Work Text
The sound of hoofsteps could be heard echoing through the empty halls of the Canterlot Castle. These weren’t just any regular hoofsteps of bare hooves thudding on the ground though. They were the sounds of soilerets. The pony that walked down the halls was wearing armor that was once a shining, light purple color, now just rusty and blood-stained. There was no color left of the armor.The pony weakly limped to the end of the hall, where a large door stood. There was a hole inside the middle of the door, making it clear only the pony that withheld alicorn magic may enter inside. The pony grunted in pain as she approached the door, putting her horn inside of the hole. She groaned as she tried to light up her horn but no magic came out. “Come on…” She urged herself in a hushed tone. Finally, magic sparked from her horn and it was just enough to open the door. As soon as the door opened with a loud creak, the magic in the pony’s horn immediately vanished. And with that, she slowly made her way inside of the room.The room was lit up by the moonlight that shone in through the large windows which revealed statues of 5 ponies. 5 ponies who were once the Mane 6. The pony in armor immediately collapsed onto her knees with a shudder. The sword that was held to the side of her armor got loose from its latch and fell onto the floor with a loud clang. With one last thing to do, the pony slowly took off her helmet, revealing the one and only; Twilight Sparkle. Blood dripped from underneath her messy bangs and dripped onto the red carpeted floor. The pony was a mess; matted mane and tail, blood-stained coat, and eye bags under her eyes that made it seem like she hadn’t slept in forever. The pony slowly looked up from the floor, staring at the statues of ponies who were once her best friends.Staring at them was too much pain for Twilight Sparkle to handle. Every time she even thought about her friends, she was immediately overcome with guilt and shame.Ever since Starlight Glimmer ripped the scroll that contained StarSwirl’s time travel spell in half, Twilight had been stuck in a universe that was not her own for years. After all those years, she had figured out how to repair the broken spell; which resulted in her going back in time again and again to stop Starlight Glimmer from destroying the present and future. But she failed every single time. She failed everyone. She failed her friends.Muffled sobs could be heard echoing throughout the empty room. Twilight could no longer contain her tears anymore. She could no longer contain the pain she held in for so many years, decades even. After fighting for so long, she had finally come to terms with her situation. She was never going to win. She was never going to defeat Starlight Glimmer. She couldn’t save her friends. She couldn’t save Equestria. She had come to terms that she failed.Twilight’s muffled sobs slowed to a stop after a while. She sniffled, staring down at the floor beneath her. She blinked, letting the remaining tears roll down her cheeks and mix in with the blood and eventually drip off of her chin. She then slowly sat up, wincing in pain as she did so. She reached into the small pouch she kept with her on the left side of her armor. She opened the pouch, revealing a somewhat large green scale that sat inside of it. She pulled the pouch off of her armor and held it in her mouth. After that, she slowly stood up and limped her way over to the statue that stood in front of her. It was the statue of generosity, it was her friend, Rarity.Twilight set the pouch down in front of the statue. She was keen on the thought of Spike being with Rarity once and for all. But suddenly, the pony began backing up and coughing. The coughing quickly turned violent and she tried to cover her mouth with her hoof but blood only splattered on it. She inhaled sharply and collapsed to the ground onto her side. She was taking in deep breaths and letting out little exhales. She had completely forgotten about her sickness. She had gotten sick in one of the alternate timelines she traveled too. It was a massive disease that was capable of killing a pony. But the process was slow and painful. It seems that the disease was finally catching up to her and there was no escape for her.Twilight was struggling to breathe, her vision going in and out. She managed to move her head up more, glancing at the statue of Pinkie Pie. A pony she once loved, and still did even if she was gone.Twilight continued to cough but mustered up enough strength to drag herself towards the statue of Pinkie Pie. Once she was right beside it, she completely went limp. Exhaustion completely overtook her and she was no longer able to keep her eyes open. Her breathing becomes labored and her eyes begin to flutter shut. “May you rest in peace.” She muttered to herself in a weak tone, a small smile hinting at the corner of her lips in amusement towards herself. And before she knew it, everything would go dark.Twilight Sparkle had gone.