“Do you know the definition of Insanity?”
Rainbow Dash woke from the sound of her alarm for what felt like the 45th time. She growled as she reached for the now exasperating clock and smashed it to pieces for the 11th time.
“Argh, how many times is this day gonna repeat?” She asked as she got up to go through her morning routines for the 15th time.
Rainbow Dash had lost count how many times she’s relived the same day, but she was sure it was more than any sane pony could handle. In fact, she was starting to question her own sanity. She has made several attempts to commit suicide; while she did die she simply woke up back in her bed like nothing happened. One time she stayed in bed the entire day and another she refused to leave the confines of her home. There were a few times where she caused mayhem and destruction to Ponyville and was put in jail, one time she went around killing everypony for the hell of it. A decision she now regrets and will have to live with for the rest of her life or day if the day keeps repeating.
Rainbow has tried to get help from her friends with little to no results. They either didn’t believe her or thought she was crazy. (Maybe she is). Was she cursed or something? She couldn’t quite recall how this time loop started. Today, she needed to attend an event with the Wonderbolts, but she also promised to hang out with her friends. She had tried to cancel the plans with her friends, then she went with an excuse to back out of the event both of which didn’t work.
She had finally decided to go to Princess Celestia. It was certainly a long shot and it would be difficult to gain an audience with the Princess, but she had to find a way to break out of this loop. Her sanity was suffering. So without much hesitation, she left her home on Cloudsdale and headed straight for Canterlot. She was going to talk with Celestia no matter what.
Rainbow Dash arrived at the castle and tried to walk in, only to be stopped by a guard.
“State you’re business.” The guard demanded.
“I need to see the Princess, it’s urgent.” Raindow replied.
“You have a letter for your visit?” The guard asked plainly.
Rainbow blinked once. “Uh, no I don’t. But-“
“Then you can’t proceed.” The guard interrupted. “You need to request an audience with the Princess.”
Rainbow grunted and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll do it. How long will it take?”
“You need to send a letter to the Princess and wait a day at least for a response.” The guard answered.
Rainbow’s eyes shot open in surprise. “WHAT!? No, that’s too late for me! I need to see her right now!!” Rainbow yelled as she stamped her hoof.
The guards shuffled a little from her display. “Ma’am I’m afraid that’s the best we can offer. Now I highly suggest you calm down, otherwise we will have to throw you in the dungeon.” The guard warned.
Rainbow was about to explode from anger, but she simply sighed and took note of which guard was a unicorn. “Okay. Though I will say I’m sorry for what comes next.” She turned and started trotting away causing the guards to tilt their heads in confusion.
Raindow flew up off the ground then suddenly did a 180 while picking up speed and slammed into the unicorn guard hard, knocking him out. She then took off as fast she could into the castle with the other guard shouting and yelling. She flew through the halls trying to find Celestia, with little results. It didn’t help that the castle was huge and she never familiarized herself with the layout of it. She reached a cross section of halls, took a left and got herself caught by some guards. She was thrown in the dungeon and remained there for the rest of the day and fell asleep in the bed.
Rainbow was awoken by her alarm, again this time she turned it off. “Alright, it looks like trial & error. I will see the Princess.” She got up out of the bed and left for the castle to try again.
She didn’t hesitate in knocking out the unicorn guard and flying straight into the castle without slowing down. She went the same way as before and instead of going left she went straight at the cross section. She got further this time but she still got captured by the guards since she apparently hit a dead end. She woke up back in her room again and made a mental note to herself.
After about 13 different attempts Rainbow thought of another approach. “Maybe I should ask Twilight if she knows the direction to the throne room.” Rainbow wasted no time heading to the castle of friendship.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the door and heard Spike open the door. “Hey, Rainbow. What’s the occasion?” He asked.
“I’m looking for Twilight, is she here?”
“I am.” Twilight said as she opened the door more. “What seems to be the problem?”
Rainbow was a little nervous considering what happened last time she came to Twilight. Rainbow knew Twilight doesn’t remember but it didn’t seem to help at all. She was getting nervous enough to start sweating, which Twilight noticed.
“Are you okay? You’re sweating and acting a little… off.” Twilight asked out of concern.
