How many? a commanding, male voice sounded within Six's memories.
Nearly three million. another voice responded.
A sigh came from the first voice. And the survivors?
One-thousand, three-hundred and five. Only two-hundred children.
Jesus Christ...
We did all we could, Captain.
...It's just never enough, is it?
Noble Six awoke, with a start, to a soft drizzle pelting her face. It was hard to tell what was sweat and what was rain, but she wiped both away, regardless.
It had been only a few hours after she had managed to escape from the city of horses, and the Spartan had been following what appeared to be train tracks, west.
She couldn't get it out of her head, no matter how hard she tried: The screaming, the dying... The burning of flesh.
Noble Six couldn't get Jericho Seven out of her head. It was forever stuck in her memories; it was her motivation for doing what she did.
And the horses' terror had brought it back.
In the distance, a town began forming, and Noble Six began to jog.
She needed to get her mind off of things that would impede her survival, and one surefire way to do that was to be around the horses, as ironic as that may sound.
Noble Six needed something to keep track of, and potentially hundreds of aliens that would all cause quite a panic if they saw her was just the thing to do it.
She didn't know how she would explain her reasoning, had she someone to explain it to, but she simply knew that it would work.
A quick glance behind her revealed that the flashes from the city were growing dimmer, either from the distance, or because the battle was growing to a close.
"Heck naw!" Applejack spat.
"Applejack is right, Twilight: We can't just drop into something we know nothing about!" Rarity piped up.
"Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We don't know what we'd be facing! It could be giant marshmallow monsters who want to gobble us helpless ponies up! Or a mean 'ol centaur who wants to plunge Equestria into chaos and darkness! OR a horribly cliche villain with dark magic powers who can barely speak like a normal pony because his head has been so corrupted by foul magics!"
The group stared at Pinkie for a moment as she panted from lack of breath, before returning to the matter at hand.
"But we have to do something, girls!" Twilight pleaded.
"You could always send Princess Celestia a letter, rather than just teleporting us, out of the blue." Rarity replied, nonchalantly.
"But then we'd lose the element of surprise!" Rainbow Dash argued.
"But I'm right here!" an ignored Pinkie Pie chimed in, before Twilight firmly stated her decision.
"I am going to send Princess Celestia a letter, find out what is going on, and if we are needed. If we are needed, we are all going to Canterlot, and that is final."
The room fell into silent agreement as Twilight began writing her letter.
"Where is the alien, dear sister?" Nightmare Moon spat, irritatedly, as she twirled her sword idly in the air while holding Noble Six's helmet in her magical grasp, as well; studying it with some interest.
Nightmare Moon remained untouched by the claws of battle, while Celestia sat slumped against the wall, bleeding from several places along her body as she panted and stared determinedly at her younger sister.
"She is not here." Princess Celestia stated.
"Obviously." Nightmare Moon noted as she tossed the helmet to the side.
"Stalling will not prevent your death, Celestia." Nightmare Moon continued as she slowly approached the white alicorn, carefully stepping over the torn and mangled bodies of foolish guards.
"It's not my death I'm stalling, sister." Princess Celestia replied.
"You needn't worry about me, Celestia." Nightmare Moon taunted. "I'm clearly capable of taking care of myself."
"You have no idea what you're going up against, Luna." Celestia stated, with a cough. "She has battled a civilization far more advanced than her own and managed to survive."
"You think I have not seen what you have, Celestia?! I am the Goddess of War, the Queen of Destruction, and the Mistress of Blood! Those are titles bestowed upon me while you sat cozy on the throne, leaving me to pull Equestria together! I am the rightful ruler, Celestia!" Nightmare Moon shouted as she stormed forwards, poising her blade to strike.
But, before the blade could descend upon the alicorn's body, a bright flash blinked into existence from above.
Noble Six smiled, softly, as he beginnings of a town in the distance. She knew following these railroad tracks would lead to civilization, and her plan had finally worked as she started jogging into the town; careful to keep out of the eyes and ears of celebrating horse.
It seemed that none of them knew what had happened in the city, as evident by their laughter and partying.
Now, Noble Six had to find an out-of-the-way place to live where she wouldn't be found in a long while, in addition to food.
At the memory of that delicious pie she had stolen from a market back in the city, Noble Six's stomach let out a low grumble, and the Spartan decided that a home could wait. After all, she had been traveling for quite a while, and quite the distance.
