Twilight had a plan, a way for us to get where we needed to go with a higher chance of success; it didn't come without its risks though.

"Alright, I am going to explain this once, so pay attention." Twilight spoke as her task force sat in the war room with her. Our group had been codenamed "New Dawn" after our goal. Twilight had hoped that after our success we would see the sun again and we'd be looking at a new age. Wishful thinking, but we'd be fortunate if we survived this mission.

Twilight adjusted her glasses and pointed to a diagram on the wall. "We will infiltrate here. With a little luck we can slip past security and use a service area to get to the homing beacon."

"They aren't going to just let us slip in you know. They have an army waiting for us." Trixie pointed out.

"That's why we're going to distract them. A full scale attack, every soldier we have. A battle that large would lure enough of them out to get in." Twilight explained.

"A battle that big would lose many lives, especially without us there to command them..." Luna spoke up.

"If we don't stop this thing, we will lose everything. The risk is necessary at this point. Anypony not willing to throw their life down for Equestria will die anyways." Vinyl whom had been sitting with her powerful eyes closed this entire time spoke up. I got the impression she wanted to skip right to the part that concerned her.

Twilight nodded. "Exactly. If we are unsuccessful, we will all perish. We may as well throw everything we have at this now."

"Boy howdy, sounds like a hell of a fight." Applebloom said.

Twilight nodded again. "Now, we may run into Spitfire and Hawk, they won't be easy to get past, but if possible try and avoid them."

Vinyl grunted. "Run like a couple of cowards..."

Twilight shook her head. "You won't want to face them if anything Trixie says is true."

"Well, I personally don't give a damn what Trixie says, she's a liar for all I care." Vinyl grinned.

Trixie leaned forward and placed her hooves on the table. "Miss Vinyl, I assure you that Hawk and Spitfire are not to be taken lightly. Don't forget, Spitfire bested Rainbow Dash. And Hawk is the only one ever to beat Spitfire in a fight. If they put Hawk on a job, it means they are serious about it."

"What do we know about Hawk?" Twilight chimed in.

Trixie sat up and pressed a button on the table to turn on the projector, displaying several images of Hawk. Getting up, she trotted to Twilight's side. "Hawk was raised in Dragon Scar." She began.

"Impossible! Ain't nopony out there!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"There are several out there actually, but few survive. Hawk was born into slavery until he was old enough to escape. When he reached seventeen, he was trained as a mercenary." Trixie replied. "And here's the kicker, his primary job was hunting down runaway slaves."

"Even though he was a slave himself?" I asked.

Trixie nodded. "Hawk feels no sympathy. He grew up with nothing, so he can not be reasoned with. He spent his entire life fighting, getting stronger. He is no ordinary griffon."

Twilight grinned and placed a hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "Not bad, you're quite brilliant."

She winked. "Second to you."

"I thought you said we knew almost nothing about Hawk?" I reminded.

She frowned as she answered. "I didn't want to break your spirits. The truth is that Hawk is a hardened warrior and I'm not sure any of us could best him..." Trixie admitted.

"I fear no agent of the darkness." Vinyl bragged.

Trixie laughed. "You're good, Vinyl, however many have said those words and faced Hawk. They were their last. Don't let your arrogance get the better of you. Hawk is far stronger than he lets on."

"Let us hope we never have to find out then." I spoke.

Twilight nodded. "Agreed."

It was about eight months into the great war. It was being called the War of Existence because pony kind felt its very existence at stake. Cadance had been unsure of when it would end, and if the great war would eventually come to the Crystal Empire.

Her subjects were restless, living in fear that the darkness would one day visit them as well. With Shining Armor gone to Canterlot to assist in the war effort, Cadance was left as the sole protector of this beautiful place. How she feared one day seeing it coated with blood.

Today though, she would be facing something far worse than the darkness. Something she never expected to return.

The princess had been resting from a headache as a messenger came to her. She groaned in anguish as she was awoken. "What is it? This better be good..." She grumbled.

"Your highness... It's..." He bit his lip.

"Yes? Out with it." She commanded.

"Changelings your highness..."

She blinked and stepped out of her room to the balcony. Looking down on the city, she saw many cloaked changelings laying waste to innocent civilians. There was something different though! They were out to kill, not feed. It didn't make sense, where did they get weapons from? And why were they here destroying the city? Something didn't add up.

"Alert the guards, we shall push them out of the Crystal Empire." Cadance spoke as she fastened her sword to her hoof.

"Your majesty... There are thousands of them..." He replied.

"Then we shall fight a thousand times harder." Cadance grunted as she exited the room.

