The Crystal Heart fell, toppling towards the ground as Sombra dove after it. There was a flash of pink as Cadence was hurled to try and catch it. Sombra moved faster, the scenery blurring as he focused in on his target. He would not be denied his empire. Cadence reached it first, her magic catching the crystal. Twilight cheered from where she stood watching the events unfold below her. The cheer died in her throat though as she saw a lance of purple-green energy catch her sister-in-law in the back. Twilight could smell the burning feathers even from so far away. Cadence caught herself with the last vestige of her magic before she slammed into the hard ground. The mare was bruised, but alive. The air crackled with energy as the laugh of the dark lord, magically enhanced to boom all the louder, echoed through the packed streets. Hope died in the eyes of hundreds of onlookers as Sombra floated his prize above his head. If she had found the heart just minutes sooner, Twilight could have prevented this, but she didn’t. A dull ache built in Twilight’s chest as she realized she had failed.
—
With his most powerful magic now fully returned to him, Sombra had made short work of brainwashing his former subjects back into submission. Eerie, emotionless helmets marked his new servants and the rest of the empire’s ponies were in chains. Lines of them marched towards their day’s tasks. Sombra had wasted no time in ordering the construction of a new war machine. Celestia would not stop at attempting to end his rule. Especially now that he had captured so many of her supposed best. Besides, his empire was still a bit small for his liking. Sombra stepped away from the open window he had been standing by to watch his renewed empire work, and he made his way over to his throne. The cold of the crystal should have been uncomfortable, but he had always found it a pleasant reminder of his glorious rule. With a booming voice that echoed through the empty hall, he called out.
“Bring me Celestia’s latest failure!” The great door to the throne room creaked open as a procession of four of his servants guided a unicorn forward. Her purple fur was tousled, her legs bound in chains that gave her just enough slack to awkwardly walk at the prodding of his servants. A solid silver ring tightly gripped her horn, disabling whatever magic she might have otherwise tried to use. Sombra recognized her and relaxed further in his throne.
“So, she is one of those that tried to stop me? Since you are bringing me here, I presume she was the leader.”
“Yes, my lord.” The voice from one of the enslaved mares was flat and emotionless. There was no real pony behind the words, just a puppet on a string now. “She was the one put in charge of finding the Crystal Heart and opposing your rule.”
“Was she now?” Sombra eyed up the mare with delight. To think that Celestia and Luna would send such a small and frail thing to try and stop him. They were fools, and they would pay for the attempt. Before that though, he thought to himself, he would teach their minion why resisting his rule was a mistake and have a little fun for himself while he was at it. “Come forward, slave.” He commanded. The look of hate in the mare’s eyes amused him, and he wasn’t surprised when she initially refused to move. With a wave of his hoof, two of the servants dragged Twilight forward. When she was thrown down in front of him, he leaned forward, looking over his new slave. She was attractive enough for what he had in mind. Sombra leaned back with a contented smile.
“You won’t get away with this.” Twilight spat. The mare tugged at the chains holding her hooves.
“I don’t see why not. You certainly aren’t in a position to resist me. Celestia and Luna were fools to think there was anything that could stop my return, let alone such a little thing like yourself. You were the main opposition to me reclaiming what was mine. What form of punishment would better suit you than to be lowered from an agent to the princesses to…my concubine. He saw the mare’s ears droop as the words sunk in.
“You’re disgusting!” There was a quiver in her voice now. No doubt she had expected a dungeon until being rescued. She likely hadn’t even considered this fate.
“No,” he finally replied to her, “I am the emperor. I get whatever I please.” Sombra’s horn glowed its sickly purple hue and Twilight felt her whole body lift slightly, the magic carrying her slowly towards the tyrant. She fought the pull, trying desperately to use her magic and thrashing her hooves, but it was all pointless and she knew all along it would be. Hatred and disgust filled her as she found herself in front of Sombra. His legs were spread, his gray cock slowly stiffening as she came closer.
“You can’t make me.”
“Can’t I? I could use my magic to force your body to do whatever I want. Tartarus! If I wanted, I could twist your mind into doing it willingly, a small piece of your consciousness still active and peering out of the windows of your eyes, screaming in helpless terror as you do everything I desired with a smile.” Twilight had seen firsthand how powerful his magic was and how it could toy with the mind. She felt a deep dread knowing that he was telling the truth. Sombra started to gently stroke himself on his large throne, smiling in that taunting way of his as he stared down at the helpless mare as she realized the extent of his power.
“Why are you even commanding me then?” Twilight asked with a frightened quiver to her voice.
“Entertainment. As amusing as I find it to erase all of the resistance from a mind, to make somepony else mine, it isn’t quite as entertaining as the impotent rage and misery that this will inflict. Simply put, little filly, it’s more fun if you hate it.”
“You’re a monster.” Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sombra just shrugged. He couldn’t really argue against that, but he also didn’t see the need to. His stroking had gotten his cock hard and twitching. The mare’s distressed face did a lot to make that happen too.
“Also, you would do well to remember that I have your friends at my mercy too little one, in case you needed more motivation. So, come over here and get your mouth to work.” The command wasn’t barked or yelled. Sombra had a calm confidence in his tone. Twilight didn’t have the option to refuse, and she knew that. Legs shaking and disgust building inside of her, Twilight closed what little distance there still was between herself and the tyrant. His cock twitched in anticipation when she was mere inches away.Twilight looked up at Sombra, at his red eyes and saw no hint of mercy. The idea alone of what he could do to her mind if she fought back haunted her thoughts. There would be time for resistance later. For now, there was only one thing to do.