Making a note of the street-faring ponies' positions, Noble Six scanned the town in search of a store or restaurant.
Considering its odd design of being covered in pastries, it wasn't long before Noble Six discovered what could only be understood as a confection shop. Wasting no time, the Spartan dodged glances and confused ears as she snuck around the crowd and behind buildings until she was standing behind the delicious looking masonry.
It was like that Hansel and Gretel story from so long ago, except it was unlikely that a witch lived inside who would eat other creatures.
Taking one last look around and inside the building, Noble Six carefully lifted a window and snuck inside.
A light from a doorway told her that a few horses still dwell within the building, but judging by their voices, they weren't many. So long as she wasn't too loud, the Spartan could eat as much as she pleased.
That is, if she could find the food.
As far as Noble Six could tell, the only things in this kitchen were ingredients. And ingredients alone did not make for a filling or delicious meal. Besides, the Spartan didn't even know how to bake sweet treats; only her MREs and the occasional clump of foreign vegetables that she found while alone on a mission.
But Noble Six didn't give up. There had to be something already made.
And so, Noble Six began her ask of quietly searching the remains of he kitchen for food.
Nightmare Moon blinked at the burst of light, looking up just in time to have her nose booped by a rolled up parchment. While she was distracted, Princess Celestia, underneath her, forced her way up and headbutted her younger sister's jaw; sending the dark alicorn reeling back.
Without missing a beat, Celestia unfurled the scroll and began reading as she gracefully ducked and dodged Nightmare Moon's blade while fleeing around the room.
Dear Princess Celestia, the note began. I'm just sending this letter to see if the celebration is going well. I've noticed a great number of "fireworks", more than the last few years, and was just wondering if you were enjoying yourself. Your faithful student, always there when you need her, Twilight Sparkle.
Princess Celestia smiled a proud smile at her student's letter, quickly tearing the it in half as she ducked under a slash from Nightmare Moon before sending half of the letter back to her faithful student.
Soon, Princess Celestia realized, the Elements of Harmony would be here to put an end to this battle.
"Your petty little student can't save you, now, Celestia!" Nightmare Moon taunted, seemingly reading her elder sister's mind as her sword swung down and clanged against the stone floor; only because a certain white alicorn managed to roll out of the way, just in time.
"They will come, Luna, and they will subdue you so that I can finish what I started!" Princess Celestia challenged, determinedly, as she turned and kicked out her hind hooves against her sister.
"What, are you going to kill me, Celestia?" Nightmare Moon continued to taunt. "You aren't fooling anypony! You could barely swat at a parasprite; how do you expect to be able to strike down your own sister?"
Princess Celestia seemingly ignored her younger siblings' taunts and jibes, but, deep down, Celestia knew that she was right. No matter what atrocities Luna committed, she could never kill her. She could only banish her and hope that she would return with a healthy state of mind.
She could not kill her sister because, in doing so, Celestia killed a part of herself.
Luna was the only thing Celestia had left in the world, from the beginning.
And to lose it meant losing herself.
"Ah don't understand." Applejack stated, flatly, as Twilight stared quietly at the torn shred of paper.
"It means Princess Celestia is in trouble." Twilight replied.
"How do ya figure?"
"It's a code the Princess and I made up when I was still a filly. It started out as a joke, when I said I loved and admired her so much that I would protect her from anything. But, if I wasn't there, I would send her a letter. If anything was wrong, she would tear the note in half and send it back, if she couldn't write a reply." Twilight explained.
Out of sight, a pink tail began twitching, then an ear floppy, then a nose scrunchie, followed by an eye flutter, and ending with leg shake.
Pinkie Pie, oblivious to the preparations of war among the other group members, struggled to understand what she had just felt, before her ears perked up and pointed towards the kitchen.
Remaining apparently invisible to the rest of her friends, Pinkie's curiosity claimed her completely, and the pink mare began investigating; carefully and quietly heading behind the counter and peeking through the doorway into the kitchen.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and Pinkie was about to turn back, before a barely audible clang sounded from within the kitchen - as if something metal had been dropped, only to be caught carefully by something else metal, just seconds before causing a loud ruckus.
Pinkie Pie activated her sneak mode, which was really just herself pressed close to the ground as she scooted along, keeping an eye and ear out for anything and everything as she investigated further.
As she peeked around a corner, what she saw sent her eyes nearly popping out of her skull and her mouth agape to let out a terrified scream.
