Kingdom of Loving: Fear and Loving in the Crystal Empire

Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Crystal Empire
Chapter 2 - Nude Business
Chapter 3 - Alone Time
Chapter 4 - Breakfast and a Show
Chapter 6 - The Pony in the Library
Chapter 7 - The Other Pony in the Library
Chapter 9 - Dinner and a Plot
Chapter 10 - The Conversations in the Darkness
Chapter 11 - A Royal Invitation
Chapter 12 - Reservation for 100,000
Chapter 13 - Darkness, My Old Friend
Chapter 14 - You're Not Alone
Chapter 15 - There and On Her Back Again
Chapter 5 - Twilight Sparkle's Day Out
Chapter 8 - The Voices in the Darkness

Chapter 1 - The Crystal Empire

My faithful student,

I have received your letter and have spent some time in deliberation regarding your request to visit the Crystal Empire. Your brother’s announcement has taken us all by surprise, it seems, and has placed a great burden upon me. Though he has served as liaison to Princess Cadance on my behalf for some time I was not aware of such developments. This troubles me and I am reluctant to grant such a request on such short notice.

No doubt you are aware of the Crystal Empire’s history and why our borders are closed. It is not my place to condemn Cadance for her beliefs, but I cannot allow my charges - my Equestria - to be at risk.

It is also not my place to deprive you of this most joyous occasion, or to deny you your every right as Shining Armor’s sister. I trust that you, in all your training, shall remain faithful to your duties and, most importantly, your values, as I have instructed you.

I expect to receive a full report on your return.

Your teacher,

Princess Celestia

Chapter 1: The Crystal Empire

Twilight Sparkle sighed softly as she folded the letter and tucked it neatly back into its envelope. There was a heaviness about Celestia’s reply to her request to visit her brother in the Crystal Empire that she didn’t often see. Usually such seriousness only applied to great threats to Equestria’s Harmony. To think that Celestia viewed the Crystal Empire, fellow ponies, as such a thing was a little alarming.

Twilight tucked the envelope into her traveling bookbag and nervously fiddled with the clasp, delicate fingers missing the buckle a few times before she surrendered to it just being left unbuckled. Her lavender gaze turned towards the window to watch the countryside roll past as the passenger car rumbled onward. Except for the conductor and engineer she was the only other pony on board the train. The fact that this railway was even opened was an effort of royal undertaking. This line had not been used in some time, and was only for special occasions decreed by Celestia herself. Sitting in the lavish compartment by herself made her feel more self-conscious than giving a presentation in front of all her peers in Canterlot. At least then, she knew what she was talking about. She would feel prepared.

This was going to be so very different.

Naturally Twilight had consumed every ounce of literature on the Crystal Empire that she could get her hands on, which hadn’t been much considering the library’s section on it had been sealed. Contact with the Empire was forbidden. Equestrian citizens could not visit unless on royal permission and in all her time in Canterlot there had never been a single envoy from the Empire. From what she had gleaned there were two major factors that had led to Celestia cutting off contact.

The first was Sombra. Thousands of years ago, the Crystal Empire had been a place of magical innovation. King Sombra was, without doubt, a powerful and talented unicorn and had ruled peacefully for decades. But then came the Shadow. In exploring all avenues of magic Sombra had delved into the forbidden arts, forgotten ways, and things better left unexplored. His subjects were enslaved in his mad quest for power and eventually Celestia and her sister Luna, the two Princesses of Equestria, stepped in to put an end to his mad rule.

It was still so strange to think of Celestia as millennia old, but Twilight had come to terms with that a long time ago, at least to prevent herself from simply driving her mad with questions about life in Equestria a thousand years ago.

Perhaps the more curious case, and one that was more relevant to Twilight, was Princess Cadance. She had been Celestia’s apprentice before her. From what she was able to gather Cadance was a prodigy, a talented wonder, and she had ascended to alicorn status sooner than anypony had expected. Celestia did not like to talk about her even though she had been Twilight’s predecessor, and when asked, she often changed the subject. Twilight had to do a little snooping, and it was impossible to separate the rumor from truth.

Cadance was Celestia’s apprentice, it was true, and her power was astounding. That alone made the prospect of visiting the Crystal Empire intimidating. Some said she had been risking corruption, disobeying Celestia, and playing dangerous games. If that were true, wouldn’t she have been banished like Luna had been?

Twilight shuddered in her seat and shifted slightly, realizing she had been letting her thoughts wander unpleasantly. She gently tugged the hem of her pleated purple plaid skirt and uncrossed her hooves. They were almost there.

The conductor lugged Twilight’s travel case onto the platform and quickly ducked back onto the train like he feared some sort of ambush. Twilight glanced around the crystalline structure with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment. The building was a typical train station, yes, but it was carved of the most delicate and intricate crystal-work she’d ever seen. Equestria used wood and stone, but the Crystal Empire was definitely living up to its name. The sunlight overhead glistened down through the pillars that held up an emerald roof, casting glittering beams across the landing. In the distance she could see various other structures of topaz and sapphire and zircon rising into the air, all flickering and glistening as though they were lit from within. In the distance she could see a towering crystal spire of such regal splendor that it was impossible to miss, no doubt the castle.

Behind her, the train hissed and lurched towards the turn junction. She glanced over one shoulder, uncertain if she should run to catch up with it and leave this strange new place behind her. Swallowing firmly, Twilight told herself she was here for one pony, and one pony alone, and that no matter what she’d never miss her brother’s wedding.

“Twily!” came the familiar voice from within the train station.

She was already smiling when she looked back to see her brother, that strapping white stallion, walking towards her. Though he was a few years older, he still looked like that boyish rascal that she remembered, his blue mane tossed a little jauntily on his head. He’d combed it, at least, she could definitely tell. He was wearing something a little odd, even by his standards - a toga with a simple belt wrapped his toned body, hanging loosely from one shoulder but providing modesty by hanging nearly down to his hooves. Twilight, in her purple blazer, pleated plaid skirt, and white blouse felt slightly overdressed.

“Shining,” Twilight said as she stepped forward to accept her brother’s hug. “It’s so good to see you!” Her short muzzle brushed against the side of his broader, stouter one in a sisterly kiss.

“You too. I was worried you wouldn’t come. Mom and Dad, uh,” Shining said, fumbling slightly at the mention of their parents. “They said they weren’t allowed.”

“I know, this has all been really strange. Celestia barely gave me permission.”

“Well, ah,” Shining continued in his awkward way, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What is it?” Twilight prompted. Her brother had been living in the Crystal Empire for several years now, after having been appointed as the official liaison by Celestia. It was quite an honor, but if anything unusual was going on in the north, Shining would know about it.

Shining pinned his ears back and his cheeks flushed slightly. His white fur made it easy to see that he was blushing.

“Shining…?” Twilight drove on, knowing that her brother could be a little difficult, especially when he thought he was protecting his sister by not saying something.

“It’s just that, y’know, the Crystal Kingdom is very different from Canterlot,” he managed after a few seconds of shifting his weight on his hooves. “Celestia doesn’t permit - er, like visitors for a reason.”

“Crystal Kingdom?” Twilight repeated, giving him a curious cant of her head.

“Oh, yeah, that’s what they prefer to be called here. The whole ‘Empire’ thing has trappings of old Sombra, you know?”

“Right. Well, how different could it be?” Twilight asked as she grabbed the handle on her travel case, popping it up. “Come on, aren’t we supposed to be staying at the castle?”

“You might want to take a second, Twi,” Shining said and hastily stepped in front of his sister. “Look, Cadance is uh. Very liberal.”

Twilight gave her brother a look that suggested this wasn’t surprising news. “That’s part of why I’m here, Shining. I’m here to learn everything I can about the Crystal Emp--Crystal Kingdom.” She moved to push past him and he hastily fumbled to keep up.

Shining’s cheeks had not stopped burning pinkly since Twilight had started towards the crystal archway leading off the platform. “I just don’t think we should go too fast!”

“Too fast with what, Shining? You’re acting like I’m some little filly! I’m an adult, I can handle a little culture shock. How bad could it be?” Twilight said with a confident smirk over her shoulder. The wheels on her travel case clattered softly over the polished crystal flooring.

When she turned back around to look where she was going, Twilight stopped. Waiting inside the train station was a reception of sorts, with a big banner that said “Welcome to the Crystal Kingdom!” strung between two pillars. That was absolutely not what Twilight saw. Instead, the first thing she took notice of was the group of ponies standing there, smiling happily. Two dozen or so ponies of every color of the rainbow were gathered together like they were expecting a group photo.

And they were all naked.

“Welcome!” every voice said in unison.

Twilight’s gaze fell from their smiling faces to exposed breasts to the hanging members of the collected crowd. She felt it rising up in her throat, but couldn’t stop it. Like a filly who’d just seen a mouse, she let out a shrill scream that startled the crowd as much as it startled her.

Shining was there, quick to wrap his arms protectively around his sister.

This was absolutely not going to be easy.

Twilight’s fingers were still trembling slightly, and she couldn’t stop the heat burning in her cheeks. Her ears were practically living inside her tricolor mane, and her eyes were affixed to the cup of tea that sat in front of her. She was afraid to lift it off the small saucer for fear she’d spill it. Across the small, round table, Shining was leaning on his elbows on the table.

“I tried to tell you,” he said, both apologetic and slightly smug.

“No,” Twilight said, having to swallow to get the dry sensation out of her mouth. “No, it’s not that. I’m just not…”

“Comfortable?”

“No! No, not comfortable, just not used to...seeing...that many…”

Shining cleared his throat and pointed slightly to one side of the table. They were sitting outdoors at a small cafe not far from the train station. This had the effect of giving Twilight a sense of comfort while also providing a bit more exposure, something she felt would help her if she could just calm her nerves a bit. Glancing in the direction her brother indicated, she saw the waitress coming out of the small shop with a pot of tea in one hand, and absolutely nothing else adorning her figure.

She wasn’t unattractive, by most standards. Slightly older than Twilight, she was a minty green color, her mane was a brilliant orange to contrast. Her figure was svelte and lean, with full, round breasts on display thanks to her lack of clothing. They were perky and firm with dark green nipples exposed through her fur. She had a charming smile and her cutie mark was a teacup.

“Can I get you two anything else?” the waitress asked. Twilight was finding it difficult not to stare, so she kept her eyes down on the cup in front of her. She hadn’t even taken a sip. A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder and Twilight tensed visibly as the waitress leaned over, her breasts swaying precariously just on the edge of the unicorn’s vision.

“No thanks, we’re fine,” Shining said for them, which was good because Twi wasn’t certain she could manage an appreciative croak without spitting out something about boobs. She nearly began to sweat as she kept her eyes straight with all the discipline of a military mare.

“Alright. Call me if you do need anything, it’s not often we get a visit from the prince-to-be!” Turning around, the waitress flicked her orange tail over her pert rump and swayed her hips in what was clearly a display of grace and practice. Twilight couldn’t help but let her gaze tilt a little sideways, mostly because if anypony had gyrated away from her brother like that in full clothing, she’d feel like they were flirting. Or maybe it had been aimed in her direction?

“So,” Shining said to get her attention back. Twilight nearly lept out of her seat as if somepony had startled her.

“Right, um. Everypony’s naked.”

“Yes,” Shining said with a slight grin.

“Shining,” Twilight chided. She gave him a look that said it wasn’t funny and he flinched like she’d just punched him in the arm.

“Sorry. Yes, the Crystal Kingdom is very, very liberal.”

“You said that already,” Twi grumbled as she managed to pick up her teacup.

“I know, but you can’t really understand it until you’re in it. I guess I’ve kinda gotten used to it.”

“Are you telling me you enjoy this kind of thing?”

“What?” Shining blurted, glancing around quickly. “No, Twi, it’s not...it’s not like that. This isn’t something perverted or wrong or something everypony’s doing just to get a thrill.”

“How is walking around with your thing--how is it not perverted?” Twi’s tone hardened slightly. In Equestria, Canterlot and Ponyville especially, it was seen as uncouth to even discuss nudity or sexual ideas. For some, it was difficult to even broach privately, and what ponies did intimately in the privacy of their own homes was considered sacrosanct. To parade it out in front of everypony, to walk out in the open with breasts and penises all on display would probably be considered a criminal offense. In fact, public nudity was a statue of Equestrian law.

Shining frowned. “It’s really complicated. I mean, I can tell you when I first got here, it was just as strange. Ponies go around naked like it isn’t a big deal, day in and day out. In public. At restaurants. Even at the castle. But that’s something you sort of have to accept here. It isn’t a big deal. Not here.

“Look around you for a second.” Shining gestured emphatically out to the street just beyond the wrought-diamond fence that blocked off the cafe’s outdoor area. “Tell me what you see.”

Twilight followed her brother’s wave with a roll of her eyes, but she humored him. Out on the gemstone-encrusted walkway there were several ponies who, at first glance, wouldn’t be unusual to see walking down the streets of Ponyville - were it not for their complete lack of clothing. They were all various colors, some bright, some pastel. They were talking, laughing, even holding hands.

“I see a lot of penises,” Twi huffed.

“Twilight,” Shining scolded. His stern tone made her flinch this time.

“I see ponies, Shining,” Twilight sighed.

“Exactly. You see ponies. What they’re doing is no different from what anypony in Ponyville would be doing. But they’re naked.”

“Why are they naked?”

“That’s-”

“Complicated?”

“Yes.” Shining’s ears splayed on his head and he gave Twilight a sympathetic but surrendering shrug. His eyes told her he sincerely regretted not telling her, not warning her sooner, but he was right. There was nothing that could have prepared her for a town full of naked ponies, not in a million years. Maybe there was even a reason he couldn’t tell her outside of showing her.

Twilight straightened up a bit in her seat. Her brother was still her brother, and he was, for better or for worse, a pony that she trusted. She knew he’d never lead her astray, especially when matters of Equestria and harmony were involved. This Crystal Empire - Crystal Kingdom - posting was no doubt stressful on him, being away from his family and his friends and familiar faces, and to couple that with all this must have been quite disorienting.

“Princess Cadance - she is a princess, you know - is the Princess of Love. Even before she left Canterlot, she was very in touch with ponies and their feelings,” Shining started, taking a sip from his teacup. Twilight managed to do the same.

“But you have to understand, Celestia is very set in her ways. Maybe it’s because she’s lived a long time and things used to be different. Maybe it’s because of...well, you know.”

Twilight didn’t need to be reminded of Luna’s banishment. Everypony in Equestria knew that Celestia’s sister had been overcome by the Nightmare. Just the mention of her name brought a shadow to the conversation and both ponies gave it a moment to pass in silence.

“Anyway. Celestia was always very strict about things, but Cadance was a prodigy. She was the most powerful student Celestia had ever seen. And each princess has a special talent, something that she’s tied to. Celestia is the Sun, Luna was the Moon. Cadance is Love.”

“Love?” Twilight repeated flatly, as if that sounded a bit too cliche even for her.

“Love,” Shining affirmed. “From an early age she was very open about her feelings, and love was something that came easily. Love of friends, love of family, and eventually, as she grew up, more amorous kinds.”

Twilight shifted a little in her seat again. Equestria was a place that was a little more reserved, perhaps conservative, but she herself had been more awkward than most. She preferred reading and study to going out and she’d certainly never had a boyfriend. The topic of intimacy was a hard one.

“Celestia thought Cadance might be going a bit too far when she started talking about openness, and how suppressing their feelings was bad,” Shining continued. “Like somehow, not embracing who you are and your feelings was bad for Harmony. Covering up was just hiding who you are inside.”

“Celestia didn’t agree there,” Twilight said dryly, but it wasn’t a question.

“Yeah, she didn’t. That’s part of the reason Cadance left.”

“Left?” Twilight raised a brow. “Cadance left Equestria? She wasn’t banished?”

“No,” Shining said, sounding a little surprised at the notion. “Cadance willingly left Equestria after Celestia told her that her practices had to stop. She came to the north and found the Crystal Empire.”

“And all the ponies here, they wanted to follow Cadance’s ideas about...love?”

“Yeah. Free love. One of the tenants of the Crystal Kingdom is that no action taken out of love is harmful. But it’s a balancing act between your emotions and your instincts, if that makes any sense. Lust is an instinct, if left unchecked you do things on a base level. Love is an emotion, a feeling that you can control. Yes, there is an openness about physical emotions, and things like sex, but it’s more than just obeying your physical urges. Love, truly loving somepony, is about all the things that make you want to be with them, more than just their appearance or their parts.”

Twilight tilted her head. Shining sighed.

“It’s really complicated. Cadance is better at explaining it than I am.”

“Speaking of,” Twilight said to ease her brother’s visible awkwardness. “You’re getting married.” Her smile returned for the first time since they’d left the train platform.

“Yeah,” Shining said with a little grin. His ears flattened back again.

Twilight sighed. “Look, I don’t understand a lot of this. It’s weird, or maybe I’m just weird. But I do know one thing. You’re my brother and I love you, and I want to see you happy.”

Shining looked over the table at his sister, smiling. She smiled back and drank the rest of her tea in one gulp.

“Let’s go meet my future sister-in-law.”

Chapter 2 - Nude Business

Chapter 2: Nude Business

The castle at the heart of the Crystal Kingdom was nothing short of astounding. Like the buildings around it it was built of pure crystal, although its smooth surface was polished to a brilliant sheen. Just the architectural design alone was beautiful and unique, but its scale was completely breathtaking. Walking underneath the massive arches that supported the tower-like castle’s base, Twilight felt for the first time like she could forget about the naked ponies in the streets, even as she walked past guard after guard whose halberds and helmets did nothing to hide the fact that they hung loose and free between the legs, or flaunted their breasts in the open.

Shining was beside her the entire time, explaining that the kingdom had very advanced magical services, thanks in large part to the crystals that were naturally attuned. Twilight was talented in magical theory and she could feel the constant thrum of background magic that pervaded the kingdom. As they stepped onto a large, circular platform in the center of the castle’s grounds, she was taken by surprise when it suddenly began to rise, levitating into the air with the slightest of whirs. It was no machine - it was magical, plain and simple.

Twilight was starting to feel slightly impressed.

The rising platform ascended to the bottom of the castle overhead, slotting neatly into a carved corridor. It seamlessly blended with a massive crystal mural in the center of a grand hallway which boasted a towering vaulted ceiling, supported by crystal pillars that curved organically, like it had all been carved out of one solid block.

Nothing at all looked like it could top Twilight’s morning, seeing her first strange, naked pony in a foreign kingdom composed entirely of crystal. She was in the middle of truly appreciating how utterly beautiful the stained glass - or were they crystal - windows that filtered the sunlight into multicolored shafts of radiant light when there was a grand shuddering grind from the gigantic doors at one end of the hall.

Stepping through the vast, open arch was a tall and graceful pony. She stood at least a head taller than Twilight, and half a head taller than Shining. Her pink fur was meticulously groomed, and she sported a three-color mane styled immaculately to frame her slender and beautiful face. On her head she wore a golden crown set with a purple gemstone that sat just forward of her long horn, a symbol of an alicorn’s magical potency. At the end of her elegantly long legs she wore golden hoofcaps that clapped with each swaying step she took over the crystal steps leading down towards the hallway proper.

Those were, as far as Twilight could see, the only articles of adornment the alicorn wore.

Cadance approached with a sweet smile, her wings - tipped in a gentle purple towards the ends of their slender flight-feathers - spread slightly to either side in a display of plumage unique to alicorns. Behind her, her tail swayed with the slow sashay of her hips. Every motion she made was one of fluid and serene calm, and Twilight felt her cheeks burning hot when she realized that Cadance was not just naked, she was gorgeous. For the first time she dared to look at the princess’ breasts, and was surprised to find them distinctly average. No larger than a handful, and with very slightly darker magenta nipples peeking through the fur covering them, Cadance did not seem to overboast her endowments - but neither did she understate them.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Cadance said in a sweet and genuine tone of friendliness and welcome. “A pleasure to finally meet my sister-in-law-to-be.”

Twilight shook her head slightly and extended a hand in greeting. “A p-pleasure,” she stammered, unsure of how to respond.

Cadance gently cradled the outstretched fingers, turned Twilight’s hand upright, and kissed the top of her knuckles. She gave a little smile that made Twilight’s heart skip a beat. Was this some sort of magic? Was this a trick, or was Cadance simply too charming?

“Please, let me know if there’s anything I can do for you to make your stay more comfortable,” Cadance soothed the poor unicorn, who looked as frazzled as when she’d first stepped off the train and into the waiting welcoming party of nudity.

“O-Of course. Sorry, I just,” Twilight searched for words, looking over at her brother, who gave her an encouraging nod. “This is all so very new to me, and I’ve never, um.”

“Never seen so much of a princess before, right?” Cadance said as she placed her slender hands on her shapely hips, thrusting out her chest daringly. Twilight felt her cheeks flushing hotly.

“N-No. I mean! Of course not. The only other princess I know is Celestia!”

“And I’m sure her boobs are still left to your imagination,” Cadance’s grin turned slightly naughty and Twilight was sure her face looked almost as pink as the alicorn’s coat.

“Cadance, you’re going to give my sister a heart attack,” Shining said with a little chuckle as he stepped up to the princess’ side. It diverted enough attention to allow Twilight a blink.

“Oh, alright, Shining dear. I just don’t want her to feel left out,” Cadance mused, turning to Shining and slipping a hand up through his mane. The two fell into a series of kisses, muzzles meeting, lips parting, and tongues very gracefully petting across one another.

“Not in front of Twily,” Shining murmured between hot passes of mouth, but he hadn’t stopped the constant smacking lipping with his fiance.

Twilight cleared her throat as if to make both of them aware she was still very much present, and Shining turned a little rosy himself when he stepped away from Cadance. She very briefly hoped that was just a fold in his toga and not what she imagined it to be.

“Mm, of course. Why don’t you go slip into something more comfortable and I’ll make sure she’s seen to her chambers,” Cadance suggested, with a heavy emphasis on the suggestion. A delicate finger traced the underside of Shining’s chin and Twilight swore she saw him shiver. That uncomfortable feeling was starting to rise back up in the pit of her stomach again.

“Right, I’ll give you two time to, ah, catch up,” Shining said, and quickly turned away from the pair to head up the stairs at the rear of the grand hall.

Cadance giggled. “He’s so cute when he’s worried about impressing his sister.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to worry about that,” Twilight said appreciatively, very grateful for the break in passionate displays of affection. “This place is amazing, and so...new.”

“New is one word for it, yes,” Cadance said meaningfully. “I assume he’s told you at least a little bit about what we do here.”

“Um, yes. But you know, Shining’s not really the best at explaining…”

“Poor thing still gets flustered when I talk about cocks in front of him,” Cadance said with a lackadaisical sigh. Twilight looked as if she’d just been slapped. “Oh, sorry, sweetie. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s not that. Well, it is. I mean, the concept alone is very unfamiliar. Seeing it all in practice is kind of startling,” Twilight stammered over trying to explain herself, growing redder and redder up her short muzzle.

“It can be a little intimidating, especially when all you’ve heard is Celestia’s way of things,” Cadance admitted, turning towards a side hallway that led off from the center. Her horn lit with soft azure magic and Twilight’s travel case began to follow her. Twilight stepped along just a pace or two behind Cadance, mostly for a reprieve from seeing the princess’ ample bosom. The heart-shaped rump and flicking tail that just beckoned her eyes towards her rear did not help.

“Shining mentioned you might have had disagreements with her,” Twilight prompted hesitantly.

“Yes, and she’s not wrong. At least, for the most part. What works for some ponies doesn’t always work for everypony, though. Some ponies want to be free and open. Some ponies need that control and structure in their lives. Celestia’s always had that burden, trying to be the example for so long, to show everypony how to live that I think she’s forgotten there’s any other way.”

