Sweet Surrender
Princess Twilight Sparkle gazed outside the carriage she was forced inside for this journey, as the army was afraid that if they let her fly, she'd be killed- whether it be by being shot down by a volley of enemy arrows, or by crashing from her crooked flying, she did not know- and she didn't want to find out. A frown seemed to be permanently placed on her face these days, even though they had an edge over the enemy now. She still felt as if she had nothing to truly live for; she's only living for the ponies of Equestria, to give them hope that they still had a faithful leader in these dark times of War and Terror. She sighed softly, knowing her reasoning wasn't good enough- The ponies would be able to replace her with Princess Cadence and her brother Shining Armor's daughter, Princess Dawn Dancer. Her thoughts soon left the prospect of still having some kind of family, and went back to thoughts of the war.
'We've been fighting these guys for nearly ten years now... How much longer can we hold out in this war? Will we be able to win?... Will it ever end...?'Twilight wondered, watching the lush, green scenery of the forest slowly fade away, and become a blazing hot and desolate desert.'Why are we still trying to make peace with these monsters? They don't listen... But I can't tell the soldiers this, I need to give hope to them, not destroy it.'She sighed quietly, eyes reflecting pools of despair and hopelessness.'I have a feeling that this meeting will not end well.'
Many dull hours passed, nothing noteworthy having happened. The desert scenery soon gave way to a much more depressing and desolate environment. The lands were as black as coal, and as dead as the enemies soul. Twilight wondered if the enemies environment reflected what they were- dark, and cruel. It was freezing, the chill seeping past the carriage's walls, and straight to Twilight's bones. No life but Twilight and the soldiers punctured the area, not a single sound, and only the scent of Death.'This is bad... I can just feel it in my bones. We shouldn't have come here, we really shouldn't have. Knowing the enemies, they left a trap for us.' That thought was soon proven correct, as an earthquake shook the ground, the soldiers making small sounds of alarm, and began preparing themselves, raising their weapons.'I knew it.'Twilight thought, not moving an inch, and not showing any reaction.'I told them this was a bad idea, as indirect as it was. But no... They ignored my signals, as usual. If only my friends, or even the other princesses, were still around... I'm just going to hope this doesn't end in too much death...'
The beast soon exploded out of the ground, letting out a deafening screech. It resembled a dragon, Twilight mused lightly, but it was much more uglier than anything she saw. Its scales were dull and broken, dirty from all the digging it must do. Scars littered the areas were scales didn't grow back. It had horrifyingly long arms, with sharp, yellowing claws on its gnarled hands. It had no eyes in its eye sockets, just a black and bloody void where they should have been. It screeched again, venom dripping off of its long, terrifying fangs, which were colored yellow, and red from blood of previous victims. Its breath alone would have been enough to kill most animals.
The pony soldiers quivered in fear, most already giving up on the inside, but not on the outside. They charged at the serpent, knowing full and well that they had no chance of defeating the beast. Princess Twilight watched, horrified by how quickly they were plucked off, and by the fact they wouldn't give up. Bodies soon strewn the area, guts and blood giving it new color. The sight wasn't unusual to Twilight now, though."Princess Twilight!"One of the Pegasi guards called out, quickly approaching the window said princess's head was poking out of."We must get you out of here! Quickly, leave the carriage before it is destroyed!"
Princess Twilight did what was asked of her, quickly abandoning the stuffy and cramped carriage, which was destroyed mere seconds after she had exited it. She examined the dead bodies of all the ponies, retching a little. This was worse than anything she ever saw, watching as the venom ate up the bodies. She was broken out of her revere when the Pegasi guard spoke,"We must fly off, quickly! Before it's too late!"
"But... I can't fly very well, and you should know that. If I fly, I risk the chance of crashing and killing myself in the process. It's better off if I run away from this foul creature."
"Flying is the better option at the moment, Princess Twilight! That.. That thing will be able to kill you in an instant if you tried to escape on hoof!"The guard countered, before his eyes widened in horror at something behind her."Princess Twilight, watch out!"
Twilight Sparkle barely had time to react before when the creature suddenly aimed a direct attack towards her. She bolted up into the air, fast enough to barely take damage- only getting her left hind leg grazed in the process. She hovered there for a few moments, the Pegasi guard still yelling for her to "Run away!". She soon complied, flying as fast and as straight as possible away from the monster. She hated that she had to abandon the soldiers in their time of need, but she knew she couldn't help. She knew she'd only get in their way, and just get more ponies killed if she did try- also knowing she'd probably kill herself in battle. She flew in the direction of Canterlot, letting a single tear roll down her muzzle for the first time in a little over ten years. Because in that moment, she knew she has failed those soldiers, and had to release some sort of emotion for them, and their poor families who may never see their poor brother, sister, father, or whatever, alive ever again.
After traveling alone in silence for a long while, silent wing beats were heard. A few Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies had managed to escape the horrid battle, with minimal damage."We are glad to see that you are alive and well, Princess Twilight."A Pegasi guard said, different from the one that had told her to run away.
"Is the creature... Dead?"
"Sadly, we do not believe that is so. We barely were able to escape it. It proved much too strong for us. What do we do now, Princess Twilight?"
Twilight was disappointed by the fact they were not able to kill the creature, but was not at all surprised. She thought for a moment, quietly thinking of the best course of action to take. Soon, she spoke,"Spread out and make sure no enemies are around. We can not be taken by surprise once more. We can suffer no more losses at this point."
The guard nodded in agreement."Yes, ma'am. You heard Princess Twilight! Spread out and scout!"He yelled, flying off to do those orders.
Twilight sighed softly. She felt peace for a moment, then she mulled over some of her thoughts.'I highly doubt there are anymore enemies around at the moment. I'm pretty sure they believed that the creature they released on us would finish the job. What was that thing, though? It was something I've never seen before... Maybe I should consult the archives-'Her thoughts were broken at that point, as a guard screamed at her, with alarm in his voice,"Princess! Watch out!"
Time seemed to slow down for Princess Twilight at that instant. An arrow pierced her wing, another one following in quick secession. She was starting to plummet from losing the use of her wings. The thing that made her block everything out, was the sound of any arrow piercing far too close to her heart. The shouts of panicking guards were distant and nearly inaudible as she made her crash landing back to the ground. It seemed to slowly approach her in her mind, and to her body. In her last moments of clarity, she was lost in thoughts that would not be complete. As her eyesight dimmed, she realized she wasn't going to make it out alive, but she had a feeling she knew that all along.'Looks like Dawn Dancer will be taking up this burden of mine soon. I'm sorry Equestria, but I have failed my only duty to you... Please forgive me. Don't give up, and lead Equestria well Dawn Dance... We can not let the enemy win! They've killed me twice now... Do not lose hope like I did, Dawn dancer... And avenge me...'She thought, her eyes closing slowly, breathing slowly stopping, along with her heartbeat.'Please, avenge me...'
She landed with a sickening crunch of bones, but she didn't feel it. She wouldn't feel pain ever again. The pony soldiers had watched in horror, tears welling into their eyes. When she landed, they let them fall freely, feeling no shame for showing weakness at that moment. They felt numb, like Twilight had been feeling for all these years, since the Battle of Canterlot. That day, all of ponykind seemed to have failed.
They failed to protect their leader, and their leader failed to protect them. Twilight Sparkle lost the war that day- but only she lost, allowing everyone else to continue on. Everyone else fought harder than ever since that day, refusing to surrender like Princess Twilight did.
They refused to fall for death's sweet surrender.