Pinkie Pie might have actually screamed, had the monster routing through the kitchen spotted her, grabbed her, and held her mouth firmly shut in its cold, metal grasp.
"Food. Eat." Noble Six whispered, sternly, as she held the pink horses' mouth shut; her other arm wrapped across the creatures back to keep it from fleeing.
Noble Six waited patiently for the creature to calm down, before realizing that it was too terrified to do so, or it didn't understand the Spartan well enough to realize what it had asked for and be shocked.
Either way, Noble Six's grasp held the horse tightly as it trembled, before Noble Six let go of its back and made a universal eating motion before waving her arm to the cabinets.
The pink horse responded with continuous trembling, slowly raising its hoof to point at an odd, tall white thing against the wall, to which Six dragged the horse over to. When it was in reach, Noble Six carefully opened it and peeked inside. What lay beyond the white door made her mouth water, and the Spartan sternly made a motion for the horse to be quiet, which it seemed to understand.
Hesitantly releasing its mouth, Noble Six was pleased to find the creature silent and simply staring as it sat and trembled.
Hoping that things would remain at their best, Noble Six carefully began stuffing her face with whatever she could fit as she kept a watchful eye on the horse; occasionally offering some food, which was politely denied with a trembling head shake.
Everything was going perfectly.
Nothing was going perfectly.
Canterlot was, undoubtedly, under attack, the the princess's were potentially in danger, and Pinkie Pie had disappeared. Had this been any other circumstance, none of the five ponies looking under tables and behind doors would be worried about a missing Pinkie, but this was an emergency.
"Hey, has anypony checked the kitchen?" Rainbow Dash shouted from upstairs, prompting Twilight and Rarity to sigh, before they both dutifully marched towards the kitchen.
A shriek from the white unicorn brought Rainbow Dash and Applejack form the upper rooms, and sent Fluttershy scurrying under a table.
"You!" Twilight Sparkled shouted in alarm and agitation. "What are you doing here?!"
"Wait, you know this... Thing?!" Rainbow Dash questioned as the group poured into the kitchen.
The scene was not an easy one: Pinkie Pie hung in the creatures grasp once more, this time with her back to its chest and its arm across her abdomen; its other hand gently clenching the pink pony's' throat. Twilight stood in the doorway in a defensive stance, while Rarity took one a bit closer. Rainbow Dash flapped above them all, and Applejack held her ground with a determined glare.
"It's a long story!" Twilight shouted back in frustration.
"Ah reckon we need to hear it!" Applejack shot back.
"You know what?!" Twilight Sparkle snapped, losing her patience. "I am done. I am just done! I am so sick of all of this secrecy and alien horseshit that I am going to end it all right now!"
To push her point further, Twilight Sparkle's eyes began glowing a hot white as her horn produced a blazing tendril of magic that shot from Twilight to the alien's unarmored forehead; connecting the two.
Time seemed to stop for the ponies in the room.
"Noble Six, take out those wraiths!" Kat shouted as a plasma mortar slammed into the ground in front of her.
Noble Six snapped out of her trance and shook her head clear, before rolling out of the path of another wraith mortar. Quickly realizing what she held in her hands, Noble Six raised the target locator and charged the shot; locking onto the enemy wraith as it held its ground and fire another mortar.
In an instant, hellfire rained from the sky, and the wraith exploded into a fiery death.
All seemed calm, for a moment, before Kat spoke again over the radio: "Outstanding! Pelican, inbound, with transport, Six."
With the area clear of hostiles, Noble Six hurried towards the landing Pelican and climbed into the drivers seat of the fresh Warthog.
Was all that shit about colorful horses just a dream? My fucking' head on straight? Noble Six thought to herself as Kat occupied the passenger's seat.
Noble Six flexed her grip around the steering wheel, just to make sure it was real. It sure felt real.
"You! What are you doing here?!" Kat suddenly shouted, and Six turned her head to eye the Spartan in confusion. "How did you get out of the castle, and what's going on in Canterlot?!"
Noble Six blinked in confusion and shook her head to clear up whatever was wrong, but all that managed to do was replace Kat with the purple horse she knew. Recoiling back and out of the vehicle, Noble Six met hard ground and soft grass as the Warthog shimmered out of existence, leaving the purple pony sitting in midair before she calmly descended a small flight of invisible stairs to actual ground.
