Author's Note

THIS IS AN ALTERNATE VERSION OF THE STORY WITH A DIFFERENT ENDING, SENDING THE STORY DOWN A DIFFERENT PATH. SO SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE THE ORIGINAL ROUTE, ALTERNATES WILL BE MARKED AT THE TOP.

Chapter 12A: The Empire's Return (Alternate ending)

ALTERNATE ROUTE FOR THE STORY, CHANGE IS WITH THE ARGUMENT. SKIP THIS CHAPTER TO CONTINUE WITH THE ORIGINAL ROUTE.

Somewhere in the southern part of the Frozen North, far west of the city and just past Luna Bay

Arthas slows invincible to a trot as he hears a strange whistle in the distance, breaking the silence in the surrounding area and wonders what it is, and says, "I look forward to dealing with the last of those annoying umbrum pests."

Invincible continues on as he hears the whistle again a few seconds later and says, "Forgive me for saying this master, but do you think it would be wise to just move on and ignore what happened in the past?"

He looks around for the source of the sound, spotting faint light in the distance and watches it curiously saying, "THERE"S NO WAY I AM JUST GOING TO FORGET THEIR INSOLENCE AND REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO MY RULE, THEY ATTEMPTED TO USE THEIR SHADOW MAGIC TO ASSASSINATE ME AND MY FAMILY! FOR THAT, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM DESERVES TO DIE." He hears the whistle break the silence once again and says, "WHAT IS THAT ANNOYING AND INFERNAL NOISE, LET US INVESTIGATE IT IMMEDIATELY."

On the train to the Crystal Empire, 20 minutes later

Brann stares at Twilight in shock and shakes his head, then looks away saying, "You are crazy for having feelings towards that monster, he'd just as soon kill you and raise you into his service as an undead corpse than reveal a weakness to anyone."

She cocks her head and swivels her ears forward, focusing on what he is saying, and asks, "Why would having feelings for someone be a weakness? He danced with me, then we shared a kiss and he even tossed me a rose with a broken stem. Surely that must mean he likes me back."

The dwarf looks at her and lets out a sigh saying, "Because many others can use those feelings against you to get what they want, Azeroth is a harsh place where you need to fight to survive. I don't know anything personal about Arthas other than he was really strong and has terrifying powers at his disposal, your world would be a better place if he died lass." He then takes another drink from the bottle, returning the cork to it and tries to think of the adventure ahead to be had.

10 minutes later with Arthas, along the southern border of the Frozen North

Arthas has Invincible follow the large mining tracks and thinks, 'It seems they have found a way to transport things to other places by rail, how clever of them. Let's find out where this will lead us.'

He follows the tracks to the east for a while when he senses a dark malevolence in the wind and makes his steed go into a full gallop saying, "Something comes Invincible, let us ride forth and find out what it is!"

A short distance away from the station, with Twilight and the others

Shining Armor leads the girls towards the Crystal Empire and angles his head into the blowing wind and snow saying, "I'm not sure what, but something keeps trying to get into the city. We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place." nervously looking around him for any signs of danger and turns his head to watch where they are going.

Twilight follows her brother through the wind and snow, feeling a little worried about this mission and says, "But Princess Celestia told me that she was sending me here to find a way to protect the empire from him. If King Sombra is unable to get in, then it must already be protected." She then goes quiet as she hears a creature howl come from somewhere in the distance.

Arthas looks to his right to see a strange engine with some enclosed wagons on wheels hooked up to it and says, "Hmmm...interesting. It amazes me that these ponies made something like this as the other races on Azeroth haven't yet." He then sees a trail of hoofprints in the snow, leading to a group of ponies a fair distance away and slows his steed to a swift trot.

Applejack hears a faint shuffling coming from somewhere and turns to look at her friends asking, "Are any of ya moving yer legs a lot to stay warm?"

Rainbow looks to the other girls, then back to Applejack and shakes her head saying, "I'm not doing anything like that, I'm shivering from the cold but that's it."

Fluttershy hears strange noises and swivels her ears to pinpoint the location it is coming from, after learning where it is coming from, the noise becomes a little clearer to her. Now hearing a heavy thumping of hooves coming from behind them, she turns her head around to look behind them to see glowing blue eyes with a glowing blue gem above them and another pair of glowing blue eyes below them. Too shocked and afraid to speak, she walks over to Rarity and taps on her shoulder.

