Equestria Forsaken

"The most effective form of oppression is consensual oppression." - Holy God-Empress Faust

O

The two ponies had finished drying each other by the time an irritated knocking broke the mutual silence. It wasn't awkward- but Oblivion hadn't been in the mood for conversation. Celestia might have enjoyed their impromptu lovemaking in the shower, and she had been fondly rubbing the cum bulge ever since, but Oblivion had gone on airplane mode halfway through. She'd had a good reason.

She was.. anxious. Dreading having to face the ponies outside of their safe haven. With every second she got closer to the door, the voices seemed to cry out even louder. 'TRAITORS!' they all echoed in unison, rippling through her skull and sending her brain into a frenzy of despair. It'd been so easy to forgive Celestia- she had had a very valid excuse for what she'd done, after all. These ponies she was about to face were bootlickers. They had left her in favor of a pony with more power and influence.

They weren't her friends. They weren't her friends.

It hurt to think, and even with Celestia's comfort, nothing could stop the crushing void that seemed to overtake her as they exited the oversized bathroom.

Relief flooded her as soon as she realized it was still only Spike and Luna. The pit in her gut had diminished to a fraction of its size, and she had managed to nod while squeezing the pony under her wing. Facing them could wait. For now.

"Hello, sister..." Luna narrowed her eyes on Celestia, who gulped.

"L-Luna, I believe I can-"

"Thou needeth not explain hither, we knowth enough, sister. Thou art fools! Hath the years raked thee with madness? For long now, we hath stood in the lock of battle with Sombra whilst thee and thine student..." She gestured with her hoof at the bulge. "Thou mind hath gone at last! Please, we beggeth, tell us thee didst not make a deal with the demon!"

They didn't reply.

"By the gods! Madness, we tell thee! Harrow to the chains bound to both of ye! What on this wide Equis weret thou thinking?!"

"You would've done the same, Luna! It was our choice! We agreed-"

"Oh hells and Tartarus, thou truly approved of such monstrous shackles?! Madness! Tis' madness!"

"Of course you wouldn't understand-"

Oblivion silently observed the bickering princesses. It was.. embarrassing. The way the crowned rulers of Equestria behaved was better akin to fillies than to the warrior princesses who had brought the land back from its deathbed after Discord's nightmarish reign. And Luna's outburst at their decision- making a 'deal with the demon'- was entirely unprovoked. She almost wished she was unconscious again- at least she wouldn't have to deal with the sheer stupidity the waking world held- but the mention of Sombra had struck her odd.

While she didn't know of any 'Sombra,' and only had source references in her new collection of magical knowledge mentioning something called the 'Crystal Empire,' she did know what an Umbra was. The shadows were powerful in their own right. While she may have been unmatched in regards to sheer, utter magical power and arcane knowledge, she was neither the shadows, nor the sun, moon, or love. Goddess of the Aether and Nether did not make her the goddess of the aspects themselves, after all. Those rights went to other ponies. Ponies of elemental choosing.

She'd be lying if she said it wasn't going to be miserable dealing with an Umbra. Having tuned out the princesses by now, drifting into a sea of her own thoughts, the aspects began their infighting again.

'This is useless.'

'That's a very rude way of putting it, but.. it's unnecessary. They're sisters, right? They shouldn't fight over this..'

'Luna's being a bitch! Why haven't we knocked it into her thick skull yet? Why are we letting her talk to our Guardian's mare that way?'

'Please calm down... they're just arguing. It's fine-'

'As if! I'm in agreement with Justice, she is testing our patience!'

'No, she really isn't.'

'It is normal. Sibling conflict is-

'Hush, fool. She takes our forgiveness yet shows none in return. Her arrogance is outrageous-'

'Plebian, please! You are perhaps the most foolish beast I have ever had the displeasure-'

'Fuck off, Arrogance! No one asked.'

'How dare you!'

'Please-'

'I'll beat your fucking ass!'

