After a week had passed, Solaris had fully recovered and was ready to accomplish his destiny. As he rested, he had gone over a plan to safely enter Canterlot without exhausting himself, but he would require a bit of assistance to do so. He told Chrysalis about his plan, and she agreed to go along with it, as long as she comes along.

So, with a changeling army following his orders with the queen's consent, they flew off to Canterlot. Since flying was a lot quicker than traveling by hoof, they managed to reach a forest near the mountain the city was built on, making sure to stay hidden as they passed by other towns along the way. It was dark by the time they set up camp in the forest, hundreds of changeling soldiers preparing themselves for their second invasion of Canterlot, only for a good cause this time.

Solaris, Trill, Chrysalis, and one of the changeling captains sat around a stump as a green fire burned beside them, the queen laying out a map of the city and castle. "If this plan of yours works, I'll let you marry my daughter."

"R-Really?" Solaris asked, his cheeks tinted red while Trill was a little surprised.

"No. That's never going to happen." The alicorn felt a little disappointed, even though, in time, he just might want to propose to Trill if their relationship still stays strong. "Ok. Now, how we took Canterlot was through espionage, but seeing how there's no barrier, and there is a maniac of a unicorn in charge, then sneaking in by disguise won't help here. Your little idea to create a distraction, though...It seems a little risky for us."

"I know, but your soldiers have more experience in combat, many of them born into the military as soon as they're hatched...Right?"

"Correct," the captain said, bearing a scar over his right eye. "And your confirmation on our armor changing along with our bodies is proven to you as well. Plus, since many of the Shadow Knights are untrained brats, their forces will be simple to take out."

"But no casualties," Solaris added. "There's already enough blood spilt for the last fifteen years."

"We aren't exactly killers. Only when we need to defend ourselves from intruders to our home," Chrysalis said. "If we kill our victims when we steal their love, then we might as well not feed from them at all."

"Right! We'd die even quicker!" Trill exclaimed, receiving a look from her mother, her hive's few captains, and her coltfriend. "...What? It's true."

"...Ignoring my daughter's ignorance to what is happening now-" Trill glared at Chrysalis, who ignored her gaze. "-let's go over where we're going to attack. We're facing the southern entrance to Canterlot from our camp. With this portion of the city, there's more room to fight, and with many of the ponies living there being nobles, they'll flee from battle faster than the bits flowing in their pockets.

"If your diversion does work, you're going to have to run through the city on hoof to the castle. Not all of the soldiers will be dumb enough to fall for it and some might be in the castle or watching over the gate." Chrysalis marked possible positions where he might encounter a guard from the castle's walls or the halls inside. "You'll be on your own from there."

"That's fine. I can handle a few guards." Solaris looked over the map of the castle, memorizing the layout to find where Lucifer might be hiding. "Let's get some rest. We're going to need everything we've got to end this nightmare." The alicorn watched the queen and captain head off to bed, stopping Trill from following them. "Trill, can we talk for a minute?"

"Ooh. You got something special planned for me? What do I gotta do?" Trill asked, eager to find out what he wanted to say.

"I need you to stay out of this fight," he said.

"........I'm sorry, what?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

"I'm not risking you getting hurt, and you're not really good at fighting." He didn't really want to let her down, but he didn't want to lose the love of his life.

"Solaris, most of my hive is fighting, even my mom!" she argued. "If they're fighting, then I'm fighting too!"

Solaris gently cupped the changeling's cheeks, forcing her to look at him with a stern gaze. "I was close to losing you so many times in the past. I'm not going to lose you when I need you after this is all over." His eyes softened, gently pressing his forehead against hers. "Just please...for me. Please, stay here, away from the fight, and as far away from Lucifer. Promise me that you will listen to me and not do something stupid. Please?"

The two were silent for a moment, the crackling fire and nocturnal animal cries the only sounds around them. Trill's ears drooped, sighing in defeat, knowing she wouldn't want to upset Solaris further.

"...Ok...I'll stay here," she said. "I promise."

"I want you to make a Pinkie Promise," Solaris said.

"...Alright. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Trill went through the motions of the Pinkie Promise, having seen him make this kind of promise to the young CMC back in Ponyville.

