A little loopy.

by warewolves

First published 5th of November, 2014

Sweetie Belle gets stuck in a time loop.

Sweetie Belle gets stuck in a time loop.

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Proofread by many people such as: 0_0, refferee, Leonzilla, crooked, TheGreatEater, and other people I may have missed.

L1&L2

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!” Groaning as Rarity’s voice called through the door, Sweetie reluctantly rose. Giving a yawn, she rubbed her eyes as her light grey fur bristled from the morning chill. It was going to be another cold week, it seemed. Her mind briefly turned to her dreams, but before she could focus, they vanished like her weekend from her memory.

“I’m up!” Rising, Sweetie looked around her room. Her room was neatly furnished, and it had everything she needed; a soft bed, a vanity unit, and a mat in one corner with some toys on it, most being teddy bears. Truthfully she didn’t play with Mr. Snuggles or Miss Poofsy anymore, but they still held a special place in her heart.

Brushing her hair, she breathed in, suddenly smelling something in the air; fluffy, yummy, tummy, pancakes! Not even stopping to check her hair was in its right place, she instantly dashed downstairs, at the table so quick, you’d swear she had teleported.

“I’m off! See you Rarity.” Bounding over, she gave her sister a quick hug, and then trotted outside. Looking around, it took a few moments before Apple Bloom appeared, rounding a corner, and she smiled. Waving a hoof, they both clothed the distance, and began to make the long trek toward school.

“..., ..., ..., diamonds..., sand..., formed.” as Cheerilee spoke, Sweetie tuned out for a moment, going cross-eyed as a pressure began to appear in her head. What was with this headache, had it been something she’d ate? Had Rarity poisoned her!? WAS SHE GOING TO-No, even she knew that was ridiculous. Still, it was thoughts like that that made the day go a little faster.

“Why not get Sweetie Belle to answer, since her sister has a Cutie Mark of diamonds.” Sweetie turned, and glared at Diamond, opening her mouth to make a quip. Cheerilee was, sadly, too quick to interject.

"That's a perfect suggestion, Diamond Tiara. Oh, since your name has diamond in it, why don't I give you the first question instead?" Cheerilee’s words caused Diamond to glare, and Sweetie couldn’t help the smug grin on her face. However, all too soon that faded as her headache began to become more distracting, and Sweetie raised her hoof.

"Miss Cheerilee? Can I go to the nurse, I don't feel so good." After Sweetie spoke, Cheerilee put her hoof on her forehead, it was warm to the touch. Biting her lip, Cheerilee nodded.

"Yes dear, make sure to tell her what the problem is when you get there.” Upon arriving, Sweetie managed to get herself sent home early, on the promise she headed right for bed. Doing so, her mind drifted off the moment she hit the pillow.

“I say we try getting our cutie marks in hole digging!” Scootaloo nodded as Apple Bloom spoke, and both beamed at Sweetie Belle as she played with her paper plane using magic. Even now, Sweetie couldn’t believe how far her magic had come in just a few short days.

“Sure! Let’s go!” Following the two into town, they grabbed shovels, and began to dig a hole. It was dirty work, but soon enough they were quite far done. Taking a break, they checked their flanks, only to be disappointed as they remained mark less.

“WOAH!” A form fell atop of them, causing them to scream in panic, and try to flee. After a few moments, they realised it was just Noteworthy, and relaxed. Two heads peeked into the hole, and Sweetie shrunk down as Rarity’s voice called out.

“You are so grounded.”

“Today's lesson, is on Tides. You see, the moon in the night sky is also responsible for the tides of the ocean. Too close or too far, and we would not be the Equestria you see today. One of Celestia’s greatest fears during the birth of Nightmare Moon was of this. Now can anyone tell me why Princess Luna may have not done so, even if it would have been to her advantage?” Cheerilee regarded the class.

“Uhm, because deep down she was a nice pony after all?” Snails shrunk slightly as the entire class laughed at him, but such behavior was quickly halted.

“Actually, that is what most Ponies believe. According to Princess Twilight herself, Luna only wanted her subject's admiration. Perhaps, deep down, she still cared for life, even in the depths of despair.” Cheerilee began to draw white dots on the chalkboard.

“Which is why, I want to ask you children if you would be interested in a School Excursion to see the stars one evening. You would need to sign permission slips of course, but it would be a good experience for all of you.” Turning, Cheerilee waited, and all the kids began to nod enthusiastically. Staying up late, on a school night? This was going to be awesome!

“Goodnight Rarity,” whispered Sweetie, hugging her sister as she slowly climbed the stairs to her bed. The weekend promised to be a good one, full of fun and adventure, and Cutie Marks! Maybe, that is. Snuggling into her covers, a soft sigh escaped her lips. What a good week, she almost wished it wasn’t over.

Without another thought, her mind sunk into dreams.

Author's Notes:

It was a long time coming! For new people to the series, welcome!
See the Sequel to ALL here!

L3

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!” That was strange, it should be the weekend. Sweetie opened her eyes, and started looking around her room whilst rubbing her eyes.

“Rarity, it’s the weekend, what do you mean?” Sweetie raised her voice as she walked over to the mirror and pulled the brush out of the drawer in the vanity unit's desk. Brushing her mane, she smiled as her hair bobbed slightly when she moved her head. Perfect, as always. She turned just as Rarity opened the door and started to roll her eyes.

“Nice try little sister, you know as well as I do that the weekend ended yesterday. Now come downstairs and eat breakfast with me. I made pancakes.” Rarity chuckled as Sweetie was downstairs in an instant, digging into her pancakes. Sweetie loved Rarity’s pancakes, they were always so fluffy!

‘Still, must have been one heck of a weekend if I don’t remember any of it. Funny thing is, last week we had pancakes too, not that I’m complaining.’ Sweetie patted her stomach and sighed happily. Nothing beats a good meal, even on a school day. Standing up, Sweetie took the dishes, and began to wash hers up.

“You really don’t have to wash them up my dear, I can do that with my magic and save you having to touch that filthy water with your hooves.” Rarity picked up the plates and gently swatted Sweetie out of the way as she worked. Frowning, Sweetie felt a sense of deja vu hit her. Wasn’t that the same thing Rarity had said last week? Sweetie shook her head, there was nothing wrong with Rarity saying it twice. Glancing to the clock, she paled.

“Oh no! I’m going to be late!” Sweetie grabbed her saddlebags and made a dash for the door, closing it quickly and running down the path. Apple Bloom was already waiting for her. Scootaloo would meet them there, living on the opposite side of Ponyville. Sweetie looked up, taking in Twilight’s brand new castle, secretly glad for the shade it brought, and followed Apple Bloom to the school.

“All right kids, today we’re going to learn about how diamonds and sand are formed.” Cheerilee smiled warmly at her students, seeing Sweetie Belle blink and shake her head. That was peculiar, was something up with the filly?

“Why not get Sweetie Belle to answer, since her sister has a Cutie Mark of diamonds.” As if on cue, Diamond Tiara smirked at Sweetie, who shook her head once more. Both diamonds, and that same line from Tiara? Turning, she opened her mouth to make a quip, but Cheerilee was quick to intercept.

"That's a perfect suggestion, Diamond Tiara. Oh, since your name has diamond in it, why don't I give you the first question instead?" Cheerilee smiled warmly as Diamond Tiara winced, and glared at Sweetie in response, as if it was all her fault. Sweetie Belle held her head, and raised a hoof.

"Miss Cheerilee? Can I go to the nurse, I don't feel so good." It was true, her head was throbbing and as Cheerilee put her hoof on it, it was also warm to the touch. Biting her lip, she nodded.

"Yes dear, make sure to tell her what the problem is when you get there.” Cheerilee watched as Sweetie left, and began teaching as if she hadn’t. Sweetie walked into the nurse’s office, holding her head and groaned as she realised the nurse must have stepped out. Sitting down on one of the beds in view of the door, she waited patiently for a few minutes.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I was taking Lucky Shoe back to class.” The school nurse walked over and smiled warmly at Sweetie as she held her head.

“Now this may tingle a little bit, but don’t worry about it.” The nurse concentrated, and a spell passed over Sweetie, fading a moment later. The nurse opened her eyes and tilted her head.

“That’s strange, you’re having power fluctuations. Those normally don’t occur unless there’s a huge buildup of magic. Let me see if I can clear that for you.” Closing her eyes and biting her lip, the nurse once more cast a spell on Sweetie, who sat there and shivered as the spell washed over her. Suddenly, the pain was gone.

“There, whew you’ve got a magical future ahead of you with that sort of magic potential.” The nurse sat down as she puffed, fanning herself with her hoof. Sweetie smiled and stood up, finding herself free of the headache that had been plagued her for three weeks now.

Wait, three?

“Miss nurse, may I please go home? I know I should be in class, but I’m still not feeling too well.” Sweetie held a hoof to her mouth as she pretended to still be feeling unwell, and nailed it. The nurse nodded, quickly filling out a slip excusing her from school.

“Very well, but go right home and straight to bed.” Nodding as the nurse waved her off, Sweetie Belle took the slip and left. After the school vanished from sight, she turned and began heading for home. Opening the door, she realised Rarity was out, and shrugged. Walking to the kitchen table, Sweetie quickly wrote a note, before heading upstairs and straight to bed. It wasn’t long before her headache returned.

“Note to self: Get the spell from the nurse tomorrow.” Groaning, she slid the blinds closed and hid under her blanket, and quickly fell asleep, despite the headache.

Waking up, Sweetie Belle was relieved to feel her headache was just a backdrop today, and not a thudding pain. Turning to open the curtains, she widened her eyes. It was already midday. Sweetie quickly got ready and went downstairs to the living room. While she had been expecting Rarity, the lavender mare wasn’t too big a surprise, if not unexpected.

“Ah, you’re up. Rarity got called into Manehattan for a meeting with a retailer. She asked me to take care of you until tomorrow.” Twilight smiled warmly at Sweetie, putting down the book as Sweetie tilted her head in confusion.

“Wasn’t that meeting last week? Didn’t she say something about her fashion getting her big sponsors?” Sweetie felt her headache grow, and Twilight stood up and came over.

“No, but the more important question is, are you ok? You don’t look so good.” Twilight felt Sweetie’s forehead, and bit her lip. Sweetie shook her head, and decided it would be best to try and explain it.

“I’m fine, sorta, but I keep getting headaches and this weird sense of déjà vu. Like I’ve done this all before.” Sweetie winced once more. The pain was returning to a dull throb in her head, but it still hurt. Twilight’s horn lit up, and a spell passed over Sweetie.

“That’s strange, it looks like your magic is backed up, and yet it’s not, there’s a clear flow going through you. Have you tried levitating or using it?” Twilight stepped back as Sweetie shook her head, and looked toward the book on the desk beside where Twilight had been sitting.

“Well, all right.” Sweetie concentrated, biting her lip as her horn sparked to life. Slowly, the book levitated into the air. Almost immediately, she felt a strange sense of euphoria, as if this was a hot bubble bath after a long day of tree sap. Lowering the book, the headache returned, and she tilted her head.

“That’s highly irregular, but I can’t figure out what could be causing it. Do you mind if I run some tests?” Twilight looked to Sweetie, who shook her head, once more levitating the book. For some reason, levitating it felt a lot easier than she remembered.

“All right, let’s head to my castle. You’ll have to catch up on your schoolwork though.” Twilight chuckled as the filly winced, and they left Rarity’s boutique.

“I just don’t get it, there’s no scientific reason for it. I’m sorry Sweetie Belle, I’m going to have to file it under ‘Pinkie Pie’.” Twilight put a hoof sympathetically around the filly, who was currently levitating a feather quill.

“That’s all right Twilight, I’m just glad to have found something to stop the headaches.” Sweetie made a motion with the feather, and then paused, dropping it on the table. Levitating over a piece of paper, she folded it into a plane and smiled. Now she had something she could levitate that wouldn’t make her look strange, or like Twilight. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course.

“Oh shoot, it’s already dinnertime. I’m so sorry, you must be starving.” Twilight quickly trotted into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Sweetie watched her work for a moment, before deciding to explore the castle. As she did, there were a lot of rooms, and her hooves seemed to know exactly where all the cool ones were. There was even one for Spike that housed a fluffy toy collection, which she would use to blackmail him with, of course.

“Dinner’s ready!” a voice called from the distance, and Sweetie felt her stomach grumble. Despite her inability to remember the way back, she never got lost and quickly joined Spike and Twilight at the table. The baby dragon was currently eating sapphires.

After that, it was time to read, and then to bed. Really, it was quite an unusual day.

“I say we try getting our cutie marks in hole digging!” Scootaloo nodded as Apple Bloom spoke, and both beamed at Sweetie Belle as she played with her paper plane.

“We did that last week though,” she said dejectedly. The other two raised an eyebrow, and shared a glance.

“Uh, no we didn’t, Sweetie. Last week we tried for cloud-bucking.” Scootaloo watched as Apple Bloom winced, and bit her lip. Needless to say, that hadn’t gone well.

“No, that was the week before! Why does everyone keep saying that?” Sweetie folded her arms irritably. The paper plane circled around her head, and then dived past her two friends.

“Maybe because it’s true. Don’t you want to get your Cutie Mark?” Apple Bloom’s comment sliced straight through her irritation, and she relented. Surely they wouldn’t make the same mistakes this time.

“All right, as long as we don’t dig it in Ponyville. We don’t want somepony falling in.”

Surprisingly, digging holes did not get them a cutie mark. It did, however, get them grounded. Rarity returned just in time to share her disapproval with Twilight, before Sweetie was dragged back home and told no dessert tonight. However, the next morning the Pegasi had decided it was a snow day, and Rarity had relented (on the condition she go to school at midday), allowing Sweetie to go with her friends to play in the deep snow on Applejack’s farm.

“I’m telling you, this whole week has been weird. It’s like I’ve done it all before.” Sweetie sat up from her snow angel and looked to the other two as they tried to make a snowman’s head be placed on an already towering body. Rolling her eyes, Sweetie Belle concentrated, and shakily placed it on top. Wiping the sweat from her brow before it froze, she picked up her paper airplane once more.

“Woah, that’s amazin’! Yer gettin’ pretty good with that magic.” Apple Bloom rolled up a snowball and threw it at Scootaloo. Smirking, the mare plucked up snow and began to create a snow fort. Apple Bloom and Sweetie quickly did the same. The snowball fight lasted all morning, and it was all too soon they had to go to school. Walking to the school, Sweetie felt a chill from the cold weather, knowing that it was just two more days until the weekend!

“And that is how you solve an equation with multiplication and division in it. I will see you all tomorrow.” Cheerilee watched all of the fillies make a hasty exit, and made to walk out herself. However, Sweetie had stayed behind for some reason.

“Uhm, Cheerilee, is tomorrow’s lesson gonna be about the tides?” Sweetie saw the shock on the teacher’s face as she nodded.

“But how did you know?” Cheerilee scratched the back of her head. She had been planning on using it to see if the students wanted to go stargazing, but it wouldn’t be very good if the surprise had been ruined.

“Maybe you can just give us the slips that day, and we can meet you at the school that night. I’m sure everypony is gonna love the chance to go stargazing, especially with Princess Luna.” Once more, Sweetie had surprised Cheerilee, and she scratched the back of her head.

“But Princess Luna isn’t coming.” Cheerilee felt her heart melt slightly as Sweetie beamed gleefully.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll handle getting Princess Luna. Just make sure it’s tomorrow night.” Sweetie put on her best begging face, and felt satisfaction as Cheerilee caved.

“Well, okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she chuckled, sitting down at the desk. Sweetie quickly waved goodbye, and Cheerilee pulled out some paper, knowing she had about twenty ‘is your child allowed to attend this event’ slips to fill.

“I can’t believe it, Princess Luna!” All the kids crowded around the Princess as she smiled good-naturedly at their praise. Only one filly didn’t fawn over her. It was, of course, Sweetie Belle.

“I am most delighted to be sharing my night with you young ones. I do hope you enjoy the entertainment I have provided.” Luna smiled, and her horn glowed, filling the sky with a storm of shooting stars. Sweetie smiled warmly as she watched everypony enjoy it, wishing she had seen this last week.

Eventually it was time for bed, and she placed her paper plane down on her desk for the final time, closing her eyes. Soon she would be able to enjoy a weekend with her friends, and maybe even earn their marks. And this week’s strangeness would be forgotten. After all, she didn’t remember the weekend earlier, so there was no way she’d experience deja vu.

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!”

Oh no.

L4

Sweetie Belle walked downstairs, and looked in the kitchen. Yes, there were pancakes. Sitting down, she began to eat. While peculiar, it had still been a few days since she had had them, and she did love them so. This time however, she made sure to finish with ample time left to head to school.

“Say, Rarity, when was the last time you made me pancakes?” Sweetie smiled warmly at Rarity as she stood up. Picking up the plates in her magic, she began to wash them. Rarity widened her eyes, watching this.

“My my sister, your magic is improving at an alarming rate. Why, you could probably help me with creating clothes if you liked.” Rarity smiled warmly, imagining how a second horn would make holding more items a lot easier. Sweetie finished washing up, and glanced to Rarity, who blinked, remembering she had been asked a question.

“Oh! I’m not sure dear, it was before you went to visit our parents about four weeks ago.” Rarity waved goodbye as Sweetie grabbed her saddlebags, and headed out the door, on time. Meeting up with Apple Bloom, Sweetie narrowed her eyes as she thought back on Rarity’s words.

‘That’s eight weeks ago for me, including this week. Something is definitely wrong here.’ Sweetie sat down in her normal seat, and Cheerilee walked in, beginning the lesson. Sweetie smiled, she knew just what to say if this turned out to indeed be the same day.

“All right kids, today we’re going to learn about how diamonds and sand are formed.” Cheerilee smiled warmly at her students. Sweetie beamed back a strange smile, like she was gleefully waiting something.

“Why not get Sweetie Belle to answer, since her sister has a Cutie Mark about diamonds.” As if on cue, Diamond Tiara smirked at Sweetie. This time, Sweetie rounded on Diamond and raised an eyebrow, tilting her head as she put on an innocent expression.

“But isn’t your name Diamond Tiara? Surely you would be a better choice for the question.” Sweetie felt smug satisfaction as Diamond Tiara blinked, and then glared at her. Cherilee quickly intercepted, sending a scolding glare at Sweetie. Oops.

“We’ll have none of that in my classroom. You both can write up a paper on today's subject as punishment. I expect it by Friday.” Cherilee turned, and gave Diamond a scolding glance as well before returning to her place in front of the chalkboard. Sweetie pulled out a piece of paper, folded it into a paper plane, and levitated it in circles under the desk, where nopony could see it.

‘I must find a better way to manage the headaches, I won’t have paper until class.’ Sweetie sighed inwardly, ears flopping down. Just why was she repeating time? Her friends hadn’t believed her last time, and it wasn’t likely Twilight or Rarity would believe her either.

‘Maybe I can convince Twilight it’s an attempt to get a Cutie Mark, she normally indulges those.’ Sweetie snapped out of her muse as a question was asked of her by Cheerilee, and she realised she didn’t know the answer. Shaking her head, she felt the smirk from Diamond beside her.

'Note to self: Spend some time learning these classes so I don’t have to keep doing them.'

“Twilight, I was wondering if it’s possible to get a Cutie Mark about time.” Sweetie smiled innocently at Twilight as she served breakfast to her from Rarity’s kitchen. Apparently, when she got home at the normal time, Twilight left a note explaining she would be taking care of her, and had gone to get some items from her castle. Sweetie decided it would be best to just leave it until tomorrow.

“Yeah, there’s quite a few Cutie Marks related to time, why do you ask?” Twilight raised her head from her book, and watched the paper airplane flying around. Sweetie had gotten pretty good at magic to be able to cast that constantly. Placing her book down, she brought her full attention to the filly.

“Well, uh, a kid in class mentioned this strange thing and I want to know more about it cause it sounds interesting. And if there’s a chance it turns out to be my destiny then all the more reason to do it, so-” Sweetie paused as Twilight held up a hoof to silence her, and motioned her to take a seat on the opposite side of the table.

“What exactly was this strange thing?” Twilight smiled in humor as Sweetie scratched the back of her head. Whatever this was, it was something she was either very confused about, or embarrassed about.

“Well, he said he read this story where the main character was stuck in this same period of time, kinda like when you found that one-use time travel spell, but different. See, the main character isn’t going back to see his old self, he becomes his old self. Like...Let’s say he spends one day going to a movie because friends invited him, the very next day his friends would invite him to the same movie.” Sweetie bit her lip, wondering if she was explaining it ok.

“Oh, you mean time loops. Quite a few stories use those actually, they’re quite popular.” Twilight smiled warmly, realising Sweetie was actually interested in something that wasn’t going to end in instant disaster, and tree sap. Even Twilight had no clue why it always ended in tree sap.

“Time loops… Do you have any books left from the library I can borrow?” Sweetie leaned forward eagerly, until Twilight shook her head. Slumping, she sighed. That was just perfect. Now how was she supposed to find out about these ‘time loops’?

“I’m sorry, I lost entire sections when it got destroyed. I’ll see if I can write up a quick list of books. Maybe you can convince your sister to take you with her to Manehattan and you can buy them.” Twilight winked, and felt relieved as Sweetie cheered up. Twilight took the paper plane out of the air and quickly scribbled the list on it, before folding it and allowing Sweetie to take it in her magic once more.

“Thanks, Twilight.”

