A dark figure loomed on a tower overlooking the Crystal Palace, out of sight and out of mind to all of the crystal ponies going about their day. The figure gazed up at the sky as two pegasi guards flew overhead, on the lookout for petty crimes and making sure everything below stayed nice and friendly.

The second they were out of sight, the figure stepped out of the shadows and knelt at the edge of the tower. He wore a dark cloak to cover his lithe, almost feminine frame. A suit of dark leather armor sat under it, with a black bronze cuirass covering his chest. A belt sat wrapped around his waist, a scabbard containing a curved sword, - a shamshir as they were called - a group of several daggers, a telescope hanging from a ring, a quiver of arrows, and a short bow.

He slowly brought his hand down to his belt, before drawing the telescope. Using the scope, he stared down towards the stilted palace’s first floor, his vision locking onto a window near the palace’s left-wing. He got the vague view of an office, and sitting at it were three zebras. He watched in silence as the largest of the three stood up and slammed his fist on the table, shouting about something.

His gaze instead moved to another zebra. To’Achuu. The figure kept the gaze locked on the chieftain for a second, before moving to the one the three of them were talking with. An alicorn. A powerful one at that.

The figure returned his telescope to his belt, then fixed a bronze mask to his face. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he lept towards the ground. Just before hitting the ground, he drew one of his daggers, stabbing it into the side of the tower. Using the knife and his hooves, he slowed his descent, leaving a large gash in the crystal, coming to a stop only a couple feet from the ground. With the same ease of motion, he ripped his knife from the wall, returned it to his belt, and started a slow walk, heading directly towards the Crystal Palace.

Twilight sighed as she finished dotting her Is and underlining her new document, one that officially gave the Crystal Empire from its current ruler, To’Achuu, to its new one, Shining Armor.

Initially, she had gone over the documents giving control from Cadance to To’Achuu with a fine comb, looking for further evidence of manipulation or mental degradation from Cadance, but no, the documents were all written up almost perfectly, little to no spelling errors, grammatical mistakes or secret code to indicate Cadance had been held hostage, suffered some kind of brain damage, or something of that manner. For all intents and purposes, Cadance was herself when writing this… and completely sane. Which, per the laws of Equestria, meant she was doing this knowledgeably.

Which meant the document was legal in every way. Twilight shook her head.

She would be going down to the dungeon shortly, but first, she had to go to the throne room and have both Shining Armor and To’Achuu sign the letter. The alicorn’s horn ignited as she picked up one of the candles igniting Shining Armor’s office, a red one, and then poured the molten wax from the candle onto a small blotch on the bottom of the parchment, then pressed a small seal into it.

The alicorn turned to leave, walking up to the door. She opened it and stepped outside. Twilight sighed one more time as she closed the door behind her, shaking her head from side to side. Just then she noticed a large black and white shape leaning against the hall wall, with arms crossed across his chest. Hajaa.

The zebra noticed her stare immediately and stood up approaching her. The taller zebra towered over her for a second, being at least a foot or two taller than the 5’9 Alicorn. Then he leaned down slowly so that the two were face to face.

“I would just like to apologize for my actions earlier,” Hajaa said calmly, his tone neutral. “I wanted to make it apparent that I know the tone I took had been absolutely reprehensible.”

Twilight was shocked for a second, blinking twice. Then she steeled herself. “And are you apologizing because you are frightened of me, as an alicorn, or because you want to make your tribe look better?” She questioned, a slight grimace coming to her face.

“Because I acted like a child,” Hajaa explained. “Neither of those things have anything to do with this.”

Twilight’s grimace fell, her gaze locking with Hajaa’s. Then she sighed and nodded back to him. “I suppose it’s water under the bridge.” She chuckled. “But I would recommend against getting that aggressive with Celestia or Luna if they decide to visit. Especially Luna.”

Hajaa silently nodded, closing his eyes slightly as he did. “I acquiesce, you know better about dealing with alicorns than I.”