"Thank you." He gave her a quick kiss, hugging her tightly, knowing he can trust her with her promise. "I better get some rest...I'm really gonna need it."

"Ok." Solaris headed off to his tent to get a good night's sleep, leaving Trill alone with the blueprints of Canterlot and the castle.

The sun began to rise on the horizon, many ponies in the capital of the kingdom opening their stores, heading off to work, or walking to school if you're a colt or filly. Around the castle grounds, some of the young Shadow Knights hated waking up early as they patrolled their routes. Their plans to begin their world conquest across the globe was immediately cancelled by Lucifer, and every single soldier who had showed up needed to stay in Canterlot without any knowledge as to why.

"Ugh. I hate mornings..." One of them approached a stoic guard, being one of the veterans who served Princess Celestia who actually took his job seriously. "When do we take our break? I've been walking this same stupid route for the past week, and nothing's happening!"

"Son, I had gone through rigorous training before the princesses were slain," the veteran said, growing agitated with the youth who signed up to be Shadow Knights. "I can go more than a week without eating, without sleeping, and with no complaints. If you wanted to do take this occupation, then you should have thought about doing it for the good of your kingdom, and not for the benefits of behaving like a delinquent."

"Pth. The princesses were killed by our king. They actually did nothing back then anyway." The senior soldier growled as he insulted their true and benevolent rulers. "Besides, I can easily take you down, grandpa. You better start thinking about retiring, because them old bones are gonna snap on you in that heavy armor of yours."

Having had enough of the young stallion's words, with incredible agility for his age, he slammed the disrespectful youth against the wall of their watchtower. "You are a disgrace to the code of a soldier! You and the rest of your spoiled peers abuse your power as PROTECTORS to destroy homes, businesses, families! You brats have no discipline, no self restraint! If we go out to war, you will all die first because you think you're more powerful than your enemies! If I were able to at this very moment, I would put you through worse training than what I had to go through, and I WANTED to protect my home by my own will! You'll probably quit after the first day."

"J-Jeez, calm down!" After a moment, the older stallion let the young delinquent down, the young soldier rubbing his chest. "I don't know why you even stay working as a soldier if you-"

As soon as the youth looked up, his eyes widened under his helmet as he saw something in the distance. Confused, the veteran looked in the same direction, finding a dark cloud coming closer to the city. He grabbed a telescope nearby, zooming in on the strange cloud, knowing there was supposed to be clear skies all day today.
As he focused in on the cloud, his jaw dropped when he saw the cloud was actually a large group of changelings, all of them wearing dark purple armor.

"Oh no...Not again." The young soldier stared at his superior in confusion, having no clue what he was seeing. "Get to the king. Tell him we're being attacked by another changeling invasion."

"C-Changelings? What's a changeling?" he asked, his voice shakey as he feared an upcoming battle.

"Just go." The youth quickly ran to the castle as the veteran continued watching the swarm approach from the south. He spotted the queen, wearing the same armor as her minions, but his eye caught a golden gleam from the corner of the lens of his telescope. He gasped as he spotted Solaris flying along with the bug ponies, wearing golden armor. "An alicorn...He's still alive?" The veteran lowered his telescope, grinning as the young teen was still alive, finding some hope for their kingdom to thrive in peace once again. "I better alert the others."

While the veteran went off to tell his fellow senior comrades the good news, the young soldier ran through the castle to find Lucifer. Barging into the throne room, he spotted the unicorn sitting on his throne, reading through a book, not even disturbed by the interruption.

"King Lucifer! We have a serious problem!" He looked up from his book, marking the page he left off on, allowing the youth to continue giving his report. "We're being invaded by changelings!...Whatever those things are."

"Changelings? Really?" The soldier nodded his head. Lucifer calmly walked out of the throne room and headed to the southern balcony, in the small chapel where the royal wedding was held for Cadence and Shining Armor. Using a spell to increase his sight, Lucifer enhanced his vision, seeing the dark cloud that was made of changelings. "So, Chrysalis is deciding to act after all these years. A fruitless endeavor, you mindless cockroach."

