> The Desperate Journals of Starlight Glimmer
>  by Arararagi
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Entry #1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


        My name is Starlight Glimmer. I am currently unable to escape from the bizarre circumstances in which I find myself. Sometimes I think I'm cursed, and this is my punishment for trying to change the past. Other times, I just want to give up. It is my good friends who keep me going, who give me strength. Without them, I would have gone insane long ago. Then again, maybe I am insane. At this point, it's hard to tell.





        I'm writing this because so much has happened, because if I don't write this down now, I may not get another chance. I'm writing this because I'm not sure if I'll ever escape, and I want to at least leave this behind if I don't make it. If you're reading this, and I'm gone forever, I want you to give this journal to Twilight, or one of the Princesses. I want you to tell my friends and family I still love them. I don't want to leave without saying goodbye, but this may be the best I can manage.


 


        It all started one morning, after I woke up from a strange dream.





June 11th, 1248 R.C. (Reign of Celestia)





        The royal throne room in Canterlot Castle was quite a sight to behold. Stained glass windows adorned both walls, and there were royal guards posted everywhere I look. Everything looked a little off, though. There was a strange, mist-like haze over the room, and I was unable to make out anypony's faces except Princess Celestia's. I would compare the experience to scrying, but even then this was a bit different. The most unusual part, was that I seemed to be looking through somepony else's eyes. I could not control where I looked, what I saw, or when I blinked. In my confusion, I tried to cancel any scrying spell I might have cast, but it was no use. I was stuck along for the ride.


        Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne, looking positively radiant as ever. She was addressing her subjects as they brought their concerns to her. Though the exact words were lost, I could hear her soothing, gentle tones as she answered some, and her ever so slightly harsher tones as she admonished others.


        This continued for a few minutes before Celestia ordered one of the servants away. Moments later, they returned with some freshly brewed tea. Continuing to listen to her current guest in the royal court, she began to sip her tea quietly. Then, it happened.


        I saw it. I saw Princess Celestia starting to choke. She coughed over and over as her radiant mane started to loose its magical sheen. Her servants rushed to her side immidiately, and the guards were put on high alert. In moments, several unicorns I can only assume were doctors (but could not be sure due to the haze) were trying to diagnose the problem. The tension in the room was palpable until, after what felt like an eternity, we all knew what we had just witnessed. The ponies surrounding the Princes slowly drew back and lowered their heads. Some were openly weeping, while others were merely speechless.





        Princess Celestia was dead.





********





        I woke up in my bed, sweating profusely. A quick glance outside told me it was just before sunrise.  I groaned and tried to shake my head of that awful dream I had. I went to the filly's room, brushed my mane, and splashed some cold water on my face. I smiled at my surroundings. Twilight had helped me move all of my stuff into my own personal suite. It even had its own bathroom, shower, sink and all. I I had only been living with Twilight in her huge castle for a few months, but it already felt like home. The thought gave me some confort, after the awful dream.





        After I finished freshening up, I trotted over to the kitchen. I  couldn't help but grin a little when I saw that despite my early and rude awakening, Spike had still beaten me to the kitchen. I greeted him as I entered.


        "Good morning, Spike."        


        "Morning, Starlight." He replied simply. He was engrossed in his current task of pulverizing gems to put them on bread, which he then toasted with a weak breath of flame. I joined him in making toast, though I would just use butter and jelly and not gems. Meanwhile, my mind could not help but replay that scene from my dream, over and over.


        "Starlight, are you okay? You don't look so well." Spike asked as he poked me gently in the ribs.  "You started staring at the wall, and you wouldn't respond for a few minutes."


        It was only then I realize that I had stopped manipulating the knife and bread held by my levitation. Despite how rattled I really was by what I had seen, (dream or not) I put on my best smile and replied, "I'm fine. Just had an awful dream." 


        "Oh, okay. Were you reading those scary stories again before bed?"


        My ears shot up. "You knew about that!"


        "Of course I did. I keep all of Twilight's books organized." He answered with some pride in his voice.


        "No, I wasn't reading those old folktales." I snorted. "I'm not quite sure why myself, but I definitely had an awful dream."


        "Do you want me to send a letter to Princess Luna about it?"


        My ears pinned back as I thought about it. It sounded like a good idea, but at the same time, it was just one dream right? "Not yet." I replied. "I'll let you know if I have it again, though."


        "Mmk." He replied through a bite of toast. There was a loud crunching noise every time Spike took a bite, no doubt thanks to the unconventional topping. I sighed and finished making my own toast, and sat down in silence to eat. Spike, having a decent head start, finished eating rather quickly, and walked off to do his morning chores. I didn't waste much time eating either, and once I finished I left a quick note for Spike and Twilight before heading out into Ponyville.





*******






        I took a nice breath of fresh air as I closed the gigantic crystalline doors behind me. Celestia had graced us with a beautiful sunrise this morning, and the Pegasi had done a particularly good job clearing the skies. A perfect job it was not, however, as evidenced by a singular small cloud that hovered over the Apple Farm. Without hesitation, I headed over. This was a perfect chance to test one of my new spells.


        As I approached the underside of the low-flying cloud, I concentrated on casting my spell. The spell applied some concepts I had learned from Trixie about illusions. 


        "Dash! Get yer lazy flank down here!" I practically growled. In my mind, I was replaying the sound of Applejack's voice over and over as I spoke. The illusion spell, which I dubbed 'Changling Voice', would do the rest and make your voice sound like the pony you were thinking of.


        "Gah!" The pegasus squawked before falling of her cloud perch. She quickly plummeted and crashed into a nearby apple tree. Thankfully, she didn't have far to fall. Even so, I had to check if she was alright. I wasn't trying to hurt her, after all.


        "Rainbow Dash?" I called out, letting my spell end. "Are you alright?" 


         A few moments later, she climes down from the tree, with a tired, grumpy look on her face.


        "Yeah, I'm fine." She answered. "Where's Applejack?"


        I suppressed a giggle as I answered, "I haven't seen her yet. I was heading over to talk to her, but I heard a shout, so I ran over here."


        "Oh, I must have dreamed that then." She said, rubbing her chin with a hoof.


        "Okay, well if you're fine, then I'll go find Applejack."


        "Y-yeah, you go do that, but can you do me a favor and not tell Applejack I was sleeping at the farm again?"


        That time I giggled. "Yeah, sure. I can do that."


        The pegasus nodded before living up to her name, and flying off in a flash of rainbow colors. Once she was gone, I stopped suppressing my laughter and just laughed uncontrollably for a little while. While I was still laughing, a concerned-looking Applejack approached me.


        She poked me with a hoof. "Ya alright there, Starlight?"


        I took a deep breath to stop the giggles. "Yeah, I'm fine." I approached her. "You're just the pony I needed to talk to."


        Applejack cocked an eyebrow, and smirked a little. "What kind of hare-brained scheme do you have this time, Starlight."


        I cleared my throat. "It's not really a scheme this time. Trixie's birthday is coming up, and-"


        Applejack interrupted me by putting a hoof on my shoulder. "And ya wanna surprise her with something." 


        "Yeah." I replied. " We've become pretty close, so I want her birthday to be special."


        Applejack nodded approvingly. "Ah thought so. How can Ah help? Ah don't mind as long as it don't interfere with mah chores."


        "Don't worry," I assured, "I mostly want your supervision while I build something." I put a hoof to my chin while I pondered my options for a moment. "Perhaps you could lend me Applebloom, or Big Mac for when you need to be doing chores?"


        She shook her head. "Ah'm afraid that when I'm workin', they'll be workin' too most likely. But it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem. What are ya tryin' ta build?"


         I described my plan to surprise Trixie on her birthday in more detail.  I had planned in quite a bit of detail, and had even packed my notes in my saddlebags.


*******






        The sun was setting, and it was time to head back home for the night. Applejack had been a great help, and Applebloom and her friends had done a good deal of the legwork. The plan was coming together, she just needed one more day to get everything prepared. Everything was proceeding right on schedule.


        I opened the door to the castle. Everything was dark. The candles and torches that normally lit the crystalline hallways were still unlit. 


         As I reached out with my magic to light the nearby torches, I called out, "Twilight? Spike? Is anypony there?" After a few moments of my voice echoing off the empty hallways, silence was my only response.


        Once the hallway was properly lit, I noticed a note that had been left behind for me. I picked it up with my magic, and brought it closer.


        "Starlight,


        I've been summoned to Canterlot by the Princesses. They didn't say why, but apparently it's urgent. Hopefully I will be back soon.


        Your mentor,


                Twilight Sparkle"



        At least she had the forethought to leave a note. I wondered what could be so urgent. At the time, I couldn't figure out why, but as I cleaned up the castle and went to sleep I had a palpable sense of dread. Then, I thought I was just paranoid, but now I see I was right to be afraid. Oh, how right I was.






June 12th, 1248 R.C.         


I woke up having no recollection of what I dreamed that night. There was a loud banging at the front door that awoke me even earlier than I had gotten up yesterday. Slowly, I crawled out of bed and made my way  towards the door. The banging continued relentlessly.


        "I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled at the door. The banging stopped abruptly. I opened it to reveal two royal guards staring me right in the face.


        "Are you Starlight Glimmer, ma'am?" The taller of the two stallions asked.


        "Yes," I nodded. "And what can I do for you two this morning?"


        "You can come with us to Canterlot." The other guard said. "Princess Twilight Sparkle has requested your presence."


        I sighed. I had figured as much. "Alright, Ill go pack my things." I said, turning away from the door but,


        "That won't be necessary, ma'am." 


        "Our orders are to take you there immediately, and by force if necessary."


        "Twilight told you to do that?" I asked in disbelief.


        "Yes, ma'am. She said you would miss it if you didn't come quickly enough."


        "And she didn't say what 'it' is?"


        "No."


        I sighed again and rubbed my temples with my hoof. "Okay. Let's go." was all I could say at that point. The two guards very quickly loaded me into a chariot they had brought and we were on our way in less than a minute. I felt immense guilt as I realized I would miss Trixie's birthday. There was nothing I could do about it, I had royal guards escorting me, after all, but I still felt bad. It was her first birthday since we had become friends, and I had wanted to make it a fun memory.


        No, there was something I could do. I pulled some parchment and a quill out of my saddlebags and quickly wrote a letter to Trixie, then looked out the window of my chariot. Carefully orienting myself, I teleported the letter to Trixie's cart. I smiled at my own genius. I didn't have to miss her birthday, I just had to change my plans a bit.


*******



        "Trixie, you made it!" I squealed as I ran over and hugged Trixie tightly.


        "The Great and Powerful Trixie would never ignore a letter sent to her by her Great and Powerful friend!" She replied with a smirk. "But what exactly are we going to do in Canterlot?"


        "Well, first can get lunch, but then we need to go to the palace."


        Her eyes widened. "You're taking Trixie to the palace? As in, the palace of the Royal Sisters?"


        "Yup! Happy birthday, Trixie!"


        "Trixie is impressed! She did not know you could get her into the palace!"


        "Well normally I couldn't, but the opportunity came up, and I just had to take it."