Rarity feels someone repeatedly tapping her shoulder and looks over to see a scared Fluttershy with wide eyes and asks, "What is the matter Fluttershy darling?" She watches as Fluttershy doesn't speak and simply points behind them with a shaking hand, then follows it to where she is pointing and her jaw drops in shock as she quickly turns her head around. She is about to scream for everyone to run, but is interrupted by the howling of a distant creature and says, "Oh what in Tartarus could that be?!"

Shining Armor looks to the group and spots the Lich King making his way towards the group and says, "We need to get to the Crystal Empire right now, the Lich King is right behind us!"

A massive cloud of darkness looks to the group of ponies, eager to claim them, and lands heavily onto the ground to frighten the ponies further while growling menacingly at them.

Arthas watches the black mass start to chase after the group of ponies, and decides to try to capture this creature's soul so he can search for Sombra. He then makes Invincible run faster to get the creature's attention saying, "Come on Invincible, go faster or we won't catch up to it."

Twilight's brother looks back to see Spike trip and fall, then stand up to stare at the creature bearing down on them and turns around to retrieve him. He powers up his horn and grabs Spike, leaving the large suitcase he was carrying behind in the snow and starts to catch up with the group. He releases his hold on Spike and says, "Keep running, the barrier is just up ahead!" and turns around to fend off both of them, then starts to power up a spell to attack the creature.

The Lich King hastily gets off Invincible and draws his sword, then flips it around underhanded and raises it above his head. Moving his other hand to the hilt, he then growls and amplifies his voice while thrusting it towards the ground shouting, "FIGHT ME YOU STUPID CREATURE, I'M MORE OF A THREAT THAN THOSE PATHETIC PONIES!!"

The black mass dodges the magic shot at it by the white and blue unicorn, getting close enough to cover its horn with black crystals before screaming in agony as black lightning shoots up from the ground and right through its shadowy mass.

Shining Armor falls to the ground, suffering intense pain from where his horn was struck by a stray bolt of lightning. He tries to get up, but he feels another strike hit him in the shoulder and cries out in agony again. He then shakily turns his head, watching the Lich King as he controls the lightning for a few more seconds before stopping his attack and stands up while pulling his sword from the ground.

Twilight stands on the other side of the barrier and sees her brother struggling to get up, then tries to run out to go get him when she spots Arthas making his way to where he lays and shouts, "Come on brother, GET UP! Arthas is coming to get you, GET UP AND RUN!"

The mass writhes in pain and glares at the one who caused him such pain, feeling slightly disoriented after returning from banishment with the city a few hours ago. He watches the being walk towards the other, and tries to gather his thoughts to identify the armored being as clues slowly drop into place.

Arthas stops and stands next to the downed pony and looks into his eyes and angrily says, "Stupid pony." while bringing his right arm back that holds Frostmourne, then reaches down with his left and grabs him by the end of his tail. He then turns towards the barrier and takes a few steps towards it, dragging the pony behind him and chuckles saying, "You can take this pathetic pony with you, just be sure to STAY OUT OF MY WAY!!" and then brings his arm back and over his head, then lunges forward with his left leg and throws the pony into the air towards the group of ponies on the other side.

Shining Armor screams as he is thrown into the air, flipping end over end helplessly and yells, "SOMEONE PLEASE CATCH ME!"

The Lich King chuckles at hearing the pony scream and then turns away to look at the black mass and says, "I demand to know what you are creature, so answer me and speak!"

The last few clues fall into place as he finally realizes who the unmistakable being is and howls in rage at seeing it again, then charges forth to attack them.

Arthas swings his sword and slices through the mass, causing it to howl out in agony as he dodges its pathetic attack saying, "Is this all you have, what a pathetic creature you are."

It slams into the barrier as green blood oozes out of the gash in its side, causing his eyes to widen with fear as he remembers how he slaughtered his whole race. Deciding against facing him as he is now, he retreats into the air to gather his strength to attack the barrier later.

