Dear Princess Celestia,
An Oath was made by me those many years ago when I promised to write you a letter each time I learned something about Friendship. And here, in my last moments, I will honor that oath by writing my last letter … the final lesson learned.
Friendship is a common term, bonds frequently formed and broken by the daily lives of those around us. Yet … what is true Friendship? A thing of wonder and magic; a bond forged so strong that it cannot be broken. And we learned how true that is, even when faced with death.
War. An ugly thing. So brutal and unforgiving; why didn’t we see it coming? Yet as ugly as it is, all the masks we wear in our daily lives melts away and our true colors shine through the carefully laid barricades we build to protect ourselves. War. A measurement of what Friendship really means.
Fluttershy. She was the first to go; in the very beginning too. The Raiders attacked Ponyville without warning … getting out was hell itself. And yet the kind pony helped everypony she could escape, even staying long after the town was compromised just to get a few more ponies into safety. Right as we all left, she was shot down by a magical arrow. Those precious few seconds it took to help Rarity get free from the fence costed the yellow pony her own life.
Several days went by before Rainbow Dash was captured while she was scouting ahead. The Raiders tortured her and threatened to kill her unless she became a spy for them. In complete defiance, the cyan pony took the increasingly painful punishment without a single shout or whimper. She refused to betray her friends. Those Raiders made good on their threat, weeks later finally killing Dash. It would have only taken a simple phrase or piece of information to save her life, yet she paid the price and stayed loyal to her friends.
Wandering on was difficult, we suffered the loss of two of our closest friends. Although Pinkie Pie tried her hardest to lighten the mood. No matter how tough the times got, she was there to brighten the dark mood enough to keep us going … to keep us sane. Poor Pinkie, her bright outlook was just a little too bright. While on one of her ‘Morale Missions’, she drew attention to herself and The Raiders killed her mercilessly. Our travels were dark and silent without her bright smile and hearty Laughter.
In the course of war it is easy to lose yourself and get consumed by fear and hate. Many fall victim and throw away morales for the simple sake of survival. Thankfully, Applejack was still with us. She kept us in line and made sure we stayed true to ourselves no matter how difficult the journey was. If it wasn’t for her, we may not have kept our true values intact. A bit cruel when she got sick and slowly died in front of us. Twisted joke of life that the bravest and most honest of us gets taken down by something as mundane as an illness.
Ravaging all it touched, the war just wouldn’t end. Rarity and I kept each other close, sure to keep on going and keeping the spirit of our friends alive by honoring the time they were alive and the sacrifices they made for us. Then the bombers came. In the dead of night, the area was blanketed in toxic gas. We rushed to the supply station and Rarity gave me a mask. As the gas swiftly filled the air I asked why she didn’t put hers on. Even in the gas her coat glistened white as she said that mine was the last one … and that gas masks don’t compliment her complexion anyway. Before I could give her mine, the gas took its effect and she was gone in moments. In generously giving me the only mask left, she saved my life.
Yet, with all the sacrifices my friends made for me, I will not be spared. Here I lay bleeding, about to die. Only fitting it be in the ruined parts of Ponyville, the former Library … the place I still call home. As for this letter, it contains a lesson. My final lesson that I have learned. No matter what may happen, true Friendship cannot be broken. Not even in the face of death. A true friend will give all they have and then even more just to save you … to save a friend.
War. Cold, dark, and brutal; yet rays of light still glimmer like glowing stars. As long as true Friendship exists, there is hope. So please, Princess, share this lesson to everyone you can. No matter what happens, keep it alive and spread the magic of Friendship so that when the war is finally over, you can look around and have each other.
Your Graduate,
Twilig--
Greetings reader.
If you have not yet read the letter, please do, as this contains some spoilers. If you have read it, I cannot thank you enough.
This idea came to me quite randomly. It was first intended to be a short and simple two paragraph letter so that I could use visual effects. The text would be in a blood font and it would be written on burned and torn parchment. As it became so long, this method is not quite reasonable (that's a lot on pony blood).
Instead, my next idea would be to have the text written on the same burned and torn parchment. However, the text would be written messily with ink. The bottom right corner would be blood stained and the ending "Twilight Sparkle" signature would trail off incomplete. As an added effect, tear stains would be scattered on the parchment.
I've considered expanding this letter and instead doing a full story on it. There are a LOT of details not mentioned in the letter, and that intentional. The emphasis was to be the mane cast and their sacrifices. If I were to do a story, it would contain all the left out details such as why war? Who are the Raiders? What happened to Spike? Why is Twilight bleeding? And so forth.
But I digress ... thank you for taking the time to read the letter and even this note!
Please comment!