Twilight had been in her tower for two days when the day arrived that she would go and gather her allies. The sun woke her up and she headed out to her balcony. She looked out from her balcony and scanned her empire. Her general landed next to her and said, "You have a absolutely spectacular view from up here, don't you?"
Twilight replied, "Yes Green Haze, I have a view to die for. I suppose I better eat a good breakfast before I head off to the south to visit Chrysalis. I am going to need all the strength I can get. Let's go eat."
Twilight and her general headed into the dining hall and had a tasty breakfast which consisted of eggs, bacon, toast, sliced apples and hay. Twilight ate a double serving of everything and downed a pitcher of cider with it.
Twilight then went back to her balcony ready to take off. Green Haze ran to the balcony and said, "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," replied Twilight "I need you to stay here and make everypony know that I am just on a trip and not abdicating the throne."
"I understand that Twilight. You have a safe trip." said Green Haze
Twilight spread her wings and took off towards the south. Once she left her empire she sped up and broke the sound barrier, creating a loud boom accompanied by a purple wave. She very quickly reached the realm of Chrysalis. Chrysalis was looking off towards the north when she saw a purple figure approaching. She said to herself, "That is Twilight coming, I bet she has got everything ready for our assault on Canterlot."
Twilight reached Chrysalis's tower, landed on the balcony and said, "Chrysi, how is everything going! It is good to see you again."
"It is good to see you again too Twily! How is everything going?"
Twilight told Chrysalis that everything was going alright. She also told her that Sombra is with them regarding the attack on Canterlot and told her about her successful raid on Fillydelphia and the completion of her tower.
Chrysalis said, "Wow, you have been busy here lately. You are definitely dead set on conquering all of Equestria."
"Of course I am!" replied Twilight "You honestly think that I am just going to settle for the realm Celestia gave me? We didn't form this alliance to have three separate small empires. We formed it to conquer all of Equestria!" said Twilight
Twilight and Chrysalis went into her throne room and discussed their plans. "Are there any of Canterlot's royal guard living in the southern realm of Equestria?" asked Chrysalis wondering if it would be safe for her to take her whole army with her.
Twilight replied, "Nopony lives within 300 miles of your realm. Southern Equestria is an uninhabited wasteland, well that is what Celestia called it." replied Twilight
Queen Chrysalis realized that she would be able to take her whole changeling army to Ponyville to prepare for the assault on Canterlot. This made both leaders very happy.
"Before we leave we will need to cast the invisibility spell on you and your army. We can not have Celestia or anypony else in Canterlot seeing you guys heading into my empire." said Twilight "Once you are ready to leave we will do that. Do you remember the spell or do you want me to cast it?"
Chrysalis replied, "I am ready. Iron Sheath, I need you to gather every single changeling and gather around me. I am about to cast an invisibility spell on us."
The general replied, "You know that kind of magic now? How did you learn it?"
Chrysalis said, "Twily taught it to me. We are allies now and she wants all of us to know the same magic before we go to war against Canterlot."
General Iron Sheath then gathered all the changelings around Chrysalis. As her horn began to glow green she recited, "Whether it be one or a bunch of ones, nopony needs to see so that we don't have to flee, invisibility is the treat of not having to retreat."
Suddenly Chrysalis and her army were invisible. Twilight said, "Let's get going. It is a long flight back to Ponyville and I still have to head to the Crystal Empire today." Twilight, Chrysalis and her army then sped northwards towards Ponyville.
Back in Canterlot Celestia has shut herself in her room and can be heard crying all the way out in the throne room. Spike and his friends are wondering what is going on. "What is going on with her Princess?" asked Applejack
Luna replied, "Dear Applejack, I am not 100% sure what is going on but I think the horrible reality that Twilight has betrayed Equestria has finally hit her. She loved Twilight like she were her own child. I think that she loved Twilight even more than her own parents did."
Spike went on to say, "Yeah, I know she loved Twilight more than anything else in the world. Why do you think she helped her out any way she could? She loved Twilight so much that she even let her stay in Ponyville after she finally discovered what friendship is. It may not have seemed like it, but I know that was tough on her."
Nopony had ever seen Celestia so distraught. Soon she could be heard crying all over Canterlot. This caused a lot of ponies to wonder what was going on. Very soon Twilight's parents, Crescent Sparkle and Twilight Velvet came rushing to the castle. The royal guard, knowing they are Twilight's parents, let her in. They ran to the throne room to find Princess Luna, Twilight's friends and Spike. Twilight Velvet looked at Luna and said, "Your Majesty, why is Celestia crying so hard?"
