Sacrifice

>Just you and Twilight left.
>The two of you had left the besieged Ponyville Castle, just before midnight last night.
>The Changelings...too many, far far too many.
>They washed over the area like a tidal wave, getting everywhere.
>Canterlot had fallen as well, no word on Celestia or Luna escaping.
>There were still pockets of resistance, so there was some hope...but it was looking grim.
>The Crystal Empire had yet to be reached, but it seemed to be doomed as well.
>The last contact Twilight had with her brother was him urging her to run, and not look back.
>Her friends had fought to the last, but were eventually overwhelmed and hauled off to the hive for...god knows what reason.
>Even Discord had trouble with the sheer *numbers.*
>He would banish one only for twelve more to take its place.
>Eventually, he retreated via escape slide, and his whereabouts were currently unknown.
>Twilight was openly weeping as the two of you sat in the throne room of the old Everfree castle.
>It was enough to hide you two for the moment, but you knew it was a useless gesture.
>You flicked some of the iridescent green blood off of your appropriated guard sword as you kept watch out of the windows.
>A storm was gathering, one of the random Everfree thunderstorms.
>Twilight was...tired.
>Not physically. Mentally and emotionally.
>You could see it in her eyes.
>"We should...keep moving, Anon. Find a way to escape, maybe to the dragon lands to the south." She said. "Oh Celestia, Spike..."
>The tears began again, and you didn't blame her.
>The issue was: You simply didn't have time for this.
"Twilight, listen to me." You said, voice soft but stern. "We have to leave. You said it yourself."
>"I...I know..."
>The alicorn sniffled.
>"I...I'm going to kill Chrysalis." She said with a chilling finality in her tone. "For all of this."
"...I know."
>"I should have done it at the wedding. Not a de-camouflaging spell, a kill spell." Twilight growled. "I knew enough of them by that point. Would have broke Shining's shield spells easily enough as well."
>You sighed.
"What's done is done. We need to keep moving."
>"The path takes us straight through the Badlands. The Changelings nest there."
"Oh. Fuck."
>"Mmhm."
>The castle rattled.
"What the..."
>Lightning flashed, and you saw them.
>Changelings, flooding through the forest and over the entrance ramp.
>Chrysalis was here, possibly to personally oversee the capture or death of the two of you.
>"I...have a plan. It's not a pretty one, it's not a pleasant one, but it's a plan."
"Hmm?"
>"I...'uncork myself', as it were. Unleash every last bit of magical strength I have."
"Which will...?"
>"It will have a blast radius of fifteen kilometers. I'll be drained, but Chrysalis will not survive."
"Let me guess. You need me to hold them off while you prep the spell."
>"Not at all. I can do this at a moment's notice. I just want to see the bug's face when I do."
>"Anon..."
"Twilight?"
>She looked away, biting her lower lip.
>"I...won't survive this, either. You will, due to your immunity to magic..."
"I figured." You said, touching your forehead to hers. "We're lighting the way for the Crystal Empire then, right?"
>"Right!"
>You chuckled the kind of chuckle a death row inmate uses on the way to being executed.
"Let's do this, then. I'll lead the way, they're liable to use magic until we close in."
>"Right. After that, I'll get Chrysalis in close, then blow this right in her face."
>You both took a deep breath, foreheads still touching...
>Then locked lips in a deep, comforting kiss.
>"I love you."
"I love you."
>The two of you exchanged your final words, nodding at one another.
>You gave her a smile, one she returned despite knowing what would happen in just a few moments.
>The two of you stepped to the dilapidated drawbridge, you with your sword drawn.
>"Twilight Sparkle, oh how I've waited SO LONG for this!" The bug queen cackled from just behind the front lines.
>"If you surrender now, the two of you can be made part of the hive! It's a pleasant experience, and you may even take my place as Queen!"
>"No sell." Twilight responded simply, voice loud and clear above the cacophony of the shuffling insects.
>"Very well. I suppose I will have to indoctrinate you as well. Archers, fire when ready."
>Brainwashed Guardsponies stepped forward, bows in their telekinetic grip.
>A rain of arrows came down, one Twilight stopped with a shield.
>Several changelings closed in, firing green beams that may as well have been a warm breeze to you.
>Twilight kept flying on as you taunted and mocked the changelings.
>Eventually the lavender mare engaged in close-range combat with the Queen, unleashing absolute hell on one another.
>Your lack of attention was rewarded when white-hot agony shot through you.
>Looking down, a changeling had run you through with that wickedly pointed horn, right through your left lung.
>You cleaved it off with your sword, adrenaline high allowing you to ignore it in favor of decapitating the one that did it.
>Twilight got in close...then pulsed brightly, like a star.
>A brilliant flash of magenta was all you saw before everything went black.
---
>You awoke against a tree, the rain still pouring down.
>Your wound was still bleeding, but you needed to see your Twilight.
>It was your sole driving purpose.
>It wasn't hard to find her, either.
>Everything that wasn't magic-resistant was simply...gone.
>The lavender mare herself was on her side, star cutie mark missing from her hips.
>The only thing remaining of Chrysalis was the black crown she used to wear on her head, as well as a single charred wing.
"Twilight..."
>You made it to your mare, pulling her limp body close.
>"Nmmgh..." Twilight groaned. "Did it...work...?"
"Yes sweetheart...it did..."
>She opened her eyes with great effort, her normally brilliant violet irises now a dull, lifeless grey.
>"Good..."
"Was she surprised?"
>"Oh, was she ever..." Twilight said with a tired chuckle.
"Good..."
>The two of you lie against a boulder, you propped up against it.
>You were both silent for a while.
>Sleep was looking...so good right now.
"Twilight...?"
>...no response.
"Twi?"
>A gentle shake of her wings had no effect either, the limbs hanging limply.
"Sweetheart...?"
>Still nothing.
>Twilight wasn't breathing.
>You bowed your head and wept quietly, right up until the darkness took you.
>Funny, you'd have thought dying would hurt a lot more.
===
>Shining Armor and Cadence were nearly inconsolable when they found the princess and human a day later.
>Due to Twilight's actions, not only had Queen Chrysalis been killed, but so had the large, overwhelming majority of her invasion forces.
>The bug queen had known how dangerous Twilight really was, and wanted every available Changeling to fight her.
>The force that hit the Crystal Empire's walls was uncoordinated and weak as a result, and thus had simply broken against the Empire's defenses.
>The Crystal Empire's army was heading to the Badlands to exterminate the hive, to the last.
>A small expeditionary force was heading to Canterlot to take the city back.
>Celestia had been found, tending her sister's wounds in a small resistance camp just outside Canterlot.
>The Princess had lost her composure when the news about Twilight had been delivered, shedding tears freely.
>The sun had been set at dawn for a week, unmoving and unwavering.
>The Princess of Friendship and her Human?
>Now residing forever in a tomb, dedicated to the two lovers that stopped an evil force from irrevocably taking hold.
>On the tomb was a simple verse.
>"As dusk signals the coming of the dark, so too does Twilight signal the coming of Day."