giving you magic means she's loosing her own.

"Wait!" Astral yelled, ignoring the stares and teleporting outside to find the streets devoid of any ponies.

But that's impossible, not even Earth Ponies can run that fast.

Sudden movement, a mouth beside her ear, and a whispered voice telling her "chin up Astral, you get through this." Jerking her head around, all she saw was a brick wall, and nothing else. 

Which was odd, since she was sure she had seen something blue right beside her.

But she did see something, all right. The mares cutie mark.

A clock with an arrow going over it.
> Loop 53
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral tore through the entire town, but so far nopony seemed to know who the brown Earth Pony was, and, eventually, she had to admit defeat.

She sighed as she stared out the window of the train heading to the Crystal Empire. She had, in boredom, decided to travel there, as she hadn't in a while, but to be honest Canterlot and the Crystal Empire were starting to become rather dull. She wanted to travel to newer, better places!

She had actually tried to do so, only to get stopped at one of the train stations because one of the workers realized she was the missing princess, and she had been grounded for the loop.

Oh well. She would just have to find a way around that.
> Loop 54
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral threw herself at the nearest spellbook, tearing through the pages for the spell. She didn't have the Transformation spell memorized, so she would have to keep the book on hand. 

Turning her front hooves into claws and giving herself another horn, she sighed as she sank back on her bed, the headaches now gone. Her magic was getting to the point where even Advanced Spells weren't doing that much to get rid of her magical overload.

She was still getting nowhere with Mind Magic, but her Weather Control had vastly improved, as she could now fill her entire room up with clouds. She wondered if at some point she would be able to make it rain at some point.

I miss the rain.

Astral cringed, closing her eyes as she laid in bed, before sitting up abruptly.

No point in reminiscing, she told herself. That gets us nowhere.

She threw herself off, determined to do something productive today.





As she trotted through town, Astral heard some very angry voices rise from just isnide a store. Ducking in, she was surprsed to find Bilingual in an argument with another stallion in Germane.

"Well maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass and stopped being a communist fuckstick, we wouldn't be having this conversation!" The other stallion roared in Germane, before stomping past Astral and outside.

"Mr Bilingual? What was that about?" Astral asked, squinting after the other stallion.

Bilingual sighed and ran a hoof down his face. "Nothing dearie. A lot of ponies still think that other, non ponies shouldn't be seen as our equals. That's all."

"Ah" Astral said, nodding, before galloping out of the shop.





"Astral?" Starlight asked, shoving through the small crowd that had formed around her daughter and a stallion she recognized as Perfect Grammar. "What's going on?"

Because it looked like her daughter was in the middle of a screaming match with Grammar. In Germane.

"Krabbeln Sie in den Arsch und sterben Sie rassistisch- oh hallo mutter" Astral said, noticing her mom standing there, mouth agape.

"Äh, Astral, geht es deiner Mutter gut?" Bilingual, who had up till this point had his face buried firmly in his hooves, looked up to glance between the frozen adult and child.

"Oh ja, sie wusste einfach nicht, dass ich Germane kannte" Astral said over her shoulder, before turning back to her mom. 
"Entschuldigung Mama- I mean, sorry mom, I should of have told you about this before." Nodding at Bilingual and glaring at Grammar, she walked past her mom in the direction of their castle.
> Loop 55
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the help of her notes, Astral Plane was able to get Celestia herself to agree to teach her Mind Magic. She settled into the cushions as she entered Celestia's special room. It's about time, she thought. She thought she had the right to be impatient. 

Celestia was just pouring herself a cup of tea when she she walked in. "Ah, Astral. Thank you for coming" the Alicorn said cheerfully. Astral blinked a little at the use of her first name, but smiled back at the Demigod. 

"Thank you for not shipping me off to an asylum."

That got a laugh from Celestia as she set her cup down. "If you think that's crazy, you should hear some of the things that come out of my advisers mouths. Now, you say you've been having trouble with Mind Magic? Which part?"

"All of it. I can only kind of block my thoughts, but even then it's weak. Anything other than that I am a complete and utter flop in."

Celestia tilted her head, as if considering this. "Okay" she said after a while. "I'm going to be completely honest with you here, mastering Mind Magic takes as much skill as it does hard work. I can teach you a lot, but that only goes so far if you're not the right type for it."

Astral narrowed her eyes at that. "Type? What does that mean?"

"Ponies who master Mind Magic have to be both sturdy enough in mind to withstand a brute force attack into the mind, and be flexible enough to adapt to any and all changes. As you can probably guess, creatures like that are very hard to find."

"However" Celestia said, seeing Astral's downtrodden expression. "That doesn't mean I can't teach you the basics, if you're up to it, of course."

"Of course!" Astral braced her shoulders and lifted her head determinedly. She was doing this, one way or another. "Oh, wait, hold on, Princess" she held up a hoof when Celestia's horn began to glow. "If you are going into my mind, you won't tell my parents anything, will you?"

"It is considered a very serious breach of ethics and standards to reveal any information found in somepony elses brain" was all Celestia said before she opened the door into Astral's mind and stepped inside.

Astral felt briefly dizzy, before she was taken back into her memories, of her childhood, of the first time she met her friends, which, of course, led her to the day she watched her friends die. Both she and Celestia flinched back at that one, but Astral was already trying to frantically redirect to another memory like the book told her to do.

Thump!

The two of them snapped out of her memories, and looked down. Astral had kicked out at the nearby coffee table, turning it over and spilling the cup of tea on it. "Very good Astral" Celestia praised. "Distracting the pony from casting the spell is indeed one way to stop Mind Magic." 

Yup, because that was what I planned. 

Before she could recollect, Celestia's horn glowed again, and they went back in.

This time, caught unprepared, Astral was thrown into the river of memories, being pulled back and forth between good and bad moments before righting herself once more. She tried to focus on one specific memory, of Eclipse teaching her Bladecasting under that tree. She wasn't able to hold it for long, however, before Celestia drew attention to another memory, and she was dragged along for the ride.

This time when she came out, she was breathless and panting. Celestia, meanwhile, didn't even look winded, which was mildly offensive. "You have to try and think of another memory when I try and draw you to a specific one she warned, and Astral nodded.

"Okay. Again."
> Loop 56
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were two ponies arguing in the street. 

It was clear they were arguing, from the snarls and death glares, but they talked in low voices so nopony could hear what they were saying.

Except Astral had seen one of those ponies before and stepped nearer.

One of the ponies was a tall, slender unicorn, almost Celestia's height. She had a mane very similiar to mom's and had the very long, slender tail and markings of a purebreed. She towered over the smaller pony and wore a blank expression on her face.

It was the smaller pony who has doing the snarling and death glares. She was small, a Earth Pony with the traditional hairy coat painted a light brown. Her mane was curly, two shades of redish pink. 

She was the mare from Sugar Cube Corner.

Quietly, Astral walked closer to the two, trying to hear what they were saying.

"You can't keep doing this!"

"-to be done."

"-really doesn't."

"-are me. This needs-"

"-doesn't know what's happening."

"-plan"

Astral had heard enough. At least, she think she did. 

She turned around, and got ready to march over there and demand some answers from the white mare and the strange Earth Pony. But she had only taken two steps before the two blurred and vanished.

Gone. No longer there.

She stood there, stock still for a moment, hoof still raised, before looking around. "What. The. Hell."
> Loop 57
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A picnic?" Astral repeated incredulously. Eclipse nodded, an almost . .  remorseful look on her face.

"Yeah, it's really boring at Canterlot right now" he said, lightly scratching the ground with his front paws. "and there's this nice spot by the ocean that I know, but I don't want to go alone so-"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah," Astral said as she levitated her saddlebags off her body. "let's do this. Give me a second to get ready?" 

The look he gave her was like Astral herself had hung his mom's moon in the sky.





"You have got to be kidding" Astral said, breath misting in the air as she shivered. She was wearing her scarf, but it was doing absolutely nothing to relieve the icy cold landscape.

They were near the ocean alright, but Eclipse forgot to mention that it was a frozen tundra of a landscape. Or maybe he just didn't think of it, since he couldn't feel the cold. That didn't mean he wasn't worthy of a death glare though.

But he wasn't bothered by that. "Come on!" He said, pulling her along. "You have got to see this!" He started bounding through the fluffy snow and slippery ice easily, while Astral trudged behind, her short legs and thin coat meaning she was becoming soaking wet.

"Where are we going?" She asked as Eclipse came to a stop at the edge of the cliffs towering above the water far, far below. And then he walked straight off it.

"Lip!" She screamed, hind legs exploding out beneath her as she streaked to the edge. She skidded to a stop, front hooves almost going over the edge in her haste to find her oldest friend.

Oh, you absolute idiot. You better of have teleported away, I swear to Gods.

"What are you yelling about?" 

Eclipse stood nonchalantly on his hind legs on a chiseled out ledge a few feet below her, with his front paws on the vertical wall that was the cliff and smirking slightly. Astral wanted to slap it off of his face, and had to take a deep breath, closing her eyes for a minute to stop herself from punching him.

When she opened them again, she could see that the ledge Eclipse was standing on was not a ledge, but a staircase of sorts, worn away by the ocean, but carefully chiseled for creatures to walk down to a small sliver of land below. It was easy for her to scramble down beside him.

And deliver a punch straight into his chest.

"Whoa!" Eclipse yelped, the breathe knocked out of him as his paws massaged the place where Astral had hit him. "What was that for?"

"Don't ever do that again, you absolute idiot!"

Eclipse suddenly realized that she was shaking slightly, and that maybe stepping off a cliff in front of your best friend was not the best way to go. "Not funny?" He asked, in a sheepish apology.

"Not funny. At all. You idiot."

Which, for them, meant 'you're forgiven, but feelings are gross' so Eclipse brightened up and once more beckoned her on, gesturing down the staircase.

"C'mon, just a hop, skip and a jump."

"I dread the day you and Pinkie team up" Astral deadpanned as they carefully made their way down the steps. Astral didn't really mind the idea of falling off, since both she and Eclipse could fly and teleport away if it need be, but it was kind of nerve wracking when their hooves slipped on the slick ice covering the stones.

Twenty minutes later, the two stood at the bottom of the cliffs, a small sliver of a stone beach that hadn't been taken by the ocean. The sea stretched on until the horizon, a grey-green color with white flecks dancing in it. Astral never really saw the sea that much, so she was always impressed with how it looked.

Eclipse led her to a small mound of rocks that gave them a slightly higher view of the place, and Eclipse put down the picnic basket he had brought with them, taking out a batch of brownies. Enthused, Astral immediately scoffed down three as Eclipse watched incredulously. 

"How are you so skinny?" He asked incredulously, and Astral hit him halfheartedly with her tail and offered him some hot chocolate with marshmallows.

He took a sip, and his muzzle crinkled slightly as his eyes narrowed. "Sickening. Disgusting. Not right for royalty" he smiled suddenly, all sharp teeth. "More please."

That got a laugh out of Astral but Eclipse shushed her with a paw. "Look, look!" He said, pointing up at the sky. Astral followed his paw to the strange sight of the moon rising in the middle of the day. It seemed huge, much bigger than usual, silver and ethereal. It bathed the cliffs in silver light and was so bright that Astral had to screw up her eyes for a moment.

Astral gazed up in wonder. "It's . . . it's .."

Eclipse looked at her from the corner of his eyes as he casually took another sip of hot chocolate. "Not bad, eh?" He asked, before shrugging. "Though, when your mom is the Demigoddess of the Moon, a lot of moon rises start to look the same."

She gaped at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" At his little nod, a scowl formed. "Why do you do that? Why do you have to spoil-"

"Look at the sea." Eclipse interrupted. "Look at the sea."

Turning her head, Astral's impending sulk was immediately aborted.

The moon was reflected in the water, but instead of just being silvery white, the water was painted a swirling blue, silver and green. The flecks of white that had been previously dancing in the sea now seemed to be circling each other in ripples. When the waves crashed up against the cliffs, the foam was rainbow, reflected light through water.

Stunned, Astral turned to look at Eclipse out of the corner of her eyes, and her breath caught at the look of rapture on his face. His silver fur was white in the glare of the moon and his eyes seemed more like galaxies now.

Astral remembered a very long time ago, Eclipse and Anarchy telling her they were tied to water and stars respectively. He loved water.

His eyes weren't like galaxies, she realized. They were galaxies. He had actual stars in his eyes. Huh. Didn't know he could do that.

Leaning over slightly, she laid her head down on his shoulder, waiting for him to move away, but he never did.

So they stayed, drenched in the moonlight and were content
> Loop 58
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ooh, this, this was a mistake."

Astral saw no need to deny the very obvious truth before her: she was awful at art.

Her therapist had recommended that Astral try something new, something calming, and in other circumstances, she would of have been a bit busy practicing for her upcoming fight against Luna and Celestia. But she had since mastered the Missile Spell, as well as the Concussive and Inferno Blast, and was keeping up with her hoof to hoof.

So she decided to give art a try.

This was a very obvious mistake. Her bowl of fruit looked more like a rock.

"I don't even understand this. I only used bright colors, why did it turn out grey?" She muttered to herself, scrutinizing the portrait carefully for hidden clues. When she couldn't find any, she just sighed and asked for a new canvas, trying not to wince at the brief look of horror that crossed the instructors face.
> 59 Pt 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia was awoken from her slumber by a very loud knock at her door. Groaning, she stumbled in it's direction as she opened it with her magic to see her former pupils daughter standing there.

"Astral Plane!" She said, shocked, hurrying to tower over the small unicorn. "What are you doing here?"

Very carefully, Astral undid her scarf and dropped it at Celestia's hooves. "Princess Celestia, I formally challenge you and your sister, Princess Luna, to a duel."

It wasn't often that the noble diarch of the sun was gobsmacked. But this was one of those rare occasions that she couldn't even move, instead making a strange wheezing sound.

Astral raised an eyebrow, before turning around in the general vicinity of the kitchen. "I'm just, uh, gonna get some juice" she said awkwardly as she trotted away. "I hope, you're, uh, feeling better when I get back."





Two hours later, when all participants were fully awake and had completed any and all biological functions were met, Celestia, now in armor, shot a look at Luna, who gave her a similar one back, all confusion and partial amusement.

It had been a while since she had been in armor, she mused, staring down at her legs. Like all ponies, hers was based off the Armor of the Gods, and was a gold that could withstand her incredible heat. 

Luna's was a bright silver that wouldn't frost over when she went all out. Luna was naturally more athletic than Celestia, with stronger Pegasi and Earth Pony Magic, and her war spells were more finely tuned. 

But Celestia was better at the other types of Unicorn Magic, which just so happened to include Mind Magic.

What do you think she's planning? Confusion, intrigue

I'm not sure Bewilderment

Well maybe she's trying to. . . .

Luna trailed off as she saw Astral Plane step into the arena, decked out in proper armor. Celestia herself blinked at the strange design, but her eyes eventually went to the blade floating beside Astral, glowing a light blueish purple.

She actually knows Bladecasting Pleasant surprise

But she can't seriously think she can take us both at once, in a match where magics allowed Disbelief

Apparently she does Doubt





Ignoring their silent but obvious conversation, and the spectators watching from the side, Astral instead carefully chose her spot between the two Alicorns a ways away.

She knew not to show her Shards. She had spent several loops making new Shards, until she was semi satisfied. The Alicorn sisters still had more than her, at twenty five Shards, while she only had twenty four.

Oh well, she would have to work with what she got; a ton of spells and years of training for this very moment.

So Astral crouched low and got ready to run. Luna and Celestia would be faster than her, stronger than her, and have access to magic she just didn't have, so she would have to be moving the second that bell rang.





It looks like she's going to rush us Annoyance That's a dumb tactic

Unless she's planning to dodge when the bell rings, that's not a bad one

RING!

Immediately, Luna sent fifteen of her Shards blitzing towards the Unicorn. Astral, who, as predicted, had taken off the second the bell rang, got maybe two steps before the Shards were inches away from her.

For a second, Celestia felt a spike of anxiety. What if she got hurt? 

In some dueling matches, the opponent may not show you their Shards immediately. The counter to that, of course, was to force them to show you their Shards by making them break up their Blade.

Instead, Astral's horn glowed, and, with a muffled boom, the Shards went flying out of the air. 

The Concussive Spell. Huh. She knows the-

Celestia swung her blade, Lux, towards Astral, who scrambled under it, and placed her front hooves on Celestia's back, using her as a gymnastics horse to hop over.

The two Alicorns, shocked, turned to face the little Unicorn, who was standing on the sandy surface waiting for them, blade drawn and a scowl settled on her face. Murmurs and whispers ping ponged across the spectators gallery, and Celestia could clearly hear Starlight and Twilight, who had raced down here when they heard the news, along with their friends, wondering who taught Astral Bladecasting.

Who indeed?

But the message from Astral's little stunt was clear: Don't underestimate me.

Celestia shared a glance with Luna as they both smiled and readied their Blades.

Finally, a challenge. 

Now this, this would be fun.
> Loop 59 Pt 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna moved fast, faster even than Rainbow Dash, and had Astral not been prepared she probably would of have broken something. As it was, she managed to clumsily dodge the attack, hooves slipping on the sand even her blade shot up to block Celestia's.

A faint twang was the only warning Astral got for Luna's blade Lumen, which came up from behind. She managed to hastily constrict a shield from behind, and Lumen shattered into Shards. Following her example, Astral split Aegis up into twenty four Shards, and the two Alicorns visibly blanched at all of the Shards.

Capitalizing on their shock, Astral sent half her Shards to Celestia, and half to Luna, knocking their Blade and Shards out of the sky respectively as she closed the distance on the closest- Luna. She pushed off her back hooves and twisted, putting all her weight behind a standard flying kick.

Luna brushed her off like she was a fly, and Astral had to teleport to avoid a blow from Celestia.

She came out of the teleport, spinning on one back hoof until she once again faced the two immortals on her hind legs. Her face was pulled back in a grimace as she remade Aegis, keeping it by her side.

Celestia broke up Lux and infused the Shards with Pegasi Magic, sending them moving much faster than the mortal eye could process at Astral, only for them to hit off of the shield that Astral had placed between them.

The Unicorn was visibly strained from the bombardment of Alicorn level Shards hitting her impulsively made shield; sweat dripped down her brow even as her horn took on a second aura and she cast the Inferno Blast.

Immediately, flames exploded out, turning the sand to glass beneath their hooves as it blazed pure white. When the flames retreated, Luna had withdrawn, while Celestia was unmoved by the heat, which Astral had suspected, her being the Alicorn of the Sun and all.

It wasn't a very well cast spell, since she had to teleport while casting the concussive blast, but the power behind it made it shatter the glass that made up the floor as Astral vanished and reappeared, using a shield to hover over the broken shards of glass.

Alicorns were, by their nature, incredibly sturdy and hard to hurt, so the broken glass wouldn't do much, except for maybe a couple of small cuts. Still, it was better than nothing. Speaking of which . . . .

The missile spell was harder than the other spells, because it curved when you cast it, meaning it was easy to miss your target. Sure enough, two of her missiles completely missed Celestia while one of them managed to hit the ground under her, sending her stumbling backwards.

