Dear Diary,

She’s an Evil Enchantress! She does Evil Dances! ... I don’t quite know where I got those lines from. Hell of an alchemist though…

My head hurt, but not like what had been the common feeling associated with it the last few days. I was hungry, having gone too long without eating, and it made concentrating difficult. I didn’t know which day it was. When I was put to sleep, it was afternoon. Now I could see the dark outside the window from where I lay. My hands were bound behind my back, and my feet to one another. I had been placed on a large pelt, similar to that Zecora had put Twilight on, but on the floor. I assumed it was because of a lack of trust, since Twilight wasn’t tied up.

The room was almost entirely dark as well, save for a few candles and an unnerving glow coming from Zecora’s cauldron. It was bright green and in contrast to it, I could make out Zecora’s figure. She was adding various ingredients I couldn’t make out, chanting in some language I didn’t know. Strangely, it didn’t seem to follow the same pattern of speech she normally had.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” a familiar voice asked, but it lacked the smugness or confidence I had come to expect from it. Molly was back, or my hallucination of her was anyway. “Oh my, tied up and bound? I wish I could get in on that, it would be so much fun. If you’d allow me, that is…”

I couldn’t help but stare at the Changeling, or what little I could see of her. Was she- no, that couldn’t be the case. It wouldn’t make any sense. I was just mishearing what she said. Or perhaps the tone she used.

“Nothing to say? Or perhaps you’re just afraid someone will think you crazy?”

No, I thought to myself. I just don’t feel any compulsion to answer.

My attention was turned away from Molly when I heard someone start to move around. Zecora appeared to have heard it too, turning to her right. In light of one of the candles, I saw Twilight getting back on her feet. She yawned and stretched her arms, before her eyes fell to me. I couldn’t tell how long she just stood there, looking at me, but after what seemed like an eternity, she turned to Zecora.

“There are so many questions to be found in my mind right now, but let’s start with the most obvious: Why have you tied up my boyfriend and stripped him of his clothes!?”

Glancing down, it struck me as strange that I hadn’t noticed that myself. Save for whatever was used to bind me, I wasn’t wearing anything. Why hadn’t Molly reacted to that? Or maybe she did.

“Twilight, stand clear. For if you interrupt, his soul will stay forever corrupt. You must leave this matter to me; it is his only chance he will have to be free.”

“He can’t be free if he’s tied up on your floor!”

“Twilight, please keep calm, I have no wish to inflict further harm. The cure needed is a powerful potion; hard enough to prepare without all your commotion. If I brew with carelessness or haste, all efforts will be a waste.”

“Wait, what!? What are you talking about?”

“Twilight?” I spoke, a tad duller in my tone than usual. Damned drug. As I began to speak, I remembered my own reaction to waking up. “Are you okay? What do you remember?”

“That we…” she hesitated, unsure of whether or not she was saying the correct thing. “We were investigating the Changelings? Then… I don’t know. I don’t know how we ended up here. I thought I dreamed abou- dear Celestia, it wasn’t a dream was it?”

No one answered. No one needed too. Twilight fell to her knees, quietly sobbing. Zecora helped her to her feet and onto a stool. My gut turned at the sight, and I cursed Zecora for tying me up so I couldn’t give her a shoulder to cry on. As soon as Twilight was seated, Zecora returned to her cauldron.

“Boyfriend?” Molly decided to speak up again. I ignored her.

**

After what seemed like an hour, or more, Zecora stopped chanting and adding to the cauldron. Twilight had been silent since a few minutes after receiving the bad news. The light reflected in her face revealed that she was, more or less, without any expression. She didn’t even cry. Just an empty stare at the floor. Occasionally she blinked, but even that seemed to move at a slow, irregular pace. At one point she had to close her eyes and rub her fingers against them.

I tried my best not to look at her. Every time I did, I was struck by the contrast of the girl before me with the one I had seen in the tunnels. There she had been willing, while not eager, to abandon her friends. It was almost cold calculation of what would be better in the long run. I had to assume that she had steeled her mind for this as best she could in the time leading up to our descent into the caves. One slip up, one moment of honest reflection on what she had done… if this was the result, I pitied her. And I had a hard time dealing with the sight of it, even more when the filth in my veins was the issue most pressing.

