Six months have passed since the darkness took over Equestria. Various armies from different cities were contacted and warned to defend themselves and their people from the oncoming threat of the Shadows, but many were decimated in no more than a few months, save the remaining couple that were still keeping surviving due to the fact that the huge dragons were occupied with scouting. The Crystal Empire has now become central command of operations with everypony waiting to carry out their orders.

Rainbow Dash was in front of a crowd full of new recruits, ready to speak.

"Listen up, maggots! Today is your baptism into the art of war! If you want to beat these shadows and take Equestria back, then you better listen! Up until now during your time in boot camp, you have been nothing but two-timing, horseshoe tossing, unorganized, oat-munching, candy-crunching, party-going, clopping pieces of horse-shit! Out there, you're the main course! Ready to be eaten up by any carnivorous monster you may encounter! Out there, you're about as useful as a foal with a doll in its mouth! But if you cooperate, if we work together, we will all be one step closer to regaining our beloved Equestria! Do you turds understand!"

"Sir, yessir!" the recruits shouted.

"Bullshit! I couldn't hear you! Sound off like you got a pair!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!" the recruits shouted again.

After her speech, Rainbow Dash proceeded to head towards the castle, accompanied by Spitfire and Soarin.

"Everypony seems eager to give those creatures hell for what they did to our lands." Spitfire said, looking at the recruits.

"Who can blame them? Most of their loved ones were either eaten or butchered. But we only have so much more to lose, concerning our supplies." Soarin said.

"Our spirit doesn't come from supplies and materials, Soarin. It comes from our spirits." Rainbow Dash asserted.

"That wasn't what I was saying, Rainbow Dash. Ever since the Corruption spread across Equestria, we have been losing more and more than we can gain. It's like playing Buckball against a tidal wave. If the princess was here, she would have told us to keep fighting until we die." Soarin lamented.

"You got that right. Ever since Celestia left, the statistics have been growing more and more." Spitfire said.

"Hmm. Well, she's still alive and it's all that matters. Besides, we still have the other princesses. We're not out of the game yet."

"I suppose..." Spitfire said as they kept moving.

In the medical area, Fluttershy was tending to the wounded who returned to the Empire with Rarity taking care of the patients.

"Are there anymore we need to tend to?" Fluttershy asked, looking at Rarity.

"So far, few are wounded, but more and more, we are receiving casualties on a massive scale." Rarity answered.

"Oh, dear Celestia..." Fluttershy said as the body bags moved by.

"It's bad enough that we are losing more soldiers, but we are losing the war everyday and we haven't even begun to suffer the consequences." Rarity said as the bodies kept moving.

"If only Celestia were here..."

"We still have more to take care of before we can lower the curtain to those fiends. But even so, we're running on fumes."

Regaining her composure, Fluttershy asked,

"Has Coco returned with the medical supplies yet?"

"No, but Sassy is currently looking over who we have lost."

"Celestia... just where are you...?" Fluttershy asked herself.

In the control room, Applejack was in the command center, hearing and receiving orders on what to do next while trying to maintain order.

"What's happening out there?" Applejack asked.

"So far, we have lost Saddle Arabia and right now, Baltimare is currently under attack by griffons while Cloudsdale is awaiting its imminent invasion by the dragons! What should we do?" Minuette asked.

"Hmm. Tell them to stand by until I can figure out what to do. Where are they at right now?"

"We don't know yet, but they might be attacked by the dragons."

"Oh give us strength, Celestia..." Applejack said with sorrow.

In her own study, Starlight was busy trying to concoct new spells so that she could help boost the unicorns' defense and offense as well as her own.

"Okay... so if I add this... then this…” She turned towards a book that was related to the spell she was working on. "Ah. So if I..." She mixed in a liquid that seemed to mesh in with the other. Then it blew up to her roof. "Yes! A new spell!” Just then, she heard a knock on her door. "Yes?" Starlight answered.

"Can I come in?" the voice asked.

"Door's open!" Starlight replied.

In came Moon Dancer, who was waiting to receive the spell for her research team.

"Is it ready?" Moon Dancer asked.

"Just about. Although I would need to run a few tests on it. Care to join me?"

Moon Dancer nodded and proceed to help Starlight with the new spell. But as Moon Dancer was looking at the book, she said,

"It's a shame, you know."

"Huh?" Starlight asked.

"Celestia would know what to do if she were helping us."