Aegis broke and knocked twenty four of Celestia's Shards out of the sky, spinning out of the way of Lumen and dodging Luna's punch that instead hit Celestia in the chest, causing her to almost fall from the power behind it. 

Now would be the best time to take care of Celestia, since she was temporarily down, but Luna had broken up Lumen once more into twenty five Shards. Twenty four Shards bent backwards to hit them out of the sky, but one still managed to get through her defenses.

Time slowed down, panic set in and think, think, thinkthinkthinkthinkthink-

Her back was to Luna and her Shards, instead facing Celestia, so she couldn't properly see it. If she put up a shield, Celestia would recover. What about- no same problem with dodging. 

Astral acted on instinct, horn glowing as she spun around. Exactly three things happened: as she spun, she rose up onto her hind legs in what may of have been the most incredible performance of her parkour and gymnastics training yet. But even as that was happening, the air around her shimmered and glowed as she formed another Shard on the spot.

The third thing that happened was that she used her momentum to punch Luna in the nose as she swung her Shard into her face.

Letting out a grunt, Luna stumbled back, gripping her muzzle, which, like most muzzles, was actually very easy to break. While that happened, Astral charged up a concussive blast, this time putting all her power behind it, like she had that one loop where she had fallen sick from not using her magic.

The onlookers would of have been showered in tiny fragments of glass had the blast not completely shattered any and all splinters of glass into nothing more than particles.

Even Luna and Celestia, all powerful Alicorns, were thrown backwards from the sheer power of the blast. They tried to flap their wings, but dust and ash from the inferno blast was dancing in the air, obstructing their vision, giving no indication which way they should go.

There was silence as Luna and Celestia went outside of bounds while the little Unicorn was still inside. No whispers, or gasps, or shocked exclamations. Dead silence. When Astral glanced at them, she could see the shocked looks on their faces, unable to fully comprehend what just happened.

Astral turned around and left the arena, not bothering to look back.

Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel

> Loop 60
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Royal Bank of Equestria was one of the oldest in the world, older than the Royal Sisters, being around since Princess Platinum was still alive. It was also the most popular, with it’s state of the art security, highly trained guards and efficient staff. 

And yet, even the serious tellers and the well accustomed guard did a double take at the sound of a song that was very familiar to any young ponies in the bank. 

“What song is that? 

“What?” A plump Pegasus googled at the pony next to her. “Haven’t you heard of A Catlike Tread? From Ponies of the Caribbean?” 

“No .  .” 

The sound got closer, going from a distant melody to a very audible chorus 

With Cat-Like Tread 
Upon our prey we steal 
In silence dread 
Our cautious way we feel 
No sound at all 
We never speak a word 
A fly's foot-fall 
Would be distinctly heard 

At those words, one of the tellers, a stallion working there for three years, shuffled back, ears flopping anxiously as a little Unicorn pushed in the doorway. 

Astral Plane smiled at the staring ponies and opened her mouth to continue the song from one of her all time favorite movies as she walked up to the tellers booth. 

So stealthily the pirate creeps 
While all the household soundly sleeps 
Come friends, who plough the sea 
Truce to navigation 
Take another station 
Let's vary piracy 
With a little burglary 

Sadly, she didn’t have enough time to finish the song, as by then she had reached the tellers booth. Leaning up on her hind legs so she could place her front hooves on the desk, she smiled her most charming smile, which seemed to relax the teller a good bit. 

“Hello, are you looking for someone?” 

“More something, actually,” Astral said, undoing her saddlebags latches and pointing inside of them. “Money, jewels, in here, now.” She said in her most pleasant voice possible. 

At this, several ponies exchanged a look, unsure as to what to do. Bank robbers were uncommon in Equestria and even the ones that did, didn’t look like a teenage filly. 

As if sensing their apprehension, Astral drew a sharp breath between her teeth and turned her head to the door leading towards the vault. It was heavily guarded with magic, cross checked and rechecked, and you needed to be both magically gifted and intelligent to even have a snowball’s chance in hell to open them. 

Astral’s magic was still weak from fighting Luna and Celestia, but still, she had fought Luna and Celestia. No magic door known to ponykind was going to hold a candle against that.  

So, with a quick flick of her horn, Astral unraveled the vault’s defenses like a cat with a ball of wool.  

At this, the guards, who had been more baffled than anything, immediately raised their Shards, taking a step forward. One tried to grab Astral in a telekinetic hold, only for Astral to break the hold just as easily as the vault. 

She sidestepped a Pegasus with a somersault, landing on her hooves as she casually brushed the bangs from her eyes, summoning Aegis without thought. Splintering her blade, she used them to knock most of the Shards out of the sky, using her still kind of weak concussive blast to finish them off. 

The tellers looked shocked as civilians began to scream, all frozen by the sight of the guards, all lying on the ground, unconscious. Astral gave a little wink and a wave, then vanished into the vault. 





Astral knew that Celestia and Luna would be called right away, but she didn’t think they would actually get here this fast. “Damn” she muttered to herself as she raced down the halls, hooves slipping on the shiny metallic surface. “That’s impressive.” 

Astral’s magic was weak, but even so, she reached out, all the way back home, pushing her magical boundaries to the point of a migraine, and threw herself through space. 

She ended up just past the Ponyville border, which was actually quite impressive, all things considered. Not that she had time to consider that.  Luna and Celestia would undoubtedly track her teleport back to here, which meant she had to get distance. 

Using the last of her magic reserves to go invisible, Astral ran. 

Years of physical activities had given her stronger legs, which quickly ate up the ground beneath her.  

But not quickly enough. 

She heard the pop and turned back to see Luna and Celestia, in full armor, appear a ways away. Her spell spluttered and died, and even though she was too far away to see clearly, Luna could make out the shape taking off in the opposite direction. Without any other words, the sisters took off after her. 

If Astral had been fast before, there were no words for her current speed. Her strides lengthened beneath her, hair being blown back as her cheeks mildly stung from the branches she kept running into. 

Luna and Celestia, were, of course, faster than her, being Alicorns and all.

But she knew what the DemiGods did not; there was a river ahead. 

She did not attempt to jump the river, knowing the gap was far too wide. Instead she jumped in, the ice cold water shocking her senses for a moment before she was buffeted from all sides, thrown head over hooves and forgot which way was up. 

Astral relaxed slightly, and felt the current start to carry her rather than push her along through hell. Flipping around, she saw light overhead, and swam towards it, coming up through the water gagging and retching from the foul tasting liquid. 

The current was so strong, and so fast, that she had been pulled along all the way into Ponyville. She staggered up onto the riverbed, and took off down the street, wary of the idea of Luna and Celestia following her. 

She got several odd or sympathetic looks as she tore down the street, looking like a drowned rat, but it was only when she started to shiver in the dusk that somepony did something about it. 

“Here ya go, sweetheart” it was an elderly mare, sitting on the side of the road on a cardboard box and a blanket, the latter of which she was offering to Astral. 

“T-thank you.” Astral accepted the blanket gratefully, teeth chattering slightly. 

“Why are you all wet, dear?” 

“Oh, you know, tried to wrestle a fish.” 

The mare let out a short bark, before frowning at her slightly. “You’re Princess Twilight’s daughter, aintcha?” She asked, before shaking her head. “Princess Twilight’s always been so kind to me. She and her friends always have some bits to spare an old mare.” 

“You aren’t that old. You’re younger than Granny Smith, that’s for sure.” 

“Thank you?” 

“Don’t mention it, and don’t tell her I said that.” 

The two laughed again before Astral got up and gave her back her blanket, as well as a velvet bag. “Here you go, miss” she said, waving as she turned the corner and vanished. 

The old mare stared after her for a moment, before opening the little velvet bag, and staring at the giant emerald that fell into her hoof.
> Loop 61
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had never really occurred Astral to ask this, but in hindsight, it seemed pretty important. 

“Why do you look like that?” 

She waited for Discord’s offended noises to die down before repeating her question again. She never really considered how odd Discord looked until she was reviewing her book on the Gods to see them in pony form. 

She had also dug far back, and had yet to find any records of a ‘draconequus’ before Discord. Which meant that there was either a massive cover up going on or that the dranequi race was never real to begin with. 

Discord wrapped his long tail around her body, and, with a flick, sent her flying into the air. Except suddenly the sky was the ground and the ground was the sky, so she just landed on her head, her horn sticking into the mud. 

“DISCORD!” 

“Sorry Lu-lu!” Discord called to his angry wife, and, snapping a talon, reverted everything back to their normal, boring condition, the only difference being Astral’s very muddy horn. 

Then he turned to her, all fake smiles and giant, watery eyes. “To answer you question dearest” he said, turning everything but his head into a pony body and sitting behind a desk. “I need to have this form to limit my power?” 

“What? Why would you want to limit your power? And what would that body do?” 

“A-Ha! Always asking the right questions, gold star for you!” 

“ . . .This is an apple- but not the point. The point is-why?” 

Discord tilted his head 360 trying to think of the right analogy to get it across to his attentive student, before just shrugging and saying “okay, so the more complicated the form, the more power is used up in the background trying to keep the form up, right?” 

“Right, okay, I can get that” Astral agreed, chewing on a pencil that had appeared in her hoof. “But why would you need a power limiter?” 

The way discord stared at her made her think she was the crazy one. “Are you kidding? I assume you know what a Magic Overload is, right?” 

Astral winced at the reminder “oh, I know it. Experienced it too.” 

“Yes, well, imagine what would happen to the world if that happened to Gods.” 

The very thought made Astral actually shiver as she imagined the sheer amount of destruction that would cause. Before she could say anything, however, Discord pushed on. 

“Some Gods in mortal form have runes drawn into their skin, which they cover up with fur or feathers. Others split themselves between the three pony forms.” 

“Wait, wait, wait” Astral’s ears perked up, as did she, intruiged. “Split themselves?” 

The God looked surprised. “You didn’t know? Gods have been splitting themselves for milleania. They fragment themselves, and each fragment goes to something different. Like, I’m here but I’m also inside every single creature.” 

“Ponies have chaos magic?” 
 

“Everyone has chaos magic, Astral, you can’t have harmony without conflict.” 

Astral paused for a second, trying to think, before asking “wait, wait, then why can’t we use Chaos Magic?” 

“Because all creatures have an equal amount of chaos and harmony magic. But it’s easier to use harmony. Ponies who have tried to use chaos magic, like Lu-Lu, Sunset, Stygian, all of them eventually stopped using chaos magic and started doing dark magic” he shrugged, looking unbothered “dark and chaos kind of go paw in talon.” 

Then his muzzle crinkled slightly in thought. “Though, Pinkie Pie seems to have an excess of chaos magic in her system. How, I’m not exactly sure, but she does.” 

Astral blinked. “That’s why she doesn’t have Earth Pony Magic?” 

“Yup.” 

“Huh. And you didn’t tell my mom because?” 

He flashed her a devious smile, all sharp teeth and humor. “I wanna see how long it’ll take her to figure out” he admitted and Astral laughed. 

“Fair enough.” 

There was a brief lull in the conversation, where Astral had to try and pick up the nerve to say “so, about Ebony.” 

Immediately, the atmosphere in the garden dropped ten degrees. “What about her?” Discord asked, faux casual. 

“Is it possible she’s got out? Or that one of her splintered parts is running about.” 

“No” Discord shook his head empethically. “You don’t understand. If Ebony was nearby, I would be able to sense the dark magic. You remember how I said darkness and chaos seem to go paw in talon? I can sense her, just like I can sense Harmony.” 

“But if she was using one of the other Gods magic-” 

“- I would still be able to sense her because, she’s, you know, literal darkness. I can’t sense Ray, or Aethar or Kronos, but I can sense Ebony and Harmonia from a good few miles” 

Discord tilted his head to down at the girl. “Astral, I’m sorry” he said “but Ebony isn’t the one doing this to you.”
> Loop 62
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral Plane stepped off the train and breathed in deeply, smiling at the smell of apple pie.  The heat hit her almost immediately, and she turned her long mane into a messy bun to help relieve the back of her neck from the searing heat. 

She had been to Appleoosa before, of course, but that had been before, when she was just a little filly, going to a rodeo of some sort with her moms and brother. Now she was a teenager!  

She was in her real, non filly form. pretty sure she was a teenager now. She had tried to figure out why her fetlocks were so hairy now and had found a disturbing book on Unicorn Puberty. 

Made her want to wipe her own mind. 

But, now at least why she was taller than her friends: she was older than them! Technically. Even ponies who had pointed her out as the newest Princess of Equestria now looked over this small, muscular teenager, though she did spot a couple of looks from stallions. 

That’s weird, she thought, before spotting a candy apple stall. 

Oh fuck yeah. She trotted over and undid her bag of bits she had got from her . . last adventure. Putting on her most charming smile, the thanked the mare behind the stall and started walking down the dusty road, eyeing the rustic architecture appreciatively.  

. . .Only to come to a stop at the sight of a giant crater in the middle of one of the barren stretches of land on the edge of town. 

She carefully levitated the candy apple out of her mouth with a deep, weary sigh. Oh, for fucks sake. I can’t have one normal day now, can I?  

A snort surprised her, and she turned her head to see an Earth Pony mare approaching her, a look of amusement written on her face at Astral’s put out expression. “Not how ponies usually react” she commented, coming to stand beside Astral and gesturing towards the bowl. 

“Yeah, believe me, I’ve seen, heard and done weirder.” 

The mare seemed almost affronted at that, like Astral had somehow offended her towns honor or something. “Well, let me tell you now, missy” she blustered “if you want weird, you should of have seen what happened last Sunday.” 

Oh yeah, Sundays a thing. 

“What do you mean?” Astral asked, tilting her head, only to curse when her mane unraveled out of it’s bun. Scowling, she fixed the sniggering mare with a deadpan look as she retied it. 

“Always happy to have a willing audience” the mare said with a wink and a wave, before gesturing dramatically. “So, last Sunday, me an’ my brother, Apple Crumble, we were walking down the road, mindin’ our own beeswax, mind you, when, suddenly, this huge” she gestured with her hooves “explosion just knocked us to the ground!” 

“You mean an earthquake?” 

The other mare nodded frantically, pointing at Astral like she had just said the one thing that could redeem her. “Exactly! That’s what I thought too, but then this flash of light exploded from this very spot. We, of course, raced to check it out- Appleoosians don’t run away from danger, but when we got there, all there was, was this crater.” 

She leaned inwards, dropping her voice down to a whisper, and Astral Plane leaned in subconsciously, wanting to hear what she said. 

“I brought the sheriff down of course, since this may be dangerous, and we all went in to inspect the strange thing. And you’ll never guess what we found?” 

“What?” 

“An imprint of a pony. Somepony had hit the ground with enough force to create that.” 

Astral felt the down on her shoulders and chest rise, stunned, as she turned back to the crater, which was easily as big as a football field. What in the hell would have the power to be able to hit the ground with that amount of force, survive, and get away before anypony could see them. 

The other mare, seeing Astral’s expression, smiled grimly. 

“Yeah, bet you never seen anything like that.” 





It had taken a little convincing, but Astral was finally given permission to inspect the strange crater. She was being escorted by the sheriff, who, even though he wasn’t aware she was a princess, wasn’t going to leave her alone out here. 

Astral nosed her way around until she hit the middle of the crater, and, sure enough, there was an imprint of four hooves embedded deep into the dirt. 

Somepony had hit the ground on all four hooves. 

Then Astral tilted her head back, trying to gauge how far and how fast the pony must of have fallen. But math had never been her strong suit, and now the very thought just seemed impossible.  

It was only as she was about to keep moving on and try looking around her barren basin when she saw it. She bent down low just to make sure, and yup, there it was. 

All three species of ponies were different. There was a lot of crossover between the races, but basically Unicorns were supposed to be small and frail with thin legs, cloven hooves, long tail and a slightly curved horn. A Pegasus was supposed to be thin and lanky with tail feathers and covered in down and feathers, with extra feathers around the base of their hooves and their joints, for steering. And Earth Ponies were tall and muscular with thick, coarse hair covering them, especially their hooves. 

That was the traditional Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth Pony, anyways, but, over the years as evolution and crossbreeding became a thing, no pony alive actually looked like that anymore. Astral herself was covered in down while her brother, an Earth Pony, also had cloven hooves. 

But even so, most ponies had a distinct sign of what species they were. 

And the hoof that hit the ground had feathers on it. 

A Pegasus did this? 

The very idea was ludicrous. Not even Alicorns, with their especially strong Pegasi Magic, could survive a drop that fast and that hard. And what about the flash of light? 

It wasn’t until much later, when Astral had gone back into town and ordered herself some pie and ice cream, that the answer occurred to her. 

The Pegasus had been fighting someone . . .
> Loop 63
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manehatten was a bit of an odd place, Astral decided.  

Growing up in the charmingly quaint town of Ponyville, Astral had gotten used to gravel and stones streets, of a forest right next door, of lakes to swim in and trees to climb. 

She had felt right at home in Appleoosa because, despite the heat, it reminded her of home. 

But Manehatten made her feel uncomfortable in the same way Canterlot always did. 

Full of ponies who were constantly judging, gossiping and completely willing to backstab you for even a chance of success, Astral had to fight the urge to turn tail and sprint away. 

But, she reminded herself, I told myself I would travel, so I am travelling. 

The loud noises of cabs grated her ears and the bright, neon lights hurt her eyes.  

Every alley looks like a place I could be stabbed in. 
 
Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Canterlot, all of them were overcrowded areas full of cutthroat bitches. 

Of course, Astral was the ultimate cutthroat bitch. 

And, she had to admit, when night came, all the lights were actually really pretty, to the point where she took out her camera and sorted out her scrapbook folder. 

It was pretty full now, full of pictures of shocked faces from her pranks, or pictures of her in her armor, or several excited pictures of her cutie mark. 

She had just closed the scrapbook with a slight, dreamy sigh, only to hear somepony screaming and begging for help. 

“Help me, please! Oh Gods, please!” 

An owl which had been perched on the roof across from Astral, gave her a quizzical look as she stood up, tugging her saddlebag back on, before leaping off the roof. 

The wind made her long mane fly backwards as her eyes watered. She could hear muted screams from ponies inside the apartment she had just jumped off of, and she kind of wished she could give them an apologetic wink and a smile, but she was kind of busy, so instead she just teleported. 

She teleported a meter above the actual ground, and she had a couple of seconds to take stock of the situation. 

A Pegasus Stallion, tall and somewhat handsome, running away with a purse while a Unicorn lay on the ground, clearly in shock. 

Astral quickly cast a healing spell and teleported overhead to land just in front of the stallion. The deafening crack as her hooves, going at a hundred and twenty miles an hour, hit the concrete and split it. Thanks to her healing spell, the worse Astral felt was a minor sting. 

The Pegasus took a small step back, gaping, and Astral knocked him out with a simple straight punch to the chest and slammed his head into the ground. Wordlessly, she gave the Unicorn back her purse, which she clutched like a lifeline while staring at Astral like some kind of messiah figure. 