Twilight frowned slightly. It was a good point, and it was something she’d debated before. Celestia was the figurehead of all Equestria. She was like a beacon, both lighting the way and always in view. That was such an enormous responsibility that Twilight still felt like she would never be ready for it even though she was Celestia’s apprentice. One day, she might be in the public spotlight, the thing in everypony’s hearts and minds as their leader. She couldn’t even stand the thought of being naked in a public changing room, let alone in view of all the ponies of all of Equestria.

“So go ahead and ask what you’re going to ask.”

Twilight blinked. That was rather direct, but she was still very hung up on it. “The nudity?”

“It gets pretty hot here,” Cadance said, giving a sideways smirk at the purple unicorn walking who was now walking more beside her as they passed several glistening ruby doors and began to ascend a spiral staircase. Twilight managed a weak little smile even though the joke hadn’t landed. “It’s because everypony who is naked chooses to be. There’s no shaming here. No judgment. We also don’t believe in hiding our feelings any more than we believe in hiding our bodies.”

“So all of this is some effort to help ponies be more comfortable?” Twilight prompted, finding the notion very silly.

“That’s one way of putting it. Some ponies prefer to be naked. Others prefer to fit in, regardless of whether that means wearing clothes or strutting their stuff. But the most important thing here is that we don’t hide our intentions and we don’t double up on our standards.”

“Clothing is a double standard?”

“Think about it. In Equestria, you’re told every day that you have to put on a shirt because it’s just not proper to go out in public naked. But why is that? We’re not born wearing clothes. We don’t sleep wearing clothes. We don’t bathe in our clothes. So sometimes, it’s okay to be naked. Just not all the time. Why?”

Twilight honestly hadn’t considered that. “Because...ponies would...be having sex in the streets?”

“Exactly,” Cadance said, giving a happy flick of her tail. It made her perfect pink butt look all the more appealing as it wiggled with every graceful hoofstep. “In Equestria, you build up this taboo of nudity. Of the naked form. Of sex. When you break that taboo, everypony has a little meltdown.”

Twilight’s cheeks burned redly at the very recent memory of her shrieking at a group of naked ponies.

“Or worse, they’re not able to control themselves and act accordingly. As soon as you expose a pony to even the image of a naked mare, they’re conditioned to go straight to sexual inclinations. Here, we take away that taboo. It’s not forbidden to show what you have. It’s not against the rules to say what you feel. And it certainly isn’t against the rules to have sex. In Equestria, you equate nudity with the forbidden, and by making it forbidden, you make it wrong. And it isn’t wrong, Twilight.”

“But that’s ridiculous,” Twilight protested, shaking her head to clear the piling thoughts that were starting to argue amongst themselves. “You can’t say that just because we wear clothes, we turn into depraved sexual deviants the moment we see another pony naked.”

“And because we don’t wear clothes, we do?” Cadance challenged. She came to a stop, turning to face Twilight with a rather amused-looking grin on her small, elegant snout.

Twilight swallowed firmly. She felt like no matter what she said, she was just putting her hoof in her mouth. Everything she knew, everything she was raised to believe, was being challenged by this naked pink mare standing defiantly in front of her. If this were Equestria, Cadance would likely be arrested and carted off to some nice padded cell and strapped into her own matching set of loony pajamas, but this was not Equestria.

“It isn’t about sex. Not just sex, anyway,” Cadance said in a more reassuring tone. Her stance shifted as she placed one hand on her hip and she calmly with the other while she spoke, a picture of serenity and comfort. “Love is based on principles of acceptance and trust. The most important thing, when loving others or loving yourself, is to be truthful. We can’t do that when we’re hiding our feelings behind layers.”

“I think I understand,” Twilight said softly, looking away for just a moment. She did sort of get the metaphor. Clothing obscured what was underneath. Symbolically, that meant that in being naked all the time, the citizens of the Crystal Emp--the Crystal Kingdom were being honest with themselves and with each other. That would imply-

“This is your room, by the way,” Cadance interjected on Twilight’s thoughts. She jumped a little, feeling that familiar presence of warmth flushing through her cheeks when she realized she’d been off on an analytical tangent. She also realized that where Cadance had stopped was not random happenstance to have a serious conversation. They were standing in front of a red ruby door.

“Right, thanks,” Twi said shakily as she took the handle of her travel suitcase from Cadance’s magical aura. The ruby door was not locked and the golden knob turned with the softest of clicks. Were the just no locks on the door out of some ideal of ultimate trust and security, or was it magically attuned to open for her?

The room beyond was nothing short of extravagant. There was a long bed against the left-hand wall, oriented so it jutted out in the middle of the room, its headboard an elegantly carved pink crystal set in wrought gold ivy-work. Thick purple curtains hung from its four posts and canopy to provide privacy even in a locked bedroom. Beside it was a nightstand with a crystalline lamp that cast multicolored rays of light through its stained glass shade. Across the way, a carved oak dresser with a heart-shaped mirror was waiting to be filled with the clothing she brought even though it was likely other ponies had none to store. She was sensing a theme, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how this castle was made out of crystal, every inch of it, from the tinkling chandelier above her head to the walls and floor on which she stood, and still they had room to fit more luxury than she’d ever enjoyed at Canterlot.

"I think you need some time to process everything,” Cadance mentioned with a very convincing sense of sympathy. “You could use some alone-ness to process and reorganize.”

“Oh thank--yes,” Twilight breathed out hurriedly, nearly invoking Celestia’s name as a knot of tension just released in the pit of her stomach. The relief flowed through her like a dam breaking and a weight was lifted from her mind, although it still felt maddeningly full of squirming images that were desperately trying not to settle into something cock-shaped.

“Shining was the same way, you know.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Cadance nodded with a conspiratorial grin. “He was trying so hard not to be judgmental, and you should have seen his first day on guard duty. I thought his neck was going to snap.”

Twilight giggled. It felt good to laugh even if it was at Shining’s expense. The thought of her brother nervously trying not to look at this beautiful mare’s ample bosom was terribly amusing. Twilight herself had failed many times and she wasn’t even into girls.

“But you know he’d never do anything to hurt you. And that trust is what I’m hoping gives me a little more credibility when I say I wouldn’t either.”

Twilight looked at Cadance. The alicorn’s slightly shimmering purple eyes were warm with affection and hope, and Twilight saw a strange vulnerability there. Cadance was a princess, it was true, just like Celestia was. Celestia was so confident, so sure, so proud and regal. To consider that she had an emotion at all under that porcelain expression was almost alien, but here, to Twilight, Cadance was baring her soul. She wanted her future sister-in-law to like her, didn’t she?

“I know. And I do. If Shining trusts you, then so do I.” Twilight smiled brightly.

Cadance tried to hide the soft sigh that whickered through her nostrils, but wasn’t entirely successful. With a little wave she turned to depart, and Twilight, confident that she had just made a new friend of the princess, closed the door behind her.

Chapter 3 - Alone Time

Chapter 3: Alone Time

It had taken Twilight Sparkle all of thirty minutes to convince herself that she was not so confident after all, and after debating it for some time during her unpacking, she had been unable to shake the feeling that something was distinctly wrong here. There was nothing solid, but she had been wracking her brain going over little details and things that just felt off.

Granted, this entire situation felt off, but maybe there was something else, too.

Celestia didn’t like to talk about two things in particular. Luna was the first; her sister had fallen to the Nightmare, a corruption so powerful it claimed a goddess and forced Celestia to banish her sister from Equestria forever. This was considered the worst disaster to ever happen. Where there had once been two princesses, beautiful and kind and watchful, now there was just one. The corruption that had overtaken Luna was widely believed to have come about through hedonism and excess and sadism. She had forsaken the very core values of harmony and as a result became a monster. If Twilight had to guess, that was why Celestia was so reserved - she feared, more than anything, another Nightmare.

Cadance was the second thing Celestia never discussed. Cadance hadn’t been banished, according to Shining, and there were never any official proclamations made. Though it had happened before Twilight was old enough to even read, it would have happened in her lifetime, and that meant there would have been eyewitnesses. No pony in Canterlot or Ponyville knew anything at all about Cadance’s departure. Everything after her ascension as an alicorn was basically nonexistent. Did Celestia do that? Did she seal the records and forbid discussing the princess to prevent some kind of rebellion?

Obviously, Cadance had found ponies willing to follow her teachings. There were enough here in the Crystal Kingdom to maintain the place at the very least, and they all appeared to be subjects of Cadance’s rule. Were they the original inhabitants of the kingdom, too? What had happened to Sombra, the legendary Shadow King? Maybe there was something tied to him going on as well. It was unsettling to think about, but Twilight couldn’t help but think about it.

So many ponies in Ponyville and Canterlot would balk at the thought of...of sex, sexual situations, nudity, lewdness. Was that because it was inherently wrong, that something about the act itself fostered corruption or darkness? Was it because Celestia had, for so long, enforced a strict policy, so much so that it had become ingrained in the minds of the citizens as taboo and wrong? Cadance’s protest was that it was taboo because it was made so, not because it was naturally forbidden or inherently wrong.

But that raised even more questions. Sombra had fallen prey to the forbidden arts which were, unquestionably, evil. They harnessed negative forces, brought out the worst in ponies, and allowed them to do hideous things to free will. The Nightmare, too, was born of darkness and evil and hatred. As a unicorn, Twilight was especially sensitive to things that had a negative aura or malicious intent. Magic worked in a very scientific sense - its effects could be measured, observed, and controlled, and whatever the magic-user harnessed was very much infused in the spell that was generated.

Twilight sensed no such negative influence from Cadance. In fact, she’d felt nothing but strangely at home in the presence of the princess, but that was also what was so troubling. Twilight was really uncomfortable with all this nudity and talk of sex and intimacy, but Cadance hadn’t made her feel put off. Not really, anyway. Could it be some sort of magic she wasn’t familiar with, or maybe Cadance was just that powerful, being an alicorn?

And just exactly what was everypony’s fascination with being naked and sex and everything? Twilight felt her cheeks burning just remembering some of the bouncing breasts and swinging members she’d witnessed since getting off the train. She’d never figured herself for a prude, but that was because in Equestria she never had to worry about randomly running across a naked mare or stallion in her studies. With how busy she was with her apprenticeship, Twilight had never had that much time for a boyfriend or relationships or friends. That was really one of the biggest reasons Celestia had sent her to live in Ponyville, as she recalled. A life of being cooped up in a castle with no friends, her nose always stuck in a book, was no life for an aspiring young unicorn.

Actually, Twilight didn’t recall protesting about that lifestyle very much. It was Celestia’s idea, and now that Twilight knew what it was like having friends she couldn’t imagine life without them, so her teacher had been right in that regard. What else was she right about? Cadance? The Nightmare?

It was all very much worrying. Twilight sat down on the edge of the comfortable bed and ran her hands over the lush red quilt that covered the top. The mattress underneath felt so soft and inviting that she couldn’t help but lay back. Her long mane pooled underneath her and she let her head fall just shy of the pillows, her hooves still touching the floor. Her tail draped loosely over the edge, unmotivated to do anything since she was so mentally exhausted. Her eyes closed for a moment, and all she could think about was something else she’d been avoiding.

There was no denying that Twilight had been aroused before. She was not unfamiliar with her body’s needs or her desires. It was still something she had never shared with anypony but herself. Somewhere she knew it was dirty, it was wrong, it wasn’t what Celestia would want. It was a good thing she was very good at lying.

A hand brushed down over the material of her pleated skirt, finding its hem and gently drawing it up. More and more of her slender purple furred thighs were exposed to the open air, and she kept her vision focused directly on the canopy of the bed. As her arm disappeared up under her skirt she found herself blushing hotly at what she was doing, but then, she always felt so embarrassed whenever she had to relieve a little tension.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to go entirely without underwear. She didn’t like how restrictive it felt, and her skirts were always long enough that she never risked an accidental peepshow. Twilight was very conscientious about that sort of thing, especially as Celestia’s student. She wouldn’t want to send the wrong messages, would she?

Her fingers found their prize after a brief exploration. The natural fuzz around her sex was shorter than the fur of her legs or the fur on her pelvis, but she liked its texture unshaven. It helped grant a little more modesty around the thick purple folds that warmed at her brief brushing, but she was already wet. Maybe it was the thrill of being in a new place, meeting new ponies - naked ponies - that had stirred up her excitement. Maybe it was all the thoughts about intimacy and sex and how she yearned for somepony to touch her in these ways, but she’d never be able to admit that to herself. Maybe there was something in the air.

Whatever the reason, Twilight pushed two fingers into herself and bit her lower lip, letting a soft moan get caught between her teeth. She was still ultimately a novice at everything in the bedroom, but she could at least find her own sensitive spots and finger them. Her ears picked up the barely-audible squelch of her knuckles meeting her labia and she blushed fiercely. If she’d ever been caught like this she would have been mortified. Even now her heart was racing with the thrill of it, doing it in a strange bed, in the castle of her brother’s soon-to-be wife.

Her thumb grazed across her clit hood and flicked the tender nub. Her hips arched up into her own cradled digits, and with a beckoning curl she dragged her fingertips along inside her a few times while the heel of her palm replaced her thumb at mashing her tender little button. Each stroke of her trimmed nails across the rough inner texture of her front wall made her thighs shake and her breath quiver in her throat. Just to be safe she put her index finger from her free hand between her back teeth and clamped down. Instead of opening her mouth to cry out she bit down harder, starting to work her pace up from gentle to insistent, determined.

The damp heat was starting to grow around her digits. Twilight propped one hoof on the edge of the bed, pumping and rolling furiously in time with her own mad teasing of her clit with grinding mashes of her hand. Her skirt was rising up farther as she gyrated her backside against the quilt and tried to keep herself from making any kind of incriminating stain by rolling too far. It never took her long; she knew just how and where and how fast to get herself there, because if she dawdled and lingered she might be discovered.

With a rolling wave of heat and numbness Twilight felt the familiar crash of her senses, rising to their highest and then plummeting out from under her, leaving her dizzy. Her hips fell to the bed, her leg slipped off to the floor again, and she was panting heavily. She took her toothmarked finger out of her mouth and pulled her hand free of her loins with a slick feeling resting murkily in the crevice of her palm. It was coated. She’d really been horny, she noted, and then her cheeks turned brilliant scarlet.

Glancing at the door, Twilight expected to see Cadance, Shining Armor, Celestia, her parents, her friends, every pony from every corner of Equestria staring at her, judging her silently. The knot in her stomach rolled coldly and she felt an irrepressible wave of guilt as good sense came back to her. There was nopony there, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel those judgmental eyes of her imagination bearing down.

Sighing heavily, Twilight rose to her feet, careful not to touch anything with her damp fingers, and headed for the adjoining washroom to clean herself up a bit. She didn’t want to sleep in a clean bed smelling like masturbation and shame.

Chapter 4 - Breakfast and a Show

Chapter 4: Breakfast and a Show

The next morning Twilight awoke and felt refreshed in a way she couldn’t quite explain. Last night had been taxing, mentally, right up until she had managed to get herself off and wind down for bed. She’d dreaded falling into the dark clutches of sleep and having her subconscious run off with her after everything she had seen, but surprisingly, her dreams were vaguely pleasant. There were a lot of old memories there of her and her brother, before he’d gone off to join the Canterlot guard, before he’d left for the Crystal Kingdom. She really did miss him and she was very glad to be getting to attend his wedding.

That was three days away. For now, Twilight was scheduled to go on a tour of the kingdom. Shining promised he’d take her around to all the sights. She understood now why it was probably best she’d had a good night’s sleep beforehand. Somewhere in the back of her mind a twist of dread at seeing another naked pony rose, but she quelled it. This was a new day, she reminded herself. This was a new opportunity to make a good impression and get to know these ponies in their full, natural environment.

Very natural environment, she mentally snarked as she rolled out of bed. Her preferred sleepwear was a simple nightgown, a white thing with frilly lace around the long sleeves, the collar, and the ankle-length hem. It was just sheer enough that where it hung loosely across her figure anypony could tell she was purple, but it was not see-through even in direct light. She pulled it off on the way across the bedroom and draped it across the end of the bed. There was a moment where she considered the irony. In the space between the bed and the washroom she was perfectly comfortable being naked, even striding around without clothes on and no intention of putting them on. The moment anypony suggested she step outside that door, however, or anypony came in, and she would be a shrinking violet in more ways than one.

Twilight always needed some extra time in the morning to wash, dry, and brush her long mane, since it hung to the small of her back, and her tail draped nearly to her calves. It wasn’t difficult to keep orderly, just time-consuming, and she found that the bathroom cabinet was already stocked with everything she needed from fresh soaps to three kinds of fur-conditioner to thick horsebrushes that would wade through even her damp head of hair with ease. As she stood under the flow of hot water from the crystalline showerhead she couldn’t help but note she was quite naked.

Of course she was, and in any normal situation that would have been a silly thought to have. She wasn’t in her normal situation, however, in her room above the library in Ponyville or a guest bedroom at Canterlot. She wasn’t in a place where clothing was the norm and being naked was what happened when you took a shower. As she shut off the flow of hot water and stepped into the steamy air outside the shower curtain Twilight mused on the notion that being naked, right now, was as natural a thing among the Crystal Kingdom ponies as wearing her clothes was at any other time.

While she ran the soft cotton towel over her damp fur Twilight debated on whether or not she should actually get dressed. It wouldn’t be seen as abnormal here, but for her it was definitely strange. The thought of all those eyes on her naked form, watching her with the knowledge that just last night she had been touching herself - even if that was known to her alone - made her quiver like the air had suddenly gone cold. At the same time, it made her nipples stiffen through her fur and her cheeks redden.

That was too big a step. It was not her custom, it was not her practice, so she would have to make do just not fitting in here. That would be easy enough. She’d not fit in plenty of places at first, Ponyville included, and just looking at where she was now - she had plenty of friends. Cadance even acted like she liked her very much!

Even that particular thought made Twilight doubt herself. If Cadance was really under some sort of influence - or worse, was exerting some kind of influence over the ponies of the Crystal Kingdom - then she might actually be a danger to all Equestria. What if that was the reason Celestia had given Twilight, and only Twilight, permission to attend her brother’s wedding? Was this supposed to be some sort of spy mission that she was supposed to pick up in subtext? She was so terrible with subtext! Celestia should know that by now!

Twilight found herself growing more anxious as she dressed in a repetitive copy of yesterday’s attire. A simple dark purple skirt, a matching blazer, and a blouse neatly buttoned up and tied off with a little pink neckerchief made her look like the quintessential schoolgirl which, in many ways, she still felt like on the inside. She tried to force down the uncertainty about Cadance and her own inexperience. Worrying about whether this was a secret mission to preserve Harmony did nothing if she could not keep herself calm, cool, and collected.

Once her mane was in order and she had spritzed a bit of lavender scent around her neck, Twilight left the room and tried to recall the direction back to the main hallway. The castle was big, but it wasn’t impossible to navigate. In fact it had a very geometrically pleasing pattern to it that appeared as organic as it was mathematical. Was it possible that the crystal structure had been grown like this or directed through magic?

Twilight put a cap on her fascination as she walked down the spiral staircase she remembered coming up with Cadance and counted the floors that passed. Ten, by her reckoning, and she wasn’t even in one of the tall spires on the outer ring of the castle or in its main central body. The dimensions of it were just mind-boggling.

As she came to the bottom of the stairs Twilight found the small hallway leading past its many doors unattended, and main hall was opened up a bit with its central elevator gone, allowing a wafting breeze to flow through the atrium. It was staffed by several guards as it had been the day before. They were naked, of course, but Twilight found it a measure easier not to focus on their hanging genitalia or their softly rising and falling chests.

“Twilight Sparkle,” a voice said politely but firmly. She turned to see a pegasus guard approaching from one of the other corridors that branched off like the many points of a star. He was rather handsome, well-built with a toned physique, a soft orange coat, and a blue mane and tail. He was holding a halberd and had on a helmet, but a quick look down below said that like all the others, that was nude. Twi couldn’t help but give a second glance.

Between his legs the guard had a pleasing shaft hanging free and limp to about his mid-thigh. It was just big enough around that Twilight could imagine it doing terribly productive things if he put it to use. Its dark, almost burnt orange skin tone made it stand out, too, along with the two orbs hanging in the furless leather pouch just behind its girth. She swallowed and pulled her gaze away, trying to stop thinking about his penis and how it might do a better job than her fingers.

“Cadance and Shining Armor wanted me to inform you that, should you feel up for it, breakfast is being served in the private dining hall.” He gestured down the hallway he’d come from. A little red cheeked, Twilight thanked him and headed down to see what her brother and future sister-in-law were up to in the morning.

Oh dear. She hoped they weren’t “up” to much.

The private dining hall was more like a room adjoining the kitchen, as far as Twilight could tell. It had a small table that would sit a few ponies, a cabinet displaying crystal plates and cutlery, and just through a nearby arch was the plain sight of kitchen counters, a stove, a refrigerator, and more things that looked like they would be right at home in a homemaker’s kitchenette. Cadance was already seated at the table where there were three places set along with several dishes piled high with one of her favorite breakfast foods - pancakes. Twilight could smell more being cooked as she approached and peeked in through the doorway.

“Morning!” Cadance chirped happily. She was, as she was last night, entirely naked, and though she was sitting with a tablecloth obscuring her lower half Twilight could see her ample bust above it just fine from where she stood, and likely where she would be sitting. Shining was probably in the kitchen - he did always like to cook and Twi often joked he’d make a great housewife someday.

“Good morning,” Twilight said as she sat down and decided not to think about Cadance’s breasts or her secret plot to be naked.

“Hey, is that Twily?” Shining called, right from where Twilight expected him to be.

“Yep! Hey, are these barley pancakes?”

“Sure are! Your favorite.”

Twilight smiled broadly and picked up a fork to begin serving several of the large, round flapjacks cooked to browned perfection onto her plate. Cadance gave a little giggle.

“You know, it’s definitely a wonder I found a stallion who loves to cook so much, and is so good at it.”

“Oh, Shining lives for it. He makes the best pancakes in Canterlot,” Twilight said proudly. There were enough of them to feed a herd, but she really only wanted a few. Cadance had apparently already nibbled her way through a small stack with syrup and graciously passed her the crystalline boat that contained the sweet maple.

Shining walked out of the kitchen dressed in an apron that read “Kiss the Cook,” and nothing else. He placed a few fresh, hot pancakes on the plate by the unoccupied chair, smiling at his sister. “I was hoping you’d join us.”

“For your pancakes? I’d walk here from Ponyville myself.”

Shining chortled at that and reached around to untie his apron. With a quick tug he pulled it off and hung it right off the back of his chair, turning to face Twilight and Cadance. They both stared for a moment. Cadance’s gaze darted quickly from Twilight to Shining, who did not realize why he was being ogled.

Twilight knew what her brother’s endowments looked like, or she had known that, at one point. Back when they were young they’d taken their share of baths together, played the “run from mom without pants on in public” game, and were just in general innocent little foals. Now that she and Shining were older, Twilight might have considered it a little less pleasant to see her brother’s genitals, but there they were. His manhood was rather sizable even for a stallion his age and build, and its was a deep blue-black that stood out against his white fur like a sore thumb. Both of his weighty nuts were resting slightly off-center in their snug pouch, and he obviously shaved a little around the base to keep things tidy.

Shining swallowed and hastily sat down. “Sorry! Uh, sorry, so sorry, Twi-”

“No no,” Twilight interrupted, shaking her head and stuffing a piece of pancake into her mouth as casually as she could manage after being flashed with her brother’s thing. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“Really?” Shining asked, glancing at Cadance in silent question. She gave a quick shrug that said she didn’t know for certain, as she certainly hadn’t done anything.

“Nope. I’m not going to let it get to me. I’ve had some time to think about it, and this is definitely your kingdom, your ways. Bro, you’re the future prince. It’d be more awkward if you didn’t embrace the local custom.”

Cadance smiled and Shining gave an approving nod. “I’m glad. After yesterday, I thought you might be having a little bit of a meltdown.”