"What the fuck are you talking about, what the fuck just happened?!" Noble Six replied, casting her glance around. She was not on the outskirts of Sword Base, but she also wasn't in the never-ending, rolling plains of where ever the fuck she had been before, with the white horse.
Instead, memories played themselves out around Noble Six as the purple horse slowly approached with a stern look on its face.
"Answer the question!" she shouted; her booming voice causing a ripple effect across Noble Six's memories.
"No, you're not real! It was all just some fucking hallucination!" Noble Six shouted back as her head began to pound.
"What's going on in Canterlot?!" the purple horse continued, not letting the distance grow between the backwards-crawling Spartan and herself.
Noble Six gave a pained shout as an Elite wielding an Energy Sword flashed into existence; letting out a fearsome roar and slashing at the horse in front of it.
The purple horse lost its aggressive nature and stood rigid with fear before realizing, with great relief, that the alien's blade has phased through it.
"You want some of this, mother fucker?! Come and fucking get it!" Emile shouted from behind the pony as he fired his shotgun once more, sending the Elite backwards a bit as its shields flared and burst.
Across the field from the horse lay Noble Six, clutching her head and groaning sharply as she shivered and spasmed.
The purple horse quickly rushed forward, once it realized it was in no danger, and tried to rouse the pained alien.
"Noble Six, get up!" the horse shouted, albeit with Kat's voice.
"Stop it, stop it, stop it! Make it all stop!" Noble Six pleaded to no one in particular as she rolled over onto her back and continued her pained routine.
All seemed lost to the purple horse as she tried to rouse the Spartan but, after a moment, all seemed to stop.
Noble Six had stopped spasming, shouting, and crying, although she held her head, and the apparitions faded away.
Twilight Sparkle stood next to the prone alien as both panted and, suddenly, everything returned to chaos. Except, this time, things seemed a bit more linear.
Twilight Sparkle saw no more aliens with swords slaughtering hundreds. Twilight Sparkle saw no more fiery explosions that ended screams of pain and terror. Twilight Sparkle saw no more death and destruction.
Instead, Twilight Sparkle could hear and smell it.
Her eyes went wide in terrifying realization as, for a moment, the alien and herself shared one mind.
Twilight heard the horrifying screams of humans as they fled for their lives from a giant ship in the sky. Twilight heard the sobbing of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and children as they struggled to pull their loved ones from their fate, but to no avail. Twilight smelled the burning of flesh and the scent of blood as she stared up in horror as the monster's ship in the distance bombarded the area with a single, burning beam.
But what shook Twilight most was, when she turned around, a little human stood with her; undoubtedly a child. Her face was smeared with black soot and red blood, and her beautifully simple dress was torn and ragged, scorched and sprayed black with death and ash.
But the child did not cry.
The child did not run.
The child did not scream.
All the child did was watch, until she looked down at Twilight.
In the next moment, the small child was replaced with the massive armored alien Twilight knew.
And everything fell together.
"Sweet Celestia..." Twilight whispered, in disbelief and shock. "I... I had no idea... War... This... Those monsters... You!"
The armored alien continued to silently stare down at Twilight, until the purple horse took a more aggressive approach.
"Why not?! You know what those monsters did to your kind! Why would you let something bad happen to us?!" Twilight challenged through tears. "You're a soldier, fine! But does that mean you only fight? You can't protect those who need it?!"
"Why should I help you, or your kind? You kept me imprisoned and ignored me when I was having mental fucking breakdowns!" Noble Six spat. "PTSD isn't a fucking game!"
"I wasn't the one who imprisoned you, and excuse me for not understanding alien psychology! I would have gladly helped, had I known!" Twilight shouted back. "But now you're stuck here; this is your new home, whether you like it or not, and no one is coming to get you! You couldn't defend your home before, but you can, now!"
"This isn't my home!" Noble Six screamed back. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all bastards who want to keep me locked up to study like I'm some sort of fucking freak show!"
"We don't have time for this!" Twilight boomed; her voice echoing throughout Noble Six's psyche. "Right now, innocent ponies are being attacked and possibly killed by a species we know nearly nothing about! Ponies are hurt, scared, and angry; just like your kind was. You have to help them. You have to help us."
"Fuck off." Noble Six spat, to which Twilight simply glared.
"You want to do this the hard way? Fine, we'll do this the hard way."
"Uh... Twilight?" Rainbow Dash questioned, unsuredly as she waved her hoof in front of her friends' blank eyes.
