The throne room is full of every leader we had, but equally filled with silence. Emeris, Lucretia and myself along with a few lieutenants stand in the far corner behind the throne. Cadence and Shining hadn’t shown up yet, otherwise it looked like everypony that Celestia talks to is here.

Lucretia leans over to me and keeps her voice as low as she can. “It’s kinda odd the Crystal Heart wasn’t working when we hit Zaran’s tanks. Maybe he found a way to shield himself from it in a local area?”

Emeris nods a few times. “Whatever is holding up Cadence and Shining, it can’t be good. Also with Cadence gone, can we be sure it’s even her when she comes back? I wouldn’t put it past Zaran to get a copy of her and have her use fake healing magic to give his agents credibility.”

I glance around at our lieutenants who just keep getting to hear worse and worse news. “With fifteen thousand Og Nag, would Zaran even bother with this covert-ops crap?”

Lucretia stares at me condescendingly. “It’s Zaran. He’s probably doing literally everything he can to screw with us.”

The double doors squeak open and an exhausted Cadence, followed by her husband, walk in. Every face in the room turns to stare at her without uttering a word. She looks around with an expression of complete defeat.

“The...Crystal Heart...they switched it out with a fake. We have no idea where the real one is. The fake responds to magic, but it just glows. I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to do.”

Surprisingly, no one panics or cries out. We’ve all probably just accepted that there’s no way to get out of it this time.

Celestia gets off her haunches and walks to the middle of the room with determination.

“Then it’s settled: we will open a portal to another world and leave. I know of a few-” The room suddenly erupts in protest and shock. A colt with black fur and a gray mane jumps towards her.

“Why can’t we just surround the palace with some kid of spell?! Or like...raise the ground so they can’t get to us?!”

Lucretia stops leaning on the wall to my left and walks up to Celestia. “Because that’s what Zaran wants. He wants the princesses to burn through their magic. That’s why he hasn’t attacked yet. His only obstacle is Equestrian magic. It has saved us in nearly every battle.”

Luna walks up behind Lucretia with a worried look in her eyes. “Also, a lot of our spells are simply temporary. Amulets and other such devices always require some form of magical fuel to keep going. It is a much more rare fact than I don’t expect your common pony to know. If we raised a shield around Canterlot, Zaran would simply just keep creating Og Nag and he is probably powerful enough to destroy it when it’s time. I’m sorry to tell you all this, but us alicorns are not quite as powerful as you think. There are rules with our magic and even the most powerful of enchantments we know, come with a risk of tapping into a very...dangerous plane of existence.”

Celestia nods at her sister.

“As I was saying, there are...other places we can go. This will by no means be an easy journey and it will take time to prepare. I need everypony to pack only what they need to bring.”

Two of my soldiers burst through the door. “Sir! We got incoming towards Baseponyville! Reports of five thousand Og Nag from the west!”

Lucretia narrows her eyes and leans her head back slightly. “From the west? That’s our most fortified spot. We still have the wall of Og Nag from when we first got here. Why would he do that?”

Emeris stands next to her, holding his elbow with one hand, and the other strokes his chin. “This is a different tactic and I think it’s a warning of what’s to come. This isn’t a tactical maneuver per say. He wants to hit us where we’re the strongest and destroy it. It’s psychological warfare. How do you think our army is going to feel if they hit our best fortified position from its strongest point and won? It would be devastating to moral. Not to make everyone more paranoid, but he probably has something similar planned for the alicorns.” Shining leans his head back and groans loudly.

Emeris crosses his arms and addresses Celestia. “Okay so...we need to hold off the Og Nag long enough for everyone to escape. How long do you need exactly?”

Celestia’s eyes are as cold as they can be, but hints of dread seep through. “Two days. We will need to summon the portal, evacuate all four thousand Equestrians and regularly refill the portal with magical energy.”

Lucretia puts her hands on the side of her head. “Two days?! How the hell are we supposed to fight off that many Og Nag for two whole days?! I mean...Baseponyville...we might be able to give you a few hours, but then what?! Are they coming straight here after that?! Will Zaran just toss everything at us until we break?! I mean...fifteen thousand Og Nag...I can’t even imagine!”

Emeris rubs his face and sighs quietly. “They’ll either come straight into Canterlot, or try to draw out the alicorns.” He stops rubbing his face and the moment he lowers his hands, his eyes bulge excitedly. “Or...or...perhaps we have something that can stop him and we don’t know it yet.” He looks from Lucretia to me. “Do...do you think our elements are a bigger threat than we know? Maybe if he hits us too hard, our elements will activate and we’ll annihilate his army so he has to attack in smaller waves!”

Celestia’s eyes bulge as she turns to me. “Raiden, do you think this is true?!” Every face turns towards me with just a sprinkle of hope in their eyes. I shift uncomfortably. “Our elements are...a huge unknown. The last time Emeris tried using his, it wouldn’t work. Lucretia has only used hers once and it was a massive benefit though. I honestly can’t say either way if they’ll save us. If what Starswirl said was true and our elements want more entertainment, then yes it stands to reason that Zaran has to hold back to a large degree. Also, we have no idea where Starswirl went or where this Discord is. Zaran might also be keeping some of his cards in reserve in case they show up. Lucretia, just how fortified is Ponyville?”

