MLP Loops 164
164.1 (Rowan Ex)
“Any plans?” Twilight asked her fellow Loopers. They had just defeated Nightmare Moon, at which point Nyx Awoke; said filly was now was sitting with them at Town Hall. “Besides watching out for Variants, or trying to do an impossible thing, such as trying to replicate Divinium, which I fancied doing when I had a Call of Duty Zombies-like variant?”
“Well…” Pinkie, one of the Awake Loopers present, pulled out a long list from her Subspace Pocket. “I was planning on mass-multiplying my party cannon and giving every party pony in the whole of Equestria one.”
Applebloom looked at Pinkie before she presented her own plan. “I was plannin' to create my own alethiometer this Loop.”
“Isn't that the compass-thing that can tell the truth?” Applejack guessed. “Why you makin' it?”
Applebloom stared at her sister. “Just something I wanna experiment on since it was said to, you know.”
Seconds passed before Twilight spoke up. “Are you trying to expand your technological knowledge by replicating some of the greatest yet probably the most powerful, corruptible items in the whole Yggdrasil?” Applebloom nodded. “Are you okay, or it's just your Element of Magic sputtering and clanking?” Twilight joked. “Just kidding. Are you sure you want to replicate one?”
“Why?” Applebloom asked.
“Well…” Twilight tried to come up with an explanation on how she attempted to create her own only to cause a Loop Crash because of multiple dimensions. “... Good luck on that, Little Engie.”
“‘Little Engie?’ Really?” Nyx asked.
“Don’t ask me where I got that nickname,” Twilight casually replied. “It’s a secret.”
“Aw…”
“That, and even your pouty face just makes me remind me NOT to tell where I got the nickname,” Twilight insisted.
As they were talking, Applebloom sneaked out and headed towards the CMC clubhouse, where two Awake friends waited for her.
“So, baseline cutie marks?” Scootaloo suggested.
Sweetie Belle looked at her blank flank and then to Applebloom.
“Sure,” Applebloom decided. “After I do this.”
In the CMC Clubhouse Garage/Subspace Garage/Applebloom’s Tinkering Workshop etc., Applebloom tried to draw out the blueprint of the golden compass. Nyx just watched.
“I don’t know why you want to build your own alethiometer but Twilight once tried to build it,” said Nyx. “I’m also not sure if that would be fine...”
“Why not? Ah can do it!” Applebloom defended. “What happened to her alethiometer anyway?”
“Didn’t got finished and ended up crashing the Loop,” Nyx explained.
Applebloom paused and looked at Nyx. “It did? Huh.” She continued sketching her blueprint. “Have ya heard by chance the story of ‘The Little Engine That Could?’ Maybe that’ll make ya think a bit. Besides, Ah’m sure Ah can do it without making the Loop crash.”
While Applebloom continued, Nyx remembered something.
“Isn’t the alethiometer’s thing to tell the truth, like an Element of Honesty?” Nyx asked. “Why are you building your own?”
Applebloom chuckled. “It’s not all the time the others are Awake, and not every Loop will have an Element of Honesty Awake, y'know.”
Nyx considered the thought and smiled. “Good luck with that.”
164.2 (AlexPrior, Masterweaver)
"...Wait, so... there's a giant egg-shaped boulder in the middle of your family's rock farm."
"Yep!"
"Which, according to legend, your family founder discovered in a dragon nest."
"Uh huh!"
"...Now, admittedly, I know for a fact that Spike's egg is usually only about the size of a filly. But... Pinkie, something egg-shaped. Found in a nest. A nest, I must add, belonging to a rather gargantuan species."
"...what about it, Twilight?"
"...call me crazy, but is it possible--just possible, mind you--that the boulder in question might, oh I don't know, actually be a feathering dragon's egg?!"
Pinkie paused, frowned, tapped her chin, and hmmmmed. "...you know, I never really thought about that. I guess it could explain why my family tends to be so... off..."
Discord tapped the boulder thoughtfully.
"Dragon egg? What was Twilight on? That's not a dragon egg. It's a draconequus egg." He looked startled. "Good heavens, I think I just figured out Pinkie Pie."
The draconequus glanced around furtively. "Better keep that to myself. Twilight's going to go pancakes over this..."
He disappeared with a flash, leaving no evidence for him ever being there.
164.3 (Masterweaver)
"Twilight?" Applejack cautiously walked up to her friend, hat to her chest.
The unicorn gave her a careful look. "...yes Applejack?"
"Well... ya know how..." Applejack rubbed the back of her head. "Well, uh... how yer tree is destroyed every loop?"
Twilight winced. "Yes."
"Ah just wanna say, Ah'm right sorry for all tha times Ah poked fun at that."
That got Twilight to raise an eyebrow. "Not that I'm rejecting your apology, but... what exactly brought this on?"
Applejack sighed. "Am Ah that obvious?"
"New expansion, sudden apology..." Twilight shrugged. "I hear about Holder's Boulder a lot in lonely loops."
Applejack winced. "Yeah... even when Ah avoid tha rock farm, somethin' happens to that rock, and somehow it gets back to me. Last loop there was a volcanic eruption on the Pie's farm, thing just ended up crashing through mah roof." She gave Twilight a worried look. "Do ya ever get a reprieve?"
Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, looked deep into her eyes, and smiled broadly. "Never."
164.4 (Vinylshadow)
Moondancer was rather surprised at the turnout her party had garnered. While she wasn't all that surprised to see Lyra, Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts, she was surprised to see a familiar lavender unicorn sampling the punch.
"Twilight Sparkle?" she asked, approaching the lavender unicorn slowly. Twilight turned to face her and surprised the yellow-gray-coated mare with a hug.
"Moondancer! It's so nice to see you. Have you been keeping up with your studies?" the bookworm asked, pulling back to grin at the utterly bemused unicorn.
Caught off guard, Moondancer fixed her glasses with her magic and smiled awkwardly. "Of course I have. I'm surprised you made it, though; you usually have your nose buried in a book..." her eyes went wide. "You didn't run out of books to read, did you?"
Twilight snickered. "Of course not," she said reassuringly. "I just wanted to spend time with my old friends before heading off to Ponyville."
"Ponyville?" Moondancer echoed. "Can't say that rings a bell."
"Well, I've been doing some reading on early settlements..." Twilight shot a mock glare at Moondancer, who quickly turned her stifled laughter into a cough. "And it has quite the illustrious history. It's also one of the few places in Equestria where Zap Apples grow naturally."
"Oh, sounds like you're going to be busy then," Moondancer said morosely. Twilight shook her head.
"Nonsense, it's only a short train ride away. Besides, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to come and visit you; I'm...very good with managing my time."
Moondancer didn't look convinced and Twilight added casually, "I'll also bring you any books I find that might interest you..."
Moondancer arched an eyebrow. "Really? And what kind of books would an old town like Ponyville have to offer?"
"You'd be surprised," Twilight said seriously. "Probably quite a few historical volumes that cover events that took place in the nearby Everfree forest, home to the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Sisters for starters."
Moondancer sighed dramatically. "Very well, I guess I'll have to put up with infrequent visits and poring over long dusty novels."
"Ah, don't be like that, Moonie," Twilight said, throwing a hoof across the other mare's withers. "The day is still young, so let's liven this party up with our tandem dancing, like the old days!"
Celestia and Luna watched the thick cloud of smoke rising from Canterlot with varying levels of amusement. Luna nudged her sister.
"I can see where Twilight got her dancing skills from. You never were that graceful on the dance floor."
Celestia bravely took the blow. "She never asked for lessons, so I never bothered to bring in a dance instructor..." Her voice trailed off, and a look that would've cowed a dragon took its place on her face. "Luna, bring me the phone book. I have some calls to make."
164.5 (Vinylshadow - Prototype/MLP)
Alex Mercer wasn't used to dreaming. He had started out with a single desire to survive when he had entered the dying body of the original Mercer. After that, most of his experience had come secondhand from consuming people.
They had hopes, desires, wants, needs...and dreams. He had spent some time going over the strange sequences of memories that plagued humans once they fell asleep and hadn't had what he considered a true dream until he started Looping.
