A Mercenary's Ending

Rainbow Dash felt sore. She hadn’t had a good morning workout in a long time, having been neglectful of her flying abilities and skills for two years. She landed in front of Twilight’s lighthouse in the early hours of the morning, cracking her neck and stretching her wings, which also popped. Sweat poured down her brow as she walked towards the door that led to Twilight’s new house. Nearby, she saw that Fluttershy was awake early as well, a watering can in her wings as she tended to some of the half dead plants around Twilight’s house. “Hey, Shy,” Rainbow greeted her oldest friend with a half-hearted and tired smile.

Fluttershy looked up and smiled back. “Good morning,” she said before walking up and pointing at her watering can, then back at Rainbow. “Want something to cool you off?”

Rainbow nodded and lowered her head. She felt the cool water from the can pour over her. It felt amazing, but she also knew a shower would too. “Thanks,” she said. As she shook off the excess water, she asked, “Is Twilight still sleeping?”

Fluttershy nodded as she went back to watering the plants. “She was up more than half the night,” she said, “so try not to wake her.”

“I won’t,” Rainbow said as she slowly walked into the house where she, Pinkie and Fluttershy were all staying. Rarity and Applejack were with their own families and would be stopping by around eight in the morning, packed and ready for a long journey. She looked into the living room and saw that, just like before, Twilight was lying on the couch surrounded by books and papers. She looked worried even in sleep.

Rainbow quickly and quietly flew upstairs to take a shower. The water washed away all of the sweat and dirt she’d gotten from her morning fly. It also soothed some of her aches, but not all of them. She finished up, dried, then quietly flew downstairs because she could smell the unmistakable scent of breakfast. Opening the kitchen door, she saw Pinkie at the stove, making pancakes and hay bacon on the stove. There were freshly cut fruits on the table, such as oranges, apples, and bananas. There was also a platter of freshly made scrambled eggs and another platter of toast along with a stick of room temperature butter. She grabbed half of a banana, some scrambled eggs, and one slice of toast

The two didn’t speak as one ate and the other simply made breakfast. Soon, they heard the noise of somepony jumping up in the next room, a bang, a yelp of pain, and then Twilight coming in, rubbing her head and moaning. Rainbow watched her come in and sit at the table. “Ow…” she groaned.

“You okay there?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight frowned. “I got up too fast and slipped. I hit my head on the table.”

Pinkie was immediately next to her with a blue cold compress pack from the freezer. “Here you are,” she said softly.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight said as she pressed it to her head.

Rainbow gave her a small smile. “Some wake up call, huh?” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work. Twilight could only nod as she picked up a piece of toast with her magic and ate it absently. “Mmhmm,” was all she said, crumbs on her lips and on the table in front of her.

Fluttershy came in at that point and noticed Twilight had a few stray hairs in her mane. She quickly fixed it, then said, “I hope you didn’t overdo it again.”

Twilight gave a small half-smile. “I tried, but with the entirety of Equestria on the line, it’s hard not to-” she yawned and covered her mouth with her hoof, “-hard not to go overboard.” She stretched and rolled her neck. “Nnng, I do have a sore neck.”

“I got it,” Rainbow said, quickly walking over to her. She grabbed the sides of her head then moved her neck quickly from side to side. There was an audible crack, a yelp from Twilight, then a sigh of relief. “There we go,” she said before going back to her breakfast.

Twilight rubbed her neck and stretched again. “Wow, that’s amazing, Rainbow. Where’d you learn that?”

Rainbow’s ears involuntarily flattened, but she answered. “I learned it from one of the Wonderbolts when I was in the Reserves.”

Twilight’s ears flattened as well. “I-I’m sorry,” Twilight stammered out, “I-I didn’t mean to-”

“Save it, Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted her, raising a hoof. “It’s my own damn fault for what happened.”

The mood in the room was tense as Twilight simply sat there, looking at her half eaten toast while Rainbow ate. Finally, the alicorn grabbed some scrambled eggs and began eating again. Pinkie brought the pancakes and hay bacon to the table after she’d finished. She sat next to Rainbow and grabbed two pancakes along with some hay bacon. Fluttershy sat close to Twilight, eating an orange thoughtfully.

“So…” Pinkie finally began, “do you have any idea what we do next? Discord did seem to think we should be involved.”

Twilight swallowed her food with some orange juice and exhaled slowly. “I think…we should go to where the spell said we should go,” she said.

“Huh?” Rainbow put down her plate and gave Twilight a deadpan stare. “Why? Aren’t some of the Princess’ guards going there?”

