Despair Against Mane City

King Sombra's great army marched with him out of the Everfree Forest, towards the main city of the Princesses' kingdom.

Two stallion-shaped creatures of black crystal pulled the chariot where Sombra sat, surrounded by the army of crystal black creatures and ponies alike.

The artificial soldier's eyes glowed with green fire while the crystal ponies remained adamant and fierce while they marched. No sign of the slightest hesitation was visible in any of them. Regardless of the ruthless cruelty that Sombra showed to the Crystal Empire, the crystal pony soldiers remained and loyal as determined to serve him as the mindless soldiers that he had created with magic.

He looked aside and pointed to one of the high-ranked soldiers.

The black crystal stallion immediately approached him and gave him a respectful, but fierce look. "What art thine orders, Thy Highness? The full troops art now prepared."

"Good. Bring thy forces in alongside ours when We give the signal. We art to charge into the city en masse, but that wilt not suffice. Once we have covered most of the area, Chrysalis and her forces will back us up as well. When needed, order for the reinforces to charge forward into the weakened ground."

"Yes, Thy Highness, as thou commandest it." The soldier put his armor helmet on and saluted the King as he turned to leave. He then walked towards his troops and addressed them with the planned orders and tactics. "All to positions now!"

Sombra grinned as he and the army approached the palace, which had quickly gone under attack once his signal was given. He watched as the guards on watch duty quickly called for reinforcements and valiantly tried to fend off the wrath of the Crystal King's army.

~~~

Luna had barely finished guiding the defense troops through some of the attack when she was called over to the watch tower for immediate assistance. What she saw through the tower, at the other end of the city, made her blood run cold. "By Celestia's shining grace..."

She could hardly see the main city anymore. It was overrun by the crystal army. There was nothing left of the villages, and very few of the guards on duty were still standing. The civilians did not stand a chance against the invaders; they were attacked regardless of their attempts to merely flee the danger.

This cannot be... How did he ever... This cannot be happening. Not... Not him... Not Sombra...

"Princess Luna, what-"

Luna shook her head and narrowed her eyes as she glared at Sombra. "King Sombra ist the leader of this attack. Let everypony know that. Equip our forces accordingly once the council is told of our attacker. Do not let any unicorn guard out of duty, we wilt need all the magic that we can summon."

"Yes, Princess!"

"Move along! Send that message to the council, our counter protocol depends on it! Take thy courage, everypony. They shalt not see us defeated before the battle!"

She watched the soldiers move, then walked alongside them as she prepared herself with her armor. Her horn glowed as she activated the weapons with her magic aura. Then she cast a spell to hold some crystal soldiers off while her guard advanced on them.

"We shalt not surrender. This kingdom wilt not be taken from us without a fight. Messengers! Alert the full Royal Guard, not just the council. We cannot wait around for their decisions-we must fight now. And we wilt counter as fiercely as we can. Onwards!"

She took a deep breath and charged forward as the messengers hurried away. "Do not be frightened! We wilt fight as courageously as thee, our troops. Godspeed in this endeavor!"

Some of the crystal forces clashed and were forced back as Luna commanded her troops forward without any hesitation, despite having less combat experience than her sister, who hardly had any herself.

The crystal stallion commander glared at her. "Thou art quite young to command a full army, Princess Luna. Then again..." He looked up at the group that fought under Luna's orders.

Luna pushed him and some of his soldiers back with a light blue barrier. "Oh... We wilt soon command a full-scale army against thee, scoundrel, so just wait patiently. Within minutes, thou shalt be delighted at the force that We can unleash against thee!" She smiled a little and stepped forward as she continued her magic attack on the crystal commander.

~~~

There was a mess everywhere Celestia went to, not just inside the palace. Screams and other deafening noises surrounded her, keeping her from thinking straight.

Her concern grew when she found injured among the assaulted palace. Medical ponies went everywhere to treat the fallen servants and guards; they even ventured outside into the outrage that followed the army.

"Such destruction... Oh, no..." She shook her head and walked through the safest path in the guarden. "Somepony bring forth the guard!"

One of the servant ponies trailed behind her. He lifted a scroll and a quill to write down her instructions. "Thy sister already did, Thy Highness-"

"She did? Oh, wonderful! Luna, reliable as ever. We must act of this moment, no place in this city is safe, so advise all to leave any shelter they may have taken-it will not keep them out of danger for long. They will not take prisoners and are going out of their way to crush all they can in this kingdom. Make sure all subjects know that!"