“How do you want me to…?” Twilight started to ask.
“I’ll let you figure that out. It isn’t a good concubine that can’t discern her master’s wishes.” Sombra replied. He was toying with her, she realized. Reaching her hoof forward, twilight gently placed it against the base of his cock. When the tyrant had no response, she started to gently stroke it, more or less just petting the stallion’s shaft.
“I said use your mouth little one.” The growl boomed through the whole throne room. Twilight squeaked fearfully, and quickly took his head into her mouth. While the mare was familiar enough with what she needed to do in concept, due to how many trashy books she’d read in secret while in her old tower, she had never actually done any of the things that she’d read about. The tyrant’s cock was the first she had ever put in her mouth. To her surprise, the taste wasn’t unpleasant. Tracing her tongue around his head, she slowly got herself used to the texture. Sombra let out a low moan, disgusting the mare, but also letting her know that she was at least not making him angry with her.
Twilight forced herself to let the cock in deeper. Her tongue slid along his large shaft, the tip of it poking out of her lips as she moved further down, her mouth barely able to take him in. Finally, she reached the farthest she could comfortably go, about two inches from his base. Placing her hoof at the point her lips started, she used it as a measure so she knew where she could take this. Then, she slowly started to pull back, then push down again. Soon, she had a slow rhythm, bobbing her head as best she could. The sound of her own actions filled her with disgust, but she kept going. It was humiliating. Tears stung at her eyes and she softly sniffled, bringing up a hoof to wipe her cheek.
Sombra delighted in every moment of Twilight’s first blowjob. The poor bitch of a mare was trying her hardest to make him cum and he drank in the sight of her watery purple eyes and the sounds of misery she was serenading him with. Still, this was all a bit too tame for him.
“You are doing very well, little one. However, I think I am going to take over now.” He said. Twilight didn’t have time to wonder what he meant before she felt his hooves on the back of her head. She had just enough time to start screaming before he had shoved her down as hard as he could, her lips going past where her hoof had marked her limit. The cock shot to the back of her throat, the mare now loudly gagging as she struggled and choked. Her eyes bugged out, tears flowing much more freely as her hooves slapped at the stallions legs, the mare trying to force her way back up. Sombra let go of her and Twilight yanked herself free, a string of spittle snapping as she pulled her head loose. The mare was left gagging and gasping for air.
“You poor, stupid filly. You weren’t supposed to do that.” Sombra sounded more pleased than annoyed. His magic gripped Twilight’s head and pulled her close.
“Not like that.” Twilight managed. “Please, let me do it. I will do it for you. Just let me….” Sombra didn’t bother to let her finish, and with his magic forced her jaw open and yanked her down roughly on his cock once again. She screamed as she was pulled down before being muffled. As she tried to struggle, he used magic to force her body to be still. Twilight could no longer move anything but her eyes, which she used to look up at Sombra in unbridled panic as he forced her throat to take every inch of him in. Tears of fear, of humiliation, flowed freely as Twilight’s body was used.
“This is the only time I will do this for you. If you make me take over again, I will take over every piece of you forever. Next time, this is how deep you go, and I don’t care if you can’t breathe while doing it. You get to breathe when I say you do, you get to stop when I say you do, and you go as far down as you can. Now get ready, I am about to cum. Swallow every drop, or I will take away everything that makes you who you are and you will help me train one of your friends instead.” He said. The horror Twilight felt was the greatest of her entire life. She sobbed and gagged as she was forced to take the stallion’s full length. She was unable to answer him, but Sombra knew she understood.
Twilight’s mouth was warm and welcoming to Sombra as he continued to use it. It never grew tiring for him to play with his defeated opponents and this one had been particularly bothersome. So, it felt that much more enjoyable to make her pay for even trying to stop him. Her tears fell to his cold, crystal floor, slowly pooling together. He hadn’t lied to her, he was close, and looking deep into her scared, purple eyes, he was finally thrown over the edge.
Twilight felt his cock twitch in her mouth and knew what was coming. His magic slammed her head down as far as she could go onto his cock and held her there. Cum shot out into her throat, making her cough and gag even harder, but she forced herself to keep it all down and to swallow all of it. Twilight had wondered what cum would taste like, but she had no time to even think about that as she desperately sucked it all down until the stallion had finished riding out his orgasm. Finally, he released her head. Twilight pulled herself free once again and sucked as much air in as she could her by now deep sobbing making it harder to get air back in her lungs.
“There, that was a good concubine. Next time, we shall try teaching you some more skills for your new life here.” Sombra dismissively waved in a shooing motion. “Now get out of my sight. The guards at the door will know what to do with you.
—
The dungeon of the crystal castle was one of the most dismal places that Twilight had ever seen. There was sunlight shining dimly through both the noxious black clouds in the sky and through the thin crystal grate that acted as her window, but it was all absorbed by the dark purple walls. Twilight was hundreds of hooves in the air, but felt as though she was deep underground, in some old and forgotten place. Somewhere, in this same dungeon, her friends were imprisoned as well. She hadn’t seen any of them since her capture, and unless she did something soon or Celestia managed to save her, Twilight suspected that she wouldn’t see them ever again. That was too much for her to bear. She would have to do something.
