Chapters The lives we live or sometimes so short. I have to admit that, in the time we fought in the war, so many things happened to change how we live. From the day I met my wife that Night Mare Night all those years ago, to the day I helped to end the war. I had no idea events would transpire as they had after Princess Luna arrived wounded in Ponyville. I guess I should probably be more specific, so I'll start from the beginning of my journal. This is the diary of the earthpony, Noble Spirit, and these are the piebald dairies.
It is my birthday today! I turned nine years old! And all I got was a dumb diary. My dad told me that us colts call it a journal, but it's still a diary. I probably won't write in it that much, but Mom and Dad told me that I should at least try once in a while. They say it will make me feel better when something bad happens. I'm not sure I believe that, but I'll still try to write in it at least once in a while. Everypony thinks I'm so small, but I'm gonna show them! I'm gonna go to Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow help Big Macintosh in the orchard. I'm gonna grow up to be big and strong just like him!
I broke my leg today while helping Big Mac in the orchard. I'd been helping him for the past few months. I've already grown three inches since then. I was in a tree picking apples when a limb snapped and I fell. He rushed me to the hospital as fast as he could, which was really fast. I told my parents that it was all my fault, but Big Mac tried to take the blame instead. We went back and forth on that for a few minutes, even though he almost only said "eeyup" and "nnope". Mom and dad said that they didn't care who's fault that it was ad that I wasn't allowed back on their farm. I begged them to change their mind, and they did. I don't know why, but they did. So I'm writing here. Big Mac has been coming to visit me almost everyday since I broke my leg. I still hope it heals soon though.
It's harvest time at Sweet Apple Acres, so I'm gonna be going there a lot more. Applejack says she appreciates the extra help, and she's even gonna pay me! I couldn't really help last harvest because my leg was broken, but nothings gonna stop me this year! Night Mare Night is in a few weeks. I hope Princess Luna shows up like she has the past few years. It's always so much fun when she shows up and scares everyone. After we finish harvesting the apples, we're going to use some of them for cider. Big Mac even said that if we make as much as we did that one season the Flim-Flam brothers showed up, we might even have a cider festival! Or at least sell a whole bunch at the Night Mare Night Macabre celebration. I can't wait!
I can't believe how much money I had saved up from harvest time! I must have made at least 200 bits! My mom says hat I should put it all away for a "rainy day", but I wanna spend it sooo bad! I guess I could always go to the arcade during the winter, but I made so much money I'm not sure what else I could do with it. Big Mac said that I could go home early today. He told me that he had something important going on this evening and that he was meeting somepony. But I didn't listen, so I stayed behind and watched for the first few minutes. The somepony turned out to be one of Applejacks friends, Fluttershy. I didn't know that she had anything to do with growing apples, so I left. On the way back home, I ran into Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. It looked like they were headed to where I was just leaving. When I asked they were doing out here, they asked me the same thing. I told them that Big Mac was talking to Fluttershy about apples, and then they got all excited. I don't really know why. Girls are weird.
It's finally here! Night Mare Night is finally here! This is going to be so awesome! I've spent hardly any of the money from working in the orchard and now? Now I'm going to have the time of my life! First? First I'm going to do the rock climbing and then I'm going to do all the racing events! I can't wait to see Princess Luna. She always makes Night Mare Night so much fun!
Night Mare Night was amazing! I won almost every contest, including all of the "young runners" competitions! I even got my cutie mark! It was a dust cloud, because that's all I left behind for the racers, in the dust! I even saw Princess Luna. She turned all of our candy into small monsters and made all of us think it would it us. It was funny. I saw Big Mac and Fluttershy watching the full moon. I'm starting to get the feeling that he's interested in more than what she knows about to apples. I also saw the cutie mark crusaders watching them. I wonder why they're so interested in them. Then I saw Scootaloo start to look at me. She did it for a few seconds. Not really sure what that means.
It's spring time in Ponyville, and that means that soon I'll have to get back to working in the orchards. Nothing really important happened since I last wrote except for one or two things. Big Mac finally told me what exactly was going on between him and Fluttershy. It's weird how quiet he is except around me. I thought it was weird, but he told me that when I'm older, I'll get it. There was one other thing: On hearts and hooves day, Scootaloo took me behind the school house and kissed me. I was really surprised and didn't know what to say. I didn't really have time though, because then she took off again on her scooter. Girls are still weird.
I finally found you, journal! I lost you over three years ago and now I've found you again! Wow, there is so much to write. I swore that I wouldn't write in another journal until after I found you again, and I've finally found you! First things first, though. Just over a year after I last wrote, Big Mac proposed to Fluttershy. He asked for Rarities help on what to do. She designed the dress and the ring and then he proposed to her while they were having a picnic while the orchards were in full blossom. I'm a colt and even I thought that was romantic. I was Big Macs best man, since I was the closest thing he had to a brother. Rainbow Dash was Fluttershys maid-of-honor. She had been offered a spot with the wonder bolts, but then decided against it, realizing that she would have to leave her friends behind, so she started a flight school for small young pegasi. Scootaloo was her first student, since she never had been able to fly very long distances. She became her most devoted student and graduated with honors. And how do I know this? Because me and Scootaloo started dating soon after Big Macs wedding. She got her cutie mark only a little while after I lost you. It was a scooter, go figure. She might have had issues flying early on, but one thing was for sure: she could practically soar on her scooter. Twilight Sparkle became an aunt from what I heard. I saw what they looked like when we all went to Fluttershys birthday. They were beautiful. They were twins, one boy and one girl, one white alicorn and one pink. Pinkie Pie told us about when she used to babysit the cakes twins. One unicorn and one pegasus seemed like enough fun, but both at the same time and in the same package? No thanks! I don't get to see Big Mac nearly as often as I used, and that makes me kinda sad, but at least I have Scootaloo to keep me company. Someponies think it's weird because she's a couple years older than me, but I don't let what other ponies say bug me. I never have, even when they made fun of me for being little. Fluttershy is pregnant, by the way, and Big Mac has gotten really, REALLY protective of her. I guess this means that I'm gonna see less and less of him AND I'll have to put more hours in on the farm. I have gotten to be pretty strong, though, thanks to Big Mac.
Today is my 15th birthday! And it was so much fun, too! All of my friends were there. Scootaloo, Rain Flash, Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Spike, among others. Big Mac couldn't be there, 'cuz of Fluttershy being super-pregnant. He lives in her house now. I only get to see him at work now, and even then he hardly ever shows up. I miss him a lot, too. The running of the leaves is in a week or so, and Applejack said she would help train me for it so I can win, so I won't be able to write in you for a little bit, between work and practice. I also hear that Rainbow Dash will be training Scootaloo for it. I guess the rivalry between Applejack and Rainbow Dash still stands.
I did it! I won the running of the leaves! It was super hard trying to get past Scootaloo, but I did it. Scootaloo wasn't happy in the least, being the super competitive pony that she is. I'm super tired though, so I'm gonna end this entry kind soon. I'm still looking forward to Night Mare Night, but I think I'm gonna spend less money than I did the past few years. I also hear rumors that Twilight Sparkle hs been eyeing another pony. Not sure what his name is, but he has an hour-glass cutie mark on his flank along and his hair is kinda... messy. I think he's doctor or something. He seems smart, though, if not a little bit crazy.