        "Trixie is grateful no matter how you managed it." The blue showpony said in a softer voice as she tightly returned my hug.






        We ate lunch at a nearby cafe that had recently opened. It was called "Steadclaw's Coffee and Pastry", and had apparently gained a decent reputation. As we ate, I tried to explain the odd circumstances I had found myself in.


        "...So now I've been summoned by Twilight to witness this important new treaty being signed with the other nations to swear their collective allegiance to Equestria and the forces of Harmony."


        "Trixie does not understand. Our neighbors are swearing allegiance to Equestria? Why would they have to do that?"


        "The main reason Twilight gave me was that in this treaty we promise to protect each other  as best we can, as long as nopony, griffin, or changling breaks any of the tenants of the treaty. She said it's also a great symbol of trust between our races, and could help improve our relations with our neighbors."


        "Trixie supposes she sees the logic there." She paused for a bit and sipped her coffee, staring out the nearby window. "So that is the real reason you are here? Because of this treaty?"


        "Yeah, I'm just here to witness the signing ceremony though. It's this afternoon, and I got Twilight to get permission for you to come too."


        Trixie's expression soured a bit. "Trixie hates owing Twilight anything, but Trixie is also thankful that you brought her along." Her ears folded backwards. "Trixie is not sure how to feel right now. She knows she should thank Twilight, but isn't sure she can do it."


        I put my hoof on her shoulder. "I already thanked her, but if you want to I'll get her attention briefly after the ceremony. I'm sure she will wish you a happy birthday."


        Trixie only nodded in response.


*******



        We headed to the castle next. Security was tight as usual, or maybe tighter. I wasn't quite sure, since I had only been to Canterlot Palace once before, many years ago. Getting through wasn't an issue however. Some unicorn guards did some quick tests on us to make sure we weren't changlings, and then we were let in.



        It turned out we were nearly late. Trixie and I awkwardly pushed our way through the small crowd of ponies and took our designated seats in the throne room, where the ceremony was about to start. A very large table had been set up in the center of the room, and all the diplomats, including Twilight, and even Cadence were seated at the table. The changlings had just one representative and two guards. The representative had a golden amulet, signifying his post. The griffins had a group of five, but it was hard to tell who was the representative, as none of them were wearing anything obvious like the changling.


        I didn't have much time to observe them. 


        "Presenting their Royal Highness, Princesses Luna and Celestia!" one of the guards shouted rather loudly before opening the throne room doors. Everypony, griffin, and changling bowed respectfully as the two alicorns entered the room. They soon took their seats at the two thrones in the far side of the room and Celestia ordered, "Rise."


        Everyone did so. Luna spoke next, "I am glad to see how these negotiations have been so successful." She pointed a hoof at the diplomats. "Equestria will be proud to have the changlings and griffins as allies. Overcoming our differences and forgiving past misdeeds is never easy, so I am quite proud to say with this we will have made a great deal of progress."


        Luna sat back down in her throne and let her sister speak. Celestia stood up and produced one of the largest scrolls I have ever seen. She levitated it over, walked to the table, and unfurled the bottom part, where there was a large blank space. Everyone at the table who wasn't a guard readied a quill. 


        "Let it be known that with this treaty, our nations do not become one, but will promise to protect one another as good neighbors should." Celestia said in a loud enough voice to echo. "We pledge now to protect the harmony of this world, and teach our children and their children to do the same. We do this to preserve the balance of this world, and to stand against those who would seek to destroy it. We do this because it is the right thing to do, and because it is what we believe in."


        Celestia stopped speaking, and Luna took this as her cue to walk down from her throne to the table. Celestia then continued, "We do not only sit at this table as the sovereign rulers of Equestria, but also as representatives of our people. This table is a symbol of how one nation shall not rule another with this treaty, but shall be treated as equals in partnership. When we sign this treaty, we will sign as 'Celestia' and 'Luna', not as Princesses."


        Celestia then picked up her quill, dipped it in the nearby ink pot, and carefully signed the scroll. Luna then took her turn, then Twilight and Cadence. The changling representative signed after that, and then all five griffins signed their names.


        "It is done." Luna decreed in a jubilant tone. "Let the festivities commence!"


        Everypony stomped their hooves and cheered. Trixie, who was sitting next to me was smiling and stomping too. There were several bright flashes as the reporters took pictures of the table and the newly signed treaty. Despite the overall happiness of the scene, I felt an inexplicable sense of dread as I saw the food being brought out. I felt like I was underwater. Everything moved in slow motion.



        I watched as everypony around me walked forward to grab food. I watched as the Princesses chatted, while taking occasional bites of cake. Then I saw it. I saw Princess Celestia whisper something to a nearby servant. Extreme nausea overwhelmed me but I was unable to move for some reason. I was breathing rapidly, but my eyes were locked on Princess Celestia. Faintly, like she was talking to me from a distance, I heard Trixie's voice calling to me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Everything felt strange, like I was underwater.


        The servant quickly returned with a steaming hot cup of tea. I tried to scream but could not find my voice. Celestia sipped her tea, and immediately began coughing loudly. The deja-vu that had been plaguing me finally made sense. I recognized the scene from my dreams, but found myself powerless to do anything. I watched the whole process over again as Celestia slowly grew more and more ill until she lied motionless, and finally somepony screamed. Silence then ruled in the throne room.


        "She's dead." I finally found the ability to say. The feeling of nausea returned, but this time it was much stronger. My stomach rebelled against me, and I lost my lunch on the marble floor. My vision blurred, and I lost my balance. I blacked out.

> Entry #2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


        I woke up in my bed, sweating profusely. A quick glance outside told me it was just before sunrise, and... wait a minute! I was back in my room in the Castle of Friendship! How long was I unconscious for? I was almost sick again when I remembered in detail what I had just witnessed.






        I quickly ran down the hallway to find anypony and ask them what happened while I was unconscious. I found Spike making his usual breakfast of toast and gems in the kitchen.






        "Spike!" I yelled. The poor, unsuspecting dragon got startled and dropped bread on the floor.


        "Agh, Starlight! Don't scare me like that." He complained as cleaned up the mess.


        "But Spike, the Princess! Is she..." I stopped mid-sentence, forgetting what I had wanted to say. I tried to say more, but I was unable to form words.


        "What about the Princess?" Spike scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, Twilight said there was something big Princess Celestia was working on, but she wouldn't say what."





        There was silence for a few moments as I sat on the cold kitchen floor and gathered my thoughts. I was very confused, until I remembered the dream I had just had. The nausea I had almost forgotten about returned with the memory. No, that was no dream, though it was fading rapidly from memory just like one.There was a question I had to ask.






        "Spike, what date is today?"


        "It's June, 11th." He said. "Why?"


        I wasn't sure of anything anymore. Was it all a dream, or did I somehow go back in time?


        I needed to some way to confirm which it was, and I knew just how.


        "Is Twilight awake yet?" I asked.


        "Yeah, she already ate breakfast. She said she would be at her desk working on something."


        "Thanks Spike."


        "Sure thing, Starlight." He nodded. "I'd say, 'no problem', but next time try not to scare me, okay?"


        I couldn't help but smile at his attempt to give me a stern look. It was adorable. 


	"Yeah, sorry about that."





        Just as Spike had informed me, Twilight was sitting at her desk, with a scroll and quill held in her magic.


        "Hi, Twilight." I greeted as I entered Twilight's personal study. It was the next room over from the main library, where Twilight would go to get work done. She looked up from her work and smiled.


        "Good morning, Starlight." She glanced out the window briefly. "It's a little unusual for you to be up before sunrise. Is there something I should know?"


        I pondered my response for a moment before replying, "I had a nightmare."


        "Oh, that's terrible! Did Luna not help you?" Twilight got up from her seat and walked over to me. Her concern was written all over her face.


        "Um, no. She must have been too busy helping other ponies last night."


        "That's awful!" Twilight wrapped a hoof over me. "Do you want me to send her a letter?"


        "Not just yet." I firmly responded. "It was just one night, after all. I'll let you know if it happens again."


        "Okay." Twilight nodded somberly. "So, did you need something else? I don't mean to sound rude, but I do have work to do."


        "Yeah, I do need a favor." I said before taking a deep breath. I had to be very careful with how I said this. "I know about the negotiations with the griffins and changelings."


        Twilight's eyes widened. "You do? B-but how?"


        "Let's just say I accidentally read something I probably shouldn't have." I lied, using the first excuse that came to mind. I was right. So I was in a time loop, because I shouldn’t have known that. If that was the case, I had to act. "But that's not why I'm bringing this up. I need you to get me in the negotiations as a diplomat. I do have some first hand experience with the changelings, after all."


        Twilight was quiet for a few moments while she thought about what I said. As a patiently waited, a smirk finally showed on her face. 


        "All right, I think I can manage to get you involved, at least for a personal testimony."


        "Thanks Twilight!" I hugged her briefly before trotting for the door. I paused as I remembered one more detail. "Oh, and can you arrange so Trixie can come with me? Her birthday is coming up, and I'd like it if I could bring her to Canterlot. She likes it there."


        Twilight rolled her eyes. "This is totally an abuse of my powers, but I'll try. I suppose I do owe Trixie an apology of sorts."


        "You're the best." I replied with the toothiest grin I could manage. My buisiness finished, I left Twilight to her work. I had a few morning errands to attend to myself, and then my next stop was Sugarcube Corner. I had a certain pink mare to talk to.






*******






        "Pinkie Pie, are you in here?" I called out, as I opened the door to Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake was looking right at me from behind the counter.


        "She's upstairs, watching the foals for us, dearie." Mrs. Cake so helpfully informed me. As instructed, I walked upstairs to the Cake twins' room. I carefully opened the door so that the little demons wouldn't try to escape as I entered. To my relief, it looks like Pinkie and the twins were taking a nap together.


        I gently nudged Pinkie, and whispered, "Get up." Her only response was a grumble and something about cupcakes. I rolled my eyes. This wasn't going to be easy. Fine, then. I used my magic to open the door across the hall to the bathroom, and started the faucet. I gathered a ball of water about the size of a hoofball, and carefully brought it over. I dropped it right on Pinkie's smug sleeping face. 


        Of course, her reaction was to scream. I should have thought about that before I doused her. In an instant, not only was she awake again, but the twins were both crying and screaming too. We spent the next half an hour calming the twins down again. Eventually they fell back asleep. I led Pinkie out of the room and into the hall so we could talk without waking the twins.


        "That was mean!" She angrily whispered at me. "Why did you do that?"


        "I needed to wake you up, and you weren't listening to my voice." I looked down and pinned my ears back apologetically. "I didn't think it through, sorry."


        Pinkie just stared at me for a few agonizing seconds before perking right back up to her usual cheerful self. "Apology accepted, Starlight." She held out a hoof. I bumped it, and received an immediate and somewhat painful shock. I yelped, but managed to keep my voice down. Pinkie Pie just giggled. "And that's what you get for dropping cold water on my face!"


        "Ok, I deserved that." I admitted. "But really, I need to talk to you."


