> The Princess Consort
>  by Futile Task
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Princess Consort Chapter 01: The Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight sat in front of the Mirror Pool, her brain going over everything she had read as she glanced at the surface with wonder. It had been several days since the incident with Pinkie Pie, and now she sought to replicate the process, but this time with better results.

She lifted up the book she had found on the mirror pool, a great tome that went in depth into the magic of the pool, and hopefully with the knowledge she would be able to create a better clone then what Pinkie had generated, and quickly set to work. She recited the words Pinkie had used, all the while letting her horn glow with magic as she lowered her hoof into the water, feeling another grab her and quickly pulling her out. But when she saw what the mare looked like she got confused, for the pony now standing before her looked nothing like her, save for the way she wore her hair.

“Who are you,” asked Twilight.

“My name is Twilight Andromeda, Princess Consort to her majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who the buck are you?”





Celestia sat at her throne looking tired, having sent away her court for the day due to felling a bit worn form all the affairs going on in the world. She knew why she was worn out, she didn’t have her old consort with her, the mare who had sworn her soul to both her and Luna and had accompanied them through the centuries, but now she was lost, at least till the one who held her was ready for the awakening.

So it was to her complete and utter surprise when Twilight Sparkle burst through the throne room doors, followed closely by the late Twilight Andromeda, who had been the last incarnation of her lover before her passing.

“Twilight, wha…what are you doing here?”

Twilight stopped in front of her throne, looking on the verge of screaming as she spoke. “I was down by the mirror pool, having found a book on the subject and deciding to try it out, but when I put my hoof into the pool, I pulled out this pony, who then used the name of my great grandmother and said she was your concert, so I want to know what the buck is going on here?”

Celestia was about to speak, but then the door opened yet again, and Luna came walking into the room. “I just felt a familiar presence, is she…” she then saw Andromeda, squealing with joy and tackling the mare, kissing her deep in front of everypony. She then broke the kiss, looking down at the mare below her and speaking. “You look so much different from what we expected love, at first we thought…”

“Luna,” said Celestia warily, drawing her sisters gaze as she spoke. “That is not our lover…well, not entirely. She…she is a copy, a memory from…well…”

She then turned her gaze toward Twilight, trying to look as innocent as possible despite the look on Twilight’s face. “I…I guess we have some things to talk about.”

Twilight just nodded, not wanting to speak as she cast a spell to make the other Twilight disappear, causing Luna to pout. Celestia then motioned for them both to follow, leading them through the halls to her room and inviting them both in, though Twilight remained wary as she went over to sit down in a near by chair.

“Um…Twilight, would you mind joining me on the bed?” asked Celestia as she sat down with her sister, making a place for her to sit between them.

“Um, I’m not sure I shou…”

“Please Twilight,” said Luna, “We promise to keep our hooves to ourselves, just please sit with us.”

Twilight hesitated, and then got up; sitting between the princesses and then turning to Celestia, waiting for her to speak.

“Well, where to begin, I guess this all started about three thousand years ago, when Luna and I were younger. It was before we had ascended to the throne, our mother felt it wasn’t time for us to help the ponies, knowing they still had some issues with each other that they needed to work out. During that time we simply explored the countryside, happy to be free of any responsibilities and simply enjoying life, and then…well…we met you.”

“Me,” said Twilight, looking confused.

“Well it was a earlier version of you,” said Luna, “but she shared you name. When we saw her, both my sister and I fell madly in love with her, and she us, when we revealed ourselves. It was the most perfect thing to happen to us, for she saw no need to love just one of us, and we felt comfortable in sharing the same mare, rather then force her to chose.”

She then nodded to Celestia, who nodded and continued for her. “but sadly our happiness was not to last, for like all mortals, she was bound by the strands of time, doomed to fade away as the years inevitably passed. We became distraught, even when our mother assured us that it would be alright, and then she came, and told us we would not need to fear, for she had found a way to stay with us…for all time.”

“You see normally when ponies die,” said Luna, “their souls travel to Elysium, to join with the others their in eternal happiness. But she…well that is to say you figured out away to cut yourself off from traveling to that realm, and instead made it so that your soul would be reincarnated in the body of another unicorn.”

“Unfortunately,” said Celestia, “the process locked away your memories when you were born in the new body, and so we devised a plan. After you passed, we would wait three years, then look for you. Once we found you, we would watch over you and wait till you were old enough, and then we would help you to remember who you were, and then we would join with you once again. And so for three thousand we have done this, watching over you as you time and time again returned to us, bringing us joy and laughter we had never though we would be able to keep.”

“Of course, there were bad times,” said Luna, looking crest fallen as she spoke. “for during one of your passing’s, I found myself regretting our decision, for the pain of having to constantly wait for you time and time again had started eating away at me, and sadly contributed to me becoming Nightmare Moon.”

“and when you returned,” said Celestia, “it was to find a broken princess who had lost something cherished to her, but you comforted me none the less, telling me everything was alright, and that we would see her again, some day. And so we soldiered on, you appearing now and again to provide me comfort while we waited, while I stayed ever vigilant as I waited for both of you to return to me…”

Twilight just sat there, her mind gone numb from all the information she had just received. She was thousands of years old, the apparent lover of the princesses of Equestria, and had cheated death at the repeated cost of losing her memories for a short period of time just to stay with them for all eternity. “This is crazy,” she said softly, her head falling into her hooves. “It’s like I’ve dived head first into one of Rarity’s Romance novels…with me as the main character, I…I don’t know what to do.”

Celestia placed a comforting wing onto her back along with Luna, resisting the urge to nuzzle her in comfort. “It will be entirely your decision Twilight, it has always been. If you wish to remember who you are, we will be more then happy to help you, but if you wish to remain as you are, then we will not force you.”

“I…I will need some time to think about it.”

“Take all the time you need my…Twilight, we can wait, we will always wait,” said Princess Luna.

Twilight nodded, then got up, “I better go, I’ll…I’ll see you latter, after I…figure all this out.”

She then left, leaving out the door and leaving Celestia and Luna alone, Luna waiting till she was out of earshot before breaking down in tears, clutching Celestia close. “Oh I hope she says yes, I can’t bear to wait another hundred years to be with her again.”

“I know Luna, I hope so to.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 02: No Choice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been many hours since Twilight had returned to Ponyville from Canterlot, and she was at a loss now that she was home. She was the resurrected lover of the princesses of Equestria, a pony defying the system, cut off from the cycle of Life and Death, and now she was left with a  choice.

But how could she choose, if she allowed them to reawaken her former self, the pony she was now might get overridden by all those memories, and be lost forever. But if she said now, she would be denying the princesses the pony that they loved, forcing them to have to wait to offer the choice again to whoever their past lover decided to be born as next.

It was an impossible choice, but one she could make, because she knew in the end what was more important. So with a heavy heart, she got up out of her bed and headed for the door, planning to catch the next train to Canterlot as soon as possible.

*

“Thank you for coming so soon Twilight,” said Celestia, the mare smiling as she and her sister stood before the young mare.

“I can't stay long,” said Twilight, “I just wanted to come and give you my answer.”

“So you've decided then?” asked Luna.

Twilight nodded.

“And?”

Twilight took a deep breath, and then let it out before speaking.

“I'm sorry, but I cant do this. I know that you loved her, and I know that this will hurt, but I can't take the risk that this will change me too much, and I will loose who I am.”

“But Twilight that won't....”

“You can't guarantee that,” said Twilight, “and I am sorry princess, but I can't give up my friends nor the life I am living now.....not even for you.”

“I.....I need to go!” cried Luna, before sprinting out of the room with tears streaming behind her as she ran.

When Twilight turned back to look at Celestia, she saw that the Sun Princess was crying as well, and she immediately went to apologize. “Princess.....I'm...”

“It's.....its alright Twilight, I....I understand...Just.....please go, I need to clear my head for a moment.”

Twilight nodded, leaving the room and closing the door behind her, unable to block out the sound of Celestia beginning to sob as she left.

Hesitating a moment, she considered going back in and comforting the princess, but thought better of it, knowing she would only bring her more  pain. So she turned around, and came face to face with Princess Luna, who was looking at her with a hurt but hopeful expression as she spoke.

“Please.....please re-consider, I will promise you anything within my power, just please.....please let us have our love back.”

“I'm sorry Luna, but I made my decision....I hope you'll forgive me someday.”

She walked Past the princess, making it a few steps away from her when she felt the floor shake.

“YOU WOULD DARE KEEP HER FROM US!!!”

Twilight spun around, looking to see Luna had stamped her hoof down on the floor, and her horn was glow bright, a similar glow having surrounded the door, which was shaking as she heard Princess Celestia's voice sound from within.

“Luna don't do this....”

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU MAY HAVE SAVED US FROM THE NIGHTMARE, YOU MAY HAVE SAVED EQUESTRIA FROM DISCORD, BUT YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO OUR LOVE, AND WE WILL BE DAMBED IF WE LET YOU, A SHADOW OF SENTIANCE, STAND IN THE WAY OF MINE AND MY SISTERS HAPPIENESS!!!”

Then, before she could react, Luna's eyes glowed bright blue as she blasted her with a spell, and Twilight fell, her world going black as she heard the door's to Celestia's chambers crash open, and then she knew no more.

*

When Twilight woke up, she found herself in a strange place, fog swirling around her in all directions, save for the small patch of ground she now found herself on.

As she started to look around, she heard the sound of approaching hooves, and when she looked to see who it was, her eyes widened in shock, for she could not believe who was standing before her.

“Twilight Andromeda?”

“......Oh Twilight, I am so sorry.”

The mare, who was acting far differently from what Twilight remembered from when she had come out of the mirror pool, ran over to her and pulled her into a comforting hug, which Twilight began returned after a while, happy to have some comfort a midst all this confusion.

When they finally parted, Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts, she spoke. “I....I'm dead, aren't I?”

Andromeda shook her head, “No, no you are not dead....not entirely, but your body.....your body has been stolen from you.”

“Stolen....by what?”

“....That will be a bit hard to explain, for it has to deal with the nature of souls, and how they truly function....for what you have been told about souls by the princesses was a complete and utter lie.”

Twilight's eyes widened in panic, “What....but the princess would never....”

“Lie to thee?” asked another voice, Twilight turning to see another unicorn, one which looked frighteningly familiar to Twilight.

“You....you look like Sombra.”

The mare nodded, “In life we were his daughter Umbranox, born to him by the only pony he ever loved. We knew twenty years of life before we were taken by the fell shadow known as the first Twilight Sparkle, but we will explain that soon. For now, walk with us.”

Twilight followed the strange mare, through the never ending fog, Andromeda staying close to her side as she looked around, before finally she dared to speak. “What is this place?”

“Those of us trapped her call it the place between,” said Andromeda, “think of it as a bridge, between Gaia, realm of the living, and Elysium, the realm of the dead. Do you see those lights above us, traveling in the fog?”

Twilight looked up, taking a moment but eventually seeing what Andromeda was talking about, seeing lights traveling two ways above them through the fog. “I do....what are they?”

“Souls, traveling between the Gaia and Elysium, perpetuating the eternal cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth.”

Twilight's eyes widened at that, “what....but the princesses said....”

“They were lying to thee young Twilight,” said Umbranox, “as they have lied to many over the years, for the truth about what happens to a ponies souls when they die has long been lost to ponykind.”

“But you both know....could you tell me.”

Andromeda and Umbranox nodded, Andromeda choosing to speak next as they continued walking. “When a soul dies, they do indeed go to Elysium, but not for the rest of eternity. You see Twilight, the realms of the living and the dead constantly exchange energies between each other, and they use souls to do so. So, when a souls enters into Elysium, they live there only for as long as they lived within the realm of the living, and then they leave to be reborn in Gaia, continuing the cycle and keeping both realms healthy and vibrant.”

“Then what happened to me.....to us?” asked Twilight.

“The fell shadow,” growled Umbranox, “the one known as the first Twilight, she stole your body, like she has done to many others before you.”

“But why,” said Twilight, “if what you say is true, wouldn't she already be guaranteed reincarnation, why steal the bodies of other ponies?”

“Because of the time gap between dying and resurrecting Twilight. Lets say a pony lives for their maximum expected life span, one hundred years. That means that when that pony dies, they spend the same amount of time in Elysium, which would mean one hundred years away from the living world. For the first Twilight Sparkle, that was unacceptable, for she could not bare to be separated from her lovers, so she decided to do something abhorrent, she turned to soul magic.”

Twilight had to stop, “She WHAT!”

“She turned to soul magic,” said Umbanox, “one of the oldest and most potent of magics, but also forbidden due to the imbalance it causes to the world. Her talent is for soul magic, and thanks to this, she figured out a way to separate herself from the cycle, and whenever her new body dies, she looks for a soul returning from Elysium, latches onto it, and then goes dormant, waiting for her loves to find that pony and then preform the spell she taught them to re-awaken her....but only as long as the one she is hibernating within agrees to it.”

“But I didn't,” said Twilight, “Luna cast the spell on me against my will, she.....she said she wouldn't let a shadow of sentience stand in the way of her or her sisters happiness.”

That got a look from both Umbanox and Andromeda, Andromeda pondering it a moment before speaking. “They must truly believe that their Twilight found a way to quicken the cycle of rebirth....or they are lying to themselves....either way you are here now, and hopefully, you can help us to end her tyrannical reign.”

“But what can I do?”

“You will see,” said Unbranox with a smile, “now be prepared, for the others are waiting to meet you.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 03: Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She slowly awoke to the sound of voices nearby, her head feeling foggy as she cracked open her eyes a bit.
 
“Luna she said no!”
 
“We....we know sister, but we couldn't wait, we had been gone for so long, and we missed her terribly....surely she will forgive us.....”
 
“That is not the point Luna, you broke your word, you defied her rules, rules she made to keep us safe!”
 
“We know but.....
 
“Lulu...?”
 
Both Luna and Celestia turned sharply, seeing the love of their life staring at them, her eyes glowing brightly as she looked at Luna with amazement.
 
“Lulu....your back....”
 
Crying, Luna surged forward, wrapping her lips around the other mares and kissing her with such a fierce passion the other mare nearly passed out due to its intensity.
 
When she finally pulled away, she grabbed her face in her hooves and looked at her. “My Twilight, my dear Twilight, you have returned to me....It....it's been so long....”
 
“I missed you....” said Twilight, only to jump when she heard a throat being cleared.
 
“Twilight, while I am happy to see you back with us, we have a little matter which we must discuss.”
 
“Tia couldn't it....”
 
“Luna we will talk about this now!” said Celestia, glaring at her sister before turning to Twilight and speaking. “My dear Twilight, Luna blasted your host with the awakening spell when she was unwilling, not wanting to wait.”
 
Twilight stared at her a moment, then turned a glare to Luna, her eyes flashing red as she spoke. “You stupid mare, don't you realize what could have happened if somepony had seen you do that!”
 
“I know but....”
 
“But nothing!” yelled Twilight, getting up out of the bed and continuing to glare at Luna as she spoke to her. “I made the rules to keep us safe, I made the rules to make sure that those around you wouldn't become afraid or possibly hostile due to what we are doing. Soul Magic is forbidden Luna, taboo, and if anypony ever found out you and your sister were preforming it, it would cause mass hysteria, maybe even civil war!”
 
“But she was keeping you from us.....what right did she have to do that, what right does a mere.....imitation of life have to rob us of years spent with you.....”
 
Twilight made to speak, but then she saw the look on Celestia's face, a look which confused her. “Celestia, is something wrong?”
 
“It's nothing my Twilight,” said Celestia, averting her eyes so that she wasn't looking at her.
 
This caused Twilight to glare at her, the mare looking to Luna and speaking to her in a commanding tone. “Luna, I am going to take your sister out of this room and speak to her for a moment, and I want you to stay in this bed, do you understand me?”
 
Luna looked hesitant, then nodded, Twilight kissing her on the cheek before gesturing for Celestia to follow her.
 
They left her chambers and headed out to the balcony, Twilight closing the doors and then warding the entire area with a bubble of sound before speaking to Celestia. “Ok Tia, what is going on, you looked upset back there after what Luna said, and I want to know why?”
 
“Do you plan to punish her?”
 
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, “I don't see how I could, you know she would gladly do anything I say, and the only way I could really punish her is to deny her my company, which I will not do. But that doesn't answer my question, you reacted when Luna spoke about my host keeping me from both of you, and I want to know why.”
 
The room filled with a heavy silence at that point, and then Celestia breathed out a heavy sigh before speaking. “Because I know how you cheated the cycle of death and rebirth Twilight Everfree Sparkle.”
 
Twilight's eyes widened at that, the mare's shock speaking volumes as she spoke to her lover, “How?”
 
“Not even going to try denying it,” said Celestia, “no trying to convince me that I am mistaken?”
 
“I know better than to do that,” said Twilight, “You never say anything unless you are absolutely sure of it....now tell me, how did you figure it out?”
 
Celestia smirked, “The question is not how, but when.”
 
“When?”
 
Celestia nodded, “When, for I found it out over a thousand years ago, when the soul of Nyx Phiriosa killed you while you were in the body of Umbranox.”
 
“And how can you be sure of that, it could have been as Luna said, a crystal pony who happened to look like her.”
 
“Luna never saw her,” said Celestia, “and I also recognized the signature of her soul, for I remembered it from the past. But to be sure, I waited till I felt your presence once again on this world. When I went to find you, I cast the soul detection spell.....and I found two souls within the body of Sunset Shimmer, not one. And, when I cast the re-awakening spell on her after she gave her consent, I cast the soul detect spell again as the re-awakening spell went off, and felt one soul disappear, while the other soul.....your soul, grew stronger and took over.”
 
Twilight didn't say anything for a moment, and then she sighed, taking a moment to collect herself a bit before speaking once more. “Then tell me, if you knew about this, why did you keep bringing me back. I can understand the first time after finding out, you were still reeling from the loss of your sister, and having somepony who could truly share your pain probably outweighed any moral problems you might have had with the method I chose to cheat the cycle. But after that, why did you keep bringing back, knowing what you know?”
 
“.......Because I can't live without you.”
 
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, “Explain.”
 
“.......You are our soul mate Twilight, mine....and my sisters. No pony we could ever find would ever compare to you, not a single one, there is.....there is nopony in the world like you.”
 
Then, without warning, she pounced upon Twilight, pinning her on her back to the floor below as she stared down at her, Twilight gasping when she saw that the princess's mane had caught flame, and her eyes had turned to twin glowing suns.
 
“So I want you to realize the gravity of how important you are to me and my sister, and the depths I am willing to go just to be with you. Each of those ponies you latched onto I have viewed as a friend, some as a close companion, and some I have seen as my own, but in the end none of that mattered, for none of them compared to you. And if you but asked me, or if it would grant me the ability to keep you with me and my sister forever and ever, I would burn down this entire world for you, and fashion a necklace from its ashen remains as a gift to symbolize my love, such is the passion which burns within my heart. So once more, I did it because no matter how it is done, I will do it, because I cannot live without you.”
 
She then got up and walked to the edge of the balcony, leaving Twilight panting on the floor till the mare managed to right herself, taking a deep breath before speaking. “Does Luna know?”
 
Celestia shook her head, “No, and I don't think she should, this would be too painful for her to know, you know how she is.”
 
“While I do know how she is, I am afraid I will have to disagree, she will need to be told.”
 
Celestia rounded on her, looking shocked, “What....Twilight no, Luna won’t take it well....”
 
“I know,” said Twilight, “but it will insure she thinks a lot harder before deciding to go off half-cocked casting the re-awakening spell. Now go, and while you’re talking to her I'll sort through these new memories of mine, for I have a lot to catch up on.”
 
*
 
Deep within the bridge between worlds, Twilight Sparkle watched as more and more ponies arrived, a vast majority of them Twilight recognizing from Equestria's history. There was Nyx Phiriosa, the false alicorn and Knight Commandant of the first ever Lunar Guard. There was Empire Clad, wielder of the magic sword Sky Bane and Hero of the legendary Griffon Wars. There was Loki Bitters, the so called bender of reality, and many many more ponies from the past, a great many of them significant to Equestria's history in some way.
 
“Lady Clover, a pleasure it is to see you again.”
 
Twilight turned around, seeing two stallions standing behind her, and suddenly like a hot iron being stabbed through her head, a memory not her own forced its way inside, showing her that she knew these two stallions, and more importantly, who they were connected to.
 
“You....you are Yin and Yang Lulamoon, the bodyguards of Princess Platinum.”
 
“It is good you remember us,” said Yin.
 
“Often times it takes a while for ones memories to begin flooding in,” said Yang.
 
“But we should have known better when it came to you,” they both finished.
 
Twilight stared dumbfounded at them for a moment, then jumped as another voice joined the conversation.
 
“Oh stop freaking her out you two; she already has enough problems as it is, what with what happened to her and all.”
 
Twilight turned to the new voice, and gasped in shock at who it was, “You...you’re...”
 
“Yeah yeah,” said the fiery maned mare, “Sunset Shimmer, Last of the Sun Mages and last unicorn ever to master all the words of power from The Book of Magus. I know who I am, and I know who you are as well. You are Twilight Sparkle, first born to the name Magic many ages ago, and later born to the name Clover the Clever, and like all your lives before this one, you are the chosen of The Element of Magic.”
 
Twilight's eyes had widened to their fullest proportions by that point, the mare stuttering as she tried to form words to explain her bafflement.
 
Sunset chucked, before guiding Twilight over to a chair that had recently formed, sitting her down before sitting next to her as the others took their seats, and then Umbranox leaned forward and began speaking. “Well, as all of you are aware, we have a new soul with us this day, another victim of the Fell Shadow who we must now help to understand her current predicament. With that said, I hand the floor over to the Fell Shadow's victim, Fuji Apple.”
 
Leaning back, another mare leaned forward in her seat, smiling over at Twilight with her emerald green eyes as she spoke. “You no doubt have questions; well I am here to answer them.”
 
“H...how many of us are there...trapped in here I mean?”
 
Fuji began rubbing her chin as she thought of the answer. “Hmm, if I recall correctly...you would make the 34th soul trapped within this place, after all the fell shadow as Umbranox likes to call her has been doing this for three thousand years.”
 
Twilight, remembering what Umbranox and Andromeda had told her earlier, ran the math in her head and came up confused. Wait, that doesn't make sense, if you all lived to your full life spans, and assuming the um...fell shadow found a soul and latched onto it right after her death, wouldn't their only be thirty of you?”
 
“While you would normally be correct,” said Yin.
 
“You are missing one crucial detail,” said Yang.
 
“A detail about souls that none save for a rare few have ever discovered,” they both finished.
 
“Wha...what do you mean by that,” asked Twilight, managing to get past the twins way of speaking in her pursuit of understanding.
 
“When twins are made,” said Yin.
 
“Instead of a soul inhabiting each twin,” said Yang.
 
“The twins share the same soul,” they both finished.
 
“So while we may indeed be two separate ponies,” said Yin.
 
“And can even think independently of each other,” said Yang.
 
“We are in fact two halves of the same whole,” the both finished again.
 
Twilight stared for a long moment, then glanced around, and soon she spotted another pair of twins, these two being mares, but as she looked around, she could not see where the third set of twins could be, before finally a mare and a stallion leaned forward to speak.
 
“Were fraternal twins,” said the mare.
 
“I see,” said Twilight, before turning to Fuji and speaking. “Umbranox...and Andromeda spoke to me earlier, and they said I could help you all...but how can I help?”
 
“You are the element of magic Twilight,” said Fuji with a smile, “and thus you give us both a limitless supply of magic with which to conduct our plans, but also a connection to the other elements, who will be able to help us in this endeavor once we establish connections with them.”
 
“And how are we...how are we going to connect to my friends?”
 
This time, another mare leaned forward, the mare being Nyx who looked determined as she spoke. “Using your magic, we shall send the soul mates of each of the element bearers in a pseudo body, and once they make the necessary connection, you and the soulmates of the elements will be able to manifest together back in the mortal plane and then you can undo the work of the fell shadow.”
 
“That...sounds rather complex,” said Twilight, watching as the mare giggled before continuing. “I am willing to help though, but already the biggest problem I can see with this is getting their soul mates, I mean it's not like they...”
 
She stopped, her eyes widening as she suddenly connected the dots. “No...”
 
“I am afraid so Twilight,” said Nyx, already knowing what she had figured out.
 
“So...so all our soul mates are here?” asked Twilight, looking horrified.
 
At that utterance, many of her fellow prisoners looked a bit sheepish, though this was soon ended as Nyx cleared her throat and spoke. “No Twilight, only five of the element bearers soul mates are here...yours is still on the mortal plane.”
 
“What...but you just said...?”
 
“No I did not,” said Nyx, “but before you ask more questions, I think it best to tell you that, while yes we only have five of the element bearers soul mates here with us...you are one of those soul mates.”
 
It took a while for the information to process, but finally, Twilight spoke up. “Wait...are you saying that...that one of the girls is my soul mate?”
 
Nyx nodded.
 
“Who?
 
There was a great murmuring monster the other prisoners, and then Nyx spoke up. “Well I am Kindness's mate,”
 
“And I am the mate of laughter,” said Loki with a grin.
 
“And we are the mates of Generosity,” said Yin and Yang together.
 
“And I am the mate of Honesty,” said Fuji, “which only leaves one.”
 
“Rainbow,” said Twilight in astonishment.
 
“Loyalty and Magic have always been pair bonded,” said Fuji with a smile, “And with any luck, you will soon see her again, but for now...we need to prepare.”
 
*
 
“....Wh....why did you not tell us this before, if we had known what we were doing we would have never...”
 
“Don't you think I know that Luna,” said Celestia harshly, before sighing as she continued speaking to her sister. “But what’s done is done, though in the future I hope you think twice before going off half-cocked with that spell.”
 
“We won’t...I don't think I will ever use that spell again.”
 
“That is your choice sister, now come, Twilight is waiting for us.”
 
Luna looked like she wanted to hesitate a moment, and then nodded her head, following her sister out of the room and to where Twilight was sitting, the mare reading what looked to be ethereal books as she talked to herself. “So this mare had a talent for magic, very interesting, not as focused as mine but I can work with it.”
 
“Twilight,” said Celestia, grabbing the mares attention as she gestured to Luna and spoke. “I have told her everything, she knows now.”
 
“I see,” said Twilight, the ethereal books vanishing as she turned to Luna and spoke. “And how do you feel about this love, I know it must be quite...alarming, knowing the methods I have employed to stay by you and your sister’s side?”
 
“...Are...are you sure that this is the only way, are you absolutely sure that this is the only way that you can come back to us?”
 
“As far as I know,” said Twilight with a sorrowful look, “but I am still looking, after all my talent is soul magic, so if there is a better way, I am bound to find it eventually.”

“...I guess I will have to accept that,” said Luna, before walking forward and giving her a kiss, the mare pulling back after a while and speaking. “Now, if we can, I would like to catch up on old times, for it has been over a thousand years since you last made love to me, and my body is in desperate need of your touch.”

Twilight smirked fiendishly, her eyes glowing a bit as she nodded her head and spoke, “Then lead the way...my most precious moon.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 04: Family (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had gotten things settled quickly, Celestia and Luna telling the guard that they were not to be disturbed for the rest of the day before heading off with Twilight to Celestia's bed chambers, the mare walking in like she owned the place and examining the room with an air of nostalgia.

“Just like I remember it, though that lamp is new, still though, the same.”

She then turned to Luna, moving up to the mare and brushing up against her, causing her to suck in a breath as she felt the mare she had longed for so long touching her once more.

“Long have I waited for you my precious moon, your absence weighed heavily on my heart...and I beg forgiveness for the pain I caused you with my premature passing.”

“There is nothing to forgive, my most precious of stars,” said Luna breathily, before leaning down to capture the mares lips in her own.

Both mare moaned into the kiss, Twilight slowly guiding them both back to the bed before with a growl she spun Luna around and shoved her atop it, climbing on after her before diving right in to begin tending to Luna's aching need.

As Luna let out a cry of joy, Celestia let out a quite whimper behind them, a whimper that did not go unheard by Twilight, who summoned up her magic, letting it take shape before using it to create a clone of herself, which nipped at Celestia's neck before speaking. “Don't think we have forgotten about you, our dear beloved sun?”

For most ponies, such a feat would be beyond taxing, but thanks to her time as the twins Yin and Yang, she had been blessed with a mind that could easily handle the multitasking necessary to control both her own body and the body of the clone.

As her real body set about the task of driving Luna to orgasm with her skilled tongue, her clone body slowly began to tease at Celestia's folds with a hoof, all while gently nibbling on her neck. However, as she did this, she also began looking through her vast knowledge concerning her two lovers, wondering what else she should employ to bring them pleasure.

“I could use that one spell on them...no no it's been to long for Luna and she might freak out, or I could use...no...that might also make her freak out, that or she would drown....wait I got it!”

Smirking, the clone Twilight's horn glowed, Celestia not noticing a thing till she felt a nibble on her ear, and looked to see the Twilight tending to her had grown to her size, the mare smirking a bit before Celestia gasped as she felt something long and hard rub itself between her legs.

“I seem to remember you liking it when I would take you this way,” said Twilight sweetly, before pinning Celestia to the bed and penetrating her deep, Celestia howling as her beloved began to rut her senseless.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the bed, Luna felt something beginning to move across her form, looking down before squealing in delight as she saw several tendrils making their way across her form, Twilight pausing a moment in her work to look up at Luna with a smirk.

“I also seem to remember you like this Luna, so enjoy,” she said, before diving back to lick deeply as a tendril invade Luna's butt and mouth.

Luna moaned around the invading organ, eagerly sucking on it as it moved itself repeatedly in and out of her throat. As this went on, other tendrils crawled along her body, finding her most sensitive places and beginning to squeeze and rub, eliciting more moans from her as Twilight dutifully kept up her licking.

Soon however, both the princess began to reach climax, Twilight hot on their heals as both her real body and clone body cried out in unison.

“I”M CUMMING!!!”

Celestia cried out as she felt herself be filled with Twilight's seed, her climax following right behind as she arched her back and kissed her mate. Meanwhile, Luna nearly choked as the tendril in her mouth released cum down into her throat, though she was quickly able to catch herself and begin dutifully swallowing till the tendril pulled out, vanishing along with the others and allowing her to catch her breath along with Twilight, whose head was resting between her legs.

After a moment, Luna nearly eeped as she felt another wait join Twilight's, looking down to see Celestia had come over to cuddle with the young mare, the clone having vanished after pulling out of the solar princess.

“Tha...Thank you Twilight,” said Luna breathily, “I...I really needed that, after so long.”

“Well I do aim to please,” said Twilight, smiling as Luna adjusted her position to get a kiss before looking to Celestia and speaking. “And you love, how was it?”

“Better then ever love,” said Celestia as she cuddled close to Twilight, smiling as she spoke further. “Better still now that Luna can be with us once more.”

“Oh stop it Tia you'll make me blush.”

They all giggled, and then laid down to sleep, Celestia reminding Twilight that she would need to visit the other elements tomorrow, which she was not really looking forward to.

“After all,” she thought, looking down at her own flank and seeing the blue flame cutie mark denoting her talent in soul magic. “Got to remember how to hide this thing before I can even think of talking to my hosts old friends.”

*

Deep within the place in between, the souls trapped within were running about, hard at work try to figure out how to best set their plan into motion, all of them invigorated due to the fact they now had one of the elements of harmony.

Said element of harmony however seemed hell bent to pick their plan apart at it's very foundations.

“So you are telling me you only did this once, and you essentially used your one attempt to try and trap her in here with you all.”

“We thought it would work,” said Nyx with a sheepish grin, “I mean it did catch her by surprise...”

“Yet I am in here, and she is out there, having sex with the princesses in my body!”

“Believe me none of us like that, but as I said it caught her off guard, I never said we were able to keep her here forever, but we kept her here long enough that we were able to learn about the magic she used...or, more specifically, the spells.”

Nyx concentrated a moment, then cursed before looking out into the crowd and then shouting. “Majesty, Majesty get your stared butt over here and help me display these spell forms, I can't do it by myself!”

Out of the crowd of scrambling ponies came a young looking mare, her coat white and her mane and tail containing varying shades of blue, starting with dark blue, then going to a brighter blue till finally it finished with a sky blue stripe.