“I’m telling you, who’d want a Cutie Mark of hole digging? Surely if our talent was that we would have already discovered it. You know, from all the holes we’ve dug ourselves into?” Sweetie looked knowingly at her two friends, who smiled and scratched the backs of their heads.

“You make a fair point, but I’m not sure what else we could try. We’ve tried all the extreme sports, and still no awesome Cutie Mark.” Scootaloo looked sadly to her blank flank, and the others shared a sympathetic nod. Sweetie, however, had the answer.

“Scoots, remember that time Rainbow Dash saved that carriage that was rolling down that steep hill? What if you ride down it on your scooter, and it gets you a Cutie Mark in speed!” Sweetie watched as the idea lit up in her two friends’ eyes; there was no way this could backfire. And yet, it never hurt to be safe.

“Let’s get Rainbow Dash as well. I’m sure she would be amazed to see the event that gets you your Cutie Mark!” The others nodded, and the three dashed away.

Sadly, even though Rainbow Dash did save Scootaloo from falling to her death, she failed to get the scooter. Sweetie felt a slice of guilt, and promised herself if this happened to be the last time she would do this week, the weekend would be spent getting enough money to purchase Scootaloo a new scooter.

Thankfully, they still met up for the snowball fight on the next day before school started. Sweetie battled against Scootaloo and Apple Bloom as they teamed up against her, and found herself soundly defeated. Giggling, she was proud that she could still enjoy a good snowball fight. That would never change.

Sweetie Belle decided to skip Friday, and convince Rarity she was sick. Looking over the list, she desperately spent the day memorising it. It was during this time that she realised the paper plane from the previous week was still sitting on her bedside table. Picking it up, she looked it over in confusion before placing it back down.

‘Does this mean, my room doesn’t loop? Maybe I don’t have to memorise this. And if not, what will happen if I go to sleep outside my room?’ Sweetie debated it, and decided not to risk it until she had read the books Twilight had listed, in alphabetical order. Sweetie sighed, and decided maybe turning it into a small song might help her remember.

Consumed in her task, she jumped up, startled, when she realised it was pitch black in her room, a light coming from outside her window. Opening the blinds, she saw it was just the moon, and relaxed. Watching it, she placed the book list down on the table and strived to sit up all night. It was easier said than done, and she nearly dozed off a few times, but as the sun rose she felt a tired smile creep onto her face. Glancing to the table, both pieces of paper were still there.

‘I’m out, it’s finally the weekend.’ Her relief was leaking down her face. Sweetie wouldn’t need those books, she would get the chance to get Scootaloo a new scooter. Finally, the weekend. The sun never looked so welcoming as it rose, and she was almost tempted to lower back down into her blankets, but the fear that doing so would restart the week remained.

Sweetie’s ear flickered. There was movement downstairs. Smiling, Sweetie decided to surprise her sister, and snuck down the stairs. Peeking into the kitchen, her sister was hard at work preparing breakfast. Sweetie stepped back a few steps, and then announced her presence with heavy clip-clops as she stepped into the room, and gave a yawn.

“Sweetie Belle, you’re up early. I was just making breakfast.” Rarity smiled warmly at her sister as Sweetie slipped into the kitchen table’s chair and beamed at her sister.

“What chu making?” Sweetie felt proud, and free. No more waiting for a weekend that might not come. Rarity levitated over the bowl of yellow paste, and Sweetie blinked, her blood running ice cold.

“Pancakes, I know how much you love them. It’s been over four weeks since I last made them, so I decided to bake you a treat, my darling sister.” Rarity turned her back to Sweetie as she continued making the food. Sweetie lowered her head, and put a hoof to her forehead.

“R-Rarity, I’m not feeling so good. Can I stay home today?” Sweetie felt her stomach give a heave, and didn’t have to fake the feeling of unease as Rarity walked over and put a hoof to her forehead, frowning.

“You do feel warm. Go back to bed, I’ll bring you up the pancakes when they’re ready.”

Author's Notes:

Here is a poem made by: Divine Path

The terror of stasis,
lost within that which could never be.
Searching for an escape from this nightmare,
and yet it has only just begun.
So with this,
you must soon strengthen your ties to your present,
lest the trapping of a soul in perfect cessation
shall bring you madness,
and you fall to despair.
Oh, the terror of stasis,
so lost within that which can never be.

L5

“Sweetie Belle, can I come in?” Rarity opened the door slightly, and saw Sweetie was in her bed, looking directly at the door. Opening it further, she stepped into the room. Sweetie tilted her head, but said nothing.

“A big opportunity has come up in Manehattan, I really have to leave. Twilight’s agreed to watch you, I will be back in two days.” Rarity brought her sister into a hug, and smiled warmly as she snuggled. Sweetie whined, and eventually she was released from the prison.

“Wait, can I come?” Sweetie pulled off the blankets, and turned to stand up. However, Rarity caught her in magic and levitated her back into bed.

“Of course not sister, you’re much too sick for that.” Rarity raised an eyebrow and Sweetie pouted, heaving a sigh. Turning, Sweetie picked up the book list with a hoof and held it out to Rarity.

“Could you get these for me then? I really need them, they might earn us a cutie mark!” Sweetie beamed at Rarity, who rolled her eyes and relented. Looking down the list, she left herself a reminder to go to the bookstore in Manehattan once her business was done.

“Thank you!” Sweetie leapt toward Rarity, and hugged her tight, both smiled and laughed joyfully, before it became evident Rarity had to go. Separating, Rarity waved to her sister.

“I’ll get any I can find sister, don’t worry.” Rarity turned and left just as Twilight arrived. Sweetie smiled in greeting, but knew Twilight would soon be leaving to get items from her castle. Turning to look at her table, Sweetie sighed.

‘So items in my room stay. What if I put an item outside? I’ll need to borrow my sister’s clock too, I need to see if I can find the exact time it loops. I don’t want to risk sleeping outside until I’ve read the books, but it doesn’t mean I can’t experiment.’ Sweetie walked over to her vanity table and moved all her brushes and such to one side, and placed a stack of blank paper.

“Right, all set for when they arrive. Now let’s see, what can I do in the meantime…” Sweetie sat down, and levitated a pen over from her saddlebags, and smirked. Just because she wouldn’t be able to do some stuff until Rarity came back, or until the end of the loop, didn’t mean she couldn’t try certain things.

‘I won’t risk anything too extreme just yet, in case it doesn’t loop and I’m free from this nightmare. But maybe I can help us get our Cutie Marks, or bribe Spike into doing something. Come on Sweetie Belle, think! You’re stuck in a loop, what mischief can you get up to that won’t cause serious damage if the looping ends…’

After some thought, Sweetie decided going to school was the best idea for the moment. She couldn’t remember ever going to school on a Tuesday during a time she had headaches. So, as she sat down and waited for the class to start, it came as a surprise to learn she actually had homework from ‘last week’.

“Diamond Tiara, you may start.” Cheerilee stepped to the side as the filly walked to the front of the room. Turning around, she smirked, and stood tall as she read out her piece of paper.

“I am Diamond Tiara, and this is my report about my family history. As you well know, my family is rich. My grandfather was rich, his grandfather, all the way back to the very beginnings of my family’s history, to a pony called Quite Rich. And so you see, our family is always going to be rich, as I will absolutely be far richer than anypony in this room for the rest of my life. The end.” Diamond Tiara sauntered back to her desk, and sat down.

“Thank you, Apple Bloom?” Cheerilee smiled warmly as Apple Bloom trotted up, and beamed to everypony.

“Mah family’s roots go back beyond the foundin’ of Ponyville, back to the founding of Equestria even. We Apple’s are widely spread, and we always have each other's back. We are honest, hardworking, and always happy to lend a helping hoof. An I hope I can keep up that legacy as I grow up too. I am proud to be an Apple.” Apple Bloom received a few claps as she bowed and returned to her seat.

“Scootaloo?” Cheerilee frowned as Scootaloo shrunk back, and waved a hoof, motioning her forward and giving her a comforting nudge. Scootaloo looked away from the crowd as she spoke.

“M-My parents left me at an orphanage when I was young, and they eventually put me in a home with foster parents here to give me a chance to get to make some new friends...But I do have Rainbow Dash, who considers me good enough to be her sister.” Scootaloo brightened up slightly at the mention of Rainbow Dash, and Sweetie felt a twinge of sympathy. No wonder Scootaloo never wanted to hang out at where she lived.

“Must have pretty low standards,” whispered Diamond Tiara loudly to her friend. Silver Spoon snickered, and Scootaloo’s face fell. Sweetie rounded on the two and felt anger burning inside her. However, Cheerilee was quick on the uptake.

“Diamond Tiara, that is the second comment I have heard from you, and it better be the last. If I hear one more, we’ll go see your father, and you will learn just how ‘high’ his standards are.” Cheerilee was not made to be an imposing figure. However when she stepped in front of Scootaloo to look down at Diamond Tiara, for a small moment she was the scariest thing in the room.

“Go Scootaloo! You’re the best!” Sweetie spoke up, seeing Scootaloo poke out her head and give a small smile at her. Apple Bloom began to clap her hooves together, Sweetie joined in as well. Soon enough, the entire class, barring two fillies, was applauding the orange filly. Wiping away moisture in her eyes, she looked to Cheerilee, who blinked and stepped aside. Scootaloo grinned at the class, and ignored the moisture running down her face, there was none there after all.(Tough ponies didn't believe in 'tears'.)

“I have my big sister! And I have my foster parents! They have both taught me that the one pony I must be loyal to is myself. I may not be strong, I may not be wise! But I don’t need to be. I don’t need a history to tell me who I am! I have pride in myself because they have pride in me. My friends have pride in me. I can fly as high as I want, because they are there to catch me if I fall.” Scootaloo bowed, and headed back to her desk with her head raised high, the entire class clapping her.

Sweetie wiped away a tear, glad she had been here to support Scootaloo, even if she hadn’t done so previously. This situation with Diamond Tiara had to be sorted out. Sweetie couldn’t stand seeing her friend get hurt, and having to hear the same insults was getting tiring. And most of all; revenge.

“Sweetie Belle, you’re up next.” Cheerilee smiled warmly as Sweetie stood up and turned to the class.

“I didn’t do my homework, whoopsie!” Sweetie smiled awkwardly, and winced as the entire class laughed at her. Glancing to her friends, they shared a small smirk. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo winked, approving of her answer. Cheerilee sighed, but shook her head and smiled.

“Oh very well, but you better have it ready by next week.” Cheerilee looked down as Sweetie nodded enthusiastically, oh she would most definitely have it by next week.

After a boring lesson with Cheerilee on how Pegasi bucked clouds, they were once again discussing digging holes. Sweetie looked at her friends, and sighed.

“Look, I got an awesome idea, I mean do we really want hole-digger Cutie Marks?” The other two winced as Sweetie spoke, and she continued.

“I say we try to get our Cutie Marks in something we haven’t done before. Let’s ask Applejack if she can teach us how to raise a barn. Could you imagine how cool a barn-raising mark would look?” Sweetie smiled, she had them hook, line, and Cutie Mark. If she was lucky this would actually turn out to be what she was destined to be good at.

“Wow Apple Bloom, that’s an amazin’ job.” Applejack watched in silent amazement as Apple Bloom hammered together the foundation for the barn as if it was child’s play. Even Applejack took longer than her, and it wasn’t like the built a barn every week, let alone let Apple Bloom help with more than pulling it together.

Glancing to the other two, they were having less luck. Scootaloo kept trying to rush it, and the frame was just tumbling to pieces, whereas Sweetie Belle was trying to get it ‘absolutely perfect’. Applejack shook her head and bit her lip, glad she had suggested building a mini barn for Winona instead of getting them building a full one.

“I dunno what you’re talking about sis, this isn’t that hard.” Apple Bloom glanced over to her friends and blinked in surprise, looking to the one Applejack was making to guide them with. Compared to Applejack’s one, she was actually doing very good. Maybe she was actually good at something. Apple Bloom smiled and went back to her task.

‘I’m going to put all my heart and soul into this. This is a lot of fun, and I want to make it special for Winona.’ As she worked, she barely noticed the other three had stopped, and were just watching her work. After she finished, she stepped back and nodded, that was the best she could do.

“Wow,” spoke her two friends. Turning, she smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Suddenly, there was a tingling on her flank, and she glanced to it, blinking. On her flank, was a picture of the half finished barn being built, a saw, and a smile painted on the side of one of the pieces.

“I got my Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom was so happy, she exploded into a bouncing ball of energy with her friends. Applejack stood back, smiling. It was not everyday somepony got their mark after all.

“We should totally keep the Club going though okay? I wanna be there when ya’ll get yours.” Apple Bloom brought her friends into a hug, and they all smiled, nodding. It was decided, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would now allow ‘graduated’ members to help those who had yet to graduate.

“Thank you for the books Rarity.” Sweetie took the books in her magic and brought her sister into a hug. After properly thanking her, she dashed upstairs, jumped onto her bed, and opened the first one, closing the door with a click. Flipping through it, she began to read.

‘Okay, so Time Loops are always constant, the time doesn’t normally change. This books says there’s a trigger, something that is keeping them in the loop. It might be related to my headaches. There’s also mention of death being one possible way out of a loop. I’m not that desperate. Jeez, there’s so much, I’m going to have to start writing a list…

Sweetie decided to once more convince Rarity she was ill, after all why would she miss out on a snow-day? There was just too much information to go through, and she needed to read the books thoroughly. Maybe it would be better to bring Twilight in and get her to shorten it. That would require another loop, however. Before long, she glanced up and realised it was already night, and went to sleep.

It had been harder to do so on Friday, but she had managed to once more play hookey, and stay home to read. As she glanced up to the night, she slipped a bookmark into the book, and picked up a toy. Sneaking into Rarity’s room, she slowly levitated her clock out of the room. Rarity wouldn’t let her have one for some reason. (Something about her setting an alarm once for 4am. That was ONE time!)

Sweetie left the door open, and placed the teddy in the hallway, where she could see it. Placing the clock down on the table, she levitated up her paper plane, and glanced between the bear and the clock as time ticked by. Sweetie found it hard, but eventually slipped past the ‘I need to sleep’ phase of the night.

11:59...teddybear

12:00...teddy-wait what?

The teddy bear was gone. Sweetie glanced to her teddy bear toys, it wasn’t back in the pile either. It was just...gone.

L6

“Alright kids, today we’re going to learn about how diamonds and sand are formed.” Cheerilee smiled warmly at her students. Sweetie looked directly at Diamond Tiara as she glanced in her direction.

“Why not get Sweetie Belle to answer, since her sister has a Cutie Mark about diamonds.” Diamond Tiara’s sneer was halted as Sweetie smiled warmly and turned to face her.

“You’re absolutely right Diamond. In fact, can I do your homework for you?” Sweetie smiled innocently as Diamond blinked, and then glanced back toward the other Crusaders, who mirrored her shock.

“Uh, sure,” she spoke as she looked to her friend, Silver Spoon. Silver shrugged, and Sweetie had to force herself to ignore the sharp pangs of guilt eating at her.

‘It’s for a good cause. If the loop ends you can explain it after.’ Sweetie could feel the wounded expressions coming from her two friends, and forced herself to pretend she really was fawning over Diamond Tiara. This was all for the plan. Luckily, her reply has shocked Cheerilee too, and she merely blinked, and continued the lesson.

After school, both bullies approached her, and smirked.

“Well, since you want to do work for us, you have to pass a test first. We need to make sure you’re high-class enough to look down on those lower than you. Pass this, and we will accept you into our group. Only then, will you be allowed to do my homework.” Diamond Tiara raised her nose and stuck it into the air, Silver Spoon copying the action.

“Oooh yes! Absolutely! Just tell me what to do.” Sweetie forced an eager smile on her face despite her turbulent emotions. They better not betray her!

“Sweetie Belle, what’s going on? Why are you hanging out with them?” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom hesitantly approached the group, and Sweetie stepped beside Diamond and smirked.

‘I’m a horrible filly, I’m a horrible filly’ Sweetie bowed once as Diamond look to her, and smiled even wider.

“What a coincidence just the chance you need to prove yourself.” Diamond stepped to the side and waited. Sweetie looked to her friends, and copied the evil smirk she had seen on the two bully's face multiple times.

“I’m hanging with them because they can give me what a bunch of blank flanks can’t, a life.” Sweetie saw both raise a hoof, eyes widened, tears springing to their eyes. For a moment, she almost cracked. This was too much, she couldn’t do this to them! Nothing was worth this amount of-

“Wow, nice one, look at them run away crying.” Diamond and Silver stood beside her, and leaned in, looking pleased. Sweetie gulped, and put on a hopeful smile.

‘I don’t deserve them, I’m a horrible filly. They’ll never forgive me for this, even if it is only for one loop.’ Sweetie saw both motion for her to follow Diamond back to her home, a large house with maids and golden statues, with a fountain to top it off.

“I hereby welcome you to my group. The induction will be in two days, and until then you will be expected to read up on fancy words like croissant and omle’t.(Omleh)” Diamond smiled, and then waved goodbye to them both, teaching Sweetie the cutie mark bump. As she left, she pulled over to a park and expulsed her lunch into one of the bushes.

‘Must...cleanse...taint!’ Later that night, Rarity would wonder why her sister was taking so long to have a bath, and lean her ear close to the door. Hearing that very mantra, she would carefully back away, and pretend she hadn’t heard a single word.

After very careful consideration over the fact Scootaloo would be teased today, and she would likely be called upon to do the same, Sweetie decided the best course of action was to fall deadly ill. Thankfully, this meant she now had time to go over what she had read so far.

Time loops

Ways to get out:
1: Death(sometimes).
2: Stopping the cause(usually).
3: Performing the right sequence of events to find the ‘true’ loop(sometimes).
4: Cleaning up the world, or scrubbing it with toothpaste(never, but sounds like fun).
5: Kill the mastermind(Sometimes).

Options 1 and 5 are obviously out, I’m not going to kill myself, and I’m not going to kill others. At least, not yet. These books say going ‘batshit crazy’ is only a matter of time, but surely I can prevent this if I just stay focused on figuring out either the cause or what 3 is. Still, I really want to try doing 4 one time. It sounds like fun, and hey; it might work.

Objectives:
1: Deal with DT and SS.
2: Get CM, and get friends said CM.
3: Learn every question going to be asked during school so I don’t have to listen during class.
4: Win snowball fight.
5: Get out.

‘I still have to test what happens at midnight if I’m outside, but I really want to test it on somepony other than me first. I believe anypony outside will just vanish back to their Monday positions, but what if they are in my room? Sweetie bit her pencil, and sighed. Either way, she didn’t want Diamond or Silver looping, so it would have to wait until the next one.

“I have to prepare a note as well, in case going outside wipes my memory and puts me back in here.” Sweetie stood up and walked over to her window, and looked out as the sun set over the horizon.

“Either way, objective one comes first.”

“And with the ceremony complete, welcome to my home. Daddy, are the cookies ready?” Diamond Tiara glanced away from Sweetie as she shouted into the kitchen.

‘Darn it, I need to get into her room to get more serious dirt. The fact her dad wears a pink apron isn’t juicy enough.’ Sweetie watched as Mr Rich poked his head out, a plate of cookies in his mouth. As he placed them down all three crowded around and began to munch on them.

“So, you ever tried getting your mark in something like attending dinner parties, or talking fancy?” Diamond looked curiously at Sweetie, and waited for a reply. Sweetie gulped down the rest of her cookie, genuinely shocked Diamond wasn’t sneering at her.

“Well, my sister Rarity sometimes does fancy dinners with prospective clients, but I never really...I mean sure it was a nice evening, but I just felt like another face in the crowd. I don’t think my talent lies in fancy either, I mean what sorta cutie mark would that be.” Sweetie cringed, and once more was shocked as Diamond giggled and pointed to her and Silver’s mark.

“Do you think I want my name to be my cutie mark? What about Silver? I mean gosh, what a life we’ve got, full of adventure and danger ahead of us.” Diamond rolled her eyes and Silver nodded, both sharing a sad smile. Diamond blinked, remembering Sweetie was there, wide-eyed and seeing her differently.

“Hey, maybe yours has something to do with your name. Le’see...Sweet Bells. Maybe you’re really good at ringing bells?” Diamond looked over to Sweetie and shrugged. Sweetie snorted, and then realised she had done so, pausing before continuing.

“We already tried that, back when I was a Crusader.” Sweetie saw both wince, and bit her lip. Looking down, she decided to breach the subject.

“Why do you dislike them so much anyway?" Sweetie raised her head as the other two shared a glance, and Diamond smiled.

“I’ll answer that, but only if you agree to a sleepover at my house. I’ve been waiting forever to have enough ponies for a proper Twister game, and daddy always gives up halfway through.” Diamond looked to Silver, who shook her head sadly.

“Sorry, my Mom still won’t let me leave the house at night.” Silver tried to put a hoof around Diamond, who growled and shrugged it off, and looked at her.

“Yeah yeah, I know alright? Not around the newbie.” Diamond turned toward Sweetie once more, and smirked as she opened her arms wide.

“I’d love to,” replied Sweetie, smiling sweetly.

“So this is the double bed we’ll be sleeping in. Unless you want your own bed, in which case there’s a smaller bed over there. Snacks are on the table, and I have some movies we can watch on my projector.” Diamond’s room was full of blues and pinks. Sweetie could tell she was a girl at heart, but there was evidence to the contrary too.

“Can I play the arcade machine?” Sweetie almost wanted to hug the many machines, decrypting various games, lined up along the back of Diamond’s room. Diamond stepped to the side, and Sweetie was on them in an instant. Diamond leaned over her shoulder, and watched with keen interest.

