"GOOOOOOD-"
Twilight's eyes snapped open. Another day to try again. Another day to die. She swung her legs over the bed and her magic enveloped all the books scattered around and began to tidy them up as she sprung into action once more. She brushed her teeth as quickly s possible and waited for Starlight, hoping to set off as quickly as possible.
She learned the cause of the explosion was a foal, barely of age and unsure of herself in the school of friendship. A unicorn, Luster Dawn. Incredibly gifted with magic, Twilight suspected she could one day hold the mantle of Element of Magic should the need arise.
The princess made it a point to take her under her wing and try and help her contain her magic a few times, thinking it must have been the cause of the loop. As the days repeated over and over, however, she found no new leads as to why. Or how. Eventually, she concluded the filly was a mere pawn, as she herself was.
The other disasters seemed inconsequential now, and she hated how she felt. Guilt gnawed away at her very soul, as her heart grew cold and dark as despair set in. As light engulfed the world once more, Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"MORNING-"
Another day. Another attempt. She began with tidying her room, then speaking to Starlight Glimmer as she always had. One day, she decided to try something new and refuse to leave her room. Nobles quickly began to demand she speak with them, and heard ponies in the streets below begin to protest and call for her to make an appearance. She cowered, rather ashamedly, in her bedroom and waited for the world to end. The crowds began to scream as light engulfed the world once more, and only the smouldering crackling embers were left.
Another day she tried to run away, to leave Canterlot and even Equestria itself, but barely got out the gates of the city as they collapsed on her. She lay in the hospital with a broken back, unable to move, or even speak. The doctors told her it was a miracle she was alive. She silently begged them to kill her, to end her suffering before the light came. They didn't, and she watched, unable to move, frozen in horror like a morbid statue as she watched the doomed world pass.
One day, she decided to take over the world. She declared herself Midnight Sparkle, Supreme Overlord of Equestria and attempted to create an eternal twilight, holding both the moon and sun in the skies. That was fun while it lasted, it felt somewhat refreshing to be the bad guy for a change. And then there was a coup in less than a day, and she promptly had her head sliced off by an angry mob using an ancient arbitrary execution device not used since before Celestia.
And another she tried doing whatever she wanted, and proceeded to get as drunk as possible on fresh cider, which thankfully was not poisoned, and had the townsponies throw the biggest party they'd ever seen. They needed no excuse for a celebration, and the entire town revelled in the surprise joy and happiness. Save for the princess. Although she danced and sang and partied with the rest of them, she knew deep down it was a fleeting moment in an endless cycle of torment.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. And months turned into years as she lost count of how many times she had woken up, and how many times she had watched the world end so suddenly in a blaze of fire and pain.
"CANTERLOOOOT!"
And another day begins. Twilight's eyes creaked open and she stared at the ceiling. She felt terrible. Day after day of inevitable death would tend to have that effect. She lay in bed for a moment longer than usual. What even was usual right now? She slapped a face into her head and groaned. "I don't want to do this," she muttered sadly as she swung her legs over the bed. She sat and stared in silence for a while, watching the door, waiting for Starlight to appear. AT least she saw one of her dearest friends every morning, even if the unicorn had no idea what was happening. She wished she could get a message to her friends in time, to see if there was any way they could help her out. Even Spike, her lovely little dragon, who she hadn't seen since well before any of this started.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she waited. Time seemed to slow, the seconds and minutes creeping agonizingly slow by. Until finally-
"Twilight, it's Starlight can I come in?"
Twilight sighed and rubbed her eyes. She sniffed and calmed herself. "Sure, Starlight." She winced at how croaky her voice sounded and coughed in an attempt to clear her throat. The door swung open, revealing the purple unicorn, as it had so many times before.
Starlight gasped upon seeing the heavy bags under the princess's eyes. "Twilight you look terrible." She looked around at the messy room, at the books scattered about and chuckled nervously. "Another late night?"
The princess nodded silently. She rose from her bed and trotted through to the bathroom. Starlight watched in an awkward silence and began to tidy up the room as best she could. The radio continued to blare, Disc Jockey taking calls from ponies all across Equestria.
Twilight marched through back to her bedroom and grabbed her hairbrush. She brushed her mane in silence, giving minimalist answers while Starlight chatted to her about this that and the other. "Sure. Uh huh. Oh wow." She focused her hearing on the radio, realising she had never actually stayed to just listen to it before, always too irritated or uncaring to listen to Disc Jockey's inane prattling.
"Thank you Daisy from Manehattan, have a good morning!" he cried as the latest mare hung up. Another call came through almost immediately form the sound of it, and the radio host answered with his usual enthusiasm. "Hello caller from Ponyville-"
Twilight's ears pricked up at that. Starlight fell silent as she too listened to the latest caller.
"You're on the air, what's-"
"Great whickering stallions! I thought I'd never get through! Listen, I've simply no time to explain, but I need to get a message out to the princess."
Twilight's ears pricked up at that. "A message for the princess?" she murmured. The stallion's voice sounded familiar, she thought, but couldn't place where from.
Starlight also cocked her head and listened, curious as to what this could be.
Disc Jockey seemed to fumble over his words for a moment, and lost his composure for a moment. "For the princess? Sure go ahead mystery caller."
"Thanks." The caller took a deep breath. "Alright so, Princess Twilight, I must confess that an..." He paused and made a series of noises. "Experiment of mine has gone terribly wrong, and I find myself repeating the same day over and over. I suspect there is some... magical emergency at work and I need your professional opinion on such a matter."
