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// Some Notes on The Text 
// Story: The Prisoner of Zebra 
// by Tumbleweed 
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The years leading up to and directly after the dawn of the post-Celestial era (colloquially known as the “Times of Twilight” in regards to the era's central figure) have long been subjects of rigorous academic study (as well as not-so-rigorous depictions for entertainment's sake). Historians have been especially lucky to have the resource of Princess Twilight herself to offer first-hand information of those tumultuous times in which gods fell and new ones arose. 

However, Her Majesty's meticulously recorded letters and accounts cannot paint a complete picture of Equestria at the time. There are, of course, a variety of other sources, such as Glimmer's Grimoire, the semi-apocryphal Sunset Epistles, or even more folkloric examples such as the Pink Ballads of Ponyville. All of these works are well known, and well studied. For years, the prevalent line of thought in most historical circles operated under the assumption that all the first-hand accounts of the time had already been discovered.

It is my great pleasure to prove the exception.

I made this discovery by accident. About a year ago, I discovered a battered old chest (more of a hoof locker, to tell the truth) hidden away in the back of an old antiques store in Canterlot. The old mare behind the counter was more than happy to get rid of it, contents included. 

Once I dragged the dusty old chest home, I admit that I left it to sit in a corner for an embarrassingly long period of time. Then again, what are a few months to something over a century old? It wasn't until a gray, rainy day that I cracked open the old chest and began to peruse its contents. Once I dug past the dented armor, the empty liquor bottles, and a … robust collection of vintage pornography, I found a collection of unmarked, cloth-bound journals. 

After careful study and authentication, I have concluded that these journals are none other than the personal reflections of Knight-Colonel Flash Sentry, C.C, T.S.S. While Sentry is mentioned in passing in many accounts of the time, he has remained somewhat of a cipher over the years. It just goes to show how eventful the Times of Twilight were, that the first pony to be awarded both the Celestial Cross and the Twilight Sparkle Star (and more lesser commendations to count) is mostly forgotten in favor of more colorful characters such as Sky-Commander Rainbow Dash. 

With this in mind, I have taken the liberty of organizing and presenting the Sentry Papers for your perusal. I have tried to keep to the original text as much as possible (with occasional footnotes for clarity's sake). Given Flash Sentry was known more for his soldiering than his authorship, any spelling or grammatical errors within the text have been left in for accuracy's sake. 

To say the content within these journals is controversial is an understatement. Flash Sentry moved in far different circles than Princess Twilight and her famed friends did-- and so, his journals provide a glimpse into corners of Equestrian history and society that have gone forgotten until this very day. I can only hope that the reader will find the following journals as enlightening as I did.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has not yet replied to my correspondence. 


-George MacIntosh Fresian.