“Yes, but they don’t know what we know,” Twilight explained. “They might see that locket and whatever else Discord left for Revan and just ignore them as something unimportant.”

“Good point,” Rainbow admitted.

“How long do you think it’ll take to get there?” Fluttershy asked.

“Maybe…a few days?” Twilight said uncertainly. “That vision we saw showed that the castle ruins were southeast and past the gryphon lands. We may have to walk or fly a lot of the way.”

“Do you still have your balloon?” Pinkie asked.

“I haven’t checked it to see if it’s in flying condition in months,” Twilight said, “but I do have it. I’ll have a look later today.”

Rainbow nodded. “I’ll help,” she said.

“Thanks, Dash,” Twilight replied.

Nopony said much else during that breakfast. Not even when Applejack and Rarity joined them did anypony talk save for some greetings. The nurse came in at one point, greeted them all kindly, spoke briefly to Twilight about something, then gave her some medication which Twilight took without question. When asked, she said they were anxiety and depression medication.

That had shocked the group, and there was a brief Q&A session where they learned just how bad Twilight’s first year in that mental hospital had really been. When anypony mentioned mental hospitals, they automatically thought of padded walls, nice doctors talking to you in foalvoice, peaceful gardens where there were meditation spots to help calm the mind, and such. However, from Twilight mentioned her time there, she spoke of it more like a horror story.

The doctors and nurses were less pleasant than she was expecting, with some exceptions. The food was bland and tasteless, and while the rooms were padded, they were of a harder padding than pillows. She was on medications some of the time, mostly while the doctors and nurses tried to find a mix that would help the deranged and hallucinating alicorn.

She was later told that it was a miracle that she came back to reality so quickly, and even more so that she was released. Apparently, Princess Celestia had learned of the poor conditions at the hospital and had not only gotten a mostly functional Twilight out of there, but had diverted more funding towards mental institutions to help alleviate their own struggles.

This had left a pall on the group, having learned just how badly things had gotten for one of their own. Nobody spoke after that until Twilight downed the last of her orange juice and announced that she would be getting out the balloon from storage. Rainbow immediately joined her, as had Applejack. Rarity had left to go bring her things for an extended journey while Pinkie and Fluttershy stayed behind to tidy up breakfast and to clean the lighthouse. Marble hadn’t been there, instead having stayed up at the Apple’s new place tending to the injured Big Mac and helping around the new farmstead where she could. Zephyr had already left to go back to his home in Manehattan and to his henfriend.

A half hour later, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had pulled out the balloon and Twilight was using her magic to search for any holes that might have formed. Rainbow and Applejack were keeping the envelope taut to make it easier. As they were doing this, Applejack decided to attempt to diffuse the tension that had grown after their earlier conversation. Clearing her throat, she looked at Twilight. “Ah, um, so Twilight, have yah read any good books lately?” Even she winced at how lame that sounded.

That didn’t seem to affect Twilight’s mood, because without even looking up, she replied. “A few decent books, actually,” she replied. “Actually, a lot about myths and supposed histories of ponykind before all three tribes were separated.”

That caught both of their attention, and one look at Rainbow showed that the prismatic pegasus was thinking similarly to her. It was Rainbow who spoke. “Um…what kind of myths and histories?” she asked.

“Things about humans and other supposed fictional races, like elves, gnomes, and goblins,” Twilight replied.

“Ah’ve never heard of the last two,” Applejack admitted.

“Not surprised,” Twilight said as she hovered towards another patch of the envelope. “They’re very obscure and aren’t mentioned much in common literature. They’re all bipedal creatures like humans, but with different subtle features. There’s a lot less about them than there is about humans and their last king.”

“Um…last king?” Applejack didn’t like the sound of that.

Twilight nodded without looking up. “There are two paragraphs on humans in an obscure supposed history on the earlier days of ponykind where humans teamed up with the elf and gnome races to fight off some major threat to protect the continent. It sounded like a demon attack from Tartarus, but the original source was missing several pages so all I read was that this alliance of humans, elves, and gnomes fought against this threat in the first paragraph. Then the last shorter paragraph described how the enemy pretty much eliminated the human race and their allies before turning their attention to ponies. But the result of that encounter was also lost.”

“Well, if this did happen, then we won, right?” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know about that, Rainbow,” Twilight said.

“How come?” Rainbow asked.

“If my calculations are right, that was the beginning of the darker times in our history,” Twilight said. “You know, the way that we think of the time before Hearth’s Warming and the founding of Equestria?”