“Wow, you’re pretty good, woah!” Diamond walked over to another one of the machines, and began to play as well. Sweetie stopped her game soon enough, and came over to help Diamond.

“No, you gotta be more gentle with the controls. That’s it, see?” Sweetie grinned as Diamond started truly enjoying the game, and stood back to watch as she examined her feelings.

‘Could it be that she’s a decent pony?’ Sweetie eventually pulled herself to the snack table, and they sat down to enjoy a movie. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

“So why do you hate the CMC?” Sweetie glanced to Diamond as she cringed away, and then sighed and looked to her.

“Promise not to tell anypony?” Diamond waited as Sweetie promised, but stopped short of a Pinkie promise. That mare knew.

“Ok, well before Apple Bloom came to school, I was the newest kid.” Diamond turned herself to fully face Sweetie, who did the same.

“When she arrived, all the attention I used to get, got directed to her. That would have been okay except…” Diamond paused, and her ears flopped down as she looked away.

“Apparently the other kids decided I was a bully, and only Silver stuck by me. I was jealous of Apple Bloom, can you blame me? So I decided to become a bully to Apple Bloom. Teasing her makes me feel slightly better about myself, and it doesn’t help that you three ruined the one day that was supposed to be about me and my cutie mark.” Diamond stood up, and walked over to the bedside drawer, pulling it open.

“Here,” she spoke as she pulled out a bright pink book with the word ‘diary’ on it. Before Sweetie could object, it was forced into her hoof as Diamond took a step back. They met each-other’s eyes.

“Take it to your friends, tell them your whole plan was to get some dirt on me, they’ll believe you. It’s what you came here for after all isn’t it.” Diamond turned away as her head fell, and she wiped away something itching her eye. Sweetie took one look at Diamond, and dropped the book as she stood up and jumped forward, talking Diamond into a hug.

“No,” she replied, feeling Diamond stiffen, and then relax. Sweetie looked down and saw Diamond’s face scrunch up, and tears leak from her eyes. Sniffing, she wiped her nose as she spoke, turning around to return the hug.

“T-Thank you.”

Sweetie walked home, waving goodbye to Diamond as she left. Entering her room, she walked up to the piece of paper, and looked over her list. Drawing a line through one of the numbers, she then wrote a new one, before walking to her bed, grabbing her saddlebags, and heading to school.

Objectives:
1: Deal with DT and SS.
2: Get CM, and get friends said CM.
3: Learn every question going to be asked during school so I don’t have to listen during class.
4: Win snowball fight.
5: Get out.
6: Get DT and SS to become CMC.

Author's Notes:

Would you believe I actually planned to have SB blackmail DT? Why did she have to be so darn not-evil?
Curse you!
Here is another poem made by: Divine Path

And with the distant past,
you find fondness in the realization;
that among the ponies dark and dour,
within the coldness of apathy and despair,
the warmth unites one and all
and there is light in all hearts under the Equestrian sun.

L7.1

“Scoots? Bloom? Can I talk to you quickly?” Sweetie called her friends to the side, knowing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would be out soon. Both turned and nodded. Sweetie bit her lip, and leaned forward.

“I think I can convert Diamond Tiara to our side.” Sweetie saw both open their mouth to object, and stuck her front hooves forward, closing their mouths as she growled.

“I know she’s mean, but I need you to trust me here.” Sweetie bit her lip as the other two frowned. Once more, guilt over her actions last loop sprung up, and she forced herself to focus as they nodded. Sweetie smiled, and turned to watch the door.

“Just follow my lead.” Sweetie closed her eyes for a moment, before covering her face with an innocent smile. On cue, Diamond and Silver walked out, laughing quietly together. Sweetie breathed in, and walked over to them.

“Oh great, what you you blank flanks want?" Diamond snickered, but blinked as Sweetie’s expression didn’t change.

“Diamond, you’re an expert on all things fancy and high class right?” Sweetie paused just long enough to give Diamond a chance to nod. Glancing to her friends, she smiled once at them and nodded as she turned.

“See? I told you she’s gotta be a better expert than my sister. I mean, all my sister does is design the latest trends endorsed by Fancy Pants.” Sweetie saw Apple Bloom raise an eyebrow, before blinking and glancing away.

“Yeah, you’re right. Ah'm sorry for doubting you.” Apple Bloom glanced toward Diamond, who was slowly digesting this information.

“Endorsed by... Fancy Pants? As in THE Fancy Pants, Fancy Pants?” Diamond stepped toward Sweetie, who shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“Well yeah, I met him myself. Seemed like a nice guy.” Sweetie was of course lying about this bit, but as Diamond's eyes widened, she knew it was working. Now just to let her mull it over...and…

“Why do you need me anyway?” Diamond frowned, and glanced to Silver Spoon. Blinking, she quickly smirked at Sweetie as she stuck up her nose.

“I mean, there’s just so many reasons for you poor pitiful blank flanks to want to need me, I just wish to clarify which one.” Diamond nodded to herself, that was better. Didn’t want them thinking she was going soft.

“Well, we’ve tried getting our Cutie Marks in almost everything, but we never tried anything relating to fancy. We were wondering if you might be willing to help us, for a price of course.” Sweetie leaned in and smiled, whispering quietly into Diamond’s ear.

“I can get you a signed autograph of Fancy Pants.” Rarity had quite a few items laying around the boutique Fancy has signed. It would take some convincing, but Sweetie was sure she could get her sister to part with one for a good cause.

“O-One moment.” Diamond pulled Silver away and both began to quietly discuss it together. After a moment, both nodded and smirked.

‘They’re totally going to try and swindle me of it.’ Sweetie watched them both walk over, and Diamond hold out a hoof.

“Give the autograph to us right now, and you have a deal.” Diamond smiled, faking a warm one. Sweetie looked down and let her ears flop.

“I can’t yet, Rarity’s gone to Manehattan and she won’t be back for a few days. And she takes them with her.” Sweetie waited as both shared a glance, and sighed.

“Alright, but we expect it by the end of the week. We’ll start your training tomorrow.” Diamond held out her hoof again, and Sweetie took it, both shaking and smiling pleasantly at each other.

“Excellent, we can’t wait.”

“No no no! That spoon goes over here!” Silver Spoon glared at Scootaloo, who numbly put the spoon where it apparently went. Silver nodded once, and glanced over to the other two. Diamond Tiara was overseeing their ‘Fancy cutlery setting up’ over the other side of the table. They were using paper plates, so nothing had a chance of getting broken.

“Ugh, you three are useless! You’re worse than blank flanks, you’re no-flanks!” Diamond pulled out the chair and leapt onto it, and then onto the table so she could look down at them. Apple Bloom met the glare, and opened her mouth to say something back. Sweetie put a hoof over the mouth, and shook her head.

“Seriously, you three can’t even set up a table right, how are you expecting to master this? This is servant work.” Diamond thumped her hoof on the table three times, and then turned toward the chair and made to step off the table. However, it suddenly creaked, and snapped on one end, sending her careening toward a window. On the second floor, it would most certainly hurt.

Sweetie closed her eyes and concentrated, dragging Diamond to the ground, causing her to skid to a stop just before the window. Puffing, she wiped her brow, holding living objects was a lot harder than books or paper planes, even if she had only held onto Diamond’s leg.

“Are you ok?” All moved around to make sure Diamond was ok. Sweetie reached out a hoof, but stepped back as it was swiped away. Diamond turned, and glanced toward the table.

“What was that noise up there?” It was Mr Rich, Diamond flinched and breathed in sharply. If her father saw the table, she would be so dead. Sweetie looked to Apple Bloom, who was looking at the table, and tilting her head.

“Think you can fix it?” Sweetie waited as her friend blinked, and gave a shrug.

“Maybe, but Mr Rich isn’t going to just wait down there while I try to fix the table.” Apple Bloom turned as Scootaloo saluted, and dashed for the stairs. Sweetie moved toward the table and helped Apple Bloom lift it up, grunting. Feeling the weight slightly lessen, she saw Silver was helping. Both glanced to Diamond, who blinked and followed suit.

“Ah need a hammer and some nails!” Apple Bloom raised her head and looked to Diamond, who quickly dashed away to get the tool kit. Sweetie groaned, and Apple Bloom pulled a chair over, bringing it to rest just under the lower end of the table.

“Y’all can let go now.” Apple Bloom nodded as the chair kept the table from hitting the floor, leaving her enough room to examine it while she waited for Diamond to get back. Below, Scootaloo was stalling Mr Rich, but it wasn’t going very well and he was already at the stairs. If he got to the top, the table would be in clear view of the stairs.

“Here!” Diamond came back with a large tool kit held in her mouth. Apple Bloom took it and nodded to Sweetie and Silver, who lifted the table back up to more or less horizontal. Apple Bloom quickly got to work, sweat beading on her head as she forced herself not to rush, despite the noise as somepony slowly walked up the stairs.

“Can I see your money collection? Tell me about stocks!” Scootaloo’s panicked cries were ringing through as Mr Rich ignored every one. Apple Bloom was sweating, hooves shaking. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and forced herself to work slowly, but quickly. As she hammered the last nail in with a loud thunk, Mr Rich saw them surrounding the table.

“What is going on.” Mr Rich looked as Apple Bloom rolled out from under the table. Looking between her and the hammer clutched in her mouth, he turned to look to Diamond as she strained to hold the table upright.

“You can let it go now,” whispered Apple Bloom through the hammer. All three gently lowered the table down, and let go. It was rock steady. Mr Rich walked over and tapped it, before putting some weight onto it and frowning, tilting his head. Turning to Diamond, he folded his arms.

“You were standing on the table again weren’t you?” Mr Rich was proven right, as Diamond lowered her head and gave a nod. He sighed, and looked toward Apple Bloom.

“Dun worry sir! Ah fixed it up all good an’ proper so ya dun have ta’ worry about it.” Apple Bloom put the hammer down and motioned toward the tools sheepishly, as he once more leaned onto the table.

“I can see that, this table used to have a wonky leg.” Mr Rich let his frown drop as he leaned down and examined the fixed leg of the table.

“Where did you put the nails? I can’t even tell what is your work and what was already there.” Mr Rich looked toward Apple Bloom and let his surprise show. Slowly, the filly smiled and began to point toward specific nails.

“Ya’ see, the table leg was wonky ‘cause this piece of wood wasn’t ‘ammered in properly. So ah fixed up tha’ piece and added some nails for extra support.” Apple Bloom felt hopeful, maybe they weren’t going to get punished. Mr Rich stepped back, and chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well I can’t exactly let a filly who just got her Cutie Mark be punished can I?” Sure enough, on Apple Bloom’s flank was a picture of two pieces of wood being hammered together with a nail. There was also a small clock burned into one of the planks.

“Ah dun believe it! Ah got mah Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom and her friends celebrated while Diamond and Spoon stood off to the side, feeling awkward. After a moment Apple Bloom turned to them and smiled warmly as she walked over.

“Ah gotta admit, y’all are ok in mah book. Ah mean, if it weren’t for you, I may never have gotten mah Mark. So thank you.” Apple Bloom smiled warmly and brought the two into a quick hug. Diamond flinched and looked away, expression a whirlwind of emotions.

“C-Can you get off me?” Diamond glared at Apple Bloom, who scratched the back of her head, and turned toward her friends.

“Ah think we should let Diamond an’ Spoon become Crusaders. What do ya think? Ah mean, they helped me get mah mark an’ all.” Apple Bloom’s smile widened as the other two nodded, and turned back toward a confused Diamond.

“But I already have my Cutie Mark, what use does a club about finding one have for me?” Diamond glanced to Silver, who nodded. Chuckling, Apple Bloom pointed to her Mark.

“That’s the best part silly. Now we get ta’ help others earn theirs. An even if we all have our Marks, we’ll still spend time together, that’s what friends do.” Apple Bloom once more beamed a smile at Diamond, who looked away.

“You really want to be my friend, even after the way I’ve treated you?” Diamond’s voice was small, barely a whisper. Apple Bloom had to lean in to catch it all. Stepping forward, she met Diamond’s gaze, and smiled.

“The way ah see it, you more than made up for it when ya’ got me my Mark.” And then, once more, Apple Bloom hugged Diamond. Sweetie and Scootaloo nodded as Diamond looked to them. Diamond closed her eyes as a soft smile emerged on her face.

“I’d like that…”

Author's Notes:

First part of L7

L7.2

“So what are we learning today Diamond?” Apple Bloom smiled warmly as she stood beside Diamond, who winced and looked away. After a moment, Diamond pointed toward Scootaloo’s scooter.

“We could try acting fancy. But I don’t think the other two’s talents are likely to be in fancy. If I had to guess, Scootaloo’s Mark is in scooter-ing.” Diamond noticed all three cringe, and Scootaloo shook her head.

“We tried that, and I don’t want to spend my life having a Mark that means I’m only good at that.” Scootaloo glared at the ground, and scuffed the dirt. Diamond sighed and put a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she mused.

“I don’t know then, maybe you’re good at something the scooting requires?” Diamond looked between the three, and they all copied her action.

“Maybe stunts, I mean you really like those Scoots.” Sweetie glanced over to her friend, who tilted her head and smiled.

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea! An stunt-pony Mark would look great!” Scootaloo smiled and walked over to her scooter, and attached the cart that her friends normally rode in. Pausing, she blinked and remembered Diamond and Silver.

“How exactly am I going to get a Mark in doing stunts anyway? I do them all the time, surely I would have it by now if that was the case.” Scootaloo waited patiently as the others considered it.

“Let’s ask Rainbow Dash what cloud-based sports there are that can be done without wings.” Sweetie smiled and nodded, all taking to the idea with relish.

“Alright, I’ll go find Rainbow Dash, we’ll meet in that clearing near the edge of town.” Scootaloo took the cart off once more, and hopped onto her scooter and buzzed away. Sweetie folded the paper plane up and stowed it in her hair. Taking the handle, she levitated the cart as she followed the others to the clearing.

“Hey, heard you need help organising an awesome cloud-surfing course.” Rainbow Dash flew into the clearing, Scootaloo under one arm, scooter in the other. Landing, she glanced up at the sky, and nodded.

“We have to clear the clouds for tomorrow anyway, I see no reason not to get an early start. I‘ll be right back.” Dash flared her wings and began to construct an obstacle course out of clouds, similar to one she had done as a filly. However, the design was fundamentally different, centering around surfing down the cloud instead of flying around them. Landing, she smirked at them as she brought down a cloud.

"Hop on Scoots, I’ll show you how to make a board.” Dash waited as Scootaloo jumped onto the cloud, and began showing how to slice it into a more aerodynamic shape, compressing it to be less fluffy. Scootaloo wobbled on the board, and flapped her wings as she slowly floated around the clearing, getting a feel for it.

“Hang on a sec kid, something's wrong with the cloud.” Sitting down beside the board, Dash narrowed her eyes and looked as it wobbled under Scootaloo, and frowned.

“Could ya tone down the magic, sis? It’s interfering with the stuff I used to make the cloud stay in shape.” Raising her head, Dash saw confusion in Scootaloo’s face, and tilted her head.

“Hold on a sec, lemme see your wings.” Dash stood up and leaned over, gently touching Scootaloo’s small wings. Breathing in sharply, she slowly brought a wing over. As the wing got within a few inches of Scootaloo’s, the cloud suddenly began to drift sideways, sending Scootaloo in the opposite direction of Dash. There was no wind.

“Scoots, have you ever used weather magic before?” Dash folded her wings and nodded as Scootaloo shook her head. It was something all Pegasi were taught at a very young age, and for a very good reason.

“Are ya foster parents Earth or Unicorn?” Once more, Dash watched Scootaloo nod. Walking over once more, Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo's cheeks.

“There’s the reason for it then, and with Cherilee being an Earth Pony; no wonder it’s leaking out so much. Alright, listen carefully, I’m not much of a teacher so this’ll be very basic, but follow exactly what I say.” As Rainbow Dash spoke, all fillies, excluding Scootaloo, quickly got confused at everything Dash was speaking about. It passed over their heads, did a loop-de-loop, and proceeded to dump a bucket of tree sap on their heads.

“Alright, now for the final test.” Dash picked up Scootaloo, and tossed her high into the air. Crying out, Scootaloo instinctively flapped her wings, and for a brief moment she continued to fall. Suddenly, she remembered what she had just learned, and gritted her teeth, and applied it. Sweetie bit her lip as Scootaloo dived down, and pulled out, doing a corkscrew as she cried out in sudden jubilation.

“Heh, I wonder if she’s gonna remember we’ve got stunts to pull.” Dash smirked as Scootaloo flew around the clearing for a solid half-hour, before finally noticing they were watching her, and coming to land. It wasn’t the best landing, but she managed to avoid falling into the dirt.

“Alright, time to surf those clouds, kid.” Dash sent the cloudboard flying toward Scoots, who caught it and flew toward the top of the course, smirking confidently as she looked down at it. Was this the best Dash could do? Flipping upwards, she backflipped onto the board, and dived straight into the course.

Each corner felt like water, her wings barely even flapping as she used her newfound control over her magic to weave between the clouds without disturbing them. Leaping off a ramp, she backflipped once before landing on the railing, and sliding past the finish line. Jumping off the cloud, she beamed as she realised Dash was looking at her, mouth hung open.

“That...Was...AWE-SOME!” Dash and everyone began to crowd around Scootaloo, giving praise. Even Diamond, who was standing slightly to the side, sent a ‘good job’ her way. As Scootaloo felt everyone praising her, and the knowledge she would never be grounded again, tears sprung to her eyes, and she looked to her flank as a tingling distracted her.

It was a picture of a cloud in a half circle, forming a sharp turn like the ones she had surfed around on her way down the course. There was a single bolt of purple lightning coming out of a small orange wing. Scootaloo looked to Rainbow Dash, and realised they were both crying. But it didn’t matter. Tough ponies didn’t believe in tears, so they never saw them.

While not related to getting a Cutie Mark, the sleepover at Diamonds had been the icing on an otherwise great week. Sweetie once more showed Diamond how to properly play the arcade games, and all awkwardness quickly melted away during a movie.

“Why couldn’t Silver attend?” Sweetie saw the wince, and smiled apologetically in response.

“Her family doesn’t think I’m a very good influence, and they won’t let her see me outside of school and afternoons.” Diamond bit her lip, and looked down to her drink. Scootaloo brought an arm around Diamond, and gently hugged her. Diamond leaned into it, not resisting.

“Listen, I think I can solve that, but we need to agree to a party at my house tomorrow. I’ll handle everything.” Sweetie saw all look to her, and she smiled, leaning forward enthusiastically. All sighed, and smiled as they gave her a nod.

“Excellent.”

“Now you kids have fun.” Rarity smiled as they all headed upstairs, and chuckled. When Sweetie Belle had come to her saying her friend Silver Spoon wasn’t allowed on sleepovers, and that she’d promise not to make food on the weekends for a month if she helped, Rarity had been out the door in an instant.

Oh, it had taken quite some convincing to get them to allow the poor filly to sleepover. But after many assurances, and an agreement to give them a discount on purchases, she had managed to get the group together. From the happy smiles on their faces, Rarity knew it was going to be a loud night.

11:58

“I’m telling you girls, something amazing happens at midnight. You’re not gonna believe it.” Sweetie pointed to her clock, and the other’s rolled their eyes. This better be good, they were really tired.

“Alright we get it, let’s just watch the clock then. This better be good, ah have farm work in the mornin’.” All fell silent as they watched the clock silently tick over. It was amazing, they were silent for the entire two minutes.

11:59…

12:00

Sweetie turned toward her friends, smiling in open relief, they were still here! As they frowned at her and looked around, they didn’t seem to have any clue about what was different. That meant, she now had her friends to count on during loops, if time was still looping. Feeling tears come to her eyes, Sweetie almost missed what Scootaloo had just said.

“Is it just me, or are you growing smaller?” Scootaloo looked down at her hoof as she saw it growing, and turned to look to Apple Bloom. Sure enough, everypony but Sweetie was slowly growing into adult mares. Confusion on their faces, they turned to Sweetie. However, before one could open their mouths, the true horror began.

Sweetie was frozen as she watched her friends age before her, slowly turning into wrinkled old ponies. Then, they collapsed, and all life drained from their eyes. Then the eyes fell into dust, the bodies slowly losing color and fading into a uniform gray color. And then, finally, they fell to ash. All before the clock beside her clicked to 12:01.

Sweetie screamed.

Author's Notes:

I did put that dark tag there for a reason ya'know.

Here is another poem made by: Divine Path

The dream ends this night.
It seems.
trapped in this perfect nightmare of solitude,
only alone you can stay.

L8.1

Rarity leapt out of bed and slammed Sweetie’s door open, blocking her ears off to the noise by holding her ears against her head. Sweetie was screaming at a pile of ash that was vanishing into nothing. Rarity took a step into the room, Sweetie didn’t notice.

“Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong?” As soon as Rarity spoke, the screaming stopped, and Sweetie turned, and dived into Rarity arms. Sweetie began to sob loudly, tears streaming down her face. Rarity comforted her sister, confused but knowing what her role was.

“I killed them *sob* I killed them.” Sweetie continued to speak those three lines without pause as she cried into Rarity. Rarity bit her lip, and decided it was best to comfort now, and ask questions later. Bringing her sister deeper into a hug,

“There there, I’m here. It’s ok.” Rarity gently patted Sweetie on the head, the crying intensifying. Whatever had spooked Sweetie must have been very horrific if she was this mortified. Rarity sat down, knowing she was in for a long comforting session.

