"... Twilight... Twilight... wake up..."
Twilight's mind slowly started to wake up at the sound of a voice calling out to her. Even in her barely awake state, she could tell it seemed to be a combination of two voices. A male one, powerful, dominating and commanding male voice, and a distant, weak and almost broken down female voice from far away.

"...Wake up... it's time..."
"...Wake up... it's time..."

Both voices seemed to be ordering her the same. Slowly opening her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the several baners hanging from the tall room, which was quickly identified by her mind as the throne room, if the two large seats with a sun and a moon engraved on each one was an indication of sorts.
She was back in Canterlot.

A spark of panic ignited in Twilight's mind, as memories started to return to her mind. But there was something wrong.
With every memory returning to her mind, a pony suddenly appeared behind her, almost as if every bad memory she had was being summoned to the place.

Fluttershy tending to the large hound materialyzed behind her, a pair of caribou leading Pinkie pie passed by right next to her as if she wasn't even there, and Applejack in the distance could be seen tied down to a wooden contraption of sorts while her asshole was being stretched to allow a large apple to be inserted on it, already taking a second one to insert next.

"... No... no, no, no..." Twilight started to hyperventilate, watching her friends being humilliated again, even when those were parts she hadn't actually seen.

"Twilight! Help us!"

Twilight turned around at the sound of a pair of familiar voices. Her eyes widened in terror at the sight of both Princesses of Equestria in yet another humilliating pose. Both had been tied down to something akin to a table, with their legs spread and hands tied behind their backs to expose their completely naked bodies for everyone to see.
"Twilight Sparkle! Please help us!"
Both alicorns repeated in almost the same tone and rhythm while the purple alicorn could simply stare in shock and horror at the visage.

"... you can't help them..."
"... you can't help them..."

The voices repeated all around her, making a powerful echo that seemed to repeat what it said several times, more akin to several voices saying the same over and over again.

"... and the same will happen to you..."
"... and the same will happen..."

The female voice was cut short by a gasp from Twilight when she tried to look away from all the things happening around her, making her look down in hopes of stopping it, only to then realize that she was completely naked, too.

Worse for her, she also noticed a large, thick object digging into the skin around her neck and collarbone. Lifting a pair of shaking hands, air seemed to leave her lungs when a choked scream escaped from her mouth at the sensation in her fingers and the few nanoseconds her mind took to make the connection: it was a collar.

"... you can't escape..."
"... you can't..."

Yet another shout or moan came from somewhere near of her. Lifting her sight to where Applejack's torture could be seen, another peak of fear rose in her mind as she saw not her orange friend in the wooden bench.

It was herself.

Twilight watched herself being submitted to such a torture, unable to look away for some reason. She soon identified that reason as she looked at her other self's face. It was full of pleasure, euphoria could be a better term.

"More! Insert another one into me, PLEAAAAASSEEE!!"

It was truly her own voice, and it was begging to the pair of faceless caribou behind her to insert yet another apple into her rectum, even shaking her apparently bigger than usual glutes to entice the brutes.

Finally finding in herself the will to look away from such a lewd scene, she was treated to yet another vision of debauchery.

Another herself had taken Fluttershy's place at tending at a wolf's large, red and swollen cock. Different to the one before, this self was also adorned with a pair of wing sheaths that completely covered her surely bald appendages, having the same body as the other one.

Trying to look away once more, she was treated to the sight of the same two caribou that had been leading pinkie to somewhere else, it was herself instead. Though with the addition of a shiny stump in her head where her horn once had been.

Her breathing was becoming heavier with each vision, even moreso when she lifted a hand to the sections of her body her other selves had modified. Her breasts and ass had become bigger, she already had her wings covered and even her horn was missing.

The last vision was by far the most frightening she had seen.

Instead of the princesses, where they once were was now yet another Twilight. Memories of the parade invaded her mind as she saw the last remaining change in herself. A thick, bright collar of a rich maroon tone. The sign of those who openly cooperated with them.

"You will become that."
"You will NOT become that."

As weak as it was, the female voice had stopped copying the male, suddenly taking another tone. One far more familiar.

