Sweetie followed her sister to Twilight’s the next morning. It was so nice to not have to worry about school, the benefit of having a sister who was aware of the loop. As they entered, Twilight and the others turned to greet them. Sweetie shrank slightly as they all looked to her. Twilight held out Sweetie’s notes, and she carefully put them back into her saddlebags.
“Alright, I’ve done some extensive studying, and there are a few methods to try to make it easier for you to fill us in. The first one I’ve done is fairly simple; each of us has written a note with something only we would know on it, and we’re going to hand them to you. I don’t need to warn you what happens when you go Gabby Gums do I?” Twilight narrowed her eyes and Sweetie shook her head. There was no point, they’d forget after a week. Sweetie decided it might make a fun joke one loop.
“Alright, here’s the seven letters.” Sweetie took them, noticing Spike was off to one side. Putting them in her saddlebags, Sweetie pulled out one of her time loop books and placed it on a table. Sweetie would need more room, and she had read that one thrice already. Twilight nodded once, and then held out a small glass bottle, corked with something inside.
“I have also tried alchemy to essentially ‘bottle’ my memories. This is less likely to work, so I’ve only done my own. If it does work; the others will also get one done.” Twilight held out the bottle, and Sweetie put it in her bag as well. Sweetie wondered why this one was less likely to work, but supposed it might have something to do with time rewinding being similar to looping.
“Finally, I’m going to also teach you a ‘memory transfer’ spell. Essentially you’ll be able to show people, rather than try to provide evidence. The problem with this is I don’t think you have enough magic to cast it yet, but I’m sure it will be useful in the future.” Twilight held out a book titled ‘Showing versus Telling: A guide to memory spells.’ Sweetie giggled with glee and put it in her bag. New spells, oh this sounded positively exploitable. For a moment her thoughts soured, would she be able to skip that night?
“I’ve left notes on the bookmarks to help you learn, but that’s essentially all I could think of at the moment. I can imagine you’re excited to try and learn the spell, so while you go have fun with that, we’re going to spend the rest of the day preparing a proper laboratory for me. If I have proper equipment, maybe I can help at least alleviate that headache you told me about. Oh! I also added a calendar spell to the front, so you can immediately know what day it is.” Twilight smiled once, and Sweetie silently thanked her.
“Ok! See you later everypony.” Sweetie smiled at the adults, and turned. Trotting out the door, she missed the worried glances they all held as they formed a circle. No, she was too busy walking toward the treehouse to hear any of the conversation. But if Sweetie had thought to stay around to eavesdrop, she would have heard something startling.
“So how are we going to stop that filly from going insane? All loop stories show that it is only a matter of time.” Twilight glanced between her friends, serious. If Sweetie went insane, then they would pay for it. Sure, they might not remember, but it would still hurt that version of them. Rainbow Dash frowned, before smiling.
“Hey, she hasn’t tried the death thing yet right? Let’s say we convince her when she’s insane that that’s the way outta the loop.” Dash winced as all gave her shocked glares, and realised what she had said, cowering before them.
“Sorry,” was all she could say in her defence. The other sighed and rolled their eyes. Dash might have been brash, and spoke without thinking, but she wasn’t a murderer. Twilight could see the logic in the plan, and knew Dash had likely not thought it through before saying it. Looking toward Pinkie Pie, she vaguely mused on the fact that Dash wasn’t the only friend who sometimes had that problem.
“M-Maybe if s-she had something to h-hold onto d-during-” Fluttershy was cut off by Rarity, who raised a hoof and smiled as she spoke.
“I got it! I should make her a soft toy she can hug that will go with her through the loops. It can be sort of like her good luck charm, something she can always count on to be there, her anchor.” Rarity smiled as the others all nodded, agreeing. It was better than nothing.
“Alright, I’ll get started.” Rarity stood up, and bowed to her friends. Twilight watched her leave, before turning to her other friends, and smiling.
“Let’s get this lab set up. I can’t wait to do some science.” Twilight rubbed her hooves together, and the other four shivered. All knew that when Twilight got like this, you did what she asked and hoped the world didn’t blow up. As they went to work, Rarity arrived back at the Boutique and hummed a tune as she began to work.
‘Now, it can’t have any gems, it needs to be sturdy. Material has to be special. The real question is, what should I make it. It has to be something Sweetie will love, but familiar too.’ Rarity sighed, flicking through her fabric. Something brushed her leg and she looked down. It was her cat, Opalescence.
“Thank you Opal.” Rarity smiled, and knew just what to make the toy. Something familiar, something Sweetie loved, but never got the chance to hug. Something that was always there, like Rarity tried to be. Sitting down, Rarity slowly began to design the cat doll. It would have to be fluffy beyond compare, and made of the softest material, but not easy to damage.
