Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle (Personal) and Spike the Dragon,

Spike, it's me. I can't tell you where I am, but I'm safe. I didn't have a chance to warn you, but Zecora is a vampony. She spoke with me about it and trapped me, then inexplicably let me go.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders have also been compromised. The depravity of this Order knows no bounds.

I don't think you'll be safe anywhere in Ponyville, and I'm not sure what advice to give you. Just take care of yourself, please. Try to find somepony who will believe you and help you to hide. I'll get us out of this jam soon.

I have plenty of scrolls here, so I'll contact you later. I'm concerned anything I send you will be intercepted, however, so I can't send sensitive material through this channel at the moment. I have a means for you to contact me in return, but I'm not certain whether it's worth the risk at present because there isn't anything more I need to know about what's happening in Ponyville.

I'll contact you again later. Please be careful, Spike. And forgive me, if you can.

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Dear Princess Celestia (Roaming),

I used an enchantment and a little water to turn this document into a two-way device: if you burn it with dragonfire, it will return to me. It's safer if we communicate this way just in case this gets intercepted, so they won't know where I am. (I'm sure you could figure it out, but it won't be easy for anypony else.) Just write on the reverse side of the scroll to send it back.

I'm not sure where to begin so I'll try to be terse. The vamponies are out of control. Zecora is one of them now, as is Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Caramel, Rarity, Fluttershy, Smith Apple, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, some of Luna's Night Guard, almost certainly Princess Luna herself, and (by now) probably Applejack and Thunderlane, as well as several of the guards and nobles in Canterlot and some of the guards in the Crystal Kingdom. At least one has been sighted in Appleloosa, and the Sheriff there may be compromised. Rainbow Dash remains in hiding in Canterlot (last I heard).

Zecora allowed me to escape Ponyville for some reason I can't guess at. Foals have been targeted by the Order, including sexually. The Crusaders have been compromised, and Spike is currently in grave danger.

Your sister appears to follow the Order now, though her motivations continue to mystify me. She claims prescient access to knowledge that I will fail in my task. She wants me to submit to the Order. She says I'm becoming increasingly perverse because I'm not with the Order, which makes no sense—but doublespeak seems par for the course with our enemy. She also wants me to have sexual experiences because she says I'll need to face up to my sexuality soon, but again, this is undoubtedly just more Order-speak.

To be honest? Psychologically speaking, I'm in a dangerous place. I've been made to do things nopony should ever do. I blame myself for not being stronger. Luna seems to think I'm beyond repair at this point, and I fear I agree. I've been raped by my parents, by foals, and by vamponies. Not traumatically forced or harmed, but still rape by definition. I don't want this to feel the way it does, but I think I'm growing depraved, and I'm not sure what to do. I hope you can help me after this ends, but if not, I'll accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate. I'm worried I may already be a monster with desires unacceptable to society.

I need to ask you about the information that has been censored from Ponyville's libraries. I've been told certain books on biology have omitted endocrinological truths, among other things. Also, Luna says there is a secret that pertains to unicorns specifically. She says it has nothing to do with sex, but it's one of the reasons the Order is needed. She implies you specifically know what she's referring to.

Please advise. I hope you are well.

I am sorry for being a horrible disappointment.

Princess Twilight Sparkle

P.S. sorry about the tears mottling the page

(Header omitted to avoid compromising return spell),

Twilight, what I have to say next is very, very important. Commit these words to memory.

You are not at fault. I forgive you for any and all transgressions of the past. You must learn to forgive yourself, as well.

You are going through a very difficult and confusing time. I don't blame you for anything you've endured, and you must not blame yourself. All will be pardoned once this is over, even though that may seem impossible right now. I am certain that each step of the way you have done what you felt was right. It isn't ponies we're fighting, it's the force that controls them. I don't believe that your friends and family are truly monsters.

In the meantime, don't give out hope in yourself. Neither should you give out hope that your friends can yet be saved. Although I doubt I need to say it, resort to violence only when absolutely necessary, and try not to let your emotions get the better of you in this trying time.

Any information you can provide me on who the Order of Spring is, specifically on what dark force they answer to, would be extremely helpful. It's clear to me that this isn't the Nightmare or Sombra or Discord or Tirek or any other enemy that you or I have faced before. There is an invisible hoof at work here, and ponies are simply not themselves.

