Chrysalis stepped into a large rotunda, walking towards its back wall with both Antithology and a bound and gagged Annie in her magical tow. Once she made her way into the center, she roughly set Annie down on her rump, making her grunt with discomfort.

“Now,” Chrysalis asked her facetiously, “are you ready to witness the new age of Equestria?”

Annie screamed through her cloth, hopping up to try and attack her, only for her to fall to her side helplessly, Chrysalis laughing as she moaned with futility.

“I knew you were,” she answered back.

Taking a few steps forwards, Chrysalis transformed herself into Celestia, her evil grin still plastered on her muzzle and her horn still glowing green. Annie began to shout and yell as loud as she could, hoping with all her might that someone would hear her. Chrysalis ignored her, flipping the book open to the middle, a strong gust of wind blowing throughout the room with each turn of a page. Annie, beginning to lose faith, cried hard, tears flowing from her eyes.

“Wicked beings whom I have forsook,” chanted Chrysalis as Celestia, making the book glow a bright green and its pages vibrating, “and held captive in this book; I now open your prison door and set you free forever more!”

A bright green light shone from the book as it began to float by itself. Chrysalis, mystified by what she had completed, stepped back to watch her spell in all its wonder. Unbeknownst to Chrysalis, Luna could see what was happening from above the ballroom building. Luna flew back inside the ballroom and faced Sunset Shimmer beside her sister and remaining guests.

“Sunset Shimmer,” she growled. “What have you two done?”

“Exactly what we have planned for,” she responded. “The fall of Equestria.”

“You won’t get away with this!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash,” Celestia cooed, “I’m sorry, but it’s too late. All we can do now is to evacuate the city before more harm comes to my little ponies. Now, quickly! Come close!”

The humans and ponies did as they were told, but Levi was quick to see Sunset Shimmer winding her arm to strike as Celestia and Luna tried to charge their horns.

“Wait!” he shouted.

Celestia and Luna did as he was told, giving them enough time to see a single blade fly out towards them. With enough time to spare, Celestia deflected it with a quick magic shield. Sunset Shimmer winced, winding the left arm back as her right hand and operational device reached for another blade.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Chrysalis watched in delight as the pages of the book began to detach from the spine and fly about the room in a frenzied twister.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“I remember how difficult teleportation can be,” remarked Sunset Shimmer, “but to transport the whole lot of you away? Even between you two princesses, you need just enough time to charge yourselves. Gives me time to kill at least two of you.”

“Sunset Shimmer!” pleaded Celestia. “Let us go! My ponies need me.”

“Yes,” giggled Sunset Shimmer, nearly biting her tongue in pleasure, “beg. Beg just like you made me beg.”

Luna glanced out at the corner of her eye to see two shadows begin to gallop towards the entrance to the ballroom. Knowing that timing was vital, Luna kept her angered stare at Sunset until…

“Tia,” ordered Luna, “now!”

Celestia and Luna began to charge up their horns, allowing Sunset to restore strength for her oncoming attack.

*PKOOHH*

The sound of a gun firing alerted Sunset Shimmer immediately as a green shard of light darted towards her face. Using her agility to block the attack, she deflected the spell with the edge of her blade, sending it ricocheting off into the ceiling. Looking back to Celestia and Luna, she and the rest of the humans and ponies were already covered in an aura of light.

Sunset tried to toss out at least one blade towards the group, only for it to fly through open air as the aura, as well as the humans and ponies to disappear, making the blade clatter to the ground.

*PKOOHH*

Another gunshot. Sunset Shimmer dove forwards, just avoiding another blast from the mystery light. Turning her body to the entrance to the hall, Sunset Shimmer restored her operational devices with two new blades.

However, she could only register for a spit second as a pegasus with a long sword attached to its waist in a sheath and a device clamped to her right wrist flew towards a unicorn with two odd devices on her arm, each one equipped with a small cannon on the inside of each hoof, as well as a green-glowing ring on her horn. The pegasus groped the unicorn, and with a bright flash both of them disappeared.

