Dugore the Marked stood before the ornate archway the marked the boundary between the wilds of the Frozen North and the magically protected lands of the Crystal Empire. The crown jewel of the north shined in the early-morning sun like the prize the marauder saw it as. Under the cover of Sombra’s conjured blizzards, he and his legions had assembled before their glimmering goal along with the siege engines. They only had to wait for the ever cautious Dugore’s go ahead to begin the long coming siege.

“Are preparations complete yet?” Sombra asked as he drifted up alongside the warlord. “The anticipation is re-killing me!”

“Siege engines are complete and just need to be moved into position.” Dugore said aloud as he reviewed his plans. “Fliers will run intercept any message runners and my cabal of unicorns are maintaining an interdictor spell. Any attempt to summon reinforcements by magic or otherwise will be futile.”

“Impressive.” Sombra said with a nod of approval. “Though once we cross this threshold, they’ll know we’re here.”

The wraith indicated the three floating crystals above the archway; ward stones designed to act as an early warning system.

“It would avail them none.” Dugore grunted as he turned to his anxious troops. "While skulking through darkness has served us well, the Legions operate best in all out war."

“Sounds like a certain mare I use to bed.” Sombra quipped slyly. “Oh, before I forget, may I have my horn back?”

“Why?” Dugore paused and turned back to regard the wraith with a distrustful glare.

“I don’t intend to sit this one out.” Sombra explained. “I’d be remiss if I didn't kill a few Equestrians myself. Besides, with your unicorns otherwise occupied, you'll need a sorcerer in the fray.”

The armored warrior mulled over the slaver’s words before nodding. He unclipped the crimson horn from his belt and held it before the phantom. Sombra eagerly reached out to take it but Dugore squeezed it in his ham sized fist.

“Don’t make me regret this, wraith.” He growled testily.

“You wound me, my friend.” The tyrant placed a spectral hoof over his chest as if he was hurt. “After everything we’ve been through.”

Dugore let out a fire-flecked rumble of distrust as he relaxed his grip on the horn and dropped it into Sombra's translucent hooves. The ghost smiled widely like a foal on Hearth's Warming.

“Ah, many thanks Lash of the Legions.” He said as his disembodied source of power glowed within his ghostly grasp. “I’ll meet up with you city-side to celebrate out impending victory.”

With that, the wraith vanished in a pulse of vile magic. Dugore sighed like a steam piston and stomped up a protruding rock to address his eager troops. He sensed the conniving wraith was poised to stab him in the back but he would deal with that later. A hush fell over the eclectic mob as their warlord prepared to speak, his voice amplified and carried across the vast horde by a few novice unicorns not committed to the interdictor ritual.

“Marked Legions!” The armored monster shouted. “Our days of wandering a frozen wasteland are over for today we take the Crystal Empire!”

A joyous cheer arouse from the legions. While they had expected as much, they appreciated the confirmation from their boss.

“Like the clouds that shrouded our approach, we have gathered around the city.” Dugore continued with building fervor. “Now we burst in a storm of destruction, terror and slaughter!”

A few shouts of agreement and malicious chuckles rippled through the horde. Their master's energy was infectious.

“Even now, our banner flies high over the city.” The dragon's eyes blazed with the lust for battle. "It is already ours we just need to oust those weak, sycophantic puppets of Equestria!"

Another bloodthirsty cheer emanated from the army. Seeing and hearing that they were properly psyched up and ready for war, Dugore wrapped up his speech.

“So let those cowards know their death approaches!" The armored giant unslung his war hammer and held it up high. "Let our war cry shake the very mountains!"

"WE BRING FURY! WE BRING DOOM!!" The assembled masses of the Marked Legions roared with one voice that echoed across the wintry wasteland as they punctuated each syllable with a clanking of shields or a percussive fist against armor. "WE! BRING!! WAR!!!"

“LEGIONS, MARCH!” Dugore bellowed as he leveled his weapon at the unsuspecting city.

The winter air was filled with the rattling of steel weapons and armor and the grunts and groans of the legionnaires assigned to move the heavy siege equipment. As the first few crossed the boundary into the imperial fields, the three crystals began to glow red as the magic within them sent a warning to the empire. That was until a certain diamond dog scampered up the archway and plucked the ruby red gems from where they floated.