        I explained my plans for a 'prank' to her. I could swear her grin got wider with every word. By the time I finished, she was nodding at me furiously. Now, I should probably explain in case someone else is reading this, but this was no prank. This was my plan to save Celestia, assuming I really had knowledge of the future, and I wasn't going crazy. The talk I had earlier with Twilight had given me a little confidence, though.


         I had instructed Pinkie Pie to mess with the food that would be provided at the signing ceremony. The most important parts were that she would ruin the tea that Celestia would order, and she would very carefully control the food and drink provided at the event. My hope was that with her help, we would catch the would-be assassin.






*******






        By the time I headed back to the castle in the afternoon, it seemed that my plan was already working. There was a royal chariot there to pick me up, and I instantly recognized the faces of the pegasi stallions. With confidence, I walked right up to them, and they seemed to notice me approaching. 


        We spoke briefly, and once they were satisfied with checking my identity, they loaded me in the chariot. Trixie was apparently being given a free train ticket to Canterlot and would meet me there later today. Despite not normally getting motion sick, I felt rather ill as we traveled.  I tried my best not to look out the window of the chariot, as each time I did I only felt the same severe nausea I had when I woke up in the morning.


        The chariot made it to Canterlot in decent time. Thank Celestia for that. For a while I thought I was going to be sick all over the plushy insides of the royal chariot. I carefully stepped outside, back on solid ground and took deep breaths. The nausea finally subsided, and I thanked the royal guard ponies for pulling the chariot.


        I looked at the nearby street clock, which read just after 2 pm. I still had a few hours before Trixie would arrive, and I had information to gather in the meantime. I quickly made my way to Canterlot Castle. Of course, the guards there stopped me, as they should.


        "Halt!" One yelled, blocking the way with his spear.        "What business do you have in the castle?"


        "I have been summoned by the Princess as a sort of diplomat." I walked close enough to speak softly. "I'm sure you know what I mean." He eyed me very carefully.


        "Very well." He nodded, "But you must submit for a changeling scan. We don't want any spies."


        "Of course."


        


        A few minutes later, I had been tested by a couple of unicorn scholars, and found to be definitely not a changeling. Once I had been cleared, they gave me an identification card attached to a string so you could wear it as a necklace.


        "Keep this on at all times when in the castle, Miss Starlight." The guard instructed with a firmness to his voice. "We wouldn't want anypony thinking you're a changeling, would we?"


        "No, of course not." I put the pass on. Before the guard could walk back to his post, I stopped him. "Have there been issues of changling spies?"


        He looked thoughtful for a few moments. 
"Normally I wouldn't tell anypony this, but you are Princess Twilight's student, so it's probably fine. A changeling was caught last week trying to impersonate Twilight herself. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."


        I raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's quite bold of the changeling. Was it anyone important?"


        "No, just some drone." The guard shook his head. "We suspect it was under orders from Queen Chrysalis, but we may never know for sure. Anyway, I have to get back to my post. Good day, Miss Starlight." He said before walking off.


        My curiosity satisfied for the moment, I headed to my next destination: the kitchen. I wouldn't directly enter the kitchen, but instead carefully I walked the perimeter of the kitchen after asking for directions several times. The layout of the castle was surprisingly similar to Twilight's castle, except it had a barracks wing for the guards, and two personal smaller wings for each of the Princesses. Nopony asked where I was going unless I accidentally went somewhere I wasn't allowed.






        The entire time, I was paying close attention to the servants. Particularly, the ones going in and out of the kitchen. They took odd paths through the castle, and it took me some time to figure out how they were getting around so fast. Apparently there are small, hidden passageways that cut across the castle lengthwise. If you didn't know what to look for, you would never notice them, but the servant ponies make great use of them.


        When nopony was looking, I used a scry spell to see what the inside of one looked like. It was fairly dark, and very narrow. A great hiding place, as long as nopony opened up either entrance. It would also make a perfect place to ambush somepony. I also used my scrying to see the inside of the kitchen itself. As you might expect, it was a very large space, with servants and cooks rapidly working to prepare tonight's dinner. I noted, however, that it would be hard to do something to the food here without being noticed. There were at least twenty ponies at any given time, meaning that if somepony tried to poison the food here, they would probably get caught.


        While I digested all this new information, I noticed that Celestia's sun had moved considerably in the sky since I had arrived in Canterlot. It was probably past time to meet Trixie, so off I went to the train station.






*******






        "Trixie!" I exclaimed as I ran forward and tackled the blue mare in a hug. "I'm so happy you're here!"


        "As you should be." Trixie said in her usual dramatic tone. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has come all the way to Canterlot to grace you with her presence."


        I gave her a sly grin as we broke the hug. "Really? Is that the only reason you came?"


        The showpony huffed, "Of course. Why else would Trixie take such a late train?"


        "Maybe because tomorrow is your birthday, and you know I've been planning it for a long time?"


        Trixie's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. "Trixie had thought you might have forgotten." Her smile quickly returned. "Trixie supposes she should have known better than to doubt her Great and Powerful friend."


        I put a hoof on her shoulder. "I would never disappoint you, Trixie."


        "D’aww, you two are adorable!" a familiar voice exclaimed from nearby. I looked around and spotted a bouncing pink blur that was quickly approaching.


        "Ah, you're here already, Pinkie Pie."


        "Yupperuni!"  the pink mare practically squealed. "We have to get ready for the prank tomorrow. You want to help us, Trixie?"


        "That depends on what kind of prank." Trixie said cautiously. "Though Trixie supposes if Starlight is involved, then it must be a good one."






                We spent the next two hours preparing for tomorrow's 'prank'. I also made a map of the possible routes a servant could take from the kitchen to the throne room.


        "Well, that should do it." I announced as I inspected our work. It had taken quite a bit of effort to keep other ponies out of the loop. My plan itself was fairly simple though: control the flow of food to the throne room, and I would handle anypony acting suspiciously. To that end, Pinkie had brought her own party food, and would be replacing the food coming to the throne room with her own. The 'prank', was that some of her food was incredibly spicy. We had also explored the three routes to the throne room from the kitchen, and come up with a plan to cover all of them. I would handle one route, Trixie another, and Pinkie Pie would be bouncing everywhere replacing food when we gave signals. The third route was a windy route through the main hallways of the castle, and would pass by both Trixie and I.


        "Trixie agrees. This should be a piece of cake, though it seems Trixie should not eat any tomorrow."


        Pinkie Pie was giggling uncontrollably as we walked. "Yup! This is a great prank, Starlight, thanks for including me." 


        I smiled back at her. "No problem! Thank you for helping, Pinkie Pie. I really mean it, but," I forced myself to yawn. It wasn't hard, since I was actually getting tired. "I think I'd like to call it an early night. Tomorrow is a big day, after all."


        "Okie Dokie! I'm gonna go find Twilight then! Good night!" Pinkie Pie said before bouncing off. I looked to Trixie next, who was still following me. We were outside of the room I had been assigned at the castle. She looked like she wanted to say something, but stayed quiet and didn't meet my gaze.


        "Trixie?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"


        "C-can I stay with you tonight?"


        I hugged her tightly. "Of course you can!" I thought for a moment before adding, "There is only one bed though. Do you want to share?"


        "Trixie does not mind, but Trixie also does not want Starlight to get the wrong idea." She finally met my gaze again. "Trixie is feeling a little lonely tonight, and wants to..."  I didn't catch the last word.


        "To what?"


        "..to cuddle."


        "Just cuddle?" I looked at her expectantly. She nodded. Okay, so cuddling, but nothing more. I could handle that.  I opened the door and motioned for her to follow. "Come on then."


        She smiled gently and said, "Thank you, Starlight."


        I slept soundly that night. Trixie kept my bed warm, and my nightmares at bay. I really should have thanked her more. Well rested or not, nothing could have prepared me for the next day, though.


> Entry #2 Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


        June 12th, 1248 R.C. 



        Morning came early again for me, as I awoke to the sound of somepony knocking loudly on the door.



        "Starlight Glimmer," a yellow servant pony addressed me when I answered, "you are summoned to the throne room, immediately."



        "Tell them I'll be there shortly." I replied. The servant nodded, and shut the door again. I walked back to the bed and gently nudged the blue mare who slept next to me.



        "Trixie," I whispered, "wake up." The blue mare simply groaned in response. I shook her a little harder the second time. "It's time to get up, show pony!" 



        "Trixie requires her beauty sleep" She mumbled into her pillow.



        "We don't have time for this!" I complained. No response. Fine, if she wants to play that game, I'll play. Just like I had with Pinkie, I levitated some water onto her face.



        She coughed, spat the water out, and finally got her lazy flank out of bed.  I gave her a few minutes to use the filly's room and clean up before I said, "Come on, we need to get going. I need you to guard that hallway, remember?"



        "Yes, yes." Trixie nodded. "Trixie remembers. She just wishes this wasn't so early in the morning."



*******



        Trixie and I ate a quick breakfast in the dining hall, then I went to the Throne room, while she went to her post as the guard to a hallway. I felt bad for making her do something so potentially boring, but I knew that lives were at risk, so there was nothing I could do about a small detail like that. I couldn't let myself worry about every little thing if I was going to make a difference.



        As soon as I entered the throne room, everypony went silent for a moment and just looked at me. 



        "Ah, Starlight Glimmer," Princess Celestia said grinning. "You are the last to join us. We wondered if you would show up at all."



        " 'Twould not be the first time, either I hear." Princess Luna added with a giggle.



        "I already apologized for that!" I struggled not to shout. Was this some kind of test?



        "Please, do not mind our teasing, Starlight Glimmer," Princess Celestia said in a gentler voice, "and take a seat so we may get 
started." She pointed to the empty chair at the large table in the center of the throne room. I took a seat next to Twilight and Cadence. I very awkwardly and silently did so. "Wonderful, I am so glad that every pony, griffin, and changeling is in attendance today. Now, we may get down to business."



        "We are aware of the issues that were brought up this week with the original draft of the treaty, and we hope to resolve these issues quickly and peacefully." Luna said, approaching her spot on the table. She sat down right next to me, but paid me no attention as she spoke in her regal tone. "Twilight, do you have the revised treaty ready?"



        "Yes, Luna." She nodded and produced a rather large scroll from her bag. "It's right here." 



        "Excellent. Please read the changed text for us all to hear, so that we may discuss it."



        "Ahem." Twilight cleared her throat and opened the scroll so she could read it. "Starting with item 2a. Equestria shall promise to defend its neighbors from threats both domestic and foreign. Equestria will not, however, support the expansion of griffin or changing borders. Griffins and changelings will, in return, defend Equestria from threats domestic and foreign as well. These threats include, but are not limited to, foreign invaders, civil war, large scale monster attacks, and natural or magical disasters."



        She paused to take a breath before continuing. "2b. The three nations also pledge to give aid in form of food, medicine, and labor in a time of crisis. 3a. Effective immediately, the griffins and changelings will receive the ability to cross Equestria's borders, and build trade routes through them. Identification may be required to cross, but no fees will be charged. 3b. Contraband will not be tolerated at the borders. Smugglers who are caught by Equestrian guards will be..."



        I zoned out listening to her. It was great that this treaty was being made and signed, but the details were quite boring to me. I nearly fell asleep again, but thankfully Princess Luna nudged me awake when Twilight was nearly finished reading.



        "..and that covers all the changes from yesterday. Do the changelings or griffins have any questions?"



        "I have a question." One of the griffins practically growled. I later learned his name was Raven Claw. He was the youngest of the three griffin diplomats. "If the changelings were to declare war on the griffins, who would Equestria defend?"



        "That won't happen." I heard myself say, before I had time to think.  Every pony, griffin, and changling stared right at me like I had grown a second head. Princess Celestia was smiling though.



        "Please, Starlight." She said with amusement in her voice. "Why don't you tell us why you think so highly of our changeling neighbors. You have personal experience with them, don't you?"



        This was it. This was why I was sitting at this table today. "Yes, Princess, I do. It all started when I noticed something strange was going on with Twilight and her friends..." I struggled to find the words to tell the story of how Trixie, Discord, Thorax and I did our part to save Equestria from Queen Chrysalis, but I managed. I finished with one, simple statement that I believed whole heartedly.



        "I have complete faith in King Thorax and his abilities to lead the new changeling hive. I also have every reason to trust he will not violate this treaty in any way."



        The representatives all looked at least somewhat impressed by my speech. There was some whispering among the changelings and griffins before they reconvened at the table. One of the griffins finally spoke up.



        "We had not heard such a personal account of that particular event before." Raven Claw explained. "This certainly changes our perspective a little. Perhaps we can extend a claw to the Changelings, after all."



        "I am so happy to hear that." Celestia replied with a positively radiant smile.


*******



        The negotiations went much smoother after that. It was not much longer before an official agreement was made, and the last minor changes to the treaty were finalized. Celestia sent a message to the rest of the castle via a servant, and the signing ceremony was put together at a speed I didn't know was possible.



        I had to fight against nausea once again through the entirety of the signing ceremony. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and I knew I had seen everything that happened once before. Or was it more times than that? I wasn't sure. I was trying my best to be alert of any pony, griffin, or changeling acting suspiciously, but that was proving difficult. At any rate, the treaty was signed and soon after the food and drinks were brought out.



        "Starlight? Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.



        I took a deep breath and my nausea subsided a little. "Yeah, I'm just feeling a little sick to my stomach is all." I said, turning to see who had spoken.  It was Pinkie Pie, of course. "Never mind that, though. Shouldn't you be watching the hallways?"



        "Yeah, I was doing that, but then this super duper nice servant mentioned you were looking down." Pinkie sing-songed. "And I couldn't let you be down on a day like today!"



        My nausea returned with a vengeance. I felt like I was underwater. I tore my gaze back towards the Princesses. Princess Celestia was still drinking her tea that I had carefully inspected for poison, while talking to Raven Claw. I took a sigh of relief, before asking the one question I still had. "Which servant told you that?"



        "Uh, I don't see them anymore, that's odd."  Pinkie said, scanning the room before her ear twitched. "Oh! There she is" She pointed at a cream colored servant mare, carrying a piece of cake towards the Princess. Not trusting it one bit, I tried to scan it with my magic, but she broke my line of sight. I followed her, carefully making my way through the small crowd of ponies. When I saw her again, she was already handing the cake to Princess Celestia. Before the Princess could take a bite, I quickly scanned and determined that it was indeed poisonous.



        "NO!" I screamed as the princess lifted a bite to her mouth. 



        She lowered it in confusion as she asked. "What is the matter, Starlight?" 



        "Do not eat that cake! It's poisoned!" I declared. There was a collective gasp from the room.  The servant pony tried to back away slowly into the crowd, but I would not let her escape. I used my magic to bind her hooves to the floor.  Meanwhile Celestia was staring at her cake, wide eyed as she presumably detected the poison with her own magic as well.



        After a few moments, the Sun Princess immolated her cake, and scowled at the immobilized servant pony. Without a single word, she simply shot a beam of her magic right at the pony. There was a blinding light, and when it cleared, there was no pony standing there.



        No pony indeed, for it was none other than the former queen of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis herself.



        "So I have failed again." She hissed. "No matter, I always have contingency plans."



        I gulped. What did she mean by that? I didn't have much time to ponder this, before the room was engulfed by darkness. Well, most of the room anyway. Celestia had apparently managed to produce enough light from her horn to light a small area around her. Every pony, griffin, and changling tried to huddle as close to the Princess as they could, and I was no different. It felt safer than the pure abyss of black that surrounded us.  There were a few moments of pure terror, and I saw other ponies whispering and crying around me, but I heard none of it. This darkness was magical in nature, and it was blocking sound as well as light.



        Despite that, I heard laughter, and not the kind I wanted to hear at the moment. At first I thought it was just Chrysalis, but there was more than just one voice. Soon there was an entire chorus of creepy laughter. Then, just as suddenly as the darkness had come, it started to recede. Over the course of about a minute the room slowly lit back up with the light from Celestia's horn. It revealed a sight far more horrible than I could have ever imagined.



        There were bodies. Many bodies, of changelings, griffins, and ponies alike. It seemed that anypony that was unable to reach Celestia's light was not allowed to survive. 



        "Pinkie! Trixie!" I cried out, hoping dearly for an answer. I got one.



        "Over here." A sullen voice replied. It was Pinkie Pie's voice, but I had never heard it so sad before. I walked around the corner to the nearby hallway. There I saw yet another sight that would haunt me in my dreams.



        Pinkie was standing next to two corpses. Both of them were ponies I knew. One was Trixie, her face scrunched up, and her fur still wet with blood and tears. She was the better off of the two, however. Huddled over her, probably in an attempt to shield her, was none other than Princess Luna, or what was left of her, anyway. She was almost hard to recognize at first, but the horn on her marred face, the deep blue feathers scattered on the floor, and even her cutie mark which was surprisingly intact compared to the rest of her, made it impossible not to identify the alicorn.



        Pinkie was standing over the two bodies, openly weeping. I walked over to hug the mare, if more for myself than for her, but I stopped when I saw movement in the darkness behind her.



        "Pinkie, get behind me." I said, my voice wavering. Unfortunately the pink mare did not seem to hear me, and the darkness approached her quickly. I charged forwards and tackled the mare, trying to get her out of the way, but I was too slow. The darkness engulfed us.



        I experienced pain like I had never before in my life, and I hope to never again. I felt my fur and skin being ripped from my flesh in every direction. I was stabbed several times in the chest and I coughed blood all over Pinkie. The last thing I remember was crying into her soft, fluffy mane.


> Entry #2 Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


        I woke up in my bed, back at the Castle of Friendship, sweating profusely once again. I coughed violently and even gagged a little as I struggled to breathe. My heart was pounding as my mind reeled from what I had just experienced. I had died! I was fairly certain of that, and yet here I was again, back in my bed. There was almost no evidence of my time looping, except one small detail. A singular dark blue feather that was stuck to my hoof. One that no doubt belonged to the Princess of the Night.  It took me some time to gather my thoughts, and I wrote started writing down the few things that made sense.



 I am stuck in a time loop, from the morning of the 11th, to sometime on the 12th.


My actions can affect the loop, but I do not know how to escape.


Nopony else seems to remember the previous loops besides me


It seems possible to bring things I am holding back with me. (But not ponies?)


Chrysalis is behind at least some of this.


There is some dark magic involved I have never seen before.



        I stared at the last note I wrote for several moments as I recalled with great detail the darkness that attacked us and killed me in the previous loop. What was that? Thinking back, I could feel the mana that saturated the air. It was so thick it actually made it harder to breathe. Some powerful magic was obviously at play, but I had never heard of anything like that happening before.



        I looked at the feather I had accidentally brought back with me. It had dried blood on the shaft, but the color of the plume was definitely Princess Luna's. It was the first definitive, physical proof of my looping. It scared me to see such undeniable proof of what I had witnessed, but at the same time it made me think. Why did the feather come back with me, and not my saddlebag? If I wanted to use this to my advantage somehow, I needed to know how it worked. It gave me an idea.



        I pulled out a blank notebook I was planning on using for some magical studies, and I ripped out the front page where I had written some now unimportant notes. I needed some way to test if I could bring something useful back with me. Why not keep a journal? It would also serve a double purpose. What if each time I looped, there was also a timeline where I didn't? What if everypony is mourning my death right now?



        I had more and more of these thoughts as I picked up my quill and ink in my magic. And so I began writing...



        "My name is Starlight Glimmer. I am currently unable to escape from the bizarre circumstances in which I find myself..."




> Entry #3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






        I have succeeded in bringing this journal back with me! Maybe anything small enough to hold in my front hooves can come back with me. I would test this theory with other objects, but then I might lose this journal. I can't afford that. This journal is how I plan to stay sane, even if I loop a hundred times or more.  By my count, this is the third time I have gone back, making this loop #4. I will keep counting as long as I can.



        Last loop, as much as it pained me, I tried the one thing I dreaded most to get it out of the way. I needed information, so I hope nopony who reads this will think ill of me, but I had to try it at least once. Last loop, I did nothing. More accurately, I did nothing to change the course of events. I simply let them play out and gathered as much information as I could, and I learned quite a bit. I'll attach my notes from last loop to this page, for future reference. (And so I don't lose them)



        

The 11th:



        Twilight and Spike travel to Canterlot in the afternoon. I am left a note instructing me to be in Canterlot on the morning of the 12th.



        Trixie is expecting some big surprise from me on her birthday. Every time I skip it, I can't help but feel like a bad friend. I spent some time with her, as I had originally scheduled to. I also talked to the residents of Ponyville about the recent goings on. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. In fact, for a town like Ponyville, it has been a little too peaceful lately.



        I did notice something different from the first time I looped, and I don't think it was my doing. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Trixie all got invitations to come to Canterlot for the signing ceremony. On the outside, I tried to look happy that they were coming with me, and I would be lying if I wasn't a little relieved to have company, but at the same time it made me very scared.



        Who would die this time? What would go wrong?



        The 12th: Nothing of note happened until the ceremony. I woke up extra early, despite the feeling that I haven't slept well since this began. I walked the streets of Canterlot and asked lots of ponies about their day, and how they were doing. Again, this wasn't idle curiosity. I wanted to know if anything had changed recently, but same as Ponyville, everything seemed ordinary.



        At approximately 11 am, the ceremony began. At 11:30 the food was brought out. Right as the clock approached noon, I began to feel ill. I made sure that I was tightly holding my notes and my journal as I watched Princess Celestia and the crowd intently. At 11:54 Celestia was poisoned, and by 11:57 she was-





        As a final note, I knew I would loop soon when I was writing the final notes, so I kept them brief. I found it interesting, that while my notes and journal came back with me, my quill and ink did not. They were the same quill and ink that I found back in their spot in my room, however. Even more interesting, was that the notebook I had repurposed into this journal was missing. Perhaps the magic that is bringing me back in time has anything that is brought back replace its equivalent when it arrives. Finally, Luna's feather that I had brought from loop 2, was now missing. I had left it on my desk in my room, and it was the first thing that struck me as different when I woke up again.



