The Twilight Citadel

by Pyrestrike

Breifing (Fixed)

Equestria was a wasteland. Ever since the Changeling Invasion the entire nation descended into a state of decay and death for all who stood against the Changelings. Cities crumbled and villages burned as the parasites struck from above and took settlements in mere minutes. Canterlot on the other hand had been transformed, better for the Changelings, and worse for the Ponies, The city was now christened with a new name to fit its hollow occupants, Insectious. Emerald green banners flew from every spire of the once lush and beautiful metropolis. Changelings of every size and age roamed the streets minding their own business, selling ponies like food in a marketplace had become common in the city. Any who attempted to flee were quickly dispatched by the drones that patrolled from the skies. The queen now lived in luxury and comfort as she oversaw her beautiful kingdom. A kingdom however that was threatened by the rise of the Aurora Empire. A threat that she vowed would see extinguished at once.

"Lord Shiftwing!" she cried.

A Changeling draped in a green cloak and with a wide brimmed hat on his head entered the former throne room of Princess Celestia and stopped before the chitinous throne. He was a bit taller than most Changelings but was still shorter than the Queen, he raised his head and stared at the imposing monarch with green tinted eyes.

"Do you have the latest status report on our enemies?" she asked.

"I do in fact." the lord replied simply.

"Well... give it to me!"

Shiftwing sighed and levitated a letter from underneath his cloak into the Queen's hooves. She was about to start reading until Shiftwing decided to interrupt her.

"Patience doesn't seem to be one of your virtues my Queen. How do you expect to continue ruling the kingdom with an attitude like that?" Shiftwing asked.

"Shut your mouth and let me read."

After her remark the chitinous monarch returned to her skimming while the lord proceeded to look outside the window in boredom. Her bug-like eyes continued to scan the piece of parchment and taking in any information that seemed to be of use.

"So the Elements have been hiding out inside a damn cave all this time! When I get my hands on the leaders of the search parties I've sent, I'm going to rip their wings off, roast them in the kitchen and then throw them to the poor while they watch." Chrysalis ranted.

"Again with the violent personality. I honestly don't think you can be much more of a tyrant then you are now."

"Would you just....! Bah, forget it, it's impossible to reason with a Changeling that was hatched too early."

Shiftwing turned swiftly toward the Queen and replied darkly to her insult. "Now that's just rude, bringing such personal things to light." He walked up to the Queen and snatched the letter much to her dismay. "So the Bearers of the Elements have finally met the Aurorians. This is a serious problem isn't it? So as your humble Lord of Information and Deception, will you allow me to dispatch my agents and have them eliminate them all? Or would you rather have my current spy continue to send more intelligence until we finally reach the perfect moment to strike." Shiftwing asked, his eyes gleaming dangerously in the shadow of his hat.

"No, I don't wish to eliminate them yet. In fact, this is actually a perfect opportunity." she answered, the gears in her mind began to turn to produce more twisted schemes.

"Explain then."

"Since the Elements will no doubt try to find another habitat worth surviving in after their dicovery, they will attempt to gain access to somewhere... less, dank and dirty like that cave they've been living in for the past decade. We could use them to our advantage and let them lead us directly to where the Aurorian Capital is. Sending a small group of your spies should be enough to gather a lot of intelligence while sabotaging important targets in order for us to launch a full-scale attack on the weakened capital."

Shiftwing tilted his head and contemplated the plan in his head until giving a nod and a quick smile under his hat. "A very detailed operation if I might say so myself. But should this plan fail, then the spies that will be part of this operation will surely be slaughtered."

"Yes they could, but I have a Plan B for this operation. Your spies, should they be captured along their main mission will be assisted by another operative of yours. That operative's goal is to locate the ruler in the Aurorian Capital and assassinate him/her. The guards will then think that this was an operation staged by the Elements and they will be executed. Along with every single pony that was "involved" with them in the so called crime. Without the Element Bearers or their Ruler to keep order, the country will surely fall. Leaving us to pick up the pieces and the new Changeling Empire finally achieving total domination over Equestria!"

Shiftwing's small smile grew into a malicious grin with the excessive details of this scheme. He frowned inwardly however as he pondered the outcomes of her plan. He kept up his facade and hid his pessimism.