“Thank you. Oh, thank you” she kept repeating, and Astral felt herself blush under the constant praise. She gave a little nod and a smile, before teleporting away, back to the rooftop. 

It was only when she reached for her bag that she had an idea, and scrambled to take out her notebook, which she put down 

Be a superhero for a loop 
 
She gave herself a little smile and a satisfied nod, before making her way into the apartment complex where she was staying for the night. 





When she had stayed in Appleoosa, she had stayed in a rickety old motel, and, if she was being honest, she much preferred it over the soft, plush bed she was currently in. 

. . . .She had stolen money from the bank for this trip and now it seemed like she didn’t even need it.

She let out a sigh and turned over, eyeing the beautiful stars that somehow seemed weaker In comparison to the neon lights outside. 

Maybe I’ll skip Fillydelphia, she thought, shutting her eyes. I can go Canterlot and see Alchemy again and then I can go to non pony regions! 
> Loop 64
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot was a lot less busier than Manehatten, thank the Gods. 

Which meant that Astral could trot up to her brothers house and knock on the door completely uninterrupted. 

Alchemy threw the door open, looking worried and annoyed. When his eyes fell on his little sister, his face contorted ito one of shock and rage, before he dragged her into his house, almost flinging her at a wall in the process.

Astral took a couple of small steps  back to steady herself even as her brother advanced on her, eyes spitting fire.

"Where have you been? Moms have been worried sick!"

Oh, yeah, she forgot to give her mom's a reasonable excuse this time around.

Whoops.





After a letter home to their parents, and a lot of yelling, Astral was being dragged through the streets towards the train station. She had long since given up trying to struggle free, her built up strength not even denting her brothers Earth Pony Magic.

"But I came all this way just to see you!" She whined.

He glared down at her, shutting her up. "And you didn't tell mom?"

"I-It just didn't occur to me!"

He spun on her. "Would you do it again?" He demanded, stamping a hoof.

"Of course not-"

"Don't lie to me, Astral." Astral stopped, staring at the solemn stallion.

"I-I don't-"

"Don't."

"Yes!" Astral shouted, stamping her hoof as her horn flared. "Okay? Yes I would! It's not like any of this actually matters anyways!"

Al leaned down, forcing Astral onto her hindquarters as he shoved his muzzle into her own. "Did it matter to mom? How do you think she feels, waking up to find her daughter missing?"

"I . . " Astral swallowed. "It won't matter."

Alchemy leaned away from her, muzzle wrinkled in distate, in disgust. "The last time you were here, you started crying because you had no change for a homeless mare." He paused, staring down at her sadly. "Your empathy was what made you so special to me, but now, now you're no better than them" he gestured towards the Canterlot Elite, who were all laughing loudly at something. "-just a heartless bitch."

Without another word, Alchemy turned and walked away, leaving Astral sitting in the street, shocked.
> Loop 65
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral sat in her bedroom, cradling her scrapbook to her chest as she stared blankly ahead. 

Could it be that Alchemy had a point? Was it possible she was becoming more and more coldhearted every loop? 

She had, of course, been aware of her own cynicism, but she always thought of it as ‘losing her naivety’ not ‘becoming an absolute jackass.’ 

She swallowed nervously, before flipping open to the first few pages of her scrapbook. There were a couple of close ups of her cutie mark, and Astral had to smile at the memory, at the excitement and joy that she had felt. The next page was a picture of her in her new soft scarf, which looked a lot cleaner and sound in the past. 

Then there were pictures of her armor, of her friends, Jam and Butterscotch- 

Astral let out a small, muffled groan as her eyes began to water. 

Her aunt Rarity had made her scarf and armor, just because she asked. Rarity hadn’t needed any second to start working for her niece, despite the fact she had a four year old at home. 

And Jam and Butterscotch . . . 

They must be so confused. One day their friend is completely normal, the next she’s actively avoiding them.  

Astral wasn’t blind, she saw the hurt looks on her childhood best friends faces every time she went out of her way to not talk to them. 

Gods Alchemy was right, she wasn’t treating anyone around her right. 

Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she turned even more pages 

The duel with Uncle Shining . . . I never thanked Pupa for helping me 

The robbery at the bank .  . . I could of have seriously hurt those ponies 

Wait- wait! She froze, perking up slightly. She had given one of the jewels away to a homeless pony! That had to mean something at least! 

Her mom’s voice rang through her head, wise and commanding Sweetie, if you’ve made a mistake, the best thing to do is not apologize but make up for it. 

Astral jumped, throwing open the window and leaping out, teleporting away just before she could hit the ground.  

She almost stumbled when she teleported just in front of a small rock, but she quickly righted herself and started for the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, where she knew Apple Jam and Butterscotch would be. 

She liked to think she looked very dramatic; slamming the door open to the clubhouse, her horn sparking faintly and her mane blowing ever so slightly in the breeze. She bet she looked like an action hero, like she was about to deck a supervillian. 

Instead, she threw herself at Jam and Butterscotch’s surprised hooves and started grovelling. 

“Please, please, please forgive me!” She felt the tears well up in her eyes again as she saw Butterscotch’s confused expression and Jam’s closed off one. 

“Oh, you’re here.” The filly’s muzzle crinkled slightly, in anger or distaste Astral couldn’t tell. But she did know her childhood bestie was about to walk away, so she quickly sunk her teeth into her tail, still not rising from the floor. 

“Jam, I am so, so, so sorry!” 

Butterscotch, who had looked like a cat that had just been sprayed with water, shook his large head. “But- why? Why were you ignoring us?” 

Astral hesitated, excuses and half truths running through her head- my mom was teaching me magic, I was going through a hard time, I had a weird dream about you two- but stopped herself. 

No, you’re telling the truth this time. 

So, with a sigh, Astral levitated three plump cushions over and crawled onto one, gesturing for the others to do the same. They did so, reluctantly. 

“That” Astral began “is a long story . . .” 

It took a very long time to explain what had been happening to her, but when she was done, Jam let out a snort. “Yeah, right, that’s believable.” 

Astral frowned slightly, but shrugged. “I can show you if you want.” 

“Show us? How-” 

The question died on Butterscotch’s lips as Astral’s horn glowed and she started to get noticeably bigger and more muscular. Her hair, once a short bob, grew to go just past her neck. 

Astral awkwardly pawed the ground and looked through her now small friends through her fringe. “Eh, tada” she said, shooting out little fireworks. 

Wide eyed, the other two Crusaders stood up and started circling Astral, making an especially big fuss about her cutie mark, which in turn led Astral to explaining that one. 

“A tiger!” Jam enthused, clapping her hooves together. “That’s so cool! Wait” she looked suspicious once more “did we ever get a cutie mark in any of these ‘loops’?” 

Let them figure it out for themselves 

Don’t you dare 

“Yup!” Astral said, rising to her hooves. “I can show you!” 

Oh, you bitch. 
> Loop 66
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Greetings, young traveler!" The hippogriff chirped as Astral walked into Mount Aris. He was wearing a tour guides uniform and hat, and had a bi smile on his beak. “Welcome to Mount Aris!” 

He waved a claw around dramatically, showing off the beautiful crystal ocean and high mountain hat was peaked with snow. 

Speaking of which . . . 

“Do you sell climbing gear by chance?” She asked as she fell into step beside the lanky male. 

The guide paused, clearly hesitant to answer this young teenager. “Well, yes, but-” 

“Excellent! Take me there!” 

The guide, also known as Ripple, stared in disbelief at the Unicorn for a moment, before letting out a loud, and somewhat pained, sigh. 

“Come with me . .” 





Astral eyed the pickaxes appreciatively even as she turned a grappling hook over in her hooves. Since she could teleport though, it wouldn't do much, so instead she turned back to the heavy coat. 

I could probably enchant it with a heating spell, just to be on the safe side. 
 
The guide. Ripple, cleared his throat when he saw her add a map to her already growing list. “I don’t think you should be climbing a mountain, not at your age, and especially not alone.” 

Astral shot him a quick glare over her shoulder as she paid for her choices, before brightening, and disappearing with a pop! 

“You should come with me!” 

“What?” Ripple asked, bewildered by the mare that was now clinging to his shoulders like a lifeline, blue eyes sparkling. 

“You said it yourself, I shouldn’t climb the mountain alone. Well, you probably know the best way up here, right? You should come with me!” 

“I don’t know . .” Ripple was only a teenager after all, just a couple of years older than Astral herself. While he did know the mountain very well, he was still very young and very inexperienced. 

“Pleeeeeeeease?” Astral begged. “It’ll be safer with the two of us!” 

Ripple's ears and wings fell with a loud sigh. “Fine fine” he glared at her from the corner of his eye. “This better be a hell of a tip.” 





The two stood at the base of the mountain, heads tipped back to get a full look. 

“There’s a halfway point” Ripple explained. “We can see if you wan to turn back by the time we reach it.” 

The please want to went unspoken but understood. 

Astral stretched and cast a heat spell on her scarf, before setting off with her new companion to climb Mount Aris. 





While It was nice and warm and sunny back on land, the higher he two teens wen, the colder it got. 

Astral loved it. It hadn’t been rainy or wet or cold in ages, and she watched in delight as her breath fogged up before her. 

Ripple was clearly enjoying himself a lot less, bundled up in a thick coat and scarf. Astral had offered to cast a heat spell on him that would leave his wings free, but apparently hippogriffs were naturally skittish around Unicorn Magic, which. Okay, rude. 

As they went higher, snow became more and more common, which made Ripple feel even worse and Astral even better. Taking off everything but her scarf, and recasting her heating spell, Astral wasted no time in bounding through one of the short bursts of snow. 

“Come on, Ripple!” She cried, burying her head in snow and peeking her head out to stare at him. “It’s great in here!” 

“Uh” Ripple said, unsure, only for Astral to hit him with a large snowball. 

He stumbled back, shocked, before grinning at her, sudden and fierce. Astral tried to duck, bu it was too late, and within second she was covered in snow. Spitting some out, she glared at him. 

“Jerk.” 

“Ass.” 

Ripple paused to examine their surroundings, and threw Astral’s coat at her. “Come on, we’re close to he halfway point.” 





The halfway point was just a very large cabin full of beds and a staff of hippogriffs that lived up here. 

They also had some pretty good soup. 

“Is this fish” Astral wondered, dipping more bread into her meal. She had never eaten meat before, but this was actually quite nice. 

Ripple, who was slurping from his own bowl, craned his neck to look into hers. “Looks like it” he said “maybe shrimp as well?” He shrugged, before polishing of the last of his meal. 

“So.” 

Astral turned to look at him, eyebrow raised “so?” 

“Do you” he seemed almost hesitant “wanna go back?” 

Astral jerked her chin back and straightened her shoulders. “Uh, no. I came here to climb a mountain, so I’m gonna climb a mountain.” 

“Oh” and for some reason, he looked almost relived? 





“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Ripple grouses, and Astral bites back a sharp retort, because getting into a fight isn’t going to help either of them. 

She was really starting to regret deciding to trek on. 

It was colder now, so cold that Astral had to keep reapplying her heat spell on herself, and had cast one for Ripple. Her hooves, used to the soft ground of he forest, were chipped and cracked from the cold, frozen stone and her good mood had all but vanished. 

But they were close. 

She knew his, as did he, which was why neither of them suggested stopping. 

Astral Plane turned the corner and- 

They were there. At the top. 

The view was magnificent, Equestria itself spanned beneath their hooves and claws, a sparkling blue ocean and fields of green. 

Astral had never been so happy to of have brought her camera. 

They stayed there like hat, shoulder to shoulder, just staring down the slopes of he mountain, the mountain they had climbed. 

“We- we did it” Ripple said, in total awe. “We actually did it!” 

“Yeah” Astral said, a wide, ear splitting grin stretching across her face. “We did!” 

There was a lot of whooping and cheering after that, as the two celebrated their success in any way they could think of- cheering, yelling, hugging, fist bumping. 

When they were done, they both sat down for a moment, both of hem still grinning, before Ripple frowned. “Wait. Do we have to walk down?” 

It was said in the same whiny tone most teenagers have, but Astral just smiled at him. Her horn glowed and they dispersed with a pop! 





Astral’s aim had been slightly off- she had been hoping to land in a cafe seat, but instead they ended up right outside the cafe. 

The sudden increase in pressure made them both stagger about for a bit, before righting themselves. When they did, Ripple spun around on Astral. 

“Are you telling me you could of have teleported us up here this entire time?!” 

Astral smiled coyly. “Life’s about the journey not the destination, Rip” she mocked, and he snorted. 

“Ass.” 

“Jerk.” 

The two glared at each other before Astral gestured towards the cafe “so, eclairs?” 

"Gods yes.”
> Loop 67
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the years, Astral Plane had grown taller, stronger, and faster. But years of walking on soft forest floors and loose gravel had left her hooves soft and easy to bruise.

Case in point: the dragon lands. 

The barren expanse of rocks and gems quickly wore her hooves down until she cast a basic heal spell on her hooves and started trudging on again, repeating the same cycle over and over again.

It didn’t help that the dragon lands was one of the most ugly places she had ever seen, with no relief from the monotony. 

Still, the tall, dark spire in the distance steadily grew bigger with every hoofstep and teleport , until she came out of the latter to smash her nose up against the dark obsidian wall. She backed up a bit to get a better view of the tower, and of the dragon on top.

Dragon Lord Ember eyed her suspiciously, her second in command Smolder looking just as caught out. “Who are you?” The orange dragon asked, lifting her spear semi threateningly.

“I mean you no harm” Astral said, channeling her years of etiquette and humiliation and laying down on her stomach, a sight that apparently meant submission in dragon. Which, okay.

At least it gets Ember to relax slightly, and she tilts her head at the Unicorn. “What are you doing here then?”

Astral felt a grin pull at the corner of her mouth as she pushed herself up, and said “I mean you no harm, for I am but a simple traveler, wishing to see the world in all its forms.” It was a strange speech, alright, complete with wild gestures and over the top facial expressions, derived from one of Astral's favorite movies. 

Now Ember just looked uncertain.

“You want to . . see the dragon lands? That’s it?” At Astral nod, her frown deepened. “Most ponies need permission before entering the dragon lands, and I know I didn’t give it to to you.”

Oops. Astral held back a wince at that, ears flopping down in disappointment.  “I-I'm sorry. I didn’t know” she said, completely sincere. “I just wanted to see it once before I moved on.”

There were a few seconds of silence, where Ember just stared at Astral, scrutinizing her closely.  It was only when Smolder moved forwards, probably to kick Astral out, that she spoke.

“No” she said “let her in.”

Astral wasn’t the only one who gave Ember a surprised look, Smolder looked like her ruler had just announced the sky was yellow. Ember saw the looks she was getting and frowned 

“She came a long way for this. The least we can do is give her a quick tour.”





Smolder is the one who gives the tour, leading her into a ring full of dragons of all shapes and sizes. When they realize Astral is here, their eyes narrow and they don’t stop staring.

Smolder seems unfazed, giving the others a brief glare as she leads her temporary charge to a place where she could rest her hooves. 

. . . . Only to be blocked by a red dragon.

“Garble” Smolder said warily as Astral peered around the orange dragon’s lanky body to state up at the male.

“Smolder” Garbled returns, smile wide and dangerous. “How’s my favorite little sister?”

Sister? Astral glanced between the two, trying to see the resemblance.  I guess if you kind of squint at it and tilt your head they look a little alike. . . .

Garble seemed a lot more interested in the pony than his own sister, taking a step closer as Smolder flared out her wings, blocking Astral from sight. 

“Relax, sis, I just wanna see the newcomer” he soothed, using a claw to close his sisters wings. “Well, it’s been a while since a namby pamby pony walked in here. Last time it happened” he slapped his chest “I kicked their ass.”

Astral felt her lips curl back into a sarcastic smile. “Try it. You’ll get maybe two hits in before I year out your spine.”

Garbled ears perked even as the other dragons started to gather around, obviously interested in the upcoming fight.

“Garble.  .” Smolder warned, tense as she looked between the pony and dragon.

“Didn’t you hear her?” Garble asked, tilting his head dangerously. “She wants to fight” he held our his arms, as if about to hug someone. “Who am I to disappoint?”

Some of the dragons began cheering and hooting, though Astral noticed a good few glancing uncertainly around, obviously uncomfortable with the idea.

She held out a hoof to grab Shoulders attention. “it’s okay, Miss Smolder. I’ll be fine” she assured the other, who did not look reassured in the slightest but moved away all the same.

It almost surprised her when Garble lunged at her- he was a lot faster than she was expecting. But she managed to roll out of the way and rise onto her back legs to face him. He tried to grab her tail, but she jumped, landing in a barrel roll that allowed her to miss the dragons flames .

Magic never really worked against dragons but all the same, she called in Aegis to send at him. As expected, they mainly just bounced off him, but it did distract him long enough for Astral to deliver two fast kicks to the chest, sending him stumbling backwards in an attempt to right himself.

Astral didn’t give him that opportunity instead casting an ice spell to freeze him in place. “Are. You. Done?” She asked, with each word advancing on him with a step.

Garble swallowed and let out a whimper. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear that.”

“Yes yes I’m done!” He cried inching back a bit.

“Good.” 

Astral turned back around, expecting to find awe on the dragons expressions, only to see varying expressions of anger and disgust.

“What?”

Smolder glared at her, crossing her arms. “what?” She repeated incredulously.  “We allow you to enter our realm without any strings and you attack one of us!”

“He started it!” Astral protested already feeling foolish. 

But the damage was done and Smolder narrowed her eyes. “Flare” She said over her shoulder. “Please escorts our . . guest to the border.”





The second Astral was alone she was awash with anger and humiliation.

How long had she been trained on basic equities by the Princess and aunt Rarity? She should of have known that you shouldn’t attack one of the natives who just let you into the country.

Gods I am such an idiot
> Loop 68
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral pressed her face to the floorboards, letting out a large sigh as she did so.

Starlight, who was reading in the same room, looked over her book, unimpressed. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Astral dragged a hoof down her face "there's nowhere else to go!" She whined.

"What?"

The younger Unicorn turned to look at her mother, eyes wide. "Wait! Wan't there a boat leaving for Zebrifica a day ago?"

At this, Starlight put down her book, suspicious. "Yes . . . ?"

"Great!" Astral leaped back up to her hooves, a giant smile on her face, before racing out of her room. "I just have to wait until the next loop!"
> Loop 69
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You want me to what?" Eclipse asked blankly, staring at Astral.

"I am going to Zebrafica" Astral said. "And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Come with you?"

"Yes."

"You want me to leave behind my very cushy life to go trekking through the very hot lands of Zebrafica?"

"Uh . . yes?"

Eclipse grinned at her. "Wonderful. Let's do it."





"You are an atrocity" Eclipse tells her when he spots the giant milkshake she's levitating behind her as they sit together on the boat. "Seriously, what have you become?"

"A wonderful and respectable pony that deserves your love and affection" she answers promptly. Eclipse rolled his eyes , only to hiss at the bright sun beams that reflected in the water.

"What are you, a cat?"

"Yes" he rested his head on his paws, looking up at Astral. "Pet me mommy."

