Sleeping was supposed to be peaceful, it was meant to help all sorts of creatures to relax. It was meant to help put any creatures mind at ease from what had happened during the day. Well, not tonight it seemed...

There was a beautiful blue crystal palace in the middle of a kingdom that was long forgotten and believed to be a myth. The inside was beautiful with blue crystal colours along the walls, ceiling and floor. The floors had a red mat in the middle, belonging to royalty as you walked down those corridors. There were currently guards patrolling the corridors, making sure that everything was in order.

There were currently four Princess’ at the castle, one was raising the sun and the other raised the moon as well as lowering it. They were sisters but in recent times, the one raising the moon had not had a good relationship with her sister who rose the sun. The third Princess was someone who could detect love within a creature as well as see how dark some creatures heart is. Then was the final Princess, the Princess Of Friendship. Albeit, she is not happy with the title one bit. Not after what had happened.

A few months ago, there was a wedding to be held. The Princess Of Friendship, or as she is also known as Twilight Sparkle had been confused at first. She had been invited to a wedding that she did not know at first. It turned out that it was her older brother’s wedding. She had no idea who he was going to marry at first.

When she found out who it would be, she had been thrilled. It was the Princess Of Love and her old foal sitter. Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadance as she preferred to be called. Twilight had been excited but was angry at her brother for not feeling her about it. She then found out that there had been some sort of threat from the outside. Well, it had made sense but she was still angry at the time. She was then told that she would be the best mare and she forgave her brother.

Then the problem started.

When Twilight got to see Cadance, it was very weird. She was like nothing Twilight remembered her like. Of course, with the threat and wedding going on, Twilight did suspect that perhaps Cadance was just on edge. But that was not the case, Cadance was overall rude to everypony. Twilight then told her friends about it. They didn’t believe her. They believed it was like Twilight suspected first, her nerves getting to her from the threat and the wedding.

The sad part about all of this? They only said that because she was a Princess. Twilight had not earned her wings then, it would take a few months before that happened. They did not even know Cadance as well as Twilight did. Spike did know her so she thought that he would have some common sense with her.

Apparently not.

Twilight then went to the place her brother and Cadance were staying at only for it to be revealed that Cadance we're putting some kind of spell on him. Twilight rushed away from there and she had a plan for revealing what it was she saw.

When they were practising for the official wedding, Twilight rushed inside and declared that the Cadance they saw was not the real Cadance. Twilight explained what it was she saw happen in the room and that she believed that fake Cadance was using a spell on him. Everyone was shocked. The fake Cadance ran off crying her eyes out.

Shining Armor was angry with Twilight and explained what the situation was. He was practising for the wedding, patrolling Canterlot and the castle because of the threat that had been sent by an outside source and several other things regarding the wedding and the royal guards. The spell was used to take ”away” the headaches.

Twilight had been shocked and realized her mistake. Shining had walked towards the exit of the room they were in. The same room that would be used for the wedding. He told Twilight to not bother to come to the wedding or even be the best mare. It had broken Twilight’s heart. Her friends turned their backs on her, even her mentor...

Twilight had started to cry, she realised her mistake. Perhaps it was the nerves that were getting to her old foal sitter? Then, the fake Cadance walked into the room and used a spell that sent her down to the caves of the castle, a forgotten place. The last thing she heard before the spell had been sealed was evil laughter that echoed in her mind.

Twilight woke up a few minutes later after falling unconscious. To her shock, she was greeted by a disoriented Princess Cadance. The real one this time. Twilight had been shocked but she wanted to still be sure that it was the real one. She could not afford to be fooled once again. This Cadance knew the Lady Bugs song and the dance movements. This was the real deal.

Cadence explained to Twilight what had happened. That the fake Cadance was in fact, Changeling. A creature that could shapeshift into different creatures, including the one’s you love. They feed off from love as well. Twilight had been shocked. She had been right all along...

Together, Princess Cadance and Twilight went through a tunnel that would lead them to the exit of the caves and hopefully, stop the wedding before it commenced fully.

When they had reached the exit, that we're met with Cadences’ former bridesmaids that were in control of the Changeling Queens magic. They attacked them but Cadance threw a bouquet, distracting the three mares. Twilight and Cadance had rushed towards the ceremony room, hoping that it wasn’t too late.

Twilight flung the door open just in time before the fake Cadance and Shining Armor was wedded to each other. There were a lot of noble ponies there, they were good friends of Cadance and weren’t snobbish.

