Dear Diary,
We cannot stay here forever…

It was a strange feeling. I was smiling. Despite everything that had happened, I was smiling.

“So?” I asked, smirking at Twilight. She had had her eyes closed ever since her head landed on my shoulder. She appeared a little confused as she opened them and looked at me. “Weren’t you going to apologize for something?”

“I think I did,” after a good natured roll of the eyes, she closed them again. I nodded to myself. She sure made a great apology.

“Yelp!” Twilight jumped to her feet, covering her bra with her arm, while looking around for something. Someone had opened the door and was on their way in.

“Are you looking for this shirt? Next time; don’t leave it out in the dirt,” Zecora threw Twilight’s shirt to her with a shake of her head. I could sense a laugh being hidden behind her words. I found myself blushing and avoiding her eyes. Twilight reacted much the same way, and tried to mumble something. She was interrupted by the striped lady. “There is no apology or explanation required. I was young once too: I know what transpired. With hormones so strong and confrontational tone, I decided to leave you two alone. I am glad to see that I was right, you’ve clearly moved passed the cause for your fight.”

It made me a little uncomfortable to know that Zecora spoke about this so casually, though I couldn’t figure out exactly why it did. Maybe it was because she viewed sex as a solution to a problem, rather than something to be enjoyed for it’s own sake. But she wasn’t exactly wrong, or, at least, I couldn’t think of an argument against what she said.

“Where did you go?” I asked. I had been curious about that earlier and that feeling started to find me again.

“To collect a plant that blooms under the moon; your need for privacy was most opportune.”

“What sort of plant?” my girlfriend sounded interested. I didn’t find that surprising, given the chemistry setup at her home.

“An ingredient in a potion called the Owl’s Nightly Stare; a task that would last during your romantic affair.”

Again with a reference to what we had been doing. I had to think she enjoyed teasing us. Distantly I said “uhuh” or something to that effect.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked me. Without noticing it, I had started to move towards the door. I stopped to think about it. Where was I going?

“I just want some air,” I said.

“I’ll come with you. I think I need some too.”

Zecora was left alone, smiling to herself. Before we shut the door behind us I saw that she was emptying the satchel she had carried with her. Purple leaves fell out on to the table.

**

Outside it was much like before. The breeze hadn’t changed at all, and no other creatures were there to disturb the clearing’s serenity. I sat down on the grass with my back against Zecora’s tree house. Twilight sat down beside me.

“How did you do it?”

“Do what?” she replied dumbfounded. My mind wanted me to ask how she had been able to leave her friends behind, but my mouth had taken on the responsibility of keeping the peace.

“How did you save my life?”

“I suppose what you really want to know is how I learned the spell,” I nodded in response to what she said. Twilight continued, with a tone that somehow denoted both pride and shame. “I… had to learn how to use Sombra’s magic to stop his return. Even then I knew I was only scratching the surface of its potential. His traps and tricks seemed impervious to conventional magic. Sombra was even able to block my brother’s magic with his. So I asked if Celestia to teach me more about it…”

“Did she?” I waited a few seconds after Twilight had stopped before I asked the question.

“No. She said some magic was best forgotten. So I started to experiment myself.”

I didn’t say anything to this, but it struck me as strange. She had always given me the impression of unfailing devotion to Celestia, despite not always being pleased with her secrecy. Was there more distrust there than I had first thought? Or was it nothing more than refusing to give up on knowledge?

“I asked Rarity and my brother to try to cast that type of spell, but they couldn’t do it, so I had to keep studying with what little I could do myself. Since Sombra had temporarily crippled Shining Armor before, I wondered how it would affect normal magic. Turned out it dispels it. It is the strangest thing since the time-travel spells.”

“Dispels it? That’s… I don’t know how I feel about that. It must be strange to know about if you have magic,” the comment about time-travelling was something I let go. If she had known how to do it, I was sure she would have used it for something by now. Or suggested it.

“Shining found it terrifying that something like that exists, saying something about it being a major threat to the Royal Guards. Rarity suggested we tried it on Cadence’s magic.”