The Lich King thrusts his sword into the air to steal the creature's life energy, only to discover that it has doesn't have any, and lowers his sword. In an instant, he then uses another spell to throw a green skull at its fleeing form shouting, "STOP RUNNING AND FACE ME COWARD!" to his disappointment, the creature keeps retreating, but screams in agony as the skull makes contact with it. He turns away from the fleeing mass and glares at the ponies, then begins to stomp his feet angrily as he approaches them.

Brann trembles with fear at seeing the Lich King so close and backs away from the barrier nervously saying, "Umm that barrier is going to hold right, everyone?"

Twilight and Rarity gently set Shining Armor down as Twilight says, "I believe so, Cadence must be helping maintain the barrier, is that right brother?"

Shining Armor returns to his hooves a bit shakily, still feeling the effects of the attack and wobbles slightly. He watches his sister and Rarity hold onto him to help keep him steady, then places his hands onto their shoulders saying, "T-Thank you for helping me, but I'll be fine once I regain my balance. You are indeed right, Twilight. We should be on our way towards the castle now, Cadence will be very happy to see you."

The purple unicorn lets her brother stand on his own as he leads the group towards the castle, then looks back to see Arthas swing his sword at the barrier, attempting to damage it.

Arthas keeps attacking the barrier with Frostmourne for ten minutes, causing only slight ripples in it. Agitated, he flips the sword underhanded with a smooth motion, then raises it over his head and grabs it with both hands, attempting to drive it into the barrier with all his might. He succeeds in only scratching it and summons black lightning to strike the barrier all over, angered at how resilient the barrier is being.

A minute ago, Inside the barrier

Twilight spots her old foal sitter on the throne at the back of the room, hanging her head for a moment before calling out to her, "Cadence!"

Cadence spots Twilight and brightens up immediately, then jogs towards her, stops in front of her, and then crouches down slightly.

As they both get into a slight crouch, then jump up together in a brief prancing dance saying together, "Sunshine, Sunshine." dropping onto the floor and covering their eyes with their hands saying, "Ladybug's awake." then pull them away before moving into a sitting position and clap their hands together without missing a beat saying, "Clap your hands and" then quickly stand up and shake their rumps saying, "do a little shake." finishing their silly little greeting and share a laugh for a few short seconds.

Twilight smiles at Cadence, overjoyed at getting to see her again when her eyes snap shut for a brief moment, causing her horn to slightly flicker. Concerned, she asks, "Hey are you..." interrupted by seeing Cadence's magic aura become covered in black lightning as it dances throughout the inside of the aura, eliciting an agonized scream for several seconds before stopping.

Shining Armor yells, "CADY!" rushes forth as Cadence collapses onto the crystal floor, panting hard for breath. He helps her to her hooves as she struggles to keep the barrier up.

Cadence then holds onto him and looks to a very worried Twilight saying, "One of these days, we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance."

Outside the barrier, an hour later

Arthas walks along the barrier, inspecting it in different spots by striking it with his sword when he watches it dim a bit. He smiles as he flips his sword around once more, hearing a howl in the distance and pauses for a moment and amplifies his voice shouting, "I AM RIGHT HERE WAITING FOR YOU, SO COME HERE AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE!" He waits a few minutes and nothing happens, making Arthas even angrier as he raises his sword to attack it again, using the same black lightning to inflict pain and suffering upon whoever is keeping the barrier up. He stops his attack after keeping the spell active for ten seconds, and smiles as the barrier slowly collapses and starts walking over where it used to be saying, "Well...that was quite effective, now where should I go?"

The mass smiles as he notices the barrier is down and starts moving towards it when he spots the one that slaughtered his whole race, forming a head to be able to speak and summons thirty black crystal pony soldiers, having glowing green eyes, with manes and tails of purple smoke to kill him and shouts, "DIE MURDERER!!!" sending all thirty ponies to rush forth and overwhelm his enemy.

He turns around to see the incoming soldiers and chuckles then shakes his head at this pathetic attack, and prepares one of his spells to slow his foes down. He waits for the right moment to cast it, watching their progress until the perfect moment to catch them all, and casts it to create a freezing whirlwind.

Arthas rushes forward to the first soldier, holding Frostmourne in his right hand, and spins his body in a circle. Cleanly cutting off its head and claiming the soul within, he continues to single-handedly slaughter all thirty of his soon-to-be subjects.