'Guys, you're gonna-'

'Ş̴̧̗̯̝̞̱̟̩̗͕̎̈́́͐ȋ̵̢̛̬̰̘͓̱́̑̉͐̈͆̃̈́ĺ̸͍̤̖͉̰̬̫̫͉̬̮͚͈̊͆̍̇̆̿͘͝ͅȩ̴̡̛̘̲͙̯͎͔̞̟̗̈́͊̿ͅņ̴̡͇̩̰̐̈́̾̕͜͝c̵̨̲̥̟̤̺̬̟͙̗̗͎͉͙̳͌͗̈̾̅͛̔͊̌̑͊͆e̷̱͙̣͕̖̙͊͂̀͗̾.̵̧̧͍͔̻̟̙̹̣̹̺͂͑̓͐̐̔̆̍̌'

Before Despair could breach its prison and shriek Madness awake, she was jolted from her trance-like state by the sudden disappearance of the warmth under her wing. She blinked awkwardly, staring down at them.

They'd gone oddly still and quiet, as if fearing they had provoked a nearby predator. She couldn't quite make it out, but Luna seemed to bite back her terror and a grimace. The room was quiet- almost too quiet. Then, she realized why they'd stopped. The thing- or, more specifically, the pony they feared they had provoked.. was her.

She eyed them incredulously, before slowly opening her mouth. They sat there for a while longer, Celestia frozen stiff in the center of the room, right between them. Her eyes fell on Luna, where they hardened. Unbeknownst to her, an oddly visceral snarl had taken shape on her muzzle, exposing the disconcerting omnivorous teeth that hid within.

"What?" She finally inquired. She despised the silence, and the fact Celestia had left her spot made her mood drop sharply. Their charade was getting tiring. "What happened? I... I kinda zoned out for a bit. What... what.. happened..?" She watched nervously as the shrinking ball of gleaming gold and magma backed up again, tucking itself under her wing as it mumbled.

"Nothing..."

She could hear the hurt; and berated herself for sinking back into the vast expanse so easily. She was a responsible adult with a pony to protect now! Her eyes narrowed on Luna, who'd suddenly found a keen interest in the floor.

"We.. we apologize, sister... perhaps thou.. art right. We shouldst not allow ourselves to project our animosities unto thy and thine... lover, with such haste.." Luna spat the word so venomously, it was all she could do not to explode on the Lunar Goddess then and there. It was insulting! They'd just gotten back, and she was treating them like shit! She'd... she'd said something.

And it'd hurt Celestia.

Her anger rebounded and she snapped her muzzle shut, her teeth colliding with a deafening clack in the silence. The audacity..

"Alright," She hissed. "if you can't act like grown mares for, like, five minutes, I.. gods, I swear. Luna, you're running your mouth, and I have no clue what's going on, so why don't you tell me what we're dealing with? I don't know who 'Sombra' is! I barely know anything about the Crystal Empire. Could somepony please explain this to me? And stop acting like foals." Another mental checklist formed. 'Teeth grinding? C̶͍͖̲̜̳͕̊͠ḥ̴̤̝͔͂̎͋ẽ̵̢̫͒̄̚c̵̛̦͙̼̄k̶̞̀̈́̌̏.̶̭͒͠

"That may be for the best.." Luna sighed. "Long as thee doth not plan on doing more of the zoning out."

"That'd be stupid. Besides, it was only for a minute! I can't control it. My head is pretty active right now, y'know?" Oblivion clenched her jaw. "Now answer the question..."

Luna stomped her hoof in frustration. "Thou seem not to understand what I have said. At this moment, ponies march north to fight in a war between ourselves and Sombra. We-"

"Okay, that's well and great," she interrupted, "but it doesn't answer the question. Who in Tartarus is Sombra?! I know, war is bad, all that, but you're dodging the fucking ques-"

"Sombra is a tyrant and a murderer." Celestia's venomous tone shattered the cloud of anger. "He is as ruthless as he is mad. He will stop at nothing until he achieves his conquests, if he must enslave this world. His reign over the Crystal Empire is only because of his control over their minds. Those that do follow him are brainwashed fools, but they are fools whom know the art of war. He is the Crystal Usurper. Nothing more."

Oblivion did a double take, pausing for a few moments as the short, informative description of a Shadow King was slotted into the vast expanse. "A.. he... he's.."

The pony across from them muttered. "He is not that heartless, sister.."

"He is. It is his own fault the crystal ponies vanished for millennia. You wish to speak of shackles, then let us look no further than those of the crystal ponies, the ones he attempted to put on you, and used then to bring conquest and war. He is mad, nothing short of lunacy. He controlled ponies to serve his own purposes, and when their usefulness had forgone them, he disposed of them. You will not paint him in a greater light. There is no greater light for a murderous tyrant. It was because of his manipulation you fell. His silver tongue is a trap for your mind." Hissed the venomous tone.

