The Rainbooms were scattered around Rarity’s lounge room, all wearing their preferred sleepwear. The afternoon sun shone through the gaps in the closed blinds, adding to the cosy atmosphere.
Sunset and Twilight were sharing the purple loveseat by the window as Twilight showed Sunset something on her heavily modified laptop. Rainbow sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning up against the arm of a couch as she and Applejack, sitting on the couch behind the rainbow haired woman, tried to best one another in a racing game that was displayed on the large flatscreen mounted on the wall.
There was noise from the kitchen as Pinkie and Fluttershy busied themselves in getting food and drink. Rarity was sitting next to Applejack, scrolling through the news feed on her mobile phone.
“Goodness, did you girls hear the news about the museum?” Rarity asked and the other twenty-somethings in the room looked up from what they were doing.
“Wait really?” Rainbow asked and let out a cry of dismay as Applejack used the distraction to gain the lead. “No fair!”
The farm hand merely smirked.
“I saw that in the newspaper this morning,” Twilight commented. “Someone broke in and stole The Tunisian Diamond.”
“Who would do something like that?” Fluttershy wondered as she brought in a platter of biscuits. She took a cookie for herself and took a seat next to Rainbow.
“Who knows, hopefully the police catch them.” Sunset replied.
“Is Lillian here yet?” Pinkie called out from the kitchen.
“Not yet,” Applejack called back and looked at the others. “Should someone call her?”
“She’s never late, maybe something happened? Does anyone remember where she works?” Twilight asked.
“I’ll give her a call-“ Rarity began.
“Sorry I’m late, the bus was running late again!” a new voice called out as someone entered the house.
A woman in her late twenties walked in. Strands of hair were threatening to slip loose from the low ponytail she’d tied her long orange hair in, pale skin slightly flushed from afternoon chill.
Pushing her glasses back up from where they slid down her nose, she kicked off her battered sneakers and left them by the pile of shoes by the entryway. Her brown satchel was the next to go as she slung it over the back of a vacant armchair and her black trench coat with red lining wasn’t far behind.
The newcomer, now in just a loose white t-shirt, socks, and a pair of grey pants, flopped onto the armchair and heaved out a breath.
“Thank god I made it before dark. I wouldn’t have been able to see shit…” the woman mused, looking around the room. “What’d I miss?”
“We were just wondering where you were,” Rarity said. “Work?”
“The CCC is a complete dumpster fire right now…”
Twilight winced in sympathy. “I know what you mean, my department is just as bad as yours, Lillian.”
“Ugh, can we not talk about work right now?” Rainbow asked, eyes glued to TV. “My boss made me fill out so much paperwork just so I had authorization to use my powers at work…”
“Magic is more heavily restricted here than it is in Equestria,” Sunset said. She paused, thoughtful. “What if we spent this year in Equestria? Maybe that would break the cycle?”
Lillian looked hesitant. “I’d rather not… I kinda have a plan…”
“What’d you do?” Applejack asked flatly as she won the race and Rainbow dropped her controlled in frustration.
“Damn it AJ! Can’t you let me win just once!”
“Nope, not my fault you suck at racing games,” Applejack replied before raising a brow at the red head relaxing in the armchair. “Lils, what’d you do?”
“Oi, I didn’t do jack shit!” Lillian protested and deflated slightly. “S’not like that, different plan, kinda…”
The others in the room took note of her hesitance as Pinkie walked in with two plates piled high with sandwiches in her arms. “Hey Lillian, you want anything?”
“Hey Pinks, I’m good, not hungry yet.”
“What plan do you have this time?” Twilight asked curiously.
Lillian blinked. “Uh, remember that theory we had that my powers banked on the whole friendship is magic thing like yours do?”
Rarity looked intrigued. “You figured it out then?”
“Did you make a new friend?” Pinkie asked as she plopped down on the floor in front of Sunset.
“Uh, something like that…”
“Wait, is it one of the Key Players?” Twilight asked, and at Rainbows confused look added. “You know, the people we’ve determined are integral to the timeline’s stability?”
“Oh, those guys, if they die, everything gets reset right?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah,” Lillian replied and sighed. “And yes, it’s one of the Key Players…”
“Well, it’s not Henry, he would’ve said something,” Pinkie commented and was confused when everyone looked at her in various states of surprise or exasperation. “What?”
“We’re not supposed to get involved with them, we’re observers only.” Twilight chided, adjusting her glasses as she gave Pinkie and Lillian stern looks.
“To be fair, it was an online forum, and I had no idea it was him until we met in person.” Lillian clarified.
“Who?”
“…Reginald Copperbottom…”
Rainbow held up a hand. “Hold up, isn’t that…”
“Yup, the leader of The Toppat Clan,” Lillian clarified and at the group’s interest, she shrugged. “We’d been chatting even before this Groundhog Day mess started, we met online a couple of years ago through a mutual friend on the same site, I met Reginald in person last weekend and then stuff happened.”
