Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-1ERXM5uRfOmkCcsqXzJ636ivdF0o5dVkscidQbcTwA/edit?usp=sharing

For nearly a minute now, the Right Hand of Nightmare Moon kept on watching the rebels carefully. He mostly focused on the top of the Crystal Palace, observing as the Crystal Heart gradually started spinning and absorbing energy from the elements again. He knew it would take a while before it could be used again, but neither him nor the rebels could clearly tell how long it would take.

Just like Twilight planned, Rarity was not affected by the beam. Neither were the cultists that were standing too close and got struck by it. But it did affect the reapers. Being creatures of darkness and death, this much light had knocked them unconscious. Fluttershy, being the reaper closest to the source, needed the most time to get back on her legs. She was very dizzy, as if she had been struck hard against her head.

“We need to be even more careful now,” Twilight stated suddenly. “His main objective will be to disable the artefacts.”

It was easy to come to that conclusion. Malice kept watching them the whole time as he circled the empire, seemingly staring straight at the elements and the heart. The other demons, though, were just staring at him, seemingly waiting for orders. The shock had vanished from their faces. Instead, they were showing both anger and focus. It was likely that they would be more strategic about their moves from this point on.

Finally, Malice stopped. With a wave of his skeletal hand, he gave a new order. All small and low-ranked demons now stepped back and instead pushed the headless horses underneath one of the Salamanders. The heat coming from this beast should fry them to a crisp in seconds, but it didn’t. The zombie ponies remained unharmed. Apparently, Salamanders were able to control their heat.

Almost immediately, another Salamander stepped next to it, under which the cultists began to gather. Now the Devastators began to change their position as well, splitting into two groups, each hovering right in front of the two formations. Twilight started getting tense again, preparing herself for the attack order.

The demon commander lifted his arm and pointed towards the empire. Instantly, the Devastators in front of the undead battle slaves merged together and formed a nearly horizontal tornado, pushing against the force field. Twilight had to press her eyes shut again, struggling to keep the force field up. While the black storm pressed its tip harder and harder against the shield, the other demons assisted by attacking from all directions again.

Cadence understood what they were trying to do. She sent out an order via teleporting a scroll. Moments later, the dragons positioned themselves to stop the attack formation, followed by the griffons forming a line of defence beneath them and creating a wall with countless spears aiming towards the enemies. The donkeys stood directly behind them and arabian archers stood behind those, all readying their weapons and waiting to fire.

It took a while, but the Devastators eventually managed to drill a hole into the force field. The very moment it was created, the first Salamander began to squeeze its head through the gap. The unicorns used their magic to enchant the muskets, allowing them to shoot freezing bullets at the flaming reptile, which instantly turned into steam clouds as they made contact. The Salamander roared and even backed away for a moment, but then only became even more eager to pass through. As soon as it managed to push its head past the barrier, it exhaled a massive flame. But the rebels remained motionless. The fire just passed around them, guided away by magic. Though this was not the doing of unicorns. In some distance, zebras could be observed whispering incantations.

Another burst of frozen bullets followed, but it wouldn’t scare the Salamander away. It managed to pull a leg through, then another leg. The Devastators were pulling at the tear as hard as they could, opening it wide enough to not only allow the demon to pass through, but also the undead ponies. The Salamander charged ahead, instantly causing the dragons to tackle at it. As they attempted to stop this massive beast, the headless horses came running at the rebels. The first row just ran straight into the spears, seemingly willingly. The second row could use this to climb and run past front row, instantly being impaled by the next set of spears. This continued until a large number of headless horses were disabled, in return rendering the spears useless and allowing the remaining to come dangerously close to the donkeys

In the meantime, Celestia had set up her own plan. While the dragons were fiercely fighting the Salamander and keeping it occupied, she told the diamond dogs to dig tunnels right behind the zombie ponies, out of which a combined force of diamond dogs and minotaurs came charging. Now having to fight at two fronts at once, these undead battle slaves had it very difficult to defend themselves. The brute strength of the minotaurs allowed them to just chop the zombies in pieces, to the point where they became unable to move. The diamond dogs, though, rather chose an indirect approach, since the enemies were covered in sharp blades. Instead of directly attacking, they used their digging abilities to either trap them in the ground or bury them in a pile of dirt, which they then pounced to immobilize the zombie beneath it. With most of them disabled like this, a couple of reapers were enough to finish the attackers off, one by one.