I have been detained in the Crystal Kingdom (or perhaps 'Crystal Empire' is more appropriate once again). The situation here is delicate. Perpetual snows are preventing train transport, but the snows are only on the Southern front, which suggests they are an intentional obstacle designed to keep me here. The crystal ponies don't manage weather as well as we do in Equestria, but I have seen non-crystal pegasi here among the ranks of the guard, and I am certain they are controlling the foul weather.

Fluttershy is acting regent here, which makes no horse sense. I have confronted her in private about my false imprisonment, and she no longer directly denies that I am being kept here against my will. I am tempted to try to escape despite the weather, but the entire guard is keeping a watchful eye on me and I suspect the pleasantries would disappear and I would be in a jail cell. If the situation is dire, tell me and I may make an attempt anyway.

Unfortunately, unlike our good friend Spike, I don't have enough goodwill or authority built up in this city with which to foment a revolt. So for now I sit and wait, and I plan.

The guards who stand by the door of my guest room are not normal crystal ponies. The manner in which they refract light is subtly different, but my eye can detect it. They are not changelings, either. They appear to be crystal ponies with some sort of deep enchantment or curse upon them. Feel free to speculate.

I haven't the room left on this page to go into detail about the forbidden knowledge, but I do know what Luna is talking about. There is a secret I have carefully kept from our society, and it has not been easy to keep. I hope this does not come as a tremendous shock to you. Hopefully, you know me well enough by now to realize that any secret which would lead me to suppress information must be very dangerous indeed. If the vamponies already know of this secret, the only positive resolution will involve erasing most of the memories of those afflicted.

I don't see how the secret pertains in any way to the goals of the vamponies. I think it's a red herring.

Write back at will. I am rather bored (smile).

Princess Celestia

Dear Princess Celestia (Roaming),

I'm transcribing a spell below that will reverse the vampony infection in the caster, but it will only revert the previous 36–48 hours of infection. I've been able to modify the spell to completely cure the infection, but I don't have the modified spell with me and the changes were complex (and either way, I don't know if the modified spell works in the case where the infection has completely run its course). Let me know if you can improve upon it, seeing as you probably have nothing better to do.

What is the unicorn secret? If anypony can keep the secret, it's I: I'm an alicorn too, you know. Er, unless the vamponies are right about something else. They've told me I'm a pegacorn, not a 'full' alicorn, whatever that means.

Can you please explain about the other censorship?

Also, the Order of Spring is something you can "follow" or "be with" but not "be in". I think it's a philosophy rather than a group, perhaps? I'm still not entirely certain. I suppose it could be a dark force like Nightmare, or even a person of some species.

(Spell is not copied into Journal, for security purposes.)

Princess Twilight Sparkle

(Header omitted to avoid compromising return spell),

Twilight, I can promise you that the unicorn secret is not relevant to the vamponies. It is a simple fact that could endanger unicorns were it to become public knowledge, and it is nothing more than this. I eradicated the knowledge from all other ponies, including my sister, long ago in the days when we still ruled together. To ensure the knowledge did not reappear, I made a few laws which over time became taboos. Not surprisingly, Princess Luna resented my actions, and I believe this is one of the events that led to Nightmare Moon.

As for the other censorship, that is probably relevant. I began to suppress a few specific details related to pony sexuality sometime in the mid-fourth-century. The amount of information is very little. The purpose of the suppression was to deal with a growing problem in our society at the time. I was convinced that the Nightmare's influence had returned to Equestria, even with Nightmare Moon safely sealed away. At the time, I believed that Nightmare's influence was sexual in nature (for reasons I'd rather not go into). This hypothesis was disproven later, but the changes made to society persisted and brought more weal than woe, so I kept them. The only active suppression today has been a directed moratorium on certain kinds of medical and psychology studies.

This is truly ancient history, and I think it would be a waste of time to rehash everything that happened centuries ago. All you need to know is that any suppression of information has been limited to pony sexuality, and also some of the barbaric practices we used to engage in as a society (e.g. graphic details on implements of torture) have been redacted from the oldest Equestrian history books.

Although the suppression of information is tightly circumscribed, I can see that the Order is indeed reacting against it. I accept this as partially my fault, but I still think I made the correct decision to help keep our society civil. I'm willing to revisit the topic after this madness is over; perhaps Equestrian society is finally ready to handle a few uncomfortable truths. However, I find it difficult to believe that this Order would not exist if I hadn't censored a few facts over the years. You are the only pony who has confronted me about this topic in a generation. Why would Luna not approach me and discuss the issue, if that were the source of this upheaval?

