"Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm writing you now with dire news. Ponyville is gone. I don't have much time, but I'll try to tell you everything I can.
It all started a few weeks back, with a friendship mission to the minotaur city of Durhoof. Pinkie and I were called there by the map. When we got there, there was an argument with the borders of a pony neighborhood in the city. The ponies in the area were claiming an area the the minotaurs were saying had always belonged to them.
Pinkie and I dug around the Durhoof city hall and found the borderline of the neighborhood in some old city planning blueprints. The blueprints clearly showed that the area in question belonged to the pony side of town. We explained that that was how things were built, and then offered that the minotaurs get a small section in another area of the neighborhood to expand into. After some lengthy discussions, everypony seemed to agree on things. I thought that was the end of it. One of the minotaurs, Buck Wild, seemed so happy with the arrangement that he asked if he could visit Ponyville sometime.
I couldn't turn him down, so of course I said yes. About a week later, Buck Wild visited with a group of friends. I showed them around Ponyville, ending the tour with the castle. They seemed impressed. They went on and on about how carefree the town seemed and how fantastic the location was. I thought they were being nice. This was four days ago.
Yesterday, Buck Wild came back to Ponyville, but this time it wasn't to make new friends. I don't even have the words to describe the massacre they committed when they walked into the town square. Buck Wild brought a battalion of armed minotaurs from the minotaur empire. An entire battalion! I'd never seen that many minotaurs before!
They came in and said that they owned Ponyville now. I didn't know how to handle the situation. I'm afraid I may have said some things that were rude. When I explained that they couldn't just waltz into Ponyville and claim it, they declared war on Equestria! That's when they attacked. They had swords and axes and so many terrible, terrible weapons. I had a few guards at the castle, and they fought back, but there was no winning against a force that size.
They killed anypony that put up a fight first. Even if somepony lay down there arms and tried to surrender, it didn't do any good. The minotaurs are bloodthirsty monsters. They killed everypony who dared to pick up a weapon. Applejack and Rainbow Dash fell in the initial battle.
Afterwords, they started rounding everypony up and executing them in the town square. I watched the entire thing from my castle. I'm a terrible princess. I just hid and watched! They even got Fluttershy and Pinkie when they did the first few rounds of executions. And I just watched my friends die."
Twilight paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Spike. I need to be stronger. We need to warn Princess Celestia of the danger heading towards Canterlot." Twilight took a deep breath, barely holding back the sobs that threatened to rack her body and stop her from finishing this one last act. "Okay, lets continue."
"Rarity overheard some plans involving pushing the invasion forward. She managed to pass these plans on to Spike before the minotaurs burned down Carousel Boutique with her inside.
The minotaurs are using Ponyville for a staging grounds. They plan on marching on the capital. The minotaurs will reach Canterlot's gates in a matter of days. They'll come straight from the south. They're planning on using shock tactics to take Canterlot before you can mount a defense. Thankfully, the minotaur army doesn't have any siege equipment to bring with them.
Please, please make sure you protect Canterlot. Equestria needs you. Everypony looks up to you, Princess Celestia, just like I have. I wish I had time to tell you how I feel. Your mentoring and friendship have helped me grow so much over the years. I don't think there's any way for me to repay you, even if I had the time. Thank you so very much for everything you've done for me.
Your faithful student until the end,
Twilight Sparkle"
Twilight took another deep breath, acutely aware of the tears that flowed down her face. "Okay Spike. Send it." A loud banging had begun emanating from the door to the map room as the attacking minotaurs sought to destroy the last bits of hope in Ponyville. The door had already begun to crack under the assault.
Spike rolled up the letter to Celestia and sent it off with an emerald flame. "Do you think we gave her enough time?"
"I hope so, Spike. I hope so." Twilight placed a hoof on the young dragon's shoulder. "I need you to do one last thing for me though."
"What is it Twilight?"
"I need you to go hide. You have plenty of hiding spots a Minotaur couldn't reach you in. Go hide. When it's safe again, I want you to leave Ponyville. Head for the Crystal Empire. If you can make it there, Shining and Cadence can make sure you're taken care of."
"But... what about you?" Spike fidgeted with his tail as he asked the question.
Twilight gave the dragon a soft smile. "I'll follow as soon as I can. But I need you to get to safety first. I'll use a shield spell to hold them off, okay?"
"I- Okay, Twilight. Just promise me you'll meet me when you can."
"I promise Spike." Twilight gave the dragon a tearful hug, knowing she was making a promise she could never keep. Spike accepted the answer, though, and ran out a door on the other side of the room with one last look back at his best friend.
When her number one assistant was gone, Twilight powered up a shield spell to block the doorway. She was tired and scared, but Twilight wouldn't let these monsters harm anypony else while she drew breath.
"Life in Equestria shimmers," The door was showing severe damage now, the minotaurs on the other side of the door now visible through the cracks.
"Life in Equestria shines..." The doors blasted inwards, one of the double doors coming clean off it's hinges.
"And I know for absolute certain," The minotaur attackers slammed a tree trunk into Twilight's barrier, sending spikes of pain through Twilight's horn with every strike.
"That everything is certainly fine..." The shield spell fell.
Author's Note
Written in about an hour at about 3 in the morning. Let me know if you spot any errors made, please.
More importantly, the fantastic video that inspired this one-shot:
