Excerpted from the diary of Macintosh Appleton the Large
It is May the third as I write this, and I am one day late. If asked I will blame it on the train. The train was only an hour late, yet the locals simply refused to let me enter the Forrest after dark. What difference does it make, dark or light. The ponies avoid travelling at night to prevent run-ins with “her,” and it is “her” I intend to see anyway. I am heading into the lions den as it were.
They say there was once a town where her castle now stands; Ponyville, I believe they called it. The castle cast an evil shadow upon all the buildings, causing the chickens to stop laying and the cows milk to sour. Ponies left, then the Everfree Forrest overgrew, taking over the area.
Apparently my host has grown impatient. Originally I was to make my own travel arrangements, yet when I failed to arrive on time, a coach was sent to retrieve me. The coach moves with neither driver nor horse…Well obviously I’m inside, but you know what I mean.
I am on the way to the castle now.
You may wonder why I would go to such a horrifying place. The answer is in real estate, simple real estate. Midnight Sparkle is buying land. She is interested in several properties which my corporation is representing. No other legal representative was willing to come to her castle, and it is only with the promise of a commission and promotion that I myself agreed. The money will help me to give my fiancé the type of home she deserves. She doesn’t ask much for her own sake, though her pets can be fairly demanding.
It is now the evening of May the third, so I know that, contrary to superstition, Midnight Sparkle is active during the day. We actually shared a supper together, or rather she watched me eat. The meal was prepared by a dragon named Spike, a creature barely larger then a cat, who couldn’t possibly be the fire breathing monster of local legends.
At one point Spike asked how the food was. I just said “good” and he seemed satisfied with that. Perhaps I should have told him that it is taboo for ponies to eat meat. So frightened was I that I took no less then five bites out of the quail to avoid offending. It was actually quite good, though I shall have to say a prayer for the poor creature before I sleep.
Midnight Sparkle seemed interested in conversation. I’m afraid I didn’t do much to oblige. In my nervousness, my end of our chat was limited to “yup” and “nope.” I must have seemed the fool.
She did speak a little of her research. Apparently she had recently completed a long term project involving optics and the physics of mirror reflections. It was boring, but boring was good. This was much better then the local legends I hear about her mad experiments.
It is morning of May the fourth. Last night I was plagued with horrifying nightmares. I know that is to be expected considering whose castle I am in, I just can’t stop wondering what if they were not dreams.
First I dreamt that a purple mare, who was not Midnight Sparkle, stood over my bedside with callipers and a bone saw.
I yelled, “What do you want?” as she measured my noggin.
“Your brain!” said she.
Then Midnight Sparkle appeared. Perhaps she appeared in a puff of smoke, or transformed from the form of a bat. All I know is that she was suddenly there. She bit on the other mares ear and pulled her away.
“Starlight Glimmer, I told you no! Not him!”
As she dragged the other mare away, she looked back to me and a bolt of magic fired from her horn. Soon I was asleep again.
The Next thing I remember, three beautiful mares were in my bed. There was giggling, and sniffing, then they began to remove my clothes with their teeth.
Again Sparkle appeared.
“Daisy, Lily, Roseluck, back to your rooms right now.” She stomped her hoof down.
The girls whined, yet obeyed, each sauntering off with there heads low. The one with the green mane flashed me a wink as they left.
Once more the last thing I saw was the ominous glow of Midnight Sparkles horn as I lost consciousness.
I don’t know for certain if any of this was real or not. I just hope that today I can complete my business and leave this wretched place.
Today I nearly lost my mind. We finally get down to business, and what do I learn? Sparkle is buying a house next door to me!
In my shock I made some jerky and awkward movements, and so dropped a locket. It fell open upon the floor. Pictures of an Orange mare next to a yellow pegasus were in view. I reached to pick it up, but the dragon grabbed it first.
“Hey it’s her,” said the dragon. “Look Twilight, it’s both of them side-by-side.”
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
“These are the mares I’ve been looking for.” Midnight Sparkle held the locket close, and skipped up and down with excitement. Seeing her do that was admittedly surreal. “I knew your sister was one of the ones I’m looking for, but I never thought the other would just fall into my lap like this.”
“That other one is my fiancé, they have nothing to do with you.”
“Not true.”
At this point, Midnight Sparkle told me a story. I will try to relay the story as it was told to me.
Midnights Tale
“I was working on a way to travel to other dimensions, using mirrors. My mentor, Nightmare Moon, showed me such a mirror once and I thought I could find more dimensions and thus new lands too conquer. On my first outing I encountered her, Twilight Sparkle. She was another version of myself. Twilight seemed glad to see me, and eager to share knowledge. That was strange. I learned of a weapon, one all powerful weapon in six parts. Sometimes this weapon sends enemies to the moon, sometimes it turns them good, sometimes it makes them stone. It’s inconsistent yet unbeatable. When I returned, I sought out a lost castle deep in the Everfree Forrest. There I recovered my dimensions copy of this weapon. I actually took it to Twilight Sparkle to analyze, and she assures me it is the same as hers, exactly the same. Actually, that could be a disadvantage. I’d hoped, since my dimension seems darker then hers, perhaps our version wouldn’t operate on friendship, but it does.”
“Did you say friendship?” I asked.
“Yes,” she rubbed her hooves together in a menacing gesture. “To achieve ultimate power, I must become my worlds Princess of Friendship.”
“Seriously?” I asked
“Do you mock me?”
“No Ma’am!”
“Good, we should try to get along since your sister, Applejack, and your fiancé, Fluttershy, will be my dearest friends.” Sparkle put her hoof around my shoulder, it was an almost familial gesture.
When the real estate deal was complete, she invited me to ride with her to her new home. She was travelling in a chariot pulled by strange bat winged ponies I’d never seen before. Midnight Sparkle would send for her belongings later but inside the chariot were the three mares from my second dream, and the one from my first. Starlight Glimmer was still holding a bone saw. I told Miss Sparkle that I would take the train.