Chapter 1

There was no friendship.

Disbelieved. Rejected. Cast aside. Hated. Her so-called friends, her mentor, even her own brother, all had disowned her, all but openly stated their hatred of her, cast her out like a leper. And all for the sake of her.

Twilight couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened to Cadence. The cheerful, friendly, patient, caring, kind babysitter she’d grown up with… Had all of that been a great big lie? Just something she was obligated to do, or something to get closer to her real objective… But Shining had said it was just the stress of the upcoming wedding… No. No amount of stress could justify the harshness and borderline cruelty that the young alicorn had treated the girls with. The girls had…

Her thoughts took a different turn. The girls had turned on her. Nearly 18 months of laughter and tears together with her, and then they’d dropped her like a hot rock, abandoning her for the chance to wear frilly dresses and be in a wedding. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought about all the times they’d done her wrong, the stronger her anger grew.

“They… n-never really cared about me, did they?” she whispered to herself, alone in her pitch-dark room, the doors & windows magically sealed to prevent anyone from getting in. She’d chickened out of confronting Cadence after being disowned by everyone, and had run/teleported back to the suite she was staying in for the duration of the wedding. Now, she lay on the overly cushy bed, brooding in the darkness.

Twilight’s thoughts continued to delve deeper into the darkness, as her overworked brain and broken heart teamed up to crush her spirit. The other girls, Cadence, her brother, her parents, even Celestia… Abandoning her, scorning her, hating her, conspiring against her… Alone in the dark, the little unicorn allowed long-repressed thoughts and emotions to boil to the surface. Sorrow and loneliness twisted and roiled within her, slowly transforming into much more potent and dangerous emotions: rage, resentment, hatred…

In the near future, many ponies would dearly regret that there was no-one around to pull Twilight Sparkle out of her frighteningly rapid downward spiral. As it was, nobody was present to witness as Twilight’s coat gradually darkened, her Cutie Mark changing, her magic transforming into something foul, her mind splintering and remaking itself as the corruption took hold of her soul…

The day was perfect. The ceremony hall was packed with ponies, well-dressed spectators present to see the wedding of the century. Princess Cadence looked positively radiant in her elaborate wedding dress, while Captain Shining Armor stood proud in his dress uniform. The five bridesmaids – Bearers of the Elements of Loyalty, Joy, Kindness, Honesty, and Generosity – stood upon the steps, waiting for the event to truly begin. Off to the side, Shining’s proud parents watched with misty eyes as their son prepared to be wed, sad that their daughter couldn’t make it due to some stomach bug.

Finally, a hush fell over the crowd as Celestia walked up to the center of the stage, smiling proudly at her younger relative and her groom-to-be. She cleared her throat.

“Dearly beloved,” she began, “we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of-”

Everyone jumped as the massive doors to the ceremony hall were slammed open, cracks appearing on them from the force. They looked as a single pony calmly walked through the threshold and into the hall: Twilight Sparkle. But something was wrong. Her coat was duller in color than normal. The stars that made up her Cutie Mark were darker, their points sharper-looking. But most concerning was the wispy black miasma that emanated from and clung to her form, a jet-black aura of Darkness that flickered like a low flame. She opened her eyes, and those close enough to make out the details gasped as they saw that the sclera were black.

“T-Twilight Sparkle…” Celestia spoke with shock in her voice. “What is the meaning of this? That darkness… What have you done?”

"Something I should have done a long time ago,” Twilight replied with an eerily cold tone that sent shivers down the spines of those who heard it. “For so many years, I repressed and rejected the darkness inside me – all the pain and anger and suspicions and so many other things. But now, spurred on by yesterday’s events, I have embraced it. This is the Darkness that was locked away inside my Heart.”

Twilight looked around at the spectators, her gaze drifting over the looks of confusion and muted horror on the faces of her family and ex-friends.

“You are all wondering what this is about, I presume,” she said loudly. “Well, I will tell you. Miss ‘Pretty Pink Princess’ up there is a cold-hearted bitch who has been manipulating my brother Shining Armor. Yesterday, I came across a discussion between the two of them. And I witnessed her perform a form of thought-control magic upon him. Oh sure, he claims it was a headache spell, but that would not explain the look of anger on her face as she realized he was fighting her influence, the confused and dazed look in his eyes after she performed it, or how immediately afterwards he had completely forgotten what they were arguing about and instantly bent to her will.

“I brought my suspicions to Celestia, Shining, and those five girls up there upon the stage, but they disbelieved me. More than that, they cast me out. My own brother disowned me, stating he wanted nothing more to do with me, that I was banned from this ceremony. The five girls who I’d long thought were my friends joined him in turning their backs on me, betraying me, hating me. And Celestia, whom I have devoted most of my life to, joined them in shunning me, casting me out, severing our relationship as student and teacher.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. She had never said that! She was disappointed in Twilight, but she would never have…

“I did a great deal of thinking last night. I’ve realized a great many things. Like, for instance, that Cadence is a manipulative bitch who planned this entire wedding ordeal just to move herself up in the world; the kind-hearted, caring foalsitter I grew up with was a giant lie, a façade to further her goals. Or that my brother is just as bad, having used me to get closer to the woman who’d tricked him into falling in love with her, and then tossed me aside like garbage the second he no longer had use of me. Or that the five girls I thought were my friends, who I’d shared over a year of laughter and tears with, who I’d saved the damn world with twice, are selfish ponies who never truly cared for me, who were using me to get what they wanted and were only nice to me because they were obligated to, and who care less about me than about the chance to wear a frilly dress!”

The other five Element-Bearers were speechless. Tears were coming to Fluttershy’s eyes.

“I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice to say, though, that now that I have embraced the part of myself that I have long repressed, I am here to seek out those who have so grievously wronged me… and take my revenge.”

“That is enough, Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight turned her attention to the two armed Royal Guards flanking her. “We need you to come with us now, ma’am,” one of them said, the scowl on his face making his intent clear.

Twilight looked to the guards, then to the shocked and angry-looking ponies up on stage, and then back to the guards. She let out a tiny, humorless laugh. Then, two thick tendrils of dark magic surged out from her horn, grabbing hold of the Royal Guards and holding them up a few feet in the air, struggling feebly in an attempt to break free. A small, wicked grin formed on Twilight’s face, her black eyes flashing, and two more, smaller tendrils reached out and wrapped around the guards’ heads. Then, there were two loud, sickening tearing/cracking sounds as their heads were abruptly spun 180 degrees.

Screams of shock and horror rang out at the sudden brutal double-murder. The sight of two of his subordinates – his comrades – being killed by his own baby sister shocked Shining to the core, the horror breaking through the brainwashing spell on him, leaving his mind clear enough to wholly understand just how bad things were. Celestia’s knees felt weak at the sight of her cute little beloved student becoming a callous killer. Fluttershy and Pinkie were both crying, the latter’s mane & tail limp and straight, holding onto each other for dear life. Rarity almost passed out, while AJ and Dash went pale with horror. Spike was hiding behind Celestia, refusing to believe what he had just seen his mother-figure do. And ‘Cadence’ realized that she may actually be in serious trouble.

The response was quick. Two more Royal Guards rushed Twilight, weapons drawn. She simply stood in place, conjuring a transparent Dark-Magic shield that blocked their blades. A black tendril-arm of dark magic reached out and grabbed one of the guards, forming a huge claw, and then slammed him into the ground with incredible speed and force, shaking the ground and breaking half the bones in his body. She picked him up and then did it again, this time head-first, and his skull cracked like an egg. The fourth guard tried to turn and run, only for several spears of Darkness to shoot up from the floor, impaling him. He twitched for a few moments and then went still, and she dispelled the spikes, allowing his limp body to flop to the floor and his blood to stain the carpet.

“How rude of those colts to interrupt a lady when she is talking,” Twilight said.

Horror and fear filled the hall. Several ponies attempted to leave, only to find the exit blocked by an invisible barrier of magic, so the crowd had to settle for pressing themselves toward the walls, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the clearly unhinged Darkness-wielding mare. There was no sound, except for a single whimpered whisper from Fluttershy:

“W-What’ve we done?”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…” Twilight said as she began to slowly walk down the aisle. “I am here on very important business: namely, making pay those who have manipulated and lied to me over the years. I believe I’ll start with the one who caused my most recent sufferings, shall I?”

As she walked, the flame-like aura of Darkness surrounding her slowly grew in intensity, while sharp-tipped tendrils of Dark magic flickered out from her horn. When she was halfway across, everyone took notice as two bulges formed on her back, growing steadily. She stopped, arching her back, and then there was a horrible ripping sound as the flesh on her upper back split in two places, blood and Dark miasma pouring out. It very quickly became clear that something was forcing its way out, as two blood-soaked feathery appendages, wreathed in Darkness, emerged from Twilight’s back, stretching high; they were a faded purple with black tips, stained red by blood. The onlookers’ horror intensified as Twilight apparently became an alicorn in the messiest way possible; Velvet, her & Shining’s mother, tried to scream, but no sounds came out, while her husband Night-Light was as pale as the moon. Twilight flapped her new wings a few times, shaking a good deal of the blood off of them. Celestia felt sick to her stomach. Twilight started walking again, like nothing had happened.

“I can’t fathom why I rejected this power for so long…” Twilight said. “Why did I deny hatred all this time, when it gives me such strength and life? It has given me the power to right the grievous wrongs made against me…”

“T-Twily, that’s enough!” Shining Armor shouted, his voice tinged with fear; it was terrifyingly clear that his little sister wasn’t just throwing a tantrum anymore. “Let’s all just calm down. We can talk this out.”

Twilight glared at her former BBBFF, her eyes flashing black. “Oh, you’ll get yours soon enough, Shining. But not yet. There’s someone else who’s ahead of you in line.”

She took a few more steps forward… and then vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing directly behind ‘Cadence’, who barely had time to turn halfway around to face her before a Darkness-charged hoof to the face sent her flying, landing several meters away down in the aisle. Twilight flew down at her, firing a barrage of dark-magic bolts. Everyone gasped in horror as Cadence was struck directly by them, being blasted back. After several seconds, she staggered to her feet… and a whole new brand of shock rang out at what was revealed.

Cadence had a feral, fangs-bared look on her face. Her eyes were glowing green. But more importantly, there were several parts of her body where the dark-magic bolts had hit that had lost their normal pink coloring, being revealed as chitinous greenish-black, the holes rimmed by glowing green. It looked as if it was a second layer of flesh beneath her normal pink coat. As Twilight stared, she felt deep shock as she put two and two together. The odd behavior, the not recognizing their little secret greeting, the green glow even though she remembered Cadence’s magic being blue…

“You…” Twilight spoke with sudden realization. “You’re not Cadence… You’re a shapeshifter posing as her!”

In response, a pillar of green fire enveloped Not-Cadence, swirling around her as she shed her disguise. When it was over, the insectoid-looking pony, as tall as Celestia, smirked.

“Shapeshifter is such a broad term” she said in a flanging voice. “We prefer to be called ‘Changelings’. And I am Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changeling Swarm.”

At seeing and hearing all this, Celestia’s heart nearly stopped from shock. Everything suddenly made horrifying sense. This imposter had strung everyone along, even her. Only Twilight had suspected something was amiss, and they’d responded by casting her out. Shining Armor nearly threw up; that… thing had been using him, altering his mind, and… he remembered the briefing on Changelings back in OCS, how they literally fed upon the positive emotions and life energy of their prey. All those headaches weren’t from sustaining the city-wide Shield spell; they were from his life-force being sucked out by an equinoid abomination disguised as his fiancée.

And he’d sided against his baby sister in favor of that bug.

After several seconds, Twilight spoke, eyes flashing black and fangs bared. “This changes little” she said. “All this does is exonerate the real Cadence; I was wrong to think she was evil. But it does not change the sins committed against me by the others – my family, Celestia, my former friends. I will make them pay. But first, I will deal with you.”

Chrysalis laughed. “I have been feeding off of your brother’s love for the true Cadence for over a week now. Consequently, I have gained a massive boost in power. Even before that, I was only slightly weaker than Cadence or Luna; now, I could go one-on-one with Celestia herself and I’d stand a chance of winning! What makes you think that you, a single dark mage unicorn, could defeat me?”

Twilight let out her own little chuckle, head hanging low. “Love is a powerful emotion; that is true. But so too is its opposite. Love can give you drive, the strength to keep going against all odds, but hatred can do that too. The love you have stolen has doubtless made you strong… but you are not the only one who can draw strength from emotions. The love I once felt for those who have betrayed me has been inverted, and the resulting hate has been magnified as I embraced parts of myself that I for so long refused to acknowledge. All those who hurt me will pay, starting with you. Now… allow me to show you… the full strength of my hatred…”

With that, Twilight made the first move, firing a massive continuous barrage of Dark magic bolts. Chrysalis was seen to smirk just before they hit. Twilight did not let up, continuing to fire explosive Darkness bolts like a machinegun. Her target was obscured by the resulting smoke, but still she fired, a constant wave of energy bolts aimed to obliterate the Queen. After nearly 20 seconds, she stopped, panting for breath, and looked at the now-dissipating smoke cloud. Everything looked still.

“Is that all?”

A flash of green was the only warning Twilight got. Before she could react, she was hit by a blast of green magic that sent her flying back. Tendrils of glowing green energy surged out and grabbed hold of her. The smoke cleared to reveal Chrysalis, looking unharmed, the energy tendrils emerging from her horn.

“That was certainly impressive” she said. “My shield spell almost couldn’t take it. You’re too much of a potential threat to allow. …It seems your darkness wasn’t strong enough to beat me after all, little Sparkle.”

The tendrils slammed Twilight hard into the ground. Then, Chrysalis charged and fired a huge blast of raw destructive magic. For Twilight, time seemed to slow to a crawl as her thoughts surged within her mind… and the Darkness tightened its hold on her heart…

Several ponies screamed as Twilight was seemingly consumed by the resulting explosion. The loudest by far was Velvet, calling out her daughter’s name in horror. However, after several seconds, the smoke from the blast was blown away by a surge of Darkness energy from within. Twilight stood, unharmed, her pitch-black aura of Darkness now a roaring flame. Her eyes glowed red, and her teeth were bared as an un-equine feral snarl came from her throat. Her magical energy signature became even more twisted and corrupted, as her power level began to soar upwards. The feel of her power struck fear into the hearts of the captive audience.

“No more games…” she snarled. “Time for you all to suffer…”

Twilight body began to change. Her limbs lengthened as her body shifted form, bringing her up to the size of Luna or Cadence. Her coat darkened and dulled, becoming a violet-tinted black. Her Cutie Mark changed, the smaller stars disappearing while the large one shifted and sharpened, the points transforming into wicked-looking blades. Her mane and tail transformed into fire, shifting flames of purple, dark blue, and magenta with a single “highlight” of jet-black fire. Teeth sharpened, becoming fangs. The feathers of her new wings became dark grey with blood-red streaks. Years of repressed negative emotions, Darkness kept locked away in her Heart, was now truly free.

Twilight’s friends and family cowered in fear as they watched her transform, and felt her magical energy signature grow and darken until it was higher than Chrysalis’ and fouler than Discord’s. But their reactions paled in comparison to Celestia’s.

