Merge Request

by FanOfMostEverything

Rating: teen
Tags: Equestria Girls, Midnight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle (EqG), Alternate Universe, Romance, Drama, Comedy
Length: 5269

BitHub: Where the world builds software, and where Twilight Sparkle makes life more complicated for herselves.

For most people, BitHub is just a version-control service, used to share and track changes in code.

For this and many other reasons, Twilight Sparkle is not most people.

A highly experimental entry and second place co-winner in Bicyclette's Twilight Files contest. Rated Teen for implications that would not get past Discovery Family S&P.

Published 2022-08-07 18:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2022-08-07 18:20:03 UTC

commits/master/experimental_logs/midnight_notes.txt/chrono/1

commits/master/experimental_logs/midnight_notes.txt/chrono/1

sparklelabs / thaumics

History for thaumics / experimental_logs / midnight_notes.txt

-o- Commits on May 1, 2016

Establishing midnight_notes
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago
Not showing 1 other changed file with 8 deletions.

1 + Against my better judgement, this file will be used to communicate with the entity known as Midnight Sparkle. Who clearly is a distinct enough individual to get her own BitHub account.

2 +

3 + She also apparently caused me to dream of her erasing my friends from existence while proclaiming that she wants to claim all magic for herself. Her interest in this field of study could be said to be... significant.

-o- Commits on May 2, 2016

Allow me to clarify
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 +

5 + Look, that wasn't what I meant to do. Just because I can reach you in dreams doesn't mean lucid dreaming is easy. I was just trying to establish a connection, hash things out after the Friendship Games, let you know about the somnambulism. (I'm calling it somnambulism, anyway. You're asleep, your body's walking. I'm just the one steering it.)

6 +

7 + Unfortunately, our respective mental images of each other bled into our behavior. You were a disgustingly normal teenage girl more focused on her friends than what really matters, and I was a crazed madwoman whose scientific repertoire began and ended at destructive testing. With minimal actual testing. Which is reductive but, I have to admit, not exactly inaccurate.

8 +

9 + So after that disaster, I decided the best way to get in touch with you without traumatizing you was through something equally private, but where we could both actually be rational.

And now what?
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

10 +

11 + Okay, you've made contact. You exist, and you can at least put on a facade of rationality and not wanting to destroy the universe to access and study a new one. Also you can control my body while I sleep. I suspected as much—how else could you type those commits?—but the confirmation is still more than a little concerning. All established, all taken into account, all filed away in the list of things I need to not think about to put on my own facade of almost functional humanity.

12 +

13 + So what do you actually want? Why go through all this trouble?

-o- Commits on May 3, 2016

Sparkle Labs application
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago
Not showing 4 other changed files with 62 additions & 13 deletions.

14 +

15 + Careful with all those repressed fears, Twily. It gets cramped down here when you treat your subconscious the way you treated your closet back when you refused to clean your room properly.

16 +

17 + But that's besides the point. I want what I've always wanted: To understand magic. Since you're on board with that goal and we've established what happens if I overstep my bounds, it behooves me to play nice with my only intellectual peer. Hence why I already made a few contributions tonight.

18 +

19 + Heh. "Behooves." We really should investigate Pinkie Pie more. That girl's cheer is an epidemiology paper waiting to happen.

Fine. For now.
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

20 +

21 + I'm going to grudgingly go along with this, on the condition that we don't drive me to collapse. I've already been noticing greater fatigue and muscle soreness during the day. Just because my mind is getting rest while you're in the proverbial driver's seat doesn't mean my body is. You've demonstrated that you have access to my memories, so you recall the incident in seventh grade. We won't get any work done from a hospital bed.

22 +

23 + Yes, I did back then, but this time we'll actually have visitors other than family and Moondancer.

24 +

25 + Speaking of memory, you should also recall Sunset insisting that studying Pinkie Pie never ends well.

-o- Commits on May 4, 2016

Ugh.
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

26 +

27 + Fine, fine, I'll be gentle with the meat body. But do you have to bring up the golden girl? Seeing how much you fawn over her in your dreams is bad enough.

