Journal of an Escaped Princess.
Day 1
My husband is Gone. Nightmare Moon took him. I watched the terror overtake his body before she locked him in a cage.
My daughter is gone. Nightmare Moon took her. I wanted to save her. I wanted to get to her room, but the black Alicorn was too fast. It was either get caught and tortured, or run and escape.
My empire is gone. Nightmare Moon assumed control. The Crystal Heart is in her possession.
Celestia and Twilight are gone. Nightmare Moon captured them long before she attacked my empire.
My name is Mi Amore Cadenza. I am the only Alicorn left. The only being able to take Nightmare Moon head-on.
I escaped via the train. She never expected the train. I got it going as fast as I could, rocketing down the mountain at speeds that nearly broke the engine.
When Nightmare Moon realized I was on the train, I ditched it in a tunnel and flew south as fast as I could. Never had I flown so fast, so hard, for so long.
I flew over the south desert, over the Great Mountain Barrier of the South. A treacherous mountain range that went for hundreds upon hundreds of miles.
Now I’m alone.
I’m hundreds of miles from Equestria. No home, no ponies, no sentient animals to confide in. I might as well be in the Everfree Forest. The weather isn’t controlled by pegasi. It doesn’t follow patterns.
I just… walk, now. I keep going south. I don’t know how long this range goes for. I just want to be as far from Equestria as possible. I don’t care if I find some civilization that doesn’t even know what ponies are. I just want SOMETHING to help me. Someone to help me defeat Nightmare Moon. I can’t do it alone.
Nightmare Moon isn’t Sombra. She knows strategy. She’s a warrior princess from a millennia ago. As the saying goes, “For if Celestia be our Shield, then Luna is the Sword."
How I’m supposed to fight that, as capable as everypony says I am, I don’t know.
Day 2
I’m scared.
That’s why I'm getting away from Equestria.
I’m scared of Nightmare Moon. I’m scared of being… hurt. I don’t want to go against her just to fail and have her torture me. I can only imagine the practices from millennia ago.
I don’t want to imagine what she’s doing to Twilight and Celestia.
Especially Twilight. She’s so young… Celestia has at least felt pain, from what I know. She knows what It’s like to have a sword lacerate her.
But Twilight doesn’t. It’s funny. Despite the number of villains she’s faced off with, she’s never really felt pain. A few cuts, yes, but never serious pain. She’s never felt a sword lacerate her arm. She’s never felt somepony hit her over and over, harder and harder in every part of her body. Somepony mocking her perfectly, making her think she would never, ever escape. Letting her know that she would forever be a slave… nothing more…
I want to go back. I want to help them. I want to SAVE them. But I just can’t. I can’t do it. I don’t want Nightmare Moon to torture me.
Every time I think about going back for them, I panic. It’s my Aunt, my Niece, My husband, and my own DAUGHTER that are trapped with Nightmare Moon. I should be going back for them. At the very least my daughter.
But I can’t. I’m too weak. Too pathetic. Too scared to fight her.
The worst part is that I mean Mentally. Physically, I am extremely capable. I’m just… I don’t want to be tortured again.
I’m living off of fruits and berries. Drinking from a river I’ve been following. Celestia knows where it came from or where it will go to.
Scratch that. She wouldn’t. Why would she? She never went outside of Equestria.
I wonder why Celestia never went outside of Equestria. I mean, she’s over a thousand years old. Surely she would have taken a few days off. Taken a small platoon and went in some odd direction.
Then again… not much is known about places outside of Equestria. At least, anything past fifty or so miles.
To the North, the mountains continued a ways past YakYakistan before turning into a white desert.
To the East was nothing but ocean.
To the West, um… land. Nopony really explored the West. I think they named part of it Bridlefield.
The South, where I’m going, is just a mountain range. Towering mountains with only small valleys dotted in between, canyons and rivers racing through it all like veins in a hoof.
I don’t like veins. They make me uncomfortable when I see them.
Day 3
I miss the warmth of my husband. I miss getting in bed with him after a long day, letting myself melt into the bedding and basking in the heat he had created under the blankets. I miss the feeling of spooning him, sometimes even nibbling his ear.
I miss spooning him and making him melt into my embrace. I miss the feeling of him fully submitting to me, sometimes purring like a kitten. He was always so adorable…
Now there isn’t any warmth. I don’t have any blankets. No pillows, no bedding, nothing. Piles of leaves are all I have.
I want to hug somepony. Not even that. I just want to hug something warm. Something soft. Something fluffy. The wild animals hate it when I try to hug them. They kick. They squirm. They scratch. They do everything in their power to get away.
I never knew how cold the night could be.
Day 4
I came up with a rhyme about my escape from Nightmare Moon.