The ponies were shocked when the real Cadance showed herself. It was then revealed about what had been going on for the last few weeks. The element bearers felt guilty and tried to apologise but Twilight pretended to be focusing on the Changeling Queen.

Together, Twilight and her former friends fought the Changelings trying to get to the Elements of Harmony.

They fought and fought but it seems to be futile. Princess Celestia had been knocked out by the Changeling Queen. Twilight had been fueled by anger at that. How could the sun princess be so incompetent? She had the magic of the sun and she did not use it on the Changeling Queen? Perhaps the Princess was getting lazy from all the cake-eating.

Cadance and Shining Armor kissed and their love for each other swirled around them, sending them into the air. The magic was pure of goodness and light. No taunts of corruption, the corruption that was making Shining obey Queen Chrysalis has whisked away from his mind and body. He then had ”woken up” from a kind of sleep.

When Cadance and Shining kissed, there was a shockwave that sent the Changelings flying away back to their kingdom. Everything seemed to be looking up. Twilight on the other hand was not happy. She had just fought several Changelings and she had not even been given an apology. Yes, Applejack tried to earlier, Twilight will give her that but at the time, she was too focused on the changelings. What was Applejack thinking? Apologising in the middle of an upcoming battle?

Cadance and Shining Armor were going to have their actual wedding that day. Twilight would be the best mare. Under normal circumstances, she would have accepted the proposition, but after what her brother had told her, she just couldn’t.

She never attended the wedding. She left the wedding and travelled back to Ponyville. From what she knew, they had not noticed until she had gone on the train by Pinkie Pie who had been watching outside the window, feeling guilty about what happened. She had exclaimed and shouted for the others to come and look. When they saw Twilight enter the train, Cadance had rushed towards the train, trying to stop the angry mare but she couldn’t. The train started as soon as she was close enough.

For the next few months, Twilight was miserable. Yes, she was at fault for giving an accusation with no apparent proof, but should they still not have believed her? She would expect Celestia to, considering she is the aunt of Cadance. She must have been too focused on her cakes to notice anything.

Twilight was currently inside of her bed chambers in the Crystal Empire. She was angry and frustrated. She was tired of feeling betrayed. She was tired of being anywhere near her former friends. All she wanted to do was to live her life without seeing them cause harm.

Maybe she was being slightly unfair? No. They had their chance, they should have believed her, she knew Princess Cadance the best out of all of them, maybe except Princess Celestia, but she seems to have been proven wrong in that department as well. She could not help but shake her head in disappointment.

She worked so hard just to make sure that they were alright over the last few months and then they treat her as if she is nothing more but an annoyance.

She could not hold in her emotions any longer, she had to let them out. If she didn’t, she maybe would end up doing something she would truly regret. She started to cry for her friends, mentor, sister-in-law, former brother. Her younger brother... son. Spike, her number one assistant. The one who she believed would be by her side.

She turned towards the left side of the bed, facing away from the crown that had been to her right on a bedside table. The crown that showed she was the element of magic and Princess Of Friendship. She couldn’t face it anymore. She was no princess, she was just... broken. Like a shattered stone that cannot be rebuilt.

She suddenly heard a door creak a little but she did not care. She had a feeling it was one of her former friends. She heard a small sound of magic and she turned to the right to shout at them but she stopped when she saw it was neither of her friends.

In the air hovered her crown from whomever the unicorn was. The unicorn looked startled but she noticed the tears running down the cheeks of the alicorn princess.

The unicorn was hiding behind a black cloak but she lowered down the hood of her cloak, revealing to be a mare with red and good mane and tail that were in streaks, making it have the illusions of flames. Her eyes were moderate cyan and her coat was amber. She looked at Twilight with some hint of confusion but also, concern.

”Hey,” The unicorn weakly, greeted. There was no appropriate way to start a conversation, she was stealing the Princess of Friendships crown in the middle of the night in Canterlot or wherever she was. Had glanced out a window and recognized nothing but maybe Yakyakistan?

”Uh,” Twilight did not know how to respond to the greeting. She did not fully mind the stranger of a mare who was stealing her crown. Maybe it was for the best? At least she would not have to be reminded of that day, her failure. The unicorn moved towards her, her hooves making very small echo sounds around the room but did not draw the attention of the guards.

”Are you okay? I know this is not appropriate but I am concerned for your well-being.” The unicorn said. Twilight only looked at her as if she was a stranger. She was as well, Twilight had never seen her before so why did she felt like she needed to answer the mare? Why did she feel like doing anything with this mare? Twilight shrugged at the mare.