        Next on my agenda was a long talk with Twilight. If anypony else could help me in this kind of situation, it would be her. Hopefully my knowledge of the previous loops would be enough to get her to believe me.



        I walked into her study, where I knew she would be drafting the final version of the treaty.



        "Hi, Twilight." I said as nonchalantly as possible. "You got a minute to talk?"



        "Uh, I'm a little busy." Twilight replied while only looking up briefly at the nearby clock. "But I suppose I can spare a few minutes." She put down her quill and scroll, looking at me expectantly.



        "So, if I were to tell you that I was stuck in a time loop between this morning and tomorrow around noon, and couldn't get out, what would you say?"



        Twilight snorted a little. "I'd say that you were reading too many fantasy novels. I did time travel once, but that wasn't a loop. Star Swirl proved that time loops are impossible. Somepony has to cast the spell each time. You can't just accidentally get stuck in one!"



        I nodded slowly. "Uh huh." I thought for a moment. "Twilight do you know the memory sharing spell?"



        She looked up from the treaty again, with raised eyebrows. "I do, but I've only ever used it in practice. I've never actually cast it on somepony."



        "Cast it on me. Now. I need to show you something." I said with the most determined look I could manage.



********



        Twilight was sobbing into my chest uncontrollably. I embraced her back, and welcomed her sympathy. 



        "I'm sorry you had to see that." I whispered. "But I needed you to understand. I need your help, Twilight."



        That seemed to calm her down a bit. She took a few deep breaths and, besides some puffy eyes, almost looked normal again. Her face hardened a bit, and she pulled out a clipboard and a freshly dipped quill.



        About an hour later, Twilight had grilled me for details on everything I had experienced since I started looping. Between showing her this journal, the spell, and my testimony, I think she got a pretty detailed picture of what was going on. She went completely silent after I described the evil darkness two loops ago, though.



        "Twilight?"



        At the sound of her name, she snapped out of whatever she was thinking.



        "Sorry, I'm just trying to think what in Equestria that darkness spell could be." She admitted. "But I honestly have no clue. I've never heard of anything like that before."



        "Me either." I sighed. "But that wasn't the only thing I wanted to ask about. It seems like I'm the only pony who remembers anything when time loops, so I need to ask you a very personal question Twilight."



        "You need something to make me believe you in a future loop?"



        I nodded.



        "Okay, let me sign your journal. If I sign it with my own magic, I'll be forced to believe you since it will pass any kind of illusion test." She explained.



        "Good idea." I said. I had not thought of that, but it made sense. She did just that, and signed on the inside cover of this journal.



        Afterwards, we discussed my observations on the various details of the bad things happening on the 12th, until Twilight was picked up to go to Canterlot in the early afternoon. She had not yet finished revising the treaty, thanks to my distracting her, but she was confident she could still finish on time.



        We came to the conclusion that I needed more information about this darkness, and that there were two likely sources for information on it: the Royal Canterlot Archives, and the Princesses themselves. I took the next train to Canterlot. I would probably have to break into the archives but I didn't see that being an issue. Even if I got caught by the guards, I would just wait till the next loop and try again.



*******



        I arrived in Canterlot just before four in the afternoon. I spent the remaining time before sundown scouting out the possible entrances to the archives. They were well guarded, but not well enough to stop a determined and experienced unicorn such as myself.



        At sundown, I teleported past the first pair of guards. I masked the noise of my spell by also knocking over a pot just outside at the same time. My plan worked perfectly. The nearby guards were distracted by the pot smashing against the ground, and they never heard me teleport.



        Now I was inside. Before me was a long hallway with numerous turns and doors. Thankfully, I had asked Twilight about the layout of this particular wing of the castle. She had told me how to get to the archives. I cast a spell to soften my steps against the hard castle floor, and walked silently down the hall. I quickly came up to the next set of guards. Before they could spot me, I hid behind a pillar. I charged as much mana into my horn as I could manage before casting an invisibility spell on myself and running straight past the guards. It lasted just long enough for me to round the corner and get behind another pillar.



        In case you aren't a unicorn or versed in advanced magic, I should explain. Invisibility is some of the hardest magic I know. There is a reason not every unicorn can use spells that grant invisibility an that is because they burn through your mana very very quickly. I had only managed to become invisible for a few seconds, and even that had left me feeling quite drained. I likely couldn't do it again for a while.



        And thus was my dilemma as another pair of guards approached. 



        "Did you hear something" one guard said.



        "Yeah it sounded like hoofsteps, but I don't see anypony." the other replied.



        "Let me check over here."



        A guard was heading straight for me, and I was still fairly exhausted on mana. I couldn't do anything too fancy, so I cast the weakest enchantment I knew that would do the trick. I made the spot where I was hiding very hard to look at. If you knew the spell, it wouldn't fool you, but thankfully this guard turned out to be a pegasus. He walked right past me without checking behind the pillar. The spell had simply made him forget to do so.



        I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.  Once the guards had passed, I recast my spell to silence my hoofsteps and slowly made my way to the final choke point I would have to pass: the entrance to the archives.



        One very tired looking guard stood at attention at the gate. If I had not expended so much mana earlier, I could have just teleported the distance, but at the moment I did not want to risk a miscast. Instead, I carefully crafted a sleep charm using as little mana as possible. I had to be careful. Too little mana, and it would have no effect, but in my current state, if I tried to use too much the spell would  fail.



        Thankfully, my many years of practicing charms paid off. As my spell took effect, the guard looked rather tired. In less than a minute, he was completely asleep. Quietly, I levitated the keys from his armor, and unlocked the door. Then I slipped inside.



        I do not know exactly how long I spent scouring the archives for information on dark magic. Specifically, I was hoping to find any mention of the darkness that had attacked us, but just to be sure I at least skimmed anything even remotely related to dark magic. 



        At first, my search was unfruitful. There was not a single mention of dark magic anywhere I looked, until I noticed an enchantment cast on the archives themselves. It was like a much stronger version of the spell I had used to elude the close call with the guards earlier. It was simply trying to make me ignore an entire section of the archives.



        With much difficulty, I was able to cast a counterspell on myself. My horn was throbbing, and I would likely be unable to do anything more than simple telekinesis, but none of that mattered at the moment. I nearly gasped aloud when I saw what had been hidden by the enchantment. It was quite a sight.



        Before me was a rather small section of the library, but the sheer amount of mana radiating from it was nothing short of terrifying. I now understood why the Princesses had created the enchantment. It was because they didn't want to look at this every time they entered the archives. The books on the shelves were straight out of stories used to scare foals before bedtime. Some of them even looked like they were bound in pony leather! I shivered at the thought of a ponies' fur being used in such a manner.



        Despite my revulsion, I was finally able to pull a random uninviting tome off the shelves. Levitating it should have been hard with how mana starved I was, but as soon as I gripped it in my magic I felt power pour straight into my horn. In my shock I dropped the book on the ground. It landed with a rather loud thud.  My eyes widened as I listened to see if I had woken the guard outside, but silence was the only reply. I let out a quiet sigh of relief and I opened the tome after briefly checking it for enchantments. As far as I could tell, it was safe, just drenched in mana, somehow. The only enchantment it had was one to preserve it.



        The book in question was written on a type of parchment I had never seen before, and it looked very old. There was nothing written on the black cover that was made of tree bark. Despite all my precautions, as soon as I had opened the cover, I knew I made a mistake.



        Black mana so thick you could see it oozed from the pages. I could feel a charm spell trying very hard to make me obey. Make me read every word, cover to cover. Make me obey. If I had not been so familiar with charm spells, I would likely have fallen victim.



        I slammed the book shut, and the mana diffused into the air. My knees grew weak and I collapsed on the floor in fear. Was every book on black magic going to be this bad? How was I supposed to get the information I needed? I picked the book back up, to put it back on the shelf, but it fought me. Literally, the book moved, and escaped my hooves! 



        The book shook for a few moments on the floor, before opening its cover again, spewing the black mana into the air again. I tried to shut the book with my hooves, but it was no use. The cover wouldn't budge, and the black mana ate away at my fur and skin. It was a horrible sensation, not unlike putting one's hoof over an open flame.



        In a moment of weakness, I screamed out in pain as I was blown back by a magical force. Upon impact with whatever hard surface was behind me, I lost consciousness.



*******



        When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a white ceiling, and quickly deduced I was still somewhere in the castle. I was lying down in a rather small, and stiff bed. My front hooves were bandaged. As I slowly sat up and looked around, I saw that I was in the castle infirmary.



        "Oh, you're awake!" A mare in a nurse's outfit exclaimed as she walked by.



        I tried to speak, but my throat was far too dry. "Ye... Wa.." I coughed violently even trying to get a few words out.



        "Water?" The mare asked. I nodded, impressed she understood me. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere. The guards have been ordered to keep you here for the moment."



        I nodded. It made sense. If I was here, that meant I had been found sneaking into the archives without permission. While the nurse was gone, I thought about the book I had found last night. It had many magical properties, and yet I could not detect any of them with my usual set of spells. I had never heard of such a thing, but there were a lot of things happening to me recently I had never heard of before.  I had never heard of a time loop outside of fiction, or that darkness that attacked me.



        The nearby door opened again, and the nurse carefully entered again, balancing a tray on one hoof. She had brought an entire pitcher of water and a glass. She placed the tray on the other end of my bed and poured me a glass. I tried to levitate the cup with my magic, but I winced as I was unable to draw any mana through.



        "No! Don't use any magic right now!" The nurse scolded.



        Unable to reply verbally, I simply nodded slowly. This time, I grabbed the glass very carefully with my hooves. I brought it to my mouth and drank deeply. My throat lubricated again, I was able to speak once again.



        "Thank you. Do you mind if I ask what time it is?" This was important information. I needed to be alert and ready when the ceremony was in full swing around 11.



        "It's 10:42." The nurse replied. "You want to go to the ceremony, right?"



        I nodded. "I can't miss it. It's very important."



        The nurse looked around the room for a moment. There wasn't anypony else in the room except one guard, who had been completely silent the whole time.



        "I'm afraid I can't let you leave." The nurse said in an entirely different voice. In a flash of green, suddenly Chrysalis was before me. I tried to scream, but found myself unable. I coughed violently, and felt severe pain in my chest.



        "You poisoned me!" I exclaimed, remembering the symptoms of the poison that killed Celestia.



        "You know too much." Chrysalis said simply, walking for the door. "I couldn't let you ruin my plans a second time. I won't take any chances." In another flash of green, she was now a royal guard.



                My vision started to blur, and the pain in my chest worsened as it spread outwards to every part of my body. Knowing my death was approaching, I managed to grab my journal from the nearby table. Holding it tight, I could only hope this would work again.



        "Revenge is a dish best served cold, after all." Were the last words I heard before the door shut and I was left alone to die.

> Entry #4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






        I was done trying to be subtle in my information gathering. It was time to make an audience with either Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, and ask them what they knew about dark magic. I could also get them to help me with any research I needed. If I showed them my memories, they would believe me.



