July 4th, 1422 E.F
I wonder what this journal will be read as when all this is over. Will it be read by a pony or a human? I guess it doesn't matter at this point because it's hard to imagine what kind of a future awaits this world when this war is over. If we survive and drive the humans, it would take a miracle to save what's left of Equestria from all the death and ruin that has come upon it. The once green fields and meadows are grey without life, and the decay of dead bodies are rotting in the dirt. The farms are picked clean and ravaged by war and hunger. The skies are no longer blue but dark with smoke as an eclipse that never seems to end—a world without sunshine and starlight. A grim and bitter future for us all, even if we were to survive. Our once beautiful and peaceful home is but a memory.
I can't even remember what it used to be like before the war anymore. For a brief moment, I wonder if all of this could have been avoided. Could we have just kept our borders shut and never once moved from them as humanity slowly rotted? Just keep ourselves safe and happy in our utopia while they slowly destroyed themselves over time. Humanity is a doomed species that has wasted whatever potential granted to them long ago. Even if they win, they are only delaying the evitable. They'll go back to killing each other or raping this planet until there are no resources left and die a slow death. They consume and spread like a virus destroying its host, and once the host dies it will eat itself to death.
For such a horrible, disgusting, and sinful species to survive and bring us down to such a level? Frankly, I think there really are no gods in the universe. No kind and loving God would let such a race exist nor let us, who lived our lives through harmony and friendship, suffer like this. It's just wrong that we have to suffer and lose so much to these monkeys.
It's wrong that I have lost so much.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 5th, 1422 E.F
A number of Canterlot's population has fled. One army division silently took over one of the north's entrance gates and opened it for citizens to retreat. I don't know how many have left, but they put it around the thousand range before loyal soldiers retook the gate. The ones who did it surrendered without a fight, but they were let go and sent to follow those who fled by Princess Celestia's order. I thought for sure that she would have them executed, but I guess even the princess is tired of all the deaths that have taken place.
It amazes me that she still has the willpower to hold firm by doing all she can to prepare for humanity's next attack while protecting us with the city-wide shield. Rumors are spreading that her ponies' hope and prayers are keeping her going. Others say that the spirits of the other Alicorns from the afterlife are giving her their power from Elysium. The old me might have believed that, but the current me just snorts upon hearing such things. Prayers don't do anything. They never did for me.
My father once told me that faith is all the remains when everything is lost. So what happens when you have no faith? Only anger, bitterness, and a desire to kill humans until none are left in this world.
Captain Hope Diamond calls for more drills to be done in preparation for any sort of human attack. I guess it's back to training for me.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 7th, 1422 E.F
Everyone in the city is depressed, and I cannot blame them. We have finally gotten word about Lt. Colonel Blazehoof, and it is as we feared. He's dead. Shot in the back during an ambush in their attempts to sneak into Canterlot's borders. His second-in-command has decided to surrender to the humans and sent a letter to Princess Celestia urging her to do the same thing.
From what I hear, Princess Celestia lashed out violently and ordered everyone to leave but Princess Twilight Sparkle, her assistant Spike, and a few other generals. However, she didn't put any silence spells on the walls and doors so everypony could hear her screaming in despair. They say she cried and cursed all of humanity for taking everything that she loved. Everypony dear to her, such as her sister, Cadence, Flurry Heart, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and many of her subjects. That those who surrendered without fighting humanity broke their vow against Equestria's citizens and betrayed her to the very core. Princess Twilight Sparkle tried to calm her down. Still, even she declared that Twilight and her friends failed in their duty as Equestria's Saviors due to Fluttershy's betrayal and their inability to use the Elements. I heard she later apologized for this, but I think that was too far.
After shouting for so long, they say she finally collapsed and began to sob for hours. It must have been around the time I saw the shield fading in or around mid-morning. It seems that Princess Celestia has finally been unable to hold back her feelings, and I cannot blame her. Just how much pain and suffering must she have been going through throughout this entire war? She was one of the greatest rulers and ponies in history, and all that she has done was now ruined by these monsters who dare defy her gift to make them ponies
What happened next has everyone on edge. The generals asked if Equestria was going to surrender or if we were going to fight to our last breath. Princess Celestia gave no answer and only said they would not yield for now.