“Woof! Noice n’ shiny!” Fleabag barked as he pocketed the surely expensive stones. "Right flashy, too."

“Damn it, mutt!” Stone Skin shouted at the greedy hound. “Get back down here! We need four to push this thing!”

Dutifully, the dog dropped down from the archway and rejoined his companion beside the heavy wooden trebuchet and started pushing. With a creak of wood and grunts of effort, the siege engine resumed moving. In time, they crossed the boundary along with the rest of the troops and made steady progress toward the city through the grassy fields. Stone Skin shed his cloak and hung it over a support beam. While it was still cold within the limits of the Crystal Empire, it was a summer’s day compared to the perpetual winter of the rest of the Frozen North. Alongside him, Max followed his example and discarded her cloak.

“Ahh, that’s better.” She said as she stretched her powerful wings. “Better than snow and ice, wouldn't you say Stony?”

“Yeah.” The minotaur grunted as he pushed the heavy wooden construct. “Wait, aren't you supposed to be flying interference?”

“Not until the big boss gives the go ahead.” The griffoness said as she flexed her talons. “Once he does however…”

“The fun begins.” The minotaur said with a grin. “Bet I kill more than you do, once the siege gets underway.”

Max raised an eyebrow at the burly brute. She liked the idea of a challenge.

“Alright then.” She said. “Whoever has the most kills by the end of the day, wins. When I win, I get your share of the loot.”

“Fair enough.” Stone said with a nod. “When I win…hmm…”

The legionnaire paused for a minute to think of an appropriate reward. His eyes lingered over the athletic form of Max. He could not help but leer.

“When I win, you and I spend a night together.” He decided, finally. "And all that implies."

“Aren’t you a bold one.” The eagle-lion smiled coyly. “Mmm…I might just let you win, Stony.”

“Oi, luv birds!” Fleabag interjected. “Sometin spooky is ‘appenin with da city!”

Something sinister indeed was happening to the city. The legions slowed their advance as an explosion of dark power emanated from the capital of the north followed by a shockwave that rushed across the open fields and knocked over some of the smaller legionaries. Then, carried on the chilly winter air, a great wailing reached the invading army’s ears; cries of fear and dread.

“What the hell did that fiend do to my city?” The unnerved wraith of Sombra wondered aloud as the skies above them grew dark and cloudy.

---

Prince-Regent Shining Armor groggily awoke. He was normally up and out of bed at the crack of dawn but a night wracked by horrible nightmares had forced him to sleep in a couple of extra hours. He tried to roll over and squeeze in an extra moment or two but found one of his fore legs pinned beneath the still slumbering form of Cadenza.

“Well, time to gnaw off my leg.” The unicorn though jokingly.

It was not the first time he had a limb trapped under his lovely bedmate and he knew a sure-fire way to get loose that did not involve amputation. Carefully, he used his free hoof to rub along the pink Princess' lithe belly underneath the blanket. She hummed pleasurably in her sleep as he ran his hoof up and down her body. Grinning, Armor concentrated his rubbing just below Cadenza’s naval His wife’s hums of pleasure turned to quiet giggles as her husband tickled her. She squirmed and twisted until finally she arched her back and Armor was able to move his leg.

“Works every time.” The white stallion thought smugly as he yanked out his trapped limb.

As Armor tried to rub feeling back into his newly freed foreleg, he noticed that his ministrations had roused from Cadenza from her sleep. The lovely lady sat up slowly and stretched out her well rested body with a yawn, blissfully unaware of her husband’s little trick.

“Ahh. Good morning, Shiny.” She said sweetly once she finished.

“Morning, Cadence.” Armor said warmly, pretending that he had just awakened as well.

The Princess leaned over and gave Armor a quick kiss on the cheek before she cast off her covers and got out of bed.

“You’re usually up and about before me.” She said as she trotted to her boudoir. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Just wasn’t in a rush to get out of bed.” He lied. “Not with you in it.”