“No…” the Princess whispered, tears in her horrified eyes. “Please, no… Not again… Not Twilight…”

For she had seen and felt this exact type of transformation before, 1,000 years ago…

“My precious student… H-How did it come to this? How did it all go so horribly wrong?”

Chrysalis stepped back, eyes widening, as she sensed the great and terrible power that now stood before her. “W-What are you?” she asked.

“…Your end,” the Nightmare replied.

Twilight’s Nightmare then fired about a dozen huge bursts of Fire- and Darkness-type magic, racing through the air toward Chrysalis. The Changeling Queen conjured a Shield again, only for it to shatter after three hits, leaving her to take the rest head-on. She quickly loosed a pulse of magic from her body to knock out the dark flames before they could spread and consume her, and then she fired several explosive magic bolts at the corrupted Twilight. The new Nightmare, however, simply stood there, a simple Shield spell repelling all of the attacks without even wavering.

Twilight then rushed forward, a flash of flame accompanying her movements, Chrysalis’ desperate spells bouncing off of her, and then landed a rising blow that sent her hurtling up through the air. The Nightmare pursued her, streaking through the air like a fiery comet, and overtook her, timing it just right and landing an overhead axe-blow with her forehooves wreathed in dark flames, sending Chrysalis hurtling down into the ground in a ball of fire, landing hard enough to shatter the intricately carved stone tile. The corrupted Twilight then formed a huge sphere of explosive Fire and Darkness magic, and then threw/fired it downward. Chrysalis barely had time to scream before the attack hit, incinerating her in a massive explosion which was contained by the dark-magic barrier encompassing the impromptu battlefield.

Twilight landed at the edge of the crater, looking down at the pile of ashes at the bottom. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she concentrated, tendrils of dark magic reaching down and enveloping the remains at the bottom. A sphere of dark magic rose up, linked to her horn, and after several seconds it parted to reveal a confused and scared Queen Chrysalis, alive but gripped by tendrils of dark energy.

“Your suffering isn’t over yet,” Nightmare-Twilight said. “I will not yet allow you the escape of death. …You can take the form of anypony? Good. This will give me a chance to… vent… a little.”

The hall was then filled with two equally terrible sounds: Chrysalis’ screams of agony and the sickening snaps and cracks as Nightmare Twilight telekinetically twisted her limbs, wings, and torso far more than they were meant to be moved. Cartilage and chitin fractured and warped as the Changeling Queen was twisted about like taffy. Finally, her head was turned the same way, another crack abruptly silencing her screams. There was then a flash of black magical energy, and she was again alive, whole, and unharmed, and now looking at Twilight with an expression of pure, utter terror.

“I’d say that about does it for the warm-up…”

Twilight’s new dark magic enveloped and invaded Chrysalis’ body, violating her, and forcing her innate transformation magic to activate the way Twilight wanted it to. Thus, Chrysalis was forced to assume the form of Shining Armor. Twilight snarled, sharp fangs bared beneath glowing red eyes.

“Shining Armor… My older brother… One of the ponies who I looked up to the most growing up… But I know now that such admiration was misplaced. When we were little, he’d take every opportunity to skip out on our playdates, cut them short so he could go do what he wanted. And when I moved to Ponyville, he never visited; hell, he never even wrote! He forgot me! And when he decides to get married, one of the biggest changes of his life, he doesn’t even tell me in person, relying on a letter – a letter from someone else, at that – to tell me only a couple days before the ceremony! And then, when I try to save him from being enslaved by a monster, he screams at me, kicks me out, disowns me! He never truly cared for me! I was just a means to an end, an obligation! I… I hate him…”

Outside the barrier, the real Shining Armor felt as it Twilight’s words were hot knives stabbing him in the chest over and over. Guilt rushed over him in waves as he looked back on his life, looking at all the times he took Twily for granted. And now look where it’d gotten him…

Nightmare-Twilight conjured two large shields around four feet tall, shaped just like the one that made up Shining’s Mark. They floated in midair on either side of her captive, ‘facing’ each other. And then, they moved with sudden, incredible speed and force, crushing Shining/Chrysalis’ right rear leg between them such that the limb practically exploded. Chrysalis screamed in pain, and to the others’ horror Shining’s voice came out of her mouth alongside her own. Blood dripped out from between the pressed-together shields; apparently, Changelings’ blood was red just like ponies’. After several seconds, the large shields parted, revealing that Shining/Chrysalis’ leg had been crushed flat, torn flesh and pulverized bone plainly visible (the Changelings, despite their insect-like appearance, were actually warm-blooded endoskeletal vertebrates, with chitinous natural armor similar to a dragon’s scales, and some insectoid qualities & behaviors).

Before Shining/Chrysalis could say anything, the shields came in again, crushing her other leg. Again she screamed out in her and Shining Armor’s voices, as another limb was pulverized. The crushing, bloodstained shields pulled away again, and then shifted position & angle and did the same to one of her forelimbs, and then the other. Then the lower half of her torso was crushed, causing a dramatic increase in blood; it was at this point that several ponies who would normally faint at such gore were unable to, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic forcing each & every captive viewer to remain conscious, to see and hear everything. Finally, Shining/Chrysalis’ upper half was squashed, silencing her and finally dispelling the transformation. And then, a flash of dark magic enveloped her body, retracting to reveal her alive and whole once more.

Twilight’s dark magic invaded Chrysalis’ body again. This time, the Changeling Queen was forced to assume the form of a certain prismatic pegasus. The Nightmare looked up at her with loathing.

“Rainbow Dash… The braggart, the bully, the insensitive bitch of the group… She bears the Element of Loyalty, for reasons that I cannot fathom. She claims to be a good friend, but I’ve seen plenty that proves otherwise: constant insults and heckling against her friends, pestering me to do things for her, insulting my love of reading and study by calling me egghead or nerd or countless other things, endlessly boasting about her own achievements whilst hardly ever giving credit to others where it is due, abandoning me when I needed her the most! I can’t understand why Scootaloo practically worships the ground she walks on; the poor dear must be blinded to how horrid her object of awe truly is. …After everything the girls and I have been through together, they threw me out for the chance to wear fancy dresses and be in a wedding… In the end, Rainbow Dash is only loyal to herself and her own gratification, and she never displayed any loyalty to me. I hate her.”

Just outside the barrier, the real Rainbow Dash was quivering and trying to hold back tears of guilt and sorrow as she listened to her fallen friend’s words… and of fear as she dreaded whatever was about to be done to her doppelganger. Dash/Chrysalis’ eyes were wide with terror as Nightmare-Twilight formed shifting constructs of magic behind her, slowly approaching the appendages that the real Dash treasured most: her wings. A Changeling’s transformation was more than a simple illusion; it was an actual, physical change, a magically-crafted and -maintained ‘layer of reality’ over their normal bodies. Thus, right now Chrysalis’ wings really were the feathery appendages of a normal pegasus, rather than the insectoid wings of her true form. They were complete in form and function… and in nerve endings.

Chrysalis screamed, in her and Dash’s voices, as her feathers – all of them – were ripped out over the span of a few seconds. Blood streamed from the plucked wings, which were now bare and twitching. And right when the waves of pain had begun to ebb, it was renewed with interest as the bare wings were then chopped off by a magic-forged blade. Dash/Chrysalis wasn’t given time to recover from this before several more of them appeared and began quickly & brutally cutting her apart. A few ponies in the captive audience threw up at the spectacle. When it was over, Chrysalis’ sliced-apart body floated in the air.

Twilight’s dark magic again resurrected her, and then again invaded her body to force another transformation. This time, she was forced to assume the form of a tall, regal alicorn.

“Celestia… I devoted everything I was to her, and how has she repaid me?! Constantly belittling, downplaying, and discarding my concerns and worries, expecting me to deal with all the dangers that threaten her kingdom while she sits on her ass and talks fancy with politicians, never giving me the recognition that I have long since earned! Even after everything I’ve done, all the times I’ve been right, she had no faith in me whatsoever! I’ll bet she never even cared for me at all! I was just a means to an end, a weapon to free her ‘beloved’ sister and smite her enemies, given rare moments of false praise to secure my misplaced loyalty to her! And, she’s always been blind to the true threats to Equestria whenever it mattered! She failed to see Luna’s jealousy and pain and anger until it was too late, and that cost her a thousand years! She failed to notice that the seal on Discord was weakening until he was already out and causing havoc! She failed to notice that Cadence had been replaced by a shapeshifting bug that behaved in a manner totally anathema to the real thing! And she failed to notice the darkness and repressed negativity growing inside of me, and look where that has led! …She manipulated my emotions for her own ends, making me think I meant something to her, when in reality I was just a tool. …I hate her.”

Celestia/Chrysalis screamed as her eyes suddenly burst into flame, rapidly burning away into ash while leaving the rest of her head unharmed. Then her entire body was engulfed in white-hot flames; the ear-splitting, soul-clenching screams lasted until vocal chords were burned away. When the flames faded, a charred corpse was all that remained. Again, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic enveloped and resurrected Chrysalis, and then forced her to take another form: that of a certain yellow pegasus.

“No more!” Chrysalis screamed in her and Fluttershy’s voices, tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. “Twilight, please! I’m sorry! Please! No more!!”

But the Nightmare paid her no heed, listing off Fluttershy’s transgressions and then killing the transformed Chrysalis by seemingly conjuring large invisible claws of solid magic that proceeded to slash huge gashes out of her, all over her body, tearing her apart chunk by chunk. When she’d finally succumbed to that, reverting to her base form upon death, she was resurrected yet again.

This continued for some time, each restoration leading to a new form being forced upon the Changeling Queen, a new calling-out from Nightmare Twilight, and a new horrific death before the next resurrection. Applejack – apple tree roots growing through her body, eventually punching their way out in all directions; Rarity – turned to gemstone and then shattered, one section of her body at a time; Pinkie Pie – stomach rapidly filled until her torso burst open; her mother, her father, the adult forms of a few of her fillyhood bullies; only Chrysalis’ inability to assume forms too much smaller than her true form spared Spike and the Crusaders from witnessing their own horrid demises, and even then they were plenty traumatized just from being forced to witness all of this, clinging to each other in terror. Ponies in the captive audience were nauseous, terrified, in tears, screaming and begging Twilight to just end it already.

Finally, Nightmare Twilight brought Chrysalis back without forcing a transformation upon her. The Changeling Queen hovered in Twilight’s telekinetic grip, nerve endings screaming in phantom pain, her mind nearly broken by it all. Outside, the Changelings had long since collapsed, unconscious or dead, due to the feedback from the psychic link to their Queen.

“P-Please…” Chrysalis begged. “Just let me die and stay dead… Please…”

“…No. I have something else in mind…”

Space-time distorted around Chrysalis, and she looked around in growing terror.

“I’m going to seal you in a pocket dimension, isolated from base reality. In it, you will be subjected to constant, endless, agonizing pain and suffering. You will be unable to die, no matter what is done to you. You will be unable to escape into the refuge of madness, as some torture victims do; the magic of that realm will force you to remain totally sane, always fully aware and understanding of everything, and forced to remember everything that led up to this. Age will not bring death; you will live forever, in your own private realm of eternal torture. The seal holding you in there will be so great in strength and complexity, that no power short of the Four Elder Gods themselves will be able to free you. Goodbye, Chrysalis! Welcome to Hell!!”

While Twilight was busy talking, she hadn't noticed that the bug Queen's horn was glowing. Just as she was about to send Chrysalis to a pocket dimension, the broken changeling summoned a portal and escaped, having realized that she would be unable to conquer Equestria since the former unicorn now had dark magic.

"You escaped, huh? Oh well, I had my fun," Twilight said, and then turned around. "Now I'll give you ponies a last chance to talk to me."

Chapter 2

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"Twi, we're sorry-" Shining Armor began, only to be cut off.

"Sorry?" the mare in question asked. "Sorry?! I don't care about your apologies! I will never forgive you or the girls and Celestia."

"Twilight, we should've listened to yah, but please forgive us," Applejack pleaded.

"I will never forgive any of you!" Twilight shouted. "Look what you did!" Her horn glowed as she cast a spell, letting all of Equestria see what had happened each time she told them about how strange Cadance was acting.

"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking. Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever," said Twilight as she sipped her milkshake.

Spike was playing with the dolls for the cake and asked in a high pitched voice, "Who, me?"

Applejack said, "Spike! That goes on the cake."

Rarity asked, "Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem!"

"Rarity, she was so demanding!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Well, of course she is! Why shouldn't she expect the very best on her wedding day?" asked Rarity.

Twilight turned to Applejack and asked, "Applejack, did you know that after she told you how much she just 'love-love-loved' your hors d'ouvres, she threw them in the trash?"

The farmpony said, "Aw, she was probably just trying to spare my feelin's."

"No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!"

Fluttershy quietly said, "She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal."

"See? Rude!"

"But he was singing really off-key," Fluttershy said as the bird began singing off key, making Twilight cover her ears with her hooves.

She turned to the party mare and began, "Pinkie Pie, you had to have noticed how Cadance treated–" She stopped mid sentence and said, "Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you're with me, right?"

Rainbow rubbed her hooves and stretched her wings as she said, "Sorry, Twi. Been too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride's bad attitude."

"The princess is about to get married. I'm sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves," Rarity said as Twilight began growling.

"And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!" the unicorn said angrily.

"Think maybe you're bein' just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?" asked Applejack.

"Uh-huh," agreed the rest of the mane six.

Twilight shouted, "I am not being possessive, and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You're all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn't even be a wedding!"

Twilight ran and said, "Shining Armor's in real trouble! You have to help–" She stopped half way upon seeing her friends. "Dresses? What are you–?"

"Can you believe it?" asked Fluttershy happily. "We're gonna be Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's new bridesmaids!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she asked, "New bridesmaids? What happened to her old bridesmaids?"

Applejack explained, "She didn't say. But she did tell us that she would love-love-love it if we'd fill in for them."

"Seeing as we've been working so hard and everything," added Rarity.

"And you had your doubts about her."

"Told you she was an absolute gem!"

Rainbow Dash asked, "You sure this is what I should wear? Doesn't seem all that aerodynamic."

Rarity said, "Hmm. I'll see what I can do."

As her friends walked away, Twilight said, "Looks like I really am on my own."

"I'm here! I'm not gonna stand next to her! And neither should you!" said Twilight.

Shining said, "I'm sorry, I... I don't know why she's acting like this."

Cadance coldly said, "Maybe we should just ignore her."

Twilight shouted, "You have to listen to me!"

"Oh, goodness! Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"I'm fine," she snarled.

Applejack asked, "Ya sure about that?"

Twilight used her magic to cover Applejack's face with her hat. "I've got something to say! She's evil!" she said, pointing an accusing hoof towards Cadance, whom Shining quickly stepped in front of.

Twilight teleported behind Cadance and said, "She's been horrible to my friends, she's obviously done something to her bridesmaids," Cadance's eyes went wide in fear as Twilight began cornering her, "and if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all like this!"

"Why are you doing this to me?!" cried Cadance as Twilight advanced on her.

"Because you're evil!" Cadance ran, and as she teleported behind Cadance, who was still crying. "Evil! And if I don't stop you, you're gonna ruin my brother's life!"