“Why?”

“Because Cadence is an alicorn. Their magic is different than ours.”

“But aren’t you an alicorn?” the question blurted out of me.

“Not for long. I’m not able to do magic like that yet. I’m not even as powerful as my brother… I mean, I can do more types of magic than he can, but his barrier spells are second to none. He could protect a whole city with it, against the Changelings. And he could easily break any barrier I could create.”

“And you wondered what made this magic so powerful?”

“Yes, precisely! I didn’t want the knowledge to go to waste, because I knew I might need it someday. It didn’t effect Cadence’s magic more or less than conventional magic, but I already knew that.”

“But, how did you learn how to- I don’t even know what you did to save my life, not really, other than that you use it to control the poison. How?”

“Well… magic is sometimes an ingredient in potions. Some spells are made to either force a reaction that would require more heat or a dissolvent agent that couldn’t be added without, for example, ruining other ingredients. So I thought I’d try out how that magic worked on ingredients. It was… odd…”

“Odd? How so?” I tried to edge her on. I remembered Sombra saying something about this. Maybe Twilight had some answers.

“It seems to unlock properties of potions and ingredients that isn’t there otherwise, and it seemed to be able to - what is the word I’m looking for? Control? Something akin to that – to control them better? I don’t really understand it yet. I’m like a pioneer in a new field. No one has studied this magic since Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire.”

“Except Celestia?”

“… yes, except Celestia. And I don’t think she’s studied it, only remembered.”

“But, how can you can do this magic and Shining Armor and Rarity couldn’t?” I felt like I had missed something here. Or maybe I had just forgotten something.

“I- my talent is magic,” she gestured to her hip. I remembered the strange tattoo-looking things they called Cutie Marks. Twilight sounded humbled and proud at the same time. “And not magic like my brother, whose talent is magic meant to protect. I mean all magic. It is… quite rare. Only other one I know of in history is Starswirl the Bearded.”

“Oh…” what was I to say to that? It did answer my question, sort of. It was a strange concept, being good at being good at things. It’s like when someone who doesn’t know how an RPG works tries to spread out his or her experience points evenly over every skill set. That usually ends up ruining the game, but since Twilight and I were the only ones left, I guess the rules are different in real life. “I see.”

“Yeah…”

“So…” I began. I wasn’t sure why I was about to say what I was going to say, but something drove it out. Perhaps guilt for her horn, or Rainbow’s last words? Or maybe spending time with Twilight had sparked something in me, something I wasn’t familiar with. “When do we start?”

For the second time, she looked at me with a certain level of confusion. Again I had asked a question without giving the context. I had to stop doing that.

“When do we start on saving your friends? We’re not gonna stay here forever, are we?”

I could see Twilight fighting back a tear, and her voice became a little thicker as a result, if only for a few moments. It was accompanied by a smile.

“I- I don’t know. I don’t even know where to start…”

“Hmm,” I said. As Celestia was an imposter, she would undoubtedly send someone to the library once she heard news about our escape from the tunnels. But how long would that take? “Can’t we take a trip back to Ponyville? We’d have to hurry, but we might learn something?”

“Well, I could use some of my books,” Twilight reflected. She didn’t sound sure about it. “We’re going to need the Elements of Harmony sooner or later too, so we’re going to have to find a way to sneak into the castle and break the seal on the vaults.”

I could only assume she meant the one in Canterlot, which sounded like suicide. But she didn’t say we had to do that right now: Rescuing her friends came first.

“Do we know that they will keep your friends in the same tunnels?” this struck me as an obvious thing to consider. If they knew we knew, they would surely do something about it.

“No, so we’re going to need divination spells too… Yes, I think we need to risk going to the library.”

“I am sure your friend has his charm, but are you convinced he won’t lead you to harm?”

“Thank you, for the vote of confidence,” I retorted to Zecora. It was hard to say when she had joined us outside. She seemed to move much more quietly than Twilight and myself.

