In the throne room, the Generals thought in what Spike had asked about what Scale would do now that the three other Generals and Twilight were within the Light Kingdom.
"I think Scale will try to strengthen his power to have the strength to face us" Golden Paladin said. "He knows that I, Heartbeat and Mirror Coat are more powerful than Melody, Leaf Mane and Purple Smoke."
"But how will he do that?" Twilight asked.
"Probably it will absorb more lights" Blue Sword suggested.
"Probably" Golden Paladin said. "But I don't know."
"You know I don't usually say this, but I have a bad feeling about everything" Mirror Coat said. "From what we know, Scale can be up to something big right now."
Something out there caught Heartbeat’s attention and she went to the nearest window and, when she looked to the sky, she was in suspense.
"I think I know how he's going to collect more power" Heartbeat said to the others.
"How?" everypony asked in unison, turning to her.
"The answer is in the sky" she said, pointing.
Everypony went to the window and they became as amazed as Heartbeat became.
"Holy Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
The truth was that the sky was virtually split in two, where one side was day and the other was night.
"The sky…" said Twilight. "What happened to the sky?"
"Of course" Mirror Coat said. "How could we forget that?"
"No…" Golden Paladin said, receding. "No. It can’t be."
"There's somethin’ ya're not tellin’ us?" Applejack asked.
"Apparently in a hurry to reunite all the Generals to protect the Light Kingdom and Princess Twilight, we forgot there are more special lights outside our borders" Mirror Coat said. "The star seeds of the alicorn princesses."
"Wait, does that mean what I think you mean?" Twilight asked, starting to feel heartbroken.
"Unfortunately, yes" Mirror Coat said. “Scale must have stolen Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s lights. Probably even Princess Ingrid’s."
That news left everypony shocked, but not more than Twilight.
"No…" she said. "It cannot be... Princess Celestia..."
"Take it easy, Twily" Blue said, putting her foreleg over his wife’s shoulder to comfort her.
"How can I calm down, Blue?" Twilight asked to her husband. "My teacher just had her light stolen by a crazy General. And it was not just hers. Luna’s too. And Ingrid’s."
"Hey, don't worry, Twilight, we're going to get their lights back, as well as the other Generals’" Rarity said.
"Yes, we just have to have positive thinking" Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, it works every time with me" Pinkie Pie said. "A positive thinking for day, followed by a big smile and a slice of chocolate cake it is all I need for my day run immensely well."
"Pinkie Pie is right" Rainbow Dash said. "And that is something that leaves me speechless. I'm sure we're going to kick this Scale’s ass and retrieve all the lights that he stole."
"Ah echo Rainbow Dash’s words" Applejack said. "We have tah have hope."
"Yeah, Twilight" Spike said. "Don't lose heart."
Twilight was touched by everyone’s desire to support her. A little smile appeared on her face and she said:
"Thank you, guys."
Golden Paladin approached Twilight and told her:
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I should have known that he was going behind the other alicorn princesses. After all, I am the General of Peace.”
“Golden Paladin, it's not your fault" Twilight told him. "I know you've been too concerned with the defence of the Light Kingdom. Besides, we are talking about one of your brothers."
"Yes, big bro" said Heartbeat. "I also didn't think that Scale could go behind the lights of the other alicorn princesses."
"I have to agree with Heartbeat" Mirror Coat said. "There's too much going on."
Golden Paladin, feeling better, smiled and said:
"Thank you."
It was then that Twilight realized something.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "If he captured Princess Celestia and the others’ lights, so he must go after Cadance and Gleaming."
"You're right, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "Then I will ensure that Scales do not get in the Crystal Empire."
"Wait, Goldy” Heartbeat said. "I'm faster. I can get there in the blink of an eye."
"No, I will" Mirror Coat said. "My defensive magic is the best among us. Furthermore, between the three of us, your lights are more powerful than mine and not risk further decrease of our defenses, if Scale can get my light."
"No, Mirror Coat..." Golden Paladin said.
"It's the most logical decision" Mirror Coat said. “Golden, you know that I follow always the logic. And it is telling me that I should go instead of any of you."
Golden Paladin hated to admit it, but Mirror Coat was right. They had to stop Scale to get more lights for his collection.
