“The two I will meet with tonight could have been goddesses with little effort. Instead they'll grovel before me as my slaves,” the Master mused as he allowed a dark grin to appear ever so slightly upon his face. Around him the air was heavy with the anguish of souls long gone, and the water dripped off of the stalactites that hung from the low and rocky ceiling of the cavern. An eeriness was about the air, made more prominent by the inclusion of unnecessary and unnatural mist that hung in the air, not moving an inch unless its maker wished it to be so. A rock path led the only safe way to the bleak throne that was the only object in the room. On either side was faint rippling of water could be seen, but it was grimy and oily, a reflection of the character of the one that dwelled within the place. No light, save for a single candle that gave out a mystical black flicker, illuminated the interior.
The faint noise of bats settling in for the day after the hunt was audible, though no movement could be seen save for the not quite pony prostrating herself at the seat of her master's throne. She was battered and bruised, partially from the suffering she endured in dragging herself to this dark and forbidding location, and partially from the pain that her master had put her through after coming back as a failure.
Now, she made one last attempt to save her life, even just for a little longer. “I'll do better next time Master, I promise. Just give me one more chance. Please.” The mare was begging and pleading, her fate at the hands of the dark entity that she could not quite make out any details of.
“Silence. I have had enough of your whimpering. I have made my decision.” His voice whispered through the cavern, striking through the mare's silent cries. The voice slipped around the jagged rock formations until it filled the place, yet still not rising above a whisper. The voice was cold, as cold as the blackened heart that gave it life. “While you have failed me, you show promise.”
The mare looked up from her prostrate position on the rough and sharp terrain of the cave floor, hope a distant glimmer in her eyes. “You did what you were told, however you failed to see how the power that gave you control could be used against you. You are a willing servant, but ignorant on your own.” The mare's head lowered, knowing it to be true all too well. “So, I have requested a little... help.”
An ominous silence fell upon the cavern, no sound heard save for the heavy and slightly panicked breathing of the mare. But still, she did not move.
“You called, Master?” The silky voice of a being that the mare knew all too well reached her ears. The light of hope faded in her eyes, replaced by a firm determination.
“Ah, glad to see you could join us.” Their master's voice had changed, replaced instead with an almost normal sounding deep baritone. It had just a hint of something else that betrayed that he wasn't what his silhouette appeared to look like. “While I believe you two have met before, introductions cannot hurt. Now get off the floor and say hello. You two will get to know each other quite well before this task is over.”
The mare slowly clambered to her hooves, eyes on the newly-arrived mystical dark cloud before her. “Hello again, Nightmare.”
“Always a pleasure to see you Chrysalis,” the impossibly sweet voice carrying through the cave responded.
“I can assume that you know what is about to happen. And also know that there is no escape for either of you. I can see it in your eyes, but if you tried I would be forced to kill you. And I would enjoy it greatly.” Chrysalis shrunk back as a smile of perfectly formed white teeth showed out of the darkness. “But if you two do your job correctly this time, Equestria will soon be mine.”
“Ours,” Nightmare corrected.
“No, mine. And if you do well I might just let you live.” The sinister being let the threat hang in the air, no one needing to know the 'reward' should they fail to do their job perfectly. “Now, get on with it.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes, a breath making its way across her slightly parted lips in resignation of what was about to happen. When she opened the glowing verdant spheres again, Nightmare was glowing slightly, making it visible to see the blackened cloud. Despite the darkness in the cave, nothing naturally occurring could be that blackened and twisted. It had been that way for a long time, for it was a reflection of her soul. Chrysalis glanced down at her legs, the holes reminding her of her own soul's unholy state. Her actions changed the appearance of every changeling in the hive. “So many gone because of what he's made me done” she thought. The master that forced her to attack Canterlot just to teach her a lesson, then punish her after she failed. And now, she was going to die inside because of him.
“I'm ready.”
“Excellent, I can't wait to get started,” Nightmare purred. The darkness was lit up by black light, dashed periodically by bits of dark blue as she gathered the magic needed to enter another's body in an instant. This was in contrast to the stealthy way she entered Luna and Rarity; again, a task she did at the commands of the Master. Nightmare had once been a free magical spirit, but caught the eye of her current master who subverted and turned her to him over a few short years, or so the legend went. It had been so long that she had forgotten the face of the former pony that she once loved and now bitterly hated. But fear kept her in place, for his power had not been diminished by the centuries gone by. But now, she was ready to possess another for the fourth time in her life.