“Oh, yesterday I was having a meltdown,” Twilight admitted, stuffing another generous bite of pancake into her cheek. “I’m just very good at hiding it. You should have seen me during finals.”

“Your sister’s very smart, Shining, and I think she just needed time to think it over,” Cadance said supportively between sips of her fresh squeezed orange juice. Twilight held out her crystal glass to Shining as he offered to pour some for her.

“That’s my Twily, she’s always on top of things.” Shining placed the pitcher down on the table and jumped very slightly. He looked sideways at Cadance, but Twilight didn’t look like she noticed.

“Mm, so what are we planning on seeing today?” Twilight asked, looking at her brother. He looked nervous, fidgeting in his seat.

“Ah, well, there are lots of places to-ah! To see,” Shining stammered. Twilight gave him an odd look and he quickly cleared his throat. “What would you like to visit first?”

“Are there any libraries or magic schools?” Twilight asked eagerly, tail flicking a little too excitedly through the hole in the back of the chair. If she wanted to know anything about the Crystal Kingdom it was definitely how all this crystal amplified magic or what unique spells it could produce.

“Oh, there are several! There’s also a few crystalline magic shops along the main boulevard,” Cadance tossed in, leaning on the table with her cheek in one hand. The other was not in sight.

“That sounds amazing!” Twi gushed. “I’m very excited to see what kind of magic the crystals are capable of.”

Shining grunted. “Ah, yeah, Twily, why don’t you ah, go...get ready?”

“But, I am ready,” Twilight stated flatly, looking at her brother with a tilt of her head, ears perked. She was dressed and other than her bookbag- “Oh! I’ll get my bag and make sure I have all my notebooks!”

Twilight stood hastily and hurried out of the dining room. As soon as the ruby door swung closed behind her Shining looked at Cadance, who was still smiling innocently, one elbow on the table to support her cheek in her hand. The other was under the table, the tablecloth slowly moving back and forth on her side with the subtlety of her actions.

“Think you could spare a little more love before you go?” she asked sweetly, completely ignoring the pointed glare he was giving her.

With a grunt, Shining stood, the tablecloth taking an extra moment to fall away from the stiff pole jutting out in front of him. His blue-black cock was standing firm from Cadance’s incessant stroking, and he placed his hands on his hips as if to display it even more plainly for her. The mare’s eyes flickered with obvious delight, and gingerly curling her pink fingers around its thick base, she leaned in to kiss its slightly bulging tip. Shining shivered and tried to hold back the throaty groan that rose up, but it didn’t quite stay under his breath.

Freeing her other hand from supporting her head, Cadance slid her fingers up under Shining’s nuts and gingerly fondled his hairless sack, rolling each ripe orb in her palm before gently applying pressure up underneath his cockroot with her fingertips. He leaned back a little more and shifted his hands from his hips to his fiance’s head. She didn’t protest as his thick fingers gripped into her mane, mussing it quite completely and pulling at it just a tad roughly, before she parted her lips and let him help her guide that thick pole into the warm embrace of her mouth.

Shining was generously endowed even for a stallion of his pedigree, and Cadance had always enjoyed feeling that turgid thickness pushing into the back of her throat. Practice had made her nearly a perfect fit for him, and once she felt the throbbing pulse of his heartbeat echoing through her cheeks, she slid her tongue forward just a tiny bit to give her motions some texture. Slowly, deliberately, she pulled the inches she’d very greedily sucked down back out and left a shimmering streak along the underside of her lover’s cock. Her hand steadying the base slid up to his medial ring, fingered over the sensitive, fleshy ridgeline, and dropped back down again just as her pursed lips followed suit.

The next moan was not as quiet as Shining intended. In fact, if he wasn’t positive his sister would take another fifteen minutes of organizing notebooks for documenting their trip, he never would have stood up in the first place. But he knew his sister, and he knew Cadance, and there was time.

Not like he would last very long in her skilled hands, anyway.

Cadance’s fingers danced in expert timing with her muzzle and tantalizing tongue, which only drove Shining’s desire to plunge his hips forward and rut his gorgeous fiance on the table. It was only with barely-restrained twitches of his hips that instead he managed to flex and huff, grunting out a warning as his tip flared outward and blood rushed from his brain to fill his hot shaft. Cadance pulled him out until just the fattened head of his horsecock was resting between her lips, pursed them, and then he popped.

Hot, white, and thick, Shining’s spunk was always flavorful and rich with his musky, salty flavor. The alicorn purred as she suckled between each powerful jet that managed to hit her soft palate and pool on her tongue, encouraging him to give her more in viscous droplets before the next rope blasted her tastebuds. She swallowed, and swallowed, and swallowed again, until Shining’s thighs unclenched and his hiked tail lowered. Giving a soft sigh she picked up a napkin from the table to wipe her chin and his tip dutifully before releasing it to fall half-limp back between his thighs.

Shining’s cheeks were red as Cadance stood up to meet him. “Now go give your sister a good tour, and don’t stay out too late. We’ve got to meet with the wedding planners in the morning.”

“Mhmm, she’ll be a little while yet,” the stallion chuckled before kissing his wife’s still-tangy lips, a flavor that he might have balked at had this been a few years ago, before he understood just how much he could love a pony who could taste like him and still be so appealing.

Twilight’s cheeks were burning nearly crimson as she stepped away from the door, letting the breath she had been holding tightly for the last minute hiss out of her nostrils. Her heart was pounding and her knees were weak. The small crack narrowed while the door slid shut, startling her for fear one of the two lovers had moved to open it, but they hadn’t. They were still kissing, loud and very wet-sounding smacks vocalizing their lewd affections.

The nervous unicorn swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to hurry back up to her room. If she was quick, maybe she could still gather all her notebooks and be back down before Shining missed her. If she was lucky, maybe she’d get to take care of the growing heat between her legs so she wouldn’t have to walk around with the image of her brother’s cock in his fiance’s throat dancing around her head all day.

Maybe, too, she could spend a little time trying to figure out why that thought made her so jealous.

Chapter 6 - The Pony in the Library

Chapter 6: The Pony in the Library

Books.

Books were what really made Twilight feel at home. Shelves and shelves full of books, tables strewn with them, the feel of delicate old parchment beneath her fingers, the smell of ancient wisdom and fresh ink and the soft glow of a candle, all of these things were what put her mind at ease when things got too stressful. Unfortunately, she was still feeling no more relaxed than when she’d started collecting the cartloads from the library’s extensive magical theory section, a few pieces from the history of the Empire, even going so far as to pick up a few tabloids from the newsstand archives.

She had nothing.

Rubbing her eyes, Twilight leaned back in her padded chair heavily. She was surrounded by leaning towers of books amidst the glimmering light of a few crystal lamps. Despite this very familiar setting she still felt anxious, anxious that she had no more information to go off of, and anxious that she was stuck here in the Crystal Kingdom while Celestia waited, brooding, suspecting incorrectly that Cadance was up to something.

It wasn’t hard to come to that conclusion. Just the night before she had practically worried herself sick with the same assumption. Now things were a bit clearer and Twilight didn’t suspect Cadance - not as much, anyway. Nothing could rule out foul play while there were still unknown shapeshifters running amok among the populace.

Grabbing another book off a pile, Twilight looked over its cover. Instead of a title it was engraved with a gold circle that was composed of the shapes of many naked ponies all tangled up in suggestive positions. Her cheeks burned under her purple fur, but with a quick glance around to ensure she had her privacy, Twilight placed the tome on the desk in front of her and flipped it open. It wouldn’t have what she was looking for, she was quite sure, but she was also looking for more than just information on mystery doppelgangers.

The first thing Twilight noticed was that there were very few words. Other than some basic descriptors, this book was full of diagrams. Hand-drawn, they were slightly stylized but still quite graphic. She swallowed the rising swell of dread she got whenever she started thinking about seeing a nude pony and forced herself to flip another page past the surprisingly tame introduction where the book simply displayed the anatomy of stallions and mares on two generic figures.

On the next page, the two example ponies were in the midst of carnal activity. The stallion had the mare on her back, one of her legs lifted and supported over his shoulder while he pressed his hips to hers. Another angle on the drawing showed that he was on his knees and entering from a slight angle above the line of her pelvis. Twilight could only imagine what a firm, thick cock like that felt like as it slid into her at that angle, hitting first her back wall and then rolling up, moving deeper with the powerful thrust of Shining’s-

“Found anything?”

Twilight nearly lept out of her chair as she simultaneously slammed the book shut and spun around in her seat. “No!” she nearly shouted in the middle of the silent library.

Shining raised a brow curiously at his sister. She was panting, red-cheeked, and looked like she’d just seen a ghost! Maybe the books full of monsters were getting to her, like the old mare’s tales their mother used to recite just before bedtime. He chuckled at the memory of her creeping into his bedroom and asking if she could sleep in his bed. Although that might be a bit of a complication if she did the same thing, especially because the loincloth around his waist was not exactly for her benefit. Even now he felt himself stir, a slight twitch coursing through familiar regions beneath the rough cloth.

He cleared his throat. “It’s getting late.”

Twilight gazed up at the large, intricate crystal clock that hung on one wall. Its hands had moved quite a lot since she’d last looked up at them. Fatigue filtered through her burning curiosity and embarrassment and her eyes were getting heavy.

“Yeah,” she agreed, grabbing a few books and piling them on top of the very lewd manual she’d found. She picked them all up together as she turned to face her brother.

“Taking those back to your room?” Shining asked as he offered out Twilight’s bookbag.

“These are the only ones I haven’t finished,” Twilight said with a nod, stuffing the tomes into her bookbag together to disguise the fact that the one on bottom was pornography.

Shining chuckled as he glanced over the table, which looked like a miniature castle made out of books. “If I didn’t know you I’d say you were full of it.”

“Hah,” Twilight faked a laugh. The privately dirty euphemism made her avert her eyes quickly as she grabbed her notebook and inkpen to put away as well.

“Are you okay?” Shining asked, seeing the obvious anxiety written on his sister’s face.

“I’m fine, Shining,” Twilight said and looked up at him. She forced a smile. “Just tired is all.”

“Well, let’s get you back up to your room. There’ll be more time for monsters and mystery tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said distractedly as her mind wandered. She wasn’t thinking much of monsters anymore. She was more concerned with getting back to the meat of that book, and perhaps having a little alone time. Something told her she wouldn’t be sleeping right away.

Shining escorted his sister back up to her room, and after a quick hug and their goodnights Twilight practically shed her clothing. It was starting to feel confining. Was it something about the Crystal Kingdom that was beginning to rub off on her, or was it just because she was so insanely horny? For a brief moment she stood in front of the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror - really looked, as if admiring herself for the first time.

Twilight had never really given her body much thought. She was more worried about her studies, her progress, and her apprenticeship than she was about appearances. Maybe it was good fortune that she didn’t have to put much effort into making her long, three-toned purple mane look good or keeping her figure slim. She was pretty, according to her mom and dad, but was she attractive? Standing there, naked, in front of the mirror, her mind went back through all the mares she’d seen since coming to the Crystal Kingdom. Caramel Cream, Aqua, Lemon Tart, the waitress at the cafe, even Cadance. How did she compare to each of them?

Her breasts were on the small end, she knew, but they were not tiny. They were round and full enough to be cupped by her hands, and she covered them briefly to really feel how they shifted and reformed under her grip. Her purple nipples were erect and tender to the touch, making her huff through her nose in her experimental fondling. There was no point in her recent memory where she had actually considered her own breasts before.

Twilight also didn’t trim or shave her pubic fur at all, although it was naturally thinner down there. She could clearly follow the slightly puffy curvature of her mons as it descended between her thighs, but if she pressed her legs together like a proper lady she wouldn’t see her private bits. It made her shiver to think about sitting out somewhere in public without proper posture, legs spread in her skirt, rude and salacious and whorish.

Right. That was enough of that, she told herself, and went over to the bed. She pulled back the covers and hastily clambered into the silken sheets, trying to force down the image of herself being ogled. There were more important things to keep in mind, like shapeshifters and the problem with Celestia and Cadance and her brother’s wedding. The sudden burst of nervous energy led to Twilight propping up a pillow against the headboard and reaching for her bookbag on the floor. She wouldn’t be able to sleep without reading something and calming down.

Her hand came back holding that untitled tome with the gold circle of lustful ponies on its cover.

Twilight sighed. This wasn’t the book she had been intending to go for, but here it was. She propped her knees up under the covers and laid the book out on them. She flipped to the last page she’d been on and looked over the diagrams once more to refresh her memory. Then she turned the page, and a new image of perverse delight greeted her. In this one, the stallion was on his back and the mare was on top of him, her legs spread around his hips. He was supporting her waist with his hands, and the few images from different angles suggested she was lifting and lowering herself with her legs. Twi could just barely picture the extra weight of her own body helping to grind the stallion to her deepest reaches, nuzzling up against the very back of her canal. Even in her most enthusiastic self-sessions she had never hit the limits of her own sex. To have her whole body balanced like that, pivoting around that point inside here where should could feel him almost up to her belly-

Twi shuddered. Her breath trembled out of her lips and her cheeks and ears were hot. Sliding a hand down under the sheets, her fingers crawled with a singular purpose beneath her upraised thighs and began furtive exploration. Her other hand flipped the page.

Sleep could wait, just for a bit.

Twilight was woken up by a knocking on the bedroom door. She blinked a few times as her brain lurched from the seductive swirl of images that had been dancing through her mind all night, naked ponies doing incredibly flexible things, bending and arching and gyrating. Her gaze settled on the book on her nightstand, still opened to a page of three ponies contorted together in a lewd circle. She quickly lunged for it and snapped the book shut as the knocking repeated.

“Twi? Are you up?” Shining’s voice came through, muffled but distinct.

“I’m up!” she called back as she jerked the book off the stand and thrust it under the covers with her to get it out of view.

“Can I come in?”

“Yes!” Twilight said, hopping out of bed. It might have been her haste, or it might have been her mind racing through a thousand excuses for why she was reading a dirty book alone in her bedroom, but as the door crept open she had forgotten she was still completely naked.

And she smelled like sex.

Twilight froze in the middle of the room. Shining stepped in, and he froze too. They looked at each other for a long moment. Twilight’s hands were folded in front of her in a nervous fiddle, but she forced herself not to scream or duck behind the bedpost or grab for her skirt laying on the floor nearby. She just looked at her brother, her cheeks pink, her breasts rising and falling with her slightly elevated breath.

Shining tried not to let his gaze wander from his sister’s apprehensive eyes, but he couldn’t help it. Taking in her purple-furred figure at a glance, he saw her supple curves on display for the first time in - well, since she’d had supple curves to begin with. In his time in the Crystal Kingdom Shining had seen many, many mares and stallions nude and paid them no mind. With the exception of Cadance he had begun to think of it as unremarkable; they had their own natural beauty, each and every one of them, but the simple act of being naked had begun to lose its luster, its sense of forbidden attraction. There was no longer any taboo about seeing a pony’s breasts or cock or pussy on plain display.

That was until he found himself looking at his sister’s. Shining swallowed heavily and hoped that the warm feeling pumping down through his legs was just the burn from coming up the stairs too quickly.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, trying to get Shining’s mind off both her naked figure and the slightly acrid smell on the air. She hoped she was just being self-conscious about not showering yet, but she also needed to change the sheets. Very badly.

“Oh, um. I wanted to ask if you were coming to breakfast,” Shining said after apparently forgetting the entire reason he’d come up.

“Oh! Right, yes,” Twilight latched onto that idea as if it was her saving grace. “I need to shower. I guess I slept in a little.”

Shining chuckled. “Stayed up late reading, huh?”

Twilight felt the heat in her cheeks skyrocketing. She gave a quick, forced little laugh. “Yeah, you know me!” She paused for a pensive moment, letting the very obvious omission in that story hang in the air while she debated. “Shining, I was wondering…”

Shining tilted his head as his sister played with her fingers, picking at one nail, then switching to another. “What is it, Twi?”

“I was wondering if it would be alright if I came to breakfast like...like this.”

Shining blinked, his mouth hanging open just slightly. He had to shake his head to get it to snap shut again so he could speak. “What? I mean, of course! Are you okay with it, Twily?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, mostly to reaffirm her decision to herself. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, actually, and just trying to get comfortable with it. But you can’t swim if you don’t get in the pool.”

“Yeah,” Shining said with a growing smile. “I’m glad, but I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable. Remember, this isn’t about-”

“I know,” Twilight interrupted him before he could say anything about being naughty. It definitely did still carry an element of being naughty, of breaking what she considered taboo. There was no way it would ever be different for her unless she worked to change that, however, and she couldn’t keep walking around as the only clothed pony in the Crystal Kingdom and expect to find herself fitting in.

Shining looked like he wanted to hug his sister, but they were both completely stripped down. Twilight was a little glad he didn’t considering she was positive he could smell her from where he stood, and if she got any closer and inhaled that deep, earthy scent of his that would probably be the end of her little experiment in treating this all as some casual thing.

“Well, I’ll see you at breakfast. Cadance and I have to meet with the wedding planner, which is pretty boring stuff.”

“Right,” Twilight said as she snapped out of thinking about Shining’s smell with a new sense of shame lighting her inner ears and cheeks. “I’ll let you two do your wedding stuff and um, probably check out some more of the books in the library.”

“Don’t work yourself too hard,” Shining said before stepping back out of the door, closing it behind him. Twilight exhaled loudly, a whicker of both frustration and relief ruffling out of her lips.

These thoughts about her brother were getting more invasive and more unsettling. She loved him, she truly did, but Twilight was not attracted to her brother, was she? That was wrong even by the shifting standards of wrong that played at her brain. Even if the Crystal Kingdom was all about love, platonic or sexual or otherwise, there was absolutely nothing right about the buzz she felt in the pit of her stomach every time she saw Shining’s broad, muscled chest, those defined abs, his swinging-

She was doing it again!

Twilight clutched her own head and forced herself into the bathroom. Cranking on the shower’s cold water, she was determined to get the idea out once and for all. It was nothing but the new and exciting rush she got from thinking about being undressed in front of him, or in front of anypony. This was nothing more than the same thrill she got when she found a new book on magical theory or Equestrian history. Feeling a deep quiver course through her very core, Twilight adjusted the stream of the water until it was warm and began to lather her fur down with shampoo. She’d never find a book like that book in Equestria’s library.

Wait.

Last night Twilight had read over a dozen books on magical theory, searching for applied uses of shapechanging magic. There were several spells that could disguise a pony, from invisibility to imitating the appearance of another, but there was little at the scene that would help her track it down. They were all in some way magical and they had found no trace of external magic at the shop yesterday. That meant that whatever was using it must have been innate, which meant it had to be a creature that could employ a natural magic to alter its appearance. Nothing like that was recorded in the history of the Crystal Kingdom, but that was the problem.

The Crystal Kingdom, even the Crystal Empire, had been dormant for centuries, ever since Sombra was defeated by the princesses. There wouldn’t be any chronicles in their records, not without Cadance knowing about them. She was looking in the wrong place! Maybe Equestria’s chronicles had something on shapechanging creatures. But how would she get access to the Canterlot library, or even the library in Ponyville, from all the way up here? The train took three days to get to north.

Twilight quickly finished up her shower and dried herself off. Her long hair was still damp as she brushed it out, hurrying to finish up her preparations. She opened the drawer of the dresser in her room and halted, staring down at the collection of neatly-folded skirts and blouses. What an odd feeling, she mused, having to stop herself from getting dressed. When she was a filly, her mother had to chase her down to get her to wear her clothes. Now, she could barely even fathom not slipping on her usual outfit, a uniform so familiar she’d worn it every day for the last several years. It was so habitual she didn’t even think about heading over to the dresser and opening it. Before coming to the Crystal Kingdom Twi had never questioned the need to get dressed, not in a good, long while.

She pushed the drawer closed and looked at herself in the mirror. Slowly, building confidence with each stroke, Twilight continued brushing out her mane until it was neat, straight, and shiny. Turning away from the oak chest where her coverings were kept, Twilight flipped her tail up and combed some of the out of line strands down before she experimented with a few postures to cover her butt with her lengthy horsehair. Satisfied that she was at least not being lewd with it, she put the brush back on the dresser’s top and grabbed the bottle of lavender scent she used. A quick spritz under her chin and over her bare chest left her smelling clean and fresh and helped brighten up the flavor of the room.

Twilight moved back over to the bedside table and frowned. She’d need to get these sheets cleans. Or, worse yet, she’d have to hope any cleaning staff were discreet. She dug under the covers for the book she’d hidden from Shining. This would also have to go back to the library at some point, and she’d want to put it somewhere where it couldn’t easily be tracked back to her.

Deciding against returning it, at least for now, Twilight tugged opened the nightstand’s drawer and placed the book inside. She grabbed her bookbag and pulled it into place over her bare shoulder before she moved over to the door, took a deep breath, and stepped out.

The air outside her room was crisp and clean and fresh on her fur, every inch of her exposed to it. There was a lingering bit of dampness about her pelt and its evaporation made her shiver - at least, that was what she told herself was the cause. Her nipples perked stiffly through her fur and she ignored them, pushing aside the vaguely pleasant feeling of having her bare little nubs tantalized by the gentle caress of the breeze as she walked.

Twilight even felt a rush of confidence as she descended the staircase to the main hall, where all the guards in their naked splendor nodded to her politely, but did not stare. There were no whistles, no catcalls, no gasps, and certainly no screams. In fact, she was fairly certain that the few smiles she caught on the corners of their lips were approving, since most of the guards had seen her on the previous two days, fully clothed. That was the unusual specter, the odd sight out of place among the Crystal Kingdom ponies.

There was nothing odd at all about walking naked to breakfast with her brother and sister-in-law.

“Twilight!” Candace practically squealed as she stepped through the door. The pink alicorn grabbed her future sister-in-law in a tight hug, and the blushing began anew.

Cadance was taller than Twilight by about a full head, so in the embrace she got to lay her cheek against the fur around the mare’s collarbone and feel the way those supple breasts molded and conformed against her ribcage and around her own bosom. It was the first fully naked hug she’d ever received.

“Morning, Cadance,” Twilight breathed, making a playful show out of not being able to breathe. It wasn’t thanks to the squeezing.

“Shining told me about what you asked, and, well, here you are!”

Twilight took a step back once she was released and Cadance gave her a quick look. She wasn’t entirely sure it was platonic, since Cadance grinned in a way she’d only seen from Shining when he looked at Cadance.

“You might’ve talked me into it,” Twi said with a little nervous rub to the back of her neck.

“I’m glad you’re at least willing to try. It’s your choice, always,” Cadance gestured to the table where there was a fresh pot of coffee. She was holding a mug herself, and there was another one on the table. Twilight smiled as she took the mug and poured out some of the aromatic black drink, then reached for the carafe of cream and the sugar cube dish.

“Y’know, I never used to like coffee either,” she joked as she mixed it up to creamy mocha color. “I just didn’t know how to drink it until somepony showed me.”

Shining stepped in through the kitchen door and was not wearing his cook’s apron. Twilight reflected on the notion that this made it the first breakfast she and her brother and sister-in-law had fully in the nude, and for just a second, she wondered if this were all some elaborate practical joke. Would she, at any moment, be revealed as the only one not in on it in front of her parents, in front of Celestia, in front of all of Equestria? Carted away and jailed for public indecency and betraying her teachings, never to be heard from again?

That little voice of paranoia was quieted with a long sip from the hot coffee, its deliciously rich flavor from being fresh-ground complemented by the sweet sugar and velvet smoothness added by the fatty cream.

“Hey Twi. We were just about to head out, but there’s toast.”

“Mm, toast. Oh, before you leave,” Twilight said to Cadance, “do you know if you have any books on Equestria history? Specifically creatures of Equestrian legend.”

Cadance’s thin brows knit and she scrunched her nose. “I don’t, but I do know somepony who would. Did you think of something that might help catch our mystery monster?”

“It’s a stretch,” Twilight admitted. “I just don’t know if the Crystal Kingdom’s records on historical monsters would be complete. There’s that huge gap between the fall of Sombra and your rule starting about a hundred years ago.”