Twilight shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” She said with a shrug. “So long as you're respectful and keep your head down, I doubt you’ll have any problems with either of them. Now come on, I have to get this to Shining and To’Achuu. Are they still in the throne room?”

“Yes,” Hajaa replied as the two started walking down the hall.

“I’m telling you guys,” Flash Sentry said with a deep frown. “I talked to Shining earlier and he was totally brainwashed!”

All he earned from that was a groan of disappointment from the others.

The pegasus, and three other guards, were all standing in the courtyard/plaza underneath the Crystal Palace, on guard duty. The four of them, however, were obviously slaking. Instead of actually standing at their posts, they were huddled together in the middle of the clearing chatting.

“And how do you know he was brainwashed?” Another guard, another pegasus by the name of Stalwart Shield, piped up.

“Because he said he wasn’t brainwashed!” Flash cried, pointing to his head. “That means whatever spell he’s under has him convinced he isn’t really mind controlled!”

Stalwart’s jaw dropped. “So… you think he’s brainwashed, because he said he isn’t brainwashed.”

Flash nodded.

“Are you a schizophrenic or something?” Stalwart asked, agasp at what he was hearing.

“No, I am totally rational!” Flash cried. “Those zebras are totally still up to something!”

Another guard, a unicorn named Golden Spear, spoke up. “Oh hey, Sharp Pike, you’re with a zebra now right? Are they plotting something?”

Said guard, a unicorn, suddenly sprung up, blinking twice.

“Who? What? Where?” he said, looking around. Then the guard groaned, bringing a hand to his head. “Oh man… I feel like I’ve been under some kinda… spell or something.”

“Really?” Flash asked, eyes wide in shock.

The other three guards stared at him for a second, before they all broke out in laughter.

“No you freaking idiot. That was so obvious!” Pike laughed.

Flash blushed, stammering for a second. “Hey wait, that’s not fair how-” Stalwart put a hand on his shoulder, and shushed everyone else with a quick finger on his lips.

“Shut up for a sec.” He said, looking behind Flash Sentry. The rest of the guards followed suit, their eyes locking on an approaching figure, who was wearing a black cloak and a bronze mask.

The four guards slowly spread out and readied their spears as they closed in on the figure as he headed towards one of the four castle doors, grabbing one of the handles. Before he could enter, Golden Spear grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Sorry pal, but visitation hours are over. Princess Cadance is currently indisposed, as is her husband.” Golden Spear lied as the other guards surrounded him. “If you have important business we will be able to schedule you an appointment.”

The black-cloaked stallion merely let go of the handle and took a step away from the door. The guards breathed sighs of relief and started to step back. Then in a single movement, the stallion drew his shamshir and swung it directly at Golden Shield. The unicorn barely had time to raise his spear in a defensive position before it caught him.

The bronze sword easily cleaved through the wooden spear, like it was nothing, leaving a nasty gash in the guard's crystalline armor and sending Golden Spear to the ground with a crash. The guard barely had time to pull his head off the ground before the cloaked stallion lept into the air, doing a front flip before landing directly on the unicorn’s head, hammering it into the crystal pavement.

The other three guards could barely react, stepping back to get space as he lowered himself into a near crouch, and charged directly towards Stalwart Shield, sword held close to his chest. The pegasus panickedly tried to stab out with his spear, but the masked stallion merely grabbed the spear and pulled it from his grasp, dropping into a slide that knocked the unicorn off his hooves, dropping him to the ground. He was similarly dispatched by a kick to the head as the stallion rose to his hooves.

A bolt of magic struck the cloaked figure in the chest plate, causing him to stumble slightly, before turning his attention to the rest of his enemies. Pike’s horn was glowing as he readied his spear.

“Flank him, I’ll keep him busy!” Pike shouted as he fired off another bolt of magic. The figure merely grabbed the side of his cloak and raised it like a shield. The magical beam struck the cape, fizzling out the second it touched the fabric, not leaving even the slightest hint of damage.

