Twilight, Princess of Shadows

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Destiny Altered
Chapter 2 - War
Chapter 3 - Pain and Pleasure
Chapter 4 - Chink in the Armor
Chapter 5 - Harmony Shattered

Chapter 1 - Destiny Altered

After giving a speech in Canterlot about cutie mark magic Twilight and Spike returned to her castle. Although she was a little worried after she spotted Starlight Glimmer but she may have been mistaken. They put down their bags and headed to the throne room.

“Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought.”

“Yeah. That sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge.”

She opened the throne room doors. “Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly.”

“Or it's totally true!”

Twilight looked over and saw Starlight sitting in Fluttershy’s throne. “Welcome home, Twilight!”

Starlight took out a scroll and zapped it with magic which in turn zapped the Cutie Map, activating it. Twilight and Spike ran up to the map.

“What are you doing, Starlight?”

She laughed. “I'd tell you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise!” She crumpled up and tossed the scroll away. “Won't be needing that anymore.”

“Then I’ll take it.”

The mystery voice echoed around the room as Twilight, Starlight, and Spike looked to see where it came from. Then a mass of shadows rose up from the ground off to the side and a blast of magic hit them all pushing them back to the wall, then crystals appeared on Twilight’s and Starlight’s horn. A pony appeared in front of them a moment later.

“King Sombra!” said Twilight.

“Hello Twilight.” He used his magic to grab the discarded scroll and unwrinkled it. “Time travel. You Miss Gimmer are talented aren’t you, but you think too small. Going back and preventing Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom so Twilight and her friends won’t get their cutie marks will accomplish very little. I have much grander plans in mind, and seeing as you’re the only pony that can replicate this spell you’ll have to die. Don’t want anypony following me now do I.”

Sombra lit his horn and Starlight sat upright with pure terror in her eyes. “Wait, wait please you don’t-”

Starlight fell silent as a spike of crystal jetted from the wall behind her and pierced through her chest. It retracted and she fell limp on to the floor with a pool of blood beginning to form under her. Twilight and Spike were terrified they’d be next but he turned and approached the map picking up where Starlight left off with the spell. When the spell was ready he looked back at Twilight.

“Don’t worry Twilight we’ll be seeing each other again real soon, even though you’ll be a foal.” Twilight just looked on in horror. “Our destinies are about to be intertwined forever.” Sombra jumped on the map, was raised upwards, and shot through the portal above him. A moment later he reached his destination and appeared in an alley in Canterlot. It was night out and his target was just a couple of houses down. He turned to shadow and made his way to Twilight’s home, opened the window to her room and retook his pony form once inside. He walked up to a crib and saw a six month old Twilight Sparkle sleeping. He gave her a wide toothy grin and reached down to grab her. “Come to papa Sombra.”

Once Sombra had her they disappeared in a mass of shadows.

In a cave somewhere in the frozen north Sombra and Twilight reappeared. He used his magic to make a crystal crib with a soft bed and warm blanket. He placed her in still fast asleep and covered her with the blanket.

Now I just need the proper materials to teach Twilight magic, especially the dark arts. If only I had access to my study under the Crystal Palace. Oh well I memorized most of the texts anyway, I’ll just have to spend some time rewriting them. All I need now is to be patient. My…our day will come.

(About 5 years later)

Sombra and Twilight were eating breakfast when Twilight spoke up. “Daddy, who was my mother? What was she like?”

Sombra let out a sigh. “Twilight you see, I never met your mother. I adopted you.”

“Oh,” she said looking a little depressed.

“But just because I’m not your biological father doesn’t mean I love you any less. You’re still my little princess.” He leaned over and nuzzled her with made her smile.

“Um daddy, why is it we have to live here? Can’t we go to that Equestria place you spoke of?”

“Hmm you’re asking some rather important questions this morning. The answer to that is we are not welcome in their society at the moment. But don’t worry, once the Crystal Empire returns we will be living in the lap of luxury. We just need to be patient and tough it out for now.”

“Is it really made entirely out of crystal?” she said with enthusiasm.

“You bet it is.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

“Remember now patience. Now finish up and we’ll start you lessons for the day.”

“Okay daddy.”

After breakfast they went deeper into the cave to a practice area and Sombra produced targets for her to aim at. “Now channel the darkness within, control it, focus it, and then release.”

Twilight concentrated. She closed her eyes, dark magic formed around her horn and purple mist began to emanate for her eyes. But nothing happened and her magic fizzled out. She began to sweat a little and pant.

“I can’t do it.”

“It’s okay Twilight, at your age magic and dark magic even more so can be difficult. But the sooner you get the hang of it the easier things will be going forward. So just keep practicing, I’ll be back in a moment.”

Sombra left and reached the cave entrance. He then looked southward. If he was correct then he shouldn’t have to wait too much longer. Then a minute later it happened, a burst of rainbow appeared on the horizon heading his way. He turned and ran back inside wanting to be with Twilight when she got her cutie mark. He arrived just in time to find her trying to produce dark magic when the rainboom must have been passing overhead. Her eyes began to glow bright and so did the rest of her as she lifted off the ground. She released a powerful blast of dark magic that completely obliterated the target in front of her. She started blasting randomly and Sombra had to shield himself from a couple stray shots. He managed to make it over and placed his hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked at him and her magic surge started to calm down, then she collapsed onto the ground.

“What was that?” said Twilight.

