Author's Note

I was going to write a blog about this, but thought it might be better off here in the author's notes.

First and foremost, I want to warn everyone that this is a collaboration with my girlfriend. It will contain some cursing and scenes that normally won't be in my stories though there will be nothing explicit. There will be mentions of rape, forced prostitution, slaver, drugs, drug usage, drug selling, torture and murder. Nothing graphic though and will only take place over the first few chapters.

Also, this story will partially be canon for the pony world though there will be changes. Such as one of my favorite head canons dealing with Celestia, Sunset, Trixie and Twilight. As for Equestria Girls, Sunset has never stepped foot into Canterlot High and won't until after the first few chapters. All of the normal Equestria Girls will be present as this will be in that universe with some changes that will be revealed as time goes on.

I should probably mention the change of plans on the release schedule for this story. As I mentioned before I was planning on releasing one chapter a week on Saturday's to have time between working on it to have time to work on my other things. This won't be the case as my GF wants to publish them once we finish and look over them. This is good news as far as this story goes as it may see more updates than one a week. I'll try to still work on my other stuff, but while my GF is this excited about working on this with me, this will likely be priority.

I'd also like to thank Wysteria who was a big part in forging the ideas for this story as well as BiomasterM2 for all of the help he gave me on my stories so far.

Arc I Chapter 1

“Why am I even bothering?” Twilight huffed for what seemed like the millionth time as the light filtering through the large windows died down as Celestia’s sun lowered into the horizon while Luna’s moon rose into what was now quickly becoming the night sky.

Every pony else was off doing their part to get the wedding set back up for first thing in the morning, a wedding that Twilight was banned from attending. Yet here she was in the reception hall helping the guards pick up the broken mess the changelings had caused in their invasion. Something that still shocked Twilight as they whole thing was illogical. Not the invasion itself, but the wedding as the Capital was on high alert due to a then unknown threat. Who in their right mind throws a wedding in the middle of something so important?

Yet Twilight and her friends were summoned from Ponyville to not only attend a wedding she should have known about months ago, but to help prepare for it. Of course one of the first things Twilight had brought up with the princess was questioning just how wise having such an important wedding during a state of emergency. It was crazy as there were so many things that could wrong, though no pony had even dared to suspect what had happened.

At least no pony except for Twilight as she knew something was wrong with Cadence. She still couldn’t understand how she could see just how wrong the fake Cadence had been after not seeing her for two years while Princess Celestia, who had most likely seen her on a daily basis, didn’t realize anything was wrong. As much as Twilight once respected Princess Celestia, she never believed the Princess to be so irresponsible and inattentive to all of the signs that the false cadence displayed. After all, any pony who knew Cadence knew that no amount of stress could make the Princess of Love treat any pony the way she did.

And yet not only did Cadence’s aunt, but her own brother as well overlooked all of it. And while her brother may have had a better excuse as Twilight wasn’t sure how much affect the changeling Queen’s magic on her brother. No matter what though, what he said to her hurt. It crushed her heart that he could say those things to her as she was almost certain it didn’t come from whatever spell was used on him, no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise.

“Lady Sparkle.” One of the day guards said, his voice stiff as was his posture. It was normal for them to act that way when on official business so Twilight didn’t let it bother her. Though she had a sinking feeling about what he could want with her as it was obviously not just a simple greeting.

“Yes?” Twilight asked arching an eyebrow. She may not have been upset with the guards, none of this was their fault after all, but she wasn’t in the mood for the Princess’s games right now. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically and the Princess was a big part of the reason why.

“Her majesty Princess Celestia requests your presence in her personal chambers.” The guard said, giving her a brief look of sympathy. The same look that some of the guards had given her as they cleaned up after the invasion. They knew she was hurting and felt bad for the way she had been treated by the others.

“Tell her to buck off.” Twilight said softly, the stallion’s ears twitching a little as a look of shock crossed his features almost making it worth it, a small giggle threatening to escape. Any other time she would be laughing at the expression. “Sorry, tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The guard bowed, turning to go and stopped. “For what it’s worth, we feel that you got a raw deal. We’re very sorry for what you had to go through.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said, fighting back the urge to cry. She watched as the guard nodded and trotted off to deliver the message to the Princess.

