“Have you ever been on the other end of a war, Luna? Have you ever been the common pony?

Obviously not.

But I have.

I was there when my homeland fell into chaos. I was there when Prance fell. I was there when every bomb struck. I walked through streets choked with dead ponies. I saw the prisons and work camps with my own eyes. I heard the screams of war. I risked my life, time and time again, charging into battle to save my fallen comrades.

I remember clearly the day my skills as a healer failed me, when I stood chin-deep in dead and dying ponies without the strength or sanity to carry on as I had been.

War isn’t pretty, Luna. Ponies have to change if they want to survive. I was no different. Even as a medic, a healer, a ray of light to the embattled ponies in the darkness, I was no different…

When it all ended, when Equestria answered the call and delivered the final blows, I thought things could go back to normal. I thought I could finally be forgiven for the pony I’d become and find peace and time to heal.

When you took me in as your student, I was sure, so sure, that all was well.

But it wasn’t.

You treated me like a monster, Luna. And when everypony heard what you’d taken as your student, they treated me like a monster as well.

And you. Did. NOTHING.

No matter how many times I tried to prove myself to you, no matter how many times I tried to explain why I had done the things I did, no matter what spectacular feats of medical magic I managed in an attempt to atone for my sins, you only ever looked on me with fear, disgust, and disdain.

I even sought the Elements of Harmony. Six ponies I had never met in my life listened to me and understood me better than my own mentor had even attempted to.

I came to you marked with their blessings and bearing their gifts, but even then, whenever you looked upon me, all you could see was a monster.

So I became one.”