There was shouts and clattering outside of my tent, soldiers shifted to and fro as they prepared for the dawn. I paid them no mind. I stood before a mirror listening to the din, staring down at the stranger I had become. Where once warm eyes had twinkled mischievously, now cold and calculating darkness remained. Hard lines marred a face that could have been called beautiful, a mouth held firm in a thin line and a deep scar encircled my throat where a particularly bold assassin had tried his luck, and almost succeeded.
My horn sparkled to life with a glow as gold as the sun. There was a time when such a colour had been a sign for hope, now the sight of my magic sent Ursa Major screaming in fear, for the wrath it brought would scorch the earth and all who dwelled upon it. Clasping the armor that rested in a pile beside the mirror, I slid each piece in place. Deep bronze and gold clicked around my body, hiding the ghost of the shimmering white fur that was now dulled and grey from stains and other unsavoury things. Methodically, silently, I placed each piece upon myself, feeling my weight grow heavy with the burden and my golden clad hooves dig into the soft ground. My mane, which had been carefree and gamboled playfully in solar winds, now hung limp by my side, the weight of all I had seen and done had sapped the magic from it entirely. I bound that too in golden rings, an errant hair blocking my sight could mean the end of thousands. Even my wings bore the burden of protection, those plates were enchanted to as to protect the delicate bones but still allow me to fly. When it was done, I stood twice my weight, a literal glittering battering ram of fire and fury. A far cry from the genteel Princess I used to be.
I stepped out of my tent to raise the sun, my routine that had previously held such mystery and beauty was currently as mundane as eating a bannock. If Equestria stopped to behold the sunrise each day then we would be leaving ourselves vulnerable to the enemy which had plagued our homes and sacked our cities. A sunrise was nothing in the face of such demons. I shifted my eyes to the sky as my charge hauled itself over the horizon, the atmosphere surrounding it was a deep and cruel crimson. I know that today would see bloodshed. The mornings never lie.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight Sparkle ran to my side, parchments and plans spilling from her saddlebags, where they hung awkwardly over her own golden armor. The Element of Magic was askew on her head, I smiled wryly and straightened it with my hoof.
“What is it, my faithful student?”
“The Crystal Army has moved it’s encampment over the night, they are now just over the ridge. Two hours march, an hour if we gallop and push the soldiers.” she shuffled a map to the front of her papers, a glowing mark etching out where our enemy was camped. “I’ve contacted General Dash, she says she can have them ready to go within the hour.”
My eyes trailed over the army that had come to the aid of Equestria. Potters, gardeners, housekeepers. They were hardly the stuff of legends, yet in this world, a legend they each would become. I would remember their names, each one etched into my soul, for those names would be the ones that I would write upon the letters of grief to sent home to what remained of their families.
“Very good, Twilight. Ready them and we will set a quick pace. Perhaps we shall have the element of surprise today.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
We would not have the element of surprise, I could feel the air was heavy with foreboding and sadness, as if the very land and wind were crying in mourning of the battle to come. The Royal Guard was long gone, lost to the blind obedience and brutality of King Sombra’s hypnotized army. Equestria's remaining hope was pinned upon these humble ponies. All I could do was be at the front, and unleash the rage that burned within me at my little ponies being used for fodder to feed Death’s unending appetite. Sometimes I felt as if my cries of despair was the music to his banquet of war, and that he rejoiced in it. The ground rumbled, and a wall of black armor and glowing eyes crested the hill above our station. This was what the sky had tried to tell me, what the wind had begged me to know.
“To arms!” I bellowed, my voice shaking the earth as much as the fearsome horde that bore down upon those whom I loved. “Fall back to me! To me!”
Beating my enormous wings, I scooped up an ornate bronze battle axe and hurtled myself into the sky. The axe began to heat up with the might of my magic, the power of the sun lighting the enchanted runs upon its hilt. My helmet appeared upon my head, summoned by my student who was running between the ponies below me, howling orders and shoving the inexperienced soldiers into place. The axe, fully charged, burst into flames as hot as Tartarus itself, and I swept my wings down, pushing into the morning sky. The sun shone bright behind me, burning as if in time with my own righteous fury.
The swarm of crystal soldiers had reach my beloved army.
I plummeted towards them, hatred for what I had become fueling the swing of my axe into the masses, bones and flesh falling before my fury.
For Equestria.