Unfortunately, his dreams - while in Equestria, at least - had been of the Conversion Bureau and the things he had done there to a mostly UnAwake Equestria.
He had been relieved to know he hadn't harmed any Awake Equestrian Loopers, since he had become friends with a few of them.
Still, the things he had seen and done didn't fall under any of the criteria that resembled a dream, so what...?
"They're called nightmares," a voice said quietly. The Prototype Changeling jumped a little and turned to see Luna regarding him neutrally.
"Good evening, Princess Luna," he said, dipping his head.
She made a sour face. "We're friends, Alex, no need to be so formal with me," she said, rubbing a hoof over her leg. "Neither of us - my sister and I - like having friends refer to us as Princesses, so..."
"I understand," Alex said, which caused the Mistress of Dreams to relax.
"Your memories of the Bureau are...not uncommon," Luna said slowly. "It's probably one of the most hated Loop Variants throughout Yggdrasil and rarely are Loopers penalized for crashing such Loops, since anything is better than living through it." She trailed off, looking somewhat hesitant before she asked, "Have you ever had another Loop there?"
Alex shook his head. "No, nothing but various points in your Baseline. The Changeling Invasion of Canterlot was...interesting."
Luna arched one eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Getting hurled halfway across Equestria by a wave of supercharged Love is just as agonizing as you'd expect," Alex said with a grin. "Although I was disguised and helping ponies escape the city, it still picked me out, burned my wings off and picked the sturdiest tree to smash my head through. Brought back fond memories of my Baseline, actually."
Luna looked at him oddly. "You're a strange one, Mercer."
"I learned from the best," Alex said with a shrug. "The Loops are a strange place. I find it's easier to tolerate them if you either find or make reasons to laugh at them rather than letting the horror of what's happening sink in. Besides, spend enough time with the Doctor and you kinda become numb to the point where all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all."
"So you're happy?" Luna asked.
"Quite so," Alex said.
"Well then, I hope you enjoy the rest of the Loop. It was nice talking to you," Luna said, her horn lighting up as the dream dissolved around them.
164.6 (katfairy)
There was a pony in the library. An actual, non-Looping pony. Clearly looking for a book.
Twilight wasn't sure how to handle this. She could count the number of times it had happened on the fingers of one foot, and since she had hooves, that said a lot. Still, it was behavior that she wished to encourage, so she greeted the honey-colored mare with a smile, telling her that if she had any questions, all she had to do was ask and Twilight would be more than happy to help. The mare thanked her, then began to browse the shelves. After a minute or so, it became obvious that she was doing exactly what it looked like, so Twilight returned her attention to her latest project: cross-indexing the Variant Cutie Marks she'd seen.
"Excuse me, Miss Sparkle? I'm looking for a book on Pavlov's Dog and Schrodinger's Cat?"
"It rings a bell, but I'm not sure if it's here or not," she replied absently.
A stifled snicker brought her back to the real world, and she reviewed the last few seconds.
Chrysalis zoomed through Ponyville, laughing so hard that ponies were surprised she could maintain her course, pursued by a suddenly-alicorned Twilight Sparkle wielding an inordinately large squirt bottle. Roseluck gaped at them, almost dropping the peck of apples she was buying.
"Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn?" she gasped.
"Looks like," Applejack drawled. "That'll be two bits, please."
164.7 (Vinylshadow)
Luna Woke Up on the surface of the Moon. Taking a moment to go over her Loop Memories, she realized she had only been there for a few decades of her thousand-year exile. She knew she could easily break the seal, but there were times she liked to use the period of quiet to review previous Loops.
And maybe meet the other moon creatures.
The Night Princess had been surprised to find living creatures on and below the surface of the celestial body she usually controlled. The creatures ranged from batponies to seaponies to strange creatures collectively called the Nyx.
The Nyx often had varying backstories. Sometimes they were in fact named after the Greek goddess of the night. Others, they had been named after Nyx Sparkle, who sometimes shared the Moon with her as Nightmare Moon. Other times, it was because the only word they said was 'Nyx.'
Communicating with them also varied. Sometimes they could speak, other times, it was telepathy. The most bizarre version had been the time they spoke the word 'Nyx' and Luna could read an entire paragraph or two from the word itself.
Unfortunately, Luna was alone this Loop, so she started doodling on the surface of the moon. It was another of her favorite pastimes. Over the Loops, she had turned the moon into the Death Star, Death Egg and the Moon from Termina. The last one had convinced ponies that they had somehow angered the moon and petitioned Celestia to release her early.
This time around, however, she decided on something a little more low-key.
Celestia Woke Up a few days before the Summer Sun Celebration and walked out onto her balcony to lower the moon.
Looking up, the Solar Diarch stopped and stared up, jaw hanging loosely as she beheld her sister's latest masterpiece.
Opposite the usual Mare-in-the-Moon blemish was another stylized mare's head. Whereas the Nightmare's head was darker than the moon's surface, this one was lighter than it.
"Impressive, Lulu," Celestia murmured approvingly.
164.8 (Rowan Ex)
Watching her library tree get burned down by her Unawake means with Rainbow Dash, Twilight stared at the rainbow-maned pegasus and coughed to get her attention.
“So, make Unawake me listen to a song with an undefined word causes this,” Twilight pointed out. “What you gonna do?”
Rainbow Dash pulled out a gold-plated sword and raised it. “Well, probably stir up some ‘lost girls’ and shout the undefined word?”
Twilight smirked. “Oh sure, bangarang.”
Celestia was about to rest her head for the day until her sister barged in wearing wooden… armor.
“Bangarang, Luna!” a very familiar voice shouted. “Take the throne!”
‘Is that… Twilight and her friends?’ Celestia thought as what would seem as the ponies of Ponyville and a changeling hive surrounded the palace. ‘What are changelings doing here?’
Meanwhile, Chrysalis and Twilight Sparkle enjoyed the sight for a change. Chrysalis had to ask though.
“What gave you the idea to form this?” the changeling queen asked.
Twilight pulled out a salvaged ‘bangarang’, which was just a flaming boomerang or a flamarang. “Unawake me listened to Rainbow Dash’s music, got totally weirded out by the word ‘bangarang,’ made this thing, got the library burning, and then I Woke Up.”
“I just had to ask,” Chrysalis muttered.
164.9 (Scorntex)
"I'm so glad you all stayed here for my lecture," Twilight concluded, "without having to be coerced or blackmailed this time. And that's it."
Throughout the room, several ponies awoke from their completely accidental naps they had definitely not intended to take.
"Except of course," Twilight's smile vanished completely, "for one last item of business. Pinkie."
"Yuh-huh?"
Twilight turned to look at the party pony with an almost terrifying glare. "Stop it. Now."
Pinkie glanced about the room nervously. "S-stop what, Twilight? I'm not doing anyt-" Twilight kept glaring. At this, a change overcame Pinkie Pie. The smile vanished, her mane deflated.
"Fine." Pinkie Pie lifted a hoof to her head, and with one swift motion... removed what turned out to be a surprisingly good mask and wig, revealing the face of Starlight Glimmer.
"Wait." Rainbow Dash said, "What?"
"Starlight has been filling in for Pinkie since we first met," Twilight declared.
"How, exactly?" Rarity asked.
"Acting," Starlight said, "bluffing. A few pages of notes from the mare herself. Really insane luck."
She glowered at Twilight. "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you!"
"Gotten away with what, exactly?" Fluttershy asked. "Have you actually been doing anything bad?"
Starlight looked about. "No. My plan was to imitate Pinkie Pie."
"The entire plan?" Nyx asked. Starlight nodded glumly.
"It made more sense when I thought about it..." she murmured. "And I kind of got lost in character."
"But..." Applejack said, "Hold on... that... wait..."
"The more you think about it," Twilight said, "the less it makes sense."
"It doesn't make any sense in the first place!"
"My point exactly," Twilight replied. "That's what the beer's for."
Applejack looked to her side, where there was now a flagon of beer, as there was with everypony else in the room. "How did - ?"
"I passed them out," Starlight said sheepishly. "I, ah, got kind of good at imitating some of your friend's ways."
The five Element Bearers and Nyx shared a morose look. "Girls," Twilight declared, "I declare we drink until this makes sense... or we pass out. Either one."