The mare looked nervous, gazing at Twilight with a hesitant look which, when Nyx caught it, caused her to speak. “Oh buck I forgot...”

“Forgot wha...” started Twilight, only to stop when the mare shot forward and hugged her, the mare beginning to cry as she spoke.

“I...I missed you mom...”

*

“Come on girls she could be here any moment!”

“Calm down Pinkie,” said Rarity with a smile, “I'm sure we will have everything ready when Twilight comes home.

The girls were inside Twilight's home, all of them having been grabbed by Spike who was had said Twilight was on her way home and she wanted the girls there because she had some big news for them.

Just as they were finishing up, the door opened, everypony turning and then gasping as they saw who was their.

“Twilight, why wherever did you get that gorgeous outfit!”

“Oh this old thing?” said Twilight with a smile, twirling around so that they could get the full three-sixty view of it before stopping. “The princesses made it for me long ago, think of it as a...mark of my new position.”

Seeing the confusion on their faces, she sighed before sitting down and began to explain. “Girls, I got called to the palace two days ago because the princesses had something to tell me, something about who I am to them.”

“What do you mean darling?”

Twilight took in a breath, then with a smile she spoke. “They revealed that I am their reincarnated soulmate, and used a spell on me to reawaken my old memories so that I could once again take my place as their consort.”

The room became eerily silent for a long moment, the girls all trying to process what they just heard, and then Rainbow spoke up.

“I...I gotta go!”

She then shot out of one of the library windows before anypony could stop her, Fluttershy heading for the door and giving chase while the others all looked on stunned.

“My word,” said Rarity, “I wonder what caused that reaction?”

“I think I know,” said Applejack, “but I'm afraid it's not my place to say.”

“But Applejack,” said Pinkie, “Dashie looked really upset, and we don't know why.”

“I know sugar cube,” said Applejack, “but that's for Rainbow to tell yah, not for me.”

Pinkie pouted, but eventually it turned into a smile as she turned to Twilight and spoke. “Well just because Dashie is feeling down doesn't mean we can't celebrate, though I would like to know what a consort is.”

“Pinkie,” said Rarity with a huff, “surely you know what a consort is, I mean everypony does.”

“Well I don't Rares,” said Applejack with a smirk, before turning to Twilight and speaking. “And now that Pinkie brings it up, I kinda would like to know to, seeing as how you seem to be one now.”

Twilight chuckled, and then answered. “Well girls, a consort is basically a wife, husband or romantic companion to one of royalty, and as such they preform the same duties for the royal as they would if they were married.”

“But your not married,” said Applejack, looking a bit uncomfortable, which Twilight noticed.

“Applejack, they are the princesses of Equestria, and ponies still tend to...well, view them in a certain light because of who and what they are. If I were to actually marry them both, it would cause mass outrage among the masses, so its easier this way.”

“But its not right,” said Applejack, “you should be allowed to get married if you want to, I mean there the princesses, why should ponies care if they want to marry a pony or not.”

Twilight made to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of breaking plates, everypony turning to see Spike standing in the hallway leading to the kitchen with a look of shock on his face.

“Spike, what's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost?”

He didn't answer for a long moment, but then his eyes suddenly became more slitted then they normally were, and he began to growl as, much to their growing shock, he began to grow in size.

When the change ended, Spike was on all fours, standing at the hight of a fully grown and well built stallion, and then he finally spoke.

“You’re not Twilight!”

Then, before anypony could react, he roared and pounced toward Twilight, his claws outstretched.

*

“Tia?”

Celestia turned toward her sister, noting the puzzled look on her face and deciding to speak. “Sister, what is wrong?”

“...You...you said it was under control.”

Celestia froze in fear, allowing her sister to continue. “Twilight and I woke long before you did, and we talked as she got ready for her day, and during that talk she told me about the talk she and you had. I know what that...change was she spoke of, and I also remember you telling me that it was under control.”

“...It is under control Luna,” said Celestia with a sigh, “but ever since a...indecent long ago, it sometimes slips out when I get...emotional.”

Luna nodded, “I see...do you want to talk about it?”

Celestia nodded, gesturing for her sister to sit before looking toward her fireplace, the mare watching as the flames danced as she began her tale.

“After you were banished, I was...distraught, and it didn't help matters that all around me ponies were celebrating your defeat. I wanted to shout at them, wanted to make them understand my pain, but I could not take their joy away from them, so I held my tongue and bore it. Then, a few years later, the griffons, along with the minotaurs and the diamond dogs, as well as a few dragon clans, decided to mount an attack on Equestria, seeing us as weekend due to your banishment.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued, though she looked saddened as she did so. “By then, I was angry at everything, one wrong word away from snapping and taking out my anger on somepony, so when I heard of the attack, I thought of it as the prefect excuse to vent the rage I had developed towards my subjects, and flew out myself to confront their armies.”

“Tia...you didn't...”

“I did,” said Celestia, “and it was a slaughter. I burned them by the thousands, using both the sun and my own power to decimate them, and when the smoke finally cleared...the land was scorched asunder, and it has remained that way ever since.”

“Tia, you aren't saying...”

“I made the badlands what they are today,” said Celestia, “and afterwords ponies feared me, like they did you all those years ago.”

“I find that hard to believe, after all even in combat you are...”

Luna stopped speaking when she turned back to her sister, seeing that she had changed. Her eyes had become slitted, the sclera having turned blood red as the irises had become like flame. Her mane, tail and wings had also become like flame, along with her hooves, and the center of her cutie marks had become black.

“I was not beautiful when I slayed them sister,” said Celestia, Luna seeing fangs as her sister continued to speak. “I became like this when I loosed my rage, and they saw me in all my savage glory. Even when I returned to normal, for years ponies would see this face when they would look upon me, and I could taste their fear every time I would enter a room. It is the reason many ponies began working during the night time hours, as well as why so many night time celebrations started once again after your banishment, because the populace knew now that their fair moon princess was not the only one with a dark side.”

Sighing, Celestia returned to her natural form, the solar princess leaning against her sister and allowing her to feel her relax. “Since then, I have strived to be better, but like you, my...darkness will always be there, but as long as I have you...and as long as we both have Twilight, we can keep our darkness in check.”

Luna nodded at that, then herself leaned against her sister, both mares taking comfort in each others presence, and taking comfort in the knowledge that Twilight would be coming home soon.

*

Spike struggled against the magic holding him, part of his mind wondering how Twilight had become so strong, but the other raging at the mere thought of labeling this creature before him as Twilight.

“Spike,” said Twilight, “what in tartarus has gotten into you, don't you recognize me?”

“I recognize the body,” growled Spike, “but you are not Twilight!”

Looking at him a moment, Twilight then turned to Rarity and spoke. “Rarity, do you remember the Changeling Reveal spell I taught you, the one we used when Chrysalis was still in power?”

Rarity nodded.

“Cast it on me.”

Rarity nodded again, then cast the spell, everypony watching as it passed over Twilight, doing nothing.

“There,” said Twilight, “now as you can see, its the real me. Now I am going to let you go, but I want you to promise that you will not try to attack me again, ok?”

Spike hesitated a long moment, then spoke, “Fine.”

Twilight smiled, ending her spell and watching as Spike immediately went over to the table, the dragon grabbing a quill and some parchment before quickly sending it off.

“Spike, if you are sending that to the princess don't bother, she already knows about...”

“That was not for Celestia,” said Spike with a growl.

Before she could speak, there was the sound of teleportation outside the door, Spike running over and opening it to find Ember outside, the dragoness looking at him in shock as she spoke. “Spike, what happened to you, why are you suddenly...”

“Spike, why did you call Ember here?”

Ember looked up at the voice, but the moment she spotted Twilight, here eyes narrowed, the dragoness looking to Spike and quickly speaking. “Lets get you out of here little one, its not safe here.”

“Oh no,” said Twilight with a glare as she stepped forward, “you are not leaving with Spike until you tell me what...”

Ember quickly moved in front of Spike, growling at Twilight as she stood at her full height. “You stay away from him clutch killer!”

Twilight froze in shock, and then, before anypony could react, Ember grabbed Spike by the arm before bathing them in flame, which whisked them away back to the dragonlands as the others watched on.

Then, after a moment of silence, Twilight finally spoke. “Buck...I should have remembered that would come back to bite me.”

*

Shaking of the vertigo which came from teleportation, Spike looked around at the familiar landscape, the dragonlands having become a very familiar place after he had been summoned last year by the dragon stone.

“Come Spike,” said Ember, “there is someone I want you to meet.”

“Wait,” said Spike, causing Ember to pause as he spoke. “You...you smelled it to right, you smelled the...”

“Spike,” said Ember, cupping the dragons face in her hands tenderly as she spoke to him. “I promise I will explain soon, but first there is someone you need to see, someone who has been waiting to see you for a long long time.”

Hesitating a moment, Spike nodded his head, following Ember into a dark cave, which eventually led to a grand chamber where a large violet scaled dragon with blue spines resided.

“Jewel,” said Ember, “Jewel its me ember, I...I brought someone to see you.”

“Oh Ember,” said the dragoness with a chuckle, “I have told you before, I don't need anyone else to keep me...”

By this point, Jewel had turned to face Ember, allowing spike to come into her vision, which caused her eyes to widen. Leaning her head down, she examined him for a long moment, before tears entered her eyes as she spoke. “Little one, is that really you, after all this time.”

Spike, who had been standing shock still since the dragoness had turned to face them, finally spoke as he gazed into her ice blue eyes. “M...mom?”

*

Twilight stood frozen in place as the mare continued to hug her, mostly due to the memories which had decided to force their way into her mind. Slowly, very slowly, she draped her forelegs across the other mare, hugging her close as she began soothing her.

“Shh, shh, its ok my little Majesty, its ok, mommy's here to make it all better.”

They stayed like that for a long moment, before finally they separated, allowing Twilight to get a good look at her as she spoke. “It all makes sense now, your strange behavior, you just giving your kingdom to Celestia and Luna like that, I...I never understood why...until now.”

“You always knew I wanted to be...well, like them,” said Majesty with a smile, before it became downcast as she spoke further. “I...I was so desperate to be like them back then, that when I...when they told me what I was, I leaped at the chance to be with them, not knowing I was dooming myself to this hell.”

“It's going to be ok,” said Twilight with a smile, “now, why don't you help Nyx show me these spell forms, for it will help us all get out of this mess.”

As Majesty nodded and got to work, Nyx looked to Twilight and spoke, “You accepted that awfully fast.”

“Why shouldn't I,” said Twilight as she watched the spell forms slowly begin to materialize. “During that time, she was my daughter, and during other times she was my son, why should I not recognize her for what she is?”

“I guess I can see your point,” said Nyx, “I hope I am as lucky when I meet mine and Fluttershy's child once again.”

“I'm sure you will be Nyx,” said Twilight, before beginning to take a more thorough look at the spell forms, for they had finally finished forming.

As she looked at them, she was struck by something odd, “It's strange, the signature on this looks familiar, like I've...like I've seen it before...”

Suddenly, it flashed within her mind, a smiling face, a scared little filly, and her hooves wraped comfortinly around her as she protected her from those who saw her magic as wrong.

“No...”

“What is it,” said Nyx, “what do you see?”

“I...I knew her...”

“Wait what,” said Majesty, walking over to Twilight and gazing at the spells as she spoke. “Wait, are you saying...”

“I knew her before she started this, I...I'd recognize her magic signature anywhere...”

“How though,” said Nyx, “were you a friend of hers or something?”

“No...” said Twilight, a tear rolling down her cheek as she spoke, “She was...she was my sister.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 05: Soul-Thief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And what the hay is that supposed to mean?”

Twilight turned to Applejack, seeing the look on her face and sighing before speaking to her. “What I meant by that is…well, it is sort of my fault that Spike’s egg found its way into Equestria.”

Noting Applejack’s, as well as the others confusion, Twilight gestured for them to sit down, allowing part of her brain to divert to fixing up the mess in the kitchen while she spoke to the girls.

“In one of my past lives, I was known as Sunset Shimmer, and my family at that time lived near the dragon borders when relations between Equestia and the dragons were not so peaceful. They…they were killed by dragons, and I…in my rage, I set off and loosed my fury on the closest dragon nest I could find. I…I already killed off several when I entered a abandoned cave, and I found one egg which had been left behind. I wanted to smash it, but before I could Celestia stopped me, and took the egg to be cared for till they could either return it to its mother or figure out how to hatch it.”

She waited with baited breath while her friends processed this information, till finally Pinkie spoke up. “So your saying…that you…or a past version of you is the reason Spike doesn’t know who his parents are?”

When Twilight nodded, Pinkie’s ears drooped a bit, but Twilight was quick to walk over and hug her friend. “You don’t have to worry Pinkie, I’m not that mare anymore, that was nearly a thousand years ago.”

“But you have her memories…”

“But the memories that matter most are the ones that are closets to me in this life, the rest is just old information that I simply have access to again, like an old book you haven’t read in years.”

She then ended the hug with her friend, before getting up and turning to the others. “Now as much as I would love to stay, I have to get back to Canterlot, there’s a big ceremony up there that I have to be a part of, otherwise I would be staying here longer.”

“Well don’t stay away too long darling,” said Rarity with a smile.

“I won’t,” said Twilight, before vanishing in a flash of light.

*

Back in the dragon lands, Jewel and Ember were busy looking over old books, while Spike rested peacefully, wrapped within one of Jewel’s wings.

“Are you sure it was the scent of a Soul-Thief you detected Empress?”

“Yes I am sure, father allowed me to experience a memory where he smelled such a creature, and whatever that thing is in Twilight’s body bore the same scent.”

“And what over the other scent, the one that you said marked her as a clutch killer.”

Ember grimaced at that, “Another memory from my father, of a mare disappearing with Princess Celestia after said mare ravaged an entire dragon nesting ground near their border, and she shared the same scent.”

“But that can't be possible,” said Jewel, “the one who nearly destroyed my clutch and ravaged our nesting grounds died ages ago, how can they be the same?”

“If that thing is a soul-thief, it would make perfect sense, for that kind of destruction gets etched on the soul, which no new body can hide.”

Jewel hesitated for a long moment, but before she could speak further she jumped as someone teleported into her cave, which turned out to be the new king of the Changeling’s, Thorax.

“I hope whatever this matter is is important Ember, for I just had to turn down an invitation by Twilight Sparkle to a ceremony in her honor.”

“The mater has to do with her,” said Ember, “but first, have you or any of your changelings ever heard of a creature known as a Soul-Thief?”

Thorax stood still for a long moment, then a feral hiss escaped his lips, while his wings stood out on end. “Where is it?”

“So you have heard of them?”

“Yes I’ve heard of them,” said Thorax with a growl, “all changelings have heard of them. They are harbingers of sorrow, and enemies to the great web of love!”

Ember looked confused, “The what?”

“You have heard of the idea of soulmates right?” asked Thorax, “the idea that two beings are meant to be together.”

This caused Ember to blush, but she nodded all the same.

“The idea is in fact truth,” said Thorax, “and it's all due to the Great Web of Love. All beings on this planet are connected to the web, and due to this connection, we all have soulmates, from you, to me, even the princesses themselves. This web is a delicate thing, and it only takes one broken strand to cause the entire thing to become a chaotic mess. Soul-Thieves deny souls the ability to unite with their soul mates, leaving them in endless misery till their soulmate is freed from perdition.”

Ember remained silent for a moment, and then she spoke, “The soul-thief I smelled is in the body of Twilight Sparkle, and from what I could tell this one smelled old.”

“How old?” asked Thorax.

“Near as old as Celestia and Luna if I were to wager a guess, but don’t quote me on that.”

Thorax dawned a grim look at that, “that is troubling indeed, for the event I was going to specifically was to celebrate the fact that Twilight Sparkle has become the consort of both Princess Celestia and Luna.”

Ember looked panicked at that, but was stayed from speaking by a the voice of Spike.

“Its true, before I got in range of Twilight to tell that she was not who she was supposed to be, I overheard her telling the other girls that the Princesses had revealed that she was the reincarnation of their soulmate, and that they had used a spell to awaken her old memories.”

Jewel sighed grimly at that, “Then it is true, though this will complicate matters, for if this Soul-Thief is indeed the soulmate to the Sun and Moon, they will not give her up litely.”

“But we cant let it escape,” said Thorax, “if it is as old as Celestia and Luna that means many souls may be trapped within perdition due to it including Twilight Sparkle, and more will follow if we do not act.”

“Don’t you think I know that,” said Ember, “but we have to be careful. The dragons have only just formed alliances with Equestria, and the same thing can be said for the changelings, but if we move against her those ties could become strained, even severed.”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

Ember thought about it for a moment, and then she spoke, “Are any of your changelings still capable of infiltration?”

Thorax nodded, “Pharynx still insists that some of the changelings practice that craft, as a means of defense.”

“I want as many eyes in Canterlot as possible, but make sure they are not spotted by Twilight herself, if she really is that old, she will no doubt be quite powerful and I do not want to risk any of you getting caught or worse.”

“And what about you?”

Ember sighed, “if dad were awake I would just ask him about what he knows about Soul-Thieves, but as he is sleeping right now I will have to stay here and comb through the books, for there has to be something here that can help us combat it without risking Twilight’s body.”

Thorax nodded grimly, for he did not want to tell her that he thought her cause was hopeless, “I’ll let you know what we find out.”

With that he vanished, leaving Ember and Jewel to return to their books, soon joined by Spike as her began heading to the lower shelves.

“My Darling you should be resting, you still have not recovered from your growth.”

“I know mom, but Twilight raised me, and if any of these books can help save her, I have to do what I can.”

Jewel hesitated, and then nodded her head, “That you must my darling, that you must.”

*

Twilight appeared within her chambers, and was just about to go get changed when she heard a knock at her door, and figuring it was one of her mates, she headed over to the door to open it.

However, her smile disappeared when she saw who it was, “What do you want Blueblood?”

“I am here as a high royal within Princess Celestia’s court to hereby charge you, one Twilight Sparkle, for high crimes against the crown through use of dark magic.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, “And pray tell, what sort of dark magic am I supposed to have employed?”

“Mind alteration, which you used against Princess Luna and Celestia to make them take you on as their consort, thus elevating you beyond your pitiful station into one you are sorely undeserving of.”

Smirking, Twilight spoke, “I’ll see you in court then.”

With that, she slammed the door in his face, before teleporting to Celestia’s chambers to find her fixing what looked to be a lovely meal for three.

“Ah Twilight,” said Celestia, “I was just getting a quick meal ready for us before the preparations for the ceremony complete.”

“Well I am afraid we are going to have to put those on hold for a while, for Blueblood has charge me with high crimes against the crown.”

Celestia stood silently for a long moment, and then her main and tail burst into flames as she dropped what she was doing and began heading for the door. “When I get my hooves on that no good…”

She was stopped as Twilight expertly intercepted the mare and planted a kiss on her lips, casing a bit of steam to explode out from her as her mane and tail were effectively put out. Then she pulled back, and nuzzled the side of her lovers cheek before speaking. “I know how angry this must make you dear sun, but I think it would be best for everyone if we let Blueblood try and have his little moment.”

“But what if he wins?”

“He won’t win,” said Twilight, “and besides, this will allow us to come forward more openly with the fact that we are soul mates, which will make the ceremony run that much more smoothly.”

“…if you are sure?”

“I am,” said Twilight, “now get back to cooking, for I would like to at least enjoy one more good meal before the trial makes it all but impossible.”

*

Deep within the place between worlds, the mares and stallions that had been trapped their by the fell shadow were gathered, Nyx waiting till she was sure everyone was there before finally speaking.

“My brethren, our most recent arrival has just revealed to us a monumental peace of information about the fell shadow, something I believe can tip the scales in our favor once our plan is complete.”

She then gestured for Twilight to speak, who took a deep breath before beginning with her tale. “When I was looking over the fell shadows magic, I realized that her magic signature looked very familiar to me, and when I took a deeper look it brought forth memories to me, memories of the fell shadow before she became what she is.”

Murmuring swept over the gathered ponies, but eventually it stopped as Twilight continued speaking. “The memories brought to me by this familiarity were those of a time when she had been my little sister, who back then was known as Twilight Everfree Sparkle. In that time, she had just met the Princesses, and was looking for a way to prolong her life so that she could be with the princesses for all time.”

Twilight choked back a few tears, and then continued on. “She had already discovered her talent for soul magic at the time, but lacked a deeper understanding of its many mysteries, and I…I wanted to help her…”

She tried to fight off more tears so she could explain further, but she was saved the trouble when one of the others, a mare with a pale pinkish purple cote and purple mane and tail with a blue streaks running through both, spoke up. “You taught her didn’t you, you taught her the knowledge necessary for her to start all of this!”

Twilight nodded, “I was just trying to help her…I never expected it to have this result…”

All the ponies began yelling and shouting, many directing their ire towards the purple mare, till finally Fuji slammed her hooves down, causing everypony to shut up as she spoke.

“Look, I know you all are angry by this news, but Twilight is not to blame for this, she is as much a victim as we are where the fell shadow is concerned. The fell shadow being related to Twilight means we have that much more of an edge on her then we did before, so we should work on exploiting that edge.”

She then turned to Twilight, “Discover as much as you can about the magic, for I feel it is the key to taking her down.”

Twilight nodded, then watched as everypony dispersed, before sighing as Majesty came up and nuzzled her side.

“It’s going to be okay mom.”

“I know sweetie,” said Twilight, nuzzling the top of her daughters head before looking to her and speaking. “Now, show me those spell forms again.”

*

Twilight sighed as she sat in the defendants chair, the entire court waiting for Blueblood to make his grand entrance, as he was wanton to do.

When the doors finally opened, she watched as Blueblood walked in with a hawkish looking griffon, and from the memories of her host, she knew this griffon by the name of Hebzeba acted both as Blooblood’s lawyer, as well his mistress.

Smirking a bit, she looked to the pony she had called, Raven Inkwell, whom she knew Celestia trusted above all others when it came to such matters.

However, Blueblood spotted her as well, and immediately began to raise objections. “Excuse me, but you should not be here Raven, you only act as my Auntie’s lawyer!”

“And as her lawyer it is my privilege to act as the lawyer to their consort…”

“Which I do not believe she is yet…”

“By ancient law,” said Twilight with a smirk, “Celestia and Luna may claim any mare or stallion as their consort, and the ceremony recognizing them is just a formality for the public.”

Blueblood remained silent for a moment, before looking toward his lawyer and began whispering to her, before stopping as a new pony entered the room.

“All rise for the honorable judge, Might Hollow!”

Everypony stood as an old mare in robes walked into the room, the mare taking the seat usually reserved for Celestia before gesturing to everypony else to sit down and then speaking. “Normally in a matter concerning one or more high royals, either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would be presiding over these proceedings. However as they are involved with the defendant, the accuser felt that they would be unfairly biased, a sentiment I happen to agree with.”

Twilight caught the smirk on Blueblood’s face out of the corner of her eye, but ignored it as Might Hollow continued to speak. “Twilight Sparkle, you have been accused by Prince Blueblood of using dark mind altering magics to coerce both Princess Luna and Princess Celesita into making you their consort, and in doing so rising above your station, how do you plea to these charges.”

“My client pleads not guilty your honor,” said Raven.

“Very well,” said Might Hollow, “does the prosecution have any witnesses they wish to call at this time?”

“We do your honor,” said Hebzeba, “the prosecution would like to call Pillow Feather to the witness stand.”

Twilight chose at that point to tune out of the proceedings, waiting till she was called to the stand. Instead, she choose to look over the memories of her host, mainly, the memories pertaining to her dealings with Nightmare moon.

If she was honest, it galled her that she had not been the one who saved her dearest Luna, instead it was some random mare with a powerful talent. It also galled her that this mare held a connection to the Element of Magic, an artifact which by all rights should belong to her sister, but as far as she could tell, the soul she had latched onto bore no resemblance to the soul of her mighty sister.

Sighing, she allowed her attention to return to the proceedings for a moment, and saw that a guard had been called to the stand, and Raven was questioning him.

“Iron Rod, it has long been known that you have harbored deep feelings for Princess Celestia, which resulted in you being transferred to the Lunar Guard due to how you were behaving when around her. Is it at all possible that you feelings for the Princesses factored into your claim that my client has brainwashed the princesses with dark magic.

Tuning out of the proceedings again, Twilight once more began looking over her hosts memories again, and eventually stumbled upon something that caused her to pause, for they were memories pertaining to the release and reformation of Discord.

“He could be a problem,” thought Twilight as the guard began yelling at Raven, the mare having managed to push a button much to the prosecution's chagrin. “I’ll have to speak with him after this bullshit is through, for if he does not approve of what I’m doing, he could cause some serious problems for me in the future.”

“Miss Hebzeba,” said the judge in a stern voice, causing Twilight to look up as the judge spoke further. “does the prosecution have any witnesses that actually saw Twilight perform or use dark magic?”

“Um…well not really…”

“Then I am afraid I am going to have to deny you the right to more witnesses,” said the Judge, before turning to Raven. “Miss Raven does the defence have any witnesses they would like to call forth.”

Raven nodded, “The defense would like to call Twilight Sparkle to the stand.

“Very well,” said the Judge, “Miss Sparkle, please take your place at the witness stand.”

“With pleasure your honor.”

*

Luna knew she was going to get an earful from Celestia later, for she had wanted Luna to be there with her while the trial was under way, but Luna felt this was far more pressing.

Ever since the reveal of how Twilight was truly defying the cycle of death and rebirth, it had been weighing on her heavily. While her sister seemed ok with it, Luna couldn’t shake the feeling that it was causing harm in some way, and was now endeavoring to prove herself wrong.

Currently, she was in the deepest part of the restricted section of the royal archives, specifically in the section pertaining to soul magic.

Luna doubted she would find anything today, for the information on soul magic was vast, held within hundreds upon hundreds of tomes, but even with that said, it was very likely that the magic her Twilight was using might not have been recorded by anyone, as it seemed unique to her.

But it felt familiar, which was terrifying to her, for save for her beloved mate, most of her encounters with soul magic users tended to be horrific. However, all those users abused soul magic, which always led to madness, were as her mate knew the limits of soul magic and did not push them beyond said limits.

Sighing as she came to the end of another book, she considered giving up for that day, till she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

It was a pitch black book, with a single red crystal set in its cover, which denoted it as belonging to the former King Sombra.

Opening up the book, she found that it was one of his old research journals from back when he was the arch mage of the Crystal Empire, pertaining to his research into soul magic and how it related to the Crystal Ponies connection to the crystal heart.

She combed through the tomb, looking for anything which might relate to her beloved Twilight, till finally she came upon a section regarding Sombra’s visit to the ancient changeling empire.

“In my research regarding the changelings knowledge of soul magic, one of its greatest practitioners, a changeling named Glittering Seal, deigned to share a valuable and disturbing piece of knowledge relating to soul magic practitioners.”

“She told me about something called a Soul-Thief, which was a soul magic practitioner who has severed themselves from the cycle of death and rebirth, rendering themselves effectively immortal. Once they sever themselves in this way, they cannot take on physical form as a soul normally does when it returns to the mortal realm.”

“Instead, they must steal the body of another by severing their hosts original soul and taking its place. If done correctly, and I only say this to get across how horrid this action is, the soul they sever returns to the realm of the dead before being reborn once more in a new body.”

“However, most are unable to preform this spell properly, and thus those that are severed wind up in a pocket plane created as a by product of the miss preformed spell, where they remain till the Soul-Thief’s spells are undone…”

Luna did not want to read further, for she already found herself horrified by the implications. She did not want to entertain the idea that her beloved Twilight could be like this, but the evidence was stacked against her.

She began flipping through the rest of the book, but came to a sudden stop as the scrawling became erratic, and her eyes were drawn to the words of at the top of the page.

“MY CRYSTAL HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM ME!”

Crystal, the nickname Sombra had used for his beloved daughter Umbranox, Luna’s last mate before she had been claimed by the nightmare. It chilled her to the bone, for now that she looked back, the entire time during their fight he had been shouting at them to “Return My Crystal!”

Looking back to the book, she began to read further.

“Two weeks ago, the princesses came to my home to speak to my daughter, and revealed to her that she was the reincarnation of their soul mate, a mare they called Twilight Everfree Sparkle.”

“She just came home the day before, and while she acted like my daughter, I could tell something was off, even though my wife did not notice. So, I preformed a soul scan, and what I found within the body of my daughter was monstrous. A Soul-Thief now lies within my daughter, one that is very old, and worst of all, one that as far as I can tell did not cast the spell properly.”

“I don’t care how long it takes, nor what dark magic I have to research, but I will free my daughter…even if it kills me…”

Closing the book, Luna hesitated for a long moment, before with a yell she threw it away from her, before cupping her head in her hooves. While she would have to verify the source, the evidence was damning, especially after what her sister had told her.

However, there was one surefire way she could find out if any of the souls replaced by her late love were trapped in perdition, and so she teleported herself to her bedroom, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she reached out with her magic to attempt to reach the soul of the mare that had saved her from The Nightmare.

*

Her senses returned to her, it was to the sound of many panicking ponies, who she recognized as ponies she had met before, though several she had not.

Deciding it would be best to calm things down quickly, she opened her mouth and spoke. “Be still kind ponies, I am not here to harm you…in fact if I can I would like to help.”

Silence hung for a long moment, then a mare stepped forward and spoke, “Do you recognize me your highness?”

Luna looked her over, taking in her raven black main and tail, to her dark brown coat, and finally her emerald green eyes, and so she spoke. “I do Fuji, and I want to say I am sorry for my part in doing this to you, for you have been here the longest.”

“You did not know,” said Fuji, “but I must ask, how did you get here?”

Luna smiled, then pointed to Twilight Sparkle, who looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“You know Twilight Sparkle that I not only govern the moon and the night, but I also guard the dream realm. But what I never told you…or anypony for that matter, is how ponies actually connect to the dreaming. You see, when a pony dreams, they are in fact casting their soul from their body into the dream realm, which helps revitalize them. This means that in a way, I am also a guardian of souls, and through the use of soul magic, I can locate souls I have guarded within the dream realm, as long as they have not returned to the realm of the dead.”

Twilight still looked confused, “So wait, if you can find us like this, surely you can get us out of here right, like how you can move ponies through the dream realm.”

Many of the ponies around began murmuring in assent, but Luna shook her head. “If we were in the dream realm I could, but you are disembodied souls trapped within a pocket plane, one which I can only enter, not effect.”

“Then how do you plan to help us,” said a voice, causing Luna to turn around, though the moment she saw the mare she immediately froze in terror.

Luna had known from the moment she had decided to attempt to reach Twilight Sparkle that she would be seeing many a face she had looked at with love and affection. But nothing could prepare her for looking upon the face of Umbranox once again.

Umbranox saw the pain flash through Luna’s eyes then, but sadly, Umbranox was not a gentle soul. “Listen princess, I am not the mare you once loved, nor are any of the others trapped here. That mare took our bodies, our faces, and our lives, so I ask again, how do you plan to help us!?”

The last part had come out as a shout, which startled Luna out of her shock, but more importantly demonstrated the difference between the mare before her, and the Umbranox she had known all those years ago.

Taking a deep breath, Luna spoke. “While I may not be able to get you out of here, I can help you figure how best to get out of here, and to start, you need to form a connection with the other element bearers.”

“And how do you suggest we do that,” asked Yin, who along with his brother had moved to the front of the gathering of ponies.

“After all we are sort of trapped in this pocket dimension as you called it,” said Yang.

Luna hesitated, and then spoke once more. “Have any of you heard of a spell known as Soul Manifestation?”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 06: The First Step
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Auntie you need to get the courts to reconsider…”

“Blueblood that is enough,” said Celestia as she looked over the latest financial reports.

“But auntie she…”

“I said that is enough Blueblood!” yelled Celestia, “the courts have decided, Twilight is innocent.”

“But it makes no sense,” said Blueblood, “if she was truly your soul mate, why did you wait so long to reveal it to her, and why would you let her live like a pauper if you intended to raise her to this position, rather then making sure she was raised amongst those who are now her peers.”

Celestia remained silent for a long moment, and then she turned to Blueblood, the stallion backing away a bit as he saw her irises had turned to flame.

“Do you remember Blueblood, what I told you after that little coup you attempted with Gold Rush and Gun Runner.”

Blueblood’s blood ran cold, the stallion gulping before he spoke. “You said that if I ever intended to stab you in the back again, I should do you the courtesy and stab you in the front instead.”

