A Pony's Tale: Equestria's Fall

Two weeks later

Twilight awoke to a dark and dreary room, her vision blurry and skin slightly pale. It took a moment for her vision to clear, as she caught sight of her surroundings. She was in a hospital room, hooked to some sort of machine, the blinds to the windows pulled down. She groaned as she noticed the unusual silence from outside her closed room door.

She took a moment to recollect her thoughts then remembered everything. Why she was here, and who had put her here. At the sudden remembrance of all the past events, she began to quickly disassemble herself from the machine, quickly resulting in alerts to the nurses. Surprisingly however, Twilight was not met with any nurses, only the continuing alerts blurting out.

Twilight swore she felt her heart sink then and there, knowing already, something wasn't right. Slowly and cautiously, she made her way to the door of her room, pushing it open, only to be met with darkness and an eerie quiet that sent chills down her spine. The hospital was completely abandoned.

Making haste, Twilight quickened her pace, feeling sick to her stomach. She trotted endlessly, yelling for anypony to answer to her calls, until she came to the main exit of the building. Stepping out into the world, she was met with a haunting sight of pure silence and a sign that her worst fear was more than likely the case.

In the sky, was a familiar sight that had only appeared when Celestia and Luna had disappeared from sight. The sun and moon were both positioned in the sky, inches from one another. That was not a good sign, and Twilight felt her blood run cold at the realization that Viro was most likely the new ruler of Equestria.

Navigating further into Canterlot only continued to confirm her worst fear. Shops were abandoned with the signs still turned to "OPEN," debris lined the ground, and as she got closer to the castle, it became obvious. Changeling corpses lay in the streets, fuming the putrid stench of death, dried blood of both red and green colors lined the pathway to the castle, and more and more corpses of Changeling and Royal Guard soldiers lay rotting away.

Twilight stopped, looking upon the massive structure known as Canterlot Castle, knowing that she wasn't alone, and those who were with her in this world were not allies. She hesitated on continuing further, wondering if Ponyville had escaped Viro's terror, but then she remembered who Viro's first victim was; her beloved assistant, Spike. Viro wouldn't have skipped Ponyville.

All she could do, was face her enemy, and put all of her efforts into one last stand for Equestria. She couldn't run or hide, nor did she have her friends to help her. As scared as she was, as a princess, she had to keep fighting for her friends, subjects, and Equestria.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight proceeded forward, into the courtyard, up the stairs, and into the castle. The castle was just as empty as the rest of Canterlot, minus lines of a familiar green slime trailing across the ceilings of the corridors, similar to banners you see at parties.

At the ends of the trails were large green pods, containing larvae of developing Changelings, squirming around like worms. Twilight just continued forward, knowing where to go. The castle wasn't the castle she remembered navigating through as Celestia's student.

This castle was barren, alien, and depressing, yet she knew the way. That was a thought that made her shiver, as she grew closer to the throne room, doors blown off and wide open to any being that dared to enter. Her hooves echoed throughout the room, as she gazed around, immediately spotting Celestia's body on the floor.

"Celestia!" Twilight shouted, trotting as fast as possible to the corpse and sprawling atop Celestia.

The husk of flesh, muscle, and bone was hard and as cold as ice, which Twilight caught quickly, feeling emotions overcome her state of pure dread.

"Celestia," Twilight muttered, as she fell to tears. "No. NO! NO! NO! NO!"

She continued to sob, soaking the corpse with her tears, until a voice broke the void of dread and silence.

"Remarkable, isn't it princess," spoke a voice that sent an urge of anger through Twilight, turning to face the gaze of Viro, standing high and proud. "Even immortal beings can be extinguished from this world, no matter how powerful they may be."

Twilight stared at the tyrant with a blaze of hatred and disgust, firing up her horn.

"I admire your devotion," Viro said in a calm matter. "Still fighting, even in the wake of clear defeat, knowing the odds are stacked against you."

Twilight didn't listen, continuing to ready herself for an all out last stand. Viro just smiled, and spoke simply.

"So be it."

Twilight fired a magic blast toward Viro, only for it to miss and hit the far adjacent wall. Viro returned with a magic blast of his own, immediately blocked by Twilight, causing magic sparks to fall. The next exchange was by Viro, teleporting directly in front of Twilight, throwing a blow with one of his front limbs.

The blow was blocked by Twilight, as she took advantage, hitting Viro with a close-range magic blast, sending him backward with a grunt. Viro recovered quickly, dodging another magic blast by Twilight, his coronican being the shield.

Magic sparks flew again, as Twilight teleported to Viro, her back legs kicking upward, connecting to Viro's jaw, and knocking him back again. Twilight took the advantage, thrusting another magic blast at Viro, hitting him and knocking him down.

Viro rose to his hooves again, staring back at Twilight with a smile. Twilight's horn remained alight like a raging fire, as she struggled to focus. Her body was still not fully recovered from her initial injuries, so her strength was faltering slowly but surely. Viro may have been knocked down, but he still remained unaffected by any of Twilight's blows.