Sombra looked her over and liked what he saw. Her eyes were filled with dark magic, she had fangs, and her horn had become smooth and curved like his. Her cutie mark was the same except the large star which instead of a shade of magenta was black.

“Not quite sure but take a look.” He pointed to her flank.

Her eyes lit up when she saw her cutie mark. She got up and bounced around a little. “My cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!”

“That’s great Twilight, I’m so proud of you.” She went over and gave him a hug which he returned. “Now that you have your cutie mark your magic training should go a lot smoother. Let’s take a short break and then resume the lesson.”

“Okay.”

It worked, her destiny is forever altered. Now the real training begins.

(About 15 years later)

Twilight and Sombra were locked in a fierce bout hurling spells at each other. Sombra charged at her through the cave tunnel. Twilight used her magic to produce crystal spikes that randomly jetted out of the cave interior in front of him. He managed to dodge them, barely. Sombra fired a bolt of dark magic at her but she blocked it with a shield. Twilight also managed to jump back just as a crystal pillar jetted out of the ground at an angle in front of her. Sombra now stood a few feet in front of her and they stared each other down for a moment.

“Well done. That’s enough for today.” They started walking together through the cave. “I have to say you’ve exceeded all of my expectations, but seeing as your talent is magic I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised with the level of power you’ve achieved.”

By this time Sombra had made Twilight her own cape and regalia including a crown and hoof wear. “I’m impressed with you as well. How is it you‘ve managed to stay so spry in your old age?”

“One of the curses or benefits depending on how you want to look at it of my exile and imprisonment was immortality. I hope we can achieve the same for you someday.”

“You know you never told me how you were able to escape from your imprisonment early.”

“Oh it’s of no concern, but while we’re on the subject tomorrow is the day.”

“The day the Crystal Empire returns.”

“Exactly, all our patience will finally pay off. Once the empire is under our control we will invade Equestria and conquer it.”

Twilight gave a wicked smile. “Finally.”

“Now let’s turn in for the night. We have a big day ahead of us and we will need to make some preparations before its return.”

Chapter 2 - War

The next morning came but the sun wasn’t shining. A fierce blizzard raged across the frozen north like an ill omen of something to come. Sombra and Twilight stood at the cave entrance to observe it.

“That’s quite a blizzard isn’t it,” said Twilight.

“Indeed it is. You start preparing for our departure. I have to do something before the empire returns.”

Then he disappeared and Twilight went back inside. Sombra appeared in another part of the north just in time to see himself return. The other Sombra fresh out of him imprisonment was still rather weak from it and was trying to stand up.

“Freedom at last. The Crystal Empire will be mine again.”

“Not quite.”

The other Sombra was hit with a blast of magic and flew a few feet away. He looked to see who attacked him only to see himself approaching.

“How?”

“I’m you from the future, and I’m sorry to say there is only room for one King Sombra in this world.”

He produced a crystal sword and swung. “AHHHH!”

Twilight was just finishing up her packing when Sombra returned. “So what did you need to do?”

“Oh just some person matter I had to tend to. Maybe I’ll tell you later.”

Twilight looked skeptical. “Well I’m just about finished here.”

“Good the empire will be returning shortly. We should be there to see it.”

“And you’re sure we won’t have any interference from Equestria?”

“Not at first. I’ve been monitoring the situation there. By the time they even figure out that the empire has returned and move to respond we’ll be marching south. Now let’s get going.”

They arrived at a large snow covered field and Sombra pointed straight ahead. “There. If my timing is correct it should only be less than a minute now.” The city then began to fade into existents and it full appeared. “So what do you think?”

“Hmm not bad. The palace is taller then I excepted.”

“Just wait until I get done with the alterations. Now we should go and greet our subjects.”

“Let’s.”

The Crystal Ponies wandered around the city not quite sure what they should be doing. But then started to panic when they saw King Sombra and some mare with him stroll down the street towards the palace. The pair paid the peasants no mind at the moment. When they reached the palace Sombra used his magic to amplify his voice.

“CITIZENS OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE YOUR KING HAS RETURNED, AND I BRING WITH ME MY DAUGHTER PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE. ALL OF YOU ARE TO RETURN TO YOUR HOMES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”

The announcement of a daughter confused and troubled the Crystal Ponies greatly. It was bad enough when they had one tyrant, now there’s two. Sombra used his magic to start turning the palace back to black crystal and it spread outwards from there to the rest of the city. They entered the palace and Sombra gave Twilight a tour so she could find her way around then got to work outfitting the Crystal Ponies for war.

Some guards ran into the throne room of Canterlot Castle and approached Princess Celestia. “Your highness, we’ve received a report about a city of black crystal appearing in the north. Do you know what it means?”

Celestia’s expression turned serious. “Yes I do. Get Cadence and Shining Armor, also prepare our forces to depart and call up the reserves at once! We’re going to war.”

The guards looked a little puzzled. “With who exactly?”

“The Crystal Empire. Now move!”

“Yes your highness.”

The guards left leaving her alone for the moment. The day she’s been dreading has finally come. She only wished she knew exactly when the Crystal Empire would return so she could have stopped Sombra before he took it over again.

(The following day)

Sombra, Twilight, and their army marched south across the snow covered ground. Then they spotted the Equestrian forces coming into view.