Celestia nodded, “You hurt me deeply Blue, and you hurt me deeper then I think you intended to. I took you in after your parents died Blue, I watched over you, cared for you as though you were my own, made sure you never had to want for anything…and you repay me by trying to rend my heart from my chest.”

She got up then, walking over to him and staring him down before speaking once more. “I want you to leave Canterlot Blueblood, go to one of your estates, I don’t care which one, but I want it to be far away from here…for I do not wish to look upon you anymore.”

They stared at each other for a long time, before finally Blueblood nodded, “Very well your highness, if that is your wish…I will take my leave.”

He then quickly left the room, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts, the mare taking a deep breath before returning to her paperwork.

“At least that is one less…royal I have to worry about at the party tomorrow.”

*

“If its what I think it is, we already tried that, and I do not see how that can help us in regards to the elements.”

This comment had come from Nyx, who Luna turned to before speaking. “Ah yes, I thought I recognized you, you drove a dagger through our beloveds heart while she resided in the body of Umbranox.”

“And you stole me away from my love the day she intended to propose to me, and I had to watch as your love broke my dear Kindness’s heart. But that is in the past, and you still haven't answered my question.”

Luna hesitated a moment, and then made to speak, only to stop as her form flickered and caused her to look startled.

“Luna what’s wrong,” asked Twilight.

“Someone is attempting to wake me, I will have to leave for now.”

“But you can’t!” cried Nyx, “you have not told us how Soul Manifestation will help!”

“I promise I will return,” said Luna, “but for now I have to go…I’m sorry.”

*

Luna woke with a start in her own bed, looking to see her beloved staring down at her in with a smile.

“Well hey there sleepy head, have a good nap.”

Luna hesitated for a moment, then smiled and nodded her head. “I did indeed my Twilight, though I am sorry it prevented me from being there for you during your trial.”

“It’s ok,” said Twilight, “anyways, I wanted to let you know that the ceremony to acknowledged my position as your consort has been delayed till the end of the week, for Celestia wants to give guests from other nations a chance to respond to her invitation.”

Luna smiled at that, “that is good, for I will be a bit busy for the rest of the day, the dream realm is chaotic right now and I need to spend some time rooting out the cause.”

“Well maybe I could help,” said Twilight, “It would be a lovely chance to learn about dream magic, for that is something I keep putting off now matter how many times I have lived with you.”

“As much as I would love to, this is not something to be taking a novice into, but I promise to teach you some dream magic when this matter is settled.”

The lie had come frightfully easy for her, especially given that she used to be the element of Honesty, but Luna knew it was what must be done. It did not make it any easier though, especially with the pout her love was giving her.

“Fine, I actually have to go anyways, Celestia said Cadance is in town and she wanted me to deliver the invite to her and Shining Armor personally, and seemed really eager for me to do it, any idea why?”

Luna was puzzled for a moment, and then it suddenly dawned on her, causing her to smile a bit before she spoke. “I can assure you my love, it is nothing harmful.”

“Pardon me if I remain a bit cautious,” said Twilight as she left the room, “after all, I know how much of prankster your sister is.”

She then left the room, Luna smiling as she thought of the joy Twilight was about to experience, till suddenly reality came crashing down upon her like a ton of bricks.

“Oh gods…how am I going to tell Cady…”

*

On her way to where Cadance was staying, Twilight decided to make a stop at the place she knew Discord had bought for himself, for she needed to make sure to nip this problem in the bud before it came to a head.

Knocking on the door, she waited patiently for the door to open, and when it did she saw Discord staring at her with a shocked look on his face, causing her to smirk.

“Hello old friend, it’s been a long time.”

“…Lady Everfree, it has been indeed.”

He invited her in, Twilight heading over to a couch which looked like it was made of an entire crocodile, before looking back to Discord as he grabbed some things.

“I know this must be weird for you, especially seeing as how I think the last time you saw me was over three thousand years ago.”

“It was…back when I was more interested in keeping my presence a secret…back before the madness started.”

“You look like your doing better,” said Twilight.

“And you are a soul-thief,” said Discord bluntly.

That got an eyebrow raise from Twilight, “Huh, so that’s what I am, guess that explains some things. How do you feel about it?”

Discord sighed, drinking his glass before looking to her and speaking. “While I do not approve, I wont stop you from doing what you wish, especially seeing as how I myself do not know of any kind of solution, as I told you all those years ago.”

Twilight smiled at that, “I remember being so mad at you over that, for I figured if anyone could make me live forever, it would be you.”

Discord chuckled at that, “And I remember how hilarious it seemed, me with the power to warp reality as I saw fit, but only so long as I concentrated on my creation.”

Nodding, Twilight then got up and headed for the door. “Well I have to get going, Celestia wants me to stop by Cadance’s place to talk with her about the Ceremony, but I wanted to talk with you to see where we stood.”

“Just make sure to stop by from time to time,” said Discord as she headed for the door, “for it would be nice to get to know my old friend again.”

Nodding, Twilight left the house, a bounce in her step and a smile on her face due to having reconnected with an old friend.

*

Luna had waited for a long time before heading back to sleep and returning to the pocket dimension where Twilight and the others resided, for she knew her love well, and it would not be the first time that she had snuck into something she was not ready for…or should see.

When she materialized, she found that everypony there had apparently been waiting for her to return, several of them glaring as Nyx spoke up.

“That lie came easily too you, I was sure we had been had there for a minute.”

Luna looked startled, “how…?”

“This realm is tied to the Fell Shadow,” said Umbranox, “as such we are able to look in on her from time to time.”

“Ah,” said Luna, before shaking her head and speaking. “Well yes, the lie came easy to me, but because of what she has become she is my enemy, and I must do all I can to stop her, if harmony is to be restored.”

“That is good to hear lady Luna,” said Fuji, “now how will Soul Manifestation help us when it comes to the elements, for we tried using this spell before, but it did not stop her.”

Luna smiled at that, “it would not, but this will. The reason I suggest Soul Manifestation is because it will allow you to send the soul mates of the elements directly to them, and thus allow the bonds they share to begin reforming. Once these bonds are reformed, Twilight, as the Element of Magic, will be able to use these restored bonds to gift their soul mates with permanent physical bodies, and beside your souls mates, you will be able to use the elements to undo my Twilight’s magic, and thus restore harmony.”

This sent murmuring through the group of trapped souls, till finally Twilight herself spoke up. “That actually is a good plan, and it fits with our own, though this will no doubt take time, which could be a problem.”

“It would be a problem yes,” said Luna, “if I did not know of a way for us to bypass said time.”

“And what way would that be,” asked Nyx, looking genuinely curious.

“Well as this is in the area of love magic,” said Luna, “the best way for you all to skip the time it would normally take to reform such bonds would be to woo your soul mate and bed them.”

It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, and then Twilight’s grandmother spoke up. “So wait, your saying that you want them to manifest in the world and fuck the Element Bearers!”

Now everypony was blushing, save for Luna who was not fazed. “It is the fastest way to reform the bonds between the Bearers and their soul mates, otherwise it will be months before the bonds can fully reform, and that is months that my Twilight can have to figure out what is going on.”

That comment sent a cold chill through the group, but eventually Twilight spoke up once more. “I guess we have no choice then…but who should we send first?”

“I do not…” started Luna, only to be stopped as two voices sounded in unison.

“Send us!” yelled Yin and Yang Lulamoon, the two stallions looking near desperate as they had run up to Twilight and stared her down.

Startled, Twilight spoke, “are you sure, I mean I know Rarity and it might be hard to…”

“Generosity needs us!” said Yang fiercely.

Yin looked like he was going to yell as well, but was stayed as Majesty stepped in front of them both.

“Stand down you two, we get that you both want to be reunited with her, but there is no reason to yell.”

Both Yin and Yang took deep breaths, before Yin sighed and spoke. “We are sorry Twilight…its just…were are some of the oldest here, and just the thought of being with her again…”

“It made us lose our senses,” said Yang simply.

“I can understand,” said Twilight, “and as long as the others are ok with it, you can go first.”

Looking to the other three, Twilight saw Fuji, Loki, and Nyx nod in acknowledgement, and once she turned back to the twins she saw looks of gratitude on their faces, which made her smile.

“Then it is decided,” said Luna, grabbing everybody’s attention once more. “And before you decided on a time, I would suggest that you send them during my night, for my moon will help hide you from the prying eyes of both my sister and my mate.”

“You would be willing to do this for us?” asked Nyx in surprise, “for you do realize that if we succeed in this…you most likely will not see her for three thousand years.”

“…Of course I am willing,” said Luna after a moments hesitation. “For as I said, she is my enemy now, and no matter how much I love her, I cannot pay the price she has forced upon me to continue our love.”

With that said, Luna bid them farewell, before returning to the waking world as the lost souls began making plans for what was to come.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 07: Gathering Foes, Part 01
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever since the changeling invasion, Luna had trained herself to be more aware of the outside world, though this came a the cost that each time she would awake, her mind would be assaulted by everything her senses had picked up while she was away.

Luckily she was a master at sorting out the information presented to her, and thus the first thing that presented itself to her was that her senses had detected a Changeling Infiltrator within the palace.

Teleporting silently to the changelings location, she called upon one her many blades and put it to the changeling’s neck, the magic of the blade causing the flesh near the blade to reveal its true colors as she spoke, her voiced laced with enchantment.

“Why are you here in disguise changeling?”

“To spy on your mate,” the changeling spat, “for King Thorax was alerted by Empress Ember that she is a Soul-Thief, which makes her our great enemy!”

The pure hatred the changeling poured into every word in regards to her mate shocked her, but it also sent relief flooding through her body, for she realized she had found ally the Changelings, and potentially the Dragons.

“…Then you should know that she to is my enemy,” said Luna as she removed the magic from her voice, as well as the blade from the changelings throat. “For due to what she has become, she has caused great harm to both the cycle of death and rebirth, as well as the dreaming. Now, how many of you are in the castle spying on her?”

“Six,” said the changeling as she breathed out a sigh of relief, for she thought she was going to die. “And it is good to know that we have an ally in you Princess, for your emotions speak true, though if only you have arrived, I can assume that the sun is against us?”

She nodded, and then with a quick cast, Luna created six necklaces bearing her cutie mark, giving them to the changeling before speaking. “These will hide you from both the gaze of my mate and my sister, and will protect you from their magic, so keep them on you at all times. Now go, for the others should share in this protection.”

The changeling nodded before leaving her post, and then Luna focused her magic, allowing her dream senses to find where Thorax was located before releasing the spell and teleporting away to his Kingdom.

*

Twilight did not know why, but for some reason she felt great trepidation as she stood before the door of Cadance’s place, for she could not help that she was somehow tied to her greater past.

As the door opened, the mare she was here to see came into view, and suddenly Twilight mind was assaulted by memories of her life as Umbranox. The surprise pregnancy, the painful birth, and most of all, her shock over the fact that her daughter…her miracle Cadenza had both wings and a horn.

“Twilight,” said Cadance, “are you ok, you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“…Little miracle, is…is that really you I see before these eyes of mine?”

Cadance raised an eyebrow at that comment, for Twilight had never referred to her as that, hell only one mare had ever referred to her as was her mother.

Seeing the doubt in her eyes, Twilight decided to pull a memory from her long forgotten past, one she knew her little miracle would remember. “When you were sixteen, you had come home to me to talk to me about a stallion by the name of Gem Glow, for you had thought about casting a love spell on him due to the fact that he had rejected you, and you were worried that it made you a bad pony even though you did not go through with it.”

Cadance’s eyes were as wide as saucers by the time Twilight was finished speaking, the mare standing shock still before starting as as Twilight spoke once more.

“Do you mind if I come inside, I…I am sure you have questions.”

Cadance nodded slowly, allowing her in and following her to the living room, before both of them sat down as Cadance finally spoke. “How…?”

“You know of the concept of soul mates right?” asked Twilight.

Cadance nodded, allowing Twilight to continue. “I am the re-incarnated soul mate of Celestia and Luna, and through the use of magic I perfected, I have been hopping through time so that I could be with them near continuously throughout the years…including during the time I had you, when you knew me as your mother Umbranox.”

That was a name Cadance had not heard in ages, but she chose to focus on an earlier comment. “Wait, you said you were the soul mate to Luna and Celestia even back then…then what about my father?”

Twilight flinched a bit at that question, for while she had known this day would eventually come, it did not make it any easier. “That…that is rather complicated, for…fuck there is no easy way to say this so I’ll just say it. Cadenza, Celestia and Luna are the ones that sired you…they are your fathers.”

It was so silent you could hear a pin drop, and then the silence was broken by a plate smashing in the kitchen, causing both of them to turn and see Shining standing at the entrance of the kitchen looking at them in shock.

“Celestia and Luna are WHAT!!!”

*

When Luna appeared within Thorax’s throne room, what she found was a shocking site, for in the room with Thorax and Pharynx was Queen Chrysalis, who was looking over the reports they had gathered as she spoke to them. “And you are sure that she is a soul-thief?”

“I would not have reached out to you if it was anything else, for while we have our differences, you have faced creatures like her, and will know how best to defeat her when the time comes.”

“Well at least it explains what I felt during the wedding,” said Chrysalis, before gasping in shock as she saw Luna.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” cried Pharynx, his voice summoning several guards who, while looking wary, looked ready to battle the princess should it come to blows.

“…I am here because we share a common enemy in the form of my beloved Twilight, which is why none of your spies met the edge of my blade when I discovered one near my chambers.”

Thorax and Pharynx looked shocked by this statement, but Chrysalis simply chuckled. “Of course you would be against her, but I have to ask, how did you find out she was a soul-thief?”

Walking over to the table they had gathered around, Luna answered her. “I found out what she was when I read a book written by King Sombra, and that lead me to attempting to locate the bearer of magics soul, which I found trapped within a pocket dimension along with thirty three others, six of which were twin pairs.”

“…By the maker,” said Chrysalis simply, while Thorax and Pharynx looked at Luna in horror.

“W…what of your sister,” said Thorax, being the first of the two brothers to recover from their shock, “does she know?”

“She does,” said Luna, “But sadly my sister has come to accept what our mate has been doing for the last three thousand years, so we will not find an ally in her.”

“That is troubling,” said Pharynx, “but luckily it is not just us, for Lord Ember is also on our side, and we also recently got word from Queen Novo, who has said she is willing to lend support should we need it.”

“That is good,” said Luna, “and it is good to know that Ember is on our side as well, but before you move with your own plans, I think it is relevant to inform you of the plan I and the souls victimized by the soul-thief have set in motion.”

That got a surprised look from the three powerful changelings, but finally Thorax spoke, “Very well, tell us of this plan.”

*

“…This has got to be the most unfair thing you have ever done to me in the history of forever,” said Shining Armor as he sat next to his wife.

“And how is what I have done unfair?” asked Twilight with a smirk.

“One, you are with the princesses of Equestria, so there is no way in Tartarus I can intimidate them, as I would normally do to anyone interested in you. Two, you are also apparently Cadance’s re-incarnated mother, and just dropped the bomb shell that Celestia and Luna are her sires…which is still and a little shaky on how that actually works.”

“Sadly that is something even I cannot answer,” said Twilight, “which is why I call her my little miracle.”

That got a smile from Cadance, before she looked to her husband and spoke. “Well you are taking this a lot better then I thought you would, especially the whole me being older thing>”

Shining grinned sheepishly at that comment, “Well um…I kind  of already knew you were way older then me, due to one time after we…slept together, and I woke up before you and instead of a quirky teenage alicorn sleeping beside me, I found a full grown mare.”

Cadance looked dumbstruck, but Twilight reacted as a flash of mother concern rose in her, “Dear, am I to assume you had relations with this stallion before you were wed?”

Cadance actually snorted at that, “Mom, while that is really endearing, I know you know how things are done now.”

Twilight looked confused for a moment, and then shook her head before sighing and speaking. “Sorry dear, no matter how many times I go through this I always get caught off guard by old memories.”

She then got up, walking over to the pair and giving them a hug before pulling back and speaking. “Well as much as I would love to stay, I unfortunately have prior obligations I must attend to, but I promise I’ll come by for a longer visit, till then take care ok?”

“Of course Twiliy,” said Shining.

“Of course Twilight,” said Cadance as she pulled her in for another hug, “and while your gone, I’ll go speak with Celestia and Luna…for we have a lot to talk about.”

“…Just go easy on them ok,” said Twilight, “especially Luna.”

She got a nod, and then after giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, she teleported away, for she still had a lot to do before she returned to the castle.

*

“Well I have to give it to you princess,” said Chrysalis after the plan was fully explained, “this plan of yours is far better then any I could come up with…though to be fair, most soul-thieves I have dealt with have given up their old forms by this point.”

“What do you mean?” asked Luna.

“I mean most soul-thieves learn pretty quickly how malleable their soul is, and begin experimenting once they have passed their second life cycle. Often by the time I have found them, they are more akin to an eldritch horror then what they used to be…which is why your soul mate is such a unique case when it comes to their kind, for from everything Pharynx’s scouts have provided, your lovers soul is still still pure pony.”

“…I see,” said Luna, “well I am afraid I must be off, for I still wish to meet with Empress Ember before I have to return home, for I want to make sure she is not planning anything rash.”

She got up to leave, but before she could gather the necessary energies for a teleport, Chrysalis spoke up.

“Wait…could we talk for a moment…alone?”

Luna hesitated a moment, and then nodded, allowing the former Queen to lead her into a side room before speaking. “What do you want Chrysalis.”

“Two things,” said Chrysalis. “First, you need to tell Cadance about this, for with her role as the personification of the Web of Love, she more then most should be involved if this goes side ways.”

“That may be a problem,” said Luna, “for our soul mate is Cadance’s mother…and we are her sires.”

Chrysalis looked surprised by this, but shook off the surprise before speaking once more. “Well that does indeed complicate things, but she still should be told. The second thing I need to ask is…do you still have a way of getting into contact with Faust.”

Luna’s eyes widened to dinner plates at the mention of that name, “How do you…”

“Answer mine and I will answer yours,” said Chrysalis.

Luna hesitated, and then she spoke, “No, she cut off contact with us centuries ago, for she did not approve of our mate.”

“I see, well luckily for us I still have a way of getting a hold of her, so just in case things go really south we can call her in.”

“…How in Tartarus do you have a way to speak with Faust!?”

Chrysalis scoffed, “Because I am her soul mate you moon speckled fool.”

Luna’s jaw dropped at that, which caused Chrysalis to chuckle, “What, is that so hard to believe?”

“Of course it is hard to believe, you are…well you, and my mother is one of the most noble beings on this planet, how can you two be soul mates.”

“You would be surprised what she…wait did you say mother?”

When Luna nodded, Chrysalis looked pained, the mare looking lost before finally she spoke up. “Tell Thorax and Pharynx I will return soon…I…I need to go!”

She then vanished before Luna could ask what was wrong, leaving a very confused Luna behind, who huffed before heading back to the throne room to deliver the news.

*

Deep within a hidden glade far from Equestria, and ivory white furred, wine red mane and tailed alicorn mare sighed after taking a sip of tea, silently celebrating the most recent anniversary of her self imposed exile from her people, in the home she had built far from prying eyes.

If she were honest with herself, she should have returned years ago, for she dearly missed both her her people, and her precious daughters. But every time she thought to teleport back home and re-unite with her people, she would convince herself otherwise.

“They don’t need some old mare like me messing up their harmony,” said Faust, before taking another sip of tea.

Which was immediately spat out as the doors to her sanctum slammed open and her soul mate walked in with a look of murder in her eyes, “FAUST!!!”

“Oooh, somepony is in a mood,” said Faust with a smirk as she got up from her couch. “Been a long time since this has happened, well let me go and…”

“I AM NOT HERE FOR ANGRY SEX FAUST!” roared the changeling as she walked up to her mate and jabbed her in the chest with a hoof.

“Well then why are you here,” said Faust, “after all I cannot read your mind.”

Chrysalis glared her for a long moment, and then her anger seemed to vanish, the mare looking down at the floor before speaking in a quite voice. “When were you going to tell me…”

“Tell you what?” asked Faust, looking genuinely confused.

Chrysalis stayed silent for a long moment, and then looked up and leveled a tear filled glare as she spoke. “When were you going to tell me you had children?”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 08: Gathering Foes, Part 02
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After delivering the news to Thorax and Pharynx, Luna teleported from the throne room with the intent of meeting up with Empress Ember and finding out what her plans were in regards to Twilight.

So she found herself surprised when she did not find herself within the dragon lands at the end of her teleport, and instead found herself within Celestia’s private chambers, where Celestia and Cadance were seemingly waiting for her.

“Fuck,” thought Luna, before putting on a brave face and speaking. “Well Sister, you must have had a good reason for grabbing me mid teleport, for I wished to speak with Ember about some matters concerning her attending the celebration of our reuniting with our beloved.”

“That was my fault…father,” said Cadance, the are looking like the words did not quite sit well on her mouth. “Wow, that so feels weird to say out loud.”

“FUUUUUUUCK!!!” Luna thought again, barely managing to keep from shouting the word out loud as she tried her best to remain calm. “Ah, so I can assume Twilight told you?”

“She did,” said Cadance, “and as to what I said earlier, it is my fault why you are here, because I think your sister is trying to use you as a way to distract me from being angry with her.”

She then turned to Celestia, who had a sheepish look on her face as the alicorn of love glared at her. “I can understand you both not telling me initially, for I remember how tenuous the political situation was back then. I can even understand Luna, for she was gone for a thousand years, and it probably did not help that after she returned I only acknowledged her as my aunt, not as my…as my father.”

She then took a deep calming breath, before letting it out and continuing as she poked Celestia in the chest with a hoof. “But you had decades after mom died and losing your sister to come talk to me, to tell me who I really was to you. Instead you let me leave without telling me anything, you didn’t even tell me after you contacted me all those years later, when you asked me to take care of the the filly who I now know is my re-incarnated mother, and for the life of my I cannot understand why!”

After Cadance finished her rant, Celestia stood their for a long moment, and then she bolted for the door.

*

Faust stared at her love, the shining black star of her every night, for a mere moment, and then she bolted for the nearest exit, only to slam into it as the door closed.

Quickly getting up and looking around in a panic, she saw that each and every possible exit had been fused shut, and when she looked back to her mate she saw magic leaving her horn, and her glare had intensified.

“Oh no, I am not letting you get me so flustered that I fuck you instead of forcing you to talk, we are going to talk about this!”

“But it is always so much easier to talk to you afterwords,” said Faust as she kept looking for ways to escape, “cant we just take this to the bedroom and then talk?”

“No,” said Chrysalis, before grabbing a pillow and slamming it down on the floor, before sitting down on a pillow next to it and gesturing for Faust to sit beside her.

She hesitated for a moment, and then walked over and sat down, before sighing and looking to her mate as she spoke. “If I am honest, I never really planned on telling you.”

“Why not?” asked Chrysalis.

“Because I remember a young changeling queen telling me quite bluntly that she in no way what so ever wanted children, and said queen had to comfort me as I balled my eyes out as I came grips with that statement.”

Chrysalis looked at her a long moment, and then sighed, before getting a determining look on her face as she spoke. “Well, who the hell a I going to have to pummel over this?”

Faust looked confused, “What?”

“Those girls have been around a long time love, and I know all those years ago you and I were quite open with our relationship, so who was it?” 

“Chrysalis…”

“Was it The Storm King?” asked Chrysalis, “The Pony of Shadows perhaps, Lord Tirek, his brother, am I getting warm, I could keep going, after all the list is quite long?”

“…Zacherle was right, I have a horrible taste in men.”

“You will not hear me disagree with you on that, though Scorpan wasn’t that bad. However darling, you are dodging the question.”

Faust took one last look around the room, and then sighed before speaking. “I remember when each of my daughters was conceived love, Celestia was conceived after you slew the Witches of Gloom Volcano, and Luna was conceived the night you rent Grogar’s heart from his chest with your horn.”

Chrysalis dawned a look of confusion after she was finished speaking, “So you left me those nights after I fell asleep, that still does not answer who I have to reprimand for impregnating my mate.”

This time Faust let out of a snort of frustration as she glared at the changeling queen, “That is what I am trying to tell you you idiot, I wasn’t with anyone else when I conceived my daughters, Celestia and Luna are yours!!!”

*

“Of all the things you had to pick up from mother,” said Luna as she glared at her sister as she rubbed her head due to hitting it on the now dented door, “you had to pick up that fucking bad habit.”

“I assume you are talking about Faust correct?” asked Cadance.

Luna nodded, “Yes, sadly mother was never really good with hard topics, I remember she disappeared for three weeks after I asked her how foals are made, and by the time she had returned Celestia had solved the problem for her.”

“…That explains so much in regards to Twilight,” said Cadance with wide eyes, before turning back to the white alicorn and resuming her glare. “But that is not what were here to talk about, were here to talk about why you never told me I was your and Luna’s daughter.”

“…Because I was afraid you would blame me for your mothers death,” Celestia finally said, though she had looked away when she had said it.

“…what?”

Snorting, Celestia continued speaking. “I was there when your mother was killed, and I didn’t see it coming till she had already driven the dagger through her heart. I already blamed myself for what happened, and I was afraid that if I revealed who I am Luna really were to you, that you would blame me to…and by the time I realized you would not, I feared that you would not be able to accept the truth, and so I decided to wait…till the right time presented itself.”

Sighing, she shook her head and then chuckled, “In hindsight I guess that was pretty stupid of my wasn’t it?”

“It was,” said Cadance, before she walked up and gave her a hug, much to Celestia’s surprise. “I’m still mad, but I think I can forgive you in time.”

Celestia hugged her back, before pulling back and looking between her and Luna and then speaking. “I think I should leave you two alone for now, but when you are ready to talk, you know where to find me.”

Cadance nodded, then watched as Celestia teleported out of the room, before looking to Luna and speaking. “So dad, what do you want to do today?”

Luna smiled at that, marveling at how it would take some getting used to being called that by her daughter, but then her smile vanished as she remembered what Chrysalis told her earlier, causing her to sigh. “As much as I would love to spend a fun day with you my daughter, I am afraid there is a pressing matter that has come to my attention, one which sadly concerns you.”

“What do you mean?”

Luna took a deep breath, and then teleported them both to an old secluded work shop she knew even Celestia did not know about, one which she had used to forge the armor she had worn when she became Nightmare Moon, and her eyes began to glow white as she spoke. “Cadance…we need to talk about your mother.”

*

Chrysalis took one look at Faust after her outburst, and then punched her in the face, sending her flying across the room.

After she picked herself up, Faust glared back at her mate as she spoke. “What in Tartarus was that for?”

“You should have told me sooner you insufferable twit!” yelled Chrysalis as she stood up and glared at her mate. “If you had, I would have never invaded my daughters kingdom, nor would I have imprisoned my granddaughter and brainwashed her husband to be!”

“What?” asked Faust.

Chrysalis gave her a look, and then sighed in exasperation. “Wow, you really are out of the loop aren’t you?”

When Faust nodded, Chrysalis sighed again, “Well sit back down, this is going to take a while.”

She then teleported in a bottle of liquor, and then went into the long explanation of everything Faust had apparently missed over the last few thousand years.

When she was done talking, Chrysalis watched as her love stared at her a moment, and then reached forward, grabbed the large bottle she had brought, and then downed it in one go, before tossing it aside and looking back at Chrysalis and speaking. “I should be angry that you attacked our children…but as I am to blame, I cannot hold you at fault.”

Nodding, Chrysalis summoned another bottle and took a swig, for she would need courage for this next part. “Sadly there is more, for it regards your daughters…and the current mare they have affections for.”

“What could be worse then what you told me?”

“…Tell me love, did you ever meet their soul mate?”

Faust snorted in contempt, “I did yes, I never really liked her, for I thought she was playing with forces that despite her talent for them, were beyond her power to control.”

“Well I guess we can say your daughters have as bad a taste in mates as you do, for their soul mate is a Soul-Thief.”

Faust’s eyes widened at that, “she’s a what?”

“A Soul-Thief,” said Chrysalis, “and she is one of the purest soul-thieves I have ever encountered, for while yes she did botch the spell like so many other before her, she has not warped herself like all those that have come before her.”

Faust simply sat that, staring at her love for a long moment, and then she got up and started walking towards the door which lead to her balcony.

“Love,” said Chrysalis, “are you…”

She ducked as Faust ripped the doors off their hinges and sent them flying, the force of her telekinetic throw embedding them in the walls they struck, which alarmed Chrysalis to no end, though it did not stop her from deciding to follow her outside.

She made it outside just as Faust took a deep breath, and then the alicorn let loose with a royal roar which shook the ground she stood on, though the changelings perceptive eyes saw that the sound did not reach far as it rippled across some unseen force.

When it was over, Faust was left panting with tears in her eyes, the mare simply looking out past the balcony as she spoke. “…As I told you, I never really approved of our daughters souls mate, but I could never deny them what they wanted. Around the time she turned fifty, out daughters came to me, and asked if I could find a way to turn her into an alicorn.”

“…And I am assuming by your anger you said yes?”

Faust nodded, and then she continued. “It took me a few months, but I found a potential method, but it was one that would take many life times, for as you know Zacherle and I lost the knowledge long ago on how to take more of our kind. Still, it was a solution, and as I said I could not deny my daughters anything.”

Walking back into her sitting room, the mare simply collapsed on the floor, waiting till her mate joined her before continuing with her tale. “Of course I went straight to her house, and told her of my findings, and of course I reassured her that I would make sure she would be able to regain all her memories…and do you know how she decided to thank me?”

When Chrysalis gestured for her to continued, she took a deep breath before speaking further. “She told me that she could not understand how someone so cruel could have given birth to such wonderful mares, for only a monster would ask that she bring such pain to her loves, possible for several life times.”

“Know you back then, I guess you did not take it well?” asked Chrysalis.

“No I did not,” said Faust, “and it lead to me moving out here, for I did not want to be anywhere near her after she…after she insulted me so.”

Chrysalis let the silence remain for a long moment, and then she broke it as she spoke. “Well love, while I cant fault your reaction, I am going to need you to be at least semi stable if shit goes south.”

“What do you mean?”

“Both our daughters know about her true nature,” said Chrysalis, “but Celestia has come to accept it, while Luna has chosen to take a stand against her. Due to her connection to the dream realm, Luna was able to find the other souls and formulate a plan, one that may be able to restore things to as they were…but there is a chance that this plan may go south, and if it does I may call on you…and I need to know you will answer that call.”

“You ask much of me love, for I have not interfered in the lives of my little ponies for a long while.”

“I know,” said Chrysalis, “but you may be the only one who can fix this if things do not go our way…so what say you?”

*

When Cadance came back to awareness, she found herself with a strange looking place, which reminded her of a realm Celestia had taken her long ago, one which she said contained the memory of their entire world.

She also became aware that she and Luna were not alone, for scattered around the area were many different ponies, the majority of which she recognized from Equestria’s history.

“Cadance?” said a voice behind her, causing her to turn and look at who had spoken, and she stopped in shock as she saw Twilight standing behind her, looking at her in shock.

“Wha…”

“Cadance,” said Luna as she moved in  front of her, blocking Twilight from view. “I promise to explain to you who she is and why she is here, but first I need to ask you a question, do you know what a soul thief is.”

Cadance hesitated, and then nodded before speaking herself. “They are soul magic practitioners who cut themselves off from the cycle of life and death by stealing the bodies of other ponies.”

Luna nodded when she was done, “I know this will be hard to hear, but your mother, the being currently residing in the body of Twilight Sparkle, is a soul thief, and these ponies here are her victims.”

“…no…no you cant mean…”

“WHAT IS THAT THINGS SPAWN DOING HERE!!!”

Cadance’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, for she would recognize that voice anywhere.

Quickly turning around, she saw a mare walking up to them, one whose face she recognized from her child hood, and it nearly broke her. “M…mom?”

Umbranox snorted, “I am not your mother, for she stole my body, and through that action drove my father to madness. You may not want to accept it, but your mother stole our lives, and unless you can accept that you should leave and forget about this place.”

Umbranox then turned and left, leaving Cadance shell shocked, before she jumped as she felt a hoof touch her side, revealing itself to be Luna as the mare moved into her vision.

“Come love, we should leave this place for now…for we still have much to discuss.”