“Stuff?” Rarity repeated flatly.
“My plan is to join the Toppats in the hopes of minimalizing casualties and derailing events enough that something sticks,” Lillian added. “Or at least carries over to the next timeline.”
The others were concerned, and Sunset voiced what they were all thinking. “What if you get hurt? The Toppats are dangerous.”
The calm ease of Lillian’s body language melted away to show how tired the woman was as she gave them all the flattest look she could muster. She took a deep breath, grey eyes glinting with something otherworldly. “And yet you all thought it would be a perfectly fine idea to bring a magical artifact from Equestria over to this world in the hopes of fixing this mess,” She let the statement hang in the air for a moment. “As long as the CCC still have my Orb in their possession I have no other choice but to help sort this out.”
“I always forget that you’re an ancient magical creature,” Pinkie commented. “You don’t sound like one.”
“I don’t sound as I did a thousand years ago because I wasn’t in the form of a human back then,” she drawled. “I changed to fit the times and choose things that would suit me.”
“Back on topic, how does any of this relate to your powers?” Sunset asked.
“Ok so, I met him because I could feel my powers growing stronger whenever I hung out with him online. Since we’ve already established that Equestrian magic works differently than magic native to this world, I figured if I met my friend in person, maybe I’d get more of my power back and be more useful,” Lillian explained. “Everything else I’ve tried to get my magic working hasn’t worked.”
“What about us?” Fluttershy asked. “Has it reacted to being around any of us?”
“Why would it?” she replied bluntly.
“We’re friends… aren’t we?” Twilight was confused, as were many of the others in the room.
“Uh girls,” Sunset said, looking between Lillian and the others. “Maybe we should focus on her idea?”
Rainbow stood up, ready to argue with Lillian.
“If you’re that concerned about my safety, I could always stick to meetings in public places,” Lillian offered. “He doesn’t know I know he’s a Toppat, I could try to change things from the side-lines.”
“Are we just going to ignore the fact that her magic supposedly reacts to a criminal and not us, her friends?” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Can you blame me for bein’ a bit bitter when you girls basically signed me up for a fight I didn’t agree to?” Lillian said calmly. “I have no say in this either way, if any of you want me to end my friendship with Reginald, just inform the CCC. I can’t disobey a direct order from them after all.”
“Truth be told, I reckon you’re on to something Lils,” Applejack said. “Maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way.”
“Totally!” Pinkie agreed with a grin. “We got this far with our magic endorsed Gal-Pal Power, didn’t we?”
“We have gone through a lot of different options…” Sunset mused and frowned in worry. “Just promise me you’ll stay safe, alright Lillian?”
“Look, this human form may be weak as shit but I’m not that fuckin’ useless…” Lillian grumbled.
“We’re just worried about you. You were so ill when we first met after all.” Rarity said.
Fluttershy nodded. “You gave us quite the scare.”
“Yeah, I get it… I’ll be careful.”
Reginald’s weekend visits evolved into daily calls before and after work. Somewhere along the line their respective jobs were revealed. Before either of them knew it, three months had gone by and their daily conversations were aimless, of everything and nothing. Lillian did what she could to hint at upcoming events, suggest what-ifs, and tried to follow the steady thrum of her gradually returning magic in the hopes of helping him.
Timelines be damned, she was sick of knowing he’d die. Not always of course, but the sorrow that rose upon seeing the image of a destroyed airship or an empty space station escape pod in the news carried with her into the next timeline. Despite his crimes, he was loyal to his own, respectful of her, and a measure of trust and respect existed between the two of them.
He’d offered her a spot in the clan in more than one timeline, and it broke her heart to explain she was forced to work for the CCC until her mission was complete. (She had confessed, once, that she was worried they wouldn’t let her leave)
She found solace in the endlessly repeating year she and the others were stuck in, using the opportunity to maintain her friendship with the Toppat Chief, even if he never remembered, it was enough.
Lillian lived in a CCC employee complex on the main complex. It was spartan, with nothing more than a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk with a basic office chair. There was just enough room to move about and overall, the room was very drab and bare of any personal belongings.
Lillian had her mobile phone charging on her desk beside the laptop she used for work. It was late as she sat on her bed, unable to get nonforfeitable and staring at her phone.
Waiting.
Reginald hadn’t called that evening and she was fighting a losing battle against worry and paranoia.
Bundled in her coat to combat the chill of the desert night, she focused on every little noise she heard, the silence as loud as the rustle of bushes.
Something tapped lightly on the door to her room. She held her breath, she got up and approached the door cautiously. Upon hearing the tapping again, she fumbled for the light switch, and unlocked the door.
She stared for a moment at who was on the other side.
“Reginald, what?” she said quietly and ushered him inside.
He looked terrible, with noticeable bags under his eyes and his clothes rumpled. Brown hair rumpled and his normally curled moustache not nearly as neat as she’d last seen. His second black top hat and gold chain were absent. His eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail before he awkwardly seated himself on her rickety desk chair.