As the two consciousnesses returned to their minds, their bodies shook, and Rainbow Dash went to tackle the menacing alien; thankful that the group had been able to pry Pinkie free from the creatures' grasp while it and Twilight were apparently frozen in time.
"Twilight!" the group cheered in unison, rushing to greet their friend as Rainbow Dash continued to punch and kick at the unwavering alien: who began an attempt at tossing the bothersome horse off.
"Hey, girls... I'm fine..." Twilight mumbled as she struggled to stay on all four hooves. "We have to get to Canterlot... And fast..."
"But what about the big ol' scary monster?!" Pinkie pleaded as she cowered behind Rarity.
"It's fine, girls... She's... "Nice"..." Twilight explained before she took in a large breathe of air to stop her shaking head. "I can't stay up much longer... We need to go, now, before I pass out..."
Not waiting for anypony or alien to object, Twilight summoned her remaining magic and focused it in an orb around the group: remembering, fondly, the throne room of Canterlot.
Almost there, Princess... Twilight thought as consciousness faded from her.
Almost, but not quite. Noble Six was taken aback as the colorful kitchen disappeared from around her, instead being replaced with tall buildings bathed in moonlight and flames. Screaming and eerie chittering filled the air, and Noble Six wasted no time in abandoning the horses who had traveled with her after realizing they were distracted by their unconscious friend.
The city was a mess. If a building wasn't up in flames, it lay collapsed in the streets or into other buildings. Carts and bodies lay still on the cobblestone and grass, some resembling the colorful horses which Noble Six had grown to know over the weeks, while others were black and green; looking like demonic-insect horses.
They seemed even more menacing as they flew in packs above the city, until they spotted a fleeing horse and dove down to chase it. Noble Six didn't want to think about what would happen when they caught it, but it was obvious that the normal horse was no match for the winged creatures.
It was nearly impossible to see where the castle once sat due to the smoke filling the air, but Noble Six knew she had to get out of the city once again if she ever wanted to see anything besides death and destruction. She tried her hardest to ignore the screams and cries of the horses, as well as the intense buzzing of the demonic-insect's wings, but her mind couldn't block them out forever, she knew.
She had to get out of the city before she had another break down. Before she did something drastic. Something she might regret...
"Come on, gurls, we cain't stay here!" Applejack shouted over the sound of a collapsing building.
The alien had disappeared as soon as they arrived in Canterlot, and Twilight now lay unconscious across the farm-pony's back.
"Well, where will we go?" Rarity asked before letting out a shriek and jumping forward to dodge a falling piece of debris.
"We cain't stay here! Let's head up tuh the castle, an' find Princess Celestiuh!" Aapplejack shouted over the distant screams.
Rallying the group together, they charged off towards Canterlot Castle with Twilight's unconscious body laying across Applejack's back.
"What happened? If Twilight knew something was wrong, why the heck would she drop us off in the middle of the fight?" Rainbow Dash questioned as she dropped low to kick at a passing Changeling, who let out a shriek and smacked into the side of a building.
"That spell must have taken it out of her! We only got halfway to the castle before the spell ended!" Rarity explained.
"So, how do we find the Princess?"
"She's uh big whaite pony with wings an' a horn, Rainbow Dash! She ain't gonna be hard tuh find!"
"Yeah, but what if she isn't in the castle? What if she's out fighting in the streets?"
"She makes a good point, darling! Let's split up! One group look in the castle, and the other search the streets!"
"Faihn! Ar-Dee an' Pinkie, y'all are with me! Rarity an' Fluttershy, y'all take Twilight and search the castle! It's bound tuh be safer than what's goin' on out here!"
"Son of a bitch!" Noble Six shouted as she happened upon the caved-in wooden gate that led into the castle.
She had meant to be going the complete opposite way and out of the city, but instead she had somehow found her way back to this hell-hole, in the middle of another hell-hole!
Now she didn't want to risk back-tracking her way through the entire city without a weapon, and, since she was outside the castle...
Noble Six let out a little groan as she hurried through the collapsed gate and into the castle on her quest to retrieve her helmet and, hopefully, her rifle. If nothing more, then she'd find the armory and take whatever weapon she could find there.
Upon entering the castle, the Spartan discovered that it hadn't fared any better than the surrounding city.
Walls lay crumbled and open, letting the cool night air flow freely throughout the castle as windows lay in pieces besides burned banners and flags, while bodies of unmoving, armored horses littered the halls.
