I nearly gag at the horrible scent. I don't know who died here, but the deaths were definitely recently. I don't know if that means I haven't missed my opportunity to stop Tranquus or if I'm too late.
I walk through the halls. Most of the stained glass windows have been broken. The rest are covered with blood. Despite all the blood, I don't see a single corpse. I'll be able to smell them for the next month.
I turn a corner and see a pegasus lying on the ground in the middle of the hallway. He isn't breathing. I walk close to him so I can try to identify what killed him.
Half of his face is completely gone and reveals his skull. The bone isn't white. It's charred black and splattered with blood. The pony also has a large partially melted hole in his chest. I don't know what killed him. The smell is horrible. It smells just like a mix of beef on a grill and burning charcoal. It's absolutely sickening. I can't believe this pony was once alive. Seeing somepony damaged like this...
I move in for a closer look. He's incredibly familiar. I recognize him. The pony is Desert Storm. I should have brought him along with me. He's not the only pony who's death is indirectly my fault. Just because it's indirect doesn't mean I don't regret not doing something different.
I close his remaining eye with my magic. There's a lot of resistance, but I manage to pay respects to him. It's not the least I could do, but it's the least I'm going to do. If I had any more time, I'd have taken it.
"I'll make sure you're given a proper burial." I say to Desert Storm's body. I stand up and continue to the throne room.
No more than five minutes later, I hear a loud noise coming from a nearby room. I open the door to the room out of curiosity. I don't know what to expect in here.
"Get out! Get out!" A mare's panicked shout makes me jump in the air. My eyes quickly adjust to the dark. The only pony in the room is a unicorn. She has a large cut on her flank. I've seen this unicorn before, back in Vanhoover.
"Whoa, hey. Hold up. I'm a friend." I say in a voice that's as calming as I can make it. "You're Rolling Thunder, right?"
"Who is it?" She barks out. "Who are you?"
"Blue Skies. We met in Vanhoover."
She breathes deeply a few times. "Shit. Good. Yeah, I remember you. You got us out Desert Storm and me out of that prison. I never got to thank you properly for that. Thanks, mare. I owe you a cup of cider."
"I'm going to need it after this."
"We all will." She replies. "Where's Desert Storm? Have you seen him? We got separated last night."
I glance down. "He's dead."
She stares at the ground. "Shit. I shouldn't have ever left him alone. He was into you, you know."
"Yeah. I know." I mutter softly to her. If Rolling Thunder's trying to make me feel guilt for not being able to save Desert Storm, she's succeeding. "How long has the fight been going on?"
"For the castle? About a week. We're having our flanks handed to us on a silver platter." She replies. Rolling Thunder tries to stand up. After a second of being up, she falls back down. "Find that Tranquus bitch and kill her for what she did to Desert Storm and Azorian."
"I will."
"She has the Princesses."
"Shit! Why didn't you tell me?" I sprint out of the room. I run as fast as I can towards the throne room. Princess Luna and three other ponies are just outside the throne room. Luna's bound in something. I know the three ponies are working with Tranquus.
One of them holds up a hoof upon seeing me. "Hold there. Who are you?" She says.
I keep my mouth closed. She asks again with less hesitation. I respond this time with a beam of concussive magic to her head. The magic sends her flying back an easy five meters into one of her friends. The other guard looks at the pile of still breathing bodies. She locks eyes with me. Her face shows strength, but she's terrified to fight me. I can respect that. Fighting despite being terrified of her opponent.
"If you just want to run, I'm not going to stop you." I tell her. "I'd rather not fight you."
She shakes her head. "Too bad. We're fighting." Her tone matches her expression. Where did Tranquus get ponies like this?
I exhale. "If you say so." I look at Luna for a second. Luna's showing signs of both agitation and impatience. I look back at the mare that's challenging me. She's a simple earth pony. I send a blast of magic at her. She dodges it. I can tell her reaction time is better than mine. Something comes to mind.
I fire another two blasts of magic at her, aiming one directly at her and one to her side. She dodges the one aimed directly at her only to jump in front of the other. She barely has time to put on a panicked face before the beam sends her flying backwards. I didn't expect this fight to be that easy.