After a few hours, Sweetie eventually ran out of tears to shed, and entered a fitful sleep. Rarity snuck the filly back into her bed, and breathed out. Rarity turned and headed down the stairs, maybe pancakes would make her sister feel better. There was the matter of school...No, Sweetie could miss a day.

“Ah, there’s Apple Bloom, I’ll go tell her Sweetie won’t be going today.” Rarity put down the batter and turned toward the door. Walking out, she smiled warmly as Apple Bloom smiled back.

“I’m sorry Apple Bloom, Sweetie won’t be going to school today.” Rarity smiled sadly as Apple Bloom tilted her head, and gave a slow nod. Rarity blinked, for a moment she thought she had seen relief on Apple Bloom's face. Shaking her head, it was gone.

“Ah, okay, tell Sweetie that Ah’ll meet her at school for the rest of the week. Ah gotta get to it early to...help Cheerilee.” Apple Bloom waved goodbye, and skipped toward the school. Rarity turned and headed back inside to make pancakes.

”You killed us! I thought we were friends!” Scootaloo’s ashes curled into a vague pony-like shape, eyes made of darkness. The others formed, all circling around the huddled form of Sweetie.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” Sweetie covered her eyes and sobbed. Why had she thought they would be fine? Why had she thought the logical conclusion was they would loop too? Apple Bloom forced Sweetie’s hooves away, and looked Sweetie in the eyes.

“Yer a monster! Never talk to us again ya hear? You don’t deserve friends for what ya have done!” Apple Bloom scoffed and walked away. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were next.

“You will always be a blank flank. Somepony who murdered her friends does not deserve something as great as a Cutie Mark.” All four vanished in a puff of smoke, and the room began to darken, leaving Sweetie in darkness.

“Sweetie, I made you pancakes.” Rarity opened the door slowly, seeing Sweetie huddled on the floor where the ash and dust had been earlier. Sweetie jolted awake at the sound of Rarity’s voice, and tears began to stream down her face again.

“Oh dearie me.” Rarity scooped her sister up and hugged her close as the filly began to cry again. Breathing in, Rarity decided it was time to find out just what had Sweetie so traumatised.

“Sweetie, I need you to tell me what’s wrong. Please, you’ll feel better once you do.” Rarity slowly put a hoof to her sister’s chin, and slowly pushed it upward. Sweetie sobbed, burying her face into Rarity’s fur.

“I-I killed them! They were my friends an-an-and I thought it was-but it wasn’t an-and they-oh god they grew older than Granny Smith an-and It’s my fault!” As Sweetie cried into Rarity’s chest, the fashionista realised two things. One: She had no idea what Sweetie was talking about. Two: Sweetie had somehow ‘killed’ something and was absolutely mortified.

“Shhh-Shh-Shhh...Sweetie look at me.” Once more, Rarity tilted her sister’s chin up.

“Did you mean to do it?” Rarity forced her sister to remain looking at her as her cries grew stronger.

“No! I-If I had known I would never have-my Celestia.” Sweetie closed her eyes and began to shake. Rarity waited a moment, before once more forcing her sister to look at her.

“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know, you have no reason to think you are to blame.” Rarity looked her sister evenly in the eyes as she suddenly stopped crying. Sweetie sniffed and tears leaked down her face as she opened her mouth to speak.

“But-” As a hoof was placed on Sweetie’s mouth, Rarity interrupted.

“No Sweetie. It is not your fault. It was an accident. You are not to blame. Say it.” Rarity waited patiently, remove her hoof from Sweetie’s mouth.

“I-It wasn’t my f-fault, it w-was an a-accident.” Sweetie slowly repeated, tears streaming down her face once more. Rarity brought her sister into a smothering hug as Sweetie began to cry once more.

“And don’t you forget that.”

“I’m sorry, as big an opportunity that is, I can’t leave my sister here alone.” Rarity smiled apologetically at the pony in front of her. How she ached to say yes, but Sweetie needed her. Ambition could wait.

“That is a shame. Very well, we will find a different designer for the event.” The stallion nodded, pulling up a pen to make a note. Both paused as a filly walked down the stairs, and smiled weakly.

“Go on Rarity, I’ll be fine. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Twilight can watch me.” Sweetie knew this event, even if the world was looping, meant a lot to Rarity. And it got her out of Sweetie’s hair for a few days. Besides, she needed to talk to Twilight. Rarity winced, the offer so tempting.

“But Sweetie Belle, what if you need me for something?” Rarity bit her lip and glanced between the filly and the stallion. What should she go with?

“I’ll have Twilight with me, and you’re only a few hours away. Go on, I’ll be fine.” Sweetie forced a smile onto her face despite how exhausted she felt, and Rarity bit her lip once more. After a moment she growled and rubbed her forehead. Walking over, she brought Sweetie into a hug once more.

“Are you sure?” Rarity looked her sister in the eyes. Sweetie forced herself to smile and nod. Rarity bit her lip, and stood up once more.

“I’d be delighted to go to Manehattan with you.” Rarity turned, and smiled warmly at the stallion. He nodded, and wrote something down. Rarity glanced down to her sister, before motioning to the door.

“Come, let’s get you to Twilight. I’m not leaving you alone on a day like today.” Rarity slowly led both to Twilight’s castle, and knocked on the door. Opening it, Twilight blinked curiously at the three.

“Could you please watch Sweetie for me? I have to go to Manehattan for a once-in-a-lifetime opport-er- I mean business.” Rarity glanced toward the stallion, who raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Twilight rubbed her eyes, and nodded.

“Of course, when will you be back?” Twilight leaned down and smiled warmly at Sweetie, who seemed to be underneath a cloud of gray.

“On Wednesday. Can I talk with you for a moment?” Rarity gently pulled Twilight to the side, and pointed to where Sweetie was.

“Sweetie has had a horrible morning. Something spooked her good, but she seems to be recovering from it now. Just don’t leave her alone for very long.” Rarity bit her lip, and once more considered staying with her sister.

“Alright, I’ll be sure to keep an eye on her,” replied Twilight, giving a smile. Rarity gave Sweetie one last hug, before following the stallion to the train station.

“Alright, let’s see what I can make us for lunch.” Twilight smiled and trotted into the castle. Sweetie followed without a word.

“Hrm, ooh I can make us some delicious Hayfries. How does that sound?” Twilight waited patiently as Sweetie blinked, and looked away.

“That sounds ok.” Sweetie sat down at the table, and Twilight bit her lip as she set about making the food. Rarity was right, Sweetie was almost like Twilight’s discorded version.

‘I gotta think of something fun to cheer her up. Maybe Twister? Kids like that right?’ Twilight silently sighed as she placed two plates of Hayfries down. What would Sweetie like to do? Sweetie wasn’t exactly how Twilight was when she was younger, she likely didn’t want the same things.

“Twilight, can I ask you a question?” Sweetie picked at her fries before plopping one into her mouth, chewing it slowly. It wasn’t her fault, she had to focus. Sweetie had a feeling telling herself that wasn’t going to change how she felt, but Rarity had said to. And it was sorta maybe helping.

“Shoot, we’ve got plenty of time to talk.” Twilight watched as Sweetie winced, before continuing. It was worse than she thought; the filly wasn’t even meeting her eyes.

“I’m kinda...doing an experiment and...I was wondering what the first thing you do before conducting your own is.” Sweetie finished her plate of food, and looked around for a drink. Twilight levitated over a jug of water, and poured them both a cup.

“Make a copy of my work.” Twilight took a sip of her drink, before noticing that Sweetie was looking at her for once.

“Why?” Sweetie tilted her head.

“Well, if something happens to me, I don’t want to lose my notes. Not to mention it’s helpful to leave a note for anyone who finds the spares in the future, warning them of what I was doing.” Twilight smiled, remembering a few notes she had made in her earlier years. Oh they had all been more or less the same, but even she would admit they had been on the dramatic side.

“That makes sense I guess…” Sweetie lowered her head and tapped her bowl as she slid her hoof along the rim.

“What’s the fastest way to do that?” Sweetie bit her lip and closed her eyes. Speed, she shuddered.

“I can teach you a spell that will do it for you if you like. All it requires is the paper to copy the notes onto.” Twilight levitated over two pieces of paper, and quickly wrote something on one, before concentrating. With a small poof, the writing appeared on the second piece of paper. Sweetie raised her head, and the ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

“Yes please.”

Author's Notes:

It's quite hard writing a child in situations like this. Oh the woes of being a writer.

L8.2

“Remember to copy how much is absorbed into the paper, otherwise it will just rub right off.” Twilight carefully watched Sweetie as she slowly transferred the notes on one page to the second. They had been practicing all day. Twilight didn’t like the fact Sweetie was missing two days of school, but decided one more day was acceptable, considering how Sweetie had been yesterday.

“Is that ok?” Sweetie broke the connection and puffed. Transferring it onto a new page was quite exhausting. Sweetie knew it was going to take quite a long time to transfer all her notes into a copy. Twilight smiled as she examined the paper.

“Good job, I can’t detect any difference between the two.” Twilight was quite proud of Sweetie. Her magic had a certain perfectionist quality to it. Whether that was due to Sweetie’s tendency to want to be as perfect as she thought Rarity was was a different matter.

“Alright, so let’s say you’ve made the copy. What do you do next?” Sweetie wiped the sweat off her brow. Getting both pages exactly the same had been a challenge. And Twilight made it look so easy. Still, it felt nice to learn something new.

“Well, assuming you’ve double checked your work and everything beforehand, and made sure it’s as safe as possible, you do it.” Twilight beamed a smile as she turned and headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Sweetie followed, before pausing and turning to head back into the throne room.

‘Ok, so I need to make extremely doubly sure that this is safe. What is the possible outcomes. Think.’ Sweetie sat down and rubbed her forehead. For a small moment, their faces flashed into her mind and she winced. Sweetie had to focus.

‘1: I may get out of the loop. 2: I may get stuck with no memory of these loops. I’ll leave myself a note just in case. 3: Leaving the room causes me to suffer something-’ Sweetie cut herself off and shuddered as once more they flashed into her mind. If it came to that she wouldn’t be able to stop it.

‘Ok, there’s no way to protect myself from that, I’ll just have to risk it. That leaves 4; I am the loop and my room will wipe of its contents when I leave it. If that happens, it’s safe to assume that it is not a radius, due to the fact Rarity is not affected and she is on the other side of the wall, well within a circular radius.’

“I hope you like fresh salad.” Twilight brought out two plates of salad, a third plate holding gems for Spike, and sat down. Calling out, Spike quickly joined them. Sweetie dug in, feeling her stomach cry out in joy. Was she really that fond of salad? Sweetie decided salad might be a favorite food she hadn’t discovered.

“I’m sorry Sweetie, but you can’t miss anymore school.” Twilight bit her lip as she saw the pallid fear on the filly’s face. Sweetie was shuddering, it was giving Twilight a strong sense of guilt. Rarity stood beside her, a stern mask over her own guilt.

“B-Bu-Please!” Sweetie felt fresh tears brimming, and forced herself not to release them. No, she didn’t want to go back. They couldn’t force her, she would just flee and they would never-

“Apple Bloom’s been waiting for you to return for two days now. She was here on Monday, wanting to talk to you.” Rarity saw the visible flinch, and something clicked in her mind. However, it seemed she didn’t need to act on it.

“O-O-Okay,” whispered Sweetie, closing her eyes as she tried to control the racking tremors in her body. Apple Bloom was alive, she had to see this. If...If their previous loop’s death had affected them, she really wanted to know. Sweetie felt her body outright reject the idea, but forced herself to turn, and walk robotically toward the school.

‘Come on Sweetie, stay strong. You need to see this. Stop struggling body, you can do this. Oh Celestia what if they remember? Oh, what if they felt it. What if they-’ Sweetie blinked, she was already at the school.

And there they were. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, talking. They turned, seeing her there. Sweetie briefly remembered it was lunch time, she had managed to get half the day off school from Twilight before Rarity had superseded her authority.

“Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo’s voice was honey on Sweetie’s ears. Tears began to stream down her face. They were ok. They weren’t hurt. There was no lasting damage to what her horrible monstrous actions had caused. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approached the group casually, not having a sneering face at all. That was the first sign that something had changed.

“Hiya Sweetie. Feelin’ better?” Apple Bloom forced a smile on her face as she stepped forward. Sweetie rubbed the tears out of her eyes, and ignored the little warning signs going off in her head as she smiled warmly at them. They were her friends. Still, why were Diamond and Silver over here? Wasn’t this a normal loop?

“Yep! Fit as a fiddle. I really missed hanging out with my friends though.” Sweetie’s smile faded as she watched Apple Bloom and Scootaloo share a glance. Once more, she tried to ignore the screeching in her head, warning her of danger.

“Listen, something happened on Monday and we really need to talk to ya for a moment. Ya might have noticed Diamond and Silver are standing with us right now. The reason is we sorta became friends on Monday. We’re not entirely sure how it happened, but we realised we've a lot in common.” Apple Bloom scratched the back of her head, noticing the slowly fading smile on Sweetie’s face.

“That’s great, more friends is never a bad thing.” Sweetie forced the smile back onto her face. If them becoming friends was the only change, she could live with that. Scootaloo winced.

“About that…” Scootaloo glanced to Diamond and Silver, who bit their lips and looked away. Apple Bloom sighed, and put a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder.

“We’ve been thinking about how you’re our friend, and we realised something. When ah think of Scootaloo, ah feel the warmth of ‘er friendship fillin’ me up. But when ah think of you, ah feel nothin’. It’s like ya aren’t even a friend ya know? There’s also the fact ya’...” Apple Bloom trailed off, and looked to the ground. Diamond sighed and stepped forward.

“You cause us to feel sick, like we’re water going down a drain. Even standing here right now is making me want to run to the other side of the playground. Look, what Apple Bloom is saying is whatever was there, is gone, so scram.” Diamond smirked and leaned forward.

“Blaaank flaaaannk.” Diamond turned and stepped away. Apple Bloom scratched her front hoof and looked away. Scootaloo was the only one who looked at Sweetie’s stunned face.

“Let’s go.” Apple Bloom turned, and the four fillies left Sweetie Belle alone, mind completely shut down. Cheerilee called all the students inside, before walking over and trying to get Sweetie’s attention. After being unable to even get the filly to blink, she decided to send somepony to escort her home.

Rarity greeted the pony and took her sister into the house, seeing the hollow expression on her face. After numerous attempts to get Sweetie to respond, she eventually led the filly to her room, and tucked her into bed.

It wasn’t until the following morning that Sweetie finally blinked, and broke into a quiet cry.

Rarity felt racking guilt as she heard her sister crying, and paced the boutique restlessly. This was her fault. The signs had been there, and she had missed them. No matter what, all this was her fault, for forcing Sweetie to go to school when she clearly wasn’t ready. Did she dare even go in to see her sister. Surely she thought Rarity was the worst sister in the world by now.

The crying stopped, and Rarity blinked, tilting her head as she realised the sudden absence of sound. Slowly, she ascended the stairs and opened the door a crack. There was Sweetie, sitting on her bed and shaking. Slowly, Sweetie turned toward her.

“Yes?” Sweetie narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to ignore the current weight that had caused her to not even be able to think for nearly an entire day. Sweetie wasn’t ready to tackle that wall. Rarity bit her lip, and slowly entered.

“I just wanted to apologise for forcing you to go to school. If I had known what was going to happen, I would have never forced you into it.” Rarity closed her eyes and sat down on the floor, bowing her head to Sweetie. Sweetie blinked, and realisation slowly passed through her brain.

‘Rarity is feeling how I’ve felt these last few days. But it’s not her fault that I went, I chose to go when I could have easily skipped. She doesn’t know that though.’ Sweetie felt the weight slightly lift, and a sad smile fell on her face.

‘We really are sisters aren’t we?’ Sweetie stood up, and slowly walked over to Rarity. Raising her head, Rarity blinked as the filly leapt into her arms, causing her to fall onto her back.

“It’s okay, It’s not your fault.” Sweetie felt Rarity flinch, and then return the embrace. Both began to cry as they shared the experience of the feeling. Sweetie wanted to cry twice; her actions had everlasting effects. Rarity’s on the other hand would be gone after Friday.

“You know what?” Rarity wiped her face, smearing her makeup. Sweetie raised her head, and looked at her sister as she continued.

“Let’s go on a trip, just you and me, to Canterlot on Saturday. We’ll go shopping for fabric, go see the latest film, maybe even get you a meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna if we’re lucky. What do you say?” Rarity brought her sister into a bearhug, and Sweetie felt another sad smile dawn upon her face.

“I’d like that. I’d like that very much.” Sweetie closed her eyes and leaned into the hug. For a small moment, she vaguely remembered she wanted to test being outside the room on a Friday. With Rarity preparing for the trip, she wouldn’t have much time to go over her notes before she prepared.

‘Oh well, it’s not like it can’t wait one more loop.’ Sweetie hugged her sister tighter, wishing she had somepony who was with her, looping. Blinking, she smiled honestly for the first time since Monday. Of course she had somepony with her. That somepony might not be looping, but her heart was as golden as the sun. It didn’t matter if Rarity was looping or not, her sister would always be there if she needed a hug.

Oh how she loved her sister.

L9

Sweetie’s ninth loop began with a simple idea. ‘I don't want to see my friends.’ The idea slowly formed into a theory; could she skip school for an entire loop? She could probably fudge two days from Rarity and Twilight, but the other three would require her to actually not go. Sweetie bit her lip.

‘I could probably do it, but is it worth it? I mean, sure any effects it causes will be gone by next loop, and I’ve always wanted to play the bad filly. Plus, I really don’t want to have to go through that talk with Bloom and Scoots. Should I do it…’ Sweetie debated it as the sun slowly rose behind her.

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!” Rarity’s voice barely registered on Sweetie, as the idea, as stupid as it was, slowly grew more and more appealing. Besides, she did need time to copy over her notes and double check them. Sweetie sat there for a few more moments, before shrugging and standing up, letting the paper plane in her magic drop.

Oh why the heck not. You only loop once.

“I’m not feeling too well sis.” Sweetie stumbled down the stairs to where Rarity was, holding her head. Rarity placed two plates of pancakes down, and put a hoof on the filly’s head.

“You are a bit warm, do you want something to eat? I made your favorite.” Rarity smiled as she levitated a plate in front of Sweetie, who had to cover her mouth and stop herself from throwing up. Sweetie would never tire of pancakes, but it was important for her act.

“No-urp-thanks.” Sweetie swayed slightly and lowered her head.

“Wow, you really are sick. Alright, I’ll go tell Apple Bloom you won’t be coming today shall I? You go back to bed and sleep this off.” Rarity watched as Sweetie nodded, and slowly walked back upstairs. Turning, she headed toward the door to break the news to Apple Bloom

Sweetie closed her door and levitated the paper plane once more, sighing as her headache cleared. Nothing was more convincing than a headache, and saying no to her favorite food. Now she just had be in bed at midday for when Rarity came to tell her she was going to Manehattan, and she was set until Wednesday.

‘Alright, let’s check over my notes while I have time.’ Sweetie slowly rifled through her paper, and began to read.

Time loops

Ways to get out:
1: Death(sometimes).
2: Stopping the cause(usually).
3: Performing the right sequence of events to find the ‘true’ loop(sometimes).
4: Cleaning up the world, or scrubbing it with toothpaste(never, but sounds like fun).
5: Kill the mastermind(Sometimes).

Tested:
Having people in same room as me.
Leaving something outside room.
To be tested:
Being outside room.

Objectives:
1: Deal with DT and SS.
2: Get CM, and get friends said CM.
3: Learn every question going to be asked during school so I don’t have to listen during class.
4: Win snowball fight.
5: Get out.
6: Get DT and SS to become CMC.
7: Regain friends

‘Alright, so I’ll test being outside my room once I’ve copied the notes and put them into my saddlebags. I’ll take two of the loop books, the ones that have the most information, as well. Oh! I almost forgot, a note for myself in case me leaving means I restart at loop one with no memories.’ Sweetie nodded, that sounded like everything she would need. All that was left was to wait for Rarity to come up, and get to work

“I’m sorry Sweetie, but you can’t miss a third day.” Rarity had come on Wednesday right on cue, and had quickly convinced Twilight to force Sweetie to go to school. Sweetie decided it was a good time to test her acting skills, and was currently pouting, giving both angry glares as she grabbed her saddlebags, and marched away from her home.

‘It took a little longer than expected to make notes of everything. I’m exhausted.’ Sweetie stifled a yawn as she paused, looking back to make sure Rarity and Twilight couldn’t see her. Sweetie decided the treehouse was the best place to hide while she skipped. It would be one of the first places they’d look, but she didn’t want them to think she had gone missing.

“All that’s left is to write myself a note to leave on the table, but I can do that on Friday.” Sweetie plopped her saddlebags down, and opened one. Pulling out one of the loop books, she opened it and sat down to re-read it. Sweetie felt she had been pretty extensive her first time, but it didn’t hurt to go through it once more.

Sweetie’s ear flicked as a bell sounded off in the distance. Time sure flew when she was reading. Packing up the book, Sweetie left the treehouse and began to trot back home. Once she got on the path, she turned and walked down the path she would normally go coming back from school.

“Welcome home Sweetie, have a good day?” Rarity smiled warmly as Sweetie entered, and she beamed a smile in response. Sweetie knew Rarity would notice if she told an outright lie, but she had only asked how her day was.