To ponies, that time was known as the Dark Age, and it had lasted for hundreds of years as far as they knew. Still, something made Applejack pause. She had listened to Twilight earlier when she had described three humans who had helped ponykind during the time of Majesty’s supposed rule over ponies. “Wait, are ya sayin’ that there were more humans here than those three siblings? Megan an’ the others?”

Twilight nodded again. “I haven’t found anything about Megan and her brother and sister, but there was apparently an entire kingdom of humans,” she said.

“So then how did you know about humans when Jason-um…” Rainbow caught herself when Applejack shot her a glare. “What? It’s just a question!”

“Not the best one tah talk about,” Applejack hissed.

Twilight waved a hoof. She had frozen when Jason’s name was mentioned. Even in death, his name cast a pall on them. “N-No, it’s a valid question,” she replied. “There’s obscure myths about them that I read when I was Princess Celestia’s student in Canterlot. It described them as bloodthirsty monsters who kill indiscriminately and who eat sapient species like cows and goats.”

That caught the attention of the two, who looked horrified at this revelation. Still, Applejack forced herself to calm down. “W-Was that why-?”

“Partly,” Twilight interrupted. “It was my knee-jerk reaction to any species that wasn’t a pony that caused…what happened. I later learned from Princess Celestia that there are other species of cows and goats that are not sapient and are older than the ones we know, all outside Equestria.” She landed on the grass and lowered her head. “I thought I was better, but apparently not…”

Applejack and Rainbow exchanged a look. Twilight was starting to ramble a bit, and that was a bad sign. “Twi,” Applejack said, using the long unused nicknamed they used for her, “we all share responsibility for what happened. Ah broke his ribs without even givin’ the feller a chance.”

“And I…struck him with lightning,” Rainbow admitted, although it sounded painful for her to admit. “You’re not alone, Twilight. We all screwed up big time with Jason.”

Twilight looked at her friends. There were bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep, and there were tears in her eyes. “I should have been better…” she said softly.

“Now now, you three, none of that talk,” a Manehattan accented voice said from nearby. Maple Leaf was standing there, with Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity standing behind her. In her magic she held a platter with glasses of ice water on them which she offered to the three mares. The other three already had their own. “Remember what we’ve talked about, Twilight. You can’t change the past, but the future? That’s always in motion, and you can make changes to become a better pony.” She looked at the other five. “That applies to all of you too.” There was no judgment in her tone, only kindness and understanding.

The six exchanged looks. All except Rarity. Applejack figured that Rainbow would be the most sore at what happened and how she was punished by Princess Celestia for her actions, but it was mostly Rarity who had been stubbornly holding onto her anger, or so it seemed. Having had enough, Applejack walked up to Rarity. “What’s got yer mane in a tuffle?” She used a phrase that her granny used, a tuffle being some made up word that Granny used.

Rarity looked up sharply. “My mane is not in a tuffle, thank you,” she replied quickly.

“Then what’s up with you?” Rainbow asked. “You act like the entire world is against you.”

Rarity scowled at the ground. “I work and live with my parents now. I’m a grown mare, and my life’s work is gone! All because…”

“If ya say because of Jason Wright, then shut the fuck up about it right now!” Applejack snapped, stamping the ground with her hoof. Everypony gaped at her. She never swore, none of them really did. She stalked slowly towards Rarity, who had a look of fear in her eyes as Applejack continued speaking. “Take your licks like a foal like the rest of us! Yah got yerself into this, just like the rest o’ us! Yer lucky! Yah got a roof over yer head! Yah got a job! There are other ponies who would consider themselves lucky tah have whatcha got! AND YAH GOT YER PARENTS!”

Rarity was now in a defensive position, lying down with her ears pressed back as Applejack loomed over her menacingly. Her mouth was hanging open and her bottom lip trembling. She tried to get out something, but all that she could say was, “I…buh…”

“That what ah thought,” Applejack snarled before she turned away, purposely slapping Rarity’s face with her tail like a whip, causing the white furred mare to yelp in surprise. “If all yer gonna do is sulk, git out o’ here!” Brushing dirt into Rarity’s face with her back legs, she walked back to the deflated envelope, she looked over at Twilight. “How much more do yah need tah do?”

