Chapter 5: Confusion

For the second time this day, Umbra was once again running down the halls of the Crystal Palace; once again, she didn't dare look back. She still feared that the same erotic **** that existed somewhere in her soul would come out once again. She could feel the memories of who she was, her old identity, fading away like water trickling out her hands. Once again, she had lost control; once again, she was consumed by the **** of some other creature, and once again, she was afraid of what she was becoming.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." She clenched her own head, her hands fists as they pressed against her temples. She tried to shake the lewd thoughts from her head, tried to pry the treacherous feelings away from her mind, but they were stuck in there. Little snakes that were worming their way into her mind, taking control and turning her into a whore.

Every step she took felt like she was climbing a mountain. A struggle to regain the stallion she was supposed to be, the identity she was supposed to embody. SHE was supposed to be the one in control. Shining Armor was supposed to be the one at her knees. She was supposed to conquer, and others meant to serve. She wasn’t supposed to be a ****; she was supposed to be the one enslaving, she was supposed to be the QUEEN!

Umbra shook her head of those thoughts fast enough that she was afraid her head might go flying from her neck. Not queen, king. She wasn’t supposed to be Umbra; she was supposed to be Sombra… just trapped in Umbra’s body.

She felt ill; her hand grasped a crystal pillar to stabilize herself. Her head was woozy and she felt like she was going to faint. Treacherously, the experiences in the other room replayed in her mind and threatened to do worse than torment her. They threatened to arouse her! To turn her back into that whore again.

She had to cross her legs to keep her damp sex under control, even as her body shook. She had expected to have Shining Armor under her heel, to have him whimpering for her to lead him along the path of a conqueror and iron-dicked tyrant. A puppet king as it were, one who would outwardly break the sluts and whores of the Crystal Empire but behind closed doors be dependent on Umbra for direction and instruction. And she would lead him along a path, one that would benefit only herself.

But Shining Armor had proven a better student than she could have anticipated. All of it coming to him like a fish to water, not unlike herself in the bedroom with Cadance, but even more so. How had he learned that chain spell so fast? How did he manage the cutie mark changing spell so effortlessly? He said it came naturally to him; it wouldn't have been possible for Sombra to do it without practice. Was Shining Armor better than her?

The thought bristled at her villainous ego; it wasn’t acceptable. It couldn’t be true. But that wasn’t the worst part; the worst part was the treachery of her own feelings, the part of her that wanted it to be true. Wanted Shining Armor to be every bit the conqueror that Candace wanted him to be, more powerful than her and conquer Umbra like he would conquer Cadance and Silver Shield. Even now she couldn’t help but wonder if he had taken her advice to heart, was currently using Silver Shield as his own personal fuck toy. Experimenting with Silver Shield, all the various ways he could use his new toy... if only he would use Umbra the same way...

"NO!" She had bellowed this much louder than she had meant to, but she didn't care. The voice in her head wouldn't go away; like a treacherous advisor, it whispered and whispered into the back of her mind, slowly corrupting her in ways she did not realize existed, making her go to lengths she couldn't believe she would go. Umbra was marching again, trying to run away from the lewd thoughts in her head...until she came across an all too familiar voice.

"So Flash, how have you been lately? It must get so boring being just another guard in the Crystal Empire."

Was that Twilight? Umbra frowned; she hadn't been aware that she was visiting the Crystal Empire. She had expected that if she were here, Twilight would be appearing as a royal dignitary. With parades, official greetings, and all the décor and ceremony that a visit from the princess would demand, but perhaps this was a private meeting.

Umbra peered into the room where she had heard the voice of her enemy; the princess was alone in the small study with one of the royal guard ponies. She had seen the pony every once in a while in the Crystal Palace before, with his blue hair, orange fur, and a cutie mark of a blue shield with a bolt of lightning surging through it. He hadn't stood out at all to Umbra. What in Equestria could Twilight want with him?

"Oh boring? Well, I suppose some days are a bit monotonous, but it's nothing I can't handle, Princess. I mean, a guard as disciplined and professional as me knows that he must put his duty to the Crystal Empire first and foremost." Flash Sentry said, with a certain cockiness that would make that rainbow-haired friend of Twilight's annoyed. "And it's not all bad, not when the girls are paying attention."

The comment did not annoy Twilight as much as Umbra expected, quite the contrary actually. Instead Twilight giggled coquettishly and placed a hand on the guard's pony's thigh. "I imagine you do Flash, but have you ever taken it to the next level with any of those mares? Decided to claim a few of them for yourself? After all, a soldier deserves his spoils."

"Umm..." The 'Flash' pony was starting to blush. "I don't think that would be very appropriate, Twilight. I mean, I am a soldier, not a breeding stud, so I have to be a good example, don’t I?”

Twilight’s jaw clenched, and her fingers tightened into the fabric of his pants. “Of course, of course. You’re quite the strapping young soldier, but what’s the point of being the hero if you don’t get the girls?"