Many are questioning what we should do now. Most of us, such as myself, believe that dying in battle is better than surrendering. Surrendering to humanity means that everything we did was in vain. That all those I fought with...and Thundershot...all of them would have died for nothing. I know what fate awaits us. Rape. Death. Suffering. Enslavement. The humans do this to all their enemies. No, I'd rather die fighting like a true son of Equestria than bend the knee to these bastards.
Because that's all I have left in this world.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 8th, 1422 E.F
He bucking appeared—that damn spirit of chaos.
Today Discord arrived on behalf of humanity and the resistance to end the war peacefully with the complete surrender of Equestria. Naturally, everyone tried to attack and kill him, but that proved futile as he snapped his figures and turned all our weapons into balloons. When Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight arrived, it looked like there was going to be a big battle, but Discord vowed he had come in peace and even wore some kind of hippie outfit.
Personally, I wished he had just been vaporized to dust right then and there. Instead, the Princesses allowed him inside. I do not know what was shared between them, only that Discord left, and Princess Celestia announced that they would not be surrendering.
Good.
I bet that damn spirit loves humanity too, because they are just as twisted and sick as he is.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 12th, 1422 E.F
It's gone.
The shield is gone.
It disappeared yesterday after another barrage of missile fire, only this time, when it faded, the missiles came through and destroyed a section of the city. We had to spend hours putting out the fire and rescuing what few ponies we could. The entire city went into an utter panic as everyone began fearing that the humans would invade any second now that the shield was gone. After helping with the fire, Captain Hope Diamond rushed us to our positions to prepare for anything, but the humans never came much to our surprise.
There was no attempt to stop the rioting and looting. The guards and army were all needed at every border to prepare for the clash against the human military. I could hear the sounds of screaming and panic throughout the entire night as I stood still with my weapon in hoof, my heart pounding every second as I waited for even a single shot. Instead, there was nothing. Eventually, I guess even the civilians must have realized it since there were no more attacks that day nor throughout the night.
However, that didn't stop us all from worrying. It meant that something had to have happened to Princess Celestia with the shield gone. Everyone feared the worst, from her being dead to abandoning us all to our fate. I actually found myself praying that she was alive. She had been our protector and rock for this entire war, including this painful ordeal we are going through now. To lose her would mean everything was truly lost.
In the end, she was not dead, but she was unconscious. I do not know why, but I pray that she wakes up soon. Without the shield, we're defenseless, and nothing will stop the humans from coming in their massive hordes.
Nothing.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 15th, 1422 E.F
It's been three days since Princess Celestia fell unconscious. Princess Twilight officially gave a full and honest report to us all yesterday. Princess Celestia was in a coma. The pressure of holding the shield against constant assault, combined with fatigue, was finally too much for her, even with her alicorn powers. She fell after her horn was broken in a burst of magic. The horn will heal over time, but the princess is so far in a deep sleep that nothing will awaken her. She might not even wake up again.
Three goddesses dead. One in a coma. And all that remained was Princess Twilight, who was now in command of us all. We were ordered to keep things in check and to not make any moves, but every one of us knows what's coming. The humans are right there. Miles away, prepared to attack us with everything they have and wipe us out. I have survived so many times in this war from attacks and incidents that should have died a long time ago. Now I feel that my luck has run out, and I will not leave this city alive.
Captain Hope Diamond assures us to still not give up and trust that Princess Twilight has a plan. Apparently, she was there watching Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville throughout all her life and admired her for being a brave, strong, and smart leader who never gave up in the darkest of times from Nightmare Moon to Tirek. I don't know how Princess Twilight will save us, but it will be quite a miracle to pull off if she can do so.
What has me worried is why hasn't the human army attacked us in our moment of weakness? They have enough firepower to level this entire mountain and wipe us out. So why haven't they?
What are they doing?
-Halberd Wings
***
July 17th, 1422 E.F
It's finally here.
The last stand.
The final battle.
Humanity sent a letter to Princess Twilight stating that in 24 hours, the army would march into Canterlot and would not stop until they had completely taken it over.
At long last, I can finally fight these humans to the last breath. If this is to be our end, let it be such an end that they remember it for the rest of their miserable days. Let the pride of Equestria sing one last time in the streets of our ancestors as pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies unite one more time to show this wretched world what real harmony is. We will take ten for every one of us that is wiped out. We shall make them fight for every inch of our city. Our nation will live on in honor and in spirit, knowing that we dared to stand up once again to evil and held our values with pride.