I flinched when Zecora came over to me, not saying a word. She took a hold of my arms, forcing me to my feet and guided me over to where Twilight had been lying. I tried to accommodate her, but she moved me with so little regard that I had enough trouble just holding my balance. Before I was put down on the bed, my binds were cut. I hadn’t noticed the dagger Zecora held in her left hand before now. She took an empty flask from a shelf, filling it with the concoction from the cauldron. By now it had gotten a murky orange color to it, and it reeked like rotten fruit.

“Any final words, Changeling Thrall? Any goodbyes? Or will silence be all? I do not ask for appearance’s sake; you will likely never wake. I hope you’ve made your peace, one way or another, you shall have your release.”

I looked over at Twilight. She looked away, deliberately avoiding my gaze. Then I nodded. No need to bother her with a forced farewell. I had done enough reminding her of what was real. I felt Zecora take a firm grip of my jaw, forcing it open, and pouring down the potion.

The taste was worse than the smell, making my jaw twist and struggle to shut itself, but Zecora heeded this no mind. Like the potion itself, my vision became murkier, and eventually I stopped struggling entirely. Try as I might, I couldn’t even lift a finger by the time my vision went dark.

A short, searing pain shot from my stomach, but subsided right away. I felt like I could move again, and my vision returned. Or maybe I were just able to open my eyes. Looking around, I wondered how long I had been out. Zecora and Twilight were sleeping. Getting to my feet, I didn’t want to wake them, so I moved as quietly as I could towards the door. I was just going to step outside for a few moments. Whatever had happened with the potion, it left me restless and sick of Zecora’s home. I just couldn’t stand the stench of the potion that still lingered in the air.

Outside my mind felt clearer, no longer clouded by the thick, awful aroma. It was still dark outside, but the moon was full this night, reflecting more than enough light for me to see clearly. Instead of sitting down like I had originally intended, I started pacing back and forth. I couldn’t help but feeling restless. I couldn’t sit still for the life of me.

I couldn’t worry much either, I realized. I assumed it was just a side effect from the potion, but at the moment I couldn’t bring myself to care about the situation we were in. Sure, Celestia was gone and so was most of Twilight’s friends, but I couldn’t feel down. I felt… I couldn’t really come up with a good word for it. Renewed? Probably. It felt like I had had a good night rest, a massage to get out all those pesky points of tension in my body and freed my mind from all worries. My body had to be celebrating the recovery by giving me a hormonal cocktail. Or maybe I was just high as Carl Sagan. Which would be pretty damn high. Regardless of the cause, I could get used to this feeling.

I found myself walking further and further in each direction as I paced. I had to fight the emergent urge to explore some of the forest around me. From what I had seen when I walked through it with Zecora, it was very different from any forest I had ever been in. Could it hurt to take a quick look as long as I stayed to the path?

The still reasonable part of my brain told me that, yes, that’d be a very bad idea. I didn’t know shit about this forest. And what if it was a magic forest? Finding my way back could end up being more or less impossible.

On the other hand, the other, significantly stronger part of my brain said that it wasn’t worth worrying about. We had survived the poisonous cure, so a stroll should be fine. But maybe I should leave a note. Huh, my mind making a compromise with itself? Odd.

In through the door again, I started to look through the various dressers and shelves for an empty piece of paper and something to write with. It didn’t take long before I found some parchment, a pot of ink and a quill. Something I had become increasingly used to write with since I ended up in Twilight’s bedroom.

Out for a walk. Probably back soon. If not, you should probably come look for me. I don’t know my way around this forest.

Looking at the note, I felt happy with myself. Except one little part of my mind which told me I was being a fucking asshole, but that part was quickly muted by the relief of getting to stretch my legs.

Leaving the house, and stench, behind, I looked for the most promising looking path. There were three or so going from Zecora’s house. The one to the right of the door looked like it offered the most light, so I went with that one.