        I was unsurprised this time when I looped. It wasn't the first time I had experienced death, which was a terrifying thought, but somehow it was strangely comforting too. I realized that I could fail as many times as I needed. I was, however, pleased that my journal continued to keep me company. At times I feel this journal is key to my sanity, and that may well be the case.



        I grabbed some toast from the castle kitchen without saying much more than "good morning" to Spike, before heading straight to the train station. I took the early morning train to Canterlot, and I arrived before noon. 



        When I approached the castle, I was questioned by the guards. I simply told them I was here to speak to the Princesses, and they informed me that Princess Luna was expecting me. I pretended not to be surprised as I thanked them and walked inside. A guard led me straight to Princess Luna, who then told me to follow her.



        Princess Luna led me into the far side of her personal wing of the castle. I had never set foot there before. Mostly, it looked the same as the rest of the castle, except the tapestries and rugs bore a more nocturnal theme. Most of them bore Luna's cutie mark. 



        Soon we arrived in a room I could only assume was Luna's personal office. It had a desk, several bookshelves, and most of the furniture was obviously made to fit someone Luna's size. I sat in one of the chairs meant for guests, and asked the question that had been on my mind the entire walk.



        "You said you were expecting me?"



         "Yes, we were expecting you, Starlight Glimmer. We can sense the rift in harmony that emanates from you as if you were a black void." She narrowed her eyes. "I do not sense hostility from you, and I do not think you have gone evil if you have requested an audience with me in my own castle. Please, enlighten us on what is happening to you."



        "I can do better. Let me show you." I answered. I showed Luna my memories. I do not know how long we sat there, but we both experienced my memories since I began looping as if they had just happened. When I finished I waited patiently for Luna to process the information. After several agonizing minutes, she finally spoke again.



         "This is rather serious." She said in a quiet, pained voice. "Both my sister and I consider ourselves quite talented at scrying, and perceiving the near future." The Princess of the Night sighed. "Unfortunately, our visions have been clouded of late. I had been trying to be optimistic about it, but clearly that is the wrong approach



        "Starlight Glimmer, we want you to fix this. We do not know why you alone are stuck in a time loop, but we believe it is a blessing. You alone have the power to change these horrible outcomes."



        I nodded. "I thought so at first too, but I can't do anything to stop the darkness!"



         Luna looked pensive for a few more moments. "Yes, I remember seeing it in your memories. It reminded us of the magic Sombra created during his short tyranny. Unfortunately I do not know of any written records of his evil magic. In our time, we defeated him with the elements, but that is no longer an option."



        "So what do I do?" I asked, my voice cracking. I wasn't going to cry, I told myself. Crying in front of Princess Luna would accomplish nothing. I hadn't requested her presence for pity. I needed advice. I took a deep breath and held my tears.



        "We believe there is another solution. We saw how our sister was able to keep the darkness at bay. Her light magic could not defeat it, but it did seem to have an effect. Long ago, there was an artifact created by Starswirl the Bearded that could absorb, and then amplify certain types of magic. It was especially useful for amplifying light spells. The simplified versions were quite common for a time." Luna levitated a small crystal out of her desk. It glowed a bright blue in her magic.



        "Is that a magelight crystal?" I asked. Magelight crystals were expensive because they were very rare. I had only seen one before in a museum.



        "Yes, it is. The crystals are rare today, but before I was banished to the moon, they were as common as torches for light among unicorns. But Starswirl had the most pure crystal of all. It was one of his most proud accomplishments in his early days. Unfortunately, we do not know where it is today."



        "You don't know?" I asked in disbelief. "How could you lose an artifact that important?"



        "I did not lose it!" Luna protested loudly. In a quieter voice, she added, "I was banished for a thousand years. When I returned, it was missing."



        I winced. I had not thought of that possibility. "Where did you see it last?" I asked, trying to change the subject slightly.



        "In our old castle, which lies in what is now the Everfree forest."



         "Of course.." I sighed. I hated the Everfree. "I guess I’ll go there ne-" I stopped mid-sentence to gag. Suddenly I felt severely dizzy and nauseous. I immediately recognized the symptoms as meaning I might loop soon, but this only confused me further. It was still the 11th! Before I could think about it anymore, my vision went dark and I felt extremely cold. Then, I saw a vision which I have much difficulty describing.


*******



        Everything went by so fast. I saw ponies, going about their lives. At first despite how fast the scenery was changing, I had no trouble understanding that this is what was normal for them. It wasn't normal for me, though. I was looking at a town I didn't recognise at first, and time was speeding by. Days, weeks, and possibly months flew by, and ponies moved all around me in a blur of colors. My only reference for time was the rising of the Sun and Moon.



         At first, I was unable to move anything except my eyes, but eventually I was able to move at a very sluggish pace. One of the first things I did was turn around, and I gasped at what I saw. Before me was a castle that I both instantly recognized, but was also quite different from what I remembered. It was undoubtedly the Castle of Friendship, in the center of what must be Ponyville, but had I not seen the castle, I would not have recognized the latter. Ponyville was huge! Everywhere I looked, there were cobblestone streets, and large, expensive looking houses. If anything, it looked more like Canterlot than the Ponyville I knew.



        Just as I had that thought, I woke up gasping for air again. My mouth was dry. Every muscle in my body ached. I looked around. I was in a dark, dimly lit room. I lit up my horn and gasped at what I saw.



         I was in a prison cell, that much was obvious. More interesting, was the fact that the bars were made of a combination of complicated magical locks and crystal, that had been purposely shaped into barbs. Across from me I could see a few other cells. There were ponies huddled together in one, obviously trying their best to get some sleep. In another cell, there was just one blue stallion, staring at a wall. When I looked a little closer, I could see his body was covered in bruises.  Finally, in the rightmost cell, was the most surprising sight of all: a changeling queen!



         The first thought that came to mind was escape. I tried to charge up a teleport spell in my horn, but I cried out as I received a painful shock in the neck.  I felt my neck with a hoof. I was wearing some kind of metal collar with a crystal attached. 



        "It's no use." The blue stallion across from me said. "We can't use magic here." I looked at him. Why would he say that, he's not a...



        I gasped again as I saw it. He was a unicorn, with emphasis on the word 'was'. If you looked closely, you could see the stub of what was once a horn on his forehead. It had been cleanly broken off at the base. Who could do such a cruel thing? I started crying as the hopelessness of the situation finally hit me. I couldn't escape. I didn't even know how I got here. The only good news is that I still had my journal and my quill, but I quickly decided I needed to hide them so they would not get taken away. The journal fit neatly under my matress, and I hid the ink behind my chamber pot.



        With that taken care of, I crawled back into my bed and started crying again.



         "Celestia help us." I said. I heard a snort, followed by a laugh. Confused, I looked up to find Queen Chrysalis laughing at me from her cell.



        "You poor foal. Did you forget what happened to your precious Celestia?"



        I had no response. My throat was choked up, and I couldn't find any words.



        "Did that collar fry your memories? Well let me remind you. Your Princesses Celestia and Luna are dead." She said in the most venomous voice possible. 



        My memories of watching Celestia die played over and over in my head. I quietly cried as I felt an incredible amount of guilt for her death. How could I have not saved her? Why was I in a jail cell? What even really happened? I was once again in a situation where nothing made sense to me, and I was very scared.



         While I was crying, I was vaguely aware of the sound of Chrysalis, laughing at my sorrow. When she suddenly stopped a few minutes later, it was jarring. I looked back up at her. She was grasping at her throat with her hooves as if she could not breathe.



        "You will speak when spoken to, Chrysalis." A new voice said. It was a guard, dressed in what looked like royal guard armor, except the colors were all wrong. They resembled a night guard, except they bore stars instead of a moon, and the armor colors were primarily purple and pink.



        "At ease, Night Wing." Another pony said. This voice was more female, and vaguely familiar.



        "Yes, your Highness." Night Wing responded, turning and bowing to the new pony. I gasped when she walked in my field of view. It was Twilight Sparkle! Except it wasn't.



        The Twilight Sparkle I knew was a kind, humble pony, who despite being a princess and an alicorn, never pulled rank unless she absolutely had to. This pony seemed the complete opposite. She wore fancy regalia that matched her new and different, darker coat colors. She held her head high, and snubbed most of the other prisoners; they weren't worth her time.



        Instead, she directly approached my cell and sat before me.



        "Well hello, my dear student." 'Twilight' said in a mocking tone.



        "H-hi Twilight. Funny meeting you here." I said, trying to lighten the depressing mood.



        "Funny, is it?" She responded with a cocked eyebrow. "How so? Enlighten me."



        "Well, I'm obviously trapped in this cell, in what I'm guessing is the Castle of Friendship, and that's funny, because last I checked friends don't imprison friends." I answered, trying to keep my voice as even as possible. "We are friends, right?"



        She frowned. "Well, then tell me this. Do friends let their friends get away with treason?"



        "Treason? What treason? I was trying to save Celestia!"



         "Hahah, a likely story!" 'Twilight' laughed. "We have witnesses who saw you with the disguised Crysalis. They saw you escort her to the Princess and then distract the Princess while she drank the poison!"



        "That can't be true! Let me show you my memories, that isn't how it happened at all!" I protested.



        "Why would I need to see your memories? I already read them before I threw you in that cell. Stop lying, my dear student. I would hope that you go to the gallows with at least a shred of dignity."



        "You don't trust me?" I said, in disbelief. I was genuinely hurt by that more than the prospect of being executed.



         'Twilight's face remained neutral. "We will convene for court in the morning. Crysalis, you, and all the other ponies being convicted of this high treason are all being tried together. Then, in the afternoon, each of you found guilty will be hung on the spot. I had only come down here to inform you of that, since you had been unconscious for the last day or so, not listen to you beg for mercy and tell me lies." Her voice grew much louder as she spoke. It began echoing through the walls as she gave her final line: "All of you found guilty will rot in Tartarus for all eternity. You will not be even given a funeral. I shall ensure that you are all forgotten by everyone you ever knew."



        With those cruel, ominous words, she left.



*******



        I can't bring myself to write what happened in the time between then and the trial. Many sad, personal stories were shared between myself and the other prisoners. By the end, even Crysalis expressed some guilt in the outcome of her actions.



         In the morning, we were all dragged into a joint cell, just outside the throne room. It was cramped, smelly, and uncomfortable. Queen Chrysalis was curled up in a corner, staring at a wall with eyes that were completely unfocused. It was in that moment, that I sympathized with her. I poked her with a hoof and asked the one burning question I had to know the answer to.



        "Why?"



        "Why what." She replied so quietly I almost didn't hear her.



        "Why did you want to kill Celestia?"



         "It wasn't supposed to kill her." Was her answer. Names were now being called into the courtroom. There wasn't much time left, but I didn't care. This conversation with Chrysalis was the most important thing in the world to me at the moment.



        "What do you mean?" I asked. "The poison wasn't supposed to be lethal? It killed her so quickly! How could you not know?"



        "I was lied to."



        "By who?"



        "I don't know, but obviously I was a foal for trusting them."



        "Surely you must know somethi-"



         "Queen Chrysalis. Come out now." I was interrupted by the guards calling for Chrysalis. It was time for her trial. She looked at me with an expression I had never expected before walking out of the cell.