There was a resounding cry of "hear, hear" from everypony in the room.
(DrTempo)
From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
My next stop on my journey was the home Loop of one Henry Walter Jones Jr. Or, as he's better known, Indiana Jones. The guy has done a lot of awesome things in his baseline in his search for legendary relics (though said relics tend to get destroyed, lost forever, or get stored in a warehouse; Indy is still angry about that last one.)
And yes, he's been compared to Han Solo. The two have spent a lot of Loops in the other's role, so he's heard that comparison a million times. And he's also been compared to the popular Equestrian book character Daring Do, and he's heard that enough as well.
We became friends pretty quickly; guess it helps that like me, Indy is pragmatic when it comes to battle; such as the time when he faced a swordsman, instead of grabbing a sword himself, Indy just drew his pistol and shot the swordsman. He also tends to think on the fly in situations, rather than plan them out to the last detail.
Indy is always trying to find rare artifacts during his Loops, but his luck tends to be the same as in baseline on that. Basically, he finds the artifacts, but something always happens to them.
When we met, he was wielding the Vampire Killer whip; as it turns out, my assumption that the Vampire Killer whip drains the life out of Loopers who Looped in as Belmonts, but kept the whip after due to the whip doing so to non-Belmonts in baseline was wrong. Well, I guess I can't always be right about analyzing how artifacts like that are from Loop to Loop.
Indy was willing to teach me what he knew about archeology during my time here, but as always with him, adventure soon follows.
Naturally, I joined Indy on his adventures, and he does get into a lot of crazy situations, even in baseline.
And even to this day, he STILL doesn't understand how he survived a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge. And yes, that is baseline.
I had a lot of fun on my adventures , and learned a lot as well. As always, I wonder where I'll end up next.
164.10 (Rowan Ex)
(Dedicated for Nightmare Night and Egyptian Lovers!)
Sunset Shimmer Woke up walking towards Canterlot High School on what seemed to be a regular Loop until something clanged on her chest. She looked at the thing dangling from her neck and checked it out. It was a lavender Ankh amulet which seemed to glow faintly.
Shrugging, she Pinged. The amulet pulsed violet in response and wondered who was Anchoring this Loop since she never received any Pings in return, except for a small voice in her head. She tried to listen closely as she walked until she bumped to Fluttershy who meeped in surprise.
“Oh, Sunset!” The animal lover greeted. “Talking to that voice in the amulet again?”
... Can you hear me now, Sunset? the voice finished. Sunset Shimmer? It’s me, Twilight. I’m Awake. I got your Ping.
“Uh…” Sunset looked at her amulet then to Fluttershy. “I guess.”
“Oh, Sunset,” Fluttershy said as she giggled. “We’re about to be late at class. Hurry up!”
“Game on, Fluttershy.” They came charging in and got the whole student body to follow along, laughing.
Sunset noticed that the Loop was actually a variant since there was no Equestria with ponies and the town where Canterlot High was is in England. However, she recognized the accents and there was no british accented among the group causing her to think that this town is an isolated island slightly near the English Archipelago.
As she went home, the first thing that greeted her were two dog small statues beside the door. ’I must’ve been a world traveler this Loop,’ she thought. ’Because those look like Chinese stuff.’ She entered her house to find thousands of artifacts all neatly designed between everything else. ’This is… amazing for my Unawake self.’
As she looked around, her eyes landed on a picture with seven figures on it. She approached the picture and saw who they were.
Huh, you’re basically a superstar this Loop, Twilight commented.
“Why so?” Sunset asked, clutching her amulet and staring at it.
Twilight was silent for a few seconds. You’re friends with them, especially human Fluttershy. I’ve never seen her race with you like that.
“Like what?” Sunset idly asked before she recounted what she said. “You never saw her like that before?”
I never visit that much, Twilight admitted. Since when every time you Wake up, you come over to Equestria most of your visits. Hey, speaking of Equestria, have you tried sticking your Keyblade in where the portal was supposed to be?
“Very subtle,” Sunset answered. “Yes, I tried it and it didn’t work.”
So that means you’re a native to this world this Loop. Twilight guessed. I just wonder something.
“Ask me anything,” Sunset said.
Why am I a disembodied spirit living in a lavender Ankh amulet? she asked. And does it mean as long as the amulet being not destroyed the Loop will continue?
“One, my Loop memories tell that I got this amulet from a pyramid expedition with hieroglyphics talking about ponies,” Sunset replied. “Two, maybe. What will happen if I placed it in my Subspace Pocket?”
That might count as destroying, so maybe you should try it before the Loop ends, Sunset felt a tug and looked at the amulet which was floating. Hey, I can do this too! What if I… Sunset, this might hurt a little bit…
“Why?” Sunset asked. She was answered by the amulet flying towards head, knocking her unconscious.
Whoops, my bad! Twilight told her. As she waited for Sunset to wake up, she thought of something and immediately set it into motion.
Sunset woke up and realized she couldn’t move her body at all. She tried to look around only to realize that she replaced Twilight Sparkle in the Ankh amulet which now glowed orange.
“Sorry about this,” Twilight said to the amulet. “But apparently knocking out someone who wears the amulet can make the disembodied spirit inside switch bodies with the wearer.”
Does that mean I knock you out and everything will come back to normal? Sunset asked, an imaginary mischievous grin forming on her head.
“Yes,” Twilight replied. “Why did you—”
*CLANG!*
Fluttershy and her other friends looked at Sunset Shimmer who was in a hospital bed due to a concussion in her head and possibly brain damage. As they left their own regards, Sunset called them back to fetch her Ankh amulet. After a moment’s hesitation, Sunset realized that Rainbow Dash was wearing the amulet and using Twilight’s knowledge to pass her grades.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Sunset swore.
“Nope,” Rainbow Dash proudly stated. “This amulet of yours made me 20% more awesome.”
“What’s with the thingamajig anyway?” Applejack asked.
“A very intelligent but slightly paranoid librarian spirit trapped in that magical amulet which is thousands of years old,” Sunset replied. “I got it from a pyramid expedition.”
Dash frowned. “She says she’s not paranoid.”
“I rest my case, Rainbow Dash. I rest my case.” Sunset thought of something. “Unless you’re not Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle.”
Rainbow gasped and slack-jawed as the amulet glowed in an angry shade of blue.
The Next Loop…
“Uh… Twilight?”
“Yes, Rarity?”
“Sunset Shimmer’s forcing me to make thousands of Egyptian-themed dresses. What should I do?”
Twilight looked at Rarity. “I don’t know. Maybe make a lot of those Egyptian crosses instead and place it around the Boutique. Besides, Nightmare Night is near. Maybe she also wants a costume.”
“Ok, thanks for the opinion darling!” Rarity left afterwards, leaving the librarian alone.
Twilight looked around and summoned Sunset Shimmer, who was an Egyptian pony for this Loop since the Crystal Mirror only connected towards two points in the local dimension this Loop. “So, Sunset, what’s with this Loop?”
“Nopony believes me that I’m a pharaoh,” Sunset complained. “And remember that crazy amulet?”
“What about it?” Twilight asked.
Sunset pulled out the Ankh amulet and wore it causing her appearance to change into those of the pharaohs. “See?”
“You gave the amulet a spell which made your appearance different,” Twilight pointed out. “And you used that amulet last Loop.”
“Yeah,” Sunset replied. “Apparently it was cursed and when I placed it in my Subspace Pocket, it landed directly into a neutralizer which broke the curse, setting whoever was trapped in it free.”
“And since I was the one trapped and I don’t have a body that Loop…”
“Yup, Loop crashed. All that I lastly remember is Osiris mad at me,” Sunset answered as she hid the amulet again causing her appearance to return to normal. “Where’s Rarity?”
“She just left,” Twilight said. “Why do want to have thousands of Egyptian-themed dresses anyway?”
Sunset smirked. “I just have a tiny plan.”
164.11 (Masterweaver)
"...so, I think we figured out that bug with the uneven expansion a while back," Sleipnir finished, "but for some reason trying to fix it tangled up the timeline a bit, so for the moment you're going to get a Nightmare Night AFTER Hearth's Warming. It should only be a few loops before we can fix that, though."
