"My sword still stained with the blood of your father, Artic Spirit." The umbrum captain laughed as Cadance growled at him angrily. "I wonder how his daughter can handle me..."

Dreadspire suddenly charged, the tip of his sword scraping the ground as he dragged his sword while his horn flared before he jumped into the air with a boast of his magic, bringing his sword toward the Princess of Love.

Cadance was barely able to put up a shield in time as the umbrum captain charged toward her.

The sword strike against the shield and the umbrum captain pushed his word against the shield, causing it to crack as the Princess of Love brow creased as she concentrated all her power on her shield.

Before Dreadspire could shatter the shield completely, a bolt of blue magic slammed into his side. Staggered, he stumbled back and turned his glowing crimson eyes toward Shining Armor, who stood firm with his horn aglow.

"Stay away from her!" The prince bellowed, charging toward the umbrum captain.

Dreadspire let out a growl, his sword raised high, and retaliated with a barrage of crackling magic bolts. Shining quickly cast a shield, the bolts slamming into it with relentless force. The last bolt struck hard, fracturing the barrier just as Dreadspire's blade came crashing down. Shining reeled back, a shallow cut appearing on his cheek as he narrowly dodged the worst of the blow.

The umbrum captain sneered, leveling his blade at the prince. "Not much of a prince, are you?"

Before the prince could respond, Hurricane charged forward and tackled the umbrum captain with his body. But the umbrum captain grabbed hold of Hurricane with his magic and tossed him aside into the window of the house.

As Dreadspire got up, he was assaulted by multiple magic bolts, some of them hitting him before he was able to cast a shield. He turned to see Clover firing multiple magic bolts at him.

In retaliation, the umbrum captain let loose of a powerful magic bolt at Clover. Widening her eyes, Clover casted a shiled in front of her, but the powerful magic bolt shattered the shield and caused her to fall on her back.

As Dreadspire panted himself, a humming of magic caught his attention and prompted him to turn to see Cadance flaring her magic. Before he could react, she let loose a beam of magic at him. He casted a shield in front of him, letting the shield to absorb the beam as he slide backward and into the house. The house then exploded, causing the structure to collapse and leaving her to pant as the others got back up.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment, save for the Princess of Love's labored breaths. Then, from within the rubble, a faint movement stirred, prompting the four ponies to ready themselves.

With a grunt, the umbrum captain pushed the debris aside and stepped forward. His armor was dented, his left eye swollen and bruised, but his posture remained unnervingly steady. He moved with deliberate calm while wielding his sword in his magic, as though the battle had barely fazed him.

"You’ll need more than that to defeat me." Dreadspire said, his voice cold and unyielding, his sword gleaming in the dim light.

"This guy's tough, that's for sure." Hurricane stated as he pressed his hoof on his injured forehead to stop bleeding.

Cadance nodded as Clover rubbed her bruised chest with his hoof while her husband pressed his hoof on the scratch on his right cheek.

"Alright, new plan." The Princess of Love began. "Hurricane, Clover. You two flank left around Dreadspire. Me and my husband will flank right."

Clover and Hurricane nodded their head before flanking to the left while Cadance and her husband moved to flank on the right.

The umbrum captain glanced between the royal couple and the couple as they flanked him.

"You realize this changes nothing." Dreadspire said, a cruel smirk curling his lips.

The four ponies said nothing and opted to take a fighting stance as they readied themselves against the umbrum captain.

"Still not going to give up?" Dreadspire asked before shaking his head. "Very well then." He said as his horn flared up.

The umbrum captain flared his horn and readied his sword before in unison, the four ponies charged toward him.

< < < < < < < < < 💙 > > > > > > > > >

The clashes of steels, the whooshing of arrows, spears and magic bolts filled the air as Amore and her guards charged head first toward King Sombra and his soldiers who also charged toward them.

Amore clashed her horn against the umbrum pony's curved horn, their horns flaring up while they glared at each other with hatred.

Meanwhile the soldiers on both sides attacked each other, with several crystal pegasi, crystal hippogriffs, crystal changelings, crystal griffons and crystal bat ponies grappling with the umbrum pegasi in the air while a few crystal unicorns and crystal kirins attacked with their magic bolts or bows with explosive arrows at the umbrum unicorns who retaliated with their dark magic bolts. Simultaneously, several crystal earth ponies attacked several umbrum earth ponies with swords or spears while crystal yaks charged forward.