"Go get them, but bring them immediately to the Light Kingdom before Scale reaches the Crystal Empire" Golden Paladin said.
"I will be as fast as possible" he replied.
And, having said this, he created a portal and crossed it.
"Goldy..." Heartbeat said.
"I know" he said. "We must prepare ourselves for the worst."
"That means Mirror Coat won't get them, isn't it?" Twilight asked.
"The odds are against us, Princess” Golden Paladin replied. "But don't worry. It doesn’t matter what happens. We will defeat Scale and return all the lights that he stole."
Twilight sincerely hoped that Golden Paladin had just said would really happen.
In the Crystal Empire, everypony noticed and talked about the divided sky between day and night, even Shining and Cadance, who were on the balcony of the castle, were watching it. Gleaming Shield was also there, lying in her stroller.
"But what the hell is going on?" Shining asked. "How can it be day and night at the same time?"
"I don't know" Cadance said. "Shining, do you think something happened with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"
"Probably" Shining said. "But I'm not sure."
"But I have" a voice said to them.
They turned and saw Mirror Coat getting in the balcony.
"Mirror Coat" Cadance said. "I'm glad you're here. Can you tell us what's going on?"
"Unfortunately, this is the work of the last villain of the solitary of Tartarus, the villain that Golden Paladin defeated" Mirror Coat said. "And unfortunately this villain is a General of Order."
"A General of Order?" Cadance and Shining asked at the same time.
"But what do you mean?" Shining asked.
"It's a long story" Mirror Coat answered. "But now we don't have time for it. Princess Cadance, you and your daughter are in danger."
"What kind of danger?" Cadance asked.
"This rogue General intends to take over all the special lights of this world" Mirror Coat said. "Lights that only the Generals of Order and the alicorn princesses have."
"Wait, does that mean..." Cadance started.
"Yes, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as well Princess Ingrid, lost their lights to this brother of mine" Mirror Coat confirmed. "But it's not everything. He also stole Melody, Leaf Mane and Purple Smoke’s lights. He intends to take over the two existing special lights in the Crystal Empire before progressing to the Light Kingdom."
"He's going to have to go through me if he wants to steal the lights of my wife and my daughter" Shining said.
"I admire your heart, Your Highness, but this villain is extremely dangerous and powerful" Mirror Coat said. "You wouldn't hold him for more than two seconds. No, the only thing to do is go to the Light Kingdom. At this point, it is the safest place in this world."
Shining and Cadance exchanged a look and then waved to each other, agreeing with the opinion of each other.
"Very well, Mirror Coat, take us there."
"Yes, Princess" the General of Knowledge said.
But when he started to perform the spell, a voice asked:
"You're leaving so soon?"
They turned and saw Scale at the entrance of the the balcony. He said:
"I barely got here."
"Scale" Mirror Coat said.
"Mirror Coat, we meet again" Scale said to his brother. "But now I can assure you that you're not going to escape. Your tricks won't work against me a second time."
Mirror Coat couldn't believe it. He was so close to take Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Gleaming Shield to the Light Kingdom. Scale really knew how to appear in the most inopportune moments. But he couldn't escape now with them. Not when Scale could deny his magic. Mirror Coat had no other option. He had to face him and hope that he could escape.
"Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, grab your daughter and run" he said.
"What?!" Shining asked. "We can't leave you..."
"Yes, you can" Mirror Coat replied. "This is a family matter. Furthermore, I cannot allow that Scale get more power than what he already has. Go!"
Being unable to argue with Mirror Coat, the couple went to the exit of the balcony, with Shining taking Gleaming on his back. Mirror Coat stayed tuned, hoping that Scale did something to stop them from escaping, but it didn't happen.
"You let them go" he noted.
"Because what I need now is your light, little brother" Scale said. "I can take care of them later."
"I will not allow that" Mirror Coat said. "I will fight this craziness of yours."
"Will you?" Scale asked in a cynical tone. "Don't make me laugh, Mirror Coat. We both know that you can't beat me. The only one who did that was Golden, and he had help from you and the others."
"But that doesn't mean I can't try" Mirror Coat answered.
And, having said this, he fired a magic beam against Scale that was caught out of guard. But he was quick and he used his magic to block the attack.
"Not bad" he said. "Not bad at all. You've been practicing. But now let me show you how it's done."