“If we do have anything it would have been brought by some of the ponies that came with me from Canterlot,” Cadance mused, mostly thinking out loud. “Even a century old textbook would be more recent than Sombra’s old scrolls.”

“Sheesh, can you two quit reminding me I’m marrying a mare ninety-nine years older than I am?” Shining bemoaned more loudly than he needed to, purposefully stepping over to give Cadance a quick grab right on the flank.

“Hey now,” she snorted. “You keep that up and you won’t be getting any until your hundred and twenty-first birthday.”

Shining flashed his fiance a silly grin and she eyed him with a smirk that simultaneously said it was in good humor and that she was probably going to spank him. Hard. Twilight found herself grinning a little at the display, her tail flicking in unconscious amusement. That only served to remind her that the three of them were standing in the breakfast nook bare to the fur and joking about her brother having payback sex later. She shook her head.

“Anyway,” Twilight said to try to get the conversation back on track.

“Right, I’ll have one of our librarians pull up whatever we’d be able to. Feel free to head down. We’ve got to get going.” Cadance put down her mug of coffee and stepped forward to face Twilight. She put a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward to kiss her gently right between the eyes. Then her hand patted Twilight’s cheek and she passed, but the impression it left made Twilight quiver. The gesture wasn’t unwelcome, and actually had made Twilight feel strangely accepted.

Shining chuckled as he patted his sister’s shoulder to snap her out of her reverie, but he was already well past her when she blinked back to reality. She’d been fantasizing about what those pink lips might do if she let them go further, what she’d seen them do the day before right in this very room.

“Go get ‘em, bookhorse.”

“H-Hey!” Twilight’s tail twitched again in slight annoyance at her sibling’s teasing. She hated when he got the last word in during their little exchanges, so she’d have to pay him back later. But not like Cadance was going to pay him back! Wow, her thoughts had gone into the gutter more quickly than she was used to, hadn’t they? Twi turned back to the table to grab her coffee. The warm mug in her fingers still steamed and she hurried to finish it off while she went to the kitchen to grab a piece of toast with butter. It wasn’t much, but it’d keep her going while she poured through some more books in search of more answers.

Chapter 7 - The Other Pony in the Library

Chapter 7: The Other Pony in the Library

The library was in a very similar state to the one she’d left it in, although the desk where Twilight had been sitting before was cleared off, the books that were there sitting on a nearby cart or returned to their proper positions. She felt a small pang of guilt about not doing it herself, being the caretaker at Ponyville’s library, but it had been late and there were quite a lot of books. One of Cadance’s guards - Caramel Cream, in fact - had directed Twilight to ask for a particular pony, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself.

“I’m sorry if this is rude, but, are you okay?” she asked Caramel in the hallway.

The taller mare sighed and brushed her hand through her short, white-and-burgundy rough mane. She put her other hand on her hip.

“Honestly, I thought I was in deep trouble,” she began uncertainly. “Spying? That’s serious treason. I was convinced that I should grab what little I could and fly back to Canterlot immediately. But I’ve known Cadance for a couple years now.

“When she showed up at my quarters I was a mess. I was begging her for her forgiveness and she just took me in her arms. We laid down, talked a little, and she told me she had no reason not to trust me. Ever. Even back when I was probing her for information she told me anything I wanted to know freely. I realized I have no reason not to trust her, so Celestia shouldn’t have any reason, either.”

Twilight tilted her head. “But she doesn’t. Trust Cadance, I mean.”

“Not in the slightest. She orders more spies to the kingdom every year.”

Twilight deliberated on that, chewing the knuckle of one index finger. It was deeply unsettling. “Oh! What did Cadance mean by you two still being on?”

“We have sex,” Caramel replied casually. Twilight looked even more confused by that. “You know, when she finds time between her duties and Shining. It’s just a fling, I know, but I just couldn’t resist bedding her to try and loosen her up a bit. Mm, but that tongue.”

The conversation sort of derailed after that and Twilight was trying to focus less on the lurid grin on CC’s face and instead looked around the library for the pony she was supposed to meet. By her description she sounded fairly distinct, brightly-colored with a burnt amber coat and fiery red-orange mane. She moved to the desk where she had been sitting last night and noticed that all of the books were loaded onto two neat carts for easy transport. With a quick shrug she deposited her bookbag and looked around for any sign of a librarian or front desk. There was nopony else but her, apparently, so she set to wandering the sprawling, two-floored crystal library.

A sound from behind one of the shelves made Twilight’s ear flick. She peeked around the end of it and saw a cart of books. There was a mare there, a unicorn, holding a few of them and levitating a couple simultaneously, her green aura glowing around them while she read other titles. By her brilliant reds and oranges, this was the girl.

“Excuse me, Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked.

The unicorn turned and blinked, making a soft hum as she was distracted. Her magical aura faded from her horn and then the books overhead. In that instant she appeared to remember them, but she wasn’t fast enough to stop them from dropping one at a time onto her head. Twilight squeaked in surprise as one, then two, then three books smacked over the poor unicorn’s brilliantly-colored mane.

“Ow,” she griped, putting the other books down to rub the spots where she’d been hit.

“Sorry! I am so sorry!” Twilight stammered as she approached, having to dodge stacks of books on the way.

“No, no, it happens,” Sunset sighed heavily. It sounded more annoyed than resigned.

“I know how it goes when somepony breaks your focus. Oh, um, I’m Twilight. Twilight Sparkle?”

“Shining’s sister,” the orange mare said flatly, looking her over with a quick sweep of her gemlike cyan eyes. She didn’t continue the train of thought and Twilight shifted uncomfortably on her hooves a bit before Sunset turned back to collecting the books she’d dropped.

“Yes, Cadance said you could help me find some books?”

“I am one of the assistant librarians and researchers,” Sunset said a little sarcastically. “Do you know what you’re looking for?”

“Just the topic.”

“And that is?”

Twilight tilted her head slightly as the unicorn once again sounded slightly annoyed by her presence. She apologized for making her drop the books, and this was her job, wasn’t it? Twi knew she could be a bit oblivious to other ponies.

Sunset Shimmer let out a heavy sigh and turned to face Twilight. “Look, I’m sorry for being short. It’s just that I came into the library this morning and found the whole place practically wrecked.”

Twilight’s ears flattened.

“On top of that, I have at least three books missing from the magical theories and two from the historical archives.”

“I…” Twilight began, then she swallowed. Sunset tilted her head but crossed her arms underneath her modest bust expectantly. “I might have had something to do with that.”

“Really?” Sunset prompted, raising a brow sharply.

“In fact my brother and I were in here for several hours looking for information on shapeshifters.” Twilight laughed nervously and tried to look contrite, but her ears just buried themselves under her mane.

“And did you take any books?” the unflinching mare pressed, her tail flicking behind her like the angry fire it resembled.

“Yes?”

“Which ones?”

Twilight’s expression froze, mouth open and her expression locked pleadingly on Sunset’s. She wasn’t budging, but there was no way she could know each of the books that were gone, was there? On reflection, that was a silly question. Twilight lived above a library and she knew the name, catalog number, and shelf position of every book in it. She got bored one night and spent it reorganizing the whole thing.

“Did you take the Crystalis Compendia Magicka?”

“Oh, yes, definitely,” Twi blurted immediately. “I’m just so interested in crystal magic.”

“Well, I need it for a project I’m working on,” Sunset said and dropped her arms to a more relaxed position. Twilight breathed out through her nose sharply and hoped she didn’t catch it.

“I can go get it-”

“Oh no you don’t,” Sunset interrupted. “You’re going to help me put all these books back.”

Twilight looked down at the indicated cart, then she remembered the two or three that were out by the table. That was a lot of books and she was on something of a time table.

“Hey, either you help me, or I go down the list of other titles I didn’t find,” Sunset cooed in a very sweet but threatening sing-song.

Twilight swallowed hard. “So, ah, I guess now’s a good time to mention I live in a library?”

The work wasn’t nearly as bad as Twilight had expected, even though she was unfamiliar with the library and the books and their places. It was the company she was beginning to enjoy more than anything as they went about replacing all the missing tomes while she and Sunset shared stories of their experiences in the Crystal Kingdom and Equestria.

Sunset was actually born in the Crystal Kingdom. Her family had come with Cadance to the north when she left. Apparently, the stories went that the Crystal Empire was in ruins but there were still ponies - Crystal Ponies - that could work unusual crystal magic. They shared their secrets with the refugees from Equestria and helped them craft a new home, literally, right from the range of crystal mountains that separated the kingdom from the arctic north. Then there was Sombra.

Twilight was fascinated by the legend of Cadance’s defeat of Sombra. It was said that she used the power of love to purge his shadow from the land. If that were true, it sounded amazing! To think that she knew the mare in question - it put a strange sort of spin on her view of Cadance and Celestia itself. Sure, she knew Celestia personally, and that meant she knew the living embodiment of Harmony itself. It was something that she rarely truly reflected on, but Cadance was about to become her sister-in-law. What would it be like to be the sister-in-law of a goddess? Besides, there were likely a few ponies still around who witnessed the founding of the Crystal Kingdom! It must have been such a grand event.

“So you’re actually Celestia’s student?” Sunset was saying as she placed a few books on the upper shelves with her magic.

“Yes, out of all the students in Canterlot, she chose to tutor me personally,” Twilight nodded, trying not to let her voice take on too much pride.

“Hmph. My mother doesn’t care much for Celestia. She says she’s a tyrant who doesn’t tolerate any line of thinking but her own.”

Twilight blinked. “That may be a bit harsh,” she said defensively, but if everything she’d learned from the Crystal Kingdom really were the truth, it did sound more and more like the divide in their lands was Celestia’s refusal to accept ponies who were different from her ideas of Harmony.

“My mother claims she banished us because Celestia wouldn’t risk having to share her precious pony kingdom with anypony she deemed impure.” Sunset sounded bitter. It wasn’t personal experience, surely. Sunset was about the same age as Twilight and the migration had taken place a century ago. There was no way she could have been subject to Celestia’s rules, but then again, if her parents or grandparents had been there would likely be rumors passed down through the generations.

“Celestia’s not some arrogant queen, she just wants to protect Equestria. She just wants what’s best-”

“What she says is best,” Sunset snapped, turning on Twilight. She looked as if she was about to say more, but she turned away and began putting books back on the shelf in silence.

Twilight put down the armload of books she was shelving and stepped over to Sunset. The orange unicorn didn’t turn around. “Sunset,” she said quietly.

“Sorry,” came the hushed reply. It sounded too hurt to be genuine.

“No, don’t be,” Twilight insisted as she gently slipped her hand into Sunset’s free one. She squeezed it, getting her attention. Sunset looked curiously uncertain, glancing between the joined hand and the kind smile on Twilight’s muzzle.

“What works for some ponies doesn’t work for everypony. Celestia is just scared it might cause more problems. But I’m hoping after the wedding I can go back and show her there’s nothing here to be afraid of.”

Sunset’s eyes looked soft, almost wet for a moment. “I’m not so sure there isn’t.”

Twilight couldn’t help but notice Sunset’s fingers hadn’t tried to pull away, even though she wouldn’t make eye contact for a long moment. She squeezed them encouragingly.

“Sunset, I can’t promise Celestia will listen. She and Cadance have had this feud going on for longer than I’ve been around. But I can promise you that nothing I’ve seen here is wrong. Nothing done out of love is bad.”

There was an exhale. Twilight wasn’t sure if she started it or Sunset finished it, but both of them were looking at each other, blue eyes to violet ones. They were quiet, but the warmth from being so close felt reassuring, the grip around her delicate hand was steady but careful.

“You sure are a smart purple horse,” Sunset said at long last. Twilight giggled, at a loss for how to respond to that, but she had prepared for something far more emotional.

But nothing would ever prepare her for being kissed.

Sunset’s slender muzzle pressed up against her own at just the right angle to make sure their lips sealed together. A gentle pressure, a little pull, and a squeeze with her hands, and Sunset had managed to give Twilight an exhilarating and heady rush. Her eyes stayed open even though Sunset’s had closed, and while she had no idea what she was going to do with this very sudden and very confusing moment, she quietly wished it wouldn’t end.

It did, and as it passed Sunset took a half-step back, keeping her fingers joined with Twilight’s all the while. Through all the purple fur on her cheeks Twilight was still pink enough to be mistaken for Cadance. She felt hot and weak and excited and oh so elated.

“What does--What does that mean?” Twilight stammered, barely able to get the words out.

“It means we kissed,” Sunset said simply with a broad grin. “Wanna do it again?”

“Uh-huh.” Twilight was more prepared as Sunset stepped back in, and their bodies met just a fraction of a second after their snouts. She had no idea how to do it, how to make it feel as electric and exciting for Sunset as it had felt for her, but she did her best. Her muzzle tilted, her lips parted, even a tiny grace of her tongue in the slick embrace, and Twilight felt like she never wanted to stop. A trembling moan was lost in the sound of their lips tugging and pulling and parting and meeting hotly, and Twilight shivered when Sunset wrapped her arms around her.

There was a sudden but meaningful cough.

Both unicorns jumped visibly. Twilight had to spin around while Sunset simply stepped back, stumbling slightly as a hoof landed on a forgotten book. At the end of the shelves was an older Earth Pony mare who had both arms crossed very tightly under her weighty breasts. Her coat was a pale cream and her brown mane sat in a terse beehive atop the crown of her head. The fact that she wore thick-rimmed glasses just made her glare all the more intimidating and schoolmarmesque.

“Young ladies, I understand you may be quite in love, but this library is a disaster,” she snorted in a stern but motherly tone. Twilight glanced at Sunset, who did not help by giving her the most lopsided grin she had ever seen.

“Have this place cleaned up by lunch or I swear I will have Cadance herself in here!”

Twilight was still reeling from the trip to the library. After they had been discovered by the librarian and scolded, Twi and Sunset continued organizing the books and finished with plenty of time to spare. They had talked mostly about crystal magic and a few things here or there about the plans for the wedding, but for some reason the topic never made it back around to the two of them kissing. It was making Twilight grow ever more anxious about it. Had she been bad at it? Had she embarrassed Sunset by getting her in trouble? Were two mares their age not supposed to be kissing, and in a library of all places? The tension in her gut felt like it was trying to escape by force as they walked listlessly back towards Twilight’s room, presumably on a mission to get the last book that Twilight had borrowed.

Of course, she still hadn’t deduced whether Sunset knew which book that was.

“Oh, and talk about that Mrs. Ryefield, catching us back there? How embarrassing,” Twilight rejoined the conversation after being absent with her thoughts. She tried to sound sympathetic and not like she was on the verge of a very slight panic attack.

“Sheesh, I’m your girlfriend for half an hour and you’re already ashamed of me?” Sunset quipped with her hands behind her back, though her tone was playful.

Twilight stopped in the middle of the hall and she looked at Sunset.

“You’re my girlfriend?” she asked in a way that suggested she was hearing about it for the first time.

“Am I?” Sunset shot back. The two peered at each other questioningly. Twi was tense, her fingers curling around the strap of her bookbag as if it would save her from washing away in the onslaught of fear and uncertainty and excitement. There was a moment where she thought she saw a sliver of pain shoot across Sunset’s muzzle and her blue eyes were searching.

“Yes,” Twilight said to stop the horrible indecision battling in her brain.

“Good,” Sunset nodded. “Because I was worried you were just kissing me back there-”

“No, Sunset, not at all!” Twilight interjected in a very near cry.

“Twi! I’m joking! Geez. Calm it down a bit,” Sunset gestured with both hands for emphasis.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight huffed as she covered her face with one hand. “I’m sorry, I know, I just don’t know how to deal with this.”

“You’re really cute when you’re mortified.”

“Sunset! I’m being serious.”

“So am I. But also about the kissing thing.” Sunset gently pulled Twilight’s hand away from rubbing her temple and leaned in to peck her nose. It was as if it startled the purple unicorn, even though she watched it coming and didn’t move to avoid it at all.

“Nopony has ever wanted to be my - to be with me,” Twilight admitted.

“That I find hard to believe.”

“I mean it. I’ve always worked so hard on my studies, being Celestia’s apprentice, even being charged with Ponyville’s library is a huge responsibility.”

“You have a lot of pressure on you,” Sunset said as she played her fingers around Twilight’s free hand. “I know. I get a lot of stuff from my mom about learning crystal magic.”

“She probably just wants you to be successful,” Twilight offered.

“Yeah…” Sunset trailed, looking away for a moment. Then she snapped back to brightness, smirking at Twilight. “But you’ve got a girlfriend. So I expect you to take time out of your busy schedule to dote on me and pay attention to me.”

“Really?”

“No.” Sunset snickered as Twilight’s ears splayed. She stepped a bit closer and let her fur brush through Twilight’s to calm her down a bit. “I’ll be the one taking care of you.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how this all worked. She was still battling the feeling of uncertainty, not knowing how it came together or how it fit into her life. How would Cadance and Shining Armor react when they saw her with this mare? What would Celestia think? How would she even break this sort of thing to her parents? In all her mental anguish she barely saw Sunset twist a hand out towards one of the crystal walls.

A pulse of magic rippled through the air. Twilight could feel it as well as see it, the green aura wreathing Sunset’s arm from the elbow. Her fingers twirled and beckoned out a piece of the wall’s shimmering perfection like a droplet of wax. It hung in the air for a moment above her palm before its shape lengthened into several points, until it resembled a star.

Twilight’s cutie mark.

“Here,” Sunset said with a little smile. A shimmering strand of crystal laced through a tiny eyelet at the top of the star, forming a necklace. As Twilight drew her mane up with both hands Sunset slid the chain into place and its ends touched at the back of her neck, sealing together seamlessly.

“Wow,” she breathed. It was crystalline, transparent, its many facets bending the light into a multitude of colors. Twilight picked it from where it rested just above her chest and turned it over a few times to watch the rainbow playing out through the pendant.

“So, I promise. I promise I’ll take care of you,” Sunset said and leaned in to kiss Twi’s cheek. She giggled softly at such seriousness and leaned in to her girlfriend’s side.

Twilight shivered and let a happy sigh out. She tipped her head just enough until their horns could just barely brush. There was no way of knowing how long they stood simply rubbing cheeks in the hallway, Twilight occasionally being brave enough to steal a kiss. But when she opened her eyes and looked at the beautiful blue eyes staring lovingly at her.

“I...completely forgot to find that book,” Twilight said, starting to say something completely different, but then she remembered - in all her excitement she’d spaced out on the reason for going to the library in the first place.

Sunset sighed dramatically and took her by the hand. “C’mon, we’d better go now while Mrs. Ryefield is on lunch!” Surprised by her energy, Twilight let the mare pull her along at a hurried trot. It was exhilarating. It was new. It was far better than any book.

Finally, Twilight had the book she was looking for. A History of Magical Creatures was hardly the most comprehensive source on the subject, but it was from Equestria and it might have more information. The hundred year old book still smelled like the crinkled pages of a dictionary, thick and ripe with knowledge, and its paper was still preserved. The soft sheen of the pages being turned put Twilight at casual ease as she flipped through them searchingly.

Sunset had insisted on helping her look, since she knew a bit about magical creatures. They were actually very similar, once Twilight thought about it. Maybe that was why she was so greatly attracted to this energetic, spontaneous, and beautiful mare. They shared interests in magic and philosophy and Equestria, but Twilight was pretty sure the uncharted territory of having a girlfriend was building on her mystery and appeal. It was thrilling to not know something, to have the opportunity to learn, and if she had to be any judge she would say she found an excellent teacher.

It was distracting trying not to think of how they could be laying in bed kissing instead of reading.

“So this creature can imitate the forms of other ponies,” Sunset recounted from the foot of Twilight’s bed, her back resting against it while she sat on the floor, “and it might be somehow feeding off them.”

“Right,” Twilight confirmed. “We didn’t get a look at it ourselves, but the pony who was attacked said it looked just like her girlfriend.”

“Do you think it’s hurting them?”

“I’m not sure. Shining said that there was a rash of dizzy spells, lightheadedness, maybe some fainting, but so far nopony has died.”

“That’s good,” Sunset murmured, propping her knees up to her chest.

“It’s possible that these things don’t actually feed off of anything physical. Magic, maybe?”

“I thought you said the baker was an Earth Pony,” Sunset mentioned as she looked over her shoulder. “There’s more magic in a crystal streetlamp than an Earth Pony.”

Twilight frowned. “You’re right. They wouldn’t be primary targets for a magic-eater.”

“What if they’re vamponies?” The word hung on the air in awkward silence like it was embarrassed to even exist.

“No, we’d see evidence of blood missing,” Twilight dismissed the thought with a shake of her head.

“I was kidding,” Sunset snorted. She pushed herself off the floor and clambered onto the bed, crawling her way to come to rest beside Twilight who was propped up against the headboard, book on her knees.

Twi glanced at the unicorn as she settled in next to her, leaning just enough that the curve of her chest was pressed against an arm. She took in a sharp breath. Sunset was amazing - smart, funny, and for some reason completely into her. It made her feel dizzy and lightheaded herself, but this was definitely not some kind of monster. If she had to guess, she would say this was love.

“Um, I just don’t know,” Twilight said with an awkward shift. “So far the book’s just talking about bogeythings.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re only in the Bs,” Sunset snickered, reaching over to turn the page herself. “I thought you were a fast reader.”

Twilight shifted the book slightly so that Sunset could have better access to it. Normally she was a very fast reader, but she was being constantly distracted with the thought of Sunset curling in against her, hugging up together under these sheets, trying position 46-A from page 161. She flipped, and their eyes scanned. Boggarts. Bugbears. Brownies. None of these things seemed like they would take the shape of a pony or mentioned anything about feeding.

“What’re these?” Sunset asked. Twilight blinked a little heavily. Her eyes were getting weary from looking over so much small writing and so many diagrams, wracking her brain to try to puzzle out what their target could be. She refocused on the page Sunset had stopped on.

“Changeling,” Twilight read aloud, “a polymorphic species of empathic feeders who drain emotions from intelligent creatures, most often targeting ponies.”

This sounded more and more plausible as Twilight read on. The drawing on the page depicted a strange-looking creature somewhere between insectoid and pony. It had a ponylike upper body, but long, spindly legs covered in a smooth black skin, gossamer wings, fangs, and large buglike eyes that made it look disturbingly like a fly crossed with an angler fish.

“Changelings are known to be instinctual feeders, drawn naturally to sources of powerful emotions such as grief, anger, or love,” Twilight said as the text continued, her voice rising with interest. “Utilizing a natural form of a polymorph spell they are able to assume the form of any living creature of similar shape and size, and can mimic voices effectively. Little is known about their society or if they are solitary.”

“Wow, this sounds like your monster,” Sunset noted as she looked over the page.

“Yeah,” Twi breathed. “Changelings. There’s no more, just these two pages.”

“Which means they were poorly understood. So they were thought of as a myth even a hundred years ago.”

“Either that or they were exceptionally rare.”

“A lot of these monsters might have been around at one time, but they died out. Kind of like how dragons used to live all over Equestria, but they migrated to the Dragon Isles ten thousand years ago.”

“Maybe changelings went into hiding or some kind of hibernation,” Twilight mused, settling back against the headboard. “If they feed on emotions, Equestria could have been a very dangerous place. Celestia’s rule made everypony safeguard their emotions and it would have taken a concerted effort to get a powerful one to feed off of. The Crystal Kingdom must be a buffet.”

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed. “I mean, you can’t go anywhere in this place without somepony kissing you in a library.”

Twilight gave Sunset a sideways look and was met with a shameless grin. She returned it, and the two leaned in to exchange a brief smack from their muzzles.

“Wonder what kind of silly pony would do that,” Twi giggled as she sat back. “But this is big news.”

“Big enough to go tell Cadance?”

“Definitely. Do you want to come with me?”

“I actually still need to work on that project.”