Sunset Shimmer growled, having lost her prey and unable to identify their saviors. With another pressing issue at hand, Sunset Shimmer ran towards the balcony exit.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Chrysalis transformed back into her original form, watching as the pages slowly began to form a large sphere inside the center of the room. Annie too was mystified and mortified by what she was witnessing as the pages completed their round form. From there, the bottom of the sphere went aflame, quickly spreading across the sphere until it was nothing more than a large ball of fire.

The fires soon began to dissipate, the orb now looking more like it was made from a mirror which began to grow out, sparking profusely with green bolts as it did. Just as the orb was about to collide with both of the walls, it burst as if it were made of water, the liquid silvery fluids vaporizing on the ground once it hit.

Now standing where the orb had been were a multitude of creatures and beings, much to Chrysalis’s delight. The first one she laid her eyes on was a large, heavily-built centaur-like creature with a dark-grey horse’s body, a furry, black, humanoid torso with bald muscular red arms and hands, a red ape-like face, white beard, and long steer-like horns.

Standing next to it was an human-sized, anthropomorphic cat with light-brown fur, long orange hair draped over her right shoulder, and wearing a regal red robe. Accompanying her was a green wyvern with a long, light-colored beak. Behind the both of them was a large blue goat with black horns that wrapped back and around his head, a row of fangs extending from the bottom of his jaw, two red voids for eyes, and a golden bell hung around his neck by a red belt. Next to it was a brown donkey with a horribly-oversized muzzle and two small, pointy brown horns from the top of its head.

Behind them was an ghostly entity made up of what appeared to be grey clouds, its square face suggesting brutishness, along with an anthropomorphic hornet about a foot taller than the cat creature, sporting an ornate red cape and holding a golden spear, as well as a giant made up of molten magma, a slender emperor penguin with a ruby crown and plumage designed to look like a literal tuxedo, a hairless, humanoid-boar with a tiara made of granite, and finally, a deep-red squid with a pair of eyes just beneath the base of its mantle.

Upon finding themselves inside the rotunda, they looked about them confusedly and cautiously. Suddenly, the red-and-black centaur spotted both Chrysalis and Annie before it.

“You,” he spoke in a guttural growl, turning the others’ attention towards the two of them, “who are you?”

Chrysalis tossed the page-less cover of Antithology at the cloven hooves of the centaur. The others responded with shock and surprise, staring back incredulously at the smug Chrysalis.

“I’m the one who’s giving Equestria back to you,” she chuckled.

The others before her still could not believe what she had done for them, nearly frozen stiff at the concept of their newfound freedom.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Celestia and Luna reappeared with the humans and their pony friends, including Spike and Discord, inside the head chambers of the palace. As the humans and ponies breathed spastically at their brush with death, another burst of light flashed beside them. Emerging from the light were Lyra and Derpy Hooves, the former equipped with the horn-ring and cannon braces on her hooves, and Derpy Hooves with the sheathed sword on her body.

“Your highness,” asked Derpy Hooves, “are you alright?”

“Yes, Derpy,” panted Luna, “I am. Thank you.”

“Hey,” Eren stammered, pointing at the grey pegasus, “you’re that pony from the diner! What are you doing here? What happened to your voice?”

Derpy Hooves leapt up and smacked Eren on the back of his head. The others were taken aback by the pegasus’ act while Eren rubbed his head and groaned loudly.

“That’s what you get for making fun of my eyes!” Derpy spoke.

“I didn’t mean anything!” cried Eren.

“Derpy Hooves,” Lyra hissed, “this is not the time nor the place.”

“Can someone please tell me what’s wrong with Discord?” wept Fluttershy.

The others turned to him to see him wheezing and gagging on the floor. Sasha gasped and covered her mouth, horrified by the helpless creature.

“I’m such a fool…” he sighed. “I should have known there was something up with that pony who gave us those drinks…”

“What?” Twilight shouted. “What do you mean?”

“The aching, the shortness of breath, the fact that I couldn’t use magic back there without feeling tremendous pain. She must have put Essence of Curseroot in them.”

At that moment, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna gasped.

“Essense of Curseroot?” wondered Armin. “What is that?”

“Curseroot is a plant that has been used to suppress the magic of unicorn prisoners,” explained Celestia, “but in high or concentrated doses, especially when congested, it saps all magic from those creatures, and when the magic is gone… it takes their life.”

Fluttershy squeaked loudly with flowing tears.

“Can’t we save him?” he asked.

“Potentially,” Celestia said, “but we will need to work quickly. Ponies, humans, return to your rooms and get dressed into your uniforms and Maneuver Gears. Lyra, Derpy, escort Shining Armor and Cadance to their rooms and pack only what you need. I will treat Discord as well as I can while Luna evacuates the city, but in either case, we’ll need to escape. There is a secret train tunnel where an engine and a few of cars are waiting. Twilight, you know where it is, don’t you?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia,” she answered with a quick nod.

“Good, meet us down there in precisely fifteen minutes. Now go! There is no time to lose!”

Without another word the ponies ran down the hall to their chambers, minus Fluttershy, who timidly stood by and stared at her ailing friend.

“Fluttershy, go!” he rasped. “Jean needs you now!”

Fluttershy, after taking a long, possibly last look at Discord, darted off behind her to follow their friends to their rooms.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

The centaur stepped up to Chrysalis, whose smug smile removed any pretense of fear from the creatures that faced her. With the large creature’s equine chest/human abdomen just a foot or so from her head, Chrysalis smiled wider as he lowered his front hooves down to their knees and placed his hand over his heart.

Annie whimpered through her cloth as the other creatures behind the centaur all took their form of a bow, signaling their allegiance with the one who had freed them. All of the creatures stood back up, each of them, minus the centaur, stepping around her and Annie.

“We thank you greatly for your act,” Tirek spoke. “We wish to know the name of the one who has released us.”

“My name is Chrysalis,” she answered, “queen of the changelings. And I know you all as well, Tirek,” she said to the centaur, then turning towards the blue ram and the donkey, “Grogar, Bray,” she added, facing the robed cat and the wyvern, “Catrina, Rep,” she continued, looking to the cloud monster, the lava giant, the squid, the bee, the penguin, and the boar, “Arabus, Lavan, Squirk, Queen Bumble, King Charlatan, and Queen Porcina.”

“Hmm,” Catrina purred with a sly grin and a slight German accent, “she’s done her research.”

The sound of retracting wires were heard from outside the door to the rotunda, with Sunset Shimmer storming in quickly afterwards. Upon seeing her, the creatures glared and growled at the potential threat, Tirek charging a red-and-yellow sphere of magic in between his horns. Sunset Shimmer stood stiff as a board with wide, surprised eyes.

“Do not attack her!” bellowed Chrysalis. “She is an ally of ours, and you can trust her fully.”

The sphere in space of Tirek’s horns shrunk, and the collection of creatures settled down. Sunset’s fear transformed to anger as she stared at the taur.

“And what is this one’s name?” Tirek asked Chrysalis.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer,” she snapped, stepping up to Tirek without hesitation, “and I’d greatly appreciate it if you let me speak when I’m more than capable of doing so.”

Tirek squinted at Sunset Shimmer, who squinted right back.

“She looks like feisty one,” Porcina joked in a heavy Cockney accent. “Best not to push her buttons, eh?”

“Go on,” Sunset Shimmer goaded with a proud sneer. “Listen to Porky over there.”

“Porky?” she squealed, stomping her way to the human girl. “I ought ta’ beat the daylights out of you!”

Tirek’s massive hoof blocked he path, making the boar hop up in shock.

“That’s enough,” Tirek spoke. “She has made her case. Sunset Shimmer,” he asked, turning to the human, “what is that device on your waist?”