Suddenly, a dragon’s head fell to the ground, flooding the soil with a tidal wave of its blood. The ongoing struggle gradually increased the Salamander’s furry further, making it strong enough to gradually fight its way past the dragons and kill a few. As if that wasn’t enough, some large demons were coming through the breach now, assisting the burning reptile.

The remaining reapers came charging at the new intruders, but were just ignored and dodged. Some of the demons were aiming for the dragons, some for the rebels. Even though far less enemies were on the battlefield this time, the defence was already in danger again. Malice seemed to give individual demons the order to pass through and attack, apparently probing as to how much they can handle before the line would fall.

“He wants us to use the artefacts again!” Fluttershy analyzed.

“Then don’t give him what he wants!” Luna shouted.

“We can’t use them anyway! They aren’t ready yet! We need to buy more time!” Derpy stated after taking a glance at the crystal heart.

“Don’t let the dragons die, or the Salamander will go straight for the rebels!” Celestia responded.

“Twilight! Close the force field! Please!” Applejack shouted.

The purple mare didn’t respond. She was still cringing, sweat running from her forehead. All demons outside of the empire still kept on attacking the force field, merely to keep her occupied. She tried her best to fight against the grip of the Devastators, but she just couldn’t maintain enough focus to seal the shield.

Derpy seemed very uneasy. It was clear that she was strongly playing with the idea to just jump down and help in any way she could, but Fluttershy held her back. No words were needed to remind her of her duty of protecting the leadership circle. If just one enemy made it up here and caught them by surprise, the whole chain of command would collapse.

“We have no choice! I will use another of our trump cards!” Shining Armor announced as he used his magic to write another order on a scroll, then immediately teleported it away.

The dragons received the news, pushing the Salamander back along with the other demons attacking them. While they flew behind the front line, some crystal ponies opened the doors to a very large shed. Instantly, Cerberus came running out of it, jumped past the rebels and pounced the first demon he could find. It seemed like they didn’t expect to see the former gate guard of Tartarus again. His arrival in the Crystal Empire was not widely known. He alone was enough to buy the dragons a few moments to rest, which they used to aim for the cattles, bringing them healing tonics.

The potions were brewed by some of the best alchemists this world had to offer. Within seconds, their injuries healed up and the dragons returned to support Cerberus. Malice observed the battle, laughing lowly in amusement. The fact that the rebellion leaders chose to bring Cerberus to the battlefield this soon was evidence to him that they were struggling. Though he himself remained standing in place, observing the battle.

“Over there!” Rarity shouted, pointing at the opposite end of the empire.

Luna and Cadence reacted right away, running to the other side of the balcony. A few demons had breached the force field and were attacking the unprepared rebels. Twilight must be getting weaker, they figured.

Luna tried her best to give out orders to all the still free warriors, sending additional reapers to support. Yet, the number of casualties kept on increasing. Too many were getting through now.

“It is ready!” Cadence announced after taking another glance at the Crystal Heart.

“Go! Go!” Celestia ordered.

Once more, the artefacts reached their highest possible charge and unleashed it in a second spherical explosion. Several hundred demons became eradicated, including the Salamander and the Devastators keeping the tear open. But this time, the demons on the outside were prepared. Most could get away from the blast in time.

Like before, Malice personally battled against the blast, preventing it from extending too far again. The rebels could observe as his hands became dissolved more and more by the light, as if they were being dipped into a strong acid.

Finally, a swift moment of rest for all the brave warriors of the rebellion. As the magic did its work on the demons, they all could take a moment to lower their guards. Even the minotaurs seemed to start getting exhausted, as a few were placing their battleaxes upside down on the ground, leaning on the handle and panting heavily. It was now that the rebels realized the carnage around them. Corpses of dear friends, shredded to pieces. Streams of blood running down the crystal roads. Not many of those who got injured were still alive. Several heavily bleeding rebels of all species were laying on the ground, trying to crawl away or writhing in agony, only to pass away moments later. The trauma could be seen in their faces, each individual handling the sight differently. But before any of them could even start to process what was happening around them, the fight continued.

The moment the blast was gone, Malice gave another order. Twilight didn’t even have enough time to fully seal the force field again before the second group of Devastators took over the position of the previous ones, holding the tear open and allowing the second formation to enter. The Salamander didn’t waste any time and started climbing through the hole as soon as the light disappeared. As it pushed its head through, the flaming reptile exhaled a huge cloud of smoke. Within seconds, a good quarter of the Crystal Empire became covered, reducing the sight to zero. Without visual contact, the rebellion leaders could only give limited orders and had to rely on the skills of their allies. Applejack mostly focused on how the reapers were doing. Like before, they had fallen unconscious. For a couple of minutes, the rebels had to deal with the remaining undead battle slaves themselves. But with most of them already defeated and without the aid of demons, it seemed like they were getting the situation under control. Applejack noticed that most of her friends were focusing on the cloud, trying to understand what was going on in there. She decided to take matters into her own hoof, writing an order to wake up the reapers and take down the last zombie ponies.

