Kingdom of Shadows

Upon the dark throne of Ysmad'ir sits the Shadowking, keeping watch over the everlasting nights. His armies march relentlessly through the primordial-woven gloom, ruthlessly dispatching those who would see fit to disturb the delicate balance of the realm. In the land of the living shades, where sun dares not to venture, Darklings make their home.

Twilight scrunched up her nose, reading the passage again. Darklings. There it was. Again and again, she found mentions of this ancient race of shadow dwelling ponies. She looked up from her book and blinked, blinded by the first light of the morning. Sighing, she took a glance at the page - once again she lost the track of time. It's daytime now. Princess will be disappointed. Twilight shivered.

She could picture the conversation now; the princess, her princess, would look sternly at the poor unicorn and with that "I am not really mad at you, just concerned for your well-being" gaze, her royal highness would explain to her student how a full night's sleep benefits pony's mental as well as physical health.

It was Twilight's own fault, really. Always buried in the books, no time for other ponies. It was true, her princess said so. Twilight closed her book with a sigh; on the cover "Tales and Legends, Volume VII," written in large, golden letters. The purple unicorn slowly stoop up from the cushion she spent the night on and with a yawn took in her surroundings. The lazy, morning sun flickered upon the backs of numerous old tomes populating the Canterlot Library. Little motes of dust danced in shiny orb's rays, disturbed by a slight breeze.

Shelf upon shelf of the most ancient tomes in Equestria rested here, in the archive wing of the library. Untold knowledge at her hooves, just waiting to be taken in, absorbed, understood and used. Twilight hummed happily. The princess. Morning lessons. Right.

Without much conscious thought, Twilight lifted all the books she went through that night in her magical aura, and sent them off flying to find their proper resting place among other tomes. She absentmindedly extinguished the light spell that aided her throughout the night and trotted off towards her quarters.

The research bore fruit. Although she had to access the otherwise forbidden tomes, many of which too old and delicate for handling by the average pony, she had found it. Buried deep within the ancient pages, therein lies a race forgotten by time and history.

The references to "Darklings" were too numerous and consistent to be simply a mere coincidence or a well entrenched ponytale. Curiously though, all accounts of encounters with the ponies from the shadow realm were dated up to around a thousand years ago.

A few scholars wrote about the mystical realm of Ysmad, yet for some unfathomable reason, they ceased mentioning the Darklings as if they never existed in the first place. All around the time of the great wars that ravaged Equestria a thousand years ago.

In her musings about the forgotten race, Twilight reached her room. Slipping inside, she quickly headed for the shower. Steam rose up, filled the bathroom air with moisture and warmth. The purple unicorn stepped under the water and let out a happy sigh. She stood there for a while, motionless, before reaching out with her magic and squirting out some shampoo onto her mane.

As bubbles formed and popped, her mind quickly relaxed and started to wander; she began musing about a proud race of brave warriors from the past. She thought about muscular stallions leading armies to victory; the Shadowking, who would sweep her from her hooves as he took her as a spoil of war - a helpless mare amidst the great turmoil.

Twilight bit down on her bottom lip as her hooves began tracing lines up her soapy barrel. She let out a soft whine, when she felt one of her teats being softly caressed and took a sharp breath when the rough hoof irritated her sensitive nipple. Flashes of ponies in armor appeared before her eyes; a large, burly stallion cast off his dark steel helmet and pierced her with his gaze.

He now had a crown upon his head. She was in a royal bedroom, bound and helpless, tied with velvet rope. Somepony threw her on a bed. It was so soft and warm. The covers had patterns of the stars sewn onto them, dark and imposing. The stallion with the crown was back now - he advanced slowly as she shivered with anticipation. His large frame let him easily mount her. She felt his breath on her neck, his stallionhood was almost...

Celestia. Twilight's eyes sprung open as her hoof reached her marehood. Time. Princess Celestia is waiting. Morning lessons. You will be late.

As the thoughts raced throught her head, she quickly turned the water cold. What would the princess think if she knew why are you late? The purple unicorn whimpered quietly as she trotted around in circles, ice cold water slowly making the images of sweaty stallions blurry and distant.

She bit her lower lip as she simultaneously turned off the shower, dried herself with a swoosh of magic, teleported in front of the bathroom mirror and began to comb her mess of a mane with a brush. She wiped the mirror from condensation and looked her rosy-cheeked reflection right in the eye.

"What a tardy unicorn you are." she said pointing an accusing hoof at the pony staring at her out of the mirror. The levitating brush was putting finishing touched to her mane. Twilight hazarded another look at the mare in the mirror. "Not only that, but naughty and perverted too." she stared down her reflection with a stern, scolding glare.

Finally, Twilight looked down at her hooves with a somber expression. "Guess it's only a matter of time before it's the moon for me, hah-ha," the purple unicorn sniffed, talking to nopony in particular.

"I'm so sorry for being late, princess." said Twilight with a trembling voice as she joined her mentor on the white marble dias overlooking Canterlot. Celestia was casting a solemn look upon the lower city; the purple unicorn stood still for a moment admiring her teacher. No evil was permitted to nest in Equestria under Celestia's watchful and vigilant gaze. The while alicorn looked at Twilight, showing her a glimpse of a playful smile.

"You are 10 minutes early, my faithful student." said the alicorn taking a stroll towards the center of the dais, where slightly shaking Twilight was standing. "Is something troubling you, my dear?" Celestia asked, turning her head just enough to catch a glimpse of utter horror this question painted on Twilight's face.

"N-no! Of course no! I-I've just didn't sleep well. I-I mean at all. I'm sorry, princess." Twiligt stammered through her explainations. She knew it would be meaningless to hide anything from her princess. Even if it was putting Twilight at a danger of a trip to the moon. Or worse, disappointing Celestia and telling her how much of a naughty pony her student was.

The sun goddess had a way of simply... Knowing. Only the strongest of minds would withstand princess' overwhelming gaze. One look from Celestia would compel a greatest liar to break down in tears, tell everything they sought to hide and thank the princess for her benevolence and understanding. Twilight started to hyperventilate.

"I-I f-found something interesting in the books! A-and I spend the whole n-night conducting research," the little purple unicorn kept the words flowing despite problems breathing.

"A-and I looked in the archives, and I noticed- I've been careful with the b-books, princess! I-I promise! And then I kept reading, and then I-I... and it was sunrise!" said Twilight on a single breath. Her heart rate went up and hooves were shaking a little. The unicorn dared to take a look at her princess.

Celestia still wore her playful smile, this time a bit of amusement mixed into her expression. She slowly walked towards her student and put a comforting, white wing over her small frame. This seemed to calm the unicorn down.

Twilight for her part managed not to jump when she felt her mentor nearby. Now a little less shaky, she closed her eyes and let out a breath she was holding. She even allowed herself to wear a small, victoryful smile. Twilight's bathroom secrets were safe.

"Let us begin our lesson, my faithful student," her princess' voice sounded somewhere in the background.

Twilight truly was a master liar.