"Are you sure that your okay?" Nightmare asked, just as her group boarded the train and noted that Crimson seemed to be a tad bit slower than before he had wandered off with Princess Rhythm.

"I'm...fine..." Crimson coughed, wondering how long the effects of destroying that infernal pool would last, "We should have weakened Darkstar, so now we should focus on bringing our full power to bare against Shadowlot. We cannot allow her to activate that gateway."

Truth was that he was basically carrying the power of the Pool of Darkness with him, captured in the necklace that he was currently wearing and had told nopony about. It was a dangerous artifact, one that his counterpart had taken into his vault and locked away until it was truly needed, that mimicked one of the most destructive and dangerous villains in all of Equestria. Tirek's magic was something that he never expected that he'd have to shoulder someday, but it was a necessary evil if he wanted to defeat Darkstar and save all of creation. He couldn't bring himself to tell the others about the necklace, just in the off chance that one of them had heard of it and wanted it for themselves.

"We've got several trains that departed ahead of us," Princess Rhythm said, being the last to board with her husband and personal guard in tow, "so they'll arrive outside Shadowlot before we will, but they are under orders not to attack until we arrive and give them the signal to being the assault. Princess Nightmare, what will the Lunar Guard be doing before the assault happens?"

"I have given them orders to station themselves near the main gates," Nightmare replied, polishing her helmet while she did so, "so all of my sister's guards should be around the palace, taking their breaks until their next shift comes up. This way we'll be able to get at least halfway through the city before they even realize that the city is under attack, giving us the opportunity to sneak up on the palace. My guard is also under orders to try and not destroy the city when the fight breaks out, but knowing Darkstar's guard I'm sure there will be a few broken buildings when this is done."

"Good, we're making progress," Princess Rhythm said, turning to face Queen Meta, "How about the remainder of the Changeling army? What will they be doing?"

"They are approaching the city as we speak," Queen Meta replied, glancing out at the window as the train began the journey towards their destination, "I have given them orders to wait among the Crystal Guard, so that way any of Darkstar's guards won't realize that we're gathering against them. As such they have cast an illusion spell on Order and Nova, making them appear as normal guards at the moment, and a magic containing spell, to shield their powers so Darkstar doesn't feel them before we arrive."

"And the Elements of Chaos?" Rhythm continued, turning towards Midnight and her friends.

"All six of us are in attendance," Midnight replied, setting down the scroll she had been reading, "I have sent word to the Mayor to move all of our soldiers and mages into the army as well, so that way we'll have some extra fire power for when things get heated. According to the response I got it seems that there is a Shadow asking around for Crimson, but when the Mayor asked the name of who would be searching for him this time all she got back was 'Thorn'."

"She's looking for me?" Crimson asked, surprised that it had taken the resourceful Shadow so long to get word to him, "Tell her to meet up with us, I need to have her inform my mother, aunt, and cousin of the dangers that are about to happen. If we fail to stop Darkstar from opening that gate then there needs to be somepony on the other side that can intercept her, stalling her so we have enough time to break the gate completely."

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When they arrived outside Shadowlot Crimson was expecting to see between two hundred to three hundred guards waiting for their Princesses commands, but then he got a pleasant surprise. There were at least five hundred guards standing before them, combined between just the Changelings and the Crystal Guard, and he assumed there were at least a hundred waiting inside thanks to Nightmare. He could even see the mages and soldiers that came from Midnight's Ponyville, which meant that everything was slowly falling into place for the invasion to happen.

As he walked out of the train he was greeted by a strange sight, a black dragon, twice the size of Spike in his home world, approached the group and stopped them. As the Shadow approached them Crimson noticed that she carried a whip that was rolled up around her left arm, parts of them having spikes attached to it.

"Crimson, it is good to see you again," the Shadow dragon said, a smile appearing on her face, "I was told that you had something for me to deliver to Nightfury and our mother."

