Chapter 01 : The Ponyville massacre

The throne room was lit red by the Twilight sky. What used to be a grand, welcoming room for the citizens to meet their Princesses became a symbol of fear and dread. No one was invited into the throne room for a nice conversation, in fact, no one ever really was invited into the throne room.

The reigning Alicorn was gracefully sitting, her stare cold and stern, just as her stance. She watched the large doors in front of her guarded by two armed soldiers, holding their swords tight in their hooves. The doors opened with a loud noise, and came into the room three ponies. Two of them were guards, dragging a minty green unicorn across the floor. The mare was emaciated, her mane tangled and dirty, and her skin missing fur in some places showed old wounds that had healed into grotesque bulging pink scars. When the guards approached the Alicorn, they threw the unicorn on the ground, weapons drawn near her if she dared tried to escape. Seemingly exhausted, the unicorn looked up at the princess with eyes full of hurt and fear. She shivered as the princess looked back at her.

"Lyra Heartstrings," said Twilight, her voice cold as ice. "A month ago, you were caught communicating with the Crystal Empire, precisely, sending letters to the Fallen One, the former Princess Celestia. You ought to know that partaking in conversations, even by writing, with the enemy, is strictly forbidden, as we are actively in war with the Fallen One and the Crystal Empire. What do you have to say about those accusations ?"

"They're true," admitted Lyra with a pained voice. "Princess, I-"

One of the guards smacked the unicorn on the head, reprimanding the mare for saying the Princess' title without being invited to.

"In those letters," continued Twilight, "You shared information with the enemy, sensible information, that you obtained in a way that is still unknown to us. You have spent a month in a cell while we tried to get the truth out of you, but you refuse to cooperate. Because I am concerned about our citizen's safety should you not tell us who gave you the information, I have decided to give you one last chance. So tell me, Lyra." Twilight got up, and slowly walked to the unicorn, who was shaking and quietly sobbing. Twilight held her face towards her with one hoof, and stared with a deadly glare into her eyes. "Who gave you the information ?"

Lyra opened her mouth, but words wouldn't come out. Her voice was tied in her throat, tears drowning her vocals. Twilight looked disappointed, and she let out a sigh.
"I have no consideration for traitors like you. You have chosen your fate."

Twilight's horn faintly glowed, and Lyra's head exploded into a mush of brain and blood, scattering the floor with the unicorn's remains. Without even looking at the now lifeless body of the pony she had just killed, Twilight walked to her throne and sat down.
"Clean up this mess."

***

The escape of Ponyville. Six years earlier, Celestia had fled Canterlot to find the Elements of Harmony, hoping to bring Twilight Sparkle back to sanity. She knew she had little time, but didn't realize that Twilight was already on her trail, leading to Ponyville.

***

Ponyville was in a panicked frenzy, citizens running around all over the town, trying to make sense of what they saw and what it meant. They had all seen their Princesses, Celestia and Twilight, battling in the firmament, and the sky now dyed hues of red and purple wasn't reassuring. The Elements of Harmony had gathered on the plaza, trying to comfort and dispel the citizen's fear, but they themselves were unnerved. Their anxiety rose up as Celestia landed in Ponyville in a hurry, her feathers bloody and her body trembling and weak. As she grasped for air, the citizens saw their princess, and in a rush, surrounded her, asking her questions, calling out for her. Applejack ran through the crowd and approached the Princess with frowned eyebrows and a look of worry.

"Princess," she said. "What's happenin' ?"

"Applejack, we need to leave," responded Celestia in a hurried, terrified voice. "Are the other elements here with you ?"

"Yes."

"Good, let's..."

Celestia was interrupted by a scream. She turned back ; Rarity had just been grabbed by a soldier, and she was being taken away, kicking and protesting. More than a dozen other armed soldiers started to appear in the city. Applejack started to run after her friend, but was stopped by Celestia's hoof on her back ; the Alicorn shaked her head. Too dangerous. Celestia had no strength left, there was no time for a confrontation. They had to leave.

"Let's go," shouted Celestia at the Elements.

"But we can't leave the citizens !" protested Rainbow Dash. "More soldiers are coming, and they took Rarity ! We can't leave Twilight ! What happened ?"

"Twilight is the one who did this to me," admitted Celestia, ashamed. "She is the one who sent guards. We have to leave, if we don't want to end up dead."

