The Trance

by forestt

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Horror, Discord, Princess Celestia, Dark, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1295

A student at Celestia's Magic University unknowingly harnesses the power to create a time loop, and a forest of creatures.

+++

If there was one thing Torn Note wanted to be, it was the best. Popularity, status, genius, she had it all. However, her ambitions to be the best destroyed her relationships with her friends— and perhaps even the world itself. And even still, she finds herself in the same wood, surrounded by the demonic creatures she unknowingly created.

Will she free herself from this time loop of demons and pain? Or will she have to face the music and fall to the wheel of insanity?

Published 2022-03-25 01:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-03-25 01:10:00 UTC

Beginning

Author's Note

Probably a little rough around the edges, so feel free to rewrite this or anythin'.

Inspirations are Diary of a Time Looper by Kodeake.

Beginning

Torn Note lit a candle, huddled down on the cold flooring below her hooves. It was dark in the empty room, except for the petite flame. The unicorn was scribbling down various words with her unkempt handwriting on a small scroll. She knew she wasn't to cast unruly spells without her principals' knowledge, but she didn't care. Not a bit. When she had finished the jumbled writing, she looked up at the two unicorns in the corner with a fearful expression. Lost Legacy and Shining Feather had been far too afraid to cast the spell, much to Torn Notes' dismay.

"Are you undeniably sure, Torn Note? This could be disastrous."

Shining Feather would peep in fear.

The mare looked up at her friend with an unsure expression. She couldn't answer. Notes' insecurity terrified Feather and Legacy, but they knew she was in charge of this rodeo, and wouldn't dare object. Note had begun to draw a symbol on the ground, a circle around a smaller sphere, with words in old ponish. The words spelled— "the trance is watching, you'll be freed for life."

"There. It's ready." said the mare, igniting her purplish-gray magic.

Feather and Legacy lit theirs as well, hiding their worrisome expressions to lit their horns as well. They had all prepared themself for the spell, their faces now determined for the dangerous charm.

"Well— here goes everything,"

Note took a breath.

"It'll be over before we know it."

It was rather embarrassing— to have to be around these cowards, Note thought.

The unicorns' begun to chant the spell, watching as a purple cloud began to rise from the symbol on the ground. They had finally done it.

"Well...what now?" squeaked Legacy.

"Now, we wait." the mare said.

Note frowned in irritation. How could these unicorns be so pathetic? She felt as though she was in a forest of loneliness, a place only she could relate too. And before she knew it, she was.

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Note opened her eyes to the lush wood, the grass scratching against her hooves. She wasn't dreaming, she couldn't have been. Instead, she took in her surroundings and the mezmerizing forest. Was it the spell? Had she passed out and had fallen into a state of dreaming? Only Celestia knew.

"The trance." Note suddenly said, gasping at her own strange words.

She suddenly had an urge to run. To run towards the source of this strange aura, to run towards enlightenment. She didn't know, nor did she want to. Note frantically plowed at the dirt beneath her, whimpers of fear echoing through the wood.

"Oh Celestia, where am I?" she was going mad now.

Had Legacy made it? Was Feather in one peace? She may never know. For now, she was nothing but a distant memory of her own foolishness.

+++

Note opened her eyes. It was day outside. She must've been passed out—or insane.

"Come on, Note! We'll be late for first period!" Feather nudged her friend with a wide smile
Note ignored her uneasiness and heaved herself from the small bed, slowly trotting out of her room to the bathroom.
The mare stared at her reflection in the mirror with empty, dull eyes. What had she become? She knew her friends noticed as well, she was stranger than usual.

"The trance." She couldn't help but repeat the eerie words she had said in the forest. It was possessing her.

"STUPID—STUPID LITTLE—" Note would holler, slamming her horn into the mirror.

The mirror had shattered, causing deep lacerations in her horn. She had blood seeping from the rent onto her forehead. Note took a few deep breaths and gathered her first-aid kit.

"What is happening to me— great Celestia."

+++

"And that is the blah blah blah ... " The professor would endlessly yap on and on to the class of 55 unicorns.
Note couldn't help but draw the symbol she had drawn the night before— the two circles with the old ponish words around it. Surely Feather and Legacy would remember the spell from last night...wouldn't they? Before Note knew it, she was half-asleep.

"Ms. Torn Note—you may leave my class if you have been bored to death." The professor frowned in irritation.

The whole class snickered at Note. They were laughing at her. Torn Note hid her face beneath her hooves in shame. She had never felt so embarrassed. She could hear dreadful comments like "some genius she is" or "can't she do anything right?" Note tried to ignored the chattering, but it was too much. She just couldn't take it— not now.

"Just SHUT UP!"

Note turned around to a gossiping unicorn and slammed her head down to the desk in fury. She quickly gathered her things and ran from the room, ignoring the professors' scornful yelling.

"Note?" Lost Legacy opened the door to her dorm.
It was dark now. She had skipped an entire day of university in shame. Note couldn't even think about the gossip surrounding her.

"Note, what happened?" Shining Feather peeped with a worried expression.

She didn't respond. All she could do was show her friends the symbol she had drawn during the spell.

"This— This symbol. What is it?" The frantic mare would shake her friend in worry.

Legacy squinted at the paper, his reddish eyes narrowed to slits.

"Not sure. Feather?"

Shining Feather shook her head as well.

"No matter. We'd better do the spell before it gets too late." a rushed Torn Note said.

The mare drew the same symbol with old ponish on the ground and lit her grayish-purple magic. Same as the night before, Legacy and Feather were fearful and rather cowardly. Nevertheless, they uttered the strange words. The familiar purple smog floated above the symbol on the ground before suddenly disappearing.

+++

Note awoke in the blissful forest, as she had the night before. What had she done to deserve such a fate? The mare had thoughts rushing through her head as she walked through the wood. From her peripheral vision, she saw a small yellow light hovering above the ground. Without even thinking, Note chased after the light in awe.

"Come on, come on!" panted the mare.

At last, she reached the glowing sphere. It had stopped near a small waterfall with gently-trickling water. Note sat down beside the pond, sighing in relief. She hadn't even noticed the bandages on her horn were gone. The lit orb seemed to grow an eye—as well as a long, serpentine body. It looked as if it was a snake with a singular eye for a head. Note instantly arose from her position, and ran in the other direction.

"Torn Note, you'll be safe." The strange beast would yowl, following the mare as she fled.

Note felt the blood in her ears—and saw the trees turning into strange monsters. The forest was full of demons, and she didn't know what to do.

"Wake up, wake up!" Note would hold her head with her hooves, knocking her horn frantically.

She was terrified of the demons— the ones she created.

+++

"Alright, if I want to break this time loop I'll have to use anything that can last through the loop."

She had an old logbook she hadn't used in moons— and decided to write her first entry.

Log One: Day One
Why. Why was my life and the success I had in it being dreadfully torn into a thousand pieces? What had I done to deserve such a dreadful treatment? This time loop hasn't made me mad, not yet. I'll have to try— my sanity depends on it.