Then both she and Cadance vanished from the realm, leaving the lost souls to return to their work, though Twilight could not help but glance back at where the two alicorns had vanished and voice her thoughts aloud.

“I’m sorry Cady, I just hope you can come to accept this…for all our sakes.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 09: Gathering Foes, Part 03
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What was that mare thinking, bringing that creatures spawn here?”

Fuji looked to where Umbranox was sitting, watching as the mare kicked the starry ground before sighing and walking over to her.

“While I think it could have been handled better, Cadenza could prove a useful ally against the Fell Shadow.”

“And if she turns on us?” asked Umbranox, “we have worked too hard for it all to be taken away!”

“Unbranox what’s done is done,” said Twilight as she walked over to her as well, “look I know this is hard for you, especially as how she is your…”

“DONT!!!” roared Umbranox as she rounded on Twilight, looking every bit the spitting image of her father as she glared at her. “The Fell Shadow may have used my body to birth her, but she is not my daughter, I will not accept that!”

“And what about your mother?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t see what my dead mother has to do with any of this,” said Umbranox grimly.

“…What was her name, If I may ask.”

“…Autumn Gem, though again I don’t know how this is relevant.”

Twilight smiled at that, “It’s relevant because Autumn Gem is alive, as are all the crystal ponies who were alive when your father banished the Crystal Empire all those years ago.”

Umbranox looked floored by this, but was quickly able to shake of her shock. “I don’t see how that matters, all that means is that I have even more reason to escape from this prison.”

“Well I asked because I want to know if Autumn knew of Cadance’s existence, and if she did, did she see Cadance as her granddaughter?”

Umbranox looked hesitant, before finally sighing speaking, “She did know of Cadance, and she did see her as her granddaughter.”

“Then you have to come to accept that in a way, you are related to Cadance as well, not by the soul, but by blood. How that will effect you going forward, I cant say, but you will have to figure it out eventually, especially if this succeeds.”

Twilight then turned and left along with Fuji to begin working on their plans, leaving Umbranox alone with her thought, till finally the mare pulled up an image that she had held onto when looking through the eyes of the Fell Shadow, that of a time when she had been holding the little alicorn foal in her hooves, and as she looked upon it tears began falling from her eyes.

“…Daughter.”

*

“…Does Celestia know?”

Luna and Cadance had just returned to the waking realm, where silence had reigned for a long moment, before Cadance had finally broken it with her question.

“…She knows, and unfortunately she has come to accept what our love is doing to stay with us.”

“How?” asked Cadance, “how can Celestia, one of the most noble and loving mares I have ever known, condone her love becoming a soul thief, and for that matter why do you have a problem with it, for I know about your past Luna, I know the kind of dark magic you used to practice!”

“…Yes, I used to practice the dark arts,” said Luna as she kept herself tuned away from Cadance. “That practice gave me knowledge, knowledge that allows me to see the truth of my mates transgressions. It also helps that this truth was thrust upon me so suddenly, were as my sister has had a thousand years to come to terms with our mates transgressions, and maybe even justify them.”

She then turned to look at Cadance, the mare taking a step back due to the intensity held within Luna’s eyes. “So now I must ask you daughter, whom will you stand with once this plan comes to fruition. Will you stand with your mother and Celestia, condemning more and more souls to life without the ones they love. Or will you side with me and your mothers victims, and help us to free them from this hell of your mothers making?”

Cadance hesitated a moment, before speaking as she kept her eyes locked with Luna’s. “…What will happen to mom if I side with you?”

Luna sighed, “She will pass on, and her soul will return to the afterlife for the next three thousand years, as penance for the time she stole from the souls whose lives she took over.”

“That…how can that be fair?” asked Cadance.

“It may not be,” said Luna, “but your mother has defied sacred laws of this world, and in the process has harmed not only those whose lives she stole, but also those who loved them…including the mare who you foalsat for. You are the alicorn of love Cadance, and that means that your mother is your enemy, for she damages the very thing you personify, the great web of love.”

Cadance seemed even more hesitant, “I…I need some time to decide.”

“Take what time you need Cadance,” said Luna ans she nuzzled her, “but not too much time, for plans are already in motion, and once things come to a head, you may be forced into a side whether you want to or not.”

Cadance nodded, and then Luna teleported them back to the main castle, before hugging her and speaking, “Once more, take the time you need my dear, but I must ask, do not reveal any of what you learned this day to your mother or Celestia…for they would undo all we are tying to do.”

“I promise I won’t,” said Cadance, before nuzzling Luna and teleporting away, leaving the mare to sigh before she made ready for another teleport, for she still needed to meet with Ember to see what her plans were going forward.

*

Near the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, Chrysalis and Faust teleported into view, Chrysalis looking around for a trail to follow, while Faust looked at the forest itself, marveling at its growth. “Are you sure this is the place she settled down, this place seems way too chaotic given her domain.”

“I know for a fact she is here Faust,” said Chrysalis, “ever since she took a mortal form all those years ago, she has repeatedly been drawn near your ponies, for I think her soul mate is one of them.”

Faust gave her a curious look, causing Chrysalis to speak further. “Oh come on, is it so hard to believe that her soul mate is a pony?”

“Well no offence to her, but I remember her being quite the racist during her hay day,” said Faust.

“Well things have changed for her, at least so I’ve been told,” said Chrysalis, before motioning her with her head in a direction, and so they began to walk.

Luckily for them it did not take long for them to find what Chrysalis was looking for, which looked to be a small hut with markings and decorations denoting it to be of Zebra origin.

“A shamans hut,” said Faust in surprise, “now that is a change.”

Nodding, Chrysalis headed for the door, knocking on it as Faust came up beside her, and both of them waited till the door opened, revealing a Zebra who looked at Chrysalis skeptically, however the moment she saw Faust her eyes widened in shock before she spoke. “Faust…”

“Hello Zecora,” said Faust, “may we come in?”

Zecora nodded, and then let both of them in, going over to her fireplace to get a pot of tea going, before sitting at the table with Faust and Chrysalis and then speaking. “I honestly never thought I’d see you again Faust, in fact I was pretty sure you were dead.”

“And I thought I would not see you either old friend,” said Faust, “especially seeing as how you took on mortal form.”

“Which begs the question,” said Chrysalis, “how do you still remember who you are?”

“You remember when I saved the life of the Mistress of Tartarus?”

Both Chrysalis and Faust nodded, “Well that granted me a favor from her, one which I cashed in after my…after my soul mate disappeared around a thousand years ago, some time after she became a student of Celestia.”

Both Chrysalis and Faust looked at each other in concern, before looking to Zecora and speaking. “Do you remember their name?”

“Her name was Sunset Shimmer,” said Zecora, “a mare of golden coat and red and gold mane, and after she disappeared, I looked everywhere for her, but I could find nothing. So I went to the mistress to call in my favor, and got it so that when I was reborn in my new mortal form, I would regain the memories from my past lives on my twenty fifth birthday. And so I have been hoping through time, and each time I am reborn, my soul draws me here, where my soulmate seems to reside, but I cannot find her no matter how hard I try.”

As Faust began mulling this over, Chrysalis spoke, “We may know why that is, but first, do you remember what a soul-thief is?”

Zecora nodded, “I remember hunting several with you ages ago, but how does that relate to my problem?”

“Because one has been found here, and from your description, it seems one of her victims was your mate, Princess Ember described to Thorax from memory a mare who had been tied to the soul we are currently hunting, and it sounds like your soul mate.”

Zecora looked horrified by this, and then spoke further, “So if what you say is true, where is this soul thief now?”

“In Canterlot Castle,” said Chrysalis, “residing in the body of one Twilight Sparkle, who is her most recent victim.”

Zecora looked even more horrified, “that is grave news indeed, for if that is the case, then we are without the full might of the elements, for if I recall the elements tie themselves to the souls of those who wield them.”

“They do,” said Faust, “but there is hope, for along with Chrysalis and the dragons, one of my daughters is forming a plan with those trapped by the soul-thief to undo her spell.”

“One of your daughters,” asked Zecora, “surely both would be against such a monster.”

“Unfortunately not,” said Faust, “for the soul-thief is soul mates with both Celestia and Luna, and to compound on the issue Celestia has known what this soul-thief has been doing since the fall of King Sombra, and has come to accept it. Luna however is against her mates actions, and has helped those trapped by the Soul-Thief to set into motion a plan to break them all free from their prison, and restore things to how they once were.”

They quickly filled Zecora in on the details of the plan, and after absorbing it all, Zecora nodded her head, and then got up as she spoke. “I can help with these plans of yours, but first, I think its time to level the playing field.”

Heading over to one of the masks on the wall, she moved it aside and then tapped the wall, revealing a false wall which opened up to reveal what looked to be a small glass bottle, which she took out as Chrysalis whistled in surprise. “So that’s how you became mortal, you sealed your powers within a Phylactery.”

Zecora nodded, and then she muttered a word before dropping the phylactery upon the ground, causing it to shatter and cause a swirling vortex of power to surround her. As the power infused her, she grew a bit taller, and her mane and tail lengthened and began flowing like an alicorns, and her body itself became fuller, before finally the vortex ended as Zecora’s power was fully restored.

And the moment said power washed over both Chrysalis and Faust, they both began blushing as they fell under its effects, causing Chrysalis to curse. “Gods dammit Zecora could you have waited till we left before you did that, now I’m too horny to think properly!”

“Oops,” said Zecora as she chuckled, before concentrating and removing the lingering effects of her magic, causing Chrysalis to sigh in relief, while Faust pouted.

“Oh foo, and here I wanted a chance at another child.”

Chrysalis began fuming at that comment, but before she could begin berating her mate, Zecora laughed and then spoke. “Maybe that is something we can revisit another day, for now though, I will go and speak with Luna so that I can lend my own powers to these lost souls. As for you Faust, I would recommend staying out of sight for now, for if you suddenly make appearance, it would cause quite the stir, and would put our quarry in a state of alert that we cannot afford right now.”

“On that we agree,” said Faust, before becoming engulfed in light, which when it ended, left behind a small looking earth pony, whose coat was ivory, and her mane and tail were vivid auburn, and her cutie mark was a simple quill colored like her mane. “There, now no one will know it is me, for not even my daughters have seen this disguise.”

“Hm,” said Chrysalis, before engulfing herself in her own magic, and creating a form that looked similar to Faust’s, though with her signature colors intact, and then she turned to Zecora and spoke. “Well we best be off then, for me and my love still have a few more allies to meet, so for now…good luck old friend.”

“Good luck to you both,” said Zecora, before vanishing in a brilliant flash of rose gold light, leaving the two mares to leave the residence and head off to Ponyville, for they had a train to catch.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 10: Gathering Foes, Part 04
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shining, do you have a second to talk?”

Shining looked up from his desk to see his wife standing in the doorway of his Canterlot office, looking nervous.

“Of course honey, what about.”

“Not here,” said Cadance, before gesturing for him to follow her.

Looking confused, but know he could trust his wife, Shining followed her out into the hall, and then suddenly found himself teleported to what looked to be a secluded workshop, one he had never seen before. “Cadance, what is going on, is something wrong?”

“…Shining, have your duties as a guard ever pitted you against someone you loved…and more importantly, have you ever had to do something that may put you against Princess Celestia?”

“Wha…Cady what is going on, are you in some sort of trouble with Celestia?”

“Not yet,” said Cadance, “but very soon I may be.”

“…Cadance whatever it is we’ll be able to figure it out,” said Shining, “you just need to tell me whats going on?”

“It’s not that simple Shining.”

“How is it not that simple?” said Shining.

“Because Celestia has been using soul magic to break the cycle of death and rebirth!” cried Cadance.

Shining looked at her with a look of horror, “wha…”

“…The mare who came to visit us wasn’t really Twilight,” said Cadance, “at least not where her soul is concerned. She is actually a being who shares Twilight’s name called Twilight Everfree Sparkle, a three thousand year old soul art practitioner who used one of the most forbidden arts to become a soul thief, which I know you know about due to your guard training.”

Shining gave a shaking nod, and that was when Cadance saw that his horn had a subtle glow to it, which once she concentrated on it she could tell was a truth spell, which she realized she was under the effects of.

Shining noticed that she had seen his subtle casting, and so he ended it, which immediately caused her to regain full control of her faculties, and she gasped in horror, “I…I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of that.”

“I know,” said Shining, “but you were scaring me, and I was fully willing to take responsibility if what I was worried about turned out to be false…but this was more then I expected to discover.”

“I can imagine,” said Cadance, and then she began filling him in on everything she knew.

When she was done, she saw that he was deep in thought, before finally he looked her in the eyes and spoke. “Can you take me to where Twily is?”

“I…I don’t know,” said Cadance, “but I can try.”

Placing a hoof on Shining’s chest, Cadance closed her eyes, before concentrating on the magic necessary for this attempt.

Once she was ready, she opened herself up to the great web of love, something that always filled her with a deep sense of trepidation, for even though she was its guardian, she felt that she was in no way responsible enough to care for such a thing.

Soon she found what she was looking for, the familial cord which bound Shining to Twilight, and using that, she projected both her and Shining’s minds to where that soul was located, opening her eyes to see that she was once again in the place that Luna had taken her to.

“Shining!” cried a voice, both Cadance and Shining turning to see Twilight running up to them, before jumping and wrapping the stallion up in a hug, which caused a aura of light to briefly surround them, causing Shining to shiver before he pulled back in shock.

“Wha…what was that?”

“If I had to guess,” started Cadance as she moved up to them both, “I would say its your souls re-strengthening the bond you share as siblings, though honestly that is a shot in the dark of a guess, after all I’m not that well versed in soul magic.”

“Few are,” said Twilight as she gazed at them both, “but for now, it is good to see you both, though I have to ask, how did you get here?”

“I kinda took a shot in the dark really,” said Cadance, “for I kinda just figured that if Luna could connect to souls through the dreaming, maybe I could do the same through the web, so I used Shining’s love for you as a sister to find where you were, for he wanted to see you after…well after I blabbed everything. And before you ask any questions in regards to loyalties, I decided to throw in my lot with you all, for as much as I love my mother…I cant let what she is doing continue.”

“…That is good to hear Cadance,” said Twilight “now if you don’t mind, I would like to talk with Shining alone for a moment, meanwhile if you have any ideas regarding our plan, you can talk to Fuji, who is the sort of leader of this place.”

“I would like that,” said Cadance, “now go catch up.”

Twilight and Shining nodded, heading off and disappearing into the place while Cadance began looking around, and realized that she had no idea what this Fuji Twilight was talking about looked like.

“I can help you find her if you would like,” said a voice, Cadance looking behind her to see Umbranox standing there looking at her.

“Mo…sorry I mean…”

“It is ok,” said Umbranox, “this is probably hard for both of us I expect, especially…me.”

Cadance could not help but raise a questioning eyebrow at that comment, which caused Umbranox look hesitant for a moment, and then she nodded with her head to follower her, before beginning to elaborate as they walked.

“I know you probably did not know this, but this place is tied deeply to the one who trapped us here, and it allows us to look in on her from time to time. I mainly used that ability to try and find weakness in her defenses, but after you were born, I started to simply watch her whenever she was raising you…mainly because like my body…I felt in some way that you were stolen from me to.”

“So you saw me as your daughter to?” asked Cadance.

Umbranox nodded, “Yes I did, which is why I reacted the way I did when I saw you here earlier, for being confronted with all that I felt had been stolen from me, it caused me to lash out, and that was not fair to you.”

“It’s ok,” said Cadance with a smile, “and if I may be honest, what you have said does explain something I always wondered about.”

Getting a curious look, Cadance continued. “Once I started coming into my gifts as the Alicorn of Love, I could sense all this love radiating from my mom towards me, but some of it felt off, like it wasn’t really coming from her, more like through her. Now that you have told me this, I realize that all that love must have been coming from you.”

That brought a smile to Umbranox’s face, “I should have known you would be able to sense it, now come, Fuji should be around here somewhere.”

*

Getting off the train at Canterlot station, Faust and Chrysalis looked around, before beginning to head down the road as Faust got a bead on where the next person they wanted to find was, and then making a comment as they walked. “I am surprised this city is not warped beyond recognition due to his presence, has something happened to the old man?”

“I hear he went soft after becoming friends with one of your element bearers,” said Chrysalis, “Kindness if I recall.”

“Hm,” said Faust, “I would have assumed laughter would be the one to tame Discord, still though, it is good to know he is raining things in.”

They eventually reached what looked to be the place he was residing in, Faust knocking on the door and then standing beside her mate to wait.

When the door opened, they saw Discord on the other side, who took one look at Faust and then gasped in horror, before slamming the door in their faces.

“Well I see he still remembers you,” said Chrysalis with a smirk, before following Faust as the mare simply pushed her way through the door.

Once inside they found Discord running about the pans labyrinth that was the interior of his house, seemingly looking for a place to hide.

“Discord you can stop trying to run, I’m not here to kill you, if I were I would have broken your statue after you got turned to stone by my daughters all those years ago.”

“Frankely my dear I trust you as much as I do the Smooze to keep a clean house.”

“How is he doing by the way?” asked Chrysalis.

“Oh he is good,” said Discord, “still gets nightmares about the witches from time to time but otherwise he is fine.”

“That is good to hear,” said Chrysalis, “I’ll have to visit him someday soon.”

“He would like that,” said Discord, before looking back at Faust and speaking. “Now, why are you here?”

“You know why I am here,” said Faust with a smirk, before sitting down and waiting for Discord to speak.

He looked confused for a moment, and then his eyes widened as he spoke. “So, you found out what Everfree’s been doing.”

“I have,” said Faust, “and I plan to help in stopping her, and I decided to see if you would help me out with that.”

Discord smirked, before turning away to go look for something, “Sorry old friend, but she already beat you here, and I gave her my answer, I’ll not be interfering in what she has chosen to do.”

“Even if your inaction causes harm to Kindness?”

Discord came to such an abrupt halt it was almost as if he hit a wall, and then he turned it indeed looked like he had smacked face first into reality, though after a moment he restored himself, and then leaned down at Faust before speaking. “How is this one harming Fluttershy?”

Faust smiled, “Fluttershy’s soul mate is trapped with the pocket realm created by Everfree’s botched casting of the spell, and while there is a plan in motion to help free her and the other souls, it is what comes after that we need your help with, for Everfree will need to be dealt with.”

Discord remained silent for a long moment, and then sighed, “I am sorry Faust, but my answer is the same, I will not interfere in this, so you will have to look somewhere else for aid.”

“I see,” said Faust, before standing and then gesturing to her mate to follow, “then till next we see each other Discord, I bid thee farewell.”

“Farewell,” said Discord, and then the two mares left the house, before heading back towards the train station, for they had one more stop to make before they waited for the domino's to start falling.

*

Luna looked up as she felt someone teleport in behind her, and upon turning she saw what looked to be Zecora, though she had undergone a great change.

“Zecora, what has happened to you?”

The Zebra smiled, “I have once again embraced my immortality, though that is mainly because you mother came by, and revealed to me some troubling things.”

That got a surprised look from Luna, before suddenly her face fell as she spoke. “Let me guess, Chrysalis was also beside her.”

When Zecora nodded, Luna sighed, “So that bug wasn’t lying about knowing where mother was, that just provides so many headaches. However I can worry about that later, I assume that you are here concerning my mate Twilight?”

“Yes I am,” said Zecora, before looking a bit befuddled and then chuckling.

“What is so funny,” asked Luna.

“Just laughing over how weird it is to not speak in rhyme anymore,” said Zecora, “I will admit I grew quite used to it, though upon seeing your mother I realized my days as a shaman were over.”

“I see,” said Luna, “well to be honest, I don’t know what aid you could provide, for much of the plan is already moving forward, and the soul mates of the various element bearers will be leaving their prison to reform their bonds.”

“So I can assume you have already insured that the element bearers will be open to reforming the bonds they shared with their soul mates?”

Luna gave her a skeptical look, prompting her to speak further. “I know your plan is to have them copulate to quickly reform their bonds and make them iron clad, but in order for that to work their souls have to be open to such a quick process, and due to how long many of them have been without their soul mates, such a process would usually take time.”

Luna sighed in defeat at that, which caused Zecora to chuckle, and upon getting a quizzical look, she spoke. “No need to worry, I have a way of insuring their souls are open to such things, just a quick warning though, while it will only have a mild effect on the Element Bearers and their respective mates, expect next years Ponyville population census to show a increase in expecting mothers.”

Luna gave her a sour look, “Is there no other way?”

“Well if Cadance was more versed in soul magic she could probably pull this off better then I could, but seeing as how she is not the spell I have is our only option.”

“…And suddenly I realize you are that fertility goddess everyone at the ascendants meetings always ranted about and was happy was gone.”

Now Zecora looked sour, “Just for that I am attending the next meeting and population booming every culture whose ascendant reacts poorly to me.”

Now Luna looked worried, but decided to save worrying about it for later. “I see, well anyways, how long will it take to prepare?”

“About an hour,” said Zecora, “after all I am a bit rusty.”

“I see,” said Luna, “then I will let everyone know we are a go, so good luck I guess.”

Zecora smiled at that, before teleporting away, and then Luna teleported back to her room, getting ready and then casting her mind into the dreaming, for she had her own preparations to make.

She just hopped they won.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 11: Gathering Foes, Part 05
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This place hasn’t changed at all,” said Faust as she and Chrysalis looked over the sight known as Ponehenge, “just a bit of wear and tear.”

“And your sure they trapped the pony of shadows here?” asked Chrysalis.

“Yes,” said Faust as she dropped her disguise and began power her magic, “after all this place is a font of infinite magic, therefor it works as the perfect prison.” 

Concentrating hard on what she wanted to do, Faust reached out with her magic to find the keys to the prison before her, before summing forth an old journal, a shovel, a potted flower, a shield, a mask, and finally a blindfold, before placing the items on the pedestals set before the great stone pillars that made up Ponehenge, and then turning her attention to the central dais

“…What is it with you and using six as your power number,” said Chrysalis as Faust began to ready herself to undo the spell, “Six elements, six element bearers, six pillars, six objects of power, its always bloody six.”

“What can I say,” said Faust, “it just seemed to be a powerful number.”

With that said, she cast her spell, causing energy to begin swirling around the objects before beams flew out of each and connected over the central dais, forming a ball of light before it exploded out, and all at once six ponies popped into existence before falling to the ground, before slowly rising to their hooves groggily while one, the famous Starswirl The Bearded, looked around in a panic before spotting Faust and speaking. “My lady…?”

“Best you and your friends get behind me Starswirl,” said Faust as she spread her wings out, watching as dark magic began to swirl over the center dais of Ponehenge.

The stallion and his friends quickly fell in behind her, just in time as a giant alicorn formed entirely of shadows appeared with a cackle, only to stop as Faust cleared her throat, looking down at her before screaming like a girl and then trying to flea, only to get trapped inside a bubble of magic.

“Now Shadow darling,” said Faust with a smirk, “you really didn’t think I would let you out of your prison and then just let you go did you?”

“Whatever you want I will not be part of it you witch!”

“Well we can get to whether or not you have a choice later,” said Faust, “for now I want to know why you are linked to one of my little ponies?”

“I can answer that my lady,” said one of Starswirl’s friends, a pegasus by the name of Flash Magnus if Faust guessed correctly. “The ponies name is Stygian, and he allied with the Pony of Shadows after he grew jealous of our power and tried to take it for himself, causing us to banish him from our group.”

Before Faust could inquire further, the Pony of Shadows began to chuckle darkly. “So what the poor colt told me was true, you truly are terrible friends.”

“What could you possibly mean by that?” said Starswirl.

“He wasn’t trying to steal your powers,” said the Pony of Shadows, “he was trying to copy your powers so that he could fight along side you and share in you glories as an equal like he always should have been, and instead of asking him what he was doing, you leaped to the worst conclusion possible, and sent him running right into my hooves! I listened to him when he needed an ear, I comforted him after he told me what you did to him, and I gave him exactly what he wanted, which made it easy to trap him and use his body for what I needed!”

He chuckled again, drawing satisfaction from the horrified looks on their faces, but before he could speak further he began to choke as a green aura wrapped around his throat, Faust looking over to see her mate’s eyes were glowing with rage.

“You know its monsters like you that give your race it’s terrible reputation,” said Chrysalis with a growl, “and the fact that you would take advantage of someone in such a compromised emotional state sickens me to the core, so I think for his sake I will be rectifying that issue.”

She then sent a cord of green magic through Faust’s magical bubble and into the chest of the Pony of Shadows, before giving a mighty tug and ripping a gray coated, blue mane and tailed unicorn out from his chest, causing the Pony of Shadows to loose his form while the unicorn went sailing through the air, though he was swiftly caught by Starswirl, who lowered him to the ground near him as the others gathered around.

Slowly, the young unicorn awoke, and upon seeing the Pillars surrounding him, he dawned a look of confusion. “Wha…where am I?”

“Your at Ponehenge,” said Starswirl, “what’s the last thing you remember?”

Stygian grimaced, “last thing I remember was after you all banished me, I was alone in the forest, and then suddenly this…pony came up to me, asking me what was wrong. I told them my story, and they did their best to comfort me…and then next thing I know I’m waking up here.”

“That pony was an Umbra called the Pony of Shadows,” said the pink pegasus known as Somnambula. “He…he took advantage of your vulnerable state due to us leaping to conclusions about what you were doing and not giving you the chance to explain yourself.”

“We never realize you felt lacking in regards to being one of us,” said Starswirl, “I just hope you can forgive us all for our oversight.”

Stygian made to speak, only to startle along with everyone else as a roar sounded behind them, causing them to turn to where Faust was standing, her bubble still intact and keeping the mass of shadows inside, which was trying its hardest to break free from the bubble.

“Why do you keep me here witch!” roared the Pony of Shadows, “you deprived me of my vessel, what more could you want from me!”

“Because as harsh as this is going to sound, Stygian was not why I am here, for I am actually here for the sake of your son.”

The shadows within the bubble seemed to still, and then the several eyes formed within before looking directly at Faust. “What possible interest could you have with my half breed spawn?”

“I have interest in him because he is one of the most powerful soul-magic practitioners in the world, and I will need him to face a enemy just as experienced, but to do that I need him restored to his true self, which means I need that shard of his soul he gave you.”

“That was given to me freely in exchange for enhancing his gifts,” roared the Pony of Shadows, “he has no more right to it!”

“He has every right to it!” said Faust, this time with a growl, “and unless you give it to me freely so that I may return it to him, I will rip you apart piece by piece till I find it!”

Glaring at her, the shadow seemed to fall within itself, before a bright glowing shard of energy left the billowing mass, which Faust let pass through the bubble before grabbing it and letting it float next to her, before she looked back at the Pony of Shadows as he spoke.

“Now what witch?”

“Now I return you to where you belong.”

The Pony of Shadows eyes widened at this, and he began redoubling his efforts to break free from the bubble, even as it lowered to the ground and expanded, and then a gate opened in the very middle of the bubble.

The moment the portal had opened the area around it had become darker, as the realm it opened to did not react well to the light. Then, from the portal, a form emerged, making its way to the edge of the bubble before passing through it, allowing it to finally become clear.

The form was that of a female alicorn of jet black coat, mane, and tail, and her eyes were a deep blood red, which matched the color of her curved horn.

Her wings shared a similar structure to the Pony of Shadows before he had lost his form, and wisps of shadow billowed at the edges of her hooves, which mimicked her mane and tail.

Smiling, Faust spoke to the being. “Hello Umbranox, it has been a while, I hope I did not catch you at a bad time.”

“Actually you spared me a rather dull meeting with several members of my court, so no harm done. Now, why am I here, and more importantly why is their a bubble around the portal to my realm?”

“Well the bubble is there to keep one of you wayward sons from escaping, which is one of the reasons I called you here.”

Looking back, Umbranox saw the shadowy form cowering at the farthest edge of the bubble, which caused her to smirk as she spoke to it. “So this is where you have been hiding E’sol, many of your brothers and sisters thought you dead, as did I.”

“I wont go back, YOU CANT MAKE ME!!!”

“I can and I will,” said Umbranox, “now you stay there and behave, for I have a feeling Faust has more to tell me in regards to you.”

She turned back to Faust, only to dawn a look of surprise as she saw several ponies had come up beside her, one in particular looking to her before speaking. “I am sorry to interrupt this conversation, but did I hear my lady correct when she called you by the name Umbranox?”

“You did indeed hear her correctly, why?”

“Because the daughter of  my old friend Sombra actually shares your name, a remarkable coincidence to be sure.”

“Actually it is not that much of a coincidence Starswirl,” said Faust, choosing at that moment to interject due to the confusion she could see on Umbranox’s face. “For Sombra is actually Umbranox’s grandson, making his daughter her great granddaughter.”

Umbranox’s eyes had widened at this point, “I have grandchildren who are not full Umbra, I will admit I find this surprising, though that would explain the soul shard you are carrying. Also it would be safe to assume that this grandchild is the son of E’sol?”

Faust nodded, “I had to free him from being trapped in limbo because he took this shard from his son in exchange for enhancing his Umbra half, and I needed that shard to help restore him, for I will have need of him soon.”

“I see,” said Umbranox, “well once this business of yours is concluded I will have to come visit him sometime, till then I shall return home, and I’ll be taking this one with me.”

With that said, she turned around and grabbed the Pony of Shadows before disappearing through the gateway which vanished, allowing Faust to dispel the bubble.

“Well she hasn’t changed much,” said Chrysalis as she walked up beside Faust, “though I have to ask love, why did you not ask her to help against our current predicament?”

“You know she would have said no,” said Faust.

“Um…” said a voice behind them, Faust turning to look and see that the pillars were looking up at her, the mare named Mistmane speaking up once Fausts full attention was upon them. “What issue is Queen Chrysalis talking about?”

Faust sighed, before smiling as she spoke, “A problem that now that I think of it you could help with, for you have battle against a soul thief before yes?”

All the pillars nodded, and then Starswirl spoke, “admittedly not many, but we know the kind of threat they pose. Do you know the age of this particular soul thief?”

“A little over three thousand years.”

All the pillars blanched at this, but before any of them could speak up, Stygian came forward and interjected. “But how can that be, from everything I have read that would make the soul thief a monstrous being, which means it should have been noticed well before now.”

“I have to agree with Stygian on this,” said Starswirl, “for the oldest soul thief we have encountered was less then five hundred years old, and that being was a monstrous one.”

“This one has not altered herself since becoming a soul thief,” said Chrysalis, “making her rather unique, but we can explain more of this to you once we get our last ally.”

Everypony nodded, before gathering close to Faust as she began charging her horn, all save for Stygian.

“Stygian,” said Starswirl, causing the stallion to look at him, “your one of us too, its time you participated in one of our missions.”

Stygian smiled, and then ran up to the group as Faust cast her spell, whisking them all away to their next destination.

*

Back in the pocket realm which acted as the current prison of all the Fell Shadows victims, Cadance was in the mists of talking with Fuji when Luna appeared in the realm, who looked surprised for a moment before smiling and walking up to give her a hug. “So you have decided to join us.”

“It wasn’t really a choice,” said Cadance as they finished the hug. “I love my mother, but I cant let her keep doing what she is doing, the cost is too high.”

“On that we are agreed,” said Luna, before looking to Fuji, “could you gather the others, for if I am correct we should be able to start our plan tonight.”

Nodding her head, Fuji tapped her hoof on the ground, and after only a few moments everyone was gathered, including Shining, much to Luna’s surprise.

“I had to bring him in on all this, but he’s behind us all the way.”

“Good to know,” said Luna, before addressing the room at large. “Now everyone, recently an ally has joined up with us, sent by my mother Faust, whom you all know doubt have heard of. Thanks to her, we will be able to set our plan into motion beginning tonight, so make what preparations you need, for things will only get more hectic from here on out.”

Everypony nodded and then began moving about, many looking like they were prepping spells, while Twilight, Cadance, Shining, Fuji and Umbranox walked up to her.

“Who is this ally?” asked Twilight, looking genuinely curious.

‘Well as it turns out Twilight, your friend Zecora is actually the Zebra fertility goddess, one whom many of the Ascendancy thought died ages ago.”

“Ascendancy?” said Twilight in confusion.

“Ponies aren’t the only ones who have alicorn like beings Twilight,” said Cadance, “though that makes me worried, for is she is the one they have all been talking about then Ponyville is in for white the uptick in pregnant ponies.”