“You were right, about the Government attack on the airship…” Reginald said. “I-I had to offer command of the airship to protect the crew, and Right… I don’t know if he’ll survive his injuries.”
She was about to speak and stopped, heart leaping into her throat.
Peeking out from the collar of his shirt, were a ring of bruises around his neck.
“Holy shit!” she swore. Her power jumped to her defence, to his defence. With it humming quietly around her she stepped towards him, concern written across her features.
“I’m alright, just shaken.” Reginald tried to regain some sliver of dignity as Lillian placed a hand on his shoulder, grey wisps of power coiling around her fingers and reaching out towards his injuries.
“Can I help?” she asked gently.
“Healing magic I presume?”
“Yeah.”
Reginald nodded, and her power leapt from her hand to encircle the bruises. It was as if a time lapse was playing out before her and the skin returned to normal as if he’d never been hurt in the first place. He rubbed the area experimentally with a gloved hand.
“How potent is your magic?” he asked, an edge to his voice she couldn’t quite place.
“Enough for minor injuries, I can’t do much else for the moment,” she replied. “Sorry…”
He waved her off. “No, no, I merely hoped that you might be able to help my Right Hand Man…”
She debated telling him about the cybernetics researcher. She knew he would get in touch with her regardless but seeing her friend (her best friend she realised, fighting back her own worry and panic at his ragged state to focus on helping), Reginald of all people, so distraught, Lillian made a decision.
“I can’t do much but, I’ve heard of someone who may be able to help your friend.”
“Oh Lillian.”
Lillian looked up from her laptop, looking over the top of her cubicle in the office she shared with a few other CCC workers. Rarity was striding towards her holding a bouquet of flowers. Her CCC uniform, a blue jacket, matching hat, and pencil skirt as bedazzled as she could get away with.
The other woman was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as she stopped at Lillian’s desk and gave her the flowers. “Someone left these for you.”
Utterly confused, she accepted the bouquet and examined the little card attached to it.
Thank you for helping- R.C
“A secret admirer perhaps?” Rarity asked excitedly.
“No,” Lillian deadpanned. “Just a thank you gift for some advice I offered.”
Much to Lillian’s annoyance, Rarity was insistent. “Are you sure? I know you can’t recognize that type of behaviour but maybe-“
“Can you not? You know I get uncomfortable about that…” Lillian pleaded. “I’m not like you where I can fall in love at the drop of a hat, as nice as the idea is, just no…”
“Well do you at least know who sent them?” Rarity asked, gesturing at the flowers.
“Yeah, I’ll ask him about it later, you got a vase for these? I don’t have anything to put them in.”
“I saw a spare vase in the supply closet, I’ll be back in a moment.”
As Rarity left, Lillian took a moment to study the flowers, a bouquet of pink carnations. They were certainly pretty, holding the flowers in one hand away from her computer, she used her free hand to clumsily search the internet for the meaning of the plants.
“Huh, gratitude.” Lillian mused.
“I’m baack!” Rarity announced, carefully carrying a blue vase, and placing it on Lillian’s desk. “I already added some water in it for you.”
“Thanks.”
As Lillian stood up to unwrap the plastic around the bouquet and organise the flowers, her co-worker smirked. “You’ve never gotten flowers before.”
“Yeah, and?”
The tired look Lillian gave was enough to silence any arguments Rarity was going to make. The purple haired woman huffed.
“It was just an idea, it wouldn’t be the first time one of us used the timelines to our advantage.”
The subtext flew completely over Lillian’s head as she blinked stupidly. “Huh?”
“You know, go on a few dates, experiment and the like.”
“No, not my style,” Lillian was feeling increasingly more uncomfortable and annoyed the more the issue was pressed. She raised a hand as Rarity was about to continue. “I thought I already explained this, I am demi, and I am not okay with what you’re suggesting. It is not a choice, it is an instinctual reaction firmly rooted in how I function as a living being.”
“And if these are a sign of some romantic thing or flirting or whatever,” she added pointedly. “Then that is a discussion best held between me and the person who sent me these in the first place.”
“There’s no need to be rude about it…” Rarity pouted.
“How is stating my opinion rude?” Lillian shook her head, switching off her laptop and stowing it away in her satchel. “You know what? I’m taking an early lunch and going to bug Twilight for bit, I need to an update on our progress anyway…”
“You don’t look too good,” Twilight commented as Lillian shambled into the computer lab with a little pink bag in hand. The computer expert had her uniform jacket draped over the back of her chair and her hair tied back in a messy bun. “What happened?”
“Helped someone out, they sent flowers, Rarity immediately suspects the guy likes me romantically,” Lillian explained flatly. “My life is not a fuckin’ romance movie for fucks sake…”
“She made you uncomfortable?” Twilight asked as the creature in human form slid into a free chair next to her and pulled out a sandwich wrapped in clingwrap from her bag. Lillian grunted an affirmative as she tore into her meagre meal.