“I’m fine; I just worked out a bit before I go to the event with the Wonderbolts.” She lied. “Do you happen to know how to get to the throne room in Canterlot Castle?” She asked quickly trying not to give Twilight the chance to ask something.
“Of course I do, Rainbow. You take the stairs, go right and follow that path then take a left and another left and the room is in front of you. Everypony knows that.” Twilight rolled her eyes while smiling.
Rainbow started chuckling which turned to laughing. She was trying to cover up the fact she was dumb enough to ask that after hearing Twilight say everypony knew. “I knew that, just wanted to make sure that’s all.” She lied with a sheepish smile. “It’s not like I tried to break in and find my way there at least dozen times. HAHAHA... Hahaha.” She laughed uneasily.
Twilight and Spike both looked at Rainbow with concern. “Are you sure you’re alright, RD?” Spike asked.
Rainbow’s level of sanity was starting to show. “I told you, I’m fine. I just haven’t had a decent night’s sleep for a long while, even though I slept for an entire day. I may have also caused a lot of problems recently or maybe not. I certainly didn’t go on a killing spree either due to living the same day over and over again.” Rainbow’s eyes went cuckoo as she started laughing crazily which caused Spike, Twilight and all the ponies nearby to look at her with a sense of shock and worry.
Rainbow finally stopped after a minute and frighteningly returned to normal immediately. “I should get going now. I think I’m starting to lose it if I wasn’t already.”
Twilight try to put on a smile. “Well, just remember you have friends like me who are willing to help you out.”
Rainbow shook her head. “I know, but I already tried that. All of you just think I’m either crazy or you don’t believe me. Maybe I am going crazy a little.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “A little?” He asked sarcastically.
Twilight elbowed Spike. “You’re not crazy Rainbow Dash. Maybe it’s just simply hard to believe that’s all. I’m sure if you explained it, it’ll make sense.” Twilight offered.
“I tried. At least I tried to explain it as best as I could, but I don’t even know what’s happening. All I know is this day keeps repeating itself over and over again. I don’t know why it started happening, for what reason or even how it happened. It just did.” Rainbow explained.
Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. “Hmm. When you put that way, it is a bit more believable. What was it that you did before this all started?”
Rainbow took a minute to remember even though it was technically yesterday. “Well I was reminded about the event with the Wonderbolts today and I was invited to spend time with you and the others. I went to sleep with that on my mind and trying to figure out how I was gonna do both. Then the first time I went through this day, I tried to attend both but got pulled away from the hangout. Second time I decided to hang with all you and ever since I’ve tried almost everything.” Rainbow took a second to breathe. “So I’m hoping Princess Celestia might be able to help me or at least have some idea of what’s going on with me.”
Twilight was listening closely and seemed to have a thought. “I think I know the reason for this based on what you said.”
Rainbow’s eyes lit up with happiness. “Really?! Tell me then!”
“You need to learn to time manage.” Twilight said plainly.
Rainbow’s expression turned to confusion. “Huh?”
“Time manage, you know manage your time during the day so every second is well used?” Twilight asked hoping Rainbow understood.
Rainbow stood there staring at Twilight for a minute trying to wrap her brain around what she said. “Oh… Right…. Can we pretend I understood what you said?”
Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “Do you know the definition of insanity?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, though I really should be leaving now. Later!” Rainbow then took off and left without giving Twilight a chance to explain. Twilight facehoofed herself. Next to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow was often times intolerable.
Spike scratched the back of his head. “Sooo… That happened, huh?” Spike asked. Twilight simply turned around and started walking back to her room. “Where are you going?”
“To bed. I suddenly got a migraine from talking to Rainbow.” Twilight called back and disappearing up the stairs.
Spike closed the door and shrugged. “It was that bad?” Spike asked no one.
Rainbow returned to her home and checked the time, it was just before lunchtime. She still had plenty of time for today, so she decided to grab a dictionary that Twilight gave her. She remembered when Twilight gave her that book, she asked Rainbow to use it to find definitions herself instead of asking. She looked through the dictionary looking for the meaning of insanity. When she saw the definition, she got even more confused though she now has a word to best describe her current mental state. She then checked what time management meant and actually understood it.