"An announcement shall be made as soon as we can safely do so, Thy Highness."

"I want that to be now! Follow the Royal Council through the emergency protocols and make sure the civilians are evacuated by our magic instructors."

"Yes, Princess, I will have that-"

"Good, now go! Issue these orders immediately!"

~~~

Sombra roared and brought down the guards that stood before him. He took on his shadow form to slither past the rest of the attack. His energy weakened the Sun Princess' force and left them exposed and vulnerable against the power of the crystal creatures.

His laughter echoed across the city, followed by the thunder and black lightning. "What happened to the Princess of the Sun? Wilt she and her little sister continue to hide while the excitement happens?

Celestia smiled a little and appeared another golden magic wall in front of her. It blocked the blast and made it vanish as she shot the crystal guards with separate golden blasts. "I will hide from you no longer, King Sombra. If you have made this decision, then so be it. I will do all in my power to stop you."

Luna blasted some more crystal guards away as she approached. "Guess what, Sombra? That fearsome commander of thine, he and his reinforces art no longer."

Sombra growled for a second, then smiled as he addressed the sisters. "Ahh, our dear princesses. How honored We feel to have an audience with thee."

Luna gave him a serious look. "Allow us to be honest-we do not feel the same way."

He glared at Luna with a grin. "Hello, Night Princess. We imagine though must have missed us. Hath it not been a long time since our last visit?" He chuckled as more of his guards arrived to surround them.

Luna remained determined as she confronted him. "Consider this conversation thy last warning."

"Enough." Celestia's horn glowed again as she gently pushed Luna behind her. "King Sombra. Address me for the moment, please. I am the one offering you a civilized conversation. We have done nothing to you yet. Unlike you, we have not invaded your territory. We are innocent of any charges."

"Thou wouldst say that, would thou not? But thou dost not have us fooled, princesses. We know that it was only a matter of time before thou came upon our kingdom. To what, pray-tell? To 'free the poor crystal ponies from their doom and suffering'? Please!"

"I argue that while they do not deserve the treatment you bestow upon them... We are in no position to invade your kingdom in any way. It is yours, whether you are a good ruler or not. It is yours and we remain firm in our decision to respect it. Under no circumstance would we ever defile the memory of the founders of our kingdom by savagely wrecking your property, rampaging and damaging your subjects. That would make us no better than... other leaders that claim to be rightful rulers, would it?"

She was interrupted by Sombra's sharp laughter. "Thou sure art learned in thy politics lessons, art thou not?! Speaking like quite the diplomatic, how comical!"

Celestia remained calm as Luna nearly prepared to attack him. "Easy, Luna. Tread lightly. He is a king, after all. We must be careful when going against him."

"Yes, that ist right. We art a king."

Celestia kept her detached, cold look fixed upon Sombra. "Though under what right, award, or privilege you hold the title of 'king' I must say, I have not the slightest idea."

"Insult us all thou wishest, thou art still under our level. Heh. Thou art clearly new to this ruling occupation, princess. This forsaken piece of dirt that thou callest kingdom hath not allowed thee to learn much..."

"On the contrary, sir. I have learned plenty of things from one hundred and fifty years of rightful, fair lessons from my predecessors, and the tutors that have taught me the justice of the ways of ruling a kingdom."

Sombra ignored her as he continued with his explanation. "...So let us make it clear for thee. Conquerors do not pity or care for the weaker forms. Rulers become worthy of the land and subjects by crushing them! Beating them and pressuring them with superior power until there ist nothing left!"

He shot a blast of his fiery magic in their direction. "Thy parents shalt rejoice in this day, We reckon. Before long, their daughters will join them in the next life!"

Celestia and Luna combined their spells to block Sombra's attack. They gradually unleashed more of their power as the battle continued to rage around them.

They separated once reinforcements of the Royal Guard arrived to assist them. Luna remained with the guard and led the attack on the crystal army, while Celestia flew off to confront Sombra, once she successfully pressed him away from the support of his troops.

~~~

He glared at Celestia as she walked around him. "We must commend thee for thy wit. No opponent has ever lasted this long against us. Not to mention successfully push us away from the army with those little spells... It ist something to be recognized."