Celestia was particularly uneasy about the lack of visual feedback. The occasional flying arrow or spell indicated that the rebels were fighting the cultists within the smoke. She wished she could do more. Her eyes wandered across the empire, rapidly counting all remaining allies in the back of her head when something struck her as odd. So far, the crystal ponies had taken far less casualties than any other species. Were they just lucky or had they been spared? Celestia couldn’t exactly tell which of both was true.

Suddenly, a battle broke loose right in front of the force field of the Crystal Palace. Fluttershy was the first to notice, informing the rest. The sight was something they did not expect. A diamond dog had stabbed a minotaur in the back. Moments later, the same happened between an arabian pony and a donkey. More and more betrayals were taking place right in front of them.

“What in tarnation are they doin’?!” Applejack shouted in disbelief.

Fluttershy kept observing closely, signaling the others to pay attention to other places. The traitorous rebels were clearing a path leading straight to the palace. Finally, the reapers came back to their senses and started fighting. It did not take long before these rebels suddenly started to change in color, transform into bizarre masses covered in blades, claws and teeth and gained red eyes.

“Those are Skin-Walkers!” the yellow mare announced.

“They must have used the smoke as a cover!” Shining Armor concluded.

“Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine!” Cadence suggested, immediately writing another order.

Not much later, a small hole opened in the inner force field, out of which a legion of Twilights and Applejacks covered in blotches came storming and closed again as soon as all were out. Sadly, only very few Rarity clones were left at this point, of which the most were either dying or too weak to fight. Still, the ambush of an entire legion of clones came as a surprise to the demons. The moment of confusion, which caused them to stand idly and drop their guards, was enough for the reapers to take out a large number of Skin-Walkers. Even those that didn’t drop their cover yet could easily be spotted in the masses, as they were staring at the clones in just as much confusion. Every true rebel would by now be used to that sight.

As the demons came to understand they needed to change their tactic, they began to cluster up. It seemed like they were very determined to keep a clear area close to the palace, even though it didn’t seem to make much sense to the rebellion leaders. They were surrounded and being attacked from all directions. There was no way they could be assisted any time soon and the artefacts were charging up again.

Twilight seemed very drained. She was barely able to stand anymore and sweating heavily in stress. It almost seemed like she was about to faint.

“Twilight! Please! Keep it together!” Rarity called.

For a brief moment, the purple mare opened her eyes. They were still glowing in an intense magical white, indicating that she hadn’t reached the end of her mental strength just yet. But it was clear that her body was in fact weaker than her mind. Despite all, the organ damage still took its toll on her. Her nose began to bleed again, but there was no time for her to take her medicine. She had no choice anymore but to completely shut down, putting her mind over her body. The purple mare began to gradually hover in the air, just inches above the floor. She became completely limb and her breath reduced to a minimum. It was a sight that scared her friends. Even though Twilight would be fine for a while in this almost meditative state, it meant that she had now become completely unresponsive.

The smoke started to clear up, revealing the battlefield. Corpses were covering a large area within the empire. The rebellion was experiencing a lot of casualties, but there still were more dead cultists covering the ground. Something had to change soon, or the number of rebels remaining would drop too far.

A loud cracking sound filled the air. Yet another Devastator was striking the outer force field from above, gradually damaging it. By the time the demon was noticed, it was too late. Like a black meteor, it came crushing down onto the ground, right in the center between the Skin-Walkers. The demons then retreated, this seemingly having been their objective. The Devastator turned from a shapeless black mass into a whirlpool, constantly rotating and growing while massive black limbs with a single long needle at the end of each were rising out of its center. Like Derpy claimed, it started pulling any matter it could find around it inside the whirlpool, growing with every bit it devoured. Its size and mass rapidly increased, allowing it to catch several rebels as they were trying to run away.

The reapers were struggling against this particularly dangerous demon. The rebels were still busy fighting the cultists. Cerberus was struggling against the second Salamander. The clones were trying to figure out how to help. Malice noticed all of this. It seemed like everything was in position according to his plans, because he now gave a new order. His right skeletal hand gradually lifted into the air, pointing at the Crystal Palace.