The realization then hit her like a sack of bricks to the head. She could have been using this method to get the most out of her time with training and exercises. Though she still had to see Princess Celestia to make sure she got as much info as she could. She put the dictionary away and started walking around thinking to herself. She had enough time today to try and see the Princess, but her usual methods of breaking in weren’t working since she was rushing in and getting no time to think. Maybe she needed to be sneaky for once. She only did this one time a long time ago, when she had to sneak into Ponyville hospital to get the Daring Do book she left. She was successful but her escape wasn’t so sneaky. She was confidant she’ll be better this time. So she left her home again and went straight to Canterlot Castle for what she hoped would be the final time.
She landed outside the castle at least a yard away from the guards. She had to come up with a good entry point she can use to enter the castle without alerting the guards. The entrance was too small to sneak through by flying and she couldn’t risk trying to cause a panic or riot to distract them. She looked around and noticed there was a lone guard at the donut shop. She got an idea. She walked up to the guard who seemed to be on break and was finishing his meal.
“Hey, there’s a pony getting beat up in the alley! You need to help em.” Rainbow shouted acting like she was in distress.
The guard perked up. “Show me where!” The guard got up and followed Rainbow to an empty alleyway. “Hey, where are they?” She knocked the guard out.
Rainbow started taking his armor off. “Sorry, nothing personal pal. I just need to burrow your armor for a while.” Rainbow apologized.
The armor seemed a bit bigger than she thought it would. She dismissed the thought and was just glad it fit for a pegasus. She pushed the stallion towards the wall, grabbed a nearby quilt and covered him up to make him look like he was homeless and asleep.
“There, now time to go see the Princess.” Rainbow flew out the alley and up to the castle doors where her two least favorite ponies were standing guard. One stopped her.
“Back from your break already?” He asked.
Rainbow realized she was disguising as a stallion guard. “Uh, yeah. I got some important news from somepony that I need to report to the Princess right away.” She said in a weirdly masculine voice.
The guards looked at each other with a weird expression. “Okay, you can go.”
Rainbow wasted no time and went in the castle. She took the path Twilight told her and found herself in a big hallway with big doors at the end. She walked up to them and had to push hard to open them. She was now in the massive throne room with Princess Celestia sitting in her chair looking at a piece of paper held by her magic and two more guards standing next to the small stairs leading up to the chair. Rainbow realized now if she did continue to try to break in she would get caught anyway by the time she got to the Princess. Rainbow walked up to the throne and was met by one of the guards before she got a couple feet away from the stairs.
“State your business. Are you reporting something in?” The guard asked.
Before Rainbow could answer Celestia spoke up. “Let her by.” She lowered the paper down, looked right into Rainbow’s eyes and smiled warmly. “I’ve been expecting you for quite some time, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow was wide-eyed and the guards looked awestruck. She took the helmet off and revealed her rainbow mane. “How did you know it was me?” Rainbow asked in her normal voice.
Celestia simply giggled. “I was connected to the Elements of Harmony too, so I can sense when a Bearer of an Element is nearby. Besides…” Celestia stood up and walked down the stairs and stopped a foot away from Rainbow. “I also sensed something was wrong. I assume that’s why you’re here?”
Rainbow was utterly surprised. “Uh, Yeah. I keep reliving today, over and over again and it’s starting to drive me crazy. I’m hoping you’ll know what’s wrong with me.”
Celestia nodded. “I do, though it is quite a rare occasion. What you are experiencing is something beyond that of magic, fate. To me, it seems like fate is giving you a chance to correct yourself.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “Correct myself? What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you must learn a valuable lesson today and use what you’ve learned effectively before you can continue. What that lesson is I cannot say, it is up to you to figure it out. Though I’m sure you’ve been given hints and clues to what that lesson is by now.” Celestia explained.
Most of the time when somepony tries to explain something that’s at least a little complicated, it would fly over Rainbow’s head. While Celestia’s explanation was hard to understand, somehow Rainbow understood it perfectly. Celestia mentioned hints and clues, she immediately thought about what Twilight had said and what she read in the dictionary. Time management and insanity, though insanity still didn’t make sense.
Suddenly the realization hit Rainbow in the head like a sack of bricks for the second time. The lesson she’s supposed to learn and put into use properly was time management. Fate had wanted her to effectively manage her time wisely. With this knowledge Rainbow knew what she had to do.