On top of the balcony of the crystal castle

Brann walks towards the rail as his eyes go wide and says, "Umm...guys, I think we might be in some serious trouble here."

Twilight then walks up to the rail beside Brann and says, "I would hate to say this but I think you may be right, but this may be a blessing in disguise because Arthas seemed really interested in fighting that creature. Sombra is a bigger threat than Arthas is right now, so we need you to do what you can to return the barrier to keep the Crystal Ponies from seeing Sombra out there. Cadence needs you to stay with her, Shining Armor. Brann, I need you to return to the library to see what else you can find out about the Crystal Faire."

Rainbow Dash then looks at her curiously saying, "What do you want me to do?"

Twilight then smiles and says, "Rainbow Dash, you and the rest of our friends need to keep the faire going while I try to find the heart and bring it back." she then takes off running for the stairs to return to the ground for ideas where it could be.

She follows Twilight through the castle with her wings as they reach the first flight of stairs going down and says, "How come, shouldn't we try to get Arthas out of the Crystal Empire's border if Cadence can get it back up?"

The unicorn turns around to go down another set of stairs saying, "No, because the whole purpose of the faire is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies so they can activate the Crystal Heart."

Rainbow rolls her eyes and flies just above Twilight saying, "Yeah, and why?"

Twilight continues running down the stairs saying, "Because, if the Crystal Ponies find out that King Sombra is trying to take over the empire again, their spirits are going to be anything but lifted. If we can succeed in cheering up the Crystal Ponies and they activate the Crystal Heart, Arthas will most likely be cast out of the city."

Back to the fight between Arthas and the creature

Arthas effortlessly kills the last of the ponies and looks up at the shadowy face with a chuckle saying, "If this is all you have creature, I am disappointed."

The mass roars at him in rage and summons even more soldiers to overwhelm him and end his life and shouts, "I HATE YOU! YOU SLAUGHTERED THEM ALL AND TURNED THEM INTO DISGUSTING CRYSTAL ABOMINATIONS, MY WHOLE RACE PERISHED WITHIN A WEEK! YOU USED YOUR VILE LIQUID TO KILL EVERYTHING IT TOUCHED, NOTHING GROWS ON THE GROUNDS WHERE OUR VILLAGES ONCE STOOD. I WAS SENT AWAY TO GET AID IN FIGHTING YOU, THE PRINCESSES REFUSED AND TURNED ME AWAY I HATE YOU ALL, WHEN I GET MY KINGDOM BACK, I AM GOING TO MAKE THEM ALL SUBMIT TO ME. FOR I AM KING SOMBRA AND YOU WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE FROM ME!!"

He chuckles with delight and says, "I have wondered what became of you after I used the improved plague of undeath, now I know that the Umbrum's leader lives. Now I shall look forward to claiming your soul and raise you for all the trouble you have caused me!" He then uses his sword's ability to steal life and quickly kills off the 90 black crystal soldiers that Sombra just summoned and laughs sadistically saying, "It will take more than that to kill me coward, FROSTMOURNE HUNGERS!"

Sombra is blinded by his rage and summons the remainder of the enslaved soldiers he corrupted and took from the empire prior to his banishment. He then cackles madly and shouts, "SHOW ME HOW YOU WILL HANDLE THE REMAINDER OF MY 2000 ELITE GUARD, RUTHLESS KING OF THE NORTH!"

Arthas looks at the soldiers and shakes his head saying, "Your strength amounts to nothing compared to mine, I have millions of soldiers to conquer this world while you only have a pathetic handful. Allow me to demonstrate the difference between you and me..." He then looks to the skies and amplifies his voice for all to hear, also uses the helm's link to address someone special to display his power and calls out to them saying, "SINDRAGOSA, YOUR KING CALLS FOR YOU TO DISPLAY THE STRENGTH OF ICECROWN! KILL ALL THESE PATHETIC INSECTS THAT STAND BEFORE ME!"

On the balcony with Shining Armor and Cadence

Shining Armor holds Cadence in his arms while he watches the distant fight, listening to the two fight as King Sombra is enraged at what the Lich King has done to his whole race. Staring in shock as he sees a massive skeletal dragon making its way towards the Crystal Empire and tries to wake Cadence gently saying, "Umm Cady, I'm sorry to wake you but I think you should try to raise the barrier again."