The vortex of swirling energies that had formed caused wind to rip through the cavern, but all remained as quiet as it had been when Chrysalis entered the cavern a while before. She had been hauled in by the expert torturers that her master had left her with. The pain had subsided, for they were to not leave any marks, but the wind aggravated her thorn filled mane as it beat against her neck. “Another visible example of how far I've fallen” she thought sadly. And then, she thought nothing as the forces of the Nightmare overtook her, suspending her in the air. She began to glow with a harsh white light, causing anything watching aside from the Master to shrink away from the sudden change in illumination levels, their pupils shrinking to hide from the brightness.
Chrysalis heard a scream pierce through the Master's lair, not recognizing it was hers at first as her body changed. It grew slightly bigger, her insectile appearance being changed into something more like a natural pony. Her wings grew larger to a wingspan almost as wide as she was long and had real feathers of a deep blue that could easily be confused with black. The mane and tail that had before hung limply, lacking life and care, brightened to a royal purple and was fluid in the air that still rushed around the underground lair. However, some things not even Nightmare could change. The striking holes in her body and horn remained, though the latter took on a more conical shape. She slowly settled back on the ground shakily, wavering as the wind died down and strength slowly returned to her limbs.
When she opened her eyes, any creature that had still dared to remain stood transfixed. Whereas when Nightmare took the hold of Luna she had dragon pupils, this new creature seemingly had no pupil at all. A soft green iris filled her eye, surrounded by a small field of white. But, slowly, a speck of black emerged and grew until it was a rough circle, but it was no ordinary pupil. If anything would be to look into those eyes, they could see the raw power and evil that lived within that body and would be transfixed with a power that was ten times greater than the Stare. Even the Master gave a slight start at seeing what had happened to two of his most faithful slaves. He could only imagine what the other changelings looked like..
“Mwahahaha!” The voice chilled the cavern, both literary and metaphorically. A faint misting of the air could be seen as the newly formed creature stood before the master, resplendent in all of her glory. Her voice had changed the most, instead of being the entrancing and mellifluous voice of Nightmare or the harsh grating voice of Chrysalis; it was a voice that showcased the cunning of its owner, one that could almost find out all of your secrets with just a whisper.
“The two of you go well together. However, a new name must be thought up for you. Nightmare Chrysalis is not very becoming of someone like you.”
“We thank thee and await thee's decision.” The two, still having separate minds but in one body, decided to use the royal Canterlot speech for the time being, in mockery of the ones they were soon to overthrow.
“From this point onwards, you two shall be called Nyx. Let nothing stop you from taking the thrones of Celestia and Luna and disposing of them. But keep them alive, for I wish to 'talk' with them. Go to the armory the be outfitted with your armor and return when you are done.”
“As you wish.” She retreated into the inky depths of the cave. The Master relaxed on his obsidian throne. He had managed to keep them in check, at least for now. It would have been an unpleasant setback had he needed to kill them, but nothing more. He had bigger plans for Equestria. And soon, there would be nothing, no rulers of the sun and of the moon, nor those foalish Elements of Harmony that could stand in his way. Him, the rightful king of Equestria and the world.
******
Celestia awoke, the force of vaguely familiar dark magic reaching her in her uneasy sleep. Before she could place where or what exactly it was, Luna burst in from her sister's balcony, her wings ruffled from the hasty flight. “Celestia, there was just a use of powerful, terribly powerful dark magic. It was hidden before I could place it, but it was enough.”
Any tiredness that Celestia still had vanished. She had been unsure of what exactly had transpired, wondering if it was a bad dream from the prank on her sister earlier, but Luna's fear confirmed it. “Warn the Captain of the Guard. I want Canterlot carefully guarded at all times.”
“I hadn't finished. Sister, I would have recognized that magic anywhere. It was the magic of the Nightmare.”
“Are you certain?” The look on the moon goddesses face answered the question. “Then it can only mean one thing,” the elder said.
“He's back.”
Author's Note
Special thanks to The Descendant for his tips and tricks and prereading of this chapter. Go check his stuff out. Go. Go now, and be happy.
Nyx has no relation to Past Sins despite who the character is.