Twilight winced in sympathy. “I hope the argument wasn’t too bad…”
“I have no idea anymore…” Lillian sighed. “So, any updates? I managed to get The Betrayed and Revenged timelines derailed.”
“Well, Applejack’s military work has successfully derailed Valiant Hero, and Pinkie’s still monitoring Henry,” Twilight said, pulling up a document on her laptop. “I still have no idea if he’s aware of the timelines or not…”
“Any news on Ellie?”
“Dmitri is stonewalling our attempts to get Ellie out early. So as usual, we have to rely on whatever Henry does this time,” Twilight sighed and grabbed a file sitting beside her laptop. “Almost forgot, you have new orders from Commander Luna, she’s noticed things have started to stabilize since you started taking an active approach.”
Lillian leaned over and read the file, honestly surprised by the contents. “Never thought I’d get approval for joining the Toppats…”
“Like it or not, the CCC only concerns themselves with spatial, temporal, and dimensional stability. If having you go undercover is our best bet of making significant progress, then who are we to say otherwise?” Twilight stated.
“Would be nice if I wasn’t essentially enslaved to them…” Lillian grumbled, pulling down her coat sleeve to show the metal tracking bracelet on her right wrist to emphasise her point.
“Yeah, maybe handing your Orb over to them wasn’t the best idea,” Twilight admitted. “But we didn’t know there was a living being tied to it, all we knew is that it supposedly held the power to rebalance the world.”
Lillian grunted, in the middle of eating.
“Could you tell me more about what you used to do?” Twilight asked curiously. “Even though we’ve been at this for a few years now, we still don’t know much about you.”
The not-human frowned slightly as she tried to think of the best way to explain it. The exact nature of what she was something she didn’t feel safe revealing, she wasn’t sure she could even put it into words, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t share something with the ever-curious computer nerd.
“Back in the other world, Equestria you guys call it? I was The Caretaker… I revitalized areas that had lost their magic in some way or another, I also made sure things didn’t tip in favour of one type of magic or the other,” she said. “After other beings started demanding I use my powers exclusively for them, their kingdoms, or for one cause or another, I left.”
“Just like that?’
Lillian nodded. “It was bad… they’d caused an eternal winter from their fighting, and with cruelty and insensitivity at the heart of it all, I had to leave or fall prey to my own nature in the process,” she said. “I chose that role as The Caretaker, that was what I wanted to be, so when I couldn’t fulfil that role due to the conflict, I placed a portion of my magic in the Orb and arrived in this world to start over.”
The red head shrugged. “I just slept for a thousand years until things got interesting, then I took on human form and did whatever until you lot decided it’d be fun to poke a magic doohickie with a stick. Worst. Summoning. Ever.”
That evening she sat at her desk in her room, mobile phone in hand, and rang a now familiar number.
“Hey Reginald.” She greeted calmly as the person on the other end answered.
“Ah Lillian, you finished early today?” The former Toppat leader asked cheerfully.
“Yeah, my co-workers were bugging me, and I’d finished my work for the day anyway,” she said, brightening as she looked at the vase of carnations now taking pride of place on her desk. “Thanks for the flowers, they’re pretty.”
“Thank you for tipping me off about that researcher, my Enforcer is expected to be up and about before the month is out.”
“We’re friends, I wasn’t going to just do nothing when you were upset,” Lillian said. “Is that offer to join the clan still open.”
“Er yes? You’re quitting?”
“I have a mission in the field, I’m going to be monitored to hell and back, but my best chance of success relies on working outside of legal operations.”
“Will it endanger the clan?” He asked seriously before catching himself. “I may not be the leader anymore, but I’d rather not put anyone else at risk…”
Lillian hummed in thought, it wasn’t like he’d remember if she told him the details, it might even make things easier if she had his cooperation. The worst the CCC could do is lock her up somewhere or send her to The Wall.
She didn’t mind, she gave up being free a long time ago. She had nothing else to lose after all.
“The reason I knew about the government attack on the airship is because the world has been stuck in a time loop, repeating the last year or so over and over,” she explained calmly. “I was… hired against my will to try and help fix it, and my superiors have decided that I could make more headway joining the Toppats.”
“You warned me the Tunisian Diamond would be stolen by another party, Henry taking over the airship, the plans for the rocket…They’re all a part of this.” Reginald realised.
“And here I thought you wouldn’t believe me…”
“It explains a few things, your apparent ease around me, for one thing.”
“We met before this started by the way, I just didn’t know you were involved until I got roped into finding a solution to this dumpster fire,” she clarified. “Even if you never remember, you’re still my friend.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, So tell me, what were your co-workers doing that frustrated you so much?”