Noble Six ignored the dying, alien pleas of the horses as she carefully picked her way through them and continued through the hall. She had remembered well the path she had taken along her trip to the infirmary, and it was only a matter of finding one point in the route so that she could back-track her way to her helmet before beginning the search for her rifle.
When she encountered the stairs that undoubtedly led to the dungeon beneath the city, Noble Six was weary of progressing. Blood dripped from each step, still fresh and warm from recent fighting, and destroyed bits of armor littered the sides.
But, alas, the Spartan had no choice but descend the bloodied and war-torn steps if she wanted her helmet back; one of the most important, if not the only, pieces of her suit. Without her HUD's map, she stood little to no chance of escaping this blasted city while a war was being fought inside of it.
As she cautiously descended the stairs to the landing, she came upon a familiar white unicorn laying on his side with a rather large gash in his chest as he weakly panted.
Noble Six studied the room and determined that she and he were the only living beings still present.
But, rather than heading towards the poor horse to help, Noble Six made a bee-line straight for her cell, whose door had been mysteriously blown inwards. The room was barren, save for the straw that had littered the floor since her time there. Her helmet was not here, and she intended to find it sooner, rather than later.
Only a painful, racking cough made her turn her head back to the pitifully shivering unicorn, who stared at her with weak, pleading eyes.
As hard as she tried, Noble Six couldn't leave the horse there, obviously dying. The memory of coming along a recently ambushed UNSC camp while on a mission on an Insurrectionist planet pushed its way into her thoughts. She sat there for hours, studying their dog tags as their corpses lay around her.
She couldn't do anything then, but she could do something, now. Even if he was an alien, he was still a soldier, like her. As an added bonus to his luck, he hadn't tried to kill her or her entire species.
Swallowing her annoyance, Noble Six carefully cradled the dying unicorn and set upon the path to the infirmary.
"Fluttershy, dear, just keep your eyes closed, and don't trust your nose." Rarity whispered, soothingly, as she guided Fluttershy around the bodies of the recently deceased Royal Guards. Luckily, when they happened upon the castle, Rarity had seen them first, and had ample time to warn her friend. Although she undoubtedly knew what surrounded her as the pair walked through the hallways, the fact that she couldn't see it helped Fluttershy, tremendously.
"W-Where do you think she is...?" Fluttershy squeaked as Rarity's hoof guided Fluttershy's.
"I don't rightfully know, dear. We'll just have to keep searching. We're almost to the Hall of the Elements, so if she isn't there, we can still check the throne room and her private quarters."
"W-What about Princess Luna? S-Shouldn't we be looking f-for her, t-too?"
"Hush, darling." Rarity soothed as she held in her stomach and guided Fluttershy around a poor stallion who had their helmet crushed in around their head. "Wherever we'll find one, I'm sure we'll find the other."
"I g-guess you're right..."
"Of course I am, dear. Now, you stay here with Twilight, and do not open your eyes or move from that spot. I'm going to check on the Elements of Harmony, alright?"
"I-I'll be here, R-Rarity..." Fluttershy promised as the white unicorn carefully placed their unconscious friend next to the shivering pegasus.
With Fluttershy and Twilight relatively safe, Rarity continued to carefully pick her way past the defeated Guard and into the Hall of the Elements. It nearly broke her heart to see that nearly all of the wonderful works of art that had been placed here, from the stained glass windows to the beautiful tapestries, lay destroyed among the bodies.
Rarity swallowed her sadness and dutifully trotted through the puddles of blood into the Chamber of the Elements, only to find the ceremonial box empty and the Elements of Harmony gone.
With a sigh, Rarity bowed her head and began her return to Fluttershy, "I guess I should have known the Elements would be taken. Fluttershy, dear, let's go. The Throne room is the next likely place."
The dying unicorn barked something at the shaken guards before erupting into a coughing fit. Whatever he said was apparently good enough for them, because they allowed Noble Six to pass with only a fearful eyes.
In truth, Noble Six was rather shocked to see that a few soldiers had managed to hole up in the infirmary, with what was rest of the castle's staff. Servants in cleaning outfits lay huddled together in the corner, while soldiers peered out the window and barricaded the door as less than a handful of doctors saw to the rest of the horses.
At the introduction of Noble Six, however, the room nearly burst into hysteria. It was only thanks to the soldiers was peace restored before all of the attackers knew they were here.
