//------------------------------// // Entry #3 // Story: The Desperate Journals of Starlight Glimmer // by Arararagi //------------------------------//         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.