Twilight sighed. "Well, thanks for the heads up anyway... sounds like you've got quite a mess up there."
"Mmm... yes and no. There are a number of small bugs we're noticing, but they're very much 'grit in the gears' kind of things. For the most part, things are going quite smoothly."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's pretty incredible, all things considered. I mean, there's even been talk of--" Sleipnir glanced around suddenly. "...well, I can't really tell you, because I don't want to get your hopes up."
"Oh, come on!"
"No, really. Sanity and all that."
Twilight groaned. "You realize the curiosity is going to eat away at me for whole loops now that you've said that?!"
"Look, it's not even really my department. If it works, I'll make sure you know, but honestly I'm mostly in the dark as well. It's just a rumor, anyway." Sleipnir cleared his throat. "On... another note, has Rainbow finished any more of her Iris Drake novels?"
"What?"
"It's just... me and Epona sometimes read our kid bedtime stories, and she really likes Iris Drake..."
164.12: (Masterweaver, Vinylshadow)
Clover looked at Pansy.
Pansy looked at Clover.
Smart Cookie looked at them both. "Well, one of you is going to have to change." She tilted her head, suddenly adopting a somewhat more british accent. "I am of course programmed with costume options from over six hundred different cultures, and I would be very happy to provide alternatives for the both of you."
Pansy and Clover stared at their golden-painted companion's glowing eyes. They gave each other a look.
Then, as one, they lifted their right hooves and started walking forward. "DELETE... DELETE.... DELETE..."
Unfortunately for the Cyberponies, gold was their one weakness and they soon had to give half their candy to the protocol droid.
164.13 (Masterweaver)
Most people looking at Sunset Shimmer would probably not realize she was panicking. In fact, most people would assume, from the way she was very deliberately going about and making amends for her past behavior, that she had in fact gained some sort of confidence in herself that let her be less... standoffish.
Very few would pick up on the way she tapped her hip rapidly with a single finger, the occasional roll of her shoulder as she straightened her back, and the brief adjustments of her forelock of hair.
When she'd heard the ping on this side of the mirror, she'd quickly contacted Twilight and let her know. She had assumed that the looper in question was a student either at Canterlot High or, possibly, Crystal Prep. However, a perusal of both their records had led to no inconsistencies... at least, none she could note. She'd looked into the teachers next--maybe the looper was older--but, no, everyone was who they were supposed to be there too. The visitor could have been a random citizen, that was true, but... there was still the option of the Sirens.
Which was a problem, because the Sirens tended to operate off the map; their paper trails were almost nonexistent and filled with aliases, where they set up shop would vary disturbingly often, and they could pack up and slip away if they caught even a whiff of a follower. It did make sense, given that they'd presumably been hiding from civilization for a thousand plus years, but it did mean that Sunset almost always had to make a scene if she wanted to find them. And that was before she factored in the Ping; one of the Sirens was a looper this time round, and she couldn't tell if it was a Replacement or, perhaps, if one of them had been activated in a Fused Loop.
Either way... either way, the situation could go south in a hurry.
Still, there were a few things she had on the Sirens. For one, Sonata Dusk almost always liked tacos--Sunset didn't understand why, but trademark foods were trademark for a reason. That meant whenever the Sirens went on their conflict raids, they'd usually choose Mexican restaurants to antagonize. Staking one out was easy enough; arrive every night with a few bucks and a winning smile, buy herself a meal, and then just wait till the shop closed. Sure, the staff got a bit curious, but all she had to say was that she was "waiting for somebody," and most of them dismissed her as a lovestruck teenage girl.
Which was a bit weird, all things considered. A lovestruck girl at a Mexican restaurant? Then again, there was a unicorn and a dragon married on the other side of the mirror, so she really couldn't judge the ideas the locals came up with...
It took about a month (and ninety five tacos) before her efforts paid off. Two familiar faces entered the building with an almost too casual manner, with only their eyes moving about to quickly ascertain there weren't any threats. Sunset noted that they weren't wearing their usual hoodies and sweatpants or the deliberately provocative Battle of the Bands outfit, but something... casual. That was certainly odd. However, it wasn't until Aria leaned out and gestured that the third member entered, confirming Sunset's suspicions. She had green skin and wore her red hair in what could be called a ponytail of dreadlocks, a far cry from Adagio's own orange poofy mess.
With a small grin, Sunset Shimmer stood up and started walking toward the group. Aria noticed her first, sidling between her and the green woman quickly. As soon as the other two turned to look, Sunset sent out a ping and gave a Vulcan salute.
The green woman rose an eyebrow. "...Subtle."
Sunset frowned. "Yeah, well, sometimes I feel a little Loopy, you know?"
That got a snort. "Oh, I know. Keeps me Awake."
Aria glanced between the two. "Passaggio, do you know this person?"
"Mmm, not personally... but I've heard things about her little group." The woman patted Aria's shoulder reassuringly. "If she is who I think she is, she'll want to talk to me privately. Why don't you take a table where you can keep an eye on us?"
The purple singer's eyes darted between the two. "...come on, Sonata. Let's find a seat." She grabbed the blue woman's elbow, giving Sunset a pointed look as she passed.
164.14 (Evilhumour)
[Warhammer40K/MLP]
Siege Patrol was working on the repairs of the Golden Oak Library with Twilight when he suddenly turned his head to the side. Staring straight at the tool box he said, "Pinkie Pie, I need the omniwrench you are sitting on."
"Okie dokie!" A pink pony hopped out of the tool box, to which the grey stallion nodded his thanks as he pulled out the omniwrench out and went to work on the foundation of the new tree.
He then paused, reaching into the cupboard and pulled out the offered cupcake that Pinkie Pie had out on a platter. Taking a bite with a hint of a smile on his face, he gave another nod of thanks and went to grab the reinforced tree trunk of the new library when he was stopped by a slack jaw Twilight.
"What?" Siege Patrol asked, blinking in confusion.
"H-h-how are you doing that?!" Twilight squeaked out.
"What do you mean Twilight?" the pony titled his head.
"Finding Pinkie Pie!" Twilight shouted.
"Ah," Siege Patrol smiled as he walked over to a tiny stone. "Pinkie Pie has a miniature version of the Eye of Terror in her pocket, don't you?" he asked the stone.
"Yuppers!" Pinkie Pie said as she hopped out from under the stone, nodding her head excitedly. "And since Siegy here can always tell where an Eye of Terror is, he can always find me!"
"Okay," Twilight said slowly as Pinkie Pie bounced away. "So you know how she does that?"
"Of course not!" Siege Patrol scoffed. "I may be a daemon prince most of the time but I would not dare to try and understand that chaotic masterpiece."
Twilight simply decided not to ask anymore questions as she remembered what happened in baseline when she tried that little song and dance and let the stallion get back to repairing her tree.
164.15 (Evilhumour)
"Behold as the Great and Mighty Trixie shall control the sun and moon itself without using her magic!" Trixie boasted to an annoyed group of ponies, including two disbelieving princesses.
"Trixie, I don't thi-" Twilight started when Trixie ran up to Celestia and tapped her nose.
The sun went out, causing massive panic in the streets, which Trixie quickly fixed by tapping Celestia's nose a second time, causing the sun to catch on fire again.
With a captivated audience, Trixie then bounced over to Luna who had her hooves over her nose.
With a wry smile on the showmare's face, she reached up to adjust Luna's ears, causing the moon to rise and created a solar eclipse.
Trixie then took a bow to her crowd, letting their praise wash over her.
164.16 (Kris Overstreet)
Pinkie Pie, having Awakened as a filly, had decided to introduce her sisters to the concept of Nightmare Night, at least as the non-rock-farmers of Equestria celebrated it.
Thus four fillies trotted away from a house. All four had decided to go as ghosts, using old sheets their mother had set aside to be cut apart for quilts. One such sheet was perfectly ordinary- white, two eyeholes, that's all. Another had not so much cut eyeholes as made two angry slashes in the proper spots, giving the ghost a permanent glare. The third ghost pronked along, glorying in its paisley-ness. The last filly, slightly larger than the rest, hadn't unfolded the sheet before cutting, and thus was more holes than ghost.