She ran back into the throne room, pleased with what she had done, only to fall as she ran into a very angry Shining Armor. He glared at her, and said, "You want to know why my eyes went all like that? Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I've been getting terrible migraines. Cadance hasn't been casting spells on me. She's been using her magic to heal me! And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so that they could meet Canterlot royalty! And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your" he stomped his hoof on the floor "friends, it's because with me being so busy, she's had to make all the decisions about the wedding!"

"I was just trying to–"

"She's been completely stressed out because it's really important to her that our big day be perfect! Something that obviously wasn't important to you!" Shining Armor said harshly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride. And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all."

"C'mon, y'all. Let's go check on the princess," Applejack suggested, and the mane five walked out the doors.

"I was-" Twilight began to say, only to stop.

Princess Celestia walked past the mare as she said, "You have a lot to think about."

"See?" Twilight yelled as she stopped the spell. "Every single mother bucking time I tried to tell you, you all acted like that! You never believe me unless you can see the threat with your own eyes! And I don't need friends or family like that! Goodbye forever!"

"Also, remember that all of Equestria saw this!" Not giving the stunned ponies a chance to say a word, Twilight stomped out of the castle. Spike ran after her, calling her name. "What do you want?" she asked, glaring at him.

Scared by Twilight's harsh tone, Spike gulped, "Twilight, I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I was afraid of getting kicked out of the wedding... Could you forgive me?" he asked, kneeling in front of Twilight.

She looked at him for a few minutes, weighing her options. Spike is like a brother to me... And he could help... "Fine. I'll forgive you." He rose and she said, "Sit on my back. We're leaving."

Spike did as she said, and asked, "Where are we going Twilight?"

"There's this place called The Crystal Empire that I learnt about..."

Chapter 3

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After Twilight stomped out of the castle, the wedding guests started an uproar. But the angriest ponies were Twilight's parents, and the cutie mark crusaders, who were the flower fillies.

"How could you?" asked Scootaloo.

"Ah never thought y'all would've done this," said Apple Bloom. "Y'all put everypony in danger!"

"Yeah!" agreed Sweetie Belle. "That bug thing could have killed everypony, and you didn't even lift a hoof when Twilight warned you! You all just..."

"Y'all just ignored her!" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"You shouldn't even be the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo. "You showed loyalty to an imposter instead of your friend!"

"How was I supposed to know that she was an imposter?" Rainbow snapped.

"Even if she wasn't an imposter, you should have been loyal to Twilight instead of some Princess that you know nothing about!"

The rainbow maned mare said nothing, just looking at the floor and lowering her head in shame.

"Darlings, listen," began Rarity. "Twilight didn't even have any proof with her!"

"She was just yellin' things like a crazy pony," defended Apple Jack.

"That doesn't change the fact that we all could have been pony soup by now," Sweetie Belle told them.

"Or we could have been something worse than pony soup," Apple Bloom nodded.

"Like zombies!" Scootaloo said dramatically.

"If y'all didn't listen to Twilight when she said there was a threat, then how do we know y'all will even listen to anypony?" asked Apple Bloom.

"We've decided that..."

"We're leaving!" announced the trio.

"Goodbye forever! And don't even bother trying to find us, because we don't want anything to do with any of you!" Scootaloo said before they ran out the castle to catch a train that would take them away from Equestria...

Once they had arrived at the Crystal Empire, Spike dismounted Twilight and asked, "Twilight? Why did we come all the way here? There's like nothing here!"

"There used to be a place here, Spike," she said. "I'm going to bring it back."

"Ooh."

"Stand back, and watch," Twilight warned before her horn began to glow. The magic coming from it was black, and she began to chant, "Rise again, your banishment is brought to an end. Rise again, rise again. Your banishment has come to an end. Rise again O Empire, rise from the ground. Rise again O Empire, from the ashes of your town."

As she finished, Spike watched in awe as where there had been nothing but ice and snow, there was now a city. "Let's go," she said and Spike followed her in.

"Wow," he couldn't believe his eyes. "It's beautiful!"

"I know, right? But we can't stay here for long."

"Why's that, Twilight?"

"The book said that there was a ruler of this place- King Sombra. We need to find him, but I don't know where he could be!"

"How about the castle?"

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were sitting in a train. "So where does this train take us again?" the unicorn asked.

"I don't care," the pegasus said. "As long as it takes us away from them, I don't care if this takes us to the border of Equestria."

"Now that Ah think about it, this train could be going to the border of Equestria," Apple Bloom said. "But what is beyond the border?"

"Lots of ponies say that there's just ice and snow," Sweetie Belle told her.

"What ever there is, we'll face it together!" Scootaloo put her hoof in the air as the three of them said, "Because we are the cutie mark crusaders forever!"

When they walked into the castle, the guards tried to stop them. Twilight raised her hooves. "I mean no harm. I simply wish to be granted an audience with thine King."

Two guards took her to the throne room and bowed. "This mare wishes to be granted an audience with His Majesty."

"Let her in," the King said, and the guards did as told, shutting the doors behind them.

Twilight and Spike bowed. "Your Majesty," she said respectfully. "It is an honor to meet you. I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike, who I consider to be my brother."

"Where are you from?"

"I come from Equestria. I used to be Celestia's student, but she betrayed me," Twilight explained.

King Sombra raised an eyebrow. "Betrayed you? Elaborate."

"Today was supposed to be my brother's wedding. He was going to marry my former foalsitter- Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but she had been replaced by Queen Chrysalis of the changelings. I noticed something was off, and tried to warn my friends and mentor, but alas, they took no heed of my warnings and brushed it off as wedding stress. When they were about to take their vows, I ran in and chased Chrysalis out, calling her evil. She acted hurt, and my friends, brother, and Celestia went to comfort her, each abandoning me. My brother told me that I could forget about being his best mare, and I locked myself up in a room, crying."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "And then I realized that they never cared about me. That they only wanted to use me for their benefit. How they never believe me until they see the threat in front of their eyes. So I did what I should have done all along. I felt the darkness in my heart and embraced it; I let it take over me. Deciding that I wanted nothing more to do with them, I forgave Spike and teleported here, so that I may end this Empire's banishment. And that leads us to now."

She ended the banishment? Impressive. King Sombra walked down from his throne and held out his hoof. "In that case, I must show my gratitude by inviting you to join me, and conquer Equestria."

Twilight shook hooves with him. "I accept your invitation. But there is one more thing I wish to do."

"Speak, and I shall allow you."

"I read about a species called The Umbrum. They were imprisoned, right? I wish to free them, but do not know how," she told him.

"I can help you with that," Sombra smiled. His horn glowed, and in the middle of his throne room, there was now a staircase going down. "Follow me."

"And we have reached the border of Equestria!" the conductor announced, causing all three fillies to jump out of their seats.

Stepping off the train, they saw nothing but ice and snow for miles. "This is just ice and snow!" Sweetie Belle complained. "And it's cold!"

Scootaloo opened her luggage and took some winter clothes out. "Now do you understand why I told both of you to pack all your winter clothes?"

"Ah don't know what we would have done with out you," Apple Bloom smiled.

After they had wrapped themselves in warm clothes, they continued walking.

"My legs are tired! I'm tired! Could we stop for a few minutes to rest?" Sweetie Belle moaned.

"Stop moaning, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo told her. "My legs are hurting too, but am I moaning? And we can't stop now."

"Ah think Ah can see something ahead," Apple Bloom said. "It looks like we are getting somewhere after all."

"Well, once we get there, I'm gonna rest for how long I want, and none of you can stop me!" Sweetie Belle said.

But it still felt like forever to them. Until Scootaloo exclaimed, "Let's race there! Last one in is a rotten egg!"

None wanting to be the 'rotten egg' they all ran as fast as their legs would allow them.

"So I just smash this Crystal Heart, and the umbrum will be freed?" Twilight asked, amazed.

"Yes," King Sombra told her. "I never was able to bring myself to do the deed. Perhaps you will succeed where I haven't."

Twilight conjured a hammer, and levitated it above her head. "Well, there's nothing to lose." With that, she brought the hammer down upon the crystal with all her might, shattering it instantly. "And now they're free!"

"Pharynx?" a small changeling asked. "Why are you so worried?"

"It's none of your business, Ocellus," Pharynx snarled. "Go and play with your dolls or something."

"Pharynx!" another changeling shouted. "The" he panted. "The umbrum have been freed! Have you heard the-" he stopped upon seeing Pharynx's glare. "What?!"

Pharynx simply pointed a hoof to Ocellus. "I. Was. Trying. To. Keep. That. From. Her!"

"Oh." Thorax's ears drooped.

They remained in silence until Ocellus innocently asked, "What's an umbrum?"

Chapter 4

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Thorax gave a grunt of frustration. Hours of searching, and he still couldn't find anything!

I haven't even found one single book on how to disconnect myself from the hive mind! I found a way to get disconnected, but it takes a year! I'm only partly disconnected from the hive mind! Thorax started to put the books back. All of these are useless! Just as he was putting the last book away, the changeling got a feeling that he should hide.

Trusting it, he began to look for a place to hide. If anyling or the Queen herself found him here in Chrysalis's chambers... He didn't even want to think about what would happen.

He ran under the bed and curled into a ball just as a portal opened, and Queen Chrysalis fell out of it, collapsing onto her bed. The Queen looked terrible. She was a mess, with blood all over her. She was without her crown, and had a look of pain on her face.

Queen Chrysalis sighed as she lay on her bed, unable to move due to both the numerous injuries she had received, and the fact that she had used all her power to create the portal.

"I was so close to taking over Canterlot! I would have, if it weren't for that mare, Twilight Sparkle. I underestimated her. The dark magic she possessed was almost as powerful as King Sombra's!"

The bug Queen gasped as she realized something. "With that much power," she said, "that mare could destroy the whole hive! I wouldn't be able to do anything, and because the changelings were unable to get the love they needed, they- We all are doomed!"

"Maybe if I sent someling to learn of her weaknesses, we would stand a chance against her. But to find Sparkle, I would need to cast a tracking spell. And I can't even do so much as move now..."

Suddenly her eyes lit up. "One changeling may not be able to cast the spell, but a couple of changelings would. But I can't let anyling see me like this! How would I be able to get them to do it?" She paused for a few seconds, thinking.

Then she raised an eyebrow. "Thorax? Why are you in my room?" Beads of sweat rolled down Thorax's forehead. "Thorax? I know you're there. Even in this state I can smell you. You forgot to wash your armpits. Come out and I won't punish you."

Thorax slowly came out from under Chrysalis's bed. He was shaking as Chrysalis asked, "Why were you under my bed?"

"Um..." he tried to come up with an excuse. "It was my turn to clean today!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Then where are your cleaning supplies?"

"...I forgot them."

"Thorax, you are the worst liar that I've ever seen. You're really bad at telling lies, you know." Thorax closed his eyes and hoped that the Queen wouldn't punish him. "...But I won't punish you. Instead, I have a task for you..."

Thorax sighed as he flew to the Crystal Empire. Why does this Twilight Sparkle have to be all the way here, at the borders of Equestria?! He shivered. It's so cold...

After smashing the Crystal Heart, the door opened and millions of umbrums exited. Twilight thought, These are the umbrums? They don't look anything like what I thought they would! They look kinda like...zombies. I wasn't expecting them to look like fairies or anything like that...

The last thing that the cutie mark crusaders saw before collapsing was a castle made of crystal.

Minutes after they collapsed, Spike came out and saw them. He scratched his head in confusion. "What are Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo doing here? I better tell Twilight."

Thorax flew as fast as he could, wanting to find some sort of shelter before night fell. Just as he was about to collapse, he saw a light ahead of him.

Filled with hope of it being someplace he could stay for the night, he reached it in less than a minute. And then he let sleep take him.

That night, Princess Celestia was unable to sleep. "Things were supposed to work out!" she cried. "Twilight was supposed to free Cadance and defeat the changelings with her friends! She- she wasn't supposed to give in to the darkness! Ah, if only I had known things would turn out this badly, I would- Oh, how I wish I could go back in time and prevent this!"

As the mare began to weep, a voice asked, "But would you really prevent this if you could?" The lights turned on, revealing the speaker to be Princess Luna. "Would thou really?!"

"Of course I-" Celestia stopped as soon as she saw the expression on her sister's face. "L-luna-"

"I do not believe thou would," Luna spat. "Thou knew that Chrysalis was here, wearing the face of thine adopted niece, did thee not? And what did thee do? Thee decided to let Twilight deal with it, when thou could have done so thyself. I heard everything thou said just now, and all of Equestria is seeing this. Twilight Sparkle thought of thee as her second mother, Celestia! She loved thou as a daughter would! And this is how thee repay her? We are truly shocked." Luna's irises became like that of a cats. "Thou used her! When we returned from the moon, and when Discord broke free of his stone prison, thou used her! Hast thou ever thought about what would happen should Twilight be unable to defeat the threats?"

"I am done with thou, Celestia! I am done! From this day onward, thou are no longer my sister!" As the Lunar Princess said that, she flew out. Not as Luna, but as Nightmare Moon!

The following morning, Celestia was awoken by the sound of shouting. When she looked down from her balcony, she gasped. For in front of the palace were citizens from all over Equestria, including her guards, the mane five, and Shining Armor.

They were chanting, "Execute Celestia! All hail Heartbreaker!"

Celestia was petrified by shock and horror as she looked at her adopted niece. Cadence's fur was now black, and her mane was darker than it had originally been. The aura of dark magic was around her eyes, and only then did Celestia realize that her actions had many consequences. Cadence had given into the darkness and was now Heartbreaker.

King Sombra was halfway through his dinner when a guard ran in, panting for breath. "Your Majesty!" he gasped. "I was patrolling the Empire when I came across a changeling!"

The King's eyes narrowed. "Where is this changeling now?"

"I-We put the changeling in the dungeons to be safe."

"I trust you put an inhibitor ring on it?"

"Yes Sir."

"Well then, let's go see it."

When Thorax awoke, he found himself in a cell. He gasped. "I-I've been captured!" Just then, the guard unlocked the door, and King Sombra entered, with two guards behind him for protection. The door was locked, and Thorax jumped.

In a harsh and cold tone, the King spat, "What were you doing here, changeling?"

Thorax gulped and stuttered, "Q-queen Chrysalis s-sent me here to keep track of T-twilight Sparkle."

"And why is that?"

"S-she fears Twilight. She fears that as this Twilight Sparkle has dark magic, she'd be able to destroy the whole hive and we'd be unable to do anything." Sombra read the changeling's mind to check if he was telling the truth, and found that he was. Thorax began to beg, "P-please don't kill me. Please."

King Sombra smirked as a plan formed in his mind. "I will not kill you, but in exchange for your life, you will provide me with the location of your hive. And you shall also give a map of its insides. Deal?"

"D-deal."

"Good. Intrépido, you will go with this changeling."

The umbrum saluted. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Thorax was shaking as he thought, The umbrum are freed?!

Nightmare Moon and her batponies had reached the Crystal Empire, and were standing outside its gates. A few guards followed her in, while the others stayed with the batponies. "Let's hope that King Sombra will accept Our offer."

