Amante landed on the balcony of Viper's throne room and put her wings away. She trotted inside when she suddenly heard a thud behind her. She let out a gasp and turned around.
"Oh... Viper... It's you."
Viper folded her wings away and trotted towards Amante. She was followed by Deva.
"What happened?" asked Viper. "Did you stop them?"
"Um... Well... Nay, Mistress Viper."
"No?" asked the Demon. "You let them escape?!"
Amante let out a whimper. "Yes..."
"Please, tell me you at least caught the mare that corrupted my sister."
"Dash?" asked Amante. She slowly shook her head.
Viper glared at her as she trotted towards her. Amante began backing up.
"I ask you to do one thing, Amante. One thing. And you can't even do that."
"Please, Viper, I-I'll..."
"SHUT UP!!!" yelled Viper as she backed Amante into the wall. "You have failed and let our enemies reach the Crystal Empire. This is very bad news for us."
"Give thee one more chance." Amante begged. "Let me show thou that I can--"
"I SAID SHUT UP!!!" yelled Viper, slamming Amante into the wall and holding her there. Viper's eyes flashed red. "Time for your punishment."
Twilight burst into the throne room of the Crystal Castle.
"Twily!" yelled Shining Armor, running towards her. The two hugged each other. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Me, too, BBBFF." said Twilight with a smile.
The two broke the hug as Cadence trotted up to them.
"How's my little sister-in-law?" she asked.
Twilight hugged her, too. "It's been so long."
Cadence smiled. "We need to get together when Equestria isn't at stake."
"Yeah." said Twilight, breaking the hug and taking a step back. "But what are we going to do now? This is bigger than anything we've ever faced."
"It is." said Cadence, trotting out onto the balcony. She looked out at the fire and destruction. "The light of the Crystal Heart is the only thing keeping the darkness out. If that falls..."
"It won't." said Twilight. "My friends and I will make sure it stays protected."
"Then the duty is yours, sister." said Cadence, turning and heading back inside. "Protect the Heart... or the Crystal Empire will fall once again."
Twilight nodded. "I will... sister." she said, turning to leave.
"Oh, and... Twilight?" asked Cadence. The purple unicorn looked over her shoulder. "Be careful."
Twilight nodded. "I will."
Viper trotted away from Amante, who was lying injured on the floor against the wall. Deva ran up and knelt down next to her.
"You okay, sis?" she asked.
Amante let out a groan. Her eye was blackened and she had some pretty nasty cuts.
"Perhaps next time you'll think twice about failing me." said Viper, standing in the center of the room.
Amante weakly nodded.
"Was this really necessary?" asked Deva.
"You want to be punished as well?"
Just then Chrysalis flew in through the balcony door. "Am I interrupting?"
Viper turned to her. "No. What is it?"
"Just wanted to let you know that my Changelings have surrounded the Crystal Empire."
"Good." said Viper. "Now, commence the attack."
Chrysalis nodded. "Gladly."
Kyra trotted up to Twilight. "Hey... Have you seen Malice anywhere?"
Twilight turned from her friends. "Hey, Kyra. Um... Is she the little black foal?"
Kyra nodded. "Yeah, that's her. Red eyes..."
"Yeah, I... think I saw her over there somewhere," said the purple unicorn, pointing to Kyra's left.
Kyra looked in that direction and then back at Twilight. "Thanks."
She started to turn away when Twilight spoke up. "Kyra?"
The Demon stopped and turned back around. "Yeah, Twilight?"
"Thank you... for bringing me back."
"Oh, stop, Twilight. It was nothing."
"Yes, it was something. You brought me back from the dead. Dash told me what you two went through, and... that was a real show of character."
Kyra looked away, slightly embarrassed by the compliments... which she was not used to. "Well, I... saw how upset Dash was, and..."
Twilight smiled. "You like her, huh?"
Kyra blushed slightly. "I... I..." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "I do."
"Well, she's lucky to have somepony like you, K."
Kyra smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Thanks, Twi."
The unicorn smiled and nodded. "And good luck finding Malice. I'm pretty sure she's still there."
Kyra nodded and turned away, leaving the unicorn behind as she went off to find the little Demon foal. She soon found her laying on the ground, looking bored. Kyra trotted up to her and laid down next to her.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
Malice sniffled. "I just... I'm scared. I don't wanna die."
Kyra put a hoof around her and held her close. "You're not gonna die. You can't die."
"But... a Demon can be killed by another Demon as if they were mortals, right?"
Kyra sighed. "Yeah, but... I'm not gonna--"
"I don't mean you."
