Arranged Marriages at the Crystal Empire

"Cheer up Twilight, maybe it won't be so bad? Rarity is our friend, just because she's in charge doesn't mean we can't give her advice or help her. Nobody could rule a whole kingdom by themselves." Fluttershy ushered, combing Twilight's mane as they sat in one of their temporary crystal-dorms. Eventually, Rarity promised she would help them move into a house near the castle.

Twilight huffed. "It's not that Fluttershy, Cadence hasn't been acting right ever since Shining passed, she probably only joined that organization to cope with death, just because someone really close to her was killed, she wants to kill EVERYONE ELSE! it doesn't make sense!"

Fluttershy frowned, beginning to braid Twilight's hair little by little. "Um...well it'll be nice to see my daughters again, im not sure what it'll be like living with my Ex-husband though. There's still a lot of tension between us."

"I wouldn't doubt it, precisely why I DONT want to marry him! why does he need two wives? that's ridiculous and against the royal policies, imagine how disappointed Princess Celestia is going to be in me! she'll never see me the same!"

Fluttershy re-corrected the loose hair tie on Twilight's mane, straightening it so it wouldn't fall out. "Don't say that, it wouldn't be much different then being polygamous would it? it's legalized in Equestria now, and Celestia made him one of the elements, she'll be overjoyed you're getting married."

"POLYGAMOUS!? THATS GLORIFIED CHEATING FLUTTERSHY! he probably only wants the both of us so he can be the sick pervert he ALWAYS IS!"

"Twilight! he's not like that!" Fluttershy scolded. "And keep your voice down, the royal guards will be livid if they find out we're talking bad about the new princesses brother! and how dare you! it's not like cheating at all!"

"Whatever." Twilight sighed, toying with her new braids as she flopped down onto the cushion she was sitting on. "It's too weird, if Rainbow found out we let Rarity control our lives, she'll laugh her flank off!"

"Speaking of which, we never got to tell our other friends any of this, if what Rarity says is true, will that mean we have to stay in the Crystal Empire forever? we may never see them again..."

Twilight jumped up in alarm. "Oh great! I never even thought of that! now what? Pinkie will freak out and Aj and Dash will think we betrayed them!"

Fluttershy stepped backward as the panicked alicorn drove her into the wall. "No, we can always send them a letter, they'll understand if we choose the right words."

"RIGHT WORDS? Fluttershy, we're leaving them BEHIND! Cadence got level to level with us before she left, and I STILL FEEL BETRAYED BY HER!"

Fluttershy sat up defensively. "Now wait Twilight, Cadence left to become a head-leader for a drug ring, we're just taking care of the crystal empire for a while, it's different."

Twilight sighed, feeling extensive guilt for getting so worked up around the meek pegasus. "I know Fluttershy, it's just hard on me, that's all. I'm not only upset about shining, but im furious with cadence too...and now we have to get married on top of everything!"

Fluttershy leaned in to hug Twilight, brushing her back slightly. "Shh..we'll figure something out, I promise. Once we get into our new homes, it'll get better."

"Yes, but Shining would have NEVER wanted this! he always had a bad feeling about Rarity, not to mention he detested the idea of me getting married, what do you think he'd say had he found out his wife is in A CARTEL NOW!?" Twilight ranted, kicking over nearby things as she paced back and forth.

"I-I don't know.." Fluttershy whimpered, the warm smile on her face disintegrating in mere seconds at the mention of his name.

"Oh Darlings~ are you done yet? it's time I introduce you around the town, there's more than just the castle, and I advise you move out sooner, I have a family of three and they want in right now!" Rarity exclaimed, pushing the two out of the room before they could finish up their mane-styling.

"Oh great, so you can spoil your bratty nieces again?" Twilight groaned as Rarity finally removed her hooves from her flank.

"Bratty? language dear! I wouldn't say your sister-in-law's much better, atleast my family doesn't participate in cheap drug-rings for petty money."

"YOUR BROTHER WAS IN PRISON FOR THREE YEARS!" Twilight screamed back, infuriated as the memory of Cadence clenched her chest like a tight barbed wire. How could Rarity have the nerve to trick Cadence into handing her the throne and then talk trash behind her back?

"Mmhm, only three for a minor offense, and he doesn't kill people." Rarity smiled, turning away and leading them down the crystal-blue staircases. Fluttershy slipped on the way down, nearly faceplanting as they got down to the first-floor.