"What did you all get?" Paisley P- er, Pinkie Pie asked.
"I got a pack of gum!" Limestone snarled. "I hate gum! Why do people even make candy you have to spit out?"
The normal looking ghost mumbled something indistinct and waved her own treat bag.
"Marble's willing to trade you for her chocolate bar!" Pinkie said. "It's got nuts in it."
"Rrrg... I suppose!" Limestone made the swap with her usual good grace.
"And I got a caramel apple!" Pinkie giggled.
Maud Pie, the Holey Ghost, held out her prize. "I got a rock," she declared.
The other three fillies gathered round to stare.
"Wow! That is a ROCKIN' rock!" Limestone said, a rare tone of approval in her voice.
".....!" Marble agreed.
"He's a rock with ambition," Maud agreed. "His name is Boulder. I think I'll keep him."
164.17 (Vinylshadow)
Vinyl hooked her foreleg around Lyra's neck and hoisted a mug of cider into the air.
"Alto-gether now!" the tipsy DJ slurred as Lyra squirmed in her grip.
"Really, Vinyl? Puns at this hour?" the unicorn grumbled.
"Did you know my family didn't want to expose me to music? They were worried about all the sax and violins," Vinyl went on. "Landed me into a lot of treble during my community college days, hoo!"
"Any chance you can scale it back?" Applejack said, moving her own mug out of the path of the drunken musician.
"We don't have the staff for it," Berry said, topping off the farmer's drink. The two blinked then did a simultaneous facehoof.
"Come on, ponies, we've got to guitar act together. Me and Lyra are pretty sharp when it comes to conducting our business," Vinyl said.
"Well, that fell rather flat," Lyra muttered.
"Could you repeat that?" Vinyl asked innocently, finally releasing the minty unicorn and taking a swig. "Just a note, some of these fall a little flat, the key to this is to make sound all natural, so only the sharp ponies get it. I mean, play it low key, there’s no need to jazz it up too much. Some ponies can’t keep up with the tempo of all these jokes; after all, music jokes aren’t everyone’s forte. Harping on and on about it can get ponies frustrated. Keep it trill, bro," she said in a single breath before keeling over.
"Is she alright?" Twilight asked worriedly.
"Whenever she gets like this we tend to spike her drink. She winds up crashing sooner or later," Big Mac said.
Octavia burst into the bar, eyes roving over the crowd. When she saw the unconscious DJ, she let out a relieved sigh. "Not too much trouble, I hope?" she asked, hoisting her onto her back. Big Mac shook his head and Octavia apologized again as she left with her snoring counterpart.
164.18 (Evilhumour)
"Gah!" Vinyl shouted, spitting out a mouthful of water. "No more, no more!"
Her cries were ignored as her head was pushed back under water and a scrub brush descend onto her back once more.
It was taking over five bath tubs, as the sheer dirt that came from the unicorn had clogged the first five tubs’ pipes, but Octavia was determined to have her roommate clean for their 'friend' date at Grand Galloping Gala.
"By Celestia's mane Vinyl, if you bathed more than once every five years, this wouldn't be necessary!" the cellist yelled at the floundering mare, giving a thankful look at Twilight, who ready to teleport them to another awaiting tub of hot water and soap. "I mean seriously Vinyl, you've got such a lovely coat and you hide under this filth?"
"It's not filth, it's just comfort!" Vinyl retorted angrily.
Octavia responded by dunking her head back under the water.
164.19 (Evilhumour)
"Uh..." Vinyl looked down at the mare next to her, cuddling up to her tightly. Normally, she'd loved to be in this place with Octy considering how often the mare didn't believe her tales about the Loops, convince Tavi that she had changed and was now a mature adult-which normally fell flat due to her poor lying skills- or she wanted to woo the mare over honestly. The last few loops that Vinyl had been Awake for, Octavia simply did not exist and she had been cellist deprived for too long, resolving to make her grey mare sing all night long.
But this? This was just Yggdrasil being a mean, cruel bastard of a world tree computer.
"What is it Vi?" Octavia yawned as she woke up, a blush on her face.
"Nothing Octy," Vinyl said truthfully, as she could handle this. "Have a good night sleep?"
"Yup," the mare leaned in for a tight hug, which did not help what her inner Vinyl was thinking. "Thanks for letting me sleep with you sis."
"Any time Octy," Vinyl said while keeping out her frustrations out of her voice. "Any time."
164.20 (Alex Prior)
"Everypony, be prepared. We don't know what is going to come through that door!"
Twilight mentally steeled herself. She had decided to go through a Baseline Loop this time. That, however, didn't mean she liked going through Starlight's little town. It always was a pain. And speak of the devil...
The door creaked open, letting the mare walk through. "Welcome," she greeted, a fake- wait. That was not a fake smile. Starlight's eyes landed on Twilight. She let out a gasp. "Twilight?"
The mare's thoughts ground to a halt. "You've heard of me?" That was always a safe answer.
Which was as far as she got before getting squeezed in a hug. At this point, Twilight was content to let this play out - for now. She half-listened to the mare's babbling.
"Oh, Twilight, look at you! You've grown so much - and grown wings, too! Oh, last I saw you, you were just a little filly - but you don't remember me, do you?" Twilight recieved a telekinetic pinch to the cheek. "I'm your Auntie Starlight, Twilight! Oh, just look at you, you've grown so pretty! Do you have a coltfriend yet? Oh, you would look marvelous with glasses, colts would just flock to you, no joke - it really is a shame we don't have an ocular's cutie mark or a designer's cutie mark, oh you should have told us you were coming, even if in official capacity; turning up just like that is a little bit rude, dear." Starlight paused, looking over the rest of the Elements. Twilight allowed herself a peek, too.
Pinkie was wearing a highly skeptical expression. Rainbow was snickering. Applejack's eyebrows had ascended orbit. Fluttershy was hiding a smile. Rarity was taking pictures.
Twilight rolled her eyes.
As Double Diamond got to introducing the rest of Twilight's friends to Starlight, the alicorn contemplated her situation. All signs pointed to a Cutie Mark Rental variant, with Starlight as the doting matriarch. Twilight supposed she was okay with it.
As Starlight and Double Diamond were beginning to dote over a suddenly very embarrassed Fluttershy, Rarity sidled over to Twilight.
"Ahem. Twilight, Darling?"
Oh no, not again. "Yes, Rarity?"
"I hope you realize this is going in the album."
Sigh. "Naturally."
164.21 (Scorntex)
Big Macintosh was quietly cleaning one of his drinking jars, in the time-honoured manner of otherwise unoccupied bartenders across the whole of existence, when the doors opened, and a beaten and battered shape dragged itself into the bar, eventually slumping on top of a stool.
One bruised and swollen eye opened. And realisation dawned on Mac that he was looking at Vinyl. "Bartender," she croaked, "I need something medicinal."
Macintosh looked at the mare, who was nonchalantly leaking at an impressive rate. "Oh, right," Vinyl murmured as she looked at her numerous injuries, "it'll stop in a while. And I'll clean it up, I swear."
Not feeling reassured for some mysterious reason, he quickly fetched a drink, and gave it to the mare, who drank. "Thanks," she managed to get out once she was done.
After a short while of just sitting there, she finally looked at him. "You're probably wondering how this happened, right?"
"Yeah," he admitted. There was a low, humourless chuckle from Vinyl.
"Well, you know how we're all some kind of supernatural creature this Loop, right?" Big Macintosh didn't bother responding to that. "Well, turns out 'Tavi's a were-wolf. Which I guess explains the glossy hair, at least... another?" she nudged her drink.
"So, anyway," Vinyl continued, "guess what I am this Loop?"
"Some kind'a were-wolf hunter?" Mac offered.
"Nope."
"A vampire?"
"Nope."
"A different kind of were-wolf?" He nudged the refilled drink over to Vinyl.
"Close," Vinyl said, "but still nope."
"'kay, then what?"
There was a pause as Vinyl downed the entire drink in one breath. "A were-cat."
She groaned, and motioned for another drink. "And it was all going fine, but then one day Tavi's a bit more wolf than pony, she tries sniffing my butt and the next thing I know we're trying to tear each other to bits!"