I am going to be coming soon to you Thundershot. If there is indeed an afterlife. I have no regrets. I have lived my life as faithful to the teachings of Equestria as possible. I have fought with everything that I had. I can picture our glorious last stand as we show these humans that they might have beaten us, but they have never defeated us. Captain Diamond Hope has been rallying the troops with speeches like this, and we are all finding ourselves ready for tomorrow.
Every soldier is prepared for battle. Even citizens are joining in to prepare for the last stand. I find myself nodding and shaking hooves or hugging those around me as I know that we will see our last sunrise tomorrow. I actually can remember seeing the Equestrian sun rising by Princess Celestia's power. It was always so beautiful to see in Cloudsdale.
This will probably be my last journal entry. I intend to go to battle with it. It's been there since the beginning, and I will have it be with me to the end.
It was an honor writing in this to tell my story. I hope that somehow it can be heard. But now it's time for one last battle.
One last stand for Equestria.
For the 139th Arial Spear Regiment!
For the Princesses!
For Harmony and Friendship!
For Thundershot!
FOR EQUESTRIA!
-Corporal Halberd Wings, 139th Arial Spear Regiment, 2nd Platoon
***
I...I cannot...my tears cannot stop...betrayal...utter betrayal...
Princess Twilight...has surrendered to humanity...
Equestira has surrendered.
To humanity.
The war is over.
It's all over.
***
July 19th, 1422 E.F
I only dare to write the date so that future generations will know of this great betrayal from that bucking BITCH TWILIGHT SPARKLE!
Surrendered. We surrendered!
Canterlot is now occupied with humans! Humans in our sacred capital! For the first time in our history, a foreign nation and race have taken over our holy land.
I remember it all so easily. We were getting ready to take our spot when orders came for all soldiers to stand down and throw their weapons away. Princess Twilight had agreed to terms of surrender. I was shocked. I think I had a heart attack. I almost wished I had. Because it was that moment, my world was finally done for. Everything was over. All that we had struggled to keep sacred was gone. Twilight Sparkle, our greatest hero, had betrayed us all by surrendering to those monkeys!
I wanted the messenger to say that this was a prank. A joke or anything! But he turned away and walked as if there was nothing else to say. We all stood there, my fellow comrades, as we tried to come to terms with what just happened. Our civilization, our nation, which has stood for nearly a thousand years, has come to an end. I have witnessed the end of my home's sovereignty to a race of monsters.
Captain Hope Diamond took out her sword and just slit her own throat right then and there, as did a few others. To my shame, I was still too shocked to do anything and just struggled to process what had happened. I remember screaming, crying, and just kicking something or someone before blacking out.
How could she do this?! To us?! To her nation?! To her ponies?! The ones she was sworn to protect?! What was she thinking when she surrendered us to humanity?! Did she not know what fate awaits us?! Of our children?! We'll be slaughtered! Raped! Enslaved and treated like animals?!
WHAT DID EVERYTHING WE GO THROUGH FOR THE LAST BUCKING FIVE YEARS WAS WORTH IN THE END NOW?! NOTHING! BUCKING NOTHING! I LOST MY HOME! MY FRIENDS! FAMILY! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! AND NOW I'M SUPPOSED TO MAKE FUCKING PEACE WITH THE HUMANS WHO CAUSED ALL OF THIS SUFFERING?!
We should have died like real ponies! Real Equestrians! We should have gone down as a nation that refused to give up...but now...now we are nothing but a defeated and broken country. A land that no longer exists. Our culture. Our laws. Our values. Our faith. Our home. Everything is gone now. The humans have won and they have taken everything from us.
And now we were to place our fate in their hands.
I felt the last of my strength die inside of me as I saw human soldiers and vehicles march through the streets of Canterlot. They stood with pride and walked in formation as we all stared in silence, hatred, and tears. They looked so proud, so happy, and so content to know that they had triumphed over us. I saw mothers crying with their children as soldiers threw away their weapons and armor in disgust and anger. Ponies are killing themselves even more now in their homes because there is nothing left. We've lost everything.
Even our pride.
I look above the castle, and I see not the flag of my once pride and beautiful home, but the UN's flag soaring above.
And I feel nothing but utter despair.
-Halberd Wings
***
July 21th, 1422 E.F
This shall be my last journal entry, for I will no longer be alive when I finish writing this. I have thought about it long and hard the past few days, and I have decided to end my life. I have nothing left in this world. This world is no longer my world but a nightmare unbearable to live in.