“…Mayor mare is going to kill us when this is all over.”

“Agreed,” said Luna, “now, Cadance, Shining and I will return to the waking realm, where we can begin putting our own skills to work, but the linchpin will be you five reforging your connections with the element bearers.”

“I understand your highness,” said Twilight, “we’ll be ready.”

Nodding her head, Luna closed her eyes before vanishing from the realm, followed soon by Cadance and Shining after they gave a hug to Twilight.

“You need to win this Twilight,” said Umbranox after Cadance vanished, causing Twilight to look at her and note the tears traveling down her face. “I just got to speak with my daughter for the first time, and I cant loose her…I wont!”

“We’ll win Umbranox,” said Twilight, “I promise.”

*

Out in the snows of the Crystal Empire, a group of ponies, along with an alicorn and a changeling queen, appeared and began moving through the snow as if looking for something.

“And your sure its here?” Faust called out to Chrysalis.

“This was the direction I saw the horn fly when Sombra’s form was destroyed by the heart,” said Chrysalis, “though whether it is fully intact or not I could not tell you.”

Nodding, they continued with the search, and as they did, Faust and Chrysalis filled int he Pillars on the threat they face, allowing them to better know their enemy and thus start making their own mental preparations for the battle that might be coming.

“I found it!” cried Starswirl from far away, everyone running toward him as he pulled a glowing red horn, which bore the signature curve that all umbra ponies shared.

“Are you sure this is going to work your highness,” said Stygian as Starswirl handed Faust the horn, “for this seems like quite the feet.”

“I helped to create most of the life on this world,” said Faust as she brought the soul shard towards the horn, “this will be trivial compare to that feet.”

Then she began concentrating with her magic, the shard disappearing into the horn as it began to glow brighter and brighter, and then slowly, life began to take shape.

The first thing to form was the skeleton, then the tendons and nerves, followed by the organs and muscles, till finally the skin, fur, mane and tail formed, and then the pony collapsed to the ground.

Faust stayed everyone when they went to check on the now restored Sombra, and after a moment he slowly rose to his hooves, looking around before his eyes settled on Starswirl, causing him to speak. “Old friend, is that really you?”

“It is old friend,” said Starswirl, “but we will have to catch up later, for I am afraid Faust has need of you.”

Sombra nodded, and then turned to Faust, taking a deep breath before speaking. “Lady Faust, how may I be of service to you?”

“I have need of you for a delicate mission,” said Faust, “but first, what is the last thing you remember.”

Sombra looked confused for a moment, before suddenly he growled. “I had just woke up from my self imposed sleep brought on by banishing the Crystal Empire so that the Fell Shadow could not have it, and at first I was happy, for I sensed my granddaughter had entered the city. But then I sensed the Fell Shadow heading towards my cities boarders, which caused me to loose myself to the chaos that I had left myself in due to…”

Suddenly he stopped talking, a hoof shooting up to his chest before he let out a gasp, “My…my soul, how…”

“I payed a visit to your father,” said Faust, causing him to look at her in surprise, “for I needed you whole of form for the task I will be setting you to.”

“And that is?”

“Battling the Fell Shadow should she be able to resist the elements, and I needed you clear of mind for that fight, for you will be working with others should things go truly south.”

“I see,” said Sombra, before cracking his neck and then looking to the others before speaking, “and I am assuming they will be helping as well?”

When Faust nodded, Sombra spoke up. “Then by your leave my lady, I would like to go to one of my workshops and gather some things, and to prepare for the battle to come.”

“May do so,” said Faust, watching as he teleported away before looking to the Pillars and speaking. “As for you all, I will be teleporting you to the outskirts of the town of Ponyville, where I expect you to wait and watch till you feel the time is right, for if we are lucky the elements will be able to take care of this.”

“If I may be so bold your grace,” said the mare named Mistmane, “but what are these elements you speak of?”

Faust dawned a look of surprise, and then looked cross when Chrysalis began chuckling behind her, before sighing as she spoke. “I forgot that you were not around for when they began being used, even though you had a hand in making them, for the elements are the crystalline fruit created by the tree of harmony, whose seed you planted well over a thousand years ago.”

All the ponies eyes widened in surprise, and then surprisingly, Stygian moved forward and spoke “Are you…are you telling my the seed I created actually bore fruit?”

“It did indeed,” said Faust with a smile, “though knowing this, I am surprised your friends planted it considering what happened.”

“We did it to honor the friend we thought we had lost,” said Rockhoof as he place a hoof on Stygian’s shoulder. “With the hope that in someway he would continue to help us, despite what he had become.”

“I see,” said Faust, “then till next we meet, I wish you all luck.”

She then lit up her horn and teleported them to their destination, before looking towards Chrysalis as the changeling queen walked up to her.

“Now what beloved?” said Chrysalis.

“Now…we make our way back to Canterlot, and prepare for the battle to come.”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 12: Mending, Part 01 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours after Luna had returned from the pocket realm, she found herself getting ready for the night, and what was to potentially come, when a knock sounded on her bedroom door, The mare looking up to see it open and Twilight walk inside.

“Luna, aren’t you coming to bed, we have missed you these past few nights.”

“I would if I could love,” said Luna with a smile, “but the dreaming is still quite chaotic at the moment, and requires my full attention, and you are unfortunately very distracting.”

“You know I could help you if you would let me,” said Twilight with a smile.

“And when I get the time I promise to teach you everything I can about dream walking,” said Luna with a smile, “till then for your own safety it would be best for you to only enter the dreaming as others do.”

“Very well,” said Twilight, “but tomorrow night you are joining us in bed, and I wont take no for an answer.”

She then left and closed the door, Luna waiting for a moment before letting her face fall before speaking only in a whisper. “I am sorry…”

*

Rarity set aside her needle and thread; sighing in satisfaction of another dress was finished. It had been her busy season since the Twilight had stood trial for supposedly using dark magic to become Princess Consort, and many mares in the kingdom now wanted a replica of the beautiful ensemble that she had worn during said trial.

She looked up as a knock came to her door, getting up and walking over to open it, smiling as she spoke. “Hello and welcome to Carousel Boutique, what can I help you with today?”

“How do you do madam,” said a pair of voices, causing Rarity to finally get a good look at the ponies at her door. Her jaw dropped when she saw them, for two dark-blue furred, silver manned and tailed, green eyed stallions were standing outside her door. They were both well built, and they had that look about them that screamed well groomed, which Rarity always loved in a stallion, and there was of course the fact that THERE WERE TWO OF THEM!

“Oh goddess, my heart is all a flutter, please tell me they are just here for business, it’s been too long since I have been on a date and I know I am going to do something stupid if they are not here for business!” She quickly shook her head, smiling nervously at the stallions as she spoke. “May I ask what brought you to my fine establishment this evening?”

“Well my brother and I come from Canterlot you see,” said the stallion on the left, Rarity’s heart leaping into her throat at the mention of the beloved city. “We are purveyor’s and sellers of fine garments, and we heard from some of our favorite providers that a certain seamstress we have been receiving many of our wares from lived in Ponyville, and we both decided to come by and meet you in person.”

The shorter of the two nodded as Rarity swooned, looking at her and then extending a hoof. “May I,” he asked, Rarity nodding and extending a hoof; the stallion gently taking ahold of it and kissing it gently, causing her to blush.

“It is an honor to kiss the hoof of such a fine dress maker, but now I beg pardon for the lack of introductions on the part of my brother and I. I am Yang and this is Yin Lulamoon, and we would like to take you out to dinner to show our appreciation for your fine work.”

Rarity couldn’t contain herself anymore, squealing like a little filly and causing both the stallions to laugh, covering her mouth with a hoof as she blushed. “I am sorry about that; you both must think I am terribly rude.”

“Not at all my lady,” said Yin with a smile, “it is quite relaxing to see a mare of such fine grace be relaxed around some one of the opposite gender, I and my brother like to think ourselves as stallions who appreciate a mare for all her qualities, and not just her beauty alone.”

Rarity could not believe it, two gentlecolts, two twin gentlecolts paying her lovely compliments and asking her to dinner. Well that was it for Rarity; she was not going to let this opportunity slip by her without a fight. “If you two stallions will pardon a lady for a moment, I am going to go get dressed for the evening, see you soon.”

The door closed then, the stallions smiling as they looked up at the full moon, smiling a secret smile as an old familiar spark flashed through their eyes.

*

Rarity laughed like she hadn’t laughed in years, for she hadn’t been on a proper date since the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, and it was also quite nice to be able to relax with such fine gentle colts.

“You know I didn’t think to ask,” Said Rarity, “but are you two by chance related to a Trixie Lulamoon?”

Yin giggled, causing his brother to glare at him before answering Rarity. “Very distantly I am afraid, sometimes it happens with old family clans, some parts tend to split off from the majority for long periods of time.”

Rarity nodded, taking a sip of wine before one of the other brothers spoke up.

“By the way Lady Rarity,” said Yin, “my brother and I heard about your incident with one Prince Blueblood, so on behalf of gentlecolts everywhere we would like to extend a most humble apology for how he treated you.”

“Oh there is no need…”

“Nonsense my dear,” said Yang, “no lady, especially one such as you should be treated that way.” Both the brothers then extended a hoof to her own, gently squeezing it before Yin spoke up. “We both wish things had turned out better, and most of all we wish we could have possibly spared you the pain of meeting such a crude stallion.”

After that they fell silent, going back to their food as Rarity looked back at her own plate, her mind not letting go of the words the two stallions had spoken to her. She couldn’t understand it, but over the course of the date she had begun falling for them, and falling for them hard, but she didn’t know what to do about it at all.

They finished their meals slowly, engaging in small talk here and there before finally leaving the restaurant, both the stallions paying for the meal and then escorting her to her boutique, stopping in front of the door as she turned to smile at them.

“Well it has been a pleasure lady Rarity, but I am afraid my brother and I are expected back in Canterlot, though we promise to visit you again if we are in town, till then though we bid the a very heavy hearted farewell.”

The two stallions turned to go; only to have Rarity run up to them, grabbing them both by the shoulder and turning them both around, a desperate look in her eyes. “Um…I…I hope this is not too forward, and I know we haven’t talked that long. But I feel a deep connection towards the both of you, and if you would be willing, I would…would like it if you would both join me in my bed, even if it is only for one night.”

The stallions looked surprised, but they did not shy away, Yin moving close to her and whispering into her ear. “are you sure lady Rarity, I admit my brother and I have also felt this…connection you speak of, but we don’t want to do anything unless you are absolutely sure.”

She nodded, giving both the stallions a kiss on the cheek before inviting them in, thanking the high heavens that Sweetie Belle was over at Applebloom's.

They made their way up toward her bedroom, the two stallions nipping and nuzzling her as they made their way up the stairs, Rarity recuperating where she could as they made it to her room. The colts were gentle to her, gently lifting her into the bed and then getting out of their cloths, following her onto the bed and then slowly beginning to undress her.

Rarity moaned as they undressed her, for each time a bit of skin was exposed, one of the two stallions tending to her would kiss or nip at it, causing her to squeak and moan with each sensation. She was in absolute heaven, she had never known something like this could be so…exciting, especially seeing as how it was two stallions who were tending to her, not just one.

Finally the last article of clothing was removed, the stallions stopping in their ministrations as they looked into her eyes, Yang speaking up for the both of them. “Well my lady I believe it is now up to you to decide how we continue here. Would you like my brother and I to go fast, or would you like us to keep taking things at the pace we have been?”

Rarity gazed between the two stallions, her breaths coming out in slow gasps as a fire began to burn within her eyes, and she quickly spoke. “I thank you for giving me the choice my lovely stallions, and I would like it if we continued our current pace, for while I am sufficiently aroused, I would like to see how much farther this can go.”

The two brothers nodded, then Yin made a circling motion with his hoof, indicating that she should roll onto her back. As she did so, she found herself nestled comfortably within Yang’s embrace, her head resting comfortably on his chest while his brother kissed his way down her body.

As Yin made his way down lower Yang decided to make a move of his own, eliciting a gasp from the mare lying atop him as he kissed along the base of her horn. He let his tongue slide out, tracing it slowly along her horn as his brother reached his destination, causing Rarity to jump as he gently kissed her swelling mound.

The two brothers began their slow ministrations, Yin kissing and licking around her sex as Yang licked and sucked her horn, causing her to squeal and moan as she was pleasured from both sides.

While her eyes were closed, both the brothers looked at each other, both winking at each other before lighting up their horns, the soft green light of their aura gently moving along her body as it sought out her most sensitive spots, her cutie marks.

As the magic caressed her she couldn't take it anymore, crying out in ecstasy as she climaxed, her body writhing as the two brothers took what she gave, Yin lapping at her heavenly sex while Yang held his mouth over her pulsing horn, taking in deep breaths through his nose as her magic rolled its way through him.

Finally it ended, Rarity panting as Yin crawled his way atop her, kissing her deeply as his brother giggled. “Now now Yin you naughty boy, you should know better than to steal kisses out from under your brother.”

Rarity giggled into Yin’s mouth at Yang’s scolding, eventually breaking the kiss to look up at him with a smile. “Well I wouldn't want you to feel left out darling, so why don’t you come here and give me a little kiss.”

“With pleasure my lady,” he said, drawing her into a kiss. They kept up the kiss for a long while, Yin staring at them longingly till they finally broke apart, Yin piping up as he rested his head on her chest. “Well my dear, how do you wish us to end this lovely night, do you want us one at a time, or would you like us both at the same time?”

Rarity thought about it for a moment, thinking about what the last offer entailed. She had experienced sex from both ends before, but she hadn't ever had two stallions take her at the same time, and she had to admit, she was sorely tempted to try. “Hmm, tis puzzling, well I guess if other mares can handle such a thing, I don’t see why I can’t at least try.”

She smiled at the two stallions, and then pushed Yin onto his back, leaping atop him as she got a good look as his healthy member. And oh what a healthy member it was, it was a least as big as Big Macintosh was, perhaps a bit bigger, and from what she could see of Yang at this angle, he was exactly the same size.

Both the colts took their time, Yin gently moving his way into Rarity’s waiting sex as Yang conjured up some lube, lubing up his own throbbing member before getting atop the waiting mare and making his way in.

Rarity couldn't contain her moans as she was filled with the twin stallions enticing lengths, pulsing and throbbing as they made their way into her depths before finally hilting inside her, both of them giving her a moment to adjust before she nodded, causing them both to begin moving. They alternated when they would pull and thrust, each moving in and out of her with slow determination at first, then slowly building into a steady pace as the mare between them begged for more.

After long moments of glorious pleasure and movement, the two colts finally felt the familiar pressure building in their loins, Yang bending down to speak into Rarity’s ear. “My dear...I…my brother and I are dreadfully close, if you wish us to pull out...now would be the time to say so.”

Rarity shook her head, concentrating hard past her next building climax as she panted out her reply. “No I...I want you to do it inside...p...please…”

The two stallions nodded, then picked up their pace one last time, getting in a few more good thrusts before hilting inside her two passages as they released inside her. Rarity cried out in joy, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she felt herself become filled with both the stallions’ generous seed, panting hard as her own climax rolled through her body.

After a long moment the stallions finally stopped, both of them gently pulling out of the lovely mare as she collapsed onto the bed, the two laying down beside her as she fell into a deep and contented sleep.

*

Twenty minutes had passed since Rarity had fallen asleep, Yang gazing sadly down upon her as Yin stared out the window at the glowing horizon, regret heavy in his voice as he spoke to his brother. “The Fell Shadow will be arising soon; we will soon have to return to her.”

“I know my brother, I just...I feel wrong leaving her.”

Yin smiled at his brother, “I feel the same way, but her friends deserve a night of happiness as well, and you know the others wait to providing it for them, as well as the other lonely souls in this fair town. We can't hog it all to ourselves, and besides, you know once she awakens you know she will sense us. We can’t let her know we are roaming about, not till we are ready.”

He finally nodded, then conjured up a note and two dark blue roses before kissing Rarity on the cheek. “We will see each other again my lady, I promise you that.”

The two brothers then rose, turning into black mist before merging together and making their way back toward Canterlot, leaving behind their lady love with heavy hearts weighing on their consciousness.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 13: Mending, Part 02 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity slowly awoke as the sun peaked over the horizon, looking around the room for the two stallions from the night before. She had known they wouldn’t be there, but still the void that was left by their absence tore at her heart like vicious claws.

She got up from her bed, noticing two roses and a letter on her bedside table and grabbing them, floating the roses to her nose and giving them a deep sniff before moaning due to the scent, for they smelled just like Yin and Yang.

She then opened the letter, her eyes drifting over each word as she idly twirled on one of the roses to pass the time.

To Our Dearest Lady Rarity

My brother and I would like to apologize for leaving you before you woke, we never wanted to leave you the way we did, Yang was especially resistant to the idea of parting with you, but as we told you last night we had to return to Canterlot.

My brother and I would also like to extend our eternal gratitude for inviting us into your bed last night, I know we only knew each other for a brief moment, but as we affirmed last night we feel a deep connection to thee Lady Rarity, and while it breaks our hearts to be parted from you as we are, we do not regret sharing the night with you.

I end this letter by telling you that we will be rather busy in Canterlot for the next few days due to a grave matter we are engaged with along with some business associates of ours, but know that while we are far away, you will be forever held within our thoughts and within our hearts, and once our business is concluded, we will be returning to you.

With that we remain affectionately and forever yours…

Sir’s Yin and Yang Lulamoon.

Their signature was elegant, and they had left under their signature a stamp of their conjoined cutie marks, a tiger and an oriental dragon forming the Chi-neighs symbol for balance. She clutched the letter close to her heart, floating over the two roses and smiling at them, before going into her bathroom to wash up.

She drew a quick bath, sinking into the tub as she cooed due to its hot touch, but soon she shook her head, she had something she needed to do.

*

Twilight woke with a grumble, mostly due to the fact that upon waking, she saw that Luna still hadn’t joined them for bed.

She of course blamed herself for this, for unlike Celestia, Luna had not had time to accept what she had become, so it was natural for her to be distant, though she hoped Luna would get over her issues with it soon.

As she got up, walking over to the table and poring herself a glass of water, jumping as a letter appeared out of thin air, wisps of Rarity’s magic disappearing as she grabbed the letter and opening it, beginning to read.

To my good friend Twilight

I am writing you to tell you that I have had the most wonderful occurrence last night, and I know you won’t believe it, but I think your courtship with the princesses may have sent something in motion, for last night I finally found love.

Oh it was the most perfect thing ever my dear, you see last night I met the most wonderful stallions you could ever set your eyes upon, stallions who treated me with a gentleness and gracefulness that I will admit impressed me far beyond belief, but I also felt a connection to them that I will be quite honest I haven’t felt for anypony in anytime of my life.

I won’t go into much detail, but this one night has left me with a feeling I just can’t ignore, which is why I have written to you today. With your diverse resources as the princess consort, I was wondering if you could possibly track down these two ponies for me I would be most over joyed, their names are Yin and Yang Lulamoon, I hope you can find them.

Your dear friend…

Rarity.

Twilight stood there in shock as she finished the letter, before quietly heading into Celestia’s study and closing the door quietly.

Once inside, she took a deep breath to calm herself, and then began pacing the room as she spoke to herself. “Ok, there is no need to panic, I mean for fucks sake the mare whose body you inhabit now shares your name, which means there is a good chance that a pare of brothers might share names with your past hosts…plus if they were really the Yin and Yang Lulamoon from then, why the hell aren’t they here trying to kill me?”

Stopping her pacing, she sighed again before looking once more at the letter, and then throwing it into the fire before heading back to the door which lead to the bedroom.

*

The night had fallen once again, and once more the black mist was drifting around the town of Ponyville, whispering to itself as it searched for another of the lonely souls they desired, though there were many lonely souls in this town that masked their scent.

“Maybe we should wait one more night, after for what if one of the other bearers decides to send a letter to the Fell Shadow?”

“We have to take the risk,” said two familiar voices, their green eyes peeking out of the mist to scan the ground below.

“Then maybe we should reforge the bond of Loyalty next, after all with her bond reforged we would have a great shield to protect us.”

“No,” said Twilight, her purple eyes looking downcast as she thought of the cyan mare. “I do not think I am ready to face her yet, even though I know in my heart I have to eventually.”

“Well then who,” asked Yin, ignoring the mare as he and his brother looked amongst the others.

“Kindness and Honesty,” said the voice of Sunset Shimmer, drawing a surprised murmur from the rest of the souls gathered.

“Hm, yes, those two desperately need love in this time of sadness.”

The others nodded, and then stopped in the middle of the woods as they felt the presence of Kindness nearby; a black furred mare splitting off from the mist and taking on her old form before looking back to the mist as it spoke. “Remember, you cannot linger into the hours beyond the night, Luna’s moon protects us from her gaze, but Celestia’s sun will reveal us to her. So do what you need to, provide Kindness her comfort, and then return to us.”

The black mare nodded, then she turned and headed in the direction of Kindness, her mind set on her task as the mist made its way toward Sweet Apple Acres.

*

Fluttershy walked along the woods of her forest home, escorting some of her nocturnal friends to where they would be staying till she could find them better homes. “Don’t worry little ones; I am sure tomorrow night we will be able to find you a nice quiet place in White Tail to live in.”

She finally reached her home, letting the critters inside before hearing a haunting voice begin to sound on the wind, coming from the direction of the White Tail Woods.

Fluttershy left her house, following the voice as it sang a song of grief and loss, each word spoken causing Fluttershy’s heart to beat with a pang of compassion for the singer.

Fluttershy entered a small clearing as the voice stopped singing, her breath leaving her in a gasp when she saw who had been singing. Standing in the clearing was a lone mare, her black coat shining in the moonlight as her purple mane and tail billowed in the wind. She had a horn and a pair of wings as well, so Fluttershy almost thought that she was an alicorn, accept for the fact that her wings seamed to sparkle in the moon light, looking slightly transparent which told Fluttershy that they were magical constructs.

The mare began to preen said wings, causing Fluttershy to blush due to her seeing such an intimate act. But it didn’t stop there, for as the mare was preening, her teal eyes looked in Fluttershy’s direction and widened a bit as Fluttershy’s breath caught in her throat, she had been seen!

There was a long moment where neither of them moved, and then the dark mare finally lifted her head up, gesturing to Fluttershy with a wing before looking back up at the moon. Fluttershy slowly approached, feeling nervous as she sidled up to the mare and looked up at the moon herself, keeping her gaze locked there as her heart pounded in her chest.

“Um…” started Fluttershy, only to have the mare place a shimmering wing on her lips, causing her to stop.

“There is no need to apologies dear one, I just didn’t expect to find another out here as late as I was, I assume you were drawn here by my singing?”

Fluttershy nodded, “It…it was very beautiful, thought it sounded kind of sad.”

The mare nodded, “Indeed it was, but where are my manners, my name is Nyx, may I have the pleasure of knowing yours?”

Fluttershy nodded, “my name is Fluttershy, and that is a beautiful name you have. Um…if it is not to bold to ask, were you by chance named after Shield Maiden Nyx from the legend of the Dark Watch?”

Nyx smiled, her mind digesting the fact that she had been turned into a legend as she went to answer the beautiful mare beside her. “You are indeed correct Fluttershy, I was indeed named after the mare from that legend, and my mother thought it was fitting due to my similar coat and mane.”

Fluttershy nodded, deciding it was finally safe to look at the mare beside her, and smiling as she brushed a wing across one of Nyx’s, blushing as she felt the smooth texture of the feathers. “Wow, they feel so real.”

“Thank you, I worked hard to make them, though I still can’t get rid of the shimmer effect, not the transparency, their nothing like real pegasi wings.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” said Fluttershy, boldly grabbing one of Nyx’s wings in her own and examining them. “I mean even though they are magical constructs, I can tell you take really good care of them, I especially like the way you preen, you do it very beautifully.”

The mare nodded, not reacting the way Fluttershy would have expected to a compliment like that. “By the way, I was wondering why you were blushing when you saw me preening, I mean I have seen it happen before, but if I had to be truthful this is the most I have ever talked to anyone before, I tend to be very timid around others.”

Fluttershy nodded, understanding her better than most. “Well um…I don’t know if you know this, but to pegasi the act of preening is a very intimate act, only to be done when one is alone…or with somepony you trust.”

“Oh…” said Nyx with a blush, her dark cheeks turning roes red as she hid behind her purple mane, causing Fluttershy to smile due to the familiar act. “I…I didn’t know it was something so personal, though…though it does explain why the pegasi of my home would give me such weird looks.”

Fluttershy nodded again, and then let her eyes drift back to the moon as she let go of Nyx’s wing, only to have Nyx intertwine said wing with one of her own, causing her to blush as their primaries rubbed together. “You…your feathers are really soft,” said the timed unicorn, moving her body closer to Fluttershy as her heart raced.

“Oh my gosh she is so close…I…I….EEEP!”

Nyx herself was having her own internal dilemma, “She is exactly as I remember her, down to her beautiful cutie mark, my beautiful kindness before me once again. I don’t care what the others say, I am not leaving her again, I just have to get close to her, and I will be ok.”

Nyx pulled Fluttershy close, feeling her heartbeat quicken as she looked into the mares eyes. “Fluttershy, do you believe in the idea of soul mates, you know, the theory that two ponies can meet and they…they just know they belong together.”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, and then nodded her head as she spoke. “I…I used to sort of believe in it, but ever since my friend Rarity found these…these two ponies last night, I have been starting to believe it more and more.”

Nyx nodded, and then lifted up a hoof to paw at her chest. “I know that this will probably seem bold because we have only just met, but I feel a strong connection to you, and I was wondering if…if you may have felt the same way.”

Fluttershy couldn’t speak, for while tis had all been really sudden, she had felt really comfortable around the mare next to her, and she could not deny the pounding of her heart. “It’s…it’s like something has been sleeping inside me and is now awake, Rarity must be right, it’s like Faust herself has graced us all with love.”

Nyx started to feel uneasy due to her silence, her mind starting to go over how to apologize when suddenly Fluttershy moved, kissing Nyx on the lips and causing her eyes to widen in shock, before finally going half lidded as she accepted the kiss. Their mouths opened simultaneously, allowing their tongues to caress each other as they wrapped their hooves around each other and pulled each other close.

Finally the need for air parted them, Fluttershy looking into the other mare’s eyes as she tried to catch her breath. “W…would you like to come with me to my home, I…I mean only if you want to of course.”

Nyx nodded, getting up along with Fluttershy and following her through the woods, nipping at her and receiving similar nips as they made their way. When they finally reached the door to Fluttershy’s cottage; Fluttershy opening it with shaky hooves and then leading Nyx inside, only to have Angel Bunny give them an angry glare upon entry.

Fluttershy stopped, looking at the bunny as he stamped his hoof on the ground, indicating his displeasure at her bringing the mare next to her into her home. “Now Angel I thought we talked about this, if mommy wants to bring another pony home that is her choice, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

She saw that he wasn’t going to co-operate, so she took a step forward and gave him the stare, putting emphasis into each of her next words as she cowed the bunny into a submission. “Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear. Mister?”

Angel nodded vigorously, getting up and running to his little hutch and hiding as Fluttershy grabbed a stunned Nyx and escorted her to the bedroom, her eyes locked on the mare before her as memories made their way through her mind. “It is definitely her, my kindness always had that special stare that nopony else could match, oh I am so glad to be with you again.”

They made it to the bedroom, Nyx deciding to get bold and crawl her way onto the bed, giving Fluttershy a little wink as she blushed at the mare, causing her to blush as well. Fluttershy climbed onto the bed as well, snuggling up close to her and giving her a love nip on the side of the neck. “So um…what do you want to do?”

Nyx smiled, nuzzling up close and whispering into her ear, “Why don’t we just explore each other for now, and let our bodies decide what we do.”

Nyx then started to nip at Fluttershy again, rolling her onto her back as she nipped her way along the yellow mare’s chest, moving down toward Fluttershy’s treasure as she cooed from each nip, actually squeaking when Nyx nipped on of her teats.

“Um…um Nyx,” said Fluttershy, causing the dark mare to look up at her as she spoke. “Um…not that this isn’t nice or anything, but…but isn’t it a bit unfair for me to be receiving…um…all the attention?”

Nyx smiled, so like her kindness to think of others, even in the most intimate of times. “Just being with you is attention enough Fluttershy, just let me take care of you, and then I will allow myself such indulgences.”

She didn’t give Fluttershy a chance to counter her argument, instead she dove right in and began eating the young mare out, and causing her to cry out as Nyx buried her muzzle deep within Fluttershy’s heavenly folds.

“Oh goddesses above, she even tastes like she used to,” thought Nyx, lapping away at Fluttershy’s inner walls as the younger mare writhed and screamed with pleasure. “Oh how I missed this, during all those long years after that bitch stole my body, oh how I shall revel in this moment, I just hope we are strong enough this time.”

She heard a defining cry as Fluttershy’s orgasm hit, moaning herself as the delightful liquids hit her tongue and made her squirm as she slowly pulled her muzzle away from the younger mares sex.

“Oh…oh wow,” said Fluttershy, looking down at Nyx as she smiled in a drunken stupor. “That…that was wonderful, I…I never knew it could feel like that…”

Nyx smiled, crawling up and giving Fluttershy a kiss before pulling back and giving her a wink. “Love making is an art form my dear sweet Fluttershy, and when two souls such as we make love together, it naturally feels different then when done alone.” She then leaned closer to Fluttershy, leaning up to her ear before gently blowing on it, causing her to shiver before whispering to the mare she loved. “I can make it even better for us, if you will permit me the use of a certain spell.”

Fluttershy nodded her head, knowing what Nyx was talking about due to some talks she had with Twilight long ago about how two mares might…make a child as it were. She watched as Nyx’s horn began to glow, briefly entertaining the thought of taking it into her mouth before banishing said thought, knowing the mare would need total concentration for the spell she was casting.

Nyx concentrated hard on the spell, a spell which she grudgingly had to thank Twilight for, due to the fact that she didn’t know of it until Twilight had learned the spell herself. It wasn’t that complicated of a spell, but due to the energy required for it, it required the user’s upmost concentration in order to pull it off, otherwise things could turn very ugly.

But soon the spell was finished, and Nyx looked down to see a decently sized stallionhood dangling between her legs, already positioned near Fluttershy’s glistening entrance. However before she could begin to move forward, Fluttershy placed a hoof on her chest, looking embarrassed as she spoke. “Um…could you please be gentle, it’s…it’s my first time…”

Nyx breathed out a shocked sigh, not knowing what to say to such an admission. But she quickly nodded, taking in a deep breath before slowly moving forward, moaning as she entered her lover and causing her to moan in response. Nyx breathed in deep, not used to the new sensations coming from her nethers, and then she had to stop, for she felt the head of her stallionhood touching the delicate surface of Fluttershy’s virginity.

She looked up into the young mare’s eyes, holding her gaze as she pushed forward and watching the pain flash through her lover’s eyes, before it left them as a moan of pleasure worked its way out of her body. “I’ll…I’ll keep it slow, till you tell me to go faster ok?”

Fluttershy nodded, then moaned as Nyx slowly pulled out, gasping when she drove herself back in and hilted, watching as Nyx took in a deep breath before beginning to build a steady rhythm, pulling out slowly before diving back in in quick thrusts to bring the upmost pleasure to the mare below her.

Nyx moved forward, hungrily going after Fluttershy’s lips and kissing her as she pounded away, not letting up as their pleasure climbed steadily higher and higher. The two mare’s couldn’t stop themselves, losing themselves in the moment as their pleasure peaked, Nyx screaming as she buried herself deep within Fluttershy and filled her with heavenly seed.

After a long moment Nyx collapsed, breathing hard as she moved her head into the crook of Fluttershy’s neck, giving it a little nip before closing her eyes, smiling as she felt Fluttershy give her a kiss on the forehead before drifting off to sleep.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 14: Mending, Part 03 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack made her way out into the outer fields of Sweet Apple Acers, knowing that she should be sleeping but also knowing that the trees needed to be bucked tonight; otherwise they would have nothing for market the next coming months.

So it was to both her surprise and a little annoyance that she heard the sound of somepony bucking apple trees as she drew closer, causing her to shake her head as she thought of who it might be. “Darn that brother of mine, ah told him ah would take care of this mahself.”

