The sun rose again to another dismal day within the Crystal Empire. It had been three weeks since Princess Cadence had disappeared, and a general feeling of fear permeated the air. The Germaneans were coming. They were sure of it. The Germaneans were coming. Despite the trepidations of the people, the Crystal Ponies prepared for war. It was the first time in centuries they had undergone such preparations. Not even the return of King Sombra had warranted such a response.

Crystal fortifications sprang from the ground. Crystal Ponies took cover behind these fortifications, confident in their ability to fight. Their magic was charged with energy born from the determination of an exiled people. They would fight. In the distance, the rumble of artillery sounded. Explosive munitions began to detonate on the streets. The buildings, reinforced with magically imbued crystal, held.

Screeching shells fell overhead, causing the defenders to flinch at the sharp noise. Sporadic machinegun fire began in the distance. Flashes of light came over the mountain. The earth rumbled as the Germaneans met the first lines of defense. They were not expected to hold. They simply had to buy the warriors time to prepare.

Red flares hovered over the mountains, signals for the impending battle. Screams were heard in the distance as the outlying defenses were annihilated. The ponies manning them were torn asunder by concentrated fire from multiple angles. Tigers and Panzer IVs rolled over the desecrated ground. The snow was dyed red with the blood of the defenders, and opened wounds steamed in the cold. The battle had begun.

Transcendent Love stared out from his bunker in slow apprehension at what was to come. In the distance, he saw the grey forms of Germanean Panzers closing in. Behind them marched legions of Germanean troops. Overhead, Transcendent heard the screeching of bombs as the pegasi units began their assault. Ruby red beams of magical energy speared out from the defenses. Transcendent focused on a nearby pegasi bomber. He pushed. He felt a gratifying punch from his horn as he released a blast of energy. The pegasi screamed as its innards were opened up by the energy. It fell slowly to the ground, its innards looping around its legs.

Transcendent and his comrades began to take aim in ranks as the Panzers closed in. They fired as one, beams of magic punching through the tanks’ hulls with ease. Dozens of tanks stopped before promptly exploding, their ammunition cooking off in bursts of heat. The tank crews screamed as they were incinerated in their own vehicles. Some of the crews escaped from their burning vehicles, only to have limbs punched off by indiscriminate fire from the Crystal Lines.

Whole groups of infantry were vaporized as they were struck by beams of super-heated energy. The Germanean infantry returned fire, rifle and sub-machinegun fire pounding mercilessly into the crystal defenses. The bullets ricocheted off without causing any damage. Transcendent fired and fired again. He saw one of his targets lose its head in welter of blood and gore that sent its body spiralling to the ground. Another lost both its legs as they were blown into the distance far behind. It tried to crawl away, only to be dispatched by another beam of energy. Blood soaked into the grass, turning the soil a muddy, crimson mess. Corpses littered the ground, and the pungent scent of blood and death wafted in the air.

The Germaneans began to retreat. This wasn’t a poorly coordinated rout. The infantry began to back away slowly, providing covering fire against their pursuers. The tanks still offered them mobile cover as they began to reverse back towards the Germanean positions. Several tanks continued to poor explosive rounds into the Crystal positions. The Crystal Ponies did not pursue, for fear of being annihilated by concentrated tank fire. They were content to simply hang back and fire upon targets of opportunity.

This pattern continued for several days, as the Germaneans unsuccessfully attempted to assault the Empire. Flares were fired into the air late at night, and the battle raged without respite. The cacophony never stopped, and the Crystal Ponies found themselves hard-pressed not to fall in exhaustion. But they held, and they would not let go. Conventional Germanean tactics were insufficient against such dogged opposition, and the Fuhrer decided to test the new super-heavy tanks, the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus.

The ground trembled as twelve of the mobile fortresses approached the Empire’s perimeter. The tanks bristled with weaponry. Each had a hundred and fifty millimetre cannon fixed to its turret, and it bristled with machine guns. The Crystal Ponies fired upon the tanks. However, the spells that had been so effective for so long simply bounced off the armor of the Maus tanks. The tanks responded in kind. The earth shook as they returned fire, and it seemed to many that the heavens were falling. The crystal defenses were shattered by the sheer force of the cannons, which far exceeded those of the seven-point-seven centimetre artillery pieces. The Crystal Ponies suddenly found themselves dangerously exposed. Heavy fire sprayed from the close in defense machine guns, and the Crystal Ponies were hosed down by merciless fire, their blood painting the crystals with chaotic shapes.

The tanks continued, crushing all that came in their way under one hundred and seventy-five ton hulls. The tanks were larger than some of the houses that the empire possessed. Machinegun fire stitched itself randomly across the streets, and houses were demolished with ease as the Mauses simply rolled through them. Behind the Mauses advanced smaller tanks, and finally the infantry. The infantry began to lock down the city, destroying remaining pockets of resistance, while the Panzer IVs remained on standby for support.

The last major source of resistance was the Crystal Citadel. It soared into the air dwarfing all around it. Fully three hundred and fifty-five stories tall, it was truly a wonder of the Equine world. Fire blazed from the windows as the Crystal Ponies fired upon Germanean forces. To wage a floor to floor battle for the citadel would be costly and time consuming, reasoned the Germanean General. The twelve Mauses began to bombard the sides of the citadel with their elephantine cannons. Fire blazed from the citadel as the shells punched through the outer surface and detonated dramatically. After mere minutes of shelling, the citadel collapsed. The supports gave out. The collapse was almost in slow motion, as the tower leaned to one side, and keeled over like dying man. It hit the ground with a titanic crash, its demise causing earthquakes for hundreds of miles around. The tower was firmly buried in the earth, the force of its impact driving it halfway into the ground. With the tower demise, the crystal heart was shattered. It was over, the Crystal Empire was crushed.

On September 23, 1257, the Crystal Empire fell. This defeat caused the further demoralization of the Equestrian forces, and the death of joy as a cosmic power upon the planet. One of the last sources of Equestrian power had fallen, and the situation became truly hopeless for the Equestrians. They pushed on and continued resisting in futile defiance.

Author's Note

Thanks to Nuggetmanu2 for proofreading and ideas. Thanks to the readers of support and suggestions. Please feel free to comment!