“HALT!” Everypony stopped. The Crystal Ponies were wearing enchanted armor that made them completely obedient to their commands. Sombra had planned on using it before his defeat a thousand years ago but didn’t get the chance. Sombra pointed to one of them. “You, go and inform the Equestrians that I want an audience with Celestia, then return.” The pony saluted and did as instructed. When they returned he saw Celestia and two others appear in the middle of the field. He and Twilight disappeared and then reappeared a few feet in front of them. Celestia had brought Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor with her. They noticed that this mare in his company had the same eyes and horn as him. “Celestia it’s been a long time hasn’t it. Where’s that sister of yours?”

Celestia glared at him with hateful eyes. “That’s none of your business! And who is she?!”

“Ah yes allow me to introduce my daughter Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia’s look went from one of hate to bewilderment. “What?! How-”

“Wait, did you say Twilight Sparkle?” said Shining.

“Yes.”

Shining’s eyes went wide. “Twilight it is you.”

Celestia looked at him. “You know her captain?”

“She’s my sister, the one I told you went missing years ago.” He stared at Sombra. “YOU, you took her!”

“Right you are.” He let out a chuckle.

“You know when you said I was adopted you hadn’t mentioned that I was taken from another family.”

“It was nothing you need to concern yourself with at the time.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. There is no way you could have broken free from your imprisonment early and even if you had why take Twilight?”

“Ah princess there’s a simple explanation for that. I’m from the future.” That surprised everypony including Twilight. “You see Celestia in the time I’m from Twilight here had become your pupil. She became the bearer of the Element of Magic and even ascended to become an alicorn, which I’m hoping she can do again. It was because of Twilight that I was defeated during my attempt to retake the empire when I returned. An encounter I barely survived. After I recovered I kept an eye on her and became rather impressed with her raw natural talent and ability. I planned and plotted on how I could possibly win in this scenario for some time, and then a golden opportunity presented itself. I had learned that a unicorn of exceptional talent had successfully managed to perfect Star Swirl the Bearded’s time travel spell. I took it for myself and traveled into the past to take Twilight and raise her as my own, insuring that the primary threat to me would be on myside when the time came.”

The others couldn’t believe what they just heard. Twilight was a little hurt that he didn’t tell her all this sooner. “You know when you say it like that I can’t help but feel like I was being used a little.”

“No, of course not. Granted I did take you in the hopes of you helping achieve victory but I raised you, cared for you, and love you like you were my own flesh and blood and I always will. And I apologize for not telling you all this sooner.”

Twilight stared at him for a second. “I love you too dad, but I’m still a little ticked. Wait if you’re from the future wouldn’t that mean there are two of you now?”

“That is true and I’ll tell you what I told him. There is only room for one King Sombra in this world. Now back to the matter at hoof. Celestia I offer you this opportunity to surrender.”

“No.”

“Think about it now. Twilight was your champion in my time but that is no longer the case. Cadence isn’t much of a fighter and without your sister you’re at a severe disadvantage. You can save a lot of lives right now by throwing in the towel. But if you’d rather sacrifice the lives of your subjects in a bloody war of attrition that you have no chance of winning then by all means do that, you’d only be delaying the inevitable for a short time. What’s your answer?”

“I would sooner die than relinquish Equestria to you.”

“Very well if you want a war you’ll get one. See you on the battlefield.” Sombra and Twilight disappeared back to their troops and he gave the order to attack. “CHARGE!”

The Crystal Ponies raced towards the Equestrians. Celestia teleported herself, Cadence, and Shining back to her troops and ordered them to engage the enemy. They charged forward, eventually the two sides met and slammed into each other. After a minute the fighting began to spread out and became more one on one. Celestia advanced to join the fight and Sombra moved to intercept. Shining leaped into the fray as well and started issuing orders to better direct and organize his troops. Twilight wanted to meet this pony who claimed to be her brother and moved to his location. She appeared a few feet away from him amongst the fighting, he looked over and notice her.

“What’s your name?”

“Shining Armor. Please Twilight don’t do this, I’m your brother.”

“You’re a stranger to me. It’s a shame you see it that way actually, I thought you looked rather handsome.” That threw Shining off for a second and Twilight shot a bolt of dark magic at him. He raised a shield and it began to crack but held. “Impressive shield spell. I’ll have to take it up a notch.”

She turned to shadow and shot more magic at him but he dodged or blocked it. Then he shot a bolt at her which is what she was hoping for. He wouldn’t be able to put up a shield while casting an offensive spell. She easily dodged and countered by having a crystal pillar jet out of the ground at an angle hitting him in the side and knocked him a foot over onto his side. His armor offered some protection but between the crack he heard and shooting pain he knew he broke at least one rib. He tried to fight the pain and get up but black tendrils rose up around him coiling around his body and limbs pinning him on his back. Twilight approached him in pony form and cast a spell so crystals would form on is horn cutting off his magic. Then a crystal dome rose up around them and closed.

“What are you doing?”

“Now that we have a moment to ourselves I’d like to talk.” She walked over and stood over him. Then laid down on him crossing her hooves at the top of his chest. The added pressure on his ribs made him grunt in pain. “Oh come now, pain is there to remind us we’re alive, which you are for the moment.”

“Twilight you don’t have to do this. This isn’t the way things should be. Sombra has been manipulating you your whole life.”

“Oh please spare me,” she said while rolling her eyes. “I must say you are rather talented I can see why they made you a guard captain.” Twilight then gave Shining a sultry look and he didn’t like it. “You know you don’t have to die here on the battlefield. You could join me and my father and fight for the Crystal Empire.”