Luna replied, "It involves Twilight. There is a strong suspicion that Twilight has betrayed Equestria and has joined the dark alliance of King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis to conquer Equestria."
"Why would you think that?" asked Crescent Sparkle. "Twilight is as loyal to you two as they come"
Luna then took the two to the balcony and had them look off to the east. "You see that purple force field and that dark tower? Twilight has shut off her realm from the rest of Equestria and that tower closely resembles Chrysalis's tower in the far south of our country." said Luna
"Is there anyway we could speak with Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight Velvet
Luna replied, "I will go see if I can talk to her, but I don't think she will be in the mood to talk. I have never seen her like this before. I will be back."
Luna headed back towards Celestia's room and knocked on the door. "Luna said, Celestia, we have company and it is very important that you be out here. They want to talk to you."
"Go away!" shouted Celestia "I don't want to talk to anypony right now."
Luna replied, "It is Twilight's parents. They are wondering why you are crying so loudly. They thought maybe something horrible had happened to their daughter."
Celestia jumped up off her bed and said, "Ok, I will see them." Celestia walked with Luna back out to the throne room to find Twilight's parents waiting.
"Your Majesties, we are wondering why you are crying so hard. Did something happen to Twilight or did she do something to hurt your feelings?" asked Twilight Velvet
"I'm not sure what happened with Twilight. Ever since not too long after the coronation something didn't seem right about her. She stopped replying to my letters." sobbed Celestia
Spike continued, "Yeah and then one night she got home and there was another her waiting for her. They had a staring contest and the other Twilight won and then headed back towards the south."
Luna went on to tell them about how Spike had said that the next morning Twilight said she had business to take care of in Canterlot but sped off to the south where Queen Chrysalis lives and how not too long after that she put up a force field and started having a tower built.
Crescent Sparkle had this worried look on his face and said, "I have a very bad feeling that she did indeed turn on you two. I know you may think I sound crazy but sometimes I get these feelings, kind of like a sixth sense."
Celestia looked at him and said, "No, I don't think you are crazy. Luna has these feelings all the time and I have always ignored her and now I have come to the realization that she is right."
Twilight Velvet then asked the two if they know why they hadn't heard from Shining Armor in a while. She said that normally they hear from him regularly.
Luna replied, "Well, I have a bad feeling that the Crystal Emire fell to a joint force between King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis. Naturally my big sister just blew it off and now there is nothing we can do because rumor has it that Sombra has a massive army in the empire with him."
Crescent Sparkle and Twilight Velvet both started to cry knowing that their son is most likely being held captive by the evil unicorn king and that their daughter has been corrupted into a wicked mare.
Luna told the two, "We will figure something out. What, I don't know yet but we won't just let things remain the way they are."
That made Twilight's parents feel a little better and then they headed home.
Back in the far south Twilight departed with Chrysalis and her army. It took a while longer to fly back to Ponyville than it did for Twilight to get to Chrysalis's realm because changelings can not fly as fast as an Alicorn. They finally arrived back in Ponyville around 3 in the afternoon. Once they got to Twilight's tower Chrysalis cast the counter spell to make herself and her army visible again.
"Twily, what are you going to do now?" asked Chrysalis
Twilight replied, "I must now fly off to the Crystal Empire. I have to leave immediately so I can get there at a decent time. I will not return until tomorrow as it will be too late to fly back after I am done meeting with him."
"Why do you say that Twily?" asked Chrysalis
Twilight told Chrysalis that she and Sombra will have to round up the necessary forces for their assault on the capitol and that since Sombra and his army can't fly, that it won't be a quick trip, even to the northern edge of the Everfree Forest, much less Ponyville.
Twilight took off towards the Crystal Empire with great speed. She arrived there much sooner than she had expected, around 4:30. She crossed the dome barrier and headed towards Sombra's tower.
Sombra was looking off to the south when he saw a purple figure approaching. He shouted, "Twily, how's it going?"
Twilight flew in and landed next to him and said, "Everything is going alright. Chrysalis and her forces are already in Ponyville. I think we should leave early tomorrow morning to get your forces inside my realm. From here it is approximately an eight hour march from here, across the arctic and to the northern most part of the Everfree Forest, where my force field starts."
Sombra nodded and said, "Wow, I didn't know it was that far. So if we leave tomorrow morning and we hit the northernmost part of your empire around 4 in the afternoon, when do you think we would arrive in Ponyville?"