"You cannot escape."
"You cannot surrender."

"You will submit."
"You will resist."

Trying to look away from her other selves, Twilight tried to cover her ears in vain as the voices seemed to grow heavier and louder, feeling as if they were driving her crazy.

Opening her eyes for a moment, they widened in fear as she saw none other than the caribou king walking quickly towards her, lifting a hand towards her neck and lifting her effortlessly from the vanishing ground.

"You will fail, as before!"
"You will not fail, as before!"

The room around her suddenly started to change slowly, revealing a large circle below them filled with runes, as well as a chained princess Luna kneeling near of them.

"You cannot fail, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight woke up with a gasp, finding her whole bed covered in cold sweat, produced most likely when she was still asleep and having that... Nightmare.

Rested, but still feeling tired somehow, Twilight slowly got up from the small shelter her bed provided from the world around her. A very cold and actually uncomfortable shelter at the moment.

Looking down at herself, her mind slowly connected the dots as to why her dress was a mess, if it could still be called a mess. The front was completely destroyed, exposing her modest chest and somewhat damp panties for everypony to see.

Fortunately for her, there was nopony around to see the state the princess of Friendship awoke that morning.

... Or was it really morning?

Twilight's groggy mind looked towards the window, expecting to be blinded by the bright sun light flooding her room, like every morning when it peeked slowly from the mountains far away.

Yet, there was no sun to be seen, and the sky was starting to turn into a darker shade of blue and purples while the clouds held distinctive blades of gold, orange and even pink tonalities.

The afternoon was ending, and the evening was just short of being on them. Her mind almost turned off again when the idea of having just slept for a couple of hours since the incident with Spike came to her mind, telling her about taking in maybe some more hours of sleep to recover.

*Bang bang bang* "Twilight!? Are you alright!? Where are you!?"

Of course Rainbow Dash would somehow ruin her private moments. Though with how messed up the library was, she couldn't exactly blame her for thinking the worse.

Before she could be given the chance to do something, the door to her room was kicked open by the blue pegasus, who had rushed to her side upon seeing her state.

"Twilight! Are you alright!? What happened to you and your dress?"

Twilight groaned at the barrage of questions Rainbow kindly fired at her, but having to put a hand on her mouth to stop her from further interrogation unless her own headache became worse.

"Rainbow, i am fine. I had just a... Little incident with Spike a couple of hours ago." The memory of what had happened replayed in her mind before a red flag shot in her head. "Wait, the door to the basement. You didn't open it, right?"

"What? No! I came here first before checking anything else. But what did you mean with a little incident? With Spike? And where is him?"

Groaning once more, Twilight had to speak lowly to explain what had happened with Spike, and the reason of why the basement door should NOT be opened under any circumstances. Rainbow understood most of it with her own concerned look, making a question at the end that sent a shiver down Twilight's spine.

"But the Barrier you spoke about yesterday didn't come all the way towards here. Then how did Spike get tainted?"

Indeed, that was the question. How had he been tainted? The caribou's barrier had been held back by Shining Armor's shield, only corrupting the ponies INSIDE of Canterlot, or just near enough. But all the way to Ponyville?

Be it by the barrier or not, one thing was evident. The caribou's influence was already there, in Ponyville. But no Caribou had been sighted yet, so it only left one very worrying option.

"Rainbow... I think we have an infiltrated."

"... Oh buck." Rainbow cursed lowly, even kicking softly at the floor, making Twilight frown when a poor book was sent flying away by said kick. "As if we didn't have enough troubles already."

Twilight changed her dress to a more casual look, having adopted a more library-ish style at the time, with a white shirt hidden below a purple vest and a matching skirt of the same color.

"What do you mean? Wait, what has happened in the couple of hours i slept?"

Despite the situation they were in, Rainbow couldn't help but snort at that question.

"Hmfg, and they say it is me who sleeps the most. But you just beat my personal record for sleeping, Twi."

One of the phrases Rainbow had said before returned with what she had just said. Her mind registered the word "yesterday" as something passing by, more fo used at the time with Spike's situation. But when thought in deep detail, it made her feel very concerned when Rainbow confirmed what she was thinking.

