In Which Twilight's Really Bad Day Comes To An End
"Twilight? Princess can you hear me?"
Twilight heard a muffled voice call out to her. She blearily opened her eyes and looked around. There was Doctor Whooves, there was Discord's Magic--somehow free of it's container--and they were surrounded by a vast, empty white light. The doctor waved a hoof in front of her face and said her name again.
"I heard you... I'm okay. I think." She groaned and stretched outwards. "What happened?" she murmured, looking around at the absolute nothingness.
Whooves rubbed his head. "Um, well, I think.. your magic was too much for the time circuits." He winced and glanced at Discord's Magic, which seemed to watch him and Twilight quite intently. "And this guy, well... he saved us."
Twilight looked at it as it turned to her. It had no face, no features of any sort, and remained a swirling chaotic mess of colours, yet still she felt like it was watching her. Almost as if it sensed her apprehension, it slowly extended a tendril towards her. She looked at it and thought it must be as scared as she was, being separated from Discord and all, and extended a hoof towards it. "Easy now," she murmured. Her hoof touched it's tendril, a surprisingly cool feeling. Like jelly.
The doctor watched them interact quietly, and noted how the magic being seemed drawn to Twilight. "Twilight, have you ever... I don't know, interacted with Discord's Magic before?"
She looked at him quizzically. "Interacted? You mean has he cast it around me? Yes of course he has, he is Discord, after all."
He chuckled. "That is true, I suppose. Then..." He scratched his head. "Has his magic ever separated like this before?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I've never thought to ask him." She paused for a moment, thinking back to the first day she woke up in the reoccurring nightmare. "Actually, come to think of it, he did mention it 'tends to wander off' sometimes."
Whooves raised his eyebrows. "Interesting." He lay down on his back and stretched upwards, or downwards, as this place had no up or down, and sighed. "Feel free to have a bit of a wander, then Twilight. We might be stuck here for a while until the TARDIS finds us."
"It can do that?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head. Discord's magic curled up around itself and rested against her hooves. She could swear it was purring. She looked down at it and tentatively placed hr hoof on it's 'head', and gave it a gentle scratch. "What sort of box is it? And what sort of pony are you?"
Whooves chuckled lightly and placed his hooves behind his head. "Ah Twilight, see I never explain everything."
Silence fell upon them in the vast emptiness.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
The doctor's cheeks puffed out. "As far as I can tell it's the space between worlds. Some call it the Void. Normally it would be impossible for ponies to get here." He glanced at the living magic. "Not too impossible for the living embodiment of chaos magic, I suppose."
After a short chuckle he sighed and looked up at the whiteness above them.
"Like I said the TARDIS shouldn't take too long to get here."
Twilight snorted in frustration and kept petting Discord's Magic. She sat down next to it, and it continued to coil around itself and nestle into her. She looked upwards and wondered how Equestria was doing, now that the loop and bad luck seemed to be broken.
***
Derpy Hooves rapped her hoof on the door to the doctor's office. "Doc?" she called. "You in?" No answer. She pressed her cross-eyed face against the glass and held her breath, trying not to steam up the window and looked inside.
She saw the shattered glass and upturned table and gasped. She banged her hoof on the door and called out for her friend again. The ponies around her gave her strange looks as they idled by, making her wince and try a gentler approach. She furrowed her brow and pulled on the door with all her might. "Hnnnng!"
She lost her grasp and was promptly sent sprawling back. with a frustrated grunt, she swept her straw coloured mane out of her eyes and marched towards the door. Or tried to. She stumbled, and fell face first into the hard wood, where it then creaked open under her weight.
"Ah. Push not... pull," she mumbled shyly, although nopony was aware she had goofed again. With tentative steps she proceeded into the doctor's lab, and gaped at the amount of broken stuff there was just lying about. "Doc?"
Still no answer, but the building itself seemed to rumble as if it was responding to her, causing her to stumble and lean against a shattered blackboard for some comfort. "What the heck happened here?" she wondered out loud, being careful not to step on any shards of broken glass.
Derpy felt very confused by today's events so far. First she had seen her best friend Doctor Whooves chasing after what looked like a swirling sentient blob after narrowly avoiding a nasty accident, and then her old friend--although she called everypony living or who used to live in Ponyville her friend--Princess Twilight Sparkle dash through like a bat out of Tartarus. She wondered if Tartarus had a mail delivery system. She wondered if they were hiring.
