Broken Worlds: Age of Ruin

“So, you’re certain I can’t speak with Princess Celestia?” a young pegasus asked desperately as he stood awkwardly before me in the Castle Canterlot throne room.

I gave him an apologetic look from the throne. “I’m afraid not,” I said gently. “But, if you really need to speak to someone, I am more than capable of helping you,” I offered.

He looked away nervously. “I don’t know, Princess Twilight,” he said slowly, “I would much rather speak to a much more experienced princess… and besides, the last time I was here, Celestia was more than happy to assist me!”

I struggled to remain calm; just because I hadn’t been a princess for as long as my teacher didn’t mean I was inexperienced and unable to assist my subjects! “Look,” I said calmly, “Celestia is very busy at the moment. She is contacting the other countries of Equus and persuading their leaders to assist us with the human problem. If you want council with a princess, you will have to make do with the only one who is not otherwise occupied: me.”

The pegasus still looked uncertain. “What about Princess Luna?” he asked hopefully.

I sighed heavily, trying not to roll my eyes. “Luna has not been seen in Canterlot in a few years,” I explained, “so Celestia and myself are the only ones who would be able to help you. Like I told you before, Celestia is in a very important meeting, so I am the only one available to help you. Now, what is the problem?”

He sighed heavily. “Well, we received Celestia’s message requesting more pegasus soldiers, but we can’t fill the quota she requested,” he explained.

I nodded stiffly. “Okay, how many did she request, and how many can you spare?” I asked, glad to be getting somewhere.

He pondered this for a moment. “Well, she requested five hundred, but we can only spare two hundred and fifty for her army,” he said finally.

I frowned slightly; that was a pretty steep deficiency, and we needed more pegasi for our battles against the humans. Unicorns were already in short supply, so we needed as many of the other two types of ponies as we could get in order to make up for the slack. “Well, I suppose we will have to make do with what we can get,” I said slowly, “I’m sure Celestia will understand. Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” I told the young pegasus, and he nodded and ran out of the room.

I sighed and stepped down from the throne, setting my crown on the arm of the massive golden seat. In the four short years since the war began, I found myself bearing many of the responsibilities of a full-fledged princess and, more often than not, being Celestia’s substitute when it came to the affairs of the citizens. On top of all this, however, there was one thing that had been bothering me: the strain this war has been putting on my former teacher. She had always known that the humans had lain just outside the boundaries of our universe, and she always feared that another war would break out. Thanks to the arrival of two humans who proved that humanity may not be as cruel as we were led to believe, however, her fears were dismissed, and she happily looked forward to a future where humans and ponies could live together peacefully.

Unfortunately, it was quickly revealed that that was never to be, and the humans attacked us the moment our worlds were joined. We later learned that the portals that bridged our worlds caused great destruction in their world, but they would not listen to our efforts to convince them we meant them no harm.

“Princess?” I asked softly as I carefully poked my head through the doorway to the war chambers. This was where, using magical projections, she would communicate with the other rulers of Equus. She had been speaking with them more often now, practically begging them for assistance in the war.

Celestia was standing before the great table with her head lowered, all alone in the darkened room. The torches that usually lit the walls had been extinguished, and the stone chairs that lined the table had been thrown to different parts of the room.

“They refuse to help us,” she said softly, “I’ve tried and tried to convince them, yet they still won’t assist us.”

I stood next to her sadly. “I’m sorry, Princess,” I said quietly.

Celestia looked up sadly. “I have little right to be referred to by that title,” she said quietly. “I have failed my subjects, and most of all, I have failed you, Twilight.”

I gasped. “Celestia!” I snapped suddenly, “you have not failed! You are the strongest alicorn to ever rule Equestria! Who defeated Sombra and Discord a thousand years ago? Who single-handedly ruled this country for a thousand years? You did, Celestia, and one little war is never going to make that mean less!”

The white alicorn looked down at me, smiling slightly. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said quietly, “I don’t know what I would do without you by my side.”

I nodded appreciatively. “It’s my honor, Princess.”

~-~-~-~-~

“Have you heard from Luna or Cadence at all?” I asked as we watched the workers from the castle balcony. There were numerous ponies building all kinds of contraptions, ranging from something as simple and ancient as catapults, to much more advanced and complicated mech suits.

“I have not received word from Luna since her capture; the humans are doing all they can to keep her from contacting us with her magic. Cadence, on the other hand, is still working with Drayke on his Resistance project,” she explained.

I smiled slightly. “It’s good to know there are still some out there that are trying to unite humans and ponies; after all, we’ve seen firsthand how easy that can be,” I pointed out.

Celestia nodded as a cool breeze blew past. “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” she said with a light sigh. “How long has it been since we last heard from him?” she asked suddenly.

I looked down sadly. “Since the war first began, not long after Luna was taken,” I said quietly.

Celestia nodded. “It hasn’t been the same without him,” she said wistfully. “It hasn’t been the same without any of the others.”

I nodded. “One day, Princess,” I said slowly, “one day we’ll all be back here together, just like it was before this mess started.”