"Yes, I'd like for you to take this to my mother," Crimson said, pulling out the scroll he had spent the majority of the train ride writing, "Inside is a detailed description on what's going to happen if we fail to stop Darkstar, so she, my aunt, and Nightfury need to get as many allies together as they can to mirror our own. My mother needs to know what to do if Darkstar opens that gateway, so get to her as quickly as possible and make sure she reads that scroll."

"As you wish," Thorn replied, taking the scroll in one hand before saluting him, "I shall return when I am able."

Before any of them could make a reply Thorn shimmered and disappeared, though Crimson knew that she would be heading towards the pony that served as her host in the main Equestria. He had spoken the truth to those around him, if they failed than they would need the powers of his own world to make sure Darkstar failed in her quest. There was only one way forward, and that happened to be going through with the war that he had painstakingly planned before gathering his allies together.

"Okay, we've gathered here under your wishes," Princess Rhythm commented, two ponies shimmering as Order's and Nova's disguises faded away, "Now tell us what you have in mind for this assault."

"Very well," Crimson said, pulling out a large scroll that held the map of Shadowlot, "We'll need to launch a pincer attack from the main two gates, effectively splitting our forces in two at the moment. These forces will need to take care of any lone guards that aren't on our side don't raise the alarm and alert Darkstar. Order will take the secondary gate, so Darkstar doesn't notice him among a sea of guards by accident, while Queen Meta follows along with half of her army. Nova, Rhythm, and Nightmare will take the front door, leading a frontal assault that will eventually allow them to meet us with the others in front of the palace, hopefully gaining the attention of our enemy's forces.

While your all doing that Midnight and I will take the hidden tunnel into the palace, effectively making sure that we can sneak up on Darkstar and hopefully get a shot at her before she realizes what's happening. The rest of the Elements of Chaos are free to join the other two halves of the army, taking the fight to the enemy, and will join us the moment you break through the palace gates. The reason I need Midnight with me is that she has a vast amount of arcane knowledge that will come in handy in delaying or even destroying the gateway before its activated."

"We have our orders," Nova commented, his eyes landing on the sole tower of the city, "Darkstar wont wait forever to activate the gateway, so the moment she notices us she'll power it up and start the countdown towards the end of everything."

Crimson nodded and let his allies go to their designated locations, effectively splitting the army in half as they moved around to the second entrance. As they did so Crimson and Midnight made their way back to the hidden tracks that Nightmare had shown them thanks to the train she had allowed them to use earlier. It was a wonder that Darkstar didn't know about the tracks, but it was that bit of wonder that would allow them to get close enough to surprise their foe before she realized what was happening.

As they traced their steps back into the palace they kept their ears open, waiting for the sound of battle to start so they could make their way to Darkstar's lair. Before they even got near the palace passages they heard a guard run right passed the opening they were approaching, shouting something about an assault. Crimson had to grin for a moment, the plan was underway and it was a matter of time until Darkstar knew they were coming for her.

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Darkstar stared out at Shadowlot, watching the large force of Shadows separate into two sections and present themselves before the two entrances to her city. As they did so she felt the familiar power of Order and Nova, two enemies she knew that she had slain a long time ago, and that told her that her sister, who was the only other one who had the spell to open her vault, had betrayed her as well. The Crystal Guard basically told her that Princess Rhythm and her husband were against her as well, though she noted that Queen Meta, whose magic she would never forget the touch of, was out there as well.

Her enemies had come to fight her once more, but that hardly mattered as her masterpiece, the gateway that would allow her to traverse the worlds without having to wait on her minions to open the way for her, was finally completed. Her sister thought that the gateway was far from complete and would be coming to destroy it, but she had caught the spies and threw the majority of them under her mind shatter spell, allowing her to use them without her sister realizing that she was being played. She made her sister believe that she had time to talk sense into her, but in reality she had the majority of the gate completed before hand and had recently completed it. Now all she had to do was activate it and she'd be able to completely destroy everything that Crimson Flare was fighting to protect.