“Yep!” Sweetie trotted toward the stairs and up to her room before Rarity could enquire further. The mare chuckled, and returned to her work on a gown.

‘Three down, two to go.’ Sweetie was feeling pleased about her acting skills. So far; everything had been easy. Why, if Sweetie had known she could skip school this long before this loop, she would have done it ages ago.

The next morning, breakfast was interrupted by a knock at the door. Rarity opened it to see a nervous Cheerilee at the door.

‘Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea.’ Sweetie kept her face innocent but curious as both glanced to her.

“Uh, hello Rarity. I was just coming to make sure Sweetie Belle was ok. Will she be attending class today?” Cheerilee smiled warmly as she looked at Rarity, who narrowed her eyes and looked slowly toward Sweetie.

“Yes, just as she attended class yesterday, did she not?” Rarity watched her sister for any signs of guilt or the ‘busted look’, but found nothing but innocence. Rarity had never known her sister was such a good actor.

“No, Sweetie Belle wasn’t in class yesterday.” Cheerilee looked at Sweetie as well, and both slowly approached the filly.

“Very well, would you please explain why you didn’t go to class yesterday Sweetie Belle?” Rarity leaned forward and looked Sweetie directly in the eyes as she shrugged.

“I got lost.” It was an obvious, and poor excuse, but it caused both to pause and share a glance.

“Cheerilee, would you be a darling and escort Sweetie Belle to school so she doesn’t get ‘lost’ again?” Rarity smiled pleasantly at the teacher, who gave a slow nod as she bit her lip.

“Uh, sure, are you ready to go Sweetie Belle?” Cheerilee began to back toward the door. Sweetie stood up and beamed a pleasant smile at them both as she picked up her saddlebags, and trotted merrily out the door.

“See ya Rarity.” Sweetie paused and waited for Cheerilee to start walking as well, before trotting toward the school once more. Cheerilee picked up the pace, trying to keep up with the filly. Turning the corner, she blinked, Sweetie Belle was gone.

Sweetie hid in the bush as Cheerilee began to look around, before biting her lip and rushing back to Rarity’s. As she realised there was an evil smile on her face, she winced as guilt laced through her. Turning, she quickly began to run toward the edge of town.

‘Ignore the guilt, they won’t remember this after Friday anyway. And even if they do, this isn’t going to damage me beyond a grounding and an armed escort to school for a week or two. If this is what it takes to get out, I’ll gladly accept the punishment.’ Sweetie dove into the treeline as Rarity and Cheerilee jumped out of the corner, and began scanning for her. Sweetie felt her heart beating fast as they slowly approached her hiding spot, and stopped.

“Tch, when I find Sweetie Belle she is grounded for a month!” Rarity stomped her hoof as she began to trot away. Cheerilee followed closely behind, before she paused and sighed.

“I’m really sorry Rarity, but I have to get to the school, the kids are waiting for me.” Cheerilee bit her lip again, and glanced in the direction of the school. Rarity paused, and gave a nod.

“No problem, I’ll get my friends to help me search for her. Ask Apple Bloom and Scootaloo if they know where she’s hiding, and join us after school.” Rarity and Cheerilee split, and slowly left Sweetie alone.

‘This is getting serious. Rarity I can handle, but Twilight too? She probably has some sort of tracking spell too. I’ll have to be extra super sneaky if I want to not go to school today and tomorrow. But I don’t want Rarity to worry, I’ll have to make sure to be found right as school ends. Oh! I know just the place’ Sweetie smiled, and slowly looked around. It would take a lot of effort to sneak all the way into her room, but Rarity’s face when she realised she had been there the entire time would be priceless. Sweetie winced as another stab of guilt passed through her.

‘I’m going to have to grow a heart of stone eventually. I don’t think I’ll be able to cope with hearing Apple Bloom and Scootaloo do...that...every loop.’ Sweetie sighed quietly as she snuck into the house and up to her room, closing the door. Turning, she closed the curtains on her window, and sat down to continue reading her book.

After a while, she heard Rarity return, and glanced at her ‘borrowed’ clock. School had ended. There was the sound of multiple hoofsteps, Sweetie felt a giddy smile fall on her face. This was it, time to make her appearance. Oh, this would have to be her best acting yet. Sweetie breathed in, and slowly walked down the stairs, a curious look on her face.

All seven faces slowly turned toward her, and blinked. Sweetie looked between them in confusion, and tilted her head. Rarity’s eye twitched, and she leered over Sweetie.

“Where have you been?” Rarity’s eye twitched as she breathed heavily over Sweetie. Sweetie frowned, and pointed to her room.

“I’ve been in my room all day, why?” Sweetie turned back to Rarity, and blinked, taking a step back as her face got even closer.

“Why did you leave Cheerilee's side?” Rarity forced herself to step back. Behind her Cheerilee bit her lip.

“I forgot something, so I raced back home to get it. When I got back to where Cheerilee was, she was gone. I came to the house to find you but you were gone as well. You told me Cheerilee was gonna escort me to school, and I thought you’d be angry if I went by myself. So I waited for you to come home.” Sweetie looked down at her feet and scuffed the ground, crouching as she shivered under Rarity’s gaze.

Rarity tried to find a possible way that Sweetie could be lying, but the filly’s behavior was simply too truthful to be anything but honest. Turning, she glanced toward Applejack, who narrowed her eyes.

“Ah can tell you’re lyin’, Sweetie.” Applejack watched as the filly growled, and stood up straight. Sweetie suddenly looked a lot more serious, and a lot less innocent.

“Darn, I was so close too.” Sweetie folded her ears back and glared at the wall. Curses, that was why she’d been trying to avoid lying. Sweetie had fallen for the obvious trap, and now she was going to pay for it. Rarity stepped forward, eyes blazing fire.

“You’re grounded for two weeks, and I will personally carry you to school tomorrow.” Rarity turned and bid her friends farewell. Sweetie lowered her head and sighed. No matter, it was only for one day. Sweetie supposed skipping school for an entire week would have to wait for another loop.

Sweetie slumped on her bed and sighed, she was exhausted. It wasn’t the fact Sweetie had been carried like a foal to school, or the laughing of the other students, that had caused her to feel like this. It was the fact that she had been actively avoiding Scootaloo and Apple Bloom all day.

‘They were playing with Diamond and Silver, which means the previous loop was correct, they now become friends while also kicking me out. I’m not sure how to solve that though. Maybe if I go to school next loop.’ Sweetie closed her eyes and sighed, rolling into a sitting position and grabbing a piece of paper. Pausing, she began to write.

Dear Sweetie Belle, if you are reading this, you have indeed lost all memory of the events that led to this note. If Saturday exists for you; congratulations on getting out of the loop. (You won’t have any memory of this, but it still deserves congratulations.) If Saturday does not exist, you are still stuck, and my memory has been erased. Here is what you need to know:

Sweetie began to briefly describe all the loops she had been in, and placed it on the top of a pile of papers, the copy of her notes. Picking up her saddlebags, she triple checked all the correct papers were safely secured. Levitating the clock over, she waited as time slowly ticked by.

11:58

Sweetie snuck slowly out of the room and turned to look toward it, standing in the hallway. Beside her levitated the clock, taking the place of a paper plane for now. Sweetie breathed in, and waited.

11:59…

12:00

Sweetie watched as every piece of paper in her room, including the books from Manehattan, vanished. Sweetie peeked her head in, the teddy bear she had thrown outside was back in its proper spot too. Sweetie unpacked her notes, and sat back down on her bed.

‘Ok, so now what do I do?’

Author's Notes:

Here is another poem made by: Divine Path

The approach of that something has been halted,
that creature of darkness
lurking in the hearts of all touched by this infinite nightmare.
Presently,
you must strive for that light
lest it flickers and fades with the coldness
of this single, solitary,
never fortnight.

L10

Sweetie hugged herself as she shivered on her bed. Rarity called from downstairs, signaling she would be late for school if she didn’t hurry. There was no way around it, she needed to find a way to convince ponies she was looping. Adults would simply think she was pretending, so she’d have to take time to loop, and set things up.

‘Which means, I have to go to school. I can’t just vanish, Rarity would be horror struck.’ Sweetie knew she was going to have to face this eventually, and shuddered once more. Standing up, she put on her saddlebags, picked up the paper plane, and headed out the door. Sitting down, she smiled warmly at her sister.

“Rarity, can I talk to you honestly for a moment?” Sweetie waited as Rarity nodded, and continued.

“I’m stuck in a time loop, repeating today until Friday. This is my tenth time doing it, and I know you’re not going to believe me but...I was wondering, what could I do to make you believe me?” Sweetie bit her lip as she saw the amusement on Rarity’s face. Sweetie felt her ears flop, she thought it was a joke.

“Alright, I’ll play along, you see this fabric here?” Rarity levitated up a piece of rainbow fabric, shimmering in the sunlight. Sweetie knew it well, it was a very small piece leftover from a custom order. That small square was all that was left. Rarity placed it on the table, Sweetie took it and rubbed it to her face.

“If you are indeed looping, can you carry items through to the next ‘loop’?” Rarity supposed she could let Sweetie borrow the fabric for a week, it wasn’t as if she had any plans to use it just yet. Sweetie gently folded it, and placed it in her saddlebags.

“Sure, I can do that. Thanks.” Sweetie stood up and hugged Rarity before bolting out the door. While she could be a little late, it wouldn’t do well to keep Apple Bloom waiting. Sweetie paused as she saw her friend waiting for her. Sweetie forced a smile on her face, and trotted up to greet her.

“Hey Sweetie, woah.” For a second Apple Bloom jerked, taking a few steps backward. After a moment she shook her head, and took slow steps back to Sweetie’s side.

“What’s wrong?” Sweetie tilted her head, ignoring both her own feelings and the fact she knew what was wrong.

“Why’s there some sort of drainin’ feelin when I stand right next to ya?” Apple Bloom glanced away nervously. Sweetie breathed in and steeled herself. Maybe they would believe her.

“I’m stuck in a time loop. The draining feeling was caused by something I did in a previous loop.” Sweetie leaned forward, holding onto the slim hope they would believe her.

“I was being serious, thanks a bunch Sweetie.” Apple Bloom glared for a moment, before stomping toward the school. Sweetie sighed, they wouldn’t believe her either. Walking toward the school, she settled in for class, and tuned it out as she thought quietly to herself. Cheerilee broke her out of it for a moment, and she answered the question quickly before once more zoning out.

At lunch, they broke the friendship just as Diamond and Spoon was walking past. Sweetie watched them walk away, leaving her alone. Looking toward the ground, she sighed sadly.

“Wow, that was really mean.” It was another pony, a colt roughly the same age as her. Sweetie turned, seeing a second colt standing beside the first. One was small, cyan, and round. The other was tall, yellow, and thin. Sweetie immediately reconised the two, even without the visual aid of their Marks.

“Are you alright Sweetie Belle?” Snips tilted his head as he glanced to Snails, who bit his lip and waited for a reply. Sweetie quickly wiped her eyes. It wouldn’t do to let them see her crying.

“I’m ok, I’ll have to get used to it eventually anyway.” Sweetie briefly thought back to a moment she faintly remembered. Trixie, the showmare, they had believed her stories. Maybe they would believe her?

“Why would you need to get used to it? Are you expecting it to happen again?” Snails leaned forward, concerned eyes taking up most of Sweetie’s view. Stepping back, she scratched the back of her head. Well, it wasn’t like she had anything to lose.

“I’m stuck in a time loop where I keep repeating the week. So everything that happens today will happen next week for me.” Would they believe Sweetie? Sweetie honestly doubted it. However, as both shared a glanced, they gave her a look of honest sympathy.

“That sounds…” Snips began.

“Lonely,” finished Snails. Both shared a look, before Sips stepped forward and smiled warmly, holding out a hoof.

“Listen, I know we’re not exactly your ‘normal friends’. And I know you’re probably a dozen times smarter than us. But if you ever want to hang out, we can find something new to do each day.” Snips smiled warmly at Sweetie, who felt tears come to her eyes. They believed her!

“T-Thank you.” Sweetie was almost struck speechless as she took the hoof. Suddenly, she was pulled into a very awkward, but still good, hug. Stepping back, she smiled warmly at the two colts, so quick to console her.

“Let’s go see if we can get me my Cutie Mark.” Sweetie smiled as both grinned, and followed them toward the other side of the playground.

And who said clouds couldn’t have silver linings?

“Twilight, can I talk to you quickly?” Sweetie stepped into the castle after school. Snips and Snails were as fun as they were exhausting. Sweetie honestly never knew those two were so much fun to be around. Really, Sweetie wanted to hang out with them more, but she was just tuckered out.

“Sure Sweetie Belle, what’s up?” Twilight turned and smiled warmly at Sweetie as she paused. Breathing in, the filly prepared herself, and then spoke.

“I’m in a time loop, but you won’t believe me if I just say I am in one. So I need some way to prove it to you in future loops. I can take small stuff through to the next loop. The loop lasts a week, and it ends Friday night, so it needs to be something you won’t miss.” Sweetie waited patiently as Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Humor me,” sighed Sweetie, glancing away in irritation. Twilight paused, and then nodded, holding out the book she was currently reading.

“I can wait a few days to read this. Will it do for your ‘looping proof’?” Twilight smiled in amusement as the filly took the book and nodded.

“Yep, this will do nicely, thanks Twilight.” Sweetie put the book in her bag. It was a Daring Doo book, something Twilight wouldn’t miss if she took it. Sweetie slowly walked toward her room. Now it was just a matter of waiting out the rest of the loop.

“So today’s the last day right?” Snips bit his lip as Sweetie nodded sadly. Turning, both colts produced a poorly written note, and held it out for her. Sweetie took it, and glanced them over.

“Give those to us on Monday, that way you won’t have to go through the conversation every time you want to hang out with us.” Snips smiled warmly as Snails laughed and pointed to the school.

“Of course, you could always come and hang out with us without telling us. Really we’ll be happy to play either way.” Snails smiled, closing his eyes. Snips copied the action, and both ignored the sun setting behind them. Sweetie put the notes away, and felt bittersweet tears fall down her face as she brought them both into a hug.

“Sure, I’ll see you next week.”

L11.1

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!” Sweetie leapt out of bed, snatched her saddlebags with a flick of magic, and dashed down the stairs. Giddy with excitement, she rounded the corner and smiled at Rarity.

“Rarity, can I talk to you honestly for a moment?” Sweetie waited as Rarity nodded, and continued. It was important she let the conversation play out the same.

“I’m stuck in a time loop, repeating today until Friday. This is my 11th time doing it, and I know you’re not going to believe me but...I was wondering, what could I do to make you believe me?” Rarity looked amused, but turned to pick up the fabric.

“Alright, I’ll play along, you see this fabric here?” Rarity held out the fabric, and Sweetie smiled, levitating out her piece of the same fabric.

“You mean, the fabric you gave me last loop? Yes, I see it.” Sweetie smiled and held the fabric out, watching Rarity compare them with shocked eyes. Sweetie knew her sister would be able to tell they were the same piece of fabric. How Rarity did so was lost on her, but she knew her sister.

“But-that’s-impossible!” Rarity blinked in confusion, and Sweetie sighed, knowing the signs of a mental breakdown. Pulling a chair over to her sister, she waited patiently as Rarity sat down, and composed herself.

“At midday, a stallion is going to come to the door and offer you a job in Manehattan for a fashion show or something.” Sweetie knew Rarity would need more evidence, and this was her second piece of proof. Rarity scoffed, and waved a hoof.

“Now I know you’re pulling my leg. You almost had me there sister, this is a pretty remarkable fake, but a fake no less.” Rarity smiled and held out the fabric, which Sweetie took. Motioning upstairs, Sweetie smiled.

“Then let me prove it. Half the day off. If I’m wrong I won’t cook for three months. Even when Mum and Dad come to visit.” Sweetie watched as Rarity flinched, and bit her lip. Surely she’d allow half a day? Sweetie had used the perfect bribe too; her cooking skills.

“Alright, half a day. If only to put this silly charade to an end.” Rarity placed down the pancakes, and Sweetie sat down to eat. They weren’t a nice as normal today, it was probably due to the fact she had spend time talking instead of eating. In the future, Sweetie would eat first, then talk. Standing up, she trotted outside and looked to Apple Bloom.

“Go on without me, something came up!” Sweetie saw the relief on her friend’s face, and winced as she left. How much it hurt would always be an understatement. Turning, Sweetie headed up to her room to await for the appointed time. As she waited, she went over her notes, before plopping it all in her saddlebags.

“Sweetie Belle, could you come down here?” Rarity’s voice echoed, containing suspicion and surprise. Sweetie hummed a merry tune as she trotted downstairs to meet her sister. Rarity was, of course, at the door talking to the stallion in question.

“Such a shame, very well, I will get another designer to do the show.” The stallion turned, and left toward the station. Rarity shuddered, before turning and situating a serious gaze on Sweetie.

“We’re going to see Applejack.”

“Ah dun understand how, but Sweetie is tellin’ the truth. I’m guessing she believes it to be true. Has she proved it yet?” Applejak glanced to Rarity as she bit her lip and looked away. Sweetie growled and tapped her foot in the dirt.

“Technically yes, but I’m just having trouble believing it.” Rarity purposely kept her eyes trained on the apple trees, avoiding Sweetie. Seeing a chance, Sweetie smiled and opened her mouth.

“Take me to Twilight, I’ll prove it a third time.” Sweetie waited in irritation as both shared a glance, and nodded. Turning, Sweetie trotted briskly toward Twilight's, leaving the two adults to catch up. Knocking on the door, Sweetie levitated the book out of her bag and thrust it into Twilight’s grip.

“I’m stuck in a time loop. Last loop I asked you to give me proof and here is your proof. Rarity and Applejack can vouch for me, even if they don’t believe it.” Sweetie glanced back, and Rarity winced. Twilight tilted her head, but slowly looked the book over, opening it to the first page. Her wings flared as she gasped.

“This is Yearling’s signature! This is identical to the copy I have that I borrowed from Dash. It’s impossible to get another one because only one exists!” Twilight cut herself off, and raised her head to look at Rarity and Applejack.

“I don't believe it, but Sweetie must be telling the truth. If you both can’t deny her claims, and I know this can't be a copy, there is no way she could be lying.” Twilight held the book out to Sweetie, who took it and nodded smugly. Finally, some progress. Twilight let them all inside, and they sat down to discuss it.

“So, what have you tried so far.” Twilight put her hooves together as Sweetie held out her saddlebags, and began to pore over her notes. After a moment, she looked up and put a hoof to her chin.

“There’s a few experiments we can try, but the major problem is we can’t actually follow you through the loop, is that correct? You have ‘ponies might be able to loop with me’ crossed out with a red underline, along with a skull and crossbones.” Twilight looked down as Sweetie nodded, biting her lip and looking away as she shivered. Sweetie silently hoped they wouldn’t ask about that.

“So the main thing we need to do is get you a means of informing us quickly. I’ll muse over it tonight, meet me back here in the morning. Rarity, Applejack, can you fill the other elements in? We might need them, and it wouldn’t hurt to get them in the loop.” Twilight nodded as both saluted, and stood up. Walking over to Sweetie, she looked her directly in the eyes, and smiled softly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of this.” Twilight brought Sweetie into a hug, and Rarity quickly joined in. Applejack was slow to follow, but eventually all were hugging the small filly. Sweetie closed her eyes, and tried to hold back her tears. Failing to do that, she just hugged them back and began to cry.

“Please, I don’t wanna be stuck doing the same thing week after week. I’m never going to get my Cutie Mark or anything that way!” Sweetie wanted to tell them what she truly feared, what damage that loop had done to her friends, but knew there was more important things to deal with.

As much as it hurt to admit it, Sweetie had to learn to ignore her ex-friends and focus on getting out of the loop. Sure, she’d leave time for Snips and Snails, but she couldn’t bear to hang with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, knowing what she had done.

“We’re with you, don’t worry.”

Author's Notes:

Short chapter is short, sorry.

L11.2

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.

Author's Notes:

Know what? What am I apologising for? I'm the Celestia-damned creator of this here universe.
Fear me!
Or not. S'not like it changes your fate.

L11.3

Sweetie was annoyed.

Sure, that in itself was not that strange, but the situation she was in was now was. When Twilight had said ‘experiments’, Sweetie had thought she meant the evil genius kind. Instead, Sweetie was sitting in a chair, stuffed into many different things which were apparently measuring everything.

“Are you sure I said I found nothing? Maybe I said ‘something’.” Twilight was currently going over data that looked like squiggly lines. Sweetie growled in annoyance again, and shifted under the restraints. Really, Twilight had asked that nine times already.

“Twilight, are you going to keep looping on me, or are you going to try something different?” Sweetie glared as Twilight sheepishly smiled. Finally, Sweetie was allowed to leave the device, and she cracked her joints, giving a sigh of relief. Sweetie was used to sitting still for Rarity, but there were limits.

“Alright, here’s a copy of my notes. Hopefully I’ll be able to use them to further this next loop. Is there anything you want to do before you head back home?” Twilight held out a cup of water, which Sweetie gratefully drank. Nodding, she pulled out the book Twilight had given her yesterday.

“Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with the calendar spell. I’m having trouble telling what day it’s saying. I think it might be because of the loop.” Sweetie opened to the bookmark showing the spell, and Twilight mused for a moment. Sweetie concentrated, letting the paper plane drop, and cast the spell.

