"No..." I mumbled. "Rarity... Applejack... Rainbow Dash... How could he do this to you?"

Quickly, I ducked underneath the window of the carriage, noticing the faint silhouette of somepony moving towards me, its figure shadowed by the dust and smoke in the air. As it approached closer, I could begin to make out a pony-shaped figure, only it looked much larger than any pony, at least until I saw who it was. "Princess Celestia!" I shouted, but the moment I did so, I clasped my hooves to my mouth. Celestia's face looked like it was in complete distress, her eyes shining a dark green, her entire body being levitated off the ground. "No... this can't be happening! Not you too! You can't let him do this! CELESTIA!"

Celestia's body then levitated higher into the air until it was practically with the clouds, and as my world was crashing down around me, my worst nightmare came true. Her body then tumbled to the ground, landing flat on her back and neck onto a pile of rubble beneath her, breaking her neck... and killing her instantly...

I ran out of the carriage in a panic, not caring whether or not Discord was anywhere around me. I just wanted some glimmer of hope that he hadn't ruined everything and that there was still a chance that Celestia had survived the fall. Sadly, though, as I examined Celestia's now-mangled body, I looked into her opened eyes and began heaving. She was gone. She was dead.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of something running towards me as if it were in pursuit. Jerking my shoulders backwards, I saw a purple unicorn stallion with a horrified look on his face galloping in my direction. Just as I was about to ask him what was going on or what he was running from, he pivoted to his side and jumped into the carriage behind me. I then quickly followed him inside, knowing that there was a good possibility that Discord would be here at any moment.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Is it Discord?" The stallion, ignored me as he pulled out a pill from the satchel around him, completely out of breath and gasping loudly for any air he could muster. "Hey!"

"No time!" he said, still refusing to make eye contact and focusing intently on the pill in his hoof. As he tried recovering his breath, his horn began to glow a bright blue aura, which then engulfed the pill in a dim luminescence. "Take this!" The stallion then shoved the pill into my hooves and went back to his satchel, where he pulled out another pill and repeated the process.

"What's going on?" I asked more seriously.

"It's Discord. He's coming. You have to eat the pill now."

"What? Why? What does it do?"

I could hear footsteps in the distance.

"It's enchanted. Once you bite into it, it'll kill you instantly."

"WHAT?!"

The footsteps grew closer.

"You have to trust me, Princess. This is a battle we can't win. If you don't eat the pill, Discord will torture you to death!"

"No! Stop! There has to be another way! It's not over yet! We can still win this!"

Then I saw him. His legs made their view into view in the window of the carriage as the two of us ducked down, hoping in vain that he wouldn't be able to see us. He made sure to walk as slowly as he could, knowing all too well exactly where we were hiding, and this time, I had no idea what to do. Finally, unable to wait for a miracle any longer, the stallion beside me put the pill into his mouth, bit hard, and instantly, his body went limp, collapsing beside me.

"No..." liquid despair cascaded down my cheeks. "This can't be happening..."

Just then, Discord had arrived to the side of the carriage. I had no more time to think, and if I wanted even a chance of hope, I had to act now, no matter how irrational the decision sounded. Without taking another thought, I quickly popped the pill into my mouth, keeping it underneath my tongue so that Discord wouldn't notice.

He then unlatched the handle on the door to the carriage, gradually pulling it off of its hinges, leaving me to shiver in my unbearable anxiety. Suddenly, I felt a magical grip around my neck. Discord didn't even have the decency to choke me with his own claws, but that's when I noticed that the grip wasn't tight enough to strangle me. That wasn't what he wanted, but I wasn't about to find out what was. Shamefully, I flipped the pill from under my tongue to inbetween my teeth.

I'm sorry to everypony I left behind. I'm sorry to my friends, my subjects, and every innocent pony that I couldn't help. I couldn't protect you, even when you trusted me to protect you with my life. It was my duty as a princess, and I failed.

I FAILED EVERYPONY!

Author's Note

My life has taken a serious downturn lately. Everything in this story has either haunted me in my nightmares or actually happened to me. I hope none of you ever have to go through anything I've had to deal with recently and hope that you remember me in your prayers. Thank you for reading. It helped me get a lot off of my mind.