I’ve found it. The changeling hive. I’ve brought my army. A thousand ponies stand behind me and ten thousand changelings stand before me. It’s now or never. The battle ensues and everything passes before me in the blink of an eye. I’m dressed in the finest armor I could scrape from the ruins of Canterlot Castle. I’m holding the weapon that should be broken by now from all the wear I’ve put it through. So many changelings have died by my hooves. I’ve been splattered with their blood so much I’ve grown used to the smell. I’ve cracked their exoskeletons, snapped their bones, split their organs, torn off their wings. There is nothing I hate more than changelings.
I kill a changeling without even trying. Another tries to stab me. I break its horn off and tear open its stomach with it. Another tries to shoot me. I glance off the blast and slash my sword through its neck, rending its head from its shoulders. Green blood spurts from the stump that was once a neck. It splatters all over me but I don’t care. Ponies around me are dying and the just enrages me more. So many of my subjects have died because of my incompetence. Because of my weakness. Because of my fragility. But I’m not fragile anymore. She killed my sister.
Luna returned as Nightmare Moon, and that was when we fought. We fought for so long and she almost won. But then Chrysalis showed up. She blasted Nightmare Moon. Nightmare blasted her back. I hit her too. That was my and Nightmare Moon’s fight. Chrysalis struck me, then the changelings came. Nightmare Moon was surrounded as Chrysalis and I fought. She struck me in the temple. I couldn’t stop her from stabbing Nightmare Moon through the heart. There was so much blood. Chrysalis almost died that day.
Now she dies today.
So many changelings die before me. I crush one’s spine. I tear one in half. I snap one’s neck. I tear off one’s wings. I slit another’s throat. I can’t feel my hooves and my ears are ringing. My vision is blurry. Each step hurts and I can’t move my left wing. I wonder how injured I am. I can’t feel it out. I’m too busy. I have to kill. I have to save my country. I have to kill her.
I see another pony die by a changeling’s hooves. I respond by caving its skull in, sending green blood everywhere. I have to be coated in it by now. I don’t care. As long as they’re dying. For some reason I can’t use my magic. My sword clashes with the ground. My head feels numb. A changeling stands before me and my horn is lying on the ground, oozing blood. My own blood trails down my face. I charge the changeling. It doesn’t last a second before its head is ripped off its shoulders.
I was a princess once upon a time. I was so civilized. So regal, so posh. Everyone looked up to me. I was the most famous, most respected, most loved pony in Equestria. I dressed in bright white and gold. My coat was always porcelain. My golden necklace, crown, and shoes were polished every morning. I slept on an enormous silken bed. I wouldn’t dream of this. I would never be so savage. But when the chips are down anyone can snap. I did. I snapped when my country fell before me. I snapped when everyone died. I snapped when I realized I was alone.
The hive was made from my old castle- the one I shared with my sister long ago. The walls are covered in goo and slime, and covered further by both red and green blood. Limbs, bone, and organs are spread across the scene. The smell of death is intoxicating. At this point I could almost reach a high off of it. Smelling the blood of my allies makes me cry. Smelling the blood of the changelings makes me laugh. I can smell it so much more. I’m laughing so hard. They’re dying so much. We’re winning. Chrysalis is going to die.
I can taste the blood. Two of my teeth have been knocked out and blood is spurting into my mouth. Changeling blood drips in between my lips. I allow it to go in. It tastes amazing, to feel the satisfaction of knowing so many of my enemies have been slaughtered. There’s a changeling in front of me. It tries to run. I catch it and grab its jaw. Changelings are so fragile. I can hear it screaming as I rip its jaw off. I lift the monster above my head and drink its blood. It tastes so good. Its screams sound like ecstasy itself.
I don’t know how much time has passed but the battlefield is clear. No more changelings, no more ponies. Just me and her. She’s standing right in front of me and all at once my vision goes red.
I’ve been alive for a very long time. In that time, I’ve seen war, plague, and death. I’ve fought impossible enemies, I’ve fought my own people, I’ve been through horrific tragedy. It’s all compiled. It’s all been on top of me. I’ve stayed strong. I’ve stayed strong for my people. I had to be a fixed point. A last pony standing. Now, I really am the last pony standing. There’s nothing to lose. No one to hurt but her.
She’s saying something but I can’t tell what. The ringing in my ears is deafening. All I can hear is my own scream. I run at her. She avoids my charge. I want to tear her throat out. I charge again, and she lifts herself into the air. I’ll rip those wings off and force her to eat them. I jump but she’s too fast. I’ll tear her legs off and watch her squirm. I try to fly but my wings won’t cooperate. They’re probably broken to bits. Chrysalis speaks again and I take a moment to survey myself.
My jaw is dislocated. My left ear has been torn off. My horn is gone. My wings are limp, the bones in them pounded to dust. My armor is missing everywhere and I’ve got several stab marks and burns across my whole body. My left hind leg is broken. I’ve sprained my right foreleg.
But yet I fight. I can ignore the pain. Chrysalis flies at me and sends me sailing into a wall. My spine cracks. She hits me again and ruptures something inside me. I hit back and send her into the ground. I waste no time in getting over top of her. I can see the fear in her eyes. Good.
I raise my hoof, but her magic sends me away. My rib cracks as I hit a wall. She stabs my through the stomach. I’m bleeding everywhere. She stabs me again and again. I can’t feel a thing. I can tell I’m not breathing anymore. I tried so hard.
I snapped. I gave up my sanity to find her. But I wasn’t strong enough. I’m dying and she lives. My vision is going. I can only see figures. I see her figure fly away. I can see more like her in the sky. So many more changelings. I only killed a fraction of them. I was so strong but it was inevitable. I achieved nothing. I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t have snapped. Now the ponies don’t have a leader. They had a failure but now they have nothing. I was wrong. I was stupid. I was a failure.
I can only think of one thing to say through my final breaths. It’s an old saying that warriors would use when they came home from war. I’m sorry Equestria. I’m sorry, my little ponies. I’m sorry everyone I failed. I’m so sorry Luna.
“In anima contrita.”