Celestia took a deep breath, then fixed her cautious look on him. "I do not seek your recognition. And the spells? They were not meant to be strong. I will not waste my energy with something as meaningless as distracting you from your army. But I needed to have a private audience with you. It is the only chance we will have. I am the eldest-the strongest by that right. I cannot leave the guard to fend for their own, so Luna will guide them... while I confront you at last, King Sombra."

"How touching, princess."

Celestia blocked Sombra's attack again. "My sister and I will not let you win, Sombra. I am glad to stay out of your shameful affairs. Your rule and ours are very different. We have far kinder and stronger strategies that will prevail for the sake of our subjects... Even if you beat us down!"

She shot a blast of white light at him, and smiled as it was strengthened by Luna's glowing blue energy.

Sombra took his shadow form to dodge the attack. His eyes glowed as he used a telepathic spell. This ist the signal for the next phase of the plan. Call forth the changeling army-unleash the second attack!

~~~

Luna panted and stopped on the ground once her squad finally cleared a small part of the city. "Well done..."

"Princess Luna! Princess Luna!" A few guards called out to her over the distance. They tried to run closer to her and the rest of the troops, but were taken down by something that Luna did not see clearly to recognize.

"What...? Guards, be prepared. It seems that something-" A flash of magic energy came at her, she barely had enough time to dodge, but not counter attack. She looked at the stallion that had attacked her as the soldiers brought him down. He ist one of our own. Wait a minute. How...

She noticed that many royal guards were confused and attacked by soldiers that were supposed to be in their ranks. Before long, they faced the problem of apparent insubordination and treason. "Wait! Stop! What ist the meaning of this?!"

However, she quickly caught on to another detail. Before she charged towards the group of traitor soldiers, she noticed that there were some creatures lurking about the ruins of the villages. She could not recognize the creatures, but immediately figured they were responsible for the misunderstanding that led to the defeat of many of her soldiers.

She flew closer to them, and witnessed their ultimate ability to take on the form of the ponies that they got hold of. "Unbelievable... How can they do that?! What kind of magic is it?!"

A hiss and the flutter of wings made her turn around. "Just when we..."

She screamed and flew to the side to dodge the insect-like creatures that charged against her. "Stay away!" Her magic blast managed to hit some, but most of them made a speedy escape and trapped more of her guards with a sticky, green substance. "These creatures...!"

Before more of the gnarled-legged insects flew at her, Luna commanded the soldiers to retreat while she flew closer to Celestia and Sombra. "We must make sure Celestia ist not outnumbered!"

~~~

Celestia turned around and watched Sombra disappear. "Sombra! Get back here!" She looked at the spot in the ground that had been marked with Sombra's dark magic. "I will make you show yourself..."

Her magic spell was disturbed, however, when she heard Red Feather's screams, and saw him fly as quickly as he could, above her. "Red Feather?! What-"

She grimaced as the pegasus' changeling persecutors flew past her. "Stop! Leave him alone!"

~~~

Red Feather grunted as he tried to fly faster. This cannot be, I have reached my limit... No, no-I have to fly faster! They... They art counting on me! He gritted his teeth and turned sharply, glancing at his pursuers for just a few seconds. "O-over here!"

He swooped to the side as the changelings gained speed. That ist it. Here we are... He looked up at the direction where the Royal Guard awaited. The traps are there. I just have to reach them-just a few seconds!

The changelings were now far away from the doctors and nurses, and none of them had been hurt by the fleet. They quickly transported the injured away as the unicorns that escorted them cast protective spells around them.

Pure Heart gasped as she watched Red Feather fly away with the strange creatures hot in pursuit. "Oh, no!"

Glitter Dawn walked over to Pure Heart and nudged her gently. "Come along, little one. We must get go where we art needed. We cannot stay here and be injured, can we?"

"B-but we have to help him! He wilt get hurt! We cannot let that happen, he helped us"

"Come now, Nurse Pureheart! Plenty of injured patients already need our help. We have to move to safety if we want to treat them quickly!" The doctor gave her a stern look as he pushed her forward and gave her a clipboard. "We have priorities, young lady."

"Yes, sir, I understand. I am truly sorry." Pureheart hung her head and glanced at the direction where Red Feather flew off to. Do take care...

Glitter Dawn smiled and patted her shoulder. "Do not worry. He flew right over to the Royal Guard. I am sure that they wilt not let sir Red Feather get hurt. They wilt do all they can to protect him. And he wilt be a hero, wilt he not? Since he helped them take care of those buggers. How fortunate will that be for him?"

Pureheart smiled a little and followed her a bit more quickly. Just be quick enough to reach them, sir Red Feather. She ist right, they will take care of thee. Godspeed, sir. I hope thou wilt beat them.