“It’s a 3D Maneuver Gear,” she answered. “It allows me to soar along tall places and function as a weapon.”

Tirek smirked, impressed by the ingenuity of such a creation. However, any sense of ease ended with the booming of a voice outside.

“Citizens of Canterlot!” the voice cried. “This is your Princess Luna! You must evacuate the city! I repeat, you must evacuate the city immediately!”

Suddenly, and louder with each second, the noise of screaming, terrified ponies erupted around the entire building. The blue ram breathed in and closed his eyes at the pleasing sensation.

“Oh, how I miss that sound,” he sighed in a raspy British accent. “The screams of terror of those that I oppressed.”

“Chrysalis,” Tirek spoke, “let us take this city and the princesses once more.”

“No,” Chrysalis answered.

“What?” Tirek, Grogar, and Catrina all exclaimed.

“Do you not trust us?” Arabus spoke with dejection.

“After you set us free in the first place?” warbled Bumble.

“We cannot let the enemy see our hand quite yet,” argued Chrysalis. “Let Sunset and I handle Canterlot now. Once we set outward over all of Equestria, you and your powers shall help us completely destroy any opposition.”

“You think you and your friend can manage this task yourselves” Tirek asked.

“Ohoho,” she chuckled, “we won’t be alone. Lavan, seal any entrances and exits from those why might try to get in once we leave. Once we’ve succeeded, we’ll enter through the windows. Do not be alarmed unless it’s a guard. If one manages to enter, kill him immediately.”

“You got it, Chrysy,” he responded in a voice as rough as sandpaper.

Annie felt hope torrent out of her eyes as she was soon about to consign to a terrible fate.

“And what of that other creature there?” Rep asked, pointing to Annie.

“Spare her,” Chrysalis said. “She will be of immense value to us. Perhaps one of you can use some… ‘persuasion’ to sway her to our side?”

Catrina stepped forwards, an proud smile sliding across her face.

“Leave that to me,” she said.

“Very good. Just don’t hurt her…”

Chrysalis turned her head to Catrina first with serious sternness and then with a light grin.

“…too badly.”

Catrina smiled back at the answer.

“I will not disappoint you,”

With a nod, Chrysalis and Sunset Shimmer ran to the exit door, Lavan quickly following behind. Once the door closed behind them, Lavan’s hand placed itself upon the top of the door and melted. Moving down, a streak of hot rock now cooling down was placed over the creases of each door. Meanwhile, Catrina walked casually towards Annie, who could not move in her bondage, but could only wail as Catrina’s claw brushed her hair.

“Nighty night,” she teased, her viciously bent claw reached at her face.

The last thing Annie could do was scream as the hand began to glow green and the palm pressed over her eyes, consciousness slipping away.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Trains left the stations one after the other, the ones that haven’t left yet filling up with unicorns and earth ponies. Pegasi flew in all directions towards their home towns and cities, screaming, crying, and panting with their lives at risk. Among them, Gilda flew south towards Ponyville, a somber frown on her face as she looked back.

“Go get her, Annie,” she choked with slight hope.

As she looked back down, she, as well as the other pegasi around her, saw a sight forming beneath them that forced their wings to fly faster than they could have thought possible.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Eren and Rainbow Dash burst into their bedroom, Eren having torn his shirt and jack from his body and sliding his pants off in mere seconds.

“Rainbow Dash,” he shouted, “keep an eye out for that yellow girl.”

“How long should it take you to change?” asked Rainbow Dash, trembling herself almost off-balance.

“Just a couple of minutes!”

“But we only have fifteen!”

As Eren slid his pants and harness onto his legs, the sound of a loud buzzing could be heard from outside. Rainbow Dash flew up to the window, and upon seeing the source of the sound, her wings froze, making her fall back to her hooves an back up with a desperate look on her face and drooped ears.

“Scratch that,” she mumbled. “We don’t even have that couple…”

“Huh?” questioned Eren. “What is it?”