The other passangers started at the sound of a table being flipped, and Eclipse smugly sipped the milkshake he had grabbed before that happened.

Astral scowled at him. "Shut up."

"Never."





Astral and Eclipse both blanched when they stepped off the boat. If Appleoosa was hot, then there was no words to describe how hot Zebrifica was. The hot sand beneath them burned their hooves, and Eclipse silently pulled two sunglasses out of his mane, handing one to Astral.

She quickly tied her mane back and slid on the shades before following the crowd down to what seemed to be the main town.





There were zebra's everywhere.

Astral had only seen Zecora, and Zecora's son and daughter, all of which were shads of grey and brown. 

But here, they were all different colors, just like ponies. And, like Valour and Essence but unlike Zecora, they all talked normally, chatting about thing in either Ponish or Zebrifican as they strode forwards on their long, skinny legs.

Astral kept close to Eclipse, his cold body heat being a soothing presence in the stifling heat. Eclipse, for the most part, looked unbothered by the sun, instead choosing to stare at Astral. "Uh, you okay there?"

"YES, PERFECTLY FINE, THANK YOU!" Astral said, marching forwards as if to prove it.

". . . .Right" Eclipse spotted a map and eyeballed it for a few moments, before brightening. "There's a beach nearby, if you wanna-"

"Yes!" Astral grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him in close. "Let's go, now!"





The beach was packed with ponies and zebra's alike, some playing in the sand, others frolicking in the sea.

Astral and Eclipse fell into the latter category. The Unicorn was chest deep in the cool water, while the Pegasus was balanced carefully on a rock, looking down at her.

"You should try it" Eclipse repeated, and Astral scowled at him, before the next wave went over the head and almost knocked her down.

Fluffy hooves helped her up onto his rock, before continuing. "Rapid riding is really easy. All you do is relax and l the waves lift you."

As if to demonstrate, he threw himself in, showering Astral even more. She spat out a mouthful of water and watched as her friend was guided back to the shore by the waves, before coming up for air and paddling back to her.

"See? Easy."

Easy. Astral eyed the water doubtfully. If Lip can do it, so can I. 

She threw herself in, only to panic at the feeling of her head going over the water. She flailed around desperately for a bit, before she felt a paw on her ribs.

Eclipse!

She relaxed slightly, and immediately found the water was less dragging her and more lifting her. Cutously, sh relaxed fully and was delighted to find it was a little like being levitated.

Eventually she came up for air, turning to flash Lip a smile as he swam towards her.

"So, what's next?" He asked her, a giant smile on his face.





The ravine cut through half of Zebrifica, and was several miles deep, making it a very popular tourist attraction.

The part Astral and Eclipse were on, however, was deserted since they had both teleported far away to avoid interaction. "I thought it would look cooler" Eclipse admitted, diguise dropped and his front paws curled around the edges of the cliff.

"Yeah, well, it is a ravine. Not really much to look at."

"Astral."

"There's a palace we can check out if you want, shouldn't be so far to teleport."

"Astral."

"Or we could stop for ice cream-"

"Astral!"

"What?!"

Eclipse, who had been slowly leaning more and more over the edge, pointed at the bottom of it. Astral had to strain to see what he was looking at.

At the very bottom of the ravine, hidden by a large boulder, there seemed to be a mound of something white.

White and brown.

Fur.

Oh, shit.

Astral turned to Eclipse, whose wings were already unfurling. As he shoved himself off the ground, Astral teleported to the ground below, trying not to wince at the heat radiating from the stones.

Eclipse landed just in front of her, crouching beside the mare- and it was clearly a mare. And she was very clearly dead. Dehyrdration surely. 

Astral could see her, falling down the cliff, with no way to get back up, too tired and injured to move. 

Eclipse stood stock still, floppy ears upright and quivering, before, suddenly, he flashed oforwards and dragged something out between the mares front hooves, holding it delicately between his sharp teeth.

Astral's stomach dropped. Oh Gods, it was a foal.

A little foal, barely bigger than her hoof, white with golden stripes and almost no hair on it's head, dangling limply from Eclipse's mouth. Dead.

"Oh, Lip, Gods" she took a couple of steps towards him, but stopped when he growled at her.

It was muffled, but she knew what a growl sounded like.

"No" he said, setting the foal down. "We are getting her to a hospital, now. And then we are going to alert the authorities about this body, so her family can be alerted." His posture was perfect, his tone was lilted. He looked, for lack of a better word, like royalty.

It was, Astral remembered, very easy to forget that Eclipse was still royalty, and was an older brother himself.

Instead she nodded, and Eclipse relaxed, picking up the foal once more and teleporting the three of them back into the town.





The little foal was, in fact, still alive, albeit barely.

Had she been down there for even another day, she would of have died.

"You saved her" Astral tells Eclipse later, when the police have been notified. Eclipse smiled, but doesn't acknowledge it any more than that.

It takes ages for Astral to convince Eclipse to leave the hospital, only managing to do so after the hospital promises to get them if something happens.

She catches a glimpse of the foal just before they leave, small and thin and sickly, but she opens one of her eyes to stare at Astral.

She has to look away.





Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel

Be A Superhero

> Chapter 70
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It takes a bit for Astral to realize it- she had slightly more important things on her mind after all.

But when she did, she said the only thing that seemed appropriate.

"Fuck."





"I have a crush on Eclipse" is what Starlight is greeted with when her daughter enters the room.

Baffled, she just let out a little "uh . ."

Astral ignored her. It seemed like that little outburst was actually intended for herself. "But why? He's my bro! And bros can't be together, that'd be weird."

She stood stock still for a moment, a put out look on her face, but teleporting away.





Her aim was off slightly- she landed midair on her Aunt Cadence's dresser.

Yelping, she dropped down, and tried not to bring it crashing down.

"Astral?" Cadence asked, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Quick, Auntie Cadence" Astral dropped down, ignoring the older ponies gasps. "What do you do if you have a crush on somepony?"

"What?"

"What do you do- focus dammit! Yes, I'm here, but I need to know! What do you do if you have a crush on somepony?"

"I, ah" Cadence stammered, trying to shake off her confusion at her nieces glare. "You ask them out?"

Astral paused. "Like, on a date?"

"I, uh, yeah?"

"Great, thanks, bye!" Astral spun around again, teleporting away.





Astral had invited the Crusaders over to help her look presentable. She sold it as a new way to find cutie marks, which she felt kind of bad over, but, eh, priorities.

The sight of mom surprised her- she was supposed to be visiting Alchemy after all.

At the sight of Astral Plane, Twilight's eyes narrowed, in both confusion and anger, for what she wasn't really sure.

"Why did I get a letter from Shining and Cadence saying you had visited them?"

Astral blinked, making her eyes as big as she could. "I have no idea" she said.

Her mom leveled her The Look.

"I mean it!" Astral insisted. "How would I even get over there?"

Twilight hesitated slightly. "T-They said you teleported."

Astral let that hang there in the air for a second, before her mom crumbled. "They were probably just stressed" Twilight mumbled. "Sorry to disturb you and your friends, sweetie."

The Unicorn waved her off casually before turning back to her friends. "Alright Crusaders, make me shine!"





Never let the Crusaders help you get ready for a date, Astral thought to herself as she knocked on the door to Eclipse's room. 

It was so bad, she had to maintain an illusion just so nopony would arrest her for her unevenly chopped mane. She cringed. Gods, I hope there's a spell for that.

She knocked, and a very familiar voice drifted through the wood. "For the last time mom! No, I will not apologize! It's his fault for letting that stupid pigeon out in the first place!"

"What?"

A pause, then the sound of paws clicking against the metal doorknob, the door itself swinging in to reveal the very familiar features of Astral's bro.

"Astral?"

"Hi. Wanna go out?"

He blinked at her for a moment, obviously trying to compute the question. It occurred to Astral that in most situations, the female was supposed to angst over the supposed loss of friendship for a lot longer than she did.

Oh well. 

"Uh, sure" Eclipse said at last, once he got his jaw working once again. Slowly, a smirk grew across his features as he added "and I know just the place to go to."





The carriage ride to wherever they were going was mostly filled with chatter about this and that.

"Tell me a random fact about the moon" Astral said, staring up at the milky orb just appearing in the distance.

"The God Ebony made it while she was the God equivalent of drunk."

Astral stopped, turning to squint at him. "What."

Eclipse threw his paws in the air, an expression of dread on his face. "I don't know! Dad told me that when I was younger, and it's haunted me ever since!"

The filly threw her head back and laughed at that, a dry sound. The draconequine's grin grew slightly more sly.

"What?" Astral repeated.

"Oh, nothing" Eclipse made a show of casually checking his claws. "Just thinking of a joke I heard the other day."

"I swear to the Gods, if you dare-"

"What kind of cats like to go bowling?"

"No-"

"Alley cats!"

Astral slammed her head into her hooves, both in annoyance and to hide the smile that was growing on her face. She had forgotten Lip's love of shitty puns.

"Annie told me one yesterday."

Oh no.

"So, there's this filly, called Lucky Star, right? And she has a classmate, called Oak Tree. And Oak Tree goes up to her one day, and tells her that all adults have secrets, and if you go up to them and say' I know the whole truth' they'll pay you money to keep quiet, even if you don't know anything."

"Oh no."

"So, Lucky goes home to her parents, and goes up to her mom and tells her 'I know the whole truth.' And immediately her mom starts to freak out, right? And she gives Lucky a couple of bits, under the condition she doesn't tell her daddy."

"Oh no!"

"Then she goes up to her father and repeats the phrase, and, sure enough, he gives her a couple of bits, under the condition that she doesn't tell mommy. And Lucky is amazed and satisfied, so much so, that the next day, when she walks outside the next door, and sees the mailmare putting the mail in the mailbox, she goes up to her and says 'I know the whole truth.'"

Now Eclipse paused, already Cheshire like grin growing even sharper. "Guess what the mailmare says."

"What?"

"Well first, the mailmare drops her mail, before throwing out her arms and saying 'then come and give your mommy a hug!'"

Astral exploded.

The two spent a solid four minutes just wheezing laughing in their carriage, before Eclipse peeked outside. "Oh, we're here."





The 'here' in question was a little cafe in the middle of literally nowhere.

Astral expected Eclipse to change his form, but he stayed, floating by her side, and, when she was about to change, he reached out a paw to stop her. 

"Don't worry. Nobody will bother you in here."

Upon stepping in, Astral could see why. It was almost completely deserted, save for a Pegasus behind the counter, who looked up and smiled at the sight of them. She looked completely unsurprised to see two royals here, and Astral had to wonder how many times Lip had been here before.

Eclipse led her to a booth by the wall, where he ordered "his usual" while Astral ordered some gooey chocolate cake.

Sensing her unanswered question, he nodded. "Yeah, I come here a lot."

Astral frowned. "Why?" There were plenty of good cafes in Canterlot, which was a lot closer than this place. 

Hell, he could probably just teleport to Ponyville, and order something from Sugarcube Corner.

The Prince's eyes drifted down to stare at the table. "Nobody else really comes here" he said, wings unfurling and ruffling anxiously. "It's- there's nobody here to see me."

Astral blinked. Huh. Fuck, that's actually kind of heavy.

In an instant, Eclipse had straightened up, and was beaming at her, eyes bright. "But it's cool right? It's all" he make vague gestures in the air "old fashioned-ish. This is probably my favorite place."

And maybe Astral should try and dig deeper, but, fuckit, she was here to have a good time, worry later. 

So instead she gave him an equally bright grin, and said "Pinkie would be so jealous."

He laughed, loud and relived, as the food came.





When the day was over, he teleported her back to her house.

She wanted to say she could of have done it herself, but decided to let it happen.

Draconequine teleportaton was quite a bit different from pony teleportation. Lip just kind of . . . molded a tunnel through space and jumped into it, taking Astral with him. That was the easiest way to describe it, really.

When they appeared on the other side, he turned around to leave, only to yelp when she spun around and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thanks Lip."

"N-no problem Sparkles."
> Loop 71
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What was the war like?"

Discord pauses in his creation of the weird glittery banana to stare at her blankly.

Shit, backtrack.

"I mean" Astral said quickly "why did you all go to war with each other?"

The God looked at her like she was an absolute idiot. "Ebony was taking our power" he spoke like Astral was a particularly dense child, and her down fluffed up, agitated. 

"Yeah, but why?"

Here, Discord deflated, literally, lolling uselessly to the grassy floor at Astral's hooves, before sucking on his thumb and inflating once more. "Is that really important?"

"Yes. Why did she take your powers?"

He shifted nervously, detaching his lions paw to scratch behind an ear. "Funny thing about that . . ."

"I'm listening . . ."

"Okay, so, here's the thing. You're not allowed to kill me" he made the Pinkie Promise gestures with a very serious expression.

Astral snorted. "As if I could actually kill you" he didn't look reassured so she relented "okay, fine, whatever."

Discord sighed, looking almost . . . weary. "Look, you have to understand that when we first created you lot, we didn't really know what we were doing. This was completely new to all of us, so for the first ten thousand millennia or so, ponykind, as well as any other species, were very different than they are now."

"The three races have been evolving and crossbreeding for a long while now" Astral recalled. "Back then, Pegasi didn't have tailfeathers, and their wings were so small they couldn't even glide. Earth Ponies were bigger, and Unicorns were smaller, and skinnier, and couldn't share spells from others or spellbook. They had to make their own up."

"Yes" Discord seemed almost impressed at how well she had remembered. "Well, one thing that isn't in the history books is that all those creatures-pony,griffon,dragon,clouds etc,etc- didn't have free will."

Astral's jaw dropped, eyes shrinking to pinpricks. "B-but- I don't-" she struggled to speak.

Discord nodded his head. "Yeah, I know, right? Pretty dickish of us, right?" He shrugged. "But, eventually, the creatures began to evolve. Pegasi grew tail feathers for turning. Earth Ponies became smaller and their magic became a lot less strength based. Unicorns could share spells by writing them down in spellbooks. But- and most importantly- they eventually evolved into having free will."

"And Ebony didn't like that?"

"No. No she did not" he waved a claw in faux indifference "so she tried to kill off everything and start again. Except you need all Gods powers to be sure nobody would just undo it, so" he shrugged and Astral nodded.

Just as she turned to go, it occurred to her to ask. "Wait, would it be possible for us to lose our free will?"

"Well, it would take incredibly mental strain- that's why I had to mess with the gal pals in the maze. But yes, technically. I've done it a couple of times- usually for spying purposes. Connect your magic to their fragmented mind and boom, you have control of their body. It's a lot easier to use smaller animals, birds may I recommend?"

"Oh, uh, no thanks."

He shrugged. "Your choice, free will and all that."
> Loop 72
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was midday when Astral stood on the threshold of the Everfree, armed with her Shards and magic, and her illusion dropped. She gave herself a small smile before marching in through the undergrowth, purposely staying off the safe, monsterless path.

Almost immediately, a small pack of timberwolves peeked their heads around from trees, glowing eyes brightening even more at the sight of the pony. 

The nearest one lunged at Astral, who neatly sidestepped and severed it's spine with Aegis. She broke the blade up into Shards, and, powering one up, sent it into the next wolf. With a quick flick of her horn, the Shard exploded, sending splinters everywhere.

The last two finally seemed to understand what was happening, and tried to scramble away, only for one to be thrown into the other, destroying them both.

Astral marched on, deeper into the forest.





The next monster that appeared gave it's location when it startled an owl, giving Astral enough time to leap out of the way.

She skidded against the mossy ground, almost running into a tree, which was shredded to pieces by the Manticore. Astral returned the favor by slicing off it's tail.

The Manticore roared in pain, not even trying to dodge the Shard that went through it's throat.

Astral casually wiped the blood off her muzzle before turning back to the foliage.

"Okay" she said. "Who's next?"





When Astral had woken up that loop, she was in so much pain that she had barely managed to crawl out of bed. 

The magical blockage hadn't been as bad as the time she had blown up the Everfree, but it had been bad. She hadn't been able to concentrate long enough to learn a new spell that would help the pain, so instead she just threw on her strongest shield spell and teleported to the Everfree.

The longer she was in the forest, the bolder she became, and the more powerful spells she used (though she was still careful not to use any flame spells.)

She never seemed to really stop, always in motion one way or another, and kept it up until the sun was just starting to set.

Her muscles ached, and she was certain she pulled at least one. But her magic wasn't even close to drained. Though, bright side, she could now walk without being in considerable pain!

Hooray!
> Loop 73
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There wasn't really one exact reason why Astral tried out the weather spell.

It could be the growing headache and joint pain, making her feel like an old mare.

It could be the boredom that was starting to set in again.

It could be she just hated the perfect weather.

It was, she realized, a mixture of all three.

Still, she stood in the central square, chest puffed out and scarf on. She considered wearing shades, before deciding that it was a bit much.

She ignored the strange looks she was getting for posing on top of the fountain, and instead focused on the task at hand. This would take a lot of concentration; she was almost as bad at weather magic as she was at mind magic

First, she formed the clouds, making them high in the sky instead of right beside her. Passerbys slowed down, curious, and a bit startled by the sight of an overcast on what was supposed to be a nice day. Had they come from the Everfree?

Now, Astral had to actually fill the clouds with moisture, to get them to rain. Her horn took on a second glow as she did so, cheeks puffing out and nose scrunching up in concentration.

It was hard. Really hard.

But, eventually the clouds darkened, going from a fluffy white to a dark grey.

Now for the actual hard part, she had to 'kick' the clouds like Pegasi did to summon the rain without destroying them. 

To make it worse, the other residents of Ponyville were clearly mounting in suspicion of her, and it wouldn't be long before a member of the weather team saw what was going on and tried to stop her.

Sure enough, in the distance she heard a small "hey!" of complaint.
She ignored it, instead choosing to send out a weak telekinetic blast, and, hallelujah, the heavens opened, briefly drenching Astral in rain.

The Unicorn tilted her head back, ignoring the shrieks of protest as she let the cool water run down her mane.

I missed this, she thought, before the rain abruptly stopped.

Snapping her head back, she scowled at a very angry Raindancer. "What do you think you were doing?" He asks, before launching into a very long speech against teenagers in general, so caught up in it that he missed Astral teleporting away halfway through.
> Loop 74
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was purely luck that Astral had found the old costume.

Whether it was good or bad was up to you to decide.

She had been poking around in Rarity's backstorage, looking for a scary costume for a prank when she found it.

Mare Do Well's suit.

She had, of course, heard the stories about the mysterious mare who had helped save Ponyville for a week before vanishing off the face of the earth. But-

Aunt Rarity?!

That made no sense. Rarity wasn't strong enough to stop a carriage, and she certainly couldn't fly-

-Oh dear Gods, it was a team effort.

What the hell.

Her mother was a literal superhero.

Thank you, for making those boots so much bigger to fill.

Still . . .

She tugged the cape around her.

Perhaps was the time to knock another item off her to do list.





Nimbus was usually a very methodical pony- he was almost always on time.

Almost.

Today he had been running late while dispersing clouds, and was now trotting through the streets to get home to his family, wings too sore to even consider flying, even with the saddlebags tied around his barrel.