Amore and Sombra kept pushing each other with their horns. Realising the fight going nowhere anytime soon, he opted to teleport. Amore widened her eyes in shock, quickly turning around and raised her crystal sword in her magic just as he materialised behind her and tried to strike her with his scythe, his scythe striking against her sword.

Amore pushed the umbrum pony back with her sword and fired a beam of magic at him. The umbrum pony quickly sidestepped the attack as the beam sailed right through where he was and destroyed the crystal house.

Sombra retaliated with several short bursts of his magic at Amore, forcing her to evade the incoming strikes. With a series of magic shield and blocking with her crystal sword, she was able to deflect all his magic bolts before five Crystal Imperial guards who had managed to defeat some of the umbrum ponies came and charged toward him.

Amore's eyes narrowed towards her opponent as she readied herself to assist the guards, though her gaze was diverted with the sound of hooves galloping toward her. Six umbrum ponies; two umbrum earth ponies, two umbrum unicorns and two umbrum pegasi, set their sights on her and readied their weapons, three of them holding swords while two held spears and one holding a bow and arrow.

Amore tightened her grip on her sword, her eyes narrowing as she prepared to face the oncoming threat.

The two umbrum earth ponies and one umbrum unicorn holding swords charged forwards towards Amore while a umbrum pegasus threw his spear and a umbrum unicorn fired an arrow in her direction. Amore simply grabbed onto the arrow and the spear with her magic and flicked them back to the attackers. The spear impaled the pegasus, and the arrow struck the bow-wielding unicorn, both collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

Amore then let loose a magic bolt to the ground in front of the three ponies, sending them up to the air before Amore swung her crystal sword across them, cutting them into half before they hit the ground.

After taking a breather, Amore turned just in time to see the umbrum pony had impaled his scythe into a crystal changeling and lifted her up as the crystal changeling grabbed the blade impaled in her body before he violently sliced her into half. Amore, seeing this, growled in anger and pulled the spear out of the umbrum pegasus threw it forwards to the umbrum pony.

Sombra’s eyes widened as the spear flew toward him. He twisted to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough. The spear grazed his neck, leaving a deep, bloody gash. He hissed in pain, dark energy swirling around the wound.

The spear flew across and into a black smoke.

The umbrum pony bared his fang as he glared at Amore with seething fury and charged toward her, their weapons locking against each other. The two ponies fought against the other for a few moments more, before the umbrum pony managed to strike a powerful blow that made Amore stagger back and flicked his scythe, leaving a bloody cut over her right eyes.

Sombra smirked as Amore let loose a magic bolt at him, prompting him to cast a shield in front of him.

"I must admit..." The umbrum pony said behind his shield before using it to push Amore back a few metres. "Your fighting skills are better than when I fought you a thousand years ago."

"You talk too much." Amore said as she wiped the blood streaming down her face off before she fired a beam of magic at Sombra again, causing him to move his head to the side as the beam sailed right through where his head was and destroyed Spike crystal statue into million pieces.

Amore and the umbrum pony danced around each other, firing magic bolts at each other only to be blocked by their magic shields and striking their weapons against each other.

Sombra summoned a cluster of black crystal in front to temporary block Amore's line of sight on him as he gathered himself, panting himself to regain his strength against Amore while the other umbrum ponies went to deal with her while others dealt with the remaining Crystal Imperial guards.

The umbrum pony turned to see two of his soldiers finishing off the crystal unicorns and kirins as one of the umbrum unicorns impaled his sword into a crystal kirin, killing her.

Sombra smiled sinisterly as he started to plan out his plan to take down Amore once and for all.

< < < < < < < < < 💙 > > > > > > > > >

Shining barely managed to intercept Dreadspire's blade with a discarded sword, the clash sending a spray of sparks in the air and him to fall onto the ground.

The prince held the umbrum captain's blade with the discarded sword as long as he can as the sword began to slowly reached toward him.

Just as Dreadspire pressed forward, preparing to overpower Shining with sheer force, a blur of motion swept in from behind. Hurricane dove in, locking his forelegs around the umbrum captain's neck in a swift, practiced maneuver.