The sounds of the forest were enchanting. Zecora had been right about little stirring in the day, but now it was busy as a city street. Strange, but soothing birdcalls, cricking of insects, fireflies flying in formations whose meaning was only known to them. A low growl, replaced by a whimper and paws running away from me. Somewhere to me left, in between the trees, I could see someone sitting by a fireplace. My first instinct was to head in that direction. So I did.

“Well met, stranger,” I said to the figure, confident and friendly. “Mind if I sit down? I was just out for a stroll.”

“Feel free. My warmth is for all who traverse the Everfree.”

From the voice I could hear it was a woman. I associated the voice with youth, beauty, a friendly disposition and, for some reason, Twilight Sparkle. She wore something akin to the cloak Zecora had, hiding her face and most of her body. What I could see of it, parts of the legs and arms, had a familiar brown color to it.

“What brings you to the Everfree, stranger?” she asked, staring into the flames.

“Oh, just on a visit. But I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to take a trip outside. I heard it mentioned that this place is livelier after nightfall.”

“You’ve heard right, all manners of secrets come out from the dark depths of the forest when the City Dwellers crawl to their beds. Secrets not even the Great Zecora can fathom. Ah, dear sister, you’re back. Had any luck in the black of night?”

Another figure, dressed like the one already sitting by the fire, approached and sat down. Her voice was similar to that of her sister, but the association, oddly enough, turned to Pinkie Pie.
Despite my carefree attitude, there was a part of me that found this strange. This newcomer didn’t seem to be anything like Pinkie Pie. She appeared to be calm and relaxed, not overly excited and all over the place.

“No, sister, no luck tonight. But I see you’ve fared better.”

“I really have not, dear sister. He was friendly enough to come sit down all by himself.”

Odd exchange, but it didn’t bother me. Not much anyway. I could have sworn I was wrong about the associations I made to these people.

“A willing participant? Most curious.”

“I don’t think he knows what we’re even talking about, dear sister. But I am sure he won’t mind keeping the two of us company for the night. Do you?”

“I do, actually,” I said, still confident and friendly in my tone. I didn’t pay much attention to what they said to one another. “I should go back in a little while. Don’t want to make my friends worried and all.”

“But you can stay for a little while, yes?”

The one who was here when I came touched my hand firmly, but gently, communicating that she didn’t me to leave. I blushed a little at the touch, for reasons beyond me.

“Sure, a little while should be fine.”

“Perfect.”

Even in my current state, I felt a chill run down my spine when that reply hit. The voice I associated with Twilight no longer was anything like it was. There was someone else that came to mind, metaphorically slamming me back to reality and snapping me out of whatever drug induced euphoria I had been trapped in. Molly, that fucking cunt of a Changeling.

I yanked my hand free from the woman, getting to my feet as quickly as I could. Neither of them seemed to follow what happened right away; by the time they reacted to me running away from them, I had already made it past a few trees. Not long after, I was back on the path, running in the direction of Zecora’s hut. Throwing a glance behind me, I didn’t see anyone pursuing.

With my heart beating in my chest, I felt I almost tore of the door as I rushed inside to wake up Twilight and Zecora. What met me on the other side was… I had no idea how to describe what had just happened. I was standing in the entryway to a familiar looking room, a room that should have been somewhere not here. How the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had found its way into the Everfree Forest wa-

“Damn!”

From the window on my right I heard a voice I was pretty sure I shouldn’t be hearing. My voice. Looking back to the bed, I saw a sight that I had become intimately familiar with some time ago.

Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed were on the bed, seemingly unaware of me. Babs had her feet tied and her hands tied behind her back, laying on her stomach with her hindquarters in the air. Behind her, Sweetie Belle stood on her knees, forcefully ramming a strapon into her ass. She had turned and waved for someone to come in through the window.

It was a surreal experience watching myself repeat the steps from before, down to the point where I leaned in to manhandle Babs. I could practically hear her whisper to me that we should turn the game on Sweetie Belle. But it wasn’t Sweetie Belle anymore.

Where Sweetie Belle had been, there was another figure. A taller figure, with skin jet black and a snake-like tongue. Her wings were that of an insect, buzzing barely audible to me. Babs’ eyes had something different about them too, when she looked back. There was a feint presence of a green glow to them.