She reached the top of the ridge, spying the pony who was bucking apples and getting confused, for it was not her brother who was bucking the tree. It was a young unicorn mare, though by her build Applejack could have sword she was an earth pony, for she was of strong build, yet it was all fine-tuned to where it was obvious that it was a female.

She walked down to the mare, clearing her throat as the other was wiping her brow, catching her attention and causing her to smile as she waved at her. “Well howdy there, ah saw that these trees needed tending to and thought I would come lend a hoof.”

“Well thank yah kindly sugar cube, ah must admit ah wasn’t looking forward to bucking all these trees mahself. My names Applejack by the way; what’s yours?”

“The names Fuji,” said the mare, “ah’m from the eastern land of Chi-neigh.” She then motioned with her head toward the trees, “shall we get started then partner, ah’m sure we can get all these done real fast, specially with a mare like you working the field.”

While Applejack was not unused to flattery, the comment for some reason caught her a little off guard, causing her to blush as the other mare giggled and went to work. Applejack soon followed, and the sound of wood being struck by hooves filled the trees, occasionally filled with the sound of a laugh or a giggle as the two mares worked.

And as they worked, Applejack found that she couldn’t keep her eyes off the mare working the orchard with her, gazing over every feature of the mare and committing it to memory. The mare was an apple mare, that much she could tell by here cutie mark, and red apple with a star emblazoned in the middle of it. But there were other features that demanded her attention, such as her raven black mane and tail, or her earthen brown coat. But she couldn’t distract herself, for she knew where such thoughts would lead her, and while it wasn’t frowned upon to love a mare in pony society, her grandmother was another story.

As if by cruel fate, the mare walked by her while she was having particular trouble with one of the older tree’s, this particular tree being stubborn due to its age. “Nah nah you’re doing it wrong,” she said, gently brushing up against Applejack to move her out of the way as she got into position. “You got to breath in deep before you strike with your hoof, and you have to exhale that breath with your strike, just watch.”

Applejack watched as she took in a deep breath, her leg moving up as she took the breath. Then as she breathed out, her leg shooting out and hitting the old tree dead center, causing all the apples to fall from it.

In that moment, Applejack realized she had been holding her breath, and slowly let it out. “Wow…”

“It’s not that hard,” said Fuji, smiling at Applejack as she turned around. “Now come on, we just got a few trees to go before were done, so get your fanny in gear.”

That got a smile for Applejack, causing her to smile as she got back to work, all the while watching Applejack. She had seen the mare watching her, and had smiled due to the way she was acting around her; for she knew that the mare was probably feeling conflicted about her own feelings. “It must be due to how she was raised…even in this day and age we still have issues like this, but no matter, I’ll have her again.”

They finally finished bucking all the trees, Applejack pulling off her Stetson as the other mare rubber her head with her bandana. They walked over to a nearby hill, sitting down as Applejack turned to look at the mare beside her. “Yah know, I was wondering why yah didn’t just use your magic to get all them apples down.”

Fuji shook her head, “Mah grandpappy always told me never tah use mah magic to pick apple, said that when yah did that, some of your magic seeped into the apple and take away some of the taste.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Fuji could tell she didn’t believe her, which caused her to giggle. “Ah know what you’re thinking sugar cube, I didn’t believe him either, but he showed me the difference.”

She then used her magic to grab to apples, one from a bushel already lying under one tree, and another strait from another tree and floated them over to Applejack, offering her the one that had been in the bushel before letting her have the other one.

To Applejacks surprise, the mare’s words rung true, for the apple that had been plucked by magic tasted less sweet then the one which had dropped from the tree. “Well ah’ll be, ah never woulda thought that magic would have an effect on apples like that, even Granny Smith never told me that.”

“Ah know, but then again my grand-pappy was a smart one when it came tah stuff like that.” She then smiled at the other mare, slowly tracing her hoof along Applejacks back and causing her to shiver. “By the way, ah saw how yah were looking at me while we were working, and ah have to ask, did yah like what yah saw?”

Applejack froze…feeling herself grow self-conscious as she tried to explain. “Sorry about that, ah was just admiring the way yah worked and…”

“Now sugar cube, yah know as an apple mare ah can tell when a pony is lying tah me, so don’t yah start. Besides, you’re terrible at it.”

Applejack blushed, and then hung her head in shame. “Ah’m sorry…ah never wanted this tah hap…”

Applejack then felt a hoof on her cheek, and turned slowly, her eyes opening wide when Fuji leaned in to kiss her. Her body went rigid, her nerves causing her to freeze up as the mare continued to kiss her, till the mare finally pulled away, smiling at the mare as she opened her mouth to speak. “Ah’ve been waiting tah do that since ah first caught yah looking at me sugar, though ah wish yah had kissed back.”

“Bu…bu…”

Fuji put a hoof to her mouth, giving her a serious smile before speaking again. “Look sugar, ah know what kind of thing your granny probably told yah better than most, specially in regards to the feelings yah are obviously having. I know you don’t want to upset her; I never wanted to upset my grand-pappy neither. But ah know one thing, if yah deny yourself something important to yah, yah will never feel complete no matter how well yah live your life.”

Applejack stared at her for a long moment, and then she finally caved, moving forward and kissing the other mare straight on the lips, causing her to moan due to the contact. Applejack pulled her close, rolling her onto her back as she kept the kiss going, moaning into the other mares mouth before finally pulling away, panting as she looked down at the mare below her. “Sweet hayseed, yah have no idea how long ah have been wanting tah do something like that.”

“Ah recon ah might have some idea, but let’s not get anything started out here k, don’t want anypony accidentally stumbling upon us while were…busy…”

Applejack nodded, and then helped the mare up, leading her through the trees over to her the barn; peeking inside to check that nopony was inside and then gesturing for the mare to follow her in and up top. The moment she was safely inside, Applejack pulled her over to a makeshift bed before looking at her and beginning to speak.

“Look sugar cube, not that ah don’t want it, but if yah would be ok with it, ah would feel more comfortable if yah didn’t use any of your magic one me while we…well…sate our urges shall we say. Ah that yah unicorns are supposed to be able to do freaky things with their magic when it comes to…mating, but ah’m just nor ready for that yet.”

Fuji nodded, “Ah can understand that sugar, to tell yah the truth, ah’m not all that comfortable with mah magic at the moment, at least in…in that regard.”

Applejack nodded, then slowly made her way down the mare’s body, hearing her breath begging to quicken as she slowly began to nip her way toward the mare’s lower lips. Now Applejack had never really…“been” with a mare before, but she did have a bunch of…risqué magazines hidden under her floor boards in her room, as well as a copy of the Karmare Sutra hidden under there as well, so she sort of knew what she was doing.

Still though, nothing came to looking at the real thing, and she sat there for a long moment staring at Fuji’s sex in awe. It was swelled, ready and waiting for her touch, and after a moment’s hesitation, she finally moved forward, dragging her tongue along the mare’s sex and causing her to moan out loud.

Fuji was in heaven, the feeling of Applejacks tongue on her sex causing her to squirm and writhe in the mares grip, causing her to tighten her hold and prevent Fuji from moving. Then Applejack hit a particularly sensitive spot, causing Fuji to arch her back and accidentally light up her horn, brushing her magic up against Applejack’s sensitive area.

“Whoa nelly!” screamed Applejack, looking back to see a cloud of red magic hovering near her sex, then she looked back to see Fuji hiding behind her fore-hooves.

“Ah…Ah’m sorry sugar, ah know yah told me not tah use mah magic but ah lost control…sorry…”

“It’s alright sugar cube…to tell yah the truth, ah actually liked it…um, would yah mind doing it again?”

Fuji smiled, lowering her hooves onto Applejack’s head to cox her to get back to what she was doing, before focusing with her magic again. They slowly worked out a steady rhythm, Applejack tentatively licking at Fuji’s inner walls, while Fuji used her magic to explore Applejacks aching sex.

It wasn’t long before both mares reached the proverbial brink, Applejack having never experienced this kind of pleasure before and Fuji not having felt this way in…sometime, and after a few more moments of vigorous ministrations they both climaxed, one right after the other.

“W…wow…” said Applejack, moving up and nestling her head under Fuji’s chin as the mare wrapped her forelegs around her neck, smiling as she began to drift off to sleep. “That was…that was amazing…”

Fuji kissed her on the forehead, then rolled her over so that she could get up, walking out onto the balcony of the barn.

She saw the black mist approaching but before she could return to her natural state and return to it, one of the voices called out to stop her. “Fuji, I am afraid you will not be able to return to us at this time, we have run into a complication that makes it so that you cannot return with us.”

“What happened?”

“Nyx seems to have fallen asleep within the embrace of her lover, and as we cannot wake her, neither she nor you can return with us.”

Fuji looked concerned, but soon shook her head, smiling as she looked back at Applejack. “Ah guess were going to have to put our connections to the elements to the test then, lets just hope Twilight’s theory's are correct when it comes to them protecting us.”

The mist gave her a comforting flick, and then it vanished, leaving Fuji to head back into the bed, curling up with her lover and drifting off peacefully into sleep.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 15: Mending, Part 04 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nyx slowly woke up, feeling safe and comfortable within the embrace of her lover as the sunlight shined upon them both. “Wait,” thought Nyx, “Sunlight!” She looked up, then screamed and dived under the bed, waking Fluttershy.

“Nyx?” she asked, looking under the bed and spotting Nyx under there, shivering in fear as she gazed at the light touching the ground.

“S…sorry, I’m not used to being awake during the day…I used to have this disease that made it so that I couldn’t stand being in the sunlight. I still get scared sometimes.”

Nyx gave what she hoped would be a convincing smile, and she saw Fluttershy smile back, then she climbed back out from under the bed.

“So,” said Fluttershy, “would you mind coming into town with me, I have to go in to by some apples and I thought it would be nice to introduce you to all my friends.”

Nyx nodded, going over spell calculations in her head as she got up and followed the young mare out of her cottage. “K, we know The Fell Shadow can sense us when we leave her and manifest, but there have been moments when she could not see us, mostly when we are near the elements of harmony. And Twilight did theorize that what her sister has been doing upsets the natural order of things, and thus we are able to hide our presence due to being in close proximity to such harmonic entities. I just hope she is right.”

She turned toward Fluttershy, giving her a nip as they made their way through the streets of Ponyville, causing the younger mare to giggle before they made it to the apple stand, Fluttershy gasping as she saw a new pony there. “Oh my, I don’t think I have seen you around before, what’s your name?”

“The names Fuji partner,” the raven maned mare said, shaking Fluttershy’s hoof before giggling as Applejack walked up beside her and nipped her ear.

“Well howdy Fluttershy, here to by some apples?”

“Um yes but…did you just nip that mare’s ear?”

Applejack giggled, pulling Fuji close as she smiled. “Recent development actually, looks tah me like loves been in the air since Twilight got hitched with the princesses.”

Fluttershy nodded, leaning herself against Nyx, who had been trying to have a subtle conversation with Fuji using no words. “I think so to, for last night I met this wonderful mare next to me, and we may have…um…well you know.”

Applejack nodded, then turned to greet the mare next to her only to have her eyes widen in shock. “An ALICORN!” she yelled, only to have Fuji stop her from bowing with a hoof.

“There fake sugar cube,” said Fuji with a smile, causing both Applejack and Fluttershy’s eyes to widen.

“How do you know that,” asked Fluttershy, looking confused.

Fuji just smiled, then raised up her hoof and hoof bumped Nyx, smiling as Nyx spoke up. “Nice to see you Fuji, you up here for the reunion?”

“Yah bet sugar, yah know I wouldn’t miss it for tha world.”

“Um, what are yah to talken bout?” asked Applejack.

Fuji smiled at applejack, “me and Nyx went to tha same school in Canterlot together and our fifth class reunion is coming up, though ah'm surprised that we both happened into the same town, ah thought yah was coming from Fillydelphia?”

“I was, but I decided to stop by my hometown to see if it had changed any, and to um…do some singing, which is how I met this lovely mare here.”

Fuji smiled, then turned to Applejack and gave her a kiss on the nose. “Well sug, why don’t we get back to work now, ah’m sure there are a lot more ponies who will want them delicious apples.”

Applejack nodded, then picked up a bushel of apples and handed them to Fluttershy. “Here you go Flutters, on the house, and you missy make sure she doesn’t give them away, like I know she is prone to.”

Fluttershy made to protest, only to have Nyx magic the apples away, “There, at her hut and safe as can be.”

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to scold Nyx, but then she saw Rarity, and immediately waved her over.

“Well hello darling,” said Rarity “I was just coming over to see if you wanted to go to the spa with me.”

“Oh I would love to Rarity, but um…can I bring my marefriend along with me?”

“Marefriend?” asked Rarity, before noticing the mare standing beside, her eyes widening as she spoke. “Oh my…and…and who might you be?”

“My name is Nyx, oh and before you freak, no I am not an alicorn, these wings are magical constructs.”

“Oh I already knew that, unicorn you see,” said Rarity, pointing at her horn. “And I think it would be lovely idea to bring you along, it would be lovely to talk with a mare who was able to woo Fluttershy so.”

Nyx nodded, then followed Rarity with Fluttershy after saying by to Fuji, keeping close to the young mare as they made their way through the streets of Ponyville.

*

Celestia was nervous, really nervous, for something had woke her that she had hoped had been left in the past. She had felt, for a briefest of moments, the presence of the one who had killed Twilight after Sombra had been defeated. But before she could get a decent fix on the beings location, something had blocked her vision; something she knew shouldn’t have done so.

The Elements of Harmony.

She couldn’t understand it, why would the elements hide such a being from her sight, for she had caused so much disharmony with one simple act. “Maybe the elements are broken,” she thought, but quickly shook such a thought from her mind. “No, that makes no sense; if they were broken they would not have been able to stop Discord. There must be another reason why…but what.”

She looked back toward the bed, watching as Twilight nuzzled close to Luna, her ears twitching as she dreamed. “Maybe…maybe the other…the one who was in this body before we brought our Twilight back is using her connection to the elements to shield this foe…but then how are we going to find her.”

She puzzled over this for a long moment, and then finally got an idea, teleporting herself in front of Cadance’s door and knocking, not too surprised when Cadance appeared looking rather disheveled.

“Mom…what are you doing here, I thought you were staying in your room with mother today?”

“I was planning to, but something has happened that I need your husband’s assistance with, is he in?”

Cadance nodded, and then invited her inside, leaving the room for a moment and then returning with Shining, who looked concerned as he sat down. “What is it you need your highness?”

“Shining please we’re family, so please call me Celestia.”

Shining Armor hesitated, not really feeling comfortable with being so informal with the princess, but he finally relented. “Ok Celestia, what is it you needed to speak to me about.”

Celestia hesitated due to fear, then shook her fear away and started to speak. “This morning I felt a presence I only felt once in myself once in my lifetime…which I felt the…the night Cadance’s mother was killed.”

Cadance’s eyes widened, shock washing over her face as she spoke, “my…my mother’s assassin, but…but how is that possible?”

“I don’t honestly know Cadance, all I really know is it is connected to Twilight herself, all I know is I detected her again…but something blocked me from finding her.”

Celestia shook from nerves, and Shining finally decided it was time to speak up. “Celestia, if this presence really is the pony who killed Twilight before, then we will need to find them immediately, and I will need information about them to stand a chance of finding them.”

Celestia nodded, “I know…she is a unicorn mare of black coat and purple mane and tail, and she has magically constructed wings as well, so make sure you have pegasi in your search parties to catch her.”

Shining nodded, getting up out of his seat as he summoned his armor to him. “I’ll get scouts sent out to all the major cities and some of the settlements nearby, as for Ponyville, I’ll conduct the scouting mission there myself.”

He got up, and as he headed for the door Cadance stood as well and joined him. “I’ll go with you, after all this mare may be more powerful then the guards could handle, with your permission of course Mom.”

“You have it,” said Celestia, “And I’ll send word to the guard that you are fully in charge of this investigation, for I want this done as smoothly.”

*

“Will do your highness, and thank you,” said Shining, before closing the door with a sigh, and then looking to his wife before teleporting them to a secure location.

“This is not good, this is really not good, what are we going to do.”

“For one, we're going to stop panicking,” said Shining, drawing his wife’s attention as he headed over to a table and began writing letters. “Second, from we were told by Luna and the others is that Thorax knew about this and was monitoring the situation, right?”

When Cadance nodded, Shining continued. “ Then I need you to got to him and get him to send a group of Changelings disguised as guards to meet me at Ponyville, that way I can search Ponyville without worry of having to cover anything up, meanwhile I’ll pass out these letters to the leaders of the groups heading to the other cities and towns, urging upmost digression and secrecy.”

“Good thinking,” said Cadance, before teleporting away, soon followed by Shining after his letters were finished, hoping that his gamble would pay off.

*

Deep within the pocket realm that acted as their prison, the souls who had been watching the exchanged sighed in relief, many dispersing save for one pony, who walked up to Twilight with a wide grin. “So, it looks like you and I will be leaving tonight as planned, that is reassuring.”

Twilight nodded, settling back down into her meditative stance as the stallion sat down next to her, his smile disappearing as he placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “So, you ready to see Loyalty again after all this time apart?”

Twilight nodded again, her magic stretching out as she began strengthening the recent threads made between the ponies trapped here and three of the elements, binding them closer to her as she let her concentration drift back to the stallion beside her. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be Loki; I just hope you’re ready to see Laughter after all these years.”

Loki nodded, lying on his back in midair as though it were nothing and flashing Twilight a bright smile. “Oh I can assure you Magic, I most certainly am ready to meet her, I just don’t think the world is ready, if you know what I mean.”

After a few moments of thinking, Twilight simply fell over laughing, wheezing out an incoherent reply as Loki smiled once more, then floated away and leaving her to her work.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 16: Mending, Part 05 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nyx sighed in relief as the night finally came; walking out of Fluttershy’s cottage after bidding the young mare goodbye and heading over to White Tail wood to wait. It had been a stressful day, mostly due to all the pointed questions Rarity had asked her, especially after she had slipped up and mentioned that she knew Yin and Yang. That had been a very hard thing, for she had had to pull many a story out of her ass about how she had known them.

But the most stressful event that day had to have been when they had left the spa, and she had seen Twilight’s brother Shining Armor walking through the streets with some guards, right towards her. She had just kept walking, waiting for the inevitable moment when Shining would stop her and take her back to the princesses, so it had been to her utter surprise when he had just walked right past her.

She had counted it as a blessing, figuring it meant what Twilight had theorized was true, and that being in close proximity to the elements was keeping her from being noticed by those looking for her. However she could worry about such things later, for she noticed the black mist finally arrive, and two ponies dropping from it, one teleporting away immediately while the other turned to greet her, causing her eyes to widen in panic.

“Oh no, please tell me you’re not going to where I think you are going to do what I think you're doing?” pleaded Nyx, looking as if the world might end at any moment.

“Oh I am definitely here to do what you think I am going to do, and much more besides that,” said Loki with a bemused chuckle, conjuring up an apple from nowhere and offering it to Nyx. “Apple?”

Nyx simply shook her head, leaping up into the mist and then leaving with it as Loki turned, smiling up at the sky and winking before teleporting off to Ponyville.

*

Pinkie hummed happily as she worked in the kitchen, her main and tail bobbing about with the rest of her body as she waited for something extraordinary to happen. She knew something extraordinary was going to happen tonight, mostly due to her pinkie sense telling her in the weirdest way possible, first starting with her tail randomly swishing to the side, followed by a warm feeling spreading through her stomach, and finally ending with a healthy blush forming on her cheeks.

She turned to the recipe book to look over what she needed to do next, only to stop as she heard a knock on the door, setting down her spoon and hopping over to the door and opening it, smiling as she saw the pony she had been waiting for all night.

“Hello miss, my name is…”

“LOKI!” cried Pinkie, leaping at the startled stallion and knocking him to the ground, kissing the stallion passionately as all laws of reality screamed as one then ran for the hills.

Finally after a long moment Pinkie finally stopped kissing him, Loki looking surprised as she smiled down at him. “You…you remember me?”

Pinkie nodded, “Of course I did silly, why wouldn’t I remember my soul mate, that’s just silly.”

Loki smiled at that, getting up with the help of Pinkie and then laughing as she pulled him into the house, looking around nervously as he spoke, “Are we alone?”

Pinkie nodded, “The cakes are out of town visiting relatives, so that leaves me all alone with you big guy.”

Loki smiled, following her up to the bedroom as he looked around the place, “I’m not that big you know.”

“I wasn’t talking about you stature hot stuff,” said Pinkie with a grin, letting him walk into her room while she looked at his backside. “I was talking about you dick silly.”

That got a blush, Loki looking over at Pinkie as she locked the door behind them, giving him a very sultry smile before speaking. “So, do you want my bubbly personality today, or do you want my more sensual side,” she asked, her mane and tail becoming straight as her fur turned hot pink.

“Oh I don’t know,” said Loki with a smile, leaping onto the bed and sprawling on his back, “surprise me.”

Pinkie looked confused for a moment, and then a fiendish grin graced her face, causing her to giggle a bit as she closed her eyes and breathed in deep, blowing out the breath as her coat turned pure white and her mane and tail turned yellow. She then climbed up atop Loki, giving him a kiss on the nose which caused his eyes to open, and then smiled as his eyes widened in shock, “Surprise.”

“P…Pinkie, you…you didn’t need to do this for me?”

“Of course I did silly,” said Pinky softly, her warm breath brushing over his face as she spoke. “After all, I looked just like this when we first met.”

“But I would rather have you as you are Pinkie,” said Loki, “not as you were…so if you don’t mind, I think I would like to see a bit of your sensual side.”

Pinkie nodded, her mane going straight as the hot pink color returned to her fur, a sensual smile as she moved down his body. “You got it big boy, just let Pinkie take care of you.”

He shivered feeling Pinkie inch her way down till she reached her destination, feeling her kiss along his sheath and cause his stallion hood to come forth.

Pinkie gasped as the health looking stallion hood rose from between Loki’s legs, having forgotten how big it actually was after so long spend parted form the crazy unicorn. “Goddess I forgot how big you were,” said Pinkie, giving it a generous lick as she began tending to his length.

Loki groaned as he felt her begin to tend to him, but quickly shook his head as he looked down at her. Now Loki, being the well brought up stallion that he was, he knew that it would be rude to leave his mare unattended and hog all the fun. But unlike most stallions, and hell unlike most ponies in general, he didn’t light up his horn and start tending to her treasure.

Instead he simply reached to the side and peeled away part of reality as if it were nothing, and looked through the recently created hole to see Pinkie’s nice round rump hovering in front of him. He leaned through the hole, breathing in her sent before giving it a nice long lick, causing her to yelp in shock before looking back, smiling as she saw Loki’s upper half behind her.

“Oh you naughty naughty boy,” said Pinkie with a grin, wiggling her rump in front of him as she smiled. “Couldn’t resist my honey pot even for a second, could you?”

“Not even for a millisecond,” said Loki, before diving back into said honey pot and causing Pinkie to moan, before she to dove back to what she was doing.

They worked out a steady rhythm with each other, Pinkie sucking on his impressive length in-between moans brought on by Loki’s muzzle being buried deep within her sex. For Pinkie it was like a dream come true, she just couldn’t get enough of Loki’s member, drooling uncontrollably due to the taste of it. As for Loki, he couldn’t help but moan as he got a taste of her accurately named “honey pot”, licking up the juices as they came till they both finally peaked, Pinkie swallowing as much as she could before pulling off him and Loki drinking up as much of her heavenly nectar as he could before finally righting himself and closing the hole he had made, biding his apologies to whom ever wrote such ridicules laws.

He then felt Pinkie crawling on top of him, realizing she wouldn’t let him rest and realizing he would need a bit more energy for what was to come next. So with another apology to the fabric of reality, he ripped open another hole, leaning into Rainbow’s kitchen and reaching into her fridge for an energy drink and ignoring the sounds echoing through the spacious house, heading back and repairing the hole before smiling at a waiting Pinkie Pie.

“Sorry love, didn’t want to leave you in wanting case I didn’t have the energy after that lovely treatment you just gave me.” He then popped of the cap of the energy drink, gulping it down before throwing it into a nearby trashcan, “there, all better now.”

“You better be,” said Pinkie, moving up and then sinking herself onto Loki, moaning as she was filled up to her very depths. Loki himself grunted due to how impossibly tight Pinkie was, forcing him to buck his hips a bit to help Pinkie hilt on him, then they stayed still for a moment.

After finally adjusting to Loki’s size, Pinkie slowly began to drag herself up Loki’s length, moaning out loud as she felt its absence begin begging to be filled again, then complying with said demand and driving herself back down till their hips met, causing bother her and Loki to moan in pleasure.

But after a few more tortuous movements like this, Loki couldn’t hold himself back any more, growling as he rolled Pinkie under him and pinned her down, then he began to pound away at her heavenly tunnel as she began screaming with pleasure from his ministrations.

Loki picked up his pace, grabbing Pinkie around the midriff and ferociously slamming into her, repeatedly hilting inside her as they both moaned in pleasure, until finally their pleasure peaked and he erupted inside her, Pinkie screaming along with him as they rode out there orgasms.

Finally after the waves of pleasure subsided, Loki got off of Pinkie, collapsing onto his side and then lifting up his right foreleg so that Pinkie could snuggle up close to him. “That was…”

“…Fun,” finished Pinkie, giving him a kiss before snuggling up close and speaking. “So, when are you leaving?”

“I’m not leaving Pinkie, not this time.”

Pinkie lifted herself up, looking at him with disbelief as a smiled graced her face, “Re…really?” she whispered.

He nodded, and she hugged him tight, kissing him for a long moment before finally snuggling back up against his chest. “I do have to tell you though, were going to have to head over to Golden Oaks Library tomorrow for some important business.”

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll go anywhere.”

Loki had to repress a laugh do to the cheesy line, snuggling up close to her as he let his eyes drift close and let his consciousness drift off to sleep, not hearing the sound of magic ripple through the air as he followed his soul mate into the land of dreams.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 17: Mending, Part 06 (Mature Content)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash lay atop her bed, tears gracing her face as she stared out her bedroom window. It wasn’t uncommon for Rainbow to be crying these days, ever since Twilight had…had given herself to the Princesses.

Nopony knew it save for Applejack, but Rainbow had a huge crush on Twilight ever since she had arrived in Ponyville, hell that had been the reason she had crashed into her.

“Why…” was all Rainbow had thought when it had happened, “why the hell did it have to be her. Couldn’t…couldn’t it have been somepony else to have to be the princesses long dead lover…why did it have to be my Twilight.”

Her Twilight…the mere thought of how long she had been calling Twilight that just made her laugh, because she had always thought of Twilight in that way, never once just thinking of her as Twilight Sparkle. “And…and now she belongs to them…it’s just not fair!”

Her head rose from the bed as she heard somepony ring her doorbell, wondering who might the hell was up at this atrocious hour. She made her way downstairs, quickly making her way through the large entrance hall before opening the door, gasping as she saw Twilight standing outside…looking nervous.

“H…Hi Rainbow,” said Twilight, keeping her eyes staring at the ground as she spoke.

“Twilight…um, what are you doing here?”

“Can…can I come inside?” asked Twilight, finally looking up with a pleading look in her eyes.

But there was something else behind that pleading look that caught Rainbow off guard, something that she hadn’t seen when Twilight had come back from becoming consort of the Princesses that had now returned. “Ye…yeah, come on in.”

She lead Twilight into the house, leading her toward the living room an then getting her a drink, sitting down with her as Twilight took her glass, looking nervous as Rainbow asked her a question. “So um…what are you doing here Twi?”

“…Rainbow…I…I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise me that you will not freak out or run away, what…what I am going to tell you will probably come as a big shock.”

Rainbow looked like she wanted to hesitate, hell Twilight was pretty sure for Rainbow this was hesitating, but finally she nodded. “Ok, can’t be any freakier then anything we’ve handled before right.”

Twilight didn’t contradict her, breathing in deep before finally beginning to speak. “Ok, the Twilight you have all been talking to lately, the one who has been running around calling herself the princess consort, that pony is not me, she…she is another pony entirely.”

Rainbow looked skeptically about this, but a part of her, the part of her that had yearned for Twilight all those years kept her from immediately doubting her. “I…I assume you have some proof this time, you know I trust you Twi, but this sounds too much like the whole wedding incident all over again.

Twilight nodded, then her horn flashed and they appeared in Princess Celestia’s bedroom, Twilight keeping her eyes turned away as Rainbow stared in shock from the Twilight beside her, to the one lying between the princesses as the one next to her spoke up again, quietly. “Can we go now?”

Rainbow nodded, sitting down in shock after they arrived back in her house and just sitting there a while, her mind not wanting to accept what she had just seen. But finally the need for answers pressed her, and she spoke up; turning toward Twilight with a questioning gaze. “H…how…wait, your not a changeling are you?”

“No I’m not,” said Twilight, “but I know ever since the wedding we all got changeling detectors sent to us, so you can check if you want.”

Rainbow nodded, and then headed into one of the other rooms before coming back with a crystal, which should have been glowing the moment she entered the room if Twilight was a changeling, and afterwords it would have also dispelled her form to reveal the creature beneath.

“Well that solves that, but what does this all mean…and why are you here?”

“…Rainbow…did your mother share any old pegasi legends with you, ones concerning a ponies…a ponies soul?”

Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, I…I remember her reading this one legend once, about how our souls never die, that…that they live in two worlds, spending half of their time on the living world, and then spending the other half within the realm of the afterlife. The legend said that souls needed to due this so that both realms could enrich each other, taking the experiences from their life into the afterlife and making it grow, while taking energies from the afterlife and renewing the living world.”

Twilight nodded, amazed that she had held on to such a legend like that. “What the legend says is true; our souls do split their time between the realm of the living, and the afterlife. The reason why there are two of me is because one soul, the soul of a pony who shared my name, didn’t want to return to the afterlife, for she knew if she did, she would lose her connection, for a time at least, to the ponies she loved, the ponies who would one day become the rulers of Equestia.”

She gulped back a large lump in her throat, keeping her eyes locked on the glass in front of her as she continued to speak. “So she went to her sister, a pony who knew all the worlds magic, and asked her to teach her magic that would allow her to not follow the natural order of things, and instead allow her to choose her own time to come back to the world. At first the sister refused, telling her that she would be reunited with her loves in time, and that even without her memories of them, she would be able to find them again. But Twilight would not listen, saying that she needed her memories, needed her old self, for how else was she to be able to be a true soul mate to such ageless beings if she herself was not ageless.

“So with a heavy heart, the sister taught her the ancient art of soul magic, and after she learned all she could, Twilight used her knowledge…but not as it should have been used. She began hopping through time, latching on to recently returned souls and going dormant, waiting till her soul mates found her and…and re-awoke her. That pony you saw in there…she was the one who sought to escape the natural cycle of life and death, and I…I am her sister Magic.”

At the mention of the name Magic, something stirred within Rainbow, something long buried within the depths of her soul, and memories began to flood her mind. Memories of her long lost past, of when she had been known as Loyalty, a name that would one day be passed on to the fruit of a very special tree and wielded ages later by her, her closest friends, and her soul mate…Twilight Sparkle.

Rainbow shook herself from the memories, looking at Twilight who stared back at her, a hopefulness burning inside her eyes that Rainbow was not going to let slip away. Rainbow then boldly moved forward, grabbing up Twilight in a fierce hug as she pressed her lips to hers, Twilight looking shocked for a long moment before finally kissing back, tears falling from her eyes as she hugged Rainbow close.

After what seemed like eternity they finally broke apart, Twilight burying her face into Rainbow’s chest as she continued to cry. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

Rainbow softly shushed her, rubbing her back with her hooves and rocking her back and forth. “Twilight its ok, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“Yes I do, because of me all of our friends…and many other ponies besides have lost their soul mates…forcing them to wander this world time and again alone…forever alone.”

“Twilight stop,” said Rainbow, moving Twilight so that she could face her before continuing to speak. “You were just trying to help your sister stay with her own soul mates, you had known idea what she was going to use that magic for.”

“I should have known…I…I should have stopped her…”

Rainbow pulled her back into a hug, letting her cry on her shoulder as she spoke. “Twilight there was nothing you could do, just let it go.”

