Shining cursed under his breath. "We can't just stay here," he said. "You were all right. We have to stop whatever Twilight is doing." One of the guards rolled her eyes in response. "But the most important question is: How do we get past the undead and that giant?"
The group continued to debate the solution while the green sun shined overhead, drowning the world in ghostly magics. Shining didn't know what he was going to do with his sister if he managed to catch her. Even the ponies in the Crystal Empire weren't likely to accept her after what she did today, whatever it was. Shining punched himself mentally after he realized that he had the hubris to think that he and Cadance could help her recover, but they didn't know the underlying issues Twilight had, and it blew up in everypony's face like a lit keg of gunpowder.
The group stepped out of the tunnel and made their way partially up the hill so they could get a better understanding of what they were up against. Shining knew the castle's defenses better than the crystal ponies, but even he didn't know if there were any secret entrances or not. The stallion wracked his brain in an attempt to try and better understand what they were up against and get a quick and clean solution to blow through the obstacle, but he couldn't think of anything. Even with their magic a measly eleven ponies wouldn't be able to go through hundreds more.
"I can't think of anything!" Shining said angrily through clenched teeth. "Anypony have an idea?"
The soldiers looked at each other, defeated. Many had suggested to go in, swords sharpened, but none of them had a solution behind that.
"What in tarnation's happenin' here?" a familiar voice called out. Shining's eyes widened in surprise, and he turned around to see Applejack glaring at the castle. "The dead's gone 'n taken Canterlot too?"
"Too?" Shining repeated. "It's happening where you are?"
"Darn tootin'!" the mare growled. She grabbed her stetson and shook it at the stallion. "Buncha weird wispy things been harassin' mah fields." Applejack put her hat back on and grunted. "A'course, fer some reason, got a whole heapin' 'a others gone smacked 'em 'round. Show 'em what fer. Reckon' they're mah ancestry 'r whatnot."
The guards's eyes wandered down to something shiny: An element of harmony.
"Wh-You're an Element of Harmony!"
"Sure am."
"And you're all that came?!" the stallion yelled in exasperation.
Applejack shook her head. "Nah. Ah came with mah friends." She tilted her head down, looking smug. "Who also happen ta be the other five elements, thank ya very much."
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie popped into view with big smiles on their faces.
"Huh? We're missin' one," Applejack said. "Where is she?"
Rarity groaned. "She doesn't want the crystal ponies to see her."
"She's still shy," Rainbow said with a smile and a shrug.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Fluttershah, if ya would?" The pegasus nodded and moved further down the hill. "Thought we got that outta her," the mare complained.
"You have to understand, darling," Rarity started. "Being in front of so many screaming ponies and a bunch of the living dead can push anypony past their comfort." The fashionista shivered. "Even if I'm also disgusted at seeing those rotting things."
"I can see them coming up," Shining said.
A pale yellow mare with an amaranthe mane and tail striped with two vertical stripes of gray-violet and faint purple popped up alongside Fluttershy. Her eyes were a deep purple and her cutie mark portrayed a crescent moon with a six-pointed star next to it. While the other ponies were wearing thick, golden necklaces depicting their cutiemarks in the middle, the newcomer's was a tiara with a blue moon and white star front and center.
"Moon Dancer," Shining said. "Glad you could join us."
The mare chuckled nervously and readjusted her glasses. "Sorry. I, uh...I don't do well with scary things."
"It's okay, Moon Dancer!" Pinkie said as encouragement. "Remember: Ya just gotta giggle at the ghosties!"
Rainbow crossed her forelegs and shook her head in disappointment. "I don't think that's going to work this time," she sighed.
The pink pony puffed up her cheeks at Rainbow and frowned. "Now don't be like that, you grumpy grump. Giggling at them always works."
"Can we please focus?!" one of the soldiers bellowed. "We sorta have a horrific situation happening here!" he added.
"Of course! The...The zombies," Moondancer said. Both she and Rarity shivered in disgust. She analyzed the situation and frowned. "Girls, I think we might have to use the elements early. We can't get through all of that just with us, even with the soldiers."
Fluttershy looked at her necklace and became concerned. "I know the table sent us all here, but do you think the elements will really help us get through all of that?" she asked.
Applejack rubbed her face with a hoof. "Gotta agree with Fluttershah, Moon. They've always been a bit capricious." She flicked hers with a hoof, frustrated.
"I know, but this is the fate of Equestria and the rest of the world now," Moon Dancer said. "We just gotta..." She exhaled and inhaled deeply multiple times. "Just gotta get through our fears and disgusts and find whomever is causing this."
Shining's head drooped and he had a look of guilt. "As it turns out...It's my sister."
"The one from the Crystal Empire?" Applejack exclaimed. "How'd she manage ta do somethin' like this?"
"Hey wait," Pinkie interrupted. "What're you doing outside of the empire?"
"Heeey, she's right," Rainbow realized as well. "Were you in cahoots with her? Sounds awfully convenient for the one causing all this to be part of your family."
"Rainbow," Rarity sighed. "Don't go accusing everypony just because you want to start a fight."
The pegasus raised her hooves up in protest. "I wasn't going to start a fight," she explained calmly. "I was just trying to understand what's happening here."
"As it so happens, we were tracking down my sister," Shining said. He looked to the castle and grimaced at the undead horde. "As it so happens, we weren't able to find her in time."
"Her hiding place was insanely well hidden," one of the soldiers added. "Anypony not determined to find her wouldn't, even if they went where she was hiding."
A stallion chuckled. "Yeah. We almost turned back until we accidentally found a really well-hidden path leading to her home." His chuckling turned to curiosity. "How did she find it, actually."