Applejack felt her stomach drop. What was she to do ? She couldn't leave her family there, but if Twilight managed to hurt Celestia this badly, what more harm could she do ? Applejack swallowed, and then ran. She ran towards Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and grabbed them, running back to Celestia. Rainbow Dash protested, but she didn't move. She was staying.

"I'll carry you and Pinkie Pie," said Celestia. "Everypony ! The city is soon going to be invaded. For the pegasus who can, carry the other. We are leaving now ! Follow me !"

Screams and shouts could be heard as, in a cacophony, the citizens tried to run away. Soldiers grabbed them, pinned them to the ground, knocked them out, anything they could do to prevent them from leaving. A pony that tried too hard to escape from a guard saw his throat get slit, gushing blood on the floor. Applejack shouted for her sister, but the crowd was too dense. She pushed ponies out of her way, trying to see where Applebloom had gone. Finally, she saw her, terrified and standing still, getting approached by a guard who could only have hostile intentions towards her. In a battle cry, Applejack charged the armed stallion and sent her hooves towards his face, tackling him to the ground. She grabbed Applebloom and ran back to the plaza.

Ponies were already escaping with Celestia. Applejack saw Rainbow leaving with a soldier, her head low. They crossed eyes, and at this exact moment, they knew that things had forever changed between them, between everyone. Sides had been taken already. Fluttershy took Applebloom on her back, and not without difficulty, flown after the other pegasi escaping. Applejack followed on the ground, running as fast as she could, trying no to look behind her. But it was too hard. She had to see it, because maybe it was the last time she'd ever see Ponyville again.

The city looked cold and desperate. Blood had spurted on the ground and the walls of the houses. From afar, she could see corpses, ponies she knew that would now never breathe again. Applejack swallowed her tears, and turned her head away, hiding her teary eyes behing her cowpony hat. She prayed that her brother had managed to escape too.

***

Celestia and those who had managed to follow her fled to the Crystal Empire. They travelled non stop for days and days on end, desperately trying to move faster than the soldiers tailing them. The Empire was outside of Twilight's juridiction, and Celestia had already explained the situation to Cadance by sending her a scout. She knew they would be safe there, at least for a while.

Shining Armor was devastated when he heard the news. He could not believe it, he tried not to. How could his sweet sister do this ? How could she turn this mad ? To try not to think about it too much, Shining threw all of his energy and strength into the training of the Crystal ponies and the Ponyvilles refugees. A war was coming, and they had to be ready. The Empire would stand by Celestia, and help her regain her crown and defeat the evil that had become Twilight.

For the first three years, the ponies trained to become soldiers, and Celestia and Cadance started to organize strategic plans and missions. Celestia had already decided that the Ponyville refugees would be her special squad, that would accompany her when she was to return to Equestria. After all, they had been the most affected by the war, most of them having lost loved ones, some even watching them die, so they were the most loyal to Celestia. But then, something terrible, that no one could see coming, was invented by Twilight Sparkle, that hadn't stayed inactive during three years. Firearms.

Inspired by the blasts of magic unicorns could make, Twilight Sparkle had managed to recreate them, and put them inside a weapon, that she hoped would help her win the coming war. Of course, Cadance and Celestia soon managed to produce their own, but they knew that those new weapons meant that the bloodshed would only worsen. Equestria had apparently become a military regime, Twilight Sparkle rulling with an iron fist on the inhabitants. Raids were common in cities, to find "traitors", those who communicated with the Empire for information. Ponies lived in fear of their new leader. And the firearms would only worsen the fear.

The last three years, Celestia had sent spies all over Equestria, and squads on missions of sabotage and guerilla warfare. But things had accelerated the last year ; the first army platoons had been sent into the country. Staying hidden within the Crystal mountains, the Crystal and Celestial army had attacked and seized Manehattan, a strategic spot for them, as it was also a port. The city had been taken and was under the Crystal's control. Celestia and Cadance had now moved their main outpost there instead of the Empire. They were now in Equestria, and they were ready to take it back.

It was night. Of course, there was no moon to shine in the sky anymore, but the ponies had established a night and day cycle depending on the hours. And it was quiet, at night, in the Manehattan outpost. The platoons were mostly sleeping, and the ones awake tried to. At the edge of the outpost, on top of a building, watching the horizon with binoculars, was an orange pony. Her eyes were bleak, and her cheeks hollowed out by the years and the tears. She sighed. Another pony walked towards her, a unicorn, grey with a white mane.