"Foolish princess," Viro taunted. "Using all of your strength in the beginning, just to lose all of it later on."

Twilight didn't respond, struggling to breathe normal from the amounts of energy she had just used. Her vision grew blurry, continuing to hear Viro's words.

"While you may have managed to land a few blows, you are now at my mercy in your weakened state. I respect your display of fury, even if it be for ponies, but now, I'll take back your blows for my own."

Twilight couldn't respond, as Viro teleported to Twilight, landing a severe kick to her right wing, breaking it. The blow was even impactful enough to surpass the wing and fracture some ribs. Twilight squirmed in agonizing pain, as Viro landed another blow to her other wing, also being shattered upon impact, along with more ribs. The actions happened too quickly for Twilight to comprehend, as she was met with a magic blast to her face.

Twilight managed to escape the full impact, only being hit by a mild percentage of the blast, resulting in only a deep laceration just above her right eye, starting to bleed quickly. The blast knocked her back onto the floor, and Viro followed her, landing a series of blows to Twilight, until she was too weak to get up anymore.

Viro laughed at his victory, standing above her with with a look of malevolence.

"So much for the rage of vengeance," Viro taunted. "Face it, princess. Hope has abandoned you, along with your friendship and harmony. And here I thought I'd get an actual challenge from you, the embodiment of magic, yet in only five blows, you can't even stand up. Pathetic. Perhaps I should have just killed you, instead of keeping you alive for two weeks."

Twilight squirmed in pain, as Viro walked away from her. Her sight had grown blurry and she felt like she was going to throw up.

"Why didn't you just kill me?" Twilight muttered, slowly standing herself back against the wall. "If you're so eager to, why didn't you?"

"Because, Princess Twilight, I have a proposition for you, and now that I have you weak and defenseless, I believe I can now propose you what will either your end, or a new beginning."

Twilight grew confused at Viro's words, as he continued onward.

"You see, princess, I've been watching you for a long time, and I feel you have potential to be something greater than the "Princess of Friendship." Your talents with magic were wasted by Celestia. You have greater strength than all of them, and knowledge beyond any other creature's potential. With the right guidance, your abilities and talents can be made limitless. You could have power beyond your wildest dreams."

"You kill my friends and expect me to even listen to a word you say?!" Twilight shot back.

"Dear princess, I didn't kill them," Viro proposed. "In fact, I have the power to bring all of your friends back. One with power such as mine, has to power to reverse it."

"I don't believe you!" Twilight barked.

"Oh, then allow me to demonstrate," Viro replied, as Chrysalis presented a cage of five pale corpses, rolling it to where Viro stood.

Viro reached into the cage, grabbing Applejack, and produced a flow of magic from his coronican to his hoof. The magic flowed into Applejack, and after a long moment of anticipation, the corpse of Applejack burst to life with a sudden heavy intake of breath and coughs.

Viro dropped Applejack back onto the surface of the cage, not giving her much of a life force to work with. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. Viro had brought a lifeless corpse back from the dead.

"Now you see I'm not feeding you lies, princess," Viro stated. "You see now that I have the power to bring back your friends, but that's only if you surrender to me, and join me in the new age dawning before your very eyes as we speak.

Think about it, you would be the empress of the new age. "Princess of Friendship" is such an insulting title. "Empress of Fear" or "Goddess of Darkness" is a much more fitting title for one of such power. You get your friends back and rule over a new age, alongside matriarchs worthy of such stature.

So, what will it be, princess? Will you choose to rise as the empress of a new age, or will you choose to perish like your friends?"

Somewhere amongst the quiet and chaos in Canterlot Castle, a pair of hooves caressed the sound waves. Feeble yet powerful. Strong and wise. One lone survivor still remained, carrying with them a burning pride and hatred. Broken in more ways than one, physically and mentally, the mare lies in wait, remaining in the shadows.

"I'm too late," she says. "It has already begun."

As she guides alongside the castle, she sees the horrible end results of the siege, and dreads at the sight of the two celestial bodies in the sky. It was a sight that greatly saddened her, knowing that her celestial other was no longer alive.

"I'm sorry, Tia, but I promise that your death will not be in vain. This is far from over, and as long as a princess remains, hope will remain! So declares I, Princess Luna!"
Luna is suddenly startled from the sound of a distant blast, coming from just above her.

Moments earlier

Twilight stood in heavy thought, knowing that her choice would define the future of Equestria. The proposition Viro had offered her was a tempting one, and she was honestly close to accepting it. But, that was just it; close. With her vision growing red from the blood leaking out of her wound, she stood as proud as she could, staring at Viro with a smile of valor.

"I know who I'm supposed to be, Viro," Twilight started. "And what you are proposing, isn't me. I'm loyal to the celestial bodies and don't need things such as power to make me happy, unlike you. I will never join you! You can knock me down as much as you want, but I'll always get up again! You will never win! Harmony will defeat you, just like any other foe Equestria has ever faced! It may not be me, but one day, YOU WILL FALL!"

Viro responded with a laugh of admiration, looking at Twilight with his fiery green eyes.

