I arrived in the Crystal Empire at the break of dawn. I glanced through the window of my VIP car and saw a massive tower of solid crystal. I knew this to be the Palace of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of Love. I also knew that she was married to the brother of Twilight Sparkle, that there was a secret entrance through the underground tunnel system, and that the guard on the 23:00 hour shift likes horn-sucking. I giggled at the memories, but I was shaken back into reality as the train made a sudden jolt as it stopped. I snorted rather un-lady like as I almost was sent out of my seat from the breaks. A conductor stuck his head into my car with an apologetic look on his face. He was a brown stallion with a dark brown mane, and chops too.

“I’m sorry ’mam. There appears to be something going on. Something about the guard. Is everything alright?” I nodded, but his comment about the guard peaked my interest.

“What about the guard? What’s going on?” The conductor shrugged.

“I’m not sure. The whole city is bustling. I’ve never seen anything like it. Well, except that one time in Canterlot, but that was with Changelings. They couldn’t be attacking again, could they?” I stood up, immediately knowing the meaning of this.

“Nonsense. The only changeling hive this far North is at peace with the empire. I have personally met the queen, and she is not fool enough to invade like Chrysalis. Step aside, I need to get outside.” The conductor looked puzzled now, slightly put off at my shift in temperament.

“’Mam, I’m sorry but-” I silenced him with a lighting-fast strike to the neck. He collapsed to the ground, immediately unconscious.

“I was not asking.” Looking up, my horn flashed and my armour re-appeared. “Why in the hell is Red Wing here now? He’s mad.” I dash through the cabin of murmuring ponies before prying open the doors with my magic. Outside, I immediately found two spears in my face. Two Crystal Guards were outside the train, obviously trying to keep passengers like me on board.

“’Mam! We need you to get back on board. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will use force if you force us to!” I shake my head as I roll my eyes in my helmet.

“I am the ex-Reaver Captain of the Sanguine Throne Honour Guard. I am here to retrieve a friend from the city. Get out of my way before I have to use force.” The two stallions stood their ground. I snorted again.

“I don’t have time for this!” my horn flashed, sending the two guards into the wall behind them with two well-placed concussion blasts. They would wake up later.
I took off past them, into the city as civilians flooded off the train behind me. I was looking for a store on Gold Tile Rd., a place owned by one of my dozens of friends from my old days, before I found Red Storm again. Unlike the others, not only did I still visit him regularly, but he wasn’t even a pony. His name was Cuddio, and he was a changeling, mute to boot. Last time I had seen him, he was running a perfume shop where ponies could pay him in love or bits.

The best part though, was that he was a trained drone. He originated from the Chrysalis hive, but after the intervention of the Princess and Prince, the hive was shattered. Many of the changelings died instantly after being severed from their queen, but some like Cuddio managed to pull through the psionic feedback and started to wander. He’s a hardened veteran and great in bed. However, his changeling advanced veiling techniques would be an excellent addition to my makeshift league. However, I had to find him before Red Wing’s troops did.

On that note, I quickly teleported to the top of a nearby building to better assess the situation. I could see Crystal Guards dashing about, herding ponies towards the city’s center and into the Crystal Palace. It was obviously the most defendable position, but even with that in mind, I couldn’t help but estimate the casualties of the battle to come. They weren’t prepared for this. We were herding troops at Ponyville, but we never stopped to consider that Red Wing would actually attack here.

I looked towards the horizon line, trying to find out where the enemy was coming from. It was still early, with the sun hanging just below the clouds, but bright enough to distract anypony looking in that direction. There, I saw something that genuinely frightened me.

A massive horde of at least 10,000 troops strong was headed in our direction. But it wasn’t the number of soldiers that scared me. It was the colour of their armour. Jet black. Every single one of them. But none the darker than the lone unicorn leading the army, seemingly a black void amongst the light snow of the area. I knew this unicorn to be none other than Scarlet Glimmer, mother of Red Storm. But deep down, I knew it also was not the friendly mare I knew.

The Black Horse walked the earth, and Famine was brought with her at her heels.

I teleported back off the building and started off a mad dash to the market district. Dozens of abandoned stalls littered the streets, but already I could smell the rot. As I looked around, all the food in the district was spoiled and rotted, as if it had all been left out for weeks. The bitter smell forced me to wrinkle my nose but I pushed on towards my destination. I bounded over a cart as sirens started to blare, alerting the city of the impending attack. I couldn’t help but wonder why it only started now, but now all hell broke loose.

All who were still in their homes started running out, tripping over each other to make it to the center of the city while Guards pushed the other way to defend the borders. I glanced up just in time to see a massive force field fly open over the entire Empire, its source coming from the topmost spire of the Palace. It glimmered several hues of purple and pink, but I paid this little attention as I pushed through the crazed mobs. I just happened to be moving across everypony. And I couldn’t teleport here again without risking taking some ponies with me, not to mention teleportation is draining as it is. So I continued shoving my way through until I arrived at the shop. It was named “Changing Fragrance,” a bit tacky in my opinion, but I had bigger problems than stupid shop names.