“One of my co-workers assumed the flowers were a romantic gesture, ‘cause I don’t get gifts, I don’t really own much anything really… So I had to politely remind her that she’s making me uncomfortable with the idea, reminded her I don’t think in the same way as most people when it comes to relationships and stuff, and then she tells all our friends and a few of them tease me about it...” Lillian rambled. “I don’t like it, teasing or not, I’m not going to take it well… It just feels like they forget I’m going to approach romance differently than they would.”
She realized something. “Wait, I haven’t told you have I?” and without waiting for answer she went off on a tangent. “Okay, just do a search for Demisexuality and Demiromantic, read the basic definitions. That’s me, both of them, I’m both of those things. There’s a bit more to it than that, but I don’t want to go into that right now.”
There was silence for a few minutes as Lillian impatiently waited. Minutes turned into an hour.
“I see, that’s rather interesting...”
“Eh? What d’you mean?”
“I was just fascinated by the topic is all, it’s not every day I learn something new.”
Lillian stood nervously next to Reginald as the red drop pod flew them towards the airship.
“What if I suck at bein’ a Toppat?” she asked, her insecurities weighing heavily on her mind.
“You won’t, Henry’s agreed to assign you to me for the time being.”
“I’ll still suck though…”
“Just what do you plan to accomplish?”
“Eh… Not have you try to overthrow Henry because then he’ll kill us all.”
“Then I won’t, I trust you.”
She looked up at him. “You do?”
Reginald smiled at her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Absolutely.”
“Huh… Never thought you would, I was fine with that,” she added hastily. “I just, you’ve always been this constant in all this bullshit, I spend most of my time waiting for the other shoe to drop…”
A thought popped into her head. “Oh yeah, if a woman follows Henry onto the airship, please for the love of god don’t jump the gun and try to chuck Henry off the ship, I don’t want to see you die again.”
He was wide-eyed, staring at her. “I die in some of these loops?!”
“…Yeah, I hate those ones, at least in the ones where you get arrested I make sure to visit you…”
The drop pod reattached itself to the airship with a rumble. Reginald gestured for her to go first when the door opened.
Lillian’s jittery nerves battled with the sheer wonder of seeing the airship in person, the vast expanse of blue that stretched before her as Reginald lead her to the bridge, and just the feeling of knowing she was in a place that not only was pivotal to the myriad of timelines she’d already lived through, but was Reginald’s pride and joy when he was the leader.
The two of them stopped at the sight of the vacant pilot’s seat. Reginald walked over and pulled a note off the joystick.
“It’s from Henry, says he’s gone to check on his house,” Reginald commented and grinned. “Well, if the Chief is out for the time being, I can induct you into the clan without issue.”
Lillian just went with it as he hooked his arm in hers and led her out of the bridge with a beaming grin. “First on the agenda is picking out your hat.”
He led her through the ship to a small room filled out hat boxes. He let go of her arm and gestured to the myriad of hats. “Choose a hat for a base and I’ll ask Slice to make the proper modifications.”
“Okay.”
She walked over to a pile of hat boxes and began sifting through them. There were top hats and hats that vaguely fit the clan's general aesthetic of every kind of colour and size she could imagine.
Lillian however, had thought about what hat she’d choose for several years now. Joining the clan was a bit of fantasy for the not-human, any life where she was free and her magic back was one really. She sorted through hats with purpose, finally picking up a short black hat with a long white feather attached to the side of it.
She unceremoniously plopped it onto her head and turned around to face Reginald, holding the lapels of her coat to strike a pose.
“How do I look?”
“Very nice,” Reginald commented, and she grinned.
“Awesome.”
She was still nervous, but Reginald’s excitement at her becoming a Toppat, even if it was only temporary, was infectious. She found herself in high spirits for the rest of the day.
That timeline sadly ended a few days later.
Author's Note
So here I am cobbling something together for Valentines Day. I doubt I'll get it finished in time, but I'm trying. Just a heads up, I'm writing this on the fly, I'm just going ham and hoping it makes sense.
Edit: Forgot to add a bit of detail.
Bios
Sunset Shimmer
Former pony. Sunset and her friends were invited to join the CCC by their old vice-principal.
Twilight "Sci-Twi" Sparkle
One of the IT experts in the CCC. Modified her computer to detect "Wibbly-Wobbly" stuff.
Rainbow Dash
Despite her penchant for speed, she's earned a reputation as one of the best snipers the CCC have had in recent years.
Applejack
A boots-on-the-ground sort and strong enough to lift a cement truck. Does volunteer work in the cafeteria of whatever military or CCC branch she's assigned to.
Rarity Belle
Spent several timelines trying to convince the higherups to change the CCC uniform to one of her designs, to no avail. Also the person onsite everyone goes to for uniform repairs.
Fluttershy
She's quite happy with a desk job far away from as much chaos as possible.
Pinkie Pie
She broke all of the bases Chaos Detection equipment the moment she stepped foot on the premises. She is now the standard all CCC equipment is made to withstand.
