Dawn's Story

A week ago, I wouldn't have cared about how things turned out, as my world had already fallen apart. Now, here I am, a week later, fighting to save ponies that either forgot about me, or despise me, and all because of one mare. The only mare I called a friend.

It had been about two hours, and we could hear the first signs of fighting in the west. That was our cue. The six of us stood up, and began to make our way into the city. We ducked into every side alley and doorway, trying to stay out of sight.

As we made a right, we came face-to-face with a Changeling patrol. Not knowing what else to do, I kicked one of them in the face, while one of our escorts took the other one, knocking them out.

As we moved up, I noticed the looks of awe I was receiving from the escort. I must have impressed them with my fighting skills.

"Is there a reason you four are staring at me?"

"It's just, we didn't think you'd be able to fight." One of them responded.

"Why? Because I'm a princess?"

"Yes."

That made me feel just great. When you're a princess, you have to get used to having ponies make assumptions about you. I would never fully become accustomed to that fact, but I learned to suppress the fact that it offends me.

As we reached the castle doors, I felt a deep sense of dread. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking into a trap. Unfortunately, we had to press on, so we shoved open the doors, and entered the main hall.

When the doors shut behind us, one of the escorts perked up. Everypony else noticed this, and froze. Quickly, he snapped back to his senses, and ushered us into a hallway. When we asked what was wrong, he stated that we had to get out of the open.

The words had barely left hi mouth, when the room we had just left exploded into a flurry of distinct green lightning bolts: Changeling magic. When the shooting had died down, the room filled with Changelings, trying to find out what they had just killed. What they found instead, was that their prey was trying to escape down a hall.

Knowing that Starlight and I took priority, we were told to run, while the escort held off the attackers as long as they could. If we weren't after Chrysalis, I would have stayed to help. Sadly, that wasn't an option. I followed Starlight down the hall, and up a flight of stairs. She knew where she was going, but I sure didn't.

"Where are we going? I asked.

"If Chrysalis knows we're coming, she'll be waiting for us at the top, on the highest balcony."

"How do you know that?"

"She likes to be in a position of power. That's why her throne room sat at the top of her hive."

"Wouldn't we just be walking into another trap?"

"She may be arrogant, but she's not stupid. She wouldn't pull the same trick twice."

And so we climbed the staircase as high as we could go. But that wasn't the end. We ran down more halls, and into a small, two story library- likely Celestia's personal library- and up a spiral set of stairs. On the second floor of the library, we stepped into a small reading alcove, with an open hatch in the ceiling. This hatch had a drop-down set of stairs, leading to another spiral staircase. Unlike the others, however, this one was very narrow, and very steep. Though I had never seen it before, I knew it must lead to the top of the highest tower in the castle.

"How many stairs are we going to have to climb?" I whined.

"Tired already?" Starlight teased.

"Tired of all these stairs!"

"This is the last set. Can you make it?"

"Of course I can. I just don't want to."

"Well, if we're going to save Equestria, you're going to have to suck it up."

"That was harsh."

"I was a villain! Compared to what I could have said, that was pretty mild."

"Oww! You're hurting my frail princess feelings!" I pretended to be offended.

"At least I didn't assume that you don't know how to fight."

"This is true."

We shared a laugh. Then I took on a more serious tone.

"Hey, I just want you to know that, whatever happens up there, I'm proud to call you my friend."

"Aww, why you gotta' go and kill the mood like that?"

"Sorry, I didn't think-"

"You're fine. I'm glad you've got my flank."

We reached the top. The stairs opened into a small room, with a few books placed on pedestals. These definitely weren't the books you would find in a generic library. They all had special designs on them, and some of the covers even looked to be in different languages. Any language besides Equestrian had died out, and the only place to find them now was in extremely old spell books. The only places with old spell books were the personal libraries of great wizards and magicians, and they usually only had one or two, if you could find any at all. Celestia may have some explaining to do.

As we reached the glass door in the back, and the only door in the room, Starlight motioned for me to stay put.

"Just stay here, in case something goes wrong."

"Why can't I go out there with you?"

"I want to see if I can talk her out of this."

"She didn't listen last time. What do you have that could change her mind?"

"The fact that I don't attack her the moment I walk out there. If she sees that, after everything she's don to me, I still don't try to vaporize her, maybe she'll respect me more."

Chrysalis and respect just didn't go together, but Starlight was bent on this, so I let her try.

"Okay, just be careful. I'll be right here, and if something goes wrong, I'll be there in the time it takes for Chrysalis' heart to beat."

She opened the door, and walked to the railing, where the evil queen sat in wait. From through the crack in the door, I couldn't hear what was being said. The conversation started in a half-civil manner, but quickly escalated. I could hear once the yelling started.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" Chrysalis yelled, a tear rolling down her face. "YOU DESROYED EVERYTHING I HAD!"

"I know! Twilight did the same to me, but she gave me a chance to rebuild! I can do the same for you!"

Chrysalis paused, and considered Starlight's words. She seemed like she was actually going to take the offer. Then, she blew Starlight off the balcony.