Pike’s eyes widened in confusion as Flash Sentry took to the air flying in a wide arch around the plaza towards his foe. The masked stallion saw this, quickly spinning around, his cloak blocking another bolt of magic as he drew his short bow and dropped to one knee. He quickly loaded a blunt-tipped arrow. With a quick movement, the figure pulled back and fired it towards Flash Sentry.

With deft accuracy, it struck Flash in the forehead. His helmet blocked the shot, but it was heavily dented and knocked from his head. Flash hit the ground with a crash. He was conscious but stunned. He tried to pull himself up, but he barely had time to look at the cloaked stallion before a second arrow struck him in the exact same spot, knocking him out cold.

Pike was all that was left, and now the figure was focusing on him. Pike growled and raised a bubble shield before dropping onto one knee to charge his horn. If weak spells weren’t getting through that guy's cloak, surely a charged spell would.

He didn’t have time to test that hypothesis as before he could do anything else, the figure whipped around and loaded and fired another arrow. This one was a sharp-headed arrow, with some kind of gray silk covering the tip like a fishnet. With no difficulty at all, the arrow pierced his shield like a hot knife through butter. Pike barely had time to gasp before it struck him directly on the horn.

There was a zap of magic as the arrow bounced off, leaving a nasty crack. Pike dropped to the ground the last thing he felt before passing out was his horn go completely and utterly numb.

With the last guard down, the figure stood up and gazed around the plaza. He knew Crystal Ponies were a skittish easily frightened bunch. It was more than likely that some had seen him dispatch the guards, but most likely they would have rushed into their homes and barricaded the doors than approached the castle to warn anyone. Still, it was likely that one or two of them would eventually muster up the courage to flag down a guard in town. Not to mention other soldiers coming upon the unconscious bodies on the ground.

That meant now he was on a time limit. He quickly sheathed his bow in its holster on his belt, and entered the castle through the same door he intended on.

“So you convinced Twilight to agree to this?” Spike asked, a beaming smile coming to his face as he stared down at Dansaar. The two of them were in the castle throne room, alongside Shining, Thorax, To’Achuu, and a whole squad of guards, both zebra, and pony alike.

Dansaar smiled up at his drake jala. “Yep! I even told her it was your idea!” He beamed.

Spike felt the urge to laugh, almost scooping Dansaar off his hooves. “I think we did it!”

“Did what, Spike?” The two heard. Spike and Dansaar turned their heads to see Thorax approaching. The ling looked lost, without Hajaa around to keep him company he was sorta stuck with a bunch of strangers on his side of the room. So it only made sense that he join the company of one of his few friends in the Empire.

Dansaar whimpered, hiding behind Spike slightly. He was still rather put off by Thorax’s appearance. Mostly the giant vampire-like fangs.

“Oh hey, Thorax! Dansaar here managed to convince Twilight to agree to my plan. To’Achuu is going to give the throne to Shining and the zebras will be allowed to stay!” Spike grinned. He paused for a second, breathing on his claws before polishing them on his chest. “Not to brag or anything, but the two of us might have just saved the lives of a thousand zebras.”

Thorax cocked his head to the side, a goofy smile on his face. “Oh, so that’s why we are all in the throne room?” he snickered slightly.

Spike chuckled back. “You know I’m just realizing, I came to the Empire last week so we could hang out in the first place, and we have barely talked since the zebras got here.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, we have both been pretty busy this last week,” Thorax said blushing. “I’m assuming you’ve been…” He trailed off, but Spike caught his meaning pretty quickly.

The dragon smirked, raising his eyebrows. “Oh yeah. Almost every day.”

“And I’m gonna assume you’re the Irra? You are looking a lot stronger and taller these days,” Thorax asked, looking Spike over from feet to spines.