Princess Celestia was petrified by shock. The mane five, Shining Armor, her guards, and everypony in Equestria wanted her dead!

And none other than her adopted niece was leading them! Her niece, who was now corrupted!

Heartbreaker smirked and flew up to the Solar Princess. "Hello Auntie," she said. "Like my new look?" When Celestia didn't respond, the corrupted mare laughed. "You knew what was going to happen, didn't you? You thought that Twilight would get rid of the changelings, save me, and that today would have ended with a 'Happy Ever After', didn't you? Well, this isn't some fairy tale, and look what happened, you pathetic mare!"

Heartbreaker held Celestia's neck in a magical grip and said, "As much as I'd love to snap your neck right now, I think somepony else deserves the pleasure of killing you. But don't worry Auntie, I won't kill you, but I can have lots of other fun with you."

She chuckled as Celestia's eyes widened in horror. "Now, you don't need these wings, do you?"

Ponies from all over Equestria could hear the screams that followed.

"The King will be with you shortly."

As soon as those words had left the guard's mouth, King Sombra arrived. Nightmare Moon rose and held out her hoof, which Sombra shook. "King Sombra."

"Nightmare Moon." The two locked eyes, gazing into each others soul until Sombra smiled. "I see you've left your pathetic excuse of a sister. May I then ask, what brings me the pleasure of meeting you this fine evening?"

Nightmare chose her words carefully. "You still wish to conquer Equestria, do you not?"

"And you are correct."

"Well then, I shall help you."

"What do you desire in return? I do not imagine you would join me without a price."

Nightmare chuckled. "You are right. I wish for two things. The first being that my batponies shall have a portion of Equestria to themselves."

"And the second?"

"Once you successfully conquer Equestria, all shall stay awake during the night."

King Sombra was surprised. "You do not wish for eternal night?"

"I have matured since my first transformation, and decided that I do not wish to bring all ponies and creatures to extinction."

"Very well then." Sombra shook her hoof. "I accept your conditions."

The very second she had been told about the fillies, Twilight rushed out of the castle. "Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?" she asked while tapping the fillies with her hoof.

When none moved, she cast a spell to revive them. Apple Bloom began rubbing her eyes. "Twilight?"

"What are you fillies doing here?"

"We decided to disown our sisters and came to the border of Equestria so that they wouldn't be able to find us," Sweetie Belle answered.

"We want to join your side!" Scootaloo declared.

"Are you sure fillies? This means you might have to fight against your sisters someday on the battlefield," Twilight informed them.

"Them sacks of horseapples ain't our sisters no longer, Twilight! We don't care if we'll have ta fight 'em. And if we ever meet 'em on the battlefield, we're gonna destroy them!"

"Yeah!"

Twilight couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Well then, if that's the case, I'm sure King Sombra will be more than happy to let you join us."

Thorax said, "The hive is here."

Intrépido smiled. "Good. Now give me a map of the hive's insides, and I'll take my leave."

"Okay." Thorax flew inside the hive and came out a second later with a map which he gave to the umbrum. "Here's the map."

After checking it, Ira held her hoof out which Thorax shook. "Until we meet again." And then she flew off.

"Queen Chrysalis!" Thorax gasped as he flung himself into the Queen's chambers.

"Thorax?" Chrysalis was confused. "Why are you back so early, and why are you so... panicked?"

"The umbrum have been freed!" he exclaimed dramatically.

"What?" Did he just say the umbrum have been freed?

"I know it's hard to believe, Your Majesty, but the umbrum have been freed!"

Chrysalis thought for a moment before saying, "Go and tell Pharynx this news."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Thorax said before flying out.

Just then a thought struck Chrysalis. Thorax will probably tell the whole hive! "Thorax, wait!" But it was too late. Thorax was already gone.

Pharynx was walking around in circles, worried. Queen Chrysalis had used the hive mind to inform him of the news, and he had been unable to hide his anxiety.

"Pharynx?" a small changeling asked. "Why are you so worried?"

"It's none of your business, Ocellus," Pharynx snarled. "Go and play with your dolls or something."

Queen Chrysalis had used the hive mind to tell Thorax not to warn Pharynx, but as he was partly disconnected from the hive mind, he had not heard her.

"Pharynx!" another changeling shouted. "The" he panted. "The umbrum have been freed! Have you heard the-" he stopped upon seeing Pharynx's glare. "What?!"

Pharynx simply pointed a hoof to Ocellus. "I. Was. Trying. To. Keep. That. From. Her!"

"Oh." Thorax's ears drooped.

They remained in silence until Ocellus innocently asked, "What's an umbrum?"

"It's nothing you need to know about," Pharynx snapped.

Twilight and the fillies walked to the throne room, and entered when permitted to do so. Twilight bowed, and the fillies did the same. "King Sombra," she began, stepping forward. "These fillies have come from Equestria and wish to join you. They are Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and used to be sisters of my former friends."

"Used to be?" the King asked.

"They disowned their sisters, Your Majesty, in order to join you."

"King Sombra," Scootaloo said "can you please let us join your army? We want to fight for you!"

"Yeah! Please King Sombra, let us join your army and fight against Sunbutt and others that wish to be enemies to you!"

Sombra chuckled. "I'll give the three of you some tests, and if you pass, I'll let you join my army."

The following week, Twilight received a letter. It read:

Dear Twilight, where ever you may be, I invite you to come and end Celestia's pathetic life. You might be confused now, but when you come, I'll explain everything.

Eagerly awaiting your arival,

Queen Heartbreaker of Equestria, formerly known as Mi Amore Cadenza.

Chapter 5

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"So, what should we do now?" Thorax asked. "The umbrum are freed, the Queen is severely injured and can't help us, and-"

"What did you say?" Pharynx asked.

"I said that Queen Chrysalis is way too injured to help us."

"Do you know how she got those injuries?"

"Um... She just fell out of some portal with them."

"Portal? Huh..."

Just then a changeling entered the room and said, "I know how the Queen attained those numerous injuries. And I also know who is to blame for the freedom of the Umbrum."

"Who are you?" Pharynx asked. "Have you been eavesdropping on us this whole time?"

"My name is Kevin, the changeling who was sent to spy on the ponies," he answered. "And yes, I have been eavesdropping on you both this entire time. I had simply been passing by when I heard you."

"I won't punish you for eavesdropping... Because we have questions, and only you have the answers," said Pharynx.

"Then I shall tell you..."

"And that is how Queen Chrysalis attained her injuries, and is to blame for the freedom of the Umbrum," Kevin finished. "It may have been Twilight Sparkle who cast the spell, but if it weren't for our Queen, they wouldn't be free."

A pregnant pause followed his statement until Thorax broke the silence. "...So what should we do now?"

"Find a new leader of course," said Ocellus.

"What are you doing here?" Pharynx asked, shocked.

"I was here all this time, remember?"

Pharynx shrugged. "Anyways, new leaders don't just fall out of the sky, Ocellus," he scoffed.

"Or maybe they do..." Thorax said. "We could join King Sombra."

"Join King Sombra?" Kevin asked. "As in King Sombra the tyrant Umbrum ruler of the Crystal Empire?"

"Yes."

Pharynx laughed, and Kevin blinked. "You're crazy, Thorax," the former said. "We're changelings. We can't serve an Umbrum!"

"Why can't we?" asked Ocellus.

"Umbrums take ponies' emotions away, making it impossible for us to get the love we need to survive," spat Pharynx. "What do you think of Thorax's idea, Kevin?"

"I think it's a good idea," Kevin spoke.

"What?!"

"Yes."

"You're kidding. Don't make me laugh."

"I'm not joking. The Umbrums make everything so melancholy that it's impossible for us to find love to feed on. However, if we were to tell King Sombra we'd join him if he makes sure that there's still some love for us to feed on... It would be beneficial for us in the long run," Kevin explained. "Also, he's probably going to take over Equestria and could easily eradicate us all. If we were helping him, if we were his allies, then we'd be safe."

"I guess...You're right," Pharynx nodded.

King Sombra was just about to fall asleep when a guard knocked on his door.

He said, "You may enter," and upon seeing the guard, asked, "What do you want?"

"A letter came for Miss Twilight Sparkle, Your Majesty."

"So take it to her, you idiot!"

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

After the guard closed the door, King Sombra muttered, "Why do all guards have no brains?"

Heartbreaker was grinning as she electrocuted the former Princess. "So Celly, do you think that Twilight will come as soon as she reads the letter, or will take her sweet time in coming? I do hope she'll take her sweet time, because I've still got so much left to do with you!"

It was morning in the Crystal Empire, and instead of having breakfast, Twilight Sparkle was chewing her hooves as she stared at a piece of paper.

Seeing this, King Sombra asked, "What's the matter? Do you not like the breakfast? I can have the servants make something else for you..."

Twilight looks up and says, "N-no, the breakfast is wonderful. It's just that I got a letter last night from my former foalsitter, who is now the Queen of Equestria. She has Celestia as her prisoner, and has invited me to go and kill that manipulator."

"Why are you worried about that?"

"I wanted to, well... I thought it'd be better if I knew some more dark magic spells so that I'd be able to have all the fun I want, torturing Celestia."

"And I guess you wanted me to teach you?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. If you don't mind, that is."

"I'd be more than happy to teach you, Twilight."

"To Queen Heartbreaker,

I am more than happy to accept your invitation.

However, I'd like if I could have some time to learn a couple of torture spells.

After all, I do want to have all the fun I can with my toy...

I hope you don't mind.

Truly Yours,

Twilight Sparkle."

Heartbreaker's grin grew even wider after reading the letter.

"Guess what, Celly," she chuckled. " Twilight's decided to learn a couple of torture spells before coming here. And you know what that means... Oh, we're going to have so much fun together."

"So, this is how you cast the horn nullifier spell. It creates crystals on the ponies' horn, which prevents them from using any magic," King Sombra said as he demonstrated on Sweetie Belle. "It also hurts them when they attempt to use magic... Now you try."

After the King had removed the crystals, Twilight tried to cast the spell. "It's not working!" she exclaims in surprise.

"Of course it isn't," Sombra says, causing Twilight to look at him in surprise. "It's not working because you aren't casting it correctly. This is dark magic we're using, remember? Focus on your hatred and anger for Sunbutt, and think about the crystals that will soon grow on this filly's horn. Only then will the spell work."

"Sorry, I forgot." Twilight tried again, focusing on her hatred and anger, and cheered when she succeeded "Yes! It worked!"

Sombra smiled. "Cast this spell a couple more times, and then we'll move on."

"Kill this pony, but you can only use a single spell."

Twilight nodded, and then focused hard on her dark magic.

She then casts the Muerte Rápida Pero Dolorosa spell, which gives its victim a quick but painful death.

"¡Maravilloso!" King Sombra says. "Now that you've mastered the Muerte Rápida Pero Dolorosa spell, I can proudly say that you are a master of Dark Magic. But before you celebrate, I need to tell you something."

"I haven't failed a spell, have I?" Twilight asked, worried, leading the King to chuckle.

"Don't worry, you haven't failed a spell. You did perfect in everything... And won my heart." Sombra stares into Twilight's eyes as he says, "I haven't found anypony who could rival me in Dark Magic for a thousand years. But now, I've found you. You've won my heart, Twilight Sparkle, and I'm madly in love with you. So now I ask you, will you be my Queen?"

Twilight blushes and says, "I too have fallen in love with you. And while I may not be able to give a speech as grand as yours, yes, I will be your Queen."

Sombra smiled, and then their lips met.

Queen Heartbreaker was writing a letter to Twilight, asking for the date of her arrival when suddenly a crystal mirror began to glow, and out of it stepped none other than Sunset Shimmer and an army of angry teenagers.

The unicorn burst into the throne room and roared, "Get your fat butt off the throne, Sunbutt, because now it's mine!" when she noticed that it wasn't Celestia who sat on the throne, but rather it was the corrupted version of Mi Amore Cadenza. "Cadance?" Sunset asked in surprise. "Why are you sitting there? And what have you done to your mane and fur?"

"I am not Cadance. I am Queen Heartbreaker of Equestria. The traitor Sunbutt is in the dungeons, being tortured, and if you don't do what I say, so shall you."

"Cadance. Enough with the jokes. I've been in a world where they do even more impressive tricks than that, for your information."

Heartbreaker slams Sunset against a wall. "This is not a joke or a trick," she hisses. "I am the Queen of Equestria, and I can put you in a cell next to your former mentor if you don't behave accordingly."

Sunset puts her hooves up, not wanting to be locked in a dungeon. But since she's a pony, she loses balance and falls flat on her face.

"Ow," Sunset rubbed her muzzle.

"You're going to be screaming 'ow' if you don't listen. I will only ask you this question once. Why did you come here with an army?"

"That's simple. I thought Sunbutts fat butt might still be on the throne, and I wanted to dethrone her and take her down with the help of my army. And once I did that, I'd be able to find her little pet- Twilight Sparkle, and take her crown to the human world so that I can rule it!"

"Twilight has never been that traitors pet."

"What did she do to be thrown and tortured in the dungeons, and be branded as a traitor?"

"I haven't branded her yet, but she's a traitor because of what she did during the changelings invasion of Canterlot. She knew what would happen, and decided to pretend she didn't. It's because of her that Chrysalis nearly ruled Equestria. She also lied to Twilight, which turned out badly for her."

"I see." Sunset looked at her hooves before asking, "If you don't mind, can I see Sunbutt in the dungeons so I can have fun torturing her? I learned a lot of torture spells."

"You have permission. Just ask the guard for help getting there."

"Which guard?"

"The only guard that's in this room."

Twilight Sparkle and King Sombra are talking, when the former jumps up, having remembered something.

"I just remembered! Now that you've fully trained me in dark magic, I need to go and give the traitor a painful end."

"Are you sure you need to do it this instant?"

"I've been waiting to do it for such a long time, of course I have to!"

Sombra teleports himself and Twilight to the Canterlot castle. "As you wish, love," he winks.

Twilight heads straight to the dungeons, and is surprised to find Queen Heartbreaker and another pony there.

Sunset Shimmer stops torturing Celestia and looks at Twilight who is staring at her.

"Twilight! You finally came!" Heartbreaker breaks the silence.

"Of course I did, Heartbreaker. I can't wait to start my fun with that traitorous bitch. But before I start, who is this?" Twilight points a hoof at Sunset.

"That's Sunset Shimmer, and she used to be that traitors former student. She came back to try and take over Equestria, but finding that I was on the throne instead and that Sunbutt was in the dungeons awaiting death, she decided to torture the traitor instead. While she was having fun, I told her all that happened while she was in the human world, and she wants to join you and King Sombra. She also has an army with her, and they would join you too."

Twilight hasn't moved her gaze from Sunset since Heartbreaker began speaking, and the unicorn looked at her hooves before looking up and saying, "It is an honor to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. My name is Sunset Shimmer, and as Ca- I mean Queen Heartbreaker has told you, I used to be a student of that bitch. When she didn't give me what I wanted when I wanted it, I escaped to another world to plot my revenge. I came back here with an army of teenagers so that I could get the Element Of Magic and dethrone Sunbutt. But it didn't go as planned. So now, instead of just stealing the Element Of Magic, I've decided to join you on one condition."

"Which is?"

"You give me the element of magic."

