The Price of our Sins

Celestia looked out across the city from atop her balcony and felt the warm tingle of tears falling down her muzzle, the salty liquid sliding down onto her lips as she sought to stem the flow. Beneath her, Canterlot was burning, a result of the few attacks that had breached the shield when Shining Armour had been overcome. The Element of Magic had struggled for weeks, every assault on the shield weakening the white stallion, before he could finally take no more.

Cadence had not lasted much longer after her husband had left for the afterlife. The Princess of Love had found herself increasingly haunted by the images of the current age, the visions only increasing in number and magnitude after the Crystal Empire had fallen. That had been a massacre that she and her husband had only just escape.

The Pink Alicorn had attempted to avenge Shining Armour, leading the counter attack personally while the rest of the Arcane Corps had struggled to shield even a fraction of the power of Shining Armours, and had found herself cut off outside the city. Even as death stared her in the face, she would not beg, she would not plead, and she never once asked for Celestia to lower the shields and try to save her. When her time came, she accepted it gladly.

Tearing her eyes away from the fires, Celestia leaped from the balcony, landing lightly upon the cobbled street below. Hundreds of thousands of them milled around, all dressed in rough armour. The armour was cheap to make and quick to manufacture, and although it was nowhere near as effective as real Guard armour, it kept the conscripts that wore it alive slightly longer.

It had been Luna who had called for country wide conscription after Manehatten and Trottingham had fallen in as many days. Everypony who could fight was given arms and rudimentary training. It was a bloody action, one Celestia had been silently opposed to, but it had slowed the tide of defeats somewhat, and had even helped with some of the few victories Equestria had seen, but it had still not been enough. Even as she watched, a colt, barely ten years old, ran past her, the small spear he had been given glinting as the sun hit the few parts of it that weren’t covered in blood, while his armour bore the markings of a Sergeant. What had her country come to so that ponies of his age must fight in the maelstrom of war, and die in droves?

“You there. Sergeant.” She called after the colt.

“Your highness?” He asked, skidding to a halt and saluting. Now that she saw his face, the regret she felt in her heart only deepened.

She knew this colt, he was from Ponyville, and had been rather enthralled with her sister one her first Nightmare Night. Pipsqueak if she wasn’t mistaken. Now however, he was not like his sister had described him, smooth of face and eager to see more of the world. One eye had been crudely bandaged over, and the rest of his face fared no better, bruises and scars marring the once perfect surface. Even his eyes looked blank as if they had seen too much. It was his cutie mark that broke her heart however, a picture of a Griffon being impaled on a spear. A whole generation of ponies would have nothing but warfare to look to if Equestria managed to survive this onslaught.

“What is your name soldier?” She blurted out suddenly, unsure of why she stopped Pipsqueak in the first place, and simply asking the first thing that came to mind.

“Sergeant Pipsqueak your highness. 3rd Battalion, Bridle Company.”

“Where are your parents?”

“Dead. Please excuse me.” He deadpanned, before turning and running back down the street.

Celestia simply stood where he had left her, unable to form words or even a coherent thought. She hoped in her heart that Pipsqueak would survive the coming days, that she would be able to lead her little ponies out of this situation, but her mind shot the idea down in flames. There would be no retreat, no quarter shown nor given. This was the last stand of ponykind, and even if a scant few survived, it would not be enough to rekindle the light of a species. Celestia had never imagined that even in her long life, she would see the candle of her ponies be extinguished.

“Princess.” Came a low voice from behind her, and Celestia turned to see a figure that even now unnerved her.

“Castelian.” She nodded back, looking at the bat pony.

It had not been that long ago when this pony had been the Lord Commander of the Equestria Army, leader of the Lunar Guard, and a member of the deadly Moonlight Wardens. He had presided over battles against beasts innumerable, before fighting in the largest battle before the current war. That was when the Lunar Guard had been destroyed, and the Lord Commander had hardened to his purpose.

No longer commanding a guard, Castelian had been fighting a different kind of war for the past four years, hitting vulnerable targets behind enemy lines before the war even began. In that time, he had become scarred, and emitted an aura of deadly passion. Even Celestia and Luna feared him now.