Twilight told him that it would depend as to whether they marched over night or if they rested for the night once they got into the forest. She told him that if they took a short rest and then marched through the forest at night that they may arrive around one in the morning or if they rested until dawn the next day that they would arrive around four in the afternoon.
Sombra asked, "Which would you do? We don't know our way through the Everfree Forest and I know that you do."
Twilight thought about it for a minute and said, "I would suggest you guys get a little ways into the forest and then rest for the night. I will rest with you because that forest is hard enough to navigate during the day, much less at night. I know that forest like the back of my hoof so I will be able to guide your forces through the forest easily."
Sombra said, "Thank you Twily, you are probably the best ally anypony could ever have. Let's go get some supper. I am guessing that you are probably hungry."
"Yes," replied Twilight, "I haven't ate anything since breakfast as I have already been to Chrysalis's realm and got them back to Ponyville. So yeah, let's eat."
The two ate and laughed about how well things are going so far. Sombra went into more detail of how easy it was to conquer the Crystal Empire and Twilight went into detail of how she used her own changeling army to round up the necessary labor from Fillydelphia to get done what she needed done.
Sombra asked, "What are you going to do with the ponies you took from the big city?"
Twilight went on to tell him about how she will make some of them her personal chefs, how some will become groundskeepers for Ponyville and how those who are the strongest she will turn them into soldiers.
Sombra asked, "Wait a minute, aren't you worried that the soldiers will defect and aid Canterlot and that the chefs will try to poison you?"
"Don't worry, I have already brainwashed them. Chrysalis taught me how she did that when I joined the dark alliance." replied Twilight
Twilight told Sombra that they along with his army need to get some rest because she wants to leave before dawn. She said that maybe, just maybe if they leave before dawn, they can reach Ponyville just after sunset tomorrow.
They, along with all of Sombra's soldiers, retired for the night. Twilight woke them up at 3 in the morning so they could have a bite to eat before they headed off on their march. They got done eating just before 4 and they started their march southward.
The arctic was unusually calm that morning. It was cold but the wind was not blowing and the snow was not falling. They ultimately reached the end of the arctic and temperatures started to rise and there was no snow on the ground. off in the distance there was a purple haze. Sombra asked, "What is that purple haze on the horizon?"
Twilight replied, "That is the beginning of my realm. I think we should take a short rest once we get through my force field. There is some food in the northern part of the Everfree Forest to fill up on. It will primarily be leaves but it is better than nothing at all."
Right around noon Twilight, Sombra and his army crossed into Twilight's empire. They were glad to get out of the chilly norther realm and actually had something to eat.
"Twily, how long will we be resting for?" asked Sombra
Twily replied, "We will be resting for an hour. If we leave around one, we will reach Ponyville by 8, just as the sun is setting. We can then fill up and then the three of us can discuss our battle plans."
The hour passed way too quickly for Sombra's army as they were still quite tired. They continued their march southward towards Ponyville as time seemed to crawl for Sombra's forces. They felt like they were going to pass out as they exited the Everfree Forest and entered the outskirts of Ponyville. They finally reached Twilight's tower and they were greeted by Chrysalis, "Twily, Sombra!" shouted a happy Chrysalis, "How is everything going?"
Sombra replied, "Well I'm a bit tired and my army is dead tired. I didn't know if they were going to make it."
Twilight said, "Well let's all eat, us three and our armies. "Sombra and I are hungry and I know his army is starving."
Sombra's army, Twilight's army and Chrysalis's army all had their meal outside in the training area while the three leaders had a lavish dinner, the biggest one that both Sombra and Chrysalis had ever seen.
"Wow Twily, you really outdid yourself this time!" said Chrysalis
"It was my chefs that put this together. They know that when I have company, especially company as important as you two, that a huge meal is necessary. When Luna asked me if I was going to build a tower and I initially said no, she had this odd look on her face. Now I know why she thought I was nuts for not wanting to have one built. This is how a queen should live!"
Chrysalis asked her allies, "So what are our plans involving the upcoming assault?"
Twilight replied, "Chrysi, let's just relax for tonight. Sombra and I just got back from a very long journey. We have time to discuss this. Besides, we have to train our forces for this anyway."
Sombra added, "Twily is right, let's just relax for the night. This meal is way too good to discuss military matters over. It is a time to relax and laugh over the lighter things in life."
They stayed up until 11 when Twilight told them it is time to go to bed. She said, "We need to get some rest. Tomorrow we start training exercises for our military and we can start discussing the best routes for our attack. Good night everypony."
Her allies wished her a good night as well and they all fell asleep and got plenty of rest.