“See, right now it’s telling me it’s Monday.” Sweetie shook off the spell, and levitated the paper plane back up once more. Twilight blinked, and then face-hoofed.

“Of course, I forgot you don’t have weekends. Here, let me quickly fix that.” Twilight levitated the book up and scratched out the spell, writing the proper one. Sweetie took the book back and tried the spell again, this time it had the correct day. Sweetie nodded once and put the book back in her saddlebags, giving a smile.

“Just remember that spell won’t be able to help you tell if you’re out of the loop. It’s pretty reliable through. Let’s say you suddenly jump back to the start of a loop, it will detect that. Well, should.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin and mused for a moment. Sweetie nodded, and turned to head out the door.

“Thanks again, see ya Twilight.”

“Goodmorning Sweetie Belle.” Rarity smiled as her sister sat down at the table. At first, she had considered making pancakes, but remember that Sweetie would be having them every week. If possible, she would have to leave herself a note with a list of foods Sweetie might like.

“Mmmn?” Sweetie yawned, looking toward the box on the table. Rarity smiled as she leaned over the stove, cooking eggs. Behind her back, she heard the lid slowly being opened, and a gasp of surprise. There was a sudden charging of feet, and Rarity turned just as the small form leapt toward her.

“Thank you!” Sweetie had the doll in her magic. It was perfect, fluffy and yet recognisable as Opal. It even had the irritated, but loving, stare Opal reserved for Sweetie. Pulling the doll out of Sweetie’s magic, Rarity held it out as she looked her sister gently in the eyes.

“This is my gift to you. Something small which can go with you into loops when I’m not aware of it. If you ever get sad, or lonely, remember Opal is here to be annoyed with you for whatever reason.” Rarity chuckled as Sweetie hugged the toy, eyes moist, and smiled at the thought. As if on cue, Opal walked past the kitchen, and glared at them before moving on.

“Knock knock!” Twilight walked into the boutique, and both Rarity and Sweetie walked out to greet her. Smiling, Twilight held a small potted plant, and a bottle of milk in her magic.

“Sweetie Belle, I’ve been thinking how to nail down the specifics of the loop, and I’ve hit an idea. See, trees have a very small magical signature, but milk doesn’t. However, milk does expire, so if the milk expires and the tree grows, we know it is actually aging things around you. If the milk doesn’t expire and the tree grows, we know it’s only affecting things with a magical signature, eg: ponies.”

“Alright.” Sweetie had to admit; that was a LOT smarter than what her test had been. It made her feel very stupid for deciding to do what she had done that night. Levitating the items over, Sweetie grunted, dropping the paper plane. That plant was heavy. Sweetie turned, and slowly walked upstairs to her room.

“Are you planning on going to school?” Twilight tilted her head as Sweetie winced, and put the two items in her room, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Turning, Sweetie scratched the back of her head.

“I was kinda hoping not to. I could really use a break.” Sweetie looked to Rarity as she peeked her head into the room and smiled.

“Of course Sweetie.”

Friday night came around all too soon, and Sweetie waited on her bed as Rarity came over to give a final hug.

“Remember Sweetie, Opal is there if you ever need a hug, as am I.” Rarity felt the shudders as her sister began to cry, and held her as she let out one final tearful goodbye for this loop’s Rarity. In a way, Rarity would be dying from Sweetie’s view, fading and being replaced by someone exactly the same, except a week in the past.

“Goodbye dear sister.” Rarity stepped out the door, and looked back at Sweetie. Sniffing back her tears, Sweetie forced a smile onto her face as she waved goodbye, Opal hugged to her chest. Rarity turned, and headed to her room. The clock ticked forward, and Sweetie turned her attention toward the tree and milk. Placing the tree down, she poured a bit of milk into a cup, and placed it on the other side of her room.

11:59…

12:00.

The tree exploded upwards, punching a hole through the roof. Sweetie watched as some sort of illness passed over the tree, and it toppled over, causing the hole to slide down her wall and nearly level the building. Sweetie waited as the tree’s roots shriveled up, and then the tree rotted away, leaving nothing.

Looking toward the milk, it had spilled over her carpet, but a small bit remained in the glass. Sweetie picked it up and let it drop onto her hoof, and roll down back into the carpet. It was still milk. Which meant Twilight was right. Sweetie turned her head as Rarity leapt into the room.

“Read this,” Sweetie spoke, holding out the note. Rarity quickly read it and paled. Sweetie folded it up and returned it to her saddlebags. After a moment, Rarity blinked and looked toward the damage.

“I’m...going to need some time to...come to terms with this...development.” Rarity turned, and walked robotically back to bed. Sweetie sighed, and looked toward the damage.

Author's Notes:

For those who need a visual guide:

Blue X is SB
Red is glass of milk
Big green bad attempt at square is where the tree fell.
Window is beside the bed \/ ways.

Here is another poem made by: Divine Path

Living this tragedy, a fantastic view;
staggering, falling,
never into a world new.
Perhaps you will seek and find,
when the darkness grows bleak and the nightmares dim,
the true creature which this charade is behind,
the outrageous behalf of this treacherous sin?

L12.1

Sweetie snuck downstairs and into the kitchen early. Biting her lip, she looked toward the coffee and settled herself. She could do this. Slowly, she put a cup down and put a small bit of the coffee grinds into the bottom, and poured a small bit of her experimental milk(the one Twilight gave her) into it. Sweetie slowly pressed a button on the kettle, and waited for it to boil.

“Ok, come on Sweetie, you can do this.” Sweetie carefully poured the hot water in, and placed the cup on the table next to a spoon and the sugar. Looking it over, Sweetie made sure there was no black in the cup, nor any smoke coming off it. Sweetie dared to silently hope she might have actually made something digestible.

Rarity stepped down the stairs and looked toward the damage the tree had caused, sighed, mumbled something about needing coffee, and walked into the kitchen. Blinking, she took one look at the cup and the nervous look of her sister, and felt memories of a certain breakfast coming back.

“I knew you’d want coffee when you go up, so I thought…” Sweetie glanced toward the ground and dug her hoof into it, biting her lip. Rarity levitated the cup over, and raised an eyebrow. The coffee actually looked normal. Sitting down, Rarity grabbed two spoonfuls of sugar, and stirred them into the drink. Taking a sip, she sighed in immense pleasure.

“Could use a little more milk and a little less coffee in the future dear, but well done.” Rarity smiled warmly at her sister, who beamed a happy smile. Sweetie had done it! Defeating all odds, she had made something edible! Well, it was a drink, but considering how badly those could turn out it was still great news.

“Alright, next time I’ll practice with more milk.” Sweetie hummed a merry tune as she turned and made herself breakfast. For some reason, pouring cereal and milk had never ended in disaster. Sweetie didn’t want to always eat it, it was always so blegh. Too crunchy or too soggy, never the perfect mix

“I’m going to head over to Twilight’s and give her the results. Oh! Don’t forget a big designer is coming around midday. If you want to go to Manehattan I don’t mind, enjoy yourself.” Sweetie watched as Rarity blinked, and took another sip of her drink.

“Right,” was all she said in response. Between the sudden hole in her house, and Sweetie apparently knowing her future, it was really too much for this early in the morning. Rarity closed her eyes and took another sip as Sweetie walked out. Really, Rarity was thinking of just going back to bed. Maybe things would be better if she woke up from this dream.

Sweetie couldn’t cook, that was how she knew it was a dream. And there was no other way she’s know that secret about Rarity. It was something she didn’t even write in her diary.

“And you’re saying I wrote all this?” Twilight looked over the notes suspiciously. Sure, Sweetie checked out, and it definitely sounded like something she would write, but it was hard to withhold disbelief. It wasn’t until Sweetie held out a glass bottle that Twilight began to get more into it.

“And you’re saying I sealed my memories inside this? Why, it’s completely empty. It’s like all the magic was drained from it. If what you’re saying about the tree and milk, and what my other self wrote, then there can be no doubt. It’s a good thing we didn’t test it on ponies.” Twilight paused, seeing Sweetie flinch. Carrying on, she decided to ignore it. Sweetie would mention it if she wanted to.

“I don’t entirely understand the situation, but the effects of the loop are as follows. 1: Any items without a magical signature can come with you through the loop. 2: If something, or somepony, has magic, they age and die within a minute of the loop resetting. These two facts lead me to my conclusion: somehow you are draining magic. And somehow that draining is causing time to turn back a week. And I’d bet my horn that it’s related to your headaches too.”

Twilight turned and pulled out a fresh piece of paper, and began to write. Finishing it up, she rolled it up and looked around for Spike. Sweetie carefully repacked her saddlebags. With how things were going, she was likely going to need to get larger ones soon. If she did, would she be able to carry them? Maybe a cart, something she could pull around.

“I’ll be frank with you Sweetie, I can’t think of any viable solutions. Finding the right ‘loop sequence’ might be possible, but for how many people? And for an entire week? The only other option is death, and that is not an option at all. I’m going to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Maybe she can help.” Twilight only hoped they believed her. Surely they knew she wasn’t the type to joke, right?

“Thank you Twilight, can I ask you for a favor. Do you still have that ‘transform’ spell? I was kinda hoping to pull a prank on my class.” Sweetie glanced away. Sure, going to class wasn’t something she entirely wanted to do, but the idea had been in the back of her mind for a few days now.

“Sure. What do you want to be transformed into?” Twilight tilted her head, and Sweetie smiled, suppressing her urge to chuckle.

“An Alicorn.” Sweetie couldn’t resist and began to laugh, rubbing her hooves together. Twilight blinked, and then joined in. Leaning down, she smirked.

“Alright, but I want pictures.” Twilight levitated over and old camera, and handed it to Sweetie, who put it in her saddlebag. Positioning it in such a way she would be able to take pictures and nopony would notice.

“Deal,” she smirked, seeing Twilight’s horn light up.

“Sorry I’m late Cheerilee, Rarity forced me to fly to school.” Sweetie spread her newfound wings, roughly the same size as Scootaloo’s, and smiled warmly. Turning, she quickly took pictures of the students, and Cheerilee as she slowly walked to her desk. Sweetie was proud of her acting skills as she stood there, head raised slightly into the air, and waited for Cheerilee to snap out of it.

“O-Of course.” Cheerilee stuttered, and slowly started the lesson. Sweetie glanced behind her, taking in the gaping mouths of four fillies in particular. Sure, getting out of the loop was important, but there were some moments that were priceless.

Absolutely priceless.

After school, the four approached, and Sweetie smiled pleasantly at them. All seemed to be a bit hesitant to approach, but as she explained how she gained the wings, Scootaloo was the first to instantly cheer up. Sweetie knew exactly what was going to come out of her friend’s mouth.

“Thats great news! I can ask Twilight to help me. I-I mean-er…” Scootaloo trailed off, and Diamond Tiara sneered for a moment, before blinking and shaking her head. Silver put a hoof of her shoulder, and both shared a look. Apple Bloom bit her lip, but it was Sweetie that came to the rescue.

“Actually Scoots, I’ve been talking to Twilight, and I think I’ve figured out why you can’t fly. Your foster parents aren’t Pegasi are they?” Sweetie paused, and beamed a smile as she nodded, buzzing her wings slightly.

“Then maybe there’s something that Pegasi are taught that you weren’t. Ask Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy about it. I’m sure they can help you get up into the air. I bet my flank on it.” Sweetie saw the longful gaze as Scootaloo considered it, and gave a small nod. Sweetie knew that if either of those two had a look, they would be able to help Scootaloo.

“Ya had me shocked there. Ah thought yah were an Alicorn.” Apple Bloom smiled, glancing away and giving a shudder. Sweetie decided to ignore it. Boy, it was so good to talk to her friends again. Maybe there was hope to rekindle the friendship. Maybe, but it would be hard.

“Ya know, fer some reason, all day ah’ve been feeling guilty cause ah felt like we weren’t friends anymore, and then ya pull this stunt. Kinda reminds me why we’re friends, ya know?” Apple Bloom was obviously struggling, and Sweetie bridged the gap, putting a hoof on the shoulder and smiling in sympathy.

“Listen, I know it feels really bad to be around me, but please just ignore the feeling. I know why, and I’m sorry. But I really don’t want to hear ‘I don’t want to be your friend’ again.” Sweetie began to cry, lowering her hoof as she tried to wipe away the tears. All four shared a glance, and it was Scootaloo that crossed the gap, and brought Sweetie into a hug.

“What, and miss out on all the Crusading we’d be doing? Never.”

Author's Notes:

ALL HAIL NEW BEST PRINCESS

Sadly, to transform someone into an Alicorn is not possible, due to the magic required being close to 'ascension' levels, not to mention hooking up the three different types of magic. Twilight merely used the spell she used to give Rarity butterfly wings. See here.

L12.2

The next morning, Twilight slammed the door open and dived at Sweetie, cupping the filly’s head in her hooves.

“Prin-Ce-ants-ee-ou.” Twilight spoke too quickly, the words quickly jumbling up in her mad hurry to speak. Sweetie pushed the hooves holding her face off, and looked evenly at Twilight. Rarity raised her head, watching the exchange from the safety of her coffee. Twilight took a moment to calm down, and spoke again.

“Princess Celestia wants to see you. She’s sent a royal carriage and everything!” Twilight began to bounce around the room, giddy. Sweetie blinked, taking a step back in confusion. The royal princess wanted to see her? Glancing to Rarity, she could see the shock mirrored on her face.

“But why?” Sweetie turned just as Twilight stuck her face way too close for comfort. Being pushed back slightly, a letter was thrust into her chest. Twilight pivoted, and returned to bouncing around the room in excitement. Sweetie forced her eyebrows to remain level, and focused her attention on the letter.

Dear Twilight

If what you say is true, Sweetie must be brought to us post haste. There are a few things we need to discuss that have grave ramifications for the situation she is in. That is, if what you say is true. I have no reason to doubt you took time to check the claims, so I will send a carriage for three in the morning. Rooms will be provided of course, I expect you to arrive before noon.

Sincerely
Princess Celestia

“Wow, I wonder what she wants to tell me,” remarked Sweetie, holding out the letter to Rarity. Quickly, her sister trotted upstairs to begin packing. Sweetie wondered if the reason she was so eager was the damage to the house. Sure, it would be gone after this loop, and they had plans to sleep in Twilight’s for the rest of the week, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t startling to see.

“Alright, I’m ready Twilight. Sweetie Belle?” Rarity walked downstairs, saddlebags full to bursting. Sweetie quickly checked her own over, and made sure the camera was inside too. Sweetie faintly remembered that Twilight had said the spell giving her wings lasted three days. That thought led her to remember her friends, and she briefly spared them a silent sigh.

‘At the very least, now I know how to regain them as friends. I suppose it can wait for a loop or two.’ Sweetie, once satisfied she had all her things, raised her head and nodded to Rarity. Both trotted after a giddy Twilight. Sitting down in the carriage, they quickly took off. Glancing around, Sweetie spotted Spike waving goodbye from the castle. Sweetie waved back, and then turned to watch Canterlot swim into view.

“One moment while I wake up Luna. She wanted to grab a few hours rest before you arrived.” Celestia stood up from the throne, horn lighting up as a scroll vanished in her magic. After a moment, there was a knock at the door. Luna walked in slowly, giving the four a warm smile, and a bow of her head.

“While I understand that this is the first time you have seen me, Miss Belle, I want you to know that you do not have to call me by titles. Your situation is unique enough to warrant that.” Celestia raised a wing, and dismissed the guards, leaving them alone. Approaching Sweetie, she waited as the filly bowed.

“Oh, no it’s really alright Princess Celestia. Calling you like a regular pony feels wrong.” Sweetie noticed the pointed glance to her wings, and smiled sheepishly. Celestia raised an eyebrow in Twilight's direction, who bowed once as she began to explain.

“Sweetie wanted to play a prank on her classmates, and I saw no reason not to oblige. It will be gone in two days anyway.” Twilight raised her head and looked toward Sweetie. Celestia mused for a moment, and shared a glance with Luna.

“I assume you got pictures, correct?” Celestia waited as the filly pulled out a camera, and smiled warmly.

“Then there is no quarrel. I, ah, would like a copy when you get them developed however.” Celestia glanced toward her sister as a slight snigger came from that general direction, before ignoring it completely. Celestia gave a nod to Twilight, who quietly whispered something to Rarity.

“Oh. Oh! Oh dear Sweetie, I really must go and visit the shops before they close. You will be fine here right?” Rarity glanced between Sweetie and Celestia as a nod came from the latter. Rarity glanced to Twilight, and began to drag her out of the room.

“You simply must help me carry them dear. Bye Sweetie Belle!” Rarity closed the door, and both walked away. Sweetie watched the door for a moment longer, before turning back toward Celestia. The expression on the two sister’s faces grew more grave. Feeling a chill down her spine, she gulped.

“Listen Sweetie Belle, while we would not normally pass on this information, you situation is unique enough to warrant us being more truthful with you. If you would follow us, we have something you must see.” Both paused, and waited for a response. Sweetie slowly nodded, and followed them as they walked toward the wall behind the throne. Sweetie noticed an unassuming hole, horn sized, in the wall. Celestia lowered her horn and inserted it, sending a pulse of magic into it.

Stepping back, the wall slid open, revealing a dusty corridor, smelling stale. Sweetie saw cobwebs older than time. It was as if this place had been sealed, and nothing had escaped, even air. Celestia’s horn lit up, and a gust of wind blew into the room, sending the stale air up and out. Sniffing, Celestia nodded, and began to walk.

“Once upon a time, there was a magical unicorn. This unicorn was wise, and powerful. However, he had a weakness. This was a weakness all feared, even us. For even though he did not believe it at the time, we are not immortal. One day, the sun will die, and the moon will crumble. But that is the way of all things.

“This magician feared death above all else. And as he grew older, so too did his fear. Eventually, he could stand it no longer, and sought ways to remove that fear. He managed to create dark spells, truly despicable spells designed to drain the life from another, before he abandoned that chain of research. For while he was desperate; he was still our trusted friend.

“It was nearing the end of his time that he began to delve into the Elements, hoping to harness their energy to grant him immortality. This unicorn was smart, he knew such power would ultimately change him. We feared the worst, and so he put us in charge of a fail-safe. We did not know at the time what he planned, for we only know the results.” Celestia paused as they emerged into a small room filled with dry paper. Sweetie winced, feeling the throbbing magic in the air. Whatever they were using to keep the paper in perfect condition, it was very strong.

“What our friend planned, was to switch his destiny with one of us. He had gotten so desperate, he would use us. In truth, neither I nor Luna know if we have our true destinies, or if they are what we were switched into. The fail-safe turned out to be a placebo, and we found him unconscious near the Elements.” Celestia paused and bowed her head. Luna spoke up, eyes closing as she did the same.

“He woke up long enough to ask what day it was. When we told him, he merely shed a tear, and perished before us.” Luna turned away, Celestia throwing a wing around her sister as they leaned on each other. Sweetie said nothing, not knowing what to say in the face of the story. Eventually, the two separated, and Celestia focused on Sweetie.

“These are his notes, even containing details on how he got out. I moved them here after I moved to Canterlot. I’m afraid his way out was suicide, but the information may help you. Luna and I will also provide you a letter to inform us of the time loop, and I shall teach you the spell to send me letters. Take what you wish, after all it will be back here next loop.” Celestia and Luna stepped out of the way as Sweetie walked up toward the papers. Turning, she looked at them.

“How come you trust me so quickly? Twilight and Rarity took so long to convince the first time.” Well, Twilight had agreed the first proof she had been given. But Sweetie had three other pieces of proof validated before that to back her up. Celestia and Luna smiled warmly, and bowed their heads.

“Twilight is not a liar,” they spoke together.

SSL2

Hello, I am Star Swirl the Bearded.

And I am stuck in what appears to be a time loop. At first, I simply dismissed the notion as Deja Vu, however I can now confirm I am indeed looping the same string of time. My loop appears to go for exactly six hours, and follows my preparations to cast my current spell on the Elements. I am unsure if the time looping is caused by the inclusion of the elements, but I shall plan out experiments to solve as much soon. So far, there are a few constants:

1: I am constantly hammered by a headache unless I am casting magic. Due to my level of expertise, the magic required to completely remove the spell is quite large. I have managed to circumvent this problem for now. But I fear it may become a problem in the future.

2: Anything with magic is drained upon restart. I had the unfortunate opportunity to watch my assistant die before me when he came to deliver something right as the loop reset.

3: I can take non-magical items through to the next loop. I tried bringing the elements, however they simply shattered once the loop reset.

4: Anypony who is stuck with me when the loop resets feels a draining sensation for the remainder of the loops. This is likely caused by my magic being connected to the cause of the loops.

5: I am the source of the loop. Anything in a room with me loops when it resets.

I have yet to discover a means out, but I now realise it was a mistake to search for immortality. Instead of being given immortal life, I am now forced to relive the same six hours until I solve this problem I caused. If you are reading this, there are many possible reasons why. The main being I discovered a way out of the loop.

I fear for anypony who falls into this dreadful situation. If you are reading this, I wish you the best of luck, and hope my findings somehow help you find escape from this reality. It’s maddening at times, knowing no one will remember my actions of the following six hours. I fear for my sanity most of all, as it was not in the best state to begin with. I know this now, for I was foolish to attempt what I did. Foolish, and a betrayer of friends.

Good luck to you.

Author's Notes:

You know what time it is, time for me to go to school. See you in a few days! Good news: Last week. Bad news: Got stuff on next week that will interfere.