For the first time in years, Lucretia crosses her arms, narrows her eyes and smirks. “Take a wild guess what I’ve been pouring my freetime into? Three thousand arrows, a ballista on every rooftop with plenty of bolts and each building is ready to be a nice bonfire when we need it.”

Emeris scoffs in shock. “How the hell did you get all that done?!”

Shining walks up to our little discussion. “I used my magic to mass produce arrows as well as move around all the equipment we needed. Lucretia drew up plans to make some simple machines that can make even more arrows while I was recovering. Basically they put in a long piece of wood and use blades to trim them down to the size they need. Those long rectangles then get dropped into a second set of sculpting blades that turn them into shafts. After that, soldiers just put on the arrows and tip. We have stockpiles of a few hundred arrows all over, with the extras in the middle of the city for efficient reinforcement. I also used our local plants to reinforce the walls. We wrapped poles in these super thick vines then coated them in tar. They’re super resilient to sword slashes and bend decently to absorb impact. It’s gonna take a lot of work from Garges to even break through a single point.”

Lucretia’s foot hammers into the stone floor as she tries to hold back her excitement. “If Zaran knows about our defences and there’s no reason to assume he doesn’t, then he probably has a plan. Still though, if we can hold them off for just long enough, he might have no choice but to retreat. Even if we can’t hold Ponyville, we can still do a number to his forces. If it’s bad enough, we might get an opening to counterattack. We’ll have to put everything we got into defending it though, and I mean everything.”

As I look around at the faces that are too scared to let their hope shine through, only one thought pops into my head, so I say it loud and proud. “Let’s mobilize.”

Emeris turns to Shining. “Shining, we need as many guards in Ponyville as you can spare. Please tell the Wonderbolts that it’s now or never.”

Every last human we had, stands in the yard in full armor. There’s no cheering this time, no one is practicing or sharpening their weapons. All is quiet except for the occasional shifting of armor. I give a lethargic shrug and swallow as hard as I can.

“This...this is it. There’s no backup plan, no holding out for help, no magical item. Before you, festering all over that forest, is the largest army of Og Nag we’ve ever seen, besides the one that hit Taraska the night of the First Offensive. That was back when we had a few thousand of our own units and an entire city made to withstand a siege. Now we have...seventy five of us roughly. There is only one plan so far: we hold them off so the Equestrians can escape.”

One of my units steps forward. “Sir...why us to be honest? Why can’t we just make a break for it too?!”

I place an amicable hand on her shoulder. “Taraska is gone. What we were, was lost long ago. We lost our city, our people, even most of our army. We are divided and in a strange world. Our time has come and passed. These ponies though, they deserve another chance. They have culture to take with them. What do we have? Bloodthirst, nightmares and horrific stories. No, it’s time we put an end to our suffering. We will continue as legends to these ponies. Future generations will see our faces depicted in stories and know what we did without our...disgusting history.”

She looks down and nods slowly. “If anyone ever asked me what Taraska was, I wouldn’t know what to tell them anyways.”

Another soldier steps forward and holds up a clenched fist. “Taraska is right here, right now! Standing shoulder to shoulder against a sea of undead freaks and kicking some ass!”

We all cheer, arms in the air, but there’s something missing this time. There wasn’t any hope, nothing to keep fighting for. Even if the Og Nag stood there harmlessly, I don’t even think we’d have the energy to kill them all. I didn’t say it in the throne room, but if I knew Zaran, he’d have something nasty in store for us. He was going to breach our walls and flood the city with Og Nag. He had only been caught off guard maybe once or twice.

He could come with a giant ball of fire, super armored Garges, or even something worse we’ve never seen. If I could find several non-magical ways in, there was no doubt in my mind he had something in store. We didn’t have the numbers at all. The pony guards were still in shock from us hitting Zaran’s tanks. They were traumatized, most not even able to put on their armor without vomiting.

“Sir, is there….just no one else we can turn to? No other kingdoms?” A troubled soldier says hesitantly.

My mouth hangs open as a small idea pops into my head. I bolt from the yard and run straight into the castle. Every report floods into my mind while trees sail past me. I take the steps into Canterlot two at a time, then blitz by Celestia and Luna in the throne room who watch me with uncertainty.

Past the throne room, winding through corridoors, I pass through a pony in black armor who stands guard over a long hallway. A few rooms down and I stand outside that strange door and wait. The pony guard comes charging down the hallway, sailing right through me. The door clicks open and that same unicorn with purple fur and an ocean blue mane stares at me. I leap onto the portal. “Take me to Umbra. Now.” She nods and her horn glows black.

My feet pound loudly against the stone floor as cell after cell flies by. I pray my instincts were right. We had a chance, a small fleeting one, but it was the only chance we had. I skid to a stop and Umbra looks up at me. Her eye are wide and her brown mane is a mess. Her dull-purple fur has dust all over it. She opens her mouth to speak but I beat her to it.