“I am sure you’re perfectly kind, but are you sure the Changeling is not still in your mind? And if that phrase is something you can conceive, is there a reason for me to believe?”

“I… appreciate your concern, Zecora,” with a smile Twilight turned to her. “But even when he was under the Changeling’s influence, he still managed to outsmart them. He saved my life. I trust him.”

My instant reaction was to make a mental note to tell Twilight to please stop portraying it like that. How many times would I need to remind her it was coincidence that let me do any of it?

“I apologize for doubting you are what you appear,” Zecora gave me a bow. “I am only trying to protect someone I hold dear.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, though it did sting a little. I could never be fully trusted again, could I? “Would you help us get in and out of Ponyville unnoticed?”

Both Twilight and I looked at Zecora hopefully. I didn’t know much about her, but any help was better than none. Besides she had managed to sneak up on me when we first met. I considered that a good sign.

**

Zecora led us through the forest at a brisk pace, avoiding the paths. Occasionally she would stop and look at the ground, or a nearby tree, before continuing. The forest was filled with various sounds, many among them birds and wolf howling.

I couldn’t help but try to look at almost every plant we passed, while keeping up with the others. There was something foreign about them, but I couldn’t quite say how. Maybe it was just the dim light playing tricks with my perception, but it looked like many of them either stretched after us, or tried to get away.

More than once we walked into holes of sorts. The ground seemed to lower itself for a few meters, before it rose again. I wouldn’t have thought of them as anything more than small changes in terrain if Zecora hadn’t changed our direction every time we walked into one.

“Why don’t we use the paths?” I whispered.

“The creatures that maintain these paths can be quite dangerous and shrill; these forests are not frequented by those from Ponyville.”

“And they mostly come at night… mostly”

She nodded to my response, but didn’t say anything further. She only put a finger in front of her mouth to indicate that I should stay quiet. That was just great. Good thing she had agreed to come along.

**

Maybe an hour or so had passed when we reached the outskirts of the forest. There were only a few more meters of forest and a bridge between us and Ponyville proper. It looked as though no one was outside.

Silently it was agreed that Zecora would go first, to see if there was someone waiting for us. All we could assume was that if the Celestia imposter had sent someone to the town, they didn’t know she was helping us.

As she crossed the bridge, a loud sound pierced the air. Zecora froze up, while Twilight and I scuttled in back the trees again. My heart pounded heavily in my chest when I peeked out. Zecora had started to move again.

While I watched Zecora, I couldn’t help but think about the sound. I assumed it was an animal, but which? Hadn’t sounded like any bird I knew. It was a shriek. She waved for us to follow.

Twilight and I ran over the bridge, wanting to spend as little time in the open as possible. Once we rejoined Zecora on the other side, the three of us continued into Ponyvile. We stayed close to the walls of the houses and in the shadows when we could.

The moon had started to set and the light disappeared quickly. Maybe three houses down the line, it was hard to say for sure, Zecora ran off ahead down an alleyway. I cursed to myself.

“Is someone there?” the light in one of the windows came on, right in front of us. Twilight thought quickly and embraced me so it would look like we were making out, while at the same time pulling us away from the window. The one in the window stuck her head out, trying to pierce the darkness. She had dark purple skin and a two-tone pink color in her hair.

Whoever this was, she was looking right at where we were standing. Her eyes, however, didn’t seem to focus on anything. Maybe we weren’t visible. After an eternity, she removed herself from the window and closed it. I could feel my shoulders climbing down from my ears. Twilight remained still.

I cursed to myself again, thinking about Zecora running. Where had she gone? And wh-

“Twilight!?” I had completely forgotten the door behind me. The voice from earlier sounded aghast. Letting go of Twilight and turning around, I tried to put on a ‘oops, we got busted’ face, hoping that her reaction came from being surprised at Twilight being out here with a guy at this hour or day. “Wh- what are you doing here?”

“Cherilee, I-“ Twilight’s voice shook, but she sounded glad that it wasn’t someone else who had found them. “I’m just out with… with my boyfriend. I didn’t know we woke you up… he he…”

“Right, okay. I’ll just… go back inside and pretend this never happened,” Cherilee’s expression didn’t change at all as she back away slowly, always keeping her eyes on Twilight.