When “I” walked back behind “Sweetie Belle” and gave her the surprise neck-grip, the Changeling didn’t react like I remembered it had gone down. She laughed smugly, looking over at the real me and gave me a wink, before she went along with the turn of events. She looked to be in a state of bliss when Babs made “me” fuck her ass, and she started with the strapon.

Babs’ expression was the complete opposite of what it had been. Instead of eager and partially sinister, her face was almost empty, save for a submissive flash when “Sweetie Belle” made her make out with her instead of me.

I couldn’t take looking at it. I rammed myself against the door to get it open, falling down from the platform the clubhouse was built on. Instinctively I closed my eyes as I hit the ground. It didn’t hurt, not even a little.

When I opened my eyes again, I was laying on my back, leaned against a tree, in the middle of the day. Above me, I saw two mid-teen girls, Scootaloo and Applebloom, looking down on me. Between them, the Changeling smirked down at me. Applebloom and Scootaloo had the same empty, submissive expressions I had seen on Babs Seed.

Jumping to my feet, I was prepared to push them out of the way, but I passed right through them. Looking back, I once again saw “myself” in a position I had already been in. I turned away as fast as I could, walking in a random direction.

It felt like it only took a second before I reached Ponyville, but it had to have taken longer. It was afternoon. At the edge of town, I saw “myself” again, but this time there were no Changelings. Only Scootaloo and Applebloom, pleasuring me with their mouths. Their expressions from the lake scene hadn’t changed at all.

“Bad dreams?”

The scene before me thankfully changed when I heard the voice. I couldn’t have been more grateful for this to happen. Luna had called me back to her throne room. She was sitting on the throne, smiling down at me. Not smugly or smirking like the Changeling, but with understanding. She looked exhausted.

“I- yes, very bad. Awful, in fact.”

“Then I am afraid this meeting will not leave you feeling any better,” she said, losing her smile in the process. “I fear I carry grave news, about what has transpired in Canterlot since you left.”

“I know,” my answer came before she was able to continue. “Celestia has been replaced by a Changeling. And I have bad news for you; Twilight’s friends have been captured.”

Luna looked like I had hit her in the face. Her mouth remained open for a time. She tried to keep a stoic expression, but the sorrow crept through.

“That… this is news I could never- I could never have anticipated that,” she said. Her voice was on the verge of breaking down to tears and wailing. Something I couldn’t blame her for. “That makes what I have to share a great deal worse. Your list of allies is shortening, and fa-“

Luna stopped talking and jumped to her feet. Running down the steps from the throne, she passed right through me. Turning around, I saw that a new figure had started to materialize in the room with us. The way Luna reacted to it, I assumed this was not simply part of my dream. Luna positioned herself between the two of us.

The figure formed into the shape of a man on his hands and knees, looking as if he was in severe pain. Beyond that he had long, black hair and wore a red cape, I couldn’t see much of him. Luna and I watched him for what felt like an hour before he was able to stand up. Luna’s stance said she was ready to pounce on him the moment he made the wrong move.

The man was tall, at least as tall as Celestia. His hair was pulled back, leaving the horn in his forehead visible. It was dark grey, fading into red. He had dark grey skin, contrasted to the lighter grey of the metal of his armor. Quite handsome and intelligent looking, with broad shoulders and a strangely alluring face. A strong jaw, straight nose, and high cheekbones. When he saw Luna and myself, he appeared worried.

“You have no right to be here!” Luna yelled, shooting a beam from her horn. By reflex he raised his arms to cover for his face, but when the magic stopped in front of him, he looked more confused than anything. A state he seemed to share with Luna. Then she grew angry. “By the power and privilege of the Moon, I banish you from this dream!”

She held up her hands towards in a ritualistic fashion, but the magic that came from them had about as much effect on him as the previous attempt. I wasn’t sure what to think about this.

“Nightmare Moon, a pleasure as always,” the main replied, now confident and with a smile on his lips. “Up to your old tricks, are we? Trying to find more obedient servants to hasten your return? Haven’t you learned by now, that forcing fate only ends in pain?”