Seriously?
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

28 +

29 + I sincerely have no idea what you're talking about. Sunset's a friend, which is weird enough as it is.

30 +

31 + Besides, this document looks insane enough as it is. I don't need you turning it into some weird autobiographical gossip column.

-o- Commits on May 5, 2016

Suuuuure, Twily.
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

32 +

33 + I know the gigabytes of evidence of your attraction to the male form are causing some bias, but we both know you're paying more attention to the expatriate horse than the rest of her hangers-on. Sexuality is a spectrum, Twily, not a hard binary.

34 +

35 + Honestly, this makes for an interesting psychological study. Would being attracted to the hero who thwarted your scheme for world destruction be considered a form of Stockhorse Syndrome? Not that it was your scheme, per se, but still.

Less-than-friendly reminder
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

36 +

37 + The only thing keeping me from racing to Sunset and begging her to take me to Equestria to get you magically extracted from my mind is my own goodwill. You have provided some helpful insights, but you are not indispensable to my research.

38 +

39 + It was my mind first, Midnight, and so is any ruthlessness you display. This is your first and only warning: Lay. Off.

-o- Commits on May 6, 2016

Holy neutrinos!
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago
Not showing 34 changed files with 1,072 additions & 298 deletions.

40 +

41 + Who cares about that, we just confirmed the Many Worlds Theory today! With our own counterpart! Who performed time travel! Which is possible! Questionable taste in women later, science now!

Showing 1-10 of 64 commits
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commits/master/experimental_logs/midnight_notes.txt/chrono/6

commits/master/experimental_logs/midnight_notes.txt/chrono/6

sparklelabs / thaumics

History for thaumics / experimental_logs / midnight_notes.txt

-o- Commits on June 1, 2016

Camp Everfree prep
tsparkle committed 11 days ago
Not showing 3 other changed files with 17 additions & 4 deletions.
- 196 +
- 197 + I realize it's a bit late to ask with the trip coming up this weekend, but just to be sure, you'll be okay with not being able to get to the lab for a while, right?

-o- Commits on June 2, 2016

Seriously?
msparkle committed 10 days ago
- 198 +
- 199 + What do you take me for, Twily, some kind of science addict?
- 200 + ...
- 201 + I'm going to leave that there as a reminder that even my intellect isn't flawless. Yes, I'll be fine. Go have fun at summer camp; I'll be along for the ride whether I want to be or not. Better that we recapture some of the childhood we spent in the library now than when we're in our forties and embarrassing our grad students.

-o- Commits on June 5, 2016

Initial post-geode assessment
tsparkle committed 7 days ago
Not showing 29 other changed files with 538 additions & 217 deletions.
- 202 +
- 203 + Okay. So. We have a lot to unpack. To review, in roughly chronological order:
- 204 + 1. Sunset doesn't snore, but she does sometimes snort or whinny in her sleep, and she can forget how many legs she has when she wakes up. (Before you say anything, this is important xenopsychological data for transmutation-induced body dysphoria.)
- 205 + 2. You genuinely are a science addict and literally cannot go two nights without revealing yourself and prompting an incredibly awkward conversation about our mental cohabitation.
- 206 + 3. Our friends are far more understanding than you give them credit for, especially Sunset.
- 207 + 4. Magic does appear to exist in our world, or at least did at one point, going by what I have tentatively dubbed the "Stump of Harmony."
- 208 + 5. We're not the only example of magic addiction; I hesitate to even write this with only two data points, especially in light of the above point, but it's possible that all humans exhibit this sort of behavior when exposed to magic. Which may have some worrying implications for our friends. (And yes, as per Point 3 above, they're your friends as well.)
- 209 + 6. We now have an on-demand source of magic we can use for testing purposes without needing to bring in the entire Rainbooms. Though at least soundproofing the garage lab proved useful for keeping Mom and Dad from worrying in general.
- 210 + 7. For you, telekinesis has to be a privilege, not a right. And I'm never watching another Space Wars movie if they're going to give you ideas. (This doesn't have any scientific import to it, but it bears repeating. I still can't believe you tried to to do that to Gloriosa!)
- 211 + 8. I have a boyfriend somehow? Still not sure how that happened. Or how Timber feels about you existing. (Yes, that one doesn't have much scientific import to it either, but I can use all the help I can get there and Cadence isn't available until this weekend at the earliest.)
- 212 +
- 213 + Anything you'd like to add?

