Panic soon started to spread as everypony heard the news. Even most of the Mane five started to have unpleasant feelings about the anomaly. It had only been a day but the corrupted had been given the empire trouble. Every single army was collapsing with every city being overtaken. It was starting to become even more unpleasant as every loss was confirmed.

With each passing moment, the barrier was cracking like a mirror. Pretty soon, most of them had to be either contained or thrown out of the Crystal Empire to keep the contamination to a minimum. But even then, there were more casualties than survivors and Equestria was beginning to lose its grip in the war against the Corruption.

“What’s going on out there?” Starlight asked, entering the throne room.

“It’s bad. The Corruption is beginning to swallow the Crystal Empire and every army that we dispatched in Equestria has been decimated.” Cadence lamented.

“It’s only a matter of time until the barrier gives out. And when that moment comes…” Luna said in a sorrowful voice, looking at the cracking barrier.

Starlight took a look at the barrier and it had the look of a shattering mirror. The situation was very dire as they were losing the war. Every city in Equestria was lost, ponies were losing their lives left and right, and all that they had left was the Crystal Empire. Any moment, the Crystal Empires defenses would falter and the Corruption would wrap its fingers around their throats. The very thought of it sent a very huge chill crawl up their spines.

“Where’s Twilight?” Starlight asked.

“We don’t know. She hasn’t told us where she went off to, nor would she tell us why she went out. We haven’t seen her for the past two days.” Cadence answered.

Starlight started thinking about what Twilight has been doing while she was away. The latter certainly wasn’t around when Corruption grew worse nor why she left the Crystal Empire so many times. Starlight said, “I have to go, Your Highnesses. I have some spells to take care of.”

Starlight immediately ran out of the throne room. But the princesses knew better about what Starlight was planning to do. Princess Cadance asks,

“Should we stop her?”

“No. We would only be arousing her suspicion even further.” Luna said.

“Even so…”

“She would figure it all out eventually. We would merely be delaying the inevitable.”

Just then, they heard a spell go off. They go over to see who is contacting them. After answering them, they see Sunset appearing in the clouds of the spell.

“Sunset? What’s the matter?” Cadence asked.

“It’s worse than you anticipated! Equestria has been overrun and I’ve been hearing rumors that the Shadow army is planning on making its way to the Crystal Empire with their king leading the charge! I had no idea… how bad this would turn out!” Sunset panicked.

“Calm down, Sunset. Just tell us what happened.” Luna said.

After taking a couple deep breaths, Sunset said,

“After seeing Manehattan fall, I have started to hear rumors that their king was getting stronger. Upon hearing their plans of coming to the Crystal Empire next, I overheard them talking about Princess Celestia’s demise. Is this true?”

Hearing this took both Cadance and Luna aback, but knowing they couldn’t keep this from her, Luna said in the most honest manner,

“Yes.”

Hearing the news shocked Sunset to her very core. The emotions that she was feeling well within her soul were going through like a volcano ready to erupt. Then she said,

“Oh no… there’s nothing we can do. We’re all dead! When the Anomaly makes it to the Crystal Empire, Equestria will become extinct! We’re fighting against a tidal wave that can’t be overturned! We’ll never-”

“BE SILENT!!!” Luna shouted in her royal Canterlot voice.

Hearing this knocked Sunset out of her turmoil as she looked at the princesses. Then Cadance said,

“We will not lose. The only thing that you can do for us is keep moving around and see what the creatures are planning further. But for now, I want you to trust us in fighting back the Corruption. Okay?”

Sunset knew it was all a lie and it was inevitable that it was all going to come crashing down on them like meteorites. It was only a matter of time until the Shadows would come to their doorstep. But Sunset said,

“Okay.”

“You have been doing a wonderful job keeping an eye out for any activities lurking in the darkness and as a princess, I could never be anymore proud than I should, but for now, I need you to be brave and keep looking for any information. Can you keep doing that?” Luna asked.

“I will.” Sunset said with a nod.

“Thank you, Sunset Shimmer.” Cadance said with a sad smile.

With that said, the spell dispitated and Sunset disappeared.

“It’s only a matter of time until the Corruption overtakes us.” Cadance said.

“We must press on. If we die with nothing to show for, Equestria will be headed even further to certain doom.” Luna said.

“What should we do about Starlight? Should we send for her?”

“Yes. Should the time ever come, she should be the one to deliver this message…” Luna said as she and Cadance looked at the Corruption corroding around the barrier.

. . .