With the ring on her horn, Twilight had no access to the magic that she had spent her entire life cultivating. Without the ability to talk with her friends, she had no access to the asset that had gotten her through every other catastrophe she’d experienced since Celestia had sent her to Ponyville. She would need to think of something new, something that Sombra wouldn’t expect.
A concubine, a whore; it was all Sombra saw her as. She shivered as she imagined what he had in store for her the next time he decided to toy with her. As filthy as she felt, she also knew she had no escape from her torment yet. She would likely have to do whatever vile thing he wanted to use her for, at least for now. The sooner she thought of a way out of this, the fewer times she would need to debase herself for him. What little light there was slowly thinned as day turned to night, with Twilight still no closer to thinking of a way out of her predicament. Sleep took her when she wasn’t expecting it, and Twilight spent her first night in the Crystal Empire curled up on a cold floor.
—
Before the mare had realized it, it was the dawn of a new day. She wasn’t roused by the light of morning, since the increasingly black clouds outside blocked it, but rather by the door of her prison being thrown open. Two of the mind controlled servants of Sombra stormed in and grabbed her while she was still only half conscious. As her mind snapped awake, she understood what she was being taken for and before she even realized what she was doing, she screamed in a desperate panic. The guards ignored her and dragged her through dark hall after dark hall. They finally reached a door that she didn’t recognize and one of them stepped forward to gently knock. A voice boomed from inside.
“Enter.” It was Sombra. The door was slowly pushed open and Twilight realized that this was Sombra’s solar. There was a surprisingly modest table of molded glass engraved with dazzling patterns in the center, adorned with food and drink. A very tired looking king sat at the head of that table. When he saw Twilight, he smiled coldly. “Ah, the concubine. Good, good. Toss her in, then you may leave.” The guards did as they were instructed and threw Twilight into the room, the doors closing behind her before she could get back on her hooves. Even with nopony holding her, Twilight was well aware that she was in no position to escape, not with Sombra watching her. So, she just stood and did her best to present herself with some modicum of dignity. Sombra, with a swirl of magic, set out a breakfast for himself on the table.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Sombra asked. Twilight shivered fearfully.
“Where…where am I supposed to be?” Twilight asked, terrified about the answer.
“Here,” He said, gesturing to the opposite side of the table, “Eating.” Sombra finished with an amused snort. Twilight moved forward uncertainly. There was a spot made up at the end of the table opposite Sombra. It was modest, a small bowl of oats and fruit, but Twilight couldn’t shake the thought that she was being tricked somehow. “If you don’t want any,” Sombra chimed in, using his magic to dig through a bowl for choice bits of fruit, “I can always have you thrown back in your cell.” Pulling out a raspberry, he tossed it in his mouth, his eyes never even rising to meet Twilight.
While still uncertain of what to think, Twilight was hungry. She hadn’t eaten since the train ride to the Empire, and that was more than a full day ago. With some hesitation, she sat down and began to slowly eat, her eyes watching the King closely. Sombra, for his part, didn’t seem to notice or care. As she ate, Twilight looked around the solar. It was the first time she had seen a castle’s living quarters that weren’t Celestia’s. There were carvings in the walls of crystal, all depicting Sombra’s rise to power or his brief tenure as ruler before the Empire disappeared, but it wasn’t much fancier than what Celestia had. It seemed even Sombra liked his personal spaces to be simple. Before she even realized what had happened, Twilight had finished eating. The empty bowl stared back up at her as her stomach growled loudly.
“If you are still hungry, I can get you more food. After you are done working, or course.”
“Working?” Twilight asked, her nervousness returning in full.
“Of course. You don’t think I’d invite my concubine up to my morning meal just for snack and a chat, do you?” Sombra finally looked up to meet her eyes, the red glare digging into her soul. “I like a little entertainment with my meals.” He pointed beneath the table. “So get down there.” After what had happened the last time, Twilight knew she couldn’t afford to make him angry. Her ears drooped and she had to fight the desire to start crying, but she ducked under the table, crawling low until she was at his feet.
Sombra bit into an apple as he felt the mare’s mouth wrap around his cock. With the clear crystal of the table, he could see every little expression the poor thing made as she slowly started to pleasure him. It was delightful. Her tongue ran along his shaft from the base to the head before swirling. Then, she took him into her mouth in full again, hilting this time. He could tell from the sounds of her choking that it was deeply unpleasant. Good. Someday, when he had won more thoroughly and when his new concubine was more broken in, he enjoyed the idea of showing Celestia what had become of her former agent. Sombra had learned from his interrogations of her friends that Twilight was, more than just a servant, the princess’s own apprentice. That made it all the more wonderful it watch and feel as Twilight became little more than a mouth to pleasure him, at least in his eyes.
“Very good. You are doing very good.” Sombra purred. He heard a soft sniffle, and could see Twilight’s eyes shift to look down, the mare trying to hide her shame. Suddenly, Sombra’s meal seemed less important. He could always finish it later if he still desired. For now, he had something else that was far more delicious to sink his teeth into. “Stop.” He commanded.
“D…Did I do something wrong?” The mare asked, fright clear in her voice.