Today, something terrible happened. I guess I should start with the very beginning. Princess Luna arrived in Ponyville a few days before the Night Mare Night. She was brought here by her scary bat-wing guards, but I learned a long time ago that there not really bad ponies. She looked really hurt, so Twilight took her in to help heal her. She hadn't aged a day in all the years that she had been coming here to Ponyville. I tried to ask what was going on with the princess, but I was stopped by her guards. They let Miss Zecura in, so this had to have been pretty bad. Scootaloo wondered why I was so concerned and I answered because she is a princess of equestria. I have a feeling that something real bad is going to happen real soon.
Celestias guards came to town asking if we've seen her sister. My gut told me to tell them no, but I had a feeling the word of a teenage colt wouldn't be enough for them, so I ran for Twilights house tree. They had Lunas chariot hidden away in the Everfree forest, so they probalby wouldn't find it, but still. When I told Twilight, Lunas guards pleaded with her not to tell, and that she would know everything once Princess Luna had awoken. She had been asleep for three days now, but her wounds had been healing, the guards told me. They thanked me for my help and asked me to tell them anything else that would help. I swore that I would do what I could. After I left, Scootaloo confronted me again about why I was there. She doesn't believe me when I tell her that I'm just making sure the princess has everything she needs to recover. She demanded to know why or else she would break up with me. I didn't, I COULDN'T tell her, so she broke up with me. It hurt, but I had to do it. The princess matters more than any relationship I have going on right now. I'm sure I'll feel more pain later, but right now? Right now I have my duty for my princess.
Winter has begun in Ponyville, and with it came Princess Lunas awakening. She told us about how she found out what her sister had been doing for the past 1000 years. A few hundred years after she had banished Luna to the moon for trying to usurp the thrown, Celestia had begun to ensure that would never happen again. She instigated a war between the griffons and dragons, ensuring that the griffins would never become a threat and sent somepony to kill anypony who got used to the truth. Each one of the Twilights best friends was there, and they were all as shocked as I was, especially Twilight, who had been the personal student to the princess. She began to cry and would have continued if Fluttershy hadn't gone into labor at that very second. It was... messy. I was told to find any old sheets that I saw lying around. Big Mac was right next to her the whole time, helping her get through it. Twilight used all of her knowledge on the topic and Rainbow Dash fainted... twice. By the end of it, Princess Luna decided to give up Twilights bed. I admit that I saw somethings that I really wish I hadn't, but their child was beautiful. It was a small mare, apple red with Fluttershys pink hair. She was a pegasus. When I asked what they were going to name her, they both looked at each other and then their new mare and said simultaneously "Apple Blossom". They both smiled as they felt what I think was a surge of pride and happiness. With all the worries we've had, the new life brought in a tree seemed like the last great victory in a coming storm.
I don't have long! Celestias guards have found us! Spike is outside holding them off, but we are unsure of how long he can do it. The guards demanded entrance after they heard Luna yell in her sleep. Spike slipped out to explain the situation, but they didn't believe him. He may be twice as big as he used to be, but that won't mean much against the might of Celestias army. So unless he can find something to hoard fast, we're sunk. We are currently walking in a tunnel beneath Twilights home. It had been only a few days since Lunas recovery, and I was happy to see her back on her hooves once again. Twilight, Big Mac and all the others are with us. I'm only with them because I happened to be visiting the princess at the time. I hear banging on the door and yelling to bust it down. I also see what looks like tears on Raritys face. Twilight says that we're not moving fast enough, and Big Mac agrees apparently, so he handed his sister Apple Blossom and placed Fluttershy on his back. We all started running for what seems like miles. I think it was, because by the time we were outside, Ponyville was so small. The only reason I was able to tell where we were was because I saw a huge purple dragon being attacked by a swarm of dots of what I assumed was Celestias pegasus squadrons. I didn't think he had hoarded anything, but I just occured to me: Rarity. I might get more philosophical than I'd like, but he grew because the more he thought about what he wanted to do most, the more he got it, and the more he got it, the more he wanted it. And what he wanted to do most of all at this very second was to protect Rarity. I don't consider myself a sensitive colt, but I shed a tear when it dawned on me. I looked over to Twilight and Rarity and found out that they were weeping. We were all crying at least a little bit. Even Big Macintosh and Princess Luna. Things changed today, and I don't think they will ever return to the way they were.
It's been over a year since we fled from Ponyville. I turned 17 as we traveled. We've been doing our best to rally support, but it's been slow going with out us showing the Princess to tell her story. But that's about to change. There was a unicorn named FancyPants that gave us a chance. He met us in an ally, saying that if we can get enough ponies to believe our story, he'll back us. I don't know who he is, but Rarity trusts him, and if she trusts him then so do I. He gave us an abandoned warhouse to tell our story and started to use underground channels to spread the word. I'm not sure what kind of ponies he attracted to show up to our "sermon" for like of a better term, but if we can get enough ponies to believe us, it will go a long way to bringing Celestia to justice. I'm the one they use as a scout for guards, since Princess Celestia doesn't really know who I am in the least. That will also help. I find myself wondering what Scootaloo is doing and how she's doing. I know we'll ever get back together, but, strangely, I'm alright with that. Besides, even if we did find each other, I might only get her caught in the cross fire. Rainbow Dash decided to be the one to teach Apple Blossom how to fly, but it's been slow going. Maybe she's shy like her mother, or maybe she's just too young. I dunno. Hopefully, by the end of the night, we'll have more support. FancyPants said he wouldn't protect us if all we did was get caught. I don't blame him. He's got a lot riding on this.
The seminar was more successful than we could have hoped, but not for the reasons we all thought. The princess told her story to almost a thousand ponies. About what Celestia had done and had tried to do to her. They didn't believe us. At least, not until the guards came. They came in the traditional golden armor and demanded our arrest. I was kept behind the scenes so they wouldn't find me. I understand why, but I'm getting tired of running. At an rate. After they demanded our surrender, the crowd turned on them. I'm pretty sure they would killed them had Princess Luna not stopped them. I guess she wants to end his with as little bloodshed as possible. I don't blame her. After we tied the soldiers up, Luna told all of the ponies who had sided with us to try to rally support, but quietly. She finished by saying that she was not interested in a full blown war. I hope that's possible. With all the hay that's going to be flying in the future, I really hope we're able to bring Celestia to justice without a prolonged conflict... I guess the tutoring that Twilight's been giving me has sunk into the way I write. Applejack recommended that we take shelter in Appaloosa. She has family there, she said. Weirdly enough, Rainbow Dash seemed especially receptive to this idea. I wonder why.