“Never.”

Twilight applied a little more pressure to his broken rib which made him wince in pain. “Think carefully now. You could die here a patriot but when Equestria falls you’ll be forgotten, or you could join us and help put an end to this war a whole lot quicker, and be rewarded for your contributions.”

“The answer is no.”

“That’s a shame. You would have made a valuable asset.”

Twilight summoned a piece of crystal and manipulated it in her magic until it was a sharp blade. Outside the battle raged on. Sombra had been engaging Celestia and now her and her troops were starting to be put on the ropes. He noticed the crystal dome and wondered what Twilight could be up to. He managed to distract Celestia long enough to vanish and reemerge inside the dome and saw Twilight about to finish Shining off but intervened. He grabbed the blade in his magic and strolled up to them.

“Now Twilight, don’t you think he’d be more useful as a prisoner then a corpse?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Take him to the palace and I’ll finish up here. When I get back I’ll interrogate him.”

“Very well.”

The shadows rose up around Twilight and Shining and then they were gone, leaving only Shining’s armor behind.

Shining reappeared in a dungeon cell at the palace no longer bound and Twilight stood outside of it. She was about to leave but stopped and used her magic to mend his broken rib.

“Why did you do that?”

“Just to give you a small reprieve from the pain, because when father returns you’ll be in a world of it.”

Twilight took her leave and left Shining to his own thoughts.

Chapter 3 - Pain and Pleasure

Twilight was getting a massage by one of the handful of servants that weren’t pressed into service and sent off to war, and she was thoroughly enjoying it. Now this is the life. Sooo much better then living in a cave. Then Sombra strolled in. “So how’d it go?”

“We won of course. Celestia and her army fled and we now have a foothold to the south. Now I’m going to go see if I can loosen our guest’s tongue.”

Shining sat in his cell in the dungeon. He knew what was going to happen and spent his time trying to prepare himself for whatever Sombra threw at him. He heard hoofsteps approaching, and then Sombra and two guards appeared. They opened his cell, grabbed him, and dragged him out to an interrogation room. Although he struggled it was a futile effort. When they arrived Sombra opened the door and they went in. Shining noticed a table off to the side against the wall with what looked like various instruments of torture laid out on it and a crystal chair in the center of the room attached to the floor. Shining was tied to the chair with his forelegs behind his back and his hind legs to the chair legs. After the guards left Sombra walked up to Shining.

“Well how about we save ourselves a lot of time and trouble and you just tell me what I want to know.”

“Fuck you.”

Sombra gave Shining the back of his hoof right were the armor was and Shining spit some blood on the floor. “I can see you’re going to be difficult.”

Sombra went over to the table, grabbed a syringe and a vile with some kind of liquid in it, and extracted some of it. “What’s that?”

“Just a poison, but don’t worry it’s not lethal in small doses. Although by the time this is over you’ll wish it was. It’ll just make your insides feel like they’re on fire for a little while. I can of course administer the antidote at any time but that’s entirely up to you.”

Sombra walked over to him and Shining tried to struggle but was too tightly bound. Sombra stuck the needle in his neck and after a moment it felt like his blood was beginning to boil inside of him getting worse as it spread through his body and to his major organs.

“AHHH…AHHHHH…AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

(The next day)

After her defeat Celestia went back to Canterlot and left most of her remaining forces behind to try and fortify a position to keep the empires forces from advancing any further. She was currently talking to some of her officers in the guard.

“What’s are current situation regarding recruitment?”

“Recruiters have been sent across Equestria and we’ve started the drafting process. But it will still be some time before the new recruits are in battle ready condition.”

“Time we may not have. Lieutenant Strong Hoof you’ll be filling in for Shining Armor until further notice.”

“Yes your highness but it just doesn’t feel right not trying to rescue him.”

“We’re still licking our wounds from the last fight. We are in no position to mount an offensive or attempt a rescue. But the captain is a stallion of impeccable character and I’m confident he won’t give up any useful information even under the most extreme conditions.”

Twilight was brushing her mane in her room when Sombra entered looking none too pleased. “The captain’s fortitude is most impressive. Hours of torture and he hasn’t given up anything.”

Twilight put down her brush and got up. “Perhaps we need a different approach. You catch more flies with honey as the saying goes. Allow me to take a crack at him.”

“Be my guest.”

Twilight made her way to the interrogation room Shining was being held in. Once she got there she opened the door and got a good look at her father’s handiwork. Shining had some bruises and cuts in various places along with some blood staining his coat, and was taking slow steady breathes. She also noticed some urine on the floor but that wasn’t too surprising, it’s not like he could get up to use the bathroom or anything. Overall he wasn’t in too bad a shape. Luckily Sombra hadn’t tried to disfigure him or anything. He looked up to see her as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

“What do you want?”

“I’d like to discuss some things with you.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

“Honestly Shining your stubbornness is only making things worse for you. You know it’s not too late to change your mind and join us. Come on do it for your little sis.”

He gave her an angry look. “You’re not my sister.”

She smiled a little. “I’m glad you think so.” She went over and took a seat on his lap facing him. She gave him that sultry look again. “Tell me Shining when was the last time you’ve been with a mare?”

Shining’s look quickly turned to a puzzled one. “What?! T-That’s none of your business.”