Cadence's eyes slowly flutter open as she wakes up from a brief nap and asks, "I'm sorry, what did you say? How long have I been sleeping?"

He turns away from the incoming dragon and looks into his wife's eyes and says, "I wish I didn't have to wake you, but I think you should try to raise the barrier again. I can see a large army standing just before the Lich King as well as a large skeletal dragon he called Sindragosa is making her way here."

She slowly turns her head towards the rail and asks, "I would like to know what she looks like to be able to watch out for her. Take me a little closer please so I can see what is going on Shiny."

Shining Armor sets her down carefully and helps her towards the barrier, seeing said undead dragon turn and fly right for a ways before banking left and fly towards the line of black soldiers that King Sombra has summoned. She watches the large dragon queen as she raises her head up, letting out a loud roar before casting a spell that creates an area on the ground covered in a glowing whitish-blue. She sighs as a few tears stream down her face when the soldiers inside of the large circle fall to the ground, and Sindragosa makes another pass at the line of soldiers then breathes frostfire.

At the fallen barrier's edge, with Arthas and King Sombra

Arthas laughs as Sindragosa kills all of the remaining soldiers with a couple of more passes over their heads, then sends her outside of the barrier to attack Sombra saying through the link, "Let him have a taste of your fury Sindy, it is time he learned to fear the might of Icecrown!"

Sindragosa circles around saying, "WITH PLEASURE SIR!" and lines up to attack the black mass, releasing an angry roar and targets it with one of her spells and shoots a Frost Bomb at him, then glides past him overhead and calls forth a wave of frost to chill the mass to its core.

Sombra howls in agony as several pieces of his shadowy mass are destroyed and tries to reform them but finds himself unable to. He starts to lightly panic as each attempt fails, causing him to feel fear for the first time and hastily flees into the air shouting, "THIS IS NOT OVER YET! I WILL TAKE BACK MY KINGDOM AND THEN DEFEAT YOU!"

The Lich King watches Sindragosa give chase and throw Frost Bombs at him, causing Sombra to cry out in pain each time. With an agitated sigh, he jumps backward as a shield forms just before him, stopping him from giving chase to Sombra and uses the helm's link to connect with Sindragosa saying, "The shield is back up Sindy, go back to Icecrown and protect it from Sombra if he should decide to attack it in retaliation. I shall explore this city a bit and wait for him to come back and attack again, I shall make my move once he is truly vulnerable."

She breaks off her chase of King Sombra and heads back to Icecrown answering his mental command, "Very well sir, I shall protect it with my life."

Arthas then turns around and makes his way towards the city thinking, 'If I find whoever is making this barrier, I will make them wish they were never born...'

Over at the crystal castle, twenty minutes later

Cadence squints as she tries to keep the barrier up but her magic starts to fade in and out and weakly says, "Please hurry Twilight, my magic won't last much longer..."

With Twilight, somewhere inside the castle

Twilight picks Spike up and places him on her back saying, "Hold on to me Spike, I'm going to try something." then focuses on casting a gravity spell, then flips herself over and lands on the underside of the stairs above her and says, "Woohoo, it worked! I'm glad I studied gravity spells on our way here, thinking it might be on my test. As it turns out, I was definitely prepared for this!"

With Cadence on the balcony with Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash

Shining Armor watches as Cadence's magic slowly slips down her horn, then fades away completely as Cadence falls unconscious in his arms saying, "You have done everything you can Cady, rest for a moment and leave the rest up to Twilight."

The others watch in shock as the barrier falls and reveals orange skies with black clouds surrounding the empire completely as Rarity says, "Come on Twilight darling, where are you?" She then looks down to see an armored figure heading towards the castle and gasps saying, "Oh Hurry up Twilight, that dreadful Lich King is getting closer to the castle!"

With Twilight, on her way to the top of the castle's peak

Spike watches as they rapidly slide down the underside of the stairs with the help of the gravity spell Twilight cast, he then holds tighter as an opening to the outside appears just up ahead saying, "Umm watch out Twilight, the exit is coming up."

She giggles as they both slide off the end of the archway's roof and reverses the gravity spell, flipping them both around in the process and leaving them to fall five feet to land on the top of the crystal castle peak's floor. She looks around and sees the Crystal Heart hovering in the air above a platform with a star in its center with the points touching the edges of the platform.