"And why should I do that?"

"I am a powerful unicorn. Having me on your side would be much better than having me against you."

"I... Guess you're right. But I'll make my desicion after killing the traitor."

"Take all the time you want Twilight. Just make the right choice."

Twilight nods and then turns to Heartbreaker. "Now that I'm here, you can tell me how you...changed."

Princess Cadance sat in a cave, crying. "Auntie Celestia! Twilight! Shining! Anypony! Save me!"

A few hours later, when her throat had grown sore from screaming for help and crying, Cadence accepted the fact that nopony would be coming to save her.

They are all fools, she thought. They can't even tell the difference between an imposter and myself.

She dried her eyes and stood up. Anger filled her as she thought of Chrysalis marrying Shining Armor.

She got angrier as she thought of how dense they all were.

She would break out of here and get revenge, that was for sure.

But then she saw a screen with Chysalis' face on it. "Just thought I'd let you see how helpless you are," she said before the screen changed to show Twilight begging for her friends to help her, for somepony to believe her.

It showed them all brushing her thoughts aside.

But then it turned off, leaving Cadence in darkness, crying as she realized how helpless she was.

After a while it turned on again to show Chrysalis' marriage to Shining Armor.

What happened next was unexpected. Twilight destroyed Chrysalis, with the bug escaping through a portal. And then it cut off.

Cadance grew angry. The bug was still alive, even if heavily injured. She had to get out of the cave. She had to rescue herself and then get her revenge on Celestia, Chrysalis, and a couple of other ponies.

Her anger gave her the strength to blast a hole in the cave, and she flew out to the throne room.

She kicked the doors open, unsurprised to hear the gasps that followed this.

Celestia was the first to react. "Cadance! You don't know how glad I am to see you!"

The pink alicorn flew to her aunt, but said nothing.

"C-cadance? What's wrong?" Celestia asked, concerned.

Cadance's eyes flashed as she said/sang, "The world is a place

Where I'll gladly learn to live in disgrace

Once I send you to your last resting place

Where the shadows are forever..."

"And then I flew out to the Everfree Forest so that I could come up with a plan to get revenge. But before I could do anything like that, I had to regain my strength. Once I had gotten my strength back, by drinking a couple of potions that a zebra shaman gave to me, I looked into a pond and noticed the changes that had taken place. And that's the story."

Spike had just gotten permission from Twilight to go to the dragon lands, and even though an umbrum guard was supervising him to make sure he was safe, he was happy.

He had arrived just in time for the gauntlet of fire tournament, but as he was about to start running (he hadn't any wings), two dragons stopped him.

One was a tall blue one, and the other was a short orange one.

The blue one laughed, "You're too small to be taking part in this tournament. You haven't even got wings!"

"I'm not too small! I may not have wings, but I'm a fast runner, and I'm strong!"

"You think you can win this?" The orange dragon asked.

"I believe I can win this tournament."

"Well then, how about this? If you win, you can do whatever you'd like to me and Ember. And if you lose..."

"We'll get to do whatever we want to you," finished Ember. "Deal, or no deal?"

"It's a deal."

Spike had won, surprising every dragon. He was now the ruler, but before he did anything like- he didn't know- whatever a ruler was supposed to do, he needed to find two particular dragons.

However, before he could move, Ember and Smolder came up to him.

"It beats me as to how a baby dragon such as yourself won, but we're not here to talk about that. Now that you've won, you can do anything you want with us," said Ember.

"How about having you two be the first members of my harem?"

Chapter 6

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At Canterlot, every citizen of Equestria, and a few non ponies were gathered, eagerly waiting for Celestia's torture to begin.

"This is so exiting!" A stallion exclaimed.

"I know, right?" said the pony next to him. "Oh, the readers of the Equestria Daily will just love to read about this!"

"You work for Equestria Daily?"

"Yes, I'm actually their..."

While the crowd talked about their excitement, Twilight was with King Sombra, who was helping her prepare herself.

"Look Twilight, it'll be fine. Don't focus on the ponies watching you, focus on the vermin that you're torturing."

"I'll try, but what if I suddenly freeze? It'll be so embarrassing..."

"You won't freeze, love, because I'll make sure you won't."

Twilight blushed. "But-"

She was prevented from finishing her sentence by Sombra joining their lips together.

"Don't worry, Twilight. Everything will be fine."

Half an hour later, Queen Heartbreaker stood in front of a curtain on her balcony, drawing the crowd's attention. "Citizens of Equestria and many other lands, you are all gathered here today for the much awaited event- the execution of your former ruler- Celestia. No, she's not going to be granted a quick death, that would be too good for her. Instead, she will be put under the most painful torture, and her soul will be trapped inside of her body so that she shall never truly pass on. If you are not a fan of gore, or have a weak stomach, I advise you to turn away immediately as this execution will contain lots of it." Two guards stood on either side of the curtain, ready to open it as soon as they were given their cue.

"And now, the execution shall begin! And the one who shall be given the honors are... Twilight Sparkle!" At this the guards pulled the curtain open to reveal Twilight hovering above Celestia who was chained to a pillar.

There was a vast collection of knives on a side, and the crowd cheered as Twilight flew beside Heartbreaker.

"Ponies of Equestria, and citizens of other lands!" she began, using a voice amplifier to make sure that all could hear her. "I am Twilight Sparkle, the lucky mare who has been given the honors to end this traitor's life! But before I start, I must address the elephant in the room- Why is Celestia getting executed? Well, the reason is because of her, we all could've been the slaves of the changeling Queen Chrysalis today. She, Celestia, knew that Chrysalis would attempt to take over Equestria on the date that was set for Queen Heartbreaker to marry the useless stallion who was the former captain of the Royal Guard. And did she do anything useful about it? No, she decided to sit back and let me do all the work. She thought 'Twilight and her friends will save Equestria like always'. But what happened? She got branded as a traitor, and is going to be executed today..."

While Celestia's execution was taking place in Canterlot, Spike was starting to take advantage of his new role as Dragon Lord.

"My subjects! I am Spike, and am your new Lord! My first command to you all is that you shall work for a mare whom I consider my sister- Twilight Sparkle."

Shouts of protest began. "Work for a pony?!" yelled Garble. "And why should we do that?"

"Because, my sister and her...partner are the most powerful ponies in the land, and whatever race doesn't pledge their loyalty to him will be wiped out or forced to be slaves."

"You're just protecting yourself, aren't you?!"

"Protecting myself? Twilight would never kill me, Garble. So all I'm trying to do here is make sure that all of you stay safe. I mean, the changelings and batponies have already submitted, what's left are us dragons, the griffons, and the sea ponies. Sure, we could resist, but even if we breathe fire and all that, we don't stand a chance against dark magic or umbrums. I'll give you all a week in which to decide what you will do, and after that, what's done is done."

In Canterlot the foals and ponies who were unable to handle the gore had fainted after seeing Celestia's wings ripped off brutally, with her horn being broken by a hammer.

She was covered in blood, and her throat was sore from having screamed in pain.

Twilight savored every moment of her former mentors pain, using a spell to intensify her agony so it was actually ten times worse.

"I bet now you wish that you hadn't betrayed Equestria, huh Celestia?"

"P...please...have mercy!" screamed the mare.

"Mercy?" Twilight laughed. "Why should I have mercy on you? Mercy is only given by the weak, and agony is given by the powerful. And as we all know, I am not weak. You get no mercy Celestia."

"P-please Twilight, I beg you. I-I'll do anything you want."

"Anything I want? Well, all I want is to do this to you." Twilight laughed as she electrocuted the mare with a spell.

A few more cuts later, Celestia's skin was ripped off, revealing the pink flesh beneath. She threw up.

Just as Twilight was about to begin cutting body parts of the former alicorn, an umbrum guard interrupted.

“One second ponies, and I'll resume giving this traitor justice.”

Once they were aside, the guard said, “Miss Sparkle, I am sorry to interrupt your…fun, but a mare has shown up at the Castle. She said her name is Starlight Glimmer, and that she has the powers of time travel. She says she knows all about you and everything else and shall join you if you do her one favor. ”

She has the powers of time travel? That would make her a useful ally and a dangerous enemy.

“And what is this favor?”

“She wishes to tell you herself.”

“Very well. Tell her I will see her an hour later.”

“Miss… she told me that she wished to see you immediately, and made it clear that she was not known for her patience. And that if you did not see her straight away, she would use her powers to destroy you.”

Destroy me? She is brave…And as much as I want to continue my fun, my will to see this mare is stronger.

“Go back to the Empire and tell her I shall be there within a few minutes.”

“As you wish, Miss.”

The umbrum went and Twilight flew back onto the stage. “I am sorry to announce that I am urgently needed at the Crystal Empire, and because of that the traitors punishment will be postponed to a later date.”

With that, she gave orders to the guards to keep the traitor in a dungeon and alive, and then she teleported away.

King Sombra did the same, and once they were back in the Crystal Castle Sombra asked, “What's the emergency?”

“Some mare named Starlight Glimmer wanted me to do her a favor, and in return she'd join us. She wanted to talk with me immediately and if I delayed, she threatened to use her time travel powers to destroy me.”

“Then let's not keep her waiting any longer. With powers of time travel she could be a useful ally and a dangerous enemy.”

“That's exactly what I was thinking.”

Starlight Glimmer was in the throne room, pacing. “Is she coming or not?”

Just as she was about to leave, the doors to the throne room opened and King Sombra and Twilight Sparkle entered.

“King Sombra, Twilight Sparkle,” Starlight bowed “it is a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Starlight Glimmer, and I have come here to ask for a favor. I used to live in a town called Hollow Shades and had a friend named Sunburst. However, he went to some school and never came back. There were rumors that he was lost. So… could you please find him? In return for that, I will join you.”

“Give us a few days and he will be found,” Sombra told her. “In the meantime, you are welcome to stay at my castle as a guest.”

“Thank you King Sombra and soon to be Queen- Twilight Sparkle."

Chapter 7

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Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed, head in her hooves. She hadn't moved from that position in over an hour, and now King Sombra was worried.

He had originally thought she was too tired to do anything, but this looked like more than exhaustion. "Twilight, is there something wrong?" he asked for what had to be the thousandth time this morning.

This time she decided to honor him with a response. "No," the purple alicorn groaned. "Nothing's right. Everything's been going by so fast- it feels like hardly a week went by since I was betrayed by some of the ponies most dear to me." She sat up, mane covering her face. "I know it's been something like a month, but..."

"Everything's been going so fast you haven't had time to make sense of it all?"

"Yes! And I've noticed something strange. Luna turned into Nightmare Moon after learning about what Celestia did, and I know she actually cares about the health of Equestria. Yet she still transformed and joined us, knowing what we would do would change Equestria completely."

"Well, I guess something did seem a little off about her coming so quickly..."

"And then there's this Sunset Shimmer. She came with an army, assuming Celestia was still on the throne. They must have been from her world, but they were also controlled by some sort of magic. I've studied about her world, and there's no magic in there. So there must be something I'm missing. She wanted my crown for the power it gave... And assuming it could work in both worlds... I'll need to check if my crown's still where I left it."

"Or I could just send one of my guards to check."

The mare shrugged. "If it's not a problem."

Instead of replying, the King pressed a button with the image of a guard on it, and a few minutes later a guard knocked at the door. Sombra smirked at his marefriends expression. "Crystal technology makes it easier to get things done." To the guard he said, "Enter!"

"What does his majesty require of me?" The guard asked, bowing.

"Where did you leave your crown?"

"The Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. It should be on the ground floor, in a box with the rest of the Elements."

"You heard her. Go to the library and check if the crown is there. Come back immediately once you've checked."

"Yes Sir!"

The guard left, closing the door behind him. "Now we just have to wait for him to return. Though, about Luna, we need a way to check if she truly joined us or is just pretending."

"Perhaps you could send an umbrum to spy on her?"

"Good idea."

"Before you do that, there's another thing worth mentioning. Luna wasn't at the execution."

"There are two possibilities. One is that she was stopped by something. And the other... There is foul play here."

"Foul play? What do you mean? Luna may not be who she tells us she is. But even when faking things, one would think carefully and we both know Luna knows how to plan things out, unlike her incompetent sister."

"That brings us back to the possibility that she may have been stopped by something, perhaps another race who does not wish to join us. However, that might not be the case. She might be deceiving us, and maybe-"

Twilight finishes his sentence. "She might be pretending to be evil on the outside, but she could actually be doing it so she can get information on what we are doing, and then making an army against us so she can prevent us from ruling Equestria and putting those traitors and pretentious snobs in their place."

"She could even be plotting with those other two mares. I must send an umbrum that is competent enough to do the job... but it is easy to tell they are there if one experiences negative emotions."

"Yes, though who can we send?"

"Perhaps we should wait a little, and we might find a solution."

"Perhaps... And if those mares are working against us... I will hunt them down and tear them limb from limb."

"I am sure you will. I shall be watching and applauding you. Though, I have noticed something. When they are mentioned you become agaited. Have they done something to you?"

Twilight scowls. "Have they done something to me? Of course they have. They threatened me if I didn't do as they asked." She suddenly leaps off the bed and begins pacing angrily. "Who the fuck do those bitches think they are? Threatening me, while I clearly have more power than them! Why, I should just throw both of them in Tartarus and be done with it! But no, I must make them suffer first! Make sure they regret ever daring to threaten me!"

As she began huffing angrily, drawing in great breaths, the King decided to speak. "Worry not my love, for they will be punished. But kill them? Arrogant as they have been, wouldn't we have some use for them? After all, they do have power."

"...Fine. We will keep them. But they will suffer agony worse than Celestia's, if that's possible."

"As you wish. However, before giving them their due, I think we should tie up loose ends, so to speak."

"What do you mean?"

"Finish killing Sunbutt and Chrysalis, destroy the statue of Discord in such a way that it will be impossible to restore him, also kill Grogar, and a couple of others that could be highly potential enemies, as they may not be as willing to become allies as others."

"...I guess I can wait a little. But speaking of Chrysalis, what happened to that assassin you sent?"

"I forgot to tell you. Turns out he was caught, and the idiot came back here. So I punished him. He's still screaming in the dungeons." Looking at his future wife he said, "And yes, you can go and kill the changeling bitch if it makes you feel better."

"Thank you."

After taking the map of the changeling hive from an umbrum guard, Twilight made her way to the hive.

There was an anti-magic barrier around it, so she couldn't directly teleport to it, but she was still able to use her wings, which she was thankful for.

Going on tip-hoove, she snuck into the hive- and was surprised by the utter lack of security...and occupants.

What happened to all the changelings?

King Sombra was just reading his soon-to-be-Queens plans when a guard approached him. "What do you want? Hopefully it isn't instructions on where to put a letter," he said sarcastically.

The guard shook his head. "Your Majesty, an army of changelings are outside the Empire and they wish to speak to you."

"Speak to me? Bring their leader here."

The guard did as told, returning with Pharynx. "King Sombra,"the changeling began "I am Pharynx. I have come here with my fellow changelings, not to attack but rather to make an offer. We are currently without a leader, and wish not to elect one from among ourselves due to the fear we will be destroyed if they made a mistake. We have also talked together and decided the wisest option would be to join Your Majesty as we would be protected. Us changelings will join you on one condition."