“I am Nightmare Moon no longer!” Luna screamed at him.

“Oh?” the man looked a little uncertain for a moment. Then he smiled again. “How unfortunate. It seems whatever threat you may have been died with your previous form. I’m sure the story your defeat is a glorious tale, but I’m afraid I no time to bask in your humiliation. Begone!”

He raised his left hand, creating an orb that struck Luna. It had a deep purple color, surrounded by a dark mist. The same magic I had seen in Twilight’s eyes when she had struck down Molly.

“Now,” the man turned his attention to me. There was a certain annoyance to be found in his tone. “While I am pleased to see that the Cult is still working to spread my magic to every corner of the world, I must decline once more to reveal the secrets of my power to them. Until they can return me to life there is nothing you can give in return that would be of value to me. Now wake-up and release this tired dead king from your dream. And be sure to tell your Masters that I will no longer tolerate intermediaries. If they want to deal with me, they will have to come themselves. If they lack the sense to even send a unicorn in their place, then it’s no wonder the Night Mistress was able to detect you.”

I raised an eyebrow in return. What the hell was he talking about? Which cult?

“What masters?” I blurted out. Was he referring to Molly and the Changlings? Nothing about this made any sense.

“Oh, don’t tell me that…” he apparently had seen this reaction before, getting more annoyed, though it felt less directed at me. As he continued, his voice dripped of condescension. “Well if that’s the way it is, then allow me to dispel any falsehoods you may have been told. Those really nice people who picked you up from the gutter, or wherever they found you. The things they promised you: power, wealth, love or whatever they said to entice you. They were lying to you. They are using you as a conduit to communicate with me, so they can learn the secrets of the Crystals. They are actually part of the Heart Cult, and they want to use my powers to kill the Heavenly Sisters and establish themselves as gods. Now that you know the truth, feel free to wake up so I can go back to my rest. If you’re lucky, your death should be swift once they realize you have failed and become nothing more than a lose end.”

“Are you going to say anything that makes any sense what-so-ever, or are you going to continue to delude yourself in a fantasy of cults for the rest of the night?” I got more than a little irritated at his tone, shooting back with what sarcasm I could muster in my confusion of what he was talking about.

“Wait, no, hang on,” he put his right hand to his forehead, rubbing it. “The Heart Cult was destroyed by the Phoenix Guard… around the time of the Great Prophesy. That was something about a Madman proclaiming that a commoner would one day be elevated to the rank of Alicorn Goddesses. That was… at least 300 years ago.”

“Not very bright, are you?”

“Why don’t I hunt you down, kill you and see how well you handle the task of keeping a grasp of time and place? No? Didn’t think so,” a flash of anger made his eyes glow green, before they returned to normal. I noticed that he had a natural red color to them. “But if they’re gone, that means you’re in league with a hedge wizard of some sorts. Or working with the Princesses. Now, which one is it? Are the Princesses actually trying to contact me? I assume not, given Luna’s reaction. Shame I cannot harm her in dreams. Would make my life so much easier.”

He began sentences so fast that I didn’t even have the time to start a response before what could be best described as the “proper time” for me to speak, when he closed his trap and silently invited an answer. So I did

“Neither. Who in blazes are you, anyway? Why the hell are you in my dreams? I’ve had enough if you bastards invading my mind already!” some of the anger that had built under my surface came to show. A lot of it, in fact.

“Oh, fantastic…” the stranger looked more discouraged by the second. “I’ve been bound to the mind of a bloody amateur who doesn’t have the faintest clue about anything. I’ll have to be sure to remove any evidence of this incident once I return to the physical world. This is simply shameful.”

“Get it into your thick head already: I. Didn’t. Summon. You.”

The man scoffed and walked away. As he did, the room changed. It remained a throne room, but now everything was made from crystal. He sat down on the throne.

“If you’re going to tell a lie, at least try to make it consistent with the evidence. Even a she-troll with head trauma knows that much.”

“Fuck off, will you?” I followed him up the throne and pointed my finger right in his face. “If you really want to know what is going on, it is as simple as this: I was poisoned. Someone tried to cure me. The cure knocked me out and now I’m talking to some asshat who thinks he is better than everyone else!”