"So be it then," Viro stated. "Any last words, before I blast you into oblivion with the rest of your friends?"

Twilight's mind suddenly spiked at those words, remembering her nightmare before all of this had happened. Chrysalis had stated very similar words, and here she was, face to face with the same situation, only under different conditions.

Even her injury in her nightmare matched; a laceration above her right eye. That's when she knew that her nightmare was not a nightmare at all. It was a premonition of all that was to come. The deaths of her friends, her defeat, and Equestria's fall. She knew how to respond.

"You'll never get away with this! Harmony will prevail!"

Viro just laughed at her words, charging up his coronican for the final blow.

"Farewell, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Viro finalized, firing the final magic blast at the defeated Princess of Friendship.

A massive explosion followed, blowing Twilight out of the castle, into the descent to her death. The final moments of her life played out in slow motion, as she remembered the phrase spoken in her premonition. In the mix of the shattered glass and falling debris, she recited the words again.

"What I thought was right turned out to be the end of myself. I look, as my final days pass. My final moments. I blink, yet all I see is darkness. We had lost. I had lost. All hope was lost. There was no winning. It was done."

Twilight closed her eyes into a slumber, allowing sleep to take her moments before the impact of concrete and instant death. Twilight accepted her defeat. Equestria had officially fallen to the Changelings.

Epilogue: Awakening

Twilight shot awake, unsure of the nightmare she had just experienced. That was, until she looked around, noticing she wasn't in her castle bedroom. She was in some sort of makeshift hut, composed of only her bed, a door, and something next to her bed.

She gazed, only to come to realization that what was next to her bed, was a wooden crib. Inside of it, was a foal wrapped in blankets. Attempting to move, Twilight was suddenly met with an agonizing pain. She did her best to remain quiet, not wanting to wake the foal that seemed very vaguely familiar in more ways than one.

Regaining her composure, Twilight did her best to move slowly, planting her hooves gently on the ground. The ground felt like regular dirt, and Twilight shuddered, wondering where in the world she was. She wasn't caged or worse, so she quickly assumed that she wasn't in any sort of danger.

She walked forward, eyeing the sleeping foal closely, noticing how strangely it resembled Cadance in both fur color and mane colors. Then she remembered. Cadance had been expecting a foal not long before all of the tragic events with Viro had started.

"Could this be-

Twilight was interrupted by the sound of her hut door opening from the outside, entering a medium sized pony. Twilight felt a chill go down her spine, until she realized who the pony was; it was Princess Luna.

"It's good to finally see you awake," Luna said cheerfully.

"Luna?" Twilight stated in surprise. "How are you-

"I'll explain later," Luna quickly intervened. "For now, it's best to go over the necessities."

Twilight nodded in agreement, as Luna walked to Twilight's side, looking down at the foal as well.

"Where am I, Luna?" Twilight asked calmly. "How did I get here?"

Luna took a moment before responding, looking at Twilight with a serious look.

"You're safe," Luna responded simply. "I brought you here after barely saving you from falling to assured peril. You have been in a sleep for three weeks, caused more than likely by the amount of injuries you took."

"And where exactly am I?" Twilight questioned.

"A reserve safe area made for reasons as such," Luna clarified. "Nopony except for trusted members of the Celestial Order know of this place."

Twilight just stood in confusion, which Luna assumed to be the response.

"It's less complicated than it sounds," Luna stated. "I promise it'll all make more sense when we meet up with General Pierce in the morning. All will be explained in short time."

Twilight nodded, as she turned her attention back to the foal.

"Is this Cadance and Shining Armor's foal?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, and she is very lucky to even be alive," Luna confirmed. "Celestia used the last bits of her strength to transport her here. The Order only can receive transports from Celestia or I, so young Skyla here was accepted, and she's been in their care ever since. Congratulations "Aunt" Twilight. I only wish the circumstances were more... positive."

Twilight gazed at her niece, levitating her out of the crib, into her hooves. She rocked the foal gently, grunting mildly at the minor shocks of pain.

"She looks just like her mother," Twilight stated silently. "It's unfortunate she never got to even meet her."

She placed Skyla back into the crib gently, then turned to Luna.

"I have so many questions, princess," Twilight stated.

"I know, but for now, it's best you just rest. You still have much recovering to do, before we can start," Luna assured walking towards the exit.

"Start what, princess?" Twilight asked.

Luna stopped, looking at Twilight and answering.

"Planning," Luna responded easily. "Now, rest, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I will return in the morning to escort you."

With that, Luna exited, leaving behind a baffled Twilight. Twilight followed Luna's advice and returned to her makeshift bed, slowly and carefully. Before she closed her eyes, all she could think of was question after question. She had so many and knew Luna would answer them in the near future, but she was still unsure about so many things.

All she did know was that she was somehow alive, Viro and Chrysalis were the rulers of Equestria, and that in the dawn of the new age of her new world, many challenges were to come. What they were she was yet to discover, and as she dozed off to sleep, knew that her life would never be the same again.