My eyes were drawn to something behind her; a shadow approaching. Once it entered the light, I saw it was Zecora. I was about to gesture to her, when she pushed in with her foot at the back of Cherilee’s knee, forcing her down, and placed her arm around her throat, while the other applied pressure from behind. Mere seconds passed before she was out cold.

Zecora didn’t say anything, only gestured for Twilight and I to help her carry Cherilee inside. Every fiber of my being wanted to yell at her, ask her what the fuck went on, but my brain had enough reasoning power left to acknowledge that this was a conversation we couldn’t have in the street with an unconscious woman among us.

**

Once inside, we left Cherilee in her bed at Twilight’s insistence. I laid a hand on Zecora’s shoulder as we were about to leave again. I spoke with little more than a whisper.

“What the hell just happened? She was going back inside!”

“Her reaction did not sit right with me; Cherilee was terrified, that much I could see. Do you not think it a little bit queer? That the sight of you two filled her with such fear? I think it would be wise for the rest of the night, that you two should try to keep out of sight.”

“Zecora is right,” Twilight came to her defense before I could try to explain away the woman being afraid at night. “She works at the school; she’s used to catching people sneaking off for some… fun. I discussed it with her once, when she came in and asked for some materials on sexual education…”

I raised my eyebrow, signaling her to get to the point.

“She was afraid… of me…” saying the words out loud seemed to hurt. “And she shouldn’t have been. Surprised, yes. Not fearful.”

“Then we should go back. Screw going to the library and find somewhere else to get the knowledge we need. Something isn’t right here.”

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I know which books in my library I need, and I don’t know where else to get them. There are copies in the Canterlot Castle library, but the Changelings would be waiting for us. And the big cities are too far away.”

“I- ok,” I wanted to protest, but decided against it. I knew I should, but I couldn’t, despite fresh knowledge of the catastrophe that had hit us because we took risks only the previous morning.

**

We managed to get from Cherilee’s house to the clearing of the tree library without running into anyone else. Ponyville seemed to be fast asleep. I hoped that since Cherilee would wake up in her own bed, she would dismiss what had happened as a strange dream.

Twilight’s home looked quiet. Making as little noise as possible, we hasted over to the front door. I could hear a feint “Who!” from the inside. Her owl was still alive then.

Inside we saw nothing at first. Without even the stars and moon to provide light, our eyes had to adjust to the dark. I closed the door behind us. I could hear Twilight and Zecora sniff in the air.

“Someone else has been here,” Twilight whispered. It was agreed without a single word said that this had been a stupid idea all along. Slowly we started to move back to the door again.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the room was lit up. At the top of the stairs there was an older man, in golden armor, walking down towards us. He had a horn. Around him he maintained a magical shield. “I didn’t think you’d actually come back here.”

I tore up the door behind us, but wasn’t met with an escape route. Instead, I got a fist to the stomach from another man in armor. His was wearing black and purple armor and he had wings. I was unable to do anything other than double over in agony, gasping for breath. I felt my hands being forced behind my back and cuffed. Zecora and Twilight backed away from the strangers, further into the library.

“Your horn…” the older man mumbled, mostly to himself. His eyes rested on the large crack than ran down Twilight’s. Two more black armored pegasi had entered the door behind me. One of them, one of the two women, forced me to sit on my knees while she held me by the neck. She closed the door behind them.

The old guy walked towards Twilight while one of the Pegasi, the man who had greeted me with his fist, moved in on Zecora. She responded by taking out a small pouch from under her cloak. As she evaded the first strike, she opened it and gave him a small dose of it. I recognized it as the powder she had used to knock me out earlier. The man’s movements slowed almost immediately, before he just fell over, in deep sleep.

Taking down the pegasi prompted the horned man to fire a magic beam at her. ”Ugh!” Zecora groaned as she was knocked to the ground. Before she could stand up again, the remaining pegasi cuffed her too and kept her down.