The mare's head slammed against the bar, and she groaned further. "So stupid..."
164.22 (Evilhumour, with masterweaver's help)
“So that’s what I’ve been hearing Twi,” said Vinyl, explaining as best as she could about the mysterious beat she had been hearing, describing what it sounded like as well as where it seemed to be coming from to the best of her ability. “I guess it could be on some sort of frequency that’s present in multiple loops, but I really doubt it’d be like that.”
“And Sleipnir would have mentioned something if it were anything truly worrisome,” Twilight concluded, tapping her chin. She began to levitate some books in preparation for research. “I think it could-”
“There you are Twilight!” Cadence said with a smile.
Twilight returned it happily, initiating their usual greeting. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake.”
As the two fell over in a fit of laughter, the alicorn noticed the other pony in Twilight’s chambers. “Hello there, who may you be?” Cadence asked carefully.
“Hiya, I’m Vinyl Scratch, DJ Pon-3 and number one wubiest mare out there,” Vinyl said with a wide smile, eyes closed behind her shades. “I’m an old friend of Twilight; we’ve been on far out adventures in the past and have done pretty crazy stuff together,” Vinyl threw a leg around a glaring Twilight, who was mouthing at her to Shut up and Stop it now but Vinyl had lived with Octavia far too long to be scared by such a simple glare. “She’s just advising me about the strange noises I’ve been hearing in my head; as to what they are,we’ve agreed that they’re coming from a strange place.”
“O...kay,” Cadence said slowly, trying to take everything in. “So, Twilight, why haven’t you mentioned your little friend before?”
“I dunno, Caddy,” Vinyl shrugged. She felt the heat of the glare of the mare behind her but did her best to hide her grin. “Can’t be because I’ve got a marefriend; Twilight has that strange sexual preference, after all.”
Cadence’s eyes grew at that, a small hint of a blush on her cheeks. With a delicate cough, Cadence forced her attention to Vinyl and her cutie mark, “If you do not mind me asking, I would like to hear a sample of your work. There is a small get together with the noble youths tonight and we do need some sort of entertainment tonight.”
“Ain’t no problem Caddy,” said Vinyl, horn glowing as she created some of her own music for the princess to hear. By how her head was following the beat, it seemed that the unAwake mare was enjoying it a great deal. “How’s that?”
“It was wonderful, my little pony.” Celestia said walking into the room, Vinyl falling into a proper bow. She might enjoy trolling Twilight a bit too much, but even she knew when to toe the line.
Most of the time.
“I am sure that the younger generation will just love it, Ms Scratch, but I must ask, how old are you? There will be alcoholic drinks served and I’d be failing in my own duties if I didn’t make sure that I won’t have an inebriated minor on my hooves.”
“What are you talking about, Princess Celestia?” Vinyl laughed just a tad too loudly, stretching out every syllable. “I am certainly not lying to you by saying I am old enough to drink. Ha, ha. Very funny joke Princess Celestia!”
Celestia simply raised an eyebrow at that, before shaking her head and conjuring up a pass for her to enter the castle later that night. “I will see that a mixing stand is in place for you tonight, Miss Scratch. Please be here around eight o’clock so you can coordinate with the lighting staff for your performance. The attire is semi formal, so it would be best if you wore either a dress or some sort of fancy jewelry.”
With a bob of her head in the affirmative, Vinyl took the pass and placed it into her saddle bag. She waved goodbye to her Anchor as she left under the eye of Princess Celestia.
Cadence turned to look at Twilight with a wide grin on her face. “So Twilight,” she started, wrapping a wing around the young mare. “Care to tell us about these adventures you had with your friend?”
Twilight realized that she would not be getting out of this easily, not after how Vinyl had acted beforehoof. With swears to various flora, Twilight started to explain in the least amount details possible to her future sister-in-law about the least insane thing she had with Vinyl. Which, unfortunately, involved a bar fight and a swarm of rats.
Vinyl made sure for the last time that her coat was brushed to a shine, her Element of Honesty proudly around her neck and her records safe in her reinforced saddle bag, made by one Rarity Belle.
She knew that while Rarity would like to have her brand broadcasted to the nobles, doing it before she met the mare in-loop never ended well for Vinyl. But, as she was going out of her bedroom window to avoid her parents noticing her absence, she thought it was a moot point.
The unicorn made the distance from her home from the somewhat lower levels of Canterlot with her wub hooves, easily cutting off half an hour or so of travel and eventually landing with grace ingrained by many failed attempts in the past. She flashed her pass to the guards at the front of the doorway; a servant guided her to the ballroom.
Already, it was clear that they were in the final stretch of preparations for the little party, with pegasi flying around to fix the lights and buscolts making sure all the food on the table was perfectly arranged. This was all done under the glare of one Prince Blueblood, barking sharp orders here and there to servants, who made it clear they did not think highly of the prince when his back was turned.
Waving a hoof to the ponies around the mix station, Vinyl removed her shades and began inspecting the device. It quickly became apparent to them that she knew what she was doing. Either that or the Princess told them about her and were willing to let her take the fall if something went wrong.
Vinyl’s ear flicked when she heard a cough, but her attention was solely on the wonderful machine in front of her. Ignoring the interruption, Vinyl moved some wires around while using a bit of her own magic to make improvements when the pony coughed a bit louder. This time it did distract her, causing her to zap herself with a bad wire change.
“Oi, the featherbrain with the cough, mind covering your mouth? Seeing as I am working with live wires here and I just got zapped because of it!” Vinyl snarled, looking around for the sprucehead and found it in the form of one very annoyed looking unicorn stallion.
“That is Prince Blueblood to you, peasant,” Blueblood sneered down at her. “I’ve got no idea who you are or what you are doing with Ponfar or whatever that musician that Auntie hired for Cadence’s party is called but by Celestia’s mane, I will not let you ruin his machine.”
Biting back a snort at his accidental innuendo, Vinyl shook her carefully styled mane and gave a laugh that she learned by sitting through many high end dinner dates with Octavia. “The name is DJ Pon-3, your highness,” she said as she gave him a light bow, knowing he would look less if he called her out on it. “Not Pon Farr as you said, which by the way is the name of an alien mating season in that old tv show, your highness.” She enjoyed the blush on his face and the snickering on the servants around them. “If you do not mind, I would like to make sure that this mixing station is ready for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s party and that requires my full attention, along with me coordinating with the pegasi lighting crew. And time is going to be tighter now that I had to have this talk with you.”
His fur bristled at her dressing down; eventually, though, Blueblood nodded his head reluctantly and allowed Vinyl to get back to work. More than one pony came by and gave the young mare a pat on the withers and a grateful smile.
Hopefuly, Vinyl thought to herself, this would be an easy gig to do.
It was turning out to be a fairly boring gig, if Vinyl was being honest. And as the Bearer of Blunt Honesty, she was being honest.
Oh sure, it was for a very good cause, bringing together all the tribes to show and prove that the new generation of future leaders were forward thinkers and progressive in their actions. With a wide range of lower noble pegasi and earth ponies interacting openly and honestly with the unicorn nobles, it seemed that Caddy’s little party was a hit.
Then again, they were clearly waiting for the sun to go down. Vinyl learned that the young young nobles would be sent home and to bed once the moon was in the sky, and then the more ‘adult’ party would begin. Real drinks would be flowing and Vinyl could start playing her music.
Levitating another glass to her mouth, she magically changed the content into something a bit more suited to her alcoholic taste.
With a grumble, Vinyl’s bladder decided that she wanted attention now and demanded a trip to the little filly’s room. Moving as quick as her wub hooves would let her, she darted into the restroom and took care of nature’s calling.
As she returned to her mixing station, she saw that it had been moved around. Turning her head in time, she saw a flick of a blond tail leaving the room.
“Oh no no no no!” Vinyl swore under her breath, seeing that she had just been robbed of all her records. “Redwood!” she swore, trying to think of what she could do. While she could go search her pocket for records, she doubted she had the time to do so.
A thought occurred to her, the same odd sound that had been plaguing her was unique enough that she could use it for the party. Of course, she would need to wubify it first.