In a depressed manner upon hearing that, Starlight said,

"Yeah..."

"But what's up with Twilight? I haven't seen her since the outbreak started."

"Who knows? But all we can do is keep moving forward and hope we can win this."

"Yeah..." Moon Dancer said.

After conversing with one another, the two shifted their focus towards working on the spell.

"It's really come a long way..." Starlight said as she and Moon Dancer proceeded to test it.

Luna was up in the throne room with Luna and Shining Armor as they were waiting for a call from Sunset Shimmer.

"Do you think she's still okay?" Shining Armor asked.

"She is. If she has been out there this long, we should be hearing from her soon." Luna said.

Just then, they heard a spell ring. They answer and Sunset appeared.

"Sunset? Are you okay?" Cadence asked.

"I'm dandy, princess. Just trying to catch my breath." Sunset said as she panted.

"What happened?" Luna asked.

After catching her breath, Sunset regained her composure and said,

"Well, I was able to evade a group of dragons and griffins with a pack of angry manticores. Other than that, I have nothing new to report. Other than escaping by the skin of my teeth. But I did gain some info."

"I see. Would you care to share it with us?" Shining Armor asked.

Sunset took a deep breath, explaining what was going on while she was spying on the group. Going deep into detail about what they were talking, the three were shocked to discover that they have made plans for another invasion.

"So they are planning to destroy Los Pegasus next. Has the army been notified of this?" Luna asked, turning towards a captain.

"Not to my knowledge, Your Highness." the captain responded.

"Head to Rainbow Dash and tell her what we have received." Luna ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty." the captain said before exiting the throne room.

Turning towards Sunset, Luna asked, "Are you okay? How are you doing out there?"

"It's worse than we imagined. Everywhere I see, there's nothing but this Corruption. More and more, the creatures win one battle after the other and I even overheard a hippogriff say that they would hope to turn Ponyville into a weapons plant. I just feel as if we're fighting something bigger than us." Sunset said.

"I understand, Sunset. And you have done a marvelous job at holding your ground, but we are doing everything we can to fight back against this enemy. We have no idea who the leader is, but a survivor told us that they refer to him as their king. But we can't be too sure yet." Luna said.

Feeling as if this was going nowhere, Sunset asks, "How is your sister? I haven't seen heard much from her ever since I left the Crystal Empire."

Hearing this suddenly depressed Luna. As she started to recall her sister leave the Empire after finding out what Twilight and Pinkie were doing.

"I don't know. I still feel her essence. But it's been a long time since the two of us spoke. Though I am to blame for keeping this all from her." Luna said in a sad manner.

"Luna, what you were doing wasn't your fault. We were just out of options." Sunset said.

"I know. But every time I think of her, I feel nothing but her anger when she found out what we've been doing to the prisoners. And what we've been doing with Pinkie for that matter... I feel sick to my stomach whenever Twilight comes back with more souls."

"I know what you're doing is twisted, but you're only doing what is best for us. All of us. You can't keep blaming yourself for keeping all this from Celestia. She would have figured it all out eventually."

"You're right. But even then..."

"We'll deal with it after we win. For now, we just have to play our cards and hope that we can get through this without losing any more ponies. Just try not to lose faith, okay?"

Hearing this, Luna gives Sunset a small smile and says,

"You have really come a long way from your cruelty. I could never be more proud than I am now."

Just when Sunset was about to speak, she suddenly heard rustling.

"I've gotta go. Stay safe, princess." Sunset whispered before deactivating the spell.

Luna turned towards the outside and looked at the Corruption that surrounded the entire Crystal Empire.

"I hope you're right, Sunset Shimmer..." Luna said as she looked at the Corruption.

Outside the castle, Pinkie and Twilight were both getting ready to head outside. But this time, they appeared to be different. They were wearing black cloaks with an assortment of gear as well as Twilight keeping a canister of some sorts. But what made them more distinct was that they were carrying scythes by their side. Greeted by two guards as they let the door open, Twilight asked in a calm manner,

"Ready, partner?"

"When you are, partner!" Pinkie replied in an enthusiastic manner.

With that said, the two exited the Crystal Empire, ready to take on their enemies for their souls.

Author's Notes:

As to why all of you are wondering this story is on hiatus, it's because me and Saber are currently going over the arcs which will be published later on as we continue to write. I hope you all enjoyed this arc and I wish to hear your thoughts about this in the comments below. Thank you all for your time and I'll see you on the other side.