"Gah! Focus, you clutz!" Giving her head a shake, she focused more on the present. Her eyes briefly aligned as she narrowed them, before her pupils once again drifted in separate directions. She lifted herself into the air with a powerful flap of her wings and wandered through the lab.
The building rumbled again, and she could hear a faint sound in the distance from somewhere deep within. Derpy had been in the doctor's home a few times, but always got lost when he wasn't there. The sound she heard seemed to be calling to her almost, guiding her sort of. She gritted her teeth and followed the direction where she thought it was coming from.
VWOOO-KUCHUG-OORP
"Ooh. That doesn't sound good," the ditzy pegasus mumbled with a nervous giggle. She'd heard the TARDIS sound before when he'd first shown her. It sounded bad now, like it was stuck somewhere and couldn't move. Soon enough, she rounded a corner and saw it lifted into the air, spinning wildly and struggling to dematerialize.
Upon her presence, the TARDIS seemed to calm down and slow in it's spinning. "Hey?" Derpy murmured at it. "What's, uh... what's up?"
She knew the box couldn't answer her, but she still felt good talking to it. The light on it's top flashed and the sound continued.
VWOOO-KUCHUG-OORP
It's main door swung open, and a deep red light spilled out from within. Derpy gasped and flew straight through, where the door closed shut behind her just as quick as it opened. Now surrounded by the same red light, the pegasus looked around worriedly. "What's going on? Where's the doctor?" she asked.
The room began to shake, and though she struggled to keep her balance on solid ground, in the TARDIS, Derpy felt 'normal' for lack of a better word, and remained standing steady. She placed her hooves on the console at the centre and looked around for something to do; a lever to pull or a button to push. She had no idea how to fly the TARDIS, and Whooves hadn't really shown her properly what to do, but she knew she had to try something.
"Eenie, meenie, miny, moe," she counted, looking at the several levers, dials, buttons, swirly twirly wirlies, and Celestia knows what else. "Catch a bugbear by the toe, if it squeals let it go, eenie, meenie, miny... moe..." she rested her hoof over the button she had selected, licked her lips, and pushed down.
The shaking stop, the swirling of the room stopped.
VWOOOOORP
The familiar sound rang out in her head, and the entire TARDIS began to dematerialize around her. Her mane was billowed about by the wind, and soon she was left hovering in midair, not having a clue what had just happened, how or why, and left confused and dazed--as usual.
Dusting herself off, she landed on the ground and sat down, letting out a sigh of discontent. "Eh. Might as well," she muttered, and reached into her bag and pulled out a muffin, and happily bit into it.
***
VWOOOOORP
"Aha! There she is! Come on Twilight!"
Whooves sprang to his hooves and whipped his head around, looking for the sound of his beloved box.
Twilight blearily rose her head, having been startled awake and disturbed from a peaceful sleep. The magic that had curled up around her also shot up and looked around with it's proverbial head. "Whassappening?" she mumbled through a yawn. She felt like she had been asleep for hours, but swore she just closed her eyes.
VWOOOOORP
Her ears pricked up. "Oh is that-"
"The TARDIS," Whooves triumphantly stated. "I told you it would take a while." He paced back and forth and kept looking up. He muttered under his breath, "Come on... don't show me up now..."
Twilight looked at him and then down at the living magic. "Doctor, I still don't know why Discord's Magic is so... attached to me."
Whooves looked down at her and smiled. "Oh, well, I've been thinking about that. Because Discord's used his magic on you so many times, I think you and it have formed a connection of sorts. I noticed in Ponyville, it latched onto you like it was trying to, I don't know-" He grimaced and floundered. "Anyway, I think it went looking or you. How often do you see Discord in Canterlot?"
VWOOOOORP
"Not very. Today, or yesterday, or whatever, was the first time in a while."
"I see. And do you consider Discord a friend?"
Twilight twisted her face. "I guess so. He's more Fluttershy's friend than mine, but yeah I suppose."
"Mhm. Mhm. Mhm." Whooves resumed pacing. "Hmm." He glanced at the living magic as it curiously watched him. "Maybe it think it's your friend too."