"If her Majesty would like, I have the perfect agents in charge for this operation. They have been personally trained by the finest of teachers, myself included. I would also like to take part in this operation myself, albeit from a safe distance of course." Shiftwing asked.

Chrysalis hesitated at the thought of sending the noble out to do this task. She knew that Shiftwing was one of the top spies and infiltrators she has ever met, and that losing him could mean her network of stealth and spying would come to a crashing halt. But she also wanted this job done right, and that no Changeling could do the task better than he could. She paused for a moment until finally answering him.

"Very well then Shiftwing, I'll let you have your fun. As long as you keep a distance on this operation and that show me these "Elite" operatives that you have chosen later on."

"Actually, I already had them selected while you were thinking Your Grace. They are perfect for this operation."

Shiftwing turned to the doors of the throne room and walked a few steps forward. The drones near the throne room doors were curious to what was about to happen but remained in their stoic positions.

"Redline! Bluestreak! Both of you report now!"

At that moment two smaller Changelings with special markings on the cloaks they were wearing appeared almost out of thin air and represented themselves to the Queen. They both looked almost identical to each other, save for the reddish and blueish tints on their eyes and chitin coats as they bowed to their Lord and Queen before speaking in complete unison.

"You called for us Lord Shiftwing?"

"I did, it's time you both have proven yourselves worthy of being servants to the Great Changeling Empire. It's time I sent you on a task that will judge you both as your final trial before becoming a Master Infiltrator."

"A task not too small to handle with the both of us involved."

"I doubt that however, this mission is extremely dangerous, and it may cost one or both of your lives." He warned.

With an almost unnoticable moment of hesitation they replied. "We live to serve our Lord."

Shiftwing looked to the Queen to see she was mildly impressed by the obedience and discipline of these twins as they awaited their orders from the Lord.

"Very well then, now both of you will be in charge of a special operation involving the elusive Aurora Empire and the Elements of Harmony."

"Ah, the Light Casters. They work so hard to bring the Light back to this nation, only to have that light extinguished and for their hope for salvation to be crushed underhoof."

"Yes, but because of the intensity and the importance of the operation I'm sending you both with multiple operatives to command. I'm also sending along with you a little side project that our Crafters have been working on for the last decade."

"What exactly is this project of yours Lord."

"Not an it, more like a who I'm sending along with you. Simply call him Project Singe, he is to be your last resort in deploying only when all else fails. Am I clear?"

"You and the Queen's words are law."

"Then go, prepare yourselves for this operation and choose who will be taken along with you. Once you are ready you are to travel to the Southern city of Prazil. I'll be waiting for you both there and we'll all travel to the Arctic together. I'm expecting progress from you both so don't fail me."

"Failure, is a word not mentioned in any textbook that we have ever read Lord Shiftwing."

With that being said, the two twins disappeared from view as they turned transparent and left the throne room with complete silence.

"I want to know Shiftwing, what... I mean, who is Singe and why are sending it along with them."

Shiftwing cackled in delight as he turned to face the stunned Queen with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"He is the pinnacle of stealth and strength combined into one magnificent creature of power! I just needed to test him out to see if he'll work, and what better opportunity than now!"

"So this is all just a test to you now?" she asked.

"Yes and no, unfortunately I don't wish to spoil the surprise just yet Your Grace. The only thing I can tell you about it is that the "Singe" in his name actually means something."

"But what is that supposed to mean!"

"All in good time your Majesty. All in good time."

At the last moment he trotted away from the puzzled Queen and walked to the doors of the throne room. The drones opened it and he trotted smoothly away from the throne room. Chrysalis remained confused to as what the Lord had said and continued to think what Shiftwing's word could mean.

"Singe?"

Comments

[FictionFlyer]

Well Chrysalis let's hope you're in for a long wait. I don't think the Arourian Queen will be in a talking mood when she sees the Mane 5. Also I'm guessing here that Shining Armor, Cadence, and the Princesses fates are ambiguous?

Just so many things come to mind with this story. Keep up the good work.

[rst64tlc]

I want more!

[BatPonyBrony]

Dang, this is some neat stuff you have going on here. I have always liked the "exiled Twilight" stories, but sadly there aren't many good ones. This has lost of potential though! An exiled Twilight who somehow managed to build her own nation and now stands to threaten Chrysalis rule? Awesome!