“Your presence is required by the War Council.” He grunted, before taking flight again.

Sighing to herself, Celestia took to the skies behind Castelian, following the bat pony back towards the castle. The once mighty structure had not escaped destruction either, and the burning and toppled towers seemed to be synonymous with the fate of Equestria. Landing softly in one of the towers, Celestia quickly made her way over towards the ponies of the war council.

“Griffon saboteurs have made it into the city on the eastern boulevard.” One of the ponies said quickly, not looking around at Celestia.

“Have Captain Applejack reform her units and root them out.” Twilight growled softly. “We’ll show them what poking their beaks around Canterlot leads to. And have Commander Dash ready her aerial forces for a counter attack when the barrier falls again.”

“Twilight.” Celestia nodded. “How is our army holding?”

“Better than any other theatre of the war by a margin of three hundred and sixty two percent.” Twilight said, turning to face her onetime mentor.

Twilight had been injured in the war against the Makuta like so many others, but she had also received mental scars that went deeper than any of them could fathom. For almost a year she had been despondent, reluctant to talk about her experiences, and trying to kill herself more than once. More than that though, her magic had increased nearly ten-fold, her sheer power now rivalling that of Celestia and Luna. When she had recovered more however, she had proved herself immeasurably useful in the coming times.

It was her who had coordinated the deployment of Castelian behind enemy lines, she who had halted the enemy’s first attacks across the Rein River, and who now commanded what remained of Ponykind. She, even more than Celestia and Luna, was in charge of Equestria now.

“And the spell you have been working on?” Celestia pressed.

“She has already given the details to me sister.” Luna cut in, flapping her one remaining wing awkwardly. “I cannot cast it alone however.”

“I’m sorry, what spell is this?” Captain Horn Blower asked, the Earth pony looking confused.

“One that could win us this war. Possibly.” Celestia said darkly. “And one I will only use if I must.”

“What does it do?” Horn Blower pressed.

“Manipulates the magical flow of the planet, targeting every living creature devoid of magical lay-lines and cancelling out the bonds between the atoms within them.” Luna scowled. “Ponies are the only species to use magic. We alone will survive.”

“You’d allow that to happen?!” Horn Blower shouted.

“If I must.” Celestia nodded, before turning to Twilight. “You are sure the spell works?”

“No. nothing like this has ever been created, nor should it be. It has as much chance of backfiring as it does working properly.”

“As I said. A last resort.” Celestia said, turning back to face the war council. Before she could speak however, a Pegasus Guard burst into the room, interrupting the proceedings.

“Council! Minotaur’s have broken through the shield in the East.”

“Castelian, go.” Twilight quipped, before her horn flared and Twilight disappeared.

***

The days dragged into weeks, the shield fell and was recreated over and over again, each time only bringing more death and destruction to the dwindling population within, until there were not enough unicorns who were not otherwise occupied to create it again. Now the war was into its final days, fighting from street to street and house to house as the enemy drew ever closer to the Castle itself.

Chief medic Fluttershy had been swamped with more and more wounded ponies, until she had been forced to implement even more stringent triage protocols, leaving all those who had little chance of surviving to their fate, and treating only those who stood a chance of being able to fight again. It was barbaric, and it broke Fluttershy to have to do it, but she knew the stakes that they were dealing with now.

Nopony had heard from Pinkie Pie in half a year since she had gone on a mission behind enemy lines. Some say she had defected to the enemy, others that she was still out there, trying to defeat the enemy from within, but the more logical answer was that she had perished, far from home, and in a land devoid of smiles.

The only member of the element bearers who had certainly met her fate was Rarity, the white Unicorn placing herself in harm’s way to protect the resting place of her own sister. Reports showed that she had fought bravely before finally succumbing, some reports even had King Turg himself putting the raging mare down. The details were unimportant, but the effect it had on the remaining element bearers was profound. Morale was fast failing, but the numbers of the army would be exhausted far before it broke and ran.

Even as ponies fought and died to repulse the invaders, Twilight, Celestia and Luna convened in the last remaining tower of the castle, Castelian standing guard over the three. The mood was dark, the lights even more so, as the three ponies began their solemn task. There had been countless plans before this, contingencies and strategies, even pleas for peace, but none had worked. This was the final answer.