Here is another poem made by: Divine Path

Oh the wretched soul,
lost to the hunger of selfishness.
The warmth of friendship left him.
Grieve for that fate,
come to accept the means by which to break you free
lest your actions bring unto others your own harm.
Consider the extents,
consider the sacrifice,
if you shall brave through these nights,
silently, or in hope you may be reunited.
For you carry ties,
and these you must not forsake.

L12.3

Sweetie slowly walked out of the room, meeting the concerned gaze of her sister. Giving a weak smile, Sweetie allowed herself to be hugged. Turning, both walked out of the throne room, heading for where breakfast would be served. Sweetie saw various plates, and squaled in delight. Finally, something new to eat!

“Sweetie, I know you are very busy learning about this other looper, but I was wondering if you would like to spend some time with me in Canterlot today. If you are far too busy, that is quite alright. I suppose you can always do it another loop.” Rarity picked at her food, ears flopped down as she spoke. Sweetie tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I’ll go. Researching is fine and all, but I wouldn’t miss out on a trip to Canterlot. I might even get my Cutie Mark!” Sweetie ‘eee’d as she thought of the many high-class marks she might find herself worthy of. Rarity smiled warmly, and chuckled in response.

“That’s good news. I’ll set up an itinerary for today while you get dressed.” Rarity finally dug into her meal, appetite restored. Sweetie learned, due to trying various foods, that she did indeed love salad. It was odd from her perspective, but really the freshness of the produce really drove the point home. Sweetie knew she would have to find a way to have it more often.

After breakfast, it was onto getting ready. Sweetie trotted to her room to prepare, beaming proudly as she walked around the white halls alone. It made her feel incredibly grown up to be left alone unsupervised here. It made her feel like she was really lucky, instead of unlucky, to be stuck in a time loop. Sweetie quickly got ready, and turned to see her sister walking into the room.

"Are you ready?" Rarity smiled as a nod came from her sister, and turned. Slowly, both walked out of the castle and into the bustle of Canterlot. Looking around, Rarity knew just where she wanted to go first. It contained shopping, and started with clothes. Sweetie breathed in sharply as she was led into a very expensive looking shop.

"Normally I would just make you an ensemble'. However, since the loop resets on Friday, I don't have half the time I need to prepare you a lavish dress radiating perfection. So instead, I shall purchase you an outfit that is close. I also ask that you give my future self a note I will give you later. It just details my plan, hopefully we agree and we can create the start of the perfect gown." Rarity began to go through the clothes, looking for items similar in color to Sweetie.

Eventually, Rarity picked out a dress with a pink and white chest, black waist, and white back. The back had the bottom tied up, and a note pattern on it. Rarity also picked out a pink pair of heels, the heel being barely a centimeter thick. Finally, Rarity picked up a black hat with a pink and white bow, and a neckband with a note on one side. Sweetie walked into the changing room to try them on.

Sweetie Belle looked a lot more mature in the clothes, almost appearing to be simply a small pony instead of actually being a filly. Rarity nodded, proud of her work. While she personally would have preferred darker colors to bring out Sweetie’s features more, it would still suffice. Rarity paid the bits to the clerk, and they exited the shop. Sweetie smiled at Rarity who lent down and pointed toward a poster.

"There's a concert in town, would you like to see it?" Rarity smiled, noting the enthusiasm as Sweetie nodded. Turning, they both walked toward the venue. Sweetie began to hum a merry tune. Rarity smiled down at her sister. Taking their seats, Sweetie fell silent as the concert started. Sweetie listened to the singers weaving music over the crowd and sighed, closing her eyes.

Music was like magic in a way. It was made to convey a message, pursue a thought, do an action. This song was about loss, but it also contained a silent hope to be found. Sweetie knew all this just from her ears. Opening her eyes, she blinked as her horn activated unbidden, and she felt a tingling sensation in her eyes. Sweetie blinked, and suddenly she was met with the sight of something truly amazing. For Sweetie was seeing music.

The song wove through people's ears, sometimes passing directly through them. Sweetie watched the crowd, noticing how some seemed bored, not even hearing the beauty of the song around them. How could they not hear this? Sweetie bit her lip, did she dare try to help? Glancing to the stage, Sweetie saw the concentration on the singer's face as she tried to weave her song. It sailed, swam, and yet Sweetie could sense it would not reach the intended audience. At least, not without some help.

Sweetie looked to her horn, and slowly understood the spell that had activated. It was almost as if it was made for her, to help Sweetie complete her task of helping the singer on the stage. Sweetie closed her eyes, folded her ears to the sound, and concentrated. Slowly, she opened both and focused on the notes in the air. A gentle nudge, a soft touch to slightly alter the course. Suddenly, the crowd transformed. Sweetie no longer saw them as ponies, but as the notes that comprised their own specific song. Sweetie knew what she had to do.

Slowly, Sweetie followed the note's back to the source, and altered each one as it emerged from the singer's voice. As the note divided, Sweetie altered each one more. Eventually, all the notes were exactly the same, and yet different on such a minute level that only the singer seemed to notice. Ears flickering, she opened one eye, eyes immediately drawing to the filly whose horn was aglow, concentration on her face. Slowly, the singer watched as the crowd changed from bored, to interested, until finally all were swaying in time to her music. Closing her eyes, the singer smiled, and her confidence grew to new heights, adding a final missing piece to her song.

Sweetie felt the magic on her horn fade, and opened her eyes to a normal crowd, no longer seeing the music. It didn't matter, for Sweetie could feel it. This music resonated with her, filling her with such strong emotion she wiped a tear from her eye. Beside her, Rarity was trying to hold back tears. And so, the song that would have fallen on deaf ears, instead moved an entire crowd to tears. Sweetie smiled warmly, feeling happy for the singer. This was what Sweetie had always wanted. No, it wasn't to see herself sing upon a stage, that never interested Sweetie. But many songs, from many ponies, fell short of what they wished. Many let their voices die out, to never be heard again. Sweetie hated seeing voices fade before their message had been spoken.

Sweetie felt a tingle on her flank, but didn't bother to look down at it. Sweetie didn't care anymore.

It was only a Cutie Mark.

Author's Notes:

Scuse the slightly chopped top, didn't center the puppet before taking the image.
Sweetie's Mark essentially means her talent is bringing out the heart in songs. AKA: Making others rise to the occasion, the medic, healer, bard, priest, etc etc.

L12.4

Author's Notes:

When the previous chapter went out, I asked people: Should Sweetie keep her CM? I found reasons for and against myself, and I honestly had no preference either way. This is the result of that question, which was removed once I had enough comments to make my decision.

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Early chapter is very early so I don't sleep in and miss posting it at the usual time.

“Utility Spells and you?” Sweetie tilted her head as she read the book’s title. It was one in a small stack of spellbooks placed in front of Sweetie. Biting her lip, she wondered if she would actually be able to levitate all that. Thankfully, it looked like they had included a cart to carry it in. Celestia bowed her head once. Sweetie felt a lingering tingle where her wings had been. It was a pity the spell only lasted three days.

“These are the same books Twilight read when she was starting out with magic. A lot of them are low level spells, but toward the end there are some that may prove useful. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to know how to do more than levitation correct?” Celestia smiled and Sweetie gave a slow nod.

“That makes sense I suppose.” Sweetie looked toward Twilight and Rarity as she levitated the cart handle, pulling it toward her. Twilight smiled, and both bid farewell to the Princesses with a bow. Sweetie blinked, and then turned to copy the action. Celestia and Luna bowed their heads too, though not as low as Twilight did.

Making their way out of Canterlot, they had opted for the train instead, despite the offer from Celestia. Sweetie supposed that was wise, considering she didn’t want to lose any books in transit. Sitting down inside the train beside her sister, Sweetie flipped the top book open and glanced at the chapter titles. As expected, they were a list of spells.

Spell list(Ordered by chapter)
Beginner:
1: Water
2: Spark(For fire(ADULT SUPERVISION REQUIRED))
3: Stop-Sneeze
4: Wake-me-up
5: Knockout
6: Trip
7: Itch-be-gone
Intermediate
8: Stun
9: Telekinetic force(Knock-back)
10: Disarm
11: Teleport
12: Fireworks
13: Smokebomb
14: Cloudwalking
Advanced
15: Flight Spell(Wings)
16: Fire
17: Levitate self
18: Change gravity
19: Transform
20: Shield

Sweetie looked over the list, recognizing a lot she had seen Twilight using. The Intermediate and Advanced spells looked to be well worth learning. Sweetie knew she would need to practice through. At the very least, it looked like she could use the Beginner spells to play some pranks. Which reminded her, she still needed to look at the letters everypony had given her to prove she was in a time loop.

After arriving home, Sweetie quickly went up to her room to practice. The first one she tried was the water spell. Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth, and slowly a drop of water dripped from her horn. Opening her eyes, she narrowed them, watching water leak like a dripping tap. Sweetie sighed, well, there was one she’d have to practice.

The next was the spark spell. Sweetie looked to her combustible room and shook her head. No, she wasn’t that stupid. The next one was a stop-sneeze spell. Sweetie cast it a few times, feeling a tingling sensation in her nose each time. After a while, Sweetie noticed her sinuses had cleared. Well, that could come in handy. The wake-me-up would have to wait until tonight.

Sweetie cast the knockout on her teddy, watching it fall over with a soft thump. Sweetie bit her lip, another spell she would have to practice. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she puffed. These spells were really hard. Sweetie wondered how many loops it would take before she moved to the Intermediate.

The trip was just using levitation to grab a person’s leg as they were walking. Sweetie decided to skip it for now. Finally, the itch-be-gone. Sweetie felt a shiver pass through her body as she cast it, and sighed as an itch she wasn’t aware of vanished. Sweetie wanted to use that spell more often, it felt really good.

Finally, Sweetie placed the book back on the cart. Walking downstairs, Sweetie approached Rarity. Rarity was currently making dinner, salad. Whether that was due to a certain filly strongly recommending it was an entirely different matter. It was definitely not related, not one bit.

“I have to spend tomorrow night somewhere else to repair the house.” Sweetie saw the slow nod from Rarity, and both mused for a moment. Sweetie could always spend a night in Twilight’s, but that left the risk of confusion in the morning. Besides, Twilight had a habit of staying up late.

“How about your treehouse?” Rarity placed two plates of salad down as Sweetie sat down to eat. Sweetie nodded, it sounded like a decent idea. It might be a bit cold though. Sweetie didn’t mind too much about the cold, it would still be fun to camp out in the clubhouse.

“Alright Sweetie, I’ll help you move your camping gear there tomorrow. For now; let’s eat.”

Sweetie snuggled into her sleeping bag, considering going to bed. After remembering her Mark, she sat up and looked toward the clock that was technically hers now. Levitating it over, she waited as time slowly ticked over.

11:59…

12:00

Sweetie glanced to her flank, and sighed in relief. Her Mark was still there. Rubbing it, Sweetie smiled warmly, remembering the moment with crystal clarity. It was something she was never going to forget, that’s for sure. The question was, how could she use the loops to achieve it? Sweetie sighed and shifted further into her sleeping bag.

Rarity would be looking for her in the morning. Groaning, Sweetie sat up and quickly packed her things into a corner. Sweetie knew none of the Crusaders would be coming to the clubhouse, so it was safe to leave things here. Turning, Sweetie trotted outside, closing the door with her magic.

Shivering in the cold, she walked through the deserted streets. Eventually she made her way back to the boutique, and entered quietly. Sneaking upstairs, she quickly checked her sister’s room. Creeping into her room, she was pleased to see the damage was gone, and slipped quietly into the sheets.

Giving a yawn, Sweetie settled into wonderful dreams about her Mark. Sweetie dreamed of her friends seeing it, and praising her. Sweetie smiled in her sleep. Finally, all three of them could potentially gain their marks. That might be the key to getting out of the loop. Sweetie dared to hope it was, finally slipping into slumber.

SSL15

Loop 15.

Or at least, I think that is correct. It is hard to tell when losing track of time could take one or two loops without warning. I have completed the tests confirming my hypothesis. The real question is how do I test the correct order of events. From my chair, I can see three possible routes out. Two are fundamentally improbable as of this moment due to the nature of this loop.

The first is to find the correct sequence of events. I am confident if I spend my time wisely, I can accomplish this. I fear what awaits me on the other side however. What will become of me once this loop ends? No matter, I must escape. Living forever in the same time is not in any way productive. My spells and experiments can never leave a singular room.

The second is to kill myself. While I hate to admit it, I fear that may be the only means of escape. But I must prevail in my search. If it turns out to be true, I will have to learn to face it. I will have to learn to let go of this fear that is consuming me at the knowledge of my imminent demise. For it is imminent. Spells I cast to increase my life expectancy fail around me just as the loop resets. I have no doubt if it weren’t for the loop, I would die at the sixth hour.

The final one is to break the connection my horn has to the spell. This in itself is a huge undertaking, and very well may end my life. Either way I move forward, death is there to greet me. I fear it so, and yet I know I have no choice but to accept it. The alternative is to stay in this loop, and I know monotony would eventually eat at me.

Do not mistake my mastery over magic as a hindrance when I say this, but I fear the alarming growth in my magical power with each tick of the loop. What if it continues to grow? What will happen to me? So much uncertainty is hard to keep under tabs as I strive to see if option one is viable as a solution.

But I must try.

L13

Sweetie trotted out of her house and walked over to Apple Bloom. Smiling, she weathered the reaction to the draining effect, knowing she could change their minds about cutting ties with Sweetie. Turning her flank, Sweetie let her friend see her Cutie Mark.

“You got your Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom was leaping for joy. Sweetie smiled, enjoying the attention. However, that brought up an issue she hadn’t thought of.

“What does it mean?” Apple Bloom allowed Sweetie time to think, both slowly heading toward school. Sweetie mused for a moment.

“My talent is bringing out the song in pony’s hearts.” Sweetie nodded, satisfied she had explained her talent well. However, Apple Bloom merely looked confused. Sweetie sighed, knowing that meant she would have to actually go into detail to explain it. How does one explain Sweetie’s talent is helping other’s rise to theirs? Sweetie lowered her head and narrowed her eyes.

“It means I’m good at singing,” she spoke in defeat. Really, this was a conversation she was going to have multiple times each loop. A one sentence answer was best, and that meant accepting she would have to lie about her talent slightly. Of course Sweetie was a decent singer, but that wasn’t what her Mark was about.

“Oh! That’s great Sweetie. Ah wonder what mine will be.” Apple Bloom smiled toward the sky, imagining getting an ‘awesome’ Mark that would make Diamond and Silver envious. Sweetie smiled sadly, and they both headed into class.

“It means I’m good at singing,” she repeated again. It seemed the effect of Sweetie getting her Mark was enough for the four to forget the draining effect almost completely. However, that presented a problem of its own. For, if Diamond and Apple Bloom did not bond over the feeling toward Sweetie, they stayed enemies.

‘Maybe staying home one day will prevent this. I’ll have to try it next loop.’ Sweetie bid farewell to her friends and headed home. Thankfully, Twilight was still there. That meant Sweetie wouldn’t have to wait until tomorrow to get some questions answered. Sweetie dug into her saddlebags and held out the note.

“W-What the!” Twilight stared at the note for a few long moments, before rubbing her forehead with a hoof, and nodding. Levitating the note back over, Twilight turned toward Sweetie as a large folder of notes was held out. Twilight reconised it as her own magic-writing

“I was wondering, do you know why everything with magic resets, but my Cutie Mark stayed?” Sweetie pointed to her Mark as Twilight mused for a moment.

“Well, there’s two possible reasons. One is the loop isn’t affecting you, and you are growing normally. The other is that it is, but because you already have memory of what your talent is, it can’t wipe the mark away. Sort of how Tirek took our Marks when he drained our magic, but we got them back again without any repercussions once our magic was returned.” Twilight smiled warmly, giving a nod at her reasoning.

“Oh, ok.” Sweetie looked away, was it really that simple? Maybe it was, but what if it was option one? Would she eventually grow into an old Granny Belle? Sweetie shuddered, and turned to head up into her room. Sweetie wanted to practice spells. If she did it enough, maybe she could eventually use that memory transfer spell, so that Twilight could know her situation better.

After much persuasion, Sweetie had convinced Scootaloo to try and teach them how to race down an obstacle course on a scooter. Sweetie wanted to see if it was possible to get Scoots a Mark in scooting. Front what Sweetie understood, Scoots mark was about the joy of doing stunts at incredibly fast speeds. So it should technically be possible. They had decided to practice near the sharp drop off the cliff, as it had the longest flat bit of road. They were careful to stay far away however.

“Here, let me help you Apple Bloom.” Scoots was currently leaning over Apple Bloom’s scooter. Sweetie smiled, Twilight hadn’t wanted to agree at first, but eventually she had payed for two brand new scooters for them. Time looping payed off big time sometimes. Sweetie slowly sailed down the path, humming a tune as she tried to use her magic to push her along.

Scootaloo had said to just use her hooves, but Sweetie wanted to try doing it the Unicorn way. Plus, it was good practice. Sweetie beamed as she sweated from the pressure. Slowly the scooter began to pick up speed. Gritting her teeth, Sweetie felt wind start to push on her face. Yes, she was doing it!

Slowly, Sweetie went around the obstacle course Scoots had set up. Picking up speed, she turned and went back though it. Sweetie beamed, this was quite fun. Closing her eyes she let her magic cut off, allowing the scooter to come to a complete stop. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned toward Sweetie, eyes widening.

“Sweetie! Look out!” As Scootaloo spoke, she leapt onto her scooter and dived toward Sweetie. Opening her eyes, Sweetie blinked and glanced back. Was it just her or was the obstacle course and Apple Bloom farther away than she remembered? No, she was definitely moving. Turning her head, Sweetie widened her eyes, seeing the incline she was starting to go down. Sweetie tried to slow herself down with her magic. There was still time, don’t panic.

“SWEETIE!” As Scootaloo cried out, Sweetie lost concentration, and her gradual decline, that had been slowing down, suddenly jerked forward to a more hazardous speed. Sweetie cried out and gritted her teeth, but her magic was just slipping off the wheels. Sweetie looked down toward the ground, and lowered a foot.

Sweetie’s foot made contact with the ground, and the scooter slammed sideways, sending Sweetie forward. Tumbling down the hill, Sweetie whimpered, curling into a ball as sharp rocks and jagged edges cut deep wedges into her white body. Slowly, her coat began to run red with blood.

“Hyah!” Scootaloo leapt at Sweetie, and tried to bring both Sweetie and herself to a halt, digging her hooves in as she gripped the bloodied form of Sweetie Belle. For a small moment, they paused, balancing at the very edge of the incline. Scootaloo gulped, and slowly began to lean backward.

“Look out!” Apple Bloom tried to warn them about Sweetie’s scooter as it crashed into them, sending them over the edge. Scootaloo buzzed her wings, before realising she had dropped Sweetie. As soon as she stopped, she too began to fall. Crying out, she desperately hoped Rainbow Dash was flying nearby.

Sweetie opened her eyes slowly, pain throbbing through her body. Each breath sent jagged ice down her spine. Each movement was like someone slicing her body with a thousand knives. Looking up, she saw the fear on Scootaloo's face. Sweetie took another shuddering breath, unable to think in her current state.

For Sweetie, everything was pain. Every moment was a thousand times worse than the headache boiling inside her head. Everything was a high pitched keening in her ears. Scootaloo’s fear barely registered, eyes blinded by pain. Sweetie felt her body slowly spin, aiming her downward due to her head being heavier at the front.

There it was, the floor below. Hard, unforgiving, and uncompromising. Sweetie had no doubts, mind taken over by cold calculation as it worked through the pain. It was amazing really, her brain was split in two. One part was handling the immense pain Sweetie was feeling, and the other was just looking at what was going to follow. This would be her death. Sweetie had no emotion, she just stared as it approached. Closing her eyes, she took one final shuddering breath.

Sweetie’s death was silent. There was barely a sound as her body implanted on the ground. Anyone who examined the body would notice the thousands of broken bones, and the calm look on the filly’s face. It had been instantaneous, no pain had been felt upon impact. Sweetie Belle was gone.

Around Ponyville, Canterlot, and Manehattan, all the ponies looked up toward the sky. All blinked in shock as it suddenly turned to night without warning. All immediately began to notice something different. However, nopony had the presence of mind to comprehend it as reality bent.

All ponies, and only ponies, who were outside began to age, and collapse. As they died, each turned into dust, which in turn blew away in the wind. As silence resounded in the clearing, only one pony saw this happen. This pony was an Alicorn, who had just looked up from the book she had been reading inside her castle.

As Twilight watched this, she had no idea why it had happened, but she felt the chill pass though her all the same. Whatever had just affected those stuck outside could very well happen again. Twilight turned and woke up Spike, preparing him to send a letter. Whatever was happening, only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had a chance of surviving in the outside long enough to get anywhere.

Twilight sighed and went to brew a cup of coffee, hoping it had been an illusion, and she hadn’t just seen dozens of lives snuff out in an instant. Including one that looked strikingly like herself. Rubbing her forehead, she groaned. This was really way too much for 12:02 in the morning on a Monday.

L14

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, it’s time for school!” Sweetie groaned, flicking her eyes open as a blurry room swum into view. Memory fuzzy, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. It had been an extremely uncomfortable night, full of nightmares of falling. Not to mention her bed felt really lumpy. Finally able to look around her room, Sweetie blinked.