Lillian Meadows
Her chaos rating is "God-In-A-Box" and the CCC is quite keen to keep her on a tight leash.
At the start of the following timeline, the group met up at Fluttershy’s cottage a few towns over. Lillian was fuming.
“I was there, I was right fuckin’ there!” She ranted, seated next to Sunset and Twilight.
The girls had all found spots around the warmly lit loungeroom as the tradition of their meetups to discuss the ongoing problem of being in a time loop continued.
“Henry done fucked up.” Applejack commented from her spot leaning up against Rainbow as the two of them shared a chair.
“I’ll say, wasn’t Pinkie supposed to warn him to not ditch Ellie?” Rainbow asked.
“I did!”
“So, Henry Stickmin is an uncaring prick, great.” Lillian drawled, her voice dripping with annoyance.
“At least the last timeline provided us with plenty of data,” Twilight spoke up, eyes glued to her laptop. “Lillian being with the Toppats is a constant, significantly less anomalies occurred after she got in contact with Reginald.”
“Define anomaly.” Rainbow said.
“The insane number of times one of the other CCC branches completely break reality or drop a nuke on us because things got a bit too out of hand,” Twilight recited. “We’re essentially taking preventative measures to stop the rest of the CCC from pressing the panic button…”
“Have we confirmed if Henry is aware of the timelines?” Sunset asked.
“We can’t approach him directly, he’s at the epicentre of all of this, and we could risk an early end to the timeline if we make the wrong move.” Twilight advised.
“I know…” Pinkie groaned, deflating, and sliding down the armchair she occupied. “This sucks!”
“What should we do?” Fluttershy asked as she pet the rabbit sitting in her lap.
“Any advice Lillian?” Twilight asked.
Lillian blinked. “You’re asking me?”
“The Toppat Clan is your territory so to speak, and the Toppat Civil Warfare timeline is one the more chaotic ones we haven’t derailed yet.”
“Hm…” her brow furrowed as Lillian thought it over. “All I can do is try and advise Reginald. I can’t do anything about Henry, aside from breaking Henry and Ellie out of The Wall ourselves, I don’t know what else we can do given how stubborn Dmitri is.”
“Why are we even still doing this?” Rainbow asked suddenly and the others looked at her.
“Because we’re stuck in a time loop?” Twilight suggested.
“But we’ve been stuck for years, and nothing we do makes a difference!” the prismatic haired woman exclaimed. “And why are we all just ignoring the fact that we got someone enslaved to the CCC in trying to fix it!”
“We did no such thing.” Rarity argued.
“Tell that to Lilian, she has a tracking device on her wrist! She can’t go anywhere without authorisation from the commander! She hates us.” Rainbow pointed out.
“Hate? It’s more like resigned tolerance.” Lillian admitted with a shrug.
The awkward silence that followed was telling.
“W-What should we do?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
“Should we try and get Lillian out of the CCC?” Twilight asked.
“You and I both know I’d just join the Toppats right off the bat if we did that.” Lillian said.
“After everything we’ve seen, I don’t blame you,” Sunset said.
“Hey, so what would we even do once this time loop thing is sorted?” Rainbow wondered.
Applejack looked tired. “…I don’t rightly know Dash, how long have we been at this again?”
“It’s kind of sad that we’re some of the most competent people in the US branch.” Twilight added.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Rarity said with a sigh. “I sometimes wish we’d never accepted Luna’s invitation to work for her…”
“You guys can still quit.” Lillian pointed out.
“We can do that?” Pinkie exclaimed, bolting up in her seat.
Lillian looked around at the stunned faces of the Rainbooms. She tilted her head in confusion. “Uh yeah, what’s stopping you?”
“The same year repeating itself?” Rainbow suggested.
“Just plan your resignation ahead of time and go through with it every loop.” The non-human replied easily.
“But what about you? We’re the reason you’re in this mess…” Sunset said, looking concerned. “We can’t just abandon you. I’ll ask Luna about it tomorrow at work.”
Commander Luna peered at the group of young women gathered in her office. Her darker blue uniform spotless and decorated with the many accolades and awards she’d earned over the years.
“I’m afraid it is out of my hands girls, as far the Administration board is concerned, Lillian Meadows is the property of the CCC when her artifact fell int our possession.” Luna explained, looking apologetic. “I won’t stop the rest of you if you truly wish to resign, from what I’ve read of Twilight’s reports, you all seem to have done everything within your power to end this crisis.”
The girls shared worried looks. Lillian looked indifferent.
“I’m sorry, until the board decides to return the Orb to one of you, or to Lillian herself, there is nothing I can do,” the commander stated. “Even the laws regarding magical entities classify her as a familiar bound to an object, so the CCC is legally within their rights to keep her under their control so long as the object is within their possession.”
“I see, thank you for being honest with us Commander.” Sunset said and led the girls out of the office.
Once they were out of earshot of their superior, Rainbow let loose.
“God damnit!” She snarled and Applejack walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.