Cadenza giggled as she disappeared into her private room and began browsing through her many gowns and accessories for the proper attire. Armor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, dragged his weary body out of bed and trotted over to his comparatively smaller closet.

“What’s on the agenda today?” He called out as he selected a clean and pressed set of his royal raiment.

“Oh! Uh, shoot!” The clattering of clothes hangers and jingling of jewelry told him that his wife had upset a display, again. “The chief tax collector has his quarterly reports, a few nobles have requested an audience, and…”

The Princess trailed off as she remembered one of their more solemn duties.

“…And we have to select a new captain of the guard.” The Prince-Regent finished for her as he pinned a commemorative medal on his red jacket.

Armor sighed as the memory of the late captain came to the front of his mind. Yes, Copy had his flaws and weaknesses but he had a sense of duty and always put his fellow equines before his own pleasure, most of the time. He would be difficult to replace.

“Which reminds me: I need to find somepony to take up my position at Canterlot.” He thought. “It’s a bit difficult to be Crystal Prince and Captain of the Solar Guard at the same time.”

“Oh my, there’s a handsome Prince.” Cadenza’s flirty voice said from her dressing room.

She had decided on her regular attire of gold shoes, a necklace, and her fleur-di-lis crown. It was a lot more revealing that her other gowns, as was most of Equestrian royalty's apparel, but he would be a fool if he complained.

“Perhaps, but what am I compared to the radiance of such a beautiful Princess?” He responded with a theatrical tone.

The pink mare giggle again as she closed the distance between them and kissed him.

“You’re terrible, you know that?” She said playfully.

“Hey, I forced myself to stay awake in Equine literature class!” He said in false outrage. “Thou shall show me thine proper respect, knave!”

“Whatever you say, Princess Luna.” Cadenza mocked as she choked back laughter.

In the end, both of them burst out laughing. Armor wiped away tears as his humor subsided. His mood now boosted, he took his wife’s hoof in his and together they trotted to the door. He was about to open it for her when a hurried and rapid series of knocks interrupted him.

“Your highnesses?” The gruff voice of one of the guards assigned outside their room said. “There’s a messenger here. She says its important.”

The royal couple looked at each other in concern before opening the door to the hallway outside. On a bench opposite their chambers, a beleaguered crystal pony panted as if she had ran a marathon. She gave a sloppy bow and tried to deliver her message between pants.

“Your…high…army…surround…big…every…” She managed to choke out.

“Slow down; catch your breath.” Armor said calmly.

The mare nodded and took a moment to just breathe. Once she not about to pass out, she relayed her message more clearly.

“Sorry about that.” She said. “The ward watchers sent me. They have detected a massive number of creatures heading our way.”

Cadenza gasped and Armor’s expression slowly shifted from surprise to the cool calm of a commander.

“Where are they coming from?” He asked.

“Everywhere; they've surrounded the city!” The messenger said fearfully.

“Thank you, you're dismissed.” The Prince-Regent gave her a curt nod before he turned to his wife.

“Take us to the top of the tower, now.” He ordered.

Cadenza did not even bother challenging his tone and with a flash of magic, the two of them teleported to the shrine atop the central palace tower. They were not alone. A pair of Solar Guard pegasi were looking out into the distance with telescopes when their superiors arrived. They faced them and bowed accordingly.

“Your majesties.” They said automatically.

“Report.” Armor said briskly as he took one of the guard’s telescopes and looked out into the plains surrounding the city.

“Sir, we have confirmed reports that an army well into the thousands is approaching from all directions.” A guard reported professionally. “We can’t identify their leaders or their origins but they seemed to have marched under the cover of those wild blizzards that have been ravaging the wastes.”

Sure enough, the white stallion could make out the forms of armored creatures emerging from a storm raging outside the Crystal Heart’s protective influence. He frowned when he saw the unmistakable shape of trebuchets and other siege weaponry cross the border. This was not a mere bandit raid, it was a full scale invasion.

“Lock down the city.” The unicorn said firmly. “Get the civilians to the shelters in the palace and get every guard geared up; we’re about to be put under siege.”

“Sir!” The two fliers snapped salute and took off.

They had been trained for just this situation ever since the Changeling Invasion and Armor was confident he would not have to micromanage the preparations. At least, that was what he hoped.

“Shiny, look at this.” Cadenza called him over to the other side of the shrine.

He galloped over to find her pointing to a long crimson banner nailed in place by a severed unicorn horn. His own ached slightly at the sight. Dehorning a unicorn was tantamount to clipping a pegasus’ wings. It was considered the worst one could do to either species.

“What do you think it means?” The Princess asked as she pulled in the banner and removed the gruesome nail with a sickened frown.

“I'm not sure but that looks like a guard unicorn's horn.” Armor admitted as he pointed out bits of discoloration near the base of the horn. "See where bits of the dye has flaked off? It might have come from one of the forts we lost contact with."

"Does that mean those villains have already gotten something inside?" Cadenza gasped. "Stole a uniform off a dead guard and slipped in?"

“Possibly. The greatest weapon in a siege is not any catapult or ram but a saboteur." The Solar Guard veteran had to give the attackers credit for being clever. "Guards! Send word to have every armory, storeroom, gatehouse and wall triple-checked. There may be a spy among us."

"Sir!" The Solar Guards saluted and rushed off to carry out their orders.

"We need to get to the Heart.” Armor told Cadenza urgently. "I'd rather get that shield up sooner rather than later."

The Alicorn of Love nodded in understanding and took him back under her wing. With another flash of magic, they were gone. Outside the golden doors of the Heart chamber, the royal couple reappeared to the surprise of the pair of guards. Cadence sudden groaned and held a hoof to her temple.

“You okay?” Armor asked, concerned, as he supported his wife.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She said assuredly. “Something threw off my aim is all.”

The unicorn understood perfectly. Two long range teleports with a passenger in a row would be taxing for anypony even without the curse on the stairs. He did not want to strain his wife too much: her abilities may be needed soon with the approaching horde.

"Your highnesses." The two guards bowed respectfully. "Is something amiss?"

"You must not have heard." Armor said as he supported his recovering Princess. "Enemy forces have surrounded the city and are about to put us under siege."

"Sun and Stars preserve us!" One of them adjusted his helmet nervously.

"We stand ready to serve, sir." The other said more confidently.

"Glad to hear." Their commander smiled approvingly. "We are about to activate the Crystal Heart so keeping it protected is a top priority. So...stand fast."

"Uh, as you order." The first guard saluted.

Once Cadenza had recovered, he stepped toward the impressive doors and inserted his horn into the hole in the middle. He ignited his horn and fed his magic into the lock mechanism. Quicker than he expected, the doors unlocked with a click and creaked open to reveal the Crystal Heart glowing softly in the center of the chamber. Cadenza quickly flew over Armor and landed in front of the ancient artifact. The Solar Guard veteran was more hesitant. The paranoid part of his mind was screaming at him that something was amiss. He was about to chalk it up to nerves brought on by the approaching horde and lack of sleep but he had learned to listen to his instincts.

"Did anything odd happen last night?" He asked the pair of guards as they trotted in behind him.

"Somepony thought one of the Solar Guards was assaulting one of the medical staff." One of them answered. "It was just a misunderstanding. We got it cleared up at the hospital."

"How long were you away from your post?" Armor pressed. "I'm not faulting you for answering a cry for help, I just want to know."

"I'd say...about five or ten minutes, sir." The other answered with a downcast look. "In retrospect, one of us should have stayed behind."

"That is a lot of time for a spy to do some mischief." Armor thought. "Those doors are formidable but Celestia warned me that they are not infallible. Discord was able to get past the ones in Canterlot so it is not impossible...oh no."

The Prince-Regent's train of thought pulled into the station as the evidence clicked into place. A false alarm to distract the guards, the lock on the doors opened too easily from something tampering with it and the banner flown from the top of the tower to signal the invading army. The spy only had one objective and it had already accomplished it.

“The Heart has been compromised!” He realized just as Cadenza cast the proper spell to activate the shield of the city.

“CADENCE! STOP!!” He shouted a split second too late.

