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Where do I even begin?

Well, to start off with, I guess I'll begin with the fact that I don't remember anything about what happened to me. Absolutely nothing. None of the ponies who disappeared do. The last thing any of us recall is infiltrating the Old Castle. We searched the castle for a bit until we reached an old library where we discovered a switch of some sort hidden behind an ancient bookshelf.

I know. Classic, right?

Anyway, the switch opened a secret door that led further down into the Old Castle. I'm pretty sure the spiral staircase we took led us down good half-mile below the castle, or that's what it felt like anyway. Eventually, the rest of the team and I heard a bunch of voices chanting some creepy incantation in a language I didn't recognize, and I picked up quite a few languages from both some extracurricular studies during my school years and my training in POUT, including Old Ponish.

This wasn't Old Ponish, but it had some similarities in tone and structure which leads me to believe what we were hearing might've been a lost dialect from a long, long time ago. Getting back to what happened, we finally reached the bottom of the staircase which led to a frankly ominous-looking corridor, at the end of which was a massive set of these ornate wooden double doors. We could all hear the chanting from behind the doors so we figured we'd found our cultists and had caught them right in the middle of their ritual.

Now at this point, I was told to stay back along with a few of the other members of my team. They were meant to stop any cultists from trying to escape while the rest of the group stormed the room to take down the ponies inside. I, of course, had my own job to do. I didn't need to actually be in the room they were in to observe the events because I was taught what was essentially a spell of clairvoyance. Okay, it's not technically clairvoyance, but to make a long and complicated explanation short, it might as well be. Point is, I could use it to see what was happening to the assault team while staying out of harm's way.

Well, that was the plan anyway. It didn't quite work out that way in the end as you'll find out in a moment.

Before I continue, I should probably explain that the original plan had been for me to observe what was going on from outside the castle, but that was before we realized how far down our objective was. The clairvoyance spell only works within a certain range so I had to be a lot closer than I wanted to. To be fair, I was given permission to flee if things escalated, but things ended up escalating a bit too quickly I guess. What happened next is that last thing I remember.

I cast my clairvoyance spell, the assault team stormed the room and a battle broke out. Spells, hooves, and blades started flying. Lots of terrified screams and angry expletives. Things got intense and it feels kind of strange and I feel a bit guilty and embarrassed for admitting this, but I was kind of there for it all. Not in the sense that I was literally there, but more in a sense that I found it kind of exciting. A bunch of ponies got hurt pretty bad, but since I wasn't actually in the thick of it, it felt more like I was watching a play or one of those picture shows.

And then one of the cultists—the leader, I think judging by the fact that the stallion's dark robes were a lot fancier than the others—tried to make a run for it with the Left Eye in tow. I remember seeing a few of the cultists trying to clear a path for him to escape, but then one of ours, my partner, in fact, caught on. My partner is a unicorn, but the mare is built like a brick wall and hits five times as hard, so taking out the small fry wasn't difficult.

Now that I'm thinking about it, her personality is completely different, but in a way, she actually reminds me a lot of Shining.

After she'd mopped the floor with them, she went after the leader and fired a bolt of lightning at the guy. I guess she missed the mark because the arc went off course and my partner somehow managed to hit the Left Eye instead. The next thing I know, everything goes white, I suddenly feel like my head is about to literally explode... and that's it.

That's all I've got.

The rest is a big blank.

The last thing I remember after all of that is waking up in the castle's infirmary—Canterlot Castle, I mean. The rest of my team, the guys from SMILE, and the ponies we borrowed from the Guard were all much in the same condition when they woke up. We were all suffering from the worst migraines we've ever had and none of us recalled a thing. We were told we'd been missing for an entire month and when they finally found us, we were all lying blacked out and near freezing to death just outside of the Old Castle with the cultists nowhere to be found.

Winter is practically here so it wasn't exactly a good time to be passed out in that kind of weather.

That was back on the 1st and we've all gradually been waking up since then. I was actually the last one to come to and that was only yesterday so I haven't really got a chance to wrap my head around things. And that brings me to what happened while we were gone.

I got your message, Sunset, and all I can really say is that I don't know what to think either.

The first thing I did when I heard Canterlot was attacked by Nightmare Moon was check on my parents. Thankfully they're okay. Shaken like most of the ponies in the city, but okay. What happened to us all was kept under wraps at the command of the Princess, so my mom and dad didn't really know what happened to me. The relatives of all the operatives who took part in the raid were subjected to the reflection deflection spell and fed different stories to keep panic at a minimum.

I get why they did it, and honestly, I'm kind of grateful for it. That said, it still hurts a bit not being able to tell them about what actually happened to me—not that I'd be able to tell them much anyway. Well, it was probably a lot worse for my brother. He knew about the operation, but he had to sit on the fact that I'd gone missing and that couldn't have been easy for him. I actually got the chance to talk to him after I woke up and we sorted things out so we're both feeling a bit better about the whole thing.

But wow, Sunset, you weren't kidding when you said Canterlot was a mess. The Princess is doing a great job getting everypony's fear and anxiety under control and repairs to the city are going pretty smoothly from what I can tell, but still...

Nightmare Moon.

The Nightmare Moon.

I can't even imagine how terrifying that must've been to see, and yet, I kind of wish I was there to see it. Is that strange? I can't really explain it, but I feel like I missed out on something I was supposed to be here for. In fact, I've felt a bit off ever since I woke up—like something's missing or something's wrong somehow but I don't know what. When I first saw the moon in the sky—when I saw that image of Nightmare Moon's face, that feeling only got stronger.

I don't know what to make of what you heard during the battle between Celestia and Nightmare Moon, and I don't know anything about these 'magical sealing stones', but maybe there's some information about them in the Archives? Either way, there's still a lot of questions that need to be answered, but that can wait for now. I know we haven't been able to talk since I woke up, but I'll try to get in touch with you tomorrow and we can talk about it all. I know I've been out for like five days, but it seems like all my body wants to do right now is go back to sleep, and since I'm still recovering somewhat, I'm gonna listen to it.

And you're right. As much as it helps me clear my mind, this thing really is a poor substitute for a friend. Oh, and don't worry about finding my journal and snooping around for my actual name. To be honest, I was probably gonna tell you about both of them at some point in the future anyway. But I suppose I can just tell you all this when I see you.

I just hope you don't go blabbing about my little secret to anypony else...

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The Unofficial Records of a Mare in Black - the7Saviors

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