~~~

Celestia cried out as she was nearly hit by Sombra's spell. She glared at him and countered the attack, but looked away again when she spotted Red Feather, seemingly out of danger now. "There you are!"

"Princess Celestia, be careful!"

"I have it under control, Red Feather. You must get out of here!"

Red Feather nodded and flew around to leave. "Please be strong, Princess! I wilt try my best to help!"

"And she wilt look lovely defeated, wilt she not? Beaten to the ground among the other soldiers..." Sombra chuckled as his dark aura surrounded him.

Red Feather gasped and flew towards him. "No! Leave her alone! I wilt not let thee harm them!"

Sombra laughed as he unleashed the blast of black electricity on Red Feather. "There! Finally got what thou deservest! We wilt enjoy this, thou see. Watching thee die. Dost it feel good?" He walked forward as Red Feather screamed and squirmed on the ground. "Thou lookest like an ant. An ant that ist to be squashed."

Red Feather glared at him as the energy continued to torture him. "I... I wilt not... Not... anymore..."

"No!" Celestia pushed him back with another blast of light, making him lose his concentration. She looked at Red Feather as he recovered. "When you can move again, please get out of here. I appreciate your help, but if he hits you with another spell, Red Feather, I am afraid even I will not be able to save you. Please listen to me, my friend. I will be fine."

"He wilt be fine? What a lie that ist." He walked around Celestia as she stepped in front of Red Feather. "Once We art through with thy kingdom, We will enslave every single pony and force them to work at our crystal mines. Sounds delightful, does it not, Sun Princess?!"

~~~

Luna directed another set of her troops. She was about to move closer towards Celestia, but cried out when Chrysalis' green, glowing blast hit her and dropped her on the ground.

Chrysalis laughed. "What ist the matter, little princess? Ist the day too sunny for thee?!" She relentlessly attacked Luna again. "Thou art as pathetic and useless as thy mother wast! We wilt make sure thou endest in the same place as she did!"

~~~

Celestia sensed the new magic energy that had appeared on the air above. She looked up to find Luna fighting with another changeling... Only that creature looked different and stronger from the rest.