Gregory sat on the large couch, staring at his long dead car and the wooden crates that contained everything that he’d brought from Earth. Books, pieces of technology, clothes, and other miscellaneous objects that held personal value to him had all been stored in them. Dengal sat next to him, her presence comforting to him as he continued staring at them, wondering just what in the ever-loving hell Majesty had done this for. The only reason he could think of was that she wanted him to feel…maybe not indebted to her, but more inclined to take her side in her crusade or whatever she was doing.

He felt Dengal put her claws in his hand, her five fingered appendages intertwining with hand perfectly. Looking over at her, she was giving him a soft smile. “Talon for your thoughts?” she asked in the soothing tone he’d only ever heard her use with him.

Whenever she had smiled at him, he had been wearing the mask, so she could not see the silent smiles that always crept onto his lips. She was one of two people in the world who could make him smile. He did so now, and he saw her eyes widen in shock. “You ready to go bankrupt, then?” he asked.

She put her claw in front of her mouth and giggled softly. “We’ve got plenty of time,” she said before her smile faded and she put her other claw on top of his hand, sandwiching said hand between her claws. “I know I’m not as close with you as you are with Tobias, but you know how I feel about you, and that won’t ever change. But first and foremost, you’re my friend. You’ve been staring at those boxes and your car for a while. Are you okay?”

He took a breath and exhaled. “This…whole situation…there’s so much I don’t know, and that bothers me. I hate not knowing things when I go into an operation.”

“This isn’t an operation,” she reminded him.

“Mistress of the obvious over here,” he quipped before he could stop himself.

To her credit, she laughed softly. “Sorry,” she said with a smile.

Once more, he smiled back before he continued. “I get that she has semi-noble motives, trying to return Equestria to a state of true harmony, but good intentions are the surest path to hell.”

“Hell?”

“Tartarus.”

“Oh. OH!” She nodded in understanding.

“The only problem is, Majesty is incredibly powerful and seems to be able to counter anything thrown in her way,” Gregory said. “It seems like she could easily defeat the Equestrian princesses if she wanted.” He pointed to his belongings. “I can somewhat get her motivation, but her actions with me seem to be because she thinks humans are the saviors of ponykind.”

“If you think I refer to only Megan and her siblings, then perhaps you should read this,” a tired sounding voice said from the door. Her horn was lit and there was a thin old looking folder in her magic which she placed on a nearby desk.

Gregory and Dengal turned to face Majesty who was standing in the doorway. He had never seen her so tired, and that confused him. Standing, he faced her. “What is that?” he asked.

Majesty slowly walked over and practically collapsed onto the couch. Dengal quickly vacated the couch, standing next to Gregory in a protective gesture. “Erda once had a native population of humans,” she explained, although her tone seemed slurred like she was drunk. He didn’t smell alcohol or anything like that, though. “They’re gone now, as far as I know. That little books talks about an invasion of the demons of Tartarus to attempt to conquer the surface.”

He looked at the folder on the desk, then back at the former queen. “Okay…”

She chuckled tiredly. “You’re thinking that I’m treating you so well because I idolize your species because of what you’ve done for my species. I’m no fool, Gregory. Every race has their positives and negatives. I’ve seen things that humans have done that sickens me, but I have also seen how they’ve risen above those sick and twisted urges to be some of the kindest and most understanding species I know. Your species is unique among others, even when compared to the old elves who look so similar to you.”

Gregory frowned, then took a step closer. “I don’t understand. Why are you being nice to me-?”

“Because you deserve it after the tartarus you’ve gone through,” she interrupted, giving him a quick and angry glare, but the anger didn’t seem to be directed at him. “Your first encounter with my dear ponies was disastrous! Jason’s experiences were even worse! I saw his first interaction with the princesses, and even they showed an instinctive fear towards him. At least they are old enough to know a little bit better than to judge, but apparently the majority of ponies in that nation have become too complacent and too corrupt.”

The door opened and Spyke stuck his head in. “Hey, is her majesty-ah, she is.” He walked over to where Majesty was slumped. “Come, it’s time to rest,” Spyke said as he lifted the larger alicorn up with surprising ease. Gregory had to remember that this version of Spyke was not his true size.

When Majesty was gone, Dengal looked at the folder on the desk. “From what you told me about Majesty and from my interaction with her, her acting like that was not what I expected. Was she drunk?”

“No, but she did look like it,” Gregory said as he walked over and picked up the folder. Opening it, he noticed that there were a few pages inside and that they were old and handwritten. The first page was a title page. “Last Days of Humanity. Well, that’s not ominous,” he said with a roll of his eyes as he walked over to the couch to sit down. As Dengal took a seat right next to him and just as he was about to turn the page, he paused. “Wait a moment…this isn’t something I should be doing,” he said. “We should be focusing on getting out of here!”