Various rocks, most small in size, were dumped around her room in a haphazard fashion. In fact, her bed was covered in them. No wonder Sweetie had been having trouble sleeping. Slowly moving the rocks off her bed, she rubbed her forehead and groaned. Not only had she slept badly, she had a splitting headache.

Sweetie pulled a piece of paper out of her diary, a book kept under her bed, and folded it into a paper plane. As she began to levitate it, Sweetie held her head and waited for the headache to fade. Once it was gone, she could surely come to terms with what was going on.

It didn’t.

Sweetie dropped the plane, and slowly levitated her diary up, feeling it lessen slightly. Sweetie glanced to her sides, seeing her saddlebags still on her body. Yet another reason why she had slept horribly. Sweetie dug her two books out of it, levitating them instead. Sweetie sighed, the headache fading away.

Finally able to think, Sweetie concentrated, trying to remember how she had ended up in her room. The last thing she remembered was scooting. Sweetie breathed in sharply, throbbing pain enveloping her as she remembered what had happened. Hugging herself, Sweetie sobbed quietly, both from the fact she had died, also dooming Scootaloo to the same fate, and the fact it wasn’t the way out of the loop.

“Okay, calm down Sweetie, priorities. What day is it?” Sweetie quickly cast the spell, confirming it was Monday. The start of a loop, death had reset it. Not only that, dying had significantly raised the amount of stuff she had to levitate to keep the headache away. Sweetie bit her lip. Silently, she feared just what ramifications that had.

“Sweetie Belle! Don’t make me come up there.” Rarity’s voice called again, jumping Sweetie out of her introspection. Sweetie looked at her bags and sighed. The good news was while death hurt, it wasn’t going to, well, kill her. It also looked like it reset her back in the room, albeit taking whatever was laying around her with Sweetie. That explained why there was a lot of rocks in the room.

Standing up, Sweetie headed downstairs. Twilight would probably want to test that, however doing so meant Sweetie would have to restart the loop outside again. Sweetie knew that was something she would never attempt, at least, not now. Sweetie supposed there might be a time she got desperate enough, and shuddered as she sat down.

“Sweetie, Twilight says there’s some event happening, and all ponies are ordered to stay indoors. She’s coming by to teleport you to school.” Rarity smiled gently as she placed the pancakes down. Sweetie tilted her head. That was strange, why was Twilight doing that? Was this due to her death? Sweetie mused for a moment, glancing toward her saddlebags.

The temptation to see what would happen if Sweetie kept the truth about the loop hidden was strong. This was something that wasn’t going to happen a second time after all. Sure, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been hesitant to be near Sweetie, but this was almost like Twilight had seen something.

“Why?” Sweetie decided it was best to ask. Rarity paused, and winced.

“Well dear, Twilight was up at midnight, and something dreadful happened that only she was awake to witness. She fears it might happen again.” Rarity nodded, satisfied she had avoided saying what to the best of her ability. Sweetie nodded, and resumed eating.

There was no doubting it, Twilight had seen the loop resetting. It seemed Twilight was awake when it reset normally, likely reading a book overlooking a window. That meant she would have seen the reset. Sweetie shuddered, knowing full well what had happened to those that had been outside. The good news was they weren’t technically dead. The bad news was, well…

“That’s strange, Opal is avoiding you for some reason.” Rarity watched as the cat did indeed give the kitchen a wider berth than normal. Sweetie watched this, and inwardly sighed. Was it wrong she felt nothing about what happened to them? Sweetie shook her head rapidly and forced herself to discard the issue. If she tried to analyse why she felt or did something, she really would go insane.

‘I think I’ll see what Twilight does if I don’t tell her this is a loop. I doubt it will happen a second time.’ Sweetie finished her food and nodded. There was too much unknown about what would happen with this loop. Unknown meant new, and Sweetie was just starting to realise how much she loved new. After all, new meant she hadn’t done it before. And that was good.

“Sweetie Belle! You have your Cutie Mark!” Rarity finally noticed Sweetie’s flank, and the filly mentally sighed. It was going to be a long day.

‘Alright, so far, there’s not much change beyond the fact of that ‘stay inside’ that was in the morning. Twilight called it off around midday for some reason. I gotta ask her why today while Rarity’s gone to Manehattan.’ Sweetie descended the stairs, smiling in greeting as she saw Twilight was indeed there.

“Twilight, is something wrong with outside?” Sweetie knew she had to be careful with her questions. Twilight would be trying to keep the truth of what happened from her. Sweetie debated just outright telling Twilight.

“Apparently not, but it looked like there was when I looked out the window at midnight.” Twilight bit her lip and sighed. The image of those ponies as they...was still in her mind. And yet, Twilight had seen Roseluck in her home the very next morning as she’d warned everypony to stay indoors. Roseluck, Twilight shuddered. No, there was no way a nightmare could be that vivid.

Sweetie bit her lip. The way Twilight looked, it was harrowing. It looked like the effect of what Twilight had seen was merely just a small moment of being stuck indoors. Sweetie let her ears flop down and sighed. There was no point, Sweetie had to tell her. Pulling out the letter, Sweetie held it out for Twilight.

Twilight was silent for a few minutes after reading it. The only movement she made was handing back the note, and closing her eyes. Sweetie jumped slightly as Twilight turned toward her, opening her eyes once more. Giving a sigh, Twilight lowered her head, wearily looking at the floor.

“Why are you telling me this?” Twilight couldn’t doubt the truth on that piece of paper, as much as she wanted to. There was no denying it.

“When I loop, time reset’s back to monday at the stroke of midnight. And...well...when ponies are in the same room as me when it resets…” Sweetie trailed off, forcing tears back inside her head. It wouldn’t do to cry right now.

“So when I saw a pony that looked like me outside, it was my previous loop self, dying because you were outside for some reason.” Twilight looked toward Sweetie, understanding ticking though her brain quickly. The horror of what she had seen met with truth, and her mind shattered, going blank.

“Y-You probably have a draining sensation too…” Sweetie scuffed the ground, shivering as she tried to forced herself to ignore the darkness she had caused. So many lives, so many ponies had been outside when she had...Would they all suffer that effect? Twilight nodded solemnly.

“Yeah, there was a draining sensation. I couldn’t find the source of it so I researched a spell designed to stop magic from being taken out of my body, sort of like an invisible shield. The feeling faded the moment I cast it, so maybe the sensation isn’t just a sensation. Maybe you are actually draining the magic of anypony who get’s stuck in the same room with you at the end of the loop.” Twilight sighed, and rubbed her forehead.

“Either way, the bad news continues to mount. If you are indeed draining ponies magic, it might explain the headaches. Or it might contradict it, I’ll need to research in the Canterlot Library. There’s not enough time for it this loop however.” Twilight nodded as Sweetie pulled out a folder. Twilight reconised her magic-writing. Turning to some blank pages, Twilight wrote down the new findings, before closing it and handing it back. Then, standing up, she walked over and hugged Sweetie tightly.

“It’s okay to cry you know, no one is going to think less of you for doing so.” Twilight closed her eyes and hugged the filly tighter. Sweetie clenched her eyes tight, and let herself finally cry. There was so much to cry about. Sweetie wanted to cry about her death, about those she had just killed, and about her friends.

“I just wish I knew why Twilight. Why am I stuck in a time loop? Why does it drain magic?” Sweetie sobbed quietly, distraught on a shattering level. How many lives had she ended? How many fates would have to end before she finally escaped? Star Swirl’s notes hadn’t been helpful in the slightest. None of them listed the exact spell he used to get out.

“Maybe we can find that out with a memory spell. It might be you did something that you don’t remember due to the specifics of the spell. I sadly don’t have access to a proper memory spell. I can feed images of memories I have experienced, but I can’t help you remember them. That will have to be something we do next loop. I’ll make a note of it.” Twilight raised her head, and smiled softly at Sweetie as the filly sniffed.

“But I suggest you spend some time relaxing after what happened last loop. Play some jokes, learn some magic, do something to heal. You’re stuck in a time loop Sweetie, you need to use that sometimes. Answers can wait a loop or three.” Twilight leaned forward, hugging the filly even tighter. Sweetie smiled warmly.

Twilight was right, of course. Sweetie knew that the trip to Canterlot was important, but she so desperately wanted to cry at every moment of the day. Even now, crying as she was, she felt no end to the pain that throbbed in her chest. Sweetie closed her eyes and nodded. Some time off sounded good. Sweetie had been saving up a few good pranks, after all.

Answers could wait. After all, you only loop once.

Author's Notes:

If you're wondering why Twilight sounds emotionless it's because reality broke her mind. I mean, when one sees what she saw, how do you react to that?

L15.1 Operation Coronation

“Sweetie? What are you doing here?” Twilight tilted her head as the filly entered the castle. Giving a warm smile in greeting, she quickly read the piece of paper handed to her. Eyes widening, she couldn’t deny the truth in front of her.

“I skipped school to come talk to you. May I speak?” Sweetie paused and waited. Twilight eventually gave a nod.

“I want to send a message to Princess Celestia, and I want you to cast that spell to give me wings. I have a prank I need your help with.” Sweetie paused, and pulled out two letters, and a photo.

“You want my help. With a prank.” Twilight narrowed her eyes at Sweetie, who nodded. Twilight took the letters and skimmed them over. The first was written in what looked like golden light, and was illegible, the second briefly went over Sweetie’s plan.

“Alright, I’m in, let me go get Spike.” Twilight took the letters and turned. Sweetie followed behind as they found Spike. After sending off the letters, Sweetie smiled as a letter came back almost instantly. Opening it, Sweetie burst out laughing. Twilight leaned over curiously, and fell backwards as she began to laugh too.

“Time for school.” Sweetie hummed cheerfully as Twilight began to cast the spell to give her wings. Sweetie flexed them for a moment, and nodded. Smiling, she waved goodbye to Twilight, and skipped out of the house.

Sweetie strode purposely into class, acting as regal as she could. Sitting down, she tilted her nose upward. Soon enough, class was interrupted by the sounds of trumpets as a guard announced the arrival of Princess Celestia. Sweetie smiled warmly, and Celestia bowed toward her.

“Apologies for the interruption, but Princess Sweetie Belle is late for her coronation.” Celestia smiled warmly at the students as all stared open mouthed. Sweetie stood up and strode slowly toward Celestia. Leaning down, Celestia whispered gently into the filly’s ear.

“That’s good, slow and purposefully. Make sure to keep your wings open too.” Celestia raised her head, and Sweetie Belle levitated out the tickets, handing them to Cheerilee.

“Here are the tickets to attend the event. These are front row seats, so you shall be able to see your friend receive her crown tomorrow. If that is all, we must take our leave I’m afraid.” Celestia bowed her head, and Cheerilee mutely nodded. Sweetie followed Celestia out, taking her advice while trying to keep up with the tall Alicorn.

Sweetie looked from the corner of her eyes as she watched the many faces from the window. Stepping onto the chariot next to Princess Luna, who gave a warm, but confused, smile. Celestia sat down on Sweetie’s other side, and they took into the air, heading for Canterlot.

“Tia, you didn’t get a young filly in on this charade of yours did you?” Luna narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Celestia who raised an eyebrow in response.

“That is exactly what you said when Twilight ascended. Why must you be so skeptical of me sister?” Celestia was a master of acting, glancing down and letting her eyes close. Sweetie almost fell for it, but she quickly remembered who she was for this loop, and decided to glance toward Luna in annoyance.

“Very well sister, I shall concede. But do not think me fooled.” Luna glanced down, meeting Sweetie's eyes knowingly. Sweetie blinked and felt a shiver pass through her. For a small moment, Sweetie wondered just what kind of fire she was playing with. With no clue what danger she was in, Sweetie decided to follow Celestia’s lead, and lapse into regal silence.

“These are your chambers for now. We apologise for the plain garments, but we were not expecting another Alicorn to pop up.” The maid bowed, and Sweetie lowered her head slightly, bowing only barely. That was another lesson from Celestia. Bow, but never as low as others.

“This is adequate, thank you.” Sweetie smiled warmly as the maid bowed, and left. Sweetie leapt onto her bed and squeed as quietly as she could. Wings buzzing, she lifted off the ground and twirled around her room.

‘THIS IS SO AWESOME! I am definitely doing this again one loop.’ Sweetie landed and bounced around the room, a bundle of energy. Sweetie only stopped when a knock at the door sounded, and she quickly prepared herself to act regally again.

“You may enter,” she spoke. It was Celestia and Twilight, Sweetie relaxed. Giggling, she leapt toward them and bounced around them.

“Thank you for this Princess Celestia, Twilight. This is so AWESOME!” Sweetie flew into the air and twirled around, enjoying every moment. Twilight and Celestia smiled warmly.

“So, here’s our plan for Operation Coronation.” Twilight pulled out a blue piece of paper that held some blueprints. Sweetie landed and walked over, looking at it.

“Oh, that is eeevil.” Sweetie smirked, feeling shivers of sadistic glee pass through her. These two were turning out to be great prank masters. Sweetie needed to use them to plan loop pranks one day, this was a perfect plan.

“We knew you’d like it. But that’s only part one.” Twilight smirked as she brought out a second blueprint. Sweetie looked at it, and smiled in perverse pleasure.

“Wow, you two are truly evil. I love it!” Sweetie smiled, and they began to nail down the specifics of the plan. After all, a plan this evil deserved perfection.

Sweetie looked out the window, smirking evilly as she thought about the plan. It all hinged on Luna’s suspicions of this being a prank. Sweetie yawned and settled into bed. Sure enough, Celestia’s spell informed her Luna was indeed watching her dream. That meant it was time to set the plan into motion.

”Mwahahaha Burn!” Nightmare Bells flew over the town of Ponyville, deafening them with flaming bells that sung high pitched notes. Each one of the residents cried out in terror. Nightmare Bells smiled in pleasure. Raising a hoof, she called up a golden note, and smashed it into the town hall.

“Sweetie Belle, wake up, this is a nightmare.” Nightmare Bells turned and looked sourly at Luna as she vanished back into a Unicorn filly with wings.

“I’m sorry, I just.” Sweetie looked down, lip quivering as she pretended to be mortified by her actions. Curling into a ball, she shivered until two midnight wings curled around her. Being brought into a hug, Luna smiled softly at Sweetie.

“It is fine, we understand your torment. For it was once ours. Rest assured you will never fall like we once did.” Luna smiled warmly, and Sweetie forced herself to cry, breaking into sobs.

“But what if I’m a bad Princess? I mean why was I made a princess? I don’t understand what my Mark has to do with being an Alicorn.” Sweetie sobbed into Luna, who gently patted the filly’s back.

“There there Sweetie Belle, thou were chosen for a reason. We do not know the reason, but assuredly fate will reveal it in time.” Luna sighed, looking toward the sun in the sky. As Sweetie cried into her, there was no doubting it. Obviously Celestia was not pulling a prank.

Or if she was, she was going all out.

Luna shook her head, remembering she was currently comforting somepony. However, it seemed Sweetie was already recovering. Wiping away her tears, she smiled warmly at Luna.

“T-Thank you.” Sweetie waved goodbye as Luna politely excused herself, and turned toward her frozen dream. Pausing for a moment, she quickly changed it into a dream about being a dragon. Sweetie leapt back into her dream, losing her lucidity a moment later.

Author's Notes:

Spelling on letters is bad because I didn't spellcheck. Apologies.

L15.2 Operation Coronation

“No no no! My Coronation dress is all wrong.” Sweetie moaned as her sister rolled her eyes. Rarity was having none of Sweetie’s attitude, she knew better than to listen to her sister when she was like this. Besides, Sweetie had no fashion sense.

“There, finished.” Rarity nodded as she stepped away from Sweetie belle, who looked it over and shook her head.

“I’ve told you Rarity, this is all wrong! Where are the balloons and streamers? Know what, I think I’ll just go bare. After all, best Princess should be seen in all her splendour.” Sweetie carefully took the dress off, memorising where she threw it so she could steal it for a future loop, and tilted her chin up as she stood proudly.

“But Sweetie Belle…” Rarity bit her lip, unsure if she had the authority to order her sister to wear it. However, as Princess Celestia entered, it seemed she did not.

“I agree, your form is too small to properly show your features off in that dress.” Celestia smiled softly, and Sweetie beamed even more. Sweetie bowed slightly to her sister, and ‘slowly’ followed after Celestia as she turned to leave.

“Say Princess Celestia, why does your letter contain glowy symbols?” Sweetie tilted her head as Celestia paused for a moment. Both turned to look out the window as she replied.

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know the decoder spell. You’ll find my sister uses a similar spell. I’ll write down both for you, so you can read them at a later date. But remember to get pictures, or I’ll never forgive you.” Celestia winked, and Sweetie giggled.

“Also, please call me Celestia. Someone in your position should not be calling me Princess, as we are on equal footing after this.” Celestia smiled warmly and Sweetie shook her head.

“I’m sorry but I don’t feel right calling you that.” Sweetie looked up at the unreadable expression on Celestia’s face. After a moment, she lowered her head, and looked Sweetie in the eyes.

“Right or not, I must ask you a second time. Please, honor us with the knowledge somepony out there will call us not by our title, but by our name. Even my sister normally calls me simply sister, as I do. If you still insist, I will accept it. However I felt it was worth a second try.” Celestia bowed her head slightly, then raised it to look outside.

“But, to call you so improperly, is that really okay?” Sweetie hesitated, biting her lip as she glanced to and fro. Celestia gently lowered a wing, and brought the filly closer with a gentle nudge of the wing.

“Would you prefer I call you Sweetie Belle, or Sweetie?” Celestia smiled knowingly down at the filly.

“Well, Sweetie,” she admitted. Celestia nodded once, and raised her head once move, saying nothing.

“I’ll try...But no promises...Celestia.” Sweetie forced herself to not say the title, giving a shudder. It felt wrong doing so, but Celestia’s smile lessened the blow.

“That is all I ask,” responded Celestia, smiling toward the sky.

Sweetie sat down as a hair stylist fussed with her hair, trying to get her curls perfect. Pulling out the letter Celestia had written herself, Sweetie decided it was time to begin reading all the juicy secrets all the adults had. Sweetie smiled, she would need them for the next loop after all. First up, Sweetie cast the spell to translate Celestia’s letter, and watched as characters shifted around the page, forming words. Nodding once, much to the chagrin of the stylist, Sweetie began to read.

‘Again with the sanity thing.’ Sweetie sighed and folded the letter, putting it back in her saddlebags. Checking over the stylist's work, Sweetie realised she looked exactly the same.

“Thank you, it looks lovely.” Sweetie stood up and left, leaving her irritated mumblings until she was out of earshot. An hour wasted just to look exactly the same. What a waste of time.

“There you are Sweetie, there is one last thing we need to instruct you on.” Celestia walked over, Pinkie Pie bouncing behind her. Sweetie tilted her head, but said nothing.

“Right! Princess here wanted me to teach you how to start a Heart Song.” Pinkie Pie giggled, leading both Celestia and Sweetie belle toward the throne room.

“A Heart Song?” Sweetie tilted her head, seeing Celestia’s knowing smile.

“Oh! Right, silly me. A Heart Song is a song that comes from in here, that causes everypony to spring into song.” Pinkie Pie touched her chest and beamed a grinning smile. Sweetie tilted her head, a Heart Song? It sounded useful, and related to her talents. Sweetie discarded her hesitation, and smiled.

“Alright! How do I start one?” Sweetie’s ear flickered, sensing something in the air. Pinkie giggled and brought Sweetie into a hug as she pointed to Celestia, slowly bobbing up and down.

“Now Sweetie listen closely,
For the wisdom I implore.
No party’s quite complete,
Without a song I quite adore.”

Pinkie Pie stood on two hooves, and began to danced around the room with Sweetie straining to keep up. However, Sweetie felt the throb of magic in the room, and activated the spell she had learned when getting her Cutie Mark. To her amazement, the magic was coming from Pinkie Pie’s heart, and being pumped straight to her mouth.

“For a Heart Song is unique,
From start until its finish.
Not one song is similar,
And they never seem to diminish.”

Sweetie watched the notes swirl around her, and glanced down. The magic was slowly coursing through her body as well. Sweetie felt a smile on her face, and ceased her spell. So this was a Heart Song. Sweetie knew learning to create these would be an amazing help to her goal once she got out of this loop. The goal that was centered around the meaning of her Mark. Opening her mouth, Sweetie sung the next verse, not knowing how words were forming, but knowing where they came from.

“I see this magic is quite fine,
It swells through me now like fire.
I wish I’d known of this Heart Song earlier,
For it helps with what I aspire.”

Sweetie flipped into the air, buzzing her wings as she let Pinkie Pie catch her and flip her into the air once more.

“That’s it my dear Sweetie,
A song without compare.
A Heart Song helps ponies see,
Their heart’s lonely prayer.”

Sweetie felt the magic taking her over slowly wind to a close, and landed, beaming at Pinkie Pie. This would be something she would be using during her life after the loop, that was certain. Being able to help ponies hear the song in their hearts, it was her destiny. And Pinkie Pie had just given the tools to do so.

“Thank you Pinkie Pie.” Sweetie smiled as the party pony saluted, and bounced away to get ready for the coronation. Celestia approached, and smiled softly.

“You want me to perform a Heart Song at the coronation don’t you?” Sweetie smiled knowingly as Celestia’s smile transformed into the same.

“Indeed, my little Alicorn.”

Author's Notes:

Than should be then. Leter should be letter. <_<

L15.3 Operation Coronation

Author's Notes:

I'm using this as my 'get out of writing free' pass. I will pass go, I will collect $200.
One or two more sections to OpC left.