Lucifer could hear some of the surprised screams of terror come from the ponies in the city, though as he kept his gaze on the invading force, his eyes widened when he caught sight of Solaris among their ranks. What was strange about the invasion was that they hovered over the south end of Canterlot. It was as if they were waiting for something, and it baffled the unicorn tyrant.

"Why did you all stop?" he asked to himself, wondering what they had planned. The soldiers, Chrysalis, and Solaris began flying around over the city in a spherical shape, some form of tactic that was somewhat distracting or trying to be entertaining. Suddenly, all the changelings simultaneously burst into green flames, their transforming creating a massive ball of fire as bright as the sun. Lucifer was slightly blinded, dispelling his sight enchantment as he waited for the blinding glares to disappear from his vision. His eyes widened when he could see again. "Oh great."

Floating above the city were hundreds upon hundreds of clones of Solaris, the changeling army and Chrysalis mimicking his body as well as his armor. Solaris's plan to show up in Canterlot, let all of the city know they were here, and confuse the public, Shadow Knights, and possibly Lucifer with his planned out flying stunt was working so far. It was a success, as a moment later, the Shadow Knights came running or flying down to the southern districts of Canterlot while the citizens fled into the safety of their homes.

"Well, I'll be," Chrysalis said, disguised as Solaris, though her voice was her own. "Seems like it's working so far. Time to attack?"

"Yes," Solaris answered. "'Changeling Invasion Version 2' begins now. CHARGE!"

The changelings flew down to confront the enemy, every single disguised soldier hiding the real Solaris through the copies of him, and the two sides clashed. With the massive confusion, as well as the Shadow Knights being mostly untrained youths, it was quickly one-sided. Some thought they managed to knock the real alicorn down, only for their disguise to drop temporarily, distracting them greatly as they were knocked out by another changeling.

Solaris pretended to be part of the fight, standing alongside Chrysalis while she actually fought to help save the alicorn's strength against Lucifer. "This is way too easy. I think I can handle things here."

"Are you sure, Chrysalis?" he asked, avoiding a Shadow Knight's spear while Chrysalis took him out.

"I managed to confuse your mother's friends and Celestia while disguised as your real aunt. I'm smarter than I look." Chrysalis's eyes turned green for a moment, reverting back to blue as he eyed the real alicorn. "Just take that bastard down."

"Right. Also, see if you can evacuate the city as well. I have a feeling Canterlot's going to be mine and Lucifer's battlefield when we fight." Chrysalis nodded her head, knowing it would be a dangerous fight with innocents caught in the crossfire.

With their safety precaution for the citizens in mind, Solaris snuck around the battlefield, weaving through the many buildings until he was out of sight, running straight for the castle in the distance. Chrysalis managed to knock out a few more unprepared youths, feeling a rush of adrenaline as she finally did something after fifteen years of hiding from Lucifer. While making sure her victims were unconscious, her ears perked up, the hive mind picking up another of her subjects closeby. Confused, she looked around the outbreak, counting all of her soldiers being present and still conscious.

She felt the additional changeling's movement in the same direction Solaris sneaked off in, her eyes widening in shock as she spotted Trill, of all ponies, following after him. "What is that brat doing!? She was told to stay put!"

Before she could try to chase after her, she was sucker punched from behind by one of the Shadow Knights, catching sight of the youth grinning like an idiot. Wanting to give the soldier something to wipe the smirk on his face, she dropped her disguise, relishing his shock as he didn't get the right alicorn and the fright of the tall changeling queen he had just hit. Chrysalis brushed her foreleg against her punched cheek, snarling angrily.

"Oh no..." the stallion mumbled, his limbs shaking in fear.

"Oh no is right, you little runt." The queen hissed as she pounced the squealing stallion, knocking out more soldiers and forgetting Trill sneaking her way through the city to catch up to Solaris.

Solaris made his way through the empty streets of Canterlot to the castle, thankful to know most of the city hid in their homes as they caught sight of the changelings. He made it to the gates of the castle, seeing as a majority of the Shadow Knights were fighting the changeling army, giving him a better chance of encountering less guards inside and more energy to fight Lucifer.