Eren hopped up and looked out the window, and now his expression matched Rainbow Dash as he looked at a swarm of changelings flying up and surrounding the castle at practically every vantage angle.

“This can’t be,” muttered Eren. “We’re defenseless.”

With a screech from one of the insectoid creatures, a whole mass of them sped up towards the window where they had spotted their prey.

Eren hopped off his spot and stood directly in front of Rainbow Dash, putting his arms up into a futile shield. At that moment, the case for his maneuver gear Element of Harmony began to glow from the inside out. The device burst forth from the case and latched itself to Eren, making him glow brightly.

A changeling burst into the room, darting straight at the light and Rainbow Dash, a pair of glowing red blades cut forth from the light and slashed two large gashes in the creature’s chest, felling and killing it instantly. The light disintegrated to reveal Eren now wearing his gold-and-platinum armor with his red cape.

“My Element!” gasped Eren.

Just then, around a dozen more changelings flew into the room, and with Eren suited and armed, he gripped the handles of his blades and threw his arms back out.

“Stay back, Rainbow Dash,” he called to her. “I’ll take care of them.

Three of the changelings charged him at once, and Eren managed to cut them all down with a single slash of his swords. As the other six changelings looked upon the scene in fright, Eren wound both of his arms in, both swords glowing bright. Before the creatures could have time to escape, Eren threw his arms out, the blades shooting two long crescents of red light as they were swung out.

Both crescents struck all nine of the changelings, and they each glowed a bright color before disintegrating into ash and dust. The changelings waiting outside shrieked before they ran from the windows and left well enough alone. Eren smirked in triumph before his armor glowed all over until all of its features were muted by the light. The light morphed into a less bulkier form and faded away, stunning Eren and Rainbow Dash to see that he was now in his Scouting Legion uniform.

“What?” he wondered. “How did I–”

“Never mind that!” Rainbow Dash shouted, bucking the door back open. “We have to help our other friends!”

“Right!”

Rainbow Dash galloped out of the room and down the hallways searching for the rooms of the others.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Levi checked his way through the door of his bedroom, shattering the stile around the now ruined lock. Petra and Hanji came in promptly afterwards, running to their beds.

“Hanji!” instructed Levi. “Please dress Petra for me! I need to equip myself before Sunset Shimmer finds us!”

Petra watched nervously as Levi grabbed both his hung uniform and his Maneuver Gear case from his wardrobe and slammed them onto his bed, tearing his shirt off in several hard tugs.

“You heard him, Petra!” Hanji shouted, “We need to get moving!”

“Right, sorry!” she cried.

As Levi slipped his blouse over his head and his arms through the sleeves, a window broke on the far corner of the room, a changeling stumbling about in the room. Petra and Hanji screamed at the foreign creature before them. Levi huffed and stood in an offensive stance.

The changeling hissed loudly and flew out at Levi, only for him to spin around and kick the creature in the neck, the sounds of its bones breaking against the tip of Levi’s foot and the sound of its skull cracking as its head hit the edge of the cabinet.

Five more changelings appeared, from the broken window, looking down at their slain comrade on the floor. With shrill screeches, they all reared back to charge at once, Levi undeterred from protecting the two women behind him.

Before they could advance, a powerful magenta beam burst in through the window, taking a few of the stones in the frame as well. The beam blasted straight into the changelings, where they fell limp to the floor, completely unconscious. Once the energy dissipated, Twilight Sparkle, Spike on her back, and Armin, who was in his Scouting Legion uniform and Element of Harmony Maneuver Gear, hopped into the room and slid onto the room upon their feet.

“Hmph,” spoke Levi, reaching back for his pants, “you certainly came in the nick of time. Keep watch for us while we get dressed ourselves.”