“No, you are doing fine. Stop anyway.” Twilight pulled his cock out of her mouth, her hoof shaking. If she was doing fine, why was she being told to stop. He hadn’t cum yet. Maybe he wanted to….
“You…you want to….”
“Try out the rest of you, yes. Get out from under the table.” He growled. When Twilight hesitated he shouted, “Now!” With a scared squeak, the mare scurried out from below the crystal and into the middle of the floor.
“Please,” Twilight’s heart hammered. From the moment he’d called her a concubine she’d known this was coming but she’d hoped it wouldn’t be for a while. “I can use my mouth. I won’t mess it up like last time, I promise.”
“As entertaining as it is to hear you beg, I am going to decline. I’ve wanted to test that little body of yours out since I first saw you, and a mare’s mouth is only one of her assets. Now, bend over, and don’t make me raise my voice this time, concubine.” Sombra’s eyes were dangerous. He wasn’t angry, Twilight could tell, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer either. Twilight’s legs shook and her lips quivered as she started crying.
“Y…Yes, Sombra.”
“Master.” The king corrected.
“Yes M…Mas….” Twilight broke down sobbing, unable to make the word out fully as she struggled to speak. Instead, she just leaned forward with her butt in the air. There was no escaping this, not without her friends paying for it. She buried her face in her forhooves and tried to shut the world out. She heard him step behind her and her breathing grew faster. There was a pressure against her virgin folds and she felt like she was going to panic. When he finally pressed into her, the pressure wasn’t as bad as she was expecting, and despite his large size, it only hurt a little, but feeling her virginity being stolen from her, Twilight’s mouth fell open and the room was filled with her low, miserable cry.
“That’s a good filly.” Somebra purred, stroking her cutie mark softly, his cock pressing in until it hilted. Just keep making noises like that, and this will be over quickly. Now, hold still.” He said, then began thrusting into the mare, his hips noisily slapping into hers. Twilight’s face rocked into her hooves as her whole body was moved by the powerful stallion’s practiced movements. Twilight had read so many books about romance and sex, had so many fantasies about what her first time would be like. All those dreams and fantasies died as Sombra took advantage of his prisoner. The mare’s scared shaking just increased the friction he felt as he fucked her. “How does it feel?” He asked.
“It…It hurts a bit.” Twilight managed, barely able to speak through her sobs.
“That’s it?” Sombra asked with a sinister smile. Twilight just pitifully nodded. “That’s good. Concubines don’t deserve to feel pleasure. That is for me, and me alone.” Sombra thrust into her harder. Twilight began to move her own hips as well, trying her best to just speed the whole miserable thing up as much as she could. Sombra laughed as he kept going, his balls slapping against her body, his cock gripped tightly by her unwilling walls. All those years of being gone, he was glad he had such a treat waiting for him to return. The purple mare was perfect as a concubine.
Twilight hated every second of it. His cock thrust in and out of her unprepared body, stinging as it did, and her legs were growing sore from holding bother her own butt up as well as Sombra’s added wait. She whimpered as he stroked her cutie mark, metally begging him to stop, but biting her tongue before saying something that might get her or her friends into trouble. The tyrant’s hips began to shake and his thrusts grew uneven and Twilight understood what was coming. The feeling when he finally started to cum and a warmth entered her was too much. A horrid thought entered her mind as she realized that even if she escaped from her captor, there was a good chance that by the time she did, she would be pregnant. Twilight sobbed louder as she was filled with Sombra’s cum, the tyrant just moaning louder. Finally, he pulled out of her, sticky cum leaking out from her now emptied hole and onto the cold floor.
“Is it…o…over?” Twilight asked, face drenched in tears as she stood up on shaking legs.
“For now. I will be seeing you for dinner as well, and after dinner, of course.” Sombra replied, making the mare choke back a scared sob. “For now, I will have some guards clean you up, then as promised, get you some more food. There is nothing sexy about an underweight slave, so keep your body looking good. Your friends depend on how good of a job you do, after all.”
“Yes…, master.” Twilight said, staring at the floor. Sombra growled in delight just hearing the words.
“Much as I would love to take you again right now, I do have business to do today. A newly conquered empire is not an easy thing to run after all. For now,” He turned to the door and called loudly, “Servants!” Two brainwashed guards pushed in through the door. Sombra continued, “Take my concubine to get cleaned up and get her more of a meal. Then take her back to her…room. She can wait for me there.” He walked forwards and took her chin in his hoof. “Try not to pine for me too much while I work. We shall see each other again soon enough.” Taking his hoof away, he sat himself down at the table and resumed eating, picking through for the best morsels again. The guards grabbed Twilight under either of her forehooves and pulled her out of the solar. Twilight breathed the faintest sigh of relief once the door closed behind her. She was done for now. Thinking on what was going to happen to her later that same day made her skin crawl, but she at least had time to recompose herself. She let the guards take her to a large bath chamber. She felt like she needed to scrub every inch of herself. Twilight quietly wondered if she would ever truly feel clean again.
—
With the afternoon sun still shining through the crystal grate of her prison, Twilight let herself calm down from the morning’s hardship. Her body still shook and she knew the fur around her eyes was probably still matted with tears, but that wasn’t important now. She was alone, and she was no more determined than ever to escape. It was impossible to tell how long it would be before Celestia was able to rescue her, assuming she would even be able to do so. There had to be something that Twilight could do to break free and maybe even stop Sombra completely. The light outside hit the crystal grating of her ‘window’ as she paced the small space, hitting her in the eye. Annoyed, Twilight moved her head and turned to glare at the shaped crystal. Then, it hit her. She knew what she could do.