The Alicorn’s spell connected with the Heart. As the powerful crystal began to glow, so too did the hidden runes beneath it. A steam of sinister nether energy shot up from the pedestal and into the crystal. The room darkened as the artifact began to crackle and spark with loathsome power like a malevolent version of the intended shield spell.

“What hap- AIIEEE!” The Princess was cut off as the Heart suddenly discharged the corrupted spell in a wave of magic that bowled her over like she was made of paper.

The Alicorn fell to the ground, shrieking bloody murder, as the dark force surge forward. Armor tried to conjure up a shield of his own only for the horrid spell to push it aside as if it were a wet tissue and overwhelm him like his wife. The mortal pony was knocked to the floor and plunged into an abyss of his deepest and darkest fears.

"Let Terror undermine Strength." A disembodied voice intoned from the swirling darkness. "For the mightiest warrior is powerless without the will to fight."

The horror parted and Armor found himself out in the Frozen North, in one of the many arctic forests. He was not alone. Scattered around him where the mutilated yet still twitching bodies of the guards he had dispatched to hunt down the Lurker. In front of him, the abyssal silhouette of the interloper tore hapless facsimiles of Tomes and Copy apart. The bespectacled unicorn was eviscerated then bifurcated by the otherworldly monster’s claws, his upper half tossed over the white horse with his entrails trailing like visceral party streamers. The Crystal Captain was impaled through his stomach before the Shadow Fiend decapitated him with a lightning fast slash of its bladed hands. Copy’s head rolled to Armor’s hooves, his dead eyes staring through him. That did not stop him from delivering a final message to his former superior however.

“Our lives for the empire, right ‘my prince’?” The head sneered maliciously. "Do you have any idea how many lives have been fed into this rotting empire just to keep it standing?"

The looming Lurker turned its baleful gaze on the Prince-Regent. Before he could even react, the abyssal abomination snatched him up in its claws and held him at eye level. Its soulless pale eyes seemed to pierce right through him, judging him on all of his triumphs and failures. The eyes suddenly vanished into the tenebrous terror as its body surged forward and enveloped the hapless unicorn. His vision blurred as the alien monstrosity flowed over and then into him, numbing his limbs and smothering his very soul. The bitter cold was suddenly replaced with scorching heat as flames illuminated the invasive darkness and he found himself in a fresh Hell.

"Let Dread conquer Hope." The same voice continued its sinister sermon. "By this, the weak are kept under the heel of their masters."

Armor was in Canterlot and it was burning. From a stricken red sky, fire and brimstone rained down on the ruined city. The once pristine streets were cracked and soaked with blood. The very air was chocked with ash and the pitiful wails of the dying and the dead. Armor trudged through the broken streets, heading for the scarred and pot marked palace. The sky suddenly grew dark and shadows crept across the empty streets and up the ruined buildings. A loud and regal laugh echoed from the darkness. Something large fell from the sky like a thunderbolt and landed in front of him amongst the shadows. The intimidating form of Nightmare Moon trotted out of the darkness in all her terrible splendor. The fallen Princess regarded the lone stallion with glowing teal eyes, her lips pulled back into a fanged smile.

“Afraid, captain?” She asked mockingly. “You should be. This is only a taste of what is to come and there will be no Elements to save you this time.”

The dark Alicorn spread her powerful wings and flew off, cackling manically all the way. Armor increased his pace as the shadows receded and the fires grew in intensity. He came upon an empty plaza with a fountain in the middle. Rather than water, streams of chocolate milk gushed from the ornate statuary. As he approached, the fountain suddenly exploded in a shower of charred confetti and broken party favors. A gleeful laugh echoed about the abandoned plaza. The mismatched form of Discord appeared in the crater where the fountain used to be, floating casually with his head supported on his griffon talons.

“I don’t think I will ever get tired of doing that.” The draconequus chortled. “You really should have seen this coming, me being the Spirit of Chaos and all, but then again, you've never been the brightest tool in the crayon box!”

He snapped his fingers and vanished. Armor shook his head and continued on through the ruined streets. As he came to the crumbling front gates, he braced himself. Logic dictated that he would be taunted by Chrysalis next. A vile emerald and ruby magic enveloped the doors and ripped them apart. To Armor’s surprise, the tall and dark form of Sombra trotted through the rubble. He set his witch-fire eyes on the Equestrian unicorn and smiled widely.

“Ah, Prince Armor. How good to see you again.” The sorcerer taunted. “I hope you've learned a few new tricks since our last encounter because I’ll be visiting my empire soon… and I'm bringing company.”

Before the white horse could question him, Sombra teleported away with a cold laugh. With the burning rain growing heavier, Armor galloped inside the scorched palace. He immediately wished he had not. All around him lay the brutalized remains of ponies, mostly Solar Guards. Where Celestia normally sat instead towered the infernal Tirek. On either side of him floated the listless forms of Luna and Celestia, drained of their lives and powers. A sphere of fiery magic surrounded Armor and he was lifted into the air again. The giant centaur took a few steps toward him, his evil yellow eyes burning with ill-gotten power.

“Tartarus won’t hold me forever.” The demonic warlock said dryly. “I will be back and all of Equestria will suffer for their foolishness. It’s a shame you won’t live to bear witness to my ascension.”

With a deft flick of the wrist, Tirek upended Armor and drove him through the palace floor. The stallion broke through the marble tiles and stonework and tumbled through darkness for what felt like hours until he crashed through another stone structure. He bounced off a piece of statuary and landed painfully on his front. He groggily got to his hooves and looked around. Gone was the fire and blood, in their place was cold stone and strangling vines. He was in the long abandoned ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters; the shrine where the Elements of Harmony had been hidden, to be exact. In the center of the room, there was movement. Armor crept closer, hoping that it was something friendly. The hope quickly turned to revulsion and horror.

"Let Paranoia ruin Trust." The voice said in the same even yet spirited tone. "When faith in your allies fails, so too does the power of your unity."

Rotted and putrid versions of his sister and her friends clawed each other apart over tarnished and corrupted versions of the Elements in a cruel inversion of their friendship. Armor felt bile rise in the back of his throat as an emancipated Fluttershy scalped a bloated Rarity while Rainbow Dash and Applejack ripped each other’s limbs off. The cadaverous version of Twilight spotted him after cracking open Pinkie's skull on the stone floor and lunged at him with splintered hooves and gnashing teeth. The brother of the element of magic put up his hooves just as she rammed into him. He fell back and kept falling, tumbling head over tail with his savage sister tearing into him. He managed to get his rear legs under her gut and tried to kick out only for his legs to sink into her rotted flesh, blood and pus oozing out around his legs. The zombie burbled something intelligible and bile laden before her brother forced his legs apart and split her in two at her barrel. The two halves of the undead Princess spiraled away into darkness as Armor kept falling deeper into terror.

"Let Panic replace Reason." The extended lesson of fear reached a new verse. "And civility will turn to chaos as the mind shatters."

He flayed his legs in a futile attempt to orient himself until he landed with a spine shattering slam onto a moth-eaten bedspread. Boneless, benthic tendrils coiled out from beneath the bed and wrapped themselves around his gore-soaked limbs. They pulled taught and left the stallion spread out on the mattress, naked and exposed. Something crawled out of the darkness at his rear hooves. It looked like Cadence except her body was twisted and emaciated with the exception of her gravid and swollen belly. She scuttled over his prone body like a spider until she was muzzle to muzzle with him.

“Like what you see, captain?” She said in a very familiar insectoid voice.

The poor horse could not speak. His tongue felt like cotton and his throat like sandpaper. The horrific version of Cadence’s face split into a toothy, wanting smile. Her eyes flashed a brilliant emerald as sickly green flames flared up around her. Armor could only watch aghast as the twisted form of his wife melted away, revealing dark chitin and perforated limbs. Cadence's face was replaced with the leering and lusty countenance of the changeling queen; the same one that had invaded Canterlot not too long ago. She smiled down at him like a child before a slice of cake.

“You loved me once.” The parasite moaned sensuously as the stallion's involuntarily turgid girth brushed against her dripping neathers. “I know you still do.”