Dengal put a claw on his shoulder. “Gregory, right now I don’t know if there’s anything we can do. I don’t know what time it is outside, but we can’t do anything much right now. We’re just one human and goblin without any weapons between us. You also just said you don’t have enough information.” She tapped on the pages. “Maybe this can help?”

“How will that help?” Gregory asked.

“If nothing else, taking your mind off the problem for a bit can be helpful,” Dengal said. “I find that when I’m having trouble with a problem, taking a walk, reading a book, or doing anything other than focusing on the problem helps to refresh my mind and sometimes I get an idea that comes to me during those times.”

Gregory nodded slowly. “Yeah…I guess that’s a good idea,” he said. Turning back to the papers, he reached down to turn the page, only to feel a warmth on his side. Looking over, he saw that Dengal was closer to him, looking curiously at the papers. “Ah shit, sorry.” He moved the folder so she could see it better.

She didn’t move. Instead, only her head moved to rest on his shoulder. “Sorry,” she said, “I’m tired from what happened…today…” she yawned and covered her mouth with her left claw. “Do you want me to move?”

He almost shrugged, then remembered where her head was. Instead, he shook his head. “Nah, you’re fine there.” He looked back down at the page. “Okay, let’s see…‘My name is Frosty Shivers’. Hah, like that spell. ‘I bore witness to the fall of our once greatest allies and the capture and imprisonment of our queen along with the banishment of the flutter ponies.’”

“Whoa,” Dengal muttered in awe. “That’s a lot to digest. What are flutter ponies?”

Gregory took a deep breath. It was going to be a long session.

My name is Frosty Shivers. I bore witness to the fall of our once greatest allies and the capture and imprisonment of our queen along with the banishment of the flutter ponies and the scattering of our races to the west of our once beloved Ponyland. I will not record all of my experiences here, as I am trembling as I write this. I have been going back and forth from writing as those of us who remain flee our former lands. My thoughts are all jumbled, but I know that if I do not write this all completely down, I will regret it.

It started ten years ago when Megan the Fair, Daniel the Brave, and Molly the Kind, visited our lands for the final time. Fortunately, unlike most other times when they visited, there was no immediate danger that brought them to Dream Castle. Queen Majesty welcomed them with open hooves, but they bore grave news for us. In their own world, they were moving away from their farm to one far away. They would never be able to see us ever again. In fact, this was so serious that the siblings even brought their patriarch and matriarch with them for the first time. Thomas and Jane were their names.

The feast we gave to them was one of special magnificence. I have never seen or heard of the like, and this happened when I was but a foal of ten. I can still remember the sights, the smells, the tastes, and the many ponies there. I even remember partaking in a game of what the humans referred to as tag. I even managed to tag Lady Molly. The day of celebration turned into a week, the first week of April as it happened. Our Queen declared that week to be one of remembrance for all of the aid that the siblings had rendered to Ponyland.

Before they left, Lady Megan stood and spoke to us all. She told us that she was proud to know us and to have given us her help. She would never forget us, she said. She even told us that she wished humans where she was from could be as friendly and accepting as we were. Many tears of joy and sadness were shed that last day.

Before they were flown back, she returned the Rainbow of Light to us, presenting it to our Queen. However, she instead insisted it go to her only daughter Princess Mimic, as she had been given possession of the Golden Horseshoes of Argyte. From that day onward, the princess wore the artifact with pride and swore that when it was her turn to rule, she would use the artifact in the defense of ponykind.

Our sorrow lingered at the loss of one of our most beloved allies from beyond the rainbow, but we forged forward upon our Queen’s urging. Life went on until a year after the siblings left. We received a visit from Prince Chethan, who years ago was turned into Scorpan and forced to work for our ancient enemy Tirac. He informed our queen that there were stirrings from the Blackened Mountains in the east. Two of the mountains had been rumbling and smoking, and what was worse was that the howls of unusual creatures had been heard from the smoking mountains.

Our queen acted and sent scouts to the mountains to see what might have been there, but they found nothing. Still, she took the words of the prince seriously and proposed an alliance between Ponyland and the human kingdom. Such an alliance came in the form of an arranged marriage between our queen and the prince, something that brought us great joy as Prince Chethan was much beloved by our kind for his kindness and the love he especially showed to the young ward Spyke.

The wedding was the most extravagant one we had in Ponyland. Everyone was there, even the Moochick made his presence known. The wedding celebration lasted for three full days, and humans and ponies intermingled much during that time. Friendships were forged and much joy was had in that time.