We've made it to Appaloosa. I admit that when I got here, we all dog tired. AJ was right, though. They treated us like family there, and the respite was well needed. We do have to work for our keep though. Not a problem for me, seeing as how Big Mac taught me how to work a farm pretty well. I'm almost as big as he is now. We've been here for three days now. Apple Blossom has begun to try to fly for real now. Rainbow Dash won't leave it alone in the least. She's been particularly interesting lately. Not that I'm attracted to her, but she's just been contributing more. For example, the other day she flew over to the Buffalo tribe with Luna to tell them of our "plight" as she put it. Last night at supper, Braeburn, AJs cousin, finally asked us why we, ALL of us, was here. Applejack explained what the situation was and what happened between the royal sisters. Braeburn was shocked speechless. The rest of our dinner was quiet. It wasn't until morning when he told us that we had to leave town before we got anypony hurt. I guess, since he was sheriff now, the safety of his town was his highest priority. I couldn't blame him for wanting to protect his own. Rainbow Dash finally returned with Luna and said that the Buffalo would side with us. A little good news in a sea of doubt, I guess. He laso decided to let Fluttershy stay for the duration of the conflict. She and Big Mac had a fight about that, well as much of a fight that Fluttershy could get into. All Big Mac wanted to do was protect her, and I can relate. I, too have something that I'm here to protect. We hardly had anything to pack, except some books and some food that Braeburn gave us. He was also able to reserve us a private train cart, which was nice. It's where I'm writing from now, waiting for it to depart to a small, kind of obscure train stop. Then I saw something wierd. As everypony entered the train, Rainbow Dash took longer to say goodbye to Braeburn. We were all watching them, even Princess Luna, who had, for some reason or another, decided to sit next to me. Then we were shocked... Braeburn and Rainbow KISSED!!!! We all had no idea what had just happened. After that we all looked at her until AJ finally asked her "What in tarnation was that?" to which Rainbow answered "We've been doing long distance since that family reunion you invite us to a few years ago. Deal with it." She sat down next to Twilight and proceeded to fall asleep. We were all dumbfounded (another Twilight word) as she did it. AJ was just shocked. No other word for it.
I am currently writing out of boredom now. Everypony else is asleep. Big Mac was sitting alone, half-awake half asleep. Twilight is KOed with a book on her face. AJ is mumbling something in her sleep resembling "No, Braeburn, Don't! She ain't the right mare fer ya!" I laughed because I find it amusing. Rarity is also asleep. I think she's having a nightmare because I can hear her whispering Spike. Spike was in love with her, but since he was dragon and not a pony, I kind of wondered how that would work. Would Twilight have been able to figure something out? I vaguely remember her saying something about Star Swirl the bearded dabbling in transmutation. Her book on obscure unicorn history was one of the books she was able to bring with her. Pinkie Pie was snoring. I've slept through worse, though. In fact, I had been asleep only a few minutes ago. I woke up. And then I go to the princess, who is asleep on my shoulder. I think I'm blushing. She's the most beautiful mare I've ever seen. Her eyes were like the full moon reflecting in a pure, untampered pond. Her mane was as though somepony had placed the night sky in it. Her coat reminds me of sapphires of the highest caliber. I wonder if she would have gone evil if she had simply had somepony to love. I notice that she's shivering so I very carefully reach for a blanket above our heads. I tuck her in as well as I can and she smiles slightly and cuddles up more to my shoulder. I think my heart may have just exploded. I'm happy that everypony is asleep because my face is probably the most vibrant shade of red to than has ever existed. I think I should maybe put up my pencil and journal before anypony, and by that I mean Luna, wakes up. I know this moment has to end sooner or later, so I smile content and bask in my good fortune.
We've been on the run for the past month since we left Appeloosa. Fancypants sent us a message via messenger bird saying that he has made contact with the Buffalo and the others followers of Luna. I wouldv'e killed to have seen his face upon meeting the buffulo. Seriously. Before I go on, I want to say what happened when Luna woke up on my shoulder When she woke up, first she looked around and then noticed her on my shoulder. She blushed and her face turned purple (red and blue makes purple, I guess) and sat straight up. Big Mac was the only one who saw us together like that. I couldn’t get a good read on his expression, but he looked like he was trying to keep a bad poker face. As we exited the train, I swore I saw the Princess smiling wryly. Sweet mother of Celestia, I hope it was about earlier. Soon after we left the train, we went to get some lunch at the train station. We were all starving, even Rarity, who tried to act "like a lady" and deny it. Then we all heard her stomach growl and all laughed. Maybe it was because we were all so emotionally strung out from being on the run for over a year, but it was the first real laugh any of us had shared in a long while. It felt good. It really did. As we ate some wild fruits, we discussed our next move and decided on taking a route through the mountains. Rarity adamantly opposed it, but we all saw that coming from a mile away. To avoid suspicion, we've decided to split up into separate groups to help avoid detection. Big Mac is kind of unknown, so unless they were briefed in depth, Celestias guards won't really know what their looking at if they do see him. The teams are Twilight, Rainbow, AJ, and Big Mac and the two guards, and then Me, Luna (YES!!!!!), and Rarity. I hope I'll be able to help Rarity with Spike. He meant more to her than anypony else. Both teams are to take a different route to a town called Foalboken. It's not a big town, and ponies usually say that town is a myth. It isn't, it just isn't well known. At any rate, we're camping in the woods now. I offered to take first watch, so that Luna and Rarity could sleep more. It's what I was just doing. Also, we got lost a couple times. Anyway, As I was watching out, Luna flew into the tree I was watching in. I did my best not to look into her eyes, because if I did, my poker face would surely melt away from gazing upon the stars in her eyes. We spoke for what seemed like only a few minutes, though in truth it was a few hours, about what we'll do after this whole thing is over. I talked about acting as a scout for her army. I can't go back to the farm life, I think. Once I get acclimated to a certain way of living I can't ever go back fully to the way things were. It's one of the reasons I never stopped working with Big Mac. She asked if I had a special somepony to come back home. I told her about Scootaloo and me and what happened. She apologized and said it was her fault. I told her not to worry about it and that I've been currently considering other... prospects. Even though the only source of light was coming from the moon, I would have sworn I saw her blushing. I then changed the topic to something less interesting and there we sat until morning. I am dog-tired right now, so I think I'll go to sleep for the next little while.
I awoke that morning with a start. I sleep like a rock, but if something disturbs me, I wake up surprisingly easy. I saw Rarity scrambling around the camp, making what looked like a black utility suit. It looked like it had a whole lot of compartment meant for something small, but a lot of that something. Then I see her levitate a few large clusters of gem stones of various colors. Then it finally hit me: She was going to war. I startled her as I asked her what she was doing. All she tells me is that she's going to take care of some business in another town. I point out the razor blade jewels and she obviously lies through her teeth when she answers that they're for an ensemble she's making. I ask her why she's going alone and she lies still, stating that the client needs to be met alone. I decide to drop it, but make one last request: that she write an entry of it in my journal. She sighs and takes it from my saddle bag. As she walks away, all business, she tells me something that I don't think I'll ever forget. Something that I think she knows more than any other pony in Equestria. She told me not to give up on the princess, because Spike didn't give up on her. No matter what.
Noble Spirit requested that I catalog my quest in his diary. I was honored to oblige the young earthpony. He may have a thought of what I intend to do, but he has no idea of what I really aim to accomplish here. The other night, I noticed something strange: I saw a golden glimmer reflect moonlight. Curious, I followed to see what had been the cause. It had been the exquisite golden armour of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Since I was in black, always in style and as stealthful as can be, I took a moment to listen to what they had to say. I had overheard them speak of a dangerous prisoner captured a few months ago. This piqued my interest, so I stayed. As I listened further, I payed attention to every detail, no matter how minor. For what seemed like an eternity, I heard them speak of naught but crude things like "Play Colt" and "Mares Gone Wild". I was disgusted in every sense of the word and was about to give up and leave. It was then that I heard them say that they had a captured dragon. Was it Spike? My mind raced with thoughts of how this could be! I thought I had seen him fall during our escape. He must be saved! My heart ached as I realized what they must have done to him in there torture chambers. Rage then replaced my hurt. He must be rescued! I stealthfully and gracefully snuck my way back to camp where Spirit and Luna were sleeping, an idea had come to mind. I emptied my purse of all the gems I possessed and began to modify outfit to be both fabulous and functional. I began to sharpen my jewels into an arsenal of lovely death. Spike would be saved this night. And if not, he would, as Celestia as my witness, be avenged one hundred fold! And as that thought entered my mind, I realized that Celestia could no longer be the object of our admiration. I looked at Luna and smiled. She had begged for forgivness after being purged of the evil that had plagued her. Equestrias night time guardian. She tried so hard to make amends over the eight years she had been back. And even though there were still those who feared her, she still strove to protect her subjects. A true princess. And then there was Noble Spirit who, in every sense of the word, deserved his name. The princesses knight in shining armour. He thought I was asleep the whole time on that train, but as he was sleeping, I woke up and saw the princess upon his broad shoulders. They reminded me of Spike and I. He tries so hard to hide his feelings, but fails. It is plain as day how he feels about her.