“He’s right Lady Sparkle,” One of the guards who were helping clean up said. Twilight couldn’t help feeling the urge to roll her eyes at being addressed in that way, but resisted it. She knew it was proper protocol as she was technically from a noble family though unlike others never took advantage of that fact and actually hid it. “We all feel bad that none of us knew Princess Cadence had been replaced with a fake.”

“It wasn’t your fault, you all aren’t her family.” Twilight said, sighing when she saw the pony flinch at the thinly veiled accusation thrown out towards Princess Celestia.

“To be fair, the Princess has had a lot on her plate lately.” The guard said, “Still, you were wronged and all of us deeply regret that we couldn’t have prevented it.”

“Don’t worry about it, you all do a great job around here. You can’t go against the Princess’s orders like saying no to putting on a wedding that could be postponed when there is a state of emergency.” Twilight said, feeling angry again at the fact that it was exactly what happened.

“We are pretty much finished here, why don’t you go see what the Princess wants and get some rest.” An older stallion that was also dressed in the armor of the royal guard said coming over to sit by the other one facing Twilight.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, not really wanting to shrug her duties off onto some pony else. Something she was growing tired off with Princess Celestia after today as it appeared that none of her hard work meant anything. Not to her friends, not to her brother and not to her beloved mentor. None of them trusted in her when she tried to talk to them and none of them even looked into it when she confronted the bug at the rehearsal.

“We’re positive. Go and get some rest my dear.” The older guard said flashing her a smile.

“Okay, I think I will. Thank you.” Twilight said, nodding her head to them. “Have a peaceful night you two.”

“Rest well my Lady.” The guard said as Twilight turned and left the hall heading towards the tower that housed the forbidden wing as well as Celestia’s private chambers. Many of the artifacts that were kept in the castle to keep away from the wrong hooves were kept directly below Celestia’s suite of rooms where she could keep a close eye on them.

As she made her way down the corridor though, something felt a bit off about everything. It took several moments to realize that there were no guards standing around making sure that no pony entered into the forbidden wing which started to anger Twilight. Feeling a ripple of magic made her even angrier as she hurried down the hall that branched off where it led down towards the rooms housing everything from forbidden tomes to artifacts of immense power.

Checking the doors as she went to make sure they were all locked tightly, Twilight sighed in relief. So far everything seemed secure and locked up tight. Still, she knew she didn’t imagine that ripple of magic. It felt so powerful yet unfamiliar and she couldn’t help wondering if it could be a changeling that somehow avoided the magical barrier that banished the creatures from within Canterlot’s walls.

Finally coming to the door at the end of the hallway she found it was unlocked which unnerved Twilight. She had been down this way more than once and was even shown around each of the room by the Princess herself. She had been in every single room except for this one as Celestia had forbidden her from ever entering. She didn’t have time to think about that now though if there was a thief on the other side of the door pilfering Celestia knew what.

Pushing the door open quickly in hopes of startling whoever was the source of that magic, Twilight was almost disappointed that it was an empty room except for one single mirror. It was a beautiful mirror though, intricate framework around the edges with several old and rare looking gems inlaid in it. Looking at her reflection she saw a mare with a haggard appearance as if the world had trampled her, and in truth it was what she felt like.

“Why do you even bother?” Twilight asked her reflection as she raised a hoof to caress the mirror’s image and gasped. Her hoof was stuck on the mirror and sinking through the surface. Panicking she took her other hoof and pushed against the edge of the mirror trying to pull free, but she stumbled and ended up tripping forward into the mirror. It felt like her body was being twisted and folded in upon itself as she tumbled through a corridor of lights.

Finally with a loud *THUMP* she landed on the other side feeling dazed and a little nauseous at the roller coaster of a ride. As her head stopped spinning as bad she realized that she felt funny, her body just didn’t feel right to her as she brought a hoof up to find instead of a hoof there were five blunted claws. She was about to let out a scream when a claw shoved a cloth in her face and held her against them until her struggles started dying down as she slowly lost consciousness.