        "I am so sorry for you." Were the last words she spoke to me.



*******



        All sense of time after that lost meaning to me. Some of the other ponies asked me to comfort them, or sought to comfort me, but I could not bring myself to care. I was weeping into the coat of a mare whose name I could not remember when my name was called.



        I was brought into the throne room and shoved into a stand. My front hooves were cuffed to it, so that I could not run away. I openly wept when I saw the gallows. Queen Chrysalis, and many other ponies had already been executed, and were just hanging there.



         The trial itself was a farce. I tried to defend myself, but they had hard evidence of my involvement, and several eye witnesses. In a matter of minutes, I had been sentenced to death.



         Immediately I was brought to the gallows, and a cloth bag was thrown over my head. I was openly sobbing as they brought the noose to my neck. One last time, out of desperation, I tried to teleport away, but all I accomplished was another fresh shock from my collar. The next thing I new, the ground fell out from beneath me and I lost consciousness. My last thoughts were of Twilight and how she had betrayed me.





> Entry #5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


        The next thing I remembered was waking back up in my bed. I gasped for air as the sensation of being hung still lingered in my mind. Uncertain of where or when I was, I carefully peeked around the castle a bit. Twilight was once again sitting at her desk, working on the treaty, and Spike was in the kitchen making toast. There were none of the royal guards wearing purple armor. The calendar in the kitchen read June 11th; I had looped again.




        Somewhere in my mind, the entire time I was getting sentenced to the gallows I had hoped this would happen. Feeling oddly vindicated I started laughing out loud, but it didn't make me feel any better. I was glad to be alive, yet the experience had been too real for me. I needed to keep my mind on track, or I would soon lose it. How much more of this sort of thing could a pony's mind take?




        "Starlight? Are you okay?" A voice called. It belonged to Spike, who was now standing behind me with his half-eaten toast, a confused look on his face.




        "No Spike, I'm not okay." I replied, tears streaming from my face. The kind little dragon responded by running over and hugging me. His breath was awful, and he was getting crumbs all over my fur, but I didn't care. I was thankful for the gesture, and hugged him back tightly.




        We stayed like that for a minute or so before he asked, "So who was it?"




        "What do you mean?"




        "Who made you cry? I'll beat him up!" Spike asked in a tone that would have been threatening, had he not been half my size. I started giggling as my mind processed what Spike had assumed.




        "You think I'm crying about a stallion?" I managed to say between laughs. 




        "You're... not?"




        I shook my head. "No, Spike. I wasn't crying because of a stallion." I finally stopped laughing and just smiled back at Spike. "But thank you. I feel much better now." I stroked his adorable head gently. "You helped me remember I'm not alone."




        Spike still looked confused, but said nothing. We stayed like that for at least another minute before parting and going our separate ways.




*******




        Much later, I had enlisted Trixie, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie's help in finding Luna's missing crystal. Trixie was all too eager to help me, and Pinkie Pie was not hard to convince either. "That sounds like fun!" was her response. I had not originally planned to bring Rainbow Dash, but she practically volunteered once she heard Pinkie Pie was going. I suspected I could have asked Twilight for help as well, but I figured she needed to complete the treaty this cycle.  In the early afternoon, we set off into the Everfree Forest towards the Castle of the Two Sisters.




        "So remind me again why we need to find this crystal thingy?" Rainbow Dash asked about three seconds in.




        "You mean besides the fact that Princess Luna herself asked me to retrieve it?" I shot back. "It's a powerful magical artifact made by Starswirl the Bearded. Do you really want to know more than that?"




        Rainbow Dash muttered something about unicorns under her breath, but then replied, "No, I guess not."




        Besides the sound of Pinkie Pie softly humming some gleeful song as she bounced along, we walked in relative silence for a few minutes before I noticed Trixie's hooves were shaking. I gently poked her in the side, and she jumped a bit before realizing it was me.




        "What's wrong, Trixie?" I said, giving her an evil grin. "Are you afraid?"




        "T-trixie fears nothing!" was her reply.




        "Really?" Rainbow Dash said, obviously unconvinced. "Then why do you look like you just saw Nightmare Moon?"




        "Trixie doesn't know what you are talking about." She scowled. "This forest does not scare her, nor the many deadly animals and plants that live here." Trixie started breathing faster as she continued talking. "No, Trixie is not scared at all."




        “That’s good,” Pinkie Pie sing-songed, “cuz I thought you looked kinda scared, but that would be silly cuz Rainbow Dash is with us and Starlight is pretty powerful too, Imeannotaspowerf-”




        She was cut off when Rainbow Dash inserted her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth.




        “Okay Pinkie we get it.” Rainbow pleaded.




        Pinkie gently pushed the hoof away. “We do?” She looked over at Trixie, who still looked a bit nervous, though not as much as before.




        “Trixie supposes she is in good hooves.” Trixie replied in subdued tones.



        The rest of the trip went rather smoothly after that.



*******


        We finally arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Even in ruins, it was quite a sight to behold. It was much smaller than its successor in Canterlot, but it was still very large. Just from the outside, I could tell it was divided down the middle into two opposite wings. One each for Celestia and Luna, I presumed.



        We spent a long time searching the entire castle for Starswirl's crystal. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to find. At first, Pinkie and the others were eager to help turn over every stone in search of the crystal, but several hours later our enthusiasm had waned. Celestia's sun hung low in the sky, and I decided it was time we either set up camp for the night, or headed home.



        It was right then, that I happened to notice that something looked off. Behind where the two thrones would have once sat, there was an odd pattern in the wall. One that didn’t make any sense, structurally. I approached the wall and inspected it more closely.


*******

      Several pages are missing from the text here. They were neatly torn out at the base, leaving only tiny scraps of paper.

*******


        I have rewritten this part many times. I find it extremely hard to describe exactly what happened as I feel words cannot truly do the experience justice, but I will try.



        The next few things that happened to me felt like a blur. It was like I wasn’t really there? I had experienced something similar the few times I had been sent back in time before, but they were nothing like this. This was far stronger. It felt like I was moving in slow motion, but unable to control my actions. And yet, paradoxically, the whole event felt like it only took maybe a minute or two. Before, I felt like I was underwater; this time the pressure was choking me. At least, until I started falling.



        When I touched my hoof to the wall, that was when I felt time slow to a crawl. My vision went completely white for a moment and then a bright tendril of light shot out into the sky. I was blasted backwards as the wall I touched shattered into a million pieces, or rather what looked like a wall did. Now we could clearly see it was in fact an illusion. There was a hidden staircase behind it!



        I think I lost consciousness when I collided with one of the stone columns. The next thing I remember, I was being carried down those stairs by Trixie, as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash followed. We found the artifact, but it was encased in some powerful magical barrier. My memory of this part is especially hazy, but somehow I managed to get through the barrier and touch the crystal. Then, it only got worse.



        In short, I fell, but not quite. At least, it felt like I was falling. I'm not sure how long I fell, but it was a long time. Long enough for me to change moods from terrified, to confused, to somewhat calmer as I tried fruitlessly to figure out what was happening. Finally, as I wondered if I would be stuck falling through an endless black void forever, I suddenly landed, hard. 



	Pain. For several long moments, all I could feel was pain. Before I could regain rational thought and see what had happened, I heard a voice.


        "Are you okay?" It said. The voice was feminine, and I did not recognize it.



        I tried opening my eyes and looking around. I saw branches, grass, and a small green earth pony mare with a blonde mane. The world was upside down. Slowly, it sunk into my rather rattled mind that I was stuck in a tree. As I attempted to move my limbs, I confirmed that I was, indeed, stuck.



        "I'm stuck." I replied. "Can you help?"



        "Oh, Yes! Ah’ course!” The young mare replied. “I’ll get ya down in a jiffy.”



        She eyed the tree carefully before turning around, rearing up and bucking the tree. My whole world shook violently. Before I knew it I was airborne, but right as I expected a hard landing again, I was caught in the hooves of my savior.



        “Why hello there, Missy.” She said. “Mah name’s Granny Smith. What’s yers?”



        I stared at her blankly for a moment before automatically replying. “I’m Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.” I looked myself over briefly. I still had my saddlebags, and besides a few new bruises I was probably fine. Thank Celestia this Granny Smith was here. Who knew how long I could have been stuck in a tree?



        Wait. Granny Smith? In my not-quite-alert state I had almost missed the fact that this pony called herself Granny Smith. Was she a badly disguised changeling, or just a pony that didn’t want to give me her real name?



        “Well ain’t that a unicorn’s name if I ever heard one!” She laughed, as she gently put me down on my hooves. I was still a tad disoriented, but I managed to stand. 



        “I’m sorry?”



        “Don’t be. I don’t mean no offense, it's just this is mostly an earth pony town, so we don’t get many unicorns that come through these parts.” She explained. “Might I ask how you ended up in that tree?”



        I didn’t want to lie to this mare who just saved me, but I couldn’t really explain what happened myself. So I said just that: “I’m not quite sure.”



        “Yah don’t know?” Granny Smith acted surprised for a moment before rubbing her chin with a hoof. “I guess ya wouldn’t. What do ya remember?”



        “I remember falling. Then everything hurt.” It was all technically true. As I looked at this ‘Granny Smith’ I could see a resemblance to the real thing. They had the same coat color, and although the Granny Smith that I had met before had a grey mane, while this one had a blonde one, their faces did look somewhat similar.



        “Alright, you can tell me if you remember anything else later. Right now, follow me. You can spend the night with my family.”



        “Really?” It was my time to be surprised again. “Just like that, you’ll give me a place to sleep?”



        “Well I don’t know about you, Miss Glimmer, but I don’t want to stay out here any longer.” Granny Smith explained. Then in a lower voice she continued, “Celestia will set the sun soon. We need to get back to Ponyville before the Timberwolves come out. They get feisty this time a year.”



*******


        Granny Smith led us back out of the Everfree Forest rather easily. The paths had changed somewhat from my memory, and I might have gotten lost if she had not helped. I thought we might pass right by Zecora’s hut, but it was nowhere to be seen. That was not the biggest surprise, however. No, that was when we made it back to Ponyville.



        It wasn’t the Ponyville I remembered. It wasn’t even half the size. Twilight’s crystal castle was nowhere to be seen, and many other buildings were missing as well. It was an entirely different village!




        “This is Ponyville?” I asked in disbelief.



        “Well, I’m sorry it ain’t Canterlot, Miss unicorn, but we like it just fine here.” Granny Smith said, cantering ahead of me.



        “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it that way.” I protested. “I just expected something… different.”



        She slowed down and looked back at me as she cocked an eyebrow. “Different, how?”



        “I, uh, guess I just expected more ponies.” This was also not entirely false. This Ponyville was missing more than just a few ponies, though.



        This made Granny Smith smile. “Well, yer one more pony, ain’t ya?”



        I smiled back. “I guess I am.”



        “Come on, let’s eat supper and get some sleep.”



        “That sounds good to me.” I replied honestly.



*******



	The rest of my evening with Granny Smith confirmed my suspicions. Or rather, one look at the calendar did. It was the year 1193 R.C.! I had somehow traveled back in time over fifty years!