Kyra looked away. "You mean... my sister?"
Malice nodded, eyes closed. "Her and those other two. Can you stop them?"
"Viper's my sister, Malice. I can't just... kill her." She noticed Malice seemed really frightened. "But I promise to protect you no matter what happens."
Malice looked up at her and smiled. "Y-You mean it?"
Kyra nodded. "I do."
Malice sniffled. "Is it okay if... I call you... m-mommy?"
The Demon mare smiled. "Why just call me mommy?"
"You mean, you... you'll..." Malice stammered, unsure of what the mare was trying to say.
Kyra nodded. "Yes. I'll be your mother, Malice..."
The foal gasped and hugged the mare. "Oh, thank you, thank you."
Kyra hugged back as Dash came over. "What's goin' on here?"
"I have a daughter," said Kyra, looking up at Dash.
Dash sat down and ran her hoof through Malice's mane, smiling. "You'll make a great mother."
Kyra smiled at Dash before a loud, deep horn sounded throughout the Crystal Empire. The two mares looked at each other before getting up.
"What's going on?" asked Malice.
Kyra picked her up and placed her on her back. Wings shot out from her sides.
"Hang on tight," she ordered the foal.
Malice wrapped her forelegs around Kyra's neck. The Demon mare shot up into the sky and saw an army of Changelings approaching. She let out a gasp and looked down at all the panicking ponies. She suddenly spotted Twilight.
"TWILIGHT!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, using some power to carry her voice, causing it to echo.
The unicorn stopped running and looked around. She then looked up.
"KYRA?!" she yelled.
"THEY'RE CHANGELINGS!!!"
"WHAT?!"
"THEY'RE... CHANGELINGS!!!! A WHOLE ARMY!!!"
Twilight let out a gasp and began taking off to the guard tower. She zipped passed running crystal ponies and burst into the guard tower. She made her way up the stairs and into the room.
"Can you see them?" she asked.
The guards spun around.
"Twilight?" asked one of the guards. "What are you--"
"Nevermind that! Can you see them?!"
The guards spun around and looked through their telesopes.
"They're getting closer," said the guard on the left.
"Strange black creatures," said the other.
"They're Changelings," said Twilight. "They take on the form of a pony they've seen."
"Well, that's great," said one of the guards.
"Yeah," said Twilight. "I've dealt with them before."
She turned to leave when a guard spoke up. "How'd you beat them?"
"With something we don't have access to right now," said the unicorn as she left.
The two guards looked at each other, a little uneasy.
Twilight ran up to the castle as Shining Armor and Cadence ran out.
"Twily!" yelled the colt. "Did you see what it is?"
"Kyra did. It's Changelings."
"Changelings?" asked Cadence. "Not them again."
"Don't worry, sis," said Twilight. "Me and my friends will stop them."
"I'll make sure our soldiers are ready," said Shining Armor, heading back into the castle.
"Think you can make another shield?" asked Twilight.
"Shouldn't be a problem," said Cadence. "Changelings are nothing compared to King Sombra."
"Good. That'll buy us some time."
Cadence smiled. "You have the heart of a true leader, Twilight. Perhaps even that of a princess."
"Yeah, like that would ever happen," said Twilight with a smile.
She then took off to go find her firends. After about a minute, she found them be a shop stand.
"Girls!" she yelled.
They all looked at her.
"Twilight?" asked Applejack. "What's out there?"
"Changelings."
"Changelings?" asked Cherry. "I've heard that name before."
"They're shape-changers," said Twilight. "Don't let your guard down."
"Right," said Rarity.
Twilight took off to the border where Kyra was. "Come on, girls."
Kyra landed and held Malice close.
"Look... mommy," said Malice.
Kyra looked and saw an injured mare limping towards them. The Demon got up and ran over to her.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"
"There was so many of them..." she said weakly, collapsing.
Kyra caught her and gently laid her down. Twilight and the others came running over to them.
"Who's that?" asked Twilight.
"I dunno," Kyra responded. "She just stumbled in and collapsed."
"Rarity?" asked Twilight. "Can you and Fluttershy help her to the infirmary?"
The two mares nodded and helped the mare to her hooves. They then began helping her to the infirmary, when they suddenly stopped.
"Where's the infirmary?" asked Rarity.
"It's near the castle! Ask my sister!"
"Your sister?!" asked Rarity, confused.
Twilight groaned. "Cadence! Ask Cadence!"
"Ohhhhhh, right! Got it!" yelled Rarity, remembering.
The two mares began helping the mare to the castle. Twilight turned to the others.
"Get ready, girls," she said. "We got a fight ahead of us."