Celestia was starting to get worried when Twilight didn’t show up after being summoned. The unicorn had never been late when Celestia called for her, though she supposed the mare had every reason to take her time. After all with everything going on and the stress of the last three days as her hopes of seeing someone she hadn’t seen in almost five years now slowly crumble, she began realizing just how bad she messed up.

All of the signs had been there like Twilight had pointed out to Celestia before even the rehearsal, but out of foolishness she brushed the unicorn off. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Twilight, but she knew how close she was to her brother and knew how stressed Cadence was. At least who she thought was Cadence at the time. She didn’t detect any hints of illusion so why would she suspect anything else. If only she thought about the changelings then as they changed their form on a physical level and didn’t need illusions to hide right under her nose.

Now not only was she mourning another period going by with Sunset Shimmer not coming home through the mirror, but now she was beating herself up for hurting her new student. She couldn’t help wondering if she was a failure as not only did she mess up with Sunset letting her escape through the mirror, now she probably broken the close relationship she once shared with Twilight. And she had no pony to blame for that except for herself.

“Your majesty! We have a problem!” A guard shouted, banging on her door. Using her magic she opened it allowing the pony to enter making Celestia have hope for a few moments, but when she saw the panicked look on his face she knew something was wrong.

“What is wrong captain?” Celestia asked, fearing the worst. She had ordered the chamber that housed the portal to be left unlocked and any guard stationed nearby to be reassigned for the three days it was to be open. She had the captain who was now before her secretly watching it so Sunset wouldn’t be scared of the guards when first coming through and fleeing back. The captain was to calmly approach her and get between Sunset and the mirror and prevent her from escaping back through until Celestia could confront her. Until Celestia could beg her for forgiveness for her part in their argument while hoping Sunset herself was sorry as well. She had hoped that Sunset had learned the lessons Celestia had tried to impart on her while on the other side.

“Twilight Sparkle entered the chamber with the mirror, likely drawn to its magic when it surged.” The captain explained making Celestia feel light headed. She never thought of that, of course the mirror ripples every once in awhile sending out surges of magic. It was harmless, but the magic that powered the mirror and the portal was chaotic in nature.

“Where is she?” Celestia swallowed.

“I tried to get to her, but she feel through your majesty.” The captain said making Celestia sob out. It was now past midnight meaning the portal was closed now for the next two and a half years. Not only did she chase Sunset Shimmer away, now she lost Twilight Sparkle because of her own foolishness.

Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked down the dimly lit hallway in their dorm towards the new girl’s room. She really wished that the new girl wasn’t brought in after hearing Knives and Silver Shot talking about the new arrival who was still sedated after her initial examination. Fingering her collar Sunset couldn’t help feeling sorry for the new girl as she was apparently going to be auctioned off Friday night to the highest bidder. It meant she was still a virgin which made things even worse on the girl.

Even since stumbling through that damn portal and being picked up off the streets by Sombra, Sunset had been trapped here in the Lotus Blossom Gentleman’s Club. It wasn’t a strip bar like the Silver Orchid that Tirek dragged her to as an escort once, but it was worse. Oh so much worse.

Tracing the cool metal of her collar again with a finger, a small golden band that looked like jewelry yet provided painful shocks if they tried to leave the premises without an escort which was nearly never, Sunset couldn’t help wondering if the new girl was collared yet. She also couldn’t help wondering if this new girl would last longer than the last two, or if they would be shipped off to the Silver Orchid or killed. She prayed that if anything she was shipped to the Silver Orchid as she didn’t want to be forced to watch another execution to show the girls what happens when they disobey.

“Did you hear, Lotus?” Iron Will asked, pulling Sunset from her thoughts as she realized the big man was standing there giving her a sad look. Lotus was her working name forced on her by those in charge here. Out of all the men here, Sunset actually liked Iron Will. Unlike the other men, he didn’t force himself on the girls. Not that he was never with any of them as Sunset had comforted him once or twice herself. He was only there because his father dragged him into this, though his father was still dead. Iron Will was trapped now though as the only way out for him was death and he needed the money he made for his mother’s medical bills.