"Yet you excuse your own tyranny as a necessity. To keep your ponies safe, yes?"

"You will not-"

"Alright, stop it!" Oblivion growled. "You two need to stop. If we're going to get anything done, you need to just.. stop. We can't win a war if we're too busy fighting each other... Right? If he's.. if he's some kind of.. killer.. maniac..." she shivered, "Anyway, it would have been nice to know this before," she huffed, "but that doesn't matter now. Right now, we... we.. Where's Cadance at?"

She couldn't help it. Not one bit. She'd been stuck in her head all day. It was.. hard. Hard to do anything. Her mind was all over the place, conjuring scenarios and depictions of her brother and Cadance being tortured through various methods.

She'd never felt so sick... so.. horrified.

It shouldn't have happened. She may not have been able to stand her brother, but she would have never wanted him to be captured, especially by a rampaging tyrant... captured, or worse. The only source of escape she'd found had been the warmth that hadn't left her side. It was a slight to the thoughts that plagued her, eating away at her rationality.

It shifted every now and then, but remained. They hadn't left the tower after her breakdown. She couldn't face the ponies she knew would be waiting for her at the bottom of the spiral staircase, so Luna had taken Spike, who'd begged to stay, and left. It'd been for the best, really. The room was a mess.

It was hard for her to look at Celestia, knowing she'd seen her outburst. It was even harder to speak, knowing that ponies from all across Equestria had been dying in the cold while they slept in a warm tower. She felt.. dirty. So, they sat. There was no need to do anything else. But it would only get worse if they did nothing.. nothing, while ponies were sent to die, in the north.

Funny. Goddess of Death, with no experience in the subject at all. The godheads seemed very lenient, in her opinion, but what did she know?...

That was a stupid question.

She was supposed to be Equestria's thrice-time savior. The idea was hard to grasp as she thought about all of it.

She looked in the mirror again. It was.. strange. Like looking at another pony entirely. All her life, she'd been so used to be shorter than average. Most ponies had towered over her. Even her horn was disproportionately smaller than most other unicorns', especially one with a wellspring her size.

She glanced over the outrageously long, curved horn. It was menacing, with its eternally luminescent tip. Her wings, the inherent strangeness of their rainbow primaries. Her height. Gods, her height. The others thing were miniscule compared to that... Even as much as Celestia's own had increased, she was still taller. Everything about her, the unfair shortness, horn, and strength disadvantage had all been rectified. She'd marred even her normal irises, the pulse of a circling rainbow replacing her normal purple.

And Celestia...

The fact their horns almost emulated one another made her feel guilty. Guilty because she enjoyed that her own traits had overpowered Celestia's. But then again, she felt guilty about a lot of things. She wasn't sure what Celestia had thought about her old body, but this... there had to be loss in there somewhere. The fact her mane and tail had transformed as they did was less concerning. Plasma fit the Goddess of the Sun. What did concern her was the barely-visible purple shade that outlined it.

She'd defaced the sun!

Their bodies had been unmade, and they'd been turned into something else. She doubted they were even fully equine anymore! Every feature had changed, from their primaries, to their horns, to their hooves! Even their eye-colors and manes had been forcefully rearranged. There.. There wasn't even hair anymore. Just... whatever they were made of now. It was... stuff. There was no better way to describe it. She just... couldn't. Just like she couldn't describe at lot of the other things that had happened. They felt normal.. somewhat, but looked so..

The weight shifting under her wing brought her out of her thoughts. She looked at her right wing, watching the pony underneath it squirm uncomfortably. The pleading look of promised comfort and suppressed need was so tempting...

but she wouldn't let her body give in.

She shifted her eyes back to the mirror, gracing the room with a glance. The curtains had been pulled open, and the 'gloom and doom' look seemed to envelope Canterlot in a waning embrace. She couldn't see north, but knew that somewhere out of her line of sight, ponies were dying. Dying when they shouldn't be.

...

She didn't know how to feel. Her brother and Cadance had been captured, and ponies were going to war for the first time in a thousand years- death rates had increased in numbers she didn't even want to begin calculating. And it was her fault. It...

She rubbed her eyes, letting her head droop.

If she hadn't.. if she'd just..

'No... that's a bad way to think. I did it for us...' She glanced back over at the orange glow of the pony beside her. 'Even if I.. I'm letting ponies fall head first into their coffins.. gods..' Her ears lowered as she felt the pit in her stomach churn.