Twilight's heart leapt into her throat. She stared at the radio with an open jaw, while Starlight gave her a smile. "A magical emergency, huh? Weren't you must moaning about how boring things were yesterday?"
The princess didn't answer, instead she strained her ears forwards as far as she could and stared down at the radio.
The stallion continued and cleared his throat. "I strongly advise you to seek me out at my residence in Ponyville. It's opposite where the Golden Oaks Library used to be. I can't explain any more right now but you must-" A crash and the shattering of glass was heard in the background as his voice grew crackly and the sound of static broke him up. "Great whi...ing… ions--Prin...ss ple… find m..."
The line went dead and the haunting dial tone filled the heavy silence that followed Disc Jockey fumbled something in his studio and coughed nervously. "Well, Princess Twilight I hope you got the message, sounds like somepony had a bit too much to drink last night, heh. Repeating the same day over and over? What a crazy story. We're gonna go to a quick commercial break and when we come back we'll return to our regularly scheduled broadcasts."
With a click, music began to play as the brothers Flim and Flam advertised their latest sham--sorry--'miracle cure'.
Twilight's thoughts drowned out the sound as she sat her haunches down and stared at the ground, eyes mere pinpricks. "Is this it..." she whispered, just barely audibly. Her tongue quivered in anticipation. Somepony who knew about the repeat? How come she never listened to the radio before? She slapped a hoof to her head in frustration.
Starlight slowly approached her and tapped her on the wing. "Uh, Twilight?" The princess's neck snapped around to stare at the unicorn, startling her slightly. "What's on your mind?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and I have before. Several times." Twilight's eyebrow twitched and her mouth pulled up into a twisted, slightly unhinged smile as she looked towards the ground. "But now I have a lead. Finally."
A knock came at the door. "Come in," she said without thinking as Starlight opened her mouth to speak, a puzzled beyond comprehension expression on her face.
Mr Pennyworth, the old reliable butler in Canterlot, opened he door and bowed graciously. "Your highness, Miss Glimmer."
Starlight gave him a polite nod back, while Twilight continued to stare at the ground at nothing in particular.
"There is currently a Mr Cord waiting for you in the lobby. He claims it is a matter of utmost urgency."
"Tell him Starlight will see to whatever he needs," Twilight replied without looking. Starlight started back in surprise and whipped her head around.
"I will?"
"Mhm."
The princess's mind raced. She had some things to plan. Like how to get out of Canterlot to visit Ponyville for instance. The train was not an option, could she fly there? She'd done it before, and the weather had remained clear all day for the past... several years. "That's what I'll do," she murmured quietly.
She turned to the unicorn and smiled. Her eyebrow still twitched away to itself. "I've got that emergency to see to, Starlight. I'd really appreciate it if you could see to things in the kingdom for me for a while."
Starlight twisted her face and grimaced. "I don't know, Twilight, the school's kinda busy today. We've got some new students coming in, one of them is-"
She fell silent as the princess silently begged her with large, sparkling eyes. She eventually sighed and nodded. "Sure, okay, Twilight. But you owe me." She yelped quietly as Twilight brought her into a sudden hug.
"Of course, Starlight. Thank you!" Twilight cried and released the startled mare. "Now!" she clapped her hooves together and stretched her wings out. "I need to get to Ponyville as fast as possible. Mr Pennyworth?"
The butler clicked his hooves together and stood to attention, having stood silently watching the princess and her friend from the comfort of the door frame. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Please make sure Starlight has whatever she needs to see to her, and my, duties today."
"Of course, ma'am." With a nod and a short bow
Twilight gave him a nod and ushered Starlight out of the room. "Listen, Starlight, tell Luster Dawn that she's a good filly, and she shouldn't worry so much about her magic," she told the unicorn with a smile. "She'll get the hang of it soon."
Starlight whipped her head around in confusion. "How did-"
"It's too late to explain. Let Discord know his issue is being handled, though okay?"
Before the unicorn could speak, Twilight gave her a light shove out the door and closed it behind her. She heard their hoofsteps trot away and down the corridor as she pressed an ear against the door and smiled to herself. She rounded back into the room and strode towards the balcony.
She thrust the door open and took a deep inhale of the cold air. The foulness of her breath and the cold silver glow of the moon gave her pause, however, and she quickly turned back and sheepishly made her way to her bathroom.
After rinsing and spitting, she strode out onto the balcony and ignited her horn in a swathe of pink magic. The sun's rays crested over the hills and she smiled to herself. For once, she didn't feel bad about forgetting to do the sun again.
She took another breath of air and gazed out over Equestria. Her wings spread behind her, unfurling to their full length as she hopped up onto the balcony's stone railings. She placed one hoof in front of the other as she tiptoed along it, feeling the wind rustle her feathers and sending her mane and tail billowing out behind her.
"Today, this ends," she told herself as she shut her eyes.
Taking a deep breath, she crouched low and sprung into the air.
Her wings carried her upwards, beating powerfully as she felt the rush of wind on her face. She opened her eyes and smiled as she soared above the city. "I always forget how beautiful Canterlot is," she murmured as she looked down. A few ponies spotted her rise into the air and began to wave.
She waved back and chuckled to herself before facing the direction of Ponyville. "I'll have to stay clear of those dark clouds as much as possible," she thought as some clouds far in the distance grew closer.
The princess shook her head and kicked her legs in the air with a fiery determination in her belly as she pushed herself towards the sleepy little village. She remembered the caller's last words before he broke up into static and felt worry knot at her stomach.
"I hope I'm not gonna be too late..."