“I can give you one chance to fix everything you’ve done. I will give you all the trust there is to give and you can save everypony, even Big Mac. Deal?” She jumps to all fours and nods her head eagerly.

I trace a pattern onto a magical tablet on the left side of her cell. The red barrier separating us vanishes and she stares at me in shock, probably wondering if this was another ploy. I get down on one knee and place a hand on her shoulder. “We need help, every last ounce of it. I don’t care how you do it, but we need every damn creature and nation at our doorstep. Who do you think you can bring?!”

Umbra blinks rapidly and looks off to the side. “Well, there’s the Yaks I suppose and the griffons. There might be a few other races, but I have no idea if they’re dead or-”

“Umbra...bring them all. Every last one. We either die, or we leave this world if you fail. You’ll never see Mac again and you’ll have to stay here with a bunch of changelings who view you as a traitor along with Zaran’s wrath.” Her eyes sink back into her sockets and her head recoils. She follows me, but can barely keep up as her legs wobble.

“What about Pharynx?”

I skid to a halt and look back at her. “Can he be trusted? Will he rat us out to Zaran?”

Her mouth twists with turmoil. “I-I know he’s...we can’t just keep leaving him down here! How about he comes with me! I’ll take full responsibility for him!”

I sigh and shake my head. “I’m sorry Umbra, but he could ruin our only chance.” I start jogging again but after a few seconds, I realize she’s not running behind me. I look at her again and this time she stomps on the ground with her left hoof. “No! I’m not coming unless he comes too! You may not care about him, but I do! I know what he’s been through! He may just be a prisoner to everypony else, but to me he’s family!”

My hands clench as my eyes narrow. “Fine.”

A few corridors later and we stand outside Pharynx’s cell. He sits with us to his side, tucking his head and slightly arching his back. He glares at me with every ounce of anger he can manage. “You’ll never break me.” He hisses. I trace the same pattern on his tablet and the field drops. He doesn’t move a muscle.

Umbra runs up to him and gets in his face. “Then don’t do anything, just...come with me! You don’t have to trust us, but at the very least you can get some fresh air!” His eyes stop glaring and wince with pain. Temporary freedom must be as good as gold to him at this point. He had been in this cell since he attacked me as Luna. How many months had he spent isolated with only the daily guard to drop off his food. They were told not to speak to the prisoners no matter what though.

He shakes in place and looks down at the floor with despair. He looks back at Umbra and fumbles for words. “You...you can’t trick me into helping! I’ll...enjoy the fresh air, but you’ll never convince me to turn!”

Umbra rolls her eyes. “Good enough, let’s go.” As we race by the cells, Pharynx’s glare never leaves my back. I didn’t even have to turn around to know how much he hated my guts. Zaran had most likely tortured them while showing my face over and over so they’d despise me as much as he does.

Umbra and I stop on the portal, but Pharynx watches us hesitantly several feet away. Umbra beckons him forward. “Will you just come on!?”

Pharynx backs up while shaking his head. “So I can step on it, then wake up on the table again?! So Zaran can tell me I didn’t do enough and vaporize me?!” He grits his teeth and starts shrieking. “You’re the enemy! No one can save me except Lord Zaran! I’ll never help you!” I rush forward and before he can even react, he’s unconscious with a quick punch to the head.

Umbra watches me uneasily. “Ugh, I wish you didn’t have to do that.” The moment my boots hit the portal, we’re back in the room.

A purple unicorn with blue eyes, watches us with a raised eyebrow. “I take it I’m out of a job now?” She says sarcastically. Umbra follows me out the door with Pharynx in tow. We stop at the nearest window and gently shake Pharynx awake. He gets on all fours and delirious looks around. Umbra taps his shoulder a few times and his eyes burst open. He almost speaks when he looks out the window and sees sunshine. Like a dragon staring at gold, he stands there mesmerized.

Umbra motions with her head for him to follow and he does without a word or hesitation.
Umbra loops in the air, squealing with delight. Pharynx flies in a straight line, but random flinches show just how eager he is to enjoy himself. I watch them until their figures disappear from sight then run to the throne room. Celestia and Luna stop talking and watch me enter.
“I sent Umbra and Pharynx to get help. Umbra mentioned the Yaks and Griffons. They haven't been attacked right? I remembered from the reports that only pony cities has been hit. No reports apart from the Crystal Empire had any sightings of attacks or smoke from anywhere else right?!”
Celestia recoils a bit and her mouth forms a gradual smile. “Well yes that’s true! I had just assumed they had all been raided! You’re right though, I never heard of anypony else getting attacked! I can’t tell you how much the Yaks and Griffons joining us will change things!”

Emeris walks out of a small room to my right, with a hand full of papers. “Good idea, we desperately need the reinforcements.” He hands the papers to Celestia then turns to me. “By the way, how did you severe the link they have to Zaran?”
I raise an eyebrow in confusion. “What link?”
Emeris’ eyes widen. “The psychic link Zaran has to all members of Z7? That link?” My hands fly up to the sides of my head and I fall to my knees in horror.
Celestia gasps and stares down at me. “Raiden...if Zaran still has that link with them, you may have just killed us all.”