After carefully setting the unicorn on a table and giving the doctors the space they needed, Noble Six wasted no time in attempting to discover where her helmet had gone.
"Hel-mut." Noble Six questioned, showing the white unicorn a borrowed soldier's helmet, before pointing to it, and then herself. The only response she received was a pained cough and a groan.
"Hel-mut." Noble Six tried, again. The white unicorn shivered at the creature's guttural butchering of their language before Noble Six had had enough; dipping her armored finger into a pool of the white unicorn's blood and dragging it across the wall as she drew a crude image of her beloved helmet.
The white unicorn's only reply was a soft shake of his head and a painful cough before another soldier stepped in. After an exchange of horse sounds and an uneasy look, the soldier reluctantly dipped his own hoof in his commanders blood and began drawing on the wall.
Noble Six gave a glare at the white unicorn after she drew an arrow between her helmet and the newly-drawn white winged-unicorn. The white unicorn gave a defiant glare right back at the Spartan and, with a short nod from him, Noble Six sighed.
Noble Six knew he only wanted her to help his queen but, without any other idea where her helmet would be, she had to admit it seemed a likely place.
Before Noble Six was able to take her leave, however, either a very brave or very foolish unicorn stepped in front of her; clutching his spear tightly and shaking slightly. Noble Six was almost about to swat him aside, until familiar horse noises sounded from behind her.
In response to their commander's orders, the rest of the soldiers in the room gathered behind the giant alien and stood ready for her to unblock the door.
Despite her unease at essentially being part of a team again, albeit a team of alien equines, Noble Six felt somewhat relieved. She felt like her purpose in life was back.
Noble Six felt...
Happy?
"Do you know how long I've dreamed of this moment?" Nightmare Moon taunted, softly, as Celestia lay bleeding to death beneath her.
"You don't have to do this, Luna..." Celestia pleaded.
"Ever since that night after the gala. You remember that, don't you?" Nightmare Moon continued, ignoring Celestia's pained cries. "You had the entire castle all decorated. The guests all arrived half an hour early, the musicians had begun to play, and everypony was having a wonderful time. Even you; sporting that hideous white dress."
Nightmare Moon sighed, remembering the night fondly. "Perhaps I would have enjoyed it, as well, had I been told that you moved the event to the night I was an ambassador to the Gryphons!" Nightmare Moon shouted.
"A task, I might remind you, that you claimed you were too sick for! But not sick enough to not attend the Grand Galloping Gala, I see! And this was just the first of such doings!" Nightmare Moon raged, striking her blade around at the floor and tearing gashes in the masonry. "Year after year, event after event! No matter what it was, Luna was never there because you sent her away to do something you should have been doing yourself, or because you simply forgot to give her the news!"
Nightmare Moon let out a furious scream before she buried her sword into the stone and stood there, panting with rage.
"But the final straw, Celestia," Nightmare Moon whispered to her shivering sister. "Was The Battle of Stalliongrad. It was the only time you decided to take over as General of the Equestrian Army, and the battle ended in disastrous failure. Only three stallions made it home, Celestia. Three."
"I'm so sorry, sister..." Princess Celestia whispered, in reply, as she turned her snout down and quietly sobbed. "I was brash and inexperienced during that war, and I was just so busy all of the time that I never thought somepony else wouldn't tell you what was going on around the castle..."
"Silence!" Nightmare Moon commanded, tearing her sword from the ground. "One thousand years, banished to my moon! One thousand years with nothing but my memories! You ignored me every step of your life; never appreciated me! And then you killed my own ponies!"
"And I was wrong, Luna!" Princess Celestia cried. "We were both young! We were still learning!"
"Do not try and defend yourself, Celestia! You will be punished, by my hoof, for everything you have done to me!"
As Nightmare Moon bared her fangs in a sinister, wicked grin, she drew her sword up into the air and poised it to strike. But, before the deed could be done, a pitiful cry of terror and sadness erupted from the doors to the throne room, and Nightmare Moon was quick to react.
Letting out a devilish laugh, the dark alicorn brought forth both the shivering Fluttershy, the struggling Rarity, and the unconscious Twilight Sparkle in her magical grasp.
"Well, well, well." Nightmare Moon began as she studied the two unlucky ponies. "Three of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. This must be my lucky night... What better way to punish you than by making you watch as I slit your precious little ponies throats open before ending your own miserable life? Oh, but don't worry, Celestia."
"I'll save Twilight for last."