With her blade at the ready, Cadance sliced at two changelings closing in on her proximity. Her cuts were powerful enough to take them down with ease. Approaching one of her royal guards she stopped in front of him to get a report. "Status report, officer?" She asked.

He bowed his head before speaking. "Ma'am, we have changelings entering every side of the city. They're not like the ones in Canterlot years ago though... These ones are fast, combat ready and armed. Its almost as if they were trained to fight..."

Cadance nodded in understanding. "So... She has returned..." Cadance looked to the center of the city. "She'll be heading for the crystal heart... I'll meet her there."

"Ma'am, wait!" Her guard objected.

"Stand down, soldier. I am going to do my duty to my kingdom. It is my job to protect these ponies, and I intend to do just that." Cadance explained.

Before he had another chance to object, she took her leave and headed to the location of the crystal heart, knowing her old nemesis would soon arrive to attempt to steal it.

Upon arrival, Cadance drew her weapon, and sure enough, in a puff of smoke a tall figure appeared before her. When the smoke cleared, Cadance could see glowing lime eyes, leathery skin, and fangs as sharp as daggers. She looked exactly as Cadance recalled, but now with a new cloak to conceal her form.

"Ah yes, princess of the Crystal Empire..." The creature spoke in her broken voice.

Cadance kept her blade ready. "I thought we squashed you and your bugs?" She mocked.

"We changelings don't die that easily. We're very resilient creatures." The figure responded.

"Fitting for pests. What do you hope to accomplish, Chrysalis?" Cadance asked.

Chyrsalis began to gently circle around the mare. "To claim this kingdom for my kind. Revenge is so sweet, I'll kill you and snatch your kingdom from you."

"I'm not surprised that you fell to the darkness. Your heart has always been as black as night so its only appropriate that you be filled with the darkness itself..." Cadance mocked.

The queen of the changelings laughed heartily. "I do not serve such a pathetic body. No, I am for a much greater cause." She smirked.

Another cause? What could she mean? Cadance wondered.

"Whomever your master, this kingdom belongs to the crystal ponies, and to take it, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hooves." Cadance responded.

Chrysalis let out another laugh. "You read my mind."

With those words, the two locked blades and began their fight. Cadance imediantly noticed Chrysalis' strength was much greater than the last time they had fought. Her swings were mighty, and fierce. She couldn't tell if it was determination that gave her this newfound power, or if the queen had been preparing for this battle.

Being pushed back, Cadance landed on her hooves, blade in front of her. "You've been practicing, I see. Unfortunately for you, I have been trained in the royal sword."

Chrysalis cast a spell and threw a bunch of fireballs in the crystal empire's princess' way. Cadance just narrowly dodged them, only burning a feather.

"Your techniques are useless here. I have been trained in an art that you have never seen before. A mastery exceeding your own." Chrysalis bolted forward and swung her blade, slicing the crystal princess' blade clean in half. "And I brought a present for you."

With those words she pierced her blade into the mare. Digging it deep into her heart. "They call you the princess of hearts, fitting that you should die this way." Chrysalis mocked.

Choking and gasping for breath, Cadance gripped the blade in her chest, as blood began to trickle out. Chrysalis saw her suffering and just twisted her sword. "Revenge feels beautiful..."

Cadance grinned. "You're an idiot..."

"Says the one on the verge of death." The queen said.

"W-where do you think... The power of the Princess of Hearts is kept...?" Cadance grinned through coughs.

"Hm?" Chrysalis rose a brow.

A bright light began to emit from the wound in Cadance's chest. Chrysalis took a step back and allowed the mare to fall to the ground gripping her chest. "You lose, Chrysalis..." Cadance smirked. "If I were you... I'd get far away from this place... Because you're about to see what my full power can do..." She groaned as a small wave of energy pushed Chrysalis back.

"Damn it!" The changeling growled.

From behind her, a gray pegasus appeared and gripped Chrysalis' front right hoof. "It seems you've failed us, Chrysalis..." The pegasus spoke.

"No! She's bluffing!" The changeling defended.

"We can already sense it, an energy burst strong enough to destroy the entire city is about to be unleashed. We must retreat. I was sent to retrieve you, because despite your failure, you are still useful to us." The pony said gripping her hoof tighter.

"But... My children!" Chrysalis protested.

The mare grew impatient with her. "We can always spawn more. Now come before I am forced to bring you back by force."

Chrysalis turned to the young Pegasus with a tear in her eye. "You're just a child... Not even full grown yet... Why must I take orders from you?"

The pegasus gave her a stern look as she locked her magenta eyes on the changeling queen. Her hoof squeezed the queen's fiercely as she held her. "Don't test me unless you wish to return to the void much sooner than you anticipated... I have been given authority over you. You have failed us, and you shall be punished for that. Now let's go."

