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1->''"Don't worry, I have time"''
2
3''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/410365/the-time-thief The Time Thief]],'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' {{Fanfic}} written by [=Reading4HalfMyLife=].
4
5Set in an alternate Universe where Twilight Sparkle and Starlight are married, their daughter, Astral Plane is caught in a time loop, endlessly repeating the same four days over and over again.
6
7''The Time Thief'' is a story that goes into things like anxiety, guilt, regret, and character development, which is all surrounding the strange mystery of why Astral is in these loops.
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9Also known for it's interesting characters, strange shippings and realistic view of things, the Time Thief is without a doubt one of the most fascinating fanfics out there.
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11--
12
13!!''The Time Thief'' provides examples of:
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15
16* ActionDuo: Misty and Anarchy are absolutely this
17* AloofBigBrother: Alchemy to Astral, Eclipse to Anarchy
18* Adorkable: As well as Twilight, Astral Plane is definitely this [[spoiler: or at least she was]] with her anxiety and forgetful ways. She is ''thrilled'' to learn how to teleport.
19* AmusingInjuries: Averted.[[spoiler: it's all taken very seriously when Astral and her friends die]]
20* AngerBornOfWorry: Twilight and Starlight when Astral skips school
21* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:''ASTRAL PLANE'' ]]
22* BrokenBird: [[spoiler:The downward spiral of suck eventually breaks Astral down, to the point where she has to get medication for depression]]
23* BatmanGambit: It is very much implied that the loops are a byproduct of an ongoing one
24* BerserkButton: Don't ever doubt Misty Rose
25* BirdsOfAFeather: It is made clear that even though Misty and Eclipse rarely hang out, their similiar personalities make it so they hit it off easily
26** Similiarly, Anarchy and Astral also get along through their shared annoyance at their friends antics
27* BlackAndGreyMorality: The situation Astral is in-over time, as her issues grow, her morals shrink
28* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Eclipse and Misty Rose
29* BreatherEpisode: Most of the chapters are this. The dark chapters are far outnumbered by the lighter ones- which include pranks and other hijinks
30* TheChessmaster: Whoever put Astral into the loops is implied to have something planned for her
31* ChosenOne: Astral is implied to be this, why is unknown
32* CerebusSyndrome: Oh, yeah
33* CharacterDevelopment: Astral begins the story as a clumsy, forgetful and socially awkward filly who is implied to be a goody two shoes and has very little magic. [[spoiler: Now she is a cynical, jaded preteen with extremely powerful magic and has no trouble bending the rules or manipulating others]]
34* CompositeCharacter: Misty Rose seems to be a fusion of Sherlock Holmes and [[Psych Shawn Spencer]]
35* CoolSword: Aegis
36* CosmicEntity: The Gods
37* DayInTheLimelight:
38* DeadpanSnarker: Eclipse, Anarchy and Starlight. Astral also get in on it in later chapters.
39[[spoiler: * DeathSeeker: Astral, after dying enough time]]
40* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Astral has this after her friends die]]
41* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Apple Jam, Butterscotch and Astral all get this treatment- the loops stop them from dying]]
42* DissonantSerenity: In Loop 23 [[spoiler: Astral reflects on the many deaths she has faced in these loops, and goes into detail describing one of them, and sounds poisitively ''serene.'']]
43* TheDreaded: Ebony is implied to be this
44* EstablishingCharacterMoment: All of the next gen get one;
45** Astral is shown to be shy, quiet and forgetful in her first scene
46** Misty Rose is jut as energetic as her mother, and just as enthusastic
47** Apple Jam attempts to rope the others into a harebrained scheme
48** Butterscotch shuts down said scheme almost instantly
49** Eclipse is directly called an arrogant prankster
50** Anarchy' first ever introduction shows how stoic she is
51* FateWorseThanDeath: Astral is trapped in a time loop
52* ForgottenFallenFriend: Justified [[spoiler: nobody remembers Apple Jam and Butterscotch's death, except for Astral herself, who is traumatised]]
53* GenerationXerox: Astral looks ''a lot'' like Twilight
54* GoryDiscretionShot: Anything gory is usually glossed over
55* GuileHero: Astral is becomming this. Eclipse is already there.
56* HeroicBSOD: Loop 23.
57* HeroWorshipper: Astral worshipped her mothers, and felt she fell short in comparison, especially in the magic department
58* HeterosexualLifePartners: The CMC
59** Anarchy and Misty (possibly)
60** Eclipse and Astral (possibly)
61* HiddenDepths: WordOfGod says that Butterscotch, a cheerful friendly colt, has depression
62** Misty Rose's father, Blueblood, cheated on her mother, Pinkie, and when they divorced he gained custody of Misty's twin Rosemary. Misty hasn't seen Rosie in ''years.''
63* HopeSpot: Just when it looks like others can join Astral in the loops [[spoiler: Jam and Butterscotch die]]
64* HotBlooded: Apple Jam
65* InMysteriousWays: Why is Astral stuck in the loops? Who put her in them? Why are they giving her their magic?
66** New one now- what is Pinkie Pie?