I cannot believe it... She is fighting the queen! She opened her wings and flew in the air to try to reach them. "Luna! Hang on! Wait for me!"

~~~

Chrysalis chuckled and glared at Luna as she screamed in pain from her recent attack. "Dost that hurt? It ist the least that thou deservest for all the misery thy family caused upon ours!" She growled and deflected a stronger magic blast that Luna charged.

Luna panted and tried to cast another spell. Do not falter, not right now! There must be another spell that We can use... We art stronger than this! Art We not...?

"Thy power would be a force to be reckoned with, if it were to reach its potential." She chuckled again as her gnarled horn began to glow. "Too bad it wilt never get the chance to do so!"

Luna looked up at the huge blast of glowing bright green light that flew right at her. She summoned her own energy and got ready to try to counter. We wilt blast thy laughter and smile off thy face...

Celestia flew in between Luna and Chrysalis' attack. Her body glowed with white energy as she deflected the blast and vanished it. "You will not touch my sister again. Do not even dare to aim another spell at her. If you so much as try to do it again, then I will make sure that you regret it. Understand?!"

Chrysalis chuckled and glared at the eldest princess. "Thou hath done the same mistake that thy family did. Thou raised thy kingdom in the same foolish, affectionate ways! We can sense love and positive feelings everywhere... How absurd, ist it not?"

"Of course not! Dost thou not see?! Those feelings, the hope and love of our subjects... They art what wilt help us defeat thee!" Luna's horn glowed as she flew forward just a bit.

"Silence! See this! See how powerful we get! Heh... All the love and affection thou claimest to be thy strength wilt soon be ours! For we gain power with thy love by the second! And it ist so strong, ist it not, our little children?" Chrysalis laughed and flew closer to the princesses, ready to attack them again. "We shalt be done with thee in minutes, princesses!"

Celestia screamed as she used as much power as she could summon to keep Chrysalis back.

"Sister!" Luna tried to approach them, but was pushed back by the power of the queen's magic. "No! Let us fight, We wilt not let thee hurt her! Fight us both!"

"But those art not the rules of this game, art they?" Chrysalis looked at herself as her magic aura grew even stronger. "Oh... This kingdom may be pathetic and weak... underdeveloped and all... But it doth hold the strongest emotions that We have yet to devour... All of us grow so much stronger already!"

Celestia and Luna flew back a bit as they shielded themselves from the burning, bright green aura.

"What ist the matter? Frightened already? Thou should be. It ist thanks to this very filthy land that thou callest thy kingdom that we wilt defeat thee... We would not have expected these little brute subjects to be so attached to their frail, weak leaders! Oh, do they love thee both..."

"Of course they do. They are loyal to us because we look after them. We defend them from threats of danger. Like you all!" Celestia grunted a bit, but then gasped when the light of her horn flickered.

"This shalt be thy end!" Chrysalis shot a stronger spell that zapped Celestia and threw her on the ground. She laughed as she saw that the Sun Princess could barely move.

"Celestia!"

Chrysalis stepped closer to Celestia as she made a great effort to push herself up. "Oh, look at this... It seems like thy strength backfired, did it not? How enjoyable..."

Celestia glared at her as she held herself up on her trembling legs. "I... I wilt not... give up to you... Never!"

"Oh, yes. Thou wilt!" Chrysalis' horn glowed again. She watched with delight as Celestia was electrocuted by the bright green energy. "How about now? Ist that better?"

"No! Leave her alone!" She looked up as a small swarm of changelings approached the fallen Sun Princess. "No! Thou wilt never-stop!"

Chrysalis looked up, then grunted as she received Luna's full blast, which made her crash against her changelings. "Little fool...!"

Luna rushed to her sister and tried to help her stand up. "On thy hooves, Celestia. We must fight!"

"D-do not give up, Luna. Understand? We cannot forsake this kingdom."

"We know that! But We need thee to win!"

"I will try my best... I am afraid I will not be much use now..." Celestia winced and cried out as she fell on the ground again. "I am sorry..."

"Thou needst to rest. We wilt make them sorry for this, sister. Rest and help us when thou hath recovered."

Chrysalis hissed and tried to hit Luna with a blast once she stood up. "Thou wilt regret that!"

Luna blocked the attack with a magic shield. "That wilt be enough. We art sick of all of thee. Our sister tried our best to be civil, but it just never works. Not with the likes of thee. Instead, she was injured and beaten. Just because she tried to spare thee and let thee leave unharmed. That ist despicable."

"I wilt tell thee what ist despicable-"

Luna gritted her teeth and shot another attack at Chrysalis. "Silence! We wilt not hear another word!" She opened her eyes as they glowed white. Her magic energy surrounded her.

"Then watch us tear thy beloved sister apart. Wilt that be better?" Chrysalis blinked with surprise as Luna glared at her and stepped forward. The enhanced magic of the night made her shiver.

"WE WILT NOT FORGIVE THEE!"

Chrysalis chuckled after she recovered. "Nice power. But as We said earlier... Thou art too young to master it!" She shot a blast of her own, though she gasped when it was effortlessly deflected.

~~~

Sombra stood up and watched Luna and Chrysalis as they battled. He smirked as his horn charged with a dark spell. Once it was complete, he shot it at Luna just before she attacked Chrysalis.

Luna screamed in pain and fell on the ground as her concentration broke. "Ngh... This ist nothing..." She pushed herself up and tried to keep her balance. "Come now, summon thine energy again..."

Chrysalis laughed as she watched Luna. "Oh, this ist good. Too good. How pathetic can thou get, princesses?!" She looked at her changelings as they hissed eagerly. "Easy. Do not interfere."

Luna narrowed her eyes as her magic aura continued to fade. "Concentrate harder..."

"It ist useless, princess." Chrysalis paced for a bit while Luna was pushed back by the pressure of Sombra's magic aura. "Look at thee. Thou fall deeper into the hole by the second. Forget it..."

She licked her lips as Luna fell on the ground again. "Thou art as good as mine!"

