A War

by Comma Typer

Conscience Suppressed

Morning in Canterlot.

So read the clock shattered on the floor for it was seven in the morning. Its hands had stopped, so it was hard to tell what time it was right now.

But, it was morning in Canterlot.

Windows smashed, columns ruined. Shards scattered, and so were the bodies of pony soldiers Equestrian and Crystal. Yet, that did not stop those who were still alive and on the ground—or above it for the pegasi troopers—from continuing their fighting, whether with their spears and lancets, their bows and arrows, their mortars and cannons, or just their plain hooves.

Brawling in the hallway.

Groans, grunts, and chokes.

Dead bodies piling up.

And another one killed this morning in Canterlot, cast off to the side.

The white alicorn swung open the double doors to the hallway, and then, hovering high up and close to the ceiling, fired beams at the Crystals, neutralizing them.

Landed on the floor.

Breathing in.

Breathing out.

Looked out the broken windows.

A clear view of chaos. In the sky, swarms of Crystal pegasi charging forward to the capital, facing stiff defense from their Equestrian counterparts as many were locked in battle hundreds of meters from the streets of Canterlot below.

Celestia could hear the shouts, the battle cries, the tearing up of buildings, the explosions.

The screams.

"Follow me!" she yelled, galloping down the hallway.

And all the guards followed her down.

It was morning in Canterlot.

---

At Restaurant Row, things were not faring any better.

Civilians cowered in their diners and eateries, crouching under tables and behind counters with customer and chef joined together, trying to survive.

Hearing more magical beams, more punches, more kicks.

And explosions, rocking the floors and causing more than a few to tumble out of their hiding places.

Glass shattering.

Screams, shouts.

On the road itself, the two Royal Sisters engaged in combat, jabbing at the Crystals and smacking them down to the ground, shooting beams at the Crystals and knocking them out, Celestia and Luna combining their magic by firing magic streams at each other and creating a clear fast-expanding dome, blowing the rest of the Crystals away.

And still, more soldiers coming in, fully equipped with weapons and armor.

As a figure rushed past the scene, escaping Restaurant Row with a turn at the crossroads.

---

Capper ran and leaped past burning houses and falling debris, swiftly avoiding yet another chunk of concrete hurtling down his way before it disintegrated with a crash. Trees and streetlights fell, soldiers duked it out on the road, and a volley of arrows would come by once in a while, taking out a random warrior, making him fall limp.

"She was right!" Capper blabbered, holding on to his black coat. "She wasn't jokin' when she said they were angry!"

Running down, focused straight ahead.

Saw a group of unicorns helping each other down some stairs from a house, one of them covered in casts and bandages—an IV pole attached to her, a syringe injected to her hoof.

Capper kept running.

Closer to them.

Ran past them.

---

"Do you know where the underground tunnels are?!" Lemon Hearts yelled at Moon Dancer as they, along with Minuette and Twinkleshine despite their own casts and bandages, levitated a frail and comatose Lyra down narrow, reeking alleyways—wheeling the IV pole with her.

"The Canterlot Caverns are by the castle!" Moon Dancer shouted, avoiding another muddy puddle and sprinting beside the wall.

"Do you know any secret passageways there?!"

"I have no idea!"

Approaching a main road, almost out of the alley.

Now blocked by two Crystal soldiers jumping into view.

"Agh!"

"Run back!" Lemon Hearts cried out.

And they, floating Lyra along, turned around and ran back.

Nearing the other main road, almost out of the tight path between the two buildings.

Now blocked by another pair of Crystal soldiers, these ones armed with lancets.

The unicorns looked back.

More Crystals closing in.

"This is really bad!" Minuette yelled, twitching her head back and forth, seeing Crystals on both sides. "I don't know any teleportation spells! I wish I took up Expert Studies in Magic!"

Moon Dancer held a hoof up. "Hold your ground, girls! This might get dirty!"