With Arthas, nearing the front of the Crystal Castle

Arthas stomps forward, making his way towards the group of ponies when he hears a voice call out way above him, "Hey look up here, I got the Crystal Heart!" and turns his head up to where it came from and sees a purple creature standing atop one of the blackened spires, then hears an angered roar. He turns his eyes to look at the direction it came from and sees Sombra leap forth from a cloud and into the ground, racing along the ground like a shadow and causing black crystals to sprout up from the ground he passes through. He watches the shadow race forth and waits for a chance to strike, seeing a large crystal shoot up out of the ground as others race forth towards the castle's peak and cause a few cracks to form as well as destroying the top part of the roof.

Twilight runs to the side of the black crystal cage she is in and tries to protect her head saying, "Ohh...what's happening now! I hope that nothing hits me..."

Seeing Sombra slowly rise from the long crystal, Arthas flips his sword to hold it underhanded and prepares to throw it. He waits eagerly for the perfect chance to strike him down and absorb his soul, drawing back his right arm holding his sword as Sombra finally emerges wearing a dark silver band with spikes on the sides and two red ones up front on either side of a dark silver circle, an armored chest piece being the same dark silver with a flared collar, a fine red and white cape under the back of the chest piece with small black diamonds around the white strip at the bottom, and armored hoof guards going up to his knees.

Sombra looks up to see the Crystal Heart in the hands of a small, purple dragon and shouts, "THAT BELONGS TO ME, NOW GIVE IT HERE OR I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!"

Spike spots Sombra standing on the large crystal a fair distance below him and trips, going over the edge after losing his grip on the Crystal Heart. Watching as he falls through the sky towards the ground, he prays that he doesn't feel any pain when he hits it.

The Lich King smiles and sees his chance and amplifies his voice shouting, "FROSTMOURNE HUNGERS!!" then throws the blade as hard as he can towards Sombra's solid body.

Sombra turns his head to locate where the Lich King is when he finally spots him a moment too late as he feels something strike him in the chest, making him look down to see the other's sword piercing his chest. He then looks around fearfully, trying to find a way to escape, only to feel the sword begin to draw his surviving soul into it, and says, "No...no...NO! I-I DON'T...I DON'T WANNA GO! SOMEPONY PLEASE SAVE ME, I DON'T WANNA DISAPPEAR!"

Shining Armor quickly jostles his wife awake and lifts her head up towards Spike and the Crystal Heart as her eyes open and says, "There's Spike and the Crystal Heart Cady!"

Cadence notices a glint and focuses on it, realizing at once that it is the Crystal Heart, and says, "I see it, now throw me Shiny!" and feels the wind rush through her mane as she is thrown by her husband. She rushes through the sky to save Spike and the heart, reaching them both in almost an instant, catching Spike in her arms and grabbing the Crystal Heart with her magic, then hurries back to the castle.

Sombra looks around and sees that most eyes are on him as his shadows are being drawn into the sword, making him weaken as a couple of tears fall off his chin as he screams, "DON'T JUST STAND THERE WATCHING YOU FOOLS, PLEASE SAVE YOUR KING!!"

Arthas watches as Sombra's shadows fade away quicker and shouts back, "YOU WERE NOT A RIGHTFUL KING, YOU CLAIMED THE EMPTY THRONE BECAUSE IT'S LEADER WAS MISSING! YOU TREATED THESE PONIES LIKE YOUR SLAVES, JUST LIKE THOSE CORRUPTED SOLDIERS YOU LET ME SLAUGHTER. THEY ARE LESS THAN PAWNS TO YOU IN YOUR VAIN QUEST FOR POWER, BUT ALL POWER COMES AT A COST...A PRICE YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF PAYING."

Twilight falls backward and hears Arthas shout again, landing on her back as the black crystal surrounding her disappear saying, "Wah! Okay, something is definitely going on because Sombra would never set me free from this prison." She then gets back onto her hooves to go see what is going on down below.

King Sombra's body begins to slowly fade away as he cries out one last time, "Somepony...please...I beg you to...save...." he doesn't complete his final words as his shadow fades away completely, leaving the sword to land on the crystal he was standing on and slowly slide down.