	To be exact, right now it is the morning of June 9th, 1193 R.C. A Monday. Funny, since I had traveled back fifty-five years, almost to the day. 



	Not even Starswirl the Bearded could do that! All of his spells were limited to a maximum of around fifteen years. Most ponies wouldn’t know that, since his time travel spells are all forbidden, but I happened to have some first hoof experience. Anypony reading this probably knows about my most embarrassing mistake ever, when I almost destroyed Equestria over my petty feud with Twilight. What you might not know is that I felt I had to act right away when I found Starswirl’s spells because in less than a year I might not have been able to travel back far enough.



	But now I was over fifty years in the past! How? Why? I had so many questions. Before I met Twilight, I laughed at the existance of fate. Now? I’m nearly sure this is no coincidence.



	“Starlight?” A familiar voice spoke, “I don’t mind givin ya a bed to sleep on, but it ain’t no free ride here.”



	        I looked up from my journal. Granny Smith had come to wake me up. She stood at the doorway, patiently awaiting me to follow.



	“Let me guess,” I said, standing up and stretching my legs. “You need my help bucking apples?”



	“Oh, the smart-pants unicorn thinks she can buck apples?” a new voice defiantly questioned. The pony in question walked through the door a moment later. It was a small tom-coltish filly, with a rather striking coat of bright fire orange. Her mane was blonde, but dirty with speckles of browns and gold, as opposed to Granny Smith’s immaculate natural blonde.



	Her name was Ambrosia, or little Amb, as many called her. She was quite the lively filly. What worried me, however, is that she didn’t exist in present day Ponyville from my perspective. I had never heard of her. That was strange, since I knew everypony in Ponyville.



	“Ambrosia, that is no way to talk to a guest!” Granny Smith scolded her.



	“It’s fine Granny Smith. I think she just requires a demonstration.” I replied, smugly grinning right back at the filly. “Just give me a moment to pack up here.”



	I think I’ll end this entry here for now. Hopefully when I come back to write more tonight, I will have figured out more about my current situation.


> Entry #6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are four different categories of magic: spells, enchantments, natural, and primal magic. The first three are fairly common in Equestria. Unicorns can use spells, and especially talented ones can permanently infuse objects with their magic, creating an enchantment. Anypony can use natural magic. Each tribe has their own form of natural magic. Pegasi can fly at ridiculous speed and manipulate the weather, and Earth ponies to get their super strength. Unicorns can levitate objects without casting a spell. It is their innate natural magic that allows them to do this.

Spells are slightly different. They require using our bodies as a conduit to pull mana from the Aether into Equestria. Then, when the correct amount and type of mana is gathered in our horn, we can form it into a spell. Doing this process quickly can require immense amounts of practice, depending on the spell.

Primal magic, on the other hoof, is very rare. It only occurs under extraordinary circumstances, and until now I had only known of its existence in theory. I am explaining this because after thinking hard throughout the day, the only explanation I can think of for my sudden travel fifty-five years into the past is primal magic.

Starswirl’s focus crystal must have absorbed an insane amount of mana in the time that it was left there, alone. Princess Luna did say it was left there before she was imprisoned in the moon, so that would mean it was there for over a thousand years. Focus crystals absorb and, with a unicorn’s help, can convert mana into useful energies, or even other kinds of mana. 

One known circumstance for primal magic to occur is when an extremely large amount of uncontrolled mana is gathered in one spot. The uncontrolled part is the difficult part, because if, say a unicorn were to purposely try to store a very large amount of mana in a focus crystal on purpose, it would most likely just dissipate harmlessly. Something very different happens, however, when the mana gathers naturally. I won’t get into the details (go read one of Twilight’s textbooks if you’re that interested), but the gist is if that crystal slowly naturally charged itself with mana, then it is theoretically possible for it to cause very strange things to anypony who gets near it.

Honestly, I got lucky. There are old stories of ponies who encounter primal magic and disappear forever, never to be heard of again. I briefly considered the possibility they got thrown into the distant past as well, but I can’t think of much evidence to back that claim up. More importantly, I can’t think of one case where I’ve heard of somepony appearing claiming to be from far in the future.

What is a more pressing concerning to me, however, is the strange predicament I find myself in. No known spell in existence will get me back to the year 1248. I briefly considered going back to the castle here, in the past, and trying to replicate the event but in reverse, but it is far too risky to consider. First of all, I have no idea how primal magic works besides basic theory, and secondly no pony has ever pulled off such a feat. At a time like this, I wish Twilight were here, but sadly she won’t be born till over thirty years from now.

On a happier note, I spent the rest of today getting to know the Apple family from this period. Even now, Granny Smith is still the head of the household, despite being not much older than me. I see no signs of her or Ambrosia’s parents, but I did glean a bit of information when Ambrosia once called Granny Smith ‘big sis’. I had never heard of Granny Smith having a sister, but the more burning question I have is about their parents. Where are they? Several times I almost asked, but it felt too presumptuous. I am just a guest here after all, and they only just met me.

I am far too tired to write much more tonight, so I will sign off here. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some more useful information.

 


*******


 

June 10th, 1193 R.C.

Ponyville really isn’t the same. I knew it, but seeing it in pony was hard for me, emotionally. I guess I’m getting homesick already. The really odd part was meeting ponies. They introduce themselves and I can try and do the mental math and figure out who they are related to. 

For reference, I’ll write information about all the ponies I met today here:




Butter Hooves -(Probably) related to Ditzy Doo, currently single cream colored pegasus. The only pegasus currently living in Ponyville. Is responsible for the weather, but often makes mistakes.

Sweet Tooth - Rose colored mare with a light blue mane. Runs a candy store called ‘Sweets and Treats’. The building will later become Sugarcube Corner. Might be related to either Mr. or Mrs. Cake.

Mrs. Stickler - I don’t know her full name. Runs the Ponyville Library. As you might guess, she has strict rules. I prefer Twilight’s library in the castle.

Post Haste - The Mailmare. An earth pony stallion with a grey coat and a curly, lime green mane. 

Stone Foundation - A well-built earth pony stallion with a golden coat and a brick red mane. When I asked Granny Smith about him, she told me he mainly repairs furniture and plumbing, but he is also the first pony you talk to when you want to build something.

Mane Doo - Runs the only clothing store, and barber shop in Ponyville, Manes and More. Despite peach colored tones that make up his coat and mane, and the rather nasal voice, Mane Doo is a stallion.


 

I guess I should also write about what actually happened today, huh? To be honest, it was a bit boring. I should probably write down one conversation I had with Granny Smith and Ambrosia, though. We were at Sweets and Treats having lunch, when Ambrosia brought up my past.

“Where are you from?” She had asked, innocently enough.

“A town far north of here.” I answered, trying to be as simple as possible.

“So how did you end up lost in the Everfree Forest?”

“I don’t know. There is a gap in my memory, and then I woke up stuck in a tree. Granny Smith helped me get free.” I gave said saviour a  warm smile of thanks.

“Do you know how to get home?” Ambrosia asked, showing concern for me the first time since I had met her.

“No.” I replied, and this time it was the honest truth.

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yes, of course. If you woke up in some other town, wouldn’t you miss Ponyville?”

Ambrosia nodded. “Yeah, I would.”

After that, Ambrosia acted a bit nicer towards me. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, and for that I’m grateful. I’ll sign off for tonight here. I haven’t come up with a plan quite yet, and I honestly, I could use a few days to think.


*******


Wednesday, June 11th

The morning came all too early for me. Ambrosia and I were rudely awoken at the crack of dawn by Granny Smith to do chores. While I did the rather mundane tasks Granny Smith gave me, I thought hard about my situation. I definitely need somepony’s help, but who could I ask? Who would believe me? Twilight wasn’t an option, nor were any of my other friends, which made me feel like there was only one pony in all of Equestria who might be able to help: Princess Celestia.

The problem, then, is how to get a private audience with Princess Celestia. From experience I know that she can’t just have a private meeting with anypony who asked. If she did, she would never have any time left to govern Equestria. That meant I would have to go through her aides and her staff, ponies that would probably be different from the ones I knew half a century from now.

Once our morning chores were finished, Celestia’s sun hung high in the sky. It was about noon, and Granny Smith announced it was time for lunch. She made hay sandwiches and sliced some of our freshly bucked apples. We sat around on a picnic cloth Ambrosia laid out for us as we ate.

“If I asked you how to get to Canterlot,” I said, chewing on my sandwich. “Would  you know how to get there?”

“How to get to Canterlot?” Granny Smith laughed. “You walk north! That’s it! Or..” She rubbed her chin a bit, “I suppose some folks use carriages, but I don’t know when the next carriage ride to Canterlot would be. It might be a week or more from now. And you ain’t got bits, right, Starlight?”

I frowned. Walking to Canterlot could take several days, and a carriage wouldn’t be much better. I tried to remember how old the Ponyville express was. It must not have been built yet.

“What’s gotten into ya?” Granny Smith asked concernedly. “Did you remember somethin’ about yer past?”

“Only vaguely.” I nodded. “I was on my way to Canterlot. I think if I go there I might find out more.” I felt bad lying to Granny Smith, but I assured myself there wasn’t another option here. 

We were all silent for a moment, before Ambrosia suddenly exclaimed,

“I think you should go then!”

“Yes, I should.” I answered seriously. “It’s what I need to do. I’m sure of it.”

“Well, if you need to go to Canterlot we better go buy some supplies. I know Stone will look after the farm for a few days if I ask nicely.”

“You’re coming with me?” I asked.

“Of course! It wouldn’t sit right with me if I found out you didn’t make it to Canterlot safely, so I’ll just have to tag along. I know Ambrosia here has been wanting to go on a trip for a while and this is a good chance.”

“Thank you!” I said sincerely, but Granny Smith started laughing hysterically. I gave her a confused look and waited for her to explain what was so funny.

“Oh Miss Starlight,”

“Please, just ‘Starlight’ is fine.”

She nodded and continued, “I hope you didn’t think I was accompanying you fer free.”

“I.. um, yes?” I gave her my best smile, hoping she wasn’t about to say what I thought.

“We’ll be pulling wagons of fresh apples the whole way. If we’re going all the way to Canterlot, we might as well make a few bits.”

All I could do in response was sigh. Ambrosia tried to give me a sympathetic look, but I could tell she was laughing on the inside.

 

The rest of the afternoon was rather uneventful. We bought various supplies for our trip, and I entertained Ambrosia with some simple games until dinner time. 

The entire time I had to keep ignoring these burning questions I have about what happens to her between now and fifty years in the future. At one point she even called me out on it.

“Why do you look sad?” She had asked.

“Because I don’t really know what I’m going to do when we get to Canterlot.” I lied.

“I’m sure you’ll remember when we get there.” She replied back at me, grinning ear to ear. Her optimism was infectious. I smiled back.

“Yeah.”

 

We sat in silence, watching the beautiful sunset from the front porch, before going inside and eating dinner. We promptly went to bed afterwards, with the intention of beginning our journey tomorrow. So here I am, signing off.