The crystal grate of the window was jagged and sharp in places. The dark corruption that Sombra had summoned had grown his castle and had created the very cell she was in, but it was rough and unpolished. It was actually fairly easy for Twilight to pinch her horn ring into a gap in the crystal, and with a sharp twist of her head, she bent the metal of the ring slightly. It wasn’t much, if she damaged it too badly, it would be noticed, but she could immediately feel the gap as the front base of her horn felt the cool breeze from outside. With the seal damaged, the effect of the ring was lessened. Twilight decided to test to see if it worked and coursed magic through her horn. A weak strand of purple energy crept up the front of her horn, and once directed by her, picked up a loose bit of crystal from the floor. Twilight grinned victoriously as she slowly lifted the pebble into the air. It was hard to use her magic like this, and it was far weaker than she was used to, but Twilight could now use the tool she was famous for.
The castle was massive, even larger than when she had first arrived, and Sombra was still far too powerful for her even if she had her full magic to wield. For now, she would play at helplessness. The magic she now had was going to be useful but it wasn’t as much as she was used to. As Twilight experimented with the control she had over her power, she quickly realized that trying to teleport would be far too dangerous. With a frustrated sigh, she turned her attention to the cell door. If she couldn’t teleport around the castle, that would make getting around difficult, but not impossible. Feeling out with her magic, she slowly got a sense of how the door was built. It was incredibly basic, relying on a heavy metal latch that would be operated from the other side. With the fact the door was a near-solid mass, a unicorn with no magic would have no means to open it. However, it was clearly made by Sombra or his servants quickly, since a more complex and secure prison would have been made otherwise. As it was, all it took was a little magic creeping under the door’s frame for her to grip the latch holding the door closed. With a faint whine of metal on metal, she lifted the latch and gently pushed the door open.
The eerie purple of the hallway outside was surprisingly comforting to a pony that hadn’t seen anything other than her cell without somepony around to hurt or prod her. Still, just being out wasn’t enough. As powerful as Sombra was, she would need help to escape, or better yet, to topple the arrogant tyrant. She needed to find her friends. Taking a gentle and cautious step out, Twilight used her magic to dim the hallway around herself. It took almost everything she had, but it would also make her harder to see. Using her hooves, she sealed the latch behind her. There was no telling when Sombra would summon her again, she would need to be quick. Moving as fast as she could while still being silent, she stalked the halls, mentally tracking where she had come from so she could find her way back. The last thing she needed was for Sombra to discover she knew how to get out of her cell.
Rows and rows of cells were on either side of the hall as she moved, and each had a small grate at the top that allowed the prison keepers to look in. Twilight glanced at each as she ran. There were ponies in each of them, most crystal, but not all. Sombra must have already started capturing ponies from the areas around the Crystal Empire. Twilight wasn’t sure why they weren’t being brainwashed, but she had no time to think about that yet. She was just about to give up for the cell and head back to her cell, hoping to avoid being missed, when she noticed a familiar color pattern through one of the grates. Screeching to a stop, she peered inside the cell and confirmed what she’d seen. It was Rainbow Dash. she let out an unconscious gasp of excitement.
“What? Who’s there?” Rainbow’s voice was the best sound Twilight had heard all day.
“Rainbow, it’s me,” Twilight whispered.
“Twilight!”
“Shhh! I don’t know if there are any guards nearby, and I can’t risk them finding out I got out, so we need to be quiet.”
“Right. I knew you’d get out. You always have a plan. Nothing breaks Twilight Sparkle, not even some big shot dark lord.” Rainbow whispered with a quiet laugh. Twilight shivered, her previous meeting with Sombra running through her mind. Rainbow seemed to notice something was off. “Hey, are you ok? You got quiet all of a sudden.”
“I’m fine. Do you know where the others are?” Twilight asked. Rainbow shook her head.
“No, we were all separated right as we were first led in. Does the plan involve the others?”
“Well, I don’t have a full plan just yet. I only just managed to get some of my magic back, and it will take a lot more than that to break out of here. Right now, my goal is just to find the other girls and get to where I know the castle well enough to move around safely. It might be a while until we can actually get out.” Even as she said the words, Twilight felt a clawing dread, knowing what that meant for her. “Are you going to be able to survive that? I don’t know how they’ve been treating you, and we can try and risk an early break out if we have to.”
“I’m fine,” Rainbow replied. “It isn’t exactly a vacation here, but I’ll live. You know I want to be out of here and busting heads as soon as possible, but if you feel we should prepare more, then that’s what we should do.” It almost hurt Twilight to hear how much Rainbow Dash still trusted her, even though the pegasus was only in this mess because she had failed.
“Ok. For now, I want you to pay attention to when guards pass by your cell. See if there’s a pattern. I am going to have to head back to my own cell for now. If any of Sombra’s servants see me out here, they will quickly figure out I have my magic back, and that won’t end well. I know things are horrible now, but I will be back. I will make this right.” Rainbow sat up to reply, hearing the guilt in Twilight’s voice, but the unicorn was already gone.