"You've slept for a whole day straight, Twi."

A short while later, Twilight came out of the library in a rush, finding the situation Rainbow had just informed her of to be true: Most of the mares she had brought from Canterlot had gathered enough supplies to leave.

Fear had clearly clouded their sense of union, preferring to just run away from the Caribou instead of staying together and fight as one. At the head of the group, some of the ponies she considered to be truly loyal showed their true selves right in front of her: guardsmares.

The very same mares that had taken to themselves go watch over her closely were the ones that were fleeing with their tails between their thighs. Yet another sign of their cowardice was the fact none of them had their golden armor on, just dressed in a civilian attire they could've acquired somewhere within Ponyville, with their armors nowhere to be seen or discarded somewhere else.

"Look at those cowards! They want to flee!"

Rainbow said with a hurt and angry tone when she arrived at Twilight's side, watching the parting ponies with a glare in her eyes and her mouth contorted in a spiteful way.

"Be more considerate, darling. I'm not sure what they went through, but i'm sure they have their reasons for wanting to leave."

Rarity's elegant voice sounded from nearby, making Twilight turn in time to see her friend giving away some freshly made clothes to another mare, who thanked her before going away to do something else.

As for Twilight, it was enough to say she had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, she wanted to stay and fight, to take back what the caribou had claimed as theirs and return Equestria to normality.

Of course, on the other hand, she would be lying is she said she didn't want to go with them, to just escape from the monsters that plagued her dreams since they attacked and never turn back, to simply forget what had happened.

With some shame, she did had to admit she really wanted to go with them... But she was a princess of Equestria. It was her duty to not only be on the front during a war, but to also be an example to ponykind. What example would she give if she turned away from those who needed her the most?

The former guardsmares' eyes and hers crossed for a moment, telling each other whatever they needed to know in a swift and silent conversation, only for moments later for the mares to break the connection.

Only a half hearted wave was made towards her when they started their trek to flee. No salute like a true guard should do, not even a reverence or a nod. They had truly shown their own selfish desires that day. They had truly shown they never had been real guardsmares before.

Since she woke up that day, it seemed as if things had never been like how she saw them. Brave guards had turned to be nothing but cowards, and one of her loyal ponies had turned out to be nothing but a traitor.

For a moment, doubt filled her heart when she realized things would never truly be the same if they went back to being "normal".

The Caribou had truly shown her a side of the world she had never seen before, and not in the perverted and sick way they followed, no. They had also shown her the darker side of one's self, what ponies truly were under the façade of happiness and love they lived everyday into.

Deep down, everypony were monsters just as, if not even more vile than them.

"... Let them go. They are in their right to do whatever they please."

Rainbow turned to her friend, becoming concerned when she saw her friend with a serious look on her face, but looking as if something inside of her had grown old in just moments. As if some of that happy and nerdy pony she loved so much had withered.

Before anypony could say anything else, Twilight had turned away from them and started to walk.

"Come. I want to see how that wall is doing. They might come soon, so we have to be prepared."

Rarity and Rainbow shared a glance at each other, concerned for their friend's wellbeing before deciding to leave it for later, when it was all over.

Rainbow instantly flew at her friend's side while Rarity stood behind, watching at the parting group of ponies, then turning to the pink sphere surrounding Canterlot and then to her friends.

It was clear things were even worse of what she feared. Just what had she gotten herself into?

Author's Notes:

Shamefully, i have to admit this is a way of releasing some of my own thoughts concerning the world we live in, where even the beings you once held close as family betray you in favor of their own, selfish desires.

But much like Twilight in here, the only thing we can do is simply steel up and be on our way, even if it separates us from those we once held dear. Friends are always there to help pick us up and make the way easier into the unknown.

And so shall i do.

As I said, I have a Ko-fi page now. If you like my stories, have money to spare, and find it within your heart to spare it in me, then i'd be grateful. And if you want to keep reading stories, then you can hit that "follow" button.

Leave a like if you want, and also a comment. Good ones help me to improve, and critics help me to correct mistakes. I'd really appreciate it.