The Lich King activates his spell and pulls the sword back to his grasp and raises it before his eyes to look at it sighing happily saying, "Ahhh...I feel much better now. With his soul and strength, I am back to my full power." He then turns his gaze to the pony making her way towards the base of the castle and starts stomping his way there saying, "Now...I demand you hand over that heart!"

She ignores him completely and lands in front of the crowd of ponies then looks at them with determination saying, "The Crystal Heart has returned, use the light and love within you to ensure that the Lich King Arthas Menethil cannot."

Arthas then flips the sword underhanded, feeling agitated that he was ignored, then raises it above his head saying, "HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME, YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEST! LET ME HEAR YOUR SCREAMS OF AGONY!" He begins to thrust it towards the ground as she moves the heart towards the center of the Crystal Heart's pillar when both of them stop as a loud cracking fills the air.

Twilight backs away from the edge of the castle's peak as the floor under her begins to slide and tilt, causing roof debris to slide off the edge. She quickly turns and looks for a safe spot to stand on when she sees only a small part where she can stand, except she has to jump across a gap to reach it. As the floor starts to fall away, causing the floor she is standing on to tilt quicker and leaving her no choice but to go for the jump. She then starts to sprint towards the edge as the gap grows steadily larger, reaching the edge and jumps for the other side. She lands on the far side safely and balances on the small remaining piece, releasing a sigh of relief, and wipes her arm across her eyes when the chunk wobbles and falls away. She tries to quickly use her magic to make herself levitate, only for nothing to happen and then moves her hand to her horn. She runs her fingers along its length to find it is slightly damaged, with a chunk missing from the tip. She then screams at the top of her lungs as she begins to freefall towards the ground end over end flailing wildly.

Rainbow hears Twilight scream and feels the need to be her hero, then zips off into the sky to go catch her. She tries to approach her carefully, trying to avoid her wildly flailing hooves as Twilight's eyes are closed tightly while she continues to scream. She gets close enough and tries to reach out to grab her when she gets slapped in the face hard, and then kicked in the chin by a hoof. Her vision fades away into darkness as she falls unconscious, her wings cease flapping and hang limp as she joins Twilight into a freefall.

Arthas watches the two ponies fall through the air and follows Twilight's angle, then looks towards the large crystal sticking out of the ground at a fairly steep angle. He feels a slight pang in his chest, urging him into action. The pang in his chest remains for a few seconds, causing him to growl in annoyance at his heart and summons his steed Invincible. He mounts up quickly and kicks him into a gallop while cursing, "These light-damned lovey-dovey ponies are going to suffer my wrath after I get that heart!"

Fluttershy sees Arthas start racing away on his mount and narrows her eyes at him, but then widen with shock as he starts to turn around and go even faster. Spurring herself into action, she takes off into the sky to catch her unconscious friend Rainbow, managing to reach her as she reaches the balcony overlooking the main road into the city saying, "Don't worry Dash, I've got you."

Cadence watches in shock as Arthas rides forth hard on Invincible, then stands up on the saddle as they start to race up the crystal that Sombra created. Invincible then leaps off the end of the crystal with Arthas running forward and places a boot onto the other's head and jumps off of it into the air above him.

Time seems to slow way down as Arthas waits for Twilight to get close enough for him to catch her, ignoring her flailing limbs and swiftly wraps his arms around her waist saying, "STOP FLAILING WILDLY AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

Twilight stops instantly as she feels herself being moved into a bridal carry, wrapping her arms around whoponyever has caught her and holds onto them for dear life while trembling and says, "I'm sorry I hit you, I'm just so scared of dying."

Arthas braces for the hard landing he is about to make and says, "If you were to die, I would just raise you into my service." He then readies his legs as he lands on the ground heavily, crushing the crystal path underneath him from the force and shifts his momentum forward. He runs for a short distance and comes to a stop, then prepares to set her down.

She recognizes the voice of her rescuer as tears slowly fill her eyes, quickly moving away to see that her rescuer was Arthas, and quickly pulls his helm off and reacts by saying, "Oh thank you Arthas, I love you." She lets go of it and quickly grabs his face, and gives him a kiss on the lips. She attempts to make the kiss deeper, but is quickly pushed away and roughly placed onto the ground.