—
Finding her way back to her cell and closing it behind her took Twilight far less time than exploring had, and it was only a few minutes after she left Rainbow that she was back to staring at her featureless wall. Her body shook from the fear that now finally caught up with her over what she had just done. With how Sombra already treated her, she couldn’t imagine what would happen if she were to get caught. Still, she had found Rainbow. While all her friends would be useful for escaping, for this kind of situation Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the highest priority for her to find, and she had already checked one of those boxes off. Maybe she really would be able to get out of here.
It was a few hours after she had gotten back that Sombra’s servants came for her. The familiar green glow of the eye slits piercing through the dark of her cell. Twilight rose to her hooves. There was no point in offering much resistance, not yet.
“The King has summoned you to the war room.” The voice lacked any hint of emotion, giving Twilight a chill as she thought about the poor soul trapped behind that helmet.
“War room?” That was an odd place to take a concubine.
“Yes, slave. Follow me.” The servant, even more a slave than Twilight herself, turned and walked out of the cell. Twilight quickly followed, noticing two more following them from behind. This time, Twilight mapped the castle out as she was led through its darkened halls. Combined with her escapade earlier, she now had a pretty solid layout in her head of a sizable chunk of the prison level. She was led out past the throne room and towards the castle’s southern wing. A pair of large crystal doors loomed ahead but were opened by twisted purple magic. Sombra’s voice boomed from inside.
“Get her in here now!” He sounded furious at something. Twilight gulped nervously as she was pushed forward. Sombra being angry couldn’t end well for her. Just past the tall doors was a long room with a circular table at its center. The room was filled with guards and servants. A tall glass of wine sat next to where Somba was brooding. The glass was nearly empty and a servant was refilling it. The table had a map of Equestria and the surrounding regions marked out on it. There were numerous lines drawn and figures about it. Twilight had seen enough war maps in books to recognize what she was looking at. It had barely been any time at all since Sombra had returned to power, but already the black lines representing his positions were deep into Equestrian territory. Twilight felt her throat tighten as that reality sunk in for her.
“The concubine, sir.” The servant that had escorted her bowed and took a few steps back.
“Good. Now get out, all of you. Out!” He yelled, slapping one of the figures off the map. It flew across the room and shattered on the wall as the tyrant threw himself down on the only chair in the room. With Sombra and herself being two of the only people in the castle that weren’t brainwashed it made sense, but it always unnerved Twilight to see how much of the castle was built as if there was only one occupant. “Get over here.” Sombra snapped, and Twilight rushed over. Sombra slid his drink in front of her. “Drink.”
“Yes, sir.” She quickly caught herself and corrected, “Yes, Master.” Sombra glared up at her but seemed satisfied with her correction. Twilight almost lifted the glass with magic out of habit and screamed in her own head about how close she nearly came to ruining her plan so soon after coming up with it. Lifting it awkwardly with her hooves, she brought it up to her lips for a sip. The wine was some of the best Twilight had ever tasted. Good to be the king, she supposed. Sombra had stopped watching her and barely seemed to care that she was even there, his eyes glued to the map.
“That damnable Princess of yours has finally realized she’s at war. I took a good chunk of Equestria without so much as a fight, but now…. Her army might be pathetic, for now at least, but her and that Luna mare aren’t to be trifled with.” He flicked another figure over, this one probably representing one of the celestial sisters, Twilight realized. “Well, I will discover a counter to their magic. They don’t have the elements anymore it would seem, the poor fools. They can’t defeat me forever without the help of those accursed things. Your former masters will fall, and their kingdom burn.
“For now though, I need to vent. Come here.” Twilight did not like the sound of that, and hesitated for just a moment. Right as she was about to start walking closer, purple magic grabbed her by her hair and roughly yanked her. Twilight screamed in pain as she was pulled over to sit on the table in front of Sombra. “When I give you a command, I expect it to be obeyed immediately. I don’t need you to think about it, I need you to do it. Understand?” He snapped. Twilight nodded miserably, hooves to her sore head. The slight bend in the metal of her horn ring caught the light and shone in Sombra’s eye. A curious look crossed his face and he started to lean forward.
“W…What did you want me to do?” Twilight hastily asked, hoping to divert his attention. Sombra snapped his gaze to her eyes, a cruel grin on his lips. Twilight had succeeded in her goal of getting him to stop paying attention to her ring, but she suspected that she was about to hate where his mind now focused.
“Well, since your princesses are not here for me to punish, I think I will make you suffer in their stead.” He gestured to the table. “Now get in position for me.” Twilight was terrified about what the tyrant had in mind but turned around so that her butt was hanging off the table. Her body shook fearfully as Sombra brushed his hoof along her cutie mark and slowly traced it inward. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his hoof trace her butt. “Yes, this will do nicely.”
Dark magic drained the light from the room. Cackling green bolts of energy coursed around Sombra’s body as his rage built back up to its full strength. The energy turned solid and formed into a black cord that Sombra levitated through the aid. Twilight immediately recognized it as a whip. Panic welled up inside her, but the mare forced herself to remain still. Sombra looked enraged still, and Twilight tried to mentally prepare herself for what was about to happen to her. With a sudden motion, Sombra cracked the whip down against her cutie mark.