“Right,” Twilight said with a sudden realization that she might have been wasting Sunset’s time.

“It’s not a big deal,” Sunset calmed her as if she could sense Twilight’s worries. “It’s not due yet. But I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay.”

“Okay?” Twilight asked. She blinked.

“You know, with all of this. With us,” Sunset elaborated between several pauses.

“Oh! Of course I am, Sunset. I mean, it’s kind of new, and I don’t know if I’m going to be a good girlfriend or a bad one and I’m not sure if I can be everything you need me to be and-”

Sunset giggled and leaned up to hug around Twi’s shoulders.

“You’re such a dork.”

Twilight’s ears folded, but she slipped her arms around Sunset and squeezed her.

“This is kinda new for me too, Twi. Don’t freak out. We’ll work on this, together. I’m not saying I’m gonna be perfect, and maybe you’re not even that into me. But I promised I’d take care of you and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Twilight looked at Sunset with a mixture of sheer joy and searching puzzlement. She still had no idea why this pony had chosen her, or why anypony would. Just a day ago she was paranoid about other ponies seeing her naked, about seeing other ponies naked, and here she was, alone in her room with this magnificent girl, both of them stark nude, touching and kissing and feeling one another, closer than she’d ever been to another. She let out a happy breath as Sunset got off the bed and made a purposeful show of flicking her tail side to side with the motion of her hips, each stride a measured and effective sway of her pert rear end. Was Twilight just never aware of how good another mare’s butt could look when it was walking away?

“Try not to get into too much trouble, though. I’m just one pony.”

Twilight giggled. “I make no guarantees.”

Sunset laughed and wiggled her fingers before stepping out the door. Twilight looked down at the star-shaped crystal pendant once she was gone. Picking it up again, she turned it over in her fingers and admired it. The first gift a pony had ever given her in an effort to make her feel loved, but it was only symbolic of what she felt she’d really been given - what Sunset was trying to give her.

Chapter 9 - Dinner and a Plot

Chapter 9: Dinner and a Plot

Cadance and Shining Armor returned to the castle a little after lunch and brought along a treat - sandwiches from one of the caterers that would be handling the reception. Twilight had worked up a pretty serious appetite running on nothing but toast, but she was almost too excited to eat. Almost.

“Changelings?” Cadance was holding the book open above the dining room table.

“Mhmm,” Twilight said around a cheek full of bread and greens. “I was able to find that, at least, but there’s no mention of them in any other texts.”

“I’ve never heard of them, even in Equestria.”

“Twily, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Shining chided as he came back with some iced tea.

“Yes, Dad,” she teased him, making a visible show of swallowing.

Shining coughed and blushed very faintly while Cadance gave him a little glance that only made it worse.

“So the librarian’s assistant managed to help?” asked Cadance to get the topic off full muzzles.

“Oh yes! She had exactly what I needed.”

“Sunset Shimmer is one of our most promising magical students,” Cadance noted with a soft smile.

“She’s amazing. Smart and talented and funny,” Twilight went on, her hands weaving a much grander story than her words. She realized that she was meandering and cleared her throat. “I’m glad we met.”

“I’m glad to hear you two got along. It’s always nice when you meet somepony.”

“Yeah.” Twilight’s ears splayed. Cadance knew, she absolutely had to. There was no way that gentle smile and those soulful eyes did not imply she had been told, or maybe she was just so connected to the power of love she could get a read on anypony who had a feeling, ever.

That was a bit of a disturbing image, actually. Twilight wondered if Cadance was aware of every act of love in the kingdom. Did that include things like kind gestures, the love between two friends, or even deep, passionate makeouts in the library?

How silly. Even Celestia couldn’t see everything the sun touched.

“Well, I hear Twily’s been making new friends everywhere she goes,” Shining added in with an encouraging smile. “I’m going to put the rest of those things away, honey.”

Cadance nodded and kissed her fiance. Once he was gone, Twilight nervously bobbed a hoof against the leg of her chair while Cadance put down the book. Her expression was serene, the very definition of calm. It looked far to serious to be good.

“Twilight, I want to ask you something, and please understand I am not trying to make this unpleasant.”

“What is it?” she asked in return, ears perking, swiveling, and then laying back.

“You’ve never had intercourse, correct?”

“What?” Twilight’s nervous laugh was strangely involuntary.

“This is something everypony should talk about, Twilight,” Cadance said in a patient tone. “It’s not something to be embarrassed about, when and how and who are all your decision. But since I’m the one who introduced you to this concept, I want to be the one to let you know there also some dangers.”

“Like what?” Twilight’s attention grew more rapt as Cadance continued.

“Other than the obvious, like safety, hygiene? Lust. More so than most emotions, the physical desire to be intimate can drive us to make very poor decisions. Especially in the spur of the moment, and especially when we feel pressured to. Has anypony made you feel pressured here?”

“No! No, she hasn’t,” Twilight defended Sunset immediately.

“She?” Cadance asked in a slightly raised voice, brows arching.

“I - but - you didn’t know?”

“No, my goodness. I didn’t think you would be into girls.”

Twilight stared across the table at Cadance, mouth agape, eyes wide, cheeks burning a little more intensely than she thought they were capable of.

“It’s just that Celestia always felt, in many ways, that ponies of the same sex shouldn’t,” Cadance explained, “but you should know by now there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“No, no, of course. Celestia has relaxed a little on that, but it’s still a stigma. It’s still not possible for two ponies to get married in Ponyville if they’re - well, gay.”

Cadance nodded. “It’s a difficult subject. Even though it’s really no pony’s place to judge, the truth is it will be something that everypony discusses in one way or another.”

“I had never even really considered it,” Twilight admitted, leaning back into her chair a little. She drummed her fingertips on the edge of the table. Even now she was giving it more thought than she had when she had kissed Sunset. “My parents, Celestia, everypony I’ve ever talked to, they’ve always said I’d find a handsome young stallion one day. It just sort of pushed out the possibility that one day he’d be a mare. Er, she’d!”

Cadance chuckled. “And I’ve seen the way you look at Shining’s cock.”

The color must have visibly fallen from Twilight’s face, because Cadance snort-laughed. Twilight felt queasy. Her tail trembled behind her and she gripped the tablecloth into the tight balls of her fists.

“N-No! I don’t - I wouldn’t - he’s my brother!”

“And you are both grown, consenting adults,” Cadance said softly.

“But still! It’s wrong-”

“If you’ve never talked about it, then yes, it would be. But Twilight, dear, you and only you have the power to say so. Love takes many, many forms. And no action...”

“..taken out of love. I know, but, I don’t think I could ever. I love him, but our parents would never approve.” Twilight slowly released the tablecloth. Her legs folded and she flicked her tail a little to ensure there was still feeling in her extremities.

“It’s not their place to.” Cadance sat up a little more straight and adjusted the cloth on her side, which had been pulled by Twilight’s panic. “Besides, the fact that you have a girlfriend doesn’t mean you aren’t interested in boys. You don’t even have to be exclusive, but these are all things you have to talk to her about. The only ponies who matter in your life are the ones who love you just as much as you love them.”

Twilight tilted her head slightly, looking at Cadance questioningly. These were all such strange concepts compared to Equestria’s values. She was getting used to everything here breaking some form of taboo because it was logical, and if she could logically understand why something was the way it was she could straighten it out in her own mind, but this was becoming complicated swiftly. Perhaps it only failed to make as much sense to her because she had never thought about the subject, really applied her own intellect and come to her own conclusions. Whenever her brain had approached a subject that was considered uncouth it avoided it, just like she avoided naked ponies and sex and relationships.

And she’d only ever done it because somepony else had told her it was wrong.

Shining came back in through the kitchen door, smiling and brushing his hands off in front of him. “Everything’s stocked and ready for the big day,” he said with a sigh of relief that only came after a good round of physical labor. “What are you two talking about?”

Twilight’s eyes shot to Cadance. The alicorn gave a comforting little smile.

“Twilight has found a girlfriend.”

“Really?”

For a moment there was a twinge of fear, a terrifying coldness that lanced up from her stomach to her fingers and spread down to her hooves. Twilight’s eyes shifted over to her brother, waiting for the moment when he would judge her, condemn her decision, disown her or worse.

“That’s great news!” Shining strode around the table and clapped Twilight on the back firmly enough that she rocked forward a little. It broke her out of her shame spiral just in time for him to hug her tightly. Her eyes were watering as she leaned in and hugged him back as deeply as she could manage.

“Thank you,” Twilight murmured, making Shining lean back a little. She wiped the corner of an eye. “Thank you both.”

“Hey, now,” Shining offered with a firm rub on Twi’s shoulder. Cadance approached from the other side and gently brushed Twilight’s mane from her face from where the hug and spreading dampness mussed it. She looked between the two of them and could only shake her head and smile. Even if she’d never had a sister Twilight knew Cadance was what she wanted in one, and as always, Shining was the best friend, her first friend, her big brother.

“So who is she? I want to meet her! Can she come to dinner?”

The next day came and went in a buzz. Twilight felt as though she were dancing on clouds like a pegasus, free and light and carefree. Everything seemed so much brighter and happier, from the sun sending its refracting rays down through the crystal pillars to paint shining color everywhere. Maybe she was just swimming through the serene thought of seeing Sunset again and that was making her dizzy, but Twi couldn’t remember the last time she had been so excited.

Of course she’d extended the invitation to dinner. She had barely been able to contain herself. Sunset had agreed, but only after she promised that there would be no other ponies around. It was, after all, a family affair - Shining and Cadance had expressed a deep interest in meeting Sunset personally. Cadance had apparently never introduced herself personally, even though she had recommended Sunset to Twilight to help with her research. Apparently that had all been Mrs. Ryefield’s glowing praise.

“Has anypony ever called you Sunny?” Twilight asked as she walked Sunset towards the grand dining hall. It was larger and more formal than the small breakfast area where she had dined casually so far. Twilight had joked that she didn’t have a thing to wear to such a grand occasion but Sunset appeared very distracted and distant.

“What?” she asked, looking up from the floor for the first time since they left her room.

Twilight tilted her head, ears forward and attentive. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really,” Sunset waved off the concern. “Just nervous. I’m meeting the princess in person.”

“You’re going to get along great.” Twi gripped Sunset’s arms and squeezed her. The faint flicker of a smile was hardly reassuring but it was enough, even if it hadn’t been the most confident she’d seen Sunset since meeting her.

“And no, don’t call me Sunny.”

The grand doors to the dining hall swung open of their own accord. As the two ponies passed through them the true grandeur of the elaborate crystalline architecture settled in. Both looked up to the towering vaulted ceilings and the chandeliers that gave off radiant and pleasing multicolored light, then followed the sparkling shafts down to the table that ran the full course of the room. It was covered with a fine silk cloth that could have served as a banner or tapestry. There were several dozen chairs with tall backs and thick cushions, gemstones set into nearly every curve and carving.

The silverware - or more appropriately, crystalwear - laid out was no less impressive, wrought from the very substance of the kingdom. Though every single place on the table was set there were only four at the head of the table that were accompanied by waiters standing nearby, ready to pull out the seat at the approach of their guests.

“Wow,” Sunset breathed.

“I know. This is much bigger than I thought,” Twilight whispered.

“She sure knows how to make a girl feel severely underdressed.”

Twilight and Sunset shared a giggle as they stepped over to the nude waitstaff and were seated. Before long one of the many small side doors opened and Cadance and Shining Armor entered, wearing their crowns and nothing else.

“You must be Sunset!” Cadance enthused as both ponies rose to greet them, and she immediately wrapped the unicorn in a tight hug. Shining instead opted for a quick handshake before moving to their seats and settling in.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” he said with a broad grin.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Sunset nearly mumbled.

“No reason to be shy, sweetie. We’re all friends here.” Cadance motioned for the waiters to begin bringing out the food. It took only a few moments for a procession of ponies to emerge from the side corridors, carrying trays of greenery and carafes of dressing and pitchers of fresh juice and tea and milk.

“Cadance, Shining, isn’t this all a bit much?” Twi asked uncertainly. She’d never been comfortable with these royal affairs, even when she was in Canterlot. She much preferred quietly eating in her room, mostly because it avoided the crowds and she could study in peace.

“Oh, this is actually a sort of practice run for the wedding reception. Speaking of! Sunset, will you be attending?” Cadance asked across the short distance. Though there were two large chairs set at the head of the table, Cadance and Shining had settled into the matching seats across from Twilight and Sunset.

“I didn’t know I was invited!”

“Of course you are. This castle can fit everypony in the Crystal Kingdom and the reception will be held after the wedding. There’s no pony who isn’t invited, even if they’re not guests of honor.”

“Then I wouldn’t miss it.” Sunset’s cheeks darkened just a bit.

Twilight smiled at Sunset as she picked up a fork and began serving herself some of the salad greens that had been set out. “What about your mother?”

Sunset nearly dropped her fork. She looked like somepony had visibly slapped her and the warmth drained from her face. “What?”

“Your mother. Would she be coming? You’re getting to meet my family, I’d love to meet yours!”

“Oh, uh, I’ll ask her, but she’s probably already planning to, right?”

Twilight gave Sunset a curious stare as she played with the bits of kale that sat loaded but untouched on her plate. With a quick glance to make sure Cadance and Shining weren’t focusing directly on her, Twi slid a hand under the tablecloth and brushed her fingers against Sunset’s thigh. Those blue eyes lifted from the table to the stroking unicorn questioningly, but then a smile broke. Twilight returned it as she cupped a little more deeply along Sunset’s upper leg.

“So Sunset. Mrs. Ryefield tells me you’re an excellent student,” Cadance said between tiny bites of her own salad. “Crystal studies is your best subject, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yes, I’m in her class, and I like to read about it,” Sunset nodded.

“She even made me this!” Twilight beamed as she used her fork-hand to lift the pendant off her purple chest. Shining and Cadance nodded appreciatively.

“That’s outstanding, really. Most ponies start out making simple shapes and geometric objects.”

“That was how we started,” Sunset said, “but I kind of picked up on it quick.” She picked up one of the unused forks - why were there always so many other forks? - and opened her hand. The crystal utensil stood up of its own accord, floating above her palm without touching it.

“Crystal kinesis,” Cadance said with an approving smirk.

“And this,” Sunset noted. The fork looked like it was melting. It shifted and distorted until it was a perfectly round sphere, and its crystal surface glinted with polish. With nothing but a roll in her palm she separated it into two orbs, then into three, and began levitating them in a rotating pattern. Faster and faster they spun until they twirled upright and spun together back into the shape of a fork.

“That is absolutely amazing,” Cadance breathed, and Shining clapped. His mouth was full. “You could probably teach me a thing or two.”

Sunset laughed and shook her head. “I’ve just had a lot of free time to practice.”

“I mean it, you’re a natural. And Twilight said she was very interested in crystal magic.”

Twilight gave Sunset’s leg an approving squeeze under the table. She could feel her stiffen just a little, but that glint in her eye clearly conveyed one idea: don’t stop.

“I wouldn’t mind teaching her a thing or two, and she’s got plenty to teach me.”

Shining coughed a little in the middle of a sip from a glass of water. Cadance covered her muzzle with the back of her hand while Twilight’s cheeks started to warm. Sunset gave her a teasing grin that said everything was alright.

“I’ve learned a lot since I came to the Crystal Kingdom. I’m sure I’m going to learn lots more before I go.” Twilight’s hand encroached on Sunset’s warm inner thigh. Her fingertips brushed familiar territory. She knew from seeing all of Sunset that she wasn’t shaved, but things were more or less right where she expected. The leg she was cupping gently shifted as Sunset pretended to wiggle in her seat to get more comfortable and left herself beautifully open for Twilight’s hand to continue.

Suddenly one of the doors nearby snapped open.

Sunset’s immediate reaction was to jump straight up out of her chair. Her legs hit the table, making it bang loudly. Twi let out a pained yelp as her fingers were caught between crystal and thigh and she jerked her hand back, putting all four of her digits in her mouth to ease the pain of having them abruptly smashed. Cadance and Shining turned to look sternly in the direction of the disturbance.

“Your Majesty,” the brown-coated guard said as he hurried to the table’s side.

“What is it? Speak freely,” Cadance commanded, although Shining was already getting up.

“We’ve caught one.”

An imposing silence settled over the table. Cadance looked at Shining, who nodded. “I’m coming with you,” she insisted when he turned to leave. She stood up and began to follow.

“I’m coming too!” Twilight said hurriedly, but she remembered Sunset. Turning back to her date, she looked nervous, almost afraid.

“One of them,” she repeated. “You mean it’s a-”

“A changeling, probably,” Twilight nodded.

“Twi, it could be a trick,” Sunset pleaded, grabbing at Twilight’s nearest hand to grip firmly. Her blue eyes were glistening.

“It’s okay, Sunset. I’m just going to get a look and make sure that’s what we’re dealing with.”

“I’m going to head up to your room,” Sunset said quickly as Twi turned to go. It made her stop in place and turn to regard Sunset with furrowed brows.

“Just stay here, it’ll be safer.”

Sunset’s look of partial dismay made it difficult to leave her like that, but it was important. As Twi stepped out through the side door that the guard had opened she found Cadance and Shining waiting for her. That was a surprise, since she was so used to being treated like a child, forgotten about, or told to stay behind. Her ears flattened when the realization dawned on her. She had just told Sunset the same thing. Hopefully it wouldn’t make her feel like she wasn’t important, but that’s why she’d said it - Sunset was very important to her, and dealing with these changelings was still very new, unknown, and probably very dangerous.

There was a large ring of guards standing in the main hall, more than Twilight was even aware existed inside the castle. Their halberds were all gripped firmly at the ready, lowered towards the middle of the circle between them. Cadance and Shining stepped through first, and Twilight followed in their wake.

On the floor was a creature not unlike a pony. It had vaguely equine features and shapes, but that was were the resemblance ended. Its entire body was black as pitch and covered in a slightly shiny carapace, smooth and furless. On its back were a pair of gossamer wings, buzzing and twitching angrily. Its arms - which were tied firmly behind it - were long and thin, ending in clawed hands. It had spindly legs which were roped together and tied to big stones, likely to prevent it from flying, and in place of hooves it had a weird, round, insectoid foot with three clawlike protrusions, two sticking out of the front and one behind. Its eyes were bulbous and faceted, its snarling mouth full of needlelike teeth.

This was a changeling.

Twilight inhaled sharply through her nose. Shining looked at her and she gave him a silent nod.

“This is the creature,” he said with new resolution in his voice. “Men, secure the perimeter, and make sure every single guard is accounted for. Ask for the password.”

Cadance stepped forward. Her hands were on her hips and her tail twitched in what Twilight saw as a barely-restrained sense agitation.

“I want to know what you’re doing in my kingdom,” Cadance said shortly.

The creature didn’t respond. It hissed and snapped, but the guards holding a pair of lead ropes tied firmly around its upper body kept it from going anywhere significant. Even if it lunged for Cadance it would likely be cut down before it got within an inch of her closest hoof.

“Don’t give me that. You can go, now, if you tell me what it is you want.”

“We are coming. We are hungry!” the creature buzzed out in a voice that was both chittering, phlegmatic, and multitudinous.

Cadance’s expression darkened and she turned to Shining. “Have it locked up. We’ll get what we need out of it.”

Shining nodded and began directing the guards. Twilight stepped back to let Cadance pass and she saw the princess’ face was drawn with concern. She caught up in a little jog and fell into stride nearby. Cadance offered a soft but weak smile.

“I don’t like the look of that thing,” Twilight said simply.

“Neither do I. It sounded like it might be part of a bigger collective.”

“Like some sort of colony or a hive?”

“Let’s hope not. Twilight, Shining and I will take care of this. You go take care of Sunset. Make sure she’s safe. The two of you go up to your room and stay there, okay?”

Twilight nodded and quickly stepped away from Cadance as she approached the central hall. The dining hall doors were still open, but as soon as she stepped through them Twilight stopped again. Looking one way and then the other with growing concern, she noticed that Sunset was not there.

Twilight had searched everywhere between the kitchen and the main hall before remembering what Sunset had said about going to her room. Why the girl even figured that would be a good idea with things like changelings possibly running around was beyond Twi, but she’d seemed very disturbed by the notion. It wasn’t hard to figure out why anypony would be terrified of some shapeshifting emotional vampire and no matter how laid back Sunset was, that would unsettle the best ponies.

The door opened easily and Twilight stepped inside to find Sunset pacing the floor. She turned quickly, sighed, and hugged her.

“I’m so sorry, Twi,” Sunset breathed heavily.

“No, no, it’s okay. What happened?” Twilight hugged Sunset and patted her back softly before they separated again. Their hands found each other’s but Sunset’s eyes fell to the crystalline floor.

“I was just scared, I guess,” she shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“I was already feeling nervous from the dinner and it got cut short so quickly. And these changelings? What if they’re around us already, and they’re just waiting?”

“That’s exactly what we’re working to find out, Sunset,” Twilight assured her, squeezing her hands. “Shining Armor is one of the most talented guards in all of Equestria and Cadance’s only concern is the safety of the Crystal Kingdom.”

Sunset sighed heavily and looked at Twilight, her blue eyes still uncertain. Twilight hoped that she looked as confident as she sounded, but it was starting to unnerve her a bit as well. The idea that there could be more changelings than just the one - many more, if her thoughts on it were correct - was all the more disturbing. How many more could there be, and if they could look like anypony, who could be a changeling?

“You know what, though,” Sunset said with a slowly returning grin that looked very familiar. “I’m still waiting to hear where you were going with that teaching thing.”

Twilight laughed and started towards the bed, Sunset’s fingers still latched between her own. She sat down first, bouncing slightly on the comfy mattress.

“You actually might have to teach me a thing or two first,” she said as she let her hands move away from Sunset’s and instead started to ply their fingertips through the amber-orange fur around her hips.

“It’s not that difficult,” Sunset mentioned as she cupped Twilight’s cheek softly. “Just think about what you want me to do to you when it’s my turn.”

Twilight shivered with a glorious rush of anticipation and thrill. She raked her fingers down the outside of Sunset’s flank, caressing the shapely contours of her fur, the bare pelt ruffling easily. She nuzzled her short snout into the fur on Sunset’s stomach, inhaling the light smell of chemical shampoo mixed with just the vaguest twinge of sweat. It wasn’t unpleasant but natural, the scent of a mare and a body. Her eyes closed for just a moment before she helped Sunset gyrate a step closer to her.

As Twilight opened her eyes she swore she saw something - or rather, saw something that was not there. Blinking curiously, she leaned back just a little, tilting her head to one side, and then the other.

“Sunset. Where’s your cutie mark?”

“What?” the mare asked, sounding a little baffled herself. She looked down at Twilight who looked up at her with a suddenly stony expression on her small muzzle. Her eyes shot to her own flank.

And her cutie mark wasn’t there.

A coldness plunged into Twilight’s stomach like she’d drank a pitcher full of icewater. Her hands snapped away from Sunset who had the good sense to take a step back. Her eyes darted back and forth between Twilight’s, growing more and more terrified as the purple unicorn refused to break the accusing glare.

“Sunset,” Twilight said, soft but firm, leaning back a little more onto the bed. “Sunset. Are you - are you one of them?”

Sunset’s eyes still hadn’t left Twilight’s, but now they were glossy and trembling. “Yes.”

Twilight felt as though the floor had just fallen out from under her. Her mind spun with the implications, the ideas. What was this creature here in front of her? Was it really Sunset? Was it trying to trick her? Was it spying on her? Was it going to feed off of her? Shuddering from her hooves to her ears, she tried not to let the intense nausea escape in some visceral form by taking in a deep breath through her nose.

The sound itself made Sunset grip her hands nervously in front of her.

“Twilight, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she croaked in a voice too weak to be deceptive.

“Are you really Sunset Shimmer?”

“Yes,” Sunset said more firmly. “I mean, I am me, it’s been me all along.”

“Were you spying on me?”

