Twilight Sparkle looked out from the balcony with a face that could only be described as one of pure horror. She looked over the city of Canterlot and the land beyond. The flames grew higher and higher. She looked to her mentor beside her, who shared a similar expression, and asked,
"Why... Why did this have to happen? What did we do wrong, Celestia?"
"We've failed. We've failed everyone. All because we chose not to listen."
"But... But why did-"
"I keep telling you that the military wants to run Equestria. Their combined forces are much greater than ours alone."
"But what of the elements of harmony? Surly we'd be able to defeat them."
Celestia shook her head, "Twilight, without your friends, the elements are powerless. You know as well as I do that they're not coming back."
Twilight's heart sank into her chest. She could hear the screams of her frightened subjects as they fought and ran for their lives. The royal army was trained very well. They were trained to pacify the magic abilities of ponies, not limited to unicorns. The royal army was easily capable of overpowering the princesses.
"Shining Armor," tears began falling down the lavender alicorn's face, "how long have you been troubled? Could you not have made your point any other way?" Twilight felt a warm wing wrap around her. Even the embrace from princess Celestia was not enough to put her mind at ease.
The princesses watched as the carnage continued for several hours. Ponies were dying left and right. Men, women, even children could not escape the soldiers. They just stood on the balcony, watching it all happen. Some even looked up to them and they could see that in their eyes they were begging to be saved. They were only able to look for a few moments before they were cut down by sharpened steel and magic. As the fires across Equestria continued to burn higher, the flames of life were continuously snuffed out.
Twilight was about to run inside to get away from the death, but before she could turn around, she saw a mob of ponies slowly walking into the town square below them. She saw a highly decorated soldier with twenty others on his left and righ sides. Even though he was wearing a helmet, Twilight could easily recognize who was at the center of the mob.
"Princesses of Canterlot!" The figure beckoned, "why don't you stop this? You have the power to end all of it! Surrender the throne to the military and permit me to have an audience with you! Do this and I'll order my troops to withdraw! This is your last chance! Surrender now or my men will continue killing until you do!"
Twilight looked up to the princess of the sun. She wanted to know what she was planning. Will she proudly stand up for what she believes is right? Will she do what's best for everypony?
"Shining Armor!" Celestia replied, "we surrender! Now stop this madness!" Celestia's breaths became ragged, she was furious. One thousand suns couldn't surmount to her level of anger, but she was in no position to do anything about it.
Shining Armor raised his hoof and his guards ran off into the town. All except one remained by his side.
"There! I just ordered my soldiers to retreat. They will be relaying the message for the others to fall back as they leave the town! I am keeping one soldier with me for protection! He will be casting a suppression spell the moment I enter the castle! Now let's talk!" Shining Armor casually walked to the castle and disappeared from the princesses' line of sight on the balcony.
Celestia and Twilight went into the throne room to meet the traitor. Twilight's fury was beyond what anypony could conceive possible. How could he do this? Her own brother wanted to take the fate of the nation into his own hooves!
The princesses both sat quietly in the throne room. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. Neither one of them had anything to say. They bother were trapped in their own minds, desperately trying to take in all that has happened.
Their concentration was broken by the doors being swung open, revealing Shining Armor and his personal guard. His royal armor had been reprinted to represent a new faction. It was grey, white, and black.
"Twilight began breathing faster, "You monster! How could-" Twilight was silenced by a hoof that was held out in front of her. She looked up to see that it belonged to Celestia.
"Twilight, you must not show your anger, not here, not now. There will be a time for that. Right now, we are here to talk and that's it. Let us show our guest that Equestrian royalty still has dignity and honor."
Shining Armor chucked, "Princess Celestia, I know that there is great honor in being a princess, I've worked with you for many years now. It's also been during that time in which I realized that the world is changing and ponykind is at risk of being pushed off the playing field completely!" Shining Armor dawned a more serious expression, one that Twilight had never seen before.
"Why... Why did you resort to such violence? What good does killing do?!" Twilight demanded.
"Because none of you would listen to me!" Shining Armor barked, causing Twilight to be take aback, "For years I've been trying to tell you of the dangers Equestria will face if there is not an immediate change. If Equestria is to remain an independent nation, it needs..." Shining Armor paused, gritting his teeth, "it needs power to fend off the Dragon Clan and the Griffon Kingdom alike!"
"But that doesn't justify! Ending countless lives of your own people is unacceptable to any end! You're a murderer! Do you have any idea how many lives you've destroyed today?!" Twilight screamed.
"And I'd do it again if it meant getting what was needed for this nation as a whole!"
"What this nation needs is to be united under the magic of friendship and love. It is a bond that-"
"You're not listening to me! Equestria has take a passive approach to every conflict we've faced. We've been tarted as a neutral territory by everyone and for that, yes, we have been respected, but at the same time, we've been walked all over and taken advantage of! If we do not take a stand soon, the dragons and the griffons will wipe us all out!" Shining Armor paused to catch his breath, "If there was another way, I would have graciously seen to it so that there'd be no loss of life, but you left me no choice. As part of your unconditional surrender, you will hand over Equestria and it's people to the military. There will no longer be royalty in this country anymore. The time of monarchy is at an end!"
From across the room, Twilight stared right into her brothers eyes.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, I love you. I'm doing this for the future, our future."
Twilight took a deep breath, "So am I." Twilight teleported from the throne to Shining Armor. She tightly wrapped her arms around him.
"Twilight, no!" Celestia screamed. She knew what she was about to do and she begged that she'd stop.
"I'm sorry brother, but you've hurt too many lives today. I can never forgive you for that. I will not live in a world with a pony that betrayed my love for them to rule Equestria with violence." Twilight began focusing her magic into a great white orb that engulfed the both of them. Immediately, she could feel the magic begin to burn away her skin, but she didn't flinch. She had her preparing herself for this moment.
"Twilight! Please! I did this because I love you! Stop! Please! AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Shining Armor screamed as he was cooked alive inside his own armor. The spell Twilight was casting was self taught from a book she was assigned to destroy. It was a very powerful spell the was only to be used as a last resort.
Twilight said nothing. There were no words that could express her hatred for her brother, for what he did was unforgivable. Maybe he was right. Perhaps the nation was growing weaker and change was needed, but again, it doesn't justify the deaths of men, women, and children.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia screamed again. She knew that there was nothing that could be done to stop the spell once it was cast, but she couldn't resist the urge to call out to her beloved student.
Twilight closed her eyes and ignored her brother's pleas for mercy. Twilight's flesh was melting away. The pain was immense and she wished it'd end sooner. However, she knew that everything she felt, Shining Armor felt too. An eye for an eye, thaw what she thought as the two siblings burns until there was nothing left.