Several days had passed since Princess Celestia's death and nopony knows what to do. The Corruption spreading everywhere and they were on thin ice. It was as if they were about to run out of options. After they managed to hold back the Corrupted, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Starlight and Applejack had a meeting regarding the matter.

“It’s been getting harder and harder to hold them back! If we don’t do something soon, the whole Empire will be overrun!” Rainbow Dash said in a panicked voice.

“I’m well aware of that, Rainbow Dash. However, we have no chances of bringing her back without a spell. There’s only one pony here who could have a chance to revive her... “ Applejack looked over to Fluttershy and said, “...Fluttershy. Since Twilight hasn’t been back since that day and Luna has officially taken over as leader, you're the only pony I know that can heal any wounds, no matter how deep it gets.”

“W-What is it? I’ll try to help anyway I can,” Fluttershy said in her timid voice.

“I need you and Starlight to find a way to create a spell of replication,” Applejack said plainly.

“W-What?!” Fluttershy asked with her mouth dropping. “A-Applejack, a-are you suggesting we b-b-bring back-”

“That is not what I mean…” Applejack replied. “Nopony here has the power to revive the dead. Unlike the Grim Reaper, they was required in order to stop the Corrupted from stealing other deaths. Since that monster appeared, death had been stopped and with no means of dying without corruption, Princess Luna needed two filters to work with. However, The role of life requires something greater… Even surpassing Princess Luna’s abilities. They may be similar, but their roles are very different. Nopony can represent her role. Not even Twilight could…”

“I-If we can’t replicate her powers, then we’re-”

“Are you seriously suggesting that we steal her body?!” Starlight yelled. “You’re here barking about the option of ’replication’ and we haven’t even fixed the original problem! She may be dead but she is still valuable as a symbol! Princess Luna hasn’t figured out the next course yet! That’s the reason why we’re here! Replacing her isn’t an option!” She looked directly at them with sharp eyes and a sterned mouth. “We need to act now! We can’t wait around and hope for a solution to fall on us! The longer we wait, the more likely the anomaly will break us! We have to find out who or what is responsible and eliminate them!”

Everypony was taken aback by what Starlight said. Then Applejack looked her in the eye and spoke up.

“The empire is in shambles and without a ruler, we can’t act accortanly. What makes you think going after the culprit without any knowledge will give us an advantage? Surely you can’t think we have a chance of winning by going out there blindly?” Applejack asked.

“It’s better than sitting here listening to you give orders, Applejack! I can’t stand idly by and let that monster destroy what little civility we have left!” She stomped one hoof onto the ground as she yelled, “Why should we be putting our time into something we can’t even guarantee will work!? We should be focused on taking out the monster instead of just waiting for a miracle to happen!”

Applejack thought about what she said. She knew that it made sense to strike now, but going as is would have been suicide. Applejack turned towards Rainbow Dash in a calm manner and asked, “Rainbow Dash, do you share the same idea? Do you think we can save everypony by doing this?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t answer. Not because she didn’t agree with her. But because she knew that she was being reckless and not thinking clearly. Starlight took the silence as a refusal and turned towards the door.

“Whatever. I’ll deal with it myself,” She said bitterly.

“Starlight! H-Hold on-”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I won’t go out there blindly... But first, I need to pay a certain Alicorn a visit.”

Before anypony could interject, she teleported away to go search for said Alicorn. Applejack immediately started to leave as soon as Starlight teleported.

“A-Applejack! Where are you going?” Fluttershy asked.

“Starlight’s right. Standing here and waiting for that thing to break through won’t do us no good. However, it would be unwise to go looking for the monster without at least knowing more about it. I will check in with Princess Luna and plan our next course of action,” Applejack answered.

Applejack walked out of the room, leaving Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy alone in the room. Fluttershy sadly turned towards the window, looking at the abyss surrounding the barrier.

“Why did this have to happen…? Why can’t we go back to the days when we weren’t so apart…?” Fluttershy whispered.

Rainbow Dash sighed after hearing Fluttershy’s sentiment. She took a brief look at the barrier before turning towards Fluttershy. “There are some things we couldn’t have seen coming. If Twilight had come for Spike, I’m sure that none of this would have happened. Even if we could, too much has happened that it would be impossible to reverse what has happened,” Rainbow Dash said in a forlorn manner. She started to walk away as soon as she finished talking. “If anything comes up, let me know.”

“H-Hold on-” Before Fluttershy could say anything else, Rainbow Dash had already left. She was left to ponder her thoughts as she gazed at the surrounding abyss. “How… can I… do anything…?”