VWOOOOORP
The princess looked down at it and petted it. It pushed itself up into her hoof like a cat and again, she swore she could hear it purring. "I guess."
She didn't know for sure. All she wanted right now was life to go back to normal, to get out of whatever limbo she had found herself in.
"But why did it create a loop of bad things to happen?"
Whooves paused. he turned to her and shrugged. "Why does Discord do anything?"
"Because he's chaotic. Or he wants something."
"And do you suppose that his magic wants something? A friend perhaps?"
They both looked down at it silently. It did look quite sad at times. Lonely.
Was that it? Was that explanation for her misery over the past however many times she had woken up? The past two point seven billion years? Was that it wanted a friend? She snorted in disbelief, just as a large blue box appeared before them.
"About time!" Whooves grumbled and clapped his hooves together. He paused and chortled at his own joke, and pushed open the door to his time machine.
Twilight stepped closer to it, and felt something tug at her hoof. She looked down to see the living magic clutching onto her, staring up at her without a face, and pulled her away from the TARDIS.
"We have to go in to get home," she explained to it. She didn't know how, but she felt like it could understand her. "We have to get you back to Discord, and stop the bad things from happening all over Equestria."
It released her and visibly deflated, and slumped to the ground in a swirling puddle of purple and green goo, bubbling lightly.
"Hey now, don't be sad." Twilight extended a hoof to it and smiled. Whooves popped his head out from inside the TARDIS and watched them quietly. "You and Discord are meant to be together yeah? And you've got Fluttershy as a friend?"
The magic rose and fell, like it was sighing.
"But you want me as a friend?"
It seemed to nod at her. She did feel bad for it, in a way. She thought about what to do with it. She wanted it to just go back to Discord, but if it felt like it wanted a friend again then who could say if it started doing this looping business again? She let out a frustrated sigh and crouched down low to it.
"Tell you what, uh... Discord's Magic?" She realised she had no idea how to refer to it. Maybe she could give it a name?
It looked up at her hopefully.
"If you promise to never create a time loop like this again, I'll see if Discord can let you come visit every now and then. How's that?"
It immediately sprung up around her and coiled two tendrils into what resembled fists, and thumped at the air in triumph.
Whooves chuckled as he watched them. "I can see why you're the Princess of Friendship."
Twilight laughed back, happy that the living magic was, or at least appeared to be, happy. "Come on," she told it. It slithered around her and darted into the TARDIS, where it then coiled up on a stool and watched them quietly.
The doctor's hooves danced across the console, he spun this, he twirled that, he paused over the large red button and smiled to himself, then yanked down another lever and with another great VWOOOOORP, they were off.
The princess clutched onto the railings for dear life and felt her stomach churn. The doctor grinned up at the big tube thing in the middle as light ran up and down it and licked his lips. With a jolt and a sudden stop, they landed. He smiled at Twilight, and she panted for breath. The living magic looked nonplussed at the whole thing, seemingly unaware that anything had even transpired or that they had been in a shaking room.
"Right, well. Come on then."
Whooves pushed the door to his TARDIS open and stepped through. Twilight followed after him, allowing the magic to hop onto her back like Spike, and gasped as she realised they were in the royal palace.
"But we were-" she started, and looked around in confusion.
"Hmm?" Whooves murmured and gave her a quizzical look, before realising why she was befuddled. "Oh. Well, the TARDIS travels through space and time, you see?" He nodded to the door. "We should be here just as that first morning started. Did you say Discord arrived shortly after you woke up?"
Twilight nodded, still dumbfounded that they were there. "Wait. Just as the morning started? What we just give Discord his magic back and that's it?"
Whooves nodded eagerly. "In theory. No better way to try it out than just do it right?"
The princess looked around at the magic on her back. It watched her intently, it's shifting colours swirling and glowing softly. She sighed and shrugged. "I guess." She was hoping this would work, ad she would wake up on just another day in her already exciting enough life, minus he carnage and destruction that was to follow previously.
The door burst open at that moment, startling her a touch. She both felt apprehensive and relaxed at the same time, however, when she spotted the perpetrator.
"Discord!" she cried out and surged forwards. The magical creature on her back resonated with the same feeling she had, and the doctor at back and watched.