“Nope! I’m the Jela.” Spike laughed.

“Jala.” Dansaar hissed with a whisper from behind Spike.

“Really?!?” Thorax cried, jaw-dropping.

Spike nodded back at him. “Yep! Dansaar here had me beat by an inch or two.” He lied.

Thorax blinked twice, scratching the side of his head. “Well… good to know the two of us have the same role,” he said, his voice betraying how flabbergasted he was.

“Yep.” Spike laughed. “So how are you dealing with being a Jala?”

Thorax blushed, his face turning a deep blue. “Well… I won’t lie… I am kinda enjoying being on the bottom… Hajaa and I did something I never thought I’d like yesterday…” He said, biting his lip slightly.

“Oh? Give me the spicy details.” Spike hissed, smirking.

“You know how I hate being stared at?” Thorax said, scratching the back of his head.

Spike nodded. It only made sense to him that a race of shape changers didn’t like being looked at.

“Shin- I mean… Someone came into our room last night while Hajaa and I were together and… hnng…” Thorax visibly pressed his legs together as his loincloth started to tent. “I don’t know, it just felt good being watched while I was so... helpless.” The ling shivered, his voice taking on a higher pitch as he spoke.

Spike bit his lower lip. He had to admit, the idea of seeing his friend in such a vulnerable position… was certainly doing something to him. The dragon was suddenly happy he was wearing a loincloth. If he was nude like normal, he’d probably be getting some disgusted stares right about now.

“That does sound nice.” Spike laughed. “If you ever want to be in that position again well…” He similarly trailed off.

The two friend’s faces turned red and blue respectively. There was a moment of salacious silence before Spike cleared his throat and straightened up, Thorax doing the same.

“Sorry about that… I’ve just been a lot more open-minded this week.” Spike chuckled awkwardly. Thorax merely shook his head.

“Don’t be… it kinda feels nice to be open about this kind of thing. Back at the hive I probably would have gotten in a bunch of trouble for… well… actually liking someone. Chrysalis didn’t want us changelings developing feelings for anyone. Apparently, it made us stronger or… something.” The changeling sighed. The longer he was away from his old home, the more he realized how awful the place was.

“Yikes… that sounds harsh,” Spike grunted, gritting his teeth.

“Yeah…” Thorax said, looking towards a window.

The two were quiet for a second before Spike figured he should change the topic.

“So,” The drake stepped aside, causing Dansaar to meep now that he was face to face with Thorax. “Have you met my Irru yet?”

The smaller zebra looked up at Spike, lips pursed and cheeks red. Spike sniggered down at him. It might have sounded cruel, it was kinda fun to see his Irra squirm, though he knew Dansaar would probably get him back for this.

“D-Dansaar,” The zebra said, shakingly reaching a hand up for Thorax to take. His eyes were locked on the changeling’s wickedly sharp fangs. He flinched slightly when Thorax tried to give him a friendly smile - literally smelling the zebra’s fear - showing off his dagger-like teeth.

“Thorax.” The changeling said, taking his hand and gently shaking it. The ling went quiet for a second as Dansaar kept his eyes on the ling, gulping.

Thorax furrowed his brows before widening his eyes in understanding. He looked down at his mouth for a second, before his horn glowed. There was a flash of fire and in a second, his black carapace, fangs, and horn were gone.

Dansaar averted his eyes for a second, but then looked back to see a cyan pony covered in white stripes with curly hair. It still had the same friendly smile Thorax had, but it was a totally different person. Neither of them noticed Spike furrow his brows slightly.

Dansaar’s jaw dropped in an instant, his previous fears gone. “T-Thorax?” he asked. The ling turned pony nodded back at him.

“Yep!” he answered back. “Sorry, I should have realized that I was making you uncomfortable sooner and transformed, I’m so used to being in my natural form around ponies that I didn’t realize it can be rather spooky looking.”