I was in a state of pure shock when I saw him like that. My Spikey Waikey, once a magnificent and powerful dragon, now a unicorn. My mind raced at what could have transformed him. He had been captured over a year ago now, but how could this have happened? I had finally asked as I looked into his beautiful emerald eyes. He told me that it was Celestia who did this. After we had left ponyville, Princess Celestia had appeared and used her magic to reduce Spike to his natural size. He told me that he had endured the worst tortures and the harshest punishments but would not break. His dragon scales protected him from the worst of it. Eventually, Celestia addressed this problem. She appeared before him and began speaking of permanent transmutation spells, first pioneered by Star Swirl the bearded over a thousand years ago, and proceeded to turn him from a formidable dragon, to a powerless, and much more easy to torture, unicorn. He had cuts all over his body, from his mane, to his tail. His face had been beaten bloody and it had clotted his fur. He wept as he told me that he had never, not once, stopped thinking of me and my eyes. And how he knew I would save him. Had he not been in such a terrible state, I would have been elated. My Spike, now a handsome Unicorn. He told me that his love for me became his strength, and even when he was turned from dragon to pony, he stood tall, not once surrendering to her. I wept again as the words left his mouth. I told him I would get him out of here, no matter what the cost. And then he told me that the princess was still here, and that it was a trap! As he finished speaking, an explosion blew through the wall next to us. "Miss Rarity," the butcher princess had said expectantly. She had planned this. All of this. Everything that had happened to us. The death of a dear friend, the loss everything we knew. It was all her fault! Righteous fury flowed through my vienes as I brought out every last jewel at my disposal, intent on killing the monster. Using my magic over the gems, I unleashed my fury upon her. She would die this day for what she had done to FancyPants and to Spike!
As Princess Luna fired through the dungeon wall, unsure whether or not there was actually somepony important beyond the smoke, I remembered what it was like finding this place. I went for a walk with Luna to forage for food. She agreed and I was ecstatic. As we wondered through the forest, we found a peach grove. It's fall, so the peaches were nice and big. The laves were also a beautiful combination of gold and orange. I was a smooth talker, and as we spoke, I think we got closer, at least, I hope we did. At any rate. As we walked through the peach trees, we saw a chariot flying over our heads. We both knew what that meant: Princess Celestia. Our time together would have to wait, Rarity was in danger. We tailed her back to this prison, being extremely careful not to get caught by her pegasus guards. They were the tell-tale sign of Celestia, for she was one of the only ponies who used pegasus guards. As we followed her, I wondered exactly how far down the Equestrian chain of command Princess Celestias corruption went. Did it extend down to the police or the normal guards? Did they understand what they were doing? They probably thought they were doing the right thing, and that they were just following orders. Did the wonder bolts know? Race pegasi would be an excellent cover for special operation missions. As we neared the door way, we saw two dead guards. "These cuts look fresh," I said, bending over to take a closer look at the bodies. "They look like they were made with something real sharp." Then I remembered Rarity putting the razor sharp gems inside her suit. "Rarity did this."
We all stopped for rest after nearly a day of traveling later. Rarity was drained of her last once of strength nearly seven hours ago. Luckily, I was able to easily carry both her and Spike on my back. Strength earned from years on the orchard was finally earning it's keep, I guess. Even so, I was exhausted. Luna offered to take one of them a few times, but of course I had to act like a big strong colt and do all the work for her. I am an idiot. I dropped like rock after she said we could stop. We were near the top of the mountain, overlooking the town of Foalbokin. I shook my helmet off and took a good long nap. I think I deserved it. It wasn't until after I woke up when I fully took in all of Spikes transformation. Rarity had apparently woken up moved next to him while I was asleep, evident by the fact that I dropped her (Yes, dropped her. I was carrying two full grown unicorns for almost 24 hours. Get off my back.) I think three or four trees away. It was good news for Spike, I guess. I mean, other than the cuts and bruises and maybe a few cracked bones. He was in terrible condition, but look at him and Rarity. Everypony in Ponyville knew how he felt about her. A few of us even though Rarity harbored the same feelings. She just kept a better poker face about it. She almost never went out with anypony except her friends. I guess she was holding out for a miracle of some sort. Well, happy birthday, Rarity. You get a miracle. I sound mean because I'm still tired. You try sleeping in armour. The princess took watch as we rested. We couldn't really move anywhere until Rarity woke up, and this armour wasn't really inconspicuous. I hovered in a state of half-asleep for almost an hour. It was then that Rarity decided to wake up. She walked over to me like she wanted to say something. "I wanted to say thank you, Noble."
