Dawn's Story

It had been two months since my coronation as the “Princess of Diversity,” and something needed to change. I thought that being a princess would bring changes, but so far, nothing was very different. Sure, I was now royalty, and ponies viewed me differently as a result, but nothing major had really happened. I had the same home, I walked the same streets, I talked to the same friends. The only big change I really noticed was that Princess Celestia was no longer hanging over my shoulder, watching my every move.

Now, the obvious question would be ‘why is this a bad thing?’ Well, that’s just it: Nopony seemed to see the problem. Nopony except for me. At any given moment, some monster could walk out of the Everfree Forest, and decimate a town. At any given moment, the changelings could attempt to overthrow Equestria, or Discord could break free, causing chaos wherever he went. Whenever they wanted, somepony could just up and betray Equestria.

Granted, none of that had happened in some time, but I didn't like the fact that it could. Somepony had to do something to show Equestria that it wasn't as safe as it was proclaimed to be. The other option was to arm ourselves with the Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria, but we would need six ponies who could connect with them. While Celestia had told me that she had been keeping an eye on some potential candidates, I doubted that they would actually work out.

I decided that I would take matters into my own hands, in order to prove that we had no real way of defending ourselves. I would 'turn evil' and attack Equestria. I was just going to cause a slight ruckus, maybe knock down an abandoned building or two. Then I would wait to see how long it took for somepony to try and stop me. After that I would just act like I lost, only to show that it was all fake, and prove my point. That was the plan, at least. Unfortunately, everypony knows that things never go according to plan, and this was no exception.

Ponyville would be the target of my "attack," since it was a quiet town, where all the citizens thought they were perfectly safe. It was the perfect place for me to make my point, as they had no means to stop something like this. Once everything was in place, I hopped a train to Ponyville, and I was on my way.

Some of the ponies seemed a bit surprised to see me leaving Canterlot by train, and without my escort. One Pegasus even worked up the courage to sit beside me, and ask a few questions.

"Umm, excuse me, Princess Dawn? If you don't mind my asking, what is a princess doing on a train? Don't you normally have carriages to ride in?"

"Well, yes, but I never liked to ride in them. It makes me feel too special. I might be an alicorn, but I don't like giving off the impression that I think I'm better than anypony else."

"What business do you have in Ponyville?"

I was caught a little bit off guard, but I managed to come up with something on the fly.

"I was invited to a party that a friend of mine is hosting, and I managed to fit it into my schedule."

"Oh really?! Me too! Who's you're friend?"

Darn it! I really should have been prepared for follow-up questions.

"I can't tell you that."

"Well, maybe I can tag along, and see if we're going to the same place."

"I'm afraid now isn't a good time. I have to get off here."

"The train doesn't stop for another ten minutes"

"I'm getting off here."

"While the train is still moving?"

"Yup."

And with that, I made my way out the doors at the back of the car, and jumped off. While I still wasn't one-hundred percent accustomed to my wings, I was good enough to catch myself before I hit the ground.

No, I wasn't crazy. I had a reason for bailing from a moving train: I wanted to approach Ponyville from the air. This way, I could get a good view of the town, so I could pick buildings to attack without any casualties. I was prepared to bail from the train. I wasn't prepared, however, to have a follower. The Pegasus from the train had followed me, and was now trailing me.

"What are you doing, kid?" I asked.

"Right now, that doesn't matter. What does is: what are you doing? But wait, you don't have to answer that. I already know, and I want to help."

"You don't know what you're talking about, kid. Besides, even if you did, what could you do to help me?"

"I believe I can answer that without verbally explaining anything. Allow me to demonstrate."

And as she added that last statement, the cyan Pegasus melted away, revealing a changeling. But to make matters worse, this was no ordinary changeling- this was the leader of the changelings, herself!

"Queen Chrysalis?!"

"In the flesh. Why are you so shocked? You should be overjoyed to know that I'll be helping you."

"It's just that, well... how did you know what I was up to?"

"Does that matter right now? We have work to do."

Before I could respond, she flew ahead, and began eyeing up her first targets. Luckily, she couldn't see through my façade, meaning I had the drop on her. Unfortunately, Chrysalis would be about as powerful as me, making her an incredibly tough opponent. I could let her attack, and wear herself down a bit, but that would mean letting her level half of Ponyville, and I would never be forgiven. But what other choices did I have?

So I let her go, and watched in horror as she destroyed an entire home in one blast, only to frown when she discovered that it was empty, and turn to the next one. She went on to decimate ten more, before turning back to me.

"Why aren't you helping me?" She asked, and I could hear suspicion in her voice.

