Final Regrets
This is the journal of Twilight Sparkle, and these are my final words.
Equestria has lost. The Elements of Harmony are gone. For all I know, I’m the only one left alive. I’ve barricaded myself inside the Canterlot library, though I don’t know how long it will hold. I only know that it’s just a matter of time before they break through.
I can hear them outside, scratching at the wood and glass. I must be insane because I think I can hear them. They’re saying things. Saying my name.
I’m scared.
This demented nightmare started a few days ago, and it didn’t even take that long for this… thing to overrun us all. It started with the earthquake in the Everfree Forest. We didn’t know it was coming, even though we had the magic to predict them. We should have known that something was wrong. The Cloudsdale weather team was sent to investigate it, my friend Rainbow Dash included. We shouldn’t have sent them. They didn’t come back. The Princess sent me to find them, and I took my other friends with me.
We shouldn’t have gone. I shouldn’t have taken my friends. There’s so much we shouldn’t have done… so much I shouldn’t have done…
We weren’t prepared for what we found. There’s no way we could have been. The earthquake had cracked the ground, and opened up a portal to what I can only assume was Hell. The horrible void went down as far as we could see, and out of it came the weather team. Leading them was Rainbow Dash. What was left of Rainbow Dash, at least.
Those black, soulless chasms where her eyes used to be have haunted me for every waking and dreaming moment since.
She and the weather team had been mutated into something straight out of a horror story. Her body corrupted by the void, her mind focused solely on our flesh for which she now craved. We had no choice but to run. Fluttershy had been frozen the moment they rose out of the pit. We tried to get her to move, but I made the decision to leave her behind.
She didn’t stand a chance.
Why did I abandon her so quickly?
The sounds are getting louder. They’re getting restless. They’re saying things, louder and clearer now. I don’t want to listen, but I can’t block them out. They’re saying that they’ll take their time with me, that they’ll repay me a hundred fold for what I’ve done. In a way, I deserve this. I’m the one who abandoned them, and now they’re returning the favor.
My remaining friends and I returned to Ponyville to warn the residents, but it was useless. No amount of warning or preparation could have saved us. The horde descended upon the town. Ponies were ripped apart, feasted upon, and came back to do the same thing to those who were still living. Pinkie Pie couldn’t take the sight of it. None of us could, but she just… gave up. She was frozen, just like Fluttershy had been. Rarity, Applejack and I tried to help, but it was hopeless. Ponyville was lost, and I again made the decision to abandon the ponies I loved. I focused on teleporting all of us to Canterlot. Pinkie was snatched away from us just before I could finish the spell.
I saw Fluttershy’s rotting corpse begin to feed upon her as the spell took effect.
They’re starting to bang on the walls. They must have gotten tired of waiting. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they were teasing me before. I know I deserve it. I deserve much worse than simple teasing.
Princess Celestia greeted us in the main hall of the castle, and with an increasingly detached expression listened to our story. She silently walked away, towards her bed chamber. We just stood there, waiting for something to happen. A huge bang, and the entire castle shook to its very core. We rushed to the Princess to find her and Luna standing together, their horns separated by only a few inches and glowing with energy. I recognized the pose as the incantation of a spell and rushed to the doors of the castle. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the huge shield covering all of Canterlot. The princesses had cast the spell just in time, as the first pegasi monstrosities crashed into it all full speed, their decayed bodies bursting apart in an explosion of gore. We were safe, I thought. We would have the time to search for a cure, to somehow reverse the effects of this terrible curse.
Only now do I realize that it was a pointless façade. There was no saving us.
I just heard a crash. The glass is giving up. They can smell my blood, I’m sure of it. Even though it’s my redemption approaching, I can’t help but shake as I write this. I’m afraid of death, even though my friends have all gone through it. They’re waiting for me, across that black veil, but I don’t want to cross it.
I’m just too scared.
Our last few days were spent in a hopeless search for answers when we should have been enjoying our final moments together. The unicorns of Canterlot were helping the princesses keep the shield up, taking turns to let the more exhausted ones get a much needed rest. Rarity never took a break, though. She was perpetually at Celestia’s and Luna’s sides, her beautiful mane and coat becoming increasingly disorganized as time went on. I frantically searched through the archives of both the castle and the library, unable to find any record on what this nightmare could be. Suicides had become widespread amongst the survivors. They were the lucky ones. They wouldn’t have to deal with the horrors of this new world anymore. Applejack was one of them. The loss of her entire family and nearly all of her friends in Ponyville had left a gaping hole in her that slowly ate away at her until she couldn’t take it anymore. It was the dawn of our final morning when I found her, her limp body hanging from the rope attached to one of the library’s ceiling beams, her cowboy hat lying lonely on the ground.
I still wonder how she had the courage to kill herself, despite the bleakness of death.
The pounding’s been joined by the sound of boards snapping. The time of my salvation is coming, yet I’m still shaking. Why can’t I face it with the courage that my friends have shown? The least I could do for them is to face them with the respect they deserve.
And yet I’m still terrified.
I came up with one final solution. It was a last ditch plan, one I should have never pursued, but my optimism had blinded me to the inevitable. In the darkest corner of the castle’s archive, I found a dusty and decrepit tome, one that detailed how the sacrifice of another would bequeath upon the caster unbelievable powers that could match even Celestia and Luna. It was a terrible idea, but in light of the circumstances, could I be blamed for trying to save those who remained?
Of course Rarity volunteered herself. She was the element of Generosity, and nothing could be more generous than sacrificing herself for the good of the remaining survivors. I committed the deed inside the chambers that held the completely drained princesses so the survivors wouldn’t have to see the cost of their salvation. If everything went right, then I would become more powerful than I could imagine, and might have the chance to put an end to this apocalypse.
Nothing went right.
Inside the chambers, when everything had been readied, I casted the spell. A horrible darkness engulfed the room, and I could feel a demonic presence surrounding us, crushing my spirit as the scene unfolded before me. Black tendrils shot out from the tome and wrapped themselves around Rarity. I can still hear her scream; still remember her being dragged towards the black hole that had appeared in place of the scroll. I also remember how, when Rarity had been swallowed by the hellish hole, more tendrils appeared, heading for Celestia and Luna. I cried out, trying to stop them in anyway, trying to hold them back with magic, but it was to no avail. All of us had been doomed by my idiotic hope the moment I found that evil spell.
What was I thinking? How could I trust the manic ramblings of an evil scroll over the courage and resolve of my friends?
I ran, once again unable to brave what my friends had faced. I headed to the library, which we had barricaded in the time since the shield went up. Without the princesses, the shield had gone down. I raced towards my destination, the screams and cries of the survivors just barely audible over the horrible sounds of their bodies being torn apart. The screams continued for what seemed like hours, until an almost peaceful silence finally took their place.
I don’t know why I’ve written this down. There can’t possibly be anypony left that would be able to read this. This is the end of days, the end of ponykind, the end of Equestria. And I’ve contributed more to it than anypony else.
I’ve confessed my sins. I am ready to pay for what I’ve done. And I’m still scared of the horrible sounds coming from outside.
I’m scared.
I’m scared.
I’m sca
Final Regrets
Written by ObeySaturnGod