I was once just a pony in Equestria who did everything right in life. I went to church to pray to the goddesses to watch over my family and me every day. I listened to the teachings of harmony to live as good of a citizen as I possibly could. I honored my princesses and heroes, who are now dead or betrayed or missing. I fought for what was right and just in this world. I fought for a future of my kind. I fell in love with a pony I lost and yet still fought in his honor and memory.
And it was all for nothing. My life was worth nothing in the end.
The Prin-no, she doesn't deserve that title.
The bitch will negotiate a peace treaty with humanity in a few days to bring relief back to your nation and rebuild it. Some ponies are hopeful that we can focus on starting anew with the war over. Fools. Our home is dead. It's gone. There is nothing left for us anymore. We're better off all dying than living as a defeated and subjected race to the humans. Whatever future they are building, I will not be part of it.
If I was a pegasus, the idea of hanging myself might seem stupid, but I am wingless. I doubt anything can stop me at this point. I wonder if it's wrong to want to die so bad, but at this point, I don't care. I cannot go on anymore.
I look back at this journal and see how far I have fallen from that hopeful youth who believed we could defeat this evil. How ignorant was I to the cruel fate that was to be given to me?
Some ponies talked about a hopeful future with humanity. That maybe with the war over, things will get better. I will never believe that. I will never be part of any world with them. I curse humanity and all the traitors to the ends of time, including Twilight Sparkle, who has shattered what was left us as a nation.
This the end.
I am going to die now, and I...I admit I am a bit scared.
But nevertheless, I will push forward.
One last charge into the darkness, and forever will I sleep once more.
Sleep as a true son of Equestria.
Farewell.
-Halberd Wings, A True Son of Equestria.
***
Spike put the book down and sighed heavily as he rubbed his eyes from all the reading he did. He looked up at the student in front of him, Shadow Wings, who nervously rubbed his hooves. When his student told him that he had a journal from his ancestor who fought in the war and wanted to show it to his teacher, Spike wasn't prepared for the sure intensity behind it. He had never heard of Halberd Wings, but the events were as accurate as they come. He remembered so much of it that it was like seeing a picture in his head.
"Professor Spike?" Shadow Wings addressed, getting his attention. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, Shadow. I'm sorry," Spike said as he closed the journal and got up from his desk. "I was just surprised by how vivid and raw it was."
"I felt the same when I read it," Shadow Wings said with a heavy sigh. "If only my really great uncle knew that his family survived. That his sister had a family after the war. And if he just lived long enough to learn what Celestia really did..."
"I doubt that it would have changed anything," Spike said, shaking his head. "Even after the truth came out, there were a lot of ponies who either refused to believe it or didn't care. Most of them were part of the Freedom Fighters."
"You think Halberd would have joined them if he learned of them?" Shadow asked, tilting his head.
"Maybe, but who knows," Spike said, picking up the book and looking at it with sympathy. If anything, he felt sorry for the writer of this book. He was but another victim of Celestia's manipulation and lies while becoming more hateful as the war dragged on. His hatred breaking him piece by piece until there was nothing left. No, it was clear that Halberd Wings would never have adjusted to the new world after the war. The loss and suffering he had endured had broken him, and death was all but a welcome gift at that point.
"You know, he was wrong," Shadow Wings said, getting up from his seat as his wings flapped. "The future we ponies and humans have created is better than we could have ever dreamed. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"Hmm, it's just too bad we had to lose so much to see it," Spike said with a sad smile before handing the book back to Shadow Wings. "Much as I enjoyed reading it, Shadow, I think it's best if you keep it in the family. To showcase to your own children just how the war was like and how misguided Equestria was at the time."
"Okay," Shadow Wings said as he took the book back. "Well, I guess I better get back to my dorm. By the way, Professor, I hear you and your fiancé finally picked a wedding date?"
"Yeah, Rebecca wants to get married in the spring just like her mother," Spike said, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head. "I wanted to get married in the summer, but it's the bride's day after all."
"Well, I hope me and Claire can one day get married after we finish school," Shadow said before taking flight and heading towards the door. "See you on Monday!"
Spike nodded before turning to the window, where he saw the city's bright lights around him. Yeah, a better future. One that cost us so much.
And one that should never be forgotten.