He charged his horn with magic that adopted the color of Princess Ingrid’s magic aura. Scale was about to use her magic over ice.
As Mirror Coat predicted, Scale used Ingrid’s magic. Fortunately, Mirror Coat created a magical shield to protect himself.
"You can protect yourself as much as you want, Mirror Coat" Scale said, continuing attacking. "Your little shield won't protect you forever from my attack."
He was right. Mirror Coat could feel his defense starting to sag. He had to think towards something and fast. However, he couldn't think in anything. Scale knew his illusion powers and he was sure that he would be aware of any attempt to escape using any of his tricks.
It was then that Scale’s power, which was originally Ingrid’s, began freezing Mirror Coat’s shield until freeze it completely. After that, the shield simply broke up and, without his protection, Mirror Coat was struck by Scale’s attack who froze completely.
"Finally, I was able to get you, Mirror Coat" Scale said, catching his breath. "Now your light and your knowledge are mine."
The General of Balance approached Mirror Coat and charged his horn, ready to make his spell to absorb the General of Knowledge’s star seed’s light. The ice covering Mirror Coat broke and he moaned, while his star seed appeared. Scale also made his appear and he began to absorb the light from Mirror Coat. When it was over, Mirror Coat turned into black stone. After absorbing Mirror Coat’s light, Scale gave a groan, while a huge headache overwhelmed him. He smiled, as he felt all the knowledge of Mirror Coat and Mirrored. Scale giggled and then said:
"So this is what it feels like to have all the information running in the brain. It feels awesome."
After a few seconds, Scale recovered from the headache and then said:
"Let’s go then take the two small lights that I have left to get in this place."
And, having said this, advanced through the path Shining, Cadance and Gleaming Shield had taken.
After they escaped, Shining met some guards and then they conducted Cadance and Gleaming to the latter’s bedroom.
"You two come in here and take cover" Shining said to Cadance. "I and the guards will stay here to fight that crazy General."
"No, Shining, you can't" Cadance said. "The Generals of Order are too powerful for you. You can’t..."
"Don't worry, everything will be fine" Shining assured her. "Our only concern now is to keep our daughter safe."
Despite knowing that Shining couldn't defeat Scale, Cadance waved, because she knew he was right about protecting their daughter. And so she and Gleaming entered in the bedroom. After entering, Cadance put her daughter on her bed with bars.
"Mommy..." she said, showing a Gleaming with an air terrified.
Trying to reassure her daughter, Cadance smiled and said to her:
"Everything will be fine, my dear. Don't worry. Mom will be here with you."
It was then that they started to hear a huge commotion coming from the outsied, like the noise of weapons and groans. Cadance was sure it was Scale. He must have beaten Mirror Coat and now came after her and her daughter.
Suddenly, the room doors opened and Shining appeared, having been thrown from the outside and dropped a few hooves from the door.
"Shining!" Cadance exclaimed.
"Daddy!" Gleaming Shield shouted, crying.
Scale came into the room and said to Shining:
"Your attempt to catch me is really pathetic."
"I will show you who is pathetic" Shining mumbled, starting to get up.
He tried to attack Scale again, but the General released Ingrid’s magic and managed to freeze him.
"No!" Cadance exclaimed.
She tried to attack, but a root appeared suddenly on the floor and wrapped her like a snake wraps its prey. Gleaming Shield cried harder.
"Please, princess, don't complicate things" Scale said, starting to come in. "Someone can get quite hurt."
"Don't get close" Cadance said, fearing for his daughter. "Stay away!"
But Scale ignored it and continued to advance. Upon reaching the edge of Cadance, she prepared for the worst. But it was then that Scale turned to Gleaming Shield and charged his horn with magic. The star seed of the little alicorn appeared, shining with a color very similar to her mother’s.
"No, Gleaming!" shouted Cadance. "NO!"
Scale absorbed Gleaming’s light and she was petrified in black stone.
"NO!" Cadance shouted, terrorized by seeing her own child losing her light, turning then to Scale with anger in her eyes. "YOU MONSTER!"
"Monster?" Scale repeated. "Me? Please, Princess Cadance. I'm not a monster. I'm just somepony who wants to put this world in a perfect balance. However, for that to happen, sacrifices must be made."