With a powerful beat of his wings, Hurricane yanked Dreadspire away from the prince, forcing him to stumble back. The umbrum captain thrashed violently in his grip, snarling as he fought to break free, but Hurricane held firm, his wings straining as he lifted his struggling opponent off the ground.

Before Hurricane could fly further up, Dreadspire used the butt of his sword in his magic to hit the side of Hurricane's head, causing Hurricane to drop the umbrum captain back to the ground as Hurricane winced while placing a hoof on his injury.

Hurricane shook himself and readied himself, only to be hit by Dreadspire's magic bolt who had gotten back up, causing Hurricane to fly uncontrollably in the air before crashing into a cart filled with boxes, the wooden structure splintering under the force. Hurricane groaned as the debris scattered around him, his wings twitching weakly.

The umbrum captain smirked, but his moment of triumph was short-lived. A loud crash drew his attention as he was forced to conjure a magical shield. A heavy carriage, propelled with tremendous force, smashed against the barrier, shattering into splinters upon impact. The shockwave rippled outward, scattering debris and forcing him to brace himself.

Lowering his shield, Dreadspire snarled and turned toward the source of the attack. Standing amidst the chaos was Cadance, her horn glowing with residual energy from the throw. Her eyes blazed with determination as she faced him, wings flared and ready for the next move.

The umbrum captain narrowed his eyes, his grip on his blade tightening as he prepared for the confrontation.

The Princess of Love fired a beam of magic at Dreadspire, causing him to cast a shield in front of him to block the blast, but the force pushed him back several steps.

Before the umbrum captain could recover, Cadance charged, her wings flaring as she drove her head into his chest. The impact sent him stumbling backward, his hooves skidding across the cobblestones until he toppled into a fountain and his sword thrown inside the fountain. Water splashed in all directions as he landed with a crash, momentarily submerged.

The Princess of Love stood firm with her wings flared out, her gaze blazing as she prepared for the next move. "You won’t harm anypony on my watch." She declared angrily.

Dreadspire rose from the fountain, dripping and furious, his crimson eyes locking onto Cadance. "You’ll regret that, Princess." He snarled, his magic swirling ominously around his sword.

Before the Princess of Love could react, the umbrum captain charged forward with a boast of his magic and speed and tackled her onto the ground, dazing her.

As her vision cleared, Cadance's eyes widened in horror as she watched Dreadspire sitting on her and lifting his sword over his head before bringing down toward her.

Reacting in the nick of time, the Princess of Love gripped hold of the sword with her magic, stopping the blade just a few centimetres away from her face.

Cadance's horn sparked under the strain as the blade slowly got closer to her face. Desperately, she used her forelegs to push the umbrum captain off of her, but he was too strong to be pushed off. She panicked as the blade was reaching toward one of her eyes.

Only for Dreadspire to scream in pain as a spear was impaled into his left foreleg, causing the grip on his sword to drop as he staggered away from the Princess of Love.

Cadance looked to see Clover. She had managed to got back up after the umbrum captain blasted her into a crystal building and threw the spear at him.

"Stay the hell away from her!" Clover shouted in anger as she fired multiple magic bolts at Dreadspire.

The umbrum captain moved to cast a magic shield, but before he could, a precise bolt from Shining struck his horn, shattering it in half. He roared in agony as he clutched at the broken remnants of his horn while being hit by multiple magic bolts.

As Clover ceased firing, Dreadspire was in so much agony that he couldn't see the Princess of Love had gotten up and was holding his sword in her magic as she walked up to him.

"This is for my father, you bitch." Cadance snarled at him with anger.

Before the umbrum captain could respond, the Princess of Love plunged his sword through his neck, the blade impaling through his throat.

Dreadspire gave a choked scream as his throat was impaled, The wound on his throat began to bleed profusely. His gasp for air were in vain as he couldn’t fill his lung. He fell onto the ground and thrashed around for a few more seconds, his movements grew weak and little before going lifeless.

The three ponies stood over the dead umbrum captain as they gathered themselves.

"That...was tiring..." Clover panted heavily as she rubbed the bruise on her belly.

"Yeah. This captain was definitely tougher than any villains Twily had faced." Shining responded as he stared at Dreadspire.