Twilight had thought she would be ready for it, but it hurt so much more than she was expecting. A scream tore painfully from her throat, the mare destroying her voice on the first yell. The second lash came quickly, the mare sucking in air before screaming again, her voice hoarse as the pain jolted through her body. Sombra grunted his frustration at whatever had gone wrong channeling through the whip as it came down for another blow, then another. Twilight’s eyes stung with tears, her mouth hanging open as she sobbed. Her butt was deep red, especially around her cutie mark, and a slight line of blood ran down from her abused ass and towards her leg. The whip vanished in a puff of purple smoke. Twilight’s head hung low as she cried, her relief palpable as she thought her torment was over.
“Alright, now turn around.” Sombra gestured with his hoof. Twilight listened, wincing as she put weight on her sore butt. When she was on her back, her lower body still dangling over the table, Sombra moved forward. He was stroking his cock to get it hard. As much as Twilight hated the idea of the tyrant raping her again, after the previous few minutes, it was almost a relief that he was just going to fuck her. Then his horn started glowing. The purple magic grabbed her by the throat as the stallion closed the gap between them. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she felt the grip tighten.
“W…What are you doing!?” Twilight began to panic as she suddenly struggled to breathe. Her voice was barely a croak due to having thrown it out from screaming before.
“Don’t worry, I won't break my new concubine so soon. I’m not going to kill you, but I am also not going to make this pleasant. In fact, the goal is to do quite the opposite.” His cock pressed into Twilight, the mare trying to suck in air as the sensation overwhelmed her, but as she did his grip tightened further. As the stallion began to rock his hips into her, Twilight found she could no longer breathe.
The mare struggled against Sombra, her legs kicking out and finding nothing. The cock brought her some pleasure, but that was drowned out by Twilight’s panic as she fought to pull free. Unlike before, Sombra didn’t seem to be angered by her fighting back. Whether he was actually wanting it this time, or too focused on raping her, she couldn’t tell. Twilight’s vision was growing darker and her efforts weaker as the stallion just kept pressing into her. For a second, Twilight began to wonder if he had lied to her, and she was about to die, but just as she was about to lose consciousness, the stallion loosened his grip and pulled out of her. Twilight gasped for air as her throat loosened. She coughed as she struggled to suck as much oxygen into her lungs as she could. Sombra seemed amused.
“My my, such a reaction from so little use. You will get used to this kind of thing eventually. Now, stop your pathetic gasping and get on your knees before me.” Twilight scrambled to do as he asked. For just a second there, she had experienced what it would be like if he decided to kill her. Sombra seemed to find her entertaining, and there was a good chance that was the only thing keeping her alive. While escape was still the foremost thought in the mare’s mind, for the first time it truly terrified her to think about what would happen to her if she wasn’t careful.
“What am I to do, Master?” Twilight was now kneeling in front of him, her legs tucked under her body with her head at waist level to the tyrant. She didn’t need to ask, she knew. However, with the smile on his face, she knew she had guessed correctly about what he would want her to say.
“Such a good little concubine. You are learning so fast. No wonder Celestia thought highly enough of you to send you on such a mission. Though, she must not have treasured your company too much. Otherwise, she would not have risked you on something so foolish. Whether she regrets that mistake or not is something I will be sure to ask her, right before chaining her up alongside her sister. They can be my plaything as well. Though…,” Sombra placed a hoof against Twilight's cheek and lifted her eyes to meet his, “They lack your beauty. You will be my favorite for some time, I think.” That thought just made Twilight feel even sicker, but she kept the disgust from showing on her face.
“As for what I want you to do, I want you to open your mouth.” Sombra was stroking his cock, which was still hard from moments ago, while he stared deeply into Twilight’s shimmering eyes. The mare knew what was coming next, but did as she was asked. She squeezed her eyes closed, too scared to watch Sombra’s move towards her waiting mouth. The cock slipped in between her lips, her tongue gently brushing against it. Sombra moaned loudly and pressed in deeper. Twilight began to realize the problem fast as the cock kept moving deeper. She had hilted when she had sucked the stallion off the previous day, but that was with her in control of the situation and it had made it impossible to breathe then too. This time, Sombra was in control, and he wasn’t pulling back out unless he wanted to.
“Keep your teeth away,” Sombra growled his warning as he saw Twilight’s eyes fly jolt back open as she started to panic. The mare did as she was asked even as the cock finally got deep enough into her throat for it to block her breathing. Twilight held her panic as much in check as she could. Sombra’s earlier comments made it clear that he had no intention to kill her as long as she didn’t give him a reason. She just needed to keep her body from reacting for her as the oxygen got low.
“That’s a good concubine. Now, hold still.” Sombra brushed some of her hair away from her eyes so he could better see the suffering as he began to rock his hips. He kept the motion small, intentionally making it so he never pulled far enough out for the mare to breathe. Twilight’s eyes widened and rolled back as he began to thrust into her throat. Her lungs already ached from the need to breathe, but Twilight knew she wouldn’t be doing that for a moment. Her body quivered as she literally choked on the stallion’s cock.
Sombra was delighting in every muffled noise the mare tried to make. Watching her face slowly grow more purple as he held his dick inside her throat just made it all the better. The spasming of her throat muscles only served to make the experience even more pleasurable for him, her body’s panic massaging his cock. This was what it meant to be the emperor. His concubine was his to play with, he even decided when she got to breathe. That foolish princess and her sister had likely never experienced such incredible pleasure. If he had his way, they would choke on his cock as well before long. Maybe he would even have his current concubine train them. That would be good for a laugh.