As I strode through the camp, I had recalled the last thing I hath said to Spirit. "Please come home." Few accepted us, the princess of the night, as readily as he had. He had been our friend for ages, and now he was willing to die for my cause and me. He trusted me to write in his journal, so I shall have to remember not to abuse his trust and read further into his own personal thoughts. He has said that his records of his life date back to a time when he was just a young colt, so I are, indeed, curious. Nevertheless, I shant do it, for he has blessed me with a sacred trust, and to break that trust would be tantamount to betraying Spirit himself. So instead I shall record the events leading up to the day my guards and I crashed into Ponyville. Hmm. My guards. This was the first time in many months since I had considered them. I remember my captain, Maelstrom, and how I saw him fall. His dying orders were to scatter so the princess would not be able track me down so easily. My own fifty elite guards, scattered to every corner of across Equestria. But I have begun rambling as well as allowing my Royal Canterlot seep into my writing. So I will now tell the beginning of this tragic tale. And the story of my sisters tragic fall from grace. It was a day like any other. My sister had just concluded her raising of the sun, and I had just completed my watch of the night. As I was walking to my quarters to get some rest, I noticed my sister, walking through the royal bush maze. She was wearing an odd green cloak to allow her to blend in with her surroundings. Indeed, it was only because of her mane protruding slightly that I was able to see her at all. "Curious," I had said to myself as I saw her. I wondered what possible reason she could have for sneaking around as such. So I had decided to follow her. There must be a reason, I thought. As I flew down to the maze, flying from cloud to cloud, I eventually saw her each a pair of statues. They were over a thousand years over. Built by Celestia to commemorate our victory over the vile Discord by Marble Column, famous architect and sculptor. She twisted my statues horn, her statues right wing, and discords manticore paw. A secret entrance opened in-between all of three of the status. "Interesting," I whispered under my breath. As she entered the underground tunnels, I waited. For nearly five hours, I waited for her to exit what may be either a secret get-away from her responsibilities as head princess, or something else entirely. As she exited her catacombs from within her cloak, I bided my time. As soon as I saw that it was safe, I swooped in, quiet as a fox in the night. I used the same combination as she had done. Horn, then wing, then claw. A secret entrance opened up. How exciting! I had not felt a burst of adrenaline like this since the failed Changeling invasion at my nieces wedding a few years ago. As I walked through the underground tunnels, I noticed few guards stationed here. And the few that I had noticed, I avoided. It seemed to me that if Celestia kept only few guards around this place, she wanted to keep this place as secret as possible. I thought I heard screams coming from across the halls, dismissed it as my own fears taking hold of me. I know now that it was as I thought, but I could not conceive of it back then. I trusted my older sister implicitly. She had forgiven me and given me a place at her side, as it had been before jealousy took my soul. But I ventured forth, knowing that while I may not like the answers to my questions, I had to know. For the sake of our kingdom, I had to know. I wondered for what seemed like ages until I saw door with two guards keeping watch over it. They did not matter, for I would find the deep dark secrets my sister had kept from me. I moved swiftly and silently through the shadows, and appeared just in front of them. Before they could even respond, I cast a spell upon them. I did not wish to harm them, so I used a simple stasis/memory wipe spell. There they stood. Unaware that anything had even happened. As I walked through the heavy marehogany door, I noticed a desk. Curious, I opened it to find some royal scrolls with what I feared: my sisters own royal seal. Scared to death, I opened the first scroll. It spoke of a war nearly caused by the griffons and how she saved Equestria. It told of how she instigated a war between the dragons and the griffons, although it was vague on the details. Griffons are faster than the pegasi, to be sure, and with nearly three times the ferocity. But even they could not survive the dragons as an enemy. The dragons caused a near genocide of their race and it was only the timely intervention of my sister that protected them from total annihilation. The was more, as well. Assassination orders dating back hundreds of years. I could not believe it. I remember wanting so badly to scream out to the heavens, to vent all my sadness right there. But I could not, for that would alert the guards. But what I could do was escape the palace of the butcher and find the six bearers of the elements of harmony. Even if I could not find the elements themselves, I was still powerful enough to challenge my sister for the throne and take it from her vile, blood stained hooves. I made haste as I flew through the underground corridors to find the exit. And as I reached the exit, I met my sister.
I guess I should probably start off from when I left the camp, so I guess I'll do that. As I walked for nearly three hours to Foalbokin, I couldn't help but realize that my birth day was the day of the alleged meeting. Wow. Over two years of running from Celestia and her royal guard with Princess Luna. Although, there are worse ponies to run from evil alicorn princesses from. Heh. You know, if not for her, I wouldn't have even joined up on this epic adventure to over throw Celestia. In fact, she was the whole purpose of my being here. To protect her, the noble princess who would protect her subjects from the tyrant of the day. She is my weakness and my strength. My first and last priority. She is my purpose. Strange to think I could adequately protect the only possible rival to the strongest being in all of Equestria. But love does that to a pony. Did I seriously just say love? Heh. Well, my expertly executed poetry aside, I should probably get on with the story. As I entered the village of Foalbokin, I wondered whether or not it was really a trap. It seemed perfectly normal here. No guards, just police. And there wasn't even that many of them. But Celestia has perfected her craft over a thousand years. She for sure would have learned how to make a flawlessly constructed trap. And then I remembered Fancypants, the unicorn that was supposed to meet us here. Rarity had held him in such high regard. The spirit of generocity, taken aback by the kindness of one of the most important ponies in Canterlot. The image of his decimated carcass clung to my mind like a fly to honey, only not nearly so sweet. From what I read in Lunas entry, she had saved him that fatefull day she rebelled from her sister. As I walked through the town, I stumbled upon a bakery. I counted my money and realized that I had just enough for a small cake. My first thought was immediately to get it for Luna and myself to share. She would like that, I think. So I walked in and purchased it. It was a red velvet with chocolate, her favorite, if I remembered right. I then realized that since the meeting was in the morning, I probably ought to call it an early night and rent a room at the local inn. So I rented one at the Foalbok Inn. The fairs were cheap, but clean. At least that was what the sign said. As I set the cake down upon the night stand of the room I rented, it occurred to me that the cake probably should have waited until tomorrow when I left. Oh well, can't change the past. When I woke up the next morning, I remembered the meeting place. Rarity seemed sure that Fancypants would have set up an alternative person to meet. She was sure it would be his wife, Flur De Lis. I wasn't so sure he would put his own wife up to this, but I've been wrong before. Like thinking that Scootaloo wouldn't break up with me. Of course that was sheer stupidity on my part. She has NEVER been one for bluffing, and I shouldn't have called it. As I walked to the outskirts of town, I took in the surroundings carefully. There were plenty of trees. Excellent for an ambush. There were hills everywhere. Easily defensible in case there was an attack. If this was a trap, it wouldn't be a mere ambush, it would be a slaughter. I didn't like this at all. But there was still no signs that they were setting up for an attack. I kept my guard up anyway. As I entered an old house that had seen much better days, I noticed a simple shadow in the old home. Strange. It looked like a cloaked figure, so I persisted. Eventually, when I was a mere few yards away from the shadowy figure, I called out. "Are you a friend of the unicorn once known as Fancypants?"
I heard a huge crash through the door. I also heard the flapping of a few pegasi. As I wiped the cake from my eyes, I saw all my old allies in front of me, forming a phalanx of friendship. I saw and noted each and every one of them. Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Thunder Striker, Wind Flash, Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie, some blue unicorn with blue a blue mane, and Scootaloo, surprisingly enough, were all in front of me, defending me. As they stood there, Shining Armour and the two colts under his command regrouped and took positions next to him. Twilight looked shocked and in awe of what she had caught her brother doing. Neither of them could really think of anything to say. Applejack came over to help me up while we all watched for what would happen next. "Big Brother?" Twilight started timidly. She couldn't fathom having to actually fight her brother. I guess Luna left that part out. I would have too "Shining? What are you doing?"
As we walked back through the town, we noticed the eyes of everypony upon us. Surely at least some of them heard what had happened. Maybe some of them had even been told ahead of time what was going to happen so that no innocent ponies would be harmed. Interesting. Very interesting. But even if those were orders given by the princess, she had still killed to many innoscent ponies to cover up her sins. Doing the wrong things for right reasons was still the wrong thing. But even still, I remember in Twilights lessons that nopony who is evil ever thinks that they are evil. They usually still think that what they're doing is best. There are a million shades of grey, I was told. I dunno. But one thing was for sure: I would never betray Princess Luna. She would have tried to find another way. Even if it meant an actual war with the griffons, it would have been preferable. But then many lives would have been lost. What she did saved many lives, right? So was this more grey than dark for the lives saved? Or more dark than grey for the lives it cost? Would Luna and Celestia been able to easily repel the invasion together had the former been appreciated like she deserved? Questions riddled my mind about what was right and wrong. Maybe ordering no civilian casualties was just an act to make her look better. But if she wanted to be a full-fledged tyrant, she would have done it by now. These are not thoughts I want to have. But even if I did keep thinking them, I have but one goal: protect the princess. I then recalled Fancypants and how he had been brutally murdered by her majesty. Execution was one thing, but that? That was just sheer brutality. Regardless, she had to be brought to justice for the measures she took. But that is enough of those thoughts, I think. I probably ought to keep telling the actual story.
