The Siege of Canterlot

’I did the right thing.’ I thought to myself as I left the main hall. I tried telling myself over and over that what I did was right, that it was for the best. But even though my head thought it was the best, my heart didn’t. With every step I took I felt a small, stinging pain in my chest. Had I made a mistake? Was it too late to turn back? Would Cindy even want to see me now?

Despite the pain I felt leaving Cindy and Stephanie behind, I did what I thought was best. I came here to fight, and if we will die here today then I shall die fighting like the soldier I am. And maybe, just maybe, if we fight hard enough...we will live to see the light of another day.

My short journey through the castle’s interior ended when I spotted the entrance to the throne room down a short hallway. The doors were large, secured by two guards on either side. The doors had already been opened, and I could hear voices coming from inside the room.

I began trotting towards the entrance, briefly looking around the hallway. Multiple windows covered the walls, their stained glass each telling a different story. The rays of the sun valiantly tried to enter the room, only to be transmuted by the prismatic, crystalline glass. And reborn as every colour of the rainbow.

As I approached the throne room, the guards’ eyes were seemingly locked onto me. I was a little unnerved by this, but not enough to slow down. As such, I trotted past the guards and into the throne room.

Inside the room stood a large wooden table in front of the throne. On that same throne sat the Princess of the Sun herself, while multiple ponies in various uniforms and armour stood around the table, talking to the princess and pointing or looking at a map that had been laid on the table.

I gulped, slowly putting one hoof in front of the other. My hooves made next to no noise on the marble floor, yet to me they were matched only by the beating of my heart in decibels. I tried my best not to attract attention and to listen to what the ponies were saying. Unfortunately they were all talking at the same time, trying to outscream each other, so I was unable to pick up anything of note.

Just when I arrived at the table, the princess spotted me. “Who might you be?” She asked me. The room turned silent from one moment to the other as all ponies present turned their heads towards me.

“I...” I said, giving out a fake cough. “I am Brass, Commanding Officer of the 24th Royal Infantry Division.” The ponies at the table turned their heads towards Celestia in expectation of a response.

Celestia herself nodded before letting her head drop, eyeing the table that stood in front of her throne once more. “So, where were we?” She asked.

“Oh.” A pony spoke up, “We were currently discussing our strategy for the defense of the castle’s interior, your highness.”

“Oh, yes. Right.” Celestia replied. “As I was saying before, your strategy is a good one but our forces are too depleted. We do not have enough ponies in order to make your strategy work, I’m afraid.”

“But what about our archers? Surely they could reinforce our troops’ positions.” Said another pony from the other side of the table.

“We only have two archer divisions at our disposal, and they are both largely depleted. Besides, their weapons would be best used on the towers of the castle, where they can fully use their range advantage, not in small, tight corridors.” The Princess countered.

I looked down onto the map, seeing that it was the same map we had used before the battle. There were lines, arrows and circles drawn onto the map, showing the troop movements and position. Not much to my surprise, all our troops had fallen back to the castle or the city center by now. And it didn’t look good for us. The enemy was still largely outnumbering us, and we were getting picked off in the open city.

“Say, Brass...” The Princess adressed me at which I looked up with a surprised look on my face. “...How strong is your unit?”

“I...I have not counted our numbers, your majesty.” I replied nervously.

“I see. Where exactly are your forces then?” She asked again, now eyeing the map.

“Uh...we...they...” I stuttered. “I lost contact to my unit shortly after the battle began.” I answered at last. “Our original orders were to hold the outer walls at all costs. I am...afraid that there is not much left of my unit, if anything at all.” I reported to them, my voice going quiet.

The room was silent as the princess looked back up to me. “Then their sacrifice will not be forgotten.” Celestia replied with a slight nod.

A sudden distant explosion, coupled with the screaming of terrified ponies echoed through the room. Once again, the ponies at the table turned their heads towards the princess.

The princess slowly rose from her throne, now standing at the table at her full height. “Gentlecolts, I would love to continue this meeting, but I think the time for words has passed. It is time we get ready for the coming storm.” I and the other ponies present bowed before the princess, which she acknowledged with a gentle nod. “We shall focus our efforts on defending the castle’s interiors. It might be our only chance to defeat Chrysalis and her army.” Some of the stallions nodded at the proposed strategy. “Try and evacuate the main hall, get the civilians and wounded to safety as quickly as you can. Bring them here, into the throne room. Try and save as many lives as you can.”