I blew the door off its hinges with a powerful blast of magic and leaped inside. I quickly found that it was horribly unnecessary as there at the counter, was Cuddio. He was a rather tall changeling drone, and with unusual purple eyes. He certainly stood out from the average drone. He also stood looking rather annoyed, but looked like he was waiting for me. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was safe and trotted closer, opening my helmet.

“Cuddio! I’m almost surprised that you’re still here! Though I’m happy you’re alright.” He rolled his eyes at me, and motioned at the shattered door bits at my hooves.

“Right… sorry… I’ll pay for that later if your whole shop doesn’t get burned down. But first, we need to leave.” Cuddio raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t play dumb, hon. Red Wing’s army is here. And it’s being lead by his wife. No… not even. It’s being lead by the Black Horse.” Now, both eyes were wide in shock. His mouth hung agape. He gestured around his shop, as if to ask ‘what about my home?’

“You can build a new one if they destroy this one. Hell, I’ll pay for a new one. But we need to go. Now.” Cuddio looked rather saddened at this, but nodded. He quickly gestured that he needed time to prepare. I nodded back, and he ran upstairs. I heard explosions in the distance, so I took a peak outside through one of the windows.
High above the city was Scarlet Glimmer, blasting the protective shield with magical blasts so powerful it was light watching small suns fall into the transparent shield. I had to look away, or risk blindness. The explosions continued, and I was almost certain I heard a loud ‘crack’ echo across the city. I was certain it was the shield, but I dared not prove myself right and look.

Cuddio was back downstairs in a flash, clad in a suit of armour I had got for him during our time together as both colleagues and lovers.

“Aww… hon, you kept it!” Cuddio smiled and nodded. I planted a quick kiss on his muzzle, sharing the smile. Another explosion shook me back, this one being noticeably larger than the rest. Cuddio noticed too, and nodded towards the doorway. When we ran out into the streets, we found two things different now. One, the streets were deserted. The sirens were still wailing, but with no pony left to hear them. And second, the sky way red. I couldn’t tell earlier, but now that I wasn’t looking near the barrage of hellfire I could clearly see that the sky was thundering and an angry red, as if oblivion itself had poured over into our world. Cuddio tapped me on the shoulder, and looking over to him, I could tell we had the same thing on our mind. How were we going to get out of here?

“No idea, hon. I wasn’t expecting this. Worst case scenario, we fight our way out.” The changeling rolled his eyes in the ‘well, unless you consider’ fashion. I bopped him on the nose.

“Hey! We are not dying here. I left the stove on. Maybe if we can somehow steal the train, we can get out of here. If not, we might have to run.” We continued onwards towards the train station, all the while the constant thumping and sirens continued. We quickly arrived at the station, but found that our trip was for naught. While the train was intact, the rails were in ruins. A giant crater where the tracks should have been sat ten meters wide, smoking and obviously made by the Black Horse.

“Damnit! What the hell, Glimmer? Can you not give us a break?” I turn back to Cuddio, my brow furrowed with frustration. “This is seriously bad. If we had the train, we could get back to Ponyville within a day if we forced the engine. But now, there’s nothing we can do. You’d have to be some miracle light-bringer to lift a train across that gap with telekinesis. I may have a talent in magic, but not that kind. And last time I checked, changelings can’t do anything with their magic. No offense.” He shrugged, accepting the truth to that. I sighed, plopping down onto the ground.

“I guess we need to head to the Palace and see if the Princess can help us out here. Otherwise, we might as well be fu-” I am surprised and interrupted by a massive explosion and what sounded like the shattering of glass. We both looked up just in time to see the gigantic shield begin to crumble and collapse as the Black Horse hovered above us all, her eyes shining brightly, even from here. The sirens immediately stopped and were replaced with the cheering of 10,000 troops. A shiver ran down my spine as I jumped up and grabbed Cuddio. With a flash of my horn, we were at the Palace. However, such a jump left me a bit winded, and my head was swimming. The courtyard where the Crystal Heart was kept was empty, save for the Crystal itself. Now however, the Crystal had a large crack running through its center. The sight terrified me. I have never feared more for my life than I did right at this moment.

“Cuddio! Follow me! We need to get inside!” We made a mad dash for the barred doors, and started banging on them as hard as we could.

“Let us in! We need aid! We need to get back to Ponyville! To the New Sanguine Army! Red Storm needs to know about this!” suddenly, the doors flew open, and we fell to the feet of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, flocked by guards. The Guards quickly closed and re-barred the doors before returning to their posts. The Princess looked down at me, her eyes were filled with pain and her body was ragged, but she still bore a faint smile.