The Equestria you knew two months ago wasn't a utopia, but it was as close as I've been able to guide it. Friendship has been an essential element to fill the gaps between primal desires that can't always be sated. The magic of friendship is stronger even than our most vile, basest needs.

Yes, Twilight Sparkle, you are indeed a "pegacorn" (as is Cadance). It is easier for our citizens not to make the distinction (there are likewise other ascended forms, but they are exceedingly rare). Besides, someday you shall earn your mantle and become a true alicorn—of this I have no doubt. I realize the timing may seem incriminating, but this isn't information I was trying to hide from you. When you're as old as I am, waiting a few years to start a conversation isn't a big thing, and I had planned to address details of your new form with you, slowly, over time.

I'm out of space and have no scrolls of my own, so I await your reply.

Princess Celestia

Dear Princess Celestia (Roaming),

(Information on badging mechanisms, losing marbles, breaking, etc. redacted because it's elsewhere in the Journal.)

That's about all I know. Obviously, the brain thing is my greatest concern. Does the purpose of that device make sense to you? It was implied to me that it predates Nightmare Moon.

Privately, it's a little frustrating that you are keeping these things to yourself with so much at stake. Please, don't hesitate to tell me anything that might clue me in, even if it doesn't seem to be important. I Pinkie Pie Promise to be a vault for any and all secrets between alicorns. Er, pegacorn and alicorn. (I guess it is easier not to make the distinction.)

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Dear (illegible runic symbols),

Twilight: again it is I, The Great and Powerful Trixie! Trixie believes she has come up with a routing method to ensure that this message arrives in your hooves if it is burned at a high enough temperature (Trixie is using magnesium). If this doesn't work, then Trixie just burned a letter you will never see... so Trixie hopes it works.

Braeburn and Trixie have fled Appleloosa. Sheriff Silverstar tried to put both of us in holding, and Braeburn managed to stun him long enough for us to make our escape. There are at least three ponies in Appleloosa who Braeburn does not recognize who we suspect have brought trouble to town. Nopony other than the Sheriff (and the mysterious strangers) have been acting strangely, but Braeburn believes that the Sheriff Silverstar would be able to convince his deputies to hold us captive long enough for bad things to happen.

Trixie believes she was bitten once in a manner that you described. She used the spell you graciously provided, and it appears to have worked. Trixie thanks you for your help, Twilight.

Trixie suspects we have been followed, but we are now in hiding in a very curious little village named "Our Town". The residents here are highly disturbing in personality, and they seem in great distress over Trixie's proclamations of greatness. Trixie relents that this might be a normal reaction for some ponies, as Trixie is perhaps a bit... enthusiastic, but Braeburn believes the ponies here are under some sort of control that prevents them from expressing themselves and Trixie's attitude is caustic to their sensibilities.

The village is run rather autocratically by a pony named Starlight Glimmer. She is clearly (to Trixie's trained eye) an experienced mage who is pretending to be LESS experienced and amazing than she is. This makes absolutely no sense to Trixie whatsoever, so Trixie is certain this Starlight mare is completely insane.

Braeburn and Trixie are in a small, uncomfortable guest house. We are not sure if we should flee Our Town or remain here longer. Trixie has noticed there is at least one pony watching us from above and outside the village, and Braeburn suspects that whoever followed us here is waiting for us to leave.

There is something wrong with the mana in this place. There is a directional filter that keeps information from flowing into the area, and Trixie suspects any attempt by somepony from outside Our Town to communicate with her will fail. This letter should, however, reach you (provided Trixie's theory is right and she isn't simply burning it to smoke).

Be careful, Princess Twilight Sparkle. We suspect something very bad is happening throughout Equestria.

In sincerest friendship,

The not-at-all-scared, but mildly-concerned-and-perhaps-just-a-tiny-bit-worried,

The Great and Powerful Trixie!

and

Braeburn (Apple)

(Header omitted to avoid compromising return spell),

Fluttershy mentioned to me that you are keeping a Journal of everything that has happened. I think this is a very good idea. If you could sketch the cover for me, I might be able to gain a synecdoche link to it and cast spells on it from a distance.

Twilight, it is imper—

WAIT look the stars, respond n