He took several, out of character short cuts, one of which led him down a dark alley. And, like most dark alleys, this one had a looming figure at the end of it. 

Somehow, against all odds, Nimbus didn't actually see him until they were almost chest to chest.

"Oh, excuse me" he said, sidestepping . . only for the stallion to copy his movements. 

Nimbus blinked, before trying again, with the stranger copying his movements again. 

The Pegasi swallowed nervously. He remembered when he was very young, a mare had come to their class to talk about stranger danger, but after all those years of living in Ponyville, he had forgotten most of those warnings.

He took a small step back, and the larger stallion copied, horn glowing amber as Nimbus let out a surprised squeak at the feeling of his saddlebags being untied.

"What are you doing?!"

The Unicorn glared at him, features harsh in the orange light, and Nimbus took yet another step back, only to start as the bags hit the ground with a thump.

The other stallion's eyes were white with fear, and his ears were pinned back as he stared up at something. He took a few stumbling steps back, away from Nimbus and his saddlebags.

"Mare do well?" He whispered.

Nimbus glanced over his shoulder, and it took a second for him to register what he was seeing.

There, balanced on a small ledge, wearing a mask and a slightly torn cape, was a strange mare.

Nimbus squinted up at her. "Wha- who is that?" 

But it was no use. The other stallion had long since vanished, as had the masked mare.





Rainbow Dash was not happy.

She had been in the kitchen with Pinkie - not baking, nopony in their right mind would let her near an oven- when she heard the news.

Her stepdaughter had stumbled in with a newspaper and a huge grin, and just like that, Rainbow knew it was goin to be bad.

"Mare Do Well's back!" She chirped, placing the newspaper on the table.

Slowly, very, very slowly, Rainbow turned her head to glare at Pinkie Pie, who blinked innocently and held up a hoof as if to say 'not me this time, I swear.'

Snatching the paper up, the Pegasus scanned it, brow furrowing. Apparentally Mare Do Well had stopped a mugging. The victim in question hadn't been around when she first came around, so had decided to ask around, which gained the attention of the press.

Rainbow groaned. Wonderful . . .

"We need to talk to the girls."





Pinkie decided to host a 'Mare Do Well has returned' party, which would usually make Rainbow ticked, but it gave her the perfect oppurtinty to talk to the others.

The others in question saw her storming up to them by a mile. "It wasn't me" Twilight said, before she could even open her mouth. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all nodded. 

"Ah haven't touched it in years."

"I hated all the eyes on me."

"So last year!"

"Okay, okay, stop!" Rainbow Dash made frantic hoof gestures. "I get it, it wasn't you guys! But if it wasn't, then who was it?"

"There's only one way to find out!" Nopony flinched when Pinkie somehow appeared beside Rainbow Dash with a giant smile. "We gotta catch 'em!"





They're going to try and catch me.


That was Astral's first thought upon seeing the Elements of Harmony spread out among the streets, not noticing the masked figure laying on her stomach on the roof above them.

Key word being try.


Waiting a bit for them to dissapear from sight, she pushed herself up and started jumping from roof to roof. It was, she realised, a very thrilling feeling. She never really got to practise her parkour or gymnastics that much, unless in battle, and was a little rusty. She felt like a kid on monkey bars.

She landed on the edge of a chimney, skidding to a stop as she surveyed the area, only to stop at the loud "hey!"

Peering down, she saw a very familiar orange Earth Pony and blue Pegasus, the latter of which was already flying towards her.

Oh shit!

She spun on one hoof, jumping off the roof and landing on a cart below and sinking into the hay. Immediately pushing herself up again, she hit the ground sprinting for the nearest alleyway.

She wasn't an idiot, she knew her top speed was nothing compared to Rainbow Dash in air or Applejack on ground, but maybe . . .

Astral's horn glowed, and, with a pop, she vanished. 

Only to find herself face to face with Rarity and Fluttershy.

Oh, give me a break.


This time, she didn't even hesitate, ducking Fluttershy's outstretched hoof and diving past the two stunned ponies. Snapping out of her shock, Rarity spun around and snapped "excuse me!"

But Astral had already turned the corner and vanished.

Gods, the only way this could get worse is-

She was enveloped in a light purple field.

Oh for fucks sake 

She turned to face her mother, and sent out a telekinetic blast that she blocked with a shield. Desperately, Astral turned inwards, trying to undo her mother's telekinetic grip.

It was beautiful, almost flawless, and such a shade of magic that it made Astral's heart hurt.

Ah well.

She undid it quickly, before casting a concussive blast outwards, shocking her mother and sending her flying backwards with a surprised cry.

Astral stood stock still for a moment. I just hit my mother.

It was then that Astral realized the very angry ponies around her, all horrified at the sight of their hero attacking their princess. It wouldn't be long until one idiot decided to attack her, prompting the rest to join in.

Before that could happen though, Astral vanished again.

So much for superhero.





Goals



Get a cutie mark

Help CMC get cutie marks

See Alchemy

Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate

Beat Shining Armour in a duel

Beat the Princesses in a duel

Travel

 Be a superhero

> Loop 75
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spellcrafting was an art.

One that Astral sucked at. Not of lack of trying on her part.

Once more she squinted down at the page of equations and physics, before giving the math  book she had also borrowed a desperate look.

It didn't make any sense . .

"Hey sweetie" her mothers voice came from behind her as she trotted up. Peering over her daughter's shoulder, Twilight blinked down at the complicated math and science scrawled across the page. "Oh, you're trying to learn how to make spells?"

"Yes!" Astral spun around, almost falling flat on her face in her eagerness. "Can you teach me?"

Twilight hesitated. "I'm not really the pony to go to,sweetie. I've never actually made my own spell."

"You . . haven't?"

"Nope!"

"But- but I thought that was how you became an Alicorn!"

"No, I finished that spell" Twilight corrected. "If you wanna know how to make a spell, ask Starlight, she's good at that."





Astral stared blankly at the whiteboard in front of her. She had assumed her other mom would be less of a dork about this.

Apparently she was wrong.

"-so you see, even if you did manage to bend light in a certain way, that illusion spell would be impossible!" Starlight stopped and turned around to face her daughter, who smiled and nodded eagerly.

The second Starlight turned away, Astral let her smile fall and let out a small groan. 

"This was a mistake."
> Loop 76
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay now, breathe in and concentrate."

Astral's brow furrowed as she tried to do as Celestia said. 

Once again, she was practicing Mind Magic. She could now expertly block her thoughts and could sort of  read Celestia's, but when it came to Mind Links, she was useless.

Still, she had yet to give up.

Mind Links were like tying two strings together, except the two strings where two different creature's magic . Sometimes the knot was tight and wouldn't be unbroken, while at others it was loose and would fall apart in seconds. 

But Astral struggled to even get the two strings together.

Even now, a small yellow strand started to float it's way from Celestia's horn, only to falter and stop halfway. 

Astral let out a frustrated breath between her teeth as the aura around her horn vanished.

Celestia watched her sympathetically.

"Ugh, this is so stupid!" Astral ran a hoof down her face. "Why can't I just get this? I wish I were like you."

Celestia's smile turned a little bit sharper. "And what does that mean?"

"You are the revered DemiGod ruler of our country! You have every spell mastered and practically invented half of them!"

The Alicorn raised an eyebrow. "And you" she said "are also a Princess, albeit one without a throne or land. You have incredible magic potential, and have the most Shards out of any mortal pony. I don't think you're half bad yourself."

"I guess so" Astral mumbled shuffling awkwardly as Celestia sighed.

"I know it's hard, but that's why you gotta keep trying, alright?"

Astral nodded petulantly.

"Good. Now, let's try this one more time."





It was, all of ponies, Zecora who helped her the most.

Astral had been walking through the forest when the zebra had spotted her. "Ah, young teen, if you want, I can make you some tea."

"Oh, that's alright, thanks for the offer though."

Zecora hesitated a second before asking "are you alright? It's rare to see somepony out here near night."

"I was just" Astral blew her bangs out of her eyes. "trying to find a quiet place to practice Mind Magic."

This garnered Zecora's interests, and she perked right up. "Mind magic, you say? I can help, if I may."

"You can help? How?"

A wry smile pulled at the zebra's lips. "Meditation will be a breeze. It will put your mind at ease."

Astral visibly brightened, taking several steps so she was closer to the older mare. "Great idea!" She said. "When can we begin?"
> Loop 77
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Pinkie’s fault for leaving the mustache out in the open like that. 

Really. What, did she think Astral was a saint? 

Add that to the cool robe she had found earlier, and the mangy street cat and . . 





"Someone’s attacking!" The stallion had cried, bursting into the meeting between the elements unprompted.

That was the only warning they got before they all collapsed to the ground from some kind of shock wave. Twilight gathered herself first, pushing herself up onto all fours with a grim look at her friends.  

“Come on!” She yelled behind her as she cantered out the door, only to skid to a stop at the sight before her. 

Giant holes in the stonework, the hay blown odd several roofs, ponies running around like headless chickens . . . 

It was chaos. 

Twilight shot a suspicious glance over her shoulder, expecting to see a laughing Discord, or at least Eclipse, but no. 

Which meant it wasn’t them. 

The draconequi(ne) would never pass up the opportunity to gloat. 

She turned back around with a growl, only for it to turn into a yelp as yet another blast hit just in front of her feet.  

Not hitting me, she realized. Just scaring. 

Her friends crashed into her due to the sudden stop,and the princess tumbled head over hooves to land in the small crater. Groaning, she gave the sheepish Rainbow a death glare. 

“Uh . . sorry?” 

“It’s fine” she gritted out as she pulled herself up out of the hole, craning her head back to see what was in the sky. 

It seemed to be some kind of weird force shield, hovering over the town. Every now and then it would shoot out some lasers to hit the town beneath it. 

Twilight’s fur prickled uneasily. That’s some higher magic . . . 

But that also meant the perpetrator was in there.  

Her fiends, knowing what she was going to do, all sighed and stepped a little closer. 

“Oh, I hate teleporting” Rarity whined before they all vanished. 

They reappeared inside the sphere, stumbling a little at the smooth surface. Ignoring her friends whining about how annoying teleportation was, Twilight scanned the sphere, and stopped. 

There was a swivel chair in the very center of the room. Twilight’s horn started to glow, only for Pinkie to hit it lightly, causing the sparks to fizzle out. “No, silly!” She hissed. “You gotta get closer and give ‘em a chance!” 

Pinkie called me silly. I need to lay down. 
 
But instead she took a step closer to the chair, the others following behind. She could hear Rainbow whisper “wait for it . . “ under her breath. 

And, as if in response, the chair spun around to reveal a figure, a ratty cloak around their shoulders and a cat in one hoof, which they stroked softly as they stared back at the group, an evil grin under their handlebar mustache. 

“A-astral?” 

Twilight watched in disbelief as her daughter laughed, high pitched, shaking her head as her magic twirled the fake stache contemplatively. “Hello mother.” 

“Is  that my mustache?” Pinkie interjected, storming forwards so they were muzzle to muzzle. 

Going cross eyed, Astral let out a soft “maybe.” 

“Astral!” Twilight scolded, horrified. “You shouldn’t steal! That’s mean!” 

The little Unicorn stared at her mother for a moment in disbelief. “But mooooom, I’m a supervillian now! I needed a mustache!” 

Twilight laughed at her. 

“Oh sweetie, you’re not a supervillian.” 

“Yeah I am!” Astral stamped a hoof petulantly. “Did you see the explosions?” 

“Yes I did” the Alicorn gushed. “And you’ve really improved! You weren’t even able to levitate a father, and now look! Oh, I’m so proud of you!” 

Astral just stared at her blankly for a moment, before turning to the other elements. “You’re hearing this, right?” 

Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow  still looked unsure, but Rarity and Applejack had completely relaxed at this point. Seeing their friends questioning look, Rarity just said “our son, Apple Jewell, he had an emo phase as well.” 

The other three let out “ahs’” and “I see”s. 

“It’s not a phase” Astral wailed. “And I am not an emo!” 

Rarity gave her the look, the ‘of course you’re not sweetheart’ look.  

“Great. This is, this is wonderful. You know, I  thought my current circumstances would be a good enough villain motivation, but I’ve just decided, this entire conversation is the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing.” Astral’s muzzle wrinkled. “I hope  you guys are happy.” 

Twilight beamed as her daughter teleported out. “Oh, she’s more like her mother every day!”
> Loop 78
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of stallions did a double take when the Unicorn walked in through the door.

It was rare for non Earth Ponies to frequent Earth Pony bars, and even rarer for the other races to be a female. 

But the mare showed no doubt or hesitation, walking up to the stools and sitting down on them, giving the bartender a friendly nod of her head. He smiled, showing yellowing teeth "what can I get you?"

Astral hummed, scanning the menu, before looking over it. "What do you recommend?"

Ah, so fairly new to all this. Well then . .  .

"Vodka cranberry" he said, sliding it across the table towards her, as she slid the money to him. "Have a nice one" he winked, before bustling off to help the next customer.

Astral eyed the drink with no small amount of trepidation. It was red, with a lime sticking out of the glass, and a couple of ice cubes floating inside it, stained a pink color.

Did she really want to do this? Sure, Dragonfly had seemed to enjoy it, but that didn't mean she would. After all, Dragonfly seemed to think politics was the most interesting thing ever, while she once doodled on the walls in the middle of court.

Ah well . . .

She took a small sip of it, pulling her head back slightly as she tried to process the taste. It was okay, a bit bitter. She took another sip, then another.





The stallion in the back was staring at her. Which, okay, a part of her should find concerning, but she had slightly bigger things to focus on.

"And then- and then! I just" she made the hoof gesture for rolling, before slamming her hooves down on the counter "boom! They went flying!"

"Uh-huh."

"And that's how I beat Luna and Celestia in a duel!"

"Uh-huh- wait, what?" The bartender did a double take, squinting at her. 

Good. Bask in the glory of Astral Plane's victory.

"That's amazing" a voice behind her said, and she turned, using her grip on the table for balance, to see the stallion who had been staring at her climb onto the stool beside her.

Yes! Kneel before me, puny insect!

"I've never seen you here before" the stallion continued, tapping the counter for a refill. "I'm Livewire."

Astral glanced down at his Cutie Mark, to see three lightbulbs adorning it. She looked up in time to see him wink at her, and shake his rump a little. "Like what you see?"

She tilted her head slightly, puzzled. "Thought it would be more electric" she admitted, and if anything, his smile grew wider.

"Oh, but it can be."

Then he smacked her rump with his tail.

Astral's eyes widened, then narrowed.





And here's the thing about Astral Plane's magic:

It was out of control.

She had been trying to use as many spells as she could, but the pain still lingered. She had tried other spells as well - invisibility, gravity reversal, transfigurations- but none of them actually channeled her magic anymore. She needed bigger spells.

And, well, you know what they say about a lack of inhibition when drinking . . . .





BOOM!

All things considered, it was a fairly controlled explosion, and, at another time, Astral would of have been proud of herself for no killing everyone inside.

But, bigger fish to fry and all that.

On the outside, everything looked fine, the only problem seemed to be that all the glass had shattered. But on the inside . . .

The shockwave from the blast had knocked everything over, tables, chairs, ponies. There was glass on the floor from all the bottles that had been smashed to pieces from the spell, so everyone stayed very, very still.

The only pony that looked unharmed was the wobbly Unicorn standing on the bar itself, teeth bared down at the cowering stallion.

Astral looked so intimidating, her mane out of her bun and swirling around her shoulders as her eyes and horn glowed. So what if she swayed a little, and had to crouch a bit to stop from falling over? They probably all thought it was for intimidation or something.

The stallion, heedless of the glass, scrambled back a couple of paces, whimpering.

Yes. Yes! Fear her, impotent creature! How dare he make a mockery of the great Kr-

She blinked. What had she been thinking? 

The thought was lost now, so she refocused on him. "Get out of my sight" she hissed, sounding impressive for somepony slurring their words.

There was total silence as everypony watched him leave in a hurry, before Astral found herself face to face with a very angry bartender. "You better be paying for damages" he hissed, and Astral blinked smugly.

"What damages?"

Her horn glowed as she cast the fix it spell, and she had to giggle at the sight of the ponies, just laying there, stunned, while the rest of he bar was back to it's original position.

Eventually, one of them, a light blue Earth Pony, snorted, which set his two friends off. He pulled himself up, and trotted over to her. "Best shit I've seen all day" he said with a grin. "I'm Lucky Day, and this" he waved to his two friends, an orange and a cream stallion "is Ornate and Meringue."

"Astral Plane."

"Lovely to meet you Astral. Wanna tell me how you did that?"
> Loop 79
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So . . how does this work?" Anarchy peered over her mug at Astral suspicious.

"It's called never have I ever. You say something you haven't done, and if somepony here has done it, they take a drink" Astral paused "I'm not really sure how you win."

Eclipse huffed, a small smile growing on his face. "An interdimensional traveler, a looper, a poltician and Misty Rose? Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say we may be here a while."

"Are you guys sure you should be having alcohol?"

Misty laughed, loud and crass, before leaning on the table. "Astral, we're Canterlot royals. We've been sneaking wine since we were preteens."

"Okay, disturbing thing to be proud of, but neato."

"Let the games begin!"




Misty paused for a moment, obviously trying to think of one, before a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as she glanced at Annie.

"Never have I ever tripped over my own Shard."

Immediately, Anarchy lunged across the table as Misty carefully leaned away. "You can't even Bladecast!" She howled.

"I don't care, drink up bitch."





Anarchy smirked as she slouched in her chair. "Never have I ever usurped a kingdom."

The look Eclipse gave her could of froze water.

"That was a mistake. The ponies of that world had never seen a Draconequine before, or even a Draconequus. They kept claiming I was 'the new God of the world.' Gods, it was embarrassing."

Astral side eyed Misty. "Surprised you never tried that."

"Tried. Walked into Canterlot Castle and threw a stick at Celestia. Did not work, which was a shame" she shrugged. "Ah well, sometimes even the best laid plans go to waste."





"Never have I ever . .  gotten into trouble with the locals" Eclipse said with a smile, only for said smile to drop at everyone's expressions. "What?"

"You know I'm your sister, right?" Anarchy raised an eyebrow. "I have seen you get into trouble with locals."

"Plus you just said you toppled a government, so . . ."

"Alright, alright, fine" he huffed, brow furrowing in thought before clearing. "I've never threw up in front of royalty."

As expected, everyone else drank to that.





"Never have I ever made out with a squid!" Astral yelped, hitting the table in joy as she watched all three drink.

Misty put her glass on the table. "Okay, mine was because of a bet. But you two?"

They both studied the table. "We don't want to talk about it."

Astral shrugged. "I'll find out eventually" she threatened.





"Never have I ever blown up my house."

"Not fair! That's picking on me and Anne!"

"Technically, it was your dads fault for giving you that chemistry kit."


"Never have I ever froze the sun!"

" . . Low blow sis."

"You started it."


"Never have I ever been on a date!"

Only Astral took a shot.

"Say anything, and you will lose a spleen" she growled.


"Never have I ever broke into a place."