"AJ," said the unicorn, putting a hoof on her tense shoulder. "You should take a break. Nopony's going to attack the outpost."

"We can never know with these damn dusk unicorns," cursed Applejack. "They're only waitin' for an opportunity."

"It's the six year anniversary of the Ponyville massacre. No one's going to attack. Everyone, even the dusk unicorns, are grieving this day."

"They shoulda thought about that before murderin' the whole town."

The unicorn sat besides AJ, knowing there was no need to argue. The anniversary was always a rough day, and the pony didn't want to add to Applejack's sadness. He was there when the massacre happened, he had fled with Celestia that day too. His name was Snow Trail. Snow remembered this day way too well. Everything had happened so fast, and the events had shocked all of Equestria. Celestia had managed to flee with half of Ponyville, and the other half was massacred. All of them. Twilight didn't want to leave any traitors there, and she wanted to send a message. This is what would happen if you turned against the new Princess.

"Have there been any news of Lyra ?" asked Snow.

"Not since a month," replied AJ with a somber voice. "Can't bring myself to tell Bon' that Lyra's gone. She was crushed when they didn't manage to escape together. Those letter were precious to her, an' her info, precious to us."

"If Lyra was so precious to us, why didn't Princess Celestia send the Lunar Agents to try and recover her ?"

AJ scoffed, and mockingly glared at Snow. Of course, he was only a youngster, younger than her by a few years. He had proven himself quite useful on the battlefield with his talents in magic, but he was still new to the ways of war.

"There are far too few Lunar Agents to risk losing them all tryin' to recover a single pony. An' too involved to risk havin' Twilight get her hooves on one."

When he fled Ponyville, Snow Trail had never imagined getting himself involved in the war. He never thought himself as a soldier. But when Celestia created the Lunar Agents, whose mission was to go as undercover spies, or complete dangerous missions in the heart of Equestria, like assassinations or sabotage, Snow knew he wanted to help the rightful leader retake her place, he knew he wanted to join them. But they were elite troops, and while his magic was useful, and powerful, it wasn't discreet enough, and Snow was... too traditional of a unicorn to join the ranks of the Agents. So, he enlisted in the regular, Celestial Army, and through his successes on the field, had managed to become Applejack's second in hand in her platoon.

"Come on," insisted Snow. "Let's go take a break. I'll ask Breeze to replace us."

AJ wanted to stay at her post, but her body felt the tiredness of the war more than her mind. Reluctantly, she agreed and got up, groaning when she felt her bones crack. Coming down from the building, Applejack and Snow walked through the camp. The ponies awake were quietly drinking to ease their nerves or playing cards, trying to fill their mind with something else than fear and violence. Snow greeted each and every one of them, but few responded, most of them averting their gaze, for one reason only : Applejack.

The Ponyville massacre had been an event so awful, so traumatizing, it had changed the heart of many ponies to stone. AJ was one of them. While she had managed to rescue her little sister, she saw her farm bursting in flames, the trees burning and their smoke filling the red sky with dust and ash, and she failed to save Granny. She failed to save her brother. She failed. Only grief and anger seemed to fill AJ's heart now, her features hardened by years of violence, her body brandished with old and fresh scars, streaking her fur. Her appearance was almost as monstruous as her actions on the battlefield ; while most ponies were now used to using firearms, Applejack was sticking to what she knew best. Raw, unfiltered violence, through the might of her hooves and teeth, slamming herself right onto her opponents, tearing their flesh away, tasting the blood in her mouth as she ripped their faces apart. Oh yes, AJ had become a monster, but a very useful monster to the Celestial Army, so the Princess turned a blind eye to it. But the soldiers didn't, and most recoiled in fear when they saw the former cowpony turned deadly weapon.

But Snow wasn't afraid, and the rest of AJ's platoon either. She was their chief, and they trusted her with their lives. Their tent was settled near the port, not too far away from the Princess's very protected camp. AJ had been given the opportunity to stay there, with the Princess and Fluttershy, but she felt more at ease with her fellow soldiers. The only ones who could understand her.