I hope we get to see her motives explored - like what caused her to try and establish her own country instead of simply retreating to some faraway city of some other nation and simply living her life there quietly, and how she managed to do it in such a short time - not that many years have passed after all. And where did she find the ponies to do so. I mean, I get the impression that she formed her own country instead of taking a piece of Equestria - does that mean there were hordes of 'free' ponies living outside Equestria's borders that banded under Twilight's rule or something?

And I can't wait until the bunch manage to meet Twilight again ... for some reason I imagine that's one reunion that won't go all that smoothly. Speaking of which, I wonder where Celestia/Luna are. I just hope Cadence wasn't left to die in the caves below Canterlot.

And Singe? Why do I get the feeling that Twilight's husband didn't die but was actually captured by the Changelings and i dunno, experimented upon to form whatever that thing was they were talking about? This should be good ...

I only wish that you slowed down the pace a bit. Your story is moving very fast and the dialog and narration could use more details and descriptions. Sometimes it's even a bit hard to say who is even taking, because the scenes aren't described properly. Still a very entertaining story and I can hardly wait for moar

[Pyrestrike]

5934974
I suggest you rethink your idea about Singe.
It's all in the names.
That's all I'll say of the matter

[Cross Lament]

5937832 Singe is probably Shiftwing's number-one assistant.

[Moon Glow]

This is interesting. Though I must advise that you inform the reader on who is speaking what line so they could figure out who's talking. Applejack's easy, but the rest need work.

[Pyrestrike]

I apologize for my recent inactivity on the Twilight Citadel. I have run into a multitude of important events which require my attention. A new Chapter will be posted in a week or two, please be patient with this. That is all I have to say of the matter.

[Cross Lament]

6050668 IRL comes first, after all! Good luck out there.

[Pyrestrike]

Dear God I've been backtracked and set back badly recently. Due to the unforseen wedding of my relatives and the baby shower of my Aunt, I'm afraid that the story will be put on hiatus until I've finished most of my plans and tasks for the month. I swear that a new chapter will be posted in due time, estimated time until a new chapter is 2 or 3 weeks. I apologize for the delay but relatives are relatives and moments like these only happen once in a lifetime. I won't let this story die on me yet and I can assure you all that I won't be procrastinating on it either. That is all I'll say of the matter.

[Born-From-Black-Lightnin]

Okay I will say this now I usually don't read Dark tagged stories. But this one caught my interest in more ways then one. It was featured and it has a nice up vote ratio.

So far this is a really good story but I have THREE problems with this story right now and the first two are the most important.

1) Please separate all of your paragraphs with a space. they are all one right after the other with out breaks between them and it makes it difficult to read and kinda makes it look sloppy.
And it is not a hard mistake to fix either. It should take no more the 5min top each chapter and I'm over estimating that mark. Given how many chapters you have so far it should take you now more then like 30 min to correct.

2) You are lacking description both character desceiption and land description. If fact this chapter has the most discritption of all the chapters so far.
The worst of it is that you only described the Prinecess daughter fully. All of the other children of the mane 6 have gone undiscribed. You would not have to do it all at once but at least make sure we know what they look like when they show up.
When the illusion spell on the Prince wore off in the cave all you said was that there was a little colt sitting there. No fur color, no eye color no mane color. You say nothing about his looks. Yes it's clear that he is Twilights son and I'm sure he looks a lot like but but you still should say something about him. If fact you said more about Swiftwing then Twilights son!

3) To me the pacing seems to be a little fast as well but sometimes fast pacing is good it can help more a story along.
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Sorry for the long winded rant on point #2 but my point stands that it's, at least for me, the weakest part of this whole story.

Now that is not to say that I hate this or dislike it it's the opposit in fact I am enjoying it quit well. Even with the Dark tag.

So far I will give this story a 7.5/10. The paragraph spacing is an easy fix to do. And all that describing what characters look like is going to do is take up some time and word space.

Well I will defenently read more of this later on. I have a boat load of IRL stuff to take care of. Plus with me any story updates take president over long chapter stories that I may be currently reading.

I'll read you later
-BFBL