The incapacitated stallion tried to fight against his bonds only for them to pull tighter as the creature on top of him continued to tease him, grinding her nymph-bearing hips against his. To his horror and disgust, he felt his length sink deep into her receptive depths and a viscous substance ooze out between their perverse union. The Hive Queen hissed lustfully as her bloated belly and teats jiggled with her motions. Armor felt the need to empty his stomach as the beast violating him continued to twist and grind on his shame. Inevitably, he felt the euphoric tingle of climax building in his family jewels. With one more squeeze from her vile canal, the changeling was rewarded with an eruption of white hot, delicious love from her victim. Armor groaned as he felt the twisted shape shifter greedily drink in his release.

"Mmm, delicious." The parasite cooed with a satisfied buzz of her membranous wings. "Oh! Our children feel their father's love."

The twisted version of Chrysalis freed one of his hooves and placed it on her steadily swelling abdomen. Armor shivered as the smooth chitin trembled and pulsated with the numberless lives gestating within. As their mother continued to absorb his liquid love, a chorus of chittering cherubic voices filled his ears. They spoke but a single word that made his blood run cold.

"Daddy..." The endless swarm he could have very well sired with Chrysalis whispered in unison.

The unicorn jerked his hoof away as the bloated changeling leaned in close. Her emerald eyes were filled with a ravenous hunger more carnivorous than carnal. Her mouth opened wide, revealing long, flesh rending fangs and a volumetric gullet. She lunged forward and closed her jaws around Armor’s head with a meaty crunch. His vision filled with impenetrable blackness once again. All sensations left his body as he drifted through a void of thoughts. Out of the darkness, a single figure appeared. It was a unicorn, a crystal unicorn. It was joined by another and then another until the white horse was surrounded by hundreds of the eerie specters.

“Your kind were made to be cowed by fear.” The voice resonated with absolute authority. "Overcome it or live in it, mortal."

The phantoms let out a blood curdling shriek and descended on the petrified pony like an unholy tide of fury and hatred. Prince-Regent Shining Armor screamed. It was all he could do.

---

“Alright, just sign your name here, here, and here.” The kindly Nurse Scope told Mica as she floated over a quill and ink well.

“Equestrian bureaucracy.” The Lurker occupying her body bemoaned. “And I thought I was soulless.”

The crystal mare nodded and grasped the quill in the crook of her fetlock. Carefully, she signed her name on the release papers as the young unicorn looked on, impressed.

“You’re quite dexterous for somepony without magic.” The nurse complemented. "Uh, no offence."

“Years of practice.” Mica said truthfully. “I can’t always delegate.”

The hollow mare finished and assumed she was free to go until Scope pushed another set of forms in front of her. Biting back her frustration, the crystal mare resumed hunting down spaces for her signature. As she did so, the Lurker wondered how his false alarm went over.

"I heard some excitement earlier this morning." Mica said casually. "What was that about?"

"Oh. You heard that." The unicorn nurse turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. "The guard that brought you in and I were... together last night. We apparently were not as quiet as we thought as somepony heard us and assumed he was forcing himself upon me."

"That noble stallion? Ridiculous!" Mica feigned outrage.

"Luckily, I was able to explain things to the investigating guards but he will likely be reprimanded for fornicating while on duty." Scope said guiltily. "I've already gotten an earful from Doctor Graft for soiling one of the rooms. I've spent all morning cleaning and sanitizing it."

"Was if worth it?" Mica asked coyly.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Scope gave a devilish smile. "Next time on Graft's desk."

Mica was about to say something more when the doors to the hospital ward burst open, revealing a frazzled Doctor Graft and the Solar Guard pegasus in full kit. The fearful look on the doctor’s face told them that something was wrong. The Lurker had an inkling what.

“Excuse me, ma'ams, but you have to come with me.” The guard ordered politely yet firmly.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Scope asked as she filed away a few things.

“A…large and organized group of bandits were seen in close proximity to the city.” The guard obviously lied in an attempt to avoid frightening the mares. “It's probably nothing but command doesn't want to take chances so we’re getting all civilians to the shelters.”

“Sounds like the dynamic duo are making their move.” The hidden one observed.