The princess took a deep breath before finally resuming. “May fate be on our side. May our hearts burn with passion as we fend off the invaders. May we win this battle to win the war.” I instinctively saluted the princess as she finished her speech, the other ponies following suit shortly after.

“For Equestria!” We shouted in unison.

“For our home.” The Princess replied confidently.

The next ten minutes or so were spent preparing defenses and moving the wounded and civilians to the throne room. I asked one of the officers from the meeting whether I could come with him and support him, considering I did not have an official fighting force anymore. He was all too happy to agree. Any help was needed, after all.

I stood next to him at the entrance to the Main hall as his troops ran back and forth, showing ponies where to go or even carrying some of the wounded that were unable to walk.

“Quick! We don’t have much time! Get them out of here!” The officer shouted at his troops, stomping a hoof on the ground.

I stood next to him, silently watching as ponies walked past.

“Hey, um...” He said, not looking at me. “Sorry about your unit and all that. Must be tough losing such tough ponies like that.” Despite his words, I could hear that he was not truly sorry.

“Don’t be sorry.” I replied. “It was my own leadership that got them killed.”

He slowly turned his head towards me, this time it was me that didn’t bother to look at him. “We all make mistakes. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Too hard on myself?” I asked, turning towards him. “Too hard on myself!? I’ve got my entire unit killed, for Celestia’s sake! My idiocy and failure has cost many brave ponies their lives and now you’re telling me that I am being too hard on myself?”

We both stared at each other for a few moments. I took the opportunity to take a deep breath and calm myself again.

“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“No. No, it’s fine. I should be sorry.” He interrupted me, turning back away from me.

A part of me wanted to continue the discussion, but I figured it was just a useless thing to discuss now anyway. So I didn’t.

For the next minute or two we both continued watching ponies march past us, towards the throne room in order to get to safety. At least we hoped they would be safe there. I tried keeping an eye out for Cindy and Stephanie during all this. But as pony after pony walked past, I was always disappointed. Cindy and Stephanie were nowhere to be seen.

“Sir!” Shouted a soldier that came running towards us. “Sir, the first wave of changelings is almost here!” He reported.

“Then it is time.” Replied the officer. “Gather our forces, defensive positions.”

“Sir, yes Sir!”

As the soldier ran off to gather the troops, I turned back towards the officer. “Didn’t the princess say we don’t have enough soldiers in order to successfully fend off the changelings?” I asked him.

“Yep.” He replied somewhat confidently. “But we’re here to fight, so that’s what I’m gonna do. We don’t really have an alternative anymore. We either hold this or it’s game over.”

“True...” I said with a nod. “So what now?” I asked.

“Now we wait for those bastards to crash the party. As always.”

“Are you sure we have enough troops?” I asked the officer, a loose formation of soldiers had formed in front of us.

He briefly turned towards me and said: “Yes. I am. I am unsure whether we have enough guts though.”

“Attention!” The soldiers all suddenly stood at attention as the officer spoke up in a loud, commanding voice. “Phalanx formation! March!”

The previously loose and unorganized array of soldiers turned into a thick, impenetrable spear phalanx from one moment to the other. The formation spread out from one wall to the other, and was five ranks deep. The first two rows aimed their spears forward, ready to impale any changeling that dared charge at them, while the other rows behind them held their spears slightly above their heads, protecting them from aerial changeling attacks. The good thing about being the defender is that you get to choose where to fight. But even though our formation seemed impenetrable and impossible to defeat, our troops were tired and depleted and the coming fight would be a long one. If we did not hold this position, the changelings would have a clear path to the throne room, and with it the wounded and civilians inside it. We could not let that happen.

“Incoming!” Shouted one of the soldiers at the front, pointing towards the entrance of the castle where the changelings began pouring into the main hall.

“Get ready! Steady! Let none pass!” Shouted the officer at his soldiers again.

I pulled my sword as the changelings were halfway through the main hall, the friendly officer not pulling any sort of weapon, but only continuing to watch from behind his soldiers. I was unsure whether he was feeling protected behind his men or whether he did not have a weapon to use himself.

I turned back towards the front as the screaming began once more. changelings screeched as they lunged towards us while our troops held firm, ready to hold them at whatever cost it may be. At this point, everypony knew that wavering was no option, for there was nowhere to run to any longer.