“Hmmm have you ever been with a mare?”

“I-I-I have.”

“You know you’re a terrible liar. I find this surprising actually.”

“I’ve just been more focused on my career.”

“Still, with your good looks,” she said while caressing his face. “Strong physique,” she said while rubbing his chest. “And magical ability I thought the mares would be swooning over you.” Shining was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. To make matters worse she was sitting right on his groin and could feel the heat building in her loins. “Something the matter, you look tense.”

Dammit Shining she’s your sister. Think of something, think of something.

“Perhaps I can help relieve that.” By now Shining’s heart was racing and his breathing had picked up. Then it happened, in an involuntary action his cock began to emerge from his sheath and poked her. “Somepony getting a little aroused are they.” Shining just bit his lip and then Twilight kissed him on the lips. She could taste blood but didn’t care. She broke the kiss and slid back a little to get a look at his growing erection. She stroked it a little to help it reach full mast. “Now I know the mares would’ve been lining up if they knew you’ve been hiding this between your legs.”

“Twilight stop.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t want to. This is my first time too but that doesn’t mean I haven’t studied the subject.” Twilight backed up off him, she leaned down to his cock and took a long lick from base to tip. Shining was fidgeting in his seat. “Getting a little impatient are we.” Shining just gritted his teeth and tried to block out what was happening. Twilight could smell his musk and gave it a couple more licks before wrapping her mouth around the tip and started blowing him. It was taking all of Shining’s willpower to keep from moaning or anything else that would indicate he was enjoying it. Twilight went lower and lower as time went on. After about a minute she stopped and pulled back. She went up and positioned herself right above his member. He looked over and saw a few droplets on the floor where she had been standing. “Time for the main event.”

She began lowering herself on to him and with a little pressure it slid into her pussy and she continued down. Twilight let a moan and after she made it half way down Shining couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a loud moan. Twilight had cast a contraception spell on herself beforehand not wanting to take any chances. Finally she bottomed out and stayed there for a second before she rose back up and went down. She started riding him slow at first picking up speed every so often. Both of them were making various pleasurable sounds that kept increasing in volume. Shining was beginning lose himself. He had masturbated before but this was something else entirely. Any lingering pain from earlier had melted away.

“Ah fuck!”

“Enjoying yourself are you.” Twilight kept at it and started going faster, harder, and rougher. Shining could feel the pressure building in his balls and knew it was only a matter of time. Then he let out a primal cry of pleasure and started unloading inside her. Twilight kept going but the added sensation of him cumming helped push her over the edge and she let out a loud moan during her own orgasm. They both started to calm down a few moments later and were panting heavily. Twilight leaned in and kissed Shining passionately, her tongue invading his mouth. She pulled back leaving a trail of saliva between them. “I’ll leave you be for now and comeback later.”

Twilight lifted herself off his softening dick and turned around making sure to brush her tail under his chin. Her first couple of steps were wobbly but she managed to recover and walked out normally. Having not slept in who knows how long fatigue finally caught up with him and he passed out soon after.

Chapter 4 - Chink in the Armor

Sometime later Twilight returned to the interrogation room hoping Shining had enough time to think things over. She opened the door and found him staring at the floor. She entered and either he didn’t notice or chose not to notice her enter. “So are you in a more talkative mood?” No response. She moved closer and waved a hoof in front of him. “Hello.” Then put her hoof under his chin and lifted it up a little to get a better look at him. She saw the glazed look in his eyes and thought she came back too soon. She turned to leave. “Perhaps I’ll come back later.”

It was in that instance Shining snapped back to reality and spoke in a quiet voice. “Twilight.”

She turned back around to face him. “Found your voice did you.”

“I…”

“Yesss.” Shining wasn’t sure what to do. He’d had some rather lewd dreams involving her while he slept and has never been so mentally, emotionally, or morally conflicted before. After a few moments Twilight turned to leave again. “I’ll be back later.”

Twilight started to leave again when he blurted out. “There’s a hidden way into Canterlot!”

Twilight looked back at him. “Reeeeally.” Shining turned his head and looked away cursing himself for having just said that. She came back to him and took a seat on his lap. Then used her hoof to turn his head back to face her, kissed him, and in a soft seductive tone said. “Tell me more.”

Shining felt disgusted with himself for selling out like this. “There’s an old extensive cave system that runs under Canterlot that was used to mine gems until it was all played out and was boarded up. Most ponies don’t realize it’s even there and leads from the base of the mountain right to the city.”

“What else?”

“T-There’s a secret passage that leads from the castle throne room to the statue garden. The exit is covered by the statue representing victory. It was meant to be used in case the princess had to make an escape for any reason.”

Twilight could tell there was more to it than that. “Is that all?” she said while rubbing up against him.

Shining bit his lip. “There’s a good chance that there are some alarm and defensive spells in the passage that will have to be disabled.”

Twilight felt that was enough for the moment and kissed him again. Afterwards Twilight turned to leave and made sure to move her tail to give him a good shot of her plot. “I’ll discuss this with father and see what he thinks. In the meantime I’ll have you moved to more comfortable accommodations and get you a decent meal. Then I’ll visit you later.”

“Well done Twilight, I had no idea you could be so…persuasive. Of course I’ll have to verify this information before we make a move. Now the question is what to do with the captain, what do you think?”

“I don’t know, I’m starting to like having him around. He’s told us this much, shouldn’t be hard to get him to tell us more and not too much of a stretch to get him on our side.”

