Transcription of Witness Interview: “Twilight Sparkle”
Date: May 3rd
Time: 10:15 a.m.
Interviewer: Verdant Vines, Head Investigator
After review of the journal by Mirror Gleam to verify the lack of harmful enchantments or hexes, I began an initial interview with the entity on the other side of the journal claiming to be Twilight Sparkle. This, and following interviews, will be transcribed from the journal directly.
The writing style is decidedly different from the original journal of Twilight’s we found, appearing more jagged and somewhat disconnected. Still, some stylistic similarities are apparent that seem to match her horn writing.
Hello, Twilight. Are you still there?
(The wait for a reply took several minutes.)
yes
I apologize
for the wait
That’s alright. My name is Verdant Vines. I'm the head investigator of the team working here in Ponyville. We arrived here on the 16th of April to assist with those that arrived on the 13th.
it is nice to meet
to talk with you
Verdant Vines
it fills me with
HOPE
that we can save those
trapped
lost
here
I understand your feelings, Twilight, especially after what it seems that you and other ponies here went through, based on the writings we’ve discovered. It’s harrowing. Regardless, I need to perform an interview with you to verify your identity and attempt to clarify some information. Is that alright?
(There was an extended pause before the next response.)
yes
I will do all I can
Verdant Vines
Are you alright, Miss Sparkle? Are you safe?
yes
I am sorry for the
delay
I had to be sure
I had time
safety
I’m glad to hear that. I would like to take you at your word, but do you have any information that you can provide to help corroborate your identity? If you were in front of me, I could verify it myself, but you must understand the position that I’m in. Accepting that these words are coming from who you say you are is a difficult request.
I understand the
trepidation
I do not look the
same now
marred
disfigured
still
my coat is lavender
mane purple with streaks
cutie mark
six-pointed star
with five white sparkles
surrounding
aiding
I have been Celestia’s student
for years
came to Ponyville
to study friendship
with Applejack
Rainbow Dash
Rarity
Pinkie Pie
Fluttershy
Spike
my assistant
a dragon
is this enough
(Based on the information we were provided by Princess Celestia, this is accurate. Still, there is no guarantee that knowledge wouldn’t be readily available to the residents of Ponyville. I decided to use events from the journal to attempt to verify her identity more concretely.)
For basic information, yes. We’d like to be more certain given the circumstances. Can you recall some of the books you looked into for spell research a week or so before we arrived?
it has been
some time
cooking with magic
Stalwart Bulwark
battle casting
blue and yellow
it is hazy
(Two correct titles, one author and a tangential reference to a third title. Correct enough, especially without access to the journal.)
Who were you out with on patrol on April 16th?
Applejack
Rainbow Dash
one of your ponies
cannot remember
recall
the name
(Correct, excluding Sugarcane. All of that information, of course, occurred before April 16th and when our investigation began. It’s still possible that someone else in Ponyville could have had that information.)
That’s alright, Twilight. I can understand, after so much time, that it might be difficult to recall. Which of your friends was affected? The one that ran away?
(The reply took a minute to come. A few moments before the answer came, a blot of black appeared on the page, as if a quill were being held in that spot.)
Fluttershy
Thank you, Twilight. Can you give me a moment? I need to grab a few extra documents before we continue.
of course
(I took the time to collect the copies of the other journals that we still had on-site, in addition to any relevant notes. I returned roughly fifteen minutes later.)
Twilight?
I am here
Vines
I needed to collect the other journals we’ve found. I’d just like to have the chance to go through events and ask some questions we’ve had, so that we can clarify what might have happened.
I will
answer
aid
however I can
What we found in your journal says that on the morning of April 16th, when we arrived in Ponyville, you awoke to darkness. A lack of stars, the moon, and the sun. What you wrote said you were here for about two weeks, until the 29th or 30th of April. We collected a journal from Sweet Apple Acres that described events until May 5th, and this journal, Solace’s, describes events over the course of, if the tally marks are correct, 147 days. Do you know how long you have been there?
only since I
came back to my
senses
self
can I say for sure
it is not exact
That’s alright, Twilight. I just want to understand what you’ve be
(The response came as I was writing.)
648
Days?
yes
How have you survived that long?
this place is different
slower
Slower?
time is
slower
or not here
cannot be sure
the body
adapts
overcomes
sometimes
You said “this place.” Do you know where you are?
here
and not
dark
Twilight, we’ve looked everywhere around Ponyville for anyone that was there on the 15th and 16th. There’s been no sign of you or anypony else.
I can try to explain
it took time to learn
to grasp
Alright. Tell me what you know.
it is
another world
not a planet
a plane
Equestria
Equus
is like wood
a table
a block
a brick
rules are rigid
structured
ordered
defined
here is
paper
flimsy
flexible
easily moved
Moved? Then you aren’t still in Ponyville?
for now
close
it does not have a name
this place
it does not have
anything
absence
malleable
it moves along
untraceable winds
universal
Celestial
when away
from Equestria
from reality
it is nothing
not darkness
not empty
nothing
when it finds
something
Equestria
it finds form
(I gave Twilight time to write her thoughts. When there was a pause longer than a minute, I assumed that the conversation had fallen to me. I needed time to understand and decipher what she was saying as well.)