“Wouldn’t doctors be needed?” Scope interjected. “To treat any injuries?”

“Shut up, Steffi!” Graft snapped. “Do you want some thug bending yo-“

The abrasive mare did not get to finish. The sounds of screams followed by a whoosh of air cut her off. A wave of energy surge through the room and engulfed the occupants, knocking them all to the floor. Mica recovered first, getting to her hooves and shaking off the probing effects of the fear and dread runes.

"Your world is dead!" A chorus of voices attempted to probe his mind. "You are just a obsolete relic of a..."

“Yeah, yeah.” The architect of the blast banished the thoughts. "Shut up and go terrorize someone else."

“NO! GET AWAY!” Scope screamed.

The terrified nurse scooted back away from imaginary phantoms, blindly firing off lethal bolts of magic at her attackers. One of these struck Graft right between the eyes, burning a coin sized hole in the doctor’s skull. She was dead before she hit the ground. The guard fared better as his armor protected him but it was not able to save his mind. With a crazed yell, he charged past Mica and fell upon Scope, beating her with his plated hooves while she continued to blast away at his body. The unaffected crystal mare quietly slipped outside as the two former lovers tore each other apart in terror.

"I may have overdone it." The Lurker thought. "Well, nothing can stop it now."

Outside in the halls and corridors of the crystal palace, it was pandemonium. Screams of fear echoed throughout the hallways as ponies brutally attacked each other or huddled under anything that looked solid, begging anyone from Celestia to Luna to save them from the visions that tormented their minds.

“The effect won’t last forever.” The Lurker reminded himself. “I have a small window to get the Heart.”

Retracing his steps, the interloper made his way back to the Crystal Heart chamber. It was considerably easier since he did not have to worry about stealth. There was still the problem of crazed equines that turned their attention on him. Such was the case when a Solar Guard impeded his progress, babbling about invaders and trying to take his host's head off with a halberd.

“Out of my way, now.” The crystal mare ordered flatly.

Rather than obey, the guard came at her with an overhead swing. Mica sidestepped the chop and stamped down on the midpoint of the pole, snapping it in half. When the terrified guard tried to pounce on her, she rolled with him, got her legs underneath him, and pitched him against a wall. The guard landed awkwardly on his head and lay still. Nonplussed, Mica straightened out her clothes and continued on her way. It was much of the same as she approached the Heart chamber, dodging or incapacitating the ponies whose response to overwhelming fear was violence rather than hiding in a corner. She eventually found the golden doors of her destination. As they were wide open, Mica simply trotted in. Inside ground zero of the empire’s current state was the royal couple and the two crystal sentries. Having received the full blunt of the blast, Cadenza was writhing on the floor, crying like a wounded animal as her worst nightmares came to life. Shining Armor had fared no better. He was thrashing about wildly; tearing his clothes and screaming like a feral beast. Gruesomely, the two guards had killed each other with their weapons and were laying in a spreading pool of blood. None of them noticed the hollow mare.

“They’re going to have their jobs cut out from them once the terror subsides.” The Lurker thought as he approached his target.

Just as he predicted, the Crystal Heart under the control of the loving couple had not reacted well to the shadow fiend’s machinations. It lay unceremoniously on the floor, dull as stone and powerless. The former slave gingerly picked up the artifact and inspected it. It was warm to the touch but she felt no sign of lingering power.

“I can’t believe I was obliterated by a glorified rock.” She thought calmly. “I'm tempted to shatter it but Sombra wants it intact."

Mica forced the ancient artifact into the largest saddlebag she had. It was tight fit and it was obvious what was inside but that did not matter so long as she remained out of sight.

“Now I just need to find a place to ride out the siege.” The abyssal horror thought. “ The throne room is as good a place as any and I can meet Dugore and Sombra there once they take this place.”

With a plan in mind, the mare backtracked to the throne room of the crystal palace. As she galloped through the halls, she noticed that the effects of the runes were already beginning to wear off and the ponies were regaining their senses. But the damage had been done. With the most powerful tool in their arsenal gone and their moral all but broken, the ponies of the Crystal Empire would have to face the coming onslaught of the Marked Legions and their masters the hard way.

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