Journal Entry Number ~~23~~ ~~25~~ 36
I'm running out of paper so I have had to repurpose some of the earlier pages. I don't know if anypony will ever see this, but if you are reading this I am sorry, I am so sorry.
I didn't think Celestia would ever do something like this, I never thought I would do something like this..
It all started with the Griffons. The word came from the border between Griffonia and Equestria, a small legion of Griffons had attacked, only two of the border patrol were left alive. As messengers.
It all seemed to go downhill from there but really it went down with Luna. She went to the peace talks. Land they said, it was over land. But they lied. Luna never returned from these so called peace talks. It was then that the war really started. I was to gather with the Council of Friendship and the zebra Shaman Zecora to find a way to use the Everfree to our advantage.
Zecora warned me it was not a path I wanted to take, but I believed in Celestia and her words. It took months for that project to come to any use. But my world ended well before that happened. My world ended with Rainbow Dash. Commander Rainbow Dash, struck down while aiding a captured group of Weather Ponies from Cloudsdale. They strung her body up with the others of her unit along the boarder as some sort of boast. As if to say "Not even Equestria's BEST flyer can outmatch us!"
Everything changed then, everything. Applejack and over half of the Apple Clan would be strapped in armor by the end of that year. Fluttershy vanished into the Everfree, we never found a trace of her. It was theorized she went in to help Zecora and was either ambushed by Changelings hiding out in the forest or one of the many beasts managed to finally get her. Rarity learned to work with metals and gemstones. She made my own armor. It was beautiful and deadly. And Pinkie Pie....Pinkie Pie never smiled after we got word of Dash. She never threw another party. She took up work as a Runner for the Military. Delivering some rather tasty battle rations to the front lines.
I watched as my friends and Equestia changed. New words made their way into the common topics of the day. Casualties,rations,famine,industry. Industry was a big word. All at once factories to cater to the war effort seemed to spring up. In the place of rolling orchards and green valleys we now had towers of metal and smoke in place of white puffy clouds.
I was not unchanged myself, you have to understand that battle does things to ponies. Where I once would have coward and sobbed at the very idea of killing, I had several hundred of those very kills under my horn three years in. But as I mentioned before there were also Changelings around, Chrysalis wasted no time in striking up a bargain with the Griffons if it meant a shot at the ponies who had banished her to the Badlands.
I and an inventor known as Gear Time managed to finally come up with portable scanners to check for bugs in disguise. But that was at the cost of far to many lives. All of it was really.
This was the Equestria that everything happened in, this Equestria did not run on Friendship and Peace any longer. We ran on blood, war, and industry.
Then Project Everfree came to life. The Changelings never stood a chance in the face of the beasts of Everfree. All of the things contained within now answered to us, to me. I took on Chrysalis personally. There are things that can never be forgiven. Taking the life of my niece and brother chief among them. it was what she said to me that...changed everything all over again. Two words "Well done." Well done, like this was something I should be proud of, as though I should have been proud to kill, and to render things into ruin!
I couldn't do it anymore. I just couldn't. It had been four long years of war and I was tired. I begged Celestia to try for a real truce. She would hear none of it. If the war had changed me, what it made my beloved teacher into was far worse. We were not meant to be this, to be so twisted.
That is why I have done this, so that you and all those after you can have a chance to find Harmony once again. Please take it. Please do not waste it as we have. I don't know if you will be a pony, or perhaps a zebra, or griffon. I do not know how this day will be remembered. I do not know what you think of me, or Celestia. But know that I am your friend, though I do not know you, though I will never hug you, or fly with you, know that I love you. I love you and you are my friend.
Please do not repeat our mistakes.
- Princess Twilight Sparkle
Twilight Sparkle sealed the scroll and placed it upon the Solar Throne. Behind her she heard the faint breaths of Celestia,unconsious and drained of most of her magic. Twilight walked to her, nuzzling Celesta's muzzle with her own, "I'm so sorry Princess but this is the way things have to be." With that Twilight fires up her horn and the two of them vanish from the Throne Room for the last time.
Somewhere deep in the Everfree a zebra leads ponies through the thick brush, she speaks in calming ryhmes, urging them towards the sounds of construction.
The sounds come from the newly made city of Evenfall. The old castle and the area around it cleared and ripe for rebuilding broken lives.
Helping with the building efforst are three mares, one yellow, one orange, and one white.
"Looks like Zecora's brought more ponies in,girls!" says the yellow one, the other two turn to look at where she points her hoof.
"Well it'll be more hooves helpin at least, my wings are killing me!" chimes in the orange one.
"Aw it's not that bad, I mean at least we're doing some good, right?", the white one asks, he voice chimes like a bell.
The former Cutie Mark Crusaders trot up to the new group, they are the official "Welcome to Evenfall!" committee,voted in by three votes that were totally not their own, not even a little, they swear.
"Hey ya'll!" Applebloom greets the new comers, she can see they all look pretty rough," Okay now I know you all probly want some sleep but first lemme point out some places to ya!" she says as loud as she can to reach the whole group. She moves a hoof over to the right,"Now over here we got the bakery, it's the one with the three balloons over it, the smithy with the diamond mark, and the apa-urgh a-poth-e-car-y!, with the cauldron out front, got it?!" she asks with a big smile, the ponies nod at her. She nods back and sweeps her hoof to the left,"Now over yonder we have thre green houses with the apples over em, and last but not least the animal center with the butterflies!".
Sweetie comes to stand beside her, "Now everypony we have some temporary homes for you all but you will have to work on the yourselves, or hire some ponies working on construction to help you out, okay? Follow me to your homes!" she motions for them to follow after her speech, past the shops to an area of crudely made homes.
"Uhm miss? I'm sorry but what is that building over there?" a stallion speaks up along their walk to ask. Sweetie turns to look where his hoof is pointed, and smiles, "Oh that? That will be the school when it's done! The rainbow building is for flight lessions, the purple one for magic, and the yellow and orange one for ponies to learn how to use the green houses. We don't have enough foals to open it yet but just you wait, it's going to be great!" she says making gestures towards each building with enthusiasm. The ponies seem to perk up as they continue to walk, perhaps the future is brighter than they first thought.
Author's Note
Okay so here it is, my first published story! Yay
I welcome all critique but please be constructive, I can not know how to grow if no one tells me where I need it! I hope you enjoyed the story to some extent anyway though.