"Thanks for the save, Clover. Dreadspire almost had me." Cadance gave Clover a smile.

"I couldn't let him kill you, your highness." Clover smiled back as she looked around. "Wait, where is my husband?"

"Right here." Hurricane replied as he weakly flew toward the group, his wings drooping and his face marked with fresh bruises. "Dreadspire did a number on me, but I can still fight."

The Princess of Love nodded her head, though she internally winced at Hurricane's bruises. "Alright then, let's go. My mother needs us."

< < < < < < < < < 💙 > > > > > > > > >

Sombra hissed in rage as a bolt of magic sailed past him, singeing his fur of his coat as he charged forward toward Amore who was fighting against several umbrum ponies.

The umbrum pony fired several magic bolts at Amore as he continued charging, Amore intercepting and stopping the magic bolts with her shield while finishing off the last umbrum soldier attacker but she was unable to stop his scythe from slamming into her.

The impact sent Amore staggering, her shield flickering as she struggled to regain her footing before she swung her crystal sword at Sombra, who blocked it with his scythe. In her frustration, she flicked his scythe out of her way and stabbed it into his right foreleg, eliciting a shout of pain from him. Amore then pulled her sword out and swung it toward his neck.

The umbrum pony, realising Amore was moments away from decapitating his head, cast a panicked teleportation spell around himself.

Amore's crystal sword sliced through empty air, the force of her swing unbalancing her for a moment. She quickly steadied herself, scanning the battlefield for any sign of her enemy.

"Sombra? Reveal yourself?! Or are you a coward?!" Amore shouted as she scanned for signs of King Sombra.

Sombra hissed in rage as a bolt of magic sailed past him, singeing his fur of his coat as he charged forward toward Amore who was fighting against several umbrum ponies.

The umbrum pony fired several magic bolts at Amore as he continued charging, Amore intercepting and stopping the magic bolts with her shield while finishing off the last umbrum soldier attacker but she was unable to stop his scythe from slamming into her.

The impact sent Amore staggering, her shield flickering as she struggled to regain her footing before she swung her crystal sword at Sombra, who blocked it with his scythe. In her frustration, she flicked his scythe out of her way and stabbed it into his right foreleg, eliciting a shout of pain from him. Amore then pulled her sword out and swung it toward his neck.

The umbrum pony, realising Amore was moments away from decapitating his head, cast a panicked teleportation spell around himself.

Amore's crystal sword sliced through empty air, the force of her swing unbalancing her for a moment. She quickly steadied herself, scanning the battlefield for any sign of her enemy.

"Sombra? Reveal yourself?! Or are you a coward?!" Amore shouted as she scanned for signs of King Sombra.

A sinister laugh echoed across the battlefield, chilling and full of malice. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Do you think you can challenge me, Amore?" The umbrum pony 's voice hissed, laced with venom. "You’ll find no victory here, only despair."

Amore tightened her grip on her sword. "You’ll not have the empire, Sombra. I will see to that!"

The battlefield fell eerily silent for a moment as Amore did a quick scan of the area around her, seeing no sign of her nemesis.

Amore then began to move steady, her hooves splashing through pools of blood spilled by friend and foe alike. The lifeless bodies of Crystal Imperial guards and umbrum soldiers littered the ground, forcing her to step over the bodies..

As Amore continued to look for the umbrum pony, two magic bolts impacted her armor, causing her to flinch.

Amore swung around to see two umbrum unicorns standing, one holding a sword in his magic while the other holding a bow and arrow. Both their horns were smoking.

Amore shot forward towards them, both of them widening their eyes as they started to fire their magic bolts and arrows at her who had casted a magic shield.

Amore fired a magic bolt at one of the umbrum unicorns in his head, killing him.

The other umbrum unicorn immediately jumped to the side as Amore swung her sword before he fired his arrow at her desperately.

Amore quickly grabbed the arrow with her magic and flicked it back to the attacker, impaling it into his neck. He gurgled against the blood as he fell onto the ground before slowly going limp.

Amore took a deep breath as she flicked her sword to get rid of the blood.

However, Amore's break was short-lived as she heard hoofsteps getting close to her very quick. Instinctively, she turned around to face the danger.