Armin and Twilight nodded. As Twilight ran to the window and kept a careful eye over the changelings outside who were far too afraid to consider entering, Armin and Spike ran in between Levi and Hanji and Petra, Armin glancing to Levi as he blushed in his attempts to avert his gaze from Petra, whose dress was now off and her naked body exposed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunset Shimmer stood atop the spire of a tall building, watching the sheer chaos of her and Chrysalis’s deeds as it spread from the panicked equine citizens and the changelings chasing them beneath her. Her shirt, jacket, skirt, and limbs were streaked with fresh blood, and her crimson blades dripped down from the tips and onto the street.

A trio of ponies caught her eye. It was a stallion of the royal guard with a 3D Maneuver Gear and two middle-aged unicorns, a stallion and a mare. The stallion was a blue color with a darker-blue combed mane, a messy tail and a crescent moon within a crescent moon for a cutie mark. The mare was a light-grey color with a purple-and-white Hime cut mane with a curl on the back end and a straight tail with the same design, as well as three purple stars for a cutie mark. Sunset Shimmer smirked at them as they each carried a haphazardly stuffed case, sleeves of shirts and hems of dresses caught inside and fluttering outside.

“Looks like these ponies value their things more than their lives…” she commented to herself. “Let’s see how far that got them.”

At the right time, Sunset Shimmer leaned forwards and pushed off the building, swinging to the next closest roofs down on her Maneuver Gear, keeping her eyes on the three ponies continuing to gallop down the streets and weave past the hysterical masses.

On the flat roof of a café, she leapt down from it and into the path of the royal guard. The armored stallion could not halt himself fast enough as Sunset Shimmer tumbled before him, stopping right beside him. With a quick slash, her blades sliced through his front leg and his neck, tripping him and ending his life. The mare and stallion skidded to a stop and yelped as they watched their escort lie limply in a pool of blood forming around his body. Sunset Shimmer stood up to face them and flicked the blood from her blades.

“Don’t you know it’s not smart to travel heavy during an evacuation?” she tauntingly asked, stepping towards them. “I guess you’ll learn the hard way.”

With a step forward, a hook had shot into the wall of the café, and Sunset Shimmer turned around only to see a brown-and-white mass with a black top swing around the building with the soles of their boots skating the floor. The being swung its swords at Sunset Shimmer, who was just quick enough to block them. Regardless, she was sent flying towards the café, the back of her legs catching the banister of the metal gate to the outdoor seating and making her flip into a table, destroying it.

The two ponies looked in wonder at their savior, realizing once he had begun to stand still that it was Levi looking over Sunset Shimmer’s body. With a glance towards them, he frowned.

“Get going,” he calmly ordered. “Otherwise you’ll end up like him.”

Seeing the cut guard once again, his blood now having surrounded him, the two ponies’ hairs stood on end, and they galloped away as fast as their legs could carry them. Levi turned to see the two leave for whatever safety they could find.

The shrill scream of Sunset Shimmer’s voice alerted Levi, turning to see the girl charging at him. With a sidestep, Levi began to swing his blades down and up like a golf swing. Using both of her swords, she swatted them away up and to her side. With Levi’s neck exposed, she moved her forearm to thrust it into his windpipe, but with a continued motion of his arm, Levi stepped aside and bent backwards, avoiding the backhanded swing at his throat.

He backed away once again and gave her some space, their blades now pointed towards each other. Sunset Shimmer wiped the blood trickling down her the back of her neck from her crash into the table, suddenly smiling and evolving it into entertained laughter.

“It’s about time I faced someone that was a challenge,” she hissed.

“You have a funny matter of speaking,” Levi commented. “I don’t really care for it.”

Sunset Shimmer charged at Levi, who ran backwards to monitor her movements. She leapt up with her arms raised above her head, allowing Levi to flip his left operational device so the blade was turned downward. He then swung both arms in, catching Sunset Shimmer’s blades as they came for his head.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Discord lied with moist eyes beside the kneeling Celestia inside her palace throne room, several jugs, a couple empty and two more filled with a milky, argent liquid sitting next to her. Using her magic, she gently tilted the contents of one of the jugs towards Discord’s mouth, who slowly gulped the drink with his tears streaming down his face. The door came open, and Luna briskly stepped in, taking her place beside her sister.