“Very well then I’ll leave him to you. I’m off to do some reconnaissance to see if what he told us checks out.”

Shining had been moved to a guest room and after he was fed used the bathroom to clean himself up. He sat at the frontend of the bed not sure what to think or do. His magic was still cut off and the door was locked. But by this point he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to attempt an escape. He heard the door unlock and Twilight walked in relocking the door behind her.

“Hello there lover, feel like sharing some more?” Shining just looked away in shame. She walked over and turned his head to face her. “Aw, what’s the matter, something wrong?”

“I-I don’t even recognize my own reflection anymore. I betrayed my nation to save myself. It’s my job and duty to protect others and those I care about. Now I’ve-”

Twilight put her hoof over his mouth. “Shh, you’re just confused at the moment, but you’ll come around eventually.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Twilight stepped back a little and removed her cape and regalia. Then got on and walked to the other end of the bed laying herself out in an alluring manner. She beckoned him with her hoof. “Come here I’d like to see how you perform when you’re given the reins.” The sight was just too tempting for him to resist. Shining made his way to her and Twilight laid on her back. She expected him to just start ravaging her but instead he started licking her folds which was a pleasant surprise. She let out a soft moan. Now this is more like it.

Sombra hid in the shadows as he skulked threw Canterlot. He had found the cave system Shining had spoken of and it checked out. He moved onto the castle and saw a barrier around it preventing anything from entering or exiting. But it was only around the castle itself. He made it to the statue garden and located the statue representing victory. It was ironic considering it would lead to Equestria’s defeat. He slid it over and found the opening to the tunnel underneath. Satisfied he moved it back into place and spent a little more time looking around the city to determine its current defensive capabilities, then headed back to the Crystal Empire.

Shining and Twilight held each other in an embrace as he pounded her pussy at a brisk pace. Luckily Shining’s guard training helped build up his stamina over the years. Thanks to his earlier oral stimulation Twilight had already reached her orgasm once, correction twice now. She felt her mind going numb and finally he climaxed. Shining laid here on top of her. Both were breathless from the experience. After a couple minutes they started to calm down and Twilight reached the point where she could form words again.

“Ah fuck, you’re an animal, rawr.”

Twilight managed to roll him onto his back with her on top. Her forelegs wrapped around his neck and she gave him a deep passionate kiss, and he returned this one wrapping his forelegs around her as well. After a minute of that his cock had shrunk down enough for it to slide out. Twilight already missed the feeling of him inside her but she could be patient and wait until the next time. They laid there together for a while and aside from Twilight getting some more intel out of him they talked about other things. Twilight talked a little bit about her life growing up and Shining talked about his life and what her actual parents were like. Then there was a knock at the door.

“Twilight when you’re done in there I’d like a word in the throne room.”

With some reluctance Twilight got out of bed and redressed herself, then left the room.

Twilight entered the throne room where Sombra was waiting. “You know Twilight its fine that you’re enjoying your time with Shining but we still have a war to win.”

“I realize that. Now how did your recon go?”

“Shining’s information checks out. I found the cave system, we should be able to send our troops through and take the city by surprise. I also found the tunnel in the statue garden that leads to the castle. Celestia won’t know what hit her. The problem though is getting our troops over the boarder to Canterlot unnoticed for the attack. We’ll have to do some careful planning on how to go about that.”

“Then we had better get started.”

Chapter 5 - Harmony Shattered

A week had passed by and Twilight continued to see Shining. A couple days ago she had invited him to sleep in her bed and he obliged. It even got to the point where she removed the crystals on his horn without having to worry about him trying anything. Meanwhile Sombra and Twilight came up with a plan of attack. They needed to get their troops over the boarder to get to Canterlot. Fortunately after their initial victory over Equestria when the war started they had greatly expanded the empire’s boarders. It was so vast that Equestria wouldn’t be able to properly defend it all. After much searching they finally found an area that was lightly guarded and could be penetrated without drawing attention. Then the empire’s forces would launch an attack against an Equestrian outpost as a diversion while Sombra and Twilight would lead a smaller force to launch a surprise attack on Canterlot. But before they went ahead with it there was something they needed to know first.

Twilight entered her room. “Shining come with me, there’s something I want to show you.”

Shining got up and followed behind her. They made it to a room and she opened the door. Sombra was waiting inside and she went to stand by him. But what caught Shining’s eye was a suite of armor on a mannequin and he went to take a closer look. It had some similarities to the armor the empire’s troops wore but enough changes were made to make it distinguishable from the others and instead of the steel look the others had it was colored black. But the main change was to the helmet which had a different look then the others and had a detachable mask that would completely cover somepony’s face, eyes included. Also it wasn’t enchanted so the wearer could retain their individuality and not end up an obedient drone like the others.

“What’s with the armor?”

“It’s a gift for you should you choose to accept. Equestria is nearing its end and it’s time to make a decision. Will you fight for the Crystal Empire, Captain,” said Twilight.

Shining grabbed the helmet, looked it over, and let out a sigh. If I do this there will be no going back.

Shining gave a look of determination and put the helmet on, he then started to equip the rest. “A wise decision.”

Celestia had the Elements of Harmony still incased in stone spheres moved from their resting place in the Everfree Forest to her throne room. She contemplated on how she could use them to her advantage after losing her connection to them.

