Quills and Sofas Warehouse Sale

by Zontan

If At First You Don't Succeed

Author's Note:

My entry for contest #5, "We Tried."

Tags: Twilight, Dark

Entry #1,981

I don’t know how long it’s been since my last entry. I don’t know why I’m making this one, really. It’s amusing to go back and see what I thought was important back in the beginning, but so little of this has mattered for so long. My little ponies are content and perfect. I’ve moved on from such petty things. Still, even I can indulge in a little nostalgia, right?

Entry #1

This journal will contain my notes regarding the newest artifact to have come into my possession. For now, I am referring to it as Artifact C-2, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something less clinical once I am clearer on what it does. For now, a description will suffice: It is a small round device, with somewhat stylized wing designs on either side, and a large eye in the center topped with a series of stars. It passively measures six thaums of radiation, which most closely match the signature of chronology magic, hence my designation. Given the nature of its enchantment, I will be closely documenting my experiments with it.

Entry #17

I have successfully activated C-2 for the first time. It worked mostly as I projected it would, and has returned me to yesterday morning. This morning, I suppose. For now, I believe it is prudent to keep the day as close to my memories of it as possible, lest there be unforeseen consequences to changing the timeline.

Entry #18

This might actually be entry #19 or 20, I’m not sure. The problem with time magic is that resetting the timeline resets your notes, as well. That’s going to be a problem I need to solve, first thing. I can’t be working without my notes.

Entry #20

I’ve made a mistake. I was doing simple experiments, minor changes, nothing too complicated - and I wasn’t thinking. It was just a test, but I made Fluttershy cry. I didn’t even mean it, I was just… She ran off before I could explain. But I can fix this. I said I wasn’t going to make major changes this soon, but I can’t leave this in the official timeline.

Entry #35

10:30 PM, Loop 12.
Today was almost right. I think I may have offended Rarity slightly - she seemed cold when I left. I’m not sure what it was I said that upset her, though. I should have documented our conversation as soon as I left. No matter - tomorrow I will write it down, and make changes as necessary to smooth things over for the true day I keep.

Entry #204

7:24 AM, Loop 282.
No entry for the last loop. I thought it was going well, too. I managed to get Discord’s attention and was able to spend most of the day extracting a wealth of useful information on the nature of the universe (see attached Appendix D). He grew suspicious after several hours, and eventually tried to destroy the Time Twirler. I believe he said something about “powers beyond my comprehension.” As if anything could be beyond my comprehension, when I have all the time I could ever need. That said, he almost removed my ability to reset. Will have to avoid him in future loops - he is simply too risky.

Entry #1,302

6:15 PM, Loop 1422.
My experiments on the Elements are coming along nicely. It’s been so promising I’ve been neglecting to write proper entries in this journal. I’ve been compiling my full notes into Appendix E, for future reference. But I think it’s very promising. With a few more loops, I should be able to channel the full power of all the elements without the need for any other Bearers. If I’m right, that should allow me to use their power without needing a friendship problem. With that level of control, I could rewrite just about anything.

Entry #1303

3:02 PM, Loop 1429
The experiment was successful. There’s so much I can do with this power! I made all my friends alicorns, of course. It’s only fair, given how much they contributed to this research. I think I’ve solved every friendship problem the town has, and I’ve got some ideas on how to set up a system to solve all future problems automatically. I think it’s time I moved my research to Canterlot. There’s only so much I can really do here.

Entry #1479

Loop 21xx
I told Celestia about the time loops. I hadn’t planned to, but there was information I needed and she started to give me her usual about how I wasn’t ready. She doesn’t understand that I’ve had so much more time than she thinks I’ve had. Days or weeks of learning in the blink of an eye, thousands of times. Without an explanation, she was never going to give me the knowledge I need. She objected, of course. It doesn’t matter. I’m so much stronger than her now. I’ll get what I need, sooner or later. I can try as many times as I need to.

Entry #1501

Loop 22xx
Alicorn functioning is so fascinating. There’s so much to be learned from the other alicorns - each one is unique in their own way, and there’s so little really known about them. And I can do what no one else could ever do, now. I can put them under stresses they’ve never experienced, open them up and see how they tick, all with no consequences. She said it was dangerous, but I’ve expanded the realms of pony knowledge a hundredfold already. And there’s so much more that can be done.

Entry #1722

I dealt with Chrysalis this loop. She wasn’t that hard to find, really, and she was even more pathetic than I remembered her. I bound these events into the timeline about three years ago, so she’ll have been dealt with only a little while after Thorax took over. Really, it was amusing to see how few ripples that caused. Apparently she made clones of my friends and I at some point? I hadn’t even noticed. What a joke.

Entry #1795

I removed Celestia and Luna. They’re not really necessary anymore, and they didn’t seem happy doing what they were doing. Not like they noticed any problems anymore anyway. They’ll be much happier in retirement.

Entry #1980

Loop 5xxx
I’d almost forgotten how many loops I’ve done. They don’t really mean much anymore, but it’s a nice bookend, I think. I don’t think I need this journal anymore. Everything is in my head these days. My little ponies are happy, there are no threats to Equestria, and the timeline is as stable as it needs to be. Perhaps it’s time to stop worrying about such petty mortal problems, anyway. My legacy will last forever, after all.

Comments

[Quinch]

Why do I have a feeling there was some unmentioned collateral damage?

[B_Munro]

My legacy will last forever, after all.

A statement which gains an unintended irony after the G5 movie.