Cadence's mouth hangs agape as she struggles to believe what she just witnessed with her own eyes, blinking once more to see him reach up with his gauntlets and pries her hands off of him.

The Lich King then turns around and grabs his helm and shoots her a threatening look and says, "Don't ever touch my helm again!" and starts walking away from Twilight. He then puts the helm back onto his head and starts to make his way towards Cadence saying, "GIVE ME THAT DAMNED HEART BEFORE I KILL YOU ALL!"

She then rolls her eyes at him and tosses the heart into its spot, being captured by the two points and slowly begins to rotate.

Arthas starts to make his way towards the Crystal Heart to prevent it from activating, stopping in front of Cadence and reaches out to grab her by the neck when the crystal path under him begins to glow brightly. He then shifts his gaze to the ponies around as they start to return to their crystalline looks and kneel down to touch their muzzles to the crystal paths underneath them, glaring angrily at Cadence and amplifies his voice and shouts, "I SWEAR I SHALL RETURN ONE DAY TO REDUCE THIS CITY TO CRYSTAL POWDER WITH MY ENTIRE ARMY AND KILL THE GROUND IT SITS ON WITH THE PLAGUE!! THIS...ISN'T...OVER!!!

Twilight starts to move towards Arthas when she is blinded by a bright whitish-blue wave of light, forced to close her eyes to protect her vision. She tries to squint her eyes to be able to see what is happening to Arthas and sees him also guarding his eyes with an arm against the light, but then an even brighter light forces her to close her eyes completely.

Cadence watches as The Lich King tries to fight against the power of the Crystal Heart, hearing him shout, "I WILL BE BACK!" then watches a second blast of the Crystal Heart's power sends Arthas flying into the air and out of the city.

Arthas's mental argument with the remnant of his humanity

The Lich King crashes into a tree and tumbles to the ground, then pushes himself back onto his feet and stares at the city, full of rage. He stands there glaring at the shining city as a rainbow streak shoots up through the sky, creating a barrier and emitting pink, blue, and yellow ribbons into the air and stretching far off into the distance. A calming warmth starts to flow through his body as his heart beats louder, irritating him further.

He then hears a quiet voice fill his head, quietly saying, 'That was quite bold of you, to go save her like that. Perhaps you are not the same monster as before... maybe there is hope for you after all. There is one thing you should keep in mind, you are not a real king either. Remember how you murdered your father after putting the entire population of Stratholme to the sword and flame?'

He then replies to the voice, 'Of course I remember that...I had no choice but to do that, father was going to lead Lordaeron to ruin and I needed to save my people!'

The quiet voice continues saying, 'Did you really have to do those terrible things? What about when you destroyed the Sunwell by raising Kel'Thuzad as a lich after slaughtering so many innocent lives such as women and children, don't you want to have a family again?'

Arthas looks down to the ground with his fists clenched as his anger reaches a boiling point and replies, 'I know the many evil things I've done, quit reminding me.'

The voice chuckles and says, 'You are a much worse monster than Sombra ever was, and you are oh so eager to pay the price needed to claim more power. Do you feel anything after what you put your daughters through, what about your pretty pony wife huh? Did you even take a second to think that maybe you were the problem?!'

He then grumbles in annoyance at the part that is nagging him and summons invincible saying, 'I'm done talking to you about this, shut up or I'll cut you out again.' As his steed comes to his side, he climbs up into the saddle and starts to ride off.

The Shen'dralar druid sits in her flight form and watches with curious eyes, wondering at what is happening before her very eyes. She continues to observe him, eager to gather more information. As she sits there in the tree ready to follow him, a stray thought enters her mind and raises her curiosity, 'I wonder if those beings that came here are okay, I should stay and make sure before I return to watching over the Lich King.'

At the castle in Canterlot with Celestia and Luna

Celestia stands beside her sister when they both look out the window to see pink, blue, and yellow ribbons of light dance in the sky and smiles. She looks to her sister as she does the same and walks up to her, then gives her a hug sighing happily saying, "Twilight passed her test and they all succeeded in saving the Crystal Empire dear sister."

Luna hugs her sister back and says, "Yes they most certainly have, they kept Sombra from reclaiming the heart and freed the Crystal Ponies from his tyranny."