I move to the bound Luna. She's bound in some sort of rope glowing with a golden color. The same color as Tranquus' aura. I bite on it with my teeth and tug as hard as I can. It rips surprisingly easily. It's only slightly stronger than regular rope.
"Changeling... I owe you my many thanks." Luna says to me once her mouth is free from obstructions. "We have to free my sister from Tranquus."
"No, Luna. I will. I'm going by myself. Do not follow me." I command. "It's going to get violent in there."
"My sister is in there! I can't let her be alone!" Her voice is suddenly loud. I keep my footing.
"Luna. Tranquus can and will kill her. She'll do the same to you, too. We can't risk two Princesses being killed." I point out.
She bites her lip. "What if she kills you?"
"Better me than a Princess." I reply with a sigh. Nopony would really care if I died, except for maybe Luna. Everypony in Equestria would be scared out of their minds if both, or even one, of the Princesses died. "If Tranquus killed Celestia, I'll kill her. I wouldn't want you to witness it. I'll tell you what happens in there. No matter what happens, it won't be pretty."
Luna opens her mouth, but closes it shortly after. She simply nods and trots off somewhere. I watch her leave. I hope I made the right decision.
I turn to the door that's keeping me from Princess Celestia and Tranquus. I breathe deeply and open the door. There are only two ponies inside. Tranquus and Celestia. The latter is bound in the same kind of rope Luna was in.
Tranquus turns to me. A cocky grin is plastered on her face. "You just never know when to quit, do you?"
"You're going to need a lot more than a couple of iron bars to keep me away from you." I get into a fighting position.
Tranquus smiles and tilts her head to the side slightly. "I should have had my guards kill you. There's not as much fun in having guards do my job for me."
"You're going to die here, you know."
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. Maybe Equestria is going to go to war with many nations. Maybe the world will finally be peaceful."
"Bullshit. A peaceful world is impossible." I tell her. "It's idealistic. It's never going to happen. Just look at the griffons. They're practically bred for war."
"You're being pessimistic, changeling." Tranquus takes a few steps towards me. "I'm not going to allow any pessimists in my new perfect world."
I hold my ground. "Then come on and kill me. I'm not going to be the only one that dies here today."
"Exactly. Your Princesses will die, too. All four of them." She casually walks up to me. We're no more than a leg's reach from each other. "Celestia dies first. After Celestia comes Luna. After Luna comes Twilight Sparkle. After Twilight Sparkle comes Cadence. After Cadence comes all of the Crystal Kingdom."
I respond by spitting in her face. She narrows her eyes. "I see how it is." She says. "Then we fight." She takes a few steps back and prepares for combat. I do the same. She lights up her horn, but kills the magic less than a second later. I think I know why. Magic versus magic won't work. She can easily block and deflect my spells. I can do the same with hers. She knows this. I know she knows. She knows I know she knows.
Upon the realization, I charge for her. By the look on Tranquus' face, she didn't expect this. She barely seems to notice me charging until I'm less than a meter in front of her. Her reaction time quickly increases. She dodges out of the way. The only thing in her place is just a hoof that trips me.
I fall to the hard concrete floor. My chin bounces off. Tranquus kicks me in my injured knee. I struggle to my hooves. Tranquus swipes my front hooves off the ground. My face his the ground muzzle first this time. It's hard enough to the point that blood starts flowing from my nostrils. There's enough blood flowing for me to know I won't be able to breathe from them for a while. I close my eyes.
"Don't tell me I win already." Tranquus says to me. She's just in front of my face. I shift my head slightly so my horn points to the source of her voice. I have an idea. It might not be a smart one, but it's still an idea. "You escaped from my prison and walked halfway across Equestria only to be killed at your destination. Don't worry, changeling. You won't be forgotten. I'll put you in the history books as the one that's responsible for my success." She laughs again. She doesn't seem to notice that I'm charging up a concussive spell. "You'll be seen as a hero amongst the government."
"An anarchy isn't a government." I say. I open my eyes and fire the spell. Tranquus takes it in the chest and is sent back at least 10 meters. I'm surprised she wasn't ripped apart from that. I stand back up. My leg nearly buckles.
Tranquus stands back up. She hasn't even been down for 10 seconds. "You're going to regret that." Her tranquil voice echoes through the room. It sends a shiver down my spine. She looks up at me. "You will die today."
"Then kill me, bitch." I reply.