It took a while, but finally Twilight calmed down, nuzzling into the side of her neck as she spoke. “I missed you…so much…”

Rainbow nuzzled her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before letting her lay her head upon her chest, looking down at her to ask a question. “So uh…do you mind if I ask about…about us, what we were like in the past?”

“You sure you want to hear about all that, I mean our lives weren't exactly the most…peaceful…”

“I really do,” said Rainbow, “I need to hear it, cause I need to know how the hell I got so lucky to end up with the most perfect egghead in all of Equestria.”

Twilight shrugged off the nick name, smiling as she got comfortable, and then she began her tale. “Well, it all starts long ago in a land called Dream Valley…”

*

“Why did you not tell me you sensed one of my past lives was back?”

Twilight was glaring at Celestia, who she had walked in on talking to Shining Armor and Luna about his findings in Ponyville, which had made her furious.”

“My love I had my reasons, I knew you would go after her if you knew I had sensed her, and I can’t let you risk your life like that, not when my sister and I can keep you safe.”

Twilight looked at her for a moment, and then turned to Shining Armor, “leave us.”

“What…but Twily?”

“I said leave.”

Shining was surprised by how…cold her voice sounded, and he quickly left the room, closing the door as Twilight walked up to Celestia, looking her directly in the eyes.

“You should have told me.”

“Why!” yelled Celestia, startaling her love. “So you could get yourself killed again hunting her, robbing both my sister and I your love again, I cannot, nor will I allow such a thing to pass!”

“But if you had told me I could have informed you that Rarity just got a hold of me with a letter talking about a pair of stallions named Yin and Yang Lulamoon!”

That got a worried look from Celestia, but before she could say anything Luna spoke up. “But Twilight, surely that is but a coincidence, I mean after all the mare you now reside in shares your name.”

“While I would like to agree with you Luna,” said Twilight, “the fact that Celestia sensed Nyx tells me that there is more going on her then meets the eye, and it could be that…more then just here have escaped the land of the dead to come after me.”

“So what do we do then,” said Celestia, “for we can just leave this.”

Twilight seemed to ponder it a moment,  and then sighed, before turning and heading back towards the bedroom before speaking. “We will wait until the morning, and if you sense another presence then Celestia, we will go there and deal with the problem ourselves, till then though, we should rest.”

Celestia seemed to want to protest, but eventually made to follow Twilight, only to notice Luna wasn’t making to follow her. “Luna, what’s wrong?”

“I just sensed a spike within the dreaming,” said Luna, “I am afraid I will have to leave you both this night, though I promise if I can I’ll join you both tomorrow.”

She then teleported away, leaving her sister truly confused. “I…did she just…no no there is no way, after all she was the element of honest…she would never lie.”

*

Rainbow sat with Twilight, amazement etched on her face as she looked at the mare resting on her chest. Twilight had been right, they had had a rough life…or lives as she now saw it, fighting discord, battling many other monsters, hell even finding time for each other had been a struggle, but they had done it.

But what had amazed her the most was that, as Twilight had been talking about all of it, she had started to remember it as well, though she had figured out it was due to Twilight helping her along, using her magic to open up the barriers in her memory created by her souls repeated passage into the afterlife.

Still one thing just kept nagging at her, “I still can’t believe I was ever a stallion, I mean come on, do I act anything like one?”

Twilight gave her a look, which caused her to laugh. “Ok ok, maybe I do act like a stallion from time to time, but seriously, it’s just weird to think I was a stallion, I mean…”

Twilight shook her head, kissing Rainbow to stop her ranting before giving her a look and speaking. “Rainbow you don’t need to worry about it, you were a good pony, whether you were a stallion or a mare, but most of all you were mine, and that’s all that mattered.”

Rainbow nodded, letting Twilight lay her head back against her chest before frowning, something bothering her as she spoke. “Um…was…was I any good…as a stallion I mean.”

Twilight didn’t answer for a long moment, and then she looked up at Rainbow with a sultry smile before speaking, “You want to find out?”

Rainbow’s eyes widened a bit, but she nodded, watching as Twilight got off of her and light up her horn, using her forelegs to coax Rainbow’s hind legs apart, then she started casting her spell. Rainbow squeaked as she felt a weird pressure expand over her nether region, watching as Twilight’s magic worked over her, transforming her nether lips slowly but surely into a stallion’s length.

Once Twilight finished with her magic she back away, allowing Rainbow to get a good look at her new equipment. It was about average size, not to big, but not to small either, which she figured Twilight had made sure of. After a few more moments of looking, she finally reached out a hoof, hesitantly dragging across her member before letting out a shaky squeak as pleasure was sent throughout her body. “Whoa…that…that felt good.”

“And I know something that will feel even better,” whispered Twilight, moving close till she was sitting in front of Rainbow’s cock, looking up expectantly at Rainbow before speaking again. “Um…if that is alright with you Rainbow.”

Rainbow just stared vacantly for a moment, a more intimate memory appearing in here mind which caused her to blush, then she gave Twilight a shaky nod, moaning as she felt Twilight drag her tongue along her length.

Twilight was practically drooling as she took her first needy lick along Rainbow’s member, holding back a moan as she let the long burning need guide her actions. It had been so long since she had been with her love that she had to keep herself from rushing ahead and just mounting the mare, for she wanted her to enjoy this as much as possible.

She slowly guided her mouth up the length, swirling her tongue around the tip before pulling it into her mouth, hearing Rainbow moan above her as she began sucking on the tip. She slowly began to inch her way down, taking in the first half of her member, relaxing her throat in preparation for taking in the rest of her length.

Rainbow was panting from the pleasure, her body shaking as she felt Twilight begin to sink lower onto her length. Rainbow felt like she was going to explode, shakily tapping twilight to get her attention. “Tw…Twi…I feel something coming up, I think I am going to cum…”

Twilight continued to bob her head, ignoring Rainbows protests as she felt her climax begin to mount. “I need her to cum; I need to taste her again.”

Finally Rainbow couldn’t take it any longer, blowing her load deep inside Twilight’s throat as she hilted on her length, swallowing everything Rainbow gave her before finally pulling her mouth off of Rainbow with a loud pop, smiling at her before leaning up to kiss her.

“Oh man…that was awesome!” said Rainbow, smiling at Twilight as she to smile.

“Well were not done yet,” said Twilight, winking at her as she kissed her again, Rainbow feeling her member rise again due to Twilight’s magic. Twilight then lit up her horn again, teleporting them both to Rainbow bedroom, which caused her to give Twilight a raised eyebrow. “I don’t remember telling you where my room was Twi.”

“You were drunk the last time, I only remember because you couldn’t keep your hooves off of me.”

Rainbow blushed, but slowly shook her head, slowly looking around as she spoke to her old friend…now lover. “So um…how do you want to do this?”

Twilight looked back at Rainbow’s cock, admiring how it was rubbing between her butt cheeks rather playfully before turning back to Rainbow with a smile. “I’ll take care of everything; you just lay there and enjoy Rainbow.”

Rainbow smiled and nodded her head, laying down fully on her back as Twilight slowly position herself, waiting to feel the blessed contact. As she watched Twilight move, her mind wandered back towards some old memories, of when she had been arguing with Twilight about how they mated.

“Clover come on,” she remembered saying, “can’t you let me be on top just this once, I promise I’ll be gentle ok.”

“Hurricane we've talked about this,” Clove had said, “you know I like being on top, it’s just more exciting that way. And besides, you can’t tell me it doesn’t drive you wild being underneath the most powerful mare in all of Equestia.”

Rainbow chuckled, causing Twilight to look down at her as she spoke, “What?”

“Nothing Twi, I’m just…I’m just glad I get to be underneath the most powerful mare in Equestria once again.”

Twilight smiled, then with a cocky grin slammed herself down onto Rainbows length, causing the mare to jerk as the sudden pleasure spiked within her. Twilight herself had clapped a hoof to her mouth, holding back a cry of both pain and pleasure due to being penetrated for the first time. She began rocking her hips slowly, letting the pain wash away as the pleasure overrode her senses causing her to moan loudly past her hoof as she began ridding the cyan mare below her.

“Oh goddess this feels so bucking good!” yelled Twilight, her hips rising up and down as she kept up her vicious pace. “Oh my fucking goddess!”

“Twilight ca…calm down,” stuttered Rainbow, trying to speak between moans as Twilight rode her pulsing length. “Yo…you’ll wake up half of Ponyville!”

Twilight’s horn light up, the entire room being covered in magic temporarily before returning to normal, Twilight falling forward, smiling down at Rainbow as her pace slowed down a more reasonable speed. “There, now I can yell as loud as I want, though it’s not my fault you drive me fucking crazy.”

Rainbow smirked as Twilight hoped she would, stocking her ego paying off in benefits as Rainbow bucked her hips to meet Twilight midway, causing her to cry out in pleasure as her pace once again began to pick up speed.

Then the moment finally came, Twilight’s head lowering down a bit as her pace once again ground to an agonizingly slow speed, and Rainbow decided to do something daring, lifting herself up a bit and grabbing Twilight’s horn in her mouth, causing her to cry out in bliss as pure magic shot into rainbow’s mouth, causing them both to orgasm on the spot.

It took a while for the waves of pleasure to subside, but when they finally did, Twilight simply collapsed on her side, Rainbow panting hard as she turned her face toward her beautiful mate. “What…the buck…was that…”

“S…sorry, I should have known you would do that, you always forget how…how sensitive my horn is…”

Rainbow stared for a moment, but then shook her head, pulling Twilight close and letting her nuzzle into her chest. “Ah forget it; I’ll have you tell me tomorrow.”

“But we have to head to the library tomor… OH!” cried Twilight, jumping onto wobbly legs and then heading over to the doors which lead out to Rainbows balcony, opening them up and stepping outside. Then Rainbow watched in amazement as Twilight conjured up a cloud of black mist, which whispered to her before rushing off into the darkness of the night, Twilight turning back and climbing back into the bed with Rainbow.

“What the buck…”

“Shh, you’ll find out tomorrow when we go to the library, everypony is going to be there tomorrow.”

“…Ok Twilight, I trust you,” said Rainbow, and then she pulled the covers over both of them, snuggling up close to Twilight and following her into the land of dreams, feeling happy for the first time in what felt like eternity.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 18: Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity hummed as she moved about her boutique, happily moving about as she waited for her visitors to arrive. She had awoken earlier that day to find a letter from Yin and Yang, telling her that they would be arriving at her boutique later that day, which had caused her to squeal with joy before getting up and getting ready for their impending visit.

She looked up as she heard a knock come from the door, walking over and opening it to find her to stallions standing outside, and quickly pulled them in before giving them a hug. “Darlings, I have missed you these past two days, how was your trip?”

“It was enlightening,” said Yin, looking at his brother before speaking, “but sadly we cannot stay and chat, we actually wanted to see if you would like to accompany us to the library, for we have business there with several of our old friends from our school days.”

Rarity nodded, looking excited as she made her way upstairs, “I’ll be down in a minuet darlings, I just have to go touch up my makeup ok?”

They both nodded, sitting down on a nearby couch to wait, but before they could get comfortable they heard Rarity’s voice drift down to them. “Oh darlings, I was wondering if you could try something on for me, there behind the changing wall to your left.”

The two stallions complied, and had Rarity been downstairs at the time, she might have heard the surprised gaps that emitted from the two stallions upon seeing what she had made for them. As for Rarity herself, she was getting into her own outfit, something that had popped into her head the day after Yin and Yang’s departure, and she had a nagging suspicion it also drew a little inspiration from her Princess Platinum costume from when she had played in the Hearth’s Warming Pageant.

She finished putting on the dress, leaving her room and heading to the stairs, seeing her two stallions standing in their new outfits and gasping in appreciation. Yin was standing in a beautiful set of emerald green robes trimmed in gold, the pattern on them in the shape of dragon scales, and a dragon’s head shoulder pad resting on his left shoulder, also emerald green. Yang on the other hoof was in a set of robes that looked like they had been made out of a tigers pelt, and he was also sporting a shoulder pad on his right shoulder, this one in the shape of a tigers head.

“Oh darlings,” she said as she walked over, “you are absolutely perfect, you are just the way I…pictured…you……”

Rarity stopped dead in her tracks, her words fumbling in throat as memories flooded her mind, memories of her stallions, standing guard over her during the long nights, during the many trials and tribulations she had gone through during her life as the unicorn Princess Platinum.

“Lady Rarity,” said Yin warily, watching as recognition swirled with in her eyes as she finally began to speak.

“I…I was…and…and you…?”

Yang placed a hoof to her lips, stopping her stammering as he spoke. “Lady Rarity, I promise you we will explain all of this, but first we must get to the library, I promise you all your answers lay there.”

Rarity looked wary, but she soon nodded, following the two stallions out of the boutique, praying that what they said was the truth.

*

“Well howdy there youngin,” said Granny Smith, gazing at the pony that had arrived at her front porch, “what brings yah around these parts.”

“Well hey there,” said Fuji, “My names Fuji, and I am actually here to see if Applejack was in or not, I had some things to talk with her about.”

“Fuji?” said a voice, causing both Granny and Fuji to look up, seeing Applejack who walked out of the house and, much to the other two ponies surprise, walked up and grabbed Fuji, giving her a deep and passionate kiss before righting her and leaving her with a stupid grin on her face.

“Gosh darn it girl its good tah see yah, so what yah need me…”

“APPLEJACK!” shrieked Granny looking stricken as she stared at the young mare before her. “What the hay did yah just do tah that poor filly?”

“Ah kissed her Granny,” said Applejack, pulling Fuji close as she tried to hide the worry growing on her face, “what else are yah supposed tah do with your marefriend.”

Fuji felt all the blood rush out of her face when she heard those words, watching as Granny’s face begin got contort with rage due to her gandfillies comment. Oddly enough, Fuji was reminded of when she had told her granpappy she was a fillyfoller, he had yelled at her for hours, telling her how she had been a disgrace to the clan and that she would never be welcome in his house. “God ah cried like a filly after that…ah just hope ah can be as strong for Applejack as she was for me back then.”

“Consorn it Applejack!” Granny finally blurted out, glaring at her grandfilly as the younger mare looked at her with a calm gaze. “Yah take back what yah said this instant; ah will not have yah saying such things around me?”

“Ah’m not taking back what ah said Granny Smith, not when I meant it. This here is mah marefriend, and you are just gonna have tah accept that.”

Applejack didn’t even let her talk back, turning around with Fuji and marching off with her, making it a long way past the entrance to the farm before beginning to shake uncontrollably, Fuji moving up beside her for support. “Goddesses…ah don’t think ah’ve been more scared in mah life…that was darn terrifyin…”

“Ah can sympathize sugar,” said Fuji, “I had a similar experience when I told my granpappy long ago, he just…”

“Ah remember sugar cube, he was all a hollering about how yah wasn’t allowed on his farm no more, and ah remember yeh was…yeh was…” Applejack then froze, realization crashing down around her as she looked Fuji dead in the eye. “How the buck do ah remember that?!”

Fuji looked at her, trying to give her a reassuring smile as she spoke. “Look sugar, I know this is probably really startling, but I promise it will all be explained, but not here, not right now.”

“But…but ah was there and yah… yah called me Apple Spice back then, but ah can’t have been…”

“Jackie,” said Fuji, catching Applejack off guard with the name as she grabbed her face in her hooves. “Listen sugar, I promise ah’ll explain everything to yah, but we have to head over to the library first, I got some business there that is really important, which concerns yah as well.”

Applejack hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded her head, letting Fuji lead her into town as she let her mind wander down the newly opened memory lane.

*

Fluttershy lifted her head from her bed as she heard the sound of somepony knocking at her cottage door, getting up and heading into the living room to open it, and then smiling when she saw who it was outside. “Nyx, but I thought you said you had plans up in Canterlot yesterday."

“Oddly enough the plans changed, the guys planning the reunion decided to move it here to Ponyville instead, over at Golden Oaks Library, so I decided to drop by to see if you wanted to come with me.”

“Oh I’d love to,” said Fluttershy, stepping out of the cottage and then walling with her towards Ponyville.

But as they made their way toward Ponyville, Nyx began humming a simple tune, and Fluttershy soon followed suit, the simple tune building into an oddly familiar but uplifting melody as they hummed all the way to Ponyville, finally stopping to catch their breath and giggle at each other like school fillies.

And in that moment, Fluttershy’s mind woke up, and she remembered where she had heard the tune before and causing her to gasp, her eyes gazing upon Nyx as she looked at her with concern. “Fluttershy, are you ok?”

“I…I remember that tune…” Fluttershy whispered; gazing at Nyx as the memories kept flowing from her mind. “I…I remember when you used sing it to me to comfort me, when…whenever I was afraid or upset, you used to hold me close and sing that tune with me, and tell me I had nothing to fear. But…but none of it makes sense, I mean I only just…”

Nyx put a hoof to Fluttershy’s lips, calming the young mare down with a smile as she spoke. “Calm thy fears my love, all will be explained when we reach our destination, that I promise you.”

Fluttershy nodded, picking up her pace as she followed her mate, putting her full trust that what she said was the truth.

*

“Oh goddesses what am I going to do, what am I going to do!”

“Twilight calm down,” said Rainbow, pinning her mates tail down to the floor as she tried running past her. They had arrived at the library early that morning, where Twilight had told Rainbow that the others would be coming soon…with their soul mates.

She had then told Rainbow the lengths she had gone to get outside the influence of her sisters soul magic, using her connection to the element of magic to let out some other souls, allowing them to go to their soul mates and thus, make connections to the other elements of harmony. It had been tiring work, but it had paid off in the end, and now all Twilight had to do was tell the other girls the truth.

“But Rainbow, what if they don’t accept what I say, what if they think I’m just a changeling trying to…”

Rainbow decided to do the impulsive thing and stop Twilight as fast as she could, kissing her right on the lips and leaving her in a dazed state before speaking. “Twilight, there our friends, they will know it is you, trust me, I can’t have been the only one to notice that the consort lacks that certain sparkle in her eyes you always had.”

Twilight smiled, and then jumped when the door opened, Pinkie and Loki bouncing there way inside before the door closed, Pinkie bouncing over to Twilight and giving her a tackle hug. “Oh Twilight, thank you thank you Thank You for giving me my Loki back!”

As Twilight struggled to untangle herself from the pink maniac, Loki walked over to Rainbow, extending a hoof and shaking hers before introducing himself. “The names Loki, and you must be the lovely miss Rainbow Dash, it is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Rainbow nodded, looking over the stallion as she ignored the sounds of her mate trying to get away from Pinkie. “Nice to meet you to, though…I don’t see how a pony like you could possibly be Pinkie’s soul mate.”

“Oh I can make you come around,” he said, pulling out a soda from her mane and taking a sip.

“How did you…” started Rainbow, only to remember that he was Pinkie’s mate. “You know what, never mind.”

Loki was about to laugh when the door opened again, and Rainbow and him saw Rarity walk in with her two stallions, Rainbow’s jaw dropping as her legs instinctively began sending her into a bow, before Rarity ran over and stopped her mid kneel. “Rainbow please, I am not a princess any more, that life is well behind me.”

Rainbow nodded her head, slowly getting up as the door opened yet again, and Fluttershy, Applejack, and their respective mates all walked into the house, smiling as they greeted everypony else.

Finally after everypony had greeted each other, Twilight decided it was time to reveal herself, clearing her throat and catching everyponies attention.

“Twilight, what the hay are yah doing here sugar cube?”

“…Your all probably wondering why your mates all brought you here,” said Twilight, causing everypony to stare at her in surprise due to this. “The reason they brought you all here is because I asked them to, because there is something you all need to know. As you know, several weeks ago the princesses revealed to me that I was their re-incarnated soul mate, and then the day after thinking about what they said I supposedly went back to them and got my memories restored to me.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued, “The truth is I did not say yes to having my memories restored, for I feared that I would lose who I was if I allowed those memories to surface. While Celestia was accepting, Luna was not, for it had been a thousand years since she had last seen her beloved soul mate, and as far as she was concerned I was not even a true pony…just a fragment of sentience.”

Everypony in the room gasped, save for the bearers soul mates, allowing Twilight to continue with her tale. “Luna then cast a spell on me, which did not gift me with new memories, but instead cast my soul from my body, allowing another soul, the one who was truly their soul mate, to take my place. That is the pony who met with you after I have left for Canterlot, and while she was masquerading around in my body…I was trapped in a pocket dimension, where I found the ponies who now stand beside you, along with many others, and with their help, along with the help of Princess Luna after she discovered the truth, I was able to break free from that realm…and now I am here.”

Her friends looked confused for a moment, and then Rarity turned toward Yin and Yang, “Is this true loves?”

They both nodded, and around the room the others nodded as well, causing the bearers to begin to mumble before Twilight cleared her throat to get their attention again. “Look girls, I know this is probably really hard for you to believe but…”

“Hold on a sec…” said Applejack, “You’re tellin me this whole time we have been being fooled by some…some pony from the past who’s been body snatching so that she could be with the princesses…of course it’s hard tah believe Twilight, how the hay do you expect us to believe that.”

Twilight made to speak, but then Rainbow moved in front of her, glaring at Applejack as she spoke. “How dare you Applejack, Twilight is our friend, and while she may not be the element of honesty like you, we both know she would never lie to us about something this important.”

“But even if she is telling the truth she hasn’t given us any evidence to back up what she has said Rainbow, which makes it pretty hard to believe her even with all that has been happening to us.”

“You want proof, fine, I’ll give you bucking proof.” Then Rainbow grabbed Twilight and gave her a deep kiss, leaving Twilight in a dazed state as she glared back at Applejack, “There; that proof enough for you?”

Applejack stared slack jawed at Rainbow for a moment, then if suddenly clicked in her head, a spark going off as she pointed her hoof at Rainbow. “Wait a buckin minute, you're Twilight’s soul mate, but…but then why the buck did the princesses say that she was their dead lover.”

“Think about it Applejack,” said Twilight, “think hard. Back then I wasn’t called Twilight Sparkle, I was called…”

“Magic!” exclaimed Rarity, looking at Twilight in shock, “then…then that means that pony in Canterlot…”

“Is my baby sister Twilight Everfree Sparkle, the pony I taught the art of soul magic, and she abused that power so that she could stay with her soul mates in an unnatural way…much to my disappointment.”

Tears entered Twilights eyes, everypony getting up and giving her a hug. “I…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“Darling, whatever are you apologizing for?”

“It’s all my fault…it’s because of me that…”

“Oh not this again,” said Rainbow, grabbing Twilight again and giving her a big smooch, causing her to glare at Rainbow, “you don’t need to do that every time Dashie!”

“Well the moment you stop trying to blame yourself for everypony losing their soul mates then I’ll stop kissing your bad feelings away.”

Twilight simply shook her head, while Fluttershy spoke up next to her. “Um, not that I don’t mind not knowing, but what are you blaming yourself for Twilight?”

Twilight sighed, “It’s because of me that you guys lost your soul mates, I should never have taught my sister those spells, otherwise none of this would have happened.”

“But Twilight, yah also got them back tah us, yah can’t forget that sugar cube.”

Twilight nodded, “I know, but now I need to ask you guys something pretty, pretty risky. My sister needs to be stopped, otherwise more will have to suffer the same fate as you all, so I need to ask, will you help me use the elements to stop my sister?”

Everypony stayed silent for a long moment, and then Applejack finally spoke up. “I’m with yah sugar cube; taint fair what this pony is doing, even if it is for love.”

“I would have to agree,” said Rarity, looking grim. “I know now the void that I have been feeling, and I don’t think I can bear the feel that void again, nor can I let anypony else suffer the same.”

Everpony nodded in agreement and then Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, most likely to throw in her agreement as well, but then Loki’s tail twitched, and then his eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates. “EVERPONY HIT THE DECK,” he yelled, before grabbing Pinkie and pulling her to the floor as one of the walls of Golden Oaks was blasted apart.

Twilight coughed as the dust began to settle, getting up along with everypony else to see who had destroyed part of her home, growling when she saw who it was. “Sister…”

“Sister? I don’t remember having such a sister, the only reason I am here is to protect my friends from a changeling imposter.”

Twilight grinned, “Funny, cause I remember you…Twilight Everfree Sparkle.”

Everfree’s face fell, confusion clouding her features as she stared at the mare before her, “How do you know that name!?”

Twilight moved forward, the element of her namesake appearing on her head as the other elements stood beside her, their elements appearing as she gave her response. “I know you sister because I was the one that taught you the art of soul magic over three thousand years ago, and it was me that told you to peruse things with Celestia and Luna despite your fears. I know you because you once trusted me with everything…and I know you are my sister, and sisters always know each other.”

Everfree stared at her for a long moment, but then to everyponies surprise, her expression changed to one of shock. “M…Magic, but…how?”

“It does not matter,,” said Twilight, “what matters now is that I am here to put an end to this madness, for this cycle has to end.”

Then before she could react Twilight and the girls began charging up the elements, but as they were about to unleash the blast Celestia appeared behind Everfree and unleashed a blast of magic at the bearers, only for it to be stopped as Luna appeared before them and blocked the blast.

Twilight and her friends stared in shock as the energies dissipated, for the sight of the princesses was absolutely startling. Both of them were armed for battle, both wearing battle scared armor and wielding ornate and battle worn halberds.

“Luna…why…?” was all Everfree could ask, her face a mask of betrayal as she looked upon the pony who was near and dear to her heart.

“Because the price you are paying is too high beloved,” said Luna as she gazed at her in sorrow, “and it cannot continue anymore.”

While Everfree continued to look hurt by her words, Celestia’s eyes began blazing with an angry fire as she spoke. “So you would take her from both of us sister, when you know that if she dies she will be lost to us for three thousand years…WELL I WONT LET ANY OF YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!!!”

This last outburst came out as a roar as her horn began to glow a bright, hellish orange,  and Luna, realizing what her sister was about to do, had just enough time to light her horn and teleport them all away before Celestia unleashed her spell, and then the world was engulfed in flames.

…To Be Continued…
> The Princess Consort Chapter 19: The Winter In Flame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the teleportation ended, Luna and those she had taken looked towards Poniville to see it engulfed in flames.

“…I never thought she would go this far,” said Luna.

“Then it is a good thing we were watching,” said a voice behind them, causing everyone to turn in the voices direction, and Twilight’s jaw dropped when she saw who had spoken

“MASTER STARSWIRL!”

The bearded stallion looked confused for a moment, walking up to Twilight and looking her deeply in the eyes before recognition dawned on his face. “My dear Clover, my how much you have changed.”

“I’m not the only one,” said Twilight as she gestured back to her friend, “but we can catch up later, for now what did you mean that it was good that you were watching.”

“Because I was able to sense what Celestia was about to do, and just I was able to act with the help of Mistmane and Stygian to teleport all the residence of the settlement to a safe location.”

He then turned to Luna, noting the armor she wore which caused him to dawn a look of worry, “Is it really that bad my old student?”

“It unfortunately is,” said Luna, “and more besides, for I fear she may have let out her darker side.”

“Like Nightmare Moon?” asked Fluttershy, looking concerned.

“Worse,” said Luna, “for my dark half was corrupted, having more of a mind of its own. My sister on the other hoof is in full control of hers, which makes her far more formidable then Nightmare Moon ever could have been.”

“Well it wont be long before she senses us then,” said Twilight, “for while the elements may help, I doubt they can ward her off for long.”

“Then we must make ready for battle,” said another voice, everyone turning toward it and once more, gasps were sounded from the bearers, soon followed by glares through as Twilight stepped forward with a growl. “Sombra.”

“Still your rage Twilight Sparkle,” said Sombra, “for while yes we did battle in the past, I am no longer the pony you fought to take back the Crystal Empire…my madness is gone.”

“…You know what, I’ll take what allies I can get at this point, so what is the plan.”

Sombra smiled, and then waited for everyone to gather around before speaking. “You me and the bearers shall battle the Fell Shadow, while Luna and the Pillars of Equestria shall deal with Daybreaker, and if were are lucky we will be able to win this before the changelings and dragons arrive.”

“Thorax and Ember are sending aid?” asked Rainbow in surprise.

Luna nodded, “Ember became aware of the situation after Spike discovered the truth of my mates nature, and alerted Thorax soon after.”

“Good,” said Twilight, before looking back to Ponyville and grimacing, “we better get moving…Day Breaker has just taken to the air.”

*

Celestia’s glowing eyes scanned the outskirts of the burning ruin that was Ponyville, a hellish growl reverberating from deep within her throat as she failed to find her quarry.

The depths of her anger knew no bottom, for not only had ghosts from her past come back to try and take her love away from her, but they had also poisoned her sister against her once more, meaning once more the moon and the sun would be at odds.

And as if the thought alone summoned her, Luna appeared, and with her came a darkening of the sky as the moon moved in front of the sun, creating an eclipse as the lunar mare’s horn began to glow with power.

“Where are they!!!” Celestia said as she began to circle around her sister, her own horn begging to crackle with energy as she glared at her.

“Doing what they must,” said Luna, “but to get to them you will have to go through me.”

“…Very well,” said Celestia, before she unleashed her blast, only to look in shock as it was intercepted, not by any magic of Luna’s, but instead by a pegasus wielding a shield.

Before she could fully process this, another pony slammed into her side, sending her spiraling and leaving her open as three tendrils of magic latched onto her and began to pull her from the sky.

“NO!!!” roared Celestia, before opening her mouth wide and unleashing a torrent of flame, her connection to the sun and her letting go of her limits allowing her to tap into other aspects of her nature as the arbiter of flame incarnate.

The ponies below dodged out of the way, but before she could correct and try and target one of them, a blast hit her in the stomach and drove her to the ground deep within White Tail Wood, followed by another, thought this one she blocked with a shield spell.

“Why are you doing this Luna!” yelled Celestia as she kept her shield up, “Twilight was working on the problem, all we had to do was wait!”

“And how many more would suffer till she figured out how to attain immortality!” yelled Luna, “A hundred, a thousand, TEN THOUSAND!”

“AS MANY AS IT TAKES!!!” roared Celestia, before collapsing her shield and unleashing it in a torrent of crackling red energy.

Luna countered, but was unprepared for the resulting explosion, which rendered her dazed.

Seeing an advantage, Celestia unleashed another torrent of energy, but before it could strike Luna, a pink and blue blur slammed down in front of her and unleashed a torrent of neon blue energy, which overwhelemed Celestia’s blast and sent her skidding back across the ground till she smacked into a large bolder, which cracked in two due to the force.

As she stood and shook off the shock, she looked to see Cadance helping Luna to her hooves, the alicorn of love adorned in crystal armor which was radiating with power.

“Cadance…?”

“I’m sorry mom,” said Cadance as she took up a combat stance, her horn lighting up as she put herself between Luna and Celestia, causing the solar mares vision to turn red.

“No…not you to…Not…You…TO!!!”

*

Everfree stood in the ruins that were once Golden Oaks Library, waiting for her sister and the mares following her to return, as she knew they would.

Part of her was horrified that she had latched on to the soul of her beloved sister, but it was only a small part, one which often lost sight of the bigger picture that was her life.

“I just need more time,” she thought as her eyes scanned the burning buildings for a sign of her adversaries, “I’ll figure it out eventually…all I need is time.”

Her ears perked up as she heard a sonic rainboom sound, and she had enough time to conjure up a shield before something slammed into it with enough force to cause it to crack, though thankfully it held as they began sliding at rapid speed across the ground.

They slid for only a few moments, before a pair of back legs kicked the shield, causing it to be sent a few feet away while the thing that had struck her shield came to a stop in mid air, revealing itself to be Rainbow Dash.

She was radiating with power, and she had the element of loyalty with her, though instead of being on a necklace, it was instead situated on the breastplate of a set of golden armor, complete with golden circlet.

“I see you still know some of your old tricks Loyalty,” said Everfree with a smirk, “but it will take more then that if you can even hope of taking me down.”

“Good thing I’m not alone.”

Before Everfree could react, the sound of thunder made itself heard overhead, and then a bolt of red lighting struck her shield, causing it to shatter.

She quickly reformed it, and just in time two as she began getting pelted with blast after blast, looking to see Rarity, Yin and Yang, Rarity in similar armor like Rainbow Dash, while to other two unicorns were in royal guard armor.

Gritting her teeth, she cast her sense out, and sensed that the others were closing in on her position, along with another presence she had not felt since the day the Crystal Empire, vanished, meaning it could only be Sombra, which caused her to grimace even further. “I will not let you undo all my hard work!”