Sunset froze in her anxious swaying. Her face contorted like she’d just been stabbed. Her mouth hung open and her eyes fell to the floor. “Yes.”

Twilight’s eyes flinched and she curled her legs up against her chest. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she used them to rest her chin and keep it from trembling while she regarded the pony in front of her, the pony that wasn’t.

“How many of you are there?” Twilight asked to break the uncomfortable deadness that hung in the air.

“Lots. A hive,” Sunset managed to whisper out. At least that confirmed it.

“What do you want?”

Sunset faltered for just a moment. She shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. “We just want to live, Twilight. My mother is the queen of our hive. She’s the one who believes ponies are afraid of us, that they’d never accept us. She wants us to work in the shadows, to collect emotions in secret. The few that have been spotted in the kingdom are slipping. Growing desperate, almost feral.”

“And why would you tell me all this?”

Sunset’s eyes suddenly lifted from the floor and met Twilight’s. Her cheeks were stained with wet tracks and she was still silently crying. Her muzzle was wrinkled and her lip trembled. A shift forward in her posture said that she wanted nothing more than to run over to Twilight’s side, but instead she grabbed one arm with her hand and wrung it until the fur was out of line.

“Twilight, we don’t want to hurt anypony,” Sunset began through a crack or two, nearly descending into unrelenting sobs. “We just feed on - borrow - emotions, feelings. We don’t kill and we don’t hurt. But this isn’t my idea. I swear, I’m not lying.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed slightly. She didn’t make eye contact as she considered in silence. “Was there ever a real Sunset Shimmer?”

The quiet grew denser. Sunset’s gaze fell from pleading to simply staring at the floor, unmoving. Her hands dropped to her sides as though they had been tied to weights, and nothing about her moved. “Yes.”

“What happened to her?” Twilight’s tone wasn’t accusing or harsh, but it was still even and lacking in the sweet compassion she’d always shown before.

“There was an accident,” Sunset said after a long, unsuccessful attempt at steadying her voice. “A cave-in, in the crystal mines where the changelings - where we live. It was before we came to the Crystal Kingdom. She didn’t - she was--”

Twilight could see that just trying to recount the story was making Sunset shudder involuntarily. Her heart briefly skipped in her chest, a tiny ray that dared to hope amidst the still-spiraling feeling of the world falling apart. It clearly upset Sunset and that meant that on some level, she was not heartless or cruel. Maybe that meant some tiny possibility of her actually caring about Twi was there.

“If you really don’t want to hurt anypony,” Twilight said, mostly into her own legs, “why haven’t you just talked to Cadance?”

“After what Celestia did to our kind? We were banished from Equestria and hunted down. Hives were destroyed without question. We were treated like monsters! My mother would never accept that any pony would ever welcome us.”

“And why should I believe you?” Twilight’s eyes snapped back into line with Sunset’s, and she started visibly. A loud sniffle nearly made Twilight’s own watering eyes begin to run, but she remained steadfast and focused on the one thing she needed right now: the facts.

“Because you made me realize,” Sunset halted, having to struggle through an attempt at speaking, “that maybe, ponies can accept us. You accepted me, and all I had to do was be honest. And Cadance and Shining were so nice to me. I didn’t know how to tell you and I was so afraid that you’d hate me. Do you?”

Twilight lowered her head into the darkness of her knees for a moment, wrapping her arms around her face to be alone. Did she? That was a question she couldn’t truly answer herself at the moment.

“Show me,” she said finally, after what felt like minutes of deliberation. Sunset was already choking back sobs, and when Twilight said that, she actually let one go.

Fire started at her hooves. Green fire, eerie and flickering, ran up Sunset’s amber fur across her long, attractive legs. Every inch that it passed by was replaced with strange, black carapace, slightly shiny in the light from the crystal lamp in the room. Her limbs were gangly and twisted, and as the flames licked up her torso it revealed an orange ribbing along her abdomen and ribcage. Her figure was still much the same, but she was somehow even thinner, like a shadow that was too difficult to look at directly and see clearly. When the fires reached her back and shoulders two pairs of long, gossamer wings fluttered out behind her, a notable difference between her form and the one Twilight had seen writhing on the floor not minutes ago. They recalled a dragonfly more than some baser bug, but still, they were not pony in shape or function.

The last vestiges of Sunset vanished as the flames licked up her muzzle and face. She still had a short, slender, feminine snout, but her eyes were green with slitted pupils. A pair of fangs were visible peeking over the edges of her lip, and the horn atop her head was gnarled and curved like a wicked sword. Instead of the two-tone contrast of her pony mane, she instead had a length of odd, gossamer substance that resembled hair, but was not, spilling down her back in brilliant orange.

Maybe it was Twilight’s imagination, but the smooth carapace of her cheeks looked even more drenched now in wetness than her fur had.

Seeing this creature for the first time made Twilight’s stomach do a somersault. She recalled her face being pressed against that stomach, her lips on that inky black mouth, her tongue - oh, Celestia above, the tongue had been between her teeth. For just a moment she felt like screaming and letting everything out, but there was another thought that held it back. The singular, inspiring notion that maybe, just maybe, Sunset was still standing right here in front of her. She looked away from it once she’d had her fill and rested her cheek on her arm to keep herself from crying, too.

“Twilight,” the creature said into the horrible silence. Its voice was soft and buzzed in the back of its throat unnaturally, but it was still superficially Sunset’s.

“What’s your name?” Twilight posed directly.

“Nymphaedra,” the changeling responded.

“Can you talk to your mother? Arrange a meeting?”

Nymphaedra’s eyes went wide. It was difficult to tell on such alien features if it was shock or horror or utter elation. “Yes! I can, I can go speak with her.”

“If,” Twilight said meaningfully, “if I can arrange a meeting between your hive and Princess Cadance, and if, a very big if, Cadance can help your kind, would your mother do that?”

“She would!” Nymphaedra practically gushed.

“Then I’ll make sure Cadance listens.”

The changeling’s wings flickered, their translucent sheen reflecting a rainbow of color. It was beautiful, in a way, but it made the sound of crinkling paper, of an insect buzzing in the hot summer air, dry and rubbing against things unpleasantly.

“Twilight, I’m sorry,” Nymphaedra repeated. Twilight turned her head back to the creature.

“I’ll give you a day. Tomorrow afternoon. If you’re not back I’ll consider you gone.”

Nymphaedra hesitated, her clawed fingers curling against one another in front of her bizarrely see-through orange stomach. It was as if she didn’t know whether to go through the door or melt into the floor, or perhaps just curl up and die where she stood. Finally she closed her eyes and the green fire returned to swath her form. When it cleared, Sunset was standing in front of her once again, her blue eyes shimmering.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Twilight didn’t lift her gaze to see her leave.

Once the door had clicked shut behind the unicorn Twilight buried her face against her legs. Her body shook as she let the dam break. Tears stained her face and her arms and her knees, but she couldn’t help it. Of all the places, of all the ponies, and of all the times, now, here, and her. Her breath came in wracking sobs and it was all she could do to keep the muffled wailing quiet enough that they wouldn’t be able to hear her downstairs.

Chapter 10 - The Conversations in the Darkness

Chapter 10: The Conversations in the Darkness

The darkness beneath the crystal-rich earth was no obstacle for a creature born into it. Winding earthen tunnels gave way to stone caverns, shaped by decades of acidic chewing and reshaping, while resinous compound gave support and shape to structures that could have been architecturally pleasing to look at, if they were not a sickly black and glowing green. All through the depths buzzed the song, a constant hum that flowed like the air itself.

What she had done was absolutely unforgivable. What she had done brand her in the eyes of every pony she knew. She cared little for what it meant for her. Her core felt hollow, and in the end she didn’t care if what she was about to do would be the end of her. Nothing could matter now except one outcome.

Nymphaedra stepped into the grand central cavern of the hive and glanced around herself. There were changelings flitting about, clambering up stony walls and stalactites above, disappearing into holes and crevices with the chitter of a busily efficient colony. Her eyes settled on a small cluster ahead. One shape among them was larger and more prominent in the murk.

“Mother,” she intoned as she came within speaking distance, even though a verbal cue was little more than a formality. She, being the daughter of a queen, shared the same ability as her mother - the link to every mind that buzzed through the hive, knowing its presence, its consciousness, its directive.

The tall shape of black and green turned away from the small cluster of changelings, which dispersed upon her attention realigning. Much like Nymphaedra, she was a lithe thing of blackness, although her gossamer flesh was green-tinged. She was also much taller than her daughter, easily aspiring to the stature of an alicorn.

“Ah, you return, child. So soon?” the tall queen purred in a voice that was as multitudinous as her hive.

“Yes. And I have something to to tell you.”

Chrysalis turned her grand awareness to the form in front of her, and Nymphaedra braced for what she knew was coming. Like the thousandfold legs that crawled and crept throughout the hive the queen’s conscious mind washed over her. She knew of her daughter’s anxiousness, she knew of her urgency.

“Say it, my daughter, my beloved. Nothing will bring you harm here.”

“My queen, I’ve been revealed,” Nymphaedra said, flinching both inwardly and literally. She knew it would not be something that would please Chrysalis. “But it was not my doing. One of them, the unicorn. She discovered my secret. But she also has offered to help us.”

The queen took a long-legged stride forward, bringing her dangerously close to the smaller, nascent royal changeling. “Help us? In what way?” Her curiosity sounded piqued.

“She has offered to arrange a meeting between the princess of the Crystal Kingdom and your excellency.”

Reaching out one of her long-fingered and wickedly-clawed hands, Chrysalis caressed Nymphaedra’s cheek. She did not lift her gaze from its stern place on the floor in front of her. It was not out of some royal decree or element of respect, she merely hoped that her mother would not see the streaks that still ran down her chitinous muzzle.

“This is most fortunate news,” Chrysalis clicked. Nymphaedra did look up at her mother at that.

“Mother?” she asked, voice trembling with a foolish hope.

“The time has come for us to reveal ourselves to the ponies above. No more hiding. No more shadows. If they will listen, I will gladly take audience with their ruler.”

Nymphaedra’s heart dared to rise slightly from the crushing depths it had plunged into when Twilight had learned everything. If her mother was sincere and could manage to make peace between the changelings and the ponies of the Crystal Kingdom, everything would be better. Everything might not be fine, but at least she could do one good thing in all of this. Even if she was a monster, maybe she could make Twilight happy.

Twilight sat at the breakfast table, although it had to be after midnight now. One elbow was resting on the table while her hand held up her cheek. In the other she cradled a lukewarm mug of coffee that sat undisturbed from when it was placed there. Her eyes were red and puffy and tired, but she couldn’t sleep. Not now. She wasn’t sure she ever would be able to again.

After the initial sickening sensation had worn off Twi felt drained. The rushing high she’d been on was now a pit and she felt like it she would never stop falling. Cadance moved over to her side and put a soft hand on her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” she said soothingly, rubbing.

“Less than a day,” Twi’s throat creaked. “Or maybe a day. I don’t know. My first kiss. A girlfriend. And she’s a lie. Just one big...”

Cadance shushed the harsh words with a hug. “Twilight, dear, it isn’t your fault.”

“How is it not?” she snorted, shifting in the embrace like she wanted to be out of it, but she was too frightened to let go of the last shreds of affection that still grounded her.

“You didn’t choose to lie about who you were. You didn’t choose to deceive us.”

“But I was stupid enough to listen.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Cadance said in a more affirming tone. “You are not stupid. You are the most intelligent young mare I have ever met. Since the moment you first came to the Crystal Kingdom you have made amazing strides to accept ponies for who they are, and that includes yourself. You have done nothing but grow and learn.

“The saddest thing that I can tell you is that not every pony who says they love you means it. They don’t always say it with love in their hearts, or even if they think they do, they may not believe it as fully as they need to to make it true.”

Twilight sniffled and looked at Cadance, who was kneeling in front of her with her hands on her knee now.

“But you, Twilight, understand more about love than ponies I’ve seen living here for years. In a day you’ve made more progress than some have in a decade. If I had an ounce of your courage I’d walk into Celestia’s halls myself and tell her that we’re no different and that we still love her all the same.

“And you still don’t know if Sunset - Nymphaedra - is telling the truth, but you don’t have any reason to doubt her, do you?”

Twilight took a lengthy moment of silence to weigh it mentally, but she was so very tired. She shook her head.

“Then maybe, what she thought she was doing, was protecting you.”

Twilight’s hand slid away from her mug of coffee and rose to her neck. The star-shaped pendant still hung there. She’d gotten used to its weight and presence against her collar. If she’d remembered it was there when Sunset had first told her she might’ve just ripped it off and thrown it in her face. Now, she fingered it delicately, her throat starting to tighten again.

“You should get some sleep. A big day tomorrow, my brave, brave sister.”

Chapter 11 - A Royal Invitation

Chapter 11: A Royal Invitation

A strange quiet had come across the palace. The crystal spires shone brightly in the middle of the day while the guards stood at alert. The town below was abuzz with the rumors, but the castle’s solemn face was one of anticipation and uncertainty. Twilight stood in the throne room with Cadance, who had decided this would be a far more formal affair. They would do things the right way, or so she’d suggested. Twilight was unsure about whether it was the smartest way to do things, but then, after being alone in a room with a changeling, she didn’t want to go anywhere without a contingent of armed guards following her every move.

She had not seen the throne room proper since she’d arrived. Cadance was so casual, moving about the castle where she pleased, hosting meetings in the breakfast nook or the main hall or even going out to meet with ponies in the town itself. She was so very laid back, but the gravity of the situation was making Twilight doubt her methodology. Celestia was always regal and poised and in control. Cadance now looked like a child sitting on the elegant crystal throne with Shining at her side, Twilight on the other.

Of course she’d insisted on being present for the meeting. She shifted her weight from one hoof to the other as they waited. That morning they’d received word from one of the guards that Nymphaedra had returned. She hadn’t tried to come in or demanded to see Twilight. She simply delivered the message.

Her mother was going to come.

Twilight’s mind raced over the endless possibilities and outcomes, turning situation after situation like the wandering pages of a choose your own adventure book. Every time she thought of Sunset her chest panged and her eyes stung, her mind clouding with her desire to talk to her and be with her. Her heart burned at the notion that she still wanted anything to do with that creature, after she lied and used her. But there were more important things to worry about, weren’t there?

The tall doors of the main hallway swung open and the tension in the room swelled. Twilight stiffened while Cadance leaned back in her throne. Shining, who never brought a weapon with him anywhere, steadied his own stance and set his gaze on the archway.

Twilight wasn’t sure she was ever prepared to see what stepped through.

A towering black figure walked with a foreign grace along the long purple carpet that stretched between the raised steps to the throne and the doors. She was tall, easily bigger than Cadance, probably as tall as Celestia herself - which put her intimidatingly at twice Twilight’s height. Her body was the same pitch black that Nymphaedra’s was, with gossamer and sickly green comprising her flesh, her wings, her mane and tail. Her horn was a towering, gnarled blade, and her face was set into a slit-pupiled smirk. Several guards ringed her at a respectful but still cautious distance, and there in the center with her was another pony.

Sunset.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she saw her, bright amber-orange and red, in her pony form. Her blue eyes darted away as soon as she noticed her searching gaze. Somehow, it made Twilight feel better, knowing that Sunset was here and that she had been telling the truth. At least, she had been about one thing.

The guard escort stopped in the center of the hallway and began to retreat. Twilight looked at Cadance who gave her a reassuring nod. The doors pulled closed behind the last as he departed, and then they were alone.

“Welcome,” Cadance said, her voice echoing slightly in the grand hall. “I am Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Kingdom. Who do I have the honor of addressing?”

“I am Queen Chrysalis,” the tall creature said, and her voice was terrifying. It hissed and reverberated on its own, a commanding potency and female strength that compounded on itself a hundred times. Twilight had to repress a shiver.

“Welcome, Chrysalis. Forgive me if I’m a little unfamiliar with your kind, as we have not seen a changeling in the Crystal Kingdom for some time.”

“No, you wouldn’t have,” Chrysalis mused almost conversationally. She extended one long-fingered hand to Sunset’s head. Her claws graced her mane, stroking in tiny little rows through the fur. Sunset tensed as if she’d expected to be hit.

“Why have you only chosen to reveal yourself now?” Cadance prompted.

“The time was simply not right, Your Highness. We changelings were cast out from ponykind centuries ago by your precious matriarch.”

Cadance shifted in her seat, folding one leg over the other as she moved her hands to the armrests. “Celestia may be queen in Equestria, but she does not hold sway here. Whatever she has done, I hope you can see that I am not her.”

“No, certainly not,” Chrysalis chuckled. It was a strange, wracking sound. “I would never have thought it this easy to walk into her throne room in broad daylight.”

Twilight looked sideways at Shining as discreetly as she hoped. Shining glanced in her direction to give her a helpless shrug. He had no idea what the changeling was planning.

“It’s my understanding that your kind are emotional feeders,” Cadance said, trying to keep the conversation civil. “You may not be aware that the Crystal Kingdom encourages the open expression of love and free exchange of ideas. I want to offer you peace, in exchange for honesty.”

“Honesty?” Chrysalis’ black brows raised in clear amusement. “Oh, I feel I can be honest with you, Princess Cadance.”

Sunset’s eyes shifted towards her mother in clear astonishment. The black hand on top of her head moved so that Chrysalis could sweep grandly in a gesture of emphasis.

“For centuries I have dwelled in darkness, subsisting on little more than the scraps of your feelings.” Chrysalis’ voice had taken on a darker tone. “My kind waned after being cast out from Equestria. We were forced to hide and dwell in fear, to never know the warmth of the surface”

Cadance’s expression hardened. Shining’s fists clenched tightly. Sunset’s face fell, her mouth slowly opening.

“The time has come, my dear princess, for you and all your little ponies to know what it means to truly live in fear. You will know what it is to never see the sun.”

“Mother, that’s not-” she began. There was no time to finish before Chrysalis swung her entire long arm and caught her daughter straight across the mouth.

It wasn’t a slap. Sunset was hurled across the hallway behind the pillars that supported the vaulted ceiling. Her body hit the crystal wall with a sickening thwack. Chrysalis’s eyes burned with unnatural green hate when she turned back to the throne.

Twilight didn’t realize she shouted Sunset’s name until Cadance shot up out of her chair and Shining stepped forward. Chrysalis didn’t hesitate. Her horn glowed green with crackling lightning and it was all Cadance and Shining could do to throw up matching azure and pink barriers before the bolt hit. The steps where they stood were obliterated, throwing all three ponies backwards to the throne. Twilight stumbled and caught herself on an arm while Shining skidded to a halt, still standing on his feet. Cadance lowered herself down from midair with a snap of her wings. All around them crystal chunks clattered down from the massive explosion.

“Why do this?” Cadance shouted, her voice terse. “Why throw away your chance at peace?”

“Peace? You think there can be peace between us? Harmony?” Chrysalis’ voice cracked in a hoarse laugh. “I will not rest until my kind has drained every pony down to an empty husk. My swarm shall not go hungry again.”

The doors to the throne room flew open. Several guards rushed in, their halberds at the ready. Chrysalis straightened herself and gave them a glance, but her fanged smirk never faded.

“You can’t win, Chrysalis,” Cadance said sternly, her hands moving to her hips. “My guards have the palace surrounded.”

“Really?” Chrysalis chuckled. “It is fortunate, then, that I have had agents within their ranks for years.”

One of the guards standing in the doorway shifted and grinned. He, along with a half dozen others, were engulfed in green flame. Their black forms immediately turned on their companions with swift blows from the pommels of their halberds, cracking into ribs and smashing into stomachs. What few guards managed to turn their attention to a defense were quickly overwhelmed as multiple gangly limbs grabbed them, wrestling with them.

The changelings opened their mouths. Hissing green tendrils swirled out of them, enveloping the ponies in their grip. Though the guards kicked and struggled against the insectoid creatures’ grip, their motions soon became sluggish, limp. One by one the guards still able to stand crumpled while the changelings’ bodies glowed with luminous green energy.

Twilight gasped. Her eyes shot from the gruesome scene of ponies being drained to the pillars at the side of the hall. She could just barely see Sunset’s orange form laying on the polished crystal, not moving. Her brows knit tightly.

She had no time to make her move before a brilliant blue flash erupted from beside her. Cadance’s horn ignited and shot out a coalesced beam of pure magic at the changeling queen. Chrysalis brought an arm up to reinforce a protective barrier spell as the magic hit. When the aura cleared, Cadance was barreling straight for her.

Twilight hadn’t even seen her move. The alicorn hit the changeling in the center of the hall with enough force that the ripple of energy blew back Twilight’s mane in a palpable gust of wind. Unicorns were capable of reinforcing their natural abilities with their natural magic even before they learned to fully control it to work into spells. With practice, magic could bolster a pony’s abilities several times over. If she refined her control Twilight might have been able to keep pace with a race pony or levitate many times her own weight.

Alicorns were something else entirely, and Cadance was exceptional. Even knowing that, Twilight’s heart sank when she saw Chrysalis had simply braced and caught Cadance’s fists in her own. The two stood facing one another, one scowling with barely-restrained anger, the other smirking.

“Kill the others,” Chrysalis commanded.

The changelings at the doorway leapt from their unconscious victims towards the throne. Twilight snapped out of her reverie as Shining summoned up a flickering pink shield of magical force.

“Twily, go left!”

“On it!”

Twilight had never been much of a fighter. If she were asked, she would have said that learning combat spells was for guard ponies. If she’d read one or two in her time in the Canterlot libraries or practiced with her older brother just for fun, it would have been a happy accident. What most ponies failed to realize was that Twilight had read every treatise and theorem on magical applications in combat. She had practiced spells late into the night, she had forgotten birthdays, and she had missed parties.

She was not as helpless as she looked.

The first changeling to reach Twilight was surprised, if she could be any judge of the twisted changeling features, when her horn lashed out with bright magenta energy. The magic bolt slammed into it as it flew threw the air, immediately reversing its momentum with a loud and painful crack. The second changeling managed to dodge her second bolt, but when it kicked off the floor to pounce at her she summoned an oversized fist of magic that punched straight up through the air and plowed it into the ceiling.

Shining knew his sister could take care of herself, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to look out for her. The changelings on the right were quick, trying to flank around him to get at Twilight or to surround him and eliminate him as a threat. His glowing pink shield hovered over his left arm. When one of the glistening-fanged beasts jumped at him, he easily deflected it with a sweep of his arm. Just as he suspected its partner waited until his shield was high and came in low. He’d anticipated it, too, and summoned his magic into his free hand.

The magical jousting lance shimmered out at the very moment he thrust it forward and slammed the lunging changeling. It screeched and rolled off the dull tip in a heap on the floor. Shining pulled his shield away from the changeling trying to claw its way around it and brought it crashing back around into the side of its head. Whatever he’d just broken, he hoped it hurt.

The two remaining changelings hissed gutturally at the pair. Stepping closer to one another, Twilight and Shining pressed back to back, horns still glowing, Shining raising his lance and shield while Twilight’s hands were engulfed in licking purple-pink fire. Suddenly a searing bolt of green energy slammed into the hall between the two changelings, sending them reeling. The explosive impact made Twilight cover her eyes and Shining brace his shield to deflect more crystalline debris as it whipped past them like shrapnel.

A crackling blast of thunder made both unicorns glance up. Cadance and Chrysalis had taken to the air. Their magic flared in angry auras around their bodies, occasionally lashing out in time with quick strikes to try to slip past the other’s defenses. Each time their energies met it send a resounding boom through the hall.

“We’ve got to help her,” Shining breathed.

“How?” Twilight stammered. She looked around the hallway. Her eyes settled on the orange shape on the ground. “Sunset!”

Forgetting the battle raging above her, Twilight hurried down the blasted steps and across the ruined floor. She landed on her knees so hard that she skidded, but the sting of her fur and skin being scraped didn’t matter. Her arms wrapped Sunset and pulled her upright. She was limp, rolling as unresponsively as a foal’s doll.