"Now's not the time for that!" Shining shouted. The soldier bounced in fear and stood to attention immediately. "Our only option is to trust in the Elements of Harmony. With some luck, they'll get through the horde and we'll be able to go wherever that giant doesn't want us."
Moon Dancer looked at her friends and stood tall. "Well, nothing more to do than at least try to get them away from the castle," the mare said hesitantly. "Let's...go," she said.
The group of ponies approached the partially melted wall separating them from the castle, and everyone looked at the Elements, their lungs still. The Elements themselves seemed hesitant to get closer, but with some motivation by Pinkie, managed to force their legs to move forward toward the undead horde waiting around inoffensively.
Moon Dancer took a deep breath. "Never thought we would be finding the undead," she said. "It's like a horror story."
"Yeah, a bad one," Rainbow said under her breath.
The six waited impatiently as they joined hooves for the Elements of Harmony to activate and clear a path, but initially, nothing happened. As they were about to stop and move away, their cutie marks started flashing, a clear sign that the Map of Harmony was intervening in the situation, prompting the Elements to activate. The six mares rose high in the air as their bodies filled with magic before reaching a crescendo and flooding the horde with rainbow-colored magic, vaporizing a large swath of them and flooding over the giant.
"They did it," one of the crystal ponies realized. "They did it!"
"No, they didn't! The big one is still there!" Shining interjected.
Moon Dancer looked on in shock and horror. "What?! But the elements have always cleared away bad things!"
"Maybe it doesn't see it as bad?" Rainbow panicked.
The monstrous undead raised its mace and let it drop toward the mares, crushing the ground they stood on as they dove out of the way. They were getting ready for a fight when Shining Armor jumped in, followed by five others, and jammed swords into the creature's arm and neck simultaneously. It didn't react to the damage inflicted to it and raised its arm, chasing the soldiers off.
"Get into the castle!" Shining ordered the six mares. "The light is getting stronger from the back, so she must be in the throne room!"
"Right," Moon Dancer said hesitantly. She readjusted her glasses and felt her friends put their hooves onto her back. She smiled as she looked at them all. "Right. Let's get in there as fast as we can."
While racing through the damaged and spirit-infested halls, Moon Dancer's mind raced. She didn't let it bother her because things were more pressing at the moment, but Twilight Sparkle had really become a horrific necromancer that was going to drown the world in the dead, breaking the barriers between living and unliving. A more pressing matter occupied every part of her brain, however. How did that giant undead resist the Elements of Harmony? The changeling queen couldn't when she tried to attack the very heart of ponies. Tirek couldn't absorb their magic, instead finding himself burned from the inside out. Even the Storm King, in his bid to take over Equestria and use the elements for his future conquests found himself turned into little more than a burnt matchstick.
Then, an epiphany. Even when the changelings gathered together they were swept away by the magic. That was always against individuals. Every use was against individuals. The mare became queasy. Did that mean that the giant was made of several different bodies stitched together and the elements didn't know how to affect it? How to judge it? Only Twilight would be able to stop it now.
"Hey look!" Pinkie said as they passed a window. "The sky broke!"
As the six approached the throne room, they ended up seeing multiple eyes peering through the cracks and felt their bodies clench in fear.
"We ain't got time fer tryin' ta push the doors open," Applejack shouted. "Rainbow 'n Ah'll slam inta them!"
"I don't think we'll need to do that!" Rainbow announced as the six mares approached the doorway.
The apple pony noticed Spike standing in the way and furrowed her brow. "You," she growled. "Don't worry everypony. That giant thing ain't gonna harm ya so long as ya don't do nothing' ta Twa! She's a purple unicorn. Hard ta miss."
They slid past the undead dragon that remained as stoic as always and nearly felt their hearts sink when they saw Princess Celestia, back as an undead staring into the abyss as her body was consumed by raging green fires. The mares thought that Twilight would be sitting triumphantly next to her crime against nature, but instead found her on the floor, hitting the sides of her head with her hooves.
"Everypony is always obsessed with using Princess Celestia as a scapegoat!" Twilight yelled erratically. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she shouted.
"Twilight!" Moon Dancer cried out. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew she had to do something to get her once 'friend' back to her senses. "Somepony pull her away from there!" the mare begged.
As none of the terrorized employees moved, the old counselor nodded. "With pleasure," he said.
The elder tackled Twilight but found he was too weak to fully hold the mare. His act of bravery inspired three other ponies to come to his aid and successfully hold the unicorn down.
"No! Let me go! Princess Celestia needs me!" She reached out to Celestia just to have her foreleg held down. "Princess! Be careful!" she cried out.
Seeing that the situation was too dire to waste time speaking, the six mares immediately joined hooves and found that the Elements of Harmony activated almost instantly. Twilight was powerless to stop them as she watched a white light surround them and a rainbow of colors emerge from their bodies to swirl about them.
The lavender unicorn couldn't think straight anymore. She had finally reached her goal after all these years, and it hadn't even been a day yet that she got to enjoy having her teacher back.
"No!" she cried out.
Her magic surged, launching the ponies holding her down away, but instead of spirits being summoned, Twilight teleported instantly in front of the princess and erected a barrier.
"D-don't worry, Princess," Twilight struggled to say. "I-I know that you're still drowsy. It hasn't been that long. I don't blame you for...for anything!" Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the rainbow magic cracking her barrier mere seconds after making contact. "No! Not after all that hard work! All that studying! All that research!"
It seemed to happen in the span of a second. Shining Armor rounded the corner, his body beaten and bruised, seeing his sister being attacked by the magic of the elements and crying out to her. Twilight herself feeling her spell fail and shatter helplessly as the Elements of Harmony made a beeline for Celestia.
Twilight jumping in front of the magic to take the full brunt of it for Celestia's sake, much to the horror of her brother and the six bearers.