As we walked back through the camp, I saw Rarity caring meticulously, in true Rarity fashion, for the now unicorn Spike. Princess Luna was right next to her, making sure to keep him under constant watch. For nightmares, no doubt. I'd probably need the same if I were in his position. But if Luna were my nurse, then worse things could happen. Wow. My journal entries have started to get kinda flirty. I hope to the heavens that Scootaloo doesn't read them. Scootaloo. Hmm. I needed to tell her about me and Luna. She deserved to know. Anyway, as I walked back through, Luna was the first to notice me. She ran over to hug me, and my face turned kinda red. She had apparently been worried. "Spirit! We-I was so worried for you! Twilight Sparkle told me of the waiting trap soon after this morning had passed! She told me that there was a chance you might not have been saved!!" She began crying. It wasn't until now that I realized something: we had been traveling with each other for over two years, almost three now. I'd known her since I was just a foal. I knew she had become an irreplaceable part of my life, but I had no idea how important I'd become to her.
There she was, her orange coat blending in with the sunset flawlessly and sitting on the face of a cliff. She was still crying. As I walked up to her, a twig snapped and she noticed me immediatley. She didn't turn though. I think she just wanted to sit there and be alone, but that wasn't going to happen. We needed at least some closure. "What do you want, Noble?" She sighed as she asked me. I've seen her angry before when she didn't want to be moved. This wasn't it. She would usually throw things when she wanted to be left alone. "You come to rub your princess in my face?"
As we walked through the mountains, I was sure to remember to ask everypony what happened while the group was split. Scootaloo, who didn't join the team until after we seperated, eventually set out to find us maybe six months ago. Since she learned to use her wings for things other than flight when she was younger, like propelling her scooter or running faster, she was able to travel much faster over land than Celestias guards. She said it took forever to track us, though. I guess we covered our tracks better than we thought. Although it might have helped that we tried to avoid taking the roads. As for Applejack and Soarin' getting married, that was a story that ought to get turned into movie after all this chaos with Celestia has been taken care of. Turns out, they met the first time Twilight and all of her friends went to the Grand Galloping Gala together. He ate one of her apple pies and it was, as he said, "love at first bite". He would have made a move on her at Princess Cadances wedding, but then Rainbow Dash grabbed him by the wing and made him dance with her. He didn't get another chance to see her again until the next gala. And when he saw her again? He tried his best to make sure he got to spend the whole evening with her. He even worked to make sure that all of her apple products got sold. Within the first hour of the gala. That's what you call persistence. As they walked together that evening, they spoke together, and that was when she fell for him. He knew he wasn't the shiniest apple in the barrel, but he really turned on the charm that evening. And, as AJ said, he plum forgot to turn it off ever since. They became pen pals after that, and AJ did her best to have her "business meetings" match up with the wonder bolts tour schedule. And when he proposed? He waited until the next gala and spent most of his money on a solid. gold. apple. He handed it to her and to her and she read the engraving. "I'm sorry that I can't give you the world, so I'll just have to make you mine". He asked her to marry him and she shrieked yes. And Applejack does not shriek that often. They made their marriage a small, private ceremony in Manehatten. Ponies didn't really recognize him without his flight suit, so they were left alone for the most part. The only ponies each of them invited was Granny Smith, who desperately wanted to see her granddaughter married before she died, Luna rest her soul, Big Mac, who didn't talk much, Spitfire, the wonder bolts team captain, and his own grandfather, Glides. After they told me that story, it totally explained where Applejack went on those four day "business trips" every month. I had to admit, the gold and blue couple did look great together. Besides, after I thought about seeing Rainbow Dash and Braeburn together, I realized it wasn't that wierd. Rainbow and AJ were basically the same pony given different circumstances to live with. If you gave AJ a set of wings when she was born and put her in Cloudsdale she would have been exactly like Rainbow. And take away Rainbows wings and put her on a farm? You've got yourself an AJ. As for what our next move was, that something that was going to be very difficult to pull off. As it turns out, Fler de Lis was Fancypants' replacement contact, should things have gone awry. Twilight and the others found her camping out in the woods, waiting for the night of the meeting. I should have done that. What she said rocked the whole camp. What she said could mean the end to all this running once and for all. Her husband had a source within Celestias inner circle of friends. It was somepony who knew for years what had been going on but couldn’t do anything until all the pieces were in place for a successful coup. She knew not the name of the contact nor even whether or not it was a pegasus, earthpony, or unicorn. All she knew was that she went by her contact name: Singing Sword. The contact told Fler that Princess Celestia was going to a routine military inspection of the Royal Guard base in Maredrid. She also told her that Lunas guards had been successfully rallying support behind the scenes. Amazing. The buffalo in Appaloosa were also informed of the coming battle were preparing for the engagement. Altogether, it was a force of nearly three thousand collective buffalo, pegasi, earthponies, and unicorns. It would be more than enough to overwhelm the garrison there. Hopefully with minor casualties to both sides. But Maredrid wasn't going to be an easy fight, that was for sure. It was the sight of one of the biggest and baddest pegasus bases back before all three pony races rallied under one flag. It was especially known for the Sky Spire, at one time tallest structures in Equestria. It had once been home to the high command of the pegasus nation. Now it was used as a secondary palace for when impotant diplomats or nobles were in the area. It was also where the princess was staying for her duration there. It all seemed too good to be true. To get there, we had to pass Mount Killmarejaro in the north. Finally. It would finally be over soon. We would draw battle plans once we got there into the general area and rendezvous with the Buffalo Chief, Little Strong Heart. The operation was under his command until we arrived. But until then, we still had a mountain to cross over.
"I hate this!!" We were crossing the mountain pass as I said this. It was freezing cold. And windy. And it was a blizzard. I am currently writing this entry from a cave called "Blizzards Haven". "I really, REALLY hate this." My complaint fell on deaf ears, no doubt because everypony else felt the same way. Still, it made me feel better to say it outloud. Besides, the wind was so loud, I doubted anypony else could here me. As our intrepid party of thirteen crossed through the frozen over Tartouros, I couldn't resist stopping to think about how far we've come from Ponyville. I was now a full grown colt, Scootaloo and I had finally let the past go and become best friends. She still feels a little bit of a grudge against Luna, I think, but I don't think it's anything to bad. She knows what's at stake here. I think I'm finally able to tell how Spike became a full grown unicorn as a oppose to his comparable dragons age. Since he was raised by ponies, he grew up more mature than mst dragns, since they grow up slower and all. When he was still a baby dragon, he was smarter than the cutie mark crusaders. He must have been only 15-17 in dragons years when all of this happened. As for how he got to be full grown, I think it was because he was inducing growth out of an engineered greed to protect Rarity. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that he aged himself to about his mid-twenties in dragon age before Celestia turned him, and since he was that old biologically when she turned him, it must have translated. I was helping to lead the herd, such as it was, through the path right alongside Princess Luna. It was bitter work, especially considering that I was carrying maybe a third of the supplies, along with Big Mac and AJ, but it was worth it. I was the youngest, after all, and I hardly thought that I had proven my worth to the team at large. I mean, everypony else on the team was known for doing something amazing. I mean, we had two royal guards, the best unicorn wizard in Equestria, two super strong work horses that could basically bench press most of the team if they worked together, the master of the legendary sonic rainboom, a kick flank pegasus scout, a wonder bolt, a pony that predict short range disasters, a-
As everypony was laughing and enjoying themselves more than they had in years, I took a moment to go look into the blizzard. I couldn't even see five feet into the icy maelstrom, but I still just sat there, staring into the frozen desolation. "They say that this mountains storm was caused by First Snow, greatest unicorn of her age. She placed it here as a test to those who try their own resolve." Luna had snuck up behind me. It was nice that she held me in that kind of regard.