" I broke into a museum to return an artifact"

"I didn't break into anywhere, but I did rob a bank, so I think I'm good?"
> Loop 80
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She's laying on the bed, Mimic on one side, Dragonfly on the other, just like they used to do when they were kids, trading comics and stories. Mimi's mandibles twitch as she lets out a sigh, resting her head on Astral's shoulders despondently. "That could of have gone better" is all she says, which, considering Mimi, is pretty bad.

Astral half expects Dragonfly to speak up, his inner politician assuring them that it 'wasn't so bad' in that oddly smooth tone he uses for strangers, but his voice stays rough and all he says is "no shit."

She lets out a little laugh. "Am I the only one who doesn't want to leave the room or?"

"No, I think we all want to stay here and die."

"And to think" Mimic said mournfully "it started so well."




Earlier that day



Okay, you got this, just like we practiced.

After recovering from a severe hangover, Astral decided that it was time for her to return to the Dragonlands, this time actually prepared. She had asked her mother to hold a sort of party to celebrate the 'togetherness' of the two species or something like that.

Whatever. At least she gets to try this again. 

And this time she was going to get it right. Aside from Dragonfly, Uncle Spike, Uncle Thorax and Mimic being there, so would Dragon Lord Ember, her personal guard Smoulder and that ass Garble.

Now was the time to flex her social skills, which had grown considerably since the last time this happened.

New dress too. It was last minute, but nice, and functional, you know, she would be able to run away screaming when she fucked this up.

Astral frowned at the thought, rolling her shoulders and letting out a deep breath. She hadn't been taking her medication, and it was starting to show. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure that she hallucinated her mother bleeding from the eyes that one time.

She didn't hallucinate Mimi's voice though, or the body that ploughed into her from behind. She goes with it, because to be honest, she's not actually sure she could take her niece in a fight. She once saw her mandibles cut through solid diamond.

Mimi almost breaks her ribs with the hug she gives; lifting Astral up in the air and spinning her around for good measure. When she finally puts her down, Astral sees Dragonfly poke his head through the door with a scowl. "Mimi! There you are! Stop running off!"

"Hey Fly."

"Hey Astral" he greeted with a small smile and a nod. A small smile and a nod was giddy for Dragonfly. "Heard you were the one asking for this party?"

"Oh, well, you know" she shrugged. "I guess I just missed my favorite cousins?"

Mimi beamed at that, while Dragonfly just raised an eyebrow. "We're your only cousins" he reminded her.

"Point still stands."





The three walk down into one of the castle's many empty rooms, except this time it's not so empty. It was clear when the castle was created that this was supposed to be a ballroom of sorts, and for a second even Astral is struck dumb by the new curtains, long table and decorations.

"Wow, Pinkie works fast, huh?" Dragonfly murmured, and Astral nods.

"Where do we even go?" Mimi asked, craning her neck to look around. It seems like every dragon has come, while Astral can only see a couple of ponies, probably ones her mom trusts not to completely freak out.

Dinner hasn't started yet, but Astral hadn't eaten at all today, so she pulls the other two in the direction of the kitchen, which is significantly less crowded, since ponies or dragons aren't allowed in. Since this is her house, she thinks she gets a pass.

There are silver platters, some with chocolate strawberries, others with emeralds, and Astral wonders how Rarity managed to find so much in such short notice, before Dragonfly reaches over and takes a huge bite of one. Mimi, showing a little more restraint, just sniffs it, until Astral gives her a little nod, where she swallows one whole.

She would judge, but she's currently on her fifth strawberry.

The sound of a voice has them all scrambling. Astral may be allowed in here, but that's a may.

As one, the three leaped behind a counter and crouch down as someone else entered the kitchen. Whoever it was, it was not a pony, going by the sounds of two feet hitting the ground. The dragon made the same strange slicing-gulping noise Uncle Spike makes when he's eating gems, so the three relaxed.

Dragonfly even went as far as to peek his head over the counter, only to immediately bring it down again, eyes wide.

Mimic nudged him. "What? What is it?"

"Garble" he hissed, and the other two stifled groans.

Oh, that makes sense. Not every dragon was happy with the idea of a half dragon being their ambassador or the idea of a half dragon training a different species to fight. From what she had gathered, some of them gave Mimi and Fly hard times.

Of course Garble would be one of them. This night may of have just gotten harder.





"Okay so some of our detractors are here" Dragonfly said, completely still as he considered their next move.

"We don't have to stay here, right?" Mimi asked, quiet for once. "We can always find ourselves an empty room and just talk for a couple of hours."

Fly snorted. "Yeah, right. Until our parents drag us down to 'mingle'."

Astral, meanwhile, was deep in thought. A lot of dragons here either didn't like ponies or didn't like her niece and nephew. The safe thing to do, of course, was just avoid them. But she had asked for this night to see if she could actually do this, and she didn't want to back out now.

"We should seek them out" she said, grinning at their shocked looks. "Just a simple hello" she weedled "don't act like you're afraid of them!"

"What if you are afraid of them?"

"Then you suck it up and pretend you aren't!"





Astral thought her pep talk kind of worked. 

Kind of.

She had it the luckiest, of course. The dragons didn't like her, but, as they had only met her a couple of times, they didn't hate her either.

All of her conversations were terse and biting, but that was nothing compared to Mimi and Fly's.

They were treated with suspicious looks the second they started talking to someone that wasn't Smoulder, Ember or a handful of other dragons. Mimi actually seemed to be getting along semi-well with Garble, which was a horrifying thought hat made Astral want to run away screaming.

"Are you Princess Astral Plane?"

The title made her blink, as does the use of her full name, but she turned around nonetheless, to see one of Garble's friends, Cinder? Probably Cinder.

"Yes, I am. And you are?" Dragons seem to value rudeness for some weird reason, though the smile Cinder(?) gives her is not a happy one.

"Char."

Ah, close enough.

"Cool" she said, casually.

"I'm keeping an eye on you" he said "I don't know why you insisted on having a ball for no reason, and I sure as hell don't know why you invited those half breeds."

Astral bristled, but kept her voice steady when she said "you mean my niece and nephew?"

His lip curled even more, showing off some very impressive canines. "Yeah. Them."

It suddenly hit Astral as to why there's so many dragons in the room. It wasn't just a show of power, these dragons volunteered, knowing they would get a free pass to a certain extent on rude behavoir while ponies didn't.

Shit that's clever.

So Astral can't do anything when they talk shit about her friends. Well, shouldn't.

She leaned in and growled "bite me" at the dragon, before stomping off in the direction of her friends.





After that, Astral grabs Fly and Mimi and they stick close to their parents. Is it childish? Yeah. Is it calming? Fuck yes.

Watching her mother and brother work is actually really cool. Twilight allowed all insults to fly over head, where Spike hovered, narrowing his eyes threateningly if they took things too far, a clear sign to back the hell up.

But, all good things must come to an end and all that, so eventually Thorax nudged his son and said "come on! Be social for once!" 

Desperately the three looked to the other two adults, but Twilight and Spike seemed to be in agreement, never a good thing.

And so, the three were forced back into the crowd, looking very annoyed at that all the while. Eventually, they all peel off and go their separate ways once more, and it is around then that Astral is sought out by Lord Ember.

"Hello, Astral Plane." No title this time, but she can't tell if that's a good or bad thing.

"Hello, Lord Ember" she turned, to do the bow, but almost immediately started screaming.

There were- Gods- bugs. Crawling out of Ember's mouth and nose and eyes. 

In all her life, Astral had never screamed like that before. She screamed like a Pegasus who forgot how to fly whilst in a hurricane. Her limbs went akimbo as she tried to skitter away, only succeeding in falling over in her panic. She summoned Aegis without another word, only to be roughly grabbed by the scruff on her neck and pulled away.

She blinked, and found herself face to face with Smoulder. "What the hell was that about?" She demanded, and oh man, Astral really didn't want to look at Ember again, but she sneaked a peak, only for her brain to screech to a stop.

Ember was fine. A little confused, but otherwise fine. 

But- but she had- but-

Hallucination.

The word dropped like a stone into Astral's stomach. Oh Gods, she had pulled a weapon on the Dragon Lord, in front of everyone.

They all stared at her, some in confusion, some in hostility, most, she realized, a mixture of both.

She could see her family shoving their way through as she was dropped unceremoniously on the floor. She didn't try to catch herself, just lay there and waited for her mom's purple hooves to appear.

"What is happening?" She raised her head slightly- it was Dragonfly, he had reached her first, with her mom and Spike and Mimic and Thorax close behind.

"What happened" Smolder said, and yeah, she was seriously pissed "is that your daughter pulled a weapon on our leader."

She can see their blank looks, see how Astral+Weapon doesn't add up in their heads. After a couple of beats of silence, Twilight shook her head with a laugh. "That's ridiculous" she said "Astral doesn't have a weapon, she doesn't even know how to use one!"

In response, Astral summoned Aegis, which clattered beside her, causing Twilight to jerk back. "Astral?" She whispered, holding out a hood tentavely.

"I'm sorry!" She said, desperaely. "I thought she was something she wasn't! I- I thought I saw something!"

The dragons in the crowd snorted, but some of the ponies looked at her curiously, sensing she was being honest. Twilight rubbed her face with her hoof. "Mimic, Dragonfly, take her to her bedroom please."

At this there were several objections, which Twilight broke down with a single, icy glare. "She is my daughter" she bit out "this is my kingdom. She will go to her room while we discuss things here. Mimic, Dragonfly, go."

The crowd parted for the three of them, and they made their way in silence up to Astral's room. It was a silent walk, but not an uncomfortable one, for Mimi had one wing rested over her back while Dragonfly let her lean on him the entire way.
> Loop 81
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral Plane really did not like Manehatten. She turned her body so as to avoid bumping shoulders with anyone, knowing it would not do her any favors. She had come to get a rare power pony comic book.

So she was bored. Sue her.

Despite having been here before, she couldn't help but stare. Large, towering buildings made of sparkling glass and smooth stone. How had they made those buildings? She couldn't help but wonder. How did the glass not shatter? She saw one building, smaller than the rest, but with big block words: Comic Cache!

"Hah!" She let out a little breathless laugh before turning into the alleyway that connected the two main streets.

Only to immediately by hit from behind.

Not expecting it, Astral stumbled to the ground and fell as blood from the glass bottle began to run down her head. She tried to summon her Aegis, but her concentration was blurry, though she did manage to turn and face the attacker.

An older mare, holding the broken glass that she had been smashed over the head with in her magic, stared down at her. For a second she seemed surprised, probably by how young Astral was, and, briefly, doubt and regret washed over her face before it hardened again.

She reached for the saddlebags around Astral's back, and Astral panicked. The money was fine, but if she took her scrapbook she would never get it back. It wouldn't go through the loops with her. 

No,no,no,no!

She tried to stand, but the mixture of her blurry vision and her scarf, which was now trailing loosely, conspired to make her fall over. She swung a hind leg towards the mare, and judging by the surprised "oof" actually got her.

The mare stumbled back, clutching her chest, where there would almost certainly be a bruise in a couple of hours. She tried to catch her breath for a second, before her features darkened into rage.

Oh shit.

Oh shit!

The mare reared up on her hind legs and brought them down on her ribs, and Astral let out a yelp. At the same time, her saddlebag was roughly snatched from her, and the sound of hoofsteps sounded.

Astral's horn sparked, and she blindly grabbed onto the other mare's tail, and dragged her back to her with a lot of effort. It was hard to keep her magic up, her concentration waxed and waned with every second. But, she did manage to keep a grip despite all the struggles and separate her bag from her.

The mare froze, then snarled a desperate "no!"

Lunging at Astral, undoubtedly ready to tackle the already injured Unicorn and retake her prize. 

It wasn't conscious thought that did it, it was pure panic and the primal fear of getting even more injured. Her subconscious screamed at her, and she mimicked it in her magic, a sudden, shock wave of pure power that forced Astral to close her eyes as she crouched lower to the ground to avoid throwing up.

She wasn't sure how long she was out for, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. When she awoke, her vision still swum in front of her, and standing was a . . . standing was a struggle.

She had only just enough frame of mind to cast the healing spell, and sighed as the feeling of coolness ran from her head to her tail. This time, when she opened her eyes, she could actually see. 

Progress!

Of course, Unicorn spells didn't do that well for internal injuries, so she may want to get herself checked into a hospital for that. Even now, the distance was suspiciously blurry.

Spotting her saddlebag, she quickly rechecked it, relived to find everything was still in there. She also retied her scarf, grimacing at the blood on it. I'll wash it soon, she assured herself, before getting out and starting out of the alley with a sigh can't very well go into a comic book store looking like this. I'll just try again next loop.

Just as she was at the mouth of the alley, she noticed something; a small, light blue ball next to one of the dumpsters. Astral stared at it for a second before heading closer.

It was the mare.

Or, more accurately, it was the mare's head.

Astral stared at it for a second, before turning to a second, much bigger ball.

It was the mare's body.

She remembered now; she outburst of magic that she had aimed at the mare had formed into a razor sharp beam or something.

How long had she been dead?

Astral decided to ask another question.

Did it really matter?

She stared down at the corpse and blinked.
> Loop 82
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything happened so quickly, it was hard to fully process. 

But Fluttershy knew something was up.

For the past few days, some of her animals had been missing. This, in itself, wasn't actually too weird. Her animals were noticeably skittish and so would hide from ponies if they got too close. The fact that they were all prey supported this.

So, at sundown, she sat on one of the highest hills and sung one of her songs. As usual, her animals gathered around her, ready as ever to listen to her-

Wait.

She paused, frowned, staring around at the small gathering around her hooves. Small was right. She did a quick headcount and realized there were only ten animals surrounding her.

There was twenty missing.

She scanned her surroundings, but didn't see any other animals.

Cautiously, she rose to her hooves and started down the path to the main field, as she craned her neck to see any of her small friends. Nothing. Nobody.

Then she saw it; a small brown tail sticking just barely out of the bush.

Smiling, she walked towards him, only to start to slow down halfway. Something was wrong. Her feathers began to fluff up in agitation and worry.

Maybe I can get Brae back in here? She shook the thought away. Braeburn was out in town with his friends, and she knew how little free time he got between the sanctuary and the farm. 

Pulling him away because of a feeling was just mean.

At least, that's what she thought until she stepped through the bushes, and stopped dead in her tracks.

There is a little known fact about Pegasi; when threatened or scared, their wings will shoot straight up and they will fluff up. It is, not just an effort to make themselves appear bigger, but also to try and stop themselves from going cold with shock. Fluttershy had never been the fluffiest Pegasus, but now she looked like a ball of fluff with wings.

Laying there, in a mound, were her friends.

Twenty small creatures, squirrels, rabbits, birds,hedgehogs-

All with their necks brutally snapped and dumped on the ground behind a bush

She felt tears well up as she stumbled back, into her predator friends. She turned to them, nausea rising "did you do this?" She whispered, and they gave her an affronted look.

No, they were right. This- this was done by a pony. Animals can't snap necks.

Oh Gods, Butterscotch would be coming home from school in two hours, what was she going to do? Should she report this? If so, to whom? The royal guard would not be interested in a couple of dead prey.

Twilight.

Twilight would help her.

She turned, and started running- only to crash into someone else.

Fluttershy hit the ground, and, after instinctively apologizing, glanced up. She relaxed upon seeing who was staring down at her and stood up.

"Oh, Astral Plane" she said, before frowning "shouldn't you be in school?"

Then her feathers started to bristle.

Astral's face was blank. Completely blank, save for her eyes- completely restricted, her pupils like pinpricks. She said nothing, just tilted her head slightly as a look of contemplation crossed her face.

Fluttershy took a step back, at the exact same time as one of the bears stared growling. Astral blinked up at him, before . . twitching. 

At least, that's what it looked like, until his head dropped to the ground at Fluttershy's hooves. She bit back a scream as she stumbled back, falling on her side in her haste to get away.

Astral blinked down at her, before her horn glowed and she summoned-

A blade.

Fluttershy curled up into a ball as she saw it swung down.
> Loop 83
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kron Astral's vision was a kaleidoscope- pieces fragmenting and changing as she stumbled down the street. Hallucinations (?) flickered by on the edge of it, and more than once she had to squeeze her eyes tight to stop herself from throwing up.

Still, she managed to flounder her way to Sweet Apple Acres, staring up at the barn for a second to make sure it was the right one. She was pretty sure the barn had been red not yellow, but the longer she stared, the more it fragmented.

She was bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored. 

Nothing to do, nothing to see.

So, it looked like she would have to make her own entertainment.

Worse than the boredom, however, was the sound of the pounding. In her head? It followed her always now, a mixture of her heartbeat and her magic that made hearing impossible.

An endless, endless sound.

A sound that only seemed to stop after she killed. 

She wasn't sure if she wanted it to stop.

Astral was pretty sure she had gone insane. Or maybe not gone anywhere. Maybe she was always insane.

If she had been sane before, then why did she grab the tiger? Explain that, Astral. Why did she grab that tiger with her magic and laugh as she threw it at civilians and laugh and laugh and laugh as they were torn to shreds-

Explain that, Astral.

Wait.

She paused for a moment. Did that really happen?

Did it matter?

"Astral?" Her name came through like water, the pounding of her head and magic muffled all other noise. She turned to see Jam and her mothers standing on the porch, looking at her, concerned.

She bared her teeth and walked towards them.
> Loop 84
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fragments of colors stabbed at her eyes as she walked into the field, but she could still clearly see them.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

How should she do this? She could just do a simple execution, but already that felt played out, overdone, boring.

Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring-

She blinked and suddenly her hoof was on someone's wings. She squinted, trying to remember who it was.

Ignoring the piercing shriek in her head (?), she instead focused for a second on who this Pegasus could be.

Rainbow . . . Rainbow something.

I feel like I should know her name.

Why don't I know her name?

Does it matter?

I-

D͚͔͛͡O̥̯̘̓̾̍̋͢Ḛ̈̓͢Ş̝͎͇͚̍͑͆̅͡ ̙͓͊̏Ï̛̙͕T ͇̄M̟͎͋̃̀͢AŤ̨T̮̹̟́̓̔Ë̥̝͚͇͑̇͌R̲̱̬͊̀̊͆́͢ͅ?̨̭͙͍̒̒̀͠

. . . No

Good


Kill her

Her hoof moved without thought, snapping the Pegasus' neck with a modicum of effort.

Good. Now the other-

The thought was abruptly cut off as she was thrown through the air. Lazily spinning, she landed back on all fours, staring at the strange pink mare, who's mane was now oddly flat.

I know her. I definitely know her-

The mare blurred, and she only had just enough time to take a small step back, before a hoof was embedded deep in the ground where her skull had been.

The pink mare's eyes trailed up to look at her, and this time she managed to dodge the blows, only just barely. 

Until the mare hit her point blank in the throat, sending her stumbling back. Their fighting styles where too similar (how? How could they be so alike) so she fired up her magic and sent her Shards at her, faster than the eye can see.

Languidly, almost mockingly, the mare tilted back, so most of the Shards went over her head, then she grabbed the last one between her teeth and sent it spinning towards her, slicing open the Unicorn's cheek.