Dansaar was quiet for a second, staring at him mesmerized. Finally, he spoke up, saying something that caught both Spike and Thorax off guard.

“C… can you turn into Spike for me for a second?”

The dragon and ling locked eyes for a second. Spike hesitantly nodded at him and with a burst of fire, standing in the ling’s place was a six-foot-tall purple dragon with green spines, still covered in white stripes.

Dansaar looked from one Spike to the other, pressing his legs together as he did. “I… I might ask Hajaa if I can borrow you at some point…”

Two crystal pony servants went about casually cleaning a hallway on the Crystal Palace’s third floor, the same floor as the throne room. One was a strapping young stallion, white with a jet black mane, while the other was an older type, middle-aged and grey with a greying mane.

“Slow day today, ey Prudence?” The younger stallion said polishing one of the walls. The elder rolled his eyes.

“It’s been slow for a week.” He grunted sweeping up some dirt into a dustpan.

Just then, a high-pitched voice called out, causing both of them to turn their attention down the hall.

“Pristine!” A lithe, short and feminine zebra called out, rushing to the younger stallion, almost tackling him with a hug. The stallion almost tipped over before he returned the zebra’s hug.

“Yaraa!” The stallion laughed, straightening up and lifting the zebra off his hooves. “I still have another half hour on my shift, I wasn’t expecting you here.”

The zebra merely looked up at him with a smile. “I got lonely. I wanted to see you.” He beamed. Pristine stared down at him matching his smile.

“Blech.” Prudence said, returning to his work. The other stallion and his zebra jala stared at him for a second before Pristine laughed.

“Always a party pooper eh Prudence?” Pristine laughed.

“Ain’t natural I say.” the elder hissed, rolling his eyes. “Not only is it a stallion with a stallion, but it’s also with a non-pony of all things. Damn near bestiality.”

“Yikes. Way to tell us how you really feel.” Pristine said, a frown rapidly forming on his face.

“The only I ain’t gone ahead and reported these zebras to the public is because Cadance wanted to have one of them rape my wife,” Prudence replied. “Not to mention those photos they passed out of the princess. Sealed the deal, those things.”

Yaraa moaned in annoyance. “Come on Pristine, can’t we get away from this guy? I’ll do that thing you like…”

Pristine shivered slightly… Yaraa was so convincing when he wanted to be.

“C-can you wait for just a little? I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind if I go home 15 minutes early if I get everything done in advance.” The stallion replied. Prudence growled again, but before any of them could respond or do anything else, the sound of hooves walking on crystal caught their attention.

Yaraa let out a loud gasp, shaking like a newborn fawn in his Irra’s arms as a cloaked figure turned the corner, the eyes of its mask locking on the zebra.

In an instant zebra ripped himself free from Pristine’s hooves and started running down the hall, not even taking a second to explain what was happening.

“W-wait! Yaraa! What’s wrong?” Pristine called after him, quickly rushing after his jala, leaving Prudence alone with the figure.

Prudence grunted, stepping in front of the individual. The crystal pony was a head taller than him, at least. Prudence crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t know how you got in here, but the palace is closed to visitors. Kindly turn around and leave right now before I get the - Grk!” the stallion was cut off as he was grabbed by the throat and slammed into the wall next to him.

He gasped, trying to grab at the arm holding his windpipe but couldn’t get a good grip. He almost passed out from a lack of oxygen before the figure let go of him. He gasped, desperately trying to straighten up and run, but his legs were barely responding.

The last thing he saw was the cloaked figure raise a fist and smash it into his face before he dropped to the ground.

Twilight cleared her throat as she entered the throne room, her eyes locking on the padded royal seat where her sister-in-law had once sat. Now, standing near it were Shining Armor and To’Achuu, both of which were staring back at her expectantly.