He put his hoof under her chin and added:
"Sacrifices like you."
And, having said this, Cadance’s light was absorved, turning her into black stone statue after that. Scale could feel all the power he had acquired.
"Amazing" he said. "This is amazing. I can feel the control of this realm in me. This realm is almost completely dominated. I've only got four special lights. And these lights are in my old home... the Light Kingdom. It's time to claim them. Now that I have Mirror Coat’s light, I can easily enter into the Light Kingdom."
Scale, using the power of Mirror Coat, invoked one of the mirror portals and prepared to cross it, but, when he tried, he simply failed.
"But..." he said.
He extended a hoof and touched on the portal. He could feel a glass surface preventing him from crossing the portal. It was then that he realized what his brother had done.
"You set it up your defences to work independently in case your light be captured" Scale said, referring to Mirror Coat. "Impressive, Mirror Coat. You never cease to amaze me. But if you think a bell jar is going to stop me from getting what I want, you're quite mistaken. I have enough power to break all the defenses of the Light Kingdom. If I have to do things the old-fashioned way, so that's what I will do."
And, having said that, he teleported himself.
In the Light Kingdom, all light ponies had taken refuge in their respective homes. The threat of the seventh General had reached the entire Kingdom. The only ponies that were abroad were the Royal Guards, led by Blue Sword, which had their armor placed. They were behind the pawns that Golden Paladin had revived and enlarged. Golden Paladin and Heartbeat were in midair using their levitation spells, looking at the borders of the Light Kingdom.
A sense of unease invaded them. They know what it meant.
"It seems that Scale already captured most of the special lights of this world" Heartbeat said. "The only ones remaining now are here."
"It means that he's coming" Golden Paladin said, feeling then a presence approaching the barriers that protected the Light Kingdom, reformulating after that. "No, he’s already here."
And Golden Paladin was absolutely right. Right on the edge where the first barrier of the Light Kingdom began, Mirror Coat’s barrier, Scale appeared. He could see Golden Paladin and Heartbeat staring at him and, cynically, waved them with a smile. Then he said, charging his horn and starting to shout a magical beam against to Mirror Coat’s barrier. The barrier still hung in there for a while, but ended up with cracks and then broke.
“Scale broke Mirror Coat’s barrier" Golden Paladin said. "Heartbeat, I need you, Princess Twilight and Prince Star Knight to go to the Diamond Domain. Protect them religiously. "
"Understood," she said, moving away quickly.
Scale advanced towards Heartbeat’s protection and, with a little more effort used in Mirror Coat’s barried, he also managed to break it.
"You're making this too easy, little siblings" Scale said, while advancing to the last barrier, Golden Paladin’s. "You're disappointing me."
He reached Golden Paladin’s barrier and tried to destroy it. But, when he tried, the Magic ricocheted and was returned. With quick reflexes, Scale managed to block his own attack.
"I see" he said, with a smile. "Very well thought, Golden. But it is not enough to stop me. Not when I have all this power."
And, having said this, he returned to launch a new attack that was returned when ricocheted in Golden barrier Paladin. However, instead of blocking it, Scale used Mirror Coat’s magic to reflect back the attack. The attack started being ricocheted between Golden Paladin’s barrier and Scale’s defense for some time, but eventually the Golden Paladin weakened and was eventually destroyed. Smiling, Scale advanced.
He reached the border of the Light Kingdom and then he encountered the army of white and red pawns. Golden Paladin landed in front of them and said to Scale:
"It's better to you to stop here, Scale" Golden Paladin said. "I'm not going to let you get in."
"You know, Golden, I'd ask you with what army you'd face me when you had said that to me, but I see you already have one" Scale said, without undoing his smile.
"You still can rethink on this, Scale” Golden Paladin said. "Please give up this sick idea to absorb special lights and return what you stole."
"I didn't steal anything, Golden" Scale replied. "I just took what should be mine. This world is completely unbalanced. The work to place this world again in perfect balance it once was is just mine and, for that, I will have to collect all the special powers that I can."
"Then you leave me no choice" Golden Paladin said. "We must fight."
"I didn't expect anything else" Scale replied. "Come on. Let's see what the great General of Peace can do."
And the two generals looked at each other intensely, preparing to face each other.