The first wave hit the spear wall with full force. This time, however, their immense speed and force with which they usually attacked us came to cost them their lives, as they deeply impaled by spears before even reaching us. With the first small wave of changelings either dead or retreating, the troops cheered. In front of them laid changelings, puddles of green blood forming next to their lifeless bodies.

“Quiet!” The officer demanded and the cheering ceased almost immediately.

All eyes forward, we awaited another attack, another, bigger wave of changelings to charge at us relentlessly. We waited for about a minute, and even still nothing happened. The changelings filled the main hall but did not attack. Something was wrong, and I feared to find out what it was.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t they attacking?” I asked, still eyeing the changelings.

“No clue. Perhaps they-” The officer went silent as we saw who had just entered the main hall along with her minions.

Queen Chrysalis, the devil herself had shown up. None of us had expected anything like this. We knew that Chrysalis was leading this attack but not that she would actually come and fight herself.

Unrest spread amongst our ranks as the Queen of changelings slowly made her way towards us. We had to hold, but what were our chances with Chrysalis herself showing up?

“Ponies of Equestria!” Chrysalis spoke up, stopping about 15 meters in front of us. “The battle is over, the city is ours and you have lost! I have come here to honour the sacrifices you have made this day.”

All was silent as she spoke, not a single whisper or cough, only her and a slight breeze passing by.

“Considering the circumstances: Will you agree to surrender?” Chrysalis asked. Her words were rotten and foul.

Chrysalis waited for a response for about 10 seconds, but we all kept quiet, holding our position as was our duty.

“We will never surrender to you, Chrysalis!” We turned our heads around and saw that Princess Celestia, covered in shining, golden armour, now stood amongst us. She stared at Chrysalis, and Chrysalis stared back: The two biggest rivals in Equestria had just met.

“Foolish...” Chrysalis mumbled. “Foolish! You ponies must realize that Canterlot is ours!”

“Canterlot is, and always will be, in Equestrian hooves!” The Princess replied confidently.

The Queen grumbled loudly at the words of her enemy. “You have lost!” She shouted at Celestia personally. “Don’t you ponies ever realize when it is time to throw down your arms and give up?”

“My ponies will fight with heart and soul until the very last, Chrysalis. If you want Canterlot, you will have to take it from us!”

“Then I will rip out your hearts one by one!” Chrysalis shouted with anger, unfolding and flapping her insect-like wings. “Charge!”

“For Equestria!” The Princess shouted as the changelings began charging towards us with all their force. We cheered one last time before they finally made contact with our formation.

The Princess herself then unfolded her big, white wings and catapulted herself into the air, hovering above our formation as she stared down onto Chrysalis, who then also lifted herself off the ground.

“You will pay for your arrogance, Princess! They will all pay for your arrogance!”

Chrysalis’ and Celestia’s horn began to glow in their respective colours as the two monarchs charged towards each other. Their charged horns clashed with great force, discharging and sending a shockwave across the room that caused both them and some of the changelings to be sent flying across the room. Thankfully, due to our already defensive stance, we managed to hold against the shockwave of the blast, unlike some of the changelings.

Still standing behind the actual frontline, me and the other officer watched the two rulers continue to fight as they shrugged off the first blast of energy and began charging towards each other again. This time the princess fired multiple bright yellow beams of energy at Chrysalis, unfortunately missing all of them, however. The Queen of the changelings then lunged herself at Celestia, hitting her with full force as she hit Celestia in her face with one of her hooves. The princess shook her head briefly, recovering from the hit just before Chrysalis launched yet another attack. Once again, Celestia fired off multiple beams of energy in an attempt to hit and and stop Chrysalis, but she failed once more. The princess flapped her wings as hard as she could, attempting to cause Chrysalis to miss her, but it was too late. Chrysalis took dug her crooked horn into Celestia’s left hindleg, causing her to scream out in pain.

The soldiers looked up at the princess as they heard the sudden scream. Due to this brief distraction, a few changelings managed to get past the row of spears, killing one of the ponies in the first row as it dug fangs into his neck. The changeling was killed immediately afterwards, but the changelings had penetrated our line once already. It was only a matter of time now...

Up in the air, the princess still attempted to keep her altitude, even though Chrysalis’ horn had burrowed itself through her leg and was now sticking out the other side. In a desperate attempt to loose Chrysalis, Celestia fired yet another beam at her, missing yet again and striking a group of changelings down on the ground.