The mare looked to Cadance and smiled. "Well played, princess. You return to the void with honor."

After those words, her and Chrysalis vanished into thin air. Cadance,unable to hold in her power any longer pushed out her entire life force in one mighty blast.

When the dust settled, all that remained was a crystal statue of the entire empire. Everything, pony and structure alike, turned to crystal. Frozen there in stone, the former glorious crystal empire.

Twilight removed my hoof from the orb and looked me in the eyes. I blinked as I finally came back to reality.

"What was that...?" I asked.

"A memory saved to that orb. Cadance's final memory was preserved on a memory orb she had been carrying with her before death. She must have activated it, knowing she was going to die." Twilight explained.

"How many have seen this?" I asked.

"Only you." She responded as she began to put the orb back into her desk and return to her work.

"Why though?"

Placing her glasses back on her face she began to return to her paperwork. "I wanted you to see what we are up against. I saw you had protest to my strategy of keeping you alive. I wanted to show you that there is more than just the darkness to worry about. We need every advantage we can get."

"Why not show the others this?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"They can barely handle the current situation... Imagine how they would be if they discovered that the darkness wasn't their only foe? Shining Armor can never know the truth about his wife's death... He would become obsessed with hunting Chrysalis... He'd lose focus on the war and want nothing but to avenge his wife." She sighed and bowed her head in defeat. "He's just like me... A stubborn old mule..."

"What was Rainbow Dash like?" I changed the subject. The thought crossed my head many times when I looked at her blade.

Twilight rose her head and tilted it. "Rainbow Dash?"

I nodded. "I keep hearing this talk that I'm the next Rainbow Dash... What does that mean? Why is Rainbow Dash so important to you?"

Twilight sighed and peered out her window, facing away from me. "You know this all can't last much longer. Equestria I mean..." She had a bit of disappointment in her tone. Almost as if she had given up. "It'll all end soon enough. These ponies won't even see it coming... I have seen what the darkness can do and it won't stop. We can give pause to it, but it'll keep coming..." She sighed. "Eventually we will be too old and tired from fighting to stop it..."

"Ma'am?" I stepped forward, a bit concerned about her demeanor.

"Rainbow Dash knew that... When I saw her only six years after she left here... At the young age of 29 when she retuned... She had aged almost thirty years... She was an old woman, tired and aged from fighting... She knew that nothing is forever and eventually you'll fall..." Twilight rambled.

"How is that even possible?" I asked.

"War; war had run her down. War is hell." Twilight replied.

"Then we walk to the gates of the underworld with swords drawn." I said.

My comment must have taken her by surprise, as she turned to me with a confused look. I approached her desk. "This city exists because those ponies refuse to die. They cling to precious life and adapt to even the harsh conditions of this ruined world. You underestimate the will to live."

Twilight sat in her chair intrigued. "Why are you so confident...?"

"I have learned one thing in my time... Life is great. Life is the greatest gift in the universe... Although violence ends life, it is not a crime to fight to protect that life. Thus why as long as I draw breath..." I placed my hoof upon my heart. "I will protect that life. I will fight until my body can not withstand the fighting anymore. I will gladly sacrifice my body to make these ponies' hope not misplaced."

"Even if you fight, we will still eventually lose." Twilight pointed out.

"If we give up, we will certainly lose. I'd rather fight for every second we can get over relinquishing the remainder of our time to those who threaten us." I responded.

Twilight blinked. "You're a lot like Dash before she left the military."

I bowed. "Thank you ma'am."

"Wait a while. Soon you'll become just like she was after she left. Give it time and that fire of yours will burn out. When your faith fails you, you'll start to dream of more practical things." Twilight said as she returned to paperwork on her desk, levitating a pair of glasses to her face.

"Aren't you supposed to stopping these ponies from dying?" I grunted.

"On paper, yes. However paper does not take into account how impossible it's request is. So in reality, all I can do is make them more comfortable in their final hours and tell them that dawn will soon come. I would rather they all lay to rest believing a blissful lie, than the harsh truth." The unicorn spoke through writing. Her quill moved quite quickly, she must have been a skilled writer.

"Sounds like a world of ignorance." I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"It's a world we can realistically accomplish." She barked.

"Life's a bitch, doesn't mean you get to be one." I replied. She looked up a bit confused. I placed my hooves on the desk and leaned in as I spoke softer. "They deserve more confidence because the will to live can accomplish far more than you think it can. Life is such a precious thing, and ponies will do anything to protect it. You just haven't seen what its capable of yet... You will though." I leaned back out with a smile.

"Good luck, general." I winked as I trotted for the door.