“Look, it’s nice that you’re trying to make up for what is an honest mistake, but I’ll be fine,” Lillian said. “You girls focus on whether you want to quit or not.”
“But we did this to you, it’s our fault!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I just can’t stand that- we’re supposed to be the good guys!”
“We want to be your friends Lillian,” Twilight said sincerely. “But we know you won’t accept us until we make up for dragging you into our problem.”
Lillian adjusted her coat. She’d gone for a classier outfit this time around. The cuffs of her long-sleeved white dress shirt were frilly, and the shirt paired well with her black pants and black coat. Her pants were held up a pair of red suspenders that matched the red lining of her coat. The scuffed sneakers she still wore didn’t exactly fit the aesthetic, but Lillian somehow made it work.
She glanced around at the others, they wore varying expressions of worry and guilt.
She sighed. “Come on, we need to figure out what we’re doing for this run.”
Months passed, the airship infiltration came and went, and Lillian, already a Toppat by then, had been called back to the CCC after Reginald was arrested.
Her top hat now sat on her desk in her room gathering dust and she was confined to her room until the higher-ups could figure out what to do with her. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, and she was well aware the CCC was worried of the potential she had to cause chaos.
With nothing better to do, she browsed the internet on her laptop. That is, until her phone rang.
“Lillian, where are you?” Sunset asked.
“My room, why?”
“Have you seen the news?”
“No...” Lilian replied and within seconds, pulled up the news site she and the others used to keep track of events.
Toppats Break Leader out of Prison Days after Arrest
“The fuck?”
“That wasn’t you?”
“No! Did you ask the others?”
“It wasn’t any of them, we all thought you had something to do with it!”
It was something new. Something different from the ceaseless repetition they’d dealt with up to this point. The concept was so alien she couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“But how? The only changes should be the ones we make.”
“Twilight’s looking into it, but we think it might be a rogue element, or the timeline trying to compensate for our meddling.”
“This is so weird,” Lillian said. “Any orders from Commander Luna?”
“We’re to remain on standby until further notice and to record any other changes that occur,” Sunset stated. “Trust me, the others aren’t happy about it either.”
“You know where to find me if you need anything. Talk to you later.”
Lillian hung up and turned her attention to the article, wracking her brain for an answer. What had changed? She hadn’t told Reginald anything about the timelines this time, joining the clan as just another new recruit the Toppat Chief had stumbled across. But something had definitely changed.
The article commented on the break-out, that the police suspected it was planned ahead of time. She didn’t think she let anything slip, but she couldn’t be sure.
Lillian felt a headache starting to form above her right eye. She was frustrated at her inability to do anything and, feeling weary, she opened a blank document and started taking down notes on the situation in the hopes it would provide some insight.
It didn’t, but it felt productive and provided a welcome distraction from the headache.
The next thing to change wasn’t until a few months later. Lillian had left her room in search of food to find a package on her doorstep. Placing it on her desk and untying the string keeping it closed, she opened the cardboard box and stared at the small bundle of vibrant red roses. There was also a letter, folded up on top of the pile. Lillian wondered if she’d been given someone else’s mail by mistake and read the letter.
Dear Lillian,
Well, it was for her then. That fact only made her more curious as she kept reading.
It took quite the effort to track you down. At first, I assumed you left the clan of your own volition but to learn you’re being held captive by the very people you work for.
Truly detestable.
By the time you read this, I will have retrieved the necessary information needed to free you from your unjust situation and be en route to rescue.
I do hope you enjoy the flowers, I made certain to choose ones that would convey the appropriate message.
Rest assured my dear, I will free you.
Forever in your debt,
R.C
“What.” Lillian said flatly as she looked down at the roses. She knew what red ones meant, everyone did, but she couldn’t believe it.
This was new, too new, and she wasn’t sure what she was more worried about, the fact Reginald knew things he shouldn’t be aware of in this timeline, or that he-
She was aware she was panicking, her mind going a hundred miles an hour as she wrestled with the idea.
Reginald liked her as more than a friend. For quite a while now, she held him in high regards, more than she had anyone else in her life, and she had dutifully ignored that feeling in fear of losing him as a friend.
She wasn’t quite sure what to do, desperate for something, anything to make sense. It was almost funny in some twisted way, here she was grown adult, a being that at one point had bent the raw forces of nature to her will, and yet she was panicking over the idea her friend might fancy her.
Laughable.
The idea wasn’t terrible the more she thought about it. Reginald was passionate when it came to his duty as leader of the Toppats and even before she’d really known who he was they had a healthy dose of respect for one another.
“Fuck…” She groaned as she realised that yes, she was crushing on him.
She needed advice.
She rounded up the Rainbooms in her small room and showed them the letter and the roses.
“Oh my.” Fluttershy said.
Rarity was cackling.
“I knew it!” she crowed. “I fucking called it.”
“That’s not helping…” Lillian whined.