A sharp scream filled the air as Amore felt the blade of the scythe embedded itself in her belly and through her back and her armor, the weapon being held in King Sombra.

Amore gasped in pain, tightening her grip on her sword before impaling it into the umbrum pony's side, eliciting a hiss of pain from him before he forcefully removed his scythe.

Amore collapsed onto the ground and tried to fire a magic bolt at him, but Sombra quickly fired a magic bolt at her horn, shattering it into pieces. She screamed in pain as her magic holding her sword disappeared, leaving it embedded in his side.

The umbrum pony grabbed Amore's neck with his magic and lifted her in the air as she gasped in agony, her forehooves gripping her neck while her hindlegs weakly swung.

Sombra then removed the crystal sword off of his side with his magic, hissing in pain before he proceeded to stab it into Amore, eliciting a scream of pain from her as he left it in her.

Amore coughed up some blood as she glared at the umbrum pony, all while breathing painfully and blood spilling out from her wound.

"You fought valiantly, Amore." Sombra sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "But this is where your legacy ends for good."

The umbrum pony lifted Amore higher in the air before brutally throwing her int the air and across the empire. He watched as Amore disappeared behind the smoke.

< < < < < < < < < 💙 > > > > > > > > >

Cadance pressed forward, urgency etched across her face as she called out. "Come on! My mother needs every help she needs!"

Shining, Hurricane, and Clover exchanged a determined glance before nodding in unison. Without hesitation, they followed the Princess of Love, their hooves pounding against the cobblestones as they raced toward the marketplace.

Suddenly, a heavy thud interrupted their charge. A body slammed into the ground before them, sending up a cloud of dust. The group skidded to a halt, startled yelps escaping as they shielded their faces from the gritty air.

As the dust slowly settled down, Cadance and her husband's hearts sunk when the body revealed to be a heavily injured Amore.

"Mom? MOM!" The Princess of Love shouted in deep pain as she rushed toward her mother, horrified at her mother's many injuries and her broken horn.

The prince followed close behind, his expression horrified. "Oh... Celestia..." He muttered as he knelt beside his wife, dread pooling in his chest while Hurricane and Clover stood frozen at the sight of Amore.

Cadance gently cradled her mother’s head, tears welling in her eyes. "Mom, please, stay with me." She pleaded, her voice shaking as the weight of the moment threatened to crush her.

A faint, shallow breath escaped Amore’s lips, the only sign that life still clung to her ravaged body.

"She's still alive!" Shining shouted, Hurricane and Clover rushing in after being stunned at the sight.

"We got to get your mother out of here, your highness! She won’t survive without immediate medical attention!" Clover responded urgency,

"I know!" Cadance snapped, using some healing spell to heal some injuries on her mother's body.

Together, the three ponies picked up Amore and placed her onto the Princess of Love's back before escaping the fallen empire.

Cadance looked back to the Crystal Empire to see it encompassed in black smoke which raised into the sky.

As the four ponies and near dead Amore began to make their journey to meet up with the others, on the border of the Frozen North, the survivors finally reached safety.

The civilians and the remaining Crystal Imperial guards looked as chariots and carriages pulled by ponies and creatures came into view as they began to slow down. Moments later, they stopped, medics from across Equestria jumping out off the chariots and carriages as they began to treat the wounded and comfort the despondent families in any way they could.

Soon, supplies were set out and makeshift shelters were set up as RGs, ERGs and the Crystal Imperial guards from the empire and across the Equestria set up a perimeter to watch for any lurking threats.

Medics rushed to greet the Princess of Love and the others as they finally reached safety themselves. They looked over Amore, grim and horrified looks on their faces.

"We need to operate on her, ASAP!" One of the medics shouted as they took Amore into a nearby tent to begin their work.

Everything had become just too much for Cadance to handle.

The world begins to shift for the Princess of Love, she barely noticed Flurry Heart crying and hugging her left foreleg, Shining comforting her or Hurricane and Clover being treated for their wounds while reuniting with Nimbus Dash, Grimhoof and the others who came.

"Your highness? You're injured, you need to be checked out." A crystal bat pony doctor asked as she approached Cadance.

"I'm... okay. I'm... really..." The Princess of Love managed to say, before slipping in to unconsciousness.

Author's Note

Crystal Empire has been conquered...