She blinked, reaching up a hoof to touch the wound, before she felt the ground fall from under her. 

She was, she was floating. Away from the earth and soil.

She met the teary blue eyes of her tormentor, before they hardened into something sharper and she dropped- faster than gravity, so fast she couldn't react in time.

She groaned, trying to push herself up, but failing. The mare watched her for some time, tears still streaming down her face, before she turned away to the Pegasus and started carrying it away.

What was that?!

Rare to find someone so . . . gifted in chaos magic
> Loop 85
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The owl was perched on it's branch, high above the town of Ponyville. If the yellow one were to spot it, she would be very confused. After all, owls were not supposed to be out at this time, and they certainly shouldn't be so close to town.

It could complicate things if she tried to talk to it.

It wouldn't take her long to realize that it wasn't an owl.

Kronos sighed, and jumped off, flaring her wings out so she could soar above the town for a while. As if on cue, her host came sprinting past, clearly focused on one thing.

Whatever that thing was, it would only have her attention for a couple of minutes.

. . She could feel the other Kronos watching her, waiting.

She couldn't allow the other to get close. She had been planning for years.

Her other would not ruin this.
> Loop 86
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, had rushed home in a flurry of worry. Her day with her oldest, and only, son was cut abruptly short when it was discovered that Astral Plane was missing. 

By the time she reached home again, search parties had already came and went, bearing no luck searching for the missing Princess.

She found Starlight holed up in the throne room, tears running down her cheeks as she saw Twilight. "I'm sorry!" She burst out, curling in on herself as sobs shook her body. Twi pulled her in, resting her cheek on her wife's head.

"It's okay, I can fix this, I will fix-"

They had no warning, no bright light or sudden sound, but suddenly, instantly, the two's vision blacked out for a split second.

Twilight had heard about this before, about magical blasts so powerful they could temporarily deafen and blind you. She scrambled awkwardly, feeling fur brush her own as someone flew past her.

Her vision returned, but she was already moving, ducking to avoid a lazer and constructing a shield around herself and Starlight. The two turned to face the assailant, a masked pony, who watched them for a second, before their horn glowed and the shield cracked and crumbled around them.

Faster than they could react, the pony lunged, flipping onto Twilight's back and forcing her to the ground, before using her as a springboard to tackle Starlight, falling into a roll and using their momentum to throw her against the wall.

Twilight's magic sparked with her rage, but the pony simply sidestepped the laser, and seamlessly grabbed Twilight's outstretched hoof, flipping her with ease. As Twilight hit the ground, Starlight cast her own personal laser spell, much more powerful than most.

Instead of sidestepping it like expected, the pony  . . . ran towards it. Twilight watched in disbelief as the other pony, let out a short burst of power . . . which cut through Starlight's magic like a hot knife through butter.

With a cry, Starlight fell at Twilight's hooves, horn blackened.

This- this was bad. She, Starlight and Sunset were- or had been in her case- the most powerful Unicorns since Starswirl. And this newcomer had just one shotted Starlight.

She was suddenly aware of just how much danger she may be in.

She put up her strongest shield spell, fortified beyond belief , even as she turned to quickly cast a basic healing spell on Starlight, keeping an eye on the enemy all the while.

"It doesn't have to go like this!" She insisted. "We can talk!"

In response, the pony set off a concussive blast. Inside the shield. 

If the fight before was harsh, this was bedlam.

It was like an earthquake, shaking Twilight deep into her bones as she hit the inside of her shield with enough force to destroy it.

Her vision swam and blurred, and she tried desperately to grab onto the light that was slowly shrinking in favor of darkness.

The last things she saw were two familiar colored hooves.
> Loop 87
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was, Astral found, disturbingly easy to start a war.

She had been going for the yaks at first, but then realized that the dragons would be more fun.

At first she considered killing Ember, but the last thing she needed was the dragons fighting each other.

So.

Killing Smolder, in plain view of everyone, turned out to do the trick. The dragons were, of course, incensed, and their allies, Gryphons and Yaks respectively, were also up in arms.

After that, it was as simple as looping a few times and figuring out what Celestia and Luna were doing to stop the threat of war, and carefully sabotaging them.

By the end? It was Ponykind vs Gryphons, Yaks and Dragons.

Astral smiled. This would be fun.
> Loop 88
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You would think that a war between the Yaks, Dragons and Gryphons Vs. ponykind would be a fairly easy battle. The three allies, did, after all, outnumber the ponies by a wide margin, and were known for being experts in the art of fighting.

And, for some parts, it was easy. In terms of troops, the alliance known as the 'Spindle' not only outnumbered them, but with the magic proof dragons, even ponies best Mages couldn't dent them.

Well, save for one.

This mare, as Celestia had been informed it was a she, would blitz into the battlefield in her own personal armour, and massacre hundreds of enemies, before vanishing again. Most of the time, the enemies were part The Spindle, but at other times, this mare would turn on her own kind.

Celestia could not find a single mention of this mare anywhere, and it was clear that she was not part of her guard, or anyone elses for that matter. She may of have been a mercanery, but who hired her? And why would she be killing both sides?

To make matters worse, Twilight, their usual negotiator, wasn't feeling up to par, ever since her daughter, Princess Astral Plane, had gone missing. Popular theory was that the enemy took her, but they denied all knowledge.

Well.

They would, wouldn't they?





Astral's mind felt split in two, yet at the same time not.

Two seperate voices, one distinct, one muted seemed to be talking. But, whenever she tried to focus inwards, the louder voice would get louder, forcing her to focus on the here and now-

D̴͉̦̝͎̙͛̎u̵̙̫̲͂̈́̎͠c̸͕͈͉̭̿͒͘͠͝k̶̢̮̭͉͚̖̘͋

She did, falling into a basic barrell roll to avoid the Gryphon's sword, swinging one of her Shards (and how many did she have now? She had stopped counting ages ago) upwards and tearing of it's head. She used the fallen sword to skewer a dragon in the eye before moving onwards.

When her opponents saw her, many had tried to flee. Not that it did them much good.

somethings wrong

F̸̨̧̡̢̨̨̨̡̨̨̨̢̡̧̛̛̛͇͓̱̜͍̱̬͔̙̲͚̼̲̼̯̪̦͈͈̹̯͙̪̳͙͙͙̩̥̭̮͈͙̗͎̱͍̺̩̬͖̥̤̗̤͇̘̩͍̜͕̼̻͖̲̠̤͇̹̱̜͇̫̬̱̠̺̝̘̠͎̥̲͍̫̺̿̈́̐̈́̏͌̍͗̋͆̈́̂̀̎̏͊͗͌̈̄̍̅̉̈́̒̄̌͂̇̒̈́̉̈́͋̃̅̾̈̐̄́̐̉̎̽̔́͒̆͐͊̉͆̒͑͋̅͒͆̀͒̔͗̀͐̔̑̓͆̓̓͗́͋̌͑͑̽̚̕̕͘̕̚͘͜͜͠͠͠͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅǬ̵̡̛̙͔̦̹͎͍̫̱̩̺͍̱̥̭́̅̈́͂͌̅̽̌̃́̚ͅC̶̡̧̧̛̙͇͇̼̠̻͔͍͇̣͓͉̫͉̮̖͎͖̖̺͓͇̠̟̫̞̰̙͈̝͔̮͍͖͚̦͖̹͇͚̤͉̤͓̤̪̯̲̤͙̹̜̳̓̎̒̍̏̌̆͛͌̐̂̆̆͑͑͐̉͊͌͐͐̊̓̎̊̇͆͗́̎̉̒͂̽̕͜͝͝͝͠U̷̧̧̡̨̦̩̳͖̳̟̺̜̠̯͚̳͓͓̠̪̻̰̺̮͎̙͇̫̖̲̩̤̫̠̣̟͎̫̼̥̯̤̤̳̯͈̯͖̲̝̺̺͕̟͔͍̺͙͇͇͗̿͂͑͌͌̎͒͆̔̓̎̍́̏͐͂̽̆͂͐̿̿͛͋̃̉̽̂͌̓̓͐̀͑̓̆̈͗͋͒̏̈́́̈́̅̕̕͜͠͠ͅͅͅS̸̢̢̡̛̛̛̫͎͉̟͎̬̪̠̮̝̦̦̘͕̳̳̻̰̲̹͔̞͎͈̫̗̟͕̝̈́̄̋͌͌̅́̋͒̍̈́̔͛͋̏̋͐̀̉̎̀̉̎͑̑̐͒̈́́͋͗̄̒͂́̏́̅̑͋̅̋͆̿̐͋̇̓̃̅̈́͑̚͘̚̕̕͘̚͜͝͠͠͝͝



i dont understand

why are you doing this




Eventually, she ran out of things to kill, and so sat down in the middle of the battlefield, breathing heavily. She knew the ponies would be coming soon, and she would be better off moving-

k̷͓͈̒͝i̶͙͑͝l̷̝̽l̸͎̑̃͜ ̴̰̔͜t̴̛̲̜ḣ̷̝é̸̩͘m̴͔̹̽̂ ̶̱͚͒t̸̊ͅo̷̰̔̍o̸͕̔

She blinked up at the sky for a moment. Why? She was a-

She was a-

What was she again?

She glanced down, vision blurring slightly at the edges as she stared down at her . . hooves?

K̸͔̜̱͔͇̣̈͂̄̇̾̓̓̀̇͐͊̅̇̈́͘̚Ì̵̧̧̼̖̥̺̹̗̻̜̆͂͐͆͒̌̑̊̍͠L̵̨͈̜͚̰͗̐̔̉̓̀Ḷ̴̍͑̈́̄̀̅̿͋̉͝ ̶̨̼̲̹̦̩̬̼̺͆̿͜Ţ̸̝͇̝͔͓͕͍̝̪̻̫͖̻̳̑̈H̶̡̦̠͚̯̼̭̥̙̤̘̬̩̰̀̍̇̅̇̕É̴̆̿̔̊͗̓̓́̌̈́̒̀̓̐̾̏͊̕̕͜M̸̺͉͚̜͚̫̟͇̍̑̿̉̐̈́̾̂́̏̊̍̅̅͋̕ ̶̨̧̙̰̱̝͉͈̳͔̯̝̞̗̘̺̙̼͚̮̟̀̀͛̎T̴̛͕͇͂͊̉̂̀̒̔̄̇͒̀̌͒͘̚O̶̢̨̘̪͕̝̝̫͓͚͖̩̝͈̹͓̗̪̾̄̑́̿̂̿͆̉̒̈́̓̀͘̕͝͝O̵̗̮̒̌̏̄͗̈͋̈͆͛
why

A faint echo, an idea not even realised. "Why?" She asked outloud. "Why do I need to do that?"


K̴̡̢̢̢̡̛̫͔͖̮͓̼̟̻͚͇͔̠̤͇͖̱̦̦͈̲͈̼̬͒̾̓́̉̇̃́̀͛̿̀͑̎͋̑̀́̄͋͑̈́̀̓̈́̔̒̓͊̏͌͂̄̕͜ͅͅȈ̴̢̨̨̛͓͖̠̥̤̤̩̞̖̗̭̘̟̭̘̞̺̗̰̳͋̔̀̿̒̈͑́̈́̓̍͐̈́̿͝͝͝L̷̟͗̆̈́̅́̂̌͆L̴̝̼͚̦̬̞̜̝̥̻͚̳͍̱̘̯͇̩̪̲̜͓͉̺̟̗̯̪̖̖̼̞̂̕ͅͅ ̸̡̢̢̺̳͖͈̹̯̣̖̖͓̩͕̩̣͙̪̣̥̳͎̞̇̂̿́̈́͆͐̎̽̃͒̂̈͑͒͛̄̒͂̏͋̊̓͐̀̒̆̕̕͜͜͠ͅT̵̢̽͒́̀̑͂͐͆͋̉͛̒̊̈̔̀́̓̃͌̈̍͊̎͋̇̔̂̆̾̚͜͝H̵̨̢̧̡̛͙̮̤̻̬̻͕̱̦̠͈̤͇̝̠̤̙͎̥̟̼͚͇̯̩̭̟͔̔̔͊̅͛̔̂̃̇̈̈́͌̅͆̒̀̀̿̚͘̚͠͝Ę̷̠̂ͅM̵̡̡̞̪̞̠̫͖̰̟̪̪̩͖͔̺̼̠̗̗̦̠̼̻̍̈̒͋̒̄͜͜ͅ ̶͎̗̯̣͓̞̬͉̳̔͗͆́̎͋̈̿̒̂͐̏̈́͊̑̂̓̔͊͒̔̓̃͐̀̕͠͠ͅT̷̨̛̬̣͍͍͇̭͍̹͇͆̀͑̌́̿̓̅̅͋͗̅̓̐̊̏͒̓̀̈́̑̉͋̀͗͊͒͋̉͘̚͝͠͝͝Ơ̶̡̢̞͔̩̝͕͍͚͎̻̙͎̱̖̯̟̗͇͓̼̗̘̤̯͉̬̩̥̞̻͐̅͂͜Ò̸̢̥͈͚̬̯̤͔̞̙̹̼͓̩͕̫̲̰̠͚̟̺̮͎̒́̈́͆̀̇̽̃̍̀͒̊̉͗́̌̈́̑̍͌̈́̌̚̕͘͜͠͝͝



Sudden, startling pain, like a knife being stabbed into her temples, and she gasped, curling inwards instinctively.




Y̴̢̡̡̛͔͈̝̗̫̪͓͎̝̞͎͎̠̰̳͇̬̣̅͌͊͌̾̊̽͋̉̐͛̈́̽͋̾̇̊̎͝͝O̸̡̡̢̻͖̗̦̪̘̙̻̭̰̭̗̣̟̳͈̙͇͊U̷̢͕̮͍̤̥̮̻̬̗͙̮͚̪̗̣̝̦̝͖̳̞̗̖̯̾̽̏̉͊͆̒͋͐̽̔̄͗̎̕͘͝͝ͅ ̴̨̯̗̌̾̉̀̉͑̿Ḑ̵̠̞̬̤͈̜͚͈̗͎̘̦͙̮̞̤͖͙̯̗͎̘̮͉̍̿̊͒͊͛̇͂̈̃́́̌̀̍͋̄̏̅͒̾̍̍̚͜͜͠Ã̶̢̧̛̯͉͉̲̮̭͚͎̠̼͈̜̫͚̼͚̼̝̦̮̙̭͉̫̾͐͆̈͋̅͒̎̌̂̃́̏̄̀̃͘̕͝R̶̢͇̰̜̣͙̝̙͍̗͙͙̲̠̹̥̞̲̹̭̎̒̍̑̐̈͗́̈́̐́̾̌̆̍͐̍̒̔̒͘͘͝Ȩ̴̧̨̨̰͚̻̻̹͙̥̞̠͖̥̙̈̀̚ͅͅ ̶̨̢̨̟̜̘̻̗̯͉͙͖̠̟̯̠̫̦̗͎̰͖͎͈̳̬͗̌̋͊̀͘̚͝͝ͅQ̴̧͚̣͓̺̬̩͖̙͈̞̩̱͙͚̗̽́͌́̓̈́̓̊̏̋͗̕͝͝͠͠ͅŲ̶̡͉̫̱̳̝̤̪̯͖͇͖̤̟̫̗̘͍̗̪̝̂̿́͒͌̾̓̉́̒͋̔͐̒̀̉̔̾̎́͛̌̒̂́̚͝ͅE̸̛̠̲̼͍͇͎̜̞̋̓́͑̑́͑̄͐̀͊͂̆̏͊̿̕̚͝ͅS̸̭͎̗͍̗̮̥͚̈́̀̃́͆͛̑̈̆̐͘͝͝T̸̠̤̙̜͎̪͎̗̹̎̽͌̐̀̏̓͆͆́̀͠Ỉ̸̹͑́̀͗̑́͐̏̐̋͝Ơ̵̡̨̞̰̭̈́̑͆̊̍̊̒͆̓̈́̅̏̕͝͝͝͝ͅN̸̛̝͕̅̇͑͛̎̍̆̔̔̂̀̇͊͂̑͛́̏̓͗͛͘͘͠͝ ̸̢̨̭̳̻̥̟͖̜̟̯̱̤̹̭̝̼̲̺̩̥͖̞̯̻̾͆̑̈̿ͅṂ̵̡̜̱͇͔̲̮̜̣̹͔̲̹̳͖̝̦̜͈͇͎͍̝̅̂̈́̆͊̇͂͆͆͋̆̀̽̎͗͜Ę̵̛̲̮͈͉̙̋̿̈́̈́͑̃̎͒̃̈́̈́͊̍͛̉̕͠?̷̺̳͇̔̇͊̃͋̍̀
̸̦̈́͌͒̌̋̑̿̑̿̋̾̈́̈́̾̊̿̿̎͗͑̿̽̓̚͘
̷̢̝͎͕͓͈̙͓͖̝̥̬̣̦̾͆͐̽̈́͑̌̆̏̈͌͛̿̏͛͘͜N̷̞͔͖̙̭͕̯̱̊̌̉̈́͑̍̉̋͝Ỏ̸̢̧̡̨̳̥̖̘̘͍͚̺̺͍̪̻͈̩͕̫̣̘̲̯̣̘͇̄́̓̔̔̍͗̍͘B̸̯͂̀̐̏̊̅̍͐͑̆͋̆̀̏͑̆̈́̐̓̇͊͊̏̔̈̕͘O̶̠̝̺͕̓̾̿̾̓̾͂͒̈́̃͛̒̋͝D̶̝̜͔̠͓̘̄̔́͑Y̶̧̡̫̮̠͎̬̖̫̻̥̳̺̦͈͖͕̖̩̞̎̀̃͒̀̍͒̎̑̂͒̈́̀̉̌͒̈̏̀̃͒͠ ̵̧̡̛͉̗̪̗̘̮͍̣̦͚̮͓͙͔͚̺̲̗͙͖̑̈́̾͆͛̆̑̿̕͝ͅͅŴ̵̧̱͔͍̟̣̺͕̻̊́̈͆̋͂̈̏́̽́̈́͒͘̕͠͝I̷̧͕̖̦̜͛̉̾́̾̆̃́͑͋͊̀͂̾̌͐͗̈́͋͘͠͝Ĺ̸̫̝̀͒̓̽̽͒͊̀͐L̵̡̛͚͈͈͕͕̬͈̳̲̥̯̜̼̩̗͇̺̏̾̊͑͊͗̐͗͌̅̔̈́̈́͌̈́͋̂̿̌̽͑̌͝͠ͅ ̸̡̿̈́͌̃̓̈́͋͂͛̈͂̎́̀̒̉͠H̷̛͓͖̣̤̟̼͉̱̘̠͍̹̻̻͔̫̝̥̉͛̐͋̓̈́̑͑̈́͌͌̃̿̄̈́̔̔͛̐̾̿̏̒͜Ȩ̶̛̙͈͔̪̯͍̜̼̏̎͌̾͆̃́͒̅̔͂̎͊́́̊͊̑̋̂̀͝͝L̸̢̢̡̝̙͍͎̥̯̝̝͕̭̗̝̙͎̭̙͎̂̃̌̿̃̈́̃͋̃͒̈́̓̌̊̇͗̓̿͗̓͒́̀͜͜͝͝ͅͅP̵̨̡̨̛̫͙̺͔̫̻̼̭̲͉͈̘̘̹͓̠̺͔̬̻̮̼̝̹͛̆͑̌͆̃͐͐͌̏͛̆͑̆̾̌̈̑̃̉͂̄͘͘͝ ̷̗̻͇̳͑̋̂́̿̋̔̀͂̂͐̈͆̈̏͑̽̆͘̚͠͝Ỷ̵̧̢̢̢̜̩͙̠̰̣̠̩͈̩̦̪͔̫̦̬̯̰̥̜̄́́͜Õ̵̢̲̘͙̭̤̝͚̗̹͙̘̱͉̯̦͓̬͍͋͐̑̍̇̎͛̈͋̈́͊͊͑̈̂̔̀̚̚͝͠͠Ů̶̳͓͈̭̻̬̠̼͖̘̥̝̩̬͙̺̠̭̺̫̒̉͗͆̓̈͛̏̈̀̏͐̀̇̇̃͗̇̂̚͜͝ͅ
̸̡͔̞̟̺̜̳͆͘i will
̷̡̡̛͖̯͕͓̖̦̼̰̦̯̗͕̪͓̺̠̟͇͚͔̍̅͗͐̉̋̊͗̎́̋̍̈́̈́͂̉̓͗̾͛̌̆͒̚͘̚͜͜͠ͅÑ̵̙̭̌̈̀̑͒̇̇̽̕O̸̻̊̆́͒̊̂̂͒̊̓̈́̋̚͘͝͝Ḅ̴̡̛̛̰̥͔̗̻͇͙͓̪̈̎̃̄̆̀̇͂͒̔̾̀̏̂̄̄̀̋̒͑͘͘͘̚̚͜ͅŌ̶̡͍̘͙͓̽̾̐̊͠D̵͍̺̹͖̜͖̖̦̞̦̳͕̘̻͎̩͖̱̖̼̫͎͕̘̩͌͂͋̇̐̔̓͜͠Ŷ̴̨̢͙̻͇̝̃̊͋̽̑̑̀̈́͂̂̒̃̊̈̿̈́̿̇͊͗͌̃̓̚͝͝͠ ̴̞͚̼͍̞̤͍̰̣̗͉͉̠̇͂͜ͅW̸̡̢̧̛͔͇̮̅̈̇̒̃̽̿͐̈́̇̑̔̚͘̕͝I̶̡̛͈̭͓̳̺͎͙̦̲͔͎̞̯̻̠̼̦͎͕̥̫͇̙͕͓̓͐̑̃̽͑̔̓̈̀͐̾̐̎̾̌́̾͝͝ͅͅĻ̴̢̨͎̥̱̳̭͕͈̖͎̥͕͙̖̤̬͔̫̩̲̊̓͑́̇̐̒͜͜ͅĻ̶̻͈͉͎͓̭̻̳̞̰̳̜̻̹̝͆̾̀͗͆̈̆̅͋͠ ̴͎͍͎̳̗̲̲̦͈̈́͊̊̈́̂̈́̎͑̌̿̿̈͆̇̌̽̈́̌̚̕͝S̸̛̺̞͕̰̰̦͎̖̮͈̩̘̙͍͎̠̱̜̳̝̞̐̃̔̅̾̕͘͜͜͝A̷̫̤͎͈͕̮͖̩̠̘̻̟̳͇͔̝͉̰̯̞͇̤͖̫̱͆̌̔͂͌̉̀̕͝V̶̛̙͎̬̭͔͚̼̟̜̱͔̗̙̙̰̻̪͚̤͙̦̞͒̄̎̅͌̌͆̓̊͐̍͊̐̂͠͝E̵̢̢̢̼̙̗͕̤̞̫̳̱̻̱̱͉͔̞̟̠̻̪͍̭͍͓̙̿͑̄͊͂͗̄͋̈̅̌ ̷̡̢̛͓̮͉̰̰͙̝̭͎̗̆̐̔́̎͋́̾̌͋͐̂̑́̎́̀̈̈́̃̐͑̋̅̀͘͠Ŷ̴̨̡̢̛̰͓̬̙̙̤̳̮͎͈͔̹̮̯̰̈́̉̆̈́̃̈̄̂̍͗̏̉̄̾̆̍͊̈́̍̎̌͊͑͗͋Ǫ̴̡̡̡̡͚̺̳̱̮̘̥͍̞̪͇̘̗͕̠̮̳̻͍̗̼̌̄͋̆̅̄͌͐̋͘Ụ̶̹̐̉
i will