“Alright Opal, time to prove to the world that you are the best pet for the job.” Rarity didn’t even notice time fly, nor her sister returning home. In fact, she barely even noticed Sweetie grab a box of cereal for dinner, since Rarity had not made dinner. Sweetie didn’t mind, she was used to it. It always made her smile to see Rarity so absorbed in a task.
In her talent.
Really? Opal? Thats going to give Luna so much extra work.
Talent? What is this Talent, if she gets a cutie mark from this will it carry over to the next loop or will it vanish?
has
_________
5304810
Probably vanish ... and that's when she goes insane and burns down the school house with everpony in it, Or does a few loops to master necromancy to unleash a horde of the undead upon Ponyville.
So, did SB get her cutie mark? My understanding was that she meant Rarity was so absorbed in her talent, which is designing stuff. (Duh) I don't know, plz clarify.
5304976
I got exactly the same impression as you.
Lol
what if sweetie tells her fears to luna?
5304810
5304877
5304976
5305083
Refer to the quoted line at the end please;
I don't fear you wolf. I merely fear for Sweetie. And we chose to ride with the mad god. Do we regret it? Maybe. We shall see...
5304976
5305083
Rarity is being absorbed in "Rarity's" talent.
This is the biggest problem on a omniperspective narrator.
Though the rule of thumb is in text it's the latest named/described character is the one that he/she/it/they (gender neutral) gets applied to. In this case it would be Rarity as her name was mentioned last.
Otherwise the line would say "In Sweetie's talent.", or it would be"In my talent" if narriated from Sweetie's perspective.
Liking this so far. Here's hoping that the fact that it's a week long loop will help mitigate the danger of eventual insanity rather than extend it. Assuming of course that the Mane 6 aren't just assuming that is an inevitable. I do wonder though..a week long loop gives the one stuck in it time to actually breath and potentially relax, but it's so much more to have to deal with and it might actually be too much time to think about how to change things before the next loop..it'd be really hard to remember all the events over an entire week exactly like you can eventually do with a one day loop.
5305789
Yeah. There was this fic, "Hard Reset," where Twilight was in a 3 hour loop. She went batshit crazy very fast.
And the loops got shorter. And shorter. It got to days, then a day, then a hour, then a half-hour, then a minute, then a second. Outside Sweetie's room was chaos, with flashing lights with a rainbow of colors. Floating objects and ponies fly around, frozen in time. Pancakes float too. Sweetie's room starts to break apart, the loop spilling in. Sweetie hides in the bed, and starts to grow older. She melts and turns into dust. Dead.
In the real world:
Rarity: I hope she's ok, she's been twitching for a year!
Doctor: Get the shockers!
Nurse: But si-
Doctor: SHUT UP NURSE!!! I KNOW WHAT'S BEST!!!
5305853 Possibly because she died unfailably each time? (Rhetorical)
Author, check the word count for this chapter... And the chapter name.
Best note EVER.
Re-reading the chapter, it's good except for this bit:
What. The. F*ck, Dash?!
5307438
1082 words.
"L11.2"
So what? What am I supposed to see here?
The ones that vanished when Sweetie tested her room theory?
take out one book, put in seven letters, a jar, and a bigger book. She took it out to make room before she knew what she was getting.
5313234 to be fair it a good however grim idea. you don't want to live with an insane sweetie bell. especially if she anything like insane rarity
5361712 she made copies. and the stuff in her saddlebags didn't disappear.
NO! That is a perfect ending to this story! God DAMN IT!
And what are you apologizing for at the end? I think you may have deleted your original apology.
>Showing versus Telling: A guide to memory spells
HUEHHUEKEKEKEKEK
shrank
Please tell me that getting her Mark is somehow the way out.
*Apologizing
https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/1/16/490__safe_solo_twilight+sparkle_science_artist-colon-don-dash-ko_mad+scientist_stand+back+i'm+going+to+try+science.png
How do they do anything about insane Sweetie Belle if she doesn't give them the notes and explain what's going on?
5381110 You're talking about The Secret Life of Rarity aren't you? That was one freaking dark story -- one of the darkest ones I've ever read. IMO, it was easily darker than Cupcakes because it explored the psyche of serial killer Rarity rather than relying on graphic guts and gore alone. Freaking love that story.
For a second I thought she was gonna kill the cat!
6370228 watched too much lil miss rarity? :)
5304810
If she's the loop, then there's no reason the cutie mark would vanish since it is on her.
5485330
I haven't finished, but it's more likely her mark will be a result of her getting out.
I got very nervous for a second... I thought Rarity was about to taxidermy the fucking cat