She was a goddess.
And I was nothing. Not even worthy of licking the dirt off her shoes, let alone deserving of her kindness. And yet...
And yet she took me in when nopony else would bear to even look at me. She had done more than just feed me, teach me, and clothe me. She had bestowed me with the only thing that made life worth living. A purpose.
I have a reason to exist. And she had taught me how to fulfill that purpose, to the point where I was in a league of my own.
I am her weapon. A tool. For as long as I am capable, and as long as I am needed...
I shall exist.
"Twilight," My Goddess spoke. "Show them no mercy."
And I obeyed.
The girls were first. Seeing as our relationship was perhaps the strongest I had, they would have been an extreme obstacle in my mission if I had saved them for last.
Pain. That was what I was witnessing. Beaten, punched, bruised, heartbroken, terrified, overall hurt in every way they were. Rarity and Fluttershy had been my first targets in the battle. Being the unskilled fighters they were, they had been thankfully the easiest ones to defeat. All it took was a few good bucks to the torso and head before they gave up in agony and heartbreak.
Pinkie Pie would follow. Usually very slippery and rubbery, the lightning-quick earth pony's abilities were defused upon seeing her best friend down the elements of generosity and kindness without any sign of guilt. Her mane now deflated, she'd lost a majority of her infamous agility. There was some more difficulty due to the interventions of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but some resourceful dodging helped me defeat Pinkie in the same way I did Rarity and Fluttershy.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a different story. Being the most physically active element holders of our group, there was obviously much more of a fight, but even then they were hampered. Usually filled with confidence and determination when placed in a battle, their faces were filled with horror and sheer desperation, begging for their friend to return to her senses and explain what happened that would drive her off the deep end. I had to use magic to stun Applejack, who was shooting bucks in every direction to knock me out. She nicked me a few times, but a simple light spell blinded her enough for me to buck her in the side of the head.
That left me with "Equestria's Best Flyer". She'd managed to punch me in the horn, temporarily disabling my use of magic. Now an earth Pony fighting a pegasus, I had to use more strategy against her. During our fist-fight, she'd grabbed me and flown me up. I hypothesized that she would have flown me to an altitude were I would fall asleep do to oxygen deprivation, so I had to act fast.
I elbowed her in the stomach to gain the upper hand, which I used to rotate myself so we were stomach to stomach. Reaching around her back, I redirected her wings so we would plunge straight downward.
I barely remember the impact, but I was thankfully the one on top, and the first to come to. After staring at the sight of my friends lying near death on the ground at my hooves, my attention shifted to Applejack.
The last thing she saw through her blackened eyes was me standing above her.
"Twi.." she sobbed weakly. "W...Why?"
"Her."
Nothing was in reach. None of my friends would come in to save him, nothing was in reach to use as a weapon, no parchment was nearby to send a letter for help.
"Twilight...P-P-Please don't! I...I'll do anything you want! Just name it!"
Nothing from me.
"But...Why?"
"Her."
News had broken rather quickly after my battles with the others and Spike's fate. Within days, Ponyville and Canterlot were in sheer panic over the element's of magic downfall.
Luna had to be next; the more brash alicorn would no doubt throw herself in my way rather than send a soldier. I didn't even have to step foot into the palace to battle her.
"CEASE AND DESIST AT ONCE, TWILIGHT! SURRENDER AND I SHALL HELP YOU! WE CAN PURGE THE MAGIC AFFECTING YOU! WE CAN HELP YOU!"
Her plea was met with a magic blast, which she deflected by using her wings as a shield. She took charge and pinned me to the ground. Now that I was helpless, she began injecting sleeper magic into me, a spell that would make me lose consciousness and remove my magic for a whole day.
Just as my eyes were about to succumb to her magic, I'd managed to recall a spell I'd learned sometime after rescuing The Crystal Empire. A magic drainage spell.
As I fought for consciousness, my magic wormed its way into her horn and leeched off of her spell. Her strength seeped away and left me strong enough to break free. We were left where we began: two ponies prepared to engage in battle.
"You leave me no choice, Twilight..." She'd lept at me again as a blinding flash emanated from her. It lasted an instant, but it reduced the entire world around us to a white landscape, coated by a pure black sky.
The moon. Luna had sent us to the moon.
"Twilight, please listen..." Her voice sliced through the intense silence, ruling the land amongst our breaths. "We can help you resolve this conflict...just tell us why..."
"Her."
Any determination in her face vanished at that one word, with tears streaming from her eyes as she realized that a fellow goddess, a figure she'd admired, loved, and trusted since practically birth had stabbed her in the back.
All I saw was a weak spot.
The blast I'd sent was successful this time, leaving her sprawled on the ground a few feet further away. I took no time making my next move.
As the drain spell was pumped into her, the once beautiful and immortal alicorn's coat lost its luster, her face growing more wrinkled and aged as thousands of years living were dumped upon her. She'd mumbled incoherently as she experienced thousands of years worth of old age in seconds, but she was too weak to retaliate.
Then there was silence.
The thing about the news system in Equestria is that it's relatively slow. If an event of significance were to happen in Ponyville or Canterlot, it would take about a week for it to reach the papers in an adjacent state.
Shining Armor and Cadence had just read the newspaper when I walked in.
Their faces had been glued to the paper with unfathomable horror, which deepened as they looked up to see who had entered. It was several seconds of silence before any of us made a sound.
"T...Twiley?"
The blast from Luna's drained magic turned the spot Shining had been into an massive, irregular black star on the floor and wall. Cadence was thrown across the room. Upon recovering from impact, she shrieked in horror.
"SHINING!!!" The sobbing alicorn grieved loudly, horrified that a day starting so simple and fresh had transformed into some twisted mess of pain and horror in under a minute.
As I approached her, she stared at me with grief and helplessness.
"S..S..." She started to mouth, hoping her strategy would work.
"S...Sunshine...Sunshine...L-L....Ladybugs a...awake...."
I was within a few feet of her. Her fear deepened as the futility of her effort was realized.
"C....Clap your h-hooves, a..and do... a sha-"
My friends, gone.
Spike, gone.
Luna, gone.
My own brother and Sister-in-law...gone.
My mission was nearly complete. All of the admiration, love, and dedication I felt towards her would be repaid. I would now be solid. Something. A pony, a unicorn, a student, all of that would be finally realized.
But there was one other pony...somepony powerful, but nonetheless a losing battle. After considerable searching throughout the recent chaos, I found her alone in a large field, which was devoid of any details such as rocks or trees. There was no sound save for the wind whistling through the grass. In her grieving state, she barely realized a pony was nearby as I walked up to her and stared at her.
Her white coat, her hair the colors of the sky, her brass tiara, shoes, and necklace...
...and her cutie mark of the sun.
The instant she saw me, I fired a blast containing all the magic I had scavenged from Luna, Shining, and Cadence. The resounding exlosion left a majority of the field a smoking crater. It took me over an hour to find what was left of her, and what was left was little more than a living black stain.
It could have been a beg for mercy, a desperate plea for me to snap out of whatever madness was driving me, or even a goodbye. But no... she had only one final word.
"...Her?"
"...Her."
With my work done, the blood shed, and the tears fallen, it was time for my reward.
Despite the sheer scale of her and her powers, she lived in a simple house. Not a mansion, not even a two-story. Upon walking through the doors, I saw that she was right there, sitting and reading. She looked up upon realizing she had company.
"It is done." I said with no emotion or hesitation.
"Thanks a maht, Darlin'!" Miss Peachbottom exclaimed.