Having finally made it to the Crystal Empire with the remain survivors, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy went to search for the other girls. They scanned through the survivors to see where they were. Just then, they saw Cadence and Shining Armor.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are safe! Twilight told me what happened." Cadence said after making her way towards them.

"It's insane! When we first got back to Ponyville, there was fire everywhere! The Griffons, Dragons, Changelings, Hippogriffs, and the Yaks were wrecking our home! For all I know, the Buffalo could be roughing up Appleloosa!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"It's chaos out there, Princess. Without Discord and the Elements of Harmony to back us up, we might be headed towards the steepest creek of our lives." Applejack said.

Cadence looked at them in a stern manner and started thinking to herself. Just then, Fluttershy asked,

"Where's Twilight and the others?"

"They're in the throne room. We're trying to figure out what this monster is and it would be nice if you three could share what you have seen. Sunset Shimmer is here too." Shining Armor said.

The three of them were shocked, but not too much. They nodded and followed the two up to the castle. Fifteen minutes later, they made it inside where Twilight and the others were waiting.

"Oh, thank the stars! I thought the three of you were lunch!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Granny Smith! Are they safe?" Applejack asked as she grasped Twilight.

Twilight moved her hooves away and said,

"They're safe. We found them when they were defending themselves from the Timberwolves."

"Oh thank heavens."

"Did you see that monster too?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity, Twilight, Sunset, and Pinkie looked at them and Twilight said,

"We did."

"What happened? That thing made Discord look like a cheap magician!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"That's what I was wondering too. But when I touched its ooze, I felt something within me. This feeling... It felt cold and twisted. I don't know what else to describe it, but this thing is the one behind Equestria's fall. We have to stop this thing, but we have no idea what this thing really is." Twilight said.

"But when those icky things crawled out of its body and latched onto us, he showed us these unspeakable things. We had no idea how bad it would turn out, but it was more powerful than it was letting on." Rarity said.

"Yeah! We got our cupcakes kicked out of us! But luckily, we were able to get most of the survivors out of Ponyville." Pinkie said.

"But what about the Princesses? And where's Starlight?" Sunset asked.

Just then, the door pushed open. They saw Starlight, Princess Luna, and to their shock, a battered Princess Celestia. Twilight ran over to her and asked,

"Princess Celestia! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Twilight. Just let me walk." Celestia said without batting an eye.

Celestia was so beaten and bruised that she could barely even twitch. She had to be supported by her sister and Starlight.

"I'm fine, you two. You can let go." Celestia said in a kind manner.

"Are you sure, sister?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. After what that monster did to you-"

Celestia then suddenly said,

"Please! Just let me go."

Honoring her wish, the two let her go and she started to move. Staggering as she walked, the rest of the ponies were shocked to see how much damage she took as she fought against the creature. Making her way towards the center of the throne room, she asked,

"So how many survivors do we have?"

"Right now, the soldiers are doing roll call, but they seem to be somewhere around 500-1000 ponies. I don't know how much we can keep at the Empire. We would have to draft most of them into our army." Shining Armor said in a worried manner.

"But how long do you think we can hold out? We are up against a threat that could bring about the end of Equestria and we don't know where Spike is! We have to find him." Starlight proclaimed.

Hearing this, Twilight turned towards Starlight and said,

"Even if there was an off-chance that he was still alive, it would be unlikely that he would survive out in Equestria. And the Crystal Empire is so overcrowded that we can barely even fit in a fly. For all we know, he could have been converted over to their side."

"We don't know that! We have to find him!"

"Starlight..." Luna said, trying to stop the former from speaking any further.

"No! There could be creatures that haven't been converted! Spike meant so much to you and you turned him away over a statue?! What is wrong with you!" Starlight shouted.

"And even if there was a chance that none of them were corrupted, do you really think that we would just welcome them all with open hooves? Look outside, Starlight. After everything that they did to us, there doesn't seem to be a way that we can mend what happened."

Starlight could not believe what she was hearing. Her once-friendly teacher and friend was now saying things that go entirely against her teachings of Friendship. Sunset was even more disturbed, having heard this from Twilight. It was like she was caught in a bad dream and she couldn't wake up. Having heard enough of Twilight, Starlight said in a tearful yet spiteful manner,

"I can't believe I ever became friends with a hypocrite like you!"

Having said that, Starlight darted out of the castle.

"Starlight...!" Luna shouted as she tried to stop her.

But it was too late. Starlight left the castle and the Princesses looked at Twilight in a disdainful manner, especially Celestia.

"You could have handled it in a different manner, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia said with angry undertones.

"She's right, Twilight. You were being nasty towards Starlight." Sunset said.

"So you want me to act like none of this is happening and we're off galloping in the bright sunlight? We are heading for a war and we have no idea when to act. If we just sit idly by and lie to them, Equestria may not survive. Do you really want that teetering on your conscience, Princess?"

Celestia was shocked to hear Twilight say that. Not because she was being rude to Starlight nor addressing the state of Equestria, but because of how much she has changed ever since Spike disappeared. Sunset herself was beyond perturbed to hear Twilight say that. It was bad enough knowing that she could never see her beloved son ever again, but Celestia was witnessing her favorite student taking on a new callous persona. Anger could not describe how much animosity that Celestia was developing towards Twilight, but the feelings she held towards her were just enough to put her on edge.

"I should have found a different student." Celestia said as she left the throne room as well.

"Sister!" Luna said as she tried to stop her.

After Celestia left, they were wondering what to do next. They were cornered by the darkness, but they knew that they needed to protect themselves. Just then, Twilight said,

"We need to split the units and armies. We can send them to the various cities of Equestria, but most of them aren't ready yet. Can we set up boot camps?"

"We can, but we would have to prepare a lot of compensation and payment for their services. What can we do?"

"We'll deal with it after we win."

Hearing this, they started coordinating and forming plans to set up everypony for war. Fluttershy was assigned as a medic, Applejack was assigned to maintaining order, Rainbow Dash was put in charge of the army as the commander, and Rarity was put in charge of taking care of the survivors. Luna also stated that she and Celestia would be in command. After they were finished, they left. But before Twilight and Pinkie could leave, Luna stopped them and said,

"Wait. I have something to show you, Twilight."

But before they could leave, Pinkie asked,

"Can I come too? I haven't been assigned either." Pinkie begged.

"Very well." Luna said with a shrug.

"What about me, Princess?" Sunset asked.

"Wait here. I have a special assignment for you." Luna said.

"Okay." Sunset replied.

Upon hearing Luna, Pinkie and Twilight followed Luna deep into the castle of the Crystal Empire. Upon seeing Luna, they moved their spears out of the way. Just then, some form of door in front of them.

“Oh! I wonder what’s inside?! Does it have cake?!” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Pinkie, you must calm down. I need you to take this job seriously. And to answer your other question, we are heading to a classified area inside the castle,” Luna answered.

Moving to the right, Luna pressed a crystal embedded in the wall and it opened. It was bright and flashy as it started opening.

"Whoa. It's so beautiful..." Twilight said as she and Pinkie looked at the room.