"It being?"

"You will tell the umbrums not to drain all of the emotions from Equestria as we need it to survive."

The King thought for a moment. Changelings possess the power to disguise themselves as any creature or object. If I get them on my side, it would come in handy as I would be able to know what side Luna is on.

"Your condition is accepted. Welcome to the Crystal Empire."

The mane five were hiding in the caves under Canterlot, discussing what to do.

"So... Twi's gone all evil, the Elements of Harmony are useless without her because only she can wield the Element, and the Princess is being executed. Painfully. Anything I missed?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Ah think that's all. Okay y'all, we've gotta make a plan. We can't let Twilight team up with King Sombra and become evil and do nothin' about it."

"I agree," Rarity said. "It's mostly our fault that she's evil in the first place, so we have to clean up our mess. Has anypony got ideas on what we should do?"

"I think we should make an army against King Sombra..." Fluttershy whispered, drawing all eyes to her.

"Good idea Fluttershy darling!"

"Yeah, that's a good idea, but how exactly are we going to get ponies to join us?" the cyan pegasus asked. "What I mean to say is, all of Equestria saw that it was mostly our fault- why would they want to help us?"

"...Ah guess ya do have a point Rainbow. But if we admit that we know what we did was wrong... And that we're willin' ta clean up our mess... Wouldn't they help us?"

"I know how we can get ponies on our side!" said Pinkie Pie who had until then been sitting in a corner, feeling guilty. "We can tell them that King Sombra is a meanie who hurts ponies that work for him! Like he mind controls them. Or... We could say that he wants to ruin Equestria!"

"Ah don't think that'll work, Pinkie."

"We can at least give it a try, can't we?"

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she stood over the sleeping form of Chrysalis. Sure, she could just kill the changeling right there and then, but that wouldn't be any fun.

No, she would wake the changeling and kill her painfully and slowly.

She levitated the bug out of bed, and then brought it down on the floor, instantly waking it.

Chrysalis groaned in pain and opened her eyes weakly to see the alicorn standing above her.

The mare grinned. "Hello Chrysalis. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Upon hearing Twilights voice she whimpered and tried to move away best as she could with her weakened and injured body, but Twilight put a stop to that by stepping on the changelings leg.

"Now, there's no need to run, that is terribly rude. We're going to have lots of fun today." She stamped down on Chrysalis' leg, causing the changeling to cry out. "My oh my, you seem terribly injured. Whatever happened to you?" Twilight asked with mock affection. "Ah, now I remember. You showed up a few weeks ago at my brothers wedding and posed as my foalsitter, and when I tried to warn my friends, brother and even Celestia they chose you over me. " She punched the bug in the face, causing a few teeth to fall out. "If it weren't for you, we'd all be happy. None of this would've happened. I wouldn't have been abandoned by everypony. Though, at least now I know that they cannot be trusted because they'd be too happy doing whatever they want than supporting me."

She pulled the changeling up and smacked her continuously. "And you" another smack "you cast some sort of spell on my brother so he'd do whatever you wanted. You hurt him. You made him do things against his will."

She threw the changeling on the ground and conjured a knife, and proceeded to stab her in multiple placed.

"Sure, you showed me what a manipulating cunt Celestia is, but I don't care. I'm going to make you suffer. You're going to go through agony worse than that bitch did."

It was midnight when Twilight returned, covered in blood and gore, smiling and skipping happily.

"Twilight," King Sombra began, surprised by how happy his marefriend was. "I suppose it went well?"

She laughed. "It went perfectly. There was no security or other changelings, which is something of interest, but the changeling bitch was too weak to do anything apart from lay on the floor, crying and begging for mercy like the scum she was. Of course I wasn't moved by her pleas; I dragged it out long as I could so that she could learn a lesson. And guess what I did next?! I trapped her soul in her body so she could go through agony for eternity!" She continued laughing. "It feels so satisfying to know that one of my enemies are dead and going through unthinkable agony. Though... if it feels that good just killing Chrysalis, I bet I'll feel wonderful after getting rid of that alicorn scum that's in Canterlot, waiting for death." Her eyes lit up. "I wanna go kill Celestia now!"

"Indeed you do, love, but perhaps you should get some rest first so you have more energy to torture that scum."

"...Okay. But we're going to Canterlot tomorrow!"

Sombra rolled his eyes. "As you wish, my love."

The following morning Twilight flew out of bed, excited as a filly who was going to a fair.

She woke her significant other. "Sombra wake up! We've got to go now!"

The King groaned. "Twilight dearest," he checked his alarm clock. "Do you realize that it is three in the morning?"

"Of course I do! That's why I woke you up! Canterlot is waiting~"

"Twilight, you are acting like a foal. I know you are eager to give the scum what it deserves, I am also eager to see it get killed, but am I hopping around at three in the morning? As you can see, I am not. We must go about this in a proper manner. First of all, we must make sure that the whole of Equestria is awake to see this. And second, we must make them fear us. It will be easier to make ponies take us seriously if we keep our emotions neutral."

"I... I guess I was. Worry not, I shall do my best not to act foalish again."

"And?"

"I suppose we could go a little later."

"Good." Sombra yawned. "Now, let's get some sleep, shall we?"

Once they had properly rested, the two set off for Canterlot, leaving Rabia in charge while they were gone.

After all, she was loyal and could be trusted- Sombra had made sure of that.

Upon entering the palace and informing Queen Heartbreaker that today they would resume the execution, the Queen smiled.

"I would have informed you with a letter of our decision as it is polite to do so, but Twilight wanted to come as soon as possible, and she rushed us."

Heartbreaker laughed. "I see you still have a few traits from before, Twilight," she said, making the purple alicorn blush.

"So, Twilight, have you made your decision?" The ponies turned around to see Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer.

Twilight forced a smile on. "Ah, yes, I have. But before I tell you what I decided, there are a few things you need to know." At this point her smile disappeared. "How dare both of you threaten me! I could squash you like a fly! Surely you must know this, and yet you still threatened me! And Sunset, you came here to get my crown, didn't you? You wanted it so that you could rule your world. But when you came here, you already had an army which was mind controlled. I spent some time thinking and remembered how you said your world had no magic. I sent a guard to check if my crown was where I left it, and surprise, surprise, it wasn't."

The orange unicorn's confident smile fell, and she grew pale. "It wasn't there? But I'm sure I left it-"

"What was that Sunset? You left it where?" Twilight asked angrily. "So let me guess, you came here, stole my crown, used it to control your world and then came back again with an army just to threaten me?"

She was embarrassed, as everypony looked at her. "I- I was unable to use all the magic. It said that I needed to get the permission of the owner..."

"..." Twilight took a deep breath. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU LIED TO ME. YOU STOLE FROM ME. AND YOU STILL HAVE THE NERVE TO THREATEN ME INTO GIVING YOU MY CROWN! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!"

"Yeah Sunset, I had no idea you did that. I mean, come on, th-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK, GLIMMER. YOU ALSO THREATENED ME. BUT BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT THAT, let's discuss about the time spell, shall we?"

Starlight froze and turned pale, just like Sunset had. "T-time sp-spell?"

"Don't say a word. Don't waste my time by denying it. You stole the time spell created by Star Swirl the Bearded," Twilight growled.

The unicorn hung her head down in shame.

Sombra, who had been watching with Cadance as the drama unfolded chose this moment to step in. "Take a few breaths, my love, in and out, in and out."

Twilight did as he advised and then said. "I don't believe in just forgiving straight away. You two will receive punishments for this. But not today. I have some business to take care of first."

Once Sombra, Twilight and Heartbreaker had left the room, the mares glanced at each other.

"Remind me not to ever get on the Dark Queens bad side."

"She said we would get punishments, didn't she?"

Starlight gulped in fear. "Perhaps if we apologize to her sincerely as we can it will be less."

"Let's hope, let's hope." She stood up shakily. "But for now we'd better get to the dungeons like we were supposed to."

Twilight hummed as she stroked a knife, watching her victim carefully.

She was the predator and the broken alicorn was her prey.

Twilight laughed. That was funny.

She took a deep breath and picked up the knife. Another thought came into her mind and she began laughing again.

Unlike before, she had chosen to continue the execution in private, and only her King and former foalsitter were allowed to watch. And those two spoiled brats, Glimmer and Shimmer, just so that she could strike even more fear into their hearts. They would learn from this not to mess with her.

She took another breath and walked up to the alicorn who was good as dead.

That almost sent her into another laughing fit as the alicorn already looked dead, but this time she managed to control herself.

Celestia, who had been gazing at the floor with one eye, as the other had been stabbed out, let loose a scream as a knife was pushed into her leg.

"Ahh, this feels so good," purred Twilight. "I can feel your fear, and it makes me feel... Wonderful."

She pulled the knife out and the wounded mare attempted to move away from her torturer, but she was held firmly by chains and was helpless.

Twilight inhales and licks her lips. She gets another knife which is longer and pushes it through the prisoners stomach. "I love the fact that you were once an alicorn as your built in healing will prevent you from dying too fast. Are you lucky? It wouldn't be fun if you died before we get to the good parts."

"You're a sick, twis-" the mare begins to verbally fight, but is cut off by a choking fit as the wound in her stomach affects her.

"What were you saying?" Twilight puts the knife back in the stomach wound and twists it. "That I'm a sick, twisted what? A psychopath?" She laughs loudly.

"That's what you may think, but don't even dare to think, not even for a second that you're the victim. No, I'm the victim. You betrayed me when I was foolish enough to trust you with my life. You used me. You saw me as nothing but a means to keep yourself on the throne, and to keep your peaceful little kingdom running perfectly."

Twilight pulls the knife out and stabs a different spot, twisting the knife, causing her prisoner to spasm in pain and cry out. "So before you start calling me a psychopath, before you think I'm the demented one, think about what you've done. What you did. Think about your own mentality before calling me all these things. Think about how fucked up you are before talking to me. You know, I think it's ironic. All this time I was your toy, and now look. Oh, how the tables have turned. You're my toy now, and I can do whatever I want to you. Nothing and nopony can or will stop me."

With those words said, she pulls the knife out and begins stabbing her 'toy' multiple times in the lungs and heart. Twilight gets blood sprayed on her, but doesn't mind. "Die you wretch, die!" She laughs maniacally as Celestia begins coughing out blood. As the made slowly ceases all movement and the light fades from her eyes, Twilight grins and licks the blood off the knife. "The satisfaction I get from ending the life of the pony I hate most cannot be matched by anything."

She then turns to her audience who is sitting a little away. Starlight and Sunset are shaking in fear after witnessing this in sharp contrast to Sombra and Heartbreaker who are grinning widely.

"You did marvelous, sweetheart," the King says, kissing his marefriend on the lips and tasting a little of the blood which is in her mouth.

"Indeed Twilight," Heartbreaker says, also getting up from her seat. "You were simply wonderful in there."

Twiligjt grins darkly as she approaches the two mares who are bowing as low as they can in fear.

"Stand up," she says with no emotion in her voice.The mares obey her and shakily get to their hooves. "You know, a little part of me is still not satisfied. Even after that" she gestures to the mangled mess a few feet away "I don't feel completely satisfied. I need a little more bloodshed on the menu tonight, and I know exactly how I can get it."

She draws closer and the duo shrink back in fear. Twilight levitates a sword over and strokes it with the edge of her hoof.

"P-please d-don't kill me," Starlight begs.

"I will do whatever you say, whatever you want I'll even give you my soul! Just don't kill me!" Sunset says in fear.

Twilight draws closer and strokes the sword faster. "Oh, I don't know, should I let you live? Should I? Should I?" She puts a hoof to her chin in mock thought. "Hmm... Let's see... I think...not!"

The mares almost run for it, but fear has them locked in place. Twilight can hear that one of them has pissed themselves in fear. She draws back and laughs. "Hahaha- you- you really fell for it, didn't you? You actually thought I was going to kill you both. Hahahah," she begins laughing again.

The unicorns are bewildered as to what Twilight found so funny that she was actually rolling on the floor due to her laughing fit.

The Dark Queen recovers after a few minutes and stands up. "Remember this, if you ever dare to threaten me or even go against me, I will tear you both limb from limb. And I won't hesitate to rub salt in your wounds as I do so. You'll end up even worse than her if that's possible."

She continues laughing.

After spending the evening at Canterlot, the King and Queen return, accompanied by Sunset and Starlight, and also by their guards as they would have been foolish not to take any.

"Rabia, I trust no misfortune has occurred while we were away?"

The umbrum bowed. "Nothing of great importance happened Your Majesty, though there is a company of three griffons and a dragon who wishes to speak to you. They are currently in the throne room, awaiting your arrival."

"Thank you Rabia. While I speak to them, might you call Confianza so she could help Twilight get cleaned up?"

"Of course Your Majesty."

"Wait. Sombra..."

"Yes my love?"

She whispers into his ear, "If they are creatures wishing to join us, it would be wise to show them what would happen if they threaten or go against us, would it not? After all, we wouldn't want them being like those two..."

"Why, you are correct dear. We shall see what they want and then you can clean up."

Twilight followed Sombra into the throne room where three griffons and a dragon were waiting, all of whom bowed when the King and Queen entered the room.

"I apologize for my delay in coming, my marefriend and I were taking care of some...business."

The creatures looked at Twilight and quickly turned their gaze away in fear.

The Dark Queen could see the smallest of the griffons trembling slightly, and enjoyed her fear.

"Who wishes to speak first?"

The dragon stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I am Garble of the Dragons, and I am here to offer my assistance in any way I can. I wish to become your ally."

"You must give me your reason. I do not imagine you simply wanted to join."

"Your Highness... Smolder is my younger sister, and you may have heard of her. She recently joined the Dark Queen's brother- Spike as a member of his harem."

"Ah yes, I see now."

"I have deep affection for my sister, and when she asked me to join you as she would, I could not refuse."

"I see. You are accepted into my forces, and can rest in one of the guest rooms before training."

"Thank you My King."

"Now, you three."

"King Sombra, I am Gilda, and these are my companions, Gallus and Gabby. We heard of the whole incident that happened in Equestria, and learning from history I knew that sooner or later, an army would be formed against you. I decided to join now instead of later, so that we may be able to crush the resistance before it has a chance to begin."

"You seem wise. And of your companions, I can only assume they joined for the same reason."

"Yes Your Highness. Gallus here is good with swords, and Gabby has proved herself useful in guarding."

"I would say you make a good leader, correct me if I am wrong."

"No Sir, you're not wrong in the slightest. Why, when our town was in great disorder, with everyone fighting and arguing, it was none other than Gilda who knocked some sense into everyone. She managed to make a small team and no matter how hard it was, she still fixed all the issues."

"I think it was a good thing that I stayed with you, still covered in blood because that scared them alright."

"You have nothing but good ideas, love, and now we have four new allies. We also have gotten rid of two of our enemies, so we can move on. We'll take care of Discord next."

"Yes, we shall," Twilight grinned darkly at the thought of what she would do. "But first, we could rest for a few days?" She yawns. "The double torture took a lot out of me, as did having to put those unicorns in their place."

"Fear not Twilight, I'm sure we can afford to have some rest. We wouldn't want to fall asleep on our foes now, would we?"