“Wait, poison?” his disposition changed immediately, to a more curious and less arrogant. “Which poison? I know my magic reacts with certain alchemical processes, but I’ve never heard of it forming a summoning spell of this magnitude.”

“You know what? I’m not going to tell you,” I retracted my finger and started to walk in the other direction. It gave me a good feeling to know he wanted to know something I knew, but wouldn’t get to.

“And why is that?” The room was turned so that I was walking in the direction of the throne again.

“Because you’re acting like an arrogant asshole and I want nothing to do with you,” I stopped walking. The two of us just stared one another down.

“Fine,” he said. Then he started laughing. “Kid, I got to say, I like your guts. Even in dreams, anyone who dared to summon me was fearful of threading on my toes. So you’re either the most reckless or the most ignorant person I have ever met. No matter. I am Sombra, rightful lord of the Crystal Empire, at your service. I’m interested in how you got the attention of the dear Night Mistress, if you don’t mind telling me.”

“You mean Luna?”

“Oh, so you’re even on first name basis? Interesting. Yes, I mean Luna.”

“Why do you care? You two seemed to hate each other.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we do. A great deal of bad blood between us. Mostly due to her role in killing me, but also about my cultists and her cultists killing each other to prevent the other from returning. But most about her killing me.”

“And why would she do that?”

“You’re joking, right? I was, and am, an ambitious king who never swore fealty to the Sisters of the Heavens. Introduce me to one ruler who claims to not have any enemies and I’ll show you a lying bastard. You think Luna or her sister would allow another kingdom to remain out of their ‘enlightened’ rule? Please.”

“I guess you’d be some kind of hero in your own telling then?” Sarcasm dripped from my words. He just laughed again.

“Me? A hero? Heroism is for soldiers. And fools. And poems. But mostly soldiers,” he grew more serious. “No. unlike Celestia, I am not so insecure that I need to claim noble intentions to justify my ego. By the time the sisters tried to kill me, Celestia actually believed her own propaganda. Did you know that Nightmare Moon was only created because Celestia was arrogant enough to claim all the love from their subjects for herself? I could almost pity poor Luna her exile had she not done the same to me.”

“I… did not know that,” I admitted, unsure if I should trust him. I remembered that I had never met the real Celestia, but if she was anything like the Changeling impersonator, she had struck me as wise and tempered. Was that really just a show? Then I started to remember what Twilight had said about Luna and Celestia never being completely honest with her. The Changling had also been rather presumptive when she examined my body. If the real Celestia was like that when it came to getting what she wanted…

I pushed the thought form mind. Something else came up though; I had heard the name Sombra before. “Why do you say they killed you? As I was told, you were banished. And if you’re here, you can’t really be dead, can you?”

“Ah, Celestia’s euphemistic phrasing to hide the fact that she and her sister failed to kill me. Let me show you what happened.”

The scene around us changed to a balcony overlooking the crystal city. In front of us there was a second Sombra standing, completely unaware of us. He was looking down on something. Then a blast from the skies nearly hit him. I could see Celestia and Luna fly towards us, shooting more beams. Sombra fired back with his own magic, but retreated into the palace as the balcony started to crumble.

“Why should I believe your side of this?”

“History is written by the victor, Dream Host. I’m offering you a view of events from my perspective. Believe what you wish. After all, you haven’t seen the factors that lead to this confrontation.”

“Like what?”

“Hmm, interesting that you should ask that question,” Sombra said. “But story time is ove. You’re waking up.”

**

I clasped for breath, feeling a pain in my chest. I opened my eyes, finding myself back in Zecora’s hut. Both she and Twilight were standing over me, with relieved expressions on their faces. I noticed a pendant that had been placed around my neck. Twilight looked tired, and there was a visible crack in her horn.

Author's Notes:

It took a couple of days more than I thought to get this update out, but I think the result is Worth it.

With the story of Dear Diary properly started(after only a novel's length of buildup), it is time for me to introduce more POVs. How I will do this is answered in my blog. If you want to read these different POVs, it is important to check out this link: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/323500/the-lost-chapters-of-dear-diary