Equestria was slowly turning into a hellscape. There was nopony left and the ones that did survive ended up corrupted. As they got back to them Empire, countless bodies and souls surrounded them like the plague. It was now starting to become brutal. Pinkie did everything she could to raise them and make them happy and lead them to their bodies while Twilight used her magic to keep the corruption at bay. It was difficult to maintain as their workload still piled up and were unaware of how they died. But despite all that, Twilight didn’t give up hope. For even a moment, she hoped, she would find the light that could bring a glimmer of hope. He refused to let the darkness corrupt her.

It was then she felt a lightressense lingering over her. It felt too familiar. She used her magic to push the corruption back even further. For her, she couldn’t afford to miss this chance. She knew she had to face him… it was a matter of when that bothered her. For it, it was surprised she had not given up hope. It roared as it tried to push forward. But she was happy. The light was still alive. She will find her. It will find her. They both had one goal. And that was to bring Princess Celestia back.

“Is the room still open?” Twilight asked, turning towards one of the guards.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Hearing that, Twilight rushed out of the throne and ran towards the room. Keeping hold of her scythe as she ran, the answer became clear. Where she and her friends have failed in protecting the Crystal Empire, they may have succeeded in resurrection. Even after all the horrible things that Twilight did, she knew that there was at least still a chance in fighting back. After making her way to the room, she took off her bag and started glowing her horn as she reached into it and pulled out Celestia’s crown.

“This has to work. There is no other solution left. And up until, I have done nothing but hold back what I’ve been doing and I have been living the life of a selfish princess. But not today…” Twilight thought as she started performing spells.

. . .

Meanwhile, the others were trying to figure out what to do with holding back the Corruption. Looking at the Corruption that surrounded them, they were running completely on fumes and were about to be crushed. Rarity shouted,

“What are we going to do?! When the field collapses, it’s curtains! We can’t-”

“Rarity, it’s okay. Twilight will find a way to save Princess Celestia. If there’s anypony that can do the impossible, she can.”

“All we can do right now is hold out until Twilight resurrects the princess. If we divide ourselves, then we’ll really be in deep trouble! And we’re already in deep trouble!” Applejack shouted.

“Easier said than done, AJ. All of our armies have been done in and the Crystal Empire is up next on the chopping block!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Why else are we here, Rainbow Dash? So that we can discuss how we’re gonna fend off this anomaly!”

“Could you be any more obvious, Applejack?! Twilight is down there in that room right now, trying to bring back Princess Celestia while we’re up here bickering like a couple of foals!” Starlight shouted as well.

“What do you expect us to do, Starlight? We’re on a tightrope here and about ready to splat on the ground! We can’t-” Rainbow Dash said before being interrupted.

“GIRLS!!!” Cadance shouted from her throne.

They turned towards Cadance who came off her throne to join in on their meeting.

“I understand that we are all heading to our doom and that we have no other recourse left, but Shining Armor is doing everything he can to hold them back and all we can do is hold our chins up until Princess Twilight resurrects Princess Celestia. And if the latter was here now, she would have told us to keep pushing back until we die. We can’t afford to let the two of them down until Twilight has succeeded in performing the spell.”

The rest of the girls stood silent as they heard her.

“But we have to do something. If we don’t, there won’t be any Equestria to save.” Starlight said.

Cadance solemnly nodded upon hearing that.

“Go.” Cadance ordered with sorrow in her voice.

On that note, everypony left the throne room with Cadance the only one remaing.

“Just where are you when we need you, Luna? Twilight… I hope you know what you’re doing…” Cadance said as she looked outside the castle with sadness in her eyes.

. . .

After several more hours pushing the corruption back, they were finished. They went back to Empire to begin the spell. Twilight felt incredibly happy about what was going to happen next. Twilight told her friend that she will be back. That she would bring back the souls. And this time, she felt that they could win.

She thought of only one place. A place she was told about long ago. The same place where she found the Crystal Heart. Twilight had felt foolish for not realizing it sooner. But if there was one thing about her tenacity, it was that she was persistent. She went to the lower levels of the empire as she ran. She eventually made it to the front door of the resurrection room. After opening it, she was greeted by a swarm of flames.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight shouted as she activated a barrier.

And once she entered, she found something. She moved forward and wouldn’t cease until she made it to Princess Celestia. But as she moved, she heard wicked cackling as the flames roared. More and more she moved, the cackling grew louder.

“I know you’re there! Please! Come back to us! We need you!” Twilight shouted as she moved.

The cackling continued as she kept moving through the flames as they turned into a face. It had the same visage as Celestia, but it was much more wicked and malicious. Looking around, Twilight was sweating really hard as she looked for Princess Celestia while it laughed at her. For a brief half-hour searching, she starting to run short on luck. But just then, she noticed something on the far end of the flaming room. Something she didn’t expect. Light. It was small, but it was very pure and shiny. The face disappeared when she took notice.

“Princess Celestia…” she whispered.

She moved closer to see if she was alive. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes. Twilight’s eyes twinkled when Celestia woke up. She took her to a place the creature would never go. It was incredibly bright when they entered. And with that, a small rain of hope existed...

Author's Notes:

And thus, boys and girls, concludes the 2nd arc. The 3rd arc is currently undergoing development and in time, the story will be put back up. But right now, this story will be on hiatus for awhile. Don't worry though. When this story comes back up, it will be bigger and scarier than ever before. Thank you all for your time. Let me know about your thoughts in the comment section below and I'll see you on the other side.