“Sunset,” Twilight whimpered, supporting her head with one hand.

“Twilight?” came a hushed whisper.

“Sunset! It’s me. Sunset, are you-”

“Twi, I’m sorry,” Sunset stammered. Her eyes cracked open, but they were unfocused.

“No, no, don’t be sorry. Sunset, please,” Twi pleaded, brushing some of the stray strands of brilliant orange mane away from the mare’s face.

“Changelings can’t live...without love. My mother’s consuming it. I can’t draw from the hive.”

“But I’m here, Sunset,” Twi’s voice broke.

“You don’t…”

Twilight’s muzzle twisted and her tears began to stream down her face. Sunset closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath.

“I was lying to you. You were just too naive to realize. You don’t love me.”

Twilight clutched the unicorn tightly to her chest. “That’s not true. I might not have known you and you didn’t know me but I still felt something, and--and--and I don’t want you to go.”

Sunset lifted an arm and placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight squeezed her tighter. Sunset’s fingers curled into her fur.

“Twilight.”

“No! Don’t try to tell me how to feel!”

“Twilight,” Sunset repeated more firmly. She suddenly shoved Twilight out to arm’s length and blinked at her, sitting up on her own.

“Sunset?” Twi gasped, looking at the mare’s bright cyan eyes. “What’s going on?”

The answer came as flickering purple energy started to lick down Sunset’s arm. A green aura swirled out of her body and met with it, the two meeting seamlessly like chemical flames dancing from a reaction in a beaker. Twilight watched it for a moment or two before looking back at Sunset, who seemed just as much at a loss.

“I can feel it, Twilight,” she breathed. “You’re giving it freely. I don’t have to take it.”

Twilight let out a laugh. It was elated and bright. She didn’t feel weak, as she suspected she might when she saw the changelings feeding before. Instead her own emotions were welling, rising, building with a sort of giddy pleasantness that made her never want to stop. Her arms grabbed Sunset and pulled her in close, and the gentle glow of their auras mingled.

“You never did.”

A sudden crash snapped the two out of their embrace. Twilight and Sunset looked back out to the hallway just in time for Shining Armor to be flung aside from a bolt of green power. His shield and lance dispelled and he hit the ground between them.

“Shining!” Twilight gasped. He clutched his lance-arm, wincing and setting his teeth.

“So admirable, his love for you,” Chrysalis taunted as she strode to the middle of the hall. Cadance was standing squarely across from her, magic still shimmering through her horn. “But you should know by now you cannot defeat me.”

“It’ll take more than you to beat us,” Cadance spat back.

Chrysalis laughed. “How appropriate. I’ve come prepared.”

There was a great grinding of crystal.

Chapter 12 - Reservation for 100,000

Chapter 12: Reservation for 100,000

Quaking shudders resonated through the crystal hall. The ground was moving, and not just from some great impact. Something was coming, something enormous, and it rolled under the very foundations like a distant wave approaching the shore.

Outside the castle, the ground began to bulge and distend in tumorous welts. The pavement and elaborate cobbling stretched and groaned over the soft earth beneath until it exploded outward. From the newly-blasted hole came a sound unlike any other. The sound of thousands upon thousands of wings rose up the tunnels, and like a black cloud, changelings swarmed free of it into the skies above. Hole after new hole erupted from the ground and the buzzing grew more deafening. The light from the sun slowly faded from the crystal castle as the throng of bodies filling the air began to choke it in living smoke.

“For too long we have skulked in the shadows. For too long we have danced on the edge of extinction, but no more! My brood will cover this land in darkness. We will drain every pony dry. Our number shall be unending, and you will not live to see your precious kingdom die,” Chrysalis’ voice rose with a laugh.

Cadance’s muzzle was wrinkled with anger, her eyes narrowed, brows knit. She obviously knew this was bad as shadows flitted past the tall windows on either side of the hallway. So far everything she’d given was met with equal fervor, and though she never wanted to fight where it could be avoided she knew how to protect her kingdom. She had done it once with the power of her love, but Chrysalis was something new and dreadful.

“Cadance!” Twilight shouted as she hurried over to the princess’ side. Sunset stepped up beside her, scowling darkly at her mother.

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed, but she did not break her arrogant and mad grin. “And even you stand against me. How easily you have betrayed your own kind, and for what? A pretty face?”

“I never wanted this,” Sunset growled through her teeth. “You always told me that we would return one day, maybe when the ponies of the surface were gone or had moved on.”

Chrysalis laughed. “Foolish child. And then what would we eat?”

Sunset yelled out her angry response with a surge of magic. She stepped forward, planting a hoof solidly on the floor. The crystal around it rippled like a stone breaking the surface of a serene pond and in a flash of motion the gemstones erupted outward towards Chrysalis. She looked taken off guard for the first time since entering the grand hallway and leapt into the air on her wings to avoid the enormous crystalline spike.

“She’s been collecting love from the kingdom for years,” Sunset said, her eyes never leaving the dark shape in the sky. “Her changelings can absorb emotions from ponies by force and feed it into the hive.”

“My magic is powered by love,” Cadance sighed. “And the kingdom is defenseless against a swarm that feeds on it.”

“Then we need to fight them without love,” Twilight said to keep the focus on the task at hand.

“Not a problem for me.” Sunset threw her hands to her sides and focused. The crystal around her shook and swelled, rising up to cover her fingertips, then her hands, and finally her forearms. The shapes solidified into a pair of large crystal gauntlets. As she lifted them and flexed the fingers they moved effortlessly.

“At least we have plenty of crystal,” Cadance said with a slight smirk.

Twilight frowned. She hadn’t learned any form of crystal magic since she’d been here, too preoccupied with the discovery of her feelings and body. She quietly cursed under her breath as she went over the possible spells she could use against something that could stand up to an alicorn.

Shining grunted as he shuffled over. His right arm was wrapped in a bright magical cast, a hasty but effective first aid technique. “What’d I miss?”

Chrysalis hissed and shot towards the group. A clawed hand lashed out for Sunset, but she jumped back a pace and immediately followed up with a swing from her crystalline fists. The blow caught Chrysalis squarely in the cheek. Reeling, she stumbled towards the back of the hall, but Sunset was on top of her in an instant. A furious series of blows slammed into her mother’s body, each one making a sickening crack that resounded through the halls.

“You never cared about what happened to me,” the unicorn snarled as she rammed her mother against a pillar. “You only care about your petty revenge!”

“I care about the survival of our species. The future of our kind,” Chrysalis growled darkly. A shock of her magic lanced out from her horn. Sunset lifted a gauntlet to stop it but the force still knocked her arm aside, shattering some of the protective enchanted gem.

“And what kind of future do you want? When you wipe them all out, what will you eat?”

Chrysalis’s expression split into a deranged, toothy grin. “I am eternal. I will survive, as I always have. And with me, the swarm lives on.”

Sunset scowled. “Not if I stop you here, now.”

With both gauntlets raised Sunset jumped at her mother. Chrysalis made no move to get out of the way. The crystal gauntlet extended towards her connected right with the center of her face and there was a sickeningly wet crunch. As magic rippled through the glove and snapped out into a potent shockwave, Chrysalis stumbled backwards.

Her leering grin, mangled and broken like shattered glass, was distorted. Green ichor dripped from her chin in heavy globules. As she straightened back up, Chrysalis’ wounds began to knit. Popping, snapping, crinkling carapace slithered over her form to reconstitute her unmarred black body. Just like that, the queen was smiling again.

“How noble of you to stand between me and your pony friends,” Chrysalis chortled. “But you think they accept you? You think they love you? I have seen the worst of what their kind will do to protect each other.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed. There was an intense building of magic in the air. Sunset braced herself while Cadance, Twilight, and Shining looked around. The light in the hall was dimming rapidly as black shapes crawled around the windows. Chrysalis made a gesture, a sweep of her arm. A wave of force rolled out from her that sent Sunset spiraling backwards, and the three spectators cried out as the floor underneath them exploded without so much as a flash of magic.

“I have had enough of this,” Chrysalis snarled. “Nothing will stand in my way. Not some upstart nymph, not some naive princess, and certainly not some tiny unicorns.”

The changeling queen lifted off into the air, the buzz of her wings joined by the hum of the thousands swarming the castle. Outside, the surface teemed with bodies, black as pitch and glowing with the fear and love and anger and desperation of ponies across the empire. Where any pony fell, a changeling pounced, siphoning them with their ethereal tendrils until the opposition was too weak to fight back. Then they returned to their queen, feeding her fury and greed. Coalescing swirls of radiant green magic started to flicker into existence, bending around the dark queen like eddying streams.

Twilight sat up from the cluster of jagged crystals she’d been flung into. Her body ached, cuts and scrapes staining her fur in places. Cadance helped her up and Sunset pushed aside a large hunk of rubble that had blocked the worst of it. Shining erected a protective bubble as a powerful wind stirred up through the hall powerful enough to fling gemstone hunks at dangerous speeds.

“What do we do?” Twilight gasped.

“We’ve got to get her away from the swarm,” Sunset chuffed, turning to spit a bit of red onto the floor.

“How? There’s so many of them.”

“The tunnels,” Sunset said flatly. “There are tunnels all throughout the Crystal Kingdom. We used them to get around without being seen.”

“Won’t there be more changelings down there?” Shining asked, sounding more concerned about the stratagem than the gross security breach.

“With this many up above, the tunnels should be abandoned,” Sunset replied. Her resolve set on her muzzle, her eyes never leaving Chrysalis as she swirled in a typhoon of dark magic, she clutched her gauntlets into firm fists.

“Sunset,” Twilight said, putting her hand on one of the massive gloves. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Looking to her side, Sunset found Twilight smiling at her. Cadance, too, gave her a nod, and with a quick glance she saw Shining give a thumbs-up, then he winced as he’d used his broken arm.

“Okay, give me some cover. Twilight, we need to weaken the floor.”

Twilight frowned but looked out over the wrecked crystal studiously. “I’ve got a few ideas that might work.”

“Are we ready for this?” Cadance asked as she flexed her fingers and spread her hooves out along the crystal floor.

There was no response, but every pony stood steeled against the wind. Twilight was already mouthing over a few formulae. She might not have learned much about crystal magic, but she did know one thing, one thing she was very good at.

Magical theory.

Kneeling down, Twilight placed her hands on the crystal floor. Bright pink lanced out from Shining’s bubble. A soft hum began to build just under the roar of thousands of changelings and the vast stores of stolen energy they channeled into their queen.

Cadance jumped forward in a fluid arc, sweeping her arms in a gesture recalling an elegant ballet maneuver. The crystal floor in front of her swung up in a giant crescent. Its motion followed the sweep of her arms and lunged towards Chrysalis. The queen gestured and a black-green bolt of energy shattered the rising crystal blade. Another one rose up on the other side of her, but it too was destroyed with a flick of her wrist.

“Almost got it,” Twilight huffed, keeping her focus on increasing the growing hum through the crystal floor. Her magic shone brightly even in the emerald storm. Shining kept his shield raised, but every time a chunk of crystal impacted the barrier he winced as if it had struck him directly.

“Go!” Twilight shouted.

Cadance thrust both her hands, palms out, towards Chrysalis. A huge wave of crystal surged up out of the floor, rolling in a sweeping arc. Sunset leapt onto it. Like the wheels of a train car guided by crystal tracks her hooves slid along the material as if she were ice skating. Chrysalis of course destroyed the end of it in a dismissive wave, but through the cloud of tinkling gemstone shards, she did not see Sunset leaping off the end.

Carrying her momentum through with both fists above her head, Sunset rose into the air above her mother. Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed angrily. Twilight’s spell flared underneath her, casting brilliant magenta energy through the hallway as the hum reached a piercing crescendo.

Sunset slammed into the queen with a shuddering peal of thunder. Together they crashed into the resonating floor like a falling star, shattering it completely. Their forms dropped in the hail of glass and magic and swarming changelings. Chrysalis’ voice shrieked in outrage as Sunset poured every ounce of her magic into the gauntlets. When they hit the ground, they didn’t stop.

In a rumbling crash similar to the one that brought the swarm, Chrysalis and Sunset were plunged into the darkness.

Chapter 13 - Darkness, My Old Friend

Chapter 13: Darkness, My Old Friend

It had been a decades-long project to dig tunnels beneath the Crystal Kingdom to facilitate the infiltration. Harvesting love in secret to keep the hive required guile and cunning, but that had been thrown to the wind. Everything they had once meant, everything they stood for, was now gone. Sunset coughed and pushed rough rocks from her back. Even with the shards of light cascading down from above she couldn’t see very well with her pony eyes, so she let them revert to her slitted green ones.

She was standing on the lip of a large chasm that fell away into more darkness. All around her broken tunnels spread out in a jumbled mess, spiraling into an endless labyrinth beneath the kingdom. The acid-etched earth and stone had once teemed with life, but the swarm was up above. Once she had considered the familiar buzz a comfort, a sign that she was in a safe place, among family. Now, she was alone, and that thought disturbed her.

But she was not afraid. Sunset swept the dark crevices with her glowing green eyes, her resolve still firm, her goal clear. It would not matter what happened to her. She had one pony and one pony alone to protect.

“When did you become so soft and weak, Nymphaedra?” a voice rumbled through the caverns.

“Weak?” Sunset spat back. “It isn’t weak to want love, without having to take it.”

“And you think they would give it to a thing like you? You have worn that face too long, Nymphaedra. You think it is what you are, but you know. I know. They will know, one day, when the hunger comes.”

Sunset turned in place, looking through the dimness. Even with her enhanced senses there were too many places where Chrysalis could hide, too many narrow passages, and so many, many shadows too deep for even a creature that dwelled in them.

“Did she beg you, I wonder? As she lay dying, did she plead for her miserable little life? Did you end her suffering, or did you drink deeply of her fear? Did you enjoy it, child?”

Sunset froze. Her memories drifted back to the darkness in the tunnels. When she’d first seen the face she now looked at every day in the mirror, it had been so happy and bright. The pony was beautiful, full of energy and passion. It hadn’t been her fault, but even still, she couldn’t save her. But she had known for the first time what fear felt like - not from stealing it, but because her own heart twisted to watch the life fade from the pony’s eyes, alone.

“You were weak, and you couldn’t save her. Just like you can’t save your friends now,” her mother hissed out, directly behind Sunset.

The impact of a clawed hand was like a log being dropped on her. If she hadn’t been able to redirect some of her magic to soften the blow it would have broken her spine instantly, but even still she knew a rib or two had finally given out. Pain lanced through Sunset’s side as she got her legs underneath her in midair and caught herself before she crashed into one of the many stone pillars supporting the cavern ceiling.

Chrysalis roared and lunged. In a quick dash Sunset sprang away and slid past her mother like she was playing some sport, skidding in home while the stone of the pillar crumbled effortlessly. She jumped back up to her hooves and reared up, ready to slam her crystal gauntlets into her mother’s body, but there was one small problem with that plan.

Her crystal gloves were gone.

Realizing that they’d likely shattered on impact, Sunset looked up to see the queen whirling on her. Another fast leap away saved her from being impaled by clawed hand. As soon as she landed she felt a tremor course through the cavern floor and walls.

The cave was unstable! Likely thanks to much of its structure simply collapsing in their fall, the cavern did not feel as steady as it should have. There were still stony pillars joining the ceiling and floor, but without her gauntlets she wouldn’t be able to break them. Luckily Sunset had a far more effective wrecking ball.

With a quick change of course Sunset darted to the nearest pillar. She couldn’t judge whether it would be a key support - Twilight might have known if she’d been down here, but for now, it was better safe than sorry. She’d just have to take down every one, but that meant evading her mother. If she knew anything about the queen to be true it was that she had never seen her so angry in all her life. Maybe she could used that.

“I realize now why I could never be like you,” Sunset taunted, spreading her arms wide in front of the stone. Chrysalis, as expected, snarled and raced in. Sunset was able to duck under her before it powdered the column into so much dust.

“I don’t have to steal to get what I need! I’m not some parasite, living off scraps of pony affection!” she shouted as Chrysalis thundered after her. The bolt of emerald lightning she wasn’t expecting. It grazed past her arm and seared off fur and flesh before exploding violently on the rock, hurling her back down to the floor.

Get up, she told herself. Don’t let her win. Sunset rolled quickly to avoid the green explosion of another bolt and hurried behind another pillar. Warm blood was seeping into her fur as it oozed from the partially-cauterized gash, but she couldn’t deal with that now.

“You’ll never be satisfied! You’ll never be better than them. You’ll never beat Cadance, or Celestia, or Twilight because they aren’t petty monsters!”

Chrysalis burst through the stone pillar with both arms outstretched. Sunset had been prepared for her as she focused her magic in her horn and let out a searing blast of green energy that caught Chrysalis right across the face. The queen shrieked as it seared off one side of her black carapace. Even without the power of her changelings it started to knit, but slowly.

One more pillar. Sunset approached it carefully, knowing that her mother was likely not as foolish to come after her after being so viciously scarred.

“What makes you think any of this matters, child? What makes you so confident that you can defeat me with your pitiful little magics?”

“Because I have something you can never have. I have somepony who loves me.” Sunset’s form shimmered with glowing green fire. It bathed her as it had many times before, revealing her changeling self. Her wounded arm dripped thick green ichor, its regeneration slowed. It was now or never. She was running out of time.

“And I am stronger than you.”

Sunset hissed out a guttural, singular cry and swung her clawed hand at the pillar. It shattered easily, and with it, the cavern began to groan and quake. Chrysalis roared out in fury as she lunged forward, but a titanic rock dislodged from the ceiling right into her path, plunging down into the dark cavern to start the avalanche of soil and stone.

Chapter 14 - You're Not Alone

Chapter 14: You’re Not Alone

After several hours, the search was still ongoing.

Twilight lowered herself in a glowing pink bubble to a rocky outcropping several yards below the surface. Cadance and Shining armor followed, their horns glowing with luminous spells. The air was thick with dust and the smell of whatever had made this place, oily and acrid. Up above, the changelings had been subdued.

Something had happened. The swarm had halted its onslaught, and everywhere changelings sat confused, frightened, unsure of what they were doing. Common ponies were able to intimidate them, and with their sudden lack of direction that could only mean one thing.

Chrysalis was dead.

Twilight knew that if Chrysalis had been defeated when she fell through the caverns, the swarm would have stopped then. It hadn’t. In fact, they spent several more minutes of fending off wave after unrelenting wave, trying to break through to the crater where Chrysalis and Sunset had plunged into the depths, but by the time they’d managed to make it to the lip of the cavern the swarm ceased its advance. Whatever it was, Sunset had done it, Twilight was certain of it.

But then, after waiting pensively at the edge of the crater for what felt like an hour, she had not come back.

Ponies were hurt much worse than she was, so Twilight volunteered to go search for Sunset. Shining wouldn’t hear of it, even though after the adrenaline wore off he realized he’d broken an arm. Cadance was riddled with cuts and bruises, her left eye swollen and purple. Despite their fatigue, despite their aches, despite the kingdom needing them far more than she could ever imagine, neither one had let Twilight come down into this dark pit alone.

She was afraid that meant they both knew what she just refused to accept.

Squinting into the gloom, Twilight could just barely make out the signs of a cave-in, a catastrophic one. Rubble was piled up from the ceiling to the floor. It was as if part of the cavern’s support structure had just crumbled in on itself. There were cracks and openings in the stone that looked like they might fit a pony, but excavating this would be impossible. Surviving it would have been just ridiculous.

“Twi?” Shining called from one of the side corridors. She looked to where his faint pink light was illuminating a tiny section of the gloom and he beckoned her over. It took a lot to not break into a sprint, fear and hope all tangling inside her.

When she saw what he saw, her heart nearly stopped. A tiny crevice, barely even a crack, between two rocks was glowing with faint green. There was no time for her to consider the structural integrity of the mass of rocks in front of her. She dug her hands in, scraping them against the rough texture and jagged edges, pulling and heaving even though her magic would have been more effective.

The little barricade gave way in a sudden collapse of dirt and pebbles. Beyond it was a gap just big enough for a pony to fit through, and more faint green light. Twilight squeezed ahead, ignoring Shining’s shout to wait. She was thin enough. She wished she weren’t completely naked as her skin was torn and cut by the rocks, but a little pain was nothing next to what every other pony today had sacrificed. She needed to see, and she needed to make a difference if she could.

As Twilight writhed through the blackness and emerged into a new opening, she saw something that made her stomach knot and her heart race. Kneeling in the center of a barely-there clearing was Sunset. She was her changeling self, her orange gossamer mane draped over her face, carapace nearly invisible in the black. On one arm she had a serious gash crusted with dried green blood. The tip of her horn was glowing very faintly with a similar spell to the one Twilight was using. Her eyes were closed and her head lowered, but she was facing something solemnly as if in quiet vigil.

The rocks in front of her were large heavy things. They would have been impossible to move even with a whole team of excavators. Laying across several was the broken upper body of Queen Chrysalis. Her green eyes were dull and lifeless, her jaw hung open, and her tongue was splayed wetly across the stones. Following the line of the rocks, Twilight saw one of her arms was also sticking out, rising upwards towards the ceiling.

Chrysalis’ long fingers were wrapped around an enormous stone that was propped up by her paralyzed limb. If they were to let go, the stone would fall and crush Sunset. No - if she had let go, it would have crushed Sunset. Had it been intentional?

Twilight remained silent for a long while. In the eerie quiet she could hear her brother and Cadance trying to maneuver through the tiny crevice that led to the solitary shrine where only Sunset had been witness to the last act of Chrysalis’ reign.

Twilight slid onto her knees and wrapped her arms around Sunset. She didn’t open her eyes, but as soon as the unicorn was settled in, she turned her head and pressed it into the curve of her shoulder, sobbing.

Twi leaned her cheek against Sunset’s strange, gossamer mane and rubbed her shoulder and back between her dragonfly wings. They simply sat until Shining and Cadance pulled aside a chunk of the debris and saw them both with wet tears flowing down their muzzles.

Chapter 15 - There and On Her Back Again

Chapter 15: There and On Her Back Again

The wedding day came and went. It seemed like such an odd thing to feel her brother’s wedding was not the most exciting thing that had happened during Twilight’s week in the Crystal Kingdom, but compared to everything else, a wedding was just about as normal as she could get. She was still trying to figure out what was truly the highlight as she sat on the train, rumbling back towards the southern kingdom of Equestria. Her clothes clung to her body in an oddly unfamiliar way. The freedom her fur had felt while she was in the Crystal Kingdom had begun to suit her. Did that mean she was truly embracing their ideals, or did something about being naked become all the more enjoyable when she knew there was somepony who appreciated it?

Twilight let her mind wander as she looked out the window at the same rolling countryside that had welcomed her one week before. She wanted to push past the tearful goodbyes at the train station. There was so much more she had to think about than how much she would miss her brother, her sister-in-law, and her girlfriend.

The ceremony had taken place on time and without interruption. Cadance and Shining had never looked more in love as they stood at the altar to Harmony while the officiating cleric went through their vows. Shining had to hold her hand with his left because his right arm was in a sling, while she made sure to stand with her right eye facing the crowd because her left eye was only just starting to open from its purple swelling. All throughout the crowd of bandaged ponies watched amid smiles and sighs. Twilight once again felt underdressed as she sat next to Sunset who had a bandage around her upper arm. She only suffered a few scrapes and bruises which were hidden by her fur and compared to what her girlfriend had been through, she felt extraordinarily lucky they both weren't worse for wear.

Sunset had resumed her pony form once they’d come back to the surface. She was starting to accept that the swarm was now under her control, and despite the fact that her mother had attempted to exterminate all life in the kingdom, Cadance had promised that her changelings would be welcome so long as they were willing to work together and come to an agreement on how to obtain their emotional sustenance. Sunset was eager to discuss terms and before the day was out she was already gathering the changelings that hadn't fled the kingdom to introduce them to the ponies of the kingdom. All in all, it made her pretty happy, and Twilight had been practically attached to her every waking minute since they’d gotten back.