Then she heard it, the sound of her guard realizing that there was a threat to the safety of their Princess and forming ranks to deal with the traitors that were coming their way. It would have brought a smile to her face, to know that they would be fighting a losing battle, but she cared not for her guards and the outcome of the fight. Her horn lit up and her magic connected to the gateway, awakening it from its slumber and allowing it to gather the magic it needed to open the way to her desired destination.

"Princess Darkstar!" a voice behind her shouted, causing her to turn her head and find her student standing behind her, "It looks like your sister has betrayed us and she has managed to recruit Princess Rhythm, my brother Gloomy Armor, and the Changeling Queen to her cause. It also looks like she's resurrected Order and Nova to fight at her side..."

"You can drop the act, Midnight," Darkstar replied, turning to face the city once more, "Come now, I know you and the Elements helped me put the gemstones into those pillars, but you couldn't have known that I placed a special spell on them all to prevent all but the one that they had been assigned to from releasing them. Yes, the Elements of Chaos were stolen, but thanks to my spell I knew that you and your friends stole them, shattering the barriers above Shadowlot. You, my faithful student, have betrayed me, as have my sister and everypony else that I have given even an ounce of power to, so allow me to ask one simple question.

Where is Crimson Flare?"

That was before a beam of magical energy burst out of the shadows behind Midnight and hit Darkstar square in the back, knocking her into the air and causing her to turn around and find Crimson standing there.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Crimson replied, charging up his horn while Midnight did the same, "We're here to stop you from opening that gateway and destroying everything in the process."

"Does it look like I care?!" Darkstar snapped, her magic hitting the tower beneath their hooves and breaking it into pieces, causing them to rain down on the palace, "I AM DARKSTAR, THE DEVOURER OF WORLDS! YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!"

Crimson and Midnight took to the skies as the tower crumpled, watching as a simple spell caused the entire structure to fall apart until there was nothing left. Crimson knew that Darkstar didn't care for the citizens of her world, but for her to rain destruction on them just made him want to stop her even more than before. At least that was the plan, but before either of them could draw closer to the insane alicorn Crimson noticed that there was something moving around the city, heading towards the sky above them. His eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at; it was the gateway that they had come to destroy, except that it was completely built.

Before either of them could make a move the middle of the gate began to spark, a swirl of magic appearing as the very air above them ignited and the sun and moon formed an eclipse.

"I shall bring total ruin to your world, Crimson Flare," Darkstar shouted, a smile appearing on her face at long last, "so despite all your attempts to stop me I have out maneuvered you. I, and I alone, have beaten the great Knight-Commander of the Prime Equestria. Now you will watch as your world is consumed by the Darkness."

Just as Crimson prepared a spell Darkstar flew towards the gateway's center and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving her world behind and beginning the countdown to the end of everything. Crimson grunted and flew after her, slamming into the magic of the gateway and passing through it, appearing in a black area with only two openings. He noticed Darkstar flying ahead of him, unaware that he was even following her, and followed along, hoping that he could catch her before she realized that he was there. He just hoped that he could stop her before the gateway's magic could do any real damage to his world and the rest of the worlds.

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Celestia, having received her son's message, something she was glad to have as it told her that Crimson was alive and well, had spent what little time he had given her to gather some guards together. She had sent a few letters out, hoping to get the villains that Twilight and her friends had defeated together to defeat this threat that her son mentioned. Her work was interrupted as she noticed something strange, the moon was rising up to meet the sun until the two of them created an eclipse in the middle of the sky. Before she could get off the throne and question her sister she noticed a large ring suddenly appear in the sky, sitting directly over Canterlot and her precious ponies.

As an eerie darkness seeped out of the large ring she knew one thing, the threat that Crimson had warned her about was coming their way and that it was bringing destruction with it.