She slammed her hooves on the ground, calling on the magic that was her true talent, and as the dark swirling energies coalesced around her horn, the air began to chill as dark clouds began to swirl overhead, followed soon by the sound of bone chilling neighs.

*

Luna, Cadance, and the Pillars of Equestria all stared in horror, for the solar princess had undergone another change, this one far more monstrous then the one that Luna had seen when her sister had spoken about how she had created the badlands.

Her fur had turned an ashen black, and all along it glowing orange cracks had formed, almost like fire itself was trying to escape her form.

Her wings, mane and tail had become glowing white hot plasma, and slits had formed along her throat, from which flames occasionally leaked out as she breathed.

But the most frightening changes had happened to her mouth, hooves, and eyes. Her hooves had developed glowing orange claws, her mouth had become like that of dragons, filled with razor sharp teeth, and her eyes had become two twin suns surrounded by inky black sclera.

Before any of the ponies around her could react, Day Breaker slammed her hooves upon the ground, causing it to begin shacking before it began to crack as flames began to erupt from below.

Luna and Cadance shot into the sky, followed by the by the pegasi members of the Pillars, who carried their earthpony brethren, while the unicorns teleported away to safer areas.

Seeing the devastation her sister was unleashing, Luna turned to the air bound Pillars and spoke. “Gather the others and go help the Element Bearers!”

“But princess were supposed to be helping you,” said Flash Magnus.

“You’ll only get yourselves killed if you stay,” yelled Luna, “now do as I said, Cadance and I will deal with her!”

Nodding, Starswirl and then others quickly teleported away to join with the fight against Everfree, and then Luna flew up to Cadance and spoke. “So I see the Heart has gifted you with its armor?”

Cadance nodded, “They crystal ponies felt I would need it once I explained the situation to them, I just hope its enough.”

“I hope so to,” said Luna, before jumping a bit as Day Breaker roared from down below, before dodging out of the way as the enraged mare shot up towards her, getting slashed in the face by one of her claws and reeling due to the heat.

Cadance had been quicker in dodging out of the way, and thus was able to send a blast towards the enraged mare, but was shocked when it exploded upon impact, and even more shocked when the explosion was sucked into a ball in front of Day Breaker before the mare opened her mouth and unleashed a beam of light into it, causing it to turn into a cone of flame which slammed against her shield.

Luna, rather then stay in the blast as Cadance was doing, chose to fall out of the path of the cone, waiting till she got clear line of sight on her sister before shooting a thin beam at her, which hit her square in the head and caused her to loose focus, ending the cone.

Day Breaker growled in rage, but before she could return her sisters attack in kind, another blast hit her in the side, this one colored teal, and when Luna looked to see where it had come from, she saw Thorax and Ember making their way towards her.

“You’re here earlier then expected,” said Luna.

“The Moon eclipsing the sun kind of hastened our stride,” said Thorax, “that and Ember felt something off about the sun.”

“Well seeing what’s happened to Celestia I think my fears were warranted.”

“We can debated this later,” said Cadance as she came flying up to them all, “She’s coming!”

*

Twilight, her friends, and the Pillars stared in horror at what had just transpired, for swirling around Everfree now were hundreds of Windigos, their haunting nickers and cries echoing across the now snow covered ruins of Ponyville as a blizzard started to form around them.

As for Everfree herself, she had undergone a change, for she no longer looked like an exact copy of Twilight, thought here were similarities. Her colors were a darker variation of Twilight’s colors, but the tips of her mane and tail glowed a neon blue, as did her hooves.

Her eyes had also changed to a glowing neon blue, but the biggest change was that of her cutie mark, which looked to be five neon blue balls of flame forming a swirling star.

“Sister…” said Twilight, “how…”

“Creating spirits, especially malevolent ones, is foal's play once you've mastered soul magics basics sister,” said Everfree as she smirked, “and now that the odds are a in my favor…lets finish this.”

With that said, she stamped her hooves on the ground once more and vanished, taking Sombra, Starswirl and Twilight with her, and leaving the rest to fend for themselves as the Windigos descended on them.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 20: The Flame Snuffed Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Councilors I implore you to please reconsider…”

“We have considered your words Prince Armor,” said a mare by the name of Ivory Blade, who had succeeded him in becoming head of the Royal Guard. “But it is quite obvious to us that the Princess Celestia is in trouble, why else would she be using such devastating magic otherwise.”

“But Ivory you don’t know everything that is going on…”

“And you really expect us to believe anything you say,” said another pony, this one by the name of Blood Wine, “we have already been made aware of your falsified report regarding the search you conducted in Ponyville, a search you conducted seemingly with guards you conjured from the ether.”

“I had my reasons, and if you would let me explain…”

“I think you have said all you can on this matter Prince Armor,” said the head of the council coldly, a dark coated mare Shining knew by the name of Shadow Gale, “now unless you want to be removed by force, I suggest you…you…by the makers…”

Shadow Gale and the rest of the council threw themselves to the ground in a low bow, and when Shining turned around to see who had walked in, he two found himself going to his knees, for walking through the door was none other then Faust herself.

“Please rise councilors,” said Faust as she moved to stand beside Shining, and once he got a look at her, he noted with surprise that she had a raven on her shoulder, something he would not have associated with the legendary goddess.

“I…If I may be so bold your highness,” said Shadow Gale, “what brings you here after all this time, for I must admit surprise at see you here.”

“I wish I had better reasons for my arrival, but I am afraid I come with grave tidings, for my eldest daughter has lost herself to her darkness.”

The council remained silent for a moment, and then Shadow Gale spoke up, “You…you mean our fair princess…”

“Has lost herself to a monster of her own making, and unfortunately, that is not the only bit of grave tidings I bring.”

“What could be worse then what you have just revealed,” said another council member, a stallion by the name of Golden Bit if Faust guessed correctly, and she usually did.

“As you all are aware, my daughters named a mare named Twilight Sparkle as their reincarnated soul mate, however that was only a partial truth, for that mare was in fact the victim of an entity known as a soul thief.”

What surprised her was that the council did not scoff at her claim, instead many of them looked contemplative, and then Shadow Gale spoke up. “So Blueblood was right.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean,” asked Shining, who was looking just as surprised as Faust.

“Before he leveled his accusations at your sister,” said Ivory, “he came to us with a different accusation entirely, for he said that he believed your sister had been possessed by a soul thief.”

“And he was sure of this statement?” asked Faust.

“His ancestor Glittering Veil hunted the last of the known soul thieves in Equestia to extinction over  six hundred years ago, but to insure that they could be fought in the future, her family kept up the practice of learning the magics necessary to both detect and combat such creatures.”

“We unfortunately put no stock in his warnings,” said another member,  a grizzled old stallion by the name of Dusty Scroll. “After all the princesses are magically powerful and observant beings, so surely they could have detected such a creature.”

“Is that why the princess has fallen to madness,” asked Shadow Gale, “she was corrupted by this soul thief?”

“Sadly no,” said Faust, “for the soul thief is the soulmate of my daughters, and the one they awoke after informing Twilight of her supposed nature.”

The entire council gasped, allowing Faust to continue. “There were unaware of their mates true nature at first, simply thinking they were awakening their lovers old memories after she had reincarnated, but Celestia became aware of her true nature some time after the fall of the Crystal Empire, where as Luna only became aware after this most recent revival.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Luna, maybe due to the suddenness of how she found out the truth, or maybe due to her past, has chosen to fight against her mate. But Celestia has come to accept what her mate is doing as necessary, which has lead to our current predicament, for she will not let anyone take her mate from her.”

“Then should we not send the guard to Luna’s aid?” asked Ivory.

“That would only lead to unnecessary deaths,” said Faust, “plus, I have already set others to the task of bringing this creature to justice, as well as dealing with Celestia. What you should do is insure that Canterlot is secure, as well as insure that the public are not panicking.”

“You’re will be done your highness,” said Shadow Gale, “is there anything else.”

When Faust shook her head, Shadow Gale called an end to the meeting, everyone leaving the room and leaving Faust and Shining alone as they to exited into the halls beyond.

“I’ll go help Ivory with preparing the deference's,” said Shining as he bowed to her, before sprinting off to catch up with the mare, leaving Faust to sigh before she teleported to the highest tower in the castle.

Looking out from the balcony, she saw the battle that was unfolding, both the fires that we exploding out from the White Tail Woods, as well as the massive blizzard that had formed over Ponyville.

“So how long till you take to the field,” asked the raven on her shoulder, wincing as a particularly big explosion went off.

“…I am afraid I have done all I can,” said Faust as she continued to watch the storm below.

“WHAT!!!” yelled the raven, departing from her shoulder and then becoming engulfed in green flames, revealing itself to be Chrysalis as the Changeling Queen glared at her mate. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE DONE ALL YOU CAN DO!!!”

“What I mean is that my hooves are tied when it comes to the help I can provide,” said Faust, “I cannot do anymore then what I have done.”

“And why not,” said Chrysalis with a growl, “what possible reason could be holding you back, for you have never held back before.”

“…because if I interfere any further it will cost us both our daughters lives.”

Chrysalis’s eyes widened in horror, though she remained silent, allowing Faust to speak further. “After our daughters came into their powers, the Ascendancy called me to a private meeting, where they told me that I was to begin…pulling back in how much I interfered in the day to day lives of my ponies. Naturally an argument ensued, which lead to the council telling me in no uncertain terms that if I continued to interfere in the lives of my ponies, the necessity of our daughters would be called into question…and could lead to them being…unmade.”

Chrysalis simply stared at her for a long moment, and then let out a sad sigh, before sitting down next to her and speaking. “I see they gave you the same spiel they did me.”

Noting her confusion, Chrysalis continued. “First, I have a confession to make, for like you…I to have been hiding children, who were born from your love some time after we grew…distant from each other.”

“I can assume that these children would be Thorax and Pharanx, I thought it odd that they had the ability to become monarch’s.”

Chrysalis nodded, “Some time after Thorax took charge of the changelings, very rightly I might add, the Ascendancy rather forcefully summoned me to a similar meeting, which ended the same way yours did.”

“So in essence…both our hooves are tied,” said Faust.

“So it would seem,” said Chrysalis, before returning to her raven form and perching on Faust shoulder, and then watching with her as the battle in the distance continued to unfold.

*

“Ok,” said Rainbow Dash as she dodged out of the way of another Windigo, “correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t we have already defeated them all by now!”

“I would have thought so,” said Rarity as she blasted another away, “but it would seem whatever Everfree did has made them endless.”

“Not actually endless,” said Stygian as he ducked before firing off another shot, “but you aren't going to like how she’s creating them.”

“At this point we could use any information we can get!” yelled Nyx as she and Fluttershy drove one into the ground, before Fluttershy finished it off with a friendship powered stomp.

“Windigos are formed from the corrupted souls of those who died in the cold, and they feed ponies hatred to try and create more of their kind. The fundamental law of magic states that you cannot create something from nothing, not even Everfree could defy that, and after scanning these creatures…I have determined that she is taking souls from Tartarus!”

“Tartarus,” said Applejack in surprise, “as in the place full of shit we don’t want getting out till it’s served its time.”

“The very same,” said Stygian, “and worse still, I am pretty sure that they will not stop coming till Everfree is dealt with.”

“Then lets hope Twilight and the others can end her quickly.”

*

Twilight shook off the disorientation of the teleportation, looking around to see that they were high above the clouds, on Smokey Mountain if she guessed correctly.

She saw that Starswirl and Sombra were near her, but before she could speak to them, she saw out of the corner of her eye a shimmer of magic, and erected a shield just in time as a blast of magic was sent her way.

The blast washed harmlessly over her shield, but just as Twilight was about to lower it, she noticed a glow coming from below her, and looked down to see a run had formed under her hooves, one that was about to detonate.

Leaping out of the way, she got caught in the blast radius which flung her even father, but before she could hit the ground, an aura of white magic surrounded her, and she looked to see Starswirl had caught her, meanwhile Sombra was doing his best to distract their attacker.

“I may have severally underestimated your sisters magical ability,” said Starswirl as he blocked a blast sent his way, for even with the distraction being caused by Sombra, Evefree barley seemed fazed.

“Well she does have three thousand years of life experience to draw from,” said Twilight as she joined in trying to break the mares shield.

As they continued to send blasts at the shield, Twilight saw out of the corner of her eye Sombra disappear into the shadows, and realizing what he was doing she doubled her aggression, keeping her sisters eyes on her as she saw the shadows behind her begin to grow and take shape.

However, just as his form was about to re-solidify, a blinding light appeared within Everfree’s shield, accompanied by an agonizing scream of pain, and as Twilight’s vision returned, she saw Sombra sailing overhead, though she could see he was breathing.

“Fuck,” said Twilight, before ducking as another blast was sent her way.

The continued their assault, but as the battle wore on Twilight could see that Starswirl was quickly tiring, but before she could try and help her old mentor, his shield broke, and he was sent flying by another blast.

“Looks like its just you and me now sister,” said Everfree as she began to circle around her, Twilight beginning to circle as well while keeping her horn lit.

Twilight didn’t say anything, instead she sent another blast at her sister, before beginning to teleport in an erratic pattern to keep her sister on her hooves.

But an erratic pattern was still a pattern, and it didn’t take long for Everyfree to place a well timed shot and send Twilight from the sky, where she crashed hard against the stone.

“I never wanted to fight you sister,” said Everfree as she began making her way over to Twilight, “but you’ve left me no choice.

She charged up her horn to deliver a finishing blow, but was interrupted as a blast of magic tore its way through her chest, the mare staggering a bit and coughing up blood, before turning around to look at who had shot her, her eyes widening in shock, for standing behind her was Luna.
> The Princess Consort Chapter 21: A Righting Of Wrongs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

…Moments Ago…

Luna flinched as another ball of fire impacted against her shield, and then flinched further as a thunderbolt struck the ground near her.

Things were beginning to slowly spiral out of control, for the immense heat bleeding off of the ever growing flames in both the White Tail Wood as well as the Everfree were interacting with the blizzard that had formed over the ruins of Ponyville, and thus wild thunderstorms were beginning to form in the skies above.

“Ok when the hell is she going to tire out,” yelled Ember as she sent a wave of red magic out from the Bloodstone Scepter, “because I’m starting to get tired here and she doesn’t look like she’s ready to quite anytime soon!”

“If Day Breaker works anything like Nightmare Moon did, then she is drawing strength from her rage, which will be bottomless at this point. The only way to end this is through the elements.”

“Bad news there,” said Thorax as he redirected another blast, “Pharanx has been trying to get into the storm for the past hour, but has had no success. However he was able to make contact with one of the elements, and who told him that Everfree has opened a rift to Tartarus, and that rift wont close until she is dealt with.”

“Well I just caught sight of her battling with Twilight and two others…and it doesn’t look like their faring well.”

Luna, who had been blocking another blast of magic during this exchange, suddenly realized what needed to be done, and looked to Cadance, who saw her looking out of the corner of her eye, so she mouthed one sentence before disappearing in a blinding flash.

“Forgive me.”

*

…The Present…

Everfree coughed again, before falling to the ground as Luna ran forward and caught her, the mare holding her close as Everfree spoke. “Luna…you didn’t need to…”

“Yes I did,” said Luna, “what you were doing was causing too much harm, it needed to be stopped.”

“I would have figured it out in the end,” said Everfree, “I just needed more time.”

“But how many more should suffer for that discovery,” asked Luna, “I remember you when we first met, using your magic in ways that I never could have believed, and all to save those less fortunate then yourself from plights beyond imagining…but I think somewhere along the way you forgot your one rule when it came to your brand of soul magic.”

“And that was?”

“To never harm another living soul.”

Everfree’s eyes widened in shock, and then she chuckled before coughing again. “I guess I did…and looking back, I remember getting cold hooves those first few…awakenings, wondering if I was really doing the right thing or not. But each time I would see your smiling faces…it became easier to justify what I was doing…till finally I didn’t even worry about it anymore.”

“I figured as much,” said Luna, “but now its time to put an end to this, and put right all these wrongs.”

Everfree hesitated, and then nodded, before grimacing as she tried to stand up. “Help me up.”

Luna did so, and when she was fully standing she saw Twilight looking at her, as were Sombra and Starswirl, though in Sombra’s case it was more of a glare.

Taking a breath, Everfree reached out with her magic and undid the spell creating the Windigos, their cries filling the air as she then looked back at her sister and spoke. “Sister, I…I need your help, for I…I may have made it so that I could not undo the spell myself, so you…you need to use the elements on me…in order to break the spell and…and put an end to this.”

Nodding her head, Twilight closed her eyes, and beside her five portals opened, the rest of the elements walking out of the portals to stand beside her, before Twilight spoke. “Luna, you may want to stand back, for I don’t want to risk you getting caught in the magic due to…what happened before.”

Luna nodded, backing away as Twilight and the others charged up the elements, before unleashing the blast of harmonic energy.

However, just as the blast arched in the sky and was about to reach Everfree, Twilight saw a sudden spark enter her eyes, and then her horn began to glow just as the blast reached her, but before Twilight could cry out it struck, and then her vision went dark.

*

“…light…Twilight wake up!”

Twilight groaned as she came to, seeing Rainbow staring down at her and…the stars?

Getting up, she saw that she and the girls were in some massive field of what looked to be clouds mixed with stars, a field that seemingly was endless.

“Where…?”

“Oh…well this was unexpected.”

The bearers heads all whipped around, and standing behind them was none other then Everfree, herself, looking slightly confused, but seemingly happy at the sight of them.

“Sister, what did you do…and more importantly where are we?”

“Well, to your second question, we are in the Nexus, the place where Zacherle created the first Ascendants.”

“And you know this how?”

“Faust took me here once,” said Everfree, “back before I…I went down the path I took, saying she had a possible way of making me immortal. It would have taken a long time, which is why I initially rejected it, but as the friendship blast came toward me I suddenly got this idea to use that blast to…well, speed up the process shall we say.”

“So what then,” said Applejack with a stern look, “instead of getting sent to Tartarus or imprisoned in stone, yah planned to cheat the entire thing and become immortal tah boot?”

Everfree chuckled at that, “No, I fully intend to serve out my time, but I didn’t want to risk history repeating itself…especially with how Celestia has taken all of this.”

“So why are we here then,” said Rainbow, “do you need witnesses or something.”

Everfree chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. “Well I may have…not taken account of certain factors when I um…did this. One, I did not account for how intrinsically tied to the elements you all were, and two…well, I didn’t account for how tied to my soul the others were.”

“The others,” asked Twilight.

Everfree gestured for them all to look behind them, and when they did, Twilight saw all the others who had been with her in the pocket dimension, which caused her jaw to drop a bit as she turned back to her sister.

“Soul Magic can be a finicky thing,” said Everfree, “especially when you get to the level of…well, altering life, but the point is while I was originally only intending to turn myself into an alicorn…I ended up roping you all in as well, which means when you all leave this place…you’ll be alicorns to.”

Silence hung in the air for a long time, and then Rainbow fell over laughing, and that laughter proved infectious, as everyone else began laughing as well. It took a while for everyone to calm down, but by the time they did, they all noticed that energy was begging to swirl around them.

“Looks like it starting,” said Everfree, quickly moving up and surprising Twilight with a hug, before pulling back and getting a serous look. “Just be ready when you return, for Celestia is still enraged, and I don’t think any amount of talking will sway her, even if you tell her I…accept my fate.”

Nodding her head, Twilight pulled her in for one more hug, “See you in three sis.”

“See you in three,” said Everfree, before all of them were consumed by blinding light.

*

Luna stared in shock as the blinding light ended, for where her beloved mate once stood, a statue of her as an alicorn remained in its place.

The statue bore a calm accepting smile, but Luna could mull over that fact latter, for now she was looking around, wondering what happened to the bearers, as they had vanished in the flash of light.

However, before she could begin calling out for them, a bright light appeared in the sky, causing her, as well as the others near her to look up, and she gasped at what she saw.

High in the sky was Twilight Sparkles cutie mark, and surrounding it were those of her friends, as well as many others, and slowly they began to shrink down before in an explosion of light, dozens of small alicorns came down from the sky, all of them landing rather shakily on the ground, save for those who had experience flying.

Luna was about to run up to them, but jumped as she heard a roar, looking back to see her sister flying in there direction as flames billowed around her, and she could see Cadance, Ember, and Thorax giving chase.

“Luna, I’m going to need you to move the moon,” said Twilight as she flew up to Luna’s side, Luna and beginning to move the moon as Twilight and the others readied the elements.

Just as Day Breaker was about to reach them, Twilight and the girls unleashed the blast, Day Breaker crying out as the blast overwhelmed her and sent her flying, before locking her within the sun.

“How long will she be imprisoned,” asked Luna as she took hold of the Celestia’ body and began to move it below the horizon, for thanks to her internal clock, she knew the night had begun a few hours ago.

“Well we were able to put a bit more power into this blast,” said Twilight, “so if my calculations are right, her prison will break around the same time my sister is finished serving out her sentence.”

“So three thousand years,” said Luna, before looking down at Twilight and speaking. “Now to the more important question, why are you all alicorns.”

“You can blame your mate for that,” said Nyx from Fluttershy’s side, “for she decided to try to utilize the power of harmony to see if she could become immortal, and accidentally roped us into becoming alicorns as well.”

“I see,” said Luna, “well with that being the case, we must head to Canterlot at once, not only to begin repair efforts for the town, but you all will also have to be recognized as Equestrian Royalty.”

“Hold up,” said Rainbow, “you know not that I wouldn’t want all the glory that comes with it and all, but I’m not all that hyped about being made a princess.”

“If I could let you escape this I would, but Equestrian Law does not allow for such assurances, Alicorns are required by law to become part of the monarchy as set down by the old nobles after the fall of Discord.”

Rainbow grumbled, but Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and spoke, “I’m sure we’ll find someway around the law, but for now lets gather Starswirl and the others and then head to Canterlot.”

*

It took them a while to make it to Canterlot, as due to the fact that the train station had been destroyed in Day Breaker’s rampage, they were forced to send a letter to Canterlot to request several carriages, and the guards who brought them had had slight panic attacks at the sight of so many Alicorns, as well as King Sombra, King Thorax, Prince Pharanx, and Empress Ember.

Arriving at the outskirts of the city, they all saw that Ponyville’s residents were all gathered in a sort of refugee camp, though from what they could see it was well put together, but as they passed Mayor Mare ran up to the lead carriage containing Luna and the bearers.

“Princess thank…by the makers, what…what happened.”

“I promise to explain when I have the time dear Mayor,” said Luna with a smile, “but for now I must head to the castle, though once I am done I will be down to discuss with you and your citizens the best way to help restore your town.”

Mayor Mare thanked her, and then they were off once more, arriving at the castle shortly after, several guards coming out to escort the others to guest rooms for the night, while Shining came to greet Luna, The Bearers, Cadance, as well as Thorax and Pharanx.

“Your highness's, I know you all probably want rest right now after what no doubt when down, but someone is waiting for you in the throne room, and they are quite insistent on seeing you.”

“Then lead the way,” said Luna, though as they moved out she wondered who would demand seeing her so late, and really hoped it wasn’t one of the more annoying nobles.

They eventually reached the throne room, and once they were inside Luna saw who had asked to see them, and suddenly all her annoyance was gone, as she quickly ran forward and embraced the mare waiting in the middle of the room. “MOTHER!!!”

“Hello my darling one,” said Faust as she hugged her, and as she held her close she looked to see Cadance behind the element bearers, and once she opened up a wing, Cadance didn’t need to be told twice as she ran forward and embraced her as well.

She held the hug for a long moment, before finally pulling back and looking to Twilight and her friends, walking forward with a smile before sitting down and speaking. “It is good to finally meet you all, though I will admit, I am surprised to see you all…well, as alicorns.”

“You can blame her sister for that,” said Rarity as she bowed to the regal mare, “for she did not account for how connected everyone was when she decided to use the Elements of Harmony to fuel her…transformation.”

“I see,” said Faust, “well as much as I would like to take the time to get to know you all, I have some matters I would like to discuss with my family, though I promise I will speak with you all tomorrow.”

The bearers nodded and began to walk away, only for Twilight to be stopped as Faust placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You are family to Twilight, after all you’re brother did marry my granddaughter, also Thorax and Pharanx, you should come to.”

Twilight looked back to Rainbow real quick, and saw her give her an approving nod, and so she followed Faust and the others as they headed to Luna’s private chambers.

Once there, Faust looked to the raven on her shoulder and spoke, “You can reveal yourself now love.”

Everyone looked confused for a moment, and then to their surprise the raven left her shoulder before being engulfed in green flame, revealing itself to be Queen Chrysalis.

Twilight, Cadance and Shining took combative stances, but Luna quickly moved in front of the changeling and spoke. “Stay yourselves everypony, Chrysalis threw in her lot with us to help battle against my mate, and it is partially thanks to her that my mother is…well here, though that does bring me to a big question as to why you called her love mother.”

Faust blushed, but before she could speak, Chrysalis decided to cut strait to the chase. “Well as I told Luna I am Faust’s soul mate, but as was revealed to my by her…I am also Luna and Celestia’s sire, which would make me Cadance’s grandmother as well, so…sorry for the invasion and all that.”

“Could you have made that sound anymore lame love,” said Faust, before looking towards the others and speaking, "Well what she told you is true, though the only reason she didn’t know initially was…”

“Wait,” said Thorax as his eyes widened in surprise, “If Chrysalis is Luna and Celestia’s sire, doesn’t that mean their our sisters.”

Everyone looked at him in shock, but were even more shocked when Chrysalis spoke up, “You…you knew, but I did my best to keep the truth from you that I was your…”

“The den mothers revealed it to us when we were young,” said Pharanx, “but swore us to secrecy as she feared it would cause others to attack us, however it did lead to us trying harder then the rest…because we wanted to make you proud.”

“And I always was,” said Chrysalis, “especially when you finally stood up to me and helped lead our kind into a new era.”

Smiling, both Pharanx and Thorax walked up and nuzzled her, and as they did Chrysalis looked over to Luna and Cadance and spoke, “I know it will probably take a while for us to get use to each other, but I hope we can get to know each other in time.”

Both of them nodded, and Faust chose that moment then to speak, “Well, it looks like we have a lot to talk about…shall we get comfortable?”
> The Princess Consort Chapter 22: A Moment In Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month had passed since the Battle Of Ponyville had concluded, and things were finally starting to calm down.

The reconstruction of Ponyville was well underway, though there had been some arguments when it came to the residencies for Twilight and Rarity, for the nobles had risen hell when they had made their requests.

The reason for this was due to the fact that they, along with her friends and the others who had been trapped in the pocket dimension had been crowned as Equestrian Royalty a few days after the battle, and it had not gone over well with the majority of the nobility, who had raised hell after the event, trying to overturn the old law which required they be made as such.

There was also a subset of that group that wanted them stripped of their power as alicorns, and have that same power transferred to them, so that those who were truly worthy of being alicorns would have the power.

Faust, who was someone many ponies were still trying to get used to being more then just a myth, had put her hoof down on that, explaining to them all that not only did many of them earn the power they now possessed, but she couldn’t remove their powers even if she wanted to.

Once it became clear that they would not be able to undo the fact that there were now thirty nine new alicorns to contend with, they decided to try and figure out other ways to limit their power, and this had come to a head when they had heard Rarity and Twilight were speaking with the construction crews about the plans for their new residencies, yelling about how they needed to stay in Canterlot, otherwise cities all across Equestria would be demanding there own princess in their city.

Eventually they had reached a compromise of sorts, Twilight’s, as well as the remaining alicorns new residence would be the Castle of The Two Sisters, which would coincide with an expansion to Ponyville that Mayor Mare had been desperate to have done so that way more ponies could move their families to town. In exchange, the bearers, there mates, and a few others would be allowed to do as they pleased when it came to where they wanted to live.

As for Luna, she was slowly adjusting to ruling on her own, though that had also come with its own challenges, especially as many of the nobility were angry with Faust due to the fact that she outright refused to take back her seat as the ruler of Equestria.

Of course many of them stopped wanting her to return to her seat once her relationship with Chrysalis was revealed, for despite the fact that she had helped to take down Everfree, many ponies still were angry over her actions during the Wedding as well as her takeover of Ponyville, and thus her reputation started to taint ponies perceptions of the noble Faust.

And Chrysalis was not the only one who was causing issues due to there existence, for word had gotten out that King Sombra was not only alive, but had returned to the Crystal Empire to resume his old post as Court Wizard. Due to this, Luna, as well as Twilight from her new seat of power, were faced with constant petitions from various nobles to have the former king extradited from the Crystal Empire so that he could face execution for his crimes against said empire.

Then of course were the rumors that Luna had used dark magic to drive her sister insane so that she could take the throne for herself, as well as the rumors that Twilight and Everfree were actually the same pony, and that she had posed as the two princesses lover in order to help Luna in her goal to take the throne.

Surprisingly, and ally who came to their defense against these rumors was non other then Prince Blueblood himself, who sighted his vast knowledge when it came to Soul Magic as well as Soul Thieves, and thus they were able to quell most of the rumor mongers, though the outliers held tight to the story.

Now, Faust was sitting in her room in Canterlot Castle, Chrysalis nestled up by her side, and was currently going over a letter from Twilight, who had begun writing her since she had moved into the Castle of The Two Sisters.

Dear Faust.

The renovations to the castle, as well as the newly built guardhouse, are finally finished, though part of me is still angry that I could not simply just rebuild my old home in Ponyville and live there, but politics be politics.

Anyways, everyone is slowly adjusting to there new lot in life, Applejack of course is proving the most stubborn of the bunch, she actually put all her guards to work on the farm due to not simply wanting them standing around doing nothing as she put it.

Fluttershy is actually adjusting quite well to being an alicorn, and she is actually utilizing her position quite well when it comes to animal conservation, which of course has many nobles pulling there manes out due to how thorough she is when it comes to those kind of laws.

Pinkie Pie is…well, she’s Pinkie Pie, she hasn’t let her new position change her life all that much, though she was forced to open up her own place of business due to the Cakes saying her new position was actually intimidating customers. In some ways its actually been good for them, because for a time the only competition they really had was Sweet Drops Confectionery, and with a third sweet business in town, its actually drawing in a lot more customers and thus increased sales.

I think the hardest ones hit by our ascension are Rainbow and Rarity, for Rainbow’s dream of being a Wonderbolt has pretty much come to an end, and Rarity is struggling due to not being able to find anypony willing to put real criticism to her work, as they do not want to offend royalty. Rarity I think will pull through, for she is really smart when it comes to the fashion world, but Rainbow’s one goal in life was to become a Wonderbolt, and without that she’s kind of just…lost.

As for me, I am doing my best to help organize the plans for the new expansion of Ponyville, for I want to make sure the Everfree Forest remains as intact as possible, though thankfully the castle is in the smallest section of the Everfree, I just hope the town doesn't become to big.

Anyways, I better wrap up this letter, Spike and his mother are visiting me today, and I have been looking forward to meeting her and getting to know her.

Faithfully yours…

Twilight Sparkle.

Faust sighed as she finished the letter, for while it had been informative, the part about Rainbow made her sad, for she knew better then most what it was like to have your dreams crushed by new obligations.

However, as she readied to lay her head down and join her love in sleep, another letter appeared before her, this one appearing in a burst of blood red magic and simply hovering before her in mid air, which told her precisely who it was from, and it was confirmed when she opened it and saw that it was written in golden ink.

Faust.

We know what you have done, Favorite.

Know that this action has not gone unnoticed by myself or the rest of the Council, nor have the other events that have unfolded gone unnoticed.

Know that we are gathering another moot, and we'll be making our way to you within the coming years, so make what preparations you must to accept us with all grace and formality.

And also know, that these new…Ascendant’s will be under my upmost scrutiny, so you best pray to your mothers mercy that they do not disappoint me.

Respectfully.

Gale Ga’ Mesh, Holder of the High Seat of The Ascendancy Council, Killer of the Great Bull of Heaven, King of…

She stopped reading after that, for the remainder of the letter was just his extensive list of accolades, and then snorted as she tossed the letter into the fire before letting out a disgruntled sigh, before finally laying her head down so that she could get some sleep.

After all, she could give everyone the bad news tomorrow.

…To Be Continued In Book 2: The Ascendancy Council…