After the wedding, Queen Majesty left us for six months, leaving Princess Mimic and Royal Mage Twilight in charge. We missed our queen dearly, but the princes and mage were quite good at ruling. She came back to us after six months and stayed with us for six more months. That was the bargain that was struck between our two, now one, kingdom. Six months in the human areas and six months in the pony areas. For the next five years, ponies and humans began to mingle and move to the other territories, and we exchanged much between us.

Seven years after Megan the Fair and her siblings left us, the rumblings from the mountains began to increase. We ponies, unlike humans, had no standing army, so we became afraid. Our new human allies, however, swore to protect us from any threat. They reached out to the Sylvan Realm and the elves responded to the call, sending their own forces to the Blackened Mountains to patrol it. The gnomes forged armor and weapons for each side, as they were not warriors. Some brave ponies even volunteered to fight despite our Queen and new King saying that we need not do so.

I was one of those volunteers. I had control over cold magic and could freeze anything within a certain distance of myself. We trained with the human knights and soldiers, seeing just how cruel the world could be outside of our own lands. At first, they were gentle with us, but we were determined to prove to our allies that we could fight to defend our friends. So, they showed us how to properly fight. It opened our eyes, and we were forever changed, at least those of us who volunteered.

That was when the demons began their attacks on our borders.

It started small, with raids on farmlands and the abduction of farm animals. Then it escalated to the killing of farmers and small patrols on the borders. King Chethan assembled every fighting man to the front lines to defend us from the increasing violent attacks. The demon armies then came bursting forth from the Hades Doors leading to the most feared realm of all times. Tartarus had been unleashed.

We held the demon hordes back for a year. I saw the utter horrors of war from both sides, as I was captured during one point in the war. The demons were relentless and cruel in their torture of prisoners. I was one of the ones who escaped after a daring rescue attempt made by some humans from my battalion. What the demons did will forever haunt me. I still suffer from the nightmares, and no dreamwalker can help those of us who were in that war.

In the last four months of the war, King Chethan ordered that the population who were not soldiers or knight retreat and flee from our homelands. Thus began the mass exodus of both humans and ponies. However, it was too late for many of our allies. The demons unleashed a deadly disease that turned those it touched into enemies that our soldiers were forced to kill. Nobody was unaffected, and thus the Scattering began.

The soldiers remained behind, protecting those who fled. Our lands burned, our plants died from the same disease, and rivers quite literally ran red with the blood of all. Finally, King Chethan ordered the pony soldiers to retreat and protect the fleeing ponies who could not protect themselves. The humans, elvs, gnomes, bushwoolies, and grundles would remain behind to hold the demons back. Many among us, including myself, protested, but he gave the order. Our queen was also forced to flee, but did so reluctantly, as during the war her daughter was killed by the demons and she wished to make the enemy pay for their crimes.

As we fled, the pony parts of our battalion were ambushed by a large group of demons. We fought as mightily as we could, but many of us died protecting our queen. At some point, however, she turned and began to indiscriminately slaughter the demons. It was one of the most horrific things we had seen. We all knew our queen to not ever take a life, instead coming up with punishments that were fitting for those who had committed crimes against us and our allies. To see her kill was heart breaking.

Unfortunately, she was somehow captured by the demons she missed. As she was being bound up in magical restraining chains, she turned to those of us who remained. Raising her horn, she lit it up and spoke.

“Live and protect those who cannot be protected.”

And with that, she used all of her remaining magic to teleport those of us still alive to the last caravan of fleeing ponies. We wanted to go back to where she had been and rescue her as she was our queen, but she had given us a command, and as she was-no, is-our queen, we must abide by it.

We have been wandering west towards a large rocky and somewhat snowy terrain. We hope to find a location where we may be able to set up a new home, although we long for our old one. Dream Castle has fallen. Our allies are likely long dead, and we are all that remains.

I had thought that I was finished writing this, but something new has come to my ears. We who were once full of happiness and joy for a brighter future have begun moving down a darker path. It is disheartening to see, and while my fellow soldiers and I will attempt to bring the spirits of our charges up, they look to us not with hope, but with fear, anger, and hatred. They blame us for being forced to abandon all we’ve held dear.

I have even heard grumblings that this tragedy is to be blamed on the other races of the alliance, specifically humanity. We soldiers have done our best to quell these rumors, but nobody wishes to listen to us. They view us as tainted by war.

I…I want to go home…