“Is anyone else worried that the leader of the Toppat Clan is going to raid the base?” Sunset asked.
“I say let him. We’re finally seeing something different!” Rainbow said.
“Lillian? Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, no… I dunno!” she replied, sitting on her bed. “I don’t think I love him yet, but I like him as more than a friend, because he’s considerate and driven, an’ I’ve known him for a few years from his perspective, and who knows how long from mine because time loop-”
Her rambling was broken by Applejack placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. Lillian took a shuddering breath.
“I don’t look at someone and fall in love like Rarity does, I don’t have crushes, or find people hot or sexy or whatever. Romance was something that happened to other people,” she tried to explain. “It’s not a choice, it’s how I function. So, I’m sorry that I’m losing my shit over this, but this is new and scary, and I have no idea what to do.”
“This is a big deal to you, isn’t it?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah…”
“But what about the time loop? Or the CCC?” Fluttershy spoke up.
Sunset shrugged. “All in favour of joining the Toppats say aye.”
Lillian was stumped as there were ayes all around. “But you all have jobs, and families.”
“And we’ve been living the same year on repeat,” Rainbow stressed. “They’ll be fine.”
“Our families haven’t been in danger in the past, no reason to worry about it now.” Applejack added.
“I don’t think I’ve even seen my parents or my brother since we started working here.” Twilight commented.
“I still don’t get why you want to follow me though…” Lillian said. “Is it because of guilt? Responsibility?”
Several of the girls looked hurt by the accusation.
“I’m sorry,” Lillian apologized. “I’m just so used to accepting that this is my life now that… I don’t know anything else. If you wanted, all of you could have a life outside of the CCC…”
She sighed. “Maybe I’ve been alone too long…”
“Have you never had friends before?” Sunset asked.
She opened her mouth to say yes, of course she’d had friends, but the words caught in her throat. Because the reality was, the only friends she had were Reginald, Right Hand Man, and the handful of Toppats she got along with.
“Outside of the Toppats? No.” She finally replied. “So, you’re all serious about this?”
Their conversation was interrupted by the blaring ringtone of Lillian’s mobile phone.
And Lillian’s panic was back in full.
“Shit that’s him!”
“Answer it.” Rarity hissed as the others watched curiously.
Lillian grabbed her phone and pushed the call button, holding it up to her left ear as her nerves made her feel jittery.
“Hello?”
“Hey Girlie, you holdin’ up alright?”
She blinked and pulled the phone away to check the caller ID. Now more confused than nervous she focused on her attention back on the caller.
“Right? The hell are doing with the chief’s phone?”
“Borrowed it,” Right Hand Man said casually. “You get his message?”
“Uh yeah…”
“How badly are you losin’ your shit?”
“I think I’m panicking to be honest,” she said, glancing around at the seven women crammed into her room. “This is new and scary, and you know full well I’m a complete dumbarse.”
Right knew of course, he’d been the one to introduce her to Reginald in the first place. She and Right had been thick as thieves for as long as she’d known him. While she never did field work, she was well known in the clan as Right’s sparring partner, mostly since she could dodge everything the man threw at her.
“So, you like him then?” Right asked and she could faintly hear something in the background.
Talking with Right was easy, there was no pressure, no judgement, and the question gave her something to focus on, something to help her wrestle her emotions under control.
It also helped that Right understood.
“It’s sort of like, I dunno if I love him yet, but I like him as more than a friend, so the potential is there you know?”
“Disney movie?”
It was a call back to something they’d discussed ages ago, when she first figured out she was demi. Right had helped her through the ensuing existential crisis by virtue of just having someone she could talk to about it. Since then, she’d confided in him across the timelines even though he never remembered.
“Yup,” she paused. Now calm enough to pay no mind to the group listening in to the conversation. “Is that weird?”
“Nah, knowing Reg, he’d like that. Let him go ham.”
The noise in the background was getting louder, someone shouting angrily.
Lillian smiled. “The chief figured out you were gonna call me, didn’t he?”
“He’s got it into his head that he has to do something big, so someone had to make sure you were alright.”
“…Thanks Right,” she said. “What’s the plan?”
“Head to the vault an’ wait for us there if you can. Otherwise, jus’ sit tight.”
“Got it, stay safe.”
“You too. See you soon.”
She hung up and the girls watched her expectantly. She blinked tiredly at them. “Gonna meet the clan at the vault, Reginald’s up to something.”
She started packing her things, unplugging her laptop and slinging her satchel over her head to hang across her left shoulder. She stuffed her mobile phone in her bag, followed by her laptop and grabbed her hat, putting it on her head and adjusting it as she looked around the room.
“You lot still in?” she asked.
Author's Note
I had this sitting on my computer for a few days and just decided that I could end the chapter there because I'm tired and I can't focus on words.
Lillian is Demiromantic and Demisexual. If have no idea what that means, read this, it explains the basics in a way that anyone can understand!