Sombra looked around at the darkness that Luna summoned to mislead them. "Well, she ist clever... And annoying, too. This has gone on for far too long..." He slipped into the shadows to dodge Luna's attack.

"We wilt not let thee get away this time, Sombra!" Luna stomped her hooves on the ground, sending ripples of glowing night magic through the earth.

Sombra growled and slithered away from the magic as quickly as he could. He looked up at the unconscious Celestia and grinned. She would not hurt her with any spells, would she?

He used a possession spell to enter her body. As the night aura vanished from the ground, Celestia's eyes opened. They were not glowing green and red as she pushed herself up.

~~~

Chrysalis panted as she looked around through the darkness. Her guards had been defeated one by one, and she barely had time to block Luna's spells, which blasted at her from all sides. She growled as her shield sizzled and vanished from the opposing aura.

That brat... She ist getting stronger! Her wings fluttered as she summoned a spell to try to dispel the darkness. "This little dark cloak wilt not work. We can see through thy guises-"

"It ist night magic what thou attemptest to dispel, insect. Thou crossed the wrong princess. The princess that happens to control the darkness of night!"

Chrysalis gasped as shadow forms appeared from the misty darkness. "Cheap tricks...!"

Luna narrowed her eyes and pushed Chrysalis back again. She looked around for Sombra. Where did he hide this time...? "Thou wilt not hide for long! We wilt find thee!"

"But We found thee already!" Celestia chuckled as she shot a spell of light at Luna's direction. She grimaced and looked at herself. "Hmm... This 'sun magic' ist not our style, most definitely... But, oh well... Dark magic wilt not give us any advantages now, wilt it...?"

She cast a few more spells while she approached Luna. Her voice was deep, joined by Sombra's.

"Maybe two rulers was just a bad idea. Dost thou not thinkest so, Luna? We wilt have to correct that. The kingdom can wait, but not this!" She charged a beam of sunlight energy and shot it again. She chuckled with delight as it easily sliced through the cover of darkness.

Luna panted as she blocked the blast with a barrier. She groaned and fell to her knees, but kept her eyes fixed on Celestia. Our cover and spells art vanishing... If she keeps her magic up, then ours wilt be all gone... We wilt all be exposed...

Celestia laughed and ordered some of the Royal Guard officers that were too confused to suspect her commands. "Go! Change thy positions, we wilt beat them if we scatter around!"

"No!" Luna growled and pushed herself up. "Sombra... This is definitely Sombra..." She charged a spell and shoved Celestia back with it. "Enough! Leave our sister alone! Thou wilt pay for this!"

Celestia smirked again and shot another attack. "We do not think so. Dost thou not thinkest thou needst a bit more sunlight in thee? Let us help..."

Luna grunted and jumped into the air to dodge Celestia's attacks. We must hang on and keep fighting-now more than ever! We must save Celestia from Sombra's possession. She looked down at Celestia as she laughed and continued to attack, all the while insulting her.

She stepped to the side and saw that Celestia was already flying after her. "..."

"Come out now or We wilt destroy the useless soldiers thou hath left! Good luck explaining to their families-if they art alive!" Celestia turned around and aimed at the group of guards that aimed their weapons at the oncoming changelings.

Luna narrowed her eyes and glared at the possessed Celestia. She opened her wings and flew out of the broken tower. "Here We art! Now fight us!"

Celestia flew up to Luna and hit her against the wall with her hoof. "How treacherous. Thou planned to attack thine own sister?! Learning from thy dark nightmares, art thou not?!"

"We plan to beat and defeat the force possessing her. We wilt do all that We need!"

Celestia lifted her hoof and surrounded Luna in a ring of light that vanished her magic aura. "Always so weak, thou were, little sister..."

Luna gasped and screamed as the power of the light was increased. "Leave us alone!" She looked at Celestia as she continued to laugh while Luna herself screamed. No... Please do not...

"It ist useless! Our magic has grown stronger-thanks to the dark aura enhancing it! There ist no way thy weak little spells wilt be a match! Two powers in one, how can thou defeat that?!"

He learned to use Celestia's basic spells well... We know how to get around them, but We wilt never overpower them with Sombra's magic as another force to counter... She dost not grow weak! But We do...

Celestia grinned and hit Luna with her hoof again when she tried to fly closer. "Thou must stay in thy place. Dost thou not know manners? From this point on, thou wilt be our slave. Thou lost thy chance to be a mighty ruler. Now both of thee wilt be our slaves!"