“How is he?” she asked softly.

“Not good,” Celestia spoke with a heavy heart as she placed the jug aside. “I fear that even this potion won’t be enough to save him. It will prolong his life, but I don’t know if it will cure him.”

“Perhaps if you put some chocolate syrup in it,” he coyly begged, only for his joke to end on a violent coughing fit.

Celestia couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

“Even when knocking at death’s door,” she said, “you still love to make jokes.”

“How else would I want to spend my final moments?” he responded, putting his lion’s paw on Celestia’s hoof and giving it a tender squeeze.

Celestia closed her eyes, allowing her own tears to fall from them. She then sported a serious look and charged her horn.

“No,” she bellowed, lifting Discord up and having him mount her entire back. “I won’t lose you just yet! Luna, I want you to find as much magemilk as we have and bring it with. We can make some more in Ponyville.”

“Of course, sister,” she said, grabbing the two filled jugs in her own magic.

“We need to meet Twilight and the others downstairs soon. We must hurry.”

Luna failed to respond, looking around at the stained glass walls and tapestry of colors that comprised the space about them.

“Luna,” snapped Celestia.

“I’m sorry,” wept Luna, her eyes becoming wet. “It’s just that I don’t know if we’ll ever see this palace the same way again.”

“Equestria will not be the same, Luna. If we want to ensure its survival, we must leave now.”

Luna bowed her head and let a couple of tears bleed out from her eyes, making her final reflections of their home. With another charge of their horns, both Celestia and Luna disappeared with Discord, leaving the room empty, the only sounds that could be heard was the screaming of ponies and the screech of the changeling’s call.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Sasha, Conny, Jean, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, ran through the corridors, looking ahead for any sign of their friends. Each of the humans were now in their Scouting Legion attire with their Element Maneuver Gears attached to their sides. Turning the corner, they saw Eren, Rainbow Dash, Armin, Twilight, Applejack, Mikasa, Petra, and Hanji, the latter three also in their uniforms and equipped with their respective Maneuver Gears.

“There you guys are!” Jean panted, looking about at something that was obviously amiss. “Hey, where’s Levi?”

“He went off to fight Sunset Shimmer,” Petra moaned, her anxiety cracking her voice. “I don’t know if he’s going to make it back!”

“Petra!” Armin spoke, grabbing her right wrist. “Don’t you get it? He’s distracting her so we can get to the secret train. We have to go while there’s still time!”

“But… Levi’s still out there.”

“And if he comes back now, she’ll certainly be after us! We have to leave!”

Armin ran down the hallway with Petra in tow, forcing Twilight to gallop ahead and lead them in the right direction. The other humans and ponies sprinted down with them, trying their best to keep close behind.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Celestia and Luna stood on the long, narrow platform of a craggy tunnel lit only by a few meager torches that sparsely lined the walls. Sitting on the other side of the platform was a standard Equestrian train with only four cars attached to the engine. The back two cars were filled with royal guards who waited nervously and impatiently for the other passengers to arrive. Within the second car was Shining Armor, Cadance, Derpy Hooves, and Lyra as they sat around Discord lying on his back on the floor. The back front car was completely empty and its door was wide open.

The echo of footsteps roared from a tight upstairs stairwell in the center of the platform. Celestia and Luna turned their heads to see Twilight and Armin bounding down the stairs with the other ponies, humans, and Spike following behind.

“In the front car,” instructed Celestia. “Discord’s in the next car back.”

The others refused to say a word as they scrambled indoors. The last in line was Petra, who hesitantly walked towards the car with an exhausted pant.

“Petra?” questioned Luna. “Where is Levi? Why is he not with you.”

“He went to take on Sunset Shimmer,” she wheezed. “He’s distracting her from us.”

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head.

“He has two minutes,” Celestia responded, “otherwise, we must leave without him.”