"We're back," said Snow, entering the tent with AJ.
Inside were four other ponies, two of them sleeping on the floor, close to each other to keep themselves warm. They were Applejack's elite, and what Snow considered his friends. Soundly sleeping were Derpy and Bon Bon, two ponies also from Ponyville, that Applejack had known before the Fall, but they didn't like to talk about the old days. Brought too many unpleasant feelings of regret, and nostalgia. Regret could kill you in the battlefield.

"I guess it's my turn then," said a light pink pegasus in a yawn. "See you all later."

"See you, Breeze."

Breeze was a gracile, beautiful pony, the kind you wouldn't expect to see on the battlefield, just as you wouldn't expect to see Derpy Hooves in a battle, though for different reasons. But Breeze hid her true nature pretty well ; behind those big and gentle eyes slept an expert in flying combat, her skills in hoof-to-hoof pegasus fight having even been rumored to surpass those of the Wings of Dusk, the tyrant's pegasi army. Breeze humbly denied those claims, even refusing a spot in Celestia's special air squad, the true reason for this refusal being her affection for her squad mates.

"Breeze," sternly said AJ, sitting on a run down matress. "Be careful out there, an' look out for any suspicious thing, anythin'."

"Ugh, nothing's gonna happen," replied the last soldier in the room while Breeze left. He was a jet black earth pony sporting a messy, spiked mane, also black. "It's the anniversary. They too, have some respect. You're paranoid as always."

"War does that to you," harshly replied Snow, clearly annoyed by his companion. "Don't start tonight."

"I'm just sayin'," continued the pony, shrugging. "They'd be real assholes to attack us tonight."

"Yeah, well they're not too known for being the kindest," frowned Snow.

Applejack ignored the feud between the two, and laid down. Snow and Deep were always going at it, their distint personnalities clashing with the other since what seemed like forever. The calm, serious Snow didn't enjoy Deep's rude bluntness, and Deep thought Snow was an uninteresting bore, yet on the battlefield, those two complemented the other with a duality as impressive as deadly. Applejack picked her squad well. Those snarky remarks meant nothing to her. AJ glared at Bon Bon, still soundly sleeping.

"She hasn't slept this well in a while," observed Snow. "Maybe we shouldn't tell her just yet about Lyra..."

"I owe it to her," cut Applejack. "I'll inform her when she wakes up. Now, bring me a drink, will ya ?"

"You should sleep", sighed Snow, still fetching his chief a beer that she quickly took away from him.

"Nah, drinking is better," claimed Deep, opening a beer for himself. "Want one ?"

"No thanks."

"Your loss."

Snow sat on the cold ground. They could've slept in the buildings, but Applejack insisted on staying inside a tent. She always said it was for practicality, but everyone knew it was because she only felt safe in one now, being so used to it. And it was quieter ; everything resonated in the big halls of the now empty, tall buildings of the city. And in between the sounds of shots fired at her and fire burning the land, AJ appreciated some deserved quietness. Applejack quickly finished her beer, smashing her can with her hoof.

"Think she's grievin' too ? That damned mad princess ?" blurted out AJ.

"Well, she was the one who ordered the massacre," simply replied Deep. "And I think her ass is sitting too comfortably on the throne to give a damn."

"Have some respect," groaned Snow. "You weren't there, at the massacre. You don't know what it was like. You don't get to make assumptions."

"You know i'm right. Look, I don't know what she was like before, your princess, but she's completely insane, and has been ever since she decided to burn your precious town. There's no need to care for her feelings."

"Yeah, you're right," said Applejack in a hoarse voice. "I don't care anyways. I don't know her anymore. Hell, it feels like I never knew her. I would've been better off never knowin' that monster." she loudly yawned. "Yup, everyone just would've been better off..."

AJ dozed off to sleep, her tiredness finally catching up with her, helped by the alcohol that had helped soothe her nerves. Lightly snoring, she rolled of to the side. Deep took a sip of his beer, and pulled out a deck of cards, handing them to Snow.

"Up for a game ?"

Snow nodded no, settling himself down in a more comfortable position.

"We have a long day tomorrow. Let's just sleep."

Today was the reminiscing of the Ponyville massacre, the event that had shaped Equestria into what it now was. But tomorrow... Tomorrow, they would march onto Twilight's army.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this chapter. As always ; english isn't my first language, so do tell me if there are any mistakes I can fix, i'll gladly take any adive. Hope you enjoyed your read !