Without a word, Twilight lit her horn, the two Alicorns quickly following suite. Overlay after overlay enveloped their horns, an ethereal breeze howling through the room. Even to a non-magic user, the power in the room was palatable, almost thick enough to see, and still it grew stronger.

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound on the other side of the door, before the heavy wooden frame was flung from its hinges, revealing the shape that now lay unmoving upon its surface. Catching sight of the corpse, Twilight faltered, dropping to her knees and howling as she grabbed hold of the rainbow coloured mane.

“Enough!” Celestia roared, partly in anger and partly in pain as the magic suddenly cut off. “This has gone far enough! Let us come to terms!”

“I do not think so Celestia.” A voice boomed from through the smoke, a cloven hoof stepping into the room. “You rule has gone on longer enough, and I would see it end today.”

“Turg!” Luna screamed, launching herself at the Minotaur, only to be thrown back, carving a deep furlough into the ground.

“Luna. You were great once, but no longer.” Turg chuckled, a pair of Minotaur’s moving up beside their king, a pony dragging behind them. “Even your mighty Elements of Harmony have fallen before us. Embrace your fate with honour.”

Turg moved forward, raising his axe above his head, when the room was split by a screech that threatened to burst the ear drums of all those present, except for one, a pony who had nothing more to lose, and consumed by rage.

“Fuck honour!” twilight screamed, before leaping forward, powering herself towards Turg with magic and impacting with the king’s chest.

A wet slapping sound was the only resistance that greeted her as she continued through, drenching herself in blood, before turning on the other Minotaur’s. Narrowly avoiding the blow from a sword, Twilight lashed out with a hoof, striking the Minotaur’s hand and cracking bone, before lifting the sword in her own magic. In an instant, the Minotaur found himself impaled upon his own blade, before the sword once again lashed out, powering through the second Minotaur’s guard and sticking in his chest.

Before the body had reached the floor, Twilight was beside the body of her friend.

“Applejack?” Twilight sobbed, even as Celestia ran to her sister and castelian prepared to defend the doorway.

“Twi…light?” Applejack asked weakly, her one remaining eye flickering open.

“I’m here.”

“Ah’m…sorry I couldn’t stop them.” She breathed weakly. “Ah tried.”

“Just…save your breath.” Twilight grunted, reaching into her wounds with magic, but even with her own massive reserves, Twilight knew that the wounds would inevitably prove fatal. All she could do was ease her passing.

“Ah’ll…see ya again Sugarcube. In the…great pasture in the sky…with mah brother.”

“I know you will.” Twilight sobbed, before touching Applejacks heart with her magic, stilling the organ and releasing Applejack from her tormented pain.

Twilight didn’t scream, even as her heart broke, she didn’t curse as she stood back up, and she didn’t cry out for blood as her horn lit up once more. Her heart had steeled, and she was clear to her purpose as her horn glowed ever brighter.

“Twilight? What are you doing?!” Celestia called from beside Luna, but the mare didn’t listen, another overlay enveloping her horn as the glow threatened to overcome her.

“Twilight! Stop this now! You can’t cast the spell alone!” Celestia screamed.

“Incoming!” Castelian roared, leaping into the air.

Time seemed to slow to a standstill as a spear arced through the air, hurled by an unseen adversary. Celestia mouthed a wordless plea as her own horn ignited. Castelian dived towards Twilight, intent on moving her out of harm’s way. Twilights horn grew brighter as she poured ever more power into it, not noticing or uncaring of the danger that was streaking towards her.

Castelian grabbed Twilight, wresting her out of the way of the deadly projectile. Celestias horn flashed as it discharged a spell, enveloping the pair in an aura of magic. The spear continued towards its true target, sinking deep into Celestias chest.

Celestia coughed as she looked down at the long piece of wood that now protruded from her chest, shakily turning her head at see the point sticking out of her back, before collapsing to the floor. Her eyes fell upon the hooves and paws that heralded the arrival of more enemies, even as her vision began to fade.

It was over. Equestria was no more.

Of Twilight and Castelian, there was no sign.