We walked for what seemed like days after night in the cave. As we walked into the forests surrounding Maredrid city, we were "greeted" by our friends, or allies, at least. There they all were. Thousands of buffalo, pegasi, unicorns and earthponies, gathered beneath the indigo banner of Princess Luna. The 13 of us starred in awe of what lay before us. Beautiful, in a way. True, the death that would be seen today was a tragedy in the gravest sense, but that wasn't what was beautiful about it. All these brave equestrians, prepared to fight and die for a regime that they now knew was corrupted, not to the highest level, but from it. Everything that we had fought for, ran from, and killed for. It was now all culminating in this moment, this final battle. I shed a tear from the anticipation. So much death would both stop and begin from this day. "Almost there," I whispered. "Almost done. Almost won."
"Mares and Gentlecolts," Luna shouted from inside the commanders tent. Each of the main six of the group was there. Luna, obviously, Twilight, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, and Rainbow. There was also Little Strong Heart, the buffalo chief, and me, her knight in shining armour. "We are here today to plan the first, and hopefully last, battle of this conflict. No doubt the whole of you has heard of the terrible sins that my sister has committed for the peace of Equestria. T'is a peace built on lies and blood. Hence, we must finish this battle successfully so as to not draw Equestria into a prolonged conflict. Any questions?" She looked around the room so as to assess whether or not everypony understood. We all did. "Good. Now," she placed her hoof on a map of the warzone. "Scootaloo has scouted out the terrain and has discovered something disturbing. The town is empty."
I woke up early that day. It was more or less what I wanted, but it was an accident. I remember a dream where I was flying through the air and when I landed, I woke up. I decided it was time to check out everything for the biggest fight of my life. Of all of our lives. I walked around the camp and saw each of my companions in a set of armour that looked tailor made for what they were doing. Something sleek for Rainbow Dash, a minimalist approach for Scootaloo, reason being she was more agile than most pegasi and armour would just ruin it for her. AJ was wearing some heavy armour, as was Big Mac. I eventually found Twilight who helped me put on my armour. The battle would happen at late morning, so we still had a few hours to go. So I walked around for a few of those hours, seeing what everypony was brining to the party. The buffalo had some wooden armour on, painted with some tribal stripes on them. Not sure if that was going to do much good, but alright. I saw Rainbow Dash drilling some of her subordinates on how to fight in the air. Many of these guys were really green, but, hopefully, the strategy that Twilight and Luna came up with would make that a moot point. Speaking of which, I saw Twilight and Thunder together in a tree. They were just watching the beautiful rolling hills before all of us. I made my heart ache to know that this was to be the final resting place of so many. Hopefully, most of these recruits remembered to let their loved ones know what was to happen today. I'd hate to be left waiting at home if AJ or Big Mac left and didn't tell why. And then it occurred to me. In case things went south for either of us, I needed to see Luna. If it was one last time, I needed to see again. So I combed the camp for nearly an hour, looking for my love, the princess. Eventually, I found her, looking at the battlefield and wacthing the guards prepare for our assault. That settles it. They knew. "Luna?" I called out timidly.
There it was, the main force. Thousands of Equestrians prepared to fight and die for what they believed in. It was truly a sight to behold. But then was not the time to admire the resolve of the ponies I had to send to their death. No, now was the time they needed to hear their princess rally them. They needed words before the actions. So I flew ahead of them as they stopped their march to war and bloodshed. I was wearing my battle armour that I had crafted during when Sir Noble Spirit and I had braved a prison to rescue our friends, Rarity and Spike. "My fellow Equestrians! I beg that you hear me this day!" I shouted to them all in my loudest voice, augmented by my magic. "You have all traveled far and wide to help me see the end of my sisters rule, and for that, I am more grateful than you could ever know! And today, we stand upon the threshold of a new Equestria! There are those that say that we are in the wrong! That the deaths Princess Celestia caused are justified because they saved the lives of many a pony, but we know that cannot be true! For a peace built upon lies and bloodshed should not stand! And there may be a day when WE are in the wrong! When Equeatria faulters and loses sight of the true path under my protection! But it is not this day! For on this day, we know what must be done! And with this first and last battle, we end my sisters tenure as leader of Equestria! We end her murderous prosperity! For the sake of peace, we fight to end the lies! Are you with me, everypony?!" I heard a resounding cheer from each and every one of the colts and mares that had committed themselves to my cause. But even still, I could taste the hypocrisy on my tongue. It was that profound. What I had done, everything from the past few years, had begun to combine into one, single, dreadful memory. The ponies killed to fight my sister. The blood on my hooves and what I had forced an innocent young colt to become an adult in. Some would say I helped to make him a hero, but I would not. I was lucky to have him on my side as well as in my heart, and I in his. "Over," I whispered to myself. "It's almost over." And then I prepared some of what I had so dearly hoped would some be the last words of this horrible ordeal. "CHARGE!!"
And so we charged. The pegasi would hold off their own assault until the buffalo and unicorn forces had met the guards in battle. I myself flew close to the ground, leading the vanguard of the forces. Twilight was to my right, Pinkie Pie to my left. Then to Thunder and Scootaloo. Behind us was a great line of buffalo with a force of unicorns behind them. As they ran, they used their magic to through polished rocks at the unicorns. But as soon as we finally engaged the guard, they ceased, no doubt realizing that continuing that tactic would surely result in a loss of lives on both side. As the buffalo slammed into Celestias line, my vanguard acted as a lance going through wooden armour, penetrating through their forces easily enough. The buffalo army itself took very few casualties by the looks of it. They had been running so fast, it had felt like thunder had happened on the Equeatrian earth itself. The guard stood little chance. Even with the wall of magical beams headed straight at them, most of the bison simply shrugged it off. Only strikes to the head seemed to prove fatal to them. As we engaged the enemy, they proved to be much more skilled in close quarters than expected. Their horns were coated in it's own razor sharp tip, with a small hole in the tip so as to be able blast through the enemy. But regardless of their own armour, mine proved to be better. Each blast simply deflected off my own shields and they themselves fell easy to my alicorn magic. But eventually, I was made seperate from my team and found maybe fifty guards colts prepared to attack me all at once. I thought I may have well and truly been done for had it not been for a vortex of green flame incinerating all of them, along with a swath of their forces. "Twilight and the others are already on their way to the Spire! Go!" Spike demanded. Thank the heavens for the mistake my sister had made in turning him into a unicorn.
"Follow me, everypony!" We rushed through the breach into the city itself. It was naught but a ghost town. Interesting, so Noble would say. I would find myself agreeing with him. But now was not the time. We had to ascend to the spire. To save Equestria, and to stop my sister. We ran as fast as we could through the abandoned city, slaying all who tried to stop us, and sparing all who surrendered. Cowards or not, they deserved at least some measure of mercy. Perhaps my sister wouldn't agree, but that was why I was there, was it not? As we approached the sky spire, we were approached only a few that dared to challenge us. Curious. I did not like this at all. But not just this, everything about this day. The empty town, the army outside of the walls of the city, and the minimal use of tactics for the entirety of the battle. Any first year cadet at the Royal Canterlot Guard Academy would know that the effectiveness of any army would be dampened considerably if it were a siege. Or perhaps Celestia knew that Twilight was among us or that I or her would easily be able to take down nigh any wall she set before us.