If what Sombra said is true and Twilight is the bearer of the Element of Magic then that would explain why I can no longer wield them. It also means that there must be five other bearers out there. There may still be a chance to turn this around, but how do I find the other bearers?

Sombra and Twilight briefed Shining on their plan, afterwards the diversionary attack force were given their orders and told to attack the next day at sunset when the sun touches the horizon. Once night had fallen Sombra, Twilight, and Shining lead their forces under the cover of darkness to the boarder. Before they reached it Sombra and Twilight went ahead to neutralize the guards. As the troops passed Shining noticed all the guards were standing at their posts like a statue with dark magic in their eyes.

“Twilight what exactly did you two do to them?”

“Well if you must know, we used our magic to mess with their minds and put them in sort of a standstill for the moment. Once we leave the area they’ll go back to their old selves and go about their business as if nothing happened.”

“Huh, impressive.”

It took all night but they finally made it to the base of the mountain and in the caves before the sun came up. Since the attack wouldn’t start until sunset they used this time to let the troops and themselves rest after their long march to get here. The day passed by and the sun was lowering with only minutes until the attack would begin. They found the boarded up entrance to Canterlot and the troops were waiting for orders.

Twilight went up to Shining. “So you ready for this?”

“As I’ll ever be I suppose.”

She gave him a kiss. “You’ll do great.”

Sombra appeared and approached them. “The sun has touched the horizon, it’s time to begin. Twilight and I will take our positions, Captain wait about thirty seconds after we leave and then storm the city. Once things get underway we’ll begin our infiltration of the castle, when the city is subdued meet us in the throne room.”

Sombra and Twilight disappeared, Shining then addressed the troops. “Soldiers of the Crystal Empire the time has come, the war ends now. Our objective is to take the city and kill or subdue any guards we come across. But remember this is an occupation not a massacre so I want to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. Don’t attack any unless they put up a fight. Understood?!”

They saluted. “Yes sir!”

Shining attached his mask and faced the entrance. He then charged a spell and blasted the wood to pieces which was loud and noticeable. “CHARGE!”

Before ponies could figure out what just happened they panicked and ran as enemy troops started storming the streets. The guards that were out on patrol were easily overwhelmed. Shining hung back a little to better observe and direct his troops as necessary, quickly gaining a lot of ground. As they advanced Shining came across the one thing he prayed he wouldn’t. Shining saw his father Night Light outside ready to start a fight with a couple of soldiers and his mother Velvet halfway hiding in the doorway of their home trying to coax him back in. Shining grabbed Night Light in his magic and tossed him through the doorway landing on his back, Velvet went to check on him as Shining made his way inside. His father looked at him with anger and his mother with fear, both turned to shock when he removed the mask.

“S-Shining?” said Velvet.

“It’s not safe out there at the moment. Stay inside until things die down.”

“How could you?” said Night with disappointment in his voice.

“I promise when this is over I’ll come back and explain. Just stay inside for now.” Shining reattached his mask and left. The troops were moving on ahead while Shining decided to slow his pace and take in his surroundings. There were screams in the distance, some of the streets ran red with the blood of dead guards, ponies were cowering in their homes, and a lost filly was crying for her mom. He hung his head low for a moment. No going back.

Shining picked his head up and his pace to rejoin the others. Once most of the city was locked down Shining rounded up some troops to march on the castle. They busted through the front gate and approached the barrier surrounding the castle with a few guards standing on the other side of it. “Steel yourselves men, they can’t make it through that shield!” said an officer.

The guards on the other side felt safe in their current position. Unfortunately for them Shining’s knowledge of and talent with shield spells allowed him to create a small opening for his troops to funnel through. The guards were aghast, they quickly ran inside and tried to block the door, but there were too many and the enemy forced their way in. Some stood and fought while others thought it best to lay down their weapons and surrender. When the fight was over the ones that surrendered were rounded up.

“You men stay behind and watch them. The rest of you with me.”

A guard recognized his voice. “Captain?” Shining looked at him and removed his mask, surprising the guards. “What did they do to you?”

“You men just cooperate and you’ll make it through this.”

Shining dropped his mask and left it behind feeling he no longer needed to hide his face. He and the others began to make their way to the throne room.

(Earlier)

Sombra and Twilight watched as the city descended into chaos after the attack was launched. “It’s time to make our move, let’s go,” said Sombra.

They made it to the statue, moved it aside, and went into the tunnel. Their progress was slowed as they carefully searched for any traps or defenses and disabled them as they went.

Celestia was setting on her throne when Cadence and a guard came rushing in. “Your highness Canterlot is under attack!”

Celestia was shocked. “How could they have made it here without being noticed?! We can’t let them in! We must do whatever we can to holdout until reinforcements arrive!”

“You don’t understand they’re already in. The Crystal Empire’s forces are surging through the streets. It’s like they just appeared out of nowhere.”

Celestia couldn’t believe what she just heard and a chill ran down her spine. She got up and went over to them. “Then we have to act quickly before it’s too late. We must-” Celestia was interrupted when she heard something behind her. The three looked over and a group of floor tiles to the side of the throne started to rise up and slid to the side. Sombra and Twilight emerged from it and sealed the opening behind them with crystal. “Impossible.”

“Hello Celestia. Well look what we have here, it seems you recovered the Elements from there resting place. Not that it will do you any good.”

“There’s no way you could have known about the escape tunnel or made it through undetected.”

