Kingdom of Loving: Fear and Loving in the Crystal Empire

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.”