At last, the Underworld League that had so far been staying back stepped into action. Slendermane made them all disappear in the ground beneath them, only to reappear inside the empire. Within the fraction of a second, he used his countless black arms to pin down any nearby rebels while Succubus casually stepped to his side. The seductive demoness started singing, instantly alluring the rebels into siding with her. Before she even gave her first order, Slendermane disappeared again, only to reappear at another spot, far away from Succubus.

Toxica, the Cloud of Disaster, came jumping down from his back. A few griffons noticed her and started attacking. But she just casually jumped on top of them, from head to head, causing them to inhale her venomous aura and instantly fall over dead. Slendermane disappeared again, resurfacing on yet another spot at which he now remained to fight while the little green demoness lifted into the air and took a deep, audible breath. It was a sight that brought terror to the faces of Twilight’s friends. They knew what was happening next, but were unable to stop it.

Another explosion filled the empire. But this time, it was caused by the enemy. Like in Manehattan, years ago, Toxica unleashed a tremendous amount of poison smoke. Within seconds, hundreds of rebels died as the green clouds came over them like an avalanche. The unicorns and arabian ponies tried their best to contain the clouds, using their own smaller force fields, but to only limited success.

In the meantime, Succubus and her rapidly growing army of seduced allies on the exact opposite end of the empire started attacking the rebels. The red and black demoness remained casually laying on a large pillow as she was being carried by two minotaurs, the air above her guarded by several griffons hovering nearby.

Slendermane mostly focused on reapers, seeking their attention on purpose. He constantly kept attacking them, only to disappear and reappear at another place nearby moments later. Like this, he effectively prevented them from organizing themselves and forced them to focus on him.

The battle had now spread around the entire empire. Things were getting out of control, yet the Crystal Heart was still charging. All the rebels could do now was to try their best and survive long enough before it could be used again. Blood and guts covered more and more of the shiny roads. But still, none of the allies were thinking about giving up. They just needed to make it for a bit longer. Just keep fighting. Once the artefacts were ready again, it would deliver such a heavy blow to the enemy that the tables would finally turn.

Yet, Skin-Walkers were eager to thwart this plan. Despite the previous surprise and the fact that most became revealed, a few remained and steadily changed forms to remain untraceable. One of them was particularly skilled. Several rebels were trying to chase after it, but were unable to keep track. Even worse, it managed to quickly go in a circle and snuck up behind its pursuers, quickly slicing their heads off. As soon as they were dealt with, the demon kept on sneaking behind the enemy lines, constantly disguising as a different species while it approached the Crystal Palace. In the chaos the Devastator was creating, it could easily sneak behind the black vortex and started casting a strong spell against the force field. It took a few moments, but the demon eventually caused a break, just wide enough for it to fit through.

The Skin-Walker rushed up into the palace and through the corridors, aiming straight for the throne room. The few guards remaining inside stood no chance against it. The demon turned into a charging wall of spikes, simply impaling everyone standing in its way. Soon, it reached the throne room and looked around. Its focus fell on a crystal at the very top Cadence’s throne. Another dark spell followed, aimed at this crystal. Like many years ago, this caused a secret passage to open in the ground. The demon skipped the stairs entirely, jumping down the middle. Like this, it only needed seconds to reach the ground. The door present there immediately started wandering along the walls, refusing to be opened. But the demon was stronger than the enchantment. With yet another magical blast, it simply destroyed the door, opening the way for the final stairwell. The demon grew several additional long limbs, rapidly crawling along the side of the spiral like a spider.

It arrived. The presence of this demon became noticed right away and all members of the leadership circle except for Twilight turned towards the intruder.

“One got through!” Derpy shouted, summoning her scythe and getting ready to strike.

The demon stood in place, analyzing the situation. The rebellion leaders were ready to fight. Twilight was hovering close to the artefacts. The Crystal Heart sped up more and more in its rotation while it also became increasingly brighter.

It smirked.

The demon changed its form again. A dark purple equine-like body with massive maws in its forelegs. Black mane and tail with a red stripe in both. Blades growing out of the back legs, which became wrapped in bandages. A sharp, strangely shaped horn on the forehead. A bleeding heart-shaped hole in its chest.

“Hello, Despair,” Celestia spoke with a tense expression.

The Guillotine of Hope grinned at them in confidence. It took them until now to realize that she was wearing the Alicorn Amulet. She lifted her left front leg, letting the mouth in it open. Instead of a tongue, a fleshy claw extended out of it, holding a black and red curved horn. The horn of King Sombra, as they immediately came to understand.

“It is time you give the true king of this empire his throne back,” she demanded.