She glowed her horn, lighting up the alley in a faint pink.

They heard a yodel.

Looked to the right.

The Crystals, confused, also looked to the right.

Trenderhoof leaping forward and beating the Crystals up with bagpipes while also wearing a country hat.

Minuette and Twinkleshine formed a defensive magical barrier, blocking the other two Crystals.

"You go on!" Trenderhoof yelled, readying his unwieldy bagpipes. "Let me handle them! You're more important than some old traveler like me!"

They stared at him, the stallion with the weird get-up.

Lemon Hearts rolled her eyes. "Let's go, girls! We don't have much time! Lyra needs to get to safety right away!"

So, they ran, brushing past the blocked Crystals.

As they got up.

Four now surrounding him.

Trenderhoof cracked his neck, placed the chanter in front of his mouth.

"Let's dance!"

And played earsplitting melodies.

Causing the Crystals to cover their ears and fall to the floor, desperate and despondent to all senses.

Easy targets for the Equestrian Guard as they charged forward to take them down.

---

"Music!" Sunburst yelled from a nearby park, picking up the sound of bagpipes. "That's the cue, everypony!"

And, with that, everyone in the park pulled the strings.

Setting off the huge cannon at the middle which then fired multiple smaller cannons which then fired red rockets with flashing lights.

Rising up above the noise of battle all around, standing past the guards upholding a tenacious defense of the park against the invading Crystals both on ground and on air—Sunburst lifted a hoof to his glasses. "You'll see what happens when the rocket detects an enemy lifeform. It will target it and the rocket will lock on to the target until it hits the enemy—it's a ninety-percent chance of a fatal blow!"

Passing by the park in record speed was a loaded wagon pulled by an armored stallion and a pink alicorn galloping away, their manes caught up in the wind.

---

"This is the last one!" Shining Armor shouted, glowing his helmet and adjusting it. "Are you ready to do a sharp turn?!"

Princess Cadance nodded. "Ready as you are, Shiny!"

Coming up on a horde of Crystals robbing and looting a warehouse, tossing boxes and crates away and passing the job of destroying them to their comrades.

A messy spot on the road.

"Now!"

Turned left, skidding and screeching.

Wagon tipping.

Letting the bombs there spill to the road.

Boom!

The couple exited the intersection, still with wagon in tow.

It was empty.

They were panting for air, yet they galloped on.

Entering the downtown districts of Canterlot with their variety of stores and shops.

Seeing a pony on the road, bending down and fiddling with a briefcase.

"Golden Gavel?!" Cadance shouted, startled.

"Wait!" Shining shouted, about to bank right. "What is he doing?! Is that a bo—"

---

Ms. Harshwhinny, directing the line of ponies evacuating the hedge maze's statue garden, felt the ground quake.

Looked off to the distance.

In the horizon, billowing gray smoke.

"OK, everypony!" she roared, leering at the remaining ponies still within the garden premises. "We need you to get out quickly and orderly! Don't panic! You'll be fine!"

Hearing the terrified whispers of those passing her by, she glanced to the only two ponies staying behind.

Sitting at a table, by the statue of a draconequus.

---

"I don't want to argue or anything," Morning Roast said, sitting at the table by the statue of Discord and hearing the hurried hoofsteps of ponies bailing out, "but I thought about, maybe, um...destroying it once and for all so we don't have to think about it."

"You mean the statue?" asked the stallion across the table, Neon Lights. He looked at the statue for a second. "I mean, yeah, it'd be nice, but Princess Celestia likes being nice to everyone."

"Think practically," Morning Roast went on, gesturing about. "What happens if they get to us? Are we just gonna sit here and talk right before they tape our mouths and put us in cages? To be honest, I'm just hoping that one of them breaks the statue so we could blame them, not us."

Neon Lights shrugged his shoulders. "Not a bad idea."

A ruffle in the bushes.