“Whitewash. Good to see you again.” I grinned though my helmet before picking myself up again. Cuddio was already on his hooves, bowing. The Princess waved a hoof, and he returned to his normal posture.

“What are you doing here?” Cadance asked.

“I came here looking for my friend. He… doesn’t talk much. And by that, I mean at all… He’s mute.” The pair nodded in acknowledgement.

“Interesting. Is he of importance to repelling Red Wing from Equestria?” Shining Armor looked as worn as his wife. Apparently they were holding up the force field together. It’s amazing what the magic of Love can achieve in appropriate amounts.

“Yes, he is. I’m gathering up a band of colleagues of mine to re-form the Reavers, essentially. But I’m thinking of calling them Redeemers instead. We will see.” Another thunderous shake and many screams alerted us to the matter at hand.

“But none of that matters if we cannot escape. We need passage to Ponyville, in any way possible.” The pair looked to each other, and nodded.

“We can send to you Ponyville with an Advanced Teleportation Circle spell… however, if we do… We will be completely drained. And we will only be able to send you two.” Cadance lost her shimmer at these last few words. She knew that sending us would surely doom her and her citizens, but at the cost of aiding in Equestria’s survival. Shining Armor stepped forward, saying;

“We know the risks and consequences. Our army was wiped out in minutes by that… thing outside. I’m honestly surprised that the Palace’s ancient magic has held for this long. We have minutes more… at the most.” He looked back at his wife, tears forming. “I am well aware that performing this spell will leave our citizens defenseless. But they knew this was coming. We will address the people after this, but they are familiar with loss and suffering. I’m sure that they would be glad that this time, it would be for good reason.” He then turned towards the nearest guards.

“You! Bring me my armor and spear! We must hold this position and keep the civilians safe for as long as possible. My wife and I must give a farewell speech to the Empire…” At that, the two guards ran off, and the rest took up positions at the rally point. The two left to address their Empire, or rather, what was left of it, as a guard escorted us to a ritual chamber where the spell would be done. We waited there for the Princess’ and Prince’s return. After what seemed like hours of thrashing on the walls and echoing booms, the pair returned again.

“This is it. The ponies of the Crystal Empire are ready. In fact, they are rallied to fight for this cause. Many of the ponies have taken up improvised weapons to hold the gate for the duration of the spell. For whatever good that will do…” The prince looked to the floor, but his wife brought a hoof to his shoulder, continuing for him;

“We shall begin immediately. Stand in the middle of the room, and hold still. It will take me several minutes to target the spell, and then Shining Armor and I must pool our magic to send you off. I can only hope it will be worth it.” The room fell silent as Cadance concentrated. Her horn began to spark as a large rune formed on the floor below us, glowing brightly. Cadance began to whisper something under her breath as her eyes lit up. Her legs were shaking as she forced what little magic she had into this spell. Outside, there was a deafening explosion and screams, followed by more explosions. Shining Armor stood up, looking behind them.

“Damnit! We don’t have enough time! I… I need to help. I’m the strongest unicorn here. Even now…” I could do nothing but watch as he lifted up his spear and ran through the doors. I caught a glimpse of dozens of black-armoured stallions were slaughtering the Crystal Ponies. I didn’t see the Black Horse, but I knew she was moments behind. Shining Armor was right. There was no time. I then knew what had to be done. I broke from the circle and stood next to Cadance, pouring my magic into her. Cuddio looked at me, horrified.

“Don’t even think about moving! I need you to go to Red Storm and tell him what happened! And I need you to find the rest of my contacts! I tossed him my saddlebag, and he caught it on his back. Sorrow filled his eyes as lighting started to crackle from the rune, signifying its readiness.
“And don’t forget. Turn off the stove for me.” After the words passed my lips, he was gone in a flash, and without a trace. Cadance collapsed at my hooves just in time for the doors behind us to blow open, sending splinters in all directions.

Before me stood the Black Horse. A broken, bleeding Shining Armor floated above her head before being unceremoniously dropped to the floor beside his wife. Knights of Famine circled us, bearing terrible tools of death in their teeth. I looked around, and lowered myself into a battle position. The Black Horse sneered at me.

“You there. I remember you. You were my son’s personal guard, were you not? The Captain of the Reavers. We thought you dead… You know, you are always welcome back. You’d be a terrible loss to us otherwise. What say you?” I said nothing, and instead I slowly removed my helmet and let it hit the ground. I flicked my mane from my eyes as I spoke.

“My name… is Whitewash. I am a soldier in Red Storm’s New Sanguine Army, first Company. Now tell me…” I straightened my back as my horn flared up, “…Who wants to be first?”

Author's Notes:

Welp. I guess I'm officially back. Maybe. I'm finally writing again. Like, whole chapters and such. Meaningful ones, too. I donno about this one, really. I like it more than the last at least. I suppose that's what matters in the end.
Also! Cuddio is the work of my buddy Drakalian! Go check him out!