~-~-~-~-~

Later that evening I was lying in my bedroom, immersed in a very interesting book on manticore eating habits, when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention: a small, tattered journal sticking out of my bookshelf just slightly more than the other books. Using my magic, I levitated the small book closer, and sighed sadly when I realized what it was: the secret journal of Starswirl the Bearded, in which  he kept his notes on the Crystal Guardians he created, as well as notes on the war between humans and ponies. It was a very interesting look into Equestria’s history, but it wasn’t the book itself that brought me so much distress; it was the memories it held.

Five years ago, this journal told me of a strange, bipedal race called ‘humans’, who were powerful and savage, but also incredibly smart. I was afraid they would return to Equestria and try to take over again, but my fears were temporarily put to rest when a young human boy showed me that, despite the stories from the war, humans were capable of showing empathy and friendship. When the war began, however, he grew bitter at the display both his former and adopted people showed. He fought alongside us for many months, until Princess Luna was captured; then, he just… vanished.

“Oh, Allen,” I said sadly, “out of all the times we needed you, why did you have to leave us now?”

I heard the door creak open, and I turned and smiled as my assistant and friend, Spike, poked his head through the small gap in the doorway.

“You okay, Twilight?” he asked slowly, “I heard you talking, and you sounded upset.”

I smiled warmly at the young dragon. He had grown quite a bit over the past few years, and it felt so strange knowing that he used to be only so big. It was a relief that he had only grown in size and not appetite for treasure, for he was one of the few friends I had these days; if he were to give in to his draconic instincts and leave Canterlot to start a hoard, I would be all alone. While there was a time when he was just a little guy, he now stood nearly a full foot taller than I did; he was growing up so fast.

“I’m fine, Spike,” I reassured him, but my voice betrayed my wishes to hide my true thoughts.

Spike narrowed his eyes and closed the door as he entered the room, sitting on the floor next to me and placing a comforting arm over my shoulder. “Come on, Twi,” he said gently, “You can tell me what’s up.”

I sighed heavily. “It’s just… when we first met Allen, I was suspicious that he was planning to lead more humans to Equestria, but then it turned out he was just a scared kid, and I thought humans wouldn’t be all that bad. And then with Drayke... he was evil at first, but eventually turned out to be really nice! My only experiences with humans up until this war started had only been positive, but now…” I broke off, lowering my eyes to the book, which was now opened to a picture we had taken during what we had believed would be our last day with Allen; we all sat together aboard the train to Canterlot with hopeful looks on our faces.

Five years, and that boy went from being a naive and gentle young man to a cold and distant loner.

“Still no word from him, huh?” Spike asked sadly.

I shook my head. “Ever since Luna was captured, nopony has heard or seen any sign of him,” I murmured, fearing the worst for my human friend; his powers were always tied to his emotions, and the blast of magic that enveloped him after Luna’s capture could have simply teleported him somewhere else, or - and I hated to admit the more likely option was - it could have completely wiped him from existence.

Spike sighed deeply. “Remember the good old days?” he asked, suddenly brightening, “I mean, before any of this started. Before the war, before Sanguis Cruciatus, before Allen and Drayke and the Sentinels; back when it was just me, you, A.J., Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity?”

I smiled and nodded slightly. “Back when everything was simple,” I said fondly, “Back when friendship was magic…” A stray tear drifted down my face, landing on the picture with a small “pat”. Spike leaned over and wrapped his scaly arms around me, stroking my mane comfortingly with his talons.

“There, there, Twi,” he whispered as my quiet sobs shook me, “We can make it through this, just like we have with everything. We just need to hold on.”

I looked up at him sadly. “How can we make it through this?” I asked disbelievingly, “We’ve already lost so much! Canterlot is one of the few remaining cities in Equestria, and every day we’re attacked by humans! If Celestia’s magic were to fail, everything would be lost, and the humans would exterminate us.”

Spike nodded slowly, but suddenly his eyes lit up as he ran to a nearby desk, pulling out a sheet of paper, a red ribbon, a quill, and an inkwell. He carried these items over to me, placing them on the floor between us, and smiled reassuringly. “Maybe we all need a little reminder of how things used to be,” he said quietly, and I smiled slightly as my horn and the quill became enveloped in a violet aura. The feather floated into the air and lightly dipped itself in the ink, before gracefully gliding across the paper.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” I said aloud, and continued to write my letter, just as I had done so often long ago, reading my message out loud as each word appeared on the paper as I spoke. When I was finished, Spike rolled the paper up and tied the ribbon around it, and then gently breathed a wave of green fire over the white parchment. We watched as my letter burned away, transforming into a puff of sparkling smoke that wafted out the window and out of sight.

“Hey, Spike,” I said slowly, an idea suddenly forming in my head. It was a long shot, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Would you be up for delivering a few more letters?” I asked slowly. “I think we have some long-lost friends that we need to get in touch with.”

Spike nodded and saluted proudly. “That’s why I’m your number-one assistant, Twilight,” he said, bringing me a stack of papers.

I smiled determinedly. “Maybe if we can get everyone back together, we’ll finally have the power to win this war.”