"I don't think I can do it, but I won't stand in your way, either."

"If you're not going to help me, then I will treat you as an enemy. You've already betrayed Equestria, are you willing to lose all of your allies in one day?"

"I guess I am."

"Where will you go? Who will you turn to?"

"I'll go out on my own, if I have to. I've heard that the life of a 'lone wolf' can be quite adventurous."

"You won't last a day on your own. I won't let you."

"You don't have a say in what I do with my life."

"But I do have the power to end it."

"Ha! You don't even have the power to try."

"You've got a lot of nerve, talking to me like that."

"Look who's talking. You just threatened a princess."

"A princess who has no way to back herself up, seeing as though she recently betrayed her country."

"Are you implying that a princess has no way to defend herself?"

"Yes, I am, and I can prove it, too."

Then, she fired at me. I had been anticipating the shot, and easily dodged it, before sending one of my own. She hadn't been quite as prepared, and only narrowly avoided it. Before she had a chance to recover, I let loose another bolt, striking her center mass. It hadn't been very concentrated, and only knocked the wind out of her. However, in a fit of rage, she managed to hit me with a shot that was quite a bit more volatile.

I was sent careening into a building, crashing through the wall. My abrupt entry was met with the screams of several fillies, gathered around a birthday cake. Jeez, talk about party crashing. They calmed down a bit when they figured out who I was, but they were still terrified.

"Uhh, hello. Happy birthday," I squinted to read the name on the cake, "Rarity. Sorry I ruined it for you. Anyways, I have to go. Enjoy the rest of your party."

That moment couldn't have been any more awkward. I quickly made my way back outside, being sure to use the door this time, and took to the skies. As soon as I was above the rooftops, I was almost sent right back down by another blast. Acting fast, a traced the bolt back to it's source, and spotted Chrysalis above the town hall.

"You know, for somepony who's lost everything, you've got a lot of fight left. Just give up already."

"There's still one thing left that I can fight for."

"What's that?"

"Bragging rights."

"That's why you're fighting?! You know, I like you, kid. It's a shame I can't let you live."

"Your pretty lost if you really think that's why I'm fighting. Just because my friends might stop caring about me, doesn't mean I have to give up on them."

"Yeah yeah. Spare me the friendship nonsense. Let's just get back to it."

Without any other warning, she bolted for me, aiming to tackle me. I strafed left, and followed up with another blast of magic, this time being sure to charge it more. As she came to a stop, the bolt made its mark, right on her back. She reeled, but still didn't go down. If I wanted to beat her, I would have to use something more powerful.

I fired a beam, and she caught it midway with one of her own, entering us in a magical power struggle. The stronger or more motivated pony tended to be the winner of these 'magical duels.' The bad news was that it was impossible to tell which one of us that was, beforehand. This was just a shot in the dark, and all I could do was pray to Celestia that it was me.

At first, I was winning, but then Chrysalis pushed back, and almost took the win. I gave it everything I had, but only managed to push the epicenter back to the middle. Sweat ran down my face, as Chrysalis suffered the same fate. We both put in everything, but nothing happened for the longest time. I started to think of the faces of ponies I cared for, which was just enough motivation to push the border back to my opponent. Unable to do anything, her expression of hatred faded to horror, as she began to panic.

The panicking only made matters worse for her, and eventually, she lost entirely. The center ball of light met her horn, and she was blasted backwards. She managed to recover with surprising speed, but she was too smart to come back for more. Queen Chrysalis shot me one last dirty look, before turning to flee. I could have given chase, but we both knew she was beaten. And anyways, I now had new problems.

The Royal Guard had begun to arrive, and I knew that they would be looking for me. I ran deep into the Everfree Forest, not once looking back.

That was the last time almost anypony would see of me for more than a decade. Celestia erased most records of my existence, knowing that it would be better If I was just forgotten. Over time, exactly that happened. Ponies started to forget my name, my face, my status. I became a rumor, then a myth, then nothing, as I faded the farthest corners of everypony's memories.

One good thing did come of my actions, though. Celestia got what I wanted to say, and pressed to get a way to better defend Equestria. The six candidates she looked into wound up being the right ones, which was proven time and again, with Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, and Starlight Glimmer. One of them wound up taking the place I might have filled by becoming a princess.

I was there for all of it, but always as an observer, never taking part. I was afraid to leave the safety of my forest home, for I didn't know how anypony would react to seeing me again, if they even remembered me at all. So I lived in the Everfree Forest as a 'lone wolf,' for more than a decade, while any memory of me faded from ponies minds. I never intended on being found, and I sure didn't think that I would ever leave these woods. I thought wrong.