As she listened to the beat reverberate around inside her head, Vinyl quickly used her wub hooves to interface with the mixing station, manipulating the sound systems so what she produced would seem to come from it and not herself. She began to unleash the music within her out across crowd, the lighting crew reacting flawlessly to the sudden change in plans. It was loud, powerful, all consuming music that instantly captured the attention of all the ponies in the room, dancing in flow with newly created music in perfect harmony.
Vinyl herself found in a center of pure focus, letting the melody play through her mind with a growing smile. She didn’t notice the time pass, allowing the song to dictate how long it should go. With a deepening sense of balance and fullness in her music that she had not felt in a long time, Vinyl ended her first set with a flourish, wings high in the air and a clap of her hooves echoing like thunder, staring at the stunned crowd of ponies.
With a wicked glare on her face, Vinyl tipped her shades up with her magic so they could see her red eyes. “And that’s just the opener folks!” With a cackle that she had learned from Luna, Vinyl dove back into her passion and began to bring out the wubs.
Vinyl groaned, the aftereffects of a hangover stabbing her in the head.
She knew that she could do two things. She could go through her pocket, braving the headache and the stomach ache and retrieve the pills that would end her pain in an instant. Or, she could remain face down and wait out to the end of the loop so she wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of her hangover.
“GooOOood morning Vinyl!” The drawn out singsong from Twilight was like a pickaxe into her poor brain. Vinyl groaned, burying her head into the pillow. “How are you feeling this fine day?”
“Buck you Twilight, my head feels like someone ripped it apa-oh sweet sapling, don’t tell me I made out with Blatherblood again!” Vinyl’s head shot up in terror- before she winced in pain, lowering it back down onto the pillow.
“No Vinyl, you did not make out with Blueblood, although you did make a good impression on him and you two do have a little dinner date to talk shop over several topics,” Twilight said, trotting loudly over to Vinyl and pushing the mare to an upright position. “What do you remember from last night Vinyl?”
“All I remember is doing my first set, which was wubtasticularly awesome, and nothing after that,” Vinyl groaned, keeping her eyes shut, her ears folded back, and her wings flush against her body. “What’s with all the questions Twi?”
“You really don’t remember?” Twilight asked close to her ear, forcing Vinyl to crack an eye open in frustration. “Come with me to the bathroom, and I’ll show you.”
With a grumble, Vinyl pushed herself to her hooves and followed the purple pony into the other room. “Twi, you do know once my head isn’t filled with a thousand Pinkie Pies bouncing around, I will need to make a really snarky comeback to that. Probably involving a threesome.”
“Yes yes, I know,” Twilight said with practiced ease, flicking on the light (and cementing her position as chief of calamities to Vinyl’s tortured eyes). “Ooops, sorry Vinyl.”
“I’ll believe it once I see it,” Vinyl moaned, rocking around on her hooves as she waited for her eyes to work again. “So why did you want me here agai---”
Vinyl’s eyes fell on the full length mirror and went wide. In the reflection, there was a smoking hot alicorn with a wubbing blue mane staring right back at her. As she walked over to it, the alicorn opposite of her copied her movement flawlessly. She slowly lifted her foreleg to the glass; with a soft clop, the alicorn mare touched her hoof.
The alicorn mare in the mirror was Vinyl Scratch.
The alicorn mare was herself.
She was the alicorn mare.
Vinyl Scratch was an alicorn mare.
"Twilight Sparkle..." She said slowly to the mare next to her, not looking away from her image. "Why do I have wings now and why is my mane producing better wubs than me?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, placing a foreleg around Vinyl’s neck. “I did some research about that mysterious sound you have been hearing and through several experiments, I have managed find the source. As you are aware, the universe is usually created with collapse of super forces into a single dense point that then causes the explosion that makes all known reality. From that-”
“Twi, English for me, the hungover mare is not well versed in nerd speak. I’m freaking about waking up with wings and a wubbing mane that is not making my headache worse for some reason, why is my wubbing mane not hurting me?!”
With a quick usage of her squirt bottle, Twilight started her explanation over again. “Vinyl, you were hearing the echo of the big bang, the heartbeat of the ever expanding universe. You then, wearing your Element, proceeded to use that strand of noise in your performance, remixing it, mind you. These?” Twilight tapped Vinyl’s wings, looking her in the eyes. “This is what happens when a mare who’s special talent is music, that has a magical artifact like an Element of Harmony, does exactly what you did last night.” Wrapping her forelegs around the musician's neck into a hug, she let out a burst of laughter. “Congratulations Vinyl, you ascended by quite literally wubbing the universe a new one.”
Vinyl hugged back out of reflex, still a bit stunned by the news. She tried to let everything that was told her sink in but she was still entrapped by her blinking reflection and what it meant. “That’s very nice Twilight, but can I please have some time alone?”
“I understand,” Twilight replied, letting her go. “I’ll be outside, when you are ready.” With that, the unicorn slipped out of the room, leaving the alicorn alone with herself.
Vinyl Scratch stared at her reflection, extending her wings outwards and examining them closely. While she had had wings before, she had not had both a horn and wings.
It could mean so much, now that she had ascended! What would she differently now that she was a bucking alicorn? She never planned to become an alicorn, she just planned to go with the flow with the loops. Buck responsibility, buck becoming a princess, buck becoming an alic-
She frowned, noticing her purple shades on the counter. She picked them up, and stared at them.
They were a great part of DJ Pon-3’s identity, part of her.
Part of her.
Smiling to herself, she put her shade back onto her face where they belonged. She was an alicorn now, another awesome part of her already awesome self.
With a flick of her wub mane into a more proper position, Vinyl felt her confidence bloom. Listening to the wub coming from her mane and bobbing in time with the beat, she decided that she had best ethereal mane of all her friends.
“So Twilight,” Vinyl shouted through the bathroom door. “Since I used the universe to ascend, does this make me the Princess of Motherbucking Everything?”
Twilight groaned. “One time. One time that happens, and you never let me forget it...”
“Because I’m pretty sure that wubbing the universe make me the master of it!” Vinyl continued with a wide smirk.
Chuckling as Twilight began to lecture of why using the universe to ascend didn’t make one the princess of everything, Vinyl pivoted around and walked out the door. The new princess was ready to wub the world.
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6661684
Congrats, people are writing spider-mane snips! It'll be a bit before they're published, though.
And sometimes, I get jokes I did not before.
That's one way to explain things.
Right, Pinkie's vacationing?
Great description.
Pfft.
-not pointing out the reference, nope, not at all-
So now that Vinyl has Ascended, how many of the Element Bearers have yet to do so.
Which does bring up one detail: if Chrysalis Ascended, how would we tell, since she already has horn and wings? And what would an Ascended Gilda look like?
6666033
Three; Sunset, Lyra and Cheerilee.
Big Mac has yet to be an Element of Harmony and ascend.
Oh god...
I see...
Welcome to dealing with Pinkie Pie.
And there it is.
As someone who used to do music, I ADORE these puns.
Whoah wait, WINGS!?
She remixed, the echo of the UNIVERSE. WOW.
6666081
At least you noticed Vinyl's wings faster then her!
Took her until was staring in a mirror before it clicked.
And yes, she remixed the echo of the Big Bang. Because this is our Vinyl.
Lot of Vinyl this time around. Not a bad thing mind you, I like her.
And I noticed the wings reference right away, I blame the the fact she just "wubbed the universe a new one", and later the hangover, for why she didn't.
I quite literally laughed out loud at that line.
6666289
Thank you! It does the heart good to hear I made someone laugh like that.
6665692
Sorry, I was actually quite new to this writing thing back then.
164.17 Whoever wrote this, I hate you.
That could be an possible explanation...
The question is, is that looping AJ or is this just further enough down the series that AJ is already becoming immune to strange things happening in Ponyville?
Pinkie Pie's power explanation: She is being Pinkie Pie
6666043 Looking forward to seeing their Ascension stories. We all know Big Mac won't. He wants to remain the one 'normal' Pony among the Equestrian Loopers.
Undertale looping. Let us hope that Sans never meets Pun Pony. Though, could a loop crash due to excessive use of puns? (If any writers care to use that idea, please do. I'm no writer. I just read a lot and comment a bit.)