She grit her teeth slightly. She had never expected Shining Armor of all stallions to be the type to go after stallions. Not that she minded of course. No, it was just the type of stallion he was bedding that made her purse her lips. She scanned the room for a second. Spike, Thorax, and Dansaar were standing over by the right wall of the room, hands behind their backs. Her eyes returned to the throne as Hajaa jogged ahead and joined Shining by his chief’s side.

All eyes were on her, though she supposed that made sense. She was about to determine the fate of an entire tribe of people. Twilight straightened her back.

“Leave us,” she ordered the guards in the room. They all reluctantly nodded before they turned and, in unison, marched out of the room.

Twilight exhaled as the last guard left. She closed her eyes and breathed in, then approached the throne. The alicorn flared her wings as she did, her horn glowing as she straightened her back regally.

“I, Princess Twilight of Ponyvile, Princess of Magic officially bear witness to the transferring of power over the throne of the Crystal Empire from To’Achuu to Shining Armor. As soon as this decree is signed, Captain Shining Armor shall officially be the Prince of the Crystal Empire, and all its surrounding holdings, effective immediately.” She said, her voice carrying a regal tone as she levitated the scroll carrying her seal over to the two stallions in question. She honestly didn’t know why she was being so formal about this, but she supposed that a moment of this severity required some ritual.

The two stallions across from her nodded as she also levitated an inkwell with two quills towards them, setting it on one of the armrests of the throne. They both hesitated as they in unison glanced from it to the decree, then to one another.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shining asked, frowning slightly. “I mean… you’re a king now, are you sure you want to give that all away on my account?”

To’achuu frowned. Without another second of debate, he reached down, grabbed the quill closest to him, and signed his name. Shining’s eyes widened for a second as he turned to him.

“I wasn’t cut out for ruling an empire of this scale,” To’achuu said with a smile. “Besides, I still have my tribe… and you.”

Shining inhaled, his gaze softening as he stared at his zebra companion. Closing his eyes, he took a second of pause, before he too signed the document.

Twilight watched on in awe… the more she watched the two stallions, the more she saw that they did truly love one another… and that maybe they were right. Maybe Cadance had gone off the deep end.

“So, is it all settled then?” To’Achuu asked, turning to the Princess.

Twilight was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “It is all settled.” She sighed, shaking her head.

“Good,” Hajaa spoke up, taking the reigns from To’Achuu for a moment. “Now then, I think we next have to all plan how to break this news to the public.”

Twilight nodded. “You are correct. As such, I will be staying in the Empire for the foreseeable future, so I can help make sure things happen smoothly. I may not be as popular here as Spike and Shining, but my words will carry weight as an alicorn, and I believe the three of us working together should be more than enough to convince the Crystal Ponies to accept you.”

To’Achuu clapped his hands together.

“Excellent. Then we should begin at once.” He said, turning to Shining. “My Prince, would you like me to fetch you some parchment or paper so we can begin planning things out?”

It took Shining a second to register that yes, he was now the official prince of the empire. He was still for a moment before straightening up.

“Oh yes, of course.” He said, nodding to To’Achuu. “By all means.”

To’Achuu nodded at his lover and prepared to move out. Just then, however, the door to the room slammed open, and the breaths of all three zebras caught in their throats. Standing in the doorway, Shamshir drawn was the cloaked stallion

Hajaa grit his teeth and lowered into an action pose. Dansaar let out a cry of fear, falling onto his rear as he tried to back up. To’Achuu’s face turned a pale white.

“Who are you? What are you doing in here?” Twilight asked, frowning. “This is a private meeting.”

The stallion didn’t respond, merely pointing the tip of his Shamshir at the distant To’Achuu’s throat.

Author's Note

I wonder who this figure is? Spooky right?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I enjoyed writing it, though tbh I can't wait to get back into the sensual bits. I might put up a poll to see what you guys would like to see first.

In fact, screw it, here we go;

https://strawpoll.com/polls/GeZANk6bEyV

Keep in mind, the smut won't start until the chapter after next at the earliest, we got an assassin of some kind to deal with first :D