The feeling of a soft, unwilling tongue and convulsing throat would prove too much for the tyrant. He grabbed Twilight’s head by her hair with his magic and forced her as far down as he could. For the mare, this changed nothing but adding an additional pressure to her head. Twilight’s vision was fading, and she knew she was losing consciousness. The could feel the stallion’s cock twitch in her mouth, and with the last bit of energy she could muster, she began to swallow. This both milked the stallion’s cock, driving him wild with pleasure, and kept her from choking further as she gulped down his cum. With a few more weaker thrusts, Sombra finally seemed done.
Releasing Twilight’s hair, he finally let her go. Once again, Twilight was sucking in air, her vision returning to normal. The past few moments had been some of the most frightening in Twilight’s life, her throat hurt from the abuse and her whole body shook from the lack of oxygen. The first thing Twilight did when she stopped coughing was scream. She screamed so loud that she tore her voice even more. Tears flowed onto the crystal floor as she curled up in a ball. Sombra watched all of this with little more than an amused smile.
“One of my servants will be in to escort you back to your room in a moment. Go ahead and get that out of your system until then. I, meanwhile, must get back to destroying Celestia’s pitiful excuse for a kingdom.” He stared down at the sobbing mare in amusement. “I will be back for more of your services tonight, after I have finished examining my newest…recruits that were taken in from the Equestrian fringe. See you soon.” With a quick turn and a flick of his cape, Sombra left her there. Still struggling to breath, Twilight put her legs back under her and rose.
Twilight badly wanted to go and put this miserable experience behind her. However, she knew if she didn’t do something, she would have far more days like these ahead. So, still shivering in disgust and sore from abuse, she turned her attention to the table. There were more papers scattered across its surface than she had even realized right away. Lifting one with a weak string of magic, she glanced underneath it. Twilight’s eyes went wide with delighted surprise. Just beneath the map of Equestria was another map. The mare quickly tried to memorize what she could, and scarcely believed that she was really looking at the layout of the castle.
It wasn’t all there. Sombra had added massive areas to the castle with his magic in just the short time since he had taken over, but it was a start. The door started to open behind her, and the mare quickly let her magic drop away, the paper gently falling back into place. As the masked servant stepped in through the door, the mare had to fight to hold back a grin. Sombra was beyond overconfident. Twilight had faced monsters and tyrants before, but Sombra was ergotistic in ways she hadn’t even realized were possible. The stallion had the power to back up his confidence, which is likely why he didn’t even treat Twilight as a threat, but power wasn’t everything. As the servant began to guide her back to her cell, Twilight studied the turns they made, lining them up with the layout she had seen. If she was going to use that information to her advantage, she would need to know how the old castle layout had been adjusted to make room for more crystal rooms.
—
The familiar cold purple of the prison halls was almost a comfort to Twilight. She skulked through them confidently, her ears trained for the sounds of hoofsteps. She’d had to dodge around corners a few times to avoid guards, but one nice thing about brainwashed ponies as opponents is that they weren’t the most observant. For a moment, the mare found herself getting distracted as she contemplated why that might be, maybe a result of the mental haze, but she focused her thoughts back on the moment as she realized she was getting close to her goal.
The prison areas were fully new, so none of Twilight’s memorization from before helped her now, but she had begun to notice a pattern. The prison was laid out in a triangle, with several connected halls of cells for each side. All the cells near Twilight that had occupants contained unicorns. It wasn’t hard to figure out the logic from there. It seemed Sombra and her had at least one thing in common; they liked when things were nice and organized.
The wall ahead of her curved at a sixty degree angle and she knew she had crossed over to the new section. Rainbow was the other way. So, this side had to be the earth ponies. Scanning each cell as she walked by, Twilight searched for familiar colors. The bulk were empty, and the few that were occupied had ponies that were obviously not crystal. Sombra had likely already corrupted all the crystal ponies by now. No wonder most of the cells were empty.
It didn’t take long for her to find the pony she was looking for. Inside one of the cells nearest to the corner was a yellow mare, curled up and shaking silently.
“Applejack. Over here.” The mare inside the cell instantly shot up. Twilight could tell that the farm mare could barely see any of her through the slit in the door, even as she got closer.
“Who’s there? Rainbow?” Applejack squinted to see.
“No, it's Twilight. I saw Rainbow earlier though. She’s fine, or at least alive.” Twilight whispered back.
“Twilight! Golly, I’m glad to hear your voice. Have you found the others or just Rainbow? Is she with you?” Twilight could see the light return to Applejack’s eyes. The fur around the farm mare’s eyes was matted with tears. Twilight’s heart sank as she realized how scared Applejack must have been. There was no hint of that fear in her voice however. With Twilight there, Applejack’s armor was back on.
“No, it's just me for now. You and Rainbow are the only two I’ve found so far, but I know how to find the others now.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder to make sure no pony was coming.
“Are we escaping now? I knew you’d have a plan.”
“We are escaping, but not now. This place is crawling with Sombra’s guards, and Sombra himself is very powerful. I don’t want to move until I have everything in place. That way, he won’t have time to counter us before it's too late.” Twilight whispered.
“So you do have a plan then.” Applejack sounded eager.
“Yes, but it will take time to set up. I can move around with a little bit of freedom, so let me get things set up. For now, there is something I need you to do for me.”