They turned their heads there, getting a glimpse of the last ponies exiting the garden—Ms. Harshwhinny then finally leaving.

"Who's that?" the both of them asked together.

The enigmatic hatted figure jumped into another bush and dashed out of the garden.

---

"Don't say anything at all, Teddie Safari!" Daring Do yelled as they ran down the streets, avoiding fires and beams and soldiers, holding their balance despite rockets and boulders landing here and there and breaking more houses and stores. "It doesn't matter if you're excited right now that I'm Daring Do, because if you die, you die!"

Safari gulped in full gallop. "But, what was the big explosion—"

"Just heard that only three of our ponies got killed," Daring shot back, holding on to her pith helmet. "However, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are injured, sent away from Canterlot to an undisclosed location."

"Why don't we go to undisclosed locations?!" Safari whined.

"Stop and just make sure you're not dead!" Daring shouted.

Faster, closer and closer to a junction.

The Canterlot Train Station where several Crystal soldiers were shooting arrows through broken window walls at the innocents running and jumping around inside as they did their best to not get hit, with some scurrying to the back door.

Daring grabbed her lasso, snagged a big wooden plank with it.

Threw it to the soldiers.

Taking them down all at once.

Heard hoofstomps.

Glanced behind her.

More Crystal troops arriving, trudging their way through the debris and the Equestrian Guard there.

Heard the train's whistle.

"Safari!" Daring shouted, running to the train station. "I have a plan!"

Teddi Safari looked behind her, seeing the flood of Crystals struggling to move toward the station. "What is it?!"

"There's a train coming!" she shouted. "I'll intercept it, see if I can make it stop here, then I'll send the train running back down to Ponyville. There's too many ponies to herd to the underground shelters in the open, so in the train they go!"

"Yes, Daring Do, but—"

Daring flew away, getting to the incoming train.

---

Safari opened the back door.

"Is everypony OK in there?!"

They all nodded, cramped and sweaty inside the dark storage room.

"Perfect!" she said, smiling. "Just stay there and don't get out until I say the word. Got it?"

They all nodded again.

Safari closed the door.

Turned around.

Inside the ransacked train station littered with glass shards, spilled dirt, chunks of concrete and pavement, and scattered trash.

Feeling the rumble of the slowing train.

Seeing the horde of Crystals charging and flying to the station, kicking up dust on the road.

Equestrians firing beams and arrows at them, but the Crystals rushed on.

Safari planted her four hooves on the ground.

Picked up a lancet lying about.

Gritted her teeth.

"I just need to buy some time," she said to herself, shaky voice.

Seeing them nearer.

They entered the station.

First one about to punch her.

Blocked by the lancet.

Another by her left.

Punched him down.

Kicked one at the back.

Hoof grabbed by a Crystal.

Punched with the other hoof.

Another grabbed her tail.

Kicked him on the face.

Heard the screeching by the front.

Past the many Crystals troops bursting into the station, the train standing still while spouting out smoke and Daring Do hovering over the train.

"Leave it to me!" Daring shouted, lassoing a few Crystals together and throwing them into another approaching group of troops, pounding them down to the floor. "You go help them to the train! It turns out the Guard's got a hold of it!"

Safari nodded and rushed to the back door.

---

With the train moving backwards and exiting the tunnel, it was a strangely serene trip downhill.

Below on one side, there was not much. Ponyville was not too far away there, intact but with several wooden barriers and some windows blocked here and there.

On the other side, there was only the rugged mountain side. A steep wall.

Past the carriages teeming with scared and frightened passengers holding on to their packed bags, there was one carraige where only a couple and another pony sat—at opposite ends of it.

The unicorn couple, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, sat by the door, the wife by the windowside.

Sniffling. "If only we could have our children with us. At least we'll be together in...death."

Night Light placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Shining's alright, and so is Cadance. Hurt, but not dead. Twilight...she's way back at home, far away from—"

A purple glow beside them.