Chapter 8

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Twilight woke up with a grin on her face, and a small but noticeable skip in her step.

"You seem rather happy today, my love," said Sombra while brushing his mane. "Surely it's not just from being well rested."

The dark purple mare set her toothbrush back in its place and walked to her lover, placing her forehooves on his shoulders.

"You are correct. Today, I know exactly what we're going to do. We're going to Canterlot, unfreezing that statue, binding Discord up in a dungeon, and then the fun will begin."

"So you want to see if we can get some use out of him?"

"Correct. It would be such a waste if we just killed a creature that bears such magic without even trying to get him to join us first..."

"I share your sentiment. I assume we'll also be bringing those two mares along with us?"

"The more fear we instil in them, the better."

A knock was heard on the door. The Dark Queen marched over to it with an air of impatience and opened it. "Guard. What is it?"

"I am here to inform your Majesties that a unicorn mare by the name of Tempest Shadow has requested an audience with you and the King."

"Make her wait in the throne room. Don't let her out of your sight." Saying that, she shut it before the guard could say another word and turned to her lover, who raised an eyebrow. "Some unicorn named Tempest Shadow wants to speak with us."

"Three unicorns in a row... Hopefully we won't need to put her in her place as well."

Twilight merely nodded and straightened her crown. "Let's go, shall we?"

Tempest Shadow studied the throne room as she waited patiently. "You've been rather silent, Grubber," she said to her companion.

"...I... Do you think that these ponies will deceive us like he did?"

"If I thought that, why would I have come here?"

"...Good point."

"These rulers... One is an umbrum who was betrayed by the former Princess, and the other is a pony, who was betrayed by those dearest to her. They joined forces, and like us, they're against Equestria. What would they have to gain, if they were to deceive us?"

"Well-"

"That was a rhetorical question."

"A-ah..."

"Why are they taking so long?" she muttered, as her patience wore away. "We've been waiting for almost an hour now."

No sooner than she had said that, the Guards opened the doors of the Throne Room and the rulers of the Crystal Empire entered.

"Haven't you heard of the proverb, patience is a virtue?" asked Twilight sarcastically.

"Your Majesties." Tempest and Grubber bowed respectfully.

"Who is your companion? I don't believe the Guard mentioned him," said the King, glancing in the Guard's direction, inadvertently causing him to open his mouth to let out a stream of apologies. However, Sombra held his hoof up. "Save your apologies for later."

"Y-yes Sir."

"So, I don't think I've introduced myself. I am Tempest Shadow, former general of the Storm King's army, and this is Grubber, who was the commander."

"The Storm King?"

"He is not known to many as this is his first attempt to take over Equestria, so if you allow me, I shall explain who he is."

"You may begin."

"So let me get this straight. You joined him because he made a deal with you, in which he'd fix your horn if you helped him."

"Yes, Your Highness," said Grubber. "A few days before our arrival here, Tempest was discussing the plans for the attack with him, and I was there so I could write everything down. Once it was confirmed that he would be able to successfully take over Equestria, he got some drinks out to celebrate, and well...He has a habit of blabbering when he's drunk."

"So, basically, he got completely drunk and then he told me his true intentions... I was foolish to trust him."

"...What was your reason for coming here today?"

"To form an alliance with you. Grubber and I shall join your army if you fix my horn. I am good at organising attacks and torturing, and Grubber can gather information about those who seek to oppose you."

"Alright... But what's in it for him? What's his reason?"

"I want that stuck up bastard to learn a lesson," said Grubber with anger shining in his eyes. "Tempest wasn't the only one who learnt the truth that night."

Twilight nods and Sombra holds his hoof out. "Then it's a deal."

"And uh, there's one thing we need to tell you," Grubber said nervously. Twilight waved her hoof in a 'go on' signal. "If his airship lands according to plan... He'll be in Canterlot by this evening."

"Don't you think that would have been useful to mention earlier?" growled Twilight.

"Calm down," whispered Sombra into her ear. "We'll deal with Discord; I promise we will. But it looks like that will have to wait."

"But why do we need to stop him first? What about him is so dangerous that we need to stop him as soon as possible?"

" Well… While the Storm King may not seem that threatening and to some, he is laughable… He actually possesses a lot of power. "

"Which he does not show unless he gets really...pissed off, for lack of a better word, " added Tempest. "And I know his power better than anyone as I was his right hand pony. He never thought I'd find out about his deception, and he trusted me… He said that after Equestria was successfully taken, he'd get Grogar's bell and summon him so if anyone tries any heroics, he could strike them down in an instant. Though, I know that's just because he wants more power. He is the Storm King after all, so he'd already be able to summon lightning bolts and kill whoever he wants… "

"..."

"I know you're disappointed, but try and look at the bright side. You can spend more time thinking of how you'll win him over to our side and make him be loyal to us."

"I guess so..."

They turn back to their new allies.

"Tell me all of the Storm King's weaknesses. Anything and everything he fears," demanded Twilight.

"As you wish, Queen Twilight," smiled Tempest. "There are many things he fears, the first being-"

"Wait, not here. Guard!" called Sombra, after which one entered. "Tell the cooks to make lunch for four." Looking towards the former General, he asked, "You don't have any allergies, do you?"

"Neither of us do."

"You may leave now. And wait, make sure that the guest room is suitable for staying in." The Guard bowed and left. "We'll talk about it over lunch. You two must have had an exhausting journey from...wherever the Storm King's base is to here. I suggest that you go and rest. A maid will show you to your room."

They nodded appreciatively and left.

The Mane Five were still in their hideout, desperately trying to come up with a plan.

"So look. Twilight's gone and joined Sombra. She's beyond the point of saving. Ah'm not even sure if Ah'd wanna save her, what with all this torturin' she's been doing. Ah mean, sure, Ah'd like ta have a go at Chrysalis for what she did, but what Twilight did to her? "

Applejack shuddered upon remembering what she had read in the newspaper Rarity managed to sneak back along with food that morning.

"That was just terrible, darling… I never thought Twilight would be able to do such a ghastly thing. "

"Well, that's not our Twilight. She's different now," said Rainbow. " We need to take her down before she kills us. "

"Take her down before she kills us? That's an...interesting thing to say, Rainbow Dash. "Why, I'd say we all deserve to be killed because of how we acted that day. Getting excited over the chance to wear some dresses and be in a wedding… Ignoring our close friend's worries and...abandoning her just for that. Every one of us should just die right now," spat the former party mare.

Fluttershy nervously stepped forward in concern. "Pinkie-"

"My name is Pinkamena. Not Pinkie," snapped the pink mare.

"W-well, then Pinkamena, a-are you o-okay?"

"No. Why would I be?" she scoffed . Suddenly she stood up and stamped a hoof on the ground. "I wonder...How can all of you be okay after what happened? "

"Because we've got a plan. We're gonna put it into action and show King Sombra who's boss! "

"Hahaha. You're so funny, Rainbow Dash. You're acting like Sombra is the villain in this. He's not controlling Twilight. Twilight went to him and she's doing this all on her own. It's all of your faults that she's like this…"

" And what, you're the good guy in all of this? " scoffed Rainbow Dash.

"I never claimed to have helped her, but I did nothing to her. No, it was Pinkie who did it. "

"Pinkie dear, have you lost your mind?! What's wrong with you?"

"As I said before, my name is Pinkamena! Do I have to spell it out for all of you numbskulls?! P I N K A M E N A! Pinkamena! Pinkie is the fool that contributed to the events that led towards the corruption of Twilight Sparkle. I. Am. Not. Pinkie!"

" Now, let's not waste time arguin' about all of this… " said Applejack.

"Yeah… Let's focus on what we need to do. Though, we could consider saving Twilight. She deserves that much… Every moment wasted is another second that Twilight is out there, unable to transform back into herself because of what we did to her! We need to stop her before it's too late and we can't save her! "

"Save her?" asked Pinkamena, as if this were all a joke to her. "We can't save Twilight. There's no way to do that. Once one's mind is corrupted, they'll never turn back. To try and 'help ' her we'd have to first strip her of all her dark magic, with powers we don't have, and why would she want to go back to normal after we all abandoned her? And would you even want to talk to someone who's going on a torturing spree? Why, she might even decide to hunt you down and kill you next."

"Stop trying to bring the mood down everywhere!" glared Rainbow, ceasing her hovering to step closer to the mare with the faded pink coat.

"Bring the mood down? Ahaha… All I'm doing is just stating facts. I'm actually being useful, while you're just trying to give them false hope."

" It's called motivation! "

"Useless motivation. You're just going to be sending yourself and your friends on a suicide mission. Just give up. What's done is done. The pain, the truth, it's already been given. " She looks at the pegasus coldly. "You've never done anything useful. All you do is show off, brag, and act like you've got everything under your control, when you're actually no braver than Fluttershy. It's all just an act, isn't it? Give up. "

She walked forward, her hoofsteps echoing throughout the cave, until she was literally face to face with the one with whom she had been speaking.

Before Rainbow could react, she pinned her against the wall and snarled, "You'll never be able to undo what was done. Now, I think that giving you a little taste of how powerless you are should put you in your place."

With that she began pushing down on the athlete's throat. Applejack rushed forward and attempted to pull her away, but the mare saw her coming and kicked her with a hindleg, causing the apple farmer to fall down, winded.

Rainbow, of course, attempted to struggle, but for once she found out that the former party pony possessed more strength than her.

Just as she began to see spots in her vision...the other mare released her hold on her, letting her fall to the ground.

Pinkamena took a deep breath and glared at the other members of the mane five who were looking at her fearfully. "You know what, I'm done with all of you. You're all hopeless."

With that said, she stormed out of the cave. Her body was surrounded with a dark aura, and her dark pink mane began to get even darker…

"And to think he claims himself to be the Storm King…" laughed Twilight. "I'm sure that he couldn't even stand a small attack!"

"Now, let's not get too cocky… Underestimating one's enemies is a sure way to fall in battle… But yes, I do believe that even a small squadron of our guards could easily defeat him. Hence, I assign the task of murdering him to you, Tempest. "

"To me?"

" Yes, why not? I shall send a group of soldiers with you if you require any assistance. Or do you not want to do it?"

"No, I can do it, despite having hardly any magic. I am well trained in hoof combat and can wield hoof held weapons efficiently, even having designed some of my own…"

" It would be the perfect chance for you and Grubber to get your revenge, " chipped in Twilight.

Tempest looked at Grubber, who nodded. "I'll be more than happy to take part in killing him."

" I accept this task. That bastard will pay for his deception and lies…"

"Now come on, my love. This will be a fun show to watch," grinned the Dark Queen.

Chapter 9

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As Pinkamena walked away, Fluttershy regained her senses. She briefly considered calling after the pink mare, but dismissed the notion.

It wouldn't do any good going after her… She wouldn't even hear me...

"Let her go, Rainbow ," she told the blue pegasus who had just been about to fly off. " If she doesn't want to stay, she doesn't have to…"

"So, you're saying that Thorax is talented at spying?" asked King Sombra .

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Pharynx. "I can confidently say that he is the best at spying in our hive. He was the one who brought us the information before the Canterlot Invasion, and he has also spied upon the Equestrians for a long time so all of us could act like ponies if the need arose. "

"Well then, tell him to come here," said Twilight. "Let's put him to the test… "

Fluttershy looked around the cave. Rarity was in one corner, trembling and muttering to herself, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were talking to each other about something.

Deciding to leave Rarity be, she sat down and began to think about what had just occurred. Pinkamena's words replayed through her mind.

" Why, I'd say we all deserve to be killed because of how we acted that day. Getting excited over the chance to wear some dresses and be in a wedding… Ignoring our close friend's worries and...abandoning her just for that. Every one of us should just die right now. "

"It's all of your faults that she's like this…"

"You'll never be able to undo what was done."

"You're all hopeless."

Pinkamena was right, she thought miserably. All of us are hopeless. If Twilight wants to take revenge on us, we won't be able to stand a chance against her. Well, the others might, but I'd be obliterated in a second. I'm weak - I can't even defend myself. I almost always have to rely on someone else to save me from a dangerous situation. I'm just a burden to everyone…

"Shy! Come over here!" Dash called, breaking the mare out of her misery.

"I'm coming," she replied, and after wiping away the tears that had formed with the tip of her wing, she went to the makeshift table where Applejack and Rainbow were huddled together, discussing something.

The yellow pegasus noticed that Rarity was still in her corner, seemingly unconscious. "S-should I call Rarity?"

" No, " said Applejack. "Ah already tried but she didn't seem to notice me."

" Oh, okay, " Fluttershy whispered and sat down.

"The Storm King shall land in Canterlot this evening. According to Tempest, he doesn't know about the current state of affairs in Equestria and will land there so he can capture the Princesses and take their power. Well, one is dead and two are on our side… That reminds me, did that changeling I sent to check on Luna ever come back?"

Just as the words left the King's mouth, the door opened and a changeling stood there. "Your Majesty, may I have permission to enter?"

Sombra nodded. "So, what did you hear?"

Thorax walked in and made sure the doors were closed before revealing what he had heard.

"So, like, the two of us are gonna go to the Empire and stop whatever Twilight will do, and Fluttershy will…" Rainbow Dash, who had been animatedly explaining the plan faltered as her gaze fell upon her closest friend. "Well, I'm not sure if she'd be able to keep up, so she could just stay here and guard the base and Rarity. You don't mind, do you, Flutters?"

I'm useless... The yellow pegasus wiped the corner of her eyes and shook her head. "No, I don't mind. After all, I'd just slow you down and it's not like I can do anything anyways," she mumbled .

Her friends didn't seem to catch the last part and continued discussing.

Fluttershy watched them sadly.

"You may leave," said Twilight once Thorax had revealed all, and he obeyed. Once he had closed the doors, the Dark Queen sighed and turned to her partner. "I suppose we were wrong to doubt her, especially after what Celestia put her through. I thought she might be on Equestria's side, but she doesn't want to help the descendants of those who shunned her a thousand years ago."

" Well, now that we know for sure that she is on our side, let us return to the planning. By now he would've landed in Equestria… Perhaps you could ask Heartbreaker to inform you if he comes? "

"That isn't a bad idea. I'll write a letter to her, and Spike should be able to send it with his fire. Speaking of Spike...where is he? I haven't seen him as of late."

Sombra chuckled. "He's been training the Crusaders. Let's check on them," he said, and teleported the two of them just outside of the training hall, where only the aforementioned dragon and equines were.

Through the transparent crystal doors, they could perceive Spike flexing his biceps while Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo blushed.

The King opened the door and signalled for Twilight to follow him.

"Well," he teased, " I can clearly see that you are showing your muscles off...But did I not put you in charge of their training? "

Upon hearing his voice, the group collectively jumped. "Uh...How long have you two been here?" Spike asked nervously .

The Storm King's airship hovered above Canterlot, and the owner of it came into view upon the deck, where one of his yeti soldiers stood, nervously awaiting his orders.