He flew up over the walls, being wary of any patrolling guards that could still be around. "Ok. So far, so good." Solaris crept inside, remembering the layout of the castle from Chrysalis's plans she had on her. It was disturbing seeing the dark atmosphere of the halls, something that looked like it was for some sort of Gothic mansion or a haunted house. "How can he live with decor like this? I'd have nightmares with all this creepy stuff around every day."

While wandering through the corridors, remembering which doorway led to which room, Solaris didn't notice he was being followed. As he rounded a corner, he was greeted by a few Shadow Knights' spears pointed right at him. He stood on his hind legs, ready to fight, only to feel more spears behind him.

"Don't move, kid," one of them said, sounding a lot older than the soldiers fighting the invasion force outside. Completely surrounded, he raised his forelegs in the air, surrendering to the ambush. "So, this is the alicorn our 'king' is afraid of?"

"He said he was a child, but I didn't believe it until now," another guard said.

"Heh. How ironic that he's wearing what we used to wear as royal guards." Solaris figured they were the more experienced soldiers, actually having more knowledge on how to be a royal guard than many of the Shadow Knights he had encountered before. One of them prodded his chest with the spear, making the spearhead clink against his armor. "Brings back better memories before all this madness."

"You mean...all of you surrounding me were once members of Princess Celestia's guard?" the alicorn asked. He got no response, but it was obvious that what he thought was true. Unlike the rest of Lucifer's army of miscreants, these veterans have the proper training required to be a soldier of the military, acting out their duties without abusing the power they have. "Why do you follow Lucifer if you hate him?"

"We don't have much of a choice, kid." One of the soldiers walked through the group, the others stepping aside while keeping their weapons held out toward Solaris. The one who approached him was the same veteran that spotted the teen with the changelings earlier. "It was either obey his every command or die after he goes after our families. We did what we had to, becoming a disgrace to what we used to be in our heyday. If our previous captain, Captain Shining Armor, knew about this...We would all suffer severe consequences and endless weeks of running laps around all of Equestria."

"Shining Armor? That's my uncle." The soldiers nearly dropped their weapons in shock as they heard Solaris mention their greatest superior officer was his family. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. And, I know I'm not supposed to reveal this, but the mercenary who's always following Lucifer's orders, Zero, that's Uncle Shining in disguise."

"What?" While the captain of the group of veterans was surprised to hear this news, the others dropped their weapons out of shock, backing away from the alicorn.

"He didn't betray the princesses. He's been undercover trying to stop him." Solaris fell back to his hooves, looking around the ex-royal guards. "But now I'm here. My mother envisioned Lucifer would be stopped by an alicorn stallion, which happens to be me. Once I stop him and take back the throne, I can bring the royal guard back. I can bring Equestria back to the way it was before Lucifer destroyed everything this kingdom represented. Please, let me through. I won't hesitate to fight my way through you all in order to get to him."

The corridor was filled with silence. Solaris was ready to take down elite soldiers to get to Lucifer if they were going to stop him out of fear of the unicorn. He couldn't blame them. Even though he was ready to fight Lucifer, he was still really scared, but he had to do this for the sake of his home.

After a moment of silence passed until the captain grinned, chuckling at the teen's bravado. "Well, you sure do have your uncle's fighting spirit, I'll give you that. Besides, when did I ever say that we were going to stay in your way?" He took off his helmet, revealing his face to the alicorn. He was a beige earth pony, his fade manestyle a dull brown, his eyes a light green. He tossed the helmet to the ground, the armor piece rolling right up to Solaris's hoof. "We've been waiting fifteen long years for this day. I'll gladly quit now that you're among us, your highness."

The captain bowed before him, surprising Solaris as he immediately gave up following Lucifer and is ready to hear his orders before he defeated the unicorn. Soon, the other veterans proceeded to do the same, tossing off their helmets and bowing to him. It was all so sudden, but he had felt honored, instantly gaining the trust of the ones who had sought the same outcome he had.

"I won't let any of you down," he said.

"We know you won't." The soldiers stood up and saluted to the teen. "Is there anything you need of us before you seek out our tyrant?"