Discord stopped dead in his tracks and gaped. "Twilight?" He glowered at his living magic and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened, eliciting a small giggle from the princess. "You-"
"Yes, I know, Discord. Here." Twilight stopped and nodded to him, telling the thing on her back to go. It reluctantly slithered off, and crawled along the ground like a dog who knew it had done wrong. "i believe this belongs to you."
The draconequus raised his eyebrows. "I would say so myself, actually. How did-"
"It's a long story," Twilight muttered, eager to end the reset once and for all. She paused and looked down at the magic as it too paused in front of it's owner. She twisted her face and looked Discord in the eye. "This... your magic... it left you because it wanted a friend."
He blinked at her. "It... what?"
Twilight sighed, realising she must sound beyond ridiculous. "It wants a friend. It left you to go find me, and caused a whole heap of trouble. I told it it can come visit every now and then if it stopped the..." She took a deep breath. "Just, it wants a friend, okay? As your friend I'm asking you if you can... I don't know... let it?"
Discord looked down at his magic and scowled. "Twilight, I must remind you that my magic is a part of me. Without it I'm... well, as useful as Celestia."
Whooves snorted with laughter from behind the princess, and quickly made to inspect his box under her glare. "I should give you a polish shouldn't I?" he mumbled to himself.
Twilight harrumphed and turned back to Discord. "Listen, Discord, I've had a really, really long day. Just-" She took a deep breath and lowered her head, and looked down at the living magic. It watched her intently, like a sentient blob of goo.
"Please Discord."
Discord scratched his chin and pulled on his short beard as he contemplated on her words. "I expect to be well compensated for my efforts, you understand?"
Her ears pricked up at that. She gazed up at him with wonderous eyes. "You... you mean you'll allow it?"
He reached down and scratched his magic behind it's non-existent ears. "I see how much trouble it's caused you, Twilight. I thought Fluttershy would be enough for me, but clearly my magic is... something else."
"Clearly."
They looked down at it as it coiled and slithered around their assorted hooves and claws, preparing itself.
The old Lord of Chaos yawned and stretched. He snapped his fingers and gave a sharp whistle, to which the magic began to rise into the air. Twilight stepped back and shielded her eyes, and watched in wonder as magic and master were reunited. With a poof of purple cloud and a few inexplicable party streamers, Discord remained hovering in the air, his usual mischievous smirk across his face.
"Oh that feels much better," he grumbled to himself. "Warn me next time you're about to go on vacation without me."
Twilight nervously lowered her hoof and looked around. "Is that it?"
"Ah, princess?" Whooves said from behind her. He waved her over. "A word, please."
She nodded to him and looked at Discord, who was casually sipping on a milkshake of his own invention. He gave her a polite bow and leant back, creating an armchair out of nothing, clearly eager to get back to his usual chaotic self.
"What is it, doctor?" the princess asked.
Whooves ran a hoof through his mane and grimaced. "Well, this isn't going to be easy to hear, but, um..." He paused and smiled weakly. "You, uh... need to reset the day once more."
A chill ran up Twilight's spine. "You mean..."
The doctor lowered his voice and glanced over her shoulder at the old draconequus, not paying attention to them. "Die? Yeah..."
Silence fell between them.
"It's just once more, right?" Twilight asked quietly. "Then it's over?"
He gave a stiff nod in response. "I... think so."
"You think?"
"Well... hypothetically, the thing causing the loop has been dealt with, so... logically... you, uh..." He turned scarlet under her wrathful gaze.
Twilight snorted hot air out of her nostrils and flicked her tail. "And if it doesn't work? What if I die permanently?"
Whooves pawed at the ground and turned his ears down. "Well..."
With a flash of magic and a poof of air, Discord appeared between them and gathered them up in his arms. "I believe I can help with that, Twilight, dear." He grinned at them with a glint in his eye. Twilight pushed away from him and furrowed her brow.
"You were listening?"
"Twilight my magic has seen everything you've been through. I know as much as you do at this point." He gave her a grim look. "I, uh... I must apologise for... what happened. If I had known, I..."
He reached out and gave her an awkward pat on her head. He seemed older somehow, like he had seen more than his years let on--and he was still as old as Celestia. His eyes shone with a never before seen warmth for a split second as well, and as he retracted his hand Twilight sensed something terrible about to come.
"This won't hurt a bit."
