I stared at the once glorious and majestic Princess hanging by the neck from her old castle. "Things could have been different if you would have just listened to us." I whispered as I watched the body of Celestia sway in the wind. You may or may not know me as Twilight Sparkle. If you are reading this then it means I am long gone. I asked my most trusted friends to only let the public view this tale twenty years after my death. I am going to tell you all the truth of the great war. I am going to tell you what they refused to teach you in school. Now its time that I warn you that what you are about to read is extremely graphic and is not for the faint hearted. One more thing, please forgive me for any mistakes I may make while writing this, for the war damaged more than just my physical appearance. Lets start from the beginning.
Some may tell you that Celestia was always like this, always cruel and evil. That is just simply not true. Everypony has a breaking point even gods and goddesses. She just met hers and acted the only way she thought she could, and that was with force and fear. It started becoming apparent when she had a colt beheaded for speaking against her. Actually all he said was, "I know Celestia only has our best interests at heart, but her grip is becoming tighter day by day." During the trial it was said that he begged for his life in a way that drove all in the court room to tears, but Celestia's word was law and nothing could change that. Many just shrugged it off as stress that all great leaders face. Then the executions became frequent and more gruesome. At one point she began to decorate the walls of Canterlot with the severed heads and mangled bodies of the ones she declared guilty. The last spark that lit the fires of the war was when she ordered an attack on Ponyville.
I was in the middle of writing a letter to the princess asking her to see reason and calm down when it happened. I was surrounded by all my friends. Rainbow Dash was flying back and forth trying to think of why all of this was happening. She voiced her opinion every now and then, but do to the fact that her words were making Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie cry I had to ask her to stop. Applejack just stood there looking at the ground. She was good at hiding her emotions, but I could tell the thought of what might happen to us once Celestia got this letter was heavy on her mind. Rarity was reading a book about battle magic for obvious reasons. Spike stood by my side, not questioning a thing I decided to write down in that letter.
I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Everypony jumped but calmed down when they saw Spike had not sent the letter yet. I opened the door and was greeted by a soldier in gold armor with the royal crest on the chest plate. "Lady Sparkle, I have been asked to escort you out of Ponyville as soon as possible." He looked to the fearful faces around the room. "Your friends should come as well my lady."
I raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Explain why or leave now." I tried to keep calm. I couldn't let him see that I was worried.
"I can't, the princess will have my head." This time he spoke much faster and began sweating. For some reason he was nervous. "I am only asking one last time, come with me and bring you friends damn it!" Now I knew something was wrong.
"I'm sorry, but if you can't give me a reason then I can't leave!" I didn't realize I shouted. I guess I was angry with him because of his tone and the way he spoke, but I should have remained calm.
A loud bang in the distance sounded and he looked at us with anger in his eyes. "I tried to save you, now its your funeral!" He ran away towards the center of town. As I was about to suggest following him I saw what the noise we heard was. Mortars were heading for Ponyville. Before I could react they met their targets. My library was one of them. The impact knocked all of us out and brought the library down on top of us. The battle of Ponyville had begun.
I was the first to wake. The sound of swords clashing and people screaming was loud. I had to dig myself out of the remains of my home. What I saw next made me wish I didn't wake up. Spike, my best friend and loyal companion, laid lifeless and mangled next to where I was buried. It looked like the mortar hit him directly. I couldn't stand looking at him anymore. I could feel a great pain when I looked away from him. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I wanted to cry, but I had to act. My friends might still be alive and I had to find them. I first checked myself for any major injuries. My wing was broken, though the adrenaline prevented me from feeling it, and I had a large gash on my left foreleg. Nothing to major.
I looked around and saw bodies laying everywhere. The battle was still raging despite the large loss of life. No pony that was still able to fight was near enough to notice me, so I began digging for my friends. One by one I found them. First Fluttershy then Rainbow Dash, followed by Applejack who found Rarity and Pinkie Pie. I almost cried again when they saw what had happened to Spike. It seemed Rarity took it harder than the others, but they all felt the pain of his loss.
Dash spoke first. "What the hell is going on? Why are we being attacked?" The look of sorrow on her face was replaced with one of anger.
"Don't act like you don't know, there were to many ponies here who disapproved of her majesty!" Applejack shouted.
"We have to run and get as far away from this as possible!" Pinkie demanded. Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
Rarity had bowed her head over Spike. I placed a hoof on her shoulder and finally found my voice. "We can't just run! This is our home and I will die before I let this continue, so I am staying and fighting!" It was a hard thing to say but it had to be said. I was not going to walk away from this. This was going to far.
Rainbow Dash stomped the ground and replied, "Hell yeah, I'm going to make the bastards pay in blood!" She flew off without us.
I tried flapping my own wings in an attempt to take flight and stop her so we could come up with a plan, but the fact that my wing was broken prevented me from doing so. Applejack held my wings down and said, "Trust me, she'll be fine."
I nodded but just when I was about to speak Rarity raised her head. In a hate filled voice she said something I never would have imagined her saying. "Kill...them...all." I tried to calm her down, but she shoved me away. "Why are we still standing here? We should be gutting these monsters!" I backed up. I did not want to argue with her right now. "Don't just stare at me, I am going to find a sword and do what has to be done and I do not care if you are with me or against me!"
Fluttershy couldn't take it anymore. She flew off leaving a trail of tears and blood behind her. She must have been hurt worse than we could tell. I nodded to Rarity, signaling I was ready to fight.
"Oh y'all know I'm in!" Applejack declared. With that it was settled, we were going to fight against the alicorn that offered us so much guidance over the many years we had known her. I think I was the only one who at that moment considered that fact.