“Oh but there is. The good captain was very informative once persuaded properly.”

The guard knew he needed to go and get help. He made a break for the door but Twilight appeared in front of him cutting him off. “Going somewhere?” She cast a spell that began to rapidly turn him to crystal and he let out a brief scream before he was completely consumed. She began to walk past him and deliberately bumped her flank into him causing the guard to fall over and break into several pieces. “Oops.”

While that happened Sombra used his magic on the room to prevent the princesses from teleporting away. “There’s no escape for you Celestia, your reign is over. This ends now.”

Cadence looked terrified. “Cadence you need to get ahold of yourself. We can take them, just follow my lead and do what I say, okay?”

Cadence nodded but they weren’t about to get an opportunity to coordinate a strategy. Sombra and Twilight fired a bolt in their direction and the two moved to dodge, but they weren’t being targeted. The two beams met in the middle and created a shockwave that forced Celestia and Cadence away from each other. Sombra quickly engaged Celestia to keep her busy while Twilight appeared next to Cadence and blasted her with a spell that pushed her back to the wall and crystals formed on her horn. Sombra broke off for the moment and Twilight turned to face them.

“Well some help she was, looks like it’s just you against us now.”

Celestia gave them a look of intense frustration and the two attacked. Celestia was able to hold her own throughout the fight but was on the defense for the most part and was slowly being worn-down. She managed to force Twilight back towards the throne with Sombra off to Celestia’s right when the throne room doors burst open drawing their attention. A few guards rushed in and tried to block the door behind them.

“Princess the castle is being over…ah shit.”

The doors flew open sending the guards back and some troops entered spears at the ready. They parted a little and Shining stepped forward in front of them, surprising the guards and princesses. “You men get one opportunity to lay down your arms and surrender. I advise you to take it.”

The guards looked at each other and knew it was over, they tossed their weapons away. Twilight seized the opportunity and sent a blast of dark magic at Celestia. She just noticed it in time to put up a shield and the beam deflected hitting the sphere containing the Element of Magic, starting a reaction. A beam shot from it connecting to the other Elements. No pony knew what was happening. The Elements rose from their stone spheres and flew over to Twilight, then began circling her gaining speed until she became lost in a swirling rainbow of colors. But the colors soon started to darken and dull followed by a blast. Smoke clouded the area where she had been standing but quickly dissipated.

Sombra muttered. “Yes.”

Celestia muttered. “No.”

The Elements were lying on the floor dull and gray, as if drained of their power. As for Twilight she looked mostly the same except for the new bat wings, ear tufts, and slitted pupils along with her coat and mane becoming darker in color. Twilight looked herself over and outstretched one of her wings to examine it.

Click Here: The New Twilight

Sombra started laughing. “Celestia your situation just became beyond hopeless. Let’s finish this.” Twilight fired a bolt and Celestia shielded but it quickly began to spider web and shattered. Sombra quickly followed up with a spell before she could recover and crystals appeared on her horn. Twilight cast another spell that knocked her down and kept her down. Celestia tried summoning her strength, struggling to get up but Twilight went over and made black tendrils come out of the ground and wrapped around her to keep her still. Sombra approached her as well with a smug grin. “You lose, and here I thought victory couldn’t get any sweeter.” He turned his attention to Twilight. “Look at you, an alicorn. Albeit a little different looking, but it suits you. How do you feel?”

“Fantastic.”

Sombra turned a little to look at Cadence. She had barely moved an inch since being taken out of the fight. She was crying and visibly shaking. In her fear induced state of mind Cadence did the only thing she could think of. She fell forward onto her belly and put her hooves over her head.

“I-I surrender, p-please mercy.”

It pained Celestia to see her niece like that but couldn’t blame her seeing the way things are going. Sombra decided she could wait for the moment and turned his attention back to Celestia. He created a crystal sword and took aim. “Any last words?”

“You may have won for now but mark my words one day you’ll fall and Equestria will be restored to its former glory,” she said in an angry tone.

“Duly noted.” Sombra plunged the sword into her chest, piecing her heart. She fell limp and he left the sword in. He turned and approached Cadence, who looked up at him with pleading eyes. She could be a liability. Although she may prove to be an asset. “Captain, put her in the dungeon until I figure out what to do with her.” Shining went over to her and Cadence tried to get up but had lost the feeling in her legs. So Shining picked her up in his magic and left. “Soldiers take these guards and round up the others that have surrendered in one spot. I shall deal with them soon.”

The others left leaving Sombra and Twilight alone. “So what’s next?”

“I want messengers sent to every corner of this land to tell of what happened here. Equestria is no more and the Crystal Empire is now a proper nation, not just some isolated city state. We’ll have to address our new subjects and make sure the old guard doesn’t cause any trouble. After that we can begin reshaping the nation we see fit. So let’s get to work.”

(Meanwhile)

In the statue garden Discord felt a magical disturbance that made him wiggle all over, that is if he could move. Then his stone prison began to crack until he broke free. He then proceeded to feverishly scratch an area on the lower part of his back. “Ooooh sweet relief, having an itch you can’t scratch for close to a century is so annoying.” He finished scratching and stretched a little. “Now what was that I just felt? It was powerful, but what could it have been?” Discord’s expression turned thoughtful and he pulled a calabash pipe seemingly out of nowhere and put it in his mouth then started blowing bubbles with it. “Hmmmm.”