"Sir, shall I la-"

"No," he said, causing the soldier to tense. "It seems as though there has been a...change in the city. Things don't seem like usual," he remarked, stroking his beard - a thing he did when in deep thought. "My plan was perfect, but I was not well informed. You," he shouted, gesturing to a random soldier who was mopping the deck. "Go and find out exactly what has happened…"

" There has been a change in leadership? Celestia has been executed after betraying her now alicorn protege, who killed her? Hmm… " His fingers once again became entangled in his beard. "If the alicorns possess dark magic, then I shall need greater forces to defeat them…" he pondered. "Fly to Appaloosa. The invasion shall begin there…"

"The Storm King has been busy capturing towns and villages across Equestria, rather than directly going to Canterlot," King Sombra informed as he put a newspaper on the table the following morning. "Presumably to strengthen his army. Of course, we cannot afford to let that happen."

" So what do you suggest we should do? I would be more than happy to burn them all alive, but if I want the Equestrians to support us when we take the throne, that won't be the correct course of action. After all, I don't want to spend all my time stopping conspiracies… I mean, even if Heartbreaker is someone close to me...I want more...power," said Twilight.

"I've got an idea . If we can get rid of the soldiers and capture those areas for ourselves, then we can stop the Storm King...and possibly strengthen our own army. After all, I assume they are treated badly, and if we 'save' them from him, they might be grateful enough that they'd offer to join us. Does the newspaper mention whether he's got barriers?"

Twilight levitated the newspaper towards herself and scanned it. "Heartbreaker, along with some Royal Guards went to try and recapture one of the areas, but when a few Guards went forward in an attempt to enter the town, bolts of lightning struck them, killing them instantly."

"It looks like he's already put some up… Well, taking them down won't be impossible."

Twilight was about to say something but the Guards announced Tempest's entrance into the Dining Hall. "Is there something you require?" she asked.

" Your Majesties, " the unicorn said, bowing, "I have read today's newspaper and suspected that the Storm King merely wanted to increase his power. I know of a species that will be immensely helpful in defeating him and his soldiers, but I decided that before I would help any further, I would like it if Your Highnesses were to fulfil your end of the deal. "

"I suppose you don't want to take the risk of being used without getting the thing you desire in return. Sure, follow me," the King commanded and Tempest obeyed, with the Dark Queen following.

Rarity smiles as she begins drafting the design for a dress she plans to make.

The tip of her pencil touches the paper, and she begins to sketch, but at the sound of hoofsteps, she pauses.

"Rarity?" calls out a familiar voice. "Where are you?"

The white unicorn turns her head around, searching for the owner of the voice and sees the lavender unicorn at the entrance to the room.

"Twilight?"

"Oh Rarity, you're here! Thank goodness! Spike's favourite blanket got a hole in it and he's been upset about it all day. I don't really like to see him upset, and as I'm terrible at sewing, I was wondering if you could fix this?"

She levitates the blanket to her table and sees there's a small hole there. "Of course darling; just give me a minute."

A few moves of her needle and it's mended. "Thanks Rarity, I don't know what I'd have done without you."

Rarity smiles in return. "It's my pleasure, darling. Don't hesitate to ask me for help if you need it- I'll always be here. "

"Really?" asks Twilight in such a tone of hatred that the unicorn is startled.

Suddenly the dream atmosphere changes, the lights flicker a little before going out and when the seamstress turns around, she sees a pair of huge slitted red glowing eyes. The lights flicker again, illuminating the room for an instant and she can now tell that the eyes belong to Twilight, who has become distorted. Bloody wings stretched from her back, and tears of some sort of black substance were falling from her eyes.

Jagged teeth with sharp points reveal themselves as she says in a voice so filled with despair, hopelessness and misery that it makes Rarity's heart ache, "I trusted all of you. Especially you, Rarity. You told me that you'd always be there for me, but in the end...you weren't. "

Fluttershy looks around. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are both sleeping, and Rarity is the only one other than her who is awake.

But she's just staring blankly at the wall opposite her.

Now's my chance. I should just go and do it. If they see me they'll try and make me stay around to torment me. There's a cliff not too far away. Quick...I must go. They'll rejoice once they're free of the burden that is me.

The mare sneaks out of the cave, and wipes a tear away as she takes one last look at her friends who are peacefully sleeping. No matter how much it hurts, knowing that this will be the last time that I see them, I can't let that stop me. They'd be better off without me.

As she treks through the rocky path towards the edge of the mountain that the city of Canterlot lay upon, her ears pick up the sound of footsteps.

The pegasus glances behind her and sees a figure whose rainbow mane is illuminated by the moonlight.

She stops.

"Rainbow, just go back and forget you ever saw this."

A hoof on her back startles her.

"No, Fluttershy. Please, don't do this."

" What use would I be if I stayed? Like you said, I'm the lamest, most useless pony ever. "

"When did I say that?"

" Don't you remember? When we all went to face that dragon and stop him from polluting the air with his smoke, you were constantly complaining about how I was slowing you all down...and there are lots of times you've called me lame when I was scared of things that you enjoyed."

"Fluttershy…"

"I don't want to slow you down any longer," she whispers as she takes a few steps back.

"Fluttershy, please!" shouts Rainbow in desperation, leaping forward to stop the event that would occur.

The yellow pegasus looks back at the athlete and smiles sadly, with tears gathering in her eyes.. "I love you Rainbow Dash, and I don't want you to watch me fall."

With that last utterance, Fluttershy leans back and lets herself fall.

Frozen by shock and disbelief at the event occurring before her eyes, Rainbow Dash's sprint is a little too late.

She falls to her knees, a hoof on her chest as she blinks away the tears that will inevitably fall.

A mournful cry escapes her lungs as she accepts the death of her closest friend.

"No! Fluttershy!"

Chapter Ten

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As Intrépido flew towards Canterlot, the words of the Dark Queen remained at the front of his mind.

"I want you to spy on a group known as the Mane Five," she ordered, with an expression of disgust making itself known on her face as she said the name of the group. "They will most likely be found in the city of Canterlot. You will find them and remain close to their hideout, wherever it is. Gather some information - whether they will start any kind of rebellion or not. Do not kill them. I want them alive. Here," Twilight said, tossing a picture in his direction. Five brightly coloured ponies came into his view. "This is what they look like."

It was just as he finally reached the city that he saw a figure falling. He flew closer and saw that it was one of the mares from the picture.

Fluttershy screamed as the distance between her and a huge rock became closer. She had longed for death, but now that she was quite literally staring it in the face, she could not help but wish she had stayed.

Perhaps some other way would have been better. A painless one. But she couldn't open her wings now as the air current surrounding her was too strong, the speed that she was falling at was too fast.

She wished Rainbow Dash would come and save her, but it seemed as though the pegasus was either too shocked or just as the shy mare thought, didn't care.

Fluttershy closed her eyes, not wanting to see her end, but no sooner than she did so did she feel hooves wrap themselves around her body.

She opened her eyes in surprise to see the face of an Umbrum staring at her. Fluttershy fainted.

Rainbow Dash felt miserable. Her best friend had just jumped off a cliff. In front of her. And she hadn't done anything to stop Fluttershy, other than talking.

Her chest began to hurt, and as much as she tried, she couldn't stop the hot, stinging tears from flowing out. All her achievements meant nothing to her. In races, she always tried to keep her title, but this was a race she had lost.

Why…why was she so slow? Why was she foolish enough to think that her words alone would stop Fluttershy from jumping? She was foolish…foolish…

Heartbreaker was drinking a mug of coffee - she had abstained from drinking tea ever since the Incident- while pondering upon what to do.

The Storm King was certainly very powerful- the barriers he had put up, as well as their unexpected surprise still haunted her- and as powerful as she was, she doubted she could defeat him even in a one-on-one battle.

Ironically, just as she began to doubt herself, a guard frantically sought permission to enter. She let him.

The Guard looked as though his worst nightmare had been chasing after him.

"Whatever is the matter?" Heartbreaker inquired, concerned.

"Your Highness! The Storm King has invaded Canterlot and is coming towards the Castle!" he gasped out, breathless.

The Queen sighed.

Her coffee sat there, long forgotten.

She had not done so much as move a hoof when the doors burst open. "Speak of the devil ," she muttered.

The Storm King stood there with a bloodthirsty grin on his face and a crazed look in his eyes.

He looks like Twilight, with that grin and look, she thought.

"Prepare to die," he warned her, and as he slammed his staff upon the ground, causing lightning to crackle and illuminate the room, the Guard fainted.

Twilight looked at the changeling, and the figure on its back. "You may go," she said, and he laid the mare down before doing so.

Once the door shut, she returned her gaze to the one she once viewed as a friend, and to be honest, still did. Despite everything that happened, Twilight never found it in her heart to condemn Fluttershy, who was out of all her former friends, the least guilty as she merely gave into peer pressure.

Just like Spike, she was innocent and had the best chance for redemption.

“You should have come to me,” she whispered. “I would have forgiven you, had you asked for my forgiveness. I know you. I know that you are easily led. Did fear of me root itself in your heart? Did you fear that I would declare that I hated you?”

“Confianza!” shouted Twilight, and a maid sought permission to enter.

“What do you require, Your Majesty?” questioned the maid.

“Bring a doctor and prepare a room for this mare,” she ordered.

Fluttershy was suffering from malnutrition and according to the doctor, should have sufficient rest for the following few weeks.

While the Dark Queen stood there, watching her comatose friend, the door opened. “Ah, there you are,” said her betrothed who was holding a scroll in his magical grasp. “Spike received a scroll from Heartbreaker. It seems as though the Storm King has chosen to deal with Equestria first. She requires our aid in defeating him.”

Twilight nodded and her signature cruel smirk became present on her face once again. “Let's go as soon as possible,” she said, as a thought took place in her mind. In Canterlot, there is Discord. And where there is Discord, there lies a chance to either bring him onto our side as an ally, or have fun murdering him. It would be rather interesting to see what can kill a draconequus.

The Dark couple threw the doors of the throne room open to find Heartbreaker on the verge of death at the Storm King's hands and several guards battling yeti soldiers.

“Ooh,” said the Storm King, swivelling his head around to see who had entered, “looks like your little reinforcements are here.”

“Underestimating one's foes is the biggest mistake that one can make,” snarled Sombra.

“Well, this was supposed to be a powerful alicorn, but look at her,” the invader retorted.

Twilight stepped forward and chuckled. “That's only because she wishes not to put all of her power on display. However…” she shot a beam of Dark Magic at him, which he barely managed to avoid, perhaps expecting her to do the typical ‘good guy’ (if she could be called that) speech and then start firing, “I, as well as my partner, on the other hoof, are well versed in the Dark Arts.”

“Let's see just how strong you are, pony,” retorted the Storm King, and slammed his staff down yet again, causing lightning to crackle throughout the room.

“Beginner spells,” said Twilight mockingly. “I'll show you who you're dealing with.”

Saying this, she glanced at Sombra and nodded, and together, they fired continuously at the Storm King, who, in response, cast a multitude of weather spells.

Soon, both parties had used up the majority of their energy, and Twilight feared her horn would explode if she were to cast any more spells.

Heartbreaker, who had been watching from the sidelines to recover, used this moment of vulnerability to step forward and return fire with a spell which fit the theme of the Storm King's.

Lightning charged forth from the corrupted alicorn's horn, only to surround the Storm King and electrocute him as a chilling look of terror took over his face, to remain frozen there forever.

Heartbreaker laughed. “You may be well versed in spells of the sky, but protecting yourself against them seems not to have been in your best interests. Seriously, I expected him to have some sort of defence mechanism.”

Twilight smiled. “Things may not always meet one's expectations, or turn out differently than one thinks, which is why it is wise to try…”

“Well said,” applauded Sombra.

“Well, now that the Storm King is dead, I shall take on Discord…” announced the Dark Queen.

“So soon?” asked Heartbreaker with her tone being one of surprise. “I had thought that you might want to deal with all potential enemies, being who you are, but a little rest wouldn't do you any harm.”

“What Heartbreaker says is correct. You should rest… Not only will you be able to recharge your mana, but you will also be able to think of numerous ways to deal with Discord,” Sombra advised.

Twilight sighed. “...Fine, I shall rest. But if anything or anyone stops me after that,” a dark grin replaced her smile, “there will be hell to pay.”

It was relatively easy to free Discord from his stone prison, considering the fact that the Elements of Harmony were used to seal him away. Perhaps the spell had lost its strength as the Elements no longer functioned, but Twilight cared little for the details of that as she stared at her latest prize. She would save that for later, but right now she would do what she had been waiting to do for weeks. Dealing with Discord.

He would be powerful, but she could overpower him easily with her prowess in Dark Magic. It wouldn't do to get too cocky and underestimate him, but Twilight didn't think that it would do any harm if she was confident in her abilities.

She had studied the weaknesses of draconequus’.

“As useful as it would be to have a draconequus on our side… Draconequus are sly, aren't they, Discord?”

Discord trembled in fear as she walked closer, bearing a maniacal grin. He wasn't easily scared, but something about this particular pony made his skin crawl. She wasn't the one he was used to- none of that ‘friendship and harmony are magic’ nonsense came out of her mouth.

No, she was different, and not the good type of different.

Could he dare to think he stood a chance against her?

Discord found himself heavily outmatched. After an intense staring contest, he thought that it would be wise if he were to make the first move, but upon attempting to cast a spell that would distract his opponent while allowing him to escape, the mare merely dodged it and cast a spell that instantly paralysed him.

Chaos Magic was apparently useless for fighting. What else should he have expected, knowing that it was named so for the magic it performed?

Yes, his magic was powerful, but he could only cause chaos using it. It was good when one was in need of a distraction, but that was all.

He remained motionless, unable to move while she dragged him towards what he remembered to be the Castle dungeons, and his heart leapt into his throat as an unfamiliar feeling of dread began to settle in his gut.

It had been so long since he had felt fear, for he usually evoked it, and now that the tables were turned, he regretted those days of mischief due to which he was now imprisoned.

A little trick here and there for momentary amusement seemed now, of little worth or importance as it had only gotten him imprisoned in the end, due to which he was in this predicament. He had only himself to blame for this…

At last, his senses and mobility were returned to him, and he stood up, trembling, to see the Dark alicorn before him, grin manically.

“I considered letting you live, as it would be immensely useful to have a draconequus on our side. However, I took a look through that head of yours, and it would seem that it would be a foolish move on my part to give you an offer to join us.”

He knew not what came over him, but the thought of death awoke a terror within his heart, and so, he found his lips moving as though he weren't controlling them, and whimpered out, in a pleading voice filled with fear, “Please, don't…”

She merely threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, how I love it when they beg me…but no. Draconequus’ are sly, aren't they, Discord? I cannot afford to let myself fall victim to one of your pranks. Now,” she said in a tone which sounded almost demonical in nature, “how shall we proceed?”

“Why, Twilight, you are becoming quite the master at torturing,” remarked Sombra as his hopefully soon to be wife drove one last dagger through her victim's heart.

As Discord lay writhing on the floor in his death throes, with his entire body covered in blood which oozed out of the numerous wounds afflicted upon it, the alicorn who was soaked in blood that was not her own smirked and turned to the Umbrum King.

"No, not Twilight,” she said. “Twilight was a pathetic pony. I am Midnight Terror, and I shall have no mercy upon those whom I consider as my enemies. "

The Rise Of An Empire

by KingSombraTheTyrantRuler

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter Ten