She didn't want to know who. She didn't want to know what they'd left behind, families losing fathers, mothers.. and elysium forbid they have to tell parents that their children...

wouldn't come home..

She felt sick again.

A sharp horn nudged her side. "Twilight, lay down.. please... your fretting will not bring us well.. you're freezing over again.." she was dragged down by four desperate hooves. She'd been neglecting Celestia's wants for a while now. She just felt so... out of it. Tears pricked the edges of her vision. Her knowledge on death was little to none, and the only time she'd ever known it had been when her grandmother, Twilight Andromeda, had died.

Now she was responsible for so much.

The smaller form moved infront of her stomach, resting its back against her.

"Please, Twilight... talk to me. I know you're troubled- as am I- but.. do not go back to that place. It is painful to watch.. I do not wish to see you despair yourself so." The form relaxed against her bare chest. ".. you should not fault yourself alone, nor should you fall into such thoughts.. I should not have allowed my longing to control my actions.."

"I-it's not that." she finally replied. "I just.. Celestia, I'm... I don't know. Just.. I decided to listen to you. I'm weighing a lot of things... I-I think it was worth it, agreeing to that.. and the.. th-the bond? I'm just.. I just don't know. I keep thinking about what you said, and I... I keep.. imagining it. All the dead ponies. M-my brother. Cadance. H-h.."

"Ho-how?" she croaked. "How am I supposed to feel? I just keep thinking about it.. going back again and again, and again.." She closed her eyes, sighing. "What.. wh-what do I-I do... I wouldn't give this.. us.. up for the world, but... all those ponies, I.. I'd never thought about it before. It's.."

"Hard to process. You are in shock. Twilight, you need to rest for a while.." Celestia whispered, almost too softly to be hard. She was maneuvering again, twisting and turning as she tried to position herself.. somewhere.

"Probably.. I just... I feel so dirty.. am I just- just being self-important?-" she grit her teeth at the feeling of something sliding down her extra appendage. "Wh-wha..." her mind reflexively suppressed a sting of despair. "Celestia, please.. I don't think now is a good time for that... I'm just.. not feeling like it."

The feeling of a sticky tunnel around the length in between her legs only reminded her of what they'd done. And what it'd cost. It twitched and writhed, before finally going still. "A-apologies, I felt.. quite hollow. I.. I find myself yearning more and more... I did not mean to impede, I simply.. It seems that I am no longer in control of my own estrus, nor my hormonal functioning. I did not mean to act uninterested, my Light.. it was impulse, I... I couldn't help myself." she paused. "Perhaps we have- ngh!- that in common as well... please, continue.."

Oblivion, the Goddess of Magic, epitome of her talent, buried her face into Celestia's flowing, amalgamate mane. "O-oh... that's.. fine, then, I just.." the smell of ozone was palpable, burning ber nostrils and reminding her of the horrible feelings the north gave her. ".. i-is it my fault? I.. could've done something.. maybe.. maybe there wouldn't have been.. w-war? I-I.. maybe if we'd waited.. I just.. I feel like I'm dirty.. like I just.. can't be clean again.. I. . ."

"I feel like a monster.."

"You.. are not. Say what you might, but.. you are not. You believe you are- mmh!-- r-responsible for creating the problem." Celestia almost voiced her inner monologue. "As I do so often... Was Luna correct in regards to our selfishness, my Light? I.. I am unsure myself anymore..."

Oblivion ran the question through her checklists. By all accounts, it was an inconsiderate, thoughtless action. Pregnancy, coma, and.. whatever that strange realm had been. They were selfish, she knew. Once more she thought back, though. Did it make them wrong?

The act didn't. But.. it kept coming back to what it cost. For all she wouldn't have given up their closeness, she felt the fact she'd indirectly caused the death of thousands weigh on her. Something so pointless as war. All the lives she could have saved if she'd just.. been there. Acted..

something.

"I don't know... you've done so much for everypony. I.. I know that.. thing, said I was the dominant in this, yeah, and I think we'llll make it work.. when we can, come to grips with stuff.. But I.. I-I think I'm pretty selfish. I already have a lot.. b-but, I wanted more. I.. n-needed to have you as well. I wasn't going to let something like... selflessness or reason just stop me from having somepony so beautiful, so compassionate... so.. devoted... I think I.. Maybe I took more than I should have.."