Flash was starting to look visibly uncomfortable, such a weak fool to not know what Twilight was implying. He coughed awkwardly and broke eye contact with the princess. “It’s my duty, Princess.”

Before Twilight could say another word, he grabbed his helmet and briskly headed to the door. Umbra had to flatten herself against the wall to avoid being slammed into by the royal guard. When he was a good distance down the hallway, Umbra chanced another peek at Twilight Sparkle; she had quite the foul expression on her face. Like bird poo had just splattered over her face.

Twilight too? First Cadance, then the guardsmare Silver Shield, and now Twilight Sparkle herself? What was wrong with this empire? Was it something in the air? A magical enchantment of some kind. For a moment Umbra considered the possibility that the Crystal Heart itself was responsible, slowly bringing the sluttier, more submissive side of the Empire’s women out into the open, but that couldn’t be true, could it?

Umbra’s heart clenched at that possibility; it would explain a lot. But then who had corrupted it? Cadance? That would only make sense if she had been a pervert before becoming princess. Celestia? Hardly seemed in character? Princess Amore? Umbra couldn’t remember anything like this happening when she was a colt… but then again, she had been so young.

Umbra’s thoughts distracted her, and because of that, she hadn’t noticed when Twilight Sparkle came out of the room and crashed right into Umbra.

They were both thrown onto their asses, Umbra’s experience not nearly as painful as it should have been thanks to her colossal rear cushioning her fall. Twilight’s horn had jabbed into Umbra’s nose, though, and she was now rubbing it, just like Twilight was doing with her forehead.

"Oh, I’m so sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going—Umbra?"

“It’s Sombra, you sanctimonious twat.” Umbra growled again before she could stop herself. She was making a lot of impulsive mistakes lately, a sign of her own psyche being so out of whack. This time a surge of anger had compelled her to correct Twilight to try and bury a different emotion. One of acceptance of her new name and title.

“Oh right… I guess you’re still mad about what Discord did, huh?” Twilight said, forcing herself to be casual even while talking to a former enemy. Her smile was **** and her eyes darting for escape.

Umbra, for her part, folded her arms like a petulant smile. "Oh, quite the contrary, Twilight; it’s been splendid to be **** into another body against your will. Unable to walk anywhere without ponies gawking at you and watching your hard-earned reputation crumble into cheap objectification, why, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The worst part was that it hadn’t been entirely sarcastic.

“Ah right. Of course.” Twilight made an awkward cough, looking as if she would rather be anywhere but here right now.

Umbra herself remained guarded, her arms folded and eyes piercing. “Why are you even here anyway? Don’t you have your own castle in that Earth Pony backwater?”

“Ponyville is a very lovely place, I’ll have you know!” Twilight shot back, hands on her hips. “It might not be as fancy as the Crystal Empire, but the ponies are nice and friendly, and every pony helps one another.”

Umbra rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say, Princess. But you haven’t answered the question."

Twilight’s fists relaxed as she let out a deep sigh. “If you must know, Cadance invited me here for a scary movie night…” Twilight debated for a few minutes whether to go through with what she wanted to say next. “Would you like to join us?”

From the look on Twilight’s face it seemed that she very much did not want Umbra to join them. For a brief second she thought about accepting just to spite Twilight. Perhaps take the advantage to mock her with the fact that Umbra had fucked Cadance behind her husband's back. It would almost be worth it just to see the way her face would twist and see the vein on her forehead burst. But then again any event with these two ponies would surely render watching paint dry an exciting prospect in comparison. She could only imagine what tame terrors would make ponies this fragile jump.

"Thank you for the offer, Twilight, but I have the irresistible urge to do literally anything else. So would you kindly run along and leave me alone to have much more excitement elsewhere? Perhaps I will find watching grass grow to prove less tiresome.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, but when she did so Umbra noticed some kind of letter in her back pocket. She didn’t know why it aroused her curiosity so much, but in a split-second decision, Umbra used her magic to summon the note.

Once Twilight had made her way around the corner, Umbra made her way back to her room, the note clenched in her fists. Closing the door behind her, she opened the note. Perhaps motivated by curiosity, perhaps by a **** need for distraction.

My dear slutty, submissive Twilight. You are falling behind. You have a beautiful body with a silky purple mane and a sexy hourglass figure, yet you still have yet to make Flash Sentry claim you as your sex ****.

You need to try harder, perhaps use your magic to add a few cup sizes to your bust size to drive him wild. In my experience stallions are driven wild by a mare with a damn good pair of tits.

You are taking too long, and your mistress is growing impatient. Both you and Cadance. But do this well, and you will get two masters to fuck and conquer you.

Remember you can do this; I am certain you have the ability. You simply need to embrace the lewd sex **** that you are deep down.

Your Mistress,

Umbra put down the note with a frown. There it was again, the 'mistress.' Hadn’t Cadance mentioned that in her diary? Perhaps the Crystal Heart wasn’t the real cause of all this lewdness, but instead this ‘mistress’ was pulling things behind the scenes. It was an intriguing possibility. After all, this was starting to look anything but a coincidence.