I had thought it impossible. It could not be. It simply could not be. But there he was. Alive after over one thousand years. I was at his burial. I was in a state of awe never seen in Equestria, but even as I denied his very presence, I knew my eyes had not failed. There he was. The greatest wizard in equestrian history. Mine and Celestias teacher in the magical arts. Star Swirl the Bearded, standing triumphantly over my sister. "Welcome, my old student!" He welcomed with a jovial conceit. "How good it is to see my one of my best pupils! How have you been?"
We were unsure how to proceed after our defeat at the spire. So we rested back in the foot hills of Mt. Killmarejaro. Our party is 20 now. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Me, Thunder, Soarin', Braeburn of Appelousa, Big Macintosh, Appleblossom, a zebra called Zecura, two other fillies of about Scootaloos age, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, Cadance, Shining Armour, their twins, Shooting Star and Shining Star, and I believe that that is all of us on board Princess Cadances airship, The Soaring Song. I believe this would be the best place to begin since our loss. I am currently writing this from my own quarters aboard this ship. Everypony else is at a makeshift funeral on the deck of this sky vessel, but I fear that I could not keep my wits about if I spoke a eulogy for my departed beloved. Or everypony lost in the battle for the spire. After we had escaped aboard my nieces ship, we witnessed an explosion of which even I had never seen. My sister or Samarus Night had created it. If my sister, then she knew we would escape and was willing to sacrifice the entirety of two armies and herself to kill one monster, and if Samarus, then he knew he would survive and live to kill us another day. Everypony there's death, there very blood, was on my hooves. All because I had been inpatient in bringing Celestia to justice. And only to find out that she had been secretly manipulated all along. As I had been. By our own teacher. The very unicron that had taught us to fight and to win against Discord. My whole life had been naught of a cruel joke played upon me by the a monster whom we all thought had perished over 1000 years ago. I then heard a knocking at my door. I am trying to ignore it, but it still persists. Who would bother me now, when there had been a funeral for a dear friend to us all. So I finally decide to open the door, and to my surprise, it is Scootaloo. "What is it you want?"
T'was the dead of night when I had all of my belongings prepared for departure from the ship. I had not packed much, just a loaf of bread, for I knew there had still been fruit trees we still had not picked clean from our previous time here. And it was still autumn, so they shall be nice and ripe. If Noble had an idea of what would transpire, he no doubt knew his demise would serve to strengthen the resolve of the team. Forever the fox, ever the trickster. Shining Armour was right. Noble Spirit was crazy. I think he had always been that way. But in each fight he arose from, his insanity had always served us well. He knew exactly what to do. And in each fight, you need only look into his eyes to know that you had, in one manner or another, already lost. But we lose this fight, and his life would not be forfeit. It was my sincere belief that if had fought hard enough, he would have no doubt have caught Samarus Nights attention. And if that were true, then he would have no doubt noticed the more intricate armour he had dawned for that fight. No doubt linking the armour to me. He was still alive. I was certain of it. As I crept past each door of the ship, I spotted the door to the deck. I had left a note on my door, stating what I aimed to accomplish. "Goodbye everypony." I whispered as I exited the interior of the ship.
T'was the early morn when we had departed the base of Mount Killmarejaro. Each of my companions had been preparing for the inevitable battle all morning. Armour was being polished and blades were being sharpened. Pinkie, having finished her axes sharpening, had already gone ahead and began sparing with Thunder. Twilight Sparkle had been looking over more spells that could be used against Samarus. Princess Cadance had undoubtedly known that we would have needed to be prepared for this fight, for she had brought myriad supplies and equipment for this quest. Armour polish, good food, a sharpening stone, and spell books. Twilight Sparkle had nearly made a complaint that she was a something of a 'deus ex machina', being an archaic pony term meaning an unexpected solution to what might have otherwise been a serious problem. But I was greatful for her help none the less. I was surprised that, however, that she had knon of the first layer of this plot without my sisters knowing. Perhaps she had just been more careful, or maybe she just had a much better 'poker face' than I would have imagined. I suppose that was the second rule of intelligence gathering, though. The first being don't get caught and the second being never allow anypony else to know how much you know. After flying at for nearly five hours at full steam, we had finally spotted the castle. T'was time for another rousing speech, I think. My soldiers, such as they were, needed that. And even if they did not, I had rather enjoyed giving them. T'was fun. "Mr. Braeburn!"
The enemy armada approached ever faster. The ships were blacker than any night that I could shroud the world in, and more red than even the most crimson blood. As we flew into the center of their formation, Shining Armour raised his shield as they began to open fire upon us. "Aunt Luna! They enemy outnumbers us ten to one!" Princess Cadance shouetd as Shinings shield took hit after hit of magic to his magical barrier. It would hold. He had dealt with much worse during the Changling Crisis.
The mane six and I ran up the stairs and through the cooridors of what had once been our grand palace. The stairs were just as winding as I had remembered them nearly three years ago. These would likely be my last serene moments before we faced off against the evil of Samarus Night, so I took a moment to ponder what had brought us, all of us, here. Closure for some. Retribution for others. And justice. Not just for everypony, but every griffin as well. And here we all were: adorned in armour of either gold or silver, prepared to pay the ultimate price to rid our fair lands of this vile colt who had once upon a time been a dear friend and ally of my sister and I. The very colt who had taught us the magics to seal away discord. This was it. At the entrance to the final arena to decide the fate of Equestria, I gathered my wits about me. T'was time for fate to run its course.
"Samarus Night!" I shouted with a voice that shook the ceiling. "We have come for you!"
Sweet mother of Celestia! Luna really took off when I was captured. Haha. Wow. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less from mare I fell in love with. This will probably be the final entry in this thing, seeing as how I'll be way to busy helping my dear Luna rebuild Canterlot. I should probably finish by telling what happened after Samarus Nights defeat and when Luna woke up.
It'd been two days of her solid sleeping and I didn't leave her side once. Neither did Celestia. She explained to me everything. "Samarus Night had been behind everything, it seems. From Lunas corruption to this dreadful war."
The next day, she was able to walk by herself around the castle. And that was when I had everything planned out. There she was, watching the amber coated sky after she had lowered the sun that day. The clouds were beautifully bathed in the goldenrod of the evening sky. "It's a whole new world out there, isn't it, Luna?" I could see her jump slightly at my voice, showing I had startled her.
And that is how an orchard working earthpony with almost no special skill aside from running fast and an outcast alicorn princess saved the Equestria. And of everything that happened, I wouldn't have changed any of it. We never saw Celestia again after that, although I know she's still watching over us as a guardian of the light. Nopony could turn her back on her subjects like that. I should probably stop writing now. My wedding starts in a few minutes and I really shouldn't be late. It's hard to believe that I started out as just a run of the mill runt earthpony who worked at an apple orchard, and now I'm marrying an alicorn princess. Life has a funny way of working itself out. I wish I could end this epic tale of love and war with something profound or intrinsic. Something better than just an old and stale goodbye. I always did hate endings, after all. But I guess I don't have think of this as an ending, but the beginning something new. Goodbye everypony. It was fun.