Dear Diary,

The future has become uncertain, more than it already was…

The rest of the night had been spent in a restless sleep, untouched by the presence of either Luna or Sombra. The last time he had appeared, Sombra said he could now decline the summoning, and I was glad he chose to do so this time. It was uncanny knowing that I was summoning a spirit into my head every time I feel asleep. Or maybe he never left? Luna seemed to come and go as she wished.

That morning I woke up first. When I sat up, I saw Twilight lying beside me, closest to the wall. I felt a sting in the back of my mind. She hadn’t pushed the issue, but it still bothered me. I didn’t feel she had gotten over me not telling her the truth about Sombra. I bet it also hurt to hear it from Luna instead of me. If she had been angry and yelled at me, maybe it would have felt like the issue was settled. But then Twilight had been relatively calm the last time she was angry with me, and she had certainly gotten over it quickly. Maybe she was just a calm, rational person? I tried to think about something else; I was getting a headache.

“You’re awake already?” Twilight mumbled at me, with her eyes halfway closed. She looked tired. I affirmed her question. “Ugh, I should get up too… We need to….”

Twilight fell asleep again. I moved my hand over and stroked her hair for a few seconds, before I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead, by the base of the horn. I noticed she tried to hide a smile. Not fully asleep then.

Feeling a bit better, I stood up from the edge of the bed. I wondered where Zecora was. She knew where we had slept, but as I didn’t know where she spent the night, looking for her in this castle would be futile. Chances were I’d get lost.

Instead, I walked out to the middle of the room and sat down on the floor. The sun was up, but it was still low in the skies. In the long beam of sunlight coming through the window I began to ponder our current predicament. I spared little thought for the tears my clothes had gotten, but what we would eat was a larger concern. We hadn’t brought anything with us, save for Zecora’s knapsack of alchemical wonders. I doubted that there would be any food stored here, and if there were, it would be molded.

“Miss Sparkle, it is an honor to finally meet you. It is a rare pleasure for such a lovely young woman to be an admirer of my work. And the Conduit; when I summoned you, I couldn’t have foreseen what would happen.”

I threw my head around, looking for whoever said that. The voice had been low and tickled in the back of my mind, like a song you couldn’t get out of your head. I jumped to my feet and ran over to the door, looking outside. Empty. So was the room we were in, save for Twilight and myself.

“What’s wrong?” I looked back to see Twilight coming out of the bed. She seemed worried at my sudden behavior.

“Nothing, I’m fine…” my answer was distant, as my mind hadn’t fully caught up to the question yet. It was still busy trying to figure out what the voice had been. “Wait, no, I’m not fine. I heard a voice. It sounded like it came from within my own mind.”

“The Changeling?” her eyes turned vigilant and I could see her listen for anything that might be what I was talking about. I shook my head. No, it had been a man’s voice; that was for sure. That hadn’t seemed to be a problem for shape shifters, or I assumed it wouldn’t be, but Molly had always kept herself female with me. “Sombra?”

“No, someone I don’t know.”

“What did it say?”

“Miss Sparkle, it is an honor to finally meet you. It is a rare pleasure for such a lovely young woman to be an admirer of my work. And the Conduit; when I summoned you, I couldn’t have foreseen what would happen.”

As I finished, I hoped she would have any idea what that could mean, but she looked as confused as I felt.

“Who is the conduit?”

“I dunno, it didn’t say anything after that.”

“You think that, maybe, someone are trying to contact us through you?” Twilight didn’t look like she believed her own hypothesis. “It sounded like this ‘conduit’ is a person. But for what?”

I didn’t know what I should believe. Twilight seemed to accept the words so quickly, but I hadn’t even convinced myself I didn’t just dream them up. Then again, I couldn’t dismiss that they weren’t just a delusion. Molly had made sure of that, and Sombra hadn’t made it any better.

“Do you think you’re conduit?”

“Well, I- what?” the idea hadn’t even occurred to me. Me the conduit: what sort of sense did that make?

“I mean, you’ve kinda become a conduit for Sombra’s magic, and- I don’t know, that’s probably a stupid thought…”

That made some sense but the way the voice had referred to the Conduit made me doubt it.

“But I wasn’t when I arrived here. The voice said it summoned a conduit, but I only started seeing Sombra a day ago.” I pointed out, rubbing the ridge of my nose a bit. “So I don’t see how it could be me. Luna said she couldn’t even enter my dreams before Molly bit me. And even then she only appeared after we confronted the Changelings the first time.”

“Yeah…” Twilight’s tone was hesitant, like she was thinking.

“You don’t have any idea who it could be?”

“Hmm, what?” she seemed to have missed my question. “Like, who said that?”

“Well, it sounded like they were someone you would know, if you admire their work.”

“Yes, but- I don’t know, most of them aren’t alive anymore. Few great sorcerers live today, and most of them are still just trying to live up to the old standard set by Starswirl.”

“Then what about Starswirl?” I was probably far off with that guess, but I felt I had to say something.

“He has been dead for hundreds of years.”

“Oh…” I really wish I knew more about these people and their world. It might have come in handy before now. Something hit me as I thought about it though. “Why do you assume it is a sorcerer?”

“I don’t know of anyone else who could have telepathically communicated with you.”

“Wait, you can do that?”

“No, but there is some work being done to try to figure it out. And if it is someone I admire, it’d almost certainly have to be a wizard of sorts.”

I nodded in response. There wasn’t much more to say to it. I just hoped it was a daydream, or something along those lines. Between Molly and Sombra, I wanted to get back full ownership of my mind.

Author's Notes:

Alright, New Chapter. Shorter one this time. Speaking of Shorter, you should check out the latest blog post I made, posing a question about the future length of the Chapters. More details here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/353108/dear-diary-the-second-book-shorter-chapters

As always, check out the Lost Chapters here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/323500/the-lost-chapters-of-dear-diary