”I was betrayed.” Twilight answered simply. The blue bed covers in her bed were pushed away by Twilight. The tears in her eyes remained. She glanced at the amber coated mare who looked at her confused. She placed the crown back on the bedside table. She sat on the bed and waited for Twilight to elaborate.

”Care to elaborate?” The mare asked. Twilight just looked at her, did she trust her? Not really, but who else could she trust? ”My name is Sunset Shimmer by the way.”

Twilight acknowledged with a nod of understanding.

”My older brother... he was getting married to my old foal sitter, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Twilight began and she glanced slightly at Sunset Shimmer and saw that there was a flicker of strong recognition and something else as well. ”My older brother, Shining Armor, had neglected to tell me that he was getting married. I had received the invitation from Princess Celestia, my mentor. It informed me of the wedding.

”I was both shocked, angry and happy. Shocked because I did not believe my brother was dating. Angry because he was not there to tell me so personally. Happy, because I knew he deserved happiness in his life. He was my Big Brother Best Friend Forever. Was...

”My friends and I had been invited to come along, and my little brother and assistant, Spike, was there as well because he was a younger brother of Shining as well. When we arrived in Canterlot there were a lot of royal guards and Shining Armor was there giving orders around. I confronted him about the whole wedding ordeal. The invitation was out of nowhere, I had no idea he had been dating or the fact that he was even seeing somepony. He then told me about an outside threat that had warned them about the wedding so they had been on high alert. He could not come personally because of that. I understood but I was still angry until he told me that I would be Best Mare.

”I will admit I did feel a little happy but it felt sort of like a bribe so I went back to being angry about not being told in person. I stated that I did not know the pony he would be marrying. I will also admit that I was being a little overprotective here, which I should not have been considering he is a few years older than me. It was then he told me who he was marrying.

”Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the niece of Princess Celestia and my old foal sitter. She is the most amazing pony there is and she is stunning in every sense of the word. She is kind and generous and very understanding. There were times where I felt like I was below her because I was just a normal unicorn while she was an alicorn. A princess...

”When she showed herself, only, it wasn’t Cadance, it was a Changeling named Queen Chrysalis. B ut I did not learn that until later. I noticed the mean demeanour that the fake Cadence had. I was so sure that everypony else saw it but they just said it was wedding stress.”

”I would have believed it if it wasn’t for the fact that she was completely weird. She was so mean and was nothing like the Cadance I knew. She made ugly faces at everything she saw. She had no sense of morals at all. I tried to tell my friends this, but they just repeated about wedding stress.”

”I decided to check on my brother after I had grown angry at my former friends, so I headed for the house they were staying in. I saw the game Cadance put on some spell that was without a doubt one to control him. I rushed out of there and I went back to my room at the castle to prepare myself for the wedding practices. But I was afraid for my brother’s safety, taking in the fact I saw something horrifying.”

”When everypony was practising for the real wedding, I walked inside and I declared the false Cadance to be just that: fake. I laid down pretty dumb reasons. The fake Cadance cried crocodile tears and ran out of the room while my former older brother stared at me angrily and told me about the spell being for his headache and then pointed out some other flaws that I do not care to remember. He then told me that I was no longer the best mare and that I shouldn’t come to the wedding at all.”

Sunset Shimmer continued to listen but felt angry at this Shining Armor. Kicking out your younger sister from a wedding?

”I was then abandoned by my friends and my mentor. I still remember Princess Celestia telling me coldly: ’You have a lot to think about.’ I was upset and angry so I cried my tears of sadness for the fact that I may have lost family that day. But then the false Cadance came in and sent me down to the caves beneath Canterlot. A forgotten place to my knowledge, and that is where I met the real Cadance.”

”She proved herself to be the real Cadance by dancing the Lady Bug dance. I knew then that she was the real Cadance and not some changeling. I then told her about my suspicions and she was the one who told me that it was changelings and the changeling queen who was impersonating the fake Cadance.”

Sunset had no idea what this ’Lady Bug Dance’ was, but she did not interrupt.

”I was shocked but it made sense. She explained that they feed off from love and they needed a lot of it to survive. We then made our escape from the caves and we were on the edge. We were worried about what would happen if we were late. Well, Cadance was, I had stopped caring about my former family all together so it did not matter what happened to them.”