"What?" Whooves murmured, his eyes rapidly flicking between them. "Are you?" He fell silent under Discord's grim look. "Oh... I see."
Twilight raised her head and spread her wings. "Okay." She felt like she could handle it right now. Whatever it was. She had seen enough suffering and death to last a lifetime. "Will I remember any of this?"
The doctor placed his hoof on her shoulder. "I'm really not sure, Twilight," he replied, rather unhelpfully. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.
"Thank you for helping, Doctor Whooves. Really. I'm sorry you got caught up in this too. Let's get this over with."
Discord snapped his fingers, and Twilight saw the world turn to a right angle for a split second. She saw the horrified face of the doctor, then she collapsed to the ground.
***
"GOOOOOOD MORNING CANTERLOOOOT! This is not a test, this is ROCK and ROLL! Time to rock it like the music in the treetops or the music in the vale! Hey, is that a song already? Dingdingdingdingding we have a winner! That one's from Ponyville's very own Ponytones--Bum, bum, bum-ba-da, ba-da! Is it too early to be this loud--Whoops too late! It's currently oh six hundred, what's the 'oh' for? OH CELESTIA IT'S EARLY. Oh--hang on, we're getting a call this early. Y'ello, you're on the air, caller, what's your name?"
"Doctor Whooves."
Twilight sat upright and yawned. She rubbed her eye and stretched, smacking her lips together. She recoiled at the smell and taste of her own breath and made to get up, taking note that she had to tidy up her bedroom soon. She listened ot the radio, a marvellous creation really, as whoever this 'doctor' was kept talking.
"I, uh, just wanted to say good morning to Equestria. it's been a..." He trailed off, and something popping was heard in the background, as well as a muffled voice.
"C'mon doc, why did you want me here so early if you're just gonna talk on the phone all morning?"
Twilight smiled as she recognised the familiar voice of Ponyville's deliverymare.
"Sorry. Um.. right. Yes. Okay. Good morning Equestria. It's been a long night."
The princess thought she recognised something in the pony's voice. She frowned and thought about him as she brushed her teeth. The light shone brightly in the small room, and with it she spotted the familiar tube of dragon flakes toothpaste she kept for Spike.
"Doctor Whooves..." she mumbled curiously. "Hmm..."
She didn't know how, or why, but she felt like she had something to thank him for, whoever he was. She had a suddenly overwhelmingly strong urge to go and see her friends today, feeling like she hadn't seen them for a lifetime.
With a panicked thought, she quickly made to raise the sun as she realised it was still dark outside, and sheepishly smiled to herself.
"Another day, another sunshine..."
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- Leondude · 1.7k words · 60 3 · 1.5k views
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Will there be a sequel?
10331102
I had an idea for one at some point but no plans right now
That was awsome!
10482901
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks!
much enjoyment ensued. Thank
Really good but the ending felt well, sorta like a kind of "all wrapped up in a neat bow" kind of thing where it the end everyone is okay and it didn't matter. Kinda ruined it for me but I understand it's very hard to end so still good story.
11070612
I did have a plan for a sequel at some point, but not for a long while yet
That's a fair assessment and honestly same, I just didn't know how to end it without it feeling like it was dragging on too much. Thanks for enjoying most of it anyway
11070745 The problem with this ending is, she no longer remembers that she promised to be Discord's friend. So as soon as Discord's magic gets fed up agaiin, you'll have the same thing happen again.
11136959
Oh jeez, your right, what's worst is everything might happen exactly the same so she will go through another couple months or years of repeating the same day!
It's just a loop of the same day for years before finally fixing it and then doing it all over again, it's like a loop of your entire life all in 1 day!
Honestly the story is amazing, I think my only complaint is the ending, the ending just made it seem like everything that happened, didn't happen, and in a way the ending is technically just another loop before fixing it again and then another loop over and over again because when she fixes everything, she forgets everything that happened including the promise she made to discord's magic, the ending is kinda dark if you think about it, how do we know this story is not another loop? What if Twilight has been going through the same day for billions of years and she only thinks it's been a couple years before fixing it?
11808801
They are invincible to certain types of materials and poison I believe, or atleast that's what I heard from people. I also believe Allicorns have a stronger and faster healing capabilities to the point it's really hard to kill an Allicorn and to even succeed it would probably take hours or days.