“About the new girl?” Sunset asked, sighing sadly upon seeing his upset look. He hated the way they were treated here and Sunset knew just how much the things he was forced to do bothered him.

“Yeah. Silver Shot caught her stumbling around the school on his way back from a deal.” Iron Will said, most likely wondering the same thing Sunset was. Was the new girl a student? It would confirm that she was Sunset’s age or close to it. “Poor girl. Something must have happened to her since the Doc said she wasn’t drunk or high.”

“I’ll try and help her.” Sunset sighed, knowing the girl was going to need it and the other girls wouldn’t care.

“I know you will, you’re a good kid.” Iron Will said, “I have to go, I was just dropping her off in her room. Tirek has some things he wants Tank and me to take care of.”

“Just stay safe Iron.” Sunset said kissing his cheek before walking down the hall, her sheer robe billowing out like a cape as she hurried to the room she could hear giggling and talking coming from.

Pushing into the room Sunset couldn’t help feeling as if she knew the girl who looked to be just waking up. Sunset pushed herself to the front of the room, at first angering the girls at being pushed aside though quickly kept themselves from protesting when they saw who it was. Sunset was Tirek’s favorite after all and she was both looked up to and feared by the others.

“Where am I?” The girl asked, her voice adding to the familiar vibe Sunset was getting from the girl. “What happened to my hooves!?”

“Another freak.” One of the girls snorted making Sunset shoot her a glare while also feeling a sense of dread.

“Get out!” Sunset snapped as she twirled around to glare at the gathered girls.

“But…” Ivy tried to protest, the green haired girl swallowing nervously upon seeing the fire in Sunset’s eyes. Fire in her eyes was never a good thing.

“We’re going, have fun with the freak!” Daisy snorted as she walked out with the others, shutting the door after them.

“Hey there, don’t be afraid. My name’s Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset said softly as the girl looked up at her in fright.

“What are you!?” The girl cried out, looking as if she would start hyperventilating at any moment.

“I’m the same thing you are, a human.” Sunset said slowly, “You do know what a human is, right?

“What’s a human?” The girl asked slowly sitting up more as Sunset sat down on the bed next to her.

“First answer a question for me. Does the name Princess Celestia mean anything to you?” Sunset asked, hoping that she was wrong and the girl was just shaking off the effects of a bad trip. Somehow she knew better as she was sure she seen this girl somewhere before.

“Of course it does! Who doesn’t know Princess Celestia?” The girl cried out, though there was a deep pain in her eyes.

“What is your name?” Sunset asked softly, already feeling as if she knew the answer. She was beginning to suspect the identity of the girl and it was making her angry. This looked like the bitch that was a big reason Celestia discarded Sunset. If not for that damned unicorn Sunset would never have ended up here and would be safe at home in the castle.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said as she kept looking down at her fingers as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“You are in Canterlot, but not the Canterlot you know.” Sunset explained, “Did Celestia send you to find me?”

“No. I don’t even know who you are. I’ve never seen you before.” The girl said, shaking her head which angered Sunset even more. A small part of her was hoping that Celestia just didn’t simply forget about her and sent someone to rescue her. “I was in the castle investigating a magic surge when I fell through a mirror.”

“So you are the Princess’s personal student?” Sunset asked, a flash of hurt and anger flashing in Twilight’s eyes at that.

“No! I don’t mean anything to her apparently.” Twilight said hanging her head. “After everything I’ve done for her she wouldn’t even listen. She turned her back on me.”

“Yeah, she seems to do that a lot.” Sunset sighed, her anger at the girl cooling off. She realized it wasn’t her fault that Sunset was here, if any pony’s fault it was Celestia’s as now she drove another student away and into the waiting arms of what Iron Will called evil incarnate.

“What happened to me?” Twilight repeated again, looking up pleadingly to Sunset who sighed. Sunset really didn’t want to tell Twilight that she had become the newest victim of Tirek’s gang of bastards.

“It’s a long story.” Sunset said crawling farther into the bed and leaning back against the bars of the high headboard. “One I really wish you didn’t have to hear about.”