Her head grew hotter and hotter, and she found it hard to breathe, back legs spazming from the pain of it all.




i can help
Y̷̡̛͈̜̺̘̹̭͖̬̬̹͖̳̱̜̟̘̬̖͈͖͎̥͇̝̭͙̹͓̯͎̺̭̞̜͇̝̥̹̟͂̀̆̓̈́̀͑͋͒̋̐͒̽̈́̊̍͊̈̈͊̎̐̇̿̌̍̒̄̈̿͐̑̅̆͘̕̚̚͝͝͝͝ͅŌ̸̧͚̻̜̮͓̼̱̯̖̮̤̯̮̯̪̯̿͒̿͐̐̎͌̈́̎̕ͅU̶̡̖̟̺͈̥̙͓̬̠̰̽̊͗̔̏̇́̔̑̾͒͂̒̔͆̏̅̽̉̍́̇̇͊̒͒͑̽̈͘̚̚͝͝ ̵̡̡̢̨̡̧̛̼̲̩̥̰̙̮̹͍̤̳͓̘̰͚̠̮̦̲̯͍̗̻̳̝͍̼̙̤̖̝͚̺̗̠͎̮̭͓̲̳̈́̋̇̈̓̑̒̐̂͛̈̏͐̆̌͂̈́̑̀̄̀͂̈́̄̏͆͒̒̾̌̊̈̋̔̋͒̅̀̓̾̇͘̕͘̕͜ͅͅÄ̶̢̢̧̡̨̻̰̣̳̭͉̭̙̫͍̪̬̹͙͚̰̗̣̰̻̰̙͓͈̺͍̺̫̮̤̠̰͓̮̝̭͉̹͋̇͐́͗͛̇̈́̓̓͂̇̈̈́͊̎̀̀̀̍̄͛̆́̄̏͘͜ͅͅR̶̢̡̛̭̦̼̠͇̪̞̦̤̖̬̻̺͔̹͔͍̻̼̦̺͖͍͈̱̭̲͚͎͗̈́̿̂̿̀͂̌͋̍̂̋̉͌̅̿͛̇̀̊̈́̓̚͘̕͜͠͠ͅE̶̛̛͉̠̬͇̦̞̣̥͔̘͕͙̩̝̘͕̜̓͂́͛͛̐̈͒͒̏̈̈́̒̑́̐͌̈́͗̿͗̓̈́͆̿̃͘̕̕͜ ̸̡̨̧̧̧̪̼̫͇̗̖̗̯̪̲̖͕͔̗͚̩̲̃̄̍̓̎͊͒̋̍̐̀͗̌͌̋͒̓͊̍̋̀̐̆͐͑̔͒̃̅͆͘̚̕̚̕͝͠͝͝ͅͅM̵̨̧̡͎̺̗̟̹͖̮̘̟̘͎̣̙͚͕̬̙̠̩͓̖͙̬̤̟̣̖̤̹͈͙̿̋͂̊̔͋̕͝ͅĬ̵̢̡̯̥͍̖̲̠̞̙̮͓̼̳͙̱̭̰̟̙̦͕̅͛̾͋̾̎̉̈̊̿̑̓̕͝͠N̷̝͐̈̎͛́́͂̏͗͑͑̅̇̋́̏͋̔̃̈́̄̄͗̇̂͗͌͐̀̉͂̍̈̍̈́͂̅͋̌̒́̚͘̕̕͠͝Ę̸̭̜̮̟̫̦̣̥̫͂̅͌̽̏͑́͑̅̔̉̓͐
̴̡̧̨̨̱̣̝͇̥̣̤̲̙͎͇̪̜̳̫̺͖̣̝̳̬̖̣͚̫͖̟̳̭͎̭̭̳̱̘͇̪͉̳̉͐͐̚ͅi will help
̵̨̨̢̢͓͓̗͖̙̙̼̞̤̲̗̤̘̱̮̜͉̜̝̥̭͚͎̦͚̯̖̙̳͔̥͐̀͛̽̔͐̌́̇̽̋̒͐̂͂̅̈́̒̿͂̾͂̈́̐̈́̃̏̆̈́͊̏̈͘͘͘͘͜͝ͅͅN̴̨͈̖̭̰̯̺̱̯͖͓̦͈̗̩̗̥͍͍͐̇̇͆͆̽̀͛́͗͆̇́̃̈̌̽̕͜͝͝͠ͅO̵̢̨̢͈̜̞͓̩͈̫̲̮̺͎̯̣͕̮̱̠̗͎͉̫͔̞͍̞͎̹̜̯͈̟̖̗̩̟̝̗͓̐̅̈͜͜͜ͅͅͅB̵̧̡̢̢̩̣̠̗͈͖̗͎̯͇̲͈͓̬̹̺̞͈̳̫̤̪̯̞̋́̒͑̿̎̂̓̈́͋͛̎̿͆͊͂͗ͅͅǪ̶͖͙͚̺͎͇̻̘̿̓̄̎̈́͂̏́̆̀͋͆̈́̓̔͂̀́́͌̍̀́̂͆͂̓̕̕͘̕͜͠͠͝D̶̖̥̺̬̬̜͈̫̦̹̦͔͕̗̄̇̈́̎̎̃̀͑̅̈́͗̓̉̏̌̋̑͊̆̉̊̔͑͋̐̂̽̑̎̄͛̈́̌̃͗̂̎̾͊̀́͘̕̕͠͠͝ͅY̵͈͘ ̶̢̧̢̧̨̨͙̣͓̤̼̱͚͔̼̻̳͕̥̲͍̦̘̭̬̣̫̘̤̜̟̠͈͇͔̞̞͈͙̮̹̹͉̑̊͂̐͒́͋̎̋̋͆̅̅͌̈͒̂̎̇͆̓͒͛͑̈́̀̕̕͜͝͝ͅȄ̸̡̢̨̫̳͖̪͙͎͚̜̖̭̘͈̰̮̯͉͔̖̪̳̬͍͍̹͇̹̯͚͓̬̘̞̲̭̀̔́̒̾͂͐͒̍̀͂́̓̒́̅̍̆̓̐͑͋͐̌̇̚͜͜͝͝͝͝L̸̛͖̖̲͍̩̘̭̣̝̄̐͌̓̾̔̂̉͑̿̍͊̎͒̄͂̃̏̾̐͑̇̈́̚͝͠ͅŠ̸̡̡̱̯͍̺̭͕̼̪̫̗̜̠͍̼͓̳̆̉͑͊̌̎̀̉̾̈͂͛̒͗̌̒̐̄͑͂͋́͗̕̚͜͜͠͝ͅE̵̢̡̧̛͇̫̬̩̫̜̟̬͈̪̼̭̹͉̳̻̟̱̜̳̹̳̰̟̮͓̎̋̇͋͌̃͊͗̆͂̋͌͌͛̑́͊̐̋̆͋̀͐̊͒̿͐̆̀̔̕͜͝
just . . think of spring
think of your family, of your friends
of happiness and health
just. . think of spring


Distant voices sounded far away, and she rose up to meet them, blade at the ready as she faced down ponykind. The distinct only voice in her head exalted at this, happy to have her obey listen.

And, when it was over, and she was allowed to sleep, she curled up. 

And dreamt of spring.
> Loop 89
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was, in Kronos' humble opinion, an absolute shitshow.

The small brown Earthpony sighed as she watched the Not Quite Unicorn run around. She had known, of course, when her other half put Astral in here, that things would not end well.

She had wanted to help, to get her out, but to do so would telegraph her location to her other half and she-

"Hello Kronos."

Oh, for the love of-

"Hello Kronos."

Her other half probably wouldn't attack her here, since Astral could see them, and give the whole 'game' away, but just in case, she plunged her hoof into the Space Where There Was No Space, and pulled out her blade.

Don't engage, she is way more powerful than you now, don't engage-

"You must be pretty proud of yourself, huh?"

Why?!

The Unicorn That Wasn't A Unicorn tilted her head at the Earthpony That Wasn't An Earthpony. "What do you mean?"

"I saw what you did to Pegasus in Appleoosa. She-" she gestured after the departing Astral "saw the aftermath."

"Yes, well, it was a very messy fight."

"She was fighting for her life, I would expect it to be messy" Kronos huffed. "I assume you are now Unicorn and Pegasus now?"

"Uh-huh. Oh, and Kronos?"

"Yeah?"

"Astral's not here to see us fight anymore."

Oh fuck off.
> Loop 90
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke up, and the buzzing in her head was gone.

It was, she realized, the strangest sensation, like suddenly not being able to feel your own heartbeat or pulse. She could feel her magic, strong and bordering on crippling, thrumming beneath her, but no more distortions.

She could, finally, think.

Astral Plane.

That was her name. No question about it. 

She tried, in vain to throw back her thoughts, to try and remember what had happened, but her memory was weird, like a dream, vague impressions that slipped away before she could really figure out what happened.

Her strongest memory was of her telling herself to think of springtime. She could remember thinking of springtime, of fields of beautiful flowers, of grass shooting up, of her friends smiles.





Astral had not been expecting to be accosted by some random Earthpony, but there you go.

She had been trotting down the street, lost in her thoughts as to what happened- why did she feel so horrified and scared and nauseous by something she couldn't remember?- when an Earth Pony crashed into the ground at her hooves.

It took a while for her to figure out who the pony was, since she was absolutely covered in blood, but then Astral noticed the brown coat and curly, reddish pink mane. 

It was the mare from Sugarcube Corner. The one who got into a fight with a Unicorn.

The mare choked, trying to say something, and on instinct, Astral tried to cast a healing spell, only for- and there was no other way to say this- her magic to balk and refuse.

But the mare sucked in a breath and managed to choke out "time spells, Canterlot Archives" before shuddering and curling inwards.

She wrapped a hoof around Astral's leg, and Astral was surprised by the strength of it. The mare looked half dead, yet her grip was as strong as Bulk Biceps. 

Astral watched in disbelief as some sort of energy ran out of the mare's mouth, and down her arm, travelling up to Astral's body. She couldn't see where it went, but she flinched as something hit her horn hard enough for it to hurt.

And then, before her eyes, the mare . .  dissipated, turning into some kind of mist that traveled straight into Astral's mouth. Panicked, she tried to use her magic, only for it to spark and fail.

It all took a couple of seconds at most, and, when it was done, Astral lay on her back, eyes wide.

"What, the fuck?"
> Loop 91
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Astral woke up, something was wrong.

The buzzing in her head was back, muted now though as she opened her eyes, only to flinch back. The world seemed extremely bright today, all shades of yellows and reds and greens. Blinking rapidly, her eyes slowly started adjusting, before she pushed herself out of bed.

Her hooves sank two inches into the crystal floor without any problem. "Uh " she dragged out the vowel, lifting them up to inspect the dents she had left in the floor. She tried taking another step, only for the exact same thing to happen again.

Okay! Teleportation it is!





Oh, oh Gods, this was a mistake

She had thought that teleporting outside would make things easier.

She had thought wrong.

Astral was sure she looked very stupid, standing next to the fountain, staring up at the sky, unblinking as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

Everything was glowing.

Well.

Not everything, per say, just trees and grass and leaves and flowers and plants and-

And they glowed with a white hot intensity, bright enough to force Astral to turn away lest she be blinded by them.

What is happening?
> Loop 92
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Monday, Astral Plane's hoof went through the floor of her house and the plants are glowing.

On Tuesday she braved the outside to find that animals are attracted to her for some reason.

On Wednesday she beat Applejack, Apple Bloom and Big Mac at a hoof wrestling contest

On Thursday she searched high and low for the strange Earth Pony, but there was no sign of her.

She had vanished
> Loop 93
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zecora, of all creatures, is the one to figure out what's going on with Astral.

She had travelled to the zebra's hut, hoping that she would have some sort of cure for whatever was happening to her, or, at the very least, something to help with the growing pain that came with magical blockage.

Her joints ached now, and it wouldn't be long before she was rendered immobile again.

She shuddered to think of it.

So she knocked on the door to Zecora's house, and an unknown voice said "come in!"

Confused, she pushed the door open, to see a Pegasus with a mane consisting of three shades of grey. "Uh . ." Astral said, staring at the stranger, who blushed.

"Sorry! You must be very confused, I'm A.K Yearling, Zecora's wife!"

That- that raised more questions than answers.

Thankfully, Yearling seemed to understand "we got married a while ago, but we kept it a secret for-" she glanced at her cutie mark "reasons."

"Oh" Astral glanced around the hut "is Zecora home?"

As if on cue, a small part of the floor swung up to reveal a trapdoor, where a zebra climbed up out of, tilting her head when she spotted Astral Plane.

"Ah, I visitor I see. What do you need of me?"

"You don't have to rhyme everytime an outsider comes in here" Yearling muttered as Astral stepped forwards.

"I need your help, something weird is happening to me!"

At this, Zecora tilted her head to the side. "I can help you with your confusion, but first you must drop your illusion."

She could see through Astral's disguise. Of course she would.

Astral sighed and undid her illusion spell, going from a child to a teenager almost immediately. "There, you happy?"

"Don't be a smart alec, and let me take a look at your magic."

Zecora leaned over and picked up a small box that seemed to be full of dust. She scooped some up, and blew some onto Astral. For a brief second, the two mares seemed to change through the dust, Zecora becoming a taller, skinnier sebra with brownish yellow stripes, and Yearling becoming a Sphinx, but then Astral had to screw her eyes up tight to avoid the dust getting in her eyes, and the pictures were gone.

She heard gasps, and then, Zecora "interesting, Unicorn and Earth Pony Magic."

She's not rhyming, this is serious.

Wait-

"Earth Pony Magic?" She asked aloud. "You mean like Alchemy."

The Shaman looked stumped. "I- this is impossible" she said, turning to Yearling "have you ever seen anything like this?"

The Pegasus seemed just as surprised "no, not at all. Ponies can't have two types of Magic, unless they're Alicorns."

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense" Astral interupted. "I've seen Unicorns with Pegasus Magic before, and Pegasi with Earth Pony Magic."

The two adults exchanged a look. "Well, yes, but Unicorns with Pegasi Magic either have very weak telekinetic Magic, have magic only suited for weather spells, or just don't have Unicorn Magic. Same with Pegasi."

"But you, you seem to have an excessive amount of both Unicorn and Earth Pony Magic." Zecora tilted her head "What did you do?"

Astral laughed, loud and bitter. "That's gonna take a while" she admitted.

Zecora and Yearling looked at eachother. "Try us" they said.