Luna growled and glared at Celestia while she pushed her back. "Let us go! Thou art a disgrace, We wilt not allow thee to touch us!"

"Look who ist talking! The biggest disgrace of all! Always at our shadow!"

"Not thy shadow. Not thy filthy shadow. Thou wilt never make us hate our sister, no matter how hard thou triest to impersonate her! We know it ist thee that possesses her, Sombra. And so our moon help us, We wilt release her from thy vile influence!" She pushed Celestia back again with her hind legs and panted.

There ist... There ist only one that might handle Celestia's magic better than us... She tried to block Celestia's attacks for a bit longer, but was already breathing hard with fatigue. She swayed and had to lower down on the ground to keep fighting.

Wilder...! She grunted again as Celestia pushed her on the ground. She grabbed Celestia's hoof and tripped her, then screamed as Celestia electrocuted her again. "Not... that..." Her horn glowed as she used the energy around her for a counter spell. Wilder, please come here!

Celestia chuckled and stepped forward while the crystal soldiers shoved Luna back to give her less space. "Thou art done..." She looked aside and spotted Chrysalis as she broke free from the fading darkness. "About time thou appeared. Do not just stand there. Thou hath work to do!"

She lifted her hoof and kicked Luna in front of her as Chrysalis stepped closer. "There, finish this night vermin! We have grown rather bored now."

"We thought it would be more than enough with thee. Thou art playing quite a good game. But if thou insistest... The princesses art to be destroyed by us, after all."

Wilder, where art thou?! Thou said thou were our friend. Thou art strong. Thou livest in this kingdom... Please come and help! Come and stop all of this... We art not enough...!

Things seemed quite dim from her perspective, and it was not just because she was under her possessed sister's hoof.

Her beloved kingdom was falling apart, and she could do nothing about it. She was hit by the realization that none of their efforts changed the outcome even for a second. Everything that she knew and loved would still be in ruins in a matter of minutes, regardless of what she and the others did.

Have dignity, Luna. Keep thy princess honor-do not give them the satisfaction of seeing thee beg for thy life. This ist it, but it wilt be a mighty exit. Honored.

"How amusing... We can see how terrified thou art, little filly... Just make it easier for thyself and plead with us. Perhaps We wilt humor thee, little sister."

Luna shook her head firmly. "No. We art prepared for thee! None of us will fear thee." She looked around at the fallen Royal Guard that kept the same silent determination. "See? It wilt not be easy to bend us. Thy victory ist not complete."

Chrysalis growled as she looked at the Royal Guard. "Well, not what We expected, but it shalt do."

"Hear ye! We art Princess Luna, protector of this land and the Night. We shalt defend our home with our last breath, and remain with our title as We fall."

She glared at them through tear-filled eyes, and fought to keep her voice from breaking. She was terrified, but would not let that be an excuse to break down and humiliate herself and what was left of her rule.

"Such a brave little one. Ist she not?"

Luna moved her head away from Celestia. "Go on, coward! Go ahead and do thy worst!" She screamed more as she felt the burning energy of the sunlight burn around her body.

Her night magic did little to ease the pain as Sombra laughed through Celestia's body. The despair she felt then was unimaginable, but at least she would have dignity and not give in like the villains expected.

All was lost, but at least they would have to battle thoroughly to win it all. Regardless of how long the battle lasted, it was still a battle-a fight that they engaged in fiercely to defend their freedom.

She would be proud of that and use their courage to fuel her last, proud attempts against the enemy force.

Sombra and Chrysalis started their attack against Canterlot! They easily overpowered the young princesses, even though they tried their best. Cunning beasts. Poor Luna, she got saddled with it all after Celestia fell. But everyone's gotta admire her courage and dignity. For a little filly, she's awesome!

But things are not looking bright for the kingdom or the princesses at all. Where is Wilder?! Will he be enough to save the day if he does appear?

Phew! Biggest edit yet. At one point it ended up being eighteen pages! Eighteen! Now it's twelve. Still pretty long, seriously. What the hell did I do there? Might have made some points seem redundant and useless. But I think I made the princesses seem epic! If some of you catch on to errors or have suggestions that will make the story better, please do let me know.