”When we made it out of the caves, Cadance and I made our way to the place where the marriage would happen but only after we stopped her former bride maids. I opened the doors with force before the ceremony could fully begin. Cadence then came in and showed herself to everypony. The fake Cadance and everypony were shocked by what they were seeing, including my former friends who acted shocked.”

”Well... they were shocked, but my anger was clouding my judgement. Chrysalis then showed herself to everypony. They were both shocked and frightened. My former friends and mentor looked disgusted at themselves for how they treated me.”

Sunset was shocked that her former mentor, Princess Celestia, did not believe Twilight. If anything, Celestia should have known Cadance the best out of everypony there. So what was Celestia doing? Playing dumb like usual. Always acting like she knows everything when she is just a pathetic excuse of a princess who does not even believe her student who knows Cadance just as much as she.

”I and my former friends ran to get the elements but they were in the end not needed. My brother and Cadance kissed and banished the Changelings back to their forest or wherever they lived. Of course, there had been an intense battle, but I do not want to get into it.”

Sunset nodded and looked at Twilight. There was something about the mare that felt... off. Like there was a sense of darkness enveloping her but it was not damaging her, but rather protecting her. Sunset felt bad for her of course but the darkness was both making her worried and relieved.

”What happened afterwards?” Sunset asked, laying her left hoof on Twilight’s back. Caressing her soothingly. ”Did you go to the wedding?”

Twilight looked at Sunset as if she was dumb. Why would she ask such a ridiculous question?

”No, I never went. In the end, I just left and gave them no signs of saying goodbye but I believe they all knew the reason when they found out I left. Even my former brother. I did see Cadance run towards me. I paid her no heed.”

Sunset waited to hear the rest.

”A few months went by and I got my alicorn wings after I completed a spell from Starswirl. I am here in the Crystal Empire to celebrate that very reason. Not that I am particularly interested. I am here with former friends and a former brother too who I have yet to speak with. Ever since that day, I have not responded to the letters he sent me. I just burned them.”

”And... here we are. You can take the crown if you want. It only gives me bad memories.” Twilight said, causing Sunset to let go of caressing Twilight’s back. She looked at her confused. Was she that desperate? To her rid of bad memories? Sunset then got an idea.

”What if I told you that you can be a princess still under my rule?” Sunset said, her voice holding a sense of authority and excitement. She could have Twilight be a princess and Sunset herself would be the Queen of Equestria.

Twilight looked at Sunset in surprise and wondered what she was talking about. She did not feel like being a princess and yet, Sunset here is talking about Twilight being a princess as if she had some big plan. But what would that plan entail? What would be her purpose?

She was supposed to be the princess of friendship but after what happened at the wedding, she is anything but a princess of friendship. She sometimes refused to wear the crown because of the memories it brought. It was not often she wore it but the second she was out of view of whatever creature, she took it off with no small amount of disdain.

Looking over to Sunset who was smiling and grinning at her, she realized she could get what she wanted the one thing she desired above all else. Revenge...

It had been on her mind since that day, getting her revenge would be nice. She would never have to worry about her former friends getting in the way. Right then and there, Twilight made a decision. One that could mean the end of Equestria.

”Tell me about whatever it is you are planning.” Twilight said, her voice holding eagerness of knowing what the plan entails, the destruction that it could bring giving the right time and place. Eager to sell her friends out, eager to force them to watch the destruction of Equestria, the nation they so dearly loved. The nation Twilight once loved and was proud to belong to...

But Fate has other decisions.

Sunset smirked.

”I plan on bringing the crown to a place called Earth, it is an entirely different dimension with different beings that inhabit the planet. If you and I go there, we can take over a small school filled with students who are oblivious to magic. You and I force them to abide by our rule and we can then take over Equestria, I will be Queen you will be a Princess and anyone else who stand in our way will feel our wrath. A force no creature would want to mess with.”

For each sentence that Twilight heard, she slowly smiled. Her smile wasn’t pleasant. Her lavender colour seemed to have almost been drained but it was faintly there on her. Her eyes shimmered in the night moonlight. Her teeth shined in the darkness and were terrifying. It looked as though she had fangs. Just like a bat pony or other predator creatures.

What Sunset had said, intrigued her. She could not pass up an opportunity about a different dimension or taking over Equestria. She loved the idea of getting revenge and leaving for a while she was sure she would not be missed. Her former friends and mentor made that clear on the wedding day.