She bowed to the Princess. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. I finally figured out what I’m supposed to do.” Celestia simply smiled. Rainbow then proceeded to take the armor off which for some reason caused the guards to turn red in the face. “This armor belongs to a stallion that I knocked out and left in the alley. So give it back to him if you can and tell him ‘I’m sorry’. I’m going to go now, later.” Rainbow took off and went home but not before the two guards outside started yelling at her.
Back home, Rainbow went to work on creating a time schedule she can use to go through the day the way she’s meant to. After a couple hours she finally got it done, she then laughed realizing a schedule was totally a Twilight thing and was something she would never do in her life. Meanwhile, Twilight was reading a book in her large library when she suddenly sneezed.
Rainbow then came to a small issue, how was she gonna make sure she got the schedule when the day reset. Though the second the thought popped into her head she was put at ease somehow when the paper started glowing. Since Rainbow was tired from working on the schedule, she didn’t want to think about it and decided to put her trust in fate. After all, if this is what fate really wanted her to do it only makes sense it would ensure she gets it done in some way. Rainbow walked tiredly to her bed, collapsed on it and instantly fell asleep.
Once again she was awoken by the sound of her alarm clock; the time was 8 am. This time however Rainbow gracefully turned it off and stretched out while getting out of bed. She walked over to the table she worked on with the schedule and noticed it was still there. It was still glowing but when she picked it up the glow faded. She got a good feeling this time, would be the last time. She looked over the schedule one more time, grabbed her saddle bag, put the paper in and proceeded with the first thing on the list, breakfast and exercises.
Afterward, she felt relaxed, full and ready. She took another quick glance at the schedule, put it back in the saddle bag and headed to the Wonderbolt Event. After the event, she helped Spitfire train the recruits. Spitfire thanked Rainbow for her help. Rainbow said her goodbyes and proceeded to the next activity on her schedule: hanging out with her best friends.
The time flew by slowly but to Rainbow it was faster than it had been for days. She didn’t let herself think about anything but her friends. This time she wasn’t going to rush anything; she just wanted to enjoy this moment with her friends for as long as she could.
“Are you okay, Rainbow?” Twilight asked in a hush tone.
“Yeah.” Rainbow wiped her eyes. “Just something in my eyes that’s all. Besides I kinda missed this.”
“But we made plans yesterday.” Twilight said slightly confused.
Rainbow nodded. “I know, it just feels a lot longer to me.” Rainbow gave her best smile and Twilight smiled back.
Rarity looked at the time on her clock and it was 5:30. Everypony decided it was time to head home. Rainbow took her schedule out one last time and looked at the last thing on the list. Rainbow went to the crusaders tree house and found Scootaloo sitting by herself looking at the sky. Rainbow walked to her and tapped her shoulder; Scootaloo turned around and was overcome with joy and happiness as she hugged Rainbow. As Rainbow was starting to fall asleep, she looked upon Scootaloo’s sleeping form and recalled a time when she was this happy. Rainbow wrapped a wing around Scootaloo to keep her warm; Scootaloo subconsciously hugged her wing and smiled which got one more smile out of Rainbow before she finally fell asleep.
Rainbow heard a knock at the door and slowly got up, making sure not to disturb Scootaloo. She opened the door to see Twilight standing there.
“Sorry, I thought I’d come check on you. You got a second?” Twilight asked. Rainbow nodded, stepped outside and closed the door.
“What’s on your mind, Twi?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight was rubbing her head. “Well, for some reason I have a headache and this one question keeps popping into my head which adds to the headache.”
Rainbow had a suspicion that she knows what question Twilight is talking about. “Go ahead and ask me.”
Twilight looked right into Rainbow’s eyes. “Do you know the definition of insanity?” She asked, confirming Rainbow’s suspicion.
Rainbow nodded. “You’re probably not asking about the proper definition but a quoted definition?” Twilight nodded. “It means doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.”
Twilight’s eyes widen. “How did you know that?”
Rainbow smiled. “Well, I actually learned it’s insanity to expect things will change on their own instead of working to make them change. Which is something we should all remember.”
Author's Note
For those who are curious, one of the things mentioned at the panel involved: having the story send a message. The message behind mine is; Time Management is Important. Learning to manage your time properly helps you get things done efficiency.