-o- Commits on June 6, 2016

Seriously?
msparkle committed 6 days ago
- 214 +
- 215 + Seriously? That's your takeaway from all of this? Not that you've been taken in by half a dozen madwomen with all the self-preservation of lemmings? (And yes, I know those lemmings were forced off that cliff for that documentary THAT'S NOT THE POINT!)
- 216 +
- 217 + Their archnemesis was right there, puppeting the girl they thought they knew, and they just... just brought her in as one of the girls! Oh hey Midnight, long time no see, how have you been, thanks for not tearing apart reality this time, no offense, hyuk hyuk hyuk.
- 218 +
- 219 + It makes no sense! I am a threat to them and everything they hold dear! Shimmer should've blasted me with sunlight the moment she realized you weren't the one taking water samples from the lake for the sake of having something to do! And yes, I realize that she can't do that now, but I didn't then! I always figured she just didn't want to alarm the rest of the group with her unfathomable power.
- 220 +
- 221 + But she just... Well, she clearly wanted to punch me in the face, but she actually talked to me. She actually listened. She actually believed me enough that she talked to you about it in the morning.
- 222 +
- 223 + And you, you blithering idiot, actually confirmed it! And she, even more idiotically, just accepted that we've actually come to a mutually agreeable arrangement! And then the OTHERS found out and it was just a good feeling jamboree up until the random mishaps started escalating.
- 224 +
- 225 + How is it that out of all of you, only Rainbow Dash had the presence of mind to even suspect I might be behind that?
- 226 +
- 227 + And then! Then! When we trailed Timber to that cave and Gloriosa went full war dryad and you got knocked out, then Sunset literally trusted her life to me! Me! The one who tried to blast her to leptons for daring to stand in the way of my quest for knowledge.
- 228 +
- 229 + How does anyone ever possibly trust anyone after something like that? This isn't the Prisoner's Dilemma, this is doing a lion tamer act with some random big cat you find on the savannah and having it work! Your friends are crazy, Twilight. Everyone at this school is crazy!
- 230 +
- 231 + By the way, Timber's still not the one you dream of.

Deep breaths, Midnight.
tsparkle committed 6 days ago
- 232 +
- 233 + I figured it was bad when I woke up in your cold sweat, but I see we have even more to unpack than I thought.
- 234 +
- 235 + What you observed is friendship in action, Midnight. I guess you've been glossing over most of the last month, because the girls have been showing me that unbelievable forgiveness this whole time. It's just who they are. Especially Sunset.
- 236 +
- 237 + I never bothered trying to convince you to change your mind about her; I thought you were just being stubborn about your first impression being wrong. (A lot like how you're insisting they should have tried to destroy you because that would fit your expectations, actually.) But I'd assumed you were at least paying attention to them as she was there for me, and I apologize for that.
- 238 +
- 239 + The Sunset I've seen in these past weeks isn't some unapproachable angel. She's not impossibly pure or filled with divine serenity. She snorts at dumb comedies. She always leave her queen's rook exposed in chess. She makes angry horse noises at her guitar if she can't get a riff right. She's as human as you or I am, even if she was born a unicorn. And she made a mistake as big as ours.
- 240 +
- 241 + She understands us, Midnight. I think she even kind of envies us. She never had a chance to make friends with her shadow. I'm glad I did. And I know she'll be happy to get to know you better as well. I propose we work on more ways to allow you to communicate with everyone without me going unconscious. Agreed?
- 242 +
- 243 + Also, what do you mean Timber's not the one I dream of? If not him, then who?