"There are none more worthy than you, Twilight. You returned my sister to me, did you not? You brought down Discord on your own. You saw through the lie of an invading force's leadership, one with the strength of an alicorn. Is that not enough?" Celestia inquired, barely above a whisper.

"I always had to have my... 'friends'," the word came out bitter and estranged, "help me, for anything to work."

She felt the mane she was in sway as the pony it was a part of shook her head. "As I understand, it was you who awoke the Elements, and you who brought your friends back from their.. Discorded states. By all rights, it was you alone. You... you ascended yourself, Twilight. Without my aid or guidance. And even after we had.. even after we had doubted you in favor of Cadance, you were right." Celestia lowered her head in shame. "And.. you forgave me. I.. believe that is worthy of much more than simply myself.."

"I have to disagree.. what could be better than the pony I love, hm?.."

"Any degree of power and knowledge would suit the need.."

They both laid in silence as Celestia cut herself off.

"No.. this is better... I still don't like it.. all those ponies are dead because we..." She paused, nuzzling Celestia. "I just feel guilty.. I mean... a war? It's..."

"We'll find a way to f-fix it, love. We will.. a-and we will return your brother and my n-niece home.. that.. that I swear. Oh- believe this is.." she heard Celestia take a sharp breath, barely suppressing a moan. "Best discussed tomorrow.. when we- oh, gods- r-return to our d-duties..."

Oblivion nodded, keeping her peace against the form that had inserted her into itself. Sleeping on it would make it better...

"Mhmm... Well, I guess you're right... I did do some pretty big stuff... We'll... make it worth it, right?.. I think.. I guess I like being the big spoon, anyway... Celly." She mumbled, wrapping her hooves around Celestia and hilting herself inside her mare. The moan that followed quieted the clamoring voices in her mind, and silenced the laments her actions had brought. Her thoughts drifted to the pulsing around her shaft and the soft thrumming against her chest. She brought her hoof to the bulge in her Celestia's belly.

Promises of a future she and Celestia could look forward to. Away from the world that was slowly falling apart around them. Her wing draped itself over the smaller form, sealing it away from the outside. First came tomorrow, then.. then...

.. She drifted off into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares and haunted by an ever-present despair.

L

She was pacing again. Again?

Right.

She'd been at it for hours, now that she thought about it. Every possibility had run its course, and her choice wording with sister had likely caused unnecessary damage. Worse then, now she had to deal with...

"Auntie Luna, you said she'd be here.." An irritated Blueblood growled. "May I ask what delays them?"

"Yes... The problem is the fact that... well..." Luna's face folded into a frown. "We may have... squandered diplomacy with her. We were... perhaps overly aggressive. Neither she nor Prinzessin Oblivion took it kindly.. nor did the latter take the current position of Princess Cadance or Captain Shining Armor.." she gestured with a wing.

Blueblood looked absolutely outraged. "You-! How can you fail at that! She is your sister, for the Hells' sake! Even I have managed better!"

Luna grumbled. "Perhaps thee wouldst like to try?"

"Quite so." He huffed. "You seem to misunderstood your task. It was such a simple one! Auntie's strategic ingenuity is a requirement if we wish to defeat Sombra! And, if your statement about the... Miss Oblivion, rings true... though I may dislike cooperating with the lowborn beast, she would be masterful for our logistics."

"This is important, fool! How could you fail?!"

She was tired. Tired of everything. The courts, the nobles, the laws she had yet to brush up upon. Those were her sister's strong suits. Ponies showed up in Day Court to attempt to play her sister for a fool. A fool she was not, but she would allow her ponies to do as they saw wise.

Luna was no good at any of those things.

"We do not know, Blueblood. We.. I could not contain my temper.."

"Ah yes, a princess of Equestria who cannot behave as royalty should." The sound of a spell being cast filled the space. "Honestly, I should not be surprised.. sending Passion herself to deal with a delicate situation. Gods, my stupidity!"

He grunted, standing up from his position at the round table. "Auntie Luna, while I appreciate the effort.." he paused as he shuffled the papers in his magic. "It seems as though I must talk sense into them myself."

She turned toward him, scowling. "Fine.. but doth not put the blame unto us if our newest Princess's hostilities are too great for thine mortal body. We.. we shallth wait for thee in the Solarium. We hope thou hath more luck than us.."

They both turned and left, one to sulk, and the other to prepare to do what she could not.