Celestia and Luna walked to the front car, and with time running out, Petra resolved to follow them inside.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Levi and Sunset Shimmer flew from the ground to the rooftop of the stained-glass chamber, Sunset Shimmer approaching the retreating Levi as he continued to hold his swords offensively at her. Breaking into a sprint, Sunset Shimmer spun both her body and her swords around, creating a mad whirlwind of metal that Levi calculated closely.

With a flick of her wrists, Sunset Shimmer’s blades pointed out and threatened to slash Levi. He was not easily fooled, effortlessly smacking each attempt at his body away with a succession of swats from his own blades. Levi continued to watch for any blind or open spots in Sunset Shimmer’s barrage of attacks, suddenly finding one in her now exposed abdomen. Pushing his right foot into the ground behind him, he quickly drove his knee into Sunset Shimmer’s gut.

Sunset Shimmer, along with doubling over with pain, thrust her head forwards at Levi’s head, smashing her forehead against his, forcing him back. Appearing disoriented, Sunset Shimmer swung her arms out and detached both blades from the bases of the operational devices. Despite their speeds and their spin, Levi swung his arms up, sending the blades flying high into the air, managing to catch two changelings flying overhead. Neither Levi nor Sunset Shimmer looked at the blades as he watched her insert two new blades into her operational devices, keeping them at the sheath.

Levi and Sunset Shimmer stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. Just then, a sight caught Levi’s eye: a plume of smoke riding along the edge of the cliff where Canterlot sat. Levi made a frustrated squint as he leapt off the roof and towards the smoke’s direction. Sunset kept herself still, looking upon Levi with a sense of intense desire and craving, relaxing her hands off her operational devices.
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Celestia’s train made its way around the cliff within a crevice carved into the side of the rock, allowing safe room for the train to make its way. Smoke and steam erupted from the chimney of the engine and hit the rock ceiling, spilling out and around towards the sky.

Petra sat next to Spike and Mikasa, clutching a handkerchief tightly with her eyes letting out several drops of tears. Watching her with sympathy and mourning were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Jean, Pinkie Pie, Conny, Sasha, Rarity, Celestia, and Luna.

Eren looked angrily to the sky, wondering just where their last passenger would be. Suddenly, the sound of metal puncturing metal was heard along with the slight jerk in the car, raising the suspicions. Eren stood up and walked to the back of the car, his right hand on the handle of his sword.

As he made it to the door, Levi’s body swooped up from the side of the mountain and landed in the walkway between the two cars, placing his bladed operational devices into his sheath. Petra gasped happily to see him as he unceremoniously stepped inside, passing around Eren to see his fiancé standing up to him. She ran to him in hysterical sobs and wrapped her arm around him, and Levi hugged her tight, supporting her up.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” she cried.

“Better me than the lot of you,” he said without emotion, then glancing back to Eren. “Good job guarding the door,” he spoke to him.

“Uh… yes, sir!” he struggled to respond.

“We’re headed to Ponyville, right?” Levi asked Celestia.

“We are. News of Canterlot’s takeover will be heard all over Equestria, and right now, we need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable battles to come.”
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Chrysalis stood over the struggling bodies of a collection of unicorns and earth ponies stuck in the streets by a translucent green paste melding their hooves to the street. Even with their hopeless situation, the tried to crawl free and break the paste with their magic, much to Chrysalis’s sheer enjoyment. From behind her, about two-dozen changelings approached the trapped ponies.
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Sunset Shimmer stood loosely and relaxed on the roof of the stained-glass chamber, feeling the hot winds blow through her clothes and limbs as they picked up the fires of several burning buildings all around her. Her eyes kept locked onto Celestia’s train, watching as it finally appeared from under the cliff and merged with the main railway.
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Catrina knelt over the comatose Annie in the center of the rotunda as she gently squeezed the gash on her leg, a soft glowing coming underneath it. The other various creatures inside were circling around her to see the process. Annie’s face remained still and calm, unaware of what would become of her if she would awaken.