-o- Commits on June 7, 2016

You absolute sap
msparkle committed 5 days ago
- 244 +
- 245 + I'm crying. You're actually getting me to tear up reading this dreck. This shouldn't be possible. None of this makes any logical sense whatsoever. The shadow archetype isn't even an accepted psychological concept anymore!
- 246 +
- 247 + But that last question... Ugh, if it weren't for that, I'd still be going in my arbitrary skepticism spiral, I just know it. It can't be possible because I say it's impossible, and clearly I'm the ultimate authority on everything that can and cannot be.
- 248 +
- 249 + Your question on line 243 demonstrates something undeniable: You can be incredibly dense. Therefore, so can I. Confronted as I am with such irrefutable evidence of my own obliviousness, I must accept it and look back on what I missed. At which point it all became obvious. Looking back, I want to smack myself for my own irrationality. Not that our friends are any better, but at least they can accept new information that runs counter to their expectations. Some of them, anyway.
- 250 +
- 251 + The big problem was one of my own assumptions. (Sound familiar?) You may not have been judging me solely by my utility in the lab, but I was. After all, if I wasn't helping you, why would you keep me around? It clearly wasn't worth the risk. Liking me as a person clearly couldn't be part of it.
- 252 +
- 253 + I... think I may have inherited some issues you're moving past, Twilight. I wholeheartedly support getting me to interact with the others more. At the very least, I'll pay more attention while you're with them. I've clearly been missing a lot.

Glad to hear it
tsparkle committed 5 days ago
- 254 +
- 255 + I'm very happy to hear that, and I'm sure the others will be too. But you still didn't answer my question. And given how my apparent density was critical in your personal epiphany, I'd really like to know what it is I'm missing.

-o- Commits on June 8, 2016

Wow, Twily. Wow.
msparkle committed 4 days ago
- 256 +
- 257 + You're serious?

Tell me already!
tsparkle committed 4 days ago
- 258 +
- 259 + Yes! And I'm not the only one! You saw Sunset break up the betting pool over it yesterday when I asked everyone. So what, oh wise Midnight, am I overlooking?

-o- Commits on June 9, 2016

For the love of...
msparkle committed 3 days ago
- 260 +
- 261 + Go back and read what you wrote about Sunset around line 239. Think about who you catch yourself staring at. Consider the last time you so much as sent Timber a text message.
- 262 +
- 263 + Twilight, I'm not saying this to tease you or taunt you because you think you're romantically undesirable. Timber's a walking, blockheaded counterexample there. But if you had more of a crush on that girl, you'd turn her into a neutron star. Your endocrine system may be infatuated with the first cute boy who swapped mineral fun facts with you, but your heart belongs to the angel who smacked some sense into me.

Showing 51-60 of 64 commits
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Sunset Shimmer

Thu, June 9, 7:32 AM

Hey, Sunset, you know how we talked about Midnight being a benign entity in my mind who's actually proven helpful in my research?
Yeah, that was wrong. She's evil and insane and we need to get rid of her ASAP.

Thu, June 9, 7:47 AM

Sunset?
Sunset, this is important.

Thu, June 9, 8:17 AM

I know the school year just ended, but I swear, if you don't wake up soon, I am performing brain surgery on myself and you'll be responsible.

Thu, June 9, 8:28 AM

uo
up
wtf twi its early
summer
lemme slep

We have more important things to worry about than sleep!

twi its early
to early 4 shfit key

This isn't about grammar or punctuation, Sunset.
Please scroll up. I wouldn't bother you like this if it weren't an emergency.

ok
im here
put down the scalpel twi
or the bonesaw or whatev
what did midnihgt do
mindight
mdihngit
horseapples
twi?

Thu, June 9, 8:43 AM

Okay, Twi, I'm caffeinated enough to use capital letters now.
You want to tell me what's wrong or what?
Twilight, I swear, if you leave me hanging like this after waking me up early during summer break, I'm telling Dash you want to jog with her.

Can we just blast Midnight out of my brain and never talk about this again?

Yeah, no.
You woke the dragon. You don't get to complain about the smoke.
Especially not after Midnight's shout-rant about rainbow lobotomies and learning her lesson.
There was almost something like an apology in there between the snide commentary and her sneaking looks at my butt.

She what?