This place, are there creatures there? The things that ponies saw, that might have taken them, that whispered to them and you?
yes
Are they near you? Hunting you? Pendant, one of my investigators, who found this journal, deciphered a message we found in one of our transcripts. It talked about somepony hiding from them. Was it you?
yes
apologies
not hunting me
I am hidden
I am safe
I left the message
I left HOPE
(I realized how much I had forced on her in a short span. If I were talking to her, if she were here, it wouldn't have happened. She needed space and time.)
I’m sorry, Twilight. I’ll try to space my questions out. We’ve found other messages too, which are not ciphered. They sound like threats. Do you know who sent them?
Her
others
They are planning
How did you, and they, leave them?
when close
reaching out
grazing by
things that were here
have an imprint
how i made this
sent it
delivered
You found Solace’s journal then?
yes
Did you -- find him there? Was he alive?
barely
he is still here
safe
Thank you, Twilight. Can you try to take me through the events that happened to you when you were taken to this other world?
did you read the story
about shadow walkers
Yes, we found an entry on them that you seemed to be talking about in a page torn from the journal.
They are things
made here
when this world finds Equestria
intersects
They can cross
touch
affect
infect
(Talk of infection brings to mind one of Twilight’s journal entries: “they will come back again, and spread to everything, just like a VIRUS.”)
before then it was
grazing
just within reach
small parts of the town
I think ponies wandered
wondered
close
they were
caught
taken
That was before the 16th, correct?
yes
and others
history
myth
legend
that night
this place was like a blanket
it smothered Ponyville
took everypony
there’s nothing here
but it
imprinted
everything
just the town
no sky
no stars
no moon
no LIGHT
We found the journal that morning. You said time is different in this place. Two weeks passed by the time we arrived?
more
different
for each
I do not know how much
when the world
moved
shifted
abandoned
things were left
no ponies
And you said you’ve possibly experienced 648 days at least. Could others there have experienced that much time?
possibly
some are alive
still here
I know it
I feel it
I feel them
That’s good to hear, Twilight. So everypony in Ponyville was taken to this place, this other world, and time is different there. Is it different in different places? Applejack seemed to experience an extra week or so of time than you all did at your library. And you found her journal afterwards.
yes
I cannot define
place
measure
except my own
I simply know
You made some observations in your journal, about how things were in this place. Can you elaborate on some of them?
there is no LIGHT here
cold outside of it
no
not warm outside of it
space limited
run outside of space
space copied
circles
loops
Solace mentioned something like that while mapping hallways connected to Town Hall. He said that rooms moved. Repeated.
yes
but no
that was
intentional
town hall was special
location
material
ley lines
it was safe for a while
isolated
others
leaving town
found nothing
but iteration
reprise
capitulation
(This could be an explanation for how we found Town Hall completely bereft of any items, except for the mayor’s office.)
So the fact that this world copied all of Ponyville explains why you were unable to see any other locations as well, like Canterlot. The change of time experienced would also explain the lack of consistency between accounts.
You and others mentioned whispers?
They reach out
speak out
slowly
this place has an effect
on ponies
on life
some handle it differently
Do you still hear whispers?
new ones
different ones
quieter
calmer
perhaps just Me
hard to tell
But you feel safe?
yes
(The points seem counterintuitive, but I should at least put some stock in her own words. I'd have to see what Doctor Blue Sky thinks.)
Is this place still close to Ponyville? Ponies on my team have complained of dreams and nightmares and whispers while working here. I don’t want what’s already happened to repeat itself.
close
not touching
not overlapping
some want it to happen again
They
Fluttershy
want it
crave it
Are we in danger?
not yet
but soon
Pendant was different
malleable
direct
came into direct contact
with this
She’s in Canterlot now, along with Lantern. He found Applejack’s journal and heard whispers and voices when he did.
I reached out
I was
eventually
found for it
I do not regret it
but I am sorry
Will they both be safe now that they’re far away?
do not know
time
distance
may tell
You said you “came back to your senses.” What have you been doing since then, Twilight?
research
hiding
finding how to fix
everything
everypony
reaching out to you
to others
to anyone
If you helped us find Applejack’s journal and opened this line of communication, then I appreciate it, Twilight.
you are welcome
Vines
I think I need some time to go over all of this, Twilight. I’ll compare it to notes and accounts we have and try to make sense of it. Will you be alright waiting until tomorrow?
yes
can spend time
resting
thinking
some days since
first message
wait may be
longer
shorter
unsure
the closer
the faster
sometimes
synced
skipped
I’m sorry to have to leave you then. I may have somepony else with me tomorrow to oversee our conversation. Would you be alright with that?
yes
Thank you, Twilight. Stay safe.
you too
Vines
I’ll need to go over all of this with Doctor Blue Sky. I’m worried for Twilight’s apparent mental state, especially with how long she has been alone.
The prospect of there being survivors here instead of victims is promising, even more so if there is some way to bring them and Twilight back. I want to keep an open mind. However, this may all still be a ploy of some kind.