67* InsufferableGenius: Alchemy is implied to be this
68** Misty Rose is [[WordOfGod confirmed to be]] the smartest member of the Next Gen, and ''really'' does not like it if you start doubting her
69* HyperCompetentSidekick: Eclipse to Astral, Anarchy to Misty
70* InfoDump: Astral does this to others when she explains the loop
71* JerkassGods: Ebony and Loki are both this, though Loki is just kind of smug
72* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Eclipse, Alchemy and Astral
73* KickTheDog: Astral gets this a lot
74* LetsGetDangerous: Astral decides to pick up some hobbies . . . mainly, parkour, karate, fencing and Bladecasting
75* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Eclipse to Astral
76* MamaBear: All the mane six, but extra focus on Starlight and Twilight
77* ManipulativeBastard: Astral slowly starts to become one, manipulating others for her enjoyment.
78* MorphWeapon: Bladecasting. It allows them to swap between being a sword, or shards. The shards are like gems. It's made out of pure magic.
79* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Astral's reaction to [[spoiler: Apple Jam and Butterscotch's deaths]]
80* NervesOfSteel: Astral develops these. Apple Jam already had them.
81* NiceGuy: Anarchy, Butterscotch and Mimic are this. Astral used to be this.
82* NotAfraidToDie: Astral Plane
83* NothingIsScarier: No explanation is given as to why Astral is in the loops, and that doesn't exactly strengthen her tenous grip on sanity
84* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Eclipse, as a child, did a lot of crazy things
85* OhCrap: Astral, Butterscotch and Apple Jam, in the face of a Manticore
86* OlderThanTheyLook: Astral is a lot older now, and is basically a teenager in a preteens body
87* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: How Eclipse realizes just how badly the loops are affecting Astral
88* ParentsAsPeople: Twilight and Starlight are trying, but it's clear how hard it is
89** In the first chapter alone, Starlight messes up and makes her daughter late to class
90** Neither of them can help Astral and feel incredibly helpless for that
91* PersonOfMassDestruction: Astral is implied to be this
92* RedOniBlueOni: There are quite a bit of these
93** Astral is the blue to Eclipse's red
94** Anarchy is the blue to Misty Rose's red
95** Butterscotch is the blue to Apple Jam's red
96** Alchemy is the blue to his younger sister Astral' red
97** Anarchy is the blue to Eclipse's red
98** Though it's not explicetly stated, it's implied Misty's twin Rosemary is the blue to her red
99* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Starlight, Twilight, the Princesses
100* SanitySlippage: ''Astral Plane''
101* SealedEvilInACan: Ebony was sealed off . . somewhere by the Gods
102* SherlockScan: Misty Rose can do this, to the point where she is, in universe, called a mini Fetlock Hooves
103* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: With a story set in Equestria, a land all about [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]] and [[ThePowerOfLove love]]and [[TrueCompanions loyalty]] we end up seeing this scale an awful lot, since Astral is going through all this alone
104* ShipTease: Eclipse and Astral get this treatment. So do Misty and Anarchy.
105* ShownTheirWork: The answer the author uses for the maths question is right, as is the way they do it.
106** Astral shows common symptoms of PTSD and depression
107** The author, in that same chapter, makes it clear that not everyone is so obviously depressed the way Astral is, and they often hide it well
108* StealthPun: Butterscotch and Apple Jam. Butter and Jam. Apple Scotch.
109* StepfordSmiler: Astral, duh
110* StuckInTheirShadow: Astral gets this a lot. The author spends a lot of time breaking this trope down
111** Firstly, Astral Plane is an introvert and has anxiety, but, being the daughter of a Princess and two of the saviors of Equestria, she gets a lot of attention. This causes her a lot of stress...
112** Secondly,Astral is nowhere near as clever as her mothers. She is often portrayed as forgetful, clumsy and is about average in everything
113** Finally, Astral is not a brilliant mage. All her magic is coming from [[spoiler: someone else]] and her magic is implied to be below average for a unicorn. The mix of all three has led her to have some self esteem issues.
114* TheStoic: Anarchy is this. Astral is becoming this.
115* StressVomit: Astral has it in early chapters when she thinks she broke the loops
116* SurvivorGuilt: Astral
117* TeleportersAndTransporters: Astral ''loves'' being able to do this
118* TokenMinority: [[AvertedTrope Not so much.]] In terms of sexuality, Astral is confirmed to be straight, as is Eclipse and Jam, Misty Rose is bisexual, Anarchy is demisexual and Butterscotch is asexual and panromantic.
119** As well as that, in the chapter where [[spoiler: Astral is diagnosed with PTSD and depressiontv trop]] the author makes it clear that their not being stereotypical, and that Butterscotch also has depression.
120* TookALevelInCynic: Astral
121* TraumaCongaLine: Hooo boy, let's take it step by step, shall we? [[spoiler: first, Astral finds out she's repeating she same few day over and over again, which is fine at first, but then things start to get repetitive, and she starts to become detatched. Then, her best friends, Butterscotch and Apple Jam are killed ''because'' of her, and she is left traumatised, especially when she goes into school a couple of loops later to see them fine and well. Then she dies, so many times that she becomes apathic to death. Finally, she discovers that the magic that was given to her is in fact killing her. Jeez, no wonder the kid had PTD]]
122* TrueCompanions: Averted, at first. [[spoiler: After their deaths, Astral can no longer stand to be around Butterscotch and Apple Jam.]] However, she does befriend Eclipse, Anarchy and Misty, and starts to hang out with them instead
123* UnexplainedRecovery: Astral [[spoiler: upon dying]]
124* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Astral ''appears'' this way, but she's actually much older than she looks
125** Anarchy is younger than Eclipse, but appears to be much smarter and more grounded
126* WithGreatPower: [[spoiler: Astral is dying because of it]]

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