After waking up, I started working on the new Arcane Circle. It would mostly be used in the instances where my magic was cut off or disabled in some way, but it would still be incredibly useful. It would work in a similar way Kinetic Circles did, or at least when I would first summon them. They would offer me more range than a KC Punch or Shield Bash, and would (theoretically) be much faster to use.

After about five hours of working on it, all that was left was to test-

A sharp knock on my door cut off my train of thought. That's weird, Twilight normally just yells for me and anypony else just barges in...

"Come in," I said to the door. It opened, revealing Vesper. "Hey, Vesper."

"Hey, Dad," she replied, in a much less enthusiastic voice than normal. She almost looks sad...

"What's wrong?" She came over and sat next to me. On the floor. Where I was.

"I just..." She sighed and looked down at the ground. "I've been thinking."

"Sounds painful." She looked up at me, a hint of annoyance mixed in with the sadness.

"Could you not?"

"Sorry. So what's wrong?" She looked back down at the ground waited a few moments before answering.

"When I came to this universe and ended up back here, I thought it was great. Well, after I'd gotten over the little bit of anger of messing up. Anyway, I thought it was great; not only would I get to stay with you but I'd get to see you in your glory days. I wouldn't just get to see the stories you told me, or will tell me or whatever, unfold, I would get to live them!"

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that by being here I'm causing paradoxes all over the place. I've already caused the cliche paradox of preventing my own birth and it's only now that I realise that by just being here I'll cause so many more. If I try to live the stories you told- Will tell- Buck it, you know what I mean. If I try to live the stories you told me I would change them and cause more paradoxes."

"That's not that big of a problem. When I get to the point where I'm telling present you stories I'll just make them up."

"That... Okay, yeah, that would fix those. But what about others? Next time there might not be a big window of time for you or me to fix it. Anyway, that leads to why I'm talking to you about this: I'm thinking of getting God-Horse to send me to the time I was aiming for in the first place. The longer I stay here, the more I put everything at risk. Plus it's bucking annoying having to use shit that's twenty years outdated to me."

"I keep forgetting that you know what future magic and technology is like."

"Yeah. And there are loads of advances as well, for, as usual, reasons I can't say."

"So... Will you stay or go?" Vesper looked up at me with a surprised expression.

"Wait, you're not completely against the idea?"

"No, why would I be?"

"I don't know; drama? Plot convenience?"

"Plot convenience?"

"The multiverse is endless, there's got to be at least a few universes where this is some form of story."

"I mean... I guess that's true. But why would I make it easy for the authors in said universes? If they're any good then they should work with what they have."

"I guess that's true. Although I doubt this part would be in any story. If the author's taking themselves seriously, that is."

"I don't know, what if they run out of ideas and resort to this without realising that this exact discussion was happening in alternate universe?"

"That's true, it would make good padding if the author ran out of ideas, but it's still a Minotaur shit excuse for it. We were in the middle of a pretty important discussion so I don't know even know how they could run out of ideas. Plus, if they were specifically writing about them writing it as it was happening then they would realise that it is happening in another universe."

"Yeah, you're right, they'd have to be pretty shameless to stoop to this level of filler. Hey! That made me realise something!"

"What?"

"Future me has already solved the paradox problem for you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"When I go to tell past slash future you, depending on which one of us is thinking about it, about anything at all, I'll just tell you a modified version of what happened to Sky. Wanna know how I figured it out?"

"How?"

"You thought this universe was extremely parallel until you saw it for yourself!" Vesper's eyes widened.

"Holy shit! That actually solves everything!" Her expression changed to one of concern. "Wait, what if I change things so that you end up dying?" Wow, this got dark quickly.

"Learn shapeshifting magic, turn into me and tell the stories to past you as me."

"I guess that would work..."

"So you'll stay and have adventures with your not-so-old Dad?"

"Buck yeah!" We brohoofed and shared a quick hug. Then we sat there awkwardly. "So... Now what?"

"Uh... Wanna watch me test my new Arcane Circle?" Vesper grinned.

"Remember to lie to young me about your Circles so this will still be a surprise now!" I returned the grin.

"Let's do this!"

We were outside with some targets set up, ready to test my latest addition to my Arcane arsenal:

They way they worked was simple; I would summon them like I would summon a Kinetic Circle for a KC Punch, but instead of punching I would throw it how you throw a Frisbee with a hoof. Like all other Arcane Circles, the Razer Circle would only stay active as long as I had focus on it. But while I did, I could control whether it was as sharp as a knife or solid as a rock, meaning that I had fantastic selection for projectile weaponry or tools.

It was time to test it, so I signaled Vesper to stand back. I threw a Sharp Razer at my first target; a tree. The Circle sliced cleanly through, making the top half of the tree fall to the ground.

"Yeah!" I cheered.

I turned to my second target, a pile of boxes, and threw a Solid Razer towards them. The Circle crashed into them, smashing the boxes into splinters.

"Tartarus yeah!" Cheered Vesper.

I turned to my final target; three apples sitting a little apart from each other. I threw three Sharp Razers at the same time, each meeting their mark and slicing through with ease.

"Buck yeah!" We cheered together. And now, even if my magic's disabled, I can still be a badass!

Author's Notes:

I've been planning Razer Circles since almost the beginning of the story, so I'm glad I finally got them into it.

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I only have one or two more new Arcane Circles planned (for Cloud, anyway), but expect upgrades and combos in the future.

---

I'm suffering from burnout (making writing very difficult), so I'm taking a break from writing for a week or two. I want to be at my best when I write 'A Canterlot Wedding' (which is either the next chapter or the one after) , especially since I've been planning it for so long and hyping it up.

So don't expect to see anything from me for a couple of weeks while I obsess over Batman video games and then sometime around my birthday (02/03) I'll be back to write this shit in a new-found glory!

See you in two weeks. /)