6666583
I wrote two ascension snips -small a as Ascension is a much different thing -
I don't think I could do the same again.
Question: does Undertale have a set, or was that a random one-off? Because there was this independent small story on another site that wouldn't look out of place as a introductory snippet, enough so that I commented as such using my "ShadwSonic" alias... Forgot what it or the site was called, but it came up by googling "Undertale time loops", so...
....PROCESSING....
....PROCESSING....
....HEADCANON ACCEPTED
6664834 There is a lone snipit somewhere in the Equestria set where Twilight and Jeb Kermin try to run the Kerbal Space Program together, I just cannot remember which set it is in.
.5 …Huh. That went a lot better than I expected.
6666250
It really is.
6667114 I'd honestly forgotten about that... and thanks to your heads-up, my research has turned up two instances: Twilight visits the setting in Loops 22; Trixie is mentioned as having gotten equipment from it in Loops 152.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
6667056 I will be continuing it. Undertale has its own Loops on Spacebattles; I wrote most of them. If you didn't find that fic there, I wasn't responsible (and would like a link!)
I DARE ANYONE TO COMPOSE VINYL'S ASCENSION MUSIC
I might try myself actually but I've never done any kind of electronic music before so it'd probably suck
That Starlight Glimmer. Always one step ahead...
(Except Pinkie Pie is three steps ahead, and two to the left. Nopony out-steps Pinkie Pie!
)
6668214 Alright, found the page again: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5182082
Now I need to find that loop set...
6668478 Of course they aren't coming- they're getting memes instead of marching orders or advice.
6668251 well....this remix of "mars" is a good start.
6669227 I do have fun coming up with Discord-y things for Discord to do.
6669184
Flowey is male.
Well, Undertale spoilers; Half of Flowey is male, the Asriel Dreemurr half. He's explicitly stated as being the son of the King and Queen. The other half, Chara, is of ambiguous gender like Frisk.
I understand that having a POV character be of ambiguous gender is a hard thing so that's why you made Frisk female. Flowey always gave me more of a 'male' vibe though, not sure why.
You've got me curious as to whom the Fused version of Flowey is now, since Discord actually rather fits. Discord makes for a rather good Amalgamate after all.
*Gets brain wave* ... .
Though if it has to be female I think I know whom it is now. She would very much be indisposed at that moment, yes.
Though that would be the pony's sister, not the goat's son. What happened to Asriel?
So many questions... . Really looking forward to the next installment now! Even more so than I was before.
PR1NC355 PON-3
Cosmic Microwave Smackdown
Yggdrasil Records
Fun batch with a fantastic finale. I can only imagine Vinyl's Princess Loop. And her crazy side...
6669771
Hehe, all of them are funny titles for Vinyl Scratch.
And if I am correct, you will be seeing it as the second snip for the next compilation.
6669657 High praise, even given your username. And you really should. Watch NOTHING until the end of your first play through.
This goes for anyone else interested in Undertale.
6669638 Frisk is indeed nonbinary in the Loops as a whole, but this is early enough in their history that they've yet to come to terms with that. Flowey, otoh, is male. I think you've got an inkling of why Tori said otherwise. The circumstances of how that individual became the Flowey of this Fused Loop are not available at your security clearance.
DAAAWWWWW!!!
Vinyl's Ascension was awesome, I can just imagine a giant cosmic version of her using a pair of galaxies as a mixing table. Has she ended up in Arda to help Wub Middle Earth into being yet????
6671402
She didn't jump, she just squealed that loudly
6671550
That's an amazing mental image, to be honest
6666354 Drunk Vinyl is best Vinyl
I AM NOT SORRY
6668417 Priemptively saying something:
Unless some miracle ends up redeeming her in a plausible way in tomorrow's season finale, don't expect her to ever start Looping. I wrote a very controversial arc in this comp, and even I know that's an awful idea. This is more or less universally agreed in the SB planning thread.
Besides, we have more than enough Loopers to work with already.
However...speaking from a purely theoretical standpoint, if the 0.00% that Starlight Glimmer ever begins Looping (which no one will write, I hope, so I reiterate that this is a purely hypothetical idea), Yggdrasil itself would punish her.
How? By making her first Loop not in Equestria. But in a hellscape.
No, not the Dark Millenium. Not Amala. Not even the Megaverse. No, this would be her first Loop:
As a very unfortunate fusion of Butters and Kenny.
Naturally, this is Rule of Funny rather than rule of drama, and I'll say again that this idea will never see the light of day. You thought Twilight was traumatized by Molestia? That'd be NOTHING compared to this.
And a vengeful Rainbow Dash does not help matters at all by singing the Lemmiwinks song whenever the two are in the same room. In this snip that won't happen.
6671671 Wubbing Arda into being or Cosmic Goddess Vinyl using Galaxies as her Mix table???
6672950
That's all well and good...
But I never said anything about Starlight looping. Or potentially looping.
6673351
the later
I was linked to this story in the comments of another story and thought "this looks like an interesting read" then I saw the word count 1,707,319, which by the way is about 300,000 words over the longest book in the world according to the Guinness book of world records. the only thing I have to say now -cracks neck and fingers- challenge excepted
6673360 Right, you didn't. But I was pretty sure that the question would come up at some point, especially considering the fuckery Starlight is going to do to the timestream in tonight's episode. The whole central theme of the story is one of time travel (to the past specifically), so no doubt someone would bring up the elephant in the room at some point.
Granted, we haven't seen the episode tonight, so who knows. Maybe the writers will suddenly veer into how she's been an unwitting target of her own personality rending spells or something, or she's the puppet of some greater evil. Either way, I wanted to address the elephant in the room before it trampled into here, wrecked the furniture, and had to get Fluttershy to lead it out into a more open space before she broke the whole house down, and why do my metaphors always go to such weird places?
6668895 Best answer. Respect.
6669662 You said "please". I deserved no respect nor acknowledgement. Not earn yours.
6672817 There's an Evangelion meme: "Shinji, you suck. Now get in the robot." I think it's from an Abridged version, but I don't know for certain. Anyway, it amused me enough to make it ponies instead.
6671550 Now I want to write gandalf going "really?" and vinyl being all "I seriously did not intend to make a disco ball moon. your world doesn't even normally have a moon until later, so I really don't know where that came from" but I'm really tired and I'll probably forget in the morning.
6679404 Wait... since the moon reflects sun light and said sunlight causes Orcs pain, would a Disco Ball Moon make it hard for them to operate at night????
6680034
Probably? Unless Arda's moon is one of those non-reflective light generating models.
I finaly caught up!
I discovered this fic (and throught it, the rest of the Infinite Loops) about a week or two ago and have been reading it in my spare time ever since. It's a great story.
6707358 Yup, but it is not high on my list to do
Got two massive loop writing projects to finish first
Nyx Assassin?
6668251 Hah, good luck figuring the exact cosmic noise from the big bang, then remixing it to sound good.
I do not care if you did not mean literally.
6718084 Yo, author of said snip here. I admit, this is far from my best work: I accidentally ramped the pretentiousness up way too much, and I think I was kinda full of myself in hindsight. Also focusing a bit too much on outside characters, diverging from the usual tone of the MLP Loops too much, overempathizing and probably exaggerating the tone of SMT...I made many mistakes during that snip, and probably should have asked for more feedback before putting up the idea.
But that plotline is concluded, as I have said before, so don't expect that story to go on for much longer save perhaps brief mentions of future snips. Yeah, the snip wasn't very good, but hey: with over 150+ chapters, not every story's gonna hit it out of the park, right?
Please, no personal attacks an authors, though. That stuff is really never called for.
6721292
Honestly, I think it's valid - that is, the character didn't seem quite able to tell that sometimes you have haute coture (which Rarity's material is, given that she does custom dresses as her "thing") just as much as you have mass market.
One wonders if the concept of designer label would have been a happy medium.
6722047
I've not seen enough Stargate to know, I'm afraid - I couldn't spot an error like that.
So, I'm currently re-reading this whole thing, and got to 22.2
I wish to request a continuation, or a remake with Pinkie Pie instead... Maybe even Discord or Applebloom. It has a lot of potential if you ask me.