It had been an emotional rollercoaster for her, but the crescendo hadn’t come until they were back in her room the night of the reception.

Twilight laid on her bed with Sunset, gently playing her fingers through her mane.

“I still don’t get you,” Sunset murmured, laying on her side and watching the purple pony.

“What do you mean?” Twi asked, sitting up slightly on one elbow.

“Oh, you know, just the fact some random girl you happened to meet is all over you, and she’s a changeling on top of it. And you’re still here after her mother tried to destroy all of Equestria.”

Twilight blushed softly. “Sunset, that’s not who you are,” after a moment of deliberation. “You did what you thought was right, but not just for yourself. You tried to help. You wanted to, but things were just different than what you expected. And I’ve learned quite a lot about different expectations since I’ve been here.”

Sunset giggled and leaned in to take a kiss from that cute, philosophizing mouth.

“Speaking of learning, are you ready for your lesson?”

Twilight’s cheeks burned curiously as Sunset began to edge down the bed, encouraging Twi to lay on her back and spread her thighs. It was a vulnerable position, but she trusted Sunset. Her fingers ran through her purple fur and caressed up around her pelvis slowly, drawing smooth tracts up through her pelt.

“Mm, if I’m your first girlfriend,” Twilight posed in an obviously playful voice, “how do you know your way around a pony so well?”

Sunset slid a hand down out of sight, rummaging under the bed for a moment. She produced a book with a plain cover, emblazoned with a gold circle comprised of intertwined pony figures. She dropped it heavily onto the bed next to Twilight, who immediately turned red in the face and glanced at the nightstand. How? When?!

All further protests melted when she felt the warmth of Sunset’s tongue splaying out across her labia, tracing its breadth along her outer folds and right up to her hood. Pressing forward into a lewd kiss, Sunset’s breath washed through her pubic fur and teased at the damp trail she’d left cross Twi’s snatch while her tongue continued onward in a probing delve that raked right along that spot just inside her inner, upper wall her fingers always played at. She shivered and curled her hooves against the foot of the bed, her hands diving underneath the pillows her head was resting against as the happiest sound she knew how to make squeaked out of her lips.

That had been Twilight’s best memory, she was certain. It still made her tummy flutter and warm, and though she knew it would be a while before she could see Sunset again, nothing would ever be able to take away what they’d had or what they’d accomplished, together. As the train rumbled along the tracks back to the south, she took out a roll of parchment from her bookbag, fetched an inkpen, and began to compose her report.

Dear Princess Celestia, the words flowed naturally and familiar. She took a deep breath and realized what she was just about to write, and her fingertips froze just above the paper. Her eyes stared into the depths of the off-white material as if she could somehow visualize the words spelling out the lurid details of her time in the Crystal Kingdom, of her moaning and gyrating under a changeling’s deceptively long and flexible tongue, of crying out to the high heavens and ringing the crystal chandelier like a chime.

Ah, crap.

Chapter 5 - Twilight Sparkle's Day Out

Chapter 5: Twilight Sparkle’s Day Out

The brilliant structures of the Crystal Kingdom were shimmering and glistening with the noonday sunlight pouring down from overhead. Ponies of all kinds were walking the streets, chatting, going to the shops, even going about with their children and genuinely enjoying life. Twilight walked alongside her brother, feeling as odd and out of place as she had on her first day in Ponyville. Her hands were folded nervously in front of her skirt and she kept glancing around, expecting to see somepony staring at her like she’d stared at them, but no matter where she looked all she found was a smile, a nod, or a friendly wave.

Shining had donned, of all things, a simple loincloth, a white cover hanging from a loose belt clasped around his waist. She had asked him several times if that was really what he wanted to wear and that he really didn’t need to make any special considerations, but given that she’d seen quite a lot of her brother’s cock today, she was a little relieved when he insisted.

“It’s so amazing here,” Twilight said after the two crossed a walkway that was flanked with crystalline trees. They were not real trees, of course, but shapes that had grown or been molded into the shape of trees. “How does all this crystal form naturally?”

“A lot of it was left over from the original Crystal Empire,” Shining explained, pointing to one of the shaped and sleek structures nearby. “Most of these buildings have stood since Sombra’s rule. But this is also a place of intense magic, and crystal-shaping is something many ponies learn.”

“Crystal-shaping?” Twilight asked curiously as she admired the building’s perfect architecture. No tool had ever struck this flawless surface. No cuts had ever been made.

“It’s a form of crystal magic where you can infuse a receptive crystal to form and shape based on your needs.”

“That’s outrageous,” Twilight mused. Shining chuckled, causing her to straighten up and look at him curiously. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m just glad to see you’re more relaxed, now.”

Twilight shifted slightly and glanced down at the crystal sidewalk. “Sort of. I still feel like I stick out.”

“You don’t have to feel ashamed. Love is about acceptance, and even though none of these ponies know you, they know you have a good reason for being dressed. They’re not going to shame you for being different.”

Twilight tilted her head as she processed that, looking around at all the naked ponies walking around as if they simply didn’t see nudity, breasts, cocks, and more. When the occasional passerby looked at her, they didn’t flinch or jump or scream, either, they simply smiled and went on about their day. Had she been so indoctrinated by Celestia’s ideas that it was actually foreign to her, the notion that ponies were just ponies, no matter if they chose to wear clothes or not wear clothes or who they chose to love?

Or were these ponies all brainwashed by some strange magic?

Twilight cleared her throat. “You know, that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about. Cadance being the Princess of Love and all, she’s got to have a powerful sway over emotions.”

“Well, yes and no,” Shining said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, any magic can influence emotions. Cadance draws her power from the various kinds of love and affection that can blossom among ponies.”

“And that includes lustful feelings, right?”

“Yes,” Shining admitted hesitantly. “But that’s not the only kind of love there is or the only emotion she focuses on.”

“But how does she separate lust from love?”

“How does anypony?”

Twilight blinked at her brother, her hands on her hips. The question was actually more difficult for her to answer herself - she knew what it felt like to be aroused. She got horny. She had even, before they’d come out, managed to get herself worked up and had to have a little release or she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to function. If Twilight really put her mind to it she couldn’t honestly say whether she’d been in love. She loved her brother and she loved her friends and she loved her parents, but she had never really felt a passion for another pony who she wasn’t supposed to.

Supposed to. That did sound like a very Celestia saying. These ponies weren’t supposed to be naked, she wasn’t supposed to be fingering herself in her bedroom, she wasn’t supposed to be spying on her brother and his fiance during their private moments. According to who, though?

Shining cleared his throat and Twilight realized that she had been quiet for a little bit.

“Sorry, just, trying to sort things out, as always.”

Shining smiled and moved to his sister’s side. He put a strong arm around her shoulder and squeezed just enough to press her into his bare, white-furred chest. “It’s complicated, I know. You wish you had a manual that told you the ins and outs and had all the answers in the back, right?”

“You have no idea,” Twilight said with a rough exhale through her nostrils.

“Y’know, there’s a book shop, they sell guides on positions and stuff,” Shining teased. Twi jabbed him playfully in the ribs and he backed off from the hug with a faked grunt.

“I don’t know, it just feels like, maybe a little bit, Cadance is trying to steal you,” Twi said with a weak smile to try to cover just how genuine that felt. She was trying to be subtle, but she didn’t realize how close that came to her heart. Was she actually jealous of Cadance? Surely it was just because this was her big brother whom she had not seen in several years due to the embargo, and she was finding out he was going to be married in a few days when she still felt like she was trying to get her own life off the ground.

“Twily,” Shining exhaled, stepping back over to wrap his sister in a tight hug. She pressed her cheek to his chest and curled one hand’s fingers into his fur. He was warm and solid, like he’d always been, and she closed her eyes for just a moment to try to forget about all the naked ponies and Harmony and the things she wasn’t sure about. She found herself inhaling his scent a bit too deeply, drinking it with a flexing of her nares as the reassuring and powerful musk filtered up through the cleanly-washed flavoring of soaps and oils. His natural smell, that smell she knew from when they were muddy foals just coming in from a long day at play. Now, it struck her so much more deeply, and she had to suppress a shiver for fear he’d feel it against his body. Was it her imagination, or was his heavy snout dipping down to sniff at her hair, the lavender in her shampoo and perfume enticing to his senses as well?

Then there was a scream. Twilight’s eyes snapped open and Shining frowned. They looked at each other, then down the road where the sound had come from. It took only a moment for both to arrive at the same conclusion and the next they were hurrying towards the source while ponies stopped, stared, and for the first time she could remember, watched Twilight uncertainly as she dashed past.

At the end of the street was a small pastry shop where several ponies were gathered, milling about the door, all pressed together trying to get a view. A guard was standing in the middle to hold them back, but nopony appeared eager to overwhelm the guard and surge inside. They were curious, but they were not about to barge into a crime scene, especially if the hushed whispers were true.

Somepony had seen one of them.

Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were sitting at a table in the bar across from the mare who had screamed. Her name was Lemon Tart and the name fit - the Earth Pony’s lemony yellow coat was accentuated by a two-toned mane of matching sunny brightness, and her cutie mark was a little baked treat. She was currently wearing Twilight’s purple blazer, hugging it about her shoulders as she shrank a little into her seat. It was the first time Twilight had ever seen one of these ponies look uncomfortable.

“Sorry, you said at first it looked like your girlfriend,” Shining prompted, trying to be gentle. Twilight sat nearby with a notebook and an inkpen, writing down the details of the mare’s story.

Lemon Tart nodded. “It looked exactly like her. But it didn’t act the same. She was talking about wanting to go back to our place, or maybe in the back. That’s not unusual, but she wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

Twilight and Shining exchanged looks. Hers was questioning, and his said he didn’t like the implications any more than she did.

“Does she usually want to...in the middle of the day?”

“Sometimes,” Lemon Tart said, shrugging her shoulders. “She just seemed so eager and pushy, and that’s not like her.”

“That’s not like any pony that really cares about you,” Shining said reassuringly, reaching out to pat the girl on the arm. Twilight frowned. On the one hand, she knew there were plenty of creeps around even in Equestria, but she’d never thought - really thought - she’d encounter one herself. Here in the Crystal Kingdom, though, there was so much more opportunity and motive, especially if Cadance was…

Her thoughts were interrupted as the crowd outside murmured and the door swung open. Another mare, this one a blue and white pegasus, stepped in. “Lemon!” she panted, clearly out of breath as her naked breasts heaved with her labored breathing.

“Aqua?” the yellow pony asked tentatively.

Shining stood up, but didn’t make a move to stop the blue mare as she crossed the room and immediately wrapped Lemon in a tight hug. There was a moment of terse quiet before Lemon slipped her arms back around the pony embracing her. Their eyes were both tightly shut but Twilight could see damp stains starting to spread out from the corners, making tracks in their muzzle fur.

“This is Aqua?” Shining prompted gently. The two separated, and Lemon sniffled as she gave a nod.

“I came as soon as I heard. I was at work, we had two cavities and a stubborn baby tooth,” Aqua said, looking between Shining and Lemon. “Is she okay?”

“She was apparently approached by...somepony,” Shining said haltingly as he tried to think of the best way to explain it.

“It looked exactly like you, Aqua,” Lemon repeated, “except for your eyes. It didn’t have your eyes.”

Shining and Twilight looked at Aqua’s eyes which, like the rest of her, were a lovely and brilliant blue. She blinked, glancing between them and her girlfriend.

“They were green. When I said something, it hissed and threw a table across the room before it ran out the back.”

“Hissed?” Twilight repeated. “Like a snake?”

“Worse than that. It was like some kind of monster.” Lemon Tart pulled her legs together and shuddered under the blazer. Aqua settled into the chair next to her and put her arms around her again. The two were very close, genuinely.

Shining sighed, standing up. “We’ll post a guard and make sure you two make it home safely. Please, don’t hesitate to call for help if you need it.”

“Thank you, Prince Shining,” Aqua said with a soft smile. His ears folded back and he nodded at Twilight. She packed her pen and stowed her notebook in her bookbag before she hurried to catch up to him as he was leaving.

“Shining. What’s going on here?” she prompted as soon as they were past the crowd and out of earshot of anypony who might have been listening or following. Her tone clearly said she wasn’t going to leave it be.

“We didn’t want you to worry.”

“About what? Has this happened before? Pony doppelgangers and attacks?”

“Yes.” Shining sighed heavily and motioned for her to follow more closely as he lowered his voice. “At first it was like a ghost story. A pony saw something, it looked like somepony they knew but they acted strangely. They didn’t know who their friends were, even their loved ones. Then there were rumors of strange fainting spells.”

“Fainting?”

“Yeah, like unexplained dizzy spells. Doctors said it was probably low blood sugar or lack of sleep.”

“But that isn’t it,” Twilight said with a degree of finality. “We should have done a magical scan of the scene. Maybe we can go back-”

“Twi, this is something for the Crystal Guard,” Shining said insistently, putting a hand on his sister’s shoulder. She pulled away.

“But Shining-”

“No buts. You are here for a wedding.”

“I am here for my brother,” Twilight said firmly, planting one hoof on the crystal sidewalk that stopped them both in their tracks. She gave Shining a glare she had perfected a long time ago. It was a time when being the big brother ceased meaning he was the boss. Even though they were older, he was taller, and also going to be a prince, it carried all the weight of a dire filly about to give him an earful about how girls something something and he’d somehow find himself going along with it. Shining balked and pinned his ears as Twi’s hands moved to her hips and she maintained her adamant gaze.

“This could be dangerous,” Shining tried, but Twilight shook her head.

“Like I’d want you to go into a dangerous situation like this alone? I’m a pupil of Princess Celestia, it’s my job to safeguard the Harmony of Equestria - all of Equestria.”

“Twi,” Shining breathed, both emboldened and a little proud of his sister. She had taken to her duties so earnestly, and she was really interested in helping these ponies - ponies who, for all their differences, she still thought of as ponies worth protecting.

Twilight smirked and tossed her mane, using a hand to brush it back behind her ears and straighten her bangs. She was starting to feel a bit of that confidence. Something was going on. Twi was going to get to the bottom of it and save her brother even if it meant chasing strange creatures into the night.

“Come on. Let’s do a little legwork so we have something to report to the princess,” Twilight said as she started to walk ahead of her brother. Shining watched her for a moment with his brows arched in amusement.

“Report to the princess, huh? You mean compose our findings, summarize our investigation, send it up in a letter?” he chortled.

“Well, yeah. How else do you write a report?”

Shining blinked. His sister wasn’t kidding.

As the final rays of sunlight reflected off the mirrored surfaces of the crystal buildings along the boulevard in a mystifying display of orange-golds and rosy pinks, Twilight and Shining left the bakery feeling flustered. Though they had been treated to a very nice selection of sweets and some delicious tea, they hadn’t managed to find what they were looking for. Both were talented unicorns, Shining having completed training at the Canterlot Guard, and Twilight being an apprentice to a princess - and neither one could pull a single inkling of evidence out of the magical currents to support the presence of this mysterious pony lookalike.

Nothing worked like it should have. Tracer spells. Mnemonic object enhancers. Scrying. Everything that should have at least provided a hint dropped flat on the bakery floor like a stone into a quarry. It was frustrating to say the least.

“How could something that made such a mess in front of a whole crowd get away so easily?” Twilight grumbled to nopony in particular, although Shining let out a sigh.

“If it can change its form, it’s either using powerful magic or it really is some sort of monster,” he added. It wasn’t a very convincing theory. Although both were very aware that unusual creatures of all types existed, shapechangers were rare. If it wasn’t a pony using some kind of polymorphic magic, it would have to be something non-pony. If that was the case, why? What did it want with ponies to begin with?

“If only I had access to the Canterlot Royal Library, I could do a study on creatures that change their appearance and prey on ponies,” Twilight lamented.

“There’s a library in the castle, but it’s getting late. I don’t want you running yourself ragged over this.”

“Nonsense,” Twilight dismissed with a wave of a hand. “It’s not going to take long if we know at least a little about what we’re looking for.”

“I’d just hate to worry Cadance with something like this, three days before the wedding.”

Twilight chewed her lower lip. The thought had crossed her mind that all of this was very suspicious from other angles besides the mystery doppelganger. It was still so unfounded and it would be unforgivable to try to implicate Cadance in something she had no evidence to support. She chewed her thumb as she rolled the thought over in her head a few times.

“Twi?”

Shining was looking at her with concern plainly written across his handsome muzzle, blue eyes searching for some sign as to his sister’s conundrum. She sighed and shrugged with both arms outstretched before letting them fall to her sides.

“I just wish we had something. Anything at all.” Twilight hated that feeling of not knowing. It was why she studied so hard, all the time, even at the expense of her personal life. It was important in her role as Celestia’s apprentice and a servant of the greater Harmony of Equestria to know all the threats, to have all the answers. When she didn’t have any idea what they were dealing with or how to combat it, she felt at a loss.

“C’mon, we’ll go check the library and see,” Shining said encouragingly. “If anypony can figure it out it’s my genius sister.” He clasped his arm around her far shoulder and hugged her to him as they walked, and Twilight found herself leaning in a bit more comfortably. Earlier when she’d caught herself sniffing his chest and feeling her mind threatening to wander she had to consciously pull herself back. But this was what big brothers were there for, right? Comfort and encouragement, protection and support. Shining was all of those things and more. He was her best friend, even before she knew what it was like to have lots of friends who truly cared about her.

The castle was a resplendent sight in the fading evening rays. Several of the crystal lampposts around the base were lighting thanks to their enchantments while guards were swapping out with their evening replacements. Twilight and Shining boarded the central elevator and rode it up to the main hall to find Cadance waiting for them. Though she smiled and hugged them both tightly, it was apparent she had heard the news.

“So you know about the recent encounter?” Shining prompted, knowing his future wife wouldn’t want to step all over his glory, even if he had absolutely nothing to report. Not yet, anyway.

“A guard delivered a report on it an hour ago. I assumed you two would be investigating.”

“Well, Twi here was,” Shining deferred, rubbing his sister’s mane with one hand.

“Hey! He helped!” she jabbed back at her brother, using an elbow to reinforce the point.

“Any leads?” Cadance put her hands on her hips and chewed the inside of one cheek pensively. She knew as much as Shining did about the previous reports, which amounted to not a lot.

“Nothing yet, although apparently, whatever it is can change its shape,” Twilight said as she fished out a notebook. “Perhaps it’s a spy? From the Griffon lands?”

“No, that wouldn’t be it,” Cadance said, bringing one hand up to tap her chin. “We already keep an updated list of spies from all over Equestria.”

Twilight blinked, staring directly at Cadance. She didn’t break her gaze or stop her tapping of her chin. When Twi looked at Shining he gave a little shrug that suggested he hadn’t felt it important enough to mention.

“What do you mean spies from all over Equestria?”

“Oh yes, spies. You know, covert operatives.” Cadance looked around the grand hallway for a moment before spying a mare standing at the entrance to one of the side halls. With a light step that bordered on a skip she swept over and gestured for Twilight to follow. The mare in question was a pegasus with a caramel coat. Naturally, as every other guard, she was nude, with surprisingly large, firm breasts exposed by her lack of armor and her two-toned burgundy-and-whitestriped tail brushing down athletic thighs to do nothing but attract attention to how sleek her rear looked. Even her wing-posture was exceptional and she didn’t break her steadfast, muzzle-forward stance when approached.

“This is Caramel Cream. She’s one of the finest guards in the Crystal Kingdom,” Cadance introduced. “Say hello to our guest, Prince Shining Armor’s sister, Twilight Sparkle.”

The pegasus turned her head just enough to regard the shorter unicorn. “Greetings, my lady,” she intoned and bowed her head before straightening back up. She was just as much a regal and postured guard as any Twilight expected to see in Canterlot.

“CC is one of Celestia’s agents. She sends them to spy on me,” Cadance stated matter-of-factly.

Caramel Cream’s wings snapped open and her eyes went wide. “What?!” she squawked.

“Caramel, don’t worry about it,” Cadance crooned, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t have told you anything if I didn’t completely trust you. And you didn’t blow your cover, so Celestia doesn’t know.”

The pegasus looked absolutely flabberghasted. Her amber eyes flicked from Cadance to Twilight to Shining, then to another guard who stood to one side, trying not to look surprised or break character, but he clearly shuffled a half-step to the right to avoid getting involved.

“I--I’m sorry, Cadance,” Caramel started, but Cadance silenced her with a quick finger brushed over her lips.

“We’ll talk later. Still on for this evening?”

Caramel Cream nodded and hurriedly excused herself, disappearing in a flurry of feathers up the hallway. Twilight had no idea what she had just witnessed on many levels. She looked over at Shining, who was too impressed with how clever his fiance was to really explain things.

“Celestia has sent dozens of spies to infiltrate the Crystal Kingdom, but there’s nothing to find here,” Cadance said softly as she strode back towards the middle of the hall. “Even Shining Armor was told to deliver reports on my behavior.”

“And I still do,” Shining added.

“Wait, you mean, Celestia made you liaison to spy on Cadance?” Twilight blurted, her heart skipping a beat in her chest. She hadn’t been sent to spy on the kingdom at all - her brother had! Maybe, then, she had been sent to make sure her brother was doing his duty.

“Celestia gets Shining’s monthly report, and I don’t even read what’s in it. It’s sad, really. She’s just so afraid,” Cadance said with a hint of regret in her tone.

“Afraid of what?” Twilight breathed, as if Celestia were standing right behind her.

Cadance turned to face the unicorn, her purple eyes heavy with emotion.

“Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight froze in place and clutched her fingers tightly around the strap of her bookbag. So it was true, at least that part. Celestia feared the return of the Nightmare. Cadance was her apprentice and after Luna’s banishment she had been the first alicorn to ascend in a thousand years. When she had not become exactly what Celestia wanted, it was only natural that she would leave lest she face further punishment.

“I wish I could help her see otherwise. Trust is one of the core principles of Harmony - the Element of Honesty. It’s just as important to Love, and without that, I worry that Celestia’s just making it harder on herself,” Cadance said softly. The gentleness in her voice made Twilight feel sorry for doubting her.

“Why don’t you try talking to her?” Twilight offered weakly, but she knew that it was far more complicated than that.

“She just won’t have us. I’ve asked,” Shining interjected as Cadance paused to wipe the corner of one eye. “Celestia doesn’t want to listen.”

It clearly bothered Cadance, and it bothered Twilight as well. Her teacher, her mentor, was supposed to be the pillar of support for all of Equestria. There were ponies everywhere who looked up to her and sought out her guidance on matters of Harmony, and the Crystal Kingdom was no different. Cadance was not a rebel trying to break away from Celestia, she just had a different way of doing things, and Celestia had condemned her for it. Twilight swallowed heavily. Her mind was spinning with the possibilities of such action and what it mean not only for her, but for Celestia, for Cadance, for the whole of Equestria.

“I’ll talk to her,” Twilight said with a sudden sense of resolution. “I’ll talk to her when I get back. She expects me to report anyway, and I’m sure she expects to hear about how the Crystal Kingdom is some big, secret plot. But it isn’t. I’ve seen nothing but love and kindness and caring, and Cadance, I’m proud to have you as my future sister-in-law.”

Cadance’s expression softened, but her eyes were still wet. She stepped forward and bent down to wrap Twilight in a hug. The unicorn returned it, squeezing the taller alicorn for everything she was worth. As they parted Shining moved to clap a hand on his sister’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Twily. It means a lot to me. To us,” he said. Cadance nodded her agreement. “Now, let’s go check out that library.”

Chapter 8 - The Voices in the Darkness

Chapter 8: The Voices in the Darkness

“It’s true. They know what we are.”

“Are they aware of my presence?”

“No, none know of your existence, my queen.”

“Do they suspect our true goal?”

“No, my queen.”

“What of the nosy little unicorn?”

“She is not a threat, my queen. She is too naive.”

“Good. Keep her that way. We may have to move up our timetable…”