“Your reign is over, Princess! Equestria shall be ruled by a new Queen!” Maniacal laughter completed Chrysalis’ speech. The changeling Queen slowly pulled her horn out of Celestia’s leg, causing the princess much pain as she once again screamed. Chrysalis held onto Celestia’s leg with a single hoof, and her horn began to light up and glow once again, this time much, much brighter than before, however.

The next thing I saw was a massive explosion. Yet another shockwave erupted, this time sending not only the changelings but also us ponies falling to the ground. And, as I laid on the ground, I saw the princess flying past me, a thick smoke trail following her as she hit the ground hard only a moment later. I stood up and ran towards her, noticing the hole in her hindleg that was beginning to cover her entire leg in blood and a large pool of blood on her belly. I bent over to her mouth, trying to check if she was still breathing. After about two seconds I finally heard her breath in and out again, shortly before her eyes opened.

“Princess? Princess, are you alright?” I asked her, still kneeling by her side.

“What h- argh!” The princess screamed as she attempted to move her legs. “What happened?”

“I don’t think we have time to explain.” I replied, hearing yet another explosion behind me.

I turned my head to where the frontline was and saw that over half of our force had vanished, completely eradicated by the explosion. Only a second later, another explosion hit the frontline, killing and completely destroying yet another six ponies. Up in the sky, Chrysalis laughed manically, her changelings now overrunning the few ponies left alive to stop them.

“Brass! We can’t hold them!” Shouted the officer. “We need to-” He was cut short as a two changelings jumped on top of him, knocking him to the ground. I watched with wide eyes as he struggled to keep the beasts from biting him.

“Run! Run! Save yourself!” Were his last words before the changelings finally overwhelmed him, digging their poisoned fangs into both his neck and chest.

Most of the soldiers that were still alive fled from the frontline, running past me and throwing down their spears in order to escape the changeling horde.

I watched as the changelings, having broken through our defenses, now stopped dead in their tracks. It was a more than spooky scenario: Me, resting next to Princess Celestia who was badly injured and only a few meters away from me was a raging horde of changelings.

“At long last...” Chrysalis’ voice echoed through the now silent hallway that me and Celestia rested in. “I, Queen Chrysalis, have achieved victory over the eternal enemy that is Equestria!” Chrysalis said out loud as she landed in front of the changelings, only about five meters away from me and Celestia.

“Victory...at last.” Chrysalis said quietly before beginning to laugh again, the changelings behind her joining in. I ears began to ring as this...this creepy choir of changeling laughs echoed through the hallway.

Suddenly, I felt Celestia pulling on my right foreleg. I turned my head towards her and bent towards her where Celestia slightly lifted her head and whispered: “Go. Save yourself. This...this is my battle, not yours.” Her voice was weak, her body defeated and her army broken. But even now, in such times, her will was standing strong.

I gulped and nodded before rising from my knees. I shot a quick glance at Chrysalis and the changelings who were still laughing and enjoying their victory, before I turned tail at last...and ran. I fled the battle to save my own life. This time not to betray my own unit, but to leave behind the Princess of the Sun herself. I ran as fast as I could, muting all sounds around me in order to not hear whatever was happening behind me, whatever happened to the Princess...

I quickly arrived at the doors of the throne room, but found them locked shut in front of me. I was too late.

I locked around and spotted a small wooden door not far from the throne room. I made my way towards it, relieved that it wasn’t locked. The door opened with a slight creak, revealing a small room filled with scrolls. At the end of the circular shaped room stood a chair and a table, together with a feather, a glass of ink and an empty scroll. Multiple candles shrouded the room in a dim light. A light that, for some reason, seemed to invite me, to demand my presence.

I stood in the order and noticed my ears flinch, hearing the distant sound of changelings approaching. I took a deep, calm breath and stepped inside the room, shutting the door and locking it with the key that was stuck inside the lock.

That is my story. That is the story of not just me, but all the brave and kind-hearted ponies that I had the honour to encounter in my life.

I now stand here, inside this room and wonder what I should do. I wonder what I could do. I stand in a room filled with scrolls, candles and...a single chair and table and I ask myself: Why am I here?

But that doesn’t matter at all. Not anymore.

I can now hear the changelings knocking against the door violently. It won’t be long until they are able to break through.

No, I know what I must do. I must write one last letter. A letter that will never be found, never be read.

A letter forever lost to time.