Wait
Crap
Sorry, that came out wrong.
I probably misread some signals.
It was late, she didn't have your glasses on.
Didn't even have her freaky spellfire goggle things.
She was probably just squinting at the grass or something.
Besides, you and Timber, right?
How's that going?
Not that I'm dropping the Midnight subject.
But, you know, something nice for you to think about.
Sorry, rambling.
The way your ... thing's been flashing this whole time, you've probably had to start over half a dozen times.

Sunset, I think I have a crush on you.

Oh.
Sweet.
You want to do something later?
Wow, you are typing up a storm over there.

"Sweet"? Seriously? I just spent the last five minutes deleting and retyping that, on the edge of a panic attack, struggling to make myself believe any outcome but the worst might be even remotely possible, and all you can say is "Sweet"!?

Also asking if you're interested in a date.

Right, yes, I got that.
Wait.
What?

Twi, seeing you turn into Midnight was basically my worst nightmare come to life.
Except my worst nightmare was also drop-dead gorgeous.

Seriously?

I've shown you pictures of when I went full she-demon.
Went from ugly on the inside to just ugly.
But you made going mad with power look good.

Should I feel flattered?

Do you?

Yes, but should I?

I guess technically Midnight should, but it's still your body.
And since then, I've gotten to know you.
Not just someone I could yell at because the princess wasn't there.
You.
Princess Twilight is a friend. A guide. A better pony than me.

Don't say that.
You're a wonderful person.

Not saying I'm not.
And I'm much better at being a human than she is.
And you're an amazing human in your own right.
Both of you.
But I remember how awkward it was for me just after the Fall Formal.
We've been getting you used to friendship.
Didn't want to force something more on you if you weren't ready.
Or worse, make you say yes because you thought you had to.
But hey, if you're up for it, let's go do something.

What about Timber?

Twi, the closest thing I had to a friend when I was growing up was Cadence.

What? How?

Pony Cadence
Who was dating three different colts and a filly at one point.

What.

And she loved all of them.
That's what she told me, anyway.
Not saying that's normal for ponies.
I'm not a good reference for "normal" for anything.
But if you want a girlfriend and a boyfriend, I'm cool with it.
Timber probably will be too.
Ask him, obviously.
And maybe ask your brother's fiancee for advice.
Twi? You still there?

I was not emotionally prepared for this conversation.

Yeah, understandable.
I'm honestly still half-awake.
If this is a dream, it's a nice one.

I pinched myself.
I'm as sure this is reality as I can be.

Awesome.

It still feels too good to be true.

I'm your gift horse, Twi.
No dental exams, please.
Want me to come over? This seems like the kind of thing we should talk about face-to-face.

That seems wise.
I have some files on a private BitHub repository you should see.

Sure thing. I'll be there soon.
Hopefully before I wake up enough to actually process this.
One thing:
What's a bithub repository?

commits/master/readme.txt/chrono/2

sparklelabs / thaumics

History for thaumics / readme.txt

-o- Commits on May 1, 2016

Establishing midnight_notes
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago
Not showing 1 other changed file with 3 additions.

4 - -
5 - - Look, Twily, do you want to have a virtual slapfight over two lines of text for the rest of your life, or do you want to actually resolve this problem? I'd like to get something productive done here.
6 - -
7 - - Even if I trusted you, why are you communicating with me through bit commits of all things?
8 - -
9 - - Based on past experience, you can ignore emails, text messages, sticky notes on the computer... I didn't even bother with social media. We both know you only made a MyStable account to humor Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The only ways I can communicate with you that you can't ignore are dreams and messing with the sanctity of a readme file that you don't plan on letting anyone else read.
10 - -
11 - - I can make something in experimental_logs. But I am still cleaning up this file.

-o- Commits on June 12, 2016

Dedication
sshimmer committed 3 minutes ago

4 +

5 + Special thanks to Midnight Sparkle, without whom none of this would be possible. <3

Showing 11-12 of 12 commits
1|2

Author's Note

Why git commits of all things? Because if my job demands as much time that could be better spent on horsewords as it does, it's giving something back whether it likes it or not.
(And no, you can't see multiple pull requests' detailed changes on a single file at once, but I have to make some adjustments for the sake of narrative flow.)