Twilight turned to Sunset, her eyes filled with anger and hatred for being reminded of what her former friends and mentor did. Anypony would feel the same way if he or she felt the same emotion every day. Her body trembled slightly but she managed to gain control over her body movements. She would not allow herself to be seen like that. She would never again allow herself to succumb to her fears. She had enough of this version of Equestria.

The one Queen Sunset Shimmer just told her sounded so much better. It sounded like a place where no creature would have to worry about being betrayed or worried over the fact that false wordy will fill a creature. But Twilight did know that Sunset had not told her everything. And for that, Twilight will always respect her. If you tell some creature what you are going to do. They will mock you and tell you that it is impossible, that you cannot do it. What Twilight and Sunset Shimmer are planning is big and it is frightening to think about.

But there is one thing Twilight knows. She and her future Queen will win. That she knew very much will happen.

”So, Sunset, what will you do when we get back to this... ’Earth’ you speak of?” Twilight asked. Her voice holding anger and resentment just imagining what will happen when she returns. The amber coated mare just smiled at her but it looked more like a sadistic grin. One that Twilight returned because her future Queen just saved her some time from more lies her former friends and mentor would tell her.

”We will be going right now if you want to. You do not necessarily have to come along. I could give you a fake crown while I on the other side prepare the invasion, something that dear Princess Celestia will not be able to take on. She will fail like she failed her sister and me.” Sunset grumbled out that last part.

She still had horrible memories of when she was Celestia’s personal student. She did everything her mentor asked of her. She solved all kinds of problems that would be considered impossible if you take the circumstances into that account. Sunset did not have a specific memory she could use as an example because there are too many.

”Wait.” Twilight surprised, looked at Sunset. The amber mare looked down to the floor, walking down memory lane. Sometimes she was happy, sometimes she wished she had some friends. ”You were also a student of Princess Celestia?”

Sunset looked over to Twilight who had a look of surprise and some... pity? It was hard to tell with the lavender coated mare as her eyes displayed unchained hatred that seemed to not be able to be contained for much longer if Twilight does not get what she so desperately needs.

”I was indeed, but it was a long time ago. She took me in after I accidentally burned my orphanage so she took me in and taught me everything about magic. I was around nine or ten at the time so I was still very young. I did my best to be ahead of everypony in my classes, it was nice to be ahead. I got the best marks but I also got a lot of attention for being a student directly connected to the princess. Some ponies wanted to know me so they could brag that they are closer to the princess. I did not realize it until I was too late. But I then showed a side of me that I did not realize I had. Arrogance.”

Twilight knew where this was going. She had seen how Blueblood was and she would rather not see an idiot like that again. But she understood Sunset in this. If she had been used like that, she would also use arrogance to make ponies stay away from her.

”Come,” Sunset said, getting off the bed and grabbing the crown and putting it in her bag. She looked back at Twilight. ”We should go. Sunrise is in a few hours and I would rather not be here when the other princess’ is here.”

Twilight had a frown on her face but did not object. She followed Sunset out of the bedroom and led her down a hallway and passed by her former friends’ rooms but they were not spotted by anypony. Well, if that would have happened. Twilight would simply have put them to sleep with a spell she had found when she had trouble sleeping herself. She was about to use it when Sunset came and tried to steal the crown.

Sunset took a left and lead Twilight inside of a room that was empty of anything living but there was a mirror there. A mirror that had on the edges red dots. Twilight had no idea if this was the portal or not. For all she knew, Sunset could have planned this and was now kidnapping her. But she still followed her.

Her hooves were ten steps away from the mirror and Sunset closed the door behind her and headed for the mirror. She was tense from all the activities she had to do to get the crown. She trotted up to Twilight carefully as to not startle her. She knew that the new alicorn was thinking about the possibilities of Sunset kidnapping her.

Well, to an extent she was.

”Nervous?” Sunset asked quickly as she checked three times to make sure that the crown was there. She wanted to be absolutely sure that the crown was there so she could easily invade and take over Equestria.

Twilight looked over to Sunset and blushed as she nodded in confirmation. She was indeed nervous. She was going to an entirely different world. A lot of things were bound to be different. But she would be there just for...

”Hey, Sunset, how long are we staying over there?” Twilight curiously asked. There would only be a few days she slightly hoped. This was something she came to realize that she needed. Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes and smirked in her direction.

”Three days. That is all we need.” Sunset said and walked towards the mirror and looked back at Twilight. She gave her a wink and walked through the mirror. Twilight’s mind should have been racing. But it wasn’t. She walked towards the mirror and felt her body stretch.

Author's Note

Request for: Chazkopa