Shit, I thought to myself, struggling to get free of my own binds as the old stranger approached Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle, on the authority of Princess Celestia, you are under arrest for the assassination of the Princess of the Night.”

My mouth fell open. Not because of the accusation, or at least not because there was an accusation. Luna had been assassinated? When did that happen? She had entered my dream earlier this night.

“Stand down, Miss Sparkle. It is over.”

Twilight looked from me to Zecora and back again. Fear and guilt was all I could see in her eyes. Her shoulders sunk and she lowered her head, holding out her hands to be bound like the rest of us. I saw a tear fall to the ground and her shoulders shaking as she sobbed silently.

“No!” I didn’t know if I yelled it, or the word merely came in my head. Images of the Changeling Pods we had found flashed through my mind. In them I could see Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Rarity… it was spinning in my head, faster and faster. When I couldn’t make out any of their faces anymore, the scene changed. Celestia was sitting on her throne, naked. Around her all guards had empty expressions with a green light in them. Twilight was on her knees with a collar around her neck. It was connected to a chain held by Celestia, pulling her in to serve her. Twilight’s expression was as empty as the guards’.

I closed my eyes, trying to get the vision from my head. When I opened them, I was back in the library, but something blurred my vision. Twilight had been bound. Zecora and myself were being forced to our feet, but it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. The old man looked at me with confusion and fear, as did everyone else in the room. I could feel everything in the room, as if I held it in my hands. Then the room started to tremble.

Something blinded me the same moment I felt the floor shacking. Instinctively I moved my hands to protect my eyes, finding to my surprise that they were free. As I did, I felt a strange heat emanating from my eyes. The same heat was coming from the amulet concealed beneath my shirt.

When I could again open my eyes everything had changed. The library wasn’t orderly. It was a mess, with most of the books having been thrown around the room. Most of them looked badly torn. I felt a breeze come in behind me.

The guard holding Zecora down had been flung into the nearest shelf. Her armor looked liked it had been smashed apart. Apparently Zecora had escaped her cuffs and was getting to her feet.

I took a step forward. Then another. I couldn’t see her, but I knew exactly where Twilight was. She was trapped under one of the bookshelves that had fallen over. The old man, like the other guard I could see, had been knocked out and had his armor had been reduced to scrap metal. I could see he was still breathing and Part of me wanted to find something to plunge into his neck then and there. Better to let him bleed to death rather than become a problem again, but my mind stayed focused on Twilight.

As I began trying to shift the bookshelf away, Zecora came to help me. Turning my head towards her to give her a smile, I noticed an all too familiar purple mist trailing my movements. My heart sank in my chest.

With effort, Zecora and myself moved the shelf, revealing Twilight under it. She was fine, protected by a barrier of Sombra’s magic. How? It didn’t matter. My relief kicked in, knowing that she was fine. At the same time, the barrier dissipated.

“Wh- what are you!?” she yelled at me.

“Not the time, Twilight, trust me! We must get back to the Everfree!”

Zecora took her hand and forced her to her feet, using a knife to pick the lock on her cuffs. Her own must have taken the route of her clothes, which were tattered and torn much like the books. I saw she had gotten several cuts, but none appeared deep. As we turned around to leave, I noticed that the tell tail mist from Sombra’s magic wasn’t there anymore.

On our way out, I saw the guard that had held me in place. She had been blasted through the door, and there was a huge hole in her armor. Her chest was essentially naked and I could see a series of deep wounds. One of them was where her heart would’ve been. To be sure, I quickly checked her throat for a heartbeat. It wasn’t there.

As we ran, curious people came out into the street, only to scuttle back inside quickly when they saw Twilight.

Author's Notes:

Make sure to check out the Lost Chapters of Dear Diary, which can be found here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/323500/the-lost-chapters-of-dear-diary . A New Lost Chapter is now officially underway, though when it will be completed is hard to say.

Leave a comment telling me what you like, what you dislike and what you think might happen in the story. I find motivation in constructive feedback and speculation.