"Oh my! these hallways are as slippery as ice!" Fluttershy gasped. "Of well of course, now that I have the guards wrapped around my hoof, I can make them clean for me ALL DAY!"

"All day? so you're overworking us and the royal guards?" Twilight yelled baffled at how cruel Rarity truly could be. "Why do you need that many ponies to work for you?"

Rarity shook her tail dismissively, nearly whacking Twilight in the face with it. "Why? darling we have a whole family moving in! and once my brother and nieces settle things will get much messier."

"Oh dear.." Fluttershy frowned, remembering how crazy her daughters had been as babies. "You never taught them anything, did you?"

"I'm their aunt, it isn't my problem. Blame your soon to be husband ex-husband for that." Rarity scoffed, chin held high into the air as they exited the large palace.

As the trio traversed deeper into the crystal-coated down, fellow crystal ponies waved and smiled at Twilight, making her feel slightly better. Being as moody as she was, she tried to keep her cool, as many ponies still looked up to her as a true princess.

A better princess than FUCKING RARITY ARGUETA! but non-the-less, they arrived at the two for-sale homes, and both ponies were met with overwhelming despondency.

Infront of them stood two crystal homes, only two stories worth with windows so narrow you could hardly see inside. They looked incredibly small, and both houses were just recolors of each other. Twilight was assigned the blue one while Fluttershy was assigned the darkish red one.

"Wa-lah! what do you think?" Rarity cheered. "They were the cheapest I could afford, and now both of you can have some peace and quiet."

"It's..great. Thanks." Twilight grunted, pushing aside the shaking and weeping Fluttershy as she entered her house. Fluttershy quickly ran in behind her, nearly knocking Twilight off her hooves in the process.

"Woah, Fluttershy, what's wrong?" She gasped, turning toward her. "Why are you upset all the sudden?"

The yellow pegasus hide her face under her wings. "T-That house Rarity gave me is the same one I got raped in a few years ago..I-I told Rarity her brother did it to me in there and she must've gave me that house to spite me!"

Rage filled Twilight's veins, coloring the tip of her horn to the bottom of her hooves. "OF COURSE SHE WOULD! that heartless bitch! i'm so sorry you had to go through that Fluttershy, you can swap houses with me if you want."

"NO fluttershy will live in the RED HOUSE OR ELSE." Rarity threatened, snatching up Fluttershy so she would face her cold, lifeless blue eyes. "You listen here Fluttercry, I assigned you that house specifically so you could get over that dreadful night."

Warm tears cascaded down Fluttershy's chin as her lip quivered. "B-But-" Rarity slammed her hoof straight up Fluttershy's jaw. "NO BUTS! I gave my brother's penis a GROWING SPELL so if anything happens again i'll give you a little warning. It's going to hurt WAY MORE."

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Twilight screamed, smacking Rarity away from the traumatized pegasus as fast as she could. "You've done enough harm to her, you sick fuck! Fluttershy did nothing to you and you got your brother to RAPE her!?"

"Hmm..well I wouldn't say "got" dear, his sex life was dreadfully boring and we needed to spice things up, I was only trying to be a supportive sister." Rarity replied in an over-the-top fake-compassionate tone. "I would never want to hurt her on purpose!"

"Yeah right, get lost. The only thing you seem to care about is your own family!" Twilight snarled, not afraid to pop Rarity a new one if she got any closer.

"Sorry darling, sociopath." Rarity chimed, her light-blue eyeshadow only making her look even more lustful for pain and suffering as she turned away, leaving the two to their own antics.

"Sh-She's so mean.." Fluttershy sighed. "I forgive her brother as that was a long time ago but I don't like that house! I think it's haunted and possessed him to be more aggressive toward me!"

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that." Twilight facepalmed, stomping up the stairs. If anything, a good book would ease her mind, at the most it'd make her forget how unfair this entire situation was. Sighing with sadness, she plopped down on the pink bed left untouched by the previous home-owner.

"I assume this was little filly's room before." Twilight inspected, seeing all the star patterns on the walls and heart-shaped windows. Her heart clammered with grief once again as she realized she would be sleeping alone tonight, no Cadence or Shining Armor by her side.

Forcing herself to become deeper into her readings, Twilight tried to block all sensations of sorrow out of her mind, focusing soley on the scribbled black-text on the page, forcing the tears back into her eyes. It didn't matter if she was forced into an arranged marriage and new house, or if she could never see her friends again, all that mattered was the book...

Just the book.