The cloaked stranger appeared.

"Agh!" Velvet screamed, backing up to the window. "Who are you?!"

The stranger chuckled.

Took off the cloak.

Her purple face, her striped mane.

Her cutie mark of a purple star surrounded by five smaller white stars.

Her purple eyes.

"Twilight!" the parents cried out.

"I-It's you!" Velvet managed. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

Twilight smirked. "Making sure I have no one restraining me."

Night Light stood up, striving to make a firm face—yet shivering. "Wh-Why are you like that, Twilight?"

She stood up in return, giggling. "There's one thing you need to realize, and that's the thought of my family..."

The parents smiled, leaning closer to her.

"...it's holding me back."

Velvet blinked. "Holding you back from what? What's going on?"

Night Light looked at her dead on. "Twilight, what are you trying to say?"

Twilight kept smiling. "The thought of you, my brother, my babysitter, and Celestia, too...they torment me at night, meddling with my plans, making me too weak-hearted and feeble-willed to push through with my plans of ensuring Equestrian victory...it doesn't matter how, for I've assassinated many, hired expert killers, ruined whole cities, disrupted peace operations, and so much more."

Her smile grew.

"Yes, Mom and Dad, I'm the mastermare behind half of the things that 'went wrong' because, ultimately, they served to keep Equestria safe."

The parents held on to the wall.

Breathing faster.

Staring at their daughter.

Their smiling daughter.

Velvet shook her head, twisting her own striped mane. "No, no...we didn't raise you up to be like that!"

Night Light felt the sweat going down his blue face. "It's...it's true. You've gone down the deep end. You're insane."

Twilight grinned. "Insane?"

She cackled.

Laughed.

The two parents looking at each other, uneasy.

Scared.

Twilight's laugh trailed off.

"I'll just say the final word here, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, hm? This train is rigged to derail and fall off course, down to a quick death at the ground. I don't plan to kill off my brother—he is an important military pony, after all, so I only relocated him somewhere he can't interfere, and I've done that by something..."

She raised an eyebrow.

"...explosive."

Velvet gasped. "You hurt your own brother and the babysitter who took care of you?!"

Twilight nodded. "Cadance, too—I think she's important enough. Heh...useful until she's no longer needed, that is."

She snickered, levitating her cloak.

"But, you two? You only bring up in me a conscience I must suppress. As long as you are alive, you can indict me, accuse me—perhaps rightly so. But, when you're dead..."

She laughed.

Glowed her horn.

Smiled.

"The dead can't point their hooves at me."

Another purple poof.

She disappeared.

The two parents looked at each other.

Velvet felt the tears running on her cheeks. "Our Twilight...she's become a monster! H-How did this happen?!"

Night Light hugged her.

Hugged the grieving mare.

A sharp metal crack of the wheels.

Jolting, carriage bellowing.

Both of them hugged each other.

Velvet sobbing.

Howling.

Night Light hugged her tighter.

Felt his lips trembling.

Tears on him, too.

Then, falling.

Comments

[Sir Budginton]

This is worse than I thought. Go away twilight, let me go back to the times when I wondered where she was, not who she may have become.

Also, canterlot (maybe) falling... I mean, that’s bad. Very bad. What’s left south of canterlot, not very much (that I know of anyway). Looks like ponyville is next on the chopping block. It obviously means that sombra pushed further south in the middle of the country, rather than the coast, but that does mean places like manehatten are ripe for a pincer manoeuvre, it’s getting harder and harder to believe the equestrians could make it back from this.

Than again I don’t think it was ever said where much of the industry of the country is, and if it’s all in the south there is still a chance since much of it is likely not captured yet. I mean the soviets seemed in pretty dire straits at the end of 1941, what with nazis in Stalingrad, Leningrad under siege, and enemies right at Moscow’s doorstep, but they made it back from that, and I’m sure the equestrians (hopefully) can too.