"Yes. The changelings invading Canterlot are not the enemy. I enlisted their help and they are taking out the actual followers of Lucifer. My fight with him will probably take range across the entire city, not just the castle. Help the changelings knock out any remaining Shadow Knights and escort all of Canterlot's citizens to the train station," Solaris commanded, all the soldiers nodding their heads, obeying his words. "Oh, and you might want to also take off the rest of your armor. Don't want to confuse the changeling army into attacking you."

"Understood, Prince...?" the captain paused, none of them actually knowing Solaris's name.

"Solaris," the teen said. "Just Solaris for now. I'm not a prince just yet."

"Whatever you say, kid. Let's move out! You heard our future ruler!" The soldiers shouted out with enthusiasm, all of them discarding the accursed armor and ran out to assist in the evacuation and invasion. The captain turned back to look at Solaris as his comrades ran on ahead. "Good luck, kid. We're counting on you."

"Thank you." The captain gave one last salute and headed out to the city, leaving Solaris alone in the halls with the discarded Shadow Knight armor around him.

Solaris continued his way through the castle, barging into the throne room, expecting Lucifer to be sitting in his throne. The massive room was empty, save only for the grim decorations and the stained glass windows. As he walked up to the dark throne, his eyes were glued to the horrible depictions crafted in the windows: one that held Lucifer standing over the world as it burned, the blue oceans were red as if it were stained in blood, another with him beheading Princess Celestia while Princess Luna and his mother were already slain, and many more gruesome images of the unicorn destroying or maiming something.

As he approached the throne, he quickly turned in surprise as he heard the doors shut, Lucifer having appeared on the other side as if he was waiting for him. "Well...Look who managed to come back from the dead. If I knew my enemy was coming to visit, I would have rolled out the red carpet." Lucifer chuckled, eyeing the golden armor Solaris wore. "I do hope you realize that model of armor is considered obsolete, right? And you're too old to play pretend."

"I'm not playing any games," Solaris said, readying himself to fight against the demonic stallion. "It won't be like last time. I'm not running this time."

"Oh really?" Lucifer slowly made his way up to Solaris, his magical aura summoning a variety of ethereal weapons. "I was a little surprised to see you teaming up with the changelings. Though, I must admit, your little diversion seemed a bit pointless, don't you think? Having those insects turn into you just to distract my army while the real you made a break for the castle? You shouldn't have come in alone and instead let that succubus of a roach, Chrysalis, send her soldiers to die before you."

"This is between you and me, nopony else." Solaris slammed his hooves together and set them ablaze, the green flames slightly stunning Lucifer as he recognized the hue of the fire burning in the alicorn's hooves. "I won't let you harm anypony anymore."

"...Dragon fire..." Lucifer finally decided on his menagerie of aura weapons, going for the tried and true broadsword. "The same as Twilight Sparkle's little pet...How interesting." He swung the ethereal blade around, getting a feel for it in his magic as he kept approaching the teen. "But, out of the ones who kept you hidden from me, where exactly are the other three bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" Solaris said nothing, keeping his gaze set on the king, staying calm and ignoring his words. "...I see...They met the same fate as the others...How tragic.

"But don't worry. I'll make sure to reunite you with your little family." The sword emitted a dark aura, its power dangerously flowing out of the ethereal weapon. "And the world will see that the last of the alicorns, who dared to face me, shall fall by my power. Every single creature will see that what they perceived as gods are nothing but weak, pathetic mortals who rely on trinkets to fight their foes. Even you, Solaris, wearing that ridiculous armor, will prove my point even further."

"Let's just get this over with," Solaris said, his flames increasing in power, ready to finish this grueling fight once and for all.

"...Your funeral." Both stallions stared each other down.

This was going to be a fight that would determine Equestria, and the world's, fate, where it will either continued to be ruled by the dark unicorn wizard, or return back to the peace it once held, ruled by the young alicorn who will follow the same benevolence as the princesses before him. The two finally charged at each other, Lucifer's weapon ready to slash through the teenage alicorn, while Solaris reared his hoof back, his flames intensifying in heat as he aimed his hoof at the tyrant who had killed his mother and ruined his home, his kingdom.