“Once a princess commanding a train,
heard the roar of royal disdain.
With a squeak of the funnel, she left it in a tunnel,
and kept flying south until it was safe again.”
Day 5
I had to cannibalize an animal today.
There wasn’t anything edible around. I looked everywhere. There was nothing. I happened upon a pig. I… I had to. I killed it as quickly as I could. Then, I got a fire going, and cooked it.
It tasted… surprisingly good.
Like, really good.
I want more.
Day 6
Pork is my new favorite food.
Day 7
I found the last thing I ever expected to find today.
Train Tracks. Right on the edge of a desert.
They just end at the edge of the mountain range. At a set of buffers. The only thing here is an old platform. It’s seen much better days, then again It’s crudely built and made of wood. Doesn’t even have a building.
Maybe this is a defunct extension of a line?
Whatever it is, I know it isn't Equestrian. It uses the same gauge, yes, but it isn’t Equestrian. It’s from another nation.
Sweet Celestia, It’s from another nation!
Okay. Plan.
1: Pack food and water.
2: Walk down the tracks until I find an active part of the line.
3: Flag down a train and find whoever is in charge of this new nation.
4: Tell them about what is happening, then hopefully persuade them to help me defeat Nightmare Moon.
Day 8
I feel like I’ve made a mistake. I’ve been walking this track for several hours now and there are no towns or buildings in sight. I’ve passed two empty water towers, one of which was toppled on its side.
I’m not going back, though. I’m finding where this track ends no matter what. This is the only way I’ll find civilization.
I’m actually pretty excited. I mean, I’m getting close to being the first pony to visit a nation far beyond Equestria’s borders. Who knows what the residents are! They could be ponies, griffons, dragons, Kirin, anything!
…
I swear, if It’s a society of changelings, I will kick a wall.
Day 9
Two days of walking.
Two straight days of walking.
I’ve run out of food and I’m close to running out of water.
How long is this line?
Day 10
My body doesn’t want me to go on. I’m practically dragging my hooves across the sand.
I need to find something. Anything.
Day 11
I did it. I found more tracks. A pair of two. Bright, shiny, much more up-to-date.
I can’t go on. I have to wait here for a train. A train has to come.
A train has to come.
…
Please come…
Why won’t you come…
Journal of an Escaped Princess.
I woke up to the sight of a dark grey ceiling, laying in a hospital bed with a heavy blanket on me. I looked around the dark room, seeing the shadows dance around the walls and closed window.
I could hear the pitter-patter of ponies walking outside, talking with each other in hushed tones.
"Let's see if she's awake now," a voice said, coming from right outside the door. I stared, squinting my eyes as the doorknob turned, and the door slowly opened, revealing the silhouetted shape of a pony.
The pony's eyes widened. "Oh my god, she's awake... Uh- If you can understand me, can I turn the lights on?"
I stared for a few seconds before quickly shaking my head. "Y-Yeah. You can."
I squinted my eyes as the lights flicked on, getting a good look at the pony.
"Are you doing okay?" another pony asked, stepping next to the first.
"CHANGELING!" I screamed when I realized what it was, blasting the creature in the chest and flinging it back.
"OW!"
The first pony yelped and quickly wrapped his magic around my horn, canceling out any and all magic I had.
"Ow... Ow... Aaaagh that hurt... that REALLY hurt..." the changeling said from outside the door.
"Mind explaining what in blazes that was?" the pony asked, wings extended like he was ready to lunge at me.
"T-That was a... A changeling," I replied.
"Yes. And? What's wrong with him being a changeling?"
"I- Well- Uh-..."
I trailed off. Not just because the thought had just occurred that changelings may have been nice here, but because I had fully registered the full form of the pony.
He was a bright hazelnut yellow, with a silver mane and tail. He had yellow eyes and was just a little bit taller than me. He had a long, pointed horn like Celestia's, and big aerodynamic wings the likes of which I had never seen before.
Oh sweet Celestia...
"You're an Alicorn..."
The Alicorn tilted his head, showing a face of both confusion and annoyance. "Yes? As are you?"
"And... you're... a STALLION!"
"And you're a mare."
"...W-Where am I?"
"The City of Eminence."
"Who are you?"
"Imperator Akidity. Yourself?"
"...Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But everypony calls me Cadance."
"Alright, Princess Cadance," Akidity began, sitting next to my bed. His changeling friend did the same, still rubbing his chest. "It can't be a coincidence that you, another impossible being like myself, show up not long after the moon stops moving. Something that should also be impossible."
"Uh..." I let out, not knowing how to respond.
"What did you do to the moon."
Author's Note
Should I continue this into a full story? Please let me know! I'd love some feedback.