Also, the idea of a less hostile Midnight Sparkle continues to fascinate. Some credit definitely goes to Ninjadeadbeard's exploration of the concept.

Thanks for reading. As the description noted, this was a very experimental approach. I hope it worked out well enough.

commits/master/readme.txt/chrono/1

sparklelabs / thaumics

History for thaumics / readme.txt

-o- Commits on April 24, 2016

Porting from high_energy_physics
tsparkle committed 7 weeks ago
Not showing 82 other changed files with 2,094 additions.

1 + This repository is for all scripts, analysis models, hypotheses, experiments, and other assorted research pertaining to the exotic energy I have been studying for the last several months. Given that said energy is literal magic from a world full of unicorns and other fantastic creatures out of mythology, it didn't seem right to keep it in the same category as the particle accelerator models and the data from the Uranium Incident. Which is now only the second most regrettable moment of my life.

2 +

3 + Yes, really. Magic. Canterlot High has at least six students who possess actual, honest-to-goodness, insufficiently analyzed magic. And even after I tried to tear the world apart to get to another one, they want to be my friends.

4 +

5 + That, more than anything, shows me how much I have to learn. But social_sciences is already its own repository, if a rarely used one. This is for the phenomena not of this world, not the even more terrifying prospect of frequent social interaction with my age cohort.

More professional tone; this isn't a journal
tsparkle committed 7 weeks ago

1 + This repository is for all scripts, analysis models, hypotheses, experiments, and other assorted research pertaining to the exotic energy I have been studying for the last several months. Specifically, Equestrian magic.
1 - - This repository is for all scripts, analysis models, hypotheses, experiments, and other assorted research pertaining to the exotic energy I have been studying for the last several months. Given that said energy is literal magic from a world full of unicorns and other fantastic creatures out of mythology, it didn't seem right to keep it in the same category as the particle accelerator models and the data from the Uranium Incident. Which is now only the second most regrettable moment of my life.
2 2 |

3 + Given that that is the term used by native researchers, I will overlook any unscientific, reflexive rejections to it. Still, I have named the repository as a reminder that the rest of the scientific community may not be so open-minded. It will take a lot of research to legitimize this field in the eyes of others. As stated above, such is the purpose of this repository.
3 - - Yes, really. Magic. Canterlot High has at least six students who possess actual, honest-to-goodness, insufficiently analyzed magic. And even after I tried to tear the world apart to get to another one, they want to be my friends.
4 - -
5 - - That, more than anything, shows me how much I have to learn. But social_sciences is already its own repository, if a rarely used one. This one is for the phenomena not of this world, not the even more terrifying prospect of frequent social interaction with my age cohort.

-o- Commits on April 27, 2016

Silly Twily
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 +

5 + All this work and you don't mention me even once? I'm hurt.

Revert "Silly Twily"
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 - -
5 - - All this work and you don't mention me even once? I'm hurt.

-o- Commits on April 28, 2016

Revert "Revert "Silly Twily""
That's even more hurtful.
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 +

5 + All this work and you don't mention me even once? I'm hurt.

Revert "Revert "Revert "Silly Twily"""
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 - -
5 - - All this work and you don't mention me even once? I'm hurt.

-o- Commits on April 29, 2016

You're being a child.
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

4 +

5 + Look, Twily, do you want to have a virtual slapfight over two lines of text for the rest of your life, or do you want to actually resolve this problem? I'd like to get something productive done here.

Why?
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

6 +

7 + Even if I trusted you, why are you communicating with me through bit commits of all things?

-o- Commits on April 30, 2016

If you must know...
msparkle committed 6 weeks ago

8 +

9 + Based on past experience, you can ignore emails, text messages, sticky notes on the computer... I didn't even bother with social media. We both know you only made a MyStable account to humor Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The only ways I can communicate with you that you can't ignore are dreams and messing with the sanctity of a readme file that you don't plan